Park Day

This morning we found ourselves with a little extra time on our hands - well, not really EXTRA time, but we used it as an excuse to head to the park!  The weather has been a bit cooler (meaning below 90 degrees at 9:00 in the morning!) so it seemed like the perfect day to fit in one more park adventure before I flat-out refuse to take my children to any sort of outdoor activity that does not involve a swimming pool.  :)

We pull up to the park and the kids notice that none of their friends are there.  Then, the complaining starts..."What are we gonna do????"..."Who am I gonna play with?"...blah, blah, blah.  My wonderful reply...'It's a park!  You'll find something to do!'  Sheesh!  I guess it's probably my fault...we usually do go to the park with all our friends because, let's face it...I enjoy it a lot more too when I have a friend to talk to while the kids play. :)  But anyway, we were on our own today for the most part!  

But, when all was said and done, we had a BLAST!  Garrett and I put the stop-watch function on his wristwatch to good use!  We had a full-on competition to see who could swing across the rings faster than the other person. Yep, haven't done that since 5th grade!!!  We timed Ethan until he reached his personal-best time in 'running-up-the-slide-as-fast-as-you-can' competition.  7 seconds...not bad for a little 4 year old!  Garrett and I even timed each other as we raced to see who could climb up and down every single one of the ladders on the play structure.  And let me just say that I WON...even though it was harder than I thought to contort my body into some of those tiny child-sized rope ladder entrances!!!  We probably would have seen who could jump farthest off the swing, we were on a roll...but Olivia was done with the heat (I guess it wasn't as cool as I had hoped!) and was quite vocal about it! And we had some friends show up and I didn't quite feel like showing off my jumping skills...or being shown-up by my 8 year old son!  :)  Or who knows...maybe they could have joined right in!?!?

So take a stop-watch with you the next time you go out!  Who knows what kind of fun you can have!!!

Got your back...

There is never a dull moment at our house!  Not with these crazy kids around!!!

Scary Stuff

The boys are (as we speak), putting together sticker montages for their doors.  Their purpose: to scare mom away so she can't come in the rooms.  Nice.  

It's quite amusing to see their 'works-in-progress' though.  Garrett's page is covered in cartoony snakes and the likes (and realistically, that WOULD keep me away!). Ethan's is covered with Goofy (yes from Mickey Mouse...chilling I know!), a rhino, a spaceship (that apparently is supposed to blast off through my bellybutton), and a smiley face (that is supposed to smile and eat me all day!).  I keep getting a sneak-peak of Ethan's as he keeps running downstairs, (laughing hysterically!), and filling me on on the 'whys' of each sticker selection.  

Olivia through all this, is scribbling happily through an entire coloring book...pleased as punch to have all the crayons to herself!  :)

How I love these kids and their crazy antics!

Missing You

Ethan - "Wiggy? (his way of saying Olivia!) Do you miss Garrett?"

Olivia - "Ugh!" (still no words for this girl...but it was evident that she was answering in the affirmative!)

Ethan - "Me too."  (Followed by a sigh.)

This sums up all our feelings as Garrett goes back for his first day of school after a fun-filled vacation.

(Yes...this is how Olivia poses for pictures these days.)

Happy Wednesday

We have a snowman plate that I pulled out this week.  I've been choosing an 'extra helpful' child to use it at meal-times...rotating it through the kids.  Well, at least through the boys...it's glass and Olivia is still insistent on throwing EVERYTHING on the floor.  The poor snowman wouldn't stand a chance with her!

Anyway, the plate says 'Happy Holidays' on it besides showcasing a fancy snowman.  Ethan must have asked someone what it said...because he now has dubbed it the 'Happy Wednesday' plate.  And yes, it was the 'Happy Wednesday' plate on Tuesday too.  It doesn't matter which day it actually is...it is always Wednesday when it comes to the special plate!  This drives poor attention-to-detail/slightly-over-controlling Garrett crazy!  So, he just has given in to rolling his eyes every time Ethan shouts out with joy about his turn with the 'Happy Wednesday' plate...instead of lecturing him over and over and over about the difference between holidays and days of the week!  Poor kid!  But I have to admit, Garrett doesn't get any support to his theory from me this time...I LOVE the 'Wednesday Plate'!

Halloween

Here's my little skeletons...all decked out for Halloween!  Yes, that's right.  Nothing says Happy Thanksgiving like belated Halloween pictures!  And sorry for all the action shots...these little ones won't pose for ANYTHING right now.  They'll regret it later, I suppose!  :)

E's favorite part of his costume...the bum!

cheese

Yet another Olivia post...I promise I do love my other children too!

So, Olivia has apparently learned the delicate art of 'smiling for the camera'!

I can usually catch the normal smile...

...and then it turns into this...

And yes...this happens every time.

Nice and cute...

And then the 'super cheese'...

Hmmm...I wonder where she learned this from???

never-ending reasons...

Reason #170-175 why we love our trampoline...

Ethan's "Super Totally Awesome" move...(his words, not mine!)

The cute poses that Mom can get  (when she actually remembers to bring out the camera)...

The hilarity in chasing your brother...and stealing his bouncy ball...

Garrett's new move!  He came home from school so excited about a new move that his buddy had shown him.  Apparently abc's and 123's and breakdancing is on the schedule this week!

Olivia loves it too...although she's slightly unsure of the ground that bounces her back!

Little Leprechauns

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Of course, it didn't take long for the headbands to turn into laser eyes...

and then of course, Olivia thinks it's hilarious and laughs non-stop at her crazy brothers...

and of course, what photo shoot happens in our family, where Ethan doesn't leave his place and strike his  classic pose, saying "ooohhhh...take a picture of this!"

...and of course, Olivia with her daddy...it doesn't get much cuter than that!