Told you so!

Yesterday I mentioned how Kaitlyn and Carson are always bothering each other.

If he crowds her, she pushes back on him and screams.

If he does anything to her, she throws herself to the floor in tears.


Wanna see what I mean?

This morning, Kaitlyn wanted something to eat.

Carson shows up and says, "Don't touch!"

Of course that's not enough, he has to close the door too.
Kaitlyn drops to the floor and puts all her energy into letting Carson know he just shattered her world.
She recovered moments later only to have Carson put his hand next to her.
Aaaaannd, we're back to crying.

Carson walked away. All better!
Carson dropped to the floor and crawled over while laughing..
In which Kaitlyn crawled onto my lap.

And Carson's foot showed up on Kaitlyn's. Gee, imagine that.
At which point Carson is histarically laughing and gets the hiccups.

After every time he hiccuped he opened his mouth like this:
..and yelled, "Mom, I'm choking!!"

You're welcome for not including Audio footage.

And in case you were wondering, Drew put the kids to bed last night while I was at the store.

Now you know what the kids wore yesterday.

Two weeks or so.

I'm behind in blogging. Shocker, right?? Me? Yeah, I know.

I always feel like I should be doing more during the summer. Doing daily activities.. making lots of plans.. but really, it just doesn't happen. Although we've actually been much busier than I expected. I'm proud that we've been out and about as much as we have and I haven't even lost any of the kids yet! Here's a run down of the past two weeks or so.

My kids are busy teasing each other..

Carson and Kaitlyn are busy from one activity to the next every 2 seconds. And by the way, if Carson crowds her, she screams and pushes him away. If he takes something from her, she screams and melts to the ground. When did she get so fiesty????

It finally stopped raining so Drew could stain the deck. You can't really tell but that's a dual rainbow in the background. He likes rainbows and isn't afraid to embrace them or in this case, pose with them.I helped with the first coat (we used brush and rollers) and he did the second coat this week w/ a sprayer to get the slats. The picture above is pre-stained.. I'll take one once we get the furniture back up there. Sure is HUGE with nothing on it though!!

We've been painting fools. I love painting. Drew won't admit it but I think he likes it too. Pretty sure it's because we get to talk for hours while we paint. Who wouldn't want to talk to me for hours on end??? Exactly!!!

Wall into the hallway..
We also painted two walls in the kitchen. (the wall to the left and then the wall to the left of that wall, obviously not pictured. lol)

By the time we reached the bedroom he had nothing left to talk about (so he claims) so I did almost all of it myself. I love it!!
Bought a new bike for Carson.. the neighbor kids always take the other ones and I've given up on rounding them up. Plus they lost the seats. This is why I don't have nice things.

Although apparently I'm not doing much service to myself. I was oh-so-confident in my abilities to put it together. Until Carson started crying and I found out why. Such details...

You know.. things like the front wheel falling off...
My bad.

What else.. Oh, my Birthday!! I heart birthdays.

I had a few friends over on Saturday night and we were all squished inside because of the rain. The loud volume that the children created was simply amazing. And I thought my kids alone were loud. WOW!

I ended up buying Cafe Rio for everyone and pizza for the kids. Figured it would be cheaper than my going to the store and buying food for dinner plus snacks. I always over spend on those things. I just don't want people to be hungry! I t was super yummy though and we had a great time.

For dessert we had Carrot Cake (w/ cream cheese frosting) and the kids had cupcakes.

I ordered the cake from Costco and sked for 'happy birthday, becky" in pink and brown. Birthday theme.

I was so excited to see the cake when I picked it up... imagine my surprise when this is what I saw:

Way to really hit it out of the ballpark, Costco Bakery!!

And don't you love Marci's placement of candles? I bet she puts it on her resume. Birthday Cake Candle Placer Extraordinaire. She's just that good.

I totally forgot about taking pictures that night.. So Drew was the photographer of the evening. (for about two minutes) Hopefully I don't ever forget again.

Have you ever wondered what I look like when I'm inhaling enough air to blow out five candles??

Me either, but now you we both know!

Happy Birthday to me. I don't look 29, right???? :-D

And here's Danno's back. Marci's just beyond his shoulder laughing at something w/ Misty, Darin and their daughter Karly.
Drew has such an eye for photography.

His brother, Lock, is moving in a few weeks to California for a few years. Without Drew's good eye, I'd have to go YEARS without a memory of Lock's back. Thanks for really putting yourself out there to get the shot, Drew. I heart you!!
Sunday, we had a relaxing day where I ate Cafe Rio leftovers, more carrot cake and then dinner at my Mom's.

I recived so many nice thoughtful gifts. I didn't want any but what do you do. :o) I love them all!

Thought for the last picture, I'd share what my cute sister-in-law Brandy gave me. Well, or what was left of it after my four kids attacked it. A huge loaf of fresh zucchini bread! Even HAYDEN ate it. He told me I HAD to learn how to make it, it was the best food he's ever had. After I saw what was left, not even 24 hours after it was given to me, I believed him.
Yesterday was fun too. After planning for awhile to go with my friend Angel to the summer movies, we enjoyed the very odd Space Chips together.

The highlight being when we got there and Carson announcing that he left his shoes at home. I looked awesome as I carried him and Kait into the theater. But not as awesome as when I was walking up the stairs to my seat and I tripped and fell.

The kids liked the movie though (or maybe it was the massive bucket of popcorn I bought). And after, I met my mom and sister for lunch. Always fun to see them during the week!

Good Morning, Kaitlyn

This morning, I had the pleasure of being awoken (is that the right word to use?) at 8:09 by a loud knock at the door. As I silently cursed what was probably the neighbor kids, the loud knocking happened AGAIN! I walked down the hall and looked out the front window to see if I could figure out who the offender was so I could lecture them later in the day. Ok, I couldn't actually SEE since my contacts were not in.. but I was able to make out that there was an adult male walking away from my house carrying a bag. A salesman. A salesman!! What in the world! Who does that at 8:09 in the morning? AND, I have a No soliciting sign. grrrr

I glared as I walked back to my warm, comfortable bed and then I heard Kaitlyn. I was torn between being upset (because she was awake meaning there was no way I was going back to sleep) and happy (because she sounded so cute and in a good mood).

It's not very often I get to spend time with just Kaitlyn before the other kids wake up so I went and put my contacts in and grabbed the camera.

Welcome to the first twenty minutes of my morning:

(yes, this blog contains MANY pictures- this IS your warning)

Morning, cute baby!!

Looking out of her window
(I admit that I looked and hoped I would see the salesman so I could give him the stink eye)

Good morning hugs to her special doggy.

She loves her doggy.

After a quick diaper change and getting dressed for the day, it's time to start playing!

She's finally big enough to sit on the seats but it still takes some effort. She almost made it on!
Moving on into her little house, we play peek-a-boo through the window.
She likes to say, "Hi-yah!"

Giving the other seat a try.. she puts so much effort into backing up onto it. I love the look on her face when she actually makes it on.

Playing with Annie from Little Einsteins (we call it Pat-Pat thanks to Carson)
Moving on, we check out the books.

Showing her baby the book.. who doesn't love a super blurry picture!
One of Kait's favorite things is busting through the door and again yelling, "Hi-yah".
She looks like this Every. Single. Time. I love it!

Look who woke up and joined us! Morning, Carson! Love the hair!

Um, where did his pajamas go? Anyone??
Moving over to the last chair, Kait has a seat.

Carson pulled the table over so that he and his little plastic frog could join Kaitlyn for a little Happy Birthday practice. You know it's almost my birthday, right?

Don't you love Kait's open mouth dancing thing she does to this song? Soo funny...


Sad, Kait took the cake away from Carson again.

And she's falling off her chair.

Yeah, I'm kind of thinking that she knows it bugs Carson and she did it on purpose. Nice.

And at that, we retreated to the kitchen for breakfast.

Reason #27 & 28

I'm sure you all celebrated with me this past May when I won the Mother of the Year award. I'm still so proud!!

Because I like to win, I figured I might as well keep track of reasons why I deserve next year's award by picture documentation. If a single picture can be worth a thousand words, I'll totally have a huge novel's worth! I'll HAVE to win, right??

Reason #27:

Carson is not aware that he can open the front door. It's more difficult to open than the other doors in our house but I'm quite certain that if he really tried, he could do it.

However, I will not allow him to try. And I swear to you, if you are ever at my home and show him that he can, we will have WORDS! Which I mean in the kindest way possible. Sort of.

That child must be contained or I'll spend 17 hours a day running around trying to figure out where he ran off to. And then chasing him back home. While this may be helpful for my weigh loss, it definitely won't work for my sanity.

Carson is smart enough to figure out that he has options though. I let him into the backyard whenever he wants because it's entirely fenced. I have caught him trying to climb our fence in Spiderman fashion but with his short little legs, nothing much came of that. I really felt there is no way for him to escape. In fact, Drew even fashioned the gate so you have to pull or push in this lever to be able to get in and out.. none of the easy peasy pushing it open stuff. The older children have been lectured endless times about making sure it's closed. In addition, we keep it locked most of the time because the neighbor children enjoy randomly jumping and possibly getting hurt on our new trampoline. You know how I feel about my nice things...

What I hadn't planned on was DREW not closing the gate after he had mowed the lawn, therefor allowing Carson the most simple and direct method available .

Carson had been in the backyard for at least fifteen minutes when I heard him yelling for me that he wanted to come in. Imagine my surprise when I realized he was yelling to me through the window from the FRONT porch.

And then, I noticed what he was wearing!!



*sigh*

And that's reason #27.

Reason #28: is my attempt at being fun.

My nine year old likes to remind me way too frequently that I'm not very fun. I make her pick up her room. Help clean up. Grab a diaper and wipes for Kaitlyn so I can change her. Eat dinner at the table with the rest of us. I won't let her do whatever she wants to do.. blah, blah, blah. Which again, I mean in the nicest way possible.

Because today is her last day of third grade, I offered to put blue streaks in her hair.

She told me this definitley qualifies as fun.



Should you ever feel the need to be fun, it can be found at Sally's Beauty Supply for around $6.

Life goes on.

It's been 10 years since my brother, Steven, passed away. Sometimes I miss him so much and the pain of losing him hurts so badly that it feels like it just happened. Other times I'm grateful for time going by because it becomes easier to move forward.

I'm so sad for what we haven't been able to enjoy together. He would have only lived about ten minutes away from me. I know we would have had enjoyed many bbq's together (although him and Drew would have had to fight for grilling rights).. silly times played Rock Band.. our kids playing together.. laughing and joking..

After high school, I moved out of the house just days later and lived with my brother for six months so I could watch his daughter while he and his wife worked. Steve was such a dreamer. He always had an endless amount of new and creative business ideas. I loved sitting down and listening to his latest and greatest- even the impractical ones. When Drew and I had eaten dinner at his house the week before he died, we laughed about what life would be like when Steve was insanely rich and was able to build a cabin where my entire family could go and hang out. It always went back to his family.. it's what mattered most.

Aubrey reminds me of Steve in how she can be quite the entrepreneur. She comes up with ways to make a little money.. and it works! She once made $2 by letting people buy one Pringle at a time from her opened canister. The story she likes is when Steve set up a store in our basement (which had a small kitchen in it). He had snacks, drinks and even our little air hockey table going. He had my sister's little tent set up where his friend Chris would paint the girls fingernails. Of course he also happened to sell me a bag of old peanuts he found in a cupboard which made me very, very sick.

Hayden, who is so kind to others, likes hearing about the time when we were at my grandma's (my brother John was in the hospital) and for a special treat, my grandma cooked a frozen pizza for dinner. Back then, there was a plastic sheet placed on top to help keep all the toppings on... well apparently my grandma had not noticed that and baked the pizza with it on.

I remember Steve giving me a look that said it all... we had to eat it or Grandma would never do this again for us. John was in the hospital a lot so this was a big deal! Amy was to horrified to even consider eating it but she was young enough to get away with that.. I think all she ever ate was PB & Honey sandwiches, anyway. But Steve and I.. we ate it. Two slices, each. No crust.

Carson just simply reminds me of my brother. They look a lot a like with their oh-so-blonde hair. And from a few stories I've heard, they might be a little alike in other ways. ;o)

Kaitlyn just reminds me of seeing how much he loved his daughter. He was so in love with that little girl! He really enjoyed being a dad.

And he put so much effort into making his wife happy. From projects for the house (I spent countless hours outside helping him put in the sprinkling system for their new house) to just taking care of her needs. After I had been at his house for about two months, he told me that she was having a hard time with working because she was missing out on her daughter's "firsts". He asked that if I saw his daughter crawl first to not say anything... so when I saw her crawl for the first time, I let him know but never mentioned it again. I still remember his wife jumping up and down, literally, with excitement that she was able to see that. It was just what she needed. So sweet of him.

Later today I'll spend time with my kids talking about more memories and watching them play and laugh, as life goes on...

Memorial Day, 2009

Art Night.

Last Wednesday (or was it Thursday?) was the annual Art Night at the school.

As we walked back to the school in the heat (remember how hot it was??) it took much longer than it should have. Hayden had two melt downs about his legs not working, that he was starving and he was so thirsty he was about to die. He may or may not have inherited his intolerance for the heat from me.

After tremendous encouragement on my part, we finally arrived. I found four seats together but more importantly, I found a friend to sit by so she could help me block Carson in. She was even kind enough to take Hayden to get a drink. Three times.

Art night involves sitting in a very hot gymnasium, with very minimal air circulation, while each school grade takes turns singing songs. For ninety minutes. That's thirty minutes longer than it should have taken. Not that I was counting. We almost melted.

Luckily, just before Aubrey's turn (well, her grade) Lock and Marci showed up so the kids had someone else to whine to, I mean love. Whew! When that got old, my children played with hot wheels and consumed massive amounts of snacks that I had shoveled into my purse prior to leaving the house. Chewing generally means not yelling or talking loudly which is what I had aimed for. Overall, I was pleased with the results.



Aubrey did a great job singing and I was very happy when it was over (not Aubrey, the performances). Yay for fresh air! As we left the gym, I glanced behind me and was slightly embarrassed that we had managed to mark our territory in Gerber fruit snacks and Nilla Wafers. How had I missed those when I cleaned up? Oops.

But wait, there's more. (I hope you just used your infomercial voice!)

Time for the Art stroll!

Luckily, Hayden's preschool art was right outside the doors so we smooshed against the wall to avoid being trampled. We still managed to find his two items and Hade happily obliged with my mandatory "pose by your item while I take oodles of pictures".

Hayden's is the red dinosaur by his hand (created with colored sand and glue)

His next project was pictures of flowers using 'oil chalk' (that's what he called it). If you could kindly scroll up and look at the top two rows of flower pictures, it would help my bragging abilities.

Hayden's is to the right of his head with the red tulip.

He's such a good artist! He loves to draw and does such a great job. Yay, Hade!!

After telling Carson to stop touching the sand art for the 87th time, we shuffled through the hall in cattle fashion towards the Third Grade hallway. Of course making a quick stop so Hayden could say, "Hiiiiii, Miss Katie!" (the art teacher).

Aubrey burst out of the room she had been held captive in as soon as she saw us. Although it couldn't have been that bad since the boy she dressed up for was in there. It was probably Carson's loud voice that helped with her knowing we would be there shortly.

Here's Aubrey's first piece of art. It's two paper plates put together with beans inside. Just what mom's love.. noisy art. Great. Thanks for that, Miss Katie.


Next up was a picture where Aubrey had to write a short paragraph and illustrate it.

(hers is in the middle)

And then my little over-achiever showed me the TWO other ones that she did! (I do have pics but this is a little lengthy already- email me if you want to see them ;o) If only I could get her to put that much effort into cleaning her room...

Yay, Drew finally made it over! He said he wasn't able to leave early from work but I can't help but wonder if really he just wanted to avoid the delightful ninety minutes (not that I counted) of singing. I'm sure that wasn't it, right Drew? Right???

Here's Aubrey's 3-D art. Each one had cute little individual items standing up (like bushes, trees, etc.) so you really got the full effect.


This is Carson waiting for me or Marci to turn around so he could touch those cute little individual items. Thank goodness for Marci's help! She really did have it easy though- only had to tell Carson less than say, 150 times, to not touch.

And lastly, here is Aubrey's life-size art. So cute!!

Look again.. she's doing her best Hannah Montana pose!!!! hehehe Love It!!!

(I think the poor girl next to Aubrey's has elephantitis in her leg or something.. should definitley get that looked at by a professional!!)

For my final picture, here's Kaitlyn! It was either that or a picture of my arm to about fall off from holding her so much. But she's MUCH cuter. Kait did really well the entire evening.



And with that, we retreated with one final stop so Hayden could say, "Byyyyeee, Miss Katie!"

I'm glad I have another year until the next show. Art night is exhausting!!