Life Lately

Nothing too earth shattering to post today, but I just thought I'd capture a few moments from the past week.

Sassy went fishing with Gittum.

She is apparently pretty dang good at it as evidenced by this massive catfish she reeled in this weekend.

That is a big fish.

It has whiskers.

I think it is kinda gross. 

Sassy of course thinks it is pretty cool... since it is "cat" related.

.

.

.

.

.

In other Sassy news, she had her first soccer - or as we refer to it - herd ball game.

She did in fact score a goal.

She also pouted on the side lines for a significant portion of the game because her brother and sister got to play on the playground while she "had" to play in her soccer game.

*Sigh*

Yet another example of feeling out of my depth as a parent in attempting to capture these "teachable moments" and help her develop character. If there was ever any question... parenting is hard... even the moments that are supposed to be pure fun can end up being incredibly challenging.

Chilli Bean and Jenkins did indeed play on the playground during part of her game.

I also spotted Jenkins peeing on a tree.

Awesome.

Once again. I am pretty sure, I missed a teachable moment here. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

We went to the park with some friends last week. There are a few of these painted cows at the park and Jenkins begged to sit atop this particular one. 

My little cowboy! Yee Haw.

.

.

.

.

.

.

This next bit is just to demonstrate my beastliness.

We had the bouncy house up when we experienced a sudden rain storm last week. It must be bone dry before being repacked and stored, so I spent a day drying it out. I flipped that sucker around all day making sure it got dry on all sides...

I am a beast, am I not?

.

.

.

.

.

I love it when the kiddos play together so sweetly.

I captured a moment this morning...

Sweetness.

Maranda

Salted Caramel and Chilli...but not that kind of Chili.

My dear, sweet, readers. You all have been so kind to send me pictures of your circus peanut finds. You've definitely made me chuckle...

... and perhaps gag a bit. 

If you ever feel like sending me more than a photo... please refrain, unless you plan to send something of a more chocolaty nature.

I believe we have already established that I have a weakness for Resee's... but do you know about my salted caramel love?

It really is a problem.

Last year I discovered these at Trader Joe's.

It was extremely devastating to learn that these little nuggets of love are a "seasonal" item.

I consoled myself in the "off season" with these gems, also from Trader Joe's.

Recently, a friend brought these (below) to a gathering, and made the mistake of letting me have some.

Thanks a lot Whitney.

Notice who came home from the gathering with the rest of the bag.

Not that I didn't eat most of the bag while we were together.

I am pretty confident these are going to be easier for me to obtain on a regular basis and this does not bode well for my pregnancy weight gain potential.

On a completely different topic... look at this cute baby girl.

I love her.

She is a funny little thing. Here are some Chilli facts that you may not know:

1. She loves crushed ice. She gets this from her Emme who is obsessed with ice and has her own industrial ice maker at her house. If you have a Styrofoam cup in Chilli's presence, she will assume that you have ice... and that the ice you have, is for her.

2. She loves kitties. I can't imagine where she gets this.

However, she rarely refers to them as kitties, but prefers the term - "meows"

3. For being a chill kid, she has a high maintenance bed time routine. It involves 2 blankets, a baby doll and the baby doll's blanket (a specific one mind you), a Chick-fila board book, a "meow", rocking in two different directions in a chair that is not in fact a rocker, shutting the door to both her room and closet firmly in her presence -  and only when she requests it. There is singing involved too, and while she isn't particular about the song choice, she can be rather finicky about being patted whilst one is singing to her. And whatever you do, don't touch her hair. Just don't.

I heard a rumor that my husband just puts her in the bed without all the fanfare... so perhaps I am the one who has created the monster. But I love my monster.

4. She likes to fasten her own buckle in the car seat. She can't do the lower one, but is very insistent upon clicking the top harness. She will beg to "snap it!"the moment you start putting her in her seat. Once she has completed the task, she proudly smiles and says... "snap it" in a self-satisfied sort of way.

5. She's a love. She is kind to her brother and sister and will typically share when they ask for or even take something from her. I know this may change as she gets older, but I feel like she has a very giving and caring spirit.

6. She loves to read. She constantly brings me books to read to her. Though I have witnessed this with other people's children, my other children do not possess the deep love of reading that she seems to already have.

7. She gives kisses and hugs freely. She snuggles and smiles often.

I love her.

Maranda

Circus Peanuts

Regret.

It is a tough thing to live with. Just ask Sassy.

For the past 5 weeks she has been grieving over her treat choice at a truck stop somewhere off of I-16 in the middle-of-nowhere, Georgia. 

You see, we were headed to the beach to enjoy some fun in the sun. At this point we were about 4 hours into the drive. If you have traveled in a car with young children for a long road trip you know that 4 actual hours feels more like 400, and we were certainly were due for a pit stop.

While Brent filled up the van, I took Jenkins and Sassy inside to use the facilities. While in the store, I decided that they could each pick out a treat. Well... actually, I wanted a treat, and knew they'd eat mine if they didn't have something. It's possible I picked Reese's Cups, because maybe you remember, I kinda like 'em. 

Sassy selected a bag of circus peanuts as her treat. 

I questioned her regarding this choice. 

Though I haven't eaten a circus peanut since I was a wee child, I am pretty sure there is a good reason for that. 

The reason, you ask?... Circus Peanuts are nasty. 

I told her the choice was hers, but I didn't think she would like them. She waffled a bit, but finally settled on a pack of Sweet Tarts. 

And though she liked the Sweet Tarts, the memory of the circus peanut haunted her. It's mysterious, unknown taste eluded her and she became obsessed with finding another pack.

Consequently, Brent and I became a bit obsessed as well. I mean, we didn't make special circus peanut hunting excusions or anything...well, maybe just once...but it evolved into something of a freakish scavenger hunt for us. 

Oddly enough though, the circus peanut eluded us as well. Gas stations, Wal-mart, Target, Kroger, Publix, etc... in this area do not stock this particular variety of "peanut."

Last week when we passed a particularly shady gas station, Sassy lamented again over her "poor choice."

But then, when we thought all hope was lost, Daddy came through.

Oh the joy!

Sadly, it was short lived. 

The reason, you ask?... Circus Peanuts are nasty. 

Maranda

They love each other

clearly.

Well... some days more than others.

I know the feeling.

Actually, though we can get a bit ornery with one another, we can also have a pretty fun time as a family as well. This past Labor Day weekend was no exception and the Curly Cues played hard.

We kicked things off with the purple kitty party.

Meow!

It was a bit crazy with all those felines and children, but I think it went pretty purrrfect.

Oh, I'm so punny, aren't I?

On Saturday, we went apple picking with friends.

 Please feel free to caption this photo with what you think Mr. Jenkins might be saying. This may come as a shock, but he was a bit difficult "special" this weekend.

 The kids asked to bring their "Easter baskets" for collecting.

Chilli munching on the bounty from our harvest while on the wagon ride.


On Sunday afternoon, we went canoeing! Well, technically, Chilli sat the this one out. Considering that the last time I went canoeing I ended up tipping the canoe and slamming an oar into Brent's temple on my way into the water... I thought 3 kids was more than I could handle on our maiden family canoe outing.

These are the new black swans at our church. The ponds on property had been overrun with Canadian geese and apparently black swans and Canadian geese are arch-enemies!

Who knew?!

This is the kind of information you can't find on just any blog. We seek to educate and humiliate  ourselves entertain at Curly Cues.

At first the swans and geese just took up rival territories - basically, they just secured their own ponds. However, when we arrived to canoe, there was not a goose in site... and that hasn't been the case in years and years. I guess the Black Swans won the battle for territory.

Moving on....

On Labor day, we headed up to Amicalola State Park with my family and Mr. Ben. It was kinda rainy but the kids enjoyed the nature center and play ground.

This is Chilli Bean saying the sound a snake makes...

Well, I guess there is one other item of note from this week, but let's play a little game... just to make things a bit interactive.

One of the following statements is FALSE. Can you guess which one?

1. I have ridden a camel in front of the Giza Pyramids in Egypt.
2. I went backpacking in high school with my friends for a week and those organizing the trip only allowed us each one pair of underwear. I complied with their evil rule.
3. I have permed my hair in a decade besides the '80s... in fact, in this millennium.
4. I am pregnant and we are having a boy.
5. In grades 1-12 I lived in 6 different states.
6. I watched an episode of America's Next Top Model today while my kids napped. Sadly, I can assure you this one is true.
7. I once ate 18 Reese's cups in one sitting. (That's 9 packs).

Okay... which one is the lie?!

Maranda

Purple (Kitty) Haze

My life has been overrun by a herd of purple kitties.

Sassy is turning 5 tomorrow - *tear* - and I have been trying to put things together for her "purple kitty party."

Surely you know of my daughters deep love of the purple kitty?

What you haven't heard the best selling hit?

The purple kitty has owned me this week.

If you know me well, you know I am far too flaky and disorganized to attempt something like this, but for some reason I lost my mind and purchased felt and buttons and borrowed my mother's sewing machine.

By some miracle, I have successfully created purple kitties for the kids to stuff at the party and take home as their "goodie."

Side note... I don't sew. Not unless you count the "kids can sew" class my mother enrolled me in back in the 4th grade.

I must not have been totally inept because I did make a super cute bright yellow skort.

Yes, I said, "skort."

So after a thrilling evening of sewing machine manual reading and a one-on-one session with my mother in which we spun a bobbin and other exciting "sewy" things...  I made this:

That's right... a Satan cat.

I bet the kids can't wait to come to Abi's party and stuff their very own Beelzebub felines.

If at first you don't succeed... try, try again.

My working draft.

My massive mess.

My little purple army.

Note the extra creepy one at the middle top with large, different color eyes. That one is Sassy's. She hand selected the buttons for that bad boy.

In my insanity, I also decided to paint a sign...

...as well as my children's faces.

The party is tomorrow... I should not be blogging, but I can't look at the cats any more and I'm too wired to go to bed.

It might have something to do with the freaky cats all over my house.

They are everywhere.

Maranda

It tastes better when...

...you roll out the pizza dough whilst wearing no pants.

At least that's what Mr. Jenkins claimed.

Lest any of you worry... Yes, I did make him wash his hands prior to preparing the food.

And no, I did not partake of his cuisine, but he and his sisters thought it was de-lish.

Maranda

Watching Paint Dry

I was kinda nervous that today was going to be a challenging one.

I mean, honestly, most days are for me since I am a scattered, disorganized, hot mess and I have 3 littles running my life.

But I was a bit anxious because we were having our front door sanded and repainted in hopes of staving off the inevitable (specifically, forking over big bucks to replace the door and surrounding window panels which are all in various stages of rot.)

You see when we got our home a bout a year and a half ago, it was a foreclosure and it needed some work. We basically have done what was essential and are trying to save up for the big repairs and replacements. This is the 3rd (and final) salvage attempt for the front door.

So today, Mr. Abel came to paint. The kids were excited, the dog was irate (and consequently exiled to the basement) and I was freaking out!

I was pretty sure that with the front door open all afternoon, at some point all 3 of my children were going to be frolicking in the street.

But, Jesus is Lord - Fried Pies 49 cents! My kids did awesome! The dog, however, no so much.

I doubt Mr. Abel has ever painted with such an audience before.

They seriously sat there eating waffles and watching him paint for a large portion of the afternoon.

My little angels.

Well... at least some days.

Maranda