This is What Happens When You Have Boys

This is why I am so hoping the next babe is a girl.  A few days ago the boys dug a big hole in the yard. They were looking for buried treasure they said.  I said fill the hole back in but no one knows where the dirt has gone to.  So the hole became the place to play with monster trucks.  Last night it rained. This morning it rained. The hole became a gigantic mud puddle. When I shoved the kids out the door this afternoon with orders to go play, they decided to go retrieve the trucks from the mud.  That boot you see on the left side is supposed to be on Abby's foot. She fell into the puddle and lost her boot since she ran outside wearing Katie's boots and they are about 3 sizes too big.

Time Soldiers

I'm not sure why, but the kids have all fallen in love with these books.  The series somewhat reminds me of the Star Gate tv show but in book form for kids.  Yup, there is a time portal.  Yup, the kids dress in camo and fatigues.  Lot's of boy oriented action and I had a group of kids hanging over my shoulders trying to make sure not to miss a single thing while reading the books.  Since I brought the first book out, I've had at least one child reading it constantly.  If you have a boy who hates to read or who just is desperate for something new to read, check out the Time Soldiers series.  I promise you'll love them.

The Middle Kids

Ladybugs

This has become a normal part of fall in this house.  The darn creatures swarm the house.  They don't really seem to cause any damage but I hate having the critters in the house. 

This is just a small corner of the front door after about half of them either found a way to bury into the house (they are trying to find a place to hibernate) or flew off.  They are crawling on all of the windows and doors and every time the kids go outside, they let more in.  This should only last a week or so but I really can't wait for the swarm to move on.

It's Cheerios Time

And someone is very happy to finally be getting a taste of food.   No, we long ago decided not to mess with baby food around here.  It seems to only make a mess and take lots of time to deal with.  There are plenty of options out there for baby friendly finger food.  It means you have to wait just a bit longer to introduce solid food but it's what works best around here.  And look at the clean-up.  Almost none which is not bad for the first foray into solid food.

Bath Time

Just wanted to say that Robert hates taking a bath. Good thing he is still not into playing in the mud puddles like all the other kids.

Updated Group Shot

Just a quick updated group shot of the kids.

We got them all gussied up so we could head to North Tonawanda to celebrate a 60th Anniversary.

Congratulations, Grandma and Grandpa!  

Cupcakes

Bryan and Katie made the cupcakes for Katie's party together.  Since this was the first time either of them had made cupcakes totally on their own, they ran out of batter before filling all of the cups.  Seems the first few cupcakes were made rather on the large side. 

The cupcakes were dyed pink because, well, it's Katie's birthday. But to offset the total sugar and artificial color overload we used vegan sprinkles.  Seriously, I had no clue that you could find such a thing. Who knew that vegans were so picky about their sprinkles. 

Happy Birthday Katie

We decided to do something a little different for Katie's birthday this year.  Yes, we long ago gave up on the big formal full of other kids birthday bashes.  They just got to be a huge pain in the rear and frankly, none of us really enjoyed them.  So birthday's are usually fairly low key around here. Yes, the child is made to feel special and gets to pick all meals and a fun activity on their birthday but we pretty much keep it just to family.  This year we went to Chuck E Cheese instead.

The kids had a blast and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  That is one benefit of being able to go in the middle of the day in the middle of the week while school is in session.

I have a feeling that we will be going back sometime this winter to burn off some of that stuck inside all the time energy.

Funny thing is Katie is still asking when we are having her real cake and birthday.  I guess to her it's only a real birthday celebration if it's at home with family.

Happy Birthday Katie. I hope you had a great time.

Tugboat Urger

We took a field trip to tour the tug boat Urger last week.  This boat is touring the Erie Canal right now and making several stops along the way.  First we stopped at a canal museum in Spencerport to hear a bit more about the history of the Canal. The kids also got a chance to learn that wonderfully famous Erie Canal song.  After touring the tugboat, they also learned a bit more about taking care of the Canal.  Even though the day was wet and cold, the kids had a great time.