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!!!!!