Let it snow, let it snow, LET IT SNOW!

Okay, the amount of snow we have received so far here in our coastal area of North Carolina doesn’t get NEAR the amount of snow as many of the locations those I love get, so this might be kind of funny to them.

It’s been snowing almost ALL day long.  Often times, the HUGE fat fluffy looking yet GREAT for snow balls. . . SNOW.  Only the 10th of January . . . SNOW.  An actual day out of school for “lets go outside and play and play and PLAY” SNOW (not our days of a dusting of snow, but the weather dropped enough to cause black ice so they cancel school)  This day OUT of school – Totally worth it!

 

 

View out the front door.

 

 

 

View down the street

The blanketed cars not long after the kids headed out to play.  Would have been a MUCH thicker “blanket” till all the kids decided it was a great spot to MAKE snowballs while having great cover not to get HIT by them.

 

Our kids joined many neighbors across the street for full on snowball fun.

Curtis is down . . . from laughing.

Curtis and Robbie getting a friend up after yet another spontaneous laughing outburst.  he he he.

Craigan managed to side step the large crowd….for NOW.

 

ALL RIGHTY…. Mom’s gonna school you all in some serious snowball fun.  MuAH HA HA HA. HAAAAAA.

 

Practice the run and dodge…bring it on kiddos.

The snow is falling.  The snow is flying, and it’s time for a take down and a little face cleansing.  OKAY – I wasn’t too rough, I promise, and I did let them get me back.

WAIT just a minute!! Something’s not right???

Where’d half the kids go.?

Oh, I see, this suddenly became a spectator sport for the older teens from the neighborhood when the MOM came out to play.  Was it because of the shock and enjoyment in watching this crazy lady (they already knew that) who’s not afraid to get nailed by a 6 year olds well made snow ball?  Or was it the fear of becoming my target??  LOL

Time to RE-LOAD 

 Notice the snow imprints.  I would just like to say, with ALL the surface area that I have as a moving target, could someone please tell me how it is I kept getting hit hard in the neck and side of my face??  *shrug . . small price to pay for OH the fun memories.  (that’s Robbie heading back to the house with me)

robbies camera shots

 

 

Earlier, Robbie grabbed her camera and headed out back with the little boys where some of the younger back yard neighbors were out.Thankfully he knows to look for UNTOUCHED snow.  he he helThe good nature of the neighbor, he stood to get hit for the picture.  TOO funny.  I’m just glad that when they weren’t posing … he got his own fair share of shots in.Here’s the back yard view.Then it was time to let the dogs out.Uno was in play HEAVEN between having this fluffy stuff in the sky to attack, as well as no soppy wet mud puddles for Yahtzee to roll him around in.

Robbie knows that just because the camera is in HER hands, doesn’t mean she needs to be left out of the photos. 

    Yahtzee’s had his fun.  He’s near the door wondering if Robbie going to put down the camera and let him in now.

the magic of a good old fashioned HAIR CUT!

If you have ever wondered if the length or cleanliness of a kids hair has anything to do with their attitude, I say YOU BET!!  Do I insist on my boys keeping their hair in some sort of in the military or serving a mission kind of short?  NO.  Do I insist that they make at least SOME sort of attempt to take control of the hair so it does NOT take control of them?  YOU BET!!

You see, I don’t like to toss money out the door by taking them to pay someone else to cut their hair, but I don’t always want to deal with the mess of the assembly line of kids thru the bathroom getting their hair cut.  This means that sometimes my OWN kick in the butt to cut their hair, is when the disgruntled mini-monsters take over, and I want MY children back. 

By the way, if their ears are covered by their hair,  (as shown here)   they totally have this mega enhanced “selective hearing”, and very little of the mom words work their way thru the hair jungle into the inner ear.  So IF they’ve actually WASHED their hair AND even styled it so they’re not only some studly lookin’ young men/boys, but that gives their ears clear access to the world around them, and they really don’t do too bad.

So as the kids’ snot and sarcasm continued to increase over their winter break, I hoped that once they got a break from one another and were around their friends, maybe JUST maybe they’d not be such major pains in my BUTT!!  Yeah, uh, NOPE!  I really very truly wanted to make a room sound proof and insulated, and then duct tape them all inside of it till they all got all their nasty attitudes burned out on one another and were ready to come out and be pleasant.  Hey, a day, a week, a month….I can wait.

Then reality kick in.  Next best thing to try that would take FAR less work --- HAIR CUT TIME!!!  I was even going to be nice and attempt to keep a little for them since they don’t LOVE the super duper short in the winter.  When I realized someone had lost the hair cutting scissors out of the clipper set, my nice went out the window.  But the short the hair, the better the attitude I get out of them, and the LONGER I have till I need to cut their hair again.

So for the last couple of days since I gave these 2 and Randy all hair cuts, I’ve enjoyed a whole lot more peace.  Not the perfect solution that has erased all crappy attitude from the little boys, but MAN-OH-MAN has there been a big improvement!  Whew… I might not have to invest in duct tape and room insulation.  ;o0

Here’s the end result. 

How in the world did I get SO luck as to have such GOOD LOOKIN’ kids :o).

Crazy, but cute . . . he he he.

View Full Album

Back to Business

I can't say it's back to business "as usual" quite yet, since I have little to no desire left to reclaim the house from EVERYONE being home and making messes in every single space in the house.  *shrug  Oh well.

Today it's back to school, which of course includes early morning seminary for the older boys.  Much as I thought this was going to be my turn to sleep while the parents of the other carpool kid would drive, they got a late start heading home from their vacation.  Most of a day in the car caused the mom to have  swollen ankles and sore back.  SO -- I'm kickin' back into my 5AM schedule, not my 7AM schedule.  I'm just thrilled that the boys were BOTH already up and getting ready when I got up.  Some days they've shut off their alarm and fallen back asleep.  When I've just let the skip seminary, they were irritated they'd slept thru it ... FAR more irritated then a typical teenager you wake up at 5am.  So, my 7am schedule still consists of a quick 5am wake up to ensure they're up.  It's WELL worth it to know they enjoy attending seminary and getting a great spiritual start to their days.  I'm really thankful for that.  It's good for them, and I've gotten lucky enough to not have to deal with kids that fight to stay home and NOT go to seminary.  (please oh please let this pass on to the next 3 too.)

I know the kids are all going to have homework and we'll need to really buckle down to get back into our routine.  We all enjoyed having a "delayed" schedule of late nights, late mornings, and it certainly didn't hurt the amount of time spent playing games, cards, goofing off, playing the Wii, etc.  But the little boys missed their teachers and classmates, so I'm pretty sure they'll be happy when they arrive home today.

As much as Jason and I have LOVED the quiet in the house today, the "invasion" is about to begin.  Hopefully they'll all be ready to buckle down and get their homework done.  Hopefully I'll buckle down enough to get the tree taken down.  LOL.

Hello 2011. Pleased to meet Ya.

~ I rarely remember to take the time to sit and update this lovely family blog.

~ I rarely remember to take time to sit and do much of anything many days.

~ I don't make new year resolutions.
             (because . . . well, honestly, I don't like to be held that tightly to a certain day out of all 365 of them.  I mean, that leaves too much pressure when you hit a road bump, and WAY too much time till the next "first of the year" rolls around to not bother to get back to your goal(s). Nope, need to start things when the time is right, not just because the calendar is new.  But I DO so love getting a new calendar up on the wall.)

* * I'm not making a resolution, but I am making an attempt. * *

I've missed out on documenting SO many silly things, fun things, interesting thoughts, stories and events.  I used to be able to remember things like conversations ... word for word.  But now, I'm too busy, too tired, and just can't hold onto the things I'd like to remember.

I would like to see how 2011 goes for us.  There is so much uncertainty on the horizon, so I think if I can manage to blog it, then later have a journal/book printed up for our family, then that'll be a MUCH better way to hold on to the memories.  Besides, I've noticed that with Jason staying put, I don't take hardly ANY pictures anymore.  Now the older 3 kids all have cameras :o) as well as my own, and what better way to tell stories then with photos?  I hope this encourages that, and I can find my fun creative side again that used to always LOVE to journal about my day and take lots of silly or interesting photos.  Only difference now, is that I'm sharing with anyone that drops in to read all about it.

We're still trying to figure out how yet another year has flown by, but putting that aside, hopefully I can find a way to be motivated to at least have a way to look back and SEE how 2011 flys by, because we ALL know it will. 

Happy New Year !!!