Abby Bossypants

Abby is the Queen Bee around here. She bosses around the others and us and basically, everyone. She tells Will and Marie when it's their turn to do something and let's us know when she's willing to do something. The other day, I asked her to come to the kitchen to get something, and she hollered back to me, "No, mama. I busy." Really? What are exactly are you so busy doing that you can't do what I'm asking you to do? I can't imagine that anything in the life of an almost 3 year old is so urgent that she can't come to the kitchen. Okay, I would have understood if she was on the toilet, but she wasn't.

Abby is incredibly stubborn. She knows what she wants and won't stop until she gets it. Last night, she wanted to sleep in our bed, and she cried for literally 2 hours. When Billy tried to get her to calm down, she said, "I calm down in mommy and daddy's bed." Then, continued screaming. The instant Billy brought her into our room, she was sweet, cuddly, and went right off to sleep. That little bugger!

She also knows how to manipulate people and how to get her way. She likes to spend the night with the grandparents, and she will start talking about how she's going to Papa Nando's to spend the night beginning the day before we are going to see him. Then, as soon as she sees him, she'll tell him she's going to his house, and she's spending the night, and she starts making all these plans..."Then, we go for walk. Then, I sleep in the big bed. Then, we snuggle." After a little while, she has everyone convinced, including Papa Nando, that she's off to his house.

Abby is probably the most mature out of the bunch. She knows how to focus her attention on a project and not get distracted. She's been the one who always pays attention at the shows we've gone to-Barney, the circus, etc.

Abby is so flexible. It's incredible. She contorts her little body in a million different ways, and it doesn't even faze her. She's very strong too. She was the first to be able to really pedal her bike well and can do it uphill. We start gymnastics on Saturday, and I can't wait to see how good she is at it!

Abby is also very clumsy. She tends to fall a lot. She's always got a band-aid or 10 on. We kid that she has a magnet in her head because whenever she falls, it seems to be head-first! However, she does love wearing a helmet so maybe she's aware of this little defect and likes to protect her noggin.

Arie's Multiple Personalities

When you ask Marie what her name is, she says, "Arie, M-A-R-I-E." She doesn't say the M, but she always spells it. She also knows how to spell Abby and Will. She's a smart little cookie.

Marie can be sweet one minute, and then, something will set her off, and she'll explode into a temper tantrum. You never know when it's coming, but when it comes, hold on to your effing hat, because the girl freaks her shit out. We are talking screaming at the top of her lungs, drooling excessively, throwing herself on the ground, looking at you like you are the biggest bitch in the world, etc. I never know what to do. I try to hold her, and she won't let me. Then, she'll put her arms out to me, but when I get close, she pushes me away. Typically, I just let her get it out of her system. After a few minutes, she'll say, "I all better now."

Marie never walks where she's going. She always has a spring her step. She runs, skips, hops, or scoots around. It's so cute!

We think Marie might have a touch of OCD. She has some strange little things she does. Like if she drips a little water, milk, or juice, she'll ask for a paper towel and wipe it off the table, but it's like excessive. She'll keep wiping, even when there's nothing there.

Marie is also so affectionate. She gives big hugs, and lately, she's been so kissy. When I put her done to sleep at night, she gives me kisses on my face, my hands, my arms. I love it. She's also affectionate and loving with her brother and sister. The other day, Abby woke up from her nap in a very bad mood. I brought her down to the couch and Marie was stroking her back and saying, "Shhh. Calm down. All better now." It was so adorable. Of course, Abby kept shrieking, but Marie did not give up.

Will: King of the Obvious Questions

I've been blogging about all 3 collectively too much lately and not giving each one their own little posts to update their differences. I'll start with Will.

I'd have to say that contrary to what "they" always say about boys, he's our most vocal child. He NEVER stops talking. I don't think he's capable of silence. I mean he talks to himself until he falls asleep at night and wakes up talking and singing. The other day, he woke up from his nap, threw open the door, and announced, "Will had a good nap. Will feels better. Will is ready to play. Did Abby and Marie sleep? Where are Abby and Marie? Is Will a good boy?" I was exhausted, and he had only been awake for 1 minute.

He is also very inquisitive and is known for asking obvious questions and/or asking the same question is several different ways

Example one: Our neighbor, Howie, was heading out for a run the other day. We were playing in the yard and Will asked me what Mr. Howie was doing. I said, "He's getting ready to run." Will yells to Howie, "Mr. Howie, your getting ready to run now?" Howie tells him yes and starts jogging out of his driveway. Will shouts, "Mr. Howie, are you running now?" Howie says yes. Will then asks, this is the kicker, "Mr. Howie, do you have a penis?" Really? Why does this child insist on embarrassing me like this? Howie just chuckled. He has kids too. He knows what it's like.

Of course, then the girls join in yelling, "Bye-bye Mr. Howie penis!" "Bye-bye, magina." Magina is how they say vagina. The penis and magina talk is never ending. Then, they correct each other and say, "No more penis talk. Mimi doesn't like it."

Example two: We had some friends over last week, and one of the kids (Ben) was sick and couldn't make it. When Ben's dad, John, came in, Will asked, "Where's Ben?" John explained that Ben was sick and resting and couldn't make it. Will then asked, "Is Ben sick?" John told him yes. Will asks, "Is Ben resting?" John told him yes. Will asks, "Does Ben not feel good?" John told him yes. Will asks, "Is he going to feel better soon?" I told John just to walk away. Will was not going to stop interrogating him.

Will has a very short attention span. He will ask to play with something or watch something on television, but he can only handle it for a few minutes. After that, he has to go wrestle with Marie for a while. Marie and Will seem to be the most playful with each other. Abby tends to be the most mature out of the bunch.

Will is an incredible flirt. He's always checking chicks out and making eyes at them. He knows just how to work it with the ladies. How could you not love his enormous brown eyes?

Will is also so snuggly and sweet. He loves to hug and kiss. Sometimes his affections border on violence, but he just can't help it...he gets carried away with his love. :)

April Photo Shoot-Sarah Esther Photography

Right before Mega Dens took over our lives, we had a professional photo shoot with the kids. Here are some pictures from that. We used a Groupon, and didn't really know what to expect, but we were thrilled with the results--adorable pictures!

Homeowner projects

So, because the show is on the DIY Network, the homeowners do have to participate in a few projects. Mostly, they give you crap you can't eff up too bad.

The kids did 2 projects. For one, they painted canvasses with red paint. The picture above is all of us with the show hostess.
This is how it turned out. Not bad, right?

The kids also helped install flooring the in sun room. Here they are with the show hostess and the 2 main carpenters. The hostess is Anitra, and the kids called her Miss Anitruck. They loved her and Mr. Joey and Mr. Mikey (the carpenters). Will keeps asking when they are all coming back.

One of my projects was these chairs. They were regular black chairs, and I sanded them all down so that they could put a red finish on them. They also bought plaid shirts at a thrift store and covered all the chairs. Such a good idea!

Billy nailed these slats to the roof in the sun room.

I helped frame the kids' play loft, but I totally sucked at using a nail gun. This thing was huge and powerful, and I nearly shot Mr. Joey's crotch the first time I fired it off. Then, the whole cast and crew thought it was going to be exciting to watch me, so they all stopped what they were doing and gathered around. The camera came in for a close up, and I was sweating bullets. I made it through the bit, but I think Joey was really happy when the camera man yelled cut, and he could take back the nail gun. He kept saying, "I trust you," in a way that sounded like he was only trying to convince himself. Apparently, someone had put a nail through his hand in another episode. At least I didn't do that.

What it takes to make a Mega Den

Our eat-in area in the kitchen became the headquarters for the production office. Most days, there were 4 or 5 women huddled around this table running logistics.

Our dining room became the site for camera/filming equipment.

The huge trailer was parked in our driveway all week and a tent was quickly put up when we got a rain shower one day.

Additional construction tools and supplies were in our garage, along with their snack table.

When they left, this was all they left behind...a huge pile of trash. Yes, it was all picked up by their trash service Monday, but it was insane how they could transform our rooms from Monday to Friday and this was all that was left of it. Oh yeah, plus about a million toys we didn't bring up from the basement. :)

Our MEGA DEN!

For those of you who haven't seen the pictures or seen it with your own eyes yet, meet our new Mega Den! It's so totally amazing.
Before, when you walked into our house, the first room you saw was the formal living room, which we were using as the kids' playroom. It was basically a toy dumping ground.
Mega Dens saved us from toy hell, and brought us family room heaven. They installed custom built ins, provided a 60 inch 3D HD television with XBOX 360 and Kinect.



Here is the room from another angle. They ripped out the wall between the living room and what used to be our family room to make it a huge space.
This used to be our family room. I didn't realize it sucked so bad until I got a Mega Den!It's a seating area, but it can be used for the kids to do crafts, as they get older for homework, play board games, etc. We will probably eventually convert this to our dining area, and we'll get rid of our dining room and make it either a home office space or knock out the wall leading to the kitchen and make a Mega Kitchen to match our Mega Den! This was our sunroom, which was yet another dumping ground for toys.

This is our new sun room, which is now the playroom. They installed window seats with storage underneath for toys, a window AC/heating unit so we can use the space year-round, new floors (made from recycled Nikes), painted, put in new light fixtures and window shades. It's so much more functional now.

Look at this adorable play loft they built for the kids. It's chalkboard walls inside and everything. They love it! We love it all! It was an incredible experience.