Hallway bowling

... or what to do when your mom won't let you play Wii on Sunday:

We did take the kids to the bowling alley a few weeks ago and here was our final score:


He was using the bumpers (but then, we all were). I don't know how he did it - seriously, the ball is bigger than he is!

Mailboxes, etc.

Madison was playing around with some construction paper yesterday, and ended up making a little box. She really wanted to do something with it, but didn't know what to use it for. After brainstorming for a while, she came up with the idea of using it for a mailbox. She made two more, so Hunter and Kaden could each have one, and they have been writing notes back and forth ever since.

Their little notes to eachother are so fun for me to find and read....

...and sometimes I write some of my own.

The funny thing is, I remember doing the exact same thing with my sister when we were kids. Somehow, when kids come up with this stuff all on their own it's a fun game... if I had suggested it they would have thought it was some trick to get them to write and read or something!

A new addition

Back in September, Madison won a little fish at the fair. I was sure the thing would die within days, so I tried not to get too attached. I bought some food for him, and we put him in a little tank, and that was that. She named him Gills (creative, huh?). I never reminded her to feed him, and only cleaned the tank when she insisted that it needed to be done. Regardless of how many times I told her that the Gills the fish would not last long, Madison loved that little guy - she fed him regularly twice a day, and (almost) never missed a feeding.

Then we moved.
Of course I was sure that the stress of the three hour road trip would do him in... but no - he survived the move. For the past week or so, Madison had been pestering me to clean out the tank, and I put it off for a few days, and finally got around to it on Friday. Poor little Gills did not appreciate that at all - he seemed a little listless after I put him back in the tank. Then, Saturday morning we woke up to discover that Gills had finally had it - he died during the night. Even though I had expected him to die sooner or later, and had reminded Madison often that it would probably be sooner than later, she was heartbroken.
After sufficient mourning had taken place, we went to the pet store to see about getting a new fish. If it had been up to me, I would have gotten one of the little ten cent fish - that's what Gills had been, and he lasted six months.... But no, we had to bring dad along to the pet store. When dad's along, the rules are different. Together they picked out a cute, fat, roundy goldfish. She named him Sam. We brought him home and put him in the little tank that had been Gills' home, which seemed a little small for him. After a day, he didn't seem to be doing well - he wasn't very active, and hadn't eaten anything. We decided the tank was too small for him, so went back to the pet store to get a bigger one. And new gravel. And plants. So, here we are now, about $40 or $50 later (I've lost track of just how much this has cost us) with Sam the fish in a big fancy tank.
I am certain that Madison had taken some pictures of Gills at some point, but I can't find them anywhere. I think I must have deleted them. :-(
After all, why would I keep pictures of a silly fish!
Apparently, I won't be winning mother of the year.
So, before this guy croaks, I'd like to introduce...

...Sam the fish.

rainy days

okay, so it's been a while....

The kids have been sick with some kind of stomach bug. first Kaden had it, then Hunter, and now Madison is finally getting over it. I'm pretty tired of taking care of vomiting kids - I think I forgot to read this part of the mommy contract. Or maybe they left it out on purpose.

On top of that, it has been raining like crazy here. One of the things I didn't think about when agreeing to live on the third floor, with no garage - coming home from grocery shopping with enough bags that I'll have to make several trips in the freezing rain, up the stairs and back down....
The boys were able to help a little, and I left some non-essentials in the car for later.

The sun is coming out a little - but it's supposed to rain all day tomorrow, too, so I don't think it will last long.

Dear Santa,

Last week I suggested that all the kids write a letter to Santa, and I just had to save them here before I send them off to the big guy in the red suit!






Here is Madison's:
There are no real surprises here, she has been asking for a pogo stick for a while now. I don't have any real objection to her having one, I just don't think she will love it as much as she seems to think she will. We had one at our grandma's house when I was little, and really, using it once or twice a year was plenty - it got old fast. Other than that, she wants Webkinz, Webkinz, and clothes for the Webkinz! Whatever, I guess it's pretty affordable, anyway.

Hunter wants a sno-cone machine. I don't know if we'll be able to find one this time of year, but we'll try. He also wants candy and money - again, no surprises here.

So I asked Kaden what he would like Santa to bring him for Christmas, and this is what he told me....

If you're having trouble reading that, he wants an underwear machine.

According to him, you put it on the table, pull the thing, and it makes underwear.

If I thought that meant he would actually wear the underwear, and not pee in them, I would find some way for there to be an underwear machine under the tree Christmas morning!! He is actually making progress on the potty training thing, but still has accidents often. We're not leaving the house without a diaper on at this point.

letting go

This year I have decided to let go of the need to try to make everything perfect...

Okay, well not everything, just the Christmas tree.

Every year I get the Christmas tree out of it's box and get it all set up and put the lights on it, usually on the Sunday night after Thanksgiving. Then on Monday night I get out all the ornaments and let the kids decorate the tree. They love this, but the results are less than perfect. So, after they go to bed I take everything off the tree and redecorate it, spreading all the ornaments out evenly so it is nicely balanced.

This year I tried something different. I directed them a little, and helped to get some ornaments on the higher branches, but let them do it mostly by themselves.

Guess what ~ I think it looks perfect!

December?

How is November over already???

I guess we've been busy!