Testing Out Grandma Gluestick's New Bed

One of our neighbors was generous enough to give us a pull-out couch, which we plan on using when we have company. The kids, however, have determined that this will be Grandma Gluestick's bed when she comes down from Idaho.

So, tonight they wanted a sleepover. They got their new Scooby Doo movie, and fell asleep down there to test it out. As you can see from the pictures, the bed works! It has successfully put our children to sleep (this not being a tough job as they went to bed an hour and a half late). Because Jessy is sick once again, she didn't get to test it out. However, she did make it very clear that this was Grandma's bed, and that she was sure that we were putting it in the basement because Grandma was coming down to use it, and that her Aunt "Sersee" would be sleeping on the other couch. It took a lot of convincing on Daddy's part to get her to understand that they were not coming to sleep on the couches tonight.

Celebrating the Love Birds

Our cousin Briana got married a couple of weeks ago to the love of her life Mike and we like him, so we decided to go and celebrate with them. Here's just a few pictures from wedding. We got to see Aunt Jan and our cousin Maureen from New York, and that was cool. The kids had the fun of learning how to use the camera for the first time.

Because weddings can sometimes be boring for kids (no offense to Mike and Briana), a whole bunch of the cousins decided to make their own celebration by collecting the rose pedals from the floor and throwing them up in the air. Christopher loved having them land on him and he just screamed with laughter each time he was pelted. So, the activity turned from using the pedals for confetti to making Christopher laugh. You have to appreciate the simple humor that brings laughter to a room.

Nicky's Field Trip

Nick went on his first 2nd grade field trip to an extension center (a farm) to learn all about how farms work. He got to see herding dogs at work, learned a lesson on growing wheat, and his favorite part was playing on the playground after lunch.

While there, he did get to see horses, calves, pigs, and sheep. As you can see from the picture, it was difficult keeping him from jumping in with those pigs.

Not only did Nicky get to have all of this fun, but Mommy and Pandy (his stuffed panda bear aka best friend) got to join him on this trip. As you can see, Nick and Pandy were having a ball listening to Old McDonald talk about beef and milk cows (which he saw none of!).

Ah the simple pleasures of 2nd grade!

"When I'm a Daddy"

There's nothing like planning for your future! Robby has always expressed his dreams for being older by starting with the statement, "When I'm a Daddy...". Well, statements have gone to goals. Initially his goal was to have 100 children (no babies, just children). However, you need to realize that he also doesn't want a wife, just Mommy to come and live with him to help take care of them. When Daddy asked about moving in too, he said, "No, you can live with Jessy!" His plans quickly changed to 2 babies, him, Mommy, in a house with a room for him and Mommy, and a room for each of the babies. There will be 5 bathrooms, including one in each bedroom, one int he basement, and one in the washroom. They will have a baby penguin and a "real" baby monkey all kept in cages in the house. He also wants 2 cars. One will be a mini cooper. The other will be a van with a "TV that comes down from the soft roof, not on the outside, on the inside". He wants that to be his van. Apparently, he wants to bypass the safety points and be able to watch while he's driving. Despite the fact that Daddy doesn't want to live in a house with 2 babies when he is older, he will be sad to have Mommy move away!

Nicky's New Hobby

This summer (June), Aunt Sarah got Nicholas hooked on running by having him run a very impromptu and unplanned 5K race with her, Uncle Ben, and his cousin Colton. At the finish, Aunt Sarah and Uncle Ben were just stinky, but Colton and Nicky placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in their age group.

Then, in September, Aunt Sarah came down and ran in the "Race for Recovery" 5K race with Nicky. The race was mostly uphill, which neither one of the intrepid runners were thrilled about. Though the standings at the end of the race were not the same (except Aunt Sarah was still stinky), we were all very proud of both of them for running and finishing. Now, this fever has got to spread to the rest of the family!

Aeryka Loses Her First Tooth (Finally!)

At the young age of 6 and 3/4, Aeryka has managed to finally lose her first tooth out of that tiny mouth of hers (though, for those of you that have had any verbal interactions with her, you know that big things come in small packages!). This thing was loose for over a month, and there was no shortage of wiggling and manipulating to try and get that tooth out. Finally, after noticing that the other tooth was starting to break through, Mommy did the brave thing and yanked it out (with permission, of course!). And, staying true to her personality, there was not a tear shed until her first sight of blood (with the tooth already out, mind you). Pictures of this triumphant event can be seen below!

Jessy's 3rd Birthday

Well, the day has come that Mommy's baby is 3. For the more optimistic people in our home, this means getting another day closer to buying less pull-ups. For others who will not be mentioned to protect Martha's looniness, it means one day closer to her little baby going to preschool.
And, as no day in Jessy's life can be complete without paying homage to Sesame Street (Elmo in particular), Mommy made her a beautiful Big Bird cake and most of the gift wrapping was smathered with Elmo and his best friends. The only other thing that made the day complete was a gift from Nanny and Poppy wrapped in Christmas paper. What better way is there to make a Lape child happy than to trick her into thinking it's both her birthday and Christmas all at the same time!

The Truffle Shuffle

The kid's favorite Aunt Sarah gave Daddy the movie "The Goonies". He made the mistake of introducing it to the kid's. Aside from being called "Jerk-Face" a couple of times, the most impressive thing that they have gotten from the movie is the infamous Truffle Shuffle. A couple of days ago, Jessy came running in to Mommy, yelling "I Chunk, I Chunk" with her shirt pulled up and started jiggling her buddah belly. The only thing missing was the sound of her stomach flopping. (For those of you lost souls who don't know who The Goonies are or what the Truffle Shuffle is, please click play on the video above)

Field Trip to the Zoo

Aeryka had her 1st grade field trip to the zoo. As an extra special bonus, she got to take Daddy along (actually, he goes on the 1st grade zoo trip with all of the kids), and they got to spend the day together. Daddy wanted her to pose with the white crocodile (pictured above), but Aeryka apparently thought that the glass was not thick enough. After a whirl-wind tour of the zoo (the whole thing in 1-1/2 hours), we sat for lunch. Well, actually, Daddy sat, Aeryka ate then played. It was fun to watch her play with her school friends. It didn't take long to notice that Aeryka is the leader of the pack (I hope that always is a good thing!). Even our friend Sarah who came on the trip also noticed that Aeryka had a following. When it was time to go home, Daddy had signed Aeryka out to go home with him (meaning that she would have had a half-day of school), but she decided it would be more fun to go back on the bus with her friends and spend the rest of the day at school. Mrs. Johnson thought this was funny. After removing the knife from his heart, Daddy decided that it would be OK with him (maybe a little) and realized that an hour on the bus with screaming 1st graders has got to be more fun than riding home with a boring old man!

Christmas in August

On August 5th, our WONDERFUL children surprised us by decorating the house for Christmas between the time that Ron left for work and Martha got up for the day. They told Martha that they had a suprise, and to not get out of bed until they got her. They set the table with a beautiful Christmas tablecloth and put a Santa Claus (ceramic, mind you) cookie server in the middle. Then, Nicky and Aeryka dragged the box for our 8 ft tree from the basement and put it together as tall as Nicky could reach using a chair, and completed it by decorating it with ornaments. And, to make sure that everything was just right, they even put the train around the bottom of the tree. They also managed to put up their small "kid" tree with lights and all. Just to finish the day off, Santa made a visit to Daddy's office and sent home gifts for all of the kids, and we played Christmas music all day and Mommy baked Christmas cookies.

Getting Started

So, our first blog. Creativity is not our strongpoint, but our hope is to help us document and keep up with what we are doing and in the same effort be able to share us with you. It's about us, about our family, the fun we share, and the love we have for each other.

Mostly, it's about discovering US! We are a family of smiles and fun. We are family of ups and down. We are family of tears and pain. But, most importantly, we are a FOREVER family!