Mini-vacay

Before Kent and I left for our cruise we drove the girls over to Vancouver to stay with my sister.  (Brayden stayed in Spokane with Grandma Phillips so he wouldn't miss a week of school).  It was so nice to have that extra time with Dani and Ellie, but oh so weird (and much easier) to only have two to take care of.  We decided that we were going to make the 6+ hour road trip as fun as possible, which is nearly an impossible feat.   We stopped a few times and tried to break up the trip.  One of the stops was Multnomah Falls.  It was a perfect day, 70 degrees and clear skies!  We got out, walked up to the bridge, took our touristy picture and Dani asked if we were going to go to the top.  I said, "Sure, (thrilled that she was interested), ask Dad."  Kent was all in.......

 we hiked and we hiked......Danielle did amazing!  She has legs like me, twice as long as everyone elses.....Kent and Ellie scurried along, but Ellie tuckered out about halfway up, which was surprising because she is usually more active and energetic.  Eventually we all made it to the top, without any tears, (from the girls at least)  I saw Kent wiping his face a few times...
 We were all thrilled to take a break at the top and rest for maybe 3 minutes before they wanted to head back down.  Very fun memories!

 We had a whole day at my parent's before we flew out.  We crammed a bunch of things in the day.  First off:  Ellie learned to ride a two wheeler!  No training wheels!  She couldn't be more proud.  It really could have happened a while ago, we just never took her training wheels off at our house.  Sorry girl, we're holding you back again!

 After a morning bike ride we headed to Portland's Saturday Market.  No matter how many times I go, I still love it!  So much to see, so much to do, we got to ride the Max, which is the best part for the kids.  I bought a new purse, which I LOVE!  Maybe I'll have a whole post on my new, fabulous purse....try to contain your excitement.

 Next we went to Washington Park in NW Portland.  LOVE that park, I think mostly because I used to take the kids I nannied there, and I have lots of fun memories.  The girls loved it too, they are getting so big, they can PUMP now!  What is a mom to do when her kids can pump and play and climb all by themselves???  I actually had a whole conversation with Kent...it went something like this:
After walking out of the bathroom, Kent says:  "Did you girls just go to the bathroom?"
Me:  "Yes, you just saw us walk out of it."
Kent: "Did you tinkle and then wipe?"
Me (flabbergasted and indignant):  "YES!  That is generally what we do!"
Kent:  "Did you notice that the toilet paper was wet?"
Me: "Yes, it made it difficult to get off the roll and to find a spot that was dry enough to use."
Kent:  "Did you notice how far away from the sink the rolls were?"
Me, thinking, what the hell??: "Noticed, didn't think much of it."
Kent:  "How do you think the TP got wet?"
Me: "IDK!! Maybe they carried it into the bathroom when it was raining!  We ARE in Portland!"
Kent: "NO, some guy peed all over them!  Did you notice how it was unevenly dispersed and it was on the
floor!"
Me, dumbfounded, tears forming in my eyes, : "Are you telling me I just wiped my little girls and myself with someone Else's pee??? We are all going to have infections and diseases!!!"

The question herein lies:  Girls, Would you have thought that that was possible, or would that possibility even have crossed your minds?  Every girl I have told the story to did NOT predict that, HOWEVER every BOY has!  Dirty, Dirty boys, this is why we have our own bathrooms!! 
And no, none of us got an infection, but I am still totally grossed out by it all!

After the park we headed to Papa Haydn's where I got a fabulous peanut butter/chocolate dessert!  I intended on sharing it, but with the possibility of infection and disease, I decided I  might as well live it up!  We then headed to Voodoo donuts.   I have to be honest, I had never heard of this  place until I saw it on The Amazing Race.  It's famous for its crazy donuts.  It was a fun Portlandy atmosphere and the girls tried a few donuts, but I don't know that we will have to go back.  All in all, it was a VERY memorable day spent with our girls.  We all missed Brayden very much though.

One week and counting!

It was a crazy, hectic weekend....we are starting our vacation on Friday!  Brayden is staying here with Grandma Phillips and we are taking the girls to Portland to stay with my fam.  Then Kent and I are flying out to LA so we can board our ship!  Sunshine awaits!

The kids are thrilled for their vacations and we can't wait for ours!  Kent's brother and his wife are joining us, and we have two canopy tours booked.  Other than that, I will be reading, swimming and sleeping.  :)

Here are some pics. from our last two busy weekends.  We went to Silverwood Theme Park on Mother's day.

Ellie

Brayden

Brayden & Keegan

Ally & Uncle Kelly

Dani

The Dads, Keegan and I went on the ride that shoots straight up, then drops.  I tell ya, I am old and I am feeling it.  Not as much fun as I remember it.  Plus, I had taken a boot camp class from Ali Vincent (special appearance at our YMCA) from the Biggest Loser, so I was so sore, I had to hobble around the park the entire day.

Dad reading to his girls.  Umm, did Ellie just turn 13?  Isn't that a "too cool for you" look?

A day of soccer!

Gorgeous girls

My sister and niece visited us last week.  We are all completely enthralled with Leila!  She is the cutest, happiest baby ever!

 I was tired of fighting Danielle everyday to brush her hair, today I chopped it off!  I wish I had a before picture.  I think I cut 3-4 inches!  It is not the best cut, a little uneven, but adorable just the same!

I tried to even up Ellie's do and get rid of the Carol Brady look.  It looks much better and is almost all one length now.  We are more than ready for Summer with these short locks!

Interval training!?!

I told myself that this next post had to be positive or I was going to have to change the name of my blog to something along the lines of "Christy's venting/raging tangents."  Keeping with that initial thought I am going to keep this positive.  :)

It has been a crazy/chaotic week with a totally different schedule.  I have come to realize that I really do prefer a schedule and a routine.  Due to these weird days I have not made it to the gym, which in turn has made me a little crabby and a little lethargic.  I decided today I would squeeze in a quick run....yes, with three kids in tow. 

The kids and I decided to run/bike between the rain drops just so we could get out of the house and get some exercise and fresh air.  The kids climbed on their bikes, I laced up my shoes and we were off.   First thing, Brayden got a little worked up because Ellie cruised past him (he has a newer, bigger bike that he is adjusting to), making those training wheels go as fast as they could.  B did not like being left in the dust.  He was screaming at her to slow down, meanwhile, Dani was about 3 driveways behind us screaming at me to quit running.   I got her caught up, told all of them to go fast and pedal as far as they could up the "wee" hill, then get off and walk to the top.  I took off running, listening to their wheels spinning behind me.....then their screams echoing through the neighborhood.  I kept on chugging, I really wanted to run the whole hill, I got to the top, heart pounding and saw that the two girls were about 1/4 of the way up.  (Brayden beat me to the top and was waiting nicely).  Honestly, I was too wiped out to walk back down, so they screamed and pushed their way to the top.  By this time, my heart rate was back to normal and I took off at a slow jog.  The girls were all smiles and ready to ride on the flats. We were good for a bit, I sprinted up to tell B to slow down, then sprinted back to help Dani up off of the ground.  Then back to a jog...nice intervals right?  (not planned btw). 

This brings us to the part of the road that isn't so safe.  We have a detour running through the neighborhood so there is a constant stream of cars, not all of them heeding the speed limit.  We ventured on (bad choice), then I freaked out when the cars got too close.  We turned around and headed back.  At this time Dani was crying because her helmet wasn't on right, Brayden crashed and Ellie's chain came off.  PLUS two of my friends drove by.  Luckily they are great friends and can/will sympathize with the drama that was taking  place.  At the halfway point I hefted Ellie's bike up (weight training) and briskly started walking home.  Dani was crying because she can't/won't keep up, and Brayden was off in the distance.

This 40 minute interval training consisted of a 20 minute cool down.  BUT I am calling that my work out for the day.  Sad, isn't it?  I much prefer the interval training at the gym, I MUST remember this! 

All in all, we got some nice fresh air.  :)  Here are some pics (not so great) of the munchkins.

Our sunny day last week where all the neighbor kids came to play!  So fun!

Happy Spring!

These were taken on Monday night, April 18th. Great.

Update re:Struggling

I just re-read my post from this afternoon; wow, it is bad!  I wrote that before I took a nap, after the kids were going nuts.....I guess I am trying to say, PLEASE don't call CPS.  But if you do, see if they have any tips for me!

Amber, thank you for your help and suggestions!  I am going  to try your new tally system for sure.  I realized I forgot to include positive reinforcement in my disciplining list; maybe because I don't do it enough.  This is something else I am going to work on!  That girl (Danielle) is sensitive and does need lots of one on one time and hugs!  I def. need to be better about that, and stop and take the time to do it!  I am sure things will improve when I make the effort with that....any other suggestions from my "mom of the year" post?

Struggling.....anyone else?

Ahh, take a deep breath, read on only if you're willing to listen to some venting.  Let me tell you, it has been a ROUGH 12 days, and yes I am counting.  It all started the Monday of Spring break.....my headstrong 4 year old (who thinks she's a grown adult in charge), will NOT LISTEN.  It's not only  the not listening, it is the flat out refusing, arguing, debating, negotiating, tantrums and shrieking that is sending me over the edge.  (And folks the whole smooth sailing after 4 years, is a bunch of BS)!

I feel like I need a parenting class just for Danielle.  She is so different than my other children and I don't know what to do with her.  She doesn't care about any of the consequences I have enforced.  She missed a B-day party, she has missed play dates, she has sat in time-out for hours (where upon she falls asleep), she has been spanked, things have been taken away from her, things have been given to her siblings for their good behavior, I tell you, this girl is tough to crack.  The thing of it is, it's STUPID stuff that gets her into trouble.  She doesn't want to brush her hair, she insists on sitting in a certain booster in the car, she won't share, she won't take turns, she won't follow simple directions.

I have been venting to friends all week and luckily they have been there, experienced it, or can at least sympathize with me.  The thing of it is, NO ONE has fixed the issues.  Will she grow out of it?  The question is:  Will she survive long enough, to grow out of it?

I feel horrible, I can't believe I am writing this but today, after a 20  minute screaming episode in the car, where I told her, "I am taking you to the police station, you can go to jail with all of the other naughty people."  Ellie freaked out more than she did.  (Spokane friends, the designated jail is the Yokes that closed on Sprague and Sullivan.  So if you have my children in your car and you drive by, go with it, when my children say, "There's the jail."  That is where we stop and get out of the car and wait for the child to make a good choice.  Is that detrimental?  Who is going to pay my kids' therapy fees?)

That's not even what I feel bad about.  I told Danielle after she got out of the car and I asked her to go inside and upstairs, she stood there and looked at me, I said, "Go away, you need to stay away from me right now, I am very angry."  I don't know how much she understood, but she finally DID listen to me. 

My children are now ALL having a rest so hopefully they can go to a friend's tonight for game night.  Wish them luck, hopefully they will earn that privilege.  Happy day everyone!

Any suggestions on my predicament would be greatly appreciated.....And yes, I know all of you moms out there have issues, if not this one, then some other kind, but I just had to release some of this frustration on my keyboard.