Call me lazy...

but I really do not like having to wash Jonah's sheets every day he's had an accident, which lately seems to be nearly every night. So last night when he asked if I'd put his sheets on for him (besides the mattress pad which was already on), I said "No," to which he said, "Fine, I'm not going to bed! I'm going to stay up as long as you do! I'm going to watch a movie! I'm going to play the hunting game! I'm going to get something to eat!" and on and on and on. Like good parents, Josh and I just ignored him and eventually (like within 10 minutes or so) he ended up on the kitchen floor asleep...

I guess he got to go to bed with his sheets after all.

As if he hadn't caused enough trouble for his parents already, the next morning he woke up, stole the camera and took this fun little clip of Charlotte...all while I slept, completely unaware (as is the case most mornings I can't drag myself out of bed).

Pumpkin, Shpumpkin

I thought I'd get away without having to do a Halloween craft this year, when Jonah asked today if we could create this...

It's as creative as we Greers get.

But I got a cute picture of the kids out of it.

Spiders and Pumpkins and Skeletons...Oh My!

We have some sugar addicts in the home. Yes, I'm one of them but I think even my kids have me beat. Yesterday morning Jonah woke up early to sneak some of the Halloween M&M's that were left within reach the night before. On his way back up to his room, loot in hand, he ran into Josh and always the logical one, said very seriously, "Dad, you shouldn't have left the M&M's out cause I'm just going to eat them all."

And then again this morning they were left out (you'd think I'd have learned my lesson) and being only subconsciously aware that the kids were getting into them whilst I slept off my late night, I soon afterwards became fully aware of the situation when Jonah came in smelling of chocolate, fist full of chocolate. Of course it was Ellie's fault, not his.

At least they shared...


And more messes. Charlotte is now completely independent of my feeding her...as you can see.



Later today...

After arguing for a bit about whether Jonah's Halloween toy was a skeleton or a pumpkin and getting a little frustrated with the conversation I finally just said, "It is what it is, Jonah." To which he replied, "No...it's not what it's not."

What do you think...pumpkin or skeleton???

Or spider! AHHHHHHHH! (Let me just note that, despite its appearances, that black widow looking spider on his shoulder is not in actuality a black widow spider because there's no red on its belly...according to Jonah.)

Symphony of the Southwest

A shout out for my symphony (that hopefully will last through the new year!). It will be a fun, cultural event in a beautiful venue. Come out to the Mesa Arts Center and give us a try!

As an orchestra member of the Symphony of the Southwest, I would like to personally invite you to our first concert of the season on October 25, 2008 at 8 PM at the Mesa Arts Center in the Ikeda Theater. We are very excited to present a family oriented program featuring local radio and television personality Michael Dixon as narrator in Benjamin Britten's wonderfully entertaining and educational masterpiece The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra as well as beautiful classic pieces from Liszt, Strauss, Bizet, Rimsky-Korsakov and more.

Every piece on the program is well known. Even if you are not familiar with the titles of the music or the composers, you will recognize and enjoy the entire evening. All of us have heard portions of these works used in movies, on television and even in Tom and Jerry and Looney Tune cartoons.

The Symphony of the Southwest is at its highest caliber of playing to date, and our ticket prices are friendly to everyone’s budget. I hope that you and your family members will come and acquaint yourselves with our fantastic orchestra that belongs to the Valley. Hope to see you there!

Tickets may be purchased from the Mesa Arts Center Box Office by calling 480.644.6500 or on the web at http://www.mesaartscenter.com/EventDetail.aspx Ticket prices begin at $10.

Fall Break 2008

Not that Fall Break means much to a Mom with three kids at home. Still, any chance to get out of the house is very much appreciated. And then when we get to spend that time in a chilly place up in the mountains where it really does feel like Fall...well then, a break it is! Get ready to scroll down through a mound of pictures.

Reasons to love Haigler...

Games...

Grandpa Dale's stick game that the boys loved. Throwing sticks...how can you go wrong?

The girls got into it too

Charley joins the fun.

The younger the better when it comes to playing cards. Here we are playing Uno with Phase 10 cards...Ellie's actually really good.

Four Wheeling...

Jonah loved his rides with Dad...probably not so much with me. Though Josh would disagree, I find it utterly unsafe putting the 'pedal to the metal.'

Fishing...

Not my personal favorite, but it makes Josh very popular with the kids.

Afton scored.

The craziness of these cousins...

Emma and Ellie dancing to some teenage silliness.

On a little hike to find the pumpkin patch that unfortunately was harvested a day too late for pictures :(
(Ellie, Jonah, Liam, Ethan and Luke)

Char, Ellie, Afton and Liam on Uncle Art's cool swing that he built.

Preston...always the best friend with my girls

Char being a door bell

Last, but not least...Scrappin'

Mikki scrappin' away. We all accomplished quite a bit!

'Twas a great trip that I was sad to see come to an end (except that it meant rejoining with hubby after a few days' absence). I'm cursing the 90 degree weather, but this is where I live and I'm almost sick of hearing myself complain about it...so, here's to cooler days ahead and a very mild, bearable Arizona winter.

You know it's time to clean the house when...

...the kids ask if it's all right that they've collected some dead bugs to fish with and those bugs were discovered inside, not out.

...you go to serve up lunch and find you've still got breakfast dishes on the table.

...you wake up your 4 yr. old son in the middle of the night to do his tinkles (cause there's a pretty big chance you'll be washing bedding again if you don't) and he's too tired to aim straight.

...the couch and master bedroom are filled to the brim with laundry and you've decided to throw in the towel and call it "home decor" and "who needs a dresser anyway?"

A warning. If you do by chance tackle any or all of these projects be prepared for snide comments from your husband like, "Honey, we've been robbed. Funny thing though, they only took the clothes."

Welcome to the Greer home and...happy Friday!