Chewing catastrophe questions????

Scenario this evening: 

Plot: Young Women practicing their song for sacrament meeting before Mutual.

McKay:  Mom, I have to go to the bathroom.  (She proceeds to head out of the chapel with her hands closed very close to her chest.)

Mom:  McKay, what are you hiding?

McKay:  Nothing?

Mom: (Gave her the look.)

McKay:  My gum made my hands stuck together.

And now I know why....

....Jacob doesn't allow the kids to have gum....my gum. 

Sometimes I wonder....

....how when McKay is so smart that she is so ...... unthinking sometimes.

This is what happens when you go to practice singing and you decide to roll your gum into a ball in your hands....for 20 minutes.  It was much worse than this.  This is after she had ice in her hands for a couple minutes to get it off.  

All I can do is smile, laugh, shake my head, and take a picture for my blog.  : )  KIDS!!!!

Seen through the eyes of my Kids!

Mother's Day was nice this year. As always, I asked for the kids to "Love one another, and no teasing!"  Their response was, "Mom, that's what you always say."  I guess I still haven't gotten my wish.

I love to read what my kids write about me and how they perceive being a mom.  Katanya was asked, "What does your mom do while you are at school?"  Her response was, "She goes running and sometimes she cleans."  I'm happy with that.  She also wrote that I was as pretty as a flower, my favorite thing to do is watch TV (I wish I had time for that), and that I always say "I Love You Too!"  So sweet!

In Cruz's story titled, "My Mother: A True Story", he said that I'm happy when he cleans his room (right); that his mom always forgets to sign his binder (mostly right).  When asked what he really likes about my is "she is always happy." (heart melting)  My looks include: I'm as tall as a fence, I way 148 (wrong) and I look best in dresses.  This makes it all worth it.

On another note, Jacob made this chair.  First he hunted down an old dumptruck chair last August.  I guess he still wanted a little of the construction life.  Then he found an industrial sewing machine in September with his "leftover tool money."  Finally a couple months ago, he started putting it together, piece by piece.  He sewed every stitch.  I'm quite impressed.  So now it's his new air chair on wheels.  What a nerd.....oops I mean genius.  Gotta love him.

STRIKE A POSE....

Here is the other half..... I didn't post so many pictures to show her hair off, but because I just love her modeling skills.

In church on Sunday because of our large crowd, Kirsten, Katanya and I sat on the bench infront of Jake and all the other kids. His teaching partner in class asked him, "Did you see that girl with the pink hair?" (Jake) "Yep, it's my daughter.

THE CRAPPER

*Two weeks ago*

(Old neighbor throwing out long time broken four-wheeler and a riding engineless lawn mower. Jake trades two loads of dirt for it.)

*Today*

KIRSTEN: Dad, why did you have to get that crappy old four-wheeler? Is it because you are the crappy man?

(Kids say it best)

A letter from the teacher

Just how much does people know about your family? Leave it to the kids to tell them. Yesterday, McKay brought home an envelope from her teacher. I pulled it out and there was a post it note reading "I thought this was hillarious. I just adore Mckay. What a spirit she has! I'm glad I'm no the only one raising a drama queen." Signed, her teacher.

I unfolded the paper and this is what it said (McKay's words)

My writing assignment

"I tried to clean my room. But then my sister came down and started bawling because I was picking up our toys. Then she went and hid and I continued to clean. My dad was upstairs on the computer and heard her crying. He called her and then she told him what I was doing. Then I started crying and hid. Everytime Kirsten tried to come in I would yell 'Out! Out! Out! Out! Out! Out!' Then she told my dad what I was doing (again). My dad called me and I didn't go. He called me again. This time I put a blanket over me. My dad made me take it off though. I had to go up. I hid on a stair and I started crying again. Then I went in and called Kirsten a big fat tattle tale. I started arguing and called my dad a FIVE HEADED PIG EATER! Then my mom started laughing [I will insert here and say that Jake was egging her on. He was provoking the matter.] I called my dad a five headed pig eater because he said cleaning my room was not service. I had to do service for homework from school. But doing this gave me an even more bad day. (At school when I was coming home, I ran into a boy in my class and hit his forehead with my nose.) So that gave me a bloody nose. I got it on my white coat too. My nose is still sore. After I called my dad a five headed pig eater, my mom took me. She told me to brush my teeth. I said when Kirsten was out I would. After the prayer, I did my service. I unloaded the dishwasher. So I got my homework done. In bed I wrote this paper. I didn't want my mom to catch me because she would take my lamp away for a week. My mom had turned on the radio. As I was listening, the radio said reading in a poor light would not damage your eyes, only strain them! My mom said it did damage them. So I went upstairs to tell her. I told her I wanted a hug. Then I told her. She laughed. She was eating a popcicle. She took a bite and I started eating the rest. My dad caught me of course. Then I said I had a headache in my nose. He gave me Tylenol. I went downstairs to right this story. I'm glad reading in poor light doesn't hurt your eyes. P.S. It is true!"

I couldn't help but smile. (McKay is my one child that when she is tired, she can't handle any bit of stress. That is why bedtime is so important at my house.)

Creativity. That's all I can say. Cruz dressed himself. As hard as it was, I let him stay this way all day long.

He's also so proud of his "tractor" books. What they really are are construction auction pamplets with a list and pictures of the upcoming machinery.

P.S. Keli, I thought of you when I saw this.

Face of an Angel

Take a look. Innocent, sweet, cute, adorable are all words that come to mind. This is my baby.I had been blessed with three very easy, very mellow babies. All of them that slept the night early on in their little lives. None of them very picky, all of them happy and playful. Did I mention VERY EASY? Needless to say,my fourth, has been the exact opposite! She has been very strong and independent from birth, and I was grateful for this trait. Now, I don't know what to think. This sweet angel teases and knows just how to push my buttons. She still refuses to eat almost all foods. I've never had a biter until her. I often feel like I fight her with everything simple thing that happens in life. She's fearless and I spend most of my day trying to keep her from falling off chairs, or jumping off couches and beds. Then nighttime comes, and bedtime is another battle. Her precious attitude has made me glad that she is the last and not the first. Although it's not just me that puts up with her.... (busted....)
Kirsten and Cruz had climbed in her playpen to protect themselves from Katanya hitting them on the head with a doll. She knows how to tease and loves it. Many times she will run and grab something you are using or working with and start running around the bar saying na, na, na, na, na, na, or she runs and hides.

Where did she learn this?

Although, after all is said and done (and she is in bed and asleep) we still love her.

I'm really too young for this?

McKay came home with flowers from a boy! (She's still my baby, she's not even eight!!!!) It was a very sweet gesture. She even told him thank you. She was very shy to tell anyone about it though.
Although, a part of me wasn't sure what to think. What would you do if it was your kid?