Sing-a-long

Munchkin has been holding lots of sing-a-longs lately. You don't have to watch the whole thing--the first 30 seconds will do, but just know that she contines for the whole 2.5 minutes. Then we clapped and she started another one.

This is Why We Hate Socks

"They're wrong!" --Thumbelina

When Dressing Oneself is No Longer Enough

"Now the heater is so pretty!" --Munchkin

I Can't Believe I Have a 7 Year-Old

My boy turned 7 yesterday! (You would think I would be better at this whole parenting thing after doing it for 7 years!)

The day started off with the unveiling of his birthday shirt:

Then I sent him off to school with his birthday treats and got started on his party stuff for that night.

He was going to do something else for his special birthday treat but it fell through on Wednesday so I told him he could invite 2 friends over for a movie party. Then things kinda morphed from there. I wanted him to have a cool party but didn't want to spend a ton of money and didn't have a lot of time. And I was also sick and Squirt was crazy miserable so she wasn't sleeping well at night.

So Eli decided on a Pirate theme. So we bleached skull shirts--freezer paper is AWESOME!!!

I made pirate loot bags, eye patches, a treasure map and a treasure chest. I had most everything on hand. I got the t-shirts at the dollar store and had to buy ribbon for the bag ties because I didn't want to sew them.

I researched pirate cakes on the internet and found some cool ship ones. So I got some gold (rolos) and cannon balls (whoppers) and made the cake and the island. The water is Cool Whip tinted blue.

Then the kids came and MAN! Boys are loud!!! Especially pirate boys!

Pizza, then presents:

Then cake. I was worried that the cannons (candles) would catch the sails on fire!

Then they played with all his presents until it was time to go home.

This is a picture of all the stuff. ET kept the map and the chest. Each of the boys got a shirt, eye patch, map notebook, million dollar chocolate bar, more gold (rolos) and jewelry (silver and gold necklaces, rings and ring pops.)

It was pretty cool for only spending two days planning and executing it. If we had had more time, we would have had the kids go on a treasure hunt by putting electrical tape dashes on the floor for them to follow. And now, ET has three more skull shirts to add to his wardrobe--his birthday one, the party one and he got another one as a gift. That kid and skulls. At least he's not scared of them!!

This One Makes Me Smile

Squirt is such a great baby. She is teething right now. Let me tell ya--teething is so much easier in a 4 month old than a 9 month old! So she hasn't been sleeping very well at night. But I pulled out the Orajel today and she is my happy baby once again!

She loves carrots. (green beans--not so much!) She also loves bananas and applesauce and crackers.

I love that she wants to feed herself.

And she LOVES bathtime. So much so that she screams when I take her out.

I love that she loves the tub and we can move out of the sink. ( it took me 5 tries to get this picture because she wanted to play and would look away as soon as I took the picture. I have 4 great shots of the back of her head.)

I also love that they make a nighttime Orajel.

Hearts!!!

When the kids get so excited about all the random holidays it is hard not to get sucked in!


Right now, we love hearts! ♥

Heart pancakes for breakfast
With strawberry syrup and whipped cream of course!
Heart pizza for dinner.

They spent all last night with the sitter making Valentines. They are so excited about Valentine's Day--its kinda funny!

On a side note: Go to Farrs (by Costco in Orem) and get some ice cream. YUMMM!!!

The Love Machine Rides Again

Remember this shirt that I made for the boy last Vday?

He had a box decorating contest at school--you know a Valentine holder box thing--and we used this shirt as our inspiration. I cut and glued the boxes and tubes and ET did everything else.

(Please excuse the mess that is the dining room table aka the kids craft table (or as Munchkin calls it --the crap table.))

And then, "everyone won"...but his was totally the coolest! He picked out the mirror eyes and reflector mouth all by himself.

Check out that awesome Valentine shirt he's wearing. Since you can't see it all, it says 'I love you to death' with a skull. AWESOME!!!

Slow It Down Now!

Squirt is almost 9 months. She had her fun check up yesterday. She smiled at herself in the mirror, laughed at my shoe and failed her gross motor skills. Last check up she was okay but barely. This time she failed it! She doesn't stand, she doesn't crawl. I told the doctor she acts more like my 6 month olds than my 9 monthers.The doctor said to work with her on gross motor between now and her 12 month check and we'll see then. It could be a little too much help from siblings. BUT...she did say she wasn't worried about it much because all of her other areas are GREAT!

So for this month, I am going to work with Squirt on her standing and her moving around more, and I am going to get my house ready for a mobile baby.

She has slowed down on her weight and height--down to 43% for weight and 50% for height. They measured her height wrong last time so she actually 'lost' half an inch. She was less than thrilled about the shots but calmed down soon enough. Then she slept from about 5pm until I woke her up at 8 for her bottle. She went right back down and slept until 7:30am. I love how this kid sleeps!

Now if we could just get Munchkin to sleep all night and stay in her bed past 6 am...

I'm in Trouble

Squirt is moving. She can scoot on her bum while sitting. And she can army crawl...backwards.

Do you see her? Hiding under the couch? Well, not so much hiding as scooted herself under there and can't figure out how to go forward! She started over by her pile of toys. She did this three times in a row. Then I got smart and sat her up. And she scooted on her bum to the garbage a few feet away and was rustling the plastic bag. Looks like our days of having a trash can in this room are over. She loves when Munchkin leaves the wipes box open so she can grab one and chew on it.

In A Funk

I am just blah lately. This week...I don't know. Just blah! Sunday was okay, but I feel that, for all I got out of church, I would've been better off staying home and taking a nap. Church starts at 1. Squirt goes down for her nap at 1. Awesome! I sewed Thumbelina a new dress that morning, and she cried when she had to put it on. So we took it off and gave it to Munchkin. (minor adjustments will have to be made) And I told Thumbelina I am never making her anything again.

Great start for a Sunday, right?!

Then, my shower was barely warm, with none of the kids bathed. Thumbelina cried through her bath and getting dressed and getting her hair done...but was surprisingly happy by the time we were ready to leave for church. ET was super spacey and had to keep being reminded to GET READY ALREADY!!! Munchkin will wear whatever, whenever, and understands that she doesn't have a choice in getting her hair done.

So I spent most of the first hour trying to get Squirt to sleep. Between her dozing off only to be woken up by Munchkin, and screaming, it was fun for all. Then we realized we forgot her bottle. Great! She did okay the second and third hours but only if I played with her.

And my week has just kind of gone on like that!

Squirt is teething. And while it has not caused her to completely meltdown, there is a definite crankiness in the air. Luckily, (knocking on wood, crossing my fingers, throwing salt over my shoulder and spitting twice into the wind) she has been sleeping great at night.

Yesterday, most of my stuff got pulled from my shop for some infringment stupidity. But, I guess, this company has been doing this to a lot of Esty sellers and I think I figured out what their problem is.

Then I got a call from Target's security dept asking if I had made a $3400 order on their site. Nope, not me! Whoever it was, used my name and address and phone number, but not my card. So now I get to try and figure that one out. Not quite sure what they were going to do when the order came to my house...

The week hasn't been all bad though. The kids have been doing okay, and we have been doing our scripture reading every morning before school and at night before bed. We are doing a Valentine Countdown with the kids with a fun activity every day, so last night, we watched a bit of Groundhog Day. But then everyone was being snarky so it was bedtime. I got all my laundry folded last night. I think I figured it out. I put it all on my bed. So I had to fold it all before I could go to sleep. I have baskets and piles but, darn it, it's all folded! YAY ME!!

4 neighborhood kids came over on Monday to play and I realized that I am not ready for that! At least not until it's Spring and I can send them outside!! The playroom still hasn't recovered.

At least it's warmer, I guess.