Yard Stick Planter Activity

One of my very favorite places to shop for craft supplies is the dollar store. They normally have a small section with craft items like pom-pom balls, googly eyes, and popsicle sticks. The last time I ran in there, I found some Decorative Yard Stick Planters. They had four designs, so it was perfect!

The items we needed for this activity were:

• A Yard Stick for Each Child
• Markers

 I've had the markers for awhile, but I can't imagine that they were more than a dollar. $5 for a summer activity for quads is pretty reasonable in my opinion!

Clockwise from left: Abby, Caleb, Ellie, and Elijah

Our main potty training goal last week, was to get Ellie to go on the potty, but by day 3, we desperately needed a break from sitting on the toilet. That's when I broke out my dollar store craft supplies, and we all sat down to work on decorations for the backyard.

What you don't see in these photos? Ellie's potty chair is all of 12 inches from where she is sitting....and she isn't wearing anything on her lower half. Oh yes, potty training adventures will make it on the blog at some point. Meanwhile, photos were very carefully taken of this project. Lol!

Clockwise from top left: Ellie, Caleb, Abby, and Elijah

The kids were delighted to have a project to break up the monotony as well. And (thankfully!!!) everyone liked the yard stick design that I picked out for them: A Bird for Caleb, A Butterfly for Abby, A Bug for Elijah, and A Flower for Ellie.

And then, we just had to wait for Daddy to get home so that we could go outside and find special places for them!

After dinner, we all headed out to the backyard and started looking for the best spot. We let each child pick where they wanted to plant their yard stick, because we wanted the activity to be theirs from beginning to end.

Ellie and her flower

Abby decided that her butterfly would look best right next to the flower.

Abby and her butterfly (with Elijah waiting for his turn to pick a spot)

Elijah found his spot a little distance away. He was so excited about planting his yard stick, that he wasn't looking at the camera. I started waving at him to get his attention, so he thought he'd wave back. Ha!

Caleb and his bug

Caleb had an entirely different method from everyone else. While Ellie was working on a spot for her planter, Caleb ran over and pitched his in the middle of the flower bed and ran off. Lol! I guess he figured that if it were ON the ground, that it was close enough to being IN the ground. Eventually we got him to come back and find a spot for his, but he was really more interested in just running about the backyard.

I highly recommend checking our your local dollar store for craft supplies and ideas! It's a great spot to pick up inexpensive, low stress, easy prep activities to pass the summer days.

One of my very favorite places to shop for craft supplies is the dollar store. They normally have a small section with craft items like pom-pom balls, googly eyes, and popsicle sticks. The last time I ran in there, I found some Decorative Yard Stick Planters. They had four designs, so it was perfect!

The items we needed for this activity were:

• A Yard Stick for Each Child
• Markers

 I've had the markers for awhile, but I can't imagine that they were more than a dollar. $5 for a summer activity for quads is pretty reasonable in my opinion!

Clockwise from left: Abby, Caleb, Ellie, and Elijah

Our main potty training goal last week, was to get Ellie to go on the potty, but by day 3, we desperately needed a break from sitting on the toilet. That's when I broke out my dollar store craft supplies, and we all sat down to work on decorations for the backyard.

What you don't see in these photos? Ellie's potty chair is all of 12 inches from where she is sitting....and she isn't wearing anything on her lower half. Oh yes, potty training adventures will make it on the blog at some point. Meanwhile, photos were very carefully taken of this project. Lol!

Clockwise from top left: Ellie, Caleb, Abby, and Elijah

The kids were delighted to have a project to break up the monotony as well. And (thankfully!!!) everyone liked the yard stick design that I picked out for them: A Bird for Caleb, A Butterfly for Abby, A Bug for Elijah, and A Flower for Ellie.

And then, we just had to wait for Daddy to get home so that we could go outside and find special places for them!

After dinner, we all headed out to the backyard and started looking for the best spot. We let each child pick where they wanted to plant their yard stick, because we wanted the activity to be theirs from beginning to end.

Ellie and her flower

Abby decided that her butterfly would look best right next to the flower.

Abby and her butterfly (with Elijah waiting for his turn to pick a spot)

Elijah found his spot a little distance away. He was so excited about planting his yard stick, that he wasn't looking at the camera. I started waving at him to get his attention, so he thought he'd wave back. Ha!

Caleb and his bug

Caleb had an entirely different method from everyone else. While Ellie was working on a spot for her planter, Caleb ran over and pitched his in the middle of the flower bed and ran off. Lol! I guess he figured that if it were ON the ground, that it was close enough to being IN the ground. Eventually we got him to come back and find a spot for his, but he was really more interested in just running about the backyard.

I highly recommend checking our your local dollar store for craft supplies and ideas! It's a great spot to pick up inexpensive, low stress, easy prep activities to pass the summer days.

Backyard Playground

Nothing is sweeter than the childhood delight of playing in the backyard!

A couple of months ago, we received a message from our friend, Crystal. Her daughter outgrew their swing set and they were getting ready to replace it. They offered it to us! And then on top of that, Crystal's brother had a matching swing set that his kids had outgrown. They offered that one to us as well!

Over the last two weeks, they've brought over both sets and set them up in the backyard. We can't believe that they just gave us the swing sets! We are beyond blessed as we wanted to get some backyard play items, but it wasn't in the budget.

I love that God provides for wants as well as needs! 

We invited Aunt Sarah and Cousin Aly over to help us break them in. I'll let the photos do the talking. The kids have been all over the swing sets since they arrived!

Ellie 

 Cousin Aly

Abby 

Aunt Sarah, Cousin Aly, and Elijah 

 Caleb

Caleb 

Abby 

Ellie 

Elijah

How fun to have a playground right in our own backyard now! And to have friends who love our kids enough to pass it on to them!

Nothing is sweeter than the childhood delight of playing in the backyard!

A couple of months ago, we received a message from our friend, Crystal. Her daughter outgrew their swing set and they were getting ready to replace it. They offered it to us! And then on top of that, Crystal's brother had a matching swing set that his kids had outgrown. They offered that one to us as well!

Over the last two weeks, they've brought over both sets and set them up in the backyard. We can't believe that they just gave us the swing sets! We are beyond blessed as we wanted to get some backyard play items, but it wasn't in the budget.

I love that God provides for wants as well as needs! 

We invited Aunt Sarah and Cousin Aly over to help us break them in. I'll let the photos do the talking. The kids have been all over the swing sets since they arrived!

Ellie 

 Cousin Aly

Abby 

Aunt Sarah, Cousin Aly, and Elijah 

 Caleb

Caleb 

Abby 

Ellie 

Elijah

How fun to have a playground right in our own backyard now! And to have friends who love our kids enough to pass it on to them!

Ellie's Contagious Giggle!

Every now and again, you come across a laugh that is insanely contagious! It doesn't matter how many times you hear it, it just tickles the funny bone every single time. And Ellie has a giggle that fits the bill!

I finally managed to catch it on video during her therapy session a few days ago. Elijah also thought Miss Debbie was funny, so you can hear his laugh throughout the clip as well, but Ellie's is so genuine, I doubt that you can watch this without grinning yourself!

Ellie's Contagious Giggle!

*************

My mom stole me away for a little bit today and treated me to some girl time out of the house. It was a wonderful break for me, and I came home to find all four babies crashed out in their cribs. Daddy really worked them hard while I was gone!

And he took pictures! Obviously, I'm training him well! :)

Backyard Play Time

Apparently, at one point Ellie got going a little too fast down the hill in our backyard. She toddled right off of the grass and straight into that giant pile of leaves in the photo below. She ended up neck deep! Sean tried to take a photo but she wasn't happy with the situation so he ran to save her instead. What a good Daddy!

Sean also thought it would be fun to turn on the hose and see what they would do. 

Caleb thought it was fun! Actually, he thought the whole play time was fun! I'm excited that he felt comfortable enough to run around and not cling to Daddy! Maybe we are starting to make some progress!

 Caleb, Elijah, and Abby all checked out the hose. Dry outfits were needed all around by the time they were finished. I have a feeling that they are going to want to play with it again the next time we go out!

 Sean said that Ellie checked out the hose too, but preferred to spend her time in drier parts of the yard. :)

Aw! I love that Sean is such a hands-on Daddy! I know that it's something that I shouldn't take for granted since so many fathers are too busy for their kids. Seeing all of the fun they had together is really special to me (and so was the fact that all of the kids were asleep when I got home!)!

**************

One last thing! I have a poll going on over on our FaceBook page. We are two months out from Halloween, and I'm starting to think about costumes! You have to start early around here to keep up with everything. :) I have a really cute idea that I've been mulling over, but I thought it would be fun to see what you think as well. Jump over and vote in the poll or let me know if you have good costume ideas! Last year, they were the Four Seasons! Totally fun! :)

Every now and again, you come across a laugh that is insanely contagious! It doesn't matter how many times you hear it, it just tickles the funny bone every single time. And Ellie has a giggle that fits the bill!

I finally managed to catch it on video during her therapy session a few days ago. Elijah also thought Miss Debbie was funny, so you can hear his laugh throughout the clip as well, but Ellie's is so genuine, I doubt that you can watch this without grinning yourself!

Ellie's Contagious Giggle!

*************

My mom stole me away for a little bit today and treated me to some girl time out of the house. It was a wonderful break for me, and I came home to find all four babies crashed out in their cribs. Daddy really worked them hard while I was gone!

And he took pictures! Obviously, I'm training him well! :)

Backyard Play Time

Apparently, at one point Ellie got going a little too fast down the hill in our backyard. She toddled right off of the grass and straight into that giant pile of leaves in the photo below. She ended up neck deep! Sean tried to take a photo but she wasn't happy with the situation so he ran to save her instead. What a good Daddy!

Sean also thought it would be fun to turn on the hose and see what they would do. 

Caleb thought it was fun! Actually, he thought the whole play time was fun! I'm excited that he felt comfortable enough to run around and not cling to Daddy! Maybe we are starting to make some progress!

 Caleb, Elijah, and Abby all checked out the hose. Dry outfits were needed all around by the time they were finished. I have a feeling that they are going to want to play with it again the next time we go out!

 Sean said that Ellie checked out the hose too, but preferred to spend her time in drier parts of the yard. :)

Aw! I love that Sean is such a hands-on Daddy! I know that it's something that I shouldn't take for granted since so many fathers are too busy for their kids. Seeing all of the fun they had together is really special to me (and so was the fact that all of the kids were asleep when I got home!)!

**************

One last thing! I have a poll going on over on our FaceBook page. We are two months out from Halloween, and I'm starting to think about costumes! You have to start early around here to keep up with everything. :) I have a really cute idea that I've been mulling over, but I thought it would be fun to see what you think as well. Jump over and vote in the poll or let me know if you have good costume ideas! Last year, they were the Four Seasons! Totally fun! :)