Paint Brushes in Bags Aren't Safe; 2-year Brothers Make Good Scape Goats; Older Sisters Make Good Witnesses

Now that we know that #4 is going to be a baby girl, we've decided that we ought to consider getting Max's room in order. We just bought him a new sports-themed bedding set and are also considering some new furniture for his room. Additionally, we have been trying to figure out paint colors to tie the whole thing together.

This afternoon we quickly painted a very small section of wall with paint samples from Home Depot to compare two different colors of blue. Afterwards, we put the used disposable brushes in a bag with some other trash, tied it up, and put it up on the changing table--seemingly out-of-sight, out-of-mind, and out-of-reach.

A few hours later we heard Alison call down to us, "Max and Kaitlyn are painting the walls!"

I wondered how that could be? Where did they get paint? It turns out that the brushes in the trash were still wet enough to paint with and Kate and Max had painted on 1 wall in Max's room (which was fine because, as I mentioned, we were going to be painting it anyway), 1 wall in the hallway and 2 walls in Kaitlyn's room (which was not fine because we have already painted thos walls a nice non-Blue color).

Both kids heard us come running up the stairs and took off and hid. They knew they were in trouble. Fortunately, since the paint was still wet, we were able to get it off of 2 of the 3 walls where they had painted.

Oh yeah, one of the reasons we had decided to paint the walls in Max's room was because Max and Kaitlyn had, a few weeks ago, already taken pencil to the walls in there. (Hint: it doesn't erase as easily as you might think when it's done on flat paint.)

It's a good thing that these partners in crime are so stinkin' cute. I wonder which one of them was the mastermind of the whole plot?

Eruption and The Trike-a-Thon

Recently, Alison's class at school has been studying Mexico. Ali has been especially intrigued by the volcanic activity in Mexico after reading a short story in class that recounted an eye-witness account of the formation of a volcano. So, when the class was given an assignment to produce their first research paper about Mexico, Ali's chosen topic came quite easily.

What didn't come quite as easily, however, was convincing Ali that a full volcanic science demonstration was not required as a visual aid. I think Ali has been reading our copy of "Getting to Yes" because she somehow negotiated her way into our doing it.

We tried our best to design a mountain structure that could withstand the intense heat of molten lava, but unfortunately construction paper, old Pepsi bottles, poster board and paint aren't as heat-resistant as you might think. Rather than re-engineer a new volcano which could withstand the lava, we instead opted to use a baking soda and vinegar lava-substitute and soak, not melt, the plastic figurines we decorated the volcano with.

(Note Ali's missing teeth. This was not an unfortunate consequence of some volcano malfunction. She's just missing 5 teeth--including the four in front!")

Megan was able to fill her role in the whole ordeal...I mean "experience"...by attending Ali's oral presentation and eruption demonstration at school and capturing these pictures. (They did not have the Van Halen song "Eruption" playing the background, unfortunately.)

Max contributed by accompanying Megan to Ali's class and trying to destroy everything he could get his hands on. Probably.

Kaitlyn, recently had a Trike-a-Thon at her school. She was one of two riders who successfully completed the 50-lap course (and did it on just two wheels to boot). Kaitlyn was able to keep up with her friend Collin (son of our good friends George and Brittany, and the other 50-lap completer) the whole time, although she opted to ride with her eyes open most of the time.

On an unrelated note, Kaitlyn was talking to Megan the other day and Megan suggested that Kailtyn do something (exactly what we can't remember...let's say it was 'clean her room'). Kaitlyn's response was classic: she looked at Megan in the eyes, put her hands on her hips and shifted her weight to one side and said, "Mom, that is so 1999!"

Max's Prayer

It was Max's turn to say our dinner prayer tonight and this is how it went...

"Dear Heavenly Father,
I ride my bike today, bless that we have pizza later, I don't like this fork. Amen."

Conseco Fieldhouse

We've been to Conseco Fieldhouse quite a few times in the past couple of weeks.

First, Megan and I went together on a date to see Carrie Underwood in concert. Not only was the concert entertaining, but it was very family friendly. We saw people of all ages. Our girls (especially Kaitlyn) would have loved it! We enjoyed her segue of her song "Jesus Take the Wheel" into a (fairly rockin') version of "How Great Thou Art."


The whole show was chock full of effects and props including a giant swing on a giant tree branch, an electronic LCD dress, and a blue pickup truck that 'rode' through the air over the whole arena.


It was very enjoyable and we'd definitely recommend it.

Megan's mom was able to procure 5 free tickets to the last Pacer's game of the season so we took all the kids...to Conseco Fieldhouse. (If you could see the scoreboard you'd see that the Pacers were down 20 in the 1st half).

We got 3 large buckets of popcorn and soda in re-usable cups that they were trying to get rid of. Max promptly spilled 1/2 of one of the buckets. But, fortunately he recovered by eating the other half so he could look cute by wearing the bucket as a hat.

Alison rooted for Dwight Howard, Vince Carter and the rest of the Orlando Magic and did her best to rub the score in my face at every possible moment. (She also refused to be photographed.)

Kaitlyn and I enjoyed yelling at the top of our lungs for the Magic to miss at every free throw opportunity.

Although Home Depot isn't Conseco Fieldhouse, we took our kids there too. (Mostly because this picture shows off our kids' respective personalities--Ali climbed to the highest possible spot she could, Kaitlyn (a.k.a. Vana White) showing off the product, and Max refusing to be outdone by his older siblings.

We've got a great 3.5 kids!

The Best Form of Birth Control?

Max has taken the "Terrible Twos" to a whole new level--far beyond what Alison and Kaitlyn were able to attain. Let's take a look at Max's recent accomplishments:

1) Max learned to climb out of his crib. We used to be able to sleep in past 7:00 a.m. in the morning without worrying that Max was awake, out and wandering the house unsupervised. Sure, the girls are now able to get up and turn on some cartoons. But, Max up and about is a different story.






2) Max learned to "use" the computer. By "use" I mean permanently disable certain keys on the keyboard by breaking them off entirely such that they can't be replaced. At least he's been judicious with the keys--who needs the Shift, Z, and V anyway?


3) Max learned to spill chocolate milk and orange juice on the brand new grand piano. This was during the day when we had literally taken our eyes off of him for less than a minute... (Obviously, we cleaned up the spills before taking a picture; and, fortunately, we were able to get it all cleaned up quickly.)

4) Max learned to open the pantry. By "open the pantry" I mean open the door to the pantry so hard that the door stopper punctures a hole in the door. Perhaps he's got a future as an Olympic weightlifter?

5) Max learned to get into the drawer in the fridge. The problem wasn't so much that he can get into the yogurt whenever he wants, but that he slams the drawer closed every time. One morning I opened the fridge and found a huge crack in the drawer.


6) Max learned to play drums on the new Pottery Barn table with a metal fork. I'm all for his learning to play the drums. We have the drum set in the basement for that express purpose. Fortunately, we had had the table for a week before this incident.


7) Max learned to move the new dining table chair to the fridge to try to reach a 9x13 glass pan of cake. Shortly after that, Max learned that a 9x13 glass pan is pretty heavy for a 2-year old to hold above his head. Then, he learned that if you drop a 9x13 glass pan on a new chair, the pan shatters and the chair breaks and gets deep scratches. He also learned that his parents get pretty upset if you keep doing stuff like this.

After all this, Megan and I learned that we're expecting...

Yes, "expecting" in that way. In October. We couldn't be happier!

Kaitlyn's Ears

For months Kaitlyn has been asking to get her ears pierced. Months. We even explained how the whole process of getting your ears pierced works. Still, she was determined. Insistent. Resolute.

Megan and I didn't have any previously defined agreement on how old or how young our girls should be in order to undertake such an ear-altering procedure--just that they should be old enough to make the decision themselves.

So, we decided that if Kaitlyn was serious about it, we were willing to go ahead and go through with it. We agreed on a Monday that she could do it that Friday. She anxiously counted down the days.

When the Friday came, we went to the mall to the Piercing Pagoda, picked out the perfect pair of pink flower studs that came with a free piercing and swiped the credit card. Kaitlyn was all smiles.

Then, came the time to sit in the chair. She grew a little hesitant and requested permission to sit in Megan's lap. No problem.

Then, they put little black dots on her ear to mark the perfect spot to pierce.

Then, they re-evaluated if the holes were even.

They got a mirror and showed Kaitlyn and Megan so they could judge.

All of this deliberation made Kaitlyn even more nervous. She covered her ears.


Megan and I told her that if she didn't want to do it any more she didn't have to. She turned into Megan's shoulder for a moment to gain her composure. We asked if she wanted to do it, and she still did, so, bravely, she turned around.

The workers counted down: 3, 2, 1...!


As soon as they simultaneously shot the earrings into her ears she made the saddest face and started silently weeping.

Two minutes later she was fine.


Now, she shows them off to anyone willing to see them and she absolutely loves them. I have to admit--she looks pretty adorable.


Now, Max has been asking to get a tattoo for months. Months...

(This post was a joint alliance between Nathan and Megan. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.)

Max, Can I Take Your Order?

I was in the hallway when I heard Max say, "[I want] nuggets and fries and nuggets and fries..." He had turned an old DVR receiver into a drive-through intercom. We really don't eat out that often. Really.