When kids have the Camera!

I took the good camera with me when I went to Kenya and left the not-as-good camera behind. I instructed Joshua to make sure there were pictures of the 2 important things that occurred while I was gone: His Pinewood Derby Race, and them playing in the snow. I finally discovered the file where that camera downloaded into and this is what I found!

Joshua's car did okay in the races, and it won the "X-Factor" award. He was pretty pleased with it.

Callie and Delaney at the Derby. I am glad that Dan took them all. I thought he might just send Joshua and stay home with the little girls. Look at Callie's hair! Isn't Dan a great dad to do her hair so nicely?!

Rylee is wearing my favorite shirt! Apparently she did not miss me at all and barely noticed I was gone. Okay, Dan said she was fine and didn't seem upset or anything that I wasn't around.

This is one of the 2 snow shots. Yep, this is the snow that grounded the plane and kept us at Dulles an extra 24 hours. Joshua said they built a snowman or fort or something, but they didn't take any pictures of that. Slackers.

I don't know who is taking all these pictures. I know Delaney loves to get her hands on the camera and I know she loves getting her picture taken. She is such a ham.

Ah, a lovely self-portrait. Joshua must be the official photographer!

Ha ha ha! I took this one before I left and Delaney was wanting pictures of everything. She took a picture of me too, but I didn't have a head.

Hammin' It Up!

Delaney and Rylee are a lot of fun to hang out with all day. And more fun to be with when they play nicely together! Lately, Delaney has been asking to have her picture taken. since she's been trying out new faces, it has been entertaining to do so!

The new "game" is to pretend they are going to bed. I like this game. sometimes Rylee is a good sport, and sometimes she's not. Today they had a good time. Check out Rylee's cheesy grin!

I love it when they get along and have a good time together.

Somebody had a birthday! Delaney turned 4. She said she wanted a pink cake with sprinkles. I can do that! She was thrilled with the cake.

She was so funny blowing out her candle, and so cute!

Somebody has had too much cake!

Opening presents was interesting. She actually got most of them open without any assistance from her older siblings who were just dying to get their hands on her loot!

More "Take a picture of me!!!" from yesterday.

And here is today's must-have shot! She likes to get her picture taken, and she's such a silly ham!

Priorities, priorities.....

This is me. I had a good day today! I got 6 meals in the freezer today! I made and froze: White Chili, Corn Chowder, Tai Chicken, Sunday Chicken, BBQ Cups, and Cheesy Italian Chicken. Yep, I feel pretty proud of myself.

Then I look around and see that there is laundry from 3 days ago still on the chair. I need to fold it and get it put away. But let's be honest here.... We both know I'm just going to pull the clean clothes out of the pile until the pile is gone and all the clothes are dirty again.

While I am feeling impressed that I got all my dishes washed and the sink is actually empty for once, I am not impressed with the rest of the house. The kids had a lot of fun playing and it seems to have involved a lot of blankets and toys, which are still on the floor and attached to the elliptical machine and card table. Sigh. I may just move into the kitchen and stay there.

And on a cute note, here is a picture of Rylee. The sad thing is, this was taken just before I left for Africa, and she has a crusty nose again today, and looks about the same!

Motherly Joys

I made the kids walk home from school. I usually do. The Kiss and Ride is too annoying and its probably faster to walk. Plus, I like making them get 15 minutes of sunshine and exercise. And I like getting my own 15 minutes of sunshine and exercise.

These wonderful perks do not come without a price. On a really good day I try to see how many kids I can make cry in one afternoon. Yesterday Rylee cried halfway home because I stuffed her back in the stroller after a mere 20 minutes of playing at the park and she didn't want to go. Callie wailed the entire walk home. Yes, wailed like a banshee because I would not let her ride in the stroller. Ironic sine she was the only one who did want to ride.

Delaney had a terrific time running around, but suffered several episodes of tears, usually when she thought I was going to keep walking and leave Callie in a crying heap on the trail. (I was.)

I nearly had a full sweep, since Joshua was distressed over the breakup of a friendship. He was very manly and did not imitate his sisters, just looked very sad and walked home. Marian was delightful and laughed at all her sisters' pain. I'm not sure if that is better or not.

Getting back to normal

Things have settled down and life goes on. I know you think I have forgotten about my other children, since I have not posted pictures of them lately, so here are some photos of almost everyone!

Rylee thinks she is a big kid now. She thinks she can do whatever the big kids do. She sure is cute!

And Friday night the school held a Barn Dance. The place was packed and the music was loud! The food was good and the kids had a marvelous time! They were in constant motion and that made it tough to get good pictures.

This is Delaney "break dancing"!! She's trying to be like her big brother, and I was cracking up watching her.

This is the best shot of Joshua. He was "break dancing" as well, and running around with his friends. I was glad he had a good time, since he said he was NOT going to dance!

The did the Limbo and it was fun to watch the kids. Check out Delaney. She thought the whole event was awesome!

Look at that smile! I love this kid!

And the best part of the Barn Dance were the mustaches!

Delaney is rockin' her 'stache!

Rylee was not happy at all with her mustache.

I had to bribe Callie to get her to wear the mustache for me!

And this is what Rylee did while I was not watching her this morning. I left her alone at the table with her pancake while I got Delaney dressed.
Yup, I forgot to put the syrup away and she emptied half the bottle on the table, floor and her chair. She has sticky feet and a puddle in her booster. She got to go directly to the bath and after that, I got to clean up the sticky mess. Her seat is currently outside waiting to be sprayed off with the hose. Fun times!!