Three Cuties

Sigh.  I wanted a good photo of the kids, as the girls had a desire to have their hair "match" this morning.  Payge has ponies in too, but she wouldn't sit up and smile for me.  I think she's going to be one of those kids that gets all flustered when we tell her she's cute when she's angry.  :) 

Enjoying Spring

Searching for bugs.

Enjoying the sun.

Ahhhh, bugs, dirt, green grass...did I mention it was in the upper 70s?

Decorating the picnic table with weeds flowers found around the complex.

Letting rolly-polies play on our arms!

I just really loved this photo.  Zac contemplative in the foreground, the girls sitting together (getting along!) behind him.

Chalk Art

Those cute lil' Tuellers.

Look Zac!  I'm going to "help" draw the hop scotch!

Working on a masterpiece.

Masterpiece (Cinderella) complete.

Drawing the sunset.  Once he was done, the mix of pink, blue, and peach was very pretty.

Growing up!

 
It's not her birthday (phew!  We have a few more months!), but I'm constantly amazed at how quickly my kiddos grow.  I am really loving having an older daughter.  She's so helpful and kind to me.  We do butt heads, but it's mainly because we are so alike.  She's learning to cook, has taken on some responsibilities in the house, and L-O-V-E-S to get dressed up.   She's also one of those kids who show me up...for example, I get out some (very healthy, thankyouverymuch) flax seed tortilla chips and cheese dip, and she goes to the fridge, gets the head of broccoli and dips THAT in the cheese instead.  Soon, it'll be her favorite season--play in the pool season (here, that's Spring, Summer, and Fall).

Happy Birthday, Payge!

See the baby's face on this cake?  Now she's 3!

Lighting the candles.

Going to blow them out!

I did it!

Look!  Presents!

In the polar bear cave.  :)

We went to the  zoo to celebrate.  Everyone had fun!

The inside of the cake...why is this photo clear down here?  Eh.  Not fixing it now.  :)

Lotsa Bucks

Payge ran in to our room this morning with all the toy paper money folded in half in her pee-cess purse.

"Look bomby! I has lotsa bucks!"

Cute

Post Payge-to-English translations
pee-cess == princess
bomby == mommy

Playing In The Trees

If you don't read Searching For Simple, you haven't seen the great photos of our kids playing outside in the lovely February, North Carolina weather.  So, for family (and friends') sake, here's a recap.

Here are some of things I wrote down that they said while they played (and I watched):
Here's a glass bottle!  We could turn it into a lantern!
I wish we had coconuts, they have water and food.
Let's gather moss for softer pillows.
If we make bedframes with sticks, we can fill them with these long pine needles, that'd be comfy.
Our shelter is good enough, we need to go find food.

One of THOSE Days

 Do you ever have one of THOSE days?  Today, I thought it was going to start well.  My girls and I snuggled in bed and all was well until they started tickling each other and I ended up getting kicked.  We (OK, I) then ended the ticklefest and decided it was time for breakfast.  I made oatmeal...yummy oatmeal, with raisins and cinnamon and sugar.   Just thinking about it makes me want more.

Zac conquered his lolly-gagging-ness in school work today with a set timer.  He's been taking two hours (wasted time, not working...really sort of looking into space, watching his baby sister play, pining for his legos...etc) to finish one assignment.  I know, with all certainty, that he could do these assignments in 20 minutes (max).   So, today, the timer was set for 20 minutes, and he was told if he beat the clock, he'd get free time on computer games of his choice.  Worked like a charm.

Then, I decided I was going to tackle some big chores today (why I do this when I know I'm a bit tired is beyond me...I think I'm a glutton for punishment).  I thought I'd help the kids clean their rooms, and finish up some laundry.  Now, I know that I usually have to give myself a pep-talk to be kind when helping the kids in their rooms, because their idea of how to organize/store/ use toys is much different than my own.  I know I should lighten up, but I don't.  No more details there.

Later, the kids asked if they could make candy necklaces.  I had purchased the candy beads and elastic thread at the craft store's after-Valentine's Day sale.  So, I said anyone who had finished breakfast could make one (this was to get my girls to eat their oatmeal, they usually don't).  Chayce ran and finished her oatmeal quite quickly, and we set to work.  Payge begged and begged to not have to eat her oatmeal but still be able to make a necklace.  I figure that by the age of three, if you can beg and try to reason with your mother, you completely understand what's going on...so I did not give in.  I told her to eat while I folded laundry, that I'd be right back, and we'd start her necklace if the oatmeal was gone when I returned.

Rather, I found this when I returned:

Sink...overflowing...see the bowl with oatmeal floating in it?

Water...everywhere.

 And here are all of the towels we needed to clean up the mess:

 

She proudly proclaimed, "I emptied my bowl...it's in the sink, washed, so I don't have to eat it.  Can I make a necklace now?"  And then, right as I finished cleaning up the water..."Umm, I'm stinky."  Did I mention it only takes me five minutes to fold a basket of laundry (yes, I've timed it!)?

Writing this out was good for me, though.  Because as I read back over this, I see that many things went very right.  I've learned how to motivate two of my children to do as I ask...now, to figure out the third.