One Dollar.

On Wednesdays, Target and I usually have a date. Make that ... Target, me, Eli and Audrey. Joshua misses out on the fun because I don't really believe taking three children to the store is good for my sanity or the sanity of other store patrons and Joshua is at school. Learning all sorts of fantastic things. So ... with two-thirds of my crew ... I shop. I browse. I make lavish promises of organic lollipops if I can have just a few more minutes in the clearance section. Sometimes I kick it up another notch. Promising a trip to the $1 section of the store.

Last Wednesday's trip had DOLLAR SECTION written all over it. And we found the best deals ... foam shields (a must for knightly dress-ups), gladiator helmets, swords and ... GLOW IN THE DARK bracelets!

The bracelets were busted open as soon as we got home ... and then ... the Charmings disappeared for a good chunk of time. I couldn't see them ... but that didn't mean all was quiet. On the contrary. My ears were treated to the sounds of the Glow Stick Rock and Roll Band. For. Thirty Plus Minutes. Non-Stop Singing. Pounding. Dancing. Twirling.
Songs with fabulous lyrics. "Glow sticks. Glow sticks. You never go out. You shine so bright. Glow sticks. We love you. Get a glow stick. Glow stick."
And the dance moves. They were out of this world.
And the wardrobe selections. You know only the best rock bands perform in their undies!
(What it looked like without the flash ... the stairwell was super dark)
Who knew $1 could provide so much entertainment?

Hope Target still has glow sticks this week. My ears are DYING for a repeat performance.

Oh How We Love You. Let Us Count the Ways.

Miss Robin. I thought it was impossible to love Miss Robin more than we already did. After all, she successfully turned Eli's frown upside down, sent her two dogs to live in New Mexico, and refers to Audrey as "my girl."

But alas ... our love for her grew this weekend. Saturday afternoon, our doorbell rang. It was her oldest son. Last time he came over, he needed milk for his mac and cheese. But this time ... he came with the best thing EVER.

Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of .... LEGOS!

Our mouths dropped to the floor. Seriously ... the best surprise EVER! (Well ... maybe second to finding out we were having a girl. But a VERY close second!)

I set down a tablecloth in the middle of the kitchen floor and the boys were up to their knees in Lego fun!

We are SO thankful!

And Miss Robin, if you're reading this, I really did have a deep love for those puppies of yours. Really. I did ;) And your daughter misses you.

Dinner Parties. Here We Come.

Three months. Audrey Elizabeth is three months old. And do you know what that means?
Not only did we try out the Bumbo seat ... (and although I may have slightly overestimated her readiness for that one....
... and in her tushes absence ... an empty seat was left available ...
with plenty of other available tushes ready to give it a go ...
and enjoy a good laugh with a brother who has toothpaste smeared all over his cheek? He's going to a 12 step program for Toothpaste Eating Addictions. E's love of toothpaste is beyond weird).
Besides all that ...

Three months means ... it's time to throw a dinner party. Life has returned to a new normal. It's crazy. It's non-stop. There are often three children crying at the same time. Our kitchen floor is only clean between the hours of 12am and 7am. And I have worn the same outfit (can you call capri sweats and a t shirt an outfit?) for the better part of the last 13 weeks. But ...

I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Almost.

The almost three month old ...
Who is now sleeping almost twelve hours straight at night ...
And who also enjoys a little rest on the "reading couch" ...
Well ... almost.

California.

We escaped a few weeks ago to sunny (and much cooler) California. We had promised Joshua that we'd take him to the water park at LegoLand if he could learn to swim without his floaties. If you could have heard the shrieking and screaming that came from that kid's pipes at the beginning of the summer ... you would have never guessed we would have ever made it to CA. But ... How did it! And off we went!

Of course, How's really responsible parents neglected to take a camera with them for either of the two days spent at LegoLand. Which means we also missed taking pictures of ... say ... stuffing a child's shoes ... with um ... two extra pairs of socks ... so ...er ... he could make the 42 inch height requirement. You know, ever so often the rule follower has to bend the rules a bit. And he rode on LegoTechnic THREE times! Thanks to the "special shoes" (as How now calls them!)

After LegoLand, there was lots of fun to be had at Ben's parent's house. Just being outdoors and not sweating to death was FABULOUS. The boys attempted to play darts. At a really close proximity to the dart board. Amazing how many bull-eyes you can get from that distance.

And baseball. Which really turned into golf ....

With a bat ....

There were conversations out on the patio ...

And relaxing on the rug ...

Chats with Pap Pap ...

And superhero battles with Cake.

Fun. Fun. Fun.

Oh ... and Joshua measured 42 inches at the doctor's office yesterday without any special shoes. Phew. So I will feel much better about myself next time we go to LegoLand. My rule breaking days are over. Maybe. Unless Eli needs to get on.

And. Ben's mom, Patty ... who we like to call Cake around this neck of the woods ... just had a full knee replacement surgery this week and had a pin removed from her hip. Please be praying for a speedy recovery ... Eli is already preparing for his superhero rematch.

Girls.

This sweet girl is pretty hard to resist!

Her biggest brother even thinks so ...

I'm thinking I'll need to video How singing to Audrey ... telling her how beautiful and smart she is ... for the future. Like when Joshua is screaming for Audrey to get out of the bathroom ... I'll pipe in the video of him singing, "Rock-a-bye Audrey, in the tree tops. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. But God will catch you and you'll still be alive.." Has a nice ring to it, no?

And ... Eli had his first play-date the other day. And his new friend is a total match made in Heaven! Seconds after Jordan got here, she might have taken a small tumble down a few stairs (hoping I told her mother this before she reads it here??) and Eli ... instead of showing a lot of love and compassion shouts, "Jordan. I bigger than you. I already know how to walk." Nice!

E first tried to convince Jordan to play cars, trains and marbles ...

But in no time ... Jordan had him playing babies ...

Fixing her hair ...

And having tea parties. He was completely smitten!

And who can deny true love when you both love to twist the top off your lemon cookie...

And just lick the frosting. Think it's too soon to design the wedding invitations?

When Somebody Takes Your Couch.

I have a love/hate relationship with Craigslist. I love that I have scored some seriously great deals and have acquired some of my favorite things from calling up a random phone numbers and traveling across the city. However, the other day, Craigslist and I were not getting along. I had found a couch. Make that a chair, love seat, couch and ottoman for $200. They were in perfect condition and matched the couch and chair we already have downstairs. I immediately texted the gal. She said she'd split the set for me ... and would sell me the chair and loveseat for $125. Perfect. We must have sent 10+ texts back and forth and when I wrote the ... "I'm on my way" text ... she replied, "Um. Sorry. Somebody else will be here in 15 minutes." I felt my blood pressure rise and my face turn red. Seriously. I sulked for a good hour or two and then I figured I has wasted enough time being annoyed and opened the floodgates to my imagination.
I decided that I really didn't need really big piece of furniture (let along 2 more pieces) but the boys did need some place to read. Okay, I guess they didn't NEED it but in my dreamland, I have children reading on a "reading sofa." It's a wonderful, imaginary world where children are always well-mannered and eat lots of fruits and veggies and call me "Mummy" with an English accent.
I stood downstairs, staring at the corner for a good twenty minutes when it came to me.
I was pretty sure we could transform Joshua's old toddler bed into my dream reading sofa ...
I called my mom ... who stopped by IKEA and picked up some of the missing screws we needed to rebuild the bed. She came by and took measurements and took home a vintage blanket I had been hanging onto for several years.
And just like that ... the mattress was covered in a funky green material, the "arms" of my sofa were covered in a fun vintage piece and my fabulous seamstress (who would LOVE IT if I stopped coming up with projects) made me three matching pillow cases.
The "reading sofa" is a hit ... except with Eli. Who tells me, "Weally, Mom. It's just a bed."
And our other favorite thing ... magnetic paint. My mom (she paints too), painted a spot in our pantry and another larger space downstairs ...
I bought these fabulous magnetic shapes at one of my favorite places for educational supplies and ... it's such a hit. Ahh ... now if I could just get my children to speak with that accent ...