Christmas at our House

Christmas at our house - it was our first Christmas with the boys. It was our first chance to let Santa into our house. I told you about going out and selecting our tree. That was a lot of fun and something that we will do every year. We had to buy some new ornaments because we had thrown most of the stuff out a few years back. We did have some homemade ornaments that we used. I love those. We also made some new ornaments. They turned out wonderful and we had a lot of fun making them. The cards that we made with the boys pictures inside were a big hit. Actually, everything that we made was a big hit.

Nana loves here canvas bag the boys made.

Christmas Eve:

Granny K stayed over. That was nice. It gave Superman and I a chance to do what we had to do. Superman read "Twas the Night Before Christmas". The boys were so ready to go to bed when it came bedtime. They were sound asleep almost when their heads hit the pillow. I baked several dozen cookies during the day. Sometimes the boys would help with the cookies but they really just wanted to eat them. Go figure!

Superman had been holding on to the 4 wheeler secret for so long. Just one more day and he can let the cat out of the bag.

Oh yeah - I almost forgot. We made a Santa Clause Landing Zone. We used milk cartons with tea light candles in them. The Santa Clause LZ looked so much better than it does here.

Our tree before Santa had arrived.

Christmas Day:

Our tree after Santa had arrived.

No this is not the Taliban! Talk about pulling the wool over their eyes!

The face of a very surprised and happy child.

Instructions, directions, do and don'ts!

Even do and don'ts from Grandpa.

Of course we have to try them on. They fit well...I know they belong to the boys. Now get off of them.

Oh yeah! Somebodies just gotta get brave!

And Mindy says it all...I've had enough!

I know there no helmets on anyone of us. Superman turned the 4 wheelers down, so they would go really fast. One the boys learn a little more about them and really get the feel of them and learn to respect them, then they will be turned up a little at a time.

Helmets are coming this month. We will not ride them anymore until protective gear can be worn.

I Can't Remember

Some days I can't remember my name much less anything else. Why? Well I'll tell ya why. I have 3 sons, 1 husband, 4 cats, 3 horses, 2 dogs, 1 mom, 1 neighbor lady, 2 nieces, 1 nephew, laundry, groceries, breakfast, lunch, supper, doctor appointments, birthdays, holidays, weekends, weekdays, phone numbers, drivers license numbers, tag numbers, math, science, history, geography and on and on...

Today I called MJ's doctor's office to see if by any chance he has a follow up appointment from his surgery. I couldn't remember the doctors name and I couldn't find the phone number. After calling several phone numbers that I found in the phone book, I finally managed to get the right number. That was after I had been transferred a dozen times, put on terminal hold and a few disconnected calls. Once I got someone on the phone that was actually in the right place, they ask me MJ's date of birth, I couldn't remember it. Shame on me. LOL I really need to memorize these things. Like the socials of all the boys and their birth dates. I know mine but no one elses. I make calls for my mom and Granny Karen that have to do with doctor appointments and they ask some of the same questions. Name and date of birth? I must have the blankest look on my face that they have ever seen. They look at me kinda like our little Schnauzer does - head tilted to one side and their eyes are almost crossed. It's the quizzical look. The one that says, "What do you mean you don't know the date of birth?".

Ok - I know it - I just forgot it. I mean I know it but you gotta give my brain time to process the info. My brain goes into over drive at that time.
I think like this...
Mom to dr on ____ at ___ time.
Granny Karen to dr on ___ at ___ time.
Pick up Janet at airport on ___ at ___ time.
Start supper at ____ time.
WW is in ___ grade.
Car has ___ tank of gas.
Today's date is ___.
My phone number is ___.
The whole time their heads are tilted and their eyes are crossed. My brain is going through the numbers in my head. And all I really want to do is just explode with laughter.
Finally, I find the right number. Darn it - why didn't they just ask me my drivers license number, I coulda given them that in a split second. It's almost as if they ask me to tell how long it takes the light from the sun to reach the earth. Naming the President's and their terms would have been easier. LOL

But once it comes to me, the I can't remember is done and over with. Well...until the next time they ask me a question like that.

Game Day

It was so much fun! For 2 and a half hours there were about a dozen kids, ranging from 5 months to 14 years old, all playing educational games together. All playing and getting along without any problems at all. What a wonderful thing!

Today was our first "Game Day" meeting. Our group leader planned it all and put it all together. We all (well all that could attend) met at one of our members churches (in the fellowship) hall. There were educational games for all of the children to play. It gave us all time to sit and chat with each other and actually put some things together on paper for our group. I think this group is really gonna do very well. We do have a website that is in the process of being built and when it's all done, it will be totally awesome. We are also about to put together a yahoo group so that we can all communicate with each other without the mass email thing.

So now I am off to take care of creating the yahoo group where we can all post away until our little fingers get really, really tired.

Rambling Again

Once again I sit in front of the computer just rambling away about our little family. Our 3 boys have put us through a few test and I am sure that they will continue to test us as they grow older. Shoot - what are kids for anyway. And of course, Superman and I put each other through test too. But really isn't everyday a test. Don't we test ourselves. I know I certainly test myself. And if I were my best friend - there would be days that I just couldn't stand to be around me. The important thing is that we should be able to recognize those moments or those days. Superman and I had a little talk with the boys last night about such things. If we are having a difficult time or just a plain out bad day - admit it. If you can't see it in yourself and someone says "are you ok" or "did you get enough sleep" or even "wow, you sure are kinda grumpy today", take it with a grain of salt and take a better look at yourself. Maybe you are having a bad day or just not feeling very rested - say ok, I think I just might need a few minutes or even a little nap.

As I was typing this, my computer just decided it needed a little break. Imagine that! So while the computer was taking it's break, I was able to wash a few dishes and clean the litter box. I guess that was the computers way of saying HEY, this needs to be done - NOW.

Speaking of the litter box, how in the world did that ever become my chore. Who assigned that to me. I guess I just got the short end of the straw that time around. It's probably best that way because one time I ask WW to clean the litter box and no joke - he showed up with a clothes pin on his nose. Is it really that bad? Well any cat owner can tell you how bad it is.

Tonight at supper we talked about our first day of school and a few other things that we did. Supper was late tonight because Superman brought home a few tools so that he could take down a couple of boards in the barn to make more room for more hay. The boys really enjoyed using the hammer, the drill and the huge pry bar.
We don't have dessert after supper every night but when we do it is a big treat for all of us. Tonight I brought out the left over cup cakes from JD's birthday. I think the icing on them was at least an inch tall. WW was sitting there babbling about something while he was eating his cupcake and I looked over at him and I just couldn't resist pushing the cupcake into his face. I think he had icing up his nose but he started laughing so hard it didn't stay there very long. MJ thought it was funny too and when he gets to laughing, it's almost impossible for him to stop. Once the shoe was on the other foot or should I say the icing was in the other face - Yes, I just had to send icing up MJ's nose too. What was so darn funny about his face was his little Hitler mustache. How in the world can all that icing not stick except the little black part on his top lip? Of course I had to do it again after all the laughter cleared from the Hitler mustache. I just thought it was so fitting for the wonderful day that we had.

Ok - I gotta run, I am going to work on a little wall hanging with pockets for our classroom. Coming from public school, the boys know what it means to pull their tab (we're using clothespins). If they get their clothespin pulled 3 times during class they have to deal with their dad when he gets home. As the boys often put it - "It's not gonna be pretty". LOL

Not NASCAR

Up early and into the traffic. I hate traffic! Why? Because everyone is in such a hurry and they forget everything. Well almost everything.

Here's what they remember...
Drive as slow as you can in the fast lane.
Drive as fast as you can in the slow lane.
Use your brakes A LOT. To do this, you have to tailgate the car in front of you.
Stop in the travel lane to make a right hand turn.
How to use their cell phone.
How to apply makeup.
How to mash the gas when the light turns yellow.
How to blow the horn - for no apparent reason.
How to run a stop sign.
How to pass a slower vehicle with oncoming traffic.

I certainly don't agree with what the rush hour traffic remembers, but I sure do agree that those things are not what they should remember.

Here's what they should remember...
Slower traffic keep right. That's so that the faster cars can pass you.
Keep right except to pass. Move out of the darn way once you pass the other vehicle.
How to leave enough following distance. Not NASCAR! You are not drafting.
You do not have to stop in the travel lane to make a right hand turn (and you should not).
You do not have to talk on the phone all the way to work. You just left the house, what could be so important.
You should have gotten up a little earlier so that you could apply makeup before walking out of the house.
Yellow lights mean proceed with caution, not mash the gas.
Your horn worked fine the last time you HAD to use it, why test it now.
A stop sign means STOP. It does not mean Skid Tires On Pavement.
Never - Ever pass unless the coast is clear. Stop running other drivers in the grass. Once again - This is not NASCAR!
How to use their turn signals. They are there for a reason. At least give the driver behind you a chance to SCREAM before you dart in front of them.

Better Ending to a Bad Start

Well I have to say that my 1 mile walk/trot thing was my workout for the day. I had all kinds of plans on what I wanted to accomplish today, but things happen. The horses made sure that I managed to get my exercise this morning. I guess they just figured I needed it - and of course - I did need the exercise. Thank you CoCo, Shadow and Redman!

After my little rodeo, I decided that I was pretty much done for the day. With the August heat outside and the air conditioner on inside - hmm... think I'll stay cool for the rest of the day. I started doing a few things inside and then I thought about getting a few errands done. Darn good thing I did. By doing 2 errands today I saved almost $100. Here's how I did it...

I decided to go ahead and run over to our local home school store and buy the Lifepac material that I needed to start school on the 20th of this month. They didn't have all the material that I needed, so I ordered it. By paying for the items today, I didn't have to pay State sales tax. Yes - no tax until midnight tonight for school purchases. How cool is that?! I had a store credit of $42.95 also. WW and JD will be starting in the 5th grade, so I don't have to buy the teachers guide for one set. That in it self saved me another $40. So with the credit, the discount for not needing the 2nd teachers guide and the no sales tax, I think I did pretty darn good. We were looking at $250 for each child, making it a total of $750. However, I managed to get all my material paid for at a grand total of $516.00. Yippee!

Off to Walmart I hurried so I could pick up a few last minute little things (3 chairs, 3 binders, 3 pair of scissors, 3 sets of binder dividers, 2 erasers and a quilt marking pen for me). We're getting ready for our big day - our first day of home school. I think the boys are as excited as I am. I showed all the material to Superman and I thought he was gonna cry. We both are so happy that we are able to love and provide for our 3 boys.

I almost forgot to mention that I started a quilt pattern today. I haven't quilted in several months of Sundays. So for now, I am off to bed (and lookie at that, it's before midnight), really early doctor appointment in the morning. Nighty, night, night!

Marshmallow Shooter

I was so darn surprised that I could not react. Yesterday I had to use Superman's truck to run an errand. He has some of his work stuff in the passenger floorboard with an odd piece of PVC pipe sitting on top. I kinda wondered to myself, (now what in the world is that for?). I just let it go because it really didn't matter. Hmmm...my mistake. LOL

Superman and JD took a ride uptown to buy a few things. While they were doing their thing, I managed to get WW and MJ's showers done, the horses feed and the sprinkler moved. I was out in the pasture when Superman and JD slipped in the back door and put away the bread and the milk. I walk in the laundry room and JD comes out to meet me. "Mom, dad wants to see you for a minute". Well that's pretty darn common and I didn't think anything about it. So I walk into the dinning room and then I come around the corner into the kitchen. That's when it happened...
I took the blunt force of a marshmallow right in the forehead. Yes, a marshmallow! The boys just busted out laughing and I am just standing there with this really dumbfounded look on my face. "What was that?" JD picks the marshmallow up off the floor, shows it to me and then eats it. Now the Superman and the boys are running around in the kitchen and the den shooting marshmallows at each other - kinda like spit balls through a straw. It was hilarious!

The strange piece of PVC pipe that was laying on top of the tools, has now become a marshmallow shooter. It may have been a marshmallow shooter when I first saw it, I don't have a clue on that. However, I certainly know that for about 10 minutes that's exactly what it had become.

So I will have to make a trip to the hardware store to buy PVC pipe to make more of these things. WW talked about how he wants to make one but he wants to be able to shoot 2 marshmallows at a time. Little smarty britches!

I was just sitting here and thinking about this fun and harmless game with mini marshmallows and thought I'd google it. OH MY GOSH! These things are online - You can actually buy them! Check this out! Marshmallow Shooter

Rabies

"Mom, he's gonna get rabies if he puts that hook in his mouth." I'm at the barn feeding the horses and that's what I hear coming from the back steps. I listen a little bit and chuckle to myself because the next thing I hear is "MJ if you keep doing that, your gonna get dead".
Personally, I have never heard of getting rabies from a hook. Gonna get dead...Well that's something else totally different. I guess it goes right along with DRT which is Dead Right There. Superman is always coming up with initials like that, and of course they are rubbing off on the boys. When you hide around the corner, you'll hear all kinds of things that you've said in front of the kids. Just chuckle to yourself and keep on going. It's pretty darn silly around here sometimes.

Now let me think, what was all the talk last night at supper? Oh yeah - it was about how the boy's were gonna have sisters and Superman was going to teach the girls to be mean. It was all in fun and every one's cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. The girls were all gonna be dressed up in camouflage and hiding in the woods to ambush their brothers. The boys would be swimming in the pond and the girls would all drop in from a zip line, shooting the boys with paint ball guns and taking them as hostages. Once again, you can blame it all on Superman who has a wild imagination and loves to make up stories. The boys followed suit and made up their own stories of what they were going to do to their sisters. Sometimes I have no clue where all this stuff comes from but I love the laughter and the freedom that we bring to each other to be ourselves.