Tonight's Homework

So tonight's homework was status quo... The oldest had homework in math, science, and social studies...

Everybody else had NO homework.

Oh wait. 

Then out of nowhere Matt* said, "I am supposed to practice counting down from 40 in my head though."

Yep, status quo... Nobody else has homework until "oh wait"... 

Hmm... Really... 2nd grade... count down from 40. I want to hear this.

So I said, "Come here, I want to hear."

We sat down and he started counting down, "40... 20... 16... 14... 10..."

WAIT WAIT WAIT. Stop. Stop. Stop.

I said, "Let's try it again. I'll help you. K? 40... 39... 38... 37... 36..."

And he said, "No no... We're supposed to do EVEN number countdown!"

WHAT?? Even number countdown???

"Ok, let's try it again... 40...38...36..34...33. no...32...30...28...27. no... 26... 24..."  this continued two times through...

Finally I lost the 2nd graders attention and he ran out to the TV room again.

Well, ok, that was good. Good job.

*sigh*  lol... 

Wildlife Prairie Park Pump Track

If you know me at all, you know I love to be outside playing, trail running, and mountain biking... So today was really fun for me when we took the boys to the Pump Track at Wildlife Prairie Park.

The bigs did really well.  In fact, Cody* did great. I want to take him mountain biking one day.

The twins had a hard time staying straight at first, but after lining them up before taking off, they did awesome!

Lined up straight before taking off.

The twins. They did it!!  :-) 

*name changed for story

Pizza Cauliflower Casserole

Phil had this great idea of making a pizza cauliflower casserole for dinner tonight with the boys...

While I thought it was AWESOME... the boys... not so much.

Here is the recipe:
http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2013/05/pepperoni-pizza-cauliflower-casserole-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html

Here's the end result:

Looks and smells like pizza!

But then... When time came to eat it... 

"This smells weird!"

They all couldn't stand the smell!!  lol...

I do recommend it though for low carb dieters... It was great!

What to do...

... when you're out of bowls!

Pasta for dinner for 7 in bowls + Cereal for breakfast in 5 bowls + 2-hour wait for the dishwasher =

Ice cream in Tupperware!  :-) 

Still Learning as I Go

On Friday, I met with a co-worker during his last day at Ameren. He mentioned that he has six kids.

The three oldest were his from a previous marriage.

One of them was his wife's from a previous marriage.

Two of them were theirs together.

I mentioned, "Oh, my husband has 5-boys!"

He said, "No. YOU have 5-boys."

So, of course I rambled, "Well, I'm still getting used to it. We've only been married for five-ish months."

He said, "You might not have kids of your own, but you need to start changing your mindset to they are your boys now also. They will - as they get older - start using it against you if you don't start claiming them as yours. They'll say 'well, you never loved us like our mom did' and they'll start using it against you."

SO, from now on, you might hear me say "my boys" or "our boys" or "we have five boys"... because I do love each of them as my own. I just know that I'm not trying to or will ever take the place of their mother.  :-)

Back to School - Fall Semester 2016

Today is my first official "back-to-school" as a Stepmom! Let's see what grades they are going into this year:

The twins are going into 2nd grade.

Jake is going into 5th grade.

Cody is going into 6th grade.

Lucas is going into 7th grade.

The boys were with their mom this morning... so I asked her to send pictures.

Now, we all know that my pictures are "different"... So I asked her to take pictures of their faces and then I asked for "Jennifer pictures" (which means, they have to look away or turn around).

And they all know now what that means and instantly ask, "IS THIS FOR YOUR BLOG?!?"   :-)

Yes, these pictures are for my blog...

So here's before school this morning...

Before school with their mom.

Here's after school... 

REALLY??  :-)  They're all passed out!!

Tired of school already... On Day 1!

Conversation with the Twins

I took the twins grocery shopping with me on Saturday.

First, they convinced me to go to Schnuck's instead of Hyvee so they could each get a free cookie. (kids under 10 get a free cookie at Schnucks)

Then, on the way home one of them said, "If we get to pick our car when we turn 16, we're going to pick a Chevy."

So I asked, "Why a Chevy?"

And they said, "Chevy gets a lot of awards for their cars."  (I'm sure they've seen the commercials.)

I asked again, "Well, that's 9-years away... What if you change your mind?"

"We won't."   :-)  oh... ok... Let's make note of that!

The Firemen

Watch out girls... These two firemen are going to be running around when they get older! (I know you can't see their faces, but they are DOLLS!!)

The Firemen

Vacation with Five Boys

So... What's it like going on vacation with 5 boys?

It's fun! I mean, how often do you say these things while you're on vacation?

"My boys are lost inside the Gay Dolphin gift shop. Where did they go???"

"We went to the beach shop and the twins got stuffed poopy emoji's!"
Five seconds later...
Twin #2 holding both poopy emoji's under his butt, "Look! I'm doing a double poopy!!"

"No ice cream if you're going to throw up in the car!"  Yes, I'm a bit scarred...

Best one of the week... 
"He got stung... umm... by a jelly fish... umm... by his wiener... Can I get the Vinegar spray from you, please? So we can spray it... umm... up his shorts? Thanks."

Overall... It was a blast! I enjoyed every minute of it. I relaxed. I played. I had fun.  :-) 

Myrtle Beach - Conquered!

We have one more full day left here at Myrtle Beach (Wednesday) before departing on Thursday morning.

We have accomplished EVERYTHING on our Myrtle Beach To Do List already!

Left: Our list from July 28th.
Right: Our list as of August 2nd. 

Here are some pictures to go with it:

Top Left: Go Karts!
Bottom Left:  Sky Wheel  (Ferris Wheel)
Top Right:  Mini Golf
Bottom Right: Parasailing!

The five boys have gotten along all week, playing very well together. Everybody has listened to Phil and me. And we have all enjoyed our time here. 

So glad to have one more full day left!  :-) 

Let's All Take a Moment....

To thank God... Or who ever you pray to...

That he doesn't get his license for 9-more years!  :-)

Can he even SEE over the steering wheel????