A day in the life.

I don't have a story here.  Just a moment I wanted to capture of my favorite little people.

Three words: I.KE.A.

Scored our bathroom cabinets and barstools at Ikea.  Which means several nights of Joe doing this:

His very favorite thing in the whole world to do.  Ikea assembly!

See!  You can tell by that look on his face :)

You can never start 'em too young!

Teeth.

Kayte lost her first 'big-girl' tooth!  Yanked that baby out all on her own!  Scored some lip gloss from the tooth fairy (by special request :).

In other dental news, Will was the first of our kids to see the orthodontist.  He was relieved to find out that he has a couple of years yet, before we panic....but it does start to seem like my kids are getting so big all of a sudden!

Goin' campin.

One day, early in March, Ben hops out of his tub all clean, and, before getting dressed mind you, he gathered up this little pile of gear: his legos, a dinosaur puzzle, a calendar, pjs and pullups, a school tie, some hiking boots, and various articles of clothing.

"I'm all ready to go camping!" he announces from his room.  Still in nothing but his birthday suit.

"No, Ben.  It's still winter.  We can't go camping today.  Go ahead and put all that stuff away."

Five minutes later, I find him sitting up on his dresser on his little bare bum, staring out of the window in deep thought.  "How can it still be winter?  The sun is shining and there's no snow!"

Poor little bud.  Put some clothes on already.

Technology Malfunction.

Our CD player in our car has always been a little tempermental.  It doesn't like it if you change tracks too quickly, it overheats, it is overzealous about spitting out CDs that are slightly scratched.

But today, the thing would not even eject the CD we were trying to switch up.  It would try and try and then just give up.

Kayte's pretty desperate for some different tunes, so she pipes up, "Alright.  So the thing is broken.  Does this mean we get to buy a new car?"

.....My thoughts exactly.

Poor Joe.  She's me all over again :)

These are the days of our lives...

Wrapping up some final house stuff, and had to jet to Ltown today.  Happened to be Driskill's bday, so I had little Jem and Henry along for the ride.  I think my standards must've dropped significantly from when I only had two kids myself, cause I thought the three of them (Ben, too!) did pretty stellar, as we spent nearly an hour in Home Depot hmm-ing and ha-ing over tile pieces and toilet paper holders.  And I even forgot to bring the snacks in with me!  We rewarded ourselves with a stop at Wendy's and a ride through the carwash.  Always a good time.

Kelly warned me that we'd probably have to stop for the bathroom at some point before we returned, but I asked the little toddlers what they thought about that, and they disagreed.  So we headed up the hill.  Twenty minutes from home, Henry starts to holler, "Poddy!  Paula!  Poddy!"

I do tend to take these things seriously and pulled right over.

"You can potty on the side of the road, right Henry?"  says I.  I throw on my flashers, pull Hen out of the car, and dangle the half-naked kid at a 45 degree angle, using my legs to hold him at one end and my arms pulling him away from me so he doesn't pee over us both.  The wind was whipping around us at a Palouse-spring-typical 50 mph, throwing what may have been snow up the back of my sweater.  And if you can't picture all of this, let me clarify.  If you'd been lucky enough to be driving up behind us (likely at 70 mph) you would've seen one little bare bottom hanging out and my sweater sweeping halfway up my sun-free back.  It was a glorious moment to behold.

Unfortunately, the kid was having nothing of it.  His legs were turning into gooseflesh, and there was no potty.  Which in hindsight, probably saved us both from a wind-whipped spray of it.  I simply cannot think of everything.  I gave him 30 seconds in this position and then we gave up.

I tucked him quickly back in the car and jammed his carseat locked.

"Poddy.  Paula!  Poddy!"

Jemma looks up at me and (finally) interprets the mystery, "Buddy.  He said he wants his Buddy."

Buddy.  The little stuffed dog.  Sitting in arm's reach of the driver's seat.

 

And yet, before you roll your eyes at me, he did, in fact, manage to soak himself completely through anyway, by the time I passed the baton over to grandma. 

It was really a win-win, dontcha know.

And lest I remember my kids only as perfect little angels....

St. Paddy's Day is one.big.deal. at this house.

You better be wearin' your green jams to bed.  Cause there ain't no mercy once the clock strikes midnight.

Case in point:  Sara and Kayte told their poor unsuspecting little four-year-old brother that if he wore green on St. Patrick's Day, that he would get pinched.  And then they made sure to set the clocks for 2 AM so they could sneak out of bed and give him a good pinch.

Thankfully, the kid is a heavy sleeper.

 

On the other hand, Will says I'm protected for eternity.  Cause I have green eyes.

I gotta admit.  I love this game :)

Happy BDAY to me!

While I was off playing in the mountains with some friends this weekend, my little bud was hard at work with my dad on my birthday present.  Will and Dad built me a bird house!  Which I had just been dreaming about having right outside my new bedroom window.  Course, Will couldn't keep the thing a secret for more than half a day, and so 6 weeks early, he surprised me with it:

So. Perfect.

I love my little handy man!

 

***(Please disregard any random furniture in the background of any of our recent photos.  It is simply too long of a story....)***

Reality bites.

It occurred to me, just recently, that someday my kids are actually going to grow up.  Or more specifically, that they are growing up.  Right before my very eyes.

I don't think I like it.  Not one little bit.

Somebody really ought to have warned me.



Non nobis, by Kayte.

One nail at a time...

...every step ridiculously awesomer than the last.

Shopping with my girls.

I have to admit.  I kinda love this growing-up thing.  We are having so.much.fun.

Ok, this was a while ago...

...since we haven't had snow in a month :)

Sledding on Walton's Crapuchettes' Mountain.  The rope tow is a very nice touch:

Beautiful view!

 

This is one.long.hill.

 

Haha.  Me:

Super-fun day.  Wrapped up with chocolate chip cookies?  Can't beat it.

I might be a little ready for spring, but I know I'm gonna miss winter.

GRAY!

Move in date:  Less than a month.

I literally can.not think of anything else.  I do try.

Um...cute much?

24 days till this kid turns FIVE....what???

8:40 PM

Went in to kiss my little girlies goodnight.  My 10-year old daughter's face aglow.  Clicking furiously.

"Can I just finish this text?"

......and so it begins.

Happy Birthday, Will!

My little buddy turns 9 today.  My favorite things about Will are his tender heart, his growing confidence, his natural leadership ability, and his constant affection.  He has a strong desire to do the right thing.  He is a natural athlete, a curious George, and a loving brother.  He always blows me a kiss goodbye and hello, even from across a crowded lunchroom, and insists on a hug at every opportunity.  His greatest hero is his dad, and an accomplishment earned isn't real to Will, until his dad knows about it.  I'm so proud of the person he is, and the person he is growing up to be.

Love you so much, Will.  You have my heart.

Happy Birthday.

A new skill.

So Will really wanted to give crocheting a try.  This didn't strike me at all as an odd request.  He's my fine motor-skills kid, plus he likes to make gifts.  All sorts.  At the first opportunity, I went out and got him a needle and some yarn.  I knew from the good old days how to make a single crochet stitch.  I never did learn anything else, although I had a great Aunt Margaret that did her best to show me how to crochet a hot pad.  The lesson never stuck.  I've never been a crafty one.

But I promised Will, I'd teach him what I knew, he could practice that for a bit, and then he'd have to go ask his teacher, Mrs. Loyd, for some help.  She teaches all the girls how to knit or crochet at recess.  I knew she had lots of grandsons so I figured she might take a chance on my little buddy.  And she did!  He is now a good way into making a nice little blue scarf, and he seems to have a bit of a knack for it!

Of course, when his friends heard that he wanted to learn how to crochet, they all laughed!  And I suppose I knew they would.  It was a great life lesson.  You have to learn to be your own man and stand up for yourself.  And I'm super-proud of who this bud is turning out to be! 

Little Sprite.

It's Sara's first season of basketball and Joe has been coaching her team.  She is completely over the moon about it.  I think the love of the game must be simply contagious.  This girl reminds me more of Will on the court than our Kayte, although she definitely has Kayte's fight in her.  But mostly, she runs just really really fast, like her big brother.  Zip down one side of the court, than full speed down the next.  She is really dedicated to getting better at it and practices her shooting whenever she can.  She actually made a basket on a full-sized hoop the other day!  Her team plays on shorter hoops for the games and she's managed to already make a few shots!

We are so proud of our little sprite!  It's gonna be some fun years ahead!

Busy bee.

So I was dealing with this cold that was less nasty than it was just inconvenient.  I picked up Ben and he was asking me about it. 

"It's ok, Mom." says he.  "I'm gonna make you some lunch."

Sure enough.  When we get home he sets to work, gets out the peanut butter smears it on a tortilla and adds some carrots.  "You need your vegetables.  You look lousy.  I'm gonna make you some lunch and make you all better."

As you can imagine, I'm not partial to peanut butter on a tortilla, but I do have a tremendous soft spot for this little bundle of joy, and I sat down with him and did my best to eat it all up.

"SEE!" says he.  "I knew that would make you as good as new."

I'm not sure if it was the medicine or the bedside manner, but I did feel pretty warm and fuzzy.

Thanks little bud.  Seriously.  What would I do without you?