Jim, Becky, and Kids: November 2015

Kids Say

Alex, "Sometimes when throw up is in my neck, I drink it back down."

The kids were playing an imaginary game and Alex says to me, "You can be the wicked queen. Then when we kill you it will be a good thing."

Annie, "I do wonder what poop tastes like! I would be very grateful if someone would tell me what poop tastes like." She was dead serious.

Alex was being TERRIBLE while we were out one evening. At our last stop he saw a machine that sold bouncy balls. Alex, totally serious and in a mean voice, "If I had a bouncy ball, then I wouldn't be so rotten!"

Logan complaining about the smell of the plowed fields, "Even worse, it's AGED manure!"

Logan, "Mom, you can't tell that it's spicy because your tastebuds are AGED!"

Logan, "Mom, you make the best corn, even if you didn't grow it."

Alex earned a date night to Texas Roadhouse and there was a long wait when we arrived. As we're waiting I asked him what he wanted for dinner. His answer, "Peanuts." Wondering why we needed to pay for a meal...ha ha!

Alex, "Dad, guess which king could put Humpty Dumpty back together again." Jim, "I don't know." Alex, "Jesus Christ."

Me, "My tummy is saying 'Feed me!'" Alex, "Mine is saying, 'Don't feed her!'"

Alex touching my forehead, "It looks like you're frowning cause you're a lot wrinkled up here."

Putting Alex to bed one night he says, "Dad was rotten to me tonight!"

Grandma (my mom), "I need an Abby hug." Abby, "All gone!"

Early September-ish

These kids love their baby sister so much.

Cute Abby.

I've continued enjoying Bountiful Baskets. This was my haul one day.

Up until last week we had a 7am basket time, so I was always getting home when my family was waking up. The kids couldn't wait to see what produce they could have for breakfast. Now I get home at dinnertime, so they meet me at the door wanting to know what I've brought for dinner. :)

This girl is so funny and so full of personality.

We pulled out the ink and stamps during school one day.

Meanwhile, this little lady slept.

Thankfully, it occurred to me to strip Abby before she did much with the ink!

A friend made Laurel these adorable booties. She's been wearing them almost every day.

I've been having fun with my smoothie making. I call these 'dump' smoothies. Beginning with odd leftovers (i.e. fruit that someone has taken two bites out of, the last spoonfuls of broccoli from dinner, etc), following with produce that needs to be used (i.e. the almost too ripe pears, the bowl of watermelon that is taking up my fridge space, the BB item that I just don't know what to do with, etc.), and ending with whatever else I want, I dump it all together in the blender and see what I get. If it needs sweetening I just add some apple juice concentrate. Lately I've been making these up to 2/3 veggie because veggies are so much cheaper than fruits!

It's so rough coming home tired from church...

I bought this little citrus juicer and the kids have loved helping me make fresh 'ade'. I think Alex was helping made lemonade for a cub scout activity this time.

Logan's 9th Birthday

In August (so long ago..) we celebrated Logan's 9th birthday with a big party. He'd been planning this party for almost a year. It was going to be a late over (in lieu of a sleepover) complete with a campfire, night games, and water kickball. We had a lot of fun planned...outside. Then it rained. A lot. And it continued with no end in sight. After checking the storm radar several times we determined that this party was going to happen indoors. We'd talked a little bit about a backup plan the day before, but hadn't really planned for it. So just a couple of hours before the party we pulled it together.

First of all we had dinner: brats, watermelon, chips, and lemonade. Those boys can eat!! Then we moved onto a 'treacherous treasure hunt'. In order to complete this hunt they had to complete several tasks in order to earn each clue. They loved it way more than I anticipated. Their enthusiasm totally made up for how sorry I was to skip our outdoor plans.

The first task was to cross over the hot lava to retrieve the balloons that were on Annie's bed. Each balloon contained part of the next clue.

Their second task was to cross an acid river using only a certain number of objects to stand on. They had to work as a team to get all the way downstairs.

The third task was to blindly cross a mine field without stepping on a bomb.

The fourth task was to sneak through the spider's web without waking the spider.

The last task was to clean up from the other tasks...daunting...but they managed it!

The 'treasure' was another game. This one involved gumdrops and whipped cream. It was a contest to be the first to eat your gumdrops without using your hands.

Group 1 BEFORE

And GO!

Winner!

Group 2 BEFORE

And GO!

Winner!

These boys were so positive and fun all night, but my favorite comment came from this guy during this activity, "My mom would NEVER let us do something like this!" (Nevermind that his mom is WAY funner than this mom...ha ha!)

Logan pretty much directed the whole evening. He'd planned the activities with me, so he just let me know when he wanted to do what. He wanted to do presents and dessert next. He wanted root beer floats instead of a cake this year.

Abby was always in the background watching the crazy fun.

The next game was 'sock war'. It's a one on one competition to steal a sock from the other player, and the blanket is the boundary.

We played balloon stomp. This game is always a hit.

I love that Logan is flying through the air in this picture.

To stay safe, Abby made herself a barricade with the couch cushions.

Eventually, the boys just wanted to make up their own games. This was balloon volleyball I think. They thought it was great that they sent the balloon flying at me right as I was taking a picture.