This Week on Instagram

This is from last Friday. Friday is cleaning day at the Krooked Kastle. The kids love it. For reals. Especially the girls. 

Last Friday we had some friends over for Indian food. We are learning about India in school and so we had a little cultural learning night. 

The girl's with their Sassy. Photo bombed.

My Dahling friend, Laura came to share a few of her trinkets from India.

My dad, Grandfather Sir, enjoying the festivities. 

Snuggles, good books, chubby cheeks and toes. That's what good mornings are made of.

Every week it's interesting to see what treasures will come through the wash. Never had a walnut shell before.

This week in the adventures of Jackson...

And moments later he was in the fridge.

Brothers

During school one day Abiah asks, "Mom, is a donkey called an ass?" Never a dull moment.

Spring has sprung in Oregon bringing snow, hail, rain, wind, and bright sun shine all in one hours time. Snack time and art class are the perfect way to enjoy this kind of weather.

This Friday's cleaning day photo op. Never to young to start.

This weekend we have three extras. These two are not usually very good playmates. This lasted a few minutes. We're making slow improvement.

My favorite picture from this week. I started baby sitting this guy when he was around Jackson's age. It was a sweet moment.

Linking up with Life Rearranged!

'Til My Sides Hurt: All Four Kids Edition

Growing up homeschooled led to many cultural experiences. Some of the most often and most interesting were the daily episodes of the mid morning "talk shows" that were all drama and people yelling and fighting. And since we were a house of teenage girls, the drama was what we were in for. And he laughs. Why we found people humiliating themselves in such a trashy way to be funny, I don't know. I blame it on being a teenager.

Anyway, I think all three of my sisters would agree that the most memorable and quoted episode was of some drama between two female cousins where the one being offended dramatically responded with, "I can't believe you did this too me! We've like... known each other for...like...our whole lives!"

To recap: cousins...who've known each other...for their whole lives...Bahaha!
It still makes me bust up. Anytime my sisters and I feel a need for an over-dramatized response this is our go to.

So it was pretty hilarious to me the other day when I wanted my girls to wear pants with their dresses because it was cold and, as an argument against my decision,  Hazel exclaimed, "But Mom! We're like sisters!"

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In school Abiah recently learned the why behind the title Mrs. In case you don't know, Mrs. stands for Mistress, as in Mistress of the house.

But now when he calls for me, sometimes instead of calling for Mom, he calls, "Mistress! Mistress!" Or he responds to my requests with, "Yes, Mistress?"

It's a little disturbing due to the more current use of that word. But I don't want to tell him what it means now days. Basically I'm avoiding an awkward conversation with my son but possibly setting myself up for an even more awkward social situation should he call me that in public.

It did make me ten kinds of happy to see the look on HH's face when I told him what his son calls me.

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Jackson, Amelia and I were getting ready to read a book while sitting on the couch. I had been working on my laptop so I told Amelia she'd have to sit on the other side of me. I pointed to the spot next to Jackson who was already sitting next to me. When Jackson saw that I was pointing to where Amelia should sit, he quickly scootched over into that spot and victoriously declared, "Ha! Ha!"

So Amelia quickly grabbed his abandoned spot, the one right next to me, and Jackson let out a frustrated, "Sis Sis!"

He thought he'd out smarted her. I bet he doesn't make that mistake again. Ornery little fella.

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We all know the popular rhyme children use when choosing who goes first: Eeney, Meanie, Minee, Mo.

Well, Amelia has hear it recently but has her own version that she walks around singing:

"Eeney, Meanie, catch a tiny when your Tony moose backup!"

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One night Amelia drops her pants and her unders to her knees and, before I can respond, asks, "Mom, does it look like my pants is falling off?"

Gah! To laugh or not to laugh! That, sirs, is the question.

The Absentminded Tooth Fairy Strikes Again

Last week Abiah started complaining about a loose tooth that was bothering him. I promptly directed him to the floss and a door to slam and left him to his own devises. I don't do teeth pulling. It's a job I gladly leave to anyone else.

Though Abiah was unsuccessful that time, he did find relief late Saturday night. It was after we had told him to go to bed and I'm half convinced he sat in his bed and wriggled his darn tooth loose just to stay up longer. When he came out to let us know "it was close" HH escorted him to the bathroom where the tooth finally came out.

Abiah came out proudly displaying his hole-y mouth and a tooth held between his fingers. Having become accustomed to our Tooth Fairy's preferences, he put his tooth in a ziplock bag and asked me if he should place it under his pillow. I answer yes and whispered to HH that we had to remember this time. And we went back to our episode of Once.

But we didn't remember.

I went in to Abiah's room Sunday morning to wake him and the first thing he said, "The Tooth Fairy didn't come." Thankfully his back was to me so he missed the look of dread that passed over my face. I mumbled something about it being the weekend so maybe she was off and hoped he'd let it go.

The thing is, the kid is almost ten. He knows who the Tooth Fairy is, but he still likes to play the game.

In the car on Sunday we hear Abiah telling his sisters about his lost tooth along with his theory that "the Tooth Fairy was just up too late the night before watching too many movies." Busted.

Fast forward to Sunday night. It's late. I'm getting ready for bed. I go into the bathroom and this is on the door:

So, he's still willing to play along, but he doesn't want to wait half the week for his dollar in quarters to magically appear under his pillow. I was thankful for his note, though, because I had, of course, forgotten.

Monday morning he asked, "So did the note help you?"

For the fun of the game I pretended not to know what he was talking about.

InstaFriday

I missed a week or two of pictures so this week is a little long. I'll try to keep the commentary to a minimum. Also, some of these pictures didn't make it to Instagram so you get a mixture.

My nephew spent the weekend with us and this is what he and Abiah did for two straight days. So much wrestling. 

My talented nephew.

How Miss Hazel does the dishes.

These two. Let me tell ya. They can be the sweetest together and then turn around and beat the crap out of each other. This was a good moment. So I needed to capture it. For my sanity.

Hazel came up with this hair style "all by herself". :)

Tomato soup. Yum!

How do you capture a Jackson?

This picture melts my heart. 

This is taken moments after the one above. Notice the socks and shoes are missing. Rascal. He sure is cute though.

When you rush through a recipe for rolls and think it says divide into two instead of noticing it actually says three you get rolls the size of your palm. And a happy HH.

The never ending trail of hair bands. Grrrr.

They have no idea who Punky Brewster is and yet they match her quite well.

Movie/coloring time. We strap Jackson into his booster seat so he doesn't get into things while he's watching a movie since the tv is on the side of the house that is gated off from him.

School time! We are waiting until the second week of April for Spring Break and we are soooo ready.

Seriously. This child. All. day. long. This time he mutilated the butter and a package of mentos. All within a few minutes time. 

The afore mentioned mentos.

Crawling across the table to beg for a "nat." Pay no heed to the calendar in the background that hasn't been updated since last December. Homeschool fail.

This cutie and I went in for her eye check-up. She's doing really good. We still patch everyday for a few hours but her eyes are getting stronger.

The little man taking a walk at Noni and Poppi's. He had a blast playing in their gated yard. Especially since he got to be with his Poppa. He's pretty fond of his Poppa.

Ah. The Home Depot and the long waits that one is forced to endure when accompanying a loved one who has a project to do. We found ways to entertain ourselves. This girl cracks me up. She has always, since birth, been my most serious child. Getting her to laugh as a baby was so hard. But every once in a while she gets all goofy. I love it. She's the best.

This one has been a huge fan of the word "cozy" lately. When she wants to lay on us it's because we are cozy. If she doesn't want to get up to do her chores it's because she want's to be cozy. This morning she was in bed with me and she wanted me to get her a drink. I grabbed her and snuggled into her neck and told her I didn't want to because she was so cozy. She didn't like that. Apparently cozy only works when she uses it.

This is the house I lived in for 11 years of my life. When we owned it it was painted a lovely slate blueish gray and had a white picket fence. I drove by with my kids the other day and was so sad when I saw they've painted it pistachio. Ugh. Sad day.

In the evenings I've been working out on my new death trap. This Big Guy is my exercise partner encouraging me the whole way through the 15 minutes of pure torture.
Side note: My neighbors slowed way down the other night as they drove by during my exercise. Talk about awkward. At least it was dark out so we didn't make eye contact. Also, we need to get curtains.

Yoga!

I leave you with this treasure. She did this to herself. I'm not sure how but it was certainly funny.

I'm linking up over at Life Rearranged.

'Til My Sides Hurt: Hazel on swearing, family, princesses, and chores

While eating breakfast I bit into a slice of orange from an orange I was sharing with HH. I instantly spit it out because of the putrescent flavor that was held within. This, of course, caused a stir among most of the children and HH.

HH: Why did you spit that out?

Me: It was disgusting! Why did you eat yours? I can't believe you ate that!

Hazel, who had been distracted, didn't know what we were talking about and started to ask, "What did Daddy eat?"

Hazel keeps asking but HH and I are still talking so I don't answer. Finally, frustrated that I'm not responding, she says, "What the hell did Daddy eat!"

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It was windy out and HH commented: "Sounds like the house is gonna blow over."

Hazel says, mostly to herself: "Then all the people will come and say, 'Hey! What happened to Hazel...and those other people?'"


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During a (rare) quiet moment at dinner one night Hazel randomly burst into story telling mode:

"Once upon a time in a far away land lived a princess and a king and queen. One day she wanted to paint her nails. She saw a yellow and shiny toe polish she thought was chapstick so she put it on her lips. Then she had to let it dry. When she ate she got dirty and had to wash it off. The king asked, 'What is that?' 'I thought it was lip gloss,' she said. The king and queen lived happily ever after. The princess died in October. She was that number that is one zero zero."

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Hazel and Abiah do the dishes together after dinner each night. One night she and I met in the hall upstairs while she was supposed to be downstairs doing the dishes.

Hazel: I was just putting my backpack up here (in her room) because I can't stay here any longer.

Me: Where are you going?

H: Somewhere far away from here because I can't stay here any longer.

M: Like where?

H: Like somewhere far away. Where they don't work. Just the dads. Not the mom. And there's lots of kids. But only the big boy does dishes. By himself.

And later to Amelia I heard her say: Amelia, I'm leaving here. I just can't stay here any longer. I'm going far away. And I'm taking you with me. And Jackson. And mommy. And Abiah no not Abiah.

InstaFriday

Welcome to week two of pictures from my week! I'm so glad it's Friday and yet it still feels like it is Wednesday. Which makes me excited when I realize it's actually Friday! 

This week started off on a, ummm, slimy and sleepless note. Then it quickly filled with time with friends, lots of school, and the arrival of next year's curriculum and my new toy with which I'm sure to die. This weekend I'm looking forward to seeing all three of my favorite sisters, time with HH, time with nieces and nephews, and the possibility of more projects being accomplished. Sounds like a great weekend to me!

My washing machine before HH fixed it and we cleaned it up. So many loads of laundry have been done this week and it takes way less time than before. I'm a Desperate Housewife turned Happy Housewife. That's the best kind.

What they tried to wear. Well, the Fluffy blonde one still made it out of the house in her miss-matched outfit with mis-matched socks pullled over her leggings and up past her knees. But the "The shorter the dress, the better" Curly haired one had to change. It's official. HH is now monitoring what they wear out of the house. It's starting so early, :)

Pizza night! Friday night is usually pizza night at our house and  we never get tired of it. 

Jackson likes a little pizza with his ranch!

I asked HH to stop and get some ice cream...P.S. If you have a Haggens store near you go right now and buy their rocky road. Seriously. It's the best. Creamy chocolate ice cream (with no soy), chunks of almonds and marshmallows, and a swirls of gooey caramel. The. Best. So you need to go. Now. Really.

Meal planning! The top list is the foods that I had /have in the freezer. The bottom list is the meals we've been eating this week. Under it all is my calendar so I know when to plan easy meals and what events I need to work around.

Every Sunday night I "shop" from my freezer for the week. I bring a bag of the meals I've chosen in from the deep freezer and stack them in my indoor freezer. The month is almost over which means I'm working on my shopping list for next month. This way of cooking is so nice and helpful. Our evenings have been so much more enjoyable because I'm not stuck in the kitchen most of the night.

Jackson wasn't feeling well last Sunday night. These next three photos were taken  between 2:30 and 3 a.m. He was more happy running around playing and he wasn't screaming so I was fine playing with him and enjoying his cuteness. He's so cute with his magna doodle. He concentrates really hard on what he's drawing and loves to show me his work. Even if it's just a tiny dot.

Working on his architectural skillz.

Finally taking a moment to rest. With laser eyes.

Finally getting  some sleep Monday mid-morning.  He's so sweet. Even though he pooped, puked, and peed on me just the day before.

Amelia is in "pretty" school this year and just this last month she's gotten the hang of  writing her letters. Now we are working on writing her name. She is so proud of herself.

I'm linking up with Life Rearranged.