Elf on the Shelf 2012

 

 

This is our second year of Elf on the Shelf being our family tradition.  Our elf does not report back to Santa, he just does silly things.  These pictures are in no patricular order.

 

Day 1:  Sammy arrived and brought card board ginger bread houses and breakfast

 

Sammy left a note & magic seeds (sprinkles) to be planted in sugar

The magic seeds GREW over night into cookies!!!  You can see we were shocked

 

 

 

Sammy replaced pictures of family with pictures of himself

 

 

Sammy brought us a magic tree 

 

Sammy left us a paper chain, in the bathroom, down the hall.  WOW it was crazy!!!  He must have worked on it for days ;)

 

Sammy took a bubble bath in the sink

 

Sammy built an igloo and snow men out of marshmellows

 

Sammy took a nap in a tissue box

 

Sammy took it easy and hung out in the tree

 

Sammy Sold hot chocolate

 

 

Sammy hung from the celing fan

 

Sammy did some math

 

Sammy made a snow flake out of Q-Tips

 

Sammy drew silly faces on our family picture with a dry erase marker!

Scooby-Doo and the Gang caused a little traffic jam that had Sammy waiting for ever!

Sammy left a note on the Dry Erase board

 

 

 Sammy Made a Snow Angel

 

The toys tied sammy up!

 

 

 

Sammy shaved a Christmas tree into daddys head!  (Yes he knew, yes he was awake, yes it was his idea)

 

 

Sammy hung up our underwear where our stockings should go!

 

He did a few more things, that I dont have pictures of.  He made "Elf donuts" and he brought the kids one present to open early on Christmas Eve :)

 

Hope you enjoyed our Elf this year!  Cant wait to see what he does next year.

Foster Puppies

 

My husband has been unemployed since October 11th.  We are very giving people and its a new experience for us to be on the receiving end.  We have been overwhelmed with the kindness of others through out this time in our lives.

 

Two Sundays ago, in our church bulletin there was a challenge to do something clearly unselfish.  I was trying to think of something we could do as a family.  When I got home that day and got on facebook there was a request from Dakota rescue.  A mommy dog had quit nursing her babies (she had 10) and they needed help!  We offered to take two.

 

I packed the kids up and we went to get them.  The kids understood it would just be for two weeks, that we were caring for them because their mother could not.  The larger one we called Buster, the smaller one we called Scratchy.

 



 

They were so adorable.  We feed them, and loved them and played with them.  The boys helped as much as they could.  They helped with bottle feeding and changing the newspapers & when they got baths they helped dry them.

 

 

 

Opie was checking in on them.

 

 

 

Our baby was not too sure about the puppies.  He would clap at them, but kind of wanted them to stay at arms length away.  (this is buster & the baby)

 

Two cuties!

 

 

 

Then it was time to say good bye.  They played with the puppies all day.  Then we went up to pet-co to have them put up for adoption.  Noah cried first, then when the other puppies came, Eli cried.

 

But we were so happy to hear that Buster was adopted and it will just be a matter of time before scratchy is adopted too.  The boys were so happy to hear that!

 

Buster with his new owner!!!  I'm sure he will love him as much as we did

 

Orchestra Memory Game

We are in week 4 of our Konos curriculum on the character trait of attentiveness.  I can not say enough good things about Konos, I highly recommend it.  In weeks 3 & 4 we learned about sound, musical instruments and the orchestra and symphony.  One of our activities was to learn the lay out of where all the instruments are located in an orchestra and the names and family's that each instrument belonged into.

 

I had very much enjoyed week one of the attentiveness unit, where we used a very interactive approach to memorize the ear.  So I created this memory game to help the children with the memorization of the orchestra.

 

 

Link to: Orchestra Memory Game

This was such a fun night! We made sugar cookies, listened to Christmas music and then sat by the fire & played our memory game!

Blooming Bath Review

We had our third child about 5 years after our second child. Everything had changed, everything was new. It was crazy. I was going to go with the bear sponge tub it worked well with my first two children. Then I stumbled across the blooming bath.

I thought it was awesome!  I was in love with it.  So I ordered it.  It was so soft and plush and since I had a c-section it worked great bathing  him in the sink.  Everyone who bathed him thought it was the best bath tub ever.  Now that he is 10 months old, we still love it.  He sits on it in the bath tub and splashes around on it.  I highly recomend the blooming bath.

 

Below is a video I did on it to answer a question for a fb friend

 

Enjoy!

Elf on the Shelf

Last year was the first year I had heard about the Elf on the Shelf, or maybe it was the first year that I paid attention to it.  I purchased our elf about half way through the Christmas season and we had a lot of fun with him.   He has:

1 - Short sheeted the kids beds

2- hung from the ceiling fan

3 - Dyed the toilet water green

4 - Sat on top of a little Christmas tree

5 - Sat on top of a Reindeer

6 - Sat on the stair banister

7- Sat in a Christmas flower arrangement

8 - Hung out at the top of the big Christmas tree

9 - Chilled out by the cookie jar in the kitchen

10- Made a snow angle in the flour

11- Elf played cards with santa

12. Elf painted the kids nose red

So this Christmas I will have to think of more fun elf ideas - and not to mention towards the end of the holiday my sister and I started a "friendly" elf competition.  To say we are competitive at stuff like this would be an understatement.  Here are a a few of the things she did with her elf:

1 - Elf hung from paper chains in bathroom

2. Elf wrapped Christmas tree with TP

This Christmas I am going way over the top.  She wont beat me.

attentiveness

We started a new unit this week on attentiveness, using the Konos curriculum.  I absolutely love it.  I feel like the children have learned so much in two days.  Konos teaches a character trait and incorporates bible lessons with science, history, memory, art, reasoning, reading, language and field trips

 

For the science part of the attentiveness lesson we learned about the ear.  How it works and the parts.  After day one, both boys know all the parts of the ear.  I was honestly blown away.  We have tried less hands on approaches and it took longer (example: memorizing the continents)  We defined attentiveness, practiced eye contact, acted out Bible stories, talked about the importance of paying attention, jobs that required attention.  We watched TV with no sound and talked about body language and how we thought the people felt from watching them.  We started reading about Helen Keller, we played attention games and talked about concentration.

 

I have to supplement Konos with math and phonics.  But Its so wonderful.  I love how the learning fits in to our life and its fun.  It feels like we are playing.  And we are.

 

 

 

 

Code word for....

Wes and I recently went to dinner at Cheddars in Webster.  I love Cheddars.  I have a passion for someone named Monte Cristo.  He goes straight to my hips.  But I cant help myself.  It all started when I was 15 and did not have to worry about deep fried sandwiches and powered sugar. 

 

I digress.  We went to Cheddars and were seated and our waiter greets us "Hi welcome to Cheddars!  I am your waiter, you are going to have great service tonight!  I have not been a waiter here long but I have been waiting tables for a long time, and you are going to have great service tonight".  Umm terrific, seems a little over the top but we will go with it.  So Mr. Fabulous brings us our teas and takes our orders. 

 

Then he comes back "Hi welcome to Cheddars, have you been sitting here long?  I will be right with you"  ............ What?  Wes and I look at each other, half expecting to be on punked or something, "You took our order" "what?  man I'm so busy tonight let me check and I will be right back"  So off he goes.  He comes back and he did indeed take our order (and apparently something with it) and life is good.  So Mr. fabulous refills our drinks a few times, which was painful each and every time, and then he says "Do you guys know what day of the week it is?"  We say "Yes Its Saturday night" he says "What?  Oh man I lost a day somewhere, I cant believe its Saturday night"

Then comes time for the check, he hands us the check then immediately says "Do you need change?"  whoa buddy let me check my wallet.

 

So do you agree?  Is the phrase "your going to have wonderful service tonight" code for "get ready for some sucky service"

Time

I finally had some time today.  Time alone.  My step father took the kids to the movies, Wes went hunting and the baby was asleep.  I cleaned my house.  I watched tv.  I sat on the couch and had a coke.  I collected my thoughts.  I did not solve any problems.  The worlds or my own. and it was nice.

Getting Started On Home Schooling, FAQ's

Here are some questions I had when considering home schooling, I will add to the list as I discover more questions that people have.

 

What's the best way to get started?

To start.  I suggest a curriculum that lays it all out for your first year.  I have been told that you get more comfortable picking and choosing as you go on.

Can you tell me your schedule?

Sure!  Here is my schedule:  We start at 8:00 say pledges, prayers and morning recitation, then we do phonics & spelling, Math, Reading, Copy & Memory work, and we rotate story time, science, social studies, music & art.  When we have finished the work for the day, we are done.  

On Wednesdays we go to the Library & I plan on making this our service day as well, but we have not done service yet

 Are you part of a group?

I am happy to say I just joined a moms support group.  We meet at 3007 Yost behind Shady Crest Baptist church once a month. Its nice to be a part of a group of other moms doing this.  We share information on curriculum, and share ideas, its really great.  However, I think I talk too much, next time Im going to be quiet :)

 What curriculum do you use?

I use Memoria Press.  Its very nice, it lays the whole year out for you.  Noah is on week 10 is some things week 7 in others.  That's the nice thing about home schooling, you meet the skill level, not the age level.

In science we are doing junior botany.  I added it as a supplemental fun thing to do, that is the other nice thing about home schooling, since at this age Science and History is not taught, we can add it here.

 

I got some great recomendations yesterday -

Singapore math, review was its not repetative, heavy & word problems.

Saxton (I think we will do this one next year) Does Facts pratice, mental math & lesson.

The life of Fred  - sounds interesting, apparently very popular with kids

Kids of Character - great character building lessons

Sequential Spelling

All about Spelling

Conos (I think we will try this one too)

 

Should we be finished this early?

This one is hard for me, because I thought my kids were actually learning for 8 hours.  But the answer is yes, and the answer is easy.  #1 there is a lot of wasted time in public school, #2 the teacher is teaching 23+ kids, your teaching one or two, or sometimes more, but not 23, so its easy to ge through the material quicker.  I would say most days we are done by lunch. 

 

What do you like most about home schooling?

This is only my 3rd week (I think), but what I like most is the flexability.  The first week of homeschool I was able to take the kids last min to see the space shuttle fly in on its way to California.  Had they been in public school they would have missed it.  My husband is going to Dallas next week on business, because we can do school work based on our schedule (weekends if we want to, doubble up certian days) we can go with him.  I am also enjoying seeing them learn.  Getting BIG hugs when they "get" something, helping them work through frustration of learing new things.

I will add to this list as I have more questions & find the answers :)

Why I broke the rules

With my first two children I never got them out of bed while they were sleeping.  I never missed nap time, I never handed them my keys as a play toy.  I followed the list of suggested foods and times to give them.  I went by every rule in the book.  I can think of one or two times I let Noah fall asleep on my chest.  I did not want to ruin him, so I did not do it often.

 

Now here comes Micah.

Now granted I am in a much more mentally healthy place this time around.  But I don't have this check list of rules anymore.  Its so totally freeing. 

 

He had BBQ last night. (It was shredded & I watched him the whole time)  There have been a few times where I did not have a baby toy on me, and you know what?  I handed him my keys.  The world did not end.  A key is not his preferred toy of preference, it passfied him do to my forgetfulness and we moved on.  Man I was hard on myself the first time around.

 

So last night, I was feeling sentimental.  Hes already 7 months old.  It was about 11:00 and I got him out of bed.  He was slightly confused.  I took him in my room and laid him on my chest.  And I just held him and listened to him breath.  He was so snugly.  Then Wes came and took him to bed.

 

 

Song for a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

 

The Story of my Religious Journey

I was raised in a Christian home by two Christan parents.  For a long time I struggled with not having a "BIG" conversion story.  As I have grown older I realise that every conversion - or when a person comes to accept Jesus as their savor is BIG to God.

Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)

²² This righteousness is given through faith in^[a] Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

I do not know the exact date when I accepted Jesus as my savior.  I think this is mostly due to the denominations we were when I was younger.  I was Catholic for 7 years, with Catholicism there is no "date" of salvation, you just are Catholic.  Then we were Methodist for several years, then Presbyterian from about middle school on.  When I went to college is when I became Baptist and the "date" became an issue.  What I do know is that I did accept Jesus as my savior - though I don't know when it happened exactly, I know it happened and He is MY SAVIOR.

My first "storm" came when I was in the 7th grade.  I was new to school and I was a late bloomer.  I still was sporting the matching spandex out fits.  Not really condusive to being super popular.  I was trying to be friends with the "popular" girls.  The ring leader of the group told me I could no longer eat lunch with them.  I was crushed.  I turned to God during this time.  He began teaching me about about judging others.  I had been judging people based on looks - not their hearts.  The same way I had been judged, not on my heart.  I began to make friends based on their hearts  - not their outward appearance.  These were some of the best friends I ever had

James 1:2-4 (NIV)

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Did I consider this time in my life pure joy?  Absolutely not.  It sucked.  I ate in a teachers room every day of seventh grade, it was terribly difficult.  Did I grow from it and become a better person?  Yes, and even now knowing how painful it was I would do it again, because I am better for it.

During this time God also taught me about forgiveness.  Why he asks us to forgive.  I forgave all the girls involved and there were quite a few of them.  I used to know all their names, but I don't anymore.  Forgiveness releases you from bondage.  It's the giving of your worry to God and saying "I forgive them" and handing over what you think the punishment should be to God.  I am not a fair and honest judge.  But God is

Throughout high school I studied Gods work and strived for perfection, never achieving it.  Feeling judged and never measuring up.  I picked my college based on the fact it was a party school.  One of the top ten at the time.  As my dad dropped me off at college a car cut us off and on the back it said "SFA" SEX FUN ALCHOL.  Nice warm fuzzy feeling for dad im sure.  Shortly after I arrived somehow I ended up at a church and was convected and re-committed my self to GOD.  Still not understanding Christianity in full I continued my quest for perfection.  I had no idea why God would have me at a party school and not be partying.  He knew.  My future husband was there.  We met in Aug of 1999, started dating in Feb of 2000 and married in December of 2000.  With my ideas of a fairy tale life and a love described in

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

The only problem was I did not know how to love like this.

In 2003 I was the victim of an assault.  It completely turned my world upside down.  Life was not fair.  How could people have betrayed me?  I quit my job, got another horrible job - that I had thought was the answer to my prayer -  I suppose it was a temporary answer.  My emotions were completely out of control.  I had panic attacks when I saw a certain make model and color of car that must have been extremely popular because it was everywhere.  I was seriously angry with about 20 people and an entire police department.  I would sit on my bed and scream and cry out to God.  How did he let this happen?  Why did he let this happen?  God again began to work on me to let go, to forgive.  He had taught me to do this before on a much smaller scale, for a much less serious offence.

Romans 8:28(NIV)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose.

This time I learned more.  I learned what forgiveness really was and what he was asking me to do.  Because they did not deserve forgiveness.  I wanted justice.  I wanted them to feel the pain I felt.  I wanted them to hurt the way I was hurting.  Forgiving frees you from that.  Forgiveness is not okaying the offence.  Its unnatural and goes against what I wanted to see happen.  But when I forgave I realised I was the actual prisioner.  I freed myself.  I said "they did not deserve it"  - my forgiveness.  The truth is - they did not.  I don't deserve Gods forgiveness.

Colossians 3:13(NIV)

¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV)

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[a

Luke 6:37(NIV) 

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. 

I forgave because God forgave me.

Once I had worked threw this - which took about two years.  I was very happy.  I had a great job.  I am still admazed as to what a wonderful husband God gave me and that he loves me through my instability and my inperfections.  About that time we decided to have a baby.  I became pregnate and we were so excited.  We thought of special ways to tell our family.  The way I ended up telling my mom was calling her crying on the way home from a doctors appoitment telling her I was having a miscarriage.  I have no answer for why things like this happen.  I belive this is one of my babies who is already in Heaven waiting for me.

A few months later I became pregnate with Noah.  My appendix ruptured at 32 weeks and he was born early.  He was in the NICU for 18 days.   I would not visit him with out Wes.  I was very upset that he came early.  It ruined my plans for the "perfect birth" that was in my mind as a first time mother.  His lungs needed to devolpe more and they did and he came home to us on oxygen and an apena monitor.  Wes still remembers loading him in the car the first time.  He said it felt like defusing a bomb.  With a nurse watching he had to buckle him in - on oxygen - then load all his equipment.  I road in the back, just incase something went wrong.  My struggle for control was at an all time high.  Doctors had been trying to medicate me since my assault.  I did not belive I needed medication.  I thought it was a sign of weakness and I was not weak.  Still stuggling with depression I became pregnate when Noah was 6 months old.  Through this time my husbands job had turned into one with lots of travel.  He was easily gone 6 months of the year - broken into two week periods.  After my second child was born I got on medication.  It helped tremendusly.  However I was still expecting perfection from myself and other Christians and was constently being let down.

I took a sales job that appealed to my ego and I did very well at it.  I was able to listen to womens painful stories and show them love and compassion.  During this time God showed me a very ugly side of Christians.  I was judged severly for my sales job.  They did not bother to ask what I was doing or why, or that I had received councle from two pastors at my church before accepting the job.  It broke my heart,  and I started drinking very heavly.  What people were suppost to be doing and what they were doing was not lining up.  Drinking alchol made that go away.  Temporly.  One night I drank 2 bottles of wine and 1/2 a bottle of tequilla.  I relized I had to stop, I had to forgive myself for not being perfect.  I went to a wise christian woman who ACTUALLY lives her faith and I told her about my drinking.  She did not judge me, she loved me.  She knew the drinking was a byproduct of my pain and that I had judged myself enough.  She encouraged me to seek out why I was drinking.  What was the pain.  Through this God showed me:

• look to him, he is perfect, his followers are not.  Not even me.
• Forgive everyone - even myself
• love my self as described in 1 Corinthians
• put my record book away.  I am a human.

When I would beat myself up about what I fed my kids God reminded me that he fed his kids manna for 40 years and they were fine.  Once he took away my coping mechnasin I was able to learn to cope in a healthy way.  To be a better wife, mom and friend.

Christianity is not a stagnet pond where mosquetos grow.  Its a living plant that is nurtured and pruned.  The learning and growing hurts.  As the undsirable parts are removed.  When it is over what God has brought from my pain is much more beautiful.  Is it hard to count it all joy?  Yes, but I can now praise God in a storm and cling to him because I know he will get me threw it.  I finally accepted 1 corinthians 13:12 as the answer to my unknown questions.  And for me, its a good enough answer. 

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV)

¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Why we said "No" to Santa

 

With the Holidays approaching we get asked quite often why we decided not to do Santa.  I'm starting to feel like I have a third eye, I am often explaining our decisions and why we have chosen to do things a bit differently.  The reason was two fold for us, and actually very simple.

 

  First and foremost, my husband works very hard to support us, and we appreciate it very much.  Therefore I wanted the kids to know that gifts came from us, they were worked for - not free and that nothing magically shows up in your house.  They know we have a limit, they can ask for things, but real people that they actually know, purchase their gifts.

The second part of the reason is I did not want to lie to my children.  Santa is not real, hes not.  He does not come down the chimney, and he does not bring you gifts.  The reason we celebrate Christmas is for Jesus.  To celebrate his birth and that is where we chose to put our focus.  Now, that being said, we allow them to pretend.  We gave them the facts, Santa is not real, but we allow them to see Santa if they want to (so far they have not), we do Elf on the shelf (they know its me), this does not take away from the magic of pretending & imagination.

 

FAQ's

 

What if they tell other children?

Yes this will happen & has happened.  Its going to happen anyway, someone told you.  Not to mention, Jehovah Witnesses, and some other eastern religions do not do Santa.  Point - my kids and yours if you choose not to do Santa will not be the only ones to "ruin" it for people.

 

Don't you think they are missing out on fun?

  No not at all.  We do all the "fun" they just know the truth behind the fun.  Its me and daddy.

Home School

Some of you may know we made the decision to start homeschooling about 3 weeks ago. We are so happy with that decision. There were so many things that I did not realize about public school, and I think homeschooling is an awesome option, for us.

 

 My favorite thing about homeschool is the flexability. Most days we start school at 8:00am, Tuesdays we start at 6:30am because I have bible study at 9:30, Wednesdays we do about an hour of school and then we go to the library. The first week I spent testing and deciding what week to start the kids on. Each subject they are at different spots on. So unlike public school we can work at their speed and level and I can challenge them. The second week, I made changes from the first week & Elis curriclum came in so I added to it and decided where to start him. And this week I feel like we really have a groove. We have a plan, I know whats working, I know where they are, its awesome. And to see the look on your kids face when they "get it" is so awesome, so awesome. I love it. Also since they are homeschooled we all get to go to Dallas with Wes next week on business. I could not be more excited with the route we have chosen to go with their education!

 

Oh  yes, and "socilization"  I laugh because that was actually the problem.  Yes at public school they are in class with other kids, but its not a giant social party.  Infact I last year no children from Noahs class came to his birthday party, all his friends are from out side "public school"  of course he knows kids there, but they met them out side of school.  They go to church on Sunday, they are in base ball 5 days a week, thats where they will make their friends.  He had an 80 in conduct because he was such a little social butterfly & it was not allowed. 

Pirate Camp

 

I got behind on my "summer camp" post.  I will post one a week till they are all caught up.  We did finish them!  Just finding time to blog with three kids home was rather difficult. But eventually the links will be filed all nice and neat, so you can reference them.  If you ever want to do your own pirate camp.

 

The night before I set up a treasure chest, pirate clothes and make a treasure hunt.

 

When they woke up I instuctued them to put on their pirate clothes and follow the directions on the treasure hunt map

 

Each map lead them to another map and each map had a pirate toy sitting on top of it

 

Once they had found all three "treasures"  the note said "Now go play with pirates"

 

On the kitchen table I had all of their pirate toys set up and ready to play with

 

This was our first day of pirate camp!

This can't happen every day.....

 

My brother came to visit from Virgina Beach and we had a really nice time visiting with him at my moms house.  Then it was time to go, the first day of school was the next day.   I start the task of loading up three children.  I load the diaper bag, ask the older kids to get shoes on, and collect all of our belongings.  We had borrowed my moms car & she had borrowed my van so I began switching back vehicles. 

 

Somewhere in the mist of this Noah runs through a pile of ants.  Hm no shoes?  Go figure.  So hes screaming "AHH ANTS! ANTS!  It hurts, It Hurts!"  My brother and my grandmother were trying to comfort him and all I had was some ice tea, so I poured it on his foot.   First I decided between Ice Tea and Coke and decided that Ice tea would be the better, less sticky option.   I kind of forget my brother is watching me while all this goes on, keep that in mind as your reading.  So I pretend that ice tea is like a magic fix to an ant bite.  "Really it still hurts?  Well just give it a few min, it should kick in soon"

 

So the ant thing calms down, I ask again "Go get on your shoes"  they run off - one would presume they were running off to get shoes.  Well I get the baby, get him strapped in the van and about this time we realise we don't have the keys to the van.  Mom does, and she ran off to the store. 

 

Well this is terrific.  So we decide to take her car home, leave the baby with grampa and they will bring us our van and the baby.  Time to switch cars!  Whoo-hoo excitement.  So I switch the cars back.  Now, where are those kids, you know the ones with their shoes?  Oh ya, one has his shoes on. 

 

I'm sitting in the car with it running, Noah in the back seat, talking to Michael, and waiting on Wes and Eli.  Wes comes I say "Hey wheres Eli?"  Wes says "I think hes coming, just getting his shoes on"  Here comes Eli.  Does he have his shoes on?  Take a guess, we don't call him "Eli Noshoe Murdock" for no reason.  So Wes gets out of the car to go help Eli find his shoes.

 

Michael and I are looking at each other like "man this is crazy"  and just about that time Noah pipes up from the backseat

 

"Hey Uncle Michael" 

"Ya Buddy"

"Your going to be sacrificed later"

 

Both Michael and I look at each other like "what the crap was that?"

 

"Noah - buckle up" I say.  I mean what else do you say when your child tells your brother hes going to be sacrificed?  That seemed like an appropriate response.  So here come Wes and Eli, thank the Lord, we do have our first day of school tomorrow.  We buckle up and drive home to finish last min preparations for school and get the kids to bed at a decent hour.

 

Later as Michael is recapping this story to my mom he says "Everyday can't be like that for her"

 

Oh Michael, if you only knew. 

 



Baby of the Corn

 

I was looking for some balls to add to my ball pit, but was having no luck.  Then I saw a 50lb bag of corn.  Terrific!

 

Micha and I ran home and dumped it in our "sensory pool"  I added some measuring cups for dumping

 

Because corn is a choking hazard, I sat in the pool with him.  When he would start to bring his hands to his mouth I said "no mouth" and moved his hands away.  He loved it!

 

He moved his legs the whole time we were in the corn listening to the crunching sound it made on the plastic.

 I would cover his feet in corn & then he would move them till he could see his toes again

 This lasted 30 min.  He would have stayed in longer, but it was time for me to feed him.

 when we were done I cleaned all the corn off of him and checked his diaper for any that had snuck in.  We will be doing this again soon

Papa's 80th Birthday Party - PIC Heavy

 

My grandfather just had his 80th birthday party.  And we decorated the tables with different themes from his life.  Hes liked a lot of things & had a lot of hobbies

 

We did a three tier cake from the Sugar Mama, representing the three Biggest parts of his life.  The Navy, being a barber and his faith

 



When he was 17 he raced motorcycles

 



 

He loves to golf & at one point in his life was really into growing roses

 



 

He was really into NASA and the space program & collected space patches

 



 

If you know my grandfather, you know he loves the 4th of July.  He leads the 4th of July parade in his neighborhood

 



 

Taking pictures was also another big hobby of my grandfathers.

 



 

A good shot of the cake table

And all the pretty cupcakes

 

When my parents were married, my grandmother on my fathers side, knew a man who did drawings.  He did a sketch of my grandfather as a barber & with a camera that my grandfather used on all his business cards.  It became his little logo.  For the party a good friend of my grandmothers changed it to fit all the centerpieces.

 

Clarence the cake topper - Party Man

 

 

Clarence the Motorcycle Man

Clarence the Gardner

 

Clarence "Mr. Independence

 

Faith Table

Navy table

Barber table

Camera table

Clarence LOVES Christmas

AND Baseball

Clarence the Golfer

All the papas!

 



 

Barber

Family Man

Papa and some guest

 

He spotted Michael

 

Suprise!

 

The three of us together!

Camera check

Three kids and mom

Mom and Emery

I have an idea, lets take a family photo - shot one

Shot two - lets try again, Micah was not looking

Shot three - Eli Next time be normal

 

Shot 4 - Really guys - please just look at the camera and smile

Shot 5 - I mean how hard is this?

Shot 6 - we said be normal and look at the camera

Shot 7 - Okay, um maybe we got one

 

At this time I cant figure out how to get my grandfathers speach uploaded, it may be too long to send to youtube.  Not sure.  I will keep working on it.  Here are some of the other speeches of what people had to say about him.

 

Happy Birthday PAPA!!!