All in a days work...or year and a half (however you want to look at it)

So, I have been telling my family our good news, and for all the requests, here are pictures of our FINALLY-done entertainment center. (All but the crown molding at the top) Good things come to those who wait. (While we are on commercials...10 points to whoever can remember this one!)





What do you think about the red paint? I painted the pantry the same red since I had (some) leftover (not enough though, so I still had to buy another quart). Ryan isn't sure about the pantry. He thinks he wants me to paint it back. He's going to have to live with it first. We have too many unfinished projects to jump right back on this one. Personally, I just think it is anti-red season. It doesn't go well with his whole Cougar-Central sales pitch to his friends for watching the games at our house. Maybe I'll have to snap a picture of that too. He just says it's too much red. This picture makes the red look a lot brighter than it really is. It is called Bordeaux, by Olympic paint at Lowe's if you get a chance to go. It is a deeper wine color than the picture shows.

Carson meets Tigers...good thing, or bad thing?

We have laughed for many years at the funnies that Carson gives us...I wish that I had written them all down. Some were down right classics, so, here's to the future. Now you can laugh with us!!!

We always have TOO MANY boxes of cereal. It's a mix of laziness, and not being able to pass on a good deal. We get the best grocery deals in Arizona...just in case you didn't know that. We get cereal for $1.00-1.50 on a regular basis. That's great, so long as the kids are willing to eat it. The sugar cereals aren't a problem, but Ryan and I always feel like we ought to offer healthier choices when possible. So Ryan found the new Frosted Flakes Gold (the energy one.) He bought a nice stash for $1.50 each. They are pretty crunchy. That is my only complaint (at least they don't get soggy right away). They taste just like the original. Well, Carson wasn't so sold.

Being the good mom that I am, I told Carson about the old commercials that they used to play when I was his age. Know the one??? "Frosted Flakes...Brings out the TIGER in you!" I told him if he ate my cereal, he would turn into a tiger...kind of. I told him that he would be strong and able to run fast, just like a tiger. There's no problem getting him to eat the cereal now. Now, that's all he wants so he can be a fast baseball player! Well, now it's all about tigers...tiger everything:


This is Carson's first attempt at writing a full sentence....awe-remember the independence that kindergartners find when they (think they) can finally write something. Lucky for him, I am experienced now and I can read this stuff.

Dir Dad I hp sf (tiger drawing) Dad sf Hid!
(Interpretation:) "Dear Dad, I hope you're safe from TIGERS. Dad, be safe. Hide!"

So, I admired him, of course and had a proud mommy moment...until Dad found THIS:



Yep! It's a little bigger than a square foot of my wall in size, right at the top of my stairs. Lovely, isn't it. After he got sent to bed, I did sneak in and tell him I thought he was a very creative artist. You gotta admire the stripes and tail. I guess Dad didn't know that Mom must have really sold Carson on the Frosted Flakes...poor kid.

Matchy Match

Kaeleigh LOVES to match...match clothes, colors, toes...whatever you can match! She's been this way since birth. She used to match her beverage to her clothes! I guess she's getting better at finding new ways to accomodate her fetish. I think her "matching" is cute. She is and always has been pretty good at fashion. She was never the kid with a purple skirt and a pink top with yellow socks and red ponytails...No! Not Kaeleigh!

I can picture her taking her family to church in all matching clothes like you do for Christmas and Easter...EVERY SUNDAY! Kaeleigh loves to pick out everyones clothes every Saturday night for church. It takes her so long to decide on something because it has to match just perfect...not just her outfit, but she has to get her outfit as close as possible to matching Ashlyn's. It is pretty impressive to see how creative she can get sometimes, mixing up outfits in ways I would have never thought of.

Carson's the man!

I'll just say it plain and simple...Carson is a Lady's man! Without much training or direction, Carson just has natural instincts on how a female should be treated. He has always had his attention drawn to the "married" ladies...mostly his teachers. He has always had crushes on the PRETTY ones. He has a good eye for the lookers! Carson, after only two weeks of school, has found a gal-pal. His teacher has already addressed me about he and she (I won't mention any names in case her dad has a gun!) holding hands in class and hugging...ALL DAY!

Carson definitely knows how to win a girl's heart. Ever since I can remember, Carson has brought me flowers. Usually weeds (the pretty ones) or some kind of little flower from a neighbors yard. A little while ago, I noticed that Ryan must have started feeling like Carson was making him look bad, and Ryan was bringing home more flowers than usual. Trust me, it wasn't often, but 4 times a year is great compared to only when I had a baby...that would have only been 4 times in nearly 10 years, so his average is well improving.

The other night, Ryan got home from CO and noticed that I had bought some flowers (finally) for the planter on the wall out front. He said to Carson (as they were heading out to buy a baseball glove at Walmart...later post) "Hey, Mom bought herself some flowers!" To that, Carson responded in astonishment..."DAD! Mom's should NEVER have to buy themselves flowers!" Well, guess who ended up bringing home flowers! Carson picked these ones out. I love it when he picks flowers out because he always buys the happiest looking ones...ones that I would never buy myself. I always go for the more traditional beauties, but my new favorites are definitely any from my boys. Carson's favorite color is orange, by the way. How cute!
Photo by Kaeleigh~age 9

Ashlyn's Life...UNSENCORED!/Mom is always right!

Okay...I couldn't decide on the right title for this post. The first title of this post is a warning label! As a mother, we see this kind of stuff on a daily basis, but I NEVER want to relive any of my children's scary moments...EVER, especially the ones where they feel any sort of pain.

So, may I start off by saying that all you who know my total disdain for balloons...yeah, it just got bigger. Maybe somewhere in my childhood I had a bad experience with them, but they cause me parenting nightmares, so maybe it wasn't a childhood thing, but I reserve the right to alter my opinions now that I am aware of the effects they have on children. They are hypnotic or something. I seriously beg that if you like me at all...I have absolutely banned any and all balloons from my home. I cannot fake accepting them any longer. (I knew it was bad when I took my kids to Enrichment last night and the kids brought a bunch home and at the church my stomach was already tying up in knots!)


Reasons why I hate them...just in case you think I am joking in the slightest:

• The kids fight over them



• They get caught in my ceiling fans



• The kids let go of them and I repeatedly have to stop what I am doing to retrieve them from the ceiling



• If I can't retrieve it they cry and then when it finally comes down on its own, they cry more because its now broken and won't float anymore!



• The kids won't let me put it on their wrists (mostly when they are young...they learn finally) and they let go and lose them, completely ruining any fun we were having because of the crying and embarrassing attention their public melt down is drawing to us.



• I can't see out my windows when I drive



• Again, the kids fight over them...it's not fair that one has a balloon and not anyone else! (Forget that the kid just had a tooth or 2 pulled!)
  



• The screechy noise they make when you stretch or rub them



• Noise of the children increases x1000! (I don't mind laughter, but the ear piercing screams, the running around like wild animals...balloons bring out the beast in me.

So, have I made myself clear? I am sure given more time that I could come up with more reasons to not like them. Parties are so boring around here! Anyway, Grandma is allergic to them...thankfully for me, at least I have a valid excuse for not allowing them in my home. This has not worked consistently yet, but it will definitely start getting better used.

So the outcome of my allowing balloons in the home last night started innocently as everything always does. I ran and got my camera because my darling little Ashlyn was having her first experience with them. As she played longer, she started warming up vocally. Even my baby has the balloon behavior instinct. Dang it! She was pretty cute though.

So my disclaimer for this video is my mother's saying (which can't possibly be original at all...wonder who really said it first. They should have copyrighted it) "IT'S ALWAYS FUN UNTIL SOMEONE GETS HURT"...this is where the "mom's always right" part of the post title comes in:


I want you all to know that I thought about not putting this video on here. While I was taping the video, I was living in the moment...at least the first 8 seconds of it, thinking this would be cute to share since our family doesn't really get to see Ashlyn's love for life like we do...that was about how long it took until her crash with fate...we call him Deegan. May I add that Deegan got hurt too and that they are both ok. It didn't take long to calm her down because believe it or not, she still wanted to play with those stupid things. This was an accident, and they do happen. I wish I could erase the last couple seconds of the video off because she was so funny before the crash...does anyone know how to do that if you took the video on the digital camera? Let me know so that Ashlyn doesn't hate this video forever. It was Ryan's vote to share the daily truths of Ashlyn's life with you. He said you would all appreciate what she lives with on a daily basis. She is going to be one tough cookie...I am thinking Powder Puff already. She should be pretty good by then.





Ashlyn's 1st fat lip...doesn't she look lovely? No sign of anything this morning...a perfect beauty. I had to keep pretending like I was going to give her the Binky to get an after picture...that's why she was crying, not from the pain...promise! She ended up thinking it was a fun little game. (she's pretty attached to her Binky- can you tell?)

First day of school

On the way to school...Yeah for everyone!

Had to drop them at the curb, but saw Kaeleigh in the hall

Lunch with Carson and Gabby(that is the Principle at the table)

Traditionally we have gone to Cold Stone on the first day,
but because of Deegan's allergies we have to adjust. Mommy
didn't feel like making dinner and since Monday's and Tuesday's
kids eat free at Fridays...Mommy got her way and this year we
went out to eat instead.




I have wanted to feed the ducks all summer long with the kids
but it has been too hot, or it wasn't the right time. We finally
went for family night after eating at T.G.I.Fridays. The kids had
a ton of fun. There were so many ducks! At first we couldn't get
any to come, but never fear...word spreads fast. The kids liked
hearing about when I was little and we would go feed the ducks
with Grandma and Grandpa Larkin and they especially liked
hearing about the mean geese at Canyon Lake that would nip
at your fingers!


Just in case all the pictures made it look like it was smooth
sailing at the lake...keep in mind we have a 1 and 2 year old...
this is what it was really like the whole time. Ryan kept saving
Ashlyn as he patiently let me take pictures and I hung on to
Deegan for dear life or let Ryan have a couple turns. Overall it
was fun, but definitely only an activity for multiple adults!

I just had to add this! Carson started sobbing when I
showed up to pick him up the first day of school. He said
I came too fast and that he was going to ride the bus. Well,
he got his way the next morning. He was so excited that
he wouldn't even wait for me to take a picture.

School Days are here again

Does it seem like summers just get shorter and shorter every year? It's kind of like when you get older it seems like it was just Christmas and it's already Christmas again. Really, the holidays just get commercialized to heck...I saw Halloween stuff at Target yesterday. Serious! As we get older, I think we just get so busy that there is never enough time. Well, my wish list of summer activities never even made it on paper this summer, so really we just winged it! It wasn't horrible this way this year, but next year there will be a written list that maybe gets started as soon as now. We'll just add to it as we get ideas.

We survived Carson's first day (and then some) of Kindergarten. He has been waiting for this day for as long as he could remember! Finally, his life-long dream of riding a bus has finally come to pass. It wasn't as good as he thought it was going to be. Oh well. At least he is still willing to ride it. Carson's teacher is very nice and he enjoys her. From Carson's perspective, it sounds like he is really going to need to learn to follow instructions and listen better (Not a newsflash for Mom). He was bummed on the first day because (Carson's words:) "Someone told me I wasn't allowed to play in the house on the computer thing that goes click, click, click (interpretation: keyboard), and I told him I was. He said we were only allowed to do puzzles. Mom, he was right and I was wrong! My teacher said so!" Carson was devastated over this. How could it be that he had been wrong? It's like he realized that this was possibly wasn't the first time...that this had happened before. He had the look in his eyes like you mean Kaeleigh was right all those times she said I was wrong? Poor guy! He had to figure it out sooner or later. He has turned out to be my forgetful school child. After only 3 days, he has left his lunchbox at school twice and left his take home folder as well once. It only gets better from here I guess. It's a good thing he has those charming eyes! He'll woo his teacher yet!

Kaeleigh has a fantastic teacher...love her already. She has a baby boy that was born a month before Ashlyn. I may have seen 2 other kiddos of hers at back to school...it was kind of crazy. But, I just kept thinking to myself, "Good! She knows how it really is." I am not making excuses, but my kids have already missed the bus once and it has been crazy trying to change to a double duty school schedule. I had a hard enough time getting just Kaeleigh out the door for four years! Wish me luck.

Anyway, Kaeleigh's teacher is fun and cute. She stands outside with a huge squirt bottle and sprays all the kids as they walk by. It's not easy to stay cool outside here. The other day Kaeleigh came home and said that Mrs. Mahoney knows Hannah Montana. I looked at her like....mmm, hmmm. Right! She said, "No, really! Someone did something at school (assuming not good) and Mrs. Mahoney started singing Nobodies Perfect." Let's just say Kaeleigh has a new respect for this woman now.

Well, as for the younger two and myself, we are definitely enjoying the peace and quiet around here. Neither Deegan nor Ashlyn can speak well enough to fight yet. It's bliss at its best! I still get 2 naps from Ashlyn a day and Deegan takes his afternoon nap at the same time as Ashlyn so believe it or not...brace yourself...my house has been clean for 3 days straight with beds made and all! Holy cow! I don't want to leave my house because it just feels so good...until about 3:15 when the backpacks and shoes get strung across the floor and papers bombard my home. Oh well...there's always tomorrow. At least I get a couple hours every day. We will be making a schedule over the weekend to correct our imperfections of the first week of school. Maybe that will help.

Thanks to all who have been so curious as to how Carson handled the big change. He really did well. Other than being super tired when he gets home, he is loving every minute of being a big kid. He was sad the other night because he admitted that he has a hard time at school because he misses me and doesn't get to snuggle me anymore...no fear...that will be on the new schedule! I never thought I would be the schedule type, but as I get wiser with age, I must say...Three cheers for schedules!