Twirls 'n Curls

"I'm a hula cook!!" So I'm realizing that one of the reasons baby #3's "cushioning" has stuck to me for so long is that I'm in the kitchen ALL the time. And I pretty much only bake treats when we have company, but we've been having company, like, nonstop lately. Thus, cookie dough, cake batter, nonstop...need I say more? So anyway, I thought instead of baking the homemade Twix recipe I got from a friend's website, and instead of exercising, I'd give you the funny quotes of the week: "Wow, that smells like burning animal bones!" (Thank you, L - that's dinner...) "Mama, I pee peed on my sheep. [sheet]" (H, very bravely confessing) "What is that meat paint in your hand?" "That's bbq sauce." "Oh...why do you paint meat with it?" "Do you think when you die, me and Buddy can live here? After we get married, I mean..." "I'm so sorry, Mommy! My spoon spilled it!...

I wrote this a few months ago after having extensive dental work done, then coming home to make lunch and do supposed naptime... *Ode to the Dentist* (tune: Take Me Out to the Ballgame) Take me back to the dentist (please!!), Sit me down in that chair, I don't care - there's an hour wait? Time to read is as rare as a date! Now it's work, work, work on my molar And when they're done it's a shame Cuz it's one, two three girls I left For some Novocain!

Nattie - 8 months and still likes to be swaddled up Hannah - the cuddlebug, likes lots of pillows and buries herself in blankets Linsey - my mini-me, check out her reading material! Yea! Everyone is in bed and asleep after a family movie night, complete with coffee drinks. Of course, 2 of those drinks got knocked over before the movie started, but Natalie sure enjoyed her first taste of coffee!! It was a doozy of a day (do people still use that word??) Before noon, Hannah had fallen off the trampoline, sprayed Simple Green in her hair (and Linsey's, both were saturated!), and dumped yogurt on the one remaining spot with carpet in the front of the house. And things just went downhill from there...needless to say, I was thrilled when bedtime came!! I always get pictures of the girls doing random cute things, so I thought I'd give you a glimpse of the girls at the time they do the least amount of damage...and talking :) We love them so much!!

Practicing Guinea Pig Empathy Coco's birthday cake Not sure if we've put her on here much, but Coco is our much-loved, often-neglected guinea pig who runs whenever she sees us coming :) This was a picture from her recent one-year birthday party. We had treats, she had...a salad cake. Glad to be human!!

"Mo-om! Hannah painted herself all over and I had an accident on Daddy's chair!" I heard these words several weeks ago as I was peacefully surfing the Internet and updating my Facebook, all the while holding a sleeping baby. Now I know why I don't relish peaceful moments... Thought you could do without the picture of the accident on the chair, but Hannah was pretty cute. Which leads me to an oh-so-important parenting question...is the lecture you give your children for painting their faces and such completely undone if you take a picture of the mess first? They are just so cute!!

Happy birthday, Linsey! Marshmallow Snowball Fight Musical blankets - everyone wins! Minnie, Minnie, Mouse! My poor attempt at cake decorating - chocolate covered espresso beans and altoids!! Linsey was so excited for her birthday! We had a Minnie Mouse party, invited 12 kids, and had 16 show up. It was great!! We hid paper "cheese" slices all around the yard to find, we had a snowball fight with marshmallows, played big ball soccer, and a bunch more. And Linsey got to have a friend sleep over for the first time. Phew!! Below are a few highlights in pictures. Now that she's five, Linsey thinks: 1) She's too big for a cup with a lid, 2) She should be able to wear red lipstick, and 3) She's on her way to the high school across the street from our house. She wishes it were her birthday every day and is already planning for birthdays 6, 7, and 8. This mommy is pretty glad birthdays are only once a year!!!