in february

this is my youngest daughter. she likes to shove most of her hand in her mouth.

here is my son. he is making pancakes

(aunt jen's recipe)

 here are my feet. this pedicure is 3 weeks old. if i hadn't kicked a chair it would have lasted longer. i discovered a miracle top coat here.

here is my oldest daughter. she is straightening her hair. thankfully she does it rarely.

here is my other girl. she's taking the little ones on a horsey ride.

 this is lego class.

this is a lego class challenge - to battle til something breaks apart

this is my little guy. he's just a darling.

 these are my children. we took a walk by the river.

these are my boys. 

they earned $62 with the recycling we collected. 

 this is my suburban. it was stuffed.

 this is my old freezer

and this is my new (to me) one.

it is quite glorious.

in december

still tiny in the car seat

he has too many animals on his bed - but he arranges them so nicely

baby watching while mom picks up from seminary (i wasn't sure what little w would do!)

st nicolaus eve!

tree decorated!

(that is not a cross on top - it's a natural tree sprig)

preschool at our house - instrument jam

 trying to catch her smile - she always turns to the camera at the last second

first she laughed, then she made the cutest frownie face ever

we thought at first it was a bag stuck in the tree

it sat there for about 30 minutes

the tree - lower 2 feet unbreakables ONLY

he always wants shades for the sun

reading with mom

his cheeks are the best

i was nursing the baby on the couch and the boys announced that they'd 'cleaned the room'

i sent b with a camera to show evidence. he came back with some nice shots of his teeth and a vague one of the ceiling. this is the second shot after i said 'put the camera near the ground so i can check under the bed!'

flood watch 2012

inside, valiantly fighting the encroaching waters

 the christmas tree waiting had already been retrieved from its mud bath and righted

the back yard lake

the waters already receding

and how is it escaping?

 

the hero hath opened the flood gates

the flow of waters strong

 a lake begins in the street

 the mini heroes clear the flood drains

and the rain came down

23: a sometimes, fairly clean living room

because, post baby, it doesn't get clean that often. there's something happening every day but it's usually done by an 8 year old with vague ideas of cleanliness while i sit nursing the baby on the couch saying, 'go back! you missed that whole nasty pile of dirt!'

 the decorations were for b's birthday, put up by an 8 and 5 year old. they did pretty well. there are no balloons because they filled them all up with water and jumped on the trampoline with them 'til they broke.

and, most of the stuff on the flat surfaces are not meant to be there. or maybe i mean, I didn't put them there. but baby w slept for a few hours on thursday, and thanks to my lovely friend i didn't have to do any driving, and so i cleaned. well, first i cleaned up. then i cleaned. and it felt good. 

summer

my version of my mom's summer fun:

there are still a few spaces to fill in, but the kids are excited. i haven't used a bulletin board for so long and i'm really enjoying it. i think i banished them when i had babies because of the whole pin problem. i completely copied her and also my mom's time tested ideas. i'd say we have about 80% compliance.

i bought myself some flowers (and a little turkey)

watercoloring

and also tasting

(he was just getting over being sick)