Cupboard Art

As promised, here is the more advanced version of Lorelai's cupboard art (graffiti). She has slowed down, so there actually wasn't much more development. And unfortunately leaving

the marker on there so long caused the red to soak into the cupboard. It was nearly impossible to get off.
Magic Eraser: failure.
Goo Gone: failure.
Finally I saturated a rag in bleach and hung it over the door on the stained spots. It disappeared in about 10 minutes.
Moral: don't try to leave your child's graffiti on the cupboard for 4 weeks.

Snow Ninja

Azael made this at school a few weeks ago. I love it!

Star of the Week

Ephraim is the Star of the Week at kindergarten. He is over-the-moon excited. He has a bulletin board in his honor, complete with his favorite photos and info about him, he gets to eat lunch with the teacher and two friends, and later this week I will go to class and show a video presentation about Ephraim. He also had the class mascot, Bucky Badger, all weekend. It rarely left his side. Today I also sent some cupcakes. Ephraim wanted them to be half white and half chocolate frosting. I am no cupcake expert, so these aren't fancy or anything, but Ephraim was sssooooooo excited when he saw these. So three cheers for our Star of the Week!

Ephraim is SO EXCITED! Here he is with Bucky Badger.

Here are Ephraim and Bucky, checking out the cupcakes:

Red Alert, Danger!

What would you think/feel/do if you walked in the kitchen and found this (notice toaster)?

Yes, those are the phones in the toaster.

Yes, Lorelai is sitting on the counter with a devious look in her eyes.

Fun times. Every hour. Every day.

Oh, and my reaction: shock, followed by pure laughter.

Sign Sign Sign

Lorelai can't really speak yet... we finally called Birth-3 so they coud evaluate her speech (they're coming April 20th). In the meantime, we're finally teaching her sign language. Ephraim loves this. He likes to sign on his own, asking "Mommy (signs this), can I please have a cookie (signs this)?" He has a good visual memory. I do too. Mystery Man has no visual memory. When Lorelai wants something and I remind him she should sign it, he looks at me, I show him the sign (for the ?th time), and then he signs the word with Lorelai. We can't all be visual. He kicks my pants in math and science, that's for sure. Here's Ephraim signing the words for Mommy and Daddy.

Can't Join THIS Club unless...

...you have a "gold dollar." That's right, our kids and a neighbor boy have formed an exclusive club in our backyard, and NOBODY can join unless they have a gold dollar. Apparently Azael, Ephraim, and neighbor Drew have those. I gave Silas a gold pig and forced them to let him play, too. So gold dollars and gold pigs.

In this club, members must master tasks, such as shooting (squirt) guns, followed by swordplay, and several others (but nobody has passed swordplay yet, so who knows what they are). Neighbor Drew is the "captain" and spends most of the time consulting with Azael about which person will be kicked out of the club for misconduct (usually Silas). Here are some fun photos taken last week.

Ephraim and Silas in the "fort" with their swords.


Azael & Silas discussing the rules of the fort.

Ephraim and Silas work on the sword skills.

Azael and Silas having a sword fight (inside!)

A Beautiful Girl

School Dance

Our boys' elementary school had their annual dance Friday evening. The music was very loud, and somehow it reminded me of a Junior High dance. Our kids had a great time with their flashing neon necklaces and wristbands, drinking lemonade with their cookies, and just dancing.

Ephraim does the limbo:

Azael tries the limbo, too (behind the guy in green):


Azael in a conga-line:

Lorelai loved the hula hoops:

And Silas, well, he didn't like the loud music. He did this:

and this:

Luckily a lady from the PTA came over later and gave Silas a bubble wand.

Then he decided the dance was fun.

Gang of Cuties

It was "hat day" at school on Friday.

Azael and Ephraim chose a Pizza Hut hat and a Farmland Seed hat.

Silas had an Allied Seed hat.

Can you tell Grandpa used to be a farmer?

They're looking pretty tough here...

Lorelai decided to join in. She found a striped winter hat in the basket.

She knows how to be tough, too.

Don't mess with this Gang of Cuties.

Ephraim Back at Home for the Day

Yesterday Ephraim was sent home from school with a cough and fever. Today I kept him at home, but he seemed to feel fine. It was a sweet day, having Ephraim back with us, just like old times before he went to kindergarten this year. He, Silas, & Lorelai played trains for quite a while, and then we all went to Target to get a few things. While checking out the shoe section, Ephraim found some Crock shoes he wanted. Ephraim and Silas kept up their usual chatter most of the day, asking simultaneously for cookies and bagels, and just being the sweet brothers they are. Then both took a nap together and then watched Backyardigans... their favorite episode: Robin Hood the Clean. I love when my kids play so well together. There is something really wonderful about brothers who are also friends. [Side note: I recently gave our kids a rule: I expect them not only to love each other and be kind to each other, but I expect them to be best friends for the rest of their lives. No pressure.] And for Ephraim, that's an easy rule. He genuinely loves both Azael and Silas, as well as Lorelai. Ephraim has a kindness and generosity to his character that is kind of like a strong glue that helps to forge close friendships with everyone around him-kids and adults alike. Some people call that Chi. Ephraim has a lot of it, making our family life all the sweeter! Hope you can stay home again soon, Ephraim. We love you!

Passing on the OCD Genes

As early as age 5, I used to periodically take every toy, article of clothing, and knick-knack from around my room and pile them on my bed. Then I would dust my room, maybe move the furniture, and then put everything back very neatly. Yes, I was kind of obsessive compulsive, at least for a kid. (And maybe I still am, for a grown-up).

This week we started a detailed after-school job chart (because I'm tired of doing all the work and I want the kids to appreciate how much mess they really can make). All the boys have a job after school, including emptying trash, scrubbing a sink or toilet, or arranging their closet or drawers. Today Azael was supposed to arrange his drawers and closet. He was so excited that he started this morning before school. He wouldn't let me come in his room, but kept saying he had a surprise for me. I went in and he had sorted his pants and later put them nicely in his drawers. See his little proud smirk?

He even re-folded all the shirts.

Only a mother could love this moment so much. I imagined Azael grown up one day, on his own, with beautifully organized drawers. His wife will be so grateful... This happy story doesn't end here. Azael decided to rainbow-order all the kids' dishes in the cupboard:

It was a good day. I saw a trait I didn't know was there.

I do have two questions:

1. Will this last?

2. What other hidden traits have yet to be revealed?

There is certainly never a dull moment in my life. I love it!

Leprechaun Trap

Azael's class spent much of last week building Leprechaun Traps. Without a discussion of my opinion of the educational merit of this activity, I will say Azael had a blast. He took several empty cartons and boxes from home and attached them to a larger box. His "trap" has 3 types of gold to lure the Leprechaun in: secret gold (left), shiny-ist gold (center) and regular gold (right). He and his friend Cole made the trap together. Azael informed me, "When we catch our Leprechaun tonight, Cole wants to keep the Leprechaun, I'll keep the trap, and we'll split the Leprechaun's gold." Sounds like a plan.

When Daddy's in Charge

Friday evening I went to Chicago for some relaxation and rejuvenation. I enjoyed Ikea and the Chicago Temple. I also enjoyed a long bath and a quiet hotel room to myself. I decided I loved the bed in my room at the Hilton even better than my bed at home. OK, maybe it's a tie... But at the Hilton I awoke to silence. Wow. Nice.

I arrived home with a trunkful of Ikea merchandise and some "gifts" from a certain rabbit who may come in April. I even brought home a Gyro for Mystery Man. I got out of the car and heard the kids in the backyard. "Oh, good, it's a warm day and they're getting some fresh air!" I thought to myself. I was a bit surprised Mystery Man forgot we own plenty of these:

The mud under the swings was 6" deep and they were all in it, wearing school shoes (except Silas, who by some miracle happened to get his boots on).

The slide was covered with mud. Clearly, they had a fun time.

Here are the school shoes, only one month old:

After my initial disappointment, I decided not to worry about it. And to let Mystery Man clean the shoes and wash all the muddy coats. Maybe next time they play outside, a flash of memory in his mind will force itself to his conscious mind and whisper, "Kids+mud=boots." And how could I hold a grudge, when my darling Mystery Man had the kitchen looking like this:

H, I love when you're in charge. Thank you!

Mystery Man's tool area

Speaking of the basement (see previous post), I wanted to share photos of the latest basement project, which is truly the end of the renovation. Mystery Man drywalled and built shelves to create a really cool tool area. There's even a shelf for Azael to keep all the broken electronics items he is collecting, which he plans to turn into a robot... who wants to help him? Any nice uncles out there?

Problem in the bathroom (and basement)

The other day Silas tearfully came to me and said, "The bathroom is not working." I knew immediately what had happened and ran in to see the toilet had not only overflowed, but most of the water was no longer in the bathroom. Gulp. I went downstairs dreading the result (we just finished the basement, after all), but I was happy to discover the water running out of a vent rather than smack through the middle of the ceiling. I threw down a towel and realized the water left the upstairs bathroom through a vent, flowed through the ductwork (which must have had a downward slope) and out the vent in the basement TV area. The damage was very minimal. You can see the water stained the drywall about an inch around the vent opening. Should be paintable and ready to go again soon! Lesson learned: don't purchase cushiony/thick toilet paper because children roll it out to the floor no matter how thick or thin it is!

Mystery Man fears Blog Stalkers

Congratulations! You found our new blog. My husband, Mystery Man (aka, H) fears blog stalkers, so we've created this new blog without any references to our last name or Mystery Man's first name. And doesn't Mystery Man sound so exotic and sexy? I think so. I like to call him MM or H. What does H stand for? Most readers will know. Blog stalkers may not know. But you're welcome to peruse our blog and see how much fun we have.

The new title, Friday's Fam, references Friday, a fun fun time of the week, of course. We have a lot of fun every day, but Fridays symbolize relaxation and good times.

Comments welcome. But remember, I am Jen and my husband is Mystery Man. We are Friday's Fam.

Someone should talk to MM about his paranoia...

Kids Before School

Here's a photo of Azael (left) and Ephraim (right) walking toward school after I dropped them off at the corner. Notice the cute reverse coloring: blue coat/red backpack and red coat/blue backpack. Not planned, but cute. Also, notice that Ephraim is almost as tall as Azael. This photo doesn't do it justice because Ephraim is bending his head down, but he is probably only 1-2 inches shorter than Azael (and 26 months younger).

And we need to include Silas and Lorelai, so I snapped this photo at home. Silas loves this lion hat, although it's too small for him. Lorelai is really learning the art of the "cheese" for photos, can you tell? Mystery Man taught her that wrinkled nose smile. He thinks girls do that when they flirt, so he figured he would teach her. What a helpful dad! Ha ha! :)

Boys' Answers to Some Important Questions

Some friends did this on facebook and I thought it was pretty funny! I asked each of our boys these questions and their responses follow:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
A: Help around the house. I don’t want to be your slave.
E: I love you.
S: I don’t know.

2. What makes mom happy?
A: Playing on her laptop all day.
E: We make you happy.
S: I don’t know.

3. What makes mom sad?
A: She gets sad when she can’t go to yoga.
E: People waking you up when you’re sleeping.
S: I don’t know…

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
A: You never make me laugh, Mom.
E: You just say “Hi” and then I laugh.
S: she tickles me (finally an answer from Silas)

5. What was your mom like as a child?
A: a girl
E: a wise girl
S: I don’t know

6. How old is your mom?
A: 34 (correct)
E: 65
S: I don’t know

7. How tall is your mom?
A: 7 feet
E: 9 feet
S: 44

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
A: play on her laptop
E: play with her children
S: I don’t know

9. What does your mom do when you're not here?
A: she cleans up a lot of stuff and she gets bored
E: she cleans up messes
S: hang around (an answer again!)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
A: she’ll be famous after she becomes a cleaning companion and gets lots of money
E: you’ll be rich if you’re famous
S: I don’t know

11. What is your mom really good at?
A: cleaning the house
E: helping her children get ready for school
S: (no answer, mouth full of food)

12. What is your mom not very good at?
A: not cleaning
B: she’s not good at eating pepperoni
C: (mouth still full of food)

13. What does your mom do for a job?
A: go on her laptop (also true)
E: help her children, buy stuff
S: (burp)

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
A: way too healthy stuff
E: oranges
S: green food

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
A: for cleaning up after me (he's laughing hysterically because every answer has to do with cleaning)
E: dancing makes me proud of you
S: (eating cookie)

16. If your mom were a TV character, who would she be?
A: Barnacle Girl
E: Mighty Mom
S: (dancing with cookie)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
A: We make dinner.
E: We play together.
S: Be the best team!

18. How are you and your mom the same?
A: We have the same hair.
E: We’re both a child of God.
S: We’re in the car. (?)

19. How are you and your mom different?
A: You’re a woman and I’m a boy.
E: You’re big and I’m small.
S: Hmmm?

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
A: She’s cleaning up after me.
E: Because she says “I love you.”
S: no response

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
A: Making you more money. (nope)
E: He builds you stuff. (nice, but not my top answer)
S: Says, “woah woah” while dancing. (?)

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
A: Yoga and bookclub.
E: yoga.
S: The Park.

Now go ahead Moms, interview your child and see what they have to say about you!

A Day in the Life of Jen

My friend Amber did this on her blog and I knew I had to try it. I’ve always wanted written documentation of what I do all day. I will try to do this a couple times a year because it will be fun to look back on it one day when I’m old and gray and all the kids are grown.

I decided to document this day after the morning routine had already begun. Amber had a great idea and asked her husband to choose a random day, so next time I’ll ask Mystery Man to use his own random number generator and pick a day and I’ll write after the fact rather than throughout the day.

This was a much busier day than usual, so this is a llllooonnnggg post. To quote Amber, “This may be way too many details for you, but hey, my grandma might at least like it. And maybe my posterity will too.”

Without further adieu…
--------------------
5:10 alarm rings, hit snooze

5:14 get up, get dressed

5:22 check email, read one verse from the scriptures, eat half a banana

5:30 leave for Fitness Bootcamp, Day 6 (note: my friend Heidi came over the stay with the kids because MM it out of town)

5:45 begin Fitness Bootcamp, lots of resistance training & cardio.

6:45 get home from Fit Fun, I’m shaking from the workout. Say goodbye to Heidi and take a shower, give myself an olive oil massage to help tired muscles. The kids are still asleep. Miracle of miracles!

7:05 Kids still asleep (very abnormal). I check email and see my uncle Craig has recommended the Sony for converting our old VHS and DV tapes to DVD. I spend time researching this and seeing its rank on Amazon. I eat some yogurt with apple, flax seed & nuts (sweetened with Agave nectar-yes uebergeek)

7:20 kids begin to wake up. Azael sees my yogurt and wants some. I mix some up for all the kids. Silas and Lorelai are both still sick and are VERY whiny. Azael, who came home early from school yesterday with a fever, appears to feel fine and wants to go to school. Since they woke up late, we’re skipping piano practice this morning. And luckily they all slept in their clothes (except Lorelai) so I only have to urge them to get their shoes on.

7:25 Kids unload dishwasher. I do Silas’ part because he’s too whiny to deal with.

7:38 kids eating very slowly. I say if they finish their yogurt they can have some leftover pizza (per Azael’s request). I give Silas his antiobiotic medicine-he loves this and he looks proud that he is the only one who gets some. I make Azael a lunch because he decided to go to school.

8:08 I see the clock and get nervous… I count to 20 and tell them they have to have their food finished and go brush their teeth. I change Lorelai, all the while issuing orders to put on shoes, put lunches in their backpacks, stop wrestling, stop fighting, stop crying. I remember my goal not to yell this morning. I’ll try again Monday. I take laundry to the basement and start a load of darks. Yay, the drier is empty!

8:20 We get in the van.

8:22 I recite a scripture I have memorized (normally we actually open the scriptures and read, but not today). We say a prayer. I run back in and grab Azael’s incomplete homework (didn’t do it because he was sick). On the way to school (yes, while driving) I recite his 20 or so spelling words and he spells them out loud. The test is every Friday.

8:28 I drop them at the curb at school, give hugs and kisses, and say “have a good day!”

8:35 I typed up the above.

8:50 take Silas & Lorelai downstairs so they can watch Backyardigans DVD. I put away the cans of tuna Lorelai took in the living room this morning. I run back downstairs 4 times because it wasn’t the right DVD, it wasn’t loud enough, and Silas really wanted to see the previews.

9:02 I finally lie down (I am so tired from the workout) and read my scriptures. (I have a goal to read 20 minutes a day; I’ve noticed it makes the day go better).

9:25 plan what I’m doing today and tomorrow

9:40 check email for business, process orders

9:50 I read my friends’ blog updates

10:00 make chili, put in crockpot for dinner

10:20 enter receipts into the computer, spray WD40 on squeaky doors, copy photos from a DVD from Aunt Joni onto our computer

10:45 leave to visit my friend Cara; she is under a whole lot of stress right now, so another friend, Carla, & I went over to offer encouragement and see if she’d let us do laundry or something. She didn’t. But we had a nice chat and the kids played.

11:45 We went to the library to drop off old books and pick up new ones. Also went to Walgreen’s for children’s Tylenol (used a ton this week) and bandaids (anticipating summer and it was a good deal) and then to Ace Hardware for a plug adaptor. Fun times.

12:30 arrive home for lunch. Kids have bagels & cream cheese. I had salad with pork loin chopped up. I also “shared” 1/3 of Lorelai’s bagel. I let Silas have ice cream because I forgot to get the “treat” I promised him from Walgreen’s.

1:00 Lorelai goes down for a nap and I read Silas some stories prior to his nap.

1:20 Plan menu and make shopping list for next week (6 new recipes from Cooking Light Magazine-yum)

1:45 get black beans out of freezer, look up some nice core exercises on computer to try tomorrow, etc., type out a recipe I liked, check email, and looked at photos from Aunt Joni. Unfortunately I couldn’t view most of them, so I emailed her to *pretty please with a cherry on top* send them again.

2:20 I take a nap… oh bliss… Have I ever said how much I LOVE my bed? Down comforters are the best. Soothing green walls. Night Night.

3:00 get up, dust the house real quick, wake Silas & Lorelai up.

3:15 walk to school to get Azael & Ephraim (I’m late… ahhh)

3:45 arrive home. We get out sidewalk chalk and eat apples and peanut butter. This lasts about 10 minutes before they want their bikes. I then proceed to blow up the tires on all three bikes. Fun times. Lorelai goes too close to the street enough times that I finally put her in her carseat in the van. Yes, I’m clever. Or mean. While they ride bikes I decide to organize a few messy spots in the garage. I sweep it out, too.

4:50 Go inside. Muddy tracks all over the carpet. I find out who did it and send them to timeout. I clean the carpet. I murmur about how disgusting my carpet is. I vow I’m going to stop cleaning it and just buy new carpet whenever we move out.

5:00 Azael & Ephraim take turns practicing piano and doing homework from school and extra stuff I have them do. Silas & Lorelai play. I’m supervising homework & piano. Azael doesn’t want to practice. I explain the financial system one more time, and he’s convinced that he’d like to practice after all. (Azael & Ephraim get 25 cents each day they practice 15 minutes. If they practice 6 days out of the week, they get a bonus 50 cents, totalling a whopping $2. Hey, I know I’m cheap, but I have 2 piano players now. Do you know what I could do with $4?).

5:30 Read books to Ephraim & Silas

5:45 My friend Marianne calls. I log the boys onto the computers so I can hear Marianne speaking. We chat a while. Lorelai sits on my lap while I talk and I notice she has a fever again. When I changed her earlier she seemed resistant to me wiping her bottom so I suspect a bladder infection. Marianne offers (awesome friend that she is) to come watch my kids while I take Lorelai to urgent care to get some antibiotics for her infection. [note: Mystery Man called earlier and said his flight was very late so will be home late tonight instead of at 4 as planned.]

6:30 Call kids upstairs to eat the yummy chili I had hoped to eat with our entire family if MM had been here.

6:45 Lucky Day. Mystery Man has arrived! I get him a bowl of chili. While eating, he complains of a sore throat that he's had for 2 weeks. I suggest he and Lorelai both go to Urgent Care tonight (which is hopefully less busy than a Saturday).

7:00 After eating, Mystery Man & Lorelai go to Urgent Care to get their great medicine (incidentally, the last time we all had antibiotics was this time last year).

7:10 The boys and I leave to go to Hobby Lobby (to get a picture frame fixed) and a department store (OK, it’s Walmart, which I hate, but they have something I need that no other store has). I had planned to do this alone as a nice break after being a “single mom” all week...oh well. The kids whine about going; I promise them a treat. Now they’re suddenly excited. Oh, the joys of bribing.

8:40 Back from errands. The boys loved their donuts. I told them donuts are one of the most unhealthy foods on earth so they'd better enjoy them . LOL! MM begins putting boys to bed. Apparently the doctor didn’t believe Lorelai has a bladder infection, but she saw the beginnings of an ear infection, so she prescribed amoxicillin for that. I research is briefly online and find out it should also work for bladder infection. The Dr. wouldn’t give MM antibiotics. Poor guy. Maybe he’ll go back next week.

8:45 Family prayer & scriptures. No bedtime stories because it’s very late (normal bedtime is 7:30 or 8:00). MM finishes bedtime routine. I check email and begin unloading the stuff from the store. Oh, and I just noticed MM cleared off the dinner table and the dishwasher is running. It’s great to have 2 adults in the house again. J

9:11 OK, tired. Posting this now. Rest of day: talk to H. Bed. Oh, did I tell you I love my bed…

Baby Fun

Today I watched Baby Ellie for my friend Marianne. We had such a fun time. Lorelai walked around cackling hysterically every time she saw Ellie. Here's a photo of her pointing and laughing. Yes, Lorelai, this is WAAAYYY more fun than one of your dolls.

Later, while I gave Ellie her bottle, Lorelai began to view Ellie as more of an intruder and whined at me to hold HER instead of Ellie! I guess Lorelai needs a younger sibling one of these days... (no, that is NOT an announcement of anything). Below: Silas had a fun time sharing a small purple teddy bear with Ellie.

He also tried to show her his book about excavators. She wasn't interested. So, a fun time was had by all. Marianne: baby Ellie is so sweet and so happy. You have done something right, my friend!

Psycho Bread Day

I made bread today because Monday is bread day. We make our own bread because it's much more nutrtious (and tasty). On a good day I will make 6 loaves. Sometimes I have made double that. Today I was a bit psycho - I couldn't stop - and I made 11 loaves of bread and 16 loaves of pita bread. We freeze most of it and eat it over a 1-2 week period. I have never made pita bread before, but figured I'd try it. They seemed a bit flat because I made the mistake of using 100% whole wheat, like I do for regular bread. Oh well, I concluded they aren't my favorite type of bread, but we can eat them. Not sure what to put in them... any ideas? Actually, I probably can't put anything in them because they're too flat. LOL! Gotta go convince my kids that pita bread is a fantastic snack! I just need to add PB&J and they'll never know the difference. :)