I (or she) fought the law...

(or the rock) and the law (again, the rock) won. I fought the ...well, you know the song right?

Here is the video if you don't know what song I'm talking about...

Or just feel like rockin' out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0sI6eFarFE

Here is a very good example of why you do not toss rocks in the air and attempt to catch them.

Especially if you are Mini P and really can't throw a ball or anything else really. And can't catch. At. All.

And you also don't do it with the next door neighbor who is 1 year older, and obviously can't catch a rock he threw in the air either. Since that is the one Mini P caught with her head.

It really wasn't as bad as it looked....

Apparently the head just likes to bleed to freak out small children :).

Cheers!

Thar he BLOWS!

There are some things that kids should be able to do before they go to college.

I feel that list should include:

1. able to tie own shoes
2. blow ones nose by ones self
3. dress ones self appropriately without mixing two plaids or Hawaiian and plaid or top and bottom the same color
4. use the bathroom alone including wiping and washing
5. and last but not least one should be able to brush ones teeth every day without being told 173 times.

At 6 years and 2 months - Monkey can now successfully do # 4 (amen) and this week has figured out #2 - almost.

Sorta.

Well. He actually blows OUT and that is quite an accomplishment when we are talking about Monkey the sniffer. He has been sniffing most of his life due to all his allergies.

He sleeps with a tissue and I'm rather confident that they multiply because every morning I find about 3 that need to go into the garbage.

So when he caught the cold that is going around - the cough and stuffy nose - I decided to force encourage him to work on this.

I also bribed him with promised him a cupcake from the french bakery that we frequent if he could do this a couple times daily.

And now, he sorta blows out his nose. 

Because he is not above accepting said bribe promise of a cupcake. The cupcakes are quite something and slightly larger than the cookie he is usually allowed to pick out.

As far as shoes - well, he likes flops and slip ons anyway...and I have a few more years to work on the clothing coordination.  But the getting ready for bed thing/brushing teeth...well, I think I need to find more night time activities that take me out of the loop on that one! The kid cannot focus for long and drifts off to build a lego creation.

But as a side note, he is rather good at building Legos...here are his latest creations...

Space station

Meet 'happy Poppy'

and sad Poppy - all you have to do is flip his head...

This week he has watched videos on how to build (and subsequently built) a candy machine, swimming pool, and Lord Business (from the Lego Movie).  As I am typing this, I can hear him at the table putting something together while giving directions to himself as tho he is the one on the YouTube video.  

Did I mention he attempted to make his own video?  Something happened midway thru and all of the sudden he is not in the video anymore, but building somewhere else. I think we need to work on LOCATION of building...or maybe he just needs a film crew!

Why I'm glad I had to plunge the toilet

said no one ever.

Except me.

Which is why it is in my budget to get the Power Max 4 that you can flush 22 golf balls down and it will still have flushing action.

Because who doesn't have 22 golf balls sitting around. That they want in their septic tank? (which for all you city folk, it is a tank for ahem water and whatnot - cuz we live in the sticks and don't have outgoing items.)  

And really, the new toilet is a side story that I'm sure has you sitting on the edge of your seat hoping and praying that we do a YouTube video of removal and install.

Let's just say that what literally pushed me over the edge - to actually beg and plead for a new toilet (by the way, who does that?) was they day that it overflowed. With..um..stuff and it was ALL. OVER. THE. FLOOR.

I know you are wishing I had photos of the clean up, but I'm pretty sure each family member was fearing for their lives and afraid to come near me while I cleaned that up.  I think I may have blocked it all out, due to the traumatic nature of it and all...

Anyway, right after Christmas same said toilet needed to be plunged...cuz a 6 year old used 4 squares of toilet paper.  This toilet and I do NOT see eye to eye on TP usage.  I say 4 squares for a little peep is probably OK..the toilet disagrees.  It gets plugged up if you look at it wrong...pretty sure it has it out for me.

SO, I had to plunge the toilet. Lucky me.

But when I went to get the plunger, I noticed that there was water under the hot water heater in the closet those items are located in.  

The Sherlock Holmes in me deduced that it probably was a bad thing. Google agreed. 

(and for those who know me best, know that if I don't know the answer to a question - which is often - I Google it - the ENTIRE question. Trust me when I say, I'm usually not the first).

So, of course, I touched it - the hot water heater, not the plunger. I was a bit distracted by the water dripping out of the bottom...forming puddles.  Seemed like when I touched it - quite a bit more water started dripping squirting out. So like all good Handy Man types, I touched it again, just to make sure.

Yup.

Still water coming out the bottom.

So, when my sweet husband got home..off to the Big Box we went to get a new hot water heater...and VIOLA! A new one was installed.

Well. Almost.  We spent an hour at the Big Box, called in reinforcements (my parents...one for each of us - my dad to help with the install and my mom to hang with me and tell them they were doing a good job) a few phone calls to some experts and 4 hours later VIOLA!

SO, in the end, it was good that I had to plunge the toilet - which I eventually did - because I did save the family from what could have been days without hot water...

but I still do want the Power Max 4 toilet...sans golf balls.

Top 10 Holiday Celebrations

10.  Halloween - we are starting all the way back here because I am on top of things and never fall behind..ahem..the kids wore costumes from the dress up costumes we have (ones from previous years or given to us).  Monkey doesn't typically like to wear a costume and I have started refusing to buy a special one for him that he won't wear anyway. Hence the t-shirt that says "this t-shirt is my costume".

And Hank. Seriously doesn't understand we are busy...buzz off...he has a rope tugging addiction and thinks everyone who walks out the back door wants to play tug-a-war with him.


9.  A-Dog was inducted into the National Honor Society at school

He works so hard and we are proud of him for taking this step into NHS!


8.  Family Photos. By family I don't mean just our 6. This year we did something totally crazy and off the wall..we did my parents, me and my siblings and all of each of our family...welcome to total chaos.

My parents with kids and spouses..wonder who is watching all the kids....

At one point, during the photo session...there was an eruption of violence..

And then there was a photo bomber...

That little gem on the right is my nephew, cutie pa-tootie, and he was ready for his photo shoot to begin...NOW.:)


7. We hosted our annual family Thanksgiving. There were nearly 50 people - friends and family. Not sure what to do next year? Come here. No one really notices :)  We had Cornhole tournaments and lots of food and drinks...and NO WIND. Not a bad combo!  Plus, it was about 65 degrees or so...

6. We spent the weekend at a local resort for Winter Wonderland!  We did this last year - Winter Wonderland is the same weekend as my sweet husband's Christmas party - and it is at the resort.  We just spend the weekend and the kids LOVE it!  There is sledding, and yes, they have to 'bring in snow'. It was melted in spots by Saturday evening :)

Cookie decorating and eating...

Horse rides (only Mini P did this, as it is her FAVORITE part!)

Plus there was sitting around by the outdoor fire having snacks and drinks and playing with the "fat booth" and "Age booth" apps...and selfies with J and G.  J works with my sweet husband so their family spent the weekend out there as well...Ridiculous FUN!!! :)

PLUS, ya know - a visit by the big guy...

5.  Christmas with the Sibs.  Or, ya know, Christmas with my parents and their kids and their kids..or my parents grandkids.  Let's not complicate it.

4.  Took our annual "stand in front of the Christmas tree" photo and hope everyone looks at the camera at the same time...

"No, Look at ME...EYES OPEN..Ready?"

Really A-Dog? Seriously. He is always the one with his eyes closed in photos.  One more try...

OK that's better.

3.  Dog pile on A-Dog.

Not really a 'celebration', but fun none the less.

2.  Christmas Eve with cousins.

A smaller group this year, but they did not miss out on any fun!  

1.  Christmas Eve church picture.

Because in life, you should always be serious about your picture being taken...

I will leave you with one last picture. I love how our family pic turned out this year...it truly reflects how we feel about raising kids and all the love we have for each other.

Cheers!

Twins are 6

In all fairness, I don't want to favor one child over the other. I mean, what would happen if I posted about a birthday when it actually happened??? It would be unfair!!! Of course...I remind my children regularly, life isn't fair. It's my new motto actually. 

It exhausts me to no end when the younger 3 complain about things like "it was MY turn to (insert dang near anything you want to here...)", "but I wanted to (insert carry, help, open, eat, brush, etc) first, last" WHATEVER. Perpetual dissatisfaction, so I started discussing the unfairness of all things in life.

It's possible I discussed the starving children in 3rd world countries as well.  Because they are.

All that unfairness aside, we can now talk about these two people turning 6! Which was last month...

6.

Holy cow, how did THAT happen??? They say "the days are long and the years are short"

Very true. I have some VVEERRRYYY LLOOOOOOONNNG days.

Let's see, we will do Mini P first since she is the youngest and once in a while should be first...ya know...being fair. LOL. (as a side note, things might be more fair if I actually remembered who did what and could diplomatically choose based on whose turn it was to do said task.- Just sayin')

Mini P, is my little mama!  All I have to do is remind everyone of a rule or task and she will take over from there to enforce it all.  This helps immensely because sometimes I get off track and distracted and forget about things.  She has also been known to enforce punishments that I may have forgotten about as well.

Mini P is competitive. She is also something of a perfectionist. She loves playing soccer and is actually very good. She is determined and has drive to succeed and play well.

And also likes to run with her mouth open apparently.

Mini P loves school and loves to read and do her school work. She is very independent and often will move ahead without Monkey, which is fine with me :).  She reads at about a 3rd grade level and her writing skills are improving every day.  

Here is her Christmas list. I did not help her with any of it. Nor do we plan on getting a fish.  Likely a book she can keep...because in this house, we only have about 400 kids books...not even exaggerating...what's one more?

She is not big on hugging or kissing and often you have to pry it out of her. Once in a blue moon she will volunteer out a hug or kiss and on those days you just thank your lucky stars :).  She is creative and funny and very matter of fact.  She is sweet and often dramatic. I have to hold back the laughter when she is beyond upset and tries to talk when she is crying...no one can understand her and it is hilarious...in a sad and sympathetic way :)


Monkey. Oh my crazy kid.  Monkey is my joking, lovable, huggable, kissable boy. He can also ask questions for 2 hours straight and make this mama crazy.  

Last week when we had to have a suburban towed he asked so many questions..."where does the tow truck driver live? What color is his house? What kind of wheels is on his other trucks? Is he the one fixing the truck? How is he going to drive 2 trucks? Where does he live?" The questions when on and on and on...  Really. I don't have a CLUE what color his house is (and frankly, I actually don't even care!).

Monkey is my observer. He notices things and remembers them. I think this stems from learning to read late, or his observations took up so much space he had no place in his brain for reading. Either way, he notices things most of us wouldn't. Vehicle types, wheel types and who has wheels on their car/truck like that, color of this or that. He even spends time on the soccer field observing...

He recently told me he doesn't like soccer. In fact he doesn't like baseball either. He likes practice, "but games are boring and he doesn't like boring things".  Pssshhh, works for me, then I don't have to pay for it. LOL!  Funny thing is, if he just puts a bit of effort into it, he's good and has actually scored a few goals this year and looked good doing it. But really, we don't care if they play or not, we just open doors for the option. Again, he's an observer and would rather watch.

Monkey is also not much of a techie. Ya know, gamer. Some of his school stuff is on the computer, but given the choice, he'd rather be outside or playing Legos.  The boy LOVES his Legos and is a very imaginative builder. He likes to watch videos and build what they have built.  He is finally reading, and reading a lot. It's like it finally clicked.  For Kinder, at the same time as teaching him phonic words and sight words, he is learning to spell and write them. I don't know why, but that's not how Agent P learned. They focused on reading and then went back to spelling. I think my method for Monkey is what has made the biggest difference. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So there you go - the twins in a nut shell. 

Total opposites really, in so many ways. I can't believe how lucky I am to have twins, they truly are one of my biggest blessings in life, it's like a double blessing - blessed to have them and blessed to experience twins. 

Cheers!

How did we get to 16???

I want to tell you about A-Dog turning 16! 

However, I am feeling a bit guilty because I never recognized Hank on his birthday. It's sad that I didn't. It was way back in August.

It's because he's been a bad dog, and A-Dog has not.

Hank has resorted to taking himself for strolls around the neighborhood. A-Dog does not do that without asking.

Hank goes over to the neighbor's house and hangs out in the garage with Earl (Earl is elderly and LOVES LOVES LOVES to have Hank over to hang out-not helpful) and eats cat food and drinks all the cat water. A-Dog does not do that either.

Hank sneaks off in every direction, even though he wears a shock collar...cranked to the highest setting.  A-Dog...well let's just say apparently it is not actually legal to put shock collars on your kiddos....in case you were wondering. And thankfully, A-Dog does not sneak out...

But, Hank, Happy birthday. You are 7. Or 49. Or maybe nearly 50 now.  

Monkey LOVES Hank

Hank LOVES the misting system...

We love you Hank.

Sometimes we just don't like having to comb the neighborhood looking for you.

SO, let's get on with it!

A-DOG IS 16!!!!

We can hardly believe this guy is 16!

We have had an exciting season of Cross Country this year. As a sophomore, A-Dog consistently placed in the #2 or #1 sport for his high school.  At meets he placed in top 10 several times.  If you don't know, cross country is running...the course is always different terrain (not track) and it 3.0-3.1 miles.  


Usually in good weather...

And sometimes not so good weather...

We are so proud of the young adult that A-Dog is growing up to be. He is so responsible that sometimes I wonder how he manages all that he does. He always balances his school work, sports, clubs, Fantasy Football...and everything else....without us nagging him or trying to figure out if he has finished his homework. 

We tried to figure out how to deal with the 'car issue'. Ya know, we both felt that it should be something that he financially earned. However, how to you tell him to get a job when he is up every night until 9:30-10:00pm doing his homework or studying?? So, we decided school is his job and we just had to suck it up and deal with it ourselves. 

There she is. The Silver Bullet. Not to be confused with the beer. We had been teaching him to drive in my sweet husband's Suburban or his truck...but what we really needed to do was teach him to drive in the car he'd be driving. It makes it easier actually and he's been doing much better as of late. However, I have to tell you, as busy as he is...learning is limited and slow going. I suppose that is better for my insurance rates. :)

A-Dog has been really enjoying his Sophomore year. He recently found his true calling in Bobcat TV which is all about sports. Sportscasting, sports writing, filming, commentating....all things he loves. 

A-Dog - we love you beyond words. You carry more than your share of life right on your shoulders!  Always know that we have your back. We are here when you need us, and sometimes when you think you don't!  There is nothing that we love more than just enjoying you and the chapters in your life!  You will be successful in all you do as long as you keep God first!  Happy 16th birthday, even tho this post is seriously late!  (like so late your brother and sister turn 6 tomorrow! Ah, such is life!)

Annual birthday shopping - testing out massage chairs!

Cheers!

Fall Break Extravaganza!

We took the kids to 2 theme parks over Fall Break.  The BEST time to go because everyone else should be in school.

We went to Legol@nd first because the little boys LOVE LOVE LOVE Legos. Mini P loves them too, but not nearly as much as the boys.  Last time we were at Legol@and, this is what we looked like...

I'm sure A-Dog isn't going to be too happy about me posting this picture...sorry bud, it IS kind of funny that you have a scowl on your face...

What on EARTH were we thinking?  Taking 8 month old twins to Legol@nd?? Oy!

Apparently we survived, but I have very little memory recollection of it.  That's what your brain does in extreme situations, it blocks it out so you never really remember the pain and discomfort. Like childbirth. 

But here we are 5 years later...

Notice someone missing? I guess 15 year olds do not have their pictures taken with creepy guys in minifig costumes....

Never fear, I found him...nearly maimed by a scary lion. 

As a side note, In 2009 we took the kids to Disn@yland. The twins were closing in on 2...again, what were we thinking???  But I made these shirts in green and yellow:

It helped me keep track of the kids and the kids keep track of us. For our trip, we added each theme park to a shirt...yellow was for Legol@and. 

It was a perfect trip. I think the longest line we waited in was about 5-7 minutes. The kids were all tall enough to ride the rides that they wanted to ride. Pure bliss.

Second stop was Knott's Berry F@rm for 2 days. 

I have very few pictures. Apparently, the lack of standing in line kept me from taking any pictures. Seriously. NEVER WAITED.  Sometimes we even just rode it twice, never getting off. Some rides had one other rider on it...

Agent P and Mini P

Or, no other riders...

Mini P and Monkey

Yup. It was nice and quiet!

We spent 2 days there, and well worth it. I am not sure what we would do next time if we ever had to stand in line and wait say 15 minutes for a ride (gasp!). We certainly were spoiled!  I love vacationing with the kids and building memories for them. 

It goes without saying that I would have rather been in Maui...just sayin'.

Cheers!