BFFFs

Last week our BFFFs (Best Friends From Florida) came over for a visit. I, for one, was super-giddy excited about it.

The back yard was the first thing to catch the kids' eyes. They spent a good long time out there, while lunch was cooking. There are some who say our yard is like an amusement park. I read that somewhere. The kids all seemed to have fun.



They did agree to come in for lunch, we had delicious black bean stew. Olivia was amazed that I can actually cook.



And here is my baby Goddaughter, she was a fan as well (and happy to be back in her rightful spot - in her highchair we "borrowed.")

After lunch, they decided that the house was as much fun as outside. After all, there is a swing, what more could 6 kids want?

They also played our "new" (Salvation Army score) game - Monkey Tumble. Its just like Ker-Plunk, but with monkeys instead of marbles, which makes it way better.

These well-trained monkeys knew just what to do when the camera flash went off. I got lots of unprompted "cheeeeese!" faces, and goofy giggles.

All in all, it was a great day. We can't wait to take our trip down to visit them in Florida.

I'm kicking myself a bit now, because we didn't get a picture of the six of them together. This is the closest I have (Mya was too busy hogging Matt to join in). It seems like just yesterday it was Tia and I. Then we let that Matt guy start hanging around...and Luis came along...and that's when all the trouble began. That's my story anyway, and I'm sticking to it!

Sweet Dreams

Last night I was with Mya, waiting for her to fall asleep.

She was lying on my arm, playing with the big buttons on my sweatshirt, and chanting over and over, "Go 'way Mama, Go 'way Mama..."

I considered taking her up on it, but I had a feeling she was bluffing.

When I was a kid...

Yesterday, we were heading out to WalMart, and I told the boys they could pick a "video" from the Red Box when we were finished.

Taye: "They're not videos, they're DVD's!"

Me: "Oh, you're right..."

Taye: "The old ones are called videos, and the new ones are called DVD's."

Me: "I know. Did you know that when I was a kid, we didn't even have DVD's? We just had videos."

Taye: "So they didn't have the Red machine, because that only has DVD's?"

Me: "Right. And we didn't have Netflix either."

Taye: "Awww! That's no fun! Why did the world have to be that way?!"

Picnics with Daddy

I started working part time last week, so now the kids are stuck with Daddy a couple mornings a week. As you can see, they're miserable about it...



They've been enjoying the back yard, and having lots of picnics. One day, Luis cooked some chicken on the grill, and found himself surrounded by the neighborhood cats.




Clearly, Luis' cooking is finger-licking good.

Puppy Love

Mr. Green Thumb

The boys got little kid starter gardens in their Easter baskets, and couldn't wait to plant them. Apparently they remember how I mentioned having a garden in our yard this year, and now I've got to figure out how in the heck to garden! Anyway, their little gardens are doing well. When Taye noticed the first little sprouts the other day, he got so excited. As he was showing them to me, he leaned over to touch the tops, and said "Hello, my pretty little ones."

Queen of the Playground

Mya is out to conquer the playground and rule over all the other midgets. First the slide, now this.



(Note: The mini breakdance, "Go! Go! Doo doo doo!" is her version of the Inspector Gadget theme song. Knowing that makes it even cuter, in my opinion.)

Easter

We had an awesome Easter. It was one of the most fun days we've had in a long time. The kids got up at their usual time, and went downstairs to find their baskets. It didn't take long - I'll have to make it harder next year. When Taye found his basket, he said to me - "Thank you for this best Easter ever!"



After breakfast we had an egg hunt in the yard. We invited our neighbor's grandson Kyle and his stepbrother Nathaniel, as well as Keyeanna, over to hunt with us. The kids all had a great time, and got an insane amount of candy.




They spent the rest of the morning in the back yard, playing with the new jungle gym, the swingset, the sand box, and various fun toys.




The stomp rocket Tia sent for Taye's birthday was a huge hit. The kids even set it up at the foot of the slide so they could slide down and make the rocket fly (sadly, it didn't work).




After a while, Kyle broke out his fun toy, a kid-sized ATV (I think my kids are the only ones around here who don't have one):




Taye came running in while I was cooking lunch to tell me, "I'm going to get a plastic ATV thing like Kyle has!" "Oh, really?" I asked, "Says who?" "Kyle!" I thought it was really sweet of him to offer his to Taye, but we couldn't possibly accept. ;o)




The two of them had a great time together. At one point, Kyle put his arm around Taye and said, "Mom, now I have a best friend!"

After lunch we all went to Nana B. and Grandad's house. The kids spent the entire party outside there as well. They mostly had big kids to play with there, but they never mind that. Plus, Super Cookie was there, so what more could they ask for?

Did I mention - outside?

Today was a gorgeous, beautiful, pretty, nice day. It was hot and sunny, and there was not a flake of snow to be found. In other words, perfect. We got a ton done, including hauling a bunch of ugly junk from the yard to the dump, and putting together the awesome dome climber that Buppa gave the kids for their collective birthdays. I really did most of the work, I just let Luis pose for the picture.



Taye was so anxious to climb it, we had to repeatedly remind him that he couldn't climb until it was all done. When it was finally done, he was at the top in record time.



And practicing his new daredevil moves - no hands! (On a side note, look at my pretty woods. There's a river back there, you know.)



The neighbors were out working in their yard too, and at one point the boys noticed the scratching noise under the fence (Mark was weeding). They discussed whether it might be one of the dogs, and decided it wasn't. Taye asked me what it was, and I told him "probably a monster..." He laughed and told me it wasn't. A minute later, Darius started in, "But Taye, look at those big feet! Those big feet look like monster feet." Luis and I were giggling the whole time, and after a minute, Mark caught on. He started talking in a growly 'monster' voice. The boys loved it, and made sure to tell me later that I was wrong, the monster was just Mark.



Meanwhile, Mya learned a new trick. Drumroll, please...



and she stuck the landing - ta-dah!


Rinse and repeat a dozen times. All in all, a great day.

Easter Eggs

Our eggs are prettier than yours, nah-nah!

ExCL

In the fall, we joined a place called "Extras for Creative Learning" or ExCL. They get donations of office/craft supplies, and random goodies which they put out for members to take. We get a certain number of visits per year, and can take as much as we want on each visit. We hadn't been since we joined, and Luis has been wanting to come, so we went out there this weekend.

They had so much cool stuff this time. In addition to tons of craft stuff, we also got a wooden tabletop hockey game, a Little People farm, and toy golf clubs (to play Mario golf, of course). As soon as we got home, Taye had me make him a Mario with some of the sticky felt we got. He then added stickers to give Mario 'star power.'



From there, we found other uses.


The sticky felt has been the big hit so far, I wish we got more!

Fun for Everyone

For Taye's birthday, we got him a swing for inside the house. We knew he would love it, but didn't realize how fun it would be for pretty much everyone. Let's just say it's a good thing we got the industrial swing brackets!