Mother's Day Weekend

We had a great Mother's Day weekend.  It started with a fun sleepover with Kanalu, the kids' cousin from Texas.  Emily and Kanalu are visiting, and Jill and her family came down for the weekend, so all of us girls went to the Women's Run on Saturday morning.  It is a 2- or 5-mile run for cancer research.  Emily was brave, and in shape, so she ran the 5-mile.  The rest of us walk/ran the 2-mile.  There were 8,000 women this year, so it was packed.  We were just glad that it was warmer than the previous days.  There was no snow on the ground, and we could only see our breath for the first little bit.  It warmed up nicely, and we enjoyed ourselves.  It's always nice to laugh with the girls.  We have such a good time together -- I'm going to miss it when they're gone!

The rest of the day was spent doing yard work, putting the trampoline back up, cleaning out the garage, etc.  I woke up on Mother's Day to my annual breakfast in bed.  I read my homemade card and am excited to use my new griddle that the kids got me.  Pancakes for everyone!

We spent Mother's Day at church with Ben's mom, then lunch at their house, and dinner at my mom's house.  It was a great weekend, and I'm so excited for the nicer weather coming our way.

The kids made a card for Grandma Jane.  I asked her the same questions I usually do, and wrote their answers just how they said them.  You can read it below the pictures.

What your grandchildren think:

1. What does Grandma do for a job?

Haley: Teaches English

Andrew: She works at Will James

Joey: She tells you to sweep.

Grace: Uh, vacuum


2. How old is Grandma?

Haley: 54

Andrew: 55

Joey: 31

Grace: 61


3. What is Grandma like?

Haley: Smart

Andrew: Funny

Joey: She is, like, I don’t know what she’s like.

Grace: She wanted to find my Clifford, but I found it first.


4. What is Grandma’s favorite food?

Haley: Spaghetti

Andrew: Her food

Joey: Tacos

Grace: When you took me over to see Grandma for a check-up, I saw her eating basagna


5. What is Grandma’s favorite TV show?

Haley: Golden Girls

Andrew: Cops

Joey: Cops

Grace: All my Clifford ones, and Diego On Your Marks, Get Set


6. What is Grandma’s favorite thing to do?

Haley: Golf

Andrew: Be with us

Joey: I don’t know

Grace: She likes to play outside with me


7. Where is Grandma’s favorite place to go?

Haley: Not Will James

Andrew: Home

Joey: Lowe’s

Grace: At lunch with me


8. Where is Grandma’s favorite place to eat?

Haley: Again, not Will James

Andrew: Home

Joey: Applebee’s

Grace: California


9. Who is Grandma’s favorite person?

Haley: Me

Andrew: Me

Joey: Grandpa Jerry

Grace: Grandpa Jerry


10. What is Grandma’s favorite movie?

Haley: I don’t know

Andrew: I don’t know

Joey: Cops

Grace: Dinosaurs

Happy Mother's Day!

Snow, Snow, Snow

I woke up to this nonsense blanketing my world yesterday:

That is not what my front yard and deck should look like on May 6th.  Ever.  Haley and I are doing the Women's Run tomorrow morning.  That should be fun.  Maybe I should wear snowshoes?  No, it's melted already, but it will still be cold. 

So we got a call from Sam yesterday.  He's in Hawaii (jealous!), and his dog, Mojo, who usually stays with us on the weekends that Sam comes to town, was staying with some of his friends.  He dug his way out of their yard, and they had to bail him out of jail.  They fixed the fence, but Mr. Slippery escaped again.  Sam said that a coffee kiosk called him (luckily Mojo was wearing his tags), and that he was there.  We went to pick him up, and it was obvious he had been out a while.  He was wet and cold and muddy.  And he smelled like butt, so I gave him a bath in our tub.  Now he smells like strawberries (sorry, Sam!).  I was very honored to be the recipient of Mojo's undying love kisses on our ride back to the house.  And now my car smells like death, but it needed a bath anyway.  So Vanny is next on the list for a good scrubbin'.  Mojo stood very nice and still during his bath, but for some reason he wouldn't take his head out from under my arm.  He planted it there, and there it stayed for the whole episode.  I thought it was funny.

Joey's Mother's Day Program

Today was Joey's Mother's Day Program at preschool.  It was oh so cute!  They sang their favorite song and wiggled their bums, and then sang three Mommy songs.  Their cute little muchkin voices were so adorable.

Then we had bagels and cream cheese in the cafeteria.  The preschool teachers, Miss Kim and Miss Denise, had asked each child what their favorite food their mothers cooked for them was.  They had each kid tell them the ingredients and how their mothers made them.  They were put on a recipe card, and the kids made a little flower pot holder for them.  The teachers wrote them exactly how the kids said it.  They are adorable, and so funny!  I wish cooking was that easy!  I'd probably do it more often.

Thank you for the gift, Joey.  I'll love it and you forever.  What a good little boy you are!

One little funny from Grace:

Grace is famous for her prayers.  She just says whatever is on her mind.  It's never the usual things, repeated every time.  This morning in her blessing on the breakfast, she said,

"...And please bless everybody to have seven great things today..."

Thanks, Gracie.  Seven great things today would be just perfect.

What a Good Big Brother

In between all the complaining and bickering, my kids really do have great fun with each other.  It reminds me of the days when me and my siblings were around that age.  We absolutely had a blast.  We were tight.  Still are.

So I had to grab the camera and take this picture under cover from my bedroom window (so as not to disturb what was happening).  Joey was doing such a great job pushing Matt on the swings.  He was being so sweet and kind.  He pushed Gracie, then Matt.  He was a pro.  He'll make a great daddy someday.  Of course, a few moments later, Matt started throwing a fit, but it was precious while it lasted.  I pulled Joey aside later and told him what a great big brother he was.  He gave me one of his looks and wiped my kisses off his cheek, but I could tell he was pleased.

Now this one, I'm not too sure about.  Just kidding.  He is one of the sweetest little things you'll ever meet.  But this is an all-too-common sight in our house:

This time it wasn't lotion, it was hair cream.  Daddy's hair cream.  And this was after I scraped most of it off in an effort to save some of it.  At least he put it where it was supposed to go, right?  How many times is it going to take before I remember that silence is a bad thing?  When it's too quiet, check on him, for Pete's sake!  I'll save myself a lot of trouble when I get that down.

My Sweet, Strange Little Boy

Matt is one unique kid.  He is the busiest kid I've seen (since Joey).  Nothing is off-limits to him, at least that's what his motto is.  I'm not sure what this one will turn out to be, but I'm guessing something very dangerous.  Maybe a tight-rope walker, human canon ball, or flame thrower.  Those are my best guesses.

Here are some pics of him in a more tame mood than usual.  He uses a carrot as a utensil. Its sole purpose is shoveling ranch dip into his mouth.

He loves the new spot for his horsey, right by the window, so he can look outside and sing a song while he rocks.

I've been re-arranging the entire house to make it feel new again (hey, if it keeps me from buying new house, or even new furniture, it's worth it).  But Matt thinks he can do the same thing.  I've been finding everything that he can physically carry in the strangest places.  I found all the guitar hero equipment in one of the basement bedrooms.  I find every pillow in the house in a new place every day.  And bright and early yesterday, he pulled all of the chairs he could manage out into the hallway.  Then he sat down in one, called me over, and patted the seat next to him.  He grabbed his baby, and there we sat for a few minutes.

I love this kid!

Celebration

Grace and Joey are learning to read.  We have these little books that they work on every night.  Grace is on the third book.  We have been introducing different punctuation marks - question marks, exclamation points, periods, quotations, etc.  The second book had one exclamation point in it, and as we were reading the third book last night, the last sentence read:

The cap fit Pig Wig!

Grace read it like this:

"The cap fit Pig Wig celebration"

After I finished laughing, I decided that from now on, exclamation marks will be known as "celebration" in our house.

Furniture Swap

Since we decided not to move, I've been busy re-arranging the house.

Since Ben hurt his back really badly, Haley and I did all the lifting, moving, constructing.  We took apart and moved four beds, up and down stairs, and put them all back together.  We were exhausted, but we didn't have to do any weight training that day!

Haley's bed is now in Matt's room, so she finally removed her tae kwon do stickers from all of her advancement tests.  They slap a number on your uniform when you're testing for a higher belt.  She had quite a few.

Matt and Grace are now sharing a room so that I can have my long awaited music room.  I still have to find many burly men to move my piano downstairs before it's complete.

We moved all the little people toys into this room, and they've been busy ever since.  Isn't it amazing how long they can play with toys they forgot about?

We'll be painting their rooms shortly.  That will be a treat.  Can't wait until it's done.

My New Toys

After eleven and a half years of doing laundry, I once again have new machines!

Ta Daaaa:

I love them.  They're so pretty.  Haley and I loaded the thing up, and learned to turn it on.  Then we couldn't take our eyes off of it.  We were mesmerized.  And it's so quiet!

I loaded this entire hamper in 1 LOAD!!!  I can't wait to wash everybody's sheets!  But I can't today because I have Opera tonight, and Ben's back hurts too much to be making everybody's beds.  But Monday, watch out!

Haley and I turned the lights out, and we think it looks cool in the dark, too.  Kind of like a spaceship.

I had to include one of Grace's potato people.  She doesn't mean for it to be a potato.  It's just how she draws people, but we think they look like potatoes.  They are all over the house.  She cuts them out and tapes them on everybody's walls as gifts.  She is so cute.  And pretty good for a 3-year-old, eh?

Tubbie Conversation

Gracie and I were taking a shower this morning.  I was shaving my legs, and her face lit up when she saw the razor. 
She said, "I want one of those for my birthday when I'm older!" 
I said, "Sure, you can have one when you're ten." 
She said, "Are you ten right now?" 
I confessed, "No, I'm 31." 
Her eyes got really big, and she said, "Wow!  I can't even count to 31!"  Don't remind me. 
Then she said, "Is Daddy 31?" 
"No, he's 33."
(Eyes as big as saucers again) "He's had 33 birthdays?!!  That's a lot."
Yep, wow.

Mom Fun Weekend

Wow!  I haven't posted for a long time.  Mostly because I've been AWAY on a Mom Fun Weekend with my favorite friend, Melissa.  Yep, just the two of us!  No kids, no dishes, no laundry!  Look: we didn't even have to make our beds!

Although I think our maid had it pretty good.  Here's our view of the beautiful mountains from our window:

And the inside of the hotel was equally nice, complete with a water feature:

We went to work immediately upon arrival, and stopped at the mall.  I bought a nice new skirt, and we got smoothies.  We went to dinner on Thursday night at a great restaurant that I recommend to everyone.  It's called the Montana Ale House.  It's in the old railroad station, and the food and service was spectacular.  If you go on Thursday night, they have the best soup I've ever tasted.

The next day we spent the morning window shopping in downtown Bozeman.  Who knew it would be so fun?!  My favorite store was this one:

They had the cutest stuff, and I found myself wanting to own a store like that!  Everyone should go.  It's super cute.  We went to a movie -- in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday!  Although we didn't end up staying for the entire thing, because the father ended up dying, and it hit too close to home.  Besides, we didn't want to be thrown out for bawling.  We went to Burger Bob's for dinner.  We did more shopping on Saturday, and went to another great restaurant, Bozeman Bistro, for lunch.  They had gourmet food at regular prices, in a neat old building.  We also stopped at the Pioneer Museum, which was in the old jail.  It was creepy and fascinating at the same time.  Then, we saw Bill Cosby perform that night.  He was so funny!  I was disappointed when it was over, thinking it had only been a one-hour show, but when Melissa looked at her watch, it had been over two hours!  What an entertainer!

Every mom needs to have a Mom Fun Weekend.  We were gone for three days, and I am completely refreshed.  We'll go again very soon.

And here's a picture I thought was just too cute.  All four of the little kids were stuffed in the sandbox together, enjoying the beautiful weather.