My Child is a Thief

And it's not the first time, believe it or not.
At least two years ago I bought four things of mini m&ms at Michaels.
Bekah thought we needed five.

Today we went to drop off something at a friends house. Then we went to the post office. Where Jacob threw a fit because I wouldn't lift him up on the counter because I was holding Beau and a package and my wallet and a six-legged elephant. Then we went to Walmart.

When I went to buckle Beau in his seat after a relatively uneventful Walmart venture, I noticed some "Happy Birthday" post cards by Bekah's seat. She proudly told me that they were from the post office and they were for her and Beau's birthdays.

That's when I showed her the barcode on the backside and told her that you have to PAY for postcards at the post office.
I was cool, calm, and collected, naturally. Um. yeah.
And then we went home because I couldn't handle the thought of a trip back to the post office.
I actually feel okay about the whole thing. Must be my 26 almost 27-year old mature nature. Postcardshmoshcard!
Here's my little clepto on the climbing wall in Flagstaff. My only proof that we were actually in Flagstaff, since my camera died on me later.And here's my Beau with Cutesy Cutesy. He LOVES talking on the phone. And by talking I mean grunting. And drooling. yum. Such a curly headed stud. He'll be ONE a week from today. ONE! I can't believe it. We're going to party with some yummy vaNIElla cupcakes. Did I tell you I made a cherry pie on Saturday? From actual cherries. The real kind, not the canned kind. I pitted them myself. It turned out very pretty and it even tasted good.
In the process I lost a flip flop. It is seriously lost. I can't find it anywhere, so I'm relegated to wearing Rus's much larger and uncute flip flops around the house.
Wow has my life been eventful. please sense the sarcasm. I gotta go now and relax from all the stress. :)

bye, and
Have a happy day!

Define Vacation

The smell of pine trees and dirty kids is in the air. The wonderful mountain air of Flagstaff, that is! My sister Amy doesn't realize it, but her home is becoming a favorite summer retreat, the kind of place that you get homesick for when you are a kid and you can't sleep at night because the next day you'll be on your way there and you'll get to see all of your cousins and swing on the zip line and play swords and princesses and eat popsicles and pizza. Life is good at Amy's house. Crazy and busy and mattress free (you have to remember your sleeping bag when you come here!), with late night movies and food, food, food.

I am here with Amy and her four kids, Amanda and her four kids, and my three kids. My parents and Tyler were here too...they just left. We went on a hike on Saturday, can you imagine eleven kids and seven adults exploring cliff dwellings. Wowza. I'm amazed we didn't loose anyone. We took an awesome family picture that I can't share with you because my camera abandoned me halfway through the hike and now it is in time-out for the rest of my trip. Deserter.

I love being around my family. I always find myself analyzing things about my sisters or brother or parents, and then wondering/hoping that I do/don't have those traits myself. Amanda is an amazingly optimistic person, always engaging strangers in conversation. She is wonderful with my kids, is a talented seamstress, and is very particular about things (The syrup must be hot and Madison's dress, just right). Amy is determined to be laid back and "if there is a problem, solve it!" kind of person. She is an entrepreneur, a think outside of the box, "drop eggs off the back porch and see what happens" kind of person. She has seemingly endless energy. (Oh, how I would love to have that!) Tyler is anal, and I say that in the most loving, understanding, respectful way. That is why the food he cooks always turns out so delicious and why the wood he crafts is joined and stained so perfectly and why the kitchen counters and Amy's iron (iron!) are so clean. And that is why he probably does not appreciate the blue crayon that Beau colored on his white sunday shirt and the homemade chocolate ice-cream that boiled over because I was changing Beau's diaper, and the vegetable oil that spilled on the floor that should have ended up in the pancake batter. He puts up with it all so well and it is always so fun to have him come.

Mmmm. I love my family. I love that I can find bits of them in me, good or bad.
And being with them is what makes up a perfectly crazy vacation.

Would You Expect To See THIS in NM?

Completely amazing, isn't it!?!
So Rus and I decided to go camping. With our kids, of course. In the pop-up trailer, of course. We loaded everyone and everything (seriously..."roughing it" does not apply) and took off. We headed to northwest NM to the San Pedro Parks Wilderness, to the Jemez river. We all smooshed into Rus's jeep and it only worked because we bought our children's happiness with dum dums. (Dad is a sucker.)LUSH. The land was incredibly, unbelievably lush. There were wildflowers of all different colors sprouting up along the roadway and making green fields look white. This wild iris (I think?) was my favorite. There was actually water in the riverbeds, even water in the waterfalls. Lotsa water. (This was Jemez Falls.) Jacob actually caught a fish! I missed it...I was off taking pictures, but Rus said it was very exciting and Jacob did a good job reeling in the little guy. We let him go. Save Nemo! (Every fish is Nemo when you are 3 or 4.)The kids loved hiking and were happy the entire time. Rus and I were tempted to ditch Jacob and see how far Bekah could really go. Where Jakey is so...painfully...slow, Bekahisreallyreallyfastandfullofenergy! She was our picture taker. I'm not sure how any of them turned out, but it kept her occupied while waiting on the rest of us. I got to climb up Tea Kettle Rock while Bekah and Rus went looking for treasure. Geocaching. Nerd or not, you should try it with your kids if you have a GPS. They thought they were finding buried treasure and they loved trading their worthless crap for the worthless crap other people left for them. Bekah spyed this one before anyone else. We made muffins in an orange peel on an open fire. Random, I know, but it was pretty cool so I had to mention it...and show you the pic... Bekah had mad-camping-fashion-sense as you can see, and Beau loved playing in the dirt...By the end of the trip we were all completely filthy. And smelly and happy and tired. But man, you've got to admit that we saw some great views.

4x4s + 2x4s + 5/4x6s =PLAYHOUSE!

Now Introducing the Beau-Hawk. Yeah, baby!Did I mention a little bug has made itself at home in Beau's ears? Not a real bug, don't freak out.
Nope, he's had an ear infection that has survived Cefdinir, Azythromycin, and Augmentin. Actually the Augmentin has kicked its butt with the help of three shots of Rosefen. Like I really know how to spell any of these. (But I do have the pharmacy's phone number memorized.) The point is Beau has been a booger, with just cause, and he's finally starting to feel better. Hooray!
...And Jacob has strep. Sniff. On to bigger and better things. Literally. Like a 4.5'x8'x8' playhouse. My sister Amy had a friend who bought this "everything-but-the-lumber" playhouse kit for a whopping $5. Amy didn't need it so she gave it to me. It has been sitting in our garage and we finally had a weekend to work on it. (We should have been in Wyoming, but, um, well I already explained that, right?!) So here is the amazing tornado resistant beauty herself...I need a better picture of the whole thing. We're going to pick up a slide for it later this week. I still need to sand the whole thing, and we might stain it in a couple of weeks. Rus and I make a good team and we got this thing up with relatively few arguments...um "discussions."
What do you think? It should make for happy kids this summer!

Wanted: Wiggle Room

Frazzled Mother Seeking Her Long Lost Wiggle Room
(and we're not talking tight-pant-wiggle-room, that's a whole other story...)
Wanted:
Chuckle, Sigh, Laugh-Out-Loud, Make a Joke,
Not Yell or Cry Ability
in the face of a Would-Be Stressful Situation
such as,
but not limited to:
Spilled Milk, Spilled Milk for the Third Time That Morning, Spilled Milk on My New Clean Shirt...Being Stepped On, Spit-up On, Having to Witness A Big Fat Fit at 6:30 in the Morning, Kids Yelling, Kids Yelling and Waking Up Sleeping Beau, Now Awake Beau with a Fever of 103 Degrees, Beau With Fever for Fourth Day in a Row
(Wait. That's not really funny. I'm getting off track...Sorry)
...HeHEM...
Big Messes, Wet Kids, Muddy Kids, Grumpy Muddy Kids, Boogery Noses, Boogery Wet Muddy Grumpy Hungry Demanding Kids, Kids Who Yell At Me While I'm On The Phone, Busy Husband, Busy Husband Who Was Gone Shooting For Hours And Missed All The Fun At Home, Justifiably Busy Husband Who Has to (gets to?) Work Whilst I Get Chummy With My Kid's Doctor Because I'm There So Much...

Will Pay Dearly To Have Wiggle Room Restored. In Monopoly Money. Or Cookies.

Just remember, I was a great mom before I had kids!

Training Wheels OFF! Times TWO!

Bekah and Jacob were riding their bikes around tonight and I suddenly felt very guilty for the fact that Bekah still had her training wheels on...what kind of parent am I if I never find the time to teach her how to really ride a bike? So I took them off.

And she rode away.I could have screamed loud enough for all the neighbors to hear. I think I did actually, in my excitement. I definitely did point out to every passerby that my amazing girl there was riding her bike sans training wheels!
And then Jacob started pestering me. Really, really bugging me to take of his wheels. I reluctantly relented. I helped him onto his bike, gave him a good push and then held onto his bike seat for a half a second...
And he was off.Completely amazing. My little scaredy-cat boy was off riding a bike, just like that. Starting and stopping are still an issue, but that's minor, right?! :) I had to tell everyone about him then too. Great way to meet the neighbors.
Wowza. I'm on a high. That was the best time I've had in weeks!
Don't worry about Beau, though. He's still four-wheelin' it. Here is his "my knees are too cool to crawl" crawl.*Disclaimer: This was not these kids' first rodeo! I think this is the third time we've tried taking off the wheels...Just the first time it actually worked! Wahoo!*

Why, Baby?!

Bekah is a sponge.
Nooks and crannies and all.
The other day she asked me to get her a cheese stick, "Be-bee!"
Then she said, "Thanks, my Dawling"
If she's in a mood to insult, she'll tell me, "You play ball like a girl!"
And get a big kick out of it, of course.

While Bekah is juicing up her extensive vocabulary, Jacob is taking her place, asking "Why?!" all the time. There are four ways to approach a why question.

The first way is to try to answer it as honestly as possible. This can be easy or hard depending on the question. (Ex: Why are there cracks in the sidewalk? vs. Why is there a baby in that lady's tummy?...Well, son...)

The second way is to answer it as randomly/vaguely/goofily (yes it is a word) as possible. There are knots in Bekah's hair because fairies dance in it while she is sleeping.

The third way is deferment. Where do rain, alligators, flies, boogers, ear aches, broccoli, babies, trucks, hot dogs, stars, concrete, etc...come from? Ask Daddy.

And the fourth way is my favorite...Distraction. "That lady has a baby in her tummy because AHH! LOOK OVER THERE - A FLYING ELEPHANT!"

And now I have to go because Beau is crying.

Why?!!