So so much Sci Fun....

Today was a teacher workday so the boys were home from school. I was still up before 6am but it was nice not having to fight with kids to hurry and eat and to be making lunches. Mom and Dad agreed to spend the day exploring a new science center with us. My Mom and Dad gifted us with a Greensboro Natural Science Center membership this summer. The membership is also good at many other Museums and Science Centers all over the country. We have definitely used this gift. Today our adventures led us to Sciworks in Winston Salem. It was little bit further than I thought but this place was AWESOME!! The kids (including all the adults) had such a great time. We were sad we didn't plan better and allow more time there.

We left the 'boro a bit later than we would have liked and then because it was a bit further than we thought we ended up having to feed the kids before going to Sciworks. We ate lunch at Burger King. The toys were Sponge Bob Square Pants and I can't begin to tell you how bad I dislike that character/cartoon. The kids were great not to pitch a fit about not getting kids meals with toys. They did get a little hat thing that made them happy. K accidently spilled Papa's coke all over Sassy's new coat. This was only the beginning of a very exciting day. :)'

"the perfect chair mom!"

The first stop at the museum was the music room. They had a carpet piano in the floor. A2 loved crawling up and down it. K would crab walk and army crawl over the keys. Even Dampa had some fun. The fun was just beginning. They also had a bunch of kitchen utencils, pots, pans, and griddles that you could created music with. One thing I didn't get a picture of was a invisible laser harp. That was pretty neat too.

The next room was a discover the body room. As you can see there was a life-sized game of "Operation." We all had fun with that one. All the kids had fun pulling the insides out of this MASSIVE doll and then stuffing it all back inside him.

Next came the mouth... They had these big teeth set up with dentist tools so you could clean, brush, and blow air at the teeth. I love A1's serious face while she cleans the teeth. K was pretending that the mouth was going to bite down and eat him.
These pictures are from some fun rooms. The chair that Damma is sitting in was a simulator that measured your reflexes when the "light" turns green. C killed it with .04 seconds- that's almost jumping the gun. :)
The physics room was the biggest hit of all. This chair was triggered by air. A1 was a bit nervous at first and made me do it with her but after that EVERYONE had to have their turn (at least a couple of time;) )

K insisted I add the picture he took of me. :)

They had an "aging" exhibit. It was funny to see ourselves "aged". C said, "Mom, I look pretty fine at 20 but not so good at 50." I said, "Don't we all!"

On the way home, Dampa treated us to some pumpkins at the farmers market. A very good way to end such a fun day! Thank you Dampa and Damma!

Noche de Naciones

Friday night Mom and Dad had a branch party celebrating a Night of Nations. Their branch has so many members from all over the world. Members decorated tables with their native decor and made authentic food. It was very cool to see the different decorations and taste all the different flavors of Latin food. Of course, I'm always a little partial to Dads. He can really make some excellent burritos. Even the gringa's had a table. :) Mom made pancakes (of all flavors), bacon and homemade syrup. YUM! A2 really took a liking to her pancakes. K and C had a lot of fun playing with Dad's sombrero. Aren't they cute little 1/4 mexicans. LOL!

Field Trippin again... MAIZE ADVENTURE

This week I went field tripping again but with K this time. This was one of those "play" days. There was not much learnin' goin on that's for sure. On top of it all this cheesy father came as a chaperon that started bossing everyone around, which drove me nuts. At one point, I decided I was going to use the restroom. The only thing available were fairly decent port-a-potty. Well, he announces, "Come on Mom, hurry up and go potty." Like I needed him to tell me what to do let alone talk to me like a little kid. I finished and started to walk back towards our class and he comes and put his arm around me and says, "Now, don't you feel better. No sense in being uncomfortable." I wanted to scream, "YOU ARE MAKING ME UNCOMFORTABLE!" Geez! Other than the freaky dad, the day was great. K is an amazing kid. He seems so much more mature than the other kids.
The first adventure was to find our way through a 10 acre corn maze. The Crazy dad decided he was going to be the leader. (I roll my eyes) We weren't in the maze 10 minutes before a bunch of kids started whining and complaining about how dumb and stupid it was, that they were tired already, and hungry, their feet hurt. Ridiculous. But not once did one complaint come out of my K. He was such a good kid. He actually told the kids in our group about him going on hikes with his family and it was much longer and more tiring than this. He told the other boy in our group to stop whining. It was pretty funny. After our "leader" wasn't able to get us out, we decided to just ask the maze staff to get us out.
The kids then were given bags of sand and got to pan for gems. K was in heaven. He absolutely loved this part. He could have done that all day. And even though his bag of sand didn't have a lot of gems and weren't any big ones he simply said, "Mom, I didn't get as many as some other kids but that's ok. I'm really ok with that." Ah... now why can't more kids be like that. K even wanted to sit by only me at lunch. I can't say enough how much I just LOVE this boy! They were took a tram ride around the corn maze and were allowed to pick out and take home a pumpkin. K was very particular about which pumpkin he was going to bring home. In the end, he found a very good pumpkin. He says he wants to name him but hasn't found a good enough name yet. Soon to come I suppose.

Field Trippin to McColloch Mills

It's hard to believe that I have lived here 10 years and I am still finding that I have yet to see some of the neatest places around. We truly live in a place that has a lot to offer for not much. C was such a good kid. We had some good laughs and saw some really neat history. C got to pan for "gold." All of the students were sent home with a baggie full of gems. Real stuff, too. One child even found an emerald. It was such a neat activity for the kids. I know I have said it before... but I'm so grateful for these opportunities that I get to enjoy with our kids. I sometimes feel guilty that Cheeto doesn't get to.

What can I say...

A2 is just A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

She truly brings us so much happiness.

Her first tooth made it's appearance today. We were all excited. The older kids had to stick their finger in her mouth for a feel. Only after they washed their hands, of course!

Cheeto put her in a swing for the first time the other day. As you can see from this picture, She was so scared that she held her breath. Sorry she was obviously in motion so the picture is blury.

After about 5 minutes,she was one little happy camper! Like her big sister, she LOVES to swing!

I noticed that A2 started doing this a couple of weeks ago. She does it at random times.
She just sits and walks herself in circles for fun.

A very fun date...

Cheeto won tickets to the 10 year Anniversary party for The 2 Guys Named Chris show. I don't think we have laughed that hard in years. It was a lot of fun. Cheeto has met and knows most of the cast. We had a lot of fun. Thanks honey!

Our little football players

If I could only count the hours that my boys have a football in their hands or a helmet on their head. I thought these were some pretty adorable pictures.

I'm prepared

This fall I started going to a book club with my mother-in-law. I have only been twice but I have had so much fun thus far. Every month they have a door price that has something to do with the book we read that month. This past month we read "The Great Influenza." What a book to read in today's paranoia! It was very interesting. I had no idea what went on in those first influenza years. Well, this was the door prize I won. This blanket is so cozy-which I plan to be selfish with. Every mom needs a blanket that is just HERS!!! :) The basket was full of movies, Vitamin C, Mucinex, face masks, Purell, Soup, gloves, hand soups, etc. Iam very prepared if I get the flu (knock on wood!)

Roadside Cleanup Excitement

One of the final things C had to do to earn his Wolf badge was to do a roadside clean up. We live fairly close to a busy street and lots of trash gets dumped on that busy corner. The kids really did have a great time. We did find a few things in our adventure. C found a snake under a smashed milk carton. Thank goodness it was a little one or I would have been done! :) I DON'T DO SNAKES! Only if to save my child or husband! K said he found a bag. Cheeto said to leave it and he would get it. It was a make-up bag. We just tossed it in the big bag full of trash. We had HUGE rain storm come throw only about 30 minutes before we started our clean up so even though everything was wet and nasty; we still had to do it so C would finish in time. Next thing we found was a business card box full of lost of little papers and lots of magits. GROSS! Well, the best had yet to come. Not 3 feet further up the road, C yells out that he found another bag. Cheeto again said to leave it and he would take care of it. It was a purse this time. It had identification in it, some jewerly and lots of magits. Right next to the purse was some jeans. My first thought was to keep the children moving. I didn't want 6 little eyes to see something that would haunt them for years. I never did see inside the bag, just trusted Cheeto to take care of it. He called the GPD and asked if they wanted to come and get it. Because of the huge rain storm, thousands of residents were without power and taking care of trees down in streets and such. It took awhile for them to come. It was about 10:30pm when an officer shows up at our door. Cheeto was at a friend's house watch Monday night football. I couldn't believe how nervous I got talking to a police man. I'm sure I could have looked guilty with as bad as my nerves were. Why? I have no idea! He said he would take the bag, my information and let me know if he needed anything else. He said if the owner couldn't be reached the bag would be filed as evidence. We haven't heard anything. I'm so grateful that's all we found. When I told my mom she said, "Geez, Shena... What if you found a body?" Thanks mom! Way to give me nightmares!

C gets his Wolf

C received his Wolf Badge this week. He has been working very hard to get it completed. We are so proud of him and can't believe how fast time flies. He was so excited for this night. He was bouncing off walls. As you can see in the picture below... this was not our average "shy" C! He was posing and being very silly!

So was A2!

A2 has got the giggles... ALL OF THE TIME!!

I'm so not kidding that A2 has to be the happiest baby! A1 can give her the giggles by just looking at her some days. This morning A2 had found C's recorder on the couch. A1 blew in it once and then handed it to A2. I really didn't think she would make it work. Well, i was wrong. She thought she was pretty cute, and of course, A1 and I thought she was. The video is about 3 minutes but it's really the last minute that she really got into it- so keep watching.
What's even more funny is that when we watch the videos of A2 on the computer, A2 will laugh harder at herself again. I don't know what it is about watching herself that makes her giggle more the second time.


ELEFUN!!!

Funny Kid Quote of the Day
Very often the kids wake up at the crack of dawn. Usually on Saturday morning the boys will just turn their light on and play in their room until about 6:45-7am. A1 will go in their to play too. C has gotten to where he will listen for A2 and take her in there with them as well. Last Saturday A1 comes running in and says, "Mommy, my boys are not being very nice! They are suppose to be my brothers!" After a couple of minutes of cuddling with me asked what we were going to do that day. I said, "Just Saturday errand stuff." She asks, "Can we go to the store and get some new brothers? Some that will be nice to me. " She didn't like my answers. #1-You can't buy your brothers and #2- there are no refunds or exchanges.

K goes to State

K got his daddy day! Tio and H gave us some tickets to the NC State game. There were only 2 so Cheeto had to decide whom he was going to take. Of course, I wanted to go just to have my Cheeto time. :) However, I knew that one of the boys would have more fun. I thought they would play rock-paper-scissors for them. C surprised me and said, "Dad, it's K's turn. I got to go to the Panthers practice and fanfest." He is sure growing up! K was so excited he could hardly stand it. All day he would ask me how much longer until they left. I, of course, had to beg Cheeto to remember to take me at least one picture. Thanks for the tickets! NC State won by a landslide so it wasn't that exciting of the game.
C and I stayed home and watched the BYU game. C told me I was cool because I would sit and watch a football game with him even though Dad wasn't with us. I usually only enjoy watching them with Cheeto. But C was a good subsitute. He is quite the little man these a days. I had pulled a muscle across my shoulder and chest just a few hours before K and Cheeto left for the game which made carrying A2 almost unbearable. C was awesome and did all the lifting for me and even made dinner- even if it was only cereal and toast. :) I am very blessed!

WAKE UP and give them some attention! :)

A father came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door.

SON: 'Daddy, May I ask you a question?'
DAD: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the man.
SON: 'Daddy, how much do you make an hour?'
DAD: 'That's not really any of your business.. Why do you ask such a thing?' he said angrily.
SON: 'I just want to know... Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'
DAD: 'If you must know, I make $50 an hour.'
SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down. 'Daddy, may I please borrow $25?'
DAD:The father was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.'

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money? After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down , and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $25.00 and he really didn't ask for money very often The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. 'Are you asleep, son?' He asked.. 'No daddy, I'm awake,' replied the boy. 'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the man. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $25 you asked for.' The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you daddy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father. 'Why do you want more money if you already have some?' the father grumbled. 'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied. 'Daddy, I have $50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.' The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness.

Now I know some of this is just a bit silly but I also know that I get so caught up with what I think I need to get done RIGHT NOW that I forget to really sit down with the kids. What a slap in the face to have a child feel like he has to buy attention from his/her parent! I hope to be better!!!

Meet Jacob Black and the Volturi

Cheeto... prepare to roll your eyes! :)
Those Quilette boys are just not very ugly!!!



Ya think I'm a wee bit excited!!!!! :)

New pics for the mantel

I have been such a slacker about getting kids pictures take this year. I got A1's done and haven't done anythings since. I have been getting their pictures taken around their birthdays ever since they were a year. The first year they get them every 3-4 months.
Thanks to a friend for helping me get these done!

Little Miss Priss wasn't about to cooperate. She wasn't a fan of the grass touching her. All she wanted to play with was a tube of gel. That pouty cry is her unique little face. Well, I shouldn't say unique because she cries just like K used to. She doesn't fuss often so it's ironic we got it on camera. She is pretty much like the bottom right picture.

She wears a smile that can grab you a mile away.

My sweet C! He is growing up to be quite the little man. He has a precious smile that gets me when he will do it. He gets easily frustrated so I don't get this smile everyday.

K just has a natural twinkle in his eye! He literally melts my heart!
That brother picture is so them!

Dampa is BACK!!!!

Dampa A had been in Mexico since the first of July. Our kids were really starting to wondering if he was coming back. There was no real guarantee that he would be back on a certain date. So even though he said he was going to come on Thursday, Cheeto and I decided not to say anything to the kids until they actually saw him just so we wouldn't have to deal with disappointed kids if something came up and he didn't come. As you can tell, the surprise was awesome for A1. She had the best reaction of all the kids.

A2 wasn't sure if she still remembered him. She is 100% a mama's girl. She even does this for Cheeto sometimes so it was no shock to me that she wasn't all about Dampa from the get go.

Watch Sassy's excitement as she waits for her brothers to walk in the door. I think she was just as excited to surprise them as Dampa was. Because she knew about Dampa being home, we knew she wouldn't be able to keep a secret from the boys to be able to surprise them when we went over there for dinner. Dampa came over and waited for them to get off the bus. They were glad to see him but more excited to show him all of their summer rock collections and birthday presents. BOYS!

All things little girls do... and more

These are some fun random pictures.

Most of which that happened during the day while the boys were at school.

She wouldn't be a Daddy's girl, would she?
When I was teaching Kelson is parts of the body(ie hands, feet, legs, arms, neck, head, elbow... etc) we would take sidewalk chalk, lie down and draw an outline of ourselves. They thought it was so much fun then that every time we get the chalk out we have to draw bodies on the drive way. By the end of the day it looks like a massive crime scene. :)

A2 is really starting to become a playmate for A1. Sassy has been waiting a long time for her to start actually playing with her. A2 really had a great time getting pushed around the house in a doll stroller. And of course, Sassy thought she was pretty cool doing it.

Pretty in Piggy Pink. I bought this Miss Piggy satin fabric on a a half off the half off clearance rack. I think I ended up getting 2 yards of it for only $1. I didn't care that Miss Piggy wasn't even someone my kids knew. It was a deal and I thought it would make some pretty darn cute jammies. I cut the pattern out way back in May and it has sat on my sewing table ever since, well until last week. Sassy's pj's were all getting pretty small was it was because she needed them that I sat down one morning to actually sew them. She said she felt like a princess wearing them because princesses would wear pretty and slippery pajammies.

Is that not just a Sassy pose?

This just shows that even a baby can figure out how to get herself out a sticky situation.
All she needed was a little direction. :)

One night I went in to check on A2 one last time before bed. I went to grab whatever she was laying on only to find that she was cuddling her own foot. How is that even comfortable even for a 9 month old baby?A couple of weeks ago C came in after school and said he needed my help. I asked him what for. He then explained that he really did try to do it himself but should have asked me first. He first got his football stuck in his tree. He thought he could get it out by throwing a bamboo stick. Nope that was now stuck too. He tried a bat next- same result. Then he took my broom. Silly kid got that stuck too. We now had a tree full of toys and household cleaning tools. I got the broom and stick out but we had to wait for Cheeto to get home to get the rest out. We had so much fun trying to use different items to get them out. The kids and I were laughing so hard as people would drive by and see us shaking and throwing sticks into a tree.
Of course, it had to be in the front yard! :)

I really did teach her the correct way. We were at the beach driving to Wilmington when I heard her singing to herself in the backseat. After about 20 minutes of her repeating this song I realized what she was singing. Amazing what a little 3 year old can make up and spell on her own. FYI... if you didn't catch it... listen real close after L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S.....

Panthers vs. Steelers

I know this is almost 2 weeks late but my computer has been giving me major problems. Ok... I can't blame it all on my computer. I have been busy doing hands the past week. And of course, homework has started and is kicking my butt most nights. I suppose that they are finally posted is progress no matter how late it is.

Cheeto's sister got us some great tickets to the Panthers vs. Steelers game in Charlotte. "ALL" my boys were so excited to go. This was both of the boys first time to the stadium. Excitement wasn't close to what they were. Don't get me wrong... I was too! I enjoy football, especially when I can watch it with Cheeto. However, he is on an entirely different level of dedication than any other man or woman I know. He is very serious and tense when he watches his teams play. We were lucky this was a pre-season game so he could relax just a "tiny" bit and enjoy it with us. I really doubt he would have taken all of us with him if it were a regular season. We distract him too much. :) Hey if that's the worst addiction he has... I'm ok with that!

Sir Purr was awesome! He hung out with the boys quite a bit.

We had a great time before the game. The boys had fun playing with Sir Purr and practicing there football skills. C was especially excited to play at the "Kids Combine-Play 60." This was free and wore the poor kids out.

Cheeto said that K told him the only thing he really wanted was to get his face painted. Cheeto found him a place and he did it. He was thrilled to get both cheeks done. He really was the only one that cheered for both teams. Mostly because he couldn't make up his mind. Maybe because out of all my kids he is the one that is always concerned about others feelings. He would be the one to make sure things were fair. :) He couldn't turn his back on the Steelers. Check out the pictures of A2 sitting on the table by the "Top Cat's". This is going to sound really ugly.. but they are not very pretty girls. Of course I think the cutest one is the baby sitting on the table. :)


Mom got a new camera two days before the game. I keep telling myself "thou shalt not covet, Shena"!!!! The zoom on this camera was awesome, having great seats helped too.

I was able to get some great shots of our favorite players. These were cropped so they are still a bit blurry but still considering we were quite a ways up these are still impressive for a little hand-sized camera.
The Panthers were on the opposite side of the field so the Panthers players pictures are more blurry. Sorry!These are the pictures that Cheeto just smiles and puts up with me. This picture of C is so funny to me. He kept looking at his watch and then asking me how much longer he had to sit and watch the Panthers get killed. About half way through the 4th quarter he leaned over to K, who was pretty much asleep in my lap, and asked if he could wear his Steelers hat. He had had enough. He was going back to being a Steelers fan! :)

Lots to Think about....

Sunday we had a combined Priesthood/Relief Society lesson, taught by our bishop. It left such an impression on me that even 2 days later, I'm still thinking about it. There were lots of things he talked about that had him concerned for our families. Lots of which are not even an issue like virtual gaming, tattooing, body piercing, same sex attraction, and delaying marriage/children (pretty much jumped into that one. :) ).
However, the others he mentioned have been weighing on my mind. He talked about how we are one day going to be held accountable for our children. Heavenly Father gave us these children to teach and to carry on the gospel from generation to generation. Bishop told a story about a girl he sat next to in college. They were the only two married with children in the class so they talked frequently. She found out Bishop was a member of the church and mentioned that her grandfather was a member but moved to Texas then fell away from the gospel. She was raised a strong, active baptist, nothing wrong with that, except that because of the actions of her grandfather she was never able to receive the blessings of the gospel. I do not want my grandchildren, great grandchildren to be denied those blessings because of something I did. It's such a responsibility placed upon our shoulders to make sure we teach these four children we have been given to be strong members of the church, to love their Savior, to gain their own testimonies and to want to carry on the gospel to their families. One day I will stand and be judged, I pray that it will be a good day and I can stand and be proud of what I have done. There are days now I believe I have failed.
Another subject he talked about was how so many of us are living in fear daily. Living in fear of the economy, crime, divorce, health, schools, and the education of our children. Hope is not something we often talk about in a real sense. We need to go forth with faith. To have faith that through staying righteous and doing what we are asked that Heavenly Father will take care of the rest. We need to make sure our children know that we walk in faith. So often I'm so guilty of living with fear. I lean on Cheeto's faith so much more than my own. How do I tell my kids to have faith when so often I don't have it myself? He also mentioned making sure our kids, specifically our boys, get a good education. Boys specifically because they will one day have the responsibility of "providing, presiding and protecting" their families. These are the sole roles of a husband and father, in that order. What a responsibililty I'm so glad I don't have. Cheeto is a fabulous man! :) I pray one day we will show C that learn can be fun. and will enjoy school.
C, for his homework last night, had to complete some sentences. To him they were just sentences, but they were really "get-to-know-you" questions. One was... I wish my mother__________. C wrote .... was fun. :( OUCH! Do I try so hard to make sure everything else is done that I forget to play with the kids? I feel like I sacrifice my time to spend with them doing fun things, planning day trips to Raleigh, camping trips, trips to the beach... yet still. I'm NO FUN!!! (sigh) Maybe these are just a glimpse of what his teenage years will be like. Another one of his sentences was... I wish I would never__________. He wrote.... get in trouble. C gets so frustrated sometimes and lashes out with anger. He has been growing out of it this past summer. He feels like if you ask him to stop doing something then he automatically in trouble. I hate that he feels like he is in trouble all of the time. However, it is still our responsibility to teach him to be a young man that respects and loves those around him, one that knows there is a time and place for joking and seriousness. This is not easily done the world today!!!!! So many of his friends, even adults, around him don't behave in such a way. K is starting to follow in his footsteps. I pray that we survive the next few years. I know with Cheeto by my side, all is well, but it sure isn't easy! Well, HE did say that it wouldn't but it would be worth it right?