Wayside Stories From A Wayside Family

Fall Family Fun Day

2010-10-29T11:00:00.002-05:00

I love having a large family, but one of the drawbacks is that we don’t often get to go do fun things as a family that cost money. We do a pretty good job of finding free stuff to do, but on occasion we are able to get out to some place special.
A couple weeks ago, I got a really great deal from Groupon for the local corn maze. Paul didn’t have to work that Saturday so we were able to just go and spend as much time as the littles would allow before turning into growling, screaming, beasties.
It was pretty fun. It was kind of small, yet just big enough to keep everyone from being bored. One note…corn maze + little children= much anxiety!! The littles did NOT care for the corn maze much. Silly Mommy made a comment about what if we get lost and have to stay there all night…NOT very funny in small child standards…lesson learned ")

They had a couple of inflatables. One for the little boys, a much bigger one for the girls, and then there was this jumpy deal that the big kids wanted to do…

I really thought Dai would be able to do some tricks because he really rocks it on a regular trampoline, but he just wasn’t able to pull it off. When I asked him why he didn’t do any flips, he replied “I’m too fluffy.” Haha!

Rylenn was flipping like a crazy lady. She even got in a double right at the end.

After everyone got to do their “ride” of choice we headed over to this GINORMOUS corn pit. It was really fun to play in. The only problem was that some of that corn went into places it shouldn’t!

Rylenn buried Sophie up to her neck.

Not sure if you can see it, but if you look closely, you can the last of the corn kernels going down Rylenn’s shirt. Haha!

Got some corn in places you shouldn’t, Bud?

So while playing, I see some people pointing and laughing…I looked in the direction they were pointing only to find dear Monkey with his pants down around his ankles trying to get the corn out of his diaper. Yes, I took a picture before I went over to pull his pants back up.

Audri corn surfing

Ummm…I would NOT except any corn this kid tries to give you!

Here’s a classic shot I caught as we were getting ready to move on to the next area. LOL…The funnier thing is, there was a lady on the other side of Paul that was diggin’ in her pants, too! I wanted soooo badly to snap a picture quick, but I chickened out. This place was open for a couple months, I wonder how much of that corn was in places it should not have been!
After the corn pit, we moved on to the petting zoo portion. There wasn’t a lot of animals, but those critters had enough personality to fill a zoo! Especially one of the calves and this very sassy llama.

This llama was kind of a turd. It almost knocked me over once when I was trying to catch a picture of it.

Ha! This cow was hilarious. This isn’t a very good picture, but if you look, you can see a BIG bunch of saggy baggy skin on it’s neck. When it moved over Elijah, for just a second, that big bag of skin was sitting on top of Elijah’s head. I almost fell over laughing.

This is the same cow soon after thinking I had some food, almost plowing over Audri!
They had little cups of food to feed the animals. You would think these animals hadn’t been feed in days by the way they were acting!

Dailan was so gentle brushing the animals.

After the animals, everyone but Paul and Dailan went down the big burlap sack slide. Then we checked out some pumpkins and let the kids play on a big playset before heading home. It was a great day with only minor meltdowns. Not getting to do activities that cost money very often just makes them really appreciate it even more when we do.

It's Been A Long Time!

2010-07-09T12:11:00.000-05:00

Gosh, it looks like my last post was two years ago... Wow, does time fly. I have recently gotten very involved in photography. I am still sewing when I have time, but I think my main passion at the momement is photography. Soooo, since I already have this set up, I think I will be using this as my all around, family, photography, and sewing blog. I would like to spruce my layout up a bit, but I have forgotten how in the last two years. HA HA...so I will have to find some time to figure that one out soon. I hope you enjoy it and I hope that it doesn't take me another two years to start posting!!

Lukey Learns To Drive

2008-07-23T13:03:00.009-05:00

We have come to realize our little Lukester (18m) has quite a liking for anything with wheels. One might say even a borderline obsession. With that in mind, I would like to present to you what I saw this morning when I went to check on the kids in the back yard.

(The beginning is a bit choppy and I couldn't edit my fat mouth out of it, but it gets better :)

Phrases heard recently at our house

2008-07-21T13:31:00.001-05:00

The dinner table is not a playground, guys!
Don't you dare drink out of that planter like a doggy!
I mean business lady!
Mommy watch what I can do!
She's copying me!
Please don't drive the motorcycle on your brother's head.
Hey guys, let's tape your noses up with scotch tape like little piggies and take pictures!

Of course, we didn't leave the tape on for very long, for fear that their noses would stay that way!!! (;P)

Angels left the hose running & the girls' stage debut

2008-07-19T16:55:00.004-05:00

Today it has been really strange weather. The was a tornado about 20 miles from here. The sirens went off three times, but there was barely even a sprinkle. The sirens stopped sometime ago, but it is now raining in sheets. There is standing water everywhere, which I suppose isn't so bad since much of our grass is a not so lovely khaki color. Anyway, I was in the kitchen fixing the 7,643rd bottle I have made in my lifetime when Sophie came up to me and asked if the Angels were using the hose again. LOL! I said something to that effect last summer I think. Rain is when the angels forget to turn off the hose and the thunder is when they are trying to carry too many watermelons or other crops and drop some because their hands are so full. I know, that's the best I could come up with at the time. Gimme a break, I've been sleep deprived for the last 5 years straight!

I thought it was very cute how matter-of-factly she asked and quickly assumed it was true. It also reinforces the fact that our little ones are listening to our every words. Whether they are right or wrong, they listen and eventually they will repeat them.

The girls' stage debut

My good friend and I have been taking our kids to different shows that the county libraries put on during the summer. This week was called Wendy's Wiggle Jiggle and Jam. Can I get ah Whoop! Whoop!

The lady sings and plays guitar and has the little ones taking turns upstage being involved. Sophie and her friend got to go up first and shake their maracas. Audri ended up going last when everyone who hadn't gotten picked yet got to go up. The poor thing. She was a bit nervous to say the least. Everyone was just wagglin' their little fingers away, but not Audri. She was playing the violin on her face! Watch and see.

Elijah's second photo shoot

2008-07-16T16:17:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I think my babies are cute, what can I say. I was trying my new camera out with Elijah sitting on a big piece of black fabric in his baby papasan chair. I think they turned out pretty well for me not knowing what the heck I am doing. I edited them with photobucket. I sent some to my mom through Walgreens 1 hour photo and the lady behind the counter made one shot into a christmas card just to show mom how nice it looked. Anywho....

Poppies, Hollyhocks and Worms Oh MY!

2008-07-16T16:06:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures I took in Indiana with my new camera and some with my old camera. I think they turned out pretty good.

Hollyhocks

Marigolds

Poppies

Purple things with spider

Catoppa (sp?) worm and tree

Campfire

Cute baby with pretty blue eyes

Annual Indiana Vacation

2008-07-16T15:45:00.003-05:00

SOOO, today I wanted to do anything besides clean the house, do laundry, you get the point. I waaass going to sew a pillowcase dress for the girl's, but someone (I won't name names) about 2 1/2 ft tall, bald, with big ol' spongebob teeth, broke my iron! So here I am finally updating my blog.

Our day had already been long after attending a surprise party for Paul's grandma's 88th birthday. That was lots of fun, but was a fairly long day in itself. After that, we went home, loaded our stuff up, and told Sophie that we would be leaving "soon" about 50 times during the two hours it took to get everything ready. Finally, around 7 P.M. we took off. It went fairly well actually. We stopped about 2 hours in for pee breaks and then stopped again in another two hours for a sanity break as Luke had tired of seat and was in no uncertain terms letting us know loud and clear. We let them run around for a bit and shake off their stink and headed out again. Luckily everyone fell asleep around midnight and pretty much slept through until we arrived around 5 something A.M. The last three hour leg of the trip I spent in the back with the baby dozing off about every fifteen minutes or so and would wake up to feeling the car jerk or that loud rumbling sound when you get to far off the road. "You ok, Paul?" I'd ask. "Go back to sleep because when I get there I am going straight to bed!!" he'd ever so politely with a smile on his face, reply. Ok I'm embellishing ;P

"STOP TOUCHING ME! SHE'S COPYING ME! DON'T LOOK AT ME! SOMEONE FAAAARRRTTTEEDD!"

We arrived safely, and Paul did go immediately to bed. Luckily, my sweet and thoughtful mama took the day off so she could help watch the kids.

We spent the first couple of days just hanging out, bouncing back and forth between Mom and Dad's. The kids really enjoyed swimming in mom's pool.

Dailan especially enjoyed the pool. I think he pretty much lived in it when he was there. Hopefully, he got out to pee! Ick!

The other excitement at Mom's was the mini-bike. Boy oh boy, the mini-bike. I think Lukey realized a need for speed. You could hardly drag that boy off the thing, and he didn't not appreciate the fine art of taking turns either. He spent the other kids' turns chasing after them crying his little broken-hearted eyes out.

(Notice Lukey crying in the background) Dailan was able to try riding it by himself for the first time this year. I think this picture really just explains itself. ( No kids or trailers were hurt in the shooting of this picture, thank goodness!)

They also had a tandem bike that Rylenn and my step brother tried out as well as Paul and Sophie.

If you look closely in the first picture, Sophie is holding a screaming Lukey from chasing after the mini-bike. LOL

We spent most of the 4th of July at my Dad's. There are a couple of traditions we have there for the fourth since we are usually there then. The first one is "Let's give the kids markers and let them draw on Grandpa's belly!" Yes, you read that right. My dad went inside to find a "magic marker" and when he came out I promptly informed him he was holding a PERMENANT Sharpie! He said it would wash off in a couple days so who am I to argue. It's his belly!

This is Grandpa getting it started for them with a happy face, and my kids looking at in disbelief ("we are being ALLOWED to do this?")

Here they are drawing. I think Lukey sticking a dead firecracker in his belly button.

Here's the finished product. Grandpa, don't you smoking is bad for your health!

The other tradition is a pop can water cannon. It's great. Stick a firecracker in half of a soda can, sit it in a bowl of water, light 'er up and watch the can shoot into the air. Oh yes, hours of fun!

We were lucky enough to have Grandma Susan come and visit with us. We hadn't seen her in a couple years so it was really great to be able to see her again.

Jan, Grandma and kids

Dad and Jan were so thoughtful and were able to get me a reallly nice digital camera to replace the one that was lost. It had a fireworks setting on it so I was able to try it out right away that night. Look at these. I think they are awesome. Almost as awesome as Dad and Jan getting me that camera ;)

It was a great night. Rylenn's dad and stepmom and there lil' guy along with some other family were there with us. The kids had a blast as it should be.

The day before leaving we spent out at my Mom's. That was a fairly eventful day as well. Mom and Mark decided to have the kids make stepping stones with their foot prints and the date to put in there gorgeous rock/tree garden area they made. They turned out pretty cute.

Then Grandma and Grandpa Ledford came. We only see them this one time a year so it's always something we really look forward to. It was really nice of them to drive to see us at mom's because it would have taken two vehicles to get everyone to them. Of course, Grandpa brought delicious already chilled watermelon.

After they left, Elijah barfed on my mom. My stepdad Mark tried to be helpful and hose the puke off of her. Somehow, I got the impression she didn't appreciate it.

At lunch, Luke was stuffing black olives in his mouth as Mom and I were talking. He went to give my mom one and soon after putting it in her mouth realized Lukey had already chewed it for her!!! LOL. GROSS!

Apparently, by the look on Luke's face it was serious olive business!

Finally, our trip had to come to an end. We packed up our stuff that morning. I admit it, I was really grouchy. Was it Great Grandma Jen that thought every ailment/situation could be cured with an enema? Yikes. I chilled out eventually. We said our goodbyes with both my mom and dad and hit the road. I was a little leery about traveling with the four little ones during the day, but it went fairly well. We stopped about halfway to eat a picnic type lunch.

I was trying out my new camera on the way home and here are some shots from the car.

Audri was informing me that someone/thing stunk.

Luke occupied himself for sometime by putting his hand in the slinky and practiced his drama skills by pretending he couldn't get it out. He's quite the Drama King.

About three hours or so left in the trip we stopped at a rest stop, peed, changed diapers, and let the kids run through the sprinklers. They also had some sort of look out trail so Paul carried Luke and I wrapped Elijah up in his wrappy deal and took a quick hike. The view wasn't as awesome as I had hoped and the mosquitoes were more than I had hoped, but it was nice to stretch our legs anyway.

We made it home safely and no worse for the wear. All in all it was a really good trip. No drama, no catastrophes, great weather, it was nice. Oh, and best of all, NOOO speeding tickets! I think this makes a two year ticket-free streak! Hooray Paul!

Here are some random vacation pictures for your viewing pleasure!

I forgot one last thing. Before we left, we lined up the kiddies behind there stones for a neat shot. Unfortunately we have so many children that the shot was really wide and couldn't get very close, but it still turned out pretty neat.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our trip as much as we enjoyed taking it!

Why did God create spiders?

2008-05-30T14:08:00.002-05:00

My sanctuary has been breeched!!!

Having six children in a 4 bedroom home can be, let's say, trying at times. Although, I am very thankful for the house we do have, it can be hard to find a spot not occupied by children. My only semi-private place for mental repose is the loo. Semi-private meaning I usually spend the first couple minutes in there hollering "can't it wait, I'm going potty?" or "C'mon guys, I'll be out in a minute." You wouldn't believe the conversations they try to have with me while I am in the shower! Anyway, that's the best I get for privacy and it's fine with me. Until this morning around 5 A.M.

I had just gotten the baby fed and back to sleep, and ran (walked clumsily with one eye open) to the potty before laying back down for 5 min before having to tend to whoever wakes up next. There I was half asleep minding my business or taking care of business, however you want to look at it : ) when I look down with my one functioning eye and see this monster spider on my shirt barreling towards my face!!!!! For cryin' out loud that is just wrong, especially at 5 in the stinkin' morning!!! It was not just a small spider that I am exaggerating on its size. It was stinkin' HUGE!! It was one of those big brown spiders, not a wolf spider but looked like a recluse or something and it also looked like it wanted to eat my face!! I of course, jumped up like a crazy woman and slapped my chest like an equally crazy gorilla trying to save myself from this beast. I ended up screaming and running out of the bathroom in just my shirt which I flipped, slapped at and debated taking off, but then I would be naked, and I was expecting someone to hear my scream and come to my rescue (which never happened.)

I peeked around the corner to check myself in the mirror for the face eating beast after thoroughly slapping myself about my head and chest. I took a deep breath collected myself, quickly grabbed my underpants and gave them a good shake and opted for a new pair of shorts just in case it was hiding in a pocket or something.

I then was hit with a terrible sting of reality. My sanctuary had been breeched. How can I relax with the possibility of that terrible monster coming back for a second round! I didn't see where it went and it's highly likely it's laying in wait for the next attack. I feel like I have suffered the loss of a good friend. The couple times I needed to go in there I have carefully and thoroughly checked any potential hiding places for the possibility of future attacks. It's just not the same. A bathroom should be a place of peace and tranquility, not the home of attacking spiders so big they make women, children and men of weak constitutions run for their very lives!

Today is a sad day folks, but let us always try and remember the good times.

Elijah's First Photo Shoot

2008-05-29T14:29:00.003-05:00

"Who's the cutest baby monkey ever?? "

"Oh, get out! It's me you say?"

"They love me...they really love me...I'd like to thank the Academy..."

" Oh, is this diaper ever giving me a wedgie"

"Wha? I'm just scratching!"

"They do WHAT during a circumcision?!"

Was Today Really Necessary????

2008-05-29T13:53:00.002-05:00

Was today really necessary? That is what I was asking myself last night, actually throughout the whole day. It started out fairly normal. I didn't get any sleep, just like every other night. Lukey woke up early as I was feeding the baby. I laid him down on the bed with the girls hoping he'd go back to sleep. When I finished feeding the baby I laid beside him hoping to coax him back to sleep. (yea right) Annnyywhhooo, it played out this way. I dozed off, somewhere during, I seem to remember Audri getting up, but not really. I have faint snipets of hearing her and Luke giggling and carrying on. I realized at some point that I have dozed off and the lil' ones might be awake. I then immediately realized that I smelled a very strong odor of finger nail polish. AHHHHHHHH!!!! Surely not! Oh, yes, they did! Apparently, Audri had tried to paint her fingernails and toenails, as well as Lukey's. Unfortunately, he was wearing footed jammies and the polish just wouldn't soak through enough to pretty his toes. Did I mention they decided to also beautify the carpet in our living room that is NOT yet paid for???

Those of you that know us, know that I have had WAY more than my share of insanely ridiculous messes to clean up and I usually find a way to laugh it off. This time I cried. I may have even swore. I don't know, it's all a nightmarish blur. The baby was crying and hungry, lukey was still wet with paint on his jammies. Audri was "sooo hungreee." Everyone needed my attention right then and I could hear the paint drying on the carpet by the nanosecond.

I called my dear friend in a panic. It's not like she was busy homeschooling several children, getting lunch fixed, and getting ready to leave to pick up her oldest from a class. Yeesh, I'm sure she sits around eating bon bons all day like me. Being the saint that she is, she dropped everything to help with the kids while I took care of the carpet. She was awesome. Not only did she occupy and tend to the kids, she also cheered me on the whole time telling me how much better the carpet was looking and how it would come out and everything would be fine. (Did I mention the paint was an eye piercing turquoise on a lighter tan carpet???!!!) Being the saint that she is, even after I started making lunch for the kids and told her I had regained sanity and she could leave, she was on the floor picking and scrapping at the little pieces of paint still left on the floor. God bless her!

Eventually, after many tears, a bottle of peroxide, polish remover and Windex I got the majority of it out and life returned to normal...for a couple hours anyway......

What bright turquoise paint?? I don't see anything!?

So, that was the morning. Let's fast forward to supper time. I got the kitchen all cleaned up, all the dishes done (or so I thought) ,and was ready to start supper. It was going to be a slaved over meal of hotdogs, baked beans, and cornbread. Rylenn made the cornbread and I preheated the oven. I then went to bake the cornbread. I think I forgot to mention that in a piss poor effort to make my pile of dishes not look quite all of it's 3 feet height in the sink when my friend was coming over to help with the first catastrophe, I stuck some in the oven. Yes, I did it! I stuck dirty dishes in the oven and then I turned it on and baked them. Yes, it IS the second time I have done this! Yes, yes, yes! WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME! The house was engulfed in toxic burned plastic smoke. The strainer was reduced to a small round disc, there was a sippy, a plastic bowl, I don't even really know as much of it was burned beyond recognition. For the second time that day I had to call my poor husband at work with unpleasant news. I also suggested he pick up some fast food on the way home as we had been quarantined to the upstairs master bedroom, and I wouldn't be cooking any supper that night.

The infamous dishes cooling on the oven rack in the garage. The inside of the oven, and lastly the poor uncooked cornbread sitting next to the french fries we did eat.

Siggghhh, sadly, that was not the last hideous mess of the day. At some point that evening before bedtime, Audri decided she needed some milk. She then in all of her 2 1/2 years of wisdom decided that she was big enough to pour it, and how much easier it would be if she did it on the bottom step! I think Rylenn took pity on me (or was frightened this last episode might send me screaming over the edge) and cleaned it up right away. Thanks Ry, momma loves you!

That was my day, I think by far, the worst non-tragic day I have ever had... atleast until the next time... and again, I will go to bed asking myself, "was this day really necessary???"

Introducing.........Elijah James

2008-05-27T14:46:00.001-05:00

This is the other wonderful reason I have to restart my blog. This gorgeous (no, I am not biased!) lil' guy is the newest monkey in our family of a half dozen monkeys.

He is doing well, he eats great, sleeps well, and seems to have a very quite and laid back nature. I'm sure that will change as he gets older!

His brothers and sisters are adjusting fairly well. Certainly better than Audri did with Lukey. Lukey hasn't jerked Elijah's bottle out of his mouth yet like someone else I know, but won't mention the name of...cough..Audri..cough.

He has already christened the couch, my pants and hand, himself, as well as pooped on Lukey's pillow. That was just the first week!

Mom and dad are surviving as well as possible on their 12.98 consecutive minutes of sleep each night.

As I was not exaggerating about my lack of sleep I am going to wrap this post up now because I can feel the few functional brain cells I have left dwindling quickly. Naptime......is that you????!!!!!!

Technorati Tags: Elijah,poop,sleep,brain cells

The Memorial Day Jello Massacre

2008-05-26T14:31:00.004-05:00

WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC JELLO IMAGES!!

I have been away from my blog for sometime now. There were lots of reasons why that I won't get into on this post. I'm thinking I will do that in a different one to catch you all up on the excitement that is our lives. What I would like to share today is a story of Jello, clumsiness, and just plain silliness that made laugh so hard I snorted and immediately felt the urge to restart my blog. I can't say exactly how this Jello massacre occurred as I was upstairs being highly productive on the computer (I was on my third straight win at Tri-peaks solitaire). All at once I heard this terrible crash and Rylenn kind of wimper and whine. I wasn't super concerned since she is quite old enough to tell me if she's hurt. Being the top mom that I am, I hollered down while finishing my 5 card streak, "you ok?" No answer. "You OKAYYYY?" I hear a quite wimper. Then here comes Sophie running into the room saying "she's not ok, she's not ok." Of course, I am worried at this point and run down the hallway to the top of the stairs and this is what I find......

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Again, being the top mom that I am, instead of running to help her up, I ran to get my camera and caught these classic shots to remind her in the coming days of teenagerism what happens when you start to get too big for your briches (or when you lean back to far in your chair!)

....Yes, Rylenn, it IS the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life!!!!!! Love ya!

MOM

Fabulous!

2007-10-03T13:12:00.000-05:00

We had a bit of a scare last night. I was sitting on the couch when I thought I was smelling bleach. I asked Dailan if Audri was in the kitchen thinking maybe she figured out how to get underneath the sink and got a cleaner, but nope, all clear. I thought, I know I smell something, but everything seemed fine. Sure enough, a few minutes later Rylenn brought Audri upstairs to tell me that she had caught her spraying a bottle of the cleaner "Fabulous" (with bleach) in her hair! Of course, I rushed her to the downstairs bathroom (the upstairs is still unusable :() and had Paul hold her body while I frantically washed her hair in the sink. Oh, how traumatic for us all. I was freaking out not knowing how much she had used, where else she had gotten it on her, if it was burning her skin; and she was hysterical because I was forcing her head in this tiny little sink trying to save my baby! Alas, her hair was washed and she was fine. Well, after I changed her diaper, too. I don't know if she had pooped before all this, but I could certainly see how my behavior could have forced her to poop during! Yeesh!

I don't know why the bottle wasn't under the locked sink. For some reason it was downstairs on the very top of my sewing desk. She had climbed all the way up there, and I am betting it was for the sole purpose of getting that cleaner bottle to lather herself in. I don't know, hopefully, it's a phase she grows out of.

THINGS AUDRI HAS SMEARED/SPRAYED IN HER HAIR

1. VASELINE

2. PUDDING

3. KETCHUP

4. LOTION

5. CHICKEN SOUP

6. CAKE

7. COLOGNE (used as a detangler)

8. CLEANER WITH BLEACH

9. ANY MISCELLANEOUS FOOD PARTICLES LEFT ON HER HANDS AFTER EATING

10. SHAMPOO (when she was NOT taking a bath)

Lycra Anyone?

2007-10-02T10:39:00.000-05:00

If you have never heard of Craigslist.org, you should check it out. Warning though, it's addictive. I think about 1/2 of our house has been furnished from Craigslist adds, much of it free! Well, this time my super find was 3 heapin' paper sacks full lycra used for costumes. There was sparkles and sequens flying every direction when my kids got ahold of it. They dumped out all three bags and went nuts, even Dai. Of course, he only liked it for doo-rag purposes. It was a lycra free for all! Eventually Sophie, who often times has trouble expressing herself, and Rylenn decided to dress each other up. Audri wanted to but she is going through some sensory stuff lately where everything but her diaper (thank the Lord for that one) bothers her. Needless to say, Sophie expressed herself this time, quite boldly I might add with her exclusive Princess Pirate Design for Rylenn. Rylenn chose a bit calmer look with an elegant dancing dress for Sophie. Who knows, maybe they'll team up for a clothing line at Target one day!

My Baby's A Walkin'...sort of

2007-10-01T09:33:00.000-05:00

Lukey is 8 months old and already wants to go go go, sooo we gave him some wheels and he went went went!

Luckily, big sister Sophie was there to break his fall. What are big sisters for, right? It won't be long now till he's sneakin' in the bathroom with Audri and they're tag teamin' the toilet paper or smearing themselves with vaseline. Sigh, they grow up so quickly.

The pig on the bus goes oink oink oink

2007-09-29T16:29:00.000-05:00

So Pauly calls me and tells me we are going to pick up a closet door after he gets off work. Woohoo, right? I am trying to worm my way out of it when he says that he will take us to these cool falls I've never seen. Ok, fine, I'll get the kiddos ready for the hour trip. "I don't want to go to no stupid falls!" -Dai "I'm hungry, when and what are we eating?"-Ry "I want Daddy, I want Daddy, when is Daddy going to be here?"-Sophie "Kinkle Kinkle little star, up a diamond in the skyyyy!"-Audri "ahhhhh ahhhhh ahhhh uhhhhh buhhhh"-Luke Yep, can't wait for the road trip. Right up until we walked out the door I was trying to decided if I should let the big kids stay home. "Naaaa," says paul.

We stop to get gas right away. Sophie asks if we are going home now and I said "yep, wasn't that fun?" Well, I thought it was funny. We stopped and got the messiest Taco Bell food we could for the trip. Who's bright idea was that?

Anyway, we made it to the falls. We only had about 15 min of daylight left. We walked around, we saw raccoons, he heard live music, and the kids had fun. That was only the first hour and a 1/2. We still need to get the closet door! Soooo, now that the kids are hopped up on kool-aid and rootbeer, we start the second half of our journey.

Offf Courrrrssse, Paul knows how to get there. Surrree, He brought a map. ARRRRGGGG!! A map from half a century ago! Yeesh! So yes, it was just as one would expect. Kids were fighting, Audri was crying beacuse she wanted milkies. Lukey wanted a bottle that we never stopped and got water for. We were going to get a bottle of water at the falls but it was $2 and I almost fell over from the shock! $2 my butt! So after Lord knows how long of all of this, oh, and I forgot the desperate "are weeee looossst?" that was also going on during all of this. Paul finally broke down and called the guy. We get there, the door was perfect la de da end of story. Oh wait, we still have an HOUR to get home!!!!

This is EXACTLY why we don't do a lot of road trips. We did the best we could, though. We pulled together as a family. Ry played with Audri, I tried to keep Lukey occupied, Sophie beat up Dailan, and we sang songs. Lots and lots of kids songs. We even made up a new version to the wheels on the bus song with animals. The pig on the bus goes "oink, oink, oink". The monkey on the bus goes "oo, oo, oo". We made it home. No worse for the wear. We spent the evening without TV, video games, Dora movies, and computers, and I have to admit, it was kinda fun.

Kinkle Kinkle Little Star

2007-09-29T16:03:00.000-05:00

Audri just turned two last month and already she is a rock star!

Yes, I realize there is a 12 pack of toilet paper on a scaffolding in the background. Isn't that where everyone keeps there Quilted Northern??

Is This Normal?

2007-09-26T21:26:00.000-05:00

Does this ever happen to your kid?

Whenever I quiz my 8 year old son with ADHD on his spelling words, this bizarre things always happens. He starts morphing into these crazy shapes. It doesn't matter if he's on a chair, the couch, the floor. He inevitably ends up like this. Is this normal? (Sorry about the picture quality, he was in my closet!?!)

2007-09-26T20:29:00.000-05:00

I saaaiiid NO MORE PICTURES

WIERD WORDS OF THE DAY FROM ME:

"Ok, do you want pizza AFTER your snot?"

"I don't need an audience for poop!"

WIERD WORDS OF THE DAY FROM THE KIDS:

"I already have to deal with BooBoo. Sophie, I don't need to have to deal with you, too!" -DJ 8

2007-09-25T23:16:00.000-05:00

With 5 kids life is never dull. These are some classics. I would like to say this is a rarity, but then I would be lying. Yes, that hideous glob in my 4 yr old's hair and slicked all over my two year old's body is vaseline. No, they didn't have prior authrization. Below is BooBoo wondering what the big deal was. Doesn't everyone smear chocolate pudding in their hair?

Only a taste of things to come. LOL! No pun intended.

My first post

2007-09-25T23:03:00.000-05:00

Ok. So after some prodding by my beloved SIL, I have decicded to write my first post....post my first post?... Anyway, what an awesome way to keep the minutes down on the phone! I can't wait to share! Hi Dad!!!