April's Antics

April was full of fun activities...

{...YE OLDE RENAISSANCE...}

Lex being in sixth grade meant he had to participate in their Renaissance Faire. Thankfully this kid went with a simple 'project' and took drinks. However, his costume cost some money. He wanted to be a knight, so because I wasn't in the mood to be creative and we found a costume for a good price, he became a costumed knight. He made it look good.

{...CARTOONS OF THE 90'S, REBORN...}

There was a cartoon I knew about when I was a teenager, but I never watched it. However, there was enough advertising about it that an image stuck in my mind. And image that Lex inadvertently created one day during Spring Break...

{...CUTIES...}

{...NON-HIRED HELP...}

While cleaning the bathroom one day, Jace said, "I wanna help." So I gave him his own gloves and let him help me. How can you say no to that cute little face.

{...JUST BECAUSE...}

One day this appeared on the porch. It was delicious and so needed. Just wish I knew WHO it came from.

What Happens Next...

March's Mayhem

Here's the quick recap of the other events that took place in March...

{...SWEET LITTLE BABY FACE...}

Why do we feel the need to take so many pictures of babies when they are young? I don't know, but I'm extremely guilty of it.

{...ARTSY FARTSY...}

Shaylyn is a great artist and shows such great promise. Here's a look at one of her first art assignments for a class in school. They worked on drawing pictures using a grid on the original. She hadn't quite finished the assignment when I took the picture, but it still looks good.

{...SO SLEEPY...}

I love watching babies sleep...no matter how old the baby is. Plus, sometimes you get some awesome pictures.

{...ZOOTOPIA...}

On a bit of a whim, we decided to take the kids to see the new movie, Zootopia. The kids all enjoyed it and Zach made it super easy on us and slept through the whole thing.

{...BIG SISTER SNUGGLES...}

If there's one good thing I can say about the age of selfies, it's that Shaylyn is good at taking some with her siblings. I wouldn't get some of these moments without her.

{...HE MAKES IT LOOK COOL...}

Shaylyn got a pair of costume glasses for a decades dance she went to at school. Since then the little kids have found it fun to put them on. Gotta say, Jace looks pretty cool with them on.

{...BROTHERLY LOVE...}

Sometimes Jace enjoys being with his brother...

{...DOWNSIDE OF THE DIGITAL AGE...}

And here's the downside of kids in a digital age. You find all sorts of fun things on your camera when you let the kids borrow your phone...

 

What Happens Next...

October's Oddness

Now we'll take a look at the random happenings from October. There are a lot. October was pretty much chock full of random...

{...DADDY'S SOCKS...}

Jacen is a Daddy's boy in so many ways, but one way I've never seen in any kid I know - is a love for socks. Even if they are Daddy's and 20 sizes too big!

{...JUST BECAUSE IT'S FALL...}

I love surprises, even if they are in the form of flowers, so this special delivery was super exciting to me. Eric knows me so well.

{...JACK'S JACK O' LATERNS...}

Eric and I were called to teach the 10-11 year olds in Primary awhile ago and one of the boys in our class is named Jack. He stopped by one night and had this plate of cookies for us. He (his mom) had perfect timing as I was craving something sweet and these sugar cookies hit the spot. I don't think I'll ever stop being amazed at how different sugar cookies can taste depending on the recipe. I may have eaten all 3 cookies (not in the same night) and didn't leave any for Eric - but I was doing him a favor as he doesn't much care for sweets anyway.

{...HUNGRY, HUNGRY HIPPOS...}

Nate got Hungry, Hungry Hippos last Christmas from my brother. We had it put up in a closet and he never asked to play it much. Recently though, it made it's way down and it's been being used quite often. I was super surprised to see every age group in my house playing this game together. After Nate and Ailey had been playing for quite some time, Jace jumped in. Lex, Shaylyn and Tanis thought it'd be fun to play with him. I just sat in amazement that something so simple could entertain a toddler and teenagers. I was thankful for such a game one time in my life.

{...SUNDAY AFTERNOON ANTICS...}

We spent a lot of Sunday afternoons visiting with Eric's mom. The kids spent a lot of time messing around. One such Sunday gave us some good laughs. Jace had went into the play room and came out with a bucket on his head and one in his hand. He kept them on for a good 5 minutes or so and laughed right ablong with us.

This same Sunday, Eric mom's best friend, Kathy was also visiting. Kathy was kind of like a 2nd mom to Eric and his brothers when they were growing up and has since become something of a 2nd Grandma to the kids. Nate and Ailey especially like having her around. Ailey was playing a game on the Kindle and somehow convinced Kathy to sit down and play with her.

{...STUDENT OF THE WEEK...}

Shaylyn's never been a 'bad' student, but about 5th or 6th grade she got in the bad habit of not turning in her homework. It didn't matter too much in elementary school, but when she hit middle school, it did affect her grades a little bit. She still managed A's and B's because she does well on tests, but those B's could've been A's had she put forth a little more effort. For some reason we've seen a shift this year and she is on top of her homework and turning it in. So much so that her History teacher nominated her as Student of the Week. I was thrilled to see the award, I think she was just more thrilled for the free milkshake.

{...THINK ABOUT WHAT?!?!?!...}

Ailey was being a bit naughty one night and we sent her to her room to 'think about what she did'. Apparently Jace followed her into her room and instead of taking the time to think about her actions, she took the time to play artist....on her brother. Thank goodness for washable markers.

And that's another glimpse of the randomness that is our life in the Hardy household. It's never boring in these four walls.

What Happens Next...

August's Antics

It's time once again for a look at all the crazy things that happen on a day to day basis in this crazy world of mine.

{...I'M NOT TIRED!...}

I could tell from looking a Jace that he was starting to fall asleep and he was ready for his nap, but when I asked him if he was ready for his nap, he told me no. Two seconds later he was out like a light.

{...I LIKE TO SNUGGLE TOO...}

One night we were getting ready to go to bed and looked over to find Domino snuggled up to a stuffed toy. (It's kinda hard to see with all his fur) He wasn't attacking it, just snuggled up with it like a human would be.

{...BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING...}

Eric's mom helped with back to school shopping. We had discussed taking different groups of kids at different times, but in the end decided it was a better use of time to go all together. I don't know if it was a good choice or a bad choice, but we had a full day.

The kids had fun being with grandma and choosing their clothes and they even got lunch at Chick Fil A. While in Target we found the perfect spot for a photo.

{...GET TO KNOW YOU JENGA...}

I got called to Activity Days and was way beyond nervous to be in charge of my first activity. After thinking on it for awhile, I decided to go with a Get To Know You game as the girls had 2 new leaders and we didn't know much about any of the girls. I found the idea online and the look for the Jenga pieces online as well, I just tried to make it my own.

Thankfully the activity turned out pretty good and I think the girls had fun.

{...LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE...}

I went to swap laundry one night and found the following sight:

Apparently the soft plastic battery operated tea-lights can survive a washing. Who knew?

{...HE MAY BE PART HUMAN...}

Domino definitely likes the softer things in the world. One of the kids decided he needed to be tucked in just like a kid. He didn't seem to offer any complaint.

{...IT'S JUST A LITTLE POKE..}

I got a little lax with Ailey's immunizations we realized when we registered for Kindergarten and then I slacked off and didn't get her into the dr's office as soon as I wanted. When I did call, however, I had to wait a week. This meant she was getting her last shots the day before school started. She was nervous about them and didn't want to go, but she was brave and went anyway. They had to take blood from her finger, which I didn't know about - but she did awesome and then she was ready for her shots.

She didn't do quite as well for her shots and was a sad little girl. But she brushed it off pretty quickly and I took her to Arctic Circle for lunch and let her play on the playground and then she got some toys from the store and she was a happy camper.

{...JUST LIKE DADDY...}

Jace is a very observant kid and knows exactly what Daddy does when he's on the computer. One day he wasted no time in imitating his Daddy.

I cleaned the desk a day or two after this...

{...TWO HEADS IS BETTER THAN ONE...}

With four boys there is no shortage of things that resemble fighting and wrestling. Even the two year old gets involved.

What Happens Next...