Boys are a pain in the...

...you know what!


But at least I don't have to pay for college. Well that is if this kid don't stop digging in trash cans or playing in the toilet. I think a city job out of high school or an apprenticeship for the boy work for me. Oh Zachy boy what you have taught me.


So we added to the mix! Zachary was born May 22, 2013. We are coming up on a year and it feels like an eternity. I mean that in good and bad ways of course. I love this little guy with all my heart but doubt I will miss his baby days. He was a stinker from the get go. He began his evil plot by being a week late. I went 41 weeks with that little guy and as much as I could not wait to meet him he was my first baby I let the nurses take at the hospital. Makes me laugh because with my girls I insisted I be with them and made the hospital do all tests in my presence. With little man Z I pressed that nurse’s button and begged them to take him so I could shower and nap. That should have been foresight I tell you.


All jokes aside he is a groovy little dude. He is as big as a house and keeps up with his sisters. The girls took to him really well until he became mobile. He WAS the love of their life and could do no wrong. Yeah, well the honeymoon is over and it has turned into endless screams of "MOM!!!! GET ZACHY AWAY"! Ah to be the mother of three.


Adjustment wise I personally think I did fabulous. Heck the boy was born in the perfect season there was no fear in taking him out and by the time he was a week old he had been to a park and a library. I think he did a little shopping too. By a month he had been to his first ball game and during his first summer we hit a record of 30 parks just me and the three of them. It was an awesome challenge and I am trying to come up with an even more exciting challenge this summer.


I think jumping right into three on the go was the best option for me. I had them with me 24/7 and we did not turn down an invite. It gave me confidence and I never considered that having three was scary or a challenge. It was just us.


Zach was a hard baby. He did not sleep well. He was colicky. He has been sickly and is a stereotypical man when it comes to being sick. Oh and he is my biggest diva...talk about the waterworks. But this kid my little blonde Bubba (that is his main nickname at this point) and I love him with all my heart. I am excited that he is turning one! I am excited that next month I will be able to say I have a 1, 3 and 5 year old. WHAT!?!? I am also so excited to share his video. I have been working on it since week one and am pretty impressed with my skills. I even have it set to music. Super momma!


Stayed tuned as our adventures are going to rock your socks!

Pinteresting things to do with an empty canvas

This was a really cool thing I found to do with the kids on Pinterest.

All you need is an empty canvas, tape, and some finger paint. This was a low low budget deal for us and did not cost anything as we already had the supplies in hand.

The first thing you need to do is make your design on the canvas with the tape. We did our initials! Next you let the kids paint. We used one color for each (well that was the original plan) and I made three blobs of paint one regular one washed out with white and one with brown to darken the original color for texture. After you paint your canvas and let it dry you peel back the tape to see your design.

We had fun and the girls stayed pretty clean. The project was meant to be done like finger painting but the kids wanted to do it with brushes. This was a pretty cool idea and one I would totally revisit in a few years and maybe come up with more complex designs for our tape. But for now it was a thumbs up from us!

Gyro Bowl

A bowl that your child can’t spill…really?

I had to test this out! Thank goodness my dear lovely Auntie Bev supports my passion for "As Seen on TV" products and bought us these bowls a Christmas or two ago. As a gift I love them but if I had paid I may be a little upset. The cost is reasonable but the claim that it will not spill is absolutely incorrect. Maybe for a master eater or older child but these bowls were advertised to younger children often times showing food items like Cheerios in them. Honestly when you intentionally challenge the bowl with twist, turns, or possible spill opportunities it does its job. But in real world conditions you will still end up with a screaming toddler/preschooler in the next room upset that their snack is on the floor.

I don’t totally dislike the bowls.

• I think the construction of the bowl is fantastic.
• The bowls separate and are easy to put back together for cleaning purposes.
• The novelty, even if not perfect, is pretty cool.
• And to be honest a spaceship looking bowl is fun for kids.
• It is also pretty neat that it stands on its own when kids are between bites.

My mom review of this product is a C+!

The cost is usually between $10-15 and will hold up against daily kid bangs and bruises!

I would not purchase this again. But that being said I do still use the two I have now and continue to challenge the no spill claim!

How awesome is Silly Putty?

I forgot or never really knew how great this stuff is! I picked up a two pack the other day and thought it could be a great quiet time activity and I was very pleased to be correct. The original plan was to sit the kids with a news paper and what them be amazed. Then I actually read the back and was reminded it snapped when you twisted it (how fun is that?) and the directions said it picked up pencil marks. The pencil mark idea was great! I took a piece of regular copy paper and split it in two and wrote down their names, initials, a little heart, flower, and a smile face. The girls loved picking up their names off the paper on their putty. They found it to be really cool that you make it disappear and can do it again. They stretched it out as far as they could and made it turn into spaghetti. They actually were entertaining themselves for over 20 minutes. I actually had a moment to chill out in quiet! After they had enough and they started dropping it or leaving it around it was no problem. This does not make a new home of your carpet like play-doh. The container was even fun the kids thought they were like Easter eggs. . . hey that is not a bad idea to add to the filler basket.

My mom review of this timeless product is an A+!

The cost was $1.50 for two and lasted the first and second playtime and is still reusable!

Definitely will repurchase this product again!

Volcano

Do you see it?

Maise is all about volcano’s. She saw them on Little Einstein’s and wanted to know more about them. We went online and looked up all kinds of volcano clips. She is really fond of the ones showing lava going into the ocean. When she showed me this picture I just could not believe it. I think it is awesome. The best part was she was able to tell me what she drew and what was happening in the picture. Check it out:

She is amazing! I mean really how cool?

The end of the clip as she details daddy's shoes melting was from our Hawaii video. I was so excited to actually show someone...it has been all boxed up for some time. Wow, come to think of it that video was from 10 years ago. Our 25th birthday gift to ourselves! That means I am going to be 35 this year! How is that for some perspective? Nothing like 10 year measureable scales of life! I think the last 10 are pretty noteworthy!

Strawberry Fields Forever

I have wanted to go strawberry picking since I was a teen going to my first OzzFest at Alpine Valley in East Troy, Wisconsin. There is a little place about half way there that I always saw advertised but have never stopped at. I never went because it did not seem like anyone else had interest. Funny because now I find out one of my closest friends in the world who took that same ride over and over to Alpine with me desired the same thing!

The girls and I had some time a few Sundays back and we stopped at Stade’s Farm in McHenry. Stade’s is a wonderful place; we have gone there before for pumpkins. We are looking forward to raspberry picking there as well. Cool place and so glad we were introduced by April. After posting a picture of our day on facebook other friends in the area mentioned how they would have gone also. I guess it was not just my dear Erica and myself longing for a strawberry adventure. Next year is going to be so much fun meeting up with other pals and doing both the McHenry and Wisconsin farms.

So the funny thing is the anticipation did not meet up to the excitement of actually picking strawberries. It was ok. I mean I had the best time with my girls and I am so happy that we got the opportunity but it was just ok and a lot of bending. The unseasonably HOT weather made for tiny strawberries but they were so sweet and delicious! It was a great day and so glad to scratch another thing off my bucket list.

Now let’s see if I actually make it to go apple picking this fall….crossing my fingers I want to try that so bad. Until then here are some snapshots from our “Strawberry Sunday”:

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Do big dogs go to heaven?

Do elephants go to heaven? Do bears go to heaven? Do mommies go to heaven? Are you serious - she is a three year old!

So why is heaven and who goes there the big issue in Maise’s life? Well we lost our Beta Bo. He was a good fish. We bought him for Maise when she was around 1 and it was her fish to take care of and her 1^st responsibility. She would say hi to him and ask to sit on the counter top so she could get even closer to him daily.

We found him under his car in the morning. When reflecting back both Joe and I thought he seemed a little drifty and off the night before. But we were rushing around that morning and had a lot going on so we held out to tell her at night. Is 3 the right age for the heaven talk? It sat heavy but we decided to tell Maise what happened and have a little salute to him before hitting the porcelain highway. I was hoping for an outcome like in Poltergeist; when the girls buries her fish and asks for a bird. But that was not the case.

At first she took it ok but we pushed to make sure she really understood. That is when she started crying and telling us she wanted Bo back…she wanted her blue fish back. She was so sad. She wrapped her arms around Joe and cried into his shoulder. She was so emotional and beautiful at the same time. She really is such a gentle soul. Sweet Little Maise. That night we sat up for awhile and Maise kept asking about who and what go to heaven…”kevin” is actually what she was saying that night but I was not about to correct her.

A few days past and we got her a few more fish; 1 Beta and 3 goldfish. A few weeks later we now have 1 gold fish and 1 Beta named Nemo and Bo (depending on which kid you ask). Black Fish and Nemo you were an awesome pets while you lasted. And now we have expanded the family by 1 more. Black Bird our new parakeet came home to live with us last night. Black Bird has been his name since daddy told Maise she could have one and she could not be more pleased. He is green with some blue feathers. She ran up to the door last night yelling “Daddy we got an angry bird! We got an angry bird”!

It has been about a month since the “tragedy”.  She still asks about animals and people and if they can go to heaven. Now at least she is being silly and will trick you and say “Do cars go to heaven”?, and we laugh and say silly no.

So wild. I never expected to have such a heavy talk with my girl already. Scary how many MANY more we are going have. But got 1 out of the way.

Inspiration

Have you ever just been inspired by the day? Today I can surely say yes! After a trip to my grandparents without the kids I NEEDED some momma and kiddo time like nothing else in this world. Our day began with a little breakfast and we hit the road. We just started up Milwaukee Ave. with the original intention of cruising around Palwaukee Airport and hanging in the woods across the way. We did in fact actually see some planes take off and did a circle around but we were just not feeling those woods. So we kept on keeping on until we found the spot that was calling for us all day. The sign popped off to the right and we knew we had found our spot. We came upon Half Day Forest Preserve. What an awesome place! We didn't get to deep into the preserve so I am very excited to go back and see what we missed! But we still had an incredible time. There were dragonflies and frogs to spot, amazing paths to walk, picnic areas to chill, and a park that was just about as much fun as any other I have ever been to before! As the morning rolled along and we had our picnic I just felt as if every part of this day was completely perfect. I started shooting pictures of everything. I felt like such a photographer...don't worry I am not going to quit my day job but for today it was excellent and pat on the back for myself because some of these pictures are kind of cool!

First my Artistic attempts:

And the family shots: