Friday Funnies and more...

One afternoon, Asher had asked me to pull his desk out from the wall, into the middle of his room so that he could play it like a piano. (It's been so fun to pretend with him lately as he's beginning to use his imagination.)

A little while later I heard:

A: "No, no McKlayne! Get off the stage! McKlayne, NOOOOOOO!"

M: "What is going on in here?"

A: "I was playing the piano on my stage, and Mr. Aaron was right there playing guitar, and McKlayne came up on the stage and knocked over that lady* that was singing on the microphone."

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See this Great Dane? Looks harmless, doesn't he?

A couple weeks ago, we visited my mom and one morning I woke up to some terribly alarming screaming.** I ran down stairs to see Asher clinging to my mom's leg and trembling as he begged Fezzik, "Don't eat me. Please don't eat me, Fezzik."

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*Later that night as I tucked Asher in to bed, I asked him who "that lady" was that McKlayne knocked down.

"Umm...it was T-Bear's Mommy and McKlayne made her sad."

**When we go visit my mom, it's mostly like a vacation for me. I get to sleep in while Asher is up an hour earlier than normal because he's so excited that we're at Mimi's. (Thanks, Mom!)

We've missed the last couple Friday Funnies, because we've either been out of town visiting my mom and sister or because we were at a fun Fall Party at our friend's ranch.

Here are pictures from both:

Cami, Brynn, Asher, McKlayne and Chase

Double Trouble.

Blankie Buddies.

Camdyn trying to escape.

All 7 of the cousins.

Now, they're all still.

More...

Poor Reid is still smiling, trying to get a good pic.

Mimi

From SeaWorld:

Yikes-ugly pumpkin!

Asher was finally tall enough to ride the Shamu Express-that was his favorite since it was a "real roller coaster." We rode it three times!

His favorite show is still the Clyde and Seamore show, and his favorite part is when Uncle Max, the walrus "exercises":

The Fall Party was so much fun! I could stay out at the ranch forever. Melissa had all kinds of neat things planned for us: pumpkin paintings, leaf rubs, decorating cookies, and if all that wasn't enough she made us a yummy lunch and sent us home with goody bags!

Painting pumpkins.

Asher was very serious the whole time he painted.

Hayden.

Ashton was very proud of his pumpkin.

And McKlayne was content with just cheetos.

Megan and cute Sawyer.

How cute is he?

Jisook painting her pumpkin for Jin.

More of serious Asher...

Look at Hayden's painting.

The tots.

Us with Melissa and Isaac. We love them.

Between five families, we had14 kids: 12 boys and 2 girls...What do you get with all those boys?

Some curiosity.

A little mischief.

Competition.

Lots of cuteness.

So much fun.

Popcorn for Breakfast

When the kids wake up at 8 and Mommy is still working on the church newsletter...

Daddy is in charge. And this is what it looks like:



When I asked Asher what he thought of Daddy being in charge and providing a popcorn breakfast, he said, "It's a treat!"

Indeed, it is.

Such a treat having you as the Daddy in this house.

We love you.

Apel of My Eye

I love this woman. I love sharing with her. Life. Moments. Milkshakes.

This is a picture from our wedding day (I would say night as it was after 11pm here, but that just makes it awkward). Yep. We went to Whataburger. We were starving. (ADVICE: Either make it a point to eat at your wedding and ignore some guests OR just eat after the reception.)

We were so hungry that we decided that it would be satisfying and probably even a little cool to go into Whataburger in wedding dress and tux and get some world famous breakfast taquitos. And it was. The cashier, a little caught off guard, even gave us our meal for free after confirming that we had actually just gotten married. (ADVICE: If you do decide to just eat after the reception, go in full wedding attire to your favorate spot and see what happens... could be free and you'll get a lot of looks!)

Fortunately for us, God sovereignly brought Kirby's uncle to the same Whataburger wielding a couple cousins and A CAMERA. I feel like we sort of ruined the magic for boys, though. I mean we had just left minutes ago, running through sparklers, driving a highly decorated Escalade, off to Honeymoonland only to be sited at the local Whataburger. I'm sure it was like seeing the man formerly known as Mickey Mouse, mouse head detached, taking a smoke break at the Happiest Place on Earth.

But these are some of my favorite pics from that day. These are some of my favorite moments in life. The ordinary. There are so many exciting times and special days in our life, but at the end of it all, I love my wife. I love my kids. I love my family. I love my church. I love the God who gave us all of these perfect gifts.

To enjoy.

To share.

Friday Funnies

Asher has been awfully bossy round these parts, lately. So much so that we call him Mister Bossy Man....a title that he loves. He proudly walks around saying, "I'm Mister Bossssssssy Maaaaaaaan" as if that's his superhero name. McKlayne has started getting swats on her hand for fit-throwing and Asher is constantly on her, "No, ma'am! We don't act like that." Then to me, "Momma, you need to give her a spanking. She's acting ugly. Tell her, 'No Ma'am.' "

Well...that was just background...onto the Friday Funnies.

McKlayne had to get a shot on Monday. Before we left the house I told Asher to pick out some books and pack a few supplies so that he could color, as I explained to him that we wouldn't be playing with Dr. Rusty's toys because a lot of kids have been sick...since...you know...it's flu season...and that the toys might be "yucky." When we got to the office and walked into our room, McKlayne started walking toward the basket of toys.

A: "No, McKlayne. We can't play with Dr. Rusty's toys. They feel sick today. Maybe we can play with them next time, when they feel better."

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While buckling McKlayne into her carseat, I hear a moaning behind me. Asher was standing in the front yard.

M: What's wrong?

A: more moaning....

M: Are you okay? (I was thinking...maybe he's standing in a pile of ants....so I turned around in a panic..)

A: The wind...(he continues to whine as the wind blows his hair...he tucks his head down with his arms over his head)

M: Doesn't it feel so nice? I love this wind!

A: No, the wind...it's trying to steal my pretty blonde hair!

M: (trying not to laugh) Why would it do that?

A: Because the wind likes my blonde hair and wants to trade. It's trying to steal my pretty blonde hair!

Apparently all the swooning over his "pretty blonde hair" has gone to his head!

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And, I'll leave you with this pic:

This Pottery Barn Kids magazine has been his requested potty reading material this week. Seriously. EVERY time he's sat down on the potty this week, he's asked for it. That's my boy. I'm trying to convince Charlie that it's just all the Halloween costumes that he likes to peruse.

Little Punkin...

Hurry! Go make one of these from the dishtowels in the Target Dollar Spot...such a festive, easy little dress.

(It's getting harder and harder to take pics of her these days...she won't stay still and is not quite the camera ham that her brother was and still is...is that because my second child hasn't seen as much as the camera?)

I've made all 3 of my nieces and my neighbor's little girl one....they took me like 10-15 minutes each to make...so easy! (Hope that Stella gets to wear hers before October is over :)

Houston Coupon Class

Heather and I have taught two local coupon classes...and this weekend we're going to Houston to teach one! We have a few spots left if you'd like to come and learn how to save hundreds off of your grocery bill each month. So, if you live in the Houston area and have a Kroger nearby and are interested, go here.

Go check out what Heather got this week....she feeds 5 boys each week plus a ton of other people and spends way less than what she used to.

Think couponing is for junk food only eaters? Go read this post.

Hope to see some of you there!

Friday Funnies

Charlie's Edition of Asher's Friday Funnies:

Disclaimer: we really don't want to offend anyone with the following material, we mean to express this in the most innocent, non-hateful way:

Proof that we need to be more careful about the conversations we have around Asher since he is absorbing everything he hears:

A couple was coming to look at our house, which is for sale by owner, and before they came we realized that they were Jewish, due to the yarmulke the guy was wearing. This spurred numerous questions about the Jewish culture past, present and future in our home for about an hour before they came...mainly all these questions were from Kirby.

"I've heard Jews are rich, is that true?"

"Are those who are Jews today, the same peope who were the Israelites from the Bible?"

"Will all the Jews be saved? Or how does this work, if God protects the Jews, who are his chosen people, but still reject Jesus as their King?"

And there were several more.

Asher loves to watch out the windows for people who are coming over to our house. A few minutes before they arrived, we told him that people were coming to look at our house, and he headed straight for his post. After a few seconds of waiting, he said, "When are they coming?" "In just a few minutes," we said. He then said, "Momma, when they get here, do we need to get them some juice?"

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As Asher and I were playing in the yard the other day, Asher says, "I see Mary." "Dada, look. Is that Mary?" I couldn't think of any Marys that we knew and was a little confused I looked up to see a middle eastern woman from our neighborhood walking down our street with a head scarf.