trouble

We've got a bit of trouble around here.

I guess things can get a little crazy at basketball even when they play at 6am.  Poor guy, got an elbow to the face, 2 stitches.  Good thing we did all that kissing in Vegas and good thing one of the dr.'s in town plays and took him in so he wouldn't be late for school.  The picture doesn't really do it justice and it actually swelled up bigger than this, but somebody didn't want another picture.  What a blog pooper.

And James, sweet crazy out of control James.  I was helping Alli the other morning for all of 3 seconds and I come and find this.  Terrible picture, not sure why my flash went off, but...All 12 of the eggs on the counter and not one broken.  He's so proud of himself.  I guess he wanted eggs for breakfast.  

my trip with my man

We have returned from the desert, and it was cold.  Derek and I along with his sis Brooke and her Brady drove down to Las Vegas last week...SANS KIDS!  It was awesome.  (well, not the drive so much, but the trip)  I ate too much, I shopped too much, I walked too much, (in bad shoes) I had too much fun.

Now we are back to reality.  But reality is still pretty dang good.

Here we are on Valentine's Day going on a little boat ride on Lake Las Vegas.  I can now stalk Celine Dion if she even still lives there, I saw her house.  

(I'll teach this guy how to smile for the camera yet.)

Here we are on the 2nd day, things are going good without the kids!

Our final day.  I guess I'm just a little more into this than him.

The long distance travelers.  And we're all still friends, right guys?  (apparently we weren't posing here.)

The gals before Cirque de Soliel.  We went to Mystere.  I probably just butchered the spelling on all those words.  We had just watched the scuzzy pirate show.  Vegas, not for the whole family anymore.

I caught the 2 love birds!

We did lots of fun stuff and were there for 4 days, but apparently sitting in a car for 35 hours for the other 2 days can really tire a gal out.  Thanks to my mom and dad who watched the kids and to Susie for the little mix up, oops, sorry I owe ya.  And thanks to Derek's cousin Jeremy and his wife Addie, the BEST hosts ever!

award with a twist

Get it? Lemonade? Twist?

oh well, you'll get it in a second, maybe...

The Lemonade Award

Tisha gave me this sweet little award for my blog. Thank you!

What is this award about....

Bloggers who show great Attitude and Gratitude.
What you have to do....
Upon receiving The Lemonade Award, you also pass it on to other bloggers who you think show great Attitude and Gratitude.

So here's the deal. Since I am such a blog rebel lately, I changed it up. That's right, my rules.

I picked a few memorable posts that I liked and stuck out.  Now I sat down and thought for about 5 minutes to come up with this list, and should totally be in bed right now.  So here's my cheesy (but true) disclaimer....I love reading all my friends blogs. (and the blogs I creep and peep on too)  It's like this cool club you are a part of when you blog.  And I do do waste plenty of time keeping up with people, but I LOVE it!  It's a part of me!  I love reading about other peoples crazy kids, adventures, recipes, successes, failures, craftyness, pictures, ALL OF IT!

I'm a blogger and I'm proud of it!

(ok, this is why I shouldn't blog after midnight)

So just click on the name (or the #'s for Rhonda's) and it will take you to the quality post of my choice.

Jacklyn - This is why I love her, she cracks me up.  

Whitney - I know you always think I'm making fun of you Whit, but this one BLEW my mind. I cannot believe that you found all this stuff, organized it and have probably made a TON of it too. More power to ya my crafty friend.

Susie - Skim past the party pictures (i was actaully deathly ill that day) and see her little ode to Edmonton. I love it. Miss it.

Jade - I don't think i have EVER laughed so hard at a blog.

Britt - Cute little gal Lucy who reminds me of Alli.

Melissa B - I'm not gonna lie, this was the first thing that got me intrigued about those dang vampire books.

Karen - Poor poor Maryn. This is funny because it's not me messing something up in the kitchen!

Rhonda-  I knew Rhonda had to be on the list and my first thought was a certain potty story that she just might not want to remember But since I love every picture Rhonda takes, I thought something like that. Well, I came across 3 great pictures and I couldn't resist. #1, #2, the last picture of the post and #3

Christal - ok, I didn't pick an actual post from her blog, I just had to put her up because I love reading her quotes every week and being uplifted when I go there. (plus I get a kick out of your accident prone children! hehe)

Annie- Sorry Annie, I just had to do it.  And I live too far away from you now so you can't be mad at me for sharing!

There ya go.  I hope you got some satisfaction out of this.

we took them in public

We went out to eat the other night, no not to McDonalds. To a 'real' restaurant. I wish I would have had a camera for the gong show.

Here's a summary...

When we got there, James was running around checking out what everybody else had ordered before we got our table, little savage.

Then he was risking his life and my patience by trying to superman out of the high chair.

I look up from reading the menu for all of 10 seconds and he had poured a big pile of salt onto the table.

There were crayons flying in every direction.

Then the food came. (We were at East Side Mario's. You know the bread that comes there?) Well, Alli insisted on having her own loaf. So she was chowing down on a full size loaf, while James was just his tossing his on the floor, and hugging his drink saying 'mine, mine' Because I'm sure the old couple who were either giving us annoyed stares or I feel so bad for you looks (but didn't say a word to eachother their entire meal) were eyeing up his backwashed chocolate milk.)

James was stealing the cherry tomatoes (his fav) out of our salads but must be color blind because he snatched an olive. Didn't like the taste of that and it was all over the table and floor along with whatever else was jammed into his mouth.

James was ravenous when his pasta came like he'd hadn't been fed in days, which is good because he makes less mess when he's hungry and not playing.

Alli just squeezed ketchup over her entire plate of food and that, unfortunately, is completely normal.

Alli did say please after she asked the waitress for more chocolate milk, and said thank you for sharing. And then she said, 'Mom she is so good at sharing her food.'

And the truth is, I thought the experience went really well.

I'm pretty sure no one else noticed, but I got 25 comments on my last post and I didn't even just give birth or anything! I'm not gonna lie, I loved every single one of them and could really get used feeling so popular. C'mon, we all love getting comments!

I'd love to take all the credit for the occasional entertainment found here, but you can't make this stuff up. I'm just being entertained everyday by the the little rascals just like most of you!

So keep the comments coming! I'm sure you can top me off with your public outings at a restaurant.

the state of our home

Happy Birthday Dad!  (it was a couple weeks ago)  Hope you are having fun on the beach while your grandchildren are being blown away!

I am pretty much just along for the ride these days.  Just coasting along in this life doing whatever.  We have no schedule and not much out of the ordinary going on.  It seems either I look homeless or my kids look homeless or my home is a little too lived in.  But, it's awesome.  It's always a surprise which one of the homeless beasts Derek will come home to.  But, he loves us.

I read this the other day in a book 'The LDS Mother's Almanac' ...'Trying to keep a house clean while raising a family is like trying to string beads without first tying a knot in the end of the string. You can work as hard and as fast as you want, but when you look back at your handiwork to see how nice it looks, nothing's there.'  So, it's just got me thinking about what really is important in my day to day life.  And yes, I like to have a clean house and I would prefer it spotless everyday, but some days, you just gotta let it go.

And this is my most favorite line. 'If there's one thing you'll learn during your mothering career, it's that good housecleaning ideas don't last for long.'  Oh WOW!  Come on, I know every single one of us has had that BEST idea ever.  Yeah, how's that best idea ever working for you?  Not doing it anymore are you?  I know I'm not!

So I'm kind of a mean mom.  Among many mean things about me, I have never made play-dough for my kids.  They have played with it plenty of times at other places, but I hate play-dough.  The smell, the mess, the mess, bleh.  I know, I'm mean.  I guess I'll make it someday, but not until I trust James.  I also don't have any paints for the kids.  I mean, the mess alone, the kids can't handle felt markers (note James' face in the pics) and that is a stepping stone to painting.  But we go to stay and play and what do the kids do half the time?  Paint and play-dough.  I'm so mean, it's all they want to do.  So Rhonda let me in on a little secret.  Paint with water.  Genius.  You give them some colored paper and the kids think they are really painting.  So that is what the homeless kids did today because yet again, we couldn't go out in the hurricane.  And for the record, I as well was homeless, and let's just say I finished the 4th book so the house was very lived in today.  But, as long as the kitchen and living room are clean at the end of the day, I'm good these days.

So I'm too lazy to post the pictures throughout the post.  Here's the homeless children enjoying an activity from their BEST mom ever!

This is funny because he wasn't crying, that is his sheer joy for the camera and also the reason why you never tell your kid to say cheese for the camera.  He is saying it honestly and true with every fiber of his body.

Note the felt lips?!

And I will cut James some slack in the ratty looking department.  He has been sick with the croup since Thursday.  He has the cutest raspy voice you have ever heard, with a bark of a cough.  The other day it was taking every muscle in his body to breathe (that's the night we spent in emerg) but it doesn't even phase him.  He's just the same kid with snot running down his face.  He'll come up to me and say 'neenex?' (kleenex) in his horse little voice.  So he even learned a new word from all the sickness.