Family Rules

Tonight for FHE we made some family rules. We had the kids contribute, so we ended up with a large list that we whittled down to five.

The finalists were:
1. Be Kind (or get a time-out)
2. Be Obedient (or go to the corner)
3. Be Honest (or lose screen time)
4. No Yelling (or talk in a whisper for 10 minutes)
5. No Naughty Crying or Whining (or clean up for __ minutes)

The rules that didn't make it onto the list were:
~Never Touch Poop (the first, very enthusiastically offered, rule)
~Never wander off on your own
~Always ask Mom or Dad for permission
~Have Fun
~Always give matches to a grown-up
~Never play with lighters

All very good rules, but I think our top five will serve our family well. Maybe when the kids are older we can add some more rules to the official list. Like never touch poop. Very important.

Mike read a story to all the kids before he left for work. It went well until Will and Molly both got a death-grip on the book.

Molly LOVES my phone. She'll choose it over any toy, and it's hard to pry it from her grip.

Just look at that little face! She is so stinking cute! I felt really bad tonight...I made her cry. I really offended her, which has never happened. Mike came in to see what was wrong because she never cries like she did tonight. I was nursing her right before bed and she bit me...hard. With her little razor teeth. All I did was look her in the eye and say, "No." She looked at me for a second, frowned, and then just started bawling. Mike came in and calmed her down, but she was really upset! Little tenderheart. But hopefully she never bites me again.

She had her 9 month check-up last week, and she's small! I'll have to double check, but I think she was about 17.5 lbs and 27 inches, which puts her around the 30th percentile (according to the nurse, the doctor said it was more like 35-40. And I'm pretty sure the length was inaccurate, she shorted Molly an inch or two). She's always been in about the 50th percentile for everything, but she's still proportionate! And she's healthy and perfect.

More Halloween Adventures

So much Halloween fun! I like it more and more every year.
We always look forward to the Halloween parade at Sam's preschool. Last year Sam refused to carry an instrument in the parade. This year he led the procession, he was practically running! Poor Ryan somehow hit his head on a rock (?) so he came last and didn't make it into our pictures. Maxwell (below, far right, Spiderman) is Sam's Transformer buddy.

Sam and about half of his preschool class. I don't where all the other kids were, but a couple showed up after the parade and photo shoot. Sad. Sam is so big!

My sister was so nice to invite us to trick or treat in her office! They throw a pretty amazing Halloween party! We got there at the end, but it was great, and the kids had a blast! I can't wait to see how our pictures turned out. Thanks Auntie Jen! (Next year save us some candy :) And next year we'll go earlier so I can get a slice of the peanut butter cup pie.

Papa and his Molly Grace.

Papa Lon herding my little cows to Grandma Tigger's house to trick or treat. We were sad she wasn't home.

The boys found a big leaf pile and had to jump in!

You know how some celebrities have little dogs as accessories? Well, Mike had some accessories too! A little "cow girl" to carry around instead of a chihuahua. Personally, I think Will and Molly are much cuter anyway.

I was busy making soup and cornbread, so I didn't do my cowgirl costume. It wasn't very good though, especially when compared to Mike and his totally authentic-except-his-pants-weren't-near-tight-enough cowboy costume. And his belt buckle wasn't very big. Some of the cowboys in my high school had them as big as hubcaps. Seriously. But man, he did look good!

No Halloween is complete without a visit to one of our very favorite people, LaRae! We've gone to see her pretty much every year since Sam was just a little tyke. For sure three years in a row, but I think 4. The last two years (before Halloween) Sam has asked me if we were going to go see LaRae on Halloween. We pass her house every time we go visit Grandma and Papa. Mike has known her forever, and we just love her!

The only word that comes to mind is...blech. Is that a word? No? How about...Shave! As in, go shave that off, it's just creepy! When Mike does a costume, he goes full board. He grew his facial hair out for a solid month. See above picture for the classy beard version.

And who can resist a vampire cow? He found them, put them in, and then went around scaring everyone in the room. Love this kid!

Silly Boys

"Hey Mom, do I look like a mummy?!"

"Mommy, I spill dink!"