Don't you love the full BLACK hand print and the other huge black spot on the CARPET?
When I got to the pantry I discovered where the mess came from. I think as soon as I got in the shower, Sarah grabbed the bar stool, scooted it over to the pantry and found the messiest thing she could--the whole bottle of BLACK food coloring. She opened it up and poured out the whole bottle which as almost full. Then she did some finger painting and smeared it everywhere. It was the biggest mess. Food coloring stains so bad and it's even worse when it's black. Did I mention she got it everywhere? The whole inside of the pantry floor and walls were splattered with the black food coloring. She smeared it all over the bar stool and poured it all over the garbage can. She then smeared it all over body. My favorite is the angry eyebrows she painted on her forehead. 
What a mess!! I just shook my head and didn't even know where to start in cleaning it up.
After I took the picture I took Sarah upstairs, undressed her and threw her in the shower. I then came downstairs and got to work trying to clean up the huge mess. I had to hurry because I had to pick the boys up from Kids in the Park in 30 minutes. The mess on the garbage can and bar stool was too bad so I had to throw both things in the sink and just wash them off. I wiped as much of the black off of the walls and floor as I could. After that I had to use Magic Eraser to get as much of the rest of it off. I still have some stained black marks, but there is nothing else I could do. I had to throw her clothes away because there was no way to get the black off of them. I went back upstairs and I scrubbed Sarah down as much as I could, but she was stained all over. Unfortunately, in taking her up to the shower she got to me as well. She touched me on my face, arms and legs which ended up staining me as well. Thanks Sarah! I thought I would try the Magic Eraser on my arm since it did so well on the walls. Big mistake!! It ended up giving me a chemical burn on my arm--OUCH!! 
I did get everything cleaned up and Sarah showered and was only 2 minutes late in picking up the boys from Kids in the Park. However, in my haste to clean up I didn't have time to find clothes for myself or comb my wet hair so I just threw on my old PJs and let my messy hair air dry. I just figured I was just picking the kids up and I wouldn't have to get out of the car--or so I thought. When I pulled up to pick up the kids, Josh came over to the car barefoot. I asked him to get his shoes on and that's when he told me he had lost them. I told him to go find them. He went and looked, but to no avail. At this time I had to get out of the car with my completely wet hair, stained arms, legs and face and my wrinkled Pjs to help him look for his shoes. It wouldn't have been so bad except all his Kids in the Park leaders were still there and they then joined us in the search. Luckily we found them, but not after everyone had seen my messed up state. Don't you just love kids?!To try and avoid Sarah getting into mischief while I got into the shower this morning, I put her and Noah in the shower with me. That didn't work out too well either. Noah tried to stand himself up on the shower door when his feet slipped and he fell hitting his lip on the floor. When I picked him up there was blood everywhere. When I cleaned off his lip I saw his teeth had actually pierced his lip in two places--meaning the tooth punctured a hole all the way through his lip from the inside to the outside in two different places.
The pictures don't even do his poor lip/mouth justice!!
Ouch!! Poor kid!! It was a mess. It took a while for him to calm down and even longer to get it to stop bleeding. It was still oozing blood a few hours later!! I can't keep the kids trouble free even if I try!! Geez!!Yesterday after picking the boys up from Kids in the Park Daniel came in and took off his shoes leaving the biggest pile of sand on the carpet. What was even more surprising was the amount of sand still in his shoes after dumping half of it out on carpet already:
Thank goodness for vacuums!As in other mischievous doings, the kids found my book of stamps I keep out in the car and went to town. They decorated the moving boxes sitting out in the garage with the stamps. Those are some expensive "stickers", but at least the boxes are ready to be mailed to who knows where.
The last week we have been having some issues with the toilet. The boys all share a bathroom in the basement and sometimes that can be a good thing and sometimes a bad thing! It was a good thing in a crazy mixed up way this last week, though! Let me tell you about Daniel...He is one clean boy when it comes to cleaning up after he goes #2. I am glad that he is a good cleaner upper, however, the toilet can't handle the amount of toilet paper it takes for him to be a good cleaner upper in one flush. The result last week was two rounds of a totally clogged toilet. That in itself is not too bad of a thing, but the boys don't know how to fix a clogged toilet. Their way of fixing a clogged toilet is to keep flushing it to see if everything will finally go down. Instead of unclogging itself using that particular method, it, instead, sends a tidal wave of nasty water all over the bathroom floor. That in itself is not good, but it can be fixed only if someone tells us there is a problem. That's where sharing a bathroom is a good thing because Matthew is the only one who will tell us if the "toilet is not working". Twice last week Daniel took care of business and flushed and flushed. When he realized things were not going down, but overflowing, instead of coming to get Mom or Dad for help, he flushed it again and walked away leaving the mess for Matthew to find later. YUCK!!!! That not only happened just once, but TWICE last week. We have also been having personal hygiene issues lately. I have noticed that from the lack of used underwear I have been seeing in the laundry--meaning someone or all three boys are not changing their underwear every day or even worse they are re-wearing their dirty underwear. I am trying to decide which situation is worse and came to the conclusion both are pretty bad. So for Family Home Evening this week we had a lesson on PERSONAL HYGIENE--always a good lesson with so many boys in the family. Aaron and I gave a joint lesson on the ABCs of personal hygiene from what and how to wash in the shower, how long we need to wash our hands after using the bathroom, how often we need to change our underwear, what we should do if the toilet isn't working, etc. We explained to the boys why we need to wipe really well after going #2. I know not all of them are good cleaner uppers like Daniel. I know so because I do the laundry and... well...see the result of not so good cleaner uppers. We told them if they don't wipe well, they will end up with sore bums that stink; and if they stink no one will want to be around them. That's when Daniel chimed in with his words of wisdom. He said in his most serious voice, "But if it's chocolate on our bums we should tell people it's just chocolate. Right?" Aaron and I just busted up laughing. Oh, kids keep things exciting don't they?! Anyway, let's hope this FHE lesson sinks in--and I will know if it did or not the next time I do laundry or hear Matthew running up the stairs screaming, "THE TOILET ISN'T WORKING!!!!"
They had to bring their own lunches and Josh decided to make his own lunch without my help. I peeked in his bag to see what he made only to find a handful of chips and a soda can. Nice. I did make him take along a sandwich and some fruit to try and make things a little more healthy. Who knows how much of that other stuff got eaten--hey at least I tried!
They had lots of fun. Aaron and I also enjoyed the day since we only had three kids to take care of--piece of cake!!
Aaron was awesome and got all the kids up and ready to go at 6 am so they could be there to cheer us on at the end. It was so nice to see them at the end! While they were all waiting for us to finish they got to watch a bunch of people cross the finish line. During this time one man was running all alone and was about to cross the finish line when Daniel yelled, "COME ON, YOU CAN RUN FASTER THAN THAT!!" Aaron was a little embarrassed, well a lot embarrassed, but what can you do? One more thing it is good we only have one girl because Aaron is very afraid to comb her hair. Saturday morning he didn't even want to try and comb it so poor Sarah had bed head until I was able to comb her hair after the race. Good thing she doesn't care. Here's the nice bed head:
Afterward we went to the parade. Our candy stock was getting dangerously low so of course we had to go. Good thing we have four almost five (since Noah is almost mobile, but not quite yet) really good candy gatherers! I love the small town parades!! Matthew kind of sticks out with his quirkiness in everything he does. However, in doing so a lot of people get to know him. During the parade I can't tell you how many people yelled, "Hi Matthew!!" That made my day. Matthew, of course, didn't respond back, but it still gave me warm fuzzies even if Matthew seemed like he didn't care.
Of course I have to take a picture of the ambulance Sarah and I had the nice opportunity to ride in almost three years ago. I am sure the EMT got to see a lot more of me than they ever wanted to after accidentally birthing Sarah at home.
About half way through the parade Sarah was done gathering candy. She sat down on the curb and decided to eat the candy instead of pick it up. I couldn't get her back up again, either. Crazy stubborn girl!
In keeping things exciting later on that Saturday we found that a whole gallon of white paint got smashed open and spilled on the garage floor. We didn't discover the wet paint until Aaron had picked up the package of bottled water and put it inside the car. He then wiped his hands on his shorts and noticed he had wiped a big smear of wet white paint on his shorts, too. He went and looked in the back of the car to find the bottom of the bottled water was saturated in wet paint and had smeared onto the inside of the car, DOH!! We went back to find 2 forty pound bags of salt had been put on top of the paint can which smashed it and caused it to leak all the paint on everything around it. What a mess!! We cleaned up the worst of it and are waiting for the rest of it to dry before we can clean up any more. Dang!!
This week was our city's annual celebration. We love it and participated in what we could. Thursday night we had a house showing so after cleaning we headed down to look at the classic car show with all the kids. After looking at all the classic restored cars we went to sit down on the park bench because the people weren't done looking at our house, yet. That's when Josh asked me when the cars were going to start crashing in to each other. I was confused and told him they aren't going to crash into each other. He said he thought we were going to a car show. I finally understood that he thought we were going to another demolition derby. He was sorely disappointed to find we were only here to look at the classic cars and not to see them crash into each other. Funny kid!
We took advantage of the 7/11 Free Slurpee day. I took the kids down to 7-11 after Kids in the Park and everyone got to get their own free Slurpee. Of course Matthew and Josh didn't wait for me to help them so they got "Slurped". They turned the machine on too fast and sprayed Slurpee everywhere. Oh well. After we got our Slurpees I made them eat them all outside the store because they were all pretty sticky and I didn't want it spilled in the car. They didn't mind. I let Noah have a taste of mine and after that he wouldn't let me take the straw out of his mouth. He ended up eating the majority of mine--the little stinker!!
Aaron had a super important meeting at work Tuesday morning he had to play a big part in. To get ready for it he got out his Grandpa Claude's shoe shine kit to shine his shoes with. Just like his grandpa taught his dad and his dad taught him, Aaron passed down the skills and taught our kids how to shine shoes and they all thought it was pretty fascinating. After they were done and had washed their hands, Daniel came to show me how shiny and polished his hands were after using the shoe polish--what a goofball! 
Aaron even let the kids practice--Sarah included.
Noah has now perfected the Go Go Gadget Arms move. Any mealtime he eats with our family you have to make sure nothing is anywhere near him or else he will grab it and spill it. You can see half the table at lunchtime was free and clear of anything Noah could reach--and let me tell you he has quite a reach radius, too!!:
Go Go Gadget Arms!! 
Too bad it TURNED MY FINGER GREEN!!! Stupid Bling rings! I guess that gives me even more incentive to lose those extra 20 pounds since I don't like having green fingers.
Sarah is turning into a fashionista. She has discovered she can get herself dressed and, boy, what clothes combinations she picks out. Tuesday I laid her down for nap time and as I left her room I told her, "Night, Night." She must have took me literally because when I picked her up from her nap she had changed into some mismatched pajamas. Yesterday during nap time she took off all her clothes and tried to put on two shirts. She got really upset when she couldn't get them to go quite right. I didn't know what look she was going for so I couldn't help her either. She was pretty mad.
She got so frustrated that no one could help her fix her outfit she knelt down by the ottoman and put her head in her hands. It's tough being 2 years old!
Yesterday I told the boys to clean up the family room before they went to bed. After they were in bed I noticed the ottoman was out of place. I thought to myself, "What an odd place to put the ottoman--right in front of the toy kitchen?!"
I moved it back to it's usual place and noticed it was put in that odd place for a reason. There was a huge pile of sand underneath it. Someone had emptied the sand out of their shoes onto the carpet and tried to hide it by putting the ottoman over it. Nice try boys--like I wouldn't see that huge pile of sand!
Geez, my kids bring home more sand in their shoes every time we go to the park. I wonder how much they have to refill the sand at the playground since so much of it gets TRACKED INTO MY HOUSE!! Thank goodness for vacuums!!
After we set off all fireworks we got out the sparklers. Matthew and Sarah ran inside the house at this point and refused to come back outside. For some reason the sparklers really scared them. Josh and Daniel didn't mind because it meant more sparklers for them to play with. They loved those, too!
Noah was happy and contentedly drinking his bottle until the parade started with the fireman, police and ambulance sirens. The loud noises scared him silly and he just went into hysterical screaming. He had to get loves during and after they passed by us--poor guy.
The kids were up and ready for all the candy to be thrown from the floats. Aaron and I, of course, had to take our percentage of the gathered candy much to the kids chagrin ;). It was a short parade route so there was candy aplenty. Even if Sarah didn't gather much of it since she was so busy eating each piece she picked--up one at a time.
Sarah didn't quite have the candy gathering skills down. She would pick up one piece of candy, walk to the curb, sit down, unwrap it and eat it. About the middle of the parade she finally realized she could get more candy if she waited to eat it later. She also had help from Daniel in filling her candy bag. Daniel would gather up as much candy as he could, sort it out giving Sarah all the candy he couldn't eat because of his allergies--which ended up being a lot. That was really sweet of Daniel!
After Noah recovered from the loud sirens he watched the parade from Dad's shoulders and was pretty happy.
During the parade all the kids got free kids' meals coupons from Famous Daves restaurant. Well guess where we went for lunch?! Wahoo--we only had to pay for Aaron and my meals plus a basket of fries for Noah. That's the first time I had been there and it was pretty good. However, there is no way we could afford to go there again without any more free kids' meal's coupons though!! When we first got there the kids were starving and a little rambunctious (aka EXTREMELY LOUD). By the time our lunch was brought out to us we noticed all the tables around our family were very empty. Do we know how to clear out a place or what!?! I don't blame anyone I wouldn't want to sit by a family with five screaming, wandering, watching-you-eat children either!! However, by the time they brought our food out it was silence from our end because our kids were ravenously eating their food. To watch them eat you would think they never got fed at home!! Geez!
Then we headed down to see what work they have done in redoing the Ogden temple. In the picture you can't see it, but they have torn down part of the outside of the temple and are redoing it.
After that we headed over to the Hot Rockin' 4th celebration in Ogden. The main event was a demolition derby, but before that started they had a whole park full of activities for the kids to do. They had a bunch of bounce houses any kid could do for free. My kids jumped at the chance to go down the big slide. Of course they are crazy boys and jumped down from the top and bounced all the way down the slide. Sarah was afraid and wouldn't get out of the stroller to participate. 
Then the real fun began with the demolition derby. Wow, not to be judgemental, but holy cow was that ever a redneck event!!!! Good thing we fit right in ;). I have never seen so much beer and real live Billy Bob teeth in my life!! It makes me thankful I have a dental plan and can see a dentist regularly!! I do believe we were the only people there without Daisy Duke cut off jeans and tank tops on! Anyway, the derby was extremely loud, but Matthew LOVED it!! He is on the sensitive side of loud sounds, but he loved it so much he didn't even plug his ears the whole event. 
Somehow Noah was so tired he was able to sleep through part of the show despite the loudness of it.
Poor Aaron didn't get to see as much of the derby as he would have liked. It was pretty hot so we got everyone a snow cone at the beginning of the derby. To pick them up Aaron took the three oldest boys with him to help while I stayed to save the seats with the two youngest kids. Aaron let the boys put their own syrup in the their snow cones. Josh made the most of it. He poured so much syrup in his snow cone it sloshed out of the cup all over his arms and hands and ran down his legs dripping all over his feet with each step he took. What a sticky mess! Daniel and Matthew made a mess, but it wasn't as bad as Josh's!! We had to compliment Josh on his superhuman ability of getting the most amount of syrup per cubic millimeter of snowcone!! That is one amazing talent!! Anyway, in the middle of the demolition derby the potty calls began, but not at the same time. Josh was doing the potty dance so Aaron took him to the potty. Now there was only a few choices of bathroom places at this event. There was a whole row of port-a-potties or a bathroom with three stalls and a sink but no soap. YUCK!! Good thing I had brought a bottle of hanitizer (hand sanitizer)! After Aaron got back with Josh Daniel insisted he had to go. Aaron got back from taking Daniel and Matthew had to go. Aaron got back from taking Matthew when Daniel insisted he had to go poo. I just cringed. Aaron made him wait to make sure he really needed to go, but he kept doing to poo dance so Aaron took him. Aaron got back from taking Daniel who got stage fright and couldn't actually go poo once Aaron had searched and finally found a somewhat decent toilet. When he got back from taking Daniel for the failed poo attempt, Matthew insisted he HAD to go poop, too. Aaron just rolled his eyes and then took him. While he was gone taking Matthew, Daniel came over to me telling me he had to go poop. I told him he had his chance and didn't take it so he would have to hold it. About five minutes later Daniel came back over to me to tell me he had an accident in his underwear. Aaron was still gone taking Matthew poo. I told Daniel he would have to wait for Dad to get back. Aaron got back and checked and Daniel had indeed had a small accident in his pants so Aaron turned and took Daniel back to the potty to go poop. Daniel didn't have stage fright at that point, thank goodness! Anyway, while all this was going on I rest assured that Aaron had the bottle of hanitizer. Later I was horrified to find out that Aaron had lost the bottle of hanitizer after the first bathroom visit and no one had been able to wash their hands with more than water during all these bathroom visits--DOUBLE YUCK!!! What's even worse was as the later the show went on, Aaron told me the state of the bathrooms got worse and worse. EWWWWWW!!! I tried not to think about how disgusting that was and tried to enjoy the fireworks show after the demolition derby ended. 
When we got up there Aaron got the BB gun out and had target practice with the boys. They used old soda cans that are hanging on some string for their targets. Surprisingly enough, they actually hit a few of them.
Sarah found the old cookie monster puppet and ate the pretend cookies G&G T fed him.
Sarah also discovered the fun rope string. She actually went on it all by herself. I was nervous when I saw Aaron putting her on it, but she held on, didn't fall off and had a good time.
We also roasted marshmallows. Everyone loves that part.
Marshmallows always taste better on G&G laps!
More target practice. Aaron has a hard time with Josh since he is left handed.
Grandma brought a patriotic door hanging craft for the kids to do. Sarah thought it was a "pretty pretty" (aka bracelet) and would only wear it around her wrist.
The kids wore themselves out. Especially Sarah. She kicked off her flip flops, laid down in the floor for a few minutes and was out cold. She has slept with her hands behind her head from birth and she still does it--funny girl.
Noah discovered rocks this trip. He was content just to sit on the gravel and throw rocks around. That is until he discovered that for some reason he thought they tasted pretty good. MMMMM yummy dirty rocks. What better cuisine for a boy?!
