Snake!

My brother Jon and his family were in town so we all headed down to their place for a great Sunday afternoon.  We had a blast.  We of course had great food (only Liz could through a better party in her out-of-town home with better food...). :)
We ate and talked and laughed while all the kids ran around crazy on the golf course.  It was fun to watch all the cousins together exploring their surroundings.  They raked the sand traps, chased each other, climbed the rock walls, broke a dead tree and tired to fish golf balls out of the lake, eat tons of treats, got covered in grossness, and had the time of their lives.
Mitch found a Gardner snake that everyone was enthralled with.  My kids were so brave and wanted to each touch it and hold it.  I was so proud of them.  (Their mom didn't go near it!)

Our Garden

We had fun making garden stakes for our little garden.  I have been really trying to turn my thumbs into green ones.  It's not easy for me, but I am getting there.  So I thought it would be fun to involve the kids a little more in the gardening. 
We just painted paint sticks and then wrote the plant names on them.  They had so much fun and came up with some fun designs.

These are the times when I am so grateful for my granite countertops.  The paint just comes right off, so I can let my kids had fun and make a mess.

Sam wasn't too into the painting, so he helped me label the sticks for each plant.  We have about half of our garden planted already.  We have blackberries, strawberries, onions, carrots, and cliantro.  We are still going to plant pumpkins (their favorite), zuchinni, squash, tomatoes. and peppers.

Puddle Jumping

I introduced the kids to the sprinkler under the trampoline today and they LOVED it.  It was so fun to see them have fun getting wet, slipping around, jumping, giggling...
It was great.  I am so grateful for the fun backyard we have created for them so they have spend hours of fun outside enjoying the great weather.

Down

Something we are getting used to (sadly) is the fact that every once in a while I throw my back out.  This time it was simply bending over to make Chloe's bed.  I had just scrubbed down and washed everything in our house to make sure we were clean from her having Hand, Foot, and Mouth.  And let me tell you, that is something you don't ever want your kids to get.

We were lucky that only Chloe got it.  It has been going around our neighborhood and is super contagious.  We kept her away from the boys and she had her designated spot to sit in that everyone else (but Mom of course) stayed away from.

So, I guess if I was going to be down, now was the right time.  The house and everything else was done.

I am so grateful to great family, friends, and neighbors who didn't even wait to ask what they could do.  They just "did".  It was such a blessing and my family and I are so incredibly thankful for the meals, babysitting, visits, books, and help we recieved. 

My kids especially liked benefiting from the backrubs I wasn't quite ready for! :)  They were so kind to get them for me! :)

Haunted Houses and Napping Spots

This morning Sam and James were so cute.  They were pretending to be walking in a Haunted House together.  One of them would make a scary noise and then they would quickly hug each other and act scared.  It was so funny. 

I of course couldn't capture the good parts.  They seem to always know when I am recording and stop playing the way they were.  I got a bit of it, enough to help us remember. 
I love these two and how well they play together. I love that they are best friends. And I love how much their imaginations are developing.

Their other new thing is climbing up on the toy room bins and having "nap time".  Chloe makes her "bed" on one side and the boys make theirs on the other.  It is so funny how they will just lay there playing "nap time".  Hey, I won't complain.  I love quiet games.  Wish they'd come up with more of them! :)

My Day

I hope all you mothers out there have just as amazing as a day as I know I am going to have.  We're sick in our house again.  Seems to be a Mother's Day theme in this household.  But that's okay because I've got a great family that I get to lounge around with while eating sweet chocolate treats my favorite bunch got for me.

Here's the little Mother's Day craft I did with my kids for myself.  LOVE IT! :)  A heart for each of the little darlings who have mine! :)

Funny Story

My kids do remarkably well when a fish dies.  I would like to think it's because they have a very calm mother who explains things well to them.  But I think I would have to more attribute it to the fact that we are not very lucky when it comes to fish.  I think we are on our 4th or 5th set.
This time when our last "Nemo" died I told the kids they could each pick one out this time.  We ended up with a cute white, orange, and black one.  The white one was named Hector, the black one Sir Swims A Lot, and the orange one Nemo (of course).
Well, when we got home I was letting a little water out of the bag so that I could put the fish in the tank when suddenly the orange one just slid out and down the drain!  I couldn't believe it.  I was like, holy cow, what am I going to tell the kids?!
I told them how sorry I was, but Nemo went down the drain.  The boys were fine and just said, "well, we have to go get another one."
I called Seth and told him I had finally done it....I dumped our money down the drain! :)
Needless to say, we now have a Nemo which Seth picked up.  And when he did James simply stated, "Dad, make sure Mom doesn't put this one down the drain!"
All is now well again in the M home! :)

Sometimes I am so Glad...

...I have a camera on my phone.  These types of shots are my favorite. :)

It's that Time Again...

Lagoon Time! :)
We have been loving our Easter tradition of Lagoon passes. We have already taken full advantage of the place and the great weather.  Seth's keeping track of how many rides we go on this season and what we can get out cost down to.  It should be fun!

If we could just get Chloe to be a little more patient when we're in lines that would be great! :)  They really aren't that long! :)

Clover

Chloe has many names in this house.  Chloe, Chlo, ChloChlo, Chlobug, Chlobear, Clover, Baby Girl, Little Girl...
I think she has gotten so many because that's just how much personality she has. She truly is a character.
As I was cleaning off my camera I was smiling to myself at all the shots I've caught of her lately.  And was even reminded of some I didn't catch, but have in my head.  This little gem really does help everyone around her to be happy.

 This is her plugging her ears and taunting me as I was singing to them in the car.  I can't really be that bad....can I?

 A new bike was Chloe's splurge.  She got a great new bike just for her.  It is the best one I've seen.  I grows with her.  It is like 5 bikes in one.  It has a frame for a baby, then the stationary pedals for just being pushed, them front pedals that can lock or unlock as she learns to pedal, then the pole comes off the back (with which I can steer!).  It is awesome and she knows it.  As soon as she saw the picture on the box she said, "oooooo" and knew that that pink thing was hers! :)

Out with the Old (literally)

Seth and I FINALLY decided it was time to update our wardrobes.  It was been so long.  I have only gotten myself a thing here and there (mainly when I was pregnant), and he hasn't been shopping in nearly 3 years.  So if you are reading this and had noticed how shabby we were looking, yes, you were right.  We hadn't invested in ourselves for a long time.
We kept saying that we would buy clothes when we reached a desired weight.  Well, we aren't doing too great at that, so we decided it was time we looked and felt better about ourselves to get us motivated.  And boy did I have a fun shopping spree.  If Seth thought I was good at spending money before, I raised the bar in that 3 hour spree we had at the Park City Outlets! :)
The only sad casualty was my favorite old man sweater.  I wore that thing everywhere.  It was so comfy and perfect, well, except for the missing button, paint stain, and holes in the collar....  But we had agreed not to keep anything that didn't fit right or look nice.
We ended up taking 7 huge bags of clothes from our closet to DI.  Yes.  It was time to clean out.  The other benefit was that it gave me the cleaning bug and now every closet in my house (8 more trash bags worth-where does all this stuff come from?!) has been cleaned out and reorganized.  It just feels so much better in my house now.
I am so grateful that I am married to a money-wise, savings-crazy husband so that when these things come up and are needed we are able to do it.  We are so blessed! (and now well dressed!) :)

We got a Trampoline!

We decided to get a trampoline.  Well, actually, I decided! :)  We were driving in the car and I looked at Seth and said, "I decided something."  He turned white and said, "what?"  I said, "we should get a trampoline."  He let out a huge breath and said, "you got it.  Man, you scared me.  I thought you wanted another kid!"

Let's just say we had a good laugh at that and I have now learned how to start conversations when I really want to get something! ;)

So I finally got around to putting it together.  And only one sliced toe later we had a great frame that they boys decided made for a perfect rodeo.  Sam was the cowboy and James the bull.

These two crack me up so much.  They are truly eternal best friends and that makes me so stinkin' happy!

 As soon as I had put all the springs on Sam handed me this funny looking tool and said, "Mom, what's this?"  Ahhhh!  I couldn't believe that after I had used my brute strength to pull about 100 springs by hand Sam had the gall to give me my tool for doing it!  Oh well, we still had a good laugh about that.
Sam got the first jumps and informed me that I had done a good job and that it was working well! :)

One of my favorite things about the trampoline is that my kids are out there at like 6:30 a.m. hootin' and haurlin'.

I have learned one important lesson thus far by owning this trampoline.  That is that I tend to call it a "tramp" and when one does that one can be heard saying some pretty funny things.  Our neighbors were over jumping and I had the kids get off because they had trailed a bunch of sand on to it and I wanted to sweep it off.  I got up there a little frustrated and said, "Oh, I just hate dirty tramps!"  Let's just say we all had a good laugh! :)

Our New Family Diner

I have been wanting to "fun up" my house for a while now.  I want to make sure that it is a place where my kids feel happy, comfortable, and welcome.  Where their toys, dirt, and artwork fit right in.  I am done with the "model" home feel.  So here's what we ended up with.
The kids and I love it.  We have been so much better at having family dinners at the table now.  Our old counter height table was just too big, fancy, and uncomfortable for a family table.  I love that I can just touch this one up when we get anything on it (which we already have done!). :)

The little basket I built and stained all by myself!  So much for overpriced baskets at the store! :)

My wall decor is not quite done yet, but here's what I have so far.  My kids monograms, a duck for Chloe (she's onsesed with Ducks for some reason.  Can't get enought of them!), and clouds for my dreamer/imaginer, James.  I am still coming up with how Sam will be represented.  We all know that nothing but trains exsists in his world, I just don't want to be so literal.  It's been so fun and they love their art.
The hooks for their coats are awesome.  I had fun making them and putting them together.  I just need to build the little bench seat under them now to pull it altogether.
I love creating and developing skills.  It gets my mind and body going.

These are my fancy red stools. I love red and have been missing it in my house.

Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child

That seems to be our motto around here lately.  With certain events that have taken place around us we have had the desire to spend more time as a family and do and get the things we have wanted.  With a trampoline and bike on it's way, we thought we would also give in and get the kids the trains they are into right now.

They have really taken to this new GeoTrax series ever since Sam got one for his birthday in December.  Of course that one came with a DVD with stories of all the friends and their trains on the team.  They have been begging for them.  So after a long, emotional day, I took Sam to his soccer game and then told him we were going to ToysRUs to get some trains.  He was so excited he could hardly focus in his game.  When his game was finally over he said, "Mom, I just knew I could play so good and earn those trains."

There was one certain train that James wanted.  He had been looking at pictures of it on the computer with his Dad and asked if the Postman could bring it to him.  (Ever since he got his slippers in the mail the Postman ranks right up there with Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny). 

Well, Sam and I found that train and agreed it would be our secret that we were helping out the Postman so that James could have his train right away.

The next morning Seth went in to get the boys up and James popped up in his bed and asked excitedly if the Postman had come and brought his "Aero".  He came running down and saw it sitting in the toy room.  He squealed and danced with joy and couldn't wait to open it and play with it.  He couldn't believe that the Postman would be so sneaky as to come in his house and leave it there for him!  It was so awesome to watch.  James doesn't want much, so when he does, we respond, and I am so glad we did.  He was so happy.