FAMILY PARTY

So, I didn't get the greatest pictures from this party....I wasn't there for the entire thing, I left to go to evening church that night, but the few that I did get were not the greatest. Hannah was purple--she didn't care what she was as long as she was purple. Nora was little red riding hood, and Emma a rag doll, Ben was Harry Potter, Brielle a princess, Ariel a fairy for some of the night and the other part a half-naked wild child---for anyone that knows her would understand that she can only seem to wear clothes for a limited amount of time, Indiana was the cricket guy. Oh, yeah---Ya Ya was there as well and dressed up like a princess. The kids had fun---Auntie Mandy had lots of games planned for them....and they ate a lot of candy but thankfully they were able to run off a lot of the sugar before we headed home.

Toothpaste---Pumpkin guts

So even though Kevin drove off with my van keys and I couldn't take them to the pumpkin lighting, I thought that we would carve our contest pumpkin anyway. "Yiiippeee", the girls were SO excited. They get their aprons on and sit down at the table outside---they can't wait to help. I sketch the face, cut off the top and say, "Okay, lets clean it out!" You would think I told them it was time for bed or something---Look at their faces. For real--look at their faces. I thought to myself, they love to squish toothpaste between their fingers, drink water from the fish tank, eat salt by the handful, but they can't touch pumpkin goo? Last year they wouldn't either but they were so excited this year, I thought for sure this would be a fun activity, but I was wrong they wouldn't touch it.
What a mean mommy asking us to get our hands dirty....
Well, I am having fun. Emma took this picture---this was the first time she has ever used a camera and she did really well, I was impressed. (below)Here he is...(below) He has his hands on his cheeks like he is in shock. The girls did like this part, of course.

Jumping in the leaves

Another beautiful fall day! It was a bit cold, but after running around a bit we warmed up. Emma, Hannah and I jumped in the leaves while Nora sat watching with a bad attitude. Nora was woken up this morning at 4:30 by the sound of the coffee maker going off downstairs. It was whole beans so the grinding sounded like bees---Yes, she thought she was being attacked by bees and screamed and screamed. I explained it to her and sat with her for a while and then every 10 min she would scream again saying she thought there were bees in her bed. Eventually around 5:30 I gave up trying to get her to sleep and cuddled with her in my own bed. So, I missed my devotions, which made for a tough morning---and then of course dealing with Nora's being SO tired didn't help. I also had plans to get my foodshopping down today, which I desperately needed to do---because I didn't have my van Mon or Tues and Kevin has worked late EVERY NIGHT---the fridge is empty....Today was the big day, until Kevin called me and told me that he accidentally took my van keys with him to Bristol---BLAHHHH---was not too excited about that because when he is in Bristol he doesn't get home till 8 or so and then tonight he had to do something else which would bring him in around 9, maybe...and tonight was our town pumpkin lighting which I had planned to bring the girls to. All our plans were set aside today. The girls didn't seem to notice though---and it was nice having another day at home with them.


In the picture above I am climbing the tree---the girls get so nervous for me, it is funny.

The crazy fish tank

So, yes , this is one of our fish tanks. You will find strange things floating around in here, for example: a toy bike, cup, plastic wrapper, plastic fish from a game, Mr. Potato head arm and this is after I cleaned out most of it. There were small pumpkins, a large plastic bag, wooden blocks, legos, grapes, wipes....those poor fish. I am getting ready to really clean it out so I thought I would take a picture to be able to remember years from now, how interesting life was and how just looking into our fish tank would say it all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

So, thanks to all...for making my birthday special. I usually dread this day for many reasons, but today was a nice day. Kevin took me out on Sunday for a b-day date and it was great, and because of that, it felt like my b-day already passed, so I wasn't expecting much. The girls made me cards and I ended up visiting with my mother. My mom gave me a good morning--fed me some good food and my phone rang constantly. I got a call from my cousin Melissa, which it is also her 28th b-day as well, we are only 20 min apart---I am older. I once use to brag about that but not anymore. Then my brothers---Ben, Chris and Danny called from their job on speaker phone and sang to me--it was awesome and I will save the message forever. Then I got a call from my brother in CA and that was great because I never get to talk to him. Then my sister shell and later on my sister bree. My friends Robin, Correne, and Corinne called. I got a letter from Heather, Sharla, grandma, and kev's mom and then 3 other calls that were not related to my b-day but from people that I never hear from. It made my day so special that so many people thought of me today and I am so thankful to have you all in my life. Thank you.

"See my hat?" Nora with a tortilla on her head at dinner.

Emma and her knots

So, this is what Emma was doing while her two little sisters were destroying. Emma loves to tie knots. She finds all sorts of ropes around the house and is constantly tying things up. I usually have to ask her to come untie the many animals all over the kitchen chairs and I even caught her tying ropes around H & N's necks, pretending they were dogs---we had to put a quick stop on that one. It is cute though, I love watching her play---very creative.

Doesn't this just say it all...

Yes, doesn't it...I really thought maybe those days were over. I locked up the original toothpaste, the lotion, the dental floss, the salt (for the humidifiers)---ya, I didn't tell you that story, the kid shampoo is empty--didn't tell you that one either. They have been spanked enough, have done work to make up for wasted products, I haven't been leaving them alone for more than 3 min because that seems to be the limit, but again they found some toothpaste. Not sure where they found it but it was a little travel sized one and it was a mess. Crest is a lot easier to clean up. So, if the picture above doesn't make much sense---it is a toothpaste handprint I found on the wall on my way up the stairs where I found what is below.
So, this can't be good for them. I don't know how much of this stuff they are actually eating. This was another 2 min after waking up from a nap. They are fast....never knew kids, their age, could work so quietly and so quickly.

Beautiful Fall days

Beautiful fall day. Oh, the crunch of the leaves under our feet and the feel of the cold air on our faces....I love this weather!! So, I was able to be home for two days in a row. My van needed brake work and we dropped it off on Sunday night and we were not able to get it till Tuesday night. It was nice being home....all my library books are late, and I am in desperate need of a foodshop, but having two days to cuddle the girls and read, read, read to them was worth it. Good news is that they are keeping their room clean! Finally....they cleaned up after themselves for two days in a row--without needing any help, so I let them each pick out one toy from my room and they loved that, it was like shopping. So, now I am going to give them a few days and see if they can keep with with cleaning up with the toys they picked and then I will give them a bit more. We are going to take it slow.

Early this morning when Kevin and I were still in bed. I heard Hannah and Nora get up out of bed and they went right into the bathroom and into the bathroom cabinet. Can you believe that?! I couldn't...They wake up out of a sound sleep and the first thing that comes to mind is---"What can I get into now?" and I think Nora got up first and woke up Hannah to go with her, so they are working as a team. Kevin got up and scared both of them, it was kinda funny.

In the closet

Goof balls, hiding in the closet. They really don't walk around all day half naked. They just love to take all their clothes off and change into 5 or 6 different outfits a day and this was where I found they when they woke up from their nap. Silly things, Hannah and Nora don't look anything alike, huh?

Cinderella

Another morning in the bathroom. When will I learn? Well, I was just starting to make breakfast and Emma asked if she could bring up this new animal book we bought and read it to Hannah and Nora....so, I told her that would be fine and I would call them down when breakfast was finished. Well, 7 min later, I noticed many giggles that didn't seem related to looking at a book so I ran up to check it out and they had the lotion and toothpaste all over their table in their room and they were, of course, covered in it as well. So, we had a talk about this whole, 'getting into things' issue and decided to put them to work to cover the cost of what they wasted. (and of course, not being trusted to be alone, until they can prove otherwise)

So, Cinderella Cinderella....Yes, all three of them, still in their PJ's, set to work scrubbing my kitchen floor, first thing in the morning. So after getting them set with their buckets I ran upstairs, full speed, to get dressed. Only minutes later returning to find them in the bathroom dipping their towels in the toilet and washing the walls, floors and counters. I had to laugh at that one---they were really trying to clean. So, I explained how disgusting that is---gave them new towels and directed them back to the kitchen, so I could clean the bathroom--again. They did a great job and were tired from the work. Hope it sticks because I really enjoy being able to let them play in their room alone without getting into everything.

RAIN

So as you can see in my profile...I LOVE RAIN. I really do---I love to be out in it, I love to be in during it, I love listening to it in the middle of the night when I am trying to sleep, I love watching it, well you get the point. I love walking out in it and how quiet everything is except for the sound of the rain falling, the smells that are in the air and the entire experience. The rain also reminds me of God's grace and how He pours it all over me---I don't deserve such love. Well, rain in the fall is just beautiful...I was out checking the mail and had to run back and get my camera to capture the beauty of the colorful leaves floating in the water.

The amazing artist

I have just been amazed with what an artist our amazing God is. The colors and the feel of fall just melts my heart. I wish that I could capture the entire experience and bottle it up to taste whenever I feel down. What an awesome gift God gives us---His creation.

TOOTHPASTE

Yes, you heard me right, toothpaste. This was another 'nap time incident'. Yes, it must have been fun and they smelt very nice, but the mess, oh the mess and the waste of all that toothpaste, dental floss, etc....I need to start locking them in their bedroom but that just ruins my potty training a bit.

Dental floss

So, I guess it is time to put the dental floss in the locked up bathroom cabinet. I never thought that would be something that I would have to lock up, but Hannah is proving me wrong. Maybe I just need to stop buying the mint floss. For those who are confused you need to read below under the story of Nora eating the b-day candle and that will fully explain our issue with dental floss.

Here we go again

Okay, so this morning there was a small pile of books on the floor.... so, I told the girls that while I was cleaning up from breakfast-- they needed to go clean up their books. Well, when I finished cleaning up from breakfast, maybe 20 min later--this is what I walked into. They emptied out two shelves of books! I really thought that getting rid of ALL of their toys would take care of major room disasters but also that they may have learned their lesson, apparently not. They are currently still sitting in a pile of books upstairs. Hmmm, what to do now? Well, this does give me plenty of desk time to take care of Kev's business stuff, but not how I planned to spend our day home.

The MESSY Room

This has been a battle with my girls, cleaning up when they are finished playing. I usually have to walk them through the cleaning process but just recently I realized they are 'playing me'. Last night I told them I would reward them if they could clean up the living room (something I never reward for but it was a test) well they cleaned quickly and correctly without me having them give them any direction. I now know they can do it alone. This morning when they woke up, I told them they could not leave their room until it was clean and if they couldn't get it clean by nap time there would be consequences. I did feed them breakfast at their little table and set up buckets and gave them a bit of help to start out and then I left.


A few hours later this is what the room looked like, it was worse! They dumped everything out that I did help them clean and made more of a mess. So, they ate lunch in their room as well.
Well, nap time came--they have been up in their room for almost 5 hours now with no progress and I did go in there many times and sit with them and walk them through the process but time was up, SO......


















So, I cleaned out their room. Literally, I cleaned out the entire room. I walked in there with trash bags and loaded everything up. Emma said, "mommy, we will clean our room next time"....I took out every toy. I did leave the books because that would be way too much work. The toys were moved to my room---as you can see below and now my room is the messy one.

Beautiful colors

Just a picture of the beautiful colors for you shell, I will get some others to you soon.

This is the way that Daddy plays....

Yes, this is the way that Daddy plays--sometimes. The girls want to play house and they like to cover him up--with layers of blankets and pillows and he is in HEAVEN when this is the type of playtime they want, as you can tell, he is fast asleep.

Does it really taste that good?

So, I am sure you can't see what is in Nora's mouth, so I will explain. After Kevin blew out his candles he let the girls lick the bottom of the candles and we just assumed that they would lick and put the candle down to enjoy their cake. Well we assumed correctly for Hannah and Emma but for sweet Nora, oh sweet Nora, in her mouth is a string that was once inside a candle. Yes, she ate the entire candle. Hmmm.....
Since I am on the subject of eating things, a few days ago, when I thought the girls were napping, I found them (Hannah and Nora) in the bathroom eating dental floss. You may ask how that is possible and I thought the same thing as I was pulling and pulling and pulling the string out of Hannah---yes, she was gagging during the process, and when I got to the bottom it was 'caked' in saliva---not sure where in her body that thing was but it looked like it was beginning to be digested. Oh the endless stories of the things these girls eat.

Getting Older

So Kevin just turned 31 and I FEEL SO OLD. Last year was a tough year, knowing I was married to a 30 year old, it just made me look bad, and now it is just a downward spiral. For real, it doesn't bother me that much, but I just like to give Kevin a hard time about it and he likes to tease me about it as well. I pluck my white hairs at first sight and he lets his grow like 3 inches, so he can point them out to me, to bother me. The worst part is that these 3 inch hairs are growing on his chin and he won't pluck them and he hasn't shaved. I have been threatning to pluck them in his sleep but maybe I will just snip them---he would never wake up but then if he did and I was standing over him with a pair of scissors, that may be kind of dangerous. Don't ya think?!