I survived!!!!

Well I know I'm probably a horrible mother for not doing this sooner but oh well. Last night I decided to make it an evening of making Christmas cookies with the children. It was definitely an adventure!!!! I am not a very good cook or baker as it is so it is hard for me to let kids help when I need help myself. Nevertheless I did it. Not only did they stir the ingredients but they also measured them, poured them and cracked the eggs. I liken the egg cracking to a stress ball in someones hand. They thought it was great fun and miraculously we only got one tiny bit of shell into the mix. They did really well and really enjoyed it. Maybe I'll be more adventurous in letting them help with meals sometimes. Then I'll have someone other than myself to blame for the way they turn out. :)

Another year older and he thinks another year wiser...

Well my baby is now six. He is such a sweet guy. He loves to give hugs and kisses. In fact he makes us give him anywhere from 3 to 7 kisses and hugs each time we leave or put him to bed. He says the extras are for God and Jesus because they live in His heart and they like hugs and kisses too. :) This little guy thinks he knows EVERYTHING!!! If you tell him he's wrong he makes sure to fight his hardest to prove he's right which usually ends up with him in his room in a time-out. :( He loves to quote things like his big brother except instead of movies or t.v. shows he quotes what the buses and trams at Disney World say. "Please keep your hands and arms inside the tram at all times. Make sure you place smaller children towards the middle. If you happen to drop something outside of the tram please notify the driver and we will be prompt in getting it back to you. Etc...." He is such a crack up. He is a little spoiled, I must admit, being the baby of the family which I am planning on working on this year. Sorry Kinnick! He makes friends very easily and absolutely despises roller coasters. We love the little man he is becoming and are always praying that he will use his stubborn headedness and desire to always be right to somehow glorify God as he grows.
We love you little mister!!!
Happy 6th Birthday!!!

Well it finally happened....

There has been one point of parenthood that I have been dreading since this journey began. I am not a very touchy feelly type of person but when it comes to my kids I adore hugs and kisses. Well I believe Christian has finally entered into the "Kisses and hugs aren't cool Mom" stage. :( Now he never lets me hold his hand in public and if he allows a kiss it's only on his cheek or on the top of his head and hugs are always side hugs outside of the house. The one thing I hold onto, however, is that inside the walls of our home he becomes my buddy again and all hugs and kisses are doable. :) I know there will be a time when I'm just completely uncool which is probably my second most dreaded part of motherhood so I'm just holding on to the fact that I can still make him laugh at times and he hasn't told me to my face that I'm the big nerd that I know I am. :) Thanks Christian for the few hugs and kisses that I can still sneak in here and there!

Impressed!

Today Ryan put on dress pants, dress shoes, dress shirt and a tie. He says he hasn't done that since he graduated from medical school. I'm not sure that's quite right but who knows. :) Anyway as he was ironing the tie that he had thrown in a box and forgotten about Hayden came in and looked at him once and then did a double take and said, "Whoa Dad." The look on her face was priceless and I would have to agree with her, Daddy was lookin good!!!

Smarty Pants

If any of you know Joey you know that she is obsessed with the weather. At times she has been called Ed (Ed Wilson). Last week we were watching the news together and the weather came on and said that it would be a rain/snow mix one of the days. Joey of course looked at all of the temperatures on all the days and then turns to me and says, "Mom it can't snow because it has to be 32 degrees out in order for it to snow." She is 7 folks! It is a good possibility that we might have a meteorologist in our midst. I guess she'll be able to be paid for being wrong the majority of the time. :)

Kinnick and his bright ideas....

The other day Ryan, Kinnick and I were sitting with a few other people discussing part-time jobs. I suggested donating plasma and out of the blue Kinnick pipes up, "Hey Mom, I have an idea. when you drop off all us kids you can go back home and have a part time job."
I said, "Oh yeah Kinnick what would that be?"
With the most serious face he says, "You can clean the house for your job Mom!"

I guess I now know what I need to improve on here at home. :)

Complete Craziness!!!

Last night the girls got to have a sleep over at their cousin Bree's house which left us with the two boys. Since I've had kids I have always been amazed at the energy, goofiness, and amount of flying limbs that go on with our boys. Last night was no different. They spent the first half of the night playing Toy Story 2 on the computer. This was a pretty calm activity until Buzz would do a new trick and the boys would erupt in yells of excitement followed by a brief tackle match between the two. After that we watched the new Phineas and Ferb (I love this show) which they actually sat very calmly through. Then the real fun started. They asked Daddy to get involved with a huge wrestling match. Feet, bodies and arms were flying everywhere!!! A few bodily noises escaped which immediately resulted in huge amounts of laughter and then they would be back at the wrestling. Although I did not get involved in the wrestling, I don't believe I was without a smile the whole time. They sure are crazy but they are definitely a happy crazy!!!

Oh and by the way when they awoke this morning they came down the stairs tackling one another again. :)

I love you Christian and Kinnick!!!

Never thought it would happen!!!

This little girl totally surprised me today. Normally she is my "yes mommy, whatever you say mommy" girl. Not today!!! First she blatantly ignored me when I called her name by pretending to duck under the water. Funny thing is, it was always after I yelled. Then she got mad at her towel because I refused to put it on her because she wouldn't do what I asked so I wasn't going to do what she asked. I know real mature. Then as we're walking to the car she called me a really mean name. I'm not sure who has come to live in Hayden's body but I am begging her to leave and bring back my princess!! Oh and I have officially banned the teenage years from our house. Who thinks that will work?? :)

I'm a big kid now!!!

Well we're starting to get into a schedule slowly but surely. Now that all the graduation parties are over our weekends have slowed down as well. Kinnick told me the other day, "Hey mom, beings I graduated this year from preschool will you have a party for me where people come eat?" It was so cute that I actually entertained the thought for a while. I never thought I would be sad to see my last kid get to kindergarten. Boy was I wrong!!! The thought of him lining up this fall really tugs at my heart strings! He, however, could not be more excited. He actually wants to skip Kindergarten and go to 1st grade so he can see Hayden. Little does he know that Hayden will no longer be in first, but will move to 2nd by the time he gets there. :)

Let it begin!!!

Well I'm back at the blog and summer break has officially begun. Yesterday we kicked it off with a picnic, time at a playground and then, of course, blizzards. I guess Ryan even got a little crazy after I left for worship team practice and got the play-dough out. I really despise that stuff!! Today our "plan" is to clean the house and hang out and play with each other. I'm sure none of it will happen but it is a nice plan. :)