Hypothetically Speaking.....

What Would You Say if a mommy told you she put her baby in the laundry basket, on top of all the clean clothes, and carried baby and clothes upstairs. Would you say, "Hey, what a great multi-tasking mom she is!" or "Where's the number for CPS?"? Just wondering....

The Librarian is In

Last week, as I was cleaning one of my contacts before putting it in, it tore right in half. I guess the beginning of the rip was what I thought was fuzz in my eye all day. That was my last pair of contacts until my new ones come in. It could be up to another 10 days or so before they arrive. Ehhhhhhh. So my choices are:

• blindness (not really an option with four kids)
• one contact on (this option includes headaches and HORRIBLE depth perception issues - not good when you're carrying babies up and down stairs all day!)
• wear my glasses

Dum dum dummmmmmm...........

So of course, the only real choice I have is wearing my glasses. If you only knew how much I despised wearing them. I used to choose blindness when I was in school because I hated the way I looked in my big fat coke bottle glasses. Even with the new technology for thin lenses, mine are almost half an inch thick. You think I'm kidding. I wish I was.

When I reached the 6th grade, I guess my parents thought I was old enough to handle wearing contacts. Other than passing out when the lady at the optometrist's office put them in my eyes for the first time, it was awesome! I could finally see and not look like a big nerd - all at the same time. Life was good.

Well, I'm back at square one again. Lucky for me, my husband thinks I look like a hot librarian. I think I would need the chain attached to them to complete that look.

Here are some things you non-glasses-wearing-people don't even think about:

• removing anything from the oven causes immediate vision loss since glasses fog up every time
• showering is difficult at best - they fog, they get splattered in water, they slide off my nose
• jogging sends them bouncing up and down and all around (speaking of jogging, I forgot to mention that the last two times we've gone out, we've had company. a possum the first time and a skunk the second!)
• holding a baby is near impossible because their chubby little hands grab nonstop for that weird new thing on mommy's face
• waking up in the middle of the night to read the clock requires way more energy since you have to first find your glasses in the dark and put them on
• wearing glasses in the intense heat makes my eyes hot - they suffocate. air people, I need air
• I have to read blogs through my children's fingerprints - it doesn't matter how often I clean them, my glasses always have their paw prints on them
• how in the world am I supposed to put make-up on???

I'm sure I could go on for quite some time. Perhaps my time would be better spent researching laysic eye surgery......

Praise the Lord for Air Conditioning....

It's been so excruciatingly hot around here lately that I didn't really take too much notice when the a/c couldn't keep up yesterday. I put the babies down for their naps and went downstairs for awhile. When I went up about an hour later it was almost 90 degrees! They were roasting in their little cribs. =( We soon concluded that the a/c was quite broken upstairs.

Sleeping last night was a joke. We all dressed very minimally for bed and then laid on top of our covers with fans on full blast. I also had a spray bottle of water that I kept using. The repair man came around noon and it has been working since. Big sigh of relief....

How in the world did people live without air conditioning back in the "olden days"???

Mommy in Training

Last night I heard Julia holler from upstairs that Aulora had a stinky diaper. I went up within just a minute or two, but I was too late. I found Julia bent over Aulora who had been forced to lay down on the floor. Big sister was trying to put a clean diaper on little sister's freshly wiped clean bobo. Julia had actually done a great job - and it couldn't have been easy because that was one messy diaper! She just needed some help getting the new diaper on good. How great is this development???

Joshua - 6 Months Old

Backyardigans Live

We LOVE the Backyardigans!
They are so stinkin' cute when they dance and sing!

So of course when their show came to town we had to go see it.
This is Julia and her friend Naph. This is their third live show to see together.

Hey look, Mommy's in a picture! John David doesn't look excited about being there, but trust me, he was. He acted all big and macho at first saying he didn't want to go, but he changed his story later.

Gran and Joshua posing pretty. We were doing some fancy baby juggling that night since Gran and I were the only two adults and there were a number of wet and stinky diapers between both babies. How many more years until they're all potty trained???

There they are in all their cuteness. John David was quite put out that there were human faces showing. It was still a good show - not the best show ever, but good. Personally, I liked Sesame Street Live better, but it's hard to compete with Oscar and Elmo and Super Grover. I tried to get a video of Aulora dancing, but it was too dark in our seats. =(

In case you're wondering, no, I did not cry at this show. I'm proud of myself....

What Aulora Thinks of Me

I was playing with Aulora, going through some Winnie the Pooh flash cards. Each card has a big picture on it - things like butterfly, sun, worm, bird, moon, Winnie the Pooh, tree, etc. She knew just what each one was and I was so very pleased.

Pleased until we got to the card with Piglet on it. She pointed at that picture and said, very clearly, "Mommy!".

I don't even know what I can add to that........

Porkchops and Applesauce (to be read like Peter Brady)

Well, there was just applesauce actually but I don't think Joshua minded.
Here he is smacking his lips, anticipating that first bite.

His first bite of food ever. Will he like it???

Aulora thought she needed some baby food too.

He thought the jar was far more interesting than the stuff inside.

Yep, he'd rather just suck on the jar. Silly boy.

I'm soooo mean....

Yesterday, Julia went with John's mom to lunch. The rest of us went out while they were gone and then we decided it was a good time for haircuts. We went by the house to get Julia, who was now home again with Gran. I ran in to tell her to come get in the car and then went back to let Gran know. She was in her room and I didn't hear anything so I thought maybe she was resting. I figured I would just leave a text message for her once I was in the car again.

That didn't happen though. The kids were having seat belt issues and we saw the blue heron bird who has taken up residence by our pond. I totally forgot to call or text. Oops.

We were almost to the hair salon when John's phone rang. Gran was crying and wanted to know where we were. I quickly told her we had Julia. I'm pretty sure that she would have beat us in that moment if it had been possible. She had been beside herself looking for Julia. Inside, outside, in the attic, around the pond....everywhere. She had called both uncles to come help look. And then she made the horrible call to tell us Julia was lost.

We felt soooo horrible. I got a stomach ache because I was so upset about it. =( We took her a Sonic drink as a peace offering and I think she forgave us. Poor Gran!

You just never know...

John David and I got up this morning, packed his lunch and waited outside for his friend's family to come pick him up for the day. We waited and waited. They're usually right on time so after about 20 minutes I gave the mom a call. I got her voicemail. A few minutes later the dad called to say they had been in a pretty bad car accident right down the road. John David's friend is being airlifted to a children's hospital in the metroplex for better care. He's going to be ok, but he's hurt pretty badly. I'm so sad. I hugged John David pretty tight when I got the news.....

The Return of Crab Boy

We knew it would happen. It was only a matter of time......
Remember this post?

We went to Joe's Crab Shack in Colorado and my boy ordered crab legs.
What can I say? He's still obsessed!

He's absolutely, hands down, fascinated by these creepy poky legs that he can eat meat from. Maybe we'll have crab legs at his rehearsal dinner someday. I can just see him making the crab legs walk across his bride's shoulders. hahaha!

Some extra bonus footage:

My First Ever.....

real snow cone! I've never been a snow cone fan and John couldn't understand why I didn't love them. I told him that I had tasted a few through the years from a few different stands on the side of the road but that was about it. So he took me to Bahama Buck's.

Wow. WOW!!! I love it!!! We had a coupon for a free smoothie so of course we got that, but we also got a banana snow cone with cream on top. That was one of the best things I've ever tasted! Especially since it was on Sunday night and it had been about 109 all day!

I didn't eat all of the smoothie and snow cone by myself, but I did have quite a bit. Aulora kept saying "I want more ice cream!" in a her cute little voice from behind me in the car. She wasn't interested in the smoothie we bought her since she thought the snow cone looked much better. (I agreed with her! I wanted snow cone too. We stole it from Daddy!)

So there's a peek at our exciting Sunday night and my first real snow cone experience. We already have another coupon and will be going back soon. Trust me.....

A Little Quiet Time

Although I know it's going to be very, very short lived, I'm getting a few moments to myself right now. Husband already left, the three youngest are asleep, and the oldest is downstairs and quite capable of fending for himself.

Some reasons to be sad:

• Husband is gone because he had to make an important trip to SA to help a very close friend - I stayed awake last night trying to figure out how i could go so I could see my friends. It's just not feasible when it's a day trip. 8 hours in one day with any number of kids is just not a good idea. So I'm here and he'll soon be there. =( As Julia (and I'm sure pretty much any other kid) would say, "That's not fair!"
• I already know that I have lots of laundry - for the second day in a row. When I checked on the kids this morning, Julia was laying on top of her sheets and quilt and she was naked from the waist down. That means she wet the bed. She also wet the bed on Saturday night. It's automatically two loads when that happens because I have to do the sheets and mattress cover and then the quilt. Ughhh. This bed-wetting is not a regular thing but I'm considering some pull-ups or something. Or, I suppose she could even wear Aulora's night time diapers since they're about the same size other than height. (Actually, Aulora is bigger except for height. She's a much better eater!)

Some reasons to be happy:

• It's only going to be 104 today and not 108. Maybe we won't bake alive.
• We're actively in the process of finding, buying, and remodeling a house to live in. Knowing that I'll have my own house again soon, along with the fact that we're getting to pick counters and colors and floors and stuff, really makes me happy! If the time line we have in mind works out (which may or may not happen) we will move in towards the end of September.
  
• School starts in less than 2 weeks! (Sorry to my teacher friends. I know this would be on your sad list, but for me it's certainly on the happy list!)
• We're going to the library in a little while.
• Joshua can hold his own bottle now. That makes life a lot easier!

All the kids are awake.....gotta to go!

Yeah Buddy.....

it's hot here. I looked down at my little weather forecast on my computer and you know what's there? A picture of flames! The description is "very hot, 108". Those flames really cracked me up. Someone who helps do those weather reports is having a good ol' time laughing at us here. They should have put a little picture of the devil himself beside those flames since that's what it feels like. Flames indeed........

Green Cake

When I was about 8 years old, my dad had an accident with the lighter for our hot tub when it blew up and burned his face. He had to wear some bandages on his eyes for a while and was stuck just laying around since he couldn't see. In my 8 year old mind, this was the perfect opportunity for some mischievous fun. I had a friend over one afternoon and we baked him a cake - but not just any cake. We thought it would be hilarious to feed him cake that he thought was normal, but, in actuality, would be a hideous green color. I still remember that like it was yesterday and, understandably, it's one of my favorite memories with my dad.

As I've mentioned before, the kids are always asking for stories about when I was little. So of course I shared the tale of green cake. Before I knew it, we had decided to pull the same prank on my dad while we were in Colorado (minus the explosion of course). They were soooo super excited, and if I'm being honest, so was I!

Here they are about to go in and feed Dodie his surprise. It was a white cake with green food coloring and white icing. When I did this as a kid, the cake was way, way greener.

Close your eyes, Dodie!

The moment John David had been waiting on all day.

Dodie's mock horror at eating green cake. (Of course I had to let him in on the secret so he would give a memorable performance.) I'm pretty sure my kids will always remember feeding their grandpa green cake.

That Was One Baaaaaad Migraine

My dad had to go pick my mom up from work on Friday because she was really sick. When he got there he felt it was very serious and decided to call 911. After waiting a couple of hours while they ran various tests and did a cat scan, we found out she was suffering from a terrible migraine. Thanks for adding a little excitement to our weekend, Grandmamma!

I wouldn't want to....

run into this guy in a dark alley.....or anywhere else for that matter, I guess. This was a display at Bass Pro Shop. I'm still not sure what it's supposed to make me want to buy. He looks pretty frantic, huh?

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Look at that - you're already a whole year older again! Wish we could be there this weekend to help you celebrate. We would make you a coconut cream pie for sure!!! Love you........

Best Time Out EVER

I don't remember why now, but when we were at the jump place, John David had to have a time out. It wasn't for anything super serious, probably just being annoying or something of that nature. I sent him over for a time out, thinking he would sit in one of the normal chairs. Silly ol' me. Why would he sit in a normal chair when he could have a deluxe massaging chair? The funny part is that after a couple of minutes I came over to the sitting area with Joshua. I had already totally forgotten that John David was supposed to be in time out since I was so distracted. He asked me for a dollar to get a massage and I gave him one. Hahaha! I told you - it was the best time out ever!

The Great Big Slide

At that same inflatable place, called "Jumpin'", there was a great big slide. It was so much fun to climb up the side over and over and then go sliding down super fast. All you could do was just lay there and laugh once you got to the bottom because everyone was always a jumbled mess. That was some good exercise too!