Mom's Birthday

Today is Mom's birthday and in order not to forget one tiny detail, I'm going to blog about it! I hope I don't forget anything and I hope you'll understand it. For you to understand it, I'll have to start from a few days ago. So, here I go:

A couple days ago Mom and Dad were talking in the kitchen about what Mom wanted for her birthday. She named a few things. A bread machine was one of them. She made sure to emphasize that that was what she really wanted and Dad didn't give anything away (like saying he was going to get it). We like to keep everything a surprise at our household. Anyways, Dad went to a store and got a bread machine. He was sure to go somewhere that wrapped it so she could not see her present. The wrapping paper had pineapples on it, a certain wrapping paper that could only be found in one store...
At dinner that night, Dad announced that he had gotten Mom's present. Mom already had some, oh what's the word, thoughts about what it was. Dad brought the gift inside and set it on the Living Room's sofa. Mom eyed the present and noticed the wrapping paper.Of course, she had to make a comment because she knew exactly where that wrapping paper came from. And Dad took all the credit for wrapping the gift. She knew he didn't wrap it. She also knew what it was.
Well, skip a few days and we're here. This morning all the kids rushed downstairs to a decorated room (Dad) and got to work. (Mom was getting ready and was told beforehand that she could not come downstairs until told by me)We drew lots of colorful pictures and stapled them together to make a book of art. We made tiny flowers that could go into a small decorated paper vase. We made toast for Mom. We fixed a few decorations. And  we worked on a little scavenger hunt. 
The Scavenger Hunt: The kids and I came up with an idea where Mom would go on a little hunt for the book of art. We stuck a note on Mom's plate of toast that said "After you eat this...Go downstairs and find your first clue to a scavenger hunt made just for you". We also stuck a little clue on a present downstairs and it led to another clue hidden somewhere in the house. Along with these notes were the flowers we had made previously. She was told to put them in her paper vase. One clue led to another, and another, and another. Finally, it led her to one of her presents.
After Mom had completed her little scavenger hunt, she opened Dad's present. Of course, it was a bread machine! She loved it even though she already knew what it was. She went to the other present and also thoroughly enjoyed those. It was a nice way to start off the day. But, we had to go over to swimming lessons, it was the last day of the first session. So we got treats. One of the biggest ones was that Bode wasn't grumpy during the swimming lessons! What a surprise! Anyways, we went downs slides and went home. We took showers and got ready to go to Souplantation for lunch! It was delicious.
Now we're home and Mom is taking a nap away from the screaming Bode. At last, some peace and quiet. Happy Birthday Mom!


 (Top Left hand corner) some decorations, (top far right hand corner) the bread machine, (above lower left hand corner) cards, (lower left hand corner) the clues and the vase, (lower right hand corner) Souplantation.

Camping!

Do you like tall trees and tents? Have you ever heard of hobo dinners? Do you like making (and eating) smores? Now, if you answered yes to 2/3 of those or more, let me ask you this question. Have you camped before. Your answer is probably yes. Our family went on a little camping trip ourselves the last day of school. Here is how it went:

On the last day of school we had Kindergarten promotion and 5th grade promotion. Because these events were held during school and ended before  school let out, we were able to leave early. Walker, Maverick, and  Mom and I went home early where the other kids were found playing with our good friends who were kind enough to watch for them for four and a half hours while Mom and Dad were gone from home. We already had our clothes packed along with the toiletries and Mom had just run to the store the night before to get food for the adventurous one night camping trip. The dinner for that night was going to be hobo dinners: potatoes, onions, meat, carrots, cream of chicken, salt and pepper, put into an aluminum sheet, folded up, and cooked over the fire. We were also going to have a dutch oven lava cake. And for breakfast the next morning we were going to have a quiche: eggs, ham, and cheese delicious breakfast. So, Mom got the ingredients for that.

Another thing that had happened the night before, Dad and Mom got out both of our tents (we can't fit our whole family into one anymore) and our cots and sleeping bags and aerobed (noticng later that we needed a mattress not an aerobed, so on the way to the camping site we had to pick up a mattress).

After that last day of school we gathered our dutch oven, the salt and pepper, the lanterns, the plastic utensils and cups and plates and bowls, and other stuff like that and put them in big containers and then stuffed everything we needed (including pillows) into the trunk and car top carrier. We dressed appropriately and headed off to the camping site (we had to stop at Target to get something :D). 

We got there and unloaded everything. We saw the Mattssons, the McRae's, the Dean's, the Broadhead's, and the Bruner's too who were right next door. They  were going to be our neighbors!We set up the small tent and put pillows, a mattress, and the sleeping bags in there. Then we set up the big tent: 4 sleeping bags, and 2 cots. While Dad was doing this, Mom was setting up a prep table by a wooden table which held a lantern and a big bucket full of supplies, and next to the wooden table were two crates full of food and supplies (did I mention we had two coolers). While Mom was doing this, Walker and I were playing tennis bounce and badminton (we broke the plastic ball in half), Maverick and Ainsley were visiting the neighbors, and Bode was playing the Grape Game. The Grape Game is where he would take grapes and roll them on the backside of the car: the thing that has a bunch of ridges and is there so you can step up and touch the trunk handle. Anyways, you can tell we had a great time.We played games and Bode got himself really dirty!!!

I helped Mom make the hobo dinners! It was really fun. After we put the ingredients inside the aluminum sheet and wrapped it up tightly, we put them in the fire. Dad had to flip them halfway through. 

They were really good! They smelled and looked good. Another thing that looked good was our campsite. Here is what it looked like:

Anyways, back to the story: After we finished eating our hobo dinners it started to grow dark so we headed over to the neighbors camping area. Everybody we knew was over there. We made smores and Mom made a delicious lava cake. It was good. After some good stories at the campfire, we headed off to bed. It was cold!Bode went to bed first and Dad had to stay in the tent for a long time before Bode finally snoozed off. Everyone went to bed thinking that the night was over. But it wasn't. Before long, Bode woke up and also woke up everybody else in the big tent: Mom, Dad, and I. He was playing on Mom's iphone. Apparently he had found it and was playing games and watching videos. He didn't go to bed for a long time after that. We had to switch around the whole tent until he went zzzzzzzzz. At least the other kids got a good sleep :)

We woke up and played some more and Mom made a quiche that was scrumptious. We talked with the neighbors and played horseshoes. We went to the park and then played some more. Before we knew it, it was time to leave. We packed up and headed home. We were very sad it was over. The camping trip was pretty fun!

For those who don't know...

This blog post is for those who don't know...Mom is pregnant (4 1/2 months along)! And believe me, I am not fibbing! This will really be the sixth kid. We do not know this sixth kid's gender however. Personally, I think it is going to be a girl. Walker and Maverick think it is going to be a boy. What do you think? Comment, we want to know! Also, do you have any name suggestions? (We'll have a poll up soon, so tell us so we can consider it!) We're stuck with the girls names. Here are some of our names:

Girl Names:

Coselle (Cozy)

Pepper

Linley

 Laine

Bellamy

Boy Names:

Tag

Crew

Guy

Thanks!

Quick!!!

Uuuugh. Okay, I haven't been very good at keeping this blog up to date. I have to admit it! Tonight, I'm going to try to quickly skim through the months that we haven't talked about yet. If there are any big events that I feel need to be described in detail, those will be talked about in future blog posts. Hopefully, I'll get this done and you will understand it. Worst case scenario, you won't understand it, but I'll give it my best shot. Anyways, let's get going:

  January: The weather where we live was pretty nice and I enjoyed it, considering that it's usually 115 degrees outside. We played on the trampoline, a nice routine after school. Homework, sun shining, a little rain, and Ainsley's birthday. Ainsley was very happy and got many presents that she really enjoyed. She played, and had a nice time!

  February: The month of February was very relaxing! Nice weather and valentines. Don't forget the candy! It was a very happy and exciting month!

  March: March was also a very nice month. Bode and Maverick had birthdays that they thoroughly enjoyed. Bode loved his cake! St. Patrick's Day came and our milk turned green. So did our scrambled eggs! Overall, it was very nice. (please excuse the horrible computer drawing :D)

    
  April:  April was great! There was spring break and we got rain!!!! :) Yay! Easter was also very spectacular.

   May: Oh, May! What a hot, hot, may. One day, when we were driving back to school, I looked at the temperature inside the car and it was 120 degrees! But, at least the flowers looked pretty. 

 June: We're caught up! Can you believe it (snicker, snicker)? This month has been very (hot) good! School is almost out and summer is almost in! I'll post soon! 

We just caught up, again! Hooray! I'll post soon!

November and December

One moment we caught up. The next moment we're falling behind. Tonight, I'm going to try to catch up the blog again and then hand off to my mom. She's a little better at maintaining this job than I am. Well, the last time we left off was during October. Tonight I will be telling you about our 2011 November and December. So here I go: NOVEMBER: Oh, what a month. All everybody is thinking and talking about is Winter Break which is still in a little while. Another thing they're talking about is Thanksgiving. Our family always goes all out. But, I'll reach that point in a short amount of time. We started off our month with excitement and candy from Halloween. It was pretty much normal. Weird! We had soccer practices, piano practices, school (which is almost out now!), fun, and a lot of family. Well, moving along out of a normal life into our normal life comes Thanksgiving. One of the first things we did was start getting out the decorations. Wreaths, little statues, centerpieces, towels. Stuff like that. Personally, I think it looked really cool. But, one of the funnest things we had planned for Thanksgiving was going to Washington. We were going to have Thanksgiving with family. So we packed our bags and got in the car. Sheesh! Long drive if I say so myself. At least we're okay drivers. It's not like we're not entertained every moment. We usually read, watch movies, play on ipad, play on iphones, play on ipod touch, listen to my ipod shuffle, play games, and snooze! But, once we got there the real fun had just started. It was sooooo nice! The first day we got there there was a nice cool rainy breeze. We unpacked our bags and played with cousins. For the next few days we chillaxed. We started to plan Thanksgiving dinner. Pies, stuffing, turkey, rolls, special drinks and more!!! On the night before Thanksgiving we made a quick casserole and went to sleep . We woke up and started to cook, play soccer, and play two hand touch football. Then, we set up tables for the kids and adults and dished ourselves. FUN! One thing I especially remembered about Thanksgiving was feeling like I was going to explode with all of the food I had eaten. That's probably the only holiday (besides Christmas)that I feel that way. Sadly, it was time to go home and say goodbye to cousins. We had a great Thanksgiving and we were very grateful to spend time with our crazy family! DECEMBER: Well, we got home and relaxed, prepared for Winter. We tried to get into the holiday spirit by putting up our Christmas decorations and chillaxing outdoors in the nice seventy degree weather. We have so many Christmas decorations. Statues, wreaths, garlands, towels, centerpieces, ribbon, wrapping paper, ornaments, and fake presents. Don't forget the eleven foot Christmas tree that we got that year either. It was sooooo tall. We could actually fit all of our ornaments on there! :) We strung on lights, ribbon, ornaments, school projects, candy canes, and more! It was sooo fun decorating. For the rest of the couple of weeks we did our normal and unusual schedule. We had a Robotics tournament, soccer games, birthday parties, piano lessons and more! All fun and exciting! Finally, Christmas had come and everybody was overwhelmed. Christmas Eve everybody made sure to clean up the house (so Santa Claus and the reindeers wouldn't hurt their feet), hang up their stockings, lay out a plate of cookies and milk and carrots, and track where Santa had made his stops. Then, all of the kids went to sleep. When they woke up, they ran downstairs and opened presents. We got lots of cool stuff! We went to church and had a great time also! We got back and played with our presents remembering the true meaning of Christmas. The fun hadn't ended yet. There was still New Years! New Years Eve was fun! Only a few people stayed up that long though! It was cool! Happy 2012! (Pictures will be posted soon!)

Getting Into the Spirit

We've caught up! Can you believe it? I thought we never would. But we're here. It's like a miracle. And we're here in October. The year has gone by sooooo fast. Well, we're getting into the Halloween Spirit. We set up our spooky decorations which are sprinkled throughout the house. We've got metal gargoyles, fancy beaded place mats, candles, awesome centerpieces, small statues and fake pumpkins. In a week or two, when Mom and Dad get back from Italy (they left) we're going to carve pumpkins and turn them into jack-o-lanterns. We just love getting into holiday spirits and decorating our house. We don't overdo Halloween, so we don't make it scary. We make it kid-friendly.
Some of us already know what we're going to be for Halloween. But, none of us have our costumes yet. We're going to be an angel, a ninja, a superhero, a witch or princess, (we don't know about Bode yet) and then our parents are going to be parents. How exciting! We've got a whole variety.
Have you ever carved a pumpkin? If you have you either LOVE taking the guts out of the pumpkin or you absolutely despise it. I LOVE it. I take a big ladle and then start spooning it out onto a tray. My dad, mom, me and Walker LOVE taking the guts out. Maverick, Ainsley and Bode DON'T LIKE taking the guts out at all. When they get their fingers all sticky they just get grossed out and decide they're finished. But, after we get the guts out we start to drill in the faces. I don't like to use stencils to do my pumpkins, that;s why mine always looks a lot rougher. But, I'm still happy all the same. At least I get to use the drill.
While Dad carves Maverick and Ainsley's pumpkins they have to go out of the room because they can't bear the noise. Maverick said this "The noise reminds me of bees. I hate bees." I have no idea how it reminds him of bees. Maybe it's the buzzing noise they make that's like the humming noise of the drill. Whatever it is, they just don't enjoy it.
Everyone's favorite part of Halloween is trick-or-treating. Our family will trick-or-treat for an hour then go back home and get our candy bowls and start handing out candy. We have this special bowl with a skeleton hand in it that whenever it senses something moving in front of it will move its hand forward and try to touch it. So, whenever someone tries to grab a candy they'll get spooked. We, being nice, obviously don't do this to little kids but, do it to older kids that will immediately get it's supposed to be a joke. So, watch out if you pass by our house.
The morning after Halloween each kid in our family organizes their candy into piles. We've got a pile for each kind of candy we have. We divide them and then trade certain candies for other ones. That way, we've got a good way to get good candy while giving away bad candy that others like. It's a win win for everybody that way.
You may guess that we eat our candy after we do the trading. And, you're just right! This is how we do our Halloween every year. And this is how we like it. That's why we're doing it again this year!
But, Mom still thinks that Halloween sales aren't over yet, they aren't! She heads to Target and hits the sales! :)
HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Time Traveler: September

There's not that much to say about September except that school started and it is slowly changing into cooler weather. Those things are both good things but they are not overly gigantic things. They're normal size. It happens every year and we're used to it changing like that. September was nice for our family. It was normal and nothing so out of the ordinary occurred. There is only one thing that I can think about: Mom and Dad getting ready to leave for Italy.
You may already know, that now in October they are there. Trying their best to understand Italian. But, them getting ready to leave in September is all I can put my finger on. Some of the trees here turned orange and red, that's one I guess. But, it's not massive.
Since there is not much to say this post will end soon. But, before I'm going to go I'm going to announce that we have officially caught up in our blogging! Yay!