Our Evening in Pictures

Oh, my. What a day. I will spare you all the chaotic details of schlepping all over P-Town with the kiddos today and direct your attention instead to a few cute pictures of the (sigh) end of our day. And instead of catching up on meal planning (which I need to do so bad) or laundry or just sit and not multi-task for a few moments, I will blog. Because if nothing else, I have recorded this day and can look back on it years from now and remember these amazing, frustrating, funny, crazy, adorable moments: I give my family kefir shakes every couple/three days. I make my own kefir and fill my family's tummies up with lots of good bacteria. You don't even want to know what kefir grains look like. You might throw up in your mouth a little bit. I do.

Jude even gets mustaches from his "milkshake". I include kefir, plain yogurt, whatever frozen berries I have in the freezer, vanilla extract, flax seed meal, agave nectar (for sweetness), protein powder and perhaps a bit of sorbet, if it's on hand.

Juliet can't believe her good luck when it's milkshake night and beats her cup silly until she gets every last drop. I made the mistake of giving her a full cup of that stuff once. I paid for that later.

Juliet loves to sift through my Trader Joe's purchases as they come in the door. She's eating bagel chips here. Delicious.

Samuel singing his "pants on the ground" song. Have you ever watched that ridiculous Youtube video? I'm not sure how my kids even watched it, but I think it involved some Papa time.

Some people ask me how I do it alone with three kids. This is it. Starbucks Americanos. Not just coffee, but coffee and espresso. It makes my eyes water it's so strong, but it really does the job.

A Case of the Muuundays

Ever worked in an office and had a real bad case of "the Muundays?". I do. I may not work in an office anymore, but my children can drive me to the point of locking myself in a room with a computer and well, blogging. After washing my oldest's mouth out with soap followed by a nasty clean up of spilled paint all over my husband's saw (I don't imagine a certain three year old had anything to do with that!), I am ready to throw myself from a moving train. Did I mention only one of my children napped today? So, I have to dwell on this sweet little face: She had her first taste of Bumps on a Log (or whatever that snack is called - the one with celery and peanut better and raisins - is that even called anything or am I losing it?!) and actually it was her first taste of any nut butter. She loved it!

Oh, I could just eat her up. I won't ever have to wash her mouth out with soap, right? Right.

Have I ever mentioned how many nicknames my kids have? I will post that soon - currently I call her my Chicklet Girl. Check out those little teeth!

In the Trenches

I'm in survival mode here in the McGladrey household. Colin is getting loads of overtime (good for our checking account, not so good for child rearing) and Jude has decided to enter a late phase of the terrible two's. Think shaving cream on mirrors, pushing his sister, stealing toys, throwing fits - and that was all before 7:30 a.m! I will survive this, right?
In an effort to escape our house, I have been taking the kiddos for walks - Samuel rides his scooter. Jude was preparing a bed on the floor last night and Juliet joined him.

Here's Jude playing in their car outside.

And Juliet in her stroller this morning. I could just kiss those sweet little (cold!) cheeks. Did I mention it felt like 40 degrees this morning on our walk. Jude was pretty much frozen when we returned and I happily obliged warming him by placing him down for an early nap in his very cozy bed.