Does Daddy Know He's in Charge?

I've been feeling sick for almost a week now and it's all thanks to allergies. I thought it might be strep throat, but who knew that allergies could be so yucky. It's raining today, so maybe that will clear some things up along with the new meds I'm on.
Needless to say, the kids have had a lot of Daddy time over the past several days. They learned the first night he came home to sick mommy that I was happily relinquishing my role of keeper of the house and kids.
Ketchup: "Mommy, can I have some juice."
Mommy: "Daddy is in charge now. Go ask him."
Ketchup: "Does Daddy know he's in charge?"
Mommy: "I don't know. Go ask him." (Anyone noticing a theme here?)
Ketchup: runs off to ask Daddy and all too quickly returns, "Daddy wants to know what he is in charge of?"
Mommy: "Daddy is in charge of you and your brother, so go ask him for juice."
Ketchup: "OK"
and she leaves finally getting the point and I guess Daddy got it too because I got to rest in peace and quiet.

Daddy did a great job keeping up with the kids and thanks to their daily trips to the community pool, I think they may be expert swimmers by now.
For the few times when I did have to entertain them by myself, I learned a few couch-friendly
tricks: blowing bubbles with my gum, hitting a balloon up in the air to them, asking them lots of questions and of course a lot of TV (thank you Jon & Kate Plus 8 for entertaining my kids).
And then last night I had moved to my bed and Ketchup and I repeated history. We watched my favorite movie from when I was a kid together - E.T. She held on to my E.T. lunchbox and asked about a million questions, but she really seemed to like it. She also liked that she was able to stay up late with me because Bounce was a little scared and tired and had already gone to bed.
Despite Mommy being sick, the kids had a great time with Daddy in charge. Thank you to the best Daddy in the whole world!!

Ketchup's new trick & AI Finale

Ketchup stopped me today and said "look, I can make the number one with a different finger." Well, you can probably guess which finger it was and no I didn't teach her this trick. Maybe she learned it from Daddy after his encounter with Misty.
I tried to keep a straight face and tell her "Yeah, I see, but the best finger to make a one is still your pointer finger." She seemed to go right along with it.
Speaking of right along with it....she was singing right along with all the songs on American Idol tonight. Although I think our (I brainwashed her) favorite David Cook will probably lose, it was a good show.
Ketchup was excited that the winner would make a CD. She also wanted to know why the stage looked smaller-that was a sign she's been paying too much attention! She also was concerned that once the show was over would it ever come on again and was relieved when I told her they would start all over next year. She'll probably be counting down the days.

Top 10 Highlights of our Vacation

Last week we were blessed to be on vacation in beautiful Arizona. Here are our top 10 highlights
10. It was a break from cleaning our house
9. Enjoying the yummy Tucson food (eegee's and Lucky Wishbone)
8. We all attempted to catch the 6 fish in the pond at my parent's house. Attempt is the key word.
7. Ketchup had her hair braided for the first time and has now discovered a new hair-do. In fact she has a hair full of braids tonight, so she can have that crimped look in the morning.
6. Bounce wrestled his little heart out.
5. Riding the quad and learning (or confirming as we already assumed) that Mommy is faster.

4. The kids learned to cross the pond all on their own despite the super cold water. They would tell you they swam across because they paddled their hands as they walked.

3. Bella, our dog, learned to swim and now hates our small fenced in yard compared to 40 acres.

2. Daddy survived a vicious dog attack - we will never name our dog Misty. (Misty might have been small but those super sharp teeth packed a mean bite).

1. Spending a wonderful, relaxing time with family.