OK, I know I've been having an off week but I just now realized that yesterday I wrote, "Hello Tuesday" when it wasn't even Tuesday! How come no one is calling me on the crazy over here?!

Yesterday, Wednesday, I decided to try out potato stamps with the kids. We've been doing a craft a day this week as the rain has left us stranded indoors and potato stamps sounded like fun. I figured, we'd decorate some Spring banners and find a place to hang them.

You guys? It took me 30 minutes to carve out 4 stamps. And I'm not an artist, nor a perfectionist when it comes to art. I know my limitations. It just took that long! Carving potatoes? Not as easy as it seems.

Worse yet? The kids stamped their signs for about 3 minutes. And during those 3 minutes I was completely hands on helping as the paint did not want to stick to the wet potatoes. So we're at a ratio of 10 minutes of work to 1 minutes of fun. Fun that entitled me to still work!

Then what did the kids decide they wanted to do? Oh yeah, finger paint. Why did I waste my time writing out "Happy Spring" on their banners if they were going to be completely painted over?!

I tell you, trying to encourage creativity and go with the flow thing is really difficult when all your hard work goes right out the door!

Today is a movie day. We'll still think of a craft but I'm not putting that much time into it today. Mama's a bit crafted out. Happy Feet, here we come!

This morning I woke up to what sounded like an elephant stampede going on above my head. How in the world my kids can wake up and start running up and down the hallway is mind boggling to me. I knew I was in for trouble when they didn't come down to get me, and trouble is what I found when peeking into Max's room.

That would be Rory and Max on the top bunk with the following items:
Syrup, marshmallows (all over the bed), spaghetti noodles, rigatoni noodles, olive oil, saltine crackers, toppers crackers, dried fruit (all over the bed), cereal, ravioli noodles, oatmeal, chips, croutons, and granola bars.

Yes, half my pantry was brought into that bed with them. For the record, we had started letting Max sleep on the top bunk about a week ago. I had planned to write about that but had yet to get any pictures. While I'm not exactly thrilled about it, Max knew how to scale the side of his bunk and was sneaking up there anyway. So putting the ladder up was a much safer option then having him climb up the side of his bed every night.

Hello Tuesday!

This weekend we had Katie, Andrew, Lyla, Nora and Bella stay over. New Richmond had a hockey tournament that Andrew played in and they also put on a big parade for St. Patrick's Day so we figured they would just stay here for the weekend while we packed in lots of fun activities!

Friday they arrived and Lyla hopped onto the back of Max's four wheeler and took a ride.

The three older kids all slept together downstairs. In order to guarantee everyone went to sleep when they were supposed to we had to move Rory into my room for her to fall asleep there while Lyla and Max went to sleep. We'd eventually move sleeping Rory back onto the couch with Lyla so they were all able to wake up together. (Rory has never been able to fall asleep with others around.)

Saturday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with some green eggs and ham. I know, such a cute idea. Too bad the kids really didn't eat much of that and instead enjoyed the green donuts that Katie and Andrew bought.

After breakfast we headed to the state park for a hike down to the waterfalls. We took a nice long trail, about 4 miles total, and we made sure to take pit stops and enjoy ourselves along the way.

The waterfall was beautiful. All that warm weather melting the last of the snow and ice really made for a huge cascade. Makes it easy to impress the company!

Once we made it down to the waterfall the kids took off their shoes (and cowboy boots) and socks and dipped their toes into the icy cold water.

I found a nice couple to come and take a group shot for us, I think it turned out really nicely even if our group is backlit to the waterfalls.

As we headed back and away from the waterfall the temperatures really started to heat up. Andrew decided to try out some man capris. And yes, this is a shot of his behind, I'm sure Katie won't mind you checking him out too.

We stopped on our way back to get Nora a bottle and Dusty decided to help the kids find shapes in the clouds.

After all that fun Nora took a crash nap for the last part of the walk. Don't you just envy a baby's sleep?

Of course, Katie and I both forgot our cameras while getting the kids all changed into warmer clothes for the hockey arena that day. So I can't show you but the kids sure had fun watching Uncle Andrew play hockey, even if his team did lose. We also decided to skip the parade. Too many people were expected to turn out and nobody really wanted to manage 4 kids under four in all that.

Sunday we bummed around enjoying the beautiful weather. Auntie Katie was teaching the kids about sharks.

And Nora was hamming it up for the camera.

A couple funny stories from the weekend:

Dusty had the attic ladder down in the garage as he was cleaning things up, moving winter and summer things around. When he came back into the house, Lyla came running in screaming that Max and Rory were "Up high!" It took Dusty a second to figure out what she meant and then he and Andrew went running. When they got into the garage and discovered both Max and Rory up in the attic Max screamed down at Lyla, "Lyla! I told you not to tell my dad!" A very scary moment made a little better with comedy.

At the hockey game on Saturday the kids were standing up next to the glass. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rory walking along the glass funny. When I took another look I realized she had her tongue against the glass and was walking along licking it the whole way. She got about 15 feet before I realized what was going on and was able to stop her. Yuck!

While on our walk Lyla had to go to the bathroom. Andrew helped her learn how to squat in the woods. When Katie and Andrew got home on Sunday Lyla decided she needed to go to the bathroom and dropped her pants in the middle of the driveway. Andrew quickly hid her in some bushes and Lyla was very proud to show off she could still pee outside!

It was a very fun weekend, the kids did really great together and all the adults had a lot of fun catching up. I know it's been said a bit too much but this warm, 80 degree weekend, was completely awesome. We couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

This week Max had spring break from preschool. Auntie Rosie also had spring break from school and she really didn't want to go to the farm to help with the greenhouses. So we decided she could watch the kids and I would help out at the greenhouses this week. You guys? That was the best thing ever! I was exhausted every afternoon, crabby and short with my children and completely overwhelmed with everything that still needed to be done once I got home.

Why was that the best thing ever? Isn't it obvious, it helped me put into perspective just how lucky I am to be home with my children. I knew that my life was easier without a job to worry about but having that reality hit me smack in the face while I was actually living it again? (And only for a week mind you.) It was amazing and so needed. A nice reminder that while my life certainly isn't easy I'm also not that frazzled crazy mom and wife that I had been. Just awesome!

Don't worry, I did get the kids out to the farm with me today. They were getting pretty mad that I was going with out them, and they insisted that Rosie was mean to them. (Hee hee hee, mean Rosie.) They worked really hard at getting the pots together.

And after many, many requests, Uncle Jeff finally obliged the kids with a tractor/trailer ride to feed the calves. 

Of course, they didn't have any fun watching Uncle Ed pour out the feed for the little cows, or playing in it.

I also conned the kids in going for a walk with me by telling them I saw a mouse over by some hay bales. (A complete lie.) 

We get further along on our walk and we're checking out an auger and wouldn't you know it? A mouse jumped out at me. 

Worse yet? The kids didn't even see it, they were looking the other way and only looked after I yelled. Figures! 

So I'm happy today. Really tired and sore. But really happy. It's been a great week!

Grammy, Dido and Rosemary came over for dinner this week and I've been working on getting more pictures of the kids with their Grammy and Dido. Usually, we just have so many people or so much going on that I never get a picture of my kids with them. Max did not want to take pictures though, so Rory got to be the star of the show.

She sure was spoiled with all those kisses right before bedtime!

This weekend Auntie TaTa came over to play with the kids. They had a lot of fun swinging with her!

TaTa showed off her mad swinging skillz too!

This warm weather has been awesome. The bright, mid-afternoon light hasn't been the best for photos but I don't care. I have a new lens, some warm weather and adorable children to keep practicing on. (Well, minus the Oreo mouths. But those 100 birthday limited edition Oreos are so good, I think I'm just going to have to embrace those mouths for a little while yet.)

Oh, and another fun picture of Rory, from our walk at the state park that I missed last time.

I know, you all are uber impressed with how talented I'm becoming!

With this warm weather we've been spending a lot of time outdoors. Max was able to ride his four wheeler around the yard and he was so proud to come in the house to show me how hard at work he was!

Yes, he did walk into my house covered in mud like that. I'm such a lucky mom!