Spring has Sprung???

I have been wanting to post for a few days but have not gotten the time to do so. It seems like days are just flying by or at least I am not getting anything done. The amount I try to do during nap time is always more than what the kids actually nap for. So I start this during naptime and hope to finish before they wake.

So what is new??? It seems like everyday there is something these kids are doing to make us laugh and/or challenge the rules. Most recently has been the escaping of the play area. Gates AND doors are no longer a challenge. Thanks to Zachary learning to open the doors and scale the gates we have had to come up with a new plan of attack. Now I would be more than happy to give them the entire first floor to roam, BUT I am running out of areas to put the things I use daily aka the things the kids LOVE to play with, so we are keeping them in the playarea. We have taken the one gate that Zach was scaling down and put the protective door knob things on the guest bedroom, bathroom, door to the stairs and the door to the dining room. I did have to empty one cabinet in order to give them that hallway space. As of right now the gate in the kitchen has not become an issue although it has been scale a few times and they are getting more and more clever as to how to get over.

That is not the only challenge facing us recently. With the weather getting warmer spring fever has set in...and bad! They have had a few great days outside and want more, unfortunately the weather is not cooperating. You may ask how can I tell they have spring fever...well apparently they have lost all their hearing and/or have changed the language they understand and I am still speaking English...they like to laugh a lot usually when getting disciplined...they mimic very well too...they are bored...etc, etc, etc. Today I got a great example of how to tell they are bored. Normally they will play with a few toys and the mess evolves at a slower pace. When they are bored toys are "tossed" and they move on to the next and the play area is destroyed in a matter of minutes (sometimes seconds). Here is only part of the mess they created this morning. I like to title it "Where's Roxy?". Not only are all four kids in the picture, but Sadie (Jean's dog) and Roxy. Can you find Roxy??? The bad news is they are calling for 6 to 8 inches of snow this weekend...I can only hope that the forecast is very wrong!!!

Last week the kids dumped the wooden block (this is done all the time) and as usual I asked if we could at least play with them for a little bit. They al happily sat down to play but we needed to be separated with the same amount of blocks for each.

Four kids and four different ways to play with their blocks. Although it did nto last a long time, they did sit for a decent amount of time.

As from past posts, you may remember that Alex is very attached to his daddy. Recently Alex has been using daddy as a lounger. He Alex is getting a last drink before bed sitting on his new favorite "chair"...

On Saturday I has to work so daddy was in charge. They had a great morning and the day turned out to be very sunny and nice. Once the kids woke from their naps we decided to head outside. Alex had to wait for the other to wake but found that Roxy is great to play with. First Roxy used him as a pillow as he happen to be sitting in a great spot of sunlight as you can see in this picture...
Alex what are you doing???

Apparently Roxy makes a good stove top for making fake cookies...whole new meaning to 'hot dog'...lol! She is such a great dog!
We were hoping to start doing yard cleanup while we were out that day, unfortunately the kids had other plans. First we had a snack. We don't have their table and chairs out just yet so we improvised with a ride-on toy...makes great chair!
Once the kids saw our rakes there was no getting them back. I tried to have them help me rake, but in the end it is just easier to watch them play and read a little (a book I have been trying to read for a year). Here are the kids hard at work...

The boys are the rakers...
Liz is the leave gatherer. She worked on throwing the leaves aroun first and then started putting them in the wheelbarrow.

Here Alex is asking Zach if he has seen Liz recently...

Oh, there she is taking a break...can anyone else see what the future holds with this?!?!?

Liz also found great fun out of pulling the dried grass and putting it on Roxy...have a mention what a great and patient dog she is?!?!?

Auntie Jackie stayed with us for a night early this week. One of her kitties needed some surgery done at the clinic I work for so we invited her to stay with us and spend time with the kiddos. I think Zach (as well as the other two) were very happy to have her here.

On Tuesday we had a full house in the morning. Not only was Jackie here but Jean and Lexi came to play. Grandma also stopped by...not only getting to see her grandkids but Jackie too. While chit chatting I decided to try putting Liz's hair into piggy tails....it worked! She has enough hair finally!!! Isn't she cute?!?!

That morning we had a little bit of a fashion show. Thanks to Auntie Jean bringing some clothes for Auntie Jackie, they kids got to help. Here is Alex using the big pouty lips with a serious look...

Zach is very serious in this jacket...

Lexi went with the unconventional way to wear a shirt...

Lix found this shirt as a great fit for a dress...

And like other fashion shows there are mishaps that happen...such as Liz getting stuck in a shirt...she is not happy...

There is always time to stop a show to catch a glimpse of Sesame Street...

or to follow Auntie Jackie around...

Yesterday I had the tent in the hallway. The kids were not interested at first but later found a new way to play with it. Turn it on it's side, climb in and get your hair as full of static...

Yesterday I also found the solution to a small problem that had presented itself a few days ago. I decided to put all the crayon into one container. When we colored the kids were more pre-occupied with getting as many crayons as they could on their paper than actually coloring the picture. So I decided to pull a few crayons and put them in paper cups and everyone got their own cup...worked like a charm! They were so proud of their cups.

Well that is all for now. As you may have guess I did not make the end of nap deadline...in fact it is almost 11pm. I guess I am just happy I got it done yet today. I hope everyone has a great weekend. We will be trying to enjoy the snow.

Love, Jen

Lots of posts & pictures, again

I put the last 9 posts including this one for the same date...so if you are reading them you will have to click on older posts to see them all. The last one is titled "Buzzzzz".
Enjoy!
Jen

Dress-Up anyone?!?!

In the last week and a half the kids have shown that they really take after me with their fashion sense (I have none, really). They are willing to wear anything. I think it is time to get some dress up clothes. They have recently been playing in the bench that stores their shoes as well as hats and mittens (ours too), so the outfits have been getting better and better.

Here is Liz all dressed up in a dress. What can it be paired with better then a blaze orange hunting hat and a pink scarf...lol. At least the shoes go with it, right?



This is not the first time that buckets have been the hat of choice. This time both boys wanted to try the pink bucket. I think it goes well with the Cars and Bob the Builder PJs, what do you think?

It can be as simple as Lexi going home for a fashion show to start. Her hat was the item of attraction on this afternoon. Zach started the show and Liz was the finale.

Last Saturday I ran errands and Jeremy stayed home. Apparently Liz was preparing for shopping as well. If you have two purses you can buy more, right? And you can't go out without some sort of head gear. Today she was showing off her support for her bank (old employer of mine).

We never know what they will walk in wearing next or not wearing. They are into undressing themselves which is good but then not so good. It is another great milestone to hit but can cause some issues like the night we found Liz with only her diaper on...it is a pain to try to dress a sleeping kid...lol!

Hope you enjoyed our fashion show.

Love, Jen

Row-row & Choo-choo

The kids are loving dancing and doing nursery ryhms. This is partly do to playgroup where they do a mixture of songs/dances to end the time. One of the kids favorite is Row, Row, Row your Boat. The day this picture was taken the girls rowed against the boys. They try singing the song which is just too cute.

Sing it Alex...

Guess the girls won...lol!

The other thing they like to do is play choo-choo train. They learned this one from Grandma but recruited daddy on this morning. The one thing to watch for when playing train is that no one is getting choked as they sometimes get very excited and do not realize how tight they are holding onto the person in front of them.

The other thing they love to do and are able to do without an adult is Ring Around the Rosey. Zach loves the 'we all fall down' part and usually starts falling when the 'ashes, ashes' part is being said. They are too cute to listen to...they will walk around saying 'ashes, ashes' or 'rosey'.

Love, Jen

Laughing Liz

No explanation needed for this post. She's got a beautiful smile and a fun personality. That's our girl!!!

Love, Jen

Let us OUT!!!

Saturday and Sunday afternoons were spent outside as the weather began to be nice and the ground started to dry up. Saturday I took the kids out to my parent's and met Jean and Lexi there. We have ALL been needing to get out! Cabin fever has set in. Out at the farm the kids played with the garden tool in one of the little piles of snow that was remaining. Alex think a hoe works just fine in the snow...

Liz took a quick spin on the motorized 4 wheeler...

Zach was interested more in what he could get messy with...
3 out of the 4 kids found a small pile of snow in the field and all had to stand on it at once. Grace, my parent's German Shepherd, helped supervise.

The 4th kid, Alex, was taking his time making it thru the field...looking at each and every little thing.

Then it was to the deck for a snack...and in after that as we were getting cold.

Sunday afternoon we took them out to their play yard. The sun was shining and Roxy was loving it!

Alex was the stick man...picking up all he found.

Liz helped daddy find a new hat, the bucket.

Zach did what we expected...found the messiest thing he could...the water down sandbox.

The best thing to do when you find such a treasure is to share it with your siblings...lol.