The Wright Side of LifeThe family is one of nature’s masterpieces.

Grammie had gone to visit her brother (Uncle Bob) over the weekend, and when she returned on Monday she brought a special friend with her to show the girls.  It was possibly the world’s largest locust – not only was it giant and intimidating, but it also hissed at Mikayla when we made her touch it.  Once it was transitioned to it’s temporary home inside of our bug carrier, the girls were able to approach and stare… albeit still cautiously:

Once we were all finished discussing the various horrors of the insect, we went inside and although we have a plethora of frilly princess dresses, tutus and the such, Scarlett declared she wanted a monster costume.  Well, we don’t have any monster costumes, so we had to improvise with a Cinderella ball gown, lint roller tape, and a fearsome headband-mask combination.  Isn’t she frightful??

Of course once Lincoln woke up from his nap, Grammie needed to spend some time with her boy.  He’s a big fan of doing his “exercises”:

In case you’re wondering, yes, his face was actually that shiny.  He had developed a bad acne rash, and although almost all newborns have that “baby acne” for several days, his kept getting worse and worse, and we were instructed to slather him with Aquaphor from sun-up to sundown.  It gave him a glossy sheen for a couple of weeks (but it worked!)

The girls LOVE getting lotion and rubbing it on every visible surface.  They will spend 15 minutes just applying and reapplying if allowed:

I *love* this picture ~ Victoria was crying pretty earnestly because she felt she needed MORE lotion (you can see how what she had wouldn’t even rub in anymore):

The next three pictures show why you just can’t mess with babies without expecting payback.

It starts out all nice, with Mikayla and Linc just chilling and hanging out together…

But then Mik had to go messing with him, trying to make him smile…

To which he pretty promptly retaliated with one of the most epic vomits I have ever seen spew forth from a baby.  Mikayla literally had it splashed all over her neck and chest with a nice little bonus puddle in down her shirt:

Mikayla: 0  |  Lincoln: 1

On Tuesday the 13th, we all loaded up and headed to the Cook’s for a playdate.  Loran decided the kids could all help make cupcakes, which of course was a huge hit.  They all donned their aprons and gathered around the work table:

Mikayla came along to help with out with Lincoln, and also probably out of morbid curiosity to see the effects of large sugar intake on 5 toddlers   She was a big help.

Lincoln’s shocked expression upon learning he would not, in fact, be allowed to partake in the cupcake frenzy:

While the cupcakes baked, the kids ate lunch and played dress-up:

Finally, it was time for the main event (so far as my girls were concerned) – FROSTING!

Victoria was quite serious about the task and worked to spread the frosting just so:

Meanwhile, Scarlett didn’t see the point in messing around at all and took the more direct approach:

Later that evening at home, the girls helped me make biscuits.  Scarlett grew bored with it fairly quickly (if I recall she was busy stalking Mikayla), but Sissy kept busy with the dough and when Nana arrived they worked together.  Nana showed Sissy how to use a cup to cut out a biscuit shape:

Sissy: “Like ‘dis?”

I’m sure this will thrill her when she gets older, but I had to take a snapshot of Victoria as she earnestly sat on the potty chair, reading her books and trying to make the magic happen

And lastly, Jim demonstrating the wonders of the wrap.  Lincoln will always conk out in this thing and it’s so handy to have: