I love the Snow

Does anyone else just love the snow. I've been so bummed that it hasn't snowed yet this year. That big storm that was supposed to come through on Saturday was a bust and I was so disappointed. We headed up to bountiful this weekend to "Borrow" some of their snow. We had so much fun!

What a GREAT Aunt! She pushed her up the hill too. That way she got a ride both ways! That's dedication.

It was a good thing he had such a HUGE hat on. He took a wicked header off the tube and it saved his face from snow burn!

My little Eskimo!

I made her at least TRY to walk a little way up the hill. Then I carried her. (she looked so cute I couldn't resist) She outgrew he clothes from last year so she's dressed in Dylan's old stuff. Doesn't she make a cute little boy! : )

Hmmmm she says. I think my hands are getting cold.

Did I mention it was REALLY cold. Only about 20 deg outside. Brrrrr

It's all fun and games until the babies hands get cold! That'll end the fun real quick!

We had so much fun this weekend playing in the snow that naturally when we woke up and saw that it had snowed here. We headed out to play in it. We had a perfect snowy morning. Playing with the kids in the snow. Drinking yummy hot chocolate. Sending out all the Christmas Cards and playing board games. Yep! I sure do love the snow, and perfect snowy, stay at home days!

She's SEVEN!

How did this happen? I swear I blinked and she went from my teeny tiny little baby to this full grown kid, with all the attitude of a teenager to match. This year she decided she wanted to have a girls "late night". Being too young for a real sleepover this was a good compromise. All the girls came in Pj's and we ate pizza, did crafts, painted toe nails and watched movies. Around 9:00 the kids were ready for bed so we started sending them home.

I was a little nervous for this party for some odd reason. Turns out.... I had almost as much fun as Haley. These girls are all so full of personality. I didn't think there was anyone on the planet that could talk as much as she does, but I was wrong. We all laughed over dinner and had fun painting fingernails and toenails. It was really fun.

Some days I feel like I am so unprepared for her to grow up. Being the first child she kind of gets short changed.... they have to suffer while the parents try and figure all this out. I feel like I got a little glimpse of fun girl stuff to come. I am excited. If I can keep the teenage girl attitude out of it I think we will be set!

So happy birthday baby girl. I know you're not a baby anymore but you'll always be my baby. Thanks for adding so much fun to our lives.

Busy time of year!

So I decided this year I wasn't doing all the stuff that makes me crazy. Running around everywhere feeling the need to buy the perfect present for everyone I know. I am only spending time doing things that make the holiday's enjoyable. Thanks to the momumentaly huge black friday shopping trip I am done with the shopping. Now I can spend time with friends and family relaxing.

The perfect example of this was last night me and some of my best girls went out for shopping, food and, fun! These girls are the best. The kind that you can laugh about nothing with. Including being chased out of Target after closing and near midnight. I am so thankful for friends like that!

The only problem with all of this fun was I drank a few too many caffeinated beverages at dinner (which was around 11:00) and then got all wound up like a 5 year from laughing. Then came home and tried to sleep. Not a good combo.

Then to make sure I was really good and tired.....Haley was on the news this morning. Fox 13 filmed at her school so I had to take her there early and wait with her so I could bring her home again. Just in time to leave again with preschool carpool and get them all to school. Whew it was a totally crazy hectic morning but totally worth it! The first grade class sang a couple of songs. She loved it... and I forgot that I got about 1 hour of sleep. I guess it really is the most WonDerFul TiMe of the YeAr!

Where have I been?

When I turned on my computer today I actually blew dust off the top. Seriously! That's just crazy. I did mentinon that I was busy this time of year, but what have I been up to?

Thanksgiving parties at preschool.

One crisis at Haley's school where I got a call because they thought I was supposed to be there for a party but it ended up someone else was supposed to be there. It was a close call!

Shopping.... and more shopping. Black Friday is one of my favorite holiday's!

Planning the next birthday party.

Decorating the house for Christmas

Putting up the tree.

I promise I will post some fun pictures of these events sometime soon.

My little man turns 5

My little man turned 5. I'm not sure how that happened. One minute he's a baby. The next he's 5. Well buddy..... you sure keep us on our toes around here. We never know what's next. Thanks for being your sweet, loving, high spirited self. Our family would never be the same without you! We love you and all your craziness that comes with you. Here's how we celebrated the all important 5th birthday in true Dylan style.

First we woke up and dug into the presents. We've never been a patient bunch around here so of course we would open presents as soon as possible. Dylan was VERY specific in birthday wishes this year. It was not easy to find the exact Lego castle he was desperately wanting (since the whole world seemed to be sold out... of course!) we finally managed to find one and have it shipped. It got here hours before the big day. (Whew!) It was all worth it. To see his little face when he opened it made me forget the hassle.

It took the 4 of us the next two hours (Avery was kind of working against us) to get it put together. He loved it and has been playing with it every minute since.

We had this whole Jedi training themed party planned and all he wanted to do was play with his castle and other birthday presents. Finally we coaxed him out and he had a blast. First we dressed all the kids in some Jedi robes. They looked so CUTE! We trained like true Jedi's. With blow up light sabers.

We saved princess Leia from the "bad guys" by popping all the balloons until we found her picture that has been "locked" in prison (the balloon).

Then they had an obstacle course they had to complete.

Now they were ready for the HUGE light saber fight to prove what they learned. FUN!!! FUN!!! They all had blow up light sabers and passed the training course. Somehow it ended up being all the kids against me. Don't worry I can take em' .....Good times .

Then there was cake, ice cream and presents. What more could you ask for?

Once the cake and presents were done, and the kids were sent home we cleaned up and got ready for the next party. As many of you know the big game was on. We had a little get together to watch and cheer on BYU. Unfortunately all our our cheering didn't help! Oh well. We had a fun day anyway. On to the next party. Let's see we have Thanksgiving (at my house this year!), Haley's birthday, and Christmas. At least I won't be bored right?

The Dreaded Picture Day

Does anyone else dread family picture day? No....? I bet all of you have perfectly behaving, happy, smiling kids. Well, I don't.... so every year I dread getting their pictures taken. They always turn out SOOOOoo cute you would never believe it took an hour and a half of screaming, wiggling kids to get 3 decent pictures. Last year I had my amazing and ever so talented neighbor take my pictures, but I didn't want to take advantage two years in a row.... so we head off to the mall to the standard place of torture. This year did not disappoint. They all cried and wiggled and ran around making WAY too much noise.The only thing different about this year was I was all alone? I always have another adult with me to help wrangle they "little darlings". Today I clearly wasn't thinking when I decided they would be perfect little angles, and therefore could totally handle it by myself. I was wrong. Oh well..... I did get some really cute photos. I am way too lazy to scan them in and show them off since they are already in the frames on the wall. Maybe later! (Plus I'm sure I'd be breaking some sort of copyright law or something) Well, at least I'm done for another whole year. : )

It's all the Same

So the other day Haley comes up to me and says "it's all the same!" Just completely out of the blue. I asked her what she meant. She proceeds to tell me. Everyday....

I get up...

Eat breakfast....

Go to school...

Come home ....

Do Homework...

Eat dinner...

(play a little)....

Go to bed and do it all over again....

She has been doing so much better in school this year. I was somewhat surprised by all of this. She hasn't complained even once about school this year. (Compared to last year.... this is saying a lot) I told her this is what happens when you get older. There are things that you just have to do everyday. Even when they're not fun. I didn't realize that we were in such dire need of something exciting. I guess we better plan something fun and exciting this weekend. After all I would hate for it all to be the Same!

P.S. for all you doubters out there. I really did turn my pumpkins into puree. I have pictures but at the moment I am way too lazy to put them on the computer. It was pretty easy but time consuming. It turned out to be a lot of work for the same exact taste as canned pumpkin. Just in case any of you were wondering. (oh well, I guess I can say I did it!)

Pie Pumpkin.... What's a Pie Pumpkin?

So I had a hard time finding little pumpkins for the party last week ( ones that were small enough for "little hands" When I finally did find them I was WAY excited (the fact that they were 29 cents a lb was even better) So I loaded my cart up with 20 of them and headed to the check stand. It was then that the cashier told me these were "pie pumpkins" not regular pumpkins. (apparently.... these are "special" and cost more! WHATEVER!) I had to have them .... so off I went! Now that the party is over and about 1/3 of the kids forgot there pumpkins I am stuck with all of these extras. Haley has been begging for me to make a pie with her. Okay..... I think I may have made like..... 1 pie in my whole life and that was under close supervision of someone else. I am feeling guilty that I have all of these pumpkins laying around waiting to be turned into a delicious pie, and the only thing holding them back is my complete and total lack of skills. Does anybody out there know how to do this with a real pumpkin. Not just the can stuff? Don't worry I have lots to practice with ...so I might end up with a decent product. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

Happy Halloween.... A couple of Days Late

Well, I was pretty busy around Halloween Time, and then I was recovering for the next couple of days, so I'm a little late putting up my pictures. They were too cute to just "forget" about so here ya go. Happy Belated Halloween. Here's a run down of the troop. Haley was a pirate. This is the first year she wasn't a princess of some sort.(Yea! no princess!) Dylan was Batman.... ever the superhero. Avery was the cutest cow I've ever seen, and loved every minute of it.

This year for Halloween we had a little party for the kids and their friends. They had so much fun. At times I thought I must be crazy for inviting 20 kids over and feeding them sweets and junk food. Luckily the party was short and we weren't around for the sugar crash. (sorry moms)

By far the biggest hit of the party was the bobbing for apples. The kids were a little hesitant at first but then they got into the swing of things and we had some serious competition going on. We painted pumpkins and played the doughnut on a string game (along with a few others)

Then after the party we had Halloween parades and class parties. I helped out with both the kids parties in their classes and watched both parades. Avery was my little buddy through all of this except one party. She did really great. At Dylan's party she fit right in with the preschoolers. She is so ready for it to be her turn.

Then we had the actually trick-or-treating to attend to. I took the kids out with the bike trailer. Haley was on her bike and I thought that Dylan and Avery would both ride in the back, but Dylan was so excited he ran to and from all the houses and told me to quit asking if he wanted a ride.

Avery was so funny. She walked about the first 10 houses doing her "own" trick-or-treating. After that she would just stick her little bucket out of the bike trailer and say "Haley, take me bucket." Haley would the run off with two buckets and bring it back for Avery to inspect. Yep, that's my way of trick-or-treating too! As you can see they were pretty happy campers.

Haleyisms

So the other night we all stayed home and had movie night. We let the kids pick (always a dangerous thing) and we ended up with Underdog. Not exactly an Oscar award winner but the kids liked it so I guess it turned out okay. Avery sat with her little puppy in her lap and talked about the Doggies. Dylan loved the fact that it had something to do with superhero powers, so he was hooked, and well.... Haley just likes anything that isn't a for "little kids". You know, heaven forbid she be considered one. After all she is almost seven, and clearly not a "little kid" (or so I've been told). So at the end of the movie Haley asked so are beagle's called beagles because they are part bird? It took me a minute to figure out where this extremely strange comment came from. Then I couldn't help but laugh. She's always had problems with B's and D's and she thought that a Beagle was like an eagle with a b (for Dog I guess). Naturally this flying superhero dog was part bird, and....well when you think about it, who can argue with that?

Scarecrow Festival 08

So for Michael birthday this year we decided to head over to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. I'm not sure what he was thinking picking this as his birthday activity but I went along with it and off we went. We usually go to Cornbelly's but this year we decided to mix it up a little. I think I like the Cornbelly's better but this was fun too.

First thing... we rode these little pedal cars that looked really fun but turned out to be a little too advanced for our little kids they were too hard to pedal and had to be pushed which made the kids made since they wanted to do it themselves. Every kid that got off that ride told their parents that they didn't like it. So on to the next ride

Luckily our next spot was a HUGE hit! The kids made and decorated their own little rockets and then got to shot them off using this batter powered air compressor "thingy" as many times as they wanted. As you can probably guess we spent A LOT of time here. Dylan was the first up, he was so excited I thought he might "blast off" before his rocket.

Haley was pretty excited to launch her rocket too, however, for whatever reason we didn't get Avery one. This had to be fixed! One look from her while she said "where's mine mommy" and off we went. She was just as excited as Dylan was!

Here is the maiden launch. Look at the wonder on that little face. However, after the rocket launched she would get really mad. I'm not sure if she thought someone took the rocket or she was just mad she had to go and chase it down herself, either way after each time she would get mad and stomp off after the rocket. I just laughed and watched her go.

Next we were off for some rock climbing. This didn't go over very well. Haley and Dylan were excited while they were in line, but once they were about 6 ft off the ground they were considerably less excited! I never thought that heights would be my kids fear! Oh well... at least now we know. These are good things to know for the next climbing wall experience.

Check out this face. Did I mention she didn't like the heights?

Finally we tried out the haunted house and the inflatable stuff. After one time through the haunted house Avery was done! I took her over to the "toddler town" to play while Michael took the "big kids" out for the other stuff.

All in all it was pretty fun. It just seemed like we have more fun at the other carnival thing down there. Oh well.... live and learn . Happy Birthday Michael!

P.S. Michael's birthday wasn't totally a bust! We went out for a night on the town later and had fun so no worries (plus Michael always has a birthday "weekend" so we had many more chances for more daddy appropriate fun. )

Just Hangin' Around

So I feel like I have been not doing my blogging duties lately. We haven't really even been doing that much just kind of hanging around. We did carve pumpkins the other night which is always Huge hit. Dylan wanted me to take this picture of him with a pumpkin for his head. He thinks it's soooooo funny which I'd have to agree with him! This year we did the "funkins" which are the carvable fake pumpkins. Every other year we do these and then we can keep them around as decorations and they don't get rotten and stinky!

I still need to take a picture of all the finished products all-a-glow! : ) I've just been too busy or maybe too lazy. I'm not quite sure. Stayed tuned for an update

Excuse me.... Do you work here?

So I had to go to Walmart today. I usually try to avoid this... I really don't like going there. The lines are long and the service is hostile at best! But today I need a few things that just had to be bought there, and it was 11:30 in the afternoon so I took a risk.

I was ready to check out when the cashier asked me. "Do you work here", not wanting to be rude and make a snide remark I just smiled and said no. She looked me over and said, "oh, well your outfit is our exactly like our uniform." I was wearing a cute pair of cargo pants from AE and just a regular navy blue shirt.

For lack of anything better to say I said "oh, maybe I shouldn't wear this when I come to walmart." She proceeds to tell me "well, I wouldn't be caught dead wearing this if I wasn't working here."

Um..... okay thanks! I guess that I'll take my fashion advice from the workers at walmart with a grain of salt. Gotta love Walmart. : )

Hover or Free Range

So, I was watching this show (that shall remain nameless) they were talking about moms that hover over their kids all the time. They of course have the best intentions of keeping their kids safe and protecting them etc. etc. Some of the stories about these moms were pretty extreme. Then there are the moms that are hands off "free range". They feel that letting the kids figure it out all on their own is better. Supposedly by doing things wrong they figure out how to do it right. They also had their own extreme examples (like letting a 9 year old ride the subway around NYC alone with 20 bucks in his pocket)

This all got me thinking. Which am I? I wish I could say that I am a "free range" kind of a mom. Unfortunately I am not. I try to.... but this is really hard for me. I would love to say I'm a happy medium but I probably more like a 60 - 40 type of situation. I grew up with my parents throwing me out the door and expecting me back at meal times. I walked to school (which yes.... it was a long way! Even up hill both ways) Some of the things I did as a kid I would NEVER EVER..... EVER let my kids do. Maybe it's because the world isn't the same as it used to be, or maybe I just am more aware the dangers.

Here's the question. What do you think, 9 and 10 year old kids by themselves? Yes or NO.
When can you let your older kids baby sit. How far away should they ride there bikes without adult supervision? I know that you can't keep them safe all the time but it's pretty scary to set them loose and hope they come back in one piece. So what are you a Hover mom or a Free Range?

(I'm not the only cautious, and a little too protective mom out there am I?)

How about a smile?

You know how they say that a pictures worth a thousand words? Sometimes I think they are worth more than that, like a million bucks! I love the pictures that make you smile every time you see them. These are just a few from the past week or so that make me smile.

Dylan flying thru the air in his trademark cannon ball tuck! This kid can get some serious distance!

Now he's doing his newest trick. A flip into the pool. If this is what he does at 4 I shudder to think how crazy he'll be when he's a teenager.

Haley jumping into the pool..... This one cracks me up. Only Haley could strike a pose in mid air

See what I mean about striking a pose? That's Haley for ya.

This one is just funny..... I didn't take it. I have no idea who did. It was just on my camera one day. For all I know she took it herself (it wouldn't even surprise me)

Avery calls all animals a cow. Everything! Cats, dogs, bugs! I think she does this just to bug me. But when we were looking at Halloween costumes she kept saying cow. I thought she was talking about the girafee costume in my hand but she was really talking about this little cow costume. We had to have it. Look how excited she is to be a cute little cow for Halloween.

I dare ya to look at Avery toddeling away with her cute fat cow bum and not smile. Seriously, I dare ya!

Check out Haley's headband! It totally looks like a bad 80's flashback. It wasn't even planned. It just slipped down when they were sliding.

I was cleaning the carpets today and this is what I found when Dylan told me proudly to come and see what he did. He then happily proceeds to tell me he "painted" Avery for Halloween. (Doesn't she look great he says?) No buddy..... Great is not the word I had in mind. Plus it wouldn't come off. Avery looks like she has blue eye shadow on because we could only get part of it off.

So this is just a few of the funny moments around here in the last week. As you can see, we've been busy, but at least we were having fun.

Bring on the 30's

I had the BEST birthday ever!!!! If this is what the 30's are like then bring em' on. First my fabulous sister watched all 3 kids so I could got on my annual trip to Park City for shopping and fun. This year we stayed in a AMAZING room at the Hotel Park City. It was sooooo nice. We got extra lucky and got upgraded to a cottage room because they were out of the lower priced rooms we were supposed to stay in. (Score)

This room had a separate master suite, 3 fireplaces, a hot tub on the back patio, multiple flat screen TV. It was by far the nicest hotel room I've ever stayed in. I think I could really get used to that kind of treatment. If I could only get someone to come and clean my house and leave little chocolates on my pillow at home every time I leave. Then I would be really set.

Then my amazing and fabulous friend planned a whole day of fun activities for us to go do yesterday. She secretly got a hold of Michael and arranged for him to take a day off work and hang with the kids. Then we spent the day shopping at all the little boutique shops around here (the kind that you can't bring kids into because they would break EVERYTHING.) We did lunch and shopped some more. Then we all went and got pedicures and sparkle toes! And to top it all off her girls babysat so the grownups could go out to dinner too!

You would think that I was WAY beyond spoiled enough but Nooooo...... my dad had rented a condo in Park City for his anniversary and couldn't use the whole week, so he called and asked if the fam would like to come up and stay for a mini vacation. So today we are headed back up to Park City. This time we'll do all the kids stuff, like swimming and Alpine slides and such!

Seriously..... if that isn't the best birthday week of celebrations ever, then I don't know what is!

(P.S. I was having so much fun I forgot to take pictures the whole time. So sorry no pictures of the awesome room, fun pedicures or anything! Maybe next time)

Tag Time Again

I haven't had much going on lately or to blog about. So I thought that I would play along with this tag.

I am a mom first. I know that sometimes I should put other things and people before my kids but I usually don't. This includes myself. Sometimes it's a good thing to be selfish.
I miss my mom a lot! It's been 11 years and I would really just love to sit down and have an adult conversation with her about kids, husbands, marriage, recipes, potty training you name it. Never take the small things for granted. One day you may really really regret not having something that seems so insignificant now.
I think I am a big kid at heart. I really wish that I could go back to being a kid. When you're little you want to grow up so fast. Now that I am I realize just how much fun it is to be a kid. I am constantly telling my kids to enjoy it while they can.
I know my husband loves me. We have been best friends from the second we met. Seriously.... how lucky am I. We love each other but we also really really like each other too, like staying up WAY too late talking, laughing, just to hang out with each other.
I want to be a better person. I spend a lot of time thinking how could I do this or that better.
I have a lot of little quirks and pet peeves. (way too many to list)
I search for bargains all the time. I love a good bargain. It makes getting whatever it is that you're buying Sooooo much better when you get a great deal!
I wish there were more than one of me. I always feel like there are so many things I wish I could do. I wish that I had more than one of me that could help with that. That way my house would be clean, each of my kids would get one on one time and I might even get time for myself and to spend with my hubby.
I hate mean people. I really do. People that are rude for no reason. I mean really... didn't your momma teach you how to play nice with others?
I am scared of Fred. (Long Story) short version: I wake up all the time with a very real impression in my head of a man standing in my bedroom right next to my bed. My poor husband was not getting any sleep because I would jump onto his side of the bed every single night. So we named him (Fred) and told him he wasn't welcome and to GO AWAY! He's only been back once in the last few months. (I know weird huh! You already knew I was crazy... no big surprise there)
I fear someone breaking into my house. (This may explain Fred)
I always have candy in my house! I am totally an addict. If you ever need a sugar fix I gotcha covered!
I love fall time, when it's cold outside and the house is warm. Yummy food cooking, with the house full of great smells.
I feel unqualified as a parent sometimes. I wish that I knew more about what I was doing. I just hope that my kids aren't too screwed up.
I hear Jay Leno on the TV. I guess it's about time for me to go to bed.
I smell drywall mud. My basement is almost done and the weird smell of Sheetrock dust drywall mud has been stinking up my house all week. Ugg... almost done
I wonder what my kids will be like when they are older. I hope that they will be good upstanding adult, and my best friends.
I care if my kids are being nice or not. I really REALLY do. I try so hard to teach them to be nice to others, respectful of adults, and kind to their family. Sometimes I wonder if any of it is sinking in but at least I'm trying!
I regret not being nicer as a kid and young adult. There were A LOT of opportunities for me to be kinder to someone very special to me. As a kid I didn't understand how important that really was. I there were one thing in my life I could go back and change it would be this.
I am not one to show a lot of emotion. I guess it makes me feel too venerable. Growing up tears=weakness in my brain. I guess that this carried over into adulthood.
I believe in the gospel. I am not one to say this a lot, but I really do. It is not something that ever has come into question for me. I just believe it.... I feel it's truth way down in the core. I am truly thankful for this.
I sing not very well. I will sing along with the radio but not if anyone is around to hear me. Believe me you should all thank me for this!
I write nothing. I am not good at any of this! I never write letters. I rarely write thank you notes. I am really terrible, I should work on this.
I win nothing. I never win the contest or drawing. My husband on the other hand wins stuff a lot. He's always bringing stuff home that he "won" I guess that makes me a winner by default.
I have to hug and kiss my kids every day. It is a must.... when I'm gone from them for more than a couple of hours I go into with drawls.... Good thing school isn't any longer than it is.... I might be in trouble.
I lose. my temper way more than I should. I like to think that this comes from my red-headed short tempered father. Truth is- it's no body's fault but mine. I should be more in control of my emotions.
I never go to bed without putting lotion on my feet. I am so weird. I don't know where this strange habit came from but I CANNOT sleep without putting on lotion. When I'm old and wrinkly I'll have the best looking feet on the block.
I listen to music ALL THE TIME. The radio is almost always on at my house.
I can usually be found with a couple of kiddos in tow. We are kind of a package deal... sometimes this is a very bad deal.... but those are the breaks people, take it or leave it.
I read whenever I can. I tend to ignore all the other responsibilities in life while reading so this can be a problem sometimes.
I am happy most when I'm with my family. I'm one lucky girl

Most of you have already been tagged. So this is for my girls! All the sisters. Let's here it, and NO copying my answers you big cheaters :)

Dilemmas, Dilemmas

So all of you know that I like to do freezer meals. They make my life so..... much easier. I hate it when I don't have them. The problem is that I am running out of ideas to try. I don't know how well something will freeze until I try it. And if it doesn't.... then I am in trouble for dinner that night. For this reason I stick to my tried and true recipes. These are rapidly becoming very "tired." I saw a freezer meal class offered at thanksgiving point full of ideas and new recipes. I totally want to go to it! The problem is that it's on my b-day. How lame would I be if I went to a class to learn how to cook freezer meals on my birthday? Pretty lame right? What a dilemma. On the other had I am going out of town for my traditional birthday weekend before my birthday. We got what I hope is a really cool room and a new hotel we wanted to try. So it should be a good time. But I still don't know what to do. What do you think, and would any of you all be interested in going with me? (we could get cake afterwards. It is my birthday after all)

P.S. on a side note I solved my carpet problem. Thanks to my sister and a very helpful neighbor. Companies that come to your house! Yep... that's the ticket, now I am all set! Yeah for new carpet :)

Had a Bad Day

I know you all know the song that goes with this title. But I am way too lazy and exhausted to figure out how to put it on the blog.
Picture Haley singng it for you. See that's better!
So I did a stupid thing today. I took 2 kids with me carpet shopping all morning.
This is EXTRA stupid because 1 of these children were supposed to be in preschool and the other my sister told me she would take for the morning.
Child #1 threw a huge fit about going with the carpool to preschool.
He HATES it! I am not sure why. I begged and bribed and threatened. He told me he would rather be grounded from video games all weekend then go with them (okay... I can do that any other requests?)
Any of you that know Dylan are gasping right now.
I was planning on finishing getting ready to go after he left for preschool, so I wasn't ready to take him.
By the time I was ready. He was WAY too late to go and I now didn't have enough time to go all the places I need to go and be back in time to get him. So he came with me.
Then I figured since I already had one I might as well just take the other one too (BIG Mistake)
By the time I was done at the 4th carpet store I was ready to KILL myself ( I am learning to control my emotions notice that I didn't say I was ready to kill them, that came later! :)
So then I stopped to get the dry cleaning and it wasn't ready. Even though they said it would be. Grrrrrrr stupid people! Back in the car now for more torture of mommy!
Then I am not sure why but I decided to go to smith's to try and hit the case lot sale before all the stuff I wanted was gone.
TOO LATE. Most of it was gone anyway.
Dylan is throwing a FULL on fit at this point.
He is grounded for longer than I would like to think about at this point.
This totally sucks for me because grounded kids whine and cry and I have to put up with then, or I cave and un-ground them and I end up looking like a totally wimpy pushover. GRRRRR.
Finally we leave the grocery store and head home.
The carpet shopping was a bust, in fact I am more behind than yesterday because everyone told me the carpet we did like was crappy and wouldn't last very long. Why didn't they tell me this yesterday!
I didn't get my errands done.
I didn't get the stuff I wanted from the case-lot sale.
Dylan is whining at me and has to stay grounded! (YES!!!! he really was that bad today)
Oh yeah- and Michael is gone tonight for a scout camp out so I'm on my own to battle the little red haired demon aka Dylan.

Well I feel a little better now. Venting does wonders some times.
Or maybe it was the hour long nap I took after I locked the kids in their rooms.
Sorry to all of you who had to listen to me ranting. My next post will be happier I promise

Weekend at the Cabin

We had a good time at the cabin. The kids always love to hang with the cousins. We like to stay around 2 days, any longer than that and everyone starts to get on each others nerves and the kids start to fight. So... in our 2 days together we had a lot to fit in.

First up.... rides on the new tire swing that looks like a horse. Gotta love a good horsie ride

Then of course it's off to the 4-wheelers. The kids L O V E to ride (usually that's about all they want to do) We were a little short handed on adults so we had more than the "legal" limit of kids on each 4 wheeler! Shhhh.... Don't tell.

Of course the little one didn't want to be left behind. Luckily, she's cute and all she needs to do is say please, and she's in. Grandpa was putty in her capable hands!

Then all the kids went fishing. The lake is EXTREMELY low and everything is muddy. Dylan being the kind of kid he is..... wasn't listening and fell in the mud. He was pretty mad!

While I was trying to clean him off in the lake I got myself pretty stuck too. My flip flops were completely lost and needed to be fished out. So we finally got Dylan out fishing on the boat too but that left one muddy mommy and a 2 year old. I am sure that all of you see where this is going. If you can't beat em' join em'.... right?

We made this slide out of the mud and slid straight into the lake. I know most of you are thinking how GROSS! I however (being a totally rat child at heart) loved it! So did my baby. She talked about this all the way home and throughout the night.

My nephew loved it too! Being a 4 year old boy. He was ready from the "get go." His mom however was a little less thrilled with all of the fun in the mud. She apparently is not quite the gutter rat that I am!

Too much fun sometimes takes it's toll. My baby crashed for about 12 hours.

NICE!