the next weekend

Oh my creative naming ability astounds me. "the weekend", "the next weekend", I should get a job naming stuff.

So this past weekend we went to St. George sans children. It was a good weekend, full of eating food and doing fun stuff outside. As a result I gained a few pounds and I'm avoiding balancing the checkbook today. Here are some pictures along with my ever so witty commentary. This is not a DVD, there is no option of viewing with the commentary turned off, besides, why would you want to?

Here's J and I overlooking St. George at night. He's looking in my pocket for some fudge or money. Unfortunately I ate it all and spent it all.

St. George's red rocks are great for climbing on...or in. Jeremy found this little hole and asked if I could get in there. Obviously I did. It will be a sad day when I'm old and can no longer climb into little holes. Or too fat because of fudge.

To borrow a phrase from Alexis: "What the heck?" That's me and my sister-in-law Shandy, in what she calls "the crack". I don't know if that is it's real name or if that's what she's dubbed it, but it's a tiny space between two rocks probably about 100 feet long. If you are much bigger than me, you probably won't fit. And if your nose is even 1/8" longer than mine, you won't be able to turn your head while in there. Sorry, it's kind of an annoying picture to view. Click on it and it will be larger and easier to see.

Here we are looking victorious, straddling "the crack" to show that we conquered it. Now that we've gone through, we can go back to eating fudge. (To clear up any confusion, we walked through the crack, we did not climb up it.)

Here's me rock climbing. Yep, I climbed up there. First I sat on Jeremy's shoulders, then he hoisted me up there and I held on for the 3 seconds required to take this picture.

Then Jeremy climbed up this little rock and I took a picture to prove that he was on the trip too. I would have helped him get up but I had fudge on my fingers. And he didn't need it.

We also did other fun stuff like rollerblading, tennis, swimming, shopping, bike riding and of course GOLF. Well, I didn't do that but I was supportive of it. And all this fun would not have been possible without my parents and sister and Deanna watching the kids. I was very happy to see them when we got back, especially because no one cut Tyler's hair while we were gone. And thanks to Justin and Shandy for inviting us, and for Shandy's parents letting us use their house.

Stay tuned next week for a post titled "the next next weekend" which will include a report of our upcoming trip to the "city of sin", where no sinning will be done by us.

the weekend

I know I post about the weather a lot, apparently I'm a little obsessed. But lately it's been getting a little warmer, which we all know is like heaven to me. And with daylight savings it gets dark later so I'm just one happy camper. And even better, Jeremy was home all weekend. He works a lot of hours (not a complaint, just a statement) so on weekends I'm a little selfish and like to have him around. But, he's a mover and hates just sitting around. So our solution was to find something we could all do as a family and still be doing something. So we invested in this:
This was only the second time Jeremy's taken it out, and the first time for me and Alexis. It was still a little too cold to take Tyler, I didn't want him to end up with RSV again. But next time we go it should be warm enough for him, and I am soooo excited. Alexis loved it, though she would occasionally say, "stop driving so bumpy!" She hasn't learned the point of it yet.

It was a lot of fun, and we even found an old mine they've gated over. I'm afraid of heights so it terrified me (eventually I did walk out over it), but Jeremy and Alexis would drop rocks down the hole and listen to them drop.
Then later in the evening we ran errands together and had dinner and at the end of the day Alexis said how much she likes having dad around. The kids get a little bored of being around me all day and need some variety. Plus dad's more fun!

The next two weekends we'll be out of town (St. George then Las Vegas), which will be a lot of fun too. Anyone else do anything fun this weekend??

trouble

This morning Tyler climbed out of his crib all by himself. He's not even 17 months old. I'm taking it as a bad sign of things to come.

beware the worm's house

In preparation for guests I have coming over tonight, I set the timer for 6 minutes and asked Alexis to help me pick up the toys in the living room. I told her we had to hurry and beat the timer, which of course, warrants a

"why do we have to beat the timer mommy?"

"because...something...will...happen if we don't".

I couldn't think of something, so I looked to Jeremy for assistance. "If you don't beat the timer the house will fall over!" Which I think spurred Alexis' bright idea: "Oh, we'll fall into the worm's house if the timer beeps!"

I set the timer and off she ran, picking up anything in her path and throwing it into the toy box. A stethoscope, a naked barbie, a movie, some pretzel sticks, Tyler, some slippers. She's never moved so fast while being productive at the same time. Then, about a minute in the crying starts.

"Mom, I don't want to fall into the worms hole. The worm's hole is scary. The timer is going to beep!"

"It's okay, I'll protect you from the worm. We have lots of time, keep working."

A dance mat, several balls, more dolls, a toy tractor. About 3 minutes in the crying has been replaced by heaving panting.

"Mom, how much time do we have? I'm tired of this. I want to be done, I don't want to fall into the worm's hole."

"Keep working honey, we're almost done. We've got 3 minutes left."

With a minute to spare all the toys are picked up, we are victorious to live another day. I'd say this new method is a keeper; extremely effective, and only a little traumatizing. Isn't that how all great moms work? Time to clean the bedroom!

fill 'er up

Here's the truth: I am not a hugger. I like my personal space and am not entirely comfortable with people invading it. But, of course, all that changed when little Alexis entered my life. The poor child has endured A LOT of "affectionate abuse" from me, and she's done it cheerfully. She's constantly required to kiss me, hug me, hold my hand, let me pinch her butt, let me tickle her and play with her hair. All the usual stuff moms do when their kids are so cute that they can't resist just squeezing them.

But things have changed lately. You always hear about the "terrible twos", but no one ever warns you about the extremely horrifying, "worse- than-having-your-right-eye- poked- repeatedly-with-a-toothpick threes". She's become extra bossy, mouthy, resistant and independent. But it's been bearable because she would still kiss me.

The thing is, this mom is like a car and Alexis' mean phrases and independence are like a hail storm. Some of them are big ol' rock sized hails that may crack my windshield, but they don't break me. I've got wipers, I can brush it off. But her kisses are like the fuel that keeps the car going. And it's starting to run low.

Last week she refused to hold my hand. Last night I asked for a hug, which she gave extremely reluctantly. Today, before her nap I leaned in for a kiss, but she turned her head away with such force and determination I'm surprised it didn't snap off her neck! I knew this day would come eventually.

The needle's pointing to E people, and I've still got miles to go until she outgrows this stage.

Thank goodness for dual tanks and a little boy too young to know better, with extra huge cheeks, perfect for pinching. Lets hope he will be able to withstand not only his share, but now his sisters share of the abuse too.

lookin' pretty

We've had temperatures approaching the 50's the last few days, so in the spirit of warm weather the kids got out some of their summer attire.


Clearly, we are not above doing potentially embarrassing things to our children.

MORE YELLOW??

Both kids are sick. I've hardly left the house since last Friday. There has been a lot of whining and crying by just about everyone that lives here, and A LOT of fighting between Tyler and Alexis. It's snowing...again. Our car broke. While in the process of getting it fixed Jeremy brought home this for me to drive:That's his idea of a joke. It has been dubbed the "silly yellow car" here. I'm tired. Lunch has been a disaster. We are all going to take naps. Wake me when it becomes possible to have a rational conversation with a toddler.


*Being the optimist that I am, I can't leave this entry on a bad note. And, so you can all stop worrying over it already, we did get both our computer and our DVR fixed. So breath easy everyone.

yellow plastic pillow

Today I experienced a little deja vu. I caught Tyler doing this: And I had to take a picture because when Alexis was the exact same age, we captured this:Same hairstyle and everything. Except that chair has sure faded in color over the last two years.

Ode to Play-Doh

The Lord blessed us with imaginations,

And Hasbro gave us Play-Doh
With which to build our creations:

A penguin, a dolphin, a turtle (with hair!),
A star, a slide, a bee, and a cake.
But more importantly, a trap, used to ensnare,
All those snakes that are so easy to make.

The quiet that comes from a can of that stuff
Is like a chorus of angels singing...silently.
Even the little boy, normally so tough,
Plays with his sister a little less violently.

So on this cold wintry day, Play-Doh you are "da bomb".
And I want to thank you so sincerely,
For you make everyone happy, most especially the mom!

the time when everything breaks

So I guess my DVR decided to reject my invitation to be my Valentine. It could have just said no, but insted it decided to break and probably delete everything we had recorded on it. I'm not sure yet because I can't get a hold of the guy who's supposed to fix it and I'm not going to pay DISH network to send a technician out because it's not my fault it's broken. The response to "why do I have to pay for it? It's not my fault it's broken!"? "It's no one's fault ma'am, so we charge the client when it's a technical problem". Horrible, horrible idea. Jeremy works for Enterprise Rent-A-Car and when a customer calls because their tire has just blown out and they are too dumb to fix it (like I would probably be), he goes and trades them cars and fixes the tire himself, and does he charge them anything? No, because it's not their fault the tire blew. Oh boy, you shouldn't have gotten me started.

What else is broken?

My computer. I got a dumb virus that has wreaked havoc on the thing and now who knows when it will be up and running again.

What else is broken?

Tyler. He has RSV. If you don't know, that's a serious serious cold for little kids that gets in their lungs. Which means he's miserable and contagious, so we're stuck in the house.

As trivial as some of these complaints are, I think my limits are being tested.