Real Ice Cream Doesn't Come on a Stick

According to Ellery.....ice cream on a stick isn't real ice cream or that good. It did take her eating the whole treat on the stick to come to the conclusion that it isn't good, but at least she figured it out!

I can whistle

Ellery is a self taught whistler. She can only whistle by sucking air in, but she is getting pretty good! I am not sure where her motivation came from, but she has determination when she wants it!

Jump and Sit

Bryson is fearless and loves to jump on the trampoline with the big kids. Who am I kidding, this kid loves to do anything a bigger kid does. He is his newest trick on the trampoline! He can jump and sit!

Hip Action

We are really into dancing in our underwear in this house. Oh, sorry bad visual I say we, but really mean the kids. Rob and I stay clothed and Rob usually just watches these dance parties. I found out that my kids watch me closer than I thought. I love to shake my hips and so do my kids. They especially love to shake them to the Rio song. It doesn't matter what moves Mason is doing when the samba master comes on he stops everything and moves his hips at a slower pace and very exaggerated. Ellery does it as well, and it makes me grin from ear to ear!
Publish Post

Helpful Sister

Bryson no longer needs his sisters help while getting up into a chair. After you watch the video from the helpful sister on our holiday break, you can see why his motivation to do it on his own was moved up on his to do list. I am not sure anyone would enjoy being squeezed like an orange being juiced on attempting to get into a chair?

Painting

We are really into making calendars and crossing the days off as they go by. I should clarify, I have the kids make calendars every month so we practice writing letters and numbers along with filling it in with highlights that happen that month. The kids enjoy it and have no idea that they are practicing or working! We then had the idea to make writing utensil holders because I kept finding pencils and markers all over the upstairs. The down side of having calendars upstairs. Usually no writing utensils are allowed out of the the kitchen area. We made fun holders out of toilet paper rolls with what I call tongue depressors (wooden sticks?) hot glued on. The new rule of the house is if I find a writing utensil upstairs that isn't in the hold it goes away for 2 big sleeps. This method has worked well! We had a few days that no one had a writing utensil to use to cross off the day, tears were shed, but when they got them back they keep them put up!

We then got out the paint and everyone was thrilled. Even Bryson was excited to paint.
I did make the mistake and left the painting area to switch over the laundry while everyone was into their project. I could hear the chatter going on so I got greedy and started a load as well. I came back to a painted blue faced baby! Bryson will carry around small barbie pieces and legos and never eat them or put them close to his mouth, but leave him alone with paint and he eats it? This is one I will never understand, and thank goodness is states it is non toxic, but really what is this kid thinking?

On The Road Again

We are on the road again and heading to Papaws. It is sweet being on the road with these sounds coming from the back!!!

Manners

Manners? What Manners?
Manners, we need to work on manners in the Chaplin house. A friend stopped by and I was busy helping them with something real quick, but I wasn't quick enough. The version I got was that Bryson pulled Ellery's snack off the table and they fell all over the floor. Bryson didn't care and started eating them. Ellery was crying while Mason thought it was a good idea to add more to the pile, squish them, and then join in on eating off the floor.

Bryson

Bryson is such a sweet little boy. He will play with someone or by himself, he just prefers that someone is within close proximity to him if he chooses to play by himself. I was folding clothes in the adjacent room and caught Bryson pretending to pour something out of a bottle and then spreading it on his face and hair! It was precious. Didn't get the best video of it, but he was content on spreading his imaginary lotion all over himself!

Bryson pretend feeding

Bryson loves to play in the toy kitchen. He also loves to pretend to feed himself. He will go through the kitchen to find a good bowl and spoon and then walk around feeding himself or Ellery's babies. He prefers to feed himself, but after he stirs up whatever he has prepared for himself!

Bryson's Eating Habits

Bryson has found a new way to nourish himself! His mind amazes us and how he gets tickled over things!

Do you think I have my hands full?

I don't think I have to say much here. It puts my parenting skills to the test. Thank goodness my older two are good kids because this one is really on the move!

Wedge

Lotion Up

I will let Rob claim this child, while I blame eating lotion on him? I need to ask our parents if we ate lotion as a kid. Bryon can't get enough of it. Doesn't matter the brand or type. Lotion vs vaseline he eats it all! We lube him up after a bath and he puts his hand out for some lotion, rubs it in like a good little boy, and then he eats it! Ewwwww. This is the kid who loves to carry the tiniest things around in his hands, but he does not eat them or put them close to his mouth. We are talking legos, barbie shoes, tiny game pieces, and left over food particles that he finds on the floor. Maybe we should do an experiment and put a pile of lotion on the floor and see what he does with it? Nobody panic, I am not going to do it!

Game Day

This post is for my brother. I know he will more than likely not see it, but it gave us a great chuckle and we only did it to poke fun at him. His 4 year old daughter knows all about football and game day blah blah blah. She is brain washed into being a NE fan. We live here and people are crazy fans, and we still resist it! The first Big 10 game for NE is coming up and Mason isn't cheering for the Huskers! Go WI Badgers!

Never Been Kissed

I have never been kissed like this from my 5 year old. I think Rob and I are going to have to stop showing any type of PDA in front of Mason. This one caught on video is actually a PG version. The first time Mason asked to kiss me good night I was caught off guard by his debonair approach that I was almost french kissed by him. I am lucky I have quick reflexes and was able to pucker stronger.

14, 15, 21

We don't work with Ellery like we did Mason, we just assume she is picking up what we are teaching him. Clearly we need to work with her a bit more.

The Marker Did It

I am thinking about returning these markers. Apparently they can fall off the table and color on a foot before hitting the floor. According to Mason that is!

Got a Hang Nail

I think I will let the video do the explaining of this. Not sure how to interpret it into words to give it the justice it deserves! Enjoy, I know we got a hysterical laugh out of it!

Giggling

For some reason Bryson thinks I am funny. He gets all of my jokes and even laughs when I say no! He is so so sweet!

I want to crawl

This little man wants to get moving and almost has it figured out!