grahams mansion

watch out pinterest

2012-01-06T22:15:00.000-08:00

So everyone said I should get on pinterest and I did. I will admit it is really cool, although I was a bit confused at how it worked at first. (I blame that on my own ineptitude, not on pinterest. I'm sure it couldn't be any more userfriendly..) Anyhoo - I enjoyed getting on there, but didn't get 'hooked' like everyone said I would. I found a few cute ideas, started a few pinboards, and even followed a few people. I'm sure if I spent a little time and found more people to follow (like all my amazingly creative friends and relatives) I would find a bunch more cool stuff.

But here's the thing... I found a site I like even better. When I am on pinterest the only things I really look at are house-related. I am admittedly not crafty, and the only kind of projects I can even attempt are 'built' items, such as new furniture or trim or something. I am definitely no professional in that area either, but that is all I'm really interested in attempting. I keep saying I'm going to learn how to sew, and maybe someday I will, but for now I maintain my non-sewer status with pride. I can stitch together a mean straight seam on plain cotton fabric. That's all I can do. So if you want me to fix a rip on a seam of your pants, or if you want me to sew a basic square pillow cover, I've got it covered. Anything else and you'd better find someone else. Enough of this rambling, I forgot where I was going with this ?

Oh yeah- my new favorite site is http://www.houzz.com/. All it has is pictures of houses. And I mean a LOT of pictures. You can select whichever part of a house you want to view on the left side of the page. I clicked on entrys because I'm trying to find a solution for our always-messy front entry. There were over 5,000 photos to view in that category alone. And all the photos are from professional builders, architects, and designers. Not that I have anything against DIYers, as I fall in that category myself, but there is a difference. Seeing some of these photos makes me want to have 49 doors to my house so I can have that many different entryways. They are gorgeous (although some are a bit over the top for me - think white marble, chrystal chandeliers, etc.).
Here are a few examples of cool photos I found:

contemporary entry design by seattle interior designer Shuffle Interiors

traditional entry design by san diego architect Dorothy Howard AIA, Architect

So I'm not bagging pinterest - I'm sure I'll continue to get on there and find cool ideas, but for anybody out there who likes house-related projects, or is looking for ideas for a remodel or something, you've got to check out houzz.com. It's free to browse, and you can sign up for an account easily (and still free) if you want to save photos in your own idea books to come back to later. And for all of you crafters who keep making Pinterest stuff, when you finish something cool bring it on over to my house. Because every craft I have ever attempted looks like crap. (and most aren't even finished...)

In business

2011-10-10T18:02:00.000-07:00

So we thought we'd have a lot of extra eggs with our chickens and the boys have been excited to make some money from them. Unfortunately, we have realized that our family eats a LOT of eggs, so there haven't been too many extras. We buy them from the boys at 25cents each and the deal is they have to pay for the feed and they can keep any extra.
Yesterday my grandma called and said that if we had any extras she would take a half dozen of them, but only if she could pay for them. We fixed up a little carton full and Ethan went up to deliver. After their exchange he told her, "On the way up here I told those chickens they better get to work because now we have a customer!" So if she is paying the same amount we are for eggs, what are we, chopped liver? Maybe the chickens will lay more knowing that they have an actual 'customer' now, who knows? More omlets for me :)

Speaking of Ethan and Grandma, he asked me today on the way to school about how retired people get money. We talked about savings, then he asked what happened to their stuff (specifically his great-grandma's) when they die. I told him how a will works and that usually people split their stuff up between their kids. He asked who would get Grandma Jerry's house and I told him I don't know. Then he thought for a moment and said, "Do you think she'd let me have the fishy crackers when she dies?" Anyone who knows my grandma knows that she will outlive the expiration of any box of goldfish crackers, but I love how Ethan's always thinking ahead (and with his stomach).

thrifty me

2011-10-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

I am so excited, we just finished painting our basement. It is in the (long) process of being finished. Along with the main floor, which of course is not completely finished either. But, we're still working on that...
Anyway, I knew we were going to have to spend some money on paint because we had a lot of area to cover and it was brand new drywall, so it was going to soak it up. We had a few buckets with a little bit of primer and old ceiling paint left from upstairs, so we thought if we just mixed that together with the 49 billion other half cans of paint we had sitting around downstairs, it might be enough to prime the first coat, then we would have to buy 4 or 5 5-gallon buckets of paint after that.
Well, when we mixed it all together (blues, greens, tans, off-white, the white ceiling paint, and even a quart of red) I realized that I loved the color it made. Go figure - all my cast-off colors (I had a really hard time coming up with just the right shades upstairs) combined make the perfect color of putty/tan. Only problem was it was a bit too dark since we wanted to spray the ceiling the same color (no cutting in all the wall edges for me this time around. We have a sprayer and I was going to use it to the full extent!) So we ended up buying three big buckets of primer (which is about 1/3 the price of paint) and only 2 buckets of pure white satin enamel at Lowes. Total cost only about $360. Then we came home and sprayed the primer and self-mixed our color concoction with all our left-over paint and the 10 gallons of white. Turns it out matches the color I wanted (our main color upstairs) almost perfectly. We got the whole thing done in 2 days and I am SO glad to have that step done!
Now I can take down the plastic, clean up the floors and hopefully not have any more dust/spray mess making its way upstairs. Even if we don't get the floors and cabinets finished downstairs yet, at least I won't have the MESS (well, not that mess at least).
Here is a photo of our beautiful, bland, tan walls

Also, here is a sneak peak at Shannon's new nursery. Kristi and I spent a few days out in Dallas helping her paint and pick out fabrics. Now I just have to sew the bedding in time to send it back before the baby is born. All I can say is, I really hope the ultrasound is right and they are having a girl, otherwise their boy might be messed up! That's a lot of pink.

Like father like son

2011-09-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

Sharon, this post is for you!

So today when Brandon came home from work, he dumped these on my counter:

He then asked me how much milk we go through in a month and told me he could order 50 or more cans of this if I wanted. Does this remind you of Papa George and the ketchup? Ever since we have been married I have heard the story of the 17 bottles of ketchup brought home because they were a good deal. Well, Brandon is also a deal-finder and I usually just let him do it. But 50 tubs of powdered milk?

(In his defense, it didn't quite come out of the blue. We had some friends tell us that this brand of powdered milk is better than regular milk. Not quite believing that story, I bought one can and made some up to try it for myself. I think it's ok. Definitely better than regular powdered milk. I would drink it if I couldn't get regular milk and would bake with it no problem. Well Brandon loves it. LOVES it. He makes some every night so we have a fresh, cold pitcher of milk for the next morning. He offers some to everyone who comes to our house. And apparently he has a hook-up at the Walmart that can order for him in bulk. Oy!)

If your name is not Sharon you are not allowed to harass Brandon about this post. I have been scolded for teasing him online. He doesn't read the blog often and doesn't really appreciate my on-line harassment, especially since he usually gets caught unaware when people make comments to him about something I've posted and he has no idea what they are talking about or how they know that particular deep dark secret :) I supposed I'll have to email him a link to this post!

Bored already

2011-09-15T22:48:00.000-07:00

So I don't get to hang out with girls all that much, but I am lucky that I get to serve with the Young women in our church. A few weeks ago I got to participate in a walk across town to the temple - 12.6 miles! It was a lot of fun and a great experience for me, even though I grumbled when I got up that morning at 5 am. Here is a shot of a few of the girls I went with (I'm sure they would hate me posting this, as it was taken at about 6 am as they were getting ready to leave and not wearing makeup and such :) Anyway, I am lucky to spend time with these cute girls and all the others that put up with my lessons each Sunday and my old lady point of view!

Here are the boys all ready to walk to school on the first day. Needless to say, Ryan was THRILLED to have his whole family walk with him to the first day of 8th grade. We tried not to embarass him too much, but we just couldn't help ourselves. He tried to ditch us when we got near the school, but for old folks we are pretty fast when we want to be (and when it comes to harassing our teenager)! Don't they look cute! (and doesn't that newly-coated driveway look fabulous!?)

Jake's first soccer game

Well, I know I've already mentioned Jake's soccer first experience so I don't want to go on and on about my kids. Oh wait - that's all I ever talk about anymore! I don't think I ever have conversations that don't involve talking about my kids these days... some day maybe I'll get a hobby :)

Any hoo.... One quick story about Jake. This photo was taken during halftime of his first game. The coach called the boys over to give them a pep talk when Jake plopped down in the center of the circle and loudly announced, "I'm bored!" His coach, bless him, just laughed and told him to start playing harder and he wouldn't be bored anymore. That poor guy (the coach, I mean)!

Looks like his pep-talk worked, though, because right after halftime Jake scored a goal. I was trying to video-tape and ended up hitting the wrong button and getting a photo right as he kicked it in. Lucky thing I'm a dunce with my camera - I never get these shots when I am trying!

BTW, Just in case you're dying to know the outcome, Jake's team lost by a score of something like 4 to 8. However, right after the game Jake came up to me and said, "Mom, we totally won! They only scored 1 goal and we scored like 10!" I think we won't burst that bubble just yet...he'll learn to count better eventually on his own.

2011-09-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

The boys have now all started soccer. By far the most entertaining this year will be Jake: not much soccer, but a lot of drama. Here are a few photos from his first practice. He cried once, but another boy cried twice, so at least he is not the biggest cry-baby on the team. Actually, he cried again at the second practice, so maybe he is. The first time he cried because he got hit in the head (not very hard at all) by a soccer ball. The second day he cried because he got out-voted on the team name. The other boys liked "Dragons" and Jake wanted "Lightning Bolts." As I said, a lot of drama, and not much soccer. I think I am already regretting signing him up this year.

Side note, today at soccer he told me, "Mom, I finally like the name Dragons now!" So... that's improvement, right?

Here we are squeezing in a little bit of last-minute summer fun:

The Fair (Ethan touched a live alligator that was just sitting out. It was cool, but really? Who brings a live alligator to the fair? And who ties a bandana around its neck? I felt like we were in an episode of "The Waterboy."
The Park (A few rides, and Imax show, and check out the view from the top of the ferris wheel! BTW, it's been a long time since I was on a ferris wheel, and they are really scary!
Now we are ready for SCHOOL to start!!! ~~I am~~ they are so excited to go back. Time to work on all those projects I have not worked on all summer.... :) I will keep you posted if I actually finish any of them. The only thing I finished so far was spreading asphalt sealer all over our driveway. 33 5-gallon buckets and 1 pair of crocs later, and my toes still have black that won't come off them. Here's hoping that job doesn't need to be done again any time soon!

Liar, liar... and getting old quick

2011-09-15T21:56:00.000-07:00

I expect to hear how old I am from my teenager, but lately Jake has been worse than even Ryan! I think the reason its worse coming from Jake is because you think a four-year-old doesn't say things just to harass you. Well, most four-year-olds don't, anyway. Just a few days ago, he was looking at the front of a book and asked me, completely straightfaced, "Mom, when you were little did they have these kinds of carts?" I look over at the picture he is referring to, and it is a covered wagon! What?! I explained that even when his great-grandma was little most people had cars. Not sure this concept held, though, because just today in the car we had this conversation:
J: Mom, when Ethan is 13 how old will I be? (This is after we have gone through several other age scenarios... don't know why he got on this kick)
M: You will be 9.
J: And who old will Ryan be?
M: Ryan will be 18. That means he will be moving out and going to college!
J (with a look of alarm on his face): But then who will take care of me?
M: Dad and I will take care of you, and I'm sure Ethan will help too.
J: Yeah, Ethan can take care of me. Because by then you and dad might already be DEAD!
M: Dead? We won't be dead in 4 years! We aren't that old!
J: Well, you're pretty old. And dad is REALLY old!

It's bad enough that he makes me feel old because I have a hard time keeping up with him anymore. Now he has to say it, and I'm not sure if he is sincere or if he is just pulling my chain. Most 4-year-olds are incapable of coming up with these types of things to say just to get a reaction, but I wouldn't put it past Jake. He is really devious.

And speaking of devious, he has turned into a liar. He lies about things all the time, and it's always to get out of trouble. For example, just the other day he got several (like 5 or 6) pieces of lunch meat out of the fridge and started munching on them. He had them all wadded up in his hand and I almost got mad at him, but decided at least he was eating something healthy for a snack so I let it slide. Well, he wanted to help me make cookies and I told him after he was done eating and had washed his hands he could. Then he says, "Just a sec. I have to go potty," and goes running down the hall to the bathroom.
When he comes back 3 seconds later I ask, "Jake, you didn't go potty, did you?"
Jake: "Yes I did."
Me: "Where did your lunch meat go?"
Jake: "I ate it."
Me: "Are you sure you're telling the truth?"
Jake: "Um, yes."
Me: "Did you just go in the bathroom and throw your lunch meat in the garbage can?"
Jake: "How did you know?"

No remorse, nothing. I know he is only 4, but I am starting to wonder if maybe I am raising a serial liar. If he becomes a con artist or thief as an adult, all fingers will point my way and they will say I should've seen in coming. Or maybe he is just 4. I'm not sure yet if I should be alarmed. Well, I know I should be alarmed about a lot of things that go on in this house, but I'll wait to judge Jake's honesty until I am sure he knows the difference between a lie and the truth. I hate this age for that reason -- you can't really punish them too harshly for lying, because you can't be sure they really understand that they lied. I'm pretty sure Jake understands, though :)

I swear if I wasn't old already, Jake may send me over the edge pretty quick. Maybe he knows something I don't with all this old lady talk!

My love/hate relationship with summer

2011-09-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

School is almost here... hallelujah! I love my kids, but by the end of summer, it is TIME. I am sick of them and they are sick of me - enough said. What I really need is a schedule, not so much to get rid of my kids (although a little peace and quiet will be nice too). Somehow in the summer we end up completely disregarding normal and going to bed/eating/cleaning at horrible times if at all (we always eat and sleep eventually, just not the cleaning part). Plus, though I love Brandon's spontaneity, when the kids are out for the summer and he has three days off in the middle of the week we end up just dropping things and going to do something else. While this is fun most of the time, you know the saying about too much of a good thing... I need a PLAN! I need a SCHEDULE! We need to STICK WITH THAT PLAN! It is really sad that the anal retentive part of me just can't take too much spontaneous fun. I need some boring, structured days in there so I can truly appreciate the fun ones :)

Enough of my crazed ramblings ... since we did have fun this summer, I probably should document it :) The great thing about this summer is that we haven't even gone anywhere but still managed to get nothing productive done. A few pictures I found (which I haven't been good about either)

Boating with Grandpa, Grandma, Lindsey, and Max - the boys had fun on the tube, and we even managed to talk Grandma into going for a ride!
We also went out with Kage and Kennedy once (when they came to stay for a week, which was SO much fun!) and had Kage and Ethan no less than 8 feet in the air. Wish I had a picture of that because the look on Ethan's face said it all. I'm surprised he didn't pee his pants (well, since he was in a lake maybe he did and we didn't notice). Before you think we are crazy boat drivers, we were going really slow but they managed to hit a wave just right and bam - they were airborn. Luckily they landed it well :) We also went rafting a few times - Brandon took Ryan down Hells Canyon and had a great time (I'll see if I can get the video of their huge rapid to load - it looked awesome!) and we went down our local river a few times. The last of these it was so shallow we had to push ourselves over rocks most of the way. Fun but tiring! Here is a picture of Brandon paddling in a deeper spot that last time down the river (notice the rocks right below the surface?
Now you can see why it was mostly pushing, not so much paddling).

We also rode a bike trail with just Brandon, Jake, myself, and Curt (ditched the big boys). Jake was a trooper and didn't complain (much).
Notice the cool tag-along bike he used? I'm brushing up on my Vanna White skills in case I lose my job. Oh, and can I just say that even though I wore the special padded-diaper shorts, my butt hurt for DAYS after this. I've decided I don't care how stupid I look, I am buying one of those super padded old lady bicycle seats to put on my hand-me-down mountain bike. At my age, it's all about comfort :)
And here is the chipmunk that Jake thought was "so cute!" until it bit him. Then he had nothing good to say about it ("I Hate that Chipmunk! He is NOT cute!") Luckily it didn't draw blood so I don't think it could transmit rabies. Not that I'd be able to tell with Jake anyway.

Jake modeling hairclips for me (my attempt at craftiness, thanks to my friend Amy). Good thing he's a boy, I'm not sure he would've made such a cute girl.

We also had a baptism this summer...Ethan is 8 years old now! Crazy to me that he is so big. This really deserves its own post, so when I find the pictures I will do just that. Can I just say it was fun having family come and visit for the occasion and I'm really proud of what a great kid Ethan is turning out to be!

A few great quotes from this summer:
Jake: "Dude, I totally JUGGED that!" (a glass of milk that he 'chugged'). I like Jugged better anyway.
Ethan, after his baptism: "I am almost speechless!" It would take more than that to render Ethan speechless.

Last but not least, here is what I see on a regular basis, this time in front of the cabinet that holds marshmallows. Love those dusty footprints!

testes...testes

2011-09-01T20:36:00.001-07:00

anyone else see this episode of Beevis and Butthead? I am just 'testing' my ability to publish a post, since I have been having problems for the last week.

Yeah!! It worked. I knew a little B&B humor would do the trick... Solves most of the problems in my life :)

Playing catch-up

2011-05-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

This part of blogging is obnoxious. Since I haven't been in the mood, I haven't properly documented many parts of our life lately. Not that any of you care, but in 20 or 30 years I may be sad that I forgot to write down the 10 gazillion funny things that were said and done these past few months. (Well, the boys are funny but not THAT funny. Jake just likes gazillions these days. If asked how many of anything he wants, he answers something like, "100 million gazillion!")

So...

THE CHICKENS

They are large.
They are feathery.
They are not as creepy as I remember from my own childhood.
They live outside (because chickens in your basement start to stink in a HURRY!)
They still don't lay eggs yet.
One or two might be roosters - we are still not sure.
They are all still alive!
They are the easiest pets we could ever have!

Overall, if they ever produce eggs I will be able to say that I love having chickens. If they don't, they will be our 10 most expensive chicken dinners ever (already gone through 3 large bags of feed).

BIRTHDAYS
Birthdays came and went this year. We celebrated, we ate cake, they got presents. All the boys are now one year older. The end.

BRACES

Ethan is now the only 2nd grader in his school to have braces. He has had them for a few months now and is really doing well with them. He has to wear headgear every night, and he almost never complains about it. In fact, at first he wanted to wear it to school to show it off. (I didn't let him. It's one thing to let him be himself. Wearing headgear to school voluntarily crosses the line. It's like putting a giant sign that says, "beat me up" on his back.)

He will have the braces for about a year, at which time they will have hopefully widened his palete (sp?) and corrected his overbite, in addition to straightening his top front teeth. In a few years when all his permanent teeth come in, they say he will need a second round. I am thinking if they are reasonably good by then, we may just call it a day and move on to saving for Jake's braces. By then Ryan might actually get his braces off, or his teeth will have rotted out of his head by then. I have my suspicions about which will happen first, but we'll see.

YARD PROJECTS
I have given up. My dreams have been squashed right out. Between Brandon and the deer, I realize that I cannot make my yard look the way I want it to (I have a vision of a park in my head... so maybe it IS a bit unreasonable). Anyway, I have decided to consolidate my efforts to certain areas and just mow the rest down. I have also decided to quit buying plants for the deer to eat (although they really seem to like most of my choices.)

On the plus side, we have a garden again this year. I am excited to eat fresh produce in a month or two. We have already harvested about 20 gazillion cups of rhubarb. If there is anybody out there (that lives near me) that would like some fresh rhubarb, let me know! I still have some in the freezer from last year that we didn't get to. Ryan already has this batch washed and cut into cubes. All yours if you want it. And speaking of rhubarb, check out the berry-rhubarb pie I made. All by myself! (Used Grandma Jerry's recipe and it was delish!) If you promise to take some rhubarb I will give you the recipe for free.

HOUSE PROJECTS
We decided to finish our basement. We hung a few sheets of sheetrock. We bought some lumber and framed up two walls. That was a month ago and nothing else has been done since. The end.

Oh, and I did do a little work on Ryan's room. Although it is not completely finished, I did complete the bed for his room. I wanted him to have a couch/bed so he could sit up there with his friends and play video games, etc. Kind of a manly version of a daybed. I thought of just buying a futon (would've been way easier), but he would never make it or put it back up into couch position, so I know it would always just look like a mess. This photo was taken right after I finished putting the bed up, before Ryan had even gotten home from school. I am pretty sure the bed will never be made this neatly ever again. Ever.

SOCCER

Spring soccer ended. I have no pictures to show for it. I gave up trying to take sports pictures about a year ago. there are many reasons....which I won't go into. Anyway, Ryan tried out for the select team with his coach from last year and made it. We are very proud, and now we will be starting up soccer again in a few weeks. Ethan is also signed up for next year. In his last game this spring he scored a goal and blocked two as goalie! (This has never been done before ) Of course Brandon and I were both working so we missed it :( In the fall, Jake will also be playing soccer. I'm really not sure how that is going to go. Or how I am going to get three boys to different games and/or practices. I think I was a little crazy when I signed them up. Probably up past my bedtime messing around on the computer. I really should know better.

OTHER STUFF
One day while babysitting a friend of Jake's they disappeared from outside. I went inside after a few minutes of their absence to see what they were up to. turns out they were hungry. Jake had two frying pans on the stove. He had a 1 1/2 dozen egg container on the shelf, ripped open. Every single egg was out of the container and sitting loose on the countertop. When I asked what they were doing, he said, "Me and her were hungry so we decided to make some eggs!" There are so many things about this situation that could have gone terribly wrong... let's just say that NONE of the 18 eggs had been cracked or dropped yet, and the burners were not on yet. I'm sure it was only a matter of time.

(This is him in trouble, after I had picked up part of the mess. Then I realized that because it wasn't a disaster, it was actually kind of funny. I wish I would've gotten a picture of what it looked like when I walked in. Notice he even got out the Pam so they wouldn't stick, and some pepper for seasoning!)

THE SMOLDER
If you haven't yet seen Tangled, the new Disney cartoon, you should. It is out on video. When we watched it, my boys laughed at several parts. One in particular has stuck with us: the smolder scene. Here it is in case you forgot or haven't seen it yet:

http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip_0CFKTO9E

Anyway, all my boys think they can do 'the smolder.' Have a look, and you'll know that I do not have to worry about girls knocking down our door anytime soon!

Oh, and here are a few different versions by Ethan and Jake - each equally disturbing.

And I just thought this picture was cute:

We have new neighbors! We love having Mae, Rachael, and Jordan live next door. The boys especially just think Mae is the cutest thing ever. She seems to like them too, although if I were her I'd keep a healthy distance, especially from Jake!

Science Fair

2011-03-20T22:46:00.000-07:00

First place! Let me brag for a moment about my cute Ethan. He was really excited about the school science fair and worked really hard on his project. A blue, construction paper first place ribbon was his prize, and he was thrilled! Yeah for science fair ribbons and poster board!

P-Hoe-Nix

2011-03-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else ever see that commercial for some airline where they person mispronounced Phoenix? I always think of it that way now...

So we went there. To Phoenix, I mean. About a month ago. And I am just posting about it now because I finally took all the photos off my camera and realized I hadn't documented our trip at all.

In a nutshell, it was fun, relaxing, entertaining, and above all, WARM! Blessed sunshine and temps in the 70's and 80's a few days. Ahhhhh. Then we had to come back home and along with cold weather, we all got sick. Well I didn't, thank goodness, but the kids all did and Ryan missed so much school that he couldn't play basketball. Bummer for him but he took it pretty well. Nothing ruffles that kid. Anyway, at least we avoided being sick on our trip, at least for the most part. MUCH better than last year's trip!

Had a blast staying with Jaimee and Jon. Loved their new house and neighborhood. Almost convinced we should move there, but not quite. Loved seeing cousins. All those cute little ones at Jaimee's house and Max too. SO cute!

all tired out :

don't know why 'A-la-la' and the boys are sideways. thought I fixed that.

While I think Jake liked seeing his cousins, he definitely did not like being replaced as the baby. At one point he said to Max (under his breath, but thank goodness Dad has super hearing/lip reading abilities):

"Max, you're NOT awesome! You're stupid! I hate you!"

When asked what he had just said, Jake replied, "I said, I love you, Mom!"

Nice try, dude!

We had fun in Page, too. We got to hang out with Grandpa, Grandma, Lindsey, Paul, and Max. Took a really cool hike to "the Wave," which I totally recommend if you have 4wd and don't have to take 4 kids along with you. (It's 6 miles there and back - but I have to say the kids were pretty awesome! Makes for quite a workout carrying one piggyback halfway, too!)

boys with the Hiwatha bone they found. it is a made-up creature that has made hiking so much better for our family. it drops candy on the trail for kids to find... if they don't whine.

And we got a dusting of snow-argh!- while in northern AZ. Were'nt we trying to get away from this?

We were sad to leave, but unfortunately we cannot afford to sustain a permanent state of vacation (not yet, anyway. We have been waiting for Publishers Clearinghouse to make that dream a reality. Any day now...).

Thanks again to all our grandparents/cousins/aunts/uncles/friends who made our trip so much FUN!>

It's a girl! Or 10, to be exact!

2011-03-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

We are now the proud parents of 10 baby chicks. If they are considered family members (which they are by the boys) then the girls now outnumber the boys. Somehow that thought doesn't cheer me the way I think it should.

Brandon and the boys have this crazy idea that we should have chickens. There are multiple benefits, I know:

1) your own, organically grown eggs - fresh every day

2) your own, organically grown chicken - if you have the heart/stomach to butcher them

3) a great learning experience for your children, who will undoubtedly tire of taking care of the chickens within a few short weeks

4) earning potential for your children, who, judging by their grades, will probably not be getting scholarships to college so they had better start selling those eggs!

5) a chance for Brandon and I to work together on yet another construction project. I mean, really, what's more important: getting a vanity in the master bath or building a house for some birds? I think we all know the answer!

As you may have picked up, I am not thrilled by the idea of getting chickens. But despite my bad attitude and saracastic remarks, we have chickens. So I am making the best of this situation and learning to love our girls. They were rather cute on their first day, but they are already starting to get that gangly look before their down falls out and they get feathers instead. I must say that so far our house does not smell like a chicken coop (at least not as far as I can tell). Yes, for now the babies are in the basement because it is still too cold for them outside, and their house is, as yet, not finished. I should tell them to get used to it! :) Just kidding, kind of!

Anyway, I'm sure there will be more exciting tales to come of our chicken experiment. If all goes well we should be eating fresh eggs in a few months. As for the butchering...I don't think anyone will have the heart to do it. Some of them are already named:)

Here is Jake holding Fatso Lunch (his chicken, which also happens to be whichever one he holds/points to. They all look essentially the same). Ethan's is named, what else, Grenade.

a little leprechaun gave it to me!

2011-03-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

So this should have been dated for St. Patty's day. It's not.

Brandon and I dropped Ethan off at school (he rode his bike, we ran. Okay, Brandon ran and I trudged:). As we were walking him in the doors, a little boy was walking up to the school with his dad. He had a big green leprechaun hat on and he shouted to the teacher holding the door: "Mrs. Smith! A leprechaun came to my house last night! He brought me a bunch of gold coins and an O'Doul's!"
Mrs. Smith was obviously a little lost for words, but the boy's dad was proud as can be. Go figure. I guess I am also at a loss... made me laugh, though.

language, please!

2011-03-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

So yesterday my mom was over telling us a story. At some point she said, "Holy cr-cow!" (because Jake was sitting there). Jake loves to say bad words, but he also loves to point out when other people do, so we try to watch what we say in front of him.

I kind of chuckled a little at her near miss, when Jake joined in the chuckling. He said, "Grandma, you almost said 'Holy crap!'"

All I have to say is, Holy crap! How is that kid so observant? And why couldn't he be vigilant about something other than bad words? Like listening to his mother? (Wishful thinking, I know).

dentist updated

2011-03-07T22:58:00.001-08:00

This morning I had to take Jake with me to my semi-annual dental cleaning. I was worried about how he would behave, but he was apparently worried about something else. When they called us back to the room and I got in the chair, Jake piped up. "Are you going to cry, Mom?" he asked. So sweet (although I'm not entirely sure he asked out of concern...he might have just wanted to watch me cry.)

I assured him that I wouldn't cry because I LIKE getting my teeth cleaned. Okay, that might be a little stretch, but I really don't mind the dentist. Unlike Jake. He gets excited to go because they have lots of cool things in the waiting room, but when it comes time to go to "the back room" and have somebody poke around in his mouth, Jake is done.

Last month he went and there was a tantrum and I had to hold him down with the help of a few of the hygienists/assistants for a few minutes while the dentist cleaned and checked his teeth. This month when I got my bill - a $96 "Behavior Management" fee. This is coming from a kids dentist office. Am I the only one shocked/appauled/angered by this fee? Is this a normal thing at the dentist? All of my kids have at one time or another balked at a dental or medical office and I have never been charged for their bad behavior before. I realize it takes a little extra time and manpower to handle a kid like Jake, but for crying out loud, they are a children's dental clinic. That has to be part of the program, right? Needless to say, I will be calling to discuss this with their billing department tomorrow.

And if this is the new trend and I am just not with it, I am totally going to start using this at work. There are a lot of adults out there that make their way into the pharmacy who could seriously use some behavior managment. $96 for 15 minutes extra of my time sounds like a great way to pad my retirement/vacation fund!

PS Yes, Paula, if you are reading this I just saw your post on your kids' dentist and how much you love it. We have the same dentist. I felt the same until I got the fee. I haven't yet decided if we are going to keep going there.

PPS On a completely unrelated note, today after battling Jake through Walmart and the parking lot I plopped him down in front of the car door and told him to get in because he was in trouble. He yelled, "You're not my pretty mom anymore! Now you're just a mean mom!"

PPPS Stay tuned for photos from Ethan's science fair. We just finished his project tonight and he is so excited about his first entry. I really hope they give all participants a ribbon or something, because I think Ethan will be crushed if he doesn't win anything!

updated 3-10
So I feel the need to update so I don't sound like a B**. I called the kids' dentist office and talked to the lady in the billing department and she was totally nice about it. She talked to the dentist and removed the behavior management charge, but kind of let me know that now that I know about the charge it could happen again if they have to have extra people hold Jake down next time. My solution: I will not be taking Jake to the dentist for a few more years. Last time they said his teeth looked fine and he has no problems, so I figure if I keep brushing them well and he doesn't have any faceplants anytime soon I should be good for a year at least, and hopefully by then he will have mellowed a bit. I think if he goes with us with the big boys but feels left out when he doesn't get to go in the back room and come out with tokens for toys, he will soon be begging to go back. We'll see... with Jake you just never know!

species

2011-02-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

Today, before jake's play-date with his on-again, off-again 3-year-old romance:
J: Mom, can grills (girls) not marry other grills (girls)?
M: No jake, girls have to marry boys.
E: Yeah, jake. You can't marry your same species!

This led to short discussion about species vs. gender in which I sort of lied - I guess you don't have to technically marry in your same species. After all, Ligers are like the coolest animal ever!

Sunshine

2011-01-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

Enjoyed a BEAUTIFUL sunny January day yesterday! It felt like 50 degrees, but I later found out the high was something like 38. Still, the mind plays tricks on you in winter... too many cloudy, snowy, rainy, sleety, icy, COLD days!
Boys and I went to Stake Conference and heard some wonderful messages about taking responsibility for your choices and having the courage to do what you know is right. Then we went to see the falls because the river is really high right now. An all-around inspirational, sunny, beautiful day!

My camera and/or photographic skilz don't do the falls justice - not even a little bit!

overheard

2011-01-22T12:54:00.000-08:00

Today while e and j were playing Battleship (by their own rules, obviously):

E: I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to send all of you to a different base. I don't expect any of you to survive, but if you do, report back to me immediately!

J: I survived!

E: Okay, good. Fire when ready!

All Ethan wants to do when he grows up is be a soldier. I'm thinking he is not officer material, not unless he works on his inspirational speeches, anyway. :)

hiking by the lake

2010-12-15T00:11:00.001-08:00

Well, the day has finally come. We can actually take Jake (some) places and still come home in one piece (ocassionally, that is). Since Brandon has been working weekends he has a few days off in the middle of the week. The big boys were sad to find out that we actually go do fun things without them on those days. Last week we saw the movie "Tangled" one day, then went for a hike and out to lunch the next day.

The movie was very cute, I definitely recommend it. They only had it in 3D at our theater so we (gulp) had to pay the higher price. Jake refused to wear the glasses, so he watched the whole movie blurry. But he watched it, which means I got to sit through it and watch it, so I'm okay with that.

Our hike was beautiful and the day was gorgeous. I say I hate winter, but really I just hate the cold and dark. Give me a winter day when the sun is shining and the weather is reasonable and I will be happy. (Which, of course, explains why I don't like winter very much!)

Anyway...it must be late because I keep losing my train of thought. Here are some pictures from our hike. 2 miles and Jake walked most of it. We kept leading him on telling him we were almost to a suspension bridge that was toward the end of the hike. (Which he was very excited to see). At one point Brandon said, "Keep going, Jake. I can see the bridge just over that next hill!" Jake's reply, "Wow! You have AMAZING eyes, Dad!" Jake didn't know how right he was, since we were still about a mile from the bridge. I just thought it was funny that he was smart enough to realize that it would take super-human sight to see over the other side of a hill, but that he didn't realize Brandon doesn't have the before-mentioned super-human sight. If only he would stay that gullible forever....

Jake and I at the "aspension" bridge

What do you mean my snow boots won't stay dry if I walk in the lake? What kind of crappy boots did you buy me, anyway, Mom?

Trying out my new tripod (that I bought for myself for Christmas)

Sitting on Buddy the Moose (or whatever his name was). Jake was more excited about this than anything...go figure!

BTW, in case you were wondering, the lunch after the hike--not so good. Brandon gota chicken Gyro sandwich with french fries in it, among other things. Not outstanding. I got some tomato-basil soup that tasted remarkably like marinara sauce from a Prego jar. I made the best of it, though, and brought home the leftovers (okay, most of it) to make spaghetti sauce the next night.

What's wrong with this picture?

2010-11-21T17:10:00.000-08:00

If you looked at the left side and thought I was talking about Ethan in his pajamas, or that the snowman has an abnormally small head, you were wrong. Well, you weren't wrong because Ethan is outside in his pjs and that snowman's head is ridiculous, but that is not what I was referring to. Apparently there is a rule that it is not cool to wear pants to school in the 7th grade. I think I lost that memo since I am, after all, just a mom. So despite the fact that I think he is CRAZY, Ryan rode his bike (which, as you can tell, was left outside on the lawn instead of put in the garage - a classic 'I told you so' moment!) to school in shorts the day of our first snowfall. I'm pretty sure I was NEVER this stubborn when I was in middle school! (yes, that was a large dose of sarcasm for those of you who didn't have the pleasure of knowing me back in the day!)

Moving on...
I think the shorts-only thing is contagious. Jake also refuses to wear pants. And shirts. And sometimes underwear, although I try to catch him before we leave the house to make him put some on. You'll notice in this flattering photo of him that he also loves to help make things and lick the bowl when we are done. In just shorts. And how he sits like that without hurting himself or falling off the counter, I'll never know.

This photo would more accurately be titled, "What's right with this picture?"
If you haven't had the pleasure of doing a load of dishes at our house before now, you will never know what you missed. Before our latest improvement, you could not pull out either of the shelves all the way or the dishwasher would tip forward and the shelves would roll/fall onto the floor with all the dishes. And heaven forbid you should try to pull out BOTH shelves! Well, after 4 years waiting and 1 full hour of work, we finally attached our dishwasher to the cabinet. There is no trim piece to cover up the 2x4, but give it 4 more years and I can almost guarantee we'll have one!

Not to toot my own horn, but...

2010-11-09T20:56:00.001-08:00

Okay, just kidding. That is exactly what I am doing! Although I can't take much credit, because I got the plans for Jake's new bed from Anna White's site, Knock-Off Wood, which has tons of fabulous furniture plans. I had a lot of fun making his bed and I think my next project will be a headboard and nightstands for Ryan's room. If that goes well I will move onto the Master Suite, which currently isn't too sweet.

Anyway, thanks to Anna for her great plans which are easy to follow. The bed only took me about 8 hours total to build, then a few days to finish (mostly drying time...). And it only cost me about $50 total (not including the mattress or bedding). I had to buy a few pieces of lumber, but mostly used scraps I had in the basement. I also had all the paint and stain on hand from previous projects (the red I used as a first coat was left over from Jake's far wall, and the blue was from Ethan's ceiling color. The stain & lacquer I used on top were leftovers from previous projects as well).

I only made 2 changes to Anna's plan. First , I built the frame that the bed sits on slightly different. (see photo below). I moved the cross braces away from the ends a little bit and put blocks on as supports because I wanted a bed that was a little easier to take apart and move. I don't know if my changes made much of a difference, but if you really care you can look at Anna' plan for a twin-sized farmhouse bed to compare.

The second change I made was in the height of the headboard. I completed the bed according to plan, but it looked a little too tall. I think for a king bed it was a great height, but my bed is for a little boy in a little room, and it just seemed too big. So I cut 8 inches off the bottom of each leg of the headboard and re-attached the frame. Then I put some 1x4 slats across the frame about every 16 inches to support his mattress and left the box-spring off. (Actually you can see it in my picture under the bed, until I clean my basement and make room down there!) This made the bed low enough that Jake can climb on and off easily by himself without pulling all the bedding off each time.

Overall I am very pleased with my first furniture project and hopefully learned a few do's and don'ts for next time. Until then....

Hey, he just wants to know.

2010-11-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

I was at the store with Jake today buying him some new shoes. We were sitting on a bench across from a lady who is also trying on shoes, who is wearing a surgical mask. Of course Jake's first question is, "Why is she wearing that thing on her face?" I guessed she probably heard him, but she wasn't sitting that close to us that I felt she was part of the conversation. So I answered him, "I don't know. Maybe she is sick or doesn't want to get sick." He was satisfied, but SHE wasn't. Suddenly I realize she is talking to me. In a very icy tone she says to me, "It's not good for parents to just make things up. He should ask me!" I didn't have a good response, so I turned to Jake and said, "Do you want to ask that lady why she is wearing a mask?" He looked at her like she was an alien and then shook his head no and started trying on a different pair of shoes. Obviously he was over it. But she felt the need to share anyway..."I am wearing this mask because there are toxic fumes in this store. I get sick if I don't wear a mask. If I buy a pair of shoes here I will have to let them sit outside my house for at least several weeks. People don't realize what they are exposing themselves and their kids to. People are losing their sense of smell and don't even know it!"

How am I supposed to respond to this? Should I be begging her for extra masks for myself and Jake so the shoe store doesn't poison us? Should I have just grabbed him and covered both our mouths and noses and run out? Or should I call her out for being a crazy, hypochondriac, already-smelled-too-many-fumes-mask-wearing freak? Sorry to all you mask wearers out there. I realize there are legit reasons. Hence my "made-up" answer to Jake. I also think there is such a thing as going too far. I mean, come on - order your shoes online for crying out loud (unless of course the computer gives off energy waves that fry your insides or something).

I don't usually get bothered by people's snide remarks but this one caught me off guard and really ticked me off. I think the thing that most made me mad is that I didn't have a ready response to her snooty remark. And I guess I don't respond well to unsolicited parenting advice. I wanted to tell her, I didn't "make up" my answer. I told him I didn't know and offered a few possibilities. In my mind, that is a fine way to answer that question from a 3-year-old. And, although she has a point that it is good to ask someone instead of assuming something about them, the truth is I didn't care why she was wearing a mask. Because the only other reason I can think of for wearing a mask, besides the two I offered to Jake, is that you are a crazy hypochondriac. If she was sick and didn't want to spread something, I'm sorry for her and glad she was so thoughtful. If she didn't want to get exposed to germs because she recently had chemotherapy or something, then I don't blame her. And if she is paranoid then I just don't freakin care!

Anyway.... I feel much better now that I got that off my chest.

On a lighter note, Jake had another comment about an employee at our next stop. I really think maybe I should stop taking him out. He was pretty good today, compared to his usual store behavior, but still. So I am talking to a customer service girl at Costco about why I didn't get my rebate check when Jake wanders up and looks up at her. He points to her face and says, "Mom, she drawed on herself." ( He got lectured earlier about drawing on himself with marker today, as he has done SEVERAL times). As you may have guessed, he was pointing at her eyebrows. Yes, they were shaved off and drawn on, and yes, even my 3-year-old boy could tell that it did NOT look natural! What do you say to that? She acted like she didn't hear or understand him, and I kind of hope she didn't. But part of me hopes she did and she realizes she should take another approach to eyebrow care in the future.

I think maybe Jake has a future in politics. He is not afraid to say it like it is, and he asks the tough questions!

Enlightening conversations...

2010-11-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

After Ryan's soccer game a few weeks ago:
Me: Good game, Ry!
R: I know, we did a shout-out.
Me: To who?
R (looking confused): No, mom, a shout-out is when the other team doesn't score any points.
Me: You mean shut-out.
R: No, a shout-out.
(This went on for a while...when you are 12 your parents don't know anything)
Finally, Me: Ryan, I will bet you a million dollars it is shut-out.
Ry: Oh. (Turned red. Finally gave it up. Score one for Mom.)

Another time, in the car with Jake:
J: Hey mom, do you know Horris and Morris?
M: Who?
J: Horris and Morris - you know, the guys from 101 Dalmations?
M: Oh, you mean Horris and Jasper?
J: Yeah. They say shut-up
M: Well, that's probably because they are bad guys. We shouldn't say shut-up.
J: And that lady?
M: Which lady? (I should have known, but obviously wasn't fully paying attention to the conversation)
J: You know, the one with green stuff coming out of her wand.
M: Green stuff? Wand?
J: Yeah. She always says, "You idiots!"
M: You mean Cruella Deville?
J: Yeah.
M: We don't say idiot either, Jake.

Green stuff from a wand? Yes, that would be the smoke coming from her long cigarette. I rather like the evil fairy with green stuff coming from her wand version myself. And since Jake seems bent on copying bad habits (notice how he tried to get away with bad words because someone else said them?) I don't think I'll tell him about smoking just yet. Or "Piping" as Ethan calls it. (Makes sense if you like to smoke a pipe...maybe "cigaretting" if you smoke cigs)

Lovin' Fall

2010-11-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

I know these are very amateur, but here is the gorgeous view I woke up to this morning. Can I just say that I LOVE this time of year?

(I love everything about this view except that damn telephone pole. Our neighbor doesn't REALLY need electricity, does he? Sorry about the swear. Okay, no I'm not. I feel very strongly about that pole.)

Here's why:

Leaves changing color

That crisp bite the air has in the mornings

Cool enough to wear jeans and sweatshirts

Pumpkin everything (we grew a ton of them in our garden and so far I have made: pumpkin pie, spiced pumpkin cake with lemon glaze, and pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting. Up next: think I'll try a pumpkin soup and of course Aunt DelLene's Pumpkin cake roll. YUmmY!)

Kids going back to school.

Raking leaves

All of the holidays, right in a row. Just when you get back to school you get to get excited about Halloween, then Veteran's Day (okay, maybe it doesn't get as much press, but still a good holiday), Thanksgiving, then Christmas. By the time New Years comes around I'm pretty much done partying. Good thing I don't really party anyway, right?

FOOD (although the older I get, the more this is my enemy. Curses!)

My volleyball league starts back up. (a little exercise to counteract all that food!)

Watching the boys play soccer (although it is exhausting. not the watching part, but the loading the car with everything you could possibly need for the day, driving to the field, unloading everything you could possibly need for the day, carrying it a long ways from the parking lot, dragging/carrying Jake along with all the stuff, chasing Jake and/or telling him to quit fighting with his brother or other kids while trying to watch the game, cheering/yelling/name calling--oh way, I don't do that last one (usually), loading all the stuff you could possibly need for the day back into your arms, dragging/carrying Jake across the field to the other brother's game, or back to the van to drive to a different field for the other brother's game, unloading all the stuff you might possibly need for a day......okay you get the picture) Anyway, even with rainstorms and the effort of getting there in one piece, I still love watching them play.

Secrets (remember, Christmas is coming!)

Soup. At least 3-4 nights per week. and homemade bread to go with.

The smell of wood smoke in the air (don't have wood burning myself)

Sitting by my fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate.

Having my bedroom be nice and cold in the night, but nice and warm under all the covers.

I'm sure there's more, but for now I can't think of any. Oh, one more thing:

Watching Ethan and Jake try to build a tree house by themselves. Too cute! (and not too well-built)

2010-11-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

I laughed SO hard when Brandon showed me this. Every word of this is true...so true, in fact, that it's almost scary! Reading it makes me wonder why I like my job? Maybe because...okay I don't know right now. Anyway, if you don't work in a pharmacy you may not find this funny, but you should read anyway because you will be enlightened and hopefully a little more patient/helpful next time you find yourself in a pharmacy. Enjoy!

PS - I can't take credit for this clever post, and this was posted without the author's permission, but since you can find it on his own public blog and I've given you the address, no harm done, right? (and could I make that sentence any longer?)

from drugmonkey.blogspot.com....
I Realize Today I've Done You A Disservice
WARNING: This post may be painful for those in the profession to read.

For over a year and a half now, the first thing anyone visiting my little blog garden has seen under the headline at the top of the page is the promise that the question of "why does my prescription take so damn long to fill" will be answered. Tonight I looked over this blogs archives and realized it was a promise not kept. While many topics have been covered here, and you have been provided with ample evidence of how drugstore workday life does indeed warp the mind, the question of why it took 2 hours for you to get 20 Vicodin has remained unanswered. I can't help but to think there may be someone out there who has been logging on every day for the last 18 months hoping in vain for this mystery to be solved. Should such a person exist, I offer my humble apologies. To everyone else, I offer the following prescription scenario:

You come to the counter. I am on the phone with a drunk dude who wants the phone number to the grocery store next door. After I instruct him on the virtues of 411, you tell me your doctor was to phone in your prescription to me. Your doctor hasn't, and you're unwilling to wait until he does. Being in a generous mood, I call your doctors office and am put on hold for 5 minutes, then informed that your prescription was phoned in to my competitor on the other side of town. Phoning the competitor, I am immediately put on hold for 5 minutes before speaking to a clerk, who puts me back on hold to wait for the pharmacist. Your prescription is then transferred to me, and now I have to get the 2 phone calls that have been put on hold while this was being done. Now I return to the counter to ask if we've ever filled prescriptions for you before. For some reason, you think that "for you" means "for your cousin" and you answer my question with a "yes", whereupon I go the computer and see you are not on file.

The phone rings.

You have left to do something very important, such as browse through the monster truck magazines, and do not hear the three PA announcements requesting that you return to the pharmacy. You return eventually, expecting to pick up the finished prescription.....

The phone rings

.......only to find out that I need to ask your address, phone number, date of birth, if you have any allergies and insurance coverage. You tell me you're allergic to codeine. Since the prescription is for Vicodin I ask you what exactly codeine did to you when you took it. You say it made your stomach hurt and I roll my eyes and write down "no known allergies" You tell me......

The phone rings

......you have insurance and spend the next 5 minutes looking for your card. You give up and expect me to be able to file your claim anyway. I call my competitor and am immediately put on hold. Upon reaching a human, I ask them what insurance they have on file for you. I get the information and file your claim, which is rejected because you changed jobs 6 months ago. An asshole barges his way to the counter to ask where the bread is.

The phone rings.

I inform you that the insurance the other pharmacy has on file for you isn't working. You produce a card in under 10 seconds that you seemed to be unable to find before. What you were really doing was hoping your old insurance would still work because it had a lower copay. Your new card prominently displays the logo of Nebraska Blue Cross, and although Nebraska Blue cross does in fact handle millions of prescription claims every day, for the group you belong to, the claim should go to a company called Caremark, whose logo is nowhere on the card.

The phone rings.

A lady comes to the counter wanting to know why the cherry flavored antacid works better than the lemon cream flavored antacid. What probably happened is that she had a milder case of heartburn when she took the cherry flavored brand, as they both use the exact same ingredient in the same strength. She will not be satisfied though until I confirm her belief that the cherry flavored brand is the superior product. I file your claim with Caremark, who rejects it because you had a 30 day supply of Vicodin filled 15 days ago at another pharmacy. You swear to me on your mother's'....

The phone rings

........life that you did not have a Vicodin prescription filled recently. I call Caremark and am immediately placed on hold. The most beautiful woman on the planet walks buy and notices not a thing. She has never talked to a pharmacist and never will. Upon reaching a human at Caremark, I am informed that the Vicodin prescription was indeed filled at another of my competitors. When I tell you this, you say you got hydrocodone there, not Vicodin. Another little part of me dies.

The phone rings.

It turns out that a few days after your doctor wrote your last prescription, he told you to take it more frequently, meaning that what Caremark thought was a 30-day supply is indeed a 15 day supply with the new instructions. I call your doctor's office to confirm this and am immediately placed on hold. I call Caremark to get an override and am immediately placed on hold. My laser printer has a paper jam. It's time for my pharmacy tech to go to lunch. Caremark issues the override and your claim goes though. Your insurance saves you 85 cents off the regular price of the prescription.

The phone rings.

At the cash register you sign....

The phone rings

.......the acknowledgement that you received a copy of my HIPAA policy and that I offered the required OBRA counseling for new prescriptions. You remark that you're glad that your last pharmacist told you you shouldn't take over the counter Tylenol along with the Vicodin, and that the acetaminophen you're taking instead seems to be working pretty well. I break the news to you that Tylenol is simply a brand name for acetaminophen and you don't believe me. You fumble around for 2 minutes looking for your checkbook and spend another 2 minutes making out a check for four dollars and sixty seven cents. You ask why the tablets look different than those you got at the other pharmacy. I explain that they are from a different manufacturer. Tomorrow you'll be back to tell me they don't work as well.

Now imagine this wasn't you at all, but the person who dropped off their prescription three people ahead of you, and you'll start to have an idea why.....your prescription takes so damn long to fill.

A year and a half late, but a promise kept. I feel better about myself already.

'Nuf said.

Girl's Trip

2010-10-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post pictures of our fabulous trip to Northern California from a few weeks ago. It was SO fun to see Lindsey, Mom, Jessica and Jaimee and to spend a weekend sightseeing and vacationing without kids! It is crazy how much we squeezed into only 4 days. If you've never been to San Francisco, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, or Santa Cruz, I highly recommend it for your next vacation (without kids was fun, but there would be plenty to do that is kid friendly too).

Santa Cruz was beautiful at night. And the only foggy day we had was the morning we spent on the 17-mile-drive from Monterey down pebble beach to Carmel. Even with the fog it was beautiful. Great scenery and tons of sea lions to watch too (and crazy golfers who paid over $400 dollars per round to golf in the rain/fog!).

By the time we got to the Lone Cypress and Pebble Beach clubhouse, the fog was gone and it was beautiful!

We spent our last day in Monterey. We got to go sea kayaking past the marina and cannery row and then did a little window shopping before heading to the airport. Weirdest part of the day: I didn't get sick sea kayaking but both Jaimee and Lindsey did, even though I'm the only one of us that gets carsick. Go figure!

Shopping in Carmel (although the only thing we could afford to buy was treats from the bakery!) Lindsey finally got her famous gingerbread...I thought it was okay :)

Pier 39 in downtown San Francisco was fun and beautiful. Actually, these pictures are from all along fisherman's wharf, which we happened to go to the day of the air show. Couldn't have planned it better - great weather, entertainment, and food!! (And I loved the shaped sourdough loaves they had - would have bought one, but no sense in buying a souvenier that isn't even going to make it home!)

Our views of and from the Golden Gate bridge. We saw it from the top of a double-decker bus, which was AWESOME but freezing. Definitely worth it, especially since we didn't die (not that the driver didn't try!)

I love pictures of buildings. I love architecture in general, so I take rather random pictures on my vacations. These were all taken in San Francisco, all from the top of our double-decker bus. Not professional quality, but really I don't think even a professional could've done much better on a bus that was jerking and swerving to miss traffic and pedestrians by mere centimeters, all the while trying to dodge overhanging tree limbs!

Chinatown was...cool in a weird sort of way. Fun to visit once - wouldn't want to live there. Or work there. Probably wouldn't even go back except that had REALLy cheap T-shirts.

Our boat ride out to Alcatraz only took about 15 minutes or so. As you can tell we had a gorgeous day and great views the whole way. And I didn't get sick on this boat either!

The Rock - totally cool! Would definitely do it again. I don't know if anyone else enjoyed it as much as I did, but I was fascinated by the old buildings, the audio tour, and the views from outside. Talk about torture! If I was locked up there and could only get a glimps of those beautiful views I would hate it. The only good thing about being there appeared to be the food. Those prisoners ate better than my family does by far!

Jaimee, Mom, Lindsey, and Jessica - I had a GrEaT time!! We will definitely have to plan another trip sometime soon (I'm free next month...). And this time we'll have to force Shawnacy to come along (and we'll have to go someplace that gives out as much free chocolate as Ghirardeli Sqaure does!).

How do they do it?

2010-10-26T21:50:00.003-07:00

Here is my question of the day: How do mothers who work full time survive? How are they sane? How is their house ever clean (or even kind of clean)? How do their kids ever get their homework done? How does anybody ever eat anything other than cold cereal or ramen? HOW, I ASK YOU?

I have been working a lot lately, if you hadn't noticed. And I'm not doing well with it. (Oh, and by working a lot, I don't mean 80+ hours a week - more like 30ish. Yes, I'm a pansy.)

So here is my dilema. It's not new. I'm sure many women out there have had the same one: TO WORK OR NOT TO WORK? When I feel like I'm going crazy, I think I should just quit and stay at home full time. But, of course, it's not that easy.

Reasons to work:
1. Money is nice to have
2. I spent a lot of time and money (see above) going to school - shouldn't I put my education to use?
3. If I don't work for a prolonged period of time, I would be too out of the loop to go back to my field (see above about waste of time and money)
4. I actually enjoy my job (but not when I have to go too often!)
5. Guilt. This is the most ridiculous one. I of course know how hard it is to stay at home with your kids full time. WAY harder than my other job. But somehow I don't feel like I am doing my part and/or contributing enough to the family if I am not bringing in some sort of wage. I don't know where this guilt comes from. Certainly not from my husband, who has never said anything that would make me feel this way. In fact, he would rather I worked less and he pick up extra shifts if we need more money then have to spend too much time playing Mr. Mom.

So...even with all the above reasons, the fact that we don't absolutely need my salary to live still makes me think I should quit. I love being home with my kids. I love cleaning my house (and I love having a clean house, which doesn't happen when I work!). I love cooking a nutritious dinner for my family. I love having time to work out. I love dropping off and picking up my kids from school. I love baking cookies with my boys. I love doing projects around my house and yard. I don't love running errands. (There had to be at least negative, right?)

WHY is it so hard to find balance in life? When I don't work for a long time I feel like I should be working more (last fall I didn't work for close to three months because there were no shifts available). This summer I picked up a second part-time gig (to make up for what I thought would be a repeat of last fall) and now I feel like I am going insane!

If anyone still reads my blog (not likely, because I didn't have too many readers to start with, and then I quit blogging for the past several months...because of WORK!).... any wonderful advice? I feel like I'm old enough that I should have crossed this hurdle already and figured things out, but this is not the case. Damned if I do, damned if I don't (well, maybe it's not THAT dramatic).

And this is exactly why I am going crazy. This is what my basement looks like (been meaning to clean it out since last spring)...

And this is what my oldest son dresses himself in when I am not around to supervise... (Yes, it's worth zooming in. And yes, those are sweatbands on his head AND wrists. I did not pay for those! And no, it was not a funny-dress-up day at school.)

AHHHHH!

How do they do it?

2010-10-26T21:50:00.001-07:00

Scary...

2010-10-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

No, not Halloween. Or the fact that I started blogging again after such a long hiatus. The scare I encountered tonight is realizing that I married my father, or at least some version of him. (No, don't think I'm creepy, just keep reading...)

I have always thought that Brandon was not much at all like my Dad in personality. (Could that sentence be any more akward?) Tonight I am sitting here watching him help Ryan with his math homework while having traumatic flashbacks to my own teen years. Ryan alternating between almost tears and a cocky, obnoxious, you-can't-make-me-care-or-try look on his face, and Brandon almost yelling about how if Y=0, X has to equal 2, and what is hard to understand about that?!? Brandon claims he is not mad and Ryan claims he totally understands. While I think they both think that they are telling the truth, I am pretty sure they are lying. I tried to step in and cool things off, but instead gave up to make my comeback in the blogging world. I'm pretty sure at this point I can't be much help anyway.

Here is a short snippet to prove my point:
R - "why do you have to make everything in math so complicated, Dad?"
B - "Ryan, math is the simplest thing you can learn"
R - "but you always have to use the hardest method"
B - "Ryan...." (then he started mumbling and I'm not sure any of us wants to know what was said)

When Brandon starts wearing flannel shirts tucked into his jeans with an Elmer Fudd hat with ear flaps, I will know that I had reason to be scared.... (No offense, Dad - it's a good look for you!)

PS I promise to post pictures of the boys soon for my bestest MIL ever!

Jake's Lump

2010-08-07T19:18:00.001-07:00

We have had more than our usual share of medical issues this year (which thankfully is still not that many, but still not fun when the bills come around!). A few months ago Ethan had his adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears (quite successfully, might I add). Then just this past month I noticed a large lump on Jake's lower abdomen. Took him to the doctor, and sure enough, he had a hernia. I'd show pictures, but they would be X rated because it was right by his "weenie".

Anyway...just a funny story about his surgery. We went in to the hospital to get it fixed and he wasn't too happy to be there. After some narcotics he was much happier and mellower, so they took him back. When they were done Brandon went in to sit with him while he came out of anesthesia. Apparently when he woke up, it was with a bang. The nurse came out to see if I could go help him calm down and I could hear him screaming in the background on her phone. When I got there he was mad at everyone, especially the nurse. He did NOT want an IV in his arm, nor did he want his blood pressure taken. The nurse tried to reason with him, then tried to hold him still so she could get an accurate reading. (I'm pretty sure she wanted a set of good readings so she could send him home as quickly as possible!)

During all of this, Jake screamed at her, "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!!!" A few people were chuckling and a few were staring and a few were looking at the nurse with obvious sympathy and relief that Jake was not their patient. Needless to say, we were released very shortly afterward. A few doses of Tylenol with Codeine later and Jake was back to his old self. Not sure if that is a good thing...?

Shannon & Chris's wedding

2010-08-07T01:03:00.000-07:00

We have been busy the last month traveling to the wedding and getting ready for a reception up here. Here are just a few of the pictures of the big event (If you are just dying for more, you can check out my facebook page). We are so excited for Shannon and Chris! They are such a cute couple :)

The Bride and Groom

Jake and Emmaleigh partying like rock stars

Katie just couldn't make it.

Ryan and Uncle Curt cruising for hot chics (too bad we were related to 99% of them!)

A cute girl my dad works with, and a funny story to go with her picture. My dad was sitting talking to her and Jake was sitting there eating his cake (in a suit, with a bib). Anyway, he looked up at her and said, "You have a nail sticking out of your chin!" She chuckled or said something in response. His comeback: "That's weird!" Thankfully she was a good sport! (And a very cute girl - Jake will have to work on his pick-up lines in the future)

The happy couple, who were thankfully more careful with their cake this time around. I was going to make them clean up my floor if they smeared it all over, so it is a good thing they didn't!

The brides's whole family, mostly smiling

All of us after we heard the good news that Zach and Kristi are having another baby! Yeah for cute new neices and/or nephews! We are so excited to have more cousins (and then it's Shannon and Chris's turn :)

The wedding was beautiful - receptions were fun - the travel was not, but could've been worse - the food was yummy - seeing lots of family (some for the first time in a long time) was terrific - the honeymoon was rainy, but I don't care because I wasn't there (and chances are they had fun anyway)...

I don't know how Shannon and Chris feel about the whole affair, but I'd call it a success! (And Brandon and I have already decided that when our boys get married we will give them money to go away and not have to throw them a reception....if their wives agree :)

math wars

2010-06-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

In an effort to improve Ethan's math speed before school starts in the fall, we've been playing math games so he can work on his math facts. Jake recently got in on the act and the boys were playing Math War with addition cards. After a few rounds with them, I quit playing and was working on the dishes when I overheard this conversation:

J: I won! ( He says this every time)

E: No, Jake. You only got a 4 and I got a 9. You have to just take what you have and be grateful for it! You can't win all the time.

I love this kid. What other 7-year-old talks about being grateful for what you have - during a math game?! Something tells me he has heard this phrase before. Funny how those things you tell your kids stick and then come back at the most random times :)

**Side note: less than 2 minutes after I snapped the picture of them playing so cute together, Ethan had slapped Jake in the face with a half-deck of cards and Jake had kicked Ethan in the nose. That's when you know the game is over!**

our spring vacation

2010-06-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

Here they are: the long-awaited, much anticipated photos from our trip in MAY. Yes, finally getting around to it! So, in no particular order, here is a record of all the fun we had!

~Bowling with our Miller Cousins, Em and Katie~

~Checking out the dinosaur museum with Uncle Don~

~A day at the zoo with my animals~

~Cooling off at Lake Powell~

~Hiking to the Hoodoos with Grandma and Aunt Lindsey and Max~

~Touring Antelope Island with Uncle Don~

~The VERY long drive~

~Very Cool 4-wheeler trip/hike to the Colorado River~

~Hiking above Salt Lake City with Aunt Shannon~

~4-wheeling with Jake and Brooklyn~

Thoughts on Satan, and more

2010-06-05T23:12:00.000-07:00

So today we were at a primary activity and I was with a small group of boys listening to the teacher tell about Jesus' miracles. Out of the blue Jake pipes up with, "Satan lives next door to us!" Huh? Did I miss something? We have good, even great neighbors. So...maybe he knows something I don't? I have suspected the house across/down the street is selling drugs. Maybe my suspicions are correct. Or maybe they just have lots of friends who like to stop by for 5 minutes or less at any time of the day or night.... but that is a subject for another day.

I haven't blogged for quite a while. I don't know what cute things my kids have said. I don't even know IF they said anything cute. Isn't that sad? And I really don't even have pictures I've taken lately, unless you count Ryan turning on my camera and rolling down the hills. Talk about a video that makes you want to hurl!

Why have I been slacking? Does it matter? ( I know it matters to Grandma, who likes to see pictures of the boys. Don't worry. They look the same, only dirtier) . Today I took the kids to the park for a birthday party. Ryan was in his usual basketball short and underarmor shirt (I can't convince him that he doesn't need to wear another version of the same thing every day). Ethan had uncombed hair, unbrushed teeth, and jeans with a huge hole in the knee. Jake was all-over filthy, had his shirt inside out and his shorts on backwards, not to mention snot running out of his nose almost constantly. I feel like I should be ashamed to go out like this, but sadly I'm not. Perhaps it's because they reflect my usual atire: jeans/shorts, T-shirt (probably stained), pony-tail, and if I'm lucky, mascara. I know I should try harder...right?

I'm tired and rambling, so I'll end my post about nothing and head to bed. And I promise, tomorrow I will down load the pictures from our 2-week road trip that we took OVER a MONTH ago! If I'm feeling really energetic, I might even take a new photo for the first time in a month...we'll see.

Birthdays

2010-04-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

Well, birthday season has come and gone again. This year we all had parties...because if one of them has a party all of them have to have a party. When all the boys' birthdays are only a few weeks apart it is hard to make sure everyone gets even amounts of attention, presents, etc. Especially Ethan, because he is last in line and I am usually all birthdayed out by the time his rolls around.

Here is the short version of the festivities:

Jake had a little 'Star Wars' party with a few friends. Ryan made up a fun game for them that had them looking for clues to become Jedi's. Jake had a GREAT time and loved having his own party and being the center of attention. My favorite quote from the party: one of the little girls (Courtney, I think) came up to Jake near the end of the party and said, "You're Welcome for the present, Jake!" completely unprompted. Good manners, Courtney!

Ethan had a birthday waffle for breakfast and opened his family presents, then had a party at one of those crazy fun house places with his friends after school. It was crazy-fun, or "wicked-sweet" as Ethan would say! Pizza, cupcakes, presents, laser tag, and video games = every boy's dream come true!

Ryan got to celebrate over the course of about a week: first we had a birthday dessert with extended family who got together for Easter. On his actual birthday he got a big breakfast and opened most of his presents. The next night he got to pick a place to go out to dinner (Golden Corral, in case you're wondering. Unlimited desserts and all the food you can eat - a 12-year-old's dream come true!) because he didn't feel good the night of his birthday. On Friday his present from Dad finally came in the mail (golf clubs - following in his father's footsteps), then the weekend arrived and he had four friends over for tacos, Doritos, cake, ice cream, candy, football, video games, and a very late night!

Happy Birthday to Us! (And thank goodness it's over until next year... :)

Random Sunday Thoughts

2010-04-18T13:38:00.001-07:00

Okay, so I guess my title is misleading. These thoughts have nothing to do with the Sabbath or anything spiritual at all for that matter. I just happen to be recording them on a Sunday afternoon. Since I've been lazy about blogging for a while, here are a few of the gems I've neglected, in no particular order:

1. Ethan's new room
A few minutes ago Ethan came to me and said, "Mom, come quick! My room is COMPLETE!" You see, we set him up in what used to be our playroom, so that he can have his own room and hopefully we'll have less mess and less arguing. Anyway, I followed him upstairs and this is what I saw:

He is so proud of his newly decorated and organized mess, I mean room, that I just don't have the heart to tell him it is a mess. Tonight while he is asleep I'll re-organize parts of it so that it doesn't give me nightmares. Or maybe I'll try to stop being a control-freak and let him keep it like this, at least for a while!

2. Snaggletooth
This poor kid has the snaggliest teeth I've ever seen. He grinds his teeth really badly, so all his baby teeth are tiny. When he loses them and permanent ones grow in...well let's just say the size difference is alarming. Notice his new, LARGE top tooth next to his gap. Don't worry, I'm already saving for braces.

Here is the story behind the note:
Ethan wouldn't let us pull his top tooth, and it was just dangling. One night he got up about midnight to pee and the tooth just fell out while he was peeing. Of course it fell right into the toilet. He was still half asleep and flushed before he realized what he was doing. Then he came into my room bawling and we had the following conversation:
E: "I shouldn't have flushed! I should've just stuck my hand in the pee to get my tooth!"
Me: I assured him that the tooth fairy would use her magic to get his tooth anyway.
His response: "But how? My tooth will go down the pipes into the septic tank!"
Me: I countered this with the logical arguement that if the tooth fairy really wanted it out of the septic tank, there was a clean-out valve right outside on the lawn.
Ethan wasn't convinced, saying, "But how the heck will the tooth fairy fit down the clean-out valve?"
I suggested that maybe she has really long arms.
Ethan: "But it will have pee and poop on it down there! She won't want to reach down there!"

At this point I realized I was not going to convince him using logical or magical arguements, so I suggested we write a note to the tooth fairy. Ethan was too shaken up to write, so he dictated while I wrote, then he signed the finished product. He put this under his pillow and was ecstatic to find that the tooth fairy had written him a note in return AND left him over $2 in change, which is much more than his usual 50 cents per tooth.
I told him Tooth fairies do crazy things in the middle of the night, especially when they just want to go to bed. Besides, maybe the ones covered in poop and pee are more desirable for whatever the tooth fairy does with all those rotten, nasty teeth anyway!

3. The Runaway
Ethan was in trouble because he didn't finish writing his spelling words, so I told him he could finish writing them in the van, then join us outside to play (while Ryan had soccer practice). After several minutes he honked the horn. I went over to tell him to knock it off and opened the door to find this note:

"Dear Mom I am going away" tucked into the steering wheel. I told him I would be sad if he left, but if he finished his spelling words he could come out and play with us. A few minutes later he came out and showed me his finished spelling words, then showed me his updated note. If he ever has to go away, I guess 80 is a good age to do it.

4. Ethan's self-portrait
Ethan made this in primary last Sunday:

(It says, "Swollen" and those pencil circles he drew are his adenoids)

Can you tell he is a little bit obsessed with his upcoming adenoidectomy? He was upset after I told him about the surgery. When I asked why he was upset he said, "because what if my voice sounds funny after my surgery and nobody can understand me?" I didn't have the heart to tell him that his voice ALREADY sounds funny and that most people have trouble understanding him now. With no adenoids to block his sinuses, he will most likely sound much better... but instead I told him that he won't sound any different and of course we will all know what he is saying!

Anyway, shame on me for not recording most of these long ago. Sadly, I can only remember the ones with a pictures attached. I know there were several more incidents or conversations I wanted to record. Ethan isn't the only one of my boys that does/says funny things, but the others are sadly underrepresented this time around. I promised myself I will do better about writing them down as soon as they happen so I don't forget all the priceless moments I have with my boys :)

chest-moles

2010-04-18T13:17:00.000-07:00

Today during church I was sitting next to jake. He was squirming/laying down/sitting on my lap off and on. At one point he had his head on my lap and looked up and pointed to my boob. He says, "What's that under your shirt?" I chuckle and say, "My chest," knowing that he will repeat whatever I say really loudly. Sure enough, Jake says/yells, "Your chest? or your mole?" You see, I have a rather large mole (think diameter of a pencil eraser) that is on my collar bone that Jake has always been fascinated with. He repeated, "Chest-mole. Ha-ha-ha" several times before something distracted him. I just sat there trying not to laugh so that he wouldn't get any more carried away (he loves to perform for an audience who laughs at him).

Some day Jake will realize what a truly GREAT description "chest-mole" is for my breasts. Hopefully at that point he will also be mature enough not to yell it out during church.

Here is a picture of the mole. No, NOT a chest-mole (I wouldn't want anyone straining their eyes trying to see it:)

Interpretive Dance 101

2010-04-05T19:01:00.000-07:00

This is just hideous and a bit self-indulgent, since I KNOW that no one appreciates watching other people's kids on home videos, but...it's my blog, so there. I'm pretty sure the grandmas and possibly even other close relatives will appreciate my kids' dancing skills, even if no one else does. (Yes, it is really long - I'm sorry. We can blame Ryan, the camera man!)

2010-04-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

My cousin's wife and kids were in a car accident today and are still in pretty bad shape. All day I've been thinking about them. Sadly, I haven't seen them in quite a few years and haven't even met their youngest two kids. I know how hard it is for me when my kids are sick or injured, and so far we have been blessed that our kids have been quite healthy. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to watch my kids suffer from severe injuries and not be able to DO something about it! Thinking and praying about them all day has really made me change my attitude about my own kids today.

I first wrote this post complaining about all the trouble Jake caused today. Then I looked at his little evil grin during dinner and realized that even with all the trouble, I love him so much I think I would die if anything happened to him. The same goes for Ryan and Ethan, even on their most troubling days. I knew I needed to quit complaining and change my attitude about the hard parts of raising my kids. Sure, they make messes. Sometimes they fight, hit, yell, and everything else. The fact is, they are going to do those things regardless, so I can either complain and get mad, or I can laugh about it and enjoy their company. It won't be long before they are grown and gone and I'll wish I could go back. Today's events only made me realize how quickly these things can change and how grateful I should be for my wonderful, messy, funny boys.

With that in mind, here are some of the lessons I learned from my kids today (and yes, I did get angry at the time - no mom is perfect, right? At least I'm laughing at them by day's end!)

Jake paints great pictures (complete with a TA-DA!).
He also makes cute red paint marks with his toes when it spills all over the floor.
He should only use watercolors.

I should not leave cups on the bathroom counter unless I want cups full of water dumped on the floor.
This is useful when the bathroom floor has not been adequately cleaned in a REALLY long time.

Jake is clever enough to get out his own window if there is ever a fire in the house (and he won't even need to break the screen!).
He will also need closer supervision during nap time.
Luckily he loves us enough to run around front and ring the doorbell after he has escaped from his room.

Ryan asked if he could help me in the kitchen tonight, and Ethan unloaded the dishes without even complaining, so God knows how much I can take and when I need a little break! And for that I am REALLY grateful!

Rock Band

2010-03-14T20:21:00.000-07:00

Santa was kind enough to bring Rock Band to our house this Christmas. We played it quite a bit until the disc got scratched (not really a big surprise there). Anyway, after that Ethan decided to start his own rock band with a friend. They spent over an hour working on this song:

Notice the guitar music and the lyrics sheet they composed:

I am really hoping the piano lessons the boys have started will spark some hidden musical abilities - any musical abilities, really!

They never cease to amaze...

2010-03-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

I was reprimanded via email (thanks Grandma!) for not posting anything lately. I seem to go in spurts when I just have nothing to say (which I'm sure Brandon wishes applied to not just blogging:)

So here are a few of our gems lately:

Ethan, crying after dropping a glass jar full of dirt on his toes: "My toe hurts so bad I can't even put the 's' at the end. Cuz there's more than one!"

Jake: Mom, will you zip up it? (Talking about his coat)
Brandon: You mean, zip it up?
Jake: I said already it!

Ryan: Mom, you cease to amaze me! (Apparently I'm predictable, although that wasn't quite what he meant.)

missing teeth and leaking eyes

2010-02-23T10:47:00.001-08:00

Ethan is quite proud of his newly-yanked tooth. His smile makes me laugh, especially since the other front one is crooked and barely hanging on. This age is so akward when they start having a combination of holes, big teeth, and little teeth randomly placed in their mouths - I love it!

On to other news: Now that Ryan's ear has stopped leaking he had to have more attention somehow. This morning the school nurse called to say that she thinks Ryan has pink-eye. Sure enough, I get to the school to pick him up and his eye is all pink and puffy and goopy looking. When I asked if his eye hurt, he said, "No, but it itches and I have a headache and my stomach hurts." The poor kid just can't seem to get a break! (And I will refrain from posting a picture of his goopy eye, even though I know you're dying to see it!)

Jake is quite fascinated with both the concept of teeth falling out and with Ryan having a 'pink' eye. On the way to pick Ryan up, Jake kept asking if Ryan had painted his eye pink. That does seem the only logical explanation for such a diagnosis!

Vacation, Schmacation

2010-02-22T17:32:00.000-08:00

So we had a little vactation last week. That is my official excuse for not finishing my lovey-dovey valentines posts. I'm sure it wasn't because I was too lazy or anything....

Back to the vacation. The day we got there I realized I had forgotten my camera, which I was totally bummed about. We had a lot of fun things planned and lots of new cousins to meet, and I wanted to chronicle it all. So, if you want to hear about our vacation, use that thing we call an imagination and picture the following:

Day 1: We get to lovely Phoenix, AZ and crowd in Jaimee and Jon's house, happy to see many cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandpa and grandma. Ethan has a diarrhea accident at Jaimee's house. The kids go swimming at the hotel and the two oldest decide to sleep over with Grandma and Grandpa. Off to a good start!

Day 2: 6:30 AM phone call from Grandma: Ryan has been up all night with an earache. We get Ryan some liquid motrin (the poor kid still can't swallow pills) and get ready for church and a picnic. We attend Tyler's blessing, which I'm sure was lovely except that I was out in the hallway with a screaming Jake during the whole thing. Ryan sleeps through church because he's so tired from being up all night. We go to a beautiful park by a lake for a BBQ. We have a great time with everybody, until Ryan's ear starts hurting really badly. Thank goodness Jessica's prepared with some medicine (leave it to the nurse!)

Day 3: We meet up at the hotel, determined to do something fun. Ryan is still complaining of an earache, despite lots of motrin and some eardrops. The boys go to check out some bikes while the girls and babies go shopping at IKEA. During the shopping trip Jake gets a fever and cries and/or sleeps the whole time (and yes, I get to carry the little angel all around the store, which is a great workout!) We got back to find that Ryan's ear is still really hurting, Jake is miserable, and Brandon is grumpy because he has a cold coming on.

Day 4: We wake up to no water at Jaimee's house. We go to the hotel for a morning swim and a shower. Jake appears to be feeling better, but then has an episode of diarrhea. Ryan's ear is still hurting and he just naps all morning. Now his ear is draining goopy junk. We sit around and relax most of the day, Brandon's head cold is worse and Ryan is still in pain. Half of the clan leaves, and we decide to stay in the hotel and give Jaimee and Jon a break from us. We dope Ryan up and go to see Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Ryan is disappointed (that's what you get for reading the book first) but the rest of us enjoy the show. We get some yummy Mexican food then go crash at the hotel. After doping Ryan again so he can sleep, we all drift off. I wake up to the sound of someone barfing Mexican food all over the hotel bed. It's Ethan. After emptying his stomach he seems fine. After cleaning up his bedding and ordering some more from the front desk, I manage to go back to sleep for a little while, despite Brandon's coughing and snoring.

Day 5: Turns out Brooklyn puked last night too. Must've been the hot dogs they ate! Thanks goodness the water is back on at Jaimee's house! Ryan is finally goofing around and eating again, even though he is still downing the Motrin and his ear is draining like crazy, so we know he is on the mend. We go back to Jaimee's house for our last night and have a yummy dinner. We go to a rock climbing gym with all the kids. Brandon still doesn't feel good and decides not to climb. Jake poops his pants and Brandon takes him and Allie home. Ryan learns to belay and has a lot of fun; turns out Brooklyn is a pretty good climber herself; Ethan is a monkey. We have a fun campfire and burn all of Jon's old tax papers, which the kids love.

Day 6: We get things cleaned up while Jaimee takes Tanner to get circumcised (poor little dude). Jon takes us to the airport, probably really glad to be rid of us. I go through security with fresh, homemade tortillas from Jaimee's neighbor just stuffed in my bag (so I could eat them later, and yes, they were good!) We leave the cord to the laptop in the airport. We get dirty looks and mean comments from more than one flight attendant as we are getting on the plane. Ryan's ear is still draining goop. Ethan starts coughing a lot on the flight. The old lady sitting next to them gives us several dirty looks and finally tells us he needs a cough drop. I resist the urge to hurt her. Jake starts crying on landing because his ear hurts (happens every time). Grandma picks us up at the airport - good to be home! (although we miss the cousins and the weather :) Jake continues to complain about his ear and we try everything we can think of to get it to pop.

Update: Four days later After a miserable weekend with Jake, we take him to the doctor who says he has an ear infection, probably made worse by the flight. Since it has still not started to go away, he gets antibiotics. Brandon's cold is all better and he says we are never going on vacation again (but then he starts planning something for spring break). Ryan's ear feels better and is done draining, but he cannot hear out of his left ear. I guess it'll take a while for his eardrum to heal. Ethan is happy as can be, and lost one of his front teeth over the weekend. His smile couldn't be cuter. I am fine except for a little runny nose (yes, I am knocking on wood) and finally almost done doing laundry.

We had a great time seeing everybody, but we're bummed we didn't get to do as many things as we had planned. Oh well, there's always next time... oh wait, we said we were never doing this again, didn't we?

I Love Eyelashes

2010-02-12T09:54:00.001-08:00

It is so not fair....the boys always get the long, rgeous lashes! Even though I am a bit jealous, (okay, a lot jealous) I still love looking at my boys' long lashes. Where do these things come from? Certainly not from me!

handy little me

2010-02-09T15:47:00.000-08:00

For my last birthday Brandon got me a sewing machine. I regret to say that so far I have not used it. That is, until today. I got it out of the box, but kept waiting until I had a big period of time to sit down and learn how to use it. I wanted to read the manual, learn about all of the different stitches, practice them all, etc. Well, at some point I realized there will never be a day when I have the whole day to myself to sit and do nothing but figure out my sewing machine features. So today I sat down and figured if I could thread it, I could probably sew a straight stitch. And here is what I made:

JUST KIDDING! (As if anyone who knows me actually believed me anyway) I'm not exactly lying, just stretching the truth a bit. Here is what I ACTUALLY did:

1. Sewed down the belt loop on a pair of Brandon's pants

2. Sewed the strap to my swim suit top (because the plastic deal that is supposed to hook it didn't fit. Plus, I sewed it a little shorter so the top would come a little higher on my chest (when you have no boobs to hold it up, you resort to sewing straps on!)

Brandon has been teasing me about not using the sewing machine for months now. He keeps asking me when I am going to get around to fixing his pants (which took a total of 60 seconds once I got it out and did it). He has promised that the day I fix his pants, he will put in our breakfast bar (well, chances are he'll just cut it and glue it, since it will be a few day process with drying time and sanding). Still....today is the day! I fulfilled my half of the bargain - so breakfast bar, here we come!!!

Love Post #9

2010-02-09T15:35:00.000-08:00

I love sleeping babies.

I know Jake is no longer a baby, but he is my baby

and he is so sweet and lovable when he is asleep!

(Some days that is the only time he is sweet and lovable!)

Un-Love

2010-02-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

All this mushy stuff was too good to last. So let me tell you what I DON'T love:

I don't love feeling like a maid in my own house

I don't love whining (unless I'm doing it - yes, I do see the irony here!)

I don't love the way boys' rooms smell, like dirty things and stale farts

I don't love taking orders from a 2-year-old

I don't love building lego ships and then being told, "That's not the right way, Mom!"

I don't love yelling at my kids

I don't love repeating myself

I don't love repeating myself!

How many times do I have to tell you?! I DON'T LOVE REPEATING MYSELF! Now get those chores done!!!

I don't love getting in stupid arguements with Brandon

I don't love plunging the toilet every time my middle child is done in the bathroom

I don't love cooking dinner when nothing sounds good (Thank goodness for those Arby's coupons that came in the mail)

I don't love picking silly putty off the buttons of my TV remote control

I don't love searching the house for the lost phone - still not found

I don't love looking like I didn't shower when I go to pick up my kids from school (oh wait, maybe that's because I didn't shower - yet)

I don't love cloudy days (maybe this is to blame for all of the above)

I don't love looking at my house at the end of the day wondering what I did today....it looks just as bad as when I started this morning!

In short, I don't love today.

But tomorrow is a new day, and I do love this:

Love Post #7

2010-02-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

#7 goes to...Martha - I mean RYAN - for his ceaseless love of parties. Seriously, Martha Stewart, step aside. Ryan loves to plan a party for any occasion. He was dying to have a Super Bowl party but I had to work and we have church late on Sundays, plus all his friends were having their own party. Did that stop Ryan? Oh no - just yesterday (Saturday) he invited his grandma and great-grandma over for the big event. Brandon was teasing him about it not being much of a party, but Ryan replied, "It'll be a good party! I'll have streamers and food!" Just this morning before I went to work Ryan was having me help him plan out his menu for the Super Bowl. I'm not even sure if the grandmas will come, but Ryan WILL have a party! He had little plates out with crackers arranged decoratively and was digging through the fridge for more ingredients.

Last month I helped host a baby shower, and Ryan couldn't WAIT to help me put up the decorations. Every occasion in our house gets streamers and homemade signs proclaiming the appropriate holiday. If I let him, he'd do way more than just that.

I know Ryan gets this from me (although in the past few years I've kind of slacked off on holiday decorating and such). I just hope he gets better decorating sense than I have. So far he has shown that he excels in the white trash version of holiday decorating and party throwing...but there is still time.

If you need a party planner for your next event, you know who to call!

Side note: when I got home from work, this is what I saw:

Ryan had tons of good food for the big occasion: homemade bean dip; cheese, meat and crackers; fruit; and cake (also homemade and decorated by Ryan). The cake used to say 44 (for Super Bowl 44) in strawberries, before the boys dug in. Oh, and the grandmas DID show, and both said they had a great time at Ryan's kick-A Super Bowl Party! (Although I don't actually remember either grandma using the phrase "Kick-A" to describe it...)

Love Post #6

2010-02-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know I am a day late. Most likely I am also a dollar short and just haven't realized it yet! But...so goes my life.

Anyway... My 6th love post of the month is dedicated to Ethan. I LOVE that Ethan loves everybody! He is a terrific friend because he considers everybody his friend. He is always nice to his friends (although I'm sure he is sometimes annoyingly in-their-personal-space). He never judges anyone, just accepts them for who they are (and believe me, we have had a few REALLY annoying little kids over to play in the past - Ethan loves them all!) Ethan will befriend and play with anyone -boy, girl, older, younger - doesn't matter. This friendship usually even extends to his brothers (although of course we have our moments!). Ethan will play just about anything that anybody else wants to play (but I haven't been able to convince him that doing the dishes is a game - he is friendly but not stupid!). So here's to this month's #6 - Ethan, the friendliest friend there ever was!

Ethan and friends hiking (of course we bring PVC guns on our hikes - doesn't everybody?)

Love Post #5

2010-02-05T12:15:00.000-08:00

Today's love post is about...Brandon (he may end up getting more than the others - don't tell them!)

Something I love about Brandon is that he is genuine. I love that he never pretends to be something he isn't. He doesn't try to impress people, and he doesn't really care what others think of him. (Well, he cares enough to use good personal hygiene and be nice to people, he just doesn't care too much!) I guess because he is always 'himself' he just accepts other people for who they are and isn't judgemental. Definitely a good quality in a husband, since I have maybe just a few flaws myself, which he overlooks way more than I deserve!

His mom was worried when we first got married because she said he acted weird around me, not like himself. She was worried I didn't know the 'real' Brandon and might not like him once his true self came out, I guess! Maybe he acted weird in front of his family (weird meaning overly normal, I believe), but he was always himself in front of me. I was not surprised to find I'd married someone I didn't really know - quite the opposite I found I was lucky enough to marry someone who I felt like I'd always known.

Author's note: When I told Brandon that I had written about him on the blog, he didn't believe that it was something nice! He never reads the blog, and apparently the only time he hears anything about it is when I say something smart-alecky or downright mean about him. Then his mom and/or sisters call him and tell him he should be nicer to me...whoops! Although it is comforting to know that his family is squarely on my side in our disagreements, I really do feel bad that he thinks I only rip on him on our family blog. I know that I am far too sarcastic most of the time, but I'm afraid that just can't be helped. So...I'll work on eliminating sarcastic or cutting remarks about Brandon on my blog.
Here is my struggle: in reading these back to myself, I feel really cheesy like my life is a bit like "Leave it to Beaver" or something. I am a pretty private person so even putting stuff like this on my blog is a stretch for me, and I struggle to find a good balance between being nice to my family and being REAL. I sometimes read other people's blogs and almost can't take the fake cheesiness of it all. As if their family never has any problems, their house is never dirty, they never argue.... kind of hard to take.
So I don't know where all of this gets me, except to say that even though I am writing about my family and make it sound as if they are perfect, we are far from it. I just don't want to ruin my relationships by airing ALL our dirty laundry, so I'll work on finding a middle ground somewhere in reality!

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2010-02-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

Are we sure it is winter? Have I moved and just don't remember? What the heck is going on here?!?

Last year at this time:

Today in my flower bed I saw:

I'm not complaining, because shoveling snow really sucks after a while. I'm just a little freaked out is all. Plus, with everything sprouting and starting to bud, I'm pretty sure it is going to freeze hard sometime here in the next while and kill all my plants and trees. And I was so excited that the deer didn't eat them all this year! For now, though, we'll just enjoy our spring-like weather and pretend we live in Hawaii (okay, so it's not THAT warm, but as long as we're pretending...).

I Love....

2010-02-04T09:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I'm a little late, but after reading several friends and cousins blogs, I decided I wanted to blog about things I love for a countdown to Valentine's Day. I'm going to narrow those things to four: Brandon, Ryan, Ethan, and Jake - my four Valentines. ( I can just hear the 'ewww' and the 'gross!' as soon as they read this :)

Valentine's Day isn't even a big deal in our house, but I think it is always a good idea to celebrate the people you love. Plus, there is nothing exciting to look forward to after Christmas for quite some time, so why not get excited over Valentine's Day, even if you have a house full of boys?

Since today is the fourth I think I'll catch up by doing four posts today (one for each day of February...so complicated, I know!).

#1 Brandon

Here he is sharing his new love of biking with the rest of us!

One thing I love about Brandon is his love of learning. When we met I don't think Brandon had ever read a whole book. He read just enough of the curriculum in High School to get through, but had never read anything from cover to cover. NOW, however, I can't get him to stop. Anything he wants to learn about or finds interesting, he reads about. Then he thinks he can do it :) (which I'll admit, scares me at times).

In the past few months we have bought/checked out books on the subjects of: Grandon Canyon hikes, religion, raising beef cattle, raising chickens, and raising pigs (here is that scared moment I mentioned); young adult fiction (The Maze Runner - I highly recommend it); a book about Pirates (which I also read and didn't love), a book about the Iraq War, and SEVERAL (think 10 or more) magazines a month, on subjects such as: running, men's health, money management, outdoors/backpacking, & home improvement (which I enjoy more than he does now:).

Although the schemes created by all this reading scare me, I really do admire that if Brandon wants to learn about something, he reads about it then does it. Now if only I can learn to direct his passion for learning new things and starting new projects..... (heh heh heh)

#2 Ryan

I know he'll kill me for this, but I couldn't help myself. Just looking at him and his buddy make me laugh!

One of the things I love most about Ryan is his sense of humor. Ryan is wittier than both of his parents combined, so that at age 11 he already leaves us laughing uncontrollably and/or wishing we had a better comeback to his good comeback. He is a little more reserved in front of his peers, but when Ryan tells a story you can't help but laugh just at the way he recounts the details!

#3 Ethan

My cute, sweet Ethan! He made this picture and handed it to me one day when he was upset over something trivial, saying, "Now my heart is Broken!"

I love that Ethan is a lover-boy! (But don't tell him this, or he'd think it was gross) He is the sweet one who worries about other people when they are sick or hurt; he gets his feelings hurt easily if someone gets upset with him; and most of all he always tells me he loves me and gives me big hugs and slobbery kisses. Part of me hopes he never grows out of this, even though I know at some point he will have to 'toughen up' a little bit so he doesn't get eaten alive in Middle School!

#4 Jake

He looks so innocent here, not like a kid who is about to say, "Mom! Did you fart?" after HE did it!

I love Jake's large vocabulary and grasp of language. I'm amazed by the stuff he understands and then says to me, especially since he is only 2! Just the other day Brandon and I helped him build a train track and he remarked, "That is FABulous, Dad!" He also pronounced last night's dinner "DE-yish-us!" (After claiming for 5 minutes that he didn't like it, he finally took a bite and changed his mind:) I never quite know what to expect from Jake, and just when I think I know what he is thinking, he proves me wrong (usually in a loud and sometimes embarassing way!).

This concludes my first post of Love Month...stay tuned for more reasons why my family is better than yours! (jk - well, sort of! :)

wardrobe malfunctions

2010-01-26T14:37:00.000-08:00

Jake has a wardrobe much like any other two-year-old. T-shirts and pants, most of them stained.

So a few days ago we were getting ready to eat a messy dinner (lasagna, I think) and I talked him into removing his fairly new and as-yet-unstained shirt while he hate. His only comment?

"I'm too sexy for my shirt!" (sung, not spoken)

Yesterday he got out of the bathtub and refused to get dressed. I left him in his room and figured after a few minutes he'd change his mind. Nope! I went in almost 20 minutes later and he was sitting butt naked on his floor reading library books. I started to have flashbacks to our poop fiasco a few weeks ago and insisted he get dressed (forced clothes on him). So mean, I know!

Then this morning he was eating breakfast in his pj's. I suggested he go change into clothes and get ready for the day. He replied that he wanted to just wear his jammes all day. I asked, "Are your jammes SO cozy?" His reply:

"They're FREAKIN' warm!"

Apparently Jake has some issues with his wardrobe...or maybe Jake just has issues!

yummy stuff

2010-01-14T11:38:00.001-08:00

So...if you know my cooking abilities, you might be skeptical of these two recipes, but I SWEAR they were really yummy! Unlike more enterprising bloggers, I didn't manage to take a picture of either dish, not step-by-step or even the finished product. And now both of them are all gone, (see, I told you they were yummy) I have no pictures to add.
So, here in no particular order, are my two new favorite recipes. Even my kids ate them (well, Ethan didn't like the soup, but Ethan doesn't like anything these days, so...)

Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients:
1-12 oz pkg crab meat
1-8oz. pkg cream cheese
1-2 T. dried parsley
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1 c. parmesan cheese, divided
3 pkgs white mushrooms (or baby portabello), washed with stems removed
1 pkg Stove-top stuffing mix
1/2 c. bread crumbs (I used smashed croutons) for topping
1 can chicken broth
butter
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Chop up about 1/2 the mushroom stems and saute with onions in a few tablespoons of butter. Cook until soft and onions are translucent. In a seperate pan, prepare Stove Top according to package directions. In a large mixing bowl combine: onion/mushroom mix, all but 3/4 cup Stove top mix, cream cheese, crab meat (shredded/chopped small), parsley, and 3/4 c. parmesan cheese. Mix well, then season to taste with salt/pepper/garlic. Stuff the mushroom caps with the mixture and place in a shallow baking pan. Top with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Pour can of chicken broth in bottom of baking pan. Drizzle each mushroom with a little melted butter. Bake for about 20 minutes, until mushrooms are soft and topping is browned.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients:
1 package Wild and Brown Rice (I used Far East brand)
1 quart 1/2 and 1/2
1/4 cup butter plus 2 T.
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 large can of chicken (I used Costco kind) -or- 1-2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 can evaporated milk
about 10 small mushrooms, (1 large handful) chopped very fine
1/2 leek, washed and chopped very fine
1 handful baby carrots, shredded
salt
pepper
parsley

Directions:
In a small pan, cook rice according to package directions. While rice is cooking, saute leeks, mushrooms, and carrots in 1-2 T. butter until soft. Make a rue with flour and butter in a large sauce pan by melting butter and slowly stirring in flour on med-hi heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes, then slowly add chicken broth and 1/2 & 1/2, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to simmer and stir until thickened. Add to rue: sauted vegetables, can of chicken, 1 T. dried parsley flakes, and cooked rice. Slowly stir in evaporated milk until you get a good consistency (rice will continue to soak up some liquid). Season to taste with salt/pepper. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes to combine flavors before serving.

Enjoy!

Tattle Tale

2009-12-31T00:14:00.000-08:00

A conversation with Jake at my cousin Matt's wedding reception tonight:

(After coming over and hopping on my lap) Jake says, "Mom, say, 'What did you do to that little girl?' "
Me: "What little girl?"
Jake: "That one over there in the black dress."
Me: "What DID you do to that little girl?"
Jake: "I kicked her."

I hope he never realizes that by tattliing on himself I know exactly what he should be in trouble for! With all of Jake's difficulties, this is the one area where he is way easy - he always tells the truth about what he did, and he usually comes and tells me before anyone else has even had a chance to! (And yes, I made him apologize to the little girl, who didn't seem at all phased by the whole incident, thank goodness!)

Christmas pictures....lots of Christmas pictures!

2009-12-29T09:23:00.000-08:00

I have decided that I really need to add a new post so the first one you see is not of poop. However, I am not feeling at all creative or witty, so here are our Christmas pictures in no particular order: (And yes, there are a lot. Sorry - too lazy to even put them in collages so as not to take up so much room!)

the kids on christmas eve with new pj's - before and after

this is my favorite shot - the look on their faces as they rounded the corner is priceless!

kensey sneaking more cinnamon rolls - if i was built like that i could get away with it too

our after christmas hike!

a little bit of rock band

racing battery-sucking remote-control cars around the deck

we got to celebrate a birthday too - two parties for the price of one!

hard to believe he was pouting 15 minutes later about "not getting anything I wanted!" isn't it?

ryan's favorite gift - arizona cardinal's gear, picked out by ethan and purchased by grandma and grandpa graham

jake lost in the world of thomas the train. why did we bother buying anything else?

kage was pretty excited about his bow and arrow

jake loved his clone costume, just like his big brother's

the girls calmly examining their loot (it was so fun to have girls around for once!!)

We had tons of fun, ate way too much, slept way too little, and never got to go sledding since there wasn't any snow! All in all a good Christmas, even with no sledding:) We are so glad we got to spend it with our cousins...I think it would've been downright boring without them! We miss them already and hope to see them again soon!!!

Artistry in Poop

2009-12-10T17:23:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-20T23:09:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-20T22:58:00.000-08:00

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?!)
___________________________________________________

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

2009-11-20T22:48:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-11-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

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?"

2009-11-02T10:32:00.000-08:00

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)!

2009-11-02T10:18:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-10T10:26:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-05T20:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-19T18:16:00.001-07:00

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!)

2009-09-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-08-12T11:31:00.000-07:00

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 :)

___________________________________________
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....

2009-08-06T23:26:00.000-07:00

Yeah for summer!

2009-07-31T13:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-10T22:48:00.000-07:00

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.

Happy Independence Day

2009-07-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

Well, we spent our 4th of July with the Herrons and Grandma and Grandpa Graham and had a blast! We went swimming, rafting, more swimming, eating (do you go eating?...you get the idea), we stayed up way too late, and then it was all over way too soon! Didn't get too many pictures of the weekend, but here are a few of the action at the fireworks:

And I just have to ask how this got on my camera? I am wondering, butt or hand? If it is a butt, I sense Russ had something to do with it!

And with that wonderfully patriotic image floating in every one's head, Happy Independence Day everyone!

Marbles

2009-06-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

At the dinner table tonight Jake spilled all over his shirt, so we removed it. Sitting there in his chair, he suddenly looked down and realized there was something on his chest. He said, "Look, Marbles!" as he pointed to his nipples.

Then he asked, "Ryan have marbles?" and Ryan answered, "Yep, everybody has marbles, Jake."

Then Ethan piped up and said, "Mom has really big marbles!"

If the poor boy only knew--some day I'm sure he'll realize that just because they are 'really big' compared to a little boy's, in the grand scheme of things mom's marbles are definitely of the miniature variety.

Here is a video of Jake showing off his newfound body parts. By the time I got out the camera, the boys had been laughing at him and teasing, so he was getting goofier by the moment (a natural show-off:).

The Great Shorts Swap

2009-06-29T22:30:00.000-07:00

What's wrong with this picture?

And here I thought I couldn't go wrong letting them dress themselves in the summer months:) Oh, and in case you are wondering, we do feed Ethan. He is lucky - I think the camera takes away ten pounds instead of adding it like the rest of us have to deal with!

The winners of the losers

2009-06-29T22:12:00.000-07:00

Ryan and friends played in another basketball tournament this past weekend. They had a lot of fun, got dirty, and lost their first two games (in a double elimination tournament!). Luckily for them, there was a consolation bracket they could play in the second day. And what do you know - they won the consolation bracket! They got T-shirts proclaiming their 13th place finish, which is better than nothing!

Two of Ryan's friends had long hair during the first day, and one of the dads bet them that if they didn't win their second game they had to cut it all off. Well, that night they were all at our house and we got out the clippers. They won the next day, so maybe all that extra hair weighing them down was the key - who knows?

Here are a few pictures of all the action:

And a few of the haircuts and the four best buds afterward:

Up next: Soccer Season!!

Braces

2009-06-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well, the orthodontist can now buy himself a new 4-wheeler, or anything else he wants for several thousand dollars. He just cashed our payment for Ryan's braces :) They hurt for a few days, but now he is doing okay. He hates the way they look, but I think they are actually cute on him (as long as he keeps them clean!). Yeah Ryan - only 23 months and 3 weeks to go!

Summer Update

2009-06-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

Well, the kids just got out of school and summer is now in full swing. So much for relaxing - we are busier now than ever! And somehow I have stopped taking pictures of everything. I get someplace and think, "Where is my camera? Why didn't I think to bring it?" But the very next day the same thing happens...so much for my plans to be a professional photographer in the future!

Anywho...In the past four days since they have been out of school, here is what we have done:

Saturday: Ryan played in a 3-on-3 b-ball tournament with his friends (they won two, then lost two - not too bad considering they haven't played as a team before this)

Also Saturday: Lindsay, Ethan, and Jake drove 5 hours to Uncle Jim's house (well, Ethan and Jake rode over with Grandma and Grandpa, but drove back with me). I had fun shopping at IKEA for cabinets for my laundry room, then went to a family BBQ at Jim's. No pictures, but we had a blast. Great food, got to see aunts, uncles, and lots of cousins, and meet some of Jim's friends and neighbors.

The boys got to:

throw rocks in the water at the beach
Jake went for a swim (with all his clothes on, thanks grandpa for pulling him out before he got totally wet)
Jake fell off the hammock onto his head
Ethan played for about 2 hours on Jim's tractor with Adam and Brady
They all chased chickens in Jim's chicken coop
Jake teased Dakota (a golden retreaver) until she finally knocked him down, then snapped at him and made him cry (although I think she was crying inside when he pulled her tail:)
Jake threw a huge rock at Claire and called her a baby (although she is 6 months older than he is, and she told him she is NOT a baby!)
And all they ate was chips and pop!

It really doesn't get much better...especially since they slept the whole way home, and my Grandma rode home with us and kept me awake!

Sunday: They don't call it a day of rest for nothing...after pulling back into town at about 1 am we did church and then had a nap. And since it was Father's Day, we made breakfast for dad (crepes and fruit smoothies) then let him open his presents. He got a hammock (which he has wanted forever) and a guitar case (which actually finally came on Tuesday:) Also, Ethan made him a card and gave him an old birthday card that he re-gifted - very thrifty! We made dad a yummy dinner of grilled Halibut, artichokes and sweet potatoes (random, I know, but some of Brandon's favorites). Then Ryan had a friend over to spend the night so they stayed up late, but not me! After watching a little bit of not-so-good summertime TV, we were off to bed.

Monday: Monday was yard work day. We made Ryan and his friend help weed the garden before they could play. We pulled tons of weeds, planted some new lettuce and carrots, mowed our lawn and grandma's too. By Monday night we were tired and dirty - another early to bed night.

Tuesday: Brandon decided to go rafting Tuesday with some friends. It was just a few hours drive, so he left at about 5 am and said he would be back by dark...Yeah, right! I worked all day Tuesday trying to put together my new cabinets and install them, hoping to be done before Brandon returned. I got one wall done and finally gave up when I was too tired and frustrated to figure out what was wrong with the supports on my new laundry folding table. (I was mixing up one of the short legs with the longer legs - duh!) Well I worked until about 2 am and he still wasn't home, so I went to bed.

Wednesday: The next morning I tried to call (no cell service in that area) and decided I'd give him until noon before I freaked out. I just kept plugging away on the cabinets while the kids played outside. Noon came and I called the state patrol to see if there had been any accidents on that road - no luck (okay, bad phrasing, but no sign of him). Then I called the state department of lands or whatever it was called and asked if there had been any rafting accidents reported on the river...they told me no, but that I should call the Sheriff and report my husband missing. I stewed over that one for a while, and just when I was ready to load the kids in the car and go looking for him, who should drive in? You guessed it - a tired and dirty husband. Brandon had a great time, and did not see why I was concerned that he stayed an extra day:)

Later Wednesday: Ryan got his braces on (which look very cute...again no pictures yet). Right when he got home it was time for his first soccer practice with his new team (long story for those of you who know the soccer saga. The short version is this: He will be playing on a club team next year with his old rec league coach, who is now the assistant for a club team (not the one he originally tried out for). They were missing a player and Ryan was missing a team, and somehow it all worked out!) Needless to say, Ryan was not feeling great after just getting his braces put on and having to wear a mouth guard for the first time. He's got two more years, so I'm sure he'll get used to it!

Even later Wednesday: Went to Panda Express for dinner. Ethan wanted Orange chicken, Jake wanted Purple chicken. He ate noodles. Right after we sat down I spilled a whole cup of water. It was more than I could clean up with napkins, so I went to the girl who was cashiering and she brought out a mop and rag to clean up my mess. When she got there I commented in an apologetic tone about how it was my fault and that I couldn't even blame this one on the kids. Then Ethan pipes up with, "Mom, thank you for not blaming us this time!" The girl just looked at me like I was a total jerk. Thanks, Eth!

Last stop Wednesday: Lowes for a new plunger. Without getting too graphic, I just have to say that our toilets are clogged WAY too often. Every time Ethan poops he clogs a toilet. We have three working toilets and it is not uncommon for two of them to be clogged at the same time on any given day. Earlier on Wed. I had tried to plunge one such clog and the plunger broke. It was not that good to start with, so Brandon bought three different ones at Lowes to hopefully solve our clogging dilema. I think the cashier thought we were crazy. And a quick story about the clogged toilets: Last week after Ethan clogged one and Brandon had plunging duty, he told Ethan that for the rest of the summer he had to go to the bathroom outside. Of course he was kidding, but the next day I saw Ethan out on our deck (which faces the road) and went to see what he was up to. Just as I got to the window I saw him let fly with a stream of pee right between the balausters to the flowers below. When I asked him what he thought he was doing, he replied, "But Dad said I had to go to the bathroom outside, and I really had to go!" I explained that Dad was only teasing, at which Ethan said, "Ooohh!" Poor kid!

Thursday: Today we woke up and Ethan said he was sick. I blew it off thinking he just wanted to get out of chores and watch cartoons instead. Soon I realized the truth when he threw up in the sink while I was brushing my teeth:) Because of this, and because Ryan didn't feel well either and his teeth still hurt, the kids sat around most of the morning watching TV or reading. Jake seemed to be feeling fine, and had his usual day of chaos and whining. Just to prove his point, Ethan later got diarrhea and pooped his pants (kind of, on the way to the bathroom:) Then after dinner Ryan threw up everything he had eaten today.

Meanwhile, Brandon and I managed to get all of the laundry room cabinets put together and get the three big pantry units installed (which I can't do without some extra muscle!). Now I just have the two uppers and two lowers that go next to the pantrys, toe kicks, and crown molding and I'm done (Oh, and I have to put all the stuff away in it's new home!)

Also, we finished staining the one remaining cabinet for our kitchen and Brandon sprayed all of them with lacquer, including doors. Do you know what this means?! It means I could have upper cabinets hanging by next week! (without trim or shelves, but hey - at this point I don't care!) Yeah!!! They look great. I must say he did a good job, even though I was not very patient about waiting for them. I will post pictures of them and the laundry room in a few days when everything is put back together.

Now I'm off to bed. Have to work tomorrow, and I just hope neither Brandon nor I get this stomach bug the boys seem to have. Wouldn't that make a fun day at work! Plus, we need our rest for the excitement coming up for the weekend: a birthday party, another basketball tournament, an early-morning church meeting, work for me on Sunday, work for Brandon out of town on Saturday, then again on Monday, more soccer on Monday, then we get to start cleaning up this pigsty for visitors next weekend!

Yeah for summer BREAK! :)

Summer Buzz Time

2009-06-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

It was time...all that hair had to go.

Needless to say, Ryan was devastated when I started snipping away his curls, but they were really starting to get to be a bit much! And one gross comment - when my mom commented that the new haircut would be so much cooler during B-ball next weekend, Ryan replied, "Now I can't wipe the sweat off my forehead with my hair!" That is an 11-year-old boy for you (and can I just say how nasty that is?!)

Ethan hates haircuts, so luckily all we did was clean up his neck a bit and he was good to go (thanks to the haircut he got a few weeks ago!)

Jake thinks the clippers tickle, so he likes getting his haircut, but he cannot hold still to save his life, so I know I will find a bunch of little fuzzies later. Before his cut he was starting to look like Uncle Fester (the sides would fuzz up and poke and the top would lay flat...not the most attractive look!).

Anyway, they look good and we are now offically ready to kick off summer!

(Oh, and Brandon got a buzz too but I didn't get a picture. He looks very handsome, if I do say so myself!)

My kids are crazy

2009-06-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I try to be a good parent. We do chores, we tell our kids we love them, we help them with homework and feed them 3 meals a day...I'm really not sure where I have gone wrong. They do and say the weirdest stuff! (And I'm sure it has nothing to do with either myself or Brandon's personalities rubbing off on them - after all, we're normal!:)

Don't they look sweet and innocent here? Ha! If you only knew!

Jake:
Jake's latest passion is cleaning up messes. Which, you might think, is a good thing. However, he fails to see the need to clean up messes that are already in place. Instead, he feels compelled to make a new mess that is then ready for him to clean up. In the past few days he has:
1. Peed on the floor (luckily the tile) when I told him directly NOT to. He may not be potty trained, but he does have control. He looked right at me (I was at the other end of the hall with my hands full of something or other) and turned around, AIMED, then let it fly. Then he promptly said, "I clean it up!" in an overly cheerful voice. Well, he did clean it up, but he also got in big trouble. Not enough trouble, apparently, because he was right back to his old self soon after.
2. Later the same morning, he dumped out an entire bag of raisin bran on the pantry floor, then announced he would sweep. How helpful of him!
3. While praying the other night, I was whispering in his hear. I said, "Please help us to be nice." Jake said, "Help us be nice...Eliza." (The poor little girl next door who takes the brunt of his abuse most of the time!)
4. A few weeks ago, Jake was crying in his room after I put him down for a nap, so I went to check on him. He was sitting on the bed holding out his finger, saying, "My finger is nasty!" I looked and, sure enough, it was covered in a brown substance. When I asked him, "Jake, did you stick your finger in your diaper?" he answered, "Yes!"
Then I asked the rhetorical question, "Why would you do that?!" not expecting an answer. But I got one. Jake said, "I want to see if it's rocks!" So, just to clarify, I asked if he stuck his finger in his diaper to see if those lumps he could feel in there were rocks and not poop, and he answered, "Yep!"
Who poops and then thinks rocks are in his pants?! Really, he seems so smart for his age most of the time....

Ethan:
Well, Ethan is the king of saying weird things, and nothing has changed. Just the other day, to his reading teacher (who is a saint, by the way!) he says, "Mrs. W., you look just like a Zebra when you wear that shirt!" She told me this after she confided that her striped shirt was her favorite shirt, but that maybe she would re-think it. I reassured her that coming from Ethan, that was nothing but a compliment!

Also, Ethan has begun telling jokes. The problem is, the only one he knows isThis Joke from 'the Office,' which he doesn't understand. He tells it and laughs because everyone else does. I think he just likes it because it involves slapping someone. Since he only remembers the one joke, he has started making up his own. Here is how one such joke goes:
E: Knock, knock!
M: Who's there?
E: Cow!
M: Cow who?
E: Knock, knock!
M: Who's there?
E: Cow!
M: Cow who?
E: Liquid!!!! (Followed by bursts of laughter, after which he asks, "Was that a funny one, Mom?")

I have tried to explain the basic concept of a joke, but it totally goes over his head. Hopefully at some point he will at least learn a few good stand-bys, in case he ever has to tell a joke in public.

Ryan:
Ryan is cruising into the teenager years soon, and he is going strong. If you don't already know Ryan I can't even explain his weirdness. First of all, he has the healthiest self-esteem I have ever seen in a kid. I'm not sure how to address this, as I don't want to go too far in knocking him down a notch and have him be insecure, etc. My current philosophy is that next year in middle school he will get a little dose of reality from the 'upper classmen' and he may realize that he is not All That All the Time.
Much of this self-confidence seems to stem from his hair. Ryan is a little bit like Sampson, and I don't want to be Delilah, but seriously the kid needs a haircut. He claims the girls like his curls, which may or may not be true, but they are getting out of control. I'm going to be nice and wait until the day after school is out, and then the whole mop is coming off. All it takes is one big chunk out of the middle and he will be forced to let me take the rest off. I realize this may take away his super-strength or girl-attracting powers or whatever, but it has to be done. (If for no other reason than it takes him 5 times as long to wash his hair as it does me to wash mine!)

Also, Ryan is suddenly addicted to board games. One in particular, actually. Settlers of Catan (thanks for that, by the way, grandma!) He wants to play ALL the TIME! It doesn't matter that it is a school morning and he should be getting dressed, eating, etc. We will walk out and he has the board set up and says, "Want to play settlers, Dad?" After school, same thing. I can understand not wanting to do homework, but he won't let it go! And of course, the best time to start any long board game - bedtime! When we tell him it is bedtime and/or a school night, he complains that we NEVER let him do anything fun. He then bugs and complains and says things like, "Why not? Just one quick game! Come on, please?!" until we have to get mad at him and then he stomps off to his room. I must say it is probably the most-used birthday present he has had in years, and I guess at least it is not a video game. (which, since I try so hard to be a good parent, I NEVER let him play either:)

So, any advice? I'm not sure where all the craziness started, but some days I seriously wonder about them. Then I start to question my own sanity, especially when friends and complete strangers alike point out things like, "Boy, you've sure got your hands full, don't you!?"

All I have to say is, thanks for the non-judgemental observation! Just because Ethan and Jake are so loud at the orthodontist's office that the assitant can't hear herself talk, and Ethan is making their plaster mouth-model chew up his Craisins for him, while Jake makes tiger noises louder and louder and shouts at Ethan to, "Let me see it!!" over and over...all while the assistant tries to explain the treatment plan and Ryan is being checked out by the doc. Isn't that perfectly normal behavior for three boys?

As my friend Mary said, Do I really make it look that hard?

Slippin' & Slidin'

2009-05-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I think summer is finally here! The AC is on full blast, and yesterday we broke out the slip and slide. Actually, we made one from a huge roll of painters plastic and a hay bale, plus of course the sprinklers. Ryan tried it with and without a saucer sled, only to find that butts are slipperier than sleds on slip & slides (say that 3 times fast!)

We had a blast, got soaked, a slight sunburn (whoops! forgot sunscreen), and a few 'grass burns' on the legs. Overall, a good day. The next day there was a slight brown spot on the slide area...Brandon might make us stop doing it if we kill the grass...so maybe if we rotate sites along the hill...we'll find a way!
And of course I was too busy sliding and dodging sprinklers to get good pictures...but these will have to do.

Here they are adjusting the sprinklers (looks like Jake needs to adjust his pants)...

Ryan going full speed...

The view from the top...

Timbaland step aside

2009-05-18T23:41:00.000-07:00

Just had an odd flashback from spring break that I thought I'd share:

We were swimming in a hotel pool and there was one other girl in the pool. She was about Ryan's age and swimming alone, while her grandmother (?) was watching through the window from the lobby. Anyway, not to be rude, but the girl had some issues. She was clingy and kept asking us questions and singing top 40 songs loudly (which seemed especially loud in an echoey pool room). We were nice to her and she played with the kids a little bit. While I was in the pool with Jake she swam up to me and splashed me. Before I could even react, she swam away singing, "It's too late to apologize...it's too late..."

If that is not exactly the situation that song was written for, I don't know what is!

I should be...

2009-05-16T23:07:00.000-07:00

Instead of blogging right now, I should be...

emptying the dishwasher

loading the dirty dishes into the dw after I empty the clean ones

unloading / switching laundry loads before the ones in the washer smell moldy and I have to wash them over again

assembling the new can holder I got for my pantry

putting all the stuff back onto the pantry shelf from the floor

cleaning off the kitchen counters (or at least one of them, so that I might have room to make a meal tomorrow)

emailing / calling people about cub scouts &/or primary (but since it's 11 pm, I'm off the hook on that one for tonight!)

cleaning up the playroom and throwing away half of our toys so I don't have to keep picking them up

emptying the bathroom garbage, because I think there is a poopy diaper in there still from earlier

going through Ryan's room while he is at a sleepover and getting rid of half of his JUNK (talk about your packrats!)

hanging the pictures of the boys that have been sitting in frames on my floor for over a MONTH

assembling the patio furniture I bought today

planting the plants in my garden (well, right now they are in my garage and are looking a bit wilty, but hopefully before they die they will get planted in the garden. Then I just have to remember to water them...)

spreading the three bales of hay I bought today onto my garden so I don't have to weed so much (again, thank goodness it's 11 pm, I'm off the hook for the last two!)

reading this month's copy of the Ensign (which I always put off, but then wonder why I did once I get around to reading it!)

flossing

sleeping

I am sure there are many other things I could add to this list, but those are the ones that I originally intended to do today. Instead, I...well, I ran errands; cleaned up after kids; changed a nasty diaper at the park with only one, dried-out baby wipe and spit; fixed lunch; cleaned off my grandma's pool cover (yeah, it's almost swimming season!); ran more errands; fixed dinner; played battleship; read multiple stories; spanked Jake at least three times (not to fear, I don't spank hard enough to leave a mark, but if he dares wiggle while I change his diaper, he gets a swat! I clean up enough poop!); fixed our new phones (twice) so that I could hear over the static; tried unsuccessfully to find a hotel room for Brandon, who never reserves one ahead of time when he is working out of town (and I sure hope the back of the mini-van is comfy for him tonight!)....and the rest is a blur.

I realize this sounds whiney, which is not my intention. I'm just a bit tired, that's all! Just think how tired I'd have been if I HAD managed to get all of that crap on my list done today!! :)

And just to prove how optimistic I'm feeling tonight, here is a lovely photo of my adorable youngest son...

That will make you smile no matter how much you DIDN'T get done today!

Kitchen Cabinet

2009-05-13T11:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't want to go into the long saga of the kitchen cabinets, but I am here to say that it may soon be at an end. Below you can see a photo of the first of several cabinets to go up (minus trim and shelves, but hey-I'll take it!).

I asked Brandon to pose with his masterpiece, but he refused. He said, "No, because I know exactly what you're going to do with that picture. You're going to put in on your little blog and say something about how it only took 2 1/2 years to get one cabinet!" I assured him that I would never post a comment like that, that I just wanted to showcase his superior craftsmanship.;) Still he wouldn't pose, so you get to see the cabinet without its maker.

Finally I don't have to bend over to the very bottom shelf to get a cup to drink from! The other cabinets are on their way...sometime over the next few weeks /months we should have them all finished and up. Yeah!!!!

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T20:31:00.001-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!! Hopefully all of the mothers, grandmothers, and aunts in my life had a good day today. You all deserve to be pampered a little bit!

Mine started out with Ryan making chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Then we had a rather trying day at church, with nice talks and such, but Jake made them all hard to hear, of course. Then we finished it off with a yummy dinner at my aunt and uncle's house (Thanks Tom and Shauna!). My presents this year were fabulous, maybe even better than last year. (Click here if you don't remember my fabulous Mom bust that Ryan made last year:)

This year my kids tried hard all day not to fight, argue, or whine, and I must say they did a really good job! (Okay, not so good from Jake, but since he is only 2 we'll give him a break!) And they both made me a card, which I loved and thought I'd share.

(click on the picture to read the poem in larger print--rather original, I thought! Oh, and by the way, the tech I work with doesn't ever 'cut the cheese', at least not when I'm around thank goodness! He said he couldn't think of anything else?!)

(translation: Mom you are the best mom in the world:)

Sweet kids, huh?

Ethan Sucks at Jedi Mind Tricks

2009-04-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

Well, at least according to him. We celebrated his birthday the other night and he got all Star Wars stuff for his b-day. The thing he wanted most (and got) was a Darth Vader costume. The cheap polyester costume came complete with red light saber (the only color you can have if you are DV) and a little batter-powered pack to make the correct breathing noises. (See photo below for the full effect)

Ethan wore it the whole night, while he played with his Star Wars legos and action figures. At the end of the night Brandon told him it was time to go downstairs to bed. He started to whine and Brandon said, "Ethan, what you really need to do is get good at Jedi Mind tricks so you can say something like, 'Mom, you WILL let me stay up!'"
Ethan looks at me dead serious and says (while waving his hand in a Jedi-sort-of-way), "Mom, you WILL let me stay up longer and play!" to which I replied, "Nice try, Ethan! You'd better work on your Jedi Mind tricks, because it is time for bed."
Ethan started walking downstairs and we hear him start bawling. Brandon tells him to come back up and says, "What's wrong?"
Ethan replies, "I suuuuck at Jedi Mind Tricks!!" The poor kid was crying so hard because he thought he could really do stuff with the force with his Darth Vader costume on. I suppose I haven't helped this little problem by letting him use the 'force' to pour his cereal in the morning, etc., but I didn't know he really thought he could do things with the force. I just figured he knew that I was pouring the milk to be nice, not because he was waving his hand in a pouring motion while 'using the force'. Obviously I still have a few things to learn about motherhood!

Here is a shot of the expertly decorated cake (courtesy of Ryan).

Here we see our favorite Jedi weilding his light saber for the first time.

And here we see him grinning at the dollar bills given to him by Grandma and Papa Miller, who also gave him an origimi-make a paper airplane with money book.

Not pictured: the bag containing 1 tee shirt, a 6-pack of socks, and a new pair of flip-flops. When Ethan reached into the bag and touched the shirt, he said matter-of-factly, "Clothes." and set it aside without even checking the contents. At least he has got his priorities straight!

Also of note is Ethan's response to his birthday wishes. When Grandma and Grandpa Graham called to wish him a happy birthday and asked if he had received their present (a cute card with money in it-$25!) Ethan said, "It was just a card." I had to remind him about the money and give him one of those 'death-is-imminent' looks to make sure he said thank-you. Also, when Aunt Shawnacy called and sang to him his response was, "Well that was weird!" When she asked why it was weird that she sang to him on his birthday he said, "Because we didn't even celebrate it today!"

This all sounds horrible if you don't know Ethan, but you couldn't meet a nicer, more sincere kid anywhere. Probably not a weirder Darth Vader fan, either, but...hey, he is a cutie!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ETHAN! WE LOVE YOU!

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Well, our Easters are all pretty much alike, and this one was no different. We woke up, found candy and eggs, ate way too much of it, got dressed up, went to church, then had a yummy dinner and even more candy! Here are some pictures of the fun!

Ryan got to play Easter Bunny this year, and they next morning he said in a very exaggerated voice, "It looks like the Easter Bunny game ME the longest line of jelly beans!" (Our boys follow a trail of jelly beans to help them find their baskets). Looks like the Easter bunny is getting selfish. He may not know it, but he CAN be replaced if he doesn't watch it!
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And here are the boys looking dapper all dressed up for Easter Sunday. (I wish I would've got a picture of them after church - they looked like they had sat through a hurricane with their Easter candy, not 3 hours of church!)

Sleepy Talk

2009-04-10T07:16:00.000-07:00

This morning when I went into Ethan and Jake's room to wake them up, these are their waking comments (I promise, the first things out of their mouths!):

E: "Darth Vader does turn good, but then when he kills his boss he dies." (Said while he is still laying their stretching awake)

J: "Luke (said 'yuke')! Luke! R2 is broken!"

I don't know if they were both dreaming Star Wars, or if that was just their first waking thought, but either way I thought it was hillarious:)

Spring Break

2009-04-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I really should have spread these out, but I haven't gotten around to catching up the blog for a while. So here, in no particular order is our third post of the day...spring break.
We went to the Olympic Penninsula (In Washington State, for those of you who don't know your geography). Home of a Rain Forest, the Pacific Ocean, lots of rain, the Twilight series (Oh yes, I know there are a few of you who are freaky Twilight fans!) and much, much more!

The kids and I spent a day in Seattle while Brandon had to work. We went to the Space Needle, but none of them wanted to go to the top. Then we went to the Pacific Science Center and had fun until Jake started to throw tantrums. Then we went to the food court area where they had a bunch of those big blow-up bouncy castles and slides set up. We spent the remainder of the day playing on the bouncy toys because that is what the kids wanted to do, and it was just too easy to let them be! (Oh, and my camera ran out of batteries, so not too many pictures from this day, as I'm sure you'll be sad to hear)Fun at the Pacific Science Center

At the end of Day 1 we got to ride this ferry:

from Edmonds Wa to Kingston WA. The kids had a great time on the ferry, and wished we could've stayed for longer.

Day 2: Sequim, WA and hiking to a lighthouse at the end of a 4.5 mile 'spit' of sand (basically a big sandbar that runs way out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca). After about a 1/2 mile on the spit, Ethan and Jake were already whining (it was cold and REALLY windy) so the little boys and I hiked back and hung out watching cartoons at the hotel while Brandon and Ryan finished the hike. They got a few cool pictures at the lighthouse, and by the time they got back to the shore even Ryan was whining. Nothing a little hotel swimming and DQ didn't cure, though!

Day 3: Found a cool hike near Crescent Lake called Marymere Falls. Jake walked almost the whole way (only about 1 1/2 miles round trip) and we had a great time. The end of the day found us in Forks, WA eating at a burger place that sells a "Bella Burger" and staying at a motel that advertises: 'Vampires Welcome'. Since there is basically nothing to do in Forks, Brandon and I rented the movie Twilight. I had read the books and thought the movie was okay, Brandon hadn't read the books and says he won't watch a sequel. So...if you must know Forks is also the logging capital of the northwest, or something like that, and their Coffee Shop (which does look pretty ghetto and germy from the outside) serves really good Breakfast. Oh, and on day 3 we also went to La Push, WA on the shores of the mighty Pacific. It was stormy and cold, but very beautiful in a way. The beaches are littered with huge logs of driftwood, and the beach just north of La Push was covered in black, flat rocks that got smaller the closer to the water you got. The kids each picked one out to take home (hopefully not illegal?)Beach at La Push (and yes, it is called First Beach)
.Hiking to Mereymere Falls
More Hiking and Splashing

Day 4: We decided to drive off the main highway a few miles to the Hoh Rainforest, which was really cool. We had planned to take the Rainforest Trail a few miles with Jake in the backpack and hike all day, but in the end he ended up splashing through puddles in his snow boots and his feet were cold and wet after an hour, so we called it quits! We got some really cool pictures, but by the time we were done and headed further south, both Brandon and I were feeling clausterphobic and sick of green! Green trees, green moss, green ferns, more green trees...you get the picture. I love lush landscapes, but I think the Olympic penninsula is a bit too much for even me!

Day 4 also landed us in Ocean Shores, a cutesy beach community near Gray's Harbor. Very cool place, still very windy and cold though! We ate at a seafood place called Alec's by the Sea (not bad, but not as great as all the reviews claimed) and then went swimming and went to bed.

Day 5: Finally some sun! It was still cold and breezy, but we spent the morning at the beach, building sand castles, looking for sand dollars, and rolling down mini-dunes. Then we packed up and drove east over White Pass in the Cascade Mountains (very beautiful drive) into the Yakima Valley, where we stayed the night. We had a pool to swim in and got to eat at Red Lobster, so life was good. We also played in a local elementary school playground and did a little shopping.

Day 6: We headed home, and have to say after all the sand, rain, wind, it is good to be back! We came home to 65 degrees and Sunny, a perfect Spring if you ask me!

Favorite quotes of the trip:

While hiking to Marymere Falls: Ethan runs up crying because one of his gloves is all wet and muddy. He says, "It's all Ryan's fault. He was being Darth Vader and he was using the force to choke me and made me fall in a puddle!"

In one of many hotel rooms at night: Jake talking for a full hour while we are begging, threatenging, pleading, reminding, etc. to Be Quiet! He kept saying, "Jake be quiet... Jacob not talking... I'm not want a spanking... Jacob going to sleep... I'm no more talking... Sorry Mom... Jacob be quiet........" over and over again. He honestly kept this up for close to an hour every night. One night Ethan kept giggling every time Jake spoke and Brandon threatened to spank him as well as Jake (Brandon's all talk-he never actually spanks them:) and Ethan said, "I can't help it. My lips won't stop laughing!"

Ryan's B-day

2009-04-09T14:36:00.001-07:00

Well, he is now officially OLD (well, at least he thinks he is). 11 years and counting. Ryan did not have a very exciting birthday this year, but he did get to go on a trip (for spring break--see next post), so that should count for a few points for mom and dad, right?

Here he is waiting for the cake (a soccer ball, thanks to Grandma M.). He only got boring presents this year: clothes and shoes. Oh, and he wanted for his present that I not cut his hair for 6 months. I'm still not sure about that one...

Ryan is a terrific older brother and a big help. He is very fun-loving and always ready for a joke or story. He is terribly clever and makes me laugh every day (and he also makes me threaten him every day, but we'll leave that for another post!) Ryan is smart when he applies himself and can be a bit devious (we'll blame that on Brandon). Overall, he is my favorite 11-year-old ever!

Funny Stuff

2009-04-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

So I was just browsing some blogs and other stuff (okay, wasting time) when I came across this photo and quote (they don't go together) on my cousins blog. It made me laugh, so I'm passing along a chuckle to anyone else with a sense of humor like my own!
Recalled Toys...

" An exhaustive study of police records shows that no woman has ever shot her husband while he was doing the dishes." --Earl Wilson (1907-1987)

Very random, I know!

Pinewood Derby

2009-04-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post this last week: The Champion Pinewood Derby Car!

Ryan participated in the pinewood derby for scouts after deciding the night before that he wanted to. He and Brandon constructed a fabulous car in about 5 minutes, and Ryan painted it the afternoon before the race. When we got there, it was under weight and the only thing we had to weight it down was coins. So... the finished product:

It turns out, even last-minute cars with coins on top can be fast, and Ryan ended up winning! I don't think anyone was more surprised than he was! He said something like, "Mom was right. Even the ugliest cars are sometimes the fastest!" So his first and last pinewood derby was a success, and now we have a few years before Ethan gets his big chance.

Here is a shot of the winner with his car and trophy. I wish I would've brought a camera to the race, there were some really cool cars that the boys had made. Most were much more creative than ours!

The Big Day

2009-03-24T11:05:00.001-07:00

Well, the party was not much, but Jake loved his cake, and he loved his presents. Actually, he only loved his BIKE!! and then was not too interested in the other gifts. Eventually he will get excited about them, once bike-fever wears off a little bit!

Here is Ethan, the cake decorater, with his best replica of the Island of Sodor (from Thomas the Train - also a favorite of Jake's).

And here is Jake on the famous bike.

Here he opened the backpack, yelled, "Transformers!" and then when we asked if he wanted to try it on he yelled, "No! Don't want it! Want to ride bike!!" Who can blame him?

After the backpack, he wouldn't even get off the bike to open the rest of the presents. Here is the bowling set from Grandma and Grandpa M., which he did eventually play with and had a great time!

Here is Jake sporting the new T-shirt and cool water shoes from Grandma and Grandpa G. He was excited about these, because we didn't open them until the day after the unveiling of the bike.

Last but not least, a bit of fascinating video for all of you who missed the excitement of the b-day party. It's almost like being there!

Two WHOLE Years!

2009-03-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is that time of year again...birthday time! We are lucky (?) at our house to have them all in a row. Even Jake is in on the excitement this year...he kind of understands that birthdays are good things, and his is next!

Part of me can't believe he is already two, but in a way he seems so much older than that! The things he comes up with, and the way he delivers them...the kid kills me!

Here is a sampling of his comments this past week:

(While sitting at breakfast) "Dad don't have a pants on!" (I guess Brandon had better learn to be a little more modest these days--no more walking through the house half-dressed to look for your clean clothes!)

(At Costco, after dumping out half a container-full of grape tomatoes) "Don't worry, Mom! Jake will eat them!" (Hard for me to stay mad after that:)

"I'm poopy!" (Every time he poops or pees in his diaper - if I could just get him to tell me beforehand, this potty-training thing would go really quick!)

"Ohhhh!" (Wish I had this on video--it is the kind of ohhh that a much older kid would use when told he isn't allowed to do something--the kind that starts on a high note, goes down in the middle, then comes back up in pitch at the end.)

"Sorry Baby!" (Said as he is running toward my cousin's 6-week-old baby with his hand raised to 'pat' her on the head)

"Hi, Dan!" (Said to my dad, aka Papa Miller)

"GOOD JOB!" (Yelled in church during a respectful silence after a nice musical number:)

"Amen!...Amen!...Not Yet?...Amen!" (Also yelled in church last week, during an especially wordy opening prayer.)

And here are a few of my favorite shots of little Jake (I thought it appropriate for the most recent photo to be in his birthday suit just like his earliest photo!)

Last but not least, here, in his own words, is what Jake is most excited about for his birthday:

Happy Birthday, Big Guy!!

Tag...why not?

2009-03-14T23:14:00.000-07:00

It is 11:14 and I SO should be going to bed right now. That was my only New Year's Resolution - to go to bed at a decent hour! Oh well:) Instead, I am doing a tag from Paula's blog. I never do these, don't know why, but I just thought what the heck? So here goes, if you want to do it than by all means you are tagged, and send me a comment or email so I can see your answers too!

"X" marks the things I have done during my lifetime:
(X) Been to Canada
(0) Been to Mexico
(X) Been to Florida
(X) Been to Hawaii
(0) Gone on a blind date
(X) Skipped school
(0) Watched someone die
(X) Been on a plane
(0) Been on a helicopter
(X) Been lost
(O) Been an extra in a film
(0) Been to a TV show taping (Full House, so stay down)
(0) Visited Washington, DC
(0) Traveled by San Francisco trolley
(x) Traveled to Europe
(0) Traveled to Asia
(0) Went to the top of the World Trade Center
(O) Been to Notre Dame (Cathedral)
(0) Been to Jamaica
(X) Swam in the ocean
(X) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Recently colored with crayons
(0) Skipped a final exam
(X) Sang Karaoke
(X) Watched the birth of a child
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only (Sorry Pizza Hut in Omak!! we were only teenagers--thought it was hillarious, what can I say?)
(O) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(X) Made prank phone calls
(O) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(X) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
(X) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(0) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
(x) Gone to the movies in 2009
(O) Been deep sea fishing
(O) Driven across the United States
(O) Been in a hot air balloon
(0) Been sky diving
(x) Gone snowmobiling
(0) Lived in more than one country
(X) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
(X) Seen a falling star and made a wish
(X) Seen the Old Faithful Geyser
(O) Seen the Statue of Liberty
(O) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
(0) Been on a cruise
(X) Traveled by train
(X) Traveled by motorcycle
(X) Been horse back riding
(0) Been to Disneyland, Disney World, and Japan's Disneyland (NONE OF THE ABOVE IN MY 30-SOMETHING YEARS! CRAZY, HUH?)
(X) Been pulled over by a police officer
(O) Gotten a ticket
(X) Truly believe in the power of prayer
(O) Been in a rain forest
(X) Seen whales in the ocean
(0) Been to Niagara Falls
(0) Ridden on an elephant
(0) Swam with dolphins
(x) Been to the Olympics
(O) Sat on a jury
(X) Learned to juggle
(0) Walked on the Great Wall of China
(x) Saw a glacier
(0) Been spinnaker flying
(x) Been water-skiing (nope, tubing once)
(X) Been snow-skiing
(0) Been to Westminster Abbey
(O) Been to the Louvre
(0) Swam in the Mediterranean
(0) Been to a Major League Baseball game
(0) Been to a National Football League game
(0) Been to a Professional Soccer game

Does any of this make me interesting? No, I'm afraid not, but it is a fun list...made me realize a few things I'd like to do (and a few I never care to: skydiving? probably not!)

grahams mansion

watch out pinterest

In business

thrifty me

Like father like son

Bored already

Liar, liar... and getting old quick

My love/hate relationship with summer

testes...testes

Playing catch-up

Science Fair

P-Hoe-Nix

It's a girl! Or 10, to be exact!

a little leprechaun gave it to me!

language, please!

dentist *updated*

species

Sunshine

overheard

hiking by the lake

What's wrong with this picture?

Not to toot my own horn, but...

Hey, he just wants to know.

Enlightening conversations...

Lovin' Fall

Girl's Trip

How do they do it?

How do they do it?

Scary...

Jake's Lump

Shannon & Chris's wedding

math wars

our spring vacation

Thoughts on Satan, and more

Birthdays

Random Sunday Thoughts

chest-moles

Interpretive Dance 101

Rock Band

They never cease to amaze...

missing teeth and leaking eyes

Vacation, Schmacation

I Love Eyelashes

handy little me

Love Post #9

Un-Love

Love Post #7

Love Post #6

Love Post #5

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I Love....

wardrobe malfunctions

yummy stuff

Tattle Tale

Christmas pictures....lots of Christmas pictures!

Artistry in Poop

tidbits

Coveralls and Pumpkin Cake Rolls

Ryan

The budding author

Trick or treat, smell my feet...

"Did you miss me?"

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

While we're on the subject

Potty Head

The Potty Train

Family Pictures

enough testosterone

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

Family get together...

Had to share....

Yeah for summer!

Star Wars Danceoff

My Little Cherry Pickers

Happy Independence Day

Marbles

The Great Shorts Swap

The winners of the losers

Braces

Summer Update

dentist updated