My lil' Scooter

So sorry, "N'mers" I forgot to document that you started "crawling"!!!

You are sooooo cute just scooting around!!!

Onomatopoeia

Don't you just love that word? I do. It's made me giggle since the 3rd grade. Of course spelling it on the other hand is no laughing matter.

I digress...

Out of sheer laziness I've chosen to capture the last 2 weeks with sounds.

Welcome to the sounds of spring break!

SnipSnip goodbye split ends!

Thump Thump I swallowed my pride and decided to start wearing my boot.

Bones can be buggars to heal.

Vroom Vroom

finally became a minivan mama!

So long having to buckle 3 carseats in the back seat!

Snap Snap

We visited gma and gpa Lawton in Beaumont.

They did not snap at us but the gators at Gator Country sure did:)

Ewe this one makes me cringe!

Look at that nasty snake eyeing my baby!

"Be gone long one!" This one is not real I promise mom.

"Quick Hands or No Hands"

CMT- Gator 911

Big Al.

Ok this pic is odd. I was trying to take a pic of these hick kids jumping in a pond of gators with their shirts off and squealing like it was Christmas morning. The mother managed to chat on her cell, push her stroller and nonchalantly grab an escaped gator by the tail and throw him back in the pond. I just so happened to be wearing lipstick and a cardigan so I felt highly out of place. I think I like visiting Gator Country more for the people watching than for the gators.

Splish splash, Crackle crackle, Munch munch

We went camping with friends and family at Sam Houston State Park and swam in Lake Conroe.

Just realized that I'm not in these pics. Perhaps that bc I didn't shower for a few days or perhaps its because all I did was sit and eat. It was grand.

Here's our white trash set up:

9 bikes, 1 exersaucer, 1 canoe

Naomi loved the 2 hour ride

(just kidding mother)

Haha more ghettoness-

our tiny tent too small for the airmattress:)

Homemade bows and arrows

dutch oven cooking= heaven!

(the panda bear is for a penpal...random i know)

Too cold for those toes!

there there little one

phew.

What a fun couple of weeks!

and now silence.

ahhhh.

Book Club

I finally did it! I started a book club.

I was so inspired I even redecorated my mantle:)

The kick-off theme... Children's books

The visitors...

Mom Erwin and Mom Lawton

The members...

Dianna, Rosie, Holly

(don't you just wanna squeeze my cutie sisters? I do. Perhaps I will.)

Charity and Amber

Katie, Kathy, Susanne, Magan

Oops. Andrea and I are not featured. next time:)

And our first book...

Thoroughly delighted already!

Happy reading.

Woe is Me

Last Friday-

laundry basket+olivia's shoes on the stairs= clumsy me fracturing my foot

Woe is me.

I'm not gonna lie this was one of those weeks I'm all too happy to forget. I wasn't even sure I wanted to blog about it for fear of memories seeping back. Who knew a fractured foot can actually make you lose your mind?

There was a sick hubby, a sick baby, an oatmeal clogged sink, a broken washer, and no possiblities of hobbeling off for an outing.

Of course there was also amazing friends and family who came to my rescue, who babysat, cooked meals, cleaned my kitchen, went grocery shopping and mostly just listened to me complain.

I told my kids I was sorry this morning for being crazy and yelling and crying all the time.

Olivia told me, "Ya and whining!"

ouch.

Kolby made me this "book". Notice the hurt foot in the first picture? :)

oh and the "crazy" eyes in the second?

Then today Kolby was telling me about all his injuries from climbing a tree at preschool.

"Mom, have you ever had an owie before? Do you like having owies?"

I pointed to my foot and said, "Ya, everyone gets owies and no one likes them."

Then he said, "You know who had lots of owies? Jesus".

And really its as simple as that isn't it?

Heavenly Father sent me the exact children I needed to teach me to be more like Him.

I promise no more whining about my week.

Aren't you relieved mother? :)

Honestyville

After a few too many fibs lately from my middle child I decided to give a special family home evening lesson last week. I think the lesson manual was written before I was born but I still loved the idea to play a game called "Honestyville". Unfortunately over the years the game board was misplaced so I pulled out a Sesame Street car mat and a couple of Hotwheels. Each time the car got to a person (or Muppet) on the mat we stopped and had an honesty question. If the kids got the answer right the car could keep going. I did all the usual scenarios: returning lost and found items, shoplifting, breaking things, to which my children spouted off all the correct answers...and then i gave a customized scenario for Olivia.

"This little girl told her mommy that she ate all her breakfast. Her mommy asked her if she was telling the truth. The girl said yes even though the truth was that she threw it in the trash for the 3rd time that week. What should this little girl in HONESTYVILLE do?"

Olivia: "um, she was full!"

Then I remembered this pic I snapped of her last week during her nap. See the Book of Mormon hiding under the covers? Perhaps there's hope for my little liar after all. We just won't be taking any trips to Honestyville for a while.

And that's how I know he was born in Idaho...

Listening in on preschool-lunch-table-talk could be my favorite part of the day. I sit at the bar so they think I can't hear them, and they never disappoint.

This week I overheard the kiddos saying what type of animals they all want to be. After everyone selects one Kolby says he doesn't want to be an animal, he wants to be the hunter. All the kids say things like, "No we don't hunt animals" or"I don't like shooting animals". To this my red-neck son replies, "You like eating animals right? Someone has to hunt them!"

And that my friends is how I know my son was born in Idaho.

How else would a Seattlite have such offspring?

Prelude

I just posted a perfect Monday post. I love those. Preschool went well, I'm showered and dressed, my house is fairly clean, my children are happy and dinner is in the crock pot... all by noon. Go me! What I didn't post was that I had a particularly poor parenting weekend. In the which I may have sent my children in the backyard and locked the door (yes you read that right...even the baby was sent out) while I cooked dinner. No one was allowed to cry or else they got sent to bed. Of course I was allowed to scream "You guys are driving me crazy!" throughout the day whenever I darn well felt like it. Not sure if the kids or I will survive having Daniel MIA. I just thought this needed to be said before any presumptions of bragging or perfection are made from the following post. The way I see it, its not like you're gonna get any other recognition or praise for a perfect day. You may as well post a balance of you're bragging days right alongside your shameful ones:)