Several things I love and a few I hate

1. Armor-all Car Care Products: I used some of these this weekend to give my car a thorough scrubbing. Just a word to the wise--these products are primarily intended for "touch-up" work, not the heavy-duty-what-in-the-heck-happened-in-your-car kind of cleaning I was doing. (Just an example, Ian took a half eating bag of still-in-the-shell peanuts and chewed them up and spit them out all around the back seat.) Anyway, the products were wonderful. My favorite was the all purpose cleaner which worked wonders on my leather seats. I didn't even realize they were so dirty. Scary. Now my car looks almost as good as when we bought it. Obviously the carpets have a little more wear and their are a few places here and there, but I'm quite pleased with the results.

2. Kraft Light-Done-Right Toasted Asian Sesame salad dressing: This was a new product I tried recently and really liked it. I don't know that I like it better than my old stand-bys, Kraft (again, light done right) Raspberry Vinaigrette, and Ken's House light honey mustard, but it was really good and definitely something I want to try again. It gets my vote, for sure. (Especially when you add some fresh strawberries, mandarin oranges, craisins, and grilled chicken to the mix of fresh romaine lettuce. YUM!!!!)

3. New water filters: We're on well water now and its definitely been and adventure. One of the new tricks we've had to learn is changing out the water filter. It's amazing what a difference that makes. Cory just switched it out and I took my first shower with the new filter. OH. MY. GOODNESS. The water pressure was amazing. I felt like a new woman after my shower. I had forgotten how wonderful it was to have strong water pressure. :)

And now for one thing I hate:
1. Pregnant comments when you're not pregnant: We went to my sister-in-law's house yesterday to celebrate my neice's birthday. Her "other" grandpa was there and of course there was lots of talk about kids and babies and all that stuff, since we all have quite a few. I was holding baby Ally (my other niece) and it was mentioned that she was not mine. And so the "other" Grandpa was like, "Yes, but you're expecting, too, aren't you?" I tried to just brush it off and said, "No, but maybe we will be before long," just to be nice and ease the awkwardness. But he was sooooo not getting it. He was like, "Well, sure you are. Aren't you?" Again, I said, "Nope. We just have the three. That's it." So he digs in even deeper, "Oh. Isn't that a maternity smock you're wearing?" So again I have to say, "No, I'm just being comfortable and fashionable. This is my 'I can eat what I want and not suck in' shirt." AWKWARD. I wanted to say, "How painful can you possibly make this for both of us? Take the hint and drop it. " As Dave Barry says, (and I paraphrase) "Unless you actually see a baby emerging from the mother, do not assume she is pregnant." In his defense, I was wearing one of the "babydoll" style shirts that are so fashionable. But come on....how many people have to say, "don't make pregnant comments" before people actually STOP doing it?

More fair pictures

Here are the crazy girls: Marleigh, Kyleigh, Elise, and Emmy. Rock on!!!!

Ian really enjoyed the baby chicks and baby ducks. Its so neat to get to hold and pet them. He was a little unsure about how much contact he wanted, but gave it a go anyway.

I know this doesn't look good or safe, but honestly, the baby chick was fine. That face is priceless. I think it perfectly captured his mixed emotions over the baby chicks.

Elise, on the other hand, was the perfect mother hen. She held, cuddled, and snuggled the babies. She even got one to sleep. :)

The State Fair

It's state fair time again!!!! We went yesterday, along with Cory's brother, sister, and sister-in-law and all our families. We have gone together the last several years and loved every minute of it!!!!! We got to the fair about 10am and ate, looked at rabbits, rode rides, ate, rode more rides, ate, held baby chicks, ate, looked at cows, huge pumpkins, fresh veggies, and ate some more. Did I mention we ate lots of good food? :) We had the most heavenly grilled corn on the cob. Its so amazing & could almost be considered healthy, if it weren't for the two pounds of butter it is drenched in. But, hey, that is what makes it so good! We also had gyros with cucumber sauce, honey buns, hot dogs, pizza, frozen lemonade, cotton candy, candy apples, ice cream, and my personal favorite--frozen cheesecake on a stick dipped in chocolate. My goodness, have you ever heard of anything so wonderful in your whole life? We finally left around 5:30pm, exhausted, dirty, stuffed and very, very happy. It was lots of fun and here are the pictures to prove it. :)

Here are Elise and Emmy at the start of the day. They already found something cool to look at.

The kids riding one of the many rides they were able to enjoy.

Our state fair has one of the biggest midways in the country, so there is so much for the kids to do.
Are they getting a little green around the gills, or is it just the light?

The boats were a big hit, but seriously, what wasn't?

The Phone Curse

I don't know what it is about phones, but I have a knack for losing, destroying or otherwise ruining perfectly good phones. Here's the history with them: I've left them out in the rain, dropped them down stairs onto a cement floor, dropped them in chocolate milk, dripped syrup into the mouthpiece making it totally useless for talking into, cut the cord, messed up antennas and the list goes on. The latest incident involves the charger for my cell phone. It is completely missing in action. It is nowhere to be found. So now I once again have a phone that is completely useless to me and anything I'd want to do with it. All it is is a fancy looking paperweight. Oh well. I should have known....

They didn't inherit my sweet tooth

When it comes to eating sweets, Elise and Ian certainly didn't get my genes. I made some homemade peanut butter and chocolate chip toffee sprinkled cookies a few days ago. One day after lunch I asked Ian if he wanted one for dessert. He paused, then shook his head. "No thanks," he said, "but I would like some grits for dessert." I also packed Elise a cookie in her lunch box as a special treat. When she brought the lunch box home in the afternoon, it was completely empty, except for the cookie, completely untouched. I, on the other hand, would rather just skip lunch and eat 15 cookies. :) Lucky for them, they'll never be a slave to chocolate.

Ian's Morning Antics

So far today we're already down a laundry basket. Here are the remains of what used to be a nice container for holding my white clothes. Unfortunately it got in Ian's path this morning...

This is how it happened. He launched himself off the bed and onto the laundry basket. The basket was no match for the strength of the amazing spiderman. We were both quite stunned that this happened and Ian was very apologetic for destroying my basket. By the time I got my camera, he was smiling and a little less alarmed than when it first happened. Thankfully, he's fine, although I can't say the same for my basket. :)

Is there an award for giving your child Doritos?

Last weekend, Cory had basketball games at church. The games were early and the kids hadn't eaten a good breakfast beforehand. We were almost to the church when Ian started complaining that he didn't feel well. That's our cue to get some food in his tummy. If he does too much before eating, he throws up. Fortunately, it doesn't happen too often, but its happened enough for us to know what to do. So we were in a hurry and just stopped in at a gas station to pick up some snacks. Gas stations, of course, are not known for their health food sections, so I ended up with a bag of sour cream and onion chips, a bag of doritos, a donut cake, a container of tic-tacs, a diet coke and a raspberry lemonade. During the game my three kids, plus my nephew, were huddled around the snack bag, scarfing down the food. At some point I looked over at another group of moms and their kids: there was a mom holding a ziploc bag of baby carrots, and her toddler eating them--happy as a clam. YIKES!!! I was sure wishing I'd thought to throw in a banana. Oh well, maybe doritos will let me be their spokeswoman. :)

Has Ian been too quiet?

It's been a while since I've posted any of Ian's escapades, so lest you think he's settling down, here they are. One morning before school we were looking for Elise's water bottle. Not finding it anywhere, we sent her with something else. Sometime during the day, I founded in the bedroom while doing laundry. I asked Ian to please take it into the kitchen and put it on the counter. A few minutes later I heard what sounded like Ian spitting out water. I heard the sound a few more times, thinking he must have stopped off in the bathroom and was spitting the water out into the sink or tub. At this point, I just got that little prickle, thinking maybe he was up to no good. So I called out to him, "Ian! Are you spitting that water out into the sink or the tub?" And he responded, "I'm not in the bathroom!" Uh oh. I took off down the hall and walked around the corner into the kitchen just in time to see him pour out the rest of the 12 or so ounce water bottle onto the floor. No matter how many times I ask the question "Why?" I get nothing. Who knows? What I do know is that he was promptly put in time out until I could get it together. (It ended up being about 10 minutes, but hey!) Then we got out the mop and cleaned up the mess.

Yesterday was Elise's dental check-up. Of course, I had the other two children as well. Just to set the scene, the dental office we go to is fancy. Almost opulent. Expensive furniture, high ceilings, chandeliers, marble floors, everything you can imagine. When we walked in the first time Elise commented, "This is the dentist? This looks like a princess castle!" So while in the waiting room, the fun began. Because of the layout of the building, there is a nice echo in the lobby area. Naturally, the kids (Ian in particular) were testing out their voices--loudly. Keep in mind there are probably 8 other people in the waiting room--no other children--and before we got going there was complete silence. Once I calmed down the hootin' and hollerin', Ian began running back and forth between two leather couches, flipping up on each one and doing a handstand. It was chaos. And since most everyone's attention was on me and my crew, its a little difficult to get things under control without causing more of a scene then we already were. It was also one of those awkward moments where everyone is feeling hopelessly sorry for you and even sorrier that they were scheduled for cleanings at the same time we were. Sometimes the kids are places and being, well, just being kids and other folks around smile and sympathize and you feel that, while they are glad it is you and not them, they don't really mind that things are crazy for you. This was not one of those times. It was so bad that when one of the kids bounced down on the couch beside this one older guy, he got up and moved to a chair. :) Fortunately, once the newness of the adventure wore off, the kids got pretty well under control and we survived the whole ordeal. I just think, some people actually 'just go to the dentist'. I feel like I went to the dentist, participated in a three ring circus, tamed a chimpanzee, fought off a kangaroo attack, and came out with my lipstick still in tact.

Fun with Numbers

The other day Elise was wanting to do something and Cory said, "You'll have to grow a few more feet tall before you can do that." Elise responded, "Daddy, that will take me, like, 600 weeks." It took Cory a second before we realized she was exactly right. :)

For family night tonight we were playing hide and seek (Ian's choice). Cory, Elise & I had all taken turns counting to 35. When it was Ian's turn, Cory asked him, "Ian what is the highest number you can count to?" Without even so much as a pause, Ian said, "Four. I can count to four." We all laughed. He can actually count a bit higher than that, but since his birthday, four is his new favorite number. :) (He counted to 20 with only a few numbers reversed and mixed up.)