30 Day Declutter Challenge

OK, so I haven't blogged since March, but I thought I'd post on here about the 30 days of decluttering I'm starting today!  My little house has become rather cluttered up with the stuff of 5 people floating about, and I need to clear some space and get organized before Christmas comes!

Day 1:  My 3 junk drawers.  Yes, I have 3.  Two were organized a few months ago, the 3rd has just always been a wreck.  The organized ones have of course become wrecks also.  So here's the before/after:

Strong Museum of Play - Part 2

The Wizard of Oz special exhibit.  Please note Lexi's Dorothy dress and ruby red slippers.  Also, the three children separated almost immediately upon entering the exhibit hall, and it was absolutely crazy!  I stayed with Ed, which is why most of my pictures are of him.  He loved the exhibit, and was totally oblivious to the crowds.  Ben... not so much.

We did take a quick picture of Ben with the Tinman, since that was the inspiration for he's costume last Halloween.

Ben spent most the this exhibit snuggling on Mama's back.

Lexi pretends to be the scarecrow.

Lexi decorates a scarecrow.

Farmer Ed, growing some corn on Dorothy's Farm.

Farmer Ed petting the cow.

That's an Ed of a different color!

Ed and Lexi survive the haunted forest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strong Museum of Play - Part 1

This is from last month when we visited the museum of play with Ang's parents and some of the Buffalo clan.

The boys enjoyed their snack on the drive.  Lexi called them "bar beards." (from the chocolate granola bar snack they had been eating)

Maggie helping Lexi up the climbing wall.

Ben in the special toddler area, he was busy claiming all the toys.

Climbing the stair in their superhero capes (Ed in red and Ben in Blue)

Superhero on the move!!!

Lexi on the carousel all by herself, such a big girl!

All bundled up and no snow!

The boys playing outside on one of the nicer winter days.

Ben finding treasures

Ed and Mama

Happy Birthday Kelly!

We made some yummy treats - flourless chocolate cupcakes with chocolate dipped strawberries. 

Lexi wonders why anyone would bake a cake with flour. :-D

The Grocery Cart:  Its meant to be ridden on, not in, right?  (and FYI, this is Benjamin)

Lexi painting her name

Lexi got a wood carving of her name for Christmas from Papa.

The artist at work.  Note the smock and the plastic on the table.

She picked out the purple and green herself.

Painting is serious business.  The final product is hanging on her wall.

Grandma's Visit

So you can tell that I need to update when these pictures are from a month ago when my mom visited... oh well.  I always get to the blog eventually.

View from my kitchen...

More Halloween Fun!!

Angela left out a few details in her post... like my face paint looked like it did because I gave Lexi the privilege of painting it.  She really, really wanted to help with the face paint, and for reasons that are probably fairly obvious, we did not let her help paint the scarecrow or the tinman.

After we were done trick or treating up and down our block, Lexi and I hung out on the porch and she gave out candy to the trick or treaters.  I think this was more fun for her than actually collecting candy.  She did great, and she wasn't shy about it at all, though I did have to coach her a few times on only putting one piece of candy in each bag, not as many as she could grab in a fist.  Also, she wasn't very supportive of giving away the kit kats first (Mommy's least favorite).  The affair was a ton of work, and I was exhausted, but it was a lot of fun.

Happy Halloween!

Thought I'd share a piece of our Halloween craziness.

So it was chilly this year for Halloween, though not freezing like last year, so we dressed in layers, especially the boys, who don't run particularly warm.  Here's layer 1, onesies:

Layer 2, socks and long underwear:

Ed

Ben

Layer 3, leg and armwarmers:

Ed

All Together!

Layer 4, actual costume:

Ben the tinman, and Ed the scarecrow

Then, of course, you need to get your makeup done:

Lexi's green face

Adding Ed's scarecrow nose

Ed's not so sure about this

Ben is sure that this is not a good idea

"Aw, c'mon mom"

I should note that the makeup process took about 10 minutes total (for all three kids).  Then we attempt a picture on the couch.  It does not go well.

Our friend Julie came to see us off.  Julie is much better about wearing the tinman hat than Ben.

Outside we got a picture of both boys with hats on for exactly 0.01 seconds.  This is the best you get folks.

 The cutest little witch ever.

And the whole family!

Everyone's hat is ALMOST on here.

 Then we finally get one with both boys' hats on, and Ben steals Lexi's hat.

We had lots of fun trick-or-treating though, then the boys got put to bed while Lexi handed out candy and headed out to a Halloween party.  My little social butterfly! Happy Halloween to everyone!