Life with my kiddos

I got these pics of the girls today after church. The dress Makayla is wearing is a 3-6 month dress that I bought AGES ago, and she just now fits in it. The dress Mackenzie is wearing is a NEWBORN dress, and it's still a little big on her. Aye aye aye. Did I mention that the girls will be 9 months old in 5 days??

In the one photo, where Makayla has her face kind of scrunched up, she's showing off her new skill that her daddy taught her while I was at the hospital with Mackenzie a couple weeks ago...she scrunches up her nose, purses her lips, and huffs in and out of her nose really fast. It's really quite adorable, though I must say it's a bit annoying when she does it with a mouth full of food, because inevitably, the food comes spilling out. But she's cute, and she knows it!













So, we ventured out to dinner tonight, as a family. The last time we did this was a few months ago, when we first got the house, while my dad was still here visiting with us. It was an adventure, but overall, went pretty well. I'm guessing maybe we need to get out a bit more often, though...here's the conversation I had with Anthony prior to leaving the house...

Me: Anthony, are you ready?
A: Where are we going?
Me: To get something to eat.
A: But where?
Me: At a restaurant.
A: Like, we're going INSIDE to eat??

Um, yeah...the kid knows WAY too much about drive-thrus!!!! That's because usually when we get food, it's me and all 3 kids, and it's just way too hard to drag all 3 into an eat-in place, so we find the nearest drive-thru!!

Anthony and I have had a few other interesting conversations lately, as well. I've been trying to be more diligent about doing daily bible study with him during the week, and we've had some interesting convos about God. The other night, he was scared to go to sleep, and we were doing his bedtime prayers, and I was reminding him that when he's scared, he can always pray to God to comfort him and keep him safe. He kept asking, "But where is He?" I explained, for the hundredth time, "He's all around us, He's everywhere." He said, pointing to the empty spot on the pillow next to him, "He's right here???" I said, "Yes, God is right here," thinking that would help him not be so scared. Um, yeah...he totally freaked out and said, upset, "I don't WANT Him right here!!!" I had to stifle my laughter, and I quickly assured him that God wasn't scary, and that if it made him feel better, I could ask God to stand outside the room rather than be in his bed! He agreed to that.

Later in the week, we were driving, and he again asked me, "Where is God?" I again explained that God is all around us, everywhere. He said, "Is He right there?" pointing to the empty front passenger seat. I laughed and assured him that God was, indeed, right there!

It makes me wonder what goes on in his head when he's NOT asking me questions!! :)

Touches of Fall

Ahhhhh...that's me breathing a long sigh of relief and inhaling the cool, crisp air which has graced us over the past couple days, especially in the evenings. What a blessing to not have to run the A/C, and to be able to sleep with the windows open again. Yesterday morning, after over 3 weeks of not leaving the house without any children in tow, I finally got some mommy-alone time, and when I returned in the afternoon, I caught up on some much-needed house-cleaning.

My reward was then to pull out the autumn decorations, which kicks off my very FAVORITE time of year!! From September through January is absolutely MY time!! I was MADE for this time of year, I promise you!! It's something deep in my soul which is soothed by and totally responds to the scents, colors, tastes, textures, and sounds of the fall and early winter.

Menu Plan Monday

I've been menu-planning for a couple months, now, but I've never officially participated in Menu Plan Monday, hosted by Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie. I've been reading her blog for a while and I glean much from her musings and advice!! Anyway, I just finished up our menus for the next two weeks, and have added them to my Google Calendar (you can see it down on the right side of my blog), and made up my grocery list for shopping tomorrow. I'm trying a couple new recipes this week that sound really yummy - can't wait!! We're going apple-picking on Wednesday morning, so I'll be looking forward to using the apples in some delicious ways. I'm especially excited about Saturday's dinner...we're having a couple friends over, so they'll be my guinea pigs!! Hope they're up for the adventure! The apple pie is my own recipe and we love it! If you click the link, it will take you to a previous post in which I listed the ingredients (though I've never actually measured them!).

So, here's what's coming...

Monday - Salad with yellow fin tuna, goat cheese, radishes and capers
Tuesday - Tortilla and black bean pie
Wednesday - Rotisserie glazed pork roast, baked apples
Thursday - Leftover buffet
Friday - BBQ chicken pizza
Saturday - Pumpkin Cranberry Crusted Chicken w/Bacon Maple Glaze, sweet potato mash, green beans, apple pie
Sunday - Grilled steaks, potatoes, corn on the cob

So what about you all? Anyone else figured out what you're eating this week? I swear by it - menu planning saves time, energy, stress and money!!

Really awesome giveaway on a really awesome blog!!

A really awesome blog, Vanilla Joy, which I just discovered, is having an incredible giveaway of a Minibox. It's valued at $800. Yes, you read that correctly. This little cabinet is something to behold...a place for EVERYTHING!! It opens up and provides a workspace for crafting, and when you're done, it all closes up neatly and sits there looking beautiful until your next crafting adventure. I don't know about you, but with my two little ones starting to explore and Makayla already starting to pull things off shelves in my craft room, I could SURE use something like this!!

The blog has many other wonderful ideas, including lots of crafting and family fun activities. Now go enter the contest!!!

Pirate Playdate

We had a great time at the pirate playdate this afternoon at the park...although, I think Anthony couldn't see for the better part of the afternoon, between his eye patch over one eye and his hat sliding down over the other! But he was so excited to wear them, he refused to take them off until we got back in the car to go home. Kristi did a great job organizing, and the kids participated in a treasure hunt and a pirate-ship water fight. At first Anthony wasn't too keen on getting wet...ah, my "I don't like to get messy" kid...I've got to keep working on that!! But once he got into the fun of it, he was even squirting himself with water.

This is Kristi, the mom who organized the playdate, and the wonderful friend who brought all 3 of her kiddos over on Tuesday to watch Anthony and Makayla for me while I tookd Mackenzie to the doctor. AND, she offered to do the same again this Tuesday!! What a sweet friend!!

Martha's Blog

Martha Stewart has a great post with an overview about blogging and all the various platforms out there, as well as some helpful ideas for those who might be considering jumping into the blogging world. She also has a contest going on, and you can enter it by leaving a comment here.

Aargh, matey!

This afternoon, we are going to a pirate playdate at the park, with the moms group extraordnaire. Our household is sorely lacking in dress-up clothes, so I had to fabricate some piratey-goodness for Anthony. I found this pirate hat pattern, which I printed and cut out, then glued onto black cardstock. Instead of making a strap out of cardstock, however, I used this tip from Grace Violet about using elastic and eyelets, and attached an elastic strap - figured it would stay on better.

Then I cut out two circles (using a play-doh lid as a template) of black knit fabric, used fusible tape to iron them together, and turned them right side out. I then punched two holes in the resulting patch, attached eyelets, and tied elastic (the eyelet/elastic trick didn't work out so well here, so I had to just tie it) around each one to form a strap.

Anthony was quite thrilled with the outcome and can't wait for the playdate!! I decided I'd better take pictures now, though, because the kids are going to have a water fight at the playdate, and I'm guessing the cardstock hat may not fare too well against the water!! Too bad I don't have a laminating machine!! Or a laminating cartridge for my Xyron!! Might have to add that to my wish list...

On a weird note, when I was glueing the hat together, I got a whiff of the glue stick, and almsot became nauseous. The glue stick smells JUST LIKE the glue they used on Mackenzie's wounds during her surgery!!! How bizarre is that??? After her surgery, she smelled so strongly, and I kept giving her sponge baths and lathering her with lavendar lotion, thinking it was the antiseptic they had used on her, and I couldn't understand why the smell wouldn't go away. Now I know...I wasn't washing the GLUE away!! Wow...hopefully that scent association won't last too long...I LOVE glue sticks!! :)

Hey sis!!

I just love how the girls are interacting more with each other these days. This afternoon, Mackenzie was in the bouncy seat, and Makayla kept going over to check her out. So cute!! And can you believe how great her lip looks already??? She's just got one little bit of scab left, under her nose. But other than that, it's looking really great!

Don't do it, baby!!

Earlier today, I was picking up some random toys that had accumulated downstairs, and was piling them on the stairs so that Anthony could start taking them back upstairs where they belong. Little baby had been laying peacefully in her bassinet when I put her on the stairs, but the next time I looked, she was standing there, with no clothes on, looking like she was ready to jump!! Or maybe hula dancing - not really sure!! She's kinda got those hips pushed out to one side a bit, eh? :)

And, oh boy, are we in for some fun. Have I ever mentioned how spoiled we were with Anthony? He was such a mellow baby and toddler. Never got into things, never tried to stick his fingers in light sockets, never picked things up off the floor to put in his mouth really. We never even really had to child-proof - seriously, all we did was put plugs in the outlets, and I put toilet locks on those, but he never did show any interest in them anyway. He never got into cabinets or pulled things out, really. So easy.

Makayla? Yeah, she's gonna be the total opposite. She thinks she's hot stuff now that she can crawl from one end of the house to the other and she knows her way around. Today she was in the craft room, pulling Anthony's things off the shelves. And chewing on my sewing machine cord, which, thankfully, was not plugged in. And pulling the trash can over. Over and over and over again. And picking up tiny bits of play-doh off the floor. Fun. The afternoon was filled with choruses of, "Mo---0m, Makayla's trying to get my car!!" and "Moooo----ooommm, Makayla's trying to touch my toys!!" Yes, Anthony, I replied, "That's what babies do." My standard response. :)

Post-Op Appointment

Mackenzie had her post-op appointment with Dr. Kiran, the plastic surgeon, today. He said her lip looks great and is healing well. But other than that, it was kind of a pointless trip, b/c her scab hadn't fallen off yet, so he couldn't do the other things he wanted to do...snip the ends of any stitches that haven't dissolved, take a look at how the scar is coming out, etc. So we have to go back next Tuesday again. Ugh. Of course, this evening - her scab fell off. Figures.

My new friend Kristi (yes, from the moms group extraordinaire!!) came over and watched Anthony and Makayla for me so I didn't have to drag them along today. I should clarify, just so you understand what a sweet gift this was...she has 3 children of her own, ages 5 months, 2 years, and 4 years. And she brought them all with her. How brave and awesome is she?! The kids were having so much fun playing that they all stayed for a while even after I got back, and we got to hang out. I love it when mommy gets to have adult conversation with another cool mommy!! :)

We actually started the day by going over to the church, as today was the first day of the women's bible study. We are studying 1 Corinthians, which I am excited about. It was rather chaotic getting everyone out the door on time, and I even got up at 6:30 a.m., but I guess it will take some practice to get the routine down!! I'm not used to having to be anywhere at 9:00!! Thankfully, it takes 2 minutes, 3 minutes max, to get to the church from our house...yay!!

Hoping our household can get back on a nice routine soon...the house is a mess, my cleaning routine is off...I need my sense of order back!!