Messy, messy

As Cute Girl wants to make crafts every day, her requests for such should not take me off guard. But they always do. I never have any idea of what we should do and it's usually not the best time for it (i.e. I'm on the computer or cleaning the kitchen). But she always insists that we do one RIGHT NOW. This takes some quick scrounging through cupboards and self-evaluation as to how much mess my stress levels can take.
Last week I managed to pull out some sponges and make Easter stamps. Cute Girl loved decorating cards and envelopes...while Handsome Face just painted his hands.

P.S. We have our first cousin and I'm finally an aunt! Yay for baby Dallin!

Our Hidden Oasis

Spring break was two weeks ago for our school district. This does not directly affect our family but I had high hopes for well-attended play groups. Alas, my dreams went unfulfilled. While most of our friends were still in town, everyone seemed to be too busy with their own little things.

Wednesday was fun, however, despite our lack of numbers. We had planned a picnic in the canyon for the whole neighborhood but only our friends Melissa and Tessa joined us. Melissa was kind enough to drive us and showed us this awesome spot. There is a lovely little creek just off the path in a part of the park that our family never stops at because it looks too scrubby. The kids had a blast playing in the water and Handsome Face found a new best friend in Tessa. She knows how to get into mischief and that's right up his alley!

Life as it is Now

There are periods of life when I am really, really busy without actually having anything to do. That period was the last two weeks. And maybe the next few weeks too.
Maybe I'll throw out tidbits of what went on the last few weeks over the next day or two. Or maybe I won't. But here's what's going on now.
Handsome Face is sick again. It breaks my heart. His little body is burning hot and he just keeps telling me it hurts. His whole frame shook after church because he was so cold. This is where we found him yesterday. He slept for almost an hour the first nap, almost five hours the second one.
Cute Girl played computer games after church. Not something she usually gets to do on the Sabbath but somehow she caught me off guard. When she was finished she told me she was ready for her nap. Now there's a new one.
The Rocket Scientist is making dinner. Quesedillas and black beans. I adore black beans and his are divine. They're so good that I'll repeat the words 'so good' with every bite. I love it when he makes me good food on Fast Sunday.

And here's how we celebrated

Here's our attempt at celebrating St. Patrick's Day. The only thing traditional about this dinner is the soda bread. It was yummy. We had beef stew along with it because I'm just not a bacon joint or smoked salmon kind of girl. And I found a yummy recipe for green punch that had pineapple juice in it. Anything with pineapple juice is good in my book.

And to be a good mommy, I gave my children these. Even when Handsome Face refused to eat my dinner.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Weekend Recap

The Rocket Scientist has Friday off every other weekend. I delight in having a three-day weekend so often, but recently we haven't been able to take advantage of it due to illness and injury. This means that all my home improvement projects and family activities have been put on hold.

This weekend we were blessed with a healthy household (relatively speaking) for the first time in a month and a half. So we took full advantage of it.
Friday was spent sanding my hutch (lucky Rocket Scientist), grocery shopping, and cleaning. I love feeling so productive and accomplishing so much, but I fear I'm the only one. So to redeem the day for the rest of my family we had a pizza picnic in the family room and watched a movie from the library. Here's Handsome Face. He saw my root beer and put his wide open mouth directly over my cup. We all got the hint.Saturday morning we spent running errands in town. I hate running errands in town for it takes all day. But we started out with a yummy crepe breakfast. They were a big hit. Especially the whipped cream. Handsome Face liked his plain and kept wanting more and more and more. I finally left him in his high chair with a pile of them so I could go shower. I didn't think he would ever stop eating!

We got home that afternoon and the kids and I took naps (I had a headache) while the Rocket Scientist pulled the weeds in the front yard. He gets all the best jobs. When we all woke up he grilled for us. I love not making dinner.

Just a little something

I have to go to bed, but I wanted to post something. So here are cute pictures. He LOVES these light sabers.

She's wearing her brother's new polo onesie over her own clothes.

Nowadays, most of our playtime revolves around games involving balls.

The new, up-and-coming artist

His work will be gracing the cover of Time before you know it.

And incidentally, this one was taken with the lens pressed up against his nose.

Bye-Bye

Aunt Abby left us today. We miss her already. We had a few accidents this afternoon and she would have been the perfect candidate for saving the day. But I'm sure she's looking forward to NOT getting up at 6 am.

Parade of Crafts

Cute Girl is a crafter. It's just what she does. Everyday is a new request for a craft. This takes some imagination on my part as I try to find something that qualifies as a craft, is quick, and requires only what we have on hand. And no, coloring and water painting do NOT count as crafts. Here's what we've been up to lately. Shamrocks painted with glitter glue

Pinwheel, pattern taken from Molly's Craft Book (American Girls Pastimes)

Two CDs glued and covered in gems, design from Aunt Abby

Easter Baskets, taken from Easy-To-Make Holiday Crafts, circa 1984

Paper Easter Egg, modified from a picture found at this site

I'm seeing stripes

This is what I have been doing for the past week. Painting stripes is no fun. It takes lots and lots of time. But now I know how to do it so it's a shame I don't have more stripes to paint.
And if you'll be painting soon, and you ask the lady if your primer needs to be tinted because the label says "Tintable Primer" and the lady says no, don't believe her. She's wrong and it does need to be tinted.
This is currently the toy room but will some day become Handsome Face's room when he moves out of the nursery. I've been toying around with what I want in here but I had no plans to paint anytime soon. Then my sister came into town and the idea just sort of popped into my head. Gotta get those projects done while the free baby-sitter is here and I can hijack her car. Here's the Rocket Scientist looking like he did all the work. He didn't. He just came to help finish the red stripes and take off the tape because I said I wasn't coming out of that room until it was finished and he's bored at home without me.

Does this remind anyone of fruit stripe gum?

Food for Thought

Interesting article in The Washington Post, found here.

(and I hope my post title makes you giggle)

The Best Part of My Day

In our house we often ask each other what the best part of the day was. Today wasn't the best day due to everyone being sick. But during bedtime I realized that we did have one bright spot.
The kids finished dinner early (because no one would eat it) so we had plenty of time for a leisurely bath and bedtime. And best of all, Dad was home to help! It was so nice to have everyone in the same room, just hanging out and enjoying ourselves, with no pressure to hurry. That was the best part of the day. Handsome Face laying on a bed of books

Cute Girl got extra stories

Watching the bubbles in the humidifier

Snuggling in sister's bed during songs

Getting attacked by the tickle monster

Link

Today you can see our stars here.