I'm Useless

I picked up the final installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, today. For the next couple days I will be useless when it comes to taking care of work, house, and family. Don't worry about the boys, they will be fed, bathed and put to bed on time. However, every spare moment I have will be spent with my nose between the pages, devouring every last word. I hope you won't be too upset if I don't blog for a while. I can't imagine that it will take me too long to finish the book. I hope the boys don't mind entertaining themselves while I read. I am kinda glad that Prince Charming is working a later shift this week. Then I won't feel guilty that I want to read. He usually likes to spend time with me that doesn't involve me ignoring him while I indulge in a little vampire drama. Anyway, Prince Charming is making dinner, the boys are playing nicely (for the moment), so I am off to read. I'll be back.

Are you a lurker?

Okay all of you blog lurkers. You know who you are. You come to my blog, you read it, you leave. All without leaving a comment! Now, that doesn't mean you have to leave a comment EVERY time. However, if you email me to comment on it, then you should be leaving it right there on the blog. If you enjoy reading my blog, leave a comment. Then I won't feel like I am the only person in the world that actually reads it. :) Show me the love.

The bug

B was a bug this morning. By bug, I mean praying mantis. At least according to him. After a rocky morning I am glad that he found his mask to put on. All of a sudden his imagination took off and he was doing all kinds of things that regular bugs do. What do regular bugs do, you may ask? Well, they walk on their hands and feet, tickle people with their antennae, and try to scare dogs with their big googly eyes of course! At lunch things got even more exciting! Bugs have to eat, so for lunch my little praying mantis had a caterpillar (hotdog), ladybugs (strawberries), flies (blueberries), a long snake (cheddar cheese sticks), and nectar (watered down OJ).

I am really glad that a tiny bug mask made our grouchy morning so much better! I had to write this down because it is moments like these that tend to fade with time. I wonder what a praying mantis does after he gets up from the nap he isn't taking?

Hair and honey don't mix

E had a little bit of a cough last night, so when I went to check on him before we went to bed I thought I would give him a bit of honey to help him out. I had the spoon full of honey in my right hand and the limp noodle (E) in my left hand. While trying to get the poor kid to sit up, I noticed that I had been slowly pouring the honey into the crib. I noticed it all over his blankey and some on his pillow. It wasn't until Prince Charming pointed it out that I realized I had gotten some in his hair, too. I figured that it wouldn't kill him overnight, so I left it for the morning. When I went to get him up this morning I saw the damage I had done. Now dried, the honey (which I thought was a drop or two) really did a number on his hair. This kid normally has some pretty crazy bed hed, but this took the cake. Fortunately, a trip to Aunt J's house and a swim in the pool fixed everything!

Summertime Blues

It didn't think it could happen. We have far too many entertaining things around this house for the boys to actually get bored. Swimming lessons have been put on hold due to pool renovations. School doesn't start for another 3 weeks. What are two boys to do? Um, I could think of a couple things. Build some crazy train tracks, build some things with blocks, work some puzzles, look at some books, play with the million other toys we have around the house. Nope. "I don't want to do that." However, B could play on the Thomas and Friends website for hours. Or, the Cars game on the Wii. Unfortunately (for him) those have time limits. Now, I am all down for bringing out the playdough and the watercolor paints every once in a while. I am good for a few rounds of Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders. I am also happy to sit down and read some of the new "Magic Treehouse" books we have. But, I am staring to feel like a cruise director! B has been able to entertain himself since he was a baby. Same with E What has changed? It is definitely too hot to go outside. They still seem to want to, but I don't. I don't have time for more than one shower a day. It is like their imaginations need a kick start. I have two bumps on a log that I am not too sure what to do with. Maybe they are bored with me. They were just away from home 2 weeks ago. I guess the novelty of being in their own home with their own things has worn off. Oh well. Fortunately, we find these moments of silliness that seem to entertain for about 10 minutes....

Can you tell I am excited about posting video to the blog? I just got a Flip camcorder and I am having fun taking short videos. Yay!

Where have I been??

Holy Moly! I need a vacation from my vacation! It all started on June 26th when my parents picked up the boys and whisked them off to the cabin for a nice 2 week stay. I had the next two days to tie up loose ends with my business, pack, and "do nothing" as Prince Charming requested I do. Surprisingly, I didn't have much time to "do nothing." I thought I wouldn't know what to do with myself considering there weren't any children in the house. I kept myself quite busy, and on June 27th Prince Charming and I drove to Los Angeles for a wedding weekend.

My very good friend, Jason, FINALLY married his best gal, Karen, on June 28th. I couldn't be happier for him because he has settled down with a fantastic lady. I think the best part of the weekend was seeing old friends! Some I haven't seen since my own wedding 7 years ago. Others I haven't seen since college! We were able to relax by the pool before the wedding, we did a lot of laughing, and really enjoyed our weekend among friends!

On Sunday, the 29th, we headed back home so that I could do some laundry and repack my suitcase. I headed up to the cabin with my sister on Monday, the 30th to be up there for the 4th of July celebrations. Prince Charming stayed at home so that he could get some much needed work accomplished at his job. He was certainly missed, but he did surprise us by coming up for one day! YAY! Anyway, we spent our time staying cool (a nice 75 degrees compared to the 105 in Phoenix), building blocks, digging up dirt with the dump trucks, going on nightly rides in the buggy, and getting into regular little boy mischief. We did have a great 4th of July celebration! We decorated the buggy and rode in the Bullfrog Loop parade. We actually won a prize! We got some t-shirts. I wonder what the winners received. Perhaps we will steal the title next year. After the parade we filled our bellies with yummy food before heading back to the cabin for a much needed nap! The week I was at the cabin passed too quickly. Once again, it was time to head down the mountain.

Prince Charming, my Sis, and I left the cabin on the 5th. We got home with just enough time to do some laundry and eat some dinner before heading to the airport to get on a plane bound for Las Vegas. Vegas, baby! I wish I could say we were going there for leisure. I had a Baby Boot Camp conference to attend and Prince Charming tagged along. I had a great time at my conference and learned a lot. Prince Charming said that he will bring his own fun next time. :) We did manage to get out to see a show. We saw "O" at the Bellagio and it was fantastic! Of course we had to leave a deposit at the bank of Las Vegas before leaving. We love ourselves some blackjack! Overall it was a great trip, but I was ready to get back and go get the boys! We got back home on the evening of the 8th.

After a morning of scrambling around and trying to get things done, I headed back up to the cabin on the 9th. This time I was alone. The boys were pretty excited to see me, but also were hoping to see Dad and Aunt J as well. Good thing I came armed with presents from the M&M store in Vegas! The rest of the week was spent preparing the boys, mostly B, for our return home. B told me every day that he didn't want to go home and that he wants to live at the cabin forever. I don't blame him, it is fun there! I tried to soak in as much cool weather as possible because it is so darn hot at home! My dad did get a new toy while we were there. He bought a remote controlled airplane. We spent a while out on the golf course one evening playing with it. The boys were responsible for retrieving the plane once it crashed. As much fun as it was, it didn't last. The poor thing suffered a broken wing and then a destroyed tail wing. Replacement parts were ordered and hopefully my Dad is practicing right this very moment! I will put up a video at the end of this post so that you can enjoy our attemps at flying that thing!

All in all, it was a great 2 weeks. As crazy and fast paced as it was, I enjoyed all of our stops along the way. I am very glad to be home and back into the swing of things. I think the boys are glad, too. Thanks Amee and Papa for taking care of the boys so that we could galavant all over the Southwest. We really appreciated all of the help.

Now, it is off to mediate a "discussion" between the boys about dump trucks and who gets to play with which one.

My last night in La-La land

By La-La land, I am not referring to Los Angeles. I am referring to the state of mind that is characterized by unrealistic expectations and lack of seriousness. I have been away from home since June 27th. My children have been living at the cabin with my parents. Since then, I have travelled to California for a wedding, came back home only to change the contents of my suitcase, went up to the cabin for several days, came back home once again to change the contents of my suitcase, went to Las Vegas for a Baby Boot Camp Conference, came back home to repack again, and then back up to the cabin. This is my last night at the cabin as tomorrow after lunch, I am packing up all of our things and I am bring our boys back home. While I have enjoyed this crazy travelling adventure, I am definitely ready to go back home and be normal again. I think my boys are ready, too. However, if you ask B he will deny that he is ready to go home and tell me that he wants to live at the cabin forever. Who wouldn't? The weather is perfect, the boys can play outside all day, I can sit on the porch and work a crossword puzzle or read a book. My Mom and Dad cook all of our meals AND do our laundry, the boys can get away with pretty much anything, and I don't really have too many responsibilities. I am looking forward to getting home and back into our routines. I have missed Baby Boot Camp classes and all of my friends there. B has missed swimming lessons. All of us have missed Dad!! I have seen more of Prince Charming than the boys have and I know that they miss him. I am looking forward to posting pictures of all of my adventures soon. Of course, that will have to happen after we get home, unwind, unpack, grocery shop, chill, and at least until I start to tackle the mountain of Baby Boot Camp work I have waiting for me. Anyway, I am going to enjoy my last evening of not being entirely responsible, because tomorrow afternoon, this Family is back in business.