Coming soon

I am breaking down and getting a new blog template. I love this template, I do. I think the polka dots give it the fun childhood feeling I'm going for. I also like that my other blog is the same, but in a different color, to kind of tie the two together.

But I'm tired of the borders being so big that it cuts off all my pictures unless I put in the small size from my flickr. So, I've started my quest for a new template. I will not rest until I find the perfect one! Check back soon to see what I decided on. :)

A Day Out With Thomas 2008

It's only taken me a week to get my pictures posted and get my blog written. But here it is! I know you've been waiting on pins and needles.

And I start with a little piece of advice. If you live in Utah and you have kids who love Thomas and you missed this year's Day Out With Thomas just go to Dairy Keen. It's nearly as good as the real thing, and a whole lot cheaper.

We left for Heber city much earlier that we needed to and arrived hungry. So we decided to grab a bite to eat, deciding the food the was probably cheaper and better outside of the big event.

Our handy dandy satellite navigation system in our Saturn Outlook told us that there was a McDonald's just down the street so we headed that way. But on our way to McDonald's we passed Dairy Keen.



And when you've come all the way to Heber City to see a train, it's only obvious that you HAVE to eat at the burger joint with a big train out front. And it was WAY better than McDonald's. They have a miniature Thomas Train that runs all way around the ceiling and we had a hard time getting the kids to eat because they were so enthralled with watching Thomas.





If we hadn't already bought tickets to ride the big Thomas we might have just gone home after lunch and the kids would've never known the difference!

But on we marched. Because Adam told me the day before "mom, we are going to ride Thomas rain or shine." So a little rain was not going to keep us from our adventure.

The rain, in fact, made it a nicer day I think. It kept away the big crowds and we had a private car for our journey. Being a rainy day the covered coaches filled fast so we chose to sit on the caboose. (or the cabooster as Adam calls it) We started outside.



But as the rain started to come down we retreated inside our private car.



We even got a visit from the Conductor.



For a child there is nothing better than watching the countryside pass by through the window of Thomas the Train's red caboose.



Yes, even in the rain we had a great time. It's a day the kids won't soon forget. So until next time....

They're 2, they're 4, they're 6, they're 8. Shunting trucks and hauling freight. Red and green and brown and blue, they're the really useful crew. All with different roles to play 'round Tidmouth Sheds or far away. Down the hill and round the bend, Thomas and his friends!

Bye Thomas!



THE END

Patience

I guess Adam has had trains on his mind since our trip to see Thomas (pictures coming soon, I promise. It's just been a busy weekend!!!!)

Anyway, this morning I was (once again) trying to teach patience to my children. I was helping the baby with something and the other two where yelling at me over and over and over again to refill their sippies.

So I made my usual "Hold on a minute please. You have to be patient with me because I'm 1 mom with 2 hands and 3 kids" speech.

Adam thought about that for a second and then said "being patient is like the slow goods train."

My little James

The kids were bouncing off the walls tonight because I made the mistake of telling them that tomorrow we were going to see Thomas the Train.

They got all excited and wanted to wear the train costumes they got for Christmas.

And Zoey was so SO excited that she refused to take it off to go to bed. She absolutely insisted on sleeping in it.



And really, what's the harm in that?

Potty Training is overrated

I have decided that I am putting my children permanently in pull-ups. It's not because of potty training accidents (anymore at least) Adam has not had an accident in months now. He doesn't even sleep in pull ups anymore. It's just that he ALWAYS has to use the bathroom at the most inconvenient times! Let me detail just a few.

There was the time that I was at Ikea and we had decided to eat breakfast there. So I have the 3 kids and we're maneuvering through the food line, I'm holding the food try in one hand (stacking the plates one on top of the other trying to make all the food fit on one tray) and holding the baby in the car seat on my other arm.

We finally make our way through the line and get our warm food set down on the table and Adam starts screaming "I have to go potty!!!" And I just sigh. Because by the time I drag all the kids to the bathroom and come back our food will be cold, if the food is still there and some employee doesn't clear it while we're gone. And I hate having to take all 3 into the dirty public restrooms. So I did something that nobody should ever do, but I did. There was a woman with one little child sitting at the table next to us and I asked her to watch the younger two kids while I ran to the bathroom. I even left my purse sitting there next to the baby's car seat. Dumb, huh? But I was desparate. And when I came back the kids where still there and all my money was still there, so I guess it turned out okay.

But I often face the dilema of having to drag all 3 into the bathroom and it's quite a chore to keep Zoey from touching anything and keep the baby happy while manuvering around the stroller or shopping cart in the tiny bathroom and help Adam, too. Sigh.

It's really bad when the bathroom is SO DIRTY that if it was me that had to go I would hold it rather than use that nasty bathroom. But a 4 year old just knows he has to pee NOW. I've actually started shopping at places based soley on how clean their bathrooms are. Seriously. Shopko does not make the list of places with clean bathrooms. Trust me on this one!

And something about Lowes is better than fiber for the child. He ALWAYS has to go to the bathroom at Lowes. And it's ALWAYS a #2 job. And this last time we were already in the check out line when he starts screaming that he has to go. And I begged him to wait until we got home, or at least until we paid. But he started to cry. And the bathroom is all the way at the back of the store! If he was wearing pull ups I seriously would've just told him to pee in the pull up. Which is why I think we're just going to start wearing them every time we leave the house. Or just stop leaving the house.

And while we are on the subject of public restrooms....did you know that there actually existed public restrooms that have no diaper changing facilities? I mean come on folks, this is Utah after all. How do you expect all the stay at home moms with millions of babies in this state to come shopping at your facility, spending all their husband's hard earned money, if you don't provide a place to change a diaper? I mean there wasn't even a changing station at the car dealership when we bought my husband's new car. They sell mini vans at this place for pete's sake!!!!! And no place to change a baby. arg.

But I digress. The point is, no matter how you look at it public restrooms and small kids don't mix. So I think I'm going to start doing all my shopping online. Or not shop at all until they all go to school. That will work for about 3 weeks until I get so stir crazy that I go out again, because apparently I'm a masochist.

Sleeping Beauty

My princess has never been much of the "sleeping in mom and dad's bed" type. Adam slept in my bed with me until he was nearly 3 years old! And Harrison sleeps with me quite often right now, too. But Zoey never did much. There have even been occasions that if she cried in the middle of the night and Mike tried to pull her into bed with us that she actually kicked and screamed and cried until she was put back in her own bed.

So imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago Zoey started showing up at my bedside in the middle of the night. She is not tall enough yet to crawl up on the bed herself so she would come in my room and just stand by it, staring at me, until I woke up and found myself staring back at her, at which point I'd pull her up into bed with me. (of course Zoey is also my wiggly-est sleeper so as soon as she was asleep again she was moved back to her own bed.)

Well, being the resourceful child that she is, she apparently got tired of waiting for me to wake up and pull her into bed she has started bringing a stool with her into my room and using that to climb up on the bed herself. I'm mostly just surprised that she has the presence of mind at 3:00 am to put together two coherent thoughts and think to herself that a stool would be a great way to get up on my bed. That's my Zoey!

Although I think that soon I'm going to need to nip this thing in the bud because I don't want Adam to think that it is a free ticket for him to come wandering into my room in the middle of the night. I just got that child out of my bed, and I'm not looking for him to come back.

Is it Friday yet?

My kids were supposed to sleep over at Grandma's house last weekend. The kids think it is because I am a super cool mom who lets them do super fun stuff. Really it's because I wanted to paint my bedroom and wanted them to be out of the way. But a nasty little thing called strep throat came into our home and ruined the weekend. So now sleepover, and no bedroom painting.

So this week we are trying again, and the Aunt Natalie made the mistake of telling my kids that they were going to sleep over as soon as it was Friday.

So yesterday the 4 year old is walking around with his toy cell phone calling Aunt Natalie. "Hi, Aunt Natalie? It's Adam. I'm going to sleep over on Friday. Is today Friday yet?"

The oldest child syndrome

I love when my oldest tries to enforce rules that he himself doesn't even follow.

I abhor it when I ask Adam to do something that I know he is perfectly capable of and he tells me "I can't" So it is a rule that we don't say can't at our house. You can say you don't want to or that you need somebody to teach you how or help you out, but we don't say can't.

So this morning I hear Adam and Zoey upstairs and Zoey is getting lectured by her older brother. "Zoey, we do not say can't at our house! MOM! ZOEY SAID CAN'T" Lovely.

Who needs a dog?

I'm not an animal person. (it was in the prenup that there would be no pets in our marriage) But my brother is always trying to tell me that a dog is great for eating all the food that inevitably falls on the floor when kids are eating.

But Zoey has taken to sitting under the table and picking up all the food that has fallen and eating it herself.

So I ask you, who needs a dog when you've got a Zoey?

a 50/50 shot

Theoretically kids have a 50/50 shot of getting their shoes on the right foot, right? So, theoretically they should get them on the right foot about half the time, right? So why is it that the princess gets hers on the wrong foot 100% of the time?



I can only figure she is actually putting them on the wrong foot on purpose.

And because I was taking pictures of the princess feet Lightening McQueen thought I should take a picture of his feet, too.



feet, feet, feet....they're nifty neat.

Is this clean?

Every morning and every night when Adam is changing from jammies to clothes or from clothes to jammies he yells at me "MOM, IS MY UNDERWEAR CLEAN OR DIRTY?" I give him an answer and he yells back at me "DOES THAT MEAN CHANGE IT OR LEAVE IT ON?"

So this morning Zoey runs into her room to pick something to wear and I hear her little voice from her bedroom "MOMMY, IS MY DIAPER CLEAN OR DIRTY?"

I guess if it's true what they say, that imitation is the best form of flattery, that Zoey has just proved her adoration of her big brother.

Why flickr has ruined me

Notice there is no picture on this post? There is a good reason for that. I'm trying to wean myself from pictures. A hard thing to do for this die hard "have a picture of everything" girl. I think I took 100 pictures just the first week I had my first digital camera. (okay, it's still the ONLY digital camera I've ever had....but I'm looking to upgrade. But I digress) I have 7,636 pictures on my flickr photostream. (and that doesn't even count all the pictures of Adam's first year of life, which aren't on flickr yet because I didn't join flickr until well into his second year.) The point is, I have a TON of pictures. I LOVE pictures. I love sitting and watching when my screen saver comes on and I get to watch as all my thousands of pictures flip randomly in front of my eyes. It's like watching my kids grow up all over again. And it makes my ovaries hurt.

As of late I've really started exploring flickr more. Before I mostly just posted my pictures there, looked at pictures of other family members and then moved on. But I've been finding a lot of great photographers lately whose pictures I ADORE and I spend way too much time staring at their photostreams. I am particularly drawn to child photographers, probably because there are so many kids running around our house these days and I long to take better pictures of my kids (because I can't afford to have any of these awesome child photographers take pictures of them for me.)

So, let me tell you, there are some absolutely amazing photographers on flickr. And some absolutely amazing pictures of kids. And it encouraged me to try to take better pictures of my kids in their natural enviroment. Pictures of them just being kids, because those are my favorites on flickr. But the harder I try the more I wonder if these photographers that I stalk on flickr have their cameras surgically attached to their faces. How else could they get such great "candid" shots all the time?

Here's how things usually go down at our house. The kids start doing something really cute. I think "hum, this would make a great picture. where's the camera" I look on my dresser. it's not there. I look on the desk, also not there. I look on top of the entertainment center. not there. kitchen counter. not there. where is the camera? i'm missing the moment!!! Why can't I find the camera? Oh there it is, on the dresser. (where I looked in the first place!) By the time I come rushing back the moment is over.

So then you try to "recreate" the moment. "Hey kids, do that again. Adam, sit here. Zoey you where there. Make her laugh again. It was really cute. Do it one more time so I can get a picture." (admit, you've all tried to do it! I know you have) But they never really do it again, and if they do it's only a half attempt and then they are off to do something else. And not only did I miss the picture but I missed the moment, too. (because I was looking for the camera, remember?) Yes, in pursuit of the perfect picture I have missed out on a memery. The kids were cute while I was out of the room and it's lost forever and I didn't even see.

And so, I'm trying harder to worry less about grabbing the camera and worry more about just being in the moment and enjoying the moment, and perhaps writing about it later so I remember it later even though I don't have a picture. Because the picture in my mind can be just as cute (and probably in better focus) than the picture from my camera.

This is not to say that I'm going to stop taking pictures, because dagum, I'd addicted to those cute pictures. But I am going to stop trying to hard to take a picture of EVERYTHING.

And to prove it....we went to Discovery Gateway last week and I left the camera home, on purpose! And you know what, it was great to not have to worry about it. I think I actually enjoyed the day more without it.

And on my weekend up the Sunvalley this past weekend, didn't pull the camera out once. (of course it helped that my mom and Anne were clicking away and I knew I could just get copies of their pictures.)

So I send this out as a challenge for all you camera freaks (like me!) Go somewhere this week and leave the camera home. Try it, just once. You might like it. (or you may hate it, but at least you won't be posting super cute pictures of flickr thus making me relapse into my old shutterhappy self.)

Snakes and Sails and Puppy Dog Tails

Harrison is ALL BOY. No doubt about it. He throws things on the floor just to watch them fall. He squishes food between his fingers just to feel it squish. He likes slimy stuff. He giggles when he pees on me. He plays in his own spit up if I don't clean it up quick enough. He already pulls his sister's hair and wants to play with daddy's power tools. He squeaks, squeals and squirms at Lowes. And I may be crazy but I swear he has already started making car noises. He is a little boy to the core.