You know, yesterday I was researching black markets to sell the kids on. That’s the kind of day it was. They were home from school and all I told them they had to do was clean their rooms. They started at 10. At 3:30, nothing had been done. So I went in with trash bags. I was tired of yelling and screaming. I was in bed and asleep by 9:30 last night. That’s how tired I was…

This morning as I was getting them ready for school and watching Samara brush her hair and explain the differences between first grade and kindergarten I realized that before I know it, they are going to be grown and gone. Sometime before that, I’m no longer going to be a cool mom and being seen with me will be a fate worse than death.

I think when the people call me from the black markets today, I’ll tell them I’ve changed my mind. (I’m kidding about this whole black market thing by the way, but that’s how MAD I was yesterday. To quote my mother, “I could feel my blood boiling.”)

But today, after school, we’ll be finishing the rooms. I’m pretty sure I can gather at least another trashbag each with them… Now THAT’S fun!

Until next time…

Heather

Took the kids to the annual fall carnival at the school and the book fair today. We had lots of fun! We went to the Haunted House and had lunch and bid on some items at the silent auction before heading over to the book fair. Here are a few pics I snapped.

Sam getting her nails painted for the fair price of one ticket!

Regan getting her nails painted…pink AND purple!

The Clown Toss

Regan at the clown toss

The kids decorating cookies…what a MESS!

Feasting on their creations!

Matthew at the Flower Pot Toss

Sam and I picked up curlers the other day at the drug store and did her hair for picture day. She loved it so the girls both wanted to do it tonight…

Talk about funny looking…

Until next time…

Heather

I think she’s seen me working too much…

Today she asked to call Scout (her best friend) and when I turned around, this is what I saw…I just kept taking pictures…I couldn’t believe it! (you can also see her hair since she cut 3 inches off of it!)

And then I snapped a pic of my new desk….

And then a few of Matthew and Rhoda so they didn’t feel left out…

Until next time…

Heather

We’re dog sitting for Tim’s mom while she’s in California. Jack is wonderful. Rhoda is too for the most part. Whereas Jack is older (8 I think…) Rhoda is not yet 2, and Rhoda likes to play.

We had a rawhide bone for Rhoda. It’s been here for MONTHS…Rhoda never touched it. Jack started chewing on it and suddenly Rhoda had to have it. They fought over that.

So I went and bought them BOTH rawhide bones and they would chew while watching the other one making sure that their respective bones were safe.

Now, Rhoda has also untied her rope. I had been looking for a new one for quite some time and finally found one. Jack wanted NOTHING to do with the old rope but when Rhoda started playing with the new one (which she LOVES) Jack wanted a piece of the fun too…now they play tug of war…ALL THE TIME!

I was able to snap a picture…

I feel as if I yell at the dogs more than I yell at the kids!

Until next time…

Heather

Matthew came home with his first project…to build a deciduous forest. Here we go…

So off to Michael’s we went in search of what we needed. Well, the only “trees” that Michael’s had were the ones in the Christmas section…so we were going to have a winter forest, but we didn’t know what 2 plants grew in the winter in the forest besides trees, nor did we know how to build them. So we have a forest between fall and winter. There are no leaves on the trees but it’s not snowed yet.

He had to have 3 animals…so we have a fox, a deer, and a bunny. He had to show the home of one of the animals, so we cut a hole in the styrofoam in the bottom of the box, cut the bunny’s legs off and stuck him in his new home.

He also had to have a source of food and water for one of the animals…well guess what? Fox eat bunnies. Our lake, and water source, is made from blue construction paper. The floor of our forest is brown moss. The total cost of this project? $35! (The berry bush was free. I swiped that from the Taco Bell drive through as I was waiting thinking that the bunny would eat them. )

Here are some pictures. I can’t wait to see what grade we get on this one!

An ariel view…

From the front

The deer

The fox…hiding behind the trees (waiting to attack the bunny when he comes out of the hole…lol)

The bunny…hiding in his hole…staying away from the fox…

Until next time..

Heather

Yes, Samara is cheerleading! She’s very good and she’s a natural. The class started out as 46 5 and 6 year olds and one coach and it’s now been divided into 2 classes. She practices…over and over again. Her poms poms are a prized possession…which is good. They were $20 and I’m NOT buying another pair!

The class is 8 weeks and if she makes all 8 classes she gets a medal and there will be a show for the parents at the end of the sessions. I’m very excited to see that! I have some time to figure out how to upload video before then…:)

Here are a few pics that I snapped the first class…

Until next time…

Heather

It was fund raiser night at Chuck E. Cheese last Monday for Green Valley so the kids and I headed over there. Despite all the kids and the noise, we had a pretty good time.

Samara wanted to get our sketch done — for just one token, this is what we got:

Pretty cool eh?

The kids walked out with a lot of JUNK, but I managed to win enough tickets to get 3 Winnie the Pooh magnets and I was just tickled!

Until next time…

Heather