And On The Menu Tonight...

We had Trader Joe's meatball sandwiches and homemade oven fries for dinner tonight. None of which my children will eat. So they had reheated pasta. Tater takes hers with just cheese. Bruiser and Miss Wiggles will eat sauce and the meatballs.

As we were eating, Tater connected our meal to one of her favorite shows, Olivia. She said, "Mama, Olivia likes meatbobs, too!"

Miss Wiggles' In the Spotlight!

Miss Wiggles has decided she has to help with dinner...and she is SO helpful!

Wordless Wednesday

This is what can happen to your four-year-old when...
...you try to feed them all natural, gluten-free rice from Trader Joe's! I guess we should just bring on the preservatives!

"I'll Fix Him!"

Bruiser's speech is improving...we think...or maybe we have just adapted our listening to understand him better! But either way, we are focusing more on teaching him specific sounds that he struggles with. The other night at dinner Daddy was trying to teach him the "cccc" sound in "car" and this is the conversation that I overheard:

Daddy: "cccc - car?"
Bruiser: "far!"
Daddy: "tttt - truck?"
Tater: "I'll help you, Bruiser! ttttt - car!"

So when he's walking around saying "ttttt" in front of all his words, we will know who taught him to speak! Thank you for helpful big sisters!

We Survived...I Think!

So Daddy was away for the past three days ... for work. I was here with the three kids ... by myself. Why is it that Daddies get to go away for work and Mommies just have to work harder? Oh, but I digress!

Things went fairly smoothly. Except for this moment when Bruiser woke up from his nap this afternoon! I think he needed a few more minutes!

I even made homemade pizza for dinner - just cheese (no sauce!) for Tater and BBQ chicken for me and Bruiser. Yummy!

A Quiet Sunday (Revealed to You on Tuesday!)

After our busy and wet Saturday, we spent a quiet Sunday, resting after church and grocery shopping and football watching!

Miss Wiggles giggling as she peaks out the door!

Wonderful noise makers - notice they are outside?

"Is my food ready yet?"

Building with Daddy!

Tater-ism!

Daddy often says that Tater is not allowed to get married or have children until we are dead - he's a bit protective of his little girls! So the other night at dinner, G-Baby was eating her Gerber puffs and Tater, in all seriousness, said "When you and Daddy go to live with God, I'm going to have a baby and feed her those things." Ears, ears, ears!

Baseball, Anyone?

On Saturday, we went joined in on a community night with our church and ventured out to enjoy a local minor league baseball game. It was a nice time to connect with friends and get to know others better. We had the pleasure of sitting in a grassy area rather than the stadium seats, which allowed for the little ones to move around. It was a good idea, but we learned some lessons:

1. Get a sitter for G-Baby. There was no way to bring a stroller into the ballpark and she kept rolling down the incline!

2. Get a sitter for Bruiser. He ran ALL night - and usually away from me or Daddy when the other one was busy getting food or keeping G-Baby from rolling down the hill. NOT FUN!!!!

3. Get to the game earlier - I think we walked a mile to get in! Luckily, we had the front pack AND the backpack carrier in the van - totally not planned but very useful!

4. Fight the battle early on and don't let Tater wear flip-flops. She tumbled within 5 minutes of being there and scraped both knees and the tops of her ankles (we don't know how!) and created enough of a stir that even a paramedic came to see if we needed any assistance! Luckily I carry a first aid kit in my "mommy bag."

In spite of all that, we had a good time and are looking forward to a return trip - hopefully with less children!

Tater (band-aids on the knees!) and her friend

Smile Boy before he threw his french fries (and ketchup) at our seatmate!

G- Baby and her birthday buddy - they were born two days apart!

Picnic at the Boat Launch

On Saturday, we spent the evening relaxing (as well as you can with a 2-year-old!) with a picnic at the near-by boat launch. We ate some yummy tacos and sweet strawberry shortcake - all packed in a real picnic basket! Then Daddy and Bruiser went to explore the beach and the boat launch while G-Baby hung out with Mommy!

Coming up the boat ramp

Looking at the little bitty fish

Picture Pretty!

G-Baby

G-Baby Style!

G-Baby has decided she has to sleep on her side and will find anyway to get there - no matter where she is sleeping!

Pure exhaustion!
This is what happens when you decide to play instead of nap!

See the puff stuck on her nose?
I guess she was saving it for later!

Girl Talk!

Random Pics!

These are some random pictures that have been on my camera and instead of creating multiple mini-posts, I decided to make a collection of the randomness (is that a word?).

Bruiser and Mimi took a ride on the carousel...can you find them?

Papa and his girl walking on Secret Beach

Taking a break on Secret Beach. The tide was so low this day!

We walked the farthest we ever have on Secret Beach.

Mommy chasing her duckings ... luckily there was no where for them to go!

Bruiser hunting for shells ... must be a bit of Grandma in him!

She played so hard!

Yes, he is licking ketchup off his plate.

Yes, there were five grown-ups watching him.

Yes, we laughed.

Yes, we took a picture!

Tater was decorating Pop-Pop with napkin pieces ... they were even in his ears!

Bruiser learned how to open his bedroom door! It was a sad day for Mommy!

This is how he spent the hour and a half before Tater woke up.

He loved playing with the Little People camping set (Thank You, Mimi and Papa)!

Tater and Mommy had a "Girls' Night" last night.

We got dressed up, went out to dinner where the animals on the wall talked, and then went to the Dollar Tree so Tater could spend her own money (with some guidance from Mommy!).

Daddy claims Shadow isn't allowed to sit on people's laps and be on the couch.

This is what I discovered when Daddy fell asleep on the couch the other night!

Here We Go Again...

Tater goes through these stages when she comes out with the most hilarious comments...this must be one of those times!

Last night at dinner, she was angry with me because I told her what I served was dinner and that she could not have anything else until she ate what I gave her.

Tater: "I want a new Momma. You're not nice to me and I want a new Momma."
Momma: "Too bad the store is all out of new Mommas. I guess you're stuck with me.
Eat your dinner!"
Tater: "Well, then Mimi has to have a new daughter...one I like!"

Interesting thought, huh, Mimi?

Photo Op!

I was making dinner and realized that it was a bit too quiet! This is where I found Bruiser secretly sneaking snacks by shoving fistfuls of goldfish (cheddar and chocolate, no less!) into his mouth!
G-Baby is learning how to sit - she's just a bit top-heavy yet!

The chunk-a-monk loves her food!

Poor Third Child! :(

I promise that I never did this with other two - I always found the time to sit and feed each of them and give them that special time! Everyone told me that things would change with the third - and they were right! We got home from Bruiser's movement (aka "dance") class and I needed to make dinner just as G-Baby began to fuss. I looked at the chicken frying on the stove and I looked at her in her car seat and I made a decision. I filled her bottled, folded up the car seat cover, and popped the bottle in her mouth - and she did awesome! I did chat with her as she ate and I cooked - so it was almost as good as me holding her while she ate! And, no, I don't feel guilty!

Milestones

My little baby who wouldn't sleep anywhere but glued to my side is becoming Mr. Independent! You have to chase him down to steal a hug and forget about a cuddle - he can't be bothered! Bruiser Boy is all BOY and runs so fast that I have trouble catching him! Here a few of his recent independent moments!

He taught himself how to put his own socks on - I guess I wasn't moving fast enough that day!

He now has his own booster seat at the island. After many meals spent trying to fold a screaming child into the highchair, we gave in to his pleas. Now we spend meals asking him to sit on his bottom and not crawl across the counter!

Wordless Wednesday Follow-Up

So, we decided to post this pic for Aunt C! I was at work on Monday morning and came home to Daddy feeding the kids grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. On the island was the butter dish looking just like the picture. The first thing Tater said to me was "Momma, you know butter melts?" So I was able to deduce what had happened to the butter (a little too long in the microwave, perhaps?) but I couldn't help laughing. It became a common complaint in my husband's family that his sister (Aunt C), would shave the butter off the top of the stick at family meals to butter her bread or roll or biscuit (doesn't matter what the bread product was - that family LOVES bread!). So, when I looked at our butter, I was utterly confused - how could Aunt C have done that all the way from her home over 300 miles away? Daddy and I had a good laugh!

{P.S. I hope this makes sense - I am currently covered in hives (for some unknown reason!) and just took a prescription antihistamine that is making my mind a bit loony - I'm heading to bed to sleep off the itchies!}

G-Baby, the Gourmet!

G-Baby has expressed her desire to explore different meal options. In other words - she's hungry! So last week we introduced cereal and she was thrilled. Wait until she discovers apples and bananas!

If You Give a Pig a Pancake...

Mommy didn't feel like making dinner the other night so the kids helped make pancakes. They were good little chefs!

Dinner Time Drama

A sick little girl on the mend!

Daddy and Bruiser

A sad little face!