Juicy!

Check out this behemoth!  Alli and Ruby were thrilled to feel him wriggling around in their dirty little hands.  The girls played with him for a few minutes, and then we watched him dig a hole and disappear into the rich, moist soil. 

This was the biggest worm I have ever dug out of a garden.  He would have won a blue ribbon at the county fair... if "biggest slimy worm" was a category. 

Does Cook County (a.k.a. Chicago) have a fair?  If so, I would like to go.  I bet it wouldn't be like the county fair where I grew up.

Post edit:  Let me clarify, I did not grow up at a county fair.  I grew up in Portage County.  And there is a fair for the county.  We went almost every year, but I was not raised there. 

Much better.

ticklish

This little sweetheart laughed her first real laugh today!  (This is one of my favorite milestones.  So important... humor.)  She is delightfully ticklish under her double chin. 
Her laugh is too cute for words... maybe I'll have to post a video.  Stay tuned...

Easter weekend

Our house is a mess.  A disaster.

You know how it is, a little time away from home means major catch up cleaning and laundry when you get home.

(Five loads... in case you were wandering.)

We went to Ohio last week and spent the Easter weekend with my family.  And we took Marissa back to spend a few days with my parents before she heads back to BYU-Idaho.  (This is going to take some getting used to.)

Here are some of the highlights...

Unlimited attention from Uncle Ben and his guitar. 


Alli and Ruby are excellent car-travelers.  Seriously.


Even Andy got a little break with his girls.  Relaxing.  Fishing.  Hiking.  Egg hunting.


We went fishing with the cousins at Little Turtle Pond... free fishing derby for kids!  Hot dogs were $1 and parking was free!  Dan's kids actually caught fish... with a little help.  Everyone else had fun doing other things.


Grandma and Grandpa had Easter baskets for all of the kids.  Ruby lined all of her treats up to count them.


Alli and Ruby were so excited for the big Easter egg hunt on Saturday.  Hundreds of treat-filled eggs were hidden in the back yard.  All the cousins were gathered while the adults hid the eggs.  Kids were released into the egg-strewn yard by age.  The youngest kids went first.  They savored each find, shaking the egg and holding it up proudly while parents tried to hurry them on before the older kids were sent on the hunt. 


Afterwards, everyone gathered in the living room to survey the loot.  Eggs and candy everywhere.




We went to a vegan restaurant in Akron.  Delicious!  Perhaps some of that wholesome-healthiness counteracted the candy overload.  Perhaps.


Finally, a sad goodbye to Marissa.  We miss you already!


Check out the Mars website for more Easter fun!

We can't wait to visit Ohio again!

(The trip was totally worth the cleaning/laundry frenzy.)

Silly April Fools Day Faces

Today there weren't many tricks at our house... just lots of smiles and silly faces.
 
PS- Ruby is wearing the cereal box helmet Marissa made for her.

Smile!

Jim Henson's newest Muppet?


That look always gets me.


Staring contest anyone?!


Whoa Nelly!

Ruby is our class clown.  I was laughing so hard today that I had tears in my eyes.  Who knew big googly eyes could be so much fun!?

What fun captions would you put with these pictures?  Leave your captions in a comment.  There will be a prize for the funniest caption.

Warning: gross story involving poo

Recently I was a baby shower and in all the talk about kids, the topic of "blowouts" came up.  The father-to-be innocently asked what a blowout is...

This, my friend, is a blowout story.

Today Andy had to go into work.  Marissa's fiance is in town, so they were out and about.  Alli was at a play date next door.  I was home with Ruby and June.  Ruby and I made some art projects while June slept.  Fun stuff.
When June woke up, she was hungry.  So I nursed her.  Then she began to grunt, which is not uncommon.  The diaper rumbles started... and they kept going.  I was not fearful... and then I felt the warm, moist feeling on my lap.  June must have been in the wrong position, because everything went up her back, through her shirt, and onto me.  By "everything" I mean poo.
I sat very still until the grunts and rumbles stopped.  Deep breath.  Warm wet spots were spreading.  It's a gross feeling.
Then the doorbell rang.
Seriously.
I thought about not answering it, but Alli was due back any minute.  So with June in hand (I couldn't put her down), I went to the door.  Luckily, it was just Alli and her friend Elijah. 
I had poo on my shirt and it was dripping down my jeans.  I was holding June and her gooey back was facing out.
Alli gagged at the sight (she is sensitive to yucky stuff).  Elijah's eyes were huge as he looked me up and down.  His eyes stopped on my pant leg.  Then he smiled at me... as if saying, "Is that what I think it is?!"  Elijah kept chatting away about whatever (I wasn't listening very well) and I was trying to get him to go back home so I could start cleaning up this horrific mess.  He may have still been talking when I shut the door.
For a diaper explosion like this, preparation is needed before changing.  I laid out the vinyl changing pad, wipes, a garbage can, towels... and then I proceeded with caution.  Gross.
June and I both needed a shower.  All of the soiled clothes went into the sink: June's shirt, onesie, and pants, my shirt and jeans too.  Everything needed stain remover.  Here is her shirt... that is not mustard.
 
* There was a picture here, but Andy thought it was way too gross.

June was delighted to be clean again.  And naked too.

Her belly looks huge in this picture... she had just sucked in a big breath because she was so excited to be naked.
While the water warmed up, June peed on the mat.
After a quick yet thorough shower, diaper for June, and new outfits for both of us, I set about cleaning up the damage.  Clean up involved Clorox wipes, Oxi-Clean, and a load of laundry... and scrubbing a spot on the carpet.  And wiping down the hallway floor.  Whew.

I would classify this experience as a major blowout.

going green

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!
This morning I overheard Alli tell Ruby, "On St. Patrick's Day if we see a rainbow and follow it we will find a real pot of gold.  And it will be OURS!" 
We kicked off the day with a hearty green breakfast: green whole wheat pancakes topped with sauteed apples and green syrup.  And green milk too.  Delicious.

Alli and Ruby picked some festive clothes to wear.
The weather was summery.  So we played at the park.  And we had a picnic.  I didn't go all out with green food for the picnic.  Alli suggested that I color the peanut butter green, but the thought of it grossed me out... we did have green Veggie Booty though.  Better than that, lots of our friends were at the park!  We spent four hours getting sweaty, sandy, dirty, and tired at the park.  A 70 degree day in March is a holiday regardless of the Irish.

I made a green feast for dinner: pesto-crusted chicken, homemade spinach linguine and alfredo sauce with broiled cherry tomatoes, and sauteed zucchini.  And green lemonade.  We even got out some green candles to fancy-up our table.

(Our table really isn't this big, there is a wall-sized mirror in our dining area... makes our dinner look twice as big.)
Alli made some fun paper crafts to celebrate.  I got a shamrock crown.

Our house is a mess today.  That is the price I pay for a day of fun-only.

Other fun happenings at our house today:

We all filled out our brackets for the NCAA basketball tournament.  Alli and Ruby like teams with funny names... Chattanoooooga.



A fun green day for all at our house.  We hope your day was just as lucky!