Painting, panties and peas

I was making dinner yesterday, and these were the goings on in my dining room.
Ezra loves frozen peas,
Ryan loves water-color painting {which is a fairly clean activity, a must for me}
and Ryan has been wearing nothing but panties {what with potty-training and sweltering weather}.
Just a typical afternoon at our house {note the pile of toys in the background}.
And as for the potty-training ... it is fAnTaStIc!! Boo-ya! Ryan is a genius.
Let's hope her amazing self keeps right on doing as fabulous as she has been!?!
Can I get a what, whuuut!

Everyone is content, no one's crying, so it is a successful day :)

What a loverly painting. It is now proudly displayed on our fridge.

Food for thought

So, I have been thinking ...
How does Ariel (the Little Mermaid) go to the bathroom? Or have kids?
And when Lightning McQueen races around the track, is that the equivalent of a human running a marathon?
And why doesn't Nemo just have Nigel the Pelican carry him out of the dentist's office in his mouth and drop him into the ocean?
And how did my mental facilities deteriorate to entertaining thoughts such as these?
I used to concentrate on learning about college-level subjects through reading, thought, intuition and research.
How did I get to this point?

A staggering feat (ha ... get it? ... okay I'm lame)

I caught a major milestone on video today! {I know, astounding}
My baby Ezzy started walking, kinda.
He has been practicing his balancing for about a week.
And then today he sorta took off.
It was a little bittersweet.
My baby, BABY, is turning into a big boy.
Ezra, we are so proud of you.
We were so enthusiastic that he performed his new skill over and over.
That was until Ryan got a little carried away and beamed him in the head with a ball.
And thus ended the practice session.

HP6

Went to see Harry Potter on Friday with Sierra!
It was AWWW-some!!
Best one yet.
Nuthin' else need be said.
Rock!

Water baby

Yesterday we went to the beach.
It was so hot.
To me, anything over 80 degrees is a "scorcher," and yesterday it was 92!
I wanted to die.
Anyway, instead of doing that, we went to this little cove with some friends.
It was perfect on the coast: sunny with a little breeze.
I knew that Ryan would love it, but what I didn't know was how much Ezra would.
He was SO happy the entire time.
I have never seen this kid so content.
We had so much fun
{even though Scott and I were the only ones to strip down the our suits ... swimming, not birthday}.
There really isn't anything else to say except that it was perfect.
We will definitely have to do that again soon.
Good idea, Tara.

Ezzy was grinning ear to ear the whole time. I mean, for real, he was ecstatic.

Playing with daddy in the water, duh. Look at my hottie of a husband.

Getting a mud bath. You know, there are people that would pay good money for one of those. Scott's only cost a suit full of sand.

Starfish that Scott pried from the rocks. I said that it wasn't a good idea, I mean, those rocks are their home, their natural habitat. It kinda looks like a little row of corpses. Sad.

$2 Tuesday = aggravating nutjob zoo-goers

The zoo was a madhouse on Tuesday.
I know, I know, this is to be expected when you go on discount day.
But we didn't know it was going to be like this.
Britney and Rex hadn't been to the zoo in a while,
and being poor college kids,
we decided to brave the crazy crowds.
What a brilliant idea.
My parents, and bro Brady met us there.
Well, they met us at the overflow parking lot, where we were to be "shuttled" over to the zoo.
An hour and a half later, after a veeeeerrrryyyy slow school bus ride to the gate and a lengthy line through the entrance ... we were off and running.
Really.
Then we had to tear through the zoo, shoving and wriggling our way to every attraction, in order to make up for lost time.
There were piles and piles of bodies everywhere.
And it was hot.
So there was a lot of skin exposure.
I am constantly surprised at what people will wear in public.
Anyhoo, it was chaotic, but fun.
We love when you guys come to visit. Anything we do is fun.
And a meal a Chevy's after puts everything right. Thanks Daddy.

Posing before the "bird show." Doesn't Ryan look super excited? (We were approaching nap time.)

Awwww, so loving.

All four kids in pretty good spirits during their "photo shoot."

Going to the zoo is super tiring. Good thing Papa is nice enough to carry us for an hour.

Alas, saying good-bye after Chevy's and two balloon flowers. We love you guys!

Boy, I just can't seem to keep up

Our summer is flying by.
We have been so busy, I can barely catch my breath.
Scotty has been home a lot (both a good and bad thing),
so we have been able to spend more time together (again, this can go either way);
Aside from the occasional meltdown and tantrum,
Scott has been very helpful and pleasant.
Anyway, starting to veer off topic, yes, so we have been busy.
Went to Seattle, partied with our 85-year-old grandfather on his b-day, and took our monthly trip to the zoo on rockin' $2 Tuesday (that's a whole other story).
However, I forgot my frickin' camera when we ventured to Seattle and have no documentation of our trip.
It is like it never happened.
Oh well, we'll have to have a do-over trip next month.

This picture is just a typical day at our house, you know, working on our golf game.
*Note Lightning McQueen in the foreground, he is Ryan's new favorite toy and is usually not far away.*

The exciting life I live

My life is super exciting.
Today, for example, was thrilling.
We have embraced the 21st century and purchased cell phones that were actually designed in this millennium.
Hopefully they will work better ... although I may have been responsible for their malfunction in the tiniest of ways.
{NOTE TO SELF: Do not allow Ezzy to use the new phone no matter how much he says he needs it; it will inexorably be saturated with saliva and then become defunct.}
And we did a potty training test-run with Ryan.
We soaked through five, no six pairs of panties ... in three hours.
I have never used the word panties so many times.
It is kind of a funny word if you think about it.
Anyway, as I mentioned before, my life is VERY exciting.
Ahhh ...

A little help

Today I had some help.
It started like any other day.
Scott went golfing at 7 a.m.
Was back at 10:30.
And that's when everything changed.
Instead of retiring to the bedroom to take a nap like I thought he would,
he said, "Honey, why don't I take the kids for a few hours."
What?!?
A few hours.
I could hear a chorus of angels singing.
I think they were at the gym, beckoning me.
So he took them ... gladly.
And I went to the gym, on my scooter.
And to the store.
Then to peruse the wares at Goodwill.
Then I showered and ate lunch, alone ... with no one hanging on my legs.
It was bliss.
He came home four, yes, four hours later.
And get this, they were all still happy.
What a helpful hubby.
It was a bonus that he remained happy throughout the day, and didn't even lose his temper when they kids did eventually have a meltdown.
And he set the table.
And Ryan made her bed unprompted (that isn't really related, yet was helpful too).
Score.
So he's not so bad.
I love you Scotty.

One of those days

It is one of those days.
I am tired,
and irritated,
and know I should stop the kids from vegging in front of the tv ...
but
I don't want to.
I am usually pretty good about keeping the kids occupied and engaged,
about being productive,
about being ahead of the game and doing all the housework with a smile even ...
but
today I am not motivated.
The day started out a little off.
I missed my alarm,
finally made it to the gym and hour and a half later than planned,
tried to compensate by doing extra pretty make-up and wearing something cute ...
but
now I want to change into sweats and skip making dinner.
Phooey. I am being a rotten bum.
Sigh.
I should probably make dinner.
And fold the laundry.
And turn of the tube.
And stop being mad at Scott ... for nothing really.
Doesn't everyone have days like this?

Oh say can you see?

Our fourth was fab.
It was the first one that we have been able to spend together as a family,
or as a couple, for that matter.
We got together with some friends,
stretched out on the lawn at our apartment complex,
barbecued burgers and steak,
enjoyed a rousing game of four square (complete with regulation-size court ... literally, a tape measure was employed),
watched the guys play what turned into full-contact football,
and set off a huge Costco-sized box of fireworks.
Well, most of us watched the fireworks.
And by most of us, I mean everyone but myself and my hysterical children.
That's right.
As soon as the first round of ground flowers lit up the pavement, my children were in tears.
Even the flaming pile of turd-like worms were too much (you know what I am talking about).
I had to take them upstairs, bathe them, and put them to bed with the door closed before they could relax.
Ryan said they were too scary and wouldn't even look at them from our second story window.
Drat. I kinda like fireworks.
Oh well, the rest of the evening was good.
Even though a child stepped on my hamburger patty with her bare foot and Ryan stepped in a pool of pee,
we look forward to next year and are grateful for our freedom in the meantime.

This to me is what July 4th is all about. Good friends, good food, and being able to be yourself. Ryan with her new friends, Hannah, Jenna, and Cade.

Music to my ears

I am very proud of my musical prodigies.
Ezra's gift is a new discovery.
Ryan's performances are a daily delight.
I was so happy when Scott brought home the kazoo.
So happy.
{pssst ... that was said with heavy sarcasm}

Dirtball

Ryan found a dirt hill across the street at the park.
She came home dirtier than I have ever seen her.
She actually left a ring of grime around the inside of the tub.
Scott was supposed to be watching her.
He was responsible for this.
I'm just sayin'.

P.S. He is also responsible for teaching her how to give a wet willy, how to "pull his finger," how to slap other people's buns, and other such ladylike etiquette.

P.P.S. I am sure you can only guess who was responsible for rebathing said dirtball and cleaning the tub while Scott relaxed on the couch. What a raw deal.

I am not really sure how children wind up with dirt smeared on their face?