Fancy Boys and other randomness

Well the boys have been officially introduced to the world of girly dress ups! Taylor took Bennett and John downstairs yesterday and they came back upstairs with princess dresses on...and let me tell you they were thrilled!! They thought they were hilarious! I wish I would have taken some pics...but I didn't. John only tried on one outfit but Bennett tried on 3 or 4. He would come upstairs with Taylor to do fashion show and then head back down and Taylor would re-dress him. It was quite hilarious and he was having a grand time! His little face when he would peek around the corner with a new fancy on was priceless!!!

A couple weeks ago I went into the boys room to get them up after their nap and I found Bennett's pants with a big tear down the leg from the waist to the cuff! There was a hole in the knee before nap but holy cow!! I didn't know he was capable of that kind of destruction! I have a pic somewhere I will post when I have a minute to find it!

Super funny Taylor story. So Taylor and her little friend were playing the other night and Kirk went down to tell him that it was time to go. He found her little friend on one side of the room with a strange look on his face and Taylor was on the other side of the room in her panties trying to put a princess dress on. So Kirk asked what they were doing and her little friend said, "We are getting married and she is getting her dress on. These are our kids (pointing to some stuffed animals). She's going to have the babies though but first we are getting married. And first we have to dance." HILARIOUS!!! It's a whole different type of play when a little boy plays....I am surprised she was able to talk him into it.

That's all for now but I am sure I have more to post later!

Hats hats hats for sale!!

I just finished posting a bunch more pictures on my crochet blog! Check it out and tell your friends!! These hats make great gifts! www.myccdesigns.blogspot.com

New Blog

Checkout my new blog for my hats! myccdesigns.blogspot.com!!

Happy Halloween and such!

Happy Halloween from Cat in the Hat, Thing 1, Thing 2, Cindy Lou Who, and Dr. Seuss!

The crazy little Things!

This is Taylor's best Cat in the Hat face!

Little Johnny's cute little face in his latest hat! He'll wear it while he is outside but the minute we get in he is done with it.

Bennett loves getting all accessorized to go outdoors! He loves to wear his hats.

MMMMMMMM.............

........WWWWWAAAAAAH! A kiss from Bennett and John!

Handmade Hats For Sale!

I have been bitten by the crochet bug and I love it! I am offering custom crocheted hats for sale! Anything or any color is available! Below are a few of the styles/colors I have done most recently. They make great Christmas gifts or would be great for fall/winter family photos! All hats only $15!!

Taylor just loves these hats and loves helping me choose color combinations.

These are some fun sets that I have experimented with. They are 4 piece sets for $30 (hat, flower clippie, purse, and gloves)

A sampling of hair/hat clippies for $2.50 each.

Little boy earflap hats.

Mommy Motif Hats...I love this hat! This hat is $18-lots of extra work here!

If you or anyone you know is interested just leave me a comment and I will contact you!

it's been awhile!

Yes I have not posted for quite a long time....life gets busy...nuff said. I will try to summarize our life for the past month or so.
Gramma and Grampa Chugg took us all to the Circus at the end of September and we had a blast!! The kids loved it all! John especially loved the elephants and anytime anything caught his eye he would say "Da Da Da" and point until Kirk looked to see what he was pointing at. It was a very very fun night.

This was at the circus...Bennett & John and Daddy sure love "vrooms"!

For about a month John and Bennett had a daily ritual of emptying all the drawers full of clothes and throwing them everywhere. This is evidence of the last time it happened...Mommy and Daddy finally wised up and put their dresser in Taylor's room....(it only took us a month)! John wasn't too happy about grumpy Mommy.

The first part of October we headed down to St. George with the fam. Gramma and Grampa Welling and Rob & Katie came too. We had a great weekend and enjoyed the warmer weather. We were even able to go swimming in the pool and on a bike ride! YAY! On the way home we decided to spend some time in Zion so we did and went on a few little hikes with the kiddos. It was very beautiful!

One morning while in St. George we decided to go for a hike up Snow Canyon. We picked the 3 ponds trail thinking it would be a fun hike and it would have been had it not been for the 6 inches of sand that covered 80% of the trail! I just had my tennis shoes and they have mesh and so just 2 or 3 steps in the sand and my shoes were full of sand...bleh. I think we hiked for an hour or two and the pic above is one of the so called "ponds"...umm excuse me...pretty sure that's a puddle! The hike was beautiful but the end was totally lamo! The kids did pretty well considering by the time we got back it was 2 hours past lunch and naps! Taylor really is a good hiker though...she's a trooper. And luckily for her our friend Fabbi went with us and she carried Taylor quite a bit of the way.

This is our favorite tree in our backyard! Beauty right? Autumn Blaze Maple we love you even if you do cover our backyard with a carpet of leaves!

Just raking and playing.

In the middle of October Mom and Dad gave us a week in a condo at Park City and it was so fun! This is the kids at Wasatch State Park in Midway. They loved feeding the ducks here...probably the highlight of the trip for the boys. Taylor loved the swimming pool at the condo...very nice! We had a really nice 5 days there. We cut the trip a little short because the boys were big 'ole bears...like this guy below.

We did have fun and we especially enjoyed bedtime...as usual but especially because the room had an awesome jet tub and steam shower....so relaxing! That helped make up for the chaos of the awake hours.

The kids really really really loved the big tub too. I think they probably took an hour bath every night...good way to kill time before bedtime! This is John with his bubble beard. I think we decided that we won't be going on another family trip to a hotel type destination for a little while because Bennett and John are SCREAMERS! Wow they are loud lately! I am pretty sure the people around us probably asked to be moved! Ahh...traveling with family....good times!

Well I think that about catches us up. Oh the craft fair was super fun! Everything went well and I sold some stuff and we had a pretty good turn out. Definitely going to try to do it again next year!

Now we are just gearing up for our super Halloween donut extravaganza! Speaking of that...this year as our "fundraiser" we are collecting food for the shelters in the area...so come get a donut and bring a can of food (or something non-perishable like that).

Holy cow I totally forgot about the boys birthday! DOY! They turned 2 last week! We took them to Petco that morning to look at the animals...they totally loved that. One day when we get brave we will get a dog but we are not ready for that yet. They both just love animals so it was the perfect thing to do. Then that evening we had the family over for cinnamon rolls since Bennett and John do not like cake. It was really fun and the boys were very spoiled...we now have many many new toys which makes for many many hours of happy entertainment...Happy Birthday to ME!!!

We have the perfect Halloween costumes for Taylor, Bennett, and John this year! Just wait till I do that post...It will be amazing I am so excited....stay tuned!!!

Unbiased Mommy Brag

This morning we had some relaxing time spent in the yard and I realized I haven't taken pics of the kiddos for a long time. So I got the camera out and before I knew it I had taken 100 pictures! Well fortunately for you I didn't post them all...but I want you to know...the majority of them were 'post worthy' because we have the cutest durn kids EVER!! That is my humble unbiased opinion of course. Take a look for yourself!

John was the most photogenic today..he just kept making funny faces and doing funny things. I think he was thinking, "Doh, I know Mom has told me a million times not to stick my head in there!"

Bennett is really good at the cheeser grins!

This is John's GQ pose. Handsome little devil isn't he even with a snotty nose and muddy face? Doesn't he just look like a big kid here?

He was saying "HOT" cause he touched the sunny part of the deck.

Oh I take that back...this is John's GQ pose.

And here is our most beautiful Taylor...what a face that little lady has!!

Ah yes...we caught it on camera...Bennett's HULK face!

OHHHH!! Doesn't he look so sweet and innocent??

AwwwWw!! By now I am sure you all agree...DURN CUTE!!!

Chugg Station Craft Boutique

Craft Boutique October 10 from 10-8.
Check out the blog...www.chuggstation.blogspot.com. It is going to be great! Tell your friends!

Positives

I decided today to post some of the fun things the boys have done lately...they do so many daily but they sometimes get overshadowed by the naughty things they do. Bennett's new thing is that when John is crying Bennett will go get a burp rag to wipe John's runny nose with. The first time he did it I thought it was just a fluke thing but the next time he did it I realized he knew exactly what he was doing. He saw John's runny nose and thought to help. Bennett is also very concerned about everyone's owies...if he is sitting by John he will inspect his legs for scratches and say "oohhhwwie". Bennett is really starting to use new sounds and more understandable words as of late. He is especially good at Dada and Mama now...oh and "yeah". We are trying to work on "Taylor" but that is pretty tricky for both of them.

John is still Mr. Adventure. He loves exploring and doing his own thing. He is also quite the little jokester...he will do silly sounds or make silly faces to try and get a laugh. The other day I was trying to put them down for a nap and they just both kept laughing and laughing instead of sleeping. So I went in their room to tell them again to go to sleep and they both had their blankies over their heads like ghosts and they were just laughing. Silly silly boys. I am glad they can make each other laugh...if only it would happen less at naptime we'd be set.

We all went to Smith and Edwards yesterday to look at some different things...holy cow that is a crazy store. I had never really walked back through all the surplus stuff...they have so many random things it is amazing. Kirk decided he wants an old WWII jumpsuit or coat after looking through the racks and racks of old military getups...the more holes the better. Anyway while we were there we walked down the toy aisles. John was in heaven when we walked by all the toy tractors (holy cow they are expensive by the way). He just kept pointing at everything and saying, "OOHHHHHH" with great excitement. We know what to get him for his birthday now!! Oh how I love my little family!!

New Dealio

I have a new project I am working on to help build our book collection and help others do the same. I signed up to be an Usborne Books & More Consultant. And it is going to be fun!! I have been signed up for weeks but I am just now starting to delve into it and learning what I can. So if you are interested in purchasing any books for your own collection or as gifts for Christmas, either let me know or visit my website at www.myubam.com/D3210. I am getting ready to put an order in within the next week or so. Or if you would like to host a show to earn some free books we could schedule that as well. I am excited about my new venture!!

Fence!!

Our fence is OFFICIALLY done!! Our little rascals officially cannot escape the backyard! Can I tell you how happy I am! I think this is going to completely change my life!! I think it turned out beautifully and it is going to be awesome!!

This is the part that Kirk built to enclose the opening to the carport...didn't he do an awesome job? It looks so nice!!! He's so handy!!

Due to some crazy N.O. city rules we could only do 3 1/2 feet high on the one side...but it still looks nice I think.

YAY for our new fence!!!!

Twin Tornadoes at it Again!

I know you have all been waiting to hear what our crazy little boys are up to now...well good gravy...it's almost miraculous they are alive after the past couple days!!! Where to begin...ahh yes...where it always begins...Sunday morning. Let me just set it up for you in case you don't remember how our Sunday mornings go. Kirk is outta here by 6:50 and usually not back until 8 or later. Then he is gone again by either 9 or 9:30 depending on the Sunday and home by 10:50 to take us to church. For some reason I have this crazy need to get showered and fix myself on Sunday mornings...probably because I know for a fact that I will be seen in public and be talking to people...honestly the only day of the week I do this..(better clarify I do shower almost daily but I NEVER do my hair...I believe you will see why in a moment.) Now on to the mornings events. Fixed breakfast for the kiddos that went fairly well..only had to tell John 12 times to sit down in his chair (seriously the kid needs a helmet I think..more on this later). I think they didn't throw too much food on the floor this time...I think. Then on to diaper changing and finding clothes for them all to wear...also went fairly well once I rounded them up. Then it was my turn so I put on some kiddo church songs thinking that would help keep them occupied this Sunday. So I shower and start getting ready and I really only spend 30 minutes start to finish but when I am done I find the tornadoes busy at work. They had opened and emptied 3 drawers in their dressers, the pants drawer, the shorts drawer (yes they have a seperate drawer for shorts), and the shoes drawer and they were thrown quite literally all over the entire room. Even found some in the cribs and on top of the dresser. So ok..that's one's not too bad because their drawers weren't too organized anyway...I'm just mad that they figured out how to open them...I thought their room was safe...bleh! So then I head to the front room where I have a pile of crocheting that I have been working on and I thought I had made it so they wouldn't get into it...wrongo...they dumped a bunch of stuff all over the floor behind the recliner. Eesh! So I didn't even attempt to clean any of it up because it was now quarter to and I still had yet to pack the church bag. The bag full of feeble attempts to keep two 22 month old boys busy and quiet during sacrament meeting. By the time everyone was loaded in the van I turned to Kirk and felt like I had accomplished something amazing..(we even high fived)...only to realize we hadn't even started church yet. Needless to say we did not even really attempt sacrament meeting...we made it through the sacrament and then bolted. I did feel bad about this. We got the boys home and in bed and realized that sacrament sure doesn't last long when you aren't wrestling two crazies! Before we knew it, it was already 2 o'clock when we would normally be coming home! I think the rest of Sunday was just the normal crazy...no big catastrophes to report.
Monday is a different story however. I am pretty sure I spent the entire morning stopping the boys from doing things they shouldn't have been doing. The fence people were coming to start installing our fence so I went outside for a minute to see if Kirk needed any help and pretty soon I hear a Taylor voice, "Mom you better come see what the boys are doing!". CRAP! So I run inside to find John with the bottle of jet dry swinging it up and down squirting jet dry all over the kitchen floor. He also got the garbage can out and managed to soak himself with floor cleaner. I am pretty sure he drank some of it because it was also dripping down his chin. I am so glad I didn't have any powdered dishwashing soap under there cause wow...they would have loved playing in that. So I read all the cleaning bottles that they had out and they all said in case of ingestion just drink water. So I forced John and Bennett to drink a whole bunch of water and hopefully they won't suffer any lasting effects. Needless to say the only thing under the sink now is garbage cans and empty grocery sacks (it looks really nice-very clean now). All cleaners have been moved to the basement in the laundry room in a closet on a high shelf...pretty sure that should have been done a long time ago but didn't think about it because Taylor has only just recently been able to open that cupboard because the magnets are strong. BOYS!
Later I was doing laundry and the boys always basically chase me downstairs when I am doing laundry because they love the laundry room. They are only allowed in when I am doing laundry and it is usually ok because they just play with the extra bottles of shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, etc. (Our food storage, etc is in the laundry room and that is the only shelf they can reach). So normally I have no problem letting them move bottles around and restack stuff-they are busy and happy and I can just get the laundry in. Well those days are gone my friend. I finished up and started herding them out the door to find Bennett covered in slime. He had managed to open the kids shampoo and dump it on himself and all over the shelf. Fortunately it was soap so it washed off and once again I have a really clean shelf....yay. I tell ya what...I feel like an idiot when stuff like this happens...why don't I think to myself, "Carin remember what these guys can do...perhaps you shouldn't let them play with bottles of shampoo." If only. Anyway other than the constant reminder to them to get off the back of the couch and sit on their bums the rest of the day was ok.
Oh yeah...about John needing a helmet. We were up at my parents house this weekend for the hot air balloon festival and we were watching some go up and the kids were all standing on the bottom rung of the little fence and I turn around and somehow John managed to fall through the fence and land on his head on the sprinkler pipe that Grampa uses to water the field. He was doing a perfect head stand on the pipe when I saw him. Poor little guy got a gash in his head. Fortunately it didn't bleed as bad as I thought it would. By today it just looks like he has bugers stuck in his hair. Probably should get the kid a helmet...he constantly has bonks and bruises on his cranium.
On the lighter side of things, Taylor had a blast at her cousin Anna's birthday party yesterday. It was a dog party and Taylor was so excited for it she kept asking me if it was time for lunch yet because I told her Anna's party was after lunch! She even decided to wear her little poodle costume to surprise Anna. She had a great time...Michelle made it really fun and Taylor came home with fuzzy dog ears, a tail, a dog collar, and a new adopted puppy (complete with dog bowl, food, and adoption certificate) named Blueberry. Except last night before going to bed she changed his name to Cloudy because his eyes are blue and white like clouds. I thought she named him Blueberry because he was blue but when I was tucking her in I remembered that she loves sleeping with Berry her bear and probably really named her dog Blue Berry, not Blueberry. Anyway she had a great time! While we were there picking her up Bennett wanted to put the pink poodle costume on. So we put it on him and then he crawled around Michelle's house barking like a dog...funny little guy. He wouldn't take the costume off when it was time to go. I had to buckle him in the car with the big fluffy costume on because he wouldn't let me take it off. I thought for sure when we got home he would want it off first thing because he was sweating-his hair was all matted down under the hood, but he kept it on while we played outside for an hour and finally took it off when we came in. Crazy kid!
While at Michelle's, Bennett and John were introduced do their cat well kitten-big kitten. Bennett was really good and would just be soft and pet him but John just wanted to squeeze the poor cat. So I thought if I put him in my lap and held the cat that would work but when the cat wanted to get away John grabbed a big handful of cat and wouldn't let go. I had to pry his fingers loose. It's lucky that cat didn't bite John...he probably should have gotten bitten. Another time I looked over at John and he had the cat by the tail and the back leg and wouldn't let go. Pretty sure we won't ever own a cat.
One more quick story. Bennett has started to get quite a temper and throw some big fits. I have decided to call him the Hulk because he will get made and then just throw whatever he can find that he can lift. The other day we were outside and I made him let John have a turn with the hose, well he didn't like that idea and went over to their little push bike and tried to lift it over his head and chuck it. Then he went to the other one and did the same thing all the while doing his meanest maddest scream! Very hulkish wouldn't you agree. I just sat there and laughed at him cause it was so funny. I'll try to get that one on video..it is sooo video worthy!
Well I think my post should be done now...time to start the day! Hopefully tornado season is over for a while. (I can always hope)....

Jam jammin' Jam

3 batches of jam done by Noon! Wahoo! Good work to me! Now I am tired! Here are some funny pics of the kiddos this morning before the jam explosion in my kitchen!

This is Taylor's selfie...she loves the camera lately.

Tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum...John loves Taylor's tinkerbell hat.

Birth Control Blog

We were at Kirk's ten year high school reunion this weekend and one of our friends came up to me and said this, "Your blog makes me glad I don't have kids," or something to that effect. At the time I wasn't offended in the slightest and even joked about it because let's face it...Mommyhood is hard and not for the faint hearted. But the more I have thought about it the more I have wished that I would have come up with a snappy little reply, however even now I have trouble coming up with what that reply would be...suggestions?
I have a really hard time understanding why people wouldn't want to experience this most difficult and rewarding of life experiences. Yes, it is hard. Yes, it requires HUGE amounts of sacrifice and selflessness. Yes, sometimes I want to lock myself in the bathroom and scream and/or cry. But yes, I absolutely LOVE it and wouldn't trade the hard parts for anything because that is what makes me strong and that is what makes the great times truly great. How great is it to look at a child and think 'there is a part of me in that little person'. And how great is it to think 'I can have some influence in the kind of person this little person will be'. How awesome to have such an awesome responsibility!
I guess the part that bothers me the most about this encounter is that when I was talking to her I found myself belittling myself and my job and I walked away from the conversation feeling small. I am not small...my job is important. I am not "just a stay at home mom." I have real value and I am making a REAL difference in this world. The reason it is great is BECAUSE it is hard, not despite it being hard.

Birthday Bash and Emergency Surgery...what else do you need in a day?

Taylor's birthday was Wednesday and we had an amazingly fun birthday party with friends and family thank you in large part to the party planning genius of Angela (seriously how do we ever do anything fun when she isn't here to plan and coordinate?). Here it is in picture format!

Grandma let us borrow the AWESOME waterslide for the event...totally fun!

Here is Grandma snuggling the grandkiddos to keep them warm while they eat their snowcones.

The famous party planner herself in the Momma section.

Taylor and the MOST DELICIOUS cupcakes you will ever eat. If you want to try something really great, just mix a packet of koolaid in the frosting...great color and flavor! (Warning: do not try if you have any tastebuds whatsoever-apparently kids between the ages of 2 and 5 fit in this category)

The birthday girl herself with her friend the parrot.

Beach babies trying to get warm on the hot hot deck.

Tarin was the self-designated snowcone chef in our tiki hut. I don't think she left her post for an hour or so. The kids all had 4 or 5 snowcones...yum!

Near the end of the party I get a call that Kirk has just been sent to the ER to have an emergency appendectomy. We knew he was sick because he had been at the clinic all morning trying to get diagnosed...I was sure it was just a bad stomach flu or something but after the CT scan they sent him to the hospital. So I rushed off and Momma Welling and Angela came to the rescue and took over as hostesses of the party which didn't end until 4:30 or something I think. Pretty sure Taylor didn't even know we were gone...GOOD WORK TO THEM!! They also undecorated, cleaned up the party, fed dinner to the kids, and bathed the kids! AMAZING and THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

Kirk went in for surgery around 5:30 and was out by 6. Because it was so late in the day they made him stay overnight. I gotta tell you this whole healthcare system they have going on is a little wacky...it's like they plan things so every part of the system gets their fair share of the bill. Kirk started at the clinic, then was sent to another clinic for the scan. Then even though they knew he needed surgery he had to be admitted to the ER (to generate yet another bill), and then finally they took him up to the OR. GOOD GRAVY...all with no pain killers!! BLess him!! Anyway the surgery went well and the recovery is going well also thank you lortab!

That sums up Taylor's 4th birthday! Happy Birthday sweetie! Another birthday we won't soon be forgetting. Oh now that Kirk is home she keeps saying things like, "I sure missed Daddy on my birthday. I am so glad he's home!" What a sweetie!! We are planning a do-over day when Daddy is fully recovered and able to play.

BOYS BOYS BOYS

Again here I am with more mischievous little boy stories...unfortunately these all happened within 4 days of each other.
The first one happened when the really exceptionally good little boy stories usually happen...while Mommy is indisposed in the potty. On this particular day I open the door of the bathroom to find naked John with poop smeared all over his body. AAAHH! So I frantically run to find the discarded diaper and find it sitting in the carpet next to naked Bennett in the front room!!! AAHHH Upon closer inspection I see poop all over in the carpet as well!!! HOLY COW boys are nasty!! All this mess and only 9 am. Naturally I stuck them in the tub as quick as I could and cleaned up what I could...yikes. One bonus...I have really clean carpet for a minute. BOYS!!

The next unfortunate event happened the next morning. We were in my bedroom and I was organizing my closet and drawers and I was sure that my room had been little boy proofed. So I was gabbing on the phone while going through my clothes and turn around to find Bennett covered in my thick cream that I have been using for my nasty itchy skin (another story all together). He seriously had gobs of it on his hands and face and all over his favorite tractor that he carries with him wherever he goes. I looked over to the nightstand where I keep my cream and I catch John with his hands in the cream jar...apparently he has just begun his turn finger painting because he wasn't too shmeared yet. But Bennett had really gone to town on the wall, alarm clock, floor and nightstand...all beautifully finger painted with thick greasy cream!!!!! BOYS!!!!

The third event took place at Grandma and Grandpa Welling's just yesterday (just 2 days after the cream incident) and John was the only culprit. We had just gotten done eating our yummy dinner and we were all hanging out outside. Sure enough here comes John down the back lawn complaining about his sticky black hands. He apparently had discovered the grease trap to the grill and there were little black John hand prints all over around the grill and upper deck. Seriously how does he find this stuff!!!! BOYS!!!!!

Poop Scooper AKA Mom

Yup I have now added a new job title to the ever growing list of jobs included in the "Mommy" job description. The other night Kirk was giving John and Bennett their baths and discovered a little something special floating in the water so we quickly ended bath and I began getting them dressed while he disinfected the tub so the girls could have a bath (Dan and Ang's girls were here). So I got John diapered up and started dressing him and realized that I should probably at least put Bennett's diaper on before we had an accident...well...while I was walking him over to the "station", Tarin screams, "He's pooping!!!" So I act without thinking and catch what I can in my hand....wow talk about a messed up instinct. In this situation the Mommy instinct didn't really pay off for me. I say let it drop on the carpet...I have great carpet cleaner!!

Yesterday on the way up to Grandma and Grandpa's for dinner we were at a stop sign and Taylor said, "Stop....stop...Mommy that says stop! I can read now!!!!! Let's find a big word for me to read!!!!" It was hilarious...mostly because everytime we come to a stop sign we go through this drill:
Taylor: Mommy what does that sign say?
Mom: Sound it out.
Taylor: sssss ttttttt oooooo ppppppp. STOP. I did it!
Mom: Good job Taylor.
She then begins her repertoire of questions regarding traffic rules...Why do you stop? How do you drive the car? What does the yellow light mean? What's that sound clicking (the blinker)? and on and on...my she is inquisitive.
Her latest thing is to say, "Mommy I need to watch you change his pooper diaper so that when I'm a mommy I know how to do it." Also insert fix dinner, make cookies, wash laundry, etc. What 3 year old thinks like this?

Two Wild and Crazy Guys!

Note to self...don't give Bennett and John the big yellow bowls for lunch!
Quick little man story: This afternoon while fixing lunch they were playing together nicely (wow!) and Bennett went up behind John and gave him a big hug and they both just laughed and laughed. Bennett ended up giving John probably 10 hugs! Oh I love my boys!!!

"boys boys boys!!"

We have had a few more funny moments this week that I thought I would share. A few days ago I was fixing dinner (the grumpiest time of the day for most everyone at our house). And I could hear Bennett and John laughing in the front room. So I went to check it out to make sure they weren't having too much fun if you know what I mean, and I found them chasing this fly around on the window. I thought, "great they will be entertained and happy while I finish fixing dinner, no way will they be able to catch that little guy!" Well, a few minutes later Bennett comes into the kitchen crying so I went to see what happened and John had something in his mouth. Sure enough he caught that fly and decided to eat it (what else would you do with a fly?)!! YUCK! Fortunately (I guess), he didn't swallow it. John sure does have a fascination with bugs though. He just wants to poke them all. When we go outside I will sometimes catch him standing right in front of the raspberry bushes just staring at them. Finally I figured out that the reason he stares is because he is watching the hundreds of bees that are pollinating the buds. Clearly he hasn't been stung yet or that fascination would be done I think.

I also had another fun surprise upon leaving the bathroom the other day. Bennett and John we sitting on the kitchen table splashing in a large puddle of water. They were just as happy as could be and as wet as could be. I of course did the only thing I could think of and took a picture...(I'll post later)...I love to send those mixed messages-don't climb on the table but if you do I'll take your picture.

By the way, I did get past my hard day...and I'm no longer grumpy or bitter or wanting to complain. Just had to get it out there so I could get past it. It's amazing how cathartic that can be to even just admit that you are a little ticked off or grumpy or whatever...go figure. Thank goodness for blogs I guess.

More headbands

I made these headbands for sisters...a 2 year old and a new baby...what do you think? This was today's sanity project.....yup it worked I'm still sane!! I will do matching flowers for each set.

Mommy needs timeout

Ok...so I am in serious need of some blog therapy today so here we go. We have entered a stinkin hard stage with our little twin tornadoes...today I have been thinking...this is my life???....seriously? They are into EVERYTHING!!!!!! I just am feeling very done today and we are nowhere near bedtime...it's only 10:00!!! AAAHHHHH!!!! Let me explain what I think has led to this little breakdown of mine.
Sunday morning went like this:
-Kirk is basically at meetings from 7 until 10:30....so I have the lucky job of getting everyone ready for church all by myself
-Boys are sick AGAIN so no church for them (originally I thought this would help Sunday morning go more smoothly...wrong again)
-While getting Taylor ready for church the tornadoes manage to open the cereal cupboard and dump 2 full boxes of cereal all over the kitchen and front room...but this shouldn't bother me because they were only getting a snack right? (they even got themselves little bowls out to put their contraband treats in)
-They also emptied the hamper (for the umpeenth time)
-Also they got into the laptop bag and had the cords everywhere.
So that was Sunday morning before ten.
Today John climbed up on the kitchen table to play with the laptop while Bennett fell off the kitchen chair...after they pulled the fireplace screen over on themselves and threw balls and Taylor's doll in the fireplace. AAAAHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!! I just feel very done. I get that they don't feel great and I get that they are only 19 months old and I get that they are boys and boys are different....but SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!?!? I don't want to hear how one day I will miss this. I don't want to hear how cute and funny this is. I don't want to hear how before I know it they will be old and gone and I will be so sad. I just don't want to hear any of that because right now it's just too hard. I guarentee I won't miss this stage just like I don't miss spending all but maybe 3 hours of my day feeding babies.
This morning I felt it was just tooo much for me to handle. So I closed them in their bedroom and I can hear them making all sorts of ruckus but I just can't deal with it right now so here I type and there they cry.
I know that I have more things to be grateful for then I can even mention, I have a great husband who is home every night, we are all healthy for the most part, we are doing ok financially, we just spent a great day yesterday together on a hike, and on and on and really we are surviving just fine but today I just feel spent!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! I get that everyone has their days and things could be so much worse but I just want to be grumpy and ornery and complain for a second....I just need to get it out and then dig in again. I will be fine....life is good...life is good...life is good.
Last night while putting Taylor to bed I said, "Have good sleeps" and she said, "Mommy sometimes when I am sleeping, my baby wakes me up because she is crying for me so I might not sleep." And I said, "Taylor would you like me to take care of your baby tonight so you can sleep?" "Yes Mommy." I said, "being a mommy is sometimes hard isn't it." Taylor said, "it sure is." Holy cow it is! Well I'm going to go have a good cry and then I will be ready to go again and it is probably time to let the tornoadoes loose.

Some Pictures

I realized that we haven't posted kiddo pics for a while so here you go!

This is on our hike (who am I kidding it didn't last long enough to be considered a hike...it was really a walk) in the foothills last week.

Mr. John loves his hat.

This is Bennett. We took the kids to the temple the other day to get some spring pictures of them with the tulips.

This is Taylor with her latest headband...my favorite so far!
And Taylor at her final dance performance. She did a great job!!