Houston, We Have A Problem

On just about any given day, the twins spend the entire morning in the basement playing computer games.  Between me getting the kids ready for school, myself ready for the day, the breakfast dishes cleaned up and the laundry switched there isn't a lot of time for entertaining the twins.  So they do it themselves.  I usually have them come upstairs around 11:00am and insist they get dressed and eat lunch and do a preschool craft or go outside and play or force them to run errands with me.  Today was no different.  Once we'd finished our lunch and our crafts I suggested the twins go play outside.  Justus started sneaking off towards the basement in the hopes of playing a few more computer games.  I stopped him and said he'd had enough game time for the day.  Justus's reply--"You think a tiny bit is enough?"  A tiny bit!  I think they'd already had four hours at that point.  What am I going to do with these boys?

Why an iPad Might Not Be the Best for Family Scripture Study

Tonight we were reading in 2 Nephi Chapter 4.  I had my Quad, Hunter had his Kindle Fire, Noah had his iPod Touch, Mark had his iPad and Denver had Mark's Book of Mormon.  We each took our turn reading and helping the twins and Caleb read the short verses as they came along.  When it was my turn I read verse 22--"He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me"--and just as I finished, Homer Simpson (on Mark's iPad) exclaimed, "Better them than me!"  I'm pretty sure no one got a whole lot out of the last 12 verses except for a bunch of giggles.   Makes me think of my new favorite version of Goodnight Moon. . . Goodnight iPad.     I can't tell you how many nights I wanna throw everything--the iPods and iPads, the Kindles and the Wii, the televisions and the 3DS's right out the front window.  It would be the most satisfying feeling ever!  But then again, it felt good to laugh tonight and without Mark's iPad Homer wouldn't have been there to crack any jokes.

Sleeping Giant

I've heard about this State Park for years now but we've never gone.  Hiking isn't exactly our forte.  But my entire family of boys (including Mark) have been sucked into a game called Terraria and after losing them to the basement all weekend I decided it was time for everyone to come up for some air. . . even if that meant something as awful as hiking.  So this morning (since apparently Sundays aren't crazy enough already) I packed us up a picnic lunch and a basketful of play clothes and tennis shoes, whipped up a double batch of Yeasted Waffles for dinner, and got everyone ready for church early so I could at least make it to part of Ward Council Meeting.  Then, after church was through we piled into the suburban and headed north to Sleeping Giant State Park.  We spent the rest of the afternoon hiking up the mountain and having a grand ol' time.  We'll definitely be going back cause I think everyone had a great time except for the part when Caleb kept sprinkling sand into everyone's eyes.  I think we all could have done without that part. 

 

The Leprechauns Strike Again

We didn't make a trap this year.  I was much too busy helping Noah with Cub Scouts to think about anything else.  So when the boys went to bed last night we weren't sure what would happen, if anything.  But early this morning the boys got up to look for mischief and eventually they discovered that the sneaky little sprites broke into the house through the window and lowered themselves into the house with a ladder made out of sixty one dollar bills.  They must have been afraid of the cat, a new addition since last year, because they left their pots of fake gold (Hershey's nuggets and Werther's caramels) right at the base of the window, hidden behind the curtains.  One leprechaun must have been double dog dared to run over to the fridge and dye our milk green but that was extent of their mischief.  The boys were thrilled nonetheless, all except for Hunter who wasn't there for all the excitement.  He was over at the Stratford's house for a Deacon's campout.  But that's okay cause he still got a pot of gold and ten dollars out of the sixty.  And what's not exciting about that? 

Advanced

Noah has been working really hard the past couple of weeks to finish up all the little odds and ends necessary to earn his Webelos award, as well as the Arrow of Light and the Spiritual Square Knot.  And I'm very proud to announce he did it!  Congratulations Noah!  We are so proud of you and all of your very hard work!

 

Someone told him to give me a kiss.  Instead he licked me.

Jimmy Willis welcomes Noah to Scouts!

 

Noah with his hard-earned Arrow of Light award and Cubmaster, Will Tagg.

Our Adorable Little Sous Chef

Noah requested Breakfast Cake for his birthday breakfast.  So I kicked Mark out of bed early this morning (since he makes Breakfast Cake better than I do) and he and Jericho got right to work.  I forgot to make Noah's classroom treat the night before so while they made cake I made rice krispy treats.  And while Mark and I worked we enjoyed this little treat.  Isn't he the darlingest sous chef ever?  Jericho is always humming a tune, wherever we go, whatever he's up to.  I simply adore it.

And so we don't steal away Noah's thunder. . . here's the birthday boy enjoying his Breakfast Cake.  Can you believe he's eleven?  Eleven!!!!



How to Make a Bad Day Better

We went to the beach today but it didn't turn out so good.  First, we brought the kites but forgot the kite string.  And second, our friends brought their dog and she kept getting wet and sandy and then jumping all over us.  And everytime Jericho got his hands on a piece of our friend's stale bread, the dog would snatch it away.  So by the end Jericho just sat on my lap and begged me to take him home.  So once Justus and Lucas had had their fill of digging we headed home.  But of course we stopped by McDonalds for some chicken nuggets and a Shamrock Shake cause you know. . . food makes everything all better.

Feeding Ducks with Stale Bread Bowls

Jericho

This weekend I helped make dinner for the Priesthood Sessions of Stake Conference.  For our ward Valentine's Party we served homemade stew in bread bowls and salad.  Our Relief Society President, Debbie Trump loved it enough that she decided we'd make the same thing for the Priesthood Session a few weeks later.  So Friday Debbie and I went shopping and got all the makings and prepped all the stew meat and she and I made 75 bread bowls each.  Saturday night they served the men and later that evening Mark returned with a large bag of leftover bread bowls.  By this morning they were pretty stale.  I tried making French Toast Casserole in the crockpot on Monday but mostly it was gross.  I thought about making some bread pudding with the final loaves but decided instead to take the twins to Owen Fish park and feed our friends, the ducks.  The boys had a great time feeding them and afterwards we had some fun swinging and playing on the play equipment.  We had the entire park to ourselves and spent a good hour and a half there before we had to head over to Target for a bunch of random stuff and for some lunch.  I'm already saving more stale bread for another trip to the park to feed our friends again.



Justus

 And just so you know. . . we have "dayblooms" already.  Amazing!

It's That Time of Year Again

Amish Friendship Bread Starter

An Appointment. . .

That's what I told the office staff up at the kids' school when they asked me why I was taking the kids out of school early.  I just didn't tell them who the appointment was with cause you know, they might not think an appointment with Mother Nature qualifies as an appointment important enough to miss school for.  But whatever!  Who cares what the school thinks about my kids' appointments?  Today Mr. Weatherman forecasted sunshine and temperatures in the mid-60's and I decided it was the perfect day to play hookie take a hike.  It sort of helps that Noah is a week away from turning eleven and that he needs one more day hike to qualify for his Arrow of Light award.  The original plan was to take the hike on Saturday and not miss school BUT Saturday is going to be cold and also, I have to help our Relief Society President make dinner for the Stake Priesthood Meetings which kind of binds up my day.  So today it was.   And I must say, it was the most perfect day ever for taking a hike to Lake Mohegan's Cascades.  I love that place.  The more we go there the more I love it.  It is so beautiful and peaceful and the sun on my face was therepeautic.  We hiked around to the falls, ate our lunch on the giant boulders and then spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and building a dam out of sticks and rocks and moss.  Then we hiked our way back out, picked up some Shamrock Milkshakes from McDonalds and made it home just in time for piano lessons.  I'd say today was practically perfect in every way.