Girls and Kids Weekend: Day Two

We had a seriously busy day including playing, coloring, playing, shopping, eating, and more playing. While Ellie was napping this morning, the boys got to color. Mack seemed to enjoy himself.

And once Ellie woke up, play time continued.

Ellie is pretty tough - she plays with cars too.


Mack doesn't seem to mind.

The day went pretty smoothly until we stopped to pick up some dinner before heading home after running some errands. This video is really just for the boys... to remind them how much they really miss us. My favorite part is when Noah is signing the "ABC's" while the other two are crying at the top of their lungs.

We love you Daddy-Ben and Uncle Nick! ♥

Girls and Kids Weekend: Day One

Since Ben and Nick went to Los Angeles, Lendy and Mack came out here to spend the weekend with us - yay! After the kids woke up from their naps, we ran some errands and went to the mall. And a trip to the mall just isn't complete without a trip to the play area.

Noah was extremely excited to go play.

Mack was pretty excited too.

And Ellie? Well, she was just happy to play.

After dinner {we're so brave... and despite being outnumbered, the kids we all did great by ourselves at dinner!} we came back and got the kids in the tub. Ellie went first, by herself, so while the boys were enjoying a little time in the tub, Lendy read her a book:

Meanwhile, the boys enjoyed a little extra splash time.

And now that the kiddos are in bed...

"Daddy Paine"

Ben is leaving tonight for Dallas so that he and Nick can leave early in the morning for Los Angeles for Dennis and Mia's wedding. We're sad {and slightly jealous} that he's leaving... Daddy Paine {plane}.

But we love getting in extra fun and play time before he goes.

Have fun Daddy-Ben! And congrats to Dennis and Mia - we love you!

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday

"H! H, Mommy! Did it!"

I love days like this.

I ♥ days like this.

I ♥ when Noah comes to the dinner table and declares, "Daddy's hat. Noah's Daddy hat."

I ♥ when he wants to wear it throughout dinner... all while he's drinking his Juice-Milk.

And I especially ♥ that he ♥ his little sister so much that he'll pick her sippy up when she drops it.

{I'd also like to point out that Noah went on his first car trip in BIG BOY UNDERWEAR and we made it back home with a dry carseat. Good job Buddy - we're so proud!}

Mommy's Little Helper {And a Cruiser}

My Mom has a very similar photo of BB and I, just like this, seventies feel {even though it was the 80s} and all:

This morning, while I was washing my hands from dealing with Noah's underwear {Seriously, now. The boy will take himself to pee, but simply will. not. poop. in the potty. It's driving me bAtTy.}, Ellie started fussing because she finished her waffle and wanted some more pears. I told her, as I was drying my hands, "Mommy will be right there Ellie", and turned just in time to see Noah grabbing her spoon. He told me, "Noah's turn, Mommy. Ell-wee eat." Rather than say no {like I was tempted to}, I just enjoyed the moment, grabbed the camera and laughed along with Ellie as Noah tried to feed her.

Such a good little helper.

In other news, Ellie is cruising like a champ now!

Juice-Milk

Ben fixed Noah his first, rite-of-passage, official "kid" drink today: Kool-Aid. But despite us telling him {multiple times} that it was Kool-Aid, he continued to call it Juice-Milk.

He was immediately hooked.

And actually drank from a cup without spilling... another first.


Oh, and had his first Kool-Aid Juice-Milk Mustache.

A Much Needed Haircut

Noah has been in desperate need of a haircut for a couple of weeks now. {And, clearly, from the photos, so have I.} I've been hesitant to cut it myself because the last time I did, well, I wasn't impressed with my cut job and the boy wouldn't hold still for anything.

Let's just say that I have finally figured out Thomas' true purpose in my house... to get my little guy to hold still for a haircut.

And, amazingly enough, I didn't take any other photos today, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the finished product!

P.S. Is anyone else out there, besides me, just amazed that Noah can still fit into the Bumbo??

A Tunnel, a Fort, and a Sword

My little guy loves a tunnel. He loves tents. So today, being hot enough outside that I had no desire to venture out during Ellie's naptime, we built a fort out of the kitchen table and a sheet.

Noah. had. a. blast.


I did too. {Also, to all my "camera" friends... did you know about the trick with changing your shutter button?? TOTALLY revolutionizes my ability to take timer-shots. Seriously. My issue has always been getting the camera to focus where I want it to... and now it will! Try it!}

Ellie, on the other hand, was not pleased when she woke up to find that Big Brother was playing without her. Until she found his sippy cup on her side of the gate.

She loves playing with his things.

Especially the "dangerous" things:

Beware. She will cut you.

And a very Happy Birthday to Grandma Haze, who at that exact moment, was trying to eat Noah's toes!

Just Because

Just because I'm a sucker for a messy baby photo.

Especially when the baby is mine.

Oh. My. Gosh. {OMG}

Um, do you see this?

Um huh. That's a scorpion. In. my. house. I opened the pantry this morning to throw some trash away and he came towards me, pinchers open and tail ready! I yelled one quick "Oh gosh!" and another quick "Get back! Mean, bad bug!" to Noah who came running when he heard me yelp, and quickly grabbed a disposable plastic cup and set on top of him. And made a frantic call to Ben. By the time he got home after his morning meeting, the scorpion had suffocated... or was at least oxygen-deprived and not moving. Nevertheless, the kids were quarantined to the living room and I was on top of the island when Ben {with heavy-duty work gloves on!} first lifted the cup to dispose of it.

Texas is officially not on my happy list right now.

But these two Little Ones? Definitely on my happy list.

Today I'm Thankful for...

... hair that is {finally} long enough to have a little bed-head.

... a Happy Helper while the usual Happy Helper is {still} sleeping.


... smiles and giggles despite having had her 6/9 month shots.

... vaccines to help keep her healthy. {And, for those who are curious, we had her make-up 6/9 month Well Baby CheckUp... she was 18.96lbs {32%}, 29" long {73%}, with a head circumfrence of 18.5" {97%}... making her long and lean with a big head.... just like her brother. }

... Cookie Tuesday and my Mom's peanut butter cookie recipe {and remembering making them as a kid while I was making them with my kids}.

... a Daddy who came home a little early from work and got to enjoy a few freshly made cookies with my favorite little boy.

... some yummy Scottish breakfast tea {late at night} made in my fun new teahouse.

Project Life

I really haven't had been scrapbooking lately. As in, I haven't fully scrapbooked a single layout {for myself, anyway} since we've been here. And I hate that. I miss it. It's a great creative outlet for me and I love the end product. And I miss my crop days/nights with my California girls tremendously. Because while I love having and keeping this blog, I also love having something tangible to look through. To see little physical representations of the things that we have done, seen, and experienced together as a family. That's one reason why I was {and am!} so excited about Becky Higgins' newest product, Project Life. I love {♥} her products {I own the baby kits, the school kits, and a school expansion kit!}, so when I saw this one, I knew that it would be perfect for documenting my 30th year {because 30 is the theme this year} and would hopefully get me back into the swing of scrapbooking for us.

So far, it has not disappointed.

It has also given me the extra little bit of prompting that I needed to hone my PSE skills... um, hello Actions! Where have you been all my life?

And the best part?

I got nearly seven weeks worth of documenting done and in the album in one episode of Big Brother and two episodes of Glee.

Sunday Naps and Teachable Moments

Ben got back home Friday night and yesterday we did a whole lot of nothing. Including not taking a single photo. And I'm okay with that.

Ellie started seeming to feel poorly yesterday afternoon and then all day today. After church and lunch, she was a little fussy, so Ben tended to her while I was cleaning up the kitchen. I found them like this:

Sunday afternoons are meant for naps... especially when your top teeth are trying to come in.

We try to find {and then run with!} those teachable moments with Noah. Noah has become pretty excited recently about "tickets". Instead of calling money, money, he calls it "tickets". Because of Chuck E. Cheese. As of this afternoon, he now calls it money.

And, thanks to Daddy-Ben, he will tell you that "first church", then "bant" {bank}, and then "store" gets the monies. {Every time we give him money to put in his bank, we always give him three of the same coins so that he can put one in each slot.}

We're changing our family tree.

And I can't wait to break out our FPU Jr.

A Spelling Lesson from the Bathtub

During bath time tonight, Noah gave Ellie and I a spelling lesson with the foam bath letters.

"Noah, what word did you write?"

"Cars! B-L-U-Z! CAAAARS!"

Never Underestimate It

Never underestimate the power of new Thomas unnerwear. It's ability to get a certain little boy who will take himself to pee on the potty but won't go #2 to actually poop on the potty is aah-mazing.

It's ability to make Little Sister and Mommy laugh is pretty amazing too.

Though, she might just be pretending to be the Loch Ness Monster.