Backfiring Behaviors

I have known for some time that I tend to want the house, car, clothes to be as close to perfect and clean as possible. This behavior was easily obtained when just having one child. I know I was made fun of by others b/c when I had Cole, people were snickering and laughing about my fall from grace. Well, 4 children later I have still tried to maintain an orderly life, although less than before the others.(others=Cole, Mallory, Mia) Well, I have noticed some behaviors that have me thinking my intentions may have hurt my children. The first sign was figuring out that my children all prefer to play somewhere other than their house. At first I was offended but then decided to investigate. Turns out they just don't want kids to come over and mess up their rooms. Case in point Mallory and Mia were told to invite Aubrey over so they can remember what it is like to have a friend over. They "let" her play in their room for about 10 min
and decided the best plan of action was to relocate to Cole's room. Pretty clever, huh? Notice his room is much more played in. Then I see a post from my friend Debbie and I think I am so glad my kids have not done that! Although a sweet little boy I watched did it was and I actually cried.

Well, I am in the girls closet today and I never shut the door b/c it is so small but I am getting a toy and see this. Blue crayon on the BACK side of the door. Oh, little sneaky girls. And pencil on the back side of the laundry door. Upon investigation, Mallory stated that she did it but didn't want me to see it b/c she new I would be mad. The mean face kind of mad. Ouch! Maybe I have created some monsters.

Designers Challenge

I am hanging all of my designing dilemmas on anyone willing to put their opinions out there and give me some help! I do really need advice.

1. In the kitchen I can't figure out what to put up there in no mans land above the cabinets. I know that fake greenery is not for me and other than that I have no idea! The large piece of wood was a lame attempt last week to fill the space but clearly not doing the job.

Red wall in kitchen

2. On the Bigger problems in the living room. The room is completely open to the kitchen. All the walls are painted brown bag except for one wall in the kitchen which is painted red. The problem is all my furniture is also brown. I have red accents here and there but really need some help. I can't buy new furniture so I am thinking of painting the armouire like the Nester did and maybe the coffee table. Or possibly replacing the table. But what colors? Is it a mistake to paint?

Office area behind the couch. Need some old suitcases to put the printer on.

Brown Brown Brown

More brown with a splash of red.

So there is my sad brown room for all to see. Now let's see some great advice to help me out!

Princess Party

Mallory had her 5th birthday at the cutest girl store ever. They dressed up, got made up, played games and I didn't have to do a thing! My kind of party!

Mia looked like she had died and gone to heaven the entire time.

All in all, everyone loved the party and they are still talking about it at my house so I guess it was a success!

Sprinkler Park= Free Fun

By mid July we are getting a little crazed here in Texas. To say it is hot does not really do justice to what it actually feels like to be outside. So as the summer goes on, we get more bored and more broke trying to entertain. But luckily I have a super smart GiGi(Dana's grandma). She suggested we meet in downtown Houston to play as the sprinkler park. It is free. She will bring my kids favorite cousin Meghan. Nough said.


Here are the results

Smiling

More smiling

Getting wet

Getting more wet

And having a great afternoon enjoying life. AHH, summer.

Good times in Austin

Me and the crazy monkeys that reside with me headed to Austin for a few days. We had a blast hanging out at some our our favorite spots.

One of the highlights was the kids got to ride a 4 wheeler at Nana and Pop Pop's and the horse. It is amazing what kids will do in 105 temp when they are having fun! Here is Chloe and her friend Brandi.(Hint to those without older kids yet, they only travel in pairs so you have to bring a friend.)

Me outside our favorite place to eat in Georgetown. Why am I posing by their newspaper rack? Because I used to deliver those papers every morning around 5 am.....pregnant. Oh the good times.

Just a cute photo of the kids in front of the "lake" in our neighborhood.

Anyways, we had a blast, even went to Barton Springs(famous Austin hot spot). Me and Chloe were a little sad coming home b/c Austin just still feels like home and probably always will. Sniff Sniff

Beach Bum Alert

We decided to head down to the beach on Thursday. One of the perks to living in Houston is the ability to head down for a day trip since the beach is close by. The water was nice and refreshing. I was disappointed that the city beach we go to for the awesome bathrooms and showers has not recovered from Ike. The boardwalk up to the showers was gone and there was no running water at all. But the town was looking good and you could tell there was lots of work still in progress.

Hanging out
Mallory got stung by a jellyfish the first 10 minutes b/c she was playing with it!(we told her not to!)

Me and the girls

Mia played the water with the boogie board almost the entire time!

Mallory being Mallory

Cole digging in the sand. Shocking

All in all everyone had fun. And no one got sunburned! Yippe! We all are a little closer to being so tan it is sick and can't wait to go back.

P.S.

No pics of Chloe. It is her new move to avoid the camera!

Summer Fun

Summer has officially begun because the pool is open, the kids are home and it is HOT! I have taken some advice from fellow bloggers and mapped out our days based upon activities that usually only last 30 minutes, much to my despair. Our first craft was making play dough with kool-aid, which was a big hit. They actually played with it for 1 hour the first day, then our normal 30 minutes on day two.

Mallory holding her purple play dough

Day one of summer vacation involved a lemonade stand. Unfortunately, we do not live on a corner or by a stop sign. So Chloe, being a veteran of lemonade stands decided to throw out a ball each time a car was nearing, so they would be forced to stop, although the tactic was not very effective. Amount made=$3.50. i still owe Kelly $3.00.

These are pics Chloe took while baby-sitting with her timer. I think they turned out great and I know for a least 5 minutes, everyone was having a blast.

So we are not quite through week one but we are having fun. We already have had our first sunburn of the season and have almost completed swim team. And made Popsicles. And slept in. And I am enjoying every minute of it.