Collections Night

At scouts, they were supposed to bring a collection of something to share.  

As our house is mostly packed, we had limited options.  Riley made a book collection but then had a meltdown two days later because it just 'wasn't right'.  

So I made some other suggestions.  One of the things not packed yet was sword corner.  I suggested something from there.  His eyes lit up.

I put him under strict orders that these were not for playing with at scouts.  He agreed.  He always agrees.  But he often has poor self control in execution.  

Surprise, surprise.  He actually followed directions and only took the swords out during his sharing time. 

All the boys did a great job sharing and none of them had the same thing.  What a good night!  

The adult who helped me took pictures of boys with their collections.  Thanks E!

Packing...An Extreme Sport

Or so says my ten year old.

Why has he branded it as such?

Because he has seen Baby in action.

I try to pack boxes as well, efficiently, and quickly as possible.

Ev tries to unpack the boxes or pack 'surprises' into each box just as fast.  

And when he is not 'helping' with box duty he is busy hiding things in the newly emptied cabinets.  So that while I think I have packed everything, there is always something new to find.  It's like an Easter egg hunt every day!

We should enter him in the X games next year.  I think he could be a contender.

Houdini

After scouts the boys are supposed to come home and take quick showers so we can get them to bed on time.

Riley volunteered to go first.

We arrived home and he went to turn the water on to warm up.  (Our house takes forever for the water to warm up.)  Then he went to put away his scout uniform.  I was talking to my husband near the bathroom. 

We both heard the door shut and kept talking.

Then I heard a commotion in the big boys room.  I walked over to find out what was going on.  Riley was in the sword corner looking for a sword.

"Why are you doing that?" I asked.

"There is a spider in the shower.  I have to kill it."

"Oh for Pete's sake!  C'mon, I'll kill it for you."

Then I looked around the boys room.

"Wait...if you are in here, then who is in the shower?!"

Like our own cast of Clue we all raced to the bathroom.  I threw open the door.  And saw this.

  

Like a shark smelling blood in the water, someone realized there was a water toy that was untended.

And, might I add, that I am sooooooo glad that I had just changed him into jammies right before this?

Husband dried him off and took the next outfit change.  

He's a clever one...

  

Boys

So what are the princes up to while I pack like a madwoman?

They made their own ping pong arena in the kitchen.

And they recruited their own ball boy.  

And gave him a paddle.  

Seriously, who gave the baby a paddle?

Oh to be young...

Miss Chelsea's Love Runs On

Riley took his rice bags from Miss Chelsea to church.  And yes he warmed them up so he could be cozy.  And yes we live in California where it is 70 degrees.  But he sure felt loved.  And warm.

She made this custom one when he fell a few years ago and injured his neck pretty bad.  Riley loves it. 

Thanks for making this kid the coziest boy in church, Miss Chelsea.

Packing Adventures

Ev likes the boxes.

So how is packing going?

Well combine a small addiction to books with a large addiction to legos, swords, nerf guns, and bikes, and you have a heck of a job in front of you.

I keep looking for a magic wand that will make all the boxes pack themselves.  But packing boxes helps me purge as much as possible...so I guess there is a point to no magic wand mysteriously and gloriously showing up.  I've gotten rid of about 50 books so far.  (Which is small in the grand scale...but I'm sure I get some brownie points for that...)  

James has been a champ taking all the boxes out to the garage to free up space for me to continue packing.  (And don't I get some brownie points for having a garage that is empty enough that it can store over a hundred boxes at the moment?)  

Here's a fun fact:  

When you remove just over three thousand (yes, I'll cop to it) physical books from a house, the house starts to sound echo-y.  And a lot colder.

So our house is chilly and echo-y right now.  

At least Ev is enjoying the boxes.

First Teenage Kiss

I've decided having teenagers is going to be fun.  So easy to embarrass....

Somebody is Turning Into a Teenager

 James is an official teenager.

The boys helped me set up for a Batman party, decorating the room and pulling out the fun foods that James requested.

My helpful decor crew.  I was not very functional at the time and they helped a ton.

The boys had paninis, chips, and soda, the latter two which I allow for only special treats.  Baby had eight mini-glasses of squirt soda.  Apparently he knew to take advantage of the opportunity.  The rest of the boys drank up too.

Then came cake.  

James wanted homemade brownies and ice cream for his birthday.  However, his dad is out of town, so we decided to celebrate when he gets back.  But James still wanted a party and treat on his actual birthday.  I acquiesced.  So he gets two parties.  Spoiled much James?

I got him a yummy smelling oreo cookies and and cream ice cream cake.

And boy, was he excited!

At thirteen, he feels he is old enough to light his own candles.

We sang a very off key rendition of happy birthday...

...and then he made his wish!

The boys all approved of the cake.

Ev decided this was the best party he has even been to.

James tried on his new Batman shirt.  Unfortunately he couldn't get his other shirt off and got stuck.  It was very funny.

I think this is one happy birthday boy.  

Now, if only we can figure out how to convince him to stop growing...

Clumsy, Thy Name is Mine

You know that voice that sometimes comes with a warning?

I got that yesterday.  

I was getting ready to head downstairs and the little voice said,"Don't forget to hold onto the banister."

Like a teenager, I gave attitude to the voice.  "Duh.  I always hold onto the banister since I broke my leg last fall."

But I grabbed for the banister anyway.

And within the second step down, my left ankle rolled under me and I went crashing down.  Because I was holding onto the rail, I sort of swung sideways and crashed down just one step.

I know what you are thinking.  Because I was thinking it too - in the split second from roll to crash.  Seriously?!  Did I seriously just fall down the stairs again?!

I sat down and took a breath so I could assess the damage.  

My left ankle (the previously injured one) hurt yet again.  My right foot smarted like crazy, down near the toes, and my knee was skinned.  What am I five?

I picked myself up and gingerly put my weight on my feet.  Pain shot up both legs.  Well...shoot.

My husband was out of town again, my children needed to be picked up, and I am in the middle of packing the house for a move.  I do not have time to go to the ER.  I do not have time to break anything.

I had to go get the kids from school, so I grabbed Ev's hand and carefully hobbled my way to the car, praying with every step that the pain would go away. 

And as I sat in the car, waiting for kids to come out, I tried to ignore the pain that was persistent in both appendages.

By the time I got home, I could barely walk in to the house.

The boys brought me two ice bags, one for each tweak.

It was also the day of my oldest child's birth.  Thank goodness I had done everything but decorate for him.  

After two bags of ice on each foot, I carefully made my way downstairs to celebrate James' birthday.  

My ankle is definitely tweaked, probably slightly sprained and my big toe is most likely broken or severely sprained.

It hurts to walk.  But at least I can move. 

I iced them again before bed, hoping that I would be able to walk in the morning.  And by this morning, my ankle is stiff and my toe throbs...but I can still walk.  

The joint just below my toe is swollen but a broken toe is doable.  Way better than a fractured fibula.

I am thanking my God and my lucky stars that I was holding onto the banister.

I don't know why stairs have always been so hard on me but I have been falling down stairs since we moved to a house with them when I was in my teens.  Oddly it became something of a family joke.  I even fell down a flight on stairs on my honeymoon cruise.  Husband took a picture for the album...because that's a memory to keep.  

I suppose I can blame my wankles (weak ankles that tend to roll a lot) but I think that it is probably best to admit defeat and convince my husband to install one of those stair chairs in the new house for me so that I never have to rely on my wankles to get me safely downstairs again.   

In the meantime, I am carefully walking, grabbing onto everything in sight for stability, and listening extra hard for that quiet, little voice.  It clearly knows better than me.

James and the Doughboys

James went out with the doughboys on his own last week.  He also did an incredible job on a fifty-miler with his dad a few days before.  

Love in a Box

As a thank you, I was given a box of chocolates.  

My boys immediately knew that I wouldn't be able to eat any of the treats and they were high fiving each other on the way home because they knew that that meant that they could have the chocolates.

So a few days ago, I pulled out the box and let the boys enjoy them.

Some of the boys enjoyed them more than other boys...

And this is our little cutie as he is driving away from getting his first valentine from a girl...who according to her father, may or may not be betrothed to our son because our son put the moves on her a while back and held her hand.  Looks like he is happy about the possibility...

Building

As we move through every inch of our home and decide what to keep and what to get rid of, some of us get a little more distracted than others.  

Interests

For months now, Baby Ev has been overly interested in bathrooms.  He loves them.  He loves the faucet with the water, he loves the flushing toilet, he loves locking himself in.  So for months now, we've done our best to always keep the bathroom doors shut.



But like a shark that smells blood in the water and them hones in on the target, Ev has a sixth sense to know if one of the doors hasn't been completely latched shut.  He'll scamper off.  We'll hear a door shut, water being turned on, splashed around, toilets flushing.  And we will know that this work is not to be blamed on Steve the Ghost.  It's Ev.  Always.



And after he took advantage of a breach yet again yesterday, I was reminded of this sketch.



He may be no more interested in sewage then other people...then again, he may be a little more interested than other people.

The Fun Keeps Going and Going and Going...

My dad got Everett this card for his birthday six months ago.  It is the kind of card that, when opened, plays music, in this case, the tigger song.  Ev still loves to play with it. 

I love how he dances every time he hears music.  He may have no rhythm yet but his body is the kind that just needs to move to music.  It is so fun to watch!

  

The New Life Alert - Studio C

Is it weird that I think this is a great idea...?

...and I'm sure first responders everywhere are happy that I am not available.  

Of course, the one who is legally obligated to show up (my lovely husband) is probably having second thoughts. 

Happy Valentine's Day weekend!

Don't Worry About Me...I've always Wanted to Run a Circus...

Prince Riley just told me that I was amusing.  Which would have been very nice.  If he hadn't used air quotes around the word amusing.



Yep.  My eight year old is a delight.  And yes, you should imagine air quotes around the word delight.



Sometimes I feel like this poor Jedi Master...









Maybe I should look into getting a blind chinchilla...

You're So Vain...

Every time James has a sibling visit, we take pictures.  Then I print out the pictures, one set for him and each of his sibs.  

Every year for Christmas, I try to make sure that his sibs get a photo album as part of their gifts so that they have a place to put their pictures.  

Except that I have forgotten all along to get an album for James.  So he just had a stack of pictures piling up.  My brain finally clicked into place and I got him a photo album.  On the front of the photo album is a place to put a picture.  I thought he might put a picture of him with his sibs.  

Silly me.

He put a picture of himself.  

Of course he did.

I laughed when he showed me.

A few days later he sat next to me and put the pictures in his album.  

I just couldn't help but laugh that out of all the group shots he put a picture of just himself on the cover.  "I've got to get a picture of this," I said.

So he smiled for a picture. 

Then he asked to see the picture.  "Oh, you can't see how blue my eyes are," he said.  "Take another."

He messed with the lights in my room until he felt he got the right amount to show off the blue of his eyes.

Then he instructed me to take another picture.

After viewing it, he declared that you still couldn't see his baby blues quite enough and told me to take a third.

By this time, I am dying with laughter.  

I took the original picture to highlight how full his vanity can sometimes be.  What followed was truly fulfilling to the original idea.

"You do know that I will post about your crazy vanity, right?" I asked.

"Well then you definitely have to take another so you can see my blue eyes," he responded.

No shame.  No shame at all.

And good luck to all the teen girls out there.  If you try to tell him you find him attractive his response will probably be, "I know."

He's so vain, he probably thinks this post is about him...

The Way You Wear Your Hat...

Ev refuses to let us put hats on his head.  But...he loves to put containers on and wear them like hats.