Those are two lines from the book A Good Day by Kevin Henkes which is a very simple book about 4 animals who are having hard moments and then things turn around. Today was like that. We had a terrible night with both kids – Quinn was up for more than an hour in pain from molars coming in and refused to take any ibuprofen and Tyler was up for about the same amount of time with growing pains which he has been having frequently – almost every night. Sunday night had been no better, so I would have thought today would be hard.

I tried to get the kids to go to the playground or out for a walk, but neither wanted to and Tyler wanted to stay home. So I opened the garage door which automatically sucks the kids out to the front yard. It is magical, I swear. I got a wild hair and went and grabbed my FIL’s miter saw. I started sawing some raw cedar I had and began making blocks. I made a wicked cool home/tunnel/bridge branch with some of the stock I had. I had been wanting to do this for a while, so I was really psyched and having a blast working with the wood.  The kids were quire content looking for bugs and weeding the garden.

We came in after a while and made muffins for lunch – Sweet Squash (actually sweet potato today) Corn Muffins. We had our favorite lunch which was comprised of those muffins, kidney beans, and blanched bok choy. Delicious, colorful and nutritious.

In the afternoon, we played at a park Tyler had requested and had a good friend join us. We got home and Daddy was already there. It just turned out to be a way better day than I could have imagined. So nice when that happens!

The kids and I have been hanging at home a ton lately, but I would say 75% of the time we are outside in the front or in the back. In the front, we spend most of our time in our neighbor’s yard! I guess because adjacent to our driveway is our garden and then our yard, the kids are just drawn to the immediate grass on the other side. So I will be hanging in our driveway while the kids and usually the dog are over there. The dog is chills and the kids are typically mowing the neighbor’s grass. It is too bad they aren’t real lawnmowers because the kids “mow Lou’s grass” almost everyday.

In the backyard, I am working on a sand pit in the backyard for the kids – of course, they are thoroughly enjoying the dirt pit at the moment. The other day the kids and a friend’s child I was babysitting were back there for 2 hours straight. Ah, the lure of dirt!!

We were all tired today. Everyone slept poorly last night and everyone woke up early. BAD combo there. We had Blossom this morning and Quinn took and early nap. Then we had a surprise drop in visit from Grandma. She left near 4pm and we still had more of the day to go.

So we went out front. The plants in the front needed a drink, so I drug the hose out to the front yard and grabbed my bag of pecans for shelling. And from there, we all spent an hour enjoying the spring day. The kids soon de-clothed which was fine. The mosquitos are not back in full force yet, so they should enjoy naked time while they can. The weather was amazing with these sweet breezes showing up just when we needed one. The neighbors yards were brimming with the bright green colors that shout “Spring is here!”

I got dinner made and had fun with that. It was just a really nice day. It amazes me on the days where I just breath, slow down and am open to possibility how the neatest things can happen!

I took yet another cue from SouleMama and realized I needed to have more fun and creative ways to include the kids in my cooking. Sometimes my meals don’t always allow for a lot of kid involvement. I realized after reading Soulemama that it might be easier and actually more fun for them to let them create alongside me.

So today I got them one bowl and two spoons. I let them add whatever they wanted – Tyler asked for oregano, salt, and flour. They have some of my onion, garlic and carrot peelings. Tyler wanted to peel a carrot and then at some point disappeared to the living room where he laid on the couch and ate his carrot. It was really fun though and not at all chaotic. So this is something fun for them I will be doing LOTS more in the kitchen.

This is a terrible picture of an icing tip used to decorate cakes. While we were at the sink, Tyler asked me what it was for. I told him it was used to ice cakes. Then I saw something inside and said, “There is something yucky inside of it – it must have gotten in there when I washed it last night.”

Tyler then responds, “I thought that was a banana opener. I used it yesterday to open a banana.” And the mystery of what is in my icing tip and how it got in there is solved! :-p

It was time. Her hair is so fine and I was tired of brushing out knots. I knew that if I got it cut, it would start to grow out thicker and she may have less bed head. As a bonus, Tyler also needed a haircut, so we thought she would feel more at ease watching him go through the process first. She did wonderful and we now have a little girl with the sweetest bob ever!!  Daddy was a little sad to see the longer hair go, but I think he agrees that every time you see her post-haircut, she looks like this little girl now.  As you can see in the picture with Grandma, that baby hair was going everywhere!  And as I remind Chris, it will grow out….

I included far too many pics here, but hey, you can feel like you were right there with us and didn’t miss a thing!

Tyler knows the drill and is calm and cool checking out what is in those eggs…	Quinn watches on with Grandma
The hairdresser pulled out the shaver.  Tyler started giggling because it tickled..	Quinn a little unsure and not so happy because there were a few knots that had to be combed out (Mommy’s fault..)
These eggs are cool, Tyler…	How much longer, Mama?
Out little girl emerges….	A sweet, tidy bob!

OUr crazy, sweet girl. I was talking about all these social slang words she uses. It cracks us up. The other day she came into the den where I was. She was coughing and it sounded like maybe some water had gone down the wrong pipe or something. I asked her, “Are you okay, baby?” She responds mattere-of-factly, “Yup. Coughing.” And with that toots back out of the room. And right there you have Miss Quinn – it is all cool and she is doing her own thing.

She is also an efficient communicator. She has picked up the “you’re welcome” part of the gratitude equation, but she like to take care of that for you. So she may come up to me and say, “berry, please.” I will get one for her and she will respond in this fast staccato, “tink you, welcome”.

One of her favorite things lately is playing “monkey” where she climbs up your body and then stands on your shoulders. She will say “do it again!!” over and over and over. Quite a work out. I must not here that she learned the phrase” do it again” from Tyler and uses it all the time. Tyler was more of a “more” guy himself.

What follows is a video of the madness that takes place in my kitchen on a regular basis. I received my copy of The Creative Family and have been inspired to try and harness their want to be in the kitchen with me a bit more. They want to be in there cooking with me and if they can’t help at the moment, I could always take my mounds of veggies trimmings and whatnot and let them create their own dish. Spices are cheap…I need to let them begin to have more fun and really sink intio the enjoyment of cooking and creating in the kitchen…

Here is Quinn blowing bubbles – I think she watched her brother doing this and had to try it….