The Little pool

In our hot weather this week, I found the baby pool in the shed. Grandma sent this to us when Princess was a baby. This is Princess and Buddy in the pool when Buddy was about 9 1/2 months old, and Princess was 2 1/2. Wow have they grown, they don't fit in it anymore.We still love this pool. We just don't have all the accessories anymore. It is way too small for big kids, but perfect for Munchkin. She loved playing in it when it was drybut it took her a long time to climb in after the water was added. In the end, she loved it and was mad when I took her out to go inside.

Play date

Princess was very excited to have one of her friends come over for a play date after school this week. They were 2 very excited girls. I was amazed that they even let Buddy play with them. I expected him to be upset and lonely, but it all worked out great. The house however, did not look so great at the end of the day. They loved playing chef and dress up, so of course they had to dump the ENTIRE bag of play food and dishes all over the floor, plus empty all of the dress up clothes on the rest of the floor. I would do it anyday, they kids played all afternoon without any calls for me to play with them.

Knight in Shining Armor

S'mores

We had some friends over this weekend for a bonfire. It was totally crazy and lots of fun with 10 adults and 13 kids. Everyone had lots of sugar and we were really happy it was outside so they could run. Of course, my camera batteries died and then I got distracted and never put new batteries in it. So I didn't get many pictures. We had a great time, even if we all sat farther back from the fire because it was HOT. The kids all took off their shoes for some reason, and they due to the lack of grass in our side yard, they were all FILTHY. Very much like this little Munchkin.

April Heat

While I was jealous of the snow, I enjoyed not having to shovel it. I am now again wishing I lived in a slightly cooler climate. According to a nearby bank, it was 92 yesterday, and way too hot for April. The kids got to run under the sprinkler and have popsicles. They were holding hands as they ran through. Lately the kids have all been playing really well together. They were pretending to be super heroes. Munchkin didn't really want to get wet, but she thought it was fun to watch. She loves to play with the chaulk and take it in and out of the bucket.

Buddy's new skill

Buddy is also learning new skills. He figured out how to pump a swing. I only have to push one kid on a swing lately.

Princess's new skills

Princess has finally learned to jump rope. She is very proud and has to count how
many times she can jump. She made it to 100 yesterday. (In groups of about 5 jumps before she misses)

View

The neighbors had a tree taken down this week. The kids had to watch the workers before school.

Creative

Meals in our house are very simple. We usually have a meat of some variety, a starch (potato, rice, or pasta) and a vegetable. Daddy likes to have a salad every night, but I am not a big fan of iceberg lettuce so unless he is home to make his own, we don't have salad as often as he would like.

Last night I had a little bit of time, but didn't want a typical salad.(the lettuce was getting a little brown) I got creative and went out to my herb garden. I grabbed some oregano, sage and rosemary. Then I put them in my mini food processor. I added some olive oil, sea salt and Parmesan cheese. I poured this over some halved cherry tomatoes and some cut up mozzarella cheese sticks. (I don't usually have any expensive nice cheese) It turned out fantastic. Now I need to do this more often and I am excited to add basil when the stuff I planted this weekend starts growing in the next few weeks. Next time I need to have some crusty bread to use this as a dipping sauce for bread.

Lest you think I am a good cook. The pork tenderloin took longer than I expected on the grill, so we ended up eating broccoli, pasta and tomato's as the first course and the pork as the second course a few minutes later. Sometimes things don't always work the way I plan.

Feed her

I think I may need to give her some more breakfast. Somehow she managed to reach the Cheerios on the table, I was doing laundry and she was quietly enjoying her 2nd breakfast.

Fantastic Day

It was a beautiful warm day today.

Last night the 2 big kids and Daddy slept in a tent in the backyard. It was a little cold, but they managed to stay out there all night. I don't think anyone slept real well.

We spent today working in the yard, mowing the lawn, planting tomato's and then going to the circus. Daddy had never been to the circus before, and when we arrived Buddy said he wanted to go home, and he didn't like it. At the intermission Buddy was loving it but Princess said she wanted to leave. We managed to stay for the whole thing, but it was good we sat in an empty row with no one sitting in front of us. Munchkin got to walk around a little and she didn't hit anyone in the head. They all loved the Elephants, Tigers, and Princess loved the dogs who did cool tricks.

Kaleidoscopes

A friend gave the kids some new cool Kaleidoscopes. I loved them and so did they. Then they realized they also made great shakers to dance with the music. Then the kids loved them even more.

Thanks Sarah for the cool gift.

Chuck E Cheese

I really do not enjoy going to Chuck E Cheese. It is a lot of money for bad food and loud games for cheap prizes. I don't even want to think about the germs. However, when it rains on a no school day and you are invited there with some of the kids classmates, you go. The kids loved it, I hated it. The other moms had older kids and got to sit in a booth and chat. I had to chase a 16 month old around the place trying to keep her safe and happy, all while dispensing tokens in a continual stream. We don't need to go back anytime soon, too bad the kids want to go back tomorrow.

The cheap sleeping bag

Princess has a habit of climbing into the pillowcase when she gets cold. She slept like this all night long.

Weekend alone

We had a wonderful Easter weekend, but we did not do all the traditional Easter stuff. The kids did the fun stuff with Grandma and Grandpa at their house and Daddy and I had a fantastic weekend at a Bed and Breakfast on Solomons Island. I already miss gourmet cooked breakfasts, and a beautiful view over the water when I wake up.

We spent a rainy day in Annapolis and then had a wonderful sunny morning hike at Calvert Cliffs State Park. The only pictures I took were of the beaver dam and the water. It was beautiful.

Happy Easter

Field trip

I had the joy of going on a Kindergarten Field trip with Princess' class today. We went to the Chrystler Museum of Art. I wasn't sure how it would go at a none kid friendly museum, but it turned out great. The kids were very well behaved and the docent who led us around did a great job of bringing art to their level. We only looked at about 7 or 8 paintings and a few glass pieces, but all the kids were interested and loved talking about the animals in the pictures.

Princess loved having me there. Buddy was in school and I had a friend watch Munchkin. It was fun to watch her try to hold my hand throughout the museum, and she even wanted to sit next to me on the bus. She loves having mom all to herself. Of course I forgot the camera AGAIN, so I don't have any pictures.

Reading

There has been lots of reading going on in our house lately. I have been pretty good about going to the library once a week and getting books with the kids. They love it and so do I. Plus my sister sent me a package with a few more books for me to read.

Princesses reading skills are improving greatly and she loves to sit and read with us. I am waiting until the day comes when the whole family can read their own books without any help. Then I can read my books without interuptions. Yeah, I am kind of selfish about that. For now I wait until the kids go to bed and then get out my book and spend the evening curled up on the couch reading. Our new TV hasn't seen much use lately and it is wonderful.