My FAVORITE picture

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Merrick in this photo

Home from vacation

Memphis' first ART experience

Look at these cute kids.

Merrick loves these finger paints. He loves to squeeze as much out as possible. On this particular day we used a apple half as our stamp.

And then I decided that the time had come for my little Memphis to have his very first art experience.

This is what he looked like while his hands were in the paint.

And this is what happened to his very first art project.

I'll do ANYTHING to get the house cleaned

MERRICK + SHAVING CREAM + BATHTUB= SANITY (and a little house cleaning time)

Merrick loves getting messy and I love cleaning contained areas of messiness so in all reality it's a win-win in my book.

I got the shaving cream at the 99 cent store and I want to say that it's probably the best dollar I've ever spent on anything.

The face of a successful activity.

If anyone tries this let me know how it goes in your bathtub.

Paint, Paint, Paint

As many of you know we love to paint around here. My dining room is full of creations Merrick has made over the past year. I try really hard not to throw anything away and I try even harder to find some blank space on our walls to display his art work but trust me it's getting pretty full around here. So, yesterday as we were in the midst of another one of his creations ( a library tote bag to carry all of our books home in) I discovered the answer to my dilemma.

I realized how much he loves to paint on his skin. At first we thought "oh no, we're going to have to give him a bath" but after seeing how much fun he was having creating and using his imagination I thought this could be a great way to conserve our resources by letting him paint on his skin and then wash it off later. Brilliant!

I love painting with Merrick. I love watching him and talking to him about his projects. I specially love it when he wants me to help him draw specific things like a sun, a moon, a house and of course lately he's been asking for a water park (which is much harder than a house mind you) but my favorite, favorite thing he's been asking me to draw lately are these stick figure characters of the four of us aka our family. So, of course, I obliged and made a portrait of our family on his belly. We start off with him and then do a mommy, a daddy and a brother. He loves it and just smiles and smiles when he sees the people that love him so very much.

Ahh, but as in all of our art projects he manages to get paint in some of the oddest places you could ever imagine. This one made us laugh because it's on top of his head but it was totally done with a paint brush. His hair is growing back by the way and I'm tempted to tidy it up but I've been banned from using any type of clippers/ scissors near or on his head. Bummer!

A Pirate ship from Ma by request. I love this little guy. I can't wait to use that new colorful tote the next time we go to the library.

Thanks, Mom!

My mom came to visit us a few weeks ago and I just wanted to post some pictures of her and the kids. She is always such a huge help when she comes to visit and the kids love getting her undivided attention.

Blurry, but still cute.

Relaxing at the waterpark during nap time.

We miss you mom and we can't wait to see you again.