The Zoo

We had a trip to the zoo while Uncle Seth and Sydney were visiting us this past weekend.  The first thing that we did was go see all the “monkeys” – which is always a huge hit.

Then we saw that there was a kangaroo show on the schedule, so we headed over to that area to check that out. 

Although we were trying to hold it off for a little bit, the kids absolutely had to ride the train after that.  We try not to ride the train every time we go to the zoo (simply because it costs money), but when a cousin is in town, we go all out and all have a train ride!  There was a huge line for the train on Sunday, but it went faster than expected.  We had a great train conductor, too, which always makes the zoo train ride a lot more fun. 

After the train, we all have to ring the bell. . . .

We had to check out the elephants. . . .

Then everyone was pretty worn out and hungry, so we left the zoo and headed out to the picnic area to eat a lunch that we had packed.  We saw a couple of ladybugs while we were eating, which was very entertaining. 

All in all we had a great weekend!  Hopefully Uncle Seth and cousin Sydney can visit us again really soon.

Weekend Fun

This weekend one of my brothers and his daughter came to visit.  We don’t get to hang out as much as I’d like, but this past weekend was awesome.  The cousins had so much fun together just hanging out, and Rosemary barely left Uncle Seth’s side that first night he was here.

The next morning we all went to the zoo, and over the weekend we did a little furniture switching (the furniture that was in the bedroom that now belongs to Henry was a little feminine, so Seth took that for his daughter and brought down a great bed for Henry).  I have some photos from the zoo to post soon. . . . 

A New Room

Ever since the kids learned how to climb out of their cribs, Henry has been terrorizing his sisters.  Mostly it’s because he doesn’t need as much sleep as Piper and Rosemary and wakes up looking for something to do.  Clearly, the best solution was to move Henry to his own room, but this is the kid who didn’t like being in any room by himself and we didn’t think he could handle it.

With all of the cleaning out that we’ve been doing this year, a big goal was to get the guest room ready to become Henry’s room when it was needed.  At some point over the last month or so, it became apparent that Henry might be ready for his own room.  We didn’t want to spend a lot of money on it, but we did want Henry to be able to choose something for his new room.  Gary and I narrowed down a selection of bedding to two sets – a cowboy set and a nautical set.  Then we sat Henry down one night and showed him both sets on the computer and let him choose.  He didn’t hesitate. 

We ordered the comforter set and continued cleaning out and straightening everything to make sure that Henry would have plenty of room.  This past weekend, we set up his new room.

Probably in part because we’ve been talking it up for a while, Henry was so excited about his new room and new bed.  When he woke up from nap yesterday, everything was set up and we let him see his room for the first time.  He was giddy.  Totally excited.  For the rest of the day he kept telling us how tired he was and how he wanted to go to bed.  Finally, it was bedtime, and Henry was able to go to bed (and insisted on sleeping ON the pillow shams instead of the bed pillows).

Henry did so well.  We checked on him a few times, but he never called out to us for anything.  He went to sleep, and managed not to fall out of the bed last night (as far as we know).  This morning we could barely get him to go downstairs to eat breakfast.  He just wanted to stay in his room.

This morning we explained to Henry the importance of taking care of his room and bed, and taught him how to make up his bed.  He really paid attention well, but we figured we’d be going over this for a while before he got it.  Not so.  After nap today, when Henry called out to Miss Sally that he was done with his nap, Miss Sally went up there to find his room cleaned up and his bed made up – quite well.  I’m so proud of our little buddy, and I’m so glad that he’s proud of his new room! 

Potty Training . . . Again?

The big kids were pretty late potty trainers.  We tried it out a time or two and they were not remotely ready until a week before they turned three – which was about 9 months ago.  This past weekend, Penelope started taking off her diaper and asking to use the potty.  She hasn’t done anything in the potty yet, but she’s definitely interested. 

She likes checking out Peek-A-Boo Barn on the iPhone while she’s on the potty. . . .

And she doesn’t seem to mind a little company, either. 

I’d be beyond happy for her to be an early potty trainer – and for us to say goodbye to diapers forever!!!

Happy Birthday, Auntie Ann!!

Today is Auntie Ann’s birthday.  We celebrated this past Friday night.

Unfortunately, despite the series of shots above, I completely missed the shot of Auntie Ann blowing out the candles on her cake.  The kids got to it before Auntie Ann or I knew what was happening. . . .

Happy birthday, Auntie Ann!  We love you!

Hairbow Blowout

We go through a remarkable number of hairbows.  Piper doesn’t like to wear them, but she will typically keep one in her backpocket.  Rosemary must have one at all times and even sleeps in a hairbow.  Penelope enjoys wearing hairbows, but doesn’t leave them in as well as she should (but then again, she’s only 19 months).  Somehow, these hairbows disappear at a rapid rate.  I have no idea where they go, but around our house things had gotten serious because I could only find one pink hairbow, and that is just not enough for three girls, especially when you live in the South!

The problem with hairbows is that you can’t just go into Target and buy a big pack of them.  I have purchased hairbows from consignment sales, from Etsy, from other children’s sales, from retailers occasionally to match outfits purchased, etc.  These are expensive.  And even if you can manage to find them at a super-cheap price of $3 each, it’s still really expensive to buy enough for our three girls. . . .

So, a couple of weeks ago I googled “How to Make a Hairbow.”  Wow.  There are some amazing tutorials out there!!  I decided to line the alligator clips using this tutorial (but not add the no-slip grip), then I decided to attempt the pinwheel bow following this tutorial.  I found a seller on Amazon to purchase a box of 80 alligator clips, and another that sells some high quality yet nicely priced grosgrain ribbon (I decided on light pink, dark pink, chocolate brown, and a lighter green), and declared last weekend Hairbow Making Weekend 2012. 

It took about 8 hours over the weekend – but I ended up with 48 new bows.

All in all, it wasn’t too bad. I’m recovering from several hot glue gun burns and my fingers were incredibly sore for days from dealing with the wire and ribbon and using the lighter over and over again to seal the edges of the ribbon. They don’t really look like the examples, but I’m very pleased with how they turned out.

The best part is that they cost less than $0.75 each and I have alligator clips and ribbon left over to make even more hairbows.  Now that I know how to do this (not that I EVER intend to make 48 bows in one weekend again), I’ve realized that I can make hairbows with Halloween colors, and Christmas colors, and to match other outfits, etc.  The possibilities are endless!  I definitely don’t plan on making more hairbows any time soon, but at least I know how to do it now.

The best part is that the girls love their new hairbows!

Last Weekend. . . .

So, I’m just now getting to blogging about LAST weekend, which is sad because I’ve had these photos edited and ready to go since Sunday night.  We didn’t do much last weekend.  Piper was feeling a little under the weather, so we just stayed around home.

Henry ran from my camera all weekend, but Rosemary and Penelope let me take a few photos of them while they played.

Rosemary asked to have her hair put up like mine, then had a seat in my favorite spot in the house to take photos – the foyer next to the front door.  She gave me some beautiful shots. 

Not to be outdone, Penelope also sat herself down and posed for a couple of photos!

What sweet babies!  Now I just need to convince Henry to let me take a few photos of him this weekend. 

Bath for One. . . .

The kids almost never have a bath by themselves.  Typically, we throw all 4 kids in the tub in the big kids’ bathroom and wash them all at once.  But every once in a while the kids get an impromptu bath in our bathroom.  Piper got to take a bath in “Mama and Daddy’s bathroom” the other day and seemed to enjoy having the whole tub to herself.  And the light is so much better in our bathroom than in the kids’ bathroom that I had to pull out my camera to document the occasion. . . .

Growing Up. . . .

Penelope is really growing up.  Maybe it’s from having three older siblings, but she is completely at ease wherever she is.  At the playground last weekend, she hit the ground running and playing as soon as we got there. 

The funniest part to me was watching her climb and slide.  She has NO fear!

I have been asking her if she’s a big girl, and she answers, “No.  Baby.”  Whew.  I don’t think I’m ready for her not to be a baby anymore!