The Big Secret

On Monday, we finally got the house cleaned up (kind-of) from all the Christmas activity. Rick went back to work, and it seemed as if things were finally settled back to our normal pace of craziness. Also, add in a little bit of Oh shit! What do you do when 7 children are home from school?

I told the kids that if they cleaned-up pretty well, then we could ask Rick if we could go out to eat when he gets home from work. (Unfortunately, this is a rare occasion in our house. It's something that both sets of kids had in their previous lives, but since we became the Brady-Doodle's, It was one of the first things we gave up. Even McD's costs about $40-$50 for us.)

So they cleaned, and I was so sneaky, because the dinner was already planned, and we weren't even paying for it. But My God people, you would have done it too if your kitchen looked like mine did. And then when Rick got home, they nominated Rainia to do the begging, and she batted her eyelashes and asked in the sweetest voice possible if we could go out to eat. With all of her eylash batting, and sweetness, Rick gave in (planned) and off to the steakhouse we went.

When we walked into the back room, where all the REALLY long tables are, to the kids surprise it had balloons, and a couple of people they soon recognized, and some signs that Andrew had to get about 6 inches away from to read, but there it was, in large print. "Bon Voyage Andrew!" "Disney Bound!"

Before we went into the restaurant, we had given the kids the normal pep-talk which included things like No Screaming, No Running, Don't stand on the table or climb the walls. You know, pretend you are actually civilized. And of all times to listen to us, they chose this one. So there we were, they had just found out we are going to Disney, and not a peep out of this bunch. You could have heard a pin drop. Ummm...Kids? Helloooo? We are talking about the happiest place on earth! In three days!

Finally Andrew asked if we were going to miss any school, Of-Course we are, and then the excitement started. Brooke quietly asked me if she could let out a little squeal, just one, and I happliy obliged, her and Rainia screamed, jumped a few times, and then the giggling, talking, and eating began. They were sweet. And funny, and started talking about what to pack. And I wasn't even embarassed in front of the make-a-wish people the whole time. Well, only once, when Rainia told Kyley that no one wanted to hear her bladder. She actually meant Blabber, which wouldn't have been a nice thing to say at all. But Bladder was much more enjoyable for everyone. Oh-Yeah, also when one of the make-a-wish ladies told her she had ice-cream on the tip of her nose, and she proceeded to clean it off. WITH HER TONGUE. I quickly had to remind her that that was a talent best kept to herself. She also made an announcement that this was the best day ever because she found out she was going to Disney, AND she got food. Now I know that she meant food in a restaurant, but this was just too much for Rick, who announced that the best days of his life also were the ones when he got to eat food. They all really had the make-a-wish ladies laughing the whole time.

And when we got home, and the kids got the luggage that Rick and I have been collecting for the last few weeks from the goodwills and thrift stores in our area (and neighboring towns), the kids REALLY freaked out. This is where I was glad I said all the stuff about not climbing walls, or practicing your cartwheels in the restaurant. But they quickly calmed down when we put in the DVD they had given us about disney. They sat watching, mesmorized, with smiles from ear to ear, and the occasional squeal of delight.

So we leave early tomorrow morning, and we are staying here That site is for the general public. But they also sent us a site to look at for the families. Kind of a 'what to expect'. And of course I will share that with you as well. It is here. I haven't decided yet if I will bring my laptop, so I don't know if I will be updating, but I definately will when we get back. We get home on Wed. the 7th. And the kids aren't actually missing that much school, because they weren't scheduled to go back until the 5th anyway.

Pajama Mama

I am not a huge fan of pajama's. I don't actually have anything AGAINST pajama's, I just can't seem to justify buying them. At good ole Walmart, kids PJ's cost about $10. Adult PJ's cost about $20. So for us, with 3 kids in adult size clothing, and 4 in kid's sizes, we are looking at about $100 for PJ's, FOR ONE NIGHT! This is why I am a HUGE fan of wearing a t-shirt and shorts to bed. or maybe sweatpants. Yeah, sweatpants make for nice sleepwear.

But, today was 'Polar Express' day in kindergarden. They got to wear PJ's to school, and slippers instead of shoes. They got train tickets, and watched the movie, and drank hot cocoa. So off to Walmart we went, to buy some PJ's, and Oh. My. God. I can't even believe I have been missing out on this. These boys were so cute that I could have eaten them alive. I mean seriously, have you ever seen anything this cute in your whole life?





No, I did not have to ask them to hug each other, because that is what they ALWAYS do. They just love on each other all day. They never fight. Ever.

The girl may be in rehab soon.

I don't seem to have enough time to update. B-Day posts soon. For now, I have a secret from the kids, and I want to tell them so bad, every day, and I just need to hold on.

Also, why does Walmart AND Books-a-Million AND Kmart have to be sold-out of the 3rd Vampire book? Poor Kyley, she read the 1st one in two days, and quickly had to get the 2nd, which she read in one day. Apparently they are really good. Also about 15000 pages long. Not really, but they are HUGE books. Now she is in withdrawal. I swear she is going through DT's and everything. I seriously have to find this 3rd book before she gets too sick. If you are in my area, and have the 3rd Twilight book, PLEASE HELP!!!

holiday busyness and vomit

Three holiday concerts...Brittney & Brooke's B-Day...Christmas Shopping for 7 kids...2 dogs...2 cats...2 horses...Holiday party coming up...Also something BIG...Tears of joy...It's a surprise.

And in other news, Rainia announced to me yesterday that we were the farting family. She also threw-up all over the floor of the stall at middle-school #2 during Kyley's holiday concert this evening. Why did she throw-up all over the floor instead of in the toilet? Because she was having to use the toilet at the same time. Poor, poor girl. And before we left she told me that her ear hurt. Who knew an ear-ache could be so severe? And I am the worst school parent ever, because when I tried to clean it up with little paper-thin brown school paper-towels, it didn't seem to work, and I almost vomited myself. So I genorously covered it up with the paper-thin school-brown paper-towels, and then coincidentally saw one of those yellow "wet floor" teepee things, so I set it up neatly at the door to the throw-up stall so that the middle school girls could be forwarned. Then I went to the office to tell them that I needed custodial assistance, only no one was in the office due to the concert. So we went back to the concert.

Crack-Town Christmas Parade

You probably didn't know that I am a parade Princess. Our whole family actually. Including precious. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of myself, Rick, or her, as we were sitting on our high perch. The best part was when the crazy horse Socks peed on the ground next to Rick, and it was so forceful that it splattered on his legs. The second best part was decorating the horses. The worst part was that we didn't actually get to see any of the parade except the people who were directly in front of us.

Kyley rode Montana, and Brittney rode Smokey. We decided not to put Snow in it, because she needs a little work. Mainly she needs brake pads.

Montana's butt. We got tree skirts for them, bows, and bells.


Smokey in her pretty bows. Brittney did a great job with these.


Here is Brit and Smokey. Check out these reins. I wrapped tinsel around them. So Cute!




Kyley and Montana




Our girls together


The HayRide. Check out Andrew and Jake's faces. They are so happy to be here. Did I mention that it was really cold? And we had to wait forever?


Finally moving!!! That is a long line of horses!


In this pic. I zoomed in from my perch as parade queen. See if you can spot Kyley and Brittney!

X-Mas Recommendation

From the authority of a very large family, My 1st ever product recommendation:

If you need a Christmas gift that the whole family can enjoy, I suggest this:



We have the playstation 2, but I know that SingStar comes in every system. Singstar comes with 2 microphones, and then you can buy different versions. Kyley got SingStar 80's for her B-Day, and the kids loved it so much that they pooled their money together to get another version. They got 90's!!! The game is very easy, even if you can't carry a tune. It has the words to the songs, but also these bars across the screen that tell you if you need to be on a higher or lower note. This game also works for kids who can't read yet!!! If your kid is the type who sings along to the radio, they will be able to sing along to this game, and get high scores. ALL of my kids love it. You can sing alone, together, or against eachother. Also, the party game is so fun. It says up to 8 players, but we played the party game with 10 players.

And can I just say that seriously, there is nothing better than hearing your kids singing the songs that you loved when you were their age. I mean is your life really complete without hearing your 6-year-old tell you how much he loves "Ice-Ice Baby"? Or catching you 10-year-old singing "Wake me up before you go-go" while brushing her hair in the bathroom? And the best part? Hearing the man in your life belt out Blondie. Your children will look at him in a whole new light.

My only warning about this game is that if you have a job that requires you to communicate verbally, you should probably open it when you don't have to work the next day. This is just in case you sing for 16 hours straight, and then lose your voice. (Uuuummmm, Not that I would know from experience...I'm just saying.)

You might just find that you are suddenly interacting and laughing with your kids. And that your pre-teens and teenagers are saying "Go Mom! You Rock!" Or are giving you five as they turn to your husband and say "She BEASTED you Dad."

Good Times. Good Times.

Rick: "What are you doing? I told you it was reading time 5 minutes ago."

Rainia: (With her face strangely close to the Christmas tree) "Just smelling the good times."

And to prove the vision problems

Conversation as soon as I picked up the kids today:

Andrew: Oh my God, guess what?

Me: What?

Andrew: I got in the wrong van today.

Me: Oh No. You're kidding me. What happened?

Andrew: It pulled up and stopped right in front of me, so I opened the door, Then I looked harder at the woman, and she had glasses, and I thought This isn't my mom. I didn't say that though.

Me: What did you say?

Andrew: Nothing.

Me: What did the woman say?

Andrew: She just said Wrong van.

Me: Oh man, that sucks. I'm so sorry that happened. Did anyone else see it?

Kyley: SO many people saw it. Everyone was laughing.

Andrew: Yeah. Everyone saw it.

Me: Oh no. Were you embarassed?

Andrew: Well, not really.

A Blind Witness?

Dear Guidance Counselor,

I understand that you did not see what happened. I would recommend that next time you choose a student to be your witness, you choose one who does not have vision problems due to a brain-tumor. Also, when he told you that he didn't see what happened, I don't appreciate you calling him a liar, and telling him that if he didn't start telling the truth that he would get suspended. Yes, he is seated in the front of the class, it is in his DOCTOR'S ORDER. This doesn't make him the class babysitter. Uummm, that would be the teacher's job. Where was she at? Next time you choose a witness, choose one who can see. And also, you are the GUIDANCE COUNSELOR. Is it your regular practice to treat kids like this? Seriously? Oh-yeah, one more thing, my fiance didn't appreciate you intimidating his son, and he also didn't appreciate that when I went into the school to explain the situation to you, you were in no way apologetic, and in fact, when I told you that Andrew couldn't see, your reply was "Well, can he hear?" He didn't do anything wrong. When you got there, he was still seated nicely in his chair. I can't even believe that you were threatening SUSPENSION because he didn't make a good enough witness for you. JERK!!!

Christmas Tree Smell Tip

The best part of having a real Christmas tree is the smell. If you want to increase the Christmas aroma, or if you have an artificial tree, you can recreate the real Christmas tree smell. I like to keep the clippings from my tree, and use them a little at a time. You can take a few clippings and put them into a pot, bring to a boil, and then turn it off. Just sit back and smell the Christmas aroma fill your house. If you break up the clippings first, it releases the aroma even further. So if you are wondering what to do with those clippings, that is my Christmas tree smell tip. If you have an artificial Christmas tree, you can go to any road-side vendor of real trees and ask for some left-over clippings. There you have it, the simplest, cheapest route to creating the real Christmas tree smell. Of course, if you choose to use a pre-made candle to create the smell, I highly recommend "The Yankee Candle Company"

The Snow-Tree

We went to cut down our Christmas tree today, and I would love to show you all of the awesome pictures I took, only I don't have any. There was no memory card in my camera, and my camera holds a total of 3 pictures without a memory card. Plus, I don't even have the cord to get those 3 pictures from the camera onto the compututer.

It was so special though. We went to the same place we went last year, about 2 hrs. north, in the mountains, and it even snowed for us. We only get snow about once a year, so it was awesome for the kids. On the way up the mountain, we finally saw snow about 10 miles from where we were going. Josh was so cute, because everything he saw was newly named. instead of rocks, they were snow-rocks. He saw snow-trees, and snow-roads, and even snow-cars.

When we got there, the kids all ran out to play in the snow. Snow-ball fights, tastings, and lots of falling down. They finally got on task though, running through the trees, looking for our perfect Christmas tree. The kids kept finding the best, perfectly shaped trees, but the ones they wanted were 9 feet tall!!! Uuumm...no guys, not this year. Although I wish we had the space for a 9 or 10 foot tree, that's not going to happen. Then we saw it. Rick actually spotted it first, but we all agreed that it was the perfect tree. 7 feet tall, and beautiful. We wasted no time. Rick got down and started sawing it, then every kid took a turn. They only lasted about a minute a piece, lying on the ground in the snow, and when all seven of them had a turn, the tree was all of 1/3 cut through. I took a hack at it, but then decided that it was much more fun to have a snow-ball fight with Josh and Brittney. So Rick stayed on the ground with the dull blade, and sawed and sawed until it fell.

The four girls proudly picked it up and carried it out of there. Then the kids all had to use the bathroom, of course, and the little Christmas store was closed because it was a Monday, so the owner actually let us all track wet muddy feet into his house so the kids could use HIS bathroom. Josh went first, and when he got out, he immediately took off his coat, and sat down on the couch, and ASKED FOR SOMETHING TO EAT! That boy is not what I would call bashful. I was embarrassed, but Rick laughed it off, and the guy loved it. We told Josh we would get McD's on the way home, and just when he was starting to take off his shoes, the last kid was finished, and we headed the 2 hrs. home.

Oh-yeah, and we're the coolest parents ever, we were even told we ROCK! Because we signed all the kids out of school early for our little field-trip. And in the school they asked why they were being signed out, and we told them they had an appointment, as soon as we got into the parking lot, we exclaimed "An appointment to go get a Christmas tree!" Brooke actually thought she was going to get a shot. But we were tricky about it. We waited until after 1:30 before we got any of the kids, because that way they would be counted as there.

The New Kid 2

Posted with permission. Gorgeous!!!


Photographer= Rainia Underhill