Summer Fun

Why Three Is So Much More Than Two

Life is busy. I used to think that having kids was like having cats. You already got the food, the toys and the beds, why not have 2 or three? (Insert maniacal laughter here.) Let me list a few reasons why 3 seems so much harder than 2.

1. As a parental unit you are now out numbered.
2. You only have two hands.
3. With two, usually only one kid would have a problem at any given time. Now it seems far more likely that two are demanding your attention simultaneously, and then the third one will join in just because. I call this my "Lemming Theory", or the "Jump on the Bandwagon Theory" also known as "Why the Hell Not?"
4. You can effectively drown out one child crying. Two you can attempt to ignore. Three makes you want to gouge your eyes out.
5. Your car and everything else you own will suddenly be too small (and I don't care how big your house is...I guarantee it will seem too small).
6. People start to question you about the third child as in, "Wow, did you plan to have three?"
7. Now you can't really tell who "did it", because there are more kids to blame each other.
8. Someone is always napping so it is virtually impossible to go anywhere.
9. Someone is always hungry so it is also virtually impossible to get out of the kitchen.
10. That one extra load of laundry when you had your first child, has now turned into three or more extra loads of laundry a week.

I cold go on, but I don't want to scare anyone away from having children...I just want you to think very carefully before you do. I know I should finish this up with something cute like... "and of course there is three times the love..." but I have to tell you right now I'm not feeling the love. Give me a few more months to start sleeping again and then I'll let you all know.

Maya's First Gingerbread House

I'm not sure where the idea came from...probably some book that she read. But Maya got it into her head this year that we needed to construct a gingerbread house.

Now I've never done this, and the thought of the effort it was going to take was daunting to say the least. But never fear (a distant trumpet sounds) Sam's Club had these great prefab kits with everything you could possibly need. Well, everything but comprehensive directions.

So after much muddling and winging it. Here it is... the first and possibly only gingerbread house ever to grace our home. Oh, did I mention the net weight is 4 lbs? That's a lot of gingerbread...

Maya's 5th Birthday

The Birthday Princess

Oooo, cake and punch...

Fun, fun for everyone. The party consisted of too many kids, eating too much sugar and given balloons. I think that sums it up. Oh yeah...it was loud. Really, really loud.

Silly Saturdays with Daddy

It all starts out so innocent and loving.

Then the tickling begins...

... and the insanity ensues.


Which involves retaliation of the riding kind.

Until they kill it.

And move on to other more helpless prey.

Can you tell the weather has taken a turn for the worse and we've been house bound all weekend?

No I'm not dead...

...I'm pregnant and working three jobs. Yes, that is why no one has heard from me in months.

As far as the baby it was a total surprise and even bigger surprise - It's a boy. We expect his arrival around February 3rd.

Maya started 3 day preschool in September and is loving it.

Anya is just trying to keep up with her big sister.

I've been working like a fiend.'

And so has Chad.

That out of the way... here are some pictures of the girls enjoying fall.

Brag, brag, brag...

May I say that she may be the cutest kid ever? Here she is modeling my latest Etsy creation. A crocheted wool cap.

I feel terrible...

...that I haven't taken the time to post at all lately. The only excuse I have is that I've been so busy. Like "Oh my God it's Thursday again!" busy. (Thursday being the day I teach at school) I spend all my free time making stuff to sell on Etsy, and shipping stuff we've sold, and cleaning, and yard work, and feeding and, and, and... So I get precious little time to just sit in front of the computer and do non business related things.

But please don't think that I'm whining. I'm actually thrilled that things are so busy and crazy. I really don't think I could ever enjoy a life of simplicity...meaning nothing every happens around here. But I do admit I'm looking forward to summer and the end of teaching, and preschool and dance. More mornings to pretend like I might just sit around.

So I promise, really, I'm going to try harder to write more frequently about all the silly things that occur around here. Just to prove it I'll relate the story of Hedgie.

Hedgie is a very small, soft, stuffed hedgehog that Anya got for Easter this year. Just to be silly I stuck it under her shirt. Now, two months later, Hedgie is still riding around under her shirt. She is so proud of her little lump. She runs around patting Hedgie through her shirt and grinning and if he happens to fall out she will frantically run up to me and lift up her shirt so I can stuff him back in there. I can see it now. "My name is Anya, and when I grow up I want to be a kangaroo."

Too cool!

My nephew was born a quadraplegic and has, at the age of 5, already far exceeded what the Dr. ever said he would be able to do! Check out his sled hockey team! My nephew rules!