Weekend in the Woods

We loaded up the hoodlums and headed north to Island Park.  Quinn's mom and dad have a sweet cabin on the lake and it is dreamy!  We took an extra day on each end of the weekend so it made for a nice and relaxing stay.  I even kicked Dewey's trash during a mean game of Harts.  He always beats the crap outta me so this time luck was on my side.

Quinn got up at the butt cracka on Friday and went with his buddies to set up the "course."  Long gone are the days of slappin on a ski and heading out which ever direction is the smoothest.  Now we have balls, zip ties, pvc pipe, and all sorts a complicated stuff.  I'm so grateful that he has buddies to help him put all that crap together cause I remember a few times putting the course in when I had the divorce attorney on speed dial.

Anyway, we all had a great time skiing, tubing, chillin, and eating.  Joyce and Dewey were with us and the kids loved hangin with them.  Not to mention that Joyce is an awesome cook so we were pretty pimped out.

The big news was Quinn "nailing 28 off" almost everytime he went out to ski.  And he "never skies well at Island Park."  So that was a great confidence builder heading into a couple tournaments in the next couple of weeks.  And Aiden took off the "cheater rope" on his skies.  So now it is all him holding himself up from behind the boat.  My memory card was on the fritz so I don't have photos of him skiing but here are some from tubing the next day.

Asher and dad.  Can you tell how much Quinn is loving this.  When we were kidless he swore we would "never do such a wally thing like pulling a tube behind a sweet comp ski boat."  Alas, how times change!
Ash was trying to get brave enough to pick up speed.  Love this face!

Then there is Mr. Daredevil.  This kid makes me crazy, it was never fast enough.  I thought he was going to get freaked out and let Quinn know he'd had enough. . .not so much.

This is his bored pose, the "I'm so over this."  Quinn saw his cockyness and said "oh no you didn't."  The throttle went from 0 to 60 in about 2.2 and the next thing we saw was this. . .

Ade, your dad will school you when it comes to water sports.  At least for the next couple of years.

Don't you just want to nibble on those yummmy thighs.   I love this little bug!

She's trying to figure out a way to get down to her brothers. . .a work them over!

For these reasons and many more, I love summer.  I hope yours is going well!

Ross Park Extravaganza!

I was so ready to just chill at home and get stuff done when my friend Alysia called and put the little Ross Park bug in my ear.  I tried and tried to fight it off but I knew the kids would have so much fun.  There were 5 of us moms and about a million kids that went.  Alysia's husband, Collin, had the day off so he joined us.  What a good sport.  He looked a little like he may be visiting from Texas, although none of us had the cool swoopy, long, "sister-wife" like hair.  It was a great teasing moment and Collin took it all is stried.  And it was great having our own personal photographer.  As a side note Collin was confronted by the Park staff wondering why he was taking so many photos of all these kids.  It was great, I can totally see me getting my headlights on high beam when some dude is taking pics of kids of lots of little kids.  Another good laugh.  Thanks Collin.

So my kids had a beyond wonderful time.  And I only developed 3 new ulcers.  Next time I will be smart like my other friends who brought three small kids. . .bring a spouse or a babysitter.  I was on high alert keeping a close eye on Ash and not dropping Ava as she squirmed to get out of my arms.  I wasn't crazy worried about Aiden drowning cause that kid has mad skills but I was quite worried about him going off on his own and coming across Chester the Molester. 

 Aiden had a wonderful time with two of his favorite things, buddies and water.  He checked in often and stayed with his friends.  

Ash is getting so brave and starting to develop his own gills.  He was a crazy man in the kiddie pool, going down the slide and dunking his head.  I'm not sure there is anything cuter than these 2 beautiful blue eyes coming out of the water accompanied by the hugest smile cause he is so proud of his new found bravery.  Loved it!

Then there was little Miss Ava. . .so naughty.  EVERY time I put her down at the edge of the pool she was off and crawling like she was on fire.  She went straight for the water.  There is a gentle slope and she would crawl until her hands and knees could no longer touch.  Not caring in the least that she was taking on water.  She coughed and gagged and went right back to crawling into the depths.  I'm pretty sure my kids have been never really transitioned to breathing air, they are still stuck in breathing fluid mode.

We had a wonderful time, despite my irrational fears, no one drowned or was scooped away by Chester.   Just another great summer day.  Next time we'll make dad come and get water logged with us!  Here are a few pics from our day.

Six little eyes. . .

So bath time around here is always quite interesting.  From fighting and making a HUGE mess to the occasional peeing on each other (ohhhh, I only wish I was kidding).  Anyway, we've done a few things to discourage this behavior most of them including bloody dismemberment.  So last night when I heard a huge amount of giggling coming from the bathroom I went back there expecting to find water everywhere and ready to busta cap.  But what I heard first is a little boy doing his best to talk with a high pitched voice.  It went something like this. . ."Asher, I am your momma and I want you to get out of the tub and get your jammies on."  Aiden was doing a great imitation of me wagging his finger and shakin his bootie.  And Asher was beside himself in hysterics.  So when I peaked around the corner I saw this. . .

Yep, that's my Mr. Charming, figuring out how to wrap his towel on his head "mom style."  When I saw this I ran to get my camera hoping to catch some candids but I was laughing too hard and blew my cover (or maybe it was peeing my pants that busted my cover).  Anyway, Mr. ham it up continued on with the mom show and showed me his technique of getting the towel on his head like mom.  I guess this is just another illustration about little ones and their ability to watch and absorb everything you do.  Oh, and by the way, during the reenactment there were no swear words coming from my 6 year olds mouth!

Here are some more pics of my bathing beauties.

Notice the mohawks. . .I am considering some body piercings next!
I still cannot get over how blue this little dude's eyes are.  They get him out of a lot of trouble, but really try to tell those baby blues no.

Have a great day!

The Flying Stufflebirds

So I had to post a few more pics of the first of many slip-n-slide fests.  I often think about how skinny I would be if I ran like crazy all day.  Cause really, running as fast as you can towards a long plastic thing with freezing water bubbling from it THEN sliding across it on my belly sounds like a whole lotta NOT fun to me.  But it may be a little more effective than the stinking gym at the butt crack of dawn.

Check out the sheer determination on their faces!

These are not my kids (although, Quinn is petitioning to claim them on our taxes. . .) But I love this pic.  Little boys defying gravity, go Braxton, go Daylan!

Happy Birthday Aunt Susie!!!!

Yesterday was our Aunt Susie's birthday.  Here are some of the many, many reasons we (Aiden, Ash, and Ava) LOVE our Aunt Susie:

1.)  She is always ready for a good time.

2.)  She takes us to Chucky Cheese's even though the food is disgusting and they serve Pepsi.

3.) Target trips!!!

4.) She has a nice dog.

5.) She secretly thinks Utah is #1.

6.) She teaches us annoying chants like, "U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi, you ugly, you ugly, yo         mamma says your ugly."

7.) She gives great hugs.

8.) She puts up with Uncle Kevin.

9.) She comes all the way to Idaho to help celebrate our birthdays.

10.) She has a funny laugh.

11.)  She always fills our pockets with M & M's (before dinner).  Then our mom washes our                 pants and chocolate gets everywhere, our mom especially loves that!

12.)  She taught our dad cool tricks, like burping and tooting.

13.)  Our mom and dad "willed" us to her and Uncle Kevin,  and our mom and dad wouldn't                 "will" us to just anyone.

14.)  She is the sister our mom never had!

15.)  She "prayed" our dad to this earth.

16.)  She is a wonderful example of how to live the gospel.

17.)  She is always happy and fun to be around.

18.) Even though she is a skinny bitch she still whips up some mean mac-n-cheese.

19.) She has, single handedly, kept Nabisco in business, via Wheat Thins. 

20.)  But most of all we love her simply because she is OUR Aunt Susie and she loves us!

Now that we have given one reason of why we Love her for each year of her age it's time to send off a big fat juicy kiss and tell her that we love her soooooo much and we wish we were there to give her a yummy birthday hug!  Happy Birthday, Aunt Susie!

In Idaho we don't believe in Spring. . .

I mean really, why bother with all that extra "season" stuff.  We prefer to go straight from the hellish winters directly to delightful summers.  So when summer finally hit last week we, at the Stufflebeam casa went slip-n-slide crazy.  We had the good ole' Spiderman S and S out 3 of the 5 weekdays.  (the boys opted out the other two due to the wind. . .just like their dad to let a little 40 mph breeze ruin a little fun.  We have also, single-handedly, upped the demand for popsicles.  Yes, it is our fault, not China's, that the price of these frozen little treats have skyrocketed in recent weeks.  So a little slip-n-slide, a lot of popsicles, and some upcoming jaunts around this lovely state (probably jaunts of the water ski tourney variety) we have the makings of a very fun summer that is going to go way too fast.  I'm starting to stockpile meds for the fall when 1.) Aiden goes to school ALL day (just seeing the words in type makes me throw up in my mouth) and 2.)  my baby, Ash, head off to pre-school twice a week.  This just means that Kindergarten is that much closer. . .what's a mom to do.  Anyway, for the time being I will try to enjoy these moments. . .here are a few pics.  Until next time

Yummy little Ash, couldn't you just eat him up with a spoon.

The brothas. . .and no, the matching swimsuits are NOT on purpose!

Ohhh, sweet Ava, she refused to hold the popsicle by the stick, oh well, a little frost bite won't hurt, she's got 2 hands.

Here we go. . .

Starting a blog has been one of my goals for a LONG time. . .so here I go.  I've always thought it was important to document life's "happenings"  especially after my kids have come into my life.  I have so many daily snapshots in my head that I always want to remember but, sadly, I can't remember all the little things that happen on a daily basis.  So here we go, here's to an honest and sometimes irreverent look at life.  If you take offense easily you may want to check out another blog because with me. . .what you see is what you get and my opinion will never be sugar-coated.

This blog is for three of the four loves of my life.  My kids.  I cannot begin to imagine my life without any one of them.  To my spunky Aiden, my tenacious Ash, and my blissful Ava, this is so you will have documentation of your early years and always know how much I love you from a year by year to a minute by minute basis.  And this is also to take a little pressure off my friend, Jenn, whom I have a pact with.  If anything ever happens to me she has promised to remind my kids (often) how much their mom loved them.  (I know it is totally morbid, but knowing someone is covering that base makes it easier to go on a trip without the little hooligans!)