the rec

YIPPEE!

our indoor playgroup is open!

now you know where to find us!

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.

wope soppopeakop op

do you?

i learned to speak "op" way back in 4th grade i think! it was our "secret" code-my friends and i had. i never thought that i would be using it at 30 something!

now that my boys can spell though, it comes in very handy-and drives them very crazy!

i did give them a clue though, they need to know how to spell!

trick-or-treat

my little yoda

beautiful snow white





the boys pictures are in my friends camera.(my camera is broken)
thing 1 was anakin skywalker and thing 2 was a clone trooper.



the weather was beautiful


the streets were swarming with little ghosts and goblins


and the bags were full

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

*i do love my boys, they are just so busy it's hard to get pictures of them.

**these pictures are courtesy of another friend. Thank You!

sleep, i need sleep!

my beautifully, huggably, pudgy baby weighed in at 18 pounds 10 ounces last week at his doctor visit. he's healthy and strong. in fact so healthy and strong the dr. says he should be sleeping through the night by now. so i asked how long i could expect out of him.

ten hours he said.

the wheels in my brain came screeching to a halt!

10 hours!

he's waking every 2-3!

after i absorbed this i turned to my sweet little chunk and as he squealed with delight i told him his life was about to change!!

i'm sure he is not a fan of the doctor anymore! he is responsible for those horrible shots and for his comfy little life of pleasures being turned upside down!

that very night was night 1! a very long and emotionally painful night. but with the hope of soon having a full nights sleep i stuck to my guns and survived it!

night 2. not as bad as the first. we had some crying but more sleeping than crying.

night 3. like night 2.

night 4. good. he woke once and fussed a little then went back to sleep. i fed him when he woke after it had been about 9-10 hours!

night 5. bad. he was stubborn and determined-i gave in and fed him. i felt like a failure. it was all lost now!

night 6. very good night again. he woke once for about 30 seconds, then put himself back to sleep. the second time he woke the dad soothed him and he quickly fell back asleep.

night 7. bad night-maybe this isn't going to work.

night 8. very good night. not a peep from 8pm till 4:30 am! maybe it will work.

night 9. okay night. slept till 2:30. he woke and did some screaming. the dad was able to put him back to sleep. it took about 10 minutes but he did it.

and so it goes. we are not going all night yet but we are getting there.

now somebody needs to teach me to sleep through the night!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

yesterday was thing 1's birthday!

my baby is 9!

he's a good kid.

a happy kid.

he came out smiling.

he came out loving everyone.

as a baby he was always hugging and kissing everyone. mom and dad and all of his friends-especially the girls! he still loves everyone and has a really big heart. he is kind to people and really enjoys being with people.

he is responsible. i can trust him to watch the other kids. he keeps track of his things. as a baby he really loved animals and had a gazillion toy animals, he still does. every week or so he chose 2 that he carried around everywhere and played with all week. he only ever lost 1. it fell out of the cart in walmart and we never found it again!

thing 1 has a special talent for the scriptures. he reads and understands and remembers. when we read as a family he seems like he's not listening but when we stop and ask what we've read he can always tell us. he'll summarize the chapter for us. i have a hard time paying attention and following the story when someone else is reading them.

this is a blessing that i hope he treasures and uses well.

he is my first born. he's watched 3 others join our family and be loved and treasured.

i hope that he knows that he is loved and treasured. that he was adored just as much as the rest.

i hope he knows that we admire him and love him.

i hope he knows that we like him.

rockin'

yesterday, thing 2 had his friends over. this is how they spent their time.

did you notice the little head watching from just outside the door? this is as close as thing 3 was allowed to get.

i think i'm a bit twisted because i kind of enjoy hearing my kids interact in the "typical" brother,sister/sibling way.

for example...

big brother comes home with friends and quickly closes himself in his room.

little sister follows soon after clip clopping in her beautiful plastic high heels, up the stairs and down the hall. stopping outside of the brothers room she sweetly knocks.

brother answers the door, sees who it is and quickly, bluntly, asks "what do you want?"

she wants to come in she says so sweetly.

brother says NO

sister says YES

he yells GO AWAY

she yells LET ME COME IN in a whiny sort of way

he says firmly GO AWAY and shuts the door

little sister comes moping downstairs where she waits until the door opens and then she stands innocently outside, just watching, wanting to be a part of the fun.

sad, i know, but the exchange is so classic it just makes me laugh.

the boys are usually very good to her. she follows them around, runs through their kick ball games, bats her pretty little eyes at their friends and steals their scooters. all of which they put up with very sweetly.

free, free, free!

i've been a little busy,and a little distracted lately!

busy with kids & family etc. etc. etc. of course.

my distraction is possibly a bit embarrassing.

i joined that yahoo group called freecycle. you have probably heard of it.

i am usually a bit behind in things.

so, the few free seconds i have, i find myself checking my freecycle inbox!

it's amazing and interesting the things people are giving away or looking for.

and, i can check it with one hand-baby in the other arm squirming and wiggling-trying to get down and go somewhere-where i don't know!

so anyway, i had heard a lot about it from one of my new morning walking buddies.

i decided to sign up because thing 1 is learning the trumpet and wanted a music stand to use for practicing. i thought a music stand could be something someone might have and wasn't using anymore. so i posted my need and received one that same day. it's great! exactly what i would have purchased!

i also received an offer from someone whose father had made her one out of wood and she said she would be willing to part with it!! i could never have taken that but i was amazed at the generosity!

so far that is all i have had a need for but i can't help checking it. people are getting rid of some interesting stuff.

the philosophy behind the group is to reduce waste and consumerism!

i love that!

i love the idea of passing on and sharing what we are done with.

go sign up for the group in your area and start sharing! it's fun!!!

(do i sound like an advertisement?!-i'm not getting paid-it's all free!)

as for my time to post today? thing 3 and thing 4 fell asleep, at the same time this morning! first i took a bath. a nice hot bath! i always crave one when the chilly weather hits! and now thing 4 is screaming at me so my time is over! i'll be back!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

yesterday was thing 2's birthday. 7 years old.

he was so excited. he's been counting down for a long time now. it used to be months then last month he began the daily countdown. last weeks daily sign- ins from school reflected that, starting 10 days out-"there are 10 days till my birthday." "there are 9 days till my birthday." you get the idea.

we celebrated as a family with a yummy ice cream cake and the dad drove in with a new bike strapped to the roof sending thing 2 whooping and hollering around the yard. just
what he wanted.

he is my little sweetheart who loves and adores his baby brother. he will come in from playing just to see him and spend 5 minutes with him. he'll take the baby from me and when he gets fussy he'll rock him to sleep for me.

he's a boy with a special enthusiasm for life. he wants to try everything and has no fear as he does just that.

he's my sneaky little boy who hides his vegetables in the bathroom garbage or flushes them down the toilet!! and who, when he was just 2 years old, was caught telling his brother "just don't tell mom" after thing 1 had told him they weren't allowed to do something.

he can be as stubborn as all get out when he wants to. when he's feeling stubborn i don't even know how to deal with him. he digs his heals in and won't budge.

he's a pretty cool kid!

did you notice thing one in the first picture with puckered lips like he's trying to blow out the candles?

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!

i'm dreaming...

of bathroom renovations.

the dad wants a jet tub

with sandstone color marble tile shower surround
a vanity like this maybe

a nice clean medicine cabinet like this

and antique bronze fixtures like these
and a toilet!

can you see it coming together!

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.

welcome back

the boys headed back to school yesterday. thing 1 was not admitting to any excitement. thing 2 was willing to admit that he was a little excited

-but just a little!

they weren't excited but they were wandering around the house with their backpacks on by 7:30 and out to the bus stop by 7:45-

the bus doesn't come till 8:20.

nope, no excitement there!

handsome boys!!

(now thing2 is home sick from school-fever!-who is home sick the 2nd day of school?! )

goodbye to summer

these are the bikes that made their first trip to the other side of the neighborhood without an adult

this is the patch of dirt worn into the dad's well manicured lawn from daily wiffle ball games

this is the wagon that sped the neighborhood kids down the road and skidding into my driveway

these are the army guys who went to war in my driveway

this is the street that held many kickball games

this is the blanket that hosted daily picnic lunches



these are the swords that dueled from the front yard to the back



this is the swing where many important meetings were held



this is the cat who sought shade and safety where ever she could



these are the pokemon cards that battled daily in my yard

this is the skateboard that finally made it to a skate park-and loved it!

this is the tree that started changing color and dropping it's leaves far too soon, letting us know that fall was on it's way and our long carefree summer days were coming to an end.

we will be back next year!

yesterday was jarfaces(my brother) birthday. he doesn't read my blog but happy birthday to him anyway!

i did it!

i miss her long hair! i miss the cute little ringlets.

maybe i should have waited!

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!