Fridge Worthy

Today K has been an artist. He's drawn the house, characters from the Cars 2 movie, whales and a heart. So when he said he wanted to draw me a picture I thought, this is gonna be great.

As he drew he told me a story:

I was driving in your car. And  I saw out the window a turtle with a giant shell. And it was trying to cross the road. And the other drivers stopped.

But the turtle had eaten too much, and he was so scared that we went into his shell, but then he popped right out, and he got scratched, and there was blood squirting everywhere. And so I had to pick him up, and I cleaned him up. Then I put him in my car and drove.

I took him back to where he lives, and he had a Mommy and 3 babies. And the Mommy had a very tiny baby that was riding on her shell, and the other babies were walking. And they saw the Daddy turtle shoot blood again, and they thought it was funny and he couldn't clean it up, (because he's a turtle), so I cleaned it up.

Hmmm, perhaps not as lovely as I thought. Now he'd like me to put it up on the fridge. He is quite proud of the picture, and granted he took his time and made some lovely turtles but...yikes.

This is definitely serial killer  normal boy stuff, right?

Life as Usual... Almost

Ahh. After a week holidays in Panorama, its back to life as usual. Well, almost usual. Nana and Pops took K on a weekend adventure to Victoria. He's been having a blast and so has C. James and C went on an overnight camp out on Friday night and C really enjoyed it. His favorite part? Why, sleeping in the tent of course.

He also learned a few new tricks. Like roasting marshmellows, sleeping in a sleeping bag, and oh yes, peeing while standing up.

Which was fine outside.

But inside? Judging by the puddles in my bathroom, I think him and Daddy will be needing to have a long talk about aiming.

Why oh why am I constantly cleaning pee?!?!

Baby Talk

Baby talk. I'm not a big fan of it. It would be rare to find me talking all goofy, and I don't really encourage it in the kids either. That being said, there have been a few words that they've come up with that were just too cute to correct.

For example, when K was first starting to talk he had a lot of difficulties with a lot of sounds. There were like 10 different words that all came out 'guk'. Context was critical. Milk was 'guk'. Stuck was 'guk'. If it ended in a 'k' it sounded like 'guk'.

'Pops' was also tricky. Pops was 'Yops' for at least a year, to the point that I think he was a little sad when K starting saying it properly.

There are only a few from K that remain, and here they are:

"Mom, I'm borned" = Mom, I'm bored

"Can I have some hungeets?" = Can I have crackers? I think it started from, 'are you hungry?'

"We're going on a holcation!" = holiday + vacation

So while I"m quite happy to see his language explode and improve, I can admit that I will miss holcations and hungeets.

What about you? What does your child says that keeps you smiling?

Fine Print Amuse Bouches

All five of us are in the car. We're on our way back from a little gathering in the woods, so we have about a 20 minute drive ahead of us. "You Spin Me Right Round"is on the radio, so we turn it up and I'm dancing like a goof ball trying to entertain the boys. K's right into. C hangs his head and shakes it embarrassed.


K:  "Mommy, I love you."
Me: "Thanks bud, I love you too."
K:  "But I love Daddy more.....just kidding. You're the same"
Me: "Haha, that's nice"
K: "Mommy, you're cool"
Me: "Thanks K"
K: "But Daddy's cooler..."
Me: "Oh, Just Kidding, right?"
K: "No, Daddy is cooler."

Sweet

Let Me Count the Ways

This is a true testament to how much I adore my children. I can tell you point blank that there is nothing else on God's green earth that would ever convince me to come within a 10 foot radius of this lovely.

It was on the back deck and instead of taking shelter indoors as any sensible person would do, I ran into the garage, grabbed the bug jar and a sheet of paper, said a prayer and went outside. 

Look at this thing! Bleck!

it is freaking huge!

C checking it out

K, "I think it wants to look at me mom."

Now I feel like a zillion tiny things are crawling all over my skin. AGG! So gross.  

I love my kids...I love my kids....I love my kids...

No More Pics Mom

There's no denying I love my camera. I take volumes of pictures of everything we do, so today I thought I was quite clever. I bought a phenomenal new hat on the weekend (I also love my hats :) This one is no exception, check it out here). I thought, I'm going to take one of those uber cute pics with L in my new hat. This is going to be awesome.

However...

L had quite a different mind about it.

Perhaps another day ):

Let's Make A Deal

I love my kids. Of course I do. I love them like I love my husband, in that, "I'd totally give you a kidney...but right now you're driving me insane" kind of a way. More often than not they are making my heart smile. They are funny and sweet. They are loving and kind. And they are also dirty and obnoxious.

Today they are definitely more on the dirty and obnoxious end of the spectrum. They're also being sweet and sharing and playing very nicely. But as I survey the house, that I so painstakingly cleaned yesterday and I realize that I have to once again clean

the piles of shoes

the over-flowing laundry hampers

the giant gobs of toothpaste

the mystery contents of petri dishes sippy cups left in various warm environments

the pee-smelling couch cushions

the food stained chairs

ARG!

...So now, that being said, even though yes, I would give you my eyes, today boys, I might also trade you for a warm chai tea latte and a good book.  At least for a few hours.

Liquid Sidewalk Chalk

Its my new favorite thing to do. I found a tutorial here

Takes literally 2 minutes to make, and kept the kidlets busy for an hour and a half (and likely would have been longer if we hadn't spilled 2 of the four jars).

Here's what you will need:

1 cup water

1 cup cornstarch

food coloring

It doesnt get much easier.

You just mix up the water and the cornstarch.

Separate it into containers (like perhaps the zillions of baby food jars that you've kept cause they'll be good for something...or is that just me?), and then add the coloring as you wish.

ok, seriously, how cute are they?

And voila! You have fun in a jar.

When it first goes on, its more like water paint, but as it dries it becomes more vibrant. And once they got tired of painting the sidewalk, we created an entire garden of painted rocks. Fun!

and BEST of all. It washes off everything. Sidewalk, clothes, kidlets.

Boys: n. Noise with Dirt on it

I am a stay-at-home mom. My soul duty is to maintain the house and keep the kids alive.

So far I'm doing swell at the second half.

My house is a disaster. At any given moment in time there are numerous catastrophe's in progress. I don't seem to be able to address one area before another has exploded, and in truth I don't think my boys are as busy as some. They are just dirty. I feel like I am trapped in a vicious cycle of destroy -> clean -> destroy.

Take, for example, my utterly disgusting kitchen chairs. Ultra suede, because the sales person told us it was great for cleaning (HA!). They are actually quite useful as an appetite suppressant. After a certain point the staining became so repugnant that I just gave up and resigned myself to the fact that the chairs would need to be recovered. I actually have to apologize to house guests for their condition. People should consider bringing a seat cover if they visit...

I think I've made my point.

Anyways, I decided to give it one more kick at the can and used my good friend baking soda to try and get rid of the stains. Baking soda and a Norwex cloth actually. And beyond all reasoning it actually worked! I was so proud of my newly stain free chairs that I took pictures, I made James come and look (He even humoured me and faked some enthusiasm, what a good husband). I was SO PROUD of myself.

Check them out.

Before:

Sadly, this was the cleanest of the four

After:

Oooo, Not too bad

Until that same evening when C spilled his apple juice all over one, and K dumped bits of his sandwich all over another.

*sigh*

Ocean in a Jar

Trying to get L back into a sleep routine, which means K and C have been pretty tied down during the mornings and they get all wrangley. Solution? Crafts, crafts, crafts.

Today we did a science experiment and they each made an 'Ocean in a Jar'. Super cute and super easy.

What you will need:

• baby oil
• water
• mason jar
• food coloring
• glitter
• small floaty toy
• some uber excited scientists

**Cautionary note** Do NOT leave 3 year old unattended with glitter as you search house for baby oil as this will occur:

incase picture doesn't do it justice, that would be an entire vile of glitter on C and the chair and the floor...

Ok, so once you've cleaned up the glitter and regrouped, here's what you do.

Step 1: Fill the mason jar with water, about 1/2 full

Step 2: Add a few drops of food coloring. Ask intelligent questions like, "What do you think will happen when we add the color? Do you think it will mix with the water?"

Step 3: Add the baby oil, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 of the jar's worth. You judge. Smell it...just cause it smells so nice. Ask more smart questions like, "What do you think will happen when we add the oil? Will it mix, what did you notice?"

Step 4: Add some glitter, where does it float?

Step 5: Add the toy. Again, talk about where it floats. 

Step 6: Put on the lid and let them (gently) rock the jar. See how the contents move, but don't mix? They thought that was really neat. 

or shake it like a crazy person...that works as well

Of course K & C wanted a train in there, which did float, but not right side up like it should. Would probably work better with a little bath toy or something, but what the heck, they were happy.

And in the interest of shameless self promotion, this post is participating in the Summertime and the Living is Thrifty's link party (via the ON{the laundry}LINE blog). Check it out for some other quick and easy summer crafts and while you're there, send a vote my way :) 

That About Covers It

10 Things I Actually Said Last Week

10. If you weren't sitting on him, he wouldn't have bit you.

9. Wait until you stop coughing to shove more food in your mouth.

8. You can't have dessert until you finish your french fries.

7. Is that pee or did you sit on something wet?

6. Ya, I just brushed my hair with my fingers this morning.

5. Is L a 'cribby crib crib'? I have no idea what you're talking about.

4. Jokes on you, the dogs don't eat bananas.

3. Peeing might not be 'fun', but we still have to do it.

2. You really don't want to put your face on your sisters butt.

1. Please don't rub your bun on your foot.