Out of the Box

Thankfully the kids has preschool on my two worst days this week. Yesterday I was functioning at about 75% and today I'm back to 100%. I'm still a little leery of lots of activity, so I intended to stick around the house and work on laundry. Well by 8:45 the kids were driving me crazy. I pulled out the craft box and threw some fun things together. Last summer I dyed the noodles for fun projects for Marlee to work on. I figured Cooper was ready for them this time around. They each got a bowl full of noodles and a muffin tin. I asked them to separate the noodles by color. Then I gave them shoe strings to practice their fine motor skills. Cooper did great with the big noodles. I held the string for him while he put the smaller noodles on. They both really seemed to enjoy themselves.

All smiles for the camera!

Smirk smile while sorting his noodles.

String those noodles like a pro!

Concentrating so hard on stringing those noodles.

He's so proud of his "neck-a-lace" as he calls it.

What a Man

Well, my luck finally ran out, and I came down with a stomach bug. I haven't been this beaten down and sick since I was pregnant. (No, I'm not preggors!!) Tuesday was a total blur to me. I am surprised I even got the kids, their lunches, and myself to preschool on time. Thank goodness for my wonderful husband for coming to my rescue. He picked the kids up from school and entertained them all night. He even took them out for dinner at IHOP and to Walmart to get me some crackers, sprite, and gatorade. What a great guy!! Thanks, Chad! I love you!! Speaking of, someone has a birthday this weekend. I guess after all this extra help around the house, I owe him extra special birthday wishes!!

Poker Run

We had a wonderful weekend with wonderful weather. Friday morning was overcast with a small amount of sunshine around lunch followed by some good rain. I really couldn't remember the last time it rained.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the farmer's market. I was looking for some okra. I guess it is still a little early for it, but I scored a dozen ears of corn for 5 dollars and some delicious tomatoes. I also got a really good looking eggplant and hope to try my hand at eggplant parmigiana this week. There was a yummy pastry booth set up. Cooper scored a cinnamon roll as large as his head. He had an icing ring around his mouth and icing up his nose. I took a picture with my phone, so if I can get it off, I will upload it.

We came home and went swimming while waiting for my parents to get here. Once they arrived, we played a little and headed out for an early lunch at Calhoun's. It is located on the water, and I though the kids would really enjoy seeing all the pretty boats and feeding the geese and ducks. Well little did we know that there was a poker run event going on. We saw the biggest speed boats I have ever seen. We sat outside and a few times you could hardly hear yourself think the engines were so loud. The food was delicious and the boats, geese, and fish were great distractions for a few cranky and napless kids.

grumpy

Marlee and Nana

one of the big boats

this boat was so loud floating by us while we ate

perspective on the size of the boat. it had a F-650 the haul it.

Cruising Along

We've had another busy week around here. Chad was off on Monday, so we spent the day together as a family and shopped around town. We headed to the mall for the first time in forever. The kids had preschool two days and really are starting to enjoy themselves and are making friends. We went to a local sandwich shop that serves ice cream one afternoon with a few friends and enjoyed the cold ice cream while trying to beat the heat. Thursday we headed down to see an old friend and her daughter. We visited around her house for a while then headed to a local bounce house to avoid the hottest day of the year thus far. The kids had a great time. Cooper did awesome climbing the wall to the slide and took directions very well when I would tell him where to place his hands or feet while climbing. Today we spent the morning at the pool with new friends and old friends. I'm loving life right now and thankful for the many paths that brought us to this point on our lives. I hope you guys have a wonderful weekend. Check back in a few days for a video of Marlee swimming under water. Natural born talent as a swimmer, and maybe the next Michael Phelps!

S-L-I-D-E

After our cookout, we all changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool to cool off. We remembered to take the camera this trip but didn't have the video camera charged. Chad was able to get some great shots of the kids today. They are a little out of order, but I was too lazy to reorganize them.

Marlee waving at Chad. If you are at the top, she always makes a point to wave as she's sliding.

Cooper just loves the slide!

He was working hard to stay up. He likes to turn around backwards as he's going down.

My new favorite picture of Marlee.

She's practicing floating on her back. She may be able to skip the introductory swim class. She can pretty much do everything on their checklist now. Amazing.

The kids are waiting for yummy cupcakes after swimming for a few hours.

My new little fish. Although, he thinks he's big like his sister. He can't do everything she does, but he'll give it his best shot.

Happy 4th of July

Our neighbors invited some friends over to grill out tonight. Marlee was very excited and immediately went upstairs to pick out her outfit. She came downstairs with a bow, a dress, and festive flip flops on ready to go. She was so excited she let Chad take her picture. Before we even got off the front porch, Eli met us with cheers! He and Marlee paused for a quick picture. I think there's a little love brewing. We ate yummy food then headed to the pool for some fun in the late afternoon sun!

5 out of the seven kids. C and G are good friends of Eli's and go to preschool with Marlee and Cooper.

Coop has been cutting some teeth and has pretty much kept this look on his face for the past week.

Marlee and Eli.

Miss Priss dressed herself and even put her bow in her hair. She was excited to get all dressed up for the boys tonight.

Cookies and Crafts

We have had a wonderful fourth of July weekend. It all started Friday, when our friends Amanda, Eli and baby Reese came over for cookies and crafts. While the cookies we baking we made flags, and painted fireworks" and added glitter to make them sparkle in the night sky. Then we just played in glitter and glue for fun. The kids had a great time decorating the USA and star cookies with yummy vanilla icing and festive sprinkles. Cooper was not in the best of moods, so he didn't make a flag, but he did do the rest. (Thanks Amanda for taking pictures!!)

Patiently waiting for the paint. They did such a good job.

Marlee and Eli showing off their flags!