Ankle biter vs. The Jolly Green Giant

I was just folding laundry and it dawned on me how ridiculous I probably looked. Why? Well I was folding Byron's long johns. Do you know how hard it is for a 5' 2" woman to fold the long johns of a 6'4" man? Even when I raise my arms all the way up and stand on my tippy toes I'm still not tall enough. So I have two choices. I either stand on the bed and let them hang down over the bed while I fold them or I lay them out on the floor and run back and forth folding in the arms and legs until I get it down to a manageable size. I usually opt for the floor because when I stand on the bed it seems to be an open invitation for all children to stand on mom's bed too. I will be so glad when winter is over. No more long johns!

Lazy Days and Mondays

It's been another day of yucky weather. The upside? Everyone usually takes a good nap on a cold, snowy day. Here's a pic of Grace and our cat Shadow napping together. So sweet!! I was feeling really good about the kid's cuteness factor and then I walk across the hall and see this

Yikes!! What is with that hair? I think I've found the missing Jonas brother. All the Aqua Net in the world won't keep that lion's mane down.

Date Night

Kendall and Byron just left for the annual Daddy-daughter dance. They were so cute. Kendall was so excited she couldn't even hold still. If it's anything like last year, she'll keep Byron on the move with dancing and running around checking everything out. Me, I'm going to get the little ones in bed and enjoy a nice hot bath. I love Daddy-daughter dance night!

Not A Lot Going On....

We haven't had a lot going on the past few weeks. We're just trying to make it through the last weeks of winter. If you don't live in the midwest then it might interest you to know that we've had a busy winter. So far (and this is not counting the snow storm predicted for this weekend) we've had over 50 inches of snow since December 1st. Our usual amount of snow for this time of year?....19 inches. That's not even counting all the wind, ice, freezing rain, blizzard conditions and the huge piles of snow sitting around everyone's driveway. So you might say winter has been a little hard this year. The kids keep us busy and laughing though. So here's some pictures of them. Here they are staging out a protest for mom and dad to buy more than one piece of furniture for the living room.

I think in this one Maddie was sending me a message to turn up the heat. Our avg. temp for Dec. this year was 1 degree. (no, that's not a typo. 1 degree is correct.)

Mmmm...brownies. The problem with brownies, you have to cook them!

The candy heart doesn't fall far from the candy tree.

Last night Kendall was working on her Valentine's Day cards for school. She was writing her name on all the cards and then was going to add her friend's names. While she was working I hear her say, "I can't believe this!"

I said, "What's wrong Kendall?"

"Mom, how much did you pay for these cards?"

I'm thinking that's an odd question and I really don't have the answer to it anyway.

"I don't know, honey. Maybe $2-3. What's wrong?"

Now before you hear the next part of the conversation you need to picture these cards in your head. They are the kind where you write your name on one side and your friend's name on the other. Then you fold the card shut where your name is on one side and your friend's name is on the other side. Are you getting a mental picture in your head? It's important to the story.

Kendall said, "They have printed the word "to" upside down on every stinking one of these cards. I can't believe this! What a piece of junk! Well, I guess you get what you pay for!"

She was ticked off! I said, "Oh no honey. They didn't. When you fold them in half the word "to" and the word "from" will be the right way." I folded one over to show her.

Well that calmed her down. Now the funny part is not that she thought the words were upside down. Any kid would make that mistake. Very easy to make. The funny part was her words because she sounded just like me! Those were my words coming back and hitting me right in the face! I frequently (although maybe not so much after this little incident) have hissy fits about things I've bought that don't last as long as I think they should. I always say, "How much did I pay for this?" and "Well, I guess you get what you pay for." If kids aren't mirrors of our own actions looking right back at us then I don't know what is!