I'm still not up for posting about last weekend's marathon day so here is a little bit of today's morning activity: painting! It's a dreary and rainy day so I didn't even bother getting the older boys out of their PJs until after snack time (around 10:30!). My good friend Karen gave us this big sheet of paper a couple weeks ago. She said that her kids love to trace themselves and color on theirs (great idea!). I asked the boys if they wanted to paint this morning and Logan said "ya....on that big paper from Miss Karen, Paige and Will!!" So....taking Karen's fun advice, I had the boys lay down and I traced their bodies for them. We set up the paints at the table and they decorated "themselves" for a while. Are we all getting the feeling that it's always quite the production around my house (water tables, muddy children, painting at the table)? Well...it's either keep 'em busy or break up fights all day :)


Here are the boys getting ready to be traced (only Bray has on actual cloths...oh and I did too!!)
Painting at the table with all the fun rollers and brushes

Not to be trusted with real paint, Bray got a couple things to play "painting" on the window (he later bit off pieces of the roller so that had to be confiscated)

My friend Anna dropped by and took this picture of Brady after he got hold of a brush Logan left on a chair.

The brush was on a chair because the boys soon tired of the table and so I put up the rest of Karen's paper on the window - fun!! They used a chair to get up high!

Aiden's finished project. He used this little pom-pom ring thing to make dots on the bottom...

they look like fire works when you see them up close....pretty cool.
Logan's finished project. He painted over them, but his work of art also contained some transformer stickers!

Last Saturday, we had the BEST DAY EVER in downtown Chicago with all the boys. I took so many pictures that it's going to take me at least a couple days to go through them and figure out which ones to post. Before I get around to that though, I wanted to share the joy of the un-seasonably warm weather. Sarting on Saturday, we've had a string of really nice days (nice meaning 50ies which feels like summer to us right now). Yesterday afternoon, the boys played a little outside with the neighbor kids, but mom dragged them off to the gym before we could have some REAL fun. Aiden thinks it's summer and was BESIDE himself that we couldn't do water balloons and play with bubbles. Every time we have a nice day, they ask if we can go to the pool. Ahhhhh....poor guys....I hate to tell you, but it's supposed to snow again next week!

This morning, after I dropped Logan off at preschool and before I take Aiden to his Not Two Young To Learn class, we stepped outside and I made sure that our little guy got his bubbles. Brady toddled around as well and it occurred to me that he has never walked in our back yard. Obviously I took some pictures to document this grand occasion.

Oh how I wish this weather would stay - I think its perfect...not too hot and not too cold. Plus....it gives me the chance to dress the boys in their adorable "coordinating" GAP coats with fuzzy hoods (this is how I make up for not having a daughter to dress....I coordinate the boys!!) I think it's supposed to rain later today and then we're heading slowly back into the 30ies (better than the -20 wind chill we had about a month ago!!!)

the wind is perfect today....all you have to do is hold the bubble stick up and voila - instant bubbles courtesy of Mother Nature!



Brady's first stroll around the back yard!!

This was a running start from the porch

Look at that execution! 10 points for style!!
This is a mud "pile" right in front of the swing set. I was inside for a few minutes (multi-tasking strikes again!) when Logan yelled "mom....we're getting muddy!" I looked out, saw what they were doing and just decided to roll with it. I remember doing something very similar when I was a kid!
Good thing it's supposed to rain buckets tonight...at least the seats on the swing will get washed off :)

I'm not sure mom (my mom), do you remember two little kids having crazy muddy hands like this?? I think we shocked you one day at the front door all dirty....we too were rushed straight to the bath!

I told Logan that I wasn't happy that they got their cloths all dirty and muddy, but that I understood and it was OK as long as he would just come with me nicely to the shower. I think his face conveys my message.... Thankfully it's warm enough outside that I could strip them down and leave the cloths on the porch. Aiden's feet still had shoes on so he got to walk (with his muddy hands "on his tummy") upstairs, but I carried Logan. L was kind enough to keep his feet pointed out so as not to get mud on me. Thanks dude!

I did have enough foresight to put them in crocs instead of sneakers (Aiden's shoes got muddy just from walking around in the yard this morning so it was a good move regardless....these got sprayed with the hose and we're good to go again).

This is Logan's hand! I think there are actual small rocks embedded in the dirt! He looks like a mud baby!

And finally....this is the shower. Logan said "mom! this is the first shower we ever had BEFORE naps!" Besides diaper explosion emergencies, I think he's right.

Yesterday it was far too cold to go anywhere. We had nothing planned in the morning so we were just playing around the house. Logan and Aiden started getting the idea, as they sometimes do, to "wash" toys in the downstairs bathroom sink. I usually don't have a problem with it, but now Brady wants to join in and there is only one little step stool in the bathroom for 3 little boys....dangerous! I started thinking that they are all going to REALLY enjoy the water table again this summer. Then I thought....well....why wait until summer? I found the water table in the garage, pulled it into the basement, told the older boys to help me lay down towels and then had them run upstairs and fill up a bag with bathtub toys. All was just dandy and everyone was super happy until Logan got bored (after about 5 minutes). Aiden and Brady were having the time of their lives though! Logan wanted more stuff to put in the water (they already had tons), he wanted me to do something else for him (find your own entertainment dude..I think a water table in the basement is about as cool as I am getting today). I told him no. I told him to play something else if he was bored with the water stuff..... I went to get something upstairs...

I knew they would get soaked, I knew the towels would get wet...I even removed all battery-containing toys from the basement area and put them into a bin so none of them would get dunked. I did not think that they would break the one and only rule I laid down "do NOT dump the water on the ground". Was it my fault that I let them have some small cups? Was it my fault that I left the basement to get something upstairs? yes and yes. Logan yelled upstairs "mom!! we're ALL having fun now...even me!" I ran. There was water every where. It took 4 more beach-sized towels to get it up (so 6 in total). I had to clean under all the Geotrax I had laid down (and ps, Aiden started breaking that whole thing apart last night too....it wasn't a good day). Everyone got a time out and I cried a little. Oh well. Next time (next time?) I won't leave the basement!!

Before we get into the water table pictures, I have to share this cute drawing that Aiden and his teacher made together in his Not Two Young To Learn Class. She drew almost everything, but Aiden told her to put three boys in the boat and that they were Logan, Aiden and Brady (I had actually drawn him a similar picture earlier in the day of three boys in a hot air balloon). I love the hats!!



Aiden told me that the teacher drew the people. Is it me or should she work on her stick figures? The L and A ones look like they have three legs....tripod people if you will! Aiden said he did the sun!

Before the water table adventure, the boys were playing "nap time". I had just put Brady upstairs in his room (because L & A scratched his eye somehow and he was all snotty and sad and needed a rest). When I came down the stairs, I saw them laying with pillows, blankets and sippy cups in the front dining room.

I dream that someday they really will put themselves to bed just like this...

...but in actual beds at bedtime obviously.

Here is the water table and a big jug of water we just happened to have in one of the upstairs cabinets. It's been there FOREVER so it's not like we were going to use it anytime soon. This one jug pretty much filled up the whole thing, but I got a little more warm water to make it nice. We also added some green soap for bubbles.

Here is everyone having a grand old time. Logan lasted 5 minutes, the younger boys played for at least 45 minutes. Yes...Aiden is still wearing PJ bottoms....because he refused to take them off (just like mommy, he loves his fleece-wear!) I was too sad to take pictures of the aftermath.

Here is a picture of poor Brady's eye. Again...yesterday was not a good one! I'm not even sure what happened. They were all playing and I heard him cry. I went to see what was going on. Logan said "Aiden was getting Brady so I got him too". Who knows what that means. Everyone got a time out. (everyone also ended the day with like 1 star each!)

Bray refuses to wear bibs. He tears them off. We just decided to give up and call him the messy kid. I kept thinking I should try the big, over the head ones I've seen and finally picked up this festive number on Tuesday. It actually works like a charm. I'll have to get a few more. He's no longer the messy kid - yeah!

Yesterday morning started with a 7am call to Poison Control! Aiden had pushed a chair over to the kitchen cabinets, climbed up, managed to get the not-so-child-proof lid off of the gummy vitamins and was chomping them down when I found him. I had been upstairs getting Logan up and changed while this was happening. I'm pretty sure he had no more than 10 of them (plus or minus the 3 that I fished out of his mouth). We had a lock on that cabinet, but it had been moved since I thought Aiden was over that annoying stage of trying to get his own food. Interesting fact: you do not need to worry about your kid consuming gummy vitamins until he/she eats around 100 of them! They contain no iron and the next thing they worry about is too much Vitamin A. I was told just to skip the vitamin for a few days and go on with my life. The lady on the phone literally said "it's fine...kids do this all day long". Alrighty then!

So...Sunday we hosted the neighborhood Superbowl Party. It was a casual affair - come, bring food & drinks, let the kids run wild. I had been trying for a while to get the massive amount of GeoTrax that we have set up in a cool configuration in the basement and thought that the party was a good excuse. They used to live in the playroom, but we never got them out because it would take FOREVER to make a nice set up and the boys would only play with it for a while and then tear it down. Too frustrating! During Christmas break, Brian and I moved all the stuff downstairs and I spent Sunday morning putting together a little masterpiece. Brian helped me with the 2 pieces I have never understood, but other than that, I managed to do it all by myself! Logan (and mostly Aiden) acted as assistants....they would bring me the pieces I needed.

Here is the final product! I tried to use different colored tracks for the different areas: green for the "country side", gray for "the city" and brown for the "industrial area". I think this should count as class credit should I ever decided to go for an engineering degree!! I even made sure that the trains wouldn't get stuck in any weird loops....as long as they all go counter-clock-wise, we're good!!

Here are all the trains and construction vehicles ready to go.

Just a shot of the basement. I cleaned it up and it's fairly well organized right now so I wanted to take a picture. Way in the background is the 10X10 inflatable "bounce house" we gave the boys for Christmas 2 years ago. We decided not to finish our basement yet since little boys need a place to ride bikes, run and throw stuff during the winter!

This is the playroom after 12 kids "played in it". Every drawer, bin and container has been turned over and dumped. According to most of the kids and the parents, 2 individuals did most of the damage: Aiden and one other little guy who actually doesn't belong to me!

More shots of the playroom.
That shelf is supposed to have 7 containers on it!! Where did they all go? :) Another fun activity the kids discovered: take the plastic cups off of the beverage table and stomp all over them. The foyer was covered in crushed red cups. Another mom tried to stop the mayhem, but it wasn't hurting anyone (and we have a gazillion cups from Costco that we've had for 3 YEARS) so I told her to let it go for a while. We finally put a movie on for them...which they sat still and watched for about 10 minutes before they went back to running around and yelling (it was nearly impossible to hear the TV!) Reminder: 12 kids between the ages of 1 and 6!
A shot of the living room where the adults were trying to watch the game.
This is a horrible picture, but we brought our bedroom TV down to the "formal" living room, ran a cord over the stairs from the main tv and had 2 of them going. I tried turning that into a movie-viewing area for the kids, but as I mentioned before, that whole idea didn't last for long!