i'm there

yesterday our house was buzzing

as usual.

no sooner than the boys walked in the door the phone started ringing

and didn't seem to stop.

friends were calling.

some wanted to come play and some wanted to come do homework together

-and then play.

before i knew what was happening my house was full.

thing 1 had his group of friends in his room playing their DS'.

thing 2 was in the playroom completing homework assignments and then playing Wii with his friend.

our dearly loved neighbor girl, who we have been missing,

came to play with thing 3 and thing 4.

usually this crowd is in the yard playing pretty much anything they can that may involve a ball. they tried but were quickly back inside seeking warmth.

i don't blame them-i ran to the mailbox and back yesterday. it was just crisp!

so, as my house was filling up with neighborhood kids i caught myself thinking

"this is what it's going to be like as they get older."

but then i quickly realized,

this is what it is like.

they are older.

my house is full.

i do love it. i want them to have their friends here. i want their friends to enjoy being here.

i just have to keep my eyes up and ignore the messes that can happen.

and, i'm going to have to start preparing larger dinners, as they all want to stay. and i'm going to have to keep my cupboards full of snacks, as boys can eat a lot!

so, i'm there.

oh, martha!

my friend got tickets for her, me and lainakay to go to a taping of the martha stewart show!

yippee!

the show was to be about blogging!

yippee yahoo!

we got to spend the day in the city!

yippee yahooee!!!

we saw the show!

blaaaaahhhhh!

it wasn't so good! she didn't talk about life blogging at all! her guests were-dull! they all seemed to work for her and have a blog on the side! there were several bloggers in the audience whose blogs sounded really interesting-like wedding be-in fact when martha's wedding lady heard the wedding be lady was in the audience she ran up and had her picture taken with her! but the people she highlighted were people like this one lady with a blog about cute animals-she posts pictures of cute animals! interesting! i like cute animals buuuuuttttt!!!



so we left the show very diappointed and had ourselves a good time in the city!

my camera was on the fritz so i didn't get too many pictures.-i guess i really could have used that camera martha was raving about but only gave to 4 of her special employees in front of all of us.
we brought the dad to tend thing 4 while we were in the show! i must say, thing 4 was an angel! he must be a little city boy because he didn't fuss the entire day! he was just happy riding around in his stroller or the bjorn!!

i'm feeling maybe, possibly, a little bit, maybe... violated.

our goodwill and salvation army stores don't take toys or stuffed animals. i heard that a little local thrift shop would. as i had a pile of toys and stuffed animals i wanted to get rid of i looked up the little local shop, loaded up my van and headed over. the shop, i knew, was not in the best part of town. it was in that part of town where you better know where you are going because you just don't belong! i don't worry much, so i went. i can be kind of like a teenager who think they are invincible.
i found the place quickly and pulled up to the donation door. as i lifted my hatch i felt the bees begin to swarm. one of those bees watched as i moved my lawn chairs-you know those nifty little chairs that fold up and slide neatly into a bag-out of the way. mine are trashed and on their way to the garbage as soon as this football season is over. they are in such bad condition i wouldn't even donate them. but that buzzing bee came in for the sting.

"are you getting rid of those? i'll take them!" -bee
"no, just moving them out of my way"-me

i went in with the first load and as i came back out another bee had approached in her vehicle. as she hung out the window eyeing my treasures, she asked "got any baby clothes?"-good question since i was driving a minivan and carting 2 kids with me. nope i had no baby clothes (i'm a hoard, i save all my baby clothes-the dad begs me to get rid of them but i can't.) but i had a carseat if she wanted it. no she didn't want the carseat her sister-who is the one having a baby-already had all that. so i continued on..."well, i have no clothes but are you sure you don't want the carseat?"-stupid me, i should have ended it the first time she said no but i had to ask again and now all of the sudden she wants the carseat...and the diaper bags. her sister is having a girl and low and behold one of the bags was pink!
so she wanted the seat and bags but i had to pull to a different part of the parking lot to give it to her!!! "are you sure? i can't just give it to you here!?" NO, we had to move. as i closed my hatch and climbed back into the drivers seat i kept thinking "don't let them take you to the 2nd location!"-oprah's safety guys #1 rule!
but, we were in a parking lot and she wanted my carseat-that's all! but, why did we have to move?!
as i climbed out to give her the carseat i thought "maybe she wants to rob me!"

i grabbed the carseat and brought it to her, trying to keep her as far away from my car as possible! i jumped back in and drove away quickly-back to my safe side of town!

last night, as i lay awake, the drama queen inside me went over and over the experience pointing out all of my mistakes and how stupid i was. the dad encouraged that drama queen by agreeing that i shouldn't have gone to a different part of the lot. the rational person in me knows that the lady would probably just get in trouble for taking the donations that were meant for the store so she just needed to take her business away from their donation door. but man! (drama queen speaking now!) i made some big mistakes and could have gotten myself into a lot of trouble!

even though...

i sometimes send the boys outside and tell them not to come in unless it is an emergency



i have been known to tell the kids it is quiet time so i can have a minute to think



i often say... "don't wake the baby"

"don't poke at him, you'll wake him up"

"ahh, you woke the baby!"



there are times i need the kids in bed... now!



i don't want to do any more homework!



sometimes i breathe a sigh of relief as the school bus pulls away with my boys on board



some days i look forward to the day that thing 3 climbs on board that bus too



my treats taste soooooo much better when the kids are in bed



i usually don't want to fix dinner-again



sometimes i have to pass the baby off to the dad so my arms can rest



more often than not i don't want to be ashley



most days i have to rush through the shower before that special little boy is screaming at me


it is always much easier and quicker to just bake the cookies myself


i have heard myself sending the kids to watch a show


once in a while i would like my personal space back


i would probably like to be the only one tasting my ice cream cone

i do love being a mom.

i love being my kids mom.

i loved that on their emergency sheet i could write

home

as my place of employment.

yesterday

the birthday treats!

i woke to a 5:30 am wake up call, courtesy of thing 4. usually the dad takes that call but he had returned thing 3 to her bed just a couple hours before and fell asleep hanging off the edge of her bed. i had full intentions of passing the boy off to the dad so i could get just a little bit more sleep, but, when i saw him curled up under one of thing 3's half sized blankets i just couldn't wake him. so, i took the kid and conceded to the fact that

i was up.

we headed to the kitchen where thing 4 sat cooing in his swing while i baked some banana bread. -we had some over ripe bananas and the day before i had thought of one of our old neighbors and decided we needed to visit them. then later that same day thing 2 started asking about them and asked if we could go see them. so, i decided we needed to visit them. i was baking bread so i had some kind of offering.

while the bread baked, thing 4 and i snuggled on the couch and greeted the rest of the family as they slowly woke. soon everyone was curled up in the living room waiting for the bread to be ready. while we waited the dad organized everyone in a round of happy birthday.

it was my birthday!

once the bread was done we inhaled 1 of the loaves-quickly!

nothing like banana bread right out of the oven!

the dad headed off to work

i passed thing 4 off to the boys, told them they could watch a show,

i just needed to rest.

i headed upstairs, the dad had made our bed (very nice of him) so i crawled into thing 1's bed. (very comfy i must say!) just as i was dozing off into that feel good sleep, the phone rang! i'm not surprised. it always does. i let the answering machine get it. it was the dad. somehow he always calls just as i'm about to take a little nap. it's pretty much a never fail thing. he was calling to tell me that our blockbuster is shut down!-interesting. before i could get back to that feel good off to sleep state, thing 4 started howling. he was hungry. i fed him and unexpectedly, he fell asleep so, i carried him up and snuggled into thing 1's bed with him. we snoozed. i'm not sure how long. but soon we got up and got dressed and headed off with our loaf of bread to visit our old neighbor.

on our way there we were surprised by my friend passing us. we quickly pulled over to see why she was headed our direction.

she was coming with birthday treats!

i had forgotten it was my birthday.

we visited on the side of the road. her boy was howling, he wanted out. my kids were running across the road to see him.

it was a nice surprise.

we visited our old neighbor. i'm still not sure why we needed to visit them. i thought maybe the reason they were on our minds would be apparent when we got there, but it wasn't. life seemed to be normal there. it was a nice visit.

we then went grocery shopping.-yup, my fridge was empty!

when we got home i fed thing 4 and put him down for another nap. i laid down on the couch to read. i didn't get more than 2 pages read before my eyes were shut.

i talked to my friend on the phone.

when i got off with her i realized i needed to feed the boys. i fed the boys and hurried them out the door to practice.

(the neighbor was driving them)

as they walked out, the dad walked in. i told him and thing 3 to hurry and eat their dinner so we could sneak out and get an ice cream while the boys were gone.

we hurried out to one of our favorite spots-we LOVE ice cream so we have many favorites! as we were leaving the dad realized he couldn't find a set of his keys. this is something that drives him crazy and if he didn't figure out where they were he would be up at 3am and off to work to find them. so instead of going through that, we drove down to his office (after ice cream, of course) and found his keys. they were right there, on his desk. not dropped in the driveway getting run over as he had feared!

we got home just a couple minutes before the boys walked in.

before they could even get their cleats off the neighbor kids were at the door. they have been playing ghost just about every night.

so out they went.

i put thing 4 to bed while watching tru tv-our new favorite channel.

called the kids in at about 9:30 for bed and the dad and i followed soon after-

very soon after.

i am now 34!

flashback

speaking of the good old '80's and my dad sporting a magnum mustache. i remember i had gymnastics on thursday nights and magnum was on on thursday nights! well, my mom had to rush down to the school to pick me up during the commercials! i just remember having to be in a hurry so she could get back before she missed too much! oh the days before the DVR. that's how they lived without it.

"mom is a loser"

those are the words my dear sweet thing 2 left for me. scribbled (in pencil-lucky boy or his behind would be mine!) across the top of his headboard! i'm sure it was scrawled there when he was sent to his room for "good" behavior! and we are excited for our kids to learn to read and write!? he-he!

life unscripted

i was tagged! so here is a peak into my life.

this is my kitchen sink-with dirty lunch dishes-there seems to always be a dish to do!

this is my fridge-pretty empty! grocery shopping doesn't happen as frequently as it used to now with the new baby and the kids home for the summer. it seems that we go when we need milk and oj. it looks like time! ugh!!!but, i do have the necessities!
this is my "laundry room" it's really just a corner of my basement where we do laundry! all utility-no glamour!

this is my toilet! pretty gross! we have one bathroom and it is in desperate need of a remodel-it's on the list!

this is my half of the closet. most of the clothing is still maternity! i'm not wearing it but i'm in no hurry to pull down my non-maternity. i'm a long way from fitting in anything pre-pregnancy!

favorite shoes!... well to everyones horror i am not a shoe person! my shoe collection is very boring and basic but i guess i would have to say maybe i like these. i'm desperately practical when it comes to shoes and these match (at least in my mind) most everything.
actually these ratty old things-actually they aren't as old as they look-i just wear them alot! would be my favorite!
i would have to say this is my favorite room! i love to sleep. i love to crawl into my bed at night and snuggle into the comforter. i live for cozy and comfy!

these are the kids. they just came in from play for dinner

this is the dad, he's not home at the moment and i want to get this post done so here is my most recent shot.

this is me-a self portrait of me.

so, there you have it. a bit of our life. i'd like these people to share a peak into their lives, laurel, lainakay, and alissa.

*now back to my book

my time

one of my favorite things to do, when i get a moment to myself, is to spend a quiet afternoon lounging on the hammock in the shade. i love to just lay there watching the clouds drift by catching the gentle breeze and listening to the sounds of the neighborhood- the birds chirping, the distant hum of a lawnmower, the muffled play of children. there is a special quiet that covers the neighborhood in the middle of the day. it is such a peaceful, comforting quiet. the sounds change as the evening comes and people return to their homes. but tomorrow they'll pack up and head off to work again and i can bask in the peace once more.

my blessings

i'm feeling a bit selfish and ungrateful right now. as i was wandering around the blog world i came across this blog which led me to this blog. both of these families have lost their beautiful babies recently.

my heart is broken for them. just the thought of losing my child is so painful, i can't imagine the hurt i would feel if i actually lost my beautiful baby. these women, and families must have the comfort and strength of the holy ghost. i can not imagine moving on after such a tragedy.

i am so very thankful for my 4 beautiful children. i am so thankful for their health and safety. i pray that i may be able to raise them and that they may live long, happy lives.

i have been a complainer lately as i've endured pregnancy and child birth and the long days and nights of a new baby but i wouldn't give it up for anything. i adore my beautiful new baby boy. my heart sings when he smiles. i miss him when he takes a long nap. i look forward to holding him in the middle of the night.

i need to slow down and cherish the moments with him. he will grow quickly and i can never get them back. i need to slow down and love my older children. i need to appreciate their lives and enjoy who they are more. i don't want to miss a thing.

i have been blessed greatly and i want that to show. i want my thankfulness to radiate from me. i want my children to know how much i love and adore them. i want them to know that they were wanted and that i am so much better of a person for having them in my life

why is it so easy to get caught up in the frustrations of life? the frustrations of a fussy baby or a 3 year old chatterbox? why is it so easy to get caught up in the frustrations of a messy room or dirty floors?

it's not worth it!

school's out!

picture stolen from lainakay

yippee yahoo!

it's a HUTCH

i have been packing this thing around for 11 years now. not really knowing why and not asking, for some reason either. it was just the dads bike from when he was a kid. it had no pedals and the wheels were flat. i'm actually very surprised that i didn't ask why we were storing something that seemed so useless to me.
but now i see.












the boys are just about big enough now so the dad bought pedals and tubes for the tires and got the thing going again. my boys and all the neighborhood boys are enjoying it but not as much as the big boys! it has brought smiles to the faces of many neighborhood dads. turns out the HUTCH was one of the bikes to have as a boy and oh the memories it has stirred. the talk of the tricks they could do on it or the races they raced it in! and it seems that that old bike is worth a few bucks too! who knew!

















do you think the little boys know what a gem they are riding?

morning light

thing 4 seems to like the early morning hours. he's usually up around 5 and no matter how hard i try he won't go back to sleep. so this morning he was up at 6, not hungry and not going back to sleep! every morning that i'm up with him i think i should just take him for a walk but i really want to be sleeping so stubborn me just keeps trying to get him back to sleep-just for 1 more hour, okay, maybe 2-please!!. but this morning i said forget it! i pulled on my sweats and bundled the boy up. as i passed the other boys- who were already zombied in front of the television-i instructed them to get dressed and i'd feed them breakfast when i got back! and out i went. as that fresh, crisp morning air hit me i wondered why i didn't do this every day! i love the feel of the morning air but i forget that as i'm snuggled in my bed. maybe this little guys sleep habits will be good for me!

am i ready?

thing 3's hair has gotten pretty long! i'm feeling like it may be time to get a good haircut but i'm not sure if i'm ready. i've been talking to her about it lately-trying to prepare her, but even more so i think i'm trying to prepare myself. she has always had such pretty, curly hair-that i wish i had- and now the top is all flat and straight and the bottom is curly. so has the curl grown out or is it just pulling the curl out. the new hair around her face is still really curly-which gives me hope.

most likely though-the curl has grown out and i think that is a lot of what i am afraid of-once we cut it, that curl will be gone forever-oh so sad!!!

but it has to happen some day and i'm tired of fighting with her about getting it brushed-i am still bribing her. it gets so tangled and snarly, i don't blame her for not wanting to have it brushed.

it is time.

well, watch for a new look soon-if i can muster the courage!

-the fingers in the mouth-that's a whole other issue-

it is me, the good old long lost shaka!

life has been so crazy!

I am 36 weeks now and hoping this baby will come soon! oh, so many aches and pains!

i was just talking to the dad last night and realized that if this baby decided to come in the middle of the night we really have no plan for that and i really can't think of anybody that would be available to come over and watch my kids in the middle of the night. it was never an issue with any of the other kids but this kid is up squirming around all night so i guess i'm worried that he'll decided to come during that time. what would i do? the dad says he would just drop me off at the hospital he-he! you have to know the dad.

i'm also feeling desperate to have my house clean!!! not just tidy but clean. only problem is that i physically can't do too much. it hurts to bend and to get down on my hands and knees to clean-but maybe if i do it anyway and suffer through the pain then this baby will come sooner!!!

oh, i am such a complainer! happy thoughts-spring has sprung and i LOVE that!! this is my very favorite season! doesn't it just make you feel alive again!?

well i'm off to check on the little thing 3-speaking of that-she just turned 3!!! i'll have to post about her party.

juggling

i don't juggle well. i've had too much going on and i know that if i sat down at the computer i wouldn't get anything done! so i have stayed away.

so what has been going on?

you know about the baptism i was busy getting ready for and the in-laws came to visit. after they left thing 1 got sick for a couple of days. then work picked up for me-which is good because it has been so slow-actually not slow but dead! then thing 2 got sick then the dad was out of town for a couple of days and then i had to get ready for thanksgiving. we go to my parent's so i needed to pack and prepare all the food that i was bringing and all that. now i am back and spent the morning catching up on banking that i have neglected and next i need to tackle my house-unpacking and cleaning up!

we had a really nice thanksgiving though. we went into manhattan for the parade and then went to my parents for the rest of the weekend. the parade was crazy but lots of fun. the crowds were nuts this year but we squeezed the boys in up to the fence so they had front row and we sat on a concrete fence post. the boys loved it!

anyway, we are alive in case anyone was wondering. if i disappear at christmas time you know why!

hope you all had a great holiday. i can't wait to catch up on what you have all been up to.

i've awarded myself the bum mom of the year award so you guys don't have to.
halloween happened and the kids of course had a great time-collecting candy is right up my kids alley! the bum part comes in on the costumes. thing 3 was a ballerina. she borrowed the costume from our very favorite neighbor. it was cute and very appropriate for thing 3 but the bum of a mom didn't even do her hair or put on any cute makeup-which she would have loved! she did enjoy her stash of candy as you can see so maybe my shortcomings have been forgotten.


as for the boys, they were completely on their own. they both wanted to be wrestlers but what do i know about wrestlers. the dad tried to interest them in some "old school" tag team wrestlers but they weren't interested. i wasn't interested in hunting down some expensive costume! so thing 2 borrowed some sweat bands and wore his wrestling belt and was, i think, john sena (i have no idea how to spell the guys name and don't feel like looking him up right now) thing 1 decided he would be a gangster and made his own costume. (he was out running around with friends when i took pictures and when he came back i forgot to get his picture) he cut up an old t-shirt and wore some chains and stuff like that! he was satisfied with it! so my kids made halloween happen for themselves! though i was a total bum when it came to costumes i did fix them mummy toes and chocolate spiders and i did invite their friends over to trick-or-treat with them. we have a lot of friends that don't live in a good neighborhood for trick-or-treating so they all come here and spend the evening with us. it's lots of fun!

the next day grandma and grandpa arrived from out west to spend a few days and be here for thing 1's baptism. we are so glad they were able to come so far! it really meant a lot to all of us but especially thing 1.

saturday we had his baptism. it was a really nice day. he was very excited for it and i think very ready. thing 2 was very excited for him too.

his grandparents were all here for it and most of his cousins on my side(missed you snack!)


we've been busy with a lot of good things! we are very proud of our thing 1 for his good decisions and his desire to choose the right. love ya boy!

and the earings were still there-right where she left them the night before.

it's true, i took out my earrings and set them on the coffee table and when i came back the next day they were right where i had left them! why could i leave them there? because my kids are gone! grandma took them on friday and they are still gone today! i've missed them but i have also had a very nice time.

Friday-my husband and i grabbed a light dinner and went to see BOURNE ULTIMATUM. good movie-lots of action-definitely the dad's pick but i did enjoy it.

Saturday-we went into Manhattan, did a temple session and then spent some time in the park. we saw some classics! this guy just one of them.-yeah, he's dancin' on those skates!

Sunday-quiet morning, got myself ready for church, sat quietly by myself at church-actually listened to the speakers! after church we watched a movie, took a walk-we found a trail across the street from us that we knew was there but didn't realize it went so far! then we watched another movie-(we have the movie channels free right now so we are recording everything) it was my birthday-the big 33!-hmmm that was hard to say! oh well.

Monday-quiet day, ran some errands i've been wanting to do but not drag the kids on. then when my husband came home and the kids still weren't here we hit the trails! there's a trail that we've heard is supposed to be good and it's only about 10minutes from our house! so we loaded up the bikes and headed out. it ended up to be a really good ride. some easy trails and some really technical ones which was a fun challenge. i took a couple of spills! it felt good to get out there! we need to make sure we go more often!-we are waiting for you LAUREL!

so, i think my kids are coming home today-i can't wait to see them!

and it's only MONDAY!

this is how my week started!


on my way home and as a guy turned the corner the truck he was towing detached and scraped the side of my van and tore my bumper right off. no one was hurt. it was all at low speeds but just not a fun way to start the week. at least it's not my fault!

my mistake

so i scheduled an appointment at the toyota dealership to have the power door on my van(yes, i am now a minivan mom!) looked at. it has been randomly not working for about the last week or so. went in today for the appointment, waited about 45 minutes while my things turned the playroom upside down, just to find out that the child lock was on! part of me doesn't want to believe it! i felt a bit silly for not thinking of it but then part of me realizes that this is entirely possible because thing 3 has been climbing in and out of that door lately-she's a big girl now! and since she has been using that door we have been having the problem. i would not put it past her to find the button and play with it. probably not a coincidence!