Sooooo much to blog about... don't worry, I will get around to it!

This Weather Stinks!

Isn't this the time of year when you are supposed to be wearing pants, cute boots, sweaters, freezing your buns off, just laying around the house in a blanket watching movies and drinking hot chocolate? A little rain, some places a lot of rain, snow, jackets?! I thought so. Sadly we haven't been able to experience much of that yet. Last weekend it was 82, then 92, Monday was 80 something then today was finally a cooler day. It's still shorts and flip flops for us here. It does get a little colder at night. I realized tonight as I was complaining about how it doesn't feel like fall, at all, I do have some gratitude; we haven't had to turn our heater on yet. When we do, the bill increases almost $200 per month. So warm weather, I suppose you could stick around a little longer.

This is why I love my children...

This morning I was trying to get the boys out of my room. For some reason it's the "morning hangout." Usually I don't mind but I have too much PartyLite stuff unorganized and the last thing I need is them making more of a mess. As I am trying to get them out Devan finds a panty liner and asks if he can have it. Of course he doesn't know what it is, I figured, so sure, take it, just get out! I came up stairs and opened all the blinds and looked down to see what the boys were all chuckling at. Coleson had the panty liner stuck to him like a tail and they were laughing, "Pin the sticker on the butt." Can you tell they played pin the nose on the pumpkin for Halloween?

Pumpkin Time!

For family night we decided to carve pumpkins. We haven't made it to the pumpkin patch yet because our schedule is so crazy so we picked up a couple from Walmart this morning. Devan has an early day on Wednesday so we'll head to the patch then. But who wants to wait until the day before Halloween to carve their pumpkin?!
We had so much fun and I was surprised at how many times I heard, "Gross," "Ewe," "I don't want to touch the gooey stuff." Honestly? This coming from three little boys who have no problem sabotaging my kitchen with broken eggs, milk, mustard, anything gross or gooey they can find! In the end, they did help a lot and told me exactly what shapes to cut out. Devan was disappointed his didn't look angry enough. Sorry bud. Their favorite part was lighting a tealight inside. They were in such awe you'd think they had never seen a lit candle before. It was too funny. Greyson had fun playing in all the seeds and moosch. He decorated my dining room with all of it as well.

Where's Greyson?

I went in the toy room to check on Greyson. I could hear him playing but wasn't familiar with the sound. It took me a minute to find him. Can you?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEVAN!!!

On October 17th Devan turned 5 YEARS OLD!!! Oh my, where have the years gone? It was almost 8pm and I got up from sitting on the couch and felt something a little wet. I thought to myself, "I didn't sneeze, why does it feel like I peed?" It didn't take long to realize my water had broken. So I guess we were supposed to go to the hospital right? I wasn't feeling much. In fact, Tim had time to take a shower before we left. We got to the hospital about a half hour later and checked in and started all that fun stuff. I don't remember much after that. Just that I puked my dinner all over Tim, poor guy, and then requested a little bit of something through an IV. Once they gave my phentonal (sp?) I feel asleep and the nurses woke me up to have a baby! So about 10 minutes and three pushes later we had our precious little baby boy. Little did we know he would be the first of three! Devan truly has the sweetest smile, the silliest grin and can outsmart just about anyone. Wonder where he gets that from??? On his birthday we had some friends over for a Halloween cookie-decorating party. It was so much fun! The previous night I made 60 something sugar cookies. There were 11 kids here so I wasn't about to bake and decorate. That would have been too much. The following day we went to Lego Land with Dad, Mom, Devan, Coleson, Greyson, Grandmom, Grandad, and Uncle Paul. I love it when the amount of adults outnumbers the amount of children! So anyway, here are some fun pictures!

Devan LOVES balloons! After school I surprised him with a bouque of them. I was bummed because the Happy Birthday foil balloon, the one you actually pay money for, popped as I was bringing it into the house.



Greyson tangled himself in the balloons and eventually started walking and crawling around stuck in them. I got a video of it but for some reason can't get it to upload.

Let the decorating begin!!!







The two year olds cleaning up...


Devan's awesome cake made by Mom =] It's a giant lego if you can't tell. The top layer was a yellow cake, the bottom layer chocolate, and fresh starwberries and more frosting in the middle. YUM!


His favorite gift. Thanks Dad!

Devan, Coleson and the LEGO guy. Greyson was slightly intimidated and wouldn't get close enough to get his picture as well.

The first place we had to go was the cars.



Greyson wishing he could ride.



You may have to click on some of the pictures to see them well. I should have uploaded them all a bigger size.

I'm a Genius!

I was staple gunning some Halloween decorations today and for some reason the staple never stuck to the wall. So I tipped the gun over, sat the base of it on my palm for support and shot it once to see if it was working. No staple came out, not one and I thought that was kind of odd. It didn't sound like it was jammed. I looked down at my palm and saw my garland staple gunned into the palm of my hand. The entire staple was in my hand. I had been holding the gun upside down. Instant shock- I am not one who deals well with blood or anything that injures the body. So after staring at my palm for a few seconds I very slowly pulled the staple out, and that thing was huge! It immediately started gushing blood and swelled to the size of a ping pong ball. Not too much longer the swelling went down a little bit and now its just really stiff and a little painful. It probably wouldn't be in your best interest to ask me for help with any seasonal decorating!

The Stories of My Life (only the last two weeks)

I think it is common knowledge that there is never ever a dull moment around our house. Here are some pictures illustrating the last couple weeks- all proof of why I have not had more time to blog...

Another broken lamp, 5th one I think (and Devan as the camera man. He likes to run off with my phone and work on his producing skills)

Who knew a box could be so fun??

And then the box breaks...

Another diaper cake!

My previously fractured toe now broken...

Coleson's mixture of chocolate chip cookies, milk and construction paper. Looks appetizing! What I did not get a picture of was the next day when I came up stairs he had four sticks of butter- all unwrapped- in a row on the floor in front of the TV with a massive bottle of ranch. I don't even want to think what he was going to do with it.

Two dozen eggs, a half gallon of milk, and some ketchup for color. They could have just told me if they wanted omelets for breakfast!

Some boogie-boarding and rock climbing




Making Halloween candy necklaces




Shopping at the Carlsbad outlets, Greyson LOVED his chocolate covered oreo sucker, and Devan and Coleson can never get enough of those rides that seem to eat all your quarters!



Greyson poured a bottle of Lysol into the dishwasher. Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles!

My PartyLite display on "Cruise for a Cause"



As I said, never a dull moment.

New Places

We went out to the harbor today for an afternoon walk. We ended up near the sand and water, of course. Greyson is such a stinker! Before we left the house he threw his shoes out of the car without me knowing, so he had to ride in the stroller instead of being able to walk. Since he was stuck in the stroller we let him out to run in the sand for a little bit. At this particular beach there is a wall of rocks that leads out into the ocean. My boys are very adventurous so they just had to check 'em out. As we were climbing these rocks further and further out to sea, it really wasn't that far, it reminded me of the "Rocky" beach at Pacific Grove that we used to go to all the time as kids. We loved climbing, checking out the tide pools, finding hermit crabs, getting stuck out on the rocks when the tide came in, we always had a blast. Even when it was only 50 degrees! Needless to say I can't wait for a trip up there to let my little guys explore the same beach!

Yes, it can get worse!

I have some great stories/events, etc to share. However, I'm having problems getting my picture on to my computer and I have a very busy week. Have had a very busy week is what I should say considering its already Thursday! So I will update soon!

Can it get any worse???

Today was another one of "those" days. Funny, it seems like I have been having more than less of those lately. Last night I finally decided to go to bed at about midnight. As I was turning out all the lights Devan woke up. Great. I decided I was much too tired to get him back in his bed so he ended up in my room for the night. Finally at about 12:30 I got to sleep. Then in the morning I am awoken by Coleson, who is throwing a fit because he wants in my bed. So I look at the clock... 5:04am. Great. I tried to go back to sleep, but it didn't happen. See Coleson was determined to go to bed with a bag of shells. Of course he still had them when he woke up! And all I heard was this annoying bag of shells for an hour. I tried to take them away but he screamed and I didn't want Devan or Greyson awake that early so he won. Finally a little after 6am I got to sleep for about 45 minutes. It was Devan's early day of school so I had no choice but to get up at 7 because we had to be out the door by 7:45am. I am so glad he has afternoon kindergarten every other day of the week! So being out the door by 7:45 consists of all three kids dressed, Devan's shoes and socks on- a war because he only likes his flip flops, fighting with Devan to eat breakfast, Coleson and Greyson somewhat fed, three to five sippy cups of milk poured, a lunch packed, and the "shuttle folder" signed and in a backpack ready to return. And mom looking half way decent since she has to walk Devan to class. Doesn't sound like much but it is. Especially when you have three different children with their own idea of how the morning should go.
So anyway, we get out the door and my low tire pressure light is on. When we get to school I take a look and don't notice anything. So I took it to Walmart assuming there was a nail or something stuck in it. After two hours at Walmart (with Coleson and Greyson) they determined there wasn't anything wrong with it and they recommend taking it to the dealership to find out why the light is coming on. A brand new 2008 Honda Odessy, I wasn't expecting something like this to come up so soon. So not such a bad day so far. The boys were actually really good in the store.
Here is where the adventure begins: I come upstairs from taking a shower to find Coelson with four sticks of butter all unwrapped and lined up on the carpet in front of the TV with a ginormis bottle of ranch. What goes through this child's head? Greyson was sleeping so no trouble there. I go finish getting ready and this time when I come upstairs Coleson has the big metal kitchen stool out and he is trying to get into something in the freezer. So I take the stool away and he throws a fit. Somewhere in all this the stool drops (its a fold up one) and lands on my toe. Ouch! No biggy, just a lot of pain right? Wrong. It landed on my toe that is fractured and further, it is now broken. It's on my right foot and somehow I managed to drive to school to pick up Devan and back. Of course it feels like my whole foot is broken! But its not. So then I call my dad hoping he'd feel sorry for me. I complain that I'm not even 30 and I'm falling apart. In a previous post I mentioned a shoulder injury, turns out I dislocated my rib and severity stretched the tendon. So all that popping I heard for two days was my tendon popping over the bone every time I moved. So I tell my Dad: First this mystery with my feet, months of appts at a podiatrist, an MRI, a fractured toe, two other swollen bones, not sure why, a messed up rib, back and shoulder, and now this. His words of encouragement were, "You think it's bad now, wait until you're 50 then you'll really be falling apart." Thanks Dad. I now have so much to look forward to.
But wait it gets better! Later on I get brave enough to fold a load of laundry. I hear Greyson calling "Momma" from his room. There is absolutely nothing in his room he could get into. Nothing. Unless you count him emptying out his drawers but that is easy to clean up. So then a few minutes later Devan comes walking in and very casually says, "Mom, Greyson has poop on him." So I figure he got his diaper off again. I go to his room to find him sitting on the floor lathered from head to toe in his poop. Again. GROSS!!!!! Is there such a thing as putting in a two weeks notice from holding the position of Mom? After a bath I still can't keep his diaper on. Only jeans work but its much too warm for them. I finally put a pair of underwear over his diaper and he did have a hard time getting that off. A friend suggested duct tape. Doesn't sound like a bad idea right now! Finally the evening came and went and now all kids are asleep! I now have lots of time to wash the 15 towels they used after their bath and time to vacuum a few bowls worth of popcorn that ended up covering my living room floor while I was helping Devan with his homework. At least it is oh so quiet.

I love children

This evening I was in my room folding the fifth load of laundry for the day. I heard Coleson getting into the kitchen and, naturally, yelled from my room, Coleson get out of the kitchen! Devan who was sitting on my bedroom floor said Mom, why do you yell so much? I said Because you don't listen. Then he says It just means that you are irresponsible. Put in my place by a four year old.

Definitely Worth Blogging About

There are many great excuses for my absence but don't worry, I won't make you a list. This will, however, be one of the longest entries you've ever read.
I have finally got this new school schedule under control and yes, we did get Devan his alarm clock. He knows it has to say "7" before he can get out of bed but his bladder seems to tell him otherwise. Usually at somewhere between 6:30 and 6:45 I wake up to "Mom, I need to go pee, can I use the bathroom?" Ever since starting preschool he thinks he needs my permission to use the bathroom. I keep telling him to just go, he only needs to ask when he's in school. More than a year and a half later he is still asking for my permission. Yes, it drives me crazy!
So what else have we been up to? Devan being diagnosed with asthma, school, school, school, cleaning my house, cleaning my house again, and again.... When Coleson was 2 years old I promised myself if I could survive him then I could survive anything. Well, Greyson is doing quite the job of challenging that promise. The little guy is a monster! Both in weight and character. So this is how my day went today:
At 3:42am I am awaken by the music from Thomas the Train, "We're two we're four we're six we're eight.." What?! Greyson is notorious for chucking things over our balcony. And the majority of the time these things stay over the balcony because I am too chicken to go in the ivy where all the creepy spiders live to retrieve them. I used to send my children but now they have caught on as well. Anyway, apparently Greyson threw a toothbrush over. This particular toothbrush has a button on it that when pushed sings the Thomas the Train song for two minutes- because that is how long you are supposed to brush your teeth! So anyway, through closed windows for an hour and a half this toothbrush kept singing. Nice. Bet my neighbors appreciated it too. It was that loud. So then around 7am I got up and decided to ice a cake I baked the previous night for my friend who is having a birthday. Devan and Coleson were helping and all was well then we heard that Gryson was awake. Since he was happily talking to himself and playing in his crib we deiced to leave him there until we finished the cake so he would not dive into the mess. Within about a half hour we finished the cake so I went to get Greyson out of bed. As I near his room I smell poop. No biggy, the little guy usually wakes up and then takes care of his business first thing. So sadly, yes I'm used to this smell this early. Although today it was unusually strong. I open the door and every parents nightmare come true; he got put to bed with a diaper but no jammie bottoms. Since he is all about potty training right now he loves to take his diaper off. While we were icing a cake he was happily icing his crib, his sheets, his stomach, his legs, his toes, under his fingernails AND he must have had an itch because it was all over is cheek, in his nose and in one ear. Nice. So I look at the mess and don't even know where to begin. Eventually I got Greyson to the bath and discovered there was no hot water. Turns out he had gotten into the water heater closet the night before and somehow turned off the pilot light. Again. I am now nailing this door shut. All my child proofing he seems to break off. So poor Greyson gets a cold bath and lathered up with great smelling lotion and still stinks. I think to myself, oh well, it has to wear off eventually. I could only give him so many cold baths. I then clean up most of the mess in his room, can't take the smell any more, and take a break to work out. During my workout session I somehow popped something in my back near my shoulder and can't move my left shoulder. Another nice to add to my day. But even nicer, I learned that most chiropractic offices don't take patients on Fridays and if they do, they won't see you after noon. So i get to deal with this until Monday. Of course I don't have ice so frozen cranberries and tater tots had to do.
I finally get Devan to school and while I'm cleaning up the rest of Greyson's painting, Coleson decides he wants some yogurt. Greyson being they monster he is, takes Coleson's yogurt away. Evidence shows Coelson chased him, and I have yogurt flung all over my living room, hallway and dining room. So we clean up that mess. Coelson then tries to take a bath- because somehow the monster got yogurt all over his arm and in his hair- but whoops, mom never got the pilot light re lit. While being paranoid that I'm going to blow up my house I finally get the courage and get it lit. I then put Greyson down for a nap, though I don't think he ever fell asleep, clean up Coleson and all the yogurt and get a few calm minutes. Finally.
After we picked up Devan we delivered our cake. Lesson learned: Don't add too much filling between the layers of your cake. Top layer will slide off during transportation of cake. My friend totally understood and loved her cake, even though it was in about 5 pieces. And it did taste great! Sadly dinner was left over pasta but everyone was pooped and in bed by 7:15! Definitely worth blogging about!

Growing Up

Well we survived our first week of school! How is it possible that my oldest is now in kindergarten??!! The schedule is confusing- go this time on all these days but this day go that time. I goofed by 10 minutes one day, I felt so bad! The first day Devan had a hard time saying goodbye but then after that he's been fine! He has such a wonderful teacher and she seems so patient with all the kids. Last night Devan told me that he seriously hated school. Yes those words exactly. Seriously. I asked him why? He said because when I pick him up its too late and he's so so so tired. I told him he needed to not wake up at 5:40am! Maybe he is just excited for the first week of school? So he soon determined he needs an alarm clock in his room so he can see what time it is when he wakes up and know if its time to get out of bed. I told him the easiest way to tell was this: If mom is still in bed, then it's too early, stay in your bed. He was also bummed yesterday because his best friend told him they can't play together on the playground because girls play with girls and boys play with boys. I think she broke his heart.