Autumn walk

Yesterday evening during the break in the rain we took a little walk down the street. It was perfect rainy day walk weather. It was just barely warm, wet and foggy. And the leaves are at the height of their brightness as they fall from the trees. Ben enjoyed splashing in the  puddles.

Along the way Ben picked up a few "treasures". By the end of our walk he was clutching a long stick, a pinecone thingy (which is now in the centerpiece on our table), a big red leaf, and a rock. He was determined to carry them all and we had to stop several times to pick up one of the things he dropped because his hands were so full.

This prickle was not a keeper.

Hitting the trees with his stick

After the walk he got a bath :) He is finally getting some hair!

 

 



Play-Dough and Snow!

Yesterday evening while I was making dinner I got out the Play-Dough which has been sitting in a closet for about two years and let Ben play with it for the first time. At first Ben was pretty confused and tried several times to take a bite of it, but after showing him a how to squish and make shapes he finally got the idea.

 

A knife! Don't worry he was carefully monitored ;)

 

Getting to be a Play-Dough pro!

 



 A few minutes into the Play-Dough  I happened to glance out the window. I was surprised to see giant, wet....SNOWFLAKES! It was really coming down! I grabbed Ben, quickly threw his coat on ( and realized that we really needed to stock up on winter wear) and tried to send him outside to see the snowflakes. He was too little last year to notice the snow.  But, instead of running out the door like he normally would do, he stood  rather puzzled and unsure peering out from inside. I had to bundle up Felicity and take his hand outside before he realized it was okay to let the snow fall on him. He was really excited and talked a mile a minute in his little language pointing at the snow. It was so cute!

Unsure but loving it!

 (Notice he is still holding the fork from his Play-Dough playing.)

He decided to have  seat and watch it fall.

( Isn't that coat awesome by the way. I got it for $3.00 at the thrift store last year. *happy dance*)

 

 

The snow only lasted a few minutes but it was fun to see Ben's reaction. It made me look forward to the first real snow we have. I think he is going to have fun building snowmen and sledding.

 

 

And my post would not be complete without Felicity. Same place crazy pose :)

 

 

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

I love my crockpot and lately I have been trying to use it more. Babysitting and taking care of my two little ones make its more challenging to get things done. I personally find I am enjoying the challenge and am actually getting more done now then I did before. I think it is because I am sort of on a schedule now. I get up much earlier and I get things done first thing in the morning before the babies are awake and needy. It really is the best time of day.

Anyway, so today we are trying a new recipe. I thought I would share it and let you know later how it turns out :)

        

Zesty CrockPot BBQ Chicken ( for sandwhiches)        

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

• 6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves                                                                     
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce                                                                     
• 1/2 cup Italian salad dressing                                                                     
• 1/4 cup brown sugar                                                                     
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Throw it in the crockpot and let it cook on High for 3-4 hrs or Low for 6-8 hours.

 

On that note I better run because Ben is chasing the bunny through the house!

 

 

Time with Cousins

 

So I only have a moment to post but since it has been awhile I wanted to make sure I got it in. This past weekend we had a visit from my sister in Alabama. Ben and Felicity had a great time playing with their cousins. Ben learned some new ways to play with his little people and took some pointers from his cousin Sam on throwing the ball. It always amazes how much he learns from his cousins. He started crawling and walking after being with them and trying to keep up. Anyway, it was a great visit!  We all enjoyed seeing them. I just wish I had thought to take more pictures!

 



Felicity having fun with daddy

Sam teaching Ben to throw the ball to him.

 

 

A Happy Wednesday

So today was a pretty good day. If you missed it in my last post, I am caring for a 6 month old now as well as my own two. I guess I am getting a taste of what it is like to have twins, accept I am skipping the newborn age.  Honestly, so far it has been going fairly well. Today I had a moment when both babies wanted to eat at the same time... but we got it figured out and both were happily sitting in my lap with full bellies at the end.

In the afternoon we took a walk to Kroger to pick up a couple things. I am sure I looked rather odd with a double stroller holding the boys and Felicity strapped on to me in the Moby wrap. I got a few stares and a few comments but I didn't really care.  The babies were happy to be out and about and I was glad to get what I needed. Let the people stare :) They are just babies for goodness sakes! We need more babies in our lives! They make the world a much happier place to live.

At one point in the day the two boys were sleeping so Felicity and I decided to bake cookies. Well, Felicity didn't have any part in the decision obviously but she was a good companion for me while I baked ( until she fell asleep half way through). I pulled out the flour and it had been invaded by those little flour bugs ( not sure what they are called but they are pretty ugly little things). I was surprised because I have never had those in our flour before, though I remember my parents getting them. I guess I need to do more baking!

Anyway, so we ended up using a recipe with wheat flour instead. The texture of the cookies was denser and more hearty then normal Nestle cookies but I thought they tasted pretty good. Here is the recipe I used.

Ingredients

• 3/4cup granulated sugar
• 3/4cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups)

Directions

• 1 Heat oven to 375ºF.
• 2 Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
• 3 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire rack.

 

 

The dough was pretty dense since it was whole wheat flour. I think I might cut back some of the flour next time.

Before she fell asleep

Sorry not the prettiest picture of them. But you get the idea :)

 



So that was our day so far. Babysitting has its perks for sure ( aside from getting to spend time with a cute little guy). My house stays much cleaner then normal because I have no choice now but to keep it that way... and when I get a moment to myself I find myself doing something useful ( because we all need to eat more cookies, right?). 

Pumpkin Farm

The last few days have been packed  full and I finally have a chance to post while the babies are asleep. I say babies because today I started a babysitting job caring for a 6 month old boy in addition to my own two. He is such a sweet little guy and so far our day has been a breeze!

 We headed out to the pumpkin farm on Saturday morning ! It was a bit warm which made getting through the corn maze a bit challenging but ultimately we had an awesome time! Ben loved the pumpkins! He tried to pick them up, roll them, and then just used them for a seat.

 

So excited!

She is mine...but I think she is the cutest!

The best picture I could get of both of them

Hayride to the corn maze!

It wasn't long before his legs got tired

The end!

Trying to find a pumpkin small enough for Ben to pick up proved impossible.

Pumpkin seat

Eating lunch

Tired out!

 

 

And just a random Sunday picture of Felicity on her way home from Church. She looked so cute in her bonnet!

 

Well the babies are stirring!



TGIF!

Yay! It is Friday! I have been looking forward to this coming weekend for awhile. We are headed to the pumpkin farm tomorrow for our annual trip. It is always  a lot of fun! Sadly, the weather is supposed to be more like summer then fall but the leaves are still changing and it should be a great day.

The past few days have been slow in the Menkhaus house. I had a cold and I think Felicity has a touch of it too. Thankfully Ben is well so far! He will be going to the ear doctor Novemeber 1st to see if he can get tubes in his ears and I am hoping we can stay infection free until then!

Also, a friend of mine told me about someone she knew who kept a blog and then printed it out into a book at the end of each year. I thought that was a great idea! Now, I have a plan with what to do withal these pictures and posts!

 And so here are some pics from the past few days.

Ben with his buddy. Excuse the messy cage! I was trying to clean it out when Ben came along.

Feeding the bunny is his favorite "chore".

Trying on her new hair bow that we bought at the flea market.

Ben found a rosary and decided to wear it around his neck all evening.

 

Felicity in her usual cranky pose with daddy at night.

 

 

 

 



Monday

It has been a beautiful Fall day today. It has barely hit 60 degrees but the sun is shining. Our day was pretty uneventful. We followed are usual routine and just got back from a walk to the local park. We try to go there every day when the weather is nice, at least for a short visit. Ben used to love the slides, but after watching the other kids throw mulch everywhere...his interests have changed.

Breakfast

She already had her breakfast :)

Walking to the park

Oh, how I wish he had never learned to think mulch is fun.

Always willing to smile for the camera

Time to go...actually he is really good about going home. He enjoys the walk.

 

Our day isn't over yet. But the evening are always soo full getting dinner ready, eating, giving baths, and getting the babies to sleep that I never have time to get on here. So it is an early post for the day. Hope everyone has a beautiful week!

Rainy Sunday

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon and I love it! The babies are napping and Matt is watching the football game. It is almost time to start dinner but I wanted to share some more pictures from the past few weeks.

We have zoo passes compliments of Grandmother and PawPaw so we frequently go there to walk around. Ben loves looking at the animals and riding the train.

Ben in his preferred mode of transportation at the zoo.

Riding the train with daddy.

Riding the carousel with Mommy.

Waiting for her brother to get off the carousel.

My favorite the naked mole rats.

The Menkhaus Family has a new pet. He is a Netherland dwarf rabbit. We got him a few weeks ago and he has warmed right up to life in our crazy house. He still doesn't have a name because we can't seem to find one that fits. Ben loves to feed him every morning and every night.

 

Belly time :)

He is a curious little bunny.

 Hanging out in her pack n play at the Flea Market yesterday.

Epic Laundry!

Okay, so I don't have pictures but just believe me when I say it was EPIC! Yesterday I went through the house and collected 4 months worth of laundry...and probably more. Kind of embarrassing I know, but I have decided to just own up to it. It over took me. I wouldn't say having two babies to take care of is a good excuse for the massive pile of dirty stuff we had but it is my excuse.It was basically all the laundry from before I had Felicity ( you know those final weeks of pregnancy when you don't feel like moving let alone carrying laundry up and down the stairs) and everything after. There was a whole wardrobe of maternity clothes, sheets from a houseful of guests that had come to Felicity's baptism, blankets, tablecloths, towels, stuffed animals, rags, and all our current clothes. There was not a lot of baby clothes, so I must have been doing a pretty good job keeping the kids in clean clothes. Now I know what is in that load I wash everyday. Anyway, it was beyond overwhelming!

So, I texted Matt and told him we were going to the Laundromat. I was defeated by the amount of laundry and it had to be done all at once or I would never catch up. I thought maybe a few big washers and we would have it all done in an hour. Knock it out! Tame the wild beast! Defeat the Enemy! I was really excited!  HA! We loaded an 80lb capacity washer, two 65lb capacity washers, a 45lb capacity washer, and a 25 lb capacity washer stuffed full of laundry! That's 280lbs of laundry! I was shocked! I see a trip to Goodwill in our very near future! Who knew we had so much stuff! That would have taken me weeks to wash! And of course, after it was washed in these mega washers we had to put them in mega dryers ...over and over again. Lets just say this was not the quick and inexpensive trip to the Laundromat I planned! Our one hour trip turned into a four hour trip. But honestly, I didn't care. I was happy as could be sitting there watching all of it wash...Matt said he hadn't seen me that happy in awhile! Funny how we moms get excited about such " little" things.

The moral of this story...I will never ever put off doing laundry again! I don't care if I am pregnant with triplets after birthing sextuplets a year prior! I will find a way! Our washer will be running at least once a day! .

And so I will end this post because, although we washed all the laundry last night, it is still sitting in my room waiting to be sorted, folded and put away. Happily Lord, happily!