An escapee

Today as I am making lunch and Casey is rounding up the children to eat, we realize that we are missing sneaky little almost-one-year-old Ashlyn. In fact, less than 1 minute ago everyone was here...?!? Did we look down the hall? No baby girl. In the other living room? Umm, also not in there. Then Casey says completely matter-of-factly, "Oh, there she is. Crawling out on the deck." WHAT?? EXCUSE ME??!!? Casey (also in a matter-of-fact type of voice) says, "She must have gotten out through the doggie door." Ummm, yes that is perfectly normal for one of our children to just quietly slip out of the doggie door completely undetected and start to roam around our back yard unsupervised. I am going to have to start doing a head count every few minutes or so. SHEESH!!!

A few recent conversations...

After doing something that drives Casey crazy (apparently) he says to me, "Why do you like to drive me crazy?" Then guess who pipes up:
Connor: Mama, you drive me crazy too!
Me: Really? What do I do that drives you crazy?
Connor: You just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
Me: (laughing so hard, I am totally speechless...now I know why Connor often tells me after about 30 seconds of questions about his day at preschool, "That's enough talking, Mama.")

As Casey is sitting in the driveway on his way to Home Depot...
Connor: Why's daddy's truck still here?
Me: I don't know. He's probably just checking to make sure he has everything he needs.
Connor: Oh! I know what he is doing, checking his iphone to see if they have z-bars at the store for me!
Me: Umm...I don't think that is what he is doing (especially because he doesn't even have an iphone).

As Connor is getting ready to head out the door with his Dad, he has socks but no shoes on, and is still talking in riddles...
Connor: Daddy, wait! I am still missing two somethings.

Back to the Beach

After nearly one year, we finally decided we were ready to take our much larger family on an overnight outing to Grandma's and the beach. We barked at the sea lions, ran in the waves, explored Grandma's house, played with cousins, and ate lots of good food. FYI, the Pacific is still quite cold in April. However, that didn't stop us and didn't even slow down our three-year-old or our four-legged kid. I might have guessed that jumping waves would have been the highlight of the trip...

 

However, after all was said and done, I asked Connor what his favorite part actually was. His reply, "Sleeping in the same room as my sisters!" (Yes, all three fit into one bedroom with two cribs and a bunk bed.) I wasn't exactly sure if very much sleeping would take place, but as it turns out it did...as far as we know.

Books!

Have I mentioned that the girls are getting into EVERYTHING?

The book cabinet would be a welcome retreat...for everyone involved. Especially if they just sat inside and read, and well, didn't actually EAT the pages. Connor has been quite upset about the... um, "destruction" of this prized book collection.  

A Baby Jungle Gym

Lately our bar stools have been doubling as a baby jungle gym. In fact, it might be their most favorite form of entertainment. They can each climb in a chair, climb out and then into the next one. In fact it really is more like a five-part obstacle course.

 

 Although two babies can technically fit in one stool and often choose to be in the same one, sometimes too much together-ness can really get on a sister's nerves...

Easter

Dear Blog-o-sphere,

Have you ever dyed raw Easter eggs before they were boiled? I have! I will blame it on the fact that Connor insisted we start dying them immediately after getting up last Saturday. I wasn't exactly doing anything else (except still waking up and try to find a moment to drink my extra large cup-o-coffee), so I obliged. I just whipped the carton right out of the refrigerator and helped Connor begin dipping. It was all said and done in about 15 minutes, and I thought, "Well, that turned out to be easy and fast. Whew!" A few moments later Casey asked, "Whoa, how did you get those eggs boiled so fast?" Ummm...WHAT? Boiled? Well, err....I don't think we should actually HIDE these ones. They can be just for looking at.  

Later, on Easter, that sneaky Easter Bunny hid ALL of Connor's eggs and surprises around our house. He just left a note in each basket... Apparently this is SUPER FUN for a three year old:) In fact it was so fun, he helped his sisters find theirs too, and then was ready to hide everything again...and again.

Connor's natural camera smile while counting all his eggs and emptying them of the candy.

Happy Easter from the 11 month old "Jack-in-the-boxes"!

Up to the Mountain...

Strike a pose, Connor!

When it snows in March, there is no use mourning the lack of hot sun over spring break. There is basically only one reasonable thing to do about it...round up the cousins and the snow gear and head up to the mountain! 

Daddy, after his run down the "big" hill

Connor & Sophia's (and Jim's) snowman

FYI

FYI, it IS possible to fit a three-year old, and two 10 month babes in a regular sized laundry basket. Also, for your information, it is quite difficult to push them as long and as fast as they would care to be pushed. It is also acceptable to substitute a baby shoe for a binky when an extra binky is not available. These are the important life-lessons I could be teaching new parents. Maybe I should start hosting workshops.

 

Mom's Birthday

Birthdays around here are getting pretty exciting these days...for two reasons. (1) Connor is checking off people's birthdays until it is his own ("After Mama's, then it will be my sisters, then MINE! Sorry Daddy, you have to wait until after mine."), and (2) Connor has figured out that Birthdays mean CAKE!  Connor loves everything about having cake, and is a super eager helper at each stage...obviously:

The Snack Necklace

A while ago, I taught Connor how to make this super neat alternative version of the candy-necklace. CHEERIOS! The fun part is that you still get to eat it while you wear it, plus it is a mostly healthy snack. We call it the "snack necklace" or actually just the "nack necklace" if you are Connor. Connor insisted on making one for his dad too as a fun surprise (but it never even dawned on him to make one for me, even though I was RIGHT THERE at the time...playing favorites, I think). Like it or not, Daddy was forced to share his snack with Ashlyn who also LOVED this little idea.