My Life

Skaters

The boys had a play date.

Kade was insistent on hanging with the big boys.

He and Lauren had previously painted the old skateboard 

and it is now his.  He's so proud.

He's been trying to go down the driveway and has just recently 

been successful, apparently it's all in the knees.

I wouldn't know cause my dad gets mad 

at me when I try to ride the boards at Sunday dinner.

Something about being too old.  

Don't tell him so, but I think he's right.  

I don't have nearly the balancing capabilities I used to.

 

Later that night.

Kade: "Hey Dad, my trucks are loose." 

waiting with proud face because knowing what trucks are makes you cool.

Dad: "Mmmm yep they are."

Kade: "Do you know what trucks are?" smiling.

Seriously, he's so cute!

 
   

Day trip to Mt. Charleston

Took a little trip up to Mt. Charleston this week.  We only brought sweatshirts thinking that it would be all good.  That there would only be a little bit of snow left on the ground if any.

Well......it was windy and chilly oh yeah, and snowy!  the big kids thought it was great but wished we had brought some mittens.  Um, yeah if we owned any!  Brandon will only wear crocs and I forgot to put socks on the poor kid, so he lasted just a minute.

 

It was all good though, because he and Claire and the grownups hung out in the car while the crazies played.

Brandon = good when he's eating something.

 

They would keep coming back to the car to warm up before heading out some more.

There was a little bit of whining and crying.

Something about cold, wet feet and not being able to feel their toes.

  All children have now seen, touched and played in the snow.

I'd call it a successful day.
   
 

Q-tips and Bees

Q-tip painting.

It was a success.  I even created a masterpiece :)

I think we'll make rainbows next week.  How nifty that fits in with the plans.

 

It was an eventful preschool day.  There was a mad bee buzzing near the window.

I trapped him with the blinds.

We could still hear him.  He wanted desperately to get outside.

I wasn't sure how I was going to deal with him.

Luckily, he stayed right there inside the window trapped by the blinds.

After awhile, the buzzing stopped.

He lay lifeless on the sill.

I think he died of exhaustion.

That evening Brandon and Kade wanted proof that he was dead.

They were certain he would sting them while they were sleeping.

Kade didn't want to have bad dreams :) (he still did, but it was about fighting off a bunch of mad cats.  He told me all about it at 4am while he snuggled into my bed.)

Strange thing is, this afternoon Brandon comes screaming out of the office.

He hears the same loud buzzing noise.

Freaks him out!

There's another darn bee in the office window.

I took matters into my own hands by trapping him.

Worked like a charm.

 

Computer Time

He's got a new addiction: playhouse disney.  We must now share computer time.  For some reason, my computer is WAY better than the kids plus we only have one internet outlet.  Sigh.  The big kids are pretty bugged with this discovery.  I knew it would come sooner or later.

 

Puppy Love

I'd say it was a happy Christmas morning....

we managed to keep the dog a secret, which was a miraculous feat.

She was pretty whiny that first night.... and last night and I anticipate it will be that way for awhile.

The kids are in love!

She has kept them pretty busy, 

 

Her name is Lily and she is the cutest little thing.

Besides the fact that she smells like dog, and I've had to bathe her and her bedding for the past two mornings, and we are seriously focused on the potty training which will cut into my sleep time......

I think it will be alright.

Did I mention the kids are SO EXCITED!

Those Two

Kyle after swim practice, contemplating his current state: bored and hot, and wishing he could have a friend over and that he didn't have homework to do.

Lauren enters.

Let the games begin.....

I'll never know why they find it so amusing to torture the other?

Boots

We have shoe issues with Brandon.

He only likes his crocs.

We always seem to misplace one, so we bought two pair.

Well.... one pair has been missing its match for quite sometime now.  Then when leaving Poppa and Grammies on Sunday, one shoe got put in the back of the car, the other on the floorboard of the backseat.  When we arrived home we only had one.  Seems the other was located in front of Great Grandma's gate.  We dropped her off and it must have fallen out when Kyle was helping her to the front door.

I took Brandon to Kohls to get him a replacement pair until we could get his crocs back.  He would not have any of the tennis shoes.  He had eyes for some toy story boots.  I was doing all I could to talk him out of them.  I do not buy character products especially shoes.  The boy was pretty convincing and pretty in love with the light up boots.  I justified buying then because he will be Woody for Halloween and it will go perfectly with his costume.  

Those boots are all he will wear.  Kade was quite upset that I didn't buy him some too.  They wear the same size and the two have been trying to share them.  Well Kade has been trying to talk Brandon into sharing.  He's not really good at that.

Quote of the day

"Wait up Mom, I'm not as young as I used to be."

by Kade five years old.

Said while riding bikes home from school today.

Photo taken while camping in August.  That was the last time I got a picture of that sweet boy.

Note to self: Take a picture of Kade this month!

The Story of a Bear

While I was packing up for our trip, Lauren came frantically downstairs screaming that her bear was on fire.  Of course, I panicked.  Ran upstairs to find her bear neatly placed upon the light bulb of her lamp.  Black and smoking and really close to catching fire.  No doubt it was our mischievous Brandon that was the culprit.  We all felt very thankful that Lauren had found the bear because the thought of our house going up in flames is too much to think about.  Lauren was devastated to say the least.  She began crying like this bear was a living creature.  I tried to be empathetic, but seriously sometimes I just want to say buck up!  Finally she decided we would cut the legs off because they weren't burnt and then I could just sew them on to the top half of the bear.  And that's just what we did.  He is a bit deformed, has no stomach, and his arms are now the same length as his legs, but she is happy, and she still has her bear that apparently means more to her than I ever thought :)

A Love Note

from my sweet Kade.

Makes me smile and the long day totally worth it.