A little random, but could be helpful

I was just doing this and thought somebody else might appreciate this too. Whenever I have leftover whipped cream from the holidays, etc, I lay out waxed paper and put small spoonfuls all over it, then freeze. Once frozen I put them into a ziploc bag and keep in the freezer. And what are they perfect for? Hot chocolate! It's great for the kids b/c it helps to cool theirs down, and what is better then creamy milky whipped cream in hot cocoa? I dare say-NOTHING!!

This one's for you Dan

Phil's friend Dan gave us a recipe for Lentil Soup probably 6 years ago when we were visiting him in NYC. Well, I finally got around to making it-and it was YUMMY!!!!Here's Phil getting ready to dig in!

He's so mannerly-that's why I fell in love. Thanks again Dan!

A facebook thread...

Cydney Dunlop Barno So Chase just told us that he kicked his teacher in the nunu's. He claims it was you Joe. Is this true?...If so we are very, very sorry and embarassed...but not at all that surprised.
-Phil

Shannon Redd Carpenter likes this.

Jennifer Dunlop Meyerson They aren't surprised because that's what they teach them for Family Home Evening.

Joseph Carpenter It was a solid right jab, not a kick, but I recovered. No hard feelings, he's still my friend.

Amanda Larsen Sherwood I cannot tell you how much I like this. Hitting the 'like' button does not do it justice. I am seriously cracking up right now. I can totally see this going down...

Shannon Redd Carpenter LOVE IT!

Cydney Dunlop Barno Joe-I am sooooo sorry. He seriously has this thing with hitting guys in the nunu's. Is that how you even spell it?!?!??! I'm assuming that one day when it actually hurts him he'll stop. Last night I asked him if we should have Ty hit him there so he can see how it feels-and he didn't really care. We have our hands full here...

I am watching the cutest thing

Chase and his little friend Tessa are jumping on the trampoline and it's a windy fall day. The leaves are blowing all over and they look so cute out there. A little mini tornado of wind just blew through our yard and they were completely amazed. The leaves were sucked up into it and it was mesmerizing. They're spinning in circles copying it. I love when my kids get ouside and experience nature!!

Keeping busy when dad works late

So if you have a husband that works late, you slowly (well for me it was) get the message that you have to be creative or it gets crazy at night. Well, it still gets crazy-but we're just busy AND crazy. So here we are eating smores right at the kitchen table. Messy-but oh so delicious!
Chase hates marshmallows. Weird I know. So he just roasts and roasts and gives them away. And then eats a piece of chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers. To each their own.

Another night we took some big boxes and turned them into cars. The boys had fun coloring their fenders and bumpers and tires and whatever else.

Miss Liza bird had fun scribbling.

Chase even drew fire and smoke. He's constantly thinking of ways a fireman can be involved. Burning car-call the fire department. Done.

Ty was very serious and cautious when coloring. It was a masterpiece.

Then later we had a drive-in movie! Honey I Shrunk the Kids. The kids couldn't stop watching. It was great!

I snuggled and almost passed out.

And of course we topped it off w/ snacks! I showed the kids old pics of drive-in movies and they loved the idea. They kept talking about how loud they could be and could crawl around. And talk and be loud. My kids are loud. So making them be quiet is painful. For this reason I wish there was a drive-in around. But then they'd have happen to them what happened to me in highschool at one. Don't let your mom find out that you're sneaking tons of kids in -in the back of her mini-van. One including your little sister. She won't think it's cool. And you'll have to go back and apologize adn pay. Out of your own money. Dang I was a punk.

Right on target

Last Sunday Phil had his buddies Mike and Dan over from Delaware and NYC to watch some football. I always wonder what they think of us-they're unmarried and have no kids. I feel like we're just so loud and insane and they probably can't wait to leave. But they seem to stomach us okay and we have some good laughs. Eliza was quietly playing w/ the nerf guns and must have gotten too close to Mike b/c this is what happened.

Veterans Day

Today Tyler came home from school and asked if I'd talked to my Dad. I said I had, and I thought he'd asked b/c my dad had surgery yesterday. So I told him my dad was doing well. And Ty said no, he wanted to make sure I'd thanked him b/c yesterday was Veterans day and he knows my dad served in the army. I thought it was so sweet that he remembered my dad on this day. He told me he wanted to call my dad and thank him himself. I love that my child is (somewhat) able to think outside of himself and think of others!

A typical Sunday afternoon

After church we're all pushing each other to get into the house and change into our comfy clothes. And come football season we can be found in our Eagles jerseys. I wear my t-shirt, even though I really don't watch it or care even a smidge. It's called being supportive-or something.

There's a new Sheriff in town

Officer Barno doesn't take any grief from anybody. Trust me-I've been handcuffed by him.

If you wonder what a morning with a 21 month old

looks like? It's this. She's into EVERYTHING!!

Halloween!

The kids always highly anticipate the trip the farm to get pumpkins. This year our go-to farm was charging admission just to get into the farm and go to the field! Yikes! So we cheaped out and grabbed a pre-picked pumpkin and drank cider and ate their homemade cider doughnuts near the entrance. The kids still had a blast!Eliza played w/ this pumpkin stem for a good 10 minutes.
Here she is checking out the chickens. I love this picture-especially b/c I have no clue who this boy is!

Munching away.

Phil and Chase in deep conversation.

Later that weekend came the carving. It was gorgeous out so we got to leave all the mess on the deck. heaven for a person like me!

So several people I know are having problems w/ squirrels eating their pumpkins. So we had fun throwing all the innards onto the grass. As well as carved up chunks from the pumpkins. Well, apparently the squirrels in my hood don't care for it. So it's now just lying in the grass. Gross and dang.

Please note the gloves. Those were interesting to clean.

Post-church kids enjoying our pumpkins. Don't they look haggard?!?!?

At our ward "trunk-or-treat" Chase always gets into character.

Tyler as Luke Skywalker. I made his costume and feel pretty proud. I'm usually better at "girly" costumes!

Eliza/Dorothy with our babysitter Lizzy

Lucy at our house sunday night celebrating Phil's birthday. We ate a large dinner and stuffed ourselves silly!

Another shot at Luke

Eliza was very busy with her basket. She wanted to put everything into it.

My 3 kids in their homemade costumes. I'm not sure we'll do this every year-but it was fun to do b/c we all got into it together!

In case you wondered what Chase's angry face is-here it is folks.

Later that night we headed to the Meyerson's neighborhood for trick-or-treating. Phil tried on their foster baby's costume. So greek of him.

Chase using "the force" on Travis.

All the kiddies. This was the closest shot we had of all of them looking at the camera!

Dorothy chasing Dumbo. I just love this picture.

After the trick-or-treating. They look pooped!

Ty trying on Travis' moustache. Gross!

And yet somehow it looks right on Chase. What's with that?

Happy Halloween!

I just had to laugh

We kept Eliza out of nursery at church this week b/c she was recovering from pink eye. So Phil had her and her little flower in her hair kept falling out. We talked about it after church b/c it was missing and Phil said he kept putting it back in and it just wouldn't stay. Which I thought was strange b/c it doesn't usually fall out when she wears it. Then I realized why. He was clipping it onto the ponytail. Not above it. I just think this is hilarious. I just take for granted that I know how to do hair and he doesn't. He has no sisters to learn from. He just does what he thinks is right. And it's great-this time it just wasn't really working out. I'm still giggling about this as I type this. Am I that sleep-deprived?!?!?

New Blog

I've decided to start a blog dedicated to the many styles of Chase. He can be very difficult to handle sometimes (ie:he spent most of church yesterday in the van-sigh) and so I thought if I had a blog that reminded me of just how funny, creative, quirky, silly and imaginative he is-then maybe just maybe I'd have more patience with him. And I can print it out at the end of the year for years of enjoyment. Not to mention that it is just hilarious to see what he comes up with next. I just realized last night why he wasn't that excited about his Halloween costume. He's in full dress-up daily. This was nothing novel to him at all!
I might not blog everyday, but I will take pictures daily and upkeep probably weekly. This is mostly for our family-but figured somebody else might need a good laugh too!

www.crazycreativeboy.blogspot.com