Silly Little Kids

I love my kids. They drive me crazy a lot of the times and make my head feel like it wants to explode, but they do so many great things too and bring so much happiness to my life. And when my priorities are in the right place, and I spend time with them and play with them and let them do fun kid things, we are all happier people. Take hide-and-go-seek for example. A simple game- doesn't take much time to play. And leads to your two year old hiding in awesome places like this (sorry for the bad phone pic)...
Since apparently Halloween now almost rivals Christmas when it comes to fancy lawn decor, my girls took great pleasure in seeing the various blow-up spooky characters around the neighborhood. Jada took a particular liking to this mummy and would ask to see it just about every time we drove in the car. "Can I see see if the mummy's up?" would be the question we would hear multiple times a day. Thank goodness he finally got put away until next year- I was getting a little tired of the extra trip to the cul-de-sac in search of the mummy!

Elle has been doing great in first grade this year. She is becoming so independent with her reading and homework- it is so fun to see. They had their first awards ceremony the other day for their report cards. Jada, Cole, and I were in attendance and got to see her win "Coyote Champion" for her class. I was so happy and excited for her, and we both were surprised (neither she nor I knew she was getting it). Times like that make me grateful to be an at-home mom so I can attend these little assemblies that are so important to the kids.

A couple of fun things heard from my children lately:

Mya- "Why do babies only drink milk?"

Elle- "Because we're mammals and mammals feed their babies milk." (I found that to be a very educated and surprising answer coming from Elle. Good to see school is paying off!)

Elle- "Ahhhhh. Mya said she's going to marry Spencer when she grows up!"

Spencer- "Yep. I think she is." (His matter-of-factness just struck me as so funny!)

And, after discussions about how it is night in China when it is day here (not sure if that is true, but that is what the girls were saying), they came out with: "If you're Chinese, you're nocturnal!"

And good to see that Mya captured a photo of Quackers spending some quality time in the Bumbo.

Kids and changing seasons equals mass clothing project. Besides sorting through and weeding out clothes, there also was a fair amount of clothing purchased. It always stinks to spend so much, but with four kids there is really no way around it. Elle wasn't going to make it through the winter with only one pair of pants (and they were sweatpants- no way. Not going to cut it.) I got some awesome deals at Old Navy, participating in their "stuff and save" and got 50% off my whole purchase. I love good deals. I got so much! So after lots of shopping (including a wonderful Friday night trip to the mall awhile back, almost by myself- I had Cole) we almost have enough to hold us over until Spring.

Little Boo is always a silly one. We just love her! She had a two-night sleepover with her sissies last weekend (which they were so excited about), and the first night she fell asleep just like this. With the tables and chairs set up and one in her hand.

Awhile back, she started doing this thing she called "chong-chongs" and it looks something like this...

A couple other cute things that have come out of her mouth:

"See, see. That's scary, scary." (talking about Cole's dragon costume)

"Ugh. I'm mad at you mommy." (after I took away her giant stack of paper)

Me: "Good nite, little monkey."

Jada: "I'm not a little monkey. I'm Jada-Boo."

Me: "Oh. Good nite knucklehead."

Jada: "I'm not a knucklehead. I'm Jada-Boo, I said!"

As for the little man, playing with (more like staring at) his toy got a little boring so he just decided to fall asleep. And if you look closely below, I think he might be trying to watch TV. All those football games Jake has exposed him to have got him hooked on the TV already.

You know you're a chubby one if your mom unbuttoned your pants when you rode in your car seat today so your belly wouldn't get so squished! And if your mom has to make sure your airways aren't constricted when she buttons the top button on your shirt! Cute and chubby, that's how we make them around here!

I am feeling a little sad about the mohawk falling out. He's getting pretty bald up top nowadays, as well as sporting a nice smooth bald spot on the back of his head. I have discovered he's not a huge fan of hats, as can be seen below. He eventually gets used to it, but I guess that's what you get being born in the summer.

And a couple cute shots of him bundled up at the soccer games...

Taking a quick break from the kids- Jake did get to go to an LSU game a couple of weekends ago with some friends. He loved it, as always.

And back to the kids. My girls love to color. Unfortunately, with Jada around, things often end up all over the place. Drives me crazy! I love it when she flings them from the table!

And now I will indulge you in our own little mini-art show. What follows are some of the rare (okay not really, they can be found in abundance) masterpieces that are created by my girls, almost on a daily basis. Some are displayed here, making the fridge a cluttered mess!

While others are displayed on bedroom doors, as seen by the picture on Jada's door. Good to know Cole and Dad are still allowed.

I'm a little sad that some of these didn't upload in color, especially this first one. The colors were so pretty. Oh well. Up first, we have some beauties by Elle...

When I hurt my foot awhile back, the girls made me two cute books with pictures. Two are featured below.

I loved this one (the sun is yellow in a non-black and white world). "Your the sunieest." So cute.

I know this isn't art, but it was such a cute write up by Elle!

Even Jake gets a few love notes now and again.

Now onto our second little artist, Mya.

Mya favors me with all kinds of pics almost daily that say "I love you". It is so sweet and I will miss those nice pictures one day!

Good to know she still loves me, even if I get on her case all the time! I like this next one because you can see the writing from the back. She'll give me pictures and say I have to look on the back, where there often will be a nice message written for me.

I had to laugh at the one above. Mya wanted to make sure we could see that "famous carrot" as she called it. She is really proud of how good it is! And below it says "You are the best mom because you are silly".

And one more "I love you" for the road. Looks like she's yelling it!

And last up, Little Boo. I really admire her use of color in this first peice!

This next one got a little fancy with its squiggles.

And lastly one she made for me from nursery.

What fun, cute, silly little kids we have around here!