Alex, you're it

Here are twenty questions that were for Alex. Kids say the darndest things...

1. What is something mom always says to you? Thank you.
2. What makes mom happy? Givin' you hugs.
3. What makes mom sad? When I do naughty things to my baby brothers.
4. How does mom make you laugh? Computer (yah... I don't get it either?)
5. What was mom like as a child? Like me.
6. How old is your mom? You are... [holds up three fingers, then four, then five... questioning look?]
7. How tall is your mom? This tall [standing on the bed].
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Watch Curious George. (my most favorite thing. ever.)
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? You're all by yourself.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? I don't know?
11. What is your mom really good at? Feeding lunch and planting flowers and digging the garden and when it's bedtime drinking water and punch and that's all. (alrightythen...)
12. What is your mom not very good at? You're not very good at drinking water. (which is true, but a bit contradictory to the bedtime routine mentioned above.)
13. What does your mom do for her job? You write good numbers. (I'm an accountant. I hope those numbers are good. Good guess, kid.)
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Chicken rice. (It's what we had for lunch, and his favorite.)
15. What makes you proud of your mom? Riding things that you go on at Lagoon. (random.)
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? You would be a horse! (um...gee, thanks.)
17. What do you and your mom do together? play ball
18. How are you and your mom the same? Doing the blower on the lawn. (yah, the same in the fact that neither of us does that.)
19. How are you and your mom different? I'm a boy and you're a girl.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because you give me pillow bonks and play with me.
This was a lot of fun. I tag everyone on my "Friends" list, and anyone else who wants to play. Even if you don't blog, it's fun to ask some of these questions to your kids just to see where their little minds take them.

Trip to the store....

It was just supposed to be a simple trip to the store.

I got everyone fed, wiped three mouths and six hands. I cleaned the peas and smashed bananas, got babies out of the high chair, and quickly packed a little diaper bag. I found my shoes, purse and keys and ran them out to the car with the bag. I forced my way back into the house from the garage as two little bodies pressed on the door from the other side, crying that mom was out of sight. I grabbed one baby, ordered the 3-yr old to find his crocs, and took the first child out to strap him up. The 3-yr old was close behind, climbing into his seat. I got those two strapped in, came back for number three, and smelled his stinky diaper. I made a lightning change and ran him out to join his brothers who were both crying now because I was, once again, out of sight. I then grabbed two bags with their respective receipts so I could make some returns. I searched high-and-low for a third receipt, but couldn't find it, so I decided to head out. I made a quick inventory check, making sure I had binkies, cloths (their "lovies"), sippy cups for all, and the necessary double stroller. I climbed into the minivan, running through my to-do list in my head. As I backed out of the driveway, it happened.

Crunch.

Are you kidding me? nope. crunch.

Drats.

I pulled over, got out of the van and slowly walked across the street to let the construction guys at the house across the street know that I just hit their truck. Once again, kids were crying as mom was out of sight. Mom was crying because Dad just found the car insurance bill three days prior hidden at the bottom of a pile of paper rubble. Expired. Lapsed. NO car insurance.

Much self-berating occurred as I ran to finish my errands. A few more tears were shed when we got home: babies because they were tired, 3-yr old because he wanted a kid show, and mom because she's a total space cadet.

5:30 p.m., husband brings home flowers because I had a bad Monday. Ahhh.

6:30 p.m. I go to meet some of my dearest friends in this world. After 4 hours of talking, laughing and catching up I conclude:

This wasn't such a bad Monday. I can't say I'll agree when I fork over the money for car repairs... but until then... c'est la vie.

First Haircuts

Andrew's shaggy-ness has prompted the dire need for haircuts for these boys. Thankfully my niece Jen came to the rescue. We set up shop in the garage, and away she clipped. AJ, in true form, sat very still and just sucked away on that lollipop. Jackson, also true to fashion, looked every which way and wondered who in the heck was touching his head. But, I'm happy with the outcome, and I really need to learn to do this myself. No patience. Anyway, here are the results!

Paria {pah-ree-ah}

This last weekend, Mark and I went with some of my family to hike the narrows in Paria and Buckskin canyons in Southern Utah. It was so incredibly beautiful and so incredibly difficult! My brother Danny and I had backpacked it overnight before, but we decided to try and day-hike the whole thing this time... 21 miles! The first 14 miles are slot canyons - beautiful narrows of red rock cliffs. There's a huge risk of flash-flood danger, but we carefully checked the weather forecast before heading in. It was sooo neat. Here are a million pictures from our great day!

The Group, at the trailhead:We weren't alone: Here are some jack rabbits and some rattlesnakes! eeek!Here are some more group shots in the canyons.We had a few obstacles to get around as well: This huge boulder was right in our path:This is called the "Rock Jam." It's a huge jam of boulders and sand that have been washed into this spot by flash floods. The only way down is via rope:JJ showin' us his moves:
We let the "young ones" scramble up this little cliff. Us "old folks" knew that we wouldn't want to expend any more energy than necessary:
This quote really says it all. Unless you're there in real life, you really can't quite appreciate the beauty of it. Literally every turn of the canyon walls displayed more beautiful scenery. After taking dozens and dozens of pictures, we finally just had to soak it in, because we could have been snapping away all day!
Needless to say... something like this just always reaffirms my belief in God. This beauty didn't happen by chance or some big boom. It was incredible!

Ode to Mom...

I wish I was one of those writers that waxed eloquent when it came to expressing their feelings about something so special as a mother. However, I'm not. But... that's not gonna stop me from telling everyone, especially my mom, how wonderful a woman she is. My mom will do anything for anyone, particularly her children. She was (and still is) constantly thinking of and concerned for the welfare of all seven of us. She would stay up many nights nursing a sick child or waiting for a teenager to get home. She always made our home a clean and orderly place that was a refuge from the outside world. We knew that we were safe and loved when we were there. Many times she would get comments such as, "Your home has such a special feeling," and I attribute that to her Christlike way of living. She also has expanded her love to include 6 children-in-law and 24 grandchildren (with the first great-grandchild on his way). She has a special way of making each and every person know that they are unique and incredible in her eyes.

I love you mom. I'm grateful for your example. I'm proud of you for leaving the people that are so important to you to go out and serve the Lord. I hope you have the best Mother's Day ever!

Love that giggle...

Toots

Alex and I were talking about his potty chart (with boxes for “poops” and “peeps” on it) and he wanted to fill it in and get a prize sooo bad. (It is currently blank, because he doesn’t want to go potty.)

So, I suggested that he try going potty so that he could start filling in a box. He sat on the potty, and pushed and pushed, but nothing came out except a little toot.

He looked at me and said, “Mommy. I tooted. Let’s start a 'Toot Chart' so I can fill that out instead!”

heh heh

A little fiber will do ya...

The doctor said that starting the babies on cow's milk might cause a little, well, backup in the intestinal tract. So... AJ took it to heart to make sure he wasn't backed up. He found fiber all on his own, and downed quite a bit of it before I found him.

As I was preparing dinner, I had the "things are too quiet in there" feeling and decided to check up on the babies. Like I said, Andrew. Fiber, aka Toilet Paper. 'Nuff said: