"This house....is clean."

Okay...if you don't get the title...it's a quote from Poltergeist.

So...a lot has happened.

Last Thursday was Josh's last day of preschool. As shocking as that is, I know he is ready for Kindergarten.

First day of school


Last day of school



Do you think they've changed any? HA! As you can see the "Princess" did not have time to take a pretty picture. She was screaming and I didn't have time to wait for her attitude to pass. Actually, I was trying to squeeze her back into her car seat carrier (for comparison purposes) and she wanted nothing to do with it. Just kidding.

Then Thursday night was the program. Again...Josh was AWESOME! He was so cute! I asked him what he wanted to wear and he said a suit. I told him that that was probably a little much to wear to his program but he was dead set on wearing a tie.





Isn't he a stud?!?!?

Lauren was hysterical, too. She kept a good eye on her brother and even started to dance and sing a little. Once her interest in that passed...she ate.





Then Friday was Lauren's one year pictures. Oh...my...God. She was adorable!! I get to go view them on Friday but the photographer let me take a peek at a few before I left and they were A-MAZ-ING! I went to Kliks and let me tell you...you can tell it's a professional studio. Her work is amazing and we were in and out in under 20 minutes!!

Saturday night Uncle Joel called and asked if we'd like to come out and see some puppies. They were freakin' adorable!! The kids had fun and I got a few good shots!




Couldn't you just die?!?!? Of course Josh had them all named and was already planning where each of them would sleep in our house. I told him that our house is crazy enough as it is and that adding 7 puppies to the mix...well, let's just say the house wouldn't be the only thing that would be crazy. I'd be fitted for a straight jacket in no time.

Then we pulled the "Mattie" card. We told him she would be so sad if we brought home all these puppies and he told us that she would love it because then she would get to be a mommy.

With my heart dangling by a thread...I stood firm and said, "NO!"

Sunday we took a trip with Larry and Toni out to Palisades-Kepler State Park. We live less than a 10 minute drive from this place and I had never been. It was beautiful. It's right on the Cedar River and, as you can see by the pictures, it's hard to believe we were still in Iowa.





I think it's safe to say that summer is here because in the time it took me to get these shots...I got about a dozen mosquito bites.

Later that night Eastern Iowa was slammed with tornadoes and storms. The stories and photos coming out of the Parkersburg area are jaw-dropping. It is truly amazing that not more people were killed. Our prayers go out to all the victims.

After a bad front passed through Marion Dustin and I went out to watch the lightening show. (I know...we're morons. But if you've just figured that out...I'd say you're a little slow, too.)

It looked like there was a strobe light in the sky. Dustin was just thankful that God didn't come and take his precious camper only weeks after its purchase.



I took a ton of video because I'd never seen anything like it.

Since we are hosting two parties next weekend, yesterday we cleaned. I'm not talking, "Picked up a bit." I'm talking, "We're moving out and we better clean good because I don't want the new owners to think we were slobs" clean! Over the weekend I did 18 loads of laundry. No...that is not a typo. EIGHTEEN!! Every sheet, article of clothing, rug, comforter and blanket in this house has been washed. On top of laundry, Monday we power washed the house, cleaned the windows inside and out, scrubbed the kitchen floor, cleaned the patio, purchased a new patio set, mowed, trimmed, vacuumed the camper and even had time to fit in a trip to the emergency room.

I'm telling you...we were wiped.

The ER trip was for Josh. That child has a talent for starting to complain about a sore throat and ear ache within minutes of every doctor's office closing. So I took him down to find out he definitely had an ear infection and that his throat was inflamed.

A Frostee and a prescription fill later all was better. And I was MORE than happy to take a day to help him recuperate from his illness and give my body a day to recuperate from Monday.

Two Fires and a Funeral

I'm really starting to get the hang of this camping thing. Every once in awhile I'll catch Dustin looking at me, I yell "What?!?" and he says, "Oh, nothing." I KNOW what he's thinking. He's thinking, "I cannot believe I suckered her into this...and it only took five years!" He doesn't realize that I just wanted the whining to end.

Josh found a new friend this weekend. He named him Wormie. He made a nice little home for Wormie; full of rocks and twigs. He was very careful to make sure he had plenty of water and carried him all over the campground. Unfortunately, if he was half as concerned about not dropping him as he was about his water supply, he may still be living.

He was being a good Dad and was very concerned about protecting Wormie. But by Friday night I saw the writing on the wall. Poor Wormie was starting to dry up.

Saturday morning the sun rose and I saw that Wormie had bit the big one. So I gently asked Josh to remove Wormie's dead, rotting carcass out of my camper. Obviously, I didn't use those words but I thought I was being a good mom even allowing all that mess in the camper to begin with.

I let him down gently and he went into our bedroom and closed the door. I went in after him and he was crying. "But, I loved Wormie so much, mom." Ahhh...the death speech. A Popsicle and a gentle back rub later all was fine.

We took a nice walk and amazingly Mattie was good!! If you didn't know better you would have thought she was trained!! FOOLS!!!




Then in the afternoon we headed over to Larry & Toni's campsite and played a few games.




Meanwhile, Lauren double-fisted crackers and freaked at the touch of grass. She kept lifting up her one leg and whined for someone to come and relieve her from her misery. So what did I do? I kept putting her on the grass, laughing and taking pictures.




We of course had to make smores on Saturday night. Josh helped Daddy start a fire and we continue to work on instilling a healthy fear of fires in him. It's kind of hard to do that since I believe Dustin just found that fear a few months ago (after the accident).

Once the wind died down it was actually a pleasant night. Our camping spot didn't have any trees so the piercing sun got old, quick. But the perfect view of the sunset made it worth it.



Then of course I set the second fire on Sunday morning...in the kitchen. I told Dustin I was just testing the camper's fire alarms. No biggie. And for those of you wondering....yes, they do work.

You know how loud those things are and the look on Lauren's face was priceless. The look was a combination of fear and the look when she's filling her pants. Ironically...that's what she was doing so maybe it was just bad/good timing.

Lately, Lauren is really becoming more interested in what people are doing. Sort of a monkey see, monkey do interest. So this morning she was screaming at me to let her out of her high chair. I put her down and she crawled over to her brother...only to see if his breakfast was any better than hers. Go figure.

Cold and Wet

Dustin and I were each able to mark something off our "Bucket List" this weekend; however, our lists represent entirely different things. Dustin's list includes things he wanted to do before he died: mine are things I thought I'd die before doing. Yes, oh yes....we picked up the camper and went camping on Mother's Day weekend!

I thought Dustin's head was going to explode on Friday morning. He was so excited...and rightfully so. We signed the papers, did the walk-through, bought a few necessities and I headed off with the kids. Dustin left shortly after me and I arrived home just in time to grab the camera and snap a photo of Dustin pulling up to the house for the first time.



I don't think Dustin had the truck in Park before Josh ran into the house to start loading up the camper. The first item of importance......a stack of DVDs. Dustin and I just chuckled. Forget blankets, forget plates....GRAB THE DVDS!!

Friday was pretty much shot by the time we got all loaded up and setup at the campground site. Dustin had to work at UPS that evening so he left me...alone with two kids, a dog, no car and a stack of boxes to unpack. Thanks dear.

Saturday morning the kids woke up bright and early (thanks to a skylight in their room) so I got up and made a breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast. Yum-o!!



Unfortunately, the weather didn't really cooperate with us this weekend. It was cold and rainy most of the time. The kids kept busy playing in the camper and it gave me time to get things a little more settled. Josh was in charge of the vacuum and got every square inch of that place about 20 times!




Lauren did get to try a popsicle for the first time. It didn't go over too well the first time around.



But as soon as I took it away she freaked. Two popsicles later I think it's safe to say she likes them.

Then Saturday night Mom, Joel and Ti-ti came out to celebrate an early Mother's day. Even though it was freezing we had a great time. We grilled out and, of course, had to make smores. Even the rain couldn't keep us away from the fire to make smores. HEY...we have priorities!




Anyway, here are a few general shots of the inside:




All in all...we did have a blast. Even though we had to get up at 1:30 in the morning, in the pouring rain to take down the awning. And even though the electricity at the campground shut off at 7:30 making it pointless to stay. And even though I had to help Dustin hook up the camper to the truck in the rain.

There was a moment while I was standing at dump station and it was raining down on me that I looked at Dustin and said, "This is just how I dreamed Mother's Day would be."

His response was, "Yeah...I'm pretty sure this one's going to make the blog."

Uh...ya think?





I hope all the mothers reading this had a Happy Mother's Day!!!

Out of the mouths of babes - Part I

I thought I might try adding a new feature. Josh says something just about every day that makes me laugh. I thought I'd share the laughter.

Conversation #1

Preface: I pulled up to the mailbox and saw that I had received a Mother's Day card in the mail.

ME: Oh, look. Mommy got an early Mother's Day card in the mail.
JOSH: What's Mother's Day?
ME: Well, Mother's Day is a day when kids let their moms know how much the appreciate them.
JOSH: Mom...I app...I appwe...(struggling to pronounce appreciate). I appreciate that you open my juice with a straw.
ME: **giggling** Why thank you, Josh.

Conversation #2

Preface: Dustin picks up the kids from school and meets me in the Lowe's parking lot on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During the wait the kids have the run of the front seat of the truck and crawl all over everything and push every button they can find. I overheard this today while Dustin and I were on the cell phone.

DUSTIN: Lauren!!! Stop!! That hurts Daddy.
DUSTIN: Lauren!!! OWWWW!! You just stepped on my manhood!!!
ME: **laughing**
JOSH: Daddy? What's your manhood?

Conversation #3

JOSH: Mom...look at all my owies on my knee.
ME: Yes, I see. What happened?
JOSH: I have no idea.
ME: Well, did you fall at school?
JOSH: No. I don't think so.
ME: You don't remember?
JOSH: Nope. (pause) Mom...do you think I'll be okay with 6,002 owies?
ME: Yeah...but thank God it wasn't 6,003.
JOSH: No kidding.

Things we do for children

In an attempt to sneak in an early celebration of Cinco de Mayo we took the kids out for Mexican on Saturday afternoon. Lauren had a new first....a booster seat!



It took a little bit for her to get used to it but as soon as she realized it put her closer to the basket of chips she was fine.




Then we went and picked up Harrison for a sleepover at our house. Boy...those two wore...us...out! First we went bowling and Lauren had a ball trying to imitate the boys.





Harrison had never been bowling before so he was pretty leery of the entire process. Josh took him under his "Professional Bowling" wing and showed him the ropes. By the end of the game Harrison was getting into it; however, he is the only person I have ever seen get a gutter ball with bumper bowling.



After bowling we ran home to run off some steam and lay Lauren down for a little nap. I took the boys out back and they had a blast on the swing set. Harrison squealed as soon as he saw the swing set. It was pretty windy out so we didn't get to stay out too long but nonetheless, I believe some fun was had.



Once Lauren woke up we headed off to Chuck E. Cheese. I think that was probably the most stressful experience I've ever had. Talk about NUTS! I know the boys had a great time but between it being close to Lauren's bedtime, the chaos of all the people and rude little children (and parents) Dustin and I were about ready to pull our hair out.

Dustin came back to the table after the first round of games and said, "Don't make me go back out there!" I felt his pain and I didn't even get up from our booth. It was awful...but like he said...the boys had fun.





Lauren was crazy. The girl had THREE pieces of a small cheese pizza!!! She has GOT to be going through some sort of growth spurt because all she seems to do lately is eat and sleep. Her and I were playing with a napkin and I got a few cute shots in between (pizza face and all).




I have to tell you what a fun night I had with the kids on Friday night while Dustin was at UPS. The two of them have become quite the little couple and Lauren tries her hardest to keep up with him.

Josh had pulled off all the pillows on the couch and the chair and a half and he was jumping all over them. Well, Lauren caught sight of that and crawled as fast as she could to get over and get in on the action. I was working in the kitchen and saw these two laughing hysterically and throwing themselves on these huge pillows. I was laughing just watching them!

Then once they got ready for bed I had them lay down in my bed for awhile and we all watched some cartoons. Well, Josh was picking on her and she decided to head butt him. Yeah!! Josh and I kind of looked at each other and we both started laughing because we couldn't believe what she had just done! She, of course, took the laughter as a good sign and did it again. I finally scolded her and I'm not sure, but I think she was contemplating if she should do it to me!!! Wisely...she did not.

They Josh laid down on his tummy and Lauren came up by me. We were all comfortable and all of a sudden she got up on her feet and body slammed him!! HELLO!!! The she did it two more times!!! I have no idea where she's getting it....maybe it's all that WWF we have her watching.

Just kidding.

Have a great week!!