Kids Entertainment

The kids are usually pretty good at entertaining themselves.

Brienna is really good at helping to entertain the younger kids ☺ (thanks)

Here she is the horsey to the 2 cow-kids on her back

So the other day, I asked Zane to put the paint away that he had left out on the cupboard for about 3 weeks.

But he decided he wanted to paint some of his cars.

So of course, the other kids wanted to paint too.  So I dug out some of my wood scraps/projects & let them paint.

Meanwhile, Brienna decided she wanted to make "Muddy-Buddies" (Chex cereals, peanut butter, chocolate & powdered sugar)

After everyone was settled into their projects, Rusty & I decided to  steal-away to our land for some peace & quiet (really, we hadn't seen each other more than a few minutes in passing--and dinner time--all week).

So we left the kids to their projects, instructing Brienna & Ethan to watch the 2 youngest.

Brienna took pictures for me--Emmalee is painting a little wooden heart stool I found at DI.  She started out with pink, but changed to green (Sherrie--you would love it!)

Callum is painting a bigger stool (that I found at DI), but it isn't put together yet.  He picked blue, since it is my favorite color, & one of his favorites too.  (Because I told all the kids that both stools were to share--not just for Emmalee & Callum)

So I came home & everyone seemed happy.

Benjamin doesn't usually stay still long enough to sit on anyone's lap.

But he is starting to become a "ham" whenever I get my camera out now.

So you would think that we had a nice, relaxing evening following the projects???

NOT!!! 

Laundry

I made the mistake of saying the other that I was "caught up" on laundry.

I am NEVER going to say that again. I scrapbooked all weekend (so no housework got done), the boys "cleaned up" their rooms (about 6 loads of dirty laundry--I kid you not!!!), sheets were changed & towels tossed into the hamper. YIKES!!! I don't think I'll ever see the bottom of the hamper again ;)

Benjamin's "Business"

by "business" I mean:  BUSY-NESS

Benjamin is by far my busiest child.  He loves to get into everything that he isn't supposed to.

I even keep rotating his toys, so that there are new ones out, but he is rarely interested in them ☺

And so when the gate between the kitchen & back hall is left opened, he has "gate radar" & escapes quickly!!

He got into all the Easter eggs I put in the girls' room (for "safe keeping")

And Emmalee is notorious for leaving the gate opened--so one afternoon I hear a big crash--and this is what I found in the back hall where I store my plastic containers, lids & water bottles

Coloring on the fridge

A close-up of the masterpiece (I forgot to take a picture of the coloring on the girls' door)

Getting to the roll of garbage bags

"Here, Mom"

"Do you need one......or 10?"

"I'm just helping!!!"

I walked around the corner to do a load of laundry

And found this mess ☺

climbed up on the table

and got mad when I tried to get him down

Benjamin got into a big, full container of oat/granola mix I just made & was getting ready to add the peanut butter & honey to it. (do you see him back in the corner by the fridge--he knows he did something "really" big this time)

he's running to me to give me a hug. (how can you resist that??)

look at this mess, mom!!

and here he is helping me clean up--at least he usually helps clean up the messes he makes

I used to laugh at all stories my friend Jennifer (Parry) Lewis tells of her little boy, but now I have a lot of sympathy for her!!!

Benjamin is sick again this weekend.  I really hoped we were over all the sickness!! 

He hasn't eaten much, has a fever of 102.4, and has thrown up a few times.

Rusty stayed home with him today while the rest of us went to church.

here are some pictures of him when he wasn't sick--his happy, go-lucky, get-into-everything self.

eating chocolate from Easter

This is his great-grandma bowhay.  she lives in IF

The weather has turned so nice, and we played outside a lot.  We found this "Gilligan's" hat so he wouldn't get sunburned.

I combed his hair after we played outside for a while--it has a lot of sunblock in it.

I decided to give him a hair cut.  Maybe it was the haircut that got him sick.

or the gates & fence we put up in the back yard.  I told Rusty we absolutely had to get something up so I could hang up my laundry & have a gated area for Ben to play.  So we got a temporary fence & gate up for now. 

so now I can go outside & hang the clothes up tomorrow :D

Still to come.......the mighty adventures of Benjamin.

Spring

This is what we woke up to this morning--and yesterday it was in the 60's!

Yesterday I even went on a nice walk--without a jacket ☺

Hopefully it will melt quickly.  I am thankful for the moisture, but really wish we were getting rain & it was at least in the 40's or 50's!!!

Prom--April 10, 2010

Ethan went to Prom with Samantha Farr.  He asked her by dumping a bag of Hersey Kisses on her floor & posting a sign that said "Now that I have kissed the ground you walk on, will you go to Prom with me?"

She answered back with a creative poster that had words to find & decipher.

A group of about 8 couples got together earlier in the day & went target shooting & 4-wheeling.

Then they changed into their clothes (& the girls did their hair/make-up)

And they all met at the church for a nice dinner.

Ethan was in charge of bringing the baked potatoes for everyone.

Since I was at a Stake Baptism all morning, he scrubbed & wrapped all the potatoes & put them in our roaster.

By eating a meal at the church, it not only saved about 2 hours of driving time, but it was a lot easier on the wallet! ☺

A couple of the other moms decorated the tables & set everthing up. (thanks--it was wonderful!)

This is Ethan & Samantha arriving at the church.

Getting ready to eat (I'm not the only mom taking pictures--that is Sam's mom in the background)

Yes, Ethan--you HAVE to get a zillion pictures taken!!!

Samantha looked so beautiful!!!

And Ethan cleaned up pretty good too.

We found his tie at Ross--and it matches perfectly!  We only had a close-up picture of the dress on my cell-phone to try & match his tie to.

I really like this picture because you can see how gorgeous Samantha's hair is.

A yummy-looking chocolate fountain at Prom.

I love how their eye's "sparkle" (okay--it's really just the flash in a darkened gym)

All the girls were beautiful, the guys handsome & the decorations were amazing.  I love how they can transform the gym!

Ethan had a great time.