At least the bathroom smells good

Tonight was haircut night at our house.  While Spencer and I were busy doing this:

(We decided to leave it this way for a day just for kicks)
Cydnee was supposed to be taking a bath.  Kennady came in and said, "Mom, you gotta see this."

Pictures hardly do it justice.  It was 3 full bottles of shampoo and body wash and bubbles were EVERYWHERE.

Of course it couldn't have been the cheap stuff I usually buy.  I had actually splurged recently (I know, my splurge is probably your cheap stuff.)

Well, my bathroom smells really CLEAN now. Any ideas on jobs I can get a 4 year old to do around the house so she can earn some money of her own and go buy herself some new shampoo? Or any other "punishment that fits the crime" ideas would be greatly appreciated. I'm tired!

Teenager in the house

Yep, we are officially old! Austin turned 13 last week. You know he's gettin' old too cuz he gets excited about new clothes.  And golf clubs, of course.

 The requested cake:  all chocolate

 

 

Grandma and Grandpa joined us for his favorite dinner- lasagna.  

 

 The invalid 2 days post-surgery. We couldn't get him over for the group photo.  Spencer wasn't in it either if you noticed, but he did not have the crutches excuse.  Not sure what his excuse was.

 

 Austin and his buddies went to see Iron Man 2 and then ate Cafe Rio takeout.  Mom and Dad were not invited.

 

 

 What a great group of friends! Overall, a very successful birthday celebration.  Sure do love ya, Austin.

15 Big Ones

I made it all.by.myself.  Nothing compared to a Flores cake, but the kids were duly impressed.  "Really, you made that, Mom?"

Dave surprised me by arranging an over night get-away.  He asked mom to stay with the kids and we went downtown to the Anniversary Inn.  So fun! First we stopped at temple square and ate dinner at the Joseph Smith Building.  We wanted a "remember when" picture.   Dave wouldn't let me ask someone to take it, so this is the best we could do. 

The tulips were so gorgeous!
We stayed in the Cape Cod room at the Inn-  our bed was in the light house.  Anyone know how to turn a picture once it's in Blogger?  Sorry about the sideways shot.

Breakfast is served. Dave was munching on the croissant while I was taking the picture, hence the empty doily.

What a great weekend!  Thanks Mom for your help with the kids.

EEEEWWWWWW!!

We took the kids to the movies Saturday night- How to Train Your Dragon- (Darling, funny movie.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.)  Cydnee had been bugging me for popcorn, but as you all know I'm way too much of a cheapskate for that.  We took our little ziplocs full of treats and that was gonna be it.  On the way out of the theater, she looks over and sees the popcorn behind the counter and starts bugging me again.  I tell her, "No Cydnee.  We're not buying popcorn."  She glances down at the floor and spies a few kernels someone had dropped, yells, "Yes!" and before I can protest pops them in her mouth.  Of course we were all disgusted and the kids were telling her how completely GROSS that is.  Cydnee looks at all of them and says, "What?  It tastes just the same."

Sunkissed 4 Yr . Photo Shoot

"This yellow dress looks good with my brown face."
I would agree! Thanks to a recent vacation for providing it.
-the brown face, that is-

Goodbye little girl smile

Remember this sweet little smile with the straight baby teeth?
Here's what happened this week:
I always cringe a little when the two front teeth come out because ya just gotta wait and see what comes in next. In our family, it hasn't been too pretty from here on out until the orthodontist gets involved.
AND my kids take forever to grow permanent teeth.
Spencer looked like this for about a year.
And then it looks like this for awhile:
And this (Spencer has 'em now- kinda hard to see):
But then, thanks to a great orthodontist, it turns back into this:
I guess it all works out in the end, huh?

Satan is too good

We had a great lesson in Relief Society yesterday and our sweet teacher gave us a handout for an object lesson to use for Family Home Evening. So, of course I gave it a try- a lesson already all planned out for me? Great!
You were supposed to hide 2 candies somewhere in the room. One kid is supposed to be the "seeker", one is the evil voice and one is the good voice. If the seeker finds the candy within 3 mintues by following the good voice, the two of them get to share it. If not, the evil voice gets to eat it all. The Seeker leaves the room and you tell the good guy and the bad guy where the candy is hidden and then bring the seeker back and blindfold them. I chose Kennady to be the seeker (maybe not such a good idea). She, of course, didn't know ahead of time which brother was the evil voice and which was the good voice so she'd have to decide which one she should listen to and follow. As it turned out the evil voice (aka Austin) was way too convincing and the good voice (aka Spencer) was a bit more quiet and reserved and poor Kennady was brought to tears by the end. Evil triumphed and got to eat all the candy (after sharing with the youngest who threw a tantrum at the end when she didn't get any either.) So, it didn't quite go the way I had imagined it, but we were able draw a few parallels, read a few scriptures and had a few good laughs anyway.