Welcome to Sweaty Town

OK so we had lunch and were feeling a little antsy so we decided to try it again. We managed to overcome the Great Sock Disappearance of '08 and were very happy to realize it was a FABULOUS day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, buds were budding on the trees. We made it to the school playground with only one trip/fall/skid by Scout who was a little over-eager.

Of course when we had been at the park for 3 phempto-seconds (just long enough for the smallest among us to become very excited at the prospect of the swirly slide) when some of our crew realized they had to go potty. So we turned around and went back...sigh.

Our THIRD attempt at experiencing the exhilaration of outdoor play was a triumph. We had our neighbor girls with us and Savannah, Hailey and Breanna were the cutest little mini-moms you've ever seen. They followed the 3 little girls like these kind accommodating angels. They're sweetness rubbed off on everybody and soon they were all helping each other and playing together.

The boys had a ball at the weird hoop-ball thingy and then just kicking balls against the wall of the playshed. If the NBA ever makes the move to 3 foot diameter hoops and lowers the backboard to about 10 feet we should SERIOUSLY consider starting a team. They were awesome.

We made it home safe and sound although very sweaty, wound up, hungry and grimey. We washed hands and had a snack. The kids were off to play next and built forts in the bedroom, played this weird game they called "kitties" and something they invented called Troll using the blow up bed.

Once we started having a lot of "injuries" (she touched my cheek! he looked at me mean!) and excess crying (I just want to be alone! She's following me!) we decided it was time for popcorn and a movie. So now it's Monster's Inc and blankets and pillows for everyone. There are about 5 kids that I could totally imagine falling off to sleep if we can keep things quiet.

I think they're all content and possibly thirsty...I should go check on that!

No School...AHHHH!

I didn't want to have the ENTIRE day dedicated to zombie television watching so we turned it all off around 8:30 and proceeded to get stir crazy in record time. It was really amazing. I got the great idea to take the kids out to the school playground for some energy releasing. We got our coats and shoes on (can I outlaw tie shoes? ^__^) and after a millennium of that we headed out the door.

We got to the end of our building when I realized this wasn't going to work. Savannah had wet hair from her shower, Sydney was still doing that half cough thing, our breath was not only visible but was the thick full-on cloud of a too-cold morning. We stretched our legs, walked around for a minute and headed back in. It was 37 degrees outside...not exactly playground weather but it was perfect for a morning constitutional.

I brought the camera but the batteries I stole out of one of the remote controls wasn't enough so I couldn't capture the image of our kids huddling together for warmth as I told them to say CHEESE! Just take my word for it...it was cute and pathetic.

Seems like it worked though. They're playing together with the option of snacking on cheese cubes, crackers and apples. The big kids aren't hungry (feel free to let your jaw drop in amazement) so they're playing happily.

Looks like the little girls are ready for some playdough! More later...

Valentine's Day

We started our day by immediately eating all the Valentine's Day candy. The girls convinced me that waiting any longer wasn't merely "enhanced interrogation techniques" but was actually torture. Hopped up on sugar and the joy of unrestrained indulgence, we did some fingerpainting.

I made the fingerpaints using a recipe I've had in my book for years but obviously haven't used much. It's a very simple recipe using only cornstarch, food coloring and water. I realize now why I don't use that recipe much. The first time I tried a batch I boiled the water and dumped in the cornstarch. Yep. That's right. Dumped 1/3 cup of cornstarch right into boiling water. Post Traumatic Stress Induced Flashbacks of nasty gravy experiments gone terribly terribly wrong passed, and I realized that the girls would probably not like to dip their digits into the lumpy pink slime.

Take 2 and I realized that while mixing the cornstarch with cold water avoided the lumpiness, this was not a good recipe. After burning my fingers trying it too soon I waited until it had developed a thick skin and cooled to a more pleasant temperature. Neither girl would touch it with their fingers. Oh well. Fingerpaints turned into paintbrush & craft stick paints. It's also translucent which adds to the feeling that you're smooshing your fingers into warm alien intestines.

We had heart shaped sandwiches for lunch which were a big hit. Who knew heart shapiness tasted better than squares or triangles.

Gotta run. I just told Ash Lee that I live in Wilsonville (not Target which is where she thought) and now she's very confused...apparently SHE lives in Wilsonville and the town's not big enough for the both of us! hehe what a great job I have!

HATS!

Well we made hats today. I'm no origami expert so I looked up a bunch of different ways to fold a hat and realized to my shock and amazement that paper hats are...PATENTED (United States Patent 5247709)! Weird.

We put hearts on them but they really interfered with the Marching Capabilities of the wearers so they were discarded almost immediately.


Please do not sell these hats for profit. I'm pretty sure we'd be violating federal laws!

5 Little Ducks

Both girls have been running around singing 5 Little Ducks all morning. When I tried to capture it on video they immediately stopped talking and just started posing. They were very cute but completely silent. This is our 3rd attempt at doing something other than ham it up in front of the camera. Unfortunately my batteries ran out so we won't try it again until I find some more!





The girls have watched this video 5 times now and they want to keep watching it. Ash Lee says this is "my favorite movie."

Edit: When the older kids came home from school Scout and Ash Lee were so excited to show them their movie that we watched it about 20 more times. Rand and Savannah both asked me what the heck they were singing so here's a translation:

(it's the last verse of the song 5 Little Ducks)
1 little duck went out to play,
over the hills and far away
But when Old Mommy duck went quack quack quack,
No little ducks came waddling back
But when Old Daddy duck went QUACK QUACK QUACK
5 little ducks came waddling back.