Weak Stomachs, DO NOT READ!

Warning! This entry includes topics of the grosser nature. Please be advised.

If you're friends with me on facebook you know my status update read,

"Girls got into the trash this morning...coffee grinds EVERYWHERE! Nice way to start the day."

But what I didn't elaborate on was WHY and HOW my girls got into the trash without my knowledge. Not that they aren't crafty little girls, they get into a LOT of messes...but this was BAD. I'm talking coffee grinds all over the kitchen floor, in their hair, mouth...ugg, it was a MESS. They must of had a good 5 minutes playing in it.

The reason I was so preoccupied was Gavin. He came down stairs, buck naked...not in itself a big deal, that's how he is 70% of the time...but he said to me, "Mom, I need a bath."

Huh? Did I hear right? Gavin ASKING for a bath? I knew something was wrong...

He pooped ALL OVER the bathroom!! He had only been wearing his undies when the 'ria took over (that's a nice slang word for diarrhea). Poor mommy who had to clean it up...oh yeah, and poor kid who must of had a stomach ache...but I'm seriously still gagging THINKING about cleaning it up...it's been over 12 hours! This is one of those stories that I'm going to laugh about one day, right? It's still to early...

Jedi Training Academy

I can't believe my oldest baby is turning 5 next week! We're going out of town on his actual birthday so decided to throw him an early birthday party. It was SO much fun!

Friday night his cousin, Jace, spent the night. We decorated the second floor with xmas lights...you know, for a star wars atmosphere...the boys thought it was AMAZING. They watched Clone Wars, ate popcorn and got to stay up late....after all, they're big boys now.

Saturday morning at 9AM was the party. It's been so HOT here that I scheduled it early. We had green and black pancakes (think yoda & darth vader) with a buffet of topping...strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, srinkles and whip cream! The kids thought it was pretty cool decorating their pancakes by themselves.



After breakfast we started the Jedi Training Academy. All our little Padawans (that's a Jedi learning the ways of the force for all you non-Star Wars fans out there) were given a light sabor and told to go to each center. At each post there was a different activity to complete. A Jedi must learn to trust all his senses, so they had to guess the sound, smell and taste of differnt objects. Lastly they were blindfolded and had to " feel" the pinata, using the force, of course.

The cherry on top was while the kids were finishing up their cupcakes the evil jedi, Darth Vader made an apperance. All the little Padawans grabbed their lightsabers and attacked him. It was great...but Avrah, the only little girl at the party and is 2, was terrified! Poor baby! But the boys finally defeated Darth Vader and unmasked him, revealing it was only Ely.
Zander had such a memerable birthday. Thank you to all that came and celebrated with us. I'll post a video of the "fight" when I have more time. Happy Birthday Zander! Mommy loves you!

POP!

Gavin marches to a different drum. He's always in his own little world...oblivious to what's going on around him.

Out of no where today he says, "Wanna see my little ball?"

"Sure" Ely replied.

He drops his shorts and pulls on his little testicles. "Now watch me pop them....pop!" He then pushes it in. Nice. A mother has never been so proud. I just want to know where the heck he learned that or did he just make it up?!?

Beatin' the summer heat!

It's been a HOT summer here in OK. Were talkin' triple digit heat! We LOVE to go to the splash park...you can catch our crew at one nearly every day.

Maya

My little man, Zander.

Camille
Gavin refueling his energy with a snack.

I leave you with a video of us drying the girls off...enjoy!

Morning Naps Are Back!....sometimes

Maya, Camille, and Papa (my dad)

I have a love/hate relationship with the morning nap. On one hand, I get a lot during the time the twins are down. (Like take a shower!) But on the flip side, it really cuts into our day if we have somewhere to be.

For the past 3 mornings I've been trying something new. Call me crazy, but it works for us. I get the girls up between 5:30-6am. Ely is already up during this time, getting ready for work. He's been working so much this summer it's actually nice to spend the mornings with him and the babies....btw, the boys are still sleeping...

Getting up that early, the twins have been happy to go down for a nap at 8:30am. I get to get ready for the day and clean up the house a little, spend time with the boys and help them get ready for the day. The girls usually wake up around 10am...still plenty of time to meet up with friends for play dates and such.

Getting the girls up so early has it's advantages. They are in bed, for the night, between 6:30-7pm. That's AWESOME in my book. It gives me and my hubby time to ourselves in the evenings.

Wow, this entry is very boring...but I wanted to post it so I could look back and remember how crazy I was.

The Witching Hour

Please tell me my household isn't the only one that is absolutely INSANE between the hours of 4-6. You know, the kids just wake up from their afternoon naps...but even though they were sleeping for two and a half hours they somehow manage to be cranky? To add to the chaos daddy's coming home soon and you're trying to get dinner on the table. I like to refer to this as "The Witching Hour"

You have 3 choices when this time rolls around.
A. Have a mental breakdown
B. Stop everything your doing, get nothing done and just play with your kids
C. Open a bottle of wine

I choose C. JOKING! (sometimes. cough, cough)

No seriously, the answer is GET CREATIVE!! Bring out the big guns. Think outside the box.

Let them play with all those plastic sacks you've been saving to recycle. FYI, I was right there cooking dinner, watching them very closely so they didn't put them over their heads!

Give them pots & pans with spoon and make some music.

It helps to have a very enthusiastic 4 yr old to pick up the stuff when they start playing "fetch"

As you can see these tricks don't always last very long but maybe, just maybe, long enough to finish chopping veggies and throw them in the steamer.

Here are a few other ideas I've used with my kids when they are "bored" with their toys...and remember my children are still very young...

1. Belts...between my hubby and I we have about 20 belts. The boys love to connect all of them and make a long snake. Hey, you laugh, it takes them 20 minutes.
2. A wet wash cloth. Simple yet amazing. The babies "wash" each other and the kitchen floor. The boys usually run around the house with it over their faces, but whatever.
3. When they are big enough to stand on a chair in the kitchen I will pull it over to the sink and have them "wash" dishes. Fill the sink with soapy water and a couple of plastic dishes...at least 30 minutes of fun!
4. Have older kids put coins in a piggy bank. I don't know how many times I've secretly dumped Gavin's piggy bank out and sat him up at the kitchen table and gave him this 15 minute project. Killing two birds with one stone here. He stops tormenting his sibling for a few minutes AND gets to practice some hand-eye coordination.

Please share your creative ideas with me....I'm running out and the older ones are beginning to catch on.

Dreaming

Zander came down the stairs this morning and snuggled up to me in our lazyboy. He sat there for awhile, quiet. Then he got very excited. Our conversation went like this:

Momma, do you know who makes shoes?

Who?

These little, tiny guys. I mean small. Like this big (he shows me how big with his fingers). They have this metal and they make shoes. Did you know that?

Hmmm...Did you have a dream?

No mom. This is true. Little tiny men make shoes out of metal. My teacher read me a book about it in school. Well, did you know that they are really hard to see because they are so fast?

Really?

Yeah, but guess what? I caught one! Can you believe it? I'm really patient and fast and I just caught it, like this (swoops his hand into a fist).

This is the first dream that he has told me with such detail and enthusiasm. It was so cute. I was glad Ely was there to witness this...he's been working so much...

Hangin' at Memaw's

Picking Blackberries

Every morning over breakfast the boys and I chat about our days plans. I ask them what they want to do, and everyday they say, "Let's go to Memaw's!" Their great aunt is Memaw. She spoils them rotten and they love it! She has 5 acres to run, play with dogs, frogs, pick black berries. They feed chickens and blow bubbles. Memaw's house has the coolest toys and her cookie jar is always full...and they can reach it. What kid wouldn't love Memaw's house?

Feeding the chickens a slice of bread....don't let them out again Gavin!

Maya found a wild flower.

Camille picking flowers.

Zander riding his bike through the yard...no training wheels! Yay!

Maya and Dolly

Gavin and his new best friend, Frog...he's not so creative in naming animals...

Summer Fun...at the zoo...

I have been really bad at keeping up with my blogging this summer....I'll try to do better....

My niece, Vanessa, from California has been staying with us this month. It's been so much fun having her here. She's 13 years old and a tremendous help with the kids. I'm really going to miss her when she goes home next week.

Here are a few pictures of our zoo trip this week....

Notice Zander's outfit. I've mentioned before he is obsessed with dressing himself and can come up with some pretty crazy outfits. On this day he wore brown cut off sweat-short with a dress-up pirate shirt, a bandanna as a cape with a shield on his chest....oh, and star wars socks rolled down '80's style...nice.

Gavin with cousin Vanessa.

Pretending to shoot space ships or something...

The girls not looking very excited about being in their stroller.