does she look the same?

I think Naomi looks a lot different from when she was a wee babe. I hardly recognize her.

waking up

Henry, after naptime yesterday.
When I asked him if he was okay, he told me, "Me trying to wake up."

guilty pleasures

Yesterday, I made these awesome chewy peanut butter cookies for James. Yes, for me too! But, these are James' favorite type of cookie! I had some chocolate kisses but not enough to put onto all the cookies. Therefore, I melted the kisses and dabbed a little of the melted kisses on each yummy cookie! So good!

isn't this sweet?

Marcail sleeping on her Grandpa at my grandparent's house.

memories

How silly Marcail looks in this picture!
Henry was tuckered out!
They were 17 months in this picture.

where did the time go? part 1

Marcail at about 22 months.
Marcail at about 15 months.
Marcail at about 22 months.

where did the time go? part 2

Henry at about 22 months.

where did the time go? part 3

Naomi Paige at 8 months.

playing horsey

The kids love horsing around with daddy in the evenings!

kid-isms VIII

Marcail pronounces 'car': "ky".

Henry says 'itch' like this: "irtch".

All three of the kiddos say 'later' like this: "layler".

Henry pronounces 'pool': "cool".

Our apartment landlord's name is Pro and all the kids call him Mr. Pro but Henry pronounces his name: "Mr. Crow".

little tidier

This evening, after putting the kid's night-time diapers on, I placed their underwear that they had only been wearing for a couple hours on the counter right outside their bedroom. I laid them out like this: While I was in the bathroom tidying up, I witnessed Marcail "straightening" up the "weer-weer" into a tidy little pile like this:

She is so much like her mama, everything has to be just so and in the way she wants it!

the flop bread dough

This is what I made with the flop dough from last week: They're little chewy "crackers". I rolled the dough into little balls and then flattened them on to a greased cookie sheet. I sprinkled them with salt and slid them into a 400 degree oven for approximately 10 minutes, turning them over half-way through baking time. I'm not really impressed but they make a quick little snack. I didn't make many of them cause the kids didn't seem too impressed either. So, I pitched the rest of the dough.

I tried making donuts with the dough before I baked the crackers but they just sank to the bottom of the pan and when I tested two donuts they were still too dough-y inside.

Although, now that I think about it, I wish I'd kept the dough to make pizza with it. I knew there was something I was missing!

third on my 'to do' list

Wash the dishes that accumulated over the weekend and this morning from baking.

Before:

After:

All in a Monday morning!

Now I don't feel so guilty sitting down to blog.

second on my 'to do' list

This weekend we took our 10 loads of laundry to the laundromat to be washed and folded by the operators of the laundromat! This is the first time we've dropped off our laundry and it is a little pricey: .99 cents/lb. But, to me the convenience of NOT having to spend an afternoon in the laundromat and then go home and fold all the clothes you just washed when you have so many other things to do over the weekend, was totally worth it to me!
So, this morning I also put away all of our nicely washed, dried and folded clothing that I did not do! They even put all the kid's clothes into separate bags as well. Henry's was in one bag and Marcail and Naomi's were in a bag together. The sheets and towels were in their own bag and James' and my clothes were in a bag together. Talk about convenience! I love it and what a lot less stress!

first on my 'to do' list

The first thing I was really excited to get started on this morning was making a loaf of whole-wheat bread! This was try #3. I used a recipe I got online and it requires absolutely no oil or kneading! I am happy to announce that it was a success!!!

Look at that lovely, full loaf!

thank goodness!

I woke up this morning, with the help of a little girl named Marcail. As I lay in bed going over what I needed to do this morning before lunch I decided I should get out of bed and get started!

Thank goodness the kids play so well together so I could get most everything done!

abc's of me

A - Age: 27
B - Bed size: Full
C - Chore you hate: Mopping
D - Dog's name: I don't have pets
E - Essential start your day item: Feeding the kids breakfast
F - Favorite color: Blue
G - Gold or Silver: White Gold
H - Height: 5'5"
I - Instruments you play(ed): Flute
J - Job title: Mom
K - Kid(s): Henry, Marcail and Naomi
L - Living arrangements: Apartment
M - Mom's name: Laurie Lynn
N - Nicknames: Tab, Tabby, Taberino
O - Overnight hospital stay other than giving birth: None
P - Pet Peeve: Idiot drivers; busy streets
Q - Quote from a movie: "The force is strong with this one."-Yoda
R - Right or left handed: Left
S - Siblings: 2 sisters. Olivia Arlene and Christine Lynn
T - Time you wake up: Earlier than I like. Usually around 7 and 7:15 a.m.
U- Underwear: Yes
V - Vegetable you dislike: Peas
W - Ways you run late: The kids or my lack of organization
X - X-rays you've had: Just teeth, I think
Y- Yummy food you make: Hamburger Stroganoff
Z - Zoo favorite: Giraffes

photohunt:: protect(ion)

At the beach, there are lifeguard huts near the shore. On the outside of the buildings this sign is posted: The flags that coincide with the Beach Flag Guide fly next to the sign. The day this picture was taken it was a Medium Hazard (yellow flag) and Dangerous Marine Life (purple flag) day:
The flags are flown for our protection. We are glad they are there so we don't go into water that could potentially be hazardous.

i had an idea

I think I might know why my bread didn't turn out. I am no scientist by any means, but I have my theory. The recipe I got from my dear friend Princess called for all-purpose flour and I used 100% whole-wheat flour. Now, whole-wheat flour is a lot heavier and denser than all-purpose flour so I'm wondering if the yeast quantity wasn't enough for a 100% whole-wheat bread?? It makes sense to me but I don't really know.
When I told James how my bread kind of flopped he said that making bread is tricky and it's harder here in Florida. Maybe something to do with the humidity? I know my kitchen was warm enough. It's small and the oven had been on for over an hour.
I am somewhat scared of the bread-making process because I don't want to make any mistakes and I don't know what you can get away with per se and what will make it not turn out. I also don't want anymore waste. I shall press on! I am going to find the right recipe and will make the perfect loaf of bread!
Also on my list of recipes to find and conquer are:
Chocolate Sheet Cake
Homemade Hot Pockets (with the successful
whole-wheat bread dough)
Key-Lime Pie with homemade crust
(Key-Lime Pie is Jame's favorite!)

picnic at the park

I never know if I should call it the park or the beach because where we live there is a park/playground on the beach. Usually, when I tell the kids we're going to the park they ask, "At the beach?" So, I call it the beach most of the time when I tell the kids where we are going. From now on, if we go to the park I will be calling it the beach to avoid further confusion.

Anyway, here are the 3 monkeys that I like to refer to as the kids "posing" for a picture all together. This is so hard to do! Especially getting them to smile. I usually just get so frustrated that I give up trying to get smiles. Ugh!

They are sitting on the limb of a tree that grows really funky. You'll see more of the tree as you scroll down.

Here is the top of the tree looking up. It provided shade for us as we ate our picnic.

I heated up leftover pizza, packed some yogurt cups and strawberries, grapes and carrot sticks. It was a quick, easy lunch and a pleasant break from the norm. We love picnics!

More of the tree and some pictures of the climbing monkeys. I mean, kids!

Marcail is clapping for Henry. "Good dob, Hemy!"

Marcail is "siding" down the funky tree trunk.

They had so much fun on the tree limbs that we didn't even venture over to the play equipment! They were so ready for naps by the time we walked back home.

When we got home and were riding in the elevator up to our floor, Marcail had a sudden remembrance of something she had forgotten at the beach that she had brought along. It was a little piece of plastic, trash to you and me. She has used this for all sorts of things, but mainly a cell phone. She looks at me with sad, serious eyes and says, "Mama, I lost my phone to da beach!" and immediately breaks down in tears! I felt so bad that I hadn't kept a better eye out for her little plastic "phone". At the same time, I was proud of her for remembering it even though it was too late and there was no way we were going to walk all the way back to the beach to get it! I told her that after naps we could go back and look to see if it was still there on the picnic table. I wonder if she'll remember??