Eli's big news from the KS trip was that he lost his first tooth. It was very loose and when Andrew and him were wrestling it came out...

He was pretty excited about it!

The kids and I took off last Tuesday evening and headed to KS to surprise my father. We left Tuesday stayed w/Brian's brother near Ft Worth for the night and headed on down the road. Praise the Lord that he gave me good travelers, b/c he did not give me kiddos who sleep in the car. Eli is actually sleeping some now but Kiley is defiantly not. We got in Wed. night and stayed till Monday morning. I am so glad that we made the trip. Eli got all his homework made up before we got back, the kids had a great time, and the weather in KS was great for us. We brought the nice weather and then took it back with us :)

For anyone who does not know my dad hurt his shoulder and is having surgery. Because of this surgery and the recovery he decided that he would need to sell his beloved cows! So we headed back to milk one last time and 'help' out with wood and anything else we could. Although I am not sure how much help we were other than to maybe provide comic relief and a break from all that was going on.

We had a lot of fun w/cousins and just playing around the farm. Kiley got to see her wonderful aunt Gina who spoils her without sham. The picture of them talking is when Kiley is giving G her list of things that she would like for her to bring her - all consisting of food. The picture that I did not get was of Gina and Kiley sneaking into Grandma's closet to eat a bag of cheetos...

In case anyone is curious this is what a loving husband, time, and goo gone can do to the table.

I think the actual quote was, "Oh yeah - come in here, I just made the blog."

Daddy's reward for redeeming his princess!

In case anyone is curious this is what hand sanitizer and a three year old can do to your table.

She discovered the small bottle (thank God that it was small...) in the inside pocket of a backpack and was, "just helping you clean mommy..."

Also, after I picked up Eli from school today he and Kiley were playing in my room while I steam mopped before homework time. After I informed them that I was done they both came out of my room and Eli says, "Can I please have the legos that are buried in your closet?" So much for the birthday surprise. I went in to see what they had discovered and rehide the gifts. As I walked into my closet however I could smell fingernail polish. I called for Kiley and asked her why I smelled it and she says, "Don't worry about it, Eli just painted my nails for me." One hand was done and I was actually surprised the nails were mostly covered and not to much of the hand was...

Doug I want to thank you for your faithful reading and apologize for the lack of material lately... This post is all for you :)

So the other day I came around the corner of the kitchen to find this...

We had eaten dinner already and I was helping Eli put lotion on his eczema and when I came back to clean up dinner - she had taken the pan off the stove (ptl it was not hot) and had gotten the scooper out helping herself.

I had actually forgotten that I had taken this until today. I had gone for a walk while the kids were 'napping' and when I got home about an hour later the boys said that Kiley was sleeping. I was surprised, but went about my business until I thought I heard her. I went up to her room opened the door and did not see her. Her closet door was half open and when I opened it she was sitting in the top drawer of her dresser?! When I asked her what she was doing she told me very matter of fact that she wanted something from the top shelf of her closet and could not reach it so she 'thought this would work'...

Yesterday we had a snow day - Yeah for snow in TX it comes in the morning and is mostly gone by the evening. The kids had a lot of fun sledding down our hill and playing outside. Eli had been missing the snow from last year so it was nice for them to have some to play in.

The week started out with great weather and Kiley and her friends enjoyed a day at the zoo before it turned cold.

Last weekend Brian completed the Tough Mudder. It is a nine mile long race with 17 obstacles to complete. It is a benefit for the Wounded Warrior Project. He actually said that it was fun... I am sure that is not how I would have described it. I can not remember all the obstacles but it is safe to say that they were intense. If you went to watch you had to pay and sign a waiver?! If you complete that course you can get a free tattoo at the end - Brian did forgo the tattoo but accepted the free beer! Here are a few pictures one of the wives took. The kids had fun talking to daddy about the race. Kiley calls it Daddy's fire race b/c part of it was jumping through a window into a smoke filled house...I scrapbook or do crafts for enjoyment and he does this?! To each their own!

It has been awhile, Eli was sick last week, I was sick this week - but we are both feeling much better (obviously since it is nap time and I am not crashed out on the couch:) Last week we had some gorgeous weather and we tried to soak up as much as possible b/c we knew that it was supposed to get cold(and it really is extremely cold for here - teens and twenties - they are doing rolling black outs throughout TX so the grids are not overloaded.). We are cold but praising God that we are not trapped in by the massive storm that has hit everyone...

We had a fun day at the lake. We packed up a picnic and some toys and headed out. Somehow we forgot the tee for Eli so Brian did a makeshift one...