Bah-Humbug!

It is a true testament to what a Scrooge I was this Christmas when, now that it is over, my energy level and mood have improved dramatically. Honestly, if I was childless, I think I may have skipped the entire holiday. This makes me sad, since Christmas, with all it's magic, is normally my very favorite time of year. But sadly, with the combination of more things than I care to complain about right now, I just wasn't feeling it this time. So much, that I'm almost surprised I didn't receive any ghostly visitors attempting to give me redemption on Christmas Eve night. So my apologies to you all this year. I didn't do Christmas cards, I didn't do neighbor/friend gifts... in fact, the only people who received any kind of gift from me this year is my kids and Brandon (and even his loot was pretty pathetic). Now, let me backpedal a little. I wasn't COMPLETELY worthless in the Christmas spirit department. And I have pictures to prove it! After all, we did...

Put up and decorate our Christmas tree...



(Ok, fine. Technically I had nothing to do with this, since I was laying on the couch in nauseated exhaustion while Brandon and the kids did all the work.)

We saw Christmas lights in sub-zero temperatures...



Nathaniel donned a Santa hat...



(So this really doesn't have much to do with anything, I just thought it was a fun picture.)

Though not Christmas related, we did celebrate Nathaniel's 2nd birthday with a delicious chocolate cake, my HIS favorite!



McKenna looked adorably snazzy while performing in her Christmas dance recital...



We paid a visit to Santa Claus (and I really do have photographic evidence of the actual Santa, but my scanner is being uncooperative)...



And, of course, we watched movies (complete with a picnic dinner of snacks on the family room floor) on Christmas Eve. We set out brownies, milk, and apples for Santa and his reindeer. We tracked Santa (who was making his way through Ecuador when the kids were about to climb into bed). And we read stories to calm our minds a little before falling asleep. Once the kids were in bed, the work began. Brandon and I wrapped gifts, finishing at 12:30 am (a full TWO hours ahead of schedule for us), only to have Brandon get called into work at 1:00 am. He worked until 6:30 am, came home, and slept for all of 40 minutes before the kids were up and ready for gift opening! Poor Daddy hauled his poorly rested body out of bed for the sake of Christmas morning magic!

Here's the kids impatiently posing for pictures before being allowed to dive into the pile of presents (decked out in Christmas jammies provided by Grandma and Grandpa Squire, of course).



Stockings first!



When all the fun is done, there's always the mess to look forward to...



My house is still an absolute wreck, and I'm trying my best to channel the energy needed to clean it up. Meanwhile, I think I'll ignore knocks at the door and waste time playing on the computer. Sounds good.

Despite all my whining during the season, and prayers of thanks for having it over and done with, I do love Christmas and everything it entails. I promise to make more of an effort next season. Because next season... I won't be pregnant, I won't be working until the wee hours of each morning, and the shock of having to pay for Christmas without credit cards will have worn off and I will be better prepared for this challenge. Ah, just listen to my naive optimism... it's so sweet. I'm sure next season will have it's own challenges, but we'll just hope I'm not as hormonal and can take them on without a fuss!

I hope you all enjoyed a happy and fulfilling Christmas! All I have to say for now is... Bring on New Years!! I am more than ready for a fresh start!

The Time Has Come...

A large chunk of you have already heard our news one way or another, but for those of you who haven't, let me officially announce that we are expecting our 4th and final baby!



Awww... check out that profile! Don't you just already want to pinch those skeletal little cheeks??

I am fortunate enough that my doctor's office is so kind to offer an optional ultrasound at 16 weeks (for a mere $25) for those of us crazy people who are simply not patient enough to wait the extra 4 weeks to find out the sex. Honestly, the best $25 I ever spend! I simply don't know how those of you who are amazing enough to wait for the kid to actually be BORN to find out the sex do it. You have the kind of will power I could only dream of. So without further ado...


(I'm praying this will be the only picture displaying her private parts to ever make it onto the Internet...)

Yep! It is indeed a GIRL! And thank heavens for that. I was not looking forward to the therapy I would have had to invest in for my poor McKenna had it been another little brother. To say she is thrilled would be an understatement.

We expect our sweet little girl's arrival sometime around May 3rd.

It's Great to be 8!

Did I really not blog a single thing for the entire month of September?? Ah, well... I'm sure you all survived without me. I don't have much on the news front, other than McKenna turning the magical age of 8! What an exciting time for my girl. In order to fully celebrate this momentous occasion, I confronted my anxiety and threw my daughter her very first, big, friend birthday party. I'm not sure why, but doing stuff like this just about sends me to the nuthouse. Is it really that big of a deal? People throw big birthday parties for their kids all the time, right? Surely I can do it too! So I bought and delivered a little pack of 8 invitations so McKenna could invite her favorite friends over to our house for a lateover. Not familiar with the lateover? It's the newest thing to replace the sleepover, and I must say I'm a fan. I could have never hosted an actual sleepover with 8 squealy girls. I barely stayed sane throughout the lateover, to be honest. I have come to the conclusion that little girls are L-O-U-D. Not to mention dramatic. However, despite a few tears shed by several girls and many deep breaths on my part, the party was a success. I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time for at least part of the night. Though for next time, remind me to cut the party's time down by at least an hour. 6:30 - 10:30 pm was a bit much. Alright, enough whining. Time for pictures!



Seriously... cutest girls ever. Just looking at these pictures makes me feel bad for ever having a moment of wanting them to all go home. We really did have a blast and McKenna was in heaven. I may even be willing to do it again... you know, in a few years or so.

I also was able to carry on the recent tradition of bringing lunch to McKenna at school. Again, my friend Amanda joined us for lunch, as her daughter, Savannah, and McKenna share a birthday. What fun this is! I am looking forward to many, many more birthday lunches with Amanda and these cute girls.



When you're a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, turning 8 has a wonderful and great significance. McKenna is officially old enough to be baptized and confirmed a member of the church. Which also means she's now old enough to be held accountable for her choices. For some reason, saying that makes me get all teary and also makes me feel like I've just aged a great amount in a short time. I can't believe I have a daughter old enough to have to repent when she makes a bad decision. *sniff* Ok... drying my eyes and moving on.

Have I mentioned that having large groups of people at my house scares the living crap out of me? For this reason, I was absolutely terrified for her baptism to come. But the day did indeed come, and you know what? It was wonderful! The preparation, the baptism, the confirmation, the open house... all of it was just wonderful. What an amazing day! And all thanks to my family who deserves a HUGE shout-out for being there for me during the time of my panic. My mom was amazing, helping me buy food, making delicious salads and desserts, and for her and my dad doing just about all of the set up. My brother Lynn and his super-wife, Vicki, and even their older kids stepped up and helped prepare and set out all the food (not to mention the super yummy treats they made). And my Aunt Marie, in addition to also bringing fabulous treats, was busy getting all the food in the kitchen ready while I still stood there with my head spinning trying to figure out what to do first. Lots of love and thanks to all for making the day so special.

As if my amazing family and the friends who shared the experience with us wasn't enough to make the day unforgettable, McKenna was so lucky to share her baptism day with one of her best friends, the previously mentioned Savannah (who has made many, many other appearances on this blog of mine). It was just the two of them and we were able to share the room during all the talks, baptisms, and confirmations. Even though I'm not very familiar with all of the Packers' extended family, I felt I was. The feeling in the room was incredible, and I didn't feel like we were two separate families. Forgive my moment of sappy cheesiness, but I really did feel like we were all just one big family sharing this incredible experience together. I think I got just as choked up watching Savannah be baptized as I did with McKenna. I'm so grateful that, if I had to share this moment with another family, I got to share it with the Packers. Ok, again... I'm done blubbering.

It really is great to be eight! Who knew I could keep a kid alive this long? We love you so much McKenna!

Summer Wrap-Up

My desire to stay involved in the blogging world is dwindling with each new day. What was once an obsession has now become a vague interest. What's happening to me? But don't fear! Take a deep breath! I'm not leaving, just explaining my average of one post a month (at best) and lack of commentary on everyone else's fabulous blogs. For the sake of preserving memories, and to appease all my adoring fans (Ha! Who says I'm not good at making jokes?), I am here to jot down just a few highlights of our summer. It's not much, but still worth documenting.

For the month of June... was there a June this year? 'Cause I got nothin'. Quite honestly I don't even remember June... poor June. I do, however, have memories of July. So let's start with July!

I know this makes me sound like a grump, but there are very few holidays that I actually look forward to. Independence Day is one of the lucky few. I love the parades, I love barbecues, I love the fireworks... it's just good fun! Here's what we were up to this last 4th of July.

For the first time this year, we attended the West Jordan parade. Whoo! Ok, in all honesty... I hope I don't offend anyone... it was kind of a lame parade. Sorry. But McKenna was involved in a cheer leading work shop a couple of weeks earlier (Ah, I just remembered ONE thing that happened in June) and as a part of the work shop, she got the opportunity to parade along with her friend Savannah and all the other Fusion cheerleaders. What fun! The boys enjoyed blowing bubbles and throwing snaps. Nathaniel and Felicity enjoyed continually attempting to join the parade and strut their stuff... that is, when they weren't fighting over the same chair (which explains the above picture. Nathaniel's ever a gentleman... we're working on it).

After the parade fun was done, and we enjoyed a delicious lunch funded by my parents (thanks Mom and Dad), we took naps. Sorry, no pictures of this fantastic event. After we were fully rested and ready for more fun, we ventured over to Grandma Susan's house to help her celebrate her birthday (which falls on Independence Day EVERY YEAR... imagine that!)
Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dave have a hot tub! How cool is that? They were nice enough to turn the heat down on it a bit and let the kids swim to their heart's content. After swimming, we all enjoyed a nail-biting round of lawn croquet. I can't remember who won, because I think I forfeited about 10 minutes in. Lawn croquet isn't exactly one of the things I excel in. Let's move on...

Once the family barbecue fun started winding down, we headed over to Murray Park, where we enjoy their impressive display of fireworks every year.



3 seconds into the show, Nathaniel jumped into Brandon's arms and there he remained for the duration - clinging to his daddy for dear life.

The end of July brought an exciting first for me... Alumni Days at Lagoon! As a thanks for all the blood, sweat, and tears I poured into my 6 years of employment at Lagoon, I am given the option of several different days to chose from, in which I receive a bit of a discount, eat cookies, drink soda, and watch a slide show. How could I pass up such an opportunity?
Katie and her cute family joined us for the fun-filled day. We thoroughly enjoyed our refreshments and watched enthusiastically as Katie and I both made an appearance in the infamous slide show. Oh yeah, and we rode rides and ate greasy food until we were sick. I love amusement parks!

This summer, we also had a really exciting trip to The Grand Canyon planned. Hooray! How was it? Oh, well... there's really not much to tell, since we kind of never went. *sigh* Due to complications beyond our control, the trip was cancelled. But we didn't complain too loudly, since we still enjoyed a couple of fun days in the mountains with my awesome family, in which all the fun pictures below were taken.





We hiked to Donut Falls, ate wonderfully delicious dutch oven dinners, roasted marshmallows, sang songs (ok, fine... we didn't sing songs), had picnic lunches at Silver Lake... It was no Grand Canyon, but it was still a grand ol' time.

Somewhere in the middle of all our summer fun, we also managed to go boating with the Poulson family (who we love and worship and don't spend nearly enough time with)...




We attended the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open house...



I started my very own book club...


**Note: Only about half of the girls who are actually in my book club were able to make it to the first meeting. But we had a blast, talking until a few minutes before midnight. The conversation may or may not have been strictly about books. I have a feeling I'm in for some LONG (yet highly enjoyable) nights with these wonderful ladies in the future.

Oh, and one more teeny-tiny thing happened this summer...

BRANDON GRADUATED FROM NURSING SCHOOL!! WHOOOO-HOOOOO!



Now everyone... please hold onto your recently consumed lunches while I gush for a moment. I'm so proud of Brandon for all the hard work and late nights that have gone into the last 2 years of school. Nursing school is not for wimps. Brandon has been done with school for a little over a week now, and it's so nice to have him HERE. Not necessarily the at home kind of here, since he's having to work like a dog so we can start getting our lives financially back in order; but having him mentally here. It's so nice to have him not constantly worrying about this test or that project. The next school semester starts up next week, and I didn't even know about it because Brandon doesn't have to go! I'm so happy to have this chapter of our lives done. You know, at least until he goes back to school in a few months to further his career opportunities. Way to go Brandon! We are all so happy and proud and just plain relieved to get rid of that pile of nursing books that sat on the kitchen table for 2 years.

Alright folks, that is all! School started for McKenna last week and Mathew starts Kindergarten on Tuesday (Oi!) But I'll have more to say about all that in another post at later time. Enjoy the last days of summer!

Attention Lovers of Books!

Ok, ok... so I haven't been blogging lately. What can I say? This summer has been busy, busy, busy! That is, if busy includes such activities as laying around on the couch complaining about how hot it is. Life is hard.
I do, in fact, have pictures to post and boring stories to tell, but frankly I just don't feel up to it right now. So sue me. My purpose in posting today is pure recruitment. After hearing many friends of mine gush about their fabulous book clubs and the fascinating books they've read and discussions they've participated in, I realized that the aching little twinge in my chest was jealousy. So rather than sit around feeling resentful and envious, I have decided to just start my own super fabulous book club! Unfortunately, in order for my book club to be super fabulous, it requires more people than just myself. Somehow discussing clever ideas, being aghast at what Mr. Whosit said in chapter 17, and laughing at all my witty remarks, just doesn't sound like fun if I'm sitting in an empty room. So how about it? Who wants to join me?! *crickets chirping* Ok, really... there has to be at least a couple of people... right? *laughing nervously*... right? Alright. So, the catch is that you have to be willing to drive out to my area (or where ever the meetings are held) once a month. If you want to join me, just leave a comment with a way to contact you, or email me at sheribeestaten at gmail dot com. I'll send out more information if/when I have some official members to send said information to! I'm thinking Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday night,(about 8:30ish) once a month. C'mon! Like I said... super awesome book club! Don't leave me sitting in an empty room crying over little Jimmy dying so unexpectedly alone!

My Comic Relief

When I became a mother, I had all sorts of grand expectations! I would spend hours reading books to my kids, spend ample time holding them and kissing their sweet cheeks, teach them all sorts of valuable life lessons... oh what a pretty picture! And while these wonderful things do indeed happen, they are often overshadowed by the not so pleasant moments of discipline, yelling, crying, cleaning, etc. One thing I really didn't expect, that continually comes as a most pleasant surprise, is how often these crazy kids would make me laugh. Not a day goes by that one of them doesn't say or do something that makes me giggle. A few examples of this, you ask? I will be more than happy to oblige you!

For those of you who spend a lot of time at our house, you know that you pretty much take your safety and LIFE into your own hands when you choose to sit at one of our kitchen chairs. Honestly, I should probably have people fill out liability waivers before offering them a seat. Brandon was attempting to fix one of the treacherous chairs when McKenna came in the room. The following conversation ensued:

McKenna: Are you trying to fix that chair?
Brandon: No (for those of you who don't know Brandon well, he is notorious for never being able to give a serious answer to any question you might ask him)
McKenna: Are you trying to break that chair?
Brandon: Yes
McKenna: Can I help you?

After a few more minutes of conversation, which mostly included McKenna asking numerous questions, Brandon says, "Kenna, you ask too many questions."
To which she replied "Um... how old are you? What's your favorite color? What do you like to eat?" Along with any other question she could rattle off the top of her head. This girl is 7! Where did she learn to be such a sass?

Mathew is my very favorite to listen to right now. Almost every word that comes out of his mouth is so entertaining, I'm constantly running to the computer to log what he says before he grows up and I forget how cute he used to be! Here's some of my recent favorites.

While enduring a cold a few weeks ago, he started losing his voice, which confused him to no end. He could not understand why his voice didn't sound normal. Apparently him being sick (like I explained to him) just didn't make sense. Here was his much more reasonable explanation:

“I have wrappers in my throat. I guess I swallowed some wrappers from my candy and it’s making my voice sound funny.” Much more sensible, right?

Pardon the vague TMI, but we have yet to properly train Mathew in the art of wiping himself after he has made a solid deposit into the toilet. For this reason, he has made a habit of finding me and letting me know whenever he is about to take care of business. The other day I was getting ready in my bathroom when Mathew came running in. He looked at me, smiled, dropped his drawers and plopped himself onto my toilet and then said, "It's a good thing you're in here!"

When we were about to leave the house to meet my sister for lunch a few weeks ago, I asked Mathew to go get ready. A few minutes later he appeared in my doorway and asked, "Mom, do you think I look handsome-ish, cool-ish?"
This is very important, since one never wants to look too handsome or cool. One must always settle for the "ish" so as not to intimidate other people!

Mathew has recently decided that he does not like going to church. This in itself isn't funny. In fact, it makes me sad and I hope it's just a phase that will soon pass. A couple Sundays ago I told Mathew it was time to get ready for church, in which he exclaimed, "There's no such thing as church!"
Admittedly, it was a brilliant plan he devised, but Brandon and I are equally brilliant and were fortunately not taken in by his evil schemes.

Mathew was putting socks on the other day and he made this observation,
"Mom, do you know why socks keep your feet warm? It’s because they’re feet blankets!”

Mathew has also recently become quite lazy. During his final days of preschool, every time I picked him up without a car, he would be incredibly put out. This exact conversation was very frequently repeated:
Mathew: "Where's the car?"
Myself: "I didn't bring it. We're going to walk home."
Mathew: "I don't WANNA walk!!" (Spoken in the best, whiny, 5-year-old voice he could muster)
Myself: "It's good to walk! We want exercise so we can be healthy and strong."
Mathew: "No it doesn't! I'm tired and walking makes me lose my strong power!"

I would go into the daily antics of Nathaniel, but he's at the height of his cuteness right now and every dumb little thing he does makes me giggle. I'm quite certain I get such a kick out of him simply because he's my son and I love him to little tiny pieces!

I acknowledge that most of these things are only found hysterical to me because they're my kids and I am obliged to think them each a comical genius; but I can't help but find that whenever life gets so hard that I just want to sit down and cry, my kids are always there to remind me how much more enjoyable it is to throw my head back and laugh!

When I Grow Up...

Preschool graduation... What a proud occasion for parents everywhere. Mathew thoroughly loved his preschool experience. Especially his fun teacher, Mrs Becky. We had an incredible year full of unique classes, share bags, super cute programs, and numerous, exciting field trips. I could post oodles of pictures, but will make do with only a few. A big shout out (again) to the Packers for forever stepping up as our official photographers when I forget my camera, or my camera dies, or I'm too lazy to pull out my camera... you get it. Kurt and Amanda are always there (with their super awesome camera that takes far superior pictures) to pick up my slack. And they always manage to get the pictures to me in a timely fashion... with only a couple snotty reminders from me!

Here's Mathew and his buddy Owen (son of the picture-taking friends I just gushed about)



Watch out all you cute little girls (and parents of cute little girls). These two will be patrolling the dating scene before you know it! They're pretty handsome little guys, right? Check this out... this one's even better.



They don't come any cuter than this folks! This one was taken at their last preschool field trip to Wheeler Farm last week. Gotta love it.

And finally... What's a preschool graduation without a family picture?



I'm not normally the bragging type, but that is one good looking family, if I do say so myself! ;o)

My favorite part of the graduation ceremony (other than the fun songs the kids yelled at us) was each child taking a turn with the microphone to let everyone know what they wanted to be when they grew up. Of course, we didn't bring our camcorder and my camera batteries ONCE AGAIN died at the worst possible moment. So my memory and written word will have to suffice. Almost every cute kid had the funnest answer that brought a smile to my face.
When Mathew got his turn with the mic, he announced, "When I grow up... I want to be a cooker!"
Well thank heavens SOMEONE does! Later Mathew let us in on the details of his dream job.
In his words, "I want to be a cooker at Old McDonalds!"
Fabulous. My son's life long dream is to flip burgers at McDonalds. Way to shoot for the stars, right? I'm so proud!
After further interrogation, we also got him to tell us this reason for his job preference, "When I'm a cooker, I will never be HUNGRY!"
Apparently I starve my child so much, he daydreams about the day when he can make endless food for himself to eat! The kid is 5 and already eating me out of house and home. What's a girl to do? Mathew's dreams are his dreams, and Brandon and I are loving and supportive parents. So I'm happy to announce that we have officially signed him (and McKenna) up for summer cooking classes with the very same Mrs Becky who we all adored as his preschool teacher. Classes start Thursday and I'm quite looking forward to my kids whipping us all up something to eat for a change!
McKenna has less than 2 weeks of school left and then we reach the official start of summer! Let the fun begin!

False Advertising

The weather is finally warming up enough to start considering the favorite of all childhood pastimes... playing in the water. Since last season's blowup pool met it's untimely death after we made the not-so-wise decision to leave it outside all winter, we thought Memorial Day would be a great time to remember the good times we had with it by going out and buying a new one. This time we decided to pull out all the stops and buy a pool that includes an inflatable slide. Does life get any more exciting?? Due to our tight budget and minuscule backyard, we couldn't get anything worth calling the neighborhood over; but we thought Target might have something relatively fun and inexpensive. So after several minutes of reviewing our slim options, we found it! A super fun little pool the kids would love all summer long.



Looks fun, right? Look at that kid just zooming down the slide! Look at those girls lounging in the pool with plenty of room to spare! Umm... yeah...



Here's the reality. Does it count as a slide if your feet are already touching the ground before you get a chance to go down it? I didn't think so either. This one's getting packed back up for a full refund. I want my $29.99 + tax back! Last year's pool may not have had a nifty slide, but at least my kids didn't have to take turns sitting in it.

SPRING! And everything that comes with it...

Dare I say it... is Spring finally here?? Ok, if it snows again after I post this, I won't be held responsible for tempting fate. Though we've been having some rotten cold days lately, I'm trusting the newly blossomed trees to announce that I can fully welcome Spring with open arms! Now that we've been able to make the occasional venture outdoors, I've even brought my camera fully out of hibernation! My April 2009picture folder is impressively full and I am starting to feel like coming out of hibernation myself! Here's what the month of April has brought us...

We, of course, celebrated Easter in style... or the kids did anyway. When was the last time I got a fancy, new Easter outfit? This should be addressed at a later time. Anyway... these kids can clean up pretty well when their parents have the right motivation, don't you think? The infamous Easter Bunny did make an appearance this year - though he did a crummy job hiding the baskets. McKenna and Mathew found them within 10 seconds. I think I'll be leaving a note for that lazy Easter Bunny next year, informing him that it's not a great idea to hide the kids' baskets in the same spots as the year before. You'd think this would be common sense... McKenna and Mathew were thrilled as can be with their booty, but Nathaniel could care less about getting any dumb ol' basket and was quite put out by having to pose for a picture next to it. Though he changed his tune once we presented him with his favorite Easter gift - a basketball toy for the bath! A great idea in theory, but now he throws a screaming tantrum worthy of some horrible form of torture every time we have to take him out of the tub. This kid is tiny, but he is going to be any amazing basketball player someday. I have never known a 1-year-old to have such a fascination with shooting hoops. Here's the kids showing off some of their Easter basket loot!



I'm afraid that's all I have for our Easter celebrations! No coloring eggs or festive hunts... If my kids only knew all the stuff they miss out on by having such a craft-challenged mother, they would pack up their little knapsacks and be off in search of new horizons! Moving on...

Spring also brings us to the next round of soccer! Hurray! It's my hope that we can experience one game this Spring that doesn't call for a big mug of hot chocolate once it's over! Man, those 1 hour games last a lifetime when you're freezing! Here's some quick, fun pics from Mathew's first soccer game of the season.



I wonder how many seasons of soccer it will take until I don't have a picture of the coach reminding the kids which direction they should be kicking the ball. Also, I love how one of the pictures above has Mathew playing in the grass when everyone else is getting ready to play some major defense. Let's just say Mathew's not exactly the star player on the team. But he's enthusiastic and he has fun. What more can I ask for? Want to know what's happening on the sidelines while Mathew plays? I'm glad you do, because I have pictures of that too.



The nice weather has also encouraged the kids to enjoy some much needed time playing out in the backyard. Thank heavens for a fenced-in backyard and a playground. I can't tell you how nice it is to send the kids outside and listen to their blissfully muted squeals through a sheet of glass. Nathaniel is proving to be the master of tantrums when he doesn't get to join the kids outside. This little boy has strong opinions about what he wants, and they WILL be heard. Here's what Nater looks like when the kids decide to go outside without him.



And here's what he expects once I cave into his screams and let him outside.



That's him, begging me to come pick him up so he can dunk the ball over, and over, and over, and over again. Trust me, it's only cute about 5 times. I can't wait until he's tall enough to do it on his own. The upside is that I'm developing some pretty impressive biceps muscles!

That wraps up our Spring festivities so far; but trust me, there will be much more to come! For those of you nearby, I hope you've all been enjoying the warmer (if not horribly temperamental) weather! If you live somewhere that has not been seeing nice weather, I'm sorry. If you live somewhere that has been seeing nothing BUT nice weather, I don't want to hear about it. Let me enjoy my little corner of the world like it's the best and only thing that exists. Happy Spring!

Celebrating 5!

Wasn't it just a few weeks ago that I was blogging about Mathew's 4th birthday?? It just doesn't make sense to me that he's already 5. I must be losing my mind. Every year seems to go by faster. Anyway... whether I want to believe it or not, Mathew did indeed turn 5 just a few short days ago, and I suppose I need to just accept it. However, let's not talk about how I'm having to fill out paperwork for him to start Kindergarten this year, because I just can't talk about that one without crying yet.

Mathew's birthday most fortunately fell on one of the rare days Brandon was home to enjoy it with us. We didn't plan any raging parties and instead opted to simply take him to breakfast at IHOP, which to him is as good as any dumb ol' birthday party (or I'd like to pretend that's the case so I don't feel like a bad parent.) After spending an undisclosed, yet ridiculously large amount of money on breakfast (eating out is getting WAY too expensive), we decided that we would save the remainder of his birthday fun for the following Saturday, and go home for a nice, long nap. However, just because I'm not big into throwing parties, doesn't mean that other people are as lame as I am. Lucky for Mathew, his birthday buddy, Jared - who was born on the exact same day - has some pretty freakin' awesome parents who are willing to go all out and rent Bouncin' Off the Walls for their son's 5th birthday enjoyment. So, you see, it was easy to convince Mathew that this fabulous party was for his own birthday as much as Jared's. I probably owe his parents some money...
The following pictures are proof that he did indeed have a little fun on his birthday.

Here's Mathew with his awesome birthday buddy, Jared. I love this picture. Don't ask me what Mathew's doing... who knows? My guess is that he's bustin' a move. Go Mathew! It's your birthday!



More picture fun...



Unfortunately, I was not as lucky as Brandon and did not have Mathew's birthday off work. So we had to rush from the party early (before cake, ice cream, or presents were enjoyed) pick up Mathew's favorite for dinner - HAMBURGERS - and I enjoyed my solitary burger on the way to work while the kids enjoyed the remainder of Mathew's birthday alone with Daddy. But never fear! Cake, ice cream, and presents will be enjoyed!

Saturday was our day of celebration for Mathew. We took Mathew out for lunch, and were almost nice enough to let him choose the place. Almost. Mathew announced that he wanted to eat at McDonald's, and then that plan went out the window. So instead, we all went to Chili's and Mathew ENJOYED IT, whether he wanted to or not!



After lunch, we piled into an overcrowded and noisy theater to watch Monsters vs Aliens with all the other people who wanted to seek fun out of the snow... yes, snow. It is April... right? Just making sure. Anyway, Mathew fully enjoyed his popcorn and Root Beer, and later declared the movie as "SILLY". That's his review, take it or leave it. We then headed to Toys R Us, where Mathew picked out the coolest race track he could find - within the $20-$30 range, that is.



Pretty cool, eh? He thinks so anyway, and that's all that matters. I must shamefully admit that my lack of cool birthday party-ish abilities also extend to birthday cakes. "Baker" isn't exactly listed on my domestic resume, so we also headed over to Harmons and let Mathew choose among the many awesome cakes which one would commemorate his 5th birthday. Want to see his choice??



Yes, that's right!! Mathew passed up awesome cakes of Spiderman, Diego, and Thomas for this very cake. Why, you ask? Because all he wanted was a chocolate cake. *sniff...sniff* I've never been so proud. He really is my boy.

So maybe it was low-key and not very exciting; but if you ask Mathew, he had a super-cool birthday, and I'm grateful that my son is perfectly happy with the plans his unmotivated parents mustered up. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATHEW!!

My Blog - the Bully

So...I'm not liking my blog too much lately. He's kinda mean. He's like the bully that sits at the back of the class and taunts me; saying things like,
"So Sheri...why haven't you updated your blog lately, huh?
You're lame.
You have no life.
You have nothing witty to say.
You don't belong in the blogging world."
Rude, right? (As my blog is mostly the color pink, don't ask me where I came up with the idea that it's a HE.)

Believe it or not, we've actually had a lot going on. Life's been busy, just not really busy with anything I can joke around about. I'm afraid there's nothing funny about Brandon's dad having some major health complications and being stuck in one hospital after another. Fortunately he's beginning to make a few improvements, and we're hoping he'll be back to his healthy self in a few weeks.

I have taken a whopping TWO pictures on my camera in the month of March. Both of which I already posted on my facebook account since there's no need to write out long, witty captions when I put them up there. But for lack of anything else to look at here on my mean ol' blog, I'll put them up anyway.

I came home from work Friday night to find my poor kids unsuccessfully waiting up for me to get home from work. Bless their hearts, they sure tried. And though it may appear otherwise, Mathew does not actually sleep in the buff. The top to his pajama set was dirty, so he opted to sleep without a top at all. Darn our laundry fairy, she hasn't been keeping up on the job lately! *sigh* I guess I'll have to start doing it myself.



On Saturday, I left my poor, over-worked husband with our 3 kids while I enjoyed a much needed child-free lunch with a few of my girls. Everyone needs to be selfish sometimes, right? Let's just not talk about how often I give in to my selfish side.



From left to right...Kirsten, who I hadn't seen in almost 8 years; Me, declaring my love for Coke all over my t-shirt; Sarah, who just gave birth to about the cutest little baby girl I've ever seen; and Julie, who recently got married. It was a fun two hours that went by WAY too fast. Thanks for hosting Sarah! I love these girls and can't wait to see them again.

With spring on the brink of breaking...except for today, (stupid, stupid snow storm!!) I'm hoping our camera will be getting a little more action in the near future. Then maybe I can have some more entertaining blogging material and show him that I AM in fact interesting, witty, and have a super cool life...thank you very much!

If I had $100...

McKenna's elementary (which just opened last fall) recently celebrated 100 days of school! Whoo-Hoo! If that ain't a reason to celebrate, I don't know what is. For school they were required to bring 100 of something. Having forgotten about it until the night before, I went all out and sent 100 straws to school with her. Brilliant, I know.

So, apparently they had other exciting "100" activities that day, one of which was making their own little book called - what else - 100! McKenna brought her book home the other day and I'm not sure whether to be amused or concerned. Either way it made me laugh. It also made me wonder if I should seek out help for her...

I know you're all dying to see what she had to say. So let's check out page 1, shall we? But first let me add for my own vanity that this is not McKenna's best show of artistic ability. She was either feeling lazy this day or they didn't have much time to work on them. Ok, I'm done making excuses - page 1:



A NEW FAMILY???
And not just a new family, but a new family she can get for $100 that would also include a sister. Well, that's just great. I'm not sure I can handle the fact that McKenna would rather have a cheap new family that the lame one she has now. *sniff* When I asked her about this, she just giggled and said, "I messed up on that one." Way to make it all better, right?

Whatever, let's move onto page 2.



100 candies...I guess that's pretty normal. I mean, who wouldn't want 100 candies, right? Unless you're a parent that has to keep saying, "If you ask me for ONE more candy, I'm throwing it all in the GARBAGE!!"
My favorite part of this one is the look of sheer horror on her stick figure face at the idea of having 100 brothers. I'm guessing if we have another baby and it's a boy, her life as she knows it will be destroyed. No pressure.

Here's the best one - page 3.



Yes, that does say cil (aka kill) myself; yes, that is a knife in her hand; and yes, that is blood...lots of it.
This is usually the type of picture that is followed up by a concerned phone call from the school counselor. But either the teacher didn't look over these 100 books, or she saw the logic in the picture. As McKenna said when I asked her about it, "I don't want to be alive in 100 years. I'd be so OLD!" So you see, perfectly logical that she would want to brutally kill herself with a knife at the age of 107. Honestly, who wouldn't?

The last one isn't nearly as...uh...entertaining, but is still worth looking at.



Again with the candy. If you're wondering how many times a day I threaten to throw away the kids' candy because they constantly ask for it, I would have to say...100. I can't blame her on the vechubls (vegetables) though. I can't say I'd like to eat 100 of them either.

If you feel the need to leave a recommendation for a good child psychologist - be my guest!