What We've Been Up To Lately...

So, sorry for the lack of Halloween pictures (*ahem* Dad *ahem*), but here are a few random photos of what we have been up to lately.

The weather does NOT kid around here in Nebraska. On Halloween it was 65 degrees, then a week after that it dropped to almost 35 degrees!!!! And the cold is a humid cold - with a wind that just takes your breath away. Whenever I take Davis from the car into the store, he does that sad little gasp-y thing that babies do whenever they try to breathe in the wind.

So, knowing that the weather only gets worse from here, and that I have an active toddler AND a baby that still naps twice a day, Jeremy and I found a steal of a deal on Craigslist for a playcube/slide. It was outside in our backyard and now it is in the basement.


Pretty good deal, right? It was pretty dirty, so we cleaned it up and that took a lot of effort, and then taking it apart to put it in the car, then reassembling in the backyard, then taking it down to bring inside and reassembling has given Jeremy quite the workout. But Addie likes it and it gives her something active to do without getting frostbite and allows Davis to get a good morning nap.


See? Except after we got it set up, I could smell this not-so-great smell. Those of you who know me well know I can get obsessive about making sure my house always smells clean and fresh. This slide reminds me of that hilarious Seinfeld episode where the valet that parks Jerry's car has B.O. and they can't get it out no matter what they try (Brit knows what I'm talking about....anyway). Jeremy's hoping that it dissipates quickly or else the slide is getting disassembled for yet another trek out the backyard.

So the slide takes up my basement, which before we moved in was the designated kids' toy room. I was so excited to be able to keep all of the toys contained in one area and have a decent-looking living space that was toy-free. (All of you veteran moms know better.) Yeah, right! That lasted through the first week, maybe.

The toys have creeped up the stairs to the living room.


And now I have a box of things for the kids to play with in the dining room/kitchen area since that is where I spend most of my time cleaning/working on projects. (Actually, for mom's of toddlers, that was a great idea from my Toddler's Busy Book. I have actual packages from food (clean, of course) like old butter or egg cartons, yogurt containers, etc. in the box and Addie loves going "shopping" in the box and putting her finds in a bag like at the grocery store. Sometimes she just likes taking them out and using them as drums, etc.)

So now my kids have officially taken over all three levels of our house. But it's great and I love looking around at night (after they are quiet in bed and things are relatively organized) and seeing signs of them everywhere. They are total sweethearts and I wouldn't have it any other way!