The Fraley Family

2011-10-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

Tristan's snowman from our first snow.

Charlotte's snowman.
Isabelle and Madeline's joint family party cake!

Madeline taking care of her baby.

Isabelle's first all by herself snowman.

You know how sometimes you get that one REALLY good picture, this is Isabelle's.

Isabelle opening presents at her family party.

Madeline opening presents at her family party.

Isabelle opening presents on her birthday.

My mom's new dog Rocky, or Wocky as Madeline likes to call him.

Why my husband can't take the kids places without my supervision.

Have I mentioned my deep love of dressing my girls the same. Please notice the AWESOME bruise on Maddie's head, she went head first into the sidewalk.

Charlotte opening birthday presents.

Charlotte choose pecan pie for her birthday cake.

Yup, that's my boy, knee deep in the river. I think Josh wants me to have a heart attack!

Madeline on a swing, turns out she really doesn't like it.

Isabelle playing in the sprinkler.

Madeline playing in the sprinkler.

Charlotte, bet you can't guess what she is doing.

Charlotte's birthday.

Madeline likes to slide.

Only acceptable picture of me and Robin.

Making the kids pose at the park which is also preventing children from playing on that portion of the toys!

Isabelle is flexible.

We wasted so much water this summer!

Charlotte who was forced to slide because Madeline needed her.

Isabelle who had been BEGGING me to take her picture.

Maddie

Tristan opening presents.

Tristan playing at the park.

Well, what have we been up to? I started a new job in June and it ROCKS!!!! I love it, I'm at another daycare center and I'm in the 12-18 month room. I love my babies, I really like the teacher I am with (I'm an assistant) and I get to leave everyday in time to pick up the big kids from school. I also got the brilliant idea to take classes this semester. I started out with 13 credits and then realized that they actually want me to do stuff for these classes so when I found out that I didn't actually need english I dropped it faster than a bad habit. Right now I'm getting a B in problem solving (pretty pathetic, I know) and I'm pretty sure I have an A in everything else, including my early childhood class with the teacher who hates me. As for the kids . . .

Tristan is doing well in school. He still has trouble reading but he attitude has gotten a lot better and that should help him pick up the information a little faster. He is playing hockey which is great because we can use it to get him to do things, "If you want to throw a fit because I told you to clean your room then no hockey. What's that? You want to clean your room? That's what I thought." Love it! Tristan is definately getting older, he is constantly stopping his feet across the house because, apparently, I am totally unfair all the time. We have also have to deal with the girlfriend issue this year. Tristan hates to hurts someone's feelings so he has told every girl who asks to be his girlfriend yes and apparently these girls have a problem with him saying yes to 4 or more girls at a time! Awesome!

Charlotte has completely avoided the girlfriend issue and she isn't throwing many fits. She is the apple of her teachers eye and is doing really well in school. She does have a problem in writing because her ideas come faster than she can get them down so she leaves out words and letters and her writing tends to not make much sense but we are working on it. This year she is playing hockey on the girls team and LOVES IT!! She now has to get ready in the locker room because that's where the girls get ready and she is really starting to play, she doesn't feel like she has to let the boys do it anymore!

Isabelle is doing so fantastic at school it's crazy! She is making friends and in the top reading class, a far cry from what we were looking at last year. She decided to not play hockey this year but just go to free skate on the weekends. It really is a shame we can't get her into something organized because she is really quick!

Madeline, well that girl is something entirely. She is two and has decided that it's her way or the screaming on the floor causing a scene way. She will fight us on getting dressed, wearing a coat and shoes, walking to the car, combing her hair, eating breakfast, and that's just the 30 minutes from when she wakes up to getting to the car. She has developed an awesome new habit that Charlotte must be present at all times. Charlotte cannot do her homework, take a shower, play hockey, or clean her room because Maddie cries the entire time! I do so love having a two year, did I mention we are leasing her for a year?

More Tales of the Backseat

2011-05-30T07:20:00.000-07:00

For the last day of school we took the kids to get ice cream, on the way there we got this:

Isabelle:"Mom, mom, mom, mooooooooooommmmmmmmm!!!"
Me: "WHAT!?"
Isabelle: "Ice cream is dairy right?"
Me: "YES!?" (What I was still really irritated with the whole 'mom' crap)
Isabelle: "Good, then ice cream is good for us, hey Charlotte ice cream is good for us!"
Charlotte: "I went to where the poop goes."

Yup, Charlotte doesn't actually listen to people when they talk to her. I am pretty sure she can only hear the sound of her own voice. Sadly that is all I have today, primarily because I got the brilliant idea to landscape the yard and now I am suffering from a wicked sun burn and my hands are screaming in pain from my pathetic attempt to use a pick axe, oh yeah our yard is so crappy I had to take a pick axe to the ground just to turn it over!!

2011-05-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

I lost my new camera. Yup, it's bright red too and I can't find the stupid thing anywhere. I did manage to find my old camera and even got it to take a couple of pictures that I was going to post. Of course now the stupid computer won't read the old camera and I'm back to square one. My grandparents are more computer literate than I am, the whole thing is just sad.

I decided, instead, to share an awesome "story from the backseat". You see, we recently put Charlotte and Isabelle in the farthest back seats of the van. This was partially so that Tristan could operate the door without adult assistance and mostly because it puts the chattiest kids farthest away from me. Since the girls are back there all alone they like to talk about this and that, mostly Charlotte sharing things she has learned at school. Charlotte's class is currently learning about water which is what lead to the following tale of awesome:

Charlotte: "Isabelle, can you guess how old water is?"
Isabelle: "I don't know, 100 years old?"
Charlotte: "You're right! Water is 100 years old. A long time ago people would spit into the water and now we are drinking their spit."
Isabelle: "EWWWW!!!! I DON'T WANT TO DRINK PEOPLE'S GERMS!!!!!!"
Charlotte: "No Isabelle, it's a good thing that they spit in the water or we wouldn't have any water to drink. You shouldn't drink rain though, or we won't have any water to drink."

Yup, don't catch rain drops and spit in you water supply. Awesome.

2011-05-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

Alright, i know it has been, like, forever since I have posted pictures so here is the quick run down of the last couple of months.

We got a new camera and I couldn't figure out how to make the stupid thing put pictures on the internets. After spending several hours screaming at the computer and then lashing out at several of my children in a way that is completely irrational and undermines my authority as a parent Josh made it work. Now there are so many photos that I just don't have the patience to go through them all so you just get a sampling.

Tristan is plugging along in school, Charlotte is doing well, Isabelle is totally ready for kindergarten next year, Madeline still thinks she is the best thing since sliced bread. I quit my job and I will start new awesome amazing job in June which also includes adding a sister wife (of sorts) by the name of "Super Amazing Ridiculously Awesome Wicked Sweet Robin". Oh yeah I am excited. Josh, well he goes to work.
Waiting for breakfast in Steamboat.
Madeline and Daddy putting shells on their ears.
Isabelle playing vet at the children's museum.
Tristan minus his head and our new bunny, Owen.
Madeline playing at the Children's Museum in Denver over spring break.

Tristan getting foiled for the last game of the year.

Charlotte getting goalie gear for the last game of the year.

This is how Madeline spent nearly every game this year. Apparently there is something that she finds comforting in Mom screaming her head off at Kids.
Isabelle playing vet at the Children's Museum.

2010-12-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

Madeline eating cookies.

I'm not sure what the girls are doing here.

Madeline riding the reindeer, I kick myself every year for not buying more of these when they were $10.

Tristan building a tower.

The kids before the church Christmas program.

The kids posing after we finished decorating the tree.

Madeline and Tristan decorating the tree.

Isabelle decorating the tree.

The product of our decorating efforts, it the first time they actually looked like something when the kids were done.

Charlotte and Madeline decorating cookies.

Isabelle decorating cookies.

Daddy and Tristan decorating cookies.

Charlotte getting her Brownie pins.

Charlotte saying her line during the program, she also had a small solo, it was all very very exciting.

Tristan at his school musical, this is the closest he looked the entire program to happy.

The girls playing in the snow. Our first couple of snow storms we actually warm and wet so the kids could play in it.

Madeline putting my wedding tiara to good use.

2010-10-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

2010-08-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

I guess this will be the Isabelle post since she is the only one on here. Not that I don't like the other kids but Isabelle played her first baseball game the other night and it was pretty cute. She realy likes playing when she is running the bases, not so much the rest of the time. Of course there isn't a kid out there that doesn't seem to feel the same way.

Then we were trying on clothes last night to see what we had and what we still need to get for the new school year, Isabelle just looked so cute and grown up in this outfit!

2010-08-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

2010-07-12T06:10:00.000-07:00

2010-07-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

2010-06-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

Great Grandma with the kids.

The girls trying to teach my dad how to play Uno.

Madeline with my mom and dad who look super impressed!

Madeline with Keith.

Robin and Madeline after her baptism.

The family

The kids right before Madeline's baptism.

Tristan opening presents from the family.

Grandpa's watching Tristan open gifts.

Isabelle is photo bombing all the pictures.

Kids with Great Grandma.

Robin and Charlotte washing dishes.

Kids at Tristan's birthday party.

Tristan's scooter from dad was out in the van on his birthday.

The kids helping dad work on his bike.

One of several dozen pictures Isabelle took of herself on the way to the school talent show.

2010-06-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

2010-05-31T13:26:00.000-07:00

2010-05-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

2010-05-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

2010-05-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

Isabelle peeking around the kids to see mom.

The kids were taking turns dogpiling on eachother, being on the bottom is the goal.

Madeline likes to sit against the wall and bang her head, apparently it is very funny.

Baby zilla is destroying the village.

Charlotte desperately wants her brother and sister to participate in her play. She will read the book, they will act it out . . . or else.

Holy cow, mark this day in history, Tristan and Isabelle are actually playing together nicely. Of course 15 minutes later they are throwing train pieces at each others heads, but look at this moment!

Josh does so love it when I take pictures of him for the interwebs.

2010-04-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

Is there anything cuter than a sleeping baby?

She just hangs there! She'll put her feet down for a second or two and then back to this!

This is the snowman that we started the morning with . . . .

This is what we have left now.

2010-04-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Apparently I rock at this whole mom thing. Not only do I have a daughter that BEGS to clean the bathroom but now I have a son that BEGS to wash the dishes! If I knew what I did I would totally write a book!

Best toy EVER!!

Spring snow storm. Not really that interesting except that the van's power sliding door didn't slide shut last night. If anything is in the track it slides back open. Yeah, well I didn't think about checking it last night so a good portion of this storm is now inside my car.

2010-04-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

Tristan being photo bombed by his sister.

Madeline thought the shirt on her head was SOOOOOOO funny!

2010-04-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

Why, you might be asking, would I take a picture of my vacuum all torn apart and then post it for the world to see? Well, many years ago my mom finally bought a really nice vacuum, we had this really great appliance for about 3 months when my grandparents came to visit. Convinced that the vacuum needed more suction, my grandpa took it apart and then couldn't get it put back together! When my mom got home there was her vacuum in a hundred little pieces all over the porch. This, well, this reminds me of that day. Josh has torn apart my vacuum and I have a concern that it will never be put back together!

2010-04-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

These are the kids at their school musical. It was super cute but they didn't have them on risers so we couldn't see Tristan for most of the program. We got lucky though, Charlotte was in front the whole time. The best part of the whole thing was when something went wrong with the cd playing music and the whole group of kids stopped singing, well the whole group except Charlotte who kept singing and singing LOUDLY! It was awesome!

2010-04-10T17:13:00.000-07:00

The girls in their new bunk beds.

Daddy and Tristan reading.

Isabelle at the park.

Oh yeah, I'm totally that mom at the park that makes her kids pose for pictures. My kids are going to love letting me come with them places!

2010-04-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

These are the dresses that my brother bought the girls for valentine's day, well Charlotte and Isabelle's anyway. They made for really great Easter dresses.

Madeline eating her easter present from Grandma (just, not great).

Look! Madeline actually has a crib! It only took us six months but she has a crib like a big girl!

Happy Easter! Here are some before Easter and during Easter photos of the family. The Easter Bunny brought the kids bikes and, of course, it is snowing and cold and windy so the kids aren't able to use their gifts just yet! Stupid Wyoming weather! Why, you might be asking, am I posting pictures instead of teaching Sunday school? Yeah, the Easter bunny brought me pink eye this morning, awesome!

2010-03-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

2010-01-23T09:26:00.000-08:00

Mittens number 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Tristan is always so easy to spot, red helmet. I think he's number 5.

Mites getting ready for their first game at their first tournament!

Mini mites after their first game, Charlotte is number 73.

Charlotte playing some hockey!

2010-01-14T08:49:00.000-08:00

Pair number 4.

2010-01-10T13:07:00.000-08:00

Isabelle demanding that I take her picture.

This is one of the hockey suckers that I am making in mass for the hockey tournament at the end of the month. They are nearly 6 inches long!

Maddy playing with the stuffed dog from her great grandparents. She was smiling and happy and then I pull out the camera and she just looked concerned and worried.

So, the blue that you see here isn't lighting, the dogs are both dyed blue thanks to some food coloring that got on the floor that they proceeded to roll in then play with eachother. Awesome blue dogs!

Mittens #3. I am loving this new pattern book I got from Jessica. I had to modify the patterns a little bit because they were coming out way too long but I think I have it under control now.

2010-01-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

I have decided to knit 100 mittens this year. I'm not sure why, it just seemed like a good idea. One pair of minutes usually takes me 3 days so I can totally get this done and still have time to knit something else! These are the first pair.

This is pair number two, they are WAY too long so I am going to attempt to shrink them in the dryer this afternoon, we'll see how well that works out.

This is Daddy's idea of taking care of the baby on New Year's Day. Apparently Josh can't stay up until 5 in the morning and still function anymore!

Maddy and the pillow that a friend of my mom made for her for Christmas. She was biting it and then hiding and then moving the pillow off of her face and squealing and giggling at herself. Man, that is a funny funny pillow!

This one of the giant cushion/beanbag things I made for the kids for Christmas. So far they seem to be enjoyed by kids, adults and the dogs. In fact I'm pretty sure that the dogs think I made these specifically for them!

2009-12-29T09:08:00.000-08:00

Chewy and Madeline intently watching my dad open presents.

I was letting Madeline pull on her presents to "open" them. That lasted for about 5 minutes.

This is the puzzle Isabelle opened that was for Charlotte that they both put together.

Opening gifts on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve sitting by the tree.

2009-12-29T08:59:00.000-08:00

Isabelle at her Christmas program.

Charlotte stringing popcorn. I used some leftover glitter hairspray from Halloween to try to keep the kids from eating it once it was on the tree. Worked for the kids, not for Apollo.

Obi waiting patiently for the mouse behind the stove. Finally Josh pulled out the stove and after some screaming and running around the mouse was caught and eaten by Obi. Now he is extra wild.

Decorating sugar cookies almost to the point of no longer being edible.

Christmas and more

2009-12-29T08:45:00.000-08:00

Decorating the tree, Tristan version

Decorating the tree, Isabelle version.

Madeline in her super cute ballet outfit.

Oh sisters!

2009-11-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Kids playing together! Poor Tristan is stuck playing my little ponies.

Fuzzy Hannah Bear playing while I'm messing around on Farmville.

Cute happy baby.

This is Charlotte all set to go to the father daughter dance. She was so excited!

2009-11-01T13:03:00.000-08:00

Josh's bike when he got home on Friday. He wouldn't let me take a picture of the back of his pants, they were AWESOME!!

Don't men just dream of being waited on hand and foot by pretty girls? OK, probably not exactly what they imagine but Isabelle is scratching Josh's back while combing his hair.

Since Charlotte was "sick" we stayed at home on Friday and the kids played out in the snow. Isabelle kept trying to get on the trampoline.

Tristan was shoving his head into a snow drift.

Charlotte just wandered around and tried to eat snow when she thought I wasn't looking.

So, I didn't get any pictures from halloween which I fully understand makes me the worst mommy ever. Fortunately my kids feel the need to wear the halloween costumes around the house year round so I'm sure I will get some photos eventually. They had so much fun trick or treating at the university, Madeline slept the whole time and was fawned all over by college girls. One girl was making balloon animals for the kids which they loved and they got a bunch of candy, really can't ask for more than that.

2009-10-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

So Charlotte is running a fever with no other symptoms and not acting sick but I went ahead and kept her home. The girls and I had a little photo shoot.

They thought this was the funniest this to do ever, poor Madeline was really confused and kept trying to eat her sisters. By the way, today was Isabelle's school Halloween party and she is in her super hero costume.

Madeline was laying on the floor and Apollo came and layed as close to her as he could without actually laying on top of her. The if she moves at all he has to lick her head.

Apollo sleeping on the couch. This is the only picture I got of him alone.

Then the kids noticed that I was taking pictures and we can't have a photo taken in this house that they are not a part of!

2009-10-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

A little black jack with Grandpa and Dad.

Madeline is smiling, a for real smile and everything!

We got rock band for the Wii, drums + microphone + guitar + lame parents = AWESOME!

Look, my dad is voluntarily holding a baby!

This is what my hair looked like after the girls "styled" it. So for you next formal engagement I encourage you to give us a call, they do weddings, proms, trips to the mental health facilities, all you major events.

2009-10-17T18:13:00.000-07:00

2009-10-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

So, what does a three week old baby do durning nearly three hours of hockey practice? Sleep and sleep and sleep.

Tristan putting on his gear. He's starting to look so very grown up!

So, the other coach for the mini's was sick and John needed another adult on the ice so here comes Josh who hasn't been on ice skates in 15 years. I thought it was pretty funny.

I managed to catch Isabelle mid blink but this is my little hockey player. She actually seems to be having fun, well, at least she didn't sit on the ice and cry the whole time like she did Tuesday. Progress!

Charlotte seems to be enjoying herself. It's amazing how just a couple of skating lessons last year can make all the difference, she is doing a really nice job and, apparently, didn't shut up about hockey practice ALL DAY at school. Silly girl!

2009-10-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

On Monday's I go to knitting group for 2 hours. It is my time solely for me. I have always wondered what Josh does with the kids during that time and now I know:

First he lets the baby sit on his lap and cry and cry and cry

Then he takes pictures of Charlotte and the ever annoying giant ball

He lets Tristan completely zone out watching tv

Finally he makes Isabelle take off his socks for him. OK, I know he does better than that I just like to make him look helpless without me!

2009-10-11T09:55:00.000-07:00

I just can't help myself, she is so darn cute!

So this is the scarf I made after it was all knitted up. Josh was watching this whole process looking at me like I have lost my mind.

This is the scarf after it is braided. Once again, how freaking cool am I? Feel free to take your time marveling at my greatness.

Awesome picture of Chewy.

This is where Isabelle slept last night. I am hoping that sharing a room with Charlotte will make her more likely to sleep in her bed. She is sleeping right outside of Charlotte's room.

2009-10-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

Now the pet shops are going after the tortoise. I swear these stupid things are all over the house but Isabelle loves them so much we will continue to purchase them.

Looking a little less comfortable in our swing.

This looks like Isabelle and Tristan playing so nicely together but in reality Tristan doesn't want Isabelle to be playing with him at all but he knows that I will get after him if he doesn't put on a good show.

Charlotte is writing yet another play. They contain plots and are pretty good considering her age although it is getting a little annoying to watch them. This child will put on several plays a day and DEMAND that we watch them.

Tristan was in his room, alone, in the dark doing push ups. I wonder about this child.

2009-10-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

I told you, Hannah loves newborns! Just to ease your mind Josh is sitting right there and I was on the other side until I decided it was a photo op and Hannah isn't actually touching Madeline, she is just very very close.

You just wish you could spend your entire afternoon sleeping in your swing while people looked at you and thought it was super cute.

I was trying to catch Isabelle playing Barbie but she saw me and we had to pose. By the way, I know there are a lot more pictures of Isabelle and Madeline but that's just what happens when you are home with mommy all day!

Now I am off to sleep. Apparently if it is 4 in the morning and you haven't slept since the night before and thought that the baby might go to sleep and layed her down but then she starts to scream so you wake up your husband to get up with the baby, asking him to "take care of the clone" is not the way to go. He will just ask you what in the world you are talking about and, despite the fact that you repeat the phrase several times because your brain is no longer functioning at all he will not put the situation together and get up with screaming baby so I'm sleepy and desperately hope Isabelle will take a nap with me today. I've never wished that little girl had a cold or a really stuffy nose so bad in my life.

2009-10-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

Charlotte is rather obsessed with holding her sister. She has really caught on to this idea of having three sisters in the house. She draws tons of pictures of the three of them and had three lady bugs painted on her hand the other day at a reading fair, one for each girl.

Isabelle decided that she didn't like dinner and it was making her sick. She went to the bathroom to "throw up" and this is how she came back. Normally this would cause me to fly off the handle, pretending to be sick is in the same catagory as spitting as far as I'm concerned, but this was just too funny.

We had Tristan's parent teacher conference last night and I think I can finally rest easy that holding him back was the right choice. He is doing so much better in school, he's more focused and he actually tries this year. He is still getting extra help but, with any luck, this will be the last year for help, well except for speech, we've got a while before that is done. He also found out that three other kids in his class turned 7 this summer, I think it has made a really big difference for him to realize that he isn't the oldest person in class and that no one notices that he is actually repeating 1st grade.

2009-09-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hannah is now social with the family, she has a deep love for newborns.

Yup, she's cute.

Madeline right after her first bath.

During her first bath. She didn't kick or move at all, she was so very happy to be in the water.

Like father like daughter. Josh really loves it when I take pictures of him sleeping with the kids. I have one of him and all four now. It really is a wonder that I ever wake up in the morning.

2009-09-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

In the car

Look at hair!!!

Moments after being born.

Madeline

2009-09-22T07:53:00.000-07:00

wWatching new sister get a bath.

Isabelle holding Madeline for the first time.

Charlotte and sister number 2.

Tristan is officially unimpressed, he is actually watching TV while he is holding her, he didn't even look at her but if you asked him to let some one else have a turn he would say no.

Madeline getting ready to come home. She really doesn't like to have her clothes changed.

slum

2009-09-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

So, my house moved to the slums when I wasn't looking. Just a few months ago this was a respectable neighborhood with nice, normal people and now, well now I'm just not sure. First there are the new neighbors that I think are beating their dog. Next to them is the family that apparently doesn't work because I never see either of them go anywhere for more than an hour or two. They do, however, cruise up and down the street on their dirt bike holding their baby who isn't just going without a helmet but without clothes! Next to them is now an abandoned house, it isn't for sale or rent and is working on month 3 of being empty! Across the street has moved in a lovely family that doesn't seem to feel the need to put their two little one's in shoes or clothes and mom has yelled at the 2/3rd grader several times about how she is going to send her to the crisis center (that's where you take your kids when you can't control them anymore). Then there are the apartments where we have three junior high boys that prowl around the neighborhood at all hours of the night and two junior high girls that walk around the street wearing as little clothing as the law will allow. Of course, the police have been over the apartments on more than one occassion which makes me feel awesome. I've never been so happy to not own my home as I am right now. I mean, if the situation continues to detoriate I can move to a different neighborhood with realative ease, of course the sheriff and his family that live on the other side of us own their home, this is what they are stuck with now. Not sure when things went to crap but, oh man did it happen fast!!

2009-09-12T15:22:00.000-07:00

Isabelle got her ears pierced for her birthday. I was really worried because there was only one girl working which meant she had to have one ear done and then the other instead of getting them both at the same time but she did great. They don't even seem to bother her at this point, but she is super proud of them. Funny thing though, she really didn't want her birthstone so the one she picked is for Janruary.

This is why our daddy is awesome! Josh spent and hour and a half roll newspaper to put this thing together for the kids, they love it.

This is where Josh and I found Isabelle sleeping last night. I like that she made herself a bed and everything. Of course she wasn't the only child to sleep funny. Around two I was sitting in the rocking chair waiting to be able to sleep and Apollo was sleeping on the couch. Charlotte comes out and lays down on the couch, completely on top of the dog. She doesn't care, he doesn't care, all is good in the world. I wanted to get a picture of the cuteness but I was afraid I would wake them both up and disturb them and I really didn't want to listen to Charlotte cry.

Update

2009-09-10T15:26:00.000-07:00

Went to the doctor today and got told a whole lot of nothing. I'm dialated but barely, baby still isn't in position completely, and no one can have an elective procedure this weekend due to the football game. Stupid football, I hate football games in the first place but this just drove my hatred a little deeper. Of course I got two hours of sleep last night because I have just enough contractions to make my life a nightmare and then I'm uncomfortable the rest of the time so I can't sleep which is making me really crabby and then to find out the only way to make it stop isn't happening in the near future just makes me want to sit down and cry. Speaking of which, I tried to use Josh's cell phone and couldn't remember the password and, apparently, if you enter the wrong password enough times it will erase all the personal information off the phone. First it locked down and said wiping and then it locked down and said sweeping, I managed to get all worked up and had to sit in the parking lot at walmart crying for a few minutes convinced that I had completely ruined Josh's phone. I really need to have this baby and soon.

2009-09-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

Isabelle is going to a Christian preschool so prayer has been coming up a little more frequently around the house. Not a big deal as far as either Josh or I is concerned but it can be pretty funny every now and then. Isabelle made me some imaginary toast and before I could eat it I had to say a prayer, fortunately she provided me with one:

"For Bender is great and Leela is bad. Amen"

Not sure if this is a sign that the whole God thing isn't sinking in or that we let the kids watch entirely too much Futurama.

In other news, moving Madeline's star day didn't do a darn thing for bringing on labor so now I'm trying the eating of pineapple. Apparently some women swear by it but I'm not sure how much I'm suppose to be eating so I've managed to choke down a 16 oz can one on Sunday and one yesturday, sadly it not only doesn't seem to be working but it turns out that I don't really like pineapple that much! I am so running out of options here, suppose I'll just have to wait until Esther stips my membranes on the 10th.

2009-09-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Swinging.
We just don't have enough swings.
Isabelle's birthday cake.
Isabelle opening presents.
More of the same.

2009-09-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Isabelle reading a bedtime story.
Look, Apollo is capable of sitting nicely. Now if we can just convince him that he is, in fact, a 100lb dog and not a little lap dog like he thinks.
Painting sun catchers.
Craft time with daddy.
Apollo and his snuggly, he won't destroy this toy, he just carries it around and snuggles it. Chewy has a giant bone that is the same stuffed, burber thing and he just snuggles it.

move the star

2009-09-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

This morning the kids and I were talking about how cool it would be if the baby was born today. The ever insightful Charlotte said that maybe she is just waiting for her star day. Star Day? What the hell is crazy girl talking about now? Yeah, then it dawns on me that we have Madeline's due date marked on the calendar with a star. Then Charlotte suggests that we move the star to today and that way the baby will think she needs to come now. Since this isn't the worst or even close to the worst idea that I have ever heard for inducing labor we decided to give it a try. So here are me and the kids loudly claiming that we got the due date wrong and that we need to move the star to today and how baby Madeline should come out now because today is the day she is due. We will see if it works but either way it sure beats drinking a bottle of caster oil.

Update

2009-09-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

Ummmm, well there just hasn't been much to report lately. The kids are in full swing at school. Isabelle love's it, Charlotte is having fun, and Tristan seems to be really happy with repeating 1st grade. At first he seemed a little uncomfortable, I think he was concerned that other kids would notice but after much reassurance and some time there he has come to realize that no one has noticed so it's going well. I still don't have a baby and it looks like she isn't coming out on her own. I'm not dialating, she's not down into position, basically I'm headed for induction. Now that the school year has started so have all the activities. I've already had to get started on the hockey tournament, ok all I had to do was send an email to our scheduler requesting some weekend in February for our tournment so it's not like it was hard. We've had Girl Scout registration so now I have to start contacting parents for our first meeting. Knitting guild has gotten started as well and I got the brilliant idea to expand the newsletter and start distributing copies at the local yarn store, why I feel the need to create more work for myself is beyond me. Sunday school starts in 10 days which I have mostly planned but am now really nervous that I will have to find a substitute for the first week so that I can have a baby. Really, this kid is creating some problems, she needs to just leave my body. Other than that there is the usual, clean the house, get ready for Isabelle's birthday, make sure the laundry is done, make sure that notes are getting signed and sent back to school, pay for all the misc. stuff that comes up on a daily basis, and on and on and on. So tired, so very very tired.

2009-08-25T07:36:00.000-07:00

Coloring a box for fun and entertainment. Sometimes I wonder if we should have cable after all.

First day of school, they are so big!!

Best daddy ever spending two hours tying knots to make Charlotte's necklace.

abuse

2009-08-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

I think our new neighbors might be abusing their dogs. For the third time I heard their dog yelping this morning. I went outside because I was afraid it was one of our dogs, sometimes they play too rough. I could not only hear him yelling at his animal but I could hear the sound of his fist hitting the animal and then the animal cry out in pain. Last week I peered over the fence when they were both gone and the dogs look well fed, the yard is clean and they have water so I'm not sure what I could call it in for, it would be my word against theirs but it just makes me sick to my stomach to listen to him beating his dog like that. I'll admit, I've smacked a dog on the nose, I scolded them for getting into things but they have never made that sound because they have been intentionally hurt, sometimes a tail gets stepped on but they never cry out because of a punishment.

2009-08-21T15:15:00.001-07:00

Just really quick I wanted to let you know that UPS SUCKS!!!!! No, I ordered the kids backpacks from Lands End (yeah I kinda feel like a douche for even saying that but they are suppose to be really good quality and actually be a size appropriate for my kids) and they have super awesome 2nd day shipping only they used UPS and stupid freaking UPS won't delivery on Saturday, unlike the wicked sweet FedEx and so that means that I won't get the kids backpacks until the afternoon of the first day of school! So crappy, crappy, crappy. I swear it's almost not worth getting a new backpack if you can't have it the first day of school. Their friends are going to be all you are so lame and then my kids will hang their head in shame and try to defend themselves by either pointing out their Lands End backpacks (is lands end cool? I suppose that's wear my dad shops so probably not) or by passing the lameness onto their mother. Dammit, I'm the one who sucks!!

2009-08-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

Charlotte, the dog whisperer and Chewy. This dog lives for being in her room and now that he doesn't have to sleep in the crate he sleeps with her every night. Of course so does Apollo so I'm not sure how she is actually sleeping.

Not sure how useful speech is going to be this year, his other top teeth are loose too.

So cute.

Fun at the park. Some kids were shooting slingshots at the park too. Not sure that is the best idea, with other people around and what not, oh yeah and they were trying to kill a squirrel which seemed a little creepy.

Isabelle is waiting for me to take her picture, she was getting just a little impatient.

What's that smell?

2009-08-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

For the last two weeks my husband has been frantically cleaning the kitchen. Not that I mind, I mean he has pulled out the stove three times, the fridge twice, cleaned in the fridge, every cabinet and every drawer trying to find the magical smell that is making him crazy. Now, I would like to say that I was helping him with all of this but I didn't smell anything and so I was pretty sure he had finally lost his freaking mind. Well, today I noticed the smell and it was actually pretty bad and I thought, great now I'm going to have to listen to him freak out all over again and it's starting to make me a little crazy. Then it finally dawned on me, we bought a new trash can that is quite a bit larger than the old one and so that trash isn't being taken out as often. The smell is coming from the freaking trash! Well, happy to have that figured out but now I'm super paranoid that my house smells like trash since apparently I can only smell it on certain days. So embarrassing!

In other news I would officially kill to be able to take some awesome allergy meds right now. Either my nose is stuffed or my throat is sore or my lungs feel like they are filled with cottage cheese. The doctor said I could take Sudefed PE but, really, I don't know why they even bother making that crap. It doesn't do anything, it won't make me feel any better. I will seriously give birth and then make Josh get me some drugs, I'm talking not even finishing with the birthing process before I have had drugs. Finish the birth and then momma wants a beer (I crave beer something horrible during all of my pregnancies, I don't even like beer!) Mmmmm, sudefed and beer. It's nice to have an after birth plan. Some moms think about eating their placenta (no really, like normal people, ewwwwwww) and some think about their precious baby but not me, nope drugs and liquor all the way!

So Done

2009-08-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

Have you seen the little red thing that pokes out of the turkey when it is done cooking? Yeah, well my belly button has done that so I'm pretty sure that means I'm done. Here is my problem though, I can't stand for things to touch my belly button. The kids have all learned, the hard way, not to touch mommies belly button or she over reacts just a little bit. Now that it's an outie everything is touching it, my shirt touches it, the sheets touch it, it's nearly impossible for anyone to brush against me without touching it. I'm going to lose my mind, I feel sick every time it happens. I am seriously considering wearing belly shirts with some kind of little plastic dome over my belly button so that I can keep it safe. I am so done with this pregnancy crap!

2009-08-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

Apollo after his bath. He ran up and down the hallway rubbing himself on everything like this, he even managed to move the couch halfway across the house!

Chewy taking his bath. He's not enjoying himself, at this moment he is done and I am calling him to get out of the tub but he wouldn't leave, he would just turn and look at me all sad and pathetic like.

Charlotte opeing presents for her birthday. Poor girl really got screwed this year. First, we were suppose to go to Utah but the doctor told me NO so we had to stay home. Because it was such short notice my dad and grandparents weren't able to make it up and Keith had made plans thinking we wouldn't be there. Fortunately my mom was able to come so that was something. We went to Chukee Cheese and actually got prizes that the kids have been playing with so that was cool. Then I dumped her cupcakes upside down, not so good. She didn't seem to notice but I felt horrible.

Why kids need pets

2009-08-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

I know that we have an abundance of animals in this house, probably more than most people but I've always maintained that it is good for the kids to have them around. The two kids I'm watching now do not have pets of any kind in their home, not even goldfish and they have made me realize just how important that can be. Just today I have had to ask the boys, repeatedly, not to pull on the dogs tail and ears. Now please keep in mind that these boys are nearly five, really high strung and laugh when I tell them not to do things. So far we are pretty lucky, my dogs won't do anything if someone hurts them other than try to walk away so at least we haven't had a major incident. They boys have pulled on the dogs to the point where they have made them yelp in pain and then the boys laugh. They take the dog toys and hold them right in front of the tortoise and squeak them while laughing, the other day they were jabbing a lego into the tortoises face trying to force her to eat it. They will also take toys and try to force them into the dogs mouths. They have no idea how to treat an animal and actually think it is funny to cause them harm! When I try to explain to them that this will hurt the animals and could make the animal bite them and become mean all they do is laugh. They are really starting to scare me. Fortunately my kids won't play with them because their behavior is so erratic and out of control. I half wish the dogs would just bite one of them, hard, but that would probably only lead to a lot of trouble for me and I might have to put the dog down which would hardly be fair. Thank heavens I'm only watching these two for 6 more days. I'm not sure how much more my house, my animals, my kids or my sanity can take. You know, the kids I've watched before had some pretty quirky behavior that at times would make me nuts, usually it was their parents that made me want to go running, screaming into traffic, but these two are unlike anything that I have ever seen before.

awesome things I've seen today

2009-08-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

First there was one of the kids I'm watching. Both of them got all wound up and were screaming and grunting, well, one of them was just grunting at one point. Like this really weird, loud throat sound over and over and over again. That was pretty upsetting until I noticed the other one. Yeah, he had to massive streams of drool running down his face. I'm not talking about a little dribble here, massive streams running down his chin, neck and onto his shirt. Now I can't stand other people's saliva and this about made me vomit. So freaking gross not to mention what the hell is wrong with these kids. I was actually scared for a while.

Well, then we went to walmart to get some dog food and there is this super skinny guy walking around with no shirt on! Since when do you not have to be fully dressed to go into the walmart? I'll admit, I've been guilty of going out there in my jammies, especially if I'm doing my grocery shopping at four in the morning but at least I'm fully covered! Wow, that's all I've got is wow.

2009-08-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

Tristan is making tracks in the carpet, yeah I don't know.
Josh is about to get Tristan's toy car stuck under the stove again, he just got it back out after being hidden away for months. You would think they wouldn't ask him to play anymore.
Lazy Saturday afternoon with dad.
OK, we didn't force her to scrub the floor with a nail brush, she was crying and begging Josh to let her do it.
So my daughters have hundreds of dollars worth of barbie crap, they have my little ponies and pet shops and what are they playing house with, lincoln logs.
Doggies taking over the bed.
This is where Obi was stuck sleeping while the lazy dogs were taking over the bed.

2009-07-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

I would love to be able to be this comfortable just for a few minutes. I would also love to be able to pass out anywhere, anytime and have people think it's cute. Right now I can get away with it a little bit, people give the pregnant lady a little leway, but it still isn't cute!

OK, not meant to be another picture of Obi but he is cute. No this is the blanket that two years ago seemed like a really good idea. I can just make a blanket for our bed, it should end up being cheaper than buying one. Yeah, well after two years and nearly double the price of buying one the stupid thing is finally done. Oh yeah, the green stripe? It was suppose to indicate the top of the blanket so that making the bed would be easier. Unfortunately the width was too much and the length not enough but if I turned it so that the green ran down the side it fit perfectly. So much for my brilliant idea. How you can get the measurements that wrong is beyond me. I am so very very special!

What to buy

2009-07-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

For the last two years I have been selling the kids used clothes on ebay. I noticed, right away, that brand names sell for more than, say, walmart or kmart. This morning I decided to sit down and figure out what the difference really is. I looked at Gymboree, Gap, Old Navy and Kmart. I tried walmart as they are usually cheaper but they didn't have any boys sweaters online and that is what I was using for my research. Here's what I found:

The sweater at Gymboree originally costs 26.75 and has an average resale value of 10.35 making the sweater cost 16.40.

A very similar sweater costs 24.50 at Gap and will resell for approximately 11.88 for an end cost of 12.62.

Old navy wants 19.50 and can resell for an average of 6.70 for 12.80 actual cost.

Finally Kmart will want 14.99 but can only resell for about 1.99 costing 13.00.

Now, I have to take into consideration that Gymboree and Gap are searched for more often than old navy and basic editions (the kmart brand) making it more likely that the G's will actually be seen which means, on average, it will cost me less to shop at Gap than any other store. Alright one item probably isn't the best judge so I looked at jeans.

Gymboree is 29.75 sell for 7.72 ending with 22.03.

Gap is 34.50 (although they have several that are more and several that are less) selling for 14.41 ending with 20.09.

Old navy is 19.50 selling for 8.62 ending in 10.88.

Wrangler wants 16.99 will sell for 5.84 ending with 11.15.

Now, while the old navy jeans would be the best buy there are more than double the number of gap jeans in excellent used condition which will not only get a higher price than holey jeans but indicates that the gap jeans might last longer. Of course, I have bought old navy jeans for three years now and have found that they last longer, in fact the old navy jeans have no holes after a full year of wear, than basic editions, wrangler or the children's place. Maybe I will get a pair of gap jeans and see what happens to them but Old navy seems to be the better value.

At this point I am bored looking stuff up and will probably continue to buy most of our clothes at old navy (they have cute clothes!) pick up the cheap stuff as needed and splurge on the occassional gap or gymboree to beef up my sales. There are a great deal of things that make a difference aside from what you sell. When your listing ends, your shipping costs, the quality of the items, if you are selling clothes in season, what your selling rating is, and whether or not people are looking for what you have to offer. Just thought it was interesting.

Oh kitty

2009-07-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

Here is the elusive Obi. Chewy likes to use him as his personal play thing so he is always hiding. Funny thing though, he loves for Isabelle to carry him around in that awesome chocking the kitty hold. Isn't he pretty?

trophies

2009-07-24T11:19:00.001-07:00

I just read the greatest statement thanks to STFU Parents. Someone in the comments referred to children as "Fuck Trophies" and I gotta tell ya, I love it. I will use it frequently from now on. Probably not directed at the kids, that seems wrong, but in adult conversation hell yeah!

twighlight

2009-07-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

These are the things you think about when the hubby is gone. So, in the Twighlight movie these vampires go to high school and one falls in love with some 16 year old girl and it's so sweet and romantic right? Here's the problem, he's at least 100 years old and she's 16, isn't that what we call a pedophile? No, seriously, just because some guy looks 16 but he's really 30 is it suddenly ok for him to hang around the high school picking up girls? I don't think so. What are we telling our daughters here, that it's ok to date a guy at least 6 times older than you and that it will be really beautiful and everyone will be jealous? I'll admit I'm a big fan of True Blood but the woman in that case is an adult, not a child. In fact women in vampire romance stories are always adults! Am I missing something here? OK, I'll be honest, I really hate the movie because vampires don't sparkle but it's something to think about.

I'll sell your stuff too

2009-07-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

Oh I'm going to have a baby soon. Know how I know? About a month or so before I give birth I become crazed about cleaning out the house. A month before Tristan was born I started obsessively packing. We weren't ready to move and hadn't even started looking but it needed to be done and I couldn't stop. About a month before Charlotte was born I made 10, count them 10, trips to the salvation army to unload things we didn't need or use. I had a need to get them out of the house. Isabelle was a little different since we had just barely moved into the house before she was born but it didn't stop me from going through every inch of the house looking for things that could be gotten rid of. So far I have listed three things on craiglist, I have five auctions on ebay, and I just sent out another wagon of crap to the end of the driveway for freecycle. The sad part is I haven't even gotten to the kids rooms or the shed! I need to purge and no one's stuff is safe, I will get rid of it all if you give me the chance! Josh is also out of town for the week so I'm trying really really really hard not to get too carried away but there is just so much of his crap that he wouldn't notice if it wasn't here when he got home. Must clean house, must buy baby crap, must get ready!! You know, it's really too bad I can't keep this momentum going all the time!

2009-07-20T17:37:00.000-07:00

Isabelle and her swing. It is hers, you should see what happens when someone tries to use it.
So they noticed that I was taking pictures and started posing. The swing set is our second greatest and most worthwhile purchase. The first being the trampoline.
Yup, mom has a camera. Mom also wishes that she could swing. Not only could I not fit my pregnant butt onto the swing but I am just too heavy all the time. Josh loves to swing too so we priced the big swing sets, you know the ones with six swings that grown ups can swing on that you find in the park? Unfortunately they start at about $1600 and that doesn't include any kind of slides or climbing, I would have to purchase another set for those items. I hate being a grown up. Can't swing, can't jump on the trampoline at the moment, and people look at me like I've lost my mind when I ride my bike and make race car or siren noises. Being a grown up sucks!
Civil disobedience dog will not be moved off this bed. Seriously, he does this night after night. He is laying on his side until Josh and I come to bed and then he rolls over and turns into dead weight in an attempt to not have to sleep in his crate. We tried to let him stay out of his crate for a couple of nights but he refused to stay off the bed and ate all the toilette paper. He is such a strange little dog.

So, Tristan is getting his sisters each a nerf gun for their birthdays. He got one for his birthday but it has proved to be kind of a crappy gift to use by himself so he's getting some for his sisters. I'm not sure but there is a little voice going off in the back of my head telling me that this is a really bad idea and I should put a stop to it before the badness begins. Of course the other voice is saying, hell yeah and get one for you and Josh and then everyone can run around the yard shooting eachother, awesome! Fortunately for me our neighbors aren't the type to have bought into that whole toy guns make kids violent crap. No this will be good, what could go wrong right?

flowers

2009-07-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

Josh and Tristan went for a bike ride this morning and Tristan picked me these flowers. They are so pretty and they are not dandelions, I can't handle to many more dandelion bouquets. See, it's not all crabby kids screaming and breaking stuff, sometimes being a mom is awesome!

2009-07-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like a boy and his dog laying in the grass, enjoying the summer.
Look a dog that the kids can walk!! Apollo still drags my butt around if he finds he should.
It's my worst nightmare come true, Tristan is on the x-box while . . .
Isabelle plays the DS and . . .
Charlotte is on the computer! All three know exactly how to find the game they want and start it and play and everything! How did this happen? I feel like I have failed so horribly.

morning

2009-07-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

We had to go to the store this morning. I realize that doesn't seem like a big deal but around here it sure is. First I had to convince the child that changes her clothes 4 or 5 times a day that she needed to get dressed. She tried to leave in her jammies and then tried to tell me that she can't get her clothes down herself and then we had a complete and utter breakdown that she didn't have a sweatshirt and had to use one of Charlotte's. Once that was finally taken care of we were off. The store itself wasn't too bad, the kids were well behaved and didn't ask for things at every turn. I did run into a woman from church who has an aunt that was married to Brigham Young (I had two aunts married to him) so we are stragely related, sort of. Anyway, talked to her for a bit, she sent her apologies to Josh for having three daughters and we were off. This weird guy in the check out line started talking to the girls, which is fine, but then he tried to pick up Isabelle (she put him in his place by kicking and screaming) and then he was trying to tickle Charlotte. To say the least we got out of there as quickly as possible. So creepy!!! Now I am eating some toast and then it's off to finish some laundry, clean out the pantry and then maybe a nappie nap nap.

weekend

2009-07-13T06:24:00.001-07:00

Charlotte waiting for the downtown parade. We saw the parade and the animal show at the carnival but didn't actually go to the carnival. Yeah, big mistake. I am officially the wicked witch of the west.
Isabelle saw Daddy with the camera and kept insisting that he take her picture. This is her sad face. She's not sad but enjoys making faces. Later on, Isabelle crawled out of her bedroom window and was trying to cross the street, at 10PM! This, once again, brings up the important question, do you lock up the house so that the kids can't get out and wander around at night or do you keep it so that in the event of a fire they can get out without you? Oh little girl, you will be the end of me. Thursday morning, and by morning I mean 4 AM, she was up and playing computer games! I haven't decided if she is a night owl or an early riser.
Tristan waiting for the parade to start. He started summer school this morning, I know I know the school district actually got something right for once. They missed Charlotte which has caused a lot of tears this morning but at least I got one!
Look carefully, do you see the tire print on the driveway? This is from the Buick that didn't move, at all, for nearly three months. I sold it to my brother and we took it over to him on Saturday. After watching the dynasty and the olds being towed away last year I really expected a larger fight from Isabelle but she didn't seem to care in the slightest. The kids are super excited to have the extra space to ride their bikes around. I love the selfrightous hippie-rific feeling of only needed one car. Of course, that is only made possible by Josh but still, feels good. Now I just need a compost pile and a garden that actually grows something and then I will quit shaving and it will be awesome!

wipe me

2009-07-10T07:58:00.000-07:00

I have been babysitting for other people since I was 12 and there is only one job that I can't stand, wiping a child that is potty trained. I don't know what it is, I don't mind changing diapers, but wiping a child that can use the potty by themselves is, well, it's something else. I am currently watching twin boys that are almost five and found out yesterday that they cannot wipe themselves. I nearly started to cry when one boy started calling me from the bathroom. Seriously, I understand wiping the kids for about the first couple of months but after that shouldn't they be taught to do it themselves? Maybe I just got lucky, Charlotte was the only one of my kids that wanted help in that department and it didn't last long. Other than that the twins are completely exhausting. They spend all of their time screaming and running around until I send them outside and then they just sit in the coupe cars and do nothing at all. So far they have managed to break about a dozen toys and the glass on the kids play cabinet and they've only been here for four days! One of the boys sits up from nap every day and cries for about 30 minutes for no reason at all and if I try to comfort him he just moves to another part of the house to cry. I am fully aware that my kids probably do all kinds of weird things that drive other people crazy but they just don't seem weird to me, either that or they do drive me nuts I just can't get them to stop but there is something about other peoples kids that makes their quirks seem worse.

funny

2009-07-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

My kids will believe ANYTHING that Josh and I tell them. "Yeah, it's really 9 o'clock." Ok so it's only 8 but if I have to listen to one more fight out of the three of you I will beat someone. "Yeah, we've had this before and you love it." Actually we have had it before and you went on a thirty minute tirad about how much you hate it and we should never have it again. Our most recent story has really taken the cake though. "Why doesn't daddy take baths?" "Well, you see, if daddy takes a bath he will turn into a merman and it takes too long for him to dry and get his legs back." I know, I know probably shouldn't have done that but I didn't for the life of me think they would believe us! Charlotte didn't want daddy to take a bath at Grandma's because it would take him too long to get dry and apparently if you splash bath water on him it will have the same effect because the girls are obsessive about making sure Josh doesn't get wet at bath time. Now we have the problem that we can't decide when, or if, we should tell them that it was all a joke. I suppose we will let it be like Santa, when they figure it out for themselves so be it. I am such a very bad mommy. Now I'm off to convince some kids that they do, in fact, love to clean their rooms. Why can they believe the merman but not anything that would be usefull?

4th of July

2009-07-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

RUN AWAY!!!!!! I don't think Isabelle saw even one of these bottle rockets actually go off, she was too busy running. Sadly this is about the time my camera (and my mom's) lost battery power so I didn't get any of Tristan and Charlotte shooting off fireworks or of my dad covering a larger item in lighter fluid went the fuse didn't work. Ahhhh, I love the fourth.
Shooting off fireworks with Papa. He would try to let her start it but she would hand it back to him and tell him to do it.
So at least it isn't a crack in the road. We went to the dinosaur track site outside of Greybull the morning of the fourth. It turned out to be a really nice day and it is amazing what they have done with the site. There are walkways and a picnic area. The site is has several different sets of track marks walking in different directions and it's filled with little fossils that you can collect and take home (I think the limit is 100lbs or so and nothing that had a spine) but the kids loved it. Sadly the tracks are fading pretty quick so if you want to get a look I would recommend heading out sooner than later.
If you click on the picture above you should be able to see it bigger and if you look VERY carefully you will be able to see what is possibly fossilized scales of some kind, definately from an invertabrate.
The family eating their picnic lunch. Look it's a photo of me! Bet you never thought you would see one of those!

Grandma, Grandpa, and the girls looking at dino tracks.

Look at my glory

2009-07-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

How freaking awesome am I? This is the sweater that I am knitting for Josh, so far I have the body and the back done with the front and sleeves and collar to finish. I am so very proud of myself! Surprisingly this really isn't that hard to do but it sure looks impressive.

4 AM

2009-06-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

Allow me to share with you the lovely conversation I had at 4 AM with my three year old.

"MMMOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM! Obi is in my room make him leave! MOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM?"

Lay very still in hopes that the situation will resolve itself without my getting up.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!
Help, Obi won't get out!"

Fine, damn cat, I swear all of the pets are going to the shelter first thing in the morning.

"Isabelle, what is going on, *groan* come on Obi get out." Without my glasses on I notice something white on Isabelle's face. "Isabelle, what the hell is this? Is this string cheese? It's still cold! Did you . . . a package of chips too? Isabelle, you know what, I don't care just go to bed."

That's just great, damn kid, I swear I'm giving them all up first thing tomorrow morning.

outside

2009-06-29T15:15:00.001-07:00

Why won't you play with me? Why is this fence here? I have a ball, do you want to throw the ball? I will catch the ball. Please throw my ball, please play with me, I am so very very lonely . .
Charlotte is apparently planning a trip to the middle east we didn't know about. I have to tell her not to wrap herself up in a blanket or my huge scarf every single time she goes outside. Yesturday she was sent back in for having her blanket and then she came out in a winter coat, I guess 80 just isn't hot enough for this child. Actually, she does it because she doesn't want to get bug bites.
See that? See that stupid ass crack right up the middle of my windsheild? The stupid crack on my still fairly new car? The insurance will pay for most of it but still, stupid crack, stupid car.
My future hockey player practicing his puck handling. I am amazed at how much better he has gotten, last year he wouldn't have been able to follow the ball at all and now it rarely gets out of his reach.
Isabelle riding Charlotte's bike. In less than five minutes after I take this picture Isabelle is laying on the sidewalk crying because Charlotte wanted her bike back so that I could take her picture riding. Five minutes after that I came in to download pictures and Charlotte is sitting here coloring. Oh, yes she is wearing her robe and no, I don't know why.
Flower wanted to get out for some sunshine. The poor thing just kind of sat there for the longest time and then tried to make a break for it only to realize the sidewalk is HOT!

heartbreak

2009-06-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

Tristan lost his first friend to moving this weekend. The little boy who is the same age and who lived two houses away moved to Fort Collins this weekend. I felt so bad for Tristan, there really isn't anything to say to him. He tends to be super sensitive anyway and it's his first friend and they play together all the time. The kid is heartbroken. He will be fine, playing and goofing off and then all of a sudden he will remember that he can't play with his friend and burst into tears. Growing up sucks!

ambush

2009-06-28T14:32:00.000-07:00

The littlest pet shops are planning their attack on my family and I am afraid there is nothing that I can do to prevent it. I noticed them the other day when I was washing windows (for those of you who really know me please take a moment to get over the shock that I was washing windows) and there are pet shops lined up in the window sills, all of the window sills. There were 10 in my room, 4 in the desk area, 5 more in the living room window, some in each of the kids windows. That's right they have established that they must block our exits. Then I started to find them hiding EVERYWHERE. There was one in my shoe, two in my coat pocket, I found another in the shower with me, the bathtub is apparently a fort of some kind because there were about a dozen or more hiding in there. There was a pile of pet shop kitties in the washer which I thought at first might be some kind of labor camp, maybe they are the lesser pet shops but I can't be certain so I will continue to view them as the enemy until I know for sure. They have already invaded the pet food, the turtle tank, and the pantry (damn bastards were after my animal crackers!), the situation has become quite desperate. One of the terrorists even jumped out in front of me so that I would step on it and proceed with a screaming rant of very un-motherly sayings. They have no fear of death, there are hundreds of them. If you don't hear from me for a long period of time please send in something bigger to save us, so far Barbie and Legos have proved useless, maybe we need some of those pokemon things.

As a quick side note, I checked on the kids outside while I was waiting for the photo of the killer pet shop owl to download and Isabelle was wondering around the yard singing, "Wooo hooo hooo, I smell poop. whoo hoo hoo I smell poop." I really hope none of our neighbors are home.

So funny

2009-06-25T10:43:00.000-07:00

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

Thanks Sam's Club Guy

2009-06-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

I have managed to get the same checker at Sam's Club two months in a row now. I usually don't pay that much attention to who my checker is at the store but this guy likes to comment on my purchases. The first time I went through his line I was purchasing the extra large bucket-o-cheese balls and he thought that it would be appropriate to tell me, "These are so disgusting, I don't know how any one buys them." Right, are you serious? I'm buying them, obviously I don't think they are disgusting and who the hell are you to critique my purchases? Just ring them up and let me get on with my life. Saturday we went back to Sam's and managed to get the same guy. This time he thought he should comment about the quantity of items I am purchasing. Now keep in mind I am there with the entire family, all five of us with my very pregnant belly running into stuff. "So are you guys going camping or something?" "No, just purchasing snacks for the month." "Oh, well since you are buying so much I thought for sure you were going camping." That's nice, not only are we purchasing items you find disgusting (yup, there was another bucket of cheese balls in the cart) but apparently we are buying too much. Since when do I have to defend my store purchases to the checker or to anyone else for that matter? I suddenly feel the need to keep a list of our family meal plan, complete who eats what and in what quantity so that this guy can get off my back about it. I've been a checker and this is the kind of thing that you talk about in the break room with other checkers, not with the customers in person. You know, I've never liked the maternity shirts that have cutesty sayings on them but I am beginning to understandy why people buy them. Maybe if I make it obvious beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am pregnant people will not longer feel the need to comment on my store purchases.

2009-06-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

All knitters have a stash of yarn. Apparently some women out there just keep buying skein after skein after skein of yarn that doesn't neccesarily get used but lives in boxes, shelves, drawers and sheds instead. I am very insistant that my yarn must get used up, it just seems so wasteful otherwise. This bag is that last of 7 1/2 bags of scrap and stash yarn that I had. So far I have made baby hats, booties, a blanket, two baby outfits, two pairs of socks for Josh, stuffed animals, another pillow for Josh, have started on a baptism outfit for Madeline, and this yarn will make up the 24 mini stockings for my advent calendar. I am so awesome!

This is the bottom of the jacket for Madeline's baptism outfit. So far I'm at 11 of 17 inches just for the bottom and I had to go purchase more yarn. Fortunately the whole thing is knitted in one piece so at least when this is done it's done and there isn't a whole lot of seaming involved. I can tell you this, the outfit seemed like a much better idea before I got started. I am getting all kinds of impatient though. I ordered yarn to make Josh a fair isle sweater the other day and I finally got the shipping confirmation, it won't be here until Monday! Sad, why does the yarn at the yarn store have to be so expensive? The cheapest yarn I could find in the right size would have made the sweater around $200 and I'm just way to cheap for that. As is I spent $80 on yarn and new needles and that almost made me cry. Stupid yarn.

Bad Bad Mommy

2009-06-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

Once again it appears my children will not be attending summer school as I have yet to hear anything from anyone and if you try to call ANYONE in the district they will make it sound like they have never heard of even the idea of summer school and you are, in fact, a complete and utter moron. I actually had high hopes this year since Extended School Year is a part of Tristan's IEP, I thought that made them do something but would appear that I was wrong, very very wrong. Well, fortunately we have been working on stuff at home. 20 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of math, and 20 minutes of writing. For the most part I am working on the things that they told me to. Continuing with letter recognition and handwriting but then there is math. I am suppose to be helping them with coin value and telling time but I'm not. First, I don't want them to know the difference between a nickle and a quarter, right now I can give them either one and they are just as happy, I'm not ruining this little scam. Second, I REALLY don't want them to learn how to tell time. I can send them to bed at 9 one night and 8:30 the next and they don't know the difference, I'm not volunteering for this nightly argument. My final reason for blatently ignoring the school make me sound slightly less selfish. You see, they teach the kids how to add and subtract horisontally (such as 2+2=4, as oppose to stacking the numbers) and that just seems wrong some how. To this day I can't add more than two digit numbers together without stacking them, how will you know when and where to carry a number? I'm probably screwing them all up and will be forever known at Lab as the crappy mother who teachers her kids wrong but what can I say, their way is stupid.

small victories

2009-06-12T13:34:00.000-07:00

If being a mom has taught me anything it is to appreciate the small victories in life. If the kids go to bed without a fight one night a week I will celebrate. We made it more than an hour in the car without screaming, yup that is another victory. Two of three kids actually ate their meal at a restruant, I might declare a national holiday. This afternoon we were rain free and I seized the opportunity to mow the lawn. Not all of it mind you, not even close. I got the part right in front of the house, right before the new fence. It's a small area I know but it is done and done by me. I am so very, very awesome!

knitting

2009-06-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

I would like to think of myself as something of a proficient knitter. I have made sweaters and socks, I can do fair isle and can follow a pattern pretty well. Unfortunately I lack the ability to make stuffed animals that look right. The photo is a bear from a Debbie Bliss pattern. Please keep in mind that this is not in anyway, shape or form what this thing looks like in the book. In the book it is a an adorable little bear that I was very excited to make. I think my creation looks like a rat, Josh voted for a pig. Either way it just doesn't look right. I did manage to make a very cute one piece outfit for Madeline that came out pretty cute. Haven't taken a picture as it doesn't look right unless it is on someone. I need to find a newborn to try patterns on, I wonder if you can go to the hospital for that? "Excuse me, I need to borrow a newborn for about 10 minutes. I have several baby items that I have made that I'm not sure if they are going to fit right." Wonder how long it takes them to call security, better question would have to be if they have security. Thought it was funny that they put a band on your baby that is suppose to make the hospital lock down if you get your baby too close to the doors. If you haven't slept in 48 hours and are bored out of your mind you will find the need to test this band and be slightly shocked that it doesn't work. In fact, if you are really bored you will find that you can actually take your baby outside the hospital and not only will no alarm sound but absolutely no one will say one word to you about your little adventure. They really shouldn't leave sleep deprived mommies alone.

Family vacation

2009-06-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

Tristan and Grandpa playing Star Wars Guess Who. Funny problem. Grandpa asked Tristan if he had a white guy and Tristan said No, unfortunately he misunderstood that white guy is anyone who is caucasian or is white, as in the absense of color. You've got to love little kids!
Ooooooooooooooooooooooo, Grandma has cable. Must watch TV.
This is how Isabelle spent most of the air show, there is just something about cracks that have been filled in that spark her interest.
This is Isabelle's favorite plane, or the one of the other dozen yellow planes, I wasn't entirely sure which.
Apparently Charlotte really like the helicopter at the Hill Air Force Base Air show. The serious burns on my shoulders are less that impressed.
My great big 7 year old boy opening his brithday presents. The lovely wrapping job there would be the hockey stick from mom!

2009-06-03T07:10:00.000-07:00

These are the kids on the first day of school and the last day of school. I can't believe an entire year is behind us!

Mornings

2009-06-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

So today is the second to last day of school, meaning only one more day until August where my children will sleep after 6:30 AM. Every morning it's the same thing. Walk to each room encouraging my kids to get up, get a cup of coffee, walk through rooms again, check the weather, walk through the rooms one more time to get that last child up and at 'em. Naturally on days off or weekends my children are in my room every five minutes begining at 6:30 begging for cereal, watch a movie, go outside, can we have a picnic, so-and-so is touching me or something that I feel belongs to me, so-and-so called me a name or looked at me or isn't playing with me, can I let the dogs out, can I paint, and that will continue until Josh or I finally decide to give up and quit pretending that we are still asleep. The photo is Isabelle. Not only did she look so cute lying there but, when she did finally get up, she greeted me with the most charming statement, "GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!!!!" Ah, they make me so proud of all that I have accomplished with my life.

New Fraley

2009-06-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

For those of you dying to know, here is the picture of baby Madeline HildaMae Fraley. I know, I know, she looks like she is starving but I assure you I am feeding her every chance that I get. Maybe, just maybe, if she would move her boney self from my rib cage I would again have enough space in my stomach to feed both of us properly.

The family

2009-05-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

Charlotte, the middle child, who is doing heaven only knows what. And of course Isabelle. At the moment she is putting all of her blankies and pillows on the rocking chair and then sitting on it. I don't know either.
Tristan, the oldest, who is captivated by Lord of the Rings. He has been in that position for nearly two hours now.
One of our two red eared sliders. If you have seen one you've seen them all. This happens to be our girl, I know because she gets to sit on the rock and the boy gets to have sex with her occassionally.
Flower is a russian tortoise off of freecycle.
Chewbacca the very cute and small. If you know what type of dog this is we would love to know. Definately not the german shepard lab mix they thought he was at 6 weeks.

This is Apollo. He was once loved by another family until they decided not to love a big, fairly stupid, but very cute boy.

Here we go with a blog for all those people who just can't get enough of the family. My plan is to keep up with this one a little better with more photos and information on what the family has been up to. As a stay at home mom with three, so to be four kids, two dogs, two cats, two turtles, a tortoise, a husband, volunteering with the hockey team, girl scouts, sunday school and the knitting guild I naturally have all the time in the world to keep up with this so enjoy.