12 Miniature Football Helmets

The boys first wave of presents arrived via mail on Monday from Taylor's parents. I tried to quietly open the giant UPS box and place the wrapped gifts under the tree without the boys noticing. They noticed. All 3 began eyeing the wrapped wonders as I reminded them that we need to wait for Christmas to open them. They started organizing, then feeling, holding, shaking, tapping, smelling,...did I mention that all 3 have uncanny detective capabilities?? After giving their best guesses as to what lay beneath the holiday covered boxes, and in natural male form, they began a healthy competition of double dare. It went something like this:
Conner: "Ben, I dare you to spell Christmas. If you can, I will open one of my gifts. If you can't spell it, you have to open a gift."
Ben: "Okay, C-h-r-i-s-t-m-a-s"
Sam: "I can spell Christmas(laughing)...S-a-m! I GET TO OPEN MINE!!"(Begins opening his present w/out asking)
Ben: "MOOOOOMMMMM, Sam's opening a present. That's not fair."
Me: "Okay, you can each open one. But it's one less gift you get to open on Christmas Day."

Sam received a cute little game called "Zingo". It's a little like Bingo except you have to fill your whole card, not just a row. Ben received a Spongebob Wii game. Then Conner opened his gift. I wasn't able to get a good look at it before he literally started freaking out:
Conner: "OH...MY...GOSH!! THIS IS SOOOO COOL!! THIS...IS...THE...COOLEST...GIFT....EVERRRRRRR!!!!"
Taylor: "Let me see that. Wow, Conner, that IS really cool. Let me help you open it."
Me: "What is it?"
Taylor and Conner(looking dumbfounded at me): "These are the Big Ten conference helmets."
Me: "They're so small. What do you do with them?"
Conner: "Mommy, seriously?"
Taylor: "I would've loved to have these when I was little. Ya know, put 'em in your room. On your desk or whatever."
Conner: "Yeah. I'll put them on my dresser where my clothes go."
Me: "I'm serious guys. What is their purpose? Do you exchange them? Do you play with them? Are you supposed to get little football guys to use with the helmets?"
Conner: "I really just put them on my dresser."
Taylor: "For decoration. To look at and get excited for."
Conner: "Yeah, when MSU plays Wisconsin, I can have the helmets face each other."
Me: "How come there's 12 helmets and it's the Big Ten Conference? Shouldn't there be only 10? I'm still confused as to their purpose."
Taylor: "There's 11 teams b/c Penn State was added."
Me: "Oh. Why isn't it called the Big 11 Conference?"
Conner: "Mommy, you just don't understand. But whatever you do, DON'T move these off my dresser. THEY'RE AWESOME!!"

Needless to say, I'm still confused. There are now 12 miniature football helmets sitting on Conner's dresser just like the picture. I know I grew up with a sister, but there was plenty of sports talk to go around...especially when we got together with my dad's side of the family. Sundays consisted of sports ALL DAY. But no one ever discussed little miniature football helmets. So if someone can explain this to me, I would greatly appreciate it. To me, decorations have to serve a purpose. For instance, a candle is lit for the purpose of light or scent. A picture is hung for the purpose or showcasing family members or art. Baskets serve the purpose of storage or organization. And I understand wearing a sports team on a sweatshirt or flying a flag or banner in honor of a favorite team, but little miniature football helmets??? I just don't get it.

The Nursing Home

The choir that Taylor and I sing in at church is preparing for our annual cantata(not really sure what that means). We basically sing about Christ's birth and there is some really cool narration that goes along with it. A lot of people come for the event...not because we are fantastic singers or anything, but mostly because this is the only time of year people choose to go to church. The choir has been working really hard preparing for the "big event" with lots of practices!! We also had a dress rehearsal yesterday at the nursing home across the street from church. Our church visits this nursing home every week to sing and pray with the people there. I'm not sure if any of you out there have darkened the doors of a nursing home lately, but let me just say that it is a humbling experience. I think anyone out there who is grumbling and whining about the person who took your parking space at the mall or doesn't know how to smile because there's "so much to do" should visit their local nursing home. The choir arrived and the nurses and therapists at the nursing home began wheeling people in...mostly all women and maybe a few men...all in wheelchairs, all in gowns with socks on their feet, one with a slightly deflated "Happy B'day" balloon attached to her chair, a few asleep, but needless to say they were all so happy just to have some visitors. We began singing. The looks on the faces of these women and men was so priceless. It really was if they were hearing music for the first time. I'm not sure if their faces brightened because of this time of year or if they just enjoyed hearing us sing "Joy to the World". Regardless of the reason, I cried. I'm not sure how long I cried, but it was for awhile. The pure emotion that I had was so unexpected. It was such a typical Sunday in the morning. I was actually dreading the day because it was going to be so busy...off to church, no rest, feed kids and eat lunch quickly, don't change into comfy clothes, can't read the Sunday ads in the paper b/c there's no time. I wasn't looking forward to rushing to and fro, here and there. I was thinking of all the things I had to get done before Christmas...shopping not done, gifts not wrapped, cookies not made, cards not sent, laundry piled up, beds unmade, etc. As I looked into the faces that came to watch us sing, I realized my selfishness. And I realized the main purpose for why we came...to show love. To show Christ's love. Another life lesson that it's not about me.

The kiddos

I get a ton of comments from people about my boys...mostly from friends, neighbors, family, etc. I do get comments from random strangers as well, but I don't care so much about those comments. I just laugh and move on. Let me clarify that most of the words spoken from people are truly genuine, kind words. And I truly appreciate the people that just know what it's like to be around more than one boy at a time. They understand the frustrations, fighting, rowdiness, wildness, messiness, etc. of it all. Taylor and I always say that the 3 boys together(Conner, Ben, and Sam) are something like an organism. They move together in one big ball around our house, quite fast I might add. Back to the comments. I am shocked by some of the things people say to me about having 3 boys. Here are just a few that I get on a regular basis:
1- "Oh, you poor thing, how do you do it?"
2- "Bless your heart, there's a special place for you in heaven."
3- "Aww, don't you want to have a girl?"
4- "I would never want to have 3 boys." ( I am not joking...someone really said this)
5- "How are you going to do it when they are teens? Your house will be sooo smelly."
6- "I remember a friend of mine had 3 boys growing up and her toilets were so gross!"
7- "Don't they ever just sit and do puzzles? My kids do!"
8- "I'm just thankful God gave me a boy AND a girl, so I can enjoy both."

Just the other day I was picking up Conner and Ben from their kids choir at church. They are getting ready for a Christmas performance this weekend. As I was watching them practice, someone approached and jokingly said that Conner didn't look too enthuiastic or happy while he was singing. I politely told this person that singing really isn't Conner's "thing". As I walked away, I couldn't help but wonder why someone would feel the need to say something negative or unconstructive like that. I really try to discern what people mean when making comments. Do they mean well? Are they trying to help me? Are they trying to make conversation? I really don't get it. But what I do get is how blessed and fortunate I am to have 3 boys. The Lord has truly blessed me with smart, handsome, affectionate kids. Yes there are times that I want to pull my hair out, but I am grateful for this time in my life that I get to share with Conner, Ben, and Sam.
For every negative comment, I've always heard you need 2 positive ones. Fortunately, God knew I needed the encouragement after hearing that comment about Conner and I received 2 positive ones. One from the pastor's wife who is also one of the kids choir leaders and one from a really good friend. My pastor's wife gave me a hug(not knowing what someone had just said) and told me how proud she was of Conner for putting in the effort each practice and how great he was doing with his parts. My good friend said some kind words as well. I am definitely not a "poor thing" or a person that wants for anything else. Fact is, I am humbled and thankful to be a mother of 3 boys. Very humbled and very thankful.

Rock and Roll

I am sad. My little baby, Sammy, has officially embarked on a new chapter in life. Last week he broke away from training wheels. Conner didn't ride a 2 wheeler until he was at least 6 1/2. Ben was a little younger than that, but Sam is the youngest of the three to remove the safety net of the training wheels and ride free.

Taylor went on a run with Conner and Ben the other night, so Sam and I went out on a venture to perfect his abilities on a bike. We spent about an hour doing the same things on the sidewalk...me giving him a push, him riding for a while, him crashing, then standing up and starting all over again. After the hour was up(and it REALLY was an hour), he looked at me and said something I won't forget...EVER!!! He said, "Mommy, rock and roll!" And with that said, he got on his bike, balanced himself, and he was off without a push from mommy. I stood there for a moment, taking it all in. It slowly overcame me. "It" was the fact that although he's only 4 and 1/2, these moments and times are slowly slipping away. I wasn't going to have a first word, first crawl or walk, first preschool day, first pee/poop on the potty, etc. anymore. And yes, this was the last time I gave my little one a push to get him started on his bike. Emotion swept in and I became very sad.

Luckily the Lord knows these things. He feels our hurts and our joys. He knows. He allows for moments like these to remind us how precious and valuable children are. As it says in Psalm 127:4---"Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth"

My little guys are invaluable and truly rewards from Christ. And when the fatigue sets in and each day ends, I don't want them to know how tired mommy is or how frustrating her day was. I want them to know how precious and amazing they are...how truly loved they are and will always be. I don't want to say I am doing my best...I want to live it and show them my best!

Hermie, the hermit crab

Taylor and I thought it would be fun to let the boys each pick out a hermit crab while we were on vacation in Destin. Sam and Ben promised to be very responsible about feeding and caring for their crabs. They also promised to get the crabs out of their cages for a little exercise everyday. The morning after we purchased our new family pets, Ben went to get Hermie(his hermit crab) out for a little play time. He walked into the kitchen and I knew something was wrong.

Ben: "Mommy, Hermie died."

Mommy: "Oh no, Ben. What Happened? How do you know it's dead?"

Ben: "It's legs and arms fell off its body."

Mommy: (Trying hard not to laugh) "Let me see!"

Ben: "Do you think it's because I dropped it on the floor yesterday in its cage?"

Mommy: "You dropped it on the floor yesterday?"

Ben: "Yeah, right on the floor. The whole cage."

Mommy: "Hmmm...I'm not sure..."

Lesson learned: Don't drop your new pet hermit crab on the floor in its cage. Or better yet, if you have a 7 year old boy at home, don't buy a hermit crab! As you can tell from the picture, Hermie passed away...tragically.

Catch my breath!!

Okay...so it's been about two months since I last posted. Yikes!!! Busyness has officially struck the family. I am really missing the long days of summer, but thankful to have a routine now. This pic is from our vacation in Destin with my side of the family. We rented a house on the beach and had a blast. The kids enjoyed spending time with their cousins, swimming in the pool all day, eating Mom-Mom's yummy snacks, and sleeping in. I enjoyed getting some running in with Taylor, my dad, and my sister. On one run, Jen and I were able to reminisce back to the days of high school ...we had a few laughs!!! It was really nice. My sister has been a runner since high school and my dad has been a runner from the time I was very small. They are both my inspirations to stay motivated, disciplined, and active. I will never forget watching my dad finish the Flying Pig Marathon here in Cincinnati a whole hour and a half ahead of two girls I went to high school with. I told him that was quite amazing, but he just grinned and humbly didn't comment. (On a side note as I write this, there's some yelling going on with the boys downstairs. It's not unusual at our house...boys just have an innate ability to compete with each other and people say I will miss hearing this one day. Hmmm, let me think about this one...I don't think so!) I will miss the fun vacation days with the fam, though.
We did have quite an intersting first night in Destin that I just have to write about. We all got settled, unloaded the cars, and headed out to grab a bite to eat. We went to Friday's b/c of all the reasons it's a family friendly place...kids menu, yummy desserts, etc. We got our seats and were looking over the menu when Tyler started squealing. Tyler is my 9-month old nephew who is cute as a button, easy, loveable, cuddly, fun, smiley, and charismatic. He is NOT high-maintenance and so much fun to have around. Let me just say again that he is 9months old...a baby by definition and looks, of course. Low and behold, there was a family of four across the way from us. It looked like three generations of women: the oldest in her 80's maybe, her daugher(maybe 60's), and another daugher(early 30's). Then there was the husband of the youngest woman with them. We began receiving not-so-nice stares from the 60 year old woman immediately, then followed by the 30 year old. Tyler continued testing his lungs with squeals here and there...nothing abnormal from a 9-month old. Jennifer noticed the irritated looks from these women way before I did. Tyler continued with the "happy" squeals about every 3 minutes or so. We laughed, ordered our food and were in some conversation when the 30 year old proceeds to tell Jennifer a few things on her mind. Let me preface with the fact that this is all over a 9 month old baby. Get ready and here goes:
30 year old woman: "You need to get some parenting help!"
Jennifer: "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but he's 9 months old."
60 year old woman: "Yeah, you need to control your kid!"
Me: "Excuse me, but he's a baby."
30 year old woman: "Well, don't come to a restaurant if you can't keep your kid quiet!"
Me: "What is she supposed to do? Put a muzzle on him? He's a baby. He has no understanding of how to be quiet in a restaurant."
30 year old woman: "I have seen babies and they don't act like THAT!"
Me thinking to myself...if you knew anything about babies you wouldn't make ignorant comments like this. Both of these women continued their huffing and puffing until they left...and we were very happy to send them on their way!! Needless to say, it made for an uncomfortable night. But the frustrating thing is that there are people who DO exist like this in the world. It's so unbelieveably frustrating. Jennifer had a rush of emotion and shed a few tears b/c people like that are so hurtful.
We all had to laugh and were grateful for family and other great people who understand the challenges of raising children in this crazy world. So next time you are at a restaurant suited for children and find yourself getting frustrated with the noises the baby or toddler are making next to your table, try hard to not be nasty with them. And for the people who have grown kids out there, don't forget what it was like to have little ones at home. Maybe even encourage the young family with a quick smile or a kind word. You will reap a reward some day!!!

Hilton Head Family Vacation #1

We just returned from our vacation with Taylor's side of the family in Hilton Head. This was our second year going there and we love it...especially for the yummy restaurants all over!!! Taylor's sister and her boyfriend Mark were able to come as well which was great b/c we had a ton of help with the kids. "Help" included but was not limited to getting to run on the beach with Taylor a few times, a date night, and a night out with Kristin and Mark. This was also the first vacation in about 10 years that we haven't had to bring any diapers or sippy cups. We officially have older children and it makes me a little sad...but only a little:-)

Here's me and Kristin waiting for our table at another fantastic restaurant...The British Pub.
There's Mark and Ben hamming it up outside the place we ate at the last night. This place was extremely "island fancy". Let's just say that we didn't belong there especially when we didn't understand half of the words coming out of the waiter's mouth. Also, when 2 out of 3 of our children decided to release their bowels in the bathroom and there was only one toilet to use...it made for an extremely interesting night. W/out kids in tow, it might have been more enjoyable. I happened to spill sauce on my dress and before I knew it, there was a tide-to-go pen and towel dipped in seltzer water placed in front of me. How's that for service!!

We were able to see fireworks from afar one night. We tried the whole fireworks thing last year and ended up in traffic after the festivities for at least 2 hours. This year we opted for the view from across the street. It was a much better idea.
One thing that I would highly recommend is the kayaking. We had a blast and it was quite the workout. I now know why it is an olympic sport. Taylor's sister got stuck with Benny boy and their kayak ended up in the "martini" grass many times. Sam was sandwiched in between me and Taylor and was ready to be done until he discovered the small crab crawling around inside our kayak. Yikes!!!

The unfortunate thing about the whole trip was the rain. Evidentally we got the outskirts of Tropical Storm Faye and it wasn't pretty. Once the rain started in the afternoon on Wednesday, it really didn't stop until our last day there which was on Saturday. We pretty much had to take cover b/c this really wasn't the type of rain that you would even enjoy "singing" in. We tried to make the best of it, however.

We made our second trip to the Salty Dog to purchase a few t-shirts. That place is crazy. In order to buy the coveted shirts, one must walk a very windy set up steps only to walk into an extremely tiny room filled with many racks of colored t-shirts. Once you pick your favorite ones, you realize the price tag on your child's t-shirt is as much as you would spend on a nice pair of shoes. That's okay b/c it makes for a nice Kodak moment.

We spent a lot of time in the indoor pool. And we tried to fish between spurts of rain coming down...no fish were biting. I think Sam enjoyed playing with the large, nasty worms more than patiently waiting for the fish to bite.

Of course it was great to spend time with family and not have to worry about cleaning house or paying bills, but the highlight of the trip for me was eating out. I cook when we're home so it's a treat to be able to have someone else do that for a change. One of our favorite dishes was at a place called "Santa Fe". This was THE DISH to get there and I can't even begin to explain how good it was. This grouper was delish!! We must have liked it if we took a picture of it.

It was a great summer vacation!!

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Hooters, the donut shop

I've never been a huge fan of donuts...I'm definitely a brownie/sundae kind of gal. So when my good friend Juli introduced us to a new donut place I wasn't the least bit interested. She kept insisting that we go saying that she wished this place didn't exist. She told me all about their secret ingredient(potatoes) and how you can drive there on a Friday night and get the donuts right out of the oven...is it an oven or a fryer??? Not sure. Anyway, we eventually made our way to this "donut haven" as it is called. My kids could not wait and were salivating the whole way there. We ordered a dozen and took them home to find out how tasty they really were. Let me just say that when you pick one of these donuts up, it feels like you're holding a small hand weight. They are thick, moist, and literally melt in your mouth. I have honestly never eaten anything quite like them. So we were hooked at that point. The boys ask to go there 24/7 but we tell them that in order for mommy and daddy to not blow up like large cows, we must avoid the "donut haven"...and only go twice a month. But in our household, we have conversations about these donuts at least 3 times a day. If the boys aren't asking to go get them, they are at least thinking about them.
Thus a conversation with my 10 year old this past week while driving. We passed a Hooters restaurant. Everyone knows what Hooters is known for....WINGS, duh!! So Conner says, "Hey mommy, do they sell donuts at Hooters?" "Nope," I replied, laughing to myself. He continued, "Well, it just looks like a place that would sell donuts. I know it's a restaurant, but it's just a weird name for one, ya know?" Without hesitating I said, "Yep, it sure is a weird name." And that was the end of it. Eventually my child will know what Hooters really is, but for now his obsession likes purely and innocently with donuts. And that's the way I like it!!

The Red Dinosaur

Our family has a new member: a red dinosaur named "red dinosaur". He lives downstairs in the basement and is very happy there. He behaves quite well, considering the fact that I never hear him. He tells us when "funder"(thunder) is imminent. He sleeps on a monster bed and is strong enough to fight the bad guys. His diet consists of spiders, fruit snacks, popsicles, and rescue heroes. But Sam says the best thing about red dinosaur is that eventually, he will eat Conner and Ben.

Oh, the imaginations of little ones.

My grandmother turned 90 this past weekend and we celebrated this glorious occasion by all driving to West Virginia and throwing her a party. I'm pretty sure turning 90 years old deserves a get-together.

Here she is with her ONLY great-granddaughter. Out of 12 great grandchildren there is only 1 girl. So you know what that means...lots of boys around. It must be in the genes.

Mom did a great job planning the weekend including a special birthday celebration for Benny boy because his birthday was on Saturday. She made a ton of cupcakes and a big cake. We also ordered around 11 large pizzas to feed the whole family...that's a lot of pizza!

A lot of people drove in from out of town to help Mamaw celebrate. After we got Papaw out of the house and down to the party(everyone that took part in getting him out of the house, GOOD JOB!!), we all ate lunch(pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw--YUM!, baked beans, potato salad, fruit, etc.) and let the boys play in the gross river water. I'm not sure if it was the heat and humidity that got to me or it was simply the fact that I didn't want to hear my boys whine about not being able to swim...but I let them. And I'm happy to say that no one has developed the plague yet. I've been watching way too much 20/20 and Dateline.

It was great being able to share Mamaw's 90th birthday with her. She was thrilled to have her family around and together all at once. Happy Birthday, Mamaw!! We love you!!

Vacation Bible School

Our church's vaction bible school was last week. It's a week filled with many exciting and fun things, including exhaustion by the time Friday rolls around. Each year has a different theme. This year was a theme park. The stage was complete with a carousel, ferris wheel, and roller coaster. There were little holes carved out on each of the kids mouths that were on the roller coaster so the cast could squirt pretend throw-up out with silly string...too funny!

Here's Conner on Monday night...Taylor and I were tour guides for his group.

Sammy and Ben wanted to "spike" their hair for this special occasion...oh, the joys of fixing boys hair. I honestly thought that the task of fixing hair was reserved for the mothers of girls, but boy was I wrong!

Here are some of the kids right before Tuesday night was over. It's wild in our gym, but so worth it. Most of these kids have never been in a church or heard the gospel. It really isn't about trying to cram in a bunch of bible to kids in a week...it's about reaching little ones and telling them about Jesus. Taylor and I averaged about 12-14 kids a night in our group...half of them got saved!!

This was the look on Taylor's face each night because he got the fun job of dropping Sam off in his pre-school class...Sam screamed EVERY night. But after 5 minutes, he ended up having fun(or so the teachers said).

Taylor was a song leader(far right). I have to brag about my husband because he does a fantastic job getting the kids involved. He's goofy and loud and so funny when he dances around. A lady he didn't know came up to him at the end of one of the nights and told him that he was the "best bible school singer she's ever seen!" He's got such an amazing heart for the ministries he's involved in and this was no exception.

Many children came to know the Lord this week which is exciting news. That is really our main goal in running a bible school every summer. We also were able to raise money for a missionary, too. Also, the girls won the penny war--woo hoo!!! Go girls!!

Who did this??

Last Friday I had given my kids specific instructions on what the rules were while I cut the grass:
#1: Stay in the yard
#2: You can only go in the house if you have to use the bathroom
#3: No kids in the house
#4: You can have 1 popsicle from the outside fridge, if you want





(This picture is a different story--my youngest decided to help daddy with the yard work and dumped an entire load of fertilizer in the yard...not funny. Actually a little scary. He's fine and yes, he was washed in the bathtub thorougly. Needless to say, the grass is fried.)
Back to the story. I finished up the yard fairly quick and ran inside to grab some water. I had a few surprises when I came into the kitchen. I calmly surveyed the damage done: Lots of oreos eaten with many crumbs left behind, mysterious blue food coloring trickeled all over the upper landing of my steps, and a whole 2-liter of root beer almost all gone! There were also other random things sitting on the countertops...blueberries, raisins, a frozen bagel.
I calmly walked out to the backyard and asked my children to come inside. They were completely oblivious and actually mad that I had interrupted their very important baseball game and swinging time. I asked nicely, but firmly, "Who did this?" All three of the perpetrators were clueless. Then they all responded in harmony, "He did!" Conner and Sam were both pointing their finger at Ben, while Ben was pointing at Sam. I ended up solving the mystery with only a few threats(not literally). But these are just a few of the things that happen when I am not on top of the boys 24/7. Luckily in about 10 or 15 years I'll laugh about it. At least the grass is nicely cut and edged, though. :-)

Birthday Season

As I post this, our entire family has already celebrated around 9 birthdays since the beginning of June: Sam, Taylor, my brother-in-laws(Nathan and Matt), my sister-in-law(Kristin), my mother and father, my mother-in-law(Jean), and myself. We still have around 4 or 5 to go until August. I am not sure how so many people in our family have summer birthdays. I really can't think of anyone besides my sister and my nephews that has a winter birthday. I feel guilty when I begin to dread the birthday season. I only dread it because I am not the least bit creative in thinking of really cool parties for my kids. This was the last year I could pull off a "family" birthday party for Sam. When your kids hit the age of 5, they expect the world's greatest birthday party given including lots of candy, cake, kool-aid, games, prizes, presents, decorations, clowns, ponies, face-painting, and kids...lots of kids! This is not to say that I don't admire my friends who can pull these amazing parties off...trust me, I wish I had their talents. However, I didn't get the "creative" gene from my mom. My mom would hand make our cakes growing up. These cakes were not just flat, 9x13 cake pan cakes. The shapes were everything from My Little Pony to Holly Hobbie. The icing was not just layered on either. It was applied to every square inch with the hand of a master cake decorator, love ya mom!!! That is just one of her many talents. She used to sew our clothes growing up, too, however I didn't acquire that gene either.

At least in about a year and a half, my kids will be able to say that their mother knows the anatomy of their heart and lungs or what the thymus is, but for now they'll have to settle for store bought ice cream cakes(wow, it was GOOD!!)and silly made up games because at this point, that is all I have to offer.

Here's a few pics of Sam's 4th birthday. He loves Spider-Man so the wrapping paper, balloons, and cake were appropriately picked in that theme. My sister, brother-in-law, and nephews came as well as my parents. He had a great day!!

San Francisco Anniversary Trip

Taylor and I celebrated our ten year anniversary in March. We were able to travel to San Francisco. Although I love the idea of sitting on a beach and relaxing for five days w/out kids in tow, I also knew that a trip to Napa Valley and San Francisco would be difficult with kids. Also, Taylor and I have never been so we were definitely up for a new adventure.

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Muir Woods was amazing. Friends had described how big the trees were, but you cannot comprehend until you actually see them. Alcatraz is fascinating. If you ever go, you must do the headphone tour through the prison. I loved hearing about all of the escapes.

The wineries are so beautiful. We visited around six and definitely had our favorites. Most of the wine was gross...I'm not a big fan of reds, but the sweet white wine was good. We had some really good food in Napa as well...way too expensive, but good nonetheless. We also treated ourselves to a little spa time, my idea, of course. Taylor didn't seem to mind the one hour massage...haha!! Many people gave us ideas of what we should definitely do when we were in the city. Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, China Town, Ghiradelli Square, Pier 39, etc. I never thought we would be able to pull off everything, but we were able to do it all!

Staple Boy

Warning: This picture is gross!!! If you are squeamish at all, don't look at it...well, I guess it's a little late for the warning.

The first night Conner and Ben returned from West Virginia was quite eventful. They had a great time and were eager to see Sam. I was happy to know that the boys really do miss each other when they're apart. Needless to say, Sam had a very bad accident while wrestling with his big brothers. I was doing my usual...standing at the sink doing dishes. I know this might sound crazy, but I really had a sneaking suspicion someone was going to get really hurt that night. When Taylor and I heard the "thud", then silence, then screaming, we knew something was really wrong. Taylor ran downstairs and came back up carrying Sam who had blood streaming down his head and face. Conner and Ben(the culprits) were both crying. We finally got the blood to stop and headed to Children's urgent care. We were there for about two hours...I wish I would've had my camera. They wrapped him up like a wounded soldier and it was too cute. Anyway, Sam received two staples and was very brave. He didn't even cry.

So now we affectionately have labeled him "staple boy".

the REALLY nice lady

A few weeks ago I made a trip to Costco to purchase my usual: toilet paper, paper towels, chicken, hummus, cascade, tide, bounce, chips, bread, peanut butter, t-shirts for Taylor, salsa, watermelon, blueberries, cereal...things a family of five just needs! I only had Sam with me and he was behaving quite well that day. I was impressed with his ability to sit in the cart for longer than two minutes and his lack of whining. As I was checking out, he wanted to help put things up on the conveyor belt. The lady behind us in line began commenting on how cute he was and what a nice helper he was to mommy: "Oh, he is too cute!! I just love his big brown eyes. You are such a good helper. And you are very quiet." I laughed and continued unloading my cart. She was persistent. "Is he always this helpful and sweet? It is so nice for once to see a child who isn't screaming and is well behaved in this store." At that moment something clicked inside of my child. He just couldn't let her give out such a lovely compliment without proving her otherwise. He looked straight at her, stuck his tongue out, and blew spit. Yep, my "sweet", "well-mannered", "helpful", and "quiet" child was quite proud to be sticking his tongue out and spitting. The picture above describes perfectly what he looked like during his outburst, except he's much older now than he was in that picture...which makes it so much better! But the story doesn't end here. Oh no, it gets better. I apologized for his rudeness and told Sam to please stop his behavior. The nice lady said, "Oh, I bet he doesn't even realize he's doing that. Don't worry about it. Kids will be kids." Unfortunately, Sam was not done being a "kid", looks directly at her with a straight face and says, "Your butt stinks!" At this point I am mortified. I mean, I know my children have a strange obsession with potty talking, but never in a million years did I expect one of them to go this far. At this point, the nice lady politely laughed and quit talking to me and my child. I wanted to run far, far away but I apologized, told the lady that Sam had big brothers, and quickly walked to my car. I spent the 20 minute ride home explaining to Sam that we don't tell strangers that their "butts stink". I sure hope that the lecture sunk in...we'll see.

Cicada Madness

The "kah-kay-da" bugs, as Sam called them, have come and gone... it must be tough to wait 17 years to be born, only to live for a few weeks. We sure enjoyed them though... well, some of us. Several evenings were spent shaking the smaller trees in our yard, then chasing the crazy bugs all over the place, until we had a whole pail full of them. Ben found many ways to utilize the things... secretly placing them on mommy, and seeing how many he can whack with a baseball bat in mid-air.

Conner's Big Hit

Conner's baseball team has been playing very well lately. Last Saturday, his team went into the game on a six game winning streak. This particular Saturday, his team, the Milford Storm, were up by six runs heading into the last inning. Our resilient opponent came back to take the lead by one run in the top half of the last inning. Heading into the bottom half of the last inning, the team looked very discouraged, but the coach quickly assured them that the game was far from over. After a couple of hits, we were able to tie the game. There was one out with a player on third, when the opposing coach decided to intentionally walk two batters to create a force out situation at any base. Conner was up. He had hit the ball very well that day, but in the wrong spots - right at the shortstop, and in foul territory. Needless to say, our hearts started pumping a little harder, and we were finding it hard to sit still. Our third base coach, conspicuously, gave the batter the signs. Conner nodded his head and stepped to the plate, saw the first pitch was right down the middle, and put down a perfect bunt. It caught everyone by surprise, and before the opposing pitcher was able to get to the ball, our player at third had crossed the plate. The Storm had won! Who says a "Walk-off Bunt" is not the most exciting play in baseball?

Incredible Hulk

Living with boys is never boring. There is always some sort of chaos going on. If you have more than one boy, you know what I mean. The level of noise, fighting, things broken, smelliness, messiness, roughness, etc. just intensifies when more than one boy is around. All that to say, I really thought my house would be quiet this weekend given the fact that my two oldest were travelling to West Virginia with my parents. Sam isn't going which is totally fine. I've been conjuring up all of the fun things we could do as a family of three. We could go to King's Island and all stay together for once. We could go out to eat and not have it cost at least 45 dollars or more. Woo hoo!!! I could get all of the much needed errands done that I've been putting off b/c taking one kid is a piece of cake. My house house would stay clean for at least a few days b/c I am minus two little boys. OH! I could also take Sam to the store and find some neat one-on-one things for us to do together...educational, learning things. I figured without the other boys around, Sam would be a lot more willing to do things that weren't so "boyish". As soon as I dropped off Conner and Ben, I headed to the toy store. I explained to Sam what we were doing and how "we are going to buy something fun to play together". As my pictures above describe in great detail, my toy store trip didn't quite end up how I had envisioned. While cruising through the games and "educational" stuff which didn't peak my child's interest whatsoever, Sam spotted the Spider Man/Incredible Hulk aisle. I did what any mother would do to avoid a meltdown and let him walk over "just to look". My child has many Spider Man/ Hulk toys... bath toys, outside toys, pool toys and floaties, cups/plates, balls, Wii games, spider-man t-shirts, swim trunks, and Hulk shorts, costumes(black and red spider-man), etc. So when he starts saying in a high-pitched voice that he wants the gigantic green hulk hands(which are labeled for ages 3 and up, mind you) and starts punching with them in mid-air, I said, "Sam, you have all kinds of toys like this. Let's go get something for you and mommy to do that is much more fun than big, green Hulk hands. Don't you want to get a really neat coloring book or something we could paint?" To my statements he says, "No mommy. I want to buy deese so I can westle wit daddy and gowl weally loud." I am sure the rest of the story goes without saying. I said no again. He pitches a fit. I buy the gigantic green Hulk hands that say things like, "HULK, CRASH!", ROOAARRRR!", "HULK, SMASH!", and "YOU'RE MAKING ME ANGRY, YOU WON'T LIKE ME WHEN I'M ANGRY!"
There's Sam and his daddy "westling". So much for less chaos.

Time Flies

It is sad to say that I do not remember a lot when my boys were little. The time literally flew by and it makes me sad. Thus my decision to blog...I'm terrible at keeping photo albums, I don't scrapbook or "stamp it up"(or whatever it's called), so I figured I could keep track with a little computer time each day. The best class I ever took in high school was typing:-) Hopefully a few minutes a day is all this will take. A few of my friends who blog say that...we'll see. Anyway, that's our Sammy at less than a year old. He just turned four a few weeks ago. He will always be the baby unless God says otherwise. Sorry, honey.
Amidst the chaos of baseball schedules, dinner on the run, random children running through my house each day, piles of laundry, and dirty floors, I want to remember this time desperately. As much as I think I will remember something funny one of the boys has said, I know I won't. You forget what you have heard after 72 hours anyway...so I've heard.