Angry birds, Happy Jack

You know, 

sometimes I don't know where the time has gone.

It honestly feels like it was just yesterday 

that the nurse handed me the cutest little fluffy-haired boy.

He came early which brought pure joy to his

very uncomfortable mother.

I had no idea at that time what a breath of life had just joined our family.

But for all he put me through during those "toddler years,"

he has turned into quite a fine young fellow.

And I truly miss that boy when he is gone because he is so full of passion,

spunk, and excitement.

Not to mention he still has a smile that makes me swoon.

Will I ever get over that?

We celebrated in style this year.

Because let's face it.

This guy is worth celebrating!

Brooklyn and Bradley spent hours yesterday preparing some decorations.

And then I lost at least a year of my life staying up way too late decorating.

Because let's be honest,

out of all of my kids,

Jack isn't the one that's gonna let me slide.

Momma's got to bring her game.

Thankfully, we've kept the expectations low.

Streamers.  

"Special" cake.

As long as I've got those, I'm golden.

So after MUCH deliberation,

he decided that he wanted an 

ANGRY BIRDS cake.

Maybe a little weird for a guy who's only played this game a handful of times,

but hey, when the boy decides,

this Mother makes it happen.

Thankfully, he's forgiving when it comes to that "special" cake.

I am clearly an amateur.

We celebrated all day long for this boy.

The guy who is sure that he grew several inches last night...

Should I break it to him that he's probably the size of a boy who just turned 5 rather than 6?

Nah.

There's enough character in there to compensate for that small body.

We sure love this guy.

Being a Mother is an interesting adventure where you often wonder

"Where did this kid come from?!"

That's our Jack.

The guy who has strengths where I am weak,

and who constantly challenges my mothering skills 

by having a brain that is wired completely differently from my own.

But man is he fun to have around.

So, I guess we'll keep him.

STATS

Height:  42 inches
(3rd percentile)

Weight:  43 lbs
(32nd percentile)

Wildlife Part 1

I am allergic to cats.

Because of that, I have been telling Brooklyn that she wouldn't be able to have one.

Which broke her little heart.

And caused her to start making a large collection of yarn balls which were for

"her cats that she would have when she was a grown-up."

Which caused me to envision her as one of those "cat ladies."

You know, the one's with hundreds of cats prowling  inside of a 400 square foot house?"

Yuck.

So, basically I caved and demonstrated stellar parenting techniques
by doing exactly what I said I wouldn't do.
Meet Rosie.

In my one week of experience in being a cat owner, 

I have discovered a couple of things about this little cutie.

A)  This particular cat has (at least so far) an amazing temperament.

I never thought of cats as being the friendliest of pets, but this one has been awesome with the kids.

B)  This poor thing is a survivor.

Life at this household will bring plenty of love,

but not always manifested in the best way.

The poor kitty has endured lots of "toddler handling."

Like being picked up by the tail, carried around by the neck (shudder),

sent down the slide,
and thrown into a bucket full of water.

Poor thing.

But, as I said before, she has survived all of those things and has never scratched or even hissed.

She's doing better than me!

C)  She's no dummy.
She know that when  "Wild Aubrey" comes out to play,
she better take cover under the rose bushes.
D)  She thinks she is Brooklyn's child.
No joke.
Brooklyn carries her around like she's a newborn child,
and then she'll climb up and sit on Brooklyn's shoulder.
And then Brooklyn will nuzzle her little nose into that fur.
Ok barf, seriously, it's just a bit too much for me.
I should mention though, that after a full inspection,
Brooklyn says that Rosie has 6 bellybuttons.
Uh, Brooklyn..........oh, never mind.
Those ARE very nice belly buttons.
E)  Litter boxes are fantastic.
If you don't have kids who like to play in "sand."

And most importantly, a Mother can only stay strong for so long
when she has children who love animals like these kids do.

Yep, we are an All-American Family.
A husband and wife,
2 boys,
2 girls,
one obese dog  (who looks like a bear statue in this picture)
and a kitten named Rosie.
Oh, and a minivan.

Not bad, if you ask me.

Happy Easter

Easter.  What a great holiday.

A day to celebrate the more important things in life.

And...attempt to take a picture of our little ones in their classy Easter outfits.

Here's how it went down at our house this year.

The girls (at first) happily obliged.

I told Brooklyn to kneel next to Aubrey,

which made Aubrey kneel. 

So Brooklyn stood up,

and then Aubrey stood up.

So...they both sat down.

The boys on the other hand were a bit more "challenging."

Bradley, who always marches to the beat of his own drum, was following his own agenda
and couldn't wait a moment longer to get out of those restricting clothes.
(And parade through the front yard in his underwear)
His only problem was that darn top button.

Jack was being...
well, Jack.
He decided that if I was going to make him take an Easter picture
that he would sit on my plant and make a big pouty face.
I'm sure his grandchildren will enjoy this one someday.

While I was trying to convince Jack to cheer up (and get off of my plant)
Dave was chasing down the runaways.

Seriously?  Why does every picture moment have to turn into a 3-ring circus?
I was just about to give up and go inside
when the Heaven's opened and they all sat down together.
[Insert Hallelujah chorus]

Sure, Bradley has no tie or pants and Jack looks like he's in pain,
but hey, they are all in the picture, all looking at the camera, and all basically smiling.
I'd say that for this family, it's kind of an Easter miracle.

This n That

Nothing too excited going on around the old homestead these days.

Just a little of this and a little of that.

But the everyday happenings are worth documenting, right?

First of all, the parent's in this house have finally given in to an extracurricular activity.

We've been kind of dragging our heels because
A) we like not having to be 1 million places,
B) it's expensive, and
C)  our kids were blissfully unaware that they were missing out on anything.

Sounds like the perfect conditions to pull a quick one, eh?

We thought so too.

But, I have finally decided that it is time to branch out a bit and try to "round out" these kids of ours.

And I'm quite glad I did. 

I feel like I've graduated to some new level of parenting.

For now, I smile as I hear small successions of notes
(over and over again)
while I am preparing dinner.

Soon I will not smile as I threaten to remove her left arm if she doesn't practice.

It's all part of the joys of parenting, right?

She is cute sitting up there with her make-shift piano.

And she totally staged this picture,

but wanted to make sure that it didn't look like she staged it.

That's a Motherhood Lesson 101 course in itself.

Making it look like you "caught them in the moment."

Even if you and I both know that you likely tortured the kid
and made them re-do that special moment at least 6 times just for the perfect picture.

She's ahead of her time.

~~~~~~~

Around here the blossoms are in full bloom (achoo!) and spring has definitely arrived.

Which means that the gardener at this house has to get to work!

He painstakingly spent a billion years building that beautiful

self watering garden box.

He has planted his little plants and takes great pride in whatever is growing in there.

He comes home from work and stands out there with his hands on his hips
just willing those precious little plants to grow.

And then he asks me which child put the tire marks through the garden

and whose "bum print" he can see.

I've already got 4 of them to watch,

I can't possibly babysit the garden too.

If those plants are going to grow around here,

then they better be tough.

~~~~~~~

Speaking of tough...

What does she think she is doing?

Oh ya know, just playing naked outside in the water bowl in February!

Sheesh.

I'm running around with a fleece jacket (cause I am a wimp)

and she's running around in nothing.

And for the record, it was the dog who left the "bum print" in the garden, not Aubrey.

~~~~~~~

About a month ago we got a letter in the mail that basically has ruined my entire last month.

It said something like this:

"Because we are mean, we want you to get rid of your trampoline

and only allow your kids to sit on little pillows in the corner.

Love, your Home Insurance Company"

Boooo on them.

I LOVE the trampoline.

My kids LOVE the trampoline.

And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it when Dave takes them out to jump while I am making dinner.

What kind of American family will we be without a trampoline?

I seriously might shed a tear.

And then put in a zip line from the second story into the neighbors pool.

See what the insurance company thinks of that one.  :)

~~~~~~~

On a serious note,

last week we had to say goodbye to our beloved and cute little Grandpa Bowen.

He was Jack's birthday buddy and was nearly 96 years old!

This guy was only about 5 feet tall, but was at least twice that in personality.

He was a darling little man with sparkly blue eyes.

We'll miss him,

but we are thrilled that he has been reunited with so many loved ones on the other side.

Because my Mother made me feel guilty...

Sheesh.

My Mother made me feel guilty about not posting pictures of her adorable grandchildren.

Slothful daughter, I am.

In response, I will post a long and picture-full post for her viewing pleasure.  ;)

I love the morning hours when I just have my two littlest ones at home. 
I miss the big ones (of course),
but having time to just hang with the pee-wee's is nice.

And who wouldn't want to hang out with these guys?!

That guy on the right - that's a true little gentleman.

Man - I could eat him up.

(even if he is a little lot rough)

He takes good care of that sister of his.

When he steals the end of the loaf of bread while his mother is cleaning the bathroom,

he happily shares.

(he does still have a right arm...even if this picture looks otherwise.)

And when that same Mother puts Bradley in charge of the bean scooping activity 

while she sneaks in a shower,

he takes care of business.

By the looks of things,

maybe "that Mother" should put Bradley in charge of getting Aubrey ready for the day.
She we could use a little help.

Potty Talk

I'm so behind on everything it seems. 

Or at least not finding the time to do everything  that I want to. 

Like post on my blog.

I think my new calling sucks all the creativity I have.

I've always been afraid of this calling.

That "Primary Chorister" calling.

But as it turns out, I haven't died.

Who knew?

The kids haven't thrown rotten tomatoes at me or requested that I please stop singing.

Hooray!

But still, my normal blogging time is being spent searching the right hemisphere of my brain
(and the internet)
for ways to frighten teach the kids.

And when I am not traumatizing other people's kids,

my own are traumatizing me.

Potty training.

Ugh.

Isn't there a summer camp for that?
I'm pretty sure that I am not the only one who would happily write the check for that one.  (Sarah?)

This boy definitely has not made it easy on me.

Just look at that face,

taunting me...

He is almost there though.

Which is a really good thing, because I am was getting desperate.

And a desperate mother is capable of doing absurd things.

Like paying her 7 year old to try and potty train the baby over Christmas vacation because she was just sure that at the rate we were going, the baby would be potty trained before the 3 year old.

10 bucks, she would have made.
And I would have paid more.
Much more.
Wouldn't that have been beautiful?
Too bad it didn't work...
Maybe summer vacation??!!
Brooklyn will have all kinds of time to be tethered to the toilet,
read stories, serve up juice, and just generally rot away in the bathroom.
That should free me up for all kinds of projects.  :)

Holiday Lessons: Part 1

Well, hello there.  I've almost recovered from a wild and fun holiday season. 

Every Christmas season that passes, this mother-of-four gleans a few valuable lessons.  I would like to chronicle these lessons in hope that I may keep you from learning a few things the hard way and/or make you feel better that you aren't the only one....  (I am not the only one....right?)

Ahem.

Sugar Cookies.

Delightful little piles of not-good-for-you but Oh so good stuff. 

Lots of frosting topped with Red Hots is my favorite.

Just in case you wanted to bring me some next year.

Here's how this activity went down at our house.

The Mother (that's me) ran out of time (surprise) and had to cheat and just buy the Pillsbury sugar cookie dough.  

And do you know what?

I'm glad I did.

Because most of these little people lasted only 10 minutes.

So there. 

The eldest child was a champion froster.  She did plenty of finger licking, but she was in it for the long haul which I appreciated because I had no need to frost 4 dozen cookies alone.

Jack could not keep that knife off of his tongue. 

I told him before and plenty times during this process NOT to LICK the KNIFE. 

But really, can you blame him?

It is quite tempting.

Bradley would ONLY use the yellow frosting. 

And for him, just a dab will do. 

He was also awarded the prize for the most consecutive dips in the frosting

with the top of the sprinkles container.

Hold it a little higher there, buddy.

I've just got two words for Aubrey.

HAIR. NET.

Forget the bib, this child needs something to contain that mane.

She did a fine job consuming all that we would allow,

and definitely should not have been standing up in her high chair.

As for the Father - he kept making that furrowed brow/disgusted face.

He was watching those kids and cookies very closely.

As if to memorize who frosted which cookie.

I guess he doesn't like kiddie germs/slobber on his cookies.

As a final piece of advice:
(you'll want to pay attention here)
Be careful where you decide to store your newly frosted cookies.

The oven sounded like a good idea.
Until I preheated it for something else.
At least Bradley didn't find them though!