Break Thus Far...

Monday night I had the chance to see Erin D who is back from Jamaica for a few weeks.  Also her cousin Lisa who has been on the last couple Jamaica trips with us.  There is always bound to be much laughter when we're together.  And who can complain about an excuse to go to Olive Garden?

Tuesday night there were about 15 girls who went caroling and then back to a friends house for fondue.  Much fun was had but not many pictures taken.  I do have a picture of me playing Wii for the first time ever (but didn't feel the need to post it:)  And my arm is still sore from all that sword fighting!  Wednesday for lunch some of my old roommates met for lunch.  It's always so good to get together.  We are separated by many miles but love to see each other and catch up when we can.  And we got to meet little Charlie who is a doll!

Wednesday night was Hodel Christmas.  It's always good to be spend the evening with the Hodels

Dad, David and Brad singing their hearts out.

Abel trying to steal Haley's paci.  He eventually was successful.  We had fun watching them.  He just kept trying and Haley just kept sitting there.  She didn't quite grasp the fact that she could just get up and walk away from him:)

Did I mention I love Christmas break?

Some Of My Favorite People

Tonight was Aeschleman Christmas.  I was pretty excited because at first I wasn't going to be able to go.  It was supposed to be last Sunday but due to several people not being able to come (including me) and my cousins baby decided to come a few weeks early, they decided to change it.  It's always bound to be a good time.  Tonight we had a poetry contest.  I failed miserably.  We also played the "Rudolph" game.  Each team had a pair of panyhose and a pile of balloons.  We had to blow up the balloons and stuff the legs of the pantyhose.  When the hose were stuffed, someone on the team had to put them on to look like antlers and sing the entire song of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  It was really funny.  I did not fail miserably at that game and am pleased to announce that my team won!  The grand prize was a bag of popcorn for each person on the team. Woo hoo, right?  But it was really fun.

That's my aunt Kathy.  She was actually on the losing team but I liked the picture. 

That's little Katie.  She was supposed to be born Jan. 4 but came last Friday.  She's the sweetest and tiniest five pound bundle!

And there's my darling neice Haley.  She was pretty excited with her new kitchen toys:)  I didn't get very many good pictures of everyone there.  They're all some of my favorite people.  It's good to be back for awhile!

Another Play Come and Gone

Tonight was our annual Christmas play at the preschool.  I really didn't want to have one this year because they're just so much work and there's always so much to do before we leave on our break.  But after several parents made it pretty clear that they really wanted it, we decided to go ahead with it.  Nothing too major happend.  All the main characters got nervous or something and forgot all their lines.  The angel told Mary the thing that she was supposed to tell Joseph.  "Mary is going to have a baby.  Get married to her and then name the baby Jesus."  Mary couldn't think of her lines and just sat there and laughed.  Joseph completely forgot his lines.  The original innkeeper couldn't come because of a death in the family so we pulled the goat out of the stable and made him the innkeeper with only two days left before the play.  So he didn't know his lines.  After the innkeepers part was over he went off to the side to where King Herod was.  King Herod then proceeded to tickle the innkeeper instead of siting nicely in his throne.  Wiseman number 1 froze completely even though he said his lines by himself every day at practice.  Wiseman number 2 decided she was carrying frankincense instead of myhrr.  Yes- she.  We have a big shortage of boys right now and had to have two wisemen and one wisewoman.  BUT,  the things that happened tonight made it funny.  It definitely wasn't as stressful as the first year I was here.  Now that was crazy.  Oh, if you click on that link you're going to have to highlight the text to be able to read it. 
Now I have to work on packing.  I have my two week break to pack for and also my trip to Jamaica.  I usually go in March but for some reason am going in January this year.  Usually I'm so excited when I'm only two weeks away from Jamaica but there's just been way too much going on.  I just hope I get everything I need because I'm leaving from IL for the trip and won't be back here.  I guess as long as I have my passport I'm good to go.  Anyways.  Sorry there's no pictures.  I always wish I could post a bunch of my kids pictures but I can't.  Bummer.  I'm tired.  Not sure why I'm still up.  Good night everyone.

Good Weekend, No Pictures:(

Friday: Christmas caroling, birthday party for Jessica and Anna
Saturday: Devin's basketball game (he lost), hours upon hours of Christmas shopping, short nap, date with Devin!  I wanted to take him for lunch right after his game but he just really didn't want to go because he was afraid he would miss the birthday party he was going to that afternoon.  So we decided to wait until supper time.  Good choice- he was in a great mood and we had the best time we've ever had on our little dates.  Probably because he knew he was getting a present for Christmas and was excited about that.  First thing he says when we got in the car- "Where's my toy?"  We ordered a pizza and went to Blockbuster and got Alvin and the Chipmunks.  Came to my house and opened presents.  I gave him a transformer and a Bible story book.  I told him the transformer might be more fun but the book is way more important he had to read it.  The whole time we watched the movie he'd keep opening it up and looking at it.  That made me happy:)  I love that boy.
Sunday: church (of course), Christmas program at church, lunch with Tyler and Whitney, spend the next 2 1/2 hours getting food ready for Christmas potluck, potluck, PRESENT:), apples to apples, wrap preschool kids presents, crash.

Well, that's it.  Boring boring post, I know.  But I didn't take any pictures all weekend (slacker) and I like to update for the sake of my family who I'm sure is absolutely dying to know all the nitty gritty details of my life:) 

My dad is having surgery on Tuesday.  I hope he doesn't mind that I'm putting this on here for anyone to see.  He has prostate cancer and while they caught it at an early stage and everything should be fine, we'd still appreciate any prayers you could offer up on his behalf.  Thanks and have a great week!

Erin and..... Other Stuff

Erin finally came down to visit me this weekend.  It was tons of fun but I failed miserably in the area of picture taking.  We had homemade pizza, homemade chex mix, several movies, Christmas shopping, pretzel dipping, Devin's basketball game... The only time I got pictures was when we were dipping pretzels.  We had gone to Publix to get almond bark and on the way home I thought about having the Edelman girls over to help us.  So we swung by their place to get them (and their next door neighbor).  It was fun and tasty:)

We stayed busy all weekend but it was all good.  I rarely reccomend movies, but if you are looking for a good clean laugh, I highly reccoment Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.  But make sure you've seen the first one before you watch that one.  Seriously- it's hilarious!  Thanks for coming Erin!  I had a blast!

Now, onto something completely different.  One thing I've noticed since being in Alabama is that there's Christmas decorating and then there's Redneck Christmas decorating.  Actually, not just Christmas- all kinds of decorating.  When rednecks decorate, they just find and empty spot on the wall, hammer in a nail and hang up whatever it is they want to hang up.  Pictures, plaques, shelves with trinkets, you name it.  One house I've been to does their Christmas decorating by hanging all their ornaments from the living room ceiling.  Like, the ceiling is literally covered with these ornaments.  It's kinda funny.  Anyway, I think it's starting to rub off.  As much as I love Christmas, I don't have a lot of decorations and since I'm not even here for half of December I don't really worry about it.  But Cassie decided we needed something.  So last weekend when she was home for Thanksgiving, she brought a box of her decorations home with her.  The only problem was, we don't really have anywhere to put them.  BUT.... we do have a few random nails sticking out of our walls......

And really, you don't even need a nail!  We discovered scotch tape works well too:)

As does a fruit plate.  Directions: Remove fruit from plate.  Replace with nativity set.

Yes, we are pretty classy round these parts!  Merry Christmas everyone!

Weekend Full Of Thanksgiving

Drove up Wednesday afternoon/night.  Traffic wasn't too bad except for Nashville.  Thursday church, 2 hour nap and Hodel Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure who had more fun playing after supper, the kids or the guys......

At one point they had this huge setup with a giant track for the cars going almost the whole lenght of the stairs and then a ramp built off of a chair to see how far they could get the cars to fly.  Dustin can use the excuse of having a son that needs to be entertained.  Herb?  Not so much.  Also got to spend some time with my little punkin.  She's so stinkin cute!  Since I last saw her she has most definitely switched from the baby stage to the "I know what I want" toddler stage.  I just adore her!  And her ears- I adore her ears as well:)

While all the kids (and the big boys) were playing with the racetrack, the rest of us spent some quality time together.

Don't be jealous of how attractive we are. 
Friday I was able to have lunch with a few of my old roommates.  I love getting together with them.  We had no problem killing a couple hours at Panera just chatting it up.  I miss these girls! 

Saturday was the ever so exciting annual JUGS trip.  Just Us Girls Shopping.  I've probably explained it before, but just in case....  It started when I was 8 years old.  My aunt Bev took all her nieces out to eat and shopping.  Which, at that time consisted of going to Washington for pizza and then Wal*Mart.  Then as we got older we started going to the mall cause that's such a cool thing to do, ya know.  But it's kinda come full circle because this year we went to Washington for pizza and then to Wal*Mart!  Only this time instead of spending our hard earned allowance money on candy and such we had things to get like diapers and milk!  No matter where we go though, we always have so much fun. 

Bev decided the Salvation Army bell ringer needed some cheering up or something.  So we sang Joy to the World to him.  Brought a huge smile to his face!

Good times, good times.  I love my family!  Saturday night I went to Gridley to hang out with Katrina and LeaAnn.  The whole weekend went really fast.  I wasn't quite ready to pack up and head home but work was calling my name so I had to.  Terrible traffic on the way home.  Thanksgiving traffic is worse than Christmas traffic.  Ugh.  But I made it with no real problems so I can't complain I guess.  We only have three weeks until our Christmas break starts but they are pretty packed full and I feel a little overwhelmed when I sit and think about it.  But then after that we get two weeks off work and after that is my Jamaica trip!  This weekend my cousin Erin is coming down for a visit.  She's never been here and it's high time.  I'm very excited!  Lots to look forward to in the next month:)

Scrumpdillyicious

Scrumpdillyicious.  That's a word my Grandma Hodel uses to describe something that's really tasty.  And tonight my belly was full of food that was scrumpdillyicious.  Don't really have a whole lot to post about but today I had a two hour nap and tonight I had a Mt. Dew so I am nowhere near tired. 
I drove up Wednesday night and got in around 10:30.  Aside from Nashville Thanksgiving traffic, all went well.  Tonight was Hodel Thanksgiving, tomorrow is Aeschlemans.  Also tomorrow I get to go out for lunch with some of my old roommates!  We usually try to get together over the holidays.  Kristi I'm really sad you won't be around to go out with us:(  It's kinda crazy though, when we were sending messages back and forth trying to get something set up, I realized that there were more of us living out of state/out of country than there were living in central IL.  Oh, how things change in just a few years time!  Speaking of change, me and Erin were talking tonight about last years Thanksgiving dinner.  We were in Magdalena and Kristi had just met Joel.  And now look- she's married to him and living in Mexico!  We wish we could have been on that team again.  Kristi, you were most definitely missed tonight.
Saturday is JUGS, which might have to be another post all by itself.  I really don't have a whole lot to say but I'm just so wide awake that I have to do something.  So blogging it is.  Why didn't I bring something to read?  I have three books sitting unread in my bedroom and I could have gotten a really good start on them tonight.  Oh!  I just yawned!  Mayber there's still hope for a night of rest.  Maybe I'll at least go get ready for bed and then hope for the best.  Good night and Happy Thanksgiving!

If Gymnastics Falls Through, There's Always Ice Skating.....

Last January my mom's side of the family was all out in Kansas City for my cousins wedding.  The hotel we stayed at had an outdoor ice rink across the road and so a few of us went one night.  It was freeeeeeeezing but fun and made me really want to go ice skating again.  Finally, tonight, that's what I did.  We (me and Cassie) took Amber, Jessica, Roslyn and Anna skating.  None of them had ever been before and I was impressed by how well they did.  We had a lot of fun!

And, by the way, Roslyn (tall girl with curly ponytail), Jessica (brown Gateway Woods shirt) and Anna (purple sweatshirt) all gave their hearts to the Lord and started repenting last weekend!  It was quite an exciting day for our little church down here in Athens!  It's been really neat and encouraging to see their desire to grow and know more about the Bible and the Christian walk of life.

Anyways.... someone said they thought they saw Michelle Kwan at the skating rink but I had tell them that no, it was only me.  But I can see how they would think that.  The similarities in our form, body shape and everything else are really striking, wouldn't you agree???  Which is where the title of the post comes in.  I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but in case you haven't heard, I plan to be an Olympic gymnast someday.  But since I obviously excel in figure skating, I guess I could always fall back on that if I need to:)

After skating our little tushies off (yes, I said tushies) we headed to CiCi's Pizza for a delicious meal of....... you guessed it- pizza!  It was quite tasty:)

Good times, good food, good talks, good friends...... I'm tired so good night!

For My Mother

Each week at preschool we focus on a different letter.  Well over a year ago I told my mom I had hoped to find those big giant lollipops for the letter L and make a lion out of them.  I never could find them but I really wasn't too worried about it.  Well, my mom found a sample of the exact craft I had mentioned in a magazine, showed it to me and thought it completely necessary for me to do it with my kids.  Last Easter I found enough giant lollipops for all my kids in my Easter basket.  Yes, I still get Easter baskets:)  So I've had these suckers sitting in my bedroom since April and was so happy when the letter L finally rolled around again last week.  So mom, here's the lions.  Since I'm super good at procrastinating, I waited until Thursday night to figure out how I was going to do them.  So they don't look quite like the magazine but close enough I thought.

Kina cute, huh?  Thanks mom- the kids loved them!  We'll call him........Lancelot.

Another thing that I'm sure you're all very interested in- is our squirrel issue.  A couple years ago, back when Melissa was still living here, we woke up one morning to something running back and forth in our attic.  It's really loud and annoying- especially on a Saturday morning when I would love nothing better than to sleep in.  But, we have these squirrels and nobody seems to know exactly what to do about them.  There's actually a spot in my ceiling that is kind of sagging.  I'm hoping it's not hundreds of acorns that will one day cause the ceiling to give way and everything fall into my bedroom.  That would not be fun.  Anyways, I see these squirrels all the time outside and sometimes see them sitting on my windowsill.  I've tried getting a picture before but always scared them off.  But the other day I finally got it. 

There it is, friends.  Well, one of them at least.  There are more, we just don't know how many for sure.  But this guy?  We'll call him.........Sanford.

Welp, there ya have it.  My two most recent friends I've aquired.

Black Light

Today was very interesting to say the least.  A couple months ago Cassie and I planned that on November 14, we were going to go to Birmingham to visit the Civil Rights Institute.  So, in the words of Nicole C. Mullen, that's just what we did.  It was interesting, gut-wrenching, educational, sickening.....  That's one part of history I've always been into and interested in.  I've said many times that one of my "heroes" is Martin Luther King Jr. and how I would love to have the chance to sit down and talk to him.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum which was a big bummer cause there was a lot of really neat stuff in there.  But we did get a picture of the building right across the street- 16th Street Baptist Church.

It's the church where there was a bombing back in the sixties and four little girls died.  We were right where so much history took place.  This church also was the place that hundreds of school age kids gathered to march for their rights.  It was during that march where the police turned the water hoses on them and also brought out their attack dogs.  There was a park right across the street where a lot of the action took place and they had a few statues there, like this one.

It really gives you a lot to think about, going through a place like that.  Then while I was taking a picture of this statue, a guy comes up to us on a bike and asked us if we had taken a picture of the church yet and proceeds to tell us how his brother was there during the march.  After buttering us up for awhile he mentions that he's homeless and wants some money to stay at a mission.  Long story short, we then found ourselves driving to this mission in downtown Birmingham to see if this guy was for real.  He rode his bike and we met him there.  We ended up talking to the manager of the mission for a long time about helping people that God puts in our paths and listening to his testimony.  Cooper was a cocaine addict but after hitting rock bottom and having nowhere to go but up, came to know the Lord, changed his life, has been sober for five years and is now in charge of the mission.  Wow. 

Then, turns out that my friend from Jamaica, Maria, just happened to be in Birmingham this weekend.  She's the principal of the CCCD school in Kingston that I go to each year.  She was there for a deaf conference and called me up to see if she could stay with me while she was here.  It didn't work since B-ham is 1 1/2 hours away, but it did work out to take her out to supper.  It was really fun to see her outside of CCCD and when she wasn't under all the pressures of work, accomodating the team, taking care of the kids etc. etc.....

After a tasty supper at O'Charley's we took her back to her hotel and went to visit Trent.  He's my one connection in B-ham and since I don't really know my way around I thought maybe he could come along and tell us where to go.  But one of our phone's wasn't working or something and he didn't get any of my four phone calls/text messages.  Finally, after we had already eaten, we made contact and decided we'd still go over and say hi for awhile.

We were back on the interstate at 9:30 and thanks to Cassie's mad driving skills we made it home in record time.  We won't disclose exactly what that record was though:)  So, there's our day.  Like I said- very interesting to say the least.  But it was a good day. 

Welp, tomorrow is potluck day at church.  Thanksgiving potluck- very yummy.  I have to get up in the morning and make my potatoes.  Sure hope they turn out!  I keep trying to think of a smoothe way to end this but it's just not coming to me.  So, good night!

My Dear Friend:)

I have this friend.  Her name is LeaAnn.

  I promised her that if she read AND commented on my blog, I would dedicate a post to her.  Oh the things I will do to get people to comment!  But really, she is a dear friend.  Actually, she's my second cousin.  I always knew who she was because of family reunions and stuff but I never really talked to her.  She's about six years younger than me and back when I actually went to family reunions, that was way too far out of my age group to play with.  Come to think of it, I think we were all kinda snotty to each other.  We hung out with our first cousins but never really interacted with our second cousins until we were older.  Anyways, onto LeaAnn.  About four or five years ago she was going on the same Jamaica trip that I was.  I remember thinking that she was my second cousin who was younger enough that I was sure she was still probably had some growing up to do.  It really boiled down to the fact that there were a lot of new people going that I didn't know and they were all in high school and I had a bad attitude about it.  But, she proved me wrong.  We had a great time and ever since then have gotten to be better and better friends.  Now I hang out with her on a regular basis when I happen to be in Illinois!  So, LeaAnn, here's your post, I'm sorry I thought you weren't grown up yet, I love being with you cause you can always make me laugh, I'm glad you come to Athens sometimes, I think you need to go to Jamaica again, and I think you rock at nintendo!  You're the coolest!

Welp, there you have it.  My dear friend:)

Cry of the Orphan

Tonight we went to Nashville (actually Franklin, TN) for the Cry of the Orphan concert.  It was basically to raise awareness of orphans in the US and around the world.  Talk about wanting to adopt like five kids right then and there!

Nicole, Jena and Amber came down from IL/IN for the concert and it was good to spend some time with them.

Mark and Bekah were there too but I never managed to get a picture of them.  One of my favorite parts was the Children of the World choir.  The kids in the choir were from Uganda, Nepal and one or two other places.  China by the looks of it.  They were really cute though.  I tried uploading a video but it was taking much too long for my liking so I cancelled the upload.  So you get a picture.

Steven Curtis Chapman was one of the main men behind the evening- it was held at his home church.  Also there to sing a couple songs was his good buddy Geoffe Moore.  Jim Daly from Focus on the Family talked and so did Dennis Rainey from Family Life.  They pretty much all just put out a plea for people to open their hearts to adoption and supporting orphans in some way or another.  It did start to get a little long after awhile but it was really a neat evening and I'm glad we went.  Here's Steven.

Not a very good picture, I know.  It got a little emotional when he talked about his daughter.  He said there were a couple songs he thought he'd never sing again after she died but.... to make a long story short, he sings them now.

After the concert we went to Famous Dave's.  Cassie had never heard the likes of such a place.  The poor girl.  But it was quite tasty!  Welp, off to work again tomorrow.  Last week went really really fast.  I hope this one does too.  Have a great day y'all!

Homecoming

I love homecoming weekend!  It's really one of my favorite weekends of the whole year.  Basically we sit at listen to bluegrass for a really long time which isn't my favorite, but we have some really cool people come down and listen to it with us which is really really fun.  And that was a really long sentence.  Anyway, the weekend started out with me making banana bars for Saturday night.  My mom had told me just how to make them and the frosting.  The bars turned out beautifully but I was having some serious issues with the frosting.  Something was way way wrong.  I decided to start over but was out of butter.  So I said "Okay, I'll go over to the preschool, grab a stick of butter, come back and call my mom to see what I did wrong."  I grabbed my keys and when we walked out the door there was this car coming in that I didn't recognize.  So we stood there with dumbfounded looks on our faces until it pulled up to our house.  The door opened and out hopped my mom!  I was completely shocked!  I had not a clue that she was coming.  It was a great suprise!  She came down last minute with three other people from Roanoke.  Ususally dad comes too but because of harvest and loading out hogs early Monday morning he just couldn't.

We had a group of friends coming that weren't supposed to get in until at least midnight so we stayed up waiting for them.  They got in around 1, then I talked to Katrina until almost 4!  Liiiiiitle bit tired on Saturday!  Saturday the guys that came went to the Jack Daniels distillery for a tour and us girls headed to Quizno's for lunch.

After lunch we were on our way to Mark & Bekah's to hang out with her and her sisters when we realized it was Halloween and the only appropriate thing to do was to go trick or treating!  So in the 10 minutes we had between lunch and their house we all found some sort of costume.  I was a walrus and LeaAnn was Mother Mary...... or a Muslim.  Take your pick.  I didn't get a picture of everybody's costume though.

After playing Scattegories, Speed Scrabble and some old school Nintendo, we went to the Tennessee Fellowship Center where our bluegrass fun began!

One of the groups that was supposed to come had to cancel because their lead singer was in the ER.  So we threw a few of our own groups together.  It was really fun and turned out to be my favorite homecoming since I've been here.

I also had a chance for some quality bonding time with Katrina, Leah and Emily.

Sunday of course was church.  116 people were there:)  Went to Sweet Peppers Deli ( my new favorite resturaunt) for lunch where we attempted to play Scrabble with our lunch letters.  (They give you a letter instead of a number)

A great weekend indeed.  And I really can't think of much else to say.

New Neighbors

As of today I'm feeling really safe!  I've never really felt unsafe but now I feel like I have extra protection should something sketchy ever happen in these parts.  Look who moved in next door today!

City of Athens police man.  Chris and his wife Mallory.  I plan on taking a meal or something over to them in a few days once they're more settled.  I want to be a good neighbor and I want to get in good with the cop in case he would ever stop me!

??????????

On my last post I had an anonymous comment from someone who said they liked my shoes, shirt vest and of course me.  It totally sounded like my mom but when I asked her about it she denied having anything to do with it.  So clearly, the most logical conclusion that I can make is that I have a secret admirer.  SURELY that's the case.  Right?  Oh, it's just so exciting;)

My Weekend

Costume Party- had the girls from church to our house as well as Cassie's old roommates.  Here's the group shot

And here's me, dressed up as Cassie.  I was going to dress up as an egg but then Saturday morning had this idea instead.  I found a curly wig at Wal*Mart, and while she went and got the pizza's for supper I raided her closet.  No, I do no own a pair of bright orange shoes.  Only Cassie.  As well as the piano belt, orange shirt and bright pink vest. 

Sunday we had a weiner roast/going away party/Extreme Makeover: Home Edition party.

Ryan and Hope Stoller have lived in the Tennessee Fellowship center for a little over two years now.  For some reason, God has led them back to central IL.  We are all really really sad about that and we're going to miss them and their kids like crazy.  They are one cool family and their kids are so cute!  But that was our reason for a going away party.  Not sure when they're leaving though.  The EM:HE party was because Kerwin worked on the house they did in Philo, IL and so we all wanted to watch it.  I love that show.

Then tonight we went over to the church to make the beds we have over there for people to stay in.  I was walking down the hall and found this

A black widow spider.  After defying death and trapping it, we had a small funeral and then flushed it down the toilet.  Glad I'm not the one staying in the church this weekend!

Okay, my camera is acting up.  When I cut it on it says that the memory card is protected and I can't do anything with it.  (These are all Cassie's pictures.)  Any suggestions?

Brutally Honest

Sometimes I tend to be brutally honest.  But I do know how to use tact when necessary.  Not true for my kiddos.  Take yesterday for example.  One of my boys was behind me as I was on my way to open the bike shed.  The conversation went something like this:
(His words are in yellow and my words are in purple.)

"Miss Sarah, I saw yo booty shake when you was walkin'!"
"Oh yeah?  Did it just shake or did it jiggle?"
"It was shakin'!"
"Is it really big?"
"It's big and flumpy."
"What does flumpy mean?"
"I don't know.... just flumpy."

Then him and another little boy standing there proceed to sing

"I like 'em big..... I like 'em chunky...."

Gotta love 'em!

Chain Reaction

 If two little boys drop the lid of the toilet tank into the tank,

it causes the tank to look a little something like this

Causing the floor to look a little something like this

Causing their teacher to look a little something like this.

OH the joys!  Somehow I reamained unusually calm through the whole ordeal.  I had to keep reminding myself that it was probably partly my fault and not just theirs.  They love to "fix" things with blocks that they like to pretend are tools.  Today they decided they wanted to be plumbers and were working on the toilets.  They were just "fixing" the bottom of it and they were being really good so I let them do it.  (Usually they don't get to just play in the bathroom.)  After awhile it was time to clean up and not 1 second after I said "Okay plumbers, time to clean up" I heard the crash.  At first I thought the lid broke but quickly realized that it was the tank, as water was gushing out.  *SIGH*  What's a girl to do?  Glad that afternoon's over.