Beer Baby

You know were Mormon so Porter is actually drinking cherry soda (not beer), but you have to admit the pictures are still pretty funny.

My cousin Matt was at Wright-Patt for some training in February. The boys loved playing with him and I love this picture of them all playing on their gaming devices.

Yard Work!

Today was absolutely beautiful! The sun was shining and it was warm out. We are so excited (and ready) for spring to be here! The kids and I spent quite a bit of time outside today. When John got home from work we came inside for dinner, but it was so nice out that we ventured back outside again to enjoy the nice weather. We decided to get a little bit of yard work done and we had Gabe put his Tonka truck to work!

Loading the truck

Taking it to the backyard

Dumping on the compost pile

Exhausted after all the hard work!

Randomness

Some random pictures from the past few weeks.

Gabe always has a sword, light saber, or dagger in his hand.

(Even on Sunday.)

Gabe and Connor model the latest fashions in safety goggles - a must have when sword fighting!

Giddy up Daddy!

This headband is associated with Gabe's Ninja Turtle phase.

Thankfully, it didn't last long and we've moved on for the most part.

Cute little spaghetti face!

This train track was sa-weet! It took up our entire front room.

Monster Hat

Gabe and I saw this hat in Family Fun Magazine and he's been begging me to make him one ever since. So if you're looking for something to do while trapped inside this winter these are super easy and cute! Click here to see more cute monster hat ideas.

Ice Storm

We got hit by a nasty ice storm yesterday. Thankfully we never lost power and John made a grocery run for me before the storm hit, so we've been able to stay safe and warm at home for the past two days since the base and schools have been closed. Everything is covered in about a quarter inch of ice including the trees and power lines. This made for an interesting bedtime show of transformers lighting up the sky like fireworks accompanied by tree limbs snapping and crashing to the ground. Poor squirrels.
And since we have to find humor in a situation like this last night I watched the interview of a woman on the news who had lost power at home, so she'd had to stay home from work since she couldn't get her car out of the garage since she had "one of those automated door openers." This had me laughing pretty hard. Someone should really tell her about the manual pull release. Hope she enjoyed her day off!

Question

What do you get when your little brother gets a hold of a pair of scissors?

Answer: 3 hours in the Emergency Room and 2 stitches.

Here's the story:

Let me just say we had quite the eventful Sunday. I woke up with a stomach bug (no I'm not pregnant) and decided to stay home from church. The kids ran wild making one mess after another around the house while I spent my time in the bathroom and on the couch. By four o'clock when John and Gabe got home from church the house looked like a bomb had gone off in it. I was finally starting to figure out that I could function as long as I didn't eat or drink anything. John was at the kitchen table setting up a board game with the kids and I was putting a pot of soup on the stove for dinner when Gabe started screaming - he cut me, he cut me! John and I turned around and sure enough Gabe's hand is bleeding and Porter is holding a pair of scissors. As I was inspecting the cut on his hand Gabe thought he was going to die because of the amount of blood coming out of his hand. I assured him he was not dying, but I did think he needed to see a doctor. I couldn't handle the thought of my baby getting stitches without me holding him, and I didn't dare take him by myself in case I got sick again, so we dropped Porter off at a neighbor's house and both John and I accompanied Gabe to the ER. Three hours and two stitches later we were finally home.

The irony of the whole thing is the kids were pretty much neglected all day since I was sick and the accident happened the one time John and I were actually paying attention to them - go figure.

As you can see 24 hours later Gabe is doing great! He continues to insist that it wasn't an accident - Porter meant to cut him! He's also doing a great job at using his left hand for everything. We love you Gabe. Here's to a speedy recovery!

Cousin Visit!

This past week my sister and two of her kids came to visit us. Adyson is six and was such a big help with Gabe and Porter. Ryder is four months old and wasn't so much help, but he sure is cute. It was so fun for Gabe and Porter to have a cousin to play with. The kids just played and played and played!

Here they are playing dress up. Adyson found my swimsuits and was trying them on, so Gabe had to put his on too.

We ventured over to the Air Force Museum one afternoon.

Monday John was off work so he came to the Aquarium with us.

Thanks to Gabe who took this stellar picture of me with my sister, niece and nephew!

Someday I'll have to make a collage of all the lorakeet photos we have. And no, I'm not kidding this is getting out of control. A lorakeet post is in the near future!

Porter checking out the Puffer Fish

I really wanted to give my sister a "memorable" experience. So I researched some restaurants in Cincinnati and thought we'd give this one a try. It had great reviews and who wouldn't remember this place? After driving through the ghetto to get there, we found out they didn't open for another two hours. We were starving and disappointed. We took a picture out front and asked a worker if we could just take a peek inside. We walked in and the owner of the place invited us back to the kitchen to taste the soup he'd been working all day. We did and chatted with him for a while. He asked us where we were from and my sister answered Utah. So he immediately asks if we are Mormon. Yes we are. Then he starts in on how he's just watched a reality TV show about polygamists. So my sister and I try to explain to him that no we're not polygamists. All the while I'm thinking we fit the picture since we have one man and four kids out in the car! Still makes me laugh, thinking about it!

Gabe and Adyson at El Toro where we finally ate lunch.

For John's family: Does this picture of Gabe look like anyone you know?

Gabe and Adyson

THEN and NOW

Jenny, Adyson and Ryder thanks for the visit! We love you guys!

Thank you Waste Management

What parent doesn't look forward to having a break from their kids once in a while? Lucky for me, Gabe goes to preschool, we have regular babysitting swaps, and date nights so I get plenty of breaks. I do get one break that is a little unusual, but I can always count on. It is from Waste Management. Every Tuesday afternoon I am guaranteed a five minute break while my kids are glued to the window watching the garbage and recycling trucks come around the cul-de-sac. It's not much, but five minutes is five minutes. Thank you Waste Management.

Boring Blog?

My cousin just posted on her blog about January being a boring month, so it makes boring blogs. So she's going to spice up her blog by posting something new about herself each day in January. Well, I would hate to thing of my blog being boring! But, I really don't think I can blog each day in January. So to liven things up on my blog here's 31 things (one for each day in January) you may not know about me, the blogger.

1. I hate American cheese.

2. My awesome hubby typically gets up with the kids in the morning so I can get a little extra sleep.

3. I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up and it bothers me.

4. I haven't worked out in over a month.

5. When I was growing up I hated wearing shorts because I got teased about my "chicken legs."

6. I think I have nice legs now.

7. I skipped the 8th grade.

8. I've never had a speeding ticket.

9. The other day while making cookies I was so grateful I had a KitchenAid doing all the hard work. Then I thought I would have really nice arms if I actually mixed the dough by hand when I did my baking. The pioneers must of had really nice arms. It's too bad they always wore long sleeves and never got to show them off.

10. My arms could use some work. I have bat wings.

11. I also wouldn't mind a boob job or tummy tuck. Just saying.

12. I have a hard time keeping my eyes closed during prayers. This has nothing to do with having to keep an eye on my kids. I've always had this problem.

13. If you are bored reading this you should be reading someone else's blog.

14. I've been pregnant four times. Yep, four first trimesters, ugh, and only two kids to show for it, but they are super awesome kids.

15. I took horseback riding lessons for nearly ten years.

16. I'm mildly OCD. No kidding, I've checked my symptoms on WebMD.

17. I don't think french fries or potato chips taste good enough for the amount of calories they contain.

18. I once stole a fork from the Olive Garden, but gave it to a homeless man along with my leftovers.

19. I've been to 34 states, as well as Canada and Mexico.

20. I dislike flying, it gives me anxiety attacks, but so did the first season of LOST. Weird since I loved LOST

21. I attended 9 different schools by the time I graduated high school.

22. Sometimes when I'm making dinner I pretend I'm hosting my own cooking show. Don't laugh at me until you try it!

23. People magazine is one of my guilty pleasures.

24. I love Jane Austen.

25. I don't like Shakespeare or the Nutcracker.

26. One of my favorite things ever is clean sheets on my bed. I never make my bed. If you see my bed and it's made, it's because I'm trying to impress you.

27. I'm afraid of dying and heights.

28. Last 3 Books I've read:

Al Capone Does My Shirts (liked it)

The Fountainhead (loved it)

The Book Thief (best book I've read this year)

29. One of my all time favorite quotes is from Marie Ramone: "To make the perfect meatball, the most important ingredient is the love. Without the love it's just a ball of meat."

30. Three years ago I didn't even know what a blog was.

31. My goal for the new year: to be a better mom.

How was that? Are you bored yet?

Happy New Year!

Last night we put the kids to bed, watched a movie and we were in bed by 10:30. We did wake up at 12 when we heard fireworks going off outside, told each other Happy New Year, then rolled over and went back to sleep. I'm pretty sure there are 90 year olds that party more than we do.

We did decide to get out of the house and do something fun on New Years Day, so we took the kids to the Cincinnati Zoo. We got to the zoo just after lunch and it was empty! The ticket lady said all of 30 people were inside. It felt like we had the place to ourselves. John even said, "I feel like we've broken in and are going to get in trouble for being here." Honestly, best day I've ever spent at the zoo!

Crikey! He's got me!

Porter splashing in puddles!

Porter, John and a cheetah

Really cool duck

Bowls of blood for the vampire bats. John is actually a vampire, so this was difficult for him. He kept licking the glass. So embarrassing.

Sea Lion, Porter, and half of me.

All I wanted was a New Years kiss, but look at the stink eye this guy gave me.

I'm not sure if fries were part of this chicken's special zoo diet, but they are now.

Giraffes!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!