All-Star Wrestling!

One night before bed Jared started talking in his 'tough-boy' voice about how he was going to wrestle his dad as soon as he got home. He was upset to find out that Scott was at a youth activity (he just got called to be the YM Pres.) and wasn't going to be home until after Jared was in bed. The next morning Jared woke up--still with wrestling plans on his mind. Unfortunately, Scott was off again for early church meetings but promised Jared a match after church. We arrived home from church before Scott and started eating. The minute Scott walked in the door Jared started in with his 'tough-boy' voice--"I'm gonna take you down! You better watch out because I'm gonna beat you!" I laughed as Jared repeated the same things Scott always chides when he wrestles with the kids. Scott went upstairs to change his clothes and seemed to be taking much longer than he should. We were all getting impatient for the wrestling match to begin. When Scott came down the stairs he had a blanket covering him and unveiled to this:



Jared's eyes popped open so wide in shock and there was a moment of surprised silence before we all started laughing hysterically. In the next moment Jared was on the floor wrestling his huge daddy. The girls joined in too and by the end they had one tired poppa and sweet dreams of All-Star Wrestling.

Let's Get Down to Business to Defeat the Huns!

If you've ever seen the Disney movie "Mulan" you know what I'm talking about. Mulan pretends to be a boy so she can fight in the Imperial Army to save China from the Huns. Jared has encapsulated the entire movie in his new thrill...The Huns Game. The very minute Scott and the girls leave in the morning Jared rushes to me and asks if I want to play "The Huns" with him. And then he wants to play again and again and again. The basic premise is that we are the good guys and the invisible Huns are the bad guys. We use are homemade weapons--and they are not a few--to fight them. Our weapon supply is what I like the most. In this picture you see Jared with a belt (otherwise known as our "lucky, lucky lasso"), a potato masher, wire whisk, part of a rescue hero backpack used to shoot fire and a remote control in his pocket that can make us fly or cause an avalanche. Not pictured, but very much a part of our artillery is a wooden train track (known as our 'fire tropie"). Obviously this can shoot fire as well. Jared also constructed shooting guns from our Discovery Toys Marble Works game. We don't have any play guns or swords in our house, but that hasn't stopped Jared.
Ellie is in on the fun as well. This is Ellie pointing her potato masher at our enemy and making the "Pcheww" noise of her weapon as she uses it. She makes this same noise every time she holds one of the wooden train tracks. She will probably always be confused on the intended purpose of these objects. She loves the thrill of hiding at the top of the stairs or running into a closet to hide, and she is very cognizant of keeping our hideouts secret...she talks in whispers just like Jared and I do.

Plagued with Pink Eye and Washing Sheets

Every year my family seems to be plagued with pink eye. I'll take pink eye over the many other serious illnesses we could have, but it is a PAIN! First of all, it's annoying to take the kids to the doctor for them to tell me it's pink eye, when I already knew that but just need a prescription. Secondly, it is SO hard to contain to one set of eyes! I have antibacterial hand gel in several parts of the house and have the kids put it on every time they pass it, but it still jumps through the family. Scott thinks it's because my kids have

big "targets." Thirdly, I am sick of washing sheets and pillowcases!

Jared woke up with pink eye first. I started him on antibiotics and washed all the sheets on his bed and my bed since he ALWAYS ends up in my bed at some time in the night. The next day Ellie woke up with pink eye so I washed her sheets and blankets. After 24 hours of the antibiotic the redness and goop usually clears so I washed their sheets one more time to insure they don't re-infect themselves. I thought we were in the clear...Kaitlyn and Brynn have scathed by without contracting it. But then Scott woke up with it today! Here I am again...washing sheets and pillowcases. Hopefully the saga ends with this...but my eyes feel a little itchy!