MAYLIN2007

We have been in Texas for Thanksgiving. We haven't been there for a few years due to Aus' health. It was fun to see everyone and Jay and his nephew enjoyed their time at home. The kids enjoyed the acres. They loved the pet quails, the motor bikes, the frogs, the pond and cousins. Alex loved his little pet frog...he is pictured on Alex's head. Austin learned to ride the motorcycle very quickly! He got it on his second try! Jay loved being on a bike again. Even though I knew he was an accident waiting to happen. There were only two pictures of me from the whole trip. The one below and the last one, that only shows the bottom half of my head. I guess that is what happens to moms. We had Thanksgiving in a cool barn. We had time with cool cousins and we ate lots of great pie. I got eaten alive, and continue to be so, by chiggers. I hate those things. Apparently they love me. I have covered them all with finger nail polish and washed them with bleach. I hear this helps kill them....

  How cute kids look when they sleep is all an act. I think it is to lull parents into thinking they are so sweet and cute again after a horrible, trouble-making, temper tantrum day. Wouldn't you agree? At least for me, when I see them asleep I am so willing to forgive and forget the events leading up to that sleep. Yesterday, was one of those "oh, my heck, are you kidding me?" kinda days. This morning when I saw her sleep I was back to "Oh, she is so sweet." But after a moment of thought, I was able to regain reality and write this post for remembrance and a chuckle when she is older. Of course, I won't be mad long. She is really cute. #1 Oh, my heck moment - She was playing quietly in her room. We checked on her a lot. We just didn't see Kens makeup bag that she had hidden under her toys. Her back was towards us too. It wasn't until I went in for a hug that I saw her face completely,let me stress COMPLETELY, covered in sparkly eye shadow. She used ...

Hot water #1 - This morning at 6 our nephew who is living with us woke us up because one of our water heaters was spraying water. Needless to say they are installing a new one now. Actually they are replacing both of them. Jay was worried the other one would go out too since they are the same age and figured he might as well beat it to the punch...or spray...as the case may be. I haven't had water most of the day. You really need water, you know. You don't realize it until it is gone. Hot Water #2 - Maylin was following the plumber around. It was funny to see her watch his every move. She got tired after about an hour and went into her room. About then, the plumber noticed his cell phone was gone. Obviously, I knew who took it. Maylin is a thief when it comes to shoes and phones. It was on vibrate so that made it a bit harder to find, but after a bit we located it behind her dresser. I will admit, I started getting nervous about what if we couldn't find it...we would be in ...

Guess what we are doing tonight?(That question would not included Jay. He is at work.) We are doing N-O-T-H-I-N-G. That is the first time in about 2 months we have had absolutely nothing on the calendar. Ahhhhh..... I needed it.

Here are a few funny conversations with Maylin: "Mom, Sister Stanley (my BFF) called and said you are a nice mom." Me: "Really? How nice. I love Sister Stanley." Nini: "I love her too and Funny Eric number two." Me: "Who is Funny Eric number one (okay I know, but just want to hear her.) Austin's friend Eric. He is number one cause he is taller." I love this! She knows my friends, her siblings friends and obviously has a system to keep people with the same name separated! At the mall as we are walking past a lady: "Mom, she is fat." - Loud enough the lady heard. Me: "Nini! don't say that. It will make her cry." Nini: "Why will it make her sad? She doesn't know she is fat?" So true. I am sure she knows, but it is just hearing it out loud. "Mom. These panties will be clean forever." Me: "Why will they be clean forever?" Nini: "Because I want them too." Got it. Here is Nini and h...

I know the holiday is over, but I never got around to posting our day with the witches. We had such a fun day checking out the witches, eating candy and enjoying the warmth. Maylin was scared of the witches at first. You can see how she would reach out to touch them with just one finger. By the end, she had figured out or finally believed me that they were fake. It was a great afternoon. Besides the kids, my favorite part was the cinnamon sugar roasted almonds we bought. YUM!!         NOTE: It is NOT me...I repeat...it is NOT me in the orange pants.

Halloween lasted for days around here. Kenzie had a party at our house on Friday with 12 of her friends. They had a blast. They had dinner, went on a scavenger hunt, played the Skittles Game, Curses, the Bubble Gum Game, Murder in the Dark and Mafia. It was so great to see her happy. She went as a pink fairy. Austin had a party here on Halloween with 19 friends. They also had dinner, played volleyball and night games (thanks to the warm night), visited and made Carmel apples. People didn't leave until after 11:30. Austin didn't dress up that night, but for his school harvest party, they celebrated Purim, a Jewish holiday, so he wore a costume for that. It was an amazing party with a guest from Jerusalem who spoke, shared tradition and celebrated with them! Alex went as Ferdinand Magellan, the great explorer. He picked him. He loves him as they are studying him in school and Alex thinks he rocks. I made his costume, thank you very much, but forgot to take a picture of him. So to...

Here he is my sweet little boy. Can I still call him my little boy? He is 11 now and his shoe size just surpassed his dad's. Here he is receiving his arrow of light (the day before his b-day) and at his official family b-day party! It wasn't the best day for Alex, he had the stomach flu. He didn't even get to taste his cake.         We love Alex!!! Alex is my most free spirited kid. He just does what he wants to do. Sometimes it worries me as I know he doesn't think before he does something. This could land him in hot water. Alex has such a joy for life. Everything is fun and everything should be tried. If anyone is going to do something, it would be Alex. Sometimes he does things and we will look at each other and say "What is he doing?" Then one of us will answer, "Just being Alex." He is quite the athelete and he is great at math when he takes his time. Usually he is in such a hurry to play that he has to re-do many math problems. His brain is am...