In the kitchen- with Grace

A week ago- Kristin picked up Parker and took her and Payton to the dollar movies.  Leaving me an afternoon alone with Grace (and the opportunity to have a nap before going into work that night which was very helpful!)

This was a last minute outing- so I had already planned to make some St. Patrick's day cookies with both girls and so I decided I'd still go ahead and make them with Grace.

But oh my goodness.

She is a mess!  I just don't remember Parker being so hand-sy while baking.  Sure....she'd dip a finger in now and then.  But Grace.  Yeh- she sticks in her whole hand!!!  I even caught myself getting irritated a little because I was afraid she'd get sick and she was so fast and she would not listen at all.  But then stopped myself because the point in all of this was to have fun.

So fun we had.  Mostly her.  ;)  {and yes- please ignore the snot pouring out of her nose....I'm a little embarrassed and confused as to why I didn't wipe it away?  Except I do think that it was continuously running.  So yeh- that's it.}

Exhibit A: Whole hand in mouth.

Exhibit B: Whole hand in mouth.

Cheese!

Exhibit C: Whole hand in mixing bowl.

Stepped away seconds to capture this pic.  I wasn't sure how she'd do but she did really well.

The sifted flour just looked so pretty to me.  I guess it was prettier in person.  ;)

So for our St. Patty's day cookies it was nothing too fancy.  I bought these sprinkles...sometime.  Maybe even last year???  And I just made our trusty ole sugar cookie recipe (just an old recipe in an old cookbook of my mom's.....I started using when I baked sugar cookie with Parker at this same age) and dumped them in.  I didn't have enough hands at this point to get a picture and contain my child from dipping both hands in the mixing bowl.

After she figured out she was not going to get anymore dough....she went off and played by herself for a bit while I cleaned up.

About 5 minutes later she informed me that she wanted her pajammies on and wanted to watch Pochontus.  So we didn't watch the whole movie.....just the 2 parts where she sings songs.  Which are her favorite parts and the only parts she cares about.

She looks so cute and sweet just sitting there.

After snapping these pictures- I got her in my lap to watch a few more reprises of the songs and it was off to bed.  For both of us.  What a treat!  Thanks, Kristin!

Lazy Day

The day started off with rain. It had rained since last night....and through the night (and I should know since Parker came into our room at around 3am claiming she had a bad dream...and I did not get back to sleep until 6am).

 I made the decision during those wee hours of the night...that we were just going to spend the day at home. Just getting some stuff done that has been neglected over the past few weeks. :)

So I started in the kitchen.  Geoff had let me sleep in a bit since I was up for a lot of the night.  (which was SO nice and helpful).  The girls had already eaten breakfast, but the dishwasher was full of clean dishes and the sink full of dirty ones.  Counters were a mess.  The floor.  Don't even get me started.

I had a great attitude.  I was energized and I got straight to work.  I had made a grocery list and my plan was to get things settled here....feed the girls lunch....then take a quick trip to the store before nap time.

Well.....it was 12:30pm before I knew it and soon realized there would be no leaving the house today.

Which was fine.

Thankfully- the girls were in a pretty good mood and played well.  Parker did especially well.  I get so tickled watching her play.

She took these baskets out...emptied them...

.and made a road for her Barbie car....

With a garage at the end....

And this little sister was a bit of a bug-a-boo walking on big sister's road!

After the kitchen- I started on the living room....

I wanted to get the girls dressed and leave for the rest of the day.  ;)

Only problem.....it'd been here when we got home.

So...with their help....we eventually knocked it out.  Most anyway.

This is the laundry.  Clean laundry that has been piled up for over a week.  With our crazy schedules it has just been neglected.  And....to top it all off- at the time of this picture....there was also a load in the washer and the dryer!  ;)

The floor was in a very desperate need of vacuuming.  And the girl, incidentally- argued over who could help.  I seriously pray that that have this same passion for vacuuming 10 years from now.  ;)

The fruits of my labor:  about 90% of the laundry folded (still stuff in the dryer right now); about 50% of laundry is actually put away; toys off of the floor and put away (for the most part); floor vacuumed;

...the dishwasher emptied, and loaded, then washed, and emptied for a second time.  Yes there were a lot of dishes stacked up in our sink.  :)

I had some guilt earlier in the day about how much time I was spending cleaning and picking up and putting away than spending some real quality time with the girls.  But then I decided to give myself a little break today.  Not on being a mom, but on the guilt part.  I often 'let things wait' around the house to play with the girls and just be with them.  Which is totally appropriate.  But there are also things that need to be taken care of and our house....and our home....is one of them.  And in actuality- this 'let things wait' attitude got me where I was today!

The girls survived (and me too)...and now although I still have things to get done....we're going to enjoy our day tomorrow....with more attention to just them.  It's a constant balance and I know I don't always get it right, but I sure do try.

My great Aunt Pauline was so sweet to offer to bring dinner over for us girls (including Kristin and Payton).  My contribution:  homemade bread.  So good.

She brought these creamy mashed potatoes....

Pork roast....

And brownies.....

Kristin brought salad and ranch dressing and the kids plates were just as full as ours.  They ate really well and had no snacks before bed!

In looking back through our day....it was really anything but lazy.  Ha!  But I did spend the day in sweats.  ;)

just a great day.

Today was one of those days that was just really good.

Despite the fact that I could not fall asleep until 2am even though I initially laid down at 11pm (gotta love the night shift)....I woke up with good energy and was ready to go.


We met some friends at the zoo- and while I thought I got a lot of good pictures, I was mildly disappointed. But there will be many more trips....

There were quite a few penguins swimming around this morning as we walked up.  More than when we were there the last time.  {And tonight- as I was telling Parker goodnight....she said, out of the blue...."I am really glad we got to see those penguins swimming today.  It was really neat."  Although I am not home with my girls every day as I wish :).........I love that I am able to still do things with them like this and really soak it up.

We were able to see the lions with the trainers...which we did not see last time.  It was really neat to see.

They told us that they actually train them to do this 'trick' so that they can assess their underside.  And another thing that I thought was really neat......I saw that the trainer reached through the gate with a syringe toward the leg?  I had wondered if she had injected him with anything.  But, in fact, it was an empty syringe....and they do this so that when they come with them with their medication or vaccination, they won't run away and so they won't have to sedate them.

We had a pb&j lunch....

Then headed to the children's zoo.  It was a beautiful day today.....and little chilly with the wind, but no complaints here!  Parker was dressed for a blizzard.  Not necessary, but her choice.  ;)

We went to the mole hole....a place I had not been before.

Around 1 o'clock- we headed home.   Just in time for Grace's nap.

Geoff was in training today and so he got home a little after 4.  We headed to our local 'pumpkin patch' (next year I am going to really try to find a real pumpkin patch and apple orchard!) to get a few pumpkins for 'projects' and carving.  I had high hopes of diving into some of that tonight, but we ran short.

Trying so hard....

She's mad because she wanted to stay and play longer and was ready for story time.  Only....story time is on Saturday.  ;)  She got over it quickly and we ran to Wal-Mart for a few things.

Came home for a special oreos and milk treat.  I am sure Grace has had one before, but we don't keep them around normally, and so I guess I will count this time as her first.....where we actually sat down with a glass of milk and had our oreos.  She knew just what to do.

Love it!

And finished off our night with Parker (a.k.a "Hi-tee-Jodie)......I was Moo-loo, Grace was Donut, and Geoff was Ned.  ;)  We had to review names several times.

Parker went over several times how it was important for us to eat fruits and vegetables to be healthy.  We asked her who told her that but got no answers.

Part of the class.......

Geoff had to go to time out....only this time....he really didn't do anything wrong.

And finished with a book.

Looking forward to another busy, fulfilled day tomorrow!