Big Birthday Boy

Can you believe my baby is turning 4!!!  It's amazing how fast time has gone by these last few years.  Although I still feel a bit like a newcomer to Utah, Joey wasn't even crawling when we moved here.  The problem is that as he gets older, so do I.  My days of mothering babies are gone and I find myself missing it...at times. Oh, I don't miss the hard stuff, like never getting any sleep or things like that, but I love holding sleeping babies, and the sweet spirit that they bring into the house.  Joey was a pretty good baby, although as a 2 and 3 year old he definitely gave me a run for my money!  I've learned a few things from my older three so have done a few things better (I hope) and of course, like us all, I've made a few mistakes.  I've made the mistake of letting him out of the shopping cart a few times; now keeping him contained when he knows freedom is so close is hard.  One thing I've learned is the magic of the word "maybe!"  "Can we get a treat after dinner?"  "Maybe!"  "Can we watch a movie tonight?"  "Maybe!"  "Can we go to Chuck E Cheese?"  "Maybe!"  No broken promises when things don't happen, and no reasons for screaming because you've left the box of possibility open!  My other favorite (with younger ones) is "Maybe for your birthday!"  That does work like a charm with Joey.  Either, if said with enough excitement and hope works like a charm...they won't even realize they got shut down!  But Joey has been so much fun, most of the time.  He has definitely been the most expensive of all my kids in regards to all the things he has broken, but he can make us laugh and laugh too.  It is so fun watching him grow up, and his little cheeser smile always makes my heart melt.  He loves to hang with his older brothers and tease his older sister.  What a boy--loves guns, rocks, dirt, trucks, anything manly.  Joey has taught me to not sweat the small stuff---and he's caused a lot of "small stuff."  I love having him in our family.

His party went well.  It was just family.  We had an Avengers theme--he's totally into the Avengers right now.  I didn't get any real pictures since I was just enjoying myself, but here he is with his dad opening presents.  

He wanted Avengers cupcakes so I delivered like the great mom I am.  He blew the candle out so fast I didn't even get a shot!  And just like Jacob used to be, he didn't want any cake or ice cream.  What a silly kid!

Joey loved his party, and it was so much fun.

Keep calm and...go to school!

This is an historic occasion people.  A day to be remembered in history, a day to be celebrated by generations to come.  Today is the day {pause for effect} that all 4 of my kids {one more pause for good measure} are in school!  [Background cheering....by me]  Yes, Tyler in 6th grade, Jake in 3rd, Maggie in kindergarten and Joey in preschool!  Okay, so it may have been a stretch saying all my kids are "in school", but I will have a couple hours 3 times a week while Joey is in preschool that I can be childless.  Ah the freedom!  I'm most excited about the grocery store.  I made the "syntax error" (as Eric calls them) of letting Joey out of the cart to walk next to me at the store a while ago.  BIG MISTAKE.  Let me warn all you mothers of young 'uns to NEVER LET THEM WALK AT THE STORE unless you forever want it to be a battle of wills.  Once they taste the freedom they can't resist.  Strapping them in is futile--my kids could always climb out of those.  And even if you could strap them so tight they can't even breathe, you will still be listening to crying and whining the whole time.  Just trust me, don't do it.  Your kid won't be "different" or "better behaved."  You will just end up doing what I do and as your kids are running like wild animals down the aisles, you will look around with an expression on your face of, "Whose kids are those????"

But of course I do like to take credit for my kids when they are behaving.  Look at what a good looking bunch I've made (I guess Eric's genes helped too...)

Hooray for school!

I joke about things that are hard with kids, as most things are.  But with all the kids going to some type of school I have thought about things that are actually EASIER once you have kids....most things in life get quite a bit more difficult with the addition of little ones, but have no fear, there are a few things that actually get easier!

1-gaining weight.  And I'm not just talking pregnancy weight here.  It is WAY easier to put on some poundage once you have kids.  For starters there is less time to work out--it seems like no matter how early you try to get up, your kids beat you to it.  Plus snacking on their treats, finishing off their lunch plates, eating the crust you cut off their PBJ sandwiches...it all adds up people.

2-It gets way easier to decline an invitation to an event you DO NOT want to go to (so many options here, no sitter, kids sick, etc)--note: this also works for leaving an event/meeting early, getting off an annoying phone call...same excuses

3-eating sugary cereals for breakfast--let's face it, without kids you don't often get to buy the cereals you secretly yearn for (cocoa puffs, lucky charms, cinnamon toast crunch), you feel obligated to purchase oat bran, muesli, all fiber because you are a mature adult.  But now with kids, sneaking a bowl of something yummy at night is pretty simple.  (Actually, I try to stay away from cereals that are really offensive [Captain Crunch] but the first ingredient in Cinnamon Toast Crunch is whole grain wheat...take that. 

4-It becomes way easier to ignore other people's annoying/crying kids--mostly because you are just so relieved that finally this once it isn't your own kid

5-be a little lazy--I know, you think I am crazy, but despite the fact that having kids takes SO much energy, it has it's built in perks to avoid doing at least a few of the little things you don't want to do--"Joey, go get mommy a tissue!" "Tyler let the dog out" "Maggie will you get mommy a pen?" etc.

6-It's easier to appreciate the little things--the last box of diapers you ever have to buy, the first day of school, when your kids tell you they love you when you tuck them in, when your 5th grader does his homework without being asked, when they put their cup in the dishwasher instead of just the sink (although at times I'm grateful for the sink instead of leaving it out on the counter), when they can finally dress themselves (matching is overrated), when you put them to bed and they actually stay in bed...  little things that mean a lot.

7-to find an excuse to stay in your sweats all day...do we really need a reason?

8-to not judge other moms (you know, the way you did before you had kids) when their kids don't match, have messy hair, dirty clothes, snot on their face, scream in the store, you think to yourself that "My kids will NEVER (fill in the blank). Once you have kids it's no more -- we all know that we are all doing the best we can--its' tough out there!

9-it's easier to feel smart--your kids think you know everything, that's why they ask impossible questions...all the time.  We can feel intelligent helping them with their questions and homework.  That is until about 6th grade--but then we have the magic of the internet to look things up PLUS the ever favorite excuse of telling my kid to go back in their books and figure out how to do that algebra problem--he will learn it better by doing it himself.  

10-And finally it becomes so much easier to understand what true, unconditional, unfaltering, immense love is--who would have thought that someone so small could steal so much of your heart.

Sometimes parenting is "all joy and no fun", but it's the best worst time I've ever had.

Grandma on the Mountain

Last week I took the kids to my mom's house, known to Joey as "Grandma on the Mountain."  It's pretty funny because their OTHER grandma, Grandma Swenson, actually DOES live on a mountain.  My mom just has a big hill behind her house.  Joey kept talking about "Grandma on the Mountain."  I kept thinking he was referring to Grandma Swenson.  It took a while, but I realized he was talking about my mom.  My efforts to explain to him that Grandma SWENSON lived on the mountain were in vain, so my mom is "Grandma on the Mountain."  

I drove the kids out all by myself--it sounds awful, huh?  I'm so strong!  Actually I've done it quite a few times now and I have a great system going.  I make it in less time than when Eric comes with me.  We leave around 4 a.m. and don't stop until we get out for breakfast at Denny's in St. George.  This drive I only had to stop one more time in Barstow for gas/potty/snack break.  Eric always makes the mistake of buying the kids drinks and stuff.  Big no no.  This is where the true sacrifices of motherhood come into play!  No matter if I want a drink I don't stop.  Once the kids have more than a mouthful of liquid it is potty-stop mania for the next hour and a half.  Their miniscule bladders just can't handle it.  

Not 3 minutes after we arrived the kids were putting on their swimsuits and jumping into the hot tub.  They will miss that for sure once my mom moves out of that house!  It is the favorite activity.  We went to the beach a couple times.  The weather was HOT and HUMID so the beach actually felt nice.  I have to embrace the fact that we will get all sandy, the bags sandy, the car sandy, towels get sandy, EVERYTHING GETS SANDY (internal screaming).  Deep breath.  I must embrace it to have a good time and it helps!

Tyler and Jacob got way out there in waves this time--it was awesome!  We found a ton of seashells and cool stuff.  There was a big storm out in the ocean and it was washing up big waves with all the shells in them.  It was a blast. 

We also went to the Long Beach Aquarium one day.  That is a really fun aquarium--and I am pretty picky since I grew up going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  You get to touch jellyfish, little sharks, manta rays, anemones, starfish, sea cucumbers, etc.  After the aquarium we took a boat ride around Long Beach Harbor.  We got to see a bunch of seals and sea lions so that was fun.

 We finally came prepared for the beach, after all these years, with an umbrella and chair.  We finally got it all figure out now that we probably won't be going back!

 I just love the look of sheer joy!

 Oh the ever popular hot tub!  Does it get better than that--hot tubbing with soda and pizza?  No school, no chores, no homework...that's the life!  I have a feeling that they will be in for a rude awakening next week when school starts (and I will too!).

 We all went out to Farrell's for dinner one night.  It was so loud--awesome because my kids didn't annoy anyone!  We got yummy HUGE burgers and some ice cream afterwards of course.  Maggie and I shared.

 Even Joey got one!

 Of course we had to take the annual trip to Chuck E. Cheese at grandma's house.  Joey LOVES Chuck E Cheese!  I know a whole bunch of you are groaning out there at the idea of going there, but I'll tell you what, any place I can take all my kids where they all have a good time, where we are all hand stamped so no one leaves or gets lost, treats, I can sit and relax, is a GOOD place for me!  Plus they have revamped and have a ton of new video games so it is way less ghetto than it used to be.  Works for us!

 The best picture of the trip...   This was her umpteenth time in the hot tub.  I'm surprised my kids didn't turn into raisins what with how much time they spent getting wrinkled in the water!

 Jacob was a great help with Joey.

 Some aquarium pics....I don't know why my pictures uploaded out of order.

It was a really fun trip, as usual going down there.  One funny thing, Maggie asked me "Why did Jesus make Jacob a hot guy?"  I looked at her and kind of laughed and said, "What?"  "Why is Jacob such a hot guy?  You know, he likes hot things?"  (Meaning spicy food).  I laughed.  How cute--and with Maggie being 5 going on 16 it's a good thing she doesn't know about REAL hot guys yet!

An astute observation

In Eric's truck there is an actual outlet to plug things in (I know, where were all these great gadgets when we were young?  Remember pushing in the cigarette lighter and then watching it glow?  That was our highlight of being in a vehicle.)  Anyway, we were all riding in the truck the other day and Joey happened to be sitting up front between me and Eric.  He was looking at (pushing) every button on the dash.  Then he stops, looks at something for a few quiet seconds, and asks me, dead serious, "Mom, is he sad?"  To what was he referring?......poor sad Mr. Outlet.

Into the Wild

It has certainly been a jam-packed summer so why stop now?  Our next adventure was to head out to Yellowstone.  We took this trip 2 years ago and the kids (well, Ty and Jake) have been dying to go back.  So for our big family trip we did indeed go back.  On our way up we stopped at Jackson Hole and walked a bit downtown and had lunch.  The kids even met Albert Einstein!

Of course we had to stop at the antler arches.  Tyler is trying to convince me to let him build one in his room.  Uhhhh, right.  They were pretty cool though....for Jackson.  Eric was a champ driving the truck hauling his dad's HUGE trailer house through the "quaint" streets of downtown.  "Quaint streets" and "trailer house rig" are two phrases that don't go together well.  But Eric was awesome.  If I had been driving...well, that's a different story.

The drive took much longer than expected.  We had to avoid some construction so went the long way.  But it did take us through Teton Pass which was beautiful.  Eric's country boy influence must be rubbing off on me because I actually told him that if I had an awesome ranch up there I could live there.  But those ranches are no doubt millions of dollars---otherwise he'd have pulled right into a realtor office and taken me up on my word.  By the end of the drive the kids were starting to go a little stir crazy.

The kids definitely did their share of whining, arguing, complaining, nit-picking, etc.  Sometimes I think they lay up at nights thinking about different things to argue about.  "You're breathing too loud!"  "You're hogging the window!"  "You're foot touched my leg!"  "Stop touching me!"  "You're looking at me!"  And every time they start in on it they always begin with, "MMMOOOOOMMMMM!  He's/she's  _________(fill in any kind of ridiculous complaint here)."  I kept my cool (mostly) and we finally made it.   Hallelujah!

Our first stop that day was Fishing Bridge, suitable since that's where we were camped.  Look at all the fish!  Actually the entire trip we saw NO fish at FISHING BRIDGE!  A few small little guppy fish is all.  Maybe they should change the name?

Eric and Joey trying to see some fish...none to be found.

We got up early (early early--5:00 early) the next day.  Got ready, had breakfast and set out on a wild animal hunt (sightseeing hunt, that is).   It was early but is was great because there was hardly anyone around.  We saw most of the cool stuff in Hayden Valley, but there were a lot of other places too.  I didn't really take many pictures of animals since I prefer pictures we are in.  But to sum up, we saw black bears, grizzly bear (who wasn't too far off and he walked to the river and swam across), several wolves (including a mom, dad and pup that crossed the street almost right in front of us), several elk with huge antlers, many osprey (one who we watched search out the river then dive in and catch a fish right next to us during a bison traffic jam), a few coyote (one eating a dead bison), a bald eagle, two moose eating in a river not 30 feet away, deer, and enough bison to last me a lifetime.  We pretty much saw everything except a big horn sheep.  I was thrilled because the kids would have been so disappointed if they hadn't seen most of the animals.  They were even willing to get up early with no complaints!

Eric scoping out the grizzly...

More and more and more bison!  We were getting quite tired of them.  They seem to be quite stubborn and walk in the road so no one can get by.  Then you see the very stupid people walking up to them to get a "close-up".  Ugh.  Sometimes you wish they would get gored just to teach them a lesson!  We kept a safe distance.

We also spent time seeing the beautiful sights of nature there.  The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone is always a great place.

We went to the Mud Volcanoes and boy was it stinky!  There are a lot of stinky places in Yellowstone!

We went for a short hike to Clear Lake.  It was only just less than a mile in but you'd have thought it was 10 miles based on the fact that it took us an hour to get there.  Maggie insisted on carrying the backpack...that lasted about 3 minutes.  But at least I got a cute shot!

I was nervous about bears so I made us all stay together.  We had some bear spray, and my kids were loud enough to scare off even the most ferocious of grizzlies.  We didn't have any encounters, even though we were hiking in the same spot we saw a black bear the day before.

Just a pic of me and Eric to prove we actually were there--there aren't many pics with us in them.  I don't look to glamorous, but hey, I was camping!

We did our fair share of driving while in the park.  Eric kept track and from the time we entered the Yellowstone gate to the time we left we drove over 500 miles!  Just inside the park!  So the kids at times would get crazy.  Especially if we happened to see an animal--oh boy!  Chaos ensued as to who would get the window, the binoculars, should we get out or not?  Oh boy.

We went to see Old Faithful early one morning.  There was hardly anyone else there.  I highly recommend getting up early for the busy spots.  Much more enjoyable.  We happened to arrive only 15 minutes before Old Faithful erupted so it was perfect.  We explored the lodge too.

One of my favorite places to go is Midway Geyser Basin.  The colors and pools are awesome there.  You can't see too well in this pic, but the hot water from above has cut paths in the rocks and is flowing down into the river.  Around the hot water it is bright orange.

We also walked around Norris Geyser Basin.  Really cool stuff there too.  I can't imagine what the first explorers must have thought when they found this place.  Mind blowing stuff!

Here's a bison that caused us some grief.  He just took his sweet time meandering down the road between the lanes.  It took us a while to get past him.  So we decided to at least get a pic from the car--note, this is NOT zoomed in.

Our last full day there we hiked out to Slough Creek.  It was about 2 miles in and 2 miles out.  I was thinking after the Clear Creek hike that we'd never make it, but the kids were actually pretty good.  Tyler is like a pack mule.  Eric has told me before that when he goes hunting/hiking with Tyler that Ty just goes and goes and never complains or anything.  I saw it first hand!  I had to carry Joey on my back most of the time, so Tyler ended up carrying the big backpack which had our water, picnic and supplies in it.  It was pretty heavy.  Then he was also carrying his fishing pole.  Man, he walked out in front and led the way the whole time.  Didn't make a peep of complaint.  Awesome!  Eric called him a Scout Master's dream.  For sure.  When we got out to the Slough Creek meadow Eric and Tyler went fly fishing for a few hours while me and the other kids stayed in the meadow.  Apparently there are quite a few bears up there, but once again my loud kids took care of that.  But don't worry--I had my bear spray on me!

After our little picnic the kids found a toad.  Can they catch it?

Yes!  This is their victory walk back to show me the toad.

Jake ended up catching another one and wanted to keep them both, but I figure if you can't even take a rock from Yellowstone you certainly can't keep a toad!  So he set it free.

The kids enjoyed having the trailer house because they were able to watch movies before bed.  Here they are bunked up for the night.

We also visited the West Thumb geyser/hot pots.  Joey was making me so nervous running around on the boardwalks.   We tried our best to contain him but it was a battle!  We ran into a ranger who was measuring the temperature of the pools.  The most beautiful one ("Black Pool"--because it used to be black colored but over time has gotten hotter and killed all the organisms in it so now it is a deep crystal clear blue) measured over 200 degrees!  She said it would take less than a second of touching that water to get 3rd degree burns.  I asked about a guys I heard of years ago who jumped into a hot pot to save his dog who jumped in (they both died) and she told us the story, where it happened and recommended the book "Death in Yellowstone."  We, being morbid I suppose, bought it and read a lot on the drive home--amazing!  I couldn't believe how stupid some people are!  A lot of people get killed in the hot pots.  It was quite surprising.  But the book has stories on bear deaths, poisonous plants, falls, etc.  It's actually very interesting!

This next shot is Black Pool that I mentioned earlier--don't you just want to jump in?  Seriously, it looks so blue and clear and warm (heck yeah it's warm!).

Out trip was a blast.  The boys want to go back next year!  Who knows, maybe we will!