What we've been doing

1. I am in the process of changing out the seasonal clothes. Regardless of how many kids you have no one enjoys this task. Figuring out what to keep for a few more weeks, what to pass on, and what to store. I can't even imagine doing this with more than three children's wardrobes. I'd probably be huddled up in a ball crying in a corner. I do find some enjoyment in taking clothes out of storage. Mostly because its like a shopping trip I didn't have to pay for. My sister-in-law Shelia gives my boys lots of awesome clothes her son grows out of. I told Big Dog "Your Aunt Shelia keeps you well dressed" And he shook his head in agreement:)

2. I was glad to have the opportunity to have a lengthy conversation with my friend Krimsin. Krimsin and I have the same problem. Our kids are endless pits of energy. We all hear those rumors that "Oh your kid is going to be wiped out the first week of kindergarten...blah blah blah." Well that is just a bunch of lies. Rooster and Logan have been unaffected by all day kindergarten.


3. On Sunday I decided to take a nap while Captain Awesome watched the kids. Rooster remembered that P was the letter of the week. On Sundays we always do the letter coloring pages. So she went upstairs to the computer. She got all the coloring pages that I had printed off Saturday night and took them to the kitchen table. She got the colors and began to work. Captain Awesome was impressed when he discovered she had done this. Then Rooster told him that he had to make popcorn for their snack. He was very impressed that she remembered what our activities were going to be. I'm not really that surprised. How could you forget popcorn? I am glad to know that Rooster loves our activities enough to do them even when she isn't being directed to do so.

Someone spelled

I don't know what happened but the kids stopped using the letter combinations we have been working on. So there haven't been many words to post. I guess I need to work with them on it.

Big Dog's First Day of Preschool

He was really excited to go to school:)

Daddy's Little Hippie

Yes, we sent our daughter to school looking like a hippie! But, doesn't she look cute?

What a good mommy

GH's yellow submarine

My favorite playgroup pictures

Everyone loves to have their pictures taken.....well at least until they go blind from the constant flashing:)

Now that's cute! Happy Birthday Silly S.

Photo credit: Rooster

Mr. T helps the little kids because he's super cool:) GH thinks he's awesome:)

Mr. T is waiting arms wide open for Princess J. Isn't that sweet?

Rooster spells

Fun toy

The kids love these:) They are fun to stack and roll.

Big Dog works on his fine motor skills

I know he doesn't look super happy in these pictures but he really does enjoy these activities. I love the game in the first picture. You have to hold the game pieces the same way you would hold a pencil with your fingers. So its great practice.

Big Dog spells a bunch of "et" words

Big Dog didn't write all these words at one time. He wrote these words throughout the morning. He started by spelling Brett (his legal name:)) with Upword tiles. He loves the Upword game that I picked up at the thrift store. Who could dislike stackable letters?


He made this series of words on the refrigerator with Leap Frog letters.

Magic Marker Monday-- featured artist Big Dog

this is artistic genious at work:)

One big pile of cute

Rooster spells

Saturday Seven

Seven things that happened this week

1. Rooster started kindergarten. She seems to really like it. But, she is starving when she gets home. She spends the whole evening eating.

2. GH is enjoying the new sensory wall I made. This was inspired by the blog Chasing Cheerios.
3. I finally finished the boys room. I think it looks a lot better now that I have the border up.

4. We can't watch Handy Manny anymore. On Monday I had left a tv on upstairs. I heard GH screaming so I went upstairs to check it out. I found GH hitting the tv. The cat on the Handy Manny show was chasing one of the tools and GH was trying to hit the cat on the tv screen. Now whenever he sees that cat he goes completely ballistic. So we won't be watching that show for a while.

5. Speaking of tv shows. Rooster is no longer interested in Penguins of Madagascar. Which is slightly disappointing to Captain Awesome and I because we love that show. The fact that the kids aren't watching the cartoon will probably not stop us from watching the new shows:D

6. We played hide and seek with the kids today. Rooster would be a good hider if she could keep from giggling:)

7. We mowed the lawn for the first time in 3.5 weeks. It just hasn't needed to be mowed. We really enjoyed the break:)

Hard Work=Rewards

After mowing the lawn a little boy could really go for some

delicious yogurt:)

Our life in sketches---The boys

GH threw his toy submarine in the toilet after his bath tonight. I think this sketch captures my desperation in the moments before "the incident":D

The next incident happened a few days ago. We had some store bought cookies that were fantastic. Big Dog wanted to make sure he got more than his fair share. He created and implemented a pretty good plan considering the fact that he is only three years old.

Roosters First Day of School

Last night the school hosted an ice cream social. It was a great opportunity to meet the teachers and tour the school. Rooster seemed happy to meet the teachers and ran around the school happily. She was really excited when she ran into old friends:) This is a picture of Rooster in front of her locker.

The ice cream was delicious. It was the perfect dessert to top off the pizza we ordered to celebrate her first day of school. You may have noticed that the boys are missing. My friend Kim watched them for us. It was really nice to be able to focus all our attention on Rooster. I think she really appreciated the time with us. When we picked up the boys Kim offered us cake. We aren't the type of people who turn down cake. It was nice to be able to sit down and chat with such a nice family.

Before Rooster went to bed we received a surprise call from Aunt Shel. She was reading Cousin I a bedtime story called "The Night Before Kindergarten". And she thought Rooster might enjoy hearing it too. So she called and read this story to both of them at the same time. Isn't that sweet? Rooster clung to the phone as she laid in bed. Rooster was so happy:)

This morning we were a bit sad as we got our "baby" ready for her first day of kindergarten. It's so hard to believe she is a kindergartner. But, she is.

She's a big girl. But, she still loves her daddy:)

Last minute cuddles are the best.

Before she got on the bus she said "Here I come kindergarten!".

Get me out of this cage!

I can't take it anymore.

Rooster spells

Presto's visit

Cousin Presto came to visit us today. It was great to see him and we had a really good time. We walked to a nearby park. We were the only ones there, so that was a bit disappointing. There wasn't a ton of stuff for kids Presto's age. But, I think he made the best of it.

GH always loves playing on the fire truck at this park. GH LOVES fire trucks. So he had no trouble being entertained.


The kids played on the slides. Presto was nice enough to take GH down a big kid slide. Presto also wiped down all the slides so there were no wet tushies today:)

I love this photo. Rooster followed Presto like this all day long.

I like this photo also. Aren't they sweet?

Later we played outside. The kids thought Presto was the coolest. And who could blame them.....

Obviously Big Dog was trying to do what Presto was doing too. I guess older cousins are the coolest:)

After Presto and Aunt Crys had dinner they had to go home. As their car pulled away Rooster told me "I'm sad. I miss Preston"

One apple up on top

Trip to the ranch

GH quickly made himself comfortable when we got to grandma and grandpa's.

Gus got the Rooster right where he wanted her.

Grandma made popcorn. YUMMY!

Hangin' out with grandpa is awesome!