Barbie Gets a Haircut

I remember when as a little girl, I always wanted to cut my dolls' hair (and did so on several occasions). One time in particular stands out in my mind. I was outside with my mama's good scissors, hacking away at my Barbie doll's hair. What started out as long, cascading waves soon became a hairdo that resembled Sergeant Carter on "Gomer Pyle USMC." I was terrified that I was going to get chastised by my mama, so I stuck the doll's head in my dog's mouth to cover it with a nice layer of dog spit and then proceeded to explain to my mom that Doodie (yes, that was the name of our dog) chewed up my Barbie doll's head. I was a great actor, even going to the extreme of faking tears.

Today I walked outside on the back porch and found Klara giving her doll a new 'do. I laughed to myself and complemented on her talent. I then ran to get my camera. The haircuts, the coloring on the wall, the spills, messes, and stains--it's just all part of this beautiful thing called life. The greatest gift we can give our kids is not how to keep out of trouble, but how to take chances and make mistakes...kind of like this Barbie's haircut! Check out the video:

Hubby Does the Laundry

I was away in New York City yesterday, and my husband, Blair, was kind enough to do four loads of laundry as a surprise for me. When you've been married as long as I have and have as many kids as we do, that's about as big of a surprise as you could ask for. But let me clarify what Blair considers "doing laundry." It goes a little like this:

wash clothes
dry clothes
dump clothes

I came home to find four loads of clean laundry dumped on the floor at the foot of our bed (waiting for me that mysterious someone to come and fold them; aka, me). I was way too tired to fold last night and just crashed in the bed. This morning, after I got out of the shower, I heard Klara and Kenna playing in my bedroom. I caught them making "clothes angels"--(imagine snow angels, minus the snow, add the laundry). It was hilarious! Fortunately, I caught them on video.

There's Something About Boys

My boys are so strange. But, in talking with other moms, I hear it's pretty normal for boys to communicate with punching, wrestling, and strange grunting noises. They were playing around in the kitchen tonight and I just happened to have my camera within reach. The funniest part of the entire video is that Kyler, my oldest, was eating a bowl of cereal. He doesn't even stop eating at the end of the video when Karis was wailing on him from behind. Hilarious!

Kenna Takes to the Stairs

The baby gates have all been taken down. My logic is that if she can figure out how to scale the outside of the staircase and slip herself through the rails to climb up, then she is ready to officially go up and down the staircase. This is the most difficult part of motherhood, whether our kids are two or twenty, it's letting them venture out and take risks, letting them try their wings.

We pour our lives into our children and then comes the time when we just have to let go. Seeing my little baby walk up and down the stairs by herself makes me cringe, just dropping off my son to go rock climbing with the youth group at church. It doesn't matter what it is, just the fact that I'm not there holding on. I'm the one that's not ready for the challenge, not my kids. I just have to let go and pray. God is good isn't He?

But back to Kenna. She is so excited about climbing up and down the stairs that she does it constantly. She has also begun a cute little thing (nerve wracking for me) of stopping halfway up and down and singing a little song. I guess she is singing the praises of her newfound independence.

Anyone for FREE Fruit Roll-Ups?

I usually go au naturale when it comes to snacks for my kids, but we live in the real world and they can't live in a bubble. I try to live in moderation, and I have found some pretty cool solutions for the usual sugar-filled events, like parties and celebrations.

My son was signed up to bring snacks for his basketball game next Saturday, and I quickly found out that organic raisins and water bottles do not go over too well. But I have to draw the line at sugar and salt overload. I got the opportunity to try out some free "personalized" fruit roll-ups, so I figured it would be a great snack for the basketball game. I got on the website and found I actually enjoyed the whole experience. First you get to pick out a design (or make your own) and then personalize it with a message (even down to the font and letter size). My son picked out a basketball player and then wrote the message, "GREG'S TEAM RULES!" (Greg is his coach). He is so excited about receiving it in the mail. I'm definitely going to be at the game to catch the team's reaction when they open up their fruit roll-ups.

So, anyway, back to the whole FREE thing. Here's the deal. These personalized roll-ups are great ideas for party favors, so I want to hear some clever party ideas. Think creatively! Anything that saves money is a great starter. Send me your clever party ideas and I'm going to post the three best ideas on my website and I'm also giving those three people a FREE order of personalized fruit roll-ups (a $30 dollar value). Don't worry. You get to personalize them, not me... Isn't that cool?! So send me those ideas!

Bathtime in the Kitchen Sink

It was a warm day today, so Kenna not only enjoyed a kitchen sink bath but she enjoyed it with a nice breeze blowing in the window. I had to stick her in the sink because she was covered with bread dough (she likes to help me knead whenever I make bread). Her big sister was outside on the back porch and she was enjoying chatting with her. It was soooo cute!

My Strange Son, Kyler

I just had to post this video for everyone to enjoy. My daughter, Klara, loves Strawberry Shortcake, and this is her favorite song. However, this is Kyler performing it...
Very strange indeed. But, hey, it's my family.

The Froose is Loose

I received some Froose juice drink (it comes in those little aseptic boxes) for my kids to try out. First off, I thought, "so what, another packaged juice for the kids...big whoop!" Personally, my kids don't drink juice that much. I figure, it doesn't have any enzymes, no fiber, why not just have water? However, I took a closer look at the box and was surprised when it promoted the fiber of whole grains. Now, that's something I can totally get into.

I let the kids try out the Froose, and was surprised at how much they enjoyed it. I felt like a bartender, cutting them off after a couple of boxes. I found out later that the inventor of Froose was a mom like me, very disgruntled at the food industry and how they market to kids and parents. She decided to invent a juice that contained fiber, so it wouldn't be just empty calories.

Way to go, Mama! I like your style! Check out their website for more information.
www.froose.com

Go Fly a Kite!

Totally was soooo windy. I told the kids to put away their schoolbooks, and we went to the park to fly kites. Of course, we needed kites so that meant a trip to Target to pick up kites. Target officially wins the "piece o' poop" kite award! About thirty minutes in and Bionicle's string has been tied and retied about seven times and Barbie was a rumpled mass of string and plastic flapping behind my son (yes, he had the Barbie kite. His rational was that he was helping his sister. I think he just liked to see a hot blonde beating the wind). It was so funny! The kids were laughing as hard as I was. All in all, it was a perfect day, a true accomplishment. Who says all learning has to take place in school? Life is an education.

And I learned something: Don't buy kites at Target.

Check out the video. Oh, and if you're wondering why Kenna has a pink moustache, it's because she got into my lip stain...again!

Mardi Gras!!

Today is Mardi Gras, and we definitely did the Fat Tuesday thing here in the Keeley home. We ate veggie muffalettas and red beans and rice with a king cake for dessert. I always hide the baby in the cake for one of the kids to find, and this year the lucky recipient was Kenna Keeley. However, she wasn't too sure why a plastic baby was stuck inside her cake.

We also listened to some awesome music straight out of New Orleans. One of the songs was too cool. I decided that the title of it has got to be my new philosophy. It was called, "Funkify Your Life." So, if you're not getting funky, it's never too late to do so.

Check out the video of Kenna and her king cake:

More JONAPHOBIA!!

My two oldest girls (13 and 14) are insane over the Jonas Brothers. It's gotten to a dangerous level of obsession! Personally, I know way more random trivia about the Jonas Brothers than I feel comfortable admitting...

Am I alone in this or are there other moms with obsessed daughters? Nick, Joe, and Kevin are becoming a part of the family and I haven't even met their mom yet. Hmmm, weird.

The other day they were making a youtube video of them dancing to a Jo Bros song (wow, how original!), and I popped in to it just to embarrass them. It didn't work--they still posted it Check it out:

Hannah Montana and the Jo Bros!

I took the girls and their friends to see the Hannah Montana/Jonas Brothers concert movies in 3-D tonight. Holy Smokes!! I've never seen so many screaming girls packed in one movie theater. The girls ended up hoarse from screaming so much, and I lost my voice because I laughed my rear end off!! It was hilarious to see such an example of puberty overload. I think I'm beginning to get a case of Jonaphobia.
Anyone else out there in the same sitch?