Balboa Park

Ok, I'm not doing too well with this posting stuff. I completely intended to keep this up but after some frustrating bouts with downloading pictures from my phone, I sort of forgot about blogging. Anyway, I finally changed my email- excite is horrible btw- so I could actually get the pictures I emailed to myself. For some reason, excite eats them.

We went to Balboa Park to see the new mummy movie they had out- not as cool as I thought and a little more graphic than expected. The boys loved it. Gross=entertaining for boys. We had a picnic out on the lawn in front of the fountain which was awesome until bees started "attacking" Conor. I say attacking loosely because I've never seen someone so dramatic about bees flying around. It's not like he's allergic. We finally had to make him eat under another tree because he looked like some kind of injured rodeo clown. *Sigh* Regardless of Conor's epileptic like display, we had a great time. I love the kid's room with all the different activity areas. I'm including a slide show. I hope you enjoy Victor's Blues Brothers look.

Anybody remember this one?

I laughed so hard when I first read this. Enjoy!

[Arkansas Democrat Gazette], July 25, 1996

Two local men were seriously injured when their pick-up truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38. County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33 and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, are listed in serious condition at Baptist Medical Center. The accident occurred as the two men were returning to Des Arc after a frog gigging trip. On an overcast Sunday night, Poole's pick-up truck headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the truck had burned out. Since a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullet from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering column. He inserted the bullet, the headlights again began to operate properly and the two men proceeded on east-bound toward the White River bridge. After traveling twenty miles and just before crossing the river, the bullet overheated, discharged and struck Poole in the right testicle. The vehicle swerved to the right exiting the pavement and striking a tree.

Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident, but will require surgery to repair the other wound. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his nuts off or we might both be dead," stated Wallis. "I've been a trooper for ten years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened", said Snyder. Upon being notified of the wreck, Poole's wife asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone manage to get them out of the truck.

Beach Days

We have beach days in which we go to the beach, just for a few hours and have fun. I love to watch my kids run around in the waves, make sand castles, scream, holler and act like total boys. Conor and Henry have developed this tandem boogie boarding thing in which Henry gets on the front of the board and Conor is on the back. They are so cute! I love to watch my boys playing together like this. It makes all those hard days totally worthwhile. Conor is on the far left with Henry in the front and Cade is on the yellow boogie board. P.S. Don't mind my finger covering part of the shot. I'm new at all this! Plus, all these "videos" were taken with my phone. :P

Here's another one of the boys playing in the sand. Undoubtedly building some kind of impenetrable fortress.

What did you do all day?

I received this email from my mother-in-law and just loved it. I know you will too!

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?" She again smiled and answered, "You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?" "Yes," was his incredulous reply. She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

The Swings at Home Depot

I am planning on having about 20 women over to my house for an RS Girl group. I am totally excited about the party but why does everything have to go wrong just before you need to do something?

We have a cute little pug puppy who has been limping around for the past couple of days. Probably some injury due to the fact that she likes to wrestle with our 80 lb black lab mix. I decided to make an appointment with the vet today. However, I still needed to go to the grocery store to buy all the goodies for the party. I packed up all the kids and headed for two grocery stores- one has great produce and the other has good stock stuff. Anyway, we were rushing around in the grocery stores so we could make it to the vet in time. If I had been by myself, I could have gotten this done in 20 minutes flat. In order to help me, I thought I'd let the older boys push the cart with their little brother in it; they could follow me and I could just grab and run. It turned out that Cade thought it was some kind of racing game and decided to run full speed in the grocery store with his brother in the cart. While Henry was bellowing war cries in the cart, Conor was bitching at both of them, hoping to both make himself look mature and possibly get Cade in trouble (this is a recurring theme in our house). I asked Cade to stop. Not 1 minute later- same thing. I would just like to add here that parents can't speak normally to children. Whatever you say is only effective if you say it 20 times. Anyway, after repeating myself numerous times, we got to the check out counter where some woman gave me a dirty look and rolled her eyes.

Second grocery store: same thing, wash, rinse and repeat. Except, this time Conor, the babbler, is trying to have some kind of conversation with me. I tried to tune him out but its just not possible. Meanwhile, Cade was giving me the "stink eye" because I wouldn't let him push the cart anymore and Henry was whining about not being able to participate in the Von's 500 Race Spectacular. Fried and frazzled, we get home, unload the perishable stuff, get the dog, head to the vet.

When we got to the vet's office the 10lb pug decides to play "quien es muy macho" with any dog who gets close to her. I'd never heard her growl before but it was pretty pathetic. In order to keep the dog calm during the vet visit I decided to leave the boys in the waiting room. They had a great play room with a TV and chalk boards. Sounds good? That should placate them for 15 min. right? I don't think so. I was discussing different options with the vet, one of which included $700 worth of x-rays and multiple diagnostic readings, when I heard screeching and then crying from the waiting room. I say calmly to the vet, "those are mine, give me a minute." The vet laughed- you know, that fake laugh that really says "I'm glad I'm not you." Anyway, I went out to the waiting room to find my 10 year old's head stuck in some kind of box in the play room. I have no idea if it was a left over box from some surgical supplies or what. At this point I'm asking myself if this normal behavior for a 10 year old. The 3 year old is crying because the 12 year old wouldn't let him stand on the chair- go figure. I put the 10 year old in time out, yes folks, time out in the vet's office and go back to the patient room to see how much worse my day can get.

Thank the gawds for naps! We got home and ate a quick lunch. My sweet little 3 year old snuggles up to me and says, "go mommy bed." How cute! I head to the bedroom with Henry and threaten the boys with pain of death should they wake us up. Luckily they were quiet. However, the first thing which occurs the minute we get up is a nice little spat between the 3 year old and the 12 year old in which the oldest tells me his little brother is picking on him. Huh?!? They got into some kind of verbal argument in which I could hear the grating sound of Conor lecturing and Henry's non-discernible babble in retort- remember he's only 3. How do you argue with a 3 year old? At this point, I'm about ready to kill Conor with my bare hands and wondering if I will actually enjoy it. Instead, I decide to go to the Home Depot.

The main light in the kitchen blew out so we replaced it with this really great retro light. Unfortunately, we had to go through the attic to re-wire everything while taking a good chunk of the ceiling out. After we repaired the ceiling, we just needed some paint to match the existing ceiling. Hence, the trip to THE Home Depot. An aside: I don't think you can really refer to Home Depot without the "the" in there. Something about having an awful experience there 99% of the time warrants the infamy. Anyway, I went to the paint counter in which some new guy was there that can't match the paint color. Why? Because he doesn't know what he's doing. He actually said this to me. He didn't know how to put less yellow in the paint color and suggested I wait 30 minutes for the "real" paint guy to get back. Yeah, like I have 30 minutes to kill with 3 hyperactive kids. I smiled and decided I would try to make the best of the situation.

The minute we walked off, all 3 boys starting fighting about who would get to push the cart with Henry in it. I call my husband, begging for mercy. Please come meet me at the Home Depot, I beg. He's on his way. In the meantime, Henry wants to stand up in the cart because sitting down or even sitting in the intended part of the cart is just too boring. So I let him walk with me- so stupid. He started running every direction like some kind of sniper target with the two older boys running after him screeching and hollering at eachother. As I watch this display, I am keenly reminded of the velociraptors in Jurassic Park. I'm done at this point. I notice some swings for sale in the garden section. I sat down on one and started to swing. This is pretty good. Suddenly, I don't really care what they're doing. I'm also wondering if I'm at the begining of some nervous breakdown. My husband finally shows up, looks at me with a questioning, half scared look. The minute he got there the boys were angels. What's up with that? At this point, I don't care. The real paint guy has showed up and technically my shift is over.

Anybody else know this kind of day?

A picture speaks a thousand words

Ok, so, in my "about me" section I talked about my boys. Take a look at what I'm dealing with lol. Captain Henry and his deck swabbers! This pic was taken at the Renaissance Fair.

Blogging?

Ok, so I read Ginger's blog after she wrote the url on the back of the church bulletin. :P Interested, I began to surf the different blogs linked on her "favorites." I came across the blogs of most of her family. I am officially a "lurker!" While reading her daughters's blogs, I laughed so hard I nearly pee'd my pants. I wish I could have been one of her eight children. Anyway, I think I read all of them and was disappointed there wasn't more. What a great idea blogging is! I can't wait to share my experiences with my family. It is so great when you realize you aren't alone in your interesting trials as a stay at home mom. I loved reading all of your blogs. =)

Continuation...

It is now 3:45am and I have finally figured out how to make all the cute little icons appear. Hopefully my kids will leave me alone so I can take a nap tomorrow.