Spring Break Extravaganza

Our recipe for one awesome Spring Break Extravaganza:

Monday: Visit the library to stock up on books that we'll make absolutely no time to read over the course of the week.  Hit up the playground which is beyond crowded with other local elementary-aged kids.  Have Juliana be scared of the big slide and Giselle refuse to give up a bouncy seat to a seven year old.

Tuesday: Go to the zoo.  Get there so early that we don't have to pay to park (yahooooo!).  Ride the carousel first thing for free.  

Spend another 4+ hours at the zoo and have the kids tell me their favorite part of the entire, exhausting day is...wait for it...the carousel.

Wednesday: Visit the Missouri Botanical Gardens (free on Wednesday for St. Louis County residents - that's us) with the Creer crew and friends.  Have the kids be somewhat baffled by all the flowers (what, no rides? no animals?  What is this place?), but then embrace the openness and general craziness of three moms and 12 kids.

Definitely enjoy Juliana fussiness.  This is her refusing to smile for me.

Enjoy chillin' Giselle.  Well, temporarily.  Scroll down for some Giselle awesomeness.

Ahh, there it is.  Contrary to this photographic evidence, my girls loved these sheep.  We enjoyed not one, but two, tantrums when we tried to move beyond these sheep to other parts of the garden.  Fun times!

Thursday: Attempt to instill an appreciation for fine art at the St. Louis Art Museum.  Another freebie.  We went, along with the Creer kids, for two exhibits and two exhibits only (I didn't want to press our luck).

We saw the Egypitan mummies (THE highlight of the experience, according to Everett and Juliana).

And the swords and armor.

It was a beautiful building and I can't wait to return soon and see more of it than I did with the kids.

Friday: Go to the children's museum - The Magic House.

While this sounded like a good idea in theory, in reality it was a crazy madhouse with kids as old as 12 and 13 running around like madmen.  We really only lasted about 30 minutes until I'd had enough and yelled at everyone that we were leaving.  Dragging one particularly fussy child (who shall remain nameless) back to the car was totally a highlight of this day.

And there you have it.  Follow this recipe and you are sure to have fun, make memories and be completely exhausted by the end of the week.  Enjoy!

Did You Know?

* Did you know that I lost the camera sometime in December so I managed NOT to get many, if any, pictures of Christmas 2011?  Because I did.  We even went back to Atlanta to visit family and I didn't manage any photographic evidence.  That's skill, folks.

* Did you know Everett got to play Perky the Dog in the Kindergarten musical?  In November?  He was one of three Perkys and he was thrilled!  He wore a white shirt and khaki pants like a pro.  And wow, does that kid know how to kneel or what?  Will and I couldn't be more proud.

* Did you know Will had a craft day with the kids one Saturday morning?  They wore oversized t-shirts to protect their pajamas.  At like 11 in the morning.  They made puppets and you couldn't have found two artists more proud of their craft.  They bragged about those bad boys to everyone they came in contact with!

* Did you know that every now and then these three knuckleheads are actually pretty cute?

Juliana, pretending to read.

My fraternal twins, born 4 and 1/2 years apart.

* Did you know Daddy took Everett and Juliana to see "Beauty and the Beast" in 3D at the theater?  They loved it, especially since Daddy is a sucker and bought them a drink AND popcorn.  If Mommy had taken them, it would've been water from the drinking fountain and no popcorn.  Boo on Mom!

* Did you know that Juliana likes to be silly?  And fashionable (maybe)?

* Did you know that Everett got Legos for Christmas and when he's at school, his sisters LOVE to play with them?  Irritating Everett to no end?

* Did you know it's possible to clog your salivary gland?  We didn't, but we do now!  Everett woke up one Friday morning with a swollen lower cheek.  Hoping it was something Tylenol could take care of, I gave him some and sent him off to school, with fingers crossed I wouldn't receive a phone call from the school nurse.  That wish did NOT come true, so off to the doctor's we went.  Clogged salivary gland.  Apparently, it's pretty rare.  So rare, our doctor called in another doctor in the practice just to look at Everett's mouth.  He was a one-man freak show!  Thankfully, an antibiotic and some hard, sour candy later and everything was back to normal.

* Did you know I decorated the table for Valentine's Day?  I like to keep expectations low around here, that way my minimal efforts are met with applause.  If only you could've heard the gasps when the kids walked into the kitchen on Valentine's morning.  Juliana, especially, loves to over-react.  She couldn't believe the decorations.  She talked about them all. day. long.

* Did you know my kids loved the chocolate waffles with berry sauce?  Plates were licked clean.

* Did you know I braided Juliana's hair and it didn't look terrible?  Because I did.

* Did you know I'm calling this good for the past few months and that I consider myself caught up on this blog?  Good! :-)

This is My Life

There really are no words.

Six is Sensational!

My boy is six!  Yes, folks, it's true.  On Thursday, November 10th, our little guy turned a whopping six years of age.  I could be all cliche at this point and tell you how time just flies and it seems like we just brought him home from the hospital a year or two ago, but I won't.  Instead, you get a rousing recap of Everett's sixth birthday!  Aren't you a lucky reader?!?!

For Juliana's birthday in September I made some seriously awesome cinnamon rolls.  As Everett and Juliana are only 22 months apart, they tend to share the same interests at the same time.  Which is precisely why, when I asked Everett what he wanted for his birthday breakfast, he immediately replied, "Cinnamon rolls and grits!"  Sound familiar?  So, birthday cinnamon rolls, take two.  

And yes, in case you're wondering, they were just as good as the first time around.

Everett got to open his gifts before school and he was pumped!  

(Juliana got pouty when I asked her to sit in her chair instead of stand in it.  I know, I'm soooo mean!)

Giselle humored me by wearing the birthday hat.  She wasn't a fan.

Optimus Prime, SpiderMan, Army guys...this kid was in heaven.

Giselle, eating a cinnamon roll and scowling.  Giselle is a master scowler.  One of her many gifts.

That's a sugar-induced lazy-eyed smile.  Since it's his birthday, I'm not going to fuss about it like I did in the last post.

We did the whole singing/eating cake bit after dinner.  Will was at work and Giselle was already in bed, so the term "singing" can be used loosely.  It's rough when I'm the one who's expected to carry the song.

He asked for a chocolate Batman cake.  It may not look great, but it sure was tasty!

When you're in Kindergarten, having your birthday on a school day is just about the best thing ever.  He LOVED being "special" all day at school and getting to wear his super cool, totally awesome birthday hat.  Yea for six year olds!