Country Living

You know you live out in the country when on one trip into town I almost hit...

a flock of wild turkey
a few chickens crossing the road
and a really creepy possum.

Luckily, my keen driving skills avoided them all!

Oh, wait...I have to go out again, maybe I'll try for a deer???

Ky on the Radio

So last night at 9, I get this email saying that my child will be on the radio the following morning...panic strikes! What did she say????

Apparently Ky's teacher doesn't know her all that well...that's the only way I can explain why she chose Ky to be one of her kids to talk on the radio.

Living in a small town, you don't get away with much when you child is on the radio. Everyone tunes in to listen. Hubby and I were freezing our rear ends off in the car at 8am this morning to listen to what Ky could've possibly said. (If at this point you are wondering why we are in the car...you must have forgotten that we live in the middle of no where and get no radio reception in our house of any kind. We actually had to drive down the driveway a bit to even be able to pick up the necessary radio station!!!)

Sooooo...what did my darling daughter say about Christmas? Anything holy, spiritual??? OH, noooooo...she said that she got Daddy a pair of toenail clippers cause his toes were gross...yep, that's my girl.

In private, I did thank her for not embarrassing me though!!!

Typical conversations in our house that make me start twitching...

Kp: Where be Ky at?

Me: Where IS Ky? (Trying to gently and slowly correct grammar)

Kp: I not know.

Me: (in my head only) ARRRGGGHHH!!!!

---------

B: Kb, how long are you going to need to wear diapers to bed?

Kb: (Holding up 6 fingers) 3....hours...ago?

Seriously where do you even begin?

I am not sure if I have posted some of my other favorites, the ones that make my head hurt the second they leave the kids mouths...but here are two of Kd's classics:

*How old were you when you were younger?
*Who was your mom when you were little?

Kd...always, Kd.

I shouldn't leave Kd unattended with the computer, but he was begging to play Blue's Clues on the computer so I let him and went upstairs to wrap gifts. Last year I wrapped all the gifts on Christmas eve and vowed never to do that again, soooo I began wrapping.

Then about 20 minutes later Kd comes running upstairs with my cell phone that was ringing. We get enough signal for the phone to ring in the house, but you can't answer it. I couldn't identify the number so went racing to the window (to hang out the window mind you) to answer it...just as I did, they hung up. Normally I don't care about getting the phone if I don't know the number, but I am waiting for a special young man to call back from across the ocean!

(Again, due to bad reception) About 10 minutes later, I get a voicemail. Trying to listen to the voicemail in the house requires one to hang out the window...again. SOOOO, as I am trying to listen to this voicemail from an unidentified number, I lose the call about 3 times. Finally I am out the window far enough to hear the whole message: Kd dialed the emergency number from my phone (apparently although it is LOCKED, you can still access all emergency numbers). They couldn't get a location (probably due to loss of signal) and I would have to call back (good thing it wasn't an emergency) if there was a problem. Nice.

Kd is my trouble maker...it is always Kd.

PS: We have also found that mice eat a tremendous amount of candy corn...yeah, gotta get the mouse traps out again. We ALMOST blamed it on Kd, but realized he didn't know where Grandma changed the candy location to this time - so he couldn't be the one who ate them all!!!

First Christmas Gifts

The kiddos got their first Christmas presents in the mail the other day...so here are a few pictures of Kp and Kb's first ever Christmas gifts. They actually love getting clothes, so this was a great treat for them! Thanks :-) We are so blessed!





(Notice how nice the tree DID look in the background - BEFORE it fell. We had Nikki redecorate it with the kids the other night. I love Nikki. Then every time I water it, dozens of ornaments fall off the tree. I think that I am going to box them up when they fall off! I really don't know what else to do - I don't want all my ornaments broken!)

We took the girls to see the Nutcracker today. The theater has a special school/educational performance that we took advantage of today! The girls really enjoyed it. Although I got another one of "those" questions from Kp. In the middle of the ballet, she asked something about wanting to see the nutcracker. We went round upon round of "I want to see it" and "this is the nutcracker?" So, I think she gave up and just watched it. I, on the other hand, think that all ballets should be an hour...MAX. The first so many "acts" are really beautiful...then...they all start looking the same and I get really fidgety! However, the girls had the best of times :-)

Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Pancakes

2 c. Bisquick Mix

2 T. packed brown sugar

2 t. ground cinnamon

12 oz. can evaporated milk

1 t. allspice

1/2 c. pumpkin

2 t. oil

2 eggs

1 t. vanilla

(t. = teaspoon, T. = tablespoon)


Mix everything together and cook like regular pancakes. And, of course, in my house - we add mini chocolate chips to up the sugar level :-)


This is a recipe that my mom would make for us...

There is no Kd because he was done with extras before I could get the camera out!

This is a picture of Ky's second day of school...the first day was too hectic!!!

Christmas Fun #1 (I am sure there will be more)

20 - The hours that the tree remained standing before it fell

12 - The number of ornaments left on the tree

5 - The number of ornaments that broke :-( -Luckily for all in the house, none of my Gone with the Wind ones were damaged...although some sentimental ones were...

6 - The number of mittens I found on the ground (when the kids tried to pick up the tree)

Numerous - The number of "questionable" words that swirled in my head for the next hour or so - or still?

Not to worry though...it all happened while I was IN the shower and the kids were "watching a movie." And people wonder why I smell??? My kids CANNOT be trusted!!!!

Still no one knows what happened to the tree. Kp and Kb were looking at picture books and Kd claims he was in his room...hmmmmmm, more ghosts then?????

Happy 4th Birthday Kb!!!

This was the morning that we met Kb for the first time. Looking back at the pictures reminds me of how far he has come (although still has a long way to go)! He was so little. He has gained over 10 pounds and grew over 7 inches in 9 months. I will never forget the first time I changed him and realized that he had no fat on him whatsoever. He had no bum...it was so sad. But now he is confirmed healthy and our best eater (not saying much, but...). He went from needing to be carried everywhere, to walking the entire time on his own at Disney.

So Happy Birthday to my Littlest One!!!

I hope you always maintain your joy that you find in your own little world. I hope you never lose your infectious laugh and your wonderfully happy disposition :-) So often we hear about the great thing we have done for both you and your sister, but we are the ones who are truly blessed to have you be a part of our lives.

There is no way to give you a good idea of how much he has grown, but here is my best effort. And there are NO pictures of the boys that are "normal," so this is the best that I have:

The first week Kb was here:


This was two days ago at his birthday...just don't ask why!

Black Friday

Sooooooo, here are two reasons why I should not get up early.

1. I drove the whole way from my house to the mall with my high beams on. When i relayed this to my sister in law when i reached the mall, she asked when i figured it out. Well, when the guy in front of me flipped me the bird - several times?

2. Kept checking the clock for my speed.

Yep. I shouldn't be on the road that early!

Boys w/o the Girls at Home...

Now that we are back to our regularly scheduled program...

What do my boys do when Ky is at school and Kp is away?

Ummm...they play house. Yeah, gonna have to have Daddy have a talk with them.

BUT they were playing nicer than they had ever played before, so I didn't interrupt! Oh, well!

Morocco

This is the kiddos dancing in Morocco. We had way too much fun in that little country!

I also have a video of Arwen and Tonya dancing with the girls...and me literally running from the lady trying to tie one on me (I did lose in the end and did dance), but since I was not in the video, I wasn't sure my friends would appreciate the fame?!?

Finally out of Hair Paint (Disney 7 & 8)

No, I am not mad. I was walking towards the sun and was actually squinting. But yes, I did have all 4 kids at that point, and made them all hold on to some part of me as I walked...did get a bit awkward at certain points, but knew they were safe (especially Kd).

No matter where we went, Kd was always interested in the map, and had one at all times. He actually found where we were a few times, too!

Again, guess when we rode the Tower of Terror? Yep, right after lunch. I think everyone was secretly betting on when I'd puke!

There is one place that parents who are afraid of losing their children just should not go: the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area. While it is a one way in/one way out kind a place, there are kids everywhere and the play area is meant to look like you've been shrunk, so everything is over sized! VERY hard to find your kids. Two adults (who shall remain nameless) didn't venture in. Arwen and I had 4 (or 5?) kids in there at one point. However, even if you sit at the exit, you get a little worried when you don't see them for a long while. OR when you tell them to stay together and you then see one running by themselves?? A little stressful. I went looking for the crew while Arwen guarded the exit. There was a moment of panic, BUT I found them all and we exited...really thankful the other 2 adults weren't there! (and we did have 2 of their kids! - yikes)

PS: We did figure out what happens to cheer leaders when the are no longer cheering...they work at Disney's Hollywood Studios Parade! Yeeaaahhh...interesting.

The best dinner ever...Wolfgang Puck...yummy!

Ahhhh, the inevitable, separation from Sarah. Not only were the kids tired (and very dirty), they had to say goodbye to beloved Sarah. Lots of tears.... :-(

The flight home was great. The kids were good, flight was smooth. However, I chose poorly yet again. This is what the boys did, BEFORE the plane took off....

The girls, on the other hand, who were seated with me, pulled out the emergency landing manual and asked me non stop questions during take off..."Ohhhh do we get to go over water?" "Where is the raft at" "Mommy, are they angry, they look angry" (in my head, "NO, they are about to DIE, they are scared!) "Mommy, why are they allowed to sit with their heads like that? You told us we had to sit back." (in my head, again, they are about to crash...they have you sit like that so you break your neck on impact!) Oh, the questions! Happy place...happy place!

(Me after the flight attendants made their rounds...)

The end.

Oops I almost forgot to add...

Bathrooms...we were in there all the time, and by day 2 or 3, when one kid had to stop - we made them all try to go. At one point in Epcot we were all heading to the bathrooms...most of the bathrooms were situated with ladies to the left, men to the right. Well, add in the fact that most of the vacation we blindly followed whoever knew where they were going around like lost puppies. SO when Arwen went to the bathroom with a group, she was totally following Hubby right into the bathroom. I yelled her name (she snapped out of the blind following) and I was howling...well, what goes around comes around?

I was in the airport and really had to pee...the bathrooms were not side by side and I ran in...when i got in and looked up, I thought - oh, my gosh! There is totally a man in the women's restroom...then it happened. I saw a 10 year old walk out of a his stall...oh s*#@! I was in the men's room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I was so distraught I seriously couldn't find the women's room so I walked back to where Hubby was waiting! Totally embarrassed!

Red Hair (Disney 6)

We arrived early enough in the day to do both Big Thunder Railroad and Splash Mountain several times in a row. (Ohhh, and I should've mentioned this before, Arwen and I renamed whatever we wanted - to what we could remember it to be...including animals at Animal Kingdom...soooooo, just in case you don't recognize the names, or think they renamed it....they didn't, we did!)

We got the kids to put their hands up on all the big rides...whether or not they needed to be up! This was probably the 2nd or 3rd time on the ride. The first trip through, I was in the front and got drenched...looked real pretty!

Back on the dreaded Tea Cups, this time with no Sarah - forced on...and Tonya just had to try to spin it...thanks. I really hate the Merry go Round and Tea Cups...why did I find myself on them ALL the time, right after every meal?????

We ate at the Crystal Terrace and had a meal with Winnie the Pooh and Friends. And again, poor Maiya was terrified. She ate very little and spent most of her time...under the table.

Maiya under the table...Piglet was coming around...

Swiss Family Robinson's Treehouse...

Sarah and I met up when I had the two little ones and we road on the paddle (river?) boat and explored Tom Sawyer's Island until it got too dark. Kb and Maiya had soooo much fun running around exploring the island! (Did I mention...I love Sarah, she is the best!)

Late in the day, I took my girls to go see the Princesses in Toon Town. There was a very short line and we took advantage of it. Kp got to see Cinderella and she was sooooo happy. When I exited and met up with everyone else, Kd was displeased that he didn't see the Princesses. Last year, that is all we did...wait in line after line to get a picture and autograph of the Princesses and other characters. We skipped that part this year. But he REALLY wanted to see the Princesses...so back in line I went, with my son. Luckily Maiya and Tonya joined us, so that it wasn't just Kd and I going through. He was tickled pink when meeting with the princesses! He even gained a kiss from Belle! Too cute!

One of Hubby's most favorite rides is the Jungle Cruise. He just loves the dry humor of it all. Well, the first tour guide we had was really bad. Really, really bad. This is one of the two rides Sarah usually works on, SOOOO with an itty bitty favor, we got a guest tour guide and a private tour - and she was great!!! The little ones (Kb and Maiya) were so tired at the end of a long day, that I took them and sat between Splash and Thunder Mountain. They totally fell asleep on my lap while the others rode another round of each of the Mountain rides. Precious!

One of the several times we split up, Arwen somehow got stuck with ALL the munchkins under 44 in. A group of us were going on SpaceMountain, and she was going to take all the little ones on that one ride that you sit in and it takes you all around Future World. OK - we were also blessed (*thanks*) with 6 free drinks. Arwen went to get all the drinks then take the 4 kiddos on the ride. The six extra drinks really caused her to be short on hands and when getting ready to board the ride one went sliding under the ride. Then Kd (being his helpful self) went flying under the car to retrieve it...ride grinds to a halt. Nice. Anyway, he didn't get lost and they all enjoyed the ride. End of story.

Sleepy time on the bus...and another bus story: At the end of the day, the bus drivers take it as their life life goal to see how many people they can fit on the bus. Well our crew of 13 was at the very end of a very long line. At this point, Kb and Maiya were still sleeping (from falling asleep on my lap...yep, LONG walk out of the park). The bus driver yelled for everyone to move back to make room for us. Seriously there was room to fit two (maybe) more on the bus. All 13 of us were not going to fit. Conversations to follow:

Hubby: Sir, I don't think we are all going to fit.

Bus Driver: I have room. AND if you are carrying a child, you get a seat. (He then proceeded to make older people, and younger kids get up to make room for us to have a seat. Not to mention that the rest of our little ones would have to stand and hold on - although they loved to try this, they were far too young to make it the whole way home in such a manner. AND they are to have a 5 point harness at home, why is it legal for them to stand on a bus???? Hummm????)

Hubby: Sir, I am not going to make those people stand and I am more concerned for my children's safety then seeing how many more you can fit on, I am not riding this bus (tense moment as we all disembark the bus).

Bus Driver (yelling to the rest of the line): I have room for more. (A few more who had no problems standing to hold on entered...)

As they did another bus pulled up behind him, sooooooo all those people were crammed into that bus for NO reason! We all had seats and enjoyed our ride home!