Week #9: Fancy Ear Plugs

This week we...

...found some fancy earplugs. Jason gave these earplugs to Benjamin as he was cleaning out our closet. Ben thought they were pretty cool. When I saw him wearing them at dinner, I it so surprised me, that I laughed out loud and quickly retrieved the camera. Isn't that such a good Benjamin smile?


...played a little game of copycat. Lainey is learning and growing so much. She loves to play along with her older brothers and sisters. So when Claire got cozy in her sleeping bag for a family movie night, Lainey wanted to do the same.


...saw teenagers and technology at their finest. I forgot this one from last week. This is my nephew during the game we were playing last Sunday. Ha! Made me smile, these kids and their phones...


...woke to a ground cover of snow. It wasn't much and it didn't stay long, but long enough for snow pants, boots, and gloves. Perfect, if you ask my kids.

Dining Room Disaster?

Not really.

Ben playing with friends Miki and Malia Cook

The kids have moved their train building inside. It used to be in the garage until it got too cold. Now they build, take down, rebuild, repeat all in the dining room and kitchen. We've had friends, insurance agents, customers, and family step over and around these train parts. And it really isn't that big of a disaster. They play together so well, for the most part. It occupies their time and expands their imaginations. I do kick them out of the kitchen area where I cook, but I don't mind stepping over the tracks because they use it so much.

One time after we had just had dinner with the missionaries, I heard Paul, Ben and Claire talking about going on missions with their trains. I didn't think they were necessarily talking about church missions until I heard Paul say, "I've got two cars with Visiting Teachers! Two cars with Visiting Teachers!" Funny!

Falling into Leaves

Grandma and Grandpa Erickson have a huge maple tree in their front yard.

We just had to go over and jump in their leaves. There were plenty.

We had to sit in the tree for a bit.

We had to throw the leaves A LOT!

We had to run and play and have tons of fun!

Lainey loved her first time in the leaves.

Secret Salon

Benjamin cut his hair. I caught him with the scissors and he fed me some story about cutting paper. It wasn't until a little later in the day that I realized that he cut his hair right off. Yep, right in front.

I told him his punishment was letting me take his picture.
He didn't much like me doing that.

We're making our lists...

They loved looking through the Target and Walmart toy catalogs that were sent out in preparation for Black Friday. We don't watch regular TV, so they haven't seen any toy commercials. They were in heaven.

First Snow of the Season

We got our first real snow of the season. It really didn't stick around that long, but the kids still had fun playing in it.

Our abandoned truck yard

Oh the wonder of falling snowflakes!

Full Toy Access, Almost!

They are almost ready to open the toys.

We can hardly wait!

Fly like an Airplane

We just couldn't stay away. We went over to the park, because the toys are almost done, and played a little...on the grass even. :)

We walked.

We ran.

We danced and laughed.

We flew like airplanes,

and walked the far reaches of the park.

We admired the grass once again.

Oh what fun to play at the park!

Orange Library Card

We went to a new library branch.
Fun for the kids, not so much for me.
I will be requesting ALL my books through the internet and
then just picking them at the reserve center.
I will go again...without Lainey...until she's older!

Playing at the neighbor's

We are finally getting a nieghbor on our left. We met them and they seem very nice. Phew! AHO was working on the lot, and of course some of my little ones found their way over there to play in this wonderful hole.

Sucker Stealer

Lainey is quick when it comes to taking candy from the other kids, especially suckers.

She whipped that sucker right out of Ben's mouth before he really even knew what had happened.
Naturally, he wasn't too thrilled. Then of course he tackled her to get it back.

Further Proof

We caught Ben just kicking back in the rocking chair.

Proof, yet again, that this boy CAN sleep almost anywhere.

Twin Tongues

Hey, what can I say? They were in a picture taking mood.
Claire has her cell phones in her pockets.

A twin pair of shoes

Benjamin and Claire got new shoes. They were in dire need of some new ones. They absolutely love to wear them. Every morning now they wake up, get changed, and put their shoes on. It's fantastic!

"I need some lipstick"

My chapstick/lipstick has remained safe for quite a while in a zippered pocket in my bag...until recently that is. Ben and Claire now know where I keep them and are constantly asking for some. Here's Ben's application technique.

Happy Real Birthday!

Benjamin and Claire got to start their day off with the fun cereal they picked out. Lucky Charms it was. It was cute at the store when I was helping them choose. They started fighting over the box of Lucky Charms. They didn't realize that there were more right behind me on the shelf. I produced another box and they were happy.

It was pretty low key today as far as celebrations go. Grandma E and Aunt Lara dropped off their gifts and we sang Happy Birthday before Jason left for work. Ben and Claire were so excited to play with their police station and Dora set. Of course, the remote control dump truck was also a HUGE hit as was the Pop the Pig game. I had THE hardest time getting them to go to bed. Emma said, "I'm glad Grandma and Grandpa buy presents." Aren't we all.

Make a Wish

We celebrated Ben and Claire's birthday today since Jason has to work tomorrow night. My sister Shelly helped prepare a delicious meal of chicken and vegetables (delish!) and we had them blow out their candles. Grandma Z's birthday is the day after Ben and Claire's so we sang to her too.

I don't know why Grandma doesn't have her own cupcake.
Something about 65 candles not fitting...

Emma had this great idea for making swirly cupcakes.
You put a drop of food coloring in and use a toothpick to swirl it around.

Cousin Trenton giving Claire a piggyback ride.

Making Minion Cupcakes

Benjamin and Claire are turning four. Hooray! Ben's request was minion cupcakes like on Despicable Me. My sister-in-law made them during the summer and Ben wanted his chance. You take twinkies, cut them in half, and use them as the head. You then use smarties and black frosting to make the goggles, eyes, hair and whatever else. We have made quite a few friends here in our new neighborhood and decided it would be fun to have them come decorate cupcakes with us.

Here's the minion making group.

Here's our minion.
He looks kinda like he got a bloody nose.

Lainey got a hold of one of the twinkies while it was still wrapped, but that didn't stop her. She popped the package and sucked out the mushed twinkie.

After cupcakes, we played some games
Red light, green light; Ben/Claire Says, and Duck, Duck, Goose

Ben and Claire received a giant, inflatable bowling set.
Very fun for the kids :: Very hard to keep the pins standing.

Playing in the back of the truck: the kids' contribution

We brought home some MDF sheets to use in the building of our office desk, cupboards, etc. The kids had a blast playing in the back of the truck. Everyone contributes to the project in their own way.

Pit Stop

On the way back from the bus stop we saw this mighty machine at work two lots down from us. Ben just plopped down on the sidewalk to watch. Mighty machines are pretty awesome.

Funny story from this morning getting the kids ready:
Paul was complaining of a hurt stomach, but I wasn't sure if he was really sick or just really hungry. He laid on the couch and I tried to get him to eat different things. Time was getting closer to when we needed to head out the door. Paul asks me, "Can I watch Star Wars?" I responded, "No, Paul. If you are sick, you will lay in your bed and nap." He didn't like that very well. Apparently he thought he could stay home and watch star wars instead of go to school.

So with five minutes before we needed to leave, I raced him upstairs and got him dressed for school with him crying all the while, "I want to watch Star Wars!" Thank Heavens for Velcro. He was even crying as we walked out to the bus stop. I reassured him that he could watch it all by himself when he got back from school. Ha!