Matt's slice

Matt and Ash were running around as the kids ALWAYS do. But, Matt's pants were a bit long. Ash accidentally stepped on them, and he slipped and fell. He hit just the right spot on the floor and sliced open his chin. It was GROSS. I don't like to deal with hospital emergency rooms or stitches. I prefer the butterfly method. So, I called Virginia over to help with the other kids so I can patch up Matt. Here is the 'battle wound' as we are calling it, and the butterfly.

It's a GIRL!!!

We officially found out today that we are having a GIRL!!! YAY!!!

Ash's New Hair

I was playing with Ashleigh's hair last week, and ended up braiding her entire head. We took it out the next morning and she LOVED the look. She decided that she wanted it for school the following Monday. So, Saturday night, I spent 2 hours braiding her entire head. She left it in all weekend. Then, Monday morning, she decided that she wanted it in longer 'JUST IN CASE'. So, she left it until Tuesday. Here is the braided head, and the finished product.

Halloween

We chose the Wizard of Oz as our theme this year. I was the witch (at the church party, I painted my face, but not for trick-or-treating). Ash was Dorothy with a dress made by grandma Rockwell, Matt and Ben traded between the scarecrow and the tinman, and Garrett was the lion. Aaron was supposed to be the wizard, but it didn't really work out. We were cute anyways.

We went trick-or-treating with Mandy's kids. . .becoming a tradition. We all had a LOT of fun, and enjoye

d pounds of candy. We still haven't finished ours more than a week later. We use it to bribe the kids. hehe.

Pumpkin Picking

We went to a local farmer's market last week and picked pumpkins. The rule was that the kids had to be able to carry their own pumpkin. Little did I know how strong Ashleigh is. Her first pumpkin is in the green barrel.

Luckily, she saw the pumpkin Matt chose, the one next to it, and decided to switch to a smaller one. Thank goodness for siblings. . .although, I guess I am glad Matt didn't try to lift a larger one. He probably could have.




A good time was had by all the kids. And, dadd

y was able to stay at home and get some work done for his project while we went.

Our finished product (We only carved Mat

t and Ash's. Ben and Garrett went to bed,

and didn't know the difference).

Where do babies come from?

A conversation between Matt and my mom last night.

"Meme, how are babies made?"

10 second pause as my mom tries to decide if this was a real question as opposed to a joke.

"Well, daddy's sperm fertilize mommy's egg."

Matthew contemplated this for a few moments.

"Well, will pops berlilize your egg?"

"We have already done that. We made Jason, Lindsay, Ryan, Whitney, Tyler, McKenzie, Graham, and Zachary. We are done now."

"Oh."

Ah, school!!!

The first day of school tears me two ways. It is the realization that summer is actually over. . .no more day trips to the beach. It is also the realization that summer is over. . .kids are out of the house again. I LOVE having my kids home with me. Ash is my helper. She helps clean, loves to babysit Garrett while I cook or clean. She is my mini-me. Matt has grown up this summer tremendously. He has become a big helper too and loves to help clean. But, they are all still brothers and sister. They still bicker. So, having 2 gone every day this year isn't such a terrible thing. Ben and I have been bonding so much. After dropping Matt off at preschool, Ben, Garrett and I come home. Garrett goes down for his morning nap and Ben and I hang out. I have also been able to get some errands done pretty fast in the mornings which helps. I also have time to keep up with my blog. hehe. Then, I have the afternoon to get dinner going, and help Ash with homework.

My Parent's GIGANTUOUS Lawn

I went to visit my parents this weekend for the fourth of July. Aaron decided I needed a break, and kept the 2 boys who are a bit more. . .rambunctious. I took Ash and Garrett with me. We got there, and my dad had to run to an appointment. As he was leaving, he said, "When I get back, Ashleigh, I just have to mow the lawn, then I can spend time with you."

I decided out of the goodness of my heart (and I felt badly that he had to leave) that I would mow the lawn for him. I got the mower out, and started it up. I had Ash all set up with Garrett and snacks, and the bouncer (She is a good babysitter). I got half-way through the front lawn and was sweating really badly. I realized then that my parent's lawn is WAY BIGGER than I ever realized as a kid. And the back is worse than the front. I was going to finish if it killed me. I did NOT want my dad to have to come back and work. I wanted him to play with his granddaughter.

I think it took me at least 2 hours. Could have been more. Ash babysat Garrett the whole time. I told her because she did such a great job, I would buy ice cream sundae makings.


When I finished, I went upstairs to take a shower. My dad came home. He was so happy. He took Ash on a long bike ride, played across the street, they found a hopscotch board. They had a blast. Plus, my mom offered to pay for the ice cream sundae stuff. It was all worth it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Jessica Simpson Detail

My brother-in-law was on the Jessica Simpson Detail today at the
Tiger Woods Tournament in Bethesda...his friend snapped a quick pic for
my sister. SO COOL!!! Here is the pic. He is the police officer standing behind her.

Sick Kid

You know I have a sick child when I call the doctor at 2am. Benjamin has been coughing since yesterday, but I am not one to worry. Until he is up ALL night long because he can't breathe. I called the doctor and she had me put the phone up to his mouth to listen. She said it sounds like croup and so I will be bringing him to the doctor tomorrow.

Amidst all of this, Benjamin remains cute as ever.

"mommy, I go in da hool?"
"you want to go in the pool?"
"yeah, ash and matt in da hool"
"no, they are sleeping"
"they are poopy?"
"no, they aren't poopy"
"I am poopy?"
"are you poopy?"
"no, just peepee. I go in da hool?"
"no, it's night time. You are peepee? You want me to change your diaper?"
"yeah, take my diaper off? I go in da hool?"
"Go to sleep, sweetie."

I think he was dreaming about the pool.

Our New Mailbox

When we bought our house, we bought everything that comes with a 'new' old house. Old hot water heater, old kitchen appliances, old washer and dryer, and even old mailbox. Since we have painted the house, the 'old' mailbox has been scraping the paint off. Aaron isn't happy with it. So, he decided to go out and purchase some nice smelling cedar and MAKE a new mailbox. I LOVE having a handy husband. It is BEAUTIFUL!!! But, I will let you decide that for yourself. Here is the finished product. :D
















Notice the lovely trim work.

We carved out the numbers. . .yes, I helped. And, even hand painted them. . .with my nailpolish.

Grandparent names

Matthew and Ashleigh were hanging out with Lorri, Danielle, and Taylor tonight. In the car, there was conversation about different grandparent names. Ash and Matt asked why Meme and Pops are called Meme and Pops. Taylor explained that those are the names Meme and Pops chose to be called. When you become a grandma or grandpa, you get to choose what you are called. Lorri told the kids she wants to be called Nana. Danielle said she wanted to be called Momsicle, and her husband will be called Popsicle. Matthew said, "I know what I want to be called when I am a grandma." Lorri corrected him, "You mean grandPA." Danielle said, "What do you want to be called, Matt, when you are a grandpa?" He confidently said, "Batman".

I love my kids. :D

Father's Day Cinnamon Rolls

Every year I have been making cinnamon rolls for father's day as a fundraiser for the young women. This year, however, we made enough money for the girls with an earlier fundraiser. We decided that I would just make 100 rolls to hand one to every father in sacrament.

In doing this, I got a few upset families emailing me. They rely on my rolls for family gettogethers. I decided at that point that I would sell them. I sent out an email and people started placing their orders. In the end I believe I sold about 80 rolls. I am a happy baker. :D

In the past Aaron and I have talked about trying to sell them on a more consistant basis. We dropped that because of food regulations, sanitary purposes, and such. After selling them this year, I decided to go ahead and try to push the sale of my "Big Buns". I will keep you updated.

Shelf Reliance Giveaway

Shelf Reliance is doing a free giveaway. . .Here is what they are doing.

It’s a beautiful thing. The unique first in - first out design will cut down on expired food and, therefore, wasted money. The Harvest means less mess, less hassle, and fewer bruises from cans that fall all over the place if you look at them the wrong way. And the best part of all?

One of you lucky souls will be given a Harvest 72″ on Shelf Reliance’s dime. No cost to you. No strings. No joke.

This giveaway is the first installment of a new feature on their blog. They're calling it “Free on Friday,” and it’s exactly what it sounds like! They’ll be offering new giveaways every two weeks, and the fortunate winners will be announced on Fridays.

I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Here’s how the Harvest giveaway will work:

Anyone who comments on their blog entry will be entered to win the Harvest 72″. Each comment counts as a separate entry. The winner will be chosen at noon (Mountain Time Zone) on Friday, June 26th, so get your comments in before then!

http://www.shelfreliance.com/blog/?p=104&cpage=16#comment-850

Good Luck and happy entering

The Joy of Motherhood (If you have a weak stomach, you may not want to read this : )

I find it interesting that as a kid, just the smell or even the sound of someone throwing up would make me gag. Yet, as a parent, it just seems to not bother me. I was up all night long with three kids throwing up and diarrhea. Ben yelled to me, so I came to his room. His normal routine is to wake up and want a drink of water. I got to his room, and he said, "I spit." So, I naively touched his pillow to see what he meant. Yup, I put my hand right in the throw up. I called to Aaron to come help me. We cleaned Ben up, and I gave him some water. We went up to bed. I fell asleep for about 2 hours, when Ben came upstairs and told me he leaked his diaper. I took him down to fix it, and he hadn't leaked just pee. YAY!!! I cleaned that up, gave him some more water and headed upstairs. 10 minutes later, I heard Ben crying at the bottom of the stairs. I started down the stairs and heard what sounded like a cup of water being dumped on the floor. I carefully stepped around it, cleaned him up, sent him back to bed, and then cleaned the floor. I decided it was time to sleep on the couch just in case. Just as I got comfortable, Matt came running out of his room. He came to me and climed in with me. He said he was scared of the dark and wanted a light on. I cuddled him for a minute, and took him back to bed. He said, "Oh, but I threw up." You know, I though he smelled a little when I was cuddling him, but I figured it was on me from Ben. So, another sheet set to wash. I fixed Matt, and Ash asked if I would change her diaper. I got them both fixed back into bed, and I headed back upstairs. I knew at this point it was Garrett's turn to wake up. Sure enough, he did. I nursed him and put him back to bed. I fell asleep at about 5:30. Ben came up and climed into bed with me at about 5:45. He stayed there for about 15minutes. He got up to go downstairs, so I asked Aaron if he would go with Ben. Just as Aaron started to get out of bed, Ben threw up on our floor. We took him downstairs to Matt and Ash waking up. They all sprawled out in the living room. I gave each of them a bowl, and I went to clean up the mess in our room. I went back to bed, Aaron called out of work, and here I am at 7:30 writing this because my kids won't ask daddy to change a diaper. Oh, the joys of being a mom.

My Mother's Day Poem

Ashleigh's teacher, Mrs. Ballack, is AWESOME!!!! For mother's day, she had a 'Mad Libs' style poem for the kids to fill out. She asked the kids questions like how much does mommy weigh, how tall is mommy? Here is my poem, Ashleigh's answers in quotations.

My Special Mom
My mom is the most wonderful mom in the whole world! She's as pretty as 'a butterfly'. She weighs '10' pounds and is '18' feet tall. Her favorite food is 'broccoli'. When my mom was as little as I am now, she used to 'go outside and play.' Her favorite toy was 'Barbies'. When she grew up, she met daddy. She was '3' years old. I think mom is funny when she 'makes silly faces.' I know when she's really angry when she 'washes my mouth out with soap.' I wouldn't trade my mom for a 'puppy.'
Happy Mother's Day
Love,
'Ashleigh'

Not that you really NEEDED the quotes to figure out what parts came from Ash, but it's fun. I love my poem. And, I LOVE my kids. I had a wonderful, amazing mother's day, and hope all of you did too.

Fun With Words

Aaron decided this morning he wanted to have a bit of fun with words with Ashleigh. So, he whispered in her ear, and she came running over to me. "Mommy, can you fix my 'BUTTon'?" I smiled, and she went running back to him. He whispered in her ear again, and she came running over. "Mommy, can we have 'BUTTerNUT' squash for dinner?" I laughed, and Aaron was a bit proud that he got 2 good words in there. Oh, the fun we have with our kids. I don't really know if she knows what he was doing, but she certainly thought it was fun that whatever daddy was telling her made me smile. :D

Eggs with that 'stuff' in them

I made some eggs this morning, and put some green peppers in them. Oh, I love it. Well, Matthew wanted some eggs also, so I saved a bit for him. He took one look at it and said, "I don't want eggs with that 'stuff' in them." I told him there wasn't that much, and to just pick out the peppers.

I went to brush my teeth while he ate. I came out and saw peppers all over the floor. I told him he needed to clean them up and put them aside in his bowl or in the garbage. I said, "That is disgusting. You don't just spit what you don't want onto the floor." His response was, "I didn't, I threw them on the floor."

Can't argue with that.

Grateful for life

Ashleigh and Matt were in a car accident on Tuesday. My friend, Lorri's, daughter was driving. I look back at what happened and how it happened. Danielle did a few things wrong, but when I think about what she should have done. . .the damage may have been worse. All I know is that the Lord (and Graham) were watching over EVERYONE that day. Everyone is safe, and Ashleigh will have a small scar on her face to show for it. A piece of glass flew by her face cutting the bridge of her nose, and the outside corner of her eye. She is VERY lucky. I am just grateful for life. I love my kids. . .And we LOVE Danielle.

What color are his eyes?

Aaron and I have an ongoing 'THING'. . .What color are Garrett's eyes?
You be the judge.

Bed Time

Why is it that when I finally go to bed at a decent time like 10pm, it seems like that is the night I get woken up 100 times.


Last night, I was in bed falling asleep at 10:30. Midnight rolls around, and Benjamin comes crawling into bed. I get him to go downstairs (Thanks to Aaron who walked him down for me. . .what a loving husband), only to have Garrett wake up crying. I didn't feel like getting out of bed, so I let Garrett cry for 5 min. He fell back asleep, thank goodness. Then, about 3am, Garrett woke up to eat. I was nursing him when I heard, "Mommy!!!" Matt woke up to a nightmare. I had to have Aaron go since I was nursing. That only made it worse. "I WANT MOMMY!!!" So, I quickly finished with Garrett, and ran downstairs. He had a dream about a monster. I went through our usual, "Did you pretend the monster was wearing a pink dress, with boogies hanging out his nose, and he had blue hair?" That put a smile on his face. So, we said a quick prayer and he went back to sleep. By this time I was totally awake. I put Garrett back into his crib, and lay down. I tossed. . .I turned. . .I couldn't think. All kinds of thoughts running through my head (not to mention my allergies acting up since I was so awake). I finally got a pen and paper and wrote my thoughts down. . .things like "OH! Lorri should try taking that doorknob to Home Depot and they may re-key it for her", and "If Aaron's company plans on giving him a promotion, will they still give him his raise?" Once EVERYTHING was down on paper, I was finally able to fall asleep (1 1/2 hours after Garrett woke to eat).

Man, no wonder I am so tired during the day.

The Gray Hair

Well, I found my first gray hair the other day. . .Can you see it in the pic? YES!!! Of course I pulled it out!


Official sign that I am now OLD!!! I have been feeling it lately. The sore muscles, painful knees, weak ankles, but I have been pushing them off as pains from chasing kids. I have finally given in that I am getting older.

It doesn't bother me, though. I am still young at heart, and that is all that matters.

'Poopy Boy'

I was changing Garrett's diaper the other day and told him he was a 'poopy boy'. He started laughing. . .so I started recording. I didn't tickle him or anything. He just started laughing. I even tried a few other phrases, but nothing other than 'poopy boy' worked. What a boy.



Garrett laughing 5 months from John Rockwell on Vimeo.

Dreaming?

"Mom?"

I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed when I heard the tiniest voice.

I walked into Ash's room and said, "What?" No answer.

I walked into the boys' room and said, "What?" No answer.

"Mom?" I heard it again. I walked back into the boys' room, and said, "What?"

"Can you get me new shoes for my present?"

I asked "New shoes for your present?"

"No, new shoes that I can marry."

"New shoes that you can marry?"

"Yeah, new shoes that I can marry from Santa."

"Ok, I'll get you new shoes that you can marry from Santa. Go back to bed. I love you"

"I love you."

I guess Matt was having a good dream.

Letter of the Week

In school, Ashleigh has a new letter each week that she has to work on. One of the homework assignments is to find pictures that start with the letter and glue them on a piece of paper, then write the word. Last week, it was letter 'G' that she was working on. She and I were thumbing through a magazine, and she stopped. She looked up at me and said, "I can't wait to do letter 'B'." A little puzzled, I asked her, "Why?" She said very quickly and very seriously, "Because I get to do Boobs." I looked down and sure enough, she was open to a page of a woman in only a bra. Oh, what will she think of next?