Our Adventure called Life

She dyed most of her eggs pink The week of Easter we kicked off the holiday by dying Easter eggs.  I made the comment to Scott that most crafts and activities seem to be getting easier and easier each day with the kids.  My mom has been apart of the egg dying process since becoming a Nana, this year was no exception as she showed up on the farm with a carton of eggs in hand.    The lovely Lila Saturday morning we took the kids to their first public egg hunt, held at the community center of our little town.  I was a little anxious for them as I wasn't sure how they would do racing against other kids for eggs. Luckily, all I had to do was tell Lila there was candy in the eggs, and that prompted her to hurry along and grab as many of the brightly colored plastic eggs as possible.   He doesn't look like a fierce hunter, but watch out! We've discovered that Paisley has a competitive streak in him, so after explaining that he had to be quick to...

The sheet of paper slid out of his backpack with ease, as if this was all written in the stars and supposed to be happening.  I read over the words and looked back to his backpack, making sure he hadn't grabbed one of the older children's by mistake.  The moment caught me off guard and my eyes fell on my little boy.  Was he really old enough for t-ball sign-ups? Lil Slugger Growing up I played sports and loved watching baseball.  My husband also grew up in an athletic family that played sports, so naturally we knew the time would come for our offspring to play.  I just didn't expect it to happen so soon.  Scott took our boy to sign ups while I stayed home with baby sister.  A few weeks later we received a text from his coach (a guy Scott went to high school with), a practice and game schedule, and a list of his teammates.  Paisley was happy to see 2 names on his teammate list that he knew from school.   Being that Scott and I...

Not your regular cup of joe Originally we planned to head to Pittsburgh this weekend to visit friends.  Plans shifted when some of the family we were going to stay with tested positive for influenza on Wednesday.  We decided to road trip later next month! Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Our little family of 4 bumped up family night from Friday night to Thursday, in order to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  We took our green clad crew to dinner at a local restaurant and enjoyed some phone-free family time.  After dinner we made green shebert shakes.  The kids loved them and next year we won't serve the 7-up infused beverage to the kids right before bed. Did you want some cereal? Despite our road trip changing dates, Scott went ahead and kept his requested day off and we had a full day of family entertainment!  We started with a huge breakfast and making plans for our day.  The kids didn't realize their dad took the day off, so when Scott asked if...

Get excited about diaper-free nights! As our son was nearing his 3rd birthday we decided to start talking to him about wearing big boy undies to bed.  He had consistently been accident free throughout the day for the past 6 months and he had zero issue napping without a diaper.  He liked the idea of wearing his cartoon themed underwear all night, so having him on board was the first step. Up until we began potty training over night, we had allowed him to have a cup of water in his room.  Now that we wanted him to stay dry all night, we removed the cup from his room and put it in his bathroom.  We explained that if he got up to get a drink, he needed to use the potty as well.  After 1 or 2 accidents during the night, the process clicked and he was permanently free of diapers.  At 4 years old, we allowed the cup of water to return back to his room as he no longer needed the reminder to use the potty.   We are currently in the midst of overnig...

"Will you lay underneath me?" This week the early spring crud hit our home and both babies came down with sniffles and coughs.  The extra snuggles were worth the excess snotty noses I had to wipe.  Little sister was hit the hardest and had a difficult time sleeping at night.  This also resulted in less then successful nights of being diaper-free.  I've put her back in diapers at bedtime until this cold passes and then we'll start again.  More details to come this Tuesday in the potty-training part 2 post! Are you my mommy? We've had an uninvited furry visitor at our home this week that would be welcome with open arms....except he's a jumper that knocks down small people.  After multiple days of him hanging around and zero luck finding his real home via Facebook, I called the dog catcher.  Of course when the dog catcher arrived the dog disappeared.  Smart dog! Target can get exhausting after the first hour We're gearing up for a ro...

As my son was nearing 6-months, I started thinking about potty training.  If you think that sounds crazy, that's ok, because so did my husband. I didn't start potty training because I despised changing diapers, but because I couldn't imagine a baby being comfortable, even for a few minutes, in a dirty diaper. I purchased the most plain looking potty I could find, the BabyBjorn Potty Chair in white.  Less bells and whistles = less distractions.  It has a high splash guard for boys which was a life saver and was super easy to clean.  I took it home and the process began.    I started the first week by sitting him on the potty while he was dressed for a few minutes each day.  This familiarized him with the potty and gave him a chance to practice sitting on it.  While he was able to sit on his own he could not stand.  I think beginning this process before the child has mobility helps.   Somedays he wasn't a fan The follow...

The weekend is barreling down on us like a runaway locomotive and we are ready to jump on and take a ride! Just a swingin' The weather this week was warm and cold and rainy with wind.  We spent the warmest evening soaking up the sun and letting the breeze blow our hair.  The kids could spend hours on their platform swing squealing with delight and yelling to hear their voices echo off the big red barn.  We long for the days of warm spring and summer weather to spend hours at a time outside. Craft time! Big box store dollar bins are great places to find holiday crafts for the kids.  This week they painted  ceramic bunnies.  This is the point I realized I need to find painting smocks for the kids as paint doesn't always come out of clothes.  I also realized that sometimes the kids would rather paint empty cardboard paper towel rolls instead of cute bunnies.  You live and learn. That little hand.... This week my girl reminded me how...

I would never wish away time, wanting my kids to get bigger...but since I don't have a choice in the matter, I am embracing some of the tasks they can independently perform at 2.5 and 4.5 years old! Tasks that not only help me out but also teach them to clean up after themselves. Shoes!! Between the 4 of us we have over 100 pair of shoes floating about.  We don't wear shoes in the house and I didn't want a pile of shoes in front of our door.  I bought each child a shoe rack for their closet and they learned that once their shoes come off, they must be taken to their closet and put on their rack.  Having the racks help the shoes get exactly where they need to be and keeps them off the floor. I did straighten them up for the photo! Laundry is a never ending task at our house.  Each kid has their own laundry basket from Land of Nod that all dirty clothes get thrown in. On laundry day, each kid is responsible for bringing their basket to the laundry room and then...