Working Hard

The baby (not really a baby, I mean, she's almost 4) and I washed the stairs this weekend. The sheetrock is very exciting, but also quite messy.

She did a fabulous job!

Two kids and a truck

How do people get anything done without kids to help them? We rented a truck for an hour or so today to take the big things to storage.

The baby wants to buy a truck when she grows up. A cute little truck, in case you were wondering what kind.

Garden Time!

Pending the approval of our contractor (to make sure a backhoe doesn't crush our tomatoes), we started getting the yard ready for spring today! Eric mulched almost everything.

The baby planted a stick.

Both kids helped me get the weeds out of the garden and mix in the compost!

I love spring.

Chocolate

I made some cupcakes and a small cake (from this amazing recipe) the other night. The baby decorated the cupcakes with stars.

The little guy not only decorated the cake-- he also licked the icing beater!

It's Good

We bought a rug for the living room-- it should be delivered on Monday. Yay! The baby saw me measure the room to see what size rug we need, and then she measured the room. She'd stretch out the tape measure carefully and say "Yup. It's good." before rolling it back up.

She even measured the ceiling! It's also good, in case you were wondering.

Little Helper

I did some serious cleaning, sorting, and organizing this morning while Eric and the little dude were at swimming lessons. The baby had a blast rediscovering her old baby toys.

She even 'slept' in her Moses basket!

How does your garden grow?

Ours is doing quite nicely! The kids and I checked on it tonight and pruned the tomatoes a bit. We have a little green tomato already. The baby managed to dig up one of the cantaloupe plants, but I replanted it. I hope it's a tough one!

Because it's important to dress appropriately, the little dude and I both wore our galoshes. The baby wore her snow boots! I guess we need to get her a pair of galoshes, too...

Learning (and loud voices)

The little guy just finished learning about pollution, littering, and recycling/reducing/reusing at school. Great, right? Sure. Until we're walking along and he points to a piece of trash on the ground and saysyells "Look, Mom! POLLUTION!!"

And now for something completely different, he figured out that he can water the flowers using his squirt gun.

Pretty creative, right?

At the car wash!

We washed the car today... it was filthy, and it looks so much better! It was also a great way to spend an afternoon when it was finally 80+ degrees out and sunny!
The little guy was in charge of washing it.

Everyone helped out. I washed most of the car and supervised/assisted. Eric was in charge of the middle of the roof.

Even the baby helped!

Really, she just played in the soapy water bucket.

This and That

Here are a few things happening around here:

• The little guy likes to whisper things to us... it's pretty awful. He has a very damp, breathy whisper and he gets awfully close to your ear. Eric and I both sort of grimace and lean away during his long, involved, and whispered stories.
• The baby has started saying "actually" all the time. It's actually pretty funny. (See what I did there?)
• The baby has also decided there are two types of people: tiny and very big. She, her brother, and her mommy are tiny. Daddy is very big. Mommy seriously and strenuously objects to this classification, but has been emphatically overruled. "Mommy, you are a tiny person! Daddy is very big!"

The kids also helped me make pizza the other night. They got ahold of the cheese and put an impressive amount in their mouths (and scattered it around the cheese drawer by accident).

Mommy/Son Time

The little guy helped me with my favorite kitchen task yesterday: pounding chicken! He liked it even more than I do!

We made a couple batches of chicken parmesan and took one to some friends who have a new baby. (We froze the other one.) Afterwards, we went to a potluck celebration for the end of my running training group. Everyone wore all their race medals they earned during the training period, and the little guy wore his soccer medal!

It was fun hanging out with the little guy one-on-one for so much of the day.

Help Unwanted?

Poor Eric was really enjoying playing Sim City on the iPad. Then the little dude got involved and made some questionable choices. Apparently he's starting to get a lot better, but now the baby wants to play! She actually managed to get the game open on her own tonight.

I don't know how she can stand having that bandaid on her nose, but it makes her happy.

Making Them Work!

The kids helped me scrub the living room rug today. I think we might put it back in the dining room. Either way, it was nice having the extra help with the cleaning.

Look at them scrub!

Lucky Guy

All of Eric's blueberries for lunch today were hand-selected this morning by the baby.

He's so loved.

Shrove Tuesday

We took advantage of the snow day yesterday and had pancakes for breakfast in honor of Shrove Tuesday. They were delicious! Eric had good helpers, too.

Sorry for the bananas in the foreground. I'm clearly not a professional photographer.

Family Affair

Trimming green beans is a job for LOTS of people, apparently. The little guy was in charge of picking out two to four beans and putting them on the cutting board. I'd trim and cut them, and then the baby would put them in the blue bowl.

I never liked green beans, but now I blanch them and then sauté them in butter, salt, and pepper. They are soooooooooooo good that way (and turn such a pretty shade of green). Yummy!

Makin' Bacon

We had pancakes and bacon for dinner last night. The kids both helped stir the pancake batter. Eric took this great picture of them helping, but I had just realized that all the bacon wouldn't fit on the griddle and am making a TERRIBLE face. Yikes!

Oh well. The food was delicious!

Kitchen Helpers

We always have cinnamon rolls and sausage for breakfast on Sundays. I've been adding a fruit salad lately to try and make it a bit healthier. This week I had two helpers to put the fruit in the bowl. The baby tasted almost every piece of fruit... so it's a bit soon to put her to work in an actual restaurant.

Construction Worker Man

Our wonderful minister came over to put the trim on the cornice in the living room, and the little guy was dressed and ready to help out!

He's so funny. (By the way, the cornice looks great. We just need to prime and paint it sometime in the next two to three years.)

Little Mechanics

Eric changed his oil tonight and the kiddos played outside by his Jeep the whole time.

So fun! Look at them go!