A daily journal of our family's crazy hijinks and how this mama of 4 tries to survive them!

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

In Which Horomones and Pumpkin Guts Take Over....


A great family tradition involving sharp knives, permanent markers and lots of mess that we look forward to every year is pumpkin carving! What better way to spend time as a family than to stand in the dark on the driveway on the coldest night of the year and cut holes in vegetables? I mean who wouldn't want to join in the fun?! Pumpkin carving was so easy when the kids were little. We would cut a happy little face in their pumpkins after they had scooped out a few seeds and they would be so excited as they ran off to bed in their footy pajamas. NOT ANYMORE!!!


This years event involved a power saw, drill, knives, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Tyler's experience was pleasant enough. After all, he is 14 and knows everything, therefore needs no assistance with his giant squash. Josh also enjoyed the evening. What more could a 6 year old boy ask for than to throw pumpkin guts on his sisters while his daddy carves his pumpkin? And the girls......oh the girls......


First of all, Meghan is a perfectionist. This requires at least 30 minutes of scraping the inside of her pumpkin until all sides are equal, level and the same shade of orange. Then she spends the next 30 minutes or so deciding on the exact position of the lucky pumpkin's facial features. Finally she is willing to hand her pumpkin over to daddy to use his wonderful power tools on. (This is daddy's favorite part) The problem was daddy did not follow her specific instructions and made her pumpkin's eye the wrong shape! Let the cry fest begin....


Meanwhile, on planet hormone, Katy is diligently working on her pumpkin. Her frozen pumpkin. Apparently the poor orange orb had gotten a little frost bitten the night before and was not being very cooperative when it came to slicing it's eyes out. We couldn't cut it with the knife or the saw! Katy was becoming very upset because her pumpkin's eyelashes were not working the way she wanted. Daddy suggested that he could "start" the hole with the drill and then maybe she could finish it with the knife. She reluctantly agreed and daddy proceeded. What was heard next went something like this...."Daaaaaaadyyyyy, you ruuuuuiiiined it! The eye is toooo big! My WHOLE pumpkin is ruuuuiiiiined! You ruuuuiiiiin everything!" Keep in mind that this was very high pitched and loud enough for them to hear it in China! At this point poor daddy can't take it anymore and goes inside with the boys. This left me, with my own hormonal issues, to proceed with pumpkin rescue. I finally, somewhat forcefully, convinced the girls that if they wanted pumpkins we would do it my way or the highway! I did say it very sweetly though.


All in all the evening was mostly enjoyable. The pumpkins all got faces, the children ran up to bed in their pajamas without feet, and I had the pleasure of hosing off the driveway at 10:00 at night in the freezing cold. Gee, can't wait to do it again next year! Good times....good times....


Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Any Way You Slice Me....

It is no secret that I have wanted to shed a few pounds over the past couple of months. The good news is I have succeeded and am now back down to my mother of four, supermodelesque like figure. Ahem. That's right, it's amazing what a little activity and celery will do for the physique (not to mention the occasional piece of dark chocolate)!
Why am I sharing this you might ask....
Well, it's because of the amazing encouragement I received from my now eight year old daughter today. The scene was something like this....
I was sitting on the couch pulling my pants out from my waist and commenting that they were too big. "I could fit two of me in here", I said humorously to myself and the darling child sitting next to me. "Two of you?", she asked. "Well, maybe me plus an eighth of me" I said. Then very seriously she replied, "Wow, that would be a lot to carry". OH -YES- SHE -DID!
I don't know what she thinks an eighth is. The little rug rat hasn't even learned fractions yet! I mean how much could an eighth of me possibly be? A finger, a toe, ok maybe ten fingers and ten toes? Regardless....I think I could fit that much in my pants! That's the last time I announce to a small child, who looks like a zipper if she turns sideways and sticks out her tongue, how skinny I am!!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Happy Birthday!....

Today Meghan is 8! It seems so young and yet somehow old. Where have the last eight years gone? Just yesterday I couldn't get her to remove the pacifier from her mouth and today she wants to do her own hair and wear leopard prints!

Meghan is so many wonderful things to me and to our whole family..... sweet, loving, organized, and always prepared for disaster. We can count on her to be carrying extra change or a bandaid for anyone who needs it. She also has the special gift of keeping us abreast of the family goings on (some would call this tattling)! So many fabulous qualities in one so small!!

What a precious gift she is!! Happy Birthday Meggie Moo....we love you!