This Guy

This Guy loves being a DAD and love his kids!  

And the dog....

And doesn't mind when we add a kid, the more the merrier (thanks for spending Easter Eve with us "C"!) 

Loves spending time with them and coaching their teams..

and swimming with them...

Attending all their special events...

Hanging out...

and sneaking up on them...

but sometimes - I think he feels he is in over his head!

But the best part is he is an awesome DAD!!! He tries to hard to spend time with each of the kids and knowing them, really knowing them. Which makes him #1 in our book!

Hope you had a great Father's Day babe!!!

Superm@n is a cross dresser

When he was almost 1 - he was not dressed for Halloween. I just didn't have it in me to figure out a Halloween costume for him and his sister. Call me worn out, but by the time they were 11 months I was barely coming out of the "twin fog". Some recover more quickly from twins, I had a 2.5yr old and 10 yr old when they were born....'nuff said.


When he was almost 2 - he was a bumble bee and his sister was a lady bug (2 bugs - it was a good idea...I thought)

(trying to get a fitting so I could finish his cute costume)

I don't think he liked it.

At All

So, it just lives on a hanger in the closet


And so this is how they dressed for Halloween:

Because I pick my battles.


At almost 3 he was a pirate

Or, his parents and sister were pirates. ADog was nothing. Agent P was Bumble Bee Transformer. Monkey - well, he was nothing too. CUZ HE HATES COSTUMES. A LOT.


Except this week. This week he was Superman. And because I pick my battles, he was Superman when we went to the Orthodontist, Unique Identity for ADog's hair cut, lunch, shopping....


But, I made him change shoes...

(wish Blogger would import the photo the way I want...)

To the black ones. Not the Pink. :)

Just a little summer fun...

Of Mice and Kids

**Warning** If you do not like rodents - you should skip this post. Just sayin'. You've been warned.

Last week we had swim "maintenance" for Monkey. Every day. I say "maintenance" cuz that's what they call it.  The twins took 6 weeks of swim lessons thru ISR** this spring. Mini P is true to herself and makes swimming look easy peasy.  Monkey on the other hand does not have the drive or desire for perfection like his sister. So, we were at "maintenance" lessons for an unspecified amount of days. 

I know you are wondering what this has to do with the varmints. 

I'm getting there. 

Be patient.

Just like during swimming lessons, she prefers us not to swim. It's summer and 100 degrees...there is not much else to do, but we obeyed. Once we got the release to get back in the pool, (which was about 3 days) this is what we found when we rolled the cover off.

Seriously I can hardly stand looking at the picture.

2 mice 1 mouse 1 gopher thing and a lizard.

ICK.

Thankfully, my sweet husband was here and HE removed them.  He graciously waited for me to run in and get my camera (because I am sick like that). He did voice his complaint about their smell. I didn't get THAT close, so I don't really know...but for him to complain, it must have been bad...

Since they did bake in there for 1-3 days. Under the solar cover. 

**If you have kiddos and they are ever in their life near water - ISR is truly an amazing program.  It is worth the financial and time sacrifice that it requires. Seriously, look into it. 

One on One Part 2

So, I didn't want to make any mention of this before it actually happened. I feel very strongly that doing that had the propensity to completely JINX my plans. 


Ya know, like when you set up a time to have family pictures done and one or more of the kids fall down and get the biggest shiner you have ever seen...has that ever happened to you???


Ya, me neither. Not even 3-4 times. 


But I digress.


I got to spend the day AND night with my sweet husband on Wednesday. 23 hours with no kids.


NOT. ONE. SINGLE. KID.


WHAT? You say.


Yes it is true, and after we thought about it, we are pretty sure that was the first time we have not had at least 1-4 kids at home over night in over 6 years...since Agent P was born. There might have been 1 night in there somewhere...but definitely not since the twins were born. (over 3.5 years ago)


People don't just come running out of the woodwork begging to take our kids over night. It just doesn't happen. (I know - shocking right???) Not because they are bad kids...but because there are 4 of them. And they talk, A LOT.


BUT, Grandma and Grandpa must have been drinking a LOT of the wine they've been making and offered it up.  And before they changed their minds, I got it scheduled. I also may have threatened to maim anyone who attempted to muck it up...but there is no actual proof of that.


They met us at swim lessons and drove off in my minivan with the 3 little kids (A-Dog is in Seattle visiting family) and I drove off in their Civic with no one but myself. The windows rolled down and the radio cranked like a Country song. OK, not really. It is summer here and we just don't drive around with the windows down. But, I did turn the radio up a bit... :)


I see you are perplexed, wondering where my sweet husband was in all this. Working. I told him not to meet me until our movie time at 1:15.  I had some shopping to do. Alone. By myself. With no one there to bother watch me try on clothes and put them back and try on more.


I shopped for NO ONE but myself. That is rare for me. But I stuck with it, you'd be proud. :)


I shopped, we saw a movie. Hangover 2.


We went to a bar and had a beer, watched a game and ate appetizers. 


(insert imaginary photo of Nimbus Oatmeal Stout and nachos and pretzel bites - I don't have one, but close your eyes and imagine it)


We were party animals I tell ya. (insert imaginary picture of us getting really wild)


Truthfully, we had no clue what to do. We hadn't actually made a plan for fear of it not working out, so after that...we came home and sat outside by the pool.


I have to say, the house was unusually quiet. 


It was nice to not decipher 4 conversations all at the same time or put anyone but ourselves to bed - but grateful that on a regular basis, we get to do that!

One on One

It's rare that my sweet husband and I have the opportunity to spend quality time one on one with our kids. The kind of time you etch out of a busy family schedule and designate to just that kid. Like a movie or lunch or shopping. It is  especially difficult when we are so out numbered and all...


But we do try hard to get out with the big boys every couple months or so. Like Agent P got to go to the dump last weekend with dad. That was cool :)...for them...


The twins, well, they just don't know the difference (yet).  They usually go where the other goes, it's one of the hazards of being a twin.


It's just how it is.


Until last Saturday.


I asked Mini P if she wanted to go to Target and Sunflower Market with me. She couldn't believe her good fortune!  She said "just one kid not three or four???" Yup I told her, just her. "No brothers??" Yup, no brothers. 


The girl could hardly wait and made sure that her brothers were well aware that she was going and they were not!


Once we got to Target she said she "couldn't wait to see them again!". Who? I said. "The brothers!" She missed them already?

But then something happened. (besides the picture taking I attempted from my phone...)


Something I will never forget.


She talked NON-STOP (no, I do NOT know where she gets that trait...). The ENTIRE time we were in Target. Like the sister discovered she could talk with no one interrupting her or bossing her around. And boy oh boy did she take FULL advantage.


"Look at these vitamins, what are these granola bars? I like the ones with chocolate chips! Oh, I see watermelon and cantaloupe and oranges! There is a vacuum, for vacuuming stuff. I like that soft blankie, it's for snuggling and LOOK it comes in green-that's Monkey's favorite color and blue, that's gramma's favorite color...sorry they don't have black mama-your favorite color. I like the towels with the pink dots on them. LOOK - those are the flippy floppys that I have - the purple ones, but not the pink ones, I need the pink ones. OH look at that dress up shirt for babies (baby onsie with tutu on it) it's for dancing and twirling and spinning around!!!"


and on and on and on and on. About every thing she saw. Every.Thing. 


I was exhausted by the time we left. And I forgot to use my coupon for Monkey's pull-ups she had my head spinning so fast!


And, we still had another stop. Oh help me!


It was much the same, but thankfully she was wearing down! It was getting close to lunch and nap...and since she is still a twin - she needs to nap with her brother. Thank goodness.


The ride home was unusually quiet. She had exhausted her 40,000 word limit for the day :) and apparently had nothing more to say.

Bravery

I took the little kids swimming...as he is getting ready to jump in the pool...

He looks down and says to me "mama why is there a mouse in the pool?"


Oh for the love of ....I have never scampered out of a pool so quickly. Or scampered any where so quickly. 


(Well, there was the situation at the park last week when we saw a mouse come out from under the Snack Shack...I may have jumped on the picnic table. 


I can't say I did or didn't..it's likely I let out a small scream too...I may have blacked out for 2-3 seconds...so glad it was late and very few witnesses.


But back to the mouse in my pool. I did, ON. MY. OWN. Get the pool net and remove the small varmint and fling him into the pile of branches my sweet husband needs to clean up. I need to remember to tell him that.....since I didn't need to call him this time for advice.


There is no photo. 


Sorry.

Bag Lady

Since all 3 of you faithful readers are aware that my life is not all fun and games. We don't just sit around the pool with varmints, we don't just have parties all year long (though, it does seem like it...). There are serious parts to it that I try not to dwell on...


Like the condition of my house.


The true neglect it experienced while we all put everything on hold to accommodate the baseball season.


We are 1 week into summer break and we are starting to catch up.


I have been a closet cleaning fool!


We have removed 2 pounds of accumulated dust, 3 bags for donation, 3 bags of trash and at least 1/2 a trash can of recycle school papers and notebooks.


Plus, I have discovered something important about myself....I am a Bag Lady.


Not in the true sense of owning a shopping cart that all my belongings can fit in and I spend my days picking up cans to recycle.


I own too many bags.


I have more birthday/gift bags than I will probably ever use. It is apparently inappropriate to use a large gift bag for a small gift card. Who knew?

I wonder if anyone will notice that their Christmas present is in a "Happy Graduation" bag, or "New Baby!" bag...I do have 2 non-readers in my house.....


However, the closet that they came out of is the game/coat/sewing machine/bedding closet. There is now no room for this huge bag of bags. Any suggestions?


I wish the story ended right here. It doesn't.


There were more bags in the laundry room. Thankfully not gift bags.

The far hook has bags I use when I go to Target (to cut down on plastic bag usage. I know, call me awesome for not being a plastic bag waster). The next hook with the pink bag contains 11 insulated grocery bags and behind it is a bag from IKEA. The next hook has 3 different insulated bags for snacks and drinks - because you never know what size you might need! The last hook has 4+ bags (such as the red one) that have coloring books, crayons, trucks, etc.  Never mind that the minivan is home to 3 other bags just like them, that have random pieces of entertainment in them as well.


Because we are being honest here, I will tell you that there is 1 other LARGE insulated bag in the laundry room that doesn't fit on the hooks and there are also 4 other bags in the hall closet. 


One might think I have a deep seeded paranoia of running out of bags. Some people worry about running out of water, toilet paper, or another more essential item. 


Me? I fear that I will have to carry 75 crayons, 23 hot wheels, 6 books, snacks for 4 and all my groceries in my arms!!!


Just as water is essential, so are bags....   :)