Monday, January 28, 2013

Our Visit to Suckville

*Warning: This post should be read as if dripping with sarcasm.  (Sarcasm is my coping mechanism. Also rambling.  I may do both in this post.)  My kids have been struggling to grasp the concept of sarcasm lately.  For example, the day that Cameron got hold of a blue marker and decided to express his creativity all over the wall, I very sarcastically said, "Oh, wow, Cameron.  That is absolutely beautiful."  To which Aubrey responded, "I know!  He is amazing!!"  
No.  
Just - No.
So, in case you struggle like my children, I will emphasize every time I am being sarcastic with one of these: *.
You're welcome.  
The last few weeks have been my favorite. *
First of all, we discovered we had a underslab water leak in the house.  Yay!! ****
The water was turned off for a few solid days, which wasn't a big deal, because we hardly ever even use water at all. *  Except for showers.... and drinking.... and dishes.... and laundry.... and cleaning.... and hand washing.... and cooking... and bathing... and watering plants... and flushing #2's.
Luckily, my super sweet friend let us intrude all over her privacy and bathe our naked bodies over at her house on day #3.
It was one of our finest moments. *
Also, the leak was fixed with no drilling, jackhammering, explosions, or bulldozers.  And it was less than $300 to fix.  So, sadly, I'll take it.
 Second of all, Cameron almost died and then I almost killed myself.
We decided that it would be super fun to head to the park one day for a lovely little picnic.  The girls jumped on their bikes, I loaded Cameron into his little push-car-thingy and off we went.  About 30 seconds into our little trip, both girls discovered (the hard way) that our street is not exactly flat.  In fact, it's rather quite steep. 
Brooklyn was able to save herself, but Aubrey - not so much.
She went flying (and I mean FLYING) down the sidewalk swirving, rocking, screaming, crying, and dangerously zooming towards the street with no sign of being able to stop herself. 
It wasn't looking good, folks.
So, I pushed Cameron over to one side of the sidewalk, hoping the grass would slow him down, and sprinted to save Aubrey.  
She was in hysterics.
She was getting closer and closer to the curb and closer and closer to the street.  
Her front tire went off the curb, she flipped over her bike, and I caught her head about a foot off the ground.  
Unfortunately, that was about the time that I turned around to see Cameron flying down the sidewalk towards us (quite enjoying himself, actually).  We were about a  house away from him already and there was nothing we could do except watch as his little car went barreling toward the curb.  It went right over, flipping completely upside down, slamming his unprotected head into the asphalt, and dragging him a few feet while he was trapped underneath his overturned car.  
By the time I got to  him and flipped him over, the bump on  his head was already the size of a golf ball.
(It's about half as big in the pictures as it was right when it happened.)
His lip and chin were cut and bleeding and everyone in the family (no exceptions) was wailing.  Big time.  Tears. And snot. And one or two snot bubbles.  It was very attractive to the neighbors, I'm sure. *
Aubrey's first intelligible sentence was, "This is NOT a happy day!"
Truth.

 Third of all, I got a flat tire.
First one ever and it sucked.
Oh, and then the next day, Luke hit the van with the car while he was backing out of the driveway.  
Perfect! *
(Luckily, it was minor.)

 Fourth - Brooklyn got her first black eye. 
The kids were at practice with me (mistake #1) and they were running from the hot tub to the ice machine (mistake #2) which was around a sharp corner (mistake #3) and they both do not like to look where they are going when running from the hot tub to the ice machine (mistake #4).
 Aubrey's head met Brooklyn's eye and a lot of screaming and crying and hugging ensued.
Parenthood: 
Nailed It.

Fifth: Cameron has gotten 8 teeth in this month.
He's been delightful. *

Sixth: We have lost 7 things.  
I. HATE. LOSING. THINGS.
So far the list includes: 
-Cameron's super cute shoes
-Cameron's other super cute shoes
-my brand new sunglasses (lost the first time I wore them.)
-Aubrey's favorite shirt (that she wore ONE time!)
-At least 5 binkis
-My $10 Target photo gift card
-Aubrey's sparkling gold headband

Hopefully, we are now leaving Suckville.
And NEVER coming back.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Resolutions Schmesolutions (& A Very New Beginning)

Friends.
Today is January the 13th and already, I have failed you.  
I promised myself I would be more on top of blogging this year. 
 (Cause believe it or not - there is even MORE awesomeness that goes on around this house that you don't even know about!  I know - mind blown.)
 But in my defense, I promised myself this at 2:37am on January 1st while the neighbor's dogs barked their heads off and woke up me and all my kids while I was home alone and Luke was working graveyards and my throat felt like I swallowed  a piece of sandpaper.  

I promised a lot of people a lot of things that night. 
(Full disclosure: I promised the neighbors I would kill them if they didn't shut up.)

And that is how the New Year started.
Alone.
Grumpy.
Sick.
And Tired.

Luckily, it's gotten better.
Lots.
 
Except in the Resolution Department. 
Problem #1: I made my resolutions under the fore-mentioned conditions. 
I am not to be blamed. 
The neighbors are to be blamed.
 
Problem #2: Resolutions require work and I'm just about all worked-out. 
Mentally.  So not physically.

Problem #3: Brooklyn.  Aubrey.  Cameron. 
Nuff said.

It's not going well, friends.
Although, one of my Resolutions was to stop talking badly about people.  Suddenly I've decided that I just shouldn't. 
That one (so far), I've kept.  
("The Bachelor" excluded.  But c'mon, those girls are asking for it.)
It has been refreshingly  nice.

Anyways.  Switching gears. 
There has been a new and recent and very significant change since the new year.
I now have not one, but two KINDERGARTENERS!
Aubrey flippin' goes to Kindergarten.
Technically, it's Transitional Kindergarten (meaning she'll still be in Kindergarten next year), but technically, she doesn't care.
 And neither do I.  

(More full disclosure: I know some people might not agree with our decision to start her in Kindergarten early.  It was a decision that was made with prayer and talking and discussing and weighing and pondering and fighting and back and fourths and so much more.  It was the decision that we - being her parents - felt was right.  That is all.)

It took her all of about 2 seconds to be instant friends with the entire student body.  That's how she rolls.
And it didn't hurt that her sweet older sister was there to help her out.
Brooklyn  paraded her around the school yard like a show puppy.  
Seriously precious stuff.
And Cameron was thrilled about having his mom all to himself.
The kid can't share worth squat.
She told me later that day that while she was standing in this line, the boy in front of her said that he always eats his buggers.
Therefore, I'm OK with the fact that she's standing alone.

But she should know that Kindergartener or not - she'll never, ever be alone.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Celebrity Look-A-Like #14

So far we've seen...
The Snuggle Bear
Cindy Lou Who
The Phillsbury Dough Boy
Edward Scissor Hands
The Joker
Cee Lo
Elton John
Justin Bieber
Mr. Clean
Vin Diesel
Puss in Boots
Mr. Rogers
Megamind
Jack Jack
and NOW...
 
UNCLE SCROOGE.
 

Monday, December 31, 2012

The Misadventures of Zoe the Elf

For the second Christmas in our family's history, we had a special visitor for the month of December.
She's cute and sneaky and dainty and she wrapped our toilet in wrapping paper.
(Hint: it's our elf, Zoe.)
Aubrey was basically a real-life Elf Hunter and I'm pretty sure that she found Zoe first every single morning without fail. 
 Zoe made Aubrey's birthday extra special...
found a new fun way to decorate the tree...
got herself into some tight situations...
rode around on kindergarten masterpieces...
 
 followed us to Grandma's house...
and fell in love...
Goodbye, naughty elf.
See you next year.

Our Year In Review...

This year our Christmas card was long and different and all about our year in review 
(which works, considering it's 11:00pm on December 31st.  Two birds.  One stone.)

So here it is...
(except it's actually four inches high and 12 inches long - and there's no way I could possibly fit that on this blog.  So here it is in pieces.  It's cuter in person.  I promise.)





Sunday, December 30, 2012

#ourchristmaswasthebestthingintheworld

Hi friends.  
So, lately all the cool kids have been using this: # in front of all their sentences.
Confession: I've never tried it and I don't know how to do it.  
So, I'm going to practice on this post.
(Cause screwing this up on somewhere like Facebook would be humiliating. #imightjustdierightthereatmykeyboard.)

Here it goes...

#mychristmasrockedmysocks
 Aubrey got the twin dolls with the bunkbeds and the bottles and the giddeup ponies that she asked Santa for and Brooklyn got her white pony with the medal and Cameron got his Hot Wheels Racers and Ashley got her Cannon T3 and Luke got a sweater.
#santawasontopofit  #lukemayhavegottenjipped

Cameron was more entertained with the bags than the presents.
 #fjdskalpruiewoafjkdn;afk;adjiofusdirjewakl;fjdkal;fjioarueiow
(#thatwasmebangingmyheadonthekeyboard)

 #ohmygosh  #thesegirlsmeltmyheart

 #thereweresomanypresentswecouldhardlymove  #thewholetimeipickedupwrappingpaperlikeanOCDperson

#santaalsobroughtatrampoline
#yay!
 #exceptit'stoobiganditdoesn'tfitinourbackyard
#boo.

We also got to visit both sets of Grandparents and most of our uncles/aunts/cousins.
 #ihavethebestfamilyever

We spent the rest of the day flying remote control airplanes...
 (#onehitmeonthehead)
 playing Lightening in the backyard
(#ididn'tmakeoneshot)...
guessing how much money was in Uncle Steve's wallet 
(if anyone guessed right, they got to keep it.).
(#f.y.i. itwas418dollars.  #whocarries418dollarsaroundintheirwallet?  #stevedoes.)...
and getting ONE HUNDRED TRILLION DOLLARS for Christmas.
#best.christmas.ever.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Der Sata,

A letter from Aubrey to Santa.
(Written without any help.)
(Obviously.)

And now... 
The translated version: 

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

There 'll be parties for hosting...
 A dinner worth bosting...
 And angels without any snow...
 There'll be scary white presents...
 
 And Santa Clause events...

Like Christmases not long ago.

It's the most wonderful time  
It's the hap-happiest season  
There'll be houses for making...
 And pictures worth taking...
 And houses that put us to shame...
 It's the Most Wonderful Time.... of.... the....  
Year!