Some Things Never Change

A long, long time ago three young kids were brought to the photo studio to have their portrait taken.  The photographer wanted to make an adjustment to her camera while the children waited....and waited...and waited.  Apparently the adjustment required the photographer to snap a picture...and this is what she captured (without looking)...

 

As it turns out, most of the pictures taken that day did not turn out too well, but that one, well, that one was a keeper!  Because it so accurately captured the personality of each of the children, the photo has been on display in their home for all these years, and will remain so for years to come!

As it turns out, the same children (now grown or almost grown) can still pull off their childhood look quite well...

The Grinch Came Early

Who knew?

Bacon?

Here's the conversation I overheard this morning after I took out Zoe's braids.

Raelea (to Zoe) :  Zoe, your curls remind me of.......bacon.

Random Observation

I'm pretty certain that the decibel level in my home is high enough to cause hearing loss.

I go to concerts for the (relative) peace and quiet.  I find them very relaxing.

A Brilliant Idea

Not sure why it took me so long to come up with this idea, but I'm glad I did.

Not only will the pile of dishes by my sink become smaller, I may become rich in the process!

Adventures of Flat Evan and Flat Molly

If you weren't able to follow the adventures of Flat Evan & Flat Molly on Instagram, you can see all of their adventures here.  Let me know if that link doesn't work, okay?  I made it a public album on my Facebook page, so you should be able to access it...I think.

Oh, we're safely home, btw.  I will be posting non-flat pictures of our trip soon.  It was beautiful, as you would expect from Colorado.

Introducing....

Flat Evan and Flat Molly!

Seeing as Molly is in Northern Ireland and Evan is, well, doing what Evan does -  working, hanging out with friends, etc. - they are unable to accompany us on our vacation to Colorado.

I was really hoping to have our Christmas picture taken at Red Rocks.  Their absence presented a problem!  We thought of photo shopping them in, but then we came up with an alternative, and brilliant, plan!  Bring them with...in flat form.

Well, if we're bringing them with for the family photo, they out to be able to have some fun, too.  I am sure they will have lots of adventures on our little trip!

Well, He's No Help!

We're planning our week long trip to Colorado and working on supplying our new camper.  The following conversation just took place -

Me (to Chris) - "How many bath towels do you think we should pack?"

Chris - "One....maybe two."


WHAT is he thinking?  Eight of us.....for eight days....and we're all going to share one bath towel?!

Guess I'm on my own here to pack this baby!

Okay Then

This is what you find on the office wall when you have children that stay up later than you...

She's kind of left the options wide open on what I should do with Mr. Spider.....hmmm....this could be fun!

Well, Okay....

The morning's conversation -

Random child  (RC) (telling us about his/her dream): "......and there was this really cute guy there....."
Dad: "Was it me?"
RC: "Ooo, NO!"
Chris: "What?!"
Me (to the incredulous Chris): "Kids don't think their parents are cute, dear."
RC: "No, that's not true.  I think you and Dad are cute together, just not by yourself."

Gotta love kids!

I've Survived!

I feel badly about neglecting my blog since Tuesday, but honestly, I've been spending all my free time scrounging up things to sell at our garage sale.  Even today, while the sale was going on, I would make trips into the house to find more stuff to get rid of.  It becomes kind of like a game - let's see how mush stuff we can sell, and let's see who will buy it.

God gave us a gloriously sunny day (after a week of rain), so it was thoroughly enjoyable to sit outside all day and watch our stuff disappear.  Now I hope more of it disappears tomorrow!

We had lots of little girl clothes...go figure.

We enticed the kids to give away some of their toys.  Not nearly as many as we would like them to get rid of, but it's a start.

And then there was that one scraggly son who we put in the free basket...

 And why is my son brushing his teeth while standing in our driveway during the middle of a garage sale???!

Proving Zoe Right

 

As an addendum to my previous post, apparently Zoe and Grandma do practice their downward dog together.

Break With Reality

Co-op ended yesterday, and Zoe was sent home with this...

A little book of stories about Zoe's life....kind of....

Here is Zoe's retelling of our Christmas -

Zoe's Christmas
I woke up and opened my gifts.  We ate monkey bottoms for breakfast.  The monkeys ran for the door, but we were fast.  It was too late.

We then went to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  I had new yoga pants, so Grandma and I worked on our downward dog.

From there we went to church.  The little kids and I sang songs.  We sang "Jingle Bells" and "Eye of the Tiger."

Our evening ended with hotdogs, chips, pop and Pepto Bismol.  The DVD player made a humming sound as we watched the movie Boys Over Flowers. We all had a flowers in our hair.

All very good and fine, except we don't eat monkey bottoms, or chase monkey around our house.  Zoe has never done yoga a day in her life.  We did NOT eat hot dogs and chips and Pepto Bismol on Christmas, and we had no flowers in our hair!

Here's her "retelling" of our vacation to Alabama

Zoe Goes To Jail 

 We went to Alabama for a family vacation.  Along the way, we stopped at a shark and octopus store.  I took a shell bottle to show my brother Marcus.  The store called the police and they put me in jail for 21 days! 

My family went boogie boarding and out to eat.  They felt bad for me, but I was stuck in jail until the police saw it was all a big mistake.  

My family fed me cheese pizza and Sprite.  They said they missed me, and went bowling for 99 hours.  Boy, were we tired!

Ummmm, I'm not even going to try to explain this one!

The Things You Stumble Across

So, I was derping around YouTube with Molly tonight, only to discover this...

I thought it was funny and serendipitous that I just posted a video of Rend Collective on Facebook and a video of Lecrae here on the blog, and here they both are together.

Now Molly and I are talking with Northern Irish accents and amusing ourselves quite a bit!

In Their Eyes

This morning I asked Evan how old someone was...

Evan:  "She's old....older than you...um, her late 40's."

Dearest Evan, I am in my late 40's, just so you know!

Once I informed him of this little fact, he informed me that I wasn't old.

I love how kids never think we age.

I'm On To Something

Chris and I have both been daydreaming about taking a vacation.  Not the driving 16 hours with seven kids, to camp and have to cook meals over a Coleman stove.  No, the type of vacation that involves relaxation and no kids.  Yeah, that type of vacation.

Well, truth be told, that ain't happening anytime soon!  Something about certain children not doing too well when Mom and Dad are gone...and then there's the trying to make arrangements for places for the kids and pets to stay...It just ain't happening.

We need a Plan B.  I think I've come up with one.

As of today, I am going to start labeling any errand I take without a child in tow as a mini-vacation!  Wow, I may get to go on three or four vacations a WEEK with this new plan!!  Trip to Aldi....vacation!  Trip to Walgreens....vacation!  Trip to the dentist....VACATION! (I even get to lay down on that one and close my eyes!)

Brilliant!!  It IS a brilliant plan!

Thursday Thrills

Thursdays mean teaching co-op science.  Teaching co-op science means spending the day getting people excited about science...which subsequently spills over into home-life.

This results in.....Fun With Tuning Forks!

Evan & Erin experimenting with hearing sound through your skull

And hearing sounds through your mouth

And seeing how many places you can stick a tuning fork and still hear the note.  Just look at how much fun they're having!

But that's not all...oh no!  As you are aware, it's Brain Awareness Week!  In honor of this momentous week, I made brain cupcakes for the co-op kids!  Mmm,  mmm, mmmmmm!  You wish I was YOUR science teacher, don't you?!

The Family Photo

For most of my growing up years, there was a truly hideous family photo hanging on our wall.  I wish I had a copy of it to show you, but alas I don't.  It might help you to imagine it if I told you that polyester was the dominant feature....oh, and straight, long, stringy hair.

Anyway, now that I'm grown and have a family of my own, I can show you our own truly hideous family photo...

Aside from the fact that few of us are looking our best, the photographer was apparently having difficulty fitting us all in the frame, thus Raelea's and Zoe's floating heads.  As embarrassing as it is to admit, this gem did hang on our wall for a time.

There is one family photo that has been prominently displayed in our home for the past 14 years.   

Unlike the first photo, there's a story behind this one.  We had taken the three kids in to get their photos taken.  The photographer was making some adjustment to her camera which took a little bit of time.  While she was doing that, the kids were just sitting there bored.  Apparently while adjusting the camera, the photographer accidentally shot a candid picture, and this is what the kids were doing....

We fell in love with the picture because it so accurately caught each of the kids personalities, and so it will remain prominently displayed!

American What?

After making macaroni and cheese yesterday, I noticed we were almost out of American cheese.  I grabbed a notepad to write down that we needed American cheese, so that I wouldn't forget when I made out my grocery list.

I had to make a quick trip to the grocery store today, and I remembered that I had written something down on a notepad that I needed to pick up.  When I found the notepad, this is what I saw...

Well.....ummm.......

Not sure where I can get American squirrel, and I'm not sure the kids would eat macaroni and squirrel.

In my defense, lest you think I've completely lost my mind, I vaguely remember having a conversation with Marcus yesterday about him cooking up any squirrels he may shoot....

I Better Warn You

So, I'm standing in the kitchen this morning, looking our across the snow covered wasteland of our backyard, when I notice a little finch flitting between our two bird houses.  This observation prompts me to say, in my best birdie voice, "Hmm, I wonder which one is bigger?  This one looks more comfortable.  I'll have to go tell the wife."

Evan, overhearing my little bird imitation, comes into the kitchen and says, "Mom, you know anthropomorphism is the leading cause of death by animals."

So I feel the need to give you the heads-up, if you ever find me pecked to death by black-capped chickadees in my backyard, you'll know why.