Seriously, people, I feel like I live in a nudist colony lately.  Not even joking.

Ava has started boycotting clothes.  If we don’t have anywhere to go, she’ll spend the entire day in her underwear.  If we are going somewhere, I have to force her to get dressed and then as soon as we get home, she strips down to her underwear again.  She won’t even wear pajamas!  Last night, I managed to get her in them, but at bedtime she took them off and whined, “I can’t wear a shirt!  I don’t want to wear a shirt!”  For those of you who look at the kids’ photobucket, if you notice considerably fewer pictures lately, it’s because I can’t put very many up because she’s only in her underwear in most of them!

And Kelvin is a whole different story.  His stripping seems to be centered around his diaper.  He’s fine wearing clothes until he pees in his diaper (even though nearly every diaper he wears is stay-dry).  The second that happens, everything (including the diaper) comes off.  Even the snaps on his cloth diapers don’t stop him anymore.  So all of a sudden, I’ll just see him strolling through the house butt-naked and I have to go off in search of a wet diaper dropped in a random place.  It’s like he just takes it off wherever he happens to pee, drops it, and walks off as though nothing ever happened.

They’d better get over this before winter!  Can you imagine the number of doctor appointments we’ll have to make when they get themselves sick by walking around freezing their little tushes off all day?  Even though we have insurance, we’ll have to apply for a medical assistance program or something!

I’m telling you, our trip to Florida in a few weeks is going to be torture for these two!  They’re going to have to wear clothes all day long, every single day, for nine whole days!  *gasp* The horror!

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This last weekend, we decided to take a day trip up to Omaha to go to the zoo with Kim, Rob, Myra and Gavin.  That was something we’d been planning on doing since the beginning of summer and now that August was nearly over, we figured we’d better get to it!

I was very disappointed on our way up there when I discovered that my camera battery was nearly dead.  I managed to get a couple of pictures before it died, but they didn’t even turn out because I was in such a hurry to turn the camera back off before it died.  Thus, the lack of pictures in this post.

Even though I don’t have the pictures to prove it, we had a really fun day.  We got to see most of the zoo (it’s huge) and we had very nice weather.  The stroller was even nice enough to wait to pop a wheel off until the very end of the day!

By far the funniest part of the day was when we were just about to leave.  Ava really wanted to see the giraffes, so we went to that exhibit and they also had ostriches and peacocks walking around with the giraffes.  Ava said, “There’s a giraffe, and a diarrhea, and a peacock.”

Wait, what?!

Apparently she thinks ostriches are called “diarrhea’s”.  She says she heard it from Diego.  The only explanation I can come up with is that maybe Diego was talking about an animal that looked like an ostrich that had a name similar to diarrhea?  I don’t know…

One thing’s for sure, though…if this girl had a comedy show, we’d make enough to buy gold coins!  Life is definitely never dull with her around!

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I am beyond excited that we’re planning a trip to Disney World for next month!  I’ve never been there before…mainly because I’ve never even been to Florida, but also because I come from a family of 9 kids!  Who could blame my parents for not wanting to shell out for that?  We’re a little bit surprised at the price of 1-day passes just for our family of 4!

Anyway, where was I?  Oh yes…we’re going next month!  Never having been there, I’m not exactly sure what we should make sure we absolutely do not miss.  Since we only have one day (we’re going to be staying in Daytona Beach for a little over a week and just making a day-trip to Disney World), we’ve already decided that we’re going to the Magic Kingdom.  It seems the most small-child-friendly of all the parks.  But we’re definitely coming back when the kids are older for a longer vacation to visit more of the parks!  Even if we have to sleep on log beds because of how much a week-long trip costs!  LOL

We do know that we want to do a character breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table.  I’m having a little bit of a problem making a reservation.  I’m not sure if I waited too long and it’s completely full or if it’s not open that day or what.  I’m going to have to figure that out.

But, if you’ve been there, what are some other things we absolutely have to do?  Any tips for being in the park with kids?  I’m open to any and all advice, since I know virtually nothing!

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The weather in my neck of the woods:
Hot, HOT, HOT!!!!  Tomorrow is actually supposed to be our hottest day of the year so far.  Yuck!  I feel like we have to hibernate just as much in the summer as we do in the winter!

Things that make me happy:
Finally getting the unpacking done yesterday.  Yes, from the trip we got home from a week ago!

Book I’m reading:
Breaking Dawn.  Now that we’re home, I don’t have the kind of time for reading that I did at my grandparents’ house, so this one is going much slower than the other three.

What I’m enjoying on TV:
The Bachelorette finale tonight!

On the menu for dinner:
Chicken Chow Mein

On my To Do List:
Laundry
Clean Sammy’s cage

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
There are a lot of recipes I plan on making for the freezer soon.  We’ve been so busy this summer that I haven’t done as much freezer cooking and I miss having things ready to go when someone drops in or I just don’t feel like cooking.

Looking forward to this week:
Ordering a new workout DVD.  As much as I try, going to the gym just doesn’t work well in this phase of our life.  And I don’t have any desire to buy folding treadmills for the living room, so that leaves me with workout DVD’s.  I have Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred, but every time I do it, it hurts my joints too much so I need to find something different.  I’m thinking of trying her yoga workout.

Tips and Tricks:
Kelvin and I sit outside under umbrellas during Ava’s swimming lessons and even thought it’s shaded, it’s still HOT!  Today my friend brought a little squirt bottle to spray the kids down with to keep them cool and I thought that was a really good idea.  Kelvin sat there squirting himself for about 30 minutes and he didn’t get too hot!  I’m going to bring ours tomorrow.

My favorite blog post this week:
I’ve actually been keeping up with my Google reader this week, but I can’t remember any of my favorites right now.

Blog Hopping (a new discovered blog you would like to share with the readers):
I’m trying to cut back and only have my very favorite blogs in my Google reader, so I’m not adding anything more right now.

No words needed (favorite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

Lesson learned the past few days:
All three sets of sheets fit in the washer at the same time!  Sorry, I know that’s lame, but I was kind of surprised to discover that yesterday.  I’d always divided them into two loads.

On my mind:
Trying to find ways to simplify our life a bit.  Or at least streamline it.  I need to start getting our preschool curriculum ready for fall and that includes blocking out some time every day for school.

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
Today I’m reading Romans 1:16-32.

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A few days ago, we had an “off” morning.  Some of us hadn’t slept well, others weren’t feeling good, and we were all just grumpy.  I knew I needed to get dinner in the crockpot and needed the kids to not hang on me for just fifteen minutes.  IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

So I dumped all the playdough stuff out on the dining room table and told them to go for it.  (Sorry for the horrible picture quality)

I’d gotten some new playdough on sale recently and that made it even better.  For some reason, brand new cans of playdough keep them entertained way longer than cans that have been played with before.  Go figure.

Anyway, this kept them busy for at least 45+ minutes.  It was awesome.  A definite mood-lifter for a tough morning.  Of course, this helps too.

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The kids and I are still in the middle of our visit to my grandparents house, but I’m popping in for a quick update.  This is actually the first time I’ve been on the computer this trip and it’s been kind of nice to take a step back.  I have tons of computer work waiting for me when I get home (and it doesn’t include reading nuphedragen reviews), but I’m enjoying the break for now.

We’ve been staying really busy here.  We got here on Sunday night and Chad drove home through the night.  He ended up getting home at 5 am.  Needless to say, I did not sleep well that night.

On Monday, Daniel and Jessica came and we went to the zoo and then my grandma watched the kids while the rest of us went to a late movie.  Grandpa and Daniel saw Inception and Jessica and I saw Eclipse (my second time seeing it).  I was afraid Kelvin would wake up and give Grandma trouble while I was gone, but it was Ava!  She woke up at 11:45 and didn’t go back to sleep until we got home at 12:30 am!

Yesterday we went down to see my family and especially Miss Rachel in Brodhead.  Kelvin and Ava both held her again and I got some super-cute pictures, but I’m pretty certain I forgot my camera there!  Luckily we’re going back tomorrow and I can get it then.

Today Grandma and I took the kids to the butterfly gardens and then to lunch with Uncle Gary.  We really wore them out…Kelvin still resisted his nap, but Ava fell asleep while he was still fussing!

I probably will not be on again until early next week, but I’ll be sure to have another update and some pictures then!

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Tomorrow we’re leaving on our last trip for this summer.  We don’t have anywhere to go until we go to Daytona Beach, FL at the end of September!  That I know of anyway.  There’s always the chance we’ll end up going up to Wisconsin one more time in the next couple months.

I love having the opportunity to travel so much and be able to see all of our family so often, but seriously?  It gets tiring to unpack and then immediately turn around and start making plans to start packing again.  I’m looking forward to a little break.  I have a lot of things that I need to catch up on, I need to start working out again (to reduce belly fat of course LOL), I want to take the kids to the pool a few times, and we’re hoping to take a day trip to the Omaha Zoo before the summer is over.

Anyway, even though we’ll be gone for 11 days, I will have the laptop and I’m sure I’ll be doing a fair amount of blogging.  So you won’t get to miss me too much, OK? 

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I wanted to be sure my mom had a chance to share her happy news on Facebook and wherever else she wanted before I stole her thunder.  No one announces the births of new babies with  Cohiba cigars anymore (do they?)…they announce them with blog posts, so here I am.  LOL

I’m very excited to share that she had her baby on July 7 at 9:14 pm!  Rachel was 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long.

We’re really looking forward to going up to meet her later this week.  The kids are really excited to be able to hold her, but I’m a little nervous about making sure they’re not too rough with her.  I’m sure I’ll have lots of pictures to share once we get home!

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If you’ve spent much time reading this blog, you know I’m a die-hard cloth diaper addict.  I’ve even begun traveling with cloth diapers instead of breaking out the disposables.

Well, next week we’re going to be on a longer trip.  The kids and I will be gone for a total of 10-11 days and I thought I should just suck it up and use disposable diapers.  I don’t like imposing on people any more than necessary and it felt awkward to ask to use people’s washers/dryers for diapers.  I convinced myself that it’s just a few days and it’s not that big of a deal.

But last night I realized I just couldn’t do it.  Sometimes it feels like ignorance really is bliss (and maybe it is when it comes to treatment for adult acne LOL)….because I found myself cringing at the thought of putting Mr. Kelvin in chemical-laden Huggies.

So I emailed my grandma and asked if she’d mind if I washed just my Flip covers and liners in her washer and I’d use the chemical-free Flip disposable inserts so there wouldn’t be anything that’s actually absorbing pee in her washer.  She emailed back and said I can use both her washer and dryer and clothesline for anything I need to. 

I’m very excited and relieved to be able to pack cloth again for this trip and be able to avoid disposables once again!

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The weather in my neck of the woods:
Rainy!  It rained nearly all day yesterday, but luckily we were still able to do fireworks.  It’s raining even harder today than it was yesterday!

Things that make me happy:
Having a day “off” after the busy holiday weekend.  After two weekends in a row of running around, I feel like today is making up for them.

Book I’m reading:
Twilight.  And I’m loving it!  I actually watched the movie first and was wondering what all the hype was about.  It was an OK movie, but definitely not worthy of all the fuss everyone was making over it.  Now that I’m reading the book, I understand.  Even though I know what’s going to happen because I’ve seen the movie, I can’t put it down!  My eyes have to be closing against my will at night before I reluctantly turn off the light.  I love it though…it’s been a long time since I read a book that I’m this interested in.

What I’m enjoying on TV:
Reign Over Me – we just got it from Netflix
New Moon – Chad just came back from Sam’s Club a little bit ago with this un-birthday gift!  I’ve seen it before, but now that I’m reading the books, I’m so excited to add the movie to my collection (I already have Twilight).
Greek – I’ve been watching this series for several months…whenever I’m caught up on all my shows on Hulu, I turn on Greek.  Honestly, I’m not sure whether I love Friends or Greek more.  And if you know me, you know that’s saying something, because Friends is my absolute favorite TV series ever!

On the menu for dinner:
Eeks!  I have no idea!  We don’t even have any leftovers right now, so I’m going to have to figure something out quick!

On my To Do List:
Wash diapers
Upload all the pictures on my camera
Finish getting statements ready to send out
Update MOMS Club roster

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
I’ve been trying a lot of new recipes from the Sneaky Chef cookbook.  That book rocks!

Looking forward to this week:
MOMS Club activities and beginning to prepare for our extended trip to Wisconsin next week!

Tips and Tricks:
I just sat here for 5 minutes trying to think of something original to write here and I got nothing!  LOL

My favorite blog post this week:
Balancing The Happy Ending by The Gypsy Mama
This post is a must-read for parents….my favorite quote from it:
“Parents as people seem to exist only in the fringe hours of the day. And those hours are frayed around the edges.”
So true!

Blog Hopping (a new discovered blog you would like to share with the readers):
I’ve been having such a hard time keeping up with my blog reading lately!  I d

No words needed (favorite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

Lesson learned the past few days:
Sometimes when I have a ton of things to do, I get really overwhelmed with trying to prioritize everything.  I’ve found that if I just dig in on the first thing in front of me, it all gets done in the end and I don’t waste so much time and mental energy trying to figure out what order to do them in.  Obviously there is a time and place for prioritizing, but sometimes it just doesn’t matter as long as it all gets done!

On my mind:
Everything I need to get done over the next week and a half before we leave for Wisconsin.  I think I need a to-do list (or document management system )…it’s all bouncing around in my head right now and driving me crazy!

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Matthew 6:28-29

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