Labor Day part Dos

I read about this in a magazine so I can't take credit for the idea, but on Labor Day we have lollipops that grow. It is a tradition that we started last year. I show the kids some jelly beans and tell them they are lollipop seeds that I plant every year. Then on Labor Day the lollipops grow (I just put the sticks right into the ground). The kids look for them all day and get very excited about it (I know, you can tell by their faces... Why is it so hard to get a good picture anyway?). Last year we planted more "seeds" because we had some friends over to pick lollipops also. I think we will keep this tradition for a while. I mean, who doesn't like candy?

Labor Day

I know this is late, but for Labor Day this year we went to a beach on a lake. It was a bit of a drive, but it really was worth it. The weather was perfect, the water was warm, the lake beautiful, the friends were fun, and it was one of my favorite days we've had here. Of course Matt did lose his wedding ring in the water, but miraculously found it (we were wondering why the guys were diving under the water for so long). All in all, we had games, food, swimming, and great coversation- everything you need for a fantastic day!

One of THOSE days (Not for the squimish)

When a mom says she has had one of THOSE days. All other moms immediately nod their heads and sigh. Yesterday was one of THOSE days. It actually started well, getting both Andrew and Matthew off to school in a timely fashion. Then Owen and I went home to paint. I was painting the inside of built-in hutches that I have. I had to take all my china, crystal, polish pottery, etc. out to do this. It took all morning (Andrew was home before I finished) but the first coat got on. I packed up some of my dishes and got some other stuff done while that dried for 4 hours. Then it all went downhill.

I had to go pick up Matthew after school and by the time we got home it was time for a second coat. But now the kids were tired and kinda cranky and were touching all of my fragil dishes. So, I gave them some popcorn and let them start a show. That worked until Owen tried to bring me back the bowl, spilling seeds and butter everywhere. While I was cleaning that up Owen got the paint roller and rolled paint all over the dinning room floor. After kindly moving him back to the basement to watch the movie, I proceeded to scrub the red paint up. I was able to finish the painting and went down to the laundry room to clean all the painting supplies off (and put Owen's painted clothes in the washer). While down there I heard Andrew screaming. When I had everything rinsed off I walked up the stairs to find Andrew standing outside the bathroom door with diahrea everywhere. He waited a little too long, and hasn't had diahrea recently and obviously didn't realize the consequences... So I wiped him off the best that I could, added his clothes to the washer, and threw him in the bath. While I was cleaning up the poop, Owen touched the wet paint and wiped it around. After scrapping more paint off places it wasn't supposed to be and touching up the fingerprints, I went up to check on Drew only to find the entire bathroom SOAKED. He had sprayed water everywhere. I gently removed him from the bath and began mopping up the access water with towls. I finished and went downstairs, only to be met by a really smelly Owen. I changed the diaper as Matt walked in and asked "How was your day?"

I decided to add pics of the built ins (one in the dinning room and one in the breakfast nook) so you can see how worth it everything was (HA!) But seriously, they do look much better than the beige they were before.