Monday, March 30, 2009

They're Back to School!

My kids went back to school today! You'd think that things would've settled down here, huh? Notsomuch.

Here's my son Clayton. He's 5. I know, I know, he looks much older, no? Austin drew a beard and mustache on him with black Sharpie. You know, because Austin's 14. And he doesn't know any better. Because he's only 14. Ahem.

I made Austin scrub it off with baby oil and it worked fairly well. Clay only had a 5:00 shadow when he went to school this afternoon.



This is Brooklyn eating her breakfast. Clay made her breakfast. Wasn't that sweet of him? Cheerios and whipped cream. No, I don't worry about her growth being stunted. Why do you ask?



This is Clay's air force. He folds a dozen or so airplanes a day. I find them everywhere. For the price of a pack of cheap paper, he's had weeks of entertainment. I think he's planning an attack on Florida right now. (It's the only geographic area he's heard of.)



Brooklyn tried to fly today. I think Clay may have given her a little push. She did manage to get airborne for a few seconds. Unfortunately she landed face-first into the couch and got herself a black eye.





Yep, it's just an ordinary day here.

43 comments:

Lynn said...

Yikes. Now that's a shiner!

Mandy said...

The 'stache is surprisingly a nice look on Clay. Brooklyn seems to really be enjoying her breakfast. I'm not so sure it is the route I'd go but I suppose you shouldn't knock it til you try it, right? I mean, isn't whipped cream diary or close enough to milk to pass? Her little shiner is so cute! She could make up a rockin' story about how she got it. When my daughter (10) knocked the entire bottom half of both front teeth out in February she didn't tell people she was bending over and hit her mouth on the sink. Nope, she went to school and said she got in a fight....and won....and you really should have seen the other person! lol Life would be SO boring without kids.

Anonymous said...

To remove permanent marker, use rubbing alcohol. Ü

Unknown said...

LOL - too funny. Sounds like one of my days from time to time.

Of course, as they get older it gets easier (yeah, right).

Nice blog btw!

JO

www.teensandtriplets.blogspot.com

Kellan said...

Poor little Brooklyn - ouch! I love the airplanes - ACK!! My son does the same thing - they're EVERYWHERE!

Your kids sound so much like my kids - five o'clock shadows and all - tee hee!

Take care, Dawn. See you soon.

Kellan

Heather said...

Ouch - poor Brooklyn! That eye looks sore. I hope you have a more peaceful day today.

Martha said...

Please ask Clay not to attack FL until after June when I have moved back north, that will give him plenty of time to build up his air force!

I hope Brooklyn's shiner heals quickly.

Anonymous said...

OMG I should have thought of whipped cream on my cheerios! Of course it isnt as cute when a 37 yr old woman is caught eating it.

Thanks for the morning laugh!

Katrina

Suburban Correspondent said...

I'll see your hundreds of paper airplanes and raise you a dozen submarines constructed out of empty oatmeal containers and duct tape.

Kimberly said...

About the paper airplanes. Two years ago during Thanksgiving break I made a paper airplane for my then-three-year old. His daddy tried to make one as well and well, let's just say mine was far superior;) During Christmas shopping my DH just "happened" to find a calendar - a paper airplane a day! So, that's a little over 300 paper airplanes! And we had to keep them all (3-year-old mentality, you know). Needless to say, he got much better at making planes. And he bought ANOTHER calendar (All! New! Designs!) this year...

Anonymous said...

Can your kids get any cuter?! Brooklyn looks like she was trying to be Rocky or something. I hope it doesn't hurt too much. :)

Donna in PA :)

Knitty said...

What? No Indiana Jones connection to all of this? LOL

Anonymous said...

I love the expression on Clay's face. :)

I've got a couple photos of one of my kids covered with drawings from markers (not permanent ones, happily). I can't remember now if the child drew on herself or the elder sibling helped (probably both). Child is grinning wildly in the photo, though, pretty pleased with herself.

Poor Brooklyn with her little shiner. Just makes me go, "Awwwwwwww," and want to give her a hug. She really is putting on the pout for the photos, too (she does have a fine sense of the dramatic, though, doesn't she?).

sharalyns said...

Hey that pile of paper looks familiar...oh wait, yours is mostly white. For Christmas this last year, our 7 year old received the "Paper Airplane A Day Calendar".

They are cool, and he's learned all different kinds of paper airplane folding, but I'm sick of the paper! We now have a 15th and 30th day of the month clean out of all airplanes found in the house...

That's some shiner Brooklyn got there, complete with small cut.

Karen said...

I love coming here. You make my chaotic days look so normal.

Gen said...

Even with a black eye your little girl is just adorable!!

MaBunny said...

Dawn, come on , there is absoultely nothing wrong with cheerios and whip cream, lol.
As for the stache, Clay looks semi happy he has it and as for shiner, the poor little girl. She is adorable no matter what though.

AiringMyLaundry said...

Hah, that drawn on stash looks better than my husband's. He can't really grow out a proper one no matter how hard he tries.

My son has been making a bunch of paper airplanes too. I found one of them in my purse when I went to pay for the groceries. The cashier just raised her eyebrow at me as I calmly set the airplane on the counter so that I could grab my wallet.

Wendy in Idaho said...

Ouch! That looks like it really hurts! If you are anything like me, you will take pictures as the color changes everyday! She can be a rainbow girl.

Hope your week gets better and you have some time to breathe!

Kristine said...

Ouch! Poor Brooklyn! Clay looks great. Why does it have to be sharpie? Aren't the washable markers good enough? Sigh. And why did Clay stay still? LOL

We're now at 6 kids ourselves. So many wonderful adventures when you have a houseful of ADD! LOL

Sandra Humphrey said...

I just read your Guideposts article and I loved it! So then I had to go to Amazon and order your book! And now I'm checking out your blog! As a children's writer and grandparent, I can so relate to your wonderful stories. May you continue to write forever!

Jennifer said...

Poor baby. That looks awful.

Lu (Lucille) said...

DAWN!!! IT IS NEARLY YOUR FIRST BOOK SIGNING!! (sorry to shout but I'm so excited to hear about it!)

I wish I could go to it. Please let me know when you are having the London book signing ok? Because we will be sure to be there!!

Sue said...

Awww... Brooklyn looks like she's taking it like a little trooper! Bet she's a tough cookie.

Good luck with the book signing. I bet a lot of your readers will show.

Lisa said...

Now that is a true black eye...hope it heals fast.

Anonymous said...

LOL! At least the black eye is a beautiful one right? I also love the five o'clock shadow and the breakfast looks delicious LOL!

JackieVonn said...

LOL Clay looks so Bond....James, Bond. I don't know why but that was the first thing I thought of when I saw his 'stache picture! I love that you made Austin clean it off, maybe now he'll go for the washable markers next time he's got that creative urge!

Anonymous said...

Poor Brooklyn. When my Sadie(7) was four, she fell on a friend's trampoline and landed face-first on a spring. She had a black eye right off, but the next day woke up with it completely swollen shut. I'll never forget her matter-of-fact voice telling me, "I only have one eye today".

Unknown said...

My 6yo son got tubes about a month ago. When the nurse went to take him back, I brushed his hair behind his ears and notices that they were BLUE inside! They had been using blue ink stamp pads at school and he stuck his blue fingers in his ears. The ENT said they had a good laugh in the OR :)

Tara said...

Here I was expecting the "yeah! Spring break is over. The kids are back in school" post. But little ones get into just as much trouble alone if not more when there's not a big one around. Well Dawn, thanks for keeping us all entertained. One of my favorite pictures of my 6 year old was his first black eye when he was 2. He was so proud and showing it off. Ah, memories.

Jacqui M said...

Poor Brooklyn! I hate it when my little ones get black eyes.

Lisa said...

I really like the mustache and goatee that Austin drew on his brother. Too bad he used the Sharpie! I'm sure he meant to grab the Waterproof Crayolas.

My favorite story about permanent markers is this: My sister took me to meet a friend. Minutes before we got the friend found her son coloring his private parts and his belly button with a green permanent marker. It was during the school year. He was 4 or 5 and had to go to school the next day. Needless to say it wouldn't come off. All we saw was the pretty green art around his belly button. I can only imagine what his private parts looked like!!

Bailey's Leaf said...

Yikes on that eye. It hurts just to look at it!

Amber said...

When people ask me why I have no children yet, I'm just going to point to this post and smile.

Jkhb said...

Dawn, if it wasn't a sharpie, I would say use babywipes they work great on skin and regular marker. My daughter use to color her legs on a regular basis with marker. I got sharpie off plasic with antibactierial handcleaner, so you might try that umm next time! I think I would try Brooklyn's breakfast, almost anything is better with whip cream! Hope her eye is better soon.

Cap Creations said...

You crack me up! The way you tell your stories is so funny. Don't you just love the things kids come up with?

Is your book gonna be available on audio?

Michelle said...

I have to say... for all the artistic talent that Austin exhibits, that wasn't the best mustache I've ever seen ;)

But the Cheerios and whipped cream? I think that was pretty smart for him to do -- cereal and dairy, whipped cream is less messy than trying to pour milk. It's all good :) And Brooklyn looks like she's enjoying her meal.

Dawn in WI said...

Poor Brooklyn!

As for the Sharpie on Clay's face, try a baby wipe. My grandson did something similar with a Sharpie (he drew all over his face!), and the baby wipe took it off.

Sudee in Florida said...

Poor Baby, she has the most beautiful, big, dark eyes. Hope it gets well fast.

Helen Grigorieva said...

Your Brooklyn is so much like my daughter, but mine is a bit younger. Please send your little beauty my kindest regards and I wish her eye become okay as soon as possible.
P.S. I like your blog very much, voted for you at Blogger's Choice, hope you'll win!

Unknown said...

Yikes. That looks like it hurt. Poor girl for enduring that.

As for the marker, rubbing alcohol should do the trick. I use it all the time when my son pulls stunts like this!

Bethany said...

I love your family and the chaos that is inevitable!!

Anonymous said...

That's funny, my daughter (aged 2almost 3) always draws a beard on her face when she sees me shaving.

I'll shave off the marker beard then - I don't normally wash it off, if she wants to she can keep her beard (marker only lasts about a day anyway).

erik smit
flickr.com/eti-eti

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