Oh Deer...

 A few weeks ago, I saw several deer walking through my yard.  I got Jason and we went to scare them away.  We got a little closer and discovered it wasn't the usual herd of momma deer teaching their babies to eat from our yard.  It was a whole herd of bucks.  There were at least 7 of them!  Most of them were just spikes, but there were a few 2 or 3 points.  Several of them were missing an antler.  It was different enough that I grabbed my camera to shoot them instead of my bb gun.

These guys must know that, as males, they are in more danger than the females.  As soon as they saw me come out the door, they scampered away, so the pictures weren't as good as I would have been able to get of the females that come for a smorgasbord.

As an added side note, before we got our most recent storm, this has been my "doing dishes" view.  Aside from the deer, it's pretty dreadful.  You can see why my only motivation for dishes these days is when someone fun calls on the phone and I can chat away while the cleaning fairy does the work.

Buddies

I am so grateful that Jason has his little Finn buddy.  They can seriously play for hours without complaint.  They get each other.  It's really nice because if Jason didn't have his little buddy, I'm pretty sure he'd be begging for 6 hours of t.v. time.  Instead, he and Finn are off on an adventure in an airplane, shooting bad guys with their guns.  

Watch out bad guys...these kids have some moves.  They've been practicing.

A New Do

Allie has not had a hair cut since she was 8.  Not even a trim (unless you count the time I started cutting her hair, only to discover that I didn't know what I was doing). 

It was time to cut.  So, we did.  She got 4 inches taken off and it looks so silky and smooth.  She couldn't quit playing with it for a week.  She's a cute girl for sure!

Conversation in the Morning

Jason wants a new nerf gun.  I told him he could earn the money to buy it and he was discouraged because when I told him he could do some jobs for me, he said "remember mom?  I don't work".
I told him that I'd give him 50 cents every time he slept in his own bed, and this is what I got...I am so glad I had my computer at the table so I could start typing as he was talking.

Jason: Well, it's why I sleep in your bed is because it's so soft and warm to snuggle you.  And I like to snuggle in and feel that.  It reminds me of when I was a little baby and I slept right here on you (pointing to his neck) like in that picture of you and Sam.  (There's a picture on our wall of Sam on my chest the day he was born.)  I felt all the love.  Babies feel love when they are sleeping like that.  So when I see that picture, I remember that you love me.

Me:  I do love you.

Jason: I know, and that's why I like to come in and snuggle you.  Whenever I feel you or be next to you, I can feel the love and when I see the painting and when you say you love me, and I love you too.  And when I sleep with you, I feel all that stuff.  I feel all of it.

Me:  That is a lot of love.  I can see why you wouldn't want to sleep alone when you can feel all that love.

Jason: Yeah.  And also, it's because I like to remember what it was like to be a baby snuggling you.




Seriously, tell me one mother who would tell her child to get back in bed after hearing that speech.  Come on in Jason, we'll find another way to earn that money. 

Conversation in the Car

Mike and Jake had an overnight activity for Y/M, so I had the others in the car with me.  Nate always talks about how much he misses going to Sam's club with me.  He had his little routine of getting into coolers and climbing shelves with Jason like a pair of monkeys, and he missed it.
I had some errands to run, so we all piled in the car.  Here's part of our conversation...

Nate:  I can see why movies can be really good for you when you are trying to be a dad.

Me:  Oh?

Nate:  Yeah.  They can give you ideas of what to name your kids.  Like, Star Wars...  I could name my kids Luke and Leia. 

Allie:  Oh, no.  You are NOT going to name your kids Luke and Leia.

Nate:  Why not?

Allie:  I guess Luke isn't bad, but you can't do Leia.

Jason:  You could do Darth Vader!

Nate:  Or Anakin.

Me:  Don't you think you'd be dooming your kid to pure evil if you named them that?

Jason:  What about Kylo Ren!  Ahhhh!

Nate:  I like Obi Wan. 

Allie:  You can't do that do your kids!

Me:  What would you name your girls then?

Allie:  I like Emily.

Nate:  I like that too.  Or, I like Gracie.

Jason:  I'm going to name my kids Lily...and Carson...and two Jasons.

Me:  How will they know what Jason you are talking to if there are two Jasons?

Jason:  I guess I will just have one.

Allie:  Is this going to be a "conversation in the car" on your blog?

Me:  Totally.  I hope I can remember it all.

The conversation was so great the whole way to Sam's club.  I wish I had recorded it.  I love it when my littles talk about their future lives as husbands and dads.  They really will be great little men some day.  I just hope they grow out of the desire to name their kids after Star Wars characters. 

Spoon!

So, in high school, there was a show on Comedy Central called The Tick.  I loved the show.  My sister in law got three seasons of The Tick for me to binge on, and my little binge buddy became Jason.  I've tried to introduce the clever lines of The Tick to the other kids in my house, but none of them seem to appreciate it like I feel like they should.  Jason does.  So, the other day, when Mike was out of town, and I was feeling lazy, we stayed in our jammies all day and watched The Tick together.  It was great.

And now, when I yell "Spoon!", Jason gets it and yells "not in the face! not in the face!"  back at me.  You'll have to watch the episode, where Tick decides they need a battle cry, to find out what the heck I'm talking about. 

He's "That Kid"

Everyone had "that kid" in school...you know the one...the kid who would turn his eyelids inside out and then say your name so that when you turned your head, you saw this...

My son is "that kid"...gross...

A Sick Day

Allie had a few days last month where she was feeling sort of gross and was worried that she was getting sick.  I had to go pick her up at school, only to find out that she really was doing okay.  We turned it into a fun sluff school day and she was good to entertain Jason with Legos.  They pretended they were taking care of sick animals and seemed to be having a grand ol' time.

Jason was happy to be able to stay home when I went on my visits and Allie was glad to be skipping school...win, win.

Finally!

We finally got some snow!  We were a little excited, and a little sad.  We had been experiencing Spring.  It was so nice to see the grass and feel the sun on our faces.  I can't complain though, because it is technically still winter.  So, Mike and Jake got the shovels out and took care of the driveway, and the others went out to get the snow off the tramp and play until long after dark.

 Allie was looking forward to just laying down in a bed of snow.  It was so fluffy and thick that I can imagine it was very comfortable.

Jason didn't go out because he is "sick of winter".  It reminds me of how he was "sick of summer" just a few short months ago.  That kid is going to have to get used to life outdoors one of these days.

Joust

When my little brother was in high school, some kid gave him this arcade game for his birthday.  It was really funny.  It is still working, and it has become something the littles really look forward to playing when they come to Grandma's house.

The Pool

It's been over 20 years since I have set foot in the place I went 5 days a week for years and years.  On Saturday, we took the kids swimming to the pool that I swam in as a kid.  A really fun kid pool was added on, but so many things were the same and it was so fun to see a place that was a second home for so long.  It's right next to the high school and brought back so many memories.  I loved my high school years.  

As for this trip, I forgot my swim suit, so I had to sit by and watch the kids play.  Jason and Nate think they are hot stuff without life jackets, and they both did great!

 There was a big bucket that dropped water down every minute or so.  Jason and Nate made it their mission to make sure Jake was under the bucket.  He was such a good sport to play with them.

They finally succeeded...Jake got wet.  You know, because that's such a traumatic thing when you are swimming.  :)

Allie swam with cousins and did flips off the diving board.  I didn't make it over with my camera until they had closed that area off, so I didn't get any diving pictures.  She had a great time though.

The lazy river had just enough of a current that it helped Jason stay afloat and "swim" on the top of the water.  He thought he was hot stuff.

He also wanted me to take a picture of him "peeing".

*Not pictured, all of my cute kids going down the big yellow waterslide.
*Also not pictured, all of the times the angry life guards had to blow their whistles at my kids and make them stop doing things against the rules.  I just know they were thinking all sorts of mean things about me as I tried to parent from the side of the pool.  It was so fun though. 

A Visit

The kids had a random Friday off from school, so we decided to load up and go to Grandma's house.  We stopped at the aquarium to justify our season pass...

Jason also wanted to say hello to Speedy, his favorite penguin.  We stayed in this room for almost an hour.

The kids were demonstrating a penguin walk.

We also saw a movie about lions.  Nate was the only one begging not to go the movie.  When I finally got down to the reason he didn't want to go, it was because he was terrified that we'd see a lion eating someone or something.  I guess he didn't think that would be very cool in 3-D.  When I explained that it was a movie made for young kids, he agreed to go.  It was a lovely show.

We all liked looking at the frogs in the hot and stinky rooms.  I even crossed the rope bridge so I could show my kids that I was a cool mom.  I worried about a weigh limit when I was half way across... Obviously, things worked out just fine.

We got to Grandma's house and said hi to the cousins that were over.  The kids rode around and played at the park and then we went to see Peter Rabbit at the movie theater.  The kids all liked the movie and had so much fun. 

Monkey Boy

Jason might think he is a big strong ninja boy, but it took him a lot of courage to let go of his monkey tight grip on Allie and sit up tall with no hands.  I don't blame him though, just a little while after this picture, Jake dropped him on his noggin...

Deliveries

Jake and Allie were asked to make some deliveries for a neighbor of ours.  I thought it was cute to look out the door and see their hoverboards parked as they picked things up.

I always love it when these two hang out together.  They can be little buddies and they can also fight like crazy,  I'm always glad when it's the buddy system.

They rode around delivering things until Allie's hoverboard ran out of juice and they had to come in and put it away.  :)

Valentine's Day

This year, Mike took all the Y/M out to get their moms a carnation the night before Valentine's day.  I thought it was pretty cute to see him come in with a sheepish look on his face and wish me a happy Valentine's Day.  He also wrote a really nice note for Allie and left it for her with some candy.  She couldn't wipe the smile off her face.

I got all the kids off to school and then came into my room to find that somehow in the chaos of the morning routine, Allie had found the time to come make all the kids beds and leave us nice notes with creations that she had made for each one of us.  She is just the best.

That night, we had our fancy dinner in the living room.  If I remember right, last year, Allie and I slaved away at the stove all day, only to have kids complain about the gross food.  I got smart this year and just made pizza that they would all like.

It was a nice day.  It's fun to make these days special for the kids, but even better when they do nice things for each other.

Jerks

Mike called me a little while ago to tell me that I needed to call the police and meet them over at the Leprechaun.  He had gotten word that it was broken into.  I was so bummed.  The pictures our friend sent painted a terrible scene.  I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of the stuff they had ransacked in the motorhome, but I did take a few.

They stole our brand new radio and some knives that we had in there, but that was it.  The real damage was done as the stupid punk tried to get in.
It looks like he tried to get in from a sky light, but all he could do was get a leg in and do all sorts of damage in the process.  So he broke out the window, cut the screen and got in through there.

Then, when he left, he left the door wide open so it snowed in there.  Like I said, punk.

The police man and the detective were really nice.  We followed footprints in the snow over to the break in the fence that leads to a neighborhood.  They've got really good shoe prints to link to if we can ever find out who did it, but I can't imagine it.

We've got fingerprints all over the place, but they seemed to think it was a bigger pain than it was worth, so we've taken the lovely leprechaun in to the repair shop to be fixed.  We'll just chalk this up to a sad ending to the free storage we've enjoyed for a few years.

A Genuine Red Rider BB Gun

Sam's club was selling their Christmas gifts at a clearance price and the deal on the Red Rider bb gun was just too good to pass up.  

Jake bought one and it's been fun for him and Nate to shoot at some targets in the back yard.

 It even came with some safety glasses so the boys won't shoot their eyes out.

 

Nate inherited Jake's old gun and he thinks he's hot stuff.  He thinks most of the holes in the target come from him and Jake is nice enough not to argue too loudly about that.  It's a great "brother" thing to do together.