Have you seen my horns?

Bedtime can get stressful. The routine in our house is pretty simple. After the "I need a drink" and "I need a hug" excuses have been all used up, the kids hear my mantra.

"I turn into a monster at 8 o'clock, so go to bed."

My original transformation included a dirty look that could turn a child to stone. Now I also grow horns, or so I tell my kids.

A few mornings ago when my alarm sounded, I rolled over to press snooze turn it off and I rolled on top of Ian. "Ian, what are you doing in here," I muttered?

"I took the rest of the night in your bed, and I even saw your horns."

I hope they were scary enough to get him in bed on time tonight!

Help a girl out...

I wonder why nobody tells me that this sticker is still on when I'm at the grocery store, doctor's office, and library?

Predictions

So, who do you think won?

That's what kids do...

Act I

Scene 1

(A kitchen. Mom enters still in pajamas groggy from just waking up. She trips over son. As she flips on the light, piles of candy wrappers are seen all over the floor.)

Mom: Ian, where did you get that candy? Why are you sneaking candy before breakfast?

(bending to pick up piles of candy wrappers)


Ian: I'm a kid. Kids sneak candy. If they can reach it, they sneak it. Cuz kids love candy.

(close scene because how do you argue with that?)

Eric's surgery

I took Eric into his doctor appointment to check range of motion and to schedule his surgery. They took x-rays and thought the arm looked great. That is when the surprise came. "We'd like to do the surgery tomorrow morning."

Um.

That would be fine if we didn't live out of town, if I had actually packed for an overnight stay, if I had babysitters for my other four kids, if my husband was in the same town, if I hadn't left one child in a different town at school, if I wasn't supposed to babysit the next day, etc. The list went on and on.

We did the surgery anyway because with a cell phone, wonderful friends, and a great family ANYTHING is possible.

He was a little nervous.

I bet Eric is thinking, "It should be against the rules for parents to take pictures pre-surgery"

The medicine they gave Eric to calm him down did the opposite. I have only seen him this wound up on Christmas morning.

Look at all the wires and wraps. It isn't fun having surgery.

waking up

The end result...pins out!

Halloween

There are some moms who have their family's Halloween costumes pulled together months in advance, everything matches and is picture perfect.

I'm not that mom.

It was Halloween morning before we dumped out the contents of the dress up drawers and toy boxes and compiled these beauties (or at least presentable costumes)

Kyra was a vampire

because with chompers like these what other choice is there?

ballerina

A safari man doing Ian's signature pose.

Snake Eyes. Is that one word or two, I wonder?

Our patient

a hunter

a gatherer...I mean German milkmaid

Because no German milk maid is complete without her vampire baby, ballerina, safari expeditioner, GI Joe ninja, and hospital patient, right?

Here's proof that the kids got too much candy. Tara took the bishop at his word when he told her to "go around the parking lot as many times as you can and get as much candy as you can." She had 10 lbs of candy. Yikes. I'm gonna go make her a dentist appointment.

How'd you get there?

It's interesting how quickly the dinner table is deserted.

Jared got up to make it to a church meeting on time, I took Amy to the bathroom, and the big kids took that as their get-out-of-eating-your-vegetables-ticket and skedaddled.

I came back into the kitchen to get the baby out of her high chair and found that she already knows how to do that herself. I'm not sure how she wiggled out of her buckles and onto the table. I do know she is related to Ian, so I'm not really surprised.