the simple life

Trick or Treat!

For Halloween we did homemade costumes.  The original plan was to buy costumes, but Dustin has had truck problems for the past few weeks, and has missed several days of work to sickness and no vehicle, so our budget was cut drastically to zero dollars. :)

I felt like I was in a bad episode of Project Runway yesterday, when I realized that I had an hour and a half to complete 3 kids Halloween costumes, with zero dollars.   Oh, and the models were terribly impatient, constantly interrupting and cracked out on sugar from the day's earlier Halloween parties at school.

Ezra's was fairly easy. My parents sent this Razorback football costume to Julian last year, obviously in an attempt to see him beat up by children in Iowa football costumes. Ezra's pretty tough though, so if anybody could pull it off, it was him.  The hardest part about this costume was finding the darn shoulder pads, which ended up being in a Goodwill donation box on the porch.  Thanks for that, children.

The only negative part of his costume was that the shoulder pads kept shifting, giving him the impression of having breasts under his jersey, and his chin strap itched him after an hour or so.  He ended up taking that off and using it as his candy holder.

Annabelle considered being a kitty, a princess (always), a vampire pirate, or a ghost.  We went with ghost, because I found a solid white bed sheet in a box of old photo props. 

During the "fitting", she could see easily, but add in rain and strong winds, plus people in the mall constantly stepping on her costume and shifting the eye holes, and she pretty much walked blindly all night.  At one point, we were leaving a house to walk back to our car, and Annabelle was "floating" sideways away from us.  She had to be maneuvered by Dustin all evening.  It was really precious. At the end of the night, she said, "Mommy, I know you thought I was jokin, but I seriously couldn't see anything all night long."  Poor girl.  She gets extra candy, for effort and good attitude.

After ripping up the bed sheet for Annabelle's ghost, we switched Julian's costume from "Spooky Chef"  (a chef outfit that came with our play kitchen + a creepy ninja mask from the dress up box) to a mummy.  It was awesome.  One older man commented after entering the mall, "Now THAT'S a mummy!"

We did have to stop and re-tie strips all night, and he had to be immediately CUT OUT of his costume when we walked in the door so he could use the bathroom, so this is definitely a one-time use outfit only, but it ended up being such a fun and somewhat easy to make (and free!) costume.

Happy Halloween!

10 on Tuesday

1. I feel like I've been ripped off with this whole Autumn season.  We've already had snow, people.  SNOW.  Beginning of OCTOBER.  Boo to that.

2. Nearly all of October has been spent indoors, because we've all (all kids, and adults) had flu and strep throat.

3. Tonight, I demanded a tiny break from the madness, and left for the bookstore.  It's a good thing that Dustin was home early, because in my state of mind, I very well may have left the kids with or without a grown up. Not really, but it would have been tempting.

4. Well there's a cute boy:

5. Autumn redeemed itself a bit.  It was raining, but in a beautiful way, and I drove home from the bookstore with a clear head, new Iron and Wine CD blaring (thank you lovely library) and thoughts of a new Winter scarf that I am determined to make this week.  I NEED it, have I mentioned that we're already getting smatterings of SNOW!?  (Is smatterings a word?  Is it the word that I'm wanting to use here, because it doesn't look quite right.)

6. As I dug around the closet trying to find Julian's winter coat (which he affectionately nicknamed his "Puff Puff Pooh" jacket) I realized that the last time I remember seeing it was in APRIL, when he was wearing it to his first day of pre-K.  After some quick math, I realized that the winter coat is something that is worn 7 months out of the year in this lovely state.  Holy heck.   

7. However, I am still not giving up my flip flops.  I've been wearing MY puff puff pooh jacket + hat + flip flops.  I'm hard core like that.  ;) 

8. Something non-weather related:  Dustin and I made this in June, just after my computer tried to die and go to Computer Heaven, and I never got to share it here.  I still love it.  :)

I got the frames for $1.74 per 2-pack on clearance at Target when we lived in Austin.  I've been hauling them around looking for their purpose ever since.  Since I'm inept at quilt making, I made (with mucho assistance from Dustin) a picture frame "quilt".  I love it so much.  Just ignore the gappy places please.

9. One of Dustin's customers yesterday gave him a MEGA HUGE stack of old Martha Stewart Living's.  Most of them were ones that I have never had, so I'm in magazine ripping heaven. 

10. When we went to the apple orchard last month, we were admiring the cute sheep and watching the funny goats play when Julian cried out, "OH GROSS! THAT SHEEP HAS A BUTT!!!"  

Why yes son, yes it does.  

He quickly left the sheep pen and headed over to see some huge horses.  As they walked away from the fence he yelled, "OH MY GOSH, HORSES HAVE BUTTS TOO!!!"

I think he KNOWS that animals have butts, it's just the actual (and I'm sorry, b/c I hate this word, but it has to be used...) butt hole that freaked him out.  We spent much of the day finding all the things that had "butts".  You'd be surprised as to how many things there are...

p.s. Updated the blog with a simple new blanner...you can peek in to see it if you'd like :) 

remember this:

As I was taking the kids to school this morning, Annabelle said, "I think I'm going to start a club today." 

I was a little envious, as my plans for the day are never as fun and full of promise as starting a club with my best friends.

I'd like to start a club today too.  

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The second that Julian walks in the door, he heads straight for his art box.  He normally asks for a snack or to play video games (even though he KNOWS that Friday is video game day) or to play outside, but this week, he's very focused on art.  Drawing and book making, mostly. 

After 2 hours, he emerged with a cardboard box full of art projects that he was giving out as gifts.  He had a paper that listed our names, and which gift we were to receive.  As he was giving Ezra's gift to him, Ezra snatched up Annabelle's gift.  Julian became SO upset.

He yelled over and over to "GIVE IT BACK!" but Ezra did NOT care.

Julian pointed at his "gift list" and threatened, "EZRA!  If you don't give it back, you're gonna be X-ed OUT and you'll NEVER GET A PRESENT AGAINNNNN!"

I giggled at the use of the phrase "X-ed out".  I"m going to remember that one for the future.

I really love that it's impossible to jump on this big air pillow (at our favorite Apple Orchard) without making a funny face.

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Ezra: "I'm a mean robot and I'm going to cut your neck open."

Mama: "OH NO! Can't we be friends, mean robot?"

Ezra: "NO. I GOT TO DRIVE."

Mama: "Where are you driving?"

Ezra: "CHINATOWN."

We've made plenty of threats to "take you down to Chinatown", but this time, Ezra meant business.

Yesterday I was skimming through a thread on one of my message boards, and this photo popped up in a joke about angry puppets.  Ezra happened to be standing at the desk when I scrolled past this photo, and he said, "WAIT!  GO BACK!"  So I scrolled back up to see the photo. 

He made a quietish scared noise, "AHHHHH! ELMO ANGRY!  ERNIE CARY! (scary)"  As much as I tried to move on to a different website, he kept begging, "GO BACK!  GO BACK TO CARY ELMO!"  It was like watching a child discover for the first time that Santa's not real. 

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You may recall that Ezra can't pronounce his "S" sounds. Today when I turned off the TV to leave for Target, Ezra said, "Mama! Don't turn off the TV! That wuh my favorite ho!" (show) I'm sure Dora is many preschooler's "favorite ho".

Goodnight John Boy! Goodnight Tupidhead!

As I am putting the kids to bed, Annabelle and Ezra run back and forth between each other's bedrooms, still engaged in their game of "Kill the aliens".  Julian is under the covers wearing nothing but Lightning McQueen chonies and Diego house slippers.  He informs me that is how aliens dress. 

Hm.  I never knew that.

Julian closes his eyes and tells me, "Mommy, when I go to sleep, the only thing that will wake me up is true love's first kiss."

Somebody's been watching a little too much Shrek.

Annabelle calls out from her bedroom, "Goodnight little aliens!"

Ezra shouts back, "Bella, you a tupidhead!" 

Tupidhead, is now used as a term of endearment, as well as an insult.

We're not quite the Walton family, but we do have a more interesting bedtime routine.

P.S.  I realized after posting this that I hadn't shared here about Ezra's "tupidhead" obsession. 
Quoted from my facebook page:

"stupid head= Ezra's naughty word of choice. I hear it about 4 million times a day. When he's angry, when he's happy, when he wants a reaction from somebody. Sometimes he lovingly kisses me on the face and whispers, "Mommy? You...'re a tupidhead." And I say, "Ezra, can you say "S"? " and he can't, so I say, "Now who is the Tupid head?"

animal clowns

day 3:  guess who lost his first tooth?

there has never been a child more excited about losing a tooth, i'm sure of it.  :)

When he discovered that it was "wriggly" a few weeks ago, Annabelle told him not to pull it until he was in Arkansas.  Apparently the Arkansas tooth fairy pays more. 

On the 3rd day of school, Annabelle brought this magazine to me and asked me to fix her hair like the girl's on the cover.

Julian thought that was so hilarious, that he brought me a book called "Animal Clowns" and asked me to make him look like the frog.

Ezra brought me a copy of Woman's Day and asked me to make the cupcakes on the cover.

7 smiley things

little things that made me smile today:

1. happy bricks that live in my neighbors garden.

2.  this cute girl's ability to strike a pose in a second.  I literally said, "Hey Annabelle, can I take a picture?"  and she turned around with this.  And 3 other completely different poses in a matter of seconds.   

3. Ezra's harmonica playing.  My Mom sent him his own, so he'll stop slobbering all over Dustin's.  He found an Elmo book that plays "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", and pushed play, then played along with it on his harmonica.  After much trial and error, he can almost play the whole song.  He's got his Daddy's ear for music. 

4.  another unexpected smiley face, found on one of Dustin's tools.   

5. Julian's SUPER excitement about Kindergarten, and news of a fabulous 2nd day of school. Lordy, he's adorable.

6. My neighbor's kid came over today, sporting remnants of his dad's recently trimmed beard.  Hilarious, if not a bit gross.  (he glued the beard trimmings to a band-aid, and then applied the band-aid as a mustache)

As soon as Ezra saw him, he shrieked, "Hey!  You Mario!"  (Mario Bros.)

 

7. Finally, this lady makes me smile.  She drives her "Rascal-esque" (Dustin and I LOVE their commercial)  scooter like it's a car all over town, and occasionally walks her dog while riding.  There are a few other women that I've seen do the same thing, and they decorate their Rascals according to the upcoming holiday.  Their July 4th decor was fantastic.

p.s. I updated the blog with a new Summer look.  I don't *love* it, but it doesn't matter since I'll probably be updating for Autumn in a week or two.  :D

Happy Sunday!

more first day and ezra's awesome photo bombs

It was a dark, stormy morning.  I asked the kids outside to take photos, but it was raining too hard, so we headed to the porch.  Not a prime photo taking environment, but we did our best.

Notice Ezra's sweet face in each picture.  He wouldn't move.  Can you tell he felt a little left out this morning?

Isn't Ezra hilarious?  I have a few more pictures, none really worth posting, but he's making funny faces in every one.

Julian picked out his shoes.  They are so super sweet.  I expected him to pick out light up Mario shoes, or fast running tennis shoes, instead he chose these sweet, preppy, brown loafers.

He may not be able to run fast in them, but they are good for picking up the ladieees.

but then again, who needs shoes when you've got a face like this?

am i right or am i right?  or am i right? or am i right?  (movie quote trivia? from the first movie Dustin and I watched together before we were dating) 

anyways, it was a fantastic first day, both kids came home with smiles on their faces and stories to share.  this Mama can relax and not worry so much now, and instead focus on the little brother at home who feels incredibly left out and concerned about his big people while they are gone.

first day

no time to blog  yet, but a few pictures for the grandparents.  :) 

big tiger dweams

Last week Ezra woke up from a bad dream and walked into Annabelle's room.   He had a pouty face and slumped shoulders.  He said in his deep, nasally morning voice, "Bewwa, I have bad dweam.   I dweam BIG tiger chay me!"

She said, "Oh Ezra!  A big tiger chased you?  What did you do?"

He declared, "I POKE HIM IN DE EYE!" and made little jabbing motions with his finger.  

Judging by the ferocity in which he poked when re-telling this little dream to me later, I'd say Ezra won.  

That night, I was in the boys bed doing the bedtime routine.  After we read books, I sing the same 3 or 4 songs, give hugs and kisses, and then pray the same prayer.  They don't like me to deviate from it much, as it mostly consists of praying for good dreams and sweet sleep and fun days in the morning.

(Julian once misunderstood me say that he should "Play with Tata (his grandma)" and thought I said "Pray with Tata".  He stopped in the middle of my parents living room and said, "Jesus, I pray for Tata to have good thoughts and good dreams and SWEET sleep, so she can have a fun day tomorrow.  Amen." )

Anyway, on this particular night, I told the boys that I was getting sleepy and they should pray tonight.  Ezra laid his little hands on my face and said, "Jesus, Pway for Mama, have good dweam, and no dweam dat a BIG TIGER CHAY HER! Amen."

Little Farrell

My 7 year old asked for more "grown up things" for her room. When asked for an example, she said, "Oh, you know, maybe a Ben Harper poster or something?"

YES. YES YES YES, and also a poster that says, "I AM THE MOST AWESOME CHILD IN THE UNIVERSE". (that one's my idea, not hers)

Seriously, it was one of my prouder parenting moments.

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This morning, Ezra stripped completely naked and went streaking throughout the house.  He came downstairs to our bedroom, with the kids right on his heels laughing and pointing. 

I told Dustin, "I think he's channeling his inner Will Farrell."  (We always joke about how Will Farrell always ends up naked, or in his undies in all of his movies)

Annabelle, who has no clue who Will Farrell is, laughed hysterically and said, "Exactly!  He's definitely channeling his Little Farrell!" 

Um, I don't think I want to know what a "Little Farrell" is.  :D

You can never hold back Spring

The weather this week has been incredible. 
While Autumn has always been my favorite season, I've realized that I've never truly appreciated Spring because I've never experienced a long, hard, bitterly cold Winter.
Now that I have, Spring is definitely battling for first place in my heart. 

Remembering to when we moved here last April, I know that it is likely to snow at least once more before "Spring!" can truly be declared, but the blooming pink tulip trees, along with the yellow daffodils, orange tulips and 70 degree weather has given me a ridiculous amount of hope. 

During Ezra's nap, Julian played in the backyard, as I folded myself  up onto our mini-trampoline and read an appropriate book, "The Year of Pleasures", by Elizabeth Berg.  This month has been terribly stressful for Dustin and me, but lying there in the sun, with a good book and a sweet kid, all I could think about was how grateful I am for days like this, and how imperative it suddenly became to find the perfect red nail polish to paint my toes.  I like to do that every year when the weather turns  nice, isn't that silly?

{Ezra, (forehead bruise from head-butting Daddy) apparently disappointed in his choice of vanilla sprinkle, after seeing Annabelle's chocolate chip donut.  or doughnut.  whatever.}

Because it is "Super Friday!" we found ourselves at our local donut shop (one of many Friday traditions) after school, before heading to Sonic for half price drinks.  We then headed to a new park, hoping to enjoy every drop of sun possible.  It's such a nice change to play outside, after several long months spent indoors at Mall play areas.

On our way home we crossed a long bridge, where I saw an older man, shirtless, skin browned like old, tough leather.  Cap on backwards, and scruffy faced, he struggled to hold his bottle of water, ride his bicycle, and carry what appeared to be 4 or 5 fishing poles.  I still smile thinking about this man's determined face. 

It reminded me of my kids, on the first day that it was warm enough to play outdoors.  They struggled in their rain boots (it was still muddy, of course) to carry soccer balls and bicycles and tricycles and special "outside toys" to the backyard, as though they couldn't possibly narrow down their choices.  They were clearly trying to make up for lost time, and this man with his bicycle and bounty of fishing poles seemed to be doing the same.

Tooties.

 

Sitting in the recliner with the boys, watching "Max & Ruby".
Ezra stands up, puts his booty in Julian's face and farts.
He then sits down, calmly says, "Tooties." and continues watching cartoons.
Ahh.  Boys.

Lulu goes to "French"

One of Julian's birthday presents this year was a big "art box". 
He loves to create and we have a special art time every day during Ezra's nap.  He can cut and glue and staple and draw with markers for up to 2 hours every day, and he uses the ENTIRE 2 hours to make art.

He fights me over every single thing that I attempt to "recycle", b/c he can find some way to use it in one of his projects.

On this particular day, he made a "dress" for Annabelle's puppy Lulu.

It's a simple green construction paper smock, and he said that this is her "dress for wearing at home", and the other dress (the one that came with the dog) is for her to wear "When she goes to French."  (France)

I think he would be an excellent contestant on Project Runway in 15-20 years, don't you think?  :)

(his lips are terribly chapped, although they aren't the shocking shade of pink that they were last week.  poor boy)

diaries and private parts...

Annabelle is my little writer.  She journals daily for school, but she has started keeping a "diary" and a "writing journal" at home on her own.

It is so sweet to see her scribbling away all day.  For the past few nights I've gone to tuck her in and she has to finish "just-one-more-sentence" before lights out.

I heard her talking to Julian in the hallway yesterday.  She said, "Julian, you know how sometimes girls have things that nobody can look at. It's private and they don't want anybody to see it?  Well, that's what this is..."

I quickly stuck my head around the corner to see just what exactly she was showing him, and saw him looking at her blue puppy dog diary in awe.  I was more than a little relieved to see that they were talking about diaries and not other private things that girls have that nobody should look at...like purses...or junk closets. 

A few nights ago she asked Dustin if he would read to her out of some of his personal journals.  He has (literally) hundreds of notebooks that he's filled with writings and songs and thoughts and other scribbles.  They are very personal and private as he doesn't censor ANYTHING in his writing, but he grabbed one to read to the kids before bedtime.  

He told me, "Luckily I found one from the time when Annabelle was being born. I read a few things to her but had to skip over a lot."

I asked him what he had to skip over and he said, "Oh, you know, things like 'Mindi's in so much pain right now' and stuff like that..."

I said, "Well, she knows that it doesn't really feel GOOD to have a baby.  I don't think hearing that I was in pain was going to scar her or anything."

He said, "Well, okay.  Stirrups.  I skipped over the part about stirrups because I just didn't want to have to be the one to explain all that...stuff."  

It's good to see that he does know how to censor when he needs to.  

12 bits of randomness on a snowy monday evening

1. it's been snowing this week.  before this, we really haven't had much snow since before Christmas.  Cold, yes.  Snow, not so much.

2. i LOVE LOVE LOVE waking up to snow.  i wonder how long it will take to get tired of that feeling?

3. i made no plans to leave the house all day...until I saw in my Sunday paper that K-Mart was doubling coupons again.  Up to $4!   Made a quickish trip for a few necessities.

4. also picked up chinese food from Panda Express  and a movie.  Picked the movie based solely on the hotness of the lead male character, and have no idea what the movie's supposed to be about.
 that's bad, i know.  I hope i don't hate it.
  

5.  Dustin helped me with the overwhelming stack of dishes in the kitchen.  I miss having a dishwasher.

6. First week back on WW, and I rocked it.  9 pounds down!  Booyah! <---a word that is so not "me", but I use it a lot with a silly accent.

7. have an addiction to a new breakfast type meal, that I've eaten for Breakfast, lunch or dinner almost EVERY day this week.  Whole wheat english muffin (toasted), spread 1 wedge of light swiss laughing cow cheese on that, fry or scramble an egg and put on top of muffin, add 1 Morningstar veggie sausage.  Booyah.  Best meal ever, and I don't miss McDonald's sausage biscuits at ALL anymore.  I was addicted to those rotten things also.

8. Two  nights ago I was doing my grocery shopping, and got a panicked phone call from Dustin.  Ezra's fingers were smashed in the bedroom door, and looked HORRIBLE.  I took him to the ER.  He's okay now, but we were so worried that they might have been broken.  They were swollen like little sausages, and they guaranteed me that they would turn all shades of ugly colors, but the next morning they were perfectly fine.  Thank goodness.

9. Ezra tried to scare me with another ER trip by attempting to stick a beater from my hand mixer into an electrical socket.  Caught him just in time.  Little stinker. 

10.  Ezra also says a new word (as part of a song that he loves):  "Bamboleo"

11. Dustin said that he finally understood a complete sentence that Ezra spoke today while I was at K-Mart. "I want my mama." He's a mama's boy and I rub that in Dustin's face a lot. I love it. ;)

12. Look at this cute placemat. 
I bought it at Target (of course) and when I was drying it, part of it stuck to my window.  So I stuck the whole thing on the window.  And now the table needs one more place mat b/c this one is staying here for now.  The colors make me happy (and also keeps my backyard neighbors from seeing me from the neck up when I'm washing dishes). 

 

the truth about Santa: he's your UPS man.

so hi.  :)

I added my daily web cam photo album over there ----> 
today's photo is showing a peek of one of my favorite Christmas gifts this year (that is currently 30% off at Target right now, in case you want some too).  It's the cutest blue/green/brown fingerless gloves. 

I've never understood "fingerless" gloves.  The little fingers are what gets the coldest, right? Being down here in our cold basement in the evenings requires some little gloves, but typing in gloves usually looks like this.  LKSDJEIU OWDK".  
 So I pretty much wear these things all night and I can still type.    :)

Aren't they cute?  I got a matching hat too, but I had to return it b/c it didn't cover my ears.  (code for "my head is too darn big") 

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Annabelle had a really good Christmas.  She got several new pieces of jewelry which she is really looking forward to showing off at school, and she hasn't taken her new MP3 player out of her ears yet.  It's really cute to watch her bopping around and singing along with totally made up words. 

The thing that she's been asking for all year though, was a Barbie dream house. 
She was so sure that she would get it, and dropped several hints to Poppy and Tata, since she doesn't believe in Santa Claus.

It seemed to surprise a lot of our family that Annabelle didn't believe in Santa, but she came to that conclusion entirely on her own.  We were at my Aunt's house when she admitted that she thought Santa was fake.  Julian adamantly declared that HE BELIEVED! HE BELIEVED!  (He really does and it's the most precious thing.  As far as Annabelle goes, I don't think she's ever believed in Santa, so having a child REALLY BELIEVE is kind of adorable.)

My Mom said, "Annabelle, you really don't believe in Santa?"  and she said, "Nope."
Then Mom said, "But Madison believes in Santa Claus."
Annabelle said, "Not anymore.  I talked to her about it." 

So great, my kid is the one breaking the news to everybody about old Saint Nick.

On Christmas morning, we opened all of our gifts, when my brother CJ heard a "knock" at the door.  He went to the door, and said loud enough for us all to hear, "For Annabelle?  Okay, wow, I'll give it to her."

Annabelle ran into the kitchen to find a giant Barbie dream house box, and CJ said, "Annabelle, a man just dropped this off for you.  He had a big belly and wore a red suit and had a big white beard!"

Annabelle hugged my parents so tightly, hugged Uncle, turned to pose for a picture with her new gift, and I said, "Annabelle?  Who do you think this is from??"

She shrugged, still beaming, and said, "I don't know!  Some UPS guy with a big belly and white beard!"

safety first

Juju:   “Mama, what does a chimney mean?” Mama:  “A chimney means that a person has a fireplace or a wood stove or something inside their house.  The chimney is where the smoke escapes when the fire is burning.” Juju:  “Oh.  Mama, I was thinking of how Santa gets in chimneys, when you don’t have a chimney.  I’ve got an idea and my idea is safer.  Why doesn't Santa just start using the front doors?” Julian, you are wise beyond your years.  Safety first, Santa.  Safety first.

 

cotton ball tooties

Ezra's little pouty face, originally uploaded by mindibartell.

This is one of Ezra's pouty faces. Yes, he has more than one. He's like a french woman with those pouty faces. ;)

This one is when I tell him NO and he thinks I will change my mind if he gives me this pouty face. While doing this, he makes little sniffling noises, like he's about to cry.

Sometimes it actually works. He's so precious. :)

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I have to share a couple of quick funnies from tonight.

We were wrestling on my bed, and I jumped on Julian, and then Annabelle and Ezra jumped on me. Well, apparently Ezra farted and we all started laughing and saying "Ewwwww!" over and over. (because right now farting is one of Ezra's favorite "jokes". Farts and boogers, which he calls "bookies". such a little boy, i know)

Julian tried to blame the fart on Annabelle, and she said, "NO WAY! That was Ezra! It was too quiet, it had to be Ezra! It was so quiet, it sounded like a little cotton ball, falling out of a kitten's mouth."

WOW. THAT is quiet. So descriptive, right?

I asked her, "Well if Ezra's farts are so quiet, what do yours sound like? Bricks falling out of dog's mouths?"

She said, "No, my tooties sound like beautiful flowers, blowing in the wind."

That girl cracks me up. :)

The other funny was tonight before dinner, I asked Julian to clean up the dining room, and said, "Tell Bella to get a damp wash rag and wipe down the kitchen table. Julian, damp means it should be a LITTLE bit wet." (Because normally you can wring buckets of water out of their wet wash cloths).

Julian turned and yelled, "Annabelle!! BRING MAMA A DAMN WASH RAG!"

I love these kids.

scrappy feelings

I haven't scrapbooked in ages.  AGES. seriously.

Which is weird, because a huge majority of my "online friends" came to be because of scrapbooking.

I'm glad they all still seem to like me....  :) 

So I signed up with a group of scrappy friends to create a page for a 2009 calendar, and since I didn't have any printed photos, I had to do it all with photoshop.  Not my first choice b/c I have never done any kind of digital scrapbooking.   I decided to do something VERY simple, and the results weren't super terrible, so i'm happy to be done with that.

(we all chose a different cause to feature, and mine was for foodroutes.org's "Buy Fresh, Buy Local" campaign.  I think we'll be selling the calendar's soon, so I'll share a link as soon as I can!  You can click to see it bigger)

But the cool thing is that it sparked my desire to get some pages knocked out.  Julian was looking through Annabelle's scrapbooks, and then got to his tiny little book and said, "That's it??? Where's the rest of the pages?" 

And since Ezra doesn't even HAVE a scrapbook, well, big-time Mommy guilt inspired me to bust out the supplies.

Of course, it only makes since to start off with a page about Annabelle, but that's mostly because I didn't want to lose this little paper with her song written on it.

It's a bit rocky, but I'm feeling excited to scrapbook again.
Well, excited to buy new scrapbook supplies, mostly.  I have been on a spending freeze since I wasn't using any of it, but this definitely deserves a few new pieces of paper or some rub-on's or something.

Do scrapbookers still use rub-on's? 
I'm telling you, it's been a LONG time.

Feeding the frozen birds

i missed a day of blogging.  :(   i fell asleep in the recliner and didn't blog.  I'll make up for it with TWO posts today!

So, yesterday Julian decided that we should do something to feed the birds.
Not sure which birds, as the sensible ones have migrated long ago. 

But I had been a grump all morning and decided that if we could scrounge up some pine cones, we would make those peanut butter bird feeders.

We drove around the neighborhood until we spotted pine cones in a neighbors yard, flew out of the car and piled a few into Julian's hat, and ran home to complete our project.

Ezra wanted to help so badly, so I let him, but the poor boy couldn't resist the peanut butter.
Add the bird seed and he thought he had one amazing granola bar. 

I offered him fruit gummies and a real granola bar and he still preferred his peanut butter and bird seed pine cone. 

Annabelle was assigned to do 3 good deeds for Girl Scouts, so we decided that feeding the idiot birds who forgot to migrate was definitely a good deed :)

 

You shoulda seen the other guy ;)

Ezra's shiner, courtesy of Julian, November 2008

Details are fuzzy, as the little guy doesn't talk and the big guy isn't talking either. 

In other news: Ezra's moved into a big boy bed. 
Hello 6am, I haven't seen you in a while. 
I have to say, you weren't missed. 

Yesterday, he woke up and crawled into Annabelle's bed, which was the most precious thing.
Very unlike Ezra to wake up and go back to sleep without alerting the rest of the house first. 
Actually, it's very unlike ANY of my kids to do that.
Dustin too, for that matter.

Am I the ONLY person who believes in tip-toe'ing around when others are asleep? 
Maybe they just don't cherish the "alone time" like I do. 
 

goodnight :)

my hooman beeyeen

I mentioned a few days ago that Annabelle loves the cartoon, "Word Girl".

Well, Julian's most recent favorite is "Sid the Science Kid".

He just loves science and experiments, and creating inventions.  

Like Annabelle, he loves to try out new words and ideas on me.

Last week he walked into my office and said, "Mama, know what I am?  I'm a "homeo sampien". 

"A homeo sampien, eh?  Do you mean "homo sapien"? I asked.

"Lep (yep), I mean "homeo sampien".  That means I'm a hooman beeyeen".

He recently added "scientist" to his list of things to be when he grows up.

Julian at age 4 1/2  wants to be:

• a scientist
• a farmer
• a "bakerier"  (his new title for "bakery shop guy")
• a chef

a few Juju-isms

Just a few things about Julian that I don't want to forget:

*a chihuahua is a "Chiwala"
*he "weeds" things, as opposed to "needs" things
*weed-eater is a "meat eater"
*he still calls crafts "craps".  he no longer likes to play with the "crap box", b/c all that is left is pom poms and a few googly eyes.  he now prefers "Arting"  (painting)

 

Julian made this for me out of sculpey.  It's "Mermaid Mama".

(1)   One day Julian told me that he likes oranges because "they have vitamins and midrals in them"
Annabelle smirked and said, "Mama, he means minitrals". 

(2)  When I asked him what I should do about his sneaky behavior, he suggested that I take him to the doctor and let them look at him with a "bone TV".  After much explanation, I gather that a "bone TV" is an X-Ray machine.

 

(3)  I was writing an e-mail and Julian walked into the office and said, "Hey, whatcha writin?"

I told him that I was writing an e-mail, and then switched tabs to upload a photo to the blog.

He said, "Are you going to a different dot com?  And what does a 'dot com' mean anyway??"

For the record, I have NEVER used the words "dot com" to Julian, so I have no idea why he would know that terminology.

(4)  I came upstairs to find Julian walking to the trash can with an empty marshmallow bag in his hand.  When he saw me, he stopped, put on a very concerned face, and held up the bag for me to see. 
"Look what that sneaky Ezra did! I guess he can climb on the counters now."

(I know full well that Ezra cannot climb on the counters, nor open the cabinet and reach the highest shelf to get the marshmallows)

 

Julian made these "opera glasses"  (how the heck did he know what opera glasses are???) out of two ink pens, a small umbrella holder attachment, a bendy straw and some tape.

(5)  We were driving to Julian's soccer game last night, and Ezra got his feelings hurt and started doing a little fake cry/pouting noise.   Julian said, "Awww, Ezra's breakin my heart!" 

This is a phrase that I use a lot when Ezra's crying, and it was so cute to hear Julian use it too. 

I love this kid.  :) 

a close up of the "opera glasses"

Happy Halloween!

So after all the great input on Ezra's costume, I'll let you see what we decided on...

Ezra was  "The Greed of Wall Street"!  Scary, eh?  :D  

It's very similar to Julian's costume 2 years ago (he was "The Boss").

His constant demand for candy, and his impatience in eating the candy before wrappers could be removed, only solidified the "Greed" aspect of his costume.

The funniest part of the night was when we walked to one house and the lady asked what Ezra was.  
"He's the Greed of Wall Street.  You've probably heard a lot about him in the news lately !"  I joked.

She said, "Oh, I am very familiar with him.  I work for the Wall Street Journal!". 

Ironic, right?  

She thought he was adorable, and gave him a little extra candy...you know, to satisfy his greed.  :)

I apologize in advance for the terrible photos.   I was in a rush the entire day, and never really took time to take any good photos.  :(  

Here's the link to a few Halloween'ish photos! 

Autumn'ish things of the week

Autumn'ish things we did this week:

*Went to the pumpkin patch (same place as the apple orchard)  and took a hay ride around the farm.  Became a huge fan of their cider doughnuts. 

*Carved a pumpkin.  it was the kids first.  they "planted" about 8,000 pumpkin seeds. 
i'll be super excited if even one of those seeds grows us a real pumpkin.  :)

*Made a couple of loaves of pumpkin bread, and have eaten pumpkin bread with dinner, breakfast, snack, lunch, and seriously comtemplating having it for dinner again.  

*Planned our Halloween costumes  (thanks for all of the GREAT ideas!)  We've narrowed Ezra's costume down to two, and Annabelle changed her costume from a princess to a puppy.  I'm secretly excited, as this may be the last year where she won't be embarrassed to wear such a "little kid" costume

*Mapping out our "trick or treat" spree for the week.  Starting with a costume party before Julian's soccer game tomorrow night.   :)

*Had a nice campfire with our neighbors and a few of their friends last night.  Ezra wore my neighbor's cowboy hat and looked ADORABLE.  Considered switching his Halloween costume to a cowboy, because he was just so darn cute.

*Froze our toesies off at campfire.  The wind was ridiculous last night, and today's weather forecast calls for "possible snow flurries". 

*This southern girl thinks October is WAY.TOO.EARLY. to worry about "snow flurries".

*Worrying about our electric bill next month...

How about you?  How are you enjoying this lovely month? 

he's gonna be a socca playa (said in my best Adam Sandler voice)

He was nervous, and declared that he changed his mind and NEVER wants to play soccer, EVER. 
He quickly changed his mind.

It's his new favorite thing, and the hardest part was keeping Ezra off the court, and convincing Julian that it was time to leave.  I can tell that my soccer nights are going to be exhausting.

 

the kids after practice.  I bribed Ezra (during practice) with Juicy Juice, granola bars and a few smarties candies.  I can tell that this will become a habit.
look at that picture.  don't you want to gobble them?  i do.  often.

caramel apples

We made caramel apples last week.  I talked it up all day, but the kids weren't super excited about them, until they saw me dipping the apples into the caramel.

"OH MAMA!  THOSE ARE CANDY APPLES!" 

apparently my children didn't know what caramel was.  what kind of mother am I?

Julian helped decorate the apples with walnuts, chocolate chips, or coconut.  or all three!

and then, apparently, we were supposed to wait an hour for them to cool.  um, yeah right. YOU try telling this little bossy pants that we're going to just sit and stare at these apple treats for an hour.

Annabelle wants to "pose" for every single picture these days.  Her posing consists of a lot of cutesy smiles and hands on hips. 

but this little wrinkled up nose shows her real personality and i LOVE it.  i can't convince her to stop the fake posing, but i can sneak in a shot or two when she's distracted by "candy apples".

in thinking back, the last time that i can remember making caramel apples was with my Mom when I was in the 4th grade (or 5th?)!  It was for my first boy/girl party for Halloween and it was one of my most favorite nights of my little girl life. 

apple orchard

we went to an apple orchard today.  it was our first time and the kids were out of their minds with excitement. 

I won't post all the pictures here, but you can go to this album to view the pictures and a little commentary. 

a few of the things not pictured include:
*mini-petting zoo that Ezra LOVED
*rubber duck racing
*several little silly farm yard games
*our trip into the store to purchase honeycrisp apples!  the store smelled so sweet and warm, especially with the smell of homemade fudge and cider doughnuts in the air. 
*hay ride around the farm.  it was a 20 minute ride, and Ezra was ready to go, so we'll do that next time
*the big corn maze (i am not insane enough to attempt this alone with 3 kids)
*apple trees.  how did i not get one single picture of the tons and tons and tons of apple trees?  they were gorgeous
*Julian attempting to wear his "farmer's hat" to signal to everybody that he belonged here.  Coincidentally, it was "Farmer Days" this weekend. 

we got season pass tickets, so we're planning a few more ventures out there before the weather gets too cold!

If you're near Des Moines, I highly, highly recommend the Center Grove Orchard.

*fingers crossed* for peach trees

 

 last night we had the yummiest farmer's market peaches for dessert. 
 we also got a huge bag of apples (made apple crisp!  delicious!) local honey, which i'm obsessed with, raspberries & 3 huge gorgeous tomatoes that Julian has been eating with every meal

i've had a hard time getting back into the routine of eating vegetarian meals at home since our Arkansas trip.  Decided this week to just do it like last time, cold turkey.  ;)   Although it will be a little harder, since Dustin and I discovered a delicious authentic taco stand, less than a mile from our house. 

The kids have said that they're fine with eating mostly vegetarian, as long as they can still have bacon sometimes.   Wonder who they get that from? 

do you have a local farmer's market?  what did you buy this week?
Apparently September is a great month for Iowa produce.  I intend to enjoy  as much as possible this month :)

Dollar Tree Drama

I know better, really.   I avoid Dollar stores like crazy, because i know how quickly those dollars add up.  But tonight, I felt generous, and guilty.

You see, I promised the kids that if they were on their super duper best behavior while I ran an errand, and didn't make me want to leave them in the parking lot of Target, I would let them each pick out something from the Target $1 spot, a very fun and affordable (usually candy-free) treat.  win/win/win, right?

except for when they are switching out inventory and there is nothing worth looking at in the $1 spot.

i loaded up 3 disappointed kids into the car, promising something good.  something fun, something exciting, and realized that in all of my promising, i had over commited on my end, and nothing short of Chuckee Cheese would satisfy the kids now.  And knowing how much I hate Chuckee Cheese, I scoured every strip mall between Target and home, looking for ANYTHING that would turn the kids boring day into a super fun one.

and I spotted a Dollar Tree.

we walk in and the kids are mesmerized.  this is the BEST. PLACE. EVER.  there are lots of school supplies, and Elmo sticker books and light up toys, and CANDY!  Halloween and other fall decorations are coming out, reminding kids of one of our favorite seasons approaching, and the kids are just so happy.

I announce that they can each choose TWO things, instead of one, which results in outcries of "BEST MOMMY EVER" and "HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE"  (i'm lucky that my kids are pretty easy to please).

Annabelle, after much deliberation, decides on a toy trumpet and two toy flutes (to go with her favorite new yard sale find...a pink Barbie guitar!)  She is going to start an amazing band and needs all of the instruments that she can find.

Julian buys a two pack of remote control type cars and a cell phone.

Ezra picks about 30 things, but fortunately, his chubby hands can only carry 2 or 3 things.  He ends up going with a light up baton, that he uses like an old man cane, and a mylar balloon, declaring "Get Well Soon".  He also carries a pink Bugs Bunny ball that I secretly slide to the end of the counter, shaking my head to the boy behind the counter in the universal way of saying "I don't want this, but I don't want the baby to know that we aren't getting this". 

The kid behind the counter hasn't learned this sign language, and holds the ball up in front of Ezra asking, "You don't want this?"  thanks, man. thanks a lot.

We are all mostly happy and ready to go, and as I am digging in my purse for the hefty $6.35,  I realize that my wallet must have fallen out in the car.  I leave Annabelle and Julian next to the register with the goods, (as a line of probably 15 people wait ever so patiently for me to return).
Ezra and I run to the car to grab the wallet.  When I return and pay, Annabelle told me that if anybody had tried to hurt them while I was gone for 7 seconds, they were going to bludgeon them with Ezra's light up baton.  I loved that they took safety precautions while I was out of sight for such a short time. 

As we went back out to the car three things happened:
1. Ezra's balloon slipped off the string and floated lazily into the sky.  As Ezra sat in his carseat, he looked at the string wrapped around his wrist, trying to find where the balloon had escaped to.
2. Annabelle's trumpet made no noise, whatsoever.  Now, given the extremely loud noise of the flutes, this wouldn't have been such a big deal, but apparently a band without a noisemaking trumpet is no band at all.  So I take the trumpet, trying to see if something is blocking it up, and promptly snap off the top of the trumpet.  instant trash.
3. Julian opens his cars to find that they require some super special type of battery that we don't keep in stock, and lucky us! the batteries are NOT included.

Shortly after, the car was filled with two flutes blowing noisily, a surprisingly loud beeping cell phone, and Ezra's discovery that his baton is just long enough to hit me, Bella and Juju in the heads with very little effort on his part.

I did consider breaking the remaining three toys, while the kids slept tonight, until I pulled up this blurry photo on my computer of Julian playing one of the flute's tonight in a one-man parade the front yard.

Watching his crazy dancing and flute playing all around the neighborhood was worth a lot more than $6.35. 

Dollar Tree, it will be a cold day in you-know-where before we visit you again, but it's good to know that you are there if i want a 1 in 6  chance of finding a fun toy for my kids.

Pottery Barn episode

i don't know why i walk into Pottery Barn Kids.  I know that the second that I enter the doors, my mind is going to start buzzing and running and scheming and severely underestimating how much things actually cost. 

we enter the store and Ezra wants OUT. RIGHT. NOW. 
he sees a mini shopping cart and lunges for it.  he zips around the store like a crazy woman during those after Thanksgiving sales.  he fills  his cart with cloth sandwich and banana toys, wooden pots and pans, the occasional flip book.

Eyebrows raise all over the store.  Look at that poor woman with her wild children.  Let's hope they don't steal anything.

i notice nothing.  NOTHING.  because my eyes are focused solely on the new line of girls bedding.  it is perfect.   colorful, beautiful little trees.  my most favorite thing.

it would be like sleeping on scrapbook paper, only softer and more resistant to drool.

i want it so badly, but all i see are crib sheets.

"Does this come in a larger size?"  A question that, for once, I have no shame in asking.

"Yes, they're over here.  The largest is a Queen".

Oh holy mother. 

The sales lady smiles at Annabelle, who is currently sprawled across a green polka dot bed with a stuffed bulldog and a toy phone. "This is MY room Juju, and yours is over there with the firetrucks in it!"

Julian needs no more instruction, he zooms across the store to his bunk bed, climbs on top and tries to touch a hanging airplane, while banging these awesome but obnoxiously loud bells.
  

The lady asks Annabelle, 'Do you like trees?"

Annabelle raises an eyebrow, and I quickly mention, "I'm not looking at this for her, this would be for MY bed!"

The lady chuckles until she realizes that I'm serious and begins looking at me like maybe I shouldn't be out of the house alone, and do you have papers that say it's okay for you to have these children with you?

but seriously. look at these sheets. 

and the quilt with the stitched trees and flowers and occasional birdie.

the owls are a bit much....unless you are the a little girl, who they are intended for.  but look at the cute sham :)  oh i love trees. and color.  and sheets that cost way more than their thread count would indicate.

so i will wait until they go on sale, and realize that the only thing left at the affordable price is a stupid dust ruffle for a crib, and sigh and look at these pictures and think about what could have been.

and Dustin will be thankful that he escaped sleeping in a bed made for an 8 year old princess.
Pottery Barn Kids, I love you and I hate you.

this week in arkansas:

this week i've:

*bought a copy of "Breaking Dawn" at midnight, and read the book cover to cover in a few stolen hours in the evening.

*the last time i went to a midnight release for a book, it was here in Arkansas also, and it was for Harry Potter.  my dad rolled his eyes, obviously unimpressed with my love for Harry Potter.  when he asked what this book  (Breaking Dawn) was about, i hesitantly said, "vampires and werewolves".  another exaggerated eyeroll.

*lots and lots of family from California, Georgia and Texas came to visit for the weekend.

*we spent many late hours visiting, playing board games and watching a new generation of cousins interact and play (and fight).  also, drinking an interesting assortment of mixed drinks.  (what could we do with diet 7 up to make it taste better?  vodka and sunny delight.  sweet.)

*took an army of children to the local pool, got nice and brown.  love my little pink cheeked, sun kissed kids

*enjoying some lovely thunderstorms.  Annabelle declares that a tornado is coming at every wind gust.

*not enjoying the 110+ heat.

*became addicted to Guitar Hero 3.  i'm not a video game person, and haven't been so obsessed with a video game since Tetris. 

*falling in love with a boy named Jonas.  he's delicious.

*dealing with a very jealous Ezra.

*undoing all of Julian's random organization projects.  found a plunger in the office last night. 

*took the kids to a local arcade type pizza place.  the kids dubbed it "Little Chuckee Cheese"

*back to school shopping for Annabelle.  can i just request non-baby clothes for a 6 year old, without Hannah Montana or High School Musical on it?  also, no stupid phrases like "too hot for you", or "tell your boyfriend i said hi". 
seriously.  she is SIX YEARS OLD.

*groomed Charlie MYSELF.  realized why having somebody else do it is SO WORTH the $35.
took my little helpers (Juju, Bella and Madison) out for ice cream treats afterwards as a thank you.

*lots and lots of Cruizzers (local drive in place) drinks.  they really are so much better than Sonic, and i love Sonic.

*filing taxes.  finally. 

*enjoying the random garden gifts from neighbors and friends.  more sweet corn please!

*also enjoying my Dad's nightly dinner creations.  he's becoming quite the cook.  Ezra and I request more asparagus almost every day.  it's THAT good.

*waiting and waiting and waiting for CJ's arrival.  (TUESDAY!!!!!!!!)

*MISSING MISSING MISSING dustin.  so very much.

*also miss keeping up with my online friends.  i miss you guys and i'm sorry that my email and blog have been so neglected this week.  slowly but surely, i'm trying to catch up and hopefully things will be back to normal after we are back in Iowa.

i'll try to add some pictures tonight, but no promises.  ;)

a place for everything

julian 2, originally uploaded by mindibartell.

*sorry for the old photo, i have none on mom's computer so i swiped this one from flickr*

i've mentioned before that Julian is a big fan of organization.

he enjoys cleaning his room, although much less cleaning is done than i would hope, as much of Julian's attention is focused on "arranging things".

since being in Arkansas, Mom said that she comes home from work each day to inspect the house, looking for objects that have been "organized". she has found things that were hidden in the deepest, darkest cabinets that she was sure was out of the kids reach, now plainly on display. my Mom, a confessed pack rat, has sadly announced defeat, telling Dad that she has no more hiding places, all being found by Julian in the name of organization.

if the bathroom mats look good in the bathroom, imagine how great they will look around the bed in the guest room!

why are you hiding this gigantic jar of change? we can display it proudly on the entertainment center, with handfuls of coins lying around it to sparkle gloriously!

objects from the fridge have been moved to cabinets under the sink, bathroom cleaners moved to dressers, everything should have a home and Julian has spent much of his time here finding BETTER homes for everything. EVERYTHING.

he really outdid himself today though. since my parents don't have a fenced yard, Charlie has been placed on a long line, that is located at the front of the house, alongside a dog house and several bowls of water. this morning, before everyone was awake, Julian busied himself feeding and watering Charlie, playing games with his new dog toys, and just being a big helper.

30 minutes later, Annabelle walked outside to play with Charlie, only to return near tears, exclaiming "Charlie's GONE! GONE!! He's not in his house, his chain isnt even there anymore!!!!!"

After searching frantically, sure he had run away, we found Charlie, toward the back of the house, with his line wrapped around a tree, food and water relocated to a cooler part of the yard. When we questioned Julian he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Charlie just looks better there."

my little activist

My parents visited this week, for a couple of days and then returned to Arkansas with the two big kids.  Dustin has been pouting for the last 24 hours, occasionally walking down the hallway muttering, "Where's my Jujee?  Where's my baby girl?"

*photo by Annabelle

Fortunately he has a baby monster (ezra) and a yard full of baby bunnies to keep him occupied.

While my parents were here, we introduced them to the bunnies, by bringing one inside.

My dad made several "animal eating" jokes, mostly at my expense.  Since switching to a mostly vegetarian diet, I haven't tried to eat in an actual restaurant, so it was fun trying to find something on the menu at say...Dave's Famous BBQ joint, or a local Mexican place. 

So he made several jokes about the bunnies, mostly revolving around "Rabbit Stew!", and talking about how his Granny could whip up something amazing with those little guys.

The kids took his joking to heart, and Annabelle began to lecture him on the poor manners of people who kill living things.  (this from the child who had bacon and chicken strips earlier that day)   Julian, however, took a different approach. 

He ran downstairs and grabbed a few notecards, and "wrote" several notes to Poppy.  He returned upstairs and said, "Poppy, I made something for you and ONLY you."

We thought it was going to be a sweet birthday card or something along those lines. 

Instead, it was a notecard with 6 stickers of baby animals (rabbit, chicken, duck, etc.).

Apparently this was a list of animals that Julian didn't want Poppy to kill or eat anymore.

The notes included several small drawings of Poppy loving animals and a giant exclamation mark (to show that he was serious).

on the drive to the BBQ place, Julian piped up (quite randomly) to say, "I don't like to eat on the side of candy.  I like to eat on the side of healthy things.  Like my favorite foods are tomatoes and avocadoes and berries and corn on the cob...(and continued listing all of the healthy foods that he could think of)    Upon entering the restaurant, however, he launched into a campaign about why I should give him quarters for the gumball machines.

He really made us laugh with all of his little healthy "nagging". 

Later that night, Dad made another joke about the rabbits and Dustin threatened him with  "Don't make Juju get out the animal flash cards again!"

three little bunnies!

look what we found yesterday... (insert high pitched squealing here)

i was in my office and i heard some tapping at the window.  i assumed it was a bird, because they fly into the window a lot, but when i looked over, i saw a tiny baby bunny thumping to get inside. 

my office is in the basement, and there is a deep enclosed pit like thing around the window to allow light inside, so the bunny must have fallen inside this pit.  it's hard to describe, sorry.

anyways, i told Dustin what i saw, so he went outside, and next to the pit like hole, he saw a little baby bunny under our electric meter.  he caught the bunny and we all went crazy for it. 

Dustin is so much like a kid when he sees baby animals.  he is convinced that we can take care of it and keep it as a pet, regardless of whether it is a bunny, a bird, a baby snake (ick).  he went CRAZY for this little guy though. 

i told him that i saw the Mama bunny (who is ALWAYS in our yard)  hovering around the window, and i'm sure she wants her baby back, but Dustin was convinced that the Mama kicked the baby out of the house, and told it to go live on it's own now. 

after much loving of the baby bunny, we took him back to find his Mama, when we saw ANOTHER baby bunny in the corner of our porch.

so of course, we had to hold it too.  this one was a little smaller and much more nervous, but i cupped her in my hand and held her close to me and she calmed down immediately.  oh they were sweet.

the kids (Dustin included) were begging begging BEGGING to let us keep them, but I saw the Mama eyeballing us from the corner of our yard, so we decided that they could be our "Yard Pets", along with the baby bird we found a few weeks ago, and we placed the bunny back under some bushes so the Mama would find them.

and then Dustin remembered the bunny that i had seen outside my window, so he hopped down in the pit thing, and sure enough, buried and hiding under a pile of leaves, was the third baby.  he scooped the baby up, the kids begged to hold it one last time, and then we released it to be with it's family.  the cutest was watching them hop, they were just so tiny.

we went  back inside so the Mama could tend to her babies, and as I left the house to run an errand, I saw the three babies and the Mama under the bushes, snuggling and hopping around.  i think we'll enjoy these yard pets quite a bit.  :)

i'm not pulling a george washington, i don't want to CUT the tree...

in a nearby town, surrounding a small city hall/police department, there are about 12 cherry trees, full and ripe with cherries.  it doesn't appear that anybody picks the cherries, as there are cherries all over the ground, and really heavy branches full of cherries.

would it be wrong for me to pick them?  should i ask permission first, and if so, whose?  the receptionist at the city hall?

the kids go crazy, begging to pick the cherries every time we see them, but i always say no. 
i really want some cherries.  :)

what would you do?

this is juju's pouty face, because i told him no to the cherry picking.  there was nobody in the office to ask permission from on this day)

this was on a Farmer's Market day. 
yes, i let the kids pick their own clothes.
Julian wears this hat to Farmer's Markets, hoping the farmer's will recognize him as "one of their own".

**typepad is doing weird sharpening things to my photos.  i am not enjoying typepad's upgrades as much as i thought i would**

july 4th in summary

a good day including:

1.  a picnic with an impromptu (self-timer) photo shoot

**Dustin had been doing yard work with the kids, so he was not so interested in a family photo, but i insisted.  and i usually win. 

2. S'mores

3. fireworks  (not really, just "snakes" and sparklers).  
 
4. many many declarations that this was the "best day ever" before the kids went (quite easily) to sleep.

Julian sang a very sincere,  "Happy Holidays", (a made up song for the 4th of July), while roasting his marshmallows.

we also had frozen watermelon balls treats. 
instructions on how to make them found on my new (work in progress) food blog! :)
check it out here: eating elephants!   not sure if i'm loving wordpress, this may move to a different location in the future, but for now it works. :)

happy saturday! 

bleach, it does a body good. i hope.

i love hearing all of your summer loves!
**all of you bloglines and google reader users need to click through more often and say hello, i miss you guys!  (and i realize that i am preaching to myself, as i am an avid google reader user.  i promise i'll do better.)**

as you may know, i'm a compulsive list maker, and a huge lover of seasons.  i have notebooks full (from as early as junior high) of lists of things i love, and among my most FAVORITE lists, are lists of my favorite things about each season!  Autumn is my absolute favorite!

*did you follow that run-on sentence?
*did that run on sentence reveal too much of my junior high nerdiness?  because i really thought i was cool in jr. high, but i'm coming to realize more and more each day, that i was NOT.

so among all of the lists,  several of you mentioned swimming pools, and it reminded me of something super cute, although a little hazardous, that happened last week.

i have been trying to clean with "natural and safe and cheap" cleaning products, like vinegar and baking soda, but after Dustin's refusal to enter any room that has a vinegar-y aroma, combined with the disgusting kids bathroom, i broke down and grabbed my bottle of bleach/water mixture.

i spritzed down the bathroom, top to bottom, scrubbed vigorously, opened the bathroom window, and called it good.

a few minutes passed, when i realized that the children were eerily quiet.  i heard a few giggles coming from the bathroom, and fearing that they were destroying my hard work with muddy feet and hands, i threw the door open to find Annabelle and Julian breathing deeply and flapping their arms around wildly.

"What are you doing?"  I asked, as the smell of bleach took over my senses.

"IT SMELLS LIKE A SWIMMING POOL IN HERE!!!!"  they both declared happily.

Annabelle cupped her hands and did her best to get more of the bleach filled air into her nostrils before I threw them out of the bathroom and checked their vitals to make sure that a doctor trip was unnecessary.

Dustin's a little paranoid when it comes to our kids and toxic chemicals, so I mentioned it to him only after determining that the kids were completely unharmed.

Where was Ezra during all of this?   Downstairs eating toothpaste.

Along with my jr. high nerdiness, I may also be realizing, as I type this post, that I am not a very good Mom.  Either that, or my kids have some weird pica-like behaviors.

food photography gone wrong

i am slightly obsessed with photographing food.

my kids do not understand why.

annabelle and julian mostly ignore this obsession, but ezra.  oh ezra.  he has such a hard time understanding why the food strewn about the living room or dining table or whatever is not to be eaten.

which is why i usually have one chance to get a picture that i want, such as:

before this happens:

there's another funny picture of his little chubby hands sneaking a pear, in my new blog banner! 
yes, i've finally cleaned up the blog a bit for a fresh, summery look.  if you're reading through a blog reader, click through and check it out! :)

and while you're here, stop in, say hello and tell me what your favorite summer treat is!
mine is berries, (especially raspberries), which is why i currently have about 298 photos of berries on my computer to sort through...most of them with ezra in the background, trying to sneak a few bites. ;)

happy thursday :) 

whew!

sorry bout that, we had a little internet disruption and i'm so happy to be back online, especially because i got to see new 4D ultrasound pictures of my little baby nephew!

coming soon! 
he keeps his hand and foot smooshed up against his face at all times.
he has lots of hair.
he looks like his Daddy, as far as we can tell.
he will possibly be baby "Jonas" or "Jonah". 
i'm going to attack him with kisses and my camera at the soonest available moment, just you wait.

a little rundown on us:

*Dustin's had the flu for about 4 days now.  ugh. 

*Charlie has joined the "late night club" that was reserved for my night owl, Ezra, and my occasional bed-wetter, Juju.  Charlie has decided that 2 am is the most appropriate time to bark and howl to be let outside to pee, and then beg for a treat. 

*planning a trip to Arkansas to meet my new nephew in a couple of weeks, plus my bff Mika had a sweet baby girl last week that i cannot wait to meet!  love "baby" season, especially when i'm not included.

*annabelle and julian have been begging for a picnic, so tonight we ate watermelon outside with the mosquitoes, and then left some leftover watermelon for a mama rabbit and her two babies that live in our yard.  they LOVED the watermelon.  i sure hope that watermelon is an appropriate food for bunnies...

*googling watermelon & bunnies

*lots of chalking going on

*bought S'mores fixings for this week.  the kids have been playing "camping" a lot this week, so i plan to surprise them with a little campfire (maybe that will ward off a few of the vampire mosquitoes too)

*Julian can spell and write his first name.  if you understood Julian's temperament, you would be as amazed as I am.  spent a few dollars at the Target $1 spot on a couple of workbooks for the kids (pre-reader for Julian and phonics for Bella) as well as an eraseable placemat with capital letters of the alphabet on one side, and lower case alphabet on the other.  Julian loves copying words that i write out for him, so maybe this will be fun for him too.   also a US and world map.  the kids LOVE LOVE LOVE maps.  Annabelle was quite proud to find China on her own.  Julian wanted to call Poppy with directions for the shortest route from Arkansas to Iowa.  "Just go straight up!"

*Annabelle is about to lose another tooth and she is quite dramatic about it.

*fun errands tomorrow!  (farmer's market & library)

*During a phone call, Mom mentioned to Julian that we would have a pool party for (cousin) Madison's July birthday.  "Would you like a pool party, Julian?"

Julian screamed, "THAT SOUNDS LIKE A PERFECT IDEA, TATA!!" 
He was quite proud of Tata for coming up with such a brilliant idea like that, on her own.

Ezra talked to Tata (about Elmo) for a few minutes and then said "Tata Tata Tata" all night long.  (I hope nobody thinks he's talking about boobs as he randomly babbles about "Tata's" in the grocery store)

I said, "Yes Ezra.  Tata.  Tata.  and Poppy.  can you still say Poppy?"

Ezra smiled at me and barked.

"No Ezra, not PUPPY.  POPPY."

another bark.

An Arkansas trip is definitely needed.  :)

Julian's cafe

i made it to bed at 6:50 this morning, and woke up to Julian asking for breakfast at 7:30.

i told him that there were three new green pears in a bowl on the counter and he could have one of them for breakfast.  he asked if there was anything else, and in my sleep deprived state, i muttered, "just get anything you want that you can reach."

so when i woke up at 9am with Ezra's help, i was a little surprised to find the entire kitchen floor covered with shelled sunflower seeds, which i keep in a pretty high cabinet.

Julian took the great task of "kitchen chef" to heart, and prepared a feast for himself and Annabelle.

they each had a juicy pear, a handful of walnuts and sunflower seeds, and a bowl (which he retrieved from the cabinets himself) full of dry cereal.  then he took the last small bottle of their yogurt drinks, and poured it in fair amounts into two small cups for he and bella.

it was a mess, but his insistence on preparing everything without help for the two of them was really precious.

Superhero medals are the new necktie

so dustin was actually working today, when he came home for the second day in a row, with a major rash/blisters covering his arms, plus dizziness, disorientation, shortness of breath.  lots of weird, not cool issues. 

we've had SEVERAL really huge problems in the past few months with Dustin's job, that I haven't mentioned here, just because the last time i got into the habit of talking about all the crapola stuff (our business being robbed + dustin's accident + being screwed by insurance companies)  this blog got really sad and depressing and i just decided to stop talking about it.

however, not talking about it definitely doesn't mean that the problems have gone away.  they've definitely intensified, quite possibly tripling in size, and i just have to say that despite all of that, dustin's been a MAJOR trooper. 

a few nights ago, talking to our neighbor who works in a somewhat similar field, Dustin learned that in some companies, hard work and loyalty are actually honored, sometimes with bonuses, sometimes with raises, and in the case of our neighbor, a medal of appreciation.

Dustin came home and said, "K got a medal.  a MEDAL.  for being a good worker.  I'm an excellent worker!  I work my butt off, 6-7 days a week, from morning to night and i've never gotten a "good job", much less a MEDAL!"

he was saying it in a joking, pouty way, but it really did make him a little envious. and rightly so.  not because of K's achievements, but because of the unfair way that he's been treated recently by ego driven, thieving boss men.  (can you pick up on my frustration?  sorry, i really have kept it pent up a long time)

anyways, as Dustin slept in the next room covered in burning rashes and trying to convince himself that the Emergency Room wouldn't be necessary, and trying to not be angry at a manager that said, "can't you at least finish your first job?", I decided that Dustin needed a medal.

I brought the kids into the office during Ezra's nap, and we rolled and smooshed up balls of Sculpey (fimo clay stuff).  we fashioned our little medal, and then baked it until it was hard, and then tied a big red ribbon through the hole.  we baked homemade brownies, and the kids drew pictures and wrote letters, and then we waited in anticipation for Dustin to feel well enough to come see our surprises. 

I told the kids to keep it a secret, not to tell him anything.  So Julian, playing it cool, walks into Dustin's room and says, "Hey Daddy.  Do you smell what Mama's cooking for you for Father's Day?  It's hot dogs and you can have as MANY as you want!" 

then he and bella giggled crazily and said, "come on daddy!  let's go get your "HOT DOGS!" 

Dustin feigned shock when he saw that it was actually warm yummy brownies,and then oohed and aahed over every sweet picture and love note.

and then Annabelle said, "here daddy, you deserve this medal because you're our #1 Daddy!"

Dustin was so sweetly surprised, and said, "That's it, I'm coming to work for you!"

he said he's going to wear it to work tomorrow.  i really hope he does.  :)  all the other dad's wearing their father's day neck ties are going to feel so inferior.  :)

oh yeah, and the kids also built Daddy a "Kingdom", but i made them take it apart immediately at the thought of Charlie being crushed by the falling bricks.

and before you ask, Yes, the kids DO dress themselves, and NO, our yard hasn't seen a mower in almost 2 weeks. 

so i guess i'll wrap this up with a huge Happy Father's Day to all the papas out there, especially my Dad, the Big Poppy.  It was good to talk to you today, and the kids can't WAIT to come see you and mom next month :)  We love you so much!  Happy Papa's Day!

swing set

Several weeks ago, I told Dustin that we NEEDED to buy a swingset for the kids.  The empty house next door has an old rusty swing set in the back yard, but I just didn't feel comfortable letting the kids play on it.  The kids were growing tired of going outside to play with..well, dirt.  What can I say?  We haven't had a yard in a loooong time, so we don't have many outside toys.

So last week, we found a decent deal on a swing set, Dustin picked it up and stayed up until 3 am putting the thing together to surprise the kids when they woke up the next morning.  What a good daddy.


However, the weather decided to go all "Flash Flood Watch" on us, and the kids spent the next 2 days looking out the windows, so sad over finally owning a swing set that they couldn't play on. 

After a few tornadoes and a LOT of rain and lightning, the sun broke through and along with it, happy smiles from HAPPY HAPPY kids.
 

 
learning how to swing without being pushed :)  it was really sweet to watch them try to teach each other, when neither knew how to do it.

bad faces

Julian came downstairs this morning and said, "Come on Mama, Ezra needs you.  He has a bad face on him."

A perfect description for Ezra and his recent bout of crankiness.

and this is a little glimpse of Ezra in his favorite spot, hanging out on the front (enclosed) porch, watching birds and cars and pedestrians travel back and forth in front of our home.

green drinks and sunny days

the weather this week has been amazing. simply amazing. 
the nights are cool, i usually wear a hoodie in the evenings if I'm running errands, or hanging out downstairs in the office/basement.  the days are sunny and warm, but not hot. 
if i could find somewhere that stayed like this year-round, i would SO be there.
so, a lot of our month has looked like this:

today i moved the kids IKEA tent outside (weighted down with bricks since it was really windy), and they played for hours in that thing.  they made the wagon into a "train" and traveled to Mexico.  they were hikers and they lived in the mountains, and they were forest animals.  i love that i have a window overlooking the backyard so i can hear all the wild stories and play going on while i cook and wash dishes and just putter around the kitchen.

ezra's little rubber boots make me smile every single day.

i've spent a LOT of time in the kitchen this month.  our kitchen is so very tiny, but it's a pretty cheerful place at times. especially now, for Mother's Day, Dustin spent nearly 10 hours just cleaning and organizing this tiny, but busy room, and everything is so much more efficient now. 

i've been doing a lot of baking, more than usual, which i love, but there are lots of new things going on in there too.  for starters, we've been juicing and making lots and lots of smoothies.  several years ago, Dustin and I bought a Juicer, and it honestly didn't get a lot of use.  I realize now, that I didn't think outside the box much.  Apple juice, carrot juice, the occasional apple/carrot combo.  ha!  quite creative, eh?  but several months ago, I was reading Carrie's blog and saw the weirdest juice combo,  and followed some links for the recipes here, and for some reason, i got the itch to drag the juicer out a few weeks ago and give it a try.  the kids LOVE it.  i love it, Dustin loves it.  i am so shocked because i am such a picky eater, but the taste has been amazing.

the kids favorite is spinach/mango/strawberry, but they honestly haven't had anything that they haven't liked (*yet) 

i like to clean out the fridge and throw bits and pieces of everything to try new things (and get LOTS of healthy food into one day).  the wildest one was:
spinach + celery + cucumber + carrots + grapes + strawberries + lemon + orange, and then a banana in the end for the kids (i am allergic to bananas).  it was wildly delicious (though not very pretty) and i used up a lot of produce that was about to go bad.  sweet!

the only thing i do differently (which causes quite a bit more mess), is i add the final juice project to the blender with ice, and a few other things which don't yield as much juice (bananas, for instance) but add to the taste, and it's just so good.  if i had an easier to clean juicer, i would do this daily.  as it is, it takes about 20 minutes of clean up after I'm done, and so we generally juice 4 or 5 times a week instead. 

the best thing is I make extra, freeze it in these little jell-o mold containers, and after dinner the kids finish that off like "sorbet" for dessert.

   big thumbs up from Juju :)

all of this juicing and blog reading has lead to me reading a lot of Vegan and Raw Food blogs.  as I read some of the stuff these people make EVERY DAY, i realized that being a vegetarian wouldn't be nearly as hard as i once thought it was.

**a few exceptions would be my brother's cooking and my dad's barbecue, i'm still thinking i would totally cave in those situations**

sooo, all that to say, i've started eating a vegetarian diet.  the kids do mostly as well, but they just don't know it.  annabelle still has random non-veg meals at school and if they are out with Dustin, they get whatever if they want it, but at home, i have stopped cooking and buying meat.

Dustin's okay with it, he's eaten strictly vegan in the past so it's not a huge leap for him, but none of us (at the time) are real vegetarian activists or anything, we're still testing the waters.  plus he has a lot of customers give him delicious venison jerky, and so that is something he won't turn down, for sure. 

in doing this, i realized that one of the main things that i HATE about cooking (besides clean-up) is cooking meat.   i hate the smell, i hate to touch raw meat, i hate  the extra mess, all of it.   eye opening, eh?  since I've eliminated that burden, cooking hasn't been so bad, and at times, has even been therapeutic.  plus Spring produce is my FAVORITE, so that makes it all easier. 

i have a few vegetarian cookbooks that are SO good, and that helps, plus the internet is FULL of blogs and websites loaded with yummy (and some not-so-yummy) ideas. 

i guess i've rambled enough about that for now, but it's been one of the activities consuming me lately, so there's that.   i'll try to post more (but less) tomorrow.  ;)  goodnight!

"i'm a little I-pot..."

at the breakfast table this morning, Annabelle says, "Mom, when I am 18, maybe 20, I'm going to get an ipod."

"oh really?"  i ask, amused.

"yep.  a pink one!"

"and what does one do with an ipod?"

"um....well....i think it's kind of like a phone."

Julian then piped up, in his high pitched, super excited voice, "I KNOW WHAT YOU DO WITH AN I-POT!  You put tea in the i-pot and then pour the tea out of the i-pot into little cups!!!!"

"Um, good thinking Juju, but I think you're talking about a TEA pot."

"Oh.  Well, I don't think I know what an I-pot is."

since last time:

since i last blogged:

20th    **almost completed unpacking and arranging Annabelle's bedroom             
             **repaired a badly damaged toy box and lid ALL. BY. MYSELF.   
              **basked in my awesomeness of being such a "handygirl"
             **Skyped with family, regarding Jocelyn's Elmo birthday party

      

{photo swiped from my sisters Myspace.  she and her husband made these cute elmo cupcakes and i LOVE them!}

                  **missed home badly
                **Dustin's work truck was parked on the street in front of our house, as I decided that I deserved to park in the close parking spot.  It was vandalized while we were sleeping, some work tools were stolen and a window broken, and some expensive equipment that he's responsible for was left on the ground in the rain.
                  **felt really bad, and have since relocated my car (that has an alarm) back to the crappy spot so Dustin's poor work truck can be parked close to the house.

 

21st    **completely set up our surround sound system  ALL. BY. MYSELF.  a task normally reserved for Dustin who is working much too hard to be bothered with a surround sound system and a broken toy box.
            ** once again, basked in my awesomeness
                **ate some delicious "deer jerky"  that a customer gave Dustin.  the last time i had deer jerky was in 2nd grade, when Kirk Holder brought some to share with our class.

22nd   **celebrated Earth Day by buying a Starbuck's mug that i've had my eye on.

            

             **listened to Annabelle's poignant question of "Why do you think Earth Day means you get to
                   buy things for yourself?"
              **told Annabelle to go to bed.   he he ;)
              ** oh yeah, and celebrated our EIGHTH {8th}  wedding anniversary

{photo courtesy of Mom's webcam while Skype'ing}
**no, i'm not constipated or scared, that's just my awkward facial expression, and why i prefer to be behind the camera
              **bought some Bare Escentuals make-up after debating over 2  years about it.
              **now understand the Sephora addiction
              **watched Juno with Dustin and decided that peanut butter and apples are the perfect snack. (realized this over 5 years ago after giving birth to Annabelle, and just forgot until I recently found myself with 7 pounds of apples, going bad quickly)

23rd         **decided that i was so over cleaning up dog poop, as well as kid poop, and officially declared Charlie a "mostly outside" dog.

                    **decided that i was never going to find my vegetable peeler or my knives and bought both so that I could make stew. 

24th    **missed sweet Jocelyn's 2nd birthday and wanted to cry pretty much all day

 

              **happy to have a sympathetic husband listen to me whine most of the day
                ** had Chinese night at the kids request, and steamed edamame, made rice, and stir fry complete with carrots, broccoli, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts, and bok choy (never tried before, and really loved it).   Annabelle looked at her plate, decided it was yucky, and after a little persuasion to taste it, ate every single bite, and more.   Julian needed no persuasion, and ate it all with lots of "mmmmms".
                    **kids super psyched over a care package from Poppy and Tata.  Julian amazed that the "package guy" (UPS) could find us, even though we weren't in Texas anymore.

25th      **decided to walk to Annabelle's school to pick her up, instead of drive.  strapped boys into the double stroller and headed out
                 **weather decided to become winter again, after a few delightful spring days.
                      **with the help of Julian's non-stop whining, realized the whole "walk to school thing" was a bad idea
                  **stopped at a local restaurant where we were the only patrons.   totally fawned over by the sweet wait staff, as well as the sweet little old man who cooked our food.  they brought us free food, toys, flowers, etc.   at one point, i thought they really were never going to leave  us alone to eat.  the food really was not very good, but the people were so very nice that we will probably go back again soon.         
                    **Charlie decided that it was too cold to be an "outside dog" and has returned indoors, wilder than ever, and full of new secret hiding places for his dog poop.          

introducing: Charlie

Meet Charlie.

The day before our big move to Iowa, Dustin called while we were grocery shopping (me, kids and Mom)  and told us that he had found a rental home.

What?  You mean normal people arrange rental agreements BEFORE they move to a new city?  We may have to try that next time, it might have cut off a sliver of the stress that we've experienced with this move.

Anyways, he gave me the basic layout, asked how I wanted the kids rooms arranged, all that stuff and I gave him a few ideas, told him I was sniffing bananas right now and I would call him back later.  10 seconds later, the phone rings and Dustin asks to speak to Annabelle.

She returned the phone to me and let me know that Daddy had said it would be okay if we got a pet.  We could even keep him inside, and he will probably sleep in her bed.

I love how Daddy rushed in and stole all the glory for granting a puppy wish that was 3 years in the making.  I guess Daddy deserved it, but come on.  Who dealt with the daily sighs of, "It seems like everybody in the world has a dog but me,"????  MOMMY.  that's who. 

but it's okay, i'm over it.

Not 10 minutes later, we are pulling out of the parking lot, when we spot a lady peddling Shih Tzu puppies out of the back of her SUV.  At that moment, there was no doubt to Annabelle's mind that this was a divine appointment.  A miracle to rival that whole "parting of the Red Sea" thing.

Something about a cage full of hairball puppies, and a squealing 6 year old convinced us to stop the car.  Yes, I had a 10 hour drive the following morning.  Yes, I would be alone with 3 restless kids.  Yes, I did send the hamster with Dustin in the Penske truck, yelling that I didn't need ONE MORE LIVING THING to take care of.

And still, I stopped.   I stopped, knowing full well that it would be nearly impossible to handle one of these little guys and NOT take him home with us.

As I talked to the owner, and contemplated all the pros and cons of this little puppy, Annabelle picked Charlie up, (known at that time as "Horton")   slowly but methodically crept to Mom's Expedition, and carefully climbed to the furthest seat in the back and buckled herself and Charlie in. 

Shortly after, Charlie joined our family.
(right after pulling away from the store, Julian enthusiastically announced, "OKAY! Let's go get my cat!"   After the initial disappointment of learning that we would not be getting a cat anytime soon-probably never-the kids reached the agreement that Julian would now be fully responsible for the hamster)

the trip to Iowa, was in a word, torturous.  but in Charlie's defense, it can be blamed entirely on Ezra's compulsion to scream--not cry--SCREAM for 7 1/2 of the 10 hours we were on the road.  and trust me when i say, that is NOT an exaggeration.  i had a headache for the next 4 days. 

but Charlie was a trooper.  he slept in Annabelle's lap for long stretches, occasionally moving to his bed in the floor to chew on a toy or beg for a snack.  we stopped at truck stops with large grassy lots across the road and let the kids run wildly as Charlie nipped at their feet and flounced around.

and then we got him home.  he's a great dog.  he sleeps well after 2 long nights of training.  he is ever so patient with Ezra's "love".  we've taught Ezra a new phrase, "Soft hands".  it basically means, "stop trying to pull Charlie's head from his body".

the only thing we're having trouble with is potty training.  he simply prefers to poop on carpet. 
he spent the better part of 6 hours outside today (it was the nicest day we've experienced here so far), and within 5 minutes of coming inside he pooped and peed twice.   

He gave me a look that said, "I thought you were never going to let me inside!  Do you know how long I've been holding that in???!! Sheesh!"

but the look on Annabelle's face as I met her after school with Charlie in tow....oh man.  that made it all worth it.  She was surrounded by new classmates, all going nuts over Annabelle and her little puppy.  she beamed  like a proud mommy showing off her new baby. 

sweet charlie, he doesn't even know how long one little girl has been waiting for him.

saturday naps and messes

this is what i love about saturdays.
ezra naps, i nap, the two big kids entertain themselves.
i don't love the inevitable Saturday evening mess...but the nap makes it a pretty fair trade.

annabelle's #6

This is the picture we used for Annabelle's invitations.  Obviously we were having a "Littlest Pet Shop" party.  :)

Here's Annabelle and her bff Madison.  In every single picture, Madison is making this face. it cracks me up. 

here's the cake!  i had a lot of fun making this.  we made a "practice cake" a few days before the party to make sure that i could handle it, otherwise we would be making frantic phone calls to bakeries.  :)

Thanks so much to Tanya, she sent me a massive email with explicit instructions and recipes for a few of her favorite buttercream icings.  I'm so pleased with how it turned out and so was Annabelle.  Apparently Julian was too, as you can see where he began to dig in with his fingers right at the edge of the cake!

 

of course, no party is complete without equipping our children with large dangerous sticks and letting them bust a pinata.

ezra, as usual, avoiding eye contact with my camera.  only this time, it has less to do with the camera, and more to do with not wanting mommy to take the gum and candy away. 

we had such a wonderful weekend, Annabelle was happy to see lots of friends and family and of course, be spoiled rotten. 

We got home on Sunday, and as we were looking at our calendar, I pointed out that her actual birthday was on Tuesday.  She said, "My birthday is in 2 days???  Who's coming to my PARTY?"

um, nice try sweetheart. 

Tuesday was filled with lots of fun phone calls, a birthday ribbon and songs at school, special treats and ended with (as I mentioned in an earlier post, but I'll record it again just to remember) Annabelle determinedly pulling a tooth.