What A Scene

A week ago...

Okay, it was a week and a half, but I'm a busy woman...

Dare's class had a pumpkin party at the park. We started by coloring on pumpkins. There was some glitter involved. Then we checked out the animals. I love this picture. Rhon is seriously my favorite. Look at how good she is with G.

This chicken made my day. He (she probably, but I want her to be a he) is a punk chicken! What a cool hairdo. He is totally doing his own thing. He grew it out, bleached it, and styled it to give it all that body. He is definitely trying to make some kind of statement.

Then we went to IKEA and had meatballs for lunch. Well, I had meatballs. I had to pick up some cups. I always have to replenish our cup supply. I think there is a cup sprite that lives in our house. She steals our cups. Or it could be that my kids take the cups to all areas of the neighborhood and don't bring them back. Nah, it's probably a sprite.

Then, after a long drive, and a lot of U-turns, Aspen and I made it to the trampoline place! It was a hit. The kids loved it. We will definitely make our way over there again.

Quick story: When you have a friend that you like hanging out with, and you have kids that are the same age, you think what a perfect combination, right? Well, you do unless your kids are G and Brynlie. Aspen and I have a total of 6 girls. Five of which get along beautifully. Then there is Mads. He just chills because he is so cool. Then we come to the two youngest. This is NOT a perfect combination. Why not, you ask? They want to kill each other. They bring out the most violent of violence in each other. There is smacking, pinching, pushing, and, of course, biting. I am willing to admit that most of this is G's fault, but she holds her own. She can definitely take care of herself. We're still hoping that one day they will love each other...

But look!

Here is proof that they can be happy and within 2 feet of each other.
Okay. This is probably what they were thinking...

G: oh dude, as soon as my freaking mom puts that camera down, I am going to pull her hair. my hand can hardly sit still while it is so close to her head

B: why did my mom sit me next to this stinky, smelly boy? all I want to do is dig my fingernails into those chubby cheeks

Laughing At Nakedness

We're good.

Have you seen my girl?

See. I can be girly.

See how excited they are to get their picture taken? Well, Dare was cooperative. B.A. couldn't even take her eyes off her book long enough. Oh well. I was practically forced by someone to take these pictures anyway. She knows who she is.

But I'm glad I did. They don't get their hair curled very often.

The Summer of the Mantis

Nate

Just heard from a friend that no news is good news. Right, Nate?

Wesley

Reminds me of Jon Bon Jovi right after he has a bath.

Weighs 16 lbs.

Is almost as big as Paris.

B.A.

Loves the new video game Dad bought for himself... Final Fantasy Tactics A2.

Cries every day when I drop her off at school.

Has a new fake laugh that is driving everyone crazy.

Rhon

Started reading Harry Potter.

Likes earning marbles, playing with G, and science.

Can flip her eyelids, and do cross-eyes. At the same time!

Dare

Gets in bed with Rhon every night. And usually takes up most of the space, pillow, and covers.

Asks if Elise can come play every day.

Still can't put her own shoes on in the morning.

Mads

Would play Mario on the DS constantly, if I

let him.

Still has a major obsession with the "dark dark blue blanket".

Started riding his bike with no training wheels.

G

New blog nickname will be FG. It stands for "Freaking G".

Cries every day when I put him down for a nap. It won't be long before the nap is gone, I'm afraid.

Still can't open doors, or climb out of his crib. It won't be long for this either, I'm afraid.

Geesh

G and I have had a pretty rough couple of days. One morning, I wouldn't let him get out of bed until he made a promise...

No more sprinkling of cinnamon.

No more pooping outside.

No more destroying of my fruit.

No more ripping of our books.

No more coloring of my walls.

No more spilling of water.

No more biting of the poor neighbor babies.

No more. No more. No more!

Sweet Pile of Wood

This pile of wood will probably bring more happiness to my family than any pile of wood has ever before.

While others are rooting for BYU or U of U around this time of year, I go park my car by this pile of wood and root for it to become a building faster.

I'm going to need to amp up my exercise routine so that I can drink more shakes that come from this pile of wood.

The term "animal-style" will come in very handy when I visit this pile of wood.

Once this pile of wood is a building, there will be one less reason for me to visit Arizona.

Seriously though, I'm not sure I can deal with the traffic. But we are excited anyway.

Documentation

This is what happened while I was getting ready to go to the temple. How's that for ironic? I know. It could have been worse. I'm not complaining.

I love how he is smiling for me. What a trooper.

In the waiting area at the ER.

He was happy from start to finish. We learned that he is a happy drunk.

He had everyone cracking up during the procedure. The doctor told him that they were going to wrap him like a burrito. He thought that was hilarious, and kept giggling. But every once in a while, out of nowhere, he would shout, "Get me out of this burrito! I can't move my arms!" Then he kept asking the doctor, "What are you doing?" in a slow, drunkish voice. But the best part was the many times he said, "I feel good. Really good."

Back at home.

We Finally Named Our Dog

Yes, this is going to be a post about the process of naming our new puppy. And yes, I know most of my 5-ish readers don't really care. But it is my blog after all. And even though getting a puppy wasn't my idea, he is going to be my new baby. So just pretend naming him was as important as naming a child. I'll tell you one thing -- it was a lot more fun! There were several nights at the dinner table where we just kept throwing out ideas. Sometimes they would just get more and more ridiculous. But we always ended up laughing. I wish I would have recorded them all.

Nate with his thinking cap on.

I know I am missing a ton, but here are some of the names that we came up with...

Pip - Dare's favorite

Skeletor - still saving this one in case we get a chihuahua

Finlay

Fineas - this was a strong contender until the very end

Ferris

Sir Alex Ferguson

Calvin

Michael J. Fox

Seamus - this one almost made it

Atticus - this one too

Frazier

Callahan

Chit and Pucker - I had to think of names G could say!

Cooper

Morgan Freeman - this one was from an outside source

Chewy or Chewbacca

Nash

Rooney

Ollie

After we thought long and hard (2 weeks!) we decided. His name is...

drum roll please...

Wesley.

You can call him Wes for short. I will be calling him The Dread Pirate Roberts for short.

Sunflowers

My life is feeling a bit crazy right now.

No time to think. No time to blog.

But I have managed to keep my sunflowers alive. Even if it is just barely.

√

We brought home our new puppy today. He doesn't have a name yet. More to come...

You Never Get Used To It

It was a big day, it deserves a big post.

I heard Rhon telling Dare all about the morning routine today. It was so cute. She is an awesome big sister. She heard her say...

"We get dressed first."

"We eat breakfast before we brush our teeth."

"Come on. Let's go brush our hair."

And of course, Dare does everything Rhon does.

Thanks Rhon.

Dare woke up so fast! I usually have to poke and prod for 10-20 minutes. And usually she is mad at me. Not this morning. She popped out of bed (well, off of the floor in my room--her usual spot) and did everything she was supposed to.

Thanks Dare.

Triplets.

G didn't know what was going on, but he likes getting his picture taken.

Walking in. Rhon told me I didn't have to walk them in. I asked her if she didn't want me to, and she said, "You can, you just don't have to." I don't think she wanted me to. I might not have if I didn't have a first timer. I'm not in the market for embarrassing my kids.

Rhon's face is getting more and more worried (of embarrassment, not school).

B.A. was awesome today. She doesn't love school. She cried every time it came up during summer break. I don't want her to be unhappy, so I was really glad this morning when she got up and was happy and fun and excited. She sounds really excited for the upcoming year. She likes her teacher. She said she "has a good sense of humor". I am loving her attitude.

Thanks B.A.

Dare didn't cry. She didn't even look back. For anyone who knows how she is about Primary, this should be a bit surprising. It was for me too. I thought for sure she was just putting on a brave face, but no, she loved it.

I cried. Not too much though. I feel like my life is changing drastically and I don't even know what that means. It's weird. I'm going to miss her. I love having her around.

She didn't want me to take her picture here either. Oh well. I'm not that bad, am I?

Here is where I got back in the car. I slowly turned my head only to see Satan's Cavemen in my car. They were growling at me.

I have a friend who I love. Her name is Alice. She is the coolest friend I have because she is me! I am about 8 years behind her, but we are the same person. We have the exact family. Three girls, two boys, in that order, all in 6 1/2 years. That just doesn't happen very often. And our kids seem so similar too. I saw her today as I was walking out of the school. I told her I was scared to be alone with the boys. She told me to be very afraid. And there is a good chance I will want to kill them. She knows all about having Satan's Cavemen staring and growling at you!

I had the blues, so I had to listen to music. Mostly Motion City Soundtrack. They don't have any my-baby-girl-just-went-to-kindergarten songs so I settled for break-up songs. They worked.

Thanks Motion City Soundtrack.

Pick up.

She is second from the left.

Could she have grown up that much in 3 hours?

She loved it. All of it.

I told her if she was brave, and tried hard, I would take her out to lunch. She chose Famous Dave's.

Again, G not knowing the reason for the excitement, but loving the picture taking.

Don't you just want to squeeze Dare? I couldn't get enough of her today.

Then we went out for ice cream to celebrate such a special day.

"Taste!" As he shoves it in Rhon's face.

"Taste!" As he shoves it in Dare's face.

"Taste!" As he shoves it in B.A.'s face.

Oh man! I have to do all this again tomorrow!

I'm Going to Paint My Pilot Yellow

It is happening.

Tuesday.

I have spent enough at Old Navy that they should give me stock in their freaking company.

Same with Crayola.

Good luck girls. All 3 of you.

July

I am able to upload my photos again. I had to buy a new cord. I don't think I will have the time or inclination to post about everything. Here is a one-photo recap of our July.

July 4th. Yummy dinner. Grandma and Mark came over. Homemade ice cream with strawberries and cherries. Fireworks at our house.

Splash pad.

Pioneer Day. Met Uncle Tom and Aunt Theresa at a foam party. Had hot dogs at their house. Ice cream party with their ward. Fireworks show.

Best firework show I have ever seen.

Kids making "salad" in our back yard.

On the pot, reading a book.