Pot Pie Take 2

A long running joke in our house is how bad I made a pot pie...ONCE. All the kids cried and refused to eat it. We did make them try and of course recorded some of it. The previous post if here. Pot pie 1

The other day Brad decided to try again and see if the kids would eat it and like it this time. It wasn't too bad, the kids did eat it and no one cried, so it's a step up at least. I think because of how bad the last one was the kids just have the preconceived thought that it would be bad and already didn't want it. It may not be on our normal list, but we'll try again some time to make it again. 

Second Band Concert

This week the boys also had a band concert and they did a lot better. The boys still play the trumpet and obo, but they also partly play the percussion as well. They both played a piece on the bells. You can see Beck ok, Cam is a little too short. They had to have someone put the stand down a little because he was too short to even reach the stand to move it. 

Piano Recital

Tonight we had a Christmas Piano recital for all of the kids. This year I have also been teaching out nephew Kyler and he has done really well. I was really nervous to take on someone who isn't my kid, but I gave this a try. When I teach the kids, if I don't explain well then I'm here all week and able to explain better or show them another way, but with someone who is only there once a week, I have to hope that I explained it well and in a way he understands. It's only been a few months and he seems to be getting it and played very well tonight. 

This year Camden has a lot more freedom with his lessons. I still give him a lesson book, but most of his songs are concert pieces that he picks out. I did this with the hope that we would argue less and he would enjoy the song he plays more. So far so good and he did great tonight. He loves to play and also loves to show off what he knows. 

I have given Emery more songs she knows to play. We have a Hymn book that she has liked and a fun song book we borrowed from Grandma Barnes. I'm not sure she loves it still, but she is enojying it more than she did last year. 

Beck can technically be done after this month. We told the kids they have to play 2 years, then if they have other things going on, if they want to, they can stop. I'm not sure if Beck will or not. He wants to play like Camden and just have concert pieces to play. He has grown a lot this year so I kind of hope he sticks with it. 

Surgery

Today Emery got her tonsils and adenoids out. She had a well child check and they noticed that they were too big for her being healthy, so we went to the ENT and he said we should take them out. She was oddly excited for it. We have really been playing up eating lots of cold things. 

 The surgery went perfectly and now we just have recovery to deal with. The Doctor said she was really swollen and they were obstruction her nose, which make sense because she hasn't been able to breath out of her nose for a while, so hopefully the surgery helps her breath better and not snore. 

She's been most excited for ice cream from Grandpa Arrington. When he heard she had to have surgery he asked her favorite ice cream and said he'd bring some over for her to have. She wanted us to call and remind him of her surgery a few times but I promised her he wouldn't forget and he didn't.

I'm amazed how well she has done with all of this. She woke up once last night with a dry throat but after a little bit of water she was ok and went right back out. Emery listens a lot better than Camden did to us, and that makes this time having a child get them out a lot easier. 

Funny Kids

Emery and Jacks had a fundraiser at school and since Beck had some money he said he wanted to buy something. He decided on cherry cordials and was excited to try them....until they came and he saw how small the box was considering how much he paid. We then went to Walmart and he saw that you could get more for a lot cheaper. He learned that day why we don't like fundraisers a lot but also we told him that his sister was happy he bought something from her. 

After being sick, Camden got his chance to hold Hayden and he was very excited and happy to do so. They're all like their dad and love babies. 

 We found this jacket that used to be the older boys but now it actually fits Jacks. He loved it so much and had to wear it on Sunday. Doesn't he look fancy?

 The kids were playing on Brad and my phones the other day and found out that you can take selfies and send them to each other. The weird faces they make when they think no one is looking. 

Christmas Happenings

The Christmas season is in full swing and the kids couldn't be more excited. It's only 7 days into December, but we have already done a lot. 

When the kids were little I did projects around Christma to keep them busy and stop them asking every 5 min if it was time for Santa. I figured that after a year or so they would die out and the kids would get sick of doing projects; well that didn't happen. They remember every year and really look forward to them 

First we made a countdown till Christmas. Emery's and Jacks' are snowmen that you take the rings off till Christmas eve. 

  We went to Grandma Arrington's Choir concert one night. The kids helped her with turning off candles that the performers brought it, then after they helped hand out cookies. They all loved this and were unanimous that they want to always help hand out cookies every time. 

 My least favorite thing about Christmas season is gingerbread houses. I don't know why but I really hate putting them together but the kids love it.(they probably just love the candy) Every year though I cave in and we do them. This year I was smarter and only got 2 big ones for them to do together. 

 I think only half the candy went on the house, the other half went on their bellies but they had fun and the houses look pretty good. 

Thankful

It has been a fun but long few weeks around here. We have had lots of family in town but also lots of sick kids. 

First the good. Our niece had her first baby 2 weeks ago. The kids are in love and just wanted to hold her. Hayden is so tiny; she's smaller than Beck was when he was born. I was most surprised how much Beck wanted to hold her, but he didn't want to give her up. Camden was sick, so he didn't get to hold her until he was better a week later. 

 This year for Thanksgiving we hosted and had Grandma and Grandpa Arrington over to eat. I have to say I was pretty nervous to cook a whole turkey, but with a lot of help from Brad, it turned out great. We had lots of good food to eat. 

The day wasn't just filled with lots of good food, but we played games as well. We started a family Heros game (it's a fun game on the computer).

 Emery made a game up as well. She called it Turkey Touchdown. I'm not sure any of us understood how to actually play the game, but she loved that we all played her game. 

We also taught Grandma and Grandpa to play Ticket to Ride. After games we went and the "The Star". It was a pretty cute movie that all of the kids loved. 

For the not so fun part of the week, every kid got sick. It started before Thanksgiving break with Camden. Next came Beck then Jacks then Emery. Even today when the kids should be going to school, Emery and Jacks are home sick. Brad and I have yet to get it. We are just waiting for our turn. Maybe we got lucky and it wont hit us. 

Beck's Play

 As I mentioned Beck was doing a school drama presentation of "The Miracle Worker", and this past week they had 3 performances. He was 'man voice' and had 2 lines, but he delivered them perfectly. The play wasn't too bad for a Jr. High play. We just like that he has found something he likes to do and hopefully he keeps working at it. 

Also this weekend we had the kids do some extra chores around the house. Jackson was on cleaning the kitchen wall which has black marks from the chairs. They picked out the chores they wanted and at first Jackson was excited about his chore...at first. It was a lot bigger chore than he expected it to be, but he stuck with it and did a really good job. 

Past Week

Other than the other days I've written about, not too much has happened in the Barnes house this week. Beckham is gone pretty much from wake up to bed time working on Drama. He's in a play for school and the production is this weekend. I for one will be glad to have him home more, that is until the next play that he tries out for. 

Jacks is good at falling asleep where ever he is when he gets tired the other day he fell asleep on the dogs. Both dogs like being warm, so they really didn't mind. Don't they look so cute?

 While Jacks was sleeping Emery made a lost poster for him for fun. I just like how she spelled things; like serriuse aka serious. Also the reward was a kiss and hug for finding him. 

Halloween

Camden won the Disney Day best costume the other day and school, and becuase of that he got this prize. He was so excited to get it from the teacher today. He got a Jelly Belly dispenser with 2 lbs of jelly beans, a Mickey Mouse and "The Nightmare Before Christmas". 

 The kids were all excited for Halloween this year. We tired to  make most of the costumes this year too. Emery was Evie from the Disney movie "Descendants." We made Camden's Pennywise costume. Beckham was Scarecrow from the Batman movies, and we made his mask and tore up a shirt. His was an easy one to do. Jackson was a Ghostbuster and Brad made his proton pack. 

 This is the proton pack. 

We live in a great area. There are lots of housed with lights on which meant we were only out for a little bit and the kids were able to get a big haul of candy. They'll all have sugar highs for a few weeks before we get rid of it all.