3 weeks

There are exactly 3 weeks until school starts. Sorry teachers. And I will have THREE of them in school. THREE. Addie starts TK this year. I'm so excited. Love them.

Everyone is so over being home with the family. And it's so hot that I can't just send them outside. Sometimes I just turn the TVs on and hope they will get sucked in and stop fighting. Keepin' it real.

They are definitely spending quality time together so that's good right?

This pretty much sums up our afternoons. Tons of goldfish crackers. Tons of swimming. Winter used her goggles to serve as a plate at the pool. Kids are so smart.

Angus is hanging out with neighbor boys for a change. 

Addie was the queen for about 10 minutes.

The big girls are being guards. Serious ones.

Addie continues to entertain me.

Toaster oven dings.
Addie: Are the chicken nuggets ready?!
Me: No Addie. Once again, they are burning hot when the toaster oven dings. You have to wait 5 minutes.
Addie: Ugh there’s nothing to do in this whole family. I guess I’ll just go potty.

They've had cereal every single morning since school got out. Favorites around here are Raisin Bran, Honey Nut Cheerios and Panda Puffs.

Mya and neighbor buddy Kendall making collages from old magazines. My idea. I was pretty proud of myself for thinking of something creative that kept them busy for an hour.

Dan had a birthday last week. I think he's 43 now. He had a physical recently and the doc said he's young and healthy so that's good. He's sporting his matching blue rainbow loom bracelet and necklace Mya made him.

In the summer we have no choice but to take everyone with us to Costco. Both Dan and I have to go because we need two carts for all our stuff. We have different shopping styles. Dan likes to go super fast, in order of the aisles, never doubles back, never forgets anything and never stops for samples. I usually forget a few things, stop at ALL the sample stations, zig zag back and forth between the middle and both sides and take my time looking at everything in each aisle. We have it down to a science now I think. He slows down and I speed up so we meet in the middle somewhere. He loads the food etc. in the car while I get the kids in and buckled. Then I return the carts. This trip wasn't too horrible actually. Addie and Angus both dropped the little toys they were playing with about 20 times but other than that, not bad.

mid summer

Two things.

1. Walmart grocery pickup has changed my life. Winter was having a meltdown while I was talking to the Walmart employee who was bringing my groceries out. I just smiled and thought how nice it was to have her contained in the car and not pouting on the floor of one of the aisles of Target.

2. Hand sanitizer actually works to remove permanent marker. I haven't tried it with sharpie yet, however. A 7 year old that I live with thought it would be fun to pretend that her barbies were scribbling on the wall with a permanent orange marker. She said she thought it was the washable kind. After I flipped out a little, I remembered that someone recommended hand sanitizer after Angus's sharpie incident. So I tried it and it TOTALLY worked. There isn't even a trace of orange on the wall.

We have 4 weeks of summer left. Crazy. Dan is working a TON these days but I'm surviving. I went to see the Higerds last week with my four little people. They can't get rid of the Wags that easy!

5AM pre-breakfast snack and TV to keep 'em quiet while the other kids slept. Mari actually took this. I was still asleep. She's awesome.

Underwear air mattress diving party.

Mya had a playdate with a sweet friend from school. Now Winter and Mya have both had a summer playdate so we can check that off the list. 

Dinner at the pool.

First gaming lesson.

Hangin' at my mom's pool. She has to sell the house soon which totally breaks my heart because I grew up in this pool. So every time I see the kids swimming in it now I get kind of emotional. It's old school with a super springy diving board and when you get in the shallow end it's already like 5 feet deep. So many great memories in that backyard.

Refusing to look at the camera... stinkers.

Our next door neighbor built a giant fence between our properties. The girls were offended. =) I don't think it's going to keep the noise out, however.

Dan wanted to see how much taller Winter is than Mya. She just keeps growing. Addie and Angus came over because they don't like to be left out of anything. Addie and Winter aren't wearing jammies because there aren't any in their drawers. They didn't even check the dryer where I usually keep the clean clothes these days. And surprisingly Angus is fully clothed.

Okay I know this is totally random but I was thinking. I've always wanted to do nice things for people and rarely have had the time to actually plan something nice like take my neighbor who just had hip surgery dinner or volunteer at a food drive or feed the homeless or sponsor a child in a poor country or go on a mission trip. BUT you know, it doesn't take a whole lot to just do something nice in my everyday errands. Nice people are everywhere and they really inspire me to be intentional about doing little nice things when I can. Like letting someone pull out of a parking lot when I'm driving down the road and I know it's going to be impossible for them to pull out into traffic unless someone lets them out. Or letting a mom with a fussy toddler cut in front of me at Target when I'm by myself. Or telling someone I love their shirt, or hair, or whatever catches my eye. Or telling a police officer thank you for all he does when he's directing traffic in 100 degree heat in his uniform. Or giving my kids a compliment when they're doing a good job or playing nicely with their little siblings. None of these things take forethought and really can make someone's day a little better. And, when I'm in a bad mood, saying or doing something nice can really actually help me brighten up a bit. Just puttin' it out there... Happy Wednesday!

wups

Dan likes to play this game where he pegs Angus with this little blue bouncy ball. Angus gets the ball, throws it at Dan and runs away as fast as he can before the ball hits him. I am not a fan of the game but Angus loves it. He says ow! Again! And they play till I make them stop. Well we lost the ball and couldn’t find it anywhere so Dan told the girls the first one to find the ball would get a special surprise. Mya found it. Winter and Addie were not happy...

No one likes to lose around here.

In general, I would say that Dan and I are pretty good parents. He's probably a little too safe when it comes to letting them take risks and I'm probably a little too relaxed. We balance each other out that way. We feed them healthy-ish food for the most part and correct them when they are being jerks. Some more than others. But we aren't perfect. Shocking I know. Sometimes things happen that, to an onlooker, may seem like we may not be the greatest parents. And when they happen I don't really like to share them with everyone for obvious reasons. 

BUT, for some reason I feel the urge to share them today so lucky you. Please don't judge me. And if you do, just go ahead and keep it to yourself. And don't call CPS.

Several months ago, Angus could have easily fallen out of our two story window onto the concrete. But he didn't because God totally protects our kids when we fall short. I still shudder at the thought of Addie so nearly falling in between the giant Catalina express and the dock. Again, God. 

Anyway, a few months ago, we got a knock on our door that Angus had pushed our window screen out onto the driveway. Not thinking too much of it, Dan said thank you to our neighbor and put the screen inside to attend to later. I usually leave my bedroom window cracked open about 5 inches or so, especially in the spring when it's super lovely out. We figured he just pushed it out with his little hand. Another knock came urgently. The same neighbor looking a bit concerned informed us that Angus was standing close to the open window. Dan and I looked at each other and I ran upstairs to see the window all the way open, about four feet wide, and Angus and Addie jumping on my bed, waving to the neighbors, a few inches from the giant open space. Spectators gathered below, probably to catch any littles that were sure to fall in the next few seconds. 

I walked calmly toward Addie and Angus so I wouldn't startle them and quickly reached out and grabbed both of them backward onto the bed. I waved at all the neighbors and closed the window, totally mortified. 

Dan asked, "How open was it?" 

I replied, "Umm pretty open." 

He gave me a look and walked away. Probably because I'm the window opener around here. But I honestly cannot remember if I opened the heavy window all the way or if one of the big girls did. If it was me, I blame sleep deprivation. Like when I forget to shampoo my hair in the shower and go straight to conditioning and wind up with a greasy nice smelling head of hair and wonder why.

Another slightly embarrassing mom day was when Dan wasn't home. It was probably like the 3rd or 4th day of summer break and I was upstairs in denial. I got a knock on the door. A different neighbor this time, informed me that Angus had been out front for a while now, all by himself, with no pants. No undies, just a bare butt playing with his trucks in the driveway. Awesome.

Okay one more story that actually happened about 2 years ago or so. Maybe like one and a half. It was cold out and Angus was still in a stroller. Mari and I decided to take all the kids to Sante Fe Dam to play on the playground and feed the aggressive geese. Mya was mad about something when we got there. I forget what. I put Angus in his stroller and all the kids ran toward the playground. I yelled, everybody out?! And took a look around the van and closed the doors. 

Mari and I got to the playground, put our things down, started chatting about something and then some one's car alarm started going off. The parking lot was not close to the playground. It was probably like 50 yards away. I don't know. I'm not good with distance. I asked Mari if she had an alarm. She shook her head. I didn't see any other cars besides ours in the parking lot. Then Mari asked, "Where's Mya?" I looked around and realized that she was still in the car, causing it to make the anti theft alarm go off. I sprinted toward the van, feeling tremendous guilt and anger at the same time. When I opened the door, Mya was fuming and in tears. Instantly, I started yelling at her because I'm such a great mom. And she yelled back. We calmed down after a while and both accepted half the blame. She chose to pout and stay in the car. I did not make sure that I had all four kids with me at the playground. Thank goodness it was cold out.

That's all for now. My kids are all alive and I thank God everyday for keeping them safe.

summer

One month of summer is already gone. Someone casually mentioned to me the other day that we only get 18 summers with our kids before they're grown ups. At first I got mad, like how dare you say something so offensive. But it kind of changed my whole attitude about getting through this summer. 

Instead of getting through it, I'm trying to take advantage of opportunities to just be outside with the kids and let them do stuff they don't get to do during the school year like run around in the street with the neighbors an hour after their bedtime. They've had tons of popsicles and we eat dinner in the front yard most evenings. And it's usually chicken nuggets, fruit and pretzels or something like that. My new take on summer is also coming from the fact that Angus is getting a LITTLE BIT easier. He still spends a lot of time on the floor crying but not as much. 

I always have big plans in May for continuing reading and math throughout the summer and it never happens. We've done math and reading ONE time so far. I have high hopes for July.

I'm just now starting to realize that you kind of have to submit to the summer lifestyle or you'll go crazy. The house will always be a wreck even if you spend the entire day cleaning. The kids will get away with so much more than they usually do. And there will be more fighting and mom losing her marbles because you can't give away your kids. So they have to live at home, all together all the time with no breaks from each other for 2.5 months so you all just kind of do your best and watch way too much TV.

Summer is such an interesting time with kids. I don't remember what it was like when they were little but now that they are school age, having them home takes a special kind of energy most people don't have. If I am going to get anything done during the day at all, it has to be before noon or I simply cannot do it. There's no summer energy left for it after noon. Even like sweeping or dishes. That stuff has to be done in the morning after coffee when I get that spike of energy. The only one I'll get each day. And I'm not even that old. 

Anywho, I have a lot of pics. There are so many photo ops these days. 

I forgot to put this in the blog two weeks ago. They did a giant slip and slide for VBA (Vacation Bible Adventure). I happened to be near by when both Mya and Winter came down. Mya, true to form, sat down first and used her hands to move her down the slide slowly. 

Winter, also true to form, got a giant running start and FLEW down. She went so fast that she plowed into the boy who went down way before her. He was more like Mya.

I cannot get over how old these kids look here. Rylie, the oldest standing in front of the truck was two years old when I moved in. And now her feet are bigger than mine. 

Mya got to go to camp for the first time. She was there for four whole nights and loved every second of it. It helped that the camp is at our church down the street and all of her friends were with her. 

Mari took Winter home with her since her older girls went to camp and Winter and Grace aren't old enough to go yet. And also because Mari is a saint and also a little crazy to agree to let Winter spend 24 hours with her. I went down to join them the next day and we all spent the day at the beach. I told Mari she's not going to get the chance to miss me because I'm going to visit her way more than the appropriate amount of times throughout the year. 

These two August babies are 5 days apart and such sweet girls.

So most people post pics at the pool and the beach and barbeques etc. You know, summer stuff. But the reality of summer is this picture. Times four. They are mad because I won't let them have a 2nd cookie before dinner.

He usually ends up on the floor when he's upset. Okay I'm going to call attention to that disgusting floor. If you feel bad about your floors, just look at this pic. Dan asked me the other day where the mop was. I laughed at him. I have mopped a total of two times in the last 10 years and I'm pretty sure they were both right after we got married and before I got pregnant with Mya. So yeah, it's been a while. I threw the mop away like 5 years ago. We have a lady come in and clean our house professionally twice a year. Good enough for me. 

Speaking of dirty. If you heard the number of times I've said, go back inside and put shoes on, you would be pretty surprised. And yet those are her black feet. They always come out in shoes and then somewhere in the commotion of kids in the street and talking to other moms and dads, those sneaky stinkers kick the shoes off and never look back.

It's almost as impressive as it is gross.

Here's a good action shot of them fighting over a lego.

Here's Addie in her favorite dress ever. It's a christmas dress she wasn't big enough to wear back in December. A sequencey sparkly Christmas dress. She puts it on the second I wash it and hang it in her closet. And then goes outside and plays with sidewalk chalk in the street.

Our fish tank is gone. Obviously. It's pretty sad. Especially with a gaping hole there. Once Dan puts a wall in there it won't be so bad I think.

Just a normal summer evening...

Wendy and I have a running joke when we don't want to buy something, we just say, I could make that and keep walking. It's funny because neither of us makes anything really.

But when Dan says, I could make that, I totally believe he can. He really is a very talented guy. 

I told him to think Vanna White here.

I didn't think it was possible for this guy to get any cuter, and then he got a haircut.

I can't even.

Dinner in the front. Addie's still in PJs. And they don't even match. Winter has a mustache tattoo on her cheek. 

Addie always hugs me or kisses me at the most random times. Usually when I'm in the middle of doing something or yelling at someone.

Winter occasionally asks me if we can take selfies and sometimes I say yes.

Addie's mad that I tried a new kind of boxed mac and cheese. Angus isn't.

He is on this dog all day long. 

It was Otter's 10th birthday Monday. Everybody's growing up.

Taking a nap on the play dishes.

I've given up on telling Addie to sit on a chair. She's just so tiny that it's way more convenient to sit on the table.

The kids are at a really good age. None of them are insane toddlers and none of them are hormonal teenagers who think they know everything... which is pretty much the same as a toddler. 

It is by no means easy being their mom but it is a nice time to be their mom.

They love it when we go pretty much anywhere like the grocery store, the carwash or the post office. And they get excited about having mac and cheese for the millionth time. They still think my dance moves are awesome and my jokes are hilarious. And they make me laugh about every 5 mins.

Angus: Mommy I had a headache.
Me: Where?
Angus: In my mouff. (opens mouth)

One of Addie's many entertaining dinner blessings that rarely have anything to do with food:
Dear Jesus, I hope you don't die again and I hope you have fun in heaven and I hope we have fun in heaven when we die. Ummm, Amen.

I let the littles play in the car in the cooler hours of the evening. It contains them for a little while and I get a chance to sit down and take a break from yelling at them to get off of people's lawns or to get out of the street when a car is coming.

Angus - Goin ta in n out mommy what you want?

My mom is turning 70 tomorrow. We threw her a little party. I got pictures of many but not everyone who came. They kept moving around and I took like 3 pictures of the same people and none of a few. Photography is not one of my many gifts haha. Kidding. 

Happy 4th of July to you all. 

It is so nice to stop for a day and recognize that we are all extremely blessed to live in America.