Mud

Back in October there was a warm spell.  One day is was nearly 80 degrees.  My kids were outisde playing in the sunshine.  I went outside to investigate and Sam was very muddy.  The boys had started a mud hole and let him climb into it.  At first I was quite cross, then I figured, Oh well...it will probably be the last nice day, so they had a great time playing in the mud.  Seriously, it was like October 14th...way to late in the year to let your kids run around in their swim trunks.  My boys love to wear their swim clothes and pretend they are going to the beach so being in swimsuits is not such a stretch around here.  Of course usually when they get out their swim suits and play "beach" they also get ALL their blankets off their beds and lay them out on the floor.  Their comforters are a nice solid blue on the back and make the perfect "ocean."  And all their other blankets are the beach towels, etc.  They lay on them and pretend they are "tanning!"  It makes me CRAZY!!  Because they aren't so good at cleaning up.  Imagine that!  But i digress...back to the mud.  I took Sam in for a bath and let them continue in their mud delight.  They sledded in it, rolled in it, buried themselves in it and slapped it on themselves until they were covered!  It finally started getting chilly and froze even more when I hosed them off with the outside hose!  Harmon managed to sneak past me and climbed into the tub completely covered in mud.  He looked like he was bathing in hot cocoa.  There was a lot of dirt in the tub after that!  And like a typical boy he didn't get why we had to drain all the water and start again. 

SPLISH SPLASH!

I hate mopping. Hate it hate it hate it hate it! Anyway, I also hate this ugly kitchen that needs to be remodeled. The floor is ugly, old and stained which makes me feel like mopping it even less. I was complaining to my mom about the state of my kitchen floor when she recommended giving my kids a rag and letting them help. I've done that before and they get water EVERYWHERE! But I decided what the heck, it needed a good soak. So I rallied the troops and told them we were going to mop. I gave each of them a rag and put them to work. They were excited to be playing with the rags and water. I stepped away to make a phone call or do something (read a book, drink a dr. pepper, have half a box of chocolates, soak in the tub...ya right). When I came back the boys had donned their bathing suits and were sliding across the floor. I had heard their shrieks of delight and laughter but hadn't yet seen what it was they were up to. Sure enough they were putting the rags under their bellys and sliding across the floor. Then they did away with the rags and just slid back and forth the length of the room. After a bit I had them start soaking up the water. This required putting the rag back on the floor, sliding across the room to pick up whatever water would fit into the rag between the bellies and the floor. Then they brought the rag to me to ring out. It actually worked really well!! Go figure! And I had a clean floor when it was over. Now they ask me when we are going to mop the floor again!! HA HA!

Foam Curlers

I bought some foam curlers for Ella. She was in LOVE! And wanted them put into her hair before she went to bed. I didn't get an after picture...I'll have to do her hair again and
get a curly shot. She looked kind of like a crazy princess! But she lot she was Beautiful!!

Sam wanted his picture taken too but also wanted to grab at the camera. He is getting quite busy!

Swim Lessons

In August I signed the boys up for swim lessons.  They had a FANTASTIC time.  Every day for two weeks we packed up and headed to the pool.  The lessons were only 30 minutes each but they learned alot and their confidence grew.  Next year we will start the swim lessons earlier! 

This is Porter trying to smile...it is so hard to smile for the camera when you are 5!

Jumping in!!

 The look of happiness on Porter's face makes me smile and wish it was warm enough to go to the pool again!

 Harmon's lessons were in the inside poole so pictures of him didn't turn out so well.  I am biased but he was the BEST in his class.  He really enjoys swimming.

Ella roamed the place like she owned it. I thought the sign in this picture was pretty funny.  She wanted to get in so bad!

 And my favorite photo....Harmon jumping in.  I love this picture! 

Harmon the Hatless

Harmon enjoyed playing baseball this summer too.  He misplaced or lost his hat early on so if it was bright out then he looked a bit like this first picture.

 Sam got a hold of a chip with nacho cheese on it and wouldn't let go of it.  He LOVED that stuff!  I was really surprised because it is quite spicy.  He does look a bit concerned in this picture.  Oh well!  Lucky child number 4! 

Carsen was on Harmon's team and this is the one photo I had of him playing catcher.  They sure had lots of fun!!