bad parents!!!!

We had friends over Sunday night. New friends! Fantastic people. Seriously, Travis and I had so much fun getting to know some new neighbors. They are roughly our age ( or 5-7 yrs younger than us), have 2 adorable boys who play really well with our boys and treat Liv like fragile heirloom china, and they asked us to get together again! Yes, we didn't scare them away. :)

Here's where the bad parenting comes in... We were having so much fun watching the kids play, Liv went to bed over an hour late. You may be thinking, "that's not awful". You're right, it's not terrible. But, letting your other 3 kids stay up almost 3 hrs past their bedtime, that's bad parenting at it's best!!!! 2 days later, I'm still paying for that lapse in judgement.

ice cream party

We hit a huge milestone in the Ferris house this past week. For the first time in yrs, Maddox did not wake anyone up during the night. He went to bed, without crying and complaining, and stayed in bed all night long!!!!

This accomplishment...

Gave us this yummy reward.

Maddox gave it all 2 thumbs up!

Playing in the rain.

It started raining as Travis got home from work last night. The older 2 boys asked if they could go out and play in the rain as long as it wasn't thundering and lightening. I said yes. About 4 minutes after they walked outside Travis threw a pair of his old shorts at me and told me we were going out there too.
We ended up playing with our 4 kids and 3 of the neighbor kid for over a half hour. Some of our kids liked the rain and puddles more than others... Maddox cried when rain drops got on his "favorite" shirt. We had to coax and plead to get him to sit in Cooper's lap for one picture. Liv loved the rain and puddles! She went as far as to "swim" in a large puddle right in front of our driveway.

Olivia is a "big girl"!

After a really good temper tantrum, that had Olivia doing a back bend 0ver her crib rail. I got scared! I didn't want her falling out. I didn't want appendages getting stuck. Travis came home from work Monday, and the two of them assembled Olivia's big girl bed. It's a transition bed. In 3 weeks she'll be getting a beautiful cherry wood sleigh daybed from "Aunt Erin".



Night #1, immediately after being put in bed.



Night #1, 10 minutes later.

Night #2, 10 minutes after being put in bed.

Fun in Orland Park

I packed up the four kids early on a Monday morning and drove up to Orland to spend a week with my family. We packed tons of baby holding, great-grandma visiting, swimming, and party-ing into the week and had a great time!!!!!

EARLY EARLY Tuesday morning. Seriously, butt-crack of dawn. It was 4AM when the youngest 2 woke me up and by 4:50AM the older 2 joined us for some Littlest Pet Shop meets Little People Western Town fun.
Doesn't Liv look tired in this 5AM picture?
How about this one? Notice the DARK that's outside the family room windows? Yeah, I watched to sun rise. I would have rather not seen that.

Maddox held and cuddled Claire, and loved it!

Liv got some Claire cuddles in too.

Great-Grandma came for pizza Friday night. We (my mom, my grandma and myself) worked for over 30 minutes to get Liv to say, "yes please" when we asked if she wanted an M&M. We would ask, "Do you want an M&M?" She would say, "Uh-huh" or nod. We would ask, "Can you say, 'yes please'?" She would say, "Uh-huh", or nod. She knew exactly what we were saying and exactly what she wasn't saying. She knows the phrase, "yes please" she spent the afternoon saying it in the pool while I would fill a water gun for her to spray her brothers with.

My boys all worked really hard at perfecting their mad swimming skills! I was so proud of them by the end of the week. They turned into fish. By Saturday morning they were doing front flips off of the diving board! Maddox only went in one time without his floaties, it scared him just enough to remember to put them on before leaving the deck. Olivia had zero fear of the pool. She went down the slide and would just jump into any one's arms, or no one's arms from the side of the pool.

We ended our week at my cousin's housewarming party. It was so much fun to see her and her new house. Travis sat down and held the 2 youngest girls. It was the first time I saw so many little girls in his arms. :)

Clint, who hates matchy-matchy clothes, showed up in a white polo, just like my boys. I had to get a picture of it! Usually Sheila and I show up in similar or matching clothes without consulting each other. I love to see the "twin thing" extending to husbands and children.

Branson Vacation - Day 6

For those traveling with multiple kids, I have 2 words for you.... adjoining rooms! It's going to be my new way of vacationing. The money spent was worth the time saved from visiting the local nut-hut that I had already dialed from the yellow pages. I would have been admitted, if I didn't accidentally hang up on them while breaking up a fight over the TV remote.... twice.

But after a few deep breaths, and utilizing the TV's in both rooms, we were able to give the kids some much needed down-time, and I was able to regain some much needed sanity. Compaired to last night, this place seemed like the Taj Mahal, even though it listed the exact same amenities as the previous location.

A good night's rest and tasty continental breakfast helped us recover from the heat and exhaustion of 2 wonderfully fun-filled days at Silver Dollar City. But still numb from sticker-shock at the price of some of the souveniers, we searched for stores that could provide toys on a kid's $10 piggy-bank budget.

Three of the 4 found their souveniers quick enough between Silver Dollar City, the Disney Store, and Wal-Mart. And one would think that a pair of cowboy pistols with matching holsters would be easy to find in Branson... or anywhere in Missouri, for that matter. But after 5 different stores in Branson and 2 extra hours added to our drive home as we hit 4 more stores: a Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Target, and Walgreen's, I finally gave up and ordered them on-line.

So, while the younger kids play with their parasole, golf clubs and Batman (don't ask), legos and GI Joe, and Sheri organizes her new Coach purse, I'll be teaching our oldest about the www.UPS.com/tracking site.

Which all of a sudden makes me wonder, "Hey, where's my souvenier?"

---

Wife here: I can't think of any souveniers better than the looks on the kids' faces.

However, that's very easy for me to say as I grab my fantastic new purse and head out the door!

Branson Vacation - Day 5

I suppose every vacation has it's do-agains and not-to-do-agains. The sleeping arrangements for last night definitely falls in the "not-to-do-again" category! The place sounded great when we made the reservations- pool, free wifi, continental breakfast, 3 miles from Silver Dollar City- about the same as almost every other place, except for this one was cheaper.... and now I know why! Grateful that we checked in while it was still daylight, I'm not sure if this no-tell motel looked more like one that horrors Freddy or Jason frequented after dusk, or a place the Griswalds would have stumbled upon. The musty smell of the room didn't do much to cover up the fact that this used was probably rented out last as a smoking room, and the air conditioning unit could only cool the air, not circulate it, so those in the bed next to the door froze, while those near the bathroom slept in a hot, sticky sweat.

What made matters worse, is last night was Sheri's turn doing the toilet dance in a bathroom so small that only a contortionist could comfortably maneuver. I wasn't much help as I was overheated and dehydrated from the day at Silver Dollar City, and the kids were cranky because they were too hot to fall asleep.

Fortunately, by morning, we felt safe enough to release the chain and dead bold locks on the door. I'm sure the fresh air helped to refresh us but the real motivation was the prospect of checking out of the motel putting some distance between it and our rear view mirror!

Silver Dollar City was a blast again, and we were glad we decided to visit the park over 2 days. We re-visited many of the rides from yesterday-- a kid-coaster, Pirate Ships, and Frogs were the top favorites-- as well as some new ones like Fire in the Hole, Flooded Mine, and a train ride.

We also had time to watch the Saloon Show, see how knifes are made, watch glass blowing, and make our own candles!

And with all the other areas we weren't able to see, either due to time or due to the age of our kids, SDC is definately a do-again... assuming we have different accomodations next time!

Branson Vacation - Day 4

I woke up fully rested at 5 am. Of course, going to bed with the kids last night helped. I actually had one of those "too much sleep" headaches. Something I hadn't seen since my 11am Saturday rousings in high school.

A shower and Tylenol made yesterday's memory of misery fade as fast as a New Year's resolution and the only thing on my mind now was whether I would pack the van again in Sheri's way, or re-pack it the "right" way. After a good look, I realized that after 10 years of marriage, either she was getting better at packing, or I was getting better at seeing things her way. Satisfied that either outcome would be a positive one, and since my way consisted only of swapping positions of the pack-n-play and the stroller, I decided the right answer was whichever was closer to completion and closed the hatch door.

Unconcerned that I just lost a mental arguement with myself, I smiled as I passed the kid's chalk drawings on the driveway from the night before. I hollered for the kids to load up and off we headed to Silver Dollar City with our friends.... via Dollar General for some flip-flops. Apparently, one of the kids was too excited and forgot to put on shoes before getting in the van!

One thing I learned early on with kids, is that life is an adventure!! And the fun part is even with the detours and the 30 min drive, we still arrived within the hour the park opened. We had a blast, and managed to capture some pictures with a disposable camera. You should have seen the puzzled look on the kids faces when I tried to explain that they won't see the pictures until sometime next week!

And even better news, the pool folks found our camera! Praise God!! Actually, I would have been just as happy if only the picture card was returned. But after trying to meet each other half way, passing in opposite directions, a few u-turns, and a sneaky hand-off in a cemetary that would make any ATF agent suspicious, we have both the camera and picture card back. Compelete with a "present" from our fantastic friends.

Just in time for Silver Dollar City - Part Deux.

Branson Vacation - Day 3

I learned my lesson last night with the hide-a-bed -- a lesson I would not repeat again. Tonight we put the kids to sleep in the bed, and after we were finished packing up, we moved them to the hide-a-bed!

"Ahhhh," my body spoke as I sunk into the king bed with crisp sheets and down-filled duvet. Unfortunately, my slumber was cut short at 3am with the same sound my children gave me Friday and Sunday evenings as they hugged the nearest toilet or trash can. The good news is that I knew it would be relatively short lived; the bad news, we were on our way to see my college roommate who I haven't seen in 3 years.

The exertion of putting on clothes exhausted me to the point of having to lay down again so I could manage the stairs to the car. I would have had one of the boys tie my shoes if they hadn't been helping Sheri pack the van. Fortunately, I was able to avert danger and managed my way up the concrete stairs and into the van without stepping on my other shoe's laces. Once inside, I muttered incoherent directions that Sheri deciphered with the assistance of broken hand signals, but she was a great pilot and got us to a nice remote, er, secluded place that was yet plotted on Google or Bing maps.

Luckily, our hosts are a nurse and doctor by trade, so the Zofran they had in stock and some Imodium AD we purchased en route helped tremendously. Shortly after arriving, we had fixed both ends of my illness, but I was still achy and exhausted, but was determined not to miss out on the fun that was being had with both family's kids.

Everyone had a great time picnicking in the woods and splashing in a creek.

Even though I could only muster less than a zombie-esque countenance, I still got the touch when it comes to putting kids to sleep, (Who knew that an official Brazil away jersey could double as a blanket?) and I loved seeing Maddox show off his adventuresome rock climbing skills

before we headed to the pool to cool off-- and subsequently leave our digital camera.

Back at the house, we had a great dinner: Mac-n-Cheese with hot dogs for the kids, lasagna with garlic bread for the adults, and yogurt and 2 pretzels rods for "sick-boy." But I actually felt hungry for the first time that day, so I didn't complain.

Tomorrow, we're off to Silver Dollar City. Not sure how that's gonna turn out with no camera.