Any guesses?

What is your interpretation of this picture?

Too much time in the carseat???

Can you see the imprint, "flo", on the back of Jake's head? This is from his carseat...I have a little bit of mommy guilt over this one. Sorry Jake!

Allowable Speech Impediments

I love how kids turn everyday words into something so much more creative. For example, for years Noah and Grace called breakfast "breafakst." and Noah called fruit snacks "noot nacks". Grace still has a hard time with the word "regular" as she says "reglear." Or a few of my personal favorites "ciderpickle" for motorcycle (nephew Ty) and "schlocate" for chocolate (niece Olivia).
Lucy has recently added to this fun list as she calls an elevator "the alligator". But today's speech impediment may be the best yet! Here is how the conversation went:

Lucy: Mom, will you hand me the hannah montizer?
Me: The what??
Lucy: The hannah montizer!
Me: The what???
Lucy: THE HANNAH MONTIZER!
Me: I don't know what that is.
Lucy: You know, the stuff to clean your hands?!?!
Me: Oh! The hand sanitizer?
Lucy: Yeah! The hannah montizer.

Love it. I have banned Noah and Grace from telling her the real word. From now on at our house hand sanitizer will be referred to as hannah montizer.

Sand...

Remember as a kid when you would go to the lake or beach and play in the sand? I remember it being a wonderful experience full of fun. Somehow my feelings have changed about sand as I have grown up and have experience sand as a mother rather than a child. Where it used to be a creative medium, now it is just a messy inconvenience when going to the lake. Trying to get kids in the car without tracking sand everywhere is a task I have not mastered. Is it even possible to keep all sand in the sandy area? Maybe this says more about me and my need for order rather than actual sand. But when I am trying to wash off sandy feet, hands, hair, and other unmentionables, I just think, why is this fun? I cannot think of anything more uncomfortable than sand in places sand should not be! And yet, it does not seem to bother children. They run around and sit and play as if they do not have small granules of sand rubbing and chaffing in various places on their little bodies.

I will continue to go to the lake and I will continue try to master the art of keeping sand contained to the sand area. And I will do this because my kids love it! One thing sand does have in its favor is that it is very photogenic! So here is my attempt at trying to learn to appreciate sand. I do have to admit, it does look good in photos.

Jackson Tyrrell"s head. Body buried by Grace, Lucy and Ashley Tyrrell

Camping Clusters

A new snack has been born....

Recipe:

1 package of Sam's Indulgent Trail Mix

A hot car

A cooler with partially melted ice

Directions:

Leave one bag of Sam's Indulgent Trail Mix in the window of a hot car with the sun beating down on it until the contents have melted together. Once melted, place in cooler until melted pieces reform, creating a nice coating around all ingredients. Remove from cooler and break up into clusters. Serve!

This is the best trail mix ever! Here is what it says on the bag:

"A decadent sweet and savory dream of white chocolatey drops, chocolate drops, peanut butter drops, golden raisins, cranberries, almonds, peanuts and cashews."

You may be thinking this is a joke. But I can assure you it is not! This may just be the best snack ever created. I encourage you to try it. However, I think next time I will put the ingredients into small baggies before placing them in the hot car to melt. That way they are already in individual clusters!

Caution: Very messy. Wipes needed.

Oh What Do You Do In The Summer Time???

With 4 Kids???

Day 1: Head to the Park

The water was more interesting than the playground

Will someone PLEASE pull up Lucy's pants?

Who could resist brother's in hats?

Lucy and Grace are enjoying being together again

This adventure ended with Lucy having a major bloody nose and me being totally unprepared! Luckily this park is just down the hill from our house. So we ran home with Lucy using Jake's blanket as a tissue! By the end of day 1, I had been pooped on (Jake) spit on (Grace) and bled on (Lucy) The start of an interesting summer!

Bitter Sweet Moments

We are always so proud of our children when they reach milestones. We cheer and congratulate them on their accomplishments. I have always loved watching my kids experience new things and accomplish new tasks. But there is something different about child number 4, the caboose of the family. Jake has started rolling over and while this is a great accomplishment, it also marks the end of the newborn stage. He can no longer be placed on couches or beds. He has to be buckled in his bouncer, (ok, so I am admitting what a bad mother I am in these last 2 sentences. I don't always buckle and I do put my babies on the couch!!) He has also begun holding toys and wanting to be entertained. And so it is bitter sweet as I love watching his personality grow and I know sleeping through the night is just around the corner. But I will miss the newborn stage. I will miss the smell of a newborn, the sweetness and simplicity. The tiny fingers and toes and the diapers the size of his dad's hand. I will miss how he would sleep in my arms and how his whole body would fit on my lap. There is so much to look forward to. But I will miss the newborn stage.

A Busy Weekend!

Grace has had a busy weekend! She had her last day of Kindergarten and she also participated in her ballet and tap recital. We are so proud of her. She has worked very hard this year and is all ready for 1st grade. Way to go Grace!

Kindergarten Celebration!

Grace and her school friends

Mrs. Alff, the best K teacher around!

Grace has been working hard to learn her ballet dance and tap dance, and she did a great job. We are so proud of her! She is a beautiful ballerina.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury....

Do you think a jury could take him seriously with a gap between his front teeth?

On Monday, Aaron was on his way to Grand Forks South Dakota for a trial. As he was driving, he tried to open a bottle with is teeth and ended up knocking out a filling he had in his front tooth!! He chipped it when he was 10 years old and had a filling there so he did not have a gap. Well, when it popped out he panicked and drove straight home. He called the dentist and said, "I have a dental emergency!.....I cannot give a closing argument with a huge gap between my front teeth." I am sure the receptionist was very concerned about his closing argument. So they got him in and he got it fixed and got back on the road. When I saw him, I could not stop laughing.

Counting my Blessings

Look how lucky I am!

Mother's Day Gifts

Gotta love homemade mother's day gifts!

Lucy drew this for me. She said the drawing on the top right just below the white sticker is a picture of me.

Noah is so sweet. He made personalized stationary for me. He decorated them so cute. My personal favorite is the one that says "B.M.E." (Best Mom Ever!)

Grace painted this pot and gave me this flower. Love it!

My Sweet Girls

I have the best helpers! For mother's day, Aaron and the kids gave me a new set of dishes! I love them! We had to use them for our Sunday dinner, so the girls helped me wash and dry them.

After washing them, they set the table for dinner. Grace had the idea to put a Hershey's Kiss at every plate. Lucy took the cup she had been drinking out of all day, and used it to fill up the glasses. Sanitary????? I love the way they set the table. Thanks for your help girls!

More Visitors!!

We loved having Aaron's sister Kara and her husband Cory here this past weekend. The kids loved playing games with them and we all enjoyed getting to know Uncle Cory a little better! Thanks for the visit.

Missing Texas

This morning I went downstairs to find Lucy pulling all the DVD's out of their cases and putting them in a CD book. Hmmm....This is what we do when we are getting ready for a long drive with the DVD players. Here is how the conversation went -

Me: Lucy, what are you doing?

Lucy: I am getting ready to go!

Me: Where are we going?

Lucy: I am getting ready for our hike to Texas!

Lucy really misses her cousin Jackson in Texas. She misses him enough to want to drive 14 hours to get there! Now that is love.

9 Years Ago Today...

I married the man of my dreams and my best friend.

Now, 4 kids, 4 kidney stones, 6 houses, 5 cities, 5 cars, and 5 fish tanks later, Aaron is still the man of my dreams and still my best friend.

Spring is Here!

Grace and her ladybug

The ladybug flew away!

Lucy and her sweet friend Ashley having the first picnic of the season! Don't you love the glasses and Lucy's hair??

Total Babe.

Best Teacher & Cookies EVER!!

About a week ago, Aaron was out of town and I was in charge of a PTA event at the school. It had been a crazy week of preparations and I was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. The day before the event, I was at the school checking on some things and ran into Noah's teacher Mrs. Thoma. She offered to take Jake for me while I finished up what I was doing and I was so grateful for her help. Then, she asked if Aaron would be back for the PTA event the following night. I told her he would not and she quickly offered to help out with the kids! She said she would babysit Lucy and Jake at her home during the event. I was so touched by her willingness to help me and relieved that I would not have to take care of all 4 kids and run this event at the same time. So Friday evening I dropped Lucy and Jake off and headed to the school. When I returned, I was greeted by Mrs. Thoma holding a happily sleeping Jake, and Lucy hiding under the table because she did not want to leave. Lucy showed me all the things she had done including: making and playing with play dough, eating grilled cheese sandwiches, and "working" in Mrs. Thoma's office. She had a wonderful time! Mrs. Thoma gave her the play dough and a note pad that Lucy had been "working" on. She also gave us a bag of cookies to take home. These cookies have to be the best cookies I have ever eaten! After eating almost the whole bag by myself, I asked her for the recipe. So I have listed it below and I will warn you that you will be addicted once you start eating them!

So, thanks to Mrs. Thoma for so generously offering to help me and for making Lucy and Jake so happy while I was away. I truly appreciated the help and the recipe!

Mrs. Thoma's Monster Cookies

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 12-ounce jar creamy peanut butter

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup multi-colored chocolate candies

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup raisins, optional

2 teaspoons baking soda

4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.
In a very large mixing bowl, combine the eggs and sugars. Mix well. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well. Stir in the chocolate candies, chocolate chips, raisins, if using, baking soda, and oatmeal. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not over bake. Let stand for about 3 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool. When cool, store in large resealable plastic bags.

Conversation...

Me: Lucy, where are you?
Lucy: Right here.
Me: Oh, where did you come from?
Lucy: From you.
Me: From my tummy?
Lucy: Yes.
Me: Did you like being in my tummy?
Lucy: Yes, because there were smarshmellows in there.