Random pics

The mushrooms I found growing in the living room carpet:



Ethne's foot. She's a budding photographer who likes to take series of pictures. I have about 25 just of her foot in different positions and places! Aunt Staci would be proud.


The twins eating my dessert pizza. When Sassy saw me, she threw her piece away and refused to hold it for the picture. She knew she was in trouble!



(Not sure why this one won't turn; it's right side up on my computer.) The twins at almost 11 months. Poor Sassy is my baldest baby. She barely has enough hair to put in a clip, and it's so fine it slides right out. Monkey, on the other hand, is rocking the faux-hawk! I didn't realize his hair was so long until I gelled it. He'll need a hair cut soon.

Nice Day

I'm flying solo today and tomorrow while Papa Runner is in Denver. Today I took the kids up to the lake to swim with my parents and niece/nephew. We had a great time. When we got home I threw all four kids in the tub and ordered a pizza. They were all scrubbed up and in their jammies when the pizza got here. Each child, including the twins, ate a whole large slice of pepperoni and onion. We also got a cinna-pie for dessert, and the girls and I each had a few slices. There was half of it left, which I planned to eat after the kids were in bed.

I took the girls upstairs to brush teeth, read a Bible story, and pray. The babies were being really good downstairs the whole time I put the girls to bed. Or so I thought. Turns out, Monkey is just tall enough that he could pull the pizza boxes off the table. By the time I got done and caught them, they had licked all the frosting off the cinna-pie! So much for my dessert.

How do I get from surviving to thriving?

I'm trying. I really am.

It all started yesterday, when the girls asked me if they could paint. Survival Mom said no way, but Nice Mom said why not? The good news: the girls did a great job with the paint, keeping it on the paper and even cleaning their paintbrushes. The bad news: while they were getting out their supplies, they dropped a blob of silly putty on the floor, stepped on it, and ground it into the carpet. (Why was it not in an egg?) So now I have to get some rubbing alcohol to dissolve it and pray it doesn't take the color out of the carpet.

Then I saw my sister and kids was coming to town. Nice Mom/Sister/Aunt invited them to stop by. The "good" news: Smartie wanted to share her toys. So she got all of them out. And piled them in the middle of the floor. Nevermind the fact that her cousins were outside and neither knew nor cared about the toys. The bad news: when I asked her to clean up, she said Cousin should clean them up since that's who she got them out for. (Nevermind the fact Cousin had left an hour earlier.) It turned into a knock down drag out fight. I won, but I'm not proud of my behavior. I had a lot to appologize for. Thankfully, she forgave me.

Then this morning I decided to actually make something for breakfast since the babies had slept all night and I'd had a decent night's sleep. The good news: the babies LOVE cheesy scrambled eggs and had two helpings each. The bad news: the girls wanted bagels instead. And let me know it. Loudly and with tears. Survival Mom took over once again and made the stupid bagels. Evil Mom locked the brats in the basement while Tired and Discouraged Mom took a long soak in the jacuzzi tub. I haven't checked the basement yet to see what kind of state it's in.

How long until empty nest syndrome?

Summer Haircuts

I got my hair cut last week. The girls wanted haircuts, too, so I took them in this morning.



Smartie's before:


And after:


Sweetie's hair was waist length:


She decided to donate her tail to Locks of Love:


And after:

Happy Mother's Day

Monkey: Mother's Day starts at midnight.
Sassy: What can we do to celebrate?
Monkey: I know! Let's get up and give Mom a hug!
Sassy: And to make it extra special, let's make her sit up in the chair to get it, not lay down in bed or on the couch.
Monkey: And we'll hug her and hug her for like an hour!
Sassy: Yay, I love Mother's Day.

It's a good thing they're so cute, or I'd throw them to the pigs.

Butter makes great hair gel