NEW WHEELS!

We sold the '01 Mustang : ( but replaced it with a 2012 Nissan Altima w/ 82 miles!  : )  We were ready to pull the trigger on either a loaded 2009 or 2011 w/ great mileage and decided to sleep on it. The next morning the dealership reduced this baby a TON and we got it for $100 LESS than the '11 and $1,000 less than the '09! HECK YESSSSSS! WE LOVE IT! (P.S. Rich almost threw up signing the papers. I have signed papers on the last 3 cars we have bought for this reason... HAHAHA)

I told Kenz that she could wear her goofy scarf (that came on a teddy bear years ago) but i would make fun of her on our blog. She said "NO MOM!" But still refused to take it off for the picture... so here it is... McKenzie you are a DORK HAHAHA : )

Random & Miscellaneous Feb. 2012

I wanted to post some randomness today... I was organizing my Feb. pics and couldn't just file these away...

The kids won a slinky at mac's school carnival and they were So excited to try it out on the basement stairs

Leave this kid alone for 30 seconds and you never know what you will come back to... 

She thinks she is SO FUNNY! Ok, maybe because she is : )

The initial elation upon winning the slinky

The carnival was a luau theme and she was so psyched to have a lei put on her when we walked through the door

Bailey's first time folding her arms for family prayer! Now she folds her arms and bows her head and whispers... awwwww

Crazy mohawk girl

She is a HUGE fan of bath time. We can't bathe her before bed because it is like CRACK to her!  She gets all wired and CUUURAZY! oh and she thinks it is HILARIOUS to fart in the water... That's rich's kid all right : D

First sucker... we got a video of her eating it... she would rub her tongue back and forth really fast on it while making crazy noises... pretty stinking funny!

I have started babysitting a little girl Bailey's age who lives across the street. This is Bailey's new best buddy, Aubrey.  She is such a sweetie pie! And this is Aubrey's sock that bailey likes to steal off her foot and then they both die laughing.

tootsie roll gums... ewwwww

OK - backstory (HILARIOUS backstory)... Bailey has a serious obsession with Braxton's clean underwear, SUPER weird. She can get it out herself from his closet. She gathers them all up in her arms and carries them all over the house. She FLIPS HER FREAKING LID if you try to take them away or if she drops some and can't pick it back up without dropping others. Kind of reminds me of the fat mouse, gus gus, from cinderella when he is trying to pick up too many pieces of corn. (Yep , i am a mom of three and compare everything in life to children's movies... SO WHAT!)

I guess I should just be grateful that Braxton is very VERY good at putting dirty skivies in the laundry hamper and she only plays with clean ones... STILL... EWWWW

TOLD YOU... MAJOR LID FLIPPAGE! (Notice the rogue undies in the background)

I rarely have pics of myself as i have full power to delete any i don't like (which is usually ALL of them)  Before church one Sunday McKenzie announced that bailey and i matched! Totally not planned - just the only things we had to wear that didn't require ironing hahaha... but it did make for a cute photo op!

I just love this silly little girl!

Random pics are so fun!

Butterfly House!

McKenzie had President's day off of school! I woke up that morning and looked around at my disaster area of a home and decided the cleaning could wait! So we went to The Butterfly Garden instead! (Great idea huh?!?!?!) It has been on my St. Louis super fun stuff to do list and now we can put a giant check mark by that one! It was so much fun. Such a neat place!

Such a cool place!

Inside this crazy looking "greenhouse" is a rainforest FILLED with BUTTERFLIES! So amazing! Not so amazing was that yep it was a rainforest... 80 degrees and 80% humidity... YUCK! (I am never living near a rainforest haha)

Thanks for the pic google! This is a morph butterfly. They were everywhere! My pics of them were crap compared to this... so i stole it!

Had to make this funny pic extra big so you could see it... The butterfly ATE MCKENZIE and Braxton is trying hard to pull her out of his creepy giant mouth!

Cant remember what kind of bug this was but B was amazed at how big it was!"MOM THAT'S THE HUGEST BUG I'VE EVER SEEN!" Yes, sadly he doesn't say "that's the hugest thing i NEVER SEEN" anymore : (

This is the path through the butterfly rain forest. McKenzie was pretty nervous at all the butterflies diving all around her. (Hence he arms tucked in) B loved it though!

I turned my head to find out while Bailey was SQUEALING... She got attacked by this Morph Butterfly who was very lucky he didnt get pulverized by her flailing arms and pinching fingers! I couldnt stop laughing! I am very surprised I actually got a pic of it! GO ME! 

This was SO NEAT! A window into the breeding room. Hundreds of different shapes and sizes and colors of cocoons and crysallis'. Some were "hatching" and you could see the butterflies emerging from them. The kids were mesmerized! 

Told the kids to sit for a photo op on this cool metal butterfly bench and B almost sat on a butterfly!

Cute Bums!

No idea what type of flower this is but it is SO BEAUTIFUL!

This little guy hitchhiked on a grandmas flower shirt and walked around with her for 30 minutes! 

The kids were sitting SO STILL trying to get a butterfly to land on them. It was so cute!  Cuteness apparently doesn't attract butterflies though : (

Just like this random pic... Bailey wont sit still and mac thinks she is going to drop Bailey on the pavement and Braxton is just oblivious hahaha

SUPER CREEPY! This is a huge tank filled with hundreds and hundreds of COCKROACHES! The kids can climb under it and see inside through the center dome. like i said CREEPY! they loved it though of course!

They had a learning room with arts & crafts etc... They got to see a butterflies wings through a micro scope!

Baileys favorite thing in the learning room was the bug book library reading area!

Braxton worried me for a second when he went straight for the oober girly butterfly beanie baby things... then he immediately redeemed himself by massacring the pretty butterflies with the beanie scorpion! That's my boy!

Of course mac went straight to the coloring station. Super cute butterfly Kenz!

 After seeing all of the amazing butterflies we went to the huge playground just outside the Butterfly House...

This dino made me very home sick for Logan : ( His identical twin can be found at the ballpark playground in willow park  where we used to watch daddy swing it!

Bug LOVES slides : )

Goofball

PILE UP!


SO family members & friends if this looks fun COME ON DOWN!!! 

The Magic House!

Rich took an entire week off of work! MUCH needed and even much more deserved! We have heard so much about the St. Louis children's museum, The Magic House, but hadn't made it there yet. Now that we have I am SO ticked that we have lived here for a year and a half and haven't taken advantage of this amazing place! WOW... I just had a random epiphany... We have been in St. Louis now for over 18 months! CRAZY! Time flies when you are having fun. We miss Logan and our family and friends so bad it hurts sometimes, but we really have had so much fun here! We have made so many memories, done so many cool things and grown so much as a family thanks to our St. Louis adventure! 

OK, I got that out of my system... back to the post at hand... MAGIC HOUSE!

http://www.magichouse.org/

From the outside it looks like a big ol mansion or country club... SO neat and beautiful!

First stop... BUBBLE ROOM! Yes, This is bubble-butt Braxton INSIDE OF A GIANT BUBBLE! He was squealing with excitement and disbelief! McKenzie's attitude didn't fit inside a bubble... hers kept popping HAHAHA

This is the bubble wall! Rich and i blew a bubble so big it nearly touched the other side of the giant bubble! That's what  a lot of hot air will getchu : )

This section was my favorite! The glass on the ground is a "river" with real running water that dumps into a pond where you can go "fishing". There is a huge treehouse in the back, a  fully working grocery store to the left, and an auto repair shop out of view to the right. Up the stairs: The pizza parlor - the kids can order, "bake a pizza pie", take money, serve the guests etc. The Library - you can check out books, surf the net or be the librarian.  The Nursery - Check in patients, be a nurse or a dr. and take care of the newborns. They have SO many amazing things packed into this place and my kids were in AWE! OK, OK, so was I!

Rich showing b how to change a tire

Dr. Bowmans. Braxton is supervising... he is good at that HAHA

Welcome to the world creepy baby with a receding hair line!

Just too cute!

Narration: "Hold still honey. It's ok! Just gotta get your snot out sweet heart! OH THAT'S A BIG BOOGER!" (Ya she really said that! Surprised? Didn't think so!)

GIANT MANSION FILLED WITH AMAZING PLAYTHINGS AND BAILEY JUST WANTS TO PLAY WITH HER STROLLER! 

Mac was literally hollering "ICE CREAM DELICIOUS ICE CREAM FOR SALE!" 

Under Bs feet is a "fish" that he caught and released up stream (The white fence) and now its swimming back to the pond. Fishing with rich was by far Brackys favorite thing to do! We literally had to drag him away to let other kids take a turn.

Mac got all dressed up for her mechanic role playing. "McKenzie slide out real quick so i can take apicture"  "MOM I HAVE TO GET THIS DONE!" (BUTT HEAD) She slid under the car and then started shouting orders at the other random strangers in the shop... (see next pic)

"HEY, YOU! HAND ME THE PLIERS" The kid looked at her confused and then decided not to push his luck when she shouted out her demand a second time. I bout DIED laughing... then we had a talk about being bossy for the fifty bazillionth time!

Fishing FOOL!

If we are choosing future professions from our magic house outing I vote she pics NICU Doctor instead of grocery store checker chick... just sayin...

Bailey LOVED the mirror room (in case you couldn't tell)  and I loved it because their were now 8 cute little bailey buggers to look at and laugh with!

Lighted sand table was another bailey fave. The first handful she looked up at me disgusted and showed off her dirty hand "MOM! WHY DID YOU LET ME DO THAT? WHAT I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW WITH MY DIRTY HANDS?" She soon got over it and had to be physically removed to go on to the next thing.

Mac was fascinated with the flag pole. You can raise and lower it and at the top a fan blows. She was amazed! Rich & bailey... not so much hahaha

The construction zone was one of the coolest places... literally! It was outdoors with a roof overhead.  They could build a foam brick wall, haul gravel, learn how a home is built, paint a wall, etc... 

Foam block... credit card or popsicle?

Doin' Work!

Manual labor? UMMM NO! She quickly found the construction office and became project manager and bossed around all the 12 or 13 other kids that were trying to enjoy themselves. She put them all to work on different projects and kept yelling "GET TO WORK!" Oh my goodness what have we created?

Bailey loved "sweeping" the 2nd story of the home building project. She is OCD by the way. She picked up all of the dustpans and hand brooms that were spread everywhere and placed them neatly in the unfinished shower. I took one out and put it on the floor across the room and she yelled at me and quickly put it back where it "goes" She also separates her food on her tray at meal time... WEIRDO!

The popped hip and that outfit dont really go well together...

President Bowman!

Marian the Librarian!

Thought Papa Bowman would appreciate this one... The  Power Company!

More fishy excitement... ITS A WHOPPER! Watch out for your banjo minnow buddy!

Bailey's trademark "I am concentrating" tongue out face... Driving the school bus!

Did I Know? Why YES... YES I DID KNOW THAT! AND THAT IS A GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT TOO BY THE WAY! And as i am typing this Mac  B BOTH say MOM WHAT DOES THAT SAY? about 10 times each!

Water works room... oh so fun!

Ball Pit Bailey. She played here for a couple minutes but she preferred picking up the balls from around the room that the normal one year olds threw out and putting them back in the pit where they belong!

Jack's Beanstalk... giant leafs that the kids could climb up floor to ceiling of the museum... four stories!


SUPER fun day... so much fun in fact that we are looking at getting a family year membership which would also give us free passes for family and friends to come play with us... HINT HINT!!!