Riley's Boo-tiful birthday treats

Riley's 8th birthday is Friday, but since there is no school, she's bringing treats to share tomorrow. We made these ghostly cakeballs this year.

Photofunia

I'm not sure if I blogged about this website before or not. I'm sure most of you have seen Rowyn's picture in Times Square on Facebook, but my sister recently asked where it came from and I thought I'd better share it again. Photofunia.com

Look, David Beckham tattooed me on his chest. Loller!

Cooper becomes a Jedi.

A little beyond sidewalk chalk.

Rowyn is sketched.

There are a ton of effects. Go have fun. Photofunia.

Behind the Scenes

I decided to try some outside shots with Rowyn today. I had help from the older two girls and two neighbor girls. I took quite a few pictures and played with them on Picnik, the top picture was one of my favorites. Someone at the photo shoot was not happy, see if you can figure out who.

Two Little Monkeys Reading in Bed

How apropos, Rowyn.

Jello shots ala Caitlin

My sister cut lemons and oranges in half, filled them with jello and a bit of hootch, chilled them until set, and then sliced them again. I only wish I could sample the fare! So domestic, Cait, I'm impressed!

Serve these babies up at noon and the kids would take a nice afternoon snooze. ;)

Who needs an energy drink?

Yesterday afternoon, I heard Camdyn coughing in the kitchen. I went out to check on her and found her sitting on the counter, shoving an ice cream scoop full of powdered sugar in her mouth. (I store it so conveniently in a canister on the counter) I had noticed a few sprinkles of it on the floor the other day, but wasn't sure how it got there. I now had my answer and perhaps the source of her extra energy...

Dressed in yellow, they say hello

Rowyn clearly thinks she's crazy!

Our three girls...my brown-eyed girl not feeling well. =(

Our blue-eyed girls

Rowyn has apparently had her fill of Lumpy.

Happy again! =)

Safety First

Everyone eats a granola bar in their brother's Star Wars shirt, a diaper, and a bike helmet. Right?

She's not talking yet, but I'm guessing by the look she's not happy with Mommy for one reason or another.

Riley is home from school today, she's got one heck of a swollen lip and cheek. We saw peds last night and they want her to see ENT today. She's not in pain from it, but she was crying this morning, because she didn't want the kids at school making fun out of her. I told her to just tell them it's just a lump from Lumpy, but that was a no go...

Riley and Luke sitting in a tree...

Recently, Riley admitted that she has a boyfriend. His name is Luke and they've been in class together since Kindergarten. She used to come home from school and tell me Luke was chasing her again on the playground. I would always tell her, "That's because he likes you."

Yesterday when she got home from school, I found this note in her backpack.

He even used his middle name...must be true 2nd grade love. ♥ lol

L'Eggo my Eggo

Stay right there, my yummy delicious waffle.

A waffle left unattended is fair game.

Sure enough, seconds later Sassy claims the waffle as her own. Rowyn thought it was hilarious that the dog ate her waffle and points to show me what happened. It was shortly thereafter the whole cause and effect clicked in her wee little brain and she realized her waffle was no more. Tears were shed until a new waffle was toasted.

Biker Babe

My 3-year-old never ceases to amaze me. Tonight, she apparently hopped on the neighbors bicycle and proved she could ride a two-wheeler sans training wheels! She was VERY proud of herself...as were we!

Believe it or not, this morning she woke up complaining her foot hurt and she refused to bear weight on it...in fact, she crawled to the bathroom. It is black and blue and swollen. Clyde took her into Acute Care, where after a wheelchair ride and xrays, they determined she had a sprained ankle. The nurse called later to tell us they wanted her to see an Orthopedist tomorrow, as a follow up. She's doing better tonight, limping, but apparently even an ankle sprain didn't slow her down for very long.

Ritz Crackers

If you happen to spill some crumbs while eating a Ritz, it's okay, just bend your body in half and suck away.

Say hello to my little friend

Camdyn and I had a little surprise when we went to play with the Fisher Price today.

It appears he found a piece of Kix cereal that Rowyn left from breakfast this morning. I know they are herbivores, but didn't realize Kix was included as part of their diet. I guess beggars can't be choosers, right?

Lumpy announced, "I gonna mash that!"
No you can't smash it. We're going to take it outside, it might miss it's Mommy.
"It a boy hopper or a girl hopper?"
I'm not sure, but it wants to go see it's Mommy, it's very sad.

So, I grabbed some tupperware and carefully placed it inside. I gave the container to Camdyn, because she was insistent on letting it go. Just then the phone rang, I answered it...some guy I could hardly understand telling me about a meeting in "Goot-en-burg" about health care reform. So after hanging up on him, I went out to find her sitting there with the lid still on. She opened it and there inside was a little grasshopper and our grasshopper from the pictures nearly dead, on it's side. Apparently, Lumpy found ours a friend and upon putting it inside the container, she accidentally killed ours. She wasn't upset, she just explained to me that it was sleeping.
Yes, Camdyn, it was just sleeping...

Monkey Business Dubuque

Today we went to Monkey Business here in Dubuque. It recently opened and our neighbor, Jen, and I talked about taking the kids. So, she brought her son and I brought the two youngest today. What a neat place---it was clean, colorful, bright, and chalk full of stuff for kids of all ages. They serve Falbo Bros Pizza and micro-brewed Root Bear, both very yummy.

It was a perfect place for Camdyn to burn off some energy!

Rowyn even got in on the giant hampster cage

They had an area for wee folk, which Rowyn tore up from the floor up.

A staffer snuck up and took a picture of me playing with Rowyn

Camdyn and Jack competing on the rock wall

Camdyn must have climbed it a dozen times

Rowyn figured she could do whatever the big kids could do.

Copter ride was a big hit

The kids had a fabulous time and Jen and I even got to chit chat a little. Definitely will be going back!