Who is Clay Trobridge??

Sweet Cherub #4 has announced that he wants to be Clay Trobridge for Halloween. Huh?? Who in the world is Clay Trobridge?

I asked #1, 2, and 3 and they quickly informed me that, "Mom, he's a guy from the Lone Ranger!" And they said it with the universal "duh" look on their face.

Then I got it. Since moving to Georgia, hubs and I decided we were going to try to not have cable TV. We have never gone without cable TV in our 13 years of marriage. In fact, in our poor years, we would still have cable TV and just go without other things.

So since we have been cable-free for 3 months, the kids have been watching whatever DVD's we have around the house or ones we check out from the library. Lately, they've been watching the Lone Ranger while in the van as we run errands. Evidently we have been running ALOT of errands lately, because they not only know the characters in the episodes, but they now want to BE them for Halloween.

Now I have to watch this Lone Ranger episode to see what Clay Trobridge looks like and what on earth #4 will wear in order to look like him. I also am going to see if I can come up with a quick and easy way of explaining who he is to each and every person who will ask "Who are you for Halloween, little man?" Because we all know that they'll look at me and say exactly what I said, "Who is Clay Trobridge?"

This was #4 for Halloween 2 years ago. He was Tow Mater. That was so much easier to explain...

Pool Rules

Every pool needs a set of rules. I think Shakespeare said that. :)

We needed a set, especially with cousins and friends coming to swim, not to mention my 4 kiddos.

So....I grabbed a piece of wood from the garage and spray painted it bright red. Then used white contact paper in my cricut and cut out all the letters and stuck them to the board. Nice and easy, right??

Next, a couple coats of clear poly and it was ready for use!

Linking up to Sew Many Ways! 

Linking up to Skip To My Lou!

Linking up to Polly Want A Crafter!

Healthy kids? Yes, please!

So for the last two weeks, my one and only girl, #2, has been sick. First we thought it was strep, so she was treated with amoxicillin. Then we found out that, nope, it was mono. Problem was that if you treat mono with amoxicillin, bad things happen. Horrible, body covering, itchy purply red rash happens.

But thankfully, after some corticosteroids and anti-itching meds, she is back at school again.

Now, it's #4 with conjunctivitis. And not the bacterial kind that you can treat w/ antibacterial drops for 24 hours and send back to school. No sir-ee. It's the viral kind that you can't send back to school until it clears up...however long that might be.

Don't get me wrong. I love my sweet children and even love having them home with me when they are sick. (It's the only time I get them one on one!) However. I am growing weary of going to the doctor every day and having to miss work.**I've got to get paid! Did I mention we bought a house that needs some serious fixer-upping!***

Well, I am going to go wake up precious cherubs #3 and #4...and I am hoping and praying that #4's viral conjuntivitis has cleared up! If not, at least I know we have another day of coloring, watching Star Wars and snuggling on the couch. :)

Hope you all stay healthy and happy!

A friend of mine put this as her facebook status last week:

"I have a theory about why it appears that self-injury, including tattoos and piercings, have increased so much. It involves the decrease in physical pounding that comes from daily active play as children and adolescents; I think there is a neurobiological need for a certain level of touch/pressure feedback that our most recent generations have not been getting in their "diet," leading to cravings for it later on."

I commented that if that's the truth, then my kids will never get tattoos. :)

Catching Snakes

I hate snakes. Really hate snakes. In fact, most wildlife I enjoy more when it is behind glass.

After only a few weeks of living in our new house, a snake came onto our back porch. Gag. Of course it happened while dear sweet hub was TDY (short trip for the Army). Everything happens while hubs is gone.

He might look tiny, but he was scary!!

So I am well aware that I am not going to be able to wrangle this snake on my own. So I start thinking that this might be a great opportunity to let #1 be big and bad. Give him something to tell his buddies about.

So #1 trapped that snake while I was freaking out and yelling at him, remaining calm and collected. The look of pride on his face was priceless.

#1 Snake Wrangler. Confidence Boosted.

Middle Child Lovin'

Being the middle child isn't always the easiest. My #3 is not only in the middle of the 4 kids, but he is the middle boy. Here's our breakdown: #1-boy, #2-girl, #3-boy, #4-boy.

Sometimes he just needs a little special attention from Mom.

He got it! :)

Wow moment

WOW. Today was a wow day. I love wow days.

My sweet tween (male version) came up to me, put his arms around my neck and said, "I'm sorry for being so disrespectful".

I love this guy!