Mr. Wizard's World

The title may throw some of you off, but if you're a child of the 80's, you'll know what I'm talking about. 

Don Herbert and his show, Mr. Wizard's World!

I can remember getting very excited to watch the show. It was on Nickelodeon and aired next to You Can't Do That On Television, the show famous for it's green slime. 

Thinking back, I recall some of episodes that stood out to me: how many times one could fold a single piece of paper, what things float and what sinks, and how to make a volcano. Though, I believe his volcano was with a fuse and sparklers, I hope he'd be proud of our baking soda and vinegar one. 

I've always thought science was fun and now that I think about it, it probably explains why the medical field felt so natural for me to pursue. 

We are soon approaching the stage to start looking at and interviewing private schools for Charlotte to attend next year. And again, naturally, we are drawn to the ones that put a strong focus on science. Oh -- more on that later as I know it will be stressful!

A few weeks ago, we were watching a show on the National Geographic channel that was about the Galapagos Islands. Charlotte was as interested in it as we were but took special interest in the volcanos. 

It was after that that we decided it would be fun to make one of our own, and waited until the weekend so that Justin could participate too. 

I found this recipe on-line for us to follow. 

I think Charlotte mostly enjoyed mixing the batter to make the dome of the volcano.

I don't have a pic of the actual explosion, just video and it's too long to upload. I have to admit that it wasn't that great of a show. The red food coloring that we added didn't get mixed up completely and never produced red "lava". And if we do it again, we will add more baking soda and less water to the recipe. Nevertheless, it was fun for all of us partake in ~ especially with Justin's added internet search of youtube videos of actual volcanic explosions. 

Because the volcano was so-so, we moved to a fool-proof experiment of making a pine cone bird feeder. Something that I knew was quick and easy!

And EXTRA sticky!

This makes our 8th bird feeder. Can you tell we like birds??

Our trip to the Panhandle

Our road trip was a success! 

Charlotte and I got to be there for almost a week which was great because we got to see and visit everyone without feeling rushed. Justin flew in on Friday evening and joined in on the family fun. 

One day, we went with Grammie to visit her friend that lives on a ranch. Charlotte loved getting to pet the beautiful horses. And collecting rocks... Lots and lots of rocks.

"Frosty"

And, we had time to try a recipe that I saw on Pinterest ~

Nutella Cookies

Nutella is a HUGE staple in our household and I knew immediately that this was a prefect recipe for Charlotte and I to bake. 

Only 4 ingredients!!

Nutella, sugar, flour and an egg

She really likes to help in the kitchen and this was a recipe that she could do about 50% ALL BY HERSELF ~ which pleases her so!

 The cookies turned out great! 

We put them in a little baggie that she carried around handing out to each family member.

Oh sweet Violet! 

Charlotte carried and snuggled Violet all week. Thankfully, Violet was okay with it, or at least acted like it. 

And, sweet sweet Abbi. Charlotte was most excited to spend time with her, her only cousin. 

When Charlotte wasn't carrying Violet, she was following Abbi around. Abbi was very sweet to her and they had a lot of fun together!

I did not get any of my grandparents in pictures, but I was most excited to be in Borger to visit with them. They can't get out much these days, so it was really special to get time with them.

oxox

An Instagram Roadtrip

With one week left before school begins, we packed the car and left the big city today to drive home and visit family. 

Here's my co-pilot

and my backseat pilot 

We bought her headphones when we went on vacation to use on the airplane. She immediately thought they were so cool and now brings them everywhere. It still cracks me up seeing her with them on! I'm having flash backs of my head phone days in the 80's. 

 Aahh..... these cowdogs love it here!  

They have plenty of space to run and roam free. 

Goal Completed!

On August 2nd, Charlotte completed her goal of reading 20 books from Launa's Little Library !

She was excited to place her stickers on the map after we finished each book. I'm beginning to see a little competitive streak in her and I like it!  

 (photo disclaimer: and nothing to do with the topic of the post --- this is a wonderful example of HORRIBLE cropping! To my defense, I had my prime lens on and could not zoom out, but I totally cut off her right hand. AND that hand was in the most adorable position! UGH -- live and learn!)

The prizes for completing the goal were a hot wheels car of your choice and a silver car charm to place on your book bag -- I don't know which one Charlotte was most excited about: the red car she chose or the bling added to her bag.

I praise Ms. Kliever for her love and commitment to the library. She has definitely made our library experience everything we dreamed it would be.

The variables

Photography is art and beauty both wrapped up together with a pretty bow ~ Grosgrain, of course, not the stick-on kind!!

A great photo can make your soul sing. BUT.... a great photo takes studying your camera and LOTS of practice.  I am not claiming that the photos below are great, but I'm proud of them because it shows that I am trying. For the past year or so, I've been reading up on my camera and trying to learn the tricks of the trade. Though there are some tricks, what I'm finding is that, because there are so many variables, you have to really know your camera inside and out. 

And what I strive for is to take beautiful photos of my family -- photos that tell our story.

So I'm going to keep practicing until I get it perfect (or close to perfect).

A huge thank you to Bullseye and Tigger for modeling for me when Charlotte had had enough!

In the words of Norman Maclean:

"All good things.... come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy."

A Day in Her Shoes

What fun it is to be 3! 

(excuse me - 3 1/2, as Charlotte corrected me the other day when a women in the store asked her age.)

Charlotte's days are filled with fun, creativeness, and imagination. I love love love being home with her and witnessing her growth minute by minute. We are especially thankful for the weekends when Justin gets to play too as he brings a whole new element to fun!

In the blog world, I've learned (and constantly learning) so much about trying to capture the special moments in our family. Though I'm not a quarter as creative as some moms out there, I'm trying my best to preserve and capture the moments that I want to remember in the future. Time moves fast and this, hopefully, will allow me to stop for a moment and reflect on the cute, fun things that are important to her right now. 

Last Saturday we had a family outing to the mall and Charlotte chose to bring her animals along. Everyone thought she was adorable pushing her stroller through the mall and would stop and ask her about her "babies". And each time she would say to me as the people passed, "they're animals, not babies".

 But, I know she LOVED the attention!

Oh, I knew it was only a matter of time before she got sucked into it too! 

The "it" I'm referring to are the planter boxes at Northpark that the kids climb onto and slide down. These are right next to the small duck and turtle pond that up until recently was all she was interested in. But my 3 1/2 yr. old, loves to do anything that older kids are doing (especially older girls) and thus, joined in on the fun. She was attempting to run up and reach the top of the planter box. Though she tried (AND TRIED), she just missed it. One day soon, it will be no problem for her, but now, she's just a few inches short. 

Her favorite thing at Northpark is to have "pretzels and yellow cheese". Aunt Anne's pretzel sticks are very addictive and Charlotte is one of their biggest victims. 

A daily favorite of hers is watching Sesame Street. While at Target the other day, we found this cute tee. She loves it so much that she wore it for over 24 hrs straight.

I'm taking a photo class now and one of the things that was taught was to stop saying "SAY CHEESE" when you take a picture. Because your result will most always look like this....

But regardless, I still think it's cute!

The Girl Loves Stamps

Last weekend Justin and I were outside doing yard work (in the extreme heat) while Charlotte was inside watching a video. Or, at least we thought she was watching a video....

 When I peeked through the window to check on her I saw pink ALL OVER HER. 

For a split second the Pinkalicious book popped in my head, but as I got closer to her, I noticed it was stamps. She was beaming with pride until she noticed my reaction, which was quite the opposite -- I kept thinking -- Oh No, this is not coming off easily! 

It is funny now to look at the pictures and wonder what was going on in her head as she was stamping her entire body??  Though I wasn't thrilled about it and FYI, it only came off after vigorous scrubbing, I admire her for her creativity. 

Yes, Charlotte, I can still see you!

May you always be adventurous and creative, but next time, please use the hot pink lipstick I gave you instead.

Summer Vacation

We recently returned from our summer vacation to Hilton Head, NC. We went with Justin's family to celebrate his mom and dad's 40th wedding anniversary. I think it's really neat that both of our parents celebrated their 40th within months of each other. 

We are blessed to be surrounded by their love and commitment.

Below is my favorite picture! I love Charlotte's facial expression and her excitement. 

 I was committed to getting a good picture of the 3 of us while we where there to have and use for our Christmas card. Last year, we had a "professional" picture taken and I was so disappointed by the quality  that I swore I wouldn't waste the time and money doing that again this year (sorry, I guess I'm still a little bitter.) ANYWAYS...... I think I succeeded because I LOVE it!

Charlotte's 1st time in the ocean. She LOVED the waves! By the end of the week, Justin was teaching her how to boogie board. 

We spent one day visiting Savannah, GA. 

And, of course, back to the beach...

We had a great trip and created lots of memories. Charlotte's already looking forward to next year's beach trip.

My 5 favorite memories of the week:

1. Watching Charlotte's excitement for the beach
2. Building sandcastles
3. Riding bikes all over Sea Pines
4. Seeing alligators (from a distance!)
5. Quality family time