You Think You Want Them Till You Need Them...

Ethan has been completely convinced that he needs eye glasses. I've told him several times that if he can see the books he is reading and the board at school just fine, then he doesn't need glasses. He does not believe me. I've taken him into my dad's office and had his eyes checked. They are fine. He still thinks he needs glasses.
When I went home at Christmas I picked out some new glasses for myself (it's amazing that after 3 years and a baby my eyes didn't stay the same!). I was telling Dad's wonderful glasses tech, Connie, all about Ethan's obsession when she came up with a wonderful idea. Dad opened a optical shop in his office a few years ago and since 8 year olds don't come in very often (they don't seem to get cataracts or glaucoma as much as 80 year olds) the kids glasses don't sell quickly. In fact there were some frames that they can't even order anymore so she suggested I take a pair for Ethan to wear.
I brought them home and told him to see if his eye sight improved with the new glasses. He put them on, looked around and declared that the glasses (that have absolutely no prescription at all) had indeed helped him see better. I said great, and left it at that.After a few days of wearing them all the time I noticed they seemed not be needed as much as before, and now he has completely stopped talking about glasses. I'm glad that he realized glasses aren't as fun as he hoped, but poor guy, he will probably need them in a few years anyways.
Connie also found a pair I could take for Ella so she didn't feel left out, but funnily enough it was Livi who wants to wear the glasses all the time.

Mom, I Look Like A Pirate!

We have an famous... infamous... (okay, not really famous at all, but our whole family laughs at it) story in which my poor father broke his tooth on a peach. Yep, a peach. Not a peach pit, a soft, ripe peach.
Ethan has had two loose front teeth for a while now and it was starting to gross me out. One was especially bad. He would turn it, and twist it, and stick it in front of his lip. I begged and begged him to just pull it out, or let Eric pull it out, but he said it hurt too much. Finally he bit into a piece of bread and the tooth came right out. Three days later he bit into a soft pizza crust and the second tooth came out (thankfully).
He ran up to me, smiled and said "Mom, I look like a pirate."
All I can say is "Yes, yes you do."

Vegetable Wars

Why I tolerate the Wii...

because even carrots can be controllers.

If you give a boy a bow...

If you give a boy a bow (or man a compound bow) he's going to ask for a deer tag...
If you give a boy a deer tag he's going to go hunting in the wilderness...
While in the wilderness his feet will get cold and he'll need new special water proof camo hunting boots...
If you give the boy the boots he will realize his feet are so much warmer than the rest of his body and he will need full body extra warm, waterproof, camo clothing...
If you give the boy the camo he will go hunting and realize he needs a tree stand...
If you give the boy a tree stand he will need to go hunting all the time....
If the boy goes hunting all the time he will start to realize that bow hunting is hard and that everything that can go wrong will go wrong...
If everything goes wrong he will need to buy another deer tag that lets him continue to hunt in the new antler-less season...
If the boy hunts in the antler-less season he will get invited to help get rid of deer on a private property...
If the boy hunts on the private property he will finally get his deer!!!!!If the boy finally gets his deer he will need to butcher it, get it processed, buy a new freezer (because heaven knows we don't have enough room in our main one for an entire deer) and learn how to cook venison...
If the boy does all that....he doesn't get to complain about my new brown knee high boots!

8, 8 Year Olds; or Losing My Mind

Ethan playing with a birthday present (I'm not sure if the game was the best present or me giving up on trying to keep our house relatively video game free)


Ethan is 8. I can't believe it. Some how my baby boy is old enough to be baptized. This seemed to be the birthday that wouldn't stop, kind of like our Christmas celebrations. Next year needs to be more low key, or my brain is going to burst.
Ethan's birthday was on Sunday, so the day before we went and got his big present: 2 fish and 2 crabs. Our kids "helping" to get the aquatic life situated

The next day church was at 9, so you can imagine what time we had to get up to open presents and get everyone ready on time.
Later that night we had the Bagleys over for cake, and a little bit of playing.
Saturday (yesterday) we had his birthday party. We only have friends over for parties on even years, so this was the dreaded..er...wonderful year Ethan could have a party. I let him invite 8 friends (plus Maddi for Ella) so we had total 8, 8 year old boys. It lasted for 1 1/2 hours, which was about 1/2 hour too long (for me). We played Jedi training with light sabers, pinned the light saber on Yoda and ate pizza and cupcakes.
It was actually really fun, and Ethan had a great time, and that's what matters...but... I get a little sad when one kid comes up and asks "Why is your house so junky?" and another tells me "Your kids rooms are too messy." Ah the problems of moving into a higher socioeconomic area and school. I want to laugh it off, but I tried hard to have the upstairs totally presentable and clean, but I didn't pick up the play room. Shame on me.
I have a migraine and a sore throat this morning and I'm not sure if I'm sick or just tired, but either way I'm going to curl up in a dark room, listen to a book on tape, and put off cleaning until Ella's party in May. I'm going to need my energy if I'm going to have the house acceptably clean.

And The Winner is....

Everyone! Luckily only a few of you commented, (and I like all of you) so you all can pick out a necklace. Send me an email at nikkistott@yahoo.com with your address and your top three picks. I'll try and mix and match and make sure everyone gets an okay one. Here is a pic of what I have available:

I Think He Missed the Point

Ethan brought home this writing project from school. (it reads: "If I were a gift...I would be a Star Wars Legos and I would give myself to myself.")

Next year I think we are going to concentrate a little harder on why giving to other people is so great.

Singing in the Airport

While we waited at the Burbank airport for 5 hours waiting for our plane to come in everyone got a little antsy. There isn't a whole lot to do there, there is only one place to eat, and one little newsstand. The newsstand was having a sale on neck pillows and since we would be landing about 3 1/2 hours later than we planned we hoped to get some sleep on the plane (no one did. It made the next day really fun) so we purchased a couple. For some reason the girls just thought they were the best toys ever.
Then the lack of decent food and time spent in a tiny airport started to weigh on everyone. Livi started running around people as they came off planes, singing at the top of her lungs. We finally got her to sit next to Ella and this is what happened:

It's not that far to jump to this:

Thanks snowstorm. That was awesome.

Post 232: Seems like a good time for a giveaway

I had seen these necklaces on a site I follow. I checked Etsy to see how much they cost. $55 for a necklace and $85 for a bracelet was a little steep, and one of the joys of all my Dad's hobbies is that pretty much anything you can think of he has tools to make. I sent him pictures and he figured out how to do it. I executed the necklaces and VOILA here we are.This one is mine....I love it!

No Christmas is complete without a Dad project taking up space on the kitchen counter :) This time it was really my project, but Dad was on hand to help. Me working in the corner as Ella helps Grandma Sharon bake on Christmas Eve.

Livi thought the drill press was just fine on the counter!Unlike my mean sister, I choose to post my giveaways before they happen. Here is your chance to pick out a Lego necklace just for you! I have 16 inch silver chains that will fit a small neck, or a child. Just leave a comment and I will pick a winner at random a week from today and they can pick out the one the want. Hope you like them as much as I do!