Good to Go!

I got a call from my brother, Ryan. He told me the Dr. has cleared him to go back to work! Ryan just reached the two month mark since his heart valve replacement surgery. I am amazed to say the least. I can't believe he has recovered so quickly. He says he can already tell a difference since pre-surgery. It is easier for him to breathe and take deep breaths. All is well!

Battle Scars

I thought this morning would be a good time to check out Joe's while Brayden was in pre-school. Two kids are easier than three, right? A friend let me know that Joe's is having a great sale on remote control cars, 12.50, regularly $50! Great, I will get one for B's B-day in Sept. I drop B off at school and head to the store with the girls. It started out a little rough this morning. Ellie had a naughty twinkle in her eye, the second she woke up. She is due for some naughtiness, Dani has been at it for a long time now. Anyway, we walk into the store, one girl on each side of me holding hands nicely. I find a cart and the girls insist on sitting in the big, back part. I never let them, because I don't trust them to sit still, but I knew what I wanted and we wouldn't take long. They both cram into the back of the cart. We cruise down the aisle and they have a TON of the cars! I am thrilled, while I am looking, I turn around and both girls are STANDING in the cart. Not a huge surprise, so I tell them to sit on their bums, while an employee is glaring at us. I am trying to check out the cars because there are three different models, at this point the girls start SHRIEKING! Shrieking that is ringing my ears. I tell them to be quiet, (I am still using my patient mom voice). Then I try to load 3 cars into the cart. (One for B, and two for my nephews). These suckers are huge and only one will fit on the bottom of the cart. This is a problem.... I try to shove one into the cart with the girls, but they weren't having it. Great.... why would this be easy and quick? So while I'm trying to pry the boxes back out and bending into the cart, Ellie pulls back on the front seat and the whole thing smacks me on my lip. I instantly taste blood and almost fall to the ground. (this whole time the girls are screaming again). I gather up the damn boxes and march to the front of the store, while I'm sucking on my swollen lip. The guy at the register just stares at us, while we're walking up the aisle. Thank god it was early and not many people were in the store. He tries to be pleasant while I am trying to stop the tears from pouring out of my eyes, my lip HURTS! He was glad to see us go, and probably laughed the whole time I tried to juggle the boxes to the van with two screaming banshees!

The sacrifices moms make for a bargain! (My lip just has a huge gouge out of the inside, no bleeding now).

Another mom of the year (MOY) entry

I have been dreading this day for a while now.... the day before book club. Which means, I HAVE to clean my house thoroughly. None of this surface stuff that I've been doing for months and months. So, I spent over TWO hours just scrubbing gunk and milk off of the dining room chairs, table and stools. Yeah, TWO hours. So when Kent brought the kids home from the one hour trip to Costco I decided they would have a picnic on the deck. I didn't want them touching anything. It's ok that it's 24 degrees out, right? Get your shoes on, you're eating outside! They thought it was a great idea. However, they were somewhat naughty and had to come in faster than I anticipated. So, I had to resort to them eating on the kitchen floor. This I did feel bad about, because it is still not clean. I couldn't take pics. of this, because I didn't want to be reported to CPS. They were happy enough because it was different and the girls weren't locked up in the boosters, so they could roam the floor. I still have 4 more meals until book club gets here. What is a girl to do? Mickey D's anyone? Notice the girls don't even have matching shoes on, which is becoming normal for Ellie's wardrobe.

These pics. are from the other night when I made pudding, never a good idea right before bed. It's messy and there's pudding all over faces and pjs.

E

D

New Hats!

Yesterday I was cleaning up the breakfast mess and Ellie walked out like this. I busted up laughing, then of course Dani wanted a hat too! I am assuming Ellie got clean underwear out of Brayden's drawer!

Cousin Owen is ONE!

YAY! Owen turned one, he is the youngest of our clan. Between us and Kent's brother and sister we have seven kids who are four and under, with Hunter being the king of the hill at age six. There are a TON of pics. because they are all so cute, I can't ever choose what to cut out. This one cracks me up, because Owen was sitting there like this for quite some time before someone helped him out! He is such and easy going, mellow guy, he just waited!

Ellie is ready to party!

Auntie Sarah giving Owen his yummy cake!

Owen seemed to love it!

So did all the other kids.

Dani was too busy to stop and eat cake.

Ellie ate hers for her.

Ally had her fair share too. Doesn't she look just like Elizabeth in this pic.? You know our kids and their kids share half of the same genes. So they are kind of like half-siblings, but that's too weird to think about.

Owen and Uncle Kelly getting ready to open presents!

Grandma Phillips and Auntie Helen enjoying the chaos from afar.

Dani thinking she's helping Owen.

Joey Seaboldt, he is too adorable.

And last but not least, Ellie pooped on the potty again! (I won't post a pic. every time this happens, but it's exciting)!

Dani brushed while Ellie sat on the pot.

We FINALLY figured it out!

Life has been a little frantic lately! The girls are almost two and busier than ever. I am only allowed two second showers, and they still have time to destroy half the house. Even with their big brother keeping an eye on them and running into the bathroom screaming, "My sisters are being naughty!" I am hoping all of my neighbors work and are gone by the time I am running through the house with a towel wrapped around me halfway. It's not pretty. I don't have the nerve to look out the window to see who is peering in at me with a bewildered look on their face.

Just last week I came out to find Danielle behind the couch (yet again), with a marker in her hand and ink all over the blinds and windows. I really was quite proud of myself, I have really been working on more patience, I just looked at her and said, "Not ok, go to your room." The girl was smart enough to know at that point, to get her little bum out of my line of sight. Luckily the ink was crayola and washed right off. Then I turned around and saw Ellie on top of the counter going through our junk basket, a bunch of random stuff, paperwork, mail, choking hazards. I hauled her into time out and decided things need to change!

This was about the time I took the high chairs out of the kitchen (they pushed them over to the counter, then crawled up). This solved the counter situation (our stools are too heavy for them to lift and are all lying on the floor in the dining room). Next I needed to childproof the doors.

HOORAY! The best invention ever! I didn't need these with Brayden, but they have made my life so much easier in the last week. I hope they don't figure them out anytime soon! Now there is no way they can get the markers out of Brayden's art supplies in the hall closet, no dipping hands, feet, or faces into the toilet and B has his own stuff in his room safe and sound! Life is good!

A kid again?

Yesterday we met my sister-in-law, Sarah, at McDonalds for lunch. The kids are big enough to play there now and with the 24 degree weather they have lots of energy to burn. We had a nice lunch and then after an hour and a half of playing it was time to go. We rounded up most of them (there's six total). We were all standing at the bottom of the play structure yelling at Danielle to come down. She sat up there and stared at us, and we all thought she was confused on how to get down. We sent both boys, Keegan and Brayden up to help her. They coaxed, tugged and pulled, but she wouldn't come down. At this point I was sweating with all of my winter clothes on, and getting more frustrated by the second. I took off my shoes and climbed up! What fun! (not so much) It's always nice to feel like a huge giant as you're trying to squeeze through the levels. I finally reached the top and Danielle took off in the opposite direction. She thought it was a fun game! She knew exactly what she was doing the whole time! I had to chase after her on my knees, which hurts! I finally caught up to her and shoved her down the slide and I sailed down behind her. She was laughing the whole way! I tell you this girl is the sneakiest, most stubborn thing I have had to deal with in a long time! What are the next few years going to bring?