It's NOT a costume...

Now introducing Jay Michael as "Chocolate Beard, the Doughnut Eating Pirate". Kind of a messy Halloween costume, but, delicious!

Man, I'm glad I took his clothes off before I gave him that snack!

First Haircut

Jay's hair is curly, like his Dad's. So sweet.

But, it was getting a bit unruly....

So, James took the trimmer and his scissors

and voila - a masterpiece.

Handsome, handsome!

The aftermath - love those curls!

Snack, Anyone?

Snacking is huge deal at the Ball Team house. Whenever the kids ask for a snack, I always say, have whatever is open. But, invariably, they want whatever is not yet open. Or worse, (and often....) there's nothing in the house. Seriously, is it just me? Or, do your kiddos attack when you return from the grocery store, too? I literally hide food in my own house.

The kids do usually ask for a snack. It's not like they have free reign. Well, I guess I only have a loose hold. They are growing; they are busy and they are healthy. And they have the appetites to prove it. So let me share with you our latest system for curbing the the snacking.

Snack bins. Here's the way it works. (And so far, it does.) I go to the store. I then take the snacks I bought and divide them into snack-size ziplock baggies. (You could buy the snacks already divided in the packaging, but, I thought that was too expensive.) I make enough snacks in enough variety for each lady to have enough snacks in her bin to last two weeks. Equal share for each lady and they ranged from DingDongs (found those on sale at the bread store) to fig newtons. Also part of this system is the fridge - all the veggies and fruits in there are free at all times. We have one lady who could live off of fruit alone and another who loves fresh veggies. I stocked them up on their own designated shelf of the fridge.

On the first day we did this, the ladies thought it looked like Christmas morning. By the end of the two weeks, something interesting happened: one lady had lots leftover; one lady had only a few leftover; two ladies had nothing leftover. The four of them had created a micro-economic community and the currency was a snack bag.

More random rules of snack bins: (1) You must ask before snacking. (2) Don't touch each others bins. (3) If your friend comes over, they eat out of your snack bin, too. (4) Any snacker must share with Jay Michael, who does not yet have a snack bin. (5) All trading and negotiating must be agreed to by both parties and approved by the Mom.

We will continue. I'm thinking it's working...

What A Season!!!

James and I each have an NFL Team. His is the Minnesota Vikings. Always has been, always will be. He's a die hard fan. True and true. He bleeds purple and gold. Ok, maybe not.

My team is the New Orleans Saints. I am not such a fanatic about them, but, I've always rooted for them, even when others called them the New Orleans Aint's.

This year, for the first time in NFL history (44 years) BOTH our teams are undefeated! We are each at the top of our respective conferences. We are both vying for a superbowl slot. Unheard of!

On an ironic side note - this is the first year of our marriage, too, that we have turned off all our TV - no cable, satellite, nothing. We have iPhones and the internet to follow our teams, but, haven't seen too many games. We have invited ourselves over to friends houses to watch certain games. A fan is a fan, right?!

I hope I haven't just jinxed us both, Babe! If they start losing it's all on me.....

Did You Know .....

...that if you have any of those fleece blankets with the fringe tied on the edges, that you can tie the fringe to the underside of your bunkbed's frame top bunk and make instant HAMMOCKS! Jay will literally dive head first into the hammock and swing and laugh. What great fun (at the expense of a few fringes, but, the laughs are worth it!)

Excuse Me?

I found this in the store the other day. Let's get our holidays straight, people. It's kinda like hearing your favorite rock song remixed and playing on a country station....

Fun with Chores ::::

Now THIS is how your lay your clothes out for school:

I love my daughters. I always want them to think outside the box. I always want them to work hard, yet add their own mark whenever they go and whatever they do. Keep it up ladies!