The Wallace Way to Wash Dishes

Step 1-  Realize that its your night for dishes and attempt to persuade parents to make sandwiches that will be eaten on either paper plates or paper towels.

Step 2-  If the sandwiches and paper products aren't used protest by refusing to eat the meal which will make more dishes for yourself.

Step 3-  Seek pity by having a 30 minute crying session over the sink.  (You must produce actual tears and bonus points are awarded for screaming tantrums throughout the process.)

Step 4-  Lets make a deal.  If you are lucky enough to still have money from your allowance, then offer to pay your sibling a sum of cash in exchange for your freedom that night.  (Please note that this tip can only be used if you do not spend your entire allowance on bubble gum and mint ice cream... this is a serious concern in our family.)

Step 5-  Beg for others help.  If they refuse continue following them around and yelling, "Please! Please! Please!" in their ears until they threaten to get Mom and Dad.

Step 6-  Casually mention that you'll be taking a shower during the next twenty minutes, and that dish miracles are always accepted and appreciated :)  (Such miracles do occur during the Christmas season, but mysteriously disappear throughout the rest of the year.)

Step 7-  Return from your 20 minute shower only to notice that the dishes are still in the same place you left them.  By this time, the rest of the family is either down stairs watching TV or in their rooms, which means that they won't be able to hear your heart wrenching sobs.  Fortunately, there is an alternative way to capture their attention.  Simply, drop the dishes into the sink or bang them together!!! (both ideas are equally loud and obnoxious) 

Step 8-  If none of the previous steps have gained you help, then this is the time to submit to your horrible fate and begin washing the dishes.  I suggest silently sobbing while you complete your torturous task, so that after your done, you may walk by your siblings and parents with bright red eyes and make them feel sufficiently guilty.

We realize that this is a vigorous list of steps and wish to warn everyone that this is not for the faint of heart!  However, if you follow this pattern every time it's your night for dishes, you will definitely reach the Wallace Family Standard (WFS).  Good luck with your future dishwashing endeavors!!! :)

Approximate time needed to complete- 3 hours

Sincerely,

Taysom and Tucker Wallace

One last tip-  Come up with a creative idea for a blog post and your mom may offer to do your dishes in exchange for your blog post.  If this occurs, take her up on the offer!  It's way better!!!!

Naughty or Nice? ;)

Ilah was looking up some Christmas sites these past few days and found a really fun one that tells how good you've been this year.  Thankfully no one got on the naughty list.  Although, my dad's did say that he kept switching from the nice to naughty list :)  He better watch his step, cause Santa Claus is coming tonight!!!  We wish we could be with you guys this Christmas, but we are grateful to be celebrating the birth of our Savior and Older Brother, Jesus Christ, whose atonement allows us to be together forever.  I'm looking forward to spending forever with you!  I love you all... there is no greater family (biological or friendship wise) out there.  Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Mo Wallace Family

P.S. We looked up a few results ourselves :)  If your name isn't on here you can check your standing at
http://www.claus.com/naughtyornice/nn_rating.php
Louise Crosby
It was a pretty good year, so we'll go for a "Nice" rating. A few naughty marks for excessive junk food, not going to bed on time and nearly forgetting someone's birthday. Really tried to keep up with household chores, though. Extra credit for smiling a lot. Is kind to senior citizens. Keep improving!
Richard Crosby
Overall, niceness outweighs naughtiness. Was good a lot last month! Politeness often good, but has room for improvement. Could help around house more instead of watching so much TV. Expected to move even higher up "nice" list.

Mary Crosby
Nice, but has naughty lapses. High marks in the good deeds department. Better than average manners. Hopefully, thoughtfulness will continue to be as good as last month. Neatness needs improvement!

Frances Wallace
"Nice" with just a few naughty marks for excess TV. Also had a tough month back in February, but has shown real "nice" effort ever since. Beware of not cleaning up kitchen messes and forgetting to say "thank you." Very nice job of kissing everyone "good night."

Jimmy Wallace
Nicer than nice. A real champ! I was really proud of all the hard work that went towards changing those "naughty" habits of last year. Treated friends nicely and was exceptionally honest (which happens to be one of my favorite traits!) It's amazing what a good old fashioned "I'm sorry!" can do for a rating. Keep up the good work!

#94

Here is the football picture I promised.
Love that smile!



P.S. Notice the injured finger.

Christmas Programs

Here are a few links to see the kids in their Christmas Programs...

This one is for Henry's 5th grade Christmas Program:
http://www.jet14ondemand.com/ondemand/musicvideo.php?vid=eb4290a4a

He is Santa Claus!


This one is for the All City Singers Christmas Program which Henry was a part of:
http://www.jet14ondemand.com/ondemand/musicvideo.php?vid=e2c526fa9

Henry is on the right, second row down from the top (I think).


This one is Ilah's Beginning Band Concert:
http://www.jet14ondemand.com/ondemand/musicvideo.php?vid=5381c6435

She is on the front row on the left.


This one is the Joplin High School's Choir Concert. Taysom is in "A Touch of Class" (the blue dresses):
http://www.jet14ondemand.com/ondemand/musicvideo.php?vid=3e30d4337

Taysom is hard to see because she is in the back row on the left.


Merry Christmas!

PUMPKIN CARVING

Can you spot the tribute to Dwight Schrute, Hello Kitty, and Jamie (from The Mythbusters)?

Thanks Grandma Wallace for the pumpkins!

2010 Halloween Costumes

Have You Missed Us???

WALLACE NEWS

Taysom~

Becca reminded me this past weekend that this is the last Thanksgiving in which there is no doubt that we'll have Taysom with us... It is some what sobering. Most of the time, I don't even think about the fact that she is a senior and will be leaving for college in just nine short months... but when it hits me, I get a little teary eyed.

School has been kicking her butt this year. She is taking Sewing, Calculus A.P., French III (weighted), Lit. and Comp. A.P., Chemistry II (weighted), Touch of Class (vocal ensemble), and "We the People" (constitution team). I admire her ambition. With that said, where did she get it from? I took four classes my senior year and made sure they were the easiest possible classes that would fulfill the requirements. She is hoping 2nd semester will bring a little breathing room. (Her "We the People" will switch to a regular government class.) She is trying to decide what major to pursue, but she is leaning toward something in the medical field.

In addition to school work (and there is a ton of it), she has re-taken her ACT (and scored a 30!!!!), is working on college applications, continues to work on personal progress, and tries to fit in some social interaction. We went and had senior pictures taken a couple of weeks ago - here is a sneak peek.

Tucker-After all of that worrying about injuries during football season, it wasn't until basketball open gym (the week after football season ended) that Tucker actually sustained an injury. He was going up for a lay up when he got shoved from behind, propelling Tucker forward. His right hand "ran into" another guys nose. Tucker ended up with a torn ligament (ring finger) and the other guy ended up with a severely broken nose. Tucker's finger was extremely swollen for a couple of weeks. The school trainer said that it probably won't be back to "normal" for 8-10 weeks.

Even with an injured finger he made the JV team and will be playing Varsity when needed.

First game is Wednesday. (I am so excited!!! This is my favorite sport to watch!)

Since I don't have the football pictures back yet... here's another picture for you to enjoy... Fabio...

~The "girls"~

Ilah-

Ilah makes my day every morning by waving to me as I leave for school. She is the last to leave the house and has even started doing the morning kitchen clean-up/dishes to earn extra money. She bought herself a cell phone! (Yep - she is a tween.)

This is Ilah's first year of middle school. There are good things about middle school and bad things as well. She is sick of the girl fakeness and drama. On the good side, she tried out for the school musical (Annie Jr.) and made it! She is one of the orphans. Play practice is in full swing. We are looking forward to the performance February 3 and 4, 2011. Anyone want to come? :)

A couple of months ago, she bought a mouse. I told her that she could keep it as long as I never smelled it... Well, does anyone want a mouse. I don't think there has been a day that I haven't smelled it, complained about it, wished it was dead... you get the picture. I am NOT an animal person.


***Side note*** I took Snoop into the groomer. She asked me if I had noticed any changed in Snoop's health. I replied by saying that he was just getting older and slower. Trying to comfort me, she said that although Schnauzers generally slow down/age quicker, they hang on the longest - I'm sad just typing this :(




Henry-


Our youngest is a latch key child (remember that term?). He comes home to an empty house and lets himself in with a key :( But he handles it just fine. In fact, by the time I make it home, he is usually sitting at the kitchen table doing his homework. He likes to get it out of the way so he can play "Adventure Quest Worlds" on the Internet with his good buddy Ian. They call each other and put the phone on speaker and play for what seems like forever.)


In addition to his fantasy world on the computer, he also loves to escape by reading the Percy Jackson series. About a month ago, I walked by his room on a school night around 11:00pm. He was still up reading. I told him he needed to go to bed immediately. He pulled the book down, revealing his tear stained face begging to be able to finish the book. He had to find out what happened to Zoe, the huntress. I knew how that felt and had to let him finish the book that night.

Recently he made All City Singers. I can not wait until the All City concert December 13th. That is when I really start feeling the Christmas spirit. What will I do next year when my kids are too old to be involved in this???
He is also trying out for the advanced math team at his school. He'll find out if he makes it toward the end of December. He's our little nerd. (as I am typing this he is cheering about black holes...)

Last week Henry and Ilah created mazes in their bedroom with traps made out of string, duct tape, etc. The goal was to sneak into the other's room and steal something that had been selected earlier. If they were able to make it through the maze and capture the item without waking the room's owner, they won. Neither one succeeded, but check out these pictures to see why.