BOYS

Honestly, I don't have much to say. I'm just sick of it being Father's Day all year long. Had I ended with a Mother's Day post I probably would have left it but since I didn't, you get to hear a story that's kinda gross and probably not all that funny....but it's not Father's Day and that's what's important right?
We took the boys shooting the weekend before last. They wanted to make their own targets so I'm thinking that's a great idea and I get out all the stuff to help them. The little turds tricked me! They made targets on the front but on the back they drew stick figures and if you hit it right on the front, it hit the stick figure where it counts on the back. Seriously? They thought they were so clever. And then while we were shooting they peed in empty water bottles so they could shoot those.
John thought that was hilarious (I might have smiled a little but not much. I'm much more civilized than that) and of course let them shoot those too.

Front of target (the side they showed me)

Some of the backs of the targets. I have lovely children.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's day to our dad who never seems to mind that there is always someone climbing on top him, laying on him, boxing with him, or accidentally kicking him where it counts. He is a definitely a boys dad and spends a lot of time just playing with the kids and they love every second of it. Happy Father's Day! We love you!!

Congrats!

Congrats to T-Dog for graduating pre-school! He is ready to move on and really excited to start kindergarten this fall. He will be going to an all day kindergarten at an international school that teaches Spanish to all the students. He is already preparing. The other day as I was leaving he said "Peace out mom" I was dying laughing and he said, "What? All I did was say goodbye in Spanish!" It's gonna be a LONG year. Congrats T!!

This is why

You don't give a 2 yr old their own hot fudge sundae........Don't ask me what I was thinking because clearly, I wasn't.

Willy

Well, he's dead.

Let me start at the beginning... About 6 months ago I had to run to the pet store to get crickets for our gecko (I do realize that is totally gross but have recently gotten over it because well, the lizard isn't gonna feed himself). I had all the boys with me and we started looking around at all the pets. They all decided they wanted a rat. With red eyes. Seriously? That's gross.

Then we come across the reptiles and they change their mind to a frog or a snake... Finally they decide on a frog... We made a deal. I buy the $7 frog and they save up and buy everything else. I knew it would never happen. For them to save $80 is crazy.

It took six months of saving and pulling their money, but they did it. Tyson and Tate's birthday money gave them that last $20 (thanks ALOT grandpa and grandma..). We all went to the pet store the next Saturday and got everything we needed and put it altogether.

They sat and watched that frog forever. We even considered going to the movies and letting the frog babysit.

Willy was a great frog.

Then a week later Blake asked us to come check the frog because he looked like "beef jerky."

Well, he was right, and the frog was dead. I have no idea why. They cried and cried.

John tossed him in the trash before we realized they were expecting a funeral.

So we lied.

We told them we decorated a box and buried him in the backyard and when they asked if we could dig him up when we move and take him to he next house we told them of course they could.

Goodbye Willy. The boys will miss you. Me? Not so much. You were a great frog for that week we had you.....

Tyson's Birthday

The cake...We had a red cake made and then John made the "M" part.

Tyson turned 5 about a month ago. I figured I better post pictures before he turns 6. So I am a month behind...hey, that's how I roll. He wanted a Super Mario party. Take note, if your child ever requests this theme, run screaming to the hills. There is pretty much nothing out there. I did find a pinata and some plates on the Internet which cost a small fortune and the rest we had to make. It was a lot of work but John and I actually enjoyed it. Now we are praying Blake and Ryan don't pick some obscure theme for their party...with our luck they will pick Avatar or something.

Here's Tyson and the pinata...

Goomba and koopa troopa stomp. They had to pop the balloons to get the gold coins inside...

My boys...

When the kids came in they got a Mario hat and mustache and the girls got a crown (princess peach)

Pin the mustache on Mario. John drew this the night before. Now his secret is out...he is a pretty talented artist

The kids got these after the game but as I was making them I looked down and these were staring at me. I decided it was kinda creepy...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY T-DOG!!!

Mother of the Year

My sister sent me this... I thoroughly enjoyed it. Just watch. It's funny. Thanks Stace...


http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=C0F1jv23RakeZbjcay67_jg4Njk0Nw--&referred_by=15975855-.lXUq_x&p=moveon

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!

Turkey Huntin'

About 2 weeks ago John took the 3 older boys turkey hunting with a friend and his 3 boys. They were in heaven. They even got up at 4am and hiked to the blinds they set up the night before to sit and wait for turkeys. They never did see one....Apparently, turkeys can see and hear really well and when you have 6 excited boys crammed in a blind, it's pretty hard to not be spotted even if you are decked out in camo.

CALI

About a week ago we made an impromptu trip to northern California where John is from. We had a great time. I mean, I had 2 kids bawling all the 10 hr drive home because they didn't want to leave. We get spoiled every time we go there and this time was no exception. We golfed, climbed trees, colored, went to the zoo, did puzzles, went to the park, golfed some more, went to the movies, went to the driving range, rode the train, drove the golf cart, went frog hunting, golfed some more, went to Starbucks, and ate more candy than anyone should in 72 hours. We had a fabulous time..


All of us.
I was not happy when the boys came home with TWO frogs. I only said they could hunt because I didn't think they would actually catch any!

Going frog hunting. Tyson made a frog call that actually worked.

3-D movie!

This is the "box." It's really where they keep their golf cart but the boys loved it and kept asking to go in it.

Golfing after the course was closed

Tate would even set a golf ball on a tee and swing it with his bat.

We strapped the boys through the straps for golf bags. It worked out sweet.

Preggo?

I'm a few days late..posting this that is. We have never really gotten into April Fools Day but this year the boys were pulling pranks on me all day. I didn't fall for all of them, like when Ry said my shoe was on fire but I was able to pull a pretty good one. An pregnant friend, who shall remain nameless, took a pregnancy test for me so I would have a positive result to freak John out with. I waited till the end of the day and had casually mentioned I bought a pregnancy test I needed to take later. He just said,"Huh. Really?" Yep. So as he was putting the boys to bed I went to the bathroom and set it on the counter with the box that showed what the results meant. I went to our bedroom and started putting pj's on Tater when he came in and asked if I wanted to watch TV with him downstairs. I said sure but I had to check the test first and make sure it was negative. He said he would go check it. That was perfect because it was all I could do not to bust up right there. I suck at lying. He goes in there and I see him looking at the test then at the back of the box. Then the test again then the back of the box. Test, box, test, box. At this point I call out, it's negative right? He turns around and says NO. I though he was gonna pass out right then and there. By this time I am laughing so hard I can hardly stand up and he is just staring at me. Then he says," why are you laughing, this is not funny." I couldn't let him think he really had to support a 5th kid so I asked him if he knew what day it was. Then it clicked. He didn't think it was funny until the next day. I on the other hand, thought it was hilarious from the beginning. Good times....good times...

Six Tunnels Half Marathon

Last weekend I ran the six tunnels half marathon. I was really looking forward to it after I had to drop out of the half marathon I had signed up and trained for in January. It was a St. Patricks Day race (hence the green and bag pipes). I had a certain time I was aiming for and well.....it didn't happen. It was harder than I anticipated. I finished in 2:07 (9:45 pace). It's not what I wanted but I can live with it. The thing that disappointed me the most was I freaking walked most of mile 11 and 12. The only reason I ran the last 1.1 mile was because I didn't want to cross the finish line walking. I have a whole list of reasons and excuses of why that happened but they are just to make me feel better so I will keep them to myself. I can not stand the fact that I walked and at the time I knew I would regret it but after a steep hill at mile 10 I hit the wall big time.
Anyhoo, it shook my confidence a bit but I am still signing up for another half. Hopefully it goes better.... as in, I better not walk. Before the race. You can tell because I am smiling

Only in Vegas would people dress up and run in that getup. And it was HOT that day!

The race started with some bag pipe music. It was....interesting.

The Leash

There has been much controversy over the purchase of "the leash." Tate is a runner. He will not stand or sit still for anything. The baseball games have been extra hard with John not around to help me (he's on the field). So I was at Target, like I usually am, and I see it. A leash. I buy it and the following conversation happened:

me: I bought tater a leash

john: what? he's not wearing a leash

me: well, they had a monkey and a dog and I let him choose. he chose the dog

john: riiiight. take it back.

me: Well, it not really a leash, it's called a travel harness

john: take the leash back

me: well, it's eddie bauer

john: oh!! it;s eddie bauer? well why didn't you just say that from the beginning? Of course it's ok if it's eddie bauer!
me: really?

john: no. take the leash back

I took it back. Then I went to a practice and told the other moms about my returned leash. After watching me chase the kid all over the park, by the end of practice several moms were concurring that I needed to go back and get the leash. So I did. Now they make fun of me because Tate runs around with the leash dragging behind him.

Happy Birthday!!

I finally got my computer to download pictures! YAY! Here is a late shout out to my sweet and destructive Tater. He turned 2 on March 13. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUD!!

Poo

Very recently my blog as been referred to as....well...poo-poo. I'm not gonna say who said it, but it was very offensive. I mean, come on STEVEN, how bad is it really? I update at least once a year, don't post pictures, and leave my holiday themed backgrounds up for months. Hmm....yeah, I guess poo-poo is a pretty good description.

BASEBALL SEASON HAS BEGUN....

3 Boys + 2 Teams + 3 Practices a week +4 Games a week + 1 Husband Coach =

PURE MADNESS

If anyone needs me from now until the end of May I'll be at the ball park. I'll be the one chasing a run away toddler and trying to watch 3 kids play on 2 different teams at the same time. I shouldn't be hard to spot.

HAPPY 32!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HUBBY WHO TURNS 32 TODAY. LOVE YOU!!

Complaints...

So I have received a few complaints...I know I haven't posted anything new and everyone is sick of looking at the hideous cookies. Here's the thing, I'm busy. Shocking, I know. But let me explain...Right now we are in the middle of basketball and baseball season has just started so we have some form of practice everyday mon thru thursday with games on saturday. John is working late and on weekends and the main reason I suck at blogging the fact that Tate is going to kill me before I turn 30. Take today for example...We went to Target. I got him popcorn and a slushee (so it was 9am...so what). He took the lid off and dumped the slushee on the ground. I walked really fast to another aisle. Then I let him have the popcorn in the car on the way to Dick's. I'm on the freeway and popcorn starts pelting me in the back of the head. He dumped out the whole bag and continued to chuck it at me until he ran out. At Dick's he stole some starburst and began eating them with the wrapper still on. And finally, at our last stop, Costco, he wouldn't sit in the cart and as I was handing my costco card to the checker, Tate ran. The checker also ran. He caught Tate before he made it out the exit only because Tate stopped to pick up a piece of candy he spotted on the floor. So by the time I get home and feed Tate lunch and put him to bed, the last thing I want to do is blog. I want to sit and enjoy the silence (which I really don't get to do anyways because right now he is currently screaming because I put him in bed) but you get the point. I do feel bad because the other boys have been doing some great things and when I do blog all I ever blog about is my demon child. I will try harder to update more and include all the boys. So stay tuned? Maybe?

Cookies

Since I knew John would be working this weekend I tried to think of something the boys could do to stay busy at home. I try to avoid taking all four them to public places by myself... it always involves kicking and screaming and hair pulling (and that's just by me). Anyways, I decided they could make and decorate sugar cookies for valentine's day. It went pretty well in the beginning. I called them in the kitchen one at a time to roll out their dough and cut thier shapes. Then when the cookies were cool we pulled out all the decorations and frosting and went to town. I'm not gonna lie, it was messy and crazy, and one cookie ended up with a whole bottle of sprinkles, and there might have been a time or two (or 10) when I wanted to scream, but the boys had a great time making them and an even better time eating them.

**I just want to point out that the reason poor Tate isn't in these pictures is because I am a very mean mom who would only consider doing this activity when Tate was taking a nap. Where's my broomstick?

So I have been really crappy about posting lately. I just haven't felt the urge. I mean, does anyone really care that Tate drew on my walls and doors with a marker? Is it really blogworthy that he stood on my counter and threw a glass down on the tile just to see what would happen?

How about Tate drawing on the counter and his body with a dry erase marker...

Or should I blog about Tate stabbing Tyson (accidentally) with a fork during dinner (sorry, no pics of the gushing blood)...
Is anyone dying to know that these all happened in the same day?

So anyways, I probably need to do some blogger repentance for not posting very much and I really only did a new one today cause I'm sick of looking at the last post, but I'm just not feeling the blogging urge lately. Lame, I know.

School Is Back In Session!!

After a very long and mostly fun 5 week track break, three of these four lovely children went back to school today. The one child that didn't still naps. I am one happy mama.