Jayden's Trip

Having so many kids we know it's hard for each of them to get enough one-on-one time so we decided that when each of our kids turned 10 they would get to pick a parent to go on a trip with. Now there are some stipulations, the trip has to be in the United States and is for 4 days. Jayden chose dad, much to mom's disappointment, and off they went to California.

Now this is comfort, a big bed to myself

It's easier to bump into others if you don't look

Can't visit Knott's without seeing the awesome stunt show!

Dad doesn't look like he feels too bad about 

leaving mom home with the other kids

Six Flags Magic Mountain

Taking a pic with the local celebrities

Jayden loves big roller coasters
Happiest Place on Earth

Pull Jayden, you can do it!

Why not go on a cruise while we're at it

The only thing that could have made the trip even better, I mean besides mom being there, was if not so many thousands of other people decided to have the same plans as us.

An actor is born...

The 6th graders put on a Shakespearean play, Much Ado About Nothing, and our daughter was the star of the show.  Even though she was one of the narrators and not a main character, she literally enthralled the whole audience.  After saying her part she danced through the audience patting people on the head, sitting on laps, and doing silly things to make them laugh. Considering her parents are not "in the spotlight" people, we are surprised and glad she has found something that she loves doing.  Way to go Alyssa!

Easter Fun

Each year for Easter we get together with Jimmie's family to celebrate.  Here's a glimpse of the fun that was had.

The cute cupcakes I made for desert

Dyeing Easter eggs

And then finding some

Next came games

Tossing eggs in a bucket

Games are even better when there's prizes!

Great idea, let's teach a toddler to throw eggs

Potato sack races

And the race was on

The adults thought it looked like so much fun they wanted a turn

Someone forgot to tell Tina licorice laces work best for this game

Pinewood Derby

Spawn

After many hours of cutting, sanding and painting, here are their pinewood derby cars. They each came up with the design themselves. I was worried about Gavin's since it's not exactly aerodynamic, but it raced just as well as everyone else's. Way to go boys!

Don't worry, the army is here to protect you

Great decor

An Unplanned trip

4 weeks ago this pretty lady was out walking her dogs when...

she tripped and did this....

(broken in 3 places and dislocated)

So her sister and this cute little guy...

hopped on one of these...

to go out and help.

We did some of this...

(I am so glad our oven is not this low at out house!)

Lincoln found a new place to play tent.

Lincoln made a new best friend who obviously loves him too!

(Hercules is kissing his nose)

We were sad to leave our patient and this little girl behind...

Trisha was a sweet heart and had Bella waiting for us as a thank you. Unfortunately, we couldn't bring her home since we discovered out there that Lincoln was allergic to yorkies.

Along came a...

At 4 am I was suddenly woken up by a loud scratching sound in my ear.  As I lay awake for the next hour I tried to figure out what the sound was that I kept hearing.  Finally it stopped and I went back to sleep.  When I woke up at 7 the sound was back again.  As I told Jimmie what happened and that he needed to suction my ear with the baby bulb syringe he thought I was crazy but was willing to help.  To my relief nothing came out.  So he joked that if my ear kept bugging me to go in to the doctor so I didn't become one of those stories where some bug laid eggs in their head.  I smirked trying to laugh along, but really wondered if something had made a new home in me. 

Until lunch time I kept hearing the loud scratching sound off and on and had pressure on the outside of my eardrum.  I was wondering now if I was going crazy.  Was this just a weird sound I was imaging?  I sat down around noon to check my email when the sound began again and my ear felt itchy.  As I had done all morning long with no success, I again used my nail to try to scrape something out but this time I saw a little bit of wax and 2 spider legs!  Yuck!! I screamed and quickly grabbed the bulb syring as I suctioned as hard as I could.  Nothing else came out so now I am wondering if the spider is still hiding inside, if I killed it and my ear is now a tomb, or if I decapitated two of its legs as it came out. 

I called my neighbor who is a nurse and asked if she had an otoscope to look in my ear to see what was left behind, but to my dismay she didn't have one.  So I went to the doctor where he came in the room laughing when he saw what I was in for.  He checked my ear and luckily it was clear with no carcus or offspring left behind.  He then asked if I had seen some black hairs and mistaken them for spider legs.  Sorry Dr, the legs I saw weren't black...they had joints and were tan with brown stripes.

Linky Binky had a great fall

Once upon a time in a place not so far away, there was a handsome prince who desperately needed a diaper change.  The queen set him upon his royal changing table when his foot kicked the wipes and they tumbled on the floor.  The queen turned around and picked them up, but as she turned back she saw the handsome prince falling to the ground.  She quickly caught his head but his outstretched arm took the brunt of the impact. The poor prince cried and cried.  After he was able to be consoled, his arm was tender but was moving it and his fingers fine.  Thinking they better make sure nothing was broken, it was decided the prince needed to be taken to a kingdom physician to be checked out.  The queen insisted that the king accompany her since the last time one of their princes broke his arm she was interrogated about its occurrence even though the prince was much older and could tell exactly how it happened.  As they left the princess to watch her brothers, the king joked that they needed to say bye to the queen because she was going to be locked away in the dungeon.  The queen, who was already feeling horrible about the tiny prince falling, was now almost brought to tears.  Off they rode to the physician where the queen was able to again relay the story of how Linky Binky had had a great fall and plead that she really was a good parent and not to throw her in the dungeon.  The physician laughed and said he understands since he has 6 children of his own. Often upon the physicians arrival home he has seen their bumps and bruises and wondered if their mother had beaten them.  Back to poor Linky, the physician felt the princes arm and noticed that he was moving it well and there was no swelling so he sent them on their way.  Oh how the queen and king were relieved.

A couple days later the cute prince was doing a little better but was still not using his arm like normal and whimpered when it was touched.  The queen decided to have it looked at by the prince's regular physician who was now available.  As soon as the physician felt his arm he thought it was broken and sent them to get a portrait taken of the arm.  A couple minutes later the decree was made that one of his bones was broken and he would now have a cuff to wear for the next 5 weeks.   The little prince was entranced as the physician wrapped his arm to protect it from any battle the prince would engage in and off they went on their merry way.

Luckily the prince didn't mind his new cuff and seemed to quite enjoy having it on when the family would go to their place of worship and he could bang it on the metal chairs where it would echo through the great hall.  The prince had also become a magician making the cast magically come off when he would wedge it between the slats of his royal crib.  He thought of the cuff more like a glove and wanted the king and queen to put it on his other hand instead.  All in all it was a great protection while the prince healed.  Yet, by the end the cuff did beget a great smell.  The prince's aunt suggested the queen take the prince to the local bowling alley to ask if a peasant could spray the chemical they use for the shoes inside of his cast to rid it of the stench.  The queen laughed but thought about having the aunt beheaded.