Chick Magnet..

Roscoe has slowly come around to not shaking uncontrollably when the chicks approach him.
If he's secretly thinking "Mmmmm.. bet they taste like, chicken.."
he's doing a good job of hiding it.

Ya Know You're Tired When...

Kay.. remember how we went to Disney?? Did I mention how fun it was? And oh yeah.. how EXHAUSTING it was? Uh-huh. It was. It started at 4 am on a Monday-- and ended at midnight.. on a Monday-- and in between was 8 days of straight go-go-do-do. It was fabulous.. and a good exhausting, but exhausting the same. And I'd like to prove that exhaustion, with a little tid-bit of our 8-hour journey back to Utah, that I found really hilarious. (I know.. it's so over and done a month ago.. but I've been meaning to share ever since.) So we're hanging at our 4 hour layover (yeah, I said FOUR) in Dallas, and finally get on our last plane home. Jasen had run into a little shop to get us some magazines (cause I get SO much down time on a plane with four kids and their perfectly timed demands.. but ya gotta dream) and upon settling in, I asked what magazine Jasen had gotten for me. Seemingly quite pleased with himself he answered, "I got you TWO." Now I found that interesting, being that I'm pretty much strictly a PEOPLE fan, and was curious to know what other choice he thought I might enjoy. He then proudly presented me with not one, but TWO, People magazines. Some extra special edition he'd guessed it was, when he had seen the two familiar People titles, and lovingly snatched them both up for me.
It wasn't until I pointed out that the special edition.. was um..

in Spanish.. that he even kinda noticed something was off.
Yeah. He was just tired.

Well Now THAT'S Cute...

So I came home the other night from a hot night out with my husband of 14.. yeah, count em', FOURTEEN years. (Okay.. so we were home by 6:30, cause it was a school night-- so maybe it wasn't THAT hot.. but still fun.. and at least marked our 14 year anniversary with something other than doing dishes! PAR-TAY.)
So AS I was saying.. we return home to our kids, and are told that Sam has taken Sophie over to the school playground. I walk over to the park to see how they're doing-- and let em' know it's time to come home..
"Kay Mom.." Sam says. "I just have to get the backpack."
"Backpack?" I asked.
"Yeah. I packed it in case Sophie wet her pants."
I was so proud. My little "I-forgot-my-folder-at-school" boy.. did not forget his potty-training sisters needs.
I came home, unzipped the backpack.. and found this.

Not only were there wet wipes, a clean pair of undies, and fresh pair of pants (that matched the shirt she was presently wearing. Luck? Or is he really THAT good?)
but he had even remembered to bring a plastic bag, to put the wet pants in.. along with an ice cold water bottle for each of them.
Who knew my Sammy was such a cute little Dad?
It made me smile really hard.

So... I Guess This Is NOT, My Forte.

Some of you may have noticed Janas blog, where per my request-- she posted her latest Maceys receipt. I believe she spent around $80.00, for 3 weeks of food.
Amazing, right?
So here's mine.

Amazing.. right?
Now granted.. I took out $20.00 cash, and needed a few batteries.
But for the other $250.00 bucks, I'm pretty sure I came home with maybe 3 full meals.. and some fruit snacks. (Oh. And Red Hot Blue Chips. Always grab a bag of those-- on sale or not-- and usually have half the bag gone by check-out.)
I have either gotta get my "budget-face" back on.. or should get a REALLY good job.

All This Fuss.. For Lil' Old Me?

THIS Mothers Day.. after church, I actually lounged in bed, READING of all things.. while my busy little party planners hustled their hineys creating this:

Pretty cute. The fresh flowers from our yard were my favorite.. and LOOK!

I got my own "lobsta"!
AND sweet potato with brown sugar-- and asparagus.. two of my all-time favorites. Mmmmmm. Kinda want it again.
I even had my very own cake.

You'll notice that because it was mine, and it WAS Mothers Day.. I permitted myself to just stick a fork right in the corner and do some taste-testing.. before the meal even started. I mean.. I AM the Mom.
After all the tastiness.. melted butter and all.. I went BACK to lounging, and reading.. while the "help" finished up the dishes. (I only heard one blast of shattered glass-- and it took everything I had to NOT rush to the scene. They handled it. No blood that I know of.)
All in all.. just LOVELY. How I love being a Mom. How grateful I am for a Mom that loved being one too. It was a darling day.. with all kinds of love and acts of kindness from my little family. (Maybe deep down they were just doing it to thank me for giving in to the "chick" idea.. and for the 20 times I've cleaned up chick-poop-papers in the last 72 hours. If so.. you're welcome guys.)
And a happy belated Mothers Day to all you selfless ladies out there that I love. (May today be one of those "good" Mom days!)

"Hot Chicks" In The House!

Um.. yeah. We bought chicks.
Four of them. Rocky, Nuggets, Oreo, and Princess-girl-- to be specific. (Take a guess which one Sophie named.)
I decided to give in to my husbands desire to add "organic" eggs to his mini-farm, and my children's desire to have more pets that I will surely end up feeding and cleaning up after.
It just kinda sounded fun..
and they are, really, cute. For now.

However, I'm not sure they will be AS cute.. all grown and "ca-caw-ing" and red ooey-gooey gobbler-like hangy-downer-thing-ish. But for the moment.. they are quite enjoyable.

They are 'hot'.. due to the large 250 watt bulb that must toasty them up 24/7.. and no so much for their actual, sex-appeal.

So far, they poop.. alot, but only cheep, a little..
and are a constant form of pretty 'cheep entertainment' (I'm SO clever.)for the enamoured eyes of my little ones.

And they seem pretty comfortable with us too..

(Is it creepy that I've taken to photographing small birds?)
So that's the party that is our life THIS week.
Ya'll come back now, hear?

Poops And Hoops

Yeah. I said 'poops'.
I apologize for two posts in a row featuring my terrible, horrible, no-good very bad 1965 yet-to-be-redone, bathroom... but this was too entertaining to miss.
In a house with 4 males.. the bathroom is a spot USUALLY being used for stinky, long, drawn out visits. While a Sports Illustrated or good book is a more common form of 'toilet entertainment' if you will.. I walked in the other day to find one of my boys had gotten a tad more creative.

What your witnessing here.. (along with my ugly bathroom..)
is a make-shift basketball hoop.. out of obviously durable cardboard.. attached to the tub with electrical tape no less.. just in reach of dunking shot from the local toilet.
Who need s a rec center when ya got this?
The fun never stops.

Big news. HUGE.

At 3 years and 3 months almost to the day....
SOMEONE has decided to use the potty.
Halalooya.
We knew we were in for a challenge, when by age 3, all bribes, including a life size DORA for heavens sake, JUST for tinkle ..
were met with a simple, "I don't really need that."
We were convinced she'd be going to Prom in Depends.
Needless to say.. we're very excited.