Happy St. Paddy's!

So, after a month-long (and then some) hiatus, the House of Payne has once again reopened its doors. Glad you stopped by. Now you can see what we did for St. Patrick's Day!

We are sure there is a leprechaun somewhere in the House. Every March 17th our toilet water turns green, our milk turns green, or something else really weird (and green) happens. So this year we decided to try to catch the little bugger. A few days ahead of time, we started planning how to build a trap. The kids came up with the idea to use a tall box as the trap so that the leprechaun couldn't climb out once we had him ensnared. Alec and Carrie rigged the trap with yarn that went out the bottom of the box, back in the box about halfway up, then was tied to the flaps at the top.

Everyone knows leprechauns love gold, so we used gold coins as bait.

The yellow ball? I have no idea..... Don't ask me what it was for.

The bag of coins was tied to the yarn at the bottom of the box. When it was lifted, the trap would be sprung and the flaps would close on the top of the box, trapping the leprechaun. Pretty good thinking! And look in there. It would be a pretty steep climb for a tiny leprechaun to get back up to the top of the box. I don't think it's gonna happen. I think our chances of catching him are pretty good!

We set up the trap, decorated the outside of the box, and set a little ladder next to it so the tiny trickster could get in. Then we went to bed dreaming of what we were going to do with all the gold the leprechaun would have to give us after we caught him.

They look really confident, don't they? And when they got up this morning, they were 100% sure he was in there. Alec was totally freaked out. Carrie told him the trap had been thrown - the flaps were closed! He ran downstairs and picked up the box which started rattling with movement from inside! Man, you never saw a 10 year old boy run so fast in your life! It scared the Blarney out of him! He came running, no, flying, no, he practically teleported himself back upstairs to interrupt my shower and tell me the leprechaun was in the trap. After I was clean, dressed, and dry, I insisted they wait to open it until I could get the camera. I wanted pictoral proof of what we had accomplished!

So, the box is slowly opened and we see what was moving around inside when Alec picked it up....

Blast! He tricked us! That little stinker got away! But he left a bag of goodies for each kid. This one was tied to the yarn where our gold coins had been! That was what was holding the flaps on the top of the box closed fooling the kids into believing they had trapped the leprechaun.

They don't look so happy now, do they? Slightly disappointed, I'd say. I can't quite figure out how anyone could be disappointed with jelly beans and creme de menthe Hershey's Kisses. I guess they were expecting gold??? Mabye it was the jeering note the leprechaun left that said, "Can't catch me!" in green ink.

Oh well....we have already begun brainstorming ways to improve upon our trap for next year. Now that we know the leprechaun is really here and that he can be lured into a trap fairly easily, we just have to get the trap right. He's pretty slick, but I think we can get him. Maybe next year we'll get the gold.

Let it snow!

Finally, a snow day! We really, really, and I mean REALLY miss the snow in northern Virginia. We miss other things, too, but today we're all about the snow. We woke up this morning to a good 4" on the ground, could have been 5", and it kept snowing most of the day, adding on another inch. AWESOME! The kids went out and played this morning, but I never could get out there! One or two kept coming in needing something. After an hour and a half of that, 3 of them were cold and wet and ready for a break. Wimps. We've been out of Virginia too long. So they watched Gilligan's Island while I worked out and dried their coats, socks, gloves, etc. Then we had lunch and everyone was ready for round 2 of the snow. Here was the worst part of the day ~ I had to climb a ladder to get the sleds down. You can read more about that here.

In the meaantime, here are some pictures from today:

The full album is available on my Facebook page. Try this link. If that doesn't work, you'll just have to join Facebook!

Now, pass the hot chocolate, please!

Eat Mor Chikin

I had my wisdom teeth removed yesterday. It was surprisingly painless. Really. I was expecting the worst - nausea from the general anesthesia and pain and grogginess lasting for a few days. So I had 3 days' worth of meals prepared for the family ahead of time. Well, that was the plan. When Haley found out I had chicken nuggets planned for tonight, she asked if she could make them herself instead of me making them Tuesday night and Roger reheating them. I thought that was a good plan. Reheated chicken nuggets aren't all that good. I was pretty sure I could manage stove supervision even if I wasn't feeling well. But I feel fine, and I still got out of cooking! Here's how it went:

Haley started out by cutting the chicken into bite-size pieces.

Landon counted the eggs for her. She only needed two, but he had to count how many there were in the carton. He got to crack and beat both eggs for Haley to dip the chicken nuggets in. Then she dredged them in a flour/breadcrumb mixture.

Meanwhile, Erin made fruit salad.

And Alec and Carrie were still doing their homework.

Then things started to break down and Haley and Alec started wrestling.

This makes my face hurt. Aren't we supposed to be cooking dinner and doing homework??




But Landon kisses my boo-boo and sets the process back on track.




Erin and Landon prep the tater tots. They are such good helpers.

And Haley cooks the chicken nuggets.

"Mommy, I don't want any tater tots. I don't want any shicken nuggets. I just want fwuit salad." He's tired. And he has a bruise on his right eyelid. It's a boo-boo from a few days ago.

Moooove over, Chick-fil-A!

Dash waits patiently for something to fall on the floor. Poor doggie.

Ever wonder what a meal for a family this large looks like? Here it is all laid out. I fill the plates, in birth order, on the island and everyone takes their own plate to the table. Plastic for everyone under the age of 12. "Real" dishes for adults & kids 12 and over. Now that's a lot of food! Notice that I got oatmeal. Yum.

Bon Apetit!

We have arrived!

Now that we have finally settled (hopefully!) in North Carolina, I decided it's about time I started documenting the day-to-day happenings in the House of Payne. Let me introduce the family. I'm Lisa, the CarolinaMom. Don't get confused. We live in North Carolina, but my Carolina is for South Carolina. That's where the Payne family started. I was raised in Columbia, SC, went to school at The USC (that would be the University of South Carolina) where I met Roger, my wonderful husband. We were married on September 4, 1990. We were babies. I went on to finish college with a degree in mathematics and got certified to teach 6th - 12th grades. I taught middle school for 3 years and we found out our first darling, Haley, was on the way the summer before my 4th year teaching. After my 4th year, I quit my job and we moved to Greenville, SC where Roger found more gainful employment. We lived there for about a year, then his company moved us to San Diego, CA. That was culture shock for me as I had only lived in the south my whole life. Roger grew up in the Army, so new places were the norm for him. We were in San Diego for about 6 months, which was long enough for Haley to catch chicken pox, bronchitis, get diagnosed with asthma (which was bogus, but with the air quality over there, who wouldn't wheeze?), and for me to get pregnant with Alec. At that time, getting pregnant was not easy for us. It took almost 3 years, many tests, lots of drugs, and a surgery to conceive Haley. Alec was drugs, drugs, drugs, then artificial inseminations. Right about the time I finally got pregnant with him, Roger's company was having financial difficulty and we were sent back to Greenville, SC. I think we were both ready to come home! We lived there for 4 more years, had one more child (no drugs this time, although we were about to start again!), and the addition of Roger's mother after his parents divorced. The financial difficulties with the company Roger worked for were continuing, so he started looking for another job. He ended up going back to the company he worked for in Columbia before we had any of our kids. Now, at this point in the story, there is a definite pattern. We moved back to Columbia, lived there a year, and had another baby. Then we moved to Ocala, Florida, lived there a year, and got pregnant again. We moved to Nashville, TN, lived there a year, and had the baby. Then we moved to Stephens City, VA. This time it wasn't just for a year and there and there were NO MORE BABIES. We lived at the top of Virginia for 3 years and loved every moment. Too bad it wasn't in the south. We love the south. But we also loved the 4 distinct seasons in northern VA and the 360* mountain views. Now we are in the Raleigh area of North Carolina and we believe we are done moving around. Our kids are Haley, age 12; Alec, age 10; Carrie, age 8; Erin, age 6; and Landon, age 4. They keep my hoppin', that's for sure! So, through this blog, you will get a glimpse into our crazy life. We love it.