The Birth of the Universe... according to Max and Maggie.

The more they know, the funnier they are. Max, while shoving rice-crispy treats into his mouth and I doing the dishes, started to explain to me the Big Bang theory. He has it down pretty well. Go Mrs. Oz (his second grade teacher)!!!! Then he indulged me in his own theory which he has titled the Big Crush theory. It goes something like everything was one big pile of matter. It became crushed under the force of gravity and it ended up in what we now know as the universe. So impressed with himself, he began seeking support for his new theory starting with me. Then solicited Maggie's vote. She listened to the comparison of each theory and then promptly and matter-of-factly said, "All I know is that all the planets move around the sun. The only planet that has life is earth. The other planets don't have people on them." Go Miss Eschler (her kindergarten teacher)!!!! Max disagreed... "What about Mars? You know there are signs of life past and maybe even present on Mars!!!!" Wow! Wish I could suck up as much information and spit it back like they can! And, who taught Max how to talk? Would you ever believe he was speech and language delayed as a toddler????

Teeth Keep Falling Out!

OK, we have been doing this for, let me do the math, since Bo was 6 that is 13 years and we probably have at least 4 more years to go till the Toothfairy can retired. Does the Toothfairy assigned to your house ever get so busy she forgets to stop in? Well the Reier's fairy does quite frequently I am embarassed and sad to acknowledge. Sneaky and forgetful as she may be, however, so far, so good. That is until the latest missing tooth. Skeptical Hannah checked promptly (hoping to gather proof for either believing or accusing) to see if the Toothfairy had delivered. Nope. Nothing. And Hannah, again promptly, shared the situation. So, when she was encouraged to check again, viola! The Toothfairy had indeed followed through with a dollar. (You know the economy these days... teeth don't pay so well especially when the Toothfairy doesn't plan ahead.) Hannah, relieved that she could still believe, raced in to show off the evidence supporting the existence of the Toothfairy. She snapped that dollar bill open and out fell a receipt. Apparently, not only is there a toothfairy, but she dines out for lunch and Chan Chun for Chinese!!!!

Kids Say the Dardest Things!

Some of these were first hand conversations I was witness to. Others have been reported recently from those privy to the conversation.

John, Jake's dad, asked me yesterday if we have been living in a tent. Then he told me what Max had said to Daphne, " You guys are so lucky you live in a house!" Max was standing next to me and I looked at him with a "WHAT?" Max shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I couldn't think of anything else to say. It was the first time in my life I couldn't think of anything to say!" I agree, that must have been the first time and probably the last!

Zeke likes to play. Chewie not so much. Zeke wants to play. Chewie yaps at him to stop. Zeke thinks it is great fun and keeps pestering Chewie. You get it. My strategy so that I don't call the pound is to squirt them with a stream of water from my stash of super-duper-stop-that-now squirt bottles. Matt and I had just walked in the house from Florida. Maggie greeted us with a full on-the-floor-kick-and-scream tantrum. I picked up the nearest squirt bottle and gave it to her good. She stopped... just like the dogs...go figure! But then she stood up and with her hands on her hips informed me, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT. THAT IS ILLEGAL!!!!" With that, she stomped off to her room.

Oregon Coast Vacation June 2009

The Reier Circus (minus Bo) spent a week in Arch Cape, Oregon. We rented a house on the beach. Arrived with no agenda and made up the vacation as we went.Tom came to dinner on Friday night. Weird having a neighbor come to dinner while you are on vacation. We served burgers. We waited for him to leave before we ate the "real" food on Saturday night.

Maggie's toe after playing with a Dunengous crab. They are delicious by the way!

Check out the "meaty" starfish!

During one of the sand castle building afternoons, Maggie was spotted making a "sand angel". Ya, gettin' sand out of her hair took more than a few showers and baths!

Everyone did well with the long drive. Everyone that is until the last 3 hours home when Maggie totally came apart and started poking and kicking everyone within her reach. We read the first two Fablehaven books and watched some fabulous old movies... Operation Pettycoat.

Adding to the Reier Children's List of Grievances...

Matt took the kids to buy pumpkin plants today.  The instructions were given, "Set the plants on the front porch until we plant them in the grow boxes.  Zeke will get into them if you leave them on the patio."  Maggie's ended up in the family room... HELLO?????   Anyhow, when said father discovered the mess (because Max had the vacuum out cleaning in an effort to protect his kid-sister) Matt scolded Maggie and told her she had to clean up the mess.  She stomped out of the house, "We are not supposed to be treated like slaves!"

So, we crush their "Happy Birthday Spirits" and we "treat them like slaves".   Wait, not ME!  Those accusations were both directed at their father!!!! Whewwww.  Safe again.

Ooops.

I forgot the funniest thing that happened at the MTC...  Scroll back down to the photo of the kids and I with Bo.  Look closely at the object in Max's hand.  Now for the background.  Easter was three days before.  Grandma Reier puts on an Easter Egg hunt like none other.  It really is more like a festival of toys and treats... literally, the Easter Bunny hides "stuff" (not just eggs, in fact mostly stuff that doesn't even fit in an egg!) until all hiding places are occupied and then the bunny keeps going.  Get the idea?  Well one of the many items was a battery operated fan that was also filled with Easter-themed candy.  Yes, every kid ended up with, like, ten of them.  When Max started to cry, he whipped out his "fan" which was fully operable.  Stuck it right up to his face and said, "No problem.  I'll just dry my tears."  Later, I found myself the recipient of such service.  WHERE DID THIS KID COME FROM?    Oh yes, I forget...Kid Planet.

Max's 8th Birthday

OK.  Why do my kids like Chuck-a-Rama???  Chuck-a- something!  But they sure do.  Hey, I cook quite a bit, so it isn't that they don't get good home cookin'.  Anyhow, we spent the evening out at you guessed it.  On the way home, we had three meltdowns that occurred in rapid secession.   First Maggie (not sure what got her going), then Hannah, and lastly Max.  It was pretty darn funny!  So, I decided to document the event with audio and video. Listen carefully to the first clip. I say, "What did Dad do?" to Max.  Max replies, "He crushed my happy birthday spirit!"