Keeing them busy

Every time I sit at the computer to write a post I have an internal argument about whether to write a "new" post or actually finish the 3 remaining Christmas posts. You can see which side of me won today. I WILL write those Christmas posts one day, just not today. We have had a cold snap in Florida recently. And YES, to all our Northern family & friends I KNOW, I KNOW...I've gone soft. But when you are used to 80's, 30's makes you want to cry. We have been forced to find indoor activities for the boys. OMG...how do parents in cold climates do it? It might be easier if we had girls, but we have 2 boys who love to run around. Actually, they require it. And then there is Brandon. Every year when the clock rolls back he is depressed for a week, constantly pointing out to anyone who will listen how dark it is outside. Sooooo in order to not rot the boys brains with television or Super Mario Brothers (they totally saved the princess anyway!) we have had to be creative. Now, to be fair I am better at coming up with this stuff and Brandon is better at facilitating the fun. I bought a pack of 150 marbles for $3 and we have played various marble games nightly. I dug out our old dominoes and we have taught the boys how to play that as well. We have been playing more and more board games. I am not a fan of board games, but the kids are. Only hard part with board games is the difference in ability between the boys. Hudson sometimes needs a partner and then he gets bored pretty quickly. The other day I took the dominoes and made various tracks for the boys to knock down. This was the only one they gave me a second to snap a pic of before they knocked it down.The other toy we have been playing with is the Master Caster. This is a toy from the late 70's/early 80's. They don't make it anymore. Brandon had it when he was a kid and has great memories of it. After months of searching,I finally found one on Ebay. Brandon was so excited to share a childhood memory with the boys. Here's how it works...You put wax (or crayons) into the little metal cup, 20 minutes later the wax is melted, you pick out the mold of a car you would like to make, put some tires in the mold, crank the wheel and the wax pours into the mold. Once it dries you have a custom made matchbox car. And, if you used crayons you can color with it too! The boys love their "new" toy!

Adventures in remodeling

Here in the Woods home we always paint in our underwear! Why are we painting in our underwear? Well to keep our clothes free of paint, of course...but the other reason is best explained by the following conversation which took place 3 weeks ago...

Me: I am going to paint the guest room tomorrow. We have guests coming over the next few months and i just want to freshen it up, make it presentable, spend minimal money and put it at the BOTTOM of the remodel list. Since it's the guest room and not really a priority. Honey, can you please fill in the nail holes for me.
Brandon: Sure.
(Brandon begins filling in the nail holes)
Brandon: This wall is covered in wall paper & then someone painted over it.
Me: Yes, I know.
B: That is stupid.

Me: Yes, I know.
B: Are you just going to paint over it again?
Me: That was the plan.
B: If we are going to do this room we should do it right and rip this down. Plus, I want to take down the popcorn ceiling. And the crown molding needs to be redone, and look at the bad job they did on the baseboard.
Me: I just want to paint.
B: This is crazy. This is a waste of money.
Me: I just want to paint. It will cost like $50.
B: We need to do this right.
Me: I just want to paint and then in a few years, you know, after the rooms we ACTUALLY USE are done, we can come back to this room. Plus, I'm not doing all of that work. I don't know how. If you want to remodel then this goes from being MY project to being YOUR project.
B: (goes back to the holes in the wall, 30 seconds later...) That's it...were doing this right.
Me: Well...um...you know... if we do this then the floor HAS TO be done too and that is going to be expensive (take that!)
B: huh, what kind of floor do you want?
Me: hardwood...the whole house. (that should stop him!)
B: Fine! Find some hardwood floors and help me empty this room.

Within 2 hours the guestroom was empty, the crown molding and baseboard were down and the popcorn ceiling had been scraped off. The next 2 nights were spent peeling the wallpaper off. Next Brandon applied a knock down finish to the ceiling and texture to the drywall. We have painted and installed a new ceiling fan and changed all of the door hardware. The hardwood floors have been ordered..for the entire house! Brandon is going to install them...should only take 2 or 3 years. So, my $50 "touch-up" just cost us more than it cost me to go to college. But really, this will be much more useful!

This is a picture of all of the guestroom stuff in it's temporary home...the living room! Hopefully you can't see my reflection in the mirror...I had been painting, so of course, I'm in my underwear!

Breaking News

In case you were wondering, zucchini makes Connor puke. Please don't ask for details.

I'm strong to the finish, cause I eats me spinach!

They. Ate. Spinach.
And no one cried, and no one puked.
It was the most wonderful, glorious, spectacular dinner ever.

Brandon has never been a fan of spinach. In fact when I am mad at him, I always make spinach as a punishment. SO much so that one night I made spinach and he walked in the door looked at the stove and said "what did I do?". I laughed out loud. I was just in the mood for spinach. Needless to say we don't eat it very often. But, with the boys (especially Connor) on a "try any food" kick I figured I would push my luck with spinach. I made it the same way I did the broccoli and it worked! They both made me carry them around the house singing about how they ate spinach. This is either going to get me in great shape or break my back. If that is all it takes for the boys to keep trying new foods it will be worth it!

Hello Tooth Fairy!!

Connor lost his first tooth! It has been loose for a couple of weeks and last night it was ready to come out. Don't worry..we sterilized the pliers. Oh, and don't mind Brandon's long john's!!

Christmas with BERO

As we do every year we had our gift exchange with BERO. But this year we decided to get together after church and have brunch. I think we may have just started a new tradition!

The kids running in to start the gifting!All season long when you would ask Olivia what she wanted for Christmas she would have one answer...slippers! How cute is that? Check out the smile we got to put on her face! Of course little girls need a robe to match their slippers!

(Thanks Kathy for putting her name on it!)

The Polar Express

The week before Christmas Aunt Judy took Connor, Hudson, Ryan & Olivia on a special trip to the North Pole! Well, not exactly. She took the 4 of them for a ride on The Polar Express Train. They stopped for dinner on the way and were given instructions to wear their pajamas. The got to ride on a real train and have hot chocolate and take a ride to the North pole. There was singing and dancing and of course, cookies! When Connor got home he told me that it wasn't the real north pole, but it was still cool. They got to see one of Santa's helpers. (Not the real Santa, because we all know he only shows up at BERO's house!) They each got to take home a bell and a mug. When Judy walked in the door I asked if she had taken any pictures and her response was "Hey, I had 4 kids!". We totally understood, but we were so curious as to what the kids got to see. Then on Christmas Eve, Judy presented each of our families with beautiful scrapbooks she made with pictures from their adventure. What a sneak! Our children are surrounded by such loving people. We are truly blessed!

Here are the boys before they left on their journey.

Scream it from the roof top!

I still have 6 more Christmas posts to write (I'm not even kidding) but I HAD TO interrupt these wonderful holiday theme posts to shout something from the roof tops....ready....

Last night Connor ate .....wait for it......

BROCCOLI!!!!!

That's right. You read it right. The Everest of all vegetables for our oldest son. The one that has ruined many a dinner in our home. Mostly because Connor has puked all over the table and really, who can eat after that. The details may bore you, but I have to write them down. It marks the end of The Great Food War and all wars should be well documented that way we can learn from them. So, for any parents to be...take out your note pads. We waited WAY TOO LONG to start Connor on grown up food. Once we did he took to most foods pretty well, but some smells, tastes and textures were just so foreign to him that he puked at a mere taste, touch or even smell. For example he has puked because:

1) Ryan was eating a banana. That's right, Connor was not even eating it. No one was asking Connor to eat it. Ryan was eating it. Connor walked by, smelled the banana & puked.

2) A friend carried a plate of Chicken & broccoli past Connor. He smelled the broccoli and puked all over her kitchen counter top.

3) He stuck his hand in a pumpkin to scoop out the guts and puked all over our last home. (not the reason why we moved)

Over the past couple of years Connor has made leaps and bounds worth of progress in the food department. He tastes everything we ask him to. The only food left that made him puke was broccoli. So, we just stopped eating it. Yes, all of us. Hudson even likes broccoli. But who wants to risk puke all over the table. Plus, he eats all the other veggies we give him, so we let broccoli be the villain. Then the other day I was in the grocery store and had an idea. He loves green beans sauteed in garlic salt & evoo. Why not try broccoli prepared the same way? Soooo, last night I had my chance. I had to feed him early to get him ready for karate and Hudson was asleep, so it was just Connor & I. I set up dinner for the 2 of us and told him we were on a date. He loves that. When I put the plate down I explained that this broccoli would taste a lot like green beans and asked him to trust me. He had a small bite, looked up at me and said "pretty good. Did you hear me, PRETTY GOOD!!! I scooped that child up in my arms and ran around the dining room table screaming in joy. He took the next bite and we completed the same running & screaming process. He took the third bite and said "Mom can you do that again?". I offered him a piece of candy if he ate a pile of broccoli and when I turned around to look it was gone. So to all of you parent soldiers in the food wars I would like to say keep fighting!

CRAP...just as I went to hit the "publish" button I remembered scrambled eggs. Watch out scrambled eggs...you are NEXT!