Fun Craft & Finding Bargains!

Yesterday Kaleigh and I made a puzzle. First we found a flower catalog and Kaleigh cut out pictures that she liked from the catalog. Then we covered a piece of cardboard with glue & glued the pictures on the cardboard. Then, I used a box cutter & made puzzle pieces. Viola! A cute original puzzle plus good training in cutting, glueing, and working a puzzle. Fun!










Also yesterday, my very gracious mother-in-law, Patti, came over and watched the girls and let me have lunch with Nathan & do a little shopping in North Little Rock. I got to spend about in hour in my favorite store - 1/2 of 1/2 Name Brand Clothing. Shopping there is an adventure. They get clothes from store buyouts and some damaged items. Some of the things are fine, some have stains, or may be missing a button, or have big holes. You just have to look everything over carefully. Everything starts out at 1/4 of retail and continues to get cheaper & cheaper. I got these six items for $38 and they are all perfectly fine! I'm not kidding when I say it's pretty much spoiled us for shopping anywhere else. You just have to plan to stay a while looking through gobs of clothes. I was there for over an hour but I could have stayed much longer.






Quiz : Guess what is happening in this picture?

Happy Birthday, Nathan!
I'm so glad God created you! Me & the girls are so lucky to have you. Well, I'm lucky, and they wouldn't exist without you... Anyway, you are my best friend and a hard worker and lots of fun. Hope this is a great day for you.

Today is Nathan's birthday (obviously). Since we celebrated with his family Saturday and will celebrate with my family this coming Saturday, we didn't do much today. I told him I would make breakfast for him, so we had french toast this morning. Then I made chicken spaghetti and some other things for supper. Nothing spectacular - the point is, I cooked. Then, Kaleigh and I surprised him with some creme brulee that we made. I thought it turned out well. We sorta surprised him. I learned this year not to tell Kaleigh any secrets. She gets excited about things and forgets when she's not supposed to say something. I asked Avery & Alexis if they could just be quiet & sweet in honor of his birthday, but they must have another gift in mind because they chose to pass on that one. They are sweet, of course, just haven't been exactly quiet.

How to make banana bread with a 3-year old and two babies...

1. Assemble ingredients while dodging 3 year old who is "helping" but mostly standing right in front of the drawer or cabinet that I need to get something out of and pulling random items out of the refrigerator like pickles and chocolate syrup.
2. Put passy back in mouth of fussy baby
3. Wash my hands and toddler's hands
4. Add first & 2nd ingredient
5. Wait while toddler has to suddenly go potty
6. Go to check on the other baby who is fussing. She's soaking wet. Change her clothes and diaper.
7. Add third ingredient
8. Realize that we didn't wash our hands after changing a diaper and going potty so repeat step 3.
9. Dump contaminated ingredients out and start over.
10. Add first 3 ingredients again then let toddler help with the egg.
11. Big mistake. Eggshell in mixture
12. Dump out and start over again.
13. Add the ingredients again.
14. This time we make it to 4th ingredient.
15. Babies need passies.
16. Next ingredient - bananas. Try to add as much as possible while toddler is trying to eat as much as possible.
17. Wait while toddler adds chunks of banana 2 at a time with a measuring spoon.
18. Wait
19. Okay, add the rest of the ingredients without drama.
20. Stop to feed babies.
21. Start the bread maker.
22. Clean up Kitchen while toddler messes up more.
23. Sit down and breathe a sigh of relief that it's almost time for bed - oh wait - does that clock say 11:15 a.m.?!

Some New Pictures - We had a little photo shoot on Saturday when it was so pretty outside. We had the nicest day with not much to do, just relaxing and spending time together.

If you are on facebook, most of these are probably repeats. I've started using facebook a lot more lately so be sure & check out my profile every once in a while if you have an account.

Today Kaleigh made some valentines for family. She had fun picking out stickers and decorating and practicing writing the word "love" on some of them.
For lunch Kaleigh dipped a pickle in cottage cheese. Yum. Then she asked me what I had eaten and I told her quesedillas. She said "I want some". I said "Sorry, I already ate them. I asked earlier if you wanted some". Then she said "Oh, but we can go to the hospital and the doctors can get the quesedillas out of your belly and then I can eat them." Nice.

Avery & Alexis have gotten a lot more fun lately, making noises and smiling.

I've written down a few of the funny things Kaleigh has said to us lately. At least we laughed... Hope you enjoy.

Nathan: Kaleigh, your dress is pretty. Where did you get it?
Kaleigh (w/no hesitation): Me and Maddie got it at J.C. Penney's.
What is funny about this is - the dress wasn't from Penney's, I have no idea how she knows about Penney's b/c we don't shop there much, and I never call it "J.C. Penney's". Random.

Kaleigh is in the bathtub sticking out her belly.
Me: What's in your belly?
K: A baby (of course!)
Me: How did a baby get in there?!
K (thinking, then a revelation): I swallowed it!
Me (laughing): Oh, you swallowed it and it grew.
K: Yes, but don't worry. I didn't chew on her.

This one is my favorite -
Me: Kaleigh, do you want to do yoga with me in a minute?
K: Okay. We're gonna make yoga?
Me: Not make yoga, do yoga.
K: Okay. . . Then do get to eat it?