The Bulkley Days

Rainy Days

2009-02-08T17:41:00.000-08:00

I have to admit I used to love the rain. It was nice back in the day when you didn't have to do much in it but go to work and then just relax listening to it. Hauling around three kids in the rain is definitely another story! Especially when they are three little boys who have to measure the depth of every puddle they see! Rain is also so scarce here that I have almost become afraid to drive in it! Despite the gloomy weather we've managed to still have a little fun and relax; jazzercise is great rain or shine, one day we went to McDonalds to the indoor play land (I know there has to be better places around here but it was a fun quick trip while Devan was in school), we had play dates with a few friends and lots of hangin' out. This afternoon the boys were in the dining room building a fort. Well, at least that's what they were supposed to be doing. The fort lasted for a little while and then this is what I noticed:

Can you you guess what they are up to?

This is how Greyson was getting up.

Greyson apparently has no fear of jumping off my kitchen table!

Yesterday I went to a baby shower and my friend that had been watching the boys was so kind to let me trash her living room floor and make another cake. I threw this one together really fast, couldn't remember if she was having a boy or girl, and figured it being February the chocolate theme was appropriate. And what expectant mother doesn't enjoy a little chocolate?

Coco has been sick the last couple days, poor little guy (that would be Coleson. Greyson can't pronounce his name yet so calls him Coco. It's so cute! We call Greyson Gus Gus. Just watch Cindarella and you'll understand). He's doing a lot better today. I would say that eating like you had 6 stomachs, fighting with your brothers and running all over the place is a sure sign of improved health! Now we'll just have to see what kind of weather we get the next couple days...

Family Fun!

2009-01-31T21:31:00.000-08:00

I have the cutest kids! I just wanted you all to know that! These past few weeks have been a lot of fun. We have been really busy and the kids have been pretty good. Pretty good as in, no laundry soap spills, only a few broken eggs, bathrooms have stayed halfway decent, Greyson's bowel movements have only been muraled on the wall once, and we even spent 18 hours in the car! I've been swapping kids a couple days a week with one of my friends so that has helped the kids stay happy and helped mom stay happy and get some stuff done!
Last week we went up to my parents for Timmy's wedding. I know you're older now, little bro, but you'll always be Timmy to me. I won't bother posting any pictures because not only did I not take any (well I took about 600 but all from their "friends" cameras), he's got a thousand of them posted on his facebook. We're excited to have Janae in our family- hope she knows what she has gotten herself into! Congrats you two love birds! When we left for the wedding we were expecting somewhat cooler weather than we had been having here but instead it rained every day we were there. I felt bad that the boys had to sit in the car so long only to be cooped up in the house for five days. But it was Grandma and Grandpa's and they had a blast regardless! My brother Matt and his daughter came up Friday night. For the next two days we didn't see much of the kids. We definitely heard them, but they were usually in Becky's room playing on the bunk bed.

Today Tim had the day off so we went to visit Downtown Temecula. We actually had a really fun time. I say actually because I wasn't sure how antique shopping/browsing would be with three little boys who's little fingers have to touch EVERYTHING!!! Surprisingly they did really well. We then had lunch and went back and found a farmers market. The highlight there was the stand with all the pirate stuff. Devan got a huge flag for his room and the boys got new wallets. Then we made our way to the park and then a train shop. I have never seen a child get so excited about trains than Greyson. His eyes just light up and nothing else exists! The store owner had about four different trains running at once for the boys. Their favorite was the one that ran up near the ceiling. I have to admit I was even a little entertained by them.
So that's our last week and a half in a nutshell!

Coleson and Devan showing off their new wallets. I think Coleson's is hiding. And this is also what you get when you let an almost 4 and five year old dress themselves. Great colors!

Greyson thought he could jump from the top step then after contemplaiting he settled for the bottom.

Peanut Butter Minus the Jelly

2009-01-02T14:52:00.000-08:00

I went downstairs to put away a load of folded laundry. This is what happened upstairs during my 4 minute absence...

Apparently Pinky Dinky Doo is more important than telling mom that Greyson has the jar of peanut butter.

2008-12-06T02:07:00.000-08:00

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

This Weather Stinks!

2008-11-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-11-04T07:18:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-10-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-10-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2008-10-23T19:04:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

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)

2008-10-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

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???

2008-09-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-29T23:38:00.000-07:00

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.

Oh no

2008-08-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

This morning I suddenly noticed Greyson was missing and started to panic. He had been too quiet for too long. This usually means something disastrous. He will be 2 in November and you can only imagine what he has been up to. So I looked around for him and here is what I found:

He was very quietly sitting by the front door watching the garbage truck outside.

What a Fun Day

2008-08-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

It seems like there has been so much going on lately; run here, run there, do this, do that, talk to this person, spend 20 minutes on this call, then 20 on that call, and so on. So I decided we needed a break. It was fun to tell the boys get dressed, we're going to Sea World for the day. My friend and I decided this at about 8:30am and by 9:30 we we were on our way with five boys, packed snacks, lunch and lots of sunblock. For the first time we didn't take in any strollers. I wasn't sure how Greyson would do, especially because he likes to take his nap around 10:30, but the little guy made it to 2:30 without any problem! We spent most of our time in Sesame Street's Bay of Play then only saw the Polar Bear and Penguin exhibits. The boys were disappointed we didn't see the "starfish" or much else but we assured them we would be back again soon.

We were greeted by this funny looking penguin

Devan loves seeing his Sesame Street pals. The only problem is he thinks he is the only child at Sea World

Devan and his buddy talked me into the teacups. At first I was just going to stand in line with them but once it was "our" turn, they made sure Greyson and I followed. I don't think I have been on these since eighth grade at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. And there is a very good reason for that! Thank goodness it's a children's ride so it was over quickly

Greyson not sure about this ride

Holding on for dear life

Yes, this is my crazy child.

The polar bears are my favorite

Checkin' out the belugas

You may have noticed the boys extremely short hair... After giving Greyson and Coleson a haircut Devan decided to take Greyson in his room and shave both of their heads with no attachments on the clippers. There was no choice but to cut it down to almost nothing. Lesson learned: Mom won't ever say, "Here, Devan, go put these back in my bathroom for me."

2008-08-17T00:19:00.000-07:00

So I have been tagged and I love tags. Thanks Alsion!

8 TV Shows I Love to Watch:
I Love Lucy
Flashpoint
Prison Break
Matlock
The Food Network
Flip That House
Super Why!
Word World

8 Restaurants I Love:
Olive Garden
Smalley's
Chilli's
Spaghetti Factory
Chipotle
Can't think of too many more.

8 Things That Happened Today:
Laundry, took the boys swimming, cleaned the toy room, changed lots of diapers, laundry, folded laundry, watched the Olympics, put away laundry. I am temporarily without a car so we didn't have much of a choice but to stay home; and I actually love these kinds of days!

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:
The day I don't have any children in diapers
Devan's first day of kindergarten!!
Getting a new car
Decorating for fall
Getting rid of more clutter
Anthony coming home from his mission!!
Rain
MRI/Results

8 Things I Love About Summer:
The sun
Not worrying about shoes and socks
Water parks
No school schedules
Becky always comes to visit!
That's about it. I have to admit summer isn't my most favorite season.

8 Olympic Events I Want To See:
Gymnastics and swimming are about all that interest me. I love Track and Field but its not as fun to watch on TV.

8 Things On My Wish List:
Lots and lots of sleep
Find out what is going on with my toes (MRI)
Go back to Jazzercise
For my 2yr olds to quit flushing things down the toilet (I am approaching my last 2 yr old!)
I think that's about it for now.

8 People I am Tagging:

Darcy
Jamie
Erica
Megan
Trish
Sandy
Linsday
Kelli

Life's a Beach

2008-08-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

As planned, we made yet another trip to the beach. Luckily it never gets old! It was a little less sunny this time but the kids still had blast. I am amazed at how well Devan and Coleson play, or swim I should say, in the water. I guess the traumatizing two weeks of swim lessons has paid off a little!
Feelin' a little thirsty
Greyson and his friend KK
Of course he's thirsty, he ate all my pretzels!

Catchin' some waves

A cute picture of all their shoes

My Lil' Sand Eater

2008-07-31T07:32:00.000-07:00

A few days ago we spent the afternoon at the beach. We decided to go with some friends on base since their beach is so much less crowded and I can actually relax a little. Throughout this summer we have found one problem with going to the beach; for the next three days Greyson poops nothing but sand. I don't understand how he consumes so much sand!

I love how the beach thoroughly exhausts my children! So guess where we're headed this afternoon...

My Trip to Nauvoo

2008-07-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

Do you ever go on vacations and return only to find that it takes twice the time of your vacation to get things back to "normal"? A couple weeks ago I was able to take a trip and it was amazing! I mean really amazing! My awesome Dad, Steve and Becky stayed here with the three boys and had a blast together. On the way to LAX at 4am Sunday morning, with only 2 hrs of sleep the two previous nights, I was beginning to wonder if this trip was such a good idea. But then once I landed and got to the hotel, had a good lunch and a three hour nap, I realized it was one of the best ideas I had ever had!
My week started by flying into St.Louis Missouri on Sunday. Then later that night my mom flew in. The next morning we started our trek to Carthage and Nauvoo, Illinois. I wondered if there would be enough to do spending two days there and after visiting, I could have stayed a week! It was such a neat experience and heartbreaking at the same time. I can't wait to go back again! Tuesday night was our last night there and we were able to see the Pageant. By the time we left I wasn't sure if I'd be able to sit through another show but they were all so well worth it!
Wednesday morning I met up with some girls from Monterey and spent the next four days at PartyLite's National Conference. Many long days and short nights but so much fun! So if you're in need of candles or spa treatment, or gifts, visit my link www.partylite.biz/jenbulkley I know its still far away, but we just launched our Fall & Holiday catalog and I feel like its the holiday season already! I love PartyLite! Can you tell my brain has been succumbed to nothing but PartyLite the last two weeks?? Anyway, I flew back home Sunday afternoon and was so grateful for the break but so grateful to see my three little guys again!
While Mom was away the boys had way too much fun with Grandpa! They went to SeaWorld, the beach, parks, the movies, had donut day, swimming, it doesn't seem like their list ended. One morning I was talking to Devan and he told me all about the special breakfast Grandpa had made- pancakes with chocolate chips. So guess what mom had to make the second day she was back , just because that's the way Grandpa does it! So this last week was all about recuperating. It took a few days to mentally snap back into I think. Thanks again, Dad, for all your help! Can't wait to do it again next year when conference is in Atlanta!

The Nauvoo temple

Walking down Parley Street

My friends gave me such a hard time for not going up in the arch with them. Being in a peanut sized pod touching knees with four other people, no air, four and a half minutes up then three down, no thank you! This is a person who is terrified of elevators! Do you think I'd even consider going up there? I'm sure it was a great view though.

I had to take a picture of the sky for Devan. Not sure how much he remembers from his last trip in a plane.

The Wallace Fam

2008-07-24T09:06:00.001-07:00

Ok, things are going to be a little out of order here. I just realized as I was downloading, that I have 365 pictures on my camera. Told you it was a busy month! While we spent three weeks at my parents house the boys had lots and lots of fun with their uncles! It seemed like a giant wrestling match 24/7. Some of their fun activities included an afternoon at the river with Grandpa, the zoo with Grandma, Bouncopolis- a giant building full of bounce houses, playing in the sprinkler, family pictures, and having fun with their cousin Alli. Prepare yourselves for lOTS of pictures...

Hangin' out in the backyard. Grandpa put up a temporary fence so the boys couldn't "escape"

Being silly...

Hangin' with Uncle Matt

Afternoon at the zoo...

Devan and Coleson can't wait to go visit again. Mom unfortunately thinks the zoo is boring so never takes them. Devan also told me this morning that they need to go for a visit so they can go to the river with fishing poles and catch some fish. I don't think anyone in the Wallace household will be opposed to that idea!

Catching Up- Happy 4th!

2008-07-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

This month has been so incredibly busy and full of only fun stuff! It will probably take me a few posts to get caught up. So here is number one...
Over the 4th of July all three boys went and spent a few days with their grandparents. Yes, mom was home all by herself! Actually, Becky was here too. We thought we'd go to the beach for the day but when we realized we couldn't find a parking spot within a mile of the beach we quickly changed our minds. So we spent the day shopping and relaxing in a quiet house! The boys on the other hand had a blast in the water! Despite the very high temperatures of the desert they always have a fun time visiting Grandmom and Grandad!

This is Devan doing his underwater swimming

Coleson checking out the camera

This is Devan being a shark

Movin' Up

2008-06-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was Devan's graduation. It was the cutest thing ever! They first had a picnic dinner which proceeded into the ceremony. They recited the Pledge of Allegiance, sang a few songs for us, and then were presented their diplomas. When it was their turn to receive their diploma the teacher announced each child's favorite part of school and what they want to be when they grow up. This is what the teacher said about Devan:
"Devan's favorite part of school is the Learning Center and when Devan grows up he is going to be a Police Man. When people do bad things he will take them to jail."
Too cute! I was amazed at the number of children who were going to grow up to be lifeguards!

This is Devan and his best friend...

My little Man

2008-06-27T01:06:00.001-07:00

Ok, so our plans for "new adventures" this week didn't really happen. We did have some fun things planned though! Maybe next week. Tomorrow, technically today, is Devan's last day of preschool and his graduation! Yes, a graduation- caps, gowns, the whole bit. So here are a couple of Devan's quotes over the last week or so:
"Mom, I need to get my hair cut for my graduation so my friends can tell me how good I look."
"Mom, Miss Kathy said that graduation is a time when all our moms cry. Mom, are you going to cry?"
"Mom, is it summer yet?"
"Mom, it is summer already, why am I still going to school?"
"Mom, is this my last day of school?"
"Mom, is today my last day of school?"
"Mom, is tomorrow my last day of school?"

He is too cute and growing up way too fast!

More Family Pictures...

2008-06-25T14:04:00.000-07:00

These are some more pictures from when we were at my parents. Greg got called into work at the last minute so he is missing...

Stress Relief

2008-06-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest cake! These are the kinds of things I do when I need a break from everything else. I love it so I just had to post it for you all to see! (Nevermind all the clutter in the background)

So this week has been a little crazy. Becky is vising so we are having way too much fun keeping busy. This week she spent 5 days at the beach, 8:00am-3:00pm, doing surf camp. Needless to say we spent A LOT of time at the beach as well! Sadly I didn't get any pictures of her surfing. Its quite a bit of work keeping track of three little bodies on the loose and busting out the camera to take a few pictures would probably have resulted in losing a child. I now enjoy living in Southern California all except for the multiplying population during summer. We also went to the pool a few times since the weather has been so nice. We are going to try some new adventures this week so stay tuned!

Honestly!

2008-06-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

Honestly, how is this my child? If only I could go out to the pool for 90 minutes and come back looking like this!

Can I Get Some Sleep Please!

2008-06-13T06:06:00.000-07:00

My children have always been early risers, always. I wouldn't know what to do if one of my children slept until 9am. The last few days have actually been quite busy. Monday we did a bunch of running around, Tuesday we spent the entire day at SeaWorld, Wednesday we spent the morning and afternoon at the beach, yesterday we went swimming. You think this would make them all tuckered out and sleep longer. Well, not the case here! They have all been up before 7:00 every morning. And we're not talking like 6:50 either! This morning Greyson woke up crying at 5:06 followed by Coleson minutes later followed by Devan about 10 minutes later. And its not like they wake up and just go upstairs and watch TV, no, they fight, they whine, they cry, they get into EVERYTHING in the kitchen (Coleson) and are just plain wide awake and cranky. So guess who else is not wide awake but extremely cranky?? I am already counting down the hours until bedtime!

Summer, where are you?

2008-06-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

Devan has been learning all about seasons throughout the year in preschool. Needless to say he is quite excited for summer to finally be here. Early last week we had some nice warm days, even spent an afternoon at the beach! Then all the sudden it turned cloudy and gray, and little sunshine is to be found before noon. We keep waking up hoping it will be warm enough to swim but I'm just too much of a chicken to get in the water if its not at least 75 degrees outside! Devan's preschool program goes through June so he still has school three days a week. This was our conversation this morning:
Mom: Devan, go change into your pants its too cold outside for shorts.
Devan: But mom, its summer I don't want to wear pants!
Mom: You will be too cold at school. Look out side, there is no sun.
Devan: But mom, its summer! I don't go to school in summer! I don't have school today!
I thought that was pretty cute. He is satisfied to go to three more weeks of school only because upon completion, he starts swim lessons the next week! Sun or no sun I think we will still go to Sea World tomorrow.

Family Pictures

2008-06-08T00:05:00.000-07:00

When we were at my parents house they had a photographer come and take our family pictures (it was a really bad hair day for me). Here are a couple we got off the computer. I'll post more later as there were many more that were taken...

Benched

2008-06-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

So I've had this problem with my foot lately, or a while actually. I just figured it was a broken toe and what can you possibly do for a broken toe? Not much. So I put off seeing the doctor because in my mind I thought it to be pointless and dragging three children to the doctors is usually a nightmare come true. A few weeks ago I decided to make an appointment since I've been having this problem oh, since late January. How did nearly five months if this go by so fast? I have not a clue. It just gives you an idea of how busy and crazy my days really are. The first doctor took some x-rays and said my toe wasn't broken and never has been. His guess was that there was a cyst on my vein or joint and then sent me to a podiatrist. A few days later (and a whole lot of pain) I got in to see that doctor, had more x-rays and again was told it is not broken and never has been. So what is the problem? They are not sure. Their best guess it that it is a torn or severely stretched ligament. SO, now I have this gorgeous "shoe" to wear for four weeks and I am not allowed to do any jazzercise. Not being able to do jazzercise is worse than wearing my unfashionable shoe! So Trish I hope you sent me back my Yoga-Booty-Ballet yesterday, as you promised!

I Stink, I know

2008-05-27T22:24:00.000-07:00

So yes, we have been back now for over a week and I still haven't updated much. But I promise I will tell you all about my trip. That is when I get the urge to, like I don't feel too lazy to type, etc. Recently I went through all the photos on our computer so for now here are some fun pics for you to see: yeeeah, ok nevermind. All those pictures are on our other computer which is not here at the moment. Ok so you'll just have to keep checking in!

I am once again editing this post... I found the pics in a folder so here's to my luck in uploading them on here! Can you tell which child is which on some of these?

Out of town...

2008-05-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

Alright, I am finally here to update my blog. To hear about my weekend just go and read Trish's blog. She summed it up pretty good. But honestly, I am not sure why she had to post so many pictures of me and honestly, yes honestly, I have gained about 10 pounds since I got here. That is what a three week vacation with no jazzercise will do to you. Once I return home I am sure that I will have lots of stories to update you with and lots of weight to lose! For the next few days we will be spending lots of time with Anthony- he is having too much fun with his nephues for us to leave now. Hope everyone is having a great week- it just keeps getting hotter and hotter here and these are the days I wish I was near a beach and without a gazillion mosquitoes!

I Love Clean Floors

2008-04-22T14:41:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been rather eventful. So this morning I decided I wanted to clean house. When we got home from jazzercise I put Greyson down for a nap, showered, and then began the cleaning spree. I swept and mopped the floors, cleaned up the living room and vacuumed, cleaned the dining room, the kitchen and then the toy room. Before I was able to complete all of this, Coleson fell asleep on the couch so it made things that much easier. Then, as usual, the mess began. First Devan crumbled the bread from his sandwich all over the living room floor. So first I cleaned that up. Then I decided to restock the fridge with water. While I was trying to get water out of the pantry, Greyson snuck in and poured out a whole bag of bird seed and dragged it across the entry way. So I decided to dust buster the mess instead of sweep. For some reason the buster wouldn't suck anything up. So I took it apart over the trashcan, and somehow the filter part slipped out of my hand and I had a few messes worth of dirt and dust all over my kitchen floor. So I swept that up. Then I resorted to sweeping the bird seed. While I was sweeping the bird seed Greyson and Devan managed to sneak some treats out of the pantry and I had smashed Quaker Mini Delights (mini rice cakes)all over the hallway. It was mostly Greyson doing the smashing but it is no question where he learned that from. Cleaned that up, with Devan's help of course. Then while I was putting bottles of water in the fridge (finally) Greyson found another bag of rice cakes and poured them out. Cleaned those up. Took a deep breath. Then I notice Devan waving a sleeve of Ritz crackers in front of Coelson's face, "Haha, I have the whole bag of crackers." So that started a chase and guess where the crackers ended up? All over the floor in the dining room, in thousands and thousands of pieces. My cute children then proceed to clean them up with the broom and dustpan. But since there is carpet in the dining room (lame, I know) we had to bust out the vacuum, again. But they were so sweet to try and help. Anyway, that's my afternoon in a nutshell!

What's grosser than gross?

2008-04-15T13:21:00.001-07:00

Today we were all sitting round the table having lunch together. Greyson finished first so we let him down to go and play. He was being oftly quiet. I figured he was in the toy room. When he doesn't have his older brothers in his face he is very good at finding something to play with and entertaining himself. Or he will wander from one room to the next and check everything out. So anyway, we are sitting and eating our lunch and Greyson walks up to the table with a sopping wet piece of toilet paper. What?? Where did you get that?? Turns out he had been in the upstairs bathroom (door left opened by another certain little boy) and he had been dipping toilet paper in and out of the toilet and sucking the water out. Disgusting! I soon realized the front of him was all wet as well as the floor leading into the hallway. What a way to ruin to an appetite!

Other than toilet dipping we haven't had much drama today. Its been pretty nice! But then again it's not even two o'clock. I love when the TV is turned off and my children play play play. Today is one of those days. Devan is lining all the shoes he can find in a row on the couch. Why? I have not a clue. Coleson is going back and forth from playing in the toy room to using the bathroom- I have never met a child with such a small bladder! And Greyson is downstairs "watching" out the window. It really is cute. Now if I could just figure out how to make this quiet moment last ALL day long... well I think I might get a little bored.

On Saturday night I figured I'd do my weekly cleaning of the toy room. It was immaculate. Sunday morning the boys took out one thing at a time, put it back, etc. It was great. This is what it looked like:

Then when I came upstairs from taking a shower this is what it looked like:

If you have little boys then you know they LOVE to dump things!
So that evening, rather than stressing about a messy house and after the weather cooled off a little bit, we made a cake. We picked this one out just for Trish!

Smokin' Hot

2008-04-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

The only thing hotter than my new hair do lately has been the weather!! The nice thing about living in Southern Cali is that winter stops by for only a few short months and then even then it isn't that bad. We think we are freezing but come on now, I think we can handle days in the low 50's if other people are in the negatives! On Saturday we hit a whopping 93 degrees! Yes, unusual for April but then again, not so unusual. Yesterday was only 88 but still felt VERY warm and today it has finally cooled off and feels like a spring day. The temperatures will go back and forth like this until late July when we hit really high temps through sometime in October. At least that's how it's been since we moved here. As I have sat here and typed for a mere minute, Coleson has poured a cup of milk, poured it back into the milk carton, I think that is what I heard, and now is unraveling paper towels. Better go save my kitchen!

Holy Hannah!

2008-04-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I gave in and decided I had had it with my hair. When Greyson was about 6 months old it all the sudden started falling out like crazy. The things we suffer through for having children. Anyway, I got so sick of all the fly aways and my hair being at so many different lengths when I pulled it back. So I chopped it off. Nine inches baby! I love it! Devan doesn't like it because he loves to run his fingers through my hair when he lies down at night and now its just "too short." He woke up this morning and asked me if it had grown back yet. Sorry bud, not yet. I also threw in a pic of my new table since Bonnie asked for one and I never sent it. I just need to find a hutch now that matches.

A New Day

2008-04-10T21:46:00.000-07:00

So I've been asked to update my blog. It truly has been a busy week. I am glad that tomorrow is Friday and maybe our running around will slow down and we'll enjoy the weekend. Our week started out on Monday. I think I posted something on that day. Monday was kind of crazy as we realized Greyson is cutting some of his bigger teeth. There is no sign of them yet but his gums are really swollen, he has the runny nose, awaking every 15 minutes from 8:30 until 11pm every night, and today I caught him gnawing on the stairs while he was climbing up. The stairs? Poor little guy! Tuesday was Devan's friend's birthday so we spent the day at Sea world. Its only about a 25 minute drive (mind you that is without traffic) and so we got season passes again this year. Plus its a park I can take the three of them to by myself for the day and still survive. So you will probably see lot of posts and pictures of Sea World in the future;Prepare yourselves. When we entered the park people were herding in one direction and we soon realized it was almost time for the Shamu Believe show. So we followed and that was our opener for the day. We haven't been since just before Christmas so the boys were excited and the Shamu show was the perfect thing to start with! For ths first time Devan went on the boat ride. I can't remember the name of it but nine people sit in a round raft and float down the river. Of course there are the spectators who "bomb" you with water as you float by and what I thought was mean- at the end there is a waterfall you go under and you have no choice but to get soaked. You don't see this part of the ride as a spectator. Devan didn't like that too much or he may have gone again. We also saw the sea lions (boring for mom since Monterey was always covered with them), the flamingoes, and much more. Between my friend and I we had five boys to keep up with. So I actually only got the camer pulled out once.
Reflecting on the last two days, just a lot of fussy Greyson and running around here and there and trying to get caught up on laundry. It's never ending. I have realized lately how lazy I have become; there are more paper plates in my garbage can than dishes in my dishwasher.
Today was a fun day but we did have a sad moment. Our friends found out about two weeks ago that they are moving back to Utah and they are moving tomorrow!!! Wow, but I guess that is life in the military! We have enjoyed so much knowing them and have had many many fun play dates! Greyson and their youngest boy were born just two days apart. So we enjoyed those last few fun months of pregnancy together too. We will miss them dearly!

We could not get Coleson away from this part of the park. We must have spent over a half hour here.

Thank goodness mom brought an extra change of clothes!

Devan was so cute, he helped Greyson touch the water.

Greyson enjoyed digging in the dirt more than fishing for starfish

How do you pass?

2008-04-07T23:05:00.000-07:00

I Scored a 80%!

What the heck was that all about??

18% Geek

35%

I SCORED A 81%

Wow, this stuff makes me not look too bright. I promise, I am smarter than this!

Tag... I'm IT

2008-04-06T21:23:00.000-07:00

A - Attached or single: Attached
B - Best friend(s): I have so many!
C - Cake or pie: Grammies pumpkin pie, most definitely!!!
D - Day of choice: The days that are sunny
E - Essential item: Toothbrush and chapstick. I must be a Wallace
F - Favorite color: yellow
G - Gummy bears or worms: Niether
H - Hometown: Prunedale, CA
I - Indulgence(s): Resees Peanutbutter Cups (more like a weakness)
J - January or July: July, love the summer!
K - Kids: 3 busy boys
L - Life is incomplete without: Me
M - Marriage date: March 2
N - Number of siblings: 6, five brothers 1 sister
O - Oranges or apples: Oranges but must be seedless
P - Phobias or fears: Large bodies of water and repltiles
Q - Quotes: "Devan!!! Coleson!!!!" I hear myself say this repeatedly
R - Reason to smile: There are so many reasons!
S - Season of choice: Summer and Fall
T - Tag three friends: I tag Erica, Lindsday, Aunt Carolyn
U - Unknown fact about me: I have not yet been able to find the "perfect bra" and I can't spell
V - Very favorite store: GAP, online of course. HAve to agree with Trish- I really despise shopping. I think I keep some online stores in business
W - Worst habit: I can spit pretty good
X - X-ray or ultrasound: Definitely ultrasound. I love to see those little babies!
Y - Your favorite food: Homemade
Z - Zodiac sign: Taurus

A Big Fat Feast

2008-04-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend I am privileged to be home with no one but myself. Yes, I did say privilege! Tim has the weekend off so he and the boys went to visit his parents. I would love to have gone but I have a PartyLite show scheduled for this evening and its the hostesses starter show so it is not a show I could reschedule- especially with one days notice. So I had this great idea this morning that I would go to the temple. No kids, no need to find a babysitter, what a wonderful opportunity! Well Jen doesn't always connect things and it happens to be that the temple is closed today due to conference. Of course it is. So I spent the morning cleaning house and I mean really cleaning house. It is AMAZING how much cleaning I can get done without little children nearby and without any interruption! Finally this afternoon when I was ready to go out to run some errands, I decided the granola bar I had eaten at 7:45am for breakfast was long out of my system and I was starving. At 2:15 I arrived at The Olive Garden, one of my favorite restaurants. I was seated to a table all of my own, obviously, and the feast began. I started off with a bowl of salad, of which I completed, a basket of four bread sticks with a side of Alfredo sauce, of which I completed, followed by a Tour of Italy- Chicken Parmesan, Fetuchine Alfredo, meat and cheese lasagna, of which I completed all except about a quarter of the lasagna. Then of course I had one and a half glasses of lemonade. I had no idea I had worked up such a hearty appetite and I wonder if my waiter was thinking how can this lady pack away all this food!! Well now my tummy is stuffed and several more inches wider than it was when I entered the restaurant, and I'm ready for a nap. Sadly the nap won't happen because I am obsessive compulsive and probably will not rest until every inch of my house is sparkling. But soon I will have my family home to live in and untidy all my work. But I just see this as one of the joys of motherhood, and wouldn't trade it for anything.

It's about time!

2008-04-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

Do you ever look at the clock and think to yourself, "What?! Is it only (whatever time it is)?!" Well that was me all day today. Since Devan didn't have school this morning we thought we'd get a jump on the day by going to jazzercise at 8:15 instead of 9:30. Wait, I smell poop, be right back...
Right when I was thinking nothing eventful has happened today the moment proved me wrong. Coleson is now in the bathtub and I will leave the rest of his story at that. When I entered the bathroom to put him in the tub I was greeted by an inch of water on the floor from the boys bath this afternoon. Yes my children bathe several times a day. Then I found Greyson on the floor in my room sucking on a container of lip gloss. And still, is it only five o'clock. Well as I started in my first paragraph, we figured we'd get an early start on things since we were up and didn't have to be at Preschool by 8:30 (but really we are never there until 8:40). Usually when this happenes I get so much more accomplished than in a normal day and I feel so great at the end of today. Today I was ready to order pizza for dinner, put the kids in jammies and send them to bed. I was thinking ok its about 4:30 so by the time the "pizza guy" comes etc. we will be close to bed time. Well my friends, it was only 2:15. What was I thinking? Somehow we have managed to get through to five o'clock and only a couple more hours until bedtime! I am looking forward to tomorrow as I will spend the entire day cleaning my house top to bottom.

Which Princess Are You?

2008-04-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

You Are Snow White!

Pure and trusting. You are a gentle soul who can get along with just about anyone. Everyone you meet instantly falls in love with you. How can they resist? You have a pure, lovable nature that's irresistable. Just don't trust everyone who comes across your path.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Oh me, Oh my..... Twins!!!

2008-03-31T22:26:00.000-07:00

So a few months ago I received a phone call from my dear cousin Shannon asking if I was expecting. She said "it was about time" I should be announcing a new pregnancy. I wonder if she had been making bets with someone. At the time I had no such news for her. In fact, when Greyson turned one we celebrated not only his birthday, but the also the fact that for the first time ever we had a child turn one and I was not pregnant! Well as time goes on most definitely I am still not pregnant. But in the last few days I've had the most precious opportunity to babysit my friends 8 week old twin boys (110% identical, I can tell them apart only because they are in different outfits). Adorable! I can not even begin to express how sweet and precious and tiny and loving and baby-smelling and how cute they are! It is especially fun to see my boys interact with them. Greyson definitely knows he is mom's baby! He doesn't like when I hold them, especially the two of them at the same time, and becomes so heartbroken. We learned today that he has an obsession with taking their socks off. He is really good with them, he loves to "pet" them as Coleson calls it. Coleson has to make sure they always have their blankets and burp cloths near by. And Devan is just a pro at helping out. Here are some pics. They are too cute! And I have to tell Ashley what an amazing mom she is! I can't begin to imagine how much work it is to care for both these little guys at the same time and she does such a wonderful job!

Locked Out

2008-03-29T22:07:00.001-07:00

Wow, it actually let me post! So this is the email I received the day after I started reposting to my blog:

"Dear Blogger user, This is a message from the Blogger team. Your blog, at http://thebulkleyfam.blogspot.com/, has been identified as a potential spam blog. For an explanation of what spam blogs are, please see Blogger Help: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42577 You will not be able to publish posts to your blog until we review your site and confirm that it is not a spam blog. To request a review, please fill out the form found here: http://www.blogger.com/unlock-blog.g?lockedBlogID=8267139 We will take a look at your blog and unlock it within four business days. Please note that if we do not hear from you within 20 days, we will remove your blog. If this blog does not belong to you, then you do not have to do anything. Any other blogs you may have will not be affected. Since you are an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not spam. We find spam by using an automated classifier. Automatic spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and occasionally a blog is flagged incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for this erroneous result. By using this kind of system, however, we can dedicate more storage, bandwidth, and engineering resources to users like you instead of to spammers. Thank you for your understanding and for your help in our spam-fighting efforts. Sincerely, The Blogger Team"

So if you are wondering why I havn't posted anything latley, I have been locked out of my blog. But don't worry, you didn't miss much in the life of the Bulkely family. I actually was really looking forward to the weekend as a time to relax, get caught up with some cleaning and laundry... I was kidding myself. I think I have been home five minutes. It started with me getting sick Thursday evening. Not quite what the boys had last week but enough under the weather to keep me from doing anything on Friday but watch my children rummage through the house making messes and thinking, "yeah, I will get to that later." Can anyone relate? Then Friday night I had a PartyLite show followed by a CAbi party, and then another Partylite show this afternoon. Needless to say it was a much busier weekend than anticipated. I am looking forward to going to church tomorrow, as it will be a 3 hour period to sit and relax. Actaully I am kidding myself on that one too...the second two hours usually consist of me following Greyson roaming throughout the halls unless I can get him to fall asleep.

A Second Try...

2008-03-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, so after much deliberation I have finally decided to give blogging a second shot. I do have to warn you, however, it will probably be me just rambling on about my day, or what disastrous ideas my kids have thought of and followed through with.

Rather than trying to update the last three or four months (since my last blog or possibly longer) I will just fill you in on some of our most recent events. First, our best accomplishment, Coleson is now potty trained! We thought it would be very difficult since this child would not even think about putting anything on his bum except a diaper. Underwear? Yea right, you have got to be kidding! Not even a pull-up! So we tried the potty chart and that didn't work. He didn't like the idea of having to fill the whole thing with happy faces before he got his treat. So we made a potty box. I went to Party City and filled it with pointless little things and candy. This was the best thing ever thought of! And we now know he is an instant reward kind of kid. He went potty, he got to pick form the box. So within a week and a half we made it over life's hurdle of potty training (number 1 and number 2!!). And yes, I have to brag, I am a lucky mom; it was fast, it was easy and now I have only one child in diapers instead of two! Coleson also turned three this month. We spent the day at Disneyland- it was the boys first trip- and had so much fun! We can't wait to take them back. Actually we can, I wouldn't dream of going there in the summer. We'll stick to SeaWorld for that season.

Secondly, Devan is still doing an amazing job in his pre-k class and now we are trying to figure out where to send him to school next year. A big kindergartner. I think mom is more scared than he is.

And then there is Greyson. He is 16 months old and weighing in somewhere around 34 lbs. He is monstrous! His favorite thing to do is jump on his brothers and belly flop onto the floor- yes the floor. No cushions, blankets, maybe the rug. I just don't understand it. I keep thinking to myself, "doesn't that hurt?" But he will do it over and over. I guess it is fun? The difficult part is he's still a little young to really understand that he can't pounce on just anyone anywhere.

Dad is as normal, working hard and enjoying what time he can spend away from work.

As for mom, still the normal busy days for me. Last week Devan, Coleson and Tim all had the stomach flu at the same time. I am beginning to see a pattern here: first Coleson gets it, then within a day or two Devan gets and then immediately Tim gets it. Amazingly mom never gets it. Lucky me (or not so lucky because I get to clean up after everyone else). I started jazzercise about a month ago and found my new passion in life. Just kidding. It is very fun! Of course I don't have a coordinated bone, joint or muscle in my body- which explains why I am the the one who had the tube slip out of my hand and fly through the air during a routine. The best part is they provide daycare!

Spring has finally sprung (it actually only got cold for about two months so I don't know if this is a very accurate statement) so we are spending more time at the park and beach. It seems odd that in February and March we had days where I could send my son to preschool in shorts and flip flops. My poor kids don't know what shoes are. I hope I'm not messing up their feet in the long run.

Well anyway, I guess that's it for now. I'll see if I can post a picture or two from Easter. Hopefully I can keep up with this better than last time!

And Greyson is done!