Poop Prank

After Laura got all the kids off to school, she was enjoying a nice quiet house.  As she went into the bathroom...she couldn't believe her eyes.... "you have got to be kidding me" escaped her lips as she saw a piece of poop on the bathroom floor, right next to the toilet.  All my kids are old enough to use the toilet...this is ridiculous.  As Laura fumed about the "incident" that some child had so nicely left her....she grabbed a wad of toilet paper and proceeded to pick it up.  Upon closer inspection...(yes, Laura sniffed the poop) she realized it wasn't what she thought it was...this was a piece of putty shaped like a poop.  Laura then couldn't contain herself and was laughing hysterically.  And then came the real question... did one of her children intentionally shape this putty like poop and then strategically place it in the bathroom next to the toilet?  or was this simply a child who was playing with putty, had to use the bathroom, but it down and then forgot to pick it back up and it just so happened to have the shape of poop?  Laura was unsure....so she decided to find out!

First child home... CJ.  CJ usually comes home and B-lines for the bathroom...perfect!  Well, today, when he got home, he wasn't alone.  Dallin Christensen came home with him....and as it turns out, Dallin used the main bathroom and CJ went upstairs.  Oh well, Laura decided to follow through with her plans anyway.  Poor Dallin.

When the boys went back into the kitchen after using the bathrooms, Laura quietly goes and gets the "poop putty" and places it back on the floor next to the toilet.  Then, calls the boys over to the bathroom, saying "Um..boys, we have a problem" and then let them look in and see the poop.   Laura follows up with "that wasn't there before...what's going on?"  CJ eyes wide, looks at Dallin who used the bathroom... Dallin is beside himself and awestruck and doesn't know what to say..."umm.. umm...umm...."  Laura couldn't stand it any longer - so she bends down picks up the poop and throws it at the boys while laughing...

Laura then tells the boys.."It's putty!!!  Shaped liked poop"  "Someone left it by the toilet this morning...I don't know who it is...."  

We were all busting up laughing and laughed until we cried.  Dallin was a good sport.  I told him I was sorry he was the one that used the bathroom... I was hoping CJ would use it first, but had to do it anyway!

It will be a good story for years to come!!!

**Laura then put the putty poop on the dryer and forgot about it.  Until...Laura was telling Clay all about the "incident" and when she got to the part when she said she doesn't know where it came from, Aparri chimed in with, "Oh, that was me!  I thought it would be funny!!"  And there ya go - mystery solved... Aparri was the mastermind behind the Poop Prank!  Well played Aparri...well played.

Shooting with the Andersons

Mike and Konni Anderson are some of the fun-est people I know.  WE love being around them...they are funny, fun, and just a hoot.  Whenever you are around them you laugh, cry - because you are laughing so hard, and just have a good time!  So when Mike called up Laura and invited the boys to go shooting up on their property we said YES...and Laura said, "Can I come too?  What fun!!!  So we set a date!  It ended up being a cold, snowy day, so we bundled up real good and off we went.  We shot rifles, shotguns, and hand guns until we were so frozen we could no longer feel our fingers...probably not such a good idea when shooting guns! Preston did a great job on the shotgun - hit several of the Clay pigeons, CJ did a great job with the 22 and Laura always has a good time with her glock!  We aimed, we shot, we scored!!!  Fun cold day in the woods with the Andersons!

Kids Choose the Activities...and PAY FOR IT!

With us having Christmas Break at home this year, we thought it would be fun to stay in a local hotel – just for fun!  We would play in the pool, watch movies, etc.  Some of the kids chose to buy themselves McDonalds for dinner – while others didn’t want to spend their money on food and packed a dinner for themselves.  It was fun to watch the different kids make their purchasing decisions!   The hotel was nice and they upgraded us to a suite for free!!!  So we had a separate "room" and a total of 3 beds and a cot!!  The room did not disappoint!  But the disappointment came with the Jacuzzi and  pool – it was COLD and they were blowing air into the pool area from the snow cold outside air.  Needless to say, it was freezing… How can you have a "heated" pool that is cold and a Jacuzzi that is cold too...grrrrr... We had to move around a lot in the pool to keep warm!!!  Come to find out they were having maintenance issues with the pool/jacuzzi heater – so upon checkout they gave us a free return swim day!!!  Whohoo…we will definitely ask if the heater is working next time!

Both sets of Grandparents were  very generous to the kids this year for Christmas.  So on December 26th, each kid found themselves with quite a stash of cash.  So Clay and Laura decided to let the kids dictate what they wanted to do the next week of Christmas Break - and use their cash to pay for their activities!!

We went Ice Skating with the Moss Family, went and saw Frozen 2 at the downtown "Good" theatre with reclining seats & LOTS of snacks... it made Laura sick to watch her kids blow so much money on candy, popcorn, and slushies...yikes...,but they were happy, we ate at McDonalds, went to Baskin Robbins and got 2 scoops (thanks to Preston to offered to buy everyone's second scoop with his own money!)  It was a fun filled week full of fun, activities, and happy children!!!  We are really liking this "stay home for Christmas" idea.... no stress of travel - JUST FUN!

Christmas Day

Sockings, cinnamon Rolls, gifts, a family trivia game (family questions - if they needed help they could use the family books - Laura gave them a month/year to reference!)  Each correct answer they got to open a  wrapping paper layer of one of the presents...inside was silverwood season passes for each member of the family!  I think it is a new tradition...it was so fun!!  We spent the afternoon assembling Detric and Erica's new ride, putting songs on Aparri's new MP3, looking at Preston's airplane books, listening to music with CJ's airpods,  playing Papa and Nana's money tree game (bringing back memories from Grandpa Kerr's Christmas tree tradition),  trying on Laura's new red lip stick, eating a delicious candle light  ham & scalloped potato Christmas Dinner - on Rae Dunn paper dinnerware, of course- Laura is a little obsessed!   

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!  

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve in the Ward House is full of traditions...making Cinnamon Rolls, re-enacting the Nativity, PJs, treats for Santa, Driving around and looking at Christmas lights, and making food!  (Sometimes we have our big Christmas meal on Christmas Eve and sometimes we do it Christmas Day...this year we had it on Christmas, but we did a lot of the cooking the day before!)  It was also beautiful & sunny - but COLD, but that didn't stop us from going on a 2 mile walk around the golf course!! Papa sported the best hat in the house (BYU!!) and didn't complain...wow - must be the Christmas Spirit!!! It's magical!  This year we decided to put someone in charge of the nativity.  It will  be a different person each year, but they would be responsible for making cast assignments, choosing the script, deciding where we do the enactment, helping with costumes, etc.  CJ was the lucky man to get the job this year!  He did a great job directing our Nativity.  We also changed the time we did it... why wait until night-time Christmas Eve when it's always hectic and crazy and everyone's tired... so we did it mid-afternoon when everyone was fresh, happy, and we had plenty of time.  It worked perfectly!  

Clay and Laura found these PJs back in May when they were in Washington DC at the National Archives Bldg Gift Shop- as soon as they saw them...they knew - this is it...these are this years Christmas PJS.  They are perfect - done.  Well, we probably should have gotten a few of them in bigger sizes ...oh well- we try!  

Beautiful Apples...that we threw away

this is a sad tragic story... Nana and Papa are the carmel apple experts...they have made dozens of batches of carmel apples all across the country with a fool proof recipe and method....haven't had a bad batch yet.... YET, until the Ward House that is... we made these gorgeous apples and were so excited to eat them...but unfortunately... the carmel got too hot while cooking and got to the hard crack stage and therefore was rock hard when you tried to cut into your apple.  There was no salvaging this batch...they were all junked.  Soooo sad, they looked perfect but if you tried to eat it - you might break a tooth!!

Gingerbread House Decorating

Buddy, our Elf, made us a 2 story gingerbread house!!!  We had a great time using LOTS of frosting... all the leftover Halloween Candy  - to decorate it!  When we were done- this house was loaded!!!  It was so heavy it started to sag... yikes!! Hopefully it will stay standing for a few days so we can enjoy it and pick off some of the goods!!!

All Done and ready for Buddy to Move in for a few days!

Buddy the Elf's 2019 Visit

He made us a 2 story gingerbread house

He helped remind us what Christmas is all about

He also enjoyed a bunch of the Christmas goodies!!

Christmas Company

Dad and Mom Smith came and spent the holiday with us.  It really helped having Grandparents here over the break...it was a great distraction, provided extra adults in the house, built in playmates, crafts and activities to do, and memories to be made!!!  

Celebrating Detric

Laura got to spend almost the whole day with just Detric!  Laura picked him up at 11 and they went to the library where they played with letter bots, read books, and waited for noon – when they had to pick up Erica and take her to Stella’s house.  After we dropped off Erica – Laura and Detric went out to lunch... where Detric proved he is now officially "grown up" at age 7 – he has chosen a different lunch venue than McDonalds!!! Detric is a lover of the Red Robin Mac and Cheese!  He got 2 helpings!  After lunch we headed to the mall where we were in search of a snow globe and some new pants.  We found the pants but no luck with the snow globe…so we tried TJ Maxx, Ross, the Mall…no snow globes that he liked.  Last stop… Walgreens  - SNOWGLOBES!!!!  He chose one with a baby elephant his mother.  He loves it.  We went home where we made kraft mac and cheese for dinner and ate a Baskin Robbins Penguin cake for dessert!!  Detric’s 7th Birthday = success!!!  

Night In Bethlehem

There is a new thing this year Called “Night in Bethlehem” that they have setup at the Post falls speedway.   They have an authentic street scene set up that replicates Bethlehem at the time Jesus was born.  It was neat to walk through, look at the shops, pet a Donkey, see the animals, pound out metal rings (until they make your hands turn green!), and enjoy the costumes of those representing individuals from long ago.  After we walked around for about an hour they had a live nativity that was very well done and brought the spirit into the season.

Christmas Carousel

Every December the Spokane Carousel hosts a Christmas night where they have free carousel rides, free pizza, a visit with Santa, gifts, candy, and more!!!  The kids love it and Mom loves it - and its FREE!!!  How could we miss this? CJ made it a personal goal to see how many times he could go on the carousel while we were there.... I think he got up to 8. 

Coeur D'Alene Eagles

The Moss’ told us about going to see the Eagles in Coeur D' Alene.  It took us a couple of weeks to get over there, but boy are we glad we did!!  We headed over to Higgins Point Boat Launch Sunday afternoon after church.  As we were driving by the lake, we could see Eagles soaring around in the air...they were everywhere - it was so neat.  We parked at the boat launch and then walked down a path were we could have a good view and there were tons of eagles  – flying, diving, chasing, sitting in nests, etc.  We stayed for a while and could have been there a lot longer if it hadn’t been so cold!  CJ was the photographer and took some amazing pictures!!  This was a unique experience watching such amazing creatures up close.  This was definitely worth seeing!