she may look innocent

the other day i saw this little cutie sitting on the floor. 

the room was dark and i thought 'that's weird, she been sitting there for a while'

 i flipped on the light and saw this.

nice. potato flakes everywhere.

she seems most pleased with herself

11 years.

this boy of our turned 11. can you believe it.

opening presents. he got a nerf gun, a knife, a few books, some shirts (not his favorite), a safe, and two dvd's-snowball express and apple dumpling gang.

it was a great day because he had school off.

we went to monkey joes with some friends. ate pizza, slushies and a treat for the ride home.

 When dad got home, he opened presents.

 they watched the apple dumpling gang afterward

 we had pizza for dinner-dominos (his request) and skor bar cake

 he is such a great kid!

Things about K;

he doesn't like to procrastinate things

he LOVES to read

he is so helpful

he loves B

he loves scouts

he loves mountain biking

he loves hanging out with dad

he isn't a huge eater

he is honest

he loves to watch tv

he is thoughtful

he is a great kid!

top ten days...ever!!

one word for you.

Newsies!!! on broadway!!!

AAAHHHHMAAAZING!

let me back up and tell you how this all came to be....

I mentioned to a good friend that I would LOVE to see newsies in NYC. nothing major, just mentioned it in passing. she kindly approached my husband, in november, and she OFFERED to watch all 5 of our kiddos on a saturday so we could go to the big apple and see newsies. how nice is that. 5 kids is a lot of work. so, he surprised me christmas morning with tickets to go see newsies. 

fast forward to last saturday. 

our friends showed up with her kids in tow, (still, so shocked at her amazing kindness), gave her brief instructions, and we headed out.

we had the best time. we haven't had a day to spend together, just the two of us, in over 4 years. it's been a long time! i kept thinking how calm and relaxed i felt, despite the fact that we were in a major bustling city. there were no kids to keep track of, no strollers to carry up subway steps, no snacks to hand out, no water bottles to distribute, not diapers to change. not a worry. 

i love that the church has their website up in times square.

we made our way to katz's deli. a pretty famous place in new york. we knew what street it was on, found it on the subway, and headed out. we got off the subway and realized we were still about a mile from our destination. and we walked. well, maybe i should say we strolled. it was so nice to walk the streets, see the architecture and just enjoy being together. C even saw a ferrari, that may have been his highlight for the day....

until his pastrami sandwich. it was pretty tasty.

 we even got hot chocolate at tim hortons afterward. mmmmm. kept us warm since we didn't have jackets. it was suppose to be 55, but i don't think it got above 45, and it was windy.

we got to shop a little in times square before the show.

YEAH!!!!!!

 the play was fantabulous!!!!

truly. 

it was amazing. 

i have seen wicked and les miserables on broadway and i liked this just as much. 

the dancing was amazing!! 

there was an old guy sitting next to me who was whooping and hollering all through the show. at intermission, he leaned over to his wife and said, 'i'm exhausted'.
 it was an amazing show!

thanks to my generous friend who helped my amazing husband pull off the best gift and one of our top ten days ever!

oohhhh, what a mess

i haven't posted all the messes these to kids of mine are keeping me busy with. truthfully, it's kinda knocked me out lately. i'm exhausted. i didn't even have the energy to take pics of everything. but here's a few..

C climbs on top of the piano and gets stuck, and then gets ticked.

B climbs on top of the cupboard (using the lazy susan) and pretty much helps himself to whatever he can find. Today it was cocoa. it was a mess! i don't know if my toaster will ever truly recover

 I dont know why i assume the best with these two. really, i should know by now to assume the worst. but i still dont. i still give them the benefit of the doubt.

the other day i heard them in the kitchen with something plastic sounding. i knew i had left a bag of grapes on the counter and just figured they were eating those. i came in, and they were eating them, but they had also gotten into the oats and had spread them ALL over. there were mashed grapes mixed with dry oats. 

i just keep repeating to myself over and over what people keep telling me; one day, one day, one day.

one day, no more messes. 

one day, they will be grown.

one day, your house will be empty.

here's to one day ;0)

love these kiddos

ouch!

this poor kiddo was sick, but with a healthy dose of ibuprofen was feeling great, was jumping on the couch, and jumped into the corner of the door. ouch!

farm show

so, folks around these parts, they love their farm show. me, well, i go for the soft deliciousness of potato doughnuts dipped in powdered sugar. mmmmmm. oh, and did i mention the most creamy delicious chocolate or vanilla shakes. i look forward to it every year. my taste buds were delighted.

the kids enjoyed the sculpture, made of pure butter.

 and of course, the animals.

this year we decided to go on the opening saturday. WOW. never again. i have never seen so many people squashed into one place except at rockefeller plaza in NYC at Christmas. it was packed. these were the only animals we actually saw, other than bees.

 we sat on some awesome lawn mowers/tractors. daddy was drooling.

 B enjoyed some fresh cider. the real stuff. mmmm

 the highlight was the chicken hats. i taught b to saw 'bock bock' 

sorry to see you go farm show. i shall miss your deliciousness.

daddy's 36th birthday

daddy turned 36. 

we gave him a watch and we returned to Cabellas for him to pick himself out a little gift. 

we got to feast on honey lime enchiladas  and black beans. and end it with gingerbread cake with warm sauce. mmmmm.

hope it was a great day.

franklin institute/ please touch museum

if you were ever wondering whether it would be a good idea to drive to philly and visit the franklin institute on new year days. i would suggest no.

unless you want to run into 'new years day parade' traffic and want to be met with road closure after road closure. and when you finally find parking and walk 10 minutes, with all 5 kids, in 20 degree weather, you make it to the steps of the franklin institute and are met with a sign saying, closed Jan 1. (despite having checked their website)

i wouldn't recommend it.

however, we did find out the please touch museum is open from 11-4 on new years. it was the consolation museum prize.

but we still had a great time.

 this air blower was one of the kids favorites!

 they loved this mini accordion

 i kept hearing a very loud, annoying noise and kept wondering what it was. then i saw c over pushing this yellow button and realized it was her.

 everybody loves the carousel.

just in case you were also wondering if it's a good idea to stop by cabella's on the way home from the museum, and you pull into an empty parking lot at 5:38, it's not.

 they close at 5 on new years day.