Recent Pics

Kyla recently reached the 100th day of school and was supposed to bring 100 of "something" to school to celebrate. She decided to string 100 cheerios on a string. Allie was helping and they were so cute. 

They only dropped the string two or three times and had to start over (don't ask why Allie was wearing Carter's Thomas pj top. I don't know the answer to that).

Jeff had some trade left with a company that manages trades, and decided it was a good time to get the garage floor coated. It was quite the process--we had to empty everything out and leave stuff scattered around the house and outside for over a week. We even had to unplug the freezer, which was a bit of a hassle since I still had a bunch of beef in there. I fit in as much as I could inside (the steaks and good stuff) and we left the rest in an ice chest out in the snow. Fortunately, the temperature outside never got above freezing and all the meat stayed frozen solid (along with the two bags of ice in there) all week.

 Here's Jeff inspecting the floor. I had to get a pick of the empty garage--I doubt it will ever be empty again!

 Little boys peeking out the door

Close up of the vinyl and flakes. I really like it.

Last week we had a couple days of sickness. Fortunately it was nothing too bad. First it was McKay. He had a slight fever, no appetite, and cried nearly every moment he was awake for 24 hours. He was pretty miserable. I let him sleep with us (so he wouldn't wake Carter) and it was a long night for all of us. He was fine the next day. Here he is snuggling with Jeff. 

Carter got whatever bug it was a couple days later. Exactly the same. He had a low grade fever, no appetite and was lethargic. Carter was a much nicer sick boy. He didn't cry all that much, but just slept a lot. Unfortunately for us, it was on Valentine's Day that Carter was sick, and so we didn't get to use the free babysitting at the church, and instead ate our Cafe Rio takeout on the couch where Carter was asleep between us. Super romantic.

 We made sugar cookies for the girls I visit teach (and some for us as well), which is always fun. They turned out really yummy! Not quite as good as my mom's but we're working on it!

The kids also dressed in their Valentine finest. Cute. 

I sure love these kids. And that's what Valentine's is all about. 

Things I WON'T Miss

All of you moms have heard it. "You will miss these days when they're gone," or "I would do anything to go back to when my kids were little." And I believe them. I am sure that as my kids get bigger, their problems will get bigger too. And my life will get more stressful and I will wish I could go back to the days that we are currently experiencing.

But there are SO many things I know I won't miss about these days. And I thought that if I had a list to go back and look at it, it might help me remember why these days aren't perfect. So here are the things I won't miss about raising little kids:

1. Every time I look at McKay, he is either stinky or he has a runny nose.
2. One (or more) child insisting on changing their clothes several times a day, and then running out of clean clothes by the end of the week. And then crying because they have nothing to wear.
3. The ordeal of bedtime. Physically having to take children to the bathroom, brush their teeth, and putting them into bed. Often more than once. It's exhausting.
4. Never being able to go anywhere alone. I am always followed where ever I go. Sometimes I go sit in the bathroom and count how long it takes before someone is knocking at the door. It's not long.
5. Washing urine soaked sheets.
6. Wiping sticky table and chairs several times a day.
7. No flexibility. We are tied to nap schedules and have to plan our lives (especially on trips) around naps.
8. The near constant crying and the whining.
9. Fighting with the girls over their hair--they want to do it one way (that looks terrible) and I want to make it look cute. Which means it needs to be brushed. It really shouldn't be so hard.
10. Shoes are always missing. Sometimes both shoes, but more often, one shoe is missing. And no one can find it.
11.Watching/listening to things over and over and OVER because they are just "so funny."
12. Never getting a full night's sleep, because someone is getting up. Not just babies, either.
13. Not having any personal space--no matter how many times I threaten the kids and tell them to stay out of my bedroom and bathroom, my elastics and bobby pins disappear. And their clothes and toys find a way to my floor.
14. The messes! Wow, kids are messy.
15. The destruction! Wow, kids destroy everything, making sure we never have anything nice in our house.
16. Having to physically buckle everyone into their own seatbelt.
17. Having to find, and pay for, a babysitter whenever we want to go out.
18. Never having a meal uninterrupted because someone always needs something as soon as I sit down.
19. Having to explain why things on AFV are actually funny.
20. Not knowing what someone wants because they are unable to talk.
21. Someone always wants to be touching me. Heaven forbid I try to sit down and have a conversation with my husband. I will instantly have 1-5 children sitting on me, fighting over who gets to sit on me, and crying because they can't sit on me.
22. They are incapable of vomiting in the toilet, opting for vomiting all over themselves in their bed.
23. Sleep is a bad word. No one ever wants to go to sleep. This is especially bad when we are on vacation or camping and are sharing one room (or tent).
24. I have to shuttle them to and from every activity. I'm a taxi.
25. There's no such thing as a "quick trip." Every activity takes monster preparation, even something simple like attending story time at the library. If we don't start getting ready 30 minutes (at least) before we need to leave, we will be late.

Lately

Just pulling pics off of my phone, so this will be a little jumbled. But it's a picture of what we have been up to lately.

Carter taking a rest on my bed. He won't nap anymore, but he'll lay on my bed and watch a few shows 

McKay loves taking his clothes off and putting other clothes on. We all think it's cute, unless he is trying to put on a skirt (which is over half the time). 

I'm pretty sure this was laundry day and he was putting on as many things as he could

Kyla posing as an Egyptian with her skirt (which I'm sure I took away from McKay after he tried putting it on)

Sleeping kids. The best thing ever. 

Carter has been wanting to wear shirts with pockets so he can carry things around with him. These are the items he wanted to take to Damon's basketball game: three "magazines" (don't ask why he calls dice  "magazines," but he does) and a bolt. 

Because Carter doesn't nap anymore, he almost always falls asleep when we go somewhere in the afternoon. Damon, Allie and Kyla have been doing tumbling on Monday and Tuesday and Carter would always fall asleep when we went to drop them off (they are taking a break from tumbling for a few months--I need to simplify my life a little). McKay, on the other hand, is wide awake from having slept and likes to "sing" along to the radio.

Carter took this pic of me folding laundry. That's my Monday activity, and I have been trying to have it all finished (and put away) before the night. That way I can enjoy the Bachelor in peace! Ha!

Monday was National Frozen Yogurt day and we got to Yogurtland right before 4:00 to get our free yogurt. Everyone thought it was the best day!

This was funny, because one morning after we got out of the shower, Carter called McKay, "Naked Bum Crack."

January Funnies

Carter, who thinks everything should be just how he wants, had these two things to say.
1. I was trying to put him in a diaper at my mom's house, so he wouldn't wet the bed, and he told me, very upset, "Diapers are not my favorite!"
2. He also told my sister, Kimmy, that "lunch is not my favorite one!" when he wasn't in the mood to eat what she had prepared.

McKay, to Bexley, "Bad girl, Becky." I don't know why, but we all find that hilarious, and sometimes call her Becky now too.

One afternoon, Carter spied something on the garage floor and asked me to pick it up for him. It was a book of Costco coupons. I asked if that was really what he wanted. He told me, "that's the one I love. The Costco one."

Kyla was learning about the proper names for things (buttocks, vomit, etc) and told me, "Allie urined in the house."

For one night, Carter didn't mind wearing a Pull Up to bed. And then he wanted to wear one the next morning. I told him that he needed to wear undies during the day and then he could wear a Pull Up to bed. He told me, "undies are not good for my body."

**Note, you can see how picky and fickle Carter is by his comments.

Kyla asked her friend if she was allergic to anything. Her friend said no. Kyla told her, "well, you have to be allergic to alcohol."

Damon is quite fond of Bexley. And sometimes he talks to her like she's girlfriend. I once heard him tell her, in a voice that should be reserved for pillow talk, "Bex, I adore you!"

While we were watching the US Figure Skating Championships, there was a girl of Asian descent on the ice. I told Allie she was probably an Asian American. Allie told me, "she's a Aserican. Like a European."

Damon to his sisters: "Girl, why you acting so cray cray?"

McKay crawled in bed with me one morning. About 10 minutes later, Carter came into the room. He saw McKay and said, "McKay! Get in your bed!"
McKay told him, "NO!"
Carter then said, "I am sewious!"
And McKay said, "NO!"

Kyla one day told me, "I'm so thirsty I was about to fart." (thanks Tara for remembering this one)

Damon was telling me that one of his friend's had invited three girls to his birthday party. I asked if the friend liked to hang out with girls. Damon said, "No. He mystifies me sometimes."