We've been boo-ed

One day we came home and found a plate of goodies on our front porch with a sign that said "you've been boo-ed". It didn't say who it was from but I know it had to be from one of our neighbors so I tested it and told James that if I didn't wake up the next day to throw them away! I survived and we enjoyed some yummy cookies, brownies and rice crispy treats. Wrapped around the note was a fun homemade hair tie. The note said to do this in return to two more neighbors. So I made some fun homemade hair ties and b00-ed two more of our neighbors. I had fun making the hair ties so for our niece Ally's 7th birthday I made her some fun hair ties. They weren't perfect but hopefully from far away no one will be able to tell!!!!

Maddi helping me make the treats to boo our neighbors

Some of the hair ties I made. I LOVE hot glue ;)

But the Barbies needed a bath

The other day Laura came into the kitchen and she told me I needed to go see what MY daughter was doing. Well MY daughter was in her room with a sink full of water and she was giving her barbie a bath and washing dishes. She even soap in it and everything. What was even funnier was when I asked her how she got the water in it she said.....LAURA! When I asked Laura why she did that she said "What she asked me to!" Uhgggg! My kids!

Bwwaa-haaaa-haaaaa

The other day the kids were playing outside and could see something floating in the pool. It was a TARANTULA!!!!! Nasty, yucky, huge tarantula! Thank goodness this sucker wasn't alive or in my house!
It was getting dark when they found it so the next day James fished it out of the pool and just set it on the back patio by our burn barrel. When the kids got home I had Kenni go throw something in the burn barrel but I should have known to send either James or Laura. Kenni is our bug man and all he did was come back in and say "Oh Dad got the tarantula out?"

8 years old going on 50!

It's hard to believe but our Little Man is 8 years old! He had been counting down the days for weeks and if a stranger asked him how old he was before his birthday it was 8! Kenni busted him on it one day. He said "You're not 8 yet! You're still 7!" James didn't like that one bit! "I'm almost 8 Kenni...Right Mom!? I'm 8!"

The day before his birthday he and his Daddy went shooting. James brought his shot gun (410 i think he said, but what do I know about guns!) and let Little Man shoot that for the first time. James helped him the first time then let him do it by himself. He did pretty good but he didn't really like it because it kicked back on him. On the day of his birthday he wanted STEAK for dinner! We don't get steak too often so it was a nice treat for us all!!!! So he had a nice steak dinner and opened presents and Laura made "pin the leg on the stick guy". She drew a stick guy on a piece of paper without a leg and then drew his leg on another piece. And wa-lah! Instant party game! It was a pretty laid back day but he got his STEAK!

Horse Club

Once a month out in Maricopa there is a community horse show/gymkhana. Laurel is practicing barrel racing and this was a great opportunity for her to do in front of an audience. There are also opportunities for the kids to get involved with this too. We went along to see what it was all about and cheer Laurel on. There are many different events that the kids can do and since Laura is so into horses we though maybe she would want to get in on it. It was the first time we were there so she was shy and just wanted to watch. Greg and Laurel then came up with a great idea to have "Horse Club" at their house for Laura to practice. So hopefully with Laura practicing and getting used to the events she will participate with Laurel in the next gymkhana!

Laurel on Lefty during one of the events

Fishing...Finally

It's been a while since we have gone fishing. It's finally nice enough here to do outdoor activities and not sweat to death! While the kids were on their fall break we took them fishing at one of the Urban fishing lakes. The Urban fishing lakes are stocked and supposed to be awesome fishing! It wasn't awesome fishing but I have to say it was better than the last time we went to that lake! This time there were 4 fish caught....3 by Kenni, and one by Little Man. Kenni was the man to bait to hooks and take the fish off the hooks. Laura wasn't excited about fishing, Maddi was scared of everything that had to do with fishing, the boys were boys, and James couldn't hardly get his pole in the water b/c he was constantly baiting, recasting, uncrossing lines...you know how it is fishing with kids! I think all in all the kids all had a good time though!

Goin' Broke!

So the tooth fairy has been a regular visitor around here lately. I think she is about to go broke! Little Man is up to his 7th lost tooth, Laura has lost 8 teeth and has 2 loose right now and Kenni was a tooth pulling machine the last couple of weeks. He lost a tooth on friday the 15th, another a week later on friday the 22nd and then another on sunday the 24th!!!! So with the exception of the front tooth that is growing back in on the bottom Kenni has no front teeth! I LOVE IT!!!!

Where's Grandad when we need him?

For some time now I've had a tremendous fear of getting bit by a black widow spider. Or any poisonous spider really. Grandad of course always made fun of me because he didn't think black widows lived in IL. We found one once in our garage there and saved it for Grandad to see. He shocked us all by eating the thing!

Now we live in an area full of deadly poisonous things! Today Kenni was outside playing and he found a HUGE mama black widow and her HUGE sack of babies. I have the same fear instilled in my kids so now whenever they see any spider at all they think it is a black widow. I was inside and Little Man came running in to tell me what Kenni had found. I really didn't think it was going to be a real black widow but I grabbed the bug spray anyway. They were right though! There she was hanging upside down in her web! I sprayed the heck out of that thing and she just wouldn't die! She finally died when she was totally submerged in the bug spray. I am so thankful that I've have freaked my kids out about spiders because the way Kenni is with his catching bugs it could have turned out really bad!

House of the missing teeth

It seems lately that someone is losing a tooth every week! I guess that is what happens when you have kids so close together! James lost his 7th tooth today! He's got another one loose, Laura's got a loose tooth and Kenni's got 2 loose teeth!

Alaska or Bust

Recently Grandad and Mary Lew went on a cruise to Alaska. While they were there they got the kids some souvenirs. They got each of the kids their own hat, shirt, and since this is Grandad a whistle! I wanted to get a good picture of the kids in their hats and shirts but since this is my children......I got 2 bad ones!

Mi Vida Loca

I was able to get on video just a fraction of how crazy it is in our house on a daily basis! Laura singing and playing guitar. Kenni playing air guitar, dancing, and singing in Japanese. Maddi throwing a fit because it wasn't her turn and James just soaking it all in.....

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk149/ozbirn454/?action=view&current=2010-10Oct011.mp4

http://s279.photobucket.com/albums/kk149/ozbirn454/?action=view&current=2010-10Oct012.mp4