The fun never stops

Cate was insistent on playing outside.  So I put on my slippers and walked around outside with her.  She loves to eat snow. All snow. White snow. Gray snow. Yellow snow.  She doesn't discriminate.  She eats the snow off our shoes when we come inside too. It's so gross.  

She put on her own hat to tell me she wanted to go outside.  She also screamed at the door which was a good indicator she wanted out.  

 Mom and Baby feet.

 Just playing in the kitchen.

Friday I decided to take the kids to the Children's Museum in the city.  Miss M has been asking me for months to take her.  We didn't have any plans and I got my work out in before everyone woke up so we loaded up the car and went downtown.

The car was extra loaded down b/c we took Jessica and her three kids.  The minivan barely squeezes six car seats in the car.  The picture neglects to show Cater's best friend, Hazel, b/c she's in the back corner and not tall enough to be seen.

It's difficult to take six kids to the children's museum b/c they all have an agenda and none of their agendas line up with each other.  We were able to keep them moving all in the same direction without losing any of them but someone was always bored before the others.

 Miss M and Lafayette. Serious builders.

Transitions are tough

While Big Will and Miss M were in school Wednesday morning Mimi and I took apart Big Will's crib in preparation for the arrival of the new furniture.  After we picked up the kids from school we drove Mimi to the airport. 

I told Big Will that I took his bed apart on the way back home.  MISTAKE. He lost his mind. He just wanted his bed back. Miss M and I tried to explain what was going on. Eventually we stopped talking to him and just let him freak out.  As soon as he walked in the door he walked straight toward the stairs to go to his room to see what had transpired.  He didn't have to get very far into the house before seeing his crib in all the pieces sitting by the front door.  He then fell to the ground and lost it again. He couldn't even recover to eat the McDonald's I so graciously bought him.  

I had the kids come upstairs with me and help me (run around under foot) take Miss M's bed apart and put it back together in Big Will's room.  I think that being apart of the process helped Big Will process what was going on.  Pretty soon they were all jumping on and off his bed.

The chair won't be a long-term fixture in his room but I couldn't move it downstairs by myself and I figured getting rid of the crib was shocking enough.  I love the way it looks. It looks like the room has finally come together.  His bedsheets should be here soon.  Miss M is really concerned that he only has pink sheets/pillowcases.

 Big Will and Miss M having a slumber party b/c there's no furniture in Miss M's room.  You can hardly tell they are both in there but they are in there amongst all the pillows and blankets.

off to the race(s)...

We headed to Key West to run a half marathon.  

Mimi agreed to come visit and watch the kids. She may have bit off more than she could chew but they were all alive and well when we returned home. She did have a visitor (Gr. Aunt Lynne) come and help her for 2 days. Whenever you increase the adult to child ratio it's better for the adults. 

Nandy picked us (Craig/Jessie & Andrew/I) up in Ft. Lauderdale. I had my selfie stick that I got for Christmas from Gr. Grandma and Gr. Grandpa. I was determined to put it to use.  

And we're off...

 Jalapeno margarita...my new obsession...when my neighbor (or anyone else) makes them.

 It's evident Jessie isn't impressed with my selfie stick.

 Just pondering life.

Trying to figure out how he's going to conquer his massive burger smashed between two grilled cheese sandwiches (that's four pieces of texas toast) and a fried egg.  He dominated it.  There was never any doubt.

I took this weird article of clothing. I have no idea how to describe it. Everyone made fun of it and called it a "dickey" because it kind of is like a dickey you wear outside of your shirt. I LOVE the thing and it was so perfect for the weather. The weather was not warm and it was really windy which made it feel colder. It wasn't zero degrees or less like it was in the midwest but I didn't pack warm enough.

Jessie stapled a dollar bill to the wall.  She wrote something about her and Craig's 5 year anniversary. Maybe they can go back in 10 years and see if it's still there.

While in Key West we found the business card Craig left in the ceiling of the bar the last time he was there.  I don't believe it's helped him drum up any business.

 One night we stayed in and played games.  We played Heads Up for a long time.

It came out that Jessie doesn't like tater tots.  She couldn't escape it. She probably should have just said she liked them. She would have taken much less grief.  She ordered a Tots Mimosa one morning in recognition of her bizarre distaste for tater tots.

We said good-bye to Craig and Jessie Monday afternoon as they were continuing on their anniversary journey to Mexico.

I am also obsessed with Key-Lime anything. I found key lime martinis. Oh my. So delicious.  I just need to find someone (Nan) to learn how to recreate them for me!.

Some more January 2016 activities.

I have been wanting to buy Miss M new bedroom furniture for awhile as her room is a mismatch of random stuff.  The final straw on living with the mismatch furniture was when the dresser finally fell apart and she was living out of drawers that were on the floor.  Andrew and I went out one night and bought a new bunk bed, a new dresser, and a bookshelf to match.  We also bought a bookshelf for Big Will's room b/c I gave his previous bookshelf to Cater b/c it didn't hold enough books.  

The kids were so happy to be able to help Andrew put together one of the new bookshelves.  Andrew doesn't find them very helpful. I find them manageable.  It's probably b/c he's generally more focused than I am in almost every facet of life. 

 The kids and Tiffany have some sort of animal game they play where each kid is the animal that starts with the first letter of their name. They take it very seriously.  The below pictures are the kids trying to call Tiffany on their watches (that they don't really have) to tell her the zoo is disappearing which includes the disappearance of the banana trees (that the monkey eats) and the blue fish (that the Walrus eats).  They hadn't seen her for 2 weeks (maybe 1.5 weeks) and were clearly having withdrawals. The disappearance of the zoo went on for at least an hour before I finally called her on the phone so she could talk to them.

I had to go to school for Parents Night and help answer questions about the school for the upcoming school year. In Miss M's classroom they have stuffed bears that live in their cubbies. They name them, accessorize them and who knows what else with them.  I found Miss M's bear (in the yellow hat) hanging out with Anwen's bear in the big chair at school reading books.

Andrew informed me I have a problem. I don't know if it was the three diet mt. dews or the water that doesn't disappear or the king size chocolate covered marshmallow wrapper that gave him a clue. I am fully aware of my problems. I just choose not to do anything about them...including hiding the evidence.

 This is Cater watching tv with her hands down her diaper...like no big deal.

 Cate has/had a weird long patch of hair in the back of her head. It seems to be the only patch of hair that grows.  She was distracted and playing in the sink post bath time last week and I decided it was the perfect time to cut the oh-so-long hair.

 It's cleaned up. It's not pretty.  She jerked her head about the time I took the first cut. Its a little choppy.  Luckily it will grow back since it's the only part that grows.

Miss M's tubes

Miss M and I ventured downtown to the children's hospital to get the tubes put in her ears.  They need to get the fluid out of her ears and tubes is the only way to alleviate it.  We had to show up 1.5 hours before the procedure was scheduled but fortunately the hospital was running ahead and we only had to wait an hour. 

She was cool as a cucumber. She wasn't  phased by it. She didn't ask questions. She didn't seem worried.  She was just upset she couldn't eat b/c she was hungry.  She drank a little Sprite before we left but nothing of substance.  She took her favorite stuffed animal "Bananas the Monkey" that our favorite babysitter, Tiff, got for her for Christmas.  

The entire staff at the children's hospital is amazing.  They are so kind and thoughtful and patient with the kids.  They weighed Miss M at 34 or 36 pounds and then they weighed Bananas at .2 ozs.  

They dressed her up in her gown and socks.  They also gave her a Frozen coloring book (on the bed) to entertain her while she waited.  When they got ready to wheel her into surgery they gave her an iPad to play with.  The first thing she said to me after surgery when I got to go back and see her was that she played an amazing game making cakes and donuts and I HAD to get it on my phone.  So I got it on my phone.  And she loves it.

After surgery we had to wait around for an hour before we left to make sure she was feeling okay.  She got dressed and we walked a half mile and did lunch at her favorite place with Aunt Nessa.  Aunt Nessa thought she would share a kids meal with Miss M but to Aunt Nessa's surprise Miss M can destroy a kids meal on her own!

You would never have known she'd been at the hospital earlier that day.  She was back to being crazy and talking non-stop and running around chasing Big Will as soon as we got home.

Some of January 2016

She's kinda like a Boss.  I don't even know what to say about the girl.  She's crazy.  She climbs all over and does things she shouldn't do.  She puts everything in her mouth she shouldn't.  She knows exactly what you're saying.  When I tell her I am going to take something away from her she holds on tighter and runs away and laughs.  She's 16 months old.  The other two weren't that devious when they were 16 months old.  

Big Will is not napping much these days. It makes some days really long b/c I don't get a break and it makes some days really long b/c the lack of sleeps makes him crazy.  Full on emotional disaster kinda crazy.  He has big emotions.  We got the game Seek-A-Boo for Christmas and it's been a big winner.  Everyone can play it together.

I was told that pickles are one of the foods that are supposed to help the digestive system. I try just about anything and everything to get this girl to poop like a normal person. The kids can eat a jar of pickles a day. It's disturbing.

 Who knows.

She loves to wipe her bottom.  She just runs around with wet wipes and wipes at her butt.  It's pretty entertaining.

Miss M has so much attitude.  It's humorous and horrendous depending on her mood and my mood.  She knows when she's pushed too far.  Most of the time she willingly goes to her room when sent due to poor word choice or tone.  She told me the other day (after I had screamed at Big Will about a lot of somethings) that she didn't want me to yell at her so she was going to make good choices. I appreciated the fact that she understood that making good choices results in my not yelling. Now we need her to realize it everyday and not just after I lose it on them and we need to get the small ones on board.

 The hooded towels we got for Christmas are a hit with everyone.

Big Will wants his picture taken more these days so he tries to smile for the camera. Sometimes it's just a flop and he looks dopey but it's a trait he inherited from his Uncle.

But I bought Miss M swimming goggles for her swimming lessons.  They are teaching (forcing) her to put her head in the water so goggles seem like a reasonable accessory. But I am honestly working on not making as many flippant purchases.

 Trying to get the last drip of Hi-C left. Hi-C is serious business.