How do you...

like to spend a summer's day?

Personally I'm a fan of:

Swinging with the Boy

And then a little post swing cooking!

And check out the lovely new fence we just had put up... now to pick up the old stuff, and lay down the weed killer and we're set. I'm sure the kids will be happy when the grass is cut again-- you're not supposed to cut it for several days before laying the weed killer down.
(hint, hint to someone who I know is reading this: lay down the weed killer, so we can cut the grass again! Love you!)

And yes, the fence is in a different place than the old one. Turns out our property line was actually something like 6 or so feet further back than the old fence. It makes the yard feel so much bigger and if we're still in this house come next spring (lets hope not!) I'll have even more room for garden boxes.

This is for you Shauna

My friend Shauna pointed out the other day that we all seem to put on our very best faces for our blogs... I really couldn't agree more. Not that, by any means, it is a bad thing to want to share the lovely portions of our lives with other, but I think she might be right about how we don't share the reality of life either.

So this, my dear Shauna, is the story of my morning.

I woke up around 6 am because I had to use the bathroom for the nine hundredth time that night... but I heard Boy stirring in his room. So I was faced with a problem...do I pretend not to hear him and try to go back to bed (I was out until 11 pm last night) or do I do the 'noble' motherly thing and go sooth him back to sleep. I chose to go back to bed. Karma, however, seems to come back swiftly in my house, and for the rest of the morning, I was unable to sleep because Twinkle Toes was kicking a hole in my stomach.

I finally decided to get out of bed, after Mr. C got up to take care of Boy and get ready for work. Like any other morning I got in the shower, got out and got dressed... silly, silly me. Upon opening the door I find Boy is standing with his pants down and his diaper around one ankle, and poop covering his entire body... and the carpet.... and the sofa.... and the walls... All the while, instead of coming to alert me to this situation, the older two are vegetating on the sofa watching Word World... thanks boys!

Now, I am faced with a few choices, I can shower the kid get him dressed, and then spend time cleaning up everything poopy, or I can use half a package of wet wipes to clean him up and then slather him in lotion to make him smell good again, so that I can get to cleaning up the rest of the poop faster. A cheery, 'good mom' blog would certainly have a story of how I lovingly bathed my son in rose scented bubbles or something, right.... well, obviously I just wiped the kid down with about half a pack of wet wipes and then glomped lotion all over him.

And this morning for breakfast my kids are eating (and yes it's already 9 am and they are only just eating breakfast!) cereal... plain out of the box, no fancy pictures included, fruit loops!!! *collective gasp* Mainly, because I just couldn't be bothered after the poop, to come up with some amazingly whole wheat, lean protein, fruit filled goodness. And what puts the icing on that cake is that I told them two days ago they'd get no more cereal for the rest of the week because they poured themselves monster sized bowls and then didn't finish them. But remember, consistency is always the most important thing in a kids life, right? Right.

So, there you go Shauna, today I am telling it like it is, although it's still early. I realise I am making fun of my own blog in the process, and that I fully plan on returning to my normal blogging goodness in the future, but if I can't make fun of myself a little bit in the process, what good is having a sense of humour. Hope you feel a bit better about telling it as it is. I sure love reading your blog, no matter what you post in it!

Forgive me Blogger it's been 20 days....

since my last confession blog post.

Life sure seemed to have whizzed by this last month. I really can't believe it.

The biggest and best news would be that Boy is finally up and walking. He actually has been for a month now, but I am just that slow on the game. I'd wanted to get some video of it before posting about it, but then never got around to grabbing some, and life got a bit crazy, so it just never happened. He took a few steps between Hubby's Aunt Kathy and me during Family reunion (on Sheepies birthday, so it's an easy date to remember) but then would have nothing to do with it again. That Sunday, however, we were in the foyer at church, and a good family friend was sitting across from me. Like it was nothing out of the ordinary, he stood up and walked over to this friend. Really, I think there is something magical about the Elton family, that draws my kids to them. Kaitlyn is practically Mary Poppins around here, and apparently her dad, Mark, has the ability to make lame babies walk!

Now that Boy is up and walking, it's like he never wasn't. It's been a blessing and I am so happy to see how much more included he has been by his brothers in their adventures, now that he can keep up with them. Hopefully I will grab a video or something to put up soon of the wonder Boy.

Sheepies Birthday Party happened the weekend after his actual birthday. The weather was perfect for an outside party, and I think Sheepie had a great time in the end!

The Wall*E Cake came off without a hitch

A very sneaky Sheepie hides behind the pregnant lady during the water balloon fight. He wasn't such a big fan of it as he thought he'd be.

Everyone anxiously waiting their turn for 'Pin the trash cube on Wall*E

Cuddling with Mr. C while singing Happy Birthday!

Twinkle Toes even made an appearance at the party. (this is what I looked like about 2 months out.)

The next big adventure of the summer was my Stake Girls Camp... After months and months of planning and working with the other Stake Camp Directors and our Youth Leaders, I spend last week off camping with our Stakes Young Woman. I will admit that I was a bit stressed going into it, but once we were there, I heard nothing but that it was the best year yet. And since I don't easily embarrass, here are a couple pictures the girls snapped of me.

Our theme this year was Medical stuff, so that's why I am dressed like a Doctor... Can't remember why I was wearing the glasses.

And this lovely picture is of me, wearing the ugliest pants in the world.. They weren't too bad without the shirt tucked in, but after way too much laughing and joking the girls and I were able to find out how to make them even uglier; pull them up and tuck the shirt in. Trust me, the picture doesn't do them justice.. and it's obvious now, why they called me to work with a bunch of teenagers (I still have the mentality of one!).

While I was off at camp, Mr. C and the boys had many adventures, including play dates at Chads house, trips to a local Amusement park with a neighbour friend along, trips to the Gilbert house and lots of playing with cousins. Sadly, I went to up load their photos and I don't think that Hubby brought the camera, so no pictures from any of it!

To catch us back up to the present has been an adventure involving the amazing Frog Prince. Around Thursday, (I'm told, since I was still at camp) his throat started hurting him, and he was having trouble swallowing. Friday, it was even worse, and by the time they came to pick me up at camp, I could tell we needed to head straight to the urgent care. Sure enough he'd picked up a case of Strep Throat from somewhere. They prescribed him Amoxacillin, and we thought that'd be the end of it.... not so much. After two doses, he started to break out all over his body in a rash. Being allergic to Penicillin's myself, I knew right away what it was, and we stopped the meds and called his doctor. Another non pen based drug was prescribed and after waiting 24 hours to get the penicillin out of his system we gave him his first dose of the new stuff...within about an hour and a half his entire body was covered in hives and rash even worse than before....So last night FP and I had the pleasure of visiting the ER while they checked him out for drug allergies, made certain he could breath okay, and give him YET another drug. Thankfully, he's now taken this third one several times and he seems to being doing much better. At least we know with this kid, nothing in life will ever be boring.

Here are a few more cute pictures of the kids, that we snapped over the week.

This is the temple, and all the little frogs are there to get married.

Now that he's up and walking, why not tackle riding toys!


Somebody is NOT happy that he has to let his brother drive it too, being the passenger isn't nearly as fun!


Hope you are all enjoying the Summer Sun!!

Karate Kids

When T ball wrapped up we were left wondering what would be a good way to spend the summer. I have two nieces and a friends kids who all do karate and love it... Why not give it a try; especially if it will help the kids to learn to focus a bit better and become better athletes.

We've been going for two weeks now and already both boys have committed to becoming black belts (which takes normally about five years to accomplish in the junior belt system). I am very proud of the hard work they've put into; every day they have to do five push ups and five sit ups, and practice every day they don't have class. Not to mention work on things like respect to their parents, keeping their room clean, and following the principles of the black belt all the time. Pretty tall order for a bunch of preschoolers, but they are just that awesome!

Notice...

Anything different?...

That's right folks, Boy has moved to a toddler bed.

He was one crib climb away from a cracked skull, so we decided it was time to turn it into a toddler bed. Now he just has to learn that because you can get out of the bed during nap/bedtime, doesn't mean you should.

We have one very tired kiddo on our hands. But isn't he darling.