Dinosaur Egg

J has been on a dinosaur playing kick lately. I fully support this change from the "Pretend I was a baby and my parents had died and someone left me in a box with nothing but my name" story line. He favorite part is being wrapped up in the blanket "egg" and hatching. I love this game because I can surf the internet and just make the appropriate noises, throw in an occasional squawk and T-rex hands, and keep her happily entertained.

St Patty's Party

So I decided to actually do it last minute, as in "mass text to my momma friends inviting them to come over the next morning for a little party and to bring something green to eat and share. "

Don't let the pictures fool you, this party had very little prep. Never underestimate the power of a floor-length tablecloth and white platters. I just recycled all the games from this party and they worked out just as well. And since I didn't really think anything through, I didn't remember to take pictures of most of it.

I did get this kid in a green shirt though! It was 90 degrees in freakin' March at 10:00am and my kids ended up getting sunburned. Lame.

This is Selene

And Grayson

And Rachel with Jake (Who happened to face-plant off the landing and needed a popsicle to make it feel better. The magic power of popsicles easily transcends the powers of tablecloths and platters on the cosmic scale.)

At this point in guest photo documentation, I had an insistent plea to unwrap some chocolate coins recently found during the treasure hunt.

Toddlers, chocolate, and ninety degree weather meant that I didn't get a chance to pick up my camera again for the rest of the party. Let it be known that my daughter was there too as well as another ten kids. We just take what we can get around here :)

Cornish Game Hens

On a whim, I bought a bunch of Cornish game hens. At the time, we were alternating dinner each Saturday night with our friends the Coopers and we would take turns making fun new recipes. And since the hens were like $2.50 each, I figured, why not? Then the tradition sort of phased out because of scheduling changes so the hens laid in the bottom of my freezer for far to long. 

Well I finally got around to cooking them. J was insistent on having a whole bird to herself. (no she didn't finish it)

M was quite pleased to have a drumstick to gnaw his way through.

After we had eaten ice cream for dinner, J dutifully reminded me of my promise to make "marshmallow sandwiches" like I had promised earlier. As soon asd the marshmallows came out, M had no interest in smores, but through various hand gestures and partially formed words, communicated that he wanted to build snowmen, like we did at J's birthday party. IN DECEMBER! Their memories are ridiculous. J was finished with hers so she left it in her "save for later" shelf on the fridge. This is completely her invention and makes me consider a fridge lock.

J also likes to ask me to take pictures of her and I'm happy to oblige. Grammy and PopPop came over because you have to have an audience for cornish game hens. This smile on J is my favorite so I'm grateful she suggested taking the picture.
.

She also had fun doing balances on with PopPop

It is so much fun to have them home!

Lianna and Korrali come to visit

We went to the arboretum when they came and had a lovely time. Big Sis has a membership and we ended up all getting in free!

Ellie fed Jace

They hopped around the sun dial

The maze was explored and the javelina hugged and ridden.

The rainbow garden was appreciated even if the little fences were not.

The fountain was splashed in until they were soaked.

Some Cacti were hugged, thankfully a breed without the spines. It might actually be a succulent.

The Australian trail and thinking circle were walked.

Lianna proved she can rock a selfie better than anyone.

M saw this sculpture and went, "Oh no!" and preceded to try and lift it. I wish you could hear the grunting noises and he used all the effort he had.

We are so glad they came and my kids have made a life-long friend in their second cousin :)

Fixing the Car

 This little guy took the mini screw drivers out of the junk drawer and started repairing his car

"My Very First Artist Walkie Talkie!"

Her friend Taylor has some Tinker bell walkie talkies and J got it in her head that she wanted to make one. Ever particular, she brought me the paper and told me what color. I cut out the shape and she said she wanted to fill it with filling (the polyfill in my craft room. I figured if we were going to do this, we'd put those montessori preschool skills to work and make her sew it. I prepunched the holes and knotted the thread and she did a great job! She was delighted and exclaimed "My very first artist walking talkie!"

All the random things

Now that my parents are home, I'm feeling less and less inclination to blog. When my cousin Lianna came to visit this last week (and you better believe there will be pictures to share when I get around to it) we talked how the blogs still keep us connected to each other more than any phone calls could. So I'm going to keep doing it for at least a little bit. Where else could I share pictures of these happy jam drips?

Or the crepe paper mask J made all by herself (with my help on the eye holes, but the 4 colors of paper and all the tape work was done in her room, unsupervised by me).

Well I suppose I could post them on facebook, like I did of this picture of M after watching his first movie in a theater. The kid LOVED Big Hero 6 and pointed out every train in the entire movie. And narrated things like, "Sad!" and "Oh No!" at appropriate times. He even made shooting noises during battle scenes.

I need to save these pictures somewhere, because Amy and Sharmin's blue stairs photo probably won't make the scrapbook, but I need it to remember that one time I ate way too many crab legs and went dancing like a single gal. Without posting, I might forget that clubs in movies do not accurately depict the dancing skills of the drunk masses. But I did see a guy straight up motorboat a girls boobs so apparently that does happen.

I need these pictures on a blog so I can search them. That way I can remember that Big Sis owes me a favor from March 2015 when I assembled this wolf she crocheted for a student (if he passed the class, she'd make him this wolf. He pulled it off)

And these pictures have to shared to represent our typical post Target ritual.

I guess I'll keep blogging for at least a little while longer :)