Fun at the local water park!!!

Here's Tank and KK sitting patiently in the pool.


Why, oh why, are they just sitting there???



LOL! I can barely make them out!!!

Kids Workshops at Home Depot

We recently discovered that all of the Home Depots host Kids Workshops the first Saturday of the month. Mr. O and I took the kids there for the June workshop. The kids each received their own Home Depot smock as well as a pin depicting their workshop project. This month the project was a tool organizing kit for Dad for Father's Day. The kids get to keep the smock, and every time they go back for workshops, they add a pin to their smocks.

At first, Tank thought he should put his kit together with wood glue...that didn't work out so well. He looks cute though, huh?

Here's Banana showing off her decorated kit...

KK was happy observing and letting Daddy do all work (as you can see in the picture of Tank above)...

We were the neophytes there...It was great to be welcomed by families who have been do this with their children for a few years already. One little boy had almost 30 pins on his smock...impressive!!! Here's a closeup of the pin each of the kids received upon completion of their projects...
Upcoming projects for the kids are picnic caddies (July) and a message board (August). We'll be at the beach then, but if the weather is crappy, we are sure going to find a local Home Depot to pass some time by constructively.

P.S. I've since learned that Lowe's also hosts Build and Grow Clinics for kids every other Saturdya. You do need to reserve a spot though.

She's getting it...slowly, but surely!!!

I asked KK if she knew how to wink. Here's her response...




Ta Da!!!!

I really should get this on video!!!

My baby is 4!!!

On this day 4 years ago, KK was born. She was "Andre the Giant" of the NICU.



Here she is at age 1.


Age 2...


Age 3...


Here is today's Birthday Girl!!!



Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! I hope you laugh even more than you did the past year. I love you, darling!!!

White House Egg Roll

The White House Easter Egg Roll is an annual family event to race Easter Eggs on the South Lawn while enjoying storytelling and a visit with the Easter Bunny. This holiday tradition has a long history dating back to 1878 when President Rutherford B. Hayes officially opened the White House grounds to local children for egg rolling on Easter Monday. Successive Presidents have continued the tradition of inviting children to the White House Lawn for egg rolling and other activities and entertainment. This year our family was very fortunate to participate in the Egg Roll.

Our tickets had a timed entrance/exit period of 1:15p-3:15p. You had to be at the staging area an hour prior to your entrance. The plan was for me to drive the kids to Mr. O's office where we would park the car (He works 5 minutes from the White House). It was noon when we had parked the car and headed to the staging area. Mr. O asked if I had the tickets.

Me: NOPE, I thought you had them. I started laughing, because the situation was incredulous.

Mr. O: C'mon, stop joking. Do you have them or not?

M: Really, Mr. O...I really don't have them.

The kids were about to cry when they realized we couldn't get in without the tickets. I told Mr. O to take them to lunch, and I would drive 32 miles home to get the tickets.

I got back to his office at 1:20. We got to the ellipse at 1:30, and I was feeling doubtful that we would be admitted since our group staging area was empty. Fortunately, though, we caught the end of our group and just barely made it through.

The South Lawn was crazily packed with people. It was neat to be so close to the President's home though.





I especially enjoyed watching our children participate in their first Egg Roll Race. Each race had 12 participants...Not that anyone was counting, but Tank came in first, Banana finished in the middle, and KK brought up the rear. :)



Fun was had by all!!! I'd like to attend the Easter Egg Roll again with my family, but I would wait until they were a few years older. Many of the events were geared for young children. It was just too crowded, and I was afraid we'd lose one or more of the kids.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Cousin B!!!

It's great that you and your sidekick cousin, KK, share the same age for a month. :)

Happy Birthday, B!!! We look forward to many, many, many playtimes with you.

Photography: 101

We love the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie-type books. Very early on in life, we started calling KK our Monkey. She's cute, isn't she???



Here's what happens if you give a Monkey your 3yo steals your camera....

The baby gets smothered while your 3yo...



...watches Spongebob!



You also get at least 20 pics like this...



There, you have it!!!

Simple Breakfast

My kids have always been big breakfast eaters; Me, not so much! When Tank asked me to make pancakes today, I was happy to join in. I just couldn't resist a pancake with fresh raspberries and blueberries...it was so yummy!!!









P.S. Did you notice the girls are wearing their princess dresses? The first thing they do every morning is shed their PJs for their costumes.

There's no day like a snow day!!!

After eating a big breakfast(pancakes, bacon, fruit salad), we will soon be out making snowmen and snow angels. Unfortunately, we left our sleds at Mim & Pop's house after our last ice storm. Later in the day, we may ride over there to get them. What fun we will have today!!!

In my last post about the kids' caricatures, I thought my youngest looked more "made-up" than my oldest. I'm not going to write out her name as I don't want the unnecessary hits on my blog; my immediate thought was she looked like a child model with the initials JBR. I don't thinks so much anymore, but that was my first gut reaction. What do you think?

Caricatures...

This was taken at Disney World in January. I don't think this artist quite captured them, especially the girls. They still look cute, however!



Please tell me...does my youngest remind you of anyone?

Summer Loving!!!

I'm patiently waiting for Spring to arrive. I'm tired of seeing the bare trees and brown grasses. I'm looking forward to scooting around on our Razors and teaching the kids to ride bicycles. The twins and KK got their first bikes with training wheels back in October. Unfortunately, we have not had much riding time.

On this cold blah day in February, I received some much welcomed mail, so much so that I want to wish Spring away (not really, but close). It was our lease agreement for a beach home in the Hamptons this Summer. I wish we could stay the whole Summer, but I'm thrilled that we are staying a little longer than normal.

I grew up in NYC and from the time I was 10yo, my family spent the whole Summer in the Hamptons. We even made the 1.5 hour trip every weekend throughout the school year. That was actually a drag when I was in high school. My parents still have their place there, but unfortunately our family of 5 has outgrown it. We've been fortunate, though, to find reasonable rentals within 5 miles of their home.

So, this is what I'm looking forward to!!!

So Sleepy...

Happy belated Valentine's!!! I hope everyone got struck hard by Cupid.

Never again will I brag about looking forward to sleeping in!!! I haven't had a decent night's sleep since I wrote that post on Wednesday. First, Tank got sick. He was better by Friday when KK started with the high fevers and vomiting. Then, yesterday afternoon Banana started feeling hot. Great...just great!!!

Power Rangers...

One of the highlights for Tank on our recent trip to Disneyworld was meeting the Power Rangers at Hollywood Studios.











Whenever I take his picture nowadays, he always assumes a Power Ranger stance.





His sisters are even getting in the act...

I'm in Trouble...

My baby is a sweetie most of the time, but when she gets mad, watch out!!!

Yesterday, KK got upset with me for putting her in timeout. She screamed at me, "NO, I WILL NOT GO IN TIMEOUT." She then looked at me like this...



She looked down on the floor. She looked back at me and smirked.

She then peed in her pants! ARGH!!!

I have a feeling she will be the cause of many of my gray hairs. If she's like this at 3, what is she going to be like when she's a teenager???

She's only 3...How can this be???

Yesterday we went to our annual Christmas Brunch at Evergreen. We were joined by Mim and Pop, CoCo, Uncle Todd, Master B and Baby Lulu. The club puts out an awesome feast, and afterward Santa comes riding up in his golf cart.

Tank and Banana joyfully sat on Santa's lap when he called out for them to give them their presents. KK wanted no part of that. She stayed attached to her Mama's lap, so Santa came to her to help her open her present. As long as she was touching Mama, she was OK with that.

As I was getting her dressed for bed last night, I asked her how she liked Santa.

KK: I don't want to sit on his lap.

Me: That's OK, sweetheart...You don't have to.

KK: What's his name?

Me: His name is Santa Clause.

KK: But, what's his name?

Me: Santa Claus.

KK: But, what's his name when he takes his costume off?

Me (freaking out): Oh, honey! His name is Santa Claus. When he takes his suit off, he puts on his red pajamas and goes to sleep. He needs his rest if he's going to visit all the good girls and boys at Christmas.

KK: Oh!!!

I'm telling you, this girl has been here before.

My next conversation was with Tank (5yo).

Me: What did Santa say to you when you sat on his lap?

Tank: He asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I told him Nerf. [He received a Nerf Ballblaster.]

Me: Did you tell him where you live? Did you give him your address so he can find you on Christmas Eve/night?

Tank: Oh, Ma...Santa knows where ALL the kids live.

I'm so enjoying watching the magic of Christmas in the kids' eyes this holiday season.