Naughty Fwirl

See previous post, first video.... This is that "naughty fwirl." And although it is hard to see here, he actually has his head INSIDE the pumpkin. NAUGHTY FWIRL, INDEED!

Documenting the ABC's

She's been singing this the last couple of days, but wouldn't you know it, when I get out the camera, this happens...



Not one to give up easily, we tried again, with successful results!


Is a 2 and a half year old supposed to "know" their ABC's?? I guess we'll just have to start working on the word "squirrel." :)

Mom the Detective

I love detective shows--back when we had a TV connected to the real world, that is. My favorite was CSI--the early CSI Las Vegas, when the murder had already been committed and you didn't have to SEE someone getting hacked to death with a hatchet. (Come on CSI--we can use our imaginations, we don't need to SEE those kinds of things. I digress...) So, yes, I love solving a mystery.

Never in my wildest dream did I ever imagine becoming a Mom would automatically make me a detective. I am called on just about every day to "put the pieces together" to discover what really happened 3 minutes ago in the living room. Here's a great example from today, and you see if YOU can figure it out...(don't worry, it doesn't take a rocket scientist!)

I knew it was a BAD sign finding a pile of screws on the living room carpet, alongside the murder weapon...


...and then a miscellaneous piece I've never seen before in my life (aka a trail of blood)...

...ahh, it appears we have found the victim, even though the culprit tried to cover up the murder.

And as I type this, the culprit just walked into the room stating, "Mom, I need a rope!"

Seriously.

Personality to the Max

Sometimes I forget God can pack so much personality into such a little body. But boy can He! There are so many factors to this photo that show her personality...

1) She's still in her pajamas, which she decides each morning exactly WHEN to change out of them, and typically picks her own clothes. (She's 2, remember? My 8-year-old doesn't even do this.)

2) She has 4 items in her hair--a ponytail, 2 headbands, and a pair of sunglasses. Overkill is her middle name.

3) She has her hands crossed like a prim and proper lady. I'm surprised she doesn't have her legs crossed--she usually does.

4) She has assembled, (and carefully placed) her crew to watch TV (probably a Chester video) with her. She is all about being with people and interaction, although only if she knows you. Apparently she's pretty good buds with these friends.

One thing you should know about our TV watching habits is that they are few and far between. When we had our first child 8 years ago, we decided we had better things to do than watch TV, so we got rid of the antennae (we never had cable or satellite...I live in the boonies, remember?). We did keep the TV and VCR to watch an occasional movie. So when I let the kids watch a video, it is big stuff. Apparently Drama Queen didn't want anyone to miss it!

One of the blessings of being a parent, which I hadn't thought of before I had kids, was being able to watch their little personalities develop. To encourage them in strengths and discipline them in weaknesses is one of the joys of being a parent. (Ok, so not such a joy, the disciplining part...let's call it a privilege, ok?)

Rainbow Cake Adventure

Chatterbox, a few weeks ago, saw this cake on the internet and decided she wanted it for her birthday. I was thrilled, because compared to the huge castle cake we made last year (that took us 2 days...no joke!), this was going to be EEEEEEE-ZZZZZZZZZ! And for the most part, I was right. I will say it provided a whole ton of fun! Here's what we did...

We made 2 cake mixes, and divided the batter into 6 bowls, then added food coloring to make the 6 colors of the rainbow. I used Wilton food coloring so the colors would be vibrant.


Then we took cookie-dough scoopers and "plopped" random colors into two heart-shaped cake pans.


They will thrilled with their creations, as you can tell...


After baking, we cut the tops off to make them flat, and they looked like this.


Then we stacked and frosted them.


Happy Birthday to you...happy birthday to you...happy birthday.......


What a cool surprise when you cut into this cake and find this!


And if you're wondering how it tastes, it tastes just like white cake. Although I will say it was a little more "crumbly" than normal. Otherwise, it was a big hit!

Closed for the Season

The kids have officially closed their farmer's market for the season. Actually, we don't have anything left, except for a couple of pumpkins the squirrels are getting into on the front porch. We ended the summer with our pumpkin harvest, which was really a lot of fun and made the kids their most money. Here you can see them...

Picking

Loading

Ready to haul

Washing
Ready to sell!

But now the pumpkins and gourds are all gone, and the kids are making bigger and better plans for next year's market. I'm so glad this has been a good experience for them and that they are excited to do it again! Anyone want to order pumpkins for next year??

The Binders have Crabs

Yes, it is true. Shocking, I know. Meet one of four...


We actually have had these little critters since summer, but I just ran across this photo and thought I'd share. They have been interesting to have, and not too much trouble at all. They eat just about anything, and not too much of it. Although I will say they are not the funnest pets to have. (My kids still want a puppy.) But they have been a good learning experience and if you want to know anything about hermit crabs, just ask my kids!