Science Experiment Fun

The girls were super excited with their science experiments. They played with acids and
bases and watched how they interacted with one another. They watched as we made a purple volcano with baking soda and citric acid. We made invisible ink and jiggly crystals. They played with test tubes and made colored lava.

I found this Magic Science kit at my local goodwill for $1. It was $1 well spent.

We changed the purple color to blue and then the blue to red. Then we mixed the blue and
red and changed it back to purple. Then we added crystals and waited an hour for them to
become jiggly crystals. After that we didn't know what to do with them.

Happy Birthday Emily

Emily turned 8 on March 8th! She wanted a girly princess party- of course. She had her friends come and enjoy the day.






Getting a "bump on the head" from Grandma.

Baptism

Emily was baptized on March 24th by her Daddy. It was a beautiful day and she was so excited! I was a happy Mommy watching my little girl become a very grown up girl.



Oh, little boy was so unhappy!

New Dedication- I Swear

I want to dedicate more time to my blog. Especially now that no one reads anymore. I have missed it. Life has just been crazy and busy, but I miss showing the wonderful parts about it. I know they're great and fun and even if no one else reads them, I want to remember them. Blogging did that for me. And recently when I was looking over my past entries there were so many things I forgot! I know I will hate to forget the funny things little Willis is doing these days. Like the fact that he TALKS all the time! He told me tonight when I said it was time to get his pjs, he told me "No! Later!"


So with new desire and hopefully even more follow through I am back to blog our adventures. I hope new people will find us and old ones will be happy for the updates and pictures.

What Happened??

I haven't been on my blog in a LONG time! Why is that? I had baby #3! He is so sweet and such a wonderful joy to have around. However, I am now a lot busier than I was when I only had 2 kids. Everyone told me it's having the 3rd that does you in. I really didn't believe them. All my friends I know with 3 kids never leave their house. I was sure that wouldn't happen to me. Well, my little guy is almost 18 months and I can tell you that having your 3rd child changes how you are as a parent.

If you were an active parent that liked to go out and take your kids to plays and library readings, well you won't do it anymore. If you were a mom who tried always to feed your kids healthy nutritious meals, always making sure they had at least some veggies in their day, that will most likely change when #3 comes along. You will just be happy they get veggies in their diet at all during the week- canned, frozen and if you get some fresh ones in you'll feel like mother of the year. If you always made sure your kids had clean clothes, hair done and you never left the house without makeup, you will not like how different it will be. You will be lucky if your kids have their clothes ON, let alone if they are clean and makeup will be a thing of the past.

Things I never thought would happen to me as a parent; well they did when my 3rd came along. But I wouldn't change a thing. He is the sweetest, most loving and fun little boy around. Boys are very different. He destroys the house a little at a time. If I am putting it away he will come behind me and get it out. If I am cleaning he will decide he needs to "help" me, like unfolding the laundry. But if I need extra love and snuggles, there he is.

My adorable little guy this summer.

Sweet Lindsey.

Sisters are so great.


Oh, my sleeping baby.

My cute little dancer.

Swinging fun!

Halloween costumes at Homeschool park day.


Halloween pictures with the kids.


Just LOVE that face!

Where have the years gone? She looks so grown up!


She's still my sweet little girl. So precious!


Trying to get a picture with my kids isn't easy.

Sweet little Pooh Bear!

First snow!

Look who figured out how to get his own cracker.


I've also been very busy making this happen for my girls. We had to take a door out that went to our storage room and I had to mud the drywall, sand and paint, paint, paint. I LOVE the colors! The girls love their room. I got it done for Christmas and they say it's their favorite present.


Christmas 2011 was wonderful!

Choir Performance

Emily had her first choir performance the week of the big sale. I didn't plan it that way, it just happened. It worked out okay too. However, it was also a crazy time for weather. Spring really never seems to get the memo that it should take over and we had a snow storm. So of course the power went out for her performance. It came on at the very end, but most of the pictures didn't turn out. They were supposed to be dressed like the 60's-70's in theme with a lot of their songs like Catch a Falling Star and Here Comes the Sun. Emily had a great time and did very well.

I painted the peace sign on her shirt and then at the sale I found these capri's that were cheap enough I had to get them that were covered in peace signs.


It was a lot of fun and we were so glad that two Grandma's were able to make it. And we were also disappointed that we missed the second performance since I once again got horribly sick. Flu wasn't fun, stomach flu was even worse. I am just hoping that is the last my poor body will have to endure this year.

THE SALE and Much More!

If you have read about it before, I love this sale. It is how I get clothes for my kids every year. I spend about $250-300 for the whole year and they have everything they need. It is every spring and fall held at a local Methodist church. I volunteer AND I sell, which I didn't used to do. Now I practically clothe my kids for free. It's so awesome. But it is a lot of hard work. The last couple weeks of March are spent getting ready, tagging, hanging, etc. all of the clothes, toys, books to sell. I had over 200 items. It was another great event and I was super excited because I actually didn't need a lot of clothing for the girls this time. I ended up stocking up the past 6 months and a lot of Emily's clothes still fit- for now. But it doesn't mean I didn't end up buying anything.

I probably got all of this here for $50. The jeans right up front were $2 each with no wear in them. The dresses were about $4 each. I love the blue jacket that is for next year. It's hard to see, but it's pretty stylin'.



Summer shoes are much harder to come by. Let's face it, kids RUIN their sandals. But this was a good year. I was pretty impressed. I love the sketcher's Emily got and the gorgeous Gymboree blue mary jane's were $4.50 with not a scratch on them. Willis got 5 ties for $4.


One of the best parts about volunteering is the pre-sale. All of the volunteers get first picks of all the good stuff. And because I didn't need as many items of clothing for the kids I was finally able to try the toy section. I hear in the fall before Christmas it's amazing! I wish I had two of me and I would love to do both clothes and toys. I should have saved the toys for Easter, but I was so exhausted and I knew Robert was taking the day off to be with them and I thought they would be extra pleasant with new toys. Turns out I was right. They had a blast with them. I found Magnetix
...these amazing magnetic toys provide hours of imaginative play and building. My girls loved them. Course they have to "live" up high in a closet because one lost magnetic ball could be doom for a little baby. There was a giant bag of plastic + velcro middle play food for $2. A Leap Frog cash register for $5, a bag of My Little Ponies $1 and a few more odds and ends. Those were the big ones I found and they are still a huge hit.


Another amazing sale. However, I wore myself down to the last wire. What we crazy parents won't do to clothe our kids and in my case clothe, save money, sell AND let's face it I love to shop. To me this is so much more fun than retail. I love a good deal and I love feeling like I saved money on something so I can spend it on something else- like decorating and remodeling my house. Unfortunately this time I was so worn down that I got sick right after this crazy event. Good thing it was after and not before.