Daughter for sale

Well, if you've caught a glimpse of the pictures already, you might have noticed we've done another room swap.  Yes, once again we're moving rooms around because my daughter is slowly driving us crazy.  She's been doing such a good job of not trashing the room with clothes and toys. That all changed last Friday. She did some spider man moves and managed to pull down two bottles of lotion from a shelf in her closet.  I cleaned up the lotion, she cleaned up the rest and was not happy the rest of the night. 

Saturday after nap time, she pulled out all the clothes from the dresser (even though it has the kid locks on the drawers) and threw toys all over the room.  I don't care if she plays during nap time, but what she does goes past playing to complete destruction.  Once again, she cleaned up and was miserable because we made her clean. 

Yesterday, Jon discovered diaper rash ointment spread all over the glider, half her stuffed animals, a bunch of diapers and some clothes.  She pushed a chair to the closet and pulled out the ointment.  That did it.  Last night we moved her back to her original room and made the room she was in the play room again.  Now she has a smaller space for less toys and there are no chairs to stand on. Hopefully this will eliminate most of our issues.  I'm sure we'll still have toys to clean up, but we'll have less of them and fewer places to search for the ones she looses.  On the plus side, the boys love having a bigger space for "rest time."  

I think another part of Ellies problem is she's starting to outgrow her nap and she's getting bored which leads to destruction.  With having a bigger play room, I can send her in with the boys to play if I see she's not going to sleep.  She'll have plenty of room to do her thing while the boys do their thing.

Once the camera was out, Ben just happened to find his way into half the pictures!  We still need to hang her blanket and her pictures up in her new room, but we're getting there.

We also switched Zachs bed and the dresser.  This gives him a little more floor space when he wants some play time.

That was how we spent our Sunday night.  I'll be thrilled if this works, but something tells me we'll be moving things around again sooner than I'd like which doesn't make me happy.

Presents

Ben ordered me out of the play room the other day to work on something for us.  This is what he gave us.  I couldn't be more proud!

Bike ride

Jon has been taking the boys out bike riding quite a bit over the last few weeks.  I'm determined to get rid of Ben's training wheels ASAP.  Last week, he gave me some quiet time and took all four of them out.

Zach wasn't too sure of what was happening, but once Jon got moving, he had a huge smile on his face.

They made it to the park, rode around the loop a few times and headed home.  Sam was pooped and let Jon know it every 2 minutes, but it sounds like they had a great time with dad.

Pj's

Ellie got some new pj's last week.  She was very excited to wear her elephants after bath time.  Zach saw the camera and struck a pose!

Ellie pretending she likes Zach:

Zachary and his giraffe

I finally got my Zach tattoo last night.  I love it.  It fits him perfectly.  I love fall and October is my favorite month.  It works out well that thats when he was born.  If you know anything about Zach you know that his giraffe is his most prized possession.  It makes a bad day better, it lets him fall asleep, it comforts and soothes.  Its his best friend and had to be included.

I was originally thinking about the inside of my flower arm for Zachs tattoo, but I wanted something that sort of flowed.  I came across an owl and loved it.  I told my guy I wanted an owl and he drew this up.  Its still peeling and healing so it doesn't look its best, but its getting there. Eventually I'll throw in some more flowers and leaves and fill it up a bit more, but after 2 tattoos in 2 weeks, I think I'm done for just a bit!

Wordless Wednesday: Thats my boy!

Before the switch flips

Every now and then they all get along and I have to bring out the camera to remember these moments.  They usually only last a few seconds then pinching, screaming, yelling and tears take over.

Tattoo, no pics yet

I've been thinking about a Zach tattoo for a while.  I had a couple thoughts in mind so when I made the appointment, I gave him some small scale ideas.  Of course, by the time I got there, the idea had changed about 25 times and each idea got bigger and bigger.  When I showed up for my apt last week, my guy was a bit overwhelmed with my idea for the amount of time we had.  We made a deal that I would come back the following week for the Zach tattoo and while I was there, I would add to my flower arm.  I had a random idea for that arm and it turned out great. Unfortunately, the inner arm is a rough spot to get a tattoo on.  I knew it would be more sore than the others, but holy cow!  By the time I went to bed, I had a red ring around the outside of the bottom of the tattoo which is turning into a bruise.  Its also swollen and PAINFUL! After we get through the peeling and painful phase, I'll post a picture or two and by that time, hopefully, I'll have my Zach tattoo ready to show off.

Wordless Wednesday: Riding bikes

Dust busters

Ellie wanted to try out the dust buster a few days ago. Apparently dust busting is the coolest thing ever if you're 2.  Sadly, between the 2 of them, they only pick up about 5% of the crumbs!

A little funny

We had a rough day today.  Lots of fighting and hitting between Ellie and Zach.  Lots of not paying attention in school for Ben and I'm sure a lot of feeling neglected by Sam.  While catching up on blogs etc, I read one that made me laugh.  It was just what I needed after a crazy day.  Go here to check it out.  #10 is my favorite.  I can relate.

Wordless Wednesday: Belly

Baby love

I love these guys!

Party day

We had Bens friend party yesterday.  We headed up to the park after church with 30 of Bens closest friends (kids and parents).  We pretty much took over the park!  It was really muggy, but that didn't stop the kids from running all over the park, making a fort and finding a hide out in the woods.  The cakes were a huge hit. For the first time ever, we have no left over cake.  That was the best part!  I know he's had a blast the past few days, but I'm ready to get back into our normal with my 7 year old.  Here are some park highlights: