Mostly around the house

As stated before, we do play at home more often these days. I admittedly have allowed more TV watching within the last 4 months than I ever intended to allow my kids. But, desperate times call for desperate measures as they say. On the upside, I'm finally figuring out what keeps everyone entertained and engaged, quiet and happy outside of TV time. Any form of wrestling and chasing is entertaining, although NOT quiet. Having a snack or drink in hand= quiet and HAPPY (and wet as you can see)! Eli is simply entertained/engaged/happy with some "mommy time." (My easy one! LOL) He is grasping toys, rolling from tummy to back, giggling, and smiling like crazy! Playdoh is the gold standard on the above requirements (for the time being anyway) especially after we aquired some new "tools" to make sculptures. Addie keeps it out of her mouth (majority of the time) although now she stashes chunks of playdoh between her highchair edge and her thighs......she plays in her diaper now. LOL I'm not sure if we can give Eli the credit on this one, but everyone has become very nurturing at our house. Addie and Kai both play with "babies" daily. They include them in play, feed them, take them for rides in the grocery cart, etc. But nothing tops some REAL baby time with Eli!

YELLOW

We no longer can say we have "3 UNDER 3!" Kai is 3 now! We celebrated with a few friends and family in our backyard. The theme was YELLOW (Kai's favorite color). The party was as yellow as I could get it....the balloons, the cupcakes, the attire, the snack foods, the gift wrapping. But the pinata had to be Thomas the Train WITH yellow on it. We blew some bubbles, attempted Fruit Loop and noodle necklaces (a much harder craft for 3 yr olds than I expected), whacked the pinata, and played some t-ball. Kai enjoyed it. He did well as the center of attention, although very ready for a REST after everyone left. He was very blessed by family and friends, so thanks everyone! Here's Kai "smashing" his yellow cupcake! Little Addie was her brother's biggest fan. She's just chillin' at the picnic table. I love that Addie and Zane (Kai's friend) are SOO interested in the gift opening, yet patiently sitting and watching instead of "helping." What good kids! Here's Addie attempting a whack at the pinata! She was surprisingly accurate (with my help)! Kai talked all week about how determined he was to "bust" the pinata open himself! Oh well, it didn't help dad gave him a plastic bat!! It was his party...he was still the champ! No one could bust it with a plastic bat anyway....so we ended up ripping it open like a present and dumping it over the kids' heads! I'm just so glad I knew you had to PUT candy inside it...that could've been pretty disappointing!

Getaway

I love fall. It's something about the newness of crisp air, leaves with yellows and burnt oranges, displaying the pumpkin scented candle, and pulling out last seasons' jeans to see if they still fit (There must be a false security in covering my legs fully again for winter). Amongst the highlights of fall, is viewing the yellow speckled Rocky Mountains. We thought it would be fun to take the kids up for a picnic in the mountains and let them tromp around in the leaves. It WAS beautiful. Literally a breath of fresh air. However, the kids found the birds diving to eat the Goldfish crackers they were throwing from the picnic table MOST amuzing! After the picnic we tried to get a few shots with the colored trees and then headed out on a 1-mile loop hike. We could make it only a mile, right?!? WRONG.....note below Derrick carrying Kai and Addie, enough said. I did say fall, but did I mention like 85 degrees?!?!