Climbing without gates

I always knew she would be more adventurous than Hayes.

She learned to crawl and walk so much earlier than he did.

And she did so without much coaxing.

I try so hard not to compare then, but it is almost impossible when I think about them walking.

She is fearless.

She knows no bounds.

She thinks that when I'm chasing her (to keep her from falling down the stairs) that it is always a game.

Last week she took a nice 3-4 step plunge into the garage because she thought I was playing with her.

Ooops.

No game that night, just a face plant on the concrete.

Bad part of it is that she bounces RIGHT back up and keeps going.

She might bounce up and cry for about 2.5 seconds, but that's IT.

All this climbing makes me nervous....

Smiling Babies

It is not luck.

It is a pure blessing from my most holy God that I have these babies to call mine.

They are not really mine, they are His.

He gave me the responsibility to raise them in His ways.

To show them His love and mercy.

To raise them to share His teachings with others.

He gave them to me so that I could learn from them as well.

They have been such a blessing to US and I cannot WAIT to see them grow.

Each day is new for them and God uses them to help me learn patience (boy do I)...

Forgiveness and grace.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.  James 1:17

Artwork: driveway edition

We had to get one last nekkid driveway day in before it got too cold.  

I'm quite certain that my neighbors probably think we are serious white trash.

My kids (and me too for that matter) come home from daily location (school for them, work for me) and immediately get naked.  

I know that being naked might offend folks at my age, so I put on comfy clothes.

AKA:  ELASTIC and a tshirt.

Hayes and Elizabeth are still cute naked, so they just roll with that.

I love that EJ still has an 'E' on her diaper.

We have to label the diapers we send to school because they have to change so many!

Sidewalk chalk was well worth the Target $1.00 spot shopping trip.

I can't wait to have this one framed at home.

I know there will come a day when they will not WANT to be close together, much less touch each other.

I love them being close and having fun with them.

Krispy Kreme

Powdered donuts.

I stopped at KK on my way home from the FCCLA trip and decided my babies should have some too

Of course I had some of the glorious glazed goodies leftover, but they needed special donuts.

So they both got a powdered donut for breakfast that morning.

And they also got to sport their KK hats a the breakfast table/highchairs that morning.

I think its safe to assume that they both enjoyed the donuts AND the hats.

Please don't think that Hayes actually NEEDS a bandaid on his forehead.

I believe we have created a bit of a Bandaid Monster.

Between us and his Aunt Tira and the constant use of Bandaids, he thinks he ALWAYS needs one.

On his forehead, on his butt, on his eyes, on his nose, on his toes...

Literally, every single day.

We have recently discovered that stickers work just as well.

And they are cheaper.

Artwork before breakfast

We like to get the creative juices flowing early at our house.

A little time with a coloring book and some crayons before we even get dressed.

Hayes just makes himself at home in the floor of our bedroom.

All sprawled out in the MIDDLE of the floor so that we have hurdle over him to get dressed.

Elizabeth does whatever Hayes does.

So of course she plopped right down beside him and joined the coloring party.

She also hoards crayons and doesn't share.

Typical female behavior.

You know...

What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine too...

Just in case you were wondering.

He loves to color the train's noses.

I have to help him occasionally.

His coloring skills at 2.5 really impress me.  

He stays close to the lines and gets REALLY upset if he gets too messy.

He will tear the page out and find another one to color.

Sounds a bit like someone I know...

Maybe he won't have the same OCD handwriting issues I had.

FCCLA Trip

Missed two days of school to take these lovely ladies on a school field trip.

We went to the FCCLA Center in Covington.

We were supposed to spend the night, but had some paperwork issues at the county level and weren't able to.

So we compromised and had Krispy Kreme instead.

I also got to drive a GIANT SUV to and from Covington because my tiny road turtle won't hold that many folks.

The ladies informed me that the Tahoe I drove is called the 'Rolling Hoe'.

Perfect.

When we pulled into KK we were delighted to see the HOTFRESHNOW sign lit up.

Nothing says fat and happy like that sign.

Oh!  And it is the 75th KK birthday celebration.

That makes it so the calories don't count right?

Cause I totally ate 2.  Well, 3.  Ok, fine.  5.

How Hayes eats an Oreo

 

Notice the remaining parts of the Oreo left...

He leaves the cookie part.

Doesn't even CARE to eat it.

Just eats the creme in the middle.

 

He's very cautious about it as well.

Never getting any of the chocolate in his mouth.

He dare not disturb the Oreo ratio.

Wonder what would happen if I gave him some Double Stuff or some Halloween color Oreos...

 

 Yeah, its serious.

And yes, we eat dessert waaaaaaaaaay too often.

Yogurt for Dinner

 

At some point you have to let them try and self feed right?

She never ceases to amaze me with the mess she creates.

I suppose she got MOST of it where it was supposed to go...

But it sure does look like the majority of it is on the tray. 

Elizabeth should translate into 'bottomless pitt child'.

Tiny Pots

In the midst of moving, I'm trying to figure out how to get all the mess put away...

I have these tiny pots and I was trying to find a place to put them last week.

I noticed that Hayes had taken to them...

He has been using them as tea cups and pretending that he's drinking from them.

They also hold magic juice, as he tells me.

Not sure what the magic juice does, but they have some.

They are excellent for stacking and he didn't break a one while he was playing with them.

They are clay pots and fragile.

I am the genius that broke one.

And then I had to explain to Hayes that it was my fault.

He shed some tears about that clay pot and was quite dismayed to see them disappear the next day.

Cinderella

She loves the swiffer.

Both of them, but mostly the sweep & vac.

Anybody know how I can advertise these things with her picture?

I could get a jumpstart on her college fund...

She hunts that green thing down every day and then turns it on.

She giggles and then drags it around behind her as she runs.

She cleans.  Ish.

I can't WAIT until she learns to use it for real!

But a loving student reminded me that she wouldn't really like to do it then.

Typical.

Natural Hair Products

She had a cupcake.

She used the icing as hair gel.

Notice the fancy duck butt she's got sticking out the back...

Y'all, she is a mess and has to get a bath after every meal.

Sunday she got 3 baths!

Out. of. control.

We got a cousin!

Kendal Ann Moistner was born late Thursday September 6!

We have been waiting for her to get here for a really long time!

She was in a hurry to arrive.... taking her sweet time....

I'm quite certain that her Daddy is smitten with her.

And I can't wait to meet her.

Sweaty Football Games

Y'all... it was about 90 degrees and about 9000% humidity.

Notice baby girl's fantastic sweaty hair.

Out of control.

It was so hot and the sun was in our eyes too.

But nobody was terribly injured and we managed to survive our first football game!

He got a jump start on his sugar rush with a blue cupcake. 

It was Alix's birthday and she brought icing to share with us, so sweet!

I think he enjoyed it?

Labor Day

Cheesin grin.  Sorta.

He's so crazy.  Loved his shoes.

I just HAD to take his picture.

And I HAD to show it to him. 

He says, 'Momma, sowww me.  I wanna see.'

This kid.

She thinks she's going to be a surfer.

She's been surfing on those diapers all weekend.

Picky Eater vs Godzilla

This was his before 'cheesin' face.

He didn't realize I was serious about his pizza sandwich.

AKA:  Spaghetti sauce between the pieces of yummy cheese bread.

It was a battle.

I'm proud to say that we won.

Who eats their sandwich with a fork?

My kid.

My OCD kid who doesn't like for his hands to get yucky.

At all.

Ever.

He wasn't a HUGE fan, actually I think he hated it. 

But he ate a good bit of it.

I think this will be my route with all new things.

Trying it out via sandwich.

What else can we have on a sandwich?

Pizza, veggies, meat, mexican food...

Any ideas for any other sandwiches we could make him eat?

I mean, try....

And this one, well she doesn't miss anything.

A nap.

A meal.

A snack.

Baby girl would/could eat her weight in just about anything.

She doesn't like eggs or brussell sprouts.

But that's about it...

Saturdate

Breakfast at Jerry's in Carrollton.

Where the food was excellent, but the service wasn't.

The entertainment was spot on.

Never a dull moment.

Between her eating the jelly packets and yelling at us...

And him building big towers with the packets of jelly...

It was a fun filled breakfast.