she loves to help . . .

and i love her!

lots of help . . .

and for some reason . . . even with 6 extra hands . . . assembling my new drawers for my office just didn't go that fast!

pics of the more organized office to come soon! i'm still waiting on another set of the drawers i ordered.

just another . . .

are you a gearhead?

we love the imagination movers . . . and we love seeing them at family gras!

tis the season . . .

just call me ms. fix it . . .

so . . . yesterday was sean's birthday. today his family came over for lunch to celebrate his birthday. yesterday . . . i was cleaning. the cleaning included cleaning the fish bowl. the fish bowl has pretty little blue rocks. a "few" pretty blue rocks went down the drain when i was cleaning the fish bowl. i guess i didn't clean all of them out and the garbage disposal didn't like that. it stopped working. i didn't want to tell sean . . . it was his birthday. this morning i searched the web for directions on how to repair a broken garbage disposal. i found the description of what my disposal was doing and learned how to fix the problem. the girls and i went to the grocery store to get icing for sean's cake. then on to the hardware store we went . . . all 4 of us girls. had to get some hex keys. yes . . . my husband is a contractor and we didn't have 1 hex key at our house. now i have a whole set of my own! after our outing . . . we came home and i fixed the garbage disposal and decorated sean's cake . . . all before he even woke up! and as soon as he woke up . . . the first thing i said to him . . . you didn't know you married a ms. fix it, did you?

aaahhhhhh . . .

peace . . . and quiet!

sneak peek . . .

a cute and sweet little something that's headed to a little sweetheart for valentine's day!

k.i.s.s.i.n.g.

1. brown eyes, 2. good clean fun, 3. so sweet, 4. sloppy kisses

a really happy girl . . .

little miss: can i have some ice cream, because i'm really (said with as much drama as possible) hot!
mommy: did you eat your lunch? (she stayed for lunch at school today)
little miss: yes!
mommy: yes . . . you can have some.
little miss: mommy . . . i'm already happy, but this is going to make me really happy!
mommy: how happy?
little miss: as big as a soldier!

where'd it go?

i love mornings when we have time to play with (look for) chalk before school!

so excited . . .

i have been wanting to learn how to knit and am so clueless as to where to even begin. i have been procrastinating because learning from a book sounds too boring . . . too intimidating . . . and just not what i want to do. so tonight . . . i was playing around on the computer and discovered that there is a needlework store on one of my favorite streets in one of my favorite parts of the city! and it gets better . . . they have classes! of course there has to be something that doesn't make this perfect right . . . and there is! the beginner classes are from 10-12 and the big girls get out of school at 12. so . . . i will have to figure something out.

i have gotta get one of these . . .

well . . . actually i am going to get 2 of them!

see . . . i have come to the conclusion that i have the messiest children in the world! but, i wouldn't trade them for the cleanest kids in the world. now don't get me wrong . . . if the cleanest kids want to come and give a few how to be clean lessons . . . that would be fantastic! but really . . . how ingenious are these car litter bags made by allyson hill? they look so cute . . . and they actually might (i did say might!) entice my messy little girls to put their car litter into the bag . . . instead of just throwing it down on the floorboard! now i just have to decide which print i want to get . . . well maybe (i did say maybe!) i will let the girls choose!

dynasty day . . .

(the camera work is terrible . . . sorry!)

a few pics of competition day. i have no clue why there is a blank spot . . . and i'm too tired to try and figure out why the picture is not there! little miss did great . . . and had a lot of fun. little sisters had so much fun too . . . they are usually the center of attention when their cousins are around . . . and they love that!

1. all done up . . . not by me!, 2. future dynasty cheerleader, 3. lil'est dynasty girl, 4. fun with the girls, 5. where does this energy come from?, 6. awww . . . cute cousins!, 7. ring around . . ., 8. the stage, 9. all dressed up, 10. baby sis . . . big sis, 11. mmmm . . . food!, 12. running on the dance floor, 13. hurry! hurry!, 14. to the award ceremony we go . . ., 15. lots of beads

crazy weird . . .

little miss' 4th birthday

my 4th birthday

in case you didn't know . . . little miss and i have the same birthday. yeah . . . it's really cool! so . . . you are probably wondering what so crazy weird about these pictures? well . . . little miss' cake request for her 4th birthday was a cake with yellow and green bugs . . . and it has to have a strawberry shortcake on it. (well . . . the store only had 1 strawberry shortcake doll that would fit on a cake . . . and she already had that one.) so anywho . . . strawberry's friend angel cake had to do. well . . . if you look closely you will see that my 4th birthday cake is a strawberry shortcake cake! i don't know if anyone else will think that is a little crazy . . . but i sure do!

(and don't you think little miss looks so much older at 4 years than i did?)

overheard . . .

"come on sis! if we aren't going to color anymore . . . we need to pick the markers up!"

(that is what little miss really said. is that what really happened? of course not! they started coloring again . . . and then they both got up . . . and the markers were still out . . . and brown eyes got a hold of one!)

it's the thought that counts right?!?

school project . . .

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons oil
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 cups water with food coloring added

cook on medium heat until ball forms

all of the moms at the girls' school . . . take turns making the playdoh for the classes. yesterday was my turn. so i thought i would share the recipe . . . i had never made the cooked playdoh before. it was so easy . . . and the texture really is like actual playdah. we will defnitely do make some for our house next time we need playdoh! (which isn't going to be for a long time . . . little shrimp got the coolest playdoh set for christmas. and hers actually came with 8 bonus cans . . . the big size! thanks uncle todd . . . aunt carrie . . . anna . . . and nick!)

more playdoh recipes here and here.

our yesterday . . .

1. playing house, 2. hey mom!, 3. don't forget about me!, 4. just another day on the camel!, 5. someboday listen to me!, 6. they are actually getting along!, 7. it's a ghost . . ., 8. dancing queens, 9. yes . . . she is flying thru the air!, 10. is it bad to allow this?, 11. don't tell her . . . i was watching her!, 12. yep . . . on the table again!, 13. cleaning up . . ., 14. and she cleaned it up by herself!, 15. afternoon snack

yum . . .

wheat toast and homemade apple juice for the girls . . . and wheat toast and fresh squeezed orange juice for me!

idol fever . . .

everyone's got it!