Am I The Only One?

I am having a heck of a time trying to comment on other peoples blogs. Is anyone else having a problem?

Or am I alone on this one?

Anyone?

If you haven't got a comment from me on your blog for a while that is why.

I still love you.

Promise.

A Boy By Any Other Name

I have said it before but I will say it again.
Canon is a boy in every sense of the word.
If you ask him to hand you something he will throw it at you. If you are laying on the ground he will attack. If there are rocks anywhere near by he will hunt them out and put them in his pocket. When he picks out his clothes one of the determining factors on whether or not to wear it is if it has pockets and then he fills those pockets with "treasures" that normally include rocks, marbles, dead leaves, toys, and the occasional cereal.

He is a pretty good little eater and has no qualms about storing food in his cheeks like a little squirrel.

When we put him to bed at night we tell him "stay in your bed."
He gets out. Every night. We finally got tired of putting him back into his bed so we got one of those baby locks for the inside of his door. (The kind that slip over the handle.)For a while it worked and if he got out of his bed we would say "if you don't stay in your bed we are going to close the door." To which he would cry and reply "don't lock me up." Then one night we closed the door and then we heard some banging and then a triumphant "Woohoo." So Blake went into his room to see what was up.
Lo and behold he had gotten the handle off of the door.
Canon: Dad I break it. Woohoo.
Canon stay in bed. If you get out of bed I am gonna close the door.
Canon: I just break it again.
If you get out of bed then I am gonna take Raccoon.
Canon: I will hide him.
Stay in bed.

This weekend we went to a family reunion.

While we were there we went and explored some caves.Mind you this is right up Canon's alley. There were an abundance of sticks and rocks to be had. He chose two sticks.
"Yook mom. Two sticks. One big on and one yiddle one."
Canon be careful when you are walking there are rocks that will trip you. Don't fall.
"I not falling." OK. Just be careful. The rocks will trip you if you don't watch where you are going.
"I will hit them with my stick. See?"

Summer Starts For Laney

On Wednesday I packed the kids into the car and headed to Laney's preschool end of the year program.

With the camera in hand I couldn't help but think, "Best Mom ever." But only because I have forgotten to bring the camera to Gavin's last TWO programs.

We went into the preschool room sat down and got situated then Blake snapped a couple of photos and....battery dead.

Worst Mom ever.

Well, at least I can prove we were there.

Then on Thursday we went to her end of the year party at a nearby park.

Homemade macaroni and cheese was made, camera battery was charged, kids were dressed, present was wrapped (Gavin was attending a birthday party at the same park), kids were loaded into the car and off we went.

We arrived at the park, dropped Gavin off and...crap. I forgot the camera. Worst Mom ever.

So we have no picture of Laney with her preschool teachers or her with her friends.

But we were there, and she has them. Friends I mean.As a gift to the kids her teacher Miss Erin made a CD of all the songs that were their favorite.

Laney loves it and we haven't stopped listening to it.

I can't stop singing "we are the dinosaurs marching, marching. We are the dinosaurs what do ya think of that?..." Laney thoroughly enjoyed school this year and everyday she would wake up and ask if she could go to school.

It may be a long summer filled with wanting to go back to school.

In the meantime we can just watch the grass grow out of our very own Preschool made Chia Pet.

And She Is Off...

I suppose that her scoot won't last long but it is so cute in the mean time.

Around These Parts

Last week our computer got a virus.

Anytime that we tried to log onto the Internet a porno or Viagra website would pop up.
While it made me chuckle, for the most part, it also made it hard to do anything that had to do with the computer.

Our life has been a lot of normal lately.

Running to programs put on by the kids at school.

Forgetting the camera twice and then kicking myself for being the most unprepared mother ever while everyone around me films and takes pictures.

Running to doctors appointments.

Realizing that our kids are:

A.) small and

B.) have an affinity for ear infections.

Running to buy groceries or replace the blender and food processor that both broke.

Buying a new blender and then promptly returning it because it sucked. (Which is something that I look for in a vacuum but not a blender.)

Running to look at new hand mixers because ours is bound to die in the next month or two.

Figuring out what to get for Laney and Gavin's school teachers for the end of the year.

Making dinner that one or more of our kids will complain about one or more times.

Picking up our Bountiful baskets and trying to figure out how to use the food.

Finding a Utah co-op that sells 1/2 lb. blocks of cheese for a dollar.

Cleaning and organizing our storage space.

Rototilling the garden but still not planting the garden because the torrential down pour will not stop for more then a day.

That pretty much gets you caught up for the week. I was listening to a commercial the other day that said something along the lines of

"you can remember the time when your kids become more then just siblings they become friends."

I think it was a Disney commercial.

Then I thought of our kids and how they really do LIKE each other.
Even when Penny's talons go all sorts of Wolverine on Canon's face.
He just laughs.

Or when Laney is all up in Penny's space and Penny just squawks lovingly at her.

Or when Canon sees that Penny and Laney have something fun going on and just wants to get in on the action...

and then proceeds to get his eye's clawed out by those little razor sharp cat claws.

Again.

Because Canon must like torture.

Or he just likes to make Penny happy.

Either way she is drunk with power

and he is just in pain.

So, yeah, our kids are friends. Which makes me so so happy.

And I can't help but think

Well played Disney.

Why My Plans For World Domination Have Been Kiboshed

Or in other words a list of stuff:

1. I can not make a good pie crust to save my life. How else do you take over the world if not with tasty treats?
2. Flying bugs give me the willies. You can't be a ruthless leader if at the first sign of a moth you go running screaming like a little girl.
3. I just completed my month of not buying anything. Simultaneously, we also did a grocery budget of only $100 for two weeks with no spending. Everyone knows that rulers are not frugal. Otherwise there would be no use for Robin Hood characters and their movies, which would, in turn, put actors like Richard Gere and Russel Crow out of a job. So I guess that if I was a frugal ruler (say that five times fast) then I would be the Robin Hood character in this scenario.
   
4. I have yet to plant my garden and it is starting to make me nervous. I should know though, gardening is for peasants.
   

Mothers Day

Sometimes I look at my kids and wonder how I got here.
Celebrating Mothers Day, that is, with 4 kids.

I got some lovely cards from the kids and some little things that they colored.
Laney filled out this card at Preschool.My mom's name is Hannah. (check)
She is 22 years old. (I was once. I am no longer. Sigh.)
She weighs 22 pounds. (I did once. Like, I don't know...31.5 years ago.)
Her favorite color is green and blue. (Check.)
Her favorite food is lettuce. (That is how I maintain my slim 22 lbs.)
Her favorite thing to do is washing dishes. (Perhaps because I am always doing the dishes it has now morphed into my favorite thing?)
I love her because she had long hair. (Notice the past tense on that?)

Canon did this little hand stamp in primary. I love that it is little.
I love that it is messy.
I love that it barely resembles a hand.
I love that this is just what I would expect from Canon.

Gavin had a couple of things for me for Mother's Day.
Like this awesome picture. Laney said when she saw this "Mom is that a smile?"
Gavin said "The sun was in my eyes."

He also made me this poem.Roses
Violets
Sugar is sweet
and I love you.
Love Gavin

Mothers Day is like any other day. Mostly.
I still feed, wash, dress, shush, and love our kids.
The one big difference: I don't have to change a dirty diaper.
The kids don't understand that they should be more obedient or more quiet or happier.
I suppose I wouldn't want them to do that.
Because then when I wake up the day after Mothers day to a little boy with a ruptured ear drum it seems normal.
Being a Mom has become second nature to me and I think that is how it is suppose to be.

Finger Vs. The Graham Cracker

I'm gonna call it a tie.

My Brain Is Moderate Mush

There are quite a few websites that I look at.
I follow a lot of blogs.
When I see something that I like I normally think to myself "I can totally find this again."
Only to realize that I can't for the life of me remember what it was, how I got there, or if I will ever be able to find it again.
I started a while ago saving random pictures on our desktop of things that I like.
My couple pictures turned in to a lot of pictures.
So in order to put some method to the madness I have made a other blog.
One full of all the things I like.

Good Day Sunshine.

check it out.
But only if you like cool stuff.
If not stay here.
Hey wait...we are cool here too.

Easter Finery

What we have here are some fine photography skills.
Via our camera, an automatic timer, and a stool from our kitchen.
The scrunched up face a la Canon.
I will overlook Canon's face and the fact that Laney is pulling her dress back because everyone is looking at the camera. With six people in our family I consider that a win.

Blake and I had to show them how it was done.

Here they are in action.
Lets talk about those looking at the camera first.

Laney-Good smile. Well done.
Gavin-Working really hard on the smile but overall, nice.
Penny-Looking to see why Mom would leave her on the couch with those ruffians we call her siblings.

Canon-Just letting Penny know he is there. Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Almost there.
I obviously am standing off to Blake's left because Canon and Penny have their eyes on me.
Laney thinks this whole process is a real hoot.

Gavin looking to the left. Laney looking at the camera. Penny looking at me. Canon looking at Laney.

At this point we have excepted the fact that the odds are 50% of our kids will look at the camera at any one time.
Or...50% will be looking away.
We consider ourselves a cup half full kind of family.

Unless you are only dealing with two kids then the odds that they will both look at the camera are greater.
Whether or not they give you forced smiles is a whole other box of rocks.

It seems like Laney and Penny have it down.
Slight head tilt. Check.
Smile. Check.
Arm lovingly around sister. Check.

No photo session would be complete though with out a little eye gouging to go around.
That is, after all, Penny's specialty.

Easter Party

This was our 9th year throwing our Easter party.
I think we have it down to an art.

The eggs were colored and numbered.

The centerpieces involving Cadbury Eggs were made.
(you can see other years here and here.)

Games were out.

There was plenty to eat.

The little details were taken care of.

People arrived with their baskets to trade...

and the hunt was on!

It was a full fledged free for all.

There was genuine excitement in the air.

People talked about their baskets and what they got.

They talked about their strategy and if it was a good approach.
(Notice the extra bags for picking up eggs? Brilliant!)

They maintained a tight grip on their haul.

Eggs were thrown. Games were played.
Food was eaten. There was a lot of laughter and some good friendly competition.
At the end of the day...
It was a lot of fun.
Spending time with family and friends

and making some new friends too.