What a day....

I'm wrapping up a day that started like this...

And ended somewhere around here...

 Full of cuteness but evidence of the day showing itself pretty clearly.

The kids all had marvelous days at school so we capped dinner off with this:

Now the house is quiet, and as clean as it's gonna get... resting for what's to come tomorrow.
As for me, I have about 5 hours before I do it all over again!
So, goodnight and blessings to you and yours!

2 precious years

I posted this on FB this morning. I know I've shared it here before. But today is Bud and Daisy's 2nd birthday. Wow- 2 years.

It's really hard to believe sometimes.

So today, just like 2 years ago, it was a day I knew was coming but didn't feel quite prepared for.

How does 2 years fly by so quickly???



So today we are spending some time soaking up our Wonder Twins...aka Sweet n Sassy.

While the trio is at preschool we are going to lunch at one of their favorite spots, and Daddy will join us. We may hit an indoor play area quickly before daddy heads back to work. This evening we will be partying with lots of Spaghetti and birthday cake...quickly followed by a "birthday bath!'

I'll share more pictures later this evening but for now, I'm going to snuggle some sweet 2 year olds!!


birth slideshow

In like a LION!

The Lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the LORD

lack no good thing.

Psalm 34:10

When Puddin was 3 she heard this verse to song in the SEEDS family worship CD, Seeds of Courage. ( AWESOME! I totally reccomend these CD's to everyone and if you have a child who is fearful, SEEDS of Courage will totally help!)

Anyway, after she heard the song, this Scripture became her favorite.

She said it reminded her of Daniel in the Lion's den.

So, since it's March I thought I'd play around with the idea of a lion,

and this verse immediately came to mind.

I think he turned out pretty cute!



And in other news...

The Wonder Twins will be 2 in six days. That's right, SIX days!!!! Crazy! I just don't get how quickly the past 2 years have whizzed by!! As you can see, they are up to their usual tricks... creating mayhem and looking adorable while doing it!

Little stinkers!

Valentines Day and frustration

But not necessarily in that order... or together.



Let's start w/ frustration, shall we?


This little darling is a mess. All of the time... a full blown mess. Bless her heart, she is precious and sweet and loving and giving and willing to share, even when she is up to no good, which is a lot these days. She would make a perfect spy one day because she is quiet, calculating and quick.

Don't let the sweet smie fool you, trust me when I say, she gives a whole new meaning to crafty. Truly, she keeps me on my toes. I have to stay two steps ahead of her at all times, and when I don't, she ends up eating half a canister of sugar.... but that's another post.


Anyway, yesterday after she and her brother went down for a nap I let the trio stay up and make their valentines for their party on Monday. They worked so hard ad did a great job. After they cleaned up and laid down I started the treats to go w/ their valentines. Each one is taking a different valentine so they had different coordinating valentines treats for their friends.


Yes, it was right after lunch and they were pretty much wearing their PJ's

or underwear. Oh, and BBQ sauce. :) Busy day.

Monkey See's valentine treats were probably my favorites. I just loved how simple and cute they were. (and easy too). I made sure after everything was made I put it all away so that little hands couldn't get into them.

Fast forward to this morning. My laptop had run out of battery power while I was checking a shipping fee so I went to my office real quick to plug in and finish the email ( 3 minutes, tops).

When I walked back in the kitchen my littlest darling had scaled the counter tops, found Monkey See's valentine treats that were packaged in a box, opened it and was eating them. Of course she was sharing them with Bud, but still- she was eating them!! And poor Monkey See was beside himself, upset.

So now we have some half eaten valentine treats and the rest are a sticky mess covered in toddler finger prints. I only had enough for the class so their are no extras. And since they are made with a seasonal Christmas item, I can't make more because they are out of stock!!!

Frustration!

So it's back to the drawing board. But, my Monkey See will have something special to take, I will just have to wait and whip it up Sunday evening when there is less of a chance Daisy can get her grubby little paws on them!

============================

Now to the valentine section of this post... It seems with every holiday I'm a little late to the party and miss posting about my decor. Since this isn't a home decorating blog, I guess it's no big deal. But, my children love to decorate for holidays and I like to do that stuff too so I thought I'd show you a little of what we have done.
Now, in my b.c. years (before children), I didn't decorate for valentines day (except in my classroom) and I don't think I knew anyone else who did either. But as with a lot of things that were b.c., that has changed.

So here ya go... A little valentines day decor...

We also hung up some of the birds from Puddin's last party and made a melted crayon valentine bunting but, I didn't get any pictures of those.

ok- here's hoping I can get something as a replacement for my little guy before Monday morning!

And a frustration free weekend for all of us!
Happy Friday!

remember when...

I said I would "review" December for you after I loaded the pictures in my new computer?
Well, I finally got around to finishing that up. They are loaded... into 1 file...all 66,727 of them...1 file... no organization!!! AGH!! It's insane, but it's done, and for that I'm grateful!

So, instead of sharing December stuff, I thought I'd share a little of what's been going on here. (Realistically, it might be July before I ever get that file "organized" enough to use it!)

So, what have we been doing??

Well, here's a little bit of the action seen around here the past few days....

a little decorating for valentines day... felt hearts recycled from the bin. They were originally extra felt birds from Puddin's birthday party that I had cut, but didn't need. So, now they have new life as a little heart garland. They look really sweet when we have the fire going... the heat makes them flap like little birdies! (too cute-I know!)


practicing our heart making skills... so fun for the trio- not so much for the littlest of the littles. Mean old mommy wouldn't let them have scissors or eat glitter!

excitement!!!

A couple of sweet little Monkey's celebrated their half birthdays! This was very low key- due to the snow days and sickness. New shirts an cupcakes for school- Enough fun for everyone!

new product?? not sure yet.

This is a "Gotcha Bag!" I have so many friends adopting I thought how, if it were me, I'd like a little bag of goodies to take on the big "gotcha" day. I plan to fill these with fruit snacks, puffs, a couple of diapers, wipes, a book and a toy or two and give them at the upcoming showers.

On one side there is Scripture... the other has the name of the sweet little

bundle coming to their forever family.

a little valentine project for hubby and me....

when finished it's going in a tiny frame that has needed something for a while.

new dishwasher, still in the box. Why does it cost another $125 to install??? CRAZY!!

Or maybe the crazy part is me thinking I can do it for a fraction of the cost.

I guess we'll see!

But man, am I ever tired of washing dishes!

And, finally, mischief, of every kind. Daisy's latest obsession? Coloring her arms with markers.

My child has "sleeves"

Oh- and she busted her brother's nose yesterday.
He was bleeding!
She sure is cute, but man oh man, she's a precious little handful!

So, what have you been up to lately?

SNOW CREAM

This month has been a busy one. It was set aside as my Mary Month. Not familiar with that term?? Check out Jmom- she is way more articulate than I am! While I have been able to be more of a Mary and less of a Martha, lets face it, life with 5 littles is still a busy one!

We have also had a lot of snow- I mean a lot for our area!
2 weeks ago we had 4- 5 inches on the ground!! Last night left a dusting, just an inch or so, but enough to close the schools. And considering most of my babes have been sick, we didn't mind another snow day!

So while the weather outside looks a little like this,

from last nights snowfall... taken at lunch time today

We have been doing a little of this,

Bud and Daisy LOVED their first batch of homemade Snow Cream!

So, while I'm no where near a Pioneer Woman, I thought I'd still share my favorite snow cream recipe for those of you interested. It is YUM-YUM Good!!

SNOW CREAM

1 cup sugar

1-2 tbsp vanilla

2 cups of milk

4-6 cups of clean, WHITE snow ;)

Now, just mix it all up really quickly, top it with sprinkles and serve it to your littles!

EASY-PEASY!

Halloween??

Pumpkin row... the pumpkin faces drawn by the kids and cut by mommy and daddy...

L-R... (and in birth order, just cause) Puddin, Monkey Do, Monkey See, Bud and Daisy.

Did I share this? Things have just been c to the r to the azy around here lately and I don't know which end is up it seems.

Anyway, I think sharing our halloween pictures is one of those things that fell to the wayside the past couple of weeks! So, 2 weeks into the November, here we go!

(BTW- my last show is coming up next week and then, while I'll be plenty busy with custom orders, I will be able to slow down a breath a little, I hope.)

Halloween 2010

Theme: Old McMonkey Do and the barnyard gang... totally decided upon by Monkey Do and his deep admiration of Farmer Jason.
So, thanks to Monkey Do we had a puppy, aka Monkey See, a lamb, aka Puddin, a mouse, aka Bud and a baby chick, aka Daisy. Bud and Daisy's costumes were from our costume collection previously worn by their siblings, but still as cute as ever. Monkey See's costume was courtesy of Gymboree and Puddin's was a home made lamb suit.

Ta- Daaa!

It is so, so hard to get everyone looking in the same direction and happy at the same time!

they're off!

after wards... assessing the loot. I put the babies to bed while hubby and the kiddos got busy with the candy! I think he was as happy about the loot as they were!

ummmm- Reece's peanut butter cups... yummmm!

Hope you all had a happy Halloween too!

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

to which indeed you were called in one body.

And be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

Watch out for the paparazzi and swimming with a cat

We recently went swimming at my mom's for an end of the summer hurrah.

I'd show you pics of me, mobbed by my children (seriously- they were in my arms AND hanging on my back) but I might blind you with my milky white skin shining in the sun. SERIOUSLY- a dark tinted shade of sunglasses in necessary when viewing those pics! Geesh- when did I get so white??

Anyway, this is not a post about my own personal fear of the sun... hehe... but rather one of my babes... the littles.

This was a first for them.

First dip in a big, deep end kind of pool.

First life jacket experience.

First splashes in the face by crazy siblings.

But- it was fun. For one of them anyway.

Bud LOVES the water. In fact, he goes face first in the bathtub nearly every time he bathes.
Daisy is his polar opposite. She will tolerate a bath as long as she is upright and can see what's happening. The minute you try to lay her back- she looses it.

The pool was much the same experience. She reminded me of a cat clinging to me or trying to crawl up the front of me to dry land. It was crazy! Finally, after much persistence on my part, she relaxed a bit and let me hug her tight on my hip, but the minute I would loosen my grip, the cat like tendencies would take over.

(now I know you have a mental image of me, milky white, blinding my children as they clamor all over me in a large pool, while my youngest, aka Kitty, claws her way up my chest. Sounds like fun doesn't it?)

Well, we finally put an end to the littles swimming and then the real fun started. Puddin went C to the R to the AZY in the water! That girl was FEARLESS!!! She'd shout, "here comes danger!" as she'd catapult herself down the slide. Normally, my first born is very mild mannered, shy and laid back... not that day!

The Monkey's had a great time and eventually got off the steps.

But, what I haven't shared is that one of my oldest besties came with her kiddos for the swim too. We had so much fun!!!

Here are a few "pre-swim" pics I can share of my littles. Try as I might, I could not get a picture of Daisy looking at me. She was in disguise I guesss... avoiding the paparrazi! She really is a little diva-esque at times.

Bud answering my phone, "It's for you!"

Daisy adjusting Bud's straps... safety first!


Are you sure about this??

Let's go for it!

I love these two! Just precious! Firsts are so fun!!