NEEEENNNRRRRR NEEEENNNRRRR NEEEENNNNNRRRRR

I have sooooo much to blog about but this little event is going to get the moment now.  Mostly because it is quick and easy and I have 5 minutes. . .but if I'm being honest it is really because the gratification is exuding from my pores and I need to get it down in text so I can "wipe this smirk off my face."

So here is the 411.  Last night Quinn and I were working with Aiden on his 50 in a minute.  It is this math homework biz that Ade is struggling with a bit.  Now he is up to subtraction to 10 and it is not coming as fast as he is used to---so he is frustrated.

But enough about Ade, here is the real goods!!  I challenged Q to a "math off."  He just gave me this look--

--this "as if you even stand a chance, woman" look.  The pompousness was oozing off his five-o-clock shadowed face.

Set the timer for one minute--and GO!!!

I was on fire. . .I was not focused on him at all--he is usually quite good at math.

-but alas, the quickness fails him.

I soooooo wish I had a snapshot of his face (a hard copy to share, not just the one in my head) when I threw my arms in the air. . ."DONE!!!"

He looked at me like I had 4 heads---his thoughts quickly turning to disbelief.  Until the evidence was there.

Right there is black and white ( that Micheal Jackson song just popped into my head. . .ohhh)

And right in front of his recently fallen face. . .yeaaaa baby!!!!!!

So this first pic is after Aiden told on me and said, "dad, mom is totally going to blog about this."  And Q smugly  and sarcastically said, "why don't you take a picture and scrapbook it, baby."  

I nearly peed my pants cause I was already on my third photo---so between snorts and kegals I told him to come in here.  When he saw I was actually photographing the evidence he was "buggin hard." 

I'll leave it up to you to guess which finger this is in the photograph.

This is a pic of round two--per his request after the first schooling.  When he accepted his defeat and while he was trying to figure out how I cheated (cause, really, no way could I beat him THAT bad. . .)  

The results. . .got him by 5!  But probably more like 7.  By this time we had an audience and I was trying to demonstrate sportsmanship.  So I finished, quietly, and planted this giant smugness on my face that only Mr. Q could interpret.

And here is the "stunning" first round. . . a HUGE loss by EIGHT!!!  

Now if I can just figure out how to spell---- neeenerrr, neeeneerrrr, neeeenrrrrr. . .

I sure love you, honey, but never underestimate 'THE MOM.'

SEVEN??? What the HELL--SEVEN!!!!

So the boys had a dental appointment the other day. . .the first for Ash and, quite possibly the last for Ade.  It actually worked out great to have them at the same time.  Seeing Aiden sitting in the chair (not afraid) really helped put Ash at ease.The two ding dongs hanging out and waiting for the teeth cleaning fest. . .

Here is Asher---smiling--for now. . .

But alas. . .it doesn't last long.  He did NOT enjoy the scrapey thing on his teeth.  I don't blame him--I hate that sound/feeling.  So the teary eyes started but he was trying really hard to be so brave.  Love this little dude.

I'm pretty sure this next pic should be in an ad for a pediatric dentist. . .

Poor little man-I saw that look in his eyes and I wanted to do the ole' scoop and run.  But I've tried to squash the 'helicopter mom' mode in my psyche.  

He is holding on to his way-to-big-headphones trying so hard to focus on the cartoon playing above him.

Here is Ash after the cleaning and the exam by our friend and dentist, Damon.  They are posing to show how much the "upper and lower teeth gap" that was caused by his binkie is closing up.  I'll have to find a comparison picture because it really is amazing how much that gap has closed up in the last 4 months.  And I WILL be doing a post on that momentous 'giving up the binkie' day.  

Now, on to the what the hell part. . .aarrrrgggg!

 
All I have to say is it's a good thing that Aiden in smart--cause the above is a picture of this college education!  The little hoser has SEVEN, yes, S-E-V-E-N cavities.  What the crap is that about.  I just about stroked out when Damon was counting the "spots" on the X-ray!!

I guess this a prime example of giving your oldest too much credit/responsibility.  I need to be a better nazi of the teeth brushing ritual.  Duh. . .  The night is just so crazy and there is so much to get done. . .I just let him be in charge of his own brushing.   Well, that is a thing of the past.  I nearly made his gums bleed when I got out the Brillo pad to "brush" his teeth the night following the appointment.

Enjoy that laughing gas, Ade, cause when your dad finds out--the laughing part will be OVER.  Oh, speaking of. . . Q is such a softie/big talker.  When I gave Q the news his mouth gaped open then some explicits flew out.  Followed by, "I'm going to take that game back," and "no new toys" and all sorts of what for. . . 

Big Talker Betty Crocker.  Here is how it really went, Q-- "Ade how many cavities did you have?"  A-- "well, 6 now."  (he got one filled today)  and Q--"what's up with that dude?"  ohhhhh, scarreeee dad.  So lame, why do I always have to be the heavy. . .whatever.

I can almost detect a little smirk on that little punk's face--maybe he is just laughing at the cartoon playing above.  He'll think funny when he goes back TWO more times for the rest of the fillings.  I need to tell Damon not to be so good when giving the numbing shot--Ade barely felt it.  I think a good dose on pinch/sting will carry a lot of mileage when it comes time to brush teeth!  Ya, go ahead, call C.P.S.  maybe the good people of the State of Idaho can pick up his dental bill!

Peace out!

A Good Day. . .

Yep, a pretty good day today.  Q and I have made a pact to really, really hard to get scriptures and prayer in EVERY night.  We decided that we were waiting till it got to late and by 9:00 we were ready to go postal.  “Forget scriptures---just get those little hosers in bed---argggg.”  Every parent can feel our pain at the end of a long day, eh? 

 

Anyway, we decided the key is to start earlier—get it done before we are teetering on the edge!  We’ve done really good the past few nights-hooray for salvation.

 

My second big goal is to read to each of the kiddos (one on one) at least 15 minutes a day.  Do the math, that is 45 minutes of reading kid books—what the!!  But today—success, thanks to a dentist appointment (more on that tomorrow). 

 

When I got home from the gym this afternoon/evening I turned in to Nazi screen mom.  “NO COMPUTERS, NO T.V., NO VIDEO GAMES---NOTHING WITH A SCREEN.”  I told the kids we were done with all things screen for the evening!  They griped a bit but then I gave them jobs to help me with dinner.  It was totally worth a few egg shells in the waffle mix!

 

So we had dinner—all together, cleaned up, read scriptures & prayer, played a little Spongebob Connect Four, did baths/jammies/teeth/breathing treatments.  Aiden and Q read one more book.  Then the boys got 10 minutes watching dad and his ultra cool computer game (NOT).

 

--someone, please explain the whole boys & video game thing. . .I totally do NOT get it!

 

And at last, 3 kiddos---fed, read, prayed, played, cleaned, brushed, loved, and NIGHT NIGHT!!  Time check. . .9:06.  V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

 

And just as the proverbial cherry. . .I even remembered the freakin’ children’s vitamins!!!

And since I was way too wrapped up in "keeping the peace."  Which included--keeping Ash (on dad's team) feeling like he was in charge and doing awesome, and keeping Ade (on my team) stimulated and thinking of our next move, and keeping Ava--awake and NOT suckleing.

--yep, I forgot to snap a pic, until Ade and I were cleaning up and the little kiddos were in the bath. . .alas there has got to be ONE hitch.

Hope your day is great!

Kindercup!!

Last weekend we busted over to Sun Valley for the annual Kindercup!!  It is such a cool little race over on Dollar Mountain.  Aiden loves is so we made a day trip of it.  Jenn's kids were really sick that weekend so instead of a three day trip the kids and I got up at the "cracka" on Saturday morning and had a fun day on the mountain.  Quinn had gone over on Thursday night so he could get some "freshies" on the big mountain Friday.  I know, I'm a total rock star wife--I'm just making my little deposits on the Audi A6 coming my way when we have outgrown car seats!!

Anyway, on to the pics!

Here are my three boys cruising up the chair lift.  It makes me throw up in my mouth to think that my little baby Ash is big enough to do this and start hangin' with the "two older boys."  

I have these three trained. . .there will be no fun or goofing around till mom gets a great photo--so smile and wave!!  OH, and Ade got some poles, this is the maiden voyage with the new sticks.  He was thinking he was pretty cool stuff with those bad boys.

Now, check out this little thing of beauty. . .can you even stand how yummy she is!!!  It looks like her cheeks are a bit red from the cold. . .but alas, it is just from me nibbling too much---I mean really, how do you see that face and NOT take a little nibble and smooch on it???

This is where the little peanut hung out for most of the day--about 4 hours.  I wonder why my back was on fire that night, hmmmm.  I'm thinking she gained about 20 pounds in that small amount time.  But it was helpful to not have to worry about where she was running off to!

So when Aiden and Quinn were up on the bigger area of the mountain getting ready for the race Ash was dying.  He wanted to "shred" soooooo bad.  I wasn't sure how far he progressed with Quinn last time so I told him I could help him with his skies but I couldn't go up with him. . ."dats okay, mom, I can todeally do it."  Alright buddy, let's get those skies on.  Another easy thing to do with a 25 pound sleeping baby strapped to your back.  Two herniated disks later he had those skies on and was ready to rip!

What a little stud--all by himself and no fear!  I found out later (via Quinn) that he can't go down by himself.  Hmmmm, well, he can now!!  It was awesome.  He was doing little turns and "shredding" away.  He got down and told me he wanted to "shred again, mom."

Here is the little racer!  This picture was taken after the race. . .he had slowed down right before the exit gates cause he "wanted to spray" the people giving out the little awards.  Little ding bat--  I think his final time was about 43 seconds.  You go dude.

And here is the little man blowing around those gates--sweet form!

And here are the little ding dongs about 2 minutes into the drive home.  Do ya think they may have been a bit tired. . . It was a pretty fun day, even though four hours were spent in the car!

Some Chinese snake confidence and a sweet hairdo. . .

So here is our oldest--Mr. Aiden.  And here is how he has been coming home from school nearly everyday this winter!

Is that a sweet hairdo or what??  Well, at least I know he is wearing his hat at recess.  Looking a little ghetto but at least we have warded of the ear infections.  Oh, another thing about 'the hair'. . .Ade has decided to "grow it out."  Yep, he is going for the skater dude look--long and shaggy.  It is driving his dad crazy and I think it is endearing.  (but really, almost everything this little 7 year old does I think is endearing.)  Quinn says, "it looks like we can't afford a freaking hair cut for our kid--just take him in for a little trim."  My response, "have you seen the housing market. ."

Okay on to the confidence thing.  Last month in the first grade they studied the Chinese New Year and Ade was obsessed with finding out which animal each of us were, including grand parents.  One night while looking at the calender he made (above and below) I was reading all the thing about the snake-Aiden's animal.  After reading it I snickered a bit and Ade's reply was, "but mom, ALL those things are true and he said it so matter-of-factly, that's what made us laugh.  Quinn just gave me that raised eyebrow expression to which I replied--"he's your son."
And here is the one whom "possesses such great wisdom"  (that part he gets from his mom) working on his homework.  I do have to say, I hope all my kids tackle homework like this little dude does.  For the most part, he comes home from school and pull it right out.  I rarely have to remind him to get it done.  Yea--I don't think I could handle one more bargaining session.

We love you so much, Ade, hairdo, snake-like confidence and all!

Round two. . ding ding

Look at this ding-a-ling.  This is a response to her frustration that I am refusing to de-robe her!

She was thinking a piece of artwork to her face just might sway me to let her run nakie again. . .but alas, she is sorely mistaken.  Or not, so I probably let her cruise shortly after these pictures were taken and yep, she did it--peed.  But the fascinating part ( and I cannot get the blasted picture to load) is that she peed in her bumbo seat.  Soooo funny, so yes, it was a fluke, I am sure.  But none the less, she peed in a contained area that minimally resembles a potty.  The best part is that it was contained!  

Some day when I can get the photo to work I will load it--maybe only I will think it is funny--.  So if anyone can help me figure out why stupid blogger keeps underlining my text I would really appreciate it. . .arrggg.

Have a great day!

c