Winter swimming

I made brownies the other day....I know, I shouldn't but YUM! So I had had one and my husband had had two. Yet.......there are 4 missing. Guess what? It was that same boy that snuck into the cake......frustrating.My kids went to go outside dressed like this today. They have been BEGGING to set up a swimming pool so they can go swimming. And they refuse to believe me when I say it is too cold. So neighbors........please do not be alarmed when someday you see them out there trying to swim. I may just have to let them so that they will finally believe me that it is TOO COLD.My sweet little Butterball......he came up to talk to me about the whole swimming thing and stopped mid-sentence, grabbed Appleseed's hand (who was on my lap) and said, "Hi baby. I love you. How are you?" and then kissed his hand. So cute. I love that boy!

Swimming Fun

I know why our daughters want to do their own hair. Even though when they get older it drives us nuts and they may not look that great. At this age, we praise them for doing their own hair. I am not about to tell my daughter that it looks bad. She was excited that she had done a "bun" on one side and a "web" on the other. So of course I will tell her what a great job she did and how proud of her I am. Then she did her brothers hair and was so upset when he took it out shortly afterwards.The kids went swimming today. It was a lot of fun and great temperature. Butterball and Butterbean were arguing at the beginning, I know big surprise, and so Butterball was emptying the pool in defiance.
And so Butterbean took the hose to spray him while trying to pull the pool side back up. See that look of glee on her face. They can be terrible!Appleseed sat in it and had the best time. He sat in it most of the time and just splashed and played with whatever floated near. It was so cute.Butterball had to go to the bathroom and went on the Lilac bush. Butterbean was so upset that he had got some on the leaves and said, "That is it! Now it won't grow back anymore and I will have to try and get some water to put on the leaves and I will have to water it and water it and water it. I am just going to go to Canada. And I will have my own place and you won't be able to come because I will only have people that I don't know over so that I can meet some more people." And that is the scowly face she was making while saying it.And here is the great picture I got of my husband in the pool holding Appleseed. Yeah, I am so excited that the camera is working that I JUST GOT BACK FROM THE REPAIR SHOP YESTERDAY!!!

This is what color our water is today. Gross! I thought maybe this is equivalent to a mud bath? The kids had fun in the pool that arrived today. Yeah! I had to get one off the Internet as I could not find one at all in the stores. I had waited to long apparently.Butterbean told me that she likes clothes that are just a little inappropriate and that she is OK if they show "this much shoulder". That is what she is doing in the picture. Then she told me how Princess Belle wears her dress off her shoulders and that when her cousin ML wears her Belle costume that she wears it the same way. She is going to be fun as she gets older isn't she? Sigh. I thought it was adorable that Butterbean figured out a way to get over her fear of helium filled balloons. When she first saw the balloons at the store she immediately told me she didn't want any. She says that every time she sees balloons. Then she said that I could get one for Butterball and one for me and that I could just take care of it till we got home. I told her that was a great idea. As we were walking towards the door to leave the store she said, "I am glad you got a balloon for yourself and one for Butterball and not me." I reminded her that one of them was hers and that I was just holding it for her for now. She said, "No it is your balloon. Not mine. That way I won't even have to worry about it flying away when you get outside because it is not mine." I caught on after that so I let her know that one was mine. As we walked to the car she kept saying, "I am not even thinking about those balloons flying away. I am not even worried at all." It was so funny. When we got to the car and I was getting ready to get in she said, "Please be careful!" I told her, "But it is my balloon remember so you don't have to worry." In a relieved voice she said, "Oh that is right. Whew." So cute. We made it home with my balloon and Butterball's and then I gave mine to hers. She was perfectly fine then.

Smiles all around.

This is what Appleseed likes to do some nights instead of sleep. How can you resist that face? I sure can't.The kids and I went swimming today. It was kind of hard being the only adult but it was still fun. We couldn't go down the water slide though or spend too much time in deep pool. It was too hard for me to climb out carrying Appleseed, He hated his floaty thing and it didn't keep his head out of the water enough so I just held him.
Butterbean must have been feeling bad today. She had told me that she hates going to school lunch with me. She said that she won't eat what I cook for dinner. And a few other nice things today. So after dinner she ended up drying and putting away all the dishes without being asked and then mopped the floor. It was nice to have the help but made me wonder if she felt bad for the way she treated me today and that is why she did it. I am not looking forward to the teenage years at all.

Outdoor Fun

The other day was warm enough that I let the kids run in the sprinkler. Apparently it wasn't that warm as Butterball spent a lot of the time huddled in his towel on the ground. He had even brought his pillow out so he would be more comfortable. Nut!We had a picnic lunch outside too which was so nice. I love this time of year! Too bad my baby doesn't like to just lay on the ground while I garden. He would prefer to be held.

I decided to try and get Appleseed to sleep in his bed instead of with me. He cried for a bit and then was very quiet. So I peeked in to find Butterball leaning over the crib with his glow stick talking to him. It was so adorable. Needless to say putting him in there did not work. Butterball would either get in his crib to quiet him down or come and get me. One time he was yelling my name so I finally went in there and Butterball said, "I have been trying to take care of him but I just can't do it! You need to take care of him!" I tried to talk to him about letting Appleseed just cry and that he would cry himself to sleep. Finally at 12:30 AM I put Butterball in his sister's room on the floor so he could get some sleep. And I finally I gave up and brought Appleseed in my bed with me at 1 AM so I could sleep. We will try again another time.

What a week!

Our computer crashed last Sunday, I think, so we have spent most of the week without a computer. Thanks in part to a great neighbor, who we owe big time, we have a new one with all our old stuff on it and at no expense to us. Yeah!!! So here are a few photos of our week.

Appleseed was so good with these in and didn't cry at all. I, on the other hand, was crying from laughing so hard. Before my Mom and I mowed my pasture out back we had to get a few shots of the kids. I was positive we had gators or snakes in this weed patch.

I usually have to trick Buttterball into getting his picture taken. I told him there was a butterfly nearby so he is concerned that Appleseed is crying but still looking for the butterfly.

Butterbean finished swimming lessons. It was so strange to see her do it this time. Last time she had lessons her teacher told me that she was going to let her skip the next level because she was so good but on the last day she would not do all the things she could normally do the following days so she didn't feel good skipping her. The prior day they had spent swimming in the deep end and she is wondering if it scared her too much. Little does Butterbean know she can't touch in the area they normally swim at either so I don't know what the difference was. So we took the next level swimming lessons and the entire time it was like watching her on level 1. I was not surprised when she did not pass. Her teacher said she does everything she asks her to but refuses to let go of her. She has been stressed about school so I am not sure if that is what caused her to be so "panicked" but I think we will wait on swimming lessons for now.

Her is Butterbean with our loan tulip that grows in the middle of our yard. I need to move it someday but it is kind of cute for now.

I just like this picture of Appleseed with his new summer hat on.