Groceries

I know we've all seen the meme's going around about how people always try to bring in all the groceries in one trip. Something about going back and forth, back and forth, is just not fun. (Not like anything about grocery shopping is fun.) But no one wants to make more trips than absolutely necessary.

Recently the hooligans daddy was away on a business trip for 5 days. I had taken them to see my youngest sister, their auntie Ali, play softball in the state championships. (They did SO awesome...they missed going to the World Series by one game. So proud!) The hooligans did really well too...only nearly getting hit with one foul ball. Getting them out of the van when we got home was a different story, though.

I got home, and they were ALL passed out. No way I was getting those groceries in the house in one trip. I ended up carrying all of them but one in, one at a time. I'm not going to complain too much though, since the ride home was so peaceful with four snoring babies in the back of the van.

Wolverine goes Streaking

It's pretty typical around here to see someone who has lost a few articles of clothing. It's usually Jericho at this point. He likes the shock factor and making his sibling scream. It's not every day though, that Wolverine is running around without his pants on. Jericho spent a good 30 minutes running around like this, because he didnt want to go downstairs to find his underwear.

It's kind of an after bath tradition to make crazy hairdos with the kids wet hair. There have been a few times where the hairdos didnt get straightened out before their hair dried, and they ended up looking like they needed another bath. (Dont' worry...I fixed this one before he went to bed.) I do think if I had left it though, he might have helped keep bats away. I'm sure bats are scared of Wolverine, right?

Dracula

So by now I'm sure most of you have heard of the bat fiasco we had at the Barron household the other day. I typically think of myself as a non-squealy girl (except when it comes to bugs...those make me scream every time), but it was surprisingly traumatic to have a bat flying around your house. At first I tried to stay calm...I am an independent woman and can totally handle this bat myself, right? Right. BUT, then he stopped just sitting calmly on the curtain and began flapping all around the living room.

(Disclaimer: I was NOT as close to the bat as this looks. I was using a zoom lens.)

I didnt even notice him at first, chilling on the living room curtains. Merrick says, calmly: "Um, Mom. Theeeeeere is a bat. On the curtains." I started thinking of ways to get him out, but then the middle two kiddos spotted him and LOST it completely. I spent a few minutes trying to calm them down, but that's when the flapping around started. Everyone started screaming. The kids were screaming, I was screaming, if bats can scream I'm sure he was probably screaming too.

I got the kids all out into the mudroom and closed them out there so that 1) they wouldn't get attacked by a potentially rabid bat (ok, he was probably not rabid...but ya never know) and 2) so they would stop screaming and not wake up Amaryllis who was trying to take a nap. Priorities, people. They still screamed in the mudroom, yelling at me to "Call Uncle Cam. Call Uncle Cam right now he will get him out." (Daddy is out of town for several days, and they obviously have faith in Cam's bat removal skills.)

So we did call Uncle Cam. He and my sister came right over, bringing a rake with them. Cam rigged up the most ridiculous looking contraption I've seen in awhile, and proceeded to chase the bat around the living room a little bit, knock a few things over, incite some more screaming from children, and ultimately escort our little friend out the door. He flew away unharmed. We were pretty thankful for Uncle Cam...the kids especially. Who had NO faith in me whatsoever when it comes to bats.

I, of course, managed to take some pictures. It's not everyday a bat flies into your house. I used to think bats were cute, but the way this guy creeped along my curtains with his creepy little bat fingers was, well, creepy. He also kept looking at us. Have you ever stared into the eyes of a bat? I didnt think so. I'm pretty sure he was plotting my doom. (Tirzah hid behind me and sobbed, "Mommy, make him stop looking at me!") I'm glad the bat made it out of this unscathed. But as for the rest of us, I'm pretty sure we need counseling. ;)

Grumpy Cat Plays Guitar

Jericho loves to pretend to play guitar. He has a toy guitar that makes plenty of noise. He also loves to play it at the most inopportune moments, like when people are watching TV, or trying to hear anything in general, or trying to just rest for five seconds...

In this video I had tried to lay down for just a few minutes, which rarely happens. He decided to pick up 'the stick' (something a lot of runners use on sore muscles) and serenade me to sleep by singing Blake Shelton's "Sangria". There wasnt a lot of sleeping going on, but I guess its the thought that counts.

Let Them Eat Cake

 My two girls had a great two-day birthday celebration. We had a little party for them, and there was lots of giggling, balloons, pizza, and cake.

Tirzah seemed extremely bothered by being the center of attention. Right. ;) She ate it up, and it was fun to watch her enjoying having so many friends surrounding her. It seems like overnight she went from being a little baby, to a little lady.

And speaking of little babies, this munchkin was none too impressed by said cake. We got her a little cupcake of her own, and she spent more time poking it like it was going to bite her that actually biting it.

With a little encouragement we finally got her to pick at it a little bit. She mostly just smeared it all over her face and belly. She also made sure not to smile too much, so that I had to really work to make it look like she didnt hate every second of her first birthday party.

It was so much fun celebrating these two little ladies. I love them more than I ever though possible. I mean, I love them enough to let a hoard of little girls who've had too much cake and ice cream run through my house for hours. If that isn't love I don't know what is. ;)