He's at it again...

"If you try to fight against a force like gravity, or say Mommy, you're not gonna win."

Things Drama Boy Says

He's at it again... so yes, two posts right in a row...

Drama Boy: "Humans have these teeny tiny eggs inside of them, but they don't hatch until you get married or kiss someone."

Miss Sass: "Ooohhh! I get it!"

Me: "No. You really don't. But I love you."

Things Drama Boy Says

Drama Boy: "Daddy, can we go outside in the backyard and cut weeds with Mr. Cool's pocket knife?!"

Dad: "Um ........ No."

When I Grow Up

The kids are busy with school and we are finally falling into a routine for this year. Things have been crazy at this house, but I think we are on the right track! ;)

Okay, now please mind the mess on Joshua's shirt. He made pancakes for everyone that morning and so he had a little bit of a mess going. He has had this idea that when he moves out and is on his own, he won't know what to do. So, he has insisted on learning every single recipe and day-to-day task until that day! Lol. I love it! 

The kids are getting ready for this big event at school called the Hat Day Parade! Every student makes a hat and they parade them in front of the whole school and parents. This year's theme is When I Grow Up. 

Michael has decided to go with HERO! - I think by this he means military man.

Joshua is going with either scientist or football player. LOL

Alexandra has settled on Author/Illustrator and has since written 5 little books. ;)
Now if I can just figure out what I want to be... 

Best Santa EVER!

This is our first year to go see Santa... and when the kids found out that Santa was their Papa, they were ecstatic! ;) Miss Sass was a little unsure at first. After all, the last time she saw Papa he was clean-shaven. ;)

She warmed up to him though... however she hid her smile from me, of course. ;)

So, these are all straight out of the camera so they are far from perfect! But I wanted to share, so here they are. ;) This next one was fun... sort of a behind the scenes shot.

Drama Boy was so fun. He just loves the Santa story and he loves Papa even more! ;)

I really need to get a new lens... one with auto focus!!!

Then it was Mr. Cool's turn. He thought the whole thing was a blast and just told Santa everything! Lol

I think my Daddy makes a pretty good Santa. ;)

How was your trip to see Santa?

What Is Virtual School?

Okay, I wanted to do an update on this sooner, but life got so busy! ;) We will not be attending public schools this year after all... After advice from a few reliable sources and another assessment for Mr. Cool, we have decided that our kids will attend a virtual school this year. We have enjoyed the example lessons...

Our official 1st day will be August 30th, giving us more time to prepare. I'm excited about it and I think it will be a nice change from the homeschooling we were doing the last couple years. So, what exactly is virtual school? Our lessons are prepared and ready each day for each subject. We follow an over all lesson plan that helps us stay in line with the course material that they are supposed to learn over the year. We will have enough time left over each day to do some extra activities or additional lessons if we decide to. This will give us the opportunity to spend time on areas that need extra attention or to study things that are not covered in the state curriculum. This should be fun and I look forward to sharing some of our experiences! ;)

Zoo Day

We met up with cousins for the last Wet 'n Wild Days for the year. After water play, we had to check out some animals. The first stop was in the Jungle to see the River Rays.

This is a horrible shot, but there is the memory of how much these kids loved the rays. ;)

This shot was when we had first arrived and my little niece was so stinkin' cute!

She was really stealing the cuteness today! These birds were really interested in us today. I mentioned that maybe it was dinner time and the little one replied:

"Don't eat me!" So cute. ;)

Here's another one that didn't come out that great, but she was so excited about the waterfall and she was giggling the whole way over there!

The kids earned t-shirts today with the Kid's Club by attending enough events. The boys love them!

Zoo Day ... Pictures Galore!

The kids had a great day at Wet 'n Wild Days yesterday! We started off our adventure with two little guides leading the way...

We had an extra munchkin along for the ride. This is my squeezable nephew, Little Man. I promise he is not squished under all that stuff!

Little Man was the first to test the waters...

The other three kids quickly made their way into the largest puddle in the state, waving at the firefighters as they are drenched by the firehose! You can just pick out Mr. Cool standing right in the middle, blocking the spray with his arms.

Next we found a misting tent where Mr. Cool just couldn't resist splashing like he did when he was two! He loved this picture, so I just had to share! ;)

The kids got pretty worn out, so we headed for the door, but we found an awesome photo spot and stopped for a few more shots. I was thrilled because I finally got Drama Boy to hold still for a few clicks! heh

I really loved this one! Notice the bare feet, though? Yeah, we lost her shoes somewhere along the way! (sheesh, pay attention mama!) Thankfully a wonderful zoo employee found them and brought them all the way to the front for us. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers!

And finally there are these two shots! I love my creative kiddos!

They were so fun... if only I could get all four kids to look at the same time. yeah right ;)

4th of July applique for the boys;)

Okay, so I took about 40 pictures of my boys and this is about the best I got of the two together! They just don't care so much about the camera, especially when there are firecrackers to set off;)

Really, though, I guess I should have done a separate photo shoot with them... Okay to make these shirts... I bought the red t-shirts for 8 bucks at, I think it was Sears or Penny's. Then I took the material and used a fabric marker to draw the basic shape of what I wanted. Then I cut it out just inside the marker line.

It doesn't have to be precise at all! Next I pinned it to the front of the shirt along with some stitch'n'tear on the inside of the shirt. Then I just used a thick stitch and sewed the outline of the shape, but about 1/4" from the edge. After a few washes the edges got frayed and it looks really cute! Anyway, I really liked these last two with my niece and Drama Boy; they were SO cute together! ;)

It was a Mamarazzi sort of day:)

We had a little impromptu backyard photo shoot this evening:) The kids were so sweet!

I can't really decide between the pics of Alex, but I will print copies of one or two to hand out this summer. Feel free to leave your opinion:)

Alex chose the background today, saying the rock she sat on was "just the right perfect" and the flowers were "pretty pieces of purple". Sounds good to me... almost enough for a Beatles song:)

I think I might crop this one in a little closer on her... I am trying to get better at manual (dramatic music plays...) Alex moved just as I snapped this one, but still cute! Okay, so the boys weren't exactly portrait ready, Mr. Cool wearing just swim trunks:) I was a little sad after I looked at them too... I mean, look! A REAL SMILE!!! Lol, I love this picture of him! We'll have to try this again... apparently "ice cream and potato chips" is the phrase I need to use:)

And here's my precious little angel! He has the sweetest smile:)

Pirates and Princesses... My favorite kind of party!

The boys birthday party was several weeks ago... I was going through pictures looking for something for the iHeartFaces photo contest when I came across these and thought I would post some:)

We had a couple of pirate-type activities for the kids including a cannon ball fight. We had this canoe and a cardboard pirate ship which I somehow didn't get a clear shot of... The kids were in the canoe and the dads were in the ship. Lol, it was so fun! And the girls were so much help during the battle:)

Speaking of girls... Alex was supposed to be searching for a gold nugget(painted rock) to trade in for a treat bag, but she wouldn't touch the "dutty" sand. She did eventually find one with brother's help.

This guy was so stinkin' adorable!

Here are the boys and Miss Priss hunting for burried treasure... this was a favorite for the boys. Lol, anything messy!
Okay, this one makes me laugh:) Drama Boy is trying to open his big gift from Mommy and Alex doesn't feel like moving, so he just set it on her head. Lol, they are so cute!

And this one is my very favorite! For one thing, it shows just how much bigger Mr. Cool is than little brother. Then there's the adorable Webkinz Parrots that my sister got them. And their cute little poses/faces while they try to keep them on their shoulders! They were so adorable and had so much fun!

I didn't hear it, I didn't see it, so it's NOT true!

We finally restocked our shelves/fridge/cabinets... everything was empty. Cooking was unbelievably difficult, but cleaning the fridge was incredibly easy:) The next day, the whole family is out and about. After a few errands and a good workout at the YMCA, we are headed home.
2 miles to go, and there it is... the sign! (the golden arches, you know!)
Three voices pipe up at once: "Oooh! Daddy, can we go to McDonald's?"
"I don't know, I'll think about it. We have one more stop before I decide."
Mr. Cool and Drama Boy in a low chant: "McDonald's, McDonald's, McDonald's..."
"Stop that."
"McDonald's, McDonald's, McDonald's..."
"I said stop!"
"McDonald's, McDonald's, McDonald's..."
"If you don't stop right now, we will most definitely NOT go!"

(silence)

Drama Boy: "Daddy, I can still hear that word... but I'm not talking about it!"
"Stop talking about the word at all!"
Mr. Cool: "Okay, I'm not saying it either, but I can still hear it."
"That's enough, no more!"

(silence)

"Can you still hear it? I still hear it. Daddy doesn't hear it, but we can!"

"Alright! That's it! We're not going. We asked you two to stop!"
"Aww, Daddy, that's mean! ... Man!"

(silence)

"McDonald's, McDonald's, McDonald's..."

I turn around, impatient frustration exploding in my head which quickly melted into laughter as I notice Alex with her eyes shut tight and her hands over her ears. Barely above a whisper...
"McDonald's, McDonald's, McDonald's..."
She just might be able to wish it true!
"McDonald's, McDonald's, McDonald's..."

We didn't go... but she sure tried:)

Snow, hail, sleet, and ribs

Okay, so I sit down to write a new post and what is it about? ... Dinner, again. I promise this isn't intended to be a meal planning blog or something. It would have to be a what-not-to-do manual anyway. So, I made pork ribs. I didn't burn them, but my planning was off, so the sides were ready 30 minutes later... oops. DK(Drama King) is eating his ribs and licking them clean. I thought, "wow, he really likes it" So I told him he could flip it over and find more meat on the other side. He says he doesn't want to eat the bread (they weren't breaded). When I said that was meat too, he asked why it was so hard. To which the rest of the family replied, "because mommy cooked it" I tell you, they are just so darn loving and supportive!
It snowed today, and sleeted, and snowed, and hailed, and rumbled, and flashed, and then snowed some more. The kids thought it was fantastic, me... not so much. I was really excited for the warm weather. Well, it gave me the chance to put Miss Sass in one of her cute winter sets one last time(I hope the last time!) The unfortunate thing is that Mr. Cool is growing so fast, he's run out of long pants...

Well, I know I have you all on the edge of your seats with my crazy-exciting life, but I must go! Miss Sass is trying to attack Daddy with her new molars and it is 20 min. past bedtime...

Have to start somewhere...

I considered starting our family blog by going back and talking about how we got here. That seemed like a lot of work and I am far more interested in talking about now:) So, I am going to start with where we are and what we are all up to and whatever else pops into my head that I feel like sharing. And since I am currently on percocet and Ibuprofen, antibiotics, etc., it could be anything. (Some sort of virus is attacking me!)

For those who don't see us regularly, I suppose I will give a short update. We have three kids, yes I am still married to Daniel, though he is hard to spend time with. Not because I don't like him, he's just busy:)

Dan is taking several college courses, is doing field internships/clinicals, works full time, and still finds time to spend with us and fix up the house. He's one-of-a-kind.

Michael, 6, is in first grade and is starting to think girls are cute, mostly older girls. He is taking piano lessons and tumbling, loves math, and wants us to do all of the reading for him.

Joshua, 4, thinks the world is his stage. He dances everywhere he goes and is more dramatic than most teenage girls. He takes jazz and likes to change clothes 5 times a day (he always matches too:).

Alexandra, 2, is my little girly girl. If you tell her she is a girl, she argues and says she's Princess Alexandra. She thinks the world is just hers and that she should have everyone's attention just because! But she gets shy with all eyes on her:) She collects shoes, sings all day, and loves to paint.

And if you haven't figured it out yet, and are wondering what I do, this is it! I write about what the rest of my family is doing:) I also take lots of pictures of them and tell them all what to do! Honestly, I love it!


I guess a short update on 5 people is actually kind of long, so I'll just tell a story or two.


We have had issues lately with Alexandra's choice in clothing. Mainly because she doesn't want to wear any. Getting ready to leave the house a few days ago, Dan told her to get dressed(she was wearing only panties.) She replied "Oh, I need socks and shoes!" -"No, you need to put on pants and a shirt and then your socks and shoes." says Daddy -"OK!" she said with a big smile, excited to make her daddy happy. This is how she came back out. And yes, that is snow outside!

And then there is Joshua who seems to be in a continuous cartwheel. I'm not sure how he does it, but practically everytime I look at him, he is upside down. In the grocery store, at Michael's school, at church... I thought tumbling would be good for the boy; he could learn balance and coordination. Now, I don't know, it's like I really do have a monkey for a son!

Well, I told one about the other two... Today we made cupcakes to take to Michael's class movie day. I made a few extra ones, because I figured the kids would want to try them when the were done. But Michael said he wanted to save them so that if there was someone in his class who didn't have money for anything like that at home, they could take his extra one. So sweet!