'homemade' doughnuts

Warning:  The food I'm about to show you has absolutely ZERO nutritional value.  However,  they are super fun to make with you boys and taste pretty darn good.  I mean they taste good if you like fried dough with sugar but seriously who doesn't!?

A girl/woman from a blog I follow shared that she makes doughnuts with her kids a lot.  I thought oh cool I wonder how you make doughnut dough?  Yeah, it's only a thing of biscuits.  SUPER EASY!  We flattened are biscuits with our hands and then punched holes in the middle with bottle tops.  Then fried them up and shook them in a bag with cinnamon and sugar.

The boys LOVED the whole experience and even put making them again on their summer fun list.  Bella and William will be at our house today so we're going to make them again.  This time we're going to do a few in powdered sugar to see which we like better :)

flatten

hole punching

fry em' up

shake it shake shake

smile pretty with the finished product

and devour

sugar hair

sugar lips

glowing

The boys have a new favorite summer toy...

6.5 months

 

Logan turned 6 months old two weeks ago.  I took his month pictures and then didn't have time to sit at the computer to type anything about our sweet smiley Logi bear.  His list of 'what he is up to' will be tainted because I can't remember what he did after he turned 6 months instead of just before which should officially go on his 7 month post.  My usual organized brain is tired, so a tainted list you will get!

Logan is...

*rolling over from back to tummy...finally!!!  It took awhile to figure out how to get all that over but he's doing it and smiles really big when I cheer for him.

*sitting up really well on his own.  If he looks to see what I'm doing or gets too excited with his toy he flops backwards.

*"waves' his arm when someone talks to him

*kicks his legs constantly when on his back and grabs his feet

*'talks' alot.  His noises are squeals, 'ma ma ma', 'ba ba ba' and the motor boat noise.

* does not like to be left alone on his blanket when he's playing.  Thankfully it doesn't have to be just me like it was with Connor but he definitely likes the attention of someone at all times.

*grabs EVERYTHING his hands can reach.  Poor Micah and Connor get fists full of hair pulled regularly when they try to get close and talk to him.

*chewing on everything I'll let him put in his mouth.  I'm expecting teeth soon.

*eating solid foods. He has oatmeal mixed with juice in the morning.  I was doing breastmilk and juice but I got tired of staying up late enough to pump so we're doing straight juice :)  He also has started eating veggies and fruit at night.  So far he put up with sweet potatoes and peas, enjoyed green beans and devoured carrots, bananas and pears. 

*really likes drinking/playing with his sippy cup.  He gets water after he eats and if we're outside playing and he's hot.  I have to hide it while he eats because he spends so much time reaching for it he won't eat anything.

*starting to stretch his nap times.  He has taken a few two hour morning naps which is amazing.  He doesn't do it everyday though which is just unfair ;)

*likes to eat and get to bed at 7;30 and usually wakes up atleast once during the night.

embrace the camera: may 24th

zrrrbttt- (zir-bit) n, a rasberry type kiss given on the cheek and or any part of the body appropriate for zrrbttting.  Micah said, "Mama, I"m going to give you a zrrrbttt.

Your turn!!
{embrace}

tennessee weekend

 After graduation Friday night we hopped in the car and drove to Knoxville, TN for a wedding.  Zach's cousin was getting married and he was the photographer.  Besides the fact that we were exhausted from the late night it was definitely nice having a quiet ride the whole time :)

Zach was out of the hotel by 9:30 for his picture taking duties which left me with a 5 year old, 3 year old and 6 month old in a 12x12 room.  Zach's parents were a HUGE help during Logan's naptime and when I had to go assist Zach by taking pictures of the bride and bridesmaids get ready.  They spent a lot of time at the pool and riding in the elevator! During the wedding Zach's aunt and uncle hired some babysitters for my three plus Leah, Eli, Elana, Elodie and Piper which was a huge help for us so that we could actually attend the wedding ceremony we all drove up for.

 Even with all the help it was downright busy and difficult to keep three boys entertained, pleasant and more importantly put to bed at the end of the day.  I called it a night around 7:30 which was only an hour into the reception but missing a party is way better than meltdowns!  Props to all you single mamas and/or mama's whose husbands are gone frequently.  Parenting alone is oh so hard!

As much as we enjoyed seeing our family on Saturday the best part of the weekend was Sunday.  A big reason was because there was no busy and stressful duties, but none the less our little family of 5 had a blast exploring Downtown Knoxville and eating yummy crepes at The French Market in the morning and then driving to Chattanooga for the afternoon.

We started our Chatty visit at the Tennessee Aquarium looking at all the cool fish, turtles, snakes and frogs that inhabit rivers all over the world but especially right outside the door in the Tennessee river.  The big boys really enjoyed it especially the 'river giants' which were these HUGE catfish and other weird fish I can't remember the names of.  The aquarium they were in was set up to look like they were swimming underneath a dock and it kind of freaked me out thinking I could be swimming with those huge things under me!

 I missed the last few exhibits because Logan was EXHAUSTED and not loving being in there anymore.  I pushed him around trying to get him to go to sleep but it wasn't until after when the boys were splashing in the water outside and I had taken two or three laps around the concourse area that he finally crashed.  Which was just in time for the thunderstorm!!!  Thankfully we made it to the restaurant for a late lunch right before the bottom dropped out.

After some yum-o pizza at Lupi's we let Micah and Connor play on the water stairs.  The water was freezing  but they pushed through it and had a ball.  I hadn't brought extra clothes since we were only going to be gone two days so I had to dig out some interesting outfits for the trip home and put up with the river water smell they were covered in but it was totally worth it.  Chattanooga is only two hours away from us.  I have no clue why we don't go more often.  Hopefully we'll remember in the future!

\

bye bye fumc

Holy Jampacked weekend Batman!  This past weekend was a DOOZY!  but fun fun fun!  We started off Friday morning saying good bye to the boys' preschool at First United Methodist Church in Covington.  I'm well aware that a few of you (no naming names ;) ) aren't preschool advocates BUT I absolutely loved Micah's experience the past two years and Connor's this year.  Besides the fact that it helped them get over their nobody can talk to me, hold me, get me anything but my momitis, it was a creative, loving, and educational environment as well without being pushy or age inappropriate.  WIN WIN WIN!  

Each class on Friday was able to spend some time on the bouncy stuff.  Connor only went on Tuesdays and Thursdays but we joined his class on Friday before meeting up with Micah.  They both had a ball!!!

Friday night was Micah's end of the year program (a.k.a Preschool Graduation but Zach doesn't like that name).  Micah was P.R.E.C.I.O.U.S!  They came out in their graduation hats and played the bells, sang a couple songs, did a couple of cute recitations before receiving their diplomas.  I was, of course, a teary mess looking at my big boy and being so proud of the person he is already flaws and all.

With Kindergarten starting for Micah next year which will require me to be up with all three boys and out of the house by 7 and again at 2 Connor will not be attending anywhere.  I'm quite excited about it though to tell you the truth because the long day will open up time for things we missed this year like library programs, lunches at Zach's office, and other fun adventures.  Hopefully by the time Connor is starting Pre K we'll have a more firm idea of where the heck we will be living.