Misbehavin' Washer

Our washer has a feature that allows one to set a timer to start the load at a later date. It has a digital face which counts down the hours and minutes. We use this feature often, setting it before going to bed for early morning use.
Last night Bryce had a boo-boo so I sent him into the laundry room to get a band-aid. Band-aids are easily accessible for the kids in an over the door shoe storage holder on the inside of the laundry room door. Apparently he noticed the timer counting down. I heard beeping coming from that direction, which indicated the washer cycle being turned off.  He comes out saying in a very serious voice, "Mom, the washer was up to something, so I stopped it!".

It's a Valentines party!

Some of the kids (and mine!) favorite friends are a little farther away these days. That means that we don't see them as often anymore. Until the end of last year we met up weekly for the kid's recorder class, but since Garry has been involved with 4-H robotics and we are currently driving back and forth 20 miles each way 6 days a week, it was decided that recorder class would have to be retired for now.

So when a request went out for a Valentine's party at the park, of course all agreed. And a Valentines party is nothing without a favor to share, right?

 Shelby has an obsession. I can't say anything. She got it from me, although I'm not as so obsessed these days. She loves to craft! And you can see it if you go to her bedroom. That is, if you can get into her room. She (this she got from her Oma) keeps everything! Every little craft or paper project. Cardboard horse barns, drawings and jewelry can be found if you dig. If she thinks she can make something out of it, or has already made something out of it, it gets squirreled away in her room. Family Fun magazines, of which she has dozens, add to the chaos. So when I mentioned that we needed a Valentines project, out came the magazines! Thankfully she located one for herself and Aidan simple and inexpensive projects. We found something for Bryce via The good 'ole internet. It's a good thing they were simple too, cause several we completed in the car ON THE WAY to the party. By the time we pulled up, all crafts were completed and ready to share. Happy early Valentine's day! 

Aidan's super hero sucker

Bad picture: Shelby's other favor was a ring made out of pipe cleaner with a Hershey's kiss jewel!

Bryce's "Mario lips"

One of Shelby's Valentine gifts: a mouse puppet!

On the way to the party, I'm sadly informed by Shelby that her mice have no tails. Thankfully I start projects and never finish them. There was that crochet needle and ball of yarn that finally got some use!

Being the great moms that we are, we let all the kids eat all they wanted...

Happy Valentine's Day 2013!

Out of the mouth of a little...

As we sat down to play a game, Aidan's sweet little voice informs me: "mom, you can play first since you're so bad at this game!" Apparently he was right. Out of four possible positions, I placed 4th!

And the winner is!

Thanks Garry!

 I look back on many of the posts, and my eldest is the kid who doesn't get talked about much. That's because he DOES wear his underwear, doesn't hang from the rope pulling out his teeth, and has NEVER stripped down to the birthday suit and thrown his and siblings clothes over into the neighbor's yard.
So this post is entirely devoted to you, Garry!
Yesterday evening I came down with a nasty flu bug. I spent most of the evening in bed, and when I got up this morning, I felt a little bit better but as the day went on it got worse again. Well, in typical me style, the kids projects for the fair have NOT been completed yet. The deadline to finish them is....tomorrow.  I'm only taking partial blame here-some of the stuff for the projects have been here, but no one has been working on them. The other, well, I needed to go to the store for missing pieces and parts to finish. So, early this afternoon, we loaded all up in the car to run our errands.Thank goodness Garry can drive! The only thing better would have been if he didn't need me in the passenger seat, but I'll take what I can get! Feeling crummy and probably not looking much better, I gave Garry my list and sent him in. He completed each task and stayed under the limit cash wise on what I gave him! When we got home, I crawled out into the back yard to imitate an alligator; soaking up the last of the sun in hopes to keep from freezing. He kept an eye out on the little ones and even made spaghetti from scratch. I would have taken a picture of his wonderful meal, but there wasn't any left! So, thanks son...I appreciate all you do for me around here. You are a such a great help around here, not just today, but every day. I love you!

As for the the fair projects, I wish I could say they are completed and ready to go....but what fun would that be!?!?!?

The first last....

Tooth. Sigh. The littlest lost his first tooth last week. According to him he was opening something with his teeth, so I'm not sure it was supposed to come out yet! The baby is growing up:(

Visiting Jeremiah

When I received an email 4 weeks ago from Connie depicting Jeremiah's recent baby adventures, below the handsome chubby face was a little sentence that caught my eye: conference in South Carolina, looking for someone to watch Jeremiah, any takers? Sounded like fun; we have only seen Jeremiah a handful of times over the course of his young life. What better opportunity to (ruin) enjoy him as his parents would be gone all day? Well, in typical family style...there ended up 12 of us traveling north hang out with this little cutie.
What a fun weekend it was. Our rental house was in a campground, so we had plenty to keep entertained. With swimming (indoor), video games, putt putt golf, tootling around in golf carts and playgrounds, it was non stop fun for all. The only thing I didn't get to do was play a round of cards with the big folks; by nightfall we all crashed. And as for Jeremiah and his parents, I'm sure they will ask us to come again, that is if he needs a sitter when he's 15;)

Cows Moo Eight Times for Celebration

We love the Chick-a-Way cows. So it's no surprise that we spent another birthday with those famous poor spelling bovines. It was a surprise for Bryce though-we had his favorite friends waiting for him when we got there. Thank goodness Bryce is fairly oblivious; time after time another sibling would almost drop the news. This is the last time I will plan an event as a surprise!
PS to my friend...sorry I sent you to the wrong restaurant!!

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