Our Weekend & a couple Top 5's

I know its Tuesday, but sometimes it takes a few days to recover from the weekend. And the past couple days have sort of felt like the weekend, because we haven't been in the normal routine of things. We have to leave super early yesterday to pick my mom up from the airport, and today we went grocery shopping. I don't really know why I keep taking all my kids grocery shopping, but I do and I regret it every time. Actually all the young women in my neighborhood are on a pioneer trek this week so no babysitters were to be found.

Saturday

Outside in our PJ's, bright and early.

Playing in the pool later

Austin and Nyah spent the entire day outside, playing with friends.

Kurt went to Home Depot for lawn fertilizer and came home with stuff to make a waterfall. So we (mostly me) spent the afternoon hauling rocks. Its pretty cool.

Thinking about my weekend has prompted a Top 5 List--

Top 5 Things Messing Up Our House

1. Books- With 3 big bookshelves, 5 little bookshelves, many stacks of books all over our house, and 4 kids (Olivia & Jolie in particular) I spend a lot of time picking up books. As the picture shows, I don't really care how they are put back on the shelves.

2. Toys, especially blocks- Those kids again, going about having a good time, what are they thinking?

3. Clothes, shoes, and socks- My kids undress anywhere, even outside, without the least bit of hesitation or shyness. I've been gathering dirty laundry today and had to bring in an armful of clothes from the backyard.
4. Papers- Never-ending piles of paper accumulate on every flat surface, and its not all mine.

5. Blankets- Olivia and Jolie recently discovered our linen closet and are constantly pulling everything out. I, of course, no longer neatly fold each article and carefully place it back on the shelf. Not that I did that in the first place- wishful thinking. But everything is crammed back in at the end of the day, and pulled back out by 8 a.m. the next morning.

Top 5 Mess Makers
1. Olivia- she's tall enough to reach all sorts of doors, cupboards, and drawers, and coordinated enough to climb shelves, and usually has a purpose to her messes, such as wanting to play with things like the blankets, couch cushions, blocks, etc.

2. Jolie- lacks height and coordination of Olivia, but also lacks purpose. I compare her to a tornado, completely empties a drawer and moves on to the next one.

3. Nyah- Most of her messes are art project oriented- crayons, markers, paints, papers- all left out to be destroyed and/or eaten by her younger sisters.

4. Austin- Likes to play

5. Kurt- He knows, and admits, to being one of the kids (sometimes).

Fortunately, Nyah, Austin, and Kurt are also very good cleaner-uppers.

Sunday

We went for a walk, well, the kids rode their bikes, and the little girls were in a stroller, so Kurt and I went for a walk.

Stopping to catch grasshoppers.

"Walk, walk, walk, walk" -Olivia's way of saying she wants out of the stroller (or car seat, shopping cart, etc.)

Jolie and Dade- Still Best Buddies

Jolie will purposely put her face close to his face so he will lick her. And I have seen her lick him before too.