sticker charts

we don't always have charts going at our house, but sometimes it is a little extra incentive to motivate our kiddos in the right direction. each of the kids had something different to work on: riley - potty training, caleb - a joyful spirit, and allie - not sucking her thumb. however to keep it from becoming a competition and instill the ability to encourage one another.... no one could receive the prize until EVERYONE filled their charts.

well, this week the charts were full and a trip to the dollar store was had!
way to go kiddos!
i'm so proud of each of you!

sidewalk chalk strikes again

such a sight

i LOVE when our children enjoy being together!

wish i could bottle these moments!

Chalkin' it UP!

save old cardboard boxes

stencil some shapes on them

add some sidewalk chalk

and have hours of fun!

i recommend this as a morning activity with the heat

after 20 minutes or so add some hot wheels, small dolls...

or both for added fun!

everybody got into this project... we had a blast!

even griffin watched and big bro came to check on him a few times! ;)

my mommy friends!

are you stressed? boy, i am! ugh! with four kiddos i feel like there is NOT one moment where everyone is happy. someone is always fussy, fighting, or crying in my house and it is wearing me out! just speaking the truth. :)

however, i have started following a blog that has brought encouragement to me twice this week. i want to share two articles with you. if you need a good word to renew a fresh spirit within you...
here ya go:

first this one... here
and then this one... here

both came through feminagirls.com enjoy

The Apple doesn't fall

far from the tree!

after weeks of asking, the biggest sisco boys were in the skit this week.

meet Riles

and Miles

they are the grandsons of Giles McGillicutty (lance's old time patriot character). if you enlarge this photo you can see a camper laughing really hard. i think they liked it!

they did a great job staying in character and, of course, looked adorable!

the boys had "birth marks" that held a clue for the campers

they were thrilled to be a part of the skit and riley has not stopped saying thank you yet.

DIANA!!!!

my sweet friend diana was in town this weekend and we got a very short, but wonderful, visit!
she got to meet g for the first time.

i love you d jones! you are ALWAYS missed around the sisco home!

a Sisco First

i can not believe that they have never thought of it until now, but my kiddos (after seeing friends do it) wanted to have a lemonade stand.

allie made the sign all by herself and decided that a glass could be 10 cents with a free cookie. lance tried to convince her that she was cute enough to sell 1 glass for $3 and would save herself a whole lot of trouble. HA!

we ate most of our product...

and riley ran off with the money most of the time.

but this sweet girl had a blast and it was a neighborhood hit. within five minutes we had passed out eight glasses. she wants to give all the money to the kids in uganda! precious!!!

finding beauty

you have to be blind to not see the beauty that surrounds my folks house.
here are a few shots that begged to be taken...

on the road again

we made our second and last trip of the summer. this time it was to my parents house.
lance stayed to work and we had a little "get away."

griffin got held constantly

even by extended family (gran and aunt robin)

we swam EVERY single day

and even convienced pawpaw and mimi to swim

and, of course, peaches was there

we enjoyed "mimi wong's tea party"

and in the evenings everyone rode the tractor! :)

thanks mom and dad! it was a nice change of pace and we were super spoiled!

blueberry farm

last month we headed to Blueberry Hill Farms with some friends.

we tried to get there super early and beat the heat.

claire came and took good care of g man. she had never been blueberry picking and loved it... although, she doesn't eat berries ;)

allie is at the age where she remembers everything and found this tradition so fun!

riley doesn't care for blueberries either so it took him a little while to get into this, but i think he had fun too!

here are the mommas trying to enjoy themselves! my friend, kara, is just through her first trimester with little one #3... doesn't she look amazing? LOVE her!here is the whole gang coolin' off in front of the fan. and, of course, riley has a bucket on his head... why not? :)

and just in case you need a new recipe to use up your blueberries... here is one we tried and LOVED! we made waffles and poured THIS blueberry compote on top... so YUMMY!