"Sandolf"

So, this morning, I hear Austin and Jordan

having a "heated" discussion in the bathroom.

I saw pillows all over the living room floor,

and Sydney was nowhere to be found.

I knocked on the door and asked what was going on.

Jordan said Austin was throwing pillows at her.

I asked why he was throwing pillows at her.

He said it was because Jordan wanted Sydney

to be Sandolf, and Sydney didn't want to.

And he agreed, he didn't want her to, either.

So, he threw pillows at Jordan.

I chastised him for throwing pillows,

explained it wasn't the appropriate course of action

and asked them both to stop fighting.

They reluctantly agreed, and I started to go back to what I was doing.

Then I stopped, and offhandedly asked,

"Who's Sandolf?"

They both smiled, and Jordan,

through her mischievous, sheepish grin, said,

"It's Santa and Rudolph mixed together."

I died laughing.

Syd, I would've run, too.

Goodbye summer

"A picnic", they said,

"Out on the front lawn!"

I thought they were crazy,

it was only 50 degrees outside.

But, what the heck? Let them be kids.

And they had a grand time.

How could they have known

the next morning we would wake to this?

Lesson learned: Never pass up a chance

to go on a picnic.

London 1, Mom 0

If you look closely at this air freshener,

you will notice that it is plugged in

upside down.

That is because London thinks it

goes that way.

No matter how many times I

straighten it out,

the next time I see it it's been

turned back around.

One day I had a conversation with London

about this serious issue.

It went something like this:

(Mom) "London, it's upside down. It goes like this."

(London, turning it back around) "No, Mom, it goes like this.

Mom, it's fine. It's okay. Don't worry about it."

and then she proceeded on down the stairs.

All righty, then.

Ulterior motives

I love to jog in the morning.

There are lots of obvious reasons to do it -

a stronger heart,

greater lung capacity,

increased muscle tone,

more endorphins,

and time to think by yourself.

However, when you live in the mountains, I happen to think there are added benefits.

Small blessings

This may not look like much

to you,

just some kids doing the dishes.

But to me,

it's a beautiful thing.

Budding artist

Today was playdough day.

London's fairly new at doing playdough.

She seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

One thing we learned, though:

Once the colors get mixed, there's

no going back.

Dancing with Elmo

This morning, London discovered Elmo's nose.

If you squeeze it, he sings a song.

Need I say more?

Things to do in the fall

It was a lovely fall afternoon during FALL BREAK, and since the kids were out of school, they spent some time watching movies, playing out in the back yard, and...
SCHEMING!
Sydney, Jordan, and their friend Carley decided it would be a great idea to "Sell stuff". After some careful consideration, we decided that maybe the neighbors might not want to trade their hard-earned cash for the kids' used treasures. Well, the girls told me, "It's free!".
So, my young entrepreneurs and their friend made a sign and "name tags" and set up a stand out in front of the house.
I don't think there were any takers, but it was a good time, and I guess it kept them from setting the house on fire.