Thank Heaven for Little Girls

As you all know, today was the day of the big reveal when we could finally stop referring to the baby as "it." I was so worried the kiddo wouldn't cooperate for the ultrasound and that we'd have to buy all green/ yellow clothes. YUCK! Thank goodness there's no more ambiguity. And thanks everyone for being so excited for our new baby girl! We couldn't be happier! And now, all we need is some help figuring out what to name the little one. Bella suggested Emily. Courtney suggested LaFawnda. Michelle suggested Mabel. Who can top those beauties? Come on, let's hear it. I can't wait to hear what you guys come up with! All suggestions are welcome.

The new pad

After 3 days of house hunting we made an offer on this house and they accepted. Here is a link: We are very excited that it is only about 2 blocks to the community pool and about 15 miles to work. We should close on May 15th.

Easter Update...just a wee bit late.

So, my brother in law Andrew was staying with us the week before Easter and the kid was awesome. Adam and Andrew changed both Adam and my brakes that Saturday (without being asked) despite my brakes being incredibly stubborn and despite the fact that there were a TON of March Madness games on. I didn't hear any cursing or swearing so I wasn't sure the task could possibly have been successful but I'm happy to report that my car will stop on a dime.
Anyway, the next dee, Dale and co came by for Easter Dinner. For those of you who will recall a certain Jell-o incident with me and burning, I believe I've topped myself. I put the ham in the oven bag and put it in the oven. A few minutes later I smelled something burning and pulled out the ham to see what on earth was the problem. The bag was a little singed on the top but I just shrugged it off and put it back in (because I'm obviously insane.) So then 10 minutes later, it was really smelling like something was burning. I go to see what was up and there was a HOLE burned in the top of the oven bag...and not a small one. I am standing there staring at it racking my brain to figure out what was wrong and Adam walks in. It takes him 2 or so seconds looking at it to say "uh, do you think it's because the oven rack is too high so the bag is too close to the top of the oven?" Yeah, pretty sure I heard the Christmas Vacation symbols in my head. Fortunately, I had put a brown sugar maple glaze on it and it turns out that it actually doesn't taste bad when it's blackened. So despite my best efforts, I didn't manage to TOTALLLY ruin Easter Dinner...
Here's the kiddos at our super high quality card table. (Who besides me is having flashbacks to their childhood days at the "little kids table" from days past?)
And check this photo. We usually keep a heap of stuffed animals back in the toy room for when the kiddos come over. So the kids were playing in the master while the grown ups visited during dessert. I went in to check on them and found they'd moved all the toys from the toy room and stacked them, each according to their type, in the window seat in our room (please note that where there are pairs of stuffed animals, they are neatly stacked side by side). What is with the OCD of the next generation of Lazerbeams? I blame Dale... or maybe Coach. No, I'll blame Matty. Final answer.

New furniture...

Rick and I have decided to redecorate. We found the perfect furniture! Check this out.

Little miracles...

So we're not guilty of being ungrateful...I wanted you to know some of the little miracles that happened this week with regards to Kristin. After a bad day in court, Kristin was referred to a different attorney. The attorney was kind enough to call her back and give her some straight talk. However, on Saturday, Rick's mom came over to watch the UCLA game with us and was able to give us another side of that same attorney that we would never have known, had she not come over. And...she got a client (of that attorney) to call Kristin and discuss her concerns with her. Kristin could have ended up with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt (and I do mean that literally) with nothing to show for it. Elise was also able to give a professional opinion on the evaluator scheduled to do the psych evaluation on Mackenzie. Turns out she's a GOOD one! Elise says she's very hones and truthful which is exactly what we want. Kristin also got the names of a couple other attorneys who she will talk to in the next couple days. Also, she was able to get her case moved to the downtown L.A. courts where she will have a much bigger chance of a FAIR hearing. Although she didn't get the slam dunk she (we) were hoping for, she made some baby steps forward and I think we can all recognize baby steps as blessings. So, keep praying. There are a handful of people who hold Mackenzie and Ktristin's future in their hands...so keep praying!

Oh, and as a side note. I may or may not have slammed the door on a certain *J* when he appeared at mom and dad's front door on Sunday. I think I had butter on my hands or something.

Easter pics

The results from the kids easter egg hunt at home.

Easter Egg Hunt

Here's a pic and clip from our beautiful & serene neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. See all those little dots in the grass? Those are all easter eggs. There were several hundred eggs out on the field, plenty for everyone, right?

Or atleast that's what we were expecting....

You've heard of the story of the locusts devouring the early pioneers crops? Basically, that's how the egg hunt went down. It was seriously over within seconds. Brittany came out of it with 1 egg, Brooke only 3. Brandon made good with 6 at the most. It was pure pandemonium. I don't think we'll be going next year! lol

Good News

I just got the news that I passed the final section of the CPA. It has been a long road for me and an even longer road for Katie and the kids. She has basically been a single parent 6 days a week for the last 10 months. When Camille heard the news she said, "Since you don't have to study, can we go on a date again?" Nothing like a 5 year old reminding you about your priorities. Anyway, thanks for your support of all of us throughout the process.

Happy Birthdee Michelley!

As I'm sure you can imagine, a little birdie...er Penguin put me up to blogging about Meemer's birthday. Ah Michelle. For Michelle's birthdee post, I think we need to recall all of our fondest Michelle memories. One of mine is from living next door to Michelle in Provo at the ever glamorous Riviera (oooh, exotic...). Anywho, I whipped up a birthdee cake for Michelle and she was honestly more excited about having her very own cake from which she could lick off ALL the frosting without having to feign eating any part of the cake portion than she was about the fact that it was her birthday! I'm telling you it looked like absolute glee to me! (Anyone wondering where her kids get their collective frosting affinity from?) I still tease her to this day, or dee rather, about having frosting in her eyebrows from getting so excited that she just smashed her face into the frosting. (Incidentally, she never did have frosting in her eyebrows... at least not that I saw, but really, would any of us put it past her? I think not!)

I've got plenty more memories which I'm sure I'll post later, but for now, I turn it over to you folks. And Michelle, as our friend the Penguin is so aptly demonstrating below, it's always a good idea to blow your candles out before smashing your face into your cake...er frosting, as it were. Happy frosting eating and Happy Birthdee!!!

Fina-freakingly!

So, way back when...when this lovely blog was started I distinctly remember sending out a cry for help (remember something about a helmet and a drool bib???) asking someone to please show me how to post. Well, Michelle finally showed me how and so now I'm trying it out. I promise I wasn't giving you guys the silent treatment!!

I'm sure as you've all heard by now court didn't go so well today (unless you call basically getting thrown out of court good...). But I wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate all your fasting and prayers on our behalf. I'm having a very hard time exercising faith in this situation and trusting that it's all going to work out in the end because right now it's not looking the least bit favorable. Know that I am so grateful to be part of such a large family that I know supports me and Mackenzie 100%. Lisonbees rule! It's going to be a long road for us, and I'm sorry to put you all through this drama. Thank you for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers. You have no idea how much it means to me.

XOXO

We made it!

Folks, me and the kids (all eight of them) survived the adventure over spring break. It was crazy at times... Let's see...The oldestm Spencer, (age 10) tied up his brother and a couple neighborhood kids to the pedal go-kart. The neighborhood kid screamed until his dad came out and freaked out (understandably). The neighbor dad came over and yelled at me and Spencer...What else? Um, Malia continuously filled the cat food bowl with water. The cat was bugging me the whole time until I realized he was following me around because he was hungry and his food was all soggy. The oldest also tried to strangle the 5-year-old. But that's okay because Carter tried to strangle Jake. I introduced them to chocolate chip pancakes (an Edwardson favorite). There were at least two or three neighbor kids over at all times. One of them, Katie, became Bella's idol and Spencer's nemesis. Bella developed a crush on Spencer, the 10-year-old and clung to him incessantly. (No wonder he tied the neighbor kid up). Malia refused to wear pants most of the time...the boys (who nromally have an all boy house) were highly disturbed by Malia showing off her Dora undies...My kids don't even notice any more. Malia also decided it was much more fun to pee in the yard than in the house...interesting since she's a girl. I wonder who taubght her that trick? The kids polished off just about everything in the entire house...there was absolutely no way I was going grocery shopping with all of those children. Carter spent the last two days laying on the couch with a fever...which was a little nice because he was not contributing to the chaos. Their grandma was supposed to come Wednesday and take the kids and I was going to go home...but Grandma couldn't come, so I stayed another day. They got home at 5:15 AM in the morning. Their flight was slightly delayed because after taking off, they had to land and wait while some crazy lady was escorted off the flight. I finally took Carter to the doctor this morning (not before because there is NO WAY I was taking 8 kids to the doctor). Turns out he just has some virus. We got out of urgent care, onto the freeway and headed straight for Nana's house in Valencia where we will be until Monday. One thing is for sure...my kids have not been bored over Spring Break. Today they're going to an Easter primary activity. Tomorrow, they'll be hanging out with friends, and Nana and Mackenzie. This weekend, Nana is filling a bazillion eggs (typical Lisonbee style) for the kids to hunt. My kids will be on a sugar high within 10 minutes since I don't let them have any sugar at home... Monday we are going to Aquarium of the Pacific with nana and Uncle Brett. By the time we get back to Fresno, they should be sufficiently worn out and ready to go back to school!

Missing firsts and stuff...

So, naturally, I was freaking out about going back to work and one of the problems I listed was missing the "firsts." My mom told me to keep in mind that I might miss the firsts anyway.

Last night I put Sarah down to sleep. She was fussing a little but sometimes she just cries for a a few minutes before falling to sleep. (Note: against all advice, I put her down on her stomach. If you would like to discuss that, you can wake me up in the middle of the night when I'm cranky and I'll tell you about it.) Anyway, she was crying softly for a little longer than usual and I felt like I should go in and check on her. She was lying there, on her back, having rolled over for the first time, with a look on her face that made me laugh. Her eyes were wide and she was looking at us (I called Matt in) as if to ask what in the world happened. Poor girl. I got her back to sleep and put her down again. An hour later I heard her cry. This time she had rolled over and was kind of tilted on her side with her back against the crib bumper. Again, she couldn't figure out what happened. Thankfully, this only happened twice last night. I seriously wondered if this would be a major problem for us (so, any suggestions are welcome).

Sarah has finally rolled over, and I've missed it - twice. The Mommas are always right.

The house sure does look swell Clark

Click below to see our Virtual Tour. http://www.obeo.com/Public/Viewer/Default.aspx?ID=450288

On the Market!

Wow, I don't have 8 kids (thank heaven) but I do have four and I have to keep my house spotless for the next who knows how many weeks. We put our house on the market Friday morning, and we spent the whole weekend at my Moms. It's a good thing too, because we had six scheduled and four actual showings, so we would have eaten every meal at McDonalds anyway. I was going to post a link to our pictures, but the website address is hidden so I can't. You'll have to see it in your minds.
We go to Dallas for our househunting trip on Thursday March 27th. Yea for picking a big beautiful new house. I'm looking forward to that.

Double my kids...

It's spring break in Fresno. Oh joy. My friends and their spouses all went to New York for the week...they invited us to go, but we didn't want to spend the money, so we opted to stay here...one of my friends ran into a little hitch with childcare, so, for today, tomorrow and Wednesday, I have double my kids...all boys from age 5-10. Crazy! They have a HUGE yard. It is in a double cul-de-sac. The kids can jump on the trampoline, play on the swingset, build forts, ride their bicycle pedaled go-cart, bikes, play on their jungle jim, etc. So, I hope they're sufficiently occupied because there's no way I'm taking 8 kids anywhere!

Random thoughts from Brandon

A few days ago...

Brandon: Daddy, I didn't used to like to read.

Me: (Doing my best imitation of a parent attempting to be perceived as paying attention) Oh.

Brandon: Now that I got this Calvin and Hobbes book, I love to read.

I guess I just needed to find some deep reading material for him. Apparently he needed something more cerebrally taxing than in normal books.

Then today...

Me: Dude, are you trying to play footsies or something?

Brandon: What's footsies?

Me: I'll explain that when you are a geezer.

Brandon: What when I'm like 30 like you?

There you have it folks. 30 is over the hill. Not that that should really be surprising since 22 is the age where experience compensates for stamina. I mean, can we really expect it to take any more than 8 years from that point before we are geezers?

Conversation with Bella (and the kids)

Me: Jake, tomorrow our family is fasting for Kristin and Mackenzie. So, if you want to, you can fast too.
Jake: Okay mom. I'll try and fast breakfast.
Carter: I will too. Well, do I have to?
Me: No, you don't have to.
Jake: Normally kids start fasting when they're 8.
Me: I started fasting when I was six.
Bella: Why because you didn't live with your father?

Huh?

If you're tired of reading my posts...feel free to post away!

In honor of Rick's birthday...

I made a birthday cake to look like a basketball. I Gave the girls the empty frosting cans to feast on and went upstairs to do other things. Malia came up a shortwhile later with a very messy chocolate face. I thought she had just finished licking the can and made a mess. Folks, feast your eyes on the last picture. Do those finger prints look familiar? Oh yeah. She proceeded to climb up on the counter (with one arm in a brace, no less) dip her fingers in the frosting and lick lick it off the side of the cake. When I asked her if she did that to the cake, she said Um, yes mom. Like...duh mom, of course I did. At least she's honest about it...

P.S. Happy Birthday Rick!

One more post...

Since Bella was born, I have wanted to do a very girly room with stripes. Five years later, I finally got it done. Thanks to keri and Elizabeth, my partners in crime, Bella and Malia now have a very girly, striped room. The top picture is the first step in the stripes...after that was painted, we had to wait til it dried and then tape again and paint again. It's not finished yet, but a certain someone who shall remain nameless *cough* Judy, couldn't wait to see pictures of it. Picture this lovely room with a white chair rail around the border between the pink and the beginning of the stripes and a 1/4" purple stripe on the left side of the pink. The girls love it and Keri says, in a kids' room, you might as well go crazy with color. They love it and I only have to go in there once or twice a day. I can't wait til it's finished and I can hang the stuff back on the walls. What did people do before they had painter's tape and caulk?

Spring Cleaning, anyone?

The boys room is kind of scary, as you can see. So I decided it was time for an overhaul. I woke up on Wednesday and decided that was the day to do it. So, I took their bunkbeds apart (by myself). It's called creativity folks. It was a little touch and go for awhile, but it worked. Then, I unloaded all the books from their bookshelves and sorted them. Fianlly, I went through their toys. The result...beautiful. One clean room! It makes me very happy. I spent all day today doing more spring cleaning...all the bathrooms and the upstairs. I didn't finish, but I made some good progress. Something about spring makes me want to make everything smell fresh and look fabulous...

Bella's preschool

Bella does preschool with some kids from the surrounding wards. It is so fun. We do it for two weeks at each person's house...that way each person only has to do it twice in the entire school year. It is fabulous. The boys in her preschool have really taken to her. You can't really tell by the picture, but Bella's a good couple inches taller than most of the boys who will be turning six this summer. (For some reason, their moms held them back this year). Anyhow, the boy on the far right, Ammon, refers to Bella as "his girl." The taller blonde boy's name is John. He wanted to be "joseph" in the nativity play because Bella was Mary. The other boy William on the far left made a Bella character on their family's wii games. She has had a great time with these kids...she does miss her group of girl friends from Valencia. She had so many of them! Up here, she mostly hangs out with the boys because that's the moms that I hang out with. Can't wait til she starts kindergarden next year!

Calling all Lisonbeakers...

Kristin is going for the home run this upcoming week. Justin's attorney is not calling Kristin's attorney back, most likely because he doesn't have all his required paper work and stuff done. So, Kristin's attorney is going to file for a temporary full custody order for Kristin. If it works, she will immediately get married and move (on the advice of her attorney). The court hearing will be this coming week, probably Wednesday or Thursday. So, Kristin asked me to post this on the blog, requesting any able body who is willing to fast for them on Sunday.

As for the wedding...it would be a quick one. They would hold off on the reception and big party until they are able to get sealed. So, this week is going to be CRAZY, but Kristin's attorney is very hopeful.

Anyway, thanks everybody for taking one for the team.

Big Thank You...

Big thank you goes out to the Lisonbee genes...

Today after gymnastics, the teacher pulled me aside and mentioned in a shocked/impressed tone of voice that Brooke was able to do a (I forget what it's called) back something all by herself... basically, it's the flip that you do on the bars where you swing your legs forward and over the bars, your body flips over and then you do a forward flip. Anyway, she said that she's shocked that Brooke is able to do several things on her own already. She also mentioned that Brooke can do things that not even her advanced students can do. Also mentioned that she wishes she could do more one on one with her, but it's hard when you have a full class of 3 and 4 year olds and one "superstar" is what she called Brooke. Anyway, I am so proud of Brooke! She's really blossoming with this whole Gymnastics thing and I have to thank the Lisonbee genes for that! She's showing some natural talent and definitely didn't get that from me! Anyway, I'm excited for her. She's really lovin' it and I really feel like I found her niche, and with her being in the best gym in the nation, we're NEVER moving again... it will be exciting to see how far she goes with this. I'm definitely not going to push her with it (don't want to be one of those moms), but the great thing is that so far I haven't had to push her at all. She just really loves it. Anyway, wanted to share the excitement with ya'll and send out a big huge thank you for the great athletic genes you evidently helped pass on to her! :)

One day it's snowflakes and snow angels, the next it's bubbles and butterflies...

Not even a week ago, the kids and I were building snowmen, making snow angels, having snowball fights and today it was this...

Here, the girls are picking dandelions & making wishes... so what that it's a weed.



Here they are watching the ducks.



Making bubbles...


More bubbles...


Bubbles everywhere!



Taking a walk to the "island"...


Taking a rest.


What's up with Dallas? It can't make up it's mind! Today it was BEAUTIFUL!!! 70 degrees, birds chirping, butterflies fluttering... the girls insist on wearing their 'fairy dresses' EVERYWHERE! I didn't mind because it made cute pictures. Anyway, wonder what tomorrow will be like. The weather here has been so unpredictable! I hope it stays like it was today.

It's all ready...

Good news folks, the dead lady's house will probably be for sale shortly (most likely probate or foreclosure or something). Today, Rick went over and mowed her lawn so that it would be all nice and pretty for whichever of you wants to head on over to Fresno. It is a lovely neighborhood. Sure, we've had a few robberies, a death, a pitbull attack, a few broken bones, but it's a great place and I bet it's going to be CHEAP. You all aren't afraid of haunted houses are you?

A Day at the Happiest Place on Earth

Last Thursday we took Aurora for her first visit to Disneyland. Of course we had to get her a pair of Mickey ears!She loved meeting the princesses.
And of course, people admired her where ever we went.
She was so good and didn't get fussy one bit. And that was without taking any naps! We were amazed! She loved going on the rides, except for Haunted Mansion and Pirates, when she just snuggled in our arms. Her favorite though, was the Enchanted Tiki Room, where she danced and clapped and sang for the entire show! Everyone else was watching her instead of the birds! We can't wait to go again!

This is for all you penguin lovers out there.

Brandon came home from school the other day with this. I thought he did a pretty good job and I know somewhat of the inside jokes with the family when it comes to penguins, so thought I'd post it for ya'll. Thought you'd appreciate it! :)

That'll leave a mark!

Part One: The kids playing on the slide in the backyard; Malia in a skirt.

Bella: "Dad, do you know why Malia is going so slow [down the slide]?"

Me: "No, why?"

Bella: "Because she doesn't have any underwear on."

Me: "Malia, go to your room and get some underwear."

Part Two: Malia obediently goes to the stairs to go to her room. A couple seconds later, I hear a crash and find Malia crying at the bottom of the stairs. She fell down the stairs, broken collar bone and all [no further damage so far as I can tell; but then again, broke is broke, isnt' it?]

My son ... the diplomat

So, this last week, Brandon, with a straight face, said "Daddy, when you were a little boy, did you have hair on the top of your head?"

Wow.

Then today when we got home from church, I was going to tell Brandon about the teacher in the member missionary class that I have been assigned to. So, I said, "Brandon, did you know there was a missionary that served a mission at the same time as papas down in Texas." Before I could finishe and say that he was my teacher today, Brandon asked, "Is he still alive?"

So, Dad, apparently you and Brother Stone are a living miracle in Brandon's eyes. I mean, have you called Guiness?

That reminds me of the story I heard about Grandma Vandewalker asking me as a little boy how old I thought she was. My response, as legend has it, was "About a hundred."

For some reason, she didn't like that...

Dad, I think I'm starting to get the payback I deserve for all the jokes I made as a kid.

I don't even know what to title this...

Who remembers the cute little pink cast Malia had? Well, her newest contraption is not nearly as cute...but it stablizes her arm because SHE BROKE HER COLLAR BONE. She snapped that thing like a twig. The x-rays are pretty cool...She could have broken it earlier today when she jumped off Jake's top bunk...but no, she broke it trying to do a back summersault off the swings in the backyard. All I have to say is the Lord must have a pretty good sense of humor and I hope you all are enjoying my blog posts which generally post some disaster that has happened...all in a day at the Edwardson house.

A Winter Wonderland... Texas style. In March!

Here are some pics of the kids (and Chudleigh) having some fun in the snow today. We built a snowman, and Brandon taught the girls how to make snowballs and snow angels and Chudleigh had some fun too catching snowflakes. Anyway, here are some pics and videos. Yay!!! Snow!

I couldn't get the videos to load, so I'm going to put Brandon to bed and then try and load them on my personal blog, so be sure and check 'em out.

"I see dead people..."

So, last night I was awoken at 11:30 P.M. by some voices which sounded very near our house and some noises that I could not identify...My window was open, so I was terrified (having been burglarized, and all). I got out of bed and looked out the window and saw nothing. So, I stood there debating whether or not I should go downstairs and check out the light I saw in the kitchen. Against my better judgment, I tiptoed out my door and to the loft. I looked out the window which overlooks our street and saw a police car out front, so I thought whatever was going on, the police were probably taking care of...I went downstairs, turned the light off, checked to make sure the alarm was on and went back up to my room. Not two minutes later, our doorbell rang like three times. I woke Rick up and told him to go see who was at the door. Turns out it was a police officer and he asked us if we knew the relatives of the woman next door. Rick said no and asked why? The officer said she had died and they found her in her home. PEOPLE....WE WERE SLEEPING NEXT TO A DEAD PERSON. How long she was dead, I don't know...we saw her on Thursday or Friday and I talked to her for like an hour...she was FINE! She lives alone, she was about 65 and she was very chatty. She was always really nice to our kids.

So, today, I saw our neighbor today (our other neighbor) and asked her what the heck happened? She said she and her husband noticed the garage door open for a couple days and finally last night, they called the police. They had tried knocking and called and no answer (BECAUSE SHE WAS DEAD!!!!). So, the police came, tried kicking the door down (hence, the noises I had heard), and ended up breaking the window to get in. They found her dead in the bathroom. They're pretty sure she had a stroke. My neighbor also discovered that the lady who died, Lucy, was not really named Lucy. Her name is Patty and she was schizophrenic...and she owned a couple of guns. HELLOOOOOOO!! My kids went over there alone a few times to ask if they could get the balls they kicked over the fence. Maybe we should have been clued in to the semi-crazy part when she came over and asked if we recognized the mini marshmallows in her hand that she had found in her backyard. Of course we recognized them...the boys have a marshmallow gun. She just wanted to make sure somebody wasn't trying to poison her dog. All righty then...So seriously, we were sleeping next to a dead person. Probably a decomposing dead person, at that...

Is it me or has crazy stuff been happening since we moved to Fresno. You all know you're glad we moved here...I mean what would I have to post about if it weren't for joggers running with their sheep, robberies, fog as thick as pea soup and dead neighbors. Wow...good times in Fresno.

Table Talk

I was feeding Mr. Fish this morning.

Camille: Mom, if you stand over here, there is four fishes.

Ashley: That's not a fish! That's his beard!

Camille: How can a fish have a beard?

Ashley: Cause that's how fishes made!

Hope nobody bought plane tickets...

You can all thank a certain Justin that is much less likeable than our brother for the postponing of Kristin and Steven's wedding. The attorney said there's no way it will be resolved by then so they won't be able to get married on May 31 like they had planned. Kristin asked me to post this on the blog so everybody could plan accordingly. Let's look at the bright side...maybe by the time they can actually get married, their temple cancellations will come through and they can get married in the temple. Kristin also wanted everyone to know, the wedding is in no way being called off...just postponed. Steven has been very supportive through all of this and this bump in the road is just one more obstacle to overcome before they tie the knot...

Thanks to everybody for fasting together yesterday. Please remember to keep them in your prayers. The first court meeting is on April 15th. How appropriate. Does anyone else remember April 15th as a particularly horrible day...you know the day dad did the taxes and was driving down to the post office at 11:59 P.M.? Hopefully this will be a more positive memory to associate with that day.

Caught in a lie...

Tonight, Brandon was afraid to take a shower because it's been thundering and lightning. After telling him to take his shower and to be sure and wash his hair, he gets in and when he gets out I notice that the top of his head is dry. Here's how the conversation went.

Me. "Brandon, how come the top of your head is dry? Did you wash your hair?"

Brandon: "YES mommy!"

Me. "Then why is your head dry?"

Brandon: "huh??? I washed it."

Later on in the evening, as I was giving him a hug before his bedtime, I noticed that his hair didn't look like it had just been washed, so I asked again. This time Dale was standing there. Here's how it went:

Me: "Brandon (in a low tone), did you wash your hair? It doesn't seem clean. Did you lie to me?"

Brandon: "Yes, I lied."

Me: "Why did you lie?"

Brandon: "Because I thought I would get in trouble."

Me. (Dale laughing) "well you're gonna get in trouble now."

Dale: "huh. You lied. We need to come up with an appropriate consequence, right Steph?"

Brandon: "I know an appropriate one. How about no nintendo and playstation for an entire week... AFTER I clean up the whole toy room."

Dale: "I don't know..."

Brandon: "How about a month?"

Stephanie: "What's he trying to avoid?"

Dale: "Maybe the big 'S'?"

Stephanie: "What, you mean soap?"

Brandon: "NOOOOOO!"

Dale: "Well, you do lie with your mouth."

Then off to the bathroom they go. I can't believe Brandon was willing to give up playstation and nintendo for an entire month ON TOP of cleaning up the disastrous toy room which would probably take him two days! All just to try and avoid SOAP???? I guess we know what the right punishment is from now on. :)

On a side note, I posted some videos from Brooke's 3rd Gymnastics Private Class on my blog. I'd post them on here as well if they didn't take sooo long. One of the videos includes her first fall off the high bar, which is about 6' high. Anyway, check em out and let us know what you think!