Pictures

Tonight, it was a nice warm night and the kids were being cute, so of course we went out and took pictures. They probably would have turned out better if Buddy hadn't decided to bite Princess's cheek this afternoon, but I guess that is part of life around here. Tonight they tried climbing through the windows from the outside. The kids are also into using the camera and actually took some cute pictures.

Busy week

I have been away from the blog for a while, it has been a busy week. We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the long weekend. Amazingly I didn't take any pictures, but we had fun with the extended family and we even got Princess to go tubing for the first time. She still isn't swimming, but she loves the water and loved going sailing and kayaking

This week was the last week of school, so there was some parties and lots of end of school stuff. As part of their end of the year celebrations the teachers give each of the kids a certificate to show a character trait that they have demonstrated throughout the year. Both of the kids demonstrated the character trait of Joyfulness and it was cool to have their teachers see the same qualities that I love in my kids.

Buddy had a party this week at a friends house with a slip and slide. He had a blast with all the other kids. Munchin had fun following around the big kids. Princess had her end of the year celebration with a simple meeting in her classroom and a pool party. She loved it. This is her friend L, I hear lots of stories of what they do together. The best Kindergarten teacher.

Notes

This morning I got a question I wasn't expecting. Princess asked me this: "Why do most of the other kids get notes and I don't?" I was more than slightly confused until I got the whole story.

Apparently when you pack lunch for your kindergarten student you are supposed to put in a note telling them how much you love them. I have packed her a lunch every day all year and have never done this. I am a bad mom again. But now I know and she will have a note every day for the last 5 lunches of the school year. I am only a little bit late on this.

Wonderful

My husband is wonderful. He was gone on a business trip this week and was out of town for our anniversary. But I got home from running errands and found these on the front step. They are beautiful and it was nice to know he missed me. Thank you and I love you.

Amazingly he was near my family and had breakfast with my sister on our anniversary. She sent me a fantastic email about it, I would put it on here, but I have a feeling he might be embarassed.

Climbing again

Did I mention that Munchkin likes to climb and is fearless. This is where I found her this morning. If the window was open, she could probably have figured a way to get out.

Sleeping Beauty

This is what happens when mommy left her eating her lunch while she answered the phone.

A matter of time

I guess it was just a matter of time. Munchkin fell out of the top bunk bed last night.

I was very excited to see "Wicked" with a friend, and was taking shower to prepare. Just as I am stepping out, I hear her crying. Apparently she climbed up into the top bunk and wanted to get down. She got down as she normally does, by sliding off feet first. According to the older kids she landed on her bum. I spent a long time checking her over and looking for bruises, but amazingly she did not have any bruises and within 5 minutes was off and running after the other kids. I am just hoping she desn't try it again anytime soon.

By the way "Wicked" was fantastic. If you have the time and money to go see it, I would recommend it.

Munchkin's new skill

The big kids aren't the only ones learning new stuff. This one learned this new skill.

The biggest problem is that she can also climb up the ladder to get to the top of the bunkbed... and then can't get down. I have started to take down the bunkbed ladder during the day.

I also just realized her dress is filthy, but by the end of the day it usually is this filthy, she loves to play outside.

Movies

I just found out that a lot of local movie theatres offer $1 movies for kids during the summer.

The Coupon Consultant just posted about movies at the theatres. Go to http://www.thecouponconsultant.com/2009/05/gearing-up-for-movie-filled-summer.html to check them out. AMC, Regal and Cinemark all offer cheap or free movies. I am excited for somthing to keep the kids busy.

In our local area, the Chrysler museum alos offers movies every Friday. These are short films (usually only about 30 minutes and matched with a craft.)

Math our way.

This weekend we took all 3 kids to pick strawberries. It has been raining all week long, and then we had thunderstorms Friday Night/Saturday morning. So it was just a little muddy. Our Summary of the day.

$36 spent on berries.
28 lbs of berries
2 lbs of mud on the kids
2 loads of laundry to wash clothes.
35 cups of sugar
11 - pint jars of jam
22 - 1/2 pint jars of jam
90 degrees in the kitchen
5 quarts of berries in the freezer
2 beers for the parents
Complete exhaustion at 8:30 PM

A year

It has not been officially a year since I have quit work to become a full time mom and housewife. It has been a little bit of an adjustment. OK, so maybe it has been a major adjustment for me. I have survived a summer of all 3 kids home full time and a year of kindergarten. Now at the end of May school will be done, and I will have all 3 kids full time for the summer. I am looking into some day camps for the kids this summer to keep them busy.

Now that Princess will be in first grade and Buddy will be in school 3 days a week next year I am debating going back to work in the fall. The only challenge is that with the current economy, the need for engineers is not as great as it has been in the past. I am hoping to work part time again, so I am on the search for a new job.

Latest Trip

I am finally posting pictures of my latest trip. I went to Alabama to hang out with some great friends. I loved having great friends to just hang out with and relax. THANKS for being great hosts and making the time to hang out with us.

Lawn mowing

This is how we mow the lawn with a Munchkin who cries every time she even looks at the lawn mower. (running or not) Of course, put her on your back. It is quite a workout to mow the lawn and empty the bag with a lot of extra weight on your back. Oh yeah and she has a book to play with up there and she liked to push it into my neck.... It wasn't up there the whole time.

Wildlife

We have had LOTS of rain in the past few weeks, and after the rain stopped for a little while we found this little guy in the backyard. Princess caught him all by herself in her little bug cup she got as a toy from Chick-Fil-A. She was very proud of herself, but I did make her release it after she showed daddy. She wanted to take it to school, but I thought it might die in such a little cup for that long. Now she wants to go find another one tonight.

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.