Wizard Wand Slap-- and other sabbath day boredom busters

Yesterday I slept in until 8, made an egg souffle for breakfast, and put dinner in the crock pot.... I then prettied-up all the kids to go to church... which, is no small task when the hubby isn't home. Lots of running around putting together belts, socks, shoes, ties, hair bows... etc. Usually this part of the day is accompanied by lots of nagging, grrr's, whining, tantrums and an occasional curse word under the breath. But I was determined to keep it cool.

We drove to church playing " I spy" the whole way there. I was so pleased with myself for being on time for the 3rd time in a row, and that my children and I were smiling and happy on the way there.

Anyway, my mythical land of perfection was shattered when we pulled up to the church-- I thought I had just entered the Twilight Zone. There wasn't a single car in the parking lot, except for mine. Did I miss the memo or what? I was baffled. I called a friend to find out what was going on-- "Stake Conference" she said. (which is a big regional church meeting held in Killeen) How did I not know this? It wasn't on my teaching schedule, and since I had missed the previous week didn't get the reminder. The boys burst out in a cheer when I gave them the news... bless their hearts, ya can't blame em. Anyway, since we had 1:00 church we had already missed the whole thing... I was disappointed.

We drove home and I told the boys there would be no T.V. or video games... which is more of a punishment for me, than anyone. "This is going to be a long one" I thought.

I was excited to put Bella down for a nap and read a little. I picked up my book, "The Undaunted"-- which is a great read, if you like church history. The boys went up stairs and got out their weapons, nerf guns, wands, swords... etc. Before I knew it, a full blown war was raging around me... which makes it very difficult to read when you have the microscopic attention span that I do.

Mason nailed me with a nerf dart-- it had a suction cup, and stuck right in the middle of my forehead . I fell over on the couch trying to play along...the boys laughed hysterically, and continued to shoot me with darts. This is what happens when you are the mother of three boys. You are not a human being, you are a punching bag, a dart board, a trampoline, an object for target practice.

But enough was enough, I wanted to read and enjoy my day of rest a little.

"Take it outside, or find something different to do. " I said, a little annoyed.

Issac-- the king of bad ideas : "Hey I know, lets play Wizard Wand Slap!"

I put an end to that game very quickly... if you use the name of the game literally, you'll know why it didn't last long. Then they all sat on the couch dejected. I was determined to make them bored, hoping that would incite some creativity. You know, the thing kids used to use for entertainment before, Disney channel, the Wii, the ipods...etc.

Next they were shooting a Tinker Bell mylar balloon that was stuck to the ceiling trying to get it caught in the ceiling fan that was spinning around.... this activity lasted about an hour in which no reading was accomplished.

I then taught them how to play "Mary had a little Lamb" on the little key board that we got for Isabella's birthday. We can't yet afford a piano, or lessons, so I thought I could teach them the names of the keys and a few basics.

Mason and Jackson really got into it and were playing "Mary had a little Lamb" over, and over, and over, and over again. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But I felt like my head was going to explode.

"Go upstairs--PLEASE ! " I said, ever so kindly.

It was quiet for a while, and soon I heard fits of laughter coming from upstairs. I kept reading for another 30 minutes, convincing myself that I didn't EVEN want to know what they were doing. Finally I gave in and went upstairs to check.

They were having the "World Championships of Fan Flying". A game which consists of climbing on the bunk bed and putting your designated action figure on the ceiling fan to see who's Bionicle, spiderman, or clone trooper could hang on the longest before flying off. Jackson came out not just the winner, but the "World Champion" and "world record holder" of fan flying. As a mother I couldn't be more proud... I think I'll get a bumper sticker that says,

"My child is the world champion fan flyer!"

Finally, dinner time. Crock pots are the best, I just scooped up dinner for everyone and we ate. It was quiet for the first time all day... Mason and Jackson did the dishes, to my amazement, without me prodding them the whole time. We cleaned up the house which by this point looked like... footage from hurricane Katrina.

Still wasn't bed time so we played Apples to Apples.

Said prayers and went to bed...

So much for the day of rest.

Daddys girl

My poor baby girl has had a horrible bought with croup, thankfully she is on the upswing. She got so bad we had to give her breathing treatments day and night. Shane was the only one who could get her to sit still through the process...which meant he also had to watch "Tinker Bell". Although he won't admit it... he was totally into that show.

Bella's got him wrapped around her finger.

This is Halloween...

We had a fun Halloween night, although I had my doubts. I wasn't looking forward to it. Halloween isn't my favorite... talk about the entitlement mentality... dressing up your kids to go begging for candy, so that you can eat all the good stuff before they get their grubby paws on it!? What is this world coming to? If you want some candy, work for it!!! (Just Joking : ) )

Shane was working and I don't love getting the kids all ready and going trick or treating by myself. Thankfully our friend Kristy invited us over for some brisket and bbq chicken and trick- or-treating afterwards, and we ended up having a great time.

Here are the kiddos, I told them I wasn't buying costumes this year (due to budgetary cutbacks in the Lewis household), and this is what we ended up with. Mason already had a skeleton shirt and I just cut some contact paper out in the shape of bones and stuck them onto his pants and hip bones on his shirt. Jackson wore the same Jedi costume from last year and for added flair we cut down Shane's jedi robe to fit. Isaac... first wanted to be a Nija, then Indiana Jones, and the list goes on and on. Finally he decided on a pirate, and when he saw Mason's face paint he insisted that he should be a "skeleton" pirate. What a crazy kid. Bella looked adorable as a bunny, another free costume ...

In this picture she even has the teeth for it!

She was so hilarious trick or treating she would get out of the stroller and run full speed up to the door (which looked hilarious in a bunny costume) pushing every unsuspecting trick or treater out of the way.

Favorite quote of the night:

"Get out of the way! Here comes a rabid bunny!" -- Jeff Wild

Playing in the yard

Here is the whole crew... the children of the S&W surgery residency class of 2011. This is a horrible picture... Shannon the photographer is cringing right now.

And here are the ladies who gave them life...

I can't say enough about these wonderful women. They have helped me so much through the past 3 1/2 years. It's hard to think about moving on in only another year and a half. With people like these in your life, the hard times pass quickly.

From left to right--

Stacy-- completely fearless and will try absolutely anything, and truly lives life to the fullest. She's the mother of 4, always taking them on an adventure, she's an artist, entrepreneur, an athlete and a caring friend. So fun to be around.

Me-- You know too much already

Allison-- Has a great sense of humor and always makes me laugh! She's thoughtful and genuine and makes everyone around her feel comfortable. Mother of an adorable little girl, full-time veterinarian and runner! I tell everyone she's my smartest friend... but all of my friends are smart, so that's saying a lot!

Kristy-- Incredibly thoughtful and organized! Oh my, this girl puts me to shame. She's always planning the parties and gatherings, and takes it upon herself to schedule meals for the new mothers in the residency program. When you have 2 boys like Kristy, you also have to have great sense of humor and she does.

Happy Halloween! Now for some Turkey!

When it rains... and other stuff.

It's been raining, a lot. I'm not complaining because, we really needed it. But, because it doesn't rain very often, the heavy rains of the last few weeks have revealed an issue with our roof...

First the ceiling looked like this:

Shane climbed up on the roof and calked around the chimney to fix the problem, then patched the damage on the ceiling... a few weeks later when the rains started again it bubbled up, and exploded. Now it looks like this ...Time to bring in the professionals?

On the bright side, I found this note sitting on the stairs ... the boys are always good for a laugh.

Maybe "like" and "wedgey" need to be on his next spelling test?

I'm a terrible Halloween Mom ... and have very little enthusiasm for the holiday. In an attempt to be on par with my kids excitement and trying to make some memories, we did a few crafts.

Here is Isaac with his "Funkin" (must be pronounced with care). Why, oh why, couldn't I have invented these!? They are awesome, all of the carving fun with non of the goo.

In another insane attempt to be enthusiastic about the holiday, for the first time,the boys and I dipped some carmel apples and rolled them in Oreos. Oh my, that was messy!!

Lets face it, they're hideous (we need A LOT of practice)... but they were delicious.

To capture more of the holiday magic we spent saturday at a pumpkin farm (it's more like a Christmas tree farm, with some pumpkins) with my friend Allison and her little girl Madison --

Here they are... Isabella, Allison and Madison... love this picture

The activities included...

Jumping, rolling and wrestling in the hay:

King of the Hay!

Here's Shane, the biggest kid of all, wrestling with the boys in the hay, and only rolled over a few unsuspecting toddlers.

Isabella and Madison LOVED the hay

Taking a choo choo train ride pulled by a riding lawnmower. The funniest part about this was was watching Shane count all the heads and marveling over how much these farmers were raking in. Now he's determined to get our riding lawn mower hook up some jerry-rigged riding cars and solicit the neighbor kids for a choo choo train ride $2.00 a pop... You could just see the wheels in his head turning...

Isaac and Isabella were all smiles while riding on some very depressed-looking ponies:

And for $2.00 we had the opportunity of being shoved through a gate into a seriously over- crowded and tiny cage, to feed a bunch of ravenous attack- goats... and step in all of the excrement. EEEWW.. Hand sanitizer here we come!

Jackson was so freaked out by the aggressive goats that he only lasted about a minute before he handed me the food.

At least I got a cute picture of Isabella...

Here's Allison , just trying to keep the goats away from little Madison who got knocked over a few times. Even Allison who is a veterinarian, wasn't overly thrilled by the whole goat thing.

A great day with good friends.

Blogging Dilema

A friend of mine blogged about blogging recently and it really got me thinking about my motives...

Sometimes I get really bored of my blog. I started it because we have lived away from our families for 8 years and have made friends along the way that have all moved on. I thought it was an easy way to keep in touch with them. Since then, it has evolved into something else... For me, blogging is cheaper than therapy. It helps me to see the bright side of a dark situation, and it keeps me company while Shane is in the trenches. Writing changes my perspective and brings to life, the adventure it is to be raising kids, while trying to strike a balance. More importantly, blogging gives me an opportunity to laugh at myself. To me, blogging is discovering how I really feel about things, despite what I might tell people in person.

For example, It seems like every time a friend or family member calls, the typical conversation goes like this:

"So what's going on?"

"Oh, same old, same old... you know, mom stuff "

But I realize now that lame answer is soooo far off, for all of us. Every day brings something new, some new challenge or hurdle, whether it's just us trying to decide how to best spend our time, working toward a goal, breaking up a fight, fixing something that's broken, wether its a plumbing problem or a kid... or just trudging through the changing emotions of the day.

I also love reading blogs of my friends, some who I haven't seen for over a decade. I feel a genuine connection with them, realizing that we are all more alike than different, and... they just make me smile.

Recently, I realized how narcissistic our society is becoming with the advent of reality T.V. shows and that tragically, certain families that have been falling apart because of it. How quickly something that starts out innocently, as a way to document your life can become a three ring circus...

So I want to clarify what my blog is not... It's not an attempt to gain attention or make money. I don't want to expose my kids to criticism or to the public. They are precious to me, so recently I've been a little nervous about the whole family blog, and wonder if I should take it private. The only reason I haven't done it so far is because it seems like a huge pain! I'm not under the delusion that a bunch of random people are following my blog, but the thought scares me.

So what's your opinion... should I take the blog private?

I scream, you scream, we all scream....

Why is it that kids look so cute eating icecream? Look at those blue eyes and crooked hat. Just adorable.

Even with an icecream mustache he's stinkin cute.

On the other hand... this is how I look eating icecream... Isn't it sweet of my mom to capture this very flattering moment mid-lick?

Here's Jackson wondering where it all went so quickly.

And Mason, not wasting any time...

Of course, the best part of eating icream is pretending like you are one of the Jonas Brothers... and rockin' out with your microphone.