Playing catch up: Kate & Ella's piano recital

Ella vs. the surfboard

A little glue and a lot of tears later...

What I did today...

1.  I just spent the last 20 minutes deleting 134 videos/photos of myself shopping at Target.  If only they were all this flattering:

2.  Saying goodbye to some fantastic teachers and realizing that I have FOUR children not just the one and they will ALL be HOME ALL SUMMER!

3.  Woke up this morning and ate this:

5. Pinched myself for being such a lucky girl because last night I stayed here:

5.  And met him:

(Besties)

6.  Lied to my husband about posting this picture:

7. And this one:

8. Made excuses.  Like this one:  We spent the night at the Mirage celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary a little early.  Robert had one of those rare work hook-ups and was able to get us fantastic seats to the 5th Anniversary performance of The Beatles' Love.  It was all kinds of awesome.  Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono along with some of their progeny were there.  Robert refused to let me take pictures on my iphone even though I promised to be discrete. :(   But I digress, I do really try and be honest at all times but Robert was refusing to have his picture taken commemerating our 14th wedding anniversary celebration.  Why, you ask would a man married for 14 years refuse to let his wife take a picture of him?  Let me quote him: "Only if you promise not to post it on your blog."  What good is a picture that you can't post on your blog????  Seriously.  So then he asks me if I intended to post the pictures I am snapping of the room.  I replied, "Why, yes, I certainly do!"   He might of accused ME of wanting to brag to my friends!

So, I hope you don't take this as bragging and if you do then I should probably say that most nights I am home dipping my scrub brush in a bucket full of ammonia and scrubbing the pee off the bathroom floor because my boys' couldn't aim if their lives depended on it.  And if that still doesn't make you feel better than this should:

ARGHH.  Look at my hUGE  rear.  You can thank Max and his photography skills for keeping me in check.

The End.  Literally.

Blogging Hiatus

I've been in a blogging bog.  I have not been able to motivate myself to turn on the computer, down load the photos, think of something to say, type the words and create a post.  Much more interesting and easy, I might add, to read all of yours.  Still, I claim when I need to justify my piece of cyber-world that this blog is my family journal.  I've been known to even spout in self-righteous overtones that it counts as my journal and I can cross that to-do off my list.  Still my life isn't as shiny or photographed as beautifully as other blogs--and gosh darn it those lives are attractive, interesting and distracting.  Sometimes it is just more fun to read about what YOU do or what YOU made or what tantrum YOUR kid threw.  Nevertheless, my alter-ego, Mrs. Guilt-o-maniac has intervened in my unconscious or at least unintentional blogging strike and I am ready to begin anew.  Or at least start and stop several times and be wholly inconsistent...

We had some crazy hair days.  Or a sneak peek at how my children may look in 3-10 years during a rebellious phase.

We had some crazy food for April 1st.  This is a cake or rather  Bisquick, pepperoni & sausage, red-sauce-filling with mozzarella cheese on top.

I'm afraid this is more acting than true consternation but still a good part of the fun.

Green cookies for dessert--the trick was they were actually good!

These were my own April Fool's joke.  They were suppose to be hot dog cookies.  I ask you, do they look like hot dogs to you?  Yeah, I had to improvise with the green cookies.  Kind of disappointing.  

Jello juice.  Max was the only one kind of tricked.  He couldn't figure out why his "juice" wouldn't come up the straw and he was thirsty.  And it wasn't a laughing matter.

Next year Kate, that expression is going to be real!   It's on!

Deep Thoughts by Ella Reynolds

Ella:  Mom, was there color in the world when you were little?

Brag, Brag, Braggy, Brag, Braggerama.

Introducing the U10 Girls Soccer Division 2nd Place Champions!

Kate, Ella and Kidshine friends pose with Ms. Robin.

Some things that have happened since I last blogged:

1) The bleach bottle and I had a falling out.  I'm serious.  I'm not sure we can ever be friends again.  If only she had not spilled her self all over my newly folded basket of laundry.  If it were only my kids' clothes that were ruined, we might have been able to salvage our relationship.  But no, she went for my favorite shirts and destroyed them all.  Rude.

2) My computer got fixed!!  This is happy news indeed.  In fact, we took a jaunt down to the Apple store where Max rekindled his love of all things Apple while I lamented the damage he inflicted upon my sweet MacBook.   But alas, the Apple store employee took pity on me and fixed my computer for FREE.  Yes, all $755 of it was done for FREE.  Did I mention FREE?  I love the Apple store.  I might marry it--I love it so much.  Um, especially if my engagement gift was an ipad.  You hear that Apple store?  An ipad would seal the deal!

3) Ella got baptized.  Lots of people came.  Everyone got fed.  People had places to sleep.  The laundry got done and everyone went home.  Oh, and some lovely pictures were taken too.  I intend to post those next.

4) We spent Thanksgiving in the Frozen North.  Literally.  We flew up to Utah Wednesday night then drove 4 hours to Idaho the next morning to spend Thanksgiving with the Hayes side of my family.  It was wonderful to see everyone and laugh at all the family photos my grandma has on her walls.  Did I mention that my Grandma rocked the pumpkin pie?

The first day of school--Boo-Hoo or Woo-Hoo?

A little bit of both. Each of the kids were funny in their own way today. Kate was eager to prove that she was "big" and didn't need her Mom. She took herself to class today and ducked her head when I came later to her classroom to snap a few pictures. She was clearly embarrassed to have me there and I was denied a kiss for the first time. Sigh. She is getting bigger.

Ella was nervous. She wanted to be dropped off last and as she walked into the classroom she visibly hid inside herself. She dropped her head a bit and hunched her shoulders. I'm sure by the end of the day she'll be her bright-eyed, bubbly self. I felt worried leaving her in a situation where I knew she wasn't comfortable. A little boo-hoo.

Jackson. Jackson was himself through and through. I had to ask him 10 times to hold still so I could take his picture in class. He was directing me on where to put things and couldn't help reminding me that he was perfectly correct in his idea of where his backpack should go. Not that I was disputing him. I was simply trying to get him to hold still so I could document the momentous occasion of him entering 1st grade. He got settled and didn't even notice when I left. I got the distinct impression that he couldn't wait for me to get out so he could get on with it all ready. Boo.

Max doesn't start school until next week much to his disappointment. He was ready this morning with his backpack. He was thrilled until we left all the kids at the school. He wailed all the way to the car: "I want my Ella-Kate...wah, JJ...sniff, sniff." Repeat over and over. Big Boo-Hoo.

Ah, another year begins and my kids get older. This makes me sad and a bit nostalgic. However, I did make it through Walmart today at record pace with only one little man to slow me down. There's nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all. I might actually get something done today. I'm feeling saner already. Big Woo-hoo!

More Good Times in Utah. The Dinosaur Park.