Ahh…we had another great day…well thus far anyway..lol.. We got to see Robin,Tom and the kids.. Robin got coffee coolatta and donuts for my birthday..Thanks! The kids played in the water and we got to sit and chill.. it was a great morning for sure!

The kids built a little thing in the sand and just all around played wonderfully today!

Taejan’s cheesy little smile again..lol

A helping hand:

After we got home I let the kids play outside for a few and each lunch from the garden..lol..

once we were settled back inside Declan finished up his sit down work and is proud to say he is now 1/2 thru with his MUS primer edition!  In honor of that I made him a little achievement certificate!

Since we have tentative plans tomorrow  ( Declan is praying we go to the cottage since we didn’t get to go the other day..and here I thought is was MY birthday…lol) I want to do my 3 things before I forget:

1) My favorite part of today was watching Taejan on our Nature Hunt.. I am amazed daily as he turns from baby to kid.  Now I know I’ve been thru this before.. but there is something different about watching the LAST child go through these changes.. I love watching his personality blossom!

2) My oldest apologizing for being a royal turd. He screwed up..twice today and he apologized without prompting.. that makes me proud.

3).. Finding another crunchy..or semi crunchy mom.. who uses cloth.. of course this is after we stop using cloth @@.. what makes it great is it’s someone I’ve known for 7 years..she’s a teacher at the studio, has a beautiful 6 month old daughter and I gave her all my prefolds and covers  today..I am so glad they have a great new home!

Yeppie. we’ve spent the last week slowly getting into a good groove and today it paid off! by 8:45 we had been up, dressed, eaten, Declan had done 2 lessons of his Math U See , a review and 3 pages of his Sight Words and a whole section of his language arts. I had also gotten all the laundry put away and since we’ve been making sure the whole house is clean before we go to bed all we had to do was make beds! It’s very refreshing to just be able to get up and get going!

Ok before I post pictures from today here’s a few from this weekend.

Here’s Declan on the Slip n Slide:

Then miss Jadziah fell asleep on the couch at 4pm yesterday.. before I woke her I took a a picture because my kids never sleep anywhere besides their beds!

While taking her picture Taejan wanted his done..

I love his cheesy little smile!

Then this morning! In an effort to maintain some sanity around here in the afternoon I’ve been coming up with activities to keep the middle 2 active..it’s mostly for Declan since Jadziah is content to play quietly at rest time..where Declan..well he tends to get moody and make the rest of us miserable if his mind isn’t stimulated at ALL times!

So today’s activity was a nature hunt. I put each kiddo’s name on a brown lunch bag and at 9:10 we headed out around the neighborhood! Each kiddo put stuff in thier bag!

We went home..washed the rocks then played outside until lunch time. After lunch it was go time.. Taejan went to bed and usually I settle in for 2 hours of Declan being “eeyore”while I try and reclaim my house, relax for 5 minutes, cook dinner, prep school etc.. well today I was determined it would be different. Once Taejan was asleep the kids painted their rocks:

after that the sticks and leaves and such came out of the bags and they made nature art:

Well we are 1/2 way thru rest time.. and no one has moaned or groaned.. and the kids are behaving too..LOL..Noah is long done with hsi school and is off enjoying the last few days of having his friends home before they start school… Declan and Ziah are playing nicely in the playroom.. and I am ready for my coffee.. hey I even got lunch today whiel they painted!

I am going to have to come up with more simple yet good idea’s for activities for them,… one’s that don’t include mom though as this is the only true time I have to do a few things that NEED to be done.  It will take time and prep to keep them active but it’s already proving to be worth it!

In an effort to keep focus on the positive I am going to post ( or try to remember to post) my 3 favorite things from the day before..

Ok yesterday’s 3 best things:

1, The way the 3 tornado’s played.. we had a great day and they played like they actually loved each other!

2. Watching Taejan watch America’s Funniest Home Video’s.. he has found his sense of humor and it’s a scream to watch him laugh at things now because HE finds them funny not just because someone else laughed.

3. Listening to Ziah and Declan sing quietly along with High School Musical. It was just too sweet!

    We have one of those crazy busy weeks coming up! We have 3 birthday’s.. Mine Tuesday, Taejan’s Saturday and my nieces Sunday. We have 4 parties… Taejan’s friend party Thursday, Taejan’s family/close friend party Saturday, my nieces Sunday and my big family reunion Sunday too..( anyone wanna try to be in 2 different towns at the same time??).

I have watched High School Musical 3 times today..my daughter is addicted..lol.. it’s a dreary day and the kids are content inside for now so we are getting lots of pre-party prepping done while they happily play and watch the DVD.. I have to give it back to my MIL today anyway! We listen to the music in the van so all 3 wee ones know the songs.. Declan and Ziah by heart and I love it.. it’s a great movie, great music and they dance along so they are getting some exercise!

My camera is going to get a big work out this week..so be prepared for lots of pictures!!!