Ah, Horsefeathers!

We had a great surprise this weekend and some friends were in town and we were able to squeeze in some time together! We were totally surprised and so very happy to see them!

Kirkwood Community College hosted an Equestrian event this weekend and we took the kids out to see the horses! Lauren is forever asking to ride the "horse-ys" (a/k/a Merry-go-round) so we thought she'd absolutely love seeing a real horse.

As soon as we hopped out of the car Josh yelled, "Ewwwww. Horse poo!" After the fascination with horse poo and it's sheer size was over we were all able to move on and see the horses!



Josh was all excited to sit on a horse. But as soon as he saw exactly how BIG they were...he got a little sheepish. A little encouragement was all it took and he was ready.

Lauren, on the other hand, was all excited to sit on the "lellow" horse (a/k/a yellow horse). But as soon as she realized how big he was...it didn't matter how much encouraging we did, she wasn't having anything to do with it!



I should have expected as much from Lauren. Every time I think she'll enjoy something she ends up hating it. And every time I prepare for disaster, she has a blast. Go figure.

And wouldn't you know it, the child who is allergic to everything developed a nice rash from head to toe yesterday. I guess we can add hay to the list of things we definitely know she's allergic to.

The extra bonuses from having kids

Aside from the obvious ones, of course, there are some bonuses that come along with having kids.

> Gushers and Fruit Roll-ups - Buying these at the grocery store when your a single adult makes you look like you are immature. Buying them because your kids ripped them off the shelf and already ate a pouch is just being a good parent.

> Maraschino Cherries - Seriously, Josh acts like it's Christmas every time I buy these. Him and I recently polished off a large jar with two spoons in ten minutes. No single person buys these. I mean, come on...they are only for sundaes or Shirley Temples.

> Kool-aid - The only thing better than a quart of Kool-aid is a Capri Sun.


Hmmm....maybe I should think of some bonuses that aren't food related.


> Amusement Parks - Enough said.

> Halloween - Not only do you get to dress them up in ridiculous costumes and laugh at how cute they are BUT they do all the leg work and you get the excuse of eating any candy that may not be appropriate.

> Easter - Same as Halloween except exchange the costume for a pair of bunny ears.

Just a few more signs that I'm a parent

> When I went to the dentist for my regular cleaning the hygienist gave me the remote to the tv and I automatically turned it to cartoons.

> I have more pictures of the kids in my office than I do of Dustin.

> It's only August and I've already begun shopping for Christmas. And with three kids it's much easier on the budget to start early!

> If needed be, I could whip together a wicked craft project with the junk found in my van. For instance, I found cotton balls in there today. Not sure how long they've been there or even how they got there, for that matter.

> I have been busted on more than one occasion, by my co-workers, humming songs from Dora the Explorer's Singing Sensation DVD.

Not already!!

I have this awful feeling that it won't be long and Miss Ella will be crawling. She has been getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth for over a week now. She's already GREAT at scooting herself backwards. In fact tonight I let her play on her bedroom floor and left for a second only to come back and find that she had wedged herself underneath her crib.






I keep thinking about when Josh was a baby and how we would always be hoping that he would smile soon, sit up soon, crawl soon, walk soon, talk soon, etc. And before we knew it we had "hoped" an entire year away. After that first one you realize how quickly time goes anyways so you don't spend so much of your time hoping for the next big milestone...besides you're too busy by then anyways.

Now that I'm on my third I'm praying for things like "mobility" to hold off a bit longer - for both sentimental and logistical reasons.

It's bad enough I have two mobile children and a spastic dog to chase after. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when it's four against one!

What can I say?

I got tired of the old layout.

A little birdie told me...

that Miss Ella likes to eat. And she also doesn't want to wait for it.

So...while mommy was making dinner for tonight and ahead for tomorrow night, emptying the dishwasher, changing dirty diapers (a/k/a the "corn explosion"), sorting through mail, preparing a care package to be mailed and dealing with three of Lauren's meltdowns...Josh fed Ella.

I think our birdie likes Bananas & Berries!

Live and Learn

My office has "summer hours" between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Basically, as long as you make up your time, you can leave at noon on Fridays. Well, this Friday was the first Friday I had the afternoon off and no kids. I had aspirations to get some shopping done, run some errands and just enjoy the few hours a year I get alone. But I did none of those things. Not one. I did what any parent of three kids would do; I slept. Two glorious hours. No one to wake me up crying. No one wake me up to help them in the bathroom. And I fell asleep watching a show I wanted to watch - not cartoons. **sigh** I'll remember that afternoon fondly, because it only comes once in a very great while.

Sadly, while I was having a wonderful afternoon to myself, poor Josh was having a rough day. When I picked him up from daycare he told me that he had fallen off the monkey bars that morning and hurt his chin. I asked if he was okay and he said he was.

Then at dinner he said he hadn't eaten all day because his chin hurt too bad. So I took a look under his chin and saw that it was all black and blue. He told me that he fell off and hit his chin right on his knee. I asked if he went to the nurse's office and he said he didn't.

Later that night, we were all lying in bed reading our books and he started to cry.

Josh: Mom?
Me: What's wrong, hon?
Josh: Mom. I didn't fall of the monkey bars.
Me: What happened?
Josh: Someone pushed me off.
Me: Oh, sweety! I'm sorry. Did you tell a teacher?
Josh: No.
Me: Why not?
Josh: Because my best friend told him to do it.
Me: What?!?!
Josh: **sobbing** Jackson told him to push me off. But as soon as Jackson saw I got hurt he told me that he didn't really mean to tell him to do that.
Me: Josh, it doesn't matter what he "meant"; it's what he DID. Friends don't hurt friends. You need to tell the teacher when something like that happens. Not only should they have gotten in trouble, but by the look of your chin you should have gone to the nurse's office.
Josh: **crying**
Me: That hurt - what Jackson did to you, didn't it? You thought he was your friend, right?
Josh: Yeah.
Me: He doesn't sound like a very good friend, Josh.
Josh: I know, mom. But he apologized.
Me: Well, that's a good start. But if he does something like that again you need to tell the teacher. Okay?
Josh: Okay, mom.
Me: Josh...I love you. And you deserve to have someone be as good of a friend to you as you are to them.
Josh: I know, mom.

God, that was hard. So hard. To see your child crying because of emotional pain inflicted by a "friend"? It's unbearable! Outside I tried to be comforting and understanding yet inside I was screaming, "I'm gonna get that brat!"

It is extremely difficult to raise a child with a good heart when sometimes it seems to only make them more susceptible to having it broken.

Saturday was a much more enjoyable day. In between working on laundry and while the kids were napping, I squeezed in 45 minutes on the treadmill in my new effort to get off the couch. (If only I could combine the treadmill with studying for the exam!) I could have gone longer but when I realized it was 3:00 I freaked! We were supposed to be at a party across town at 4:00!!!

Dustin was mowing, the kids were sleeping and I was a sweaty mess! I ran upstairs and grabbed Ella, stripped her down and brought her in the shower with me. By then it was 3:18!!! It was one of those moments when you run around and keep changing directions because you have no idea what to do first.

A snippit of my thoughts...

I need to go tell Dustin to get in the shower! Wait...I am not clothed and cannot go running outside to get him. I should go wake up Josh and tell him to get Dustin. Wait...where's Ella? Shoot...we have to pick up beer and ice yet. Where's that mini-cooler we have? No...I should go get dressed and then focus on the kids. Crap...I haven't wrapped that gift yet. Do I have any clean bottles? Jesus! Where is Dustin? Oy yeah, he's outside. I need to go get him. AHHH!! I don't have any clothes on!!!

Yeah...like that.

I am proud to say that once I organized my thoughts, GOT DRESSED, and rounded up the clan we were only 10 minutes late! No THAT is impressive!!

The kids had a blast at the party, the weather was beautiful and we got to enjoy some adult time, too. It was the perfect mix!!





Ella is still working on some teeth so one minute she can be Miss Happy Go Lucky and the next she can be screaming and ripping out my hair. I have NEVER seen such stubborn teeth in my life! When these things finally "pop" through we are going to throw a party!!

Here's what I mean...





15 seconds later...



Of course, I picked her right up, took her upstairs, gave her some medicine and sat her in her swing while I got her cold teething ring. I came back and found this...



So either the drugs kicked in...or she was just tired.

Dustin was feeding Ella at lunch on Sunday and Lauren was busy watching his every move. Dustin kept asking Lauren if she was his princess and she would giggle and say, "YES!"

A few minutes later he was talking to Ella and said, "You're my lil' pumpkin, Ella". And Lauren quickly chimed in with, "An' I'm your pwincess, wight Daddy?"

That girl just cracks me up.

Sunday afternoon Dustin left to mow his parent's lawn and came home with some fresh sweet corn. The kids and I went right to work cleaning them up for dinner. Josh had no idea that corn had "hair" and Lauren had no idea you had to cook corn before you eat it. Guess you learn something new every day!




Either way...I think I'm going to hire these kids out! They did a great job cleaning the corn and were more than happy to help.

Then at dinner the kids each had two full ears of corn!!! Yowzers!! It was one of those moments when you remind yourself how glad you are that they are potty trained. ;-)

What is Ella thinking?

My guess...

"Woman! Would you let me play and stop taking my damn picture?"

Chuck E. Cheese

Not sure what it is about Chuck E. Cheese. It's like a whole different world in there.

And if I haven't shown my son enough ways of how much I love him, the fact that I agreed to take him to Chuck E. Cheese's on his birthday should certainly help him understand JUST how much I do. He may not fully understand that until he is over 30 and has three children of his own, however.

The children see the twinkling lights, the machines spewing tickets, the prizes and all the glorious tokens. I see utter chaos, bad pizza and a poor 16 year-old in a stinky ol' mouse costume.

On our most recent trip, Dustin sat back at the table with our things and Ella and I took Josh and Lauren to go play games. Dustin was grateful I volunteered and laughed at me as I returned to the table 45 minutes later looking like I had just escaped death.

These things actually happened:

A child (I'm estimating 10 years-old) began taking tokens right out of Lauren's cup. I went up to him and asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm trying to win enough tickets for an ice cream bar. Cuz' I want ice cream." I said, "Uh...okay. But you don't steal other people's tokens." He said, "Well, she said I could take them and I told her what ever tickets I won I'd split with her." My response, "Dude...she's two." **shakes head**

I was sitting with Lauren on the bench where you can have your photo sketched. This little boy (probably 18 months) kept running in between the camera and Lauren and me. The mother looked over and smiled but did nothing. The camera snapped and sure enough...it caught a picture of this random child running. Irritated, I walked it over to the child's table and told the mother she might as well have it. She looked at me and said, "Oh, thanks!" **shakes head**

A little boy (I'm guessing 8) was carrying a Pokemon ball around. Josh struck up a conversation with him because, of course, he wanted to talk Pokemon "shop". Five minutes later he comes running up to me and says, "MOM!! He said he'd give me all his Pokemon cards for my tokens." I said, "Does he have his cards here?" Josh said, "No." I said, "Then how are you supposed to get the cards?" Silence. Then I said, "Josh...go get your tokens back." **shakes head**



The sheer fact that we all left alive and uninjured was amazing. The kids had a blast and to say I was frazzled, would be putting in mildly.








The whole objective of our evening was to make sure that we got enough tickets so that each of the kids could get a lollipop. After all that...we got out to the car, I opened the lollipops and Lauren says...

"I don't like dis, mommy."

**deep breath**

A Morning of Firsts

The first morning being six years old. The first morning of First Grade. The first time hearing his name on the radio. The first time our alarm system went off. The first morning wearing his brand new shoes.




The morning went well. Well, as well as could be expected. Dustin had taken him to his classroom for the "Meet & Greet" yesterday and he was much relieved to find that a good friend from last year was his desk partner. He was also able to tell the teacher that today was his birthday and made sure it was okay for us to send treats today.

So this morning him and I stood in line with cupcakes, a backback and butterflies in our stomachs. He told me he was afraid no one would remember him and God must have heard his fear because less than 20 seconds later one of his friends came running up to say hi.

Dustin will be picking him up after school and the entire family will be heading to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. What a special day for him - birthday, first day of school AND Chuck E. Cheese.

**sigh**

I hope he enjoys every minute of it.

Ella vs. Peaches

She gave the peaches a good ol' stare down to let them know she meant business.



The peaches made some sassy comment about how they thought she was too little to eat all of them. She became irritated.



She laughed at their arrogance.



And lunged for the kill.



And before she knew it, they were all gone. And she was very pleased with herself.

For those who care...

Dora came out of hiding.

Josh found the illustrious DVD which had been missing for nearly a month. Family Video thanked us for our perseverance.

And kindly ask we rent someplace else from now on.

Ol' Mom and Dad still got it!

I am obviously struggling with Josh going into first grade and can pretty much guarantee, from here on out, that at the beginning of each school year I will be having a rough time. Each year will bring it's own reasons for my nervous breakdowns. Last year it was because it was his FIRST day of school. This year I think it is because I still remember first grade. I remember my teacher (well, teachers because Mrs. Lundstrom filled in half way), I remember that the song "Sarah" was popular, I remember being put at the "slow" table when we learned how to count money and that at THAT moment I swore I would never be at the "slow" table again, I remember my mother dressing up as one of the pigs in "Little Red Riding Hood" and scaring the bejesuz out of me, I remember the introduction of the Book It! program (and the pizzas that came with it) and I could go on and on about John Gordy and my immense crush on him.

We are tip toeing into the time when Josh will remember things. And while that is completely exciting...it is also quite scary as a parent. I am thinking of all the moments that I call "bad parent moments" and that my excuse thus far, and comfort, has been that he won't remember it. Oh, crap. I fear this is where the damage begins. This marks the beginning of the time when children remember ways their parents messed up in raising them.

Yeah. Right now I feel the same way I feel when I write in pen on an important document - mistakes mean a lot more work and tend to be a bit more messy (with that White Out and all). But in life we don't get White Out, we get therapy. And White Out's a heck of a lot cheaper.

In my constant strive to be the "fun mom" I caved and went along with Josh's dream Pokemon themed birthday party. I believe I am officially old because my son looks at me like I'm from another planet when he tries to explain to me the whole point of Pokemon and I still look at him and say, "I don't get it."

Nonetheless, Birthday Express came to my rescue and provided me with everything that a child could possibly want for Pokemon decorations. I explained to my brother-in-law this weekend that shopping for birthday supplies from the comfort of your own home, while in your pajamas, with all three children in bed is soooooo worth the $5 shipping. Shopping for such things in the stores creates a flurry of "I WANT"s from the children and awful migraines for the mothers. Besides, when an enormous box of goodies arrives to the attention of "The Birthday Boy" it's like another present in and of itself.

This year I came up with the great idea of having Josh's birthday out at the campground. My theory was that the mess would stay out of my house, we could burn the trash, drinking at 11:00 am is acceptable at the campground and, when all was said and done, I could leave a sugar crazed boy (and his friend) with Dustin and I could retire to my own bed.

Little did I know, having a party at your camper really isn't any less work than having it at home. You still have the clean-up, planning ahead is essential AND you have to transport everything at least two more times. So...it wasn't any easier...but it was still just as fun!!

Friday night I attempted to get organized and have everything ready for Saturday. I set Josh and Lauren on the task of filling the pinata. The hole in the back of the pinata was the size of a half dollar and when I realized that the entire ten pound bag of candy had to be shoved in the pinata piece by piece I just about lost it. But they came to the rescue and were eager to help. And I let them.



Saturday morning I had to get the balloons filled and pick up the cake. By the time we got out to the campground it was not long before the party was to start. Before long everyone was there and we were ready to party!!







When Ella wasn't sleeping...she wanted to be involved in the party!



Then came time for the pinata. These "new age" pinatas are quite the invention. No more do you have blindfolded children swinging large wooden sticks randomly at the sky. NOW days you have to find the "Magic Ribbon". I'm guessing pinata manufacturers were tired of getting sued by people that now only had one good eye or a broken bones due to the swinging efforts of a seven year-old child.






Then Dustin and I pulled out the big guns: water balloons. And boy did we get Josh by surprise! What a hoot!!




Then it was my favorite part to every party. TIME FOR CAKE!!!




As you can see, Lauren was in her usual "this is what you get when I haven't had a nap" mood.

Of course Sunday brought rain showers and wind. And of course no Bricker camping trip would be complete without setting up or tearing down in the rain.

Dad and I headed out to the campground Sunday morning to help. I pulled up and said to dad, "OMG. We are white trash." The back of the pickup was packed full of crap - including a grill, three bikes, bags of trash and cases of pop and beer. Then my husband comes around the corner wearing this...


(sorry it's out of focus but he was running to grab my camera)

I about peed I was laughing so hard. He's wearing a trash bag!!

As soon as he saw me reaching for my camera he ran away.



Seriously, you may be a redneck if....