Macaroni and Cheesy-ness

Ask Kyndi to say "I love boys!" while trying to get a picture of her and this is what you'll get:

Kyndi often goes by the name 'Noodle' around here - I asked her why she thinks that is and she said she can pose like noodles do... so here you go

Straight Spaghetti

Cooked Spaghetti

Macaroni & Cheese (Apparently with two noodles in the pot)

Ravioli Noodle

Oaklee showing us her best noodle poses (She always has to join in)

(please try to refrain from noticing the nakedness of the youngest 2)

However, do take note that although naked, still stylish in the shoe department:

And here Noodle is modleing her tutu, Just a cute picture I had to show.

Please note: In many of the above pictures, you can clearly see at least one if not two coldsores on this child's lips. Why on earth would a 4 year old have cold sores??! Poor girl. And no worries, Dayton has 2 as well. What?!?!

The Cry of an Ostrich

The kids and I found ourselves at the mall the other day. It happened to be my birthday so I was anti-housework and anti-homework... so in lieu of those things, we all hopped in the car and ran errands. We ended up at the mall. We ate lunch at subway in the food court, and then we wound up inside the little Claire's store and next thing I knew, we were all signed up to get the little girls' ears pierced. (Something I've wanted to do for a long while now)

Kyndi went first. She was nervous as all heck, requested both my hand and Morrissa's. She held really still and did so good!! She cried briefly as they went to do the second ear, but more out of anxiety of what was happening, than actual pain.

Next was Oaklee's turn. She sat on my lap - I had to hold her arms down with one arm and use my other arm to hold her head against my chest. They did the first ear and other than a tiny jump, she didn't move or cry. The second ear was a whole other ballgame!!! As soon as the little gun-thingy was in place, she let out the most ear-piercing (pun intended) scream you've ever heard, and the kids say her face was a hilarious disaster of screaming too (wish I had a picture of that)... It was crazy!! I am quite certain that the Agooa tribe in Africa heard her scream. Although they may very well have mistaken it for the cry of an ostrich or something... don't know, you'd have to ask them...

Anyways, they are both super cute with their earrings in!! Neither one is very fond of my washing their earlobes everyday, but they'll survive it. And It's so cute!!

Pictures now...

Apparently too many pictures... too close to nap time...

Band-aid Phase

I remember when I was youngerish, one of my little sisters went through a serious band-aid phase. Little Mermaid bandaids encompassed every inch of her little body. Any time she had a microscopic blemish of sorts a bandaid would most definitely be applied. (Was it you Sharli or was it Sam?)

Oaklee is now at such a phase. She barely bumps her elbow and NEEDS a bandaid. Her toes, her ear, her knee, everywhere needs a bandaid - and then she only leaves them on for roughly 4 minutes and she's done.

Today she ran into a chair and bit into her lip. This time there was an actual cut there and blood. She immediatly demanded a bandaid:

Lovely!

The Joys of Tulle

There are many joys of Tulle, or at least two I can think of: Tu-tus and Peek-a-boo games... Let me expound on this:

I have a craft fair rapidly approaching and one of the many things I've been crafting and will be selling is Tu-tus. They are stinkin cute, and apparently my little daughters love them as they both (Kyndi and Oaklee) keep begging to wear them. Once Oaklee steps into one, she is overcome by crazy dance moves and demands music be played. It becomes quite fun.

The other great thing about tulle (according to an 11 month old Dayton) is the excitement of playing peek-a-boo and yet still being able to see through it while covering your face. He loves the stuff!! He pulls it up in front of his face to hide for peek-a-boo and soon realizes he can still see me and shreiks in complete laughter. This game is never ending for him. Such a crack up.

Drummer For Hire

Drummer for hire. Amazing skills. Gets the right beat 9 times out of 400. Squeals with delight mid jam-session. Great Smile. Washboard Abs. Occasionally poops.

Think anyone will hire him??

(Tate's working the foot pedal for him)

He really thinks he's part of the game! Its not just these drums though, he bangs on everything as if it's a drum (pots and pans, the floor, Kamron's face...) I think I better get him a drum for his birthday...

School of Performing Arts

Seriously, if you wanna learn some Amazing dance maneuvers, come to my house and learn from the best, Oaklee. Don't believe me? Here are some of her best moves:

Hold the phone, here come her best two moves of the week..


(All of these moves can be found repeatedly throughout her dancing rituals.

It doesn't matter what music is playing... could be the radio or a commercial on tv. Even Elevator music on an actual elevator gets her going. Little Dude has mad dancing skills too. He head bangs to everything!! Even the PA system at Walmart!

A Few Tidbits of Info...

On the subject of my children being so stinking cute... here are a few pictures to prove that point...

I came down from the shower last week or so to find both girls like this:

And don't worry, they both had a tray full of cheerios to eat.

The last week of school, (yes I'm way behind on blogging) Tyson participated in a 3 mile race at his school. There was lots of cheering and noise going on behind my house so the girls went out to check it out:

(Tyson completed the 3 miles in 36 minutes)

The summertime boredom sets in around here on occassion... On one such occasion, Morrissa asked if she could do hers and the little girls' make-up. They went beyond that and did their hair the same and each had a purse on their arm. (Oaklee and Kyndi are such posers!!)

Check out Oaklee's amazing outfit of stripes!!

Two Tales of Tona...

Two tales of Tona...Both regrettably without pictures....

A couple days ago I was sitting in my kitchen working on homework on my computer and the two babies were playing behind me on the floor. Oaklee says "An" (Ant) and I figure she must've found an ant that had creeped into our house to eat the crumbs beneath the high chair.

She says it again a little louder, and then again, followed by "Mom". Another "An, Mom" and I respond (Without looking) "Did you find an ant?" "Yep" She continues to tell me about the ants, and won;t let the topic go, now she's screaming-ish "An, Mom!" and tapping me on the back. I finally turn around to find Dayton with a mouth full of cheeto and quite possibly thirty ants. There were also quite a few of the little buggers cascading down his chin in a mass of drool. Yum Tona, good protein for you. Sadly I had him all cleaned up before the idea of the camera dawned on me.

Tale 2

Every morning the kids get the babies up and change their bums and bring Little Dude to my room to play (and by kids I mean Morrissa). This morning I awoke as usual to the sound of my bedroom door opening and the baby being dropped off. I laid in bed as I always do and was reading my book all the while listening to him play. Every few minutes he'd let out a squeal and I'd laugh and talk to him a bit and continue my reading. I was really tired and I kept dosing in and out a little, but all was safe for him. My room is total baby-proof central. He started getting a little fussy and so I'd say things like "Its okay little buddy, I'll finish this chapter and then we'll go down stairs". Very soon though I felt his little hands banging on my mattress as he cried. Poor kid, so I leaned down to get him and WHAT?!?!?!?! There was poop from here to kingdom come, and no diaper?!?!?!? Again, WHAT??!?!?! He was buck naked, covered head to toe (no exaggeration) in poop. In his hair, his eyes, his mouth!! Not to mention...the walls, the door, the clean laundry at the bottom of my bed, my shoes every toy he played with, every page of his book he was using...and worst of all, smeared into the carpet every place he had crawled. And the stench was outrageous!!! How had I not smelled it while reading??? And how exactly did he get his diaper off?? I was so overcome by the mess, I went into immediate action and bathed Tona, stuck the newly un-clean laundry in the wash, washed the walls, the door and the dresser. Cleaned the tiny handprints on the mattress, scrubbed his toys and wiped the book, and then dragged out the carpet cleaner which barely touched the mess, so I gave in and scrubbed at the carpet on my hands and knees before running the carpet cleaner again.

Sadly, no picture on this one either, but given the topic, would you have really liked to have seen such a disgusting disaster in picture form?? Isn't the picture in your mind a this point good enough??

Mom-Hour

We here at our home have sorta-put into play a new ritual... Mom Hour. This is an hour during the day that we spend doing some crazy activity as a group (Kids & mom). Some days this may be reading a book, others a picnic at the park, today it was this:

Jump on the trampoline with a regular sized balloon filled with water.

Jump and jump until it pops...

Like this:

End Result: Everyone is soaked and giggling. (Note, Mom was on the side of the tramp loading new balloons on as needed, which resulted in getting plenty soaked herself)

(Thank you Tiff for such a lovely idea)

Tysa-Roni

Last Saturday (May 30th) was Tyson's 13th birthday. Yes, you all read that correctly, I now have a teenager living in my house. Yikes, I know.

I am a tad bit delayed in getting this post done, but here we go. All about Tysa-Roni...

Roni just finished the 7th grade and seemed to enjoy it. I did "make" him go to one jr high dance a few months ago, just to try it out. He seemed to enjoy it but when he was asked if he danced with any girls he got real attitude-ish and wouldn't give a straight answer. (I think we all know what this means *wink*) He didn't choose to attend any other dances after that one.

Tyson got really good grades all year which I am very proud of him for. In addition to the idea that JR High is new to 7th graders, (with multiple classes and changing schedules and all the homework), We also moved once during his 7th grade experience causing even more changes to his scheduling. He did awesome.

Tyson loves baseball. He especially loves playing baseball with his dad. In fact he enjoys almost any activity that his dad will participate in (Except maybe such activities that are viewed as 'chores')

Tyson is an awesome helper around the house and almost never argues or makes upset faces when asked to do something to help out.

Tyson's bedroom was recently moved to the basement so he no longer has to share a room (which is also exciting news for Tate who also now has his own room by default. Morrissa however is none too pleased.)

In addition to Baseball, Tyson enjoys being outside, listening to music and playing video games. (He also on many occasions, enjoys taunting and pestering the younger children, which Kamron has explained to me, is the job of the oldest boy in the house).

Some interesting facts about Tyson:

He loves eating cereal, he would eat it morning noon and night if permitted

He hates meat in spaghetti sauce

He hates mashed potatoes (but loves potatoes in all other forms)

He is by far my pickiest eater

He loves to read books of fact and trivia (ones that he can learn interesting facts from)

Well there you have it, Tyson in a nutshell.

Here are some lovely pictures of Roni over the years...

Happy Birthday Tyson, we love you!!