Daddy Daycare...

at your service! Yesterday I watched Spencer babysit the neighborhood....no kidding! He and Ella Ann went outside at 11:30 a.m. and the next time she sat foot in our house except for to use the restroom was to eat dinner at 6 p.m. Her and Spencer were in the backyard ALL day long! It was great! As soon as they hit the yard Jordan and Kayla saw Ella Ann and immediately came over to play. Their family was expecting company around lunch time so once the company's children arrived Spencer had them all.....at one point he was watching 7 kids 4 and under. Where was I, you ask? I went to the grocery, prepared a meal for a friend and her husband that had a baby and then took them the meal that afternoon. So Spencer was on his own the most of the day. While on the way home I received a text from him that read, "Daddy daycare here: 6 spills, 4 band aids, 3 glasses of water and several children wandering our house." I floored it home, mainly after the "kids roaming the house" part! I walked in the door and saw the first aid kit on our counter. He had wrapped Jordan's knee because after falling out of the door his band aids wouldn't stay on. The parents across next door would show their faces if they heard loud screaming but that's about it. Spencer even saved a runaway tricycle that went barreling down the driveway next door! Ella Ann was loving every second of all the entertainment in her backyard! The kids were in and out of our house and the neighbor's house all afternoon, which was fine. We honestly didn't mind at all that they were all over at our house. They were all good kids, Ella Ann and Rane had a great time, they were very entertaining and we would have been doing more work had the kids not had anyone to play with! They kept asking for a snack but, as you know, we live in a Jewish neighborhood so giving the kids a snack out of our pantry was not going to happen. Who knows what we have that is Kosher! Jordan couldn't understand why we didn't have Kosher food and I simply said, "We're not Jewish!" A little while later his mom comes over to tell us that when she asked him if Ella Ann would like a sandwich (she was preparing them for the kids) he said, "No, she can't! She's not Jewish!"

So anyway, Spencer was worn out from all the Daddy sitting he did. I know he really enjoyed it, though. It was fun for both of us to watch Ella Ann play all day in a make believe world with several kids her age.

We also spent the entire afternoon on Friday outside. Spencer came home before lunch so it felt like a Saturday to me. He brought home some soccer shorts from London for Ella Ann to wear since she says she is going to play soccer next year instead of taking ballet. Well she wasn't too fond of the shorts (shocking, I know) when she received them but once she put them on and started running around outside she realized how good they are at keeping her cool (she hates being hot and complains about it around 25 times a day...even in 30 degree weather). She also "allowed" me to put her hair in a ponytail. This has not happened in at least 7-8 months. She all of the sudden decided one day to hate ponytails, which Spencer and I were not liking because we love her hair up out of her face....she looks so cute. So this weekend watching her run around in soccer shorts, t-shirts and a ponytail we felt like we were watching a completely different child...it looked so weird on her, weird but good.

In other news, Rane decided to get up off all fours today and try walking all day long. Quite a surprise! He's been trying for a couple of weeks and today was the day to really do it. It's so strange to be in our dining room and catch Rane out of the corner of my eye walking down the hallway. He doesn't expect a cheering section for him each time he performs now so I know he feels it is more natural for him to be walking. Yeay!

First off, Ella Ann and I made "We Miss You" brownies for Spencer on Tuesday afternoon before he got home from London (See...my bitterness subsided!). Do you see Ella Ann's eager hand on the table? Yes, we started eating the "Miss You" brownies immediately after I snapped this picture. At least we left the writing for him to see.

She does pretty good kicking the ball around the yard. Well, at least it appears that way to me but who am I to know that kind of stuff?? I don't know a single thing about sports in general!

This metal contraption has been in our side yard since we moved in. We had no idea what it was until our neighbor came over this week and told us. It's an old jungle gym that the previous owners had left (her in-laws own the house we are in). So we dragged it out to the backyard for the kids to climb on and they love it. We are going to buy some spray paint and let the kids revamp it.

Jordan and Ella Ann being silly.

The two of them play so well together. (Note the band aids and tape on the legs thanks to the on-call Doctor at Daddy Daycare!)

I am so tired of Rane putting holes in all of his pants because he is lazy, especially when we are outside, so I put him in shorts yesterday so he'd be forced to walk because the grass is too prickly on his legs. Well this is Mr. Stubborn at his best.....doing the crab! He still wouldn't walk much!

He just roams the yard and will stop when he sees something that looks tasty....like mulch.

The following pictures Spencer took of the fiasco in our backyard. They were running around so much that he couldn't get a picture of all of them together.