Preschool Field Trip

I took the 4 younger kids to meet up with Emerson's preschool class at the Greensboro Nature Center/Museum. This was Iris' first time since she's been old enough to appreciate it....

and BOY did she appreciate this water table. (and can I just say she did NOT get that awesome looking calf muscle from me!)

Aleeya took her shopping trip VERY seriously......now THAT'S definitely from me.

We went outside to the zoo-ish part and this GIANT turkey was blocking the path and might I add, they are VERY scary. NEVER make one mad, because they shake, hiss and start ruffling their feathers. As you can tell, we were all a little scared......and that says a LOT coming from my kids!

Aleeya loved the walabees.

The petting farm part is always a hit. Iris could NOT contain herself and couldn't keep quiet (squealing) to save her LIFE! Then we go see the Tiger and she shut right up. (Maybe I should buy a tiger because then my days would be a LOT more quiet!)

And I think Royce enjoyed the outing too......despite his little fever.

As I was driving to the place I started thinking of the lunch I packed and smiled at the random stuff I collected from around the house. This is how much money I spent on it:

Sobe waters (free from Target)

Yogurt Smoothies (free from Harris Teeter)

Chips (free from CVS)

Apple Dippers from McD's (free with coupons)

PB&J sandwiches (bread- free from the church....and local bakery gives their almost-to-expire bread, Peanut Butter- free w/ an Amazon.com w/ a gift card I won, and raspberry jam)

So the ONLY thing I PAID for in that whole lunch were the raspberries to make the jam. Yep, that's DEFINITELY worth smiling about.

And here's a picture of the little "Mamacita" (Aleeya), she thinks she's a Mommy, so she asks Iris to sit ON her lap and she reads her books......

DESPITE Iris being almost the same size. She's so funny.

"She's like a queen..."

Actually, Bronson's FULL quote was, "She's like a queen because everyone always gives her what she wants" (said after he gives her his last piece of candy)..............Yep, he's talking about this little one.............Iris. a.k.a. "Irisita"

She's the one that all 3 older brothers can't say no to. They carry her, fight over who gets to hold her hand ( if she had 3 hands it would solve the problem), snuggle her, give her ANYTHING, read to her and lately she gets the good-bye kiss before the boys go to school BEFORE ME!!!!

(The poor boys she dates will have NO chance against 3 older brothers and a nosey sister......who has NOW taught her to CONSTANTLY talk just like herself. )

Here she is when she was SUPPOSED to be in bed, but Emerson sneaked her into his bed to "read" to her.

(Oh, I had to include this picture, because these are the 4 cute faces I get to stay home with every day. Lucky, lucky me.) Emerson is once again "reading" (aka-reciting memorized books, like Green Eggs and Ham) to his younger siblings.........however, Royce seems to be the only one who cares.

And the NERVE of this little thing DEMANDING that we clean up after her.

Yep, she's the queen all right. (she just missed her "throne")

I'm the worst friend...

Well, last month I got something in the mail that looked somewhat like this:

I was reassured by many that I would probably be excused from it if I just mention I have a nursing baby who WON'T take a bottle. (I know, lucky me) That eased my mind..........ENOUGH that I even forgot to send in the paper ASKING to be excused.

So this morning at 7:30 when I went to put something on the cork board, my Jury Summons fell off on the floor. I looked at the date and it said APRIL 20th!!! And I was supposed to be there at 8:00!!! I tried calling and no one answered and come to find out, I could've called last night to see if I was even NEEDED.

I emailed Brooks for advice and he told me that I probably shouldn't mess w/ the judicial system and that I needed to BEG someone to watch my kids for me and run down there.

So let's put a hypothetical scenario out there and you tell me if this such person sounds like the worst friend or not.

Person #1- let's call her.....um....Merissa called up her friend, Andrea....I mean, let's call her Shmandrea. It's 7:45 a.m. and Shmandrea has a 4 week old that most likely still gets up in the middle of the night and still has to get kids off to school in the morning. Merissa asks her to watch 3 homeless looking children that just woke up and that MIGHT look something like this (dried snot and all)

and she was going to drop them off in 5 minutes for Merissa's jury duty and had NO idea what time she would be back.

Now really......wouldn't you just break off that friendship right then and there?

I know you didn't know this, but the secret is, that's what REALLY happened, and that "Merissa" is me!!! (Don't you HATE story spoilers?) I just MIGHT see my friends start dwindling after this one.........

I loaded said homeless kids in the car and went to get out of the garage and couldn't because the door wouldn't open and was broken. So I unloaded them and put them in the Yeti, dropped them off at my friend's house w/ a bag of crackers and w/o a spare diaper and Royce and I headed to 1 of the 2 places they said I could park for free.

I picked the one that had the higher clearance since I was driving the Yeti, but it STILL said 7 ft. I'm PRETTY sure the Yeti would fit and I didn't have any cash on me, so I HAD to try because where else would I park? As I turned into the garage I got a little nervous and couldn't help but duck MY head lower as I drove inside (as if that would help the van shrink a little........just so you know, it didn't work). Let's just put it this way, if I had left my drink on top of the Yeti, it would've been knocked off. Every 4 ft. when I drove under a concrete beam the radio wire thing on the front kept getting whacked around. Who needs a radio anyway, right?

It's 8:20 a.m. and I'm TRUCKING down the 2 blocks to get to the court house with Royce in his carseat. Oh, did I mention I ripped him out of bed and he had NOT eaten yet for the morning? Yea, so he was pretty hungry. I go through the security screening and the lady gave me a weird look w/ my infant going in the jury room. I walked in and the room dark and FULL of people watching a movie.......and the door was in the FRONT of the room. So now, instead of watching the movie, they're all watching me. But hey, at least the room was dark, and maybe I could find a corner to feed Royce. I walked up to the lady, she looked at Royce and said I should just go home. AND she said I probably won't be rescheduled for another one soon. Thank you Royce. (however I WILL charge a rental fee if any of you need him for a day of "jury duty")

I asked about the free parking thing and she said it's only if I actually serve on the jury. So I bolted out of there to hope that there was a "free 30 min." thing. I ran the 2 blocks w/ Royce, got in the car, ducked my head to drive out of the garage again, and came to the lady that said I owed her a dollar. I looked around and found Camden's dollar bill in the second row of seats. Phew.

What a day....and this was all before 9 a.m. How was YOUR morning?

Emerson, the man, is 5

This year Emerson asked for a "Gorilla pinata that stands up with big muscles".

Okay, I thought, at least it is easier the KEVIN he asked for last year.

Here's how the process worked out: -Capri Sun boxes for legs and balloons for everything else.

and it was tricky to find the RIGHT sized containers for his arms to dry on....thankfully the bread crumbs delivered. :)

oh, and letting Emerson (and Aleeya and Iris later) help paint it turned out to be Veeeeery helpful....as you can imagine.

I'm not sure how he ended up tilting to the side, but he did. I laughed when Emerson came up and said, "How come he's leaning over like this" (and then he does the pose). Then I said, "Because when gorillas has reeeeeeeeal big muscles, then don't stand up straight to flex, they lean over more, like THIS" (then I posed)

That seemed to satisfy him. Phew.

Here are all his friends ready for the party!

One more pose and snuggle (he always insists on snuggling them) before whacking the innerds out of that pinata.

He wanted the ice cream sandwich cake that is my favorite to make anyway, because it's so easy and can be made in advance.....WITHOUT having to serve ice cream as well.

Well, when I had Aleeya and Emerson un-wrap the 2 boxes of ice cream sandwiches for me I thought it only fair to reward them with one sandwich to split. Well, come to find out, I needed that last sandwich, so I improvised and had the "Army man cake" provide some "trenches" for them to get ready for battle. :)

Oh, and I HAD to throw in his picture from last Thursday on his actual b-day when we gave him our gifts. He LOVES "Battle Force Five" and Hotwheels. We opened his presents we told them they could watch a little of his new movie after we read scriptures. Here he is during scripture study.......

Head ON his Book of Mormon and just STARING at his movie propped up on the piano.

What a cute little 5 year old......and yes, he's still my angel-faced boy I love.

Sometimes I'm NOT a smart shopper

In fact, sometimes I'm a really dumb one.

I can ADMIT when I'm wrong (maybe a few days later, but I can) or could've done something a little better, and....well.......THIS is one of those times.

Aaaaand it has to do with my new couches. See?

(Emerson displaying his new bike he got for his b-day)

They're BEAUTIFUL right?!?!

I got that sofa, a love seat and a single seat ALL for $350. They were BRAND SPANKIN' NEW too. I was OVERJOYED when I saw them because they're patterned and would probably hide dirt and they're that soft/fuzzy fabric and RIGHT when I touched them in the store I just HAD to call Brooks and say that I'm buying us some couches! (since we were in the market for couches anyway)

I say "touched" them because that's really all I was able to do. They were wrapped in seran wrap type stuff and only one part was unwrapped so I could feel the fabric.

It sounds perfect, I know....but, the problem is that by the time they were delivered to my house I hadn't technically SAT in them.

This is where you're thinking, "Who buys couches and doesn't SIT in them?!?!? That's like buying shoes without wearing them! or a mattress w/o laying down on it!"

Well, if you WERE thinking that, you wouldn't be alone.....because Brooks was RIGHT there with you. So when he saw them he was impressed, because really, they DO look awesome (and I smile everytime I pass that room), and then. he. sat. in. them.

So maybe it's closer to boards with a pillow on top and the back crinkles when you push back on it, but maybe it's not comfortable yet because it's not broken in yet, right?

Afterall, I know 5-6 REALLY capable kids of breaking in couches.

I'm still standing by my purchase and love that I have them because I look at them and it makes me happy..............however, I'm THINKING next time, I might actually SIT in a couch before I buy them or at least ask the store if I could take a nap on it (because these ones make my hip fall asleep when I sleep on them). You don't think they would mind do you?

Busy week

The entire day after my party (until 1:00am) I was a zombie. It was like I couldn't open my eyes all the way and my contacts couldn't have even been PEELED off my eyes. See? I can't even open my eyes!

(These are the flowers that Emerson and Aleeya picked from the neighbors yard and came in a said, "CONGRATULATIONS, you're the nicest Mommy ever!" I guess that's what no sleep makes me.

With that said, I've had a busy, busy week with teaching preschool, cleaning out clothing bins, preparing for Emerson's b-day (he's 5 today!) and making his "gorilla that stands up with big muscles" pinata, and the usual cleaning/soccer/piano/errand running that I do. So here are some random pictures with no all-inclusive theme.....except maybe, "My Life".

Here is Aleeya making robots w/ her brothers during Conference a few weeks back. Yes, she can be quite the tom-boy sometimes w/ no shirt and a Batman hat, and chewing gum.

Then thereare other days where I make her wear shirts! See?

This just happens to be my favorite shirt on her, for OBVIOUS reasons! ("Little Miss Chatterbox")

This picture just goes to show how different my two boys are......especially in their body temperature. Here they are ready to head out the door to school. Bronson in his shorts and short-sleeves and Camden in his long sleeves, pants and snow/eskimo coat!

Poor little Emerson was sick on Tuesday night with a 102.2 fever. He fell asleep at 6 then woke up at 6 am the next morning ready to go and bouncing off the walls. I wish Royce would get over his little cold that fast!

Iris, Iris, Iris. She's into everything and LOVES to finish off the mashed potatoes after dinner.........sneaky little thing.

She also thinks she's as big as her siblings and should get the popsicles they get, even if they're bigger then her HEAD!

She loves it when I sing "her song" to the tune of "Barbara Ann" (come on, tell me you all know the 50s-ish songs!) with the whole "I-I-I I-I-ris Ann......ta-ake my ha-a-and....and you know the rest........right?

I just found out the three blooming trees in our front yard (Dogwoods) are the State tree of North Carolina! I love Dogwoods and I especially love to snip off a few branches and have them in a vase inside. They are just so pretty and last so long.

And then there is Royce.............. my first child EVER to be a THUMB-SUCKER! And just shoot me if you disagree, but I seriously find it sooooooooooo cute. (This is him getting a little concerned while I'm changing his bum, I'm sure you all would have the same look on your face as well if you were getting wiped down with freezing cold wipes)

Now to go put on the head on the gorilla pinata for my sweet 5 year old's b-day!

My 4 requests

As mentioned before I asked Brooks for 4 things for my birthday:

#1- Dinner @ Texas Roadhouse with the Hibbetts

(seriously, my belly hurt from laughing so much. They are hilarious!)

#2- A chocolate-dipping party with my chicas

I was soooooooo excited for this. I was going to provide the chocolate for dipping and everyone else was going to bring the goods to dunk.

Then my friend Nikki (the same one that cleaned my house while I was in the hospital) said for my birthday she's going to come over in the morning and we're going to clean the walls, cupboards, etc. before the big party that night.

Check this out, doesn't it look like a picture that would be in a Visiting Teaching article about the joy of service?

I don't know why we got the biggest kick out of using the timer on my camera and taking pictures of us laughing, but once again, my belly hurt sooooo bad after cleaning.

And the laughing DIDN'T really help out when we were nailing the pictures to the wall and trying to hold it still.

I'm laughing just looking at these again. But what you're NOT hearing is the Veggie Tale music we listened to while we were cleaning. There's something funny about songs about vegetables that don't have belly buttons, don't you think?

Then I bought some couches. Random. I know. But they weren't for my b-day, we were just waiting until we found a deal. And I found it. So I bought them and had them delivered for my party. It makes my living room look not so.....um......student-housing-ish! Love them.

My favorite Brazilian lady brought me over dinner that night as well! My kids love Edi.

And at 8:00, the PAR-TAY began.

It was sooooooooo fun.

There ended up being about 40 ladies come who all love to visit as much as I do.

Combine that w/ chocolate, fruit and cookies and it's a major homerun.

Oh, how I WISHED I could've gotten pictures of everyone, but of course, I was talking a little too much!

Check out this banner Etta even made me

We had a TON of food to dip (and this was taken before everyone got here too!)

As evidenced here, I seem to have piled my plate more then others though........ :)

The last guests left at 1:00 a.m. Hol-ee-fun!

#3- A Junk box

Yep, I wanted another one from Brooks since my box last year was such a hit! What he doesn't KNOW is that Andrea just brought me a WHOLE junk box last night to the party. But "shhhhh", don't tell Brooks, because he's still planning on giving me one! Tee hee

And my last request you ask for my BIG 3-0?

#4- Mary

Who is this AWESOME house cleaner that my friends use and I just want her to come once....preferably Easter weekend (since I like the house spotless for Easter.....I know, once a year, I sure keep my standards high, huh)

Really, I think those 4 things cover about the best start to a new decade ever!

My last day EVER

in my 20s!!!!

So in honor of it, I wore the most kid-ish shirt I have.....the one with Mr. Potato Head on it. Aleeya says "it's nasty" on me. (like I really care what Aleeya thinks I should wear. If I DID, then I would be wearing tutus w/ Batman caps everyday, wouldn't YOU like to see that!)

I'm actually okay/excited with getting older and now when I enter my 30s it might actually be "OKAY" for some that I have so many kids..............however there's something so finalizing about it knowing that I will NEVER ever EVER be in my 20s EVER again. They're done. See ya. Adios.

But I DID like them. and I sure had fun. So at least there's no regrets.

I can't help but think back though 10 years ago when I was about to ENTER my 20s. What's funny, is that I know EXACTLY what I was doing on this very date 10 years ago. I was:

-finishing up my last semester at Snow College

-engaged to Brooks and planning a wedding

-getting ready to go to the temple for the VERY first time on my 20th birthday (this was the day I opened up Brooks' b-day gift to me.......my temple bag that I still have)

-I had a wedding shower that day

-and basically just WAITING to get into my 20s so I could officially get married and not have to tell my kids I got married when I was a teenager. :)

And tonight, I'm doing ONE out of the FOUR things I asked Brooks for my 30th b-day (which I'll explain those 4 things later)

#1 on the list-

go to TEXAS ROADHOUSE (my fav. restaurant) w/ the Hibbetts. WA-HOO!

Big Day for Me

This may not sound like a big deal to you, but this, my friends, was INDEED a big day for me....

I mowed my lawn for the FIRST TIME EVER!

It looks AWESOME right?!? Iris is trying to figure out just HOW awesome it is by inspecting my work.

(This is where you all comment and say how awesome it looks)

And before you think I'm lazy or pathetic I WILL remind you, I grew up with 5 brothers, and while they did the lawn, I was busy inside cleaning out cupboards, washing floors or walls or whatever.

Brooks was gone so I wanted to surprise him, but I had to ask Bronson how to run the lawn mower (since Bronson mows our backyard) and how to empty the bag. Then I had to ask the neighbor to START it for me, because I just couldn't pull that zip chord thingy hard enough. (Come to find out, it was out of gas....minor detail though) After that, I got it all started myself. Thank you very much.

You can't tell from the picture but it's pretty hilly on the right side and I DID fall into the flower bed a few times.....much to "Mr. Glenn's" entertainment (the 85+ man that sits on his front porch w/o a shirt on everyday smoking his pipe and re-introduces himself to me every meeting I have with him. He's also the one that thinks my husband is the meanest man ever for "making me have all HIS children and stay home with them") and the 2 elderly neighbors across the street........yes, the very ones that helped me get Iris out of the locked bathroom.

Despite all the setbacks. I did it.

NOW, I can officially finish off my 20s next week and consider this decade complete w/ this accomplishment.

Oh, and if you DON'T believe that I did it all myself, here's the proof:

It is time....

Seriously, it's April 1st. I'm going to do something today I don't really want to do because it feels like I'm losing my friends............but I'm going to do it.

I'm taking the Christmas cards off my door. I know, I know, call me crazy.

I can't help but get a little sad. And NOW what will the kids look at while in Time Out?!?!? (I guess T.O. isn't supposed to be enjoyable anyway.....)

And since it IS April First, I couldn't help but laugh all day thinking of some of the mean pranks we pulled off this year. Bwhahaha.

However, I STILL haven't heard from our 2 house guests yet if they peed orange today from the frozen strawberry lemonade we gave them last night.......

on the other hand, I guess they probably wouldn't come up to me and say, "Huh, guess what, my urine was orange today.....do you know why?"

Yea, I don't really see that happening.