Garage Sale Treasures

The twinnies were the lucky recipients of new stuffed animals.

 Brigid got a kitty and Kiara got a puppy.

It only cost me .50 for both!

"I love it, Mommy."

"It's my favorite, Mommy."

"It's beautiful, Mommy."

"Oh, I just love it so much."

Gianna's Version of the Story

Gianna can't read.

This doesn't stop Gianna from "reading".

Be like Gianna...just make up a story based on the pictures.

You can thank me later.

Actually, Gianna is part of a reading challenge in which she is just suppose to read out loud whatever she wants to say about the pictures.  It has been adorable.  The stories she comes up with are so funny.  The boys are part of the same challenge, but they have to actually read the words.  Sorry, Blase, no ad libbing for you.

The Other "Uncle"

The twinnies have another uncle.

His name is Nate.

They love him.

 They chased Nate for a good thirty minutes.

 Then he gave up and they caught him.

He's a great "uncle"!!

We Needed to Clean Under the Fridge Anyway

Murphy's Law

Or maybe 

Karen's Law?

We haven't used the dishwasher in a couple of months.  I was not satisfied with the cleaning ability, though it did the job most of the time.  It was those couple of times a week that irritated me so I decided we were hand washing all the dishes.  We got a bit behind over the weekend so I gave the kids permission to use the dishwasher Monday morning and again Monday evening.

Here's where Karen's Law comes into play.

If you start the dishwasher at 10 PM you will have trouble.

Truth.

There was water pouring out the bottom of the dishwasher.

(I happened to be walking into the kitchen with an armload of towels)

Yelled for more towels.

I canceled the cycle.

Yelled for the carpet cleaner.

It kept filling up.

Yelled for MORE towels - out of the dirty clothes if you have to.

Water STILL coming out of the dishwasher.

I yelled for someone to tell Darren to turn the water off.

Then the storm past.

We had all the water up off the floor within five minutes of me yelling for towels the first time.

Rock on, young men.  You are amazing!!!

Some good things about this experience:

I wanted to clean under the fridge - done.

It is clean up week in our area so we just have to put the dishwasher on the corner and they haul it away for free - boom!

We were still awake - nuff said.

 The water did leak just a bit into the boys' room below.

 It didn't even need a full towel.

We wiped up what we could and placed fans in the kitchen and bedroom.

Then we slept.

We have a new dishwasher.  It's great.  The little things (or big appliances).

I Spy

I SPY.........

Two hand prints in the carpet.

How?

Why?

Sigh.

A Dog's Best Friend(s)

Poor, poor Jimmer.  He is loved - maybe too loved!

Stephen Turns Teen

On April 22nd Stephen turned 13 years old.  He was one lucky kid other than his mother was gone for his birthday party to the homeschooling retreat.  Poor kid.  I did remind him that his dad was gone all the way to Italy for one of his birthdays so it wasn't that bad this time.

 He received a good amount of books (Mr. Can't Stop Reading)

 but his favorite was an atlas of all the maps of the Lord of the Rings stories.

We have all enjoyed this book.  What a great book.

 He also received a knife sharpener and a knife.

He really enjoyed the new coffee mug as he loves to drink hot tea.

And of course - his favorite candy bar - Almond Joy.

 

 He requested a German chocolate cake.

Happy birthday, dear son!