Swords

Daddy made "swords" with his boys a week or so before Halloween.

  This bloody nose happened, oh......5 min after they started sword fighting.  Now Daddy is shopping for head gear.

Wouldn't wanna come across these guys in a dark ally!

My Man's Birthday

On Justin's birthday, I made him dinner & cake. The boys all made him very heart-felt birthday cards. We dimmed the lights, lit candles, made sure everything was just right & waited for Justin to come home from work. The boys all wanted to have a "surprise" party for him. They hid in closets, behind couches & under the table. Everything was very peaceful, clean & quiet. Then Justin called & said he was working a bit late. I didn't tell the boys. When my hard-working man finally got home (& interrupted my 'quiet mommy time'), he opened up & read his cards.

I don't know how to feel about Jarod's card. 

Reasons I love this man:

He forges weapons with his boys. 

He plays, adventures & spars with his kids.

Snuggles his babies.

He knows that kids spell love, "T-I-M-E".

Snuggles me.

Smiles for all the pictures I take of him.

Imposters

That's not really a super cute alligator. It's just Isaac.

In the days before Halloween, my kids think it's Halloween all week. This is what Titus was going to be for Halloween, before he changed his mind. Fortunately, we collect all of our costumes over the years, so we can afford to have a few changes of heart & costume. Many costumes that we own are good deals that I found after Halloween....or in off-seasons at the thrift store. Some are gifts that aunties & grandmas bought for them at after-Halloween-sales, or off-seasons at the thrift store. Halloween costumes make great Christmas gifts.

A little dragon that went "Trunk or Treating" with us.

Ballerina Kitty

What my kids were ON Halloween.

What they were last night after the $2 costume clearance at Wal Mart.

Even Daddy played!

Beware of the evil Sith lord, Seth! Poor little alien. Scary Army guy. (I didn't call him a Marine because they wouldn't be caught dead in that sloppy of a uniform. Would they, Justin? ;)

Jarod transformed.

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?! (The stupidest cartoon EVER created...but my kids LOVE him anyway.)

Cruel & Unusual

A couple weeks ago, Justin decided we needed to get rid of our TVs. He feels that, if there is a TV in the house, he will watch it in the evenings, instead of spending quality time with his family. He has really been putting an emphasis on family time.........which I love. BUT. Even though I have actually wanted this (or thought that I did) for quite a while, I admit that I panicked a little when he actually brought it up for serious discussion. What would I do without Diego, Elmo & Big Bird to help me with the little boys, while I did school with the older boys?! How would I fold laundry?! And what about Cuddy & House?! Will they stay together? Will House ever learn to love Cuddy's child? Will he ever marry her & make an honest woman out of her? Will her love for him mend his wounded soul & abusive personality? Will Cuddy actually be willing to subject her child to such a mean father figure? Will House go to Celebrate Recovery to help him with his anger & admit there is a God who loves him & can help him with his hurts, habits & hang-ups? (OK. So I daydream. I won't apologize for it.)

Well, as it turns out, there is this cool thing, called a radio, which aides me in my laundry-folding endeavors. And, with a little extra organization of toys, I've been able to keep the babies more occupied during school lessons. Surprisingly, I find that I don't actually CARE that much about House, Cuddy....or ANY of the completely unrealistic & morally degenerate characters I've come to enjoy on television. It's not like we're living in the Dark Ages. We do have (gasp) books. We also have 4 computers with Internet (tightly monitored of course), 3 of which have been provided to us by the government, for our on line schooling.

Before we gave up TV, I was already on an organizing & cleaning kick. Isaac is less of a baby now (*sniff sniff*), so I have been able to accomplish more anyway. This "no-TV-thing" is helping me somehow to get even more organized & efficient. I, myself, didn't really watch TV during the day. But I guess it was a bit of a safety net for me with the kids. Now I know I have to be organized......or chaos will ensue & I'll be making an extended visit to a nice little white padded room where I can slam my head against the wall as often as I want to & it won't hurt very much & where huge run-on sentences & bad spelling & grammar are expected. I am making an effort to send the kids outside to play more.

We are having more creative fun & keeping up on school better.

I'm even having the little ones do "school".

Nice, organized school & activity bins.

I've created a personalized & organized work space for Seth. He NEEDS it, now that he's in high school. Note the neat, "new" bookshelf.

Seth's "science lab".

He's been learning the bass & already plays beautifully. LOVE those low notes!!!

Isaac has been scaling new heights. I'm so happy about that. He's fallen off of this toy shelf twice in the past week. I'm considering gluing his feet to the floor.

We've all been keeping the house cleaner together.

Without Justin's TV shows to compete with, I can practice my music more in the evenings. Isaac "helps".

A new puppet theatre made it's debut.

Pirates have attacked.

If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em. It's better than walkin' the plank! Aarrrg!

Diabolical architects have been born.

Small toys have been victimized.

Jarod made home-made play dough. Gideon discovered a cool mold.

Titus found a better one.

Our dryer died & Justin installed a new one. Can you tell who's been TV deprived? "Oooooooo.....it spiiiiins!!! Look, Mom! It's a Mooooooovieeee!!!"



I have to admit, I occasionally can't take it any more & I resort to letting them play games.......

.....or to letting them watch a show on line. I'm not SUPERWOMAN, OK???!!!

The only thing I feel badly about is Jarod missing his cooking shows. He is a creative soul, who wants to be a chef when he grows up. He hasn't heard from his mentor, Alton Brown, in a long time. He is a little depressed about that.

Probably, once a month, we will have a TV/Wii/junk food day. (I also banned junk food from the house, when Justin banished the TVs & the Wii. The kids thought, at first, that they were being cruelly & unusually punished for something & were convinced they were all going to die.) We will bring a couple of the TVs in from the garage. Justin & the boys will have a Lord of the Rings marathon in the living room, while I watch Anne of Green Gables in my room. (I might even invite some girl friends to join me.) Jarod will get to watch "Good Eats". We will eat yummy stuff to our hearts' content. Then, out the TV & junk food will go for another month. That's the plan, anyway.

It's been about two weeks without TV so far. Two looooong, miserable weeks. Just kidding. It's been mostly good. Our lives are definitely better, over all, without the boob-tube. :) Thanks, honey! "No TV" is great idea! (I left a goodbye note, along with your suitcase on the front porch. I'm sure your mom will love to have you around for a while.)