Superstars

I realize that I don't always post when good things happen so..

We have had some great achievements going on around here---sorry to say it still isn't potty training but these are good too.

Ryan wrote an essay on trees for the Optimist club and they picked 2 out of the whole fourth grade (I think there are about 8 classes) to win a bike!! He has really become quite a good writer he is very descriptive and has humor mingled in. His essay ended with this sentence..."Tree you later." He also has become a great artist. His art piece(again they only chose 2) got chosen to be framed and hung in the hall at his elementary school. Great Job Ryan!!

Luke worked really hard to finish up some merit badges for scouts and he advanced to Star (which is 2 ranks away from Eagle) !! It is not easy doing all the requirements for these ranks. He has a lot of natural ability in scouting and especially anything outdoors. He loves the actual camping and being in nature. He had a big fan club there for him. We all took up 1/2 the audience I think. We are all really proud of his accomplishments.











The only pictures I had of Lisa, Beth, and Ellen were later at my house playing ring around the rosie with Kristen.

Colin turned 7 and lost his first 2 teeth. He is very proud. He said "mom do I look really cute without those teeth" and then gave me a very cheesy grin. Of course I reply you are always cute to me Colin.Kristen as you know has been very slow in the talking department. Very physical but not so verbal--that is with real words. She did say her 1st sentence a little while back. Unfortunately it was this which was said very loudly--repeatedly--"I DON'T LIKE IT, I DON'T LIKE BED, I DON'T LIKE IT!! NEVER NEVER NEVER, NO BED.
Ben well he just says No all the time for everything and still says Mom in a most annoying almost mooing like manner. He has discovered a love for matchbox cars and outdoors. Every few minutes he just goes to the door and bangs and cries to get out. Sadly I have found I have very few pictures of Ben. I guess I can't give my mom anymore flack about there not hardly being any pictures of me because I was the last one.

Laundry Party

I finally found a way to stay on top of my laundry.
We have a laundry/American Idol "party" every tues. It goes like this if I let them stay up and watch they have to fold all the towels and their clothes while they watch. During commercials they run up and put them away--IN THE RIGHT PLACE--and get back in time before it comes on. So I just wash and wash throughout the week and then bust it all out that night and we sort and we fold. The Mt. Laundry is intimidating at first but it goes by quick and we are always done with time to spare before American Idol is over.
Ben never makes it very long he still has to go to bed because he is just to counter productive. He just knocks everyones piles over. Which makes Colin almost have a nervous breakdown.
Kristen on the other hand is just way to busy to be bothered with folding or bed. She thinks she is a SuperStar! She usually bows after each performance. Like every diva she has unreasonable demands and will not cooperate for the photo ops I had in mind. So this is the best I could get.


I don't know what I'm going to do when the season's over. I'll have to come up with a new plan or be drowned in laundry.

Diary of a Mess cleaning/clothes changing mom

I don't know what is going on this week but the messes are in great bounty which then in turn makes the laundry ridiculous. Ben and Kristen have both averaged 3-4 outfits a day. Sometimes it's purely innocent things that happened but then the others not so innocent.......

Mon.- found Ben completely coated in butter-pants, shoes, hair, and face. It got tricky picking him up because he was so slippery. The crazy thing is I'm cleaning up a few dishes and hear him giggling while Ryan played the piano. I thought he liked the music--no apparently just the delight of being lathered in lard.













Tues.-Kristen was a bit hungry I guess because I found her with the peanut butter jar and the jelly jar. I guess she is concerned about carbs because she had no bread--she just was sticking her hand in both jars and licking it. The jelly ended up on the carpet, TV, and all over her of course.

Wed.- Ben was feeling kind of crafty I guess because I found a tube of glitter spread all over my bathroom floor. Then Kristen had a push pop and the whole idea of "pushing" it up was just beyond her I guess because she just let it melt down her arm and of course onto the carpet. She just stared at it baffled. COME ON!! if you can scale the boxes in the basement to open the freezer and find it hidden than surely you could push the little tiny stick up to get more ice cream.

Thurs.-This must have been makeover day. I found her covered in mascara--kind of like body paint. It must have been good quality because even in the shower it wasn't coming off. I went to get some more serious soap come back and she is sitting in the bottom of the shower as the water poured around her reading this nice hardback space book Kevin left in the bathroom. I said What are you DOING!! She looks up so innocent as says Oh hi mom, I reading go away.

This next one didn't technically happen this week but I put them in the bath and then hurried to vacuum up the explosion of popcorn kernels that was covering my floor from a snack gone bad. I come back up the stairs and smell a familiar smell of clean mint as I am trying to figure out how I know this smell I look and see Kristen covered in toothpaste and smearing it all over Ben's body like soap. I started rinsing them off but then stopped to take the picture. So this isn't really an accurate picture so just imagine that on their shoulders all over their bodies. The water was a lovely shade of blue. The cruel irony was that as i was cleaning the bathroom up they helped themselves to some crackers on the floor that I just paid a very high price to get vacuumed and they got crumbs all over the floor.


These were just the highlights there were many more messes that were much more typical but annoying nonetheless. I'm scared to think what is in store tomorrow. I guess I just can't get dressed or go to the bathroom---I guess I better stop drinking now... and maybe sleep in some clothes. On a more positive note-- at least none of it had to do with any bodily fluids or functions this time.

Talent ?!

Ryan was in his talent show at school at came up with a pogo stick routine. He was great and it was the only act like it. The quality of video isn't great and it's cut off at the end when he did the disco fingers while jumping but you can get the idea

Kevin showed his gingerbread talent again with this:















Kevin made this St. Patrick's day gingerbread house for his Irish Captain at work and it was really cool. Then we helped Luke make a gingerbread castle for a project at school.
His teacher called him Betty Crocker and his partner Mr. Pillsbury.

Eric Style...

This is a funny video staring Kevin's brother Eric and Ryan. Eric had some time to kill as he awaited his mission call and put his creativity to work and recruited Ryan to help. He did get his call shortly after this debut-- he is going to Las Vegas, Nevada mission. We are very proud of him and excited for his upcoming adventure!!

A Crappy Few Weeks

If you are easily grossed out you might want to stop reading now. When I chose the title of this post and included crappy--it was both figurative and literal.

First a stomach bug hit most of us. Which is bad enough but then you have to deal with the 100 diapers filled with toxic waste and try to take care of it as fast as you can while fighting the urge to vomit.

Then what started as a typical day went very,very wrong. I went to get Kristen a drink and realized Ben was MIA so I told Colin to go find him. I hear from upstairs--MOM, EMERGENCY!! I'm sorry!!! OK I think this can't be good but as I'm walking upstairs I don't hear crying so I thought well it can't be that bad. Boy was I wrong. I walk in the bathroom and there is Ben--hands in the toilet(which apparently Colin did not flush-hence the apology) Why do babies eat and play in disgusting things. I again have to fight the urge to vomit. Strip him down wash out his mouth and throw him in the bathtub. All while on the phone with the insurance adjuster I might add.

Oh if that wasn't enough. No there's more. A few days ago I'm trying to take a shower and when I'm almost done I get some visitors. Kristen is trying to open the door with Ben by her side and I'm holding it shut with one hand and trying to rinse with the other while she continually shouts MY TURN!! I finish and get out and she had already stripped down and jumped in before I got all the way out. I go to get dressed and I hear the door open, a weird grunting and then the door again. I go to see what that was and I guess she got out of the shower pooped on the floor--about 3 INCHES from the toilet and then got back in. COME ON!! Really!! If your going to take the time to get out of the shower you can't take the 1/2 step and make it to the toilet!

So you see I wasn't exaggerating. It really hasn't been the best few weeks. Put all this with being the homework police and the chore nazi-- I am done!!

January

I realize it is mid Febuary but I haven't posted anything in awhile so I thought I would just let you know a little of the things going on around here. January is always a crazy month for us. Ryan turned 10 on the 3rd. I had a birthday on the 4th. Our anniversary was on the 17th and then on

January 26th was Ben's birthday and he turned 1.
Also we are so proud of Ryan he finished reading the whole Book of Mormon shortly after his 10th birthday. We had some friends over and decorated cupcakes to celebrate his success. I tried to make a big deal out of it and I kept saying how great and amazing it was he did this and then Tanner says. Well I finished 1st Nephi what do I get. I replied--That's great too-- you get that cupcake that your eating right now.