Still going

On Christmas we did the traditional went to Grandma's after we spent the morning here. It was a really good day. The kids were well behaved, so were the grown ups, so it was nice.
Tonight we have a shin dig to go to that will keep the kids up very very late, and then tomorrow Lonnie's side of the family is coming here for that Christmas celebration. That is always fun too, 8 grown ups, 10 kids, and usually some extra dogs thrown in for good measure.
Then on Saturday we will be going to my Uncle's, about 2 hours away for one last Christmas gathering. The kids are excited about going. They love to see the cousins they don't get to very often.
It looks to be a very full week coming up.
Oh, and Lonnie came home from work last night and went straight to bed. He is still there, no work for him today. I just hope he is feeling better before we are supposed to go to the shin dig tonight.
Now I have to go off and get my house ready for people tomorrow, including the room that my kids call Grandma's room, since when she isn't here, it just collects junk on the bed. :-)
So, off I go.

Day 11

Yesterday we went and picked up some refrigerator boxes. Then we filled Rylee's room with them and they got to spend the afternoon making castles ans cities and whatever else they felt like calling them.
They seem to be enjoying themselves with that.

Day 5

Day 5,
We cleaned the house.
Both bathrooms,
My bedroom
The boy's bedroom
The girl's bedroom
the living room,
the kitchen
changed all the bedding

The plan was for them to help with a large portion of this.
It didn't happen.
But it was a good day and the house is clean.
Lonnie came home from work early, and it is questionable if he will go to work tomorrow.
Tomorrow we will be doing some prep for Christmas day,
so it will be a lot of fun, cookies to make and all that.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night sleep.

Not a good plan, but a plan.

It's Day four of the occupation. I will be venturing out today as well. I will be taking all four of the native to the mall. Yes, the big mall. Three days before Christmas. Crazy. Insane. Stupid. Necessary.
SO I have recruited help. Grandma will be accompanying us today. That way the odds aren't stacked so high against me. We will also be taking the "backpack" (leash) for one of them.
Wish me luck.
At least it will get them out of the house today. Maybe burn off a little cabin fever.

Lock Down

It's day three of our time in the big house with all the rough necks. There was more bad news today, it was too cold for them to go outside for PT. That means they have been in the house all day.
All attempts to subdue them with movies and candy have backfired. Now they are restless and high on sugar and empty calories.
It will be a long night.
There is no hope for escape.
Lonnie is going to venture to the outside world tomorrow and see if anyone else is fairing any better. I fear he may not return.
We have 14 more days until their release, We ventured into this with 6, I am hoping all 6 make it to the end.

?

I have Frank Sinatra Christmas Carols playing in the kitchen.
Wyatt looks up and tells me "this sounds like New York"
Now how would he know that?
And yes it does sound like New York.

4:30?

Apparently my kids are used to being in there own house.
Rylee cried for Mommy most of the night.
After she was finally asleep, she woke up around 4:30. Then she was lonely I think, so she woke her brothers up. All of them.
Then they proceeded to tell Grandma that they ALWAYS get up at 4:30 on Saturdays. (No, in fact they don't)
So by the time I got to them, they were very very tired. As was Grandma.
So they came home, watched a movie and had some quiet time, and then still went to bed right on time after church. They even slept in just a bit this morning. I think they are all feeling a little better right now.

Mom, Thank you, thank you, thank you.
We love you.

We are done.

There is something really refreshing about waking up when you are ready, and not because some child is yelling at you.
At the same time, there is something kind of creepy about walking around the house with no kids here. I guess in the afternoon is different, but waking up to a house with no kids is kind of weird.
Lonnie and I got all of our shopping done the other night. They are wrapped and hidden.
The traditional one package for Christmas eve are under the tree.

We are good to go.
We had a good time.
We got home waaay too late.
We spent more than we wanted to.

It was great.

And we're off

The kids' bag is packed. Complete with each ones special sleeping toy.
My Dave Ramsey approved envelopes are labelled and ready to go.
There is gas in my van.
All we need is Grandma to come get hem, and I'm outta here.

We are doing our yearly Christmas shopping marathon. I will be meeting Lonnie at his work, then we will go to dinner, and shop till we drop, for everyone on our list. The kids, the nieces, the nephews, the parents, everyone.
Then we will come home, Lonnie will watch a movie, I will wrap wrap wrap and when the kids come home tomorrow, We will be completely done.
And, the kids get to have a sleep over at Grandmas!
I am so excited. I have been looking forward to this for weeks.

Thanks Mom!!

Butter anyone?

Just so everyone is clear, if you have plastic butter dish sitting on the back burner on your stove, make sure that you either remove it, or double check which burner you just turned on under your refried beans. This will serve two purposes,
1. You beans will not cook at all if they are on the wrong burner.
2. Plastic butter dishes melt. rather quickly in fact. As does the butter. And you burner just may turn some lovely shade of aquamarine that your butter dish used to be.

Just spreading the knowledge, that's all

Oh, and melting plastic doesn't have the most excting scent either.

Tag

They have tagged him. I guess he is officially one of our kids now.

Snowy again

I love snow. I think it makes everything look so pretty. It all looks so clean and fresh. Then cars drive through it and kids tromp over it and it isn't so pretty anymore.
But the smiles on the faces doing the tromping is totally worth it.
School was out early today, and the kids played in the yard. I didn't get any pictures, because I was playing with them, as well as shoveling.
Now 2 of them are in the bath tub. Because that is the routine in our house. Snow to get cold, bath to warm up, and then hot chocolate in your jammies.
Lonnie is out doing a yearly shopping trip with a few other jar heads. They go and shop for all of their wives at one time and make it a grand affair. This trip has gone on every year, regardless of weather, for 8 years. My favorite was when they took a 1 1/2 yr old Wyatt with them. The stories that came back from the trek are priceless, and I seem to remember it was the shortest venture.

SO tonight it is frozen pizza and hopefully to bed early, but we may have to sneak a game of sorry in before they head to slumber land.

Enjoy the snow, after all this is Iowa, it could be 60 by next week. :-)

Snow fun for some

Not so much for others.

You say burger, I say booger

Tyler- What's that?
Me- burger
Ty- I don't like "booger"
Me- yes you do
Ty- Well I only like me and Wy "boogers" not you and Rylee's
Me- Why don't you like us?
Ty- you have girl boogers, I only like boy boogers

Not exactly what I thought we were talking about, but ok.

Economica

I make Ry pay me to clean her room. Sometimes I make her pay Wy. She has to pay $1 to who ever it is that cleans it. She won't. She will spend 8 hours (no joke) in her room and not put a thing away. Since the basis of making them clean their rooms is to teach them to be responsible adults, I figure she can do that with money. Not everyone cleans their own house, my mom ran a fairly successful business for several years built on that truth. So, I am off to make a dollar.

OOPS

I have been accused of being a lazy blogger. I hate to admit it, but I have been. It doesn't feel like it has been that long, but wow, it has.
About three days before I posted about Lonnie's dad's heart attack, one of my closest and dearest friends was sent to the hospital and admitted for "clots" in her head.
It has been one thing after another since that time. It was found out that she had a mild stroke, and several other complications. I haven't been able to get to the hospital to see her, so instead I have taken on meal planning and child care arrangements for her family at home and her husband. The response has been simply overwhelming. I can't thank the people enough who have stepped up to help. It has been fantastic.
Things are finally starting to look up, and there may even be whispers of her coming home sometime soon.
Other than that, things are pretty normal. We have gotten our Christmas tree up and the house is all ready. I have now reached the pint that the "helpful" reminding signs at Wal*Mart, you know the ones, "3 Saturdays Until Christmas" have started to really stress me out. I think that is on purpose.
That is about all for now, please forgive my delinquency.

big raisins

Rylee and Tyler have been following me around all day asking for "the big raisins" I couldn't figure it out.

Prunes.

I mean really prunes. My 3 yr old and 5 yr old are asking for prunes.

One and Two are at school
Three is on a spur of the moment shopping trip with Grandpa.
Four is in bed for a nap.

Now what?

Silliness

We went to lunch with Daddy the other day at the mall, since there was no school. All the way there, the only thing they talked about, was riding this

silly thing. Oh well, looks like a dollar well spent to me.

Daddy's Boy

Ty was trying to wait up for Daddy the other night. He didn't quite make it. But Daddy did get tot take him to bed when he got home

Late, but still cute.

My hero and sweety.

Goofy kids

Too cute.

The "big boys"

These are from Halloween, (obviously)

Rylee was Tink Bell.

Wyatt was Batman.

And completely unplanned or talked about, Rylee's friend Bowen was Peter Pan, and his brother Caden was Captain Hook.

Too funny.

The teachers at the preschool said they played Peter Pan and Tinker Bell all day, and into the following week.

Home

Tom (Father in Law) is heading home from the hospital today. He will be taking it easy for awhile, and be under the watchful eyes of some Dr.'s for awhile, but all looks well. Thank you all for your prayers.

Mommy germs

When did my little man start saying "ewe, Mommy germs" after I kiss him? He is 3, shouldn't he love Mommy kisses? He doesn't pull away from them, or turn them down, he just comments when I am done.

Sure makes me feel good :-)

.

My Father in Law had a mild heart attack yesterday. He is in the hospital now, undergoing more tests.

Please pray for him, and all of his kids and grandkids as well.

Thank You.

Locks

Most people put kid locks on their stuff to keep the little darlings safe. Heaven forbid they touch the toilet water. That would be a tragedy.
We however, have a completely different reason for locking up our house. We actually have 2 reasons.
It all started with cabinet locks on the lower ones. And thing like Daddy breakfast pop tarts got put in the upper ones. The the child started climbing. And they moved higher. Then they got hidden in a back cabinet that is fairly hard to reach for grown-ups, but apparently not for children standing on counters.
Then there was the pop. Pop that was bought in 12 can/ pack. Daddy would go to take one from the fridge and it would be squeezable. Apparently, someone knows how to take a butter knife, pop the top on the can and put it back. Just enough so it goes flat. And it isn't portable, defeating the purpose of the work can of pop to begin with.
Complete boxes of crackers at once.
Bags of cereal.
More M&M's and candy than I can count.
Every morning. This is what I find going on under my table.
Since I am not a morning person to begin with, not the best start to my day.
Our kitchen has a child gate on it. They all know how to open it. It mostly serves as a dog barrier since it is no longer child effective.
Sooo.... Last night before bed, Lonnie and I took a bicycle lock, you know a long cable with a big old pad lock? Yeah, that kind, and put it around the gate. Very annoying to any one who wants drink in the middle of the night.
But... I went to bed last night with a weeks worth of food in the house, and it was all still there when I woke up. All the pop. All the pop tarts, all the chips. All of it.
I was so stoked. We had a great morning. I can't remember a morning that went more smoothly.

Then today I made a mistake.

I went to the bathroom.

My two darlings flipped over laundry baskets and climbed OVER the pad locked gate.
To eat graham crackers.
Now, neither of these children are starting.
Why do they feel the need for breaking and entering and petty larceny for a snack?
Why don't they understand that a lock is not a challenge. It IS the answer.


Now I know there are several people out there that are thinking in their heads how they would fix this "problem" if these were their kids. Let me be the first to tell you, we have tried it. No matter what your suggestion is, we have tried it.

And to add to my wonderful day, I can home from getting Wyatt at school to a broken Pyrex bowl of ravioli, with some dog blood mixed into it. Yippee.

Dilly cuteness

Dilly love to play in the dog kennel. He put himself in there, not me.

Everytime I am cooking something, he hugs the stove like this. It isn't hot, it is just warm, and he licks and hugs it.

Too cute.

:)

Lonnie comes home tonight. Yeah!

Johnny and June

Oh there's something 'bout a man in black,
Makes me want to buy a cadilac,
Throw the top back,
And roll down to Jackson town,

I wanna be there on the stage with you,
You and I could be the next page two,
Hear the crowd roar,
Make 'em want more,
Kick the footlights out,

I wanna love like Johnny and June,
Rings of fire burnin' with you,
I wanna walk the line,
Walk the line,
'Till the end of time,
I wanna love,
Love ya that much,
Cash it all in,
Give it all up,
When you're gone,
I wanna go too,
Like Johnny and June,

I wanna hold you baby right or wrong,
Build a world around a country song,
Pray a sweet prayer,
Follow you there,
Down in history,

I wanna love like Johnny and June,
Rings of fire burnin' with you,
I wanna walk the line,
Walk the line,
'Till the end of time,
I wanna love,
Love ya that much,
Cash it all in,
Give it all up,
When you're gone,
I wanna go too,
Like Johnny and June,
Like Johnny and June,

More than life itself,
No-one else,
This endless promise,
They don't make love like that anymore,
Is that too much to be askin' for,

I wanna love like Johnny and June,
Rings of fire burnin' with you,
I wanna walk the line,
Walk the line,
'Till the end of time,
I wanna love,
Love ya that much,
Cash it all in,
Give it all up,
When you're gone,
I wanna go too,
Like Johnny and June,
Like Johnny and June,

And when we're gone,
There'll be no tears to cry,
Only memories of our lives,
They'll remember, remember,
A love like that.




This is completely stuck in my head, it is my favorite right now, just wanted to be generous and share it.

?

Why does Tinker Bell cost $20 when I have to sit down and resew all the seams before she even wears it?

And he's gone

But he will be back in a few days. Ty just looked at him and said, "will you come back?" Lonnie said yes and the Ty was like, oh then bye, and ran away.

More pics.

The kids at a party we went to. Dilly looked so cute crawling around all day.

I think he liked his cupcakes.

And the cakes

It was on Dilly's birthday that we had the "big" party. They each got their own cake. Each a different flavor and color.

Tyler's Birthday

Ty got a new knight dress up set from mommy and daddy. You know, all the youghest knight had pacies and blankets. Makes them much more imposing.

All the way back from Octber 10, when the big guy turned 3. He was in a really special mood during his dinner at Mcdonald's.

Sleep?

It took Ty 2 hours and 45 min to go to bed last night.

He is in a great mood today.

Looks like he will be most of the day.

Was already crying uncontrollably at 8.

I don't even really know what to do with that right now.

Blah

Following the trend of almost everyone, Lonnie is out of town this week. He is in Denver until Friday. I am not terribly excited about this. I tend to do one of 2 extremes when he is gone, I either fill up every waking minute with stuff to do with the kids, or I don't really do anything at all.

We will see how this week goes.

The really good news is that he finished taking the walls out of my laundry room before he left, so now it is like I have a whole new room, I am really motivated to do all the laundry now.

Th kids took around 2 1/2 hours to go to sleep, when they normally are out in about 30 to 45 min. so it was a really long night. All I wanted to do was watch Chuck and Heroes, but the natives had different plans for me. Now Leno and I am going to bed.

What we do.

I don't like Halloween. It has never been a favorite of mine. I have several friends who go all out and love the day. Not me.
I grew up in a house with the belief that Halloween and everything dealing with it was bad. I agree with the majority of this, based on the origins of the holiday and such. I would prefer to pretend the entire day just didn't exist.
I also don't personally like the idea of scaring little kids. I don't like to be scared and I generally wan tot punch someone who makes my kids feel that way.
On the other end of that scale, I remember quite clearly how it felt to sit in the hallway outside my 4th grade classroom and do nothing ever day for a week because my class was watching a movie I wasn't allowed to watch.
I remember sitting in the classroom with no costume, while everyone else was dressed up. I remember the years of leaving school early, before the party started. That sucked.
So now I am the mom. Lonnie and I had to decide what to do about the whole thing. I think the idea of sending kids door to door begging is ridiculous. But my children LOVE to dress up. We realized when Wy was in preschool that if he found out that everyone got to wear a costume to school and not him, he would hate that. This is the kid who likes to have dress up parties for his birthday. In March.
So we let him. We have decided that our children are allowed to attend the parties at their schools. They are allowed to dress up for these. This has caused some interesting conversations in our families over the past few years, as everyone has a slightly different opinion on how the entire thing should be handled. This is what works for us.
We, however do not trick or treat. As a family, we go out and everyone picks their favorite candy. Then we come home and have a pj party with movies and the kids stay up too late and have a great time.
This year will be a little different, as Lonnie will be out of town all that week and will be getting back into town that night, but it should still be fun.
This was also the first year we have had to buy costumes, as they have always just worn dress up clothes they already had. I feel like I just got robbed. Wyatt id Batman, again, but a different one, Rylee is Tinker Bell, and Tyler, who doesn't have a class to go to, but won't be left out, is a knight, or spiderman, whichever he chooses, as he has both. They are all really cute, and I am sure we will be seeing much more of these costumes oer the next year or so.

Our Princess

Today our princess is 5. She is our one and only girl in a sea of boys. She is the one with her own room when the rest share. She complains she is the only one in the house that has to sleep alone. I tell her she is the only one that gets to sleep alone. Rylee is all girl, and anyone who has ever met her knows that for sure. She can spend the entire day sitting in a chair coloring, or locked away in our bedroom with a doll house. Or she can be right in the mix of the boy and screaming that they aren't doing what she wants them to.
I love how when it is wrestle time, she wants to be right in the mix. But where the boys are punching and head butting, she is really just hugging and cuddling. She wants to wear her hair just like mommy's. She wants to help me with cooking. She likes to associate us and them.
Rylee loves all things girl. She have dozens of baby dolls, each with their own name and back story. We can rarely see her carpet through the see of dress up, barbies, babys and her own clothes.
She is most definitely a morning person. She almost never wakes up in a bad mood.
She also adores monkeys. When you look in her room, in the middle of the sea of pink, are several monkeys. For her birthday she gets to go to build a bear and make a friend with grandma and grandpa. She has already decided that she is getting a monkey, a princess monkey.
We got Rylee a new comforter for her big day. Last night after she went to sleep, we went in and changed her blankets for the comforter. Everyone knew when she woke up this morning and saw it. It was just great.

Happy Birthday Rylee. We love you. Our little Monkey Princess.

Tunnel Vision

Well it has been interesting. Ty has surprised me and has actually handled the whole pacie thing fairly well. he hasn't thrown the fit that I expected. He has really taken it in stride. At least at bedtime. During the day he has spent quite a bit of time on the floor crying, but that really isn't completely rare.
Dilly has had a little harder time, and I have been letting him have it to fall asleep, and then taking it away. It will get better though, I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Supper

Supper number one is done. Who knew that ravioli that didn't come out of a can was such a hit with the kiddos?
Supper number two is yet to be figured out, it will be hard to top last weeks Parmesan chicken with angel hair pasta from scratch.
I am not sure what he expects but I have all of Chuck and Heroes to figure it out.

Round 2

Well, here we go. Tyler is now 3. Dilly is now 1. We are going to take the pacies away. Everyone says it will be less than a week and it will all be over. I ceratainly hope so, but let me tell you, it will be one long week.
Pray for us. Pray for me. Pray for them.

Why is Tyler going around calling everyone "wacko"? It is not like it is a word we use a lot around here.
What do you think, you wacko?

Off we go.

Pictures of the weekend will follow, but for now I am heading off to take a 3 yr old and a 1 yr old to the Dr. for well checks, and I will be taking a 5 yr old too, just for fun.
Wish me luck.

Oh my Dilly

Today is Dylon's Birthday. It is really hard to believe. One year ago we had three kids. Now we have four.
What can I say about the baby we call Dilly? He is quite possibly the cutest baby ever. Top that off with the fact that he has the best temperament of any baby I have ever met, and you get the perfect answer for our house. He is sometimes overlooked because he is quiet and doesn't demand a lot.
He is definitely a daddy's boy, and spend much of his time trying to share everything from Daddy's cereal to his laptop.
One present we bought him was a see horse that lights up and plays music. He hugged it the whole way through the store, and when we opened it and gave it to him, he hugged it just like the picture of the kids on the box and took it with him to nap time today.
Dilly is the only one of our kids to not have blue eyes. He has beautiful hazel eyes.
He is loved by everyone around here. He follows the kids everywhere they go, and when he doesn't crawl after them, Wyatt carries him. He loves to be with them. He has a great quick smile, and claps every time he is happy, which is a lot.
We are so happy to have him around,
Happy Birthday baby, Mommy and Daddy love you.

More animal planet

In the van this morning the kids and I were discussing animals, such as elephants have good memories and don't forget. Owls are smart. Lions are brave. Monkeys are funny. They took a quick vote among themselves and decided I had to be a kangaroo, since they take their kids everywhere with them. Nice to know how they think of me. I thought it was cute, just don't expect me to be hopping anywhere anytime soon.

Wait, don't kangaroo's kick people to get them out of their way? Hmmm...

Wild Kingdom

Yesterday morning, Rylee came running into my bedroom and started screaming something about a bird and it needing our help. i walked through the house expecting to have to remove a dead bird from the yard. When I walked into the kitchen, I found Wyatt in the doorway to the deck, holding a bird in his hands. Yes, a bird. I mean how do you even catch bird? Much less just sit and hold it for awhile? He said the dog was chewing on it, and he took it form her. I thought it was dead, and told him to go put it in the corner of the yard, then would you believe the thing hopped away? I asked how h caught it, he said he just walked up and picked it up.
ok, weird.

Then a few minutes later Rylee came and told me there was something weird floating in the fish tank. I looked. then I looked again. Our sucker fish Oscar was not in the tank. But his vertebrae was floating in the water, and his skull was in the corner. How gross, apparently he died and the others ate him. I got the fabulous job of removing those items from the tank.

Nature lessons all around in our house.

Oh Tyler

Oh, Tyler, what can I say about you? You are the child who has most changed and challenged me. I have grown so much from being your mom. I am still learning how to do it right and cultivate your remarkable heart.
You are the fighter around here. Never wanting to be taken for granted or overlooked. You are also the most genuine helper, pushing others out of the way so you can get what i ask for.
You are most definitely your own person. Not easily swayed and very set on what you like and don't.
God certainly knew we needed you. I see you Daddy in you every day. In your passion, your drive and your fierce loyalty to those you love.
This year Ty's favorites are: The Incredibles, mac & cheese, playing at any park, and of course his blanket and his pacifier.
Things he really doesn't like are ketchup, jelly, and being told he isn't big enough for something, he will always tell you he is "bigger"
Some days he will not answer to "Tyler" at all, and will tell you he is "Ty-Ty"
Ty is our table stander, our couch jumper, our fence climber and bed time pusher.
We love him, cherish him and couldn't imagine this house with out him.


Mommy and Daddy love you baby. (Even though you are clearly not a baby, being 3 and all)

A wake up call

I woke up to a sound at 3:30. I couldn't quite place it. I came to find a young boy in his room, trying to clean something off his bed. At first I thought it was barf, and thought, oh no, and then I realized it was potato chips. Then I looked in the kitchen where there was an open can of pop, an open cabinet with a chair in front of it. I am not sure how long he was there or how much he really ate. Oh well, Lonnie just told me he was partying like it is his Birthday, I guess on you birthday you can do that.

A change.

I have sort of mixed emotions, and it is very very silly, but for the last three days it has been Spiderman instead of the Incredibles. I am not really sure how I feel about that. Lonnie isn't the happiest since Spiderman is Marvel and we do DC in this house. But he is 2 so we will let it go.

On the mend, I hope

Some are better. Some are on the way to being better. I am very very tired. But I got a nap in so I can't ask for much more. I did take the kids to the store, which was much needed but I think a little ambitious for Ry, who was all but falling asleep by the time we left. I think a little more recoup is needed. So we are back at home with some movies for a nice quiet afternoon.

Update

Lonnie-- Sinus troubles, bad headache and all that goes with that, as well as being really tired.
Wyatt-- Cough
Rylee-- Upset stomach with barfing and body aches, won't eat
Tyler-- Is almost 3 and himself, but has learned to throw some pretty impressive fits if he isn't happy
Dylon-- Slight fever, diarrhea, won't eat

Mary-- Doing laundry, cleaning up the house and trying to get/ keep it all in order. Please pray.

That was good.

So On Tuesday, My mom came to my house to stay in my zoo for a few days. Lonnie had a conference in Des Moines, and I got to go with him. On Tuesday we went to the first hotel (the one the meeting was at was full that night) and then out to dinner. It really was fun to just drive around and go shopping and eat with just the 2 of us. The hotel was right on the river (the Des Moines River?) and straight across from us was the capital building. It was really very pretty at night since we were sort of high up and had a nice view of it. AT night the capital was all lit up. Then in the morning, I got to watch the sun come up over the top, with the gold roof and all, it was really pretty, unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me. You will just have to believe me.
On Wednesday morning, bright and early we headed to the second hotel. Now I am not sure about everyone else, but we always tend to stay in the more affordable hotel when we travel. But when the State is picking up the tab, I guess you upgrade. So we got there and asked at the front desk where his meeting was and then we got to check in, and Lonnie had to go, so he looked at me and laughing said, Well the bags are in the car, I will see you fro dinner. So I got to spend all day by myself. It was actually really fun. The entire downtown is connected by sky walks, so I went exploring. I found a really cool mall and all kinds of neat shops, all in the sky walk.
We went to dinner at a very cool, unfranchised restaurant and basically had a really great time.
We left there a little before lunch today and were home in time to get Wyatt from school. Lonnie is back at class tonight, and the 3/4 of the kids are in bed so all is normal.

My one question is why the cheaper hotel had a great view, free wifi, and really good cable, and breakfast and the much more expensive hotel had a view of buildings and parking garages, pay by the day net, sucky cable and really pricey breakfast. Seems a little backwards to me.
But it is ok, because Lonnie and I had a great time. The last time we went away together, I was pregnant with Ty, and that was only one night. This was great.

While I was gone, Dylon has a stomach bug and wasn't very pleasant. But he is the baby so that can be dealt with. Then Last night (Wednesday) Rylee got sick. Now I am not sure about other people's kids, but Rylee is intensely difficult to deal with when she is sick. The boys tend to just lie around and do nothing. She on the other hand feels the need to whine, groan, yell and cry the entire time. It really is miserable for everyone that is around her at the time. Unfortunately, it was my mom. Wow, do we really love her. She was out of town for several days, came home for one night and then turned around and came here. The best part is she is still talking to us. I am not sure I would be, but she is and we love her.

So, it was very busy and quiet couple of days for us, but a very busy loud couple of days for my parents.

Rylee has started in on the crying now so I must go.

One guess

So I will give everyone one guess which child opened the kitchen gate, opened the "child-proof" kid lock on the refrigerator, opened the drawer that sticks in the fridge, opened a Ziploc bag that most adults have a hard time with and sat on my living room floor biting the ends off of hot dogs while I was in the shower. Oh, and in the meantime dripped hot dog juice, yes hot dog juice on my floor.

You only get one guess, so use it wisely. :)

My favorite of Today

Because they're incredible, duh

I am not sure who exactly came up with the Incredibles, but they deserve a gold star. This is Ty every afternoon. It is his favorite movie. Whenever it is his choice, this is what we watch. It is also Tyler code for "I am really tired and kinda wanna take a nap but don't want to admit it" Today he made it about 3 min before he was out.

Niiiice!

And there it goes.

That is what I thought when Rylee came home from school and proceeded to get out ALL of her Little People to make a town. I saw her floor for 2 hours, and now it is gone again.
We will try again in a few days, probably with fairly similar results.

(But she was very content for several hours in her little town, so it is all ok)

amazing...

Today we made the most amazing discovery. Did anyone else know that there is carpet in Rylee's room? And it is practically new, being as it rarely sees the light of day.
Who knew?

"Nothing"

This is what "nothing" looks like. If you have ever asked your kids what they are doing, and they say "nothing" it might just be this.

maybe I should move my makeup

Or maybe put it under lock and key.

Sunday afternoon in the driveway

They are each on their scooters, and having a great time. I didn't get a picture of it, but this was also the day Wy finally gained the confidence and learned to ride his bike. He was really excited.

More pictures

This is how the kids and I spent part of Labor Day. It was a great day to be outside and for them to burn off all that energy.

Catch up pictures

These are Rylee on her first day of school last week. The one by the sign is the night before at back-to-school night, since we knew it was going to rain the next day. She is doing well and loves going to school.