Who's in charge here?

So, Ryan asks me if I would be willing to keep his boys overnight on Tuesday so he can take Ruth to a Christmas concert in Chicago.

Yes, I have four kids, but Ryan's kids really are very good, compliant, happy children. (I know, life isn't fair). Jonny is the happiest kid and Aaron sits when I say sit, sleeps when I say sleep and eats when I say eat. The child is even potty trained!!!! Clark doesn't even do all that!! Outside of the occasional spat concerning who deserves to play with the toy of choice, I didn't foresee any issues. What I also didn't foresee was the influence my darling children would have on sweet, innocent Aaron.

I decide to continue with school for the big kids as the little kids played quietly in the living room. If you have ever been to my house, you will know that the living room and the dining room are attached. We do school in the dining room so I am not far away - in theory.

So can anyone explain how I missed that this was happening?

Every piece of furniture was upside down with the cushions strewn all over the floor and the kids on top.

Another tidbit of interesting info is that Owen was dressed originally but I found him on top of the overturned furniture, naked, sword in his hand and shouting "For Narnia!"
(Mikayla and Brice had nothing to do with the mess - they just jumped in for the picture and found it all very amusing.)

If that wasn't enough for one day, I later ventured upstairs, assuming the boys were still playing quietly in Owen's room to find this mess in MY room.

They toilet papered my bedroom! No wonder they were so quiet!

I don't know if Ryan and Ruth will trust me with their kids again. I swear I was there the whole time.

At the end of the day, Aaron never rubbed off on Owen because Owen still stands when I say sit, plays when I say sleep and talks when I say eat. Not only that - he still isn't potty trained. I am afraid that maybe Owen might be rubbing off on Aaron. Hopefully Aaron still has his clothes on!

Vocabulary Lesson

Carra has developed a reputation with the medical field for being a bit of an impossible child. She is generally not very cooperative which means she is not soon forgotten. Seriously, do not mess with this girl when she is in pain.

She turned 5 this month and so was due for her 5 year immunizations. Four shots. Lots of fun.

I talked to her about it and she said she would do it - and do it she did. She hugged her daddy's neck, closed her eyes, clenched her teeth - and didn't make a peep. We were all very proud of her.

That was two weeks ago.

Today she throws me one out of the blue.

"Mom, you remember all my shots?"

"Yes, Carra, you were very brave."

"Well, Mom, I'll have you know that it hurt all the way to my scubbles."

"Your scubbles?"

"Do you know what your scubbles are, Mom?"

"Nope, never heard of them."

"Your scubbles is the skin on your eyeballs."



Thanks, Carra, I needed a good giggle!

Birthday!

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY, MIKAYLA!!!!!!!

We love your perky spirit!

We love your smile!

Have a happy day!

Christmas through Byren's eyes!

This is Byren's first Christmas to experience all that
Christmas (grandma!) has to offer! It has been fun to
try and see it through his eyes!! He has been very
animated! :o)

Helping Grandpa!

The boys love helping grandpa out with any project
he may be working on. Here are a few pictures of their
adventures!



















Hudson being OSHA compliant!

Brady just poured the apron for the barn and Hudson and
Cooper thought they needed to help clear away the left
over concrete and dirt!





















Byren helping grandpa feed the 'hosies'!!

Stinking Thanksgiving

The turkey was wonderful.

All the food was fantastic. (We had homemade noodles! It's tradition!)

The fellowship was fun. (Mom beat Ryan at Farkle!)

But at the end of the day . . . Thanksgiving really stunk.

I mean that in the most literal and loving way. It really smelled bad.

As the story goes, we had eaten our dinner already (thankfully). The guys were in the garage doing a project for dad, the women were cleaning the kitchen, and the kids were playing "quietly". Too quietly.

Owen comes up from the basement and declares to Grandma that he has dumped water on the stairway. Nope, it wasn't water. It was Liquid Fence.

I didn't know what Liquid Fence was either, but I believe I am now educated in the product well enough to share with you a very vivid explanation. Liquid Fence is a chemical that can be poured outside (key word) around lot lines and garden boundaries to keep animals from invading your territory. The secret to Liquid Fence is that it smells REALLY, REALLY bad. How bad? Pick the two worst smells you shouldn't ever combine - and you have Liquid Fence. Yeah, and it is now on Mom and Dad's basement stairs. We bleached and we gagged and still it smells.

And so the memory of Thanksgiving lingers for Mom and Dad. It will be a while before they forget this one, unfortunately. Mom says it ranks up there with the holiday where Kristen fell down the basement stairs, Brice locked himself into the bedroom, and all the kids drank the water from the fish tank. I think there must be a better way to make memories. Seriously, what happened to making craft or playing a game? I'll check the library - certainly someone has written a book about it. We'll all need to read it before Christmas.

In the end it was a fun day. We all left laughing (although I think Mom was crying ;0) and apparently Christmas is being held at the Powers' house.

Here are some pictures of the happy memories of the day . . . .

Grandma and Jonny

Amazing Aaron building with Legos.
Okay, he was just playing, but doesn't he look smart?

Cousins
Also spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Did you see that?

The big kids table. Lots of laughing. Not a whole lot of eating.

Jonny

Crackers and cousins. Who knew they could be this fun?

Mikayla and Jonny "wrestling"

Out west

Yesterday in science class we were discussing compasses and how they work. The important information needed for a compass is direction, and so we were discussing which way is north, south, east and west.

When I asked them which direction was which, Brice very excitedly exclaimed that he wanted to share what he knew.

"Mom, Mom, I just figured this out the other day. Everything "out west" is in the west! Do you get it, Mom? If it is "western" it is in the west!"

Yep, they are home - schooled. Brilliant, brilliant children.

Costume Fun

After Halloween, I managed to pick up some costumes on clearance. The kids have had tons of fun dressing up lately and I got some shots of their imaginations in action.

Princess Carra
I wonder if Cinderella thought of pink sparkly sunglasses on sunny days . . .

Clark as Clark.

He still doesn't know quite what to think when there is a kangaroo jumping around the house.

"Inja"
Who knew spending $1.50 could bring one child such enjoyment.
The instructions are that he is not to hit any person -
but he insists he can hit the bad animals.
Do you see Clark cowering in the corner?

Here is my favorite.
I think he is the white version of Zorro.
We call him "Kotex".
Seriously, why did I bother to buy a costume? There was one in my bathroom drawer all this time.

Reading Level

Just for fun!

I came across this little test for our blog. Apparently you write at a higher level than the Hawk's blog - they only gave us a Jr. High reading level. (All mine are identical on each blog- so I have to give the credit to the other contributors!)

Get a Cash Advance

Anybody want a kissy?

Wax Lips: 75% clearance Halloween special

Pictures for blackmail opportunities: Priceless

SMOOTCH!

Yes, she can only ever kiss a man with 3 inches of wax between the two of them!

Too Sexy for those lips!

Grandma's Fall Party

These were pictures taken from Mom's fall party she had last weekend.

The kids had a ball. They had egg races, wheel barrel races, carved

pumpkins, three legged races, and had gunny sack races!

The Hot Dog song

Owen asked me to sing him a song this afternoon. He wanted me to sing the "hot dog" one. I explained that I don't know the hot dog song and he needed to sing it for me instead.

"Hot dog, this I know, for the Bible tells me so, hot dog, hot dog. Hot Dog!"

And so now I know the "hot dog" song.

I'm not sure which version of the Bible tells him so . . .

The many faces of Hudson!

You never know what face you will get when you ask
Hudson if you can take his picture!

Happy 10th Brithday, Cooper!

After seeing your creation of the 'Strawberry' cake for Carra's birthday, I thought I would show you the cake Bevin made for Cooper's birthday!

You both are very creative!!

Turning 5

Turning 5 is a very big deal. We have been mentally preparing for this day for months. It took some explaining though to help her understand that there was no miraculous growth on birthday morning. She really thought she would be bigger! I guess it is time for that growth chart idea. Yeah, lets start it with child #3 on her 5th birthday. No time lost!

We learned something about Carra on this birthday. She loves surprises. She refuses to peek, ask questions or even eavesdrop on what her present might be. We had fun teasing her that she was getting Thomas the Train, Legos, and a skateboard because of the ruckus she would make when she thought we were spilling the beans. She didn't inherit that from Auntie Brandi! (Don't fret Brandi. I think you still have a following with Mikayla and Brice.)

If you asked Carra what she wanted for her birthday she would consistently reply with "An American doll." (American Girl doll). Thankfully, Target sells a cheaper version and Carra is thrilled. The doll came with the name Cathrynn, but has since had the name changed to Melissa, and then to Felicity. I'm sure it will change again tomorrow!

The neatest gift she got though was from Aunt Brandi in Colorado. She sent her a ball. She simply wrote the addresses and messages on the ball and the mailman stamped a sticker on it an delivered it to our door. No box. Just the ball. Too cool. A great way to make a simple gift stand out from the rest! Carra was tickled! The mail carrier said that it was officially the oddest thing she had ever delivered - topping the coconut she delivered once. (If you are considering doing this, be careful of the size of the ball. If it is too big, they will charge you $20 - the mailman warned me!)

And so we come to the cake. The idea was supposed to be "Strawberry Shortcake." We ended up with "Just a Strawberry." It looks better than it tasted. Somehow the frosting tasted "distusting". I take no offense - but don't mention it to Betty Crocker.

Thank You to Grandma and Grandpa Powers for the video and shirt. The shirt is a new favorite! (Do you see it in some of the pictures?) Maybe now I can successfully get rid of the old favorite rainbow frog shirt she outgrew on her LAST birthday!

Happy Birthday, Carra!

Carra is 5!

Happy 5th Birthday, Carra!

You make my heart smile!

Birthday pictures coming soon!