Back-to-school beauties

We made our biannual trip to the beauty salon yesterday for some back-to-school stylin'!Madelyn's stylist got docked points for not giving her hair pretties but I made up for it today with my own creative 'do.

Chiming in

Yesterday was our second to last Crafty Kid Tuesday before school starts. We decided on wind chimes. Don't ask why. It's not spring, although it is often breezy in the afternoon. The kit came with three butterfly chimes but only one brush. That means, you guessed it, sharing! The girls were actually fine with sharing. It was their two little brothers who had a hard time not being allowed to touch anything. And their mommy who got frustrated with their naturally curious two-year-old brothers. Fortunately, after Catherine bore my frustration she took her brothers to the playroom to 'make dinner'. With them out of the way, it was much easier to get the work done.

Chloe was very proud of her symmetrical paint design.
Seth loves to watch big sisters work. He likes to work with them better but resigned himself to watching yesterday.
All done! Phew! It looked lighter outside when I took the picture but take my word for it, the wind chimes are colorful not to mention beautiful.

Fun with zucchini

Our zucchini crop was recently assaulted by squash bugs. Truthfully, I wasn't too sad since the rate of production was exhausting me not to mention everyone who was forced to take some. I've been waiting for a weekend when Mark could help me dispose of the plants. In the meantime, however, I decided to grow some State Fair-worthy zucchini. We harvested them last Friday and came up with some alternative uses for zucchini other than zucchini bread.

First up, the zucchini barbell. Check out those muscles!Next, the babysitter. Our girls will be ready for their baby brother in no time lugging these around.Finally, dinner. The girls didn't find this one quite so funny!In other gardening news, I had my proudest moment of the season last Friday when we sat down to a meal that included home-grown corn, carrots and cucumbers.

Ready or not

I'm not...well maybe a little...it was my idea I guess.
Yesterday we set up a big boy bed in the boys' room. It was meant to serve as an introduction, a place to take naps, read and cuddle. Then, in a month or so when I was ready to acknowledge that my sons are no longer the tiny bundles I brought home from the hospital two years ago, we would let them sleep in the beds regularly. We might even ENCOURAGE them at that point because our new baby would be almost here.
They had other plans and in the blink of an eye, alright, maybe in the span of an afternoon, my baby boys became big boys. These moments when I actually SEE my children grow up are hard. I know I should celebrate and tomorrow I will, but for now I feel quiet. I'm trying to capture the moment, to remember the days that have gone by, to rejoice in the milestone, to allow more space between us.
Sam took the plunge first. He took a nap and slept last night in the bed. Today we are going to take down the cribs and set up Seth's big boy bed. He's excited! I am too...sniff, sniff.

Beach bracelets

For this week's Crafty Kid Tuesday, I let the girls push me out of my box. We made bracelets. I generally don't like jewelry kits. Perhaps it's because I usually stumble upon the girls playing with one after its been opened, unsupervised. Beads are everywhere. No one can thread the beads. No one can start or finish the bracelet. Or the bracelet breaks minutes after putting it on. And I get to be reminded of said destruction and frustration for weeks on end when sweeping or even more fun, when jabbed in the foot while innocently walking by.

But yesterday's bracelet making extravaganza was fun! This kit used jewelry wire so it was easier to thread and it came with clasps so, cross my fingers, we won't have to deal with as many breaks and repairs.Sam gave me this cheesy grin as if to explain and apologize for being laid out completely on the table so he could get his hands on the beads too.

Pregnancy: A Case Study

Problem: I am almost 29 weeks along in my fourth pregnancy. While most of it has been a breeze compared to my twin pregnancies, yesterday was a bad day. So my question is why was I feeling so large, achy, tired and irritable yesterday?

To find out, I turned to the past.

Pregnancy 1: Singleton girl
This picture represents the last time I had any sort of abdominal muscle tone.
Pregnancy 2: Twin girls
At this time we actually thought we were having boy/girl twins. We didn't find out about our two 'hamburger buns' until 32 weeks.Pregnancy 3: Twin boys
We were three weeks away from moving to Austin. What were we thinking?Pregnancy 4: Singleton boy
Taken yesterday. Notice the increase in gray hair over the last seven years.
Analysis: Having twins, especially two sets, encourages ones body to appear larger than necessary during pregnancy. Also, having result of previous three pregnancies to chase after, feed and generally care for and love results in extreme tiredness and self neglect.

Conclusion: Feelings of tiredness, achiness, irritability and largeness are permitted occasionally.

On the road again

After a rest day, we headed out again. This time we travelled north to Denver to see Nana, Papa, Aunt Sissa, Uncle Kelly and cousin Matthew. The weather was nice and cool, almost chilly. No complaints here!

On Friday, we went to the Denver Zoo. Here's our five in the wagon.
Here's our five plus cousin Matthew. It's hard to believe that in a few short months that sixth spot will be necessary for a group shot of our kids.Lions and tigers and bears, oh my...
You can't miss a ride on the zoo train. That's Mark's sister Melissa with her son, Matthew, in the row between us.
Catherine had fun trying on Nana's visor.
Papa and Seth discover all the fun animals at the zoo.
Back at Nana and Papa's house, the kids had fun exploring.
The girls tried croquet.
And Sam tried to get away.
We racked up about 1650 miles on the minivan this week. I'm done! My swollen ankles and back are begging for mercy. Until October you can find me close to home; it's nesting time!