I’m telling the truth when I say there is NEVER a dull moment around here.

Our family went out to eat at a hamburger joint called Five Guys to celebrate the end of a busy week. On the way there, Peter and Jeremy were roughhousing in the way back of the car. Jim called back, “If you two don’t knock it off right now, you are not getting burgers. And I mean it!”

Without skipping a beat, Peter whispered, “It’s okay, Jeremy. I can make something for us later.” Fortunately for them, they stopped the roughhousing and were allowed to eat burgers with the rest of us.

Once we were seated with our food, Jeremy could not stop grooving in his seat to the beat of the 80s music which played in the background. He went from mild jerky movements in the chair to all out dancing by the table. He was oblivious to any onlookers.

I couldn’t help but record some…it’s one of those moments we will laugh about 20 years from now. He of course cranked it up a notch when he saw that I was recording, but you get the gist.

Big family rule #87: When you see a big box of cereal at Costco for $2.97, you stock up.

That blur in the background is Jeremy, who upon seeing the multitude of cereal, began running around in circles and kissing the boxes.

Derek, Peter and Jeremy are learning about birds and insects in science this year. They began an experiment on Friday comparing two different varieties of bird seed, in an attempt to answer the question, “What type of bird seed to the birds in my backyard prefer?”

We followed the directions in the curriculum to a T. And the boys–birdwatching book in hand–observed with excitement from the couch.

Then Jake came home. And he took the birdwatching to a whole new level. First, he hacked into our camera.

Then he raided the miscellaneous wire box for a long wire with which to connect a motion detector. A motion detector that is conveniently housed inside a chinese food box.

When a bird lands on the bird seed, it sets off the motion detector and the camera snaps a picture of the winged creature. The picture is then imported into the computer.

Genius, no?

Now the boys can identify birds up close and not have to worry about them flying away.

It’s the role of a big brother to teach his little sister about life skills, like cooking.

While I made today’s lunch–mac ‘n cheese–Jeremy was my helper. And Ruthie was his helper. They were to oversee the pasta while I made the cheese sauce.

I overheard him tell Ruthie that “Mom is making the cheese…and we’re making the mackin!”