Sleeping on the Train

Look at this precious little baby boy! His daddy is sooooooo good at putting him to sleep. This is on the train on the way home from the Chicago Auto Show. He was so tired.

And he wasn't the only tired kid on the bus. Check out Jacob and Thomas.

Well, not everyone was sleeping. We tried to get Eme and Joe to go to sleep, but they were too busy playing with each other :)

Arent' they adorable!

Spying on Joe

Yes, I know. It's probably and infringement on a civil liberty or something like that, but i get good pictures that way. I looked in the living room, and saw Joe playing with the dow rods. I think they were left over from when we made our Hot Wheel Derby Track. Anyway, he was having a blast. (He's watching TV too, so that's why he lookes all zoned)

It takes skills to watch TV and play with sticks at the same time.

My kid has talent, doesn't he!

Oh look. He's peeled his eyes away from the TV to look at the sticks!

But alas, back to the TV. Maybe we need to turn it off more often :)

Sadly, I didn't even mention Eme, who was sitting on the couch, playing the game boy... and watching TV. Yes, I know, my parenting skills are somewhat lacking at some times :)

New Sweaters

Check out how adorable my boys are in their new sweaters! We found them at Wal-Mart. Not bad for only $3.00 a piece. And they all match. We even got Eme a nice blue polo to match them.

Here's Joe. What an adorable face he has. He can bring a smile to my face instantly. No matter how naughty he has been !

Here's Tom, Joe, and Jake, posing for my picture. I must tell you. They really didn't want to do this. Especially Tom. Just when he thought that it was over, I wanted another picture. I think I even had to threaten a spanking to get him to smile. Come on people. Pictures are FUN!

Here's Jake, Jim, Joe, and Tom, posing on the top bunk of Jake and Tom's bunk beds. Would be perfect, but Joe's hands are in his face. I had to show him how to pose his hands, but by then, Jim was done with taking picture, and thinking about jumping off the bed. Not so much a good choice!

So after I couldn't get a good group shot on the bed, I setteled for a nice shot of Joe and Tom. I think it turned out very nicely, don't you?

Chicago Auto Show

So here we all are getting to the Chicago Auto Show. We had to take a train, then a bus, to get there. But it was a fun trip!

Elizabeth Mae McShinsky

Here's the picture of my new niece. Isn't she lovely. Tiny babies are so much fun. I'm jealous Madi!

My kids thought she looked cute. Tom, of course, had the most in-depth thoughts on the picture.

"Well, Mom." he said. "She has her fathers nose". Nice Tom.

Welcome Baby

Welcome Ella Mae! My sister, Madi, had her baby! Way to go!

Elizabeth Mae McShinsky was born at 6 something MT in Utah. She weighed 8 lbs 10 oz. Thats all I know right now. My kids were so excited to get a new cousin!

Spidy-Joe

Look at this cute jammie top from your neighbor friends, the Cabreras. It was supposed to be for Tom, but it fit Joe. He thought it was the neatest. But, he was disapponited when he realized that it wouldn't allow him to fly around the house. What a sad look he gave me when he tried to fly, and found that he couldn't. Poor Joe. Life is full of disappointments.

I Said I'm Done!

Lesson learned. Don't leave the baby at the table with a plate of cottage cheese while you go do something else. At least not this one. He at it so nicely with his spoon and fingers for a while. Then, when he was done, he took the paper plate, and tried to pass it off to someone (?). And paper plates do what they do best. Fold and fall. So the cottage cheese when all down his leg, food, chair, chair leg, and floor. Nice.

Do You Think I'm Dumb?

Why is it that kids always think that we're dumb. Or that we're not looking. Do they really think that we don't notice what they're doing.

Like how Eme just now snuck into her bedroom with the gameboy, and it's bedtime. Sure, I haven't techinaclly put her to bed yet, but does she really think that I didn't see her go in there.

And during Family Home Evening, when an unnamed kid picked his nose, and sneak-ily ate it. Gross. Did you really think that we didn't see that!

Or when Joe sneaks food from the kitchen, and creeps it into the living room. And I'm in the living room. Hello. Don't you see me sitting right there!

Or when they try and tell you that they did clean their room, when they didn't. At least if your gonna tell a fib, make sure it isn't that easy to tell if your lying.

The joys of motherhood!

Screaming Kid

So Jimmy's new thing is to scream. Not because he's mad, and not because he wants something. Just because he can, and it sounds cool. It's quite startling. And he has this giant smile the whole time. Hopefully he grows out of this one soon!

My Baby Sister Beat Me Up

OK, so Im exaggerating a bit. Tom and Eme bumped heads somehow. His eye made contact with her forehead, and, well.... Black eye. Poor Tom. He was so embarassed.

Static Cling Attack

Check out Eme's hair. It's so cold and dry here, that everything has static cling. My pants, the socks in the laundry, Eme's hair.... OK, now that I look closely at the pic, not so much static cling. Oh well. In real life, it was pretty bad!

So Funny

Joe's eyes are so funny, he could be a cartoon character. What a silly boy!

Darth Jim

Isn't this cute. I was download pictures of the snow, and found this mystery picture on my camera. Jacob or Tom must have taken it. Kinda blurry, but adorable. Look how big Jimmy is getting!

Check out the Snow

OK, i like snow as much as the other guy, but this is crazy. You can't have snow AND 4 degree weather. Thats not fair. One or the other people! It's really coming down out there. I'm definately gonna go get the boys today. The poor things would be kidcicles by the time they go home! When Eme looked out the window and saw that it was snowing, got all excited and wanted to know if it was Christmas again.

Eme's Cereal

We really need to go grocery shopping. We're almost out of food. Jacob asked today, "Mom, are we off the menu". Yes, I said. "Good", he said. "Then can I go and find something to eat". See, we have this menu that tells us what to eat, and when to eat it. They think it's so cool to go in the kitchen and pick out their own stuff. Anyway, Eme was eating the last of the grown -up cereal. Have you tried it. Yah, not the best. But high in fiber and protein, if you like that kind of thing. So she eats her cereal, and goes in the other room. I come in to check on her later, and she says "Mom, you know that cereal that I ate". "Yah", I tell her. "Well, they needed to work on it some". Hysterical.

Jacob gets his Citizenship awards

Jacob earned his Citizenship Beltloop and activity pin. Way to go Jacob!

Tom gets his Bobcat

Good Job Tom! Here's Tom getting his Bobcat award. It's the joining badge for Cub Scouts. All new Cub Scouts do a few easy things to earn this badge, before starting on their other badges. Tom is now working on his Tiger badge.

Winners!

Check out all our winners at the Pack Meeting!

Hot Wheel Derby Race

Ok, Derby and Race together are redundant, but I don't care. Isn't this track lovely. We made it out of some old hardwood flooring that Brig and Alicia Marriott gave us when they moved to Utah. By we, I mean that I offered my great service of moral support to Brent! It's 2 sections of hardwood flooring, with dowlrods glued/nailed into 3 separate lanes. It worked really well, and the cars went fast!

Our Cub Scout Pack

Our numbers have dwindled a bit, but we are sure having fun. This last pack meeting, we had a HotWheel derby. It was a blast. I actully think that the grown-up had more fun than the kids. And the kids had fun! Don't these scouts look sharp!

Its OK Joe

I'm not quite sure why the worried face, but Joe sure seems concerned about something in the picture, doesn't he?

Sunday Evening at Lewis's House

Here we are, all hanging out at Lewis' house Sunday after church. We had a lot of fun. We played a lively game of Pit, and visited, and enjoyed each other! The men especially liked to play Guitar Hero on the playstation. It was very funny :)

Becca

Sorry about the sideways picture, but you get the idea. This is Rebecca Harty. She just turned 8, and was baptized today. Sunday, January 28th, 2007. We were so glad that we got to go and share this special day with her!

Extended Family

Here's a few of Brents family. We have Nathaniel, Eleanor, Paul, Adrienne, Brandy, and Randolph. I guess that Carol is taking the picture. They went to the Arch in St.Louis when Paul and Carol and family came to visit.