Keeping busy

All the kids love to play with the Paw Patrol vehicles and pups.  This may have been one of my better purchases for the kids over the years.  You just never know what a kid will actually get into and what will live in the back of the closet until I go to get rid of it.  And then the toy becomes their most beloved piece of plastic ever.  My favorite.  

The bat mask will never get old.  Funny, I just realized this was Cater. I thought it was Miss M until further inspection of the clothing selection. Only Cater can rock a track suit like a rock star.

The Arboretum hosts something called "Festival of Lights" each year.  The problem is you have to buy tickets in advance b/c the weekends all sell out.  Obviously the weather in the Midwest is unpredictable which makes selecting a weekend evening in December or January not ideal.  I selected a Sunday evening, bought six tickets (so Tiffany could go if she was free), and told Drew the plan.  Tiffany couldn't join us so it ended up being the five of us and Miss M's best friend.  Picture two adults to four children...in the freezing cold with feet of snow on the ground and Miss M forgot her snow boots at school for this particular weekend.  We aren't off to a great start.  And we didn't make it long before everyone (me) freaked out.  We tried stopping for hot chocolate for the kids to warm up but they can't walk and drink. They can barely walk without falling down let alone walk with a burning cup of liquid. What were we thinking.

Miss M's complaints turned into dramatic sobbing.  Her toes were going to fall off.  I guess.  I tried to warm them up but what was I supposed to do.  We were walking around outside for a duration longer than five minutes.  We packed it up at this point. I couldn't take it any longer.  Andrew pushed the stroller as fast as he could to get back to the car. It felt like a million miles pushing the stroller through the snow.

I stayed back with Cate who was happy as a pig in mud.  She was sad to leave.  She loved eating all the snow.  But I knew there were whiny children strapped into a car so I picked her up and we ran as fast as we could to the car.  Running with a 25 lb child through the snow isn't a joy ride either.  I think we'll refrain from "Festival of Light" tickets again until the children can drive themselves...or next year we're going without them.

The train table Andrew so diligently crafted when we first moved in came apart. It could possibly be my fault but I think it's better to blame to builder.  I wasn't sure where to put it until Willie suggested we make a football net out of it. We set it up and he threw and kicked balls into it...probably until someone ended up getting kicked in the face.  It happens a lot around here.

His hand me down jammies. I bought them from a resale page for $2. Sold! He looks like a little old man and I just want to squeeze him.

Some days are just popcorn and a movie kind of days.