Bad Mommy?

Good grief! My boys are makin' me out to be a cranky, mean monster. And I'm not, I swear!

So here's the scoop:

Disturbing Event #1- Picture this: we're at the park, it's super hot, & Frank WON'T keep his shoes on. Bad, right?

So I say "If you can't keep your shoes on, you'll have to sit in the car."

He says "OK, Mommy."

He slides on the shoes & off he goes onto the playground. Problem solved. But wait! There he is- again without the shoes! Rats.

Grudgingly, Mommy says "Frank, what did I say was going to happen if you took off your shoes?"

"I'd have to go sit in the car, Mommy."

"That's right. Go get your shoes and come back to me." (Italics added for emphasis.)

Mommy starts talking to a friend, not really intending to follow through on the punishment- we're at the park after all, & it's supposed to be fun! Frank never comes back, so I figure he ignored me & is playing happily. About 20 minutes go by & Frank appears again. And he's totally red & sweaty. I figured he's been playing to his little heart's content & is needing a drink. So I offer a drink & ask him to sit down by me to rest. But he says no! What?

"I'm cooking like a hamburger, Mommy." (Frank loves dramatic similes.)

"Yes, honey. It's really hot out here."

"No, Mommy, I'm really cooking like a hamburger!"

"Yeah, it's really hot. Why don't you sit down in the shade with me for a minute?"

"No, Mommy. I'm really hot like a hamburger in there!" (Wait a minute- what does he mean IN THERE?)

The little stink (or angel, depending on how you look at it) was SITTING IN THE CAR for over 20 minutes!!! It's a miracle nobody called CPS on me! Honestly, I thought the car was locked & don't even know how he got in there.

And yes, I did tell him that would be his punishment, but I fully intended to, I don't know, turn on the car?!?! And run the A/C?!?! I figured a 2-3 minute time out would've solved the problem & that would be that. But now I feel like a total monster because Frank actually thought that I would let him 'cook like a hamburger' for all that time. Poor little dude. Next time I will make sure he notices the "come back to me" part of my instructions. Sheesh.

Dramatic event #2- Picure this: Jack is saying the bedtime prayer.

"Please bless that we will sleep good. Please bless that Emma will get a green face (at school). And please bless that Mommy won't spank me. Amen."

Picture Daddy snorting so hard that he starts choking & gasping for air.

Seriously? Why didn't Little Mister Jack mention that he only got a spankin' when it was 2 hours past his bedtime & he was STILL climbing out of bed & sneaking around the house. Sheesh.

What's the old saying? You're danged if you do & you're danged if you don't. A mother came up with that one.

Summertime Fun

It's only halfway through Day 1 of summer & my kids are already at each other's throats.

So here's my plan: ORGANIZATION!

I've made a list of places we want to go & things we want to do and am currently compiling a master calendar.

This is what's on the list so far- hopefully we can do it all!

Tucson Padres games

The Cove in Sierra Vista

Sonoran Desert Museum

Tucson Children's Museum

Picnic on Mt. Lemmon

Madera Canyon

Brandi Fenton Splash Pad Park

Zoo

Library

Summer Movie Club- FREE MOVIES!

UPDATE--- I totally forgot to add that we're also doing the Kids Bowl Free program. 2 free games of bowling every day until September. That rocks!

Since I'm so darn cheap, I've already been researching deals & such & have found a couple of cool things-- if you're a Zoo member, you can get a membership to the Children's Museum for the rest of the year for only $25! Or, it works the other way around, too. Sweet! It would cost $26 for just the kids & I to go to the Children's Museum once, so we'll definitely take advantage of this one. Details can be found HERE.

Also, the Summer Movie Club schedule for the Crossroads location can be found HERE. We'll probably choose 1 day a week to be movie/library day.

I'm having fun planning- any suggestions on anything else we should try, or any deals for the adventures already on our list?

Also, we totally want company for our summer escapades. Anybody want to join us?

Brown is Better?

Emma asks me sometimes if it makes me sad that not one of my kids has blue eyes like me.

Seriously?

Through A Child's Eyes

So funny! I had given Frank my camera to snap a pic of Andrew & I attaching the tube slide to the play structure. I had to prove that I had, in fact, been toiling away on that thing alongside the men-folk.

I watched him take the picture & then put the camera down just as instructed, so I was surprised to later find this documentation of the new toy in the backyard.

Here is one of Mommy, but I can't figure out why it's perpetually sideways. Maybe because he actually shot it as a VIDEO & this is just the first screen shot? Urrrggh!

Next he proceeded to walk around the whole structure & document all of the parts & pieces.

There was a pic of each swing & the trapeze. Gotta make sure we know they're ALL there, right?Hey-look what's right at Frank's eye level!And the most impressive one yet. I do have to say that I just might let Frank take control of the camera more often. Wait- I said might! I said might!Apparently Frank wasn't the only one workin' the camera! It makes me shudder to think of Jack snapping pics. It's a miracle the thing still works! Although this would TOTALLY explain why the zoom was stuck the next day & it took me 2 hours to get it to work again.And last but not least- my personal favorite. How could you help but love these kids?

I Warned Him!

He just couldn't keep his hands off my M&Ms!

A Murderer Among Us

I remember a tragic time in my youth.

I remember the pain, the sadness, the FEATHERS.

Sadly, my kids got to relive a horrible experience that I had when I was just their age.

The experience of having your beloved family dog destroy all of the family poultry.

Oh, she looks innocent & cute, playing in the snow a couple of months ago.

But don't be fooled, folks. This is a wolf in loveable dog clothing.

Bad Daisy!

Huge Changes

So here's a VERY quick overview of the last 2 weeks at our house.

(and the reason I haven't been blogging)

#1- This picture illustrates why we had to buy a Suburban.

Because you can't yank 15 foot trees out of the ground with a minivan!

That's Mama in there workin' the 4 wheel drive. Yee haw!

#2- Now that the trees over the septic tank are gone, by all means break out a tractor & take care of the rest of the shrubbery.#3- Make sure to include the kiddos. They're awfully good help.

#4- Sadly dig out the trees that didn't survive our 8 degree nights last winter. :(

Mama got to drive the tractor to help Daddy pull out all of those HUGE tap roots. :)

#5- Once you have a clean slate you can start building it back up!#6- Bring in the heavy equipment & let's get this done!#7- I'll spare you the boring details, but we started Monday with this:

#8- And by lunch on Tuesday we had this!

#9- Now I have 3 kiddos that look happy like this:

(Ignore Jack. He rarely looks happy when there's a camera pointed in his direction. Trust me, he's happy.)

#10- We've also planted 3 new trees to replace the ones we lost, worked on my new flower beds, revived our dingy grass, & have started on the next project- a coop for our newest family members-Do you see the family resemblance?

Needless to say, I think I'll go take a nap.

Photography With A 2 Year-Old

(Insert BIG sigh here.)

I try to tell myself "It's worth it, It's worth it."

Someday I'll look back on this & be glad that I proved I was there.

So this is as good as it gets!

And just because I'm so behind, here are the kids' beautiful Easter outfits, courtesy of Nana. (Finally!)

Thank You!!

I Don't Need No Stinkin' Binky!!

Look at me!

I have a new skill.

And when the thumb alone won't cut it, I've got some pretty sweet toes, too. (He's actually asleep in there!)

I've never had a baby that didn't love a binky, so this is SOOOO captivating for me.

Although it's totally strange to find him conked out wherever he happened to be laying when he got tired.

It must be exhausting to be so adorable.

The Frankster is 5!!!

I absolutely can't believe it!!! Today my Mother's Day was made even better because we celebrated Frank's big #5!! Every time I think there's no way I could love him more, he goes & does something even more sweet & amazing. Like being totally cool when we had to cancel his birthday party this weekend when a little girl that was staying with us got sick. That is totally Frank.

He is an angel & I just want to eat him up!

Happy Birthday my big little man!

Where Have We Been?

Is it May already?

I can't believe that I've basically been absent for 6 weeks. That's how long it's been since I was able to go to volleyball, anyways. Sickness (a lot of sickness), a travelling Daddy, and TONS of projects have combined to keep me away from the blog.
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So here's a quick rundown of what's been goin' on to get ya'll up to speed.
We've been spending a lot of time watching TV since Mommy was sick for so long. Boo!
Experimented with the Build-a-Bear costumes.
Played with Grandma & Grandpa.
And just practiced being super cute.
("Mom! I'm dressed like springtime!!" Explanation: The butterfly shirt is on top of the flower pants because butterflies land ON TOP of flowers in the garden. The blue socks are there to represent the blue sky. I don't know where she gets this stuff!)
It's been super exhausting.Oh, did I mention that we also potty-trained the 2 year old? YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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We've also had the computer die, someome compromise our bank account, and had the car break down. Seriously folks, this list all happened just this weekend.
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So once I get the photo software back up & running, I'll have lots more pics to share.
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And just a teaser, there's been a LOT of changes around the Merriman house. Some involving tractors. Exciting!