Cactus

Boys and their dirt...and trucks.

These pictures were taken in Phoenix, Arizona while Dave was chaining down the truck and forklift we were going to haul back to Grand Forks, North Dakota. Austin was able to get out of the truck to play for a bit in the 86 degrees of Arizona heat. He found a styrofoam cup and had a blast for those 15 or so minutes he got to play in the dirt.

Big truck tires...and a little boy in the background.

Going to show daddy his cup 'o dirt.

The smile, the dirty knees....big trucks and dirt. That is what being a 3 yr old boy is all about.

Finally a short escape......

Yet, I worry about leaving the kids!!

What is wrong with me?? What parent doesn't dream about leaving the kids (all but 1) and heading off to someplace warm and enjoying some peace and quiet? Geesh! Maybe I think they can't survive or thrive without me. I know Brandon won't have any clean clothes. And I know Autumn will be living off of hot pockets and pizza and ramens. And I know Logan won't have a care in the world unless someone doesn't feed him and get him ice water. 2 ice cubes, of course.

Dave has a load going to Phoenix, Arizona, so Austin and I are climbing in with him and going for the ride. Hopefully that ride gets us back by next Sunday.

Gawd, I sound like I am leaving them all home alone. I am leaving them in very capable hands, just not mine. My mom and Abby are splitting the shift and Autumn will have just a few days on her own.

Now, I know what it is.....Dave's truck is lacking in appropriate air conditioning! Things could get sticky and sweaty. Maybe I will have him drop me in Colorado and pick me up on the way back.

Logan and Austin were deep in conversation about their super heros...specifically Batman, Robin, Bat Girl and Wonder Woman.

Austin: "wonnerwomangirl can't hold big house up, only little house"

Logan: "what, I can't understand you."

Austin:wonnerwomangirl can't hold big houses up, only little ones"

Logan: "STOP SPEAKING CHINESE, I DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT!"

Kids are so precious.....and humorous!

Tonight at dinner.

Austin: "Mom, if Brandon hates me, I won't have any friends."

Me: "But, Brandon doesn't hate you."

Austin: "But he will if I kick him."

To busy laughing to even respond.

Chicken, more chicken?

Totally random, but totally annoying as well.

How I would love to go to the grocery store solo once in a while. Today I thought I might get that chance using marshmallows as a bribe. I told Austin I was taking Logan to preschool and then going to the store. If he wanted to come with he needed to get his shoes. Instead he wanted "big marshmallow, just one". So I said, "OK...I am going to the store, you can have a big marshmallow if you are good while I am gone."

Austin, "Ok."
As I was heading out the door with Logan, Austin crams his big marshmallow in his mouth and attempts to also hoover his 2nd "bonus" marshmallow down, so he can yell, "I WANT TO GO WITH YOU!" Oy.

So, onto the chicken story.

After we drop Logan off at preschool we are on our way to the store and Austin says, "can we get chicken?".

Me: "no."
Austin: "why?"
Me: "cause we already have chicken at home."
Austin: "Well, can we get more chicken?"
Me: "no."
Austin: "why?"
Me: "Cause we don't need more chicken."

Now if that wasn't bad enough. Once we have arrived at the store, I get....
"Are we getting chicken?".

Now, I understand why Dave enjoys being hard of hearing.

Sloppy part 2

Austin, meanwhile, was devouring his second joe.

Again...no shirt, no shoes, no pants, whatever.

"SLOPPY JOES?! NEVER!"

Apparently Logan has something against Sloppy Joes. When I told him we were having sloppy joes for dinner, he said, "can I have lunch instead?". No, you cannot have lunch, I am making dinner and we are eating sloppy joes.

"Sloppy Joes?! NEVER!"

After I forced him to take at least 1 bite, he said he would but would never eat them again. After one bite, came another and another. Mmmm, those sloppy joes aren't so bad, now are they?

(Yes, we eat shirtless. No shoes either. We are rebels like that.)

He did pretty good for saying he would never eat them!

Can I get back on this blog-horse?

Its been MONTHS since I blogged about anything. Lets see....we moved from Alaska to Minnesota in September (the boys and I) and November (Dave and Autumn).

Sad event happened.

Kids are growing....way too fast some days. Getting too big for their britches...literally.

Lets see if I can come up with some witty posts to entertain the masses.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

We spent the day at Kepler Lake and just hung out, roasted hot dogs and rented a boat to cruise the lake. It was a good time. The kids tried fishing, but we had no luck with that. Both kid poles got tangled more than once....the big poles just didn't have the right bait or the right operator, I guess.

Row, row, row your boat...gently down the stream.

Dave, Autumn, Logan, Brandon, Austin.

Dave chillaxin' after rowing the boat around the little lake.

Kristen getting sorta mad that someone (Dave & Autumn) keeps
pushing her boat back out when she is trying to get to shore.

Brandon decided he wanted to jump off the boat (got a little help from Autumn)

out in the middle, but then decided the water was too cold and couldn't get back in.

So he just clung to the side while Autumn rowed the boat back to shore.

Our Mary Kay Party!

My Mary Kay lady came over to do a foot spa/mud mask thing. It was just the kids and I at home. Autumn decided she would join me and soak her feet. Brandon was hanging around but didn't say anything except for ask a few questions. Once Quinell (Mary Kay lady) asked him if he wanted to join us and soak his feet too, he jumped at the chance. And of course Austin wants to do whatever it is that everybody else is doing. Logan was outside playing in the dirt to begin with.

Here is Logan with his dirt face soaking his feet.

Autumn with her mask on...super thrilled that I caught it on camera.

Brandon and Austin with their feet soaking and their masks on. Notice the nice head band they both have on to hold their hair back. My little princesses!


Austin, thrilled to do whatever we are doing. He even put on some makeup and mascara.
Daddy was NOT thrilled with that.

Baseball

Brandon...pitching for his team. His team is doing pretty good this year. They are currently tied for 1st place with 2 other teams. The tournament coming up should be interesting.