Thankful

 Thanksgiving this year was spent in Idaho where we enjoyed every minute with friends + signed a dream job contract + bought our dream lot for our future dream house + literally had to pinch ourselves several times to make sure it wasn't an actual dream.

 To say that I am "thankful" for this guy + all my people + all our blessings is the understatement of a lifetime.  

I am so 

extremely

+

excessively

+

immensely

+

immeasurably

....

THANKFUL.

Home Sweet Rental

"How to Sell a House"

by Luke and Ashley Webb

1. Put it up for sale.

2. Get a full-price offer in 3 hours.

3. Have no issues during the sale.

4. Move out 29 days after you list it.

5. The end.

It happened.  We fixed, listed, sold our house, and moved out. It literally happened in less than a month.  And now we are proud renters one more.

We bought our very first house without ever having seen it. (Read about it HERE.) (Who does that, by the way?)  It was the home from h3%% and I'm still surprised we survived it.  But still, it was our first house and we loved it.

Will Knock For Friends

This is Rod.  He is the greatest human being and Cameron's BFF for life.

A few months ago, Cameron went down our street knocking on doors and asking people to be his friend, and we had NO IDEA.  (I'll be throwing away my undeserved "Mother of the Year" coffee mug, don't worry.) Here's what happened.

Cameron asked if he could go ride his motorcycle.  I was super busy that day and and we had visitors over, food to make, and things to do.  So... I told him he could go by himself as long as he promised to take a walkie-talkie, not go in the street, and not go past the corner.  The terms were agreed upon and off he went.  

A little while later he came home and started telling us about "Rod."  I assumed it was an imaginary friend (remember his imaginary friend "Hay."????), or a worm he had named Rod, or a toy army guy, or something.  Well, a few days later Cameron said he was going to ride his motorcycle and go see Rod.  I didn't think twice about it and told him to have fun with his harmless imaginary friend.    

Turns out - Rod is an actual human being.  And a great one, at that.

After a few weeks of getting to know him, he and Cameron have bonded over build-able airplanes, Fireman Sam, the Lego movie, chocolate milk, McDonalds, Hot Wheels, video games, and walks to the park.  Cameron asks to go to his house every. single. day. and they have THE cutest little relationship.

A few days ago, Rod came over and told me how grateful he is that Cameron came down the block  knocking on doors and looking for friends.

And I am so grateful that he found one.

Career Day

Other titles to describe career day include:

#1: "Make-your-mom-design-and-sew-2-extra-outfits-the-night-before-even-if-she-already-made-5 -intense-Halloween-costumes.-She-won't-mind.-Really.-Day"

 #2: "Can-you-even-handle-the-mini-people-cuteness-Day?!?"

 #3: "No-matter-what-they-end-up-being,-I-love-these-muchkins-to-death-Day."

Halloween Twenty Sixteen

 

In Halloween's past, I've written posts about how we somehow end up being strangely similar to our Halloween characters, and this year was no exception. 

(2015, 2014, 2013, 2012)

Luke was our shark-attack-surfer-victim.  He may not be a great surfer in real life, but he does regularly get attacked by Jagger (our shark).  Plus, while the blood on his head wasn't real, he was figuratively pretty bruised and bleeding.  Life kind of just attacked him this week and he bandaged up his wounds and kept on surfing, dude.

I was the family lifeguard.  My kids try extremely hard every day to put themselves in danger and I am the always-on-duty lifeguard of the troop.  (Plus, I have literally saved 2/4 kids from near-drowning experiences, so I probably should actually become a lifeguard someday.)

Brooklyn was our Mermaid Queen.  You guys, she is straight-up regal.  If there really is a colony of under-sea mermaids, they are missing their leader.  Brooklyn has sea water in her blood and I've never seen anyone as in-their-element as she is in the ocean.

 

Aubrey was our Mermaid Princess.  She would be the perfect actress to be cast as a playful, flirty, mischievous mermaid.  She loves causing harmless trouble and flitting from place to place like a spunky mystical nymph.

 

Cameron didn't go along with the family "Under-the-Sea" theme and instead donned his Police Officer Costume (which after making 4 costumes I was more than okay with).  He's a perfect cop.  He enjoys making sure others are following the rules and he believes strongly in duty and honor.  (At least as much as a five year old can.)

 

Bailey was our Scuba Diver.  She enjoys exploring and discovering foreign worlds. She has absolutely no fear and knows no bounds.  She's not afraid to go deep and is constantly pushing her own invisible bounds.

Ten Point O

Today Brooklyn turned ONE DECADE old.

I literally had to check the math because it just does not seem possible AT. ALL.

So, for her 10th Birthday, here are the 10 best things about Brooklyn.

#1: She is RESPONSIBLE.

We've thrown some hefty duties at her lately and she thrives when we give her responsibility.  She's venturing into babysitting land, she's on her schools' student council, and she desperately wants to shave her legs. (not yet, dear.)

#2: She is CREATIVE.

She's my favorite shopping buddy and she honestly gets my creative juices flowing better than anyone else.  She has such a fun open mind and my best ideas come from bouncing things around with her.

#3: She is SMART.

We're talking genius-level smart.  Straight A pluses smart.  Luke-ish smart.

#4: She is DRAMATIC.

Not sure if this belongs in the positive or negative column, but it's true.  She's very dramatic.  I'm hoping she's just getting it all out of her system before her teenage years hit.  :)

#5: She is ADMIRED.

Kids LOVE her.  They flock to her.  Most kids would brush them off or want to go play with the older kids, but Brooklyn clicks with younger kids and it's adorably sweet.

#6: She is GIDDY.

She goes from zero to hyper in .0003.  She has a hysterical laugh and she pulls it out often.

#7: She is A WORRIER.

She gets scared frequently, but I can usually calm her down quickly.  Don't even get me started on the night she found out some idiots were dressing up as clowns and beating people up.  Also, what is wrong with some people?!

#8: She is equally INTROVERTED and EXTROVERTED

She is so comfortable and playful around people, but she also has a definite private side.  She both thrives in a social setting and also enjoys her solitude.

#9: She is BLOOMING.

She's turning from girl to young woman a little too fast for comfort, but she's doing it beautifully.  Also, she won't be able to date till she turns 29.

#10: She is TEN.

While I honestly can't believe it, I'm excited to see what year ten has in store for her.  I have a feeling it'll be a good one.

Tour of Chaaampions

 Q. What is better than buying 9th row tickets to see the Olympic team at the Tour of Gymnastics Champions?

A. WINNING THEM FOR FREE!!!!

Aubrey won tickets from our awesome gym (seriously, this kid wins a. lot. of. things.) so we crawled out to LA, drove around looking for parking that didn't cost the same amount as my mortgage, grabbed a salad and an ICEE and literally skipped to our amazing seats.

 I'm not even capable of describing in words how much fun we had.

I literally had to stretch my face out at one point because it hurt from smiling so much.

We saw the trampoline Olympic team, the Rhythmic Olympic team, the Acro Olympic team, and both men's and women's Olympic teams.

 There was flipping, dancing, stunts, cheering, tumbling.

(And that was just from me and Aubrey in the stands.)

It was legitimately one of the greatest nights of my life with one of the greatest girls in my life.

 And just when we thought it couldn't get any cooler, Shawn Freaking Johnson came right up to us and said Hi.

Shawn. FREAKING. Johnson.

 And we are both still smiling.

26.2 x 3

Luke ran his third marathon this weekend.  The first one he did in 4 hours, the second one he got a stomach bug the day of (GASP!) and basically crawled across the finish line, and this one he managed to finish with a smile.

 We found a spot about a mile before the finish line to sit and wait for him.  It was here that a runner collapsed and puked and made the most uncomfortable moaning noises of all time and I had to cover the girl's ears and subtly pick our stuff up and move down the block.

Yiiiiiikes.

 We waited for a good hour and then Brooklyn spotted him coming and we cheered and hugged and yelled and embarrassed ourselves so hard.

 And then Luke bent down to kiss Bailey and she didn't know it was coming so she kind of evaded him and it was so funny and sad and I started crying and I don't even know why.

 At the end we got to meet up with some dear family members and catch up a bit.

 And then I got what I had actually come for (don't tell Luke).  HOLY SWIG COOKIES.  If you have not had a Swig Cookie, you don't know.  You don't know how sweet life is.  You don't know what frosting should actually taste like.  You don't know the point of living.  YOU. DON'T. KNOW.

I had planned to let the kids have a cookie, but I think I really knew deep down that they wouldn't be getting a cookie.

We both can't wait to do it again next year.

Our Five Year Old Felon

Case Number: CJW09272011
Incident: Turning One Year Older
Date: September 27, 2016
Reporting Offer: Ashley C. Webb

Official Police Report:
At approximately 2:16pm on Tuesday, September 27th the perp Cameron Webb, age 5, was reported by neighbors for turning a year older and charged with a disorderly conduct citation because this is absolutely illegal and such behavior will not be tolerated.  Suspect is currently being charged with felony-count ageing and will be required to perform 70 hours of community service, and also will not be able to grow any older.

THE FACE

Bailey regularly makes what I have lovingly dubbed "The Face."  (Don't let my creativity blow you away guys.)  It's a cross between a bathroom-selfie-duck-face + Phelp's Face + a botched plastic surgery lip injection.  She just walks around with her face looking like this.  

And   I   flippin'   L O V E   It.