Kids fighting topic

Lately my kids tend to fight about everything. Some examples would be which show to watch, who gets to sit next to Henry in the car, what we eat for lunch, if the person in the garden next door is Julie(my neighbor) or not, etc. The other day the argument was whether or not the Burger King guy was Jesus. I had to agree with Charlotte that he does strike a resemblence to Jesus.

Drive-in movies at church

We had the best activity last night at church. The kids all decorated boxes to be their cars for the drive-in movies. When we got to the chapel they had a bank where the kids all got $5 to get into the movie and buy gas and buy treats. They had a car wash, popcorn stand, candy store, a tunnel. It was so great. The kids had so much fun. They have been playing in their cars all morning. Don't know what it is about cardboard boxes, but they really are the best toys.

Sold our house

We put our house up for sale thinking it would take a little while to sell and then hopefully be able to have the closing be the end of June. We got an offer in 11 days, and they have to be moved in by April 30th. Dave has to spend the month of May working at a hospital in Asheville so I think that the kids, dogs & I will be moving to Utah on April 29th. I got a moving truck set up already and am now feeling worried about getting everything ready in time. Instead of having 3 months until we move I now have 34 days.

The kids in Africa

I think it is safe to assume that most of us grew up with the lecture at dinner time of "there are kids in Africa who don't even get food". I know that probably some of us are guilty of doing the same to our kids when they refuse to eat one bite of brocolli at dinner. A week or so ago I saw on Oprah a woman in Africa and she explained how she ties a belt around her stomach really tight so she doesn't feel her hunger. One night when Charlotte wasn't eating I told her about this woman and how her kids eat corn mush every couple of days and don't complain. Yesterday I was sitting at the computer and I overhear Charlotte telling Simon about tying the belt around his waist and asking him if he still feels hungry.

Simon then turned it into a tool belt.

Easter morning

Easter was pretty much the same this year. Kids woke up to their baskets then went on a hunt then to church. Usually I hide the eggs and this year I asked Dave to do it. We had 36 eggs to hide. We all went out together after he was done. It took the kids about 2 minutes to get all of the eggs because Dave had put them in groups of 5 or so eggs, not hidden just on top of the garden and around it. I think that I will for sure hide them next year.


Simon looking ecstatic about his Easter basket




Just after this picure was taken
the kids went upstairs and were playing.
I heard Charlotte ask Dave for help saying
that Simon was stuck. A few moments later Dave
came down with Simon's pants in hand completely torn
apart. Dave found him hanging from a hook in
Charlotte's closet. I don't even ask anymore.

Henry is like a big doll

This is how I often find Henry....random doll accessories sorrounding him. He never seems to mind.

Why is he wearing gloves?

So on Saturday we went to the Baptist church down the road for a community Easter egg hunt. There were a million kids there along with tons of food & games. The Easter bunny came out just before the hunt was to begin and neither of the kids wanted a picture with him. After the hunt I got Simon to stand with him and later on when we were looking at the picture both of the kids asked "why is he wearing gloves?"

Toilet Seat

Okay, some of you may not find the humor in this.....but my sister told me about it, and I felt I needed to pass it on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGixevnJ7Xc&feature=related

Durham Easter bunny is no good

Last year we went to 3 different Easter egg hunts. We went to one in Cary which was terrible, but the other 2 were great. The best one was put on by Durham parks and rec. Only a handful of kids came and there were hundreds of eggs. This year it was at a different park and there were a ton of kids. First problem is they put the 1-5 year olds next to the busy road while the older kids were in the main part of the park away from the road. 95% of the kids there were in the first category. Within about 10 seconds all of the eggs were gone and neither of my kids got any eggs. I had been building this up for a couple of weeks to my kids and they were so excited. A girl that was about 7 years old saw Charlotte had an empty basket and she gave Charlotte one of her eggs even though she only had 4 eggs herself. I told the kids that the Easter bunny would bring them extra eggs since they didn't get any.

Myrtle Beach

so I took the kids down to Myrtle Beach last week with 3 of my friends. There were 4 moms and 11 kids, so we looked like a bunch of polygamists. I was super nervous to go with the 3 kids and especially a new baby but it was so much fun. Charlotte and Simon hardly fought, I think because the hotel was so great. It had 2 indoor water parks and about 500 indoor pools. My kids only sat on the stairs of the hot tubs or ran up and down a little runway into the "lazy river" The other water was "too cold". Simon actually branched out a little on this trip. For those of you who know Simon, know that most things are "scary". He went down one of the water slides, which is a huge feat. He only did it once though because he said "water got in his mouth", which he probably told me 50-60 times. He also played in the ocean the first day which was a huge shocker. The rest of the time he either was throwing sand at someone, smashing someones sand castle or just sitting by me. Charlotte had so much fun collecting shells and playing with her friend Camber. At night we all were in one room and I probably got out of bed 15 times each night with requests for water or because they were coughing. I am going to miss living so close to the beach.

Simon going crazy in the water

This is all of us out to dinner at the Hard Rock one
night.


Charlotte and Camber


These are the fish that hang out around the feeding
posts.


We took the kids on the rides before we went to
see an Imax movie. Simon wouldn't wear his
glasses in the Imax movie and kept asking when it
would end.


This was Simon coming down the slide. All you can
see is his foot sticking up.


Henry was perfect. He just hung out in his carseat
for 5 days.


Charlotte was attempting to put this enormous
raft/float into the hot tub.

First official haircut

Dave puts Henry on the couch when
he falls asleep and the other day he tipped
over. We thought he looked so cute and we
were grateful he didn't land face down.


I have always cut Simon's hair, and it was getting
out of hand. Earlier in the week I attempted to cut his
hair and he was screaming. I had to pin him down
and the picture above is the result. We took him to
"Sheila" to get his hair cut. This is him getting psyched.


Saying his last prayers. He was
pretty nervous.

The cute new haircut. Also, notice the lined

up batteries.

Trying to hide.

Here are the kids hanging out this morning. Charlotte
loves reading to Henry. He actually looks like he is
reading along. And of course, next to Charlotte is Simon
with his box full of batteries.


Henry hanging out last night. Naturally he has
spit up all over his clothes.


Charlotte loving Henry


This is the best shot I got of Charlotte
dressed as a fairy.


Last Monday we were getting out of the car at
Charlotte's school and Simon and Charlotte
were walking in the parking lot when I heard Simon
crying. I ran over and he had fallen down. When I
picked him up he had a deep cut above his eye. Blood
was everywhere. We took him into Dave's work to
get fixed up. He kept asking if he could have a
battery if he was a good boy. One of the residents
went and found him a AA battery so he was very
happy.


Dr. Turvey & Dave after he was all done



Checking out the results



Dave and the kids pretending they are ghosts