In a nutshell

It happened.  Halloween weekend hit us and for the first time in my married life, nearly 8 years, we participated in, and celebrated All Hallows Eve.

Halloween is so dumb!

But seeing my kids dressed up like little monkeys (everyday reality in cute sweatsuits) and watching my little Chickie think he was a big boy doing all the same things his brother does, was pretty priceless.

Want to see?

Look below.  Priceless I tell ya.







I'm not sure which of them got a bigger kick out of the evening, or who ate more candy (I'm pretty sure little brother won by a landslide) but they were both so wild and crazy by 8:00 pm that as parents, we didn't know what to do with them. So, the got separated - separate bathrooms(shower for one, bath for the other) and then to bed with them both.

We survived Halloween. This morning however, there were a few tears shed at the realization that it was over until next year.

Such is life I guess.

******
The rest of our weekend was pretty busy and memorable, too.

On Friday, we got to have little Miss Molly play with us for a few hours. She loves her cousins, and they love her. She is just the cutest little girl in the world and I'm so glad that she loves me. She loves her mom more, but that's okay. I can live with it.



I'm partial, but these are three of the cutest kids around. And what's best is that they love each other lots and lots.



And, we're fish sitting. Like, babysitting a fish for a friend. We've done it before, but Chicker wasn't around. We had a fish, Blue Fish, last fall but he died. The little boy is fascinated by the fishy and has finally figured out that you don't grab the fish out of the bowl, but that you can wave to the fishy from afar.



And, what holiday weekend would be complete in our house without some baking? We had two family parties today and that meant that I needed to bake two different kinds of cupcakes. Lemon with a vanilla bean icing (I'm told tasted like ice cream) and chocolate with peanut butter icing.

Yum. Yum. Yum.

I can't stay

The emotion it was, electric
And the stars, they all aligned
I knew I had to make my, decision
But I never made the time
No, I never made the time

In the dark, for a while now
I can't stay, so far
I can't stay, much longer
Riding my decision home

Exoneration lost his, eraser
But my forgiver found the sun
And there are twisted days that I take comfort
Cause I'm not the only one
No, I'm not the only one

In the dark, for a while now
I can't stay, very far
I can't stay, much longer
Riding my decision home

There is a majesty at my doorstep
There is a little boy in her arms
Now we'll parade around without game plans
Obligations, or alarm

In the dark, for a while now
I can't stay, very far
I can't stay, much longer
Riding my decision home

In the dark, for a while now
I can't stay, so far
I can't stay, much longer
Riding my decision home
In the dark

**

Every once in a while a song finds me.  Regardless of it's intended meaning, it hits my life and my meaning like a ton of bricks.  This week has had highs and lows.  Expectations and disappointment and severe exasperation.  Have you ever wanted to punch someones lights out and curl up in a ball and cry at the same time?   Or, just want to twirl and dance and sing with whisks as your microphones the whole night through with the little boys that you love (and sometimes wish their dad would join in the fun)?

That's where I'm at.  The land of extremes.

I think that this song is about transition.  Transition and change are good things.  This song is a good thing.  It's been played out loud (not counting all the times it's been sung in my head), maybe almost 100 times this week.  Seriously.

One day it was the only thing we listened to.  Thank you ipod for the magic repeat button.

When your little boys don't tell you to find a new song - they either "get it", or the song is speaking to them, too.

Have a good weekend.

Go and find yourself a song.

a rambling muse

The week has been so busy that I'm not sure what day it is, what time it is, and for some reason, my knees are trying to convince me that I'm 74 years old.

Yesterday, the boy child and I finally got around to painting our pumpkins. Yes, I'm lame and we paint. Cutting and gutting just isn't something I'm interested in. We got all ready to paint and get our glitter on and then we let loose.

We were artists. My little artist then proceeded to tell me the following... Artists are really cool. Artists wear smocks, because they have to protect their clothes from the paint. Artists get to be creative and do things that they are interested in and love.

Yeah for artists. If they get to be creative and do what they love then sign me up!

What did you do this weekend?

We put the kids to work of course.

Shining shoes....



and vacuuming the house.



They were whining a lot, so the manual labor seemed appropriate.

And, I made round two of croissants. Better than the first, but still a long way to go. Julia Child, why does it have to be so hard.

Raising a clone army

Most of the time, I really don't think that my boys look much alike. They have such different personalities and interests that sometimes it's like they were cut from completely different cloth - from different parents.

However, every once in a while, they seem so much alike that it's just uncanny. These pictures were taken on the same night, at the same table, with the same expression on their faces.

Such goofs.

a little bit funny

yesterday driving home from an errand we saw two missionaries riding their bikes. That of course, started a conversation about going on a mission.

Mom: "Elliott, where do you think you'll go on your mission?"

Elliott: "Somewhere up in the mountains where I can ride my green bike."

Mom: "That sounds great. Where do you think Wyatt will go on his mission? It will have to be somewhere that they don't talk because all he does is grunt."

Elliott: "I know mom. He'll go to North Dakota on his mission because the people in North Dakota don't know how to talk either. They only grunt."

And, if this isn't enough advanced thinking for a three year old, he's taken to saying, "I assume" and "I suppose" with nearly every sentence.

"Grandma, I assume that this paint brush is grandpa's"

"Mom, I suppose that Grandma has sweedish fish."

Yeah, that's my boy.

Happy Happy Birthday, Mother Dear

Love, Thing One


Love, Thing Two


and love cute little Miss Molly.

Happy Weekend - have a chocolate doughnut

cleaning and thinking

Today, my living room is in the kitchen. My bedroom is in the bathroom and the boys bed stuff is topsy turvy all over the house in every remaining space.

Yes, folks, today the carpets are getting cleaned. Oh, so exciting. When We pulled back the living room area rug last night and saw the damage, Ross exclaimed, "Man, we're dirty people"

I was a bit offended. We are not dirty people but we do wear our shoes all over the house.

The realignment of furniture however has got me thinking about a couple of things.

1 - We don't have THAT much stuff. It could be so much worse (Hoarder!) and we have a ton of little kid crap but we easily moved all our furniture around in about 90 minutes last night with two small helpers. That's no tiny feat. I mean yesterday we were out running errands and Elliott was whining that he wanted to go to a toy store (how does he even know what that is?) and I managed to subdue him with a donut. See - no extra stuff brought into the house.

2 - My house feels very spacious without any furniture. We've been seriously contemplating moving in the next little while to a home with a different floor plan, a fenced in yard, and far enough away from the neighbors that we don't see into their living room windows at night. However, with all the stuff moved around, it doesn't feel quite as clausty. Maybe that means that all the toys can just go from the kitchen table to the garbage.

3 - I want to paint my front door red but Ross wont' let me because he says I won't do a good job. I just needed to say that out loud

4 - Moving furniture could be scary because you never know what's behind the couch, or the bed, or that chair. It is always a relief to me that my obsessive vacuuming (thanks mom) pays off because the amount of dust and cooties is minimal. For a household that has two little asthmatics, that's something to feel good about.

5 - Cleaning the carpets makes me want to remodel the whole house. Repaint, new furniture, new pictures on the walls - everything. It's a refreshing feeling, really. And a bit overwhelming, too.

Okay - that's enough. Most boring post ever.

Sorry.

The Squirt:: 17 months

Hello you movin' groovin' shakin' little fart.

You dance.

You sing.

You laugh.

You pull funny faces.

You smash your fingers in doors, fall down and scrape your face, and thrown things at your brother and hit him in the nose.

You cuddle and snuggle and climb and run.

You walk backwards. It's the funniest thing in the whole world.

You spin in a circle and then fall down.



You have an intense sweet tooth. You love candy. You stand and bang on the fridge and yell until I realize that you want the jelly beans that are "hidden" on top of the fridge.

You only want to eat french fries, junior mints, fruit snacks, chex mix and the occasional apple, grape, or strawberry.   Yes my boy, picky eaters are born, not made.  We gave you a green bean the other day - and while watching your brother snarf them down by the bushel, you threw yours on the floor.

You no longer look like a baby. You look like a lean, mean, toddling machine. Every day I look at you in awe of how much you are growing and learning.





Pretty soon, you'll be talking my ear off, asking my why the earth is round, and telling me that you don't need my help.

I love you, you big lug! So does everyone else. I'm pretty sure.

Yin and Yang

These boys of mine?  I'll tell ya, they make me so tired.

Lately, they are each other's yin and yang.  I'm not sure which is supposed to be which, or if there is even a calm and wild side.  They are however, very much different but dependent on each other and I am very much dependent on them.

In our house we love preschool.  We love Mrs. Anderson and we love everything that is being learned and taught.

The Chick has learned to walk backwards, twirl in a circle and climb up onto the kitchen table.  Great feats for such a small person.

Like I said, I'm not sure who is Yin and who is Yang, but these boys.

Oh my.

Find me a sister wife

Last night I was home alone while the boys were at the grocery store. I settled down into a rocking chair, with my newest knitting loom hat and checked out what was on demand.

I saw that the new season of "Hoarders" was available and I was stoked. Before that though, I checked to see if that new TLC show, "Sister Wives" was on demand.

It is.

I watched.

Holy cow.

I don't believe in polygamy. Icky to the ick ick. I don't want to share my husband with other women. I don't want to have a herd of offspring. I don't want to live in secrecy and hide from the government and my neighbors. I cannot make my short hair pile that high on my head and I don't look good in gunny sack dresses with therapeutic sneakers.

Polygamy is wrong on so many levels.  It's been a huge hang-up of mine being a Mormon when I was in college.  I just couldn't get over it and even talked to my grandpa about it.  We had a book in my house growing up called, "Brigham Young's Harem".  Yikes, right?

I am however, intrigued by the women on the show and their, "Sisterhood". The idea of a sister wife - someone to share the household duties, help raise my kids, be part of my life, and offer unconditional friendship (at least it looks that way on tv) - now that is appealing.

Being a mom, especially one who stays at home can at times be really isolating. I have some good friends in the neighborhood, a great book club, a wonderful mom and sister who I can talk to via phone, text or e-mail pretty much any time I want.

Wouldn't it be crazy fun (or not) though, to have a gaggle of women around all the time? Just one would be good. She could clean the bathrooms and I would vacuum and cook dinner. We could split the laundry and take turns driving to and from preschool.  I would take the kids for walks around the lake and she could grocery shop.

Or, maybe I just need a nanny and a carpool.

It was a marathon

This is what I know about the St. George marathon.

There are about 6000 participants.  The majority of them are men over, I would say 34.  Most of the men have marathon widows with at least 3 children who stand in the hot sun and sweat and cheer for their father's husbands (grandpa's too) until they finish the race.

There are people who are awesome runners who are shoe-in's for the "thon" and then there are people who get selected by a lottery system.  My cousin Peter got in through the lottery.  It was his first marathon.

The St. George marathon is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon and the goal for all the runners is to do the 26 miles in three and a half hours or less.

Yes.  3.5 hours OR LESS.

Marathon runners are crazy.

When Peter found out he got in, I was super excited to support him and take a little vacation down south.  We made the trip and arrived at the finish line to watch Peter cross with his mom and dad.  He hoped to finish the race in that 3.5 hour time frame.  For his first ever marathon, in the hot desert heat no less, he finished in 3:57.  Holy freaking cow.  Super impressive and well done.

I've never been part of a marathon before and I'll tell you, the people who finish in that 3 hour mark exhibit some heroics.  Many of them have been running so fast for so long, that at the very end their legs cramp up, the collapse, they cry, they spew and it's all they can do to cross that line.  It was very cool to see police, national guardsmen (and women) and other runners pick up those that have fallen, crippled by cramps and jello legs, and help them cross that line.

Very cool indeed.

Rather than use too many more words, here's our marathon experience in pictures.  Chronologically of course.

Enjoy!

The Griswalds trade sun for sun

We're in San Jorge. More on that later of course, but we came down to watch my cousin Pierre run his first marathon ever. It's hot at home and it's hot here. The last time we ventured down south, the trip was a little overwhelming. We came to find the sun, and got snowed into our hotel room with two crazy little boys.

In order to get here, we of course had to drive. We had to leave after work. I was nervous that we would get out of the house so late, waiting for our dad to get home, that it would be early morning when we arrived. On a perfect travel day, it should take us about 4.5/5 hours to drive south. Yesterday was not a perfect day.

As he left in the morning, Ross told me to take one of my stockpile of xanex in the afternoon so I wouldn't be stressed out and panicking when he was later coming home than I wanted him to be. If that isn't a sign that your husband thinks your a bit nutso, then I don't know what is. But - no drugs and no late - he got home early than I had hoped and after a quick vacuum of the house, a loading of the car, the loss of one 17 month old (he'd walked into the street and climbed into the car on his own) we were in the car ready to go.

But....the traffic. Oh, the traffic. It took us an hour and a half to go about 45 miles. Elliott was asleep but spontaneously crying because in his past life he was a 15 year old girl and the Chick was screaming because, well, that's just what he does.

At the halfway point of our journey, we stopped for dinner. You know you're in food trouble when your first choice of a place to eat is an Arby's attached to a gas station. You know you are in even more trouble when the Arby's and the gas station are closed. Abandoned. Gone forever. Thank heaven's for Larry's Drive in. It wasn't the best small town food but we ate, drank and we all stopped in the bathroom before loading back into the car. 10 minutes back on the road however, Elliott announced he needed to use the bathroom - a #2. We found a rest stop, I ran him into the bathroom and then stood outside the stall for 10 minutes while on the inside of a stall, my almost four year old just played with the garbage cans.

No #2.

We got back in the car, got back on the road and realized that we were in fact, headed the wrong direction. Ross was distracted by a "bus" (his phone?) and then we headed the wrong way until we could find an exit that got us back to the other side of the freeway.

Phew! It was an eventful couple of hours. Eventually Chick fell asleep, Elliott found the games on my phone, Ross had his headphones in and I sat for the remainder of the drive in the dark - talking to myself, in my head. So, basically it was a regular trip in the car.

We finally arrived at our destination, had a super fast check in and walked into our suite that cost us an arm and a leg for two nights because we were last minute hotel bookers and because of the marathon. The suite is, well, sweet, however and well worth the money. It's huge, spacious, and room for my little caged tigers to run around and actually not crash into each other. Two rooms are a must for us. How did our parents travel with kids and regular old tiny hotel rooms.



The only dilemma of the evening - besides two wide awake and SUPER EXCITED kids at 11 pm was where the Chick was going to sleep. We didn't have a plan. He won't sleep in a port-a-crib. He will fall off of a bed. He is too much of a tosser and a turner to share a bed with us.



Thank heavens for a giant bathtub. A tub big enough for a couple people for sure. I filled it up with blankets and pillows and it was a perfect nighttime home for my little squirt who never sleeps. The funny thing? He slept as good in an empty bathtub as he would at home.