HAPPY LEAP DAY!!!

Leap courtesy of Hadley

I REALLY think LEAP DAY should be a holiday. I mean come on, it only happens once every 4 years! Shouldn't it get some respect and be celebrated! We seem to celebrate everything else with decorations and sales at the mall so I say we all lobby our local representatives (because we know they aren't doing anything else) and demand that the next LEAP DAY be given its due and be declared a national holiday. If it happens I promise I will have a big party at my house on February 29,2016!!!

LEMONADE! That Cool Refreshing Drink

This is what I call AWESOME! A LEMONADE STAND in the middle of February! Hadley and her BFF Ana (with a little help from Brett) set up an impromptu lemonade stand. They actually got some generous customers and ended up making about $14 in an hour. I think I may have to set up my own stand so I can start making a little cash on the side. I am not sure I have the "cuteness" factor that Hadley and Ana do so maybe a bikini will work!? Nothing sells lemonade like a middle-aged mom in a bikini!!! Something tells me that is probably a violation of our HOA rules.





Hadley, Ana and Brett selling lemonade

FOUR!!!

F- FIESTY

O- ORNERY

U- UNRULY

R- ROWDY

All of these definitely describe Mr. Whitaker but he is also funny, sweet, smart and lovable. He still demands ALOT of my energy and keeps me hopping which will either keep me young or send me to an early grave! WOW! How boring our lives would be without Whit to keep us "entertained". HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY to our wild and crazy Whit!

HOME ALONE

Before you start freaking out- NO I DID NOT LEAVE WHIT HOME ALONE!





Here is the set up:

Whit decided to pour out an entire bottle of bubbles on the driveway. I found him sweeping them up into a soapy,frothy mess. I asked him why he had done it and he answered-

"I am making it real slippery so that if some bad guys
come they will slip and fall and won't be able to get
in our house"

So, my first thought was of the movie "HOME ALONE" where the little boy concocts all of those booby traps for the unsuspecting and very stupid burglars. I guess I won't have to worry about Whit or my possessions if I inadvertently leave the country and forget my kid!!!

Fun with Fractions!

Are we Having fun yet? Hadley is ALWAYS having fun! But I am not having fun trying to teach her fractions! For some reason she isn't "getting it" at school so we have been spending lots of "quality" time at the kitchen table doing FRACTIONS! Let me tell you it's LOADS of fun!

Copy Cat

Apparently Murphy got some information from Whit about how to maximize use of one's diaper- see previous post from when Whit was utilizing his diaper the same way . Not only is it good for soaking up pee-pee it is also useful for storing stuff, too.

Scariest Thing You've Ever Seen!!!

Carson and I were messing around with my PHOTOBOOTH app and these are the very SCARY images that we created. We decided that we are by far the UGLIEST couple on PHOTOBOOTH!

Murphy @ 22 months

Murphy is moving ever so close to the 2 year mark. The time when you stop counting age in months and just count in year or half year increments. The time when we start to say goodbye to most of the "baby" stuff- diapers, pacifiers, crib (maybe not, I think we'll keep him in there until he is 14). I really don't know what I am going to do with myself when that happens! It has been the norm around here that as one kid is aging out of the "baby" stage we had someone new to fill that position. We are treading in new territory here! I don't know if that makes me happy or sad- I guess a little of both. But there is no stopping it so here is what Murphy has been up to this month:

Two "Speech Encouragement" sessions per week- so convenient in my dull,boring life. Just wondering? In todays world of texting and e-mailing do you REALLY need to be able to talk? No one actually talks to anyone anymore!

Lots of ball throwing, kicking, chasing

Lots of screaming- he doesn't like to talk but by no means does this mean he is QUIET! He and Whit get in to screaming contests- usually in the car- talk about a HEADACHE!!!

Lots of eating- yogurt is his fave right now especially if he can feed it to himself and get it all over the place.

Lots of mess-making- specializes in dumping buckets of toys, emptying drawers and pulling the entire contents of bookshelves onto the floor.

Lots of jumping- on the trampoline, on beds, off of tables

Lots of admiring himself in the mirror

Lots of bathing- whenever he hears running water he starts to strip off all of his clothing so he can jump in the bath or shower.

LOVESTRUCK!!!

Valentine's Day is not a BIG deal around here but I decided to have fun with my photo booth app on my macbook and I got a picture of each of the kids with the swirling hearts around their heads. I also went all out and got them each a HERSHEY'S bar and we got 5 guys burgers for dinner and had ice cream cake for dessert- so it was a BIG deal after all because I didn't have to cook- YEEHAW!!! Hadley also orchestrated a "VALENTINE'S DAY AWARD" show (think of the GRAMMY'S, only in our living room in our pajamas). Luckily, we all received awards so no one left empty handed or in a foul mood. Here is the breakdown of the awards:

BEST DAD: Kevin
BEST MOM: Me
BEST BROTHER: Griffin
BEST SOCCER PLAYER: Carson
PRETTIEST HAIR: Reese
BEST 7 YEAR OLD BASKETBALL PLAYER: Brett
CRAZIEST: Whitaker (BTW Whit was soooo excited when he got his award he jumped up and down and had the biggest smile on his face- I guess he thought it was a "real" award)
SMALLEST: MURPHY
and Hadley gave herself the "BEST HOSTESS" award!

Oh! Fun at the Markland House!

Chillin'

This is something we don't get to do very much of- just CHILL at home. It was so nice to just hang out and play in the yard for a few hours and NOT have to be ANYWHERE! I think we might have a chance to do this again sometime in June.























Check out Murphy's "D"





The Story of our lives right now- SOCCER!



My favorite Murphy PANTS- i just LOVE all the vehicles and so does he!

On Your Mark, Get Set, GOOOOOO!!!

And so it begins.... Spring Soccer Season





Hadley's U9 team



Reese with a header



So here is the breakdown:

Hadley- U9 club team

Reese- U12 club team, ODP team

Carson- U13 club team, JV team, ODP team

This translates on average into roughly 12 practices and 8 games (sometimes more if there is a tournament) per week. That is a lot of SOCCER! Not to mention a lot of driving to and from the soccer fields! Yes, I am officially a SOCCER MOM and yes, I am obnoxious!

For the LOVE of the Game

Brett is in LOVE! No, not with a girl but with a game. He LOVES Basketball. He is constantly shooting, dribbling passing and talking trash about his abilities on the court. He has become Griffin's understudy and he tries to copy Griffin's game. He goes to all of Griffin's games to study so that he can become the next basketball star in the family- we just hope he grows a little because as of now he is always the smallest guy on the court. He definitely gets an "A" for effort and attitude.

You've Got the Look!

Whit has started picking out his own clothes. This is the combo he put together on Sunday:



Plaids and Stripes!!!









Collecting sticks as usual and notice the shorts and t'shirt and bare feet- it was 80 degrees on SuperBowl Sunday!!! I hope his fashion sense improves with age or he might be going straight to Florida with all of the retirees.