Friday, July 31, 2009

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Recent Pix

Papa and Jack on UB's boat last weekend...
Like riding a bike... Erk "tried" water skiing after a few years and got up the first time.



Umm, the kid is brilliant. Uses a Lincoln Log to hold up his pants in place of a belt :)

(last weekend) - Rock is making eyes at Bean!
Cute kids :)

Mol likes sweet corn, check out her adorable bow Granny got her!

Popsicle

I used to think that mom's who complained about summer with their kids home were terrible.

"Those are your kids," I thought to myself.

What's that saying, the older you get, the wiser? :) Or the older your kids get, the more bored they become, resulting in struggles, finding productive things to do and playing "cannonball" on the recliner while the foot rest is up.

There comes that age where they just don't take naps... They don't always want to do stuff... They complain when we have to run to the post office...

But it's a beautiful day and we should be enjoying it. So why don't I feel like sitting outside and eating a root beer popsicle? I did it yesterday. So did they. We'll find something to do - and lazy days are great - sometimes we all just struggle with some boredom.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Hangin Out


Ooh it's been a while since I've been on here! Busy I guess, odds and ends things going on - like there are 4 balls in the air and just waiting for a few to drop :)

We had the realtor come this morning to check out our house. His words were encouraging! We opted to check with another realtor too to see that the numbers are accurate. So we'll see what comes of it! Still a crappy market, but this price range seems to be the one movin' right now with first time home buyers. Here's to hoping!

I did this page today in my scrapbook program and cracked myself up :) Kinda cute, eh?!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Small Stuff

Molly feeding Rocky and Bean her snack (this was last week, Rocky went back home Sunday)
You boys need to brush!! Like Mikie's jacket? This kid is so FUNNY!

them are some big honkers, Jack!

Now I'm feeling kinda like a jerk for the jerky things I listed below about the kids. Sorry if it came on too strong, PMS was raging along with the things listed, so it made for a few days of NO patience whatsoever! But God is good, He's restored me back to normal Ernie and here's to hoping I won't sweat the small stuff :)

Erk and I went and looked at a house last night. I know, I know, here we go again. Well, we'll just have to see.

I went grocery shopping and ran a few misc errands this morning solo :) The kiddos are with mom and dad today and I must say, that helped my mental state a little too! I just updated some stuff in Quickbooks for our bizz and now hope to maybe digitally scrapbook. Oh wait, first I need to make some calls while the house is quiet. Shawna and I are hoping to have a digital scrapbook retreat in October and wanna host it at a local hotel. FUN or what? More soon!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Do ya ever see that mom in a grocery store yelling at her kids and you think, “aww, that’s not cool,” then you find yourself BEING that mom?

Or wait until you get to the car to unload on the kids for their behavior, only to see the windows are down?

Do ya have time to put makeup on anymore in the morning? I don’t, but Molly finds time – she gets my eye shadow out and rubs it on her chin.

Ever feel like you are in a grocery store and over the intercom you keep hearing, “MOM?” over and over again in a 22 month olds voice? And you think how will I get any groceries with this constant paging? Or when I used to stock shelves at a grocery store, imagine getting paged like that and expected to get your work done?

Like that expression, “never cry over spilled milk?” Whoever came up with that, did they have to clean it up every morning at the breakfast table?

Are you woken up by 7:17am and expected to take on the day with good spirits, smiles and lolly pops?

How many times has your cell phone been dropped on the floor?

Do you sometimes look forward to bedtime so you can have a breather?

Do ya wonder if your laundry grows right outta baskets like ours does?

Does your smoke detector go off while making mac n cheese?

How about your shelf in your fridge, does it come detached and everything shifts right to the front and out the open door?

Ever run outta butter, cereal and milk on the same day, 2 days before grocery shopping is on the to do list?

Put your kids to bed after yelling at them for being complete bung holes at the restaurant, only for your oldest to come downstairs and apologize and as he walks away peeks back around the corner and says “I love you more than a lot, Mom.”

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Happy 5th Birthday Mikie!

Chris being a nut job! :)
me and Mol watching Mikie open presents

the big hit of the evening, a police motorcycle

Mikie opening presents

We had a great time celebrating Picky's, AKA Pickle, Picky Dicky Do, Mikie, birthday last night! We headed to Nanny and Papa's for a cookout and bonfire, then the boys spend the night in the tent out by the lake with Papa. Erk went to work out this morning, then he'll be picking them up. So just me and Mrs. Poopy Pants this morning.
Mikie is so rare (maybe he gets it from Chris?? :), he is one of a kind. We could tell last night when we were headed for home that both boys were pooped. Here's to hoping they slept well in the tent and Papa got some sleep too!?
I'll see about postin' some more pix here for ya :)...


I guess Dad thought my use of paper towel as "tissue" in Mikie's present was a little on the strange side
Mikie's new goggles - how do they work, Mol?

Ali, Zac and Auntie Pat

Mikie looking at the stickers (and moola) he got from Auntie Meg and Tony. Thanks guys!
Mikie's birthday dessert #1: chocolate cookies spelling out his name
Mikie's birthday dessert #2: peanut butter pie (ok, they weren't all for him, we did the dessert portion of the cookout and these 2 sounded good :)

Make a wish!

Goofin'...

hangin' by the fire...
nice mallow Auntie Jane :)

Chris was workin' it
Mikie and Mol in the tent

Friday, July 17, 2009

Happy Birthday Granny!

to Granny

love, Jack, Mikie and Molly

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The Party

during the setup - Mol and Mikie didn't mind chillin with the bucket of water balloons...
We had a great time yesterday - yep, I said we :) Although I'm not really sure what I was thinking that I could tackle all 11 boys on my own. Fortunately my good pal Shawna offered to stick around for a while! The boys were hilarious - at times it was complete chaos, but overall, we will have to do it again next year. Boys... I must say the most relaxing part of the 3 hours they were here (it should be noted that the water balloons, squirt guns, pinata and cake were all done before the first hour was up!) was when the boys were being boys - chasing each other around the garage, doing what they do best. I was able to start throwing away dirty cake plates and strip tableclothes off tables, all while smiling to myself. One of the hugest blessings was that Molly slept the ENTIRE 3 hours! WHEW! She woke up just before the last boy was picked up. Here are a few pix from yesterday...

Jack waited for an hour for his friends to start arriving :)
We ready boys?


That was one crazy pinata! Even though we "filled it" with candy, the boys had knocked the tires off and still no candy came out! It was all hiding in the hood of the monster truck...
what a precious boy J is


Umm, will this pinata ever drop candy??

the clean up crew

BOYS! :)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Task 1: COMPLETE

Task 1: Fill 40 water balloons (only 2 exploded, resulting in a change of clothes (mine)
Task 2: decorate the front porch
Task 3: go get a rope and duct tape at the hardware store to hang the pinata
Task 4: hang the pinata
Task 5: clean up the house a little
Task 6: eat lunch
Task 7: let the fun begin!



Monday, July 13, 2009

BOYS

Get all ticked off at where they sit for breakfast, lunch and dinner… but when they see me pulling their firetruck along with the vacuum cord (by accident) they grin from ear to ear.

Will pummel each other all day long and no real tears come… but when Molly hits them? They act like it hurts so bad.

Will leave their room a disaster until told to pick it up… but refuse to eat off a fork someone else used.

Will dirty, break and tear toys any toy in no time… but a $1 four pack of squirt guns? Gotta be the best thing in the world.

Won’t use a Kleenex or ‘wipe’ all the way… but will happily go pee in the woods.

Will get out every single marker, crayon and colored pencil you own… but will only color for 4 minutes (and leave the mess).

Won’t smile for family pictures… but will give a big grin when they fart.

Insist that their clothes and pajamas match, but will go around all day with food on their face.

These are just a few – when I get GIRLS figured out, I’ll enlighten you on them too…

Sunday, July 12, 2009

And More from Last Night

Operation - remember this game?!


this one turned out pretty cute!

Mikie = nuts
We celebrated with Granny and Grampa and Nanny and Papa last night for the boys' birthdays. We went out to eat, then had cake, presents and ice cream at Granny's. It was a great time :)

Last Night

Not sure the in depth conversation Nanny and Granny are having :) - but check out Mikie and Molly
thanks for helpin us celebrate the boys' bdays!

this is supposed to be a "Hot Wheels" cake, with some imagination... it works!


Friday, July 10, 2009

Some Would Say...

this is a tribute to Michael Jackson. For me? It's how I keep my sanity on a day like today... Look at those moves, baby! :) HA! LOL!

Better Run

Where the beak have I been? Well, I'm here, hanging in there :) We've all been pretty tired this week so it's hard to get up and around and do the "go-go-go" routine. We ran some errands this morning but are now home and ready for some lunch and QT. The boys are so funny - they have the vacuum extension, a fake cell phone, sleeping bags, their little picnic table and camping chairs all set up outside like a fort. They wanted to sleep out there last night! But we said we'd think about it - ie not last night. It seems Mol let herself out of the front door a few minutes ago (I can see her at "the fort") so crapparoni - I guess it's time to childproof handle the storm door! She can reach it now!

Earlier this morning, the boys were pulling Molly on a sled in the driveway. When their bike wouldn't quite pull her, they did it by hand. Then when we got home from errands, they were pulling her on the sled behind the John Deere Gator. BOYS!

Yesterday we went grocery shopping in the morning, took a bike ride on the trail and went to the park. I had an underlying headache all day that I honestly think was a migraine in the works. I saw weird lighting around things (like they were glowing!?) and I was nauseous. Finally took something for it just before Erk got home from work and once he was home, it was a great relief to take it easy. It was almost like an out of body experience - I was so cool (as a cucumber) and calm on the outside in how I handled yogurt spills, being peed on, the huge cricket that still is in our toilet that's clogged, complaining/whining, "MOMMA" 400 times in a row... but on the inside I was like "what am I doing!?!?" So it was weird, but good for the kids sake. And last night Erk and I put the kids to bed and I fulfilled scrapbook orders and ahhhh, what a relief to have my headache disappear finally.

So that's about it from me. I hope you are having a great Friday - ohh I see Mol has the tube of toothpaste and keeps saying "hi... hi Mom, HI." Better run!