A Gingerbread Village

So we've learned that it's a lot less trouble using graham crackers than actually baking gingerbread since it's going to be quickly devoured anyway by the children.  This year we decided to let each of the children make their own.  When we piled them all in the microwave to keep them out of child's reach we thought it kinda looked like a village, thus a new tradition was born.  Here is the first annual Butlerville Christmas village (soon to be destroyed by Dallaszilla).

Some things get sweeter with time . . .our anniversary isn't one of them

Our celebration of 8 years together a few weeks ago went something like this:

We don't set an alarm because Trenton always wakes up before he is supposed to and wakes the rest of us up (he's been doing this since birth) in time for the boys to get ready and off to school.  Well, out of the blue, he didn't wake up on our anniversary until 7:15 (the bus comes at 7:10).  It was a rushed morning to get them out the door and have Dave drop them off on time at school  on his way out.  So, no goodbye hug or kiss or salutation that I can recall for our "special" morning. . .although Dave did kiss me on the forehead at midnight to wish me a happy anniversary in my sleep).  I sent him a text about an hour later when I realized I hadn't said anything that morning.  

My parents were also in town for the last day of their visit and scheduled to fly out that afternoon.  I had it planned out perfectly to be in the car ready to go when the boys got home at 2:50 so that I could drop them off at the airport and make it back home in time to meet Brooklyn's bus.   At 2:35 I get a call that I don't answer cause I didn't recognize the number only to retrieve the message a minute later and learn "there has been an incident with Dallas on the bus, that he cut his head and is bleeding pretty badly and will need to be picked up back at the school.  I quickly return the call and they tell me while standing on the seat trying to open a window he fell and cut the back of his head on the window latch.  I ask if they think he'll need stitches and while initially unsure because they couldn't really see the wound, they shortly came back with, "yes, we think he will".  I ask them where his brother, Trenton, is and they inform me that he is still on the bus.  (So somehow I am supposed to come to the school and get Dallas but not be here to meet Trenton when the bus gets here in 10 minutes.)  I explain the dilemma but tell them I will check with my neighbor and be there as soon as possible. 

 My window to get my parents to the airport is quickly disappearing.  I leave to go and get Dallas only to turn around and go back for my phone that I left behind, but that detour allowed me to spot Trenton's bus in the neighborhood and flag it down to get Trenton.  All the while, I get a hold of Dave and ask him if he can help me .  , ,"well, where is he cut because if it's in his hair I won't really be able to help," he tells me.  I clarify that I don't want him to do the stitches, but can he help me either with my parents ride or a trip to the ER?  He gets his patients transferred and meets me at the hospital where I drop Dallas off on my way to the airport. 

 My neighbor gets Brooklyn for me, although I miraculously make it back just behind her bus.   

Dave spends the rest of the afternoon at the hospital where Dallas receives 4 staples in his head but makes it home in time for his indoor soccer game that night . .where his head injury helped him secure a hat trick.  Unfortunately Lexi having sympathy pains for her brother (combined with a sippy cup of chocolate milk followed by a juice box from me) decided to hurl in my lap at the soccer game.  So I'm covered in vomit and so is the turf where I was sitting.  The staff graciously offers Lexi a leftover flag football shirt from the previous season to change into and they offer me one as well . . .but seeing as how all the puke was on my pants, I was unsure (even in Kentucky) how socially acceptable it would be for me to walk around in nothing but a t-shirt and was forced to decline.  Dave insisted that I at least wipe the chunks of vomit off of myself and then I sat there for the rest of the game in all my glory.  Dave drove home with his head out the window and well that's how we celebrate marriage in our house.

Isn't motherhood grand?

Did you know all you have to do is puke to score a new shirt from the Y?

For the first time, I am glad for the wretched cold I have because I can't smell  the vomit I'm currently wearing.

Acting like a dog with my head out the window is better than smelling my wife right now.

**Lest you should feel bad for us, which I 'm sure no one does, we did have a wonderful date a few days earlier. . .thanks to my parents for staying home with the kids while they were visiting.  Dave planned a surprise pottery class for us to take together  .. big surprise for me as he and I both know that I don't have a creative bone in my body.  However, we had a lot of fun and well as far as the pottery goes, I haven't seen the final pieces yet, but the process was more fun than I thought it would be.**

I went for the ever original pencil holder.

Lexi Discovers She Can Move Her Eyebrows

New Family Photos

After a lot of self-timer and photoshop we were able to get a few updated pictures of the family, it actually went relatively smoothly and miraculously we had a few pictures that everyone was smiling without photoshop!

Lexi actually gets to enjoy some alone time with me on some days now that everyone else is in school.  Shopping with only one kid climbing out of the cart and crying=bliss.

All ready to go on the first day.

First day of second grade August 11th.  Only 19 students in class . .. schools are a bit better here than in Portland.

First day of Kindergarten Aug 11th.  He leaves and comes home happy each day.  You'll see what goes on in the middle at the end of this post.

First day of preschool  She's thrilled and loves school.  I actually got teary-eyed sending her off, unlike with the boys :).

The second week of school for Dallas went like this.  I was initially beside myself but have communicated with his teacher more and now that I understand her personality and his . . . I'm not expecting perfection, but he has improved dramatically thank goodness.

Potato Heads

Orlando

No great stories here, just great memories.  We went on a week long vacation back in May with my parents and my sister, Margaret, and her boyfriend Nick.  Adult to child ratio-6:4.  Who could ask for more?  We couldn't but we got sunshine, beaches, amusement parks, tennis, golf and more anyway.  Thanks family for a wonderful trip!  We couldn't have done it or at least it wouldn't have been nearly as cool without you.Lesson learned-the UV rays are way stronger down in Florida go even heavier on the sunscreen!  

Dallas was totally fearless on all roller coasters, or so we thought until we saw this pic.  Too cute.  He's still way tougher than Trenton though .  Dave tried to get the domesticated squirrel as addicted to diet Dew as he is . . .I think he came close. 

My dad also showed off his responsible side while drinking Diet Dew in the jacuzzi tub with my children and somehow managed to actually break a club while golfing.  Now that's talent . .just don't ask him about his score :)

Brooklyn was suprizingly or naively game for holding a baby alligator while we were out shopping.

Brooklyn was drawn to the same part of Belle that Daddy was.  Who knew Disney Princesses were so provocative?

Urine

I am the mother of young boys so I don't expect the kids bathroom to sparkle and shine except for maybe the  5 minutes immediately following a scrubbing by me.  However, I also don't expect to find urine, hmmmm . . .I'll say more than a 3 foot radius away from the toilet to be safe (again young boys).  So, when I walked into the bathroom yesterday and noticed a yellowish liquid substance half dried on the bathroom counter I was actually caught by surprise.  Using my Sherlock Holmes skills (and my nose) I quickly decide that it is indeed pee and am  instantly calling Dallas's name. 

     "Did you pee on the counter?"

     "No."

     "Did you pee in the sink," thinking maybe his aim was just as poor using the sink as it is when he uses the toilet.

     "No." 

I can see his little brain churning at this point and am pretty sure my initial response to question him first is well founded so I ask him straight up.

     "Why is there pee on the counter?"

     "When I was peeing in my water gun some of it spilled out."

     "You peed in your water gun?"

     "Yeah and some of it was just spilling out."

Never, never, never ceases to amaze me that child.  Of course I gave him the nice lecture of not peeing in his water gun and that it would end up in the garbage if he ever did it again and then I kind just had to laugh cause what else can I do? It's something a 12 year old boy would do on purpose to play a disgusting prank not a 5 year old who just doesn't really think things through all of the way most of the time.  

     I did track down the super soaker later and gave it a thorough rinsing out, but it still smells like the boys bathroom in elementary school if you know what I mean.  

Then today Brooklyn decided she needed to represent the girls team.    I had just pulled up to a water park to take the kids swimming.  Trenton, Dallas and Brooklyn were out of the car while I was grabbing all of our stuff and Lexi when Trenton frantically says "Uhhh Mommy!!???" and I look up to see Brooklyn in the middle of the parking lot with her swimsuit bottoms completely off as she is watering the asphalt with her urine.  She never even told me she needed to go potty. . . just took matters into her own hands.  Truthfully I really wouldn't have even cared (you know good for you for not peeing in your pants or whatever) except that there are two other mothers with their children also getting out of their cars at the same time who witness the little public potty incident.  Embarrassing!!!  They were understanding or at least not rude . .maybe they just talked about me later.    Again, whatever.  Who needs toilets anyway?

Summer's coming!!!

This is the last week the kids will be in school so I'm trying to catch up on blogging before summer hits us!

Taken yesterday before church.

The boys have finally figured out soccer and spend more time running, dribbling and scoring than they do rolling on the ground, playing in the dirt and getting caught in the net.

Brooklyn turned 3!  I made the classic Barbie princess cake, she donned her new tutu from Oma all day in public and private and Dave's parents got to be here to help her celebrate.

AAO in Washington DC

Dave had a conference in DC at the beginning of May.  We, that is the kids and I, decided to tag along.  We took a small detour to visit our good friends from dental school in PA on the way out there.  It was fun to see how the kids have grown and their cute house.  Everyone used to think Nichole and I were twins in Portland or would mistake us for one another, which we thought was funny but now I look at  Brooklyn and Kumorah and figure they could pass as sisters too.

One of the best parts was that my mom decided to meet us out there as well!  The kids didn't really get how amazing it was that Grandma (from Portland) just ended up in the lobby of our hotel in DC as we tried to surprise them.  For them we went far away and Grandma lives far away so I guess it all kind of made sense.   Dave and I did appreciate the efforts it took her to make it out though.  It allowed me to see the sites with some adult company and sanity in tact and Dave and I even got a little date night.  

The next cool part was Daisha driving up for the day to visit.  So fun to see her and the kids and finally meet Claire out of the womb.  It was hot at the zoo and the kids were sort of slow to remember and warm up to each other, but it was so good to see the Super Mama again and remember how much we miss everyone.

The kids got to ride the train quite a bit,  We made some quick stops for photos at Arlington National Cemetary, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Air and Space Museum, Natural History Museum, etc.

Trenton lost his first tooth with the help of Grandma.  Too bad his permanent teeth have already been hanging out behind the baby teeth in back for a while, are huge and horribly crooked.  

Kids will be kids and I had to laugh that one of their favorite parts was sitting outside of Washington Mall and getting absolutely filthy playing in the dirt.   The trip was rushed and fun and I'm glad we did it!