Happy 7th Birthday Brody!

Yesterday Brody celebrated his 7th birthday.  It was a super fun day that I will post about later, but for now, here is a little about Brody at age 7.

Mom:  "Please state your name for the record." "Just kidding."  "Name please:"

Brody: "Brody" (grumbling)

Mom: "Favorite color?"

Brody: "Blue"

Mom: "Favorite thing about first grade?"

Brody: "Math... Subtratction."

Mom: "Favorite food?"

Brody: "Pot Roast."

Mom: "Favorite thing to do after school?"

Brody: "Play with Priscilla."

Mom: "Favorite dessert?"

Brody: "Ice cream... Vanilla."

Mom:  "Who are some of your Friends?"

Brody:  "Chase, Mason, Hunter, Priscilla, Risa, Jackson." 

Mom: "What do you like to do on the playground?"

Brody: "Play freeze tag."

Mom: "What has been the most memorable thing about being 6?"

Brody: "Going to hole in the rock with Sugar."

Mom: "Why are you excited to be 7?"

Brody: "I'll almost be baptized. " 

Mom: "What is your favorite b-day gift?" 

Brody: "Bakagans and Nintendo DSI."

Mom: "Do you have a favorite Movie?"

Brody: "Star Wars and Indiana Jones."

Mom: "What is your favorite toy?"

Brody: "Legos." "Are we done yet?"

Mom: "What is your favorite drink?"

Brody: "Orange Soda, Root Beer and Sprite."

Mom: "What is your favorite thing to play in the backyard?"

Brody: "The trampoline."

Here is a little about Brody that you may not know.

He has lost his 2 front and 2 bottom middle teeth.  He is really good at playing piano.  Brody  loves to read and do homework.  He will do workbook pages after school and on the bus just for fun.  Brody would eat Mexican food for every meal if I let him.  He is a sugar junkie.  He would eat candy with his Mexican food for every meal if I let him!!  He STILL sucks his pointer and middle fingers during the night (his comfort!) He is terrible at sharing with his brothers and helping around the house, but super good at getting his brothers to do what he wants them too.  Is that called manipulative?  He rarely eats anything in his lunch at school.  He's was too social to take time to eat lunch!  He is a Lego master, good at golf and swimming, and he is  super smart in school.  I love him tons but seriously can't believe he is 7. Happy Birthday sweet Brody!  I love you bud!

Two Is Tough!!

This kid is a tough one.  His name is Ledger and he is driving me CRAZY!  He is 2 1/2 and naughty!  I shouldn't say naughty, I should say, "He's 2!"  I'm gonna brag for a minute here but I've never had a 2 year old.  You know the 2 year old that Mom's talk about.  The one that throws a fit at the grocery store, demands orange juice when you don't have any, screams at the top of their lungs when you are driving to preschool and can't do anything to help him.  I've never had one of those.  I've been able to talk my other 2 year olds out of most anything.  I was able to reason with them about problems that would arise.  Well not anymore.  This little man is giving me a run for my money.  He is stubborn, hard headed, LOUD, whiny, strong, smart and witty.  He is absolutely adorable which is the only thing saving him right now!! He is funny and loving and gives the best hugs and kisses ever!  When you kiss him he says, "No more kisses ahh you!"  He frequently says, "I love you" for no reason at all. He loves his big brothers and asks all day when they are going to be home.  Ledger loves to watch cartoons and can sing any song after hearing it just once.  He is a smartie!  I love him to death but hope I can help him make better choices and be more happy as he gets older.  I hope I can turn that grouchy face into a happy one. Mostly I hope I can keep him and Jeremy out of counseling for another year or so!!  

Can you help a Mom out?

This cool little thing is an indoor Smores Maker.  I own 3 of them but need more for Brody's birthday party.  If any of you friends out there in Blog Land own one and wouldn't mind letting me borrow it I would appreciate it so much!  I would order a few on line but can't seem to find them ANYWHERE!!  Thanks for your help!

Lego Mania!

Brody has been busy with all the Legos Santa brought him.  During the Christmas break he put together this little number:

This is the Tantive IV.  It has 1408 pieces and is designed for 14 year olds.  It took him about 8 hours to complete which is crazy considering how many pieces there are in this one.  

 

When we got home from the cabin, he put this together:

It's called the Home One Mon Calamari Star Cruiser.  It has  789 pieces and is made for 9-14 year olds.  This was a piece of cake for this Lego maniac.  

I really don't know what to do with this boy.  We get him these huge difficult Lego sets thinking it will keep him busy for a few weeks, but noooooo.  He cruises through the directions and has it finished in a day or two.  He is a little obsessed with Legos which I guess is good, but man oh man this is an expensive hobby!!

What's For Dinner?

How about some zucchini?

Yummy broccoli?

Spicy peppers?

Crunchy bell peppers?

Vine ripe tomatoes?

Yummy crunchy radish?

All from our yummy garden!

4 Months...ALREADY?

Yes it's another tutu made by yours truly.  Did I mention I'm a tutu making addict?

Where is the time going?  Seriously...it can stop any time now!  Miss B is 4 months old today and couldn't be any cuter!  She is eating great, sleeping great, and smiling ALL THE TIME.  It is hilarious cause she flat out laughs at me all day long (I am quite easy to laugh at!).  Talk about not being able to get a dang thing done.  All I want to do is watch her laugh and smile.  She is awesome!!  She is still drinking 5-6 ounces every 3 hours but are you ready for this...she goes down for the night at 7:00,  I wake her up at 10:00 to "top her off" and she sleeps until 7 or 8 the next morning!  It is great! (I hope I didn't just jinx myself by telling you what a good sleeper she is!) You should see this girl sleep.  Her crib is lined in hot pink minky so she sleeps with her arms straight out to the side so that she is touching both sides of her crib bumper. It is super soft and plush so I can't say I blame her!  One interesting thing about Miss B is that she is LOUD.  I guess she has to be in this house, but man, she squawks and squeals all day!  She has a lot to say!  She is rolling over, mainly from her tummy to her back,  but one day I put her on her back to play and came back to check on her and she was on her tummy.  Unless one of the boys flipped her over, she did it on her own.  Who knows!  I am madly in love with this little diva and can't wait to see how she changes and grows this next month.  

When Mom Has The Flu:

Monday night I came down with the flu.  I was sick all night Monday into Tuesday morning.  I'm feeling much better now thanks but here is what I now know:

When Mom has the flu:

*A 6 year old misses school.

*Because the 6 year old misses school, the school calls wanting to know where your child is.

*That phone call throws the Dad off and the Dad tells the school that the 6 year old is sick.

*Nobody brushes their teeth...ALL DAY.

*Boys wear p.j.'s until noon.

*When Dad realizes it's lunch time, he decides to dress the kids and go to lunch.

*After an hour of getting kids dressed, Dad decides to order a pizza.

*Kids eat Pizza Hut and ice cream for lunch.

*A baby gets a bottle EVERY TIME she fusses!

*Kids eat candy every time they ask for a snack.

*A trampoline is way more fun when Dad is jumping with you.

*Dishes fill the sink faster then normal.

*Juice boxes are the drink of choice.

*A kitchen floor is stickier then normal.

*Nobody takes a nap.

*It's movie day...ALL DAY!

*By 3:00 everyone is crying.

*By 3:00 Dad is super grouchy!

*Kids poop alot more when Dad is on duty (note diet above!)

*By 4:00 Mom can hear Dad mumbling, "There is too much shit around this house."

(his words, not mine!)

*At 5:00 Mom is worried about the well being of everyone in the house and decides the flu will have to wait.

Here is what I now know:

 If I were to die right now, this family would never eat another vegetable again in their life and their teeth would all fall out from not being brushed. 

Good Bye Oh Nine!

Welcome 2010!!

Here they are!  

Brody 6, Nathan 3, Anna 5, Taylor 12, Presley 18 months, Katlyn 4, Case 4, Ledger 2, Aiden 7, Maddy Stevens 7, Jaxon Stevens 5, Chase 13, Ava 9 months and Hunter 7!  Not pictured:  Berkley 15 weeks, and Jaden 20 weeks.

Does anyone else out there celebrate the New Year at 10:00 p.m.?  We do!  Every year we turn on the t.v. around 10:00 and watch the ball drop in NYC.  We yell happy new year and call it a night!  It works out great right now since none of the kids can tell time yet!  I have a feeling this is the last year of celebrating at 10:00.  

This year, as always, we celebrated the new year at the cabin.  We invited about 30 friends and family over for dinner and celebrating!  Out of those 30, 14 of them were kids, 7 years and younger!  It was a bit crazy but fun!  

One of the highlights of the night was a treasure hunt in the dark around the cabin.  We gave all 14 kids a flashlight and sent them around the cabin looking for treasure and more clues.  At each stop, they recieved some type of New Years party favor (horns, balloons, poppers, etc.) Here is an exampe of one of the clues:  Welcome to the cabin, we're glad you're here, to celebrate the very last day of the year.  To start you off, here's you're first clue, go to the room where Case got the flu! Of course all the kids who were here that night went flying up the stairs to the bunk room. It was hilarious!    They LOVED this, especially since it was dark and they were using flashlights.  

Berkley slept through the new years party tonight.  She woke up at 10:00, just as I was putting the other kids to bed!! I had to take this picture of her this morning when she wokeup!

Ledger loved the 2010 sparkly glasses! 

Another highlight of the night was flipping off the couch into the bean bags.

Brody, Case, Ledger, Jaxon Stevens, Katlyn, Hunter, Maddy Stevens, Anna, and Aiden.

Kunkle, Nicole and Presley! Presley was sneaking licorice all night long!!

Case, Brody and I!

2009 has been a wonderful year for our family! We are looking forward to another year of health and happiness as we welcome 2010.  Happy New Year to all of you!