Teens, Gorillas & the subsequent Nightmares

Now, don't get me wrong...

i LOVE

having the teenagers crash my pad

for an impromptu

Pah-tay.

love

LOVE

love

However, when the party involves an impromptu gorilla showing up and scaring the knickers off my little peeps...

I must draw the line.

Because, believe it or not

I Do Not Love 

having 3 extra bodies sleeping in my

Queen Size

bed.

Swing Low

THIS 

is common sight at the 

Taylor house...

Mr. T running half-naked 
with his diaper about ready to "blow".

Not that I particularly enjoy it 
when his diaper fills 
to the point of explosion, 
but you try catching this boy 
AND
keep him still long enough to change a diaper.

Sounds like a 
"Would You Rather" 
question...

Hmmmm.

Friday Flashback

August 2001

Our little family of 4 went to 

Michigan to visit family.
We visited Dow Gardens.

goofed around with the fam...

(believe it or not, this is a regular occurrence with my family)

and played at the park

but my favorite part of the trip was the day we spent at 
Lake Michigan...

we were visiting 
the Burtch family in Holland

we spent the day sightseeing

took pizza to the beach

played in giant holes in the sand

walked out to the lighthouse

it was a beautiful day...

the water was so tempting

but only a couple of us had 

swimsuits on

So... in a moment of pure genius 

my mom jumped in the water, 

fully clothed

before long my dad joined her...

and Mike...

and eventually the entire family ended up in the lake, 
laughing & splashing...

 We were still smiling as the sun set on this perfect day.

Oo-da-lolly, Oo-da-lolly, 
Golly what a day!

Good Mom/Bad Mom

The kids had a half-day of school...

We were looking for something fun, unique, cheap to entertain ourselves.

The kids decided that they wanted me to paint their faces.

And why not?

We had a whole bin of craft paints 
in my closet.

So after deciding on their designs 
and

trying very hard to sit still  
(for what seemed like forever), 

they happily lined up to admire 
themselves in the mirror...

Tony

aka: Mr. Sneaky Snake

Valerie

aka: Miss Flower Fairy

Courtney

aka: Miss Mis-Matched 

* life was good 
in the Taylor home

* my little Peeps 
were so very happy

* and proud 
of their artistic masterpieces
 

until

the itching began...

which led to  

*

*

*

*

V

an extremely long (2+ hours), painful removal.

rats.

fyi: a combination of vegetable oil & vanilla handsoap will remove craft paint from skin... not that we will EVER try this again.

Sleeping Beauty

Here's my big 7-year-old girl 

trying to get some  
"Beauty Sleep".

She was so excited to wear her 

divalicious sleep mask.

So, of course I had to 
snap a few photos...

Night #1

Yes, she is sleeping on the floor, but isn't she working that mask?

Night #2

She made it up to her bed 
this time, 

but as for the mask...

And yet, she still woke up beautiful.