Two cute bed fellows. Neither of them seem to mind at all that they are squished up tiny. Aww... Snuggle!!

Licking the beaters is the best pat of making a cake and these two know just how to do it!

HA HA HA!! The other night I was cooking dinner and I hear Jude crying, and it sounds very far away. I don't have to search long to find a very sad Jude self-crammed into a dryer. WHich of course was full of dry, clean, WHITE clothes and he is stomping all over them. So as a little payback, I ran and grabbed the camera(it was on the table so it only took me 7 seconds to grb) before I saved him. My guess is he crawled in and shut the door and since it was dark he started panicing. Once e got out he got lots and lots of love, but I think that might be the last time I catch him in the dryer.

Today for a quick activity (an activity a day keeps the tantrums away) I spilt a bunch of dry oatmeal on the kids table and then got out the hand vaccum and let them clean it up. Then I dumped it right bac out and let them do it again. They love to turn it on and have it be such a noise. They love to see the oatmeal dash into the vaccum and I love that I am teaching them to clean while they are having such a good time. Ha Ha Suckers.

So more fun ideas from my recycling bin. I had a plethora of water bottles that I cut up and taped together for a shoot. I took the lids of the water bottles and shoved them down the shoot. The kids had a pretty good time . The lids made a lot of noise going down and more when they hit the floor, plus you could watch them go down through the clear plastic. Then the kids started experimenting with other things going down the shoot. All in all for a free activity it was way worth it. And on a very related note, this post contains naked kids playing with garbage, I think this is my most "white trash" post ever. YES!

OK, so this was one of the most fun things we have done for awhile and it was great. The kids loved it and it ended up being about 4 activities into one. So first off I got an old magazine and just let the kids rip it up. Just let them use all that destructive energy. We ripped it up into little peices and bits and then scattered them all over the floor. The kids were throwing it and rolling in it and just having a great sensory experience. Then I had Jude get the broom and sweep it up (he loves to sweep), then with all the peices of paper scattered on the floor Jude and I did I spy. We looked for color and letters and any other fun thing I could spot. Alice was having a great time bringing me random peices of paper and sorting through it. Then , and this was the best part, I gave each of the kids a net, and threw the papers in large armfuls and told the kids to catch it. Jude kept yelling "Catch that butterfly!!!" He was in high heaven and just loved every minute of it. And all this fun was sponsered by junk mail magazines. Horray!!

In my never ending quest for activities to keep my busy kids entertained I stumbled upon a "mess free" activity of dying noodles. I figured the activity wouldbe fun and then after I could use the noodles as one of my sensory things, for sorting matching and whatnot. Well guess what? Mess free my Colombian keester!!! This was by far the messiest thing I have ever done! Ever! Half way through I had to strip the kids down because I was worried it would stain clothes.(which it still did) Ugh! I think my problem was pokey noodles and vigorous shakers. Not a good combo. Well anyway, I ended up green, Alice ended up a wierd bluish color, and my countertops ended up purple. Then the next activity was to figure out a way to get this dye off(it was food coloring and isopropil alcohol, and it was a beast) we washed with warm water, scrubbed with all manner of things,this was not coming off. Derek through up the towel and declared Alice the hulk for the week and then I finally got it off with a bleach solution(I was not happy that it caome to that). The noodles turned out very cute and very vibrant but next time I do this...well I probably wont. But the kids had a great time so I guess...Success!

THIS GIRL!!! She did it again. She thinks she is just so dang busy. Today I was washing her hair, and since she is so big and can make her own decisions she decides to pull her head away from me and she bashed her face right into the side of the tub. I saw the peice of tooth on her tounge and I just screamed. We ended up taking her to the dentist the next day and luckily it wasn't as bad as it looked. They x-rayed her and the root wasn't broken, but the nerve is dangerous close. Because she is so little they would have to put her under cause she is so wiggly, and they want to wait until she is a little older so for now we have a broken tooth goofy girl grin we are rocking. I hated it at first but it is growing on me. Gosh Dang head strong girl, what am I going to do with you.

Here is another new string of activity/posts that I am going to call "Garbage into Gold." There are so many fun ways for kids to learn and play and they don't have to be attached to huge price tags. My first was play dough and q-tips. It was so neat for the kids to poke and bury the qtips in the play dough. Jude even figured out that if you get enough qtips in the top of the play dough, that you can flip it over and have it stand on the qtips.

I also took a handful of change and rolled it into a playdough ball for a treasure hunt. Jude was squishing and pulling at the play dough,really getting into it. But after 5 or so coins they started getting harder to find and he went back to poking it with qtips. A pretty good sensory activity, I am very pleased.

Bathtime+cute kids+ glow sticks= instant party. And of course oppurtunities for great pictures. The kids had such a great time with this one. They loved to crack the glowsticks and watch the light come on, we turned off all the lights and it looks really cool. This is most certainly going to be making a comeback to our bath time.

It's time for Parade of homes and this year Angie and I are serious!! We know that as we get more kids that being able to getting away will be harder and harder. So this year our goal was to do every single home and we almost did it. If we had one more day we could have done it. Our husbands were so nice and let us abadon them for a whole week while we toured homes. There was a lot to see and Angie and I had so much fun. We saw lots of crazy things, a pool within a pool, tubs that filled from the ceiling, firepits and tubs that were set into the floor, rooftop patios, and color changing pools.


Every year we learn(or are reminded and reaffirmed) something. This year we decided that squishy carpets are the best(double and triple carpet padding), that we love nooks and crawl away spaces, that showers need to be enclosed to protect prescious steam, that closets and laundry rooms should connect(or at least be close), and if you are going to drive all the butt way into nowhere, don't have your house so close to your neighbor that you can reach out your window for early morning high fives.

Our most memorable moments were sneaking under ropes to check out what was on the roof, listening to a woman complain forever about how a tub would kill her, being told that something that was obviously not a microwave was a microwave, and being shocked about how far 450,000 doesn't go with some builders( a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom home where you had to share your yard and two of your walls) and how far 250,000 can go with other builders( 6 bedroom, 3 bathroom with a courtyard)

Our good friend Braley turned 3 and had an awesome fireman party. It was so stinkin' cute! She had made the most adorable card board firetrucks and had an obstacle course set up fo the kids. They were running back and forth having a grand time, and they looked so cute as firetrucks. I totally snagged one of those and I am going to hook up suspenders for an instant halloween costume.(I like to plan ahead). Then! Around the corner comes a real life firetruck. The kids were floored. They got to climb up and down and all around it having such a good time. We had such a grand time!

This is Jude's sleeping spot of choice. The silly boy has his bed right there but I guess ours is much more comfy. Silly thing.