Friday, October 31, 2008

One of THOSE Days!

Have you had one of those days where you are constantly thinking it can't get any worse? We did this past week only it did not stop at one day. It continued for FOUR DAYS!! I love my four inspiring, creative, handsome boys tremendously but there are times when I think they plot in their bedroom at night to see how far they can push the line before mommy is ready to run screaming from the house! We in one weekend managed to ruin the play pen, (The mesh was cut with scissors) draw on the walls on three different occasions by two different children (Now mind you we are a marker free house, or so I thought), climbed on top of the counter and got into the potty training treats in the upper cabinets, woke up the baby more times than I can count, soap was put in the morning coffee, had two dirty diapers taken off and lying on the floor so that we could smear them around, escaped outside front and back stark naked, snuck candy/ junk food, did not complete one chore and that is all I can remember at this point. Thankfully most of it has faded from my mind. I relearned that praying for patience is beyond important and is absolutely vital. I have found that the more I try to do it all on my own and refuse to lean on the Lord or accept help from my husband the quicker I feel like screaming. I also was reminded that helping out does not mean on my terms or my way. On the plus side, Brad and I did learn how to tag team our children more efficiently than ever before!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Lil Chef

We might have a new little one in the running for chef in this house.




He "cooked" tortilla chips for Daddy and Mommy and then gave them to us. We might have to work on that part a little since he just used his hand. His hands, trust me, yuck!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

The color Pink

In our house, pink and purple are colors which are rarely seen. When we do see these colors, it usually means someone inadvertently left something here. Today, however, not only was I able to view and sort through clothing with such outlandish coloring, I was able to buy a pink outfit. Before you ask this, this strangely tinted piece of clothing is not for one of my children. (Ha, like I could make them wear pink; I cannot even make them go down the girl aisle in Wal-Mart!!) This foreign item is laying on one of our chairs and unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) will not stay here for long but the sight of such an exotic color was momentous enough to make comment on. I almost included a picture of this unfamiliar and unusual shade. Maggie had her baby and you guessed it. She was blessed with a girl. Now as much as my boys despise "girl" things they liked the outfit and were excited about being able to give the new baby girl a gift. See, there is hope for these young boys. One day we might even be able to make it down the girl aisle!

Art?

We are members of a public charter school. As other members know there are a number of benefits going through a charter i.e. activities, funds, help from a credential teacher, etc. Obviously, with benefits comes drawbacks. One of those drawbacks, is having to state guidelines (i.e. the rules. I knew teaching the kids to follow the rules would come in handy one day) all of the guidelines not just the ones you like (sigh). This is being said because one of the afore mentioned "rules" is accomplishing Fine Arts. Now I am not a huge fan of the Arts. (Gasp) How dare I day such a thing? Now let me clarify before I start getting hate mail :), I am not against them in any way I just believe the Arts are for enjoyment and should not be a requirement. Since they are, does this qualify?


Don't mind the fact that he looks like he is in pain. He was really quite excited about his "volcano." He did have help from some very imaginative friends. (Yes, they were girls.) The boys talked about how the volcano was going to erupt and kill a bunch of people the girls decorated the volcano to make it look "pretty." Now why a volcano is supposed to look pretty is beyond me but it did make it look like something besides just a lump of dirt! If I only had the baking soda in the house, I could have shown them how the volcano could have erupted and turn it into a science project. Now that would have been fun!!

Swim Lessons

The kids were enrolled in swim lessons this year. They loved them. Here are a few pictures of their last day:

Jeremiah is now almost swimming on his own.



While Erik knew how to swim on his own, these classes improved his technique to a whole new level. Erik and Jeremiah would also like to add in a "Thank you very much for the wonderful birthday present to PaPa and Mamma."

Shaving Cream

It's good stuff! Besides its actual purpose it is a very good cleaning agent, (the anti-bacterial kind can disinfect), and a GREAT Art project! Here are some recent pictures to show you how much fun it can be:
We did have friends over. Trust me I do not make my boys wear pink dresses. As you can also see the shaving cream did not stay on the table for long.


You can also put food coloring in it to give a lesson on primary and secondary colors. Be careful though it can stain! (We were a little nervous about having colored faces.)

Thankfully it came out. Otherwise there would be a picture right here of their stained faces!