Schauers (24) Hours

Jared thought we could do a great episode of 24 in our family. Like getting ready for church in the morning, one hour of intense interrogation (where did you put your shoes, think!), locating the perpetrator (you can hide but you can't get out of going to church!) accomplishing our design by trickery or force (scene 1 Weston in a black chair and Jared letting him in on the secret, "superheros wear their supersuits underneath their church clothes," cut to scene two Heather holding down the girls and brushing their hair), and brainwashing (you LIKE church, you WILL GO to church, you get treats for good behavior at church). Our version of 24 would get a mild G rating, except for maybe the part when Weston was forced to take a bath which got a little scary for sensitive viewers.

Or how about the getting ready for bed routine? Yikes. No matter how bad they don't want a bath in the morning, at bedtime it is a great stall method. Savanna actually fell into the toilet in order to get a bath (it was actually an accident, she sat on the toilet to use it and didn't know the seat was up, but it was so perfectly timed). Wish granted. How do we cure Weston of his need to have a movie to fall asleep? The girls routine takes about as long as a movie--jammies, brush teeth, where's my dolly? I need a drink, ok now I need a story, now another story, a song, one more drink of water, help me say prayers, why can't we watch a movie? I want you to lay by me............AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Savanna got a free ticket to the circus from some money-making schemer that works at her school but must really work for the circus. Jared and I won't be falling for THAT again. It cost us $32 just for me and Jared to get in (Stacy gave us her boys' free tickets for Weston and Fiora, Stacy was smart enough not to fall for the "free ticket" to the money-sucking circus). Jared warned the kids that he was spending enough money to get IN so he wasn't going to buy snacks. Despite the warning the kids barely glanced at the horses, camels, acrobats, and clowns -- all they could see was snow cones($3) cotton candy ($6) and light sabers ($10) that the conniving venders kept flashing in our faces. They moaned and complained and finally all fell asleep, until the 30 minute intermission where you could ride a pony or get your face painted ($6). We thought the kids would for sure like this family outing better than the gymnastics meet, but Savanna was very clear that that circus was very boring, (because we didn't spend $100 so she could have something sweet, fun, or cool while watching the boring show that Jared and I thought was pretty exciting and amazing).

So we didn't take any pictures at the circus, but here's a picture of a clown.