We Have a Winner!

The girls have been thoroughly enjoying the Summer reading program at our library.  There are small prizes to be had for each level completed, then once all levels are complete the kids get their name in the big drawing for a special prize.
Lo and behold Tia got a post card in the mail today telling her she won the big prize!  She was super excited and we had to go right away to pick it up...no waiting until the morning for this kid.

and the winner is...

OF COURSE she chose the Barbie.  In her eyes there was no other prize.

I love that the girls are old enough now to really understand the reading program.  They check off the little boxes every time they 'read' (are read to) for 5 minutes and look forward to picking out new and exciting books every week.
Actually winning the big prize was the icing on the cake.  They're hooked on books, and I think that's awesome.

Way to go Huntley Library!

Got Veggies?

We do!  They're coming up nicely.  The kids have enjoyed watering them and checking on them every day.  So far we've only had 2 green peppers that were ready for picking, but there are LOADS of tomatoes on the way.  I can't wait!

She'll grow 'em, but won't eat 'em!

We hope your gardens are growing nicely too.

"Mom, I WANT to try broccoli!"

Those are words I never thought I'd hear at my house.

Gia is a pretty good eater and will at least try most things we put in front of her. However, she's not big into veggies, just like most kids her age.  She mentioned to me one day that she wanted to try broccoli, and I quickly forgot all about it.  A few days later she was yelling at me that I still hadn't given her broccoli!

I steamed a bag for dinner and let her put a few pieces on her pizza.  You know the experts say getting kids in the kitchen and making them part of the process encourages them to explore more foods.

She tried some without too much excitement, then told me it was alright, but not great.  That's sort of how I feel about green beans, so I get it!

The masterpiece

So proud of herself!

I love that she's open to trying all sorts of new and different things.  I also love that she's OK with trying something and discovering she doesn't really like it.  It's all part of the learning process as far as I'm concerned.
Hooray for green food!

My Famous Kids

We took the kiddos to an outdoor concert at the park last week.  They look forward to this event every year because it's good music, it's outside, and we bring a picnic.

This year a photographer/reporter was on hand and asked if she could photograph the girls.  Sure enough, they made the on-line edition of the local paper!  Here's the article...

http://huntley.patch.com/articles/beatles-tribute-band-rocks-deicke-park#photo-7009966

And of course I took a couple of my own shots...

Dip!

Twirl

They danced the night away with Daddy and loved every minute of it.
We're having a great summer!

Cool Treats

We attended a Family Health Fair yesterday at the local health club.  It was very well organized and loads of fun for the kids.  I'm glad we went.  Sadly, I didn't take a single picture there!

I visited the nutrition tent and got a list of suggested healthy snacks for kids.  There are some pretty good ideas on the list and we plan on trying several of them.  It's been so hot out lately that we decided to try the frozen yogurt-banana sandwiches.  I guess the idea is to get the kids to eat more fruit, which isn't a problem at all in our house, but it was fun anyway.
Here's what we did...

Slice the banana

place a scoop of frozen yogurt on graham cracker

Assemble like an ice cream sandwich

And enjoy!

It was fun for the kids to make it themselves.  However, the bananas were sliced too thick which made the sandwich too big to bite.  Also, it was way too hot outside and the frozen yogurt melted very quickly, which made a big mess.  They both needed to be hosed down and had a bath after all was said and done.

Oh well, I guess the point was they got their sugar dairy, a complex carb and a fruit.  It was a good summer time snack!

So Much Summer Fun!

I couldn't believe how long it had been since I posted anything on here, and then I remembered how busy we've been just enjoying summer!

We've been out and about EVERY single day.  We had such a cold winter that it was my mission to get out there and truly enjoy the weather as soon as it got nice.  So that's what we've been doing.
The girls are so nice and brown, even with SPF 50.  Gia says "We're getting our Vitamin D"!

Our favorite thing to do in the summer has been "Art in the Park".  We go to our neighborhood park every Wednesday, do arts and crafts projects, have lunch, and play.  It's sponsored by the local Park District, and the kids look forward to this every year.

Here's a sampling of what they've been up to...

Tia making a flag pin

Gia loves anything that involves paint!

Tia's necklace and note for Nonna

Gia's note and gifts for PaPa

As you can see they really get into their projects.  I have a couple of artists on my hands.
There's so much more we've done, and more pictures to share, but I'll save all that for the next post.

We hope you're all having a wonderful summer too!