Holiday Craziness Hits Early

Warning! Super long post ahead.

Ok, maybe it's not just the holidays.  Maybe my kids are just like this.We have moments in the house that are so perplexing. What are you doing?, You've got to be kidding me, What are you thinking? or simply a jaw drop to the floor have all been heard a time or two.

E has been known to color on walls, take a marker to the carpet, squirt a water bottle all over the house, and leave food messes everywhere. It's not that bad, I'd have to say. 

But one day she did THIS! I was not a happy Mom.

The boys are different, of course. It seems they begin each day with some sort of crazy plan in their brain. What can I get into today? What can I break, rip or soak to get a reaction out of one of those girls? How can I prove to Mom that I am bigger, stronger, and oh so independent? A and I were talking the other night about this, and lately, it seems there is something happening every day. Is it a boy thing? Is it an almost twin thing? Is it a stage they're going through? Is it our parenting skills? I don't know, but whatever it is...it's exhausting...and my house is almost in shambles.

I've blogged about a few instances where the boys get into the refrigerator and start a smashfest. Remember the eggs? They have smooshed tomatoes into furniture.They have sloshed milk around in the kitchen way too many times to count. And no matter what I do, I think I will always have milk splattered on my cupboards and baseboards daily. Someday, I'll repaint to rid the ceiling of all those milk spots that just won't disappear no matter how much I scrub. The worst milk incident was in the living room. E had a 'dinner' set up around the coffee table, complete with chairs, books for plates, and silverware. The boys emptied two gallons of milk everywhere. I was walking through milk! Literally, milk was moving across the top of my feet as I hurried to soak it up.

Most things, I don't have time to take a picture of (milk in living room). Some things, I'm upset about and I don't think about the camera at all. But every once and awhile, I take a picture to remember all the crazy things my kids have done. It's usually true that I'll look back at something and laugh about it. It may not be funny in the moment, but it soon will be. 

I'm sure the crazy list will grow as they do, but for now, here are a few things off the top of my head.

*Getting into any type of lotion, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, soap, or shampoo and smearing it all over the body and surrounding area. It's like an addiction. MUST HAVE HAND SANITIZER!

*Filling the sink full of soap and then letting the water run, flooding the bathroom with water and suds.

*Ripping up the linoleum flooring in the kitchen. Yip. We LOVE the way it turned out. So fashionable.

*Taking markers, crayons, and colored pencils to the walls, bedding, and furniture.

*Breaking their cribs, side table, coffee table, toys, and home decorations. I still can't believe they climbed up the back of the couch, ripped the picture frames from the wall, and not only left holes in the wall, but broken frames on the floor.
 

*Shredding bagged and boxed food, books, bedding and clothing. I'm not talking holes in the knees from playing. I'm talking the hulk and ripping pajamas from their body. And that's not a food stain on his pjs. It's paint. That was from the time W climbed on top of his crib railing, stretched to the top of the armoire, and knocked off a bucket of craft paints that I put up there to keep away from the boys. He then got into a few bottles and painted himself and the carpet.

*Ripped apart the grill cover, released the gas of a brand new gas tank, and pushed the grill to the ground. The fall dismantled several things, but to tell you the truth, we have yet to check the damage on that one.  

*Need to get out of the fence? No problem! Simply climb over it, hang on it, bend it, sit on it, or pull repeatedly until you get what you want. When you're free you can visit a neighbor, dig up the landscaping paper under the plants, or dig trenches around the air conditioner.
 

*Shredding used diapers from their body. We just love this one. Makes the room smell so fresh and clean. If you think this is a sign for potty training them...it's not. It's really not.

 

*Scratching, banging, kicking the walls and outside screens to create permanent marks and holes. Yes, parts of sheet rock are missing...holes are all over the house.

*Tore off the railing to our beadboarded hallway. Um, yeah...O grabbed the rail and ripped it off the wall. It was nailed. This is the second one he took off. The first was a four foot section across the top.

*Dumping 1/4 container of laundry detergent in the hallway and then walking through it...and then touching everything.

*Randomly sampling food in the fridge.

So, where's Mommy when all these things happen? I'm here, believe it or not. The boys are fast and they work together on most things. The second I go to the bathroom, they spring into action. The phone ringing is a battle cry for mischief.  My footsteps on the stairs are the All Clear signal to move ahead with their rascally plans.

Things are a little crazy around here. Nothing we can't handle, but I've had my days where I don't feel bad about leaving the house when Daddy gets home. I know some of you can relate. Am I right?

So, is this normal? Medically, they're normal. Developmentally, they are average, if not above in a lot of areas. So, is it a boy thing? Is it an almost twin thing? Is it a stage they are going through? Please tell me it's a stage. Some of you have already told me it's a mix of all these things. Hmmm... Time will tell, I guess. 

In the mean time...batten down the hatches!

 Regardless, they are

 still my rainbow

at the end

of a rainy day.

Fall Festival

Another fun and successful church Fall Festival under my belt. I'm so glad a had some help this year.

For the Fall Festival, we were the Cinderella crew- Cinderella, Gus, Jaq, Prince Charming and the Fairy Godmother. Our budget was tight, time was short, and the stress was high, so I did the best I could with costumes. E was pleased as punch!

I bought the purple dress at Goodwill for $3. It was an XXL with a neckline that plunged halfway to my belly button. So...I took it apart and remade the dress to fit.  I made the cape for E a couple years ago and I recovered headbands from The Dollar Store. I made large 'shoes' for the boys out of khaki denim I had and their hats were made from old t-shirts.Daddy's cords and fringe were cheap and all the gold fabric was left over from last years' costumes. E's dress was the only one I spent a little bit of money on. She has a lot of layers made of both cloth and tulle. I wish I had a pattern to follow to make the creation a little less stressful, but that just wouldn't be my style.

The boys kept their hats on the entire afternoon. Yeah! And yes, I purposefully made O's t-shirt too short so his belly could hang out just like Gus. Unfortunately, O slimmed down in October. E loved her sparkly Cinderella shoes. As we were getting ready, she danced in them and then...DONG! Oh no! I have to go! As she began to run, she left a shoe behind for Daddy to pick up. But I don't even know your name! he yelled after her. Then the chase with lots of laughter.

Gus

Getting ready to play games at each trunk.

Jaq...all he wanted to do was eat the candy. And you know...my boys didn't even know what candy was until this event. To this day, they still ask for candy.

We were so happy to have Rapunzel (cousin L) finally join us for the festivities!

Cinderella bowling. D is quite impressed with her skills.

Fishing for candy!

Near the end of Trunk or Treat, I lost sight of O. We had 6 kids in our caravan, weaving in and out of other children doing games and I suddenly lost sight of O. Look left, look right. Call out his name. I then ask others around me as I move throughout cars. Soon I had a couple other moms looking for him. I wanted to flip out, but talked myself into remaining calm. Within 20 seconds (which felt like forever), another mom found him. He was screaming and crying as loud as he could, but no one heard him because he had his head stuck in the church door. His head was on the inside and his body on the outside. He was a mess- snotty, tear streaked and red faced. Poor thing. He was done with Trunk or Treating. He just wanted to hang out with Daddy, which really meant, I get to dig into candy while Daddy's busy. He was found stuffing his face with candy...dripping down the front and stuck to his cheeks. 

Everyone did such a great job on their trunk games. We had so much fun! It just gets better and better every year. We get more trunk games and several more people dress up, which always makes it more fun! After the Trunks, we then had soups and chili with lots of yummy bread. We had contests for the food and costumes. Our family won a prize for best themed costumes. I was, I mean, we were thrilled. ;)

Annual Family Bonfire

We love our annual bonfire. It's one our highlights of fall. This year we were at the old farmhouse for the festivities, and although we were at at new place, things were just as awesome.

We had a rip roaring fire, for sure.

The boys loved exploring the place.

I think everyone had a turn 'driving' the tractor.

Sound effects galore!

 All the kids were given pumpkin lanterns to run around with and the girls loved their glow in the dark necklaces.

 We roasted hot dogs as part of our dinner outside in the chill. Then we made s'mores, had donuts and lots of hot cider. The kids couldn't get enough of the cider, especially W.

We invited friends to the special occasion and they loved it, especially the s'mores.

Grandma doesn't disappoint with her festivities. (She's lookin' a bit unclear because of the smoke). My sister and her family joined us as well. And guess what W has in his cup? Cider! Probably his 29th cup.

We piled onto the hay for our hayride through the woods. We were charting new territory this year and it turned out fabulous. I think we only had one person get smacked in the head from a low branch. Much better than in the past. One year, we all had to lean into the middle to avoid thorny branches. Those can hurt when you don't see them in the dark!

Our friends' little one. He was going strong all evening.

Pa created a great trail for us. He even rigged up orange rope lights to go around the trailer.

I think W talked the entire ride. He told us about the lights, the moon, the trees, the hay and a dozen other things, I'm sure.What a little chatterbox. He was probably wondering why his siblings have such messy faces.

Everyone was taking pictures and enjoying the ride. Grandma joined us for the second ride, along with the missionaries, who showed up to chow down. They couldn't resist such an event!

Look at that face! I'm surprised because it looked like he inhaled his food!

Aunt S with 2 of her kids. Good times were had by all, I tell ya!!

Does this scream fun or what?!!

 This is Baby B. Poor guy. He didn't make it to the bonfire this year because his cozy bed really wanted to snuggle with him.

Maybe next year, buddy.