Warning!

Warning.... if you stand up in front of me at my kid's graduation ceremony, I WILL post your butt on the internet.

DOWN IN FRONT!!!!

This was a week of graduations for lots of people.  Two in our house.  Kyle has completed Elementary School!!!  He is now moving on to Intermediate School.... which will be immediately followed by Middle School... which will then be followed by Ninth Grade Academy.... which will lead to High School... which will FINALLY lead to College.  Unless of course he decides to be a doctor.... ugh.

(I'm thinking that Paypal guy giving money to SKIP college has a great idea.)

Thats a LOT of graduations!  So good thing I warned you about the butt thing!

Such a great graduation picture.  I'm couldn't be more proud. :)

Zyan also graduated Pre-School!  On to Kindergarten.... HALLELUJAH!

Who says husbands are good for nuthin’?

I’m so very proud to list some of the many reasons I love my husband:

1.  Any time I call, he will kill a spider for me.
2. When a southern monster cockroach finds it’s way onto our porch… he will crunch it without hesitation.  Ew.
3. When a ‘pet’ dies in the possession of one of my children… he will bury it.
4. When there is too much food leftover from dinner, but not enough to save… he will eat it.
5. When I carefully remove the tomatoes from my salad… he will eat those too.
6. When the kids find a venomous SNAKE in the yard… he will take it someplace FAR FAR AWAY!

Markel, three of the boys, and I were settling in around 7pm watching t.v. when Braden came running in the house.  GUYS!  THERE’S A SNAKE OUT HERE!

I could barely register what he said, when in a hurry all four of them BOLTED out the door TOWARDS the snake. 

There I was, SUPERmom.  Thinking to myself…

“what are my options here?  A.  run outside and stop them.  B.  gamble that it is probably a gardener snake and listen for screams  C. Be the superhero that I am and go capture the snake and whisk it away for everyone’s safety?” 

I chose D.  “MARKEL!!!!  THE BOYS ARE RUNNING TOWARDS A SNAKE!  HURRY… GO!”

After putting all the kids back in the house and pointing out the stupidity of running out the door towards an unknown snake... I proceeded slowly outside to inspect the situation (and rescue Markel if need be.)

Sure enough, there… right in the crack of the walkway ready to strike, is a baby copperhead. 

Yikes!!

Wanting to be safe, AND humane, Markel used two VERY long branches to scoop it up and place it in our cooler.  He drove it to a remote location and dropped it off to go live a happy life…. Away from my kids.

I’m thankful today for my fearless husband who placed his fingers and toes in harm’s way for our safety. 

Thank you Love!!

The 5th favorite person?

Levi and Braden were having a conversation in the back of the car yesterday on our way home from church.  I was only partially listening at first, until I vaguely heard these words come out of his mouth…  “mommy is my 5^th favorite person”. 

Immediately my ears perked up!  I tuned in to the conversation, and this is how the rest of it went…

Braden- so wait… who was your number one favorite?

Levi-  God

Braden- and then?

Levi- Then Jesus!  I told you.

Braden- But who is your third?

Levi- IT’S A SECRET I SAID!

Braden- is it abbey?

Levi- no.. Abbey is my 4^th favorite.

Braden- okay… so mommy is your 5^th favorite, then who’s sixth?

Levi- Michael Jackson.

So, at least I came in before Michael Jackson…. And I’m proud of numbers one and two… but how in the world did little miss Abbey in his class, and little miss mystery girl get ahead of me!!!

The Most Boring Chorus Concert EVER!

Call me a bad mom for saying this… but I just attended the most BORING choir concert.  I know I tortured my parents quite a bit with choir concerts, and band concerts, and musicals, and on and on…. But I REALLY think this one topped anything I put my parents through!  Kyle was the one IN the concert… and look at HIM!

So during the scene with Mike TV, (it was a willy wonka medley) I was reminded of an old Banks family favorite and I popped in one ear phone and watched a re-run of Levi’s TV song…..

And surprisingly…. I didn’t miss a thing.  They were still stammering through the lines in the Mike TV scene!  Yawn.  Here’s hoping for a different extracurricular activity next year!!

Chronic booger eaters, and peaceful car rides

In the quest for a peaceful car ride, I tried a new technique today…. Well, new for me anyway.  I applied the daddy technique.  Strategic ignoring. 

Plus side-  I managed to avoid several pointless questions like the following:

• Mommy, why are there ritz crackers in the car?  I wish they were mine........
• Mommy, can we go to zack’s house today?
• Mommy, can we go to zack’s house tomorrow?  Saturday?  Sunday?
•  Mommy, where are we going?
• Mommy, is this the right way?  Mommy…. Mommy…. Mommy????

I also managed to ignore the constant bickering that was going on in the back:

Ew!  quit eating your boogers!.... MOMMY… he’s eating his boogers!

No I’m NOT

MOMMY!  he’s eating his boogers AGAIN!

NA-AH!!

Negative side- I did SO well, that while lost in daydream land I missed my exit on the way to the church to pick up Markel…. Thus extending my car ride full of boys.  Not a good thing.

Anybody have any good advice on how to stop a chronic booger eater???

10 banks boyisms to brighten your day!

I love facebook.  I'm not addicted, but I love to write the funny things my kids say.  Funny moments are always funnier when they're shared with others, so I enjoy sharing the quirky and the silly anytime it happens.  And I'm so glad that I've done that!  I spent a few moments yesterday just looking back at previous posts.

 I went back more than 2 years at my facebook posts and the comments people left... it made me laugh, and it made me cry, almost like looking at a scrapbook.  There are folks who wrote on my facebook page who have passed away, and I cherish their words, and there are dark moments that I've asked for prayer through, and I can see how I've been carried through it, and then there are those moments in-between where I wrote an off-the-wall quote that one of the boys said, and it makes my cheeks hurt laughing and remembering those moments.

So thank you mr. social network guy that I can't remember your name who started facebook.... you did good.

enough mush, here are 10 banks boyisms to brighten your day!  see if you can guess which banks boy belongs to which quote!

1.     “Mommy, whats for dinner?”    Porcupine balls.    (cue the confused squished face)  “ew, from a boy porcupine?”

2.    “Guess what Gramma?  I finally learned how to fart with my armpit!”

3.    Child 1-"OUCH!! mommy... I think all my bones are funny bones." Child 2- "thats strange, my funny bones seem to be located only in my joints."

4.    "mommy, when zyan was a baby wasn't his crate in my room?"

5.    New Years Eve-  12, 11, 10, 9, 8.... "MOMMY WAIT!!!

6.    "Yes sir! Boy dogs can have babies. Mommy said so. Thats why we had to get Apollo fixed.... so the babies can't come out."

7.    Helping with Math homework… Me- "What is the difference between five and zero"... child- "the five has straight lines, and the zero is all curvy."

8.    Discussing owl pellets: "That's not disgusting daddy, its nature....... only dead."

9.    "mommy, I had a baby crawling around in my belly once. I told him to get out, but he didn't listen."

10. Woke up to deer in my front yard! Me-"awe let's get the camera.". child-"awe,I wish we had a gun."

Kyle

Braden

Levi

Zyan