Happy "White Bread Rolls" Day!

Some people think Thanksgiving is about turkey or being grateful or some other such nonsense.  My kids have it all figured it.  It's the rolls!  Fluffy white bread with butter: mmm, mmm, mmm!

Food Friends

Some days I'm amazed at how easy it is to entertain my children.  We picked up our Bountiful Basket this morning, and as usual there were some questions over just what the food was.  Fennel was the mystery object this time.  Owen was so excited about the watermelon, and claimed it as his so I drew his face on it.  Then of course, all the other fruits and veggies wanted to join in.  

It's Halloween!!

Halloween is always such a busy day.  Between partying, pumpkins and ToT, it's hard to do anything else.

Ella and Owen on their way to school.

Baby in a pumpkin.  Everybody say, "awwww."  He was so not happy to be put in there, but his face is hysterical.  I think this will be a classic that we pull out every Halloween.  He eventually got fascinated and was having a great time checking out his pumpkin and the leaves.

Princess, Dragon and Knight

All five kids on their way to trick or treat.

Cousins and Shelly

We were so excited to have Shelly and Kevin in town with the twinsies this week.  Bryn was head over heels about these little girls and couldn't believe how much they'd grown up since we last saw them.

Crazy Hair Day

Did you know that it's crazy to do drugs?   Owen and Ella got in on the drug education with their Halloween styled hair.  Owen was a ghost and Ella wore a spider.  These were super quick hairdos, because as usual I had great aspirations and then forgot about crazy hair day until the morning and had to go with what worked in 15 minutes.  Colored hair glue and googly eyes can do wonders.

Claire did not want to be left out of the action and also wanted a spider on her head.  Hers was a teeny little bun with only two legs, but she was happy with it.  Poor bald Max didn't even get a chance to participate.

Halloween Carnival

We went to the 4H Halloween Carnival tonight.  The kids had a great time, and I liked have one more chance to take Halloween pictures and see the kids dressed up. Max was a party pooper and wore his Halloween clothes instead of a costume.

King of Kindergarten

Today was my first day volunteering in Owen's Kindergarten class, and he was chosen as King for the day, and the letter of the day was O.  You wouldn't think the day could get any better, but then Nana and Grampa picked him up after school and he got to spend the afternoon at their house.  While there he got to pick giant pumpkins from the garden to bring home.  Then Ella let him wrestle and win.  Practically a perfect day for the big O.

Mini Golf

I totally won even though I had a wiggling 17 pound handicap on the first eight holes and a sleeping-so-don't wiggle-too-much handicap on the back eight.  Owen was a little disappointed, but he did beat Bryn.  (Shhh!  Bryn doesn't want that one broadcast to the world.) 

The School Carnival

My kids love these things.  I have to admit it's good cheap entertainment and goes toward a great cause. The popular items of the day were hair dos, candy, bounce houses and pizza.  And Max even behaved, which made all the difference for me.  It's so weird to think that last year I didn't know I was pregnant.

Double Take, Take Two

So after yesterday's double cuteness, I guess Owen and I decided to take it to a new level.  We wore matching shirts today.  I have to laugh since it was not at all purposeful, but it totally made Owen's day.  Sadly, I did not have a little bear on my pocket, but Owen still thought it was close enough for us to be twins for the day.  He's even talking about saving up his money so he can buy me some shorts just like his.

In keeping with a double, double, here's Mr Max doing a drool and stare routine on Ella during dinner.  Drool is one of his major talents these days, and it looks like dinner might be next on his list of accomplishments.

Something to Smile About

My new camera lens arrived today, so I'm happy.

And Ella's happy, just because she's Ella and that's the kind of kid she is.  When Ella was little tiny, she'd take the blame for anything to keep Bryn from getting in trouble.  She'd look at me and ask if I was sad, just because I wasn't grinning and smiling like crazy.  She thanks her teachers and parents constantly (and we don't tell her to!)  She just seems to have been born kind and with the ability to express and share it.  What a lovely gift to have.

Max is not the most content baby on the planet.  We have to bounce and jiggle and sing and talk and shush and sway and so on in order to keep him happy.  Thank goodness he's the fifth kid and other kids are such good helpers.  Ella is doing deep knee bends and walking in circles around the living room while baby talking Max.  And it was working, even in the super fussy just before bed time.  Aaah, thank you, Ella!

Nana/Grampa/Nerd Day

Wednesdays have a long tradition of being Nana and Grampa day.  It's kind of strange right now to just be sending Claire off with them. When they bring Claire back, we have to try and get all the visiting in since the kids are used to seeing them all day during the summer.  It's crazy, but a good kind of crazy.

Today was also nerd day at the Jr High.  Check out Bryn's nerdalicious specs.

Pudding Pops

Do you remember the good ole days of Bill Cosby and Jello Pudding Pops commercials?  I do, and I miss them.  My favorite were the vanilla and chocolate swirled, but I loved the plain chocolate, too.  I've seen some recipes floating around the web and decided to give them a try in hopes of recreating a much missed childhood treat.  Basically, you make pudding and when it's not too hot (but still liquidy) you add in some cool whip.  Not too complicated, so definitely worth a shot. The kids had a great time making them and the swirly ones looked cute in their little cups.  Taste?  Well, not like a real Jello Pupping Pop, but the kids enjoyed them.  I still wish they'd bring the real ones back.

Twins!

I love this picture almost as much as I am grossed out by this picture.  Some of the cousins found a clam (ish type thing) on the beach that was still sealed.  It then got put in a bucket with water and sand and lived on the front porch during beach week.  Today we found it had opened and was sticking its clammy self out.  The kids thought it was pretty cool.  I think maybe it's dying--chowder anyone?

Family Swim

Tonight was 4H night at the water park. Owen is a fearless guy in the water and just goes, goes, goes, so with him, Claire and a baby, it's definitely a two adult event, so the kids have been waiting and waiting for a night when daddy could come.  The kids had so much fun, Max only cried when splashed, and I got a photo with all five of my kids pretty much looking at the camera.  It only took 50 tries and I'll just have to ignore the part about it being crooked, but you can't have everything in life ;-)

Fireworks--because we can

How often do you get to...

 have three heads?

grow wings, or have a really big heart?

 look like a demon from the other side?

or just get the chance to play with fire and light?

Picture Perfect

The kids were just messing around tonight, asking to take pics, doing goofy poses, etc.  I love this shot.

Hair

Happy 4th of July

Except that it wasn't.  We tried to go to our traditional Freedom Festival event, but it was super crowded, hot and humid, and then windy  Max fussed the whole time. The kids were grumpy.  Andrew was grumpy. And then I was grumpy.  The proof is in the picture.

So then we took the kids to McDonalds and let them play in the air-conditioned playland.  Sadly, I think that probably qualifies us as super American after all. 

There were still some good parts, like the excitement of starting out on an adventure.

 And the beebs is cute just for being the beebs. He's 2 months and 2 days old.

 And Claire can turn on the cheese when she wants to.

And you get to watch "the boys" set off firecrackers.

And eating pizza on the front porch while watching the newly legalized aerial fireworks is fun, even in the rain, and especially when you have your own sparklers to use.

All's well that ends well.  Happy Independence Day!