Jakes B day

Jake turned 4 this summer and instead of having another birthday cake, we decided to make and decorate cupcakes. Pretty simple and fun thing to do, and the kids loved it. Me, you ask? I was a little stressed. Why? Because I was the bright one that went to the store to get the things we needed and wasn't paying attention. When in the world did they start making food coloring into a gel and packaging it like it was icing????????? I can happily report that my kids mouths and faces were only rainbow colored for about a week!!!

The Beginning

Cole just wanted to eat them...like ususal

Some of Lauras creations
Dylan and Jake
( i was secretly praying that Dylan wasn't planning on smashing it on his face beings that it was food coloring)
Couldn't explain why he's wearing his tie, other than it was a phase he went through. He liked to wear it and ask everyone to tell him how handsome he is.
All I can say is thank goodness my kids are not big on sweets. Jakes mouth was green for days and he only ate one cupcake!


It takes Cole a while to get into to something, which is good because he didn;'t have a lot of time to create a huge mess!


Tyler just kicked back and ate!


All finished !!!

The night we met the....

Midget Killing Cop on Parole!!!!

Oh yeah, thats right. You read that title right!!! Our last Tuesday night out, brought someone new into our lives. We were minding our own business at the Spur, just like any other time we're there. I was out doing my thing on the dance floor and Laura and Brenda were doing the usual sit in the corner at their table laughing at people. The dance ended and I headed back to where they were sitting and over saunters this guy. Never saw him there before. He comes over and tells us about how its his last night out, for come morning time, he going back to jail for a parole violation. Nice pick up line! Very unusual!! Not sure if its too successful for him, but it definately wasn't working on us!! He then starts questioning Laura and Brenda as to why that were just sitting there all night. Pretty funny conversation. Completely obvious by now that he was pretty wasted, but hilariously funny. He had all of us laughing for a while. He finally gets around to asking us if we wanted to know why he was on parole. If nothing else, we'd get another good laugh out of him, so we bit, asked him why...


He bent down really close to us....

Leans over and whispers...

I'm a midget killer.

And it then it donned on me, he could be telling the truth. See theres a Little guy that goes to the Spur, you can't miss him. He looks like a walking cowboy hat, on account of all you can see of him when hes walking around is his cowboy hat. I realized that the last couple of times that we were there, he hasn't been there. But there you go. Mystery solved!!!

And as if it wasn't bad enough, that he was a midget killer, he let the cat out of the bag. Told us it was a secret. If Word got out, it would jepordize his job. So of course we bit again and asked what his job was...his reply? "I'm a cop"

Needless to say it made for a very funny evening. After a while, his friend came over and retrieved him. Which was good, I'm pretty sure his drink was empty and it was clear he hadn't had enough to drink for the night!!!

The rest of the night was uneventful, but now i can proudly say that i have met a midget killing cop, can you????

Here's to your challenge Laura...

So my sister is this completely amazing blogger, and puts me to shame!! Recently she issued a challenge to a few of us to blog about 5 things that we are thankful for.

My first thought was, easy enough, I have enough kids to take up most of those, this ought to be a piece of cake! But I have a sneaky suspicion that it be an acceptable blog, and I'll have to blog again. And really, we all know how often that happens!!

So here goes nothing....

1. My family of course!! Where in the world would i be today if it weren't for them, especially lately! I'm thankful that i live close to my mom and sister, and wish that i could be closer to others.

2. My kids, and yes I lumped them all together!! Each one brings something different to our home. I wouldn't survive a trip to the grocery store without Dylan! He's my little man that offers soooooo much help to me. Also, I wouldn't have the EXTENSIVE knowledge of Star Wars that I have now, were it not for him. I'm so thankful that he has overcome most of his childhood issues. Every now and then, I get a hug from him, and cherish them when I can because they don't come often. I'm greatful for the ability I've been given to tune things out, like Jake! Jake Jake Jake, what can i say about him? Satan Spawn comes to mind!! I think I can definately say that life would be a lot less crazy without him, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. He is my lady killer. The kid is 4 and has every woman on this earth wrapped around his finger! He is so head strong and stubborn, and has to try to control EVERYTHING. Pretty sure he takes after me. Cole, is my sweetheart. He's different, very sweet natured and loving. Takes life at his own pace. For example, didn't walk till he was almost two, he can talk, he just won't. I recently didn't see him for two days, and when I did, he came up to me and said, I need a hug, and then held on tight for a long time. He's feeling special lately, he's out of his crib and into his big boy bed. He gets up early everyday and comes crawling into bed with me for ten minutes or so. I'm not sure which one of us likes it more. I'll admit though, it was a little freaky the first couple of times waking up because you had that feeling that something just wasn't right and you open your eyes to see someone inches from your face staring at you. Last but not least, Tyler, my happy kid. Unless he's tired, or taking a nose dive on the ground, he's my happy one, always laughing and smiling. He's a charmer. And he has discovered music and dancing, he can't help himself. Funniest thing I've ever seen. It doesn't matter what he's doing, as soon as he hears music, he starts dancing away. He is so smart, too smart for his own good. Talking up a storm already and figuring life out. I can't believe how quickly time is passing and how they are all growing up. These guys have given me all the reasons I've needed to keep pushing through life these past couple of years, and though I have my days that I wonder what in the world was I thinking when I told myself I could this alone, I couldn't imagine my life without them. Wait, yes I could, it would be very quiet!!!!

Dylan

Jake
Cole

Tyler

3. Definately thankful for Tuesday nights...my night to be an adult. As you all know, at the beginning of summer, i roped my sister into going out with me on Tuesday nights. No kids, no guys, no worries. Sometimes it can be as simple as going to moms for dinner and we sit around talking about what we're gonna do for the night till we all start falling asleep!! But other times, its a fun night at the Silver Spur. Its my one night to get out and do something for myself and while Laura might not have the time of her life, we do have fun. One of these days, her inner cowgirl is gonna come to life, I just know it!!

4. I'm thankful for being able to sit here and write this blog. Only those really close to me know how tough these last couple of years have been and how bad things really got. I can honestly say that were a couple of time that i wasn't sure that i was going to make it to see the next day. I'm thankful that I had the strength to stand my ground and still be here to talk about. I know that I still have a long way to go to become the person that I used to be, but for now, I'm thankful that I'm heading in the right direction.

5. This one might be last on my list, but its one of my favorites. I'm thankful for the opportunity to reconnect with my past. The internet is a wonderful thing because I am horrible at keeping in touch with people. This past summer has brought quite a few people back into my life that i lost touch with so many years. Some that were just casual friends, others that were very important to me, and one that will always have a special place in my heart.


This has taken about a week to finish, and I'm THANKFUL that its done!! Hahaha. Now I can call Laura and tell her that I actually finished a blog AND posted it. It should buy me a couple of months of freedom before she expects another one!!

The end of summer...

I don't even know where to start. I have logged on so many times and have about 10 blogs that i have started and never finished, seems to be a pattern in my life!!!

The end of summer is here, and I've spent the last couple of weeks, traveling down the road trip of my life. It's been great. But first I'll start with an update on the kids.

Tyler turned one this summer. Woohoo!! He is still my little happy guy though. Always laughing and smiling and so curious about life. Its so amazing to sit and watch him explore everything that he can get his hands on, and even the things that he can't. He's been walking for quite some time now, and lately has been attempting to run. Hilarious to watch, but no matter how many times he falls, he gets up and takes off again. He absolutely loves to rough house, hmm... wonder why? He really didn't have a choice having three older brothers that like to think of him as their personal play toy. I could go on and on about him, there's so much to talk about. His first camping trip, first trip out on the boat, first ride on the quad, (he was hooked by the way), but most importantly, was his first discovery of a basketball. Brought a tear to my eye!! He was out in the backyard one day playing and i went to check on him because he was way too quiet, and those of you that have kids, knows that is a certain sign of someone being up to no good!! I came upon the sliding glass door and peered outside, and there was Tyler holding my ball. So I kept back and waited quietly watching him. Now, if I was thinking, I would've grabbed the video camera. I'm pretty sure the ball out weighed him, by the fact that as he held the ball up, he darn near fell over. He slowly turned the ball over and around, looking at every square inch of it. He bent over and put the ball down in front of him, and took one hand and tried to dribble it. I watched him for a while, completely amazed. I take the boys to the park everyday while I can, before the rainy season starts. I always take our basketballs with us and between the swings, monkey bars, and dodging the hailstorm of bullets from the gazillion little soldiers that band together to take out every form of evil that lives (mainly the parents), I usually get some time to shoot some hoops. Jake has always been the one that follows me out there to play, but his attention is quickly diverted by a little guy that comes to recruit him for the next attack, or butterfly hunt, whichever is on the agenda for the day. But Tyler always sat and watched me play. Even though he's number four for me, I still sometimes forget how much they absorb just by watching. Needless to say, I found the little basketball that his Aunt Laura gave him and I keep it out with all the other balls, but for some reason he always has to take mine!! All of this was only about a month ago, and I swear the kid will be dunking in the next couple of months!! Aside from ball, his other passion is food. The kid can single handedly wipe the pantry out!! And then look for more. If you think you're going to sit down and enjoy something to eat within earshot from him, good luck. He can smell food a mile away and comes at you with his signature look, mouth wide open saying aahhh.

Next is Cole. He is something else. I'm not quite sure how he fits into this family yet, as he is very caring, sweet, and way too nice to be a part of this group!! He turned two earlier this year, but as with anything else he took it in stride. Cole likes to take life at his own speed. And that would be slooooowwww. He's my quiet little shy guy that hides unless he knows you, but is so full of love for those special enough to get close to him. I'll admit I've had my concerns about him, which were only furthered when his pediatrician told me he suspected Cole had high functioning autism. Cole didn't walk until he was almost two, and he doesn't talk, or so he wants us to think!! Personally, I suspect he's a genius. Lol. I finally decided to have him evaluated, because by now he should be driving me a wall with his non stop chatter, but we're lucky to get 20 words a day from him. So his evaluation day came and off we went. I discussed my concerns and answered an amazingly long list of things he can and can't do, say, hear, think, you name it, they asked it. All the while Cole stood behind me because there were unfamiliar people in his presence. He eventually came out of his shell and joined the game we were playing and I quietly took a seat and let them do their thing. Little did I know the surprise he had in store for me. They took him through the standard block stacking, making a train, drawing lines and circles, then, out came the picture book. Haha, I thought, now they'll see where the problem is. Now, keep in mind, when Cole does talk, its very hard to understand him because his words are slurred, and no, i don't give him nyquil on a daily basis, only every other day!! So anyways, out come the pictures and right off the bat is a picture of a banana. Now he knows what that is. He loves them, always says nana, but I can't get him to say banana. No big deal right? Wrong, the lady shows him the pic and asks him what it is. He says, plain as day, thats a banana. What the heck???? Not only did he talk, but he said banana?????? And off he went, naming all 90 pictures and talking up a storm. Talk about looking like an idiot!!!! Thanks Cole! But at least we all know now that the only problem is that Cole functions with his own clock and in his own little world. I do think he is secretly dying to join in on singstar night though. He loves to sing and takes the microphone all over the house rocking out. Completely comical to watch!!

What is there to say about Jake? A few words come to mind, devil child, hell on wheels, emotionally high maintenance, and bossy bossy bossy!! I am happy to say that karate has made some small improvements, and believe me, I'll take what I can get! Its a proud moment when I tell him to go do something and he stands up and says, yes mom, and then, get this, he does what I asked him to. So sweet, now if I can just get him to ease off of doing a knife hand strike on Tyler while they sit in their car seats, I'll be doing good. He is definitely the bossy one of the bunch, however, rules do not apply to him. He'll go out of his way to get up from time out to come tell me that Dylan got up from time out. When I point out that fact that he is up also, he says, but mom, i just had to tell you so you can go whoop his bottom. Such a riot. He's gonna be a handful later. He's going to have girls falling all over him. We were at the market the other day and he found a rack of sunglasses. Of course he had to try them on, oh but this time, he turns to me, while I'm a few aisles away and says, hey mom, I'm so sexy. He's only 4, what am I gonna as he gets older??? He got to experience his first sleep over this summer, with grandma. He has an amazing bond with her. He loved it, was doted on and spoiled of course, so now he always demands that I take him to her house and drop him off. Poor grandma, he runs circles around her.

Dylan started third grade this year and it donned on me that in a couple of years, he'll be in junior high. Geez, I'm getting old!! He is a great kid though. I couldn't do a lot of the things that we do, without him around to help. He has come so far and I am so proud of him. I am sooooooo happy to report that he is easing up on Star Wars, now his focuses are Captain Underpants and Calvin and Hobbes. He has taken such a liking to karate. He absolutely loves it and is doing great in it. His favorite class is his weapons training. He has an amazing bond with Tyler. Always tells everyone Tyler is his favorite brother. He drags that poor kid around everywhere with him. Today I went to go check on them, i couldn't find Tyler and was a little nervous until Dylan told me where he was. Dylan put him in a "rocket ship" (cardboard box) and put him on the trampoline, and was going to launch him into outer space. Now you all know why there are so many trips to the doctors!! All in all, he's growing up into quite a big brother, no matter how much he scares me!! His proudest moment this summer, was catching his first fish, 14in trout at Devils Lake, he was so excited!!!

For me, my favorite thing this summer has been getting in touch with old friends. Getting out and camping, tubing at the lake, trying to keep up with the kids at making smores...all great memories and i look forward to more next summer.

So I don't have a whole lot of time to sit here and blog, so when the time comes that i do, you should know whatever has warranted the time i spent blogging, must be worth it!
I had such a crazy night last night. It all started with a phone call from my sister, which seems to be a pattern in my fun times! This phone call consisted of a request that i come over for the best night of my life. Now who wouldn't be intrigued????
So I make my way over there with high expectations. i'd had somewhat of a boring day, oh who am i kidding? It was down right lousy! But I can pretty much be sure that if she's promising a good time, a good time will be had.
Singstar, a game for the play station, came out with a 90's version. Oh glorious day!!!! For those that don't know, singstar is pretty much a karaoke game where the object is to sing on key and in tune and all that good stuff. Let's just say, I pretty much suck, but oh well. It's alot of fun!!! I gave up on trying to find the right note a long time ago!!!
I'm not exactly sure how long it took for us to loosen up, but i do remember a whole lot of dancing and singing and the unmistakable feeling of that inner rocker busting out!! I can say that there was no alcohol involved, however i'd like to say there was because at least it would be a good excuse for the things that happened!!!
I never knew what a good rapper brenda is. But we found out last night! Courtesy of Baby Got Back!! And let me tell you, nostalgia was running wild! Between New Kids on The Block, Wilson Phillips, and Poison, some lasting memories were made last night. but none as memorable as MC Hammers Can't touch this. Now I know that you all are starting to get the beat in your head, but I dare say you won't come close to the beat that Brenda and I were feeling!! Thats right, we were feeling the beat. Feeling it so much that we were overcome with stupidity and for me, a severe lack of rthym. I'm not so sure what in the world overcame us, but before i knew it, we were transformed into the video itself. We were busting our own moves, or the camera, one of the two. Thats right, I said camera. I'm afraid to say that the camera was out. And videos were taken. But have no fear. My plan to break and enter into Lauras house and steal the camera is in the works. I would hate to subject any of you to having to witness the ludicrous behavior that was going on!! i'd like to say that we maintained some sort of maturity about us, but that would be a big lie!! It was a funfilled night of singing, dancing, ice cream and just plain fun.
Its nice to let loose every now and then and to have friends that you can just be an idiot around without thinking twice about it. And while I fully admit, I will never hold a candle to Laura singing Hit Me Baby One more Time, I'm proud to say that i kick butt with Lips Of An Angel. Brenda reigns with Baby Got Back, without a doubt. And together they can hold their own with I Wanna Sex You Up. Forget therapy, buy singstar, and all your troubles go away, until you realize someone has the camera out and you just don't care. Whether its dancing on the fireplace, sitting on the TV or being blown away by the fan, it all adds up to one hell of a fun night!!!
My only request, is to Laura. Please be nice about the pics you post!!!! Lol

Another weekend goes by...

Its Sunday night, and finally time to wind down. Yeah!!!!! It was a good weekend for us. I took it upon myself to break a few Child Labor Laws, but what the heck. Good hard work never hurt anyone. I don't think anyways!!

The boys and I spent the weekend around the house, mostly working outside. We did a lot of planting and pulling weeds. Our new house is lacking on the landscaping side so we have a lot of work ahead of us. Which would go a lot faster if Jake didn't insist on "helping". I would have to say that his favorite thing to do was to use the hose, and his favorite thing to water, you ask? That would be Cole. As if he needed to grow anymore!! Dylan was pretty much gone for the day, exploring the "forest" that is in the backyard. He loves to put on all of his army gear and start scouting. The back side of our house sits right up against a large grove of trees that houses about 10 deer, lots of squirrels and raccoons, our little resident rabbit that burrows in our backyard, and who can forget about the pack of wild turkeys. Yes, you read that right. We have wild turkeys that roam the neighborhood, but are partial to crowding into OUR backyard at three in the morning and cackling right under my open window. But thats a whole different story, back to that one at hand...Dylan has decided that one way or another, he is going to get close enough to the deer to touch them. Today he was amazingly patient enough to sit in a tree and wait for them. He was so excited when they walked right by him. But then was disappointed when he coughed on accident and they ran away. Oh well, it'll give him something to do next weekend. And it beats his last quest, which was to hunt for bear with nothing more than a stick. What can I say, the kid is adventurous.
Moving on in the day, next on our list was to wash the truck and the quads. I've come to learn that sometimes in life, things sound like a good idea, and then when I'm half way through, I realize my idea of good, is a little twisted!! Once again, our task involved the hose, and once again, Jake decided to spend more time hosing Cole off than the truck. He found it absolutely hilarious until the hose got turned on him!! Not so funny anymore.
The end of our evening brought many things to light for me. As a reward for all their help in the day, we went to McDonalds for dinner. I know what you're thinking, wow! McDonalds! Yes that is as good as it gets in my world!! A completely kid welcome atmosphere where not only is dinner taken care of, but we get an early jump on bedtime. The boys all think they are living the good life, because when they are done eating, they get to play. What they don't understand is that it is a completley selfish act on my part. The harder they play, the more tired they get. I found that for the first time in quite a while, I just sat back and watched them play. I realized tonight that no matter how crazy things are for me, and no matter how frustrated I can get, I couldn't imagine my life without my kids. Every day seems to pass like a whirl wind right now and sometimes, i forget to slow down and focus on the most important things in my life. I was lucky enough to see that tonight. And hopefully will be able to remember that more often.

but

My sister has inspired me...

For all of those that don't know...my inspiration for this blog has been inspired by my sister. However, I'm quite intimidated because she has the greatest and craziest blogs, so if anyone is reading this is looking for any type of insight or wisdom on life, you're in the wrong place!!!

I really don't feel the need to go into any background information, because if you're reading this, you obviously know me well enough to know everything there is to know about me.

So my first attempt at this whole blogging thing, will be to give to give the real story about when my sister and I went line dancing recently.

Lets just say, that even though, in her latest blog, she claims to have been doing me this huge favor by going with me dancing, secretly, deep down inside, she was enjoying this.

And how do I know this you may ask yourself? Because I was there!! I watched it all unfold. It started with the ever so slightly nodding of her head to the beat of the music. And she may claim that she was only having a good time watching everyone, but I could see her foot start tapping to the beat. Followed by her feet twitching as she was figuring out the steps and trying to memorize them, because I know, oh yes, I know, that when she got home afterwards, I'm sure that she was secretly practicing at home so that she can rock the floor next Tuesday night!!!

I just want to let her know, that its ok. I will not think less of her, nor will her friends, when she finally admits that she is enjoying herself and one day will own her own pair of boots, to slide and kick around the dance floor on!!

So in the future, for the truth about our adventures on the dance floor, just know that here is where you will find it.

I love you Laura, thank you for being there for me even though I'm sure you had better things to do! It means alot to me that you are always there for me when i need you!!