Here's A Good One For You...

We got home from church yesterday and Joe immediately had to run off to meetings. I immediately had to sit down and feed Luke and the kids had to immediately change and run outside. I sat on the couch with my little snuggles in my arms and watched as the kids played with their beloved bubble machine...they were so mesmerized with what they were doing, that they completely forgot I was within eye and earshot.

Suddenly, Jake felt the need to dump ALL of our giant bubble bottle onto the ground...making it incredibly slippery, which caused Kate to wipe out. At least 3 times. This caused extreme anger in Kate, and she proceeded to tell Jake that he needed to learn his lesson. While she reprimanded him, he grabbed the hose and when her back was turned, he pulled the trigger and a jet stream of cold water hit her back with extreme force.

A scream of horror/shock/laughter rang through our neighborhood and that's about the time Luke finished up, so I could actually do something about the scene outside my screen. Forcefully, Jake was grabbed from the area and brought into his room to change him from his soaking wet clothes, as well as begin the time-out routine. As I'm pulling on his new shirt and pants, he looks at me and says,

"I wuv you, Mommy."

"Thank you, Jake. I love you too. I need you to be a good listen--" (I never finished)

"Mommy, you're beautiful."

Happy Birthday Big Boy!

I can't believe little Jakers is 3 years old. When he woke up on Tuesday morning I asked him what he wanted for breakfast. He could have ANYTHING he wanted. What was his request? Cereal. Thanks for making my life a little easier, buddy! I did get powdered donuts anyway because I knew he'd love it :) You can't just give a kid cereal on his birthday!!! Jake's been fascinated with the movie Cars... so I thought I'd try making a cake that would fit his obsession Momo and BG surprised Jake (and his parents!!!) with a truck for his big day. Can you tell how excited he was?! All I can say is you two better be around when he's old enough to really drive and he starts asking for a bigger red jeep... it won't be coming from us :) haha!I think we'll just avoid letting Kate get her drivers license altogether.

Thanks, Mom and Dad! We are going to have a blast with this!

A little too much Fun Dip perhaps???

Joe getting Jake's bike all set to go. Too bad it's been pouring all week! Jake has been itching to get out there and use his new toys!

Ben and Jake spending a little QT changing his cars from his cake different colors

I love all of the heads in this picture!

Jen knows just how to get the perfect smile out of Luke every time!

Earlier that day we took the cousins to Super Franks to check it out. I think it was a success.

We couldn't find Gracie and found her here-- perfect form... I think Jen should be worried!

The boys

Love you, Buddy! I'm so glad you have a fun day!

Another Rainy Day Picture Attempt

I wanted to get Jake's 3 year old pictures taken and Luke's 3 month old pictures. So I scheduled the appointment, and of course, when the time came to leave, the wind and the rain were so strong I wondered why I even try :) The same thing seemed to happen last year.

So here we are. I'm so glad Joe was with me because I almost passed this one up. He looked at it and just started laughing. It captures the EXACT personalities of our kids.

We definitely deserved another Wetzel's Pretzel run it was all over.

Let's Just Add to the Chaos Because We Can

I believe that kids instinctively know when you are unable to intervene...like when I sit down to nurse Luke or am on the phone with the insurance lady and it doesn't appear that I'll be getting off any time soon. This was one of those moments. I had given Kate her art lesson on texture and she was supposed to replicate Van Gogh's Sunflowers using paint to create her masterpiece. It was decent outside, so of course the art project moved outdoors to cut down on the cleanup at the kitchen table. Jake wanted to join in, so I got them all set up and then went inside and called our insurance to discuss some bills...

Yes, this is what I found as I peered out the backdoor while still talking to the lady on the phone.

What do you do?! I finally was able to get off the phone and of course Luke woke up and was crying...

There was no way they were coming in the house like that! It was starting to get a little chilly. I did the only thing I could think of in a hurry. Yes, it was January (but we live in CA), I made them strip down to their skinnies and I squirted the hose right at those kids until they were decent to enter the house. It was cold water and boy were they screaming! But you know what? They haven't done it since :) I had a warm bath waiting for them as soon as they got in the house. I'm not THAT mean.

OUTNUMBERED...

AND FEELING IT!!! This kind of sums up why I haven't been blogging as of late :) I almost completely threw in the towel because I figured I just didn't have time to do this anymore...not that Luke is a hard baby...he is actually one of the most peaceful babies ever and just loves to snuggle... it's the turn of events with numero dos while recovering and trying to homeschool numero uno that almost did us in. But I realized I blog more than I write in my journal, so this needs to continue!

There's really no other way to put it. Jake has been SOMETHING ELSE! When we finally returned from Luke's great arrival, Jake suddenly for the very first time in his life, started waking up and coming into our room 5-6 times a night... refusing to take his naps, he turned into something of a wild creature, and really blew us all out of the water. Thankfully there were no hard feelings towards his little brother... let me just give you a couple of examples...

1. One evening while putting dinner on the table, I called to the kids to come sit down and eat. It took a few calls to get Jake to come on over and when he finally did, he had his sword stuck in the back of his shirt with a scrunched up nose and a hand on a hip and exclaimed, "This bad Lamanite is NOT hungry!" Don't know what a Lamanite is? Let me know. I'll get you a copy of The Book of Mormon-- another testament of Jesus Christ.... it'll change your life.
2. How 'bout when I found him with scissors cutting up a perfectly good book. When I looked at him, he said with a smile, "I'm cutting the book."
3. Or what about when he pooped in his diaper and instead of coming to tell me so I could change him, he decided it'd be more fun to run around naked in his room... you can imagine how fun that was to clean up.
4. Speaking of diapers, when we told him he's a big boy now and shouldn't need diapers anymore his reply was, 'I'm not a big boy. I'm widdle. I'll poop in the potty when I'm older." Clearly if you can say that, you are ready.

Hmmmm.... the list continues but that's good for now. We are down to him only getting up usually once a night now (the baby is already sleeping through the night, so something is backwards there!) But he's getting more rest 9and so are we) so things are looking up!

Just the other day we were going to Target to pick up some baseball mitts and helmets and bats for the the kids. I was explaining the difference between baseball and softball to Jake. Later that day, Jake decided to share this new info with one of his friend's mom. He began by telling her what we bought and then with this cutest expression he said, "Yeah, GIRLS play softball." I asked him what boys play and he said, "LOUD BALL!!!" Gotta love it.

"I'm Not a Big Boy... I'm Wittle!!!"

Yes, but we need you to be a big boy so we can transition you out of the crib well before your brother arrives!!!!
So, we put together a toddler bed for Jake and he couldn't wait to get into it. This was his first night... He got special treatment while Kate read a bedtime story to him...

I snuggled him in, sang him a song and even when he looked up and said, "Rock me, Mommy," I rocked him for a little bit. He was set. This was going to be great!

Ten minutes later, I hear sobbing about how he doesn't like his big boy bed and he wants to sleep in his "wittle bed." It only seemed to get worse. Naps were a complete joke. This is what I found one day after peaking in to check on him. His room was completely destroyed. A broken lamp, all of his clothes pulled out of the drawers...wipes and diapers scattered everywhere... and Jakers is sacked out on his beanbag.

I know it takes time, but how much time?? No one is sleeping because of this little guys new found freedom of a big boy bed. He comes flying around the corner at 10PM with this "I just broke out of jail" smile and is rearing to go. The funny thing is, the bags are so big under his eyes, that he could trip on them! I have to admit, I loved the crib. I was in control... now I'm afraid, that is no longer.

You've Got Flippers for Feet--USE THEM!

That's what I heard from my own swim coach when I was in high school. Nice. We figured Kate will probably have the same problem, so we decided she'd benefit from being on a swim team at a young age to make use of the large appendages that run in our family :)

In all honestly, swim team was cheaper than lessons, and we figured she'd be swimming 5 days a week, so she'd have to pick up on it. We kind of threw her into the fire because she was the only 4 year old on the team-- the rest of the "6 and under group" were all 6 years old. I was so nervous the first day of practice. She wasn't. She was thrilled to be wearing her stylish cap and hop in the pool with the big kids.
Jake and Mickey looked on wishing they could be in the water with her!

Yes, that's her on the end. Pink cap. The first week of practice she did what she does best and doggy paddled her heart out-- WITHOUT getting her face wet. The coaches kept trying to get her to put her face in the water, but she'd just reply, "No thanks," and continue on swimming. She looked painful-- as if she were drowning-- but amazingly, that kid's desire to not get her face wet, kept her afloat!

In fact, on one occasion that first week, a parent happened to be walking by and saw Kate "swimming" to the other end of the pool. He thought she was drowning and yelled out to the coaches, "THIS ONE NEEDS HELP!!!" I was sitting right on the edge of the pool and couldn't help my laughter. The best part about it was that she felt like she was one of the best-- doing her thing.

Thankfully, after that first week, and lots of practice with goggles in the tub (Kate and myself), she started getting that head in the water and her rear on the surface. Suddely, freestyle was her "favorite" stroke.

With all of this new found equipment, Jake was having a hay day! I found him like this one afternoon in those early weeks of practice.

Yes-- those goggles are upsidedown.

Maybe I should try that. It just might make vacuuming all the more enjoyable!

Shea Butter

Have you ever used shea butter? It is some of the best stuff when it comes to super dry skin. I love it. I use it mostly in the winter time and so I keep it under the sink the rest of the year. It smells really good...and did I mention you only need to use a tiny bit to see magnificent results?
I honestly don't even know where I was when this took place. Probably folding clothes in the back.

The funny thing is, our house is so small, it's not as if I can't hear everything that is going on...

We went to see cousin Ben play baseball this very same night. Have any guesses as to who the bugs were attracted to? Jake smelled delicious! And his skin was extra soft too! Looks like I'll need to go get another container before winter rolls around again.

A Soapy Situation

We had a few birthday parties coming up--so we went to the store and Kate picked out bubble machines for the kids-- one for each of them and one for us. I thought it was a great idea because then I wouldn't have to be the one blowing all of the bubbles!!! So this particular morning, the sun was out and it was warm. The kids ran to the backyard after breakfast and while I was cleaning up, I realized I didn't hear my name being yelled for quite some time... that always means there's a possibility for disaster... I found them THOROUGHLY enjoying the bubble machine!

Notice Kate's matted hair? She was showing Jake the perfect stance to get just the right amount of bubbles on top of his head. Isn't she a great big sister?!

Why are bubbles so much fun? I love 'em too.

I left for a time only to come back to find them sitting in their chairs laughing about the morning's events with soap COMPLETELY covering the very tips of their heads to the bottoms of their toes.

By 10 AM they already had a bath

and were ready for their next adventure!