A new personal record!!!

Last night, I was in my pj's by 5:45 pm. That's right! Can you believe it? And yes, I did get dressed yesterday. I just wanted to put my pj's on early last night. Mike was out with the older kids. He took them to the movies, so it was just the chubs and I at home. We sat around in our pj's, watching Toddlers and Tiaras (a really bad show, don't ever watch it! It's like a train wreck!!). It was wonderful. Now, see if you can beat my record!!

Two bits of advice

1. Don't wash the kitchen floor in the morning and then give your little kids Mac and Cheese for lunch that same day. You will totally undo all the good you just did.

2. Make sure, when you feed your little ones Mac and Cheese, that they wear protective helmets while eating. If they don't, the results could be disastrous.

I'm surprised Noah's hair didn't turn orange. It did stick up everywhere though.

Pics of the Faves

Silly Leah

One day while in PA, I witness Leah at her silliest. I was in the shower and heard the door open. My kids always come in the bathroom while I'm in there, so this was nothing new. I waited to hear some sort of potty noises, but instead I heard nothing. So I poked my head out of the far end of the shower and saw Leah dancing around with a paint brush. I had helped my mom paint the bathroom the night before and we left the supplies in there. Since she didn't see me, Leah continued in her play. After dancing, she picked up a container of spackle and shook it to hear what's inside. Since it didn't make a noise, she put it back down and then decided she was all done in the bathroom. But, there was one last thing she wanted to do. As she was backing out of the doorway and pulling the door shut, Leah pulled the doorknob close to her face. It almost touched her face when her tongue extended out of her mouth and licked the doorknob. That's when I decided to make my presence know by exclaiming, "LEAH, DON'T LICK THE DOORKNOB!!" Startled, she quickly scooted out the door, giggling all the way. Some day I hope to know what was going on in her head during those few moments. I bet it was fantastic!

Fireflies

Yet another wonderful thing about PA is the fireflies. My kids have never seen a firefly before. I had forgotten how cool they are. So, we planned that on Sundays, (if we all took naps after church) we could stay up late and catch fireflies in jars. It was so fun. Fortunately, it's not hard to catch them. Leah was the first one to catch one. Unfortunately for the firefly, it didn't survive the encounter. She got better at it though.

On our last Sunday, I told the kids they could catch as many as they could and then keep them overnight in their room. It was Eli's idea to use their small jars to collect them initially, then transfer them to a very big plastic jar. We had such a fun time and were very successful. I think we caught about 20. I think the fireflies were happy about it too.

In case you didn't know, fireflies light up at night to attract a mate. Apparently, we helped them out a bit with that task. At one point their was a tight cluster of 6 fireflies in our big jar. Eli asked what they were doing. I told them they were making friends with each other, but we all know what they were really doing.

Aside from that little scene, it was a magical experience for the kids. I'm so glad they go to do something that I enjoyed doing when I was little (catching fireflies that is! not watching them "make friends").

This is a picture of some of the fireflies crawling on the top of the jar. We put plastic wrap over the top and punched little wholes in it so they could breathe.

Silly pictures from PA

Tractor Rides

While we were in PA, my kids and I got all the tractor rides we wanted at my dad's house. Now, don't tell him I told you this, but he doesn't really have a tractor. He just has a riding lawn mower and a wagon that attaches to the back. In his mind, it's a tractor. To humor him, we all call it a tractor. Honestly, I laugh a little every time I say it. I love him though, so I play along like the good daughter that I am. Here are some pictures of our "tractor" rides. Oh, and yeah, that's a John Deere tractor! And, if you ever hope to get the chance to ride the tractor, you have to be wearing a John Deere hat.