On Friday, Jeff Stayed Home From Work

...something about his office and paint fumes.

After staying up entirely too late on Thursday the following morning begged for an attempt at sleeping in even if it was a pathetic display at best. Then we finally dragged ourselves out of bed to the relentless screams of a certain red head and promptly made a bagel run. I attacked the house while the baby slept and he took the olders to swim at BB and BBJJs (Bop Bop and BabaJuje's in case you didn't know: Grandma and Grandpa in case you still didn't know) Then we met back up with matching bags under our eyes and while fighting back yawns, together we took the children for ice cream down by the canal.

And because it was Friday and not yet Saturday, it was better.

Then the children were wired at bedtime and while laying with the 3 year old with insomniac tendencies I counted 71(actual number of times) repeat requests for a drink of water before I finally succumbed to his sleep stalling. His quiet voice in the dark was too much to resist and for every 15 "can I have a drink of water"s there was a "mommy, do you heeeeear me". My laughter was my giveaway.

Then sleep (finally) came for them and sleep for us came eventually but not before staying up too late again to watch WWll HD (I can't look away!) on Netflix.

Why, Netflix? Why?

Then Sunday didn't come, but instead we welcomed a Saturday and another day together. Then another round of late night Netflix because we'll never learn, but this time it was a solo viewing of North and South for me and a new x-box game for him. Sometimes we decompress in divide and conquer-like fashion.

But still, two days in a row of blessed family idleness!

The moral of the story is that surprise 3-day weekends are the best and we need to start going to bed earlier. Why do we crave the late nights? I blame it on small children, just like I do most everything else. I want to stay up because I need the "free" awake time. But I need to sleep because my "unfree" awake time requires a lot of energy. More energy than I have I confess. These days there is no middle ground to be found.

Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

But also in a good way, ya know?

Happy Cinco de Mayo

In honor of this festive Mexican holiday we're having Lena burritos. All you need is Lena and an emergency blanket. Pretty simple dinner if you ask me.

Punch Drunk Photo Booth

Ever have one of those punch drunk moments where something outrageously hilarious happens that might not have otherwise been funny at all, you know, had it not been so late, or you not been so sleep deprived?

They usually occur between the hours of midnight and five in the morning.

Since my idea of fun is organizing my closet, I made Ryan come along to keep me company (closet organization really is something only its occupant can do)

But he obliged and hung shirts and while we ate 1000 leftover purple m&ms we had several of those punch drunk moments well into the night.

I haven't laughed that hard in SO long.

Not all of our sweet vids are shown here, but you get the idea.

And if they aren't funny to you, it's because...these things never are after they happen.

Then we heard footsteps heading down the hall for a middle of the night potty visit.

The trip back to her bed led her to my room where all the crazy laughter was coming from. She joined us for a few moments.

Then we watched all the videos the next day and the same laughter simply did not come.

Something about those punch drunk moments.

Priceless.

Mr. Marbles?

In between Ryan's back breaking labor we (too easily?) find ways to entertain ourselves.

Every child has one creepy/weird toy probably given to them by some distant relative, I know I did (can you say...porcelain doll that sat high on my shelf? chills.)

I give you ours,

Little Bear

Or what is supposed to be Little Bear. Because he certainly isn't the Little Bear (or known as dou dou in our house) we know and love.

I mean if you're going to manufacture a cute and cuddly beloved character like Little Bear maybe try it out on a test group of preschoolers first. You know, to be sure it doesn't make children afraid to fall asleep with it in their rooms at night.

Because nightmares are so un-Little Bear like.

At least they nailed his voice.

What To Do If You Think It's Spring And Then It Snows

Cover the kitchen table with easel paper, bust out the paints and old post prom t-shirts and buy 1 hour of solid productive indoor time.

Compliment the children on their creative work and buy yourself 20 more minutes by having them clean it up themselves.

Then use 20 more minutes cleaning up their clean-up job.

It's all in a time-buying cabin fever-afternoon's work;)

We Have This Fake Cockroach

Lena brought him home from who knows where and we sharpied him black from his previous fluorescent green shell and we use him to play tricks on people.

Tonight's unsuspecting victim is Esq.

And when you're four, this kind of excitement is almost too much to bear.

He'll probably sleep there 3 nights before he even notices the little bugger.

Poor over worked over tired Esq.

But how seriously gross if he were the real deal?

Real gross.

But also real funny. Remember how Esq. feels about small things that scurry?

That's entertainment right there my friends.

And that's my life.

Like Blogging And Chewing Gum

Things have been smooth sailing around these parts this past week and I have been tearing pictures off the wall and re arranging furniture. The children have been gratefully receiving three square meals a day and the baby has had all his naps on time. And don't get me started on the kitchen floor- it's.....clean. whew.

Blogging has been the neglected chore of the past week- the proverbial dirty cloth diapers on the basement floor if you will. (but you don't have to if you don't want to)

Do you feel like you've read this post on a 100 different blogs?

Blog stalling and reasons for absence sounding familiar?

I've read (and posted) it all before

And since the weather is the most (un)interesting thing I can come up with I will say it has been 50 and 19 this past week. I have seen grass and my current least favorite- white out. I don't care what they say, February is the longest month of the year and I have bored children and a clean house to prove it.

And because that's the best I've got, here are some random images you've missed:

and my personal faves:

I'm not going back out there till it stops snowing sideways

and I'll be back here when my brain thaws.

but if you told me you missed me I might change my mind;)

Photo Booth Motherboy

and then there were 200 more just like these.

it's still winter here.