Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails...

Ten on Thursday

2011-09-29T00:25:00.000-04:00

1. There are no toddlers in this house. Just big boy 3 year olds, 7 year olds, and 10 year olds. I am slowly coming to terms with it.

2. Moosey celebrated his birthday with his Puggle friends by bringing in cupcakes to share. It was pretty cool to hear his little classmates singing him the "Happy Birthday" song. He was grinning from ear to ear the whole time. All week long he would say "It's my Happy Birthday!" :)

3. Bryce and Jackson were having a heated discussion in the Swagger Wagon {that's what I like to call the minivan} about when Jackson would be allowed to ride without a booster seat. I'm kind of a fanatic about car safety. And then Bryce said, very matter of the fact, "Well, I didn't get to ride without my booster seat until I was in my early nines." And I laughed so hard, I almost had to pull over.

4. We discovered a fun little park with basketball hoops at a local elementary not far from our house. The little ones had so much fun because the playsets were the PERFECT size for them to play without my help. And the bigs were thrilled to be playing basketball as usual.

5. I am super proud of how well the boys did on their progress reports-straight As!! Yeah, they are kind of geniuses. Which is a good thing, because I am zero help when it comes to their math and science. Although, after helping them study the other night, I can recite all six forms of energy.

6. We were watching TV the other night and an ad for True Moo Chocolate Milk came on, both Chuck and Jarron piped up and asked me to buy some of it. Chuck followed up with, "It's so good, it's like a party in my mouth." I wonder if True Moo is looking for testimonials.

7. We had Truth & Training Parent Night last night at AWANAs. Our last one with the twins, since next year they will be in youth group-crazy to think about. Chuck participated in the sports, I tried my best to hide. I'm not a big fan of running in front of people. {The kids get their "clumsy gene" from me.} It was definitely a good time.

8. Jackson said that it was Stuffed Animal night is Sparks but he randomly came home with this hat? Crazy hat night maybe? Who knows? But he looked so funny I couldn't help but take a picture.

9. Our Puggle got his uniform! The Moose that hates hats, suddenly HAD to have one. Pretty stinking cute, if you ask me.

10. The other night I was out on our front porch trying to take picture of the sunset {it was a very cool pink/purple} and one of the neighbor kids saw me. This was our conversation:

Neighbor Boy: Hey! Are those binoculars? Are you spying on someone? 'Cause we do that all the time. My mom's always spying on people!
Me: Uh. Nope. Just my camera. Trying to get a picture of the cool sunset.
Boy: Oh...Huh. I was just kidding about that spying thing.
Good to know. ;)

THREE!!!

2011-09-22T23:26:00.000-04:00

This little man turned three today.

Three years of adorable Moosey grins. Three years of hearing his sweet little voice say "Naddy" {instead of "Daddy"}. Three years of watching him grow from this tiny little baby...

To this rough and tumble toddler...

I simply can't imagine our world without him in it. Our family truly wasn't complete until he arrived. He fills our days with laughter and joy. He's mischievous and full of life. Trouble finds him. {All the time-whether it's hiding in a closet eating cookies by the fistful or putting a whole package of hair gel on his head}. But the moment he looks at us with those big blue eyes and says in his little Moosey voice, "Sowwy Mommy", all is forgiven. Instantly. Yup, he's got us under his spell.

He's so happy and excited about everything. Even mundane everyday tasks are an adventure when Moose is with you. He loves to be with his brothers, doing what they do, even though he's so much smaller.

I wish I could bottle these moments of time up. Freeze them. He's growing so fast. I know {from experience} how much I will miss these days when they are gone. I know the days of holding his chubby little hand in mine are growing short. So, I do it every chance I get.

I love this little Moose of mine so much. I am so very grateful to have him in my life. So very blessed to be his Mommy.

Happy 3rd Birthday Moose Goose!

The Moose Tries to Swing

2011-09-18T23:38:00.000-04:00

Found this little video on my camera from our visit to Harbin Park last week and had to share it. I can't stop laughing each time I watch it. The Moose just makes me smile.

{And for the record, this was the last time we got to wear the "moose" shirt, it's officially retired, since it was a bit snug in these pictures. On the lookout for updated Moose-wear in his new big boy size!}

Ten on Tuesday

2011-09-13T19:30:00.000-04:00

1. This little Moose started Puggles last week. That means I have 4 children in AWANAs this year. He was less than excited when I first dropped him off but by the time I picked him up he was chattering away about his lesson and singing. I think he's going to love Puggles.

2. The twins had picture day last week at school. Chuck and I provided some "feedback" on Bryce's outfit selection the night before. as you can see from this photo, he wasn't particularly happy with our choice. I remember the days when the boys would just wear whatever I laid out for them. I seriously hope he smiled for his picture.

3. Jarron didn't fight us at all on his outfit. He wins the "Agreeable Twin of the Week" award. {Don't worry they switch on and off, Bryce's mood will shift soon.}

4. Jackson is absolutely loving 1st grade. He is the most easy going kid. Give the kid a box of Legos and a couple of PSP games and he's a happy guy. He'll start floor hockey next month. {When I asked him if he wanted to play floor hockey, he said, "Oh yeah, I love floor hockey! Wait a minute, what's floor hockey?" Ha. I think he just heard "hockey" and was all in.}

5. Speaking of sports, Bryce is playing lacrosse this fall. He seems to be picking up the basics of it very quickly. Not sure if this is something he's going to continue to pursue, but he's having a lot of fun with it.{I'm not sure what is going on with his glasses in this picture-clearly they need to be adjusted-again. I've had them in at least 4 times already for repairs and adjustments. Sigh.}

6. Jarron is working on his basketball skills this fall with a program that a local AAU coach runs. He {Jarron} is very serious about basketball and improving. He really wants to play for the high school when he gets older. Jarron is so focused when he has a goal-he's like that with school, sports, AWANAs, whatever.{Love this picture of him-so Jarron.}

7. My baby will be three next week. I refuse to accept or believe that. Because he is my baby. My Moose Goose. Nope, not letting him grow up.

8. We took the kids to Harbin Park this weekend and they had so much fun jumping, swinging, and climbing. So glad they are all still young enough to WANT to do that. So glad I have a little guy begging us to take him to the "parking lot" {Moose calls all parks, "parking lots"}.

9. I let the boys climb a tree at the park to get some pictures of them. There may or may not have been bees in said tree. But no one fell and no one got stung. And the pictures turned out pretty cool. So we'll call it a win.

10. I was putting our youngest boys to bed last night and Moose got in trouble for yelling during prayer time. {He didn't want to watch the movie that was playing and said so repeatedly at a very loud volume while Jackson was praying-a big no no.} When I told him he was being bad and that he wouldn't be allowed to play his DS in the morning for his behavior, he folded his arms across his chest, stuck out his bottom lip, and said, "Fine, see you in a couple of hours."
What?!? I realized pretty quickly he meant he'd be getting up in the middle of the night and waking me up. I fumbled my way through a response of "you better not". But, really? What almost-3 year old, says that? Mine, apparently. :)

Back To School, Back To School...

2011-08-24T18:30:00.000-04:00

It's was a tough one this year. Sending my boys back to school. I'll be honest, it's tough every year. Watching them get on the bus. Not knowing what they are doing all day.
This year is especially hard. Because up until now, they've been at East. We know East. We love East. We love the teachers and staff there. They know our boys.
This year the twins are going to the Intermediate school. Along with about 1,598 other kids. That's a lot of kids. They don't know my boys. How cool they are. How smart and funny they are. How Jarron gets a little bit nervous but once he finds his groove he's one of the best students in the class. How Bryce is really outgoing and loves to be challenged.
We don't know them. We don't which teachers are awesome and which aren't awesome. We don't know the in's and out's of this big scary school just yet.
But we'll get there. And yesterday was the first step on that journey. Boy, were they ready.

Bryce:

Jarron:

We've come a long way in 5 years!

And for fun, little Jackson from back then..

Thankfully, Jackson is still at East. Heading into first grade, having spent a year in the Transition program, he's an old timer. He's so excited to be going back-he loves his school, loves his friends, loves learning.

And somehow, we got super lucky and these two guys are in the same room! Which is pretty awesome considering their older siblings loved being classmates through most of elementary school!

I've still got one at home. The crazy one. The one who insists that he is not a "big guy" yet because he's still two. "Me not three yet Mommy, me still a baby!" I hate to break it to him but he'll be three next month.

I have a feeling he's going to miss his brothers. He has WAY too much fun messing with them! As evidenced by him constantly sneaking into the back to school pictures. "My turn! Cheeeeeeessssseee"

I wish I could say that back to school went off without a hitch. But it didn't. I got a call from the school nurse at FIS at about 1PM that Bryce had gotten injured on the playground. Monkey bars injury. He lost the top layer of skin off both of his palms-still not sure exactly what happened. But his day was done early. When I asked him if other than his injury he had a good day, he said, "Yeah, up until I was in immense pain, it was going great." Poor kid. Let's just hope he got the bad luck out of the way early.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation...

2011-08-14T19:54:00.000-04:00

{well, I clearly didn't keep up with my blog. }
But I did...
Have a great week at Vacation Bible School Backyard Bible Club.

Discover a new park on the east side of town.

See some fireworks with some awesome friends. {And prove that I still know all the words to "Ice Ice Baby"-because I'm awesome like that} :)

Buy a new minivan.

Make quite a few trips to the Root Beer Stand.

Put 2,000 miles on the new minivan the first week we had it with an amazing vacation to our favorite place ever. {But that's a whole 'nother post.}

We spent the summer making memories. It's been so much fun. Can't wait to see what autumn brings us...

{seven}

2011-07-22T08:11:00.000-04:00

My Sweet Jack-Jack-
Seven years ago today on bright, sunny Thursday morning you joined our family.

And our world was instantly a brighter place. No one in this world has smile like yours.

Often when people meet you they think you are shy and serious but then they get to know you. The real you. The boy with the grin that lights up his whole face. The little guy with the giggle that can make the whole room full of joy. Our Jack-Jack. One of the sweetest and funniest kids I know.

It's not easy being in the middle. Smack dab between twin older brothers and baby Moosey, but if anyone in this world can manage it, you can. You have the best handwriting of all of your brothers {they know it's true}, you clear video games without even really trying, and building Lego robots? Yeah, you can do that in your sleep.
You surprise me everyday with your selflessness and kindness. Small things that you don't even think I notice but I do. Letting Moosey play with an important toy or giving up the last popsicle to someone else-I see you do those things, just because that's who you are, not because you think someone might be watching. You pay attention to what other people need-you truly care. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of that.
You are already wise beyond your years. You speak to your friends and classmates about Jesus without fear and judgment-just with the desire to share the faith you hold so close to your heart.

Not that you are a pushover. You fight for what you believe in. For what's right. You have a temper. You would never let anyone say a word against one of your brothers or cousins. You are a fighter when you have to be.

I have no doubt that there are big things in store for you as you get older. I hope you never lose the fearlessness that I see you display right now. I hope you hold tight to your confidence. You are an amazing little boy. You are our miracle. And you are going to be an amazing young man.

Happy Birthday Jackson Scott, I love you more than you will ever know.

Love,
Your Momma

While I've Been Gone...

2011-06-13T21:34:00.000-04:00

While I've Been Gone...

There was Easter morning.

There were Easter eggs dyed with a Disney Princess coloring kit. {Momma had to run out to the only place open on at 8PM on Easter Sunday after spending the day with Nana at the hospital-Walgreens-and it was all that was left-the boys took it surprisingly well.}

There were field trips to the Cincinnati Zoo with Mr. F's class and Columbus, Ohio with the 4th Graders.

There trips to Kings Island. {Someone is a little bit addicted to the Beetlebugs ride.}

And to the Wright Patterson Air Force Museum. {Despite Jarron's lack of enthusaism in the pictures-a good time was had by all!}

There were AWANA awards.

There was the purchase of a BB gun for a certain 10 year old. {Jarron, I am trying really hard not to be that over protective momma and let them grow up a little. It's ridiculously hard. Sigh.}

A new bike for the little one. {a Kettler!! purchased at a yard sale for a mere $10!-woot!}

There was a Goodbye to Fairfield East Elementary for two 4th graders, who are growing up far too fast for their Momma to handle. {Our smarty pants boys got awards for math & social studies-so proud!}

So many memories. Above all there was a reminder of how very precious life is. How lucky we are to have our loved ones. So forgive me if I haven't been blogging like I used to, I've been busy making memories instead.

P.S. Many, many thanks for the calls, emails, flowers, and prayers for my mom after her heart attack. She is doing amazing. She is quite honestly one of the strongest people I know. I feel so fortunate to have the gift of more time with her. God is good. Always.

A Decade

2011-04-16T00:04:00.005-04:00

Dear Bryce and Jarron-
A decade. 10 years. 120 months. 4,380 days.
Such big numbers, and yet it seems like it has gone by so fast. Ten years is such a huge milestone. You grow and change so much in ten years. You've gone from tiny, little babies who needed us for everything.

To amazing young men who are confident and strong.

In the past ten years, I've watched you crawl, then walk, and run. Now I sit in the stands at basketball games in awe of your talent and grace. I watch you on the sidelines at football games running down the field effortlessly throwing passes and defending your goal line. I'm proud, of course. But a small part of me is sad, a small part of me misses those little boys that needed to hold my hand to walk steady.
But the biggest part of me is thankful. Thankful to have you both in my life. Thankful to have had the privilege of raising you for the past ten years. Thankful for boys that care for others and open doors for women. Thankful for boys that sit patiently with their little brothers playing Lego's or Nintendo. Thankful for boys who rush over to help a neighbor in need.
Thankful for the everyday moments we've had with you for the past 4,380 days.
The next decade will be one with so many changes for you both-the teenage years-high school, driver's licenses {yikes}, dating {double yikes}, choosing a college, and so many other challenges. I hope that you always remember you are not alone in this walk. Your Dad and I are standing beside you, there to offer a hand to hold you steady, just like we did when you were small.
I can already see the amazing men you are going to be someday and that makes me more proud than words could ever say.
Happy birthday Bryceasaurus and Jarron-Bear!
I love you with all of my heart.
Love,
Your Momma

Ten on Tuesday

2011-04-05T19:30:00.010-04:00

1. It's that time of year again. Awana Grand Prix! Time for hours of sanding, priming and painting. And then hours of waiting to put your car on the top of a long ramp to see if all of the sanding and weighting and tweaking paid off.

We had a crew there again this year, practically took up a whole section of bleachers. There was our family, my brother James and his family, and Chuck's brother Don and his family. And of course, we all only have boys. That's a LOT of little boys.
My nephews all had very cool cars-Andrew and Zachary had UK themed cars (naturally) and Blaze had a miniature replica of the Deloreon from the Back to the Future movies! This year we were really hoping to win for speed.
The boys spent a lot time lining the cars up:

And in the end everyone got a blue ribbon! Yay! One of our boys, even won 3rd place in the speed category {Jarron}. Chuck is convinced he's got the speed thing all figured out now. My favorite comment of the day was from Blaze who said, "The best trophy of all is just having fun." Such a happy , positive kid, that Blaze!

2. The weather this weekend was amazing! It was so nice to dust off the kids' bikes and get outside. It was not nice to hear the oldest kid say, "Hey mom, look at this cool trick I can do, I can ride without pedaling, I just need to build up some speed first...."
Sigh.
Spring = trips to Urgent Care for the Lakes boys.

3. I think it might be a sign that you need a vacation when you start each morning wondering what your life would have been like if you had become an insurance adjuster instead of a marketer. {No offense to insurance adjusters-that just happened to be the other job offer I had coming out of college.}
I really need a vacation.

4. This little Moose is a camera hog. The minute the camera comes out you hear "Cheeeeeeesssseeee" from his general vicinity. It's pretty cute.

And so is he...

5. A little update on the costume situation for Bryce's play. I caved. Sort of. I bought him a "costume" leather jacket, under the condition that he wear it on Halloween as well. We'll see how that turns out. I still need to come up for a jailbird costume but I have a plan...stay tuned!

6. Bryce and I had quite an interesting conversation in the car on the way home from costume shopping.
B: So, I've decided to be President when I'm older.
Me: Hmnnn...really?
B: Yes, my big idea for getting votes is to build bridges over trains. So people don't have to wait for them anymore. You know how much Dad hates waiting for trains. {He really does, we have two sets of tracks near our house-it's very annoying.} People will love it.
Me: That's an interesting idea.
B: Also, shorter school days-that one's for the kids.
Me: Kids aren't allowed to vote and I'm not sure how the parents will feel about that.
B: That's ok, I have more for them. How much was gas in the old days?
Me: Huh? What do you mean?
B: You know...back when you started driving? How much was gas?
Me: {A little annoyed} $0.99 a gallon but that wasn't the old days.
B: {Ignoring me} I'll make gas $0.99 a gallon. I'm going to be an awesome President.

Me: {Still offended by the old days comment} I guess so.

Bryce Lakes for President 2041.

7. The best part about spring days? Hanging out in the backyard doing nothing but playing a little catch....

giving the swingset a workout...

and acting a little cRazY!

8. I took three of the kids on a walk this weekend. When I told Jack-Jack it was time to start heading home {the Moose was starting into full on melt down territory and wanted "Naddy NOW"}, he started pouted a little bit and said, "But, Mom, we were having such a fantastic journey!"
Ha. We were walking around our neighborhood-I love that in my 6 year old's eyes that is a "fantastic journey". I wish I could see things like that more often.

9. So I'm working on this post on my lunch break {yup, I'm blogging on my lunch break, I'm a super nerd} and I'm eating a Raspberry Cheesecake Temptations Jell-O cup. Can I just say it's one of the yummiest things I've had in a long time? So, so good. They are kind of pricey though. {I got mine for free by signing up with Kraft First Taste.}

10. Sorry about all of the pictures in this post! I've already taken more pictures in April than I did the entire month of February!

Ten on Tuesday

2011-03-29T16:21:00.000-04:00

1. The Moose can't seem to help himself. It's almost as if trouble finds HIM, not the other way around. Whether it's eating Nesquik straight from the canister {Look Momma, it's chocky!}...

to styling his own hair with gel...

to hiding in random places in our house, he definitely keeps us on our toes.
We recently went to the Cincinnati Children's Museum. The other children {and by that I mean every other kid in the place} were happy to play with boats and cups in the water play area. Not our Moosey. Nope. He stuck his whole head under the water spout like it was bath time. In fact, I think he actually shouted, "I'm taking a bath!" Sigh. Never a dull moment with this one.

2. Jackson lost all four of his front teeth in one weekend which made for a very profitable time for him. He tried setting traps for the Tooth Fairy but was unable to capture her. He's still not convinced she's the real deal but he doesn't seem to mind taking money from her.

He's doing awesome at school these days and is quite the reader. He just finished his first season of basketball and actually scored a couple of baskets!

3. Bryce is gearing up for his big school play. He's been diligently practicing his two solos-"Ain't Nothing But A Hound Dog" and "Rock Around The Clock".

He sat me down last week with a list of costume "needs".
B: Let's see, I need a white t shirt and some white sneakers.
Me: Sure, we can do that.
B: Um, some jeans and some gel for my hair.
Me: {taking notes}Okay, no problem.
B: A prisoner costume for my back-up role.
Me: Uh, okay, I'll see what I can do.
B: And, a black leather jacket. That should do it.
Me: That's not going to happen.
B: {Using a phrase I've used many a times as Mom} We'll see.

4. I'm fairly certain that if there were a game show made up of sports trivia, Jarron would be the grand prize winner. The kid eats, sleeps, and breathes sports. I went to the bookstore last night to get him some books, I asked him what author I should get and he just said, "Oh, anything sports related is fine." He reads ESPN magazine cover to cover. Cracks me up.

5. Instagram is quite possibly the coolest App ever. Seriously. I'm not a great photographer. And I'm even worse when using my camera phone but Instagram makes my pictures look all fancy and nice. AND it posts them to Twitter and Facebook. Love!
{They totally didn't pay me to say that.}

6. So, back in February, I got on a plane for the first time in 8 years. Not just one plane. But FOUR planes. I know, right ?!? And yes, I freaked out a little bit. But I didn't throw up and the plane didn't fall out of the sky and it all worked out. And I checked another state off my list of "States I Have Been To".
{Texas, which I was unimpressed by but that's a story for another day.}
On the flights back home, I had a super tight connection. So tight that I had to check my bags, and get moved as far up to the front of the plane as I could, so I could be first off. And run to my gate at my connecting airport. Yes, you read that right, run. Now, those of you who know me in real life know that I don't run unless I'm being chased, so this was a problem.
I was the 4th person off the flight and I started running. I'm pretty sure the gate was about as far across the Charlotte Airport as you could get. I finally make it, see what appears to be a delay and collapse exhausted in my seat. And then I look around. Hmmmnnnn....there's a lot of people for a regional flight to Cincinnati. So, I ask the young lady next to me-"This is the flight to Cincinnati, right?" "Nope, we're going to Charleston".
They switched my gate. Without telling me. Sigh.
More running.
By now I am a sweaty, exhausted mess.
Finally make it to my gate. {The real one.}
I am literally the last person on the plane. I apologize to the guy sitting next to me for being a mess and he says, "That's ok, I'll just turn the fan on." Awesome.
And that, my friends, is why I hate flying. {That and the plane falling out of the sky thing.}

7. Also, back in February, this guy turned 36.

I promise we didn't forget and we celebrated appropriately. I'm pretty lucky to have him in my life. :)

8. Chuck is having a pretty good March, with his Kentucky Wildcats making it to the Final Four for the first time since 1998. I could do without the kids constantly saying "This the first time they've been to the Final Four in our LIFETIME!" Way to make your parents feel old.
Never the less, Go Big Blue!

9. Are you watching American Idol? Could you believe the results show Thursday night? Wow. Just wow. I'm a big fan of Casey. I also like Pia and Paul. It's a really talented group this year, that's for sure!

10. Do you like how I just jumped right in with Ten on Tuesday? Didn't even bother to apologize for the 2 month dry spell? Sorry about that. ;) Work has been insane, and raising four active boys isn't always the easiest job in the world either. I'll try to do better.

Ten on Tuesday

2011-02-01T18:45:00.008-05:00

1. Jackson is a lego-maniac. And completely obsessed with appearing in the Lego Club magazine. He sketched out some Lego robots that he wanted to build and then asked Chuck to help him build his "robot army". I was enlisted to photograph said army. He has asked me every. single. day. if I have submitted the photo to Lego Club. Maybe he will be content with the photo making the blog??

2. I've heard some good things about the Home Routines App on some message boards I frequent. Has anyone tried it? I'm all about organizational tools that make my life easier...

3.Our basketball season continues...it's been a rough one for the twins' team so far. We haven't gotten a win just yet but it hasn't been for lack of trying. The boys are having fun though and that's really all that matters. I always find it funny when parents on the opposing team realize that the twins are twins. The other day one of the parents sitting behind me said, "What a minute there's two of them out there....dog gone it, I think they are twins. And they BOTH can play." Cracked me up. My sister in law confirmed that they were indeed twins and yes, they can both play.

4. Jackson has surprised us by being a defensive basketball superstar. In this week's game, the player he was guarding for the majority of the game was getting pretty physical and Jackson didn't back down at all. Despite the fact that the boy was at least a head taller than him. Jackson cracks me up-he's just so calm about stuff but if you mess with him, he doesn't give an inch. I don't think we ever have to worry about him getting bullied.

His favorite post-game ritual? Hanging out with Andrew on the floor playing with my iPhone.

5. I mistakenly thought it was warm enough to play outside last weekend. We lasted for about 30 minutes. I got the Christmas lights down and the big kids rode their scooters for a few minutes before we headed back in to thaw out. But I guess 40 degrees is a heat wave when you are used to temperatures in the 20's.

Do they look cold to you?

6. We've been watching Worst Cooks in America on the Food Network. Highly entertaining. {And it makes you feel somewhat better about yourself as a cook.} And you know what? I'm actually learning things.

7. You know how sometimes when you have a yummy cereal like Franken Berry, you kinda want to drink the milk at the bottom of the bowl? Moose takes it a step further...

You can't say the kid isn't committed.

8. Can I brag a little? The boys got their report cards a week or so ago and they were awesome. Jackson had all "+" 's (the best grade you can get in his program) and the twins had all A's! I'm so so proud of them. They are so good about studying and doing their reading each night. When you think about all of the extra-curricular activities they do between church and sports and play practice...well, I'm just really, really impressed with them.

9. Now can I complain a little? Not about my kids-who are awesome. But about the ridiculous amounts of snow and ice we are getting? I mean, really? We've gotten close to 30 inches already and it's barely February. Yikes!

10. I have to get on a plane for the first time in 8 years in a few weeks and I am freaking out. I don't like heights. Or flying. Or planes. Anyone have good advice for overcoming my completely irrational fear of the plane falling out of the sky? Or the wing falling off? Or a bird flying into the windshield and causing the pilot to be distracted and crash the plane into the ground? I should really stop watching those "it could happen" disaster shows on the SyFy channel.

Ten On Tuesday

2011-01-18T23:05:00.000-05:00

1. This little guy had an assist and a rebound at last week's basketball game. I was super proud of him. (The brown haired one-the blonde did an awesome job too but I didn't memorize his stats.)

.2. I was talking to the twins about college the other day and our conversation didn't turn out quite the way I thought it would:
Bryce: So Mom, why did it take you so long to finish school?
Me: {Taking offense} What do you mean, why did it take me so long? I finished in five years, it takes lots of people five years.
Jarron, jumping into the conversation: Wellllll...it's a four year degree right?
Me: {Feeling defensive because now they are ganging up on me.} Yes, but I got a two year degree in a totally different field first and then changed my mind and switched majors again and that's why it took me five years.
B: But still....it took you five years for a four year degree, right?
Me: {Feeling dumb and called out by my 9 year olds} Um.... yeah.
J: What's your degree in anyway?
{Great, this inquisition isn't over yet.}
Me: Ummm. {kind of mumbling} Communications.
B: Isn't that what basketball players major in?
J: {Laughing} That's hilarious.
Me: To be fair, it's actually a pretty challenging major-you have to study the great orators of the past like Aristotle and Sophocles AND you have to give a ton of speeches and understand different communication styles. In fact, my senior thesis was on how people change their speech patterns to adapt to the environment they are in....
J : {While I am still talking} Bor-ing.
B: I hope your speeches were more interesting than that.
Awesome. Clearly, my children are very impressed with my education.

A Proud UC Alum {Sort Of...}

3. We had to say goodbye to a beloved member of our family this week. Our 11 year old Toyota Corolla died. This was my very first brand new car out of college. I remember taking my offer letter from P&G to the dealership and being so excited driving away with it. I thought I was being so smart getting a 4 door sedan {thinking ahead to the family I hoped we'd have} with great gas mileage. Little did I know we'd need a minivan to cart our crew around.

4. Chuck was a little less sad to say goodbye to the Toyota because, quite frankly, it's best years were long behind it. He was very happy to say hello to this number...

His new car-a Honda Civic. I'm thrilled he's driving something safe and reliable. No more worrying on rainy or snowy days about him breaking down on his hour long commute to Kentucky.

5. Bryce randomly said in the car the other night, "You do NOT want to live in France." Hmmmnnn. Okay. Now, there are lots of reasons why people would not want to live in France. But I was very surprised to hear Bryce's reason. "136 people died there last year in avalanches. It is AVALANCHE CITY". Cracks me up that France hits his radar as a problem for avalanches. Not some place known for tons of snow and mountains like Colorado but France. :)

6. We got a bunch of snow last week and the Moose actually enjoys playing in it! I was pretty excited to take pictures of all four of my boys out there enjoying the white stuff. Looks like I'll get another chance this week-they are calling for us to get another 4-8 inches later this week!

7. I got a Kindle for Christmas. Because my husband knows I am a nerd. It's okay. I'm not ashamed of it. {I'm an average nerd, not to be confused with a comic book nerd like my brother-love ya, Jay!) Because let's be honest, if you ask for a piece of technology 4 out of the last 5 Christmases, you might just be a nerd. Anywho, because of my nerdiness, I love my Kindle. I got the Kindle case to go with it for my birthday and my Kindle started acting funny. So being a nerd, I did some research and figured out that my case was drawing power away from my Kindle and messing it up. So I called Amazon and got the best customer service. Not only did they refund my money {expected}, they let me keep the case {cool}, and gave me a $25 credit to upgrade to the lighted case for free {sweet!}. Nicely done, Amazon.

8. I've been watching The Vanilla Ice Project on the DIY channel. I can't believe that {a} I am admitting that, {b} I'm actually doing it, and {c} I'm learning so much about home improvement from the guy who brought us "Ice Ice Baby". So weird.

9. I still know about 90% of the words to "Ice Ice Baby". Sad but true.

10. I have taken a picture every day for the last 18 days and I am running out of ideas already. What am I going to do for the next 347 days? This picture of the day stuff is harder than it looks! For example, today's picture of the day was of my grocery cart. I wish I was kidding.

Until next week....

Ten on Tuesday

2011-01-11T20:21:00.000-05:00

1. I am a blog slacker. Plain and simple. Let's just leave it at that.

2. I have a ton of Christmas things to share-including {but not limited to} decorating our tree, the Children's Cantata at church, Christmas Eve {when Moose literally yelled "No, you shut up Mommy" when I tried to shush him during the beautiful, quiet candlelight church service-nice}, Christmas morning, Christmas with our families and a spectacular visit to Santa {Moosey did not like Santa one bit-and this Santa did not have a real beard-as everyone in the room came to find out-sorry kids!} but just typing that in list form exhausts me-so here's a photo collage of the memories...good times indeed!

3. We also made our way down south to visit Chuck's Kentucky relatives on Christmas break. We spent New Year's Eve swimming in a hotel pool and watching the ball drop surrounded by our boys. It was pretty fantastic.

4. I tried to make Paula Deen's Sour Cream Biscuits and it was a complete fail. I thought they turned out okay but Chuck and the boys seemed to think they were missing a significant amount of butter. As in, did I forget to add butter. Hmmnnnn...no, I put in two sticks. So, for those keeping score at home-cookies=success, brownies=success, biscuits=fail. Maybe my family just really likes sugar.

5. I am going to try to take a picture a day again this year. Last year I made it to March. This year I'm going to involve the boys. It seems like when I involve them, things turn out a little better. I'm using Shuttercal again this year-I'm not going to bother adding the widget until I get past March this time. :)

6. If you are looking for a free, cool thing to do next Christmas; I highly, highly recommend Christmastown at the Creation Museum. The lights were beautiful-tons of animals to pet, and just a great atmosphere. And did I mention that it was FREE? {Well, the hot chocolate was $2 a cup and the camel rides were $5 but admission was free!}

7. How cute is this kid with this haircut? Just saying...

8. Chuck and I both got the opportunity to help out at the kids' Christmas parties. Love getting the chance to see them in their "natural habitat". We are so blessed to have such a great school system with such awesome teachers. Some of which even become our friends after our kids have moved out of their classes {Hi Mrs Fish!}.

9. Basketball is back, people. The twins are in the big kids league, which means they are the little guys on the court this year. And Jackson is playing for the first time. So cute to see him out there in his uniform. He's quite the defensive player. {And Moose only ran out onto the court one time-woo hoo!-I count that as a personal victory-that kid is a handful!}

10. Have you ever played the game Headbandz? Because it is quite hysterical. Seriously. Right up there with Apples to Apples on the family fun scale. What's funnier than a grown man walking around with a picture that says "I Am A Bed" on his forehead?!?

That's all I've got this week folks...see you next week with snow pictures {seriously-the Moose actually played in the snow this time and was totally adorable doing it} and of course, more basketball pictures. I'm sure you can't wait. ;)

The One Where the Boys Got Elfed

2010-12-20T20:15:00.000-05:00

How could you not love the boys dressed as elves dancing to 1980's Christmas music? :)
Enjoy...

Ten on Tuesday

2010-12-07T19:34:00.000-05:00

1. It snowed! It snowed! Okay. It flurried. But still. There was white stuff on the ground, so the boys suited up and headed out...

2.Moose was having a good time until he touched the snow and then not so much. He screamed and ran to me holding out his hand as if he had been burned. Poor kiddo.

3. The Moose is quite the chatterbox these days. Loves to hang out with his momma, chattering a mile a minute. I was wrapping a birthday present for one of Jackson's friends in some Spiderman wrap and Moosey was hanging out with me. This is what I was hearing the whole time:
"Wha happen mommy? Spiderman get an owie? It's okay Spiderman. Mommy will fix your owie. Mommy's puttin' a band aid on your owie. S'okay Spiderman."
I realized that he thought the tape I was using on the Spiderman wrapping paper was a Band Aid. Ah, the logic of a two year old.

4. We're going to see Santa on Saturday. I'm anxious to see what the boys are going to ask Santa Claus for-the only one I know for sure is Jarron. You just never know with the Lakes boys though. :)

5. I volunteered at our company's OneSight clinic at the Museum Center this week. They let me run the tonometer, which is the machine that measures the pressure in your eye. Some of the kids had no problem with it but others...yikes. I love helping with the kids but I hate making them cry. I know it's for their own good but it was still tough to see.

6. We're really enjoying Sarah Palin's Alaska on TLC and next week it looks like Kate Gosselin will be on the show-I'm hoping Sarah shows her no mercy. I am seriously looking forward to watching Sarah school Kate in camping and {maybe, just maybe} being a parent. In all seriousness, I had no idea Alaska was such a beautiful state, I hope Chuck and I have the opportunity to see it in person some day.

7. I made 6 dozen cookies today. Just because I was bored. It's newsworthy, because it happens like once a year. Needless to say, the boys were shocked. In fact, they all seemed sort of suspicious. I guess I should bake a little more often.

8. This little man moved up to a big boy class in the nursery at church this week. He loves it. His momma may or may not have had a tear in her eye when she dropped him off.

9. This is what happens when you leave your good camera where two 9 year olds and a 6 year old can reach it. I have no idea what "stunts' they were doing on the stairs, nor do I want to know.

10.Look at that Ten on Tuesday two weeks in a row....yay me!!! :)

Christmas Cards Ordered!!! Woot!

2010-12-06T16:52:00.001-05:00

Charming Gift Wrap Christmas 5x7 folded card

Shop Shutterfly for elegant custom Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

The One with The Slideshow Of All the Pictures

2010-12-04T23:10:00.000-05:00

I'm sort of sad that slide.com no longer let's you customize your slideshow with cool music, so I'm going to have to find a new source for slideshows in the future. But in the meantime...enjoy all of the photos from the boys' most recent photo shoots.
{This is for those you who still aren't on facebook, I'm looking at you, Chuck!} :)

The One With The Return of Ten on Tuesday

2010-11-30T22:54:00.000-05:00

1. Even though I've tried really hard to break away from Ten on Tuesday posts, I just really, really like them. So they are back. For good.

2. We call these two chocolate and vanilla. Totally cracks me up how one kid can have such dark hair and the other such light hair. I swear they are both mine. {Come back later in the week for a slideshow with all of the pictures from the photoshoot.}

3. A couple of weeks ago it was unseasonably warm here in Cincinnati-like 70 degrees and sunny- warm. So we spent the day outside. At first, the boys stuck with bike riding. Then, they dragged out the skateboards. {Maybe that should be drug out? I dunno, it's late and I'm on Nyquil for this stupid head cold, so we'll go with dragged out...}

Have you ever read the children's book "If You Give A Moose a Muffin"? In that book, when you give the Moose a muffin he asks for jam, which leads him to ask for more muffins, then when you go to the store to get muffin mix, it's cold which reminds him about a sweater he wanted to borrow, which reminds him about a puppets he played with and so on and so forth...Opening our garage leads to the same thing. One boy sees a bike, which reminds another one about the soccer ball, and before you know it I have four kids and an adult playing golf in my front yard.

4. Yes, you read that right. They were playing golf in my front yard. I have pictures to prove it. Moosey's got a pretty decent swing. Fortunately, they were using practice balls, especially considering how many times I felt the ball whiz past my head.

5. And yes, those are Christmas lights in the background of that photo. I'm no fool. I went ahead and put them up when it was 70 degrees and sunny. I barely resisted the urge to start turn them on. Barely. I waited until Thanksgiving. Yay me.

6. Moose has definitely hit the terrible twos. He gets into everything, all the time. He knows exactly what he's not supposed to be getting into and goes straight for it. You tell him he can't have cookies? The instant you turn your back on him, he steals the cookies and hides somewhere, eating them as fast as he can. And he is awesome at hiding. Scares the living daylights out of us. The kid will get inside his own toy box and cover himself up with toys to hide from us. But he is also the sweetest, most loving little guy in the world. Loves to give hugs and say "wuv you". And so polite-says "tank you" all the time. It's hard to stay mad at him for very long.

7. Poor Jarron probably had more reason than most of us to be mad at him. Moose head butted Jarron and gave him a black eye. But Jarron, being the sweet natured big brother that he is, just shrugged it off and said, "he's just a baby, he didn't mean it." And then a couple of days later, his other little brother, Jackson, elbowed him in the same eye playing basketball. Adding a cut and further bruising the already bad black eye. Jarron wasn't upset by that either. In fact, I think he was a little proud that Jackson was being so tough on the basketball court. {I wasn't too thrilled. The black eye came just in time for our Christmas card pictures. Awesome.}

Thankfully, the black eye is mostly healed in this picture.

8. Bryce is busy practicing his songs for the play he is in this April at school. He has two solo's-"Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dog" and "Rock Around The Clock". He is also back up in a number of other songs, including "Thriller". One night when I picked him up from practice, while rehearsing for Thriller, he was doing, what looked to my untrained eye, to be the "robot". When I asked him later why he was doing the robot, this was his response:
Me: Um,why were you doing the robot?
B: Uh, I wasn't. {Said with his "duh, mom" voice.}
Me: It kinda looked like you were.
B: That's because I was doing the Zombie.
Me: Mmmmkay.
B: Mom, the robot and the zombie are pretty much the same dance. {Again with the "duh,mom" voice.} You know, because, zombies and robots don't have brains and live for hundreds of years.
Me: Oh.
B: Jeesh, Mom.
Clearly, I know nothing about dancing. Or zombies.

9. My sweet little Jackson is turning into one of them. Jackson is..........a basketball player. Sigh. That's right. He's no longer sitting in the stands hanging out with Mom. He's out on the court. I'm having a hard time believing that my baby, my Jack Jack, is old enough to be out there. He, on the other hand, is sooooo excited! He told me all about it the other night in the car-did I know that he gets to wear a uniform like the twins? And dribble the ball and shoot into the hoop? {And apparently elbow people in the face-looks like we don't have to worry about his defensive game...}

10. I'm seriously considering moving the blog to a more user-friendly host. By user-friendly, I mean easier for me, of course. :) If I make the switch-I'll make it easy for you guys too. I'll post a link and all that good stuff. And it won't happen for a couple of weeks. But I know some people don't like change, so I'm trying to ease you into it. I'll keep you "posted". Hee. Hee. Get it? Posted? Because this is a blog "post"? I crack myself up!

The One Where The Football Season Ended

2010-11-18T20:27:00.000-05:00

That's right, people, the football season officially came to an end last week. I have a whole month and a half of free Saturdays before basketball starts up.
Woo Hoo!!
And I have to say that last football Saturday of the year was bone chilling COLD! The boys had to wear sweatshirts and pants under their uniforms. Moose had on a big winter coat-it was very, very cold.

I love the player introductions-unfortunately I waited until this particular game to take pictures. They kind of look like homeless people with all the clothes on.

The Tuesday after their last games, we headed out to a mega-church in our area for the awards ceremony.

The kids had a lot of fun-there was a magician and one of the Bengals spoke to the kids-Morgan Trent.

I was on Moose duty. Which was just as challenging as I thought it would be. He was running up and down the aisles before the program started. Once the speakers got on stage, he was super bored. He was throwing fruit snacks and asking me to go home. It was kind of brutal.

Then, all of the sudden (after he spit chocolate cookies everywhere and I had to take him to the bathroom and use baby wipes to get him-and myself- clean) he just laid down on the pew next to me and fell asleep. And slept the last half hour. It was awesome. Note to self: bring a lot more stuff to entertain the Moose when attending awards functions for the boys.
I'm glad the boys are able to play the sports they are interested in and experience being on a team. But I'm also relieved when we get our life back at the end of each season.
Well, until the next sports season starts up, that is. ;)

The One with the Blue & White Game

2010-11-09T21:24:00.000-05:00

My husband is kind of a big Kentucky Wildcats fan. Like "name your pet after the head coach " big fan. Or "try to talk your wife into naming your son after one of the players" big fan.
In the past he and his brother, Don{or as Moosey likes to call him, "Papaw"} have camped out-in tents- for tickets to the first practice of the year. This year tickets to Big Blue Madness were going to be really hard to come by. Some fans camped out for DAYS. So, instead they decided to head down for the annual scrimmage game, the Blue & White game.
The game is played on a Tuesday night, a school night. I was a little hesitant about the twins going but Chuck promised they'd do their homework in the car and would sleep on the drive home. So they went.

And had the best time. Uncle Don, Zachary, and Chuck's parents went too. Jackson was still a little too young to make the trip-maybe next year.

Jackson, Moose and I got to watch them on TV. Yup, right before and after the commercial break the camera zoomed onto the boys dancing and having a good time. Pretty funny.

Can you tell that the twins are kind of big Kentucky fans too? Sigh. I guess I'll get to spend time with them come March. {Or April depending on how this season goes...}

The One with Trunk or Treat

2010-10-29T07:33:00.001-04:00

My facebook status from last night:
"Taking two ninjas, a barbarian, and the Incredible Hulk to Trunk or Treat."
And here they are:

I've got nothing to fear with these four protecting me!

They don't look quite so fierce all bundled up from the cold, waiting for the festivities to start, do they?

Our Tiny Ninja looked a lot like the mean kid from the original Karate Kid movie. Sadly, his secret weapon proved to be projectile vomiting. The stomach virus he's been fighting all week decided to pay him yet another little visit just before he went trick or treating. Poor little ninja. We cleaned him up, put a jacket on him and let him go once around the circle-he was so excited to get candy. Ninjas (even slightly sick ones) love candy!

Hulk has been excited about Trunk or Treat for DAYS! Every day this week he has been counting down the days, "Mommy only 3 more days until I can be Hulk...." The first thing he said yesterday morning was, "Mommy, today's the day, TRUNK OR TREAT! I can't wait to be Hulk!" He was the coolest Hulk I've ever seen.

The only Barbarian at Trunk or Treat this year. Or um...any year, I think. As soon as he spotted this costume, he had to have it. Even though he wasn't (and still isn't) entirely sure what a Barbarian is. He just knows they are a super tough and super mean. I think the mustache and beard drawn in with a tattoo crayon added just the right touch. When I asked him if he was going to wear his glasses, he said, "Mom, I'm pretty sure Barbarians did NOT wear glasses." (Said in the same tone of voice he uses when I ask ridiculous questions about video games and sports.)

The Big Ninja. When I see this picture, in my head, the song "Kung Fu Fighting" starts playing {everybody was kung fu fighting, those dudes were fast as lightning}. This was another case of the boy seeing the costume and immediately having the need to purchase the costume. The gloves did not come with the costume-those were a special request -he thought they were an essential part of the ninja wardrobe.

I know that we won't have too many more years with all four of our boys dressing up in costumes. So I'm enjoying this. Taking as many pictures as they'll let me. Making special trips to the store for fake mustaches that certain Barbarians decide are too itchy and for essential red gloves.
It's all worth it.

After all, do you have any idea how much candy all four of these will hold? :)
Happy Halloween!

The One with Another Ten on Tuesday {but no pictures...}

2010-10-19T18:14:00.000-04:00

1. Without pictures....because, I am lame and didn't take a single picture all weekend long.

2. I had an epic week last week and not in a good way. I got a cold about three weeks ago. By Thursday of last week it still hadn't gone away and my neck was completely stiff and hurt something awful. So I googled my symptoms. Not a good idea. I quickly become convinced that I had meningitis. So I went to urgent care. Saw the worst doctor. Who stood about five feet away in a surgical mask and diagnosed me with an upper respiratory infection and a pulled neck muscle (from violent coughing fits). Awesome.

3. Jackson went to the AWANA store this week at church and continued our children's tradition of buying the most violent toy they could find-a battle ax. Which promptly got broken on the way home.

4. In my attempts to fix the battle ax I super-glued a bottle of super glue to my hand. True story. Chuck had to pry it off. Super awesome. I was able to get the residue off with nail polish remover. Chuck end up using a lighter to fix the battle ax.

5. I spent 2 hours and went to 3 different stores to find costumes for the boys this year for Halloween. You would think they are going as something unique or elaborate. Nope. Just really hard to find the sizes we needed for some reason. But they are happy. Jarron was on the fence about even dressing up this year, so I am really glad he found something that worked for him. I'm not ready for him to be too old for Halloween.

6. While costume shopping, Jarron asked, from the back of the van, "What does brouhaha mean?" I was driving so I couldn't google for the "official" answer. I gave him a rambling, long winded answer, to which he responded, "Are you sure about that? You don't seem sure..."

7. The new team that I work with are "huggers". It is well documented that I am not a hugger. At all. Seriously, these people are always hugging each other. I was a little worried that our last team meeting was going to end in a group hug. This could be a problem.

8. Some people have asked for an update on our adventures in fishkeeping: we currently have 3 black mollies, one orange fish, and about 7 million snails. We have no idea where the snails came from or how they keep multiplying.

9. I was working the nursery this weekend at church and told Moosey to be nice to one of the other kids {he was stealing her blocks}. He looked at the girl and said "You be nice to me." I guess I should be glad he's talking in complete sentences.

10. I'm getting my haircut next week and I'm super duper excited about it. Oh, and Chuck and the twins are going to the Blue and White game down at UK next week and they are {kinda} excited about that too. Be back next week with pictures!

The One with Howl o Fest

2010-10-15T18:15:00.000-04:00

The boys have been asking to go to Kings Island for weeks. Unfortunately Kings Island is closed to the public most of September, so they had to wait and wait and wait....
Finally, this past weekend, we had a chance to go. After football in the morning, we headed over for a few hours. During October, KI has a free children's event called Howl o Fest.

The boys got to go Trick or Treating, visit a petting zoo, hang out at a pumpkin patch and more. I think the only thing we didn't do was ride the rides!

I think the highlight of the day for Chuck and I was seeing the big boys play in the Foam Pit. Yup, you read that right. A Foam Pit! How cool is that?

It's beginning to feel a lot like autumn around these parts.....now I just need to get it into gear and get the Halloween costumes taken care of! :)

The One With The Mega Update

2010-10-11T00:39:00.000-04:00

Here it is, as promised, the "mega update"...
Since I last blogged (in no particular order)...
-This little guy officially turned two and got a whole slew of Elmo (Mo Mo) related presents. Including a "Knows Your Name" Elmo Cell Phone which you can program with one of over 15,000 names, but not the name "Moose". You can, however, program it to say Ebbaneza, Jakovian, Moonglow, and something that sounded a lot like Satan, but was spelled "Satin".
But not "Moose".
Really, Elmo?
"Moonglow" is an official name but "Moose" isn't?
Come on!

The phone that took me hours to program. He loves it, so I "guess" it's worth it.

-There were some football games that were played that were so exhausting to watch for the littlest guy in the house that he crashed mid-snack. This kid falls asleep eating more than any child I have ever seen. (And yes, sometimes I let my kids eat Cheetos. I am not a perfect parent-please do not send me emails about the evils of Cheetos, I am well aware of their place on the food pyramid.)

-There was the second birthday party extravaganza for Rizzo and Brody with the "Puppy Dog" theme, organized almost entirely by Aunt Fawna. I was really impressed with the "Pin the Tail on the Dog" game she found, as well as the cupcakes in the shape of the dog bone. Pretty clever. Even the big kids had fun, despite the fact that it was a party for toddlers!

-There was AWANA's club parents night for the Truth and Traing and Sparks clubs. My brother came to the Truth and Training club night since my nephew Blaze is in that club, so the boys were pretty excited to see him participating in the games. James was never much into sports growing up, so I was surprised to see he was pretty speedy on his run for his team! (As was Blaze-Go Blaze!)
And then on Sparks night, Don suffered what can only be described as the "mother of all wipe outs" while running for Andrew's team. It almost happened in slow motion. To his credit, he was running pretty fast and took the corner pretty hard, I could see him going down and people scrambling to get out of his way. I think he took out a few innocent bystanders when he went down. Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me to document his fall but believe me when I say that it was epic. It was definitely the talk of the night.

-There were play try-outs for Bryce. We had prepared for a dramatic reading but it turned out that he needed to perform a song and dance. No worries. He just got up and sang Aretha Franklin's "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" and did the Moonwalk, as if he had planned it all along! The kid is fearless! Needless to say, he got a part. :)

-And last but not least, there was a visit to Kings Island Halloween Fest-but that's another post for later this week. :)

The One Where I Give You a Link To Incrediably Cute Pictures of My Kids

2010-10-07T23:31:00.000-04:00

I've been a bad blogger. {Again}. But in my defense, I started a new job and caught a really bad cold.
How about if I distract you with some incrediably cute pictures of my kids?
Just head on over to my sister in law's blog HERE.
I'll be back this weekend with a mega-update post.
Enjoy the pictures!

The One Where Our Moose Turned Two

2010-09-22T18:30:00.000-04:00

Once there was a tiny little Moose, just a baby Moose really. He had three older brothers and they all loved him very much.

But each and every month, the Moose grew a little bigger and stronger and he learned new things.

His Momma and Daddy were proud of their little Moose but a little sad too. Because they knew this was the very last time they'd have a baby Moose in their house.

Time went by, as it does, and before they knew it, their baby Moose was walking and not long after that he was talking.

Every day he would learn something new. (Unfortunately, this little Moose never really learned to sleep alone.)
And then one day they looked up and that little Moose wasn't a baby anymore. He was a toddler.

He was running and jumping and talking in sentences. He was asking to watch Elmo on TV and asking for pizza. He wanted to wear his Goofy shirt and his Batman pajamas. He was a big boy now!

Yes, there once was a baby Moose but he grew into the most adorable big boy Moose you have ever seen.
Happy 2nd birthday Moosey-we love you!

The One With Football, Lots Of Football

2010-09-20T18:25:00.000-04:00

Fridays in Ohio means one thing-high school football. And this particular Friday, Fairfield (our local high school) was playing Colerain (our old community's high school), so it was a "can't miss" game for us.

I came away from the game with two thoughts:
1-you should never, ever take a two year old to a high school football game. Just trust me, it's not worth it.
2-I'm not a fan of teenagers. Let me clarify, I am not a fan of rude teenagers, teenagers that wear inappropriate clothing to football games, that use swear words in front of 9 or 6 years olds, or that push each other into women carrying 2 year olds. Chuck thinks overall the crowd was well behaved, maybe he's right and I'm overreacting but I don't think I'll be bringing the little ones back for awhile. We'll stick to Upward games, I think. That being said, Moose LOVED the band and the mascots. He kept yelling, "Hi, Woof-Woof!" at the Colerain Cardinal. Hilarious.

Speaking of Upward, our first games of the season took place this Saturday. Jackson's team, the Mighty Raiders, kicked things off. Jackson played hard and looked pretty tough out there.

He is playing on the same team as his best friend (and look alike) Otto, which he loves.

They had so much fun! Jackson pulled a few flags and had a run or two and they kept it pretty close.

After a quick lunch, it was time for game two, Bryce and Jarron's team, the Rockets.

The twins are playing in the bigger league this year-4th and 5th graders, and it showed. Yikes! Some of those kids were a lot bigger than my guys, so glad they are not playing tackle! The boys played great and both had a bunch of good plays. I love seeing them both out there at the same time. I can only imagine what the other players are thinking. It's really hard to tell them apart with their uniforms and rec specs on.

And a bonus picture for you...this little guy is turning two in just two short days!!! The Moose likes having his picture taken but ONLY on his terms and he was not interested in it on this particular morning. He looks like a celebrity fighting off the paparazzi-poor kid, he does have a camera in his face a lot.

The One With The Best Day Ever

2010-09-16T18:00:00.000-04:00

After all the fun the boys had playing tennis on Fountain Square a few weeks ago, we'd been thinking about getting them some rackets and taking them to a court to play. Chuck's good friend Nick (Hi Nick!), happens to be an awesome tennis pro and hooked the boys up with some kid sized rackets (thanks Nick!).
This weekend we took the boys to our high school court and played a little tennis. And it was hilarious. There were tennis balls flying everywhere.
Moosey spent most of the time chasing down balls, and Jackson spent most the time collecting them (he's into "collecting" things these days).

Yup, they are brothers, I know-they don't look a thing alike, but they are indeed brothers!

Bryce and Jarron really had a good time playing against Chuck and after awhile I even hit a few. There were a few photos of that but they weren't very flattering-so I deleted them-sorry Chuck!

Jackson and Moosey were promised a visit to a swingset so we made a quick stop at the park after our "tennis lessons"...which led to boys hanging upside down, as it always does.

I am super proud of this next picture-I am no Bobbi, but I think this particular shot is pretty cool-the ride is spinning but I caught Bryce somewhat in focus! Yay me!!!

As we were walking into McDonalds for dinner, Jackson said, "This was the best day ever, well, except for when I go to Heaven someday, that will probably be the best day ever. But this was a great day. I got to play video games, and find free tennis balls, go to the park, and now McDonalds!"

Oh, to be 6 years old again! :)

The One With A Weeknd of Parks (and Ten on Tuesday)

2010-09-07T20:05:00.000-04:00

1. Last Wednesday was our last night of teaching the K-1 grade at church. Instead of our usual lesson, Chuck and Mike set up an obstacle course for the kids. There is nothing funnier than watching 5-7 years olds try to jump rope and do jumping jacks. Hilarious.


Our Wednesday night crew

2. After a morning of running errands, I took all four boys to Fort Liberty park, by MYSELF. I am ridiculously proud of that. It was a little crowded but the twins were great about helping with the two younger boys. I think we all had a good time.

Bryce is incapable of being serious for photos

3. I totally skinned my knee playing frisbee in the backyard with the boys. Proving two things: the boys clearly get their gracefulness from me, and my kids are real gentlemen. As soon as I went down, they were immediately by my side, reaching their hands down to help me up. They didn't laugh at all. (Which, for the record, I totally would have!) Of course, the reason I fell was the giant hole they dug a few years ago, that we've tried to fill in every year without success, but at least they helped me up.

Random picture of Jackson before the skinning of the knee.

4. In the car the other night Jarron was listing the reasons why he loved Kentucky, they were as follows:
-My favorite team plays there.
-Some of their towns look like the Old West.
-They have SWEET hotels. (Loved this one.)
-All the cool people are from there.
-My favorite team plays there.
When I pointed out the he mentioned the favorite team thing twice, he said "I know, it's the most important reason". I think Chuck was pleased to see that the Wildcats brainwashing was a success.

5. There's a little deer park not far from where we live and we went over with some family this weekend. I attempted to get a picture of the boys in front of the deer. This was the result. 4 different shots, each kid looking a different way. If I had Bobbi's mad photoshop skillz, I'd cut and paste some heads to make it work. Sadly, I don't possess that skill, so you get 4 bad shots.

6. Never the less, the boys enjoyed feeding the deer. Moose kept calling them "Woof-Woofs", because in Moose's world, just like all men except Daddy are Papaws, all animals are "Woof-Woofs".

7. Since we were over that way, we headed to Heritage Park. We really enjoyed it-the trails are really nice and the playground is awesome. The boys had a lot of fun playing with their cousins.

8. While there, Loretta and I went for a walk with Moosey. Every so often, we could hear the guns from a nearby gun range. Each time, Moose would stop and say "Uh-oh, I'm dead" and we'd have to assure him that he was not dead.

9. I recently discovered that Keebler manufactures Girl Scout cookies. My all time favorite GS cookie is the Jubilee (I think they are called they are now called Caramel Delights). So imagine my joy when I found these Keebler cookies at Krogers-Coconut Dreams. Mmmmmm...yes, please!

10. I am thisclose to finishing the antique desk I've been working on. Just needs one more coat of stain and drawer pulls and it will be ready to go. I can't tell you how happy I am to see it coming back to life. Pictures to come...

The One Where They Went Back To School

2010-08-26T11:53:00.000-04:00

It's quiet in the house right now. Only one little Lakes boy running around. The big boys are all back to school. And for the first and only time, they are all in the same school. We had our open house Tuesday night and got to meet all of our new teachers. They all seemed to be wonderful and the boys were thrilled to run into all of their friends (including Mrs D and Mrs Fish!).

Jackson is super excited to be in a Jungle room this year. He LOVES monkeys, so I think it will be a good fit for him.

Bryce and Jarron are in their last year of elementary school, so to prepare them for middle school, they switch classes throughout the day. They each have the same three teachers-just at different times.

This morning, I did the annual "take pictures on the front porch" photos and then I put them on the bus.

It's amazing to me how much the twins have grown up. They look so big now.

Jackson was one of the last ones on the bus-he looked so little following Jarron on.

And now I am not so patiently waiting to hear how their first day went.

The One with Ten on Tuesday

2010-08-17T12:00:00.001-04:00

1. I kinda miss Ten on Tuesday. A little bit. So I brought it back...just for a week. Maybe.

2. In addition to the super cool concert Jackson got to go to, he also got a super cool new big kid bike. (It was a big week for Jackson). He has asked to ride it every night since he got it.

3. Moosey likes Oreos. And just like his momma he likes to take them apart and eat the centers first. Since he looks nothing like me at all, it's nice to see a little bit of me coming through.

4. My kids are insanely adorable. Just saying.

5. The big boys start school next week, and I am totally finished back to school shopping. I love new school supplies. They make me happy. Especially all labeled and organized.

6. When you have three older brothers it can be hard to find somewhere to sit, so you need to be creative.

7. I am currently finishing up the last book in this crafting/mystery series. It's pretty good. Not as good as Donna Andrews' latest but pretty good.

8. Moosey is still not sleeping consistently through the night. I just don't get it. I love sleeping, Chuck loves sleeping. I just don't know where he gets this aversion to sleep from.

9. College basketball starts back pretty soon. It was nice spending time with my husband and sons, I'll really miss them when Kentucky starts playing again and they ignore me to watch the games. Luckily, the baby isn't addicted just yet.

10. We have massive amounts of chili peppers to be picked in our garden. I have never, ever used a chili pepper when cooking. So far, Chuck's been taking them to work for a friend of his. I'd like to try to use at least one in a recipe. Does anyone have a good chili pepper recipe?

The One with the Jonas Brothers Concert

2010-08-16T20:45:00.000-04:00

Thanks to some super amazing friends (Hi Laurie and Travis! You guys rock!!) I got two free tickets to the Jonas Brothers concert last week. I knew right away that I was taking the medium sized kid. It can't be easy being Jackson. Moosey needs a LOT of attention being the baby; and the twins get a LOT of attention because they are twins. People are funny that way-multiples just attract attention.
Jackson isn't tall enough to ride most of the rides at Kings Island so he gets stuck with me and Moose. And there isn't a lot of rides that Moose can ride so he misses out that way too. He couldn't go to Midnight Madness or Kentucky games last year because he was too young. So, this was a golden opportunity for Jack-Jack to get to do something that no one else would be doing.
Jackson isn't an overly expressive kid. When he's happy he smiles, but there no shouting or carrying on. The only way you know he's excited about something is that he turns into a chatterbox. (I have no idea where he gets that from!) The entire drive to Riverbend was Jackson chattering away- for an hour and thirty minutes he chattered about anything and everything-did I know that some people really do jump off bridges? Or that Joseph from school's favorite food is raisins? or that Jackson loves the color red, then green, then blue? I found out all of that and more on the drive to the concert. And I loved it because he was so happy and excited to be the center of attention.

I've never been to Riverbend before and it is holds a deceptively large amount of people. We got there just as the concert was starting and it was packed. And hot. Very, very hot. At first Jackson was thrilled and was up dancing with the other kids but the longer Demi Levato and the other Camp Rock co-stars played, the more frustrated Jackson got. And he wasn't the only one. The thousands of screaming pre-teens weren't there for Allison Stoner, they were there for Kevin, Joe, and Nick and the JoBros were nowhere to be found. I seriously thought that the crowd was going to revolt at about the 1:30 mark.

Finally, just before 9 the Jonas Brothers hit the stage. And the place went crazy. You don't know loud until you are surrounded by screaming pre-teen girls. Wow. Even Jackson was in awe of the noise level.
Jackson got his second wind when the JoBros started playing. They are actually a really good live band. Jack-Jack knew most of the songs and sang along with a lot of them. After about 45 minutes, we decided to start heading out. Jackson chattered the whole way to the car. He told me about the dream he had the night before that instead of the human JoBros band, animals hit the stage, and called themselves the "Jonanimals Bros". He said, "You know what Mom? They were pretty good, not as good as the real Jonas Brothers, but they were better than Demi Levato." :)

Jackson and I had a really fun night together. When we got home, his big brothers came downstairs asking about his night and wanting to look at the pictures he took. I think for him- that was almost as cool as going to the concert.

The One Where We Went Hiking

2010-08-09T22:27:00.001-04:00

In an effort to be healthier and more active, we decided to take the boys on a short hike last week. We went to a "new to us" park in West Chester. The trail wasn't strenuous and it was pretty easy to navigate (even with the Moose). There was a small creek bed at the bottom of the trail and the boys had a great time skipping rocks and jumping around on the pathway. I even spotted a frog hanging out by the creek side. Although as soon as he saw the four rowdy boys approaching, he froze (in terror-I could see it on his face!). He had no desire to attract our attention. I mean, if I was a frog I wouldn't want our crew poking and prodding me. :)

After the hike, the boys spent some time on the playground equipment.

When I was in grade school there was a family that had 5 boys. And any time her boys would do something unruly or crazy, the mom would just say, "well, boys will be boys". I always thought that was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard-that it was just an excuse for bad behavior.
But you know what? She was right.
Because even though this boy has visited Urgent Care more than all of his brothers combined this year, I caught him doing this. I'm not even sure what he is doing here but I know it was not the intended use of that piece of playground equipment.

Yup, apparently boys will be boys. I guess I owe Mrs. H an apology!

The One With the County Fair

2010-08-02T20:04:00.000-04:00

There is nothing that makes it more clear that I am a "city girl" than going to the county fair. I'm not sure that I have been to one since I was a kid and I know that our boys have never been to one. Our friends at church had two daughters competing in the horse and small animal divisions, so we decided to give it a try.
The fair we went to was set up with all of the rides/games/food in the front and the animals/exhibits near the back.

As always, the boys desperately wanted to play the carnival games-Bryce and Jackson both won, but Jarron did not get the UK basketball he was trying for. (He has about 15 basketballs at home, so I wasn't too torn about it.)

Bryce was the only one who chose to spend his money on a ride and he decided to do the Monkey Maze. He was in and out in about 3 minutes, but he seemed to think it was worth it.

Moose got to go on his first pony ride and he had a big grin on his face most of the ride. I did hear him call them "Woof Woof". (Maybe he does take after his momma a little bit-there was a time when I confused a mule and a pony but in my defense they look similar from a distance.)

There was the normal assortment of booths from local agencies and governments. The boys love these booths; they love filling their bags up with free pencils, rulers, bookmarks, and frisbees.

The Army booth was a big hit because they had a few vehicles that the boys could climb around in.

We headed to the back of the fairgrounds to see the animals-here's the city girl part of the story. Did you know that when the fair is over they sell the animals? I had no idea! These aren't beloved pets; they are "livestock". I'm not a vegetarian-although I recently gave up red meat-but I had a hard time eating meat the rest of the weekend. Of course, I wasn't raised on a farm or in the country, and I'm sure I'd feel differently if I did. But still, it made me a little sad.

The boys were oblivious to all of that, they just really enjoyed petting the animals and seeing them up close. Which is how it should be when you are a kid. They had a lot of fun and are excited to go back next year.

The One With the Link to the Tennis Pictures

2010-08-02T09:49:00.000-04:00

The Fountain Square tennis pictures are up on the USTA site.
Go here.
Moose is in picture two and Bryce & Brody are in picture 20. :) I'm surprised that Jackson didn't make the site since they took so many of him. Still-all in all, pretty exciting.

The One With Tennis on Fountain Square

2010-07-29T18:00:00.000-04:00

After visiting the Carew Tower, we headed over to Fountain Square. I love Fountain Square.

When I worked downtown, I loved going down at lunch and just people watching. The Tyler Davidson Fountain is so cool, I was really excited for the boys to experience it.

Lucky for us, the US Tennis Association was on the Square holding some kind of event promoting tennis for kids. They asked if the boys would like to play. Tennis on Fountain Square? How cool is that? Sign us up!
I signed some waivers and they hooked the boys up with wristbands and racquets and let them hit a few balls. Then the tennis pros got there and played doubles with the twins. The twins really enjoyed it and seemed to catch on really quickly.

Jackson got to play singles but was more interested in modeling for the photographer there to take pictures for the USTA website. (They aren't up yet. I'll add a link to them when they are posted.)

Afterwards, Bryce and Jarron both asked if they could play tennis again sometime. I'll have to look and see if there are any programs in our area. That's the really neat thing about our boys, they always want to try new things. I love that about them!

The One Where We Witnessed A Crime

2010-07-28T18:00:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday, we had one of those days that I love-nothing to do and nowhere to be. Chuck, as he does most Saturdays-because he is a good husband and daddy, got up before me and got the boys breakfast. When I finally dragged myself downstairs (did I mention that I'm not much of a morning person? At all?), he said, "We should take the boys to the Carew Tower today." Hmmmnnnn...

For those of you who aren't Cincinnatians the Carew Tower is currently the tallest building in downtown Cincinnati. You can take an elevator up 49 flights and walk out onto the open air top deck. There is also a mall on the main level. The building is old, and the architecture is pretty cool.

And for those of you who don't know me well, I have a deep, deep fear of heights. Just thinking about being that high up makes me break out into a cold sweat and I start shaking. But he was excited and the boys were excited, so I went.

I am proud to say that I went all the way to the top of the tower without freaking out. We met a really nice couple from Georgia that gave the boys quarters to use in the viewfinders. The twins were tall enough but Jackson still needed a couple of inches to see.

It was blazing hot so we didn't stay long but it was neat to see the newest building being finished (it will be taller than the Carew Tower) and to see the Bengals stadium from above.

I haven't been downtown in awhile, we just live so far out in the suburbs and we don't really have a reason to come down very often. And I admit, I don't think downtown Cincy is the safest place in the world. But since we were there on a sunny Saturday morning, I felt pretty safe.
Apparently criminals are criminals no matter if the sun is shining or not. While looking for the skywalk, we saw two men running full speed down the mall. Chuck and I both thought at first that it was older teenagers acting rude. We quickly realized that one man was running and the other was chasing him. We were watching a thief try to allude an undercover security guard! Chuck quickly pulled the boys and me to the side so that we wouldn't get run down. The security guard's walkie talkie went flying off as he ran past us. Chuck picked it up and handed it to the uniformed guard at the desk. She calmly took it and went about her business. No reaction at all. Almost as if it happened all the time. Which maybe it does-but it left us a little shaken. If nothing else it was certainly memorable!

The One Where Jackson Turned Six!

2010-07-22T08:00:00.001-04:00

Wow. Has it really been six years since this happened?

2004

I love those last two pictures-even the super blurry one. Because that expression on their faces? Pure bliss. They were thrilled to be big brothers. And I was so thrilled to have Jackson Scott join our family.

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

Looking at these reminds me of how quickly a year flies by. Of how fast they go from being a baby to a toddler to a boy.
When I looked back at the pictures of him from the last six years, a flood memories washed over me. His first tooth, first haircut, and first steps. How he'd follow the twins around even before he could walk, just trying to keep up. The way he used to say "memonade" instead of lemonade. The way he would spend hours in the baby swing in our backyard. The way he hated the beach and sat on a towel the whole time complaining about the sand. How he used to wear a Power Rangers glove only on one hand and would insist on wearing it to bed. The way he cried the entire time he played soccer his first year and how happy he was when he scored his first touchdown in football. The way he climbed onto the school bus for the first time without tears and without a look back. How little he looked getting baptized but how strong his voice was when he declared his faith. And how amazing it is to see him teaching his little brother all the things his big brothers taught him.

SIX random things about Jackson at SIX:
-He can hear a song on the radio twice and know the lyrics by heart.
-He can clear any video game you put in front of him within days of getting it.
-He is scared of the dark but doesn't flinch when you give him a shot.
-His favorite toys are anything related to video games, his Zhu Zhu pets, and his Legos.
-He can swim like a fish and LOVES the water.
-He will only eat the main dish of any meal you serve him (he won't touch side dishes like noodles or rice).

Jackson. Baby Jack. Apple Jacks. Action Jackson. Monkey. Our boy. We are so proud of you. We love you so much and couldn't imagine life without you.
Happy 6th Birthday Jack-Jack, we love you more than you'll know.

The One with Hot Air Balloons

2010-07-19T17:30:00.000-04:00

We had a really fun weekend-we finally made it the MidFirst Challenge-a hot air balloon show that happens every year in Middletown. I've been wanting to go for a few years but it just didn't fit into our schedule. But this year, I was determined to make it. We decided to go Friday night and it was well worth the trip. It was only about 15 minutes from our house, and the cost to get in was only $8 per carload. We parked at a small airport and took a shuttle over to Smith Park. the boys thought it was pretty cool that the shuttle bus was driving down the air strip.

There were tons of hot air balloons launching throughout the evening-at least 25-30. At one point I looked up and saw the sky just filled with them-it was such a cool sight.

We had a little time to kill before the balloon glow, so we grabbed some dinner and headed over the balloon activity area. There was a hot air balloon laying on it's side and there was a big fan blowing air into so that you could go inside and explore. The kids loved it-Moose kept saying "Whoa. Whoa." Over and over again.

Then we headed over to the carnival rides, where Bryce and Jarron rode the Dizzy Whirl and Jackson rode the slide. Let me just say that there is no way on earth I would ever in a million years ride the Dizzy Whirl but it is apparently a very cool thing to a nine year old boy.

By that time, it was starting to get dark out and the balloons were coming back for the final event of the night-the balloon glow. If you haven't been to a balloon glow-I highly recommend it. The balloons are all anchored to the ground in row and the pilots fire them up so they glow at the same time.

So cool.

The One Where We Got Schooled

2010-07-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

A "school" of fish, that is. Ha. Ha. Get it? Schooled? School of fish? I guess I'm feeling a little "punny". :) Okay, I'll stop.
As mentioned in a previous post, we became somewhat reluctant fish owners via Jack-Jack's VBS teacher. When Roxas made it through that first weekend, we invested in a small fishbowl and some rocks. A week or so later the fish bowl got a HUGE crack in it and started leaking. (I'm sure it had nothing to do with four little boys constantly "checking" on the fish.)
My first reaction was to go buy another fishbowl-but Chuck had another idea. He thought that we should get a 5 or 10 gallon tank and a couple more fish. It's as if Roxas knew he was going to be replaced because that same afternoon he went belly-up to the big aquarium in the sky. The boys had a fish funeral-complete with Jackson humming "Pomp & Circumstance". It was pretty awesome.
But now the boys (and Chuck) had their heart set on fish. So off to Jack's Aquarium with the above mentioned boys.
Ever been to a pet store with 4 boys? I do not recommend it. Between Moose's very loud squeals of "Woof-woof" and him knocking over a mega sized (and very expensive) bottle of fish pellets, it was quite the adventure. The staff at Jack's were really nice and super patient with us (and the kids-apparently knocking over and breaking fish pellets "happens all the time"-somehow I doubt that).
We walked out with a 20 gallon fish tank complete with lights, a filter and heater. But no fish. Because you have to set up a fish tank and let it "cycle" before you can add fish. Who knew? We went back the next day and got some black mollies and some tetras. (Two of which promptly died the next day, we did not have a fish funeral for them.) Chuck went back yet again and got 3 platies this time.

As of today, we have 4 adult fish living in the tank-John Wall, Fireballs, Ryan, and 1 fish yet to be named. And at least 2 baby fish that made their appearance this week-which was a big shock since we thought we had only purchased male fish.
This fish keeping business is pretty complicated-water temperatures, and Ph balance and all sort of nonsense. But Chuck and the boys seem to be enjoying themselves. And it is very relaxing watching the fish swim about-but I still prefer to cuddle up with our dog Conan.

The One Where Jackson Lost His First Tooth

2010-07-13T18:00:00.000-04:00

My baby lost his first tooth on Thursday. Okay, so technically he's not a baby, he'll be six years old next week, but he's still my baby.
It's so weird to see his little gap toothed smile.

He was super excited for the tooth fairy to visit him. I had to explain that she wouldn't come if he:
a-stayed up all night to catch her
b-set booby traps around the room to catch her
c-hid the tooth so that she had to stay in his room to catch her
Do you see a theme? The kid was determined to catch her. In the end, she slipped in without him knowing and left him a dollar.

Which led to this email from Chuck about Jackson:
I just called Jack to see if the Tooth Fairy visited him last night. He said yes, I got $1 dollar, now I have $50 dollars. I said $50 dollars, how did you get that? He said, I had $5 dollars then the Tooth Fairy gave me $1 dollar, and that makes $50 dollars.

We'll be working on the math skills before school starts back up.

The One With Fireworks!

2010-07-09T19:00:00.000-04:00

I love the 4th of July. I love the idea of taking time out to celebrate our freedom and to honor those who have fought for it. And I love fireworks. A lot.
This year we missed the Fairfield fireworks show because we were in Kentucky. But, lucky for us, the Princeton Pike Church of God in Liberty was hosting Light Up Liberty!
Before the fireworks show there was a car show. I was surprised by how many cars/trucks/motorcycles were there. Chuck was excited to see that his friend Rick was there with his Kentucky Wildcats car. Chuck and Don go down to Lexington to camp out for tickets to theWildcats Midnight Madness event and Rick is always the first or second person in line. He has a Ford Mustang that is custom painted with Kentucky Wildcats graphics, on the inside there is custom stitching and autographs from tons players. Basically, it's Chuck's dream car.

Bobbi, James and their boys met us after the car show and we settled down to wait for the show to start. James brought his iPad and the boys (especially Jackson and Blaze) had a great time playing with that. (And yes, I am super jealous of his iPad-I really, really want one but there is no way I am shelling out $500 for a super sized iPhone).
Moose got super fussy after about 20 minutes of waiting and went into full-on melt-down territory until Uncle Jay saved the day by pulling out some Combos. The kid loves food; the easiest way to buy his silence is to give him something edible.

The fireworks were really good! I even got some decent pictures of them this year. (Yay me!)

I really want to get one of those mini-tripod things like this gorillapod. This thing would make taking pictures at night a breeze! I'll have to add it my wishlist! :)

The One With the Lakes Family Reunion

2010-07-09T08:02:00.001-04:00

It's an annual tradition-around the 4th of July we head down to Jackson County, Kentucky for the Lakes family reunion. The boys really look forward to it; they get to ride horses and ATVs, play basketball with their cousins, and hang out on a big inflatable water slide. Chuck and I love it, because we get to see extended family we don't normally get to and we get to visit with Great Grandma. (And eat some delicious country green beans-I admit it, I am completely addicted to them!)

Moosey did really well on the car ride down. Until we got about 2 minutes from our destination, when he hurled. Apparently, he did get at least one of my genes-the carsick gene. Poor guy.

The boys really had a great time. Moose spent most of the time walking around, convincing people to give him sugar-I'm pretty sure the only things he ate all day were cake and cookies. Jackson spent much of the time playing with Andrew and the younger cousins on the water slide.

Bryce and Jarron decided they were too old for the water slide and stuck with basketball and ATVs. (Although, Jarron finally did get hot enough to spend a few minutes in the water.)

It's crazy to watch the boys playing basketball with Chuck and the older cousins-it seems like just yesterday that I was bringing them in their car seats and 4th of July onesies. Not liking this getting older thing all that much!

The One Where Jarron's Dream Came True

2010-07-08T08:02:00.002-04:00

As I may have mentioned in a previous post, we've been to Kings Island quite a few times this year. And each and every time we go, our first stop is the customer service booth. We go there to get the all important 54" wristband. The glowing neon orange accessory allows Bryce to ride the serious roller coasters. Jarron is just a smidgen shorter than Bryce and every time we go, he stands as straight and tall as he can in hopes of getting the elusive bracelet. Up until last week, he hadn't been able to get it.
Last week, we met Don, Retta, and their boys after work to ride a few rides before close.

As we always do, we hit the customer service booth, where Bryce walked out with the orange bracelet but Jarron did not. No big deal-there are plenty of other rides to ride. Retta and I took the smaller boys to Snoopy Land, while the big boys hit the coasters.

Andrew, Jack-Jack, and Moose had a lot of fun together. Moose got really attached to Retta and wanted her to carry him and put him on rides. Andrew was so excited to ride the Beetlebug ride with Moosey-it was so cute to see how much he loved his little cousin. And Jackson finally got to ride the Linus Launcher and Kite Eating Tree Rides!

But on the other side of the park, someone else's dream was coming true. When we met back up with Chuck and Don, Jarron came running towards me, stopped and thrust his wrist in the air.
There it was--the orange bracelet! Apparently, they decided to try one more place to get the wristband and a teenager at the Firehawk coaster measured Jarron. Despite Jarron tippy toeing, the guy declared him good and gave him the bracelet. Chuck said they immediately took off for Diamondback and rode it back to back to back. Jarron was so happy-he kept saying, "Mom am I dreaming? Nope, I'm awake. This is the best night ever!"
He wore the wristband for the next three days until we finally convinced him that it was time to cut it off.

I'm sure your wondering what's with the Egyptian poses in these photos-that's actually the "John Wall Dance". For those of you who aren't obsessed with Kentucky basketball-John Wall played for UK last year and was the #1 NBA draft pick. He also has a dance-which all of our boys (including Moose) know and love. Don's boys also know and love the dance. In fact, a couple of Sundays ago, we were sitting in the pew in front of Loretta and Andrew during evening service. Andrew tapped Chuck on the arm mid-way through the service, and when Chuck turned around, Andrew just started doing the John Wall Dance. It was so random-it was all Chuck and I could do to keep from laughing.
Love nights like these!

The One With Vacation Bible School

2010-07-07T20:00:00.000-04:00

So, in case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit behind on blogging. But I will be caught up by the end of this week-which means a whole slew of posts. :) Aren't you lucky!
The boys had Vacation Bible School at our church a few weeks ago. I stayed home with Mr Moose for the week-which was an adventure. I have no idea how single parents do it! Moose was completely bored without his brothers there to keep him entertained and add to that the awful thunderstorms we had each night and it made for a looong week.

The boys had a great time at VBS, though. Their cousin, Blaze went with them each night. I love that our church has T shirts you can buy-it will be neat to look back and see how they have grown with each year.

Jackson got a special treat at VBS this year, his teacher gave each of the kids a goldfish! Jackson named his Roxas, after a character on his Disney Kingdom of Hearts game. When I asked him why, he said, "Roxas changes characters into anything he wants-he can be Goofy or Mickey or whoever."
"Okay, but what does that have to do with your goldfish?"
"Moooom, I've never had a fish, maybe it will changes colors or something!"

(For the record, Roxas has not changed colors and is still living!)

The last night of VBS, there's a big carnival with games and giant inflatables. This year, there was a mishap with one of the inflatables, where too many kids were on one side and it tipped over. Thankfully, a few of the men spotted it as it began to shift and no one was hurt but it was a scary few minutes.
Chuck was in charge of the ping-pong water cup challenge, so Moose and I made the rounds-he particularly enjoyed the duck pond booth.

And what carnival could be complete without Sno-cones and face painting? I'm pretty sure Blaze had at least 3 Sno-Cones, and I know that Bryce had 2-they both seemed to have a Sno-cone in their hand every time I saw them!

VBS week can be kind of hectic, but we always are sad to see it end!

The One Where We Took a Toddler To A Baseball Game

2010-07-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

Alternate titles for this post could be:
The One Where We Do Something We'll Never EVER Do Again or...
The One Where Moose Nearly Killed Someone

Honestly.
While we were in Indy, we decided to take in a minor league baseball game at Victory Field. Chuck and I have been there in the past and loved it, so we thought the boys would enjoy it too.
We got there early and it was hot and very sunny. It was also knothole league day, so the only seats left where those in the upper deck.
I think that should have been our first indicator that this wasn't our brightest plan.
We made our way to our seats and realized it was blazing hot, so we decided to get some ice cream before the 1st pitch. This was the best part of the night. Sitting in the shade, on soft green grass, eating ice cream.

When it was time for the game to start, we headed back to our seats. Within minutes, we discovered that Moose was incapable of sitting still and that he could scream really loud. (He also has some pretty impressive head-butting skills.)

Chuck and I decided to take turns walking him around the ballpark. During my turns, he screamed for Bryce and Jack. Not mad screams, just like "Where are you" screams. By the 4th inning, he was DONE. Red-faced, tired, cranky, and DONE.
I went to tell Chuck that it was time to go. And Moose, in a fit of frustration and rage, threw his sippy cup. (And let me just say, the kid has an arm-he gets some serious distance when he throws!) Remember how we were on the upper deck? Yeah, for a moment, everything froze, as I watched the cup sail through the air.
Fortunately, it hit the hand rail and landed on our level. Moose missed sending it over into the lower deck by maybe an inch or two. Yikes! Those poor people in the lower deck have no idea how close they came to injury at the hands of a Moose!

Victory Field was as beautiful as we remembered it and downtown Indy is awesome. But taking a toddler to a baseball game? Not so much. We won't be doing that again anytime soon!

The One Where We Went to the Indy Children's Museum

2010-07-02T17:00:00.002-04:00

I have to say that my favorite place we went to while on our stay-cation was The Indy Children's Museum. This is probably because I don't really enjoy hiking or sitting around in public with my swimsuit on all day. (Just sayin'.)
I love seeing all of the cool kid friendly exhibits at the museum. I remember going as a kid with Girl Scouts and spending hours in the miniature dollhouse display. (This was also the trip where I developed my intense dislike of Cool Ranch Doritos after another junior scout got carsick.)
Needless to say, there wasn't a lot of dollhouse viewing taking place on this trip-we spent a lot of time with dinosaurs and Etcha-Sketches. Jackson loved getting to dress up and protect his dino-eggs.

The big boys really enjoyed the special exhibit on Egypt-there was a ton of interactive play and interesting things to do. There was also an exhibit on Star Wars-which was a big hit with a certain medium sized kid!

Bryce and I really liked the blown glass area. So cool and colorful.

Moose even got to escape from the stroller and play in the toddler area. (Although I have no idea why they have the water play and sand play areas right next to each other.)

We had a really great time. If you live in the Cincinnati area, I highly recommend making the 2 hour drive to check it out. I hear that they have free admission on the first Thursday night of every month!

The One Where I Review Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark

2010-06-21T18:22:00.000-04:00

As part of our stay-cation week, we spent two days and one night at the Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark (and hotel) in Columbus, Ohio. It's similar to CocoKey or Great Wold Lodge, water slides and water activities, all indoors. We've had a little experience with this type of place before so I feel like I know a little bit about indoor waterparks at this point.
Before I give my review, let me say that the boys had a blast (literally-there were water guns!). They really enjoy that sort of thing, so this was one of their favorite things that we did on stay-cation.

I will say this about Fort Rapids-the waterpark itself was great. There were tons of lifeguards, all of whom were friendly and helpful, and the park was very clean. We got there about 6ish on Monday night and it wasn't crowded at all. There was plenty of room at the available tables and chairs to spread out our stuff and head to the attractions. I liked that because it was smaller than Great Wolf, I felt more comfortable letting the boys roam a little on their own. There was a large area with tunnels, and slides and a huge waterbucket (Rascal Round Up) right in the middle when you came in. Then towards the right, there was a smaller areas for little ones (Kiddie Korral-the water was never deeper than 2 foot or so in this area-Moose loved it). Towards your left were the water slides, deeper activity pool (3-4 feet with basketball hoops) and the lazy river. Just beyond the little kids pool was a hot tub, but you had to be 18 years old to get in that. I totally took advantage of that on Monday since we had hiked earlier in the day!
The boys really enjoyed their time in the activity pools but the slides were definitely the highlight for the twins. (I even ventured down two of them!) There were 4 slides that you could go down using tubes or mats. My favorite was the Black-Out Pass, the slide was enclosed and black, so it was pretty dark and then it shot us out into a funnel, before sending us down the final tube. I may or may not have screamed so loud the first time that Bryce no longer wanted to ride with me.

Moose loved the Kiddie Korral-there were slides just the right height for him to go down-which he did over and over and over again. Jackson spent a lot of time in the Rascal Round-up, the slides and waterguns there were perfect for our "medium-sized" kid-not too tall and not too short.

The waterpark had lots of clean towels and the staff was very helpful. Bryce scraped his leg and they were great about getting us a waterproof Band-Aid and making sure he was okay. We got dinner there the first night and the concession stand worker went out of his way to get us cups with ice for the boys and was very friendly.

Unfortunately, as great as the waterpark was, the hotel itself wasn't as nice. The hotel was showing it's age a bit with dated linens and faded paint. In our room, the bathtub had a stain in it-which wasn't a big deal because we were only staying one night but I would have definitely requested a new room if we had planned to stay longer. And then there was the TV issue. When we were done at the park, we headed back to our room to watch a little TV and unwind before bedtime. Oddly, the TV would just randomly change channels on it's own, as if the person in the room next to us had control of it. We called down to the front desk no less than 4 times, before giving up and going to bed. Those two things aside, it was a fine hotel, nothing spectacular.
Our room rate was $119.95, with an additional $26.95 charge for Jackson's pass to the waterpark (the room came with 4 free passes), Brody was free. This rate was lower than you'll find on the website or by calling, so your mileage may vary. All in all, I'd give the waterpark a B+ and the hotel a C. That being said, we'll probably go back at some point, because the boys LOVED it!

The One Where We Went To Hocking Hills

2010-06-17T18:00:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, we took last week off and went on a little "stay"-cation. The first stop on our stay-cation was Hocking Hills, Ohio. Hocking Hills is about 2 hours northeast of Cincinnati and has a ton of hiking/fishing/outdoorsy type activities.
The drive to Hocking was interesting, because you spend a significant amount of time on a two lane state route. The boys passed the time by making up songs. Loudly. And singing them off tune. Loudly. Being in a car with 4 boys for 2 hours is not for the faint of heart.
We planned to stay in Hocking Hills for 2 days but when we arrived we quickly realized that there wasn't a lot to do for our two youngest boys, so we revised our itinerary. It ended up being a day trip, so we would only have time for one trail area. After doing a little research, we decided that hiking the "Old Man's Cave" trail would be the easiest with the kids. I thought that I had read that it was a paved trail. I thought that bringing the stroller and wearing flip-flops would be fine. Yeah. Not so much.
We abandoned the stroller fairly early on. (Our Maclaren is extremely light-weight but not something I want to carry up dozens and dozens of steep rock stairs.) The trail was not paved. It was dirt and stone and steep and scary. But beautiful. I would definitely recommend it to families with older kids (pre-teens/teenagers) but it was a little much for our guys.
The first formation you see as you hike is "old man's cave" itself. Very cool.
As you wind your way around you see a really pretty waterfall and watering hole. The watering hole had a huge cliff that some more adventurous (aka-not so smart-the water wasn't that deep!) hikers were jumping off of into the water.

The watering hole was perfect for skipping rocks-the boys had a blast doing that. Moose mainly picked up dirt and threw it.

The trail got a little more treacherous and strenuous as we made our way back around to the exit. I was really regretting my choice of footwear by that time! (And more than a little nervous watching the boys hike close to steep overlooks!)
Despite all of that, I would definitely go back when the kids are older. They seemed to have a really good time and didn't complain about the hike at all.
After making it back to the car and scouting out lodging options (tons of cabins but only two hotels), we decided to head to Columbus for the night and try out the indoor waterpark at Fort Rapids. More on that tomorrow.

The One Where I Redesigned the Blog

2010-06-16T09:59:00.000-04:00

So for awhile now, I've been thinking about re-designing the blog. I wanted something a little cleaner and simpler. And lo and behold, Blogger has a new design your own template feature. Um, yes, please. :)
So, here it is, the redesigned blog. I'm really loving the clean lines!
Along, with the look of my blog changing, I'm also going to be making some changes to the content. In the past, I've really focused on my "Ten on Tuesday" posts. And while, I love summing up a week in ten points; after two years, I'm getting a little bored. One of my big reasons for doing this blog is to record the memories of our family's adventures. The only problem is when I go to find that record, I have to search through a zillion posts of "Ten on Tuesday", so I'm going to do a better job of titling my posts in the future. I was a huge fan of the show "Friends" as a teenager/young adult. Every episode had a title of "The One Where...". So clever. So I'm "imitating" their creative genius (sounds better than "stealing their idea").
So there you have it, the newly re-designed blog. Oh, and did I mention that I would be posting more often? And not just about family stuff? But crafting ideas, fun things to do with your family and product reviews too? Oh yeah, I've got big plans for this little blog. I hope you'll join me on the journey. :)

Ten on Thursday

2010-06-03T18:00:00.000-04:00

1. The twins had a ton of fun at their overnight zoo trip a couple of weeks ago. They took about 60 pictures, only 3 of them were of people, the rest were of various birds, cats, snakes and monkeys. There were also a few blurry un-identifiable objects, and some photos of the ground. They told me that the batteries had died fairly early on, which surprised me because I had charged it up the day before. But then I realized Jarron had filmed 13 1/2 minutes of one of the talks the curators made. I watched it for about 4 minutes before the random camera angles and changes from portrait to landscape made me really dizzy.

The infamous tie-dyed shirts.

So happy to see this picture on the camera-I love peacocks!

2. All of the boys are done with school for the year-Bryce's teacher sent home a wonderful little DVD with photos from the year set to music. I got a little teary-eyed watching it. We were blessed with really amazing teachers this year. I think the boys were a little more sad than normal to see the school year end because of that. I can hardly believe they will be 4th graders this fall!

Jackson celebrating his summer birthday with his teacher and classmates.

3. Jackson decided that it was time for he and Moosey to share a room, so we moved some things around and made it happen. They seem to really like it so far. Moosey loves his Jack-Jack, so I imagine he's pretty excited about the switch.

Know who else is excited? These two-they have a ton more room to act like crazy 9 year olds now!

4. We opened the pool this weekend and promptly spent most of our weekend in it. We also took the boys to Miami Whitewater park to try out their splash park. Moose wasn't super fond of the shooting jets of water.

Love this picture of Moose sharing his snack with Bear.

5. I walked my first 5K a couple of weeks ago. A real 5K! I got a chip for my shoe to record my time and my very first number that I had to wear on my shirt. (I felt like a real athlete when I picked up my "race packet". Hee!) I was very excited to finish in under an hour. I'm hoping to come in under 40 minutes next time. I'm up to 1.75 miles in 30 minutes. Which isn't much to brag about, but for me is pretty awesome. As Chuck says, you have to start somewhere.

6. The same day I walked the 5K (did I mention that it poured rain for the 1st mile?), we decided to head out to Kings Island with some friends. Unfortunately the rain moved back into the area and it really came down. The boys had a blast running through the rain and jumping in the puddles. Since the park closed early due to the weather, we decided to try it again last week. No rain this time, but Tim (who took one for the team of parents) and the bigger boys got drenched riding Whitewater Canyon. It was a seriously fun night.

Look at that rain coming day-the kids were having a blast!

The very wet group of boys-yup, all 7 boys, all under the age of 12!

7. We had a little get together with the Lakes side of the family over the Memorial Day weekend. I can't believe how grown up my little great-niece is getting. She's just about a week younger than Moosey but she looks so big with her pig-tails. Such a cutie. The boys had fun playing in the sand (including the big boys-Chuck and Don!) the funniest part-Moosey kept calling Uncle Don-"Papaw". Hee. hee. Moosey is hilarious sometimes.

How cute is she?

8. So, this weekend, we went to the library and I saw Bryce and Jarron, on their own, without prompting, looking up title of books they wanted to read on the computer, I was thrilled. THRILLED! They love reading. They are actively searching out books to read. FOR FUN. Seriously, I was so happy to see that, you just have no idea.

9. There is a house in our neighborhood, right on the corner, that drives me crazy. They have a ton of stuff in their backyard, a pool, a playset, a trampoline, a shed, etc. But no fence. Just those tacky orange signs you get from Wal-Mart that say "No Trespassing". And, I'll be honest, it annoys me a great deal, and each time we pass it, I mention how much I dislike those signs. Bryce and Jarron ride the school bus with kids who live in that house. (You get where I am going with this, right?) Bryce asked the little girl, "Hey, what's with those signs?" The little girl responded that her dad didn't like all of the teenagers cutting through their yard. So Bryce says, "Have you ever heard of a FENCE?"

Nice. And that my friends, is why you should never complain about your neighbors with the kids in the car.

10. We are taking a "staycation" next week-I've been searching out fun things to do in this area and I can't believe how many things we've never done that are within a couple of hours from Cincinnati!

So a little forewarning, the next couple of weekly posts will be very picture heavy! :)

The Moose Can Move!

2010-05-27T15:04:00.002-04:00

Enjoy! Back soon with some random updates...

Ten on Tuesday

2010-05-18T18:00:00.001-04:00

1. I can hardly believe it, but the boys are done with AWANAs for the year and had their awards program last week. I was feeling a bit under the weather (i.e. I could barely talk), so we sat in the balcony. That's a long way of me saying, the pictures aren't the best. BUT, the boys worked hard this year and I was super proud of them!

Jarron

Bryce

Jackson

2. I was especially proud of this guy. My nephew Blaze earned his first book award. What makes this such a big deal? He did it in half the time of everyone else! He didn't start regularly coming to Sparks until January-ish, so the fact that he got through the book so quickly is pretty awesome.

3. I won this adorable custom shirt for Moosey. Being the 4th of four boys, he's on the receiving end of a lot of hand me downs. Kind of fun to have something personalized just for him. (If you are interested I won the shirt from Magical Memories, Jessica is awesome to work with!)

4. Speaking of the Moose, is it just me or is he looking more like Chuck every day?

Of course, no one can say that this guy isn't my little man. Cracks me up how one son can be a blue eyed blonde and the other a brown eyed brunette.

5. Jackson and Moosey are best buddies and this weekend at Kings Island, Moosey got to ride his first rides with Jackson. He calls him Jack-Jack, which is very,very cute to hear. Anytime, Jackson rode without him, Moosey would desperately yell out "Jack-Jack! Jack-Jack!"

(Nope, can't tell this kid was excited to finally get to ride big boy rides, can you?)

6. I swear that I try to take pictures of all of my boys, not just the two little guys but this is what I usually get from my efforts to get a decent shot of the twins. Nine year olds are a joy.

7. The twins have an overnight field trip to the zoo this week. Chuck is a chaperone. They are ridiculously excited about it. So it will be just me and the littles for one night.

To clarify-it is just me and the boys-Linus will NOT be joining us! :)

8. My way of helping with the field trip was to offer to wash all of the shirts Jarron and his classmates (and a few of Bryce's) tie-dyed for the trip. Clearly, a rookie parenting mistake. You see, you have to wash the shirts twice, once with rubber bands on and once with rubber bands off. And they are soaking wet when you get them, so you can't just throw them all in one load. We ended up with 3 loads (times two=6 loads of laundry, just for the shirts). Which wasn't a big deal. The hard part were those stinking rubber bands. I have no idea how long I spent in the laundry room taking off rubber bands but it felt like HOURS. If I never see another rubber band again, it will be too soon. (Side note-Mrs D & Miss D: Jarron and Bryce did help with this task; for about 5 minutes and then got distracted making rubber band balls. I think they should have to clean chalkboards or something to make up for it. Do you guys even have chalkboards anymore? :>)

9. Because I don't have enough hobbies and things to do, I decided to refinish an antique desk. This desk has been in my mom's family for years and was my desk as a teenager. I have so many memories of sitting at that desk writing stories and doing homework. I'm excited to have it in my scrapbook room. But it needs a lot of work. A lot. It has probably 6 coats of stain/varnish that needs to come off before you get to the wood. But the wood, once you get there, is stunning. It's going to be amazing when I am done with it. I will definitely share pictures of the finished product. In the meantime, here are the before shots.

10. The garden that Chuck and the kiddos planted is already starting to sprout-I'm pretty surprised that seeds grow that fast. Clearly, I am a city girl. I'll post some pics of the garden next week. I plan on planting some tomatoes and possibly some strawberries this weekend.

Ten on Thursday

2010-05-06T21:43:00.001-04:00

1. Chuck and the boys have a fun little project they are working on this summer-a garden plot for our backyard. They have spent the last week or so getting the plot ready and got all the seeds in the ground this week. I am looking forward to a summer full of peas, peppers, onions, watermelons and more!

Getting the ground ready for the garden...

Our little gardeners.

Blaze lending a hand with the planting.

2. Last week, I did something I haven't done in about 12 years. Something I likely won't be doing for another 12 years or for that matter, ever again. I rode a roller coaster! (I know!) I'm still not sure what possessed me to do it, other than trying to prove to the boys that I wasn't a scaredy cat. I felt very brave walking through the line with the twins to Flight Deck.
"Let's ride in the front car" they said.
Sure! And then as we mounted the final set of stairs, the fear hit me.
"Um, how about we ride in the middle car?" I said.
"Okay, Mom, we can do that, you aren't scared are you?" said Bryce.
"Maybe just a little. Maybe I'll just wait for you guys." I said.
"If you don't get on the coaster, Mom, you have have to sit in the box" said Jarron.
(They have this little box/cage thing that kids who aren't tall enough to ride have to sit while waiting for their parents.)
So I got on the coaster. And I screamed loudly the entire 32 seconds. It was terrifying. I won't be doing it again any time soon. Chuck said he knew right away when it was our turn to ride, he and the little boys could hear me screaming. Awesome.

This is Chuck and the boys riding Flight Deck, they were not screaming in terror.

3. The twins have not inherited my fear of heights or roller coasters, in fact, they've ridden pretty much every coaster at Kings Island that they are tall enough to ride. Bryce even rode Diamondback last week. I have a feeling Chuck and the boys will be spending a lot of time together this summer, waiting in line to ride the big rides.

Chuck and the boys on the Vortex.

4. Meanwhile, the Moose, Jackson and I are content to hang out in Planet Snoopy. (And when the weather gets warm enough-Boomerang Bay.) Jackson and I do venture over to the other side of the park to ride the Scrambler but other than that, these kind of rides are more our speed...

5. I love this picture of Jackson and Chuck-this one is getting framed for my desk at work.

6. Looks like Moose isn't the only kid I know who falls asleep eating. Must run in the family, because Keats did it this week too. We Sawyers like our sleep!

(He's holding a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!)

7. I may or may not have voted mulitple times for Lee DeWyze on American Idol via text message this week. Either way, I think he is by far the best singer on the show and I'm pretty sure he'll be in the final two.

8. The Moose loves oranges. Loves them. The only problem? He calls them "purples". I'm not sure why-I've tried to change his mind but he insists that they are "purples". He calls grapes, "bobbles". Such a funny little man.

Moose and his "purples"

9. I overheard this conversation tonight while the boys were playing "Civilazation" on XBOX.
Jarron: "Bryce, go fight the Barbarians"
Jackson: "Is that the place with the elephants and clowns and stuff"
Jarron: "Um no, that's the circus"
Jackson: "What's Barbarians?"
Jarron: "They are mean guys that fight and have clubs with spikes on them!"
Bryce: "Yeah, they are super evil!"
Jackson: "Hmmmnnn...that doesn't sound like nearly as much fun as the circus. I think I'll stick with the clowns."

10. I was reminded this week how lucky I am to have such kind, thoughtful, amazing friends and family in my life. I feel so very blessed to have each of you in my life-thank you so much!

Craftiness!

2010-04-29T20:58:00.000-04:00

So I got a little crafty last week and made a new diaper bag for the Moose. And the best part? It cost me less than $7 and all I needed was an iron! Pretty stinking cute, if I do say so!

Supplies:
Boat Tote $3.98 (after 50% coupon) Jo-Ann Fabric
Iron-on Letters $0.50 ($0.10 each on clearance) Michael's
Iron-on Fabric Boat applique $0.99 (on sale) Jo-Ann Fabric

Ten on Tuesday

2010-04-27T23:45:00.000-04:00

1. I really wish it would stop raining/drizzling/being cold. I must have said the words "NOT IN THE HOUSE..." at least 74 times in the last 72 hours. This was usually preceded by a ball flying through the living room or being dunked on a Nerf hoop (which was NOT designed for real basketballs). Momma needs the boys need to spend some time playing outside.

2. Bryce had his big debut in "The Lion King" on Friday. It was wildly entertaining. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. The kids did a great job and looked very cute on stage.
(Photos courtesy of Aunt Bobbi-although she claims they weren't her best work, they are 10,000 times better than how mine turned out.)

3. Jarron had zero interest in preforming in the play but was eager to film the whole thing. So we reluctantly handed over the camcorder. At one point I saw him panning over the lighted sign near the front of the stage a la Steven Spielberg. He also appeared to have 2 or 3 friends following him around, acting as his "sound crew". About 2/3rds of the way through, he came running over, yelling, "Dad, Dad, I ran out of footage, what should I do?" Oh boy. He also asked me later if the camcorder recorded sound. When I asked why, he looked at the ground and said, "No reason, well, I might have said a few things about the acting in the play as I was filming." Oh boy. I'm going to take some Dramamine before I attempt to watch that one.

4. The medium sized kid finally got his yellow belt this past Thursday. Later that night, he said, "Now I can fight people. Are you scared of me, Mommy? Now that I can beat you up?" Hee. Yup, sure am.

5. The Moose has been talking up a storm lately. Adding new words on a daily basis. This weekend was the best though. Chuck was holding the remote to the TV (which Moosey LOVES to play with) and when he wouldn't let him have it, Moose said quite clearly, "Awww Man!" Love it. He definitely knows what it means because he spent most of the weekend using it in context. "Awwww Man!" I will try to capture that on tape because, really, it's priceless.

6. So Bryce's class is doing this project for Mother's Day involving a favorite recipe, which we had to write down and send in. Our conversation went a little something like this:
Me: "What's your favorite thing that I make?"
Bryce: "Definitely your brownies!"
Me: "Hmmmnnnn, I make those from a box mix, we can't put that. What else?"
Bryce: "Pizza"
Me: "Also from a box, usually one that's been frozen, what else?"
Bryce: "I don't know....spaghetti"
Me: "Well, ummm, that is also from, ummmm, a box" (by now I'm feeling awesome)
Bryce: (who is now thoroughly frustrated) "Is there anything that you make that doesn't come from a box????"
Me: (really thinking): Ummmm....hamburgers?
Bryce: "Fine, hamburgers are my favorite, I'm gonna go play basketball now."

Yeah, you can go ahead and send that "Mother of the Year" award right on over. Sigh.

7. I am seriously considering moving all of my scrapbooking gear out of the office to the basement-despite the fact that there is no carpet and that the bathroom down there is basically in pieces. The scrapbook room is nearly finished-it's painted and has awesome lighting, it just needs carpet. But I think I might just throw a cheapo rug on the floor and call it good. I just can't seem to get much scrapping done upstairs near the boys' rooms. Anyone out there craft in their basement? Thoughts?

8. Have I mentioned how happy I am that we are not playing soccer or baseball this spring? Because really, I had forgotten how nice it is to wake up on Saturdays and not have to rush around looking for a missing uniform or try to come up with a snack at the last minute.

9. I really need to go get my eyes examined-I'm down to my last pair of contacts. You'd think given my employer that I would be on top of that, but not so much.

10.A couple of weeks ago when Chuck was mowing the lawn, he found not one, but two rabbit's nests in our yard. Tonight I came home to find this in our gas grill....

Yup, a big old bird's nest. It's not as if we haven't used the grill in years; I fired it up a just a couple of weeks ago. Honestly, I feel like we are living on the set of an Animal Planet show. Who knows what wild creature will decide our backyard is the perfect place to raise a family next? :)

Ten on Tuesday

2010-04-20T22:46:00.001-04:00

1. I'm multi-tasking tonight, watching Idol and blogging all at once-I have to say so far, Idol is a bit boring. Chuck just informed me that his inspirational song choice would have been "Eye of the Tiger". I don't think he was kidding.

2. This weekend we had the Awana Grand Prix at church. We know going in that we won't be taking home any design or speed awards and we tell the boys in advance that it's all about having fun. At one point, Jackson came to me and said, "I'm tired of having fun, I want to win." Hee. Maybe next year kiddo. They definitely had fun though. And honestly, their cars looked pretty good and were pretty fast.

A gaggle of Lakes boys, ready to race.

3. Of course when you are competing with Don Lakes for a design award, you have very little hope of winning. Seriously, I think Don and his boys have won for the last 10 years or something crazy. The only shock was this year he won for speed and not design in one division.

(You should double click on this picture and take a closer look at that car-amazing!)

I swear that Andrew was happy-that is his picture taking smile. Love that kid.

4. We had to replace one of the headlights on the Honda today. I grabbed the manual and did 75% of the work before Chuck got there; I'm ridiculously proud of that. I'm not a helpless girl, I can change lightbulbs! :)

5. The twins got a ton of UFC action figures for their birthday. I crack up every time I see them having the Chuck Lidell figure fight the Rashad Evans figure. My kids are so cool.

6. For the past month I've been telling people that Moose is 19 months old, when in fact, he won't be 19 months old until Thursday. I'm a super awesome mom sometimes. Sigh.

This is Moosey and his friend Sami, who is a few days older than him. He looks so big here!

7. Our neighborhood is having a yard sale May 1st. We'll be participating-email me and I'll give you the details.

8. This picture cracks me up...

As does this one...

9. Jackson definitely promoted to yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do, he just hasn't received the belt yet. But he is already starting his yellw belt training-he was learning a punch/kick/kick combo tonight, I was very impressed.

10. Last week I made 3 batches of brownies, one for us and one for each of twins' classes to celebrate their birthday. Unfortunately, I made the birthday brownies in disposible pans and they cooked very, very uneven. The edges were hard--like, could be used as weapons, rock hard and the middle was practically raw. Awesome. So Friday morning, I had to call a bunch of different bakeries to find one that could make 5 dozen cupcakes in a matter of 3 hours. All's well that ends well-I tracked down some cupcakes and the boys were so happy to see me bring them in on their lunch break. Sometimes being a mom is the hardest job ever, but seeing their faces light up like that? Makes it totally worth it.
Have a great week!

Momma Needs a New Camera Strap...

2010-04-19T18:00:00.000-04:00

Do you?
I know I do-and the very talented Rebecca Cooper, scrapbooker and photographer, is giving one away...
Check it out here:
simple as that

I'll be back tomorrow with Ten on Tuesday...I'm back in the blogging swing o'things! :)

Nine Years!

2010-04-16T18:00:00.000-04:00

I can't believe I am the mom of two nine year olds. As I said last year, it seems like just yesterday that we brought them home from the hospital, completely clueless. And here we are nine years later, with two of the kindest, sweetest, most amazing nine year olds that I know.
I love that they still let me hug them and give them kisses goodnight, I love that they still want me to come visit them at school, and that they want to be around Chuck and I as much as possible. I know those days are numbered and I am cherishing them while I can. But I can't help but look back at the last nine years and see how far we've come, how much they've grown, and be anything but proud. Happy birthday Bryce and Jarron, thank you for making each year better than the last.
Here's a little peek into those years...

Ten on Thursday

2010-04-15T18:00:00.000-04:00

1. Mixing it up a little bit, trying to keep you all on your toes. Betcha didn't expect a "Ten on Thursday" post did you? (Or one at all, the way I've been blogging?!?)

2. The medium sized kid had his first belt competition this past weekend. I was very nervous for him-even more so when I saw the hundreds of white outfitted Tae Kwon Do-ers ready to compete.

But he did great-he even broke the board with his fighting stance kick. So proud of the medium sized guy!

3. I am at war with my sewing machine. I know many of you are saying to yourselves, "What sewing machine? Christina has a sewing machine??? Whaaaaat?!?" A few years ago, I decided I wanted to learn how to sew, so Chuck very thoughtfully got me a sewing machine.
And it sat on a sewing table for a couple of years, then my Mom borrowed it and it was actually put to use. And then recently, it's sat in my basement waiting for me to get the urge to try it out. Fast forward to this weekend, when after a series of very unfortunate events, I was forced to sew a costume for Bryce's upcoming play. Ha. How hard could it be, I thought. I went Joann's bought an easy peasy "under two hours" pattern and started cutting material and pinning it according to the instructions. By this point, I was feeling VERY confident-so confident that I thought, two hours-I'll do this in an hour, easy. And then I pulled out the sewing machine. Did you know you have to thread that thing? And that there's something called a bobbin and that is very very important to the process? Yeah, I didn't either. I had to download the manual for the sewing machine from the internet (EIGHTY PAGES, people! I was freaking out), and then I attempted to thread the thing. 45 minutes later I finally made my first attempt at sewing a seam. Oh boy. Let's just say it's a good thing it's an animal print costume and that he'll be on stage-because those seams aren't pretty. After at least 4 different rethreadings, 2 untangles of the bobbin thingy, 1 needle that just randomly fell out, and at least 2 1/2 hours of frustration, the costume was finally done. Well, it would work for dress rehearsal, and my mom can fix all of my mistakes.
But now? It is on. I will conquer that sewing machine, I will learn to sew. You wait and see.

Yup, I made him model it so I could take a picture, he was super happy.

4. This is my nephew Keaton-I have 3 words for you-Nick. Nolte. Mugshot. Go on, google it. I'll wait.

5. My brother has a blog- Stuff My Sons Say- and he is way funnier than me (although his humor is a bit more raw than mine). I'm trying not to be jealous but I kind of am. Of course, I am way more awesome than he is at about a million other things, so it all averages out. :)

6. Have you ever tried to take a picture of four boys in Easter outfits ranging in age from 18 months to 8 years and they wanted no part of it? This is what it looks like....

(The Moose was really very unhappy about the whole thing-I have no pictures of him in his Easter outfit-awesome.)

7. However, Moosey is very happy when chocolate chip cookies appear. Very, very happy.

8. Jarron is fully recovered from his various accidents and injuries and is ready for summer and all the adventures that come with it. I am not ready-I am still recovering from all of his various injuries and accidents. I would like for him to become a couch potato but clearly, that is not going to happen.

9. Bryce is making his theatrical debut in the Fairfield East Elementary School's production of Lion King nest Friday night at 6:30. He will be portraying, Banzai, the lead hyena. If you can, please come out and support him-admission is FREE! :)

10. Check back tomorrow-the twins turn NINE years old!! I'll be posting a little birthday tribute. :)

Trauma: Life in the Lakes Household

2010-03-24T17:09:00.001-04:00

So, I've been MIA for a little bit, if you follow me on Facebook, you probably understand why. In addition to all of the medical drama lately, I just having been feeling "it" when it comes to writing, so I took a little break. For those of you not following me on Facebook, you are probably on the edge of your seats, wondering "what medical drama"? While, grab some popcorn, because do I have a story...
Our son, Jarron, is a sports fanatic. He'll literally play any and every sport introduced to him, so naturally at recess he's usually involved in some sort of game. This time it was kickball. He was diving for a catch and lost his balance, falling to his knees. That's all he remembers, the rest of the story came from Bryce who happened to also be playing.
Another boy was trying to catch the same ball and landed on Jarron's back forcing Jarron's head to the concrete pavement. Hard. Like bouncing off the pavement hard. Bryce rushed over and tried to lift him up (but according to Bryce, he weighs 6,000 pounds).
Eventually Jarron made it to his feet and Bryce helped him to the nurse's office. The nurse, not knowing about the bouncing of the head, took one look at the huge busted and swollen lip and called me at work. I rushed to the school, loaded him up, and headed to the ER. On the way there I began asking, "what happened?", the scary response? "I don't remember-one minute I was playing kickball, the next I was in the nurse's office." Yikes. At the hospital, he was diagnosed with a nasty lip injury and mild concussion. Keep an eye on him, and bring him back if he starts acting weird, they said. Okay. This is what he looked like that day:

That is not his Elvis impersonation, his lip was THAT swollen.
Fast forward to that Sunday, Jarron starts acting kind of weird-one minute he's playing like a crazy person, the next he's staring off into space. Then as we are leaving for church, he falls head first down the stairs. That doesn't seem good, but he insists he's okay. So off we go. At church that evening, The Ball Brothers, were there for a concert (side note: they were awesome!!) and I kept looking over at Jarron and asking if he was okay. He seemed sort of glassy eyed and I was worried the music was hurting his head. At of the corner of my eye, I saw him slump forward and caught him just before his head hit the pew. He had blacked out. Ummmkay. I rushed him out of church and back to our nursery area, where thankfully, our friend Brian, who is a firefighter, was taking care of some little ones. He checked him over and recommended we take him to the ER immediately. His pupils were dialated and he was having trouble answering questions. So, we headed back to Children's. The doctors and nurses at Children's were great, they took us back and did some neurological tests and CT scans.

Apparently, when you get a concussion, there is some lingering effects like dizziness and disorientation. So, they sent us home with orders to keep Jarron from sports and recess for a week. No more head injuries for at least a month, the doctor said.
Have you ever tried to keep an eight year old from being active? It is quite the experience!
By Friday of that week, he seemed much better, so we headed to an outing with our Sunday school class at church. Game night. The boys had a ton of kids their age to play with. We told Jarron to take it easy and be careful. We thought he was headed into a room to draw or color, nope, not so much. Instead, he was playing around on tables, standing on them!
I bet you can't guess what happened next? That's right! He fell off the table and landed on the un-injured side of his face. Hard. So hard that there was blood gushing from the gash in his face. That moment, when he came out, hands covering his mouth, blood running down his arms, was literally one of the scariest of my life.
I have always believed God puts people in places and situations for a reason. And God put us there that night, and He put our wonderful friend, Brittany, there as well. Brittany is studying to be a pediatric nurse (she's also one of the sweetest, nicest people you will meet). While, we were freaking out and panicking, Brittany was calm and in control. She cleaned him up and butterflied the gash to stop the bleeding until we could get him to a hospital. I am so very thankful that Brittany was there. She is an amazing nurse!
So, back we headed to Children's Hospital. And wouldn't you know it? The same doctor and nurses were on call and they remembered us! Sigh. But that was actually a good thing, because I think they took extra good care of Jarron. The gash ended up being so deep, it went all the way through, like a hole in his upper lip. He got four stitches and strict orders to take it easy and avoid physical activity for awhile.

I'd like to say he listened and laid on the couch for the rest of the week, but that would be a lie. He is taking it easier and he had the stitches removed today. The first thing he asked the doctor? "Does this means I can play basketball when I get home?"
So, yup, we've been a little busy. I'm really hoping April brings some peace and quiet.

Jackson's Baptism

2010-03-22T18:25:00.000-04:00

I'll be back tomorrow with Ten on Tuesday, but in the meantime, I wanted to share a video of the medium sized kid's baptism. We are so very proud of him! Jackson came to his Dad and I with a lot of questions about salvation back in January. He understood everything better than most adults! He had no hesitation about going forward at church and making a profession of faith. And he has been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to be baptized and join our church family. His big night was this past Sunday. You can barely see the little guy but you can definitely hear his strong voice! :)

Ten on Tuesday

2010-02-23T23:08:00.000-05:00

1. I went to Muffins with Mom at the twins' school this past Friday. As you can see from the picture, they were thrilled to have me there. Always fun to go hang out with the boys on their turf. At one point some of the little girls in Bryce's class were whispering behind us: "No, you go tell him-you're the one that likes him" "Well, you're the one that wants to hug Bryce".
Bryce just looked at me said, "Don't make eye contact, mom, just pretend you didn't hear them."
I wish that I could.

2. Quiet weekend here at the Lakes homestead-the twins had a basketball game on Saturday and then I slept for the next eight hours. Why did I sleep? Awful, awful migraine headache. Oh, and I missed the entire first period of the twins' game-I'm not a morning person on my best days but add on a raging headache and it isn't pretty. I'm just proud that I was able to function enough to get me and the two little ones there and back. Little victories...

3. The Moose was looking pretty cute at church this week-I love the sweater vest combo on little guys.

My son is obsessed with remotes, we literally have to hide them from him (and sometimes from ourselves!)

4. And this is what happens when you give a Moose spaghetti...they want more...

5. I'm currently reading Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky-so far, so good. It's about a woman who has a baby that looks nothing like either parent-turns out that the father has some interesting branches on his family tree that he didn't know about. I'll let you know how it turns out.

6. Jarron's appointment at the GI specialist went really good (Or is it well? Where is Grammar Girl when you need her?)-they are pretty sure they've figured out his issue, which they think is IBS. We met with a nutritionist and got lots of good tips on how to manage it going forward. I'm really hoping this was the answer we'd been looking for, he's been dealing with stomach pain for nearly a year now.

Nope, not gonna smile.

7. I just had to google how to tie my new scarf that I plan to wear to work tomorrow. Let's just say fashion is not one of my strengths. Sad but true, people.

8. Since he finished the John Wall dance brainwashing, Chuck is currently trying to teach Brody how to say "WHHAAATTT". So far it's not happening.

Yeah, so the kid looks nothing like me-completely his Daddy's boy.

9. Scrapbook night is this Friday and I can not wait. I have been putting together page kits and sketching out ideas for weeks.

10. I'm betting that nearly everyone who clicked on the link to Grammar Girl (love that site, BTW) thinks I'm the biggest nerd ever. And I am okay with that. Good grammar is cool.

Ten on Tuesday

2010-02-16T22:18:00.001-05:00

1. I'm beginning to feel like we live in Alaska or something. Ohio just isn't supposed to be so snowy. There is literally two canyons of snow on either side of our driveway, where we have been constantly shoveling the cars out. I blame Puxatawney Phil for this, if only that little rodent hadn't seen his shadow!

Check out the snow in the backyard: (that's a full size ruler!)

What you can't read it? Here, get closer...

2. I just finished the book Game Change, about the 2008 presidential election-it was really, really interesting. If you are into politics, I highly recommend it. And I am very into politics (I was a Poli Sci major until my advisor told me I'd never find a job after graduation.), good book!

3. My super awesome hubby turned 35 this weekend. (He reads this blog, so I have to nice things about him-kidding. :>) We celebrated by letting him take 3 of the 4 boys snow tubing with our friends, the Noonans. Denise and I stayed warm and dry at the house hanging out with the Moose. Fun was had by all!

4. I just found the coolest scrapbooking product today-it is totally going to change the way I scrapbook. These two little strips of plastic are going to allow me to abandon those silly three ring albums and return to the wonderful world of post bound albums. So happy. You can read more about it here.

5. I helped out at Bryce and Jackson's Valentine's parties last week. Bryce's teacher shared a pretty funny story with me. She got engaged this past week and invited her fiancee to the class party. Bryce told her that he needed to check the guy out and make sure "he was good enough for her". I guess at some point they got to ask the fiancee questions. (Oh boy.) Bryce said, " I have two questions-one-who is your favorite football team?" The fiancee said, "Ohio State" to which Bryce replied, "Ok, I'll give you that one and and two-do you like to wear fleece?" Quick background here, Bryce loves to wear fleece pull overs-he thinks they are the most comfortable clothing ever. The fiancee said, "Sure, I'm wearing one right now."

Later on, Bryce pulled his teacher aside and said "I'm still not sure he's good enough for you, I think I need to get to know him a little better first, but I guess he's okay for now." That afternoon on the way home, Bryce said, "I was pretty impressed with Mr F-he got us some really cool valentines, none of those baby cartoon things-manly sports stuff, maybe he'll be good for Miss D after all." That's our Bryce.

6. Jackson's class loved the little valentine craft I organized. Jackson, however, was far more interested in going through his Valentines-on the way home he sorted them into piles-"cool ones" (Bakugan and Spiderman), "delicious ones" (Fun Dip, suckers, etc.) and "stupid girly ones" (also called the garbage pile). BTW, those were his names for the piles, not mine.

7. Jarron decided to ignore all games, crafts and socializing at his class party and instead focus on the important stuff-food. He brought home his creative writing assignment this week-it's a story called "Burger Time" about 4 crime fighting, food eating contestants. Fighting crimes and eating 50 hamburgers all in an afternoon's work! Such a Jarron thing to write.

8.I feel like the Moose has grown up overnight. The shirt he is wearing this picture? It's a 4T. Granted, it ran a little small but still, the kid is only 17 months old, for Pete's sake.

9. Have you ever been so tired, you just can't seem to move a muscle? Have you ever been so tired that you fell asleep mid-bite? Moosey has...

Seriously, he fell asleep in the middle of eating cheese! Who does that?

10. I really, really wish it would stop snowing. I don't even want to think about how muddy my yard is going to be when it all melts.

Ten on Tuesday

2010-02-09T23:47:00.001-05:00

1. So for those of us living in Ohio, I'll state the obvious, we got some snow the last few days. And by some, I mean about 10 inches or so total between the two storms. This weekend's storm wasn't too awful but today we got hit hard. So we sent the kids out to play in it. (One of them without a hat-awesome parenting skills at work as usual!).

Bryce the hatless kid, that will probably have a cold this weekend.

Jarron, the sensible one.

The Moose in a somewhat staged photo (he sat there like a statue not moving a muscle-I don't think he likes snow too much)

2. Some of you are probably doing the math in your head right now....wait a minute isn't there four Lakes boys? Why yes, yes there is. But this Lakes boy doesn't really care for snow. He'd prefer to hang out in pajamas that are wee bit too small (but he refuses to stop wearing) and pretend to be Spiderman. Can't say I really blame him.

3. I had two of my funniest conversations of the week with Jackson. The first was completely random.

Jackson: Why did you name me Jackson?

Me: Because Daddy and I liked it and Jack is a family name.

Jackson: Why couldn't you name me something cool? Can I change my name?

Me (using my standard answer): When you are 18.

Jackson: I'm changing my name to Snakeman Lakes. That's a cool name!

Me (trying not to laugh): It's different. Where'd you come up with that?

Jackson: I just thought of it. I like snakes.

Conversation number two happened a few days later.

Jackson: Can I get a wolf?

Me: Like a stuffed wolf?

Jackson: No a real one.

Me: I don't think so.

Jackson: When I'm 18, I'm getting a black wolf.

Me: Where are you going to keep him?

J: In my house.

Me: Won't he be kinda big for that?

J (looking at me like I'm crazy): I'm not gonna get a big one, I'll get a baby one. He won't bite or anything.

Me: I don't think wolves live in houses.

J: Haven't you read Little Red Riding Hood?

Point taken.

Snakeman Lakes, wolf tamer

4. I got not one, but two, new floor cleaners this week. The first is a new vacuum and was my 5 year anniversary gift from my company. (Yes, I chose a vacuum rather than a two man tent or a watch-I'm nothing if not practical.) Let me just say I love the new vacuum, it one of those lightweight deals that does carpets and hardwood floors-buh-bye broom! The other floor cleaner is something Chuck had actually requested-a Shark steam mop. It's very, very cool. It doesn't use chemicals or cleaners, just ordinary tap water. The steam does a really thorough job of cleaning and it's very easy to use-buh-bye Swiffer WetJet!

5. Uncle Don requested that I put photos of the car he made for Andrew for drive in movie night on the blog. Uncle Don goes a little bit overboard on these things. :) Well, see for yourself:

That's his-the hot rod with flames. Seriously. For the record-we were just supposed to decorate cardboard boxes to sit in for drive in movie night. I think the wheels actual moved on that thing.

Here's a look at it with Andrew in it:

Yes, that's a passenger in the car with Andrew. And a personalized license plate. Nice-I just noticed that. I like to give Don a hard time but he has some serious car decorating skills.

6. If I ever agree to plan two different Valentine's parties for two different kids on the same day at two different schools, just slap me, okay? Not my best idea ever. But these little ladybugs will be an awesome craft (I hope).

(the kids will be adding the eyes and hearts for polka dots)

7. Is it just me or does he look like he is a teenager in this picture? Stop growing up so fast. Please.

8. I wish Chipotle delivered, then I would eat it every night for dinner. Just putting that out there.

9. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the boxing gloves my son obtained at the AWANA store, this week it was badminton rackets. What's next- nunchucks and Chinese stars? Honestly. It's like a store full of potential weapons. The boys LOVE it. Me? Not so much.

10. Chuck has just about taught Moosey to do the John Wall dance. (Go on google it, I'll wait.) I'll get it on video and post it this weekend. It's pretty stinking funny. He is also teaching him exercises-that is really funny to watch. Chuck and mini-Chuck exercising together. Hee.

How you doin'?

Wednesday Whine

2010-02-03T14:06:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you're here visiting for Ten on Tuesday right? Unfortunately, instead you get a Wednesday whine. Our youngest child, aka Moose, aka the kid who will not sleep through the night more than 3 days in a row, gave quite the performance last night. I knew he was in rare form, so I had prepared myself by going to bed early. Moosey started his awful screaming at 9:30, so I gave him some Motrin (teething) and brought him into our room. At first it was nice, he was cuddled up all nice and sweet against me, and I thought to myself, "better enjoy this now, because before you know it he'll be 8 years old and you'll be lucky to get a goodbye kiss." That was my thought as I drifted off to sleep at least.
Only to be woken up by a sippy cup to the head at 3AM. Apparently Moose was thirsty and I had not responded to quickly enough to his whimpering for more water, so he chucked the cup at my head. Awesome.
So now, not only am I tired (3AM was not his only wake up) but my head still kinda hurts. So here's the whine-why, oh why can't this child sleep through the night on a regular basis? Good thing he's so stinking cute.

Ten on Tuesday

2010-01-26T23:14:00.000-05:00

1. I love to write. Really, really love it. Ever since I was a kid I have just enjoyed telling stories. That's why I love to scrapbook and blog-both are just different forms of storytelling. I have tried really hard to show the boys the importance of reading and writing, it's something that I enjoy and I have always hoped they would too. So imagine how happy I was to find a 3 page story in Bryce's homework folder. It was a creative writing assignment about Frosty the Snowman. In it Bryce had Frosty going on a journey to Japan, it was funny, imaginative, and original. My boy can write and I feel like, today at least, I'm doing something right as his Momma.

2. The other 8 year old boy in residence had a pretty amazing weekend. I mentioned a few posts back how he had won a reading contest at school. this weekend he got to bring his cousin Zachary with him to a Miami U basketball game. Not only were they chosen to participate in the fan tunnel at the beginning of the game but they also got to be in the "high five" club and go out on court during player introductions (and get a free T-shirt). At halftime, Jarron got to go out on court and get his award and gift bag. It was so cool and we were very, very proud.

A little video of the award...

3. The 5 year old in residence is rocking the Tae Kwon Do uniform these days. And looking pretty cute doing it, if you ask me. Jackson loves Tae Kwon Do. He literally can not wait for his class every Tuesday and Thursday.

4. The one year old in residence is into everything. And I do mean everything. At his well baby check-up on Friday, his doctor and I were talking and he just climbed right into the cabinet underneath their sink. When we looked inside we caught him trying to turn the water valves off. They say he looks and acts more like a 2 year old, which I think we already knew. He is very smart and very curious, we certainly have our hands full with him. But his little smile? It gets him out of trouble 99% of the time.

What? I'm just sitting here...not turning the valves or anything like that, I swear!

Could you be mad at that little face for very long? Yeah, I didn't think so!

5. I realized tonight the uploading pictures to blogger and videos to youtube at the same time is a very bad idea. I'll be doing one at a time for now on...

6. To whoever is stocking the AWANA store at church-I appreciate all that you do, it can't be easy to find interesting things to appeal to kids of all ages and genders. But did you really think these were a good idea?

Guess whose kid saw those on Wednesday night and couldn't wait to bring them home? Four boys and a pair of boxing gloves....enough said.

7. I just finished the latest Hannah Swansen mystery by Joanne Fluke, The Plum Pudding Murder. It was very good and it had 3 recipes that I need to try out. If you like cozy mysteries, I highly recommend it.

8. My sweet little nephew Keaton turned three this past Sunday. I can not believe how big he is. He is such a cutie. My mom got a little cheesecake to celebrate his birthday Monday (in addition to presents, of course). When I asked him what he got for his birthday (meaning present-wise), he smiled at me and said, "Cake, it's mine."

Jackson, Baby Keats, Chuck and my dad

9. Just for kicks, I decided to take a look and see how many pictures I took last year-insert drum roll here-4,231! That seems a bit excessive. For the record I took the most pictures in December (excluding vacation) and the least in November. Super interesting, right?

10. Please, please pray for Kate McRae and her family this week. I mentioned last week about the Cards for Kids project and how she was the inspiration for it. Her parents and doctors are going to have to make some really difficult decisions this week-please lift her up in prayer.

You can get updates on her condition here-Kate McRae's Journal

Ten on Tuesday

2010-01-19T14:49:00.000-05:00

Ten on Tuesday

1. The medium sized kid has been cracking me up lately. Sunday afternoon, on the way to the library, we had this conversation:

J: "Mom, you know those commercials where they sell stuff on TV?"

Me: "Infomercials?"

J: "Yes, how come you have to be 18 to buy stuff, that's rude. Five year olds need stuff too."

2. We made our first trip to Urgent Care for 2010. Bryce and Keaton knocked heads and Bryce ended up with a black eye and nasty gash. No stitches (the skin was too thin over his eyelid) but a pretty impressive wound.

3. Bryce and Jarron are having a great time playing basketball for Upwards. Their team is 1-1, but more importantly, they are both playing hard and having fun.

4. Moosey will be 16 months old this Friday. He's starting to communicate more and more. Anytime someone comes home, he leads them to the pantry and stands there. If you say, "do you want a cookie?", he nods his head, says, "Yesh, tookie". So funny. He's such a smart little guy. He's very independent-loves to do things for himself but is still having trouble sleeping through the night. I think he must be a restless sleeper or something. He has a check up this Friday-I can't wait to see his growth chart.

5. I had to google what "smh" meant today after seeing it in a number of status updates on facebook. Am I that old, that I have to google for slang terms? (For the record, it means "shaking my head".) smh

6. It snowed a week or so ago, and the boys had a great time "shoveling" the driveway. I gave them a shovel and a couple of brooms and watched from the living room. I ended up going out later and re-shoveling but they had a lot of fun. (Those snow pants were purchased at Target like 3 years ago-I can't believe how well they have held up!)

7. We are going to a Miami Redhawks game with Jarron and our nephew Zachary this weekend. I think we are sitting next to Jarron's principal, so I guess we'll have to be on our best behavior.

8. I'm trying to take a picture every day this year. Not just of the kids, but of every day mundane stuff. Stuff that years from now, my grandkids will be able to go through and learn about who we were in 2010. I have an account on a site called Shuttercal.com-you can see the most recent picture of the day that I posted at the bottom of this blog. I think it will be a fun project. I certainly take enough pictures. :)

9. I am hopelessly addicted to Utz brand sourdough pretzels right now. One of my co-workers has a big barrel of them on her desk and every day at 3PM, I eat 10 pretzels, no more, no less. They are so yummy and delicious. I wonder how many calories they have in them?

10. Many of my online scrapbooking friends having been making cards for kids that are struggling with cancer and other illnesses. I'm hoping to participate and put together some cards this weekend. If you are a crafter, I encourage you to help out. Anything that puts a smile on their face is worth it. I am constantly reminded how lucky and blessed we are to have four healthy boys.

For more info on Cards for Kids go to:

Cards for Kids

You'll see a button for it on the left side of the blog. I'm not an overly emotional person, I'm not a hugger, I typically keep my feelings/emotions to myself but I literally am brought to tears reading the story of Kate McRae, the little girl who inspired this card drive. You can read her mom's journal here.

The Things We Do For Our Kids

2010-01-13T10:14:00.000-05:00

I'll be back on Thursday to update with a "Ten on Thursday" post but I wanted to quickly share what kept me from working on a "Ten on Tuesday" post.
Jackson's AWANAs class is having a drive-in movie night tonight and he needed a "car" made from a cardboard box. He requested a Spongebob car. So Chuck and I came up with this:

Front of the car-Chuck did the freehand drawing. I did the die cutting.

Side View

I used my Silhouette die cutting machine to cut all of the various sized circles. We just glued plain old yellow posterboard to a cardboard box as a base. Chuck (who is way, way more artistic than I am) drew the face. We finally finished it at about 11PM last night. I think we did a pretty good job. :)

More pictures of the "medium sized kid" driving it tomorrow...

Ten on Tuesday

2010-01-06T00:10:00.000-05:00

1. Ah, my first Ten on Tuesday post of the new year. (Because technically I started writing this on Tuesday, so it counts. Don't judge me.) Anyway, as I was saying it's 2010. Traditionally people list resolutions in the new year. Things they will try to start or stop doing. I have never really been good at keeping those, so this year I have more of a goal than a resolution. And that is....

to keep this plant pictured here alive until June. I know it's a pretty lofty goal, considering my brown thumb (I am even able to kill cactus plants-apparently they need some water-who knew?); but I'm going to give it my all. What? You didn't think I was going to put a fitness or weight loss goal on my blog for everyone to see, did you? I think I'll keep those to myself.

2. Over the holidays we got a chance to stop in Lexington for the night and tour some of the shops downtown the next day. One of the shopping centers was in a really cool old building with amazing architecture. I'd like to go back down there at some point when the shops are actually open-it seemed to have a number of really cool little stores.

Seriously, how cool!

3. Chuck and Don (Chuck's brother) have been absolutely cracking me up lately. They are both obsessed with college basketball (specfically UK basketball). The other day they were literally calling each other at the exact same moment when some news broke about the Tennessee basketball program. It just makes me laugh to hear them on the phone analyzing the teams and games.

The Lakes Brothers

4. My Cricut die cutting machine died a couple of weeks ago. I was so sad. It lasted nearly 3 years, so I can't complain too much. And after selling some of my cartridges on eBay, I was able to replace it with this amazing piece of technology...

that's right, I got a Silhouette! (Scrapbookers will understand my excitement.) I got her on a smoking hot deal on eBay (seriously, like half off of retail-and it's brand new!) and I love it. It cuts any true type font on your computer, no more cartridges to buy. Serious scrapbooking joy in that machine.

5. Upward basketball is back up and running, and the twins first game is this Saturday. We stopped at a certain discount retailer (begins with Wal and ends with Mart) to order RecSpecs, so the boys can actually see the net and ball. Why the un-named retailer that I hate so much? They were the same exact glasses at one of the stores I work for at less than half the price (after my employee discount). Easy decision. We should get them in next week.

6. We've been getting a little snow here and there the last few weeks. And the boys love to play in it. We could get 4 inches or more this Thursday, so hopefully there will be enough for them to acutally build a snowman this time.

7. I helped out at the kids' holiday parties before winter break. Bryce is one of the "senators" at his school and was chosen to be the "human tree" for one of their games. This picture is worth a thousand words...

He was also chosen as one of the students of the month for December at East. He got to eat dessert with the principal. One one kid from each class is chosen each month and both the twins have been selected this year-can't begin to express how proud I am of them.

8. Jarron also won a reading contest at school this week and earned tickets to a Miami Redhawks basketball game and a pizza party for his whole class. I'm guessing he's a pretty popular guy right about now.

9. Mr Moose got his first haircut this past week. He didn't shed a tear, he just kind of sat there until he got a little antsy but by then it was all over. I'm going to miss those little curls but his haircut definitely suits him. Such a little man.

Getting ready for the cut...

Mid-haircut...

All done! Get me out of here mom!

10. We've decided to sign Jackson up for karate lessons. We really wanted something that he could call his own and this is perfect. He's so funny, lately he has been asking me to call him the "medium sized kid". I often call the twins, the "big boys" and Moose, the "baby". I tried to include him with the "big boys" but he said, "No, I'm not ready to be big yet. How about you call me the medium sized boy?" Works for me, since I'm not ready for him to be big yet either. ;)

Christmas Wrap-Up

2009-12-30T23:48:00.000-05:00

I can't believe Christmas is over already. It seems like it flew by this year. We had a really wonderful Christmas; we celebrated with Chuck's family on the 23rd. The boys got a ton of fun stuff there and Moosey got to show off his dance moves.
Check out this little video:

We had a quiet Christmas Eve at home, which included tracking Santa's sleigh on the NORAD site-very cool thing by the way! And then we headed to church for the candle light service.

The next morning the boys were up bright and early to see what Santa had brought them. Ever since the incident in 2004, they have to wait for an adult to go downstairs on Christmas morning. ("The Christmas incident" was the time that Bryce and Jarron went downstairs without us on Christmas morning and opened EVERYTHING, and I do mean EVERYTHING, under the tree without us knowing. They were only 3 and couldn't read, so they assumed everything was for them. It was Jackson's first Christmas. He didn't get to open anything that year-neither did Chuck or I. I rewrapped the gifts for Uncle James and my parents.)
Anyway, the boys were so happy and surprised to see that Santa had brought them so many things from their lists. Jackson got his Zsu Zsu hamster, thanks to an elf that looked suspiciously like Uncle James, Bryce got his Mindflex, thanks to another elf that looked like Aunt Fawna, Jarron got his skateboarding gear (but no ramp for the backyard, Santa's got to draw a line somewhere!), and Brody got some Little People sets.

Christmas evening, my family came over and we had another round of presents. My nephew, Blaze got his very own camera for Christmas (his momma is a super talented photographer and he is following in her footsteps). So the boys spent a ton of time setting their wrestlers and other toys up in elaborate scenes for Blaze to photograph.

Okay, so the toys weren't the only props being photographed-Moosey did this on his own, he is standing in his mega blocks wagon while being pulled around-the kid has no fear!

The Saturday after Christmas, we headed down to Jackson County, Ky to see Chuck's grandmas. After a few more presents (the big boys got these cool lantern things-a big hit!), we headed to Lexington to spend the night at a hotel. A hotel with a heated pool! Woo hoo! (By the way, if you are ever in need of accomodations in the Lexington area-I highly recommend the Holiday Inn Express near the University-super nice and clean and VERY affordable!). As you can see, the boys loved the pool.

We had a really fabulous Christmas, and I am looking forward to what the new year will bring! See you next year! :)

Merry Christmas From Our Home to Yours!

2009-12-24T16:14:00.000-05:00

Ten on Tuesday

2009-12-15T11:08:00.000-05:00

1. Christmas is just 10 days away! I can't believe how fast the season is going by this year. I'm just about done with my shopping, just a couple of scrappy gifts to make. I'll try to post pictures of the teacher gifts this weekend-I am making them pocket planners and maybe some notecards.

2. Our digital cable box/DVR broke Friday night. So frustrated with Time Warner these days. A couple of weeks ago they just didn't show when I made an appointment to get a new line installed, and then this. The guy on the customer service line told me to take the box to the mall and I could swap it out for a new one. We lost all of the shows we'd been saving on the DVR-Chuck's Kentucky games, my brother's interview on a national show, and all of the mid-season finales from last week-so annoying. The lady at the mall wasn't very helpful either-she acted like I was bothering her when I asked for the new box-and told me it would be more convenient if I had mailed it in or had someone come out to the house. Maybe for her-but we needed that box working for Saturday's basketball game-we couldn't wait a week for a new one to be mailed or a tech to come out. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.

3. But some good came out of the whole fiasco, it forced us to go somewhere that we rarely go these days-the mall! And you know who is hanging out at the mall this month? Right?
This guy...

Surprisingly, Moose sat on his lap without any hesitation. I had to bribe Jarron to go anywhere near him (apparently, some 8 year olds are too cool for Santa). Bryce and Jackson were both willing to talk to Santa and let him know what they were hoping for (the Mindflex game and a zhu zhu pet). After a few pictures, Moose got restless and he was done, but I think we got at least one good shot.

4. We got our tree Saturday afternoon from the produce farm up the street. It's a really nice tree and we got a smokin' good deal on it-$25! Highly recommend Uncle Rog's produce stand for trees! (They also have yummy fruits and veggies in the summer.)

I have no idea way Jarron is smiling like that. This was the best picture of the bunch though. Sigh.

5. Bryce and Jarron are working on a unit in economics at school. As part of their lesson, they have a Barter Day this week. They have to make an item and bring it in to trade with the other kids in their class. I took them to Hobby Lobby to pick out the materials-the whole time all I heard was, "Can we get out here? This is a girl's store...can we at least go to the wood aisle-that's manly!" Shortest trip to a craft store ever! They each bought a wooden nutcraker to paint and decorate. Let's just say that the black paint was a popular color.

6. Sunday morning Bryce, Jarron, and Jackson had their Christmas cantata at church. Jackson was towards the front, so it's easiest to see him. He did a little dancing to "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"-so cute. Bryce and Jarron were in the middle of the sea of kids but they both looked like they were singing. They all looked really cute in their new sweaters.

That's Jackson in the gray sweater grinning because he saw me taking pictures from the balcony. (The poor kid in the plaid looks like he's going to burst into tears at any minute.)

Of the 15 pictures I took, this is the ONLY one where Jarron is facing the camera. (He's in the red sweater and collared shirt.)

Bryce is in the gray sweater, looking super thrilled to be on stage.

7. We decorated the tree Sunday afternoon, the boys and Chuck did most of the work, I just finished it off with some bows at the end. As you can see, the majority of the ornaments on are on the upper 1/3rd of the tree. You'll understand why when you read #8...

(Clearly, Bobbi is the photographer in this family-lighted Christmas tree pictures are hard to take!)

8. Moose loves balls-footballs, basketballs, tennis balls-LOVES them. So when he saw the ornaments we were hanging on the tree, his eyes got really big and he kept pointing to it and saying "ball!". It must be a dream come true for him-a tree with balls on it, growing right in his living room! He and Keaton have broken 3 ornaments so far. I'm thinking putting the glass ornaments up was a bad idea this year.

He looks so innocent here-like he would never, ever crush glass ornaments with his fists-ha! Looks can be deceiving!

9. I just finished the book "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoulet. It was a really hard read. It was a story similar to Columbine but told through the parents of one of the victims and the killer. I think when Columbine happened I was closer to high school than I was to having kids of my own, so I identified more with the kids and their terror. Now that I am a parent, all I could think about was how helpless it must feel. I just wanted to hug my kids and wrap them in bubble wrap when I finished the book. I just want to shield them from the ugliness of bullies and the awfulness of trying to fit in. But I can't, my job as their Mom, is to prepare them for that stuff and give them the tools they need to overcome it and succeed. Anyway, I'm not really a fan of heavy reads like this. Make fun all you want, but the cozy mysteries that I enjoy rarely keep me up at night like this book did.

10. I'm getting my hair done Monday-woo hoo! I haven't had a cut in 3 months! I'm also going a litle darker (for winter-ha!), so looking forward to it. I'm thinking little Moose is going to be getting his first haircut in the next 2 weeks. He has really adorable curls in the back when he first gets a bath but within a couple of hours it looks like a mullet.

Ten on Tuesday Returns!

2009-12-08T09:46:00.000-05:00

1. Welcome back to Ten on Tuesday! How fun was that video of Bryce and Jarron wrestling? We've gotten a few comments from random strangers about that video on You Tube. Too funny.

2. Moosey is quite the little dancing king these days. Anytime we turn the TV to the Music Choice channels, he stops what he is doing and starts do this funny looking sumo wrestler style dance. He LOVES to dance.

3. I think we've finally made it out of the worst of the winter sickness (I hope), all of the boys had the H1N1 flu with no complications, all of us got the stomach virus thing, and 3 of us have had ear infections. I'm pretty sure we kept the companies that make amoxicillian and Lysol in business this past month.

4. We celebrated Thanksgiving with our families last week, I wasn't feeling too hot so we didn't make it to Kentucky. We celebrated with the Lakes that Saturday at our church. There's just so many of us that it made sense not to cram everyone into Chuck's parents' house. The boys had a blast, running around playing ball.

You tell em, Moose!

5. We celebrated Thanksgiving with my family that Sunday. Chuck set up our new Blu-Ray player and the kids watched Up! I won't say who, but one of the adults (not me, Chuck, or Bobbi) got a little emotional the first time he viewed this particular movie and might have shed a tear or two. Naturally, we had to make fun of this adult; you should never give this group a reason to make fun of you because we will take FULL advantage!

6. I won a prize! I feel kind of like the Dad on "A Christmas Story", except my prize isn't a leg lamp. I listen to Warm 98 in the car throughout the holiday season (they play Christmas music 24/7). On the morning show last week, they had a little trivia question about the Bengals (I think we all know that I'm a bit of a Bengals fan) and I entered it via email. Yesterday, as I was pulling into work, they announced my name as the winner! Yay me! So excited, I'm picking up my prize this afternoon-a $50 gift card to Montgomery Inn and a tabletop cornhole set. Sweet! I'm also entered into the grand prize-a new recliner and a tailgate party for 10-how awesome would that be?

7. It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here yesterday morning. We got our first measurable snow of the season-which promptly melted. It was pretty for an hour or so.

8. Jarron has been saving up his money for awhile now (he wanted a hot tub-hee!). This weekend he saw a basketball game like you'd see at Chuck E Cheese for $99 and decided that is what he'd spend his money on. I'll be honest for $99, I thought it would be a small two player hoop thing-I was SO wrong. This thing is HUGE, like something you'd see at Dave & Busters. Chuck and the boys spent 3 hours putting it together last night. I have a feeling the boys will be spending hours with this thing.

Imagine this thing in your basement-not small at all!

9. So, I'm doing this couch potato to 5K training program that can be found HERE. I was totally going to ignore the whole start off at three days a week thing, and then I tried to get out of bed this morning, and I was pretty sure my legs were going to fall off. It hurts to walk, shuffle, MOVE. So yeah, I guess they knew what they were talking about with the 3 days a week thing. But I'm determined to be back out tomorrow morning. I actually really enjoyed my walk/run Monday-it was so peaceful and the snow was barely coming down-so pretty. But the pain I'm feeling now-NOT pretty. At all.

10. We're getting our tree this weekend. I wanted to go to The Big Tree Plantation in Morrow. They have real reindeers, an elaborate train set and all sorts of fun things to do. No one else in the famly wants to go. Even the boys voted against me, so I guess we'll be going to the lot up the street. I guess the fun part for the boys is just decorating the tree. (They have promised me that we can go to Festival of Lights at the zoo this year-so that sort of makes up for it).

What Happens When Boys Get Bored?

2009-11-28T15:19:00.000-05:00

It is on!

Ten on Tuesday

2009-11-24T10:48:00.000-05:00

1. Let's just ignore the fact that I haven't updated the blog in awhile, shall we? I haven't really taken very many pictures lately either! I'm looking forward to some down time after Thanksgiving to regroup and get organized!

2. I did snap a few pictures of the boys at their Upward awards for Flag Football. The church that held the award ceremony was the biggest I have ever seen. The kids had a great time and Moose was generally well behaved. He was quiet as a mouse until someone would start praying then he'd either start humming or saying "Da!" really loud.

Ever spent much time with a bunch of 8 and 9 year old boys? Because this is how they typically display their excitement. I was just grateful they let me take a picture. That rarely happens these days.

3. I am really blessed to work for a company that not only believes in giving back to our community but encourages it. I was able to help out at a Habitat for Humanity house last week. The community we were building in wasn't the greatest-I couldn't help but think about how lucky we are and how much we have. It was some hard work (shoveling rocks; mudding, sanding, and painting walls; I even got to use power tools!) but it was so rewarding.

4. We've all been pretty sick in the last week-nasty stomach virus. But Jackson got things the worst. Not only did he get a stomach virus but he also got a horrible ear infection and his ear drum burst (again!). I'm happy to report he is feeling much better already but I got to make yet another visit to Urgent Care. I'm pretty sure they know us by name there now. Honestly.

5. Because he wasn't feeling well, he was pretty cranky Sunday and got really mad when I threw his milkshake away (he had left it on the counter when he took a nap). I told him his dad would get him a new one when he went out later. He didn't believe me and said, "You are a liar, you lied, one, two, three, four times! and I don't believe you!" He then followed up with, "And you are always in my business-why are you always in my business?" Hee. He was just absolutely miserable and in pain so he got a pass. (Trust me-our kids normally would never talk to us like that!) Rather than be upset I just had to laugh-it was such a ridiculous thing to say.

6. Jarron and Bryce had a sleep over at their friend Logan's house this weekend. Bryce talked all weekend about how he couldn't wait to try Logan's Mom's brownies. When I asked him the next morning how they tasted he said, "Well, the brownie itself was good but I made the mistake of putting ice cream and hot caramel on top-so it got all ice creamy and yucky. That's the last time I give in to peer pressure!" :) Let's hope so.

7. Jarron also had his share of witty remarks. At one point one of the boys at the party said, "My great-grandma is 91!" And Jarron said, "Mine's 99. When she doesn't listen to me, I just give her a poke. That really works with the seniors!"

8. I'm pretty sure Chuck sabotaged our TV so he could get a new one. A couple of weeks ago he was talking about how great the new plasmas are and how affordable they are getting. Low and behold, a day or two later our TV breaks, just stops working and we are forced to buy a new one. Coincidence? I think not.

9. I really, really want to go see 2012. I love cheesy disaster movies. LOVE THEM! I think my obsession with them started with "Twister", my all time favorite and grand-daddy of all natural disaster movies. Chuck, being the awesome husband that he is, finds the TV disaster movies when they are on and lets me know about them. He will even sit and watch them with me. You know a man loves you when he's willing to sit through "Earthquake in New York! The Big Tremblor!"

10. The new West Chester Library opened last week, I might need to make a little trip over there tonight for some reading material for the drive to Kentucky this weekend. I {heart} libraries! All of those books lined up all nice and neat, just waiting to be read...pure bliss. I am fully aware of how nerdy that sounds.