We're Out!

We went on vacation. Be back soon!

Obsessed?

Let's see...this boy took cars on his car rug and made a car out of all of them. Do you think he might like cars?

A Typical Week

Our week went by fast. Here is a glimpse of what happened:
Brooklyn loves lotion and yogurt, but I think she confuses the two sometimes. Luckily, she hasn't eaten any lotion yet!
It's a good thing she is so cute because that was one big mess!
Wednesday we had a costume party to go to, so we got all dressed up and made goofy faces...
...and then looked adorable!
We made a point to have a night to make some Halloween cookies. They turned out great!

Daddy and Micah were the chefs.
Saturday was soccer. I keep thinking Micah is like the little Asian girl on Ladybugs (anyone remember that movie?). He is always distracted and would rather tickle or tackle the other boys than go after the ball.
After the game, I asked Micah why he didn't try to get the ball. He told me that all the other boys got in the way. He is afraid to be aggressive and get after the ball. I guess I have to go against all the things I have taught him and tell him to start pushing his way in there. Time to be rude dude!
After the game, we headed to a carnival that my friend Carrie was throwing. I helped out in a booth for a while, which was a breeze and in return we got free lunch and the kids got to play and enjoy the "petting zoo." I put that in quotations because it wasn't your typical petting zoo. It was a reptile zoo and that cute little turtle was the only cute thing they had!
The rest of the animals looked like this, which Brooklyn loved for some reason. They also had several kinds of snakes, toads, roaches and spiders. Not the kind of petting zoo I would enjoy, but the kids had a blast!

I would say we are busy people around here, but I think that everyone is busy. It is a choice you make and although I would like to try and simplify my life a bit more, it is fun to do these things sometimes. We decided to make Sunday truly lazy and rest up for the week ahead. We all know it is going to be a full one!

Where did Wednesday go?

Sorry, I am a little behind. I used random.org and got #7. Kristyn, you will have to grab it from me the next time you are down!

Parenting Shortcuts and a Giveaway!

Do you ever get a little lazy with parenting? Um, I do. There is always so much to do as a parent that I look for little ways to make things easier. For instance, when I take the kids out to get ice cream, I get the flavor that matches their clothes so I don't have to work at getting stains out. Brooklyn gets a lot of strawberry and lucky for Micah, who wears a lot of dark shirts, he gets chocolate!

The other day was probably the lowest I have gone. Brooklyn had been walking around the living room with a juice box. I knew she had spilled a little on the rug and since I knew I was going to jump in the shower, I...I...I sat on it. I know, it's bad! I realized that I was just trying to take one step out of cleaning. Now I had one less rag to clean and the p.j.s I was already going to wash were just a little damper. Oh well!

OK, so I thought it was time for a give away and here it is:It can be for you or your daughter or can be given away as a gift! Here is the deal, I got a feedjit on my blog and now I am totally curious as to who all these people are that are checking out my blog. A quick shout out to Coachella and Bishop CA. I am pretty sure I don't know anyone who lives out there, but they seem to like checking this blog. Anyways, if you are a friend or blog stalker, you are welcome to leave a comment to enter the giveaway. Leave a comment on your parenting shortcuts and I will be drawing a name on Wednesday. Good luck!

Celebrate and cupcakes (again)

Let's recap! Saturday was Gavin's 1st b-day. I can't believe he is already 1! He got a big party with a BBQ and bounce house. The kids had a blast. I was able to drag them out of the bounce house only for moment to eat and mind you, they were soaked in sweat! Gavin is the only baby I know that didn't like getting down and dirty with his cake. He got his hand in frosting and he was done. Makes for easier clean up I guess. Happy B-day Gavin!Yesterday, I decided it had been too long since my moms group had gotten together, so I organized a cupcake day. We made creepy eyeball cupcakes and the kids loved them. Brooklyn was diving for any extra irises (AKA Gummy Lifesavers) she could find. My kids eat all the frosting off and then hand the cake part back to me and tell me they are done. Brooklyn managed to swindle three! I have to keep my eye on her!On a quick side note, I have a family member who is struggling right now. I don't feel it is appropriate to discuss the situation for their privacy, but would just ask for your prayers. Thanks!

TV Influence

I wish I could say that we are the type of people that don't watch TV, but we do. I think we watch more of it than we should. It is typically on most of the day for us, if we are home. The kids watch entirely too much Spongebob and seem to gather the worst words from it (idiot, loser, etc.). Chad thinks that he is bonding with Micah when they watch the Simpsons together. I often have to be the one to change the channel on that. Even if the particular episode is fine, the commercials they show in between seem to be nasty. TV can be a terrible influence. On the other hand, it has its benefits.
Aside from the educational shows and the way it has my kids glued to it giving me an opportunity to take a shower with peace of mind, it also gives me teaching moments. I never thought Micah would be interested, but he has been asking me to watch The Biggest Loser. When the contestants would go to weigh in, Micah was full of questions of why they were that way and how their bodies changed, etc. I was so glad that I got to fill him in on how to chose a healthy lifestyle. I told him how the people on TV chose to fill their bodies with food that wasn't good for them and it made their bodies big. I explained that we needed to fill our bodies with real food and then there is only a little room left for treats. After that discussion, Micah has been a much better eater. He has since tried tacos and enchiladas. Getting meat in my picky little boy is a big deal. Yay, a victory for mom!

Why not cupcakes?

I've had a rough day. In fact, I have had a rough week. Tonight wasn't a whole lot better. We won't go over our Target trip. After all that, why not make cupcakes? Thank you Betty Crocker for making a yummy gluten free mix. Throw a little food coloring on it and you have happy kids! Happy kids=happy mom

Racing

My kids love racing (aka riding in a circle on their trikes) in the front. Did I ever mention that racing cannot be done without our racing gloves? We got these gloves to put together in an emergency kit, but once they were discovered, they became racing gloves! Thank you Target clearance section. My half dressed (maybe that is being too generous) children could run around for hours racing. Simple pleasures!

Getting our Halloween on!

It is looking festive around here! I had to make a lot of our decorations or find them for cheap. I made the tombstone from some cardboard and paint. I had some stamps and voila! I collected old jars and bottles and printed out some labels that say things like Vampire Blood or Poison on them. Added the cheap rats and some sparkly skulls and I was finished. I got the idea here. I threw together a little paper garland with scrapbook paper, stamps and ribbon. Lastly, I found this fabulous wreath at Michael's and with their great 40% off coupons, I got it for a steal and happened to have an orange ribbon laying around. I have a few more crafts up my sleeve. I am thinking a little mummy would be cool!