Photo A Day- August 17

Today our big crafty project was finishing making Kenna's 'contribution chart' where she can earn stickers towards little toys and special prizes. We tried to pick jobs that she can do well completely on her own and gets excited about (getting dressed, putting her dishes in the sink, feeding the dog), and added two more attitude-related ones (being a big helper and having a grateful heart). She's so excited to fill it up and earn her prizes!

Photo A Day- August 16

Accessorized! Kenna loves to dump out the bucket that holds all her jewelry and accessory toys in our living room. Every once in awhile she'll put everything on all at once- it's hard to see, but she also has a princess crown on. Gotta love a girly girl!

Photo A Day- August 15

Kenna's done a great job of learning her shapes. This is one of those little sorting toys where each shape fits in its little slot. I came around the corner to find her and Finn sitting together like this, and she was showing him "how the shapes fit." Super cute for big sister to be teaching little brother stuff like this already!

Photo A Day- August 14

Absolutely nothing can be done to convince Finn that he's not a big kid like his sister. Recently we've found him sitting in the little chairs of the craft table I painted for Kenna when she was about his age. They have been painted and repainted because they are used on a daily basis! Right now, they are just Finn's size, and I think he's so cute!

Photo A Day- August 13

Movie nights are becoming a staple in our house on Sunday or Monday nights... Finn goes to bed on time but Kenna gets to stay up a little late with Daddy, pick out her own movie, and make special favorite treats like popcorn and chocolate milk. Truth be told, Daddy enjoys it just as much as Kenna!

Photo A Day- August 12

Our friend Casey Chappell is a talented photographer who takes a picture of her kids sitting on her front steps every Sunday morning when they're dressed up for church. She's obviously a truly very talented one seeing as how she manages to get four kids under the age of four to sit still long enough for a decent shot! I liked our kids outfits so much today that I thought I'd try it. We never have time before church, so they were a little wiggly and pre-nap by the time we took this one. But I'm glad we have it all the same- I love these sweet silly siblings who never sit still! 

Photo A Day- August 11

Saturday mornings in our house are full of lots of wild, silly fun... mostly celebrating the fact that Daddy is home to play with us and trying to decide with what kind of fun to fill our family day together! We had to laugh at Finn trying to ride along on Kenna's tricycle and make his own little jumpseat. Little brother looks all proud of himself, and sister just looks a little annoyed.

Photo A Day- August 10

When we went to the beach back in July, one of Kenna's favorite things was finding shells. We brought a little bunch of bigger clam shells home and she  has been begging to paint them ever since- and today we did! This girl absolutely lives to paint.

(PS- this is also indirectly a photo of one of my favorite recycles- the 'paint pallet' we use for the paints is one of the little styrofoam trays that fruits and veggies come wrapped in at Aldi. They are the perfect size and shape for several paint colors at a time, and they rinse off perfectly to be used several times over. Then we don't end up throwing away a paper plate every time we paint or buying some pricey gadget. We just don't use the ones that come with raw meat, to be safe.) 

Photo A Day- August 8

I think I underestimated how fun having a little girlie girl would be. We picked out this pink outfit today and then she added the icing on the cake with those little pink rainboots.

Photo A Day- August 7

Kenna has a fascination with bugs right now. She always wants to stop and "say hi" to them, but is not too normally interested in touching them. Today with Matt, she met a new little friend while leaving the summer free kids movie they went to at the movie theater (Alvin and the Chipmunks):

Matt said this unfortunate friend immediately after was squished.

Photo A Day- August 6

Recently, Finn has been waking up earlier from his nap than Kenna does- partly because he goes down earlier, and partly because he only needs a 2 hour or so nap whereas Kenna will take more like a 3 hour one if I let her. (She is like her Momma and needs an irrational amount of sleep to function well.)

So today Finn was downstairs playing when Kenna woke up. He heard the first little peep she made, got a big smile on his face and went tearing upstairs to her room. I came up right behind him to see him trying to open the gate on her door to go get her. So sweet!

Photo A Day- August 5

"Daddy will save me from bedtime, right?"
Everybody loves the weekends when Daddy is here for bedtime!

Photo A Day- August 4

We spent a really fun Saturday afternoon at the flea market today! Matt loves checking out the blasts from his past at the booths that sell toys- we're officially old because the toys from our childhood are now "vintage" and "collectible." Of course, I missed the super cute picture of both kids sitting on his lap after an awesome barbeque dinner after the flea market, but hey. This is our daily photo! I see lots of very manly action figures in Finn's future thanks to his Daddy.

Photo A Day- August 3

Finn's favorite thing right now is to wear one little shoe around. He brings it to us with a high pitched little "eee eee eee!" and holds up one foot. So funny.

Photo A Day- August 2

When they're cranky and fussy, and not sharing toys, and cries come from the other room because someone has hit/pushed/bit/stolen a toy, I do try to remember these moments too:

When they sit in the back seat holding hands, for no other reason than that they are brother and sister and love each other so. I about put my back out trying to take a picture of it. (Thankfully, we were parked.)