Dunzo....

Has school started yet? Because I'm done with summertime. Sure. There is no hurrying to wake everyone up, make lunches, and get them to school on time. No after-school carpool line to fight with. But. They are all here. All. The. Time. And I'm so over it. We've gone to the swimming pool a few times this summer to beat the heat. They fight with each other on the way over. They complain and argue while we are there. They fight even louder on the drive home. Today. Wow. I lost it. After I yelled my peace I enjoyed the silence of their uncomfortableness. They knew it was over. Mrs. nice mom that is. They could tell. My mind was reeling with all the things I could do to make their summer one they would never forget. Tomorrow? I'm taking Presley and Landon to the pool (because they are just happy to be there). The older three? They will be home with a list of jobs that must be completed by the time I return or....or..... I'm not sure. But something bad. And all these bodies laying around because it's too hot outside? Don't care. I've instituted a 'no electronic devices until noon every day' policy. Because idle children make fighting ensue all the more. We will be working. Reading. Playing. Or just watching the paint on the walls. I really don't care. Anyone complains? I add 15 minutes more to the electronics ban for any whine I hear. Or the word bored. Nice, right? I hope so. I'm hoping this changes these little people around here. And helps my summer to be more enjoyable. Because if it continues as is, come August I'll need to be committed. Seriously.

Presley-isms

For the last two weeks Presley has been singing "happy happy shoe shoes" repeatedly. We've all thought it was so cute. We've even joined in. It wasn't until this morning that I realized she's singing "happy birthday to you". Adorable.

Did you know that the rooster says "clock-a-lewd-a-loo"? At least if you ask Presley that is what it says.

Presley is really into animal sounds. All day I hear her say the name of an animal and then the sound it makes. Over and over again. Yesterday it was "mon-key. Ooooh ooh eeh eeh." Today it's rooster (my favorite). I think her favorite is horse. She says that one a lot more than the others.

I love the phase she is in right now. The "mimic" phase where she just repeats everything you say. I think out of all the phases and stages my kids go through (and have gone through) this one remains my absolute favorite. Soon enough she'll quit saying all the cute little things toddlers say and quit doing all the things they do that make me smile. My mom told me I had her just so I could actually truly enjoy this phase one last time. And enjoy it enough to remember it without hurrying to move on making room for the next one. True. So true.

Picture Time (Kennedy's Perspective)

I can't for the life of me find my camera battery charger. Anywhere. Baffling. I ordered a new one after 3 weeks of not having it. It's not here yet. So. Lucky for me, Kennedy has been documenting our lives for us. Just the day to day stuff that I often don't actually see because I'm too busy doing my day to day stuff.

Presley loves the park. And she is also a dirt magnet.

She also loves to be outside. Always. I usually have to lock the front door so she won't escape.

She's picked up a few things from her brothers.

Landon's the little rapper.

Jack has become quite the reader this year. And his love for all things art haven't subsided.

Kennedy sits by Presley in the car which affords her some good photo ops.

Presley dressed in her finest (thanks to Kennedy) reading her book.

No pictures of Kennedy, as she is the photographer. Which also explains no pictures of Ethan. They are in the hate part of a love/hate relationship and she refuses to photograph him. Likewise, he refuses to be part of her photography.

A New Hairstyle....

Today I'm sick. Strep throat. I'm going on 24 hours with antibiotics in my system, so I'm starting to come out of the fog I've been living in. Lying in bed I was trying to muster the energy to go check on my kids. Landon wandered into my bedroom holding the front of his hair mumbling something about his hair cutting skills. I perked up quickly to the word "cut". Unfortunately, the damage was already done.After my initial response of anger, I ran out of energy. Too sick to care. I found the clippers and had to drag him outside to the deck to finish the job. He kept saying "I only wanted it a little bit short, not a lot bit short!" I coaxed him to where the outlet on the deck was and clipper-ed him the rest of the way. On a number 1 I might add. That's a lot bit short. But it's what I had to do to match his own creative endeavors.While in the bathtub to wash off all the stray hair, he was sobbing. He thought he looked funny. Not the hilarious kind, but the ugly kind. I told him he could just wear a hat until his hair grew back. He asked if I had a hat with hair on it. Hopefully we've learned our lesson. Now we are 4 for 4 in the haircutting department in this household. I really need to prepare for Presley going through this phase. Pigtails are soooo much harder not to cry over.

Viva, Las Vegas!

My birthday was last Wednesday. April 7th. It also happened to be the first day of my girls weekend in Las Vegas. Perfect timing. I actually arrived 24 hours prior to the girls, so I had the entire room to myself.

We stayed at "The Gateway" which is a little resort south of the strip. Far enough away that without a car, I was left to provide my own entertainment. Which proved to be not any kind of an issue. I found the little poolside grill and ordered a burger, took it to my room, and lounged in bed with the TV on. It was only 5:30. I was completely ready for bed by 6 (it was 8 Missouri time). I managed to keep my eyes open until 8 Vegas time, and then I was out like a light. 4 am was when my eyes sprang open. (6 Missouri time). Habit. I watched TV for an hour until I was able to fall back to sleep for another hour or so. Something I always long to do, but am never given the opportunity. Fabulous. At 7 I ventured out and down to the workout room where I sweat away on the elliptical machine because all the treadmills were full. I would have gone running outside, but I just didn't want to. And this 24 hours for me was all about the don't want to's.

After my run I was debating laying by the pool. It was still pretty early for laying out. And there was a slight breeze outside. Would I be warm enough? Seem over anxious to be poolside that early? I figured I didn't care what others thought, but the lazy in me had me laying back in bed. I finally ventured out again around 10. Poolside, with a book. And nobody to whine about being to hot or cold. No floaties. No swim diapers. And no "watch me Mom" kids around. Well, there were some. But they weren't calling me mom. Which made my time that much sweeter. At noon I got hungry so grabbed some food at the same little grill from the night before and ate it poolside. Around 1 I decided maybe I was starting to burn so headed back to the room to take a shower and wait for my girls to arrive.

While staying alone in a place for 24 hours, I learned a few things about myself that I haven't ever known. (Probably because I don't know that I've ever in my entire life spent time alone in a room like that.) I'm not a clean freak by nature. I had clothes and papers strung from the front door clear back to the bedroom. Interesting. In real life I have to have everything in its place or I go batty. Maybe if I lived alone in my own house I would be a candidate for "messiest house"? I also learned that being naked all the time doesn't bother me. At all. Clothes became optional. As it neared time for Jessica and Natalie to arrive, however, I cleaned the place up and put some clothes on. My alone time was nearing an end. Which was okay. But only because I love the girls that I was expecting!

Jessica and Natalie. They arrived around 5. We headed to the strip, deciding that shopping and food would be on the agenda. We parked in some parking lot and headed into a shopping center that also had a cheesecake factory. What could be more perfect than that?

After we ate, we shopped a bit. Then decided to venture down the strip. I had never been to Vegas. I was up for anything. The Bellagio water show was amazing. We watched two. One on the way down the strip, and one on the way back.

The next morning we decided to shop. And shop we did. I don't think I've been in so many Gap stores in such a short time period. Perfect. And every shopping center had it's own unique style. In Fashion Show Mall we actually saw a fashion show. (I'm officially a true tourist).

All our shopping made us thirsty. And since Serendipity 3 was right there. How could we resist splitting one of these babies?

And since that just quenched our thirst, we needed to try out this place to stave off any hunger pangs:

It was midnight by the time we finished our burgers. Crazy. For the mother of 5 anyway. We headed back to our hotel and talked for another few hours before actually falling asleep. Saturday was a mild one. We found the LDS Temple and went inside for a bit. Then found a place for lunch that was perfect. Italian. And on the agenda for that evening?

I'd never seen Phantom of the Opera before. Neither had Jess. Natalie had seen it twice, but the guy selling tickets convinced her this theater was bigger, better, and she needed to see it. After we found our seats (which were amazing) we decided it would be okay to take photos since the show hadn't actually started.

Wrong. That is the only one we got before the little legged girl passing out programs sprinted up a flight of stairs and got all up in our faces. She meant business. No photography. So we had our own little photo session after the fact. In front of all the big signs. Just like tourists do.

What would be a show without dessert following? Ghiradelli's was just around 3 corners.

What this blog does not depict, nor can it truly depict, was how much fun was actually had by us 3 mothers. How late into the night (early morning really) we stayed up talking. How great the conversation was. What a fool I must have looked like flipping myself over in the pool lounge chair and then just laughing at myself. How many times Natalie put something on hold at one Gap to just try it on at another. How many fabulous restaurants we encountered and enjoyed. What great girls Natalie and Jessica are. True friends. Of the truest kind. And how glad I was that Shawn (and all our husbands) were willing to take on our duties at home so we could get together away from it all. Thanks girls. For letting me be a part of your lives. I'm one lucky girl to have friends like you two.

Easter with the McManus Clan....

Raquel's kids were on spring break last week. She lives way up north where the wind blows and it snows. A lot. Her husband is a resident. Which is code for "busy all the time". So. She opted to drive down south with her five kids and share their vacation with us. Perfect. It just happened to coincide with the Easter holiday. Double perfect. We decided an egg hunt was in order. Because there are so many kids between us, we split them in half. My backyard isn't that big. We had the younger 4 hunt first. These guys were so anxious it was hard to get them to stand still for a picture.

I only allocated 2 eggs for miss Presley. Who took it upon herself to open as many as she could get her hands on when she realized there was chocolate inside.

Then the older 4. They were just as anxious. But less wiggly.

Raquel is full of crafty ideas to keep kids occupied. Jelly Bean Bracelets were just one of the fun ideas she had swimming in her head.

The kids actually entertained themselves quit well. Playing light saber wars, barbies, Wii, house, legos, and everything in between. We ate a lot, talked even more, and caught up on the last 5 years since we've been apart. Thanks for being willing to sacrifice time in the car to spend a few days visiting. We had a great time. Come back. Anytime. We loved having you!

Rock The Parkway...

The last weekend in March my running girls and I headed to Kansas City to run a 10k. The weather had been fabulous all week so we were pumped. Also. Who doesn't love a girls get-a-way? We headed down Friday night so we could pick up our race packets, shop, and eat. We stayed in a hotel near the starting line so we could fully enjoy our morning.

When we woke Saturday at 6 am we could hear the wind howling. Not a great sign. I said, "I would so much rather run in the rain than in the wind". Famous last words. By the time we were lined up waiting for the gunshot, it was sprinkling. As we rounded the corner of our 1st mile we were in a downpour. Our shoes were soaked through from puddles by mile 2. And I LOVED it! Every. Single. Soaking. Wet. Minute. I felt like a kid again. We spaced ourselves out and into our own grooves. I was lucky enough to run with Michelle. We kept the same pace throughout. At the finish line we all looked like drowned rats. And then we started to get cold. We headed back to the car and drove to a fancy schmancy cupcake shop for a post-race indulgence. My teeth started chattering something fierce and they wouldn't stop.

But the cupcakery was adorable. Even with chattering teeth.

We headed back to the hotel for warm showers. Which finally stopped the chattering. We checked out of our hotel and headed to an up and coming shopping area to browse. Hunger pangs led us to a restaurant called "Ra". (Raw) As in sushi. Which none of us were brave enough to venture into except Julie. We ordered the teriyaki chicken. Delicious. Though we did receive chopstick lessons free of charge.

What a great race day. I've decided that 10k's are my new favorite thing. You don't have to train for them like a 1/2 marathon, but they are more than just a short run like a 5k. I love them. There aren't many of them around. Seems like others haven't found a passion for them like myself. I'm on the lookout. If you know of any good ones, you know where to find me. Thanks runner girls for keeping me moving. And for being great company even off the pavement.