Happy President's Day!

In honor of President's Day, I've uploaded a coloring page just for you! It's adapted from a drawing I did years ago of Abraham Lincoln.


Yes, I'm a weirdo. Also, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is my new favorite book. For real. I got it as a Christmas gift from my parents, sort of as a joke I assume, and it turns out to be great. Now color my picture, read that book and have a fun President's Day!

Home Invasion

Our home has been invaded...

By a robot named Robo.

He is programmed to destroy!

So Simon stepped up to defend our family.

Jonas got some punches in, too.

They tamed Robo and are now friends.

Even Charlotte likes him.

Also, the kids have matching robot shirts.

Charlotte doesn't particularly like matching her brothers even though her robot is a girl (note the bow).

The end.

Just Another Reason Why I Don't Accomplish Things Around Here...

So I was sitting at the table while Charlotte ate her late lunch and the boys napped in their bunk beds. Jonas had been in bed for a while, already woken up once by Charlotte screaming when she woke up from nap; Simon hadn't been in bed as long but was quiet enough that I assumed he was sleeping. He probably was sleeping or almost asleep when I heard a sudden scream come from their room...

I sprang up from the table, which thoroughly freaked Charlotte out, and ran to their room. I couldn't tell which boy was screaming and crying but from what I heard it sounded bad. I thought maybe Simon fell out of the top bunk, or maybe Jonas was bleeding (this morning we found blood on his sheets presumably from an overnight nosebleed probably caused by him picking his nose & the dry air). When I flung the door open I quickly noticed Simon curled up in a ball in tears on the top bunk. He wailed, "I huuuuurrrt! I HURT!" This woke Jonas up and he joined the fuss fest.

"What's wrong?" I asked Simon thinking he's got stomach pain because of the way he was curled up. I was desperately hoping he didn't puke. I did not want to clean up puke, especially top bunk puke.

"My finger hurts."

"What happened?"

"I bit my finger."

He bit his finger. He bit his own finger. This was what caused all three of my kids to freak out. Simon bit his own finger while lying in bed trying to keep himself from falling asleep.

I doubt I'm going to get much accomplished today.

Preschool Craft Time

Finding junk to occupy the boys crafts the boys can both do is difficult because A. Jonas (2.5 years old) is 80 times more destructive than Simon (3.5 years old), B. Simon can (sort of) use scissors a little but Jonas cannot, C. Jonas still puts things in his mouth, D. Jonas wants to do everything Simon does, and E. I usually have a Baby Charlotte on my hip. So unless I want paint/glue/marker/blood all over my home, my options are pretty limited.

But I had an idea last week... toilet paper tubes + pipecleaners = sculptures. Even better, add googly eyes & a bit of marker and you've got monsters! I already had all these things in the craft/activity cabinet. Here's the super easy how to:

1. Gather your supplies [pipecleaners, toilet paper tube(s), hole punch, glue (I used tacky glue), googly eyes, marker(s)]



2. Punch some holes in the toilet paper tube. [I did 8 holes]


3. Give the tube & pipecleaners to your kid(s) and let 'em have at it!


4. Hand your kid(s) a marker and let 'em have at it again!

5. Help your kid(s) glue some googly eyes on their creation(s). [I guess some kids could do this step themselves, especially if they're older, but mine can't be trusted.]

6. Photograph the creation(s) for posterity.

Simon's monster

Jonas' monster

7. Be prepared for meltdowns when the monster is inevitably destroyed.

This occupied the kids for quite some time. Plus, almost a week later, They're still playing with (what's left of) their monsters! I think I win with this one.

(If you have older kids or want to take more time preparing, you could cover the tube with some pretty paper, too, but I'd do that before punching the holes.)

Baby Food

I've suspected that this one craves texture in her food for a while now. She definitely prefers to feed herself and is all about little finger foods. Charlotte is 7 1/2 months and refuses most baby food after a few bites (except stage 3 which is chunkier).

I had an idea get her to eat the food we already bought her: try mixing Rice Krispies type cereal in with her baby food! The baby cereal is too fine and would take too much to get texture, but it doesn't take much regular cereal. I just tried it (as in 5 minutes ago) and she ate it all up!


Yay! Now we're all happy! Oh, and she got her first tooth last night, too!

An Impromptu Prayer from Simon...

Simon: Thank you, God, for our food, for Mommy and for Marshmallow Man.

Me: That was a nice little prayer, Simon!

Simon: That wasn't me, it was Slimer saying that.

He was playing with a plush Slimer toy.

Knock Knock

The boys have really been into knock-knock jokes lately. Here are two Jonas (age 2) made up:

Knock knock!
Who's there?
Pee Wee.
Pee Wee who?
Pee Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!


Knock knock!
Who's there?
Ghostbusters.
Ghostbusters who?
They're GUYS!

Yeah, he doesn't quite get it, but he sure is cute.