A Lesson on Planning.... Don't Bother.

D: Just two more and then you can come home.
... two more coffees? Cuz I'm not sure I can deal with that.

D: What's that smell?
Me: I don't know.  Does Mama have stinky feet?
D: No.  I just smell me.

D: Will you give me two noses? 

(8/25) Work day for Dad & me, and Amanda had the kiddos.  C went armed with his scooter, Pokemon, and his bear today.  Kid knows how to stay busy!

(8/26) We had a very fun day today.  We took the ferry over to Whidbey to visit Kathy at the beach house.  The boys did great with listening and not going in too deep. Very different than years past when I had to keep my eyes glued to them.  It was very nice to just sit in the sun and watch them play.  Nanan took C home with her, and the littles crashed pretty early, leaving Dad and me with some quiet time.  Score!

(8/27) Work day for me, and Dad took the truck in to get the bed lined.  D apparently dusted the shop and returned filthy.  Should have asked for a discount. Nanan kept C another night, and I got home after the littles had gone to bed.  It was almost too quiet tonight!

Nanan? Can you cannonball me?

(8/28) Work day (from home) for me, and Dad had the kiddos.  Dad worked on some projects and then tested out the truck hauling the trailer.  Works like a charm! Can't wait to take it on vacation now! He traded Nanan the trailer for one 8 year old in the afternoon.  The twins were crazy whiny this evening, because they were up playing when I returned home from class at 6:30a... Naughties!  They won themselves an early bedtime when we could no longer deal with the dramatics.


(8/29) After not having run the distance in about two months, I got talked into running a 10k with the fam this morning.  It was slow, hilly, and my ipod was stuck on repeat... but I had the best time, and remembered why I like running. The mimosas, pancakes, and hot tub afterward helped a lot too.  We had a crazy windstorm today, and watched a huge tree come down while we were in the hot tub. Almost was enough to scare us back inside.  Almost.  Because of the storm, Nanan couldn't come down and watch the kiddos as planned for date night, so we scrambled and ended up getting Granddad and Grandma to come watch and spoil the kiddos for the evening.  Shew!


(8/30) Work day for Dad and lazy bum day for the rest of us.  I hauled the twinsies to the gym this morning and then came home and we did a whole lot of nothing. I did finally pry the boys away from Mickey long enough to do some afternoon bike riding, but yeah, that was the extent of our activity today.


(8/31) Sigh.  Home today.  I went to get the twins up and said "Good morning!"  D said it was not and promptly threw up.  Poor bubba.  We all snuggled on the couch and watched some Mickey. Hopefully we'll be back in the game tomorrow.

No Sleep Till Brooklyn

D: I need my bed back on.

D: It's a dark and early morning!

J: DAAAAAAD!  MOOOOOM!   FIX ME!
(He stuck his arm through the head hole, and was not happy with his fashion choice)

D: I can't poop because it makes me all so I can get a haircut.
(Babbling, tired Ds are funny)

D: JADE, stop talking!  'Cuz I need to talk to my mom!

D: Close my window and Jade's window.
Me: Is Jade even with us this morning?
D: Noooo.
Me: Silly.

Me: What do you guys want for breakfast?
D: I want magic tricks!  And you need to heat them on the barbecue!

C: Do you know why I'm excited to start Scouts?
Me: Huh, why?
C: For the uniform!

D: Mama!  You need to never-ever go to work!


(8/18) The twins got to go bowling today with Sarah as part of the fundraiser for their school. C had Scouts' camp, and Dad & I had work.  Jam-packed day.

(8/19) Such a fun day!  After we dropped C off at camp, we hit the gym for Zumba with a new gal.  She was lots of fun.  After I got my dance on, we went home to clean up and then headed out to spend the day with the teenager.  I took her to DSW to get some boots for her birthday, to Sbux, and then to Subway.  Three of her favorite places.  Then we came back to grab C, and as a joke, she told him she was moving back in and that they'd have to share a room.  C seemed pretty okay & nonplussed with that.  Then we went home and chilled until Dad got off work.  In an effort to give Dad some quiet time, we hit the park.  It was quiet until football practice time, and then got super busy.  We headed on home, had dinner, and I ran the teen back on my way to paint night with a friend.

(8/20) Work day for me, and Dad had the kiddos.  I hit the gym after work and returned in time to put the littles to bed.  J told me all about his "crazy hair" while he was going to sleep. Important conversations.

(8/21) Work from home day for me, and Dad had the munchkins.  He took them out to visit cousins in town on holiday. Poor Deedles had an upset tummy while there and returned pantsless, but seemed fine otherwise.  Grandma & Granddad came over this evening so Dad & I could go to a comedy show.  We laughed a ton and had a great time.

(8/22) Zumba for me this morning, and then I ran up to visit Nanan.  We went out for lunch at a nearby pub and had a really lovely time. Didn't get as much work done as we wanted to, but oh well.  After I got back, Dad took off for his fantasy football draft and I stayed home with the boys.  We had some quality Mickey time.

This is my lap.  Every time I sit down.

(8/23) There is nothing like waking up to screaming. I listened to it for a minute to determine whether or not J might go back to sleep, but he had gotten his arm stuck through the head hole of his shirt and wanted to be fixed.  And so we were up before 6:30am on my one day to sleep, thankyouverymuch. I tried to cat nap during Mickey, but my cuddly monkeys were having none of that. J loves to watch C play video games, so I did manage to catch a few Zzzs after he came downstairs.  We had a stay-home day today and did exciting things like yard work. C created a ramp down through the ivy-bed, which attracted a hole herd of neighborhood boys at one point.  The littles rode their trikes.  Getting to be almost time for training wheels on the bigger bikes.  

Purse thief

(8/24) Work day for Dad & me. No camps this week, and summer is winding down.  Amanda said she took the kiddos to the park and blackberry picking.  None of the blackberries survived. Fruit bats at work!

Fire sky 😔

Chaos Reigns Supreme

I splashed J after washing my hands ~
J: No wet me!

D: The thunder is getting me a rainbow!  I love rainbows!

D: After the serious rain it's gonna be vegetable time!  It's getting strawberries, king-comers (cucumber), and zucchini in your garden!

D: I need to sleep in my bed.
Me: Me too.
D: No! Never-ever in my bed!
Me: Why?
D: Because I need to be in my bed. You need to be downstairs on the couch.
Me: Should I drink my coffee on the couch, or just go to sleep?
D: Never-ever sleep.

Me: Besides lunch, do you need anything else for camp?
C: Just $3,000,000.
Me: You have to work hard for that.
C: I just need $300.
Me: Big difference between that and 3 mil.
C: I know, but the thing I want is just $300.
Me: Still a big difference.
C: Well, that's without taxes.

D: This ice cream is too brr-cold.
Me: Well, yeah, it's ice cream.
D: I want it too hot for me.
Me: Then it wouldn't be ice cream.


(8/11) Work day for Dad and me, C had hockey camp, and the littles stayed with Amanda.  Sounds like everybody had a good day.

(8/12) Work day for Dad, and I had the kiddos. We had the contractor out to work on the porch this morning, and then Nanan out to stay with the littles and to meet the delivery truck, while I ran out to get C from hockey camp.  Wee!  Because things can't seem to happen one at a time around here.  Sheesh.

(8/13) Work day for me and Dad had the kiddos after waaaay too many 10-hour days in a row. I snuck in a quick run at the gym before coming home and then put the kiddos to bed so Dad could hit the gym.

(8/14) Work day (from home) for me and Dad had the kids. We finally got some "serious rain," which we all watched while having lunch together.  Dad took the kiddos out to watch the end of C's hockey camp, and then picked us up dinner on the way back.

(8/15) I hit the gym this morning for Zumba, sans kiddos since Dad was home.  After class we all trekked over to the dealership to look at a replacement for the minivan.  I have been making noise about maybe returning to a SUV since the van had some big repairs looming, and it was already over the 100,000 mile marker.  We test-drove a ginormous truck, which while cozier, should still fit us all when the littles aren't so little anymore. It will also haul the trailer and whatever else needs hauling.  Since we were not about to talk numbers with three very loud boys in tow, we pried them kicking and screaming out of the truck and took them home.  I had a coffee date with a friend, and while I was off at that, Dad figured the rest of stuff out with the truck. I hate buying cars, so was perfectly happy to let him do that!  I finished up the paperwork for the truck after my meetup and brought home the now dubbed "Minecraft Mobile."  Thank you, C.  The littles refused to go to bed without playing in the back of the truck, so I let them out there in their jammies for just a few extra minutes. Goofballs!

(8/16) Ugh.  Of course the twins would wake up super early on my one day to sleep.  And of course we would be out of coffee. I made instant coffee which is camp coffee without the camping.  Blech.  Once I finally got my whiny children out the door to the gym, I figured I'd earned a fancy real coffee after. But then the Safeway Sbux wouldn't let me use my free one, so I took my really expensive coffee to the park to hopefully clear up our collective foul mood.  But then I only brought ONE color of Goldfish with me (horrors!), and of course C had to go to the bathroom, and there weren't any at the park.  UGH!  Onward back home.  Grandma came over after lunch to go to the museum's Sandtastic event.  The kids spent a little time outside at the event booths, but mostly just begged to go inside and play at the museum.  So in we went.  Grandma treated us to ice cream after. We were all grumpy disasters for the rest of the day and I may have counted the seconds to bedtime starting from around 7a.  Dad got our front porch partially painted while we all grumped about inside.  Lookin' good!

D: Mama, I'm too early. Can you wake up me?

(8/17) I give up.  Plans for the day went out the window already, and it's not even 7 am.  C has Scouts camp this week, for which we've changed the transportation to/from no less than a dozen times. 

Ahhh....staycation!

Daddy? Can you upside-down me?

D: I need to go sleep in my bed.

Me: Me too.
D: No! You don't sleep in my bed. Ever, never!
Me: Why can't I go to sleep in your bed?
D: Because I need to go to sleep in there.

C: When our apple trees get bigger, we should build a treehouse.
Me: Uhm, those trees are about 4 years old, and you will probably be in high school before they are big enough to climb on.
C: I know, I want to live in there during high school. There will be plenty of food with apples growing in my house. And it should have two rooms; one for my brothers, and one for me!

D: C has an attitude. And he has a problem.

D: Mama! Mama! Mom! Mom! Mama?
Me: ...
D: Mama!  I need to be quiet.
Me: Yes, D.

D: NO!  Ever, never! I need, I need, I need, so ever!
Me: Uhm, okay.

At the teenager's former school: 
D: NO!  I don't wanna pick up S!

Deedle can't even today.

(8/4) Today we interviewed new nannies.  Well, nanny singular.  One was at the top of our list and the other was a no-show.  Still boggles my mind to set up an interview and then not show?  But thankfully, we found a great person to watch our kiddos.  Hooray!   Dad was off today, so we spent the rest of the day running errands and hangin' at home.

We have this big couch and...

(8/5)  Work day for Dad, kicking off his 8-day streak of 10-hour days.  Blech. The kiddos and I hit the gym first thing and followed it up with a park date with Sarah and her boys. We brought one of her kiddos home with us and the bigs had a blast sliding down the stairs on cardboard.


(8/6) We had a contractor come out to look at our porch this morning, and got a much better bid on the repair.  The kids watched waaaay too much TV this morning, and I finally turned it off and let the Lego building commence. Once Dad got home, I went off to Zumba, and came home to little boys going to bed.  It was a pretty good day of doing nothing much.


(8/7) Sheesh, this was a week of no-shows.  One Monday, one Tuesday, and the third contractor we had scheduled to come today didn't show either.  I gave them until 10:30, and then we were outta there.  I took the kiddos and their bikes to a big, empty parking lot to play while Sarah & I ran.  That was great for like 10 minutes until we were chased out by security.  Rats!  We loaded them back up and went over to the track instead.  Jj ran a quarter mile and then triked it too! There was a flock of geese in the middle of the track which had left part of the track a real mess.  C flew through all the 'puddles' and kicked up mud/goose leavings all over his backside. Gross.  I hosed them off when we ran home to grab our swim things, and then we hit open swim.  The outdoor wading pool was open, and it was the perfect temp to lounge around out there.  D & J's swim instructor guarded for a while and recognized them.  She asked them to blow their bubbles and J kept running off saying "Noooooo!"  Goofball. Grandma & Granddad came to watch the kiddos tonight while we had date night! Beautiful evening for dinner and drinks with my first guy.


(8/8) I hauled the boys to a glitch-filled Zumba class this morning.  We waited for 20 minutes to even get started and then the music was all off.  Some of the songs sounded like the Chipmunks were performing.  But the instructor says we get a 90 minute class next week, and I'm definitely down for that!  I told the boys we'd be going to the museum for a play date with my sisters after lunch, so was pestered for lunch from about 10:30a on.  We went a little early to museum and the boys had a blast, as usual.  C said he hasn't been all year, so he was stoked to go.  We stayed to play until the museum closed and then went home to dinner with Dad.

(8/9)  I spent a lazy morning with the kiddos today.  Got the house picked up and then we headed out to go back-to-school clothes shopping for C.  I bribed the boys with ice cream for their best behavior in the store, and the littles were very helpful!  They picked out Pokemon & Minecraft items for C, and even put them back relatively close to where they belonged if they grabbed things he wasn't interested in.  We stopped for some well-deserved ice cream, and sugared the kids up before we went to Grandma's for dinner.  Had a lovely time with my family celebrating Jake's & my b-days tonight ~ I so enjoy all of them!  


(8/10) Yawn! I haven't had to get up this early in over a week.  Kids are with the new nanny, C has hockey camp, and us parents have work.  Here we go!