When kids get a hold of the camera....

I was downloading the new pics to the computer today and noticed that some little hands had taken pictures without my knowledge. No wonder my 1 GB memory card was full. I didn't think I had taken that many pictures! (Another of the many perks to digital cameras - no wasted film.) Thought I would share some of their cinematography skills with ya'all. I will spare you, however, the multiple pictures of noses, ears, heads, bikes, and our pumpkin plant.

Before and After

The girls wanted me to put their hair in curlers the other night. Jacob was disappointed that he couldn't join in the festivities so we included him in the pictures. Seriously, he was lamenting about why he had his hair cut. Now it was too short for curlers. 
I didn't think Emily would last all night with the curlers in because last time we tried this she kept on asking us "to take them out!" Emily did great. However, Lindsey came down the stairs saying she couldn't sleep because the curlers hurt to lay on. I asked her if she wanted me to take them out. No reply. She was back in her bed asleep. I guess she just wanted me to know the sacrifice she was making for beauty. And, oh, what beauty we were to behold the next morning.

Too bad you can't see the back of Emily's hair. It reminded me of a clown wig.

And here's Lindsey a la Carol Burnette.

Jacob not wanting to be left out wanted to show how wonderful his hair looks in the morning too. Some people have all the luck.

About Mom by Lindsey, Jacob and Emily

I thought I would post what my children think about me. Some of their answers are pretty funny and some are so accurate its scary. Jacob's comments are in blue, Lindsey's in black and Emily's in red. Editor's comments are in green. (Thanks Tara for the idea!)

1. What is something mom always says to you? 

J: Clean up
L: don’t call people on the phone
E: clean up
(Gee, I wonder what we've been working on?)

2. What makes mom happy?
J: Cleaning when she asks you
L: when she doesn’t have to punish me
E: when we get all our chores done

3. What makes mom sad?
J: Not cleaning
L: when she has to punish me
E: we’re not getting our chores done and being mean
(Do you sense the common theme?)

4. How does mom make you laugh?
J: by tickling
L: by saying something funny
E: by saying funny words

5. What was mom like as a child?
J: Reading - because she read when she was a child
L: like me
E: sits in the booster seat

6. How old is mom? (This was easy, I just had a birthday.)
J: 33
L: 33
E: 5

7. How tall is mom?
J: I think you are 10 inches
L: 4 ft 6 inches
E: This tall and an inch

8. What is mom's favorite thing to do?
J: chores
L: cook
E: cook
(I know. It was a surprise to me as well.)

9. What does mom do when you're not around?
J: goes on her bike and gives people cookies (I wish.)
L: clean all day (I wish not.)
E: watch me ride 

11. What is mom really good at?
J: making dinner and cakes
L: watching movies (??)
E: cleaning my room

12. What is mom not good at?
J: Building a house because she doesn’t build houses
L: going biking more
E: cleaning her room

13. What is mom's job?
J: Making dinner and feeding Ethan
L: to take care of the children and cook
E: to cook

14. What is mom's favorite food?
J: Jalepeno’s food
L: german chocolate
E: soup

15. What makes you proud of mom?
J: tickling me
L: how well she cooks
E: setting the table

16. What do you and mom do together?
J: go on bike rides
L: cook (She seems really focused on this for her answers. Is this a subtle hint to stop with the questions and just make dinner?)
E: weed

17. How are you and mom the same?
J: by doing the same stuff
L: we both like to watch movies and cook and read
E: I am big on the couch

18. How are you and mom different?
J: by doing different stuff
L: mommy likes to have babies and I don’t (Thankfully :) )
E: by weed, of course I’m good at pulling teeny weeds out

Ethan Crawling

This is not an exciting video, but I wanted everyone to see Ethan in action because he is so cute. (And I am trying to learn to be more technologically savvy which means you get to share in my learning experiences. Don't you feel lucky?)

Pioneer Child

I came home from a trip to Costco to find our swingset covered with Lindsey's clothes. (I don't know why I didn't think to take a picture.) Apparently, Lindsey decided to wash her clothes in our little baby swimming pool "just like the pioneers." She used soap and scrubbed them in the water (I am not sure about rinsing.) Then she hung them up to dry. When it was getting dark I asked her to bring in her clothes. So she went and got her big wicker basket and folded the clothes one by one and put them in her basket. I informed Lindsey that she could put her clothes in the dryer if they were still wet. Her reply "I don't want to use one bit of electricity to clean my clothes just like the pioneers." Way to go green!
This was a good reminder to me of how much children are influenced by what they read. A lot of Lindsey's play time centers around the current genre she is reading: pioneers, princesses, etc. Of all the things she could pick up on, I am glad it is these things. And I am very glad I read everything she reads before she does so I can make sure she is reading appropriate literature. That which will add positively to her world and ours.

Men and women DO think differently

I thought this was a funny parody on the differences between how men and women think. It's a little long, but I think you will enjoy the clip. Happy viewing!!

Our Family Vacation

You should all be very proud of me and as one of my friends said "you are a very good wife." Thank you. Yes, I am. I am not trying to boast, but those of you who know me well will understand why when I tell you what we did for our family vacation this year. Drum roll, please. Dadadadadada. 

We went camping for a week on an island in the middle of a lake in which the only thing provided for us was a fire pit. That's right, I agreed to go camping for a week at a place where there was no running water of any kind. It was a pack it in, pack it out place in which you could only get there via boat and it was BEAUTIFUL!  I don't think the pictures do it justice, but you will get the general idea. The trip was fun if not the most relaxing as Ethan didn't sleep much at all - day or night.

 

Some of the highlights included: eating dutch oven cobbler (twice, yummy!), smores (need I say more :) ), Rick letting me drive the boat so he could water ski, the kids innertubing and Emily not being able to get enough of it, Ethan falling asleep every time we went on a boat ride, 

the kids playing together all day in the sand and water with minimal supervision and NOT fighting, 

the big kids sharing their own tent and going right to sleep every night, 

and Rick doing most of the cooking and cleaning up. (I didn't get off that easy, I had to keep Ethan from eating every stick in sight and keep him happy and fed.)

All in all we had a blast. But I cannot lie, I was really glad to get back to civilization and a good night's sleep.