Something in the Water

This is Mitch, I guess it has been long enough I can post again. Last weekend my oldest brother Kit was in town. We all had a great time. Saturday morning we all got together at my parents house for a big breakfast, then the guys all went and played Disc Golf. We started at Emerald Park for a quick nine holes to warm up. They have made a bunch of improvements to the course. After that we went to The Dump. None of us are sure what the park is really called but they built it ontop of the old Chandler landfill, so we call it The Dump. We played all 18 holes there.
Kit decided that even though his wife and kids couldn't come this time (it was a business trip) he should still spend some time with his in-laws. They wanted him to go to the lake with them to test out the used boat they bought. They had more room so I was invited also. Disc Golf and Wakeboarding, sweet day. No time for lunch so we grabbed some snacks on our way. The boat worked well, I got right up, had an okay run, second and third runs ended with pretty violent face plants. enjoyed the rest of the trip. On the way home squished in the middle seat my stomach started feeling uncomfortable, just a tight swim suit and my not quite so flat stomach right? By the time we got back to Mom and Dad's I was running to the restroom. Sat on the toilet and placed the trash can infront of me and emptied both ends. Sorry for the detail, but it was much less comfortable to live it. Needless to say I didn't feel good enough for 8 am church.

This weekend was once again a crazy one. This time it was brother number two, Brad, and his whole family down from Utah. 4,000 Easter Eggs at the annual Harmony Park egg hunt. Debra Jo stressing over the bridal shower she was in charge of for her best friend Lindsay (congratulations). And my friends wanted to go river boarding. River boarding involves Huge triple ply bungee cords, large skim boards, a fast current and lots of fun. Well we had a great time and as always the drunk mexicans at the river thought it was awesome to watch. Got home, and stayed up late helping the Easter Bunny. What did I get in my basket? Doesn't matter, I haven't had a single jelly bean becasue I woke up vomiting again. Once again did not make it to church.

What is the deal? Is our water supply do tainted that a trip to the lake or river will make me lose my lunch (and breakfast and dinner)? I suppose I will need to experiment and continue going so I can make a more scientific conclusion.

Crying Over Spilt Milk

Literally.

Ever had one of those days?

Lovin' On Emmett

I sat down tonight to blog about other things, and I just couldn't get past these pictures, so the post turned into a "let's adore Emmett" session. : )

Emmett is so lovable. He's always looking up at you, just like he is in this photo. 

It's so adorable.  I'm sure his little neck gets tired.

Some quick 18 month stats for my little guy:

• He weighs 25 pounds
• He's JUST BARELY shorter than the counter top--pretty soon he will be banging his forehead on the corner and hating life, but for now, he's still happily zooming under it.
• He pushes chairs around the kitchen and climbs on top of the counters all by himself (I've had to unplug the counter top appliances, and move the steak knives to a new location, i.e., ON TOP OF THE FRIDGE)
• He's a singer.  Last night I was singing "I'm a Child of God" and he would sing the last word of the phrases AND MATCH MY PITCH.  Kids are seriously amazing.  I couldn't believe he was recognizing tone and imitating it so well.
• One of my favorite things he says is, "Ty-tee, wheh-aahh -oooo" (Tyson, Where are you?)  I also love it when he tries to hand someone his sippy cup or something, and he'll say, "hewe, hewe" (here, here)
• Emmett LIVES for the outdoors.  He loves playing outside, riding bikes, watching cars go by, and going for walks.  He goes stir crazy in record time if we're inside the house too long.

Emmett has blue eyes that pop out every so often.  He's also known for having messy fingers and cheeks.  I love that he has rosy cheeks when the weather changes.  I should put lotion on them, but he's so cute!

Emmett is a tease.  He's always been that way.  Before he could walk, he was blowing on my skin and laughing because it makes that sound that boys think is hilarious...you know what I'm talking about.  To this day, he will find any area of easily accessible skin (my arm, my neck when he hugs me, or my knee), and he'll make the sound, and we all laugh--plus it tickles.

This day, back in January, he stole Grandma Tenney's glasses and wore them around the house for at least 15-20 minutes.  He kept discovering himself in the mirror, too.  Funny, boy!

*Video disclaimer*  The house had stuff all over it because my family had a million projects going on that day--don't judge, because it's usually clean.

It is not an uncommon occurrence to find Emmett with his hand in something like the peanut butter jar.  Don't you love how he's not only saying "cheese" for the picture, but he's still got his eyes on his cartoon, AND he's still got his hand in the peanut butter?  He REALLY knows how to work the system.  Don't let him fool you.  Also, don't try to put clothes on him when he's not in the mood.  It can be freezing outside, and he will run away from you simply to avoid putting on his clothes.  He'd go commando if we'd let him, but Mitch has discovered that's NOT an option. : )

There was a while when he had to wear his hat sideways or backwards...I'm talking ALL DAY.  The phase only lasted a few days, but it was so cute!

He also went through a phase where he HAD to wear the Lightning McQueen slippers--he and Tyson would have to take turns so I could keep them both happy, but Emmett spent this morning (also in January) at Grandma Borden's trying to jump in his slippers.  

He's just stolen my heart!  We are so blessed to have sweet little Emmett Joseph in our home.

Two for Two: Just When You Think Your Kids Will Never...

Ever heard of A.B.C. gum?  Uh-huh. Gross, right?  Emmett doesn't think so.

A few weeks ago we were at a Boys Volleyball game, cheering our hearts out for Mista Hebe.  Little Mr. Emmett was having a great time exploring the seemingly "clean" bleachers in the gym.  After inspecting his new territory he crawled over Mitch's lap, over my lap, and headed for Papa.  My dad looked down and asked, "What is he eating?"  I thought nothing of it at first, and half a second later decided to swipe his little mouth to find a circular piece of hardened gum with chomp marks in it. 

"Uh, Mitch, did you give Emmett gum?"  

I'll bet you can guess what his answer was. 

It was so NASTY!  Good thing I have a sense of humor, because we got a good laugh out of that one.  Don't worry; he didn't get sick.

And our second little story for your amusement happened at McDonald's a week ago.  I was with my friend, Katie, and we had 6 children ages 4 and under in our watchful care.  In the commotion of rounding them up out of the play area so we could load up and go home, Tyson's water cup slipped out of his hands and made a mess all over the floor. Katie's daughter, Bekah (she's about 2), leaned down almost immediately to pick up the ice and eat it.  Do you want to guess who followed suit?  Not Emmett--he prefers ABC gum in public places.  Mr. Tyson, who's turning 4 in just a few months, was the one who felt like the ice looked appetizing.  Before I knew what happened, he had a handful of ice taken off of the disgusting restaurant floor and shoved it in his mouth.  He had it chomped and swallowed before I could even tell him to spit it out.

I can only imagine what all those other parents thought of us as we took our bustling group of kids out the door.  They certainly had a comedy show.  Ha ha!  Fortunately, luck has been on our side, because Tyson isn't sick, either.

I'm a successful mother, I guess.  In the category of funny stories for last month, it looks like our kids are 2 for 2.  : )

Welcome to My Life: Beautiful and Mundane

Our family life hasn't been overly exciting, lately.  In fact, most of my days have felt overwhelming & filled with mundane tasks.  Despite the monotony of taking care of kids, cleaning up messes, and filling our time with a crazy schedule, I still feel like my life is beautiful.  I think I feel that way mostly because it's MY life.  No matter what it is we're dealing with that day, it's a blessing to be able to get to deal with it, and it's uniquely my lot to handle.

 Beauty:  The kid that made this mess is so cute and can destroy anything I do in record time.

Mundane:  I have to clean up this mess for the um-teenth time, when I JUST CLEANED IT an hour ago!

Beauty:  When he's so serene like this, he can't mess anything up.

Mundane:  Sleep time means we're not learning or playing together.  *Tear*  The truth of the matter is that whenever my kids take a nap, I think that I'll get something done, and for whatever reason, I just can't get as much done as I think I will.

Beauty:  Ty-Ty makes a great human pillow, and he THRIVES on the attention from his Daddy.

Mundane:  8 hours of Conference is A LOT for a little guy in one weekend.  Good thing we had coloring pages.

 Beauty:  Caden got baptized & confirmed and we got to be there.

Mundane:  Tyson's ideas trump ours.  Forget posing for a picture b/c he adamantly didn't want sun in his eyes.  : )  The other mundane part of this experience was that Emmett wasn't happy and silent throughout the entire service.  In fact, I pretty much missed most of the confirmation becuase I had to take him to the hall.  The part I heard when I cracked the door to listen was uplifting and nice, though.

Beauty:  Hearing my kids giggle as they played with boxes on their heads.

Mundane:  Someone always gets hurt and cries by the end.

Beauty:  We got invited to a really fun wedding reception--Mexican food, mariachi band, peacocks and everything.

Mundane:  It took 3 takes to get an acceptable picture with my Hubs, and in the end I still overanalyze things and worry about trying to lose more weight.  I've got to remind myself all the time to just be happy.  "Come What May and Love It"

Beauty:  We had a great trip to the Science Center.

Mundane:  OF COURSE Emmett wanted me to buy him a sucker.... WHY ON EARTH would they sell scorpion suckers?  Just to make my kid cry, I think--as if I'd ever let him suck on a candied scorpion.  What's that supposed to teach him, anyway?  NASTY. (A guy in line was actually eating one.  I asked him what he'd do when he got to the scorpio & he said he was going to eat it.  EEEEWWWW!  This is AMERICA, people, we do not need to do that.)

Beauty:  I had a helper with the dishes (Emmett).

Mundane:  I have to re-do the dishes and put all the silverware back in the right place every time he "helps" me.