I Took Three Monkeys Home From the Zoo

We went to the zoo again today.  Why you may ask?  Because I like it.  I really do.  And my kids don't seem to mind seeing the same scenery each time we make the trek up there- in fact, Ty hasn't been since last summer- usually i just drag the little ones.  So Ty was pretty excited to spend the day.  I like getting there as the gates open, but on a whim, I called my mom and my grandma to see if they wanted to go too... And I got a yes from both!  I was so excited- and my kids were stoked to go and show their great-grandma all the new things at the zoo.  When we got there- each of my kids got a map and acted the part of the tour guide- pointing out things that they thought would be interesting.

Kate still loves the monkeys- and actually her great grandma did too.  Ty and I got to see the River Otters- which are MY absolute favorite- I don't know what it is about them- but I think they are adorable.  And Ryan didn't want to leave the Rhinoceros enclosure.  I'm not sure what Grandma Janet's favorite part was... the baby elephant running around was pretty cute, and the agitated leopard was pretty interesting to watch...  I'll have to ask her.

And at the end of the morning- my kids were exhausted- which is another reason I LOVE the zoo.  We stopped for lunch and a Coke and then headed home.  Thanks for sharing our morning with us Grandmas!!  We had so much fun with you!

These next pictures made me laugh...  There was a display on the fence that showed how big each of the bears were- so I had my kids line up biggest to smallest too.  

Ryan and Kate totally gave their bears the stare-down.  And I don't  know what Ty was looking at... maybe a bird???

Save Me Now

This is another post mainly about Kate.  Sorry about the girly domination, but she cracks me up right now.  As I said in an earlier post- she is all about the tea parties.  And now we add a new dimension to the girliness... princesses.  I always promised myself that I would NOT let my daughter get so wrapped up in the princess mess that she forgets there are other things to life besides sparkles and tiaras.  I'm trying to stay true to my original course- but Kate has a way of making me think it might be okay.  Her aunt Hee Hee doesn't help.  Hee Hee loves her some girly-girl.

So we have entered into the reign of the princess.  My problem with this is the dress up dresses.  They are expensive and they just don't wear well.  I think they feel kind of itchy and quite frankly- they fall apart.  You are left with a mess of sparkly tulle and unwound thread stuck in the dryer vent.  So I set out to fix this.

Kate and I hauled ourselves over to the fabric store last week and picked out some fabric that could pass for  each of her favorite princesses.  And we went home to make a dumbed down version of each dress.

Now because I am not immensely talented in the sewing department, I opted to make skirts instead of dresses.  More power to those that can make their sewing machines do something different other than sew in a straight line.  And you lucky ducks- get a sneak peak at a couple of the ones we have finished.  Yes.  I said we.  Kate insists on "helping" with each one.  Her nose is literally inches from my sewing machine needle and she is standing ready to try it on as soon as it comes off the line.  It's pretty funny actually.

So far, we have completed a skirt for Snow White, Princess Sophia and Minnie Mouse.  We still have Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty to go.  Wish us luck and wish me some patience with this next stage.  For you moms of older girls... how long does this go on???

TEA Party Animal

Pun intended folks.  Nothing I love more than a good pun.  That said- it's totally true.  My daughter is reaching a very fun age.  She turns three this summer and is 100% girl.  One of her favorite things in the world is to sit and have a tea party.  Her brothers humor her once in a while, but it usually takes the patience of a grandma to sit down with this little girl and really party it up.  

Kate was lucky that we went to Declo this last weekend to visit Shaun's parent's- because she was able to talk Grandma Jacki AND her cousin Carson into a tea party that lasted all morning long.  She was in heaven.  

Wild and Crazy Kidds

President's Day just passed us by... and you know what that means!!  Snowmobile trip with the Henriksens! For those of you that don't know, my dad books this trip for all of us every year- and every year it is a blast!  Thank-you again Dad... it was super fun!

This year I braved taking my good camera so that I could get a few pictures of us out playing in the snow.  I know- my luck I'll probably land on the dumb thing and break a rib or something.  As it turned out though... as I get older- apparently I get wiser too, because I didn't get hurt or stuck this trip.  Woohoo for me.

Here's my brother in law...

The man of the hour... my dad...

Shaun and I (might I say what a handsome couple we make all spiffed out in our snow gear)...

Dave... trying to teach an old dog new tricks...

Miss... showing off for the camera...

In all it was a fun weekend.  A special thanks to my mom for watching the kids and a shout out to my sister in law- Nat- it's just not the same without you.

A Post for Kate

I have a friend who posts letters to her kids on her blog.  It's a cute idea.  But if I just dedicate a whole post to each of my kids... that's kind of the same right?  

Indulge my sad picture taking abilities and take a look at this goofy little blonde thing...  

I'm still not really sure where she came from.  She is a little, tiny, blonde spit-fire that is going to send Shaun to an early grave.  Yeah that's right.  I said it.  I've never met someone who I can be fire-breathing mad at one second and cuddling up next to the next.

But oh how I love this little girl.  Kate will be 3 in June- which is absolutely insane to me.  Where did the time go?  Do I sound old?  Shaun says that's because I am.  I start every morning with a tiny hug from her, before she races off down the stairs to find her brothers.  She eats like a bird and can exist on 2 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period, all the while going full-bore on everything.

She loves Minnie Mouse, "Spinnies" (skirts) and Princess Sofia.  Her aunt is determined to get her to know all the other Disney princesses- I sat and listened to them last night in the kitchen and I about died laughing at some her Kate's mis-pronounciations.  For example, can you name this princess?  "Boo-a Boo-ee"  It's Sleeping Beauty for you idiots out there.  She cracks me up.

And it turns out she may be more like her oldest brother than anyone else...  Shaun and I recently decided to take Kate off gluten to see if it would help her stomach-aches and other GI issues.  It took about two weeks- but we are pretty sure that even if she never has full blown Celiac Disease- at the very least, she has an intolerance.  Her GI doctor wanted to run a lot of very expensive tests (x-rays and MRI's) because her blood tests kept coming back inconclusive... but my gut (pun intended) kept telling me to give this a shot.  Why would I let my baby girl continue to be uncomfortable when there was a very obvious and very easy solution to fix it?  I didn't.  She's been off gluten for about a month and a half now and she is doing so well!  It's obviously harder for her than any one else since she can't read an ingredient list to see if a snack is glutenous, but with the help of her extremely protective older brothers- we are making it work.

Because of this gluten-glitch we have found, I have been trying to make an effort to let the kids help more in the kitchen... with the thought that if they know what goes into their food- they have a better idea of what they can eat.  Good idea?  I don't know.  What I do know is that my kitchen is a LOT messier than before.  That said- Kate LOVES being in the kitchen.  She has a "spot" that she perches on whenever she sees me pull baking stuff out of the cupboard and a stool she sits on when I am making dinner.  She is an excellent stirrer.  And we only lose about half of the pancake batter when she is on duty.

Anyway- this post was for Kate... and one day if you read this Kate... I love you lots.