Buckets

Okay, so it's true... I have a major obsession with buckets. It started 3 summers ago. I was walking through Target, minding my own business, when I saw them. Bright colored buckets on the bottom shelf. They were screaming BUY ME! So I did. I couldn't help it, really. That was the year they had the small circle buckets. They are great for holding baby toys or bringing in sippy cups from the car, but not much else because they are kinda small. Last year, they had bigger buckets, with handles on each end. I bought a bunch of those. I used them for everything. Sorting toys from the living room by which bedroom they go in. Carrying stuff upstairs. Carrying stuff downstairs. Over time, some of the buckets started breaking. I found myself scouring the shelves at Target, just waiting until they would put out their summer merchandise. Then one day, there they were, bright colored buckets lining the bottom row of that same shelf. At first, I was a little bummed that these new buckets were different than last year. Then I realized they were BETTER. The colors are more fun, the buckets are bigger, and they hold way more stuff and are more sturdy. SCORE! I use them for sorting laundry now too :) Oh, and they were awesome in the minivan on our Colorado road trip. Here are some photos of the buckets in action...

Lia the climber

So Lia is still pretty much refusing to walk, but she loves to climb on things... anything. In fact, her favorite thing to climb on is the step stool in the bathroom. We try to keep the door closed, but any time you notice it open, you know she's already in there, checking herself out in the mirror :)

Yeah, I'm up here... what are you going to do about it?

I wonder if I can get all the way up on the counter...

Preschool

So, most of the time, it's easy for me to trick myself into believing that my kids aren't getting older, they're not really growing up. But, on the first day of school, it's pretty hard to ignore the facts. This is Max's last year of preschool. Next year he will be in (gasp!) kindergarten. My little man is growing up. Heck, he is reading! And Ava, well, she has 3 more years of preschool, so I guess I can still pretend that she will stay little forever. Lia sure did enjoy having 3 hours alone with mommy and daddy today. I could imagine her thinking, where the heck are those crazy kids, Max & Ava? Why is it so quiet around here today? Here are a few photos to document this momentous occasion :) P.S. Max was grumpy this morning, so there aren't many pictures of him...

Bye bye baby food

So if you have kids over the age of one, you know how this works. You see baby food on sale at Target. You load up the cart, and think to yourself, "Man, I am so amazing! I just saved like $15 on baby food and we have enough to last like forever!" And you slowly start using up all the baby food. Then one day, your beautiful, sweet little baby refuses to eat the baby food. Yes, the same baby food that you, with your amazing deal-seeking wisdom, purchased at 17 cents per jar less than regular price. So you try to trick her into eating. Look! Here's a bite of hot dog! Ooh! She has her mouth open now, and you shove a spoonful of 'turkey with rice' dinner in her face. Ah, but you failed to realize that her older brother and sister taught her the art of baby kung fu and now you have 'turkey with rice' all over your face. And the floor. And the table. And the ceiling. Okay, maybe not the ceiling... I exaggerated a little there. But I guess I can't really blame Lia for not wanting to chow down on Gerber spaghetti dinner when she's tasted real spaghetti that Papa made. And why would she want to eat a banana that went through a blender when she can have a real banana. They are much more fun to mush up anyway. So the moral of the story here is NEVER STOCK UP ON BABY FOOD. That's the perfect time for your baby to move on to big people food.

And, what would a blog post be without a few photos. Here are a few shots of Max and Ava feeding Lia, before she went on baby food strike :)

My little man is a reader, baby...

Every day marks one step closer to the day when my kids are all grown up. As much as I don't want that to happen, I'm powerless to stop it. That being said, I'm super proud of my little Max and how fast he's picked up on reading. But, not only has he started to figure it all out, he LOVES to read. It just melts my heart when I walk into the kitchen, and I see he's pushed a chair over to the cabinet to get his reading books out. In fact, the other day, I even caught Max snuggled up next to Ava teaching her how to read :)

Here's a few shots of Max reading. I love how serious his face is when he's concentrating :)

Is Max not the best big brother in the world?