What Is For DINNER?

About 1:00 this afternoon I got a call from Dan. He asked if I would have the kitchen sink cleaned because he was coming home with dinner. Him and his buddies all have spears and so today they all went spear fishing.
This is what he came home with.

Most of the fish were Rock. I had never even heard of Rock fish before, so I was a little nervous. The kids loved watching Dan "do his stuff", cleaning and gutting them. I, not so much. I had my bottle of bleach and kept spraying it everywhere. During the picture above, Spencer noticed one of the fish still moving his gills and mouth. Sure enough when Dan put him into the sink full of water, he splash around wildly. It kind of freaked Spencer out! He sat and watched those fish very closely!

So, my new favorite fish is Rock! It is the best tasting fish! The kids really loved it! Chelsea kept saying, "yummy" as she took bites. They all told Dan that he should have brought home more. So, with a hunter of a husband, I have to say we are pretty set if the economy gets bad and we can't afford to buy food. Who needs a year supply when you have a spear and a gun??

It's National Jedi Day!

Spencer wants to know why he has to go to school today when it is clearly a holiday. I asked him what he would do all day if I let him stay home. He said, "watch all 6 stars wars movies and play with my lightsaber." Ummm...sounds good to me!

FACEinHOLE

I have to explain...Chelsea said to me today that she wished she was a barbie. OK, so I searched for barbie and found this very funny site. Now she says she wants to buys THESE barbies. UMMM!!
Create your own FACEinHOLE

COLE!

Those of you that know Spencer, know that he is TERRIFIED of dogs! He was attacked by one when he was 4 and has not forgotten it. It doesn't matter the size and it doesn't USUALLY matter if you tell him that "he won't hurt you!" It could be the nicest dog, Spencer is terrified! It is sad actually. When he is invited to a friends house, the first thing he asks is if they have a dog. He won't go if they do. Well, this past week, my brother John got his family a dog. We knew they were looking for a large dog and that made Spencer nervous becasue we spend a lt of time at the Merrill's house. Well, this is Cole and Cole is a LOVE. He is a fully trained, full bred, 1 year old golden retriever. They got him here. If you are interested you could read more about him here. Tonight, we had a little family birthday party over at my brother's house. We were excited, but a little nervous to see Spencer with Cole. We really didn't know what would happen. Madison (Spencer's closest cousin and pal) introduced Cole to him slowly. He was a little scared at first, but by the end of the evening, he was holding the leach and walking him around the house. Yeah for Cole. We plan to go over often to overcome his fear.

Chelsea's first day of dance class!

Chelsea is taking a dance class every Wednesday after school. It is a ballet/tap class. It is a 8 week class through the community. Her teacher is wonderful. Some of you might know Melissa from one of the T.O. wards. Melanie took her same class when she was 3 and 4. It is so fun to watch these cute girls dance. Chelsea especially loved the tap! I don't know...I think she did pretty good for her first time!

Derby Time!

So, the moment you all have been waiting for...

It is that time of year as most of you with scouts know. We had our derby race tonight. This is what Dan and Spencer have been working on for the past month. Yes, it was made with the actual "cub scout" car derby kit. Many people were questioning that! Spencer and Dan were pretty pleased with the out come except for it's speed. While it looks amazing, it was not the fastest. But that is OK, because they had fun making it together. Spencer got awarded Sportiest car. So, Dan gets it for design again! Such an Architect!! Dan says, he knows what he did wrong and next year it will look good and win! LOL!!

Rollie Pollie!

It was the weirdest thing~ Today, there were rollie pollies every where! The kids decided they needed to collect them ALL! The kids collected all these in less then 3 minutes. Rollie Pollies are cuter when they are crawling on the ground. When they are all in a cup together, they gross me out. GROSS!!

Scout Cake Contest

This was the cake Spencer and Dan made for the Cub Scout Blue and Gold Dinner. They had a cake decorating contest. The theme was American ABC's. Spencer decided he really didn't want to make a traditional flag cake like everyone else, so this is what he came up with. He was so proud of his cake! It tasted awesome too. He won LONGEST CAKE!

First Day of Pre-school

Yes, I know, this is kind of late in the year to sign up for pre-school. Actually, it is early! In order to get a "priority spot" in Mrs. Pat and Mrs. Lori's pre-school in the Fall, you have to be "already enrolled" in the program. Otherwise you get to stand in line at 5:00 a.m. on sign-up day, because the line wraps around the building. It's crazy!! Like Disneyland! I decided I didn't want to be one of those sitting in line in their PJs, so I decided Chelsea needed to be "already enrolled". There was an opening for a spot in the current class this last week. So, I signed her up for the last "session". That makes us already enrolled and we now have priority for fall. Yeah! I really don't like lines!! She had a fabulous day. She loves school and already knows three kids in the class from church. One being her little cute buddy Addie!

SEE SOME SERIOUS UPDATING BELOW!!

My Personal Valentine!

I was having a scout meeting here at my house with a bunch of women, when there was a knock at the door. I had no idea who it could be. Melanie was due home from school, but the door was unlocked and she would have just walked in. So, I open the door and this is what I see...

Chelsea's First Class

Chelsea was so excited to go to her first "school" class. We signed her up for an arts and snacks class with her cousin Ashlyn. The two girls are 6 months apart and love each other to death! We recently learned that they will be in the same school year. How fun is that!! Now, if we can just stay in the area until then, it will be very fun! Today they made special Valentine pillows, a ceramic heart jewelry box and a little fruit cake. Christian was able to tag along, which was fun! He got to eat all the leftover cake and help the girls paint a little. He just had to be in the second picture below. He is so handsome!!!

Cub Scouts

This post is for all those NP2 originals! Look at who is helping Spencer make a bird house! Sharlene Kreiner, can you believe it? She is still the scout leader! She was just here at my house for a meeting the other day. She was looking at the family wedding pictures on our (mom and dad's) wall. She said, "Wow, I knew your parents before they got married. I had all your 4 brothers in scouts. Who would know I would have one of the grandchildren in scouts?" She is pretty excited to be Spencer's leader. She is also so excited that he is doing so well and can't believe he is getting his wolf this month. Yeah for Sister Kreiner!!

Kid Eat Free Tuesday!

OK, if you don't know about Island's Kids Eat Free night, here it is. Be sure you check with your local Islands first, but most do it. Every Tuesday from 4-close, kids eat free! What a deal! So, you buy your meal for say, 8 dollars and you get all your kids meals free. We always have more then enough leftovers to take home to dad. I was just thinking, if you have a ton of kids like my mom did and my friend does, then it is an awesome deal! You have to beat the crowds though. We usually go by 4:30. There is a balloon guy at ours too, who makes balloon animals for the kids. They love it and you get a night off cooking dinner. Try it!

Spencer's Panjoe

Spencer has been studying musicians and instruments in school this month. For one of his assignments he had to make his own instrument. He came up with the "PANJOE". Basically, two pie pans glued together and a whole cut in the center of one. He took three rubber bands and a dowel and attached them to the pans. There you have it...a panjoe. He was pretty proud of his instrument!

The Giant Water Slide

My brother John lives only a couple miles away. It is fun to have their cute family close. Our kids get along well and love to get together a play. Today, John called us and invited us over for the afternoon. John's neighbor had just bought a giant water slide at a garage sale and asked if he could set it up in their yard to make sure it worked. They invited a few people over to enjoy it. I took the kids over for a couple hours. Yes, it is winter, but it was a bit warmer than it had been. The girls went on it a few times, but even though John hooked it to his water heater, it was still way too cold. Spencer refused to join in, so Uncle John attacked him and threw him on...and that is another story for another post. Anyways, it was well worth it to watch John and Marrianne on the slide together. We all thought it was going down! Don't think those things are really made for adults, but it was fun watching those two adults act like kids!

John, actually throwing Spencer on and Spencer screaming and kicking!

Marrianne and John

A Birthday Celebration!

Our friend Luke celebrated his 6th birthday here. His parents rented out the whole place for a couple hours and invited 25 kids and their parents from our church. It was the best party ever! Us adults joined in the fun by going down the slides and jumping on the bouncers. Melanie REALLY had fun on the climbing wall and says she wants one in our backyard. Spencer loved and took out his aggression in the boxing ring. I got to hit him "legally" a couple times. It was nice! I REALLY want one in our backyard. "Kids, you have a problem with each other, go take it to the ring!" I just think that would be awesome! Chelsea loved it all! She and her buddy Addison jumped on everything. This place was a blast! I highly recommend it.

Scouts

Spencer loves boy scouts and is doing an awesome job getting everything done. He only needs to complete one more item and he will get his wolf. Our goal is to complete it this week for the blue and gold meeting in February. He won't be nine until July, so his leaders are pretty amazed. Tonight was the monthly pack meeting and we had a family game night. We leaders were all assigned a game to do and the boys and family member rotated from game to game. It was a blast! Even Chelsea and Melanie had a great time.

Marbles

Homemade mazes

The Hair Cut!

Today Melanie had a friend over for a playdate. The two of them, along with Chelsea were playing very nicely up stairs for most of the afternoon. After Melanie's friend went home, I went upstairs to my bathroom and found blond hair all over the floor. My heart stopped!!! Oh no, not again! Who could it be? All three of them have the same color hair! I quickly called to Melanie, checked her over and started quizzing her. Of-course, the way I was speaking to her, she wasn't going to tell me anything!
Yes, this has happened once before to Melanie and I didn't think I could go through this again.

This is Melanie the day before her 3rd birthday!
Spencer helped give her a haircut! They cut off all her hair!
As I checked Chelsea, I was so releived, but still angry. She is the one child that has good hair. No bangs, all even...finally! Well, today she got bangs! Melanie finally admitted that she had used nail scissors from my bathroom drawer and cut bangs for Chelsea. She said, Chelsea wanted bangs like hers. WHY??? We have told her and told her!!! My mom laughs and tells me it is just payback time for all the many times I cut my hair as a child. Chelsea's hair actually doesn't look that bad when combed to the side with a little water, dep and hairspray. I did threaten Melanie, if she ever cuts anyone else's hair again, she will loose her long hair.
I know, I am the meanest mom!

Chelsea, when I found out!

The hairdo when fixed nicely! Not too bad, right?

High School Musical

My two nieces, Brooke and Madison, participated in a
Kids Acting Out West production of High School Musical.
My two girls are obsessed with all the High School Musical movies, so they were SO excited by the invitation to go watch Madison and Brooke do "their stuff"! Maddie did an amazing job! She played the part of Mrs. Darvis'. She had the most lines out of everyone in the play and she knew them all. Here she is in one of many scenes. So cute!!!

Brooke also did an amazing job! She played one of the "brainiacs". She knew all the songs very well! Here she is in one of her big scenes.

Melanie was just "beaming" the whole time. She absolutely love it and was singing along with the actors. What a great experience for these kids! I really wish they came to Cypress. I think it could really help my two with their "shy" problem!