Jack-A-Roni-Balogney

I seriously have to wonder where time goes.

Some days can be so long, but yet time can fly by at the same time. 

Can anyone explain how that works?

Or does anyone else (with kids) ever look around and say,

"How can I possibly have kids this old?"

Seriously people - how does this happen?

Well the most recent display of this madness is that my charming/fireball boy just turned 5.

 Five?!

Unbelievable.

But, we had lots of fun celebrating such a dynamic part of our family.

This boy can really pack a punch.

I'm not kidding you that at one moment he's digging in his heels refusing to do what I ask him to,

and the next he is making me feel like I'm his favorite person ever.

Jack had to wait until dinnertime to really start celebrating because he was waiting for his grandparents.

To my amazement - he was very patient and just enjoyed the fact that his birthday had FINALLY come.

That had been one long countdown.

But when the grandparents showed up, the party began

complete with a Lightning McQueen pinata (a G & G Bowen tradition)

and a sweet dinosaur cake.
I had a lot of fun making this cake because it was so easy and absolutely thrilled the boy.

Although there was a problem.

We bought the dinosaurs about 2 weeks before his birthday and told him he couldn't open them because they were for his cake.

Then the day before (the day before!) his birthday

Bradley makes that package of dinosaurs disappear.

That stinker.

So, we ended up having to buy the extra $20 box of dinosaurs just for the cake.

(Do you know how hard it is to find dinosaurs?)

I may or may not have been bitter.

And of course, those dirty rotten dinosaurs showed up the very next day. 

Bradley had stuffed them into one of the cupboards in the desk.

Dah!  I thought I had looked EVERYWHERE!

Well, even if I do now have a surplus of dinosaurs at my house,

I loved celebrating my sweet boy!

Mother's Day Miracle

I posted this pic on FB but it certainly deserves double coverage.

I told the kids that all I wanted for Mother's Day was a picture of all of them smiling in one picture.

It took some serious work, but we got it!

And I will have to treasure it forever

because one can never tell how long it will be until I get another one.

Do you know what else I  see in this picture?

1.  Bradley.  That boy.  He was dying to change his clothes.

He had already peeled off his shoes and grabbed his new clothes

in the time it took me to grab my camera. 

 I tried to get them away from him for the picture but he wouldn't have it. 

So you take what you can get, right?

2.  Good grief - We are consistent!  It appears that we have a "girl mold" and a "boy mold."

In other Mother's Day news (I know, it's old news by now, right?) 

my minivan decided to straight up stop moving. 

Which I thought was completely out of line considering that in my book,

a sweet minivan is the true mark of motherhood.

Complete with sucker sticks stuck to the floor,

soccer balls bouncing out, smashed Goldfish crackers,

and of course 1/2 dozen kids bobbing around in there.

But, $3500 (cough, sputter) later, I'm back in the game with a brand spanking new transmission.  

Let's hear it for Minivan Mom's of America!

The Nap

Here's the deal with Bradley these days.

He can't have a nap and he can't not have a nap.

Period.

He thinks he doesn't need it, but he really still does.

And I would be willing to let him give up that nap

if he didn't turn into the creature from the black lagoon by dinnertime.

That hour is hard enough without extra fangs and claws!

Half of the time he just can't take it and ends up falling asleep at 5.

Definitely not good for the bedtime hour.

Here's a picture of the cherub/beast asleep in our bike trailer.

Such a talented fellow.

He can give his mother twice the workout and nap at the same time.

Impressive.

Just press that big noggin into the side of the trailer causing it to rub on the tire

thereby making the whole load feel at least 30 pounds heavier.

Basically, a few more trips to dreamland in that trailer

and I will have some seriously buff quads. 

Either that or the friction will spark and Aubrey will be an unrecognizable bald baby.

Either one would be shocking.

So what do I do with this boy?

Do I "make" him nap?  (with a hammer?)

Do I try to keep him awake?

Do I just give up and go with whatever happens?

I'm honestly starting to think that I just can't win this one.

And neither can he.

So we'll just have to be miserable together.

Lying

I've got a little problem at my house.

Actually, make that two.

Problem A: Lying

Problem B: "bathroom laziness"

Combine those two?

Oy.

I do have to give Jack a little credit though - he is very entertaining with his cleverly fabricated stories.

I mean I've heard all the little ones like,

"No Mom, I didn't push Bradley - he just ran into the wall himself."

Or, "Uh, yes Mother, of course I put my laundry in the drawer."

But today he really thought up a goody.

He came in from the backyard with wet pants (again...sigh).

Before I even noticed he said,

"Mom, um, today at school (3 hours earlier) the teachers turned on the water and my pants got wet."

[Insert lifted eyebrow from Mother (me).]

"And Mom, their water smells like pee."

What's a mother to say to that?

Gosh he's funny.

So what do you mothers do to turn the tides on those little white lies?

Spring Break: Part 3

Part 3?

Who knew I had such an exciting life?  :)
But, I'm kind of getting lazy so it's mostly a bunch of pictures.

Day at the Beach

See that little guy on the right?

This was his pre-initiation photo.

He had been watching Brooklyn run out with the receding wave

and then run back up the beach when the next wave came rolling in.

She would laugh and have fun and hardly get wet.

"I can do that!"  he thinks.

So he books in down there as fast as those little legs could carry him.
Then, he runs out with the receding wave, stops, and laughs.

Big mistake.

The amount of time between the receding wave and the new wave is very short.

There is no time for stopping, much less laughing.

Just picture what happened next.

His mother (me) got to stomp through the sand to scoop up the dirty, wet, and COLD little explorer who was covered with water, sand, and other ocean paraphernalia.  
Here he is turning 3 shades of blue and staring down those rotten old waves.

Jack was initiated a few years ago and has since preferred to keep his distance.

Day at the Farm

A visit with the Easter Bunny

 The keeper of the Easter baskets

 Pick your own produce - but bring some strong boys to carry it for you!

Easter Egg Hunt

Out of Reach

There are a few things that every mother needs.

Among the most important things is a very high shelf.

One that even mischievous and motivated little boys can't reach.

I've got one.

It's where I store my machetes, chocolate, repossessed toys,

and dangerous objects that happen to "wander" in 

(oh, and a fair amount of dust)

Here's a list of what's currently atop my very useful, very high shelf:

*  See those two cars? 

Death to those cars. 

I think they will go from the very high shelf right into the trash can.

2 boys + 2 cars + wood floors = obnoxiously loud noise

*  1 baseball bat

*  1 hammer

*  a few beads

*  2 flashlights

* 1 baseball

*  1 wrench

* 1 pirate costume

*  1 screwdriver

*  1 magnetic chore chart

*  About 3 billion chore chart magnets

*  1 light cover - we need to be able to quickly access the light bulbs in the boy's room for those nights that they keep turning the light on...

*  Our wedding book.  (Our wedding book?)

Weird.

*  Brooklyn's plaster foot and hand prints.

*  1 box of prizes for good behavior

We could seriously do some kind of phychological analysis on that list of stuff...

All we're really missing is a moldy chicken nugget and a weapon of some kind.

We'll have to work on that.

For the record:  I don't actually own a machete

and I definitely don't keep my chocolate up there. 

I mean, I don't want to have to actually get a stool when I need chocolate -

that would be way too much work.

Spring Break, Part 2

Because the grandparents love us (and spoil us)
they treated us all to a day at the happiest place on Earth.

I knew about this trip for several months before
and I have to tell you that it was giving me anxiety.

Remember all those stories about Bradley getting lost?

In my mind I was calculating what Bradley plus Disneyland might produce.

And seriously, it gave me a fright.

BUT, I am proud to announce that he did awesome.

He didn't wander, he didn't hide and most importantly, we didn't lose him.

That's right - go ahead and give me a few 'Super Mom' points for that one.

The kids did great and we had a blast!

Stopping for lunch

Tinkerbell's line was like 3,000 times shorter than the princess'.

The only D-land celebs that really matter at our house. 
I know they aren't smiling,
but I want all of you to give proper appreciation for this picture. 
You have no idea what it took to get them to look at me. 
All the 'other' kids would walk up there and happily pose for a picture. 
The Bowen kids however, walked in there and had to look in Mater's mouth,
look for door handles,  try to climb on the hood ,
circle each cars entire perimeter and then give McQueen a loving squeeze. 
This is true love, my friends. 
I think those 2 minutes with McQueen made Bradley's entire life.

My sweet, sweet Babe.  She did not want to miss a thing.  
But she did just tell me that "It's a Small World" was her favorite.

Bradley enjoyed himself, but he wasn't too sure of the rides. 

I think he preferred to people watch and look for pre-chewed wads of gum. 

I asked him what his favorite ride was, but he couldn't tell me.

He did however, tell me what his least favorite was:

 Yes, for some reason the Carousel absolutely terrified him.

We tried to sit him on one of those evil horses which made him kick and scream in fear.

Weird.

But really, look at the closest horse in the picture.

It is a little creepy.

Hark!  Is that a smile?

I'm pretty sure he only smiled because he was trying to swoon me

into buying him that Woody Hat.

Nice try, partner.

Can you see my phone number "tattooed" on his right arm?

You gotta do what ya gotta do.

This trip was a new experience for Jack.  He has finally grown enough to ride the 40" rides.

Some of which can be a bit scary.

Have you been to Disneyland?

They have a ride called "Tower of Terror."

Basically they take you up 13 stories in an elevator

and then let you free-fall to the bottom.

Jack decided that he wanted to ride.

Suit yourself.

So the rest of the fam took him up while I sat with the little ones.

I was prepared with my camera because I was sure

he would be bawling when he came out.

But I was wrong.

They all came out busting up with laughter.

Apparently Jack was quite a scene on that ride.

His knuckles were white and his eyes were as big as baseballs.

Can you see him?

That teeny weeny fellow in the back.

This is a picture of a picture so the quality isn't great, but priceless none the less.

Such a concerned look on that little face.

Seriously though, does he look like he's big enough to be on that ride?

I held a small interview with him when he got off and he said he would like to go on the ride again.

Although as he walked away I noticed that his pants were wet.

I think that ride may have been a little too scary.

What an unpleasant surprise for the person who got the seat after him!

Brooklyn sporting 3D glasses for the Toy Story ride.

Brooklyn is the perfect age for Disneyland. 

She can ride everything (except to her dismay,  the BIG roller coaster)

and she loves it ALL.

The Fam

Um, are those really all our kids.

We look awesome with kids hanging everywhere.

Like it's all we can do to hang on to all of them...

Three cheers for a successful trip to Disneyland

and a HUGE thanks to Grammy & Gramps for taking us

and for helping us corral our small army.