Your WHAT???

Just a quick Kendall story for you all.... (And yes, Miss Kathy, this is one of those that will make you smile if you are having a crappy Monday!)

The other night, Kendall needed a bath, so I told her to run upstairs and start her bathwater. When Noah and I went up to check on her, Noah was insistent that he get in the bubbly tub with her. He thinks he is big stuff when he gets to take a bath in Kendall's tub! So I figured what the heck....put the kid in the tub and let them play! One less child I have to bathe later...

So I'm cleaning up Kendall's room, watching and listening to them play, when I suddenly hear this:

"MAMA!!! Noah just put his foot on my wiener!"

(What?!?!?!?! Oh, dear God.)

"Kendall, you don't HAVE a wiener..."

" I don't???? Ummm, ok....then Noah just put his foot in my crock!"

"Your what? Your crock?! ? Do you mean your CROTCH?"

"Yeah, that's it! Noah put his foot in my crotch!"

So this is just your everyday conversation here at the Kuck house. Wieners and crocks....and lots (and I mean LOTS) of giggling!

Fat & Happy

Turkey Day is over, we are finally home, and the Kucks are all feeling fat and happy! After 3 Thanksgiving dinners in 3 days, we were definitely ready to be home. AND ready to stop eating! Don't get me wrong here...the food was fabulous! And no repeats! We had venison at my dad's, ham at my in-laws, and turkey at my mom's. So I guess you could say we had a nice variety of meats this weekend! And hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen....I, Jennifer R. Kuck, was not really down with the desserts this weekend.

YES, I KNOW YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME!

But alas, it is true. I did not have one single piece of pumpkin pie. I did, however, have some pumpkin pancakes for breakfast on Thursday...and pumpkin muffins for breakfast on Friday. Hmmmmm....I guess I like pumpkin, just not the pie! At least this year, anyway. In fact, I don't think I really ate as much as usual....but never fear! I'm sure between Barry, Kendall and Noah, someone made up for my lack of appetite.

So here is how the tour of Thanksgiving celebrations went:

We went to my dad's on Wednesday late in the afternoon and had dinner and spent the night. On Thursday, we had a lazy morning and then got cleaned up and headed to Gary & Luanne's for dinner. (I suppose I should mention here, before my brother or sister does, that I managed to get completely shitfaced drinking margaritas with Taffy before we headed to Gary and Luanne's...) We had dinner at Gary & Luanne's, let the kids play and stay up late, and then we headed to my mom's. We spent the night and then had dinner on Friday around 4:00. Stayed up late watching movies and then hit the Reindog Pancake Breakfast this morning so the kids could see Santa. And of course, the Chris Cakes are always a hit! For those of you who don't know, Chris Cakes caters pancake breakfasts...and they are fun because they flip your pancakes at you and you have to catch them on your plate...a total blast for the kids, as I'm sure you can imagine!

On with the tour.....So, we came home from the pancake breakfast and Jessie, Noah and I took a walk around the lake while Mom took the girls to the parade in town. Soon after, we took off for home...tired, stuffed to the gills, and ready to be home.

So here we are. And I must say, we had a beautiful day to come home to. We actually got home and didn't even bother unpacking. We said a silent "Thanks!" for the great weather, got into our old clothes and headed outside to work and play.

Tomorrow the plan is to plant some trees, go pick out our Christmas tree, and start decorating the house. How I love to be home!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you are all full of turkey and done with your Christmas shopping....HAH!

Pet Peeves

I don't know if it's a case of the Mondays or not, but here are some things I have found particularly annoying today...

1.) What makes certain young men think that whatever music they are listening to is so cool that EVERYONE within a 5 mile radius should hear it too? And not just hear it...NOOOO, we need to FEEL it! Seriously....do these kids not worry about their hearing??? I am sitting at Cosi today eating my signature sandwich (the TBM ...that's tomato, basil, mozzarella, for those of you who don't know) and these kids pull up and I swear, I could hear nothing but heavy bass. UGH. My van was vibrating. Whatever.

2.) People who stand in the middle of the aisle at the grocery staring at one section of food, like maybe the pasta sauces. They act totally oblivious to the fact that they are standing DIRECTLY in the middle, and no one with a shopping cart has a prayer of getting around them. And even better...they act like they don't see you! You actually have to come out and say "Excuse me" and then they don't even look up at you, or say sorry or even acknowledge you are even there....they just keep staring at the pasta sauces....because, well, really folks....pasta sauce IS that interesting! Lord have mercy....

3.) Christmas lights and music in full swing by the second week of November. It's no wonder so many people commit suicide around the holidays. By the time Christmas finally gets here, you are so sick of "Holly Jolly Christmas" you can barely take it!

So there you have it, ladies & gents....the holidays are definitely here!

Undefeated!

Yeah, that's right...The Bucks are UNSTOPPABLE!

As my dad would say...

"Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it", Michigan!

Just a few quick updates

EGGS!

We got our first eggs this week...and boy was it exciting! Really, I think we had all given up hope! Our chickens just wouldn't stay home...even after Barry clipped their wings to (supposedly) throw them off balance so they couldn't fly. Yeah, that didn't work so well. They still got out and headed over to the neighbors! So now we have a higher fence, and that seems to be working. Kendall could hardly contain herself when we found the first egg - a blue one!





BIG BOY HAIRCUT

Noah got his first haircut today. It was time. Aunt Jessie kept making fun of his mullett. I still maintain that he did not have one, but she and Danniel both insist that he did. Anyway, he would not hold still for anything! I had to have him sit on my lap, facing me and hold his head still so Danniel could safely do the cutting. And I must admit, a lot more hair came off than I thought was there! He looks so cute with his big boy cut, but I do miss the little curls in back! I guess he is growing up after all....



GO BUCKS!

The city is alive with the sound of BUCKEYES! This town is out of control! They were already preparing for the street closures yesterday...and the Johnsonville Brat grill is all set up in Dublin. That thing can grill like 1500 brats at one time...isn't that insane? Scarlett and Gray are everywhere to be seen, and all you can find on the news and the radio is talk of the BIG GAME. Will we be there?

No, we will not. We will be watching in the comfort of our own home, with beer, snacks, and the bathroom less than 20 feet away...with NO lines! And to be honest, that is just fine with me. If we had been lucky enough to have tickets, you can bet your sweet a** we would have sold those suckers!

I am Officially....

I have made yet another huge step in the life of a mother. I am now "officially" the parent of a school-age child. I had my first parent-teacher conference last night, and I was NERVOUS!

I don't know why...Kendall's teacher had already told me she was doing great, reading like crazy and getting along with the kids in her class. But one little fear I had was confirmed...

Kendall is a talker, AND a leader.

That combination is deadly in a classroom of 23 kids.

So, we had a discussion with Kendall last night about choosing to focus on her work instead of talking to the kids at her table. And even though we understand that she likes the kids and wants to be friends with them, it isn't always appropriate to be giggling and goofing off. And do you know what she said to us?

"But I can't help myself!"

Yeah. This is what we're dealing with. So, we had to get busy with some positive reinforcement. If we see major improvement in a 2 week period, she gets the Math Missions Leapster game she wants so badly. And if not...

then there is going to be some major privilege reduction going on at the Kuck house.

And if this is a sign of things to come, Kendall's teacher said that she was as good as gold today. Who says bribery doesn't work???

A Fabulous Fall Weekend

Wow! We had a great weekend, and one that was perfectly suited for some nice fall weather!

On Friday night, Kendall spent some time looking through the toy catalogs, preparing to begin her Christmas list while Barry and Noah sat on the couch and read books. I was content to sit in my chair with a nice fleece blanket and work on a secret project (Yes, it is a Christmas gift, and no, I am NOT saying who it's for!) After the little man went to bed, we had game night. Barry, Kendall and I played My Pretty Pony Memory...and it took her just one game to get her groove on, and then she was on a roll. She beat me both times! Of course, Barry is no slouch either, so she was having a tough time beating him, but she was still happy just to beat me. Friday night game night has been out of commission for a while, but I think we are bringing it back. We have a lot of fun, and when we do it regularly, Kendall really learns that it's ok to lose sometimes. And we all know how important that is!

On Saturday, we got up and made a quick trip to Wapak for a Relay for Life fundraiser that I was doing a bit of chair massage for. It was kind of a letdown, and I think we were all disappointed that there wasn't more of a crowd, but I guess we'll just take what we can get! While I was there, Barry and the kids went to his brother's house and let the cousins run around and play for a few hours...and let me tell you that they were tearing it up! I got there around 1:30 or so and they didn't even look tired yet, so we hung out a bit and then headed home so we could listen to the Buckeyes game on the radio. How sad is that? We couldn't even get the darn game on TV....maybe someday we'll come on into the 21st century! But for now, satellite would not be good for us. 100+ channels? No way, dude. We'd all be parked on our butts in front of the TV, and we DEFINITELY don't want to start that. We're doing just fine with 4, 6, 10, 28, 34, and 53, thank you very much. Six channels, and still we watch plenty of TV!

When we got back on Saturday, Sheri came out to have dinner with us...Teriyaki Salmon, rice pilaf, carrots and last but not least....Apple Raspberry pie. YUM. Sheri and Kendall went through her art box, checking out all of her latest creations, and then Sheri played the piano with both kids. Noah thinks he is big stuff while sitting on the piano bench. He just plays along like he's been doing it forever....and he never BANGS on the keys....Thank Goodness!

Sunday was just a nice morning. Both kids slept well Saturday night, and we all woke up refreshed...so I suggested brunch at First Watch (or as Kendall calls it - BIG WAFFLES) with Aunt Jessie. It was SOOOO GOOOOOD. I could eat there every week and never get tired of it. Their Belgian Waffle is OUT OF THIS WORLD! Afterward, we ran to Trader Joe's to pick up some groceries and then home to get some work done outside. When the work was done and we had eaten supper, we headed out for a nice fall walk around our property. It was really a great day for some nature immersion! Kendall found all kinds of stuff to suit her fancy, and had a million gazillion questions. I swear, she talks NONSTOP! Sometimes I just have to ask her to use her "superpowers" to be as quiet as she can. And yes, it DOES work. Just a moment of peace, that's all I ask... So enjoy the pictures of the weekend...and hope yours was fall-tastic as well!

PS... How do you like Kendall's band-aid on her nose? No, it's nothing...TRUST ME. She bonked her nose on Noah's hand, and of course...it needed a band-aid. Whatever.

More Halloween Pictures

Here are a few more Halloween pictures...for those of you who asked.

Here you see little Mr. Noah giving me some flirty eyes, Kendall with her Halloween haul, and one of our pumpkins (the only one that was ready for halloween!)