Portting a Potty

This poor kid got his head stuck and would not allow me to help him (Too Independent). Both him and I got a hold of Shane; I texted and he used his phone to call. He was busy at work so he was stuck till dad got home. So funny to see him doing everyday things (like jumping on the trampoline) in his condition.

Two Zoo Trips

All Ready For the POOL!!
Paisley loved the pool,
weird since she doesn't love baths.

This month we were able to go on a mini vacation and expose our kids to the "high life"- staying in a hotel. They loved it!!!   I on the other hand kept losing things there. For example my contact container lids disappeared and I couldn't find them anywhere! I finally gave up the search. and went to bed. In the morning I couldn't find my flip flips to go down and eat breakfast. That is when Daphney ran to the mini fridge and pulled them out saying, "well they are a little chilly mom..." Before we left Demitri kindly opened the cd player and handed me my contact container lids! -"Here mom." Really kids... I can honestly say I love not living in a one bedroom house. 

This might be more effective
 had we packed the two back wheels...

Second Zoo Trip: Just mom and the kids.

      Did I mention we love the zoo?! Here is a picture of us waiting in the car for a minute on account of it was raining. I was debating whether cool mom's or crazy mom's take their kids to the zoo in the rain?

It actually turned out to be really fun at the zoo when it is rainy because weirdly there are no lines and you can park next to the entrance. The animals were really friendly, because there weren't a bunch of people. We loved getting to see that super cute baby Kangaroo and its momma.

Daphney's favorite animals are tapirs, red panda, vultures, and sea lions. 

We got to take pictures by the last two favs. 

The Struggle is Real Folks!

Thursday I had all three kids at the grocery store. What is worse than having the candy conveniently located at child's level at the cash register? ... I hate that!

Well having the candy located on the first isle of the store; with this special feature parents get to enjoy children begging for candy the entire way through the store. Of coarse we had to carry the candy around forever because the wrapper happened to rip open in the struggle of peeling it from the kids fingers. But even if it wasn't open we still would have had to buy it, because Daphney chose to hide it in her pants.

 I am just a mean mom who doesn't think we need to buy candy every time we go to the store.

Long story short... That was the longest trip ever, and I was mad at Daphney, embarrassed some, mad at myself for how much I still love the little goon. Swore there would never be anymore candy, trips to the store, OR.... happiness ever.

I chose not to tell my husband about this situation, because he has had a stressful week himself.
And that was going fine.... Until!

Shane- These are good strawberries!
Me- Yeah and I got them on a good sale. I almost bought a ton, but resisted.
Shane- That is okay. You can just stop by again with the kids while you are out tonight.
Me- YEAH MAYBE!

Oddly, he could tell I was not happy; even though I thought I was hiding it so well. When he got home from work he offered to order Chinese food to make my day a little better.

We had two fortune cookies so we split the fortunes, and I cracked and read aloud Daphney's and my fortune. "Struggle hard for the things you believe in."
-Really!!! Not only struggle but struggle HARD?!?!

Then I read Demitri and Shane's "You enjoy sunshine and fresh air."
- Why couldn't we have gotten that glorious fortune?!

We LOVE Saturdays!

 I am not going to lie; we are so busy and often out of energy! However, on Saturdays Shane has a little more time and as a family we are able to explore and forget about obligations for a while.

We pack a lot into our Saturdays!

First we did a little exploring at the second best place after the zoo any store that has lots of dead animals on the walls. :D After I had the picture taken Daphney looked at it and said, "well Gorilla doesn't look very good." I forget how important he is to her happiness. 

Second, we went and explored willy nilly the sculpture park in Des Moines. 

Third, we set up Paisley's new swing from her grandparents which we all love. 

Fourth, we flew a giant jelly fish kite! So much fun!!

Helpful Siblings

Oh how fun it is to watch Demitri growing into the big brother role. 

Gender Roles

The experience of having a boy and a girl is a necessary rite of passage... 

I LOVE raising a boy and LOVE raising a girl!

1. Learning to be a "Man"

My son has always been a very independent child. And I relish in any chance that I have to help him not struggle to do something (like wear pants as his shirt), but unfortunately today his independence won out. He had decided he was not going to ride in the stroller; he could walk just fine. "Fine Mom, Self- Fine!" 

Alrighty, we only had half a block left on our walk which took so long that both the girls fell asleep in that short distance. Turns out rush hour traffic is never a good time to venture outside the home with a boy even if you are not crossing the street. 

Demitri loved watching all the cars and could not walk until each string of cars had passed. He would watch and get all excited when he would see a truck. "Hi, Big Truck!" And he would wave real big. Not very many trucks waved back, but all the soccer moms in the mini vans waved with big smiles clearly thinking my son was the sweet friendly type.... My son EVERY SINGLE TIME snubbed them; he was not waving at mini vans or cars only trucks. He seriously would look at them like why in the world are you waving at me.

Then he found a stick which he proceed to have some sort of inner desire to point it aggressively at each car. I wish I knew what was going through his mind! 

2. Learning about Women's Role

Thanks to Daniel the Tiger, television series my daughter has been wanting another baby since Paisley was like a month old. She is constantly nursing her stuffed animals and has even set up an area that is the doctors, so that she can go give birth to the animals. I have tried not to get too involved because I know where that leads. 

But alas in the vehicle the conversation started...

Daph- "Mom, how do the babies get OUT of your tummy?"

       I repeated the question so that she could affirm that was what she was asking. I really try to answer her questions, but not give more than what she is asking. This was also my chance to breathe and decide she was finally old enough to know. 

       We began talking about how they exit "naturally" or on occasion the doctor has to cut the tummy open and get the babies out. C-sections are much easier to talk about... I made reference to her twin cousins who had become tangled and had to be removed by C-section. 

Daph- "So, [A] and [B] twins were fixed because they cut their hair?"

        -wait no... where did I lose her? 

"Oh, so they were not Rapunzel; they just were stuck! Does that makes since Daph?"

Daph- "Yeah, but now I want to know how babies get IN the tummy."

         (You give a mouse a cookie :D)

          Okay so don't worry some answers were meant to be at least stalled... 

"Well a mom and dad have to first decide that their family is ready to grow."

Daph- "So have you decided yet?!" 

Talent Show

They are so skilled!
Daphney sang to us all the way home from church and put the siblings to sleep. Who needs an actual songbook?

Demitri and Daphney are both practicing using scissors. We have a little ways to go yet but we understand the desired objective.

Our last trick is from Paisley and her new favorite thing to do is purse her lips and spit. Proud Mom!

Watch out King Julian you've got competition!

Warning with this video I am only trying to show you what is in like the first 15 seconds.