Fry Christmas Fun

We enjoy hosting the Fry Family Christmas gathering at our house.  It started 4 years ago when we had the biggest house and now, just because we will and have the kiddos and it's centrally located, we really enjoy having everyone over to our place.  The girls and I worked together to make the soup (Chicken Wild Rice) for Lunch, as well as the overnight buns.  They just couldn't wait to get their hands on the bread dough to try to make buns.  One of theirs turned out to look like a baby turtle, but it tasted just fine. :)   We do the soup, buns, and snacks for lunch so everyone can some when it's convenient for them - we relax the whole day - then, we make dinner together and have a big meal later on.
The girls always have a blast, get totally spoiled, and can relax with all their toys and "stuff" around.  This year was great - everyone was able to make it over, the food turned out well, and we had a nice time.  Even Grandpa Lynn was able to make it. 
Macy had the quote of the year, I think.  Yellow Gramma, Mary Ann, brought a cake.  It was a beautiful Christmas cake.  Macy waited about an hour and then asked, "Mom, whose birthday is it?" 
"Well, It's Jesus' birthday.  Did you remember that?"
"Well, ya - but, why do we have cake?"
It was so funny because she had been thinking it for a while - wondering why there would ever be a cake if there's not a birthday, etc.  I love when they do stuff like that. So funny. 

Christmas with the Kaths

The Kath family Christmas gathering is one to marvel at.  We gather about 50 people (majority Type-A personalities) into one home.  We have soups and snacks, Tom & Jerrys, and a lot of talkin' smart.  Santa always comes for the kids.  This was the year that some of us 2nd generation parents said, "Let's just skip Santa" - it's a hassle and the kids don't really embrace it in the garage, there's always a lot of trauma, etc.  Oh, lordy...the old farts in the Kath Fam weren't having any of it.  So, he came.  It was the best year we've ever had.  Almost every kid was happy to see him and thought he was super cool.  Jorey even sat on his lap and smiled and seemed content to be on his lap - it was awesome.  We had a new member this year - Alix - Brody's girlfriend.  Amazingly, she survived and seemed unscathed...she may even come back for Kath Family Fun Weekend.  Lord help her.  :)

I didn't have time for my own news, but...

It seems I will have a new Brother-In-Law!!!!
Congratulations Amy & Nick!

Twelve Bars of Christmas: Owatonna Style

It's so wrong.  But, it feels so right.  200 people get together to joyfully gather in some of our smallest bars.  What in the world makes us do it every year?  Good times, funny stories, and Plaza Morena at the end of the night...delicious.  Nina is a champ and now runs the show.  We hardly ever get together any more.  Since having a family, I've rarely had a desire to get out on the town, but for this event, I've gotta be in!  Funniest moments:  We discovered that Webers has a VIP section - more like a VIP corner - you have to pay to have it.  I thought it was hilarious.  Does anyone really pay to sit in the corner?  ...nobody puts baby in the corner...especially if you have to pay.

Daily dose of Perspective (click here to go to the site)

My sister-in-law is friends with Matt Chambers.  Ken went to school with him, also.  So, I was notified that they are looking for donations to help the family with Christmas presents, etc.
I read today's entry and it just broke my heart and made me smile all at the same time.  I love when people dealing with tragedy can seem so calm and positive. 
I often need this daily dose of perspective to keep it in check. 
I've added this site to my links section to keep checking in to see how they're doing.  Sad stuff.

A High, and then a Low...

This morning, I was getting ready for work and I had this sweater dress-type thingy on.  It tends to protrude in all the wrong places...
Macy says, "Mommy, you look beautiful!".
Then, she follows it with, "You look like you have a baby in your belly."....grumble...smile...grumble...ha. 

Good stuff.

btw - Both girls prematurely opened a gift after realizing some were finally wrapped under the tree.  I was folding clothes on Saturday and heard paper tearing and all sorts of shocked gasps --you would have sworn there were 5 kids in our living room. 
I ran to the room to find both girls hovered over their princess horse with princess barbie.  I threatened that elfie is watching and that he'll tell santa if they open any more until mom and dad say they can on Christmas morning.  Later that day, little miss sassy-pants (jorey) ripped open one and blamed Macy with a totally straight face.  We're in trouble.............

Sing Along (or don't) and I'm NOT going to be nice to Santa

Today was the "Concert" for Macy and Jorey's daycare, Leaps & Bounds.  They get together at a local elementary school, have cookies, milk, juice, and SANTA after they sing their songs.  It's cute because the toddlers and infants go first.  Most of the infants just look like they're annoyed.  The toddlers look scared out of their minds, and then the Young preschoolers and Pre-K classes have a few singers, a few criers, and a few pouters.  This year, Jorey told us she was going to be nice to Santa (as he has scared the livin' daylights out of her many times in the past).  Well, you take a look at the pic and decide what you think!  ha ha.  She was not having it.  She asked me why "Macy doesn't have any cotton balls on her boots" (see her poofs on boots for reference) and then didn't sing a word of the song, Jingle Bells, that she had been singing around the house the 2 weeks leading up to the concert.  She stood there with a look on her face that resembled a foul smell.  Next, Macy's class was up.  She sang quietly and would not smile at us.  My camera is weak, so I wasn't able to get the pics of her trying to keep the smile off her face as we waved at her and made dorky faces to try to spring her to life a little.  I wonder what people think when they see Ken and I together...nerds!

Feminine Supply or a Cheese Stick

So, the girls are curious.  Jorey is especially curious.  At a certain time of the month, they always want to know what's happening and I've been able to avoid any serious conversation, thus far, pertaining to any serious details.  The other day, I was unwrapping a certain, slender, feminine object...and Jorey walks up with a smile on her face and asks, "Mom, are you eating a cheese stick?" 
Boy, oh, boy....

Cookie Day: Pain is Temporary, Pride is Forever! - Oh, and let's try to pack in the hunt for a perfect Christmas Tree!

Well, it was the 2nd annual Kath/Fry girl Cookie Day.  We joined at our place to make way too many delicious treats.  The elders, Natalie, Kenz, and I, planned to join forces on Friday to get all the baking done so we could spend Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday cooking.  Well, we ended up packing a few too many activities our venture...to the point where we had to make a cookie that said, PIT PIF.  Pain Is Temporary, Pride is Forever.  It was so funny.  We were all just totally exhausted both nights.  The girls were starting to "mass produce" just putting a glob of frosting on 10 cookies at a time...now, there were still many entertaining points.  Macy still piled hers really high!  She can put more sprinkles and doo-dads on a cookie than anyone I've ever seen.  I can still remember when I was little, we had these silver balls that were so hard and didn't taste like anything - I'd line the cookies with them from top to bottom because "they were pretty".  I remember my mom telling me that we might want to just put a few on each cookie.  :)  Jorey got into the flour - Dad, then made an even bigger mess by helping her realize that clapping her hands would produce a great cloud of flour.  But, this was a great time to hang out with my sisters and daughters in the same day.  I know we're making memories that we'll be able to cherish for a long time and that sweeping and mopping the floor 3 times to get all the sprinkles up is all worth it!

Ken tried to get in a fight by insisting that we go try to get the Christmas tree this weekend.  I realize there were only certain days that worked and that's why we were able to agree upon this day when there were already not enough hours in the day.  :)  We go to Hampton Tree Farm every year with Mary Ann and Ken Sr.  It's a good time - we always get a chuckle out of Mary Ann because she can take as much time as we'll all allow - she brings her yard stick and ribbons and just really makes a science out of it.  I believe it could be related to the year that we went there late - they were really low on trees and they needed a small one.  We mocked her tree because it was like Charlie Brown's.  ha ha.  Since then, we go earlier in the season, we go to the "secret spot" and then we end up with the pick of the crop! 

Oh Boy. I got a married smooch and I'm gross.

Every now and then, my eldest has a slight flare of emotion.  A zesty outburst, if you will.  I had snapped this photo about a month ago, while she was feeling this need to be zesty.  I was holding it - feeling like she would never do it again and this should not be used against her.  Well, I must show it.  It's amazing how angry she gets.  (those that know her will agree that Macy is a 98% happy kid - usually goes with the flow...but when she doesn't.........)  Yesterday, I dared to tell her she had to share the keyboard with her sister...who, in her defense, had been continually turning the keyboard off and on in a blatent attempt to frustrate and annoy her.  I was on the phone with my mom, Orange Gramma, when all of the sudden, out of the happy and peaceful city we typically reside in, she zested...and she yelled her typical "I don't like you" -- to which I reply, "Well, I still love you and I'm sorry you feel that way." --She then screamed, convulsed a few times, sat, stood, stomped and then came at me with the FUNNIEST insult, yet.  "And you're GROSS!".  I really almost laughed.  I said, "What?".  And she repeated, with even more zest, "You're Gross!!!!!".  Awesome.  3 minutes later, she apologized and told me that I'm not gross and that she loved me.  Good to know!  :)

Then, today happened.  Two of my favorite moments, to date, since becoming a parent.  First, we went outside to play today for about an hour...too cold to stop and quit moving, so we just ran around and went for a walk, and then played in the back yard on (what Macy & Jorey call) the park.  Macy was climbing over one of the walls and got stuck in an uncomfortable situation...I helped her get off and she looked up at me and kindof had a half smile when she told me, "I smashed my balls!". 
"Huh?".  Before I could respond with anything intelligent, she asked,
"Mommy, what are balls?" 
"Boys have them and girls don't." 
"Where"  Now, I know I shouldn't have, but really - what is a mystery going to do but make her look like a moron in 12 years when she never thinks to ask again, I forget I told her a strange story, and she then tells her friends that boys have balls in their ears...or some other version of innocent ball talk.  I one time believed that Worchestershire Sauce got it's name because I guy walked into a bar and said, "What's this here sauce."  Not kidding.  My dad probably told me that when I was 4 and then I was 25 when I re-told the darn story...now it's likely that the whereabouts of male anatomy is going to spring up in conversation before Worchestershire sauce, but you get my drift.  So, I simply stated that their balls are by their wieners.  I know...I'm a bad mom.  But, she was satisfied with the answer and just curled up her nose.  Then she asked if an unnamed 5-7 boys have balls.  I said, "All boys do.  We don't really need to talk about that, though...those things are private."  Oh, brother.

Fast-forward today to a time when we're going down for naps.  Every time I put them down, Jorey trots over to Macy's room, they take out every stuffed animal and book that her room holds and have a little pow wow on Macy's bed.  (side note, Jorey told me her first lie on Friday when she stated that she had slept and woke up --later, after consulting with my eldest, they did not sleep and played the entire time - I have now wisened up and go up there 3 times in the first 15 minutes to confirm that they are in their rooms, as they should be).  So, I go up to find her heading back to her room to get more "goodies" to pile on Macy's bed and I get her back in her own bed.  I go back in to tell Macy to get to sleep and she wants a kiss.  We have quick smooch and she says, "No, I want to give you another one."  So, she grabs my face with a hand on both face and pushes her lips up against mine and then kindof twists her head - the smooch lasted about 4 seconds.  Then, she pulls away and says, "There, now I gave you a married kiss like you give Daddy."  wow...I love my kids.  Can I keep them this age for all time?   Na...I'm sure there's more good stuff coming.  I can't wait to see what's next.

Tonight is the Night. The first of Many.

Macy took her first shower.  My little, sensitive Sally, who generally has a bit of a panic attack when water gets in her eyes, just took a shower 2 hours ago.  She smiled the whole time and embraced the whole ordeal.  Even when the water was flowing down her face, she smiled.  Amazing.  I'm now just remembering my fascination with mowing the lawn.  It would be 'so fun' I had said.  I dreamed of one day cutting the grass.  Maybe this sense of pride and accomplishment is similar to that desire that I once had and because it's new, it seems like a treasure that first time.  Who knows, but it made me laugh out loud a couple times because you could tell she was happier than a bird with a french fry to be taking it, rather than the bath.  Nice work, Macy.  You're a big girl!  And, speaking of big girls, I can't leave out my little lady Jorey.  She is an official panty wearer.  That was the first sentence out of her mouth to everyone at our Kath Thanksgiving gathering at Great Granny Kay and Papa Eddie's house.  They would say, "Well, hello Jorey!  How are you?".  She would respond, "I'm wearing panties.".  ha ha.  So fun.  And, I have to say...she really did a doozy on me when she caused the "Pile and the skid mark" from the previous post, but this was the end.  She has been dry nearly every morning and has yet to have an accident at daycare or during waking hours.  It's unbelievable.  It makes me happy!  I love you goyles so much...and I'm proud of every big step you're taking toward becoming our little ladies!

A Crazy Monkey, Kids Dancing at a bar...and, Mom's night out.

What a weekend.  First, a couple friends and I tried out Baby Loves Disco.  We got the kiddos there in their Jammies for the 5th Anniversary PJ party.  Then, the confusion started.  It was at Club Envy and we walked into the bar with a dance floor, but there were no dancers.  Then, we went up to another area, played in some tents, etc. until that got crowded, ventured around the bend to the back side of the bar, where the party was pumpin'.  They had food on the bar, tons of juice boxes and kid friendly snacks.  The DJ, however, was located at the end of a long, narrow passageway that was to be the dance floor.  There was no fighting my way through the crowd to get Macy and Jorey on the dance floor to win them their new PJs because they couldn't even see a dancer and only had eyes for balloons.  After 3 lost balloons, a 30 minute wait in the face painting line (only to lose interest and go so far away that mom had to lose her spot in line), and a few dances in bubbles, the girls had had enough.  I'm going to rank it a 5 out of 10.  Cool idea - bad bar to have it in...funny.  Bad bar to have the kid party...huh?

Saturday night, Auntie Amy came over to hang with the girls.  We were still down a member of the Fry family, due to hunting obsessions.  Mom went out with two of her other favorite goyles, Melissa Gaulrapp and Nina Huntington.  Who knew that Elko Speedway had a bar...and not just any bar...a big one with 2 bars and a stage...and they had G.B. Leighton!  woot woot!  We took a picture every hour...here's a couple of my favorites.

Look who got to sing 'Come and Get Your Love' with Brian!  Ooh la la!

The following day, I licked my wounds from the night before and ventured out to the MN Zoo with the girls and our friend Misty and James (aka Big Jim).  The monkeys were CRAZY! They were screaming and jumping and swinging around the branches.  I've never seen anything like it!  Here are some shots from the day. Please note Big Jim...I did all my favorite stupid faces, dances, etc...not a smile.  Not a single, stinkin' smile...It got so funny by the end of the day. 

I love the Minnesota Zoo!

The day that began like many others

I woke up early to Macy requesting a spot in my bed.  OK - get in here.  Dad's gone deer hunting, so why not.  About 2 hours later and 12 requests by Macy to get out of bed and go downstairs later, at 7:30am, Jorey walks into our room.  I know she's there, but just wait to hear what she has to say...and this is what I heard.  This is what I heard when I didn't even want to have to get out of bed, yet...
"Mom, I pooped in my pull up.".
"It was an accident"
I roll over to look at her standing in front of me with the strangest expression.  It was not one of fear or frustration, but one of matter-of-fact.  "I did it.  It's done.  What's next."
She then states, "There's poop in my bed."  So, that leads me to believe that she likely touched this poop and now she's twirling her hair. 
"Did you touch the poop?"
"Ya."
Out of bed...here we go...let's have a looksey. 
Oh, man...there's a pile of poop in the middle of the bed.  A skid coming off the bed, a few "wipe marks" on the comforter, and a poopy hand...still twirling hair.
Forget that we had a bath last night...we're having another, princess poopy-pants...get in the bathroom. 

A few things since this happened...

1.  Don't buy Target pull-ups.  Ya, they're cheaper, but if your kiddo should poop in them, the poop spills! out. 

2.  Get rid of the diaper pail that smells like death...worse than death.  It needs to go.  And, it may be extra incentive to never "accidentally" poop in your pull up some morning when you should wake up and tell mom, but it seems easier to poop in your pants.  It's early on in potty training and you know Mom will chalk it up to an accident.   Diaper pail = trash.  Gone.

3.  Who am I kidding.  Those sheets had to be changed anyways...it was an incentive program to do it.  Thanks, Jorey.

There were more fun events from the weekend, but I'm busy laundering.  I'll post on those little deets later on.  In parting, I say this to you...Don't let your kids save their good stuff for when dad leaves on a hunting trip and you're left alone to suffer!

Who's going potty in the potty chair?

Yahoo!  Jorey finally has been getting about 80% of her potty in the toilet.  That makes mom happy as a lark.  Ken and I had decided on the potty training day.  Macy and I were trying our first dance class (she hated it!) and Jorey was home with dad...alone...to learn how to go potty in the toilet.
Saturday morning, Halloween Day, Jorey was given the smack down by her dad.  He told her not to go potty in her pants and she did.  Oh, boy...Dad wasn't amused and told her about his disdain.  A couple accidents (including a puddle in the kitchen, a puddle on the counter, and a 40-minute session on the toilet later, and mom arrived home to find her girl in a diaper.  Something that happened that morning, though, stuck in her stubborn little mind and I was shocked as can be.  After 5 minutes of laying in bed for a nap, she was up saying she had to go potty.  I helped her try.  Nothing.  Back to bed.  5 minutes later, again, she had to go.  I told her to go in the bathroom - had caramel mix on the stove that was going to certainly burn all over the stove surface if I were to leave it unattended.  By the time I got up there, she had the diaper off, but had to go so bad, she had a teeny tiny accident on the floor.  After she stopped crying over the trauma, she was told that it was good that she tried and it was Mom's fault for not getting her up on the toilet.  She was unable to gain enough composure and relaxation to get any more out.  Back to bed.  5 minutes later, we had to go again...after the last session, we put a pull-up on so we could get it down and 'assume the position' in time to be effective.  This time, we got up there in time and got a few little dribbles in there.  It was still quite stressful.  Back to bed.  5 minutes later, we needed to go again.  This was the best one.  We got it all.  So, back to bed and AGAIN, 5 minutes later, we tried again...but, we were good to go.  Needless to say, with all the excitement, the girls only got a 20 minute nap before their neighborhood Halloween Party.  long sigh...
Today, though, Jorey stayed dry all day!  She went potty in the toilet five times with no accidents.  Woo Hoo.  We're on our way to diaper freedom.  Way to go, big girl!  I'm proud of you!

Happy Halloween

Well, we had our first Halloween that both girls would dress up and were happy to do so.  Last year, Jorey was 100% opposed to her Dragon costume and put it on for about 5 angry minutes.  This year, though, Jorey was tickled pink to be "piderman".  The only prerequisite was that we don't wear the eye mask.  That did produce some anger and then it was lost at their daycare party anyways!  Reginald was a Post man.  He loved it (not so much).  We had the Frys over to help with Trick-or-Treaters and have some dinner and watch the MN Football game, so we had a few visitors.  Payne and Logan Pietig came over to join us for some good times.  Logan was Flash and Payne was some sort of Star Wars character that I'm still trying to figure out. :)  (Btw- I'm going to clean the glass on the front door right now after that family pic...gross!  Jorey's very helpful with letting Reg out and in...it makes for a shiny glass door.  ;)

This week, at daycare, they had lots of dress-up days. 
The first was "Dress Like a Pumpkin".  Well, I could only come up with this...But, Paige seemed to have nearly the same theme and Macy was happy to wear it, so we all win!
I didn't get a picture of Crazy hair and clothes day...I don't know what I was thinking, but by Thursday...I was frazzled.  I could NOT keep up with life last week.  Hopefully, this week is going to be better. :)

Are the dinosaurs dead?

"Mom, can you leave the light on and the door open so I don't get scared of the monsters?"
"Macy, honey, there are no monsters.  There's no such thing as monsters in real life.  You don't have to be scared of them..." 
"Well, are the dinosaurs all dead?"
"Yep - The dinosaurs are extinct."
"They stink?"
"No, they're EX-tinct."
"What's that?"
"That means they're all gone and they've been dead for a long time."
"Why did they died?"
"Because they were as big as our house and they ran out of food."
"OK"...with a satisfied smile. 

Jorey told me today, when getting out of the car after daycare, that she was too tired to carry her baby in the house...She said it in a mel-o-dramatic tone..."Mom, I caaannnnn't carry my baby....I'm toooooo tiiiiieeerrrrrddd." 
She also tells us - all of the time - that she's "got a belly ache" when she doesn't want to do something.  She'll put the most pathetic look on her face moan and roll around when it's bedtime, saying, "Well, I'm thirrrrrsty!"

Those GOYLES!

This past weekend, we had fun as a fam.  We had our family pics taken by my co-worker, Jill, who is working on getting into that field.  She came out on the most amazing fall day to snap some pics.  The day started out a little rough.  It was one of those "I told you so" days...I told you to stop screwing around and stand still, but then - when doing a booty dance - you touched the curling iron and got a sad wound on your hand.  2 hours after it happened, it seemed to be way more painful than at the beginning?  I thought she was faking, so I tried to make her laugh, but I got this series of terror, here. We went to get burn ointment and a bandage right after this and it was better...immediately.   :)

After that, we went to the MOA, where we dined at Cantina #1 - it was pretty darn good.  Then, we went to go on a few rides and got our family drawn by this amazing artist that did a great job.  I'll try to get a pic of the drawing some time and get it on here, but it looks just like us.  (I know that's the whole idea, but it was just so good!)  The girls and Ken enjoyed the crazy bus...

Jorey's trying NOT to smile.

We're enjoying Ken, now that softball is over with!  It's getting to be that hunting time...when he can only think about bucks in rutt and how to slay them and how to block his scents with all the latest grass-scented non-lures...because you NEED those things to get the bucks.  I know, Love Bug, I  know.  It's your one true passion...You're the king slayer.  Gun opener is in 2 weeks...depending on the weather, we may not see him.  Stay tuned to see if he's able to capture: 1) "just a little basket buck"  - this comes complete with a big hand gesture showing the size of the basket, or 2) "A Pig"- once Natalie thought he really saw a PIG - not a Pig of a deer...fun stuff.  or 3) Any deer will do because he thinks he needs to provide for his family that does not crave his venison.  We shall see...

Oh, and I took the geeks to Burger King on Saturday for about 3 hours - they ran non-stop and got free kids cones with their meals.  All of the sudden, Jorey suggests they do a "cheers"...right on.  Cheers!

 

 

We missed our Goyles, but the Sunshine made it all worthwhile!

'Tis the season for Ken's trip to Palm Springs with the Minnesota Lawmen softball team.  This was the last year they'll be having it in Palm Springs, so it was really nice that it could be 106 degrees to help us with the departure!  Next year, the World Police Softball Tournament is going to be in Las Vegas...holy moly...so it should be an adventure.  Ken and I have talked about 25 times about going and just never have spent the money or time to go.  We were lucky to have Kara and her friend Chris to join us.  They were able to stay Friday thru Sunday and we had the best time.  I snapped just 375 pics of them to share with everyone back home. ;)  Hey - if you're going to be really overly obnoxious with a camera, be that way around a couple models and you get by just fine...

 I love all the funny ladies that are married to the other lawmen players.  We only get together a couple times a year at these tournaments and a few other events, but it's always lots of fun and very entertaining.  They try to get me in trouble from time to time...I can't hang!...but, it's a good time none-the-less.

Ken played very well - even though he got a bad cold before we left.  The team ended up in 5th place, so not too shabby.  Of course, they were frustrated with their finish.

Thankfully, when we arrived home and the girls were returned to our care from Orange Papa and Gramma's, they did not cry and say they wanted to stay with them!  Huge thanks to Heidi and Kyle, as well as Orange Papa and Gramma for taking care of our sick little buggers.  Back to work...ugh...

Dorks...My kids are total dorks...

My little sassertons have provided me much entertainment and much stress in the last couple weeks.  Here are a few of the highlights...

I HAVE A WIENER   At Cub the other day, I was trying to just grab a few things.  One of these things was bread.  First, you should know that Macy and Jorey no longer want to ride in carts, they like to walk --which translates loosely into sprinting through the store, yelling, taking things off the shelves, and ultimately just giving their mom a panic attack --but, this was such a night that I figured they could walk.  I was up for the challenge.  While I was perusing the bread aisle, in search of our fave potato bread, I hear Jorey say (in a low voice), "Hey Mom, I've got a wiener."  In shock and disbelief, I just kindof looked around - looked into the terrified face of the 20ish-year-old boy stocking the bread aisle, and said, "Come on.".  She then proceeds to just grab the front of her pants, kindof bunch them out, walk with her legs together so it stays bunchy, and then struts along saying it again!  I had to laugh inside, but wondered what that poor fella was thinking...2 year old, telling mom she has a wiener?!?  He probably thought I was some sort of freaky crossdresser or something...I still can't figure out where that came from and I hope it never comes out again.

MY DAYCARE BOYFRIEND DOESN'T LIKE THAT SHIRT The other day, I'm getting Macy dressed and she tells me that she doesn't want to wear the golf shirt that I'm trying to sell the idea of wearing.  She says, "No, Mom, Liam doesn't like that shirt."  I say, "Well, how about this one" (a very similar style, just different colors) - She says, "No, Mom.  I'm not even lying.  Liam does not like that shirt.  She kindof gets a little whimsical look on her face and says, "Really, Mom.  It's true.  He just does not like that shirt."  I tried to inform her that boys shouldn't tell us what to wear and we can really do whatever we want, so if she likes the shirt, she should wear it.  She was not convinced and chose to please Liam that day.  I didn't think much about it until her daycare teacher, Miss Mandy, told me that Macy and Liam have a love-hate relationship where they play and hug one minute, and then fight the next.  I brought up the discussion we had the week before, and Miss Mandy confirmed that Liam hates button shirts so much that one day when he spilled on his shirt and they tried to put a clean shirt with buttons on him, he threw such a fit, he wore a girl shirt home!  It seems he's still her #1.  ;)

She also informed me the other day that she would like to go on a honeymoon (because Shrek and Fiona went on one and I told her that when you get married, you get to go on vacation with your hubby and celebrate and they call it a honeymoon - true enough, huh?) - So, she waited 2 days until we were going to Target and she told me that she would like to marry Liam and go on a honeymoon with him.  She then informed me that she would only marry him if he wanted to marry her because otherwise that wouldn't be any fun.  She's so smart....

Last Saturday, Ken was down cultivating his hunting land for the big hunt...Oh, brother...and the girls and I took a rainy day trip to Lookout Ridge in Woodbury.  It was fun and I ran into a friend-of-a-friend that I'd been out with a few times.  She had her kids there, so it was a good time.  It's a huge, tall, indoor climbing thingy with big slides, tunnels, a jumper, and all sorts of fun stuff.  I did see Macy's evil side when a girl was sitting in one of the tunnels and Macy asked, "What are you doing there?!  Get out of the way!"  I couldn't believe it even came out of her mouth!  So, we stopped, had to have a chat, and then continued on our way.  Now, if you can picture this, these climbing zones are built really sturdy for (big butts like me), but they're small enough for 2-year-olds to get up and around.  Imagine how much we held up traffic when we had to apologize to the scorned young girl, have a life lesson, and then maneuver all 5' 6.5" (yes, that's 6.5") of me up the little zones, while cheering Jorey on because she just wasn't so sure she wanted to keep going.  Once at the top, we all went down the dark & curly slide together and laughed a lot.  It was so much fun.  We stayed for about 3 hours and got our $5 worth and went and rested.  We spent Sunday cleaning our nasty house...it's almost like the cold, rainy weather has prompted a necessity to clean.  Some in my house are probably happy to see that.  I have anxiety!  Oh, well...

Here are some shots of our adventures.

This picture was WAY at the top of the big tower...I was sweating and breathing hard after getting up there, had about 4 12-year-old boys up my butt, but we were taking that picture...so glad I did.  Look how happy they are! 

We were trying on our winter gear last night because both girls were supposed to have a field trip to an apple orchard today...yuk!  So, we were trying to prepare with boots, umbrellas, mittens, winter coats, etc.  They were both so excited to try on their stuff...yep - kindof dorky...wouldn't have it any other way.

Patrick Harrington

Our prayers go out to my friend, Dan.  He lost his dad to a terrible farm accident on Monday.  Here's the article:
Corn bin incident claims El Paso area farmer
A 75-year-old rural Ellsworth man died Monday afternoon after he became trapped inside a corn bin while it was being unloaded. The victim was identified as Patrick H. Harrington.
Authorities were notified of the accident at the Patrick and Margaret Harrington farm, W3593 610th Ave., town of El Paso, at 1:55 p.m. The farm is located about a mile east of CTH BB and five miles south of Hwy. 29.
Ellsworth firefighters and EMS personnel "worked tirelessly to empty the corn bin and locate the missing man" for nearly 90 minutes before he was located, according to Pierce sheriff's deputy Robin Kivel.
Efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead by Medical Examiner Sue Dzubay.
A medical helicopter from Life Link was also summoned to the scene and its staff assisted with the rescue attempt.
Dzubay said Harrington had been working with several semi-drivers, unloading the 18,000 bushel bin throughout the day. A driver had just repositioned his truck and exited the cab to discover Harrington missing. After a short search around the farm, workers discovered a pole inside bin, leading them to speculate that Harrington may have gone inside in an attempt to free a blockage near the bin's base.
There was about 4,000 bushels of corn remaining in the 36-foot bin when the accident occurred.
The incident remains under investigation, Kivel stated in a press release.

  It was a terrible accident and one that will likely be very difficult for Pat's wife, 8 children, 17 grandchildren, and, I think, 4 great grandchildren, to come to terms with.  I attended the funeral on Friday.  One of Pat's daughters got up to speak about him and made everyone laugh and cry.  She did an amazing job of portraying the man he was.  One of the grandsons, when asked what he'll miss most about his grandpa, answered - "Well, just everything..."

Orange Papa got a new hot rod!

Let's just name him "Pinky" for now...
But papa has plans to overhaul him and make him a bit less fruity looking.
Natalie, Kenzie, and Mommy are excited that Papa has a new hobby - his garage was full of furniture and it had nowhere to go. 

Here he is!

BTW - as I'm writing this, Jorey is talking to her baby...
"Get in your bed right now..."
"I'll lay with you for just a minute"
"Take your shirt off..."
" 'Cause you pooped..."
"...ya, you pooped..."
"You're naked...That's why you have your jammies on...you have to take a bath, 'cause you pooped..."
"You get in your bed right now.  This is the last time I'm telling you...."
       I'm wondering if this came from yesterday, when we had to discuss how this was going to go down about 38 times in 2 hours...could it be?

Today, they were lucky they're my most loved goyles...

"You're gonna miss this.  You're gonna want this back.  You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast...these are the good times.  So, take a good look around.  You may not know it now, but you're gonna miss this."   --That song is perfect for today...listen as you read...great stuff and I'm sure it's true because I'm already missing them as I write this.  It's hard to have to be the one that teaches them lessons and tries to keep them from being brats...all the time. ;)
Here's how today went for me...

6am - Jorey arrives in our room - wants to sleep in our bed.  After 30 minutes of digging her toes into my stomach...must love the squishy toy?...she falls asleep.
7:40am - Macy arrives to join our bed.
8:00am - Cartoons come on in hopes of 30 minutes of silence...no can do.
8:20am - Fighting over everything in a toy bin - Jorey touching Macy - Macy punching Jorey - Jorey punching back - both screaming and crying that it was each other.
9:00am - Mary Ann asks me to join at the Farmer's Market
             We discuss going next time - I would have to bring girls - in Jammies - Decide they will wait for us
              to join.
10:00am - running quite late - grab some cash - Macy and Jorey are fighting over water...it's water...it's not worthy of a fight, but I guess it's probably necessary to fight over it because that's the kind of day we're going to have.
10:45am - Arrive at Minneapolis Farmer's Market - it's not a farmers market like anything I know - rather, a compact zoo of tight twists and turns...I have my double stroller + 2 goyles...slight anxiety.
11:00am - Hit the bathrooms - get many dirty looks and nearly take out appx. 20 people with stroller trying to get it up the ramp and park it to get in 3 stall bathroom.
11:15am - Make it into potty - Tell Macy and Jorey 32 times each - 'Do not open the door', while I'm going potty...they both unlock it one time.
11:30am - Find Sr. - he has mini donuts...sweet.  We finish his and have one order of our own + fresh squeezed OJ...spill donuts one time into the bottom of the stroller - that was partly my fault.
Noon - start wandering - wander a couple places trying to keep up with Mary Ann's hunt for the perfect Mums. - Lose her 2x - then, gather the girls and try to take a short walk through.  Get another 8 dirty looks, topped off with a woman who wanted to walk past us and had to wait the .0817 second for us to pass...loudly she says, "Damn Stroller!" - I feel like I want to start a fight with her, but that would be wrong...but would feel so right.
12:30pm - I decide there's not much I need and really should get my ginormous stroller out of the maze, so we head out to our car - that is parked on a curb because it's the only parking spot I could find.
1:00pm - finally have my sugar & cinnamon dunked goyles cleaned up and put in the car.
1:30pm - see Jorey falling asleep - ask her if she's sleepy.  "No, I am NOT sleepy!"
1:40pm - Jorey's sleeping in her car seat.
2:00pm - Arrive Home - Put kids to bed.
2:10pm - Go remind girls that they're supposed to be napping.
2:20pm - Go remind them again - Macy tells me she has to poop.  - OK, go.
2:25pm - Come to help Macy wipe, see brown stuff on carpet - ask what it is - Informant tells me "Jorey wiped her poop on the floor".  Jorey confirms that this is true. 
2:26pm - Change Jorey's Diaper - Get Carpet Cleaner - Clean Carpet - Discuss that we don't dig in our pants and wipe poop on the floor.
2:30pm - Put both girls back to bed.
2:45pm - Remove Jorey from Macy's room - warn of pending spanking
2:50pm - Remove again - apply light spanking
2:55pm - Remove again - apply 3 spankings -
3:10pm - Go to [still screaming] Jorey's room and calm her down - share with her that when I say it's nap time, it's nap time.  Rub her back a little bit, and give her hugs...let her know that I love her and that it's not OK to go in Macy's room when it's nap time.
3:30pm - take lounger chair on the deck and try to close my eyes for 20 minutes.

3:50pm - hear Jorey screaming 'Mommy' from the top of the stairs - tell her to come down - get told that she can't come down because she has too much stuff - baby, blankie, lion, etc.  Tell her, again, to come down.

4:15pm - Macy's up and wants to play in the pool - way too late for that.  Have discussion about how we could have played in the pool if they listened, but they didn't, so we just can't.

5:00pm - Take babies and strollers for a walk around the neighborhood.  Argue most of the time about whether or not they should or should not crash into one another - sometimes fun, sometimes not.

6:00pm - Put Mighty Joe Young in the DVD Player and relax with a nice TV Dinner. 

7:00pm - Dinner's done, talk about snacks - Macy says she wants to pick first, then Jorey wants to be first...sort it out.

7:30pm - Jorey wants to watch movie on the couch with Macy, but Macy says she can't because she stinks.  I ask Jorey if she pooped - 'No, I did not!', so who knows...maybe she does stink, but I thought she smelled fine.

8:30pm - Dad's finally home and I'm loving the silence as he puts them to bed.

9:15 - I'm going to take a bath!

Oh, I do love them, but today was a tough day for all of us!

Rewinding just a bit - Macy got some make-up kits for her birthday and she invited auntie Natalie and auntie Kenzie over for some make overs...here are a few shots of their unwavering beauty.  :)  Mackenzie had a large clump of orange 'sauce' on her eyelid for about 20 minutes...so funny.  

A Night Away

I scheduled myself a night away for Saturday night, up to my friend Melissa's house.  Ken was at his national softball tournament in Oklahoma (where they took 2nd place!  Woo Hoo).  The girls had 2 babysitters.  Auntie Natalie and Auntie Amy.  Natalie came over on Saturday, while the girls were napping and then had them outside, playing in the pool for much of the afternoon.  When I checked in on their status the next day, I was informed that Macy offered a standoff outside.  She was NOT coming in the house, so auntie had to carry her in.  I can only imagine that scene and the standoff by my sassy 4-year-old!  ha ha.  Following that, Amy came over on Sunday just in time for Macy to get a sliver in her foot.  Yellow Papa and Gramma came pulling in shortly after this sliver went into her foot, in order to assist in getting it out. 
Sometimes, I feel bad that our babysitters are tortured, but mostly I just giggle to myself at what it must have been like to argue these points with them.
I'm so thankful that we have these adult and stable babysitters that are willing to help out - for free - I'm not sure a 12-year-old would survive the madness.

Speaking of madness, I never did put any of the pictures of Macy's birthday party festivities on here.  We invited her entire class of 26 kids over to the house, + a few friends and a couple cousins.  We ended up with 24 kids under the age of 5!  We started with the madness in the jumper, tried a water-balloon toss - they didn't get the concept - was I really thinking they would?  Yes - but, clearly that was just one of those moments that I need to pull my head out of my a$$.  After that futile attempt at the organized toss, though, we did offer an all-out assault on Ken.  The kids had a blast throwing the balloons at him and then if he caught it, he'd throw it back at him...craziness.  We had pizza, ice cream, Mary Ann's fab cupcakes, and then played pin the slipper on Cinderella, which also resulted in many kids wondering why Macy's crazy mom was putting a towel over their face so they couldn't see...good times.  Here are some photos of the event.  We had a blast and Macy and her friends sure did, too. 

I think all the little kids in her class are going to want to conduct an all-out assault on Ken next time they see him in a vulnerable situation!

Fry Family Fun Weekend

Following a cold and windy KFFW, we went on another adventure up at the Leyk cabin.  (uncle Dave's wife's family) for some Fry Family Fun.  Kara was in town from California, so she got to join in the 100934875th game of Lightning...We played that game for about 3 hours before playing 3-on-3.  We were low on activities in the cold, so that's just what happened.  I'm so out of shape I nearly perished 3x...OK, not really, but it seemed that I may! 

Macy and Daddy had so much fun on the jet ski.  Every time he took off, you could hear the loudest giggle out of Macy.  She just loved being out there.  (sharp contrast to 2 years ago when she screamed and cried the whole time he took her;) 

Jorey and Macy both loved being on the pontoon.  They would sit right along the sides with their lifejackets on and just watch the water and eat snacks.  Surprisingly, they both ate lots of beef sticks and beef jerkey...who knew they'd eat that.  Macy also ate a ton of walleye and northern...who knew?!  I'd whipped up the EZ Mac so they would eat...no need. 

They both loved sleeping in their sleeping bags.  Jorey even made auntie Heidi take a nap in our room with her when Heidi volunteered, because she 'needed' to sleep in her sleeping bag.  They were so cute, I had to take a picture. 

Macy also surprised the heck out of me when she held the leach and was happy to do so!  I'm thinking this crazy face was taken before that --otherwise, she has leach in her mouth and eyes because she had a series of dorky faces.  What a nerd.

Auntie Kara was brave enough to volunteer for the first tube ride...though, she got on the tube from the boat and was not too keen on getting wet...funny...it was rather chilly that day.  She succeeded in staying on the tube the entire time!  Ken, then, threw me off 2x and I just about lost a portion of my swimsuit both times, so I had to give up.  It was quite a rush, though. 

It was a lot of fun had by all the Frys...especially the two youngest!  Thanks Sara, Dave, Dona, and Jim for hosting!