Habitat

I overheard Arya tell Eiley today "I think Daddy may be a sloth." I have no idea what the context of that comment was. It was pretty funny on its own though.

They built a "secret habitat" today. They were in the bathroom with a half full water bottle, discarded clothes, newspaper, stuffed animals, toilet paper, sunglasses, and a blow up fish. Eiley has been learning about habitats in school. They wouldn't let me in the bathroom at first, so I was a bit scared about what I would find, but it wasn't too big of a mess and they cleaned it up.

We took the kids to the zoo and they got to feed the goats. I think this is the first time Zia joined them. She loved it.

Nice Days

I was worn out by the end of today. I took an hour long class at the gym and was shaking for at least 30 minutes after. When the twins got home from school they wanted me to take them on a walk, so I loaded them into the double running stroller, threw Zia into the Ergo, and started to walk. They wanted a long walk, so three miles later we were finally done...and both of them were asleep. Little stinkers. Zia stayed awake the entire walk. They fell asleep at the very end. When Cork came home from work, he asked if I wanted to go for a walk. I really didn't want to, but it was nice out and we have to take advantage of the few nice months we have.

Stick a Picture

The older two got all ready for school today. They were so cute. I had to take their picture.

I love the way a kid's mind works. Zia pulled this stick out of the office earlier today. It goes to a paper roller thing from IKEA. She played with it off and on, just like she does with the stick from the sliding door. Then, as I was loading dishes into the dishwasher after lunch, she did this. What makes her think that trying to knock a picture off the wall is a good idea?

Spelling Issues

Sounding out how to spell words is really hard if you don't say the words correctly. Eiley told Arya today that she would give her a marker she wanted if Arya could spell Bernice, or as they say "Bahnice". So Arya says B, and then I ask her what comes after the B in Bernice and she says N. I was so confused why she wasn't getting the R since she knows the R sound. I wasn't expecting her to know there was an E in there, but the R is pretty obvious, if you're saying it correctly. The B says "buh" and then the next letter must be N.

Zia kept herself busy today playing with water...again.

She also spent a bunch of time on the potty. She rarely goes, but she thinks it's funny to fart on the potty. So funny that she has perfected pulling up her own diaper.

Memorial Day

We had a really good Memorial Day today. It was beautiful. We spent most of the day outside. We started with the parade we always go to. It was much nicer this year than last. I enjoy a parade much more when it isn't freezing and raining out.

Zia got to spend some time with her favorite activity, water.

Not a Booger

Cork and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary today. We went to church and came home to Zia screaming and crying. She refused to nap, even with me walking her around the neighborhood in the Ergo. It took me way too long to figure out that it was her ears. I treated her ear ache with garlic oil and she was good to go when she woke up from her nap. If I hadn't seen her screaming a few hours earlier, I would never have known she'd had an ear ache.

This is not a booger. Looks like one, but it isn't. It's marker. I'm not sure how she got it to look like that, but she was pretty proud of herself.

Kite Festival

We went to a kite festival today. It was definitely not cooler by the lake. It was much warmer there than we had expected. It was also not very windy, so there weren't many kites. We still all had a good time. While there, I learned that Arya, Eiley, and I still fit into one port o potty if we have to.

Time Capsule

Eiley and Arya's school has a time capsule out front. It's been there for 25 years, so they opened it today to see what the students put in there 25 years ago. Cork took off from work to go to this event with us. Eiley pretty much sums it up. It was boring. I managed to keep Arya away, but Cork was working on his phone and let Eiley fall asleep. They had an hour long presentation with mostly speakers. It was so hard for all of the kids to sit through it. I barely managed to sit through it. I was hoping Zia would throw a fit and give me an excuse to leave.

We had a much better time at home after we left the Spike celebration.

You've Come a Long Way Baby

Every time we come to this park, I think about being here the day before Zia was born. I get around to help the twins a lot easier now, and they need a lot less help to do the equipment.

Obviously, Zia has come a long way since then too.

Accessories

This girl is such a goof. I love watching when she walks into a room with new accessories.

Attempted Toad Smasher

I got the garden planted today. We have sage, parsley, leeks, and dill left from other years. I added carrots, parsnips, beets, cabbage, iceburg lettuce, romain lettuce, basil, oregano, and acorn squash. Our tomato plants and cucumbers will be added in a few days after the plants have adjusted to being outside during the day.

Zia helped me plant. We found a toad while I was digging. She was determined to step on it. She is obsessed with stepping on things right now. A few weeks ago she tried to step on our neighbors cat. The cat had given her a tiny warning nip a couple days earlier. This time he didn't do anything. She must have still been mad. She walked up to him and tried to stomp on his paw. Thankfully he's used to little kids and got his paw out of the way in time.

Sitting Game

Zia's new favorite game is getting people to sit on her.

She also loves to eat. It doesn't seem to matter right now what I feed her. She will eat.

And sometimes she doesn't wait for me to put a bowl or a spoon in front of her seat. Today she climbed up to eat out of a bowl at a regular seat and used her play shovel while I was dishing up food for her.

Cheeky Monkey

My cheeky little monkey was up to no good today. First she stuck a bucket on her head. This was hilarious to her until I couldn't get it off. I had to remove the handle to get it back over her head. I have no idea how she got in it. Then I heard her calling my name while I was cleaning dishes. I turn to see that she's climbed the outside of the stairs to the top. Of course I grabbed my camera before getting her down. By the time I took the picture, she was already on her way back down.

Staying up super late and refusing to sleep eventually catches up with you.

Poop Flashbacks

Cork is gone this week and I had two one hour meetings at school tonight. Kid care is offered at one of those, but not the other. I knew there was no way the kids would last for two hours sitting up at school. I had my brother come over instead to watch the kids. I was ready to run out the door and decided to put in pink eye drops before I left. While I was giving Arya her drops, I heard Zia yelling from the bathroom. I finished the drops and went to check on her. She'd taken off her pajama bottoms and diaper, and climbed onto the toilet. Great? No. She had pooped first. So she, the floor, and the toilet were covered. I had flashbacks to the time Arya did this in my bathroom. I got her and the bathroom cleaned up before heading out the door. While she made a mess, she's making the connection with her needing to go to the bathroom and using the bathroom. Not bad for someone who is 23 months today. She used the toilet two other times today, both times were by her request. I am not leading the way in this at all.

Between taking Zia to the potty, I pretty much cleaned all day. I was so annoyed with the twins. Arya was home this morning because of her pink eye and the house stayed okay. Eiley came home and it was an instant disaster. I tried everything to get them to help and to stop being so messy. Eventually I told them that I was just going to clean and ignore them the rest of the day, that I had no time to spend with them because I had to clean up after them and then go to my meetings. I also told them I was going to start getting rid of their toys again if they kept leaving them out. Neither seemed to care about most of the things until I mentioned getting rid of their care bears. This just reinforced the fact that they have too much stuff. I have a ton of stuff in the basement to get rid of. I got rid of other things recently. I don't know how we got so much, because we haven't bought them toys in so long. We just get things from other people. We pass them on when we are done, but we have a collection of things that the twins aren't playing with now, but Zia hasn't started playing with yet and I have a hard time getting rid of that. Once she's done, I am happy to pass things onto the next family.

Pony Tail

She wanted a pony tail just like the twins. Poor kid is going to have to wait a long time before she can have a real pony tail like them. Her hair has grown a lot lately, but not enough.

Arya drew this today. I asked what it was and she explained that the one with all the hair needed a haircut, but didn't want a haircut. It's something she has read in a book, but I love that she drew it and that she knew how to write No.

Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day today. We got to spend the day with both my mom and Cork's mom. The twins helped make a cake and Zia did not want to nap, but fell asleep in the swing against her wishes.

Mama, Baby Poopoo

After dinner tonight, Zia was running around while we cleaned up. I heard her yell from the other room "Momma, baby poopoo". I went to check on her. She was laying on the changing table, holding wipes, and waiting for me to change her. I think she's getting closer and closer to potty training.

The twins went out the front door today to go play with a few other kids. Zia was so upset. She was hanging on the door, yelling, and kicking it. I tried to take her picture, but she ran away. Then she hid.

She slept just fine in her bed again last night. I put her in the bed again tonight and she was just fine. Cork walked into her room and asked if she wanted her crib instead and she said she did. So tonight she's back in the crib.

Pinkeye Crew

The pinkeye crew and I went out for a run today. It was gorgeous...and I was slow. I was running about 10 minute miles. I guess not too bad considering I rarely run and I was pushing 50+ pounds in the stroller.

We spent most of our day outside today. I wore the kids out. Around 7:15, I told them we had to go in and get ready for bed. They all needed a bath, but decided to take a shower instead, even Zia. Obviously she needed help. After that they all had a snack, brushed their teeth, and we read books. I finally got them to bed around 8:15. When I tried to put Zia in her bed she said "that bed" and pointed to the twin bed. She's never said bed before. So, I made up the twin bed for her to see how it would go. She laid down and asked me to lay next to her. I told her I couldn't becuase I had to get some stuff done. She then tried to get up. I picked her up and put her in her crib. I explained that if she got up she had to sleep there instead. She pointed to the other bed and told me "that", so I moved her back and she went right to sleep. I don't know if she'll continue sleeping in it or go back to the crib. Either way, I'm okay with it because she decided it was time.

Education and Hunting

This is what happened today when I had to run outside to catch the girls' bus when it went past the house. Zia can open the door herself. She did not want to get dressed today, so I had let her run around in a diaper. She let herself outside and ran around the porch until I got back with the twins. I was just glad she didn't run down the driveway. She's pretty good about staying out of the street, but that doesn't mean she won't.

The twins were playing with their CareBears today.
A: How come I don't see you often?
E: Because I go to college...and I hunt.

Pinkeye

Pinkeye has struck again. Looks like we'll be home for awhile. Poor kid. Pinkeye is the pits because my kids usually feel totally fine and want to be out doing something, but we have to stay home. Thankfully it's nice and I can be outside with her.

We made these flowerpots at Home Depot this month. The location we went to didn't have paint, so I told the kids they could paint them at home. Today was a perfect day for that.

Bathroom Group

Because siblings always all hang out with each other in the bathroom.

Tea Time

We were at Nana and Papa's house today. The kids all enjoyed some junk cereal while we were there. My mom, who always said she'd give her grandkids dried fruit instead of junk, gave them Fruit Loops. They thought it was amazing and I got to harass her a little.

We ran a couple errands today and Zia decided to stop and lay down for a nap. She was goofing off and had no intention of napping. She was super cute to watch and had a few other people watching.

We went to the annual tea today. The girls all had a great time and ate lots of food.

This child can not eat any dessert without getting it all over her face. Tonight it was avocado chocolate pie.

Twin Day

Eiley was singing Angels We Have Heard on High today. Instead of Gloria, she was bellowing out Loria.

I was trying to put Zia's shoes on today and she absolutely refused to let me put them on the right feet. I am pretty sure she knew what she was doing and wanted them on the wrong feet. She was laughing and thought it was great.

Today was twin day at Arya and Eiley's school. We pretty much cheated. Obviously we didn't have to put much effort into today. The twins enjoyed wearing matching clothes. I tried to convince them to sit at the wrong tables when they got to school, but since Arya's regular teacher was gone, they were not comfortable doing that.

Whitey

Arya was goofing off yesterday and told me "you stink" I was about to say something to her about how it's no very nice to say that. Then she said "this one thinks you didn't shower today". She was right. I'd taken an hour long spin class and hadn't showered yet after when she said this. I just had to laugh.

I was blowing up balloons for the kids today. As I handed a white one to Arya she said "Well, hello there Whitey." I had to try so hard to not laugh. I did not want her saying that out in public to try to get attention.

Zia is obsessed with diapering dolls right now. I find diapers and wipes all over the house.