Doughnuts and Skittles

Saturday morning I realized that we were out of milk. Not good when you have three cranky kids who want their cups filled up! I took Sarah to the store ASAP to buy some milk, and while we were there, we picked up some yummy doughnuts for breakfast. My kids were THRILLED. It was like Christmas morning...

It's as if he's saying "Cheers!"

This crazy boy inhaled his doughnut, and then ate what Sarah left behind. She was more interested in her chocolate milk, plus she had a KitKat in the car on the way home from the store. (and yes, it was barely 9am) Like I said, it was like unto Christmas morning. My kids couldn't figure out why I'd willingly give them this much sugar in one meal! I'm sure they'll survive. I too was given the magnificent breakfast of doughnuts and chocolate milk on more than one occasion as a child. And I was able to develope proper eating habits! Well, most days... :) After all, pretty much every morning the kids are forced to eat the boring whole grain cereals with little to no sugar in them....






Ben was a MESS. I think his sugar high was wearing off too...


I think it's a bit obvious that the next step for Ben was the tub.

I was trying to snap a picture of him when he tries to suck on the handle... but this time he only held on to it.

It really is the funniest thing. He will get on his tippy toes and suck on the handle of the tub... Why? Who knows. Why do my kids do half of the things they do??

Now, if this doughnut thing wasn't enough for you... this will be the icing on the cake.

Anyone that knows me well, knows my love for Skittle art. I accidentally discovered this so called Skittle art as a wee highschool student. I had two older brothers serving full time missions for our church, and I wrote letters to them as often as possible. (Which was A LOT seeing that I would write them letters in class instead of taking notes.)

This is a bit graphic, read on at your own risk :)
One day in my history class I was writing one of these wonderful letters while eating some Skittles. When all of a sudden I lost focus and one of said Skittles fell out of my mouth and rolled onto my paper. Leaving behind a streak of color ... Then, an idea was born. As gross as it is, it is great fun. And yummy too. I proceeded to lick my Skittles and make my brother a beautiful picture. It has evolved into putting a small handful of Skittles into your mouth, getting them nice and wet, then letting them fall out of your mouth onto a peice of paper. You then wiggle the paper around while the Skittles do their thing. When you are done with that color, you suck them back into your mouth, and eat them! (I know, it sounds super gross...) But hey, don't knock it until you try it!!

(*Fun fact* I made a piece of Skittle art as part of an art project in college... and totally got an A. "Wonderful use of water color" the professor said.) Heh heh heh.

Have I lost anyone's respect yet??

I now have a younger brother serving a full time mission for our church. It would only be fair for him to have one of these masterpieces. So I decided to teach my daughters how to do it for FHE. Best night of my life.

Sarah loved the fact that she could eat the candy, spit it out and eat it again!

Maddy caught on pretty quick... she's good too!

My budding artists



THE FINISHED PRODUCT

Maddy's Masterpiece

My Masterpiece

Sarah's Masterpiece

Where is Joseph's Masterpiece you ask? After all, this was for Family Home Evening. Well, he sat at the table and watched in horror and disgust, as his lovely wife and daughters painted with their spit. He was traumatized. Well, that, and someone had to hold Ben!! I think my daughters have discoverd a new favorite way to "paint" haha! I hope Elder Passey likes his art!

After our art class we went outside to enjoy our backyard. (Something we rarely get to do since it's been SO hot lately)

We went for a walk around the Cul de sac and then pulled out the bubble machine.

Ben was trying to eat the bubbles

Maddy was jumping around like a crazy girl. Maybe it was all that sugar....

Ben discovered water from the last rain storm, that was hiding in the drawer of their outside table. That kept him busy for a long while.

Daddy and Ben relaxing in the "flying saucer". This might be the only thing we like about our swingset...

It was a great way to end a fun day.

Beach BBQ!

The family decided to have a Birthday BBQ, in honor of all the August Birthdays in our family. Funny, that most of said family members were not in attendence... But that didn't stop us from partying!

We headed down to the state park to play at the beach and then have a cook out when the men were off of work. We met my mom and the kids at the beach and played all afternoon.

Ben LOVES to put things in buckets or bowls. So having a sand and a shovel to put into a bucket kept him busy for a while.
He loved watching Allie build her castles too.

As always, Sarah was attatched to Erynn's side. ALL DAY. Poor Erynn. That has to get old! But hey, It's a nice break for me!! Maddy floated back and forth between the boys, and the girls. Depending on who was having the most fun.

We had a water fight, and chased eachother around... I had a great time. The kids were really good too! We packed up around 5 or so and headed up to the shelter that we had rented. Dad and Joseph cooked hotdogs and hamburgers, and we had us a birthday feast. Potato salad, baked beans, chips and some good ol' root beer. And of course... cake. Ben was SO tired. He fell asleep in his stroller after his sugar high. All day at the beach followed by a sippy cup of Hawaiian Punch. Yeah buddy.

He slept for a few hours too! We had to wake him up to put him in the car!

Papa and Mama were able to come too. It's always fun to get them out to the beach! I guess they deserve the credit... The BBQ was their idea!

My "Mama"... She made the most amazing baked beans...

I took this picture as the sun was setting. (of course, the sun doesn't set on the east coast... so no pretty sunset pictures...) However, as the sun was going down, HUNDREDS of dragon flies started swarming around the pond. It was beautiful!!

I couldn't get a good picture... but in this one you can see one zooming by! It looks like a flying saucer! I wish I could have taken a video. It was so neat to see.

We were able to go with my mom and watch, while she and the kids did an inventory of a Sea Turtle nest. She and the kids volunteer with the turtle patrol at the state park. It was neat to see Ryan, Erynn and Josh be able to sort the turtle's eggs, and see how many hatched and made to to the ocean. They were so proud!

We stayed well after dark, and had a great time. Last year Andrew and his family were able to be there... Hopefully we can do it again soon and get the whole family there!

Temple Trip!

We had the opportunity to take the kids to the Columbia Temple last weekend. My mom, my sister and I got to take some family names through, and it was a wonderful experience. Joseph walked the kids around the Temple grounds for a little while, and then Uncle Ryan came and picked up the kids so Joseph could join me. The kids loved being there!

Ben is just starting to walk well, and thought it was great fun to be able to walk around outside!

He was cracking himself up!

Sarah was all smiles too. On a side note- we are trying to potty train her (with NO success) but amazingly when we got to Columbia she was dry! So I asked her if she needed to go potty and she said no. Then I said, "Do you want to use the potty at the Temple?" She excitedly agreed, and I took her.. and she went!! I thought it might be the beginning of a new trend... Has she had success since? Nope. Maybe if we lived closer to the Temple, we'd have more luck...

I love this picture... They just held hands and walked off together.

Maddy is such a ham! She has been learning about the Temple at church, and has been learning the song "I love to see the Temple" as well. When we were walking around the grounds she just stopped and burst into song. She sang both verses to "I love to see the Temple"! She was VERY proud of herself. Then again, that seems to be a state of being for her.

Daddy and Ben

Family Picture!

Our family is forever...

These next few pictures are very out of place after seeing pictures of the Temple... But I'm blogging about my life right??

Here we go...

Why is it so entertaining to wear underwear on your head? Combined with that face... it really is something to laugh at!

Maddy has spread the joy of it onto her younger sister.

Sarah actually thought to pull her hair out from the leg holes! She was calling herself "Llama Llama Red Pajama" for anyone who has read that children's book. (If you haven't you should! They are so cute!) I guess she thinks her hair looks like llama ears. Silly girl!

Our little Ben is getting so big! He now eats his meals at the kids table instead of the high chair. And he's SO proud.

The sun shines right through the window and blinds the kids in the morning. I have to keep the blinds shut until late morning... but Ben still has light coming through onto his face!

For the record... I LOVE this table. Our kitchen table is over carpet, so I have this little table set up in the kitchen. My carpet would be a disaster without it!