Deep Thoughts

From Marcus

Girls' bellies are magic.

Me: Why?

Because they build babies!


or this one.

How do people get new cars?

Mike: They buy them at the car store.

But how do they get to the car store without a car?


and lastly

(Flipping through the channels clearly irritated)

How come there are hardly ever any fishing shows on tv?

Me: Because not a lot of people watch fishing I guess.

Or maybe it's cause it took them a lot of time to find the fish.

Nathan my Baby Boy

Nathan is the one who you have to work to get to know.

The one who hides who he is and only shows the most special of people.

He is the one with the iron will, and the most sensitive heart (although he would never let you see that).

Nathan is the one that is independent and cunning. He is the one with a great sense of humor, and the creativeness to do a lot of amazing things. He will never be a follower. He has been my greatest challenge but is so worth every bit of it.

There is definitely no one else like him.

Nathan the Birthday Boy

Whew, yesterday was a whirlwind. As soon as we got home I was ready to collapse into dreamland. I really wanted to blog before I went to bed but my creative juices just weren't up to snuff so it had to wait.

Nathan is officially a decade old now and he was in hog heaven yesterday at his party. He chose to spend his birthday at Grandma's house. We swam all afternoon and ate lots of incredible food. I was blessed with a husband who is truly gifted at barbecuing.

One of the highlights of our afternoon was this inflatable bull. It started out with Mike and Stan trying to throw the kids onto the bull from inside the pool and seeing if the kids could stay on. It was so hilarious to watch. This game escalated to the kids, Mike, and Stan jumping off of the diving board and trying to jump and stay on the bull. My mom and I swam with James and laughed at the entertainment. If only I would have taken a picture to share. I highly recommend inflatable bull riding at your next backyard shindig.

After swimming, we played pinata baseball. We were getting sort of bored with the traditional pinata breaking so we decided that Mike would pitch the pinata to the kids and let them hit it.

It was a great success.

The pinata took ten great hits before Marcus busted it open. Candy and toys went flying and children were diving. Maybe we can start a new party trend. I can hear it now, pinata baseball the American birthday party pastime.

James hung out with Grandpa in the treehouse during the pinata opening to avoid being clobbered. He got a kick out of being taller than everyone up there.

I still can't rap my head around the fact that he is 10 now. He is turning into such a mature, wonderful person right before my eyes. Time flies.

We are both so proud of all that he is becoming.

Present time!! His favorite gifts were the rubberband gun and the nerf gun. Who would guessed that? Boys like toy guns?

After gifts we sang to him and had his cake. Cheesecake to be exact. Brianna also made him a special cake so we actually had two cakes. We went home completely stuffed.

The boys got to stay up all night and Mike and I hid out in the bedroom. All night ended up being about 3am for Marcus and Nathan, 4am for Jason. We woke up to every present Nathan received strewn about the floor, popcorn all over the floor, and three sleeping boys. It seems like they had a great time and that is all I wanted.

Happy Birthday Nathaniel, your momma loves you.

Good Afternoon

Today is a day of anticipation. Nathan's birthday is tomorrow, 10 years old, and I am in full preparation mode. I saved all my gift wrapping for today of course and I also have to get our food plans in order for tomorrow. I'm sure I am missing a few things so I will be making one of those midnight trips to Walmart.

In his usual fashion, Nathan is choosing to spend his birthday at Grandma's house. We will be spending the day over there and having his birthday dinner there too. I always let the boys pick dinner on their day and this year Nathan has requested ribs and mashed potatoes. Two great choices I must say. His cake will be the same cake he chooses every year. The boy loves cheesecake.

He is so excited about his birthday he has been losing sleep. My alarm woke me up for work at 5:45am and he was already up, too excited to lay there anymore. He has been counting down the days on every calendar in the house. I'm sure tonight is going to be a very giddy night.

In keeping with family tradition, the boys will be able to stay up all night tomorrow night. When they were younger this meant they stayed up until 11:45 and then put themselves to bed, too tired to stay up a minute longer. As they have gotten older they have really gotten good at staying up late. Last year, Jason and Nathan made it the whole night. My mom used to do this with me and my sister and I just love passing along the tradition to the boys. They will be indulging themselves with snacks, soda, movies, and Nathan's new gifts. And for the one special day, all punishments are postponed. This means he will be able to play video games. No wonder he is so excited!

Not only are we anticipating tomorrow's big plans but we are also excited for next week. Mike has the entire week off! We decided we weren't going to be able to do a big vacation this year. We were really hoping to be in Michigan at this moment and in attendance to Lindsay and Adam's wedding tomorrow. It just didn't work. We can still have some fun though! We are planning some fun little day trips around town. I don't really care what we do as long as it involves spending some quality time together outside of the house. Hee hee!

As for the boys' activities today, they didn't let a little rain stop them from swimming.

In fact, the rain made swimming even more exciting.

Currently James

Can not only walk but he can run

Plays hide and seek

Says- Bye, mama, dada, caca, poopoo, bopper (diaper), EWWWW, pee-boo (peek a boo), tee (kitty), shhhhh (mimicking the cat hissing), baba, thay yoo (thank you), bite, pie tay (patty cake), nice, and ray set do (ready set go)

Is a big copy cat and likes to copy everything I do

Plays follow the leader

Bites (especially other people's feet)

Throws all his bedding out of his crib after his nap

Likes to walk and crawl backwards

Is very ticklish and tickles everyone else too ( it feels more like scratching or gouging but he thinks it's tickling.)

Loves to be held all day long



Is finally starting to sleep through the night

Is scared of the vacuum

Runs away if he sees me with a diaper and he thinks a changing is imminent

Is sweaty no matter what the temperature is

Climbs couches, stairs, and ladders

Loves soft blankets and stuffed animals

Can eat three whole pancakes all by himself

Loves to chase after his big brothers

Is already turning into a cute funny little man who likes to be rough and tough but still finds time to be cuddly and sweet.

P.S Why are all my favorite pictures ruined by blurriness? It's sad really.



Downright tragic

Summer is......

Bubbles


For the first time

Swimming

Wishing you were swimming

Late night swashbuckling

Lazy afternoons with Aunt Sharon and cousin Daniel

Summer is freshly cut pineapple and popsicles on the back porch. It's staying up late and sleeping in. It's no homework and fun time all day long.

Summer is here!

Happy Father's Day

Mike

Remember that time Nathan threw up all over the backseat when we were dating and you helped me clean it up? Or when the boys wanted to play soccer but there weren't enough coaches and you coached the teams? Remember when one of the boys (you know which one) wasn't quite potty trained and he hid his poop by throwing it on the ceiling? I was really frustrated and you were there to help.

But you aren't there to just help.

Remember when Jason got toothpaste on his blanket so he carried water up to his top bunk to clean it? Or the time Marcus got scared on the Pinocchio ride at DisneyLand and wriggled out of his seat and jumped into ours? Remember Nathan named himself Birdman and made his own little dance? Or when Marcus used to get into the pantry and stuff all the Cheezits in his diaper?

You are there to share in the laughs too.

You are my partner in parenthood and I couldn't be happier about that.

Dad

I remember us going camping every year to Bartlett Lake. I was the only one brave enough to stay in the truck with you as you drove the truck up the steepest hill. Mom and Sarah got out and walked. Remember when we were driving back from camping and you would always scream "there's no more road!!!" and scare the crap out of us? Remember watching fireworks on the roof? Remember when you tried to teach me to drive your 1970 something blazer and I almost drove us into the canal? Remember on community clean up day you went to my school wearing two different shoes? Remember the Beavis and Butthead remote control?

I wouldn't want anyone else to be my dad but you.

It's been a rough day

Fussy baby+green pool= Bad day

Ebay

I love Ebay. You can get anything on there! It is especially addicting when you have four kids and no mode of transportation in the afternoon. I can shop from home no trip necessary! I do try to limit my purchases and only buy the necessities. Like my latest purchase.

Remember the classic Nintendo? I love that system! I can actually play games and not need to figure out five different buttons. Classic Nintendo only has two, A and B. I can handle that. I was so excited when I got it in the mail. I have all my favorite games for it too. Wizards and Warriors, Rad Racer, Dragon Warrior, Zelda, and of course Mario. If anyone remembers where the second castle is on Zelda please call me. The only game I still need to get is Battle Toads. Every day when James goes down for a nap I get to play Nintendo, and usually I have an audience watching.

Jason is a Duck Hunt master. The boys play it sometimes but still much prefer the Nintendo Wii.

Want to hear something funny? I was playing Dragon Warrior during James' nap yesterday and fell asleep. While Playing! I thought only old people fell asleep like that. I woke up still sitting upright in the chair I was sitting in and holding the controller. I wonder how long I slept.

Shopping isn't the only reason I love Ebay. I have also been selling James' old clothes that he has grown out of on there too. So to sum it all up, I sell baby clothes on Ebay to buy twenty year old video games.

It's a win win situation.

Tortillas

Yesterday as punishment for constantly telling me how bored they are, I took the boys over to my mom's house for a some hardcore manual labor. When we got there, my mom and I forced them to make us tortillas from scratch for dinner. After lots of crying and complaining they reluctantly agreed to comply with our demands. They had to since we are a lot smarter than them.

We put them to work quickly. They each mixed up their own batch and kneaded the dough. If we got any lip from them they were forced to eat fresh cherries....without sugar. *Gasp*


We did let them take a small break to let the dough rest. We aren't monsters ya know.


The break was short lived and eventually we hauled them back in to get back to work.


They each took turns rolling out their dough


and cooking them.


I stayed close by to make sure no one got out of line.


Insubordination! No tasting the flour! That's two cherries for him.


Jason was an expert tortilla flipper.


Marcus even made a tortilla that looked just like lips to remind himself never to tell me how bored he is.

We feasted all afternoon on delicious cheese crisps, buttered tortillas, and cake.

I don't think our punishment went as planned because on the way home Marcus asked when we would be doing that again.

Markers

Somebody found a stash of markers that are kept in mommy's office today.


Someone knows how to take the lids off.


And someone knows just how to use them.

Did I mention it was of the permanent variety?

Someone please remind me what weekends are for

I'm so sore today. Weekends aren't supposed to make you sore are they?

This weekend I continued my quest to cover every white wall in the house. Painting is a work out! I step on the chair, off the chair, on the chair, off the chair. It's a shame that it is so tiring because I really do like it. I don't let Mike help at all. I want to do it all.

Mike had his hands full installing a few lights we found clearanced at Lowe's. He is my official electrician and I am so glad because I am scared of getting shocked. He knows what he is doing.

Nathan's room was our canvas first of the day. He chose a very nice sunny color and in the afternoon light it looks just like macaroni and cheese. It makes me hungry.

That cat is so loved. The kids are so pleased when she picks to sleep in one of their rooms at night. I don't tell them that as soon as I go to bed she runs into my room. She's a little snuggler.

It was really hard to get a picture of the paint because of the window. They all came out a little back lit.




I found this bookshelf out by the road down the street from our house while I was checking the mail. I think it is a desk hutch or something but it works out perfect as a book case too. I carried it back to the house by myself. By the time I was one house away I wasn't sure I was going to make it. That sucker is heavy!


After Nathan's room, I painted the downstairs bathroom. This was really a mini bathroom makeover. I wish I would have taken a before picture because you would probably be more impressed. Maybe I can describe it to you.

Before: We had dirty boring white walls, a landing strip of lightbulbs on a cheap generic lighting fixture, and three large gold colored rusted up hooks that were in place of a normal towel bar, and linoleum floors. Are you starting to visualize it?


After: We took down the old lighting and installed a towelbar to replace the hooks. I painted a blueish color to coordinate with the cinnamon colored curtain.


New light fixture. Fancy!We still have the linoleum but it really doesn't look too bad now that the rest looks better. I would like to get something with some red in it to hang on the wall but other than that I am very pleased with how it turned out and the project only costed $65!

When I wasn't painting this weekend I was treated to a puppet show by the boys. They made their own puppets out of brown paper bags. Can you guess who they are?


It is Dora and Boots.

We got to watch Dora, Boots, Santa, Pig, and Jack the frog have wrestling matches, save the world from terrorists, and reenact Dora shows. It was quite entertaining and I particularly liked the ones that involved Jack the frog.

After yesterday Mike and I both are feeling a little tired.


We will have to find some time to fit in some more of this. It won't be today though, Jason has to get xrays on his shoulder to see how it has healed and then we are off to my mom's house. It is going to be fun, we have a special activity planned with the kids.