Summer Check-in

Well hello everyone.

I have completely checked out of the blogosphere for the last month.

I've been doing a little house shopping.

Oy.

It started out fun,

but considering I have to drive 50 minutes away every time I want to see a house,

and I've been looking for a month now,

I'm ready to just find one.

Well, not just one - I want the right one.

And for the right price.

Too much to ask?

ANYWAY, besides going crazy trying to find a house,

we've been having a great summer.

I just realized though, that I haven't taken many pictures.

Shame on me.

I do have a couple of goodies though

Here's my baby-cakes showing off her locks.

(She gets those from her mother)

Awesomeness.

The boys have spent hours in the dirt.

Seriously, how can boys be so dirty and gross -

ALL THE TIME?

I feel like I don't even want to put them in my bathtub

because my bathtub may never recover.

And then there's Brooklyn.

Ahhhh Brooklyn.

Now that she's kind of growing up, (sniff)

I'm feeling like I'm peeling back the next layer of parenting.

She's so fun and quirky and talkative.

I don't think her brain or her mouth ever take a break.

No really.

She doesn't stop.

Like ever.

On that note, wish me luck on my 14 hour road trip this weekend.

Dave asked me not to forget to pack the earplugs.

Summer Sickies

Well I'm not gonna lie - our summer started out rough.

Week One: B.A.R.F. and lots of it.

Not really my favorite way to spend my hot summer days.

3 out of the 4 kiddos got slammed.

Basically it was awesome.

Thankfully, after one LONG week (and a lot of Lysol)

we pulled out of it and have been enjoying ourselves.

Although seriously, my kids are going to eat me out of house and home.

What's the deal?

Does anyone else's kids think they need to eat all day long?

Sheesh.

Fighting and eating.

They are perfecting it.

Yay for summertime! :)

Happy Birthday Aubrey!

As I am typing this, I can't believe it.

My sweet Aubrey Jane is 1.

I can't believe how the time has flown, but yet it seems like this little lady has always been around.

She's our perfect little blend of sweet and sassy.

We had a little celebration on Saturday to celebrate this girl -

and you better believe that she knew she was special.

She loved the presents, the cake and all the attention.
Now, I have to explain the cake.
I couldn't really decide what kind of cake to make for Aubrey. 
I wanted to make something that she would love (or at least recognize).
So far, there is only one toy that absolutely makes her leap with joy.
Her puffer-fish.
So, here's how it ended up.

Ha Ha
Frightening, right?
That little fella on the left is THE puffer fish.
And that thing on the right...
Well, I do have to say that that special creation was all me.
Because apparently no one else on the internet
makes a blow fish birthday cake for their kid.
I wonder why??

Whatever the case, she loved it.
Just look at that face!

AND she recognized it.

Mission. Accomplished.

Since she's 1 now, Aubrey has decided that she's entitled
to get into all the mischief she can find.
She's big now, after all.
I'm just grateful that she isn't walking yet.

For the record:
One year stats: 
Weight: 16lbs 12 oz  (1st percentile)
Height:  Who knows? 
That girl knew exactly what was going on
on that doctors table and she wanted NOTHING to do with it.
So they didn't exactly get a good measurement.

Take me out to the ballgame

I think we can finally consider ourselves official Fresnonians.

It's a little shocking that we've lived here for 4 years now and just made it to our first Grizzlies game.

How cute are these kids?!

I didn't know Superman liked baseball? 

 Here's Brooklyn enjoying the game socializing with her best friend.

 Jack with some ketchup remains on his face.

Parker the mascot came cruising through our section.

Look at the faces on those girls - they are loving it.

 The family after the game. 

Check out those seats - 2nd row!

I was pretty impressed that the kids did so well for the whole game.

In my mind, there was no way we would make it through all 9 innings.

Miracles do happen!

Really the only problem was when Bradley took off up the steps

and when he may or may not have dug under the seat in front of him

for the popcorn the man had spilled.

I'm not even going to think about the germs that boy ingests.

And I did take a picture, but you know,

some things are better left to the imagination.

These two lucked out big time at this game.

The umpire had given the family in front of us 2 game balls

so they turned around and gave one of them to Jack.

Then right before we took that family picture one of the players from the other team walked up,

tapped Jack on the shoulder,

handed him a bat,and said, "Here you go buddy."

Jack was so excited.

He looked something like I would if someone handed me $100 Grand.

(the money, not the candy bar.  For the record.)

So being the nice fellow he is he decided to give the ball to Robbie.

Those two were in hog-heaven and strutted around like they owned the place.

Pinchy, Pinchy

Anyone who has kids and goes to church knows that sometimes that combination can be exhausting/crazy/embarrassing and yes, occasionally humorous.

This little lady has entered that horrid pre-nursery stage between 12-18 months

where she just wants to be on the move

and has no need to just sit on her Mother's lap.  

 

She's crawling all over, picking up random things

and occasionally letting out a happy little shriek.

No big deal, right?

Uh, can we get a close up on those little fingers?

Uh huh, those are the ones.

I'd know them anywhere.

Those little cuties can pack a pinch.

That poor lady sitting in front of me with that open back chair.

You know, the lady with the flowery skirt.

The flowery skirt that caught Aubrey's attention.

Aubrey really wanted one of those flowers -

so by George she reached right up and tried to pick one off.

That poor woman definitely felt that one.

It's not everyday that you get a little pinch in the middle of Relief Society.

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!