This weekend we went out to the country (yes, even more country than where we live) to the place where Andy and his dad hunt. This is a typical picture of Alli in the car, and this is a typical picture of Evan. It wasn't really that cold, but for some reason if they're wearing their jackets, they think they have to have their hoods on. The house on the hunting land is a bit rustic for me, even though it is a house (probably 100 years old) with indoor plumbing and a satellite TV and various eating establishments. The kids love it, though. They get to run around in the woods with sticks and ride the 4-wheeler and roast marshmallows. I actually haven’t been there in a couple of years because I refused after the last time I was there. But, Andy spent an entire weekend fixing it up just for me, so I felt like I needed to give it another chance and it was pretty nice. I think the most relaxing part of the weekend was the 2 hour nap I took on Saturday. We got down there on Friday night and ordered pizza (rustic, huh?) and ate it in front of the fire place. The kids LOVED throwing their leftovers, the pizza boxes, anything else they could find that wasn’t toxic, in the fire. We finally had to put an end to that because Evan wanted to throw coke cans and plastic bottles in there. I know all you grandparents are probably about to have a stroke. Don’t worry. It was all completely supervised. Everybody woke up earlier than I wanted them to (hence my 2-hour nap) and we had a big country breakfast and discussed the artery clogging possibilities of the meal. I was glad to get back home, but first thing this morning as we were leaving to take Drew to school, Evan said he wanted to go hunting again.

Stephanie brought me a bunch of pictures from a night when she came over and got my kids all wound up. I guess that’s an aunt’s job. This pile of my kids is actually somewhat typical, whether Steph’s there or not. Drew’s in there on the bottom, even though all you can see of her is legs. It’s funny how in these situations I find myself saying the exact same things my mom always said. When we were at the peak of fun, mom would inevitably say, “Stop before somebody gets hurt.” At the time I would wonder why she would always interrupt, but now I understand. No good can come from two 2-year-olds and a 5-year-old in a pile on the floor, even though I laughed when it happened. That’s another thing. It stinks when you’re trying your hardest to correct your child and they make you laugh. I don’t know how many times Andy’s gotten on to them for one of the millions of goofy things they do and I’ve had to hide my face in a pillow to keep them from seeing me laugh. I have to say, in defense of my wild kids, they come by it honestly. When Andy got home today I asked him how his day was and he leaned over and asked me if I saw any dried blood on his head, which is funny because he’s supposed to wear a hard hat all day. Back to the pictures. After the kids got worn out, they finally zoned out on TV. This is great when I need to get something done, and then the commercials come on. Commercials can really ruin a nice, calm moment. Everybody goes wild again. I also included Drew’s school picture in here. She’s just so grown up.

Since this is my first official entry and it's all new and exciting, I'll try not to get carried away with detail. I've included pictures so everyone can see the kids and how precious they are. The first few are just "day in the life" kind of things. Here's Drew, the grown up, all ready for school. She's done great this year, and I really like her teacher. She's reading now, which just makes her seem that much older. She's the queen of drama, so she always has some big event to talk about when she gets in the car every day. This picture of Evan is supposed to be showing off his black eye. He's the roughest of all my kids, but he seems to come out with the least wounds. I have pictures of Drew and Alli with these awful black eyes just from being their wild selves, but this is the worst Evan's ever got. And, here's Alli with her baby. Anybody who says we make boys like cars and girls like babies is crazy. Alli loves her baby doll, and Evan couldn't care less, unless of course he can get a rise out of Alli by taking it from her. The rest of the pictures are of Halloween, obviously. Drew was Cinderella, Evan was Frankenstein, and Alli was a witch. They were all so funny. Alli and Evan thought they were so scary. When we went trick-or-treating, we couldn't get Alli off the porches. She'd stand forever and have conversations with people. Then when we'd finally leave, she'd have to stop and point out every detail of the flower beds and yard decorations. Andy hitched the wagon to the back of our 4-wheeler and we drove around the neighborhood. It was so much better than walking up and down all the big hills. We accomplished a lot more, too. The kids ate candy until they got sick. In fact, Alli woke up with a stomach virus the next morning. We thought maybe she just overdid it with the candy, but then it continued through the night, and then Evan had it the next day. So far the rest of us have seemed to dodge that one, thank goodness. I don't have time to be sick!