We Didn't Start the Fire!

I baked an apple pie the other day, and forgot to put a pan under the pie, and the pie juices overflowed and started to burn on the bottom of the oven. The result was thick smoke spewing out of the oven vent and a billowing black cloud in the kitchen.

Reese walked into the room, noticed the smoke, grew disgusted with our lack of action, then absolutely panicked.

It was HYSTERICAL.

Mind you, we were all walking around very calmly, opening windows and turning on fans, etc.

I wish I'd had the camera running the entire time. She shouted, "Smoke! Fire! Danger! Everyone! Stop, Drop and Roll!" Then she went limp and melted to the floor, flopped back and forth a few times and started the worlds slowest jungle crawl toward the farthest possible exit from the house. We died laughing.

She came back in and we calmed her down, but she still insisted on demonstrating proper fire safety a second time. I managed to capture a small segment of her brave leadership in our exodus. Clearly, she has grown accustomed to dealing with her idiot parents.

I love that child.

Of course, our casual laughter probably ruined all potential of any of us making it out alive in the event of a real fire.

Well, anyone except Reese. Our new fear is that she is going to go all Dwight on us and teach us a lesson that you can never be to careful when it comes to fire safety. Can't you just see her doing this to us one day?

A Day at the Zoo

Reese was out of school on monday, so I packed the kiddies up and we went to the Tulsa Zoo.
The drive went beautifully. The children all napped on the way there, and watched a movie on the way home. No whining. No "are we there yet?" Just happy kids, happy mom, and some good singing at the top of our lungs to Tom Petty, Duffy, and Florence and the Machine.

The petting zoo had sheep and goats to brush and feed. I made a complete fool of myself by asking when the male goat was "due". In my defense, it totally looked like it was 9m pregnant with triplets. I guess I haven't been around enough goats to know that they all have big, awkward ribcages that make them look el prego!

Quincy said her tummy hurt for about 1/2 the day and she took a long nap in the stroller. I had to wake her up to go into the petting zoo with us and she was NOT impressed!

The Tulsa Zoo has a fantastic playground. The weather was PERFECT so we sat outside and ate lunch, then played for over an hour. They have these huge teeter totters that even adults can fit on, so I totally got on them with the kids. The other grown ups stared at me a little, since I was the only person over age 10 on the playground and not sitting in the shade with the adults, but whatever. I had a blast playing with my kids. They missed out.

Look at those delicious cheeks. Yum.

It was a great day.
With Reese at school all day, I often feel like time is slipping away from me. Soon, my children will have more influence from peers than from me, and I don't really like that. at all.
I am grateful for days like this, where we can have a little adventure exploring something new and just enjoy being together. I am so glad my children are best friends. They are really fun little people to spend the day with. They make me laugh a lot. During our day at the zoo, I found myself filled to the brim with overwhelming appreciation for each of them.
My kids are awesome.

I love being a mother.

And now the videos where the jaguar tries to eat my children through the glass.

What She Said

An BIG shout out to my sister, HolleeAnn, who already blogged about my trip to Ca. on her blog, Dandelion Wishes.
And since it's going to take me a year to catch up on posts, just go here to read her post, see some race day pics, and watch the cutest videos of Corbin feeding her pup.

Thanks for posting, sistah! Love you and miss you already!

Blast Off!

My baby (can I still call him a baby?) throws everything.
He has quite the arm.
If it's not a ball, it's... well, anything. This kid has no preference. He just assumes that everything must be thrown, and it needs to be thrown soon. With an exciting sound effect.

My daughters didn't do this.
Is it a boy thing?


Last week, we witnessed:
-a buttered slice of bread get launched across the kitchen table and land squarely on top of my lasagne.
-a golf ball land in the butter tub
-a Little People airplane take a maiden voyage over the sofa.
-a Little People school bus also take a maiden voyage over the sofa.
-every everything ever made take a maiden voyage (and many return flights) over the sofa.
-a remote contol head impailment
-the plush Buzz, Woody, and Bullseye toys thrown 'to infinity and beyond'
-100 billion things end up in the kitchen sink (does he think it's a basket?)
-and of course, all unwanted food on the high chair tray forced to walk the plank.

I had started to type, "most recently, a square lego block just hit the screen of my laptop" (inspiring this post), but by the time I had finished, the wall had been nailed with a shoe and the footstool from the bathroom had been carried down the hall, then launched across the living room like a car in one of those crazy iron man competitions where they see how many yards one man can pull a city bus by a rope.

A few days ago, Aaron started juggling some golf balls to entertain the kids. (yeah, Aaron can juggle. He is cool.)
I was totally against this, because I thought it would only encourage Corbin's habit of throwing things (and we are all getting sick of being hit with wooden train tracks).

But I was wrong.


Turns out, the only time Corbin doesn't throw things, is when he is juggling.

While the Parents Were Away

Kasey received the Bestest Friend Ever Award, tonight, when she came over and put our kids to bed for us so Aaron and I could go on a date.

Our date was wonderful, just what we needed.

We came home to three sleeping children, and this awesome video of the Baby Guy taking a horsie ride on Kasey's lap.

Shut up.

Could he be any cuter?

We don't think so.

Thanks, Kasey!

"Honey let's play hooky 'cause it snowed last night..."

Brrrrrr.....
It was 1* outside with windchill.
That's a little too cold for Bella Vista, and way cold for the girls. They didn't last very long outside, but they had fun while they were out there.

The rest of the day involved me sitting in the "audience" (hallway) and high quality live puppet theater. The girls pulled up a stool behind the curtain, so Corbin could reach. It was a short lived effort, but very sweet nonetheless.

Before Reese got on the bus, this morning, she had a lot of questions about what Quincy, Corbin, and I will be doing with our day. She begged one last time for me to let her stay home and play with us. I think she is starting to realize that the world doesn't stop when she isn't home, or when she is asleep.

Little does she know, the world of every mother stops a little bit when her children aren't home.

I assured her that that if she could see the mountain of laundry that I plan to fold, the dishes I'm going to wash, the shower drain that will be unclogged (gag), diapers that I'll change, (or if only knew how grueling the phone calls to the Boise State Admissions office and Health Insurance company are going to be), she'd choose to go to school.

She told me, "it would be so nice if you could wait to have any fun at all until I get home."

Too bad every day can't be a Snow Day. Carry on.

It's a Dead Man's Party...

Oingo Boingo's got nothing on this guy.
I think these pajamas rank high among the best purchases I have ever made.

Show Me Your Funky Chicken,

Ok, I know I took this video sideways, but it is still worth watching.
Here, my nephew, Brock (6 1/2), performs a song his brothers learned at Cub Scout Day Camp.

He has no idea he is cursing.
And we didn't tell him.
Awesome.
I'm so sad the video didn't pick up the first two times he did it.
Hilarious.

What's that you saaaaay?

In case you were wondering

Corbin loves his homemade baby food!