It's a Bad Week to be Furniture and/or Valuables at Our House

Shafer Household Weekly Damage Report

 (July 24th - July 31st)

1.  Sharpie Marker on new kitchen table. (Wyatt)

2.  Rubbing alcohol removed part of finish on kitchen table in effort to remove sharpie from the table.  (Katie)

3.  20+ holes in the leather ottoman by way of a pointy object. (Wyatt)

4.  Sunscreen sprayed on the side of the car only to come out after a trip to the car wash and a good wax down.  (Wyatt) (Note to Mom:  Don't put a child in timeout in the garage when the other time out spot is occupied.  In the future I would recommend the bathtub without water.)

5.  Scratch to the front of the new desk. (Nobody)

6.  Broken support on the bottom of the bench. (Calvin)

7.  Game stuck in the Wii Console thereby rendering the Wii temporarily unplayable.  (Calvin)

8.  Original artwork piece executed on the hallway wall.  Medium is colored pencil.  (Cyrus)

9.  Chocolate ice cream stains on kitchen chairs.  (Wyatt)

10.  So far nothing else, but there are still 5.5 hours left in the week.

My Mom says to look at these acts of destruction by my children with fondness because when they are grown up, they will remind me of when my kids were small.  And because they will be all grown-up, the memories will be all I have.  

I am still waiting for the fondness to come and make me feel better.

Wyatt Got a New Wallet

Wyatt found this great new wallet while we were doing our back to school shopping the other day.  And let me just say that I am so glad that they are finally making age appropriate wallets for children.  He doesn't need some small, leather, tri-fold thing-a-ma-bob.  No, he just needs something that he can put his money in.  Something that will allow the money to drop out of the top when it is turned upside down.  He just needs something that epitomizes his love for puppies and doesn't fit in his pocket, or anyone else's pocket.  Or even my purse.  Heck, this gem won't even fit in my carry-on luggage.  That's why it's perfect because we never forget it. It's highly visible.  (Don't judge his love of this puppy wallet by that face.  I forgot to tell him to smile.  My bad.)

 If you are a thief and reading this: please don't take this young boy's money.  I know that he has enough for two items at the dollar store, and while that might be too much for you to pass up, consider this:  Is your integrity worth $2?  I didn't think so.

Roughing It

A few weeks ago we went camping and had so much fun!  We went out to Bluewater.  Although I am a little confused because the water seemed more brownish to me, but anyhoo, we still had a great time!  After we (and by we, I mean, Noah, the, ahem, Eagle Scout) put up our tent, we wandered down to the lake to skip some rocks and panic while our kids got too close to the choppy water.  Wasn't it beautiful?

 Noah used a walking stick to make his way down to the beach.  And yes, that perfectly round cylinder was just lying on the ground.  And by ground I mean hung up in Noah's closet for his clothes.  But who needs a place to hang your shirts when you are going camping?  Not us Shafers.  Notice the title is "Roughing It" and not "Cushy Camping."

Here is Cutie wearing the same shirt that both older brothers sported.  Why throw it out when it says so much about each one of them?

 Yes, that's me.  I know you couldn't recognize me with that whack-a-doo ponytail, but just look at how I am trying to display my double chin, and surely you will say to yourself, "Oh yes, it's her!  That's her signature picture-taking face."

 Noah pondering his life's choices. 

 I love this picture of Calvin.  What you can't see is that he is looking at Noah.  And that is the face he is giving Noah about 99% of the time.  Calvin loves him so much.  

 Here is Wyatt giving himself up as a sacrifice to the big tent.  We were grateful for him being so willing to be consumed by Nylon.  Thank you, dear son, thank you.

 Yes, he survived the leap into the tent, and this is proof:  he woke the next morning inside of it.  And I was the lucky sleeping bag.  

 Look at Cyrus' sleepy, wake up eyes.  Seriously adorable.  The footed jammies just make it all the more sweet.  

 And because of the horrible fires that New Mexico and Arizona have been having, we were on fire lock down.  We had to camp without a flame. No smores, no roasting hot dogs, no nothing.  Just lunchables, pop tarts, and doritos.  There may have been a few packs of gushers.  They just went so fast that I can remember!

The beauty of the camp out was that it was fast.  We broke camp at 6:30, and we were home by 9:00.  It was so much fun.  We plan on going again when Cyrus is a little bit bigger and not so unwilling to just go to sleep in a tent. 

Money Well Spent

I warned the boys about the those claw machines at Wal-Mart.  I told them that all they do is take their money.  "It's a waste!" I said.  Yet, they still wanted to spend their allowance on them.  

It is never a good thing when a Mom has to eat her words.  And boy did I when Calvin won 5 stuffed animals with only one dollar.  Yes, that's right.  That means he picked up two at once.  

I have to find a new reason to use when they ask to play the claw game.  Any suggestions?