There was an old lady who lived in a shoe...

It's 7:05.  Every child who lives in this shoe is asleep.  I can relate to the old lady, but disagree with her bedtime routine.

What is it that people say; "All's well that ends well?"  So, if the day ends well, it doesn't matter what type of day it really was?  Alright then.  It's 7:05 and all my kids are sound asleep.  And it's still light out.  I guess I could go read a book in my backyard.  I guess I could relax.  I guess I can put this day behind me (because it wasn't the greatest).  My fault.  But, it ended well, so I suppose, according to the adage, it was a well-enough day.

From Jack. To Brian. To Steve

Meet Jack Rushton

He is a "YouTube Sensation".  And an Inspiration.  He is Brian's uncle.  He inspired Brian.  One day he asked Brian if he would someday sing "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy" in a church meeting.  "Someday, Uncle Jack.  Someday."

Meet Brian

He is an artist.  He is a Dad.  And thanks to moving here, he's become one of our dear friends.  He inspires Steve.

Meet Brian & Steve

Someday, Uncle Jack. 

Someday was Sunday.

You did GREAT, guys!...Though you could use a new videographer.

Billy Goat Gruff

They were playing cars.  Driving on a "road" when all of a sudden, "Carter the Driver" turned into "Carter the Toll Collecter."  He slapped his hand down in front of their line of cars. 

 "Five Cents," he demanded. 

 "McQueen.  Go".  replied Addison. 

"Five Cents," was his reply. 

"Kachow.  Go," continued his plea.

  "Do you have Five Cents?"

"No."

"Well then you can't go."

What's a mom to do? The only thing you would have done. 

"Addison," I whispered and motioned him to my side of the table. 

"Here you go,"  and handed him the imaginary money.

"Oh, WOW!" and he promplty drove his car back to the toll gate.

Carter The Tollman looked at Addison's approaching car.  He looked back at me.  He looked back at the car.

"7 Cents."

The Top Ten -- "the Reunion edition"

1.  Addison caught the biggest and only fish all weekend! 

Way to go! He was so proud and got so much attention! 

The fish was a strong fighter and escaped off the line before they could grill him for dinner.  Addison was so excited to tell everyone about his "Black and Purple Fighter".  (no Mike Tyson references, please)  BUT thanks to Addison, our family won the bag of Swedish Fish to eat on the way home.


2.  Carter won the candy jar!  He estimated 110 candies inside, and there were 145.  Hooray!  And he shared every last one of them!

He was so so so happy!  He was "bursting with happiness" (his words) and felt "so glad inside!"  As soon as he got it, he immediately started going to each person (40 of them) and inviting them to choose whatever they wanted!  And he kept sharing them all until they were all gone!  And it made EVERYONE happy.

As we left the lodge he was beaming about how "my heart is just soo full and happy" because he was sharing.  He asked us to kneel down right now and thank Heavenly Father, so of course we did.  So tender to see him feel such sweet emotions!

3.  The Family Time. 

The Originals

Shaun, Brent, Tauna, Janae, Heidi, Kerri, Cheri

We're a familiy that has fun YEAR IN and YEAR OUT, by NIGHT and by DAY!  You want proof?

How about 2 hours worth of Minute to Win it Challenges!

And the Cousins

Addison and Taryn were setting up pinecones on the tree stump and taking turns knocking them down with their sticks.  Here's Addison patting her on the back saying "Good Job, Taryn!"

With 24 cousins, how could we NOT have so much fun!

4.  The Explores and Hikes, just around our mountain ranch!

5.  Washing the Dishes.  Yes, I know. 

When was the last time THIS was on your top ten? 

(go ahead and notice the SHARED sucker in Kezia's mouth)

But Carter and Addison LOVED it so much, they were doing the dishes themselves ALL the time.  Even taking people's dishes who weren't done eating yet, just to load and wash them in the 60-second turbo washer!

6.  Stilt Races. 
Thanks, Dad, for making these homemade stilts and laughing so hard when we all fell due to our fast competitive natures!  To our surprise, no bones broken!

7.  Steve's INCREDIBLE birthday Feast! 

Nate (bro. in law) is a spear-fishing, surfing, totally cool dude who lives in Hawaii who scored a Chef job cooking at Turtle Bay (one of Hawaii's top resorts).  He's an incredible chef.  The day before we left, he offered to cook dinner for all of us that stayed a few days longer (4 families). 

While 16 kids played happily (I kid you not) in the playroom, the 8 adults got awesome cooking lessons from this man!  SUCH A BLAST!

Phenomenal Menu:

Mangolian Beef & Broccoli with Brown Rice

Breaded Talapia Fillets

Breaded Sweet Peppers

Coconut Sweet Potatoes

Bok Choy Stir Fry

Lime Basil Chicken

Salad with Jicama
Papaya, Grapes
and my yummy Caramel Brownies for dessert
(totally paled in comparison, but you can't pass these up!)

Hooray to Kezia, Nate's daughter, the only kid who won the "Try-everything-and-earn-a-sneak-peak-at-dessert" award!

8.  Garden of the Gods in CO Springs. 

Awesome Rocks and Mountains to climb and hike!

(don't feel bad -- even I can't tell Carter & Addison apart in these pics without concentrating)

9.  Kite Flying and Water Balloon Launching

10.  Real Dads with Real Bonding time with their kids

Get Out Much?

Did you ever see the commercial where a little boy was calling

"Here kitty, kitty.  Here kitty, kitty"

and the camera panned across the fence to a confused looking pig? 

It was good stuff.

(stock photo...not my kid)

Good for a laugh to poke fun of the obvious. 

But that wouldn't happen to me.  Oh no.  Not my kids. 

I culture them.  I read to them. 

I take them to zoos and quiz them since they're born of "What does a ___ say". 

Duh, my kids know the difference between farm animals.

Ever since we got married, Steve thought it would be funny to "mess up" some kids and convince them from birth that a pig was called a cat, that a pencil was called a marker, etc.  "Then they'll get to kindergarten, and whoa, won't they be in for a surprise."  {This is coming from the man that calls his brush a comb, and a notebook a folder}.

Up until now, I thought he was joking.  Now I'm beginning to wonder if something has been happening behind my back after the kids are tucked in. 

Observe:

A few months ago I was driving Carter to preschool when he excitedly points,

"A COW!  A COW!" 

I look up and what did I see?

Okay, so the spots through him off.  He admitted his error quickly and laughed it off.

But THEN, on our way home, Addison piped up,

"A SHEEP! A SHEEP!" 

Oh dear,

we've got to get out more!

So we did get out more. 

It's been at least 4 months, and school is going to start again. 

Today we went to a local zoo.  This was fun.  We were doing well.  Until:

DOGS, Mom, DOGS!

But let it be known it was NOT my child

that called this a horse:

This post ought to convince you that we live nowhere NEAR farms.  So why my neighbors have horses in the middle of suburbia is beyond me.

Road Trip Top Ten--"In The Car" edition

1.  Marshmallow + Toothpick Structures

  

 2.  DVD players for all, so Alana could watch Baby Einstein, The boys could watch PBS and Land Before Time, and a Laptop DVD for Steve and I to watch Gilmore Girls.  Simultaneously. 

3.  Packing snacks & lunches.  Freedom to stop to eat right when everyone needs to get the wiggles out, not spending so much time at a restaurant.

4.  Having 6 children museums on your route, each within 5 minutes of I-80.  Oh yeah, and having a national pass that gets you into ALL of them!

5.  Getting to the hotels in time to swim.  And packing microwavable dinners for the fam so an hour isn't lost at a restaurant.

6.  Don't be discouraged when your parents arrive at the same hotel within an hour of you, even though you left the day before...

Mom and Dad, we want to know your short cut!...Oh, traveling WITHOUT kids...

Regardlesss, it was fun to spend your Bday at the pool with you, Dad!

7.  Remember these stretchy sticky hands?  Totally retro, and SUCH a necessity in the car from now on!  We laughed so hard playing with these!

8.  Playing Who Can Be The Best Pioneer (Omaha, NE)

9.  Discovering your car has THIS cool in-floor storage space where we hid our food! SUCH a space saver!

9 1/2.  Seeing Iowa flooded up to the tops of Semis, Puppets (thanks Cheri)...

10.  GETTING THERE and GETTING HOME...basically, getting out of the car.

Thanks for your 101 GREAT Road Trip Tips!  We used SO MANY of them!

Break In!

Pulling up the house after being gone on a trip, I always wonder what I'm going to find.  Did it burn down?  Did someone break in?  And today, it happened!  We unlocked the door and found:

We've been ransacked!

Robbed, for sure!

They didn't take anything, but they sure left a mess!

...what do you mean, I did this?

Sigh.

One day I dream to leave on time for a trip with a clean house and a smile on my face.

Until then, I'll come home to a messy house and try to blame it on someone else.

A sneaky trick...

And the Road Trip Tip #101 is:  Don't let your kids get sick.  #101a follows closely behind with "If he does get sick, plan it so the fever and vomitting happen when your parents are visiting to help with clean up and tending the other kids."

Apparently the Flu Bug has been reading my blog.  Let's just hope Addison gets better BEFORE we leave!

My DCFS spy?

I'm in big trouble.  I'm not exactly sure what I did, but surely the crime fits the punishment.  So far, here are the consequences of my actions, delivered by my Child Police.  Instead of lecturing about child labor laws and the annoying urge to remind him that "I'm the Mom", I decided to just listen and stifle a chuckle each time:

• You can NOT go to Relief Society anymore!
• You can NOT talk to Daddy ever again!
• You can never ever ever eat pizza again!  But you can make US pizza, for me and Addison and Alana and Daddy, but you can't eat ANY of it!

Boy am I glad we can usually laugh these off, because REALLY, I don't think I could stay away from my homemade pizza!  OK, and my hubby...and RS...and soon he realizes that by punishing me inhibits his transportation to his adventures.  It's all good.