new family motto

When we had our third child and all he** broke lose, we prepared ourselves for our first 8 hour drive to the Wyoming farm from our house in Utah.  We knew with 3 kids, one of them a newborn, it might take longer than the allotted 8 hour time.  So JaDee and I adopted a new family motto for all family trips:

Low Expectations.

This little phrase has saved us from countless episodes of useless frustration.  For instance, Low Expectations allows you to not get mad when you drive 500 miles and your kid pukes every 50.  Low expectations lets you be happy when you have pulled out of the parking lot of the gas station only to hear "I have to go potty," 10 minutes down the road.  Low expectations insures you aren't disappointed when you spend money on a dinosaur museum and your kid cries when the sound effects blast through the room. 

Lately, however we have felt the need to change the motto to

Just below Par

This is in reference to Carter's grades.  Oh that boy.  Much like with Ethan getting his tongue stuck, Carter has not learned to turn assignments in on time, or at all.  We dig through his backpack and find all the "0s" just sitting there!!!  After riding him hard all this second quarter he has an A in English, his worst subject.  Only to get the email today that he did not turn in a "Bookmark" assignment. 

Oh and this bookmark has been talked about all week.  It has been in the back pack since last Monday when we missed school for the ice storms.  It was a hand drawn , well, bookmark. 

So that A now has been defeated by the 0.  And it wasn't like he failed vocabulary or didn't get an essay done, he forgot. to. turn. in. a. bookmark.


ARRGHHHH!!!!

Car pool

I did not have to drive today, but I got a funny story for you from the Carpool Files.  At 3:30 ish I get a phone call from one of the other mom's.  She tells me Ethan isn't in the car yet because he

STUCK HIS TONGUE TO A POLE!!!!!

Don't we all remember what happened last year?  Trust me if you don't remember it is worth a read.  I was so mad.

When Ethan got home I found out he was trying to show his friend how if you just breathe on your tongue you can get it off.  OK it is 1 degree out today. Uno degree-os (for those of you Spanish readers).  Puker had to run inside and get a cup of hot water from the nurse to pour on Ethan tongue to get it off.

The breath trick does not work

And Ethan will never be doing this again.

Hopefully.