THAT DARN DOG!!!!!

In December we had puppies and when we couldn't get rid of the runt we decided to keep her, bad idea. She eats everything. She has a really long tongue (I swear it stretches) so even from her crate she can reach things she's not supposed to have. A week ago she managed to reach the cord to my computer, which was on the kitchen counter out of her reach, and she ate it. My first instinct was to kill the dog but there were too many kids watching me freak out and I didn't want to have to explain to other parent why there kids can't stop crying. My next thought was to just open the door and let her play in the front yard for a while and see if she was still there when Oscar got home. She doesn't go far without her mama. By the time he got home I had calmed down a little so she's safe for now. Now I have to share a computer with four kids which is very frustrating. The kids are hopeful she'll make to her first birthday but I doubt it.

Left Behind!

After 12 years and 7 kids Kariann and I finally lost one. (Tanner did get lost in walmart once but Oscar was the one that lost him so that doesn't count) When the were little we would take them to the the mall, the park, the movies, walmart, everywhere. We even took like 12 kids to sixflags once and didn't loose a single child. I took my four to Chicago with two layovers and never lost any of them. Now that they are older we just tell them go get in the car and put on your seat belt and usually they do it. And if they don't one of the others always tattles and we thump them in the head and tell them to get in the car. For some reason today we made it all the way to the car, counted heads, told them to get in while we said our goodbyes and Kariann and I got in the car and drove off. Somewhere between counting heads and telling them to load up Zander wandered off. We got almost to the house before Hannah asked why there was an empty seat. Nobody tattled or complained. He announced he wasn't going with us and went back into the church and nobody said anything to the moms. Luckily Oscar was still there so he wasn't totally lost. I guess it was bound to happen to us eventually but we never thought when they were older and always said if I was gonna loose one it would probably be him. Oh, when we went to Chicago we took a teenager with us who did get lost and was taken into custody by security but that wasn't my fault either, at fifteen she was responsible for watching herself.

Kids Sleeping Here!!

I have run out of creative punishments so lately when the kids get in trouble I have been having them copy scriptures. I choose the scripture that I want them to learn and count back 25, 50 or 100 versus depending on what they have done wrong.

Zander only ever gets 25 so he does his scriptures and then goes up to bed without being told. Tanner, after taking a two hour nap, got about 15 versus in and called me while I was out walking to tell me he was too tired to finish and he needed to go to bed and he would finish in the morning. I told him he would just have to sleep in the chair because he wasn't getting down from the table until he finished his 50 versus. I guess the big kids took me seriously for once because when I got home this is how I found them.

Do Not Disturb, Kids Working! I only disturbed a little to ask if they wanted to go to bed. They all said they were fine where they were so I left them there.

The Museum

The White Settlement Museum is one of the kids favorite field trips. They always want to go when they are out of school. It recently had to be torn down because it was in a flood zone next to a creak that is going to be widened. Tanner, who begs to go there the most, is a little heartbroken but Mrs. Davis, the museum manager, insists that the new museum will be better than the old. Tanners not buying it. He liked the old museum that was originally an old house. There is an old sideways tree out in front of the museum that the kids like to climb while we wait for everyone to take a potty break and when we're loading the cars after our visit.

On our last trip to the museum Mrs. Davis was showing the kids how to use an old hand crank record player. After most of the boys had their turn cranking and playing music Gemma and I turned to ask the girls if they wanted to give it a try and we found them dancing to the music. It was very adorable.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid

We took the kids to see Diary of a wimpy kid. They had a lot of fun and some of the kids who don't like to read are now trying to read the books. I thought the opposite would happen, that they would quit trying because now they can just watch the movies but they want to know what happens next and they don't want to wait for the next movie.