:)

 

 

Mini Charlie's Angel...

Chocolate Lego guys...

 

I saw this really cool mold for lego guy shapes. You can makes chocolates, ice cubes, crayons and lots of other things I'm sure. The kids were extremely impressed with these.
On a side note - just after I took the melted chocolate off the stove - Hailey touched the burner!! Yikes. She started screaming. I put her hand under cold water - which she amazingly let run over for a good while - then she sat at the table with ice on it while we did the chocolates. She was very cooperative for 2 3/4 :) It didn't blister at all. I hate those close calls. It makes me more diligent yet a little more paranoid.....

Fun. Messy.

 

Why is it that the things the kids love the most are the things that create the most mess?????
I had gotten a couple of different egg dying kits from the store since they were only $1. It was fun to experiment with different types of decorating. It's come a long ways from just dye and crayons......

Squirt guns

 

We gave Jackson these squirt guns for his birthday and finally let him use them the other day. We have had A LOT of cold and rainy weather recently. Enough that our roof started leaking. Lucky us. We have a ton of things to fix in this house.... fun and not so fun at the same time.
Anyway, back to the squirt guns. You hook the filler adapter up to the hose and then the guns click in to fill up. They fill up quickly -5 sec or so - and then they are pressurized so you can just hold down the trigger. These work great for Hailey who can't get a regular gun to squirt very well. They don't work amazingly well but since I got them on sale - they seem to be worth it. The kids like them. It's fun to break out the warm weather stuff :) It rains and rains and rains in the spring here so it will be hit and miss for the nice days. Oh and the grass in our yard is minimal. Mud prevails..... so I'm not sure how often we will be breaking out the sprinklers. After all the rain I think I will be happy to be mud free for a little while...... Hailey and Jackson might have other plans though. Those two love the muck and mud. Maggie usually stands by on the side and watches while the other two and knee deep. A literal MUD ROOM would be so excellent. Especially if it had a shower :)

A whole lotta help

Mom and Sarah came in for a few days to help me out - and help me out they did!! They got so much painting done. It was excellent. I am amazed at what other people get done when I feel like I'm going backwards all the time - every once in awhile when I am kid free I remember that I can do it too :) It was fun to visit with them and have them see the kids again. It's been a year - I think - since they have seen the kids. Other than Caleb - I took him up to WA when he just a few months old.
We were so busy (they were so busy) I didn't even get the camera out. That's terrible! (and now I can't even find it.....) We did a lot of decluttering and reorganizing also. The house feels much better - there is still a long ways to go but they put a serious dent in the to do list! The girls room is painted, the boys room is painted, the master bedroom is painted, part of the kitchen is painted.... whew!! Thanks guys - I love you :)

April Fool's Day dinner

I love April Fool's day now that I have kids (and that some of said kids are getting a little older). This year I wanted to make a fun April fool's day dinner. Since the kids are still younger they are pretty easy to impress. I made these "cupcakes" from Family Fun. They are actually colored mashed potatoes on top of meatloaf. The kids really thought they were cupcakes at first. Matt actually loves meatloaf so he was more impressed by what they were than what they weren't :) The juice is actually jello. I put it into cups with straws and let it cool that way. When they tried to take drink it wouldn't come out easily at all. They loved being "tricked". We also put together funny things to eat with and then drew numbers to see who would have what. Oh - did I mention we were babysitting 4 more kids that night?? They thought this was pretty fun too. Someone had tongs to eat with, someone had a baby bottle to drink out of.......

Spring decoration

I was excited to actually make something crafty :) My Mom made all kinds of wood crafts when I was growing up. I still like those kinds of decorations. So I made a spring decoration....... the I is missing a little something. A flower dot for the top maybe?

The kids think it's just another toy. I'm always finding the letters arranged in different ways or stacked on top of each other..... Maggie claimed the pink one as her own for awhile - I had to hunt it down to paint the S on it........

Remeber when.....

I was looking through pictures the other day and ran across this one. I don't think I ever remembered to post it..... This is how our bedroom looked at the apartment whenever we had company. It was a two bedroom apartment so when people came to visit we would give up Maggie and Jackson's twin beds and have them come sleep in our room. They really didn't mind at all. It was pretty cramped but it doesn't really matter when it's just sleeping quarters. Like a tent :) This seems like so long ago already - it's been a whopping 4 1/2 months. I guess it's a good thing that it's a distant memory because I didn't like the apartment when we lived in it!! It really helped me realize what is important to me as far as family space goes though.
#1 on the list is outdoor space to play. I knew I missed it but I didn't realize what a difference it made it my mood to know that the kids could play outside.
#2 Family room - having a space big enough for the kids to play in without tripping each other was also greatly missed.
#3 Counter space in the kitchen......
Those were the biggest things I missed. Everything else was annoying but I could deal with it. There are several other things I really appreciate having again but I could live without. Those other three things have been upgraded to necessities I think :)