The Jeffs Family: Oct 27, 2011

Caleb swimming in the kitchen sink

Caleb loves soaking himself with water. His favorite place to do this in the kitchen sink. I caught him the other day and he kept pointing to his head telling me it was "wet."

Las Vegas Ragnar Relay

Clint was able to participate in the Las Vegas Ragnar Relay Oct. 21 and 22. They drove down Thursday night and came home on Sunday. Clint had a great time and the boys were so excited to see him when he got home on Sunday. Brennan planned a little celebration for him.

Just getting to Las Vegas.

Chris Packard was the other driver.

Chris had one of the hottest runs, it was in the middle of the day.

Then entire team at the finish line.

Brennan, Derek and even Caleb cut up paper for an hour to make sure they had enough "confetti" to throw at daddy when he came home.

Brennan made this great game "Pin the Leg on the Runner"

I thought it was so ingenious and very clever!

Brennan made this welcome home banner and he also planned a treasure hunt around the house for Clint to do.

We made daddy cookies and they were hidden in the microwave.

After four days, we were so HAPPY to have daddy home again!

Pumpkin Art 2011

October 21-22, 2011

Every year the boys LOVE picking out pumpkins and decorating them. This year it started with paint and then later they decided to embellish their pumpkins with glitter shapes. We decorated these pumpkins while Clint was in Las Vegas running the Ragnar.

The small one in the front on the left is Caleb's. The two bigger ones in the back are Derek's.

This small one is Brennan's

This is one of Derek's

Brennan and Derek loved putting these foam pumpkins together. I loved it when the standard pieces were gone and they had to improvise. I love the stacking of the stars on this pumpkin. Very creative.

Brennan plans to give one of these pumpkins to the people at the door when he goes trick-or-treating. He's so excited to see how they react when he gives them his little gift.

One BIG Mess

Yesterday I walked into the kitchen after my shower to find this lovely mess created by Derek and Caleb.

The water is one thing.... but syrup and chips and candy! There was a LOT of water too. The water covered the entire kitchen floor, soaking the area rug under the table and leaking into the new floor in the family room. Caleb was standing at the sink throwing water over his head. He was soaked head to toe in water with syrup all over his head, neck and shoulders. Derek was at the fridge, I'm sure planning his next move.

I was trying so hard not to LOSE it. First I had to give Caleb a bath and told Derek to STAY in his room. After Caleb was clean and not sticky anymore, I headed to the kitchen to assess the damage. How on earth did they get that much water on the floor? Then I found the answer hiding behind the island. I have a tall umbrella stand that they used as their "mixing pot". It had syrup all over it and filled with water and food stuff. Looks like I was just in time before they poured that batch on the floor too. I used towels and paper towels to try and mop it up.

The problem was it was soooooo sticky from the crazy syrup. I kept thinking, "How much syrup did they use?!!!" Then I found the empty small bottle of syrup PLUS our refill bottle. The small bottle and refill bottle were full prior to their little adventure. I guess they thought, "Hey, we're out of syrup, why don't we get the BIG bottle out of the pantry." I'm glad my kids can problem solve, but this was over-the-top.

As I'm trying to get this mess under control the two little monkeys start throwing toys and wrestling in the family room. Once I started cleaning-up, I was then covered with the sticky goop. So every time I had to leave the clean-up-zone to settle the boys down, I'd make another spot to clean-up. I could feel myself losing it.... so I called my friend Suzette to come over to help. She is great and understands the terror of little boys.

Suzette came and saved the day (and the boys). This was the tipping point after four days alone wit them while Clint was running the Ragnar in Las Vegas. My patience meter was below empty.