A Tizzy

Every once in awhile, I think maybe this hooligan or that hooligan isn't getting much blog-attention. I think Tirzah is due for a little one on one. She's definitely no wallflower, but she does still sometimes get sandwiched by her brothers and their attention hogging selves.

Tirzah's hair deserves a blog post all it's own if you ask me. The poor child has two different cowlicks...one smack in the front and one in the back. The one in the front makes her hair want to part on one side of her head, while the one in the back says "heck no" and wants it to part on the other side. It often leads to problems looking like this:

I know people probably assume I don't brush her hair. If you only knew the hours I have spent wetting those cowlicks down and trying to figure out how to part that hair. It's got character, that's for sure.

The other day we were in Walmart looking for a few things, bug spray included. Tirzah picked up a bottle of spray, and noticed that there were people on the bottle instead of bugs. She says, shocked and offended: "Is this HUMAN spray?!" (I think she thought it was people repellant. I could use some of that sometimes...but unfortunately not the case.)

She loves to be silly. She was all for it when Mamoo brought Bugles for a snack, and showed her how they make great claws. With her history for putting brothers in their place, the last thing she needs is extra claws. ;) We love this girls feisty attitude, wild hair, and the sweet side that is hiding under there somewhere. ;)

Spring Sessions

I haven't been doing as many sessions since, ya know, waddling gets in the way. But I have been able to do a few recently and as always really enjoyed it.

I've been shooting this little cutie since she was a baby. She's grown into such an adorable kiddo, and is getting to be quite a pro at giving me a good smile. :) It's always fun to catch up with her family! Her mama and I are both expecting our second baby girls...although I'm a little jealous of her due date which is coming up soon! ;) We were probably a sight wandering around the park together with all our props, dragging our husbands who were doing some serious allergy suffering. Poor guys. ;)

I brought one of my antique cameras to use as a prop for this session, and it was a big hit. I'll have to remember that for future bribing of kiddos during sessions. It's a little "Aha, lady putting a camera in my face, who has the camera NOW?" Levels the playing field a little. ;) Although this particular kiddo doesn't need any bribing...she took it easy on the preggo with the camera.

Springtime is probably one of my favorite times to do sessions. So much color, and none of the sticky Summer humidity yet to deal with. Everyone is just so happy to be outside that you kind of just have to show up with your camera and you're sure to get a good smile or two.

Easter Peeps

Not the edible kind, although I love those...and I can occasionally be overheard saying I wanna eat these guys up, but pretty festive anyway. I mean, who doesn't want to gobble up a giant baby wearing a tie?

We had a pretty awesome Easter. Other than THE obvious reason for the holiday which is enough reason for a good day, we got to spend time hanging out with family and doing all kinds of egg-related activity (dyeing and hunting and eating) and wearing new shoes, etc. It was a great ending to our Spring Break week. I'm sad to see it go, but grateful for the chance we had to spend some great time together doing fun new things. 

Now if anyone knows of a way to deal with 3 children with a Monday morning Easter candy hangover, let me know. I need to remember it for this time next year. ;)

Bowling and Briars

So as you may have read, we are enjoying some Spring Break this week around these parts. It's been so much fun...just taking some time to spend intentional time with the kiddos and do a different fun thing every day. (I'm trying to make sure I do a different free or extremely cheap thing every day, I should say. So far so good on that. We went bowling yesterday and it cost us exactly $3.25. Today we went geocaching, which was technically free, although I did buy an app for us to use in the future. But I figured I'd definitely be getting my money's worth out of that $10 app. I plan on sending Billy and the kids out into the woods...a lot. Hehe.)

We have been bowling once before, but it was probably two years ago and Jericho was much less of a terrorist. This time around all 3 kiddos got to bowl. It was a lot of fun for the older two, and Jericho lasted about one and quarter games before he lost it. Ok, to be honest he had lost it before we got in the door, but he lost interest in bowling. He entertained himself between turns by stealing balls from other lanes (literally...he stole a ball from the lane next to us and ran with it), trying to run down the gutters, climb into the ball return, etc. Ironically, he was also the only one of the three kids who got a strike. (And it wasn't a bouncing off the bumpers strike...it was legit. I guess being a 40 pound 2 year old has it's perks.)

Yesterday we went geocaching. We had been once before with some good friends from church, but this was the first time we attempted it on our own. (Thanks for the intro, Kirsten!) I think this is definitely an activity we will do more of in the future. The kiddos got pretty good at spotting the boxes, and Jericho got really good at falling into briars. It was fun to let them wander around and run and play, and find a few "buried treasures" along the way. It was a great activity for my little hoarders...they absolutely love collecting random junk and definitely have plenty to trade. We came home with things I'm sure I will want to throw away in about 3 minutes. We also came home exhausted and filthy...which is the best way to end a day outside with kiddos if you ask me.

I think today we might stick to a plain old playground. I have creative activity exhaustion today, as well as a chiropractors appointment that I will have to take all the kids to with me, so I think that will be enough exciting activity for the day. Tomorrow we are off to an egg hunt where I'm sure we will end up with enough candy to make up for all the walking I've done the last few days.

Hooligans on Spring Break

I dont recall taking "Spring Break" when I was being homeschooled. (I'm sure my mom will fuss at me for forgetting if she did give us a spring break.) School doesn't typically take us that long each day, really only about 2 hours max at this point, so it's not like we need a break from it. But with all that's going on, as in me growing a fourth human while trying to keep 3 other ones alive, I decided I wanted a break. The kids were all for it, even though Tirzah especially loves school work.

We don't have anything too crazy planned. Billy is obviously still working long hours every day. Me and the kiddos are going to try and do something different and fun each day, though. Even if it's something small. (Like today, we went to a local mall that was having a free petting zoo and then to a park to run wild and take some pictures.)

The kiddos have been to this park before, but I'd never attempted taking the three of them myself. It went pretty well. I just had to embrace the grass stains and dirt smudges and literally look the other way when for about the 100th time Jericho rolled down a hill by accident. (He is fairly indestructible, so as heartless as it sounds it was for my own sanity. He just gets right up and keeps on going.)

Merrick was in heaven, climbing rocks (that he called a "mountain") and looking at fish in the pond, and hiding in plants and bushes, etc. He told me several times it was "the best day he ever had". As a mom, when you realize you nailed it and whatever you planned was a success, it's heart melting to hear your kiddos tell you how much fun they're having. Tirzah had a blast looking at flowers and butterflies, and told me "I was the realest mommy she'd ever had". I'm not sure what that means, but from the look on her face I'm assuming it was a complement of the highest degree. Jericho never says much, haha, but if a dirty face is any indication of a good time he was all over it.

We even had a stranger offer to take a picture of all four (five) of us. It was a little odd, but hey, I don't have many pictures of me and the kiddos, mostly because I don't like documenting that I'm always wearing gym clothes and never wearing makeup. ;) Jericho looks about as concerned as I was...but I am glad that we have a little documentation of the start of our spring break adventures. I'm planning to take as much advantage of this time with the three of them as I can...since as I start the 3rd trimester you never know how much time we will have before there will be a fourth hooligan making trips like these a little more complicated. Happy Spring Break, y'all!