Art. These boys love it. They don't call it art, they call it "a project". Many a night I get them to go to bed quietly because I promise that we'll paint/use glitter/cut and glue stuff when we get home from school and work the next day. Sure, act like you don't bribe your kids.
So, several, several weeks ago, we painted GG her bday card. We painted several cards, and then selected the best to be mailed. Here Grady is explaining one of his creations, entitled, "Weally Big Monstew". His left arm is raised because he's showing me how scary the monster is. Madam is so scared she's walking away.
As you can see from the different color paper here, we did not stick with one project for long. A few splatterings of paint, and then we're ready to move into the next one.
This one was either "Hippo" or "Crocodile". I can't remember.
Another day we did some glitter paint, but I'll tell you more about that when I post about Grampie's bday tomorrow.
And another day we got out those stamps we got for their bday party.
Each time we do a new "project" I learn something new. Here's what I've learned so far
1. Paint is awesome, but needs to be washable. I also need to pour their paint into little bowls so the cross contamination issue isn't, in fact, an issue.
2. These glitter glue things are still a little too hard for all of us to use without getting frustrated.
3. I need to get some cheap thin sponges to make my own stamp pads for the stamps above. As you can see, I poured paint into flat paper plates, but that allows for paint to clump and make it hard to stamp on the paper. Lessons learned, this momma will regroup and be better prepared next time.
Also, I've learned its a good thing we buy our paper towels at Costco. You need a lot.
A coworker recently told me that once March rolls around, we'd all be much healthier again. No more colds, no more coughing, no more cranky kids. Uh-huh. Suuuuuuure.
It's now April, and we're still battling rounds of DayCareFunk. This picture was from a few weeks ago, when our poor G-baby just wasn't feeling quite right. He did NOT, i repeat, NOT want to take a bath, and the only thing that cheered him up was being swaddled in this blanket and sitting on the couch with Momma and Madam F. Then we enjoyed a few sickness free days. Whoot. This weekend we all headed to see our friends at their family lake house, and barely an hour or two into our visit, the kid looked a little feverish again. You know that look, right? Eyes get a little glassy, cheeks a little rosy, and something just doesn't look right. Yep. Sickness.
I have a new favorite bodywash. It smells so good. The boys helped me unpack it from the shipping box while we waited for Dada on the front porch one afternoon.
When they realized it wasn't edible they lost interest and resumed playing with trucks again.
And hugged.
I'd hate for you to think the boys are always happy and loving, so here's what happened a few days later. We get home, and somebody does not want to come inside the house. I'm not sure what started this-maybe I unbuckled his seatbelt in a manner that he did not appreciate, or maybe Cole looked at him wrong, or maybe he did not like hearing that we were having quesadillas for dinner. I don't know. What I did know is that I was getting the evil eye from the kid. Naturally I grabbed my camera to document this important event as Cole and I stood inside the door and used our best happy voices to lure Grady inside. It's not at all unlike when your dog gets out and you call him in a happy voice so he think you love that he's outside.
Cole was less patient than I, and after a minute started saying "Grady, get in da house now, I want to watch George!". He was not happy that his brother was keeping him from the curious monkey. Here is is, staring out of the door at his brother.
Who did finally come inside to pick at his quesadilla and ignore me when I asked if it was tasty (using my fake happy voice). Some days I have to dig a little deeper than others to find the happy.
Fellow twin mom (who is also expecting another, phew!) AP started a What to Feed 'Em Friday blogging thing. I would explain it, but I think the title sums it up pretty well, no? If you need more clarification, go to this blog entry of hers for the criteria, and then you can see what she made this week here. This Friday she made quiche, which we adore in this house. I make little quiches in the mini muffin pan to put in the boys' lunches when we sense they are getting tired of PB&J sammiches cut into little shapes with cookie cutters. As a sidenote, Nana makes the best, BEST ham and gruyere cheese quiche. I've used her recipe and made it, and it just doesn't taste right. Nana, make us some quiche, why don't you. We'll be home around 5pm. And GG, if you could come over and do the pile of ironing that is glaring at me every night, that'd be great.
Heh. If only life could be that easy.
But, easy is making muffins. Or, mussins, if you're not ready to pronounce the "f" sound and it sounds like "s". Muffins are a weekend morning favorite here, so my Feed 'Em Friday contribution is muffins. The boys really love helping in the kitchen, so I'll get most of the ingredients lined up, and I'll get to help stir or mix. And Grady can even crack an egg neatly, I was really surprised, to be quite honest. Yes, we did was the raw egg off his hands. Anyways, Grady can be a strong willed little child, but put him in the kitchen and he mellows out and becomes a very helpful little man. And Cole loves just being around Momma, so he's eager to help, too.
This particular day we made this Banana muffin recipe. AP's #3 criteria was Health (or at least not bad for you), and I'm sure there are healthier options for banana muffins out there, like this recipe, but for now let's all pretend the muffins don't have butter and white sugar, k?
I've long thought the key to making a good meal is a messy kitchen, so that's why you see the onions from the grocery store trip 3 days prior to this picture being taken on the counter in the background, and if you look close enough there are a smattering of dirty dishes and other random items. I can't wait for my sous chefs to take on dish duty.
But back to the muffins. The boys both helped with the mixing part, then I split the batter and let them eat pour the muffins into the cups. I used little liners here, which is not necessary, but they asked for the liners. So I let them have it. Sticking our your tongue aids in concentration.
So does goofing for the camera.
There was only one meltdown each during this process, which is not too bad, given the boys' meltdown potential. Cole was really intent on getting his cups filled perfectly.
Grady, less so. He was going for a more artistic look to his muffins and really was not open to guidance, which is why he had his meltdown. But he rallied and we filled the cups and Momma put them in the oven.
And they were pretty darn good. It's hard to go wrong with a banana muffin recipe. I have learned not to bother with nuts in these muffins, the boys just don't like the texture, and I spend my time walking over to them so they can spit nuts into my hand.
Another muffin staple in our house is the Oatmeal Muffin recipe from one of my favorite baking books. I was prepared to type the recipe out here, but thankfully someone already did that for me! Phew. I'm too lazy for all that. Here is the recipe, but note this person added blueberries. I've also tweaked the recipe a bit-I toast the oatmeal in the oven for a few minutes before I soak it in milk, it just adds a little extra nuttiness to the muffins, and I also add more cinnamon than the recipe calls for, too.
There. My Feed 'Em contribution. Go make yourselves some mussins.
Look! I found me a baby to hold. Sweet baby Wogan. Or Logan, if you can already pronounce L's. We went to Aunt Angela's so I can get a baby fix to celebrate Evan's third birthday. I should really be spending this time telling you about Grampie's birthday, but that old man is going to have to take backseat to one of his grandbabies for another day. I hope he can recover from the heartbreak as he sits bronzing under the sun at the warm and sunny beach. All day.
Anywho, we got to their house, and within 5 minutes I snatched me a baby.
And offered to feed him. Actually, I wouldnt say I offered, I just told Angela I was going to do it. She seemed ok with that. Or not, I didn't really bother to try to read her expression. This baby was mine for the next few hours. Dammit. Look how sweet he is. Here I'm telling him that I'm going to be his favorite aunt. The brainwashing starts early, I'm not ashamed to admit.
At some point I remembered we were there for another reason and I bossed Keith asked him politely to please go take some pictures.
Party hats!
He knew I'd want a picture of the Three Banditos. It's hard, this coordination of three little spirits.
And you might be thinking to yourself, but why didn't he just take more pictures? One is bound to turn out good. Above is the best. Below is the rest.
People arrived, chatted, milled about, and I needed to powder my nose, so I let Keith borrow my toy. Look how Wogie is snuggling with uncle Keith. I bet someday he likes uncle Kief almost as much as he loves aunt Toodles. Almost.
The boys entertained themselves with Evan's toys on the fridge.
And cousin Evan and his balloons did some jumping. This jumping eventually led to the popping of one of the balloons, and that led to the end of running around and jumping with balloons, but man, it looked like fun while it lasted.
And then Angela came and took her baby back from me to "go show him off to other people" who just arrived. Just a few minutes, she said. Uh-huh. I won't believe those words again. See, I just fed him and I knew he was going to want to sleep soon, and I'm pretty sure in my arms would be a good place to do that. So I agreed, but made it clear I wanted him back. See how smart she is so wear a shiny something for him to hold onto?
Oh, let's not forget his dad Ken.
Aunt Angela had a fun choochoo craft planned for this Thomas party, and we do love a good crafting session. Grady got to work on his train.
Which looked like this. He really has an eye for abstract composition, no?
If you're wondering what it could possibly look like...
And here is another rendition. It's in the eye of the beholder, right? I did not get a picture of the birthday boy's creation since he came to the craft table as mine took off in another direction.
And pretty soon after it was time for cake. I got aunt Angela to pose with the cake she slaved over. Seriously, she had to go back to Publix twice to make sure they had the right materials!
I love how kids sense when it is cake time and they all line up...
Our birthday boy looked on and waited as we sang.
Which we did very well, and he blew out his candles. Grady helped, as you can see from this video clip.
And the birthday boy got the first piece, of course. Oooh, the cornerpiece=lots of icing!
The whole crowd at the sugar-intake station.
These two loved the cake, but also loved the ice cream cups. Hmmmmm.
We feasted on cake and then came the grand finale of all birthday parties...the presents. The first gift opened was the big hit, and naturally, it came from us ;-) Thankfully we saw Evan go gaga over Cole's fireman truck, so we knew what to get him. Here I'm pretty sure Angela is thinking damn, I wish we opened another gift first because now he won't leave that truck alone to open anything else. She managed to distract him and stick the truck under the table when he wasn't looking.
A great party, and we're so happy that we could celebrate with Evan. Happy birthday, little man! The party would have been perfect had someone not taken and held Logan for his entire nap. I even offered that lady some cake and said I'd be glad to hold the baby so she could eat cake. No dice. Arrrmmmphh.
Truth be told, I have a lot of pictures and thoughts to share. I was going to, really, I was. But after I finished my yoga workout (damn, I'm really stiff), Keith declared he was going to bed and the first thing that crossed my mind was... I can watch Golden Girls! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. No one to hog the TV.
Then I felt a little bad for leaving you with nothing, so here's the first thing I found when I went digging in my file of stuff to share. A little throwback video clip of the boys, circa 18 months or so. Sorry for the boob action in the video.
Enjoy. I'll be on the couch with Dorothy, Blance, Rose and the fiesty old lady.
