Marriage and Motherhood: A Slow Week that Ended with a Derby and Some Snowy Fun

This week was pretty lazy for the most part. We did our usual routine and I didn't take too many photos. We made our usual walk to school. This week was particularly damp with lots of fog and drizzle. It didn't seem to get the girls' spirits down at all.

She looks so very grown up here.

Tay asked to make some BLTs for lunch one day, so I let her. I just fried up the bacon for her. She toasted the bread, spread the mayo, and she even sliced the tomatoes (using this handy little device).

Washed and dried the lettuce.

Her finished sandwich.

Little one played with blocks quite a bit this week. She had the most fun pulling the blocks out of the bin (or dumping it out) and then putting them back in the bin.

The girls tried teaching new tricks to the baby. Here they are teaching here "Mahn-seh! (Hooray!)"

She got it...later.

I found some interesting photos on my phone this week. And it gave me a little glimpse into what my 3-year-old sees as she walks around the house. You don't realize how short kids are until you see the photos that they took...

And of course...selfies...lol...

Speaking of selfies...we took some, too.

I love baby kisses. They're getting a little less lick-y now...just a little.

I love these "group" selfies we take...the girls find it so funny...I love the series of giggly faces I end up with...don't you?

Here's what I got when I sat them together and told them to "smile." See, it doesn't work as well as the "selfie"...

Aww...cuddly sisters.

Here's what I got when I said, "Strike a pose!" I got "Superman" and the peace sign.

Oh, the little one is standing much better on her own, now, but I still haven't gotten a good photo of her standing all alone. She's still a little scared, so she keeps crouching down when I let go of her hands. She's mastering the "squat," though. I'll get a pic of that for next week.

Here's what the baby does, usually, when I'm folding laundry in the bedroom. She loves to go and have a chat with her buddy...in the mirror.

This is what she did when I asked her what she was doing. She stopped mid-lick and smiled at me.

Then she resumed licking and yelling.

When I told her to stop it, she got sad.

Blinded by the flash.

She has a funny thing she does whenever she has something that wraps around her. She likes to grab both sides and...

...boop! Put them together. It doesn't matter if it's a blanket or a belt or a toy that can reach all the way around her...but it must be around her and come around the sides where she can grab it and bring them together. Is this a thing? I've never seen either of my other babies do this...

I continue to get notes from my 5-year-old girl...strange, the things she writes: "I love you, Mom, and I always will. Even when you are dead." Hm...

This week, I re-did the girls' bedroom and moved them all into one room for sleeping. Why, you ask? Because they were all ending up in the baby's room anyway on the full-size mat on the floor...and crowding the baby and me and waking up every hour...ugh. So, I just did this:

This made for easier story time at night while I read a book for each of the girls...the other girls browsed their books.

Then they all slept...in their respective beds...for the most part. In weird positions...

Did I mention, my husband became Amish for a day?

Oh, and this husband of mine also volunteers some of his time to help out with the Cub Scout pack here because they don't have enough volunteers. So this Saturday was the Pine Wood Derby! We tagged along to go watch the races.

The girls were really cute and actually enjoyed watching the cars whiz by!

See Jeff at the table? He's working the heats and the computer as the recorder. Can you see the blur of cars going by on the track?

I just love the motion in Ri's hair in this photo below as she watches the cars zip by.

Oh, and we ran into her little buddy who was there to watch his big brother race his car "Tank." I think he won!

Tay really wanted to have a "camp out" outside. We told her it was too cold and we didn't have the right gear to sleep outside, so Jeff and Tay "camped" in the living room. They lit the fireplace...

...and slept in their "tent."

We FINALLY had a big snow day!

We told the girls we'd take them to a near-by slope to go sledding! See the excitement in her face?

Then we got a message from our friends we were meeting there and they said that the snow on the slope was not good for sledding...so we literally turned around the block and came right back home. The disappointed faces...

So we told them we'd just play in our yard...and boy, was that a good call.

The girls just dug around in the snow for a bit...

Then we did some dragging around of the baby in the baby sled...which she LOVED! Yay!

Both big sisters helped pull her around...

Then our friends came over and since we had a "little" slope on our side yard, they ran up and down that hill sledding the 10 feet...perfect for the kiddos!

I was surprised at how much fun this little one was having. She giggled and smiled and made silly faces the whole time. Even with her little nose turning red.