Getting caught up (again!)

I'll start off with a qoute from my second child...

   "I don’t want Katie to sit by me! She’s bossy and smelly and annoying. But she’s also cute so maybe it‘s ok.”  - Ben Hughes

The summer is coming to an end. And YES, I am just a little excited about that! It's been a fun summer, but this momma is ready for kids to be back in school. We had open house yesterday, and got to meet Emma and Ben's teachers for the year. I can't believe they are in 3rd and Kindergarten this year...Time is flying. I got a little behind on the blog, but I'm doing my best to catch up. Lots has happened this month, and of course, the kids have kept us laughing and pulling our hair out at the same time! Life is never boring, that's for sure. So, below are some funny stories, some pictures, and even a FUN announcement :) Hope everyone has had a WONDERFUL summer!

Dreams...

This morning Ben was acting a little standoff-ish. He was just sitting up on his top bunk looking a little sad. I finally went in and asked him what was wrong.
   “Hey Bud, don’t you want to come out and watch cartoons?” He just shook his head. “Are you sick?” He just shook his head no. “Well, what’s wrong?”
   He looked me in the eye and said sadly, “You were very mean to me in my dream last night. It made me sad.”
   “Sorry, buddy. Dreams aren’t real, right?” He nodded. “So, how was I mean?”
   He scooted over a little closer to me, warming up again, I guess. “Well, we went out to eat at a restaurant and you told all of us we could have dessert if we ate all our healthy food. So I ate all my stuff, and then I wanted a cake pop and you said NO! You only let me get chocolate milk and I was so sad.”
   Wow- the boy loves him some dessert…. Hope he recovers from this at some point.

Get out of jail free?

Last night Ben and Katie were playing some sort of cops and robbers game. I guess Kate was the bad guy because she was constantly being taken to “jail”. Pretty soon Ben came out and said, “Kate’s locked in the bedroom.” I assumed it was part of the game so I said, “Oh, bummer..”
   He kinda stood there for a minute then said, “No, I can’t get the door open. She’s stuck in there.” Hmmm..
  How’d she lock the door?” Dave asked.
  “Well, I locked it and then shut the door. I just wasn’t using my brain I guess.” He said.
  As Operation “Free Katie” commenced, Emma got very nervous. “What if we never get her out?” She nervously asked.
  “Don’t worry Emma, daddy will just bust down that door if he has to.” Ben said enthusiastically. He seemed excited about the whole thing, and apparently had already forgotten he was in big trouble.
  While Dave tried to open the door from inside, I went around the house to see if our bedroom window was unlocked. I was starting to wonder if she was scared, or maybe sitting by the door crying. I couldn’t have been more wrong. There she was, bouncing on the bed, throwing pillows around and turning the lights on-off-on-off-on-off…Could not have cared less. I’m guessing she was enjoying the time she had all to herself.
P.s.- we did get her out….and the new “jail” is now in a room with no lock (I know, takes all the fun out of it).

Camp Bodine

The 4th annual Camp Bodine has come and gone. We had a great time playing games, swimming, crafts, laughing really hard, playing ladderball, water gun fights and staying up late. Thanks Mom for an awesome time! The cousins always have so much fun hanging out for 3 days... AND- next years Camp Bodine we will have 2 MORE cousins to play with!!! I haven't really announced this yet on here, but my little sister Crystal is having TWINS! We are all so excited, she and my brother in law are still in a little bit of shock! They have 3 wonderful boys, and decided to have 1 more. Well, God decided to bless them with twins. Needless to say, we were all so SURPRISED! They are going to find out in 2 weeks what those little babies are- boys, girls or 1 of each. I can't wait.....
       Here are a few pictures of our time in Dallas at Camp Bodine...

The Campers with their T-shirts (in order of appearance..ha!!)

Making Stepping stones..

The boys guarding the girls in their castle...

more crafts!

My sisters making dinner :)

Dave and Kate!

Jackson and Ben doing perimeter checks....serious business.

I can't believe how big these kids are getting! Austin (almost 9), Emma (8), Jackson (6), Ben (5 1/2), 

Charlie (3 1/2) and Katie (2 1/2) .

Hanging out in Dallas...

watersliding!

horse riding :)

And of course, lots of target practice!

Oh, I can't close this post without a story...

As I was tucking Ben into bed last night I asked him 2 questions:

Me: “What was your most favorite part of Camp Bodine?”

Ben: “Definitely exploring in the woods.”

Me: “Okay, so what was your LEAST favorite part?” 

Ben: (without hesitation) “When I had to stop exploring to go #2.”

Hot summer day

I took the kids up to WSU Vancouver to play in the fountains. Apparently, they were also in a karate mood...

School letters

Dear Mr. Mailman,
I’m sorry my kids are stalking you like a pack of hungry wolves. I promise this will end as soon as you hand over the letter telling them who their teachers are. I really hope they haven’t freaked you out as they stared at you putting our mail in the box. They are a little on edge. Hopefully you have the letter today, because they are thinking of pitching a tent down there.
Sorry for the hassle,
The crazy kids’ mom

Target disaster

Temper tantrums, however fun they may be to throw, rarely solve whatever problem is causing them.  ~Lemony Snicket

    We went to Target today. And probably won’t be setting foot in one again for the foreseeable future. It’s not that I don’t like Target- I L.O.V.E. Target. It’s what happened it there today that will make me cringe the next time I see the big Red O. Not a pretty sight.
    It all started off great. We didn’t have an agenda, just cruising around the store sipping our Icees and looking for some end of the summer deals. When we got to the shoe department, everyone was in great spirits. It was pretty busy, lots of shoes on clearance. From one aisle over, I hear Emma yell, “Hey mom, these high heels would totally match the bra you have on today!” Say what? All eyes turned towards us as she brings over a pair of leopard print shoes. Great, I just LOVE it when the whole store knows what kind of bra I’m wearing. This should have been my clue that things were taking a turn…  
   I let Katie pick out some really cute sandals. She wanted them sooo bad and since she did need some, I said yes. She was smiling as we started making our way to check-out. Then she saw it. A princess stroller right there in front of her. Like a sunbeam was shining down on its cuteness. She made a beeline for it and promptly set her shoes in it and started pushing. “I gonna get this stroller for my babies.” Uh-oh. (Insert scary, daunting music here).
    I pulled her aside and told her she already had shoes, so she couldn’t get the stroller. “I’m gonna get the shoes AND the stroller, it’s ok, right mommy?” Dagnabit! I have lived through MANY temper tantrums with the older two, but had yet to see a full blown one by Miss Kate. I knew it was coming, and could feel the sweat beads start to make an appearance on my forehead. “STAY STRONG, whatever happens next,” I repeated to myself as I took the stroller away.

   Screams, wailing, pleading, kicking and crawling on the floor quickly followed. I scooped her up, and made a beeline for the check stand. EVERYBODY was watching me, and it may be a coincidence but a security guard was standing not too far away. Emma and Ben both were plugging their ears. The line was long. She started kicking her legs and yelling even louder (if that’s possible). It was hard to do but I told the checker over the screaming, “Here are the shoes she wants. They are soooo cute but she can’t get these either.” The checker and I couldn’t talk much, it was taking all that was in me to pay AND hold onto a screaming 30 pound kid. 

    As I turned to leave the checker smiled at me and said really loud, “Thank you for not giving in. That doesn’t happen very often.” I pushed the cart a little further and an older lady smiled and said, “This too shall pass- you’re doing a good thing honey”. Very kind words, that I only now can appreciate. Kate screamed all the way home, and our ears are all still ringing. But she didn’t get her way. And not only did she learn a lesson, but Emma and Ben saw that MAMA means business…. Sometimes It’s really hard to be a responsible adult….

Boys Boys

Yesterday Emma and Ben wanted to conduct a science experiment. I said, “Have at it.” They filled bottles with water and LOTS of food coloring, and some random other stuff including dirt and pebbles. Then they decided they wanted to freeze them to see what happened.
So today, obviously, it was frozen solid. Ben kinda looked at it and said, “Now what are we supposed to do with it?” Knowing that I needed him to be BUSY while I cooked dinner, I told him to go out back and see if he could use his superhuman powers to bust that bad boy open.
Wow- if you need to keep a 5 ½ year old boy busy let him wack at a frozen water bottle with a baseball bat- he loved every minute of it. After an hour, he successfully crushed that thing to shreds, found the pebbles, and was sweaty and very proud of himself. I also got dinner cooked. Hmmm…I think all the boy needs for Christmas this year is bottled water and rocks…..

Clark County Fair

Fun CRAZY day at the Clark County Fair! The kids rode lots of rides, we watched Moto X and Monster Trucks, and OF COURSE we ate lots of fair food :) Katie also rode her first carnival ride solo, and loved it... we can't wait till next years fair!

Mt. Everest

    For the past couple weeks our family has gotten way behind on laundry. Like, seriously behind. I’ll clarify a little for you. We ARE actually washing and drying clothes- I mean, we can’t have people calling us the stinky family, right? The problem is the folding. What’s happened is a strange phenomenon. It started innocently with one clean load dumped in the corner of our bedroom. No harm in that, right? Ha….
   About 20 loads later that little pile is now being referred to as Mt. Everest. At least by the kids and I. Dave just calls it the giant pile. “Hey Nik, I found a matching pair of socks in the giant pile this morning!” He told me this like it was some huge feat (which it was). It’s funny how this mountain of clothes has quickly become a part of our house. We don’t even joke about it anymore, it’s just a fact of life.
   A few days ago Emma yelled from her room, “Mom, where’s my swimsuit?” I yelled right back, “On the right side of Mt. Everest, about half-way down near the wall.” A few seconds later she responded, “Got it. Thanks”.
   This is totally normal right? Yesterday Ben came out to tell me he couldn’t find any underwear. Before I got a chance to answer he said, “Oh, I forgot to look on Mt. Everest.”
Instead of knowing which drawers the clothes are in, I can tell you where in that pile to find them. It’s sad, really. Or maybe not? Maybe we’ve stumbled on a better and more fluent system for doing laundry?
   I think I was snapped back to reality this morning when the kids and I played hide and seek. When one of your kids can successfully win hide and seek by hiding in a pile of laundry, I think it’s time for it to go. Or when your 2 year old comes running up to you with a huge smile on her face and says, “Mommy, I climb Mt. Everest all by myself!” It’s time for it to go.
    So tonight, as I watch the Olympics, Mt. Everest is going away- we’ll miss you big guy, we really will……



 

Welcome to MY world

   The kids and I had planned to go to the park but it was getting close to lunchtime. So I asked Emma if she would mind being in charge of packing the lunches. She was really excited- like, jumping up and down excited. I told her to ask Ben and Kate what they wanted, and then get to work.
   I jumped in the shower and by the time I was dressed 6.8 minutes later I could here yelling from the kitchen. Lots of yelling. I snuck down the hallway and listened in on pure chaos. Emma was frantically trying to put Peanut Butter on pieces of bread, but Katie was hanging on her leg asking for juice. “Juice, Emma, Juice”. Ben was on a chair trying to reach his lunchbox on top of the fridge saying, “Emma, help me get this down” over and over again.
   I could tell Emma was trying to tune them out, totally focused on smearing jelly on the bread. Then, all of the sudden, she slams down the jam jar and yells at the top of her lungs, “Does it look like I have three hands?? I can’t do everything at once all by myself! I‘m not superwoman!”
   Music to my ears. I stood in the hallway savoring my solitude for 10 more seconds. Then I walked into the kitchen and gave her a big hug as the noise continued around us. “Mom, this is so hard! Everybody is loud and bossy and impatient..”
    I just whispered into her ear these words- “Welcome to my world…”

P.S.- since this day Emma has been very patient anytime I’m in the kitchen….

We want a redo, please.

    NOT a good day. One of those crazy days where NOTHING seems to go right. Let me explain:
 The kids had trashed the house- so we spent all morning cleaning it up. There were tears, there was whining, but we did it. Then, with a shiny clean house, we decided to go swimming. We were turned away upon entering because I apparently have “too many kids” to keep track of safely in the water. All 3 of them. Again, many more tears. We talked about how life is not fair sometimes, and we sadly walked back to our car.
   Katie cried the entire way back to Battle Ground because she didn’t understand why we were not enjoying the pool right about now. THEN- I decide to take the kids to Frozen Yogurt to lift our spirits. All was well- for about 10 minutes.
  As we pull into the parking lot Ben says he has to pee soooo bad. As I’m getting Katie unbuckled, I tell him to run in and go potty. I’m literally 10 seconds behind him. As I push open the door to the yogurt place, I see him doing the dance. He yells, “Somebody’s in there mom! It’s locked!” All attention is now on us.
   “Ok, bud, just wait a minute” I say hurrying towards him. Too late. I see the look of pure relief on his face as a huge pee puddle begins forming underneath him. AWESOME. Right there in the yogurt joint my kid pees on the floor.
  I just stood in disbelief. “I’m so sorry mom”, he says as he bends over, lifts his crocs to empty out the pee trapped inside of them. The restroom door opened 20 seconds too late, and the poor lady had to sidestep the puddle on the floor. Ben ran in, grabbed paper towels and I couldn’t stop the tears as I cleaned it up.
   We left in complete silence, except for me muttering, “I’m so sorry” over and over again. We climbed back in the car and Emma, now seriously angry, says, “This day is just awful. I want a re-do!” I agree, Emma. Ben, ever the optimist, just said, “Well, after I change lets just go to the other frozen yogurt place, they don’t know about me peeing all over the floor.”