michelin man

best baby neck on the planet.

chub-a-chubs.

or as my father calls him,

"the michelin man."

go to that place {writing on the wall}

first sean found green crayon on the big stairs.

then i walked into the big room and saw the recliner chair arms.

then i saw the fainting couch.

then i turned and saw the pillow.

and the other pillow.

then sean went for the oxy clean.

and the couch cleaner.

then i found the arm rest of the fainting couch.

after the three of us got it all cleaned off we asked him if we missed any spots.

he showed us the carpet by the windows,

the super hero bin,

and the wall on the way up stairs.

crayons and brennan.

the gift that just keeps on giving.

why?

b/c max didn't want to play anymore, so he had to "X" everything out.

nothing else better to do.

we had LONG LONG talks about this.

the entire day.

discussed ideas about what else he could do instead of drawing on things.

and then it just came down to me telling him he couldn't live in the house if he colored all over our stuff.

in the words of bill cosby, "This is MY house, 

and i will LET you stay here" if you stop coloring on MY walls.

and he looked really serious and understanding and all,

and we thought we were such great parents and how smart and patient we had been.

and then he did it again with a pen on the island of the kitchen two days later.

so we took away all of the crayons.

and put him on writing restriction.

except when i forget he's on writing restriction.

or when i need him to be distracted by coloring.

it's confusing, i know.

if we had a dog i'm sure it would have been "X'd" too.

good grief it's funny now.

dip, dip, stick {forbidden love}

forbidden love.

brennan sets them up to kiss every morning.

max gets SO mad.

make these marshmallows.

i ate ALL of the white ones.

twice.

melt the chocolate.

blend the graham crackers.

dip, dip, stick.

bring us your leprechaun luck.

i told him to please find a spot in the dirt.

he's a great listener.

oh to be a boy.

it was warm today.

after preschool the thermostat on my car read 50*.

we all threw off of our coats and ran outside.

i rode my bike for a little bit in the street.

until the kids got bored and wanted to go out back.

brennan brought his water gun up from the basement.

with water still in it from last summer.

gross.

he told me he soaked everything down there with it before he came up.

but that there was still lots left.

awesome.

then he chased max around in the backyard,

spraying her arm until her shirt was dripping.

she was smiling and laughing the entire time.

and chase watched it all from the window.

banging on the glass, squealing and babbling at his people.

then they stood at the door and sprayed at chase.

i was doing about a million dishes from the entire day that had piled up in my sink.

watching it all out of our kitchen window.

spring is near.

summer is coming.

yep,

it's march 1st,

and we still have our christmas tree on the side of our house.

we are officially "THOSE" people.

at this point,

we might as well just wait for the spring bulk waste removal.

i love that the days are getting longer.

come on march,

bring us your leprechaun luck.

hush.

 Hush all you cobwebs. 

Dust go to sleep. 

I'm rockin' my baby, 

and babies don't keep.

NOT a one trick pony {all parts sold separately}

as of two days ago he points.

adding to his bag of tricks.

very exciting business around the gibson home.

and two nights ago he pointed at sean and said "dadada."

of course, he pointed at max and said the same thing earlier today,

BUT meaning or not, 

i'm pretty sure sean is going to claim HE was chase's first word.

we have three witnesses to validate the claim is true.

other tricks and interests of note this week:

put stuff in stuff 

{i.e. blocks & princesses into cups, buckets, and/or baskets} 

and dump it out.

 "gimme $5, and i'll let you squeeze my cheeks.

$10 and i'll have my mom take off my shirt.

i'm sexy, and i know it."

*not responsible for any bodily fluids i might spew onto you 

or any items of your clothing and or belongings. squeeze at your own risk.

all parts sold separately.

anyone have a nail gun?

PROJECT!!!!!!

dear coat closet,

we're coming for you!

a special thank you to david in the lumber dept at the home depot in sandy, 

for helping me learn to speak lumber.

and for being patient with my pictures from pinterest.

when i said "can you cut me this"? 

and you looked at my pin picture and said "sure. we can figure it out!"

i'm a visual person, and therefore,

i speak best in the form of pictures.

you went with it david.

you're great.

great, great, great!

they should give you a raise mr. david in lumber!

and do you know what else?! 

my coat closet has two separate side lengths.

{david would know what i'm talking about b/c of my pictures.}

maybe you don't.

what.the.heck.coat closet.

whoever built you did not think anyone would ever want to do anything with your side lengths.

we'll be back for touch ups on our side length boards.

apparently.

{anyone have a nail gun???}

love,

me

p.s.
i planned our garden and bought all of the seeds for planting while we were there.
i can't wait until it's marigold buying time.
i think i'm gonna need to label some Popsicle sticks in the ground this year...
is it mother's day yet???

8:09pm at my house

 

8:09pm

on the nights that sean works late, 

this is what our upstairs bathroom looks like as i'm getting the kids ready for bed.

it's a bonefied party in the bathroom.

and i love it.

someone is usually crying or whining.

{that part i could do without}.

max is either hiding in the shower curtains or watching brennan pee.

he hates when she does both of those things.

but mostly he just hates when she watches him go pee.

there is a line up of allergy medicine, drinks of water, and toothbrushes.

chase is always in my arms, 

b/c if he isn't, 

he's playing in the potty water or making a mad dash for the garbage can or the stairs,

and i'm pretty sure that he has licked the toilet seat once or twice before i could get to him fast enough 

{i pretty much close my eyes and die when that happens}.

and then i wash his hands twice and have him lick the water coming out of the faucet. 

b/c it makes me feel like maybe it's cleaning his tongue.

a little bit.

even though i know it's probably not.

this happened tonight--chase's toilet seat licking and finger toilet bowl sloshing.

after brennan sat on the tub, on TOP of the shower curtain,

and the entire shower curtain and rod collapsed down on top of him.

brennan.

not chase.

so brennan fell back into the tub and looked up at me in complete shock.

with the entire shower curtain underneath him,

laying in the tub on his back,

curtain rod on top of his head.

i laughed first, and then asked if he was ok with my hand over my mouth.

eyes really big,

but nice eyes,

not mean ones, as max would say.

he nodded back and then very calmly told me he was shaking and needed to go lay down in his bed. 

and while i was hugging him i heard the toilet bowl water sloshing,

and i looked down to see chase's tongue licking the toilet seat.

max started yelling "chase GROOOOOOSSSSSS!!!!!"

so i picked him up, washed out his mouth, and washed his hands twice.

by that time max needed to go pee, so i set chase down to help her up.

and before she was done chase was dumping out the garbage can between the toilet and the tub. 

then i heard brennan yell from the other room "i can't stop shaking! that was scary!" 

so i told him to come back so i could hold him.

 and then i rocked brennan on the CLOSED toilet seat while holding chase off from the garbage can with my right leg, and brushing max's teeth with my left hand.

it was really REALLY funny, 

and i just couldn't keep myself from smiling inside and out. 

especially when i replayed the episode to sean after he got home tonight.

that may have been my favorite part of the entire day.

reliving it for the 2nd time.

laughing uncontrollably together as i retold the sequence of tonight's events.

like it was some funny episode of friend's,

except it wasn't on friend's.

it is actually my life.

and i absolutely mean that in the very best way a person can say it.

i love that i get to be in the presence of these amazing little creatures.

and that sean and i get to do this together.

i love that i get to do this.

every 

single 

day.

:):):)

leaving on a jet plane

before grandpa left, 

he took the kids to get hot chocolate at the coffee shop in their pajamas,

shoveled our driveway and sidewalks, 

shoveled our 83 yr old neighbor's driveway and sidewalk, 

and gave each kid quarters to fill their piggy banks.

we all stood in the dry spots of our garage as he drove away.

big smiles and waving hands until his tail lights disappeared down the street.

it always goes by too fast.

:):):)

a smooch while you're going round and round.

"i'm gonna be a wrestler that doesn't smoke."

-brennan {4 yrs & 358 days old}

...

yesterday afternoon we we ditched church and took grandpa to ride the ferris wheel at scheel's.

i learned that i might actually be afraid of heights.

who knew?!

and that i don't like ferris wheels anymore.

it's not the going around that gets me.

it's the stop and go at the tippy top.

i sat there squeezing max's hand with my sweaty left palm,

trying not to move.

and i'm pretty sure i stopped breathing all together at one point,

as they were loading people on at the bottom.

i turned around with my eyes really big to my dad in the chair behind us,

and he was all,

"are we done yet???"
and i was all, 

"i don't like this."

and he was all,

"it's just like a ski lift!"

and i was all,

"except for the whole rocking back and forth uncontrollably part."

and the kids were all, 

"hi gampa!!!"

"hi max!"

"hi BEEEEEAN-an!!!"

waving,

smiling,
leaning and turning from side the side.

happy as little clams.
i was so happy they were happy.
and not scared.

i could see sean and chase waving at me from the ground,

and i know sean could see how big my eyes were

{b/c he told me after that he could}.

and max told me she wasn't scared and didn't need to hold my hand,

but then i convinced her that she should.

{b/c i needed to hold hers. for me.}

and i kept thinking,

nobody move,

hold on,

and how on earth could this bar and seat belt be enough to hold us in?!?
and i was for sure we would tip upside down any minute.

and then we flew around two or three times in a row, 

and it wasn't so bad anymore, 

and then it was over.

and i'm pretty sure i don't ever want to go on a ferris wheel ever again.

unless i know i won't have to stop at the tippy top.

but the kids loved it.

barf!

 at the tippy top.

don't let our smiles fool you.

we are just a smiling people.

 it's just not a ferris wheel ride without a smooch while you're going round and round.

 

it is SO not going there,

but i might be able to be convinced to leave it until something breaks.

or until someone breaks blood on their forehead from the other wall's corner.

{picking up the rebound is risky business around here!}

b/c truth be told,

it's kind of fun to shoot hoops from the breakfast table.

happy monday:)