This is likely going to be one of those rambling, pointless posts.  But I'm going ahead anyway.  Just to let you know, we pick up toys repeatedly throughout the day but you are bound to see something out being played with at any given time.  As you can see, this is the case in the pictures below.  I was very fortunate to get these Imaginext dinosaurs and mountain for a bargain off a friend from Rhode Island and they have received many hours of play with both of my kids.  You might notice the printed directions for putting the mountain together.  I have finally convinced Zach to let it remain put together so that I can have a break.  In his defense, he does try to put it together himself now, which is impressive in my eyes.  Anyway, once everything is dumped out of the bin, the bin itself becomes a toy.  

It's a ZACH in the box!  Disclaimer:  Said child climbed in on his own, with no persuasion, and was monitored for safety during this playtime.  At no time was said child distraught or injured.  

 Petey gets lots of love from the Zachster.  And Clara.

I've been trying to figure out how to make Zach's room look nicer.  It is such a small space and has no closet.  So, I recently pulled everything out of his room except the big furniture, gave the carpet and floor a good mopping/vacuuming, and set to work hauling stuff around.  Charlie was doing homework in the office, right below Zach's room, and came to see what was going on.  I'm not super tickled with the end results, but it does look better and he is very pleased.  Clara's room is next.

 You might notice that the dinosaur mountain is assembled and on his nightstand.  That way I am not putting it back together repeatedly!

 I'm sure our neighbors find this repulsive, and I'm not particularly happy about it, but we have to put his stuff somewhere.  Some of those plastic shelves were on his floor (previously in his closet before we moved).  Now, when I pull the drapes, there are no plastic shelves!  I just don't go outside and look in the windows.

 The fan doesn't look good, but it is staying.  I couldn't help but notice that one of the bat thingies is on the floor that goes with the bat cave.  Grrr.

 This train table has taken quite a bit of abuse from Zach.  Just since Christmas he has decided to play with it and not pretend to be a demolition team sent to destroy the railroad.

 Legos.  I love Legos, and so do my kids.  Clara's love recently developed even though I made sure she had a set early on, but Zach is constantly building with either wooden blocks, Legos, or Lincoln Logs and I personally think he does a nice job.  He made this helicopter the other day and I was impressed.

 Here he is, after giving the propeller a little spin.  I promise he was happy about it, even though his expression doesn't reveal it.

 I decided to make homemade chips again, and it turned out quite well.  I used sweet potatoes (which was the first time they have been available here in some time) and my Pampered Chef mandoline so the slices had ridges and were uniform, shook them up with a little olive oil, sprinkled sea salt on them and baked them FOREVER it seemed.  But, the kids liked them and I did too.

 I decided to give mac & cheese a try, that doesn't come from a box.  My kids were not impressed and I'm not hungry enough to try it.  *Sigh*

They did eat it, and devoured the ants on a log and fresh pineapple.  Yes, I am embarrassed to say this, but I bought a pineapple the other day and it was the first time I have ever done that.  I normally either buy it from the deli section or from a can.