My dogs drink only the finest spring water...

...sourced from the multitude of abandoned half-finished bottles of water I find all over the house all day, every day, and which no one else cares to claim.

Did a hungry dog pour the dog food today?

I mean, maybe?

Mess of the Year Nomination

Today, Lex made a smoothie/milkshake/frozen treat for himself with strawberries and blueberries. Then he dropped the full pitcher on the floor in the kitchen, where is exploded and splashed all over the floor, cabinets, walls, stove, etc with the power of a nuclear smoothie.

Nuclear smoothie.

I didn't take a photo of the mess.  He said, "Hey Mom, I might need your help" very nonchalantly, so I wandered over to help him, completely unprepared for the berry carnage awaiting me. It was a shocking sight!

He did help with the toweling berries off the floor stage, and the mopping stage, and the scrubbing the cabinets stage.

He learned how to use Windex to clean the glass on the stove front, and also how to use the stainless steel cleaner to clean the stove and refrigerator properly. Then, we cleaned the baseboards under the cabinetry.

After all that, I released him from service. I took a photo to prove how well he had cleaned up his mess.

Then, I walked into the laundry room to start washing the load of berry towels that we had accumulated. I had asked him to just toss the dirty towels into the washer. I didn't mention that he should do this carefully, and not recreate the berry carnage situation in the laundry room by shooting the towels carelessly all over the room in the approximate direction of the washing machine. But you know what happened. Ugh.

Homeschool Home Economics Class

Otherwise titled:

What Happens When the Dishwasher Breaks

Washing dishes by hand for homeschool credit.

Yes.  They both got an A+.

The dishwasher repair man is coming tomorrow.

Why are there chips all over the floor? Why are the chips gone?

I have so many questions.
As usual.

In which Lex makes a cake

Tonight Lex started mixing something up in the kitchen.  He didn't use a recipe, and he ended up making a chocolate cake.

Also a big mess.  But a cake.  With chocolate frosting.

Then, he left it on the counter to cool.

He left some notes to make sure no one ate it before it was ready.

"No touchy"

It was a great cake.  Very chocolaty. 

Wordless Wednesday: Pie Face Edition

Wordless Wednesday: Happiest Dog in the World Edition

Connor is back from camp!

There were tons of photos of the kids at camp that were posted online for the parents to see while their kids were away.  Which was super nice.  I saw Connor in the background of several of the photos, and there was one in which he was front and center:

In all the photos, all the kids seemed to be having a wonderful time.  There was a pool with a diving board and a slide, laser tag, mini golf, obstacle courses, and all sorts of field games. 

Connor came home covered in all different colors of paint.  It still hasn't come off.  His once gray sneakers are now rainbow colored.  

He said the food was amazing.  He had so many things to tell us about camp, and he wasn't ready to sit still yet.  

And then he fell asleep on the couch before dinner and slept for the rest of the night.

I think he had a great time at camp.  I'm super happy for him.

Today Boys Club Went to Tank Town

TANK TOWN!

That's right.  The Boys Club went to Tank Town and they loved it.  LOVED IT.  They got sooo muddy.  And it snowed!  The weather was supposed to be 50 degrees and sunny, but those were all just lies.  Poor Lex was wearing shorts.  SHORTS in the SNOW and MUD at TANK TOWN.

All right.  Now for the photos and videos:

But first, let me take a selfie!

You can add a car to crush with your tank for only $600 extra!

Next time, kids.  Next time.

It was so muddy that the mud sucked Lex's shoes right off his feet.

We got it all sorted out, but then the mud was both on the inside and the outside of his shoes.

According to Lex:

"Tank Town is 10/10 Dabs."

I was NOT expecting them to ride on top of the tanks.

I thought they would be riding INSIDE the tanks. 

But what do I know?

Best Ride Ever!

TANK TOWN is AWESOME.

The boys want to go back again with Dad.  To crush a car.  When the weather isn't so cold and snowy.  I imagine it is always a muddy mess at Tank Town, though.  It took me a while, but I got the car clean, inside and out, the shoes clean, the clothes clean, and the coats clean.  Mess managed.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Tonight Connor came and found me and said, "Mommy, we need your help.  We might burn the house down."

This is what I found in the kitchen.  They were making cookies.  I don't think they were anywhere near burning the house down. 

The cookies were delicious.

Beware the Ides of March: 2018 Edition

"A Spatula! My Kingdom for a Spatula!" - Some king, at some time, probably

This morning, the kitchen is in a state of chaos.  Connor asked for brownie waffles but Kevin has taken over the kitchen with the getting things ready for his Mardi Gras party tonight.

Pie Face Showdown: Slo Mo Edition

Summer of Silliness: Video Time!

Hurry up, Tooth Fairy!

Lex has had a loose tooth for a little while now.

While brushing his teeth for bed tonight, Lex discovered that his tooth was really very wiggly and loose, so he decided to try to pull it out so that he could put it under his pillow for the tooth fairy as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't come out.  Also, Lex isn't squeamish about blood.  He had it dripping off of his chin, and onto his keyboard while he was playing Minecraft.  Because obviously when you fail at pulling out your tooth, you get right back to what you were doing before that.

Fortunately, he was wearing a red shirt, because he kept wiping his bloody chin on his sleeve.

Maybe it will come out in time for the tooth fairy to visit tomorrow night.

Happy 60th Birthday, Grandpa!

My Dad celebrated his 60th Birthday!  He asked for a white cake with chocolate frosting, and here it is:



I pretty much took this photo the second that the cake was finished, in case something happened to it, because people were hovering like vultures and ravenously eating all the crumbs that were generated during the assembly/decorating process.

Then, we went out to dinner at Cheddars Scratch Kitchen, which is always delicious.  Afterwards, we came home and had a little party:

Yes, he blew out all of the candles on the first try.

After we had cake, Lex challenged Grandpa to a game of Pie Face Showdown.



Then another:



And then the competition widened:



Things started to take a turn after Lex smeared whipped cream all over Nana's face because he didn't think that the game had done a good enough job.  Unfortunately, I didn't realize what he was going to do, and I had turned the camera off.


Then I did it to Kevin, and Lex did it to me.


And then Lex started smearing whipped cream all over his own face.


It was the biggest whipped cream battle that Grandpa had ever had at any of his birthday parties.  And then I sent Lex to take a bath.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Pie Face

Lex used some of his birthday money to buy a game called Pie Face, in which you risk getting hit in the face with whipped cream.  It's hilarious, and extremely appropriate for the little boy set.  See for yourself:




We played at breakfast the other morning, and it was highly entertaining.

While I didn't get whipped cream in my face this time, I did later on that day.  And I can tell you that if you wear contacts, you may want some eye protection.  I got whipped cream in my contact, and it was a little bit difficult to clean.

It's all fun and games until you get whipped cream in your eye.

In which we ride an ATV through the Black Hills National Forest

While we were in the Black Hills, we decided that the best way to get in touch with nature was to rent an ATV and tear through it at high speed.



Of course.  And it was fun.  I highly recommend it.



See that line on Kevin's head?  That's the clean part of his face, because it had been covered with the Go Pro camera while he was driving.  We were on dirt trails, and the ATV kicked up a huge amount of dirt.  When we were done, we were all covered in a thick layer of dust.  Everywhere.










Kevin and I took turns driving.  Both the boys really wanted a turn, but they don't have valid drivers' licenses yet.















Fun?  Yes.  Dirty?  Yes.  Would I do it again?  Without hesitation.