new 'do

before...

and after...
it's hard to go wrong with this cute girl.

babysitting for cash...

Look at this little guy! He was so wide awake and happy that we just had to take a bunch of photos. Here are only a few of the best ones...

(and yes, while L. and I were absorbed in our photo shoot, of course BR. and A. were flooding the bathroom floor. Did you even need to ask..?)

After everyone was all cleaned up and pajama'd, we let them cuddle with Baby C. Here BR is playing his version of this little piggy: "this little piggy a'stay a'home, this little piggy a'go outside, this little piggy a'eat a'macaroni and cheese..."

read this instead

I guess that "gross" post has been up long enough. Time for something new.

In the meantime, note that I have a new addition to the page. In the top right-hand corner I will try to post a "quote of the week." There is definitely no lack of material for it, it's just a question of how well I will keep up with it.

gross

feel free to vote for your favorite.

1. 2.
3.

4.

notes & lists

A. is learning to write letters. Well, she is learning to write the letter A, and M and N and H and sometimes T.


I find "lists" everywhere...this one says: "milk"

this note says, "Dear Daddy, I love you":

and what good is writing if you can't label stuff:

i found it under my pillow...

When we traveled to the East Coast, I flew alone with the kids. First to Atlanta where we had a layover for a few hours, then onto Raleigh, NC. I spent the previous two months fretting about it and trying to strategize how to manage any tantrums, boredom, etc. that might arise with a 2, 3 and 5 yr-old. (yikes)
I stuffed the girls' backpacks with games, snacks, a calculator, stickers, that sort of thing. And I made a book for each of them. I stapled some old cardboard and recycled construction paper together and then wrote a story and pasted cutouts from any old magazines I found around the house. Jeremy wrote L's book, and I wrote A.'s book and L. decided to write BR's and instructed me on his favorite images to include (basketballs and trucks, of course). The kids looked forward to the flight so they could finally read their stories.
A's story included a part where a flying princess visited the homes of sleeping children and tucked presents under their pillows. (Hey, it could happen!) Since then L. has informed me that she is very jealous of those kids in the story and could she please find some presents under her pillow when she wakes up every morning?
Well... I can't possibly find a gift for every single night, but, I thought about it for awhile and came up with an idea...I could write a note, or I could give "coupons." Like, "this coupon redeemable for: 3 kisses from mommy." That kind of thing.
And what do you know? L. believes in spreading the love so now she leaves little notes and coupons under her sister's pillow. What a gal.
My favorite so far was this one: "For A: one free puppet show, performed by L."

9 days

Gramom was here for 9 days and even though she really came to visit with our new little cousin, we managed to steal her away for one-on-one breakfast dates with each one of us, and a trip to the Children's Museum.

(we're pretty sure that the children's museum is where BR's love of "bah-ket-boh" began...)

sunday craft

Them: "So what are we going to do today? I'm bored. What activity can we do?"
Me (trying to think up a non labor-intensive Sunday morning activity): "How about you go collect some rocks in the backyard and then you can paint them!"
Them: "Yes!!! This is going to be SO fun!" (singing) "We're going to paint rocks, we're going to paint rocks!"


Check it out, lots and lots of colorful rocks:


(labor-intensive? nah... it was pure fun to paint those rocks and their clothes and their hair and their bodies and the dining table and floor, and the bathroom sink, and the tub, and the kitchen counter. what a perfectly restful sabbath-day craft idea, huh?)

cousins, cousins, cousins

...there are so many now! we here at RandBelles are officially outnumbered.
Check out the new blog over at: http://neuinthehause.blogspot.com/ or click on "Cash Only" over in our cousin section at the top right of the page.

the difference between A. and L.

A. really knows how to get under L's skin.

A: "L, you're little and I'm big. You're 3 and I am 5."
L. "Waaahhh!!! Mommy, A. said that she's big and I'm little, waaahhhh!"

But mama really knows how to get A.:

Me: "Ok then, A: you can go to kindergarten by yourself tomorrow, just like a big girl! I will drop you off at school in the morning."
A.: "No! I'm too little, I'm only 3!"

while L. is at school...

...the other two are really enjoying each other's company. A. has a lot to teach BR.

First, there is painting on the washing machine:

next: craft time
push-each-other-around-the-playground-in-the-stroller time:

and, of course: tip-over-the-stroller-and-then-laugh-time

(pss..it's not obama this time...)

go check out our parisian cousine's blog for today's post!

finding that perfect match

yesterday's conversation...

L.: "Mommy, when I grow up can I marry BR?"
Me: "Uh, no honey, you have to find someone who isn't in our family."
L.(after thinking about it for a minute): "Okay, then, how about Ben?" (Ben is my cousin's boyfriend)
Me: "No, honey. Bethany really loves Ben, and I'm pretty sure Ben loves Bethany." (he does: he proposed yesterday!)

today's conversation...(she must've spent the night trying to think up other options)

L: "I think there is a boy at my school who likes me."
Me: "Oh yeah? How do you know he likes you?"
L: "Well, he says goofy things and plays with me on the playground and he never even hitted me!"

a saintly guy

the new mama and her boy:


proud cousins:

two-in-one: not only is there a saint with this little guy's name from Morocco, but our new cousin timed his arrival to coincide with another namesake's feast day! clever guy...

first day of kindergarten

we had a french toast breakfast with fresh melon to go with it, her hair was trimmed, her dress stitched up just in time (phew), lunch bag packed, school supplies purchased and in her new backpack ready to go...

was she ready or what!

my two favorite moments of the morning: the first was when she realized that today was not the only day she got to school, but that she would get to go EVERY day. She kept repeating, "Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday (and then not Saturday or Sunday), and then Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday...Wow!"

but my number one favorite part...I was brushing her hair and she sighed, "this is going to be so fun..."

i haven't forgotten...

Aunt Kay did indeed have her baby on Thursday and both of them are doing really well! but I have promised not to post any photos until I can also link to her new blog so that she can be the first, which is only right and proper. So I am patiently waiting...and waiting...and waiting. I mean--what could possibly be taking so long?
Just kidding.
This is really hard. there are so many photos right here at my fingertips...proud cousins...holding their new baby cousin and ooh-ing and aah-ing...ooh, I could just click and post...but I won't.

so instead I will post these shots of the kids making "silly faces" which to them apparently just means to stick out their tongue:

livingroom bobsledding

pretty soon...

...we will get to meet our new cousin! Viutis must have known that he was due to arrive tomorrow so he has decided to make a timely entrance.
Aunt Kay has gone to the hospital and we are waiting to hear the news...

i can retire now

me: "L, did you know that your baby teeth are going to start falling out soon, and you will get new, bigger ones?"
L. (bored): "I already knew that."
me: "Oh yeah? Who told you? One of your cousins?"
L. (verging on exasperation): "No, I read it in a book."