The Camping Trip

 Our camping trip was.......wet & cold. We got rained on, hailed on & even snowed on. But that didn't stop us from having plenty of fun & adventure.


                          
Justin & the little boys got some fishing time in, though I'm sure all the fishies were hiding under rocks in the river somewhere, trying to stay warm. None of them were kind enough to take the bait.
 
 
            
 Seth finally got to try out the bow & arrows he got for Christmas.

        Jarod & Micah got to shoot the BB guns they got for their birthdays.

I was pretty nervous about the boys going around shooting real (& sort of real) weapons in the woods, but Justin thoroughly instructed them on weapon safety & conduct & how to NOT accidentally shoot your brother. I made them come up out of the woods to the camper, practically every 10 minutes, to drill them on the rules & make sure they were still alive, eyeballs in-tact & all. Kind of a nerve-wracking thing for a mama......but I guess it's something I'd better get used to. Boys & their toys. *Sigh* Can't we just stick with Nerf guns, please?!!!! (There were plenty of Nerf gun wars as well, BTW.)

All of my men had fun chopping wood for the fire. Their contests of strength were quite entertaining, as you can see in this video:

                   We did lots of exploring......

                                         .............and playing in God's playground!

       The sun came halfway out ONCE, for a couple hours..........

                              .....so I let the kids play in the sand & water a little bit.

Especially frightening & traumatizing for me was that Justin let Seth drive (for the first time ever) the Suburban..... 20 WHOLE feet. Is it REALLY time for the driving thing to start??????

    My little bouquet from Justin & the boys. They are so sweet to me.

Justin tried to get a little fire started. He managed, somehow, to ignite wet wood. He's pretty amazing like that.

   The mommy & baby Hobbits warmed their feet by the fire.

We spent most of our time INSIDE of our lovely camper (which I am so thankful my man bought for me this year), wishing the sun would come out & the rain would stop.

It was a little challenging trying to keep the kids entertained during the many hours we spent inside the camper.

                                        

   I rather thought Jarod's creation of winter trees was appropriate.

DAY 2: Relatively clean & happy!

                                   
                                          DAY 4: A little less clean & happy.....

                           

                    We all did lotsa snugglin' to stay warm!

                    Even the dogs snuggled for warmth.

      Seth had the immense privilege of studying for his finals while camping.

 For fun in the camper, I made a tent in the boys' "bedroom" & gave them flashlights, so they could....like...you know.....pretend they were camping!!!  

                         
We had planned to camp for a whole week, but by the evening of day 4, we were ready to come home to dry out & warm up!

                                            
      At least Jarod had something to show for his "hunting" endeavors. ;)

Ballet Recital: Check! Micah's Birthday: Check! Camping Trip: Check!

So far, I made it through a few things on last week's to-do list........alive & well. The first thing being Abi's ballet recital. She was the cutest mermaid on the stage!

The second thing checked off the "to-do" list: Micah's birthday. (And I didn't "DO" much as Auntie Ra-ra made his cake & Grandma let us party at her house & not mine.) Micah John is the smartest, sweetest, most thoughtful & loving 9 year old boy that I know!!! I am so proud of him. He is ever the peace maker of the house, always ready to giggle hysterically & always thinking of others before himself. And I have to brag a little. He scored ADVANCED on ALL of his state testing this semester. He is in the 99th percentile in math!!! He is just a genius. I'd like to take the credit for his success, but I had to google the spelling of the word "genius".....so....you know.......it has a little something to do with his RIDICULOUSLY SMART BRAIN. He says he wants to be a doctor when he grows up. I believe he will be.

                 We had a small family party for him at Grandma's house.

He got some lego-type stuff............and a Red Ryder BB gun!!! As you can tell, he was pleased.

                         A very fierce dragon was conquered by some brave knights & ladies.

                                           
 I just wanted to share this adorable picture of my adorable mama-in-law & her adorable babies............who are both twice her size.

                                                                  

                                 I must admit: I am a little "Girl-Crazy" too.

                                   

                                        Beware: the Mighty Dragon Conqueror!!!!!

The third thing I made it through (alive & well) is our camping trip. It was very fun, very wet & we came home early, which is why I have some time to blog & relax a little. I was disappointed & relieved at the same time. I think I'm going to be OK after all. ;) I'll post about our camping trip in the next couple of days. Right now, I have a SweetTart gig to get ready for!!!

Family Time at the Park

We took some time to go to the park on Thursday. It was a beautiful, perfect, fun, happy, relaxing day.

 I got to sit on the big girl swing & swing with my baby, with the warm breeze & sunshine on our faces.

                                    Pushin' my babies.....but not tooooo high!!!

                             Micah relaxing in his own, unique way.

                                    Sethy & Daddy "snuggling".

                                 Titus is a tree hugger AND a tree kisser.

       All my "little" boys playing & getting dirty together & warming my heart.

                                      The big boss man.

                                     How Gideon "smiles for Mommy".

 My little OCD-boy has come SO FAR!!! It makes a mama proud! *sniff sniff*

          


 I didn't like it & I didn't inhale.

Oh. Here is that picture of Chris, our other SweetTart & very talented electric guitar player. 

Hopefully I'll see lots of ya at the SweetTarts' gig!!!

You Know Your Toddler is Ready to Potty Train When.........

You know your toddler is ready to potty train when :

1. He takes off his diaper, says, "I naked, Mommy" and then proceeds show you how talented he is at peeing on the kitchen rug.

2. When you tell his big brother, Jarod, to put a diaper back on him & that big brother has to wrestle the toddler to the floor because said toddler is kicking & screaming, "You DOOPID, Darod!!!" (translation: "you're stupid, Jarod"). Um. He might not want a diaper on.

3. When you are in the store & said toddler is throwing a fit, for all to hear (because he missed his nap that day) & then suddenly realizes that he has peed in his diaper & starts wailing all the louder, "MOOOOOMMM, I PEEEEE!!!!!!!!! MOOOOOMMMM, I PEEEEE!!!!!!!"

4. When he gets so excited about his potty seat that he uses it for a hat. And then Daddy has to get it UN-stuck from his head.



5. When he is sitting on the potty, and you are sitting in front of him to cheer him on......and then suddenly realize that he doesn't quite understand about "pointing it down", as a nice warm stream hits you in your mid-section.

 6. When you have to keep a large supply of Diego underpants because nothing else will do.

                                                     The "END"

Presenting: the SweetTarts

I've mentioned, on occasion, the 80's/90's cover band that I am part of. Here we are!


Here is a snapshot of me & my "fellow" SweetTarts.

Left to right:

Shayne: bassist

Carrie: drummer
Michelle: lead singer
Me: keys & background vocals
Chris: (missing from this photo) electric guitarist & background vocalist 

Stay tuned for more details.

Playing IN the Dirt (& Mad Dog Disease)

I blame Justin. He told the boys they could plant a garden in the side yard yesterday. They were  being so quiet  having so much fun back there that I didn't want to disturb them until it started getting dark. I went to the side of the house & found THIS:

They were planting little brothers.

Can you tell my camera flash is bright?

No matter how very, very hard they tried.......

............they just couldn't quite make it.............

............to China.

I also would like to note that earlier in the afternoon/evening (when the hole was a little smaller), there was a brief period when the boys were NOT quiet. I was happily facebooking, Justin was reading, Seth was studying, Isaac was watching Diego online & the 4 middle boys were out back doing the above "gardening". Everything was delightfully peaceful. Suddenly, from the FRONT yard, came terrified shrieks, screaming, hysterical, panicked, high-pitched crying & pounding on the front door. At first I thought there must a massive group of neighbor kids being chased by some horrible monster. Then I realized that there was something a bit familiar about the agonized voices screaming for mommy & daddy. Heart pounding, I rushed to open the door. Jarod, Micah, Gideon & Titus practically FELL into the house. Our yellow lab, Toby, had broken out of the back yard & was very excitedly frolicking with another very excited yellow lab (whom we had never seen before), who happened to be drooling a little bit. The boys had rushed after Toby, from the back yard to the front........screaming something about the  other dog foaming at the mouth & rabies. The two yellow dogs continued romping in the front yard. The boys continued screaming that the evil dog with rabies was going to kill Toby........that the dog with "rabies" was "attacking" Toby!! They were also in fear for their own lives. The diseased animal had also jumped up on them a bit too.....horror of horrors!!! Toby was having a good ole time. I was yelling at Toby to come in the house. Seth was yelling at Toby to come in the house. Our neighbor was in the street laughing & yelling at the other dog to go home. Justin was trying to calm the boys down. In the chaos, I couldn't get Toby to obey, nor could I convince the boys that we weren't going to have to lock Toby in a barn to shoot him. Nothing was being accomplished at all, so I shoved Seth, Justin & everyone back into the house, closed the door behind me & got Toby under control. Our nice neighbor took the other dog back to the back yard it had broken out of. Justin did damage control IN the house & reassuring them that Toby did NOT, indeed, have hydrophobia, or any other deadly, infectious, brain-eating disease. Toby & his friend were just very, very, very.......happy, albeit.......a little thirsty. Not frothing. The boys finally calmed down & went back to work on their "garden". All I can say is, "Old Yeller" might be a good, clean, family movie............but it's not necessarily the one you want your kids to watch. As it turns out.