"It's party time baby!"

One of my favorite people in the world has to be James Frye! He is a guy I have worked with since I moved to Spokane, before I had my masters degree. When I met him he was pretty much non-verbal, he had a few words, but not entirely intelligible. My how eight years can change a person. He is now 15, and well over 6 feet tall. It amazes me! Today I went to work with him and on my way there I decided, we are going to play hooky! He answered the door and I said, "Let's get out of here, it's time to party and celebrate your last day of school! What do you want to do?"





James: "Let's go get ice cream." My kind of guy. That's just what we did. We headed to DQ and he proceeded to order.





James: "I would like a medium, no a LARGE ice cream cone PUULLLEEASSEE, and a medium drink."





Christy: "What are you talking about? I said I would buy you an ice cream, you think you're getting a drink too?" :)





James: "Yeah, it's party time BABY!"





You gotta love this guy. Just for that I did buy him his soda (of course). Next he chose to go to Barnes and Noble and look at books. Love it! He looked in the Humor section, and we passed a book that said, "Play, Drink and F*#k."





James: "Hmmm, Play, Drink and Fork??" We moved along quickly. (I didn't go into that Wendy.)





Other favorite quotes from James over the years:





"I HATE speech therapists!" (this was a grumpy day).





Christy: "Good thinkin' Lincoln"


James: "I"m not Lincoln, I'm James Frye!"





James: "Got a zit? All you have to do is sssqueeeze it like this, (demonstrates) and it will pop!"





James: "What happened to your hair?" (This was after I dyed it red).





James: "I'm not going to tell you what I've been doing. Those are my private thoughts." Fair enough.





Talking about movies, James: "Is it a sexy movie? Is it nasty?"





Thanks for a fun party and lots of laughs James!

Kids for sale......3, 4, 5, or 6! (The list cont'd)

First off, I can't say for sure that kids 4, 5, and 6 are for sale for sure, but if I get the right price I'm sure Sarah would be willing to part with them. :)

I have to say, this wasn't one of my brightest mornings. My SIL, Sarah, brought my niece and nephew over for speech this morning. She said she was going to go to the Victoria's Secret Sale when we were finished. I thought, I want to do that too, and Kent is out of town so I will HAVE to take the kids. When we finished I told Sarah to go and I would bring Keegan with me, that way she would have a head start (I had to shower, I was planning on going for a walk and then showering, but the sale was calling to me). I figured she could try her stuff on, then we could switch, so all six kids wouldn't have to be in the store/fitting room with us. Good plan, eh? So, I got ready and loaded the four kids into the van (mini bus). As we were driving the boys asked where we were going.

I told them, "We're going to meet Auntie at the underwear store."

I could NOT have said anything that was more funny! When did they get old enough to think this was funny?

The five of us traipsed into the mall, two girls in the stroller and two boys following close behind. (After I negotiated with Brayden that he should leave his shirt untucked and pull his shorts down so they weren't hiked up to his pits). He insisted that his shirt was too big and it needed to be tucked in. I actually told my son that he looked like a big nerd and he could NOT do that.

Keegan said, "My dad does that."

I responded, "Yes, I know, but he doesn't hike his shorts that far up." (That's a whole different story).

Back to the mall.....we walked into Victoria's Secret with the boys shouting, "The underwear store, the underwear store!" I immediately called Sarah thinking she is already done, and she can take the kids off my hands and go to the play place. Not so much. I turned the corner and she was still standing in line for the fitting room. Ok, I will just browse while I wait for her to finish. I am looking at a table and the boys proceed to crawl under, around and through the table, knocking bins of underwear all over the floor. Seriously, we had just gotten there! I made them sit on the floor against the wall and busted out the fruit snacks. That lasted about 2 seconds, I had to split one package b/n four kids. Poor planning on my part. I frantically looked through all the different tables and grabbed a few of each style. This is a whole other issue and probably TMI, but after babies and dieting, who knows what size you are. I swear depending on the style, and lining and padding of brassieres, I could be three different sizes! Apparently Sarah was having the same issue because she took FOREVER! I got in line for the fitting room (which wrapped around the store) and grabbed Ally from her so she could try her stuff on with just one baby screaming. I am now standing in line with FIVE kids, all of which aren't on the best behavior. Everyone is staring at me like I am some crazy, white trash lady. Which I am, because frankly how desperate can one be for bras to actually go through this? Ok, I'm tired of writing about this craziness, in a nutshell, I think we were ALL in the store for an hour. I don't think the sales people cared how much we were going to buy, they just wanted us out!

This is a pic. of five of the six kids, (Owen screamed bloody murder when I tried to take him) waiting for Auntie to finish her purchase. They are pretty dang cute sitting there so nicely, it was the before and after that was so rough! All right, I guess I won't sell any of them, good thing I love them all so dang much!

Side note: Victoria's Secrets need more than three measly fitting rooms!

The list....

I know all of you moms out there have similar stories to these, but I have decided to keep a running list. This way when the kids grow up I can show them how much they owe me and when they have kids they will understand why payback is such a B****! :)

1. Today Dani shoved about $4.00 worth of quarters into my tape deck in the van. I had a roll of quarters that I have been using to tip my barista. I looked down and there was one sticking out of the deck thingy. Dani (from the back seat) yells proudly, "My do that Mommy!" I guess I will no longer send them downstairs while I quickly gather everything we need for the outing! Good thing we don't listen to tapes!

2. Ellie was screaming 25 minutes after I put them into their cribs at nap time. I went in there and she was IN Dani's crib with her! Apparently she scaled the ends of the cribs and wound up in her sister's bed. This wasn't the problem though, she left her "nai nai" blanket in her bed. I guess it is most definitely time for the big girl beds! Of course this happens when Kent is out of town for two weeks!

3. During nap time I was reading in my room, trying to regain some sanity (is that even possible?) when Brayden starts SCREAMING from the bathroom (which is right next to the girls room where they are napping)! Great, I get up and race into the bathroom. He is sitting on the toilet and he said, "Mommy I have owie poops." Seriously, I calmly say, "I'm sorry, what would you like me to do?" He says, "I don't know, but it really hurts!" I say, "Ok, well just sit there and hopefully it will feel better soon." Come on, what are you supposed to say/do? I also added, "Do it quietly, your sisters are sleeping and I don't want them to wake up yet!"


what will be next.....?

My Brayden Boy

I just have to make a note of my little boy. Funny things have been happening and I tend to forget right away what they were.

Last night Kent made us a BBQ dinner! The kids and I came in from playing outside and sat down to eat. After a few minutes Brayden said, "My tummy is really hungry!"

Me:"Good thing we're eating dinner right now."

A few minutes later

B: "My tummy really hurts!"

Me: "Maybe you should try to go to the bathroom, maybe it will feel better then. Maybe you have to go in and toot."

B: In utter disbelief, "But MOM I haven't even eaten any beans yet!"

After a few minutes in the bathroom he decides that is not the problem, he needs to lay down and rest. This may have been the first time he has ever suggested this. I am mildly concerned and I go lay down in his bed with him.

Me: "How does your tummy hurt? Do you feel like you're going to throw up, or is it just big owies?"

B: Calmly says, "It feels like the bones are poking through my stomach. I am pretty sure that is what is happening."

Shocked by such a great description, yet more concerned about how badly his tummy hurts, I tell him it's a good idea to rest for a while. He decides he should do some puzzles while he rests. After the puzzles are complete, he comes out of his room, sits at the table and finishes his dinner, like nothing happened. Kent is pretty sure he just had a big TOOT!

B is also very into "making projects." He is constantly creating something. We got teddy grahams at the store today and there is a recipe for a teddy smoothie on it. I told B we could make one for breakfast in the morning. He insisted that we make a "note" and put it on the counter so I don't forget. (Apparently he has picked up on how forgetful I have become, especially about these important things)! He had to write out "teddy smoothie", and then list all of our names. He said, "Dad will have to make his own note and his own smoothie, if he wants one." I guess he knows there's no way we're getting up early enough to have breakfast with Daddy!

His imagination constantly amazes me. The best gift I can give him is an empty toilet paper roll. His eyes light up and he yells, "Thanks mom!" Then he runs off to invent something new; a rocket an airplane, binoculars......I love my boy!

Go Go Gadget arms!

Notice the pile of dress up clothes in the middle of the room (ignore the huge messes everywhere else). This is where the stuff was that ended up in their cribs!

The girls were in time out the other morning, for unrolling a WHOLE roll of toilet paper and putting it in the toilet. So fun to scoop out wet, soggy toilet paper. They were in their cribs for quite some time. I took a shower and tried to decompress, then got dressed and went to release them from their cages. I couldn't believe what I saw: Two cribs full of dress up clothes, dolls, blankets and treasure boxes. They had been busy! When I left them, their cribs were empty (no toys in time out). The question is: Do they have Go-go Gadget arms, or did they crawl out of their cribs and back in again? All of the stuff was in the middle of the room on the floor (big surprise). How in the world did they get to it? Is it time to move to big girl beds? I hope we have a few more months before they are free!

A couple of side notes:

1st: All the moms out there.... what do I do with their hair!?! It is awful. I want to grow out their bangs so I don't have to deal with them, but the mullet mess is driving me crazy! Do I cut the back to even it up, kind of like a bob? Any suggestions on hair clips/bows that stay in their hair? They yank out EVERYTHING! If they can't get it themselves, the other one will help!

2nd: I just have to make a note of this for myself because it is so funny to me. Today I asked the girls, "Who made this mess?"

Ellie: "Dani do that!"

Dani: "Ellie do that!"

Great, they are two and they have already learned to lie?

Our own version of Jack Ass!

I have had these pics. for a week and I have been debating on whether or not to post them. This has to be some of the worst parenting that I have ever done.... but it was so damn FUNNY! We were playing in the back yard last weekend and the kids brought their bikes back there. They were riding in the grass and eventually either Ellie or Brayden took a bike up the hill. I think it started with just the big wheel, which worked well. It's low to the ground and very stable. With only one big wheel they had to take turns, so eventually all of the different kinds of bikes were rolling down the hill, sometimes with kids on them, sometimes without, and SOMETIMES with kids partially on or partially off. :)

I think everyone knows about how I laugh inappropriately ALL the time! Brayden was the first to wipe out. It was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. He completely flipped over, landed, and the bike came crashing down. I did pause long enough to make sure he was ok, then I couldn't control myself. Thankfully Kent had just made them put all of their helmets on. I thought they were fine without them since they were on the grass, but I hadn't factored in the bike slamming down on top of their heads.... After I gained control of myself, (it was a good few minutes) Ellie came barreling down the hill on the trike. Well, this was a bad choice because it is a wee bit top heavy. She totally bit it, and Brayden started laughing and screaming, this got him in trouble by Kent. Kent said, "Brayden it's not nice to laugh at people when they fall, just because Mommy does it all the time, doesn't mean it's ok." This made me laugh even more! Meanwhile, Ellie is lying on the ground pinned under the trike. (She turned out to be just fine.) I think cautious Dani was the only one who didn't crash and burn, she fell a few times, but nothing extravagant. :)

I looked over at Kent and said, "This is pure entertainment, I don't think it's very good parenting, but I haven't laughed this hard in a long time." Eventually we had to tell the kids no more, and put the bikes away. Maybe another day..... I will keep you posted, especially if I can capture a fall in action!

Dani hangin' out at the bottom of the hill where it's safer.

Brayden after a successful ride down the hill.

Ellie safely at the bottom.

Our Shelbi is all grown up!

Today Kent and I attended our baby-sitter, Shelbi's, graduation! I can't believe our little girl is all grown up. She has only been in our lives for two years, but it seems like she has always been a part of our family. I can't believe we only have two more months left with her. I am so excited for her and the new chapter she is beginning in her life. She is an amazing person and she will do wonderful things with her life, I can't wait to see the person that she will become.
In August she is moving to Bellingham to live with my sister, Kalin, and four other room mates! Kalin and Shelbi met in Florida when we convinced both of them to accompany us on our first family trip, when the girls were six months old and Brayden was 3. They instantly hit it off and have kept in touch ever since. I think moving to B'ham will be a great adventure for both of them, I can't wait to hear the stories that they will have to share! During the graduation ceremony I got a little teary eyed (mostly because I realized just how old I really am) thinking about how much my life has changed since my graduation day. I love my life and all the experiences I have had to get to this stage. I am so grateful for all of my wonderful family members and friends that have shaped me into the person that I am today. I couldn't help but think of all of my 'couve girls and how we have remained friends throughout these last 13 years since graduation!

Here's to lots and lots of wonderful years to come for the new graduates and us oldies!