Hayden vs. the Guinea Pig Cage

The other day Lisa, Mike, Joe and I were all hanging out in the kitchen talking when Ainsley came running in saying, "Hayden's in the guinea pig cage!" We ignored her at first. When you have 8 kids running around one house you just tend to wait for the sight of blood before you take any comment too seriously. She repeated the statement, and we all just paused, looked at each other and said in unison, "Did she just say that Hayden is in the guinea pig cage?" She did! Oh no! Joe runs down the hall and I hear him yelling get the camera! Of course I'm not going to miss out this opportunity, so while I'm frantically looking for my camera and a clean card, Joe is pretending to help Hayden get out of the cage. Hayden's crying, "Daddy, get me out!" Joe, holding back laughter is saying, "I'm trying, son. Mommy, hurry with the camera!" He's also concerned that the guinea pig is squished between the cage and Hayden. Oh no! How are we going to console Ainsley when we have to explain to her that her guinea pig has been squished by her brother! Thank goodness the guinea pig was fine. She was pretty nervous around all of us for a few days, but overall she's fine.

How did this happen, you ask? Well, all I have to say is Hayden.... those of you who know him know if anyone can get themselves indside a guinea pig cage, it's Hayden. We were installing flooring in the girl's room earlier that day and their furniture and extra toys were all pushed into the closet. Hayden found their trash can and pushed it over to the dresser that the cage sits on. He opened the door (which is even hard for me to do) and put his entire upper body through the opening. From there all I can imagine is that he tried to pull himself, with the guinea pig in hand, through the door. He didn't fit as easily that way, so the entire cage came with him, collapsing down on him, shavings going everywhere. The pictures explain it better than I can.

So, in the battle of Hayden vs. the guinea pig cage.... I guess you can tell the cage wins! I'm hoping he's learned his lesson here.

Time for a Change

I felt like my blog needed a new look, so purchased a blogger kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs (my favorite digital scrapbook store). This kit is called Blog in a Box: Bloom and Grow by Zoe Pearn. Isn't it fun?! With this new look, my layout is different, so I am having to go through and resize my pictures so that they won't be cut off. This takes time, so they aren't all done, but I'll work on a few every now and then.

Katelyn's Team Pictures

We went to the mansion last night to take pictures of Stage Art's Xtreme Praise Team members last night. Katelyn is on the Teen Team this year (that name alone about kills me - TEEN? wow!). She wanted to pick out her own outfit for this and it had to involve jeans. :-) She did a good job all the way from the headband to the shoes. She looked so grown up and trendy. All that training about what matches and what doesn't is finally paying off. :-) I absolutely love these pictures of her. She is beautiful. I don't take the time often enough to just sit back and just look at her. She is changing so fast. 4th grader! I can't believe it! Anyway... before I tear up I'll just post these. Katelyn, I love you. :-)










Such a photographer's kid, isn't she?


Stage Art Productions Xtreme Praise Teen Team 2008/2009

Carson lost his first 2 teeth!

Carson lost 2 teeth this summer before school started. This was a big deal to him because he thought he wasn't as smart as some of the kids last year because they had already started losing teeth. I'm not sure where that theory came from, but he really did believe that! He knows now that being smart has nothing to do with losing teeth, but he does know that it has something to do with growing up. Joe pulled both of them for him after weeks of Carson wiggling them. He looks so cute with those gaps in his teeth. :-) The others are already coming in, so the gap won't be there long.

Ainsley's First Day of Kindergarten

Ainsley had fun her first day of school. She has Carson's teacher from last year, Mrs. Ary.
A few interesting details about her first couple of days of school:
* Mrs. Ary said the first day she pretty much played by herself and was quiet.
* The second day she made friends with a little girl named Evan. I asked Ainsley about her new friend Evan and she said, "Everyone calls her Evan, but I call her Sarah. Her first name is Sarah, her second name is Evan." She is Grace's little sister (Katelyn's friend from last year).
* This morning when she was getting her backpack ready for school she pulled her Dora blanket out of her bag and said, "Mommy I need a different blanket for rest time because my toes stick out of the end of this one." She's grown this summer. :-)
* Ainsley came home yesterday with a red rash on her arms and red cheeks, so we think she's got Fifths Disease - one of those childhood rashes. Intersting thing is, Katelyn had it this same time last year.
* She's the youngest one in her class again this year. She probably always will be since her birthday is right before the cut-off date. I noticed she's one of the shortest too, or there are some pretty tall kids in her class. :-)

Hayden's 1st Haircut

We finally took Hayden to get his first haircut last week. It was quite an ordeal! It took me several weeks to finally make the decision that it was time to get it done. After having the girl at Starbucks say, "She looks just like that little girl in ...." (I didn't hear much after that because the words "she" and "little girl" rang in my ears like a siren), I made the call to Barbara to schedule his appointment. He hated every minute of it. Cried from start to finish. Joe tried his best to distract him from crying by talking to him about the animals on the front of his apron, and how cool it was that he got to wear a cape. But nothing worked until it was over and he got the reward. Three pieces of candy. He does look really cute with his new cut, and the most important part for me, he kept some of his curls. I'm just not ready to give them up yet. :-) Besides that, we have big plans for Halloween for his costume, so he's going to need that wild, curly hair in October.

Hayden & Sadie Dancing

This video was taken a few months ago, but I ran across it again tonight. It's just so funny that I had to post it. Note the mess in the boys' room. It pretty much stays this way. I know what you're thinking, Mom. Sorry. :-)