Keepin' busy

Okay, so I'm trying really hard.  Trying to grow these little sprouts into happy and well-adjusted people.  Trying to keep my sanity.  Some days are easier than others and some weeks are just plain hard.  We are coming out of a tough week.  No major incidents or anything - just continual battles from sun-up to sun-down.  From getting dressed, to brushing teeth, to choosing footwear, to negotiating a jacket, to securing in carseat,  (oops - wait, sorry B, I forgot, you need to click it yourself!  Let me undo that buckle so that you can stop wailing and do it back up on your own!), to holding hands in parking lots, to keeping hands to yourself, to eating your yogurt with a spoon rather than smearing it into an art project on the counter with your finger.... and that is all before 10am.  Yes, these kids keep me busy.  So my only defense is to try to keep them busy.  The sun came out yesterday and we were able to undertake a few projects.

We buried a time capsule, and found a worm (both of these events seemed to be equally exciting)...

Gardening is another of our past times...R & B each planted a flower pot for our front steps.  We are going to do a vegetable planter as well.  The kids are excited about growing these seeds on the windowsill.  B's is the pumpkin and R chose the watermelon.  I think I am going to tell them that plants grow better when they are talked to just so that I can eavesdrop and hear what they have to say to their pet plants...

We made these Mickey cake pops in anticipation of our upcoming trip...It turns out that cake pops are a finicky multi-step process - good thing we had these Mickey decorations to cute them up a bit!

It has been crazy busy around here...and super fun...and bloody challenging.  So what if  B refused to get out of his pj`s for the entire day and actually attended Little Readers and a playdate in a rainbow-striped sleeper with dragon gumboots and blue hockey gloves.  So what if at four years old, R doesn`t seem to appreciate the richness of her everyday opportunities.  Motherhood is not a lot of glory, but every once in awhile you get a smile like this and it doesn`t seem to matter...

...and by 7 o`clock when they are tucked in bed it is good to sit and relax.  To laugh at their antics, and our in-the-moment responses.  Parenting on the fly is all anyone really does.