How We Roll

 Our three youngest might have the same golden blond hair and the brightest blue eyes you have ever seen, but that is where the similarities stop! (Aside from sharing the Worlds Coolest Parents..of course)  I can often times find them playing together, attempting to create a game that suits two four year old boys and one five year old girl.  Eventually they will land upon a game that has a female character of some sort and everyone is happy, for a while.  Addy gets to be the princess she desired to be, while the boys are a super hero of some sort or a ninja turtle.  Inevitably, the boys start rough housing and throwing each other around.  They are much, much more aggressive then our dainty Addysen.  She would prefer to have the two ninja warriors sit down for a tea party or pick pretty flowers for mommy!  While they were thinking the princess should be her own stunt double on the trampoline!  It is such a wonderful and peaceful time when the two sides are able to fine common ground and work from there.  Addy sitting under the deck, now a dungeon, awaiting her rescue, and the boys wearing their homemade t-shirt ninja masks with their stick swords rescuing the princess.  Who was obviously in imminent danger according to the cries for help heard throughout the neighborhood!  Thankfully she had two heroes available for the rescue.  I guess they all have quite the active imaginations in common as well, I love that!

Sense of Humor

Parenting in general relies on having a sense of humor.  Otherwise, without laughter we would all go insane!  Now that our youngest two are getting bigger, I am once again reminded how ridiculous a 4 1/2 year olds sense of humor is!  Our boys, although super duper cute, can be super duper annoying!!  They both make sure I am watching every little thing they are doing, trying, and or attempting...whether or not I have seen what they are doing several times before.  I will inevitably hear, "mom, mom, mom, mommy, mommy, hey, hey mom", on and on until I answer.  "Watch this!".  98% of the time they are doing something so stupid I feel like I may have been better off sticking a fork in my eye!  No offense to my boys! :)  I always give them some line of appraisal, which was all they were wanting in the first place.  There are those occasions when they pull off something I never would have imagined a four year old could do.  Most of those times I get 911 ready on speed dial!  I have seen them both do flips on the trampoline, jump from heights that should not be jumped from and climb on top of the shed!  Now, those were the times when they asked me to look after they had already climbed too high or were in mid-flip!  If these are the things that come with boys by age four, I can not fathom what is waiting for us at age fourteen!

Field Trip

Recently the boys got to go on their very first field trip.  We took the school bus to the Museum of Nature and Science, which I love going to.  Brenden and Garhett however, were much more excited for the ride on the bus, it really didn't matter where we were going!  The two of them were so cute, looking out the window watching traffic, finding a few landmarks they recognized (Elitches, Mile High, or for them, where the Broncos play), and talking with other kiddos seated nearby.  Once we got to the museum the weather was terrible, wet and snowy.  The three of us grabbed our paper sack lunches and headed off to see what we could see.  Immediately the boys were overwhelmed with trying to choose what to check out first.  Once a decision was made we found ourselves seated on a bench looking through our lunch bags!  Now, with tummies full we could venture off and get into some low key trouble!  We made our way to the room filled with everything you could ever want to see about outer space.  They both enjoyed looking at models of planets and seeing themselves on the infra-red cameras.  I was hoping to look at the rocks and minerals exhibit, but both boys mentioned how much they liked throwing rocks so I decided against going anywhere near that.  We wound up making our way to the dinosaurs, what four year old doesn't like dinosaurs??  Well...mine!  Rather, they like dinosaurs in books or t.v. shows, not in real life.  I have never moved so quickly through the dinosaur exhibit as I did that afternoon.  I'm not sure we even looked at anything, they were pulling my arm out socket trying to get out of there.  Next, I took them to the Hall of Life section of the museum. They get to have their own cards and play games, measure themselves, see how healthy they are for four...etc.  Upon entering, they both see the man climbing a mountain and totally freak!!  I guess seeing an actual body, without skin, was disarming for such little guys!  I think after that is when they decided they were ready to leave.  I was still trying to show them there were good things to look at.  All of the sections about different countries and regions of our own country feature animals, which my guys were appalled by..."so many dead ones.", I think is what Garhett told me!  Finally came our time to leave, they both fell asleep on the way home, probably exhausted from being frightened for so long.  I will take them back, like I said I love the museum, I will just give it a few more years. 

Catching Up

 So, we are still alive and breathing...just busy!  We have reached many milestones over the last month and had there been more room for pictures, that may have been all I posted on here!  If I was to put everything in order of importance starting with the least important and working our way up that would be awfully difficult, so I will begin with the most recent.  Last week our littlest lady, Addy or Boomba, graduated from kindergarten!!  It was hard to believe that she had already finished her first year of school.  She is really looking forward to being a first grader, which I am reminded of each day...could make for a long summer!  Also, Addy performed in her first dance recital.  Ballet and tap.  To say they were cute is the understatement of the year!  I could not get over how adorable those little girls were!  Alexys has finished her fifth grade year with wonderful grades and left her teacher with many memories...especially the questions Lexy asked during "Growing and Changing"!  Long story, if you call and ask we might tell you!!  Our Alexys is going to be a big sixth grader this fall and is ready for Outdoor Lab... in November!!  Nothing better than a mountain trip in November!  Brenden and Garhett and working on perfecting their fielding and becoming home run hitters, all in preparation for their Golden Glove awards and MVP's for batting! :)  They have already perfected the art of joke telling and throwing whatever they can find off the deck, so it's time to move forward.  Also, in case anyone forgot, we became parents to a teenager last month!   That milestone, to say the least, was so strange!  I never imagined ourselves being old enough to have a teenager!  However, we are two lucky parents to have the teen that we have!  Apes, not only made the honor roll, she is now an official National Junior Honor Society member, a member of her student leadership and recently played in a state volleyball tournament!  She is becoming a wonderful young adult!  I can hardly wait to see what awaits us in the future!!

Dear Apryl...

 Today is the beginning of a new chapter for our family...our first teenager!  It is hard to sit here and type coherent words while my eyes are foggy with tears, which I knew would happen, but I want to try and explain just how much this child has changed my life!  I've been thinking all week how to put into words how I feel about Apryl, I started with many different scenarios.  Not being able to stick to just one, I have chosen a montage sort of approach.  To begin with, this amazing creature was brought into our world at exactly 12:16 a.m., May 11, 2000.  Apryl started off pushing boundaries, she was due the day before but waited just long enough to make it the next day...not to my pleasure, I assure you!  Many happy baby moments came from our little Apryl.  Chunky Monkey, wide open faced smiles, hurtling her new baby sister, wearing only cowgirl boots and undies, "I do it!", "My-Ami", and let's not forget that beautiful curly blond hair that became the envy of every senior citizen she met!  Apryls toddler years were just as fun.  She grew to love reading, very quickly.  I could find her in her closet reading a book or trying to take a book into the bathtub, which usually ticked her off when I said she had to leave it on the counter. She was especially attached to a National Geographic magazine about tornadoes, and she still has it!  Apes loved "Shrek", "Jurassic Park", and countless others that I can still say line for line!  Dinosaurs were her thing for quite some time.  Apryl has seen the inside of an E.R. more times than anyone needs to, including an ambulance ride.  To quote Uncle Ty, "That was the grossest thing I've ever seen!".  Not what a mother wants to hear over the phone! Matt and I have been more than lucky to have been given this gift of a child!  Apryl is witty, exceptionally smart, silly, generous, loving, and beautiful.  I could not have asked for anything more...seriously!  To be a part of her live everyday is an honor.  I love you so much Apes! Happy, Happy 13th Birthday!!  ~mom

A Little Bit of Growing...and Changing

Yesterday after picking Alexys and Addy up from school, I was quickly informed that Lexy's class had embarked on their "health" unit.  The topic of growing and changing has been on Lexys mind since she first started fifth grade back in August, as I'm sure it was for many other like minded fifth graders.  As we are waiting for Apryl, Alexys was telling me ALL about what she and her classmates learned that afternoon.  Most of which she was slightly embarrassed to talk at length about so I kept my inquiry short for her sake.  I did keep telling her that everything she is learning is very normal and happens to everyone at some point in their lives.  Today however, I was thinking about my run-of-the-mill answers and or replies, and though maybe I owe her a little more than, "it's normal", "we all go through it.".  I guess it comes down to how much she really wants to talk about this so called "sensitive" subject.  Our oldest girls know they can come to their dad and me about anything, but some things are much harder to talk about.  Apryl has always been more open to the idea of sharing her thoughts and opinions on every subject, Alexys on the other hand is more reserved--for the first time EVER!!  I don't have any issues talking with her about sex and how babies are made, but for her, just the thought of her mother saying the word sex makes her cringe!  She was somewhat appalled that yesterdays class started off with another child asking what breasts were.  I thought to myself, just wait until later, the questions get better, or worse depending on how you look at things!  Final note~~good luck to fifth grade teachers everywhere who are going through this unit right now! 

Patience Test

pa·tience

/ˈpāSHəns/Noun

The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.





Synonyms

forbearance - endurance - sufferance - solitaire



This definition pretty much sums it all up!  Looking at those five wonderfully bright, energetic, wholesome faces, one would never suspect they could warrant someone (mostly their mother) to want to pull out their hair!  There is absolutely NO spot in this house that is safe from a child finding me!  They have even discovered how to unlock a bathroom door!  Now, the locked door no longer means "stay out", it is a challenge of all challenges.  "I know she has to be in there doing something spectacular, why else would she want to keep everyone out??"...I imagine to be the context of their thought process after they try the door handle several times only to be rebuffed!  After numerous kicks, punches and objects thrown at the door have failed to open it, I can usually count on a barrage of questions.  "Mom, can I come in?", is the standard lead off, followed by, "why can't I come in?".  I will get a fair amount of pleading with little fingers plunged under the door jam trying their hardest to wave at me!  There are times that I am actually not doing anything but trying to get a moments peace! YES, in the da#n bathroom!  I have nowhere to hide, they have taken over!  :) Trouble really starts when they realize I have gone in there to make a phone call.  "Who are you talking to?", "I wanna say hi to grandma!!".  No one in their right mind wants to talk to a child they can hear over the phone and through a door!  I think these kiddos have grandparents who are humoring them for the sake of my sanity!  About this time is when things get quiet because their brains are working overtime to come up with a plan to spring me from my "sanctuary".  "Bye, gotta go.", I say to whoever I was talking with, in a rush to stop all hell from breaking loose!  When the door does finally open I can see they are not sure whether to cheer and hug me or run away and hide!  I keep reminding myself that one day they will all be gone and I will be allotted as much "me" time as I can stand, so I should be appreciating every moment.  Whatever!  I want just a small slice of that pie now and I don't think there is anything wrong with that!