Caption Day

So, before I begin my caption post, just a few notes, ahem:

1)  Sorry about the red eye, I was too lazy to correct them.

2) The girls do have more than one outfit, the pink butterfly and blue flower shirts are favorites right now and worn a lot!

3)Thank you Grammy for 3 singing cards, there has not been one argument over who gets to play with them!!!  Granted J and I have the Smurf theme song, Chuggington theme song and Cyndi Lauper running through our heads, but "this too shall pass"!

Now, without further ado!

"Excuse me!  Excuse me!  Can somebody get me out of here?"

"Look Mama, two lighthouse!"

(at our new dentist office) "Please don't make me stop playing this game to get my teeth looked at.  Oh, I go next week? Okay"

"Mama, I want celery with peanut butter, and then I want those men on it... and they are in a boat"... 

"Thank you Daddy for the chocolate nugget"

"So, if we smack this water hard enough, Mama will get wet!  1... 2..."

"Pretty Girl, did you eat the Ovaltine?"  "No"  "Are you sure?"  "Yes"  

"I wonder why Smaug is still up and chattering, he's usually asleep by now... oh, Mr. E has given him toys"

J: "I'm saving this for the picture montage at her wedding."

"Mama, Mama, airplane" (it's a tractor, FYI)

"Neighhhhh, Neighhhhh, clop clop clop"

J: "My favorite chips... you drove to every Dollar Store in town and found them for me... what a lucky Father I am" :)

"Hmm, this ground is rubbery and smells a bit like tires... I like it!"

"Faster, FAster, FASter... whoa... slow down, slow down, wait, I mean FASTer"

Another playground attendee:  "Yeah, you may not want to picnic there.  I checked before we ate, and there are tons of spider sacks and Black Widow Mama's"... thanks!

"I hope Mr. E likes his tractor that Daddy made and Mama painted!"

"Aren't they cute?"

"Mama, I wuv birfday cupcakes"

"Hey look, a camera"

"Yeah, so the dentist office is cool, just like me"

"Finally, some water I can play in"

"Finally, some water we can all play in"

In Other News:  We survived the triplets third birthday :)  I think that 3 three year olds should qualify as a nine year old... maybe not, but it's a nice thought!

What's For Dinner, Mom? Review

Hello, good day, etc.

TW has started 2nd grade this week, and I spent all my "free" time the last few weeks trying to assemble all his school work papers and get ready.  And, of course, this week, I still feel a bit like the proverbial headless chicken as we sit down to do lessons, and then I have to spring up like a Jack-in-the-box because I forgot this book or that... oh how nice it was to be doing school in the same room as the book shelf... someday we will have that again :)  But, homeschooling was not the subject of this post... dinner is!

Now, these two things may not seem to go together, school and food, but in my mind, the dots totally connect; here's how:  school, breakfast, school, snack doctors appointment, lunch, school, free time (i.e., Mama eats by herself and checks e-mail and writes blog posts), school... wait for it... dinner.  Now, that is not everyday, but this week, that's what it feels like... and believe me, once I get to dinner, I am pooped and don't really care, and that is where planning comes in.  I like plans, and having a scheduled dinner list on my fridge really makes life much easier.  Each morning I glance at the fridge list and make sure I have the meat thawing if needed, and I mentally figure out when I need to start dinner.  Then, once dinner rolls around, I'm usually ready to dive in, cook, and eat!  So, when the latest Lorrie Flem review, for Eternal Encouragement, titled "What's For Dinner, Mom?", came over the e-mail (if you order this book, you get a paper copy, I'm jealous) I was excited!

In the book, Ms. Flem gives you tons of tips on different styles of planning out meals... one month at a time, a couple weeks at a time, freezer stocking, etc.  There are plenty of options, even for my not-so-schedule happy friends :)  And the best part is, of course, at the end where there are recipes.  I spent an hour two days ago (Daddy got home early and was spending time with TW while the rest napped) writing down recipes to try, and ideas to think about!  And, bonus, she included some things like spaghetti sauce and ranch dressing, and we have recently decided to try to make as much as we can at home (did you know that soy is in everything, no joke, and when you don't get along well with soy, this is a pain)!

Moral of my long story :)  Order a copy of "What's For Dinner, Mom?", especially if you are like most people, who get to the end of the day and feel that McNuggets are the best option because it's quick and easy!  I received my copy for free from Eternal Encouragement so that I could review it for you, but you'll get a copy in the mail if you order here, directly from them!  Enjoy, or should I say bon appetit!

Guests and Projects

As you can tell from the title, we had some guests and did some projects in the past week or so :)

The first project was to cut TW's 3rd birthday barn in half... another picture will follow!

Our second project was to ride bikes in the rain!

Smaug has enjoyed observing the projects!

TW and his bike met with an unforgiving curb!

We did not end up here for TW's scrape, but for Smaug's check up (he was 8 oz heaver than TW at 9 months, and 1 inch shorter!)... I took the picture to show the other kids the cool examining table!

At some point we all went to BJ's (a wholesale club)... the kids ate pizza and we all went potty (as usual)!

Smaug really likes the bathtub!

And, our guests were... Grandpa and Grandma C! We went to St. Augustine and toured the lighthouse and the town, but I forgot my camera... Grandpa gave me a copy of his pictures, but I didn't think of that when I started the post... maybe next time.  In this shot, everyone is looking at the photos of the day on Grandpa's computer!

We also took them to the base to see the plane display.  This is one of "Daddy's airplanes".

And, just before Grandpa left, the "boys" played catch (aww)!

And, right after they pulled out of the driveway, Daddy began work on the girls' birthday present (with his new table saw)!

They're in a boat... I love the fact that Smaug's foot is hanging out!

Last Saturday, we went to the farmer's market!

Okay, so here is the barn, reassembled.  We added some hinges and touched up the paint so that the animals can more easily get into the barn!

Our computer had to go to the "doctors"... while they were looking at it, the kids each played with an iPad (I'm so glad, there were 4 at the table)!!!

Yesterday, TW found this turtle up by the house!

He and Daddy returned it to the pond :)

Nana's birthday box came, along with some special ice cream cones... they made a delicious snack.  I find it interesting that the chocolate ice cream matches Mr. E's hair... I wonder if he'll look like this in another 15 years or so :)

Smaug sampled a bite of cone too!

The boys were getting put in bed, so Smaug crawled back and hung out by his bed... he does this every night :)

Here is the almost finished girl-gift... it's a dollhouse/bookshelf... I get to start painting tomorrow... J did such a great job... now, if only I had some pictures of Mr. E's gift!

One last picture.  J and I were working on a joint dinner... the kids were banished from the kitchen but Pretty Girl set up a chair for herself and had the babies propped up to watch too!

In Other News:  J started back to work this past Wednesday... I kind of miss the guy :)