It's all About the Air

With Spring finally arriving (sort of - what's up 30 degree mornings?!), it's got Ben in his 'outdoor project' mode. Saturday he spent most of the day leveling out the landscape around the shed with his skid loader, and by the time he was done, he had a LOT of extra dirt piled up. Of course we couldn't just let it sit in a big ol' pile of ugly dirt. What to do?

Duh.

Jake directing traffic on the course

There goes Will!

Charlie's Turn

Jake bringing up the rear

Show Off!

Not sure how long he'll be content without a motor....

From good to Mud

When my friend called me over a month ago to ask if our kids wanted to participate in the annual 'Mud Run' in Des Moines, I immediately answered "OH I'M SURE THEY WOULD!" I let the kids watch the commercial which featured folks splashing and running in mud and puddles - and that was it. We were going.

Since Jacob was too young to participate, Ben reluctantly (yeah right) volunteered to sit out with our little guy while the rest of us ran the race. I actually thought it might be kind of fun - definitely out of the box for me - and the kids were over the moon about it. What's a little mud?

The rules were as follows:

Wear your grungy clothes and old running shoes.

Make sure your shoes are double or triple tied.

Avoid clothes with pockets, pockets carry extra mud.

Bring a trash bag, dry clothes and towel.

Make-shift shower stations available.

(and here comes the best one:)

Do not dive head first into the mud pit.

This is a FUN RUN so help your neighbor if they get stuck!

HA!

A little mud on a nice sunny day would be one thing. But a LOT of mud on a FREEZING morning (40 degrees) is another! The unseasonably cold temps on Saturday morning had us watching puffs of our own breath float around in the air. My 2 layers of running pants and three shirts were not keeping me warm while we waited for the race to begin. What did I get myself in to?!?!!?

Well, THIS:

note the difference in facial expressions between myself and the chap in red

And believe it or not, we didn't get near as muddy as some of the folks who ran this baby. They may not have dove head first into the pit, but there was definitely evidence of many a belly flops, that's for sure. And we didn't freeze. Once we got going, it was better - and pretty funny... and fun. Getting out of our wet muddy garb in the parking lot was a bit of a challenge, but we managed. I can only imagine what was going through the attendant's head when we walked into our hotel to check in!

Cereal Knock Out!

In researching DIY games to play for an upcoming PTO event, I put the kids to 'work' trying a few of them out. This game was a BIG hit with all three kids!

Charlie and Will really liked trying to stack all the weird shaped boxes

Adding the face into the mix was an added bonus!

All of them loved knocking them down!

Even Jake put his 'game face' on!!!

Buckle Up!

Lately, I'm starting to feel the effects of becoming a non-stop shuttle for my kids. I've heard other parents complain about all the running they do to get their kids here and there, but without having done much myself, I can't say I've had much sympathy. My answer was simple: Don't let them go out for so much crap!

WELL (*throat clearing*), I now find myself eating my own words. I am getting glimpses of my future with two boys in back to back grades-- playing sports, and it's making me cringe! Not only does living in the country add time to all my trips, but practices and games are scattered between two towns, making coordination a little difficult. Throw piano lessons in there and it makes it complete. I often find myself asking, "When are we supposed to eat dinner?!"

And as far as saying "NO". Yeah. Am I really going to look Charlie in his sad little face and tell him he can't go out for baseball (*because they're nuts and started practicing in FEBRUARY*) because he's currently going out for basketball? It's not his fault the seasons are overlapping at this age. Obviously whoever is coordinating baseball doesn't have a kid in basketball right now! But really, it won't matter in the end. As soon as basketball finishes up, baseball with increase in practices and games... so it's a wash. I just need to just suck it up - and accept the fact that I just added one more hat to my current array... a taxi driver's hat.

Maybe those beavers ain't so bad after all

I think I might have changed my mind about our beavers. I might actually have to take back all the nasty things I've said about them. I said MIGHT. I still have yet to see what our beaver pond (aka beaver mess) will look like this Spring, so I can't fully commit quite yet to loving beavers.

My reason for this sudden change of heart came about after last weekend - the older kids and Ben headed outside for some fresh air and ATV riding. Will was riding his dirtbike and Charlie and Ben were on the 4-wheeler. I could hear them riding all around and yelling and laughing while I hung out cleaning inside while Jacob napped. On one of my trips in to my bathroom to put away towels, I caught a glimpse out the window of the 4-wheeler doing donuts like crazy out on the FROZEN beaver pond. Huh? The kids were hooting and hollering as Ben used his 'zamboni' to smooth out the ice and clear the snow so the kids could play. Huh.

When Jacob woke up, we headed out to see what was going on. WOW. I could not believe how cool this little 'skating rink' was. The kids were taking turns running and sliding on the ice - having a total blast. Check it out:

Now if only we had some ice skates!!

Making Memories

It's been six months now that we've lived in our new house. The tail end of summer was exciting with all the 'newness', and the kids seemed generally very happy to be here. Then school started. It wasn't until they made their debut at a new school with new kids, new teachers and a new bus route, that the new house didn't seem so cool anymore. Daily at dinner we heard them complain about missing their old school and friends.

Daily complaints turned into weekly. Now they complain maybe monthly. The tough part of the transition is (I think) finally over, except for occasional lamenting and pouting about a certain person or feature being missed. Last week the item was the OLD house. Yup. Will, for several days, was sadly reciting all the things he misses about our old house and how he wishes we never moved. We kept challenging him with questions like, "you miss sharing a room with Charlie?", YEP... "you miss that tiny living room?", YEP... "you miss the ONE bathroom we all had to share?", YEP... okay, this was getting nowhere.

We steered the conversation into that of memories, and explained to him that it's the memories he is missing, not the things. I agree, I feel the same way sometimes - we have a lot of great memories of that little place. In fact, last week while we were sorting through old home videos to label, I even got the blues a little... missing our old place. Seeing our kids bathe in a make-shift tub in the basement while we remodeled the bathroom..., sledding around our little pasture..., Charlie crawling around on the old wood floor..., tons of stuff like that. I have to remind myself (and the kids) that we lived there for six years... not six months like this. Making memories takes time.

Thursday, while the boys were at school, Ben and I took Jacob outside late in the afternoon for some fresh air. He'd been sick and it was finally above zero (thirty!!!), so we seized the opportunity for outdoor adventure. Well, mostly walking back and forth in the driveway and playing with toys, but whatever. As I was standing near the shed, looking down across our yard and field, I noticed it was probably sloped just enough to make a decent sledding hill. I grabbed a sled and tried it. Hmmph. I got stuck. However, the snow was just crunchy enough that I could tell if I forced my way down a few times, it might turn into something good. Ben and I both repeatedly scooted down the hill and hoofed it back up MANY times until we had a pretty decently groomed little run.

When the kids got off the bus, they were pretty pumped when they saw their PARENTS out sledding! They grabbed some more sleds, and ya know what? They flew down the hill! With every run, the sleds were picking up more speed, and suddenly the barbed wire fence wayyyyy down at the end was becoming an issue. We all took turns going down, and sometimes racing each other down, but we could never really figure out who won because we all had to abandon ship before crashing into the fence. (I did crash into the fence one because of my failure to launch - luckily it was in a grassy section where the barbs were kind of covered!) The kids were doing a lot of laughing and screeching, and as I watched, I couldn't help but think to myself "we couldn't do this at our old place!" Memory filed.

Shoot 'em up!

Let me warn you now.  If you are anti-guns or anti-kids with guns (haha) you should just navigate away from this post immediately.  Keep in mind, we are in the MIDWEST where hunting and yes, guns, are a big part of everyday life around here.  Well, seasonally at least. I grew up with a hunting-crazed dad and brother, was the only girl in Hunter Safety Education class at 12 years of age, and was toted along every deer season as a kid for my extra 'tag'. Granted, most of the time I sat in the truck listening to music or riding on the 4-wheeler when it was time to retrieve a deer, but my point is - this stuff aint no big deal to me.

Ben did not grow up with a deer-driven-dad like myself, but his interest in learning to hunt and shoot has been growing, especially since we own enough land now to do so.  His friends and cousins have been on his case for years for him to join them in the hunt. So when we stopped by the local mart this summer for some fishing worms and saw a sign-up sheet for an upcoming Hunter's Safety Education class, Ben was in! He completed it last month, so now he's really 'fired up' (ha) to do some shooting and hunting.

Now let me back up a bit....   A couple weeks ago, Ben's friend and his twin boys came over with a BB gun - I wasn't so sure, but I rolled with it. Ben and Todd went with them walking through the woods and let them practice shooting a bit.  The men eventually wandered up by the house, letting the kids walk around a bit more - and it wasn't long before the kids came back shrieking with excitement. Apparently shortly after the dads hoofed it, the kids spied something 'fuzzy' swimming around in the water. So the BB-gun toting foursome came to the only logical conclusion possible - SHOOT IT! The story is this - Hunter shot it in the arm, causing it to swim in circles, then Charlie shot it in the nuts, and finally Will - with his expert marksmanship - landed the kiss of death ... straight to the heart.  Likely. Ultimately, I'm confident that none of them hit anything, and it was the steatlh-like dog that ended up bounding into the water and locking her jaws on this fuzzy-whatever-it-was.  (you're thinking Beaver, aren't you??) WELL IT WAS A MUSKRAT. 

I have to admit, I was a little shocked.  I said to Charlie - "Do you even know what you're DOING?" "Have you even had a safety lesson on that???"  His answer (all smug while pointing at a part of the gun he was holding) "YES MOM, there's a BUTTON right here - see SAFETY". Oh god.  (Ben assures me they did in fact lay down the law with these guys.) Whew!

Last weekend, while I was at a wedding shower, Ben took the boys to buy their own BB gun. I know he really wanted to buy a gun for himself, but I told him to hold off since my dad has one he can use - so this was second best. He bought a little target, and the boys spent the afternoon with Dad learning the parts of the gun, more about safety and aiming.  Cool.

Back to the present. I got a glimpse on Sunday of what is sure to be the new favorite activity around here. SHOOTING CLAY PIGEONS. Ben's friend brought over this machine that launches these clay discs in the air, and everyone tries to shoot it. I have to admit, it really did look pretty fun. The kids of course were in heaven, aiming their BB gun at the flying target. They are confident that their shot 'shattered' several of the pulls. :-) Here's Charlie readying for the next pigeon. (AND YES THE DADS WERE RIGHT THERE).

With all the hunting and shooting here as of late, I even called the WI DNR to get a copy of MY Hunter's safety certificate... just in case. Hey, if you can't beat em, join em.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Even the rain didn't stop these two...

Hayward Trip Recap - the short version

We are safe and sound, back from Hayward now for three days.  I finally got the rest of the bags and laundry put away yesterday.  Sometimes it's harder to get settled after a trip than it is getting ready to go!  Of course now that we are back, it is hotter than the dickens here - near 90 degree temps everyday.  Sure wish we had some of that in Hayward!

The trip overall was very good.  The weather, as eluded to, stunk for a few of the days (60 degrees!), but we did get some really great days in as well.  It was a little on the cool side the entire time for any prolonged amounts of swimming, but the boys got their fair share in by the end.  Fishing off the end of the dock was a lot of fun, and even Jake was getting into it with his Spongebob pole.  The boys LOVED Uncle Ryan's new fishing boat, and while I liked it as well - I preferred the pontoon! :-)  I snapped a ton of great pictures, especially when the boys went tubing for the first time - what a hit!    

At the end of the week, Ben's cousin and his family joined us for a couple days which was super! The kids don't get to see their cousins near enough, and to spend time with them in Hayward was a big bonus to the trip.  However, I'm not sure who had more fun - the kids or the adults! Overall, it was another great family experience with lots of new memories!  THANK YOU Grandma and Grandpa for another super Hayward trip!

Creature Seekers

As we ready ourselves to depart on our week long vacation to Hayward, WI, I'm getting myself into 'beast bird and fish' mode.  If this trip is anything like last year, I'll be up to my eyeballs in fish, crawdads, frogs and any other little creature the boys can get their hands on.  I've had a little practice getting into the swing of things here as of late...

I'd be lying if I said I didn't scream like a girl when this next photo was taken.  

Can you guess why?

Let's try that again...

RIBBIT!

Back to Reality

I wouldn't want to shatter the utopian picture I painted for you yesterday, however - you knew it was too good to be true, right?  If I really thought my kids were transformed over night into law abiding citizens and eager do-gooders, I must have inhaled too many paint fumes.   This morning when Ben asked me to shop-vac up the rest of the scraped paint around the garage, I had my hesitations, but (against my better judgement) said I'd do it.  Normally, (like yesterday) when he asks me to do 'extra' things (like power wash the garage), I get a little irritated.  He usually acts like he cannot understand what the big deal is.  Sometimes he even takes the task on himself while watching the kids just to show me how 'easy' it really can be. Right.

I had to secretly giggle yesterday at an unfortunate incident which occurred while Ben was outside scraping the garage.  I came in from supervising Jacob for about 20 minutes to get ready to take Will to the dentist, leaving Ben to do his simple 'extra' job while watching all three kids.  I can't say I was too surprised when shortly after I departed I heard a lot of yelling outside, the screen door slam and saw a furious Ben stomping in the house, holding a kitten that had been freshly dipped in white paint.   I headed outside to assess the rest of the damage and saw a guilty Jacob sporting a fresh pair of 'white' gloves.  Oh boy.  As I brought him in the house to the sink where the kitten was being scrubbed,  Ben looked over and angrily stated "JACOB.  Look at what you did!  NAUGHTY."  At that moment, a wave of guilt washed over little Jakey and he sadly said "Sowwy Daddy"....  YEAH RIGHT!  Instead, Jacob looked over at his little creation and an evil smile slowly spread across his face.  Then he let out the lowest little diabolical snicker EVER, as if to say "you bet your sweet ass I did that, and it's pretty damn funny too!"  I think I saw Ben trying to hold back a tiny smile.

So today, as I said, I was asked to finish sucking up the paint scrapings.  With an optimistic attitude, I headed out, giving both older kids one CLEAR instruction: DO NOT LET JACOB GET WET.  Simple Simon.  So, again - why am I surprised that fifteen minutes later Jacob was soaked head to toe, Charlie was marching around with the bag of pretzels I told him NOT to take outside and Will's new shirt was splattered with white paint water?!?!?!   Seriously people!!!!!  DEEP BREATHS.  

Well, well, well... look what they can do!

power-washing....

vacuuming... 

more power-washing...

no comment...  

painting...

and yes, even mowing...

It only makes sense

I really don't know why I was shocked yesterday afternoon as I went to load up the back of my van with my grocery purchases to find an ANT COLONY living in the trunk area.  I instinctively shot my head about two feet closer to analyze the moving dots to confirm they were indeed ants... yes, ANTS living in MY VEHICLE.  What?  

While i was cleaning, scrubbing and vacuuming my vehicle out this morning, going over every inch with a fine-toothed comb, I formed an answer to my 'what?' question.  Or rather, answered the question with another question:  Why WOULDN'T an ant want to live in our van?!   Our van has everything another living organism could ever need or want - dirt, grass, crumbs, half drank water bottles, old french fries, video games, movies and so much more!   I mean, I knew the back was untidy and had things that needed to be thrown out - after all, they're boys!  But, I guess I really need to venture into the 'abyss' of the vehicle a little more often to keep a handle on the situation.  During the process of folding the seats up, down, back and every direction that I didn't even know they could go - I found all kinds of remnants from the previous six months of happy meals and snacks, including an empty ketchup packet!!!!  Yuck!  Yes, I am officially grossed out.  

I must also mention, as I was tossing all the lego pieces, shirts, crayons, crumbs, etc out of the back of the vehicle onto the driveway, Jake was promptly retrieving and hauling each item (including a quilt) over behind the house and throwing it all in his baby pool.  AWESOME.  It never ends!!!

it's a boat, it's a plane... no wait - that's Charlie driving a lawnmower slash CLOWN CAR.

OK. Seeing this picture reminds me of when Ben first purchased this little beauty (aka the CAB that sits on top of this lovely mower)... which I'm going to have to dig through and post that baby up here. I think it might be one of the top ten hardest laughs I've ever had in my life. Ben - crammed inside of this redneck clown car mower is forever burned into my brain.

Now... before you freak out - this 'mower' doesn't even have a mower on it and it goes like point 2 miles per hour. It's more like a Jr. tractor. Why do we have it you might ask? (I too find myself asking that about a lot of the items we have around here...) and to be honest, I just don't have a good answer for you. I CAN tell you that we have held on to the cab out of sheer comedy. Check this out - it gets better:




YEP. I just don't even know what to say. YES I DO REALIZE THIS IS FREAKIN' RIDICULOUS!!!!! But I guess that is part of what makes it so hilarious. I must say, the kids could not get enough of this set-up. They even parked their atvs to fight over driving this - and Jacob was happy as a clam getting towed around in the wagon for hours. I'm just still trying to figure out which part of this photo is the funniest, and I can't!

Tah Oh Nah.

Translation: Chocolate Milk. Obvious, right? It is if you live at my house! Deciphering the statements (or shall I say DEMANDS) of our 2 year old has become second nature to our entire family. I had to laugh this morning when Charlie (6) asked for some 'tah oh nah' at breakfast. I wish the funniness could over-rule the frustration when he says 'sah-ee' (sorry) after deliberately tipping the stool over into the wall and chipping the paint and denting the trim in the process.... all with a smirk on his face... Ugh! Terrible twos have definitely hit us - and we're only one month in! I never had to worry with my older two boys that if I turned around for 30 seconds that I might find a completely undressed person - diaper in hand.... What?!

So, I'm practicing deep breaths today. I didn't even break a sweat when he threw his entire bowl of cereal and milk upside down on the floor this morning. Or when he took a big drink of his tah-oh-nah and then opened his mouth big... and just let it run all over himself. (the stool incident was this morning as well) - it's not even 10:00 am!