Worth a $100

Have you ever had one of those days when the kids are just being wild and crazy or even just fighting a lot, so you just want it to be a little calmer around the house? Or you might just want to figure out a way to stop the fighting? You just want to have something organized that they are doing? Does that make sense? To succeed in that, you obviously have to figure out something else for the kids to do. Right? Well, I told the boys that I would give them $100 if they could put their elbow IN their ear, not just touching their ear, but the pointy part of their elbow had to go into the ear canal. (Hey, a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do!)

I don't think I really caused them to calm down, but it was hilarious watching them do this, AND they weren't fighting. They tried so hard. (In fact, my pediatrician always says that the only thing you should put in your ear is your elbow.!) You should have seen these kids. They spent the next 30 minutes doing everything they could to succeed. They were on the floor, upside down, jumping, and cracking their skulls with their elbows. It was hilarious. I think I actually raised the booty to $500 at one point, but unfortunately no one was able to do it. (Feel free to take the plunge yourself, but make sure you take pictures and send them to me. I'd love to see you guys try too!)











Finally after getting bored with that. I gave them another proposition. I told them to try to get both of their feet behind their heads and to keep them there. (The boys do swear up and down that I told them I would give them $25 , but I have no recollection of the money part.) Next, thing I know. Blake is putting BOTH of them BEHIND his head. It was crazy.

And...this is Eric while all of this going on. How do men do this? How do they sleep through the noise of it all?

Legos

The boys love Legos, and were blessed to receive two big sets from their grandparents this year for Christmas.


Here's another creation that Jakeb made. I'd love to say that he thought this up all by himself, but he actually got it from my Lego book that I had as a child.

Christmas 2010

Yes, I said Christmas. I said I was behind in the blogging world, didn't I? Shoot, I haven't even gotten to fall pictures yet, and if you've read my blog for awhile, you know I love to take fall pictures.
We had a great Christmas.

This was our first year going here. I thought it was amazing, and I'm not a big train lover.

This was our first year going here. I thought it was amazing, and I'm not a big train lover.

Tangled!

My husband came home the other day and told the kids that we were gonna have a Family night. The kids were allowed to pick what we were going to do. The list ranged from bowling, Indianapolis, staying home playing video games, and even Gatlinburg. We finally decided on dinner and a movie: Chick-fil-A (Makenna's choice) and a Tangled.

What a fun movie!!!!! Everyone liked it even Eric!

Makenna in her Tangled dress
Since then, we've probably seen it 10-15 times at home. We all loved it.

Little Princesses

Check out these princesses. They are so much fun and so stinkin' cute! They love to get dressed up. Klaire's biggest thing right now is SHOES. She loves them! She's a true girl at heart!
And just so you realize that this is really how it is most of the time. Here's one where it looks like Makenna's punching her sister although really she's just showing off her pretty pink ring. But check out her sticking her tongue out at Klaire as if to say, "Ha! I got the ring, and you don't!"

Mini-Trip

For those of you who don't know, Eric has a side business called Pyroboom. He found a new place in Indianapolis to buy the tubes, and so we made a day trip of it, and went to the Children's Museum. It was a complete surprise for the kids. For some reason they love to go with their dad when he goes to buy tubes. I personally think that like it because, one...they get to watch movies in the car, and two... they get to go out to eat with their dad. So when he said we were all going this time, they really didn't think too much of it. Then we pulled into the parking lot, and boy, were they excited. They had a blast. Their favorite part was the science area on the fourth floor. They could have stayed there all day.

Gatlinburg 2011

We took a vacation this year to Gatlinburg. WE get a great deal because we go in the off season. It was crazy because we ended up getting this FABULOUS chalet up in the mountains where it was supposed to be cold, but it was warm all week. We never even wore our jackets. It was fantastic. We did lots of fun things like go up in the space needle (Jakeb hated that!), did a lot of hiking (two trips), mining, the Aquarium, and playing games back at the chalet; but the favorite of all was go-carting! Oh, and maybe the addition of the 4 hermit crabs to our family might have been at the top of the list too. AHHH!! It was probably our best family vacation yet. Can't wait for the next one which will probably be in like 2020!! ha!!!

Kitchen remodeling

Well, after 10 years of nagging, ahem... I mean asking, Eric for a new kitchen. It took a little over a month of living without a kitchen, but I finally got one, and it's FABULOUSO!!! I went from rags to riches on this one. It's awesome! Words can't even describe how awesome it is. Best of all, I got rid of the scratched-up, stained floor and the blue metal cabinets! There's a little more to finish like the trim and some touch up on the paint, but it's awesome.
Here's the closest thing to a before picture. We had already taken out a couple of bottom cabinets, and the floor, but you get the picture! It was HORRIBLE!


Found out that the floor underneath the dishwasher had almost given out, so it had to be replaced.
Our kitchen stuff in our very small dining room.

New, much smaller window. We moved the sink to this wall.

New nice TILE floor

Left side of the coolest kitchen ever

and the right side of the coolest kitchen ever

And my hubby did it all!!!! HE's the man.

CURLS

Check out Klaire's curls!! And they're red! I always wanted a curly red-headed daughter! A dream come true for me.




And I think I might know who she got them from.... The first is a picture of my dad as a baby, and the second is me at two years old.

Catch Up on Birthdays!!

Luke's birthday
The Big 9 - He chose this year to go to Golden Corral. I mean, who doesn't want all you can eat desserts on their birthday? His birthday, I think was on a Wednesday this year, so we went to Golden Corral the night before cause kids are only $1.99, and then we had his cake on Wednesday, so he still got to blow out his candles!



Luke's games and Webkinz - his two favorite things!

Marshan's Birthday

Eric took me out overnight to Indy to a fabulous place. It was all a complete surprise where we were going. When we pulled in, I wasn't too impressed. Then we stepped inside, and this is only one of the FABULOUS things that I saw IN OUR ROOM. He also took me out to dinner at St. Elmo's. Yum.

Kaleb's b-day - 6
He chose to do Papa John's for his b-day dinner. That kid loves that place.

His Cake

Kaleb and his presents - Imaginext Toy Story stuff, some 90% off Halloween costumes, and a puzzle!


After his birthday, Kaleb had a small party.

His party cake

The guests at the party

Eric's B-day the big 40!!!

His mom sent this cake topper. It as supposed to light up, bloom, spin, and play music. The only thing it actually did was make a flame that was almost touching the ceiling and start melting the plastic! I started to freak out, and blew it out before he got a chance. Poor guy. After we blew it out it then started to bloom and do all the stuff I mentioned. Who knew it was a fire hazard? Crazy!

Can you guess what this it?

The kids and I made the banner for him!

Motivation

What's wrong with me. I haven't blogged in months. It's not that I don't have the time, I just don't feel like it. There's always something crazy going on, so I have plenty of stuff to write about. I just don't. I even have about 10 blog posts saved waiting to be published. Maybe if I start small...I'll get back into the mode. I thought about a good subject to write about today....."Getting Flushed." Great title, huh? I wonder what's going through your heads right now.
Oh, and pictures? I'm not even going to tell you that I've barely taken any photographs of anyone since we got home from Gatlinburg. Shoot, I just glanced and the March and April folders...they are very, very sad. There has to be something wrong with me.

Argh... I've always heard that you just need to jump back into the saddle and do it. So that's what I'm going to be doing. I'm jumping in. Hopefully the saddle I'm jumping into is secure....(I've had an experience when it wasn't too secure, and let's say that wasn't too pleasant.), and that the horse isn't a bucking bronco. I'm going to go back and post all the old posts along with posting some new ones. Let the fun begin!
Here's the most recent of the fam that I have. Okay, I'm not in it, but I chose this on because the other isn't that pleasant. Hey, it's my blog, I can do that!

Our visit to the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg back in February.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!

Have a great year!! I didn't get around to sending cards out this year, so this will have to suffice! We're staying home this year. Eric's parents are coming Monday. Fun times all the way around! Who-hoo!

I know, I know

it's been forever since I posted anything. I wish I had a good excuse, but I don't. Lots has happened in past couple of months. Lots I don 't want to talk about, but lots that I do want to share. As most of you know, we found out we were pregnant a could of months ago,but then lost the baby at about 10 weeks. I wanted to be angry at God. I mean, really angry. How could He take my baby? But then, I thought about how blessed I am. I have 6 fabulous kids and a husband who loves me. I have a house over my head, and I'm fortunate enough to be able to homeschool. God has blessed me in so many ways that I often take it them all for granted.
My kids fill me with such joy. I am extremely blessed. Thank you, Lord, for your blessings.

Did my heart good

to see the girls playing together. I never had a sister to play with. Oh what I wouldn't have given for one! I hope and pray that they grow up close. I want them to not just be sisters but best friends!