Nummy!

Untitled, a photo by jbellis on Flickr.

Isaac only recently decided that he likes donuts. Especially donuts with strawberry filling.

I Hate "Snow"

Grandma Linda sent the kids instant snow in the mail.  All you need is water and the powder expands many times it original size.  "The kids miss the snow, and the guy I bought it from said it was easy to clean up!"

 

He lied.

Cupcakes!

Painting is Isaac's favorite part of Kids Workshop

Home Depot's Kids Workshop is once a month. Lowes is twice. I'm glad it's not the other way around, because Home Depot goes the extra mile and puts out paints for the kids to really personalize their projects, and cleaning Isaac (and myself) up monthly is just about all I can handle.

He makes a circuit around the paints table, which has 8 or 9 trays full of different colors of paint. He makes exactly one stop at each tray; when he has tried them all, he is ready to go home. If it is an unexciting color then he will just put a few dabs on; if he really likes it, he'll paint the whole thing with it.

This can be unfortunate; last month, his project was a riot of color... then he got to the last one, and decided he REALLY liked brown, and painted over everything with it. This month's toy blackboard was more fortunate.

Dinnertime

Isaac would rather eat raw oatmeal than roast beef.

Looks like I just volunteered to give Isaac a bath

Looks like I just volunteered to give Isaac a bath
Originally uploaded by jbellis

Goo

I needed an activity to keep three boys quiet while Isaac napped, otherwise they'd start wrestling and pounding on each other like boys do.

Here's what I came up with:



Guess which kid got the messiest?



Yup that would be mine.



Matthew's friends asked to take their goo back home with them. By all means, guys, I'm sure your mothers will love it!



Amazing how much fun a little cornstarch, water, and food coloring is. Kept the little darlings busy and quiet for half an hour.

Playing in the sand

Saturday one of the neighbors had a big pile o' sand dumped in their driveway.  They were putting in some new playground equipment.

They graciously let the kids play in it while they shoveled loads to take to the backyard.

Isaac had a 2 bath day that day.

One of those nights

One of those nights
Originally uploaded by jbellis

First Melissa dropped and broke a plate while setting the table. Then we upended a bowl of oatmeal (right) I was making for Isaac's picky water dinner. Then Isaac grabbed the oatmeal box and poured some on the floor out of solidarity (left).

Isaac making his rounds

Isaac making his rounds
Originally uploaded by jbellis

When Isaac is bored he goes through the house pulling things off the shelf and generally making a mess.

Isaac is bored several times a day.

Isaac can open "isaac-proof" latches now

Isaac can open "isaac-proof" latched now
Originally uploaded by jbellis

Apologies for the blurry photo; I had time for exactly one try before putting a stop to the carnage.

Yes, we have a lot of board games.

Two-fisted bean eating

Two-fisted bean eating
Originally uploaded by jbellis

Isaac Forages

Isaac found an unguarded pot of rice.

Want some?Isaac loooooves rice.

And markers. Yum!

Last but not least...Dessert!

He had a bath.

Isaac finds the marshmallow

One of the kids left the pantry door open (AGAIN) and Isaac took full advantage of the chance to explore its forbidden delights. He decided to see what was inside the jar of marshmallow creme and was not at all disappointed by what he found.

I put him in the high chair so he wouldn't get anything stickier than he already had, and relieved him of the creme. He was mad, but he realized he still had plenty on his hands to lick off, and busied himself with that for a while.

I had a trail of marshmallow to clean up, and then Isaac (and finally the high chair, which was by then not a little sticky). I'd just dressed him, too!

Beef barley soup

He enjoyed himself thoroughly.

[Updated: Rachel's beef barley soup

*(this is an approximate, because I'm terrible about measuring. I'm more of a dash of this and some of that type of cook)

1/3 package dried pearl barley
1 left over roast (1-2 lbs) + any beef stock from the roast
1 chopped onion
2 medium potatoes cubed
3 carrots sliced
1 c frozen green beans or corn
4 cans of tomato sauce
3-5 bay leaves
5 or so bullion cubes
1/4 c Worcester sauce
1 tsp diced garlic
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp Italian seasoning
water as needed
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pearl barley ahead of time and set aside. (Alternatively you can cook it with the sauce and seasonings but before you add any vegetables) Dump tomato sauce, basil, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, beef stock, garlic, bullion cubes, Worcester sauce, and 6 to 8 cups of water into a large pot and cook on medium heat. While that is warming, saute the onion in butter until translucent and put into the pot. Toss in the potato, carrots, and beans (or any veggie you like). Turn the stove down to low. Chop up the roast and add to the pot along with the barley. Cook with a lid on and stir periodically, and be careful not to let it stick to the bottom. Add more water as needed. Season with salt and pepper.

Get distracted by children. Soup will stick to the bottom. Taste soup. If it doesn't taste burnt, carefully transfer the soup to a new pot and avoid scraping the bottom. Vow to watch and stir more diligently. Cook till the vegetables are softened but not mushy.

Serve piping hot soup with warm bread on a wet or cold day.]

A day in the life of an Isaac

Isaac had a busy morning yesterday: unrolled one roll of toilet paper, emptied part the CD drawer (he was thwarted before he finished), took all of the wipes out of package one by one, dumped the toy basket, and scattered blocks from one end of the house to the other.

After a brief nap, he was back on the job. Rachel was washing dishes with the little tornado at her feet happily playing in a mostly empty cupboard from which all dangerous things had been removed months ago. Splash! He found the 1 gallon jug of vinegar with the "tight" lid. 1/2 gallon of vinegar on the floor and one bath for Isaac.

Clean again, he emptied the recyling bin and the bottom shelf of a bookcase.

[From Rachel's facebook updates]

Mmm, marshmallow

Photo075
Originally uploaded by jbellis

I heard happy Isaac noises, so I went to investigate: Melissa had left the pantry door open, and he was enjoying playing with the boxes of food. No harm done, I figured, and left him be.

A couple minutes later, Rachel got suspicious, and found that he'd opened a cup of marshmallow creme. He was a _very_ happy Isaac. Not so much in this picture: he's upset that Mommy spoiled his fun.

But he wasn't upset long, since Rachel gave him a bath next. His second of the day.

Isaac forgave Mommy, but I think Mommy is still a little annoyed with Daddy.

I have chocolate milk on my butt

We stopped at Jason's Deli tonight on the way to the craft store to get Matthew some oil pastels. I was sitting next to Melissa when she knocked her full carton of chocolate milk onto the bench. She and I both got wet.

If I had a "days without a spill" counter for Melissa I think it might have gotten up to two, once or twice.  But not three.

Matthew's first baby sitting

Rachel came downstairs. "What happened, did you just dump the whole baby toy basket on the floor and turn him loose among them?"

"No. But I think Matthew did."

I had Matthew watch Isaac for fifteen minutes while I bathed Melissa. He had instructions to come get me if Isaac started fussing (in case I couldn't hear over the splashing), but he didn't need to. When I came down Isaac was in the center of a storm of toys, on the edge of fussing but not quite, thanks to Matthew distracting him.

Good job, Matthew.

Craft time

Craft time
Originally uploaded by jbellis

Matthew was painting a model boat. (The boat is the blue object.)

Here he is cleaning the paint off the floor (by which I mean, smearing it around) after he tracked it there with his socks, which is why they are next to him instead of on his feet.

His shirt was already a casualty; it's behind him.

As far as I know, he did not get any paint on his pants.