"mom is a loser"-the confrontation

so, when thing 2 came home from visiting his cousins(the boys spent last week at their cousins house and thing 3 spent last week at grandmas, thing 4 and i had a quiet week to ourselves) the dad asked him

"what do you think of your mom? is she like, the greatest or what?"

thing 2 looked at him like he was a bit crazy-why would you ask me that? kind of look.

"have you done any sweet writings about your mom lately?"

more confusion!

"or do you think your mom is a loser?"

a quick look of shock and then i think there was a glimmer or remembrance there that he wasn't going to admit to.

i just told him it hurt my feelings. it didn't really (i think it's kind of funny-shows personality-but don't tell him). i'm just impressed that he spelled it all correctly! the handwriting could use some work.

i remember doing things like that when i was little. i remember i drew a picture of my mom pregnant on my dresser. i think i blamed that on my older sister. then i remember writing my younger sisters name on the railing of the stairs and blaming it on her. i think everyone knew it was me because i seem to remember them saying it was my handwriting. oh well, i guess we know where he gets it from.

mean parents

while the kids were away the dad and i went and picked up the rest of what thing 1 needed on his school supply list. he still needed ...
4 marble notebooks
4 folders
4 erasable pens
etc.
etc.
etc.
while at the store we came across all the i love troy notebooks and folders from HSM (that's high school musical, in case you're not with it!). i told the dad we should get these folders for thing 1, he-he-he. we both laughed at ourselves, at the reaction we both knew our son would have.
i couldn't resist. i picked up the cool folders and slid one extra folder, one with a big beautiful picture of troy on the front, into the cart. he-he-he, this would be fun!

when we picked him up i told him we had picked up his school supplies, he was excited. then i passed him back the folder and oh boy did his excitement change. he was upset. he threw it on the floor and proclaimed that he would not use it. the mean dad and i just laughed. we couldn't help it. the dad just kept teasing him saying, "i thought that was your favorite movie", and " it's troy, you love troy, he's cool!" finally i showed him the cool folders and told him "no, the folder was really for thing 2." thing 2 of course knew better but he couldn't understand why we would waste our money to play a trick. the next day he was still concerned, asking if i was going to take it back. i just told him we would find someone to give it to that liked troy. he was satisfied, we weren't completely wasteful.

i know we are mean, but that was fun.

use what you have

i understand the excitement for new school supplies and the great prices on crayons! this year though, as i reviewed the school supply list, while the draw to buy new stuff was there i decided to see what i had. the teacher asked for

6, #2 pencils. we have a gazillion pencils! the kids seem to bring one home from everywhere they go. school parties, birthday parties, the principal, the dentist, i'm sure you are in the same boat. i store this abundance of pencils in a drawer with the rest of the "art" supplies. i found more than enough "like new" pencils.

1 rubber eraser-exciting! we have one of those. i've been throwing away erasers. that is another thing that comes home from everywhere! i was tripping on them!

2 large glue sticks-i have that too. i have one that had never been used and one that had been used once-that is new enough for me!

1 soft pencil case-thing 1 has one of those that he's not using!-now he's using it!

box of 8 colored pencils-we had a new box of 12.-i think that will work!

1 pair of scissors-we have an extra pair of those.

this year, i was excited to use what i had!

have you read these?

i love this book.

i love the illustrations and the story is very cute-very clever.

i haven't read this one yet but i plan to look for it.

i expect it to be just as cute!

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!

family came to visit this past weekend. grandma and grandpa and lainakay and her family. grandpa brought his canoe. he's been wanting to do this for a long time. we packed up some food and headed to a park along the river. it was a nice day. the temperature was perfect as we sat and watched the kids dig trenches in the sand and grandpa paddle everyone around in the canoe.

perspective

do you ever wish you could put on someone else's eyes, that you could see how they see you? i often wonder how other people see me. in my tag post i quick snapped a picture of myself as i was writing the post and when i saw the picture it didn't look like me. often times i don't think pictures look like me. i see myself in the mirror everyday but i think in my head i see myself differently. and more than just physically, i wonder how people see my personality. do they talk about what a nice person i am when i'm not around or what a snob or mean person i am. it would be interesting to be a fly on a wall. in general we don't tell each other what we think of each other, rather we tell others what we think of someone. sometimes i think it would be helpful to know what people may be saying. i'm sure i come across different than i mean to in many ways. i'm realizing how things i say may be taken differently than i mean them. there usually isn't any hidden meaning in things i say but i sometimes could see how someone might think there is.

i'm also realizing that i'm turning 34 this summer. that is crazy to me. do you remember the show 30 something. well, that show was on when i was in high school i think. i never really watched it but i do know that those people were old. i am not that old-am i? i have 4 kids-my oldest is turning 9 this year! we are an "established" family. at least what i would have seen as that when i was younger. but i don't see myself that way. i still think of us as a new, young family. but i don't think we fit that category anymore. i know we aren't old but we are...well, 30 something!

just a thought

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAINAKAY!

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.

ahhh, summer

a warm summer evening at the fair

(actually, perfect weather for the fair-low humidity, few bugs)

long lines,

funnel cakes & cotton candy

bright lights

fireworks

dizzying rides

music

and

good friends!

*there are no pictures of the boys and dad because for most of the night they wandered off to ride the big rides!-i can't believe my boys have graduated from kiddyland! fun for dad though!

i could never understand the baby bath tub. i tried it with thing 1 but hated it so since then this is how my babies bathe and they love it. they kick and kick and giggle and cry when i take them out!

did you see those chubby little thighs? i could just eat them up!!

my heart is broken

i lost the fight! my boys have been begging for shaved heads for sooo long now. i've always told them no!! saturday night thing 2 asked one more time and i finally said, "if dad wants to do it!" yippee, and off to the bathroom he ran!










his beautiful hair is gone. those adorable little curls that flipped up around the ears are no more!

and

did you expect any differently! one look at thing 2's new doo and he had his head hanging over the sink and was hollaring at his dad to hurry up!



they love their new cuts-they can't keep their hands off. the next day during primary they just kept petting their heads.



as for me, i look forward to their hair growing back.



the next morning the dad asked thing 3 if she wanted her hair cut, she reached up, looked at dad like he was crazy, smoothed her long locks of hair and said...

"no, then my hair won't be beautiful"

with a definite tone of duh!

saturday morning trail walk

looking up at the ceiling of the "summer house"

the dad maneuvering the trail with the stroller-i promise, i won't plan a trail walk until thing 4 can ride in the back pack!

tasty little burger

i've come to really enjoy my burger! we are lucky and able to eat good beef on a regular basis. the dads father and brothers are in the kobe style beef business and we have benefited from their work. his parents always bring us a large supply of our favorite cuts when they come and his brother sent him a large shipment on his birthday. you haven't had a burger till you've had it kobe style! it truly is yummy!

recently i ate at a fudruckers, good burgers, but i decided that the best burger would be a kobe style burger on a fudrucker bun! have you ever had those yummy buns? fresh baked, soft and fluffy! that would be the burger!

i hope you're eating something yummy!

a child's eye

on our flight out west this summer we were sure to give thing 3 the window seat. this was her first time flying since she was a baby and we wanted her to have the full experience. she loved it and was so excited to be flying up in the sky, through the clouds.

going from the east coast to the west coast is quite an experience. the scenery changes dramatically! we left our plush green landscape and landed in the dry desert(beautiful in it's own way). as we flew in, thing 3 was watching out the window and turned to her dad and asked

"why is it so dirty out here?"

we just had to chuckle and kind of nod saying, hmm, yeah it is kind of dirty our here.

nothing like a child's perspective!

we do love it out there and do find the mountains beautiful so no offense to those who call the west home.

music

when my sister posted about this song, viva la vida, i had never heard it before but since then i've heard it a lot and love it. it is one of those songs i think i could listen to all day!

then the kid rock song, all summer long, is one we started hearing while on vacation and we all love it. not the best lyrics but...

maybe i'll add to the playlist but for now these are two songs i'm really enjoying lately.

blessing day

while we were visiting family we had the opportunity to bless our beautiful new baby boy. it was the first time all of the dads immediate family was able to be at one of our babies blessings.

it was a beautiful day full of fun that we took a moment from to welcome our baby with loved ones surrounding us.

this is how he was during the blessing (screaming)

this is how he was before and after (happy as can be)

i love babies dressed in white! i think they look so beautiful!