Bridges and Bugs

The kids constructed quite an impressive railroad bridge: They were very creative in their building process. Notice the step stool, the laundry basket, some packing boxes, even a Tupperware dish.
Then Mark found a few of those creepy cicada shells. Ever since he was two, when he spots one of these he will pick it up and carry it around and try to bring it inside.
When Maya was going through the baby doll phase and she always had one of her "babies" with her, Marky started calling these his "babies".
I dug this photo up on the internet to explain to him why they were kinda gross: I thought it might shock him enough to say "Ewww, gross" or maybe even his famous "That's bisgusted" but he just said "I don't want to look at that, I want to watch my movie."

So much for shock therapy.

Best Friends!

Just adorable...Best Friends!

An Unhappy Hamster

Gus and Max got in a fight last night. Gus was the bully and Max got bitten twice hard enough to draw blood. I had to drive to Wal-Mart at 9:00 on a Sunday night to get a second living area for the mean little hamster so poor little Max would be safe. The little hamster house I bought last night is quite a bit smaller than the one Gus is used to, and he is none too happy about it. At first he thought he might be able to chew his way out of his new prison. He was wrong. A sad little hamster face is actually kinda cute isn't it? Doesn't it just tug at your heart strings?

Pumpkin Stuff

Last night we celebrated my Daddy's birthday with a chili dinner and pumpkin carving. Once again we start off with a picture of Mark wearing Matthew's sunglasses. The only kids who carved pumpkins were Emily, Michael and Maya. Of course, Maya had lots of help from Pop. You'll notice There are no pictures of Douglas whatsoever, but he was there. Matt, Douglas and Marky spent the entire pumpkin carving time playing on the trampoline. Then we had cake and Dad opened presents. I just adore this one: Look, you can see Bill in the mirror: And Matt is in the mirror in this one:Then it was dark enough to see the pumpkins glowing. From left to right is Maya and Pop's kitty pumpkin, Emily's happy face pumpkin, and Michael's LG pumpkin.

Look at what happened to Marky from all that jumping on the trampoline: Thanks everyone for hanging out with us. We had a great time!

Apricot Bars

This is a submission to our home-school newspaper by little Mark:Apricot Bars
Submitted by Mark Blanchfield
Recipe and completed photo, below, by Pioneer Woman

This is an easy recipe. I like to help my mom bake these. They taste sweet and yummy. You need to have your mom or dad help you because you bake it in a hot oven. They are tasty.

Apricot Bars

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 3/4 sticks (regular, salted) butter, cut into pieces
1 10-12 ounce jar Apricot Preserves

Mix all ingredients except Apricot Preserves. Press one half of the mixture into a buttered 8″ square (or small rectangular) pan. Spread with a 10-12 ounce jar of apricot preserves. Sprinkle second half of mixture over the top and pat lightly. Bake at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes or until light brown. Let cool completely, then cut into squares.

Recycling Toys

My kids are very creative when it comes to finding new uses for outgrown toys. Here's a few videos to demonstrate:

Another House Party!

I got another House Party, this time it is the Arm & Hammer Essentials party. This huge 22 lb. box showed up on my porch today.



The host goodies include a canvas tote, multi-surface cleaner, glass cleaner, heavy duty cleanser spray, coupons for free full sized cat litter and laundry detergent, a fridge-fresh, cleaning cloth, 18 coupon books and party instructional sheet.



The guest bags are reusable canvas shopping bags and each have a full sized bottle of multi-surface spray, a fridge-fresh, a cleaning cloth and a $5 coupon book.

Nature Center Field Trip

We went on a field trip to the Nature Center on Wednesday. It was a program called Skin, Scales, Feathers and Fur. The kids learned about the different types of animal coverings. This is the group on the trail, looking for evidence of wildlife: This is Mark and Aubrey touching a king snake, with Maya and Mandy watching: This is Mark and Aubrey feeling the fur of a Bobcat: This is our guide telling us about a turtle we found on the trail: Here is the group picture of all the kids who came to this trip:

Extreme Bedtime Silliness

Here is a series of short videos to show you what bedtime is sometimes like! I call it extreme bedtime silliness, and they sure didn't get it from me...right mom?
Oh yeah, and mom...don't forget to click the play arrows.

What's New...

The boy likes worms, what can ya do?And this one lost two teeth at once......pretty cute, huh?

Sleeping Cuties

How cute are they?!