Family Fun

Lately I've been trying to play more board/card/learning games with the kids. Tonight before bed they each picked one. Autumn picked the monkeys:

And Calvin picked Monopoly Jr.:

The kids were so funny to me tonight because Autumn was really into her game, but she lost horribly. She couldn't have cared less about Monopoly, and she killed us all. Calvin had to be coaxed back to the monkey game every two minutes and he won by a landslide. But he was super invested in Monopoly and Autumn wasted him (At least he beat me. By the end I was stealing money from the bank to pay my debts). I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere, but mostly we just had fun.

Another thing that cracked me up tonight was that Autumn found these "slippers" and wore them from the time she got out of the bathtub to the time she climbed in bed. They are hand puppets. 

She was sure it was sheer genius that she was using them as slippers because she literally told me every two minutes: "Mom, these are my slippers. They are very soft, and I will wear them to bed. Not puppets. Slippers." She intended to sleep in them, but I guess at the last minute she didn't like how her blanket kept catching on them.

As she slipped them off, she said, "that's okay, tomorrow I'll use them as roller skates." Which means she'll slide on the kitchen floor in them. I guess it's good that they're getting some creative use.

Little Shopper

Today Autumn was my little shopping buddy while Calvin was at school. She's the best to go with because she's so cheerful the whole time. She can go for hours and never lose her enthusiasm.

The downside is that she loves everything she sees and tosses it into the cart (the other day she dropped a Costco sized can of walnuts onto the eggs. That one didn't end so well), and by the time I get to the checkout counter, I'm pulling out all kinds of crazy stuff and everyone in line judges me that I dump them with the cashier. I'm sorry people,  I try to clean things out ahead of time, but sometimes it just doesn't work out.

Like today at Target, by the time I was done, she'd added three little girl dresses (2 weren't even her size), a zebra patterned bathing suit, a fedora, a purse, 6 outfits for the baby (mostly girl clothes because she's still holding out hope), a bottle of decorative glass pebbles, one place mat, a large beach ball, several picture frames, and a decorative turtle shell. I know I should be more stern along the way, but I don't want to crush her little spirit.

So we bought one dress, the bathing suit, and the beach ball.

While I was looking at curtain panels, she kept yelling, "Mom, look at me! Take a picture!":

And Autumn in the fedora was too cute not to capture:

After Target we hit Lowe's and I had a cart full of Dora nightlights, random door pulls, and some paint brushes. It was a fun day with my girl.

A Day in the Life

Highlights from an average day at the Nelson house:

While I was taking out recycling, the kids begged me to leave this box. Calvin says that when they're like this:

It's a rocket.

And when they're like this:

It's a Disneyland Rollercoaster.

This came in the mail for Andrew:

I texted him that if he had joined the NRA, he was getting a little too weird for me and it probably wasn't going to work out. He swears he didn't join and that they're probably sending memberships to everyone, bulking up their numbers for the current gun debates.

It was beautiful weather, so we spent the afternoon at the park:

 No idea why I only took shots of the kids trying to hang on long enough for me to snap a shot, and then screaming for me to come grab them before they fell. We did other fun stuff too.

Autumn wanted a picture of her:

And then she took one of me:

I think I was looking something up (though I can't remember what) because it has been months since I've been able to sit and read a novel. I look much more relaxed here than I ever really am, but I do like the belly shot since I haven't been taking any pregnancy photos this time.

And that's your typical day at our house (without pictures of tantrums, time-outs, sibling fights, and other unpleasantness).

Rock, Paper, Scissors

The kids have been excited lately about playing Rock, Paper, Scissors. Today, Calvin gathered all of the supplies and asked Autumn to play a literal version with him. It didn't work as well as he had hoped, but it was fun to watch.
 

(the rocks are a bit camouflaged by the carpet.)

New Haircuts

 Calvin in the silver airplane

 Autumn in the pink car

 Looking cute with their balloons, suckers, and new looks from Cookie Cutters.

Update: I forgot to mention the best part of the day. Cookie Cutters is about 30 minutes from our house, and it's right next to a Texas Roadhouse, so we usually wait until Andy's in town and then make a trip of it and eat after haircuts. Today when we finished eating and went back to the car, Andy and I both opened the back doors at the same time to put the kids in. It was really windy outside, and the wind tunnel we created sucked the balloons right out. I grabbed one of them right away, but the other one took off. I ran after it, but Andy is faster, and he told me to go back to the car and he would get it. I watched him chase this crazy, erratic balloon all over the parking lot (it had a weight on the bottom, thank goodness!). People were watching and laughing. I was laughing. Andy was leaping and lunging and sprinting after this stupid balloon as the wind kept whipping it all over the place. I didn't think he would ever catch it, but he did. It was so funny to watch, but I was super in love with him afterward. He always goes to great lengths to make sure the kids are happy. I adore that about him.