The Need For Speed

I can't tell ya how much fun my kids had riding with their dad on Uncle J's motorcycle. They were having the time of their lives. Bob told me to give it a spin. "No way!" I told him. "I have no desire to wreck on that thing." He kept insisting, bugging me really, telling me it was SOOO easy, and that I REALLY needed to do it. Peer pressure got the best of me, so I took the bike for a spin. I was totally confident and rode like a pro until it was time to turn. Now what? I started slowly, alright maybe way too slowly, and the bike was tipping on me. Knowing the bike on top of me would be a REALLY bad thing, I kicked it into gear and became hell on wheels, blasted up over the curb, ripped off the top of my big toe, darn sandals, and nearly rode right into the neighbor's house. Luckily my mad skills allowed me to get the motorcycle back on track before that major catastrophe happened. Then I rode up to Bob, the instigator. At that point I was laughing pretty hard, you know when you're adrenaline is escalated, heart is pounding and you're so scared you know nothing else to do but laugh? So, where are the photos of me, you ask? Bob was too terrified to snap a photo. What a wimp, huh?! You should have seen his face. He was whiter than my legs in spring time. He thought for sure I was going to break my leg. Come on now, it was just a little motorcycle mishap, aint' no thing. This girl is SO much tougher than that. "What?" "Me, take J's motorcycle out for a spin again in the near future", you dare........

"DON'T EVEN ASK!"

The Proofs in the Pics.

I AM TELLING YA...

It's looking, tasting, feeling, smelling, AND sounding...

LIKE SUMMER ROUND' HERE!

A Taste of Summer

We tasted summer yesterday....not spring...but FULL BLOWN summer!

1. It was 85 degrees in Boise yesterday.

2.My kids ran through the sprinklers at their friend's house.

3. I lathered the monkeys in sunscreen and basked in the smell of it the rest of the day.

4. I wore shorts (mayonnaise legs and all).

5. The sprinklers turned on, watering our green grass.

6. I drove with my windows down and the warm breeze in my hair.

7. The cement was hot on my feet when I went out to retrieve the mail.

8. My kids ate lunch on the back porch.

9. Robert went on a long bike ride and got a sunburn.

10. We slept with our windows open last night.

We tasted it, and it was Deeeee-licious!

AHHHH, SUMMER!

Totally Worth It

Bob called me last week and said he heard the Easter train ride from Horseshoe Bend to Banks was, "Totally worth it!" So, get some tickets pronto he demanded. Since I bow down to him and follow every demand he gives, I quickly got on-line and purchased tickets....ya right. I really did get those tickets though. I don't know who was more excited for the outing, us, or the kids. I love train rides. I remember going on a few as a kid and thinking it was the coolest thing ever.

So, Sat. Bob is farting around, he leaves to go get his hair cut about a 1/2 hour before we need to get in the car and drive the 40 min. drive to Horseshoe Bend. Needless to say, he gets home late. I am stressed. We don't have enough time to get to Horseshoe Bend, and I am going to probably start crying if we miss this train ride. So, on the way, we prep the kids for disappointment. "We just might not make it," we let them know. Tensions were high on the little jont, but Robert peeled into the parking lot and the girls and I jumped out and sprinted to the train before they closed the doors and took off. Whew! We barely made it. SERIOUSLY!

Boy was I glad we did because we ended up having such a fun time. The kids loved walking through to the various cars, getting snacks, and enjoyed the picturesque views. The weather was great, not too cold at least. Our favorite thing was sitting in the outdoor car where you could feel the wind in your hair, smell the fresh mountain air, and look out at the beautiful river below. We sat right by Mr. Idaho Potato. Owen and Avery felt the need to keep him company, hugging him, shaking his hand, and even danced a little jig with him.

The train stopped in Banks and let the kids off for an egg hunt. Payton gathered up her 10 eggs quickly. Poor Owen only found one, and little, miss Avery found NONE! That was a let down, but that's what happens when your kids are timid and don't yet know how to throw an elbow to get an egg.....maybe next year! After the hunt, it was back down the mountain to Horseshoe bend. It was fun to watch the kids giddy with excitement over the train ride, and I think Bob was right......

"It was totally worth it!"

Easter 2009

This picture would lead you to believe my kids were having the best night ever dying eggs together, laughing it up....good times......

Truth be told..........someone farted! Lovely...aren't they?!

The Easter Bunny showed up Saturday morning. Pay and Owen were up early...no signs of sleeping Avery yet.

The bunny brought Pay some food for her Baby Alive doll. I had a good laugh watching her feed her baby on the toilet! She's a multi-tasker like her mama.

Avery showed up an hour or so later. She was pretty excited about her stuffed bunny, which she ended up losing. We searched and searched the house for a day. Then Robert ran to Wal-Mart and bought her another. Sure enough the old bunny surfaced. His response to Avery when she asked with confusion about the two bunnies, "Wow! It must be an Easter miracle!" Good one, Bob!

Easter morning we spruced up the kids in their new spring, Easter outfits.

The dirty monkeys clean up nicely!

I am pretty much in love with these three kids. Holidays....and our lives in general are so much richer because of them. I really think this is my favorite stage in life so far.

April marks one year since we have been trying for another baby. I have had a rough few weeks. I am feeling sad and thinking we might be done, and I am not ready...because being their mom......has brought me my greatest joy.

Thank you, Payton, Avery, and Owen.

Withdrawls

I've been in a blogging rut. I don't even carry my camera with me anymore, and I couldn't tell ya the last time I downloaded photos. It's a crying shame, I tell ya. It has to be common though, right?! I'll find my blogging mojo soon, won't I?

I hope so, because I love blogging, and more than writing my own thoughts and posting my own pics., I LOVE viewing every one else's blogs. That's me, blog stalker number 9. So, I think, I must keep going. Because what would happen if everyone was in a blogging rut and stopped blogging entirely? Oh, that would be bad. This girl would go into some serious withdrawls!

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!

I woke early today, went down stairs, grabbed my Primary manual and sat at the kitchen table to prepare my lesson. Yes, our church starts at 9, and no I hadn't looked at the lesson until then, but it was just one more thing I put on the back burner last week. My mind began to wander...it's Sunday, this is my last day of spring break, life continues as normal tomorrow, the weather is going to be cold and cloudy all week, I have so much to do.......on and on and on.

Next, that turning, almost panicky feeling took over my insides and made me sad, heaviness in the chest, water in the eyes, sad. YUCK! I don't like feeling this way. Bob meandered downstairs, hair in serious disarray and eyes straining to open, "How ya doin', " he asks. "Not good." I answer. "I am sick inside. My life resumes tomorrow, and I am not ready!"

You see, I spent the last week doing nothing. I had NO work to do. My kids had NO school, piano, swimming or soccer. We didn't help watch friend's kids or have friends over to play (despite their pathetic pleading attempts). It was just me and the kids for one whole week. I loved every minute of it (minus a few moments...I mean lets be realistic!). We played outside, grocery shopped, went to lunch, hung out at the mall, rode the many escalators, held every whining puppy in the pet store, cleaned out closets, made pot pie for dinner, rented movies, watched a lot of basketball, and even weeded the yard. This is how life is supposed to be.

Robert dropped himself down on the couch and held out his giant, monkey arms to me. I snuggled up to him, and as he patted my back he said,"Just two more months. You can do it." He's right. I hadn't thought of it that way. There is light at the end of this (Calgon take me away) tunnel. Two more months and it's SUMMER. Two more months and he will be more acclimated to his new job, thus getting him home at a decent hour. His big race will be ending, thus having him home with us more often instead of him out swimming, biking and running. And as for me, I am taking the summer off...TEACHING HIATUS, I TELL YA! It will be three months of bliss, no work, me and my kids, sun shining, no school, piano, swimming, or soccer.

Luckily, the sick, heaviness in the chest, eyes slushing with tears, sad feeling, began to slowly subside.

And so I say, "Bring it on Mr. Tomorrow. Throw a million THINGS TO DO at me like you're slinging mud, because I can take it!

But, don't think for a slim second this anxious mama isn't...

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS!