Looking for a hit man...

So as a mom, i LOVE christmastime. I love the lights, the music, the smells, Santa Claus, the whole thing!

I love Halloween. I love the costumes, the weather, candy corn.

I love valentines day. I love dates with the kids, heart shaped pancakes, fondue...

I even love April Fool's day and all the practical jokes.

What i DON'T love is the tooth fairy, and the Easter Bunny.

Really? What the heck does the resurrection of Christ have to do with a rabbit? And, what does a rabbit have to do with eggs? Rabbits don't lay eggs. Why isn't it the Easter Chicken or Easter Duck, hiding their own eggs? Who was it exactly that decided a rabbit should represent Easter and it should hide eggs?

It's all very confusing, really.

I love the message Easter brings, i love dying easter eggs and the hiding and finding of them. I love Easter bonnets at aunt Maxine's, but why do we have to pretend the Easter Bunny is coming and why does it bring presents?

I think it was a spin off of Christmas.

Step off, Easter Bunny, you're not Santa Claus, nobody is ever going to like you as much as Santa.

So, let's stop telling the kids they have to go to bed early because "a giant rabbit is going to come into their house while they're sleeping and lay eggs all over the house for them to find..."

And the TOOTH FAIRY!

Why?

It's just not right.

What does this fairy do with all these nasty old teeth anyway? It's kinda creepy.

And, our tooth fairy stinks.

It's a lot of pressure as a mom, to make sure your kids have a good tooth fairy.

I just won't do it.

I just tell my kids plain and simple, "look, you guys got the ghetto tooth fairy. I'm sorry, that's just who got assigned to you. What do you do, that's just the way it goes."

90% of the time, our tooth fairy is "really busy" and has to apologize for not making it to get the tooth...3 times in a row. And then 90% of the time, forgets to actually take the tooth.

Our tooth fairy still has outstanding IOU's to the 2 oldest from 3 years ago.

And, our tooth fairy still only leaves a buck...even with inflation!

Minimum wage has gone up, but apparently not the price of teeth on the black market.

And so, I propose we hire a hit man to take out the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.

Who's with me?

I am going to need the cooperation of at least 10 other parents, preferably those that my kids associate with so they think that everyone is suffering the same loss.

My daughter has a loose tooth.

I would like to have this "wrapped up" in the next week or so. So if anyone out there "knows" of someone....

A few of my favorite things...

i LOVE that even though this one's in junior high, he still blows me a kiss every morning when i drop him off at the bus stop.

i LOVE that this one hugs me so hard every night before bed that i can feel my insides squish into my ribcage.

i LOVE that this one tells me every single night to have "a sweet sleep" before she goes to bed.

and i LOVE that this one now includes in his nightly prayers, "...and help me not to wipe off mom's kisses."

Someday, I'm gonna miss this!

Hobo's

Last month my hubby and i took our older 2 children to help out at a homeless shelter.

The younger two were too little to come but were incredibly fascinated by listening to the brothers tell them about how they got to help feed the homeless .

As i tried to explain "homeless" people, Kendall said, "Ohhh, you mean hobo's?!"

Now, whenever I'm with my younger 2, it's like "where's waldo" with the "hobo's". Kendall wants so badly to meet a homeless person.

So, they'll shout out, "Is that a hobo?!" "Oh look! I think there's a hobo over there!"

Unfortunately, for them, there aren't a lot of "hobo's" around where we live.

Yesterday I took Camdon with me to run a couple errands.

I was in the men's dept. looking for a grey PE shirt for one of the brothers and Camdon excitingly said, "Mom! Mom! Come here quick!" I rounded the corner to see Camdon proudly pointing to an older oriental man with balding hair two feet from him as he exclaimed, "Look! I found a hobo!"

I grabbed his hand (Camdon's. not the would-be-hobo) and politely smiled as we rushed out of the store.

After the kids got home from school, Camdon eagerly told Kendall about how he saw a hobo.

"But, he said, dejectedly, "mom didn't even let me feed him."

Remnants of her imagination...

After the kids go to bed or rush off to school, I often find remnants of my daughter's imagination left behind.

They make me smile.

I know what you're thinking...

"That poor girl has nothing to play with but random toys found at the bottom of someone's toy box and a scary rendition of Fiona and Boots found in the bottom of Lucky Charms."

No, being the only girl, she in fact has been spoiled with plenty of barbies, ponies, pet shops and polly pockets.
Does she play with them?
No.
Apparently it's more fun to pretend the evil spider is keeping dora, fiona and boots trapped in a cage where they have nothing but a hard pumice stone to sit on. Meanwhile, a deliriously happy octopus and a bright green dragon keep guard. Stay tuned to see how they escape this evil peril....muawhahahaha!!

A little bit of self help journaling...

Feeling like I'm spinning out of control. No direction. Bouncing from one area of my life to the next....accomplishing nothing.

As i was wallowing in self pity about how behind i seem to be in every area of my life,
I thought about an object lesson i once saw.
It was about priorities.

If you take a mason jar and fill it to the top with rocks it's full, right?
Not really.
You can pour in gravel and it will find room in some of the dead space.
Now is it full?
No. You can pour in some sand and it will fill all the nooks and crannies.
Now it's full, right?
Nope. You can pour in water until it reaches the brim and that water will fill all of the space that remains.
Now it's full.

So, what happens if you put the water in first, then the gravel and sand and then the rocks?
The rocks will never fit.
You will never have room for those rocks that were so important in the first place.

I think I've been filling my jar with water and sand first. It's a very frustrating to know that some people fit all of it into the jar and for some reason, you just can't seem to make it all fit! What the heck is wrong?!

My priorities have been a bit out of wack.

It's time to re-prioritize my life.

So what's most important in this crazy life of mine?
My family.
What are the things I do or can do in my life that is the most important for my family?
Family and personal prayer and scripture study. Regular family home evening, temple attendance and date nights (it's good to have sane parents).

It seems simple enough.

If those are the rocks that are so important, the things I know are the most important things to have in my mason jar, why don't i just put them in?!
Because.
Because when i go to fill my mason jar, i see the laundry. I see the clutter in my house, the cleaning. I remember the books i promised to get from the library for my child's report. I remember the laundry list of things that weigh on my mind daily in trying to build our house.
I see all those things screaming so loud for my attention that I quickly gather them up and try shoving them into my jar.

All of the things I put in my jar are important.
They all need to be there, I can't leave any of them out.
So i struggle everyday trying to figure out how to make it all fit.

And I get frustrated.

It never all fits.

And then, my lightbulb moment.
Maybe, if i put them in in a different order, they would fit.

So, this is my re-commitment to try again.
Dump everything out of my mason jar and start again with the rocks.

I'm sure as the craziness in my life comes and goes, I'll get antsy and impatient again and try to shove everything into my jar in whatever order I come across it first.

And, I will need this reminder again.
So, I'll blog it.
A permanent reminder, a recipe of sorts, of how to fill my mason jar.

It's raining, it's pouring....

Yesterday the heavens opened briefly and the angels dumped all the rain they've been saving up for the last month by the buckets.

I have never seen so much water in such a short amount of time, it was coming down in SHEETS!

After driving pass this park next to our house several times during my afternoon taxi-ing, i came home and announced that we were going to play football in our new lake.

My responsible children said,
"Isn't dinner ready?
"I have homework."
"I have so much reading to do tonight."
"Mom, pack mtg is tonight. And, don't you have curriculum night at the school?"

But alas, their irresponsible mother said,
"Who cares?"
"Dinner will still be here."
"Homework shmomework. It's the first week of school."
"Haven't you been to pack mtg before?"
"I've been to two other 2nd grade curriculum nights, I think we'll figure it out if we miss tonight."

So we called some neighbor friends to meet us for football and had a great time enjoying the aftermath of an Arizona monsoon.

Whew! Got that out of my system, now I'll recommit to being a responsible parent. :)

One last hurrah!

Some of my favorite childhood memories were created here.
Mt. Graham.

The week before school started we headed off for one last hurrah. We spent a week up at the mountain enjoying the perfect weather with lots of cousins, aunts, uncles, and Nonni & Papa!

My hubby thinks this one's a little crude but c'mon, how often do you get to pee off of a huge cliff!
One on the advantages of being a boy!
I'm a little jealous really.

All the Alder cousins (minus the 2 babies, Bria and Jax who stayed at the cabin with Nonni!)

I love the serenity of Riggs Lake....it's so beautiful!

The Watson Cabin...some of the best breakfast's ever made were eaten at this table!
When I was little, my Nana would make homemade biscuits and gravy, Papa Mac roasted fresh chiles, and all the aunts helped frying eggs, potatoes and onions, cooking ham, sausage and bacon....yum!)

Then back down the mountain for the 24th of July celebration. Nothing beats a small town parade and pioneer day celebration!

The kids loved riding in the parade in the rain!



The 24th of July fireworks are my kids favorite. Where else can you watch a brilliant firework show right over your head!

The chicks dig it...

The kids, as well as the adults, thoroughly enjoyed our Lake Powell 2010 trip.
here's a glimpse of the kids' fun in a video they made, they had so much fun doing it.

Oh, and you'll have to pause my playlist on the side so you can hear the video! ;)

She is love

I relate much better to the male gender. I always have. I'm not sure why, but even when I was little, I just seemed to relate easier to boys. I just didn't get the drama and emotion that seems to accompany girls.
And so I grow up and have a family of boys.
It works.
It's cut and dry, it's choice = consequence.
And then, along comes girl. (Whom I love.
Whom I am beyond thrilled to have, and can't wait to share the girly things of life with.)
It's not so cut and dry.
Enter emotion and drama.

So oddly enough, my amazing husband who was raised with only boys, gets her. He knows exactly how to talk her down from her emotional rants. He knows exactly what to say to heal her broken heart and make her feel better.

Last night some good friend's invited us to the premier of Shrek 4. Needless to say, it made for a super fun, super late school night.
Tired + ice cream + soda + too much fun = tears and emotional train wreck.

We dealt with this all the way home, Kendall in tears....something about not being loved and nobody caring about her because Camdon kept leaning on her and nobody was doing anything about it.
I'm just rolling my eyes and saying things like, "i know, you're so picked on." and then proceeding with a laundry list of all the fun things she got to do that day.

It's not helping the tears to stop.

Lee turns to me and says, "Just tell her how sorry you are that she feels that way and tell her how much you love her."

huh?

So I say what he tells me to verbatim.

The tears stop instantly.
It was like magic.
My husband is the Kendall whisperer.

We get home, kids go to bed.
Lee and I close up "shop" and I head upstairs to hurl my tired self into bed.
This is what I found in my bed.

"Dear mom and dad
I am sorry I'm was being a brat I tryed
not to be a brat.
I love you gise so much! Thanks for bring me to the moovees.
You are the best mom
and dad I ever had
I loooooovvveee yyoouuuu!"

I'm so grateful for this sweet tenderhearted little girl and for a wonderful husband who has the patience and wisdom to teach me how to speak her love language.

If you give a 10 yr. old a girlfriend....

You might see a cute girl. You might even want to ask her out. Your two best friends are "going out" with girls. It sounds cool, but beware!

If you give a 10 year old a girlfriend, she'll want to call you on the phone.
When she calls you on the phone, she'll want to talk ALOT.
When she talks ALOT, you'll miss your favorite show.
And when you tell her you're missing your favorite show, she'll be sad.

If you give a 10 year old a girlfriend, she'll want to tell you she loves you.
When she tells you she loves you, she'll want you to say it back.
When you go to say it back, you remember that mom said you only say that to girls you want to marry. You don't want to get married yet, so you'll say, "oh."
When you say, "oh", she'll be sad.

If you give a 10 year old a girlfriend, she'll want to hug you goodbye EVERYDAY after school.
When she hugs you goodbye for the 13th time, you'll want to start hiding.
When you start hiding from her after school, she'll get sad.

If you give a 10 year old a girlfriend, she'll want to sit next to you on the bus on long field trips.
When you tell her you're too shy to sit next to her, she'll say (making her voice sound like it does when a girl sees a cute puppy), "ohhhhhhh, you don't have to be shy."

Mom says, "Yes, yes you do need to be shy."

So you'll say,"Well, actually, I don't want to sit by you, I want to sit next to my friend."
When you say that, she'll be sad.

And so, you'll make her a paper crane 'cause you think it would make her happy. I mean who wouldn't be amazed by your paper folding skills. If she's lucky, next time it might be a chinese star...

If you give a 10 year old a girlfriend, he'll be counting down the days until school is out!

How to know whether or not you are ready to be a mother:

This is part of "How to know if you're ready to be a mom" test I got in an email....the part i could relate to :).

Mess Test: Smear peanut butter on the sofa and curtains. Place a fish stick behind the couch and leave it there all summer.

Toy Test: Obtain a 45 gallon drum of LEGOs (if LEGOs are not available, you may substitute roofing tacks). Have a friend spread them all over the house. Put on a blindfold. Try to walk to the bathroom or kitchen. Do not scream (this could wake a child at night.)

Grocery Store Test: Borrow one or two small animals (goats are best) and take them with you as you shop at the grocery store. Always keep them in sight and pay for anything they eat or damage.


Dressing Test: Obtain one large, unhappy, live octopus (they turn bright red when unhappy). Stuff into a small net bag making sure that all arms stay inside.

Feeding Test: Obtain a large plastic milk jug. Fill half way with water. Suspend from the ceiling with a stout cord. Start the jug swinging. Try to insert spoonfuls of food into the mouth of the jug while pretending to be an airplane. Now dump the contents of the jug onto the floor.

I always thought I was prepared to be a mother.....until i had my second born.
That one. That's when i knew i probably wasn't cut out for the job. Oh the stories i could share!
Jaw dropping even.
My inquisitive, non-conformist, uninhibited, make you prove everything you try to teach him, too smart for his own good, child.
My walk at 8 1/2 months and never look back, Houdini. My "poison control knows me by name" child, my
"i can't go back to the gym 'cause my child sprayed the fire extinguisher all over the kid center" child.

That's the one i didn't know if i would survive.

That's the one that taught me to be a mother.

That's the one that is one of my best friend's now.


"Ready" to be a mother? Nobody is "ready". Nothing could have prepared me for motherhood.
Nothing could have prepared me for how much i would actually miss the days of when that one drove me to the brink of insanity.
But, I wouldn't change a single thing!

I'm so lucky to get to be the mom of these four crazies!

We heart baseball!

What does 3 in baseball mean for us?

It means no more sit down dinners.
Too much fast food.
School night bedtime goes out the window.
Playdates exist only at the baseball field.
Date nights exist only at the baseball field.
Setting the alarm extra early to get homework done.
The washer runs at least once daily.
A daily mad scramble to locate socks, cups, and matching belts.
A cupboard designated entirely to Gatorade and water bottles.
The back of the suburban is well stocked with chairs, blankets, sweatjackets, scooters, and whiffle balls and bats.

It also means,
Seeing old friends from past teams.
Giant pickles and popcorn.
lots of sunflower seeds
and lots of bubble gum.
And getting real dirty!

We heart baseball.

Seatbelt Fastened

3-2, them.

Top of the last inning.
Bases loaded.
2 outs.
We're up....our last chance to score before the game is over.

I turn to Lee and say, "So glad Bryson's not up to bat, can you imagine? I don't think I could handle the pressure."
He chuckles and says, "Fasten your seat belt sister cause look who's walking out of the dugout."

"oh, no! That's too much pressure for him! If he strikes out, the game is over. We lose and Bryson takes the fall."
Mr. Optimism sitting next to me says, "Relax. It's a great opportunity. He has a chance to be the hero."

The ump calls STTTRRRIKE 1!
STTTRRRIKE 2!

Recap: 2 outs, bases loaded, 2 strikes.
Bryson's up.
If we don't score off of this one hit, the game is over, they win.
No pressure though.

I can hardly stand to watch.

The crowd has grown now with the parents and players from not only our 2 teams but the teams of the upcoming game.

The pitch is thrown, he hits, it sails over 2nd base to the fence for an easy double and 2 players come in to make the score 3-4, us.

He did it!

He had an amazing hit under more pressure than even i could handle.
I'm so happy for him. Proud? Yes, but I would be proud either way.
Happy because what a great feeling for him to experience.
Happy because he's happy.
Happy that he now has more confidence in his abilities under pressure.
Happy because i know he's had at least one of those moments that every parent wants their kid to experience when they get to be a star, if even for only a moment.

Now for the rest of the story.
Since we're now up and they're the home team, they get last bats.
Long story short, they rallied back. They brought home 2 players before we could get three outs and they end up winning the game 5-4.

Bryson is bummed. More than bummed. Says it's gay. Says the ump made bad calls. Says it's the ump's mom's fault, she probably dropped him on his head when he was little. And again, it's gay that the other team won.

So his moment of glory got robbed. So it was short lived. The lesson to be learned here, Bryson, is...
You did it. You proved to yourself you can do it.
You didn't break under pressure.
You looked cute while doing it.
And, judge not that ye be not judged....you were probably dropped a few times on your head when you were little too!

The silver lining?

Bryson got Facebook back.

He lost his FB privileges a few weeks back and a few days ago he said, "Mom, I bet I can hit a double in the next game. If i hit a double, I get FB back."
And, being that I'm a bettin' mom, i said, "You're on!"

Guess who was on FB chattin it up with friends last night? :)


You rock, Bryson!

She chose me!

This weekend was the boys' annual father's and sons camping trip. It happens every year and every year I look forward to one on one girls time with Kendall.

This year, she was invited to her friend's birthday slumber party. She was all smiles when she got the invite, all of her friends would be there.
2 days before the party she told me she decided she didn't want to go, she would rather spend the weekend with me.

I was skeptical.

Anyone that knows Kendall knows that she is a social butterfly. She never misses an opportunity to play with a friend, let alone a sleepover with 14 of her friends!

So i drilled her. Did something happen at school, did you get your feelings hurt, was somebody mean to you? No, no, and no were her answers.

And so, I called the mother and apologized for rescinding on the previous RSVP that Kendall could go, but that she wouldn't be there.
I took the kids out of school early so the boys could take off camping and Kendall and I headed to the mall.

We shopped, we ate pretzels, we looked at all the cute little puppies and picked our favorites. We rode the escalator up and down and back up again.
We dropped by a friend's bridal shower and then came home.
We played Mario Brothers Wii, and got in our comfy jammies and settled in to watch rented movies and eat homemade skookie.

We talked, and laughed and pampered ourselves with painted toenails and every smelly lotion we could find in my bathroom.

Then Kendall got to sleep in my bed.

Just before we fell asleep, I asked her why she decided not to go to the birthday sleepover and stay with me.
She said, "Because I never get to see you as much. I go to school everyday and see my friends but I don't get to play with just you hardly ever. I miss you!"

....my heart melted.

It's like i was just entered into a popularity contest between me and her friends....and i won!
Who knows how much longer she'll choose me over her friends, but I'll take it while I can! :)

He ought not be left alone with his thoughts....

Last week Camdon and I had a conversation about Satan.
He must have learned something about it in primary.
He asked me if Satan had a body. I said, "no, that's why he tries to get us to do bad things, because he's jealous that we have a body."
"oh. what's jealous?", he asked.
"It means he wishes he had your body."

This morning Camdon came out of the bathroom with no pants or underwear on.
He had his eyebrows raised and asked, "Satan wants my body?"
I was busy washing dishes and without looking up, i said, "uh-huh."
Again with raised eyebrows and a concerned look he asked, "Satan wants a little pee-pee?"
This time I looked up, "what?!" I see he is naked from the waist down.
"What do you mean?"
He tried to clarify, "Why doesn't Satan want Jesus's body, his pee-pee is bigger than mine."

Again, i fall speechless....dishrag in hand.

The caboose

My baby turned 4.
He insists he is almost 18.
(he's only been in my care 4 short years, is he that eager to leave already??)

He is elated because he is about to turn into a baseball player.
(he believes that happens at age 6)

He is not excited about doing chores now.
(See story below.....)

Camdon approached me several weeks ago and out of the blue said, "Mom? Remember when I lived with Jesus before i came to live with you?"
"Well, he said, "i didn't want to come live with you."
"But, Jesus made me."

Truly heartbroken, i asked, "why?"

He said, "because I knew you would make me do chores."
"you don't even do chores," I pointed out.
He said, "when I'm 18 I will?"
"Nice try. Probably when you turn 4."

The morning he turned 4, we woke him up singing happy birthday, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and said, "i'm 4?"
"Do I have to do chores now?"

Happy Birthday, little man!
We'll try to go easy on the child slavery labor....

Job security

In the wake of such an economic downfall it seems you can't turn on the news or read anything without seeing something about job security. One article I saw in a magazine while waiting for one of my children at the dentist listed signs that your job might be in jeopardy.

The article listed 8 tell-tale signs and I couldn't help but think of how they applied to me:

1. You are no longer in the loop.
when I try to get in on my son's conversation and throw out something like, "that's rad!" and I get the eye roll. Or I ask about a crush that was so three months ago. That's when I know I am definitely out of the loop.
2. You're ignored.
hmmm...you mean like when I ask Bryson to please take out the trash and nothing happens. Or when I ask Carson to get off the video games and help set the table and.....nothing?
3. You're getting negative feedback.
like for example, when your nearly 4 year old tells you you stink at Lego Batman or your 10 year old son asks you to please not dance in front of his friends? Or when your kids start off their sentence with "No offense mom...." at least once a day.
4. You sense the economic health of your industry/company going down the toilet.
I'm actually more concerned about "it" not going in the toilet....i have four boys in my house.
5. You're not producing.
yep, that well's all dried up! Hysterectomy. I'm out on that one.
6. You fail to achieve goals.
It's all too obvious when the people are still scrambling for clean socks on sunday morning and my goal was laundry done by wednesday or I start implementing the "sniff" test. You know, when they tell you they have nothing to wear and you just pull out a pair of jeans from the hamper, smell them, then throw them at them and say there you go! Yep, that's when i know (along with the rest of the household) that I didn't achieve my goals.
7. You feel worried or under pressure.
worried? under pressure? aren't those things synonymous with the word mother?
8. You are being given impossible jobs with no chance of success or menial jobs that you were doing years ago.
impossible meaning "being caught up on laundry"? (come on people, you know that one is impossible. What mother of 3,4, or 5 can ever be caught up? Unless your kids spend one day completely naked, you are already behind the moment you're "caught up"!)
And by menial jobs, you mean like turning 30 pairs of socks rightside in everytime you do laundry? Or picking up starburst wrappers wherever video games are played or inbetween couch cushions? Or, wiping down counters and tables 3 times a day?
The same jobs I was doing years ago? Like laundry, grocery shopping, scrubbing toilets and bathing little people, the list could go on and on.

Yikes, I think i'm in serious trouble!

He's got it all figured out.

My absent minded conversation at the grocery store with #4.


Camdon - "can we get a dog?"
me - "ummm...we have a cat."
Camdon - "when Miley dies can we get a dog?"
me - "ummm...yeah, when Miley dies we'll get a dog."

Camdon (sometime later) - "if Miley doesn't eat, will she die?"
me - "uhhh...yeah, if she doesn't eat, she will die."

Fast forward to much later that night.
Kendall is refilling Miley's food and water.
Camdon - "no Kendall, don't feed Miley! Mom says if she dies we can get a dog!"

Our weekend of winter

This weekend we went to Safford for my sister's baby's blessing and to visit family. And since we were only a twenty five minute drive away from snow, we couldn't resist visiting winter too!

Meet the players...

and Eskimo baby, Bria.oooohhh i could just squeeze those cheeks!

This little guy had more fun than anyone. He probably got in the most runs too! And every run brought the biggest smile you've ever seen, spread right across is face.
There, here's a better one of his expression. This is the smile he wore all day!

Those dang trees, they just jump up from out of nowhere!

Nolan, Kendall and Isabel made snow angels or as Trevor called them, snowflakes!


Oh, and this one is nice. The boys in a full fledged brawl after a snowball fight gone bad.

Oh and just in case you're thinking, "hmmm, somebody's missing."
He's not.
He was there.

In the car.
For 4 hours.
For 4 hours he sat and waited for us to have our fun because he decided he didn't want to go after all and just wanted to sit in the car.
Yep, stubborn as all get out, that #4.

Number 4

It's rough being the caboose. In our family, that's number 4, Camdon.
Being the last one means...

you fend for yourself.

you have to remind the people to feed you.
you learn to dress yourself at a very early age.
and, you know your place in the pecking order.

This weekend Lee and I went out one night and left #1 to babysit. After we'd been home for awhile I asked where Camdon was.
#1 - "umm...i think he fell asleep on the couch."
#2 - "He probably went upstairs and put himself to bed."
#3 - "No, he's in his club. We made clubs (forts)!"

We followed the snoring and here is where we found him....in his "club".
In the far back corner of the spare room where we have all of our boxes and food storage that we aren't unpacking. He found a space that is literally just the size of him and that is his club.

Poor guy.

You should've seen Kendall's club. Her's could have fit the whole family. She had a craft corner, a "kitchen" area complete with bottled water and goldfish, and a sleeping area with a pillow and blankets.

And this is what #4 got.

Today, when all the kids go to school, #4 and I will make "clubs" again. This time, we'll make his terrific. His guidelines for the best club ever:
1 sandwich in the club
a computer
a toy
a T.V.
and a guest room for mom.

Being #4 also means enduring being smothered in kisses
by mom because she knows you're her last!