July

This 4th of July we decided to just hang out at home.  I still shy away from public settings with the twins.  Our neighbors invited us (and several other neighbors) for a bbq.  Afterward, they shot off fireworks in the cul-de-sac.  There were several illegal fireworks to keep the show interesting!

Declan is really into apples lately.  He takes a couple bites and carries it around with him for hours.

Sometimes the twins won't leave the big boys alone.  Today we had to box Cache in (with kitchen chairs) during breakfast.  You can still see Xander trying to find a way in!

The twins have figured out that I put all the good stuff out of their reach...well...it used to be out of their reach.

Cache making yellow playdough.  Yellow is Cache's favorite color.

Easton making green playdough.  He is going through a bit of a favorite-color-crisis.  It used to be pink and purple, but now he is realizing that may not be the best colors for him.  He also likes yellow (because Cache does), but we wanted to make two different colors.  So... he decided on green today.

Who says boys can't multi-task.  Here is Easton sitting in time-out while trimming his toe nails.  Now that's my kind of man!  (Actually, my kind of man would trim his toe nails outside, not on my kitchen floor!)

I let the twins try on the backpacks today.  We loaded them with a stuffed animal, and we had a couple of happy kids.  

I realized the twins may drive me less crazy if I try to involve them in some activities.  When the older boys were around this age, I used to paint with them and do all sorts of crafts.  I pulled out the playdough and some animals and they had a great time.

Today was free slurpee day at 7-11.  Normally, I am the queen of free stuff, but loading up 4 kids for a slurpee is even pushing it for me.  Fortunately, I had to pick up Easton and a neighbor from safety camp and I decided I could be the cool mom after all.  We stopped at 7-11 and took shifts going inside (so I didn't have to unload the babies).  Victory.

This is totally Declan.  I know very few kids that can find such entertainment from 1/2 of a plastic egg.

Bedtime.  Yes, the twins still enjoy a nice comfort bottle before bed.  When David isn't home, I throw them in a chair, put on a baby einstein movie, and take turns getting them ready and up to bed.

The twins enjoy littering the floor with all their food.  If I don't clean off their tray quick enough, or give them something they don't want, or if they just think they are being funny, everything on the tray ends up on the floor.  Then they rip off their bibs (usually quite full of stuff...applesauce, yogurt, etc.) and throw that on the floor too.

Xander thinks he owns this world.  Here he is pulling Easton by the shirt and leading him around the house.  Easton was a pretty good sport about it.

Two boys in a box.

Two boys wrestling.

Four boys on a bench.

In an effort to be more fun, I checked out some random books at the library.  Today we read one about cylinders.  I have been saving cylinder type containers to use for a paint project.  I had the boys go around the house and collect things that were shaped like a cylinder.  Then we painted using the cylinders.

Then they painted using their hands!

Easton made some really cool rainbow creations by putting the paper on the paint-covered plate.

After-bath cuddle time.

We had a ton of rain this weekend.  Since David and I are both outdoors-people, we don't really let the rain stop our activities...even when the activity is a hike.  In retrospect, I would have taken rain jackets instead of sweatshirts (since we all got completely soaked), but it wasn't too bad.  The trail was awesome and the big kids did a good job.  I expected the babies to walk most of the trail, but with the rain I think they were a little off.  David and I carried them in our arms the whole time, which isn't easy when each baby is over 25 lbs, but we're tough!

A cool bridge that we crossed.  It was created for an eagle scout project.  I had planned on playing in the stream, but with all the rain it was flowing pretty fast and was quite deep at parts.

Easton is officially reading.  He is actually quite amazing.  He has a natural ability to learn.  I am very impressed at his ability to sound out a word and then figure out how to put it together.  Until you have a kid learn to read, you really don't appreciate how complicated our English language is.  I have been doing my best to sit with Easton every day (which means we typically do it 3-4 times a week) and read for 10-15 minutes.  It has really helped him develop his skills.  Although I wouldn't say he loves to read yet, he is enjoying looking around the world and saying, 'hey mom, that says ...'.

Declan found the ziploc box and realized it made a pretty cool hat.  Naturally, Xander needed one too.  Declan was happy to help him put it on.

Another attempt at being creative.  Today we read a book on patterns.  Then I gathered a bunch of game pieces and items that we could use to make patterns.  Here are their creations...

That's a lot of monkeys in a tree.  Good job Cache.

Easton and I made this car.

Aunt Marcy sent these really cool wooden cars and boats that have little wooden people.  The boys love to play with them.

Easton has been saving his money for a lego set ... it has wonder woman, superman, and Lex Luther in a robot.  He built it all by himself and carried it around for days.  The boys are completely into super heroes right now.  And yes, he knows all of superman's powers as well as his real name and the name of his girlfriend.  He has also seen the original Superman I and II and love them!