Artistry in Poop

Okay, let me just preface this post by saying that if you have a weak stomach you probably don't want to read this, and you DEFINITELY don't want to look at the pictures.
Yes, I put pictures of my kid's poop on the internet...I don't know why either. So here is the story behind the following disgusting poop pictures.

Jake was being really naughty and not taking a nap. At one point I locked him in his room so he would quit wandering out with random requests and problems. He quieted down and I assumed (wrongly) that he had gone to sleep. I forgot to unlock his door and went downstairs to work on a project.
Anyway, when Ryan got home he heard noises coming from Jake's room and opened his door. He came running out to me (I was on the phone) and yelled, "MOM - hang up! We have a poop emergency!" I hung up and rounded the corner to see Jake standing butt naked in his doorway with poop all over his bum, legs, and hands. I picked him up and put him straight in the bathtub, only to hear Ryan say, "Oh Gross!" I peaked back into Jake's room to see what was so gross, and saw the following:


Yes, that is poop smeared all over his carpet, bookshelf, bedding, box springs, two books, and I hope nothing else, because that is all I found so far. Needless to say, I spent all afternoon cleaning poop off of all surfaces of Jake and his room, and I may have to rent a carpet cleaner tomorrow. So far I have scrubbed the carpet twice with spray-on stain remover, and I am not satisfied with the results, so...more poop fun tomorrow!!
Anyway, I am documenting this because I know that some day I will be able to laugh at this. All I have to say is, Jake owes me big!

tidbits

We always have random comments around our house, so here are a few that have made me laugh lately:

Jake wandered around the house mumbling to himself, then walked up and punched me in the leg and said, "Bloody knuckles and broken balls!" with this look on his face:

I was laughing at the absurdity of it so much, I couldn't punish him for punching me. What 2-year-old says this? And why don't I ever clean the breakfast and/or marker off his face? (And yes, I think he has the most expressive face--especially the eyebrows-- of any kid I've ever seen. He doesn't even have to say anything and that face makes me laugh.)

Jake, after crying about something or other a few days ago, quickly calmed down then announced: "There's some cry in my eye still!"

And lately we've been watching the Lion King almost nonstop. The other day he walked up to me and said, "Who you calling upidstay?" (If you can't remember this line, you need to watch Lion King again.)

This morning Ethan was singing the song, "No one likes a frowny face, change it for a smile...." Then he decided to improvise his own lyrics to the same tune. Next I heard, "No one likes a parachute; change it for a jet-pack!" Of course I have to agree with him. Under most circumstances, I'd WAY rather have a jet-pack than a parachute. Clever little devil!

Coveralls and Pumpkin Cake Rolls

Thanksgiving is of course a wonderful time of year, but it is bittersweet for me. Both my grandpa and Aunt DelLene passed away right around Thanksgiving in the past few years, so I am reminded of them each year. Among the other things I am thankful for, I am glad to have known them both and for their examples and the things they taught me. Here are just a few of the things I remember from each of them:

Grandpa
Taught me to always keep busy and always have hobbies where I could be creative.

Took me to the hospital with him sometimes and let me wait in the doctor's lounge while he checked on a patient. I always LOVED that room - a fridge stocked full of chocolate milk, cheese and crackers, donuts, and other assorted goodies I didn't get at home!

Always wore coveralls around the house and yard. After he passed away my grandma gave Brandon a pair of his old coveralls to use, but I stole them. I never realized how handy they are for all the messy projects I do! And I always half expect to find a bit of loose change or a Werther's Original in one of the pockets:)

Would always take us out to run errands when we were little. We'd go to some autobody shop or thrift store, then ALWAYS stop for milk shakes on the way home. He would always order a large for each of us, then when we couldn't finish he'd polish it off for us!

When I was young and we'd run around at the pool all day with just our swim suits on he would always tell me to put on a long-sleeved shirt so I didn't get skin cancer. Let's hope he was wrong about this, since of course I never listened.

When we'd visit we always knew Grandpa would let us get a pop out of the downstairs pantry even though we also knew Grandma wouldn't approve!

At least once a year the movie The Sound of Music would come on television and we would come over and watch it. It was one of my Grandpa's favorite movies and now is one of mine.

One of Grandpa's favorite songs was Clair de Lune. He always tried to get me to learn it on the piano, but it's really hard. Maybe some day I'll master it!

The last time I talked to him on the phone, he gave me this advice that I have never forgotten (this was while Ryan was small, I was in school full time and working part time). He said, "Lindsay, just make sure you're not trying to do too much. Remember the most important thing you can ever do is be a good mom."

I love these coveralls and use them all the time! (They make quite the fashion statement, I think!)


DelLene
Most of my memories of DelLene are associated with some sort of food. Whenever we came over, there was always food. And not just any food, GOOD food. Many of my favorite recipes I got from DelLene.

Pumpkin cake roll is one of my favorites. Always reminds me of fall, especially of Halloween spent at their house, taking the kids trick-or-treating around the block.

Her Cheese Ball recipe reminds me of Christmas. I think she made it the Christmas we spent at their house. I've tried to make it several times, but it never turns out quite right.

Beer Bread and Minestrone doesn't have a specific time of year attached, just lots of good dinners and conversations.

Every time I think of DelLene I am inspired to make things just a little bit prettier, more organized, or cleaner. When I want my kids to do a good job on their chores, I say, "Clean it like Aunt DelLene was coming for a visit and you know she would see it!"

I miss seeing how much she obviously adored my boys, and how she always called them "My babies" or "My boys."

Here is my attempt at her pumpking cake roll - not as pretty, but still tasty!

Ryan

Since the other two have had posts dedicated to them recently, I didn't want to leave Ryan out. Two things:

The other day in the car Ryan's friend and he were talking in the back about a girl he likes. I asked if she knew he (meaning Ryan) liked her, and this was their story:

T: Well, I had this great plan. I told Ryan I'd go over and tell her I know someone who likes her.
R: I told him not to do it!
T: You did not! So anyway, I went over there and told her and her friend that I know someone who likes her. And then they gave me this scary look and wouldn't let me leave until I told them, and so I yelled, "It's Ryan!" and ran away!
R: It was awful. Then later when I was asking why he told her I liked her, her sister was standing right behind me and heard me say it. How embarassing!

And on and on this story went. I was laughing so hard in the front seat, good thing it was dark and they couldn't see me. I realize the story loses a little something in the retelling, but it just brings back a flood of Junior High memories. I can't imagine having to go through any of that again!! What a horrible, akward time of life! (And since when did I have a kid old enough to actually LIKE a girl? Am I really that old already?!)
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On a completely unrelated note, Ryan has started babysitting occasionally for other people. One night a neighbor asked him to babysit (thanks Mary!) for a few hours. About an hour and a half into the night Ryan called to say he was bored (Apparently their little girl had already fallen asleep - rough babysitting job, huh?). So I walked a book over for him to read.
I was greated at the door by Ryan with a bowl in hand. He said, "You have to try one of these donut holes! They were SO good I ate almost the whole bowl Mary left for me!" (And yes, they were that good). He then went on to say, "She could totally just pay me in donut holes!" So if anybody out there needs a cheap babysitter, I'm sure a plate of cookies would go over just as well:)

The budding author

Somehow I lost the last post I did, so this will be a lame attempt to repeat it. I had several funny things the kids had done written down in it and of course have forgotten them all now. Well, life goes on, and so in that vein...

Ethan has started writing. Before he only wrote things if I made him sit down and do it, and only what I told him to write. A few weeks ago he informed me that he is writing a book. I personally think it is the best book ever written, and it will probably win some type of award some day. Well, maybe not, but he scored a lot of brownie points with it. Have a look (click on the page to see it in all its glory):






He says it may take him a while to finish this one, but some day he plans to write a whole library full of them. I tell you, if he keeps the title he can write as many of these as he wants! I love my Ethan :)

Trick or treat, smell my feet...

Ethan just heard this poem and thinks it is HILLarious! You would've thought he made it up himself, he is so proud when he says the whole thing and everybody laughs.

We had a pretty mellow halloween this year - Ryan went trick-or-treating with his friends, and Brandon was out of town so Jake, Ethan and I went next door then around the block, then called it quits. For only a few houses, we still had a huge cauldron full of candy when we got back and pooled all the candy...just enough to make us really hyper and annoying for a few days :)
Here are some shots of the big night -



After taking this pictures, Ethan says, "Mom, I was smiling, but you couldn't even tell!" And another (said in his Darth VAder voice), "You WILL give me lots of candy" (using the force...it must have worked).


Here is Ryan, making a political statement, although I'm not sure what. Perhaps that is mother is too cheap to buy him a new halloween costume so he had to recycle last years!

And on one last note, Ryan had his last soccer game on Halloween day. His team won 3 to 1 and they all played really well. Ryan played GREAT, but I have no pictures because I was busy chasing the two younger bros on the sidelines. At one point Jake stripped down to a T-shirt and underwear before I noticed (yes, in the middle of a public park). Luckily he couldn't get his underwear off because it was wet (with pee).

Sadly, after the big game we had a little service for Ryan's cleats, which were retired to the garbage can. I have never smelled a worse smell in my life! Odor eaters spray didn't even touch them. He wasn't even allowed to wear them in the car (had to put them in a plastic bag and tie it shut in the back).
So...we got trick or treats, and we no longer have to smell Ryan's feet. All in all a good Halloween!

"Did you miss me?"

Jake is so many things...wonderful and horrible at the same time, all wrapped together with a good dose of comedian in the mix. I love him to death, but I really think he will be the death of me some day. He is up at about 6 every morning, very cheerful but also very demanding (usually about getting some form of breakfast). He DEFINITELY has a mind of his own, and voices his opinion about anything and everything quite loudly no matter where we are. Half of the time it makes me laugh, and half of the time it makes me want to scream!

Jake is large for his age and pretty advanced with his speech capabilities (I may be biased because he is my son, but let's just say he is way ahead of where his brothers were at his age!). The result is that people think he is older than he is, which leads to all sorts of looks and occasional comments when he acts like a 2-year-old, which he is entitled to do. For example, when we are in the store and he sees something he wants, he doesn't just whine about it like most 2-year-olds and say something like, "Candy, mom, I want candy!" No, he says something like this: "Mom, I want those red Skittles right now for my dinner! If you don't get them for me you will be in big trouble and you will have to go to your room!" And he says all of this at a volume well above conversation level. I usually end up looking ridiculous arguing with him and then threatening him with some form of punishment if he won't be quiet, all while other shoppers wonder why I don't have better control of my 4-year-old. One day we were in the grocery store and the kids were being their usual loud selves, and around the corner walks a lady from church. She said, "I thought that was you guys I heard from a few aisles over!" That pretty much sums up Jake.

Despite our trying moments with Jake, he makes me laugh like no other. Here are a few examples of things he has done/said in the past week. Gotta love this kid!

~Jake: "That's Fweekie!" and "That's Awesome, Efun!"

~Mom, where's the commote? (Translation: TV remote control)


~Here is Jake playing "Elmo's World" on his 'comtar'. He was all over the house doing this, but once I got out the camera he needed a little prompting to start up again, of course.



~Everything in Jake's day-to-day life is narrated to the tune of the Darth Vader theme song. (e.g. "Now I have to go put on my jammies" or "mom is making me clean up my room")

~He recently hurt his foot jumping off furniture and we gave him some ibuprofen to help him feel better. He loves the taste of it, so one day while sitting on the couch he says, "Mom, my ankle hurts. I need a Profen." I think we have our future pharmacist here!

~This cracked me up. I was lucky he was willing to repeat for the camera. I had made Mac n cheese for lunch and this is Jake's response to my asking how his lunch tasted.

(A big "Fumbs" up, Mom)


~Yesterday we went to the dentist to get Jake's teeth cleaned for the second time. First time was no problem. Yesterday, however, he was horrible. He wouldn't let the hygienist get near his mouth, and when it came time for the dentist to look in there it took me, the dentist, and two hygenists to hold him down (luckily he was screaming bloody murder so his mouth was open wide). Of course as soon as we let him go he stopped crying and said, "I'm happy now!"
On the way home he says, "I am angry!"
I told him he shouldn't be angry because the dentist was just doing his job. So he says, "Well then I'm upset!"
I told him that I thought Dr. Bingham was nice and that he did a good job to check Jake's teeth to make sure they were healthy. His reply - "I don't LIKE Dr. Bingham!" So there! I can't wait until 6 months to see what our next appointment brings!


~While sitting down trying to put on his socks, he finally got one of them turned right side out. I happened to hear him say to himself, "All too easy," in a Darth Vader voice (from a video the kids love to watch, see earlier post about Dancing with the Star Wars Stars if you missed it!).

~Jake, at 6:45 in the morning a few weeks ago (in our bed), "Who's makin' pancakes?"
About 2 minutes later..."I am a little bit sick, but pancakes will make me feel better!"

~This morning at 6 am he jumped into our bed and squeezed in between Brandon and I. Then, "Hi Dad! Did you miss me?" I'll admit it was a long 9 hours while he was asleep...


Jake, we love you! You certainly are one of a kind, and with you around our lives are anything but dull! (And if any of you want to trade kids (or pets) for a day or two with Jake let us know. He is available. We like goldfish.)

Happy Belated Birthday(s), Grandma(s)!

So we are late for both birthdays and figured we'd do a 2-in-1 post to celebrate! Grandma G. and Great-Grandma J. both had birthdays this past week (We won't tell their age, except to quote Ethan that they are both "old"!)

Here are a few photos of our get-together for Grandma Jerry's birthday lunch. It was fun to see cousins, aunts, and uncles - we wish we could've stayed and played longer! (And maybe ate more frosting balloons from the birthday cake!)

Happy Birthday, Grandma Jerry!

Next, here is Jake rehersing his birthday song for Grandma Graham. What can I say, we have some musical genes in our family! (Yes, that was sarcasm, in case you're wondering. I think my kids are cute, but I'm not deluded enough to think he is even close to in tune!)

Happy Birthday, Grandma Graham! We wish we could've seen you in person to celebrate (but since you like the Herron cousins better....:)

We are SO lucky to have all of our terrific grandmas! They are so nice to us and such good examples! We love you!

While we're on the subject

Poop and pee are the main focuses at our house lately. Since the last few posts talked about it, I figured why not share some more potty stories!

So Jake is figuring out the whole poop-on-the-potty thing pretty well. But he has one strange habit - he has started naming his poops. It started when he went a big poop and a little poop one day, and he commented that it was a "daddy one and a jacob one." I was thinking he had good comparison skills and let it go at that.

Now, however, every time he sits down he talks about what size he is going to go. Just like people, there are all sizes of poops and pees. If he has to go a lot, it is a "Daddy One." But now he has also started adding other family members to the poop comparison. We have now had "Mommy" ones, "Ryan" ones, and "Ethan" ones, depending on size. Also, he decided not to stop at immediately family and we have had "Baby Max", "Kage", "Uncle Russ", "Courtney", "Papa", and "Grandma" sized poops, just to name a few. Since we are all excited about him going in the potty, we hope you will all be flattered by Jake naming his poo after you! (And although this is amusing now, hopefully this doesn't become some weird habit that persists into later childhood!)

Potty Head

A better title for this post might be 'The Shopping Trip From Hell' except that I was in a good mood yesterday, so I was able to laugh it all off (well, mostly:)

Anyway... yesterday we ran errands all day long - yuck! Our afternoon set included buying new underpants for Jake (since I can't keep enough clean if he has a few accidents in one day). He picked out a multi-pack of Sesame Street characters, which he couldn't wait to open. When we got in the car I let him open up his new pack of undies and he admired each one with screams of "Grover!" and "Ernie and Bert!" and "Look! Cookie Monster!" I was excited that he was excited...you get the idea. After that store we stopped to pick up Ryan from soccer and when Ryan got in the car he looked in the back seat and started cracking up. I looked back and this is what I saw:

And Jake, without any prompting, said, "Look Ryan, I'm a potty head!" Of course we all thought this was funny and Jake cracked up because everyone was laughing.

When we got to our next stop I asked Jake if he wanted to put his sweatshirt on so he wouldn't get cold. His answer: "No thanks, Mom. I've got my hat to keep me warm!" (the 'hat' was, of course, the Bert and Ernie pair of underwear). We all laughed again and went into Fred Meyer to get groceries (without the 'hat.' I thought it was funny, but even insensitive me realized not everyone would think my kid wearing underwear on his head in the grocery store is appropriate.)

Once inside I insisted that Jake go potty before he go to playland (which, on a side note, is one of the biggest reasons I shop at Fred Meyer...I LOVE playland!). He and I went into the girls bathroom and both went potty. Jake yelled once because he didn't want to go, then I told him he had to if he wanted to go to playland and he agreed. He commented loudly on me going potty, on him going potty, on the toilet paper roll, on the 'magic' toilet that flushed itself, etc. Although somewhat loud, it was actually a pretty mellow moment for Jake. And we were in a grocery store bathroom, so who cares, right?

Well, a VERY old lady from the stall next to us did care. As we exited our stall she exited hers and asked Jake, "Was that you making all the noise?" to which Jake answered truthfully, "Yes."
Her reply, "You need to learn to be quiet!"

I didn't say anything, just smiled and took him to wash his hands. I was thinking to myself that if she thought that was loud, good thing she didn't hear him on a bad day! Anyway, as we are washing our hands she approaches us and starts talking and stroking Jake's hair without washing her hands! Now I was really grossed out by this, but just smiled and tried to get out as fast as possible. She didn't seem to get my vibe, because she asked how old Jake was and I told her 2 1/2. She then told me he should know how to tie his shoes by the time he is 3. Apparently she raised 4 boys and they all could tie their shoes before they were 3 years old. I told her we would work on it, and that his big brother would teach him. She asked how old his big brother was and I told her he was six. Her words, "Six? And he just learned to tie his shoes? That is way too old. You should have taught him long ago, Mom! It takes lots of patience but you have to work with them!"
At this point I was ready to be rude and tell her that although my 2 1/2 year old may not know how to tie his shoes, at least he has learned basic hygiene like washing his hands after using a restroom, which she still hadn't mastered after 90 (?) or so years. But I kept my mouth shut with a somewhat smile and left the bathroom, only to have to chase Jake down the hallway as he took off at a sprint (all the while she was shaking her head at me, like I was a lost cause).

Then we got to playland, only to have Ethan turned away because he is now too tall (the other lady has been letting him come anyway, which I have not complained about one bit...but all good things come to an end eventually!). He was told he could come in this one last time, and that after that he would "graduate." When I picked them up a little while later, the Attendant handed him a certificate of graduation and a coloring book and told him he had graduated from playland and he couldn't come back. Well, Ethan is not that easily put off. He looked at the certificate, which shows a picture of a bear waving goodbye, and started crying. He said, "I'm so sad, Mom! Playland was my old best friend, and now I can't go ever again!" It was a little heartbreaking, but being the terrible mother that I am, I was not that sympathetic.

And to prove how horribly I've taught my children, I got an email from Ethan's teacher yesterday saying he got in trouble for kissing girls at school. I can only imagine what the old lady from the restroom would say about that!

The Potty Train

This weekend we finally got to ride the potty train! This was Jake's reward for filling up his 'potty chart' with stickers each time he used the toilet. I'd love to report that he is now fully potty trained after earning something like 40 stickers, but alas, we still have at least one accident a day. Instead of Jake being potty trained, Mom is now trained to ask him if he has to go about once every hour and a half. A few times he does tell me, but usually after he has already started going. The good news is, he is potty trained at night and at naptime. Tell me how a 2 year old can hold it for 11 hours at night, but can't hold it for an extra 2 minutes during the day when he tells me he has to go! Oh well, eventually he will figure it all out, right?
He was so excited and SO proud to ride the train. Our whole family went plus Grandma Miller and Grandma Jerry. We got a pleasant ride on a beautiful fall day through some gorgeous scenery; we crossed a trestle, went through a pitch-black tunnel, and Jake even got to blast the horn after we stopped and take his picture with the conductor :) All in all, a successful trip!

Family Pictures

These were taken a month ago, but I am just now getting around to posting any. I think they turned out adorable so I will share a few. These were taken by my friend Arah and her sister Julie, who are wonderful photographers (anyone who can get decent pictures with our whole clan has got to be good!). Anyhow, these are some of my favorites!

This first collage cracked me up (I made the collage...she took all the pictures). Out of ALL the pictures of the grandkids, only in 1 did Jake decide to smile. The rest of the time he was growling. I guess he doesn't like picture taking very well! I think the end result was a very good representation of his personality, even if he didn't smile!



Ryan "girl-trapped" by his aunts (who he is now just as tall as!)


Grandma and Papa with the grandkids...this one is so sweet!


One of my favorite shots of the whole group together. Jake is, as usual, not smiling, but everybody else is doing okay, so we will call it a success!

enough testosterone

I frequently get asked if we are going to try for a girl. Well, it is not in the plans at the moment and I am really okay with having all boys. I have lots of adorable nieces and friends with cute little girls that we babysit and play with...and that is enough girliness for me. I don't mind stinky, crazy little boys. In fact, I have a lot of fun with my boys and I think having boys suits us well. However, I have to draw the line somewhere. Apparently not only do we only have boy babies, but we are now starting to produce boy produce in our garden. (See the tomato below) Brandon and I both laughed when we saw it, and the boys thought it looked like a nose. I'm so glad they are still innocent and sweet, even if they are stinky!



On a completely unrelated note, we are all starting new chapters in our life that I have yet to document. From left to right:
the first grader, captain underpants (yes, we are finally potty training), and the middle schooler.

Three things I love about this picture:
1. Ethan's obvious disgust that he has to pose for a picture when he could be in his classroom already. He LOVES school and I am so glad! I seriously don't think there is a kid alive who is more enthusiastic and friendly.
2. The way Jake looks in underpants. He makes me laugh every time I see him running around the house that way. And although the potty training isn't going all too well, we are going to stick with it this time until it is done. We already have an elaborate bribery system set up...
3. Last but not least, I love the outfit Ryan chose for the first day of school. You might wonder why we didn't buy him any nice school clothes. Well, we did, but he could really care less. When he walked out in his old basketball shorts, a T-shirt he usually wears to bed, and his giant skate shoes, I just looked at Brandon and smiled. Now I know that if we had girls, there would have been all sorts of trying on of new clothes, changing several times, fixing hair for long periods of time...

Ahh, I do love having boys! (And I have to say, even the boy tomato was tasty!)

Since Jake got his own post, I guess Ethan is next. I've been meaning to post a few of his funnies lately, but just haven't gotten around to it. Ethan is one of those kids that not everyone appreciates at first. But once you get to know his personality he will make you laugh non-stop, and he usually doesn't even know he has done or said anything funny.

The other day, while reading a book to us, he said: (Reading) "Tiny is the snow monster!" "See how I read that part with feeling, Mom? It's because it has this (points to the exclamation point) at the end!" What a little smartie pants.

E about the school librarian: "She is really nice. And I think she is a grandma, because she is kind of crinkly."

I finally finished a project for the boys' bedroom wall. Part of it has a magnetic board (I'll post a picture later) on which Ethan fastened three pictures of Jesus ascending like stair steps. Then he put a big magnet over the middle picture. He informed me that was showing how close he was to Jesus (the top 'step' being the closest). I said, "Ethan, you are a sweetie. I love you!" He smiled big, then moved the magnet up to the top picture and said, "Now I am even closer to Jesus! But if I do something bad I'll have to put the magnet back down a step." I love that I now have a behavior meter that he controls himself! If I see the magnet over the lowest picture of Jesus, I will know he has been up to something!

Here are pictures of a book Ethan made (click to see larger). He says he is going to make his own library, but that it might take a few years. At least he has a realistic time frame for his goal!

How could you not love this kid? Despite all his quirks, Ethan is my loviest kid. He is the only one who cuddles (and he is also the boniest, so those don't mix so well). He tells me that he loves me all the time, and he makes me laugh all the time without meaning to (in contrast to his brothers, who make me laugh on purpose). He always seems to be off in his own little world, but sometimes he will surprise me with an insightful comment on some issue Brandon and I are discussing. Or he'll let loose with some random fact that he picked up. For example, the other day we were driving home from Ryan's friend's house when Ethan piped up from the back seat and said, "Mom we are driving north." And of course, we were driving north. Further quizzing showed that he knew south, east, and west as well. Later when we were driving someplace else I asked him which way was north and he knew then too. Then we were driving Ryan to an orthodontist appointment and we passed the place where we bought a piano. We had been there one time only, and Ethan pipes up from the back seat, "There is the piano lady's house!" Sometimes he freaks me out!

Here is another great and not-so-great thing about Ethan: when a TV is on he cannot function. He HAS to watch it. No matter what he is doing, he stops and watches the TV. He can't even walk through the room without coming to a complete stop and staring at the TV until I remind him to finish whatever it was he was on his way to do. He had three cavities filled yesterday and the dentist asked me if I thought he would need a sedative. I jokingly said, "No, just turn on the TV in the ceiling and he will be fine." Turns out, they didn't even have to numb him. Put on headphones, turned on spongebob, and three cavities later he is just fine. Go figure!

Ethan, you are currently my favorite. Don't tell the others I said that ;)

Last minute, cram-it-in, before-school-starts-again, summer fun

At some point in the last month, we realized that there was not much time left...school was starting and the fun would come to an end. So, we decided to cram in as much fun as possible in those last few weeks, and now we are exhausted.

I am SOOO ready for school to start! The kids are even excited, which is not usually the case anymore for Ryan. Probably because he is starting Middle School this year - scary! (I think scarier for me than for him!) Ethan is ready for a full day, and very excited to eat hot lunch (who cares about learning to read and other such trivial things...lunch on a tray in a room full of your friends - now that is what school is really all about!)

The only downside to school starting is that Jake is convinced that he gets to go too. I think a whole day at home with mom, every day, will be a rude awakening for us both. Hopefully Jake will learn how to entertain himself without big brothers around orchestrating every move. It's not that I don't want to play with my child, but I may need just a few moments to myself!

So here are a few photos of our adventures...

and the beautiful scenery we encountered on the way...


...and in just a few days, back to school, back to a schedule and hopefully we'll be back to some sort of boring normalcy for a little while at least!

Family get together...

We've had a great time playing with our cousins, aunts and uncles this past week. We went swimming, ate lots of food, played 'Little House on the Prarie' and soldier/princess, swung on the swing, jumped on the tramp, danced to numa-numa, rode dirtbikes, took pictures, and ate some more.

A few random shots of our week:

And my favorite quote of the week:
Ethan: "Em, do you want to spend the night at my house tonight?"
Em: "Well, let me see your house and if I like it than I will."
(Note: In the end, she chose NOT to stay at our house :)

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And completely off the subject, but for documentation sake...
Last night at about midnight I heard J start crying. I went into his room, and this is what he said:
"Momma, I can't (snif)!" He didn't say sniff, he just tried to sniff and couldn't. It was so dang cute! It took me a second to realize what he meant, then I said, "Oh, is your nose plugged up?"
J's answer: "My nose is broken!" Then he started crying, and I had to laugh even though I felt sorry for the little guy.

Here he is, 'broken' nose fixed, with a good dose of chapstick:

Had to share....

Yeah for summer!

I haven't blogged much lately because we've been way too busy having fun!

Between going on trips, having people visit, working on the yard and house, camping, and swimming, the computer has been a little left out lately.

As usual we have been swimming a lot (Thanks Grandma, even though you don't read my blog!). The boys LOVE it and so do I. Ryan and Ethan are good swimmers now. Jake is a crazy man in the pool and thinks he can swim. There is only one problem: he can't come up for air. Minor detail, I know. So he wears floaties most of the time so I don't have to hover over him making sure he can breathe. Every now and then we let him practice without the floaties, which he loves. That kid can seriously hold his breath for a LONG time!

Here they are enjoying some pool time this summer:

We have been camping twice this summer, and it was a big hit both times with the kids. Each time I have been reminded why we didn't camp much before. Yes, I'm a baby I know, but I prefer my air conditioned house and a shower. One night of camping is fun, and after that I'd rather be home. Luckily, one night camping with Jake is plenty for all of us, so that's all we try for. He LOVES to sleep in tents, but hates to actually go to sleep in the tent. Eventually he gets tired enough, but by then we are all tired of him.
Here is a shot of us hiking during our last camping trip. This was a hot day, so we didn't get too far before both Jake and Ethan wanted piggy-back rides, at which point we decided it was time to turn around and head for home!

Oh, and last but not least...here are a few misquotes and other gems my boys have come up with lately (and one from Brooklyn that Jaimee told me about, which made me smile all day long!)

Ethan: "First, you cut the corn off the kebob, then you add some oil." (telling me how to make his 'secret recipe')
Jake: (at the end of every prayer) "Ohhh Man!" (instead of 'amen')
Ethan: (replying to me saying he was doing great holding his breath under the water) "Yeah, that is one of my skillz!"
Jake: "De-yi-shush!" (for delicious)
Brooklyn: "Ass-cream" (for, what else, ice cream. Who doesn't like some ass-cream on a hot summer day?)

Star Wars Danceoff

In an effort to waste more of our precious time than usual, we found this video on youtube and have been watching it ever since. My boys LOVE it! Ryan has decided this is what he wants to do for a living when he grows up. So ambitious...I am a so proud of him!



If you are a fan, check out their 2007 and 2009 versions as well...

My Little Cherry Pickers

Sadly, our favorite cherry tree is only half of what it used to be - literally. Last Saturday half of it just fell down! Apparently it had rotted through the center, where it was notched, and half just didn't make it. I am hoping the other half makes it, because this is our best tree. Having the branches on the ground instead of 30 feet in the air did make for some easy picking, which we took full advantage of. our poor tree

The boys, (and Grandpa) put up signs and made themselves a cherry stand, where they sold baggies by the side of the road. They did a pretty good business, especially since the adults did most of the work picking and they just had to make the sales.
After a long stretch with no customers, Ethan got promoted from picker and sorter to customer getter. I think Ryan's exact words were, "Just smile and wave, Ethan, smile and wave!" (think Madagascar, the movie, for those of you who can't quote Disney shows at will).
Anyway, with Ethan's good looks and cute wave, coupled with Ryan's salesmanship, they two of them made close to $60 in two days (only about 1-2 hours each day). Not too bad - soon they might have enough for that Playstation controller they want to buy to replace the broken one.

the booming business (my favorite is the shot of them both waving from the back of the truck ).

how could anyone pass that up?

jake watching the action from the deck (where he could do the least harm). I know this is blurry, but with that smile and those eyes, I love it anyway!

Now for a moment to vent: All I have to say is, if a kid is selling something on the side of the road, STOP AND PURCHASE whatever it is, even if you don't need it or don't like it! One woman actually complained that they were priced too high ($3 for a quart-sized bag!). Really? If a kid is selling a cup of lemonade for 50 cents, do you pull over and inform them that you could buy a whole package of Koolaid for that price and make yourself a whole pitcher for the price of one cup? Who does that?! To her credit, though, the price-conscious customer did eventually purchase one valuable bag of cherries.