Who's In Charge

I missed capturing two very cute things in the past couple of weeks, I wish I hadn't been too lazy to get out the camera, but I am trying to at least capture the memory.

I was not feeling too good, I had a terrible headache so I was napping a little in the bedroom. All the kids seemed to be doing OK, there were no loud noises, no one was fighting, so I let them do their things and I did mine. I went to check on them and Brian and Danielle were watching TV and Emily was playing in the bedroom.

Then things got VERY quiet, you know that QUIET, the kind that makes you go check on them because you know that things are bad.

This is what I found: (Insert very cute picture of Danielle laying on the couch asleep, hugging the remote).

I guess we now know who is in charge of the remote. Maybe Brian found something to watch on TV that she liked and she was guarding the remote so he couldn't change it. And I guess that she was tired. She has fallen asleep before in front of the computer, slumped over in a chair, and also in a chair in front of the TV. I think she gets worn out because she doesn't want to miss a minute of the fun her siblings provide.

The next cute thing that happened recently was one night at bedtime. We had sent the big kids to bed, they have to get up for school, and Danielle hops from one person to the next at night. Usually she goes into bed with them, but then leaves when "quiet" time, (which is not so quiet) is over. Then she comes to see me in bed, so she can get her milk snack. But since she is not ready to actually sleep yet, she joins daddy in the living room to watch TV.

She had made her rounds and then all was quiet, you know that same too quiet. I went to check on her. Eddie thought maybe she was with me, but when I walked into the kids room, I found this: (Insert cute picture of Danielle on the top bunk lying in bed next to sleeping Brian, eating cheetos)!! Kinda reminded me of ET hiding in the closet with the other animals. You had to look closely to really see him.

Ah ha! I did take a picture of this, but had just forgotten.

Here are some other cute E.T. pictures.

Danielle hiding in the hall closet with the blankets and towels

Danielle on the couch surrounded by animal, Brian and Emily helped with both of these creations, I think.

Happy Halloween

Although there was no "door to door" trick or treating for our kiddos this year as we chose to observe the Sabbath, we did lots of fun alternativies, and I assure you there is no candy shortage at our house.

First there was Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. This included dressing up, meeting character's, rides, a parade, fireworks and of course candy.

As if that wasn't enough, we attended a Halloween Party last week at The Wonder Place. There were costumes, a scavenger hunt, skeleton craft, stories, fun playing with friends, and a treat bag. I thought the skeleton craft was so cute and such a fun, easy idea.

Brian was creative with his design, you can see all of the skeleton's ribs.

I mostly created Danielle's skeleton

We figured out that if we cut the q-tips that we could make shorter ribs, a ha! Emily's design is of course complete with flowers and people, much like all of her current artwork.

Third, Emily's school hosted a Fall Festival on Thursday evening. There was dressing up, dinner, games, candy, and the bounce house. Also the decorated pumpkin patch pumpkins were on display for all to see.

Next came Brian's school party. They carved pumpkins and counted pumpkin seeds. Had fun stories. Then they had class parties too. Brian played pin the head on the skeleton, halloween twister, did cookie decorating and received a treat bag.

I have to tell you about this pumpkin. I helped in Brian's class during the party. I had a group of four boys (1st graders) and we had about 30 minutes to clean out and then carve the pumpkin. The boys did a pretty good job getting the pumkin seeds out. Then we selected a pattern, I punched the pattern, and the boys were going to take turns cutting. This was a challenge for some of the boys, and time was running out so I had to finish it up. I think that given the circumstances that I did an awesome job!

Emily had fun in her class, she was the line leader, and came home with a couple of treat bags.

We ended the Halloween festivites with the annual Fall Festival at church. The kids dressed up and went Trunk or Treating. The rest of the party was inside. There were hot dogs and nachos, and a chili cookoff. Games included a bounce house and a cake walk. Then a costume parade. It was the best fall festival we have attended in the 8 years we have been going.

Here are the awards that all the kids got who participated in the costume parade. They did take pictures, but I haven't received them yet.

You will notice in almost all of these events I mentioned dressing up. First there are no pictures...sorry about that. Suffice to say that Brian wore his Iron Man Costume except for at WDW, and Emily alternated between Belle and Cinderella. Second one member of our family refused to dress up. Danielle would not wear a costume this year. She would not wear her beautiful Cinderella dress the day at WDW that Emily did Bibbity, bobbity, boutique, or to the Mickey's Halloween Party. She did not dress up for any of the other parties we attended, except for one night when she wore one piece (out of three) of an old tinkerbell costume. So how is that for a party pooper!

Walt Disney World

We went to Walt Disney World from October 13-20, 2010. Highlights and pictures soon!

10-10-10

Guess who turns 5 on this very special day? Emily!! She did not understand the significance of the date today, but someday she will look back and see what a fun day it was to turn 5.

I love this beautiful little girl. She is so full of life. She loves learning, and going to school. She loves to sing and play. She is imaginative and can play for hours with just a few little things. She is my peacemaker, and tries hard to please and get along with her siblings. She loves to help, and wants to learn to cook.

She had been asking for a "cupcake maker" since last year, and I knew exactly what she wanted, but it got horrible reviews. So I decided to get her and Easy Bake Oven. I hope it is an acceptable substitute.

Trying out the new oven...

She made her own birthday cake!

Busy Saturday

I started a Walt Disney World Mickey Countdown Calendar. I got these cute Mickey heads at Home Depot, they are the paint sample cards. They worked great for our project. Each day beginning 30 days from our trip the kids took turns putting a Mickey Head on the calendar. This also helped them count down to their birthdays and other events. Brian is really grasping this concept, and Emily is starting too.

Brian was invited to a friends birthday at church. It was a halloween costume theme, so Brian got his wish to get an Iron Man costume. I dropped him off at Zach's house and he was a little nervous at first, but he had a great time.

Tonight the family went on separate dates. They boys went to the Monster Truck Show at the Arkansas State Fair. They had a great time, even though Eddie said it was smelly from all the car fumes. (I am glad I didn't want to go.) The girls went to the movies. We saw Secretariat, and while it wasn't the best show to take the girls to and they ended up falling asleep because it was so long. I really enjoyed it, the story was great, and would add it to the list of one of my favorite all time movies.

Line Leader

Emily had her turn at being the line leader in her class today. It is a big deal and something that everyone looks forward too. This was actually Emily's second time to be the line leader, but the first time there was a substitute in class that day, so it was not as special.

The line leader is basically the special person for the day. They get to help with the morning message, and then that sheet gets sent home with them.

The line leader gets to write in her own name.

They get to ring the bell, and hold the door, and obviously lead the line. They sing in line so they get to choose the song too.

Mrs. Kriz always sends home a "love note" about your child as well.

It's Cold??

After a record breaking heat this summer...yesterday we opened the windows and the kids declared they were cold outside. All I can say about that is hallellujah.

Little Rock, AR won the Weather Channel's vote as having the nation's second worst summer. It was not simply because they suffered through their hottest summer on record, topping the brutal summers of 1954 and 1980. The clincher for the Arkansas capital was the number of triple-digit days, and the record stretch of consecutive 90-degree days

Consider the sizzling stats:

•21 days with triple-digit heat
•8 of those were consecutive triple-digit days (July 29 - August 5)
•Hottest day in almost 10 years (107 on Aug. 3)
•Record 60 straight days of 90-degree heat (June 30 - August 28)
•Total of 110 days of 90-degree heat (that's almost 1/3 of a year!)