ringling gibbies

future carnies.

acrobats have always been my favorite part of the circus.

but if that doesn't work out,

brennan is great at catching skeeters in the creek.

like SO GREAT that sometimes he thinks he's caught one, but he hasn't.

but sometimes he has.

and that's the GREAT.

and max can already scramble her own eggs.

really, i'm serious.

so she's got that chef thing going for her.

{i'm always afraid she's going to burn herself.}

she just tells me to light the fire, spray the pam, crack the eggs, 

and then she tells me when they're done.

always scrambled.

perfectly scrambled.

like i have her make mine when she's done making hers.

and she always asks for syrup on top of them.

hers, not mine.

but really, she means ketchup.

b/c she calls ketchup on eggs syrup.

but for pancakes she asks for syrup, but she really means syrup.

code.

max code.

if you don't know, now you know.

{go back and sing that in your best rap voice. ready, set, go.}

{good job, that was more fun.}

and chase?

well, if lion tamer is not available...

HAIR MODEL.

obviously.

happy friday:)
and happy flag day.

the pancakes he saw on rachel ray {mother's day}

6:51am-chase wakes up, sean puts binky in, everyone goes back to sleep.

sometime with a 7am in front of it-brennan wakes up and wishes me my first happy mother's day of the day. he has to say it twice, b/c i had my ear plugs in the first time and had to take them out to hear him say it a second time. he kissed me and hugged me. i will always remember the cute smile he had on his face. i love him.

{sean makes card with pictures of he and the kids on the card, including the morning's shenanigans.}

{to be placed on my breakfast in bed tray.}

{all while i am still fast asleep.}

9:34am-brennan with a tall glass of orange juice that i for sure thought he was going to spill, sean with a tray of food and a baby man on his hip, and max with a giant smile, bring me breakfast in bed. i feed them bites of sean's raspberry and blackberry infused, topped with honey butter homemade rachel ray syrup, kodiak cake pancakes. we pass the orange juice around. i open my card and pampering day present. the kids were SO excited. i loved it, even in my half awake state. sean tells me he found the pancake and syrup recipe while watching rachel ray's cooking show at a patient's house, who he was stretching, who was watching it. get it? so cute:)

9:42am-sean shoos the kids downstairs and tells me to stay in bed and relax, read a book, or whatever. i call my grandma joy, and drink some more juice with my pancakes while he feeds the kids breakfast downstairs. i lick the syrup off of my plate. it's amazing syrup. i call my mom. we chat.

10:15am-i get in the shower, brennan comes in once. sean comes in twice. chase gets put to bed for a nap. no idea what max was doing. bless her. so easily entertained with herself.

sean's parents and grandma arrive for hellos, hugs, and flowers.
get ready for church, search for my phone.
start roast in crockpot and try to get to church by 2.
when it starts.
yes, i'm serious.
2pm.
awful, except on mother's day when it works out really GREAT:)
grandma carol meets us at church.
comes home with us from church.
dinner.
sit on the patio.
push the kids on the swings.
pull chase out of the dirt.
scold brennan for throwing sand in the sand box.
sean changes max's underwear that she peed in.
dessert.
pajamas.
bed.
sean does dishes.
call family.
tango more family.
call more family.
bed.

 {above: my beautiful mom on mother's day, and the happiest baby man alive.}

...

my favorite part of the day?

when sean collapses and tells me he doesn't know how i do it every day:)

b/c he's been in the kitchen making food, cleaning up food, taking people to the potty 50 times, and put kids in time out for what feels like the entire day.

i laughed really really hard.

and smiled SOOOO big:)

in an 

"i'm so appreciative you love and appreciate me, and our life is so crazy funny AWESOME"

kind of way.

i love these babies.

i love that man named sean.

i love my mom and sandie.

my mother in law.

my grandma's,

past and present.

my friend's moms.

and the many other moms i look up to in my life.

happy mother's day to all,

and to all a good monday!

{below: me and sandie two years ago at the lake house, dinner out. she is such a doll!}

......

ANNNNNNNNNNND,

last by certainly not least,

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to my awesome DAD!!!!!!!

at the right bold age of 66 he is more fit than most 25 year olds.

really, it's true.

i dare you to try the single water ski.

i bet you can't.

he still can.

go dad.

aloha.

just be

i'm

BURSTING

i'm so happy:)

i have wanted to be a mother my entire life.

and on the good days there is nothing more intoxicating than watching my children just be.

just be little ninja's with ribbons around their heads from gifts brought over for chase.

doing "cowa-punch" kicks to fight off the bad guys.

having talent shows in the big room.

showing us how to "rock it."

having races around the kitchen table.

having really loud burps and then spitting up all over himself and me,

only to have a face of absolute and utter relief.

like it was the best burp of his 10 day old life.

b/c it probably was.

having perfectly warmed milk send him into a state of utter drunkenness.

laying curled up on my chest,

purring.

sweet little noises of newborn chase.

singing twinkle twinkle little star and baby beluga to brennan,

running my fingers through his hair as he doses off into dreamland.

with sean making max giggle in the room next door.

warming my feet on sean's side of the bed after nursing chase in the middle of the night.

with a quiet house and eyes that i can hardly keep open.

i have wanted to be a mother my entire life.

and it is the greatest life i could have ever imagined.

to just be

a mother.

lately, this is how it's been going...

lately, this is how it's been going...
when someone is completely out of pajamas or underwear
OR if someone poops {pee can dry and be left in the laundry room longer--this is my theory},
i decide it's time to do laundry.
at which point it will take the entire first half of the morning/day to motivate myself to carry the chosen white or dark load down the stairs and place it in the washing machine.
it may or may not take several hours for the load to be started depending on what my two small children decide to do in the time it takes me to walk to the laundry detergent.
sometimes we get lucky.
today we did not.
today brennan pooped in his underwear during that time and laundry was put off to deal with that lovely issue.
two hours later when i remembered to start the laundry machine it finally got going.
the afternoon and evening are spent trying to motivate myself to put the now wet laundry into the dryer.
i usually think about it four or five times from 2pm-10pm before i do anything about it.
the wet laundry in the washing machine.
this process is drawn out longer if it is the dark load because i hang dry most of the darks.
and i am embarrassed to say i even dry most of my kid's clothing.
it lasts longer and looks better.
that is why.
and i've done it for my clothes since i was 14.
then finally around 10pm i consider leaving the wet clothes in the washing machine over night and running it again the next day.
then i imagine the same process and being in the same place at 10pm tomorrow night with no pajamas and no underwear and get to moving the clothes into the dryer.
and sometime after we are all asleep i am sure it finishes drying b/c i wake up the next morning to a dryer full of...
wait for it...
DRY CLOTHES:)
heaven bless the washer and dryer.
said dry clothes will remain left in the dryer for several days until someone is completely out of pajamas or underwear
OR until someone poops.
and the process will begin all over again.
this is starting to remind of the "if you give a mouse a cookie" books...
no?

i also got my flu shot today.
my arm still hurts.
but i'm so proud.
i wanted a sticker.
they did not have stickers.

Eggs & Toast

I can't decide if I'm more annoyed that they didn't eat it or of I'm more annoyed that I took the time to make it.

snip snip "bizz" & the GREAT debate

watching "bizz,"
i buzzed his hair.

...

in news of the GREAT debate...

my kids look alike.

and they look like ME.

contrary to popular opinion.

at least they do when they're babies.

note the following:
brennan around 4 weeks

makenzie 6 weeks
me 2 days old in the round picture & brennan 1 day old

you be the judge.
seriously though, don't you agree??!!

i mean, don't just agree, but don't you?!

in my hands

alright, first of all, i never want to live in michigan. click here to see why. what the heck?!

second of all, it's been a long time, but

emilisq's bloggin' bookies is making it's triumphant return today!!!

that's right folks, it's back, and BOY do i have a book for you!

in my hands, by irene opdyke.

we're discussing this one at the end of the month, but i DARE YOU not to read it in a week. it's really that great.

in my hands is a true story of a polish woman who is studying to become a nurse when world war 2 begins. she tells her story of saving her jewish friends, and many others, from the nazi's. when i finished this book i was in awe of what an amazing woman irene is. i hope you pick up your copy asap. it will inspire you to amazing heights. i look forward to discussing it with you oct. 30th!

tutus & bows!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's right folks,
it's TUTUS & OBSCENELY LARGE HEAD BOWS for us!!!!!!
jenn, you KNOW i want one of those white hats with the gigantuous bow that lily has!
everything was happy, healthy, and wealthy inside my belly button.
we couldn't be MORE excited:-)
the ultrasound tech said she didn't get the 100% shot b/c miss modest in there kept her legs shut tightly, but the 99% shot showed us what we needed to know.
i told the tech i wasn't going to be the happiest camper if this baby came out with a penis after thinking it was a girl the entire time!
she laughed and said, don't worry, it's a girl.
we got to see a little 3-D face.
dainty and girly.
maybe someone will look like me now??!!
oh happy day, i couldn't be more excited!

scout master's wife

we've been getting ready for our primary singing program at church for months.
they children are singing a version of "follow the prophet" that they helped make up the words to.
there's one line that says, "he's a loyal scout."
being the scout master's wife, i thought it would be "oh so cute" to have them hold up 2 fingers, like the scouts do at their meetings when they say their "stuff."
except it's supposed to be 3 fingers.
3.
so all of the primary children have practiced with 2 fingers.
won't that be so cute?!
sigh.
now i want to know what the other 15 adults were thinking when i was teaching this 2 finger thing?
someone had to know i was doing it wrong.
so embarrassing...
sigh.
guess i'll try to teach them 3 fingers before the big show this sunday.
the scout master had a grand old laugh over this entire thing...

2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

this is the part where our blog address no longer makes sense;-)

expected valentine's day 2010