Honestly, Never a Dull Moment!

Some notes from the last week....we have been encouraging MK to feed herself with a spoon. Honestly, she is the messiest of my three children. Not only does half of the meal end up in her lap, but it is also in her hair, her hands, and of course, her face....as Ryan puts it "she hasn't figured out the law of gravity yet".

The children decided yesterday was a good day for a lemonade stand. So, being the entrepreneurs that they are, they made a sign, mixed together some lemonade, added ice, poured some cups full and waited patiently for their first customer to come begging. You see, money was their motivation, not fulfilling the thirsty desire that their customers possessed. So instead of offering the lemonade first, they held their money cup out for payment, then (again instead of giving the customer what they wanted) they proceeded to count the money that had been added to the cup and, as if the customer had not waited long enough, the boys would proceed to divide what profit had just been made....THEN, they gave the customer the drink! They were quite entertaining to watch. They eventually got restless and started knocking on doors to drum up business....the funniest part was that Colin went and collected money from a neighbor, took the lemonade to the man and then told him "sorry, sir, you got what was left"....the guy only got half a cup! They are new to the neighborhood....not so sure we made a good impression!

I have this thing that I started with the boys a few months ago. I read them a book and then we watch the movie as part of our family night. This time around, the boys chose to read Prince Caspian. So for the better part of the week, they have been dressing up in their new Prince Caspian costume and playing with their swords. We are loving the book and cannot wait to see the movie when we finish!

Also, while I was out yesterday, I decided to buy them a big rubber ball. We had planned an evening for the family to just cookout, swim, play in the sprinklers, etc. so I thought a huge ball would add to the fun. It did. The children liked it so much that they decided to bring it inside. HMMM. Fast forward a day. Ryan and I are downstairs with MK just hanging out, the boys are upstairs in their playroom just hanging out. We heard some knocking around. Then it got quiet. Then the playroom door opens, the bathroom door closes.....we hear two voices saying "we need some towels...." So I say to them, "boys is everything ok...what are you doing?" Pryce, being the spokesperson that he is, shouts down "everything is fine" and then to Colin "Colin, what is it that we are doing again?" The boys had knocked over our fishbowl with the big, huge ball, "Lizzy" the fish had apparently been knocked out, and they were trying to get the fish back into water and clean up the big mess without us finding out. They are only 8 and 6 so to hear them working together during this secret rescue mission was quite humorous. Of course, mom and dad stepped in, saved the fish and all is well with little "Lizzy". At some point during the rescue, Mason-Kate took notice of the drum set and decided to give those a try. She played every drum and cymbal included in the set. The boys decided to join her with Pryce on guitar and Colin on lead vocals...they make quite the band!

We celebrated Mason-Kate's "half" birthday. The boys love this tradition that we started a few years ago! On each of their half birthdays, we celebrate with half of a cake, served on half a plate and they get a gift. The boys were so excited to decorate MK's cake and pick out a gift for her to open on her special day (in reality, we celebrated a day early). Everything was going well up until we lit the candles on the cake. The boys simultaneously said "she is going to put her fingers on the candles and burn herself"....Ryan and I said it would be ok, not to worry. Well, wouldn't you know that we lit the candles, started singing, video recorder going, camera flashing, MK's finger goes towards the lit candle, the boys jump (screaming also occurred), MK - who never touched the candle - jumped and started to cry....that was that with the birthday party :) Of course, the cake made it all better.

And to close out the week, many people ask how the boys are adjusting with Mason-Kate. They continue to do so well with her. They are the first to her rescue in the mornings and they are the last to give her a big kiss goodnight! She adores them and they, in turn, adore her. Tonight, Pryce asked if he could have a turn feeding MK a bottle....after he successfully gave her the bottle, he came in and said "that was so much fun....I think I want to do it again tomorrow!" So sweet.

One more thing, there is a family leaving on Thursday for China. They are adopting a baby girl from Mason-Kate's orphanage. We cannot wait to follow along on their journey....if you would like to take a peek, their site is http://www.awaitingmarykate.blogspot.com/ Have a great week!