Just freaking gross

I was making spaghetti for the kids tonight and asked them if they wanted special spaghetti.  Of course they cheered and jumped at the chance to pick the color of their spaghetti.  YUCK!!



I added some food coloring while it was cooking and presto we now have gross green spaghetti.  The only thing that made it worse was when I added the sauce.

From October 17, 2011

Oh my!!  I often eat after my kids.  A nibble hear and there but NO WAY!  I can barley stand to look at the pictures.  However, they ate it, and loved it.  Only boys.

Scarecrows

What a guy he made us all smile as he kept dancing.  He even took a bow.  I wish he could live with me.

Brown Bagging It

This is when I go from coolest mom to the mean mom, the embarrassing mom, the I will teach you a lesson my son mom.  How many times has my son forgot his lunch box?  This year it has been at least once a month.  He forgets it on the van, he leaves the empty one at school.  He has nothing else to carry BUT his lunch box and sometimes I guess that is to much to remember.

He forgot to bring home his 2nd lunch box of the year.  The first got destroyed after only one months use due to a lunch box fight with his brother.  Ahh boys.  I would not buy him a new one, again mean mom made him use last years.  So when he forgot his lunch box at school I did not pack him the next days lunch in one of the many extras we have sitting on our shelf (remember family of 6 we have TONS of lunch boxes) instead I made him brown paper bag it.  Heck if he can't remember to bring home 1 lunch box; I am really betting against the odds he could remember to bring home 2.

And this was no ordinary brown paper bag lunch sack it was the I hope this helps you to remember STOP leaving your lunch box at school  brown paper bag.



I drew hearts, I underlined his name in pink, I wrote I love you on the out side, and one of his brothers stuffed the inside with hearted I love you notes.

"Oh no you did't!!"

Oh yes I did.  He laughed.  He was embarrassed to take it in.  But he did.  And through the new lunch in the forgotten lunch box as soon as he got to school so no friends would see his brown paper bag, only to be followed by hiding the evidence.

Maybe this will teach you not to forget your lunch box any more.

We have been busy

A few days, a week, a month they slide by so quick.  It is now the middle of OCTOBER and I still have sitting in my folders pictures to edit stories to tell from the SUMMER!  I don't always "catch up"  but whether I am writing them for my blog editing them to print or post there is a lot that needs to be done.  And I am having a hard time finding the time.  And when I do well...I am worn out.  So you will often find me asleep on that ugly couch I take to many pictures on.

Since school started it has been a constant go-go-go, and we scaled down activities this year.  We are only doing AWANAS and soccer.  We omitted swimming.  But do hope to add it again soon.  However for the time being I am thankful for the rest..    In addition still take the Evan to therapy 2 times a week and he still attends more at school 2 times a week.  Their dad and I play tag team parenting.  Someone is working, someone is sleeping, someone is watching the kids, and I am running them everywhere and in between.

I know we all as moms come across this in our lives.  We have to juggle, we have to clean, and we have to figure out a system.  Happy to say I see the light I think I figured it out, sad to say it took 6 weeks!  But it is also fall in the Northeast.  And that means every spare minute and more is spent doing something.  Something that was not getting my life in order but building our family bond.  Even more important.  I will handle a little more chaos f0or a great family day.

The kids are doing great, the house is a mess, the fridge is empty, do I really even want to tell you about Mt. Laundry?  But my memory card is beyond full, 1 project is done and I am looking forward to the holidays.

So between all the practices, lessons, festivals and games what did I do?

I built a small patio in the front of our house.



I started in August.  I wanted a place mostly for the kids to sit and wait for the van.  (their bus)  I had found a great deal on a bench at target on an end of summer clearance.  The spot I was working was an ugly half dead flower half grass problem/ eye sore in front of our house.  It was a perfect spot for them to have this "bus stop".  It was away from the road close to the door but out of the house.  Plus other times it would be a nice place for me and dad to hide wait I mean sit.

So I started digging it all up.  That was tough.  We have potato rock soil.  Plus on top of that I have 4 littles to contend with.  However I dug it down.  I sloped it for drainage.  I compacted the soil I thought it looked better than the before.  I went to LOWES and bought sand and let my oldest pick out the pavers.  I was set and then Jay reared his head in and said you need paver base blah blah blah.  So my project got held up.  And then it rained, and then school started, and we got busy, and through it all it continued to rain.  On any day I had a chance to work on it something came up.  But eventually it gone done.  And eventually he helped me a little.  Like adding the last piece of a puzzle little.  But I am thankful.  And it is done.  Which lead to the most recent picture of my 4 little lovelies.  They are the best.




Whew, one thing done and more to come... stay tuned.

I need to stop taking pictures on the couch

Here are  few more shots of us on the couch.  This has made me realize I really need a new couch.  I really need to take these shots outside.  I could use some help decorating.  I first have to find time to decorate.  These couch shots are always of us at the end of the day tired and no longer in our best.  I really love cuddling up with my kids.  I really LOVE my kids.  There for there will probably, most likely, almost certainly be more shots of us on the couch.  Just hopefully a new one.





And because I love to edit photos.

A good check up and a good day

Friday was another one of our Hershey days.  Smiley had another check up.




Can I tell you again how much I love this hospital?  They are always the best.  Anything above what you can imagine they have in the waiting room to put the kids at ease.  Tricycles, tree houses, doll houses, xbox, air hockey they have it all!  And when you get to the room they are just as awesome.  Decked out fully in themes it is neat to explore all the stuff they have for you in each of them.  Today my son was in a cowboy room that was so cool.  But it still was not cool enough that he did not run once the doctor came in poor baby.  However Smiley's doctor is fantastic.  I love her and she just sits back and watches are family in all the craziness and kids that are there or aren't there on any given day and still says, what a great family you have.


But he has been doing well and the check up went well and all is good!!  Yeah!!!


Since it went so good, and since we were next to Hershey park well we decided to stop by.




We actually had this appointment scheduled for earlier this month but due to extreme flooding in our area we could not make it.  If you feel like the recap you can always find it amazingly here.

Wow take a look at that link and see the flooding of the park!  Well just as water come up water recedes.  It has almost been two weeks and the water is almost all gone.

Here are the gates today....



Compared to a couple of weeks ago...



Wow!

As we started walking in the park we saw these little blue signs.





So it is not completely cleaned up yet but they are working on it.

So sigh, again wow.  But it did not stop us from doing what we could.



It was just me and the babies that day. And I love being with them and they love chocolate world!  It is amazing how happy it makes them.  I take them on the ride to see the cows



And they light up.  No matter if they were throwing a tantrum before.  Or if someone just had a bad visit at the Hospital, or they are hungry, whatever, if they see those happy cows they are excited.



We rode that ride over and over and over and yet still over again.



Okay so she does not look that thrilled but trust me these cows are better than Nanny Jo and they give you chocolate at the end.

We had a great time.  We played, we shopped, we brought home fudge.  And we had to get going.



But thank God for a great check up, safe travels and a nice day.  Hopefully next time everyone can come and we can enjoy the rides once they are open again.

my little kisses

I spent time this week at the sweetest place on earth with the sweetest babies on earth.  I love my little kisses!