I should have had this!

I could have used this the first three pregnancies!!

a little video

This is the only video I took on Sunday

Kid Utopia (AKA Jerry's house)

There is so much to do In Jerry's yard. He has a huge yard with all kinds of play structures-tiny houses, a little bus(pictured above growing legs and walking away),a little machine that pops baseballs into the air for you to bat at (justin was fascinated with that one, he kept trying to catch the ball with his hands as it popped out), a sandbox, a trampoline, a boucy house, a mini merry-go-round, two swing sets, all kinds of motorized vehicles, including the two four-wheelers(atvs), rabbits to hold, supper cooked on the grill, a bonfire at night-the kids had a blast!

funs with cars and jumping

Justin checks Timothy's seat belt (little velcro straps. LOL)

Mia drove Timothy around, she's used to driving Lexie around, she's a pro at driving. Timothy did try driving several times, but he just couldn't get the hang of it. He kept getting out to try to physically move objects in his path instead of turning the steering wheel!

Maree'

Maree' was so excited to go to Jerry's (in fact, she would have cancelled on going to our house this weekend if not for wanting to go there.....)

I don't think she's been to see him since he's had kids though so she had memories of having fun when she was around Mia's age at his house. Plus Maree's kind of at an akward age where she's not carefree enough to just go and play. She was a little bored until she found the trampoline and then later shen she finally got the courage to try the four-wheelers. She loved that!

Safety Note: the four-wheelers are small and don't go as fast as the bigger ones (I know they've been in the news recently as being very dangerous, so I htought I'd note this)

so much to do there......

Timothy kept calling Lexie Jacob, recognizing a similar relationshipbetween the two. He was so adorable, when Lexie was crying he would go over to her and pat her head and try to hug and kiss her.

I'm proud to say that even if they aren't always perfect angels, my kids are very affectionate and caring!

Jacob made a friend

But he wasn't so sure about her......Lexie tried to sit in his lap and I very gently pulled her off him. She looked up at me and tried to take my hands away! Her Mom says she's the family bully, bossing around Mia too. Mia will be 5 in July, Lexie is 14 months old. (Jacob is now 9 months old). Jacob is heavier than Lexie!

I love how Jacob alwasys has that one raised eyebrow!

My two favorite pictures from Sunday

Leanna's map/list

Leanna was sooo excited about Maree coming over for a night this weekend. (It's been put off for about 3 weeks now) She drew this plan for what would happen when Maree came over.

First she would give Maree a hug and ask her to hold her.

Then she would give Maree her necklaces that she left here.

Then she would take her to see how clean her room is.

Then they would have a pillow fight.

Then they would go to bed.

Sleeping positions

Timothy falls asleep in the strangest positions quite often, actually. We have pictures of him asleep, standing up leaning against the couch, sleeping on the floor, on toys, etc. I think all three older kids have fallen asleep on the stairs before, but that's because they've been sent there for punishment or sent up to bed and they laid down on the top step waiting for us to change our minds. Justin even fell down the steps that way once.

Anyway, these are just two pictures from this past week. In one he pulled up the boppy pillow, sans cover, while waiting for me to finish quieting the baby and fell asleep there on the floor, amongst the toys. In the other he was sent up to bed and we found him in the baby sitter thing. (It was strange because Justin went to bed like he was supposed to, but for some reason Timothy decided to lay down there.)

A happy news story

Penguin related news: www.mcall.com/news/custom/offbeat/sns-ap-odd-penguin-wetsuit,0,2435703.story
(sorry, blogger keeps adding something to the addresss and won't let me delete it. Just copy & paste if you care to.

Nice to know technology is occasionally used for good instead of evil!

Using Christmas presents, finally

This was a stepping stone kit she got for Christmas from Maree'. My goal was to do a craft project each day she was off school this week (Wed.Thurs.Fri.) but Wed. I got sidetracked, so today was our first effort.

The finished stepping stones

I wish they had more colors to paint with (not so harsh) and more stones and tiles would have been nice too. I think you could do a much nicer job if you bought the supplies separately. They still have to sit overnight before they're completely done, but here's the end result:

It all started innocently enough

First Justin was pouring enough water to make little pools in the mud. There were boats floating around, so far not bad. Then they started to wade in it, still not too bad.......

The turning point

She fell (that might have been on purpose though) and then everything went downhill from

there.......

I had to get the hose at this point

Not only did I hose them off outside, but it took 3 times of filling and emptying the tub to get all the mud out of their hair. Justin's pants are down in the one picture because they were so mud-logged that they wouldn't stay up anymore! I always seem to pay dearly for any free time I find.....but then this is the stuff childhood memories are made of!

Mother/child lookalikes

The time to upload photos is over, but I think it's neat to look through. Some of the pictures are pretty amazing (how much they do look alike). I should have sent this link to Korinna before, I think she and Maree look a lot alike also. Lookalikes

Interesting

I'm not so sure I'm buying this one.......

The women didn’t know the sex of their babies, but when researchers reviewed their food plans, they found that moms who consumed more calories of higher quality before conceiving were about 24 percent more likely to give birth to boys than moms who ate less.

Although this part does make sense for me, anyway:
Odds of having a boy were much higher for women who ate at least one bowl of breakfast cereal a day compared to women who ate less than one bowl a week, the study said. Breakfast cereals are usually fortified by vitamins and minerals.

Voting

I voted, did you?

So much for positive thinking......

Not my favorite way to start the day.......Leanna insisted on walking to school with a blanket covering her head and body. She wanted to take a hat, I told her she didn't need one and we had to go, NOW. She'd been fooling around and was already late. So she grabbed the orange and black tiger blanket and wrapped it over her head. So only her legs showed from under the blanket. Let's just say that we were not invisible walking to school this morning.

Today was just a stream of bad happenings and bad news. It really seemed like things were starting to turn around for us, I really had hope. I won't bother to list everything, it doesn't make for good reading and I don't think most people are interested anyway. I really really hate getting my hopes up for nothing.

Playing with dirt

Check out the handprints on the back of the shirt!! And those are Timothy's feet but Justin actually ended up worse! The tub's been a busy place this week!

In case you ever wondered.....

If you've never seen an "Outie" belly button.......

Playing outside

Barbie made a crash landing, and lost more than just her broomstick-her leg!! I guess the Lucky Charms didn't work afterall!

Maybe she should have borrowed some gas from the boys (look, between the two of them they're wearing a complete outfit!)

The dirt trail

An afternoon of sunshine and waterplay looked like this, halfway through. By the time I mopped the floor it was completely tan (meaning the dirt covered the entire floor).

Average Families Can't afford housing

One of the many things wrong with this country, in my opinion. I think all working people should be able to own a home if they so desire. And if they just want to rent, that shouldn't break the bank either. Everyone should have the right to a place to live, basic food to eat, and to get care if they become sick.

"Comparing housing costs in 210 metropolitan areas with the wages earned by workers in 60 occupations, the study found that homeownership is often unaffordable for workers in each of the five-fastest growing occupations -- registered nurses, retail salespeople, customer-service representatives, food-preparation workers and office clerks. Registered nurses, who typically have high salaries, were unable to purchase a median-priced home in 108 of the markets."

"The study also found that retail salespeople and food-preparation workers couldn't afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment in any of the markets."

Mad Libs

Happy Birthday Mad Libs!!

(I've always loved that game)

Afternoon/evening outside

They spent most of the evening outside. I showed Timothy how to make roads in the dirt for all his cars. I dug the roads, and he ran the cars over them, ruining them. It was fun for both of us. For Timothy it was just a different, more fun place to play......for Justin, it was all about the dirt. He LOVED it. He just dug it up, piled it in trucks and buckets and transfered it all around. He buried Cowboy Woody in it. He stayed outside the longest of all of them.

Leanna was in and out, she came out to pour rocks and dirt on her brothers' heads, then took a break inside. Then she brought out water to pour in the dirt and played with that for a little bit. Jacob enjoyed the swing and he likes watching all the action from his siblings running around. He really doesn't need tv ever, with them to watch.