Another Reason to Gate off the Kitchen

If you know Cole well, you don't really need another reason to gate off the kitchen, but here is evidence. The big kids left their tub of legos out on the cabinet in the dining room. To their defense it was pushed all the way back, but Mr. Resourceful, aka Cole, got a stool from the bedroom and got the tub down. He is definitely persistent :)

Oh Grasshopper

Cole has this new obsesssion with bugs! He will find them just about anywhere and pick them up and bring them to me to see, *lovely*! So on this particular morning, the older kids had pointed out a few grasshoppers to him. He chased several around for a while until this poor grasshopper didn't hop fast enough. He loved picking it up, staring at it, and showing me! In the end, the poor grasshopper met his death, Cole just pinched him on the neck and basically popped his head off :( Any ideas on how to teach an almost 2 year old boy how to be gentle with bugs? Advice appreciated!

Little Girl's Birthday Party

Saturday was a certain little girl's birthday so we had to CELEBRATE!!! This was a challenging thing for me considering I have never thrown a little girl's birthday party! We decided several weeks ago to have a makeover party. We did manicures, pedicures, and put on some makeup! The girls had a great time and especially Lizzy. So even though I had no clue what I was doing it turned out well!

Cory and I got her a new bike for her birthday, but I also recently made this for her room. She desperately wants us to paint EVERY wall pink, so we had to compromise with her! This is going to "pink" up one wall. I also made her the cupcakes she wanted to her specifications! She was so shy when everyone started singing to her!

Lizzy, Mya, and Brooklyn all in matching dresses, just like cousins should be! Right?!?!
Opening one of her many girlie gifts! She got dress up shoes, tiaras, septors, dress up clothes, girl books, puzzles, etc. She has officially girlified the basement with her new stuff!

She has done nothing but prance around her in new dress up clothes and shoes with a tiara on ever since her party! SO FUNNY! Hopefully the boys won't tear any of this stuff up :)

Pudding Patrol

Last week we had a craving for something chocolaty. By we I mean Cory and I :) Luckily I had two chocolate pudding mixes in the pantry. YUMMO!!!! We all loved it and it didn't last very long!

At this particular snack/dessert time, I put Cole in the high chair then had to run the bathroom, well let's just say no one else was watching him...not sure how much he actually ate :)

Finally the 4th

I have been so busy this past week I am just now blogging everything from the week before, so stay tuned because there is a ton :) For the 4th we headed to Guymon to see the rest of the Reid Clan! We had a great time and the kids LOVED spending time with their cousins, swimming, etc. Times were a little crazy, especially meals, but that is what happens with 8 kids 7 and under!

The kids played so well together and Lizzy finally got her some girl time. She loves going and playing with all the "girl" toys and with Mya and Brooklyn! Caden and Tate played endless games of soccer and Carter would try and get in on the action. Cole found a new friend as well...if he was inside he was loving on Baby Jada and if he was outside he was terrorizing the new kitten! That poor kitten never got a clue and ran from him...poor thing!

We swam on Saturday and Sunday and had the big cookout on Sunday! It was great to be around friends and family so much! But you really don't care about all these details do you...you just want to see the kids having fun, right?!?! So here you go!

Caden perfected his diving board and swimming skills! I was so proud of him. He just played and played and swam so well!

If Carter ever got tired, Lizzy was more than happy to pull him around! She was in the water FOREVER! The boys would get out and go play for awhile here and there, but this crazy gal just stayed in the water the whole time. We had to make her sit out a few times just to get her to rest! She loved it!

Carter was a little fish...give him the life jacket and goggles and let him go. Just watch him so he doesn't get too crazy!

Cole was not so sure about going swimming. He wanted to walk around in his suit and life jacket, but didn't really want to stay in the water!

This was more up to Cole's speed. He and Carter sat on this swing for a long time and watched Daddy and other guys play sand volleyball.
Our family of 6 posing in our matching shirts for the 4th :) Wish we would have taken this earlier in the afternoon. The kids had been swimming for hours, literally, Cory had played lots of volleyball and it was getting hot. So this is as good as it gets.
Once it got dark we got out the fireworks. Lizzy loved the sparklers!
Caden was going nuts, so excited about EVERYTHING!

Carter had fun at first, but tired out quickly!

We loved spending the weekend with the family in Guymon! The kids got lots of great cousin time, swimming time, playground time, etc. Happy Birthday America...we had a great time celebrating!

Movie Night with the Cousins

After dinner the kids all got a bath and had a movie night! Jada already went down for the night, so only 7 of the 8 were present! They had a great time, but apparently Cole didn't sit and watch the entire movie and bothered the girls! We watched The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything and had some popcorn...another great night with the cousins!

The entire crew

The girls from L to R, Lizzy, Brooklyn, and Mya
Half of the boys...Cole and Tate

The other half, Caden and Carter.

Loving our time here with all the cousins!

Lunch Break Ball Game

Cory came home for lunch today and the munchkins were all out front playing. Caden was of course playing basketball so he begged Daddy to play too. Cory inhaled his lunch and then played some ball. It was Caden and Lizzy vs. Daddy and Carter...pretty even I guess!

Caden and Lizzy going for a rebound, of course Caden doesn't realize he is fighting with a teammate...it's all about him :)

Caden got by everyone and tried to make a basket.
Carter getting a little help from his big man.

Cole wanted in on the action badly! So Daddy obliged and helped him try to make a basket.

Then of course, it wouldn't be outside fun with the Reid's without an injury. I can't keep shoes on their feet and if I get lucky and they wear them, it is always flip flops...not the best shoes to protect little toes. But as you can see, I think the soreness wore off quickly and he decided to hop to Momma anyway :)

Daddy going in for the block.

Love all my kiddos and their Daddy too :) This is not the first ball game and I am sure it won't be the last!

Doing Chores is Fun!

I am supposed to be "taking it easy" which is sometimes hard to do when things really must get done. Cory was out of town for a couple of days this week and the laundry was piling up. So I enlisted some help! The older two understand I don't need to be lifting things or bending over much, so they were actually all for helping. And of course, Cole just had to get in on the action! So cute, but good thing it was only a load every once in a while because they got bored pretty quick :)

Cole and Caden taking a load to the living room for me to fold.

Aren't they cute working as a team!
Here are all three putting the clothes from the washer to the dryer! So nice to just stand there and supervise!

Caden finishing up...he has been a BIG help!

Now that was yesterday, I wonder how much help I can get out of them today!