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My babies in action

I took some random video of the kids. Enjoy!

On the road again....

Remember that song? "On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again.." I am singing that song as I spend alllllll ddddaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy lonnnnnngggg packing for our trip.

Out of the Mouth of a Babe

In order to get to our house, you must cross a freeway overpass/bridge. On this bridge, there are two lanes going each way and are a tad confusing at times. For example, picture four lanes at a stop sign. Two in one direction and two in the other direction. Got it? Ok, so within the two lanes, you have one that goes straight and one that turns left. People in the left turn lane will often go straight without realizing that they are cutting off the other car. So here is what happened after church today. (Disclaimer....this contains language that is not used at our home except in dire circumstances!! Seriously!)
We are in the lane to go straight to our house when Ryan says,"What are you doing Jack***." (Yes, the person in the other lane just went the wrong way and almost rammed into our car.) Makena says,"Jack***. Who's Jack***? What are you doing Jack***?" Ok, so I totally lost it and stated laughing, silently. Ryan is cracking up too, silently. We chose not to say or acknowledge it in hopes that she would forget that word. When we got in the house, the kids went to play and we started laughing again. Ryan said, "Yea, bad choice of words for me." I just cracked up again b/c hearing your innocent four year say that word in a sweet voice is just too much. Alas, the lesson of watching your(our) language has been learned...we hope. We also hope she never utters that word again. Have a great Sunday!

Let's get creative!

Ok, so that is what I want to do with M and B tomorrow after preschool and naptime. I am going to pull out some fancy-schmancy things and get working. Ok, so I actually am not sure what I am going to do yet but I will be ready to go when the time comes.
Today started off way crazy as I was heading into the office for the first time for a meeting with fellow employees. I was up and ready to go, Ryan was at work, B and M were ready to go, but the baby-sitter....hello??? where are you???? Yes, she called me TEN MINUTES after she was suppose to be here and asked, "what time did you need me this morning?" I was LIVID! I had to be at work in 20 minutes and she hadn't left her house yet! (She lives 15 minutes away w/o traffic and it was the morning so there was traffic.) That was SO NOT GOOD! Overall, I was 30 mins. late and felt like a fool. I will now leave the childcare to Ryan or a PAID mommy friend the next time I have to go in. I will still use our sitter but for date nights when time doesn't really matter.
Ahh....overall the rest of the day went great. We picked up M's flower girl dress and it finally fits wonderfully. I made a yummy dinner which M did not eat b/c her tummy hurt. (I wasn't concerned until I saw that she hadn't eaten any of her mixed veggies and she loves mixed veggies. She is not a meat eater. I hope she is not getting sick.) Then I tutored my neighbor at night. Whew! What a day! Calgon, take me away!!!!

Hi!

Hi! Brodes here! I am doing great. I am 16 1/2 months and just figured out how to jump. It is very fun! Mommy told me that I am going to start gymnastics soon and I can't wait to get on the trampoline. My Auntie and mommy bought huge bags of balls and put them into my pool. My sister and I have a blast jumping into them! You should try it. At our big pool, I like going on the steps and blowing bubbles. I can crawl in the water and bounce up and down. What fun! Love to you all!

Curly Q's

Last night I put Dubs hair in sponge rollers. She did a great job sleeping in them and was very excited. This morning when we took them out...BONG! It was so curly! She has to have her hair super curly for a wedding she in so we were practicing. I think that I am going to try to use bigger rollers next time because the curls were too tight. Enjoy my little curly Q!

This Fall

As a teenager, I had mixed feelings about fall. I loved heading back to school because it meant cheerleading, friends, and football games. I did not like the changing leaves because it meant winter was coming. Now, as an adult living far away from the true seasons, I miss the changing leaves in fall. I am looking forward to cooler weather and long sleeve shirts. I want to put on jeans and rake leaves into a big pile for the kids to jump in. (This will happen but it will be a small pile and it could be November.) I think that the cure will be heading back home to IN and MI again and going up to the mountains. Ohhhh I would love to go up there tomorrow and spend the day. It is so pretty! I am slightly envious of my friend Lisa who is spending next week camping there. :) I am not ready to camp with Brody and Makena but would love to enjoy the mountains. Happy fall to you!

Confession

My friend Melissa asked me if I do something creative(paint, art projects, etc...) with my kids everyday. Guess what? I don't. She said, "It seems like you are always doing something cool with them." I replied, "Thanks! But really, I just get excited about certain things and tell you about them. I do not do something creative every day." So for all of you creative moms, grandparents, aunties, and friends, I am always looking for great, easy, fun ideas. Please feel free to pass them along!

Pizza for you!

My friend Katherine had us over the other week and made pizzas with the kids. Makena thought it was so cool and has wanted to make her food every since. I bought the items needed for pizza and she made some for me, Brody, and herself. It was yummy!
Here's what you need:
English muffins
Plain pasta sauce or pizza sauce
Shredded cheese
Toppings

Super easy and she loved it!

Potato Art

Today Makena and I created potato art. We cut two potatoes in half. Then we drew a shape on them with pencil and I carved it out with a knife. Makena chose a star, square, oval, and triangle. Using the potato stamps, we dipped them into tempra paint and placed them on paper. After making five or six stamps, Makena decided to dip each potato stamper in all four colors to make it "pretty". She was right! It looked so pretty and she enjoyed mixing the colors to make new colors. Now, as you all know Makena, she had to again mix it up and wanted to use a variety of things to paint with. So we added a sponge, brush, and round sponge stamper. It was a lot of fun!

Ahh relief

September 1st has brought cooler weather. Last night it was cool outside and so nice! We loved it. I can't believe that summer is over already. It flew by so fast! We are heading back to our families in a few weeks so our Sept. is already booking up fast! Whew!!! We got an new airconditioning system and WOW! It has made a huge difference in many ways. Our old one would turn on at about 10 a.m. and run until 9 p.m. Yes, w/o stopping. This new one is larger, which our house needed, and actually cools the house so it doesn't run constantly. Pretty nice!