sometimes you get comfy and forget to expect the poop to hit the wall, literally

i'm so missing RADland! getting ready for a BIG trip and hope to catch up soon. but i had to whine to someone who will get why this is so annoying! normals (no complaints, it's my blog) think ew yuck, but THAT is not the issue. it's the you should have KNOWN part that is frustrating.
k, backing up. mr and i had a GREAT date at bob evans (great down home cooking restaurant). he was nice, polite, fun, even neat (and he's never neat) and it was just a great evening just the two of us. so of course good RADical moms would expect the ball to drop but i forgot to be wary!
yes, that night we find a LOT of poop on the wall in the bathroom and all three kids have noooooo idea how it could have gotten there. the poop part didn't bother me (much), the lying part didn't either (much), but the fact that I SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED IT does bother me! i should have been ready. i would have reacted much more patiently. i just hate it when it (the "it" we all fear) happens and i'm caught by surprise. argh!
okay, i do feel better now, thanks! ;)

"keyword & argue"

we just coined a new phrase for our RADical daughter: "keyword & argue". she'll pick out any keyword in a conversation and argue an irrelevant point. it's so frustrating. but then we all know people who do that right? we might even be one, patiently waiting our turn to make a relevant (in our eyes) point without really listening? well, as a good RADical, she takes it to the extreme. might not always argue, but has to pull the conversation off course to the keyword.

dad: it's just a government practice that causes problems later...
em: practice? you mean they have practices for it?

mom: em i'm getting really tired of your poor behavior.
em: poor? we're not poor are we?

dad: anyone want to go watch a movie at a theater?
em: theater? it's not a play, it's a movie.

very minor examples, just annoying, not extreme. it's just the always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, part that is extreme! and extremely annoying!
it's not that she does that, it's that she doesn't ever listen, waiting for the keyword opportunity.

and i get it, i understand, but it's my blog so i can whine if i want to! :)

Great April Fools prank on the kids and a fun family breakfast!

Our April Fools joke went as planned and was GREAT! The kids said it was awesome! :)

Idea from James Macdonald: One year we rushed into their bedrooms at six a.m. shouting, "Get up! We're late for school!" We had changed every clock in the house to read an hour later. The kids ran downstairs, half dressed. We stuffed them in the car and rushed down the street—only to find the school parking lot empty. Kathy and I screamed, "April Fools!" and took them out for breakfast.

AND it worked perfectly! We changed all the clocks, even the computer and van. This morning cj got up and started to get ready and I said cj, it's late! He said my watch says it's only 7:20. I said go check a clock because your watch battery might be dying. He said OH NO MOM, IT'S 8:20! I said get ready quick! (The bus comes ~8:20.) Then we got em and mr up in a panic because we had an "appointment" so we all frantically got dressed and out to the van. As a bonus, the bus DID go by and cj saw it! It has an earlier route for jr high.
So we headed to school (everyone hungry since we didn't have time to eat) and there was only one van in the parking lot. Dad said looks like something's wrong, are you sure you have school? They tried to figure it out and we yelled April Fools! They couldn't believe it and said we got them good! Then we said we're going to breakfast at McDonalds and they cheered! We had a nice breakfast and got home in time for cj to make the right bus. Quite a successful prank! :)

Last year Dad convinced them they could fly due to a weather phenomenon & they tried! But that's not the funny part. The funny part is that they believed they did fly! :)