*Cheese* Or Cheesy?

In an attempt to blog more frequently, I give you 4 of the 78 takes from
our church directory photo shoot.

Count Us, One More Time

Census 2010.

Remember this? And then this? That was just the warm up round. Pre-census if you will.

A second booklet came in the mail this spring and I filled it out, same as I did last fall. They couldn't possibly call again could they? They wouldn't, would they?

Fast forward to this evening. I'm in panicked rush, trying to get Rice Krispie treats made for the VBS program that the kids need to be at in twenty minutes. I was mid text and my cell phone did that super fun and friendly thing it does when someone calls while I'm texting. It automatically answers the call whether I want it to or not. Guess who was on the other line?

The Government.

They just had a few questions about my census form.

Of course they did.

So I answered them, again. I stood over by the door that leads to the deck, because that's where the best recpetion is, second only to being out on the deck. But it was downpouring.

"Did Nathan J. Laundrypile live anywhere other than your residence on the months of March and April, 2010?" No.
"Did Nathan J. Laundrypile serve in the military and live away from your residence during the months of March and April, 2010?" No
"Did Nathan J. Laundrypile have temporary residence somewhere else part of the time during the months of March and April, 2010?" No
"Did Nathan J. Laundrypile travel for work and stay away from your residence for an extended period of time during the months of March and April, 2010?" No
"Would you eat them here or there, would you eat them any where? Would you eat them with a fox, would you eat them in a box?" No No No.

I said the word "no" not less then seventy five times, I swear. Then they moved on to the kids. The kids' whose names they can't pronounce. Which is fine, we named them weird names, I know that. I just felt bad for the poor lady. And I think in her job description, it specified that she had to read every single question in it's entireity for every single one of the kids. But we finished and I think she was satisfied with my answers.

And then I remembered the marshmallows and butter, melting on the stove.

I'm convinced that Caesar Augustus had the better idea, making everyone return to their home town to register. Much simpler. "See my family? Here we all are. We really exist, I'm not making all these kids up."


I've decided to change my bumper sticker from:

"Big families. Stumping the government, one file at a time."
"The U.S. government. Burning whole batches of Rice Krispie, treats one phone call at a time."

New House, Toby Vision

Locked

Locked

Locked

Huntress

She perches on the balls of her Converse clad feet, poised, ready, with steak knife in hand. By her side is an overflowing icecream bucket, remains spilling over the edges. Wilted leaves tell of silenced screams, now unable to warn the next victim. Her well trained eyes scan the area immediately surrounding her, watching for the next target to compromise it's position by waving it's bright yellow head.

Her name is Heth.

She's a little bit crazed when she's hunting dandelions.

Shouldn't you be packing, Heth? You are moving in a few short weeks.

There are more noble tasks, more urgent tasks that demand her attention. Tasks like a weed free lawn. And although this yard will soon belong to someone else, she must maintain it's integrity. She must guard it's green blades. Soon it will rain and she will be forced back inside to the other, less important jobs. Things like feeding her family and tending to her children.

But for today, if just for today, she takes on population of the evil Taraxacum Officinale, one root at a time.

It's her duty.

Googling

Things I have Googled in the last few days:

1. Beef Stroganoff because it's what was for dinner. And YUM!
2. Matthew Henry's Bible commentary I love me some commentary
3. (insert specific cell phone number here) I was texting back and forth with someone and I didn't know who it was. Still don't. But it was a lovely conversation.
   
4. Wii Cleaning Kit Fastest way to kill a Wii? Give it to us. I'd say 80% of our games result in the message "Disc could not be read". If dust can affect Wii performance, than I'd say we have a definite problem. Hopefully a problem that a Wii Cleaning kit can fix? Please?
5. Dulce De Leche recipe Why didn't I bookmark that dang recipe. Found it though. And it is yummy.
6. Taco John's Nutritional information How bad would it really be to finish off a six pack and a pound? I found the answer. Bad. It would be bad. Potato Oles are pretty much the equivalent to little pats of butter.
7. Broken Canon 50mm lens Yep. I dropped it again. But I also fixed it again. It's the lens that would not die. I love that thing.
   
8. Running after donating blood Nate and I both donated on Tuesday afternoon. I didn't run Wednesday even though I felt fine, just to play it safe. This morning I headed out for a few miles, ran about one mile, and then I died. Much walking ensued. I am totally worthless today. Tired to the core of my being. Turns out that's pretty normal so I don't feel like a TOTAL loser.

This is officially the most lame blog post ever.

The end.

Genius

I recently came across these marvelous inventions at my local Wal-Mart. I literally gasped at the genius behind this design. Immediately, all my four-holed toothbrush holder problems were solved. No more trying to cram them all in. No more toothbrushes laying all over the bathroom counter.

And then Caedmon took it up a notch.

And Toby had to try it too.

'Stashed

Two things.

1. Fake mustaches are a fantastic source of entertainment for the entire family. They are a fun and cheap souvenir to bring home to the kids.



2. It's probably a good idea to actually READ the package before you purchase a souvenir for the kids. And even better idea? Don't by stuff for the kids from Spencer's Gifts. Unless you are looking to add some colorful words to their vocabulary. Words they don't learn from PBS Kids shows. Oops.

A Story About Worms

Randall is still alive. I KNOW! Can you believe it? Nate looked up tiger salamanders and it turns out they can live up to 25 years. So Caedmon could possibly be in his 30's when old Randall finally kicks the bucket. His own kids could play with Randall. That is so weird to me.

That is if we don't kill him first. We were headed out of town last week and one of the items on my "things to do before we leave" list was to buy nightcrawlers for old Rand. We were out. He was getting hungry. Well, I forgot to buy them and on sunday night on our way home from my Grandma's birthday party, we swung into Walmart to pick up a dozen. Picture this: lady in fancy clothes and red dress coat bringing a container of nightcrawlers to the register. "Is this all for you?" Um, yeah. Just the nightcrawlers.

So we get home and Caedmon goes down to distribute the food to the starving salamander. I double checked to make sure he was fed and asked Caedmon if Randall ate the worm. "No, it fell apart in my hand." Um, WHAT? So I looked and sure enough we had dead, decomposing worms on our hands. Soooo gross. So he and I grabbed the receipt and made another trip out to Walmart. A quick peek under every lid of every nightcrawler container revealed that they weren't taking very good care of their worms. Some were covered in mold, other were just a wad of dead worms. We left empty handed. Randall would have to fast just one more meal.

Then next morning I stopped in at a local sports shop. I requested nightcrawlers, and was told that they were out. The county conservationist had just cleaned them out of worms to feed their critters. "Alrighty", I said. "I'll just take a dozen meal worms." He hooked me up with a little clear container of grub-like worms and sawdust. "YAY!" I thought. "Randall will eat well today!".

I came in the front door and unloaded all of the other things I had in my arms. I handed the small cup of meal worms to Gemma and said "Here, hold this for a second" while I hung up my purse and walked into the kitchen. About thirty seconds later Gemma walked up to me, meal worm cup in hand and reported "Toby didn't like them. He spit it out."

WHAT??!!??!!

HE WHAT??!!??!!

Oh my gosh. I died laughing. The poor kid tried to eat a meal worm. Big sister fed one to him. Apparently they aren't very yummy, at least for kids.

Randall didn't spit his out.

History

My grandma looks on while my mom and her brother watch their recently purchased first tv set. I wonder what was on? Probably not Nick Jr.

Blog Land Delurks

It's de-lurking day in blog land. I would love for you to say hi. If only we could chat over a warm cup-of-something in my chipped nose snowman coffee mug that burns your hand when you grab it because the handle is hollow. Alas, we can't. So won't you please leave a comment instead?

Fit Baby

This morning Everly was watching from her bouncy seat while Gemma played a little Wii Fit. I was in the next room and few minutes later Gemma said "Mom! Come see what Evy is doing!" One step into the next room revealed Everly, in her Bumbo, on the balance board, Wiimote in hand. So cute but not so great at Super Hula Hoop.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the Laundry Pile Family.

Winter: The Real Story

Here it is, raw, unedited. Real. How our front door looks from the first snow until spring.
Kind of makes me want to cry.

If Only They Were ALL This Comfortable

A girl has to start her shoe collection right from the get go.

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others

Can you tell which caramel apple was made by a 2 year old?

Who?

I am in love with this Owl. He's doesn't know it yet but he's getting framed and hung on the wall.

Advanced Secret Stashing

Peekaboo.

It's a good thing my kids don't read my blog. For the record though, the Cinnabon Caramel Pecan Crunch isn't very good. I'd almost rather have the Crispy Rice, except for the box is empty, which is the whole point. Now throw a box of Reeses Puffs or Waffle Crisp in there and that's a different story. Those are two cereals worth hiding. But what can I say, I succombed to end cap display marketing once again. It's a weakness of mine.

They Weren't Kidding

Here is the answer:

Note the text at the top of the can. "Always wear gloves".

Nate was doing some home repairs and ended up with expandable foam all over his hands. It was starting to cure on his skin but he figured he could just get it off with some gasoline. Let me quote you the fine print on the can. "Uncured foam dissolves with acetone. For skin and solid surfaces, cured foam must be mechanically removed or allowed to wear off with time." It turns out, they weren't kidding. They were dead serious. He tried everything: washing with gasoline, rubbing his hands on the cement, exfoliating it off with sand from the sand box, scrubbing with a pumice stone, and manually picking it off. A quick google turned up a few more ideas, one of them being latex gloves filled with olive oil. No luck. We were able to cut the big chunks out of his arm hair with scissor and he just ended up having to pick at the rest of it for hours. It's much, much better now, two days later, but it's not all gone.

He looks like a leper.

Good Luck

Anyone want to guess what this is all about?

Another Photo Post. Surprised?

It's always fun to look back at old picures. By "old" I mean a year ago. I was looking back at last fall's photos on my hard drive and I came across some fun stuff. Let me share.

Last labor day, Jack was stung my a bee that flew up his nose. Here, let me show you.

(last year)

Poor kid. It doesn't even look like him. That was taken the day AFTER the traumatic incident.

Ok, so just the other day we were driving from school to school to school, doing the daily afternoon pick up and lo and behold, there was a bee in our van. I assured the kids, just leave it alone and it will leave you alone. Not ten seconds later Toby is sobbing hysterically. It stung him on the right ear. This picture makes me chuckle.

(This year)



Remember this?

(Last Year)

(Last Year)

It was one year ago that Gemma, through difficult circumstances, found her perfect haircut. We've kept the bob-with-bangs all year and it suits her. The hair on the side is completely grown back out, she can even do mini-pigtails now. And we keep the scissors on top of the fridge.

(This year)

And then there's Randall.

Oh Randall, you have become a beast of a salamander. I never thought you would survive a year in our home, and yet here you are. You've grown so much on your diet of whateverthekidsdigupforyou. Here you are the first day we met you, practically a baby and here you are today.


But the biggest difference between last fall and this fall is this little girl. Most photographed child in Sept-Oct '09. Sorry other kids.