What are we going to do today?

Since we moved here I have been home with Riley and have loved this opportunity...it will change sometime in the future as I am currently job hunting...but for now I am taking advantage of it. However, the biggest questions is always "What are we going to do today?" Since Riley goes to school M,W,F I try to come up with something creative to do on Tuesdays and Thursdays because I can't just sit around here...sometimes we take trips to someplace new, sometimes we hit the pool, and sometimes we come up with something different to do at home! This past week we did a couple of fun things! I remember when I was growing up going over to my friend Libby's house and her mom always had homemade play-dough and I thought that was the coolest thing so I googled some recipes and tried it out! I didn't realize I would find so many recipes...some you cook, some you don't...I decided to start simple and made some play-dough that consisted of flour, salt, and water...simple enough!

Riley was a little unsure at first but she got the hang of it...and of course she took a bite and said "yummmmm"...it was a tad salty but I suppose it was tasty for her!

We rolled snakes, cut with cookie cutters, and made balls...

Her serious faces are the best...she was intense with her play-dough!

After play-dough time I let Riley play with Jason's college stash...check out this Little Gator Girl!We had so much fun playing with the play-dough and I have to say that it actually got better a few days after I made it...the consistency was better and it was great! Because I chose a non-cook recipe it's not supposed to last as long as cooked play-dough but so far so good so we'll see how long it lasts!

On Thursday Riley and I went to Stroke of Magic to let her paint...here's my little artist!
We picked out two canvases and I picked out paint colors that matched Riley's room and she did the rest! Her she is waiting patiently for the girl to mix the paint so she could get started on her art!

I, along with the women that worked in the studio, were amazed at how well Riley painted...she knew exactly what to do and when she was finished with a color she would put her hands up and say "All done"...how cute!

She also got a little paint on her face!

She is quite girly because as she painted each color you could tell she was uncomfortable with the fact that some of the paint was on her hands...luckily wipes would take the paint off because I would just clean her up and she was all ready to go!

After she painted all the colors they took her little hands and made hand prints on top of her art...she did so good for the whole adventure!I had so much fun with her and hopefully we can do this again soon!
Here are the painted masterpieces...

Before hand prints and finishing touches...

All finished and hanging in Riley's room...LOVE them! So those were our two fun events last week! This past Saturday Jason left for a short trip to Washington and we definitely miss him! I got to have a girls day with Amanda and Jen and we had so much fun...we started with a trip to the movies to see "The Proposal"...hilarious! After the movie we headed to Target to get a gift for the baby shower we attended that evening for Julia who will be having a little girl in September...it was all so fun and great to get out with the girls!
Life wasn't too rough for Riley either while mom was out having fun! She was over at Paul and Jenn's house for "Daddy Daycare" since John and Paul corralled the three kiddos all afternoon! We checked in on them before we headed to the baby shower and things were totally under control!

Riley and Cooper played in the pool with Sarge while Maddi napped!!

When we got back from the baby shower not a creature was stirring...and the dads were barely moving...they were worn out from tending to the children all day...haha! It was a fun filled day for everyone and thanks John and Paul for watching Riley!

Tonight the kiddos all started swim lessons together and we will go every night for 2 weeks...not much learned today for all we did was get them acclimated to the water which was not really necessarily since we are at the pool all the time and we tried to teach them to blow bubbles...Riley doesn't quite have that down so we'll keep working on that...pictures and stories about swim lessons coming soon!!

On a totally random note I am going to brag on my own reading skills...hehe! I am not a big book reader...never have been. However, when I get my hands on something good I really get into it. I became a fan of Francine Rivers when I read Redeeming Love...if you haven't read it you NEED to! My friend Ashley...who comes to visit next week...gave me The Scarlet Thread and I just finished it...it was great and I am proud of myself for finishing a book...the little things! I am already on to another book that I will talk about later but I think I will pick up another Francine Rivers book for my trip to the lake in a few weeks!