Six and a Half Kids: All that glitters isn't gold...

Sometimes it is Spray paint. More on that in a minute. The past couple weeks since getting back from California have been so busy! Last week Ryan was out of town all week, and then this week we spent the first three days helping out of neighbors so we had a household with twelve kids. Here are a few of the things we have been doing...

I took Luke, Michael, and their friend Gunnar to Sams club with me last Saturday and you would have thought I took them to Disneyland. They wanted all these treats. I told them to let me take a picture of what they like so I could remember for upcoming Birthdays. I do this trick whenever they find something they want at the store. One, somehow it makes them feel like getting that item might be a possibility and so it satisfies them. Two, it actually has come in handy when I am Christmas Shopping alone. Sometimes I can't remember which kid liked which thing, so I just pull out my phone.

After having twelve kids for a few days, six is a breeze. It actually was not too hard, I would say the after school chaos was the craziest time. I tried to make it go smoothly with milk and cookies. I think that makes everything go more smoothly.

I thought this was crazy how James' new tooth was coming in right over his baby tooth. We have lost two teeth around here this week, but the tooth fairy hasn't made it here yet. Somehow in the hustle and bustle those two kids haven't noticed.

James got his Arrow of Light last week.

His leaders looked awesome.

Man, scouting goes fast...seems like he just was getting his Bobcat.

Yesterday was St. Nicholas Day~the kids got candy, gatorade, socks, toothpaste and mouthwash, and gum. Most of the kids were delighted. I won't mention any names, but I had this conversation with one of the kids that had a disappointed look on their face-

Child: I don't like those candies.

Mom: I thought you loved those.

Child: Um, no. I haven't liked those since I was like six.

Mom: (In my head) SHEESH!

I am over the days that I take it personally. I chalk it up to teenagers being naturally ungrateful. Oh, shoot, did I just give away who I was talking about?

This picture might make one think that we are all ready for Christmas. The decorating has been a slow process this year with everything going on. We are pretty much there, except for one minor thing- OUR CHRISTMAS TREE! That little tree is all we have up right now, and I am frightened it might become our Christmas Tree this year. This weekend I am getting a real tree if I have to carry it home myself! In the meantime, I am loving all the other decorations. It just makes everything so cozy!

I do love to make the house look festive. The kids love it too. I will stay up late into the night just to get it done! I am not too crafty, but I was impressed with this inspiration that came to me about midnight one night. I got this wreath at that great garage sale I talked about here. It was $1.50.

I had seen a wreath online that someone got at Target. It was a silvery gold color and just beautiful. I really wanted to get it. However, that is when I remembered I had a new can of gold spray paint in the other room. I sprayed it right there on the spot. It took about two minutes. I love it! I think it might be even prettier than the one at Target.

For the past couple of years I have almost thrown these babies in the donate pile. I am always trying to weed out the decorations that have seen their better day. These seemed a little outdated and I just didn't have a place for them.