I don't know about you but my kids are smelly.

Like, look around for a dead raccoon baking in the sunshine, type of smelly. How do their feet get that way? Ugh...

Throw in some outdoor activities.....



 Some outdoor cleaning....

and food.

What do you get?

Bathtime! An event enjoyed by all mothers, where your kids are corralled and busy with toys and you can zone out  sitting on the (closed) toilet catching up on Words with Friends while trying not to make a grocery list in your head.

Hey, stinkbugs! Scrub a dub! I guess the generic bubble bath didn't work so well....hmmm. So thats another thing to add to the list of "Only buy the name brand or you will hear about it til the next grocery trip"

1. Kraft Blue box Mac and Cheese

2. Kraft blue wrapper sliced sandwich cheese

3. Bubble bath

Looking like your dad, there Cole.

"What? You mean there really isn't a trash fairy that changes the trash while I fall asleep in front of the Redwings hockey game ?

Smile, Cole. Ummm, okay, a little less Angry Birds and a little more sweet angel face.

Speaking of angel face!!

See that toy organizer? It is horrible! I got it from Target and this might be the longest it has stayed up. From this picture to the one after it. I am going to glue it to the wall. I'm gangsta like that...

My Logan loves his bath. Reese stays for the first part and then she gets out and the boys turn into Olympic swimmers. (Which is weird because I can't swim.)

Ummmm...Reese, I thought we talked about this....ah...great, my 1yr old is shooting "bath water" shooters.

Stellar.

Yeah, you. Busted!

No, no.....

whatever.......

The end result.

3 kissable, snuggly, stink free kids that I am lucky enough to call mine.

Cole, we should practice the whole "smile" thing....before preschool pictures.  



Snowbird Safari!

There is a wonderful website grkids.com that has become such an incredible resource for fun activities around town. I packed the kids up and off to Breton Village Mall for a Snowbird Safari.

A handful of local businesses set up tables and offered a sampling of goods to the kids and coupons to the parents!

Here is Reese, at what any mother can only hope, is the start of a long and successful career as a tambourine player. Shake it, baby girl, mamma doesn't want to have to pay full price for college.

Just call us the Von Trapp's. With all the reports of spinal injuries and concussions, I'm thinking "no" to sports and "yes" to chess and singing groups.

One of the best parts of the day? The popcorn! They are definitely their mama's kids when it comes to food. 

Hoover it, monkeys.... 

They had a face painting station that I thought would be a great idea. Cole picked a fish and this is what he got. Not exactly the replica of the clown fish on the board but whatever! He thought it was cool.

Logan decided he would go paint free.

Sorry, kid. No paint for you either.

Why?

 Ummm, ah.... Oh, look, more popcorn!

I admit, sometimes, I am just not up for the "paint all over everything" thing.

 I know, Mother of the Year. 

I almost won it last year....I was short a "leave kids home alone while I make a diet coke run" and a "can you take the wheel because mommy needs to nap". Gotta work harder.

Where's the popcorn?

Oh, nilly....this one....

Our friend, and fellow animal collector, Rick the Reptile Guy, brought an assortment of reptile-y things.

Turtles and tortoises.

Do you know the main difference between the 2?

Turtles are more aquatic.

I want a tortoise.

 I want an indoor/outdoor one that lets me use it for a foot stool.

Simmer down, PETA.

Here is some sort of snake type creature....Have to admit, I'm not one for having a snake. Something about being swallowed whole while I sleep.....I might have an irrational fear.

Rick is such a great speaker, he pulls you right in from the start with his interesting factoids. I think the parents are just as fascinated with his stuff!

We ended our time at the bookstore, Pooh's Corner. We had never been in there before and found it to be quite nice. We gravitated to the train table in the back. We have this set...I should probably put some effort into making the train table functional again. I wonder if Pinterest will survive without me that long.....

They had a great time, until little "Jimmy" started sneezing all over the table and train parts.

 "No, no, don't leave. Keep sneezing all over, we will go."

 *Sigh*

 I am new at the group dynamic of playing with strangers.

We look forward to more stuff around town. Next month it's the Lollipop series.

Thanks, grkids!

A month of wonderful things.

Happy Snow filled day from The Albright Acres!!

We have been filling our days with all sorts of things. The boys kids got sleds and we wasted no time in putting them to use. Holy cow....when did sledding become an exhausting event? I don't remember wanting to die after sledding as a kid.....

Daddy pulling the boys....He was laughing at me because I was sucking wind after pulling the kids like one time around the yard. 

The indoor stuff was more my speed. We made bird seed hangers for the tree over the deck. 

We wait patiently for the birds to nibble and peck....

Hi, sissy. Yep, your outside in the snow strapped to a piece of hard plastic. Super fun-isn't it?! 

Mom, put the camera down and come pull us around. 

Daddy snowblowing....how come he gets all the fun stuff? So glad we made that goat milking/hoof shaving station you see there on the right....Why do we still have it when we no longer have any goats? 

Duh...it's holding up the empty totes. You ask the silliest questions.

Reese fell asleep after our outdoor fun fest (or "prove how out of shape mom is" day).

My sweet boys ran to get her blankets....she is one lucky monkey. 

I wanted to make a salted caramel sauce but couldn't justify just eating it from the pan so I figured I needed to make something to go with it. I decided on a simple apple tartlet. 

The beginning stages...no matter how many times I make it I still wonder if it will turn out.  

Without burning....

getting closer....

I didn't take a picture of me adding the cream and watching it bubble and sputter...isn't she perdy?!

Oh, I love homemade sauce.

Here are my little sauce vessels....hot and bubbley out of the oven.

What? Have you seen me? No dessert stands a chance. No, I didn't just put another fork there to make it look like I shared....Andy took a bite. Not my fault he's slow. 

All packed and ready to be enjoyed by my coworkers. 

My little boys are growing up so fast. 

There is so much more to post and share but there is a lonely fork waiting to hang out with my face.

Hope the day finds you enjoying your family!