I live with crazy people.

A few days back Bagel and I are chatting and she got my attention when she lowered her voice.
"Hey mom, remember that picture of Santa Clause that Maggie took last year. The one she took in living room?"
"OK, yes, why?"
"Well I think it as dad. It looked like his hand."
"What are you saying? Do you think your dad is Santa?" (I asked with fear of her response.)
"Are you kidding me, our dad???? Dad's not that rich. He is not fast enough to travel all over the world. And we don't even own a sleigh."
"Silly me, what was I thinking?"

Tonight's dinner was salad. I chopped three heads of lettuce and added everything I could find. I figured it was a good day because we even had croutons. Two huge bowls of pretty salad. Jumba wasn't too impressed. He crawled up to the table and saw the two huge bowls salad.
"Lettuce, no meat, what are we rabbits?" I would have expected that from dad but not from a three year old. Then Bagel walks up to the table and sees the salad bowls, "Oh man, are we poor?"

After forcing the family to sit and eat the conversation took off like it always does. The older kids got into some more adult type talk. They quickly recognized that the conversation was too mature. They hushed each other and got quiet. This is when Bagel let them know that they could say anything. "Go ahead guys, were too little we will forget anyway."

The silliest remark by far was the one that I was forced to say this afternoon. We finally got the blow up turkey out of storage and in the front yard. It is a fun decoration and we all like it. While sitting outside waiting for a friend to arrive I noticed that Pickle was sitting on the Turkey, punching it in the face. Without thinking I yelled, "Stop punching the turkey." I must have sounded like an idiot.

A good routine

Hey it is only November . . . I think we are doing pretty good. I am most happy about how the school weeks are falling into place. The older kids have a routine, it does need tweaking but the little ones were not working hard enough. I bought a few more books. I dug through some books that we have not used in years.
With a little extra planning I had a room full of young kiddos working hard all week.
Next week we will repeat while also trying to tweak the schedule of the big kids.

No matter what, I am proud of these kiddos. They work very hard to learn. They may or may not have above average score on any tests; but they are very smart. Here's to another great week!

Off Duty Halloween 2010

The discussion about Halloween got a little heated this year. The older kids keep coming up with great plans for costumes and I tried to get them to let the little ones pick their own this year. In the end it worked out because the little ones got pick out of the buckets for the ZooBoo and the neighborhood party and then the family theme was set for Halloween trick or treating.

The preparations were on.

Friends came over to play. Mr. Daniel is Pooker's friend and he is very loved by the little ones.

Kat came early to help with preparations.

Larry and J cooked.

and enjoyed some laughs.
This year's theme was "Off Duty" The girls were Off Duty Princesses and the boys were Off Duty Super Heroes.
The girls had gone so far as to pick out names.
As always they were one happy group as they headed out looking for treats.

These two will be friends for ever.
And so will these two.
The wagon is supposed to be for the little ones when they get tired. In the end the wagon was left behind and everyone walked.
The good news is that we found Bannon Princesses on the road.
Pooker stop feeding Superman's ego.
Kat brother T-man was with us as well.
Goobers and Kat looked so beautiful.

Poor Daniel, all those Princesses around.

The night was wonderful and the weather was warm. We all remembered the year before when Mrs. Linda was with us. We all missed her so much. Halloween was the last time I saw her so the night was a little sad for me. I must point out that in the end the night was very happy. Mr. Larry, T-man and Kat shared their night with us as we all missed their mom. We laughed and rejoiced in time together and in her memory. She would have been happy. Rest in Peace Miss Linda.

Helping at Party (and always)

Why is it the Texas T's can't show up and just be at an event. We always end up helping. I was only mildly upset at this party. We loved the lady in charge so the kids offered and she gave them jobs.

We weren't sure we would make this night at all. Last minute putting on costumes while mom and dad disagreed on how the night should work. In the end we all went.
It really is a fun neighborhood tradition. Small little games with little prizes. The cake walk being the favorite.

Not sure what they are looking at but Dad is making a great face. It didn't take long before the older ones offered to help when they saw a stressed out mom running to and from the booths. She did not hestitate in putting them to work.

Often I forget how blessed we are that our college daughter likes to be around her family. Pooker came back from other activities that day to make sure she was here for the little ones. Goobers, Bear and Sugar could have all had high school plans, yet they wanted to be with the family as well. Then they all end up helping all the kids at the event to have fun.
Pickle is at an age where little boys are embarrassed by everything, especially mommy kisses. I am just mean enough to give him extras. Jumba still loves mommy kisses. (I wonder how long that will last?)
Pooker does get her goofy side from her daddy.

In the end even the little ones were helping out.

Everyone helping. Thanks guys. Last week I got a note from a member of the church staff. This was a note to tell me what a blessing it is to be around Pooker, Goobers, Bear and Sugar. This note described their spirits as ones of being in service to those around them. That note has filled me with joy in ways I can't even begin to describe. As Christians our mission is to serve others as Christ served the world. I am blessed that my kiddos get that and always do it with a joyful heart.

Zoo Boo on Friday

We have Zoo passes from the beginning of the year that we had only used one time. Honestly we were not too impressed by the Houston Zoo (it just can't compare to the St. Louis Zoo.)
After the announcement of special treats to be handed out during a pre-Halloween celebration and cooler temps, I decided to try it again.
We found some costumes and headed to the Zoo Boo day.

We saw a different part of the zoo than we have in the past. It was much better than we thought but still a disappointment. Jumba loved it.
The kiddos were ready to pose all over the place so mom had fun getting pictures.
Everyone got a small pumpkin from the "patch". The kiddos liked this part.

Again we pose in front of the pumpkin wagon.









A great time was had by all. We might actually attempt the zoo again.

Carving Away

Yuck, the inside is never pretty! The mess is lots of fun though. I love watching the teams that form to create a beautiful jack-o-lantern.

The compete and giggle and plan.

Each one feeling that their creations are the best.

The cleaning of the guts is always interesting.

Mom's job is to separate the seeds from the rest.

And from Jumba's face.



And Possible's hair.

The silliness goes on and on.