some pics from soccer

Todd snapped these pictures during Anna's team pictures...

Drew was home sick with Mom and the little girls.

Isn't Texas beautiful?! Ahh... sweet soccer memories.

(Isn't Anna's coach a big teddy bear? We love him!)

kid-sized caramel apples...

Mini-Caramel Apples

Jen's Rating- 3 out of 5 stars ***

Total Prep-Time- 2 minutes (plus remembering to buy caramel sheets at the store)

Total Activity Time- 15-20 minutes

Total Clean-Up Time- 5 minutes (plus several reminders for the kids to BRUSH really good)

We made mini-caramel apples using Granny Smith apples, a small cookie scoop, caramel sheets (from Wal-Mart) and Halloween Jimmies. I saw this idea at Little Birdie Secrets, and they got the idea from Family Fun Magazine.

Each kid got a different color toothpick, 4 apple pieces, one caramel sheet cut into 4 squares, and we shared the bowl of sprinkles. Wrap the apple with caramel, stick it with a toothpick, dip it in sprinkles, take a picture and eat them!!

Good Things- easy preparation... inexpensive... yummy and small so there wasn't a lot of waste or a lot of sugar (plus, they were easy to eat-- way easier than big caramel apples and the kids actually eat the apple not just bite off the caramel)... even though the apple pieces weren't totally round you couldn't tell once the caramel was on... very quick clean up... anything is good with sprinkles... did i say EASY!!?

Not so Good Things- if you handled the caramel too long it turned into a sticky mess and would not stick on the apples... if you licked your fingers the caramel got wet and would not stick on the apples-- this caused minor trauma for the kiddos... and, we left a plate for Todd to eat when he got home, but the caramel all melted off the apples as they were sitting... you definitely have to eat them right away...

If you're going to do caramel apples, this is a great way to involve kids without the mess.

I'll do it again next year because it was a fun, QUICK and EASY way to make it feel like fall.

lily's 6 weeks...

Mmmm... yummy baby.

is this how brittney started out?

NOTE TO MY MOTHER (and any social worker who are reading this blog)- It was just once that Ellie came home and announced with triumph-- "Guess what Mom? I didn't wear panties all day at school!!" I panicked a bit because she had worn a dress to school that day. Luckily, she did have shorts on under her dress. Anna tried the same stunt the next day, but a wise father had a panties check on the way out the door. It wasn't as funny the second time. :)

[OK- confession #1... The Professor thinks it is important to note that once (two years ago) we did get a call from Anna's preschool teacher saying that she wasn't wearing panties. That time she was in a skirt without shorts on... we did find the panties hiding in the corner of the school bathroom. I guess the moral of the story is you never quite know what us Moss's have on underneath...]

[OK-- confession #2... The day that Ellie went to school without panties, she was also wearing church shoes that were about 3 sizes too big for her (click, clack, click, clack)... Anna had traded shoes with another girl at church and we didn't realize it till the car ride home... these are the shoes that Ellie wore to school. I obviously was out of it that morning- Ellie completely missed all my checks. The Professor said he knew she had shoes on that were way too big, but he thought that I had approved it??!! Anyway, it was definitely one of those days... moments to remember!]

Yes, my kids do write on the walls, poop on me and sneak out without panties... I write about these things so I can remember them. But, I will also add that all four of them have gotten straight A's on every single report card they've ever gotten (except Anna did get an 89 in English this last marking period as her brothers are quick to point out). They all get Principal's Awards for citizenship and behavior and they are all in GT. Plus, Jakob (age 9) made a complete pancake dinner (from scratch!!) the other night. They play the violin (anna) and the piano (jakob and drew) and the boys are cub scouts. Ellie made 5 goals at her soccer game last Saturday. They read young, they share well and they only occasionally try to kill one another. Overall, they are EXCEPTIONAL kids-- I'll take no panties every now and then.

enjoying the moment...

The Professor came home to a room exploding with piles of folded laundry... he snapped this picture of the Mother Hen hard at work! My friend Bliss made Lily this quilt...

isn't it perfect?!

Lily's Blessing...

Here are a couple pictures from Lily's baby blessing on Sunday. She is such a sweet baby- we feel so blessed to have her in our family. I really need to dress Lily up again and take some pictures of just her in her sweet dress. With 9am church we had a hard enough time getting everyone dressed and in the car, these pictures are after church and everyone is ready for lunch... (including Lily) More pictures coming soon!!

anna's talents..

Don't you hope that your 16 year old girls keep the confidence they have when they are 6?

I LOVE THIS LIST!!

Anna's Talents...

1. drawing

2. gimnasbick's

3. sewing

4. reading

5. soccer

(see-- THIS is why we signed up all 4 kids in soccer...)

something fishy... PG13

The kids got a great lesson in the life cycle this week... The Professor got a new fish tank. He put our now-grown frog into the tank with his new fish. He assured us all that frogs and fish coexist all the time in fish tanks... Let's just put it this way, Cobra got renamed Killer. The kids were screaming and crying a little. Killer got put back into his little tank and we watched the hurt fish slowly die... thank goodness Petsmart has a 14 day guarantee on fish... So far, I'm lovin' the fish thing... Another little guppy died this morning. Oh, and my favorite part... The Professor got male and female guppies... It's horrible. Drew's fish (which I secretly call Hot-Pants because he has a bright red tail) spends all day chasing after the female guppy. We think she is pregnant already. The poor thing. Whenever I look at that tank and see Hot-Pants chasing the poor pregnant momma I feel like we're running a brothel. Maybe I should rename the Professor, the Pimp-Daddy. I grew up near the ocean and I've never really liked fish tanks-- I feel like we're watching Fish Hell. Mommy fishes in the ocean tell their babies, "If you are bad you may end up swimming in circles for the rest of your life trying to get away from Hot-Pants or Killer." I'm a total Nemo fan... escape, run for your lives... even the filter is better than a life of captivity... maybe the angel fish we had who refused to eat and just ended up in the filter was really a Nelson Mandela fish. To me, the fish aren't blowing kisses, they are mouthing the word "Help... Help... Help..." over and over. Do all drains really end up in the ocean? I may flush just the pregnant one... don't tell Pimp-Daddy. [Todd says this email is bordering on inappropriate. He says "They're fish honey, they're just acting on God-given instincts. How do you know the guppy doesn't like it?" I said, "If she liked it she wouldn't spend all day RUNNING away!!" Duh...] Sorry if you think this is a racy post-- imagine how I feel-- it's in MY LIVING ROOM!!

happy birthday honey...

Todd turned 35 last week and I had another moment... After his birthday dinner (Carol Thompson's Casserole) and birthday pie (no-bake cheesecake) and opening presents (school clothes and a fish tank)... we danced. Mmmm... I am completely in love with this man. We have six kids, have been married 11? years and I still get all tingly when he spins me around the room to a Disney princess CD. After he danced with me, dipped me and kissed me long enough for our audience to erupt in giggles, he danced with each of his daughters (and sons if the truth be told). We taught the boys a few fancy moves and they practiced whipping their sisters into spins and dips... and, of course the evening ended in a pile of tickles. Anyway, it was the daughter dances that touched my heart. Maybe because I never had a dancing dad when I was growing up. Maybe because we have a friend, father of 4 small kids, who just died in Iraq this weekend. Maybe because I'm nursing and hormonal. Maybe because good fathers are so rare nowadays... But, I just watched my sweet babies in their father's arms and I felt again how blessed we are. Todd is an adorable dad... he's especially cute with his little girls. He can sing all the words to all the princess songs. He can coax the girls into almost any outfit by telling them sweetly how beautiful they look. He can even do pigtails (almost). I've heard it said that girls look for husbands like their fathers... and, that children's relationship with God often mirrors their relationship with their fathers... I'm so grateful that my kids have such a great role model. I joke about Todd a lot (it is funny when he says Howdy at the grocery store), but the truth is He is AMAZING. I love being "yoked" together with him forever... I had no idea that marriage could be so fun. Here are a few things that I love about Todd that don't involve our children. 1. He always makes the bed, even though he doesn't move in his sleep and I am a night-time gorilla, tossing and turning and ripping the covers out from under the mattress almost nightly. (I seriously can't wear nightgowns because I would strangle myself). 2. He loves to go out on dates, and he makes sure we go out for a lunch date at least once a week. 3. He loves quilts... or at least he makes me think he does. Honestly, he always makes me feel like I'm amazing. 4. Even PTA... he's not bitter when I volunteer for one more thing-- he said, "Jen, I'm so proud of you. You're going to learn so much doing PTA." Seriously, could you find another guy that is so supportive? 5. Have you ever hugged this guy? It's perfect. We just fit together very nicely... [Todd says this one is weird... he asked what I would say if someone replied... "You're right! I have hugged Todd and it was really great..." He's a dork...] 6. Todd is NICE. Although sometimes it drives me crazy, he can see nice intentions in anyone else's behavior. I know that I can bring any frustration to him and completely thaw my disgust. Sometimes I have to enjoy my contempt with a girlfriend before I talk to Todd about it, he just melts any stressful situation. 8. We are always talking... all day we're connected. He knows my details and he tells me his details. I think this keeps us friends and I love it... 9. He cooks and cleans and let's me take naps and he takes the kids to soccer games and practices... yeah, I know this wasn't supposed to be about kids. 10. He watches chick-flicks with me. And, when I used to go watch him play basketball, he would wave to me when I cheered. And, he smells so good in the morning as he heads off to school. And, he would rather listen to me cry and rant then have me be upset and quiet. And, he's funny... we still laugh all the time. And, he fills my car with gas. And, he likes that I can beat him when we play games. And, he doesn't care that I will never play trivial pursuit, chess or checkers with him because I can't beat him. And, he puts the toilet seat down. And, he can make gravy without lumps... who can do that? And, he doesn't say anything when I watch reality TV... well, this is a taught behavior. He makes me feel pretty even when I'm huge pregnant (Do you know he told me that he was going to miss my belly?). And, when I'm earth momma at the end of the day... he still tries to make-out with me while I'm cooking dinner. Overall, I try to make our life seem fairly normal and give a real-life perspective. And sometimes I don't say the good things enough. Todd, he's a good thing. I'm so excited that he's mine for eternity!! Love him...

Lessons I've learned... #1

NEVER change a baby's diaper on your lap.

the writing on the wall...

OK- I think there is a stage of life that most kids go through when they feel an intense desire to mark their territory. Boys use bodily fluids (Todd is in the bathroom one day when an un-named boy child walks in and pees on the bath mat. Todd asks, "What are you doing?" To which the un-named boy child replies, "Oh Dad, sometimes I do that." ??!!!???)... And, girls use writing utensils (which can include scratching with fingernails on a leather couch, toothpaste on a mirror, or sharpie on a door). If you have exceptionionally bright children, like my own, they will employ two above-average tactics. 1. Be sure that you take a picture of your sister in the act of destruction so there will be no doubt who to blame. 2. Be sure that you boldly express your love to those most likely to be inflicting consequences for your deviance. Yeah, this artwork was created during our garage sale on Saturday... thankfully it was a washable white board sharpie-- not permanent. And, we LOVE Magic Erasers...

i think i can, i think i can...

i had to laugh at myself this weekend... when i asked myself why i continually try to pull more than i can handle, i answered myself with an AHA!! moment... I'M THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD. No matter how large the load if I just keep chuggin' I think I can make it over the hill. (It's my mom's fault-- she read to me too much as a child. )

seriously, this is what i always tell myself... my inner dialogue...

just keep chuggin'... i think i can... i think i can... i think i can...

(and, i'm totally pulling a circus!!)

"Puff, puff! Chug, choo! Off they started! Slowly the cars began to move. Slowly they climbed the steep hill. As they climbed, the little steam engine began to sing: "I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I-think-I-can! I think I can - I think I can - I think I can I think I can--" And they did! Very soon they were over the hill and going down the other side.

And she went merrily on her way, singing: "I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could! I-thought-I-could! I thought i could - I thought I could - I thought I could - I thought I could - I thought I could - I thought I could I thought I could --"

sweet baby...

lily... age 4 weeks... ohhh... i just love this precious time... newborns...

because, i LOVE garage sales...

BELOVED CRAP

because, my friend Grey is moving and wanted to get rid of stuff...

because, Todd was out of town on a cub scout camp out...

because, I only had one birthday party (we didn't make it-- sorry Jackson), two soccer games, a 6, 5, and 2 year old, and a 3 week old at home...

because, I only had 4 award assemblies and one PTA executive board meeting at the school yesterday...

because, my baby is awake and not so happy from 11pm to 4am...

because, I LOVE selling my cute, pottery barn kitchen that I paid $100 for at an outlet to a Mexican family for $15...

(Yeah, that family came back to our garage sale with a moving van... for real!! I may have to check out the local flea markets next week to buy the kitchen back!! Who knew there were professional garage salers?)

because, my friend Grey just adopted a two year old last Saturday...

because, between us we have 13 kids...

because, it was supposed to RAIN...

because, I LOVE putting prices on things...

("How much is this?" "Uhh... 50 cents... ten dollars? Make me an offer... OK, just take it.")

because, I don't have another friend that would be crazy enough to have a whirl-wind garage sale with me....

We opened at 6am and closed up at noon.

(Well, we sold a moving van of stuff to that one family the night before- they showed up as we were setting up. And, on Saturday it started raining around 10am- we were seriously DONE by noon.)

CRAZY!!!! but fun.

kind of.

I did make $186!!!

ALMOST enough to pay the $250 speeding ticket that Todd got on the way to Scout Camp....

Treasures... (Anna helped with pricing!) So, what did you do this weekend?

blogs that make me smile...

This week I'm having fun with other Mormon Mom blogs. None of Your Beeswax posted some funny political shirts... this is my favorite. She also had a "Mormon's for McCain" with green Jell-O on it.

Random side conversation-- (Utah is the state with the highest green Jell-O consumption. Did you know that Mormon's even put shredded carrots in Jell-O-- for real! And, I think they count that as a vegetable!) Isn't it funny that I say "they" when I talk about Mormons... I do the same thing talking about Texas women... I am a Mormon in Texas and yet I have never put carrots in my Jell-O and, I'm not as super put together as most Texas women... so do I say, "WE even put carrots in Jell-O" or do I say "THEY put carrots in their Jell-O"??? Yeah, just remember I'm a convert, both to Mormonism and Texas. And, I love both... I'll let you know the first time I put carrots in my Jell-O, we'll have a party, me becoming "WE" with Utah Mormons. In fact, I'll invite you over, we'll have a casserole, green Jell-O, fruit slush, and funeral potatoes... Then, next week we'll have a "Howdy, I'm a Texan" party (The Professor really does say "Howdy" to everyone he passes at the store-- I think it's funny.) I'm still amazed that prairie dogs are real-- seriously, there is a little field by a park here and you see holes in the ground with little prairie dogs sticking their heads out and running around-- it's adorable. And, I still laugh when my kids ask if they can go play "in the desert" (the field behind our house). And, I still die of shock when our neighbor shows me the HUGE snake he found in the field behind our house and encourages me NOT to let our kids play there. Ohh, random. Anyway, so at our Texas party. I, of course, will look "done up". We'll eat queso-- (it's yummy, I just discovered it) and beef brisket, and beans-- you have to eat beans in Texas. We'll all make the guns up Texas Tech sign that it took me one year to figure out-- I could never understand why my kids would make sign-language L's in every picture. And, I'll become a "WE" with Texas women. End of Random Side Conversation...

OK... Todd and I just laughed and laughed about this blog about a Mormon 3 year old birthday party-- Ghetto Pinata... So funny!! And, I think this blog is adorable-- My Super Hopeless Romance... it's a blog about a girl who is in love with her best friend (a guy). Sooo cute... I have to check in with her nightly and I even prayed for her once. I know you're laughing, but sometimes I find myself praying for people in movies, at least this drama is REAL!!

scary soup...

I saw a link to this on according to Kelly... it's Eye-Popping Soup from Martha. Don't you want to make it??! What a fun, easy dinner... tomato soup, grilled cheese sandwiches and eyeballs... I'm so excited to surprise my kids with this one! (FYI- the eyeballs are mozzarella balls with green olives and pimentoes...)

that girl...

I had a MOMENT yesterday... You know THAT girl that bakes. I have never been THAT girl. She bakes cookies weekly and always has a homemade something ready to bring to a meeting at a moment's notice. She probably even has a fully stocked cookie jar, and actually bakes because she enjoys it. I used to look at THAT girl and want to be like her... but, it was a pain in the neck for me to make cookies, and I never even enjoyed them once they were baked because they were gross. My sister-in-law, Rebekah, is definitely one of those girls. When I got her recipe for cookies posted here... she gave me some cookie baking tips and it changed my life. I love baking cookies. When Jakob came home from piano at 6pm he said, "Oh Mom, I need to bring a snack to scouts tonight." at 7pm... I smiled as I packed him a plate of homemade cookies that I just happened to have baking in the oven... today after lunch, I ate a frozen, fresh cookie from my freezer... I'm becoming THAT girl!! I've had similar moments over the past few years. I remember wishing I was THAT girl that didn't get stressed out with her kids in public... I'm pretty much there... that just takes years of having lots of little kids so it takes a house fire to really freak you out, plus you learn to fake it till you make it. I knew I was THAT girl when a younger mom said to me, "How do you do it? I only have two kids and I'm going crazy and you have tons and you're always smiling." I told her my secret... usually it doesn't matter how your kids behave, you look like a good mother if you smile and stay calm, you look like a bad mother when your upset and yelling, crying or having a tantrum on the floor. Like I said, if you're not lovin' it, FAKE IT!! I never wanted to be THAT girl that has 20 peanut butter kids. You know, the frazzled mother with the kids that have mismatched clothes, dirty, snotty, peanut butter encrusted faces, messy hair, etc. Yeah, I think there are times that I'm THAT girl. Some days I look at Leah and wonder how long she has had dried boogers wiped across her cheek. And, I do want to make a button to pin on my kindergartner that says something like, "My Mother Values Independent Thinkers... I dressed myself." Or, "Future Fashion Designer". Or, "Can your five year old do a ponytail this good?" Yeah, I knew I was THAT girl when I allowed Ellie to go to preschool in her red, silky Annie dress-up dress on top of her other clothes, or when I let her pick out silver sparkle shoes as her only pair of dress-up shoes, or the first time that I decided I wasn't going to fight my girls everyday on the way they have their hair for school or whether or not they brushed their teeth... gross, I know. Yeah, I'm THAT girl. There is another elusive stereo-type girl that I'm still trying to figure out. Do you know THAT girl who always looks put together? Here in Texas there are a lot of those girls. (Paige- you are that girl.) Their hair is always perfect, nails done, make-up neat and even in their sweats they still look like they're going out to dinner with their husband. How do they do it? I can get dressed up, on Sunday. I can do my hair, if I have a meeting or something. But, if you stop by my house on laundry day-- SCARY!! I look like the laundry. (In fact, even the ladies that cleaned my house looked more put together than I did.) And, I will add that even when I do style my hair and put make-up on-- you can't always tell. Certainly by the end of the day I'm back to earth mother status. Will I ever be THAT girl? Is it a certain hair-style that eludes me or is it the fact that I wake-up at 7am and send my kids to school by 8am and have a hard enough time grabbing a quick shower, pair of jeans and a ponytail before I'm out the door again. Is it a matter of time or money or skill? I'm not sure... next time you see THAT girl, can you ask her how she does it? (This morning was one of those days that I was planning on staying home all day, cleaning and doing laundry. The school called. Ellie had a bloody nose and needed a new shirt. So, I got the baby girls in the car and put my hair in a pony and headed up to the school. I think I got three sympathetic smiles, two "Are you OK?"s and one, "You look really tired." I needed a sign-- doing good, just doing laundry, didn't style my hair or put on lipstick... today I'm Mother Hen, someday I'll be THAT Girl. Oh, and yesterday I baked cookies just for the fun of it. Yeah, I'm almost THAT girl. And, even though my kid has a blood-stained shirt, I'm carrying a three-week old in her pjs and a boogie faced two year old so I look like THAT girl, I'm not flustered so I'm THAT girl.) [On the way to church the professor winked at me... "Oh jen, today you're definitly THAT girl." Because of the wink we'll assume he meant that girl.]

everything looks nicer in black and white...

OK-- most of you know how religious our family is. Twice a year our church has a General Conference. It is on TV (if you have more than 5 channels with bunny ears) or on the Internet (this is how we watch it) or you can go to the church and see it on the big screen. They have Saturday morning talks, Saturday afternoon talks, Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon. Each session lasts 2 hours- and is talks interspersed with songs. Honestly, this is my favorite time of the year because we get to stay at home and just learn and be inspired. Every year I have these grand visions of all the kids sitting down, feeling pricked in their hearts and thanking me for teaching them about Jesus Christ and promising me that years from now when they are on their own they will look back at these times we spent together with fondness. These are the snack baggies and "General Conference Packets" that I had ready for my kids. Doesn't "The Professor" look cute in this picture?! See how sweet my girls are coloring while they soak in the message of conference... you can't hear their fights over whether or not to color the next letter teal or blue-green. Even my sweet 2 year old is sitting nicely on the bed watching her brother "The Conference Beast" who appears to be coloring sweetly. Can we forget the angelic "Conference Police Officer"? In this picture he appears to be taking copious notes while his life is changed by the inspirational words in the background. He isn't telling us, as his parents, how unfair we are that we allow certain children, like the Conference Beast, to lay on the bed while other, more obedient children, are sitting up as they were told. And finally, look at that sweet Mother Hen holding her sleeping baby. Both look as if they are able to hear the words of conference and are enjoying the time they are spending together with their family. In fact, one would wonder if this sweet Mother Hen ever wonders how a nice girl like her ended up with six- runny- nosed- sassy kids... well, I guess 5 since the baby hasn't been ruined yet. Yeah, everything looks sweeter in black and white. It almost makes one forget the hellish day, the apologies from the Professor, "Sorry Drew, I shouldn't have told you to shut-up". (I shouldn't have put this quote in, but it was the highlight of my day- since I'm usually the one that looses my temper with the youngun's.) The encouragement from Mother Hen to leave her presence and go play Game Boy (which is usually banned on Sunday). The promises that next year, Mother Hen and The Professor are going to get a hotel room for the weekend and hire a sitter to inspire the young. Hopefully (Gaby), no one will actually read my post. If you just look at the pictures, we had a great Sunday. And, really, the kids did sit well for the morning part of conference... who can expect them to sit, feasting on the words of Christ, all day long. It's those stupid pictures that I have in my head of everyone else's completely well-behaved families... I bet they have the behind the scenes moments too. One part of conference that I did hear... and went back later to get the exact quote... was this quote.

Our modern-day prophet, President Thomas S. Monson said,

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware. The tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered around the house, the piles and piles of laundry lying around to be tackled, will disappear all too soon. And, you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly."

I know, I know... that's the problem. Even when I have days that are stinky, it is very hard for me to stay cranky when I sit down to write about it. Why? Everything looks sweeter in black and white. My life... I'm just livin' the dream. My dream. This is what I choose, and it's the life I love (most of the time). And, somedays are like that, even in Australia. [Don't you know the book- The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day... this is where the Australia reference came from- the Professor didn't get it and needed explicit explanation...]

top 5 signs mom's been busy...

Today I was watching General Conference while my kids played. Todd had soccer duty-- 5 games in all, and I had little kid duty. Leah is the big sister now, and she was so good to play by herself most of the day. Yeah... like sweet little Gretel of old, she left me a trail of breadcrumbs so I would know where she'd been... 1. Someone has gotten into mom's DMC floss... ooooh what a mess! 2. Books, books, everywhere there are these piles of books... 3. Hmm... one little two year old in our family eats only the center of an Oreo (Golden Oreo's are our latest obsession) 4. I HATE CLEANING UP PUZZLE MESSES!! Puzzles and board games are two of the worst things to clean... I hate sorting small pieces!! 5. Finally, I hear a sound. The opening and closing of a cabinet with the occasional "Maaaaahm". I take a break from a nursing baby to seek out the cause and this is what I found... Oops! (This is one of those- smile-and-know-you-are-a-great-mother-most-of-the-time-moments) I hope she wasn't stuck like this too long!! I remembered a time when Drew was little, I heard him calling, "Mom!! Mom!!" And I yelled back, "Hold on Drew, I'll be there in a minute." He responded, "OK Mom... I'll hold on REAL tight!!" When I found him he was falling off a cupboard he was climbing, holding on for dear life. Tomorrow I'll be a more attentive mother. Tonight it's time for B-E-D so I can clean up this destruction.

crazy hair and pirate day...

ARGHH!! Friday again... yes, all the kids met their reading goals so as a reward they get to bring board games and have crazy hair today... so fun. First grade has pirate day to celebrate the end of their Ships unit... Crazy Hair Day translates into Crazy Momma Morning. Thankfully Dad did morning devotional while Mom decorated the children. (Boys are wimps by the way... you should have seen them wiggling and whining when I put their little ponytails in... I kept reminding them that Leah gets little ponytails everyday and never even cries.) Hopefully they all do well on their spelling tests that we didn't get to review this morning. But, don't they look like cute little Matey's?? Just another Moss Moment.

Ahhh... halloween is coming...

OK- this is my top secret Halloween idea... I'm really excited (DON'T TELL ANYONE!!)

I want to do a patriotic theme...

Miss America

Statue of Liberty

Uncle Sam (Todd of course)

Air force Fighter Pilot

Army guy

Oh-- I did see the coolest Mt Rushmore that someone made with one of the faces being the dad's real face-- hmmm... so many fun ideas. (Why is Todd always the most fun to dress up?)

I need some great ideas of how to get or make these costumes cheap... and, I need a cute costume for Leah and the baby... at least i have my idea-- finally.

Now- to create masterpieces using no money... Abracadabra...