R.I.P. Jet Black Reynolds

Jackson's hamster died this week.  It was so sad.  He was such a good, sweet little pet for Jackson.  Jackson really wanted a pet for a long time.  He had to work hard to earn his hamster--convincing me and with good behavior.  He also did a great job of taking care of him.  He cleaned his cage out and always made sure he had plenty of food and water.  "Hammy"  as we nicknamed him had quite a few adventures.  He was a great escape artist and would chew his way out of his exercise ball and run it over and over again into the wall until the lid popped open and he escaped.  He also escaped once from his cage and we found him in Robert's suitcase hiding out with provisions.  I would often come into Jackson's room when Jackson was upset and find him cuddling and loving Jet to help soothe his hurt feelings.  I really never thought we would all get so attached to a Hamster but we did.  He was fun to watch and play with and we will really miss him.  

What we've been doing....

I think it's pretty obvious that "we" have not been blogging.  After a few nudges in the right direction,  I feel sufficiently guilty to actually post.  So here's what we've been doing:

I'm tired of posing for you Mom and I'm going to communicate that with my mouth.

Conquering rocks. 

Trying to get someone to slow down for a picture.

Appreciating Nevada beauty.

Taking crazy clothes day at school to a whole new level.  

Dancing to show off our craziness because we weren't sure you'd get how "crazy" we truly are just by the shorts we are wearing around our neck.  

We slept with all sorts of crazy things including our Wocket without a  pocket we made at preschool.  He was kind of a pillow hog.  

We watched and participated in a whole season of Basketball.  We also got some dirty looks for  our loud mouth shouting things we should probably only be thinking.  It's a problem we have and we are working on it. 

We inherited a great rocking chair and had it re-done.  Now it is happily living in Ella's room. 

We got very, very sick.  We had X-rays for pneumonia but those came back negative.  Diagnosis:  Infrequent intermittent Asthma.  Crappy.  

Tried to particpate in the politcal process by attending a rally with the kids and no husband.  We decided that we do not like crowds and were too worried about violating the fire code to enjoy anything.  Also, was so packed kids could not see or move.  Mom could not even get a picture that wasn't blurry. 

Went hiking in Red Rock canyon. 

Saw an amazing performance from David Gray.

Made crap-your-pants big bubbles.

We took some time to relax and enjoy our allergies  

We organized races at the park.  

We had our first big boy soccer practice.  We weren' t excited about it or anything. 

We sang songs and pretended we were famous at the Lied Discovery Museum.

We responded when duty called.  

We ate green pancakes on St. Patrick's day, pinched each other and Mom ran a 5K and came in 2nd place.  Of course, half the particpants were pushing jog strollers.  

We tried to learn how to vacuum.  

Instead, we learned it was much more fun to steal Mom's phone and take pictures of her bottom with her  underwear showing while she vacuumed.


It's been an interesting couple of months....

Stealing Cars

Today Robert and I had our "discussion" about how he needs a new car.  This always makes me a little crazy.  He does need a new car. His lease is up on his hot, little two-door Audi.  The Audi and I are not friends.  We have never been on good terms.  It's fast, yes but practical for a family of six--NO WAY.   Robert's brain was addled by its sleekness and beauty and so I have had to share a garage with it for a few years.  In my bitterness, I have felt for sometime that I should casually mention over and over again to Robert that this new car he purchases will be the FOURTH car he's had since I bought my humble mini-van.  Yep, numero quatro.  I'm just going to say it: My mini-van looks like death ran over it and then spilled chocolate milk, root-beer and apple juice all over the inside.  Death also dumped out a Costco sized bag of  Goldfish and then had a party and invited 8 of his closest friends with muddy shoes to stomp those fishes to smithereens.  Also, Death might have hit a fire-hydrant while attending church and side-swiped another car.  He might have also found a few miscreants throwing large rocks at it as the sight of the mini-van offended them.   In short, I am ready for a new car.  Sadly, Robert is not ready to participate with cash funds in that venture.

Anyway, we were on our way home from pizza night driving up Sahara, the haven of all things car, and Robert saw a car he was interested in.  The dealership was closed so we parked the car and he got out to go and look.  The conversation between the kids and I went like this:

Kate:  What's Dad doing?
Me:  He's going to steal a car.
Ella:  (Indignantly) MMMMOOOOOMMM! Seriously.  What's he doing?
Me:  He's stealing a car.  You know, sometimes Dad makes choices that I don't agree with.  I tried to talk him out of it but he wants to do it.  So when the police come, don't say anything.
Ella:  Mom, are you joking?
Kate:  (worried) Mom, what are we going to do?
Me:  I don't know.  I really wish your Dad would stop.  I've really tried to talk him out of it.  Maybe he won't get caught  and we'll have a nice, new car. Maybe.

Kate starts to cry.

Me: I'm just kidding!!! Did you really think Dad would steal a car?

I think they did!  We all had a good laugh and I was assured that my persuasive skills were still intact.  Because if I don't convince Robert soon, I may really have to go and steal a car.  :)

Halloween 2011

Max as Optimus Prime

Kate as the Greek Goddess Artemis

Ella as Laura Ingalls Wilder

Jackson as Mario

Stop taking pictures Mom and let's go Trick or Treating!!!

The Pumpkin Patch experience

My kids wanted to go to a pumpkin patch and pick a pumpkin.  With soccer games coming out our ears we were a little short on time. We took them to one of those less nature patches and more games/rides type patches.  Robert and I took one look at the price of the pumpkins and decided to pay for a few rides, take a few pictures and pick our pumpkins up at Albertson's.

The Cabin and Cousins