Our Handful of Children

Hunter, William, and Wyatt

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

still working for the title

Hunter smeared the contents of those baby bottle ice packs all over himself and the floor. Toilet papered my bathroom. Got into the yummy love lotions and poured them all over the sheets of my freshly made bed.Dumped William out of his car seat. Found the Halloween candy stash, Played in my wet shower with his footed pj's still on then sopped the floors with his wet feet. Threw the contents of Stiles penny bank all over the floor in the kitchen. and Dove into the flour bucket-Again. And this was all in the last 24hours. Watch out Stiles!!

Murphy!!!!

So mopped again today, My job last night was not steller, and we spilled at dinner again. SO out comes the Libman again. -That item should have made it onto my favorite things list. Good luck with your floors. Again

Murphys Law

On Tuesdays I usually give my floor a really good mop down. And I had every intention of doing so yesterday. But things got in the way, and I am just plain lazy and didn't do it. Even so The Murphy law for my house was not deterred. It was on a schedule. We managed to spill Orange Pop and two Glasses of milk. -We tricked old Murphy last night. And I mopped up after the kids went to bed. Now if I can just get my destructive Hunter locked out of every room in the house we might have a clean place to live.
Hope your clean floor lasts!-YEH RIGHT.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Where's William

Mom commented earlier this Week that I left out pictures of William.
Yes he sometimes is my forgotten child.
But here with the cutest Dimples, is My own little Will


AWWWW!



Look at those cute cute dimples!


So I pose the question
"Who do you think William looks like?"

Jon was bucked off

HERE IS MY WEEKLY LETTER TO MY MISSIONARY BROTHER

Dallan, and all other weirdo’s I love.
Well this week has been another plugger. Tuesday was picture day at the school. I was dreading this day because of Erica’s unsightly haircut, but a few days prior I realized that the frequent recent visits of the tooth fairy to Stiles pillow might be more cause for alarm. In the end Erica dolled up really nice and Stiles notified us that He took off his tie in Class and “forgot” to put it back on for his pictures. I’m sure it will all be okay, retakes are next month anyway, and then his jack-o-lantern smile will be mostly grown back in. I have posted the cutest picture of my little daughter on my blog page if you haven’t gone looking for it you should. It is at /jonandmonicawoodin.blogspot.com/ Look under the mullet to a million bucks heading.
Anyway also on Tuesday Jon when riding our new horse Sis. Well she hasn’t been ridden in 2 years and the time she was rode they rode her up hunting and worked her so hard they almost killed her. So Long story short she Bucked Jon off. He landed on the saddle horn twice and has many black and blue places where the sun don’t shine. He is a trooper and got right back on. But hasn’t let the kids near her. I’ve ridden her twice in the yard and she had been totally fine with me.
On Friday night there was a tack and saddle auction here in Pocatello. We hired Lisa to come baby sit the kids and Jon and I went. We came home with quite the load of items. For well below their retail price. Most saddles sold for $200.00 and retailed on average @ $2000.00. We had a fun night. Now Jon has a saddle big enough for him, I have one that fits me, and we have a saddle for Santa to bring for the kids. We only have one horse. But Jon is always shopping.
The primary program is coming up on the 9th of November. The kids are “excited“. Stiles is condemning Erica and Marcus for not singing, Erica cries any time they ask her to say her part into the microphone and Marcus somehow was overlooked and does not have a part in the script. I am grateful that I am not in charge of the primary program.
At church today they asked us if our family would clean the church house this week. We agreed but cautioned the brother that asked us, and told him that our children would probably do more damage than good. But in the end it will be a good learning experience for them and it will help them understand that they need to help take care of Heavenly Fathers house. -Maybe we will find a baby sitter.
Hunter is quite the menace. He is giving Stiles a run for his destruction title. Jon’s glasses have been the most expensive items in his path- Twice now. The first time the doctors office replaced them free of charge. Then Jon took them off and placed them on my kitchen counter. After chewing Jon out and telling him that the kitchen counter was not a safe place for his glasses I placed them on his desk in his office. With in two hours Hunter had found them and ripped off the ear piece. So my safe place was not so safe. Two days later Hunter started pulling files out of the filing cabinet and depositing them on the floor. -Jon has since fixed the latch to the door of his office so that the door will close tight and securely. Funny how thing like that are never important until AFTER damage is done.
It is getting cold, and oil furnace in the basement is being monitored daily trying to figure out if she should be traded in for a new younger model which would run on electricity instead of pricy oil. Our last quote would cost us about $2,000.00 this winter just in oil. WE shall see. We are toying with the idea of putting in a windmill to generate electricity. They are pretty expensive to begin with but they are suppose to pay them self’s off in 5-6 yrs. There are lots of thing to be done. Just not sure which to tackle first.
You look real nice and handsome in the pictures you sent. You almost look grown up, but I know that you really are not. Somewhere is my little brother who giggles when you call him Dally-wally-doddle-all-the-day. We love you and pray for you always. Thank you for being such a good example to me and my children. WE are all blessed by your service. Keep up the good work and you know you are required to write me my own letter for Christmas!?!

Love Monica and her Motley Crew.

Friday, October 24, 2008

working on that title

For those of you who are aware of Stiles' claim to destruction fame let it be known that Hunter is trying to take that title away. Hunter has now destroyed (as in pulled until busting off the ear pieces)Jon's glasses-Twice! And yesterday started pulling files out of the filing cabinet and throwing them on the floor. He has pooped all over the floor, and a chair, and some toys. Found the flour bucket-enough said. Opened up countless packets of instant oatmeal and decorated the basement floor with their contents. Unloaded all of the kool-aid packets onto the ground in the pantry. Pulled out a box of tampons unwrapped and "Shot them off". Painted with toothpaste all over a large section on the downstairs family room and the toys located there. Learned how to get out of his cage-I mean crib. It is a good thing Hunter has such gorgeous curls and striking eyes, and that Stiles came first to teach me patience, or Hunter would be in big trouble.
Did I say,I Love being a Mom!




Isn't he the cutest thing-Little Monster!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Snowman to snow tunnel

Two weeks ago it snowed and my children made 4 snowmen. the next afternoon they turned one snowman into a snow tunnel for thier toy trucks. and yes Erica has no shoes on and Hunter is just in a diaper and shirt. Who is their mother!?!



Tuesday, October 21, 2008

SIS



This is our new horse "Sis."

from Mullet to a Million bucks!





Today was picture day at the school so I thought I would let you have a sneak peek at what you will get in your christmas cards this year.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

a hole in the ground

I thought I would post my letter to my missionary brother on my blog page so those of you I don't email it to might have a chance to read a bit more about what we are up to.

Dallan, and all other who might or might not care.
This week has been fraught with peril, "and you just can't argue with a word like fraught" -Tigger. Well actually Jon spent most of Friday and Saturday digging out a hydrant that was not siphoning the water back down properly. We might not have attacked the task but it was a hydrant that provides the water to two different corrals. earlier this fall one of our tenets’ informed us of the problem and his great desire to have it fixed before winter. Jon didn't seem to care all that much but on Friday one of his contractor/hunting buddies gave us his horse because he couldn't pay his bill to us. so we are now true equestrian people. So we have a horse named Sis she is about 13 and a very gentle horse. because We acquired this horse Jon now saw great need to fix the water to the corral for our horse. And went to work digging out the said broken hydrant. He dug and dug and dug. and not wanting to do more work than absolutely necessary dug a tight small hole directly around the pipe. I having seen the need for much larger holes in repairing mainline expressed a concern that the hole might need to be bigger but then left my dear husband to do the work seeing how I "was not helping" Well after digging a hole so deep that jon was standing on his head inside of the said hole and the diagnoses was that it was still not deep enough yet. Jon crawled out of the tiny narrow hole and we proceeded to dig a much larger and quite substantial hole. After much toil, rocks, and effort and a plethora of digging tools we managed to get to the "bottom" of the problem. We yanked out the broken part and installed a non broken water spigot. and Presto chango the water was turned back on and Jon and I were able to bathe and be ready for church. Well we did put Hunters socks and boots on IN Sacrament meeting.
So the kids are Jazzed about "finally" having a horse of our own. Jon is beyond Jazzed. They are calling Sis my horse, because Jon still wants to get other horses and if he deems a horse to someone other than himself then he can still get another one for himself. (He did the same thing when he bought the 4 wheelers -one for the wife then I'll get what I really want.) Kind of smart. I just wish he wanted things like oh say a garbage disposal or a new vacuum or a push broom perhaps.
Stiles and Marcus are plugging away at school. I was shocked when I was told that Marcus was way behind because he didn't know all of his letters the second week of school. I was kind of the assumption that they went to school to learn those things but apparently the 5 yr old kids of this world are suppose to know algebra and German upon entering the public school system and shame on those parents who have not had their child in structured preschool since they were 3 years old. I thought kids were suppose to play. but I guess I am wrong.
Erica loves to color and spends most of her time in pursuit of coloring any scrap of paper she can lay hers hands on. She fills a coloring book almost monthly and is always in need of a new picture to color. her favorite medium is crayons, however markers and paints do not scare her creativeness, she prefers not to work with colored pencils but will if no other coloring option is present.
Hunter is getting along great in Nursery. Still bawls a bit when you drop him off but is getting into the swing of things with the toys and the rocking chair in the room. We have found a bottle in his possession also makes the 2 hours less stressful on all those involved.
William is beginning to "sleep through the night" if you call from 11:00 pm to 4:00 am "through the night" But it is 6 hours straight and a few times He has even slept till 6:00. Sorry to brag about this Camille but your two little girls were angels for you. IT is my turn to have the amazingly easy baby for a while.
Jon is loving working with the priests in our ward. I am still trying to figure out what in the Sam hill I am suppose to be doing with the cub scouts and all is rolling along with the laundry and the dishes and spilled milk on the newly mopped floor.
Work hard and know that we love you. The Church is true, and nothing else matters
Love, Monica and my crazy family.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

these are a few of my favorite things

I am always excited to find a product that makes my life a little bit easier. I have just discovered a product called Leather CPR. I bought it at Wal-mart and My leather couches look awesome. It is very easy to use and doesn't smell all funny. It claims to work wonders on anything leather IE. Luggage, clothing, baseball mitts, etc. But not anything suede. Anyhow I thought I would tell you about a few of my other favorite things as well.
Zout- for grass stains, Blood, baby poop, and spit-up.
Oxy-clean- for all my whites and as a companion to Zout.
Clorox2 - add some to your next load and -WOW- it really has saved many clothes of mine.
Future-floor finish-makes my linoleum floor looks great and makes it easier to clean the next time.
Pantine Pro-V hair smoother- even though my hair is curly I use it to help keep my curls from frizzing out. Works better than most defrizzing products I have tried.
LA-LOOKs Gel -Sport hold (its the blue one) to keep my curls under control all day.
flylady.com- helps me stay on top of my messy house 15 minutes at a time. she keeps my bed made, the laundry moving, my shoes on, my bathroom swiped and swished, And my sink shinny. Bless that fly lady.
Disney-and all of their movies to entertain my children for 60-130minutes at a time.
Mr Clean Magic eraser- for most messes my kids make
Goo-gone for Crayons on most surfaces
De-Solve-It for Crayon and oil in fabrics including carpet.
Clinique 3-Step- For my face.
Libman wonder mop- And the machine washable mop heads.
My dust pan with a tall handle like they have at amusement parks for the help to clean up the litter people drop. I love that I don't have to bend down to sweep up my floor. This was especially true when I was at the end of my pregnancy.
Jon
Stiles
Marcus
Erica
Hunter
William
These are a few of my favorite things
What are yours?

Sunday, October 12, 2008

I Love My Family

I am so excited with the fun times I had this last weekend. I was the first to arrive at the chapel for Zac's baptism on Saturday (well except for Mark and Zac) And as I watched the members of the Briscoe family file in to the chapel and had a chance to see all of you. Well I was and still am impressed with all you wonderful people. I'm glad I get to claim you as part of my family. and when we were all seated and We were only missing (to my knowledge) Becky, Cindy, and Lori's family. I felt sad they couldn't be there. And I look forward to the day in heaven when We all get to sit down together and just BE TOGETHER. I Love you all and wish you a wonderful day!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Peaches and Snow

Thank you! Thank you! To Fred, Jason, and Jim for letting me borrow their very sweet wives last night to can the peaches off of our last peach tree. They worked tirelessly and gave me some good instructions on how to do the daunting canning task. I can not say that now I am a pro. But I feel like I could tackle the project again next fall without too much hesitation.
I'm glad we got the harvest in before the snow fell, (which it did last night) I love living in Idaho I only just removed my window A/C unit on Wednesday! My kids are tickled pink and turning pink outside in the snow. See all of their snow clothes are still at our other house. They didn't seem that important to move in July. SO my boys bundled up as best they could and ventured out. I had better go make them some hot chocolate. Have a great Saturday!

Friday, October 10, 2008

cock-a-doodle-doo

To all those who have been attacked, heard about an attack, or laughed at the attacked. rest assured that you may now visit our home without fears of being attacked by Our rooster. He is no more. And can I just say he was a tough old bird. We put in in the slow cooker for 24 hours! and he was still tough. So even though we made a valiant effort to eat him he was just thrown out.

And Just like that! He changes His Mind

On Sunday traveling home from the farm Jon and I ran over a rock. It banged pretty hard under the van, and we did turn the car around to inspect our attacker, then drove the almost 100 miles home. As we pulled into the garage we could smell burning oil. Jon quickly realized, judging from the oil trail left in our driveway,that we had put a hole in our oil pan, a gash about as long as your thunb, and pulled the van back out if the garage. We put a bucket under the van and collected almost a full gallon of oil. The mechanic quoted us $225.00 to fix it. So we mummbled and murmmered about doing all of the good thing we were suppose to such as watching conference, paying our tithing, I even did my visiting teaching! When we picked up the van Jon asked the mechanic if it was normal to have been able to drive that far without doing any additional damage. The Mechanic looked at us in disbilief and told us we were lucky we didn't lose our whole engine. Suddenly the bill seemed like a blessing from heaven and we are greatful the old green minivan is still part of our little family.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Mckenzie

I have the cutest Nieces in the world! I have seen and held little Mckenzie Catherine Winward, and Camille definitly has made another adorable baby girl. I still have to wish Jason Good luck in about 12-14 years when the hormones and estrogen in his house will go off the charts. I am glad I only have one prom dress to worry about. But I still want my Baby girl to have the joy of growing up with a sister or two. I know I love my sisters, and am so glad to have found dear friends in my sister-in-laws. And since I am being sappy about all the women who help shape my life I love my Mom and Mother-in-law with all my heart. I miss My grandma's and love to visit with the one I still have here. Okay I am done now

Girls rule!!!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

I am not a good baby sitter

So I have been watching my sister(s) daughter(s) off and on on different days. On mondays and tuesdays I have little Juliet and As my Sister Camille counts down to delivering her baby (which she did today) I have been watching her girls while she goes to her doctor appointments. So this is how good of a babysitter I am. Becca, Camilles youngest,(well not anymore, but she was yesterday) Fell head over heels down my stairs. I was at the bottom and saw the whole thing. and off course as children do she was carting around two fistfulls of toys. In the process of falling she managed to pierce her chin just under her lip with a little star braclet that was in her hand. It required one little stitch. SO I am not the best aunt in the World but thankfully Camille forgave me and hauled her kids over again today and kicked them out the door of her van, while she and Jason headed to the delivery room at the hospital. I love my Nieces and I am so glad my sisters trust me with them. I am just waiting for Juliet to take a tumble or two down my stairs. I know it is coming!