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Happy Friday! This week has seemed to fly for us. Josh took a vacation day in the middle of the week and we spent the day at a really cool park with some friends and the evening at swim lessons and grilling burgers. Just the refresher I needed mid-week to make it through!
I’m linking up with Erika, Andrea and Narci for Friday Favorites! Per the usual, I have a wide array of things on my favorites list this week!
one
On Saturday night when the heat index was up over 100 degrees, we made homemade ice cream with our crew old school style by rolling a coffee can up and down our driveway. Our boys LOVED it and shockingly the ice cream was actually really good. We used to do this all the time growing up with my mom but this time I switched out some of the ingredients with what we had in the house. (The recipe we used as kids called for half and half – we used 2% milk this time- and rock salt but I used just regular table salt and it worked perfectly.)
We mixed 1 cup of milk, 1/2 tsp of vanilla and 2 tbs of sugar in a quart size baggie that we sealed after removing as much air as we could. We put 3 cups of ice and 1/3 cup of salt in a gallon size baggie and mixed it up a bit. Then we put the quart size baggie inside the freezer size bag, sealed it and put it in a coffee can so we could roll it. You could absolutely just shake up the baggie but it was more fun for our kids to roll the can instead of shaking a bag.
We rolled the can for about 10 minutes for the first batch and the ice cream had gotten so cold/frozen that it was more like dip n’ dots consistency. When Josh and I made another batch for us to try, we rolled it for about 5 minutes which was a ‘just barely frozen’ consistency which is how I prefer my ice cream anyway. Both ways were delicious.Our kiddos topped it with chocolate syrup. They were so into it and have been asking to do it again since! Easy family fun is always a FAVORITE around here.
two
The time we prefer to go to Church on Sunday does not have a nursery for the littles so we all sit together every week. It has been getting harder and harder to keep our twins quiet (and contained!) as they get older and more adventurous! I’m pretty sure we keep everyone behind us very entertained with all the activity. I saw these Melissa and Doug Pop Blocs and got a set for Luke and Reid because they were so cute. All the animals are made of two pieces that come apart and can be switched with other animal pieces to make a cow-pig or a horse-sheep,etc.They are hands down their new favorite toy PLUS they are quiet toys and perfect for Church! I keep a few of the animals in our Church bag so they are excited by them every week and our pew is quiet…. for a little while at least. 😉
three
As much as I’m trying to live in denial, it is Back to School shopping time. If you are looking for a bento style lunch box for your kiddo, we love Yumbox Panino. I bought one for Caleb last year to take to kindergarten and I plan on ordering another one this year so we have two. I love this brand because their largest part is big enough to fit a sandwich. Some of the other ones I found only had room for small items and while I don’t pack it often, sometimes a sandwich is his lunch choice. I put it in his lunch box with a thin ice pack and his leftovers were always still cold when we got home in the afternoon. They are top rack dishwasher safe which I love too. (Heads up- if your child is not super good at remembering to empty their lunch when they get home every day and perhaps everyone forgets about it over the weekend, the silicone will smell like the food that is in it. That happened to us one time and I had to soak it in vinegar for awhile to get the smell out. After that, we made sure to be more on top of emptying his lunch box and didn’t have a problem with smell again.)
four
I mentioned last week that Eli was having trouble all of a sudden at swim lessons. Earlier in the summer he had passed level 1 easily and with no issues at all- all smiles! When level 2 started, he suddenly developed this intense fear of drowning and it got to the point where he was too afraid to even do the things he was doing fine the week before. I could tell he was trying but he just couldn’t get past the fear and was getting so upset about even being in the water. The instructors at lessons were so sweet to him and took turns talking to him and reassuring him (and so did we of course) but he was just really struggling with the fear that no one would save him if he went under.
We talked about it, I prayed about it, we even pretended we were floating in the water on our living room floor! After a week of struggling we decided it would be best to pull him out and try again another time. Wouldn’t you know though… Eli woke up on Monday morning with a brand new determination and wanted to go to lessons. Sweet boy got to swim lessons on Monday, jumped in the water, floated on his back with a huge smile and never looked back. Last night was the last day of summer session, he passed his level and I am SO PROUD of him. Such a FAVORITE this week.
five
I stumbled across this post by The Humbled Homemaker written by her husband about having all girls and the comments strangers (and even acquaintances) make when you are a parent of children of all the same gender. You know how sometimes things just speak to you as if they had read all the thoughts in your mind? This one did for me.
People ask us all the time if we are going to have another to ‘try for a girl’ – seriously all. the. time. Or they say “Don’t worry. My sister/aunt/friend had four boys and then a girl!” That’s great…. but why am I worried? I love my boys! I know God knew what he was doing when he blessed me with four boys.
I just loved it. If you have all girls or all boys or get unsolicited comments from strangers about your beautiful family…read this one. FAVORITE!
Hope you all have the very best weekend. Bring it on August!
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If you missed my other posts from this week, find Twin Tuesday: The Best Children’s Books About Twins here and my What’s Up Wednesday link-up here!