A Long Weekend

Whew! What a long weekend! Levi fell asleep during dinner Monday evening. This was the first time he ever did that. He was so cute and, obviously, tired. Please notice our new highchair. His other one was so raggedy and nasty. That was the same chair Sierra used as a baby. Brian (Shell's husband) found us this one at a garage sale for $4! Thanks Brian!!

Dave was home this weekend and he did ALOT of work on our yard. The kids spent alot of time outside this weekend. And Levi~ he's a maniac! He LOVES to play outside! If he didn't get to go out with the other kids he would scream and point at the door and scream some more. Poor little guy. The problem is that he just won't listen. He does what he wants. And what he wants is everything. He is all over the place. Sierra attempted to take him out with her and she agreed that she would stay with him the entire time and keep him safe. This was really nice of Sierra and I let her try. It didn't last long and she was exhausted. Levi ran her all over the yard. Finally, I had to go retrieve Levi when I heard them both yelling at each other in the driveway. Apparently Levi wanted to go to the front of the house and Sierra would not let him. So, he just sat down in the middle of the driveway and refused to move. It was kind of funny but not from Sierra's perspective, I'm sure.


This is a sandbox that was left here for the kids by the previous tenants. We cleaned it out but we haven't gotten the sand for it yet. It hasn't stopped the kids from playing on it. They love this boat. It instantly transports Sienna to the Caribbean. (Notice that both my girls have knots on their heads? Sienna's left her with a mild concussion and Sierra's left her with a half black eye. Everyone's doing much better today though.)



Sierra even got to spend the night with Aunt Shell this weekend! Does the weekend get any better than that? They even had a fire and made smores! Good times!!

Daddy Does a Field Trip

Sienna's preschool had a field trip planned for this past Friday but Levi had an appointment with the specialist in Toledo already scheduled. Dave was supposed to be out of town working so Sienna wasn't going to get to go on the field trip with her class. This wasn't just any ordinary field trip~ she got to ride a school bus and bring a packed lunch to eat at the park (it was a nature park that had a very nice playground area). Apparently, the packed lunch was a very big deal. So, needless to say, she was devastated to not be able to go with the other kids, especially her BFF, Jasmine. I tried to explain to her that Mommy would take her and Levi to the zoo after the doctor (I cleared this with Sierra first). She didn't care about the zoo, she only wanted to pack her lunch and go with Jasmine. I told her we would pack lunches for the zoo~ it didn't help.

Daddy came home a couple days earlier than expected and he gave Sienna the choice between the zoo or going on the field trip~ WITH DADDY. She chose the field trip. I told her that Mommy was really looking forward to going to the zoo with her (because I was really excited to go to the zoo, for real). She responded with, "Well, me was really looking forward to going to the park with Jasmine." I said OK. I couldn't compete with Jasmine, even with the zoo. And she was sooo excited to be able to go on her field trip and pack her lunch. She made her own bologna sandwich and made sure that I didn't forget her drink (ONCE I forgot Sierra's).

She had so much fun, it was worth not going to the zoo. I am so proud (and surprised) of Dave for taking her. Not alot of dads will do field trips. As for Levi and I, we did not go to the zoo. We got lunch through McDonald's drive thru where a crack head tried to approach my van. I didn't put my window down for him instead I put Lola in the window and she tried to eat him through the glass. He didn't stay around. Then we ate our lunch in the park where Levi go to eat on top of the picnic table and feed Lola a hamburger and french fries. Everyone had a great day, except the crackhead.

A Day at the Zoo

Sierra went on a class field trip this week to the Toledo Zoo. And I didn't get to go. This was her first time ever going to the zoo without me. She went to the Cleveland zoo in the first grade but I got to go on that field trip. Not this time. It was kind of sad (for me). But she had such a nice time! Her group consisted of all her little homies and the chaperon was a mother I like very much. The very nice mother even bought them all cotton candy from the gift shop.


We recently got a second digital camera by chance and at a really good price. I've had it put away (out of the girls' sight) saving it for Sierra's trip to Myrtle Beach. Since the kids were allowed to bring cameras to the zoo, I let Sierra take the extra camera. She took some really great pictures. Is this not the cutest picture of the monkey? He's kissing the duck! Too cute.





And here's some funky aquatic creature. Crab I'm thinking. It looks gross to me. But I still thought it was a pretty awesome picture.








And here's the back side of a snow leopard. I feel like I could just reach out and touch it's tail.








Sierra had alot of fun at the zoo. This is just another reminder to me that she is getting older. I am so proud of her. She is really a pretty amazing kid.

A Kiss for Grami

This is Sienna giving Grami a kiss on Mother's Day. Notice the little heart sprinkles on her lips from her dessert? She was loving those sprinkles~ they instantly made her a star! She went to Jasmine's (her BFF) birthday party tonight. It wasn't anything big, just cake and ice cream with the family plus a friend (Sienna) for the birthday girl. Sienna was so excited. This was her first time going to a friend's house plus she got to take a gift! We bought Jasmine a Bratz doll with clothes and then we bought 2 little lip glosses and a nail polish. The problem I discovered was what to do with the small items when wrapping. I had one of those big curling ribbon bows so we ended up wrapping each item individually (Sienna's idea) and then I tied a curling ribbon to it and tied it to the bow. It ended up really cute. I was kind of (totally) impressed with myself. I wish I took a picture. Let me try to explain better~ we had the package with the big curly ribbon bow. So the front of the gift was tons of curly ribbon hanging and in the midst of the ribbon was three little gifts hanging. Does that make sense? Probably not. I wish I had a photo, you should've seen it, I'll toot my own horn-- Toot. Toot.

I've got to mention the gift my family gave me on Mother's Day~ the Shark Mop! Have you ever heard of this thing? It is sooooo awesome!! It is a steam mop that cleans your floors without any chemicals. You put the water in, plug it in and 30 seconds later you're blasting the dirt and grime off your floors with steam. I'm loving this thing so much that I actually pulled it out and gave Mom and Shell a little demonstration after dinner on Mother's Day. I even insisted (forced) them to give it a 'whirl' around the kitchen. So, if you've seen this and thought maybe, get it. LOVE IT!

For My Mamaw

This post is for my Mamaw. She loves to tell me the stories of all the temper tantrums I used to throw as a small child. Apparently, I would just roll from one wall to another, screaming and kicking the crap out of each wall I came in contact with.

Levi has now entered the temper tantrum stage. His tantrums certainly remind me of Mamaw's stories of me. He's only done this a couple of times so far. Hopefully it won't continue. So far I'm using the same technique to deal with them that I did for the girls. I just ignore them and walk away (except for the day that I got the camera out). This approach worked wonderfully for the girls. Sierra threw one temper tantrum as a small child. I know~ only 1! Sienna I think tried it twice and figured out it wasn't worth it. Hopefully, Levi will realize he gets nothing but a headache from a temper tantrum and will stop too.

Here's a cute little picture of Levi sitting in the bottom of my stove. Why is he in there? I have no idea. Maybe he was trying to help with dinner. He likes to open the drawer and take out the cookie sheets but this time he decided to climb in. He also has a couple of cars in there with him.