Funny Kids

My kids, in my biased opinion, have been so entertaining the last couple of days! I love days when they make me laugh and I am medicated enough that their craziness and messes don't really affect my mood!

I am not a morning person so the other day when Samantha and Will decided to start their day really early I wasn't down with it. I turned some cartoons on and sat on the couch with them while I dealt with the fact that I needed to wake up. They were watching Higgletown Heroes. In this episode the hero was a plumber who fixed the water so they could fill a tank with water and their pet Bob would be happy. Since we have a fish named Bob I said to the kids that is funny that their fish is named Bob too. They both looked at me and said..."It is a turtle Mom...where are your glasses?"

I had the kids help me deliver some Christmas gifts. The gift was a sand dollar so I told them to be very careful and if the people didn't answer the door to set it down softly because it would break. They were doing great and I noticed that every door Will went to he would say something when the people opened the door. This is odd because unless you see Will on a regular basis the chances of him speaking to you are slim to none! So I rolled down my window to see if I could hear what he was saying. He walked up the path, rang the door bell, the people opened, Will said "DON'T BREAK IT!" Great Will that is the true Christmas spirit!

The kids drew names within our family for Christmas. We took them to the store and let them pick out their gifts. On the way home Samantha told Dave she wanted to listen to some popular music. Dave asked her what popular music was and she said...."like hip-hop". Could somebody please erase the word popular from her vocabulary!

Samantha and Will were playing with some play cell phones. Samantha said my phone is ringing and it is really early in the morning so it must be Japan. Then I heard them talking about checking their emails on their phones and that it would just be better to text message each other. Since when do kids not talk on play cell phones....text messaging, please!

Ben Ben

Ben and I attend a playgroup with his Physical Therapist once a week. This week was a Christmas party for the kids and their families. So Ben, Samantha, Will and I went to his Christmas party.
Ben was right at home being his naughty self! He started out innocent as always!


Then he started to stand on the chairs and crawl on the tables!

Then while his brother and sister did their art projects he decided to put the glue stick, that is in his hand below, all over his hand and stick his hand into a bowl of cotton balls!


Ben, Ben Ben....what are we going to do with you? Why can't you just be content to sit and do art projects like your siblings?


Then came Santa...
Obviously he was a hit! The only one of my kids who would sit on his lap was Will. Samantha yelled that he was fake because he didn't have on real Santa shoes! I guess we don't have to go to the mall and see Santa this year since it would just be a waste of our time!

Pictures

Every time I try to take pictures of my kids I know why I don't have more pictures of them. It never goes the way I imagine it in my mind. This year I gave up on the family picture idea because it just wasn't working out and last year we didn't even send Christmas cards so I decided I would just take pictures of the kids at a local park and call it good. I guess everyone else in Utah Valley had the same idea because there were a lot of people there and of course I was in my pajamas! Dave was a great help and I don't know how I would have done it without him and still have my sanity and all three of my children! The picture above says it all..Ben wants to make it difficult for his mom, Will is praying it ends soon and Sam is just enjoying watching everyone else but the camera!

Sam and Will are old enough that it is not so bad to take pictures of them. It was just hard to get them to look at us not all the other people taking pictures and to do real smiles! Ben is a different story. I should get used to this child's evil nature but I keep hoping it will be different! We did finally get a cute head shot of him but we couldn't get it to fit into the space on the card!

Sam and Will decided to eat dinner in what they called Japanese style the other night. This involved sitting on the floor on the pillows from the couch.

Sam has also been working on boosting my mothering self esteem. She climbed on the counter to get a cup and yelled to me that is wasn't Halloween. I came in the kitchen and asked her what she was talking about and she looked at the light fixture and said I needed to take the cobwebs down. Then she asked if she had to go back to school after Christmas. I told her that Riley, Katelyn and Chad still go to school and she would be going to school for a long time. To that she replied so you go to school, then you go to work like Dad unless you are a Mom then you do nothing!

Oh, Christmas Tree

I grew up with a themed Christmas tree. The theme....ceramic mice in different Christmas poses made at Hartvigsen, a special needs school. I think in this day and age it would be called a sweatshop. My mom would buy the ornaments and prepare them for painting, she would paint them, sometimes we would get to paint one, then we would spray them in the garage and up on the tree they went.

Dave grew up with a Christmas tree decorated with every ornament him or his brothers ever made and ones they had collected from different locations.

When we got married we didn't agree on the Christmas tree subject. I wanted the theme tree Dave wanted the hodgepodge tree. So we avoided it all together and since we weren't ever home on Christmas we didn't have a tree until we had Samantha.

I finally gave into Dave and our tree consists of ornaments the kids have gotten from their Grandparents, ones we have made, ones we have collected from our travels and of course Spiderman, Batman, Simpsons, Spongebob and the leg lamp.

I am grateful we don't have the themed mice tree since our tree gets decorated and redecorated everyday. We would have broken mice all over the floor.

Dave and I put the tree up while the kids were asleep to avoid them causing extra stress to the project. Then when they got up Sam and Will put up all the ornaments on by themselves. They did get a stool this year so they are some high and low. Last year they were all in the middle and bottom of the tree. Sam said this is good times, good times. Will said it was the most wonderful day! Please notice the ornament stuck to the star...the only way that could have gotten there is if at some time it was airborne. Also the kids were sporting their Royal Knights shirts again because of Jace's game!

The kids also decided their Christmas stocking could be real socks that were great for skating on the floor. They had a great time but this is how most activities end at our house!

Thanksgiving

There are so many things I am thankful for my family, our house, and Dave having the week off! It has been so fun and relaxing for me to have him here. He has been a great help with our little devil Ben!

Ben doesn't sleep. I have said that before and I know you all think I am exaggerating but, it is getting annoying. I don't know if he likes having one on one time with either Dave or I or if he likes the crap we feed him just to keep him entertained. Whatever the reason the kid can function on 3 hours of sleep just fine. He went two nights in a row without having his little party and I was so hopeful that he would change his ways. No luck, last night he was up again!

We started our festivities with a Thanksgiving party at Will's school. Will was so excited to have his Dad come to his school. Will is a Daddy's boy. This whole week he will go get a toy and then come and sit next to Dave and play with it. It is so cute!

Thanksgiving day was spent with Dave working all morning, bowling and then the feast. We bowled on Thanksgiving last year so I thought it would be fun to do it again this year. However, Ben was so tired and Will wanted to be Mr. Independent and anytime someone helped him he would cry. Besides the crying boys we did have fun. Dave won overall, of course, but the McLay's did lose to the Smith Family. Sam is becoming quite the bowler. She puts her fingers in the holes and throws the ball all by herself. No bumpers or anything! As I was watching her I was worried I was going to lose to a 6 year old!

This year Thanksgiving was with the Harmer family. Since Heidi and Holly took their families to Royal City to watch Jace's football game our gathering was small. Our meal was delicious and the day pretty uneventful. Sam and Will played some games and did some crafts with Scott's and Kelle's kids but that was about it! We like peaceful gatherings since they are rare in the Harmer family!

Samantha is still trying to be a comedian. Now when she or someone else in the family says something that is supposed to be funny she will say, "No one is Laughing". I did make her laugh though when I accidentally swallowed her capsule that turns into a sponge bear. I thought it was my medication!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

We have been asking the kids what they want for Christmas and have gotten no where. When I was little, I remember making a list from the Sears catalog. All I get from my kids are total impossibilities.

I have a rule that if an animal poops we can't have it in our house. Our kids don't get this. Samantha wants a dog, a real panda, a bunny and a rat. Will wants a horse. Ben is the only one who hasn't asked for a pooping animal. I think he knows I clean up enough of his poop that it is a definite NO!

Samantha is now asking for an elf to do her chores. Dave asked her what chores she had that were so bad. She replied that she has to pick things up all the time. Dave responded by telling her to not get things out anymore. Now she wants the elf to go to school for her so she can stay home. She is talking me into asking for an elf to come do all my chores!

Today I was taking her to school and she was calling all the houses "cribs". I might let her watch The Simpson's but I don't recall her watching MTV Cribs. I asked her where she got all the stuff she says from and she told me "Heavenly Father...he made everything, duh".

Will is also training to be a comedian. The other day I told him to go potty before his bus came. He started to walk away pulled his pants down and said, "You want to see a cute bum bum". He also told Dave he was fat the other day because he was taking up to much of the bed. He is still singing every song on the radio and Dave and I love to adjust the mirror to watch him!

Ben has been a nightmare lately. He has slept very few hours during the night the last 5 days. Today I took him to the doctor hoping there was some underlying reason for his behavior. Nope! He has just inherited his Dad's genes. Once again he is lucky he is so cute or I don't know how much more I could take from this boy!

Today he had physical therapy and performed like a champ. He stood by himself forever and walked backwards with his push toy. Dave says it is just because he likes to perform for girls and his therapist is a girl!

Go Jace

Just a shout out to big #76! We love you Jace and wish you luck in your big game today! Since BYU is also playing I was trying to decide if the kids should wear Cougar blue or Knight black. Since I am not to happy with BYU right now and Dave is never happy with BYU they are supporting the Royal Knights and of course their favorite knight Jace!

The kids might love Jace but Ben doesn't love the leaves. I thought I would get some cute pictures of him playing in the leaves but he had another objective! I still think he is cute even when he screams!

Last night the kids were so crazy so I took them for a drive to calm them down. When we returned Dave asked Sam how it went. Her reply" We are still crazy."

If you have ever wondered what Saturday morning looks like at our house. Here ya go!

Nana and Papa

We were lucky enough to have Dave's parents spend the weekend with us. The kids are always so excited for extra attention especially from Nana and Papa. I did have to do a little clean up since Will took it upon himself to decorate our house. How could I be upset though since when I went to ask him about it he was reading the scriptures in his underwer and discreatly flipping me off!

Before the big arrival we met Dave's friend Rich and his family at jump on it! Thanks Harper's for hanging out with our crazy crew. We always love jumping, running and flipping! Ben likes to bounce since he can't run, jump or flip yet! This time it was nice because we were almost the only ones there so the kids got to go crazy!

Every time Dave's Dad comes to visit we get to go to the Air Force Museum. I am proud to announce this time there was a new helicopter and they have added a little hands on section that the kids loved. I have lived in Utah my whole life and until I met Dave I had never been to the Air Museum. I have repented of my ways thanks to Papa. Samantha wanted to see if Uncle Roo's plane was there. She was so proud that his plane is bigger than all the planes there. She also thinks Uncle Sean is a General...I won't burst her bubble. Sam and Will liked seeing Uncle Sean's plane in the museum but, since it was at the end they didn't have to many questions.

Ben was exhausted from his stroller ride through the museum so while he was sleeping Dave and his parents took the kids to Jungle Jim's. Samantha thought it was pretty funny that Jungle Jim's had Papa's name in it.

Nana became Ben's best friend during their visit. It was a good break for me! I know I am biased but he is SO cute. You can't help but pick him up and play with him all day. Now Nana knows why nothing gets done at our house. When I have to decided between playing with the kids and chores....the kids win!

Nana and Papa also took pity on Dave and I and racked some of the leaves in the backyard. The kids loved helping rake and jumping in the leaves. Now they have bug bites all over them.

All in all it was a great weekend with Nana and Papa. Thank you for coming to visit and please come more often!

P.S. Samantha just told me that she fights with Will because she loves Kung Fu Panda and Po gives her the power to fight!