Birthday for Tuba Time

Our sweet baby turned 14! Wowwy, such a big boy. Papa had to be gone at work all day so we headed to Nana's house for a bonfire which is Tuba's favorite thing! Tomorrow we will celebrate Tuba and Cam's birthdays as a family. Look at these cutie pies! Seems just like yesterday.

Tuba had his favorite breakfast with a candle. The kids and I all sang to him...and then Baby George yelled, "Happy Birthday, MINE!" True toddler behavior. He did it again about a million more times.
Enjoying the BBQ and bonfire. It's nice to have a summer birthday.

Weighing In

Baby George finally decided to be a Big Boy and swing with the other kids. Three of the kids had Dr. appointments last week. Tuba had his check-up at the neurologist and the wee ones had their well child visit. Here's the stats...

Tuba: 5' 1" (yes, that's 2" shy of moi!!) and 84 lbs. (not even close to my weight!)

BG: 34 in. and 29 lbs.

Sis: 35 in. and 26.4 lbs.

and the boys weighed in here at home...

Mr. P: 50 in. AND 50 lbs.

Busy Guy: 39.5 in. and 33 lbs.

Did you notice that Baby George is catching up quickly to Busy Guy?? Baby G. is wearing a size 8 shoe and Busy Guy is wearing a 9! And...their weight and height...pretty close. Baby George loves food and eats twice what Busy Guy eats in a day. No wonder he is catching up to his big brother.

As for my weight....well, it's on the downswing. I've returned to Weight Watchers and am doing well. The first week I lost 3 lbs. and am on week 2 now. I need to get these lbs. off for once and for all. Since my baby is two I cannot really blame him or the Gestational Diabetes anymore for my weight gain....darn it! I've been making time for the gym and eating LOTS of veggies. I feel good and know I can do this. Slow and steady is my plan. I have 15 lbs. to shed. Besides losing weight I want to tone up and give my heart some attention....oh, and get back to my closet full of size 6 pants.

More Room?

We've been here before...

I guess the bed wasn't crowded enough...so Shiloh got in on the snuggling too. Sheesh! Why do we have multiple beds? What a waste of space.

Super Helpers!

I get my groceries delivered from Safeway.com (life saving!!). The other day I forgot the groceries were coming. I had just gotten out of the shower and had the two wee ones in the tub when I heard Mr. P yelling to tell me the doorbell was ringing. I quickly ran to get dressed and had the boys open the door and start bringing in the groceries while I tended to the wet ones....I mean wee ones.

I came down and signed for the groceries and helped carry the rest inside and onto the counter. I went back upstairs to dress the wild ones....I mean wee ones.
When I came down I found these two Super Helpers putting the groceries away! WOW! They did such a great job. Perhaps it wasn't the anally orderly way I do it but they took the initiative and I was so proud of them!
These Super Helpers have been working hard all summer with their chores. They are both doing a great job. But, Busy Guy (only 4) is really doing a bang up job. He jumps right to it and goes down his list completing each task. What a worker bee! They get $2.00 at the end of the weeks for the chores. They also earn "extra" money....25 cents...for extra tasks. It is working great. The biggest help for me is they now put all of their folded laundry away. Yeah!

Tooth Fairy

That Tooth Fairy! She can't catch a break! Poor gal.

Mr. P has been losing teeth like crazy. The Tooth Fairy was right on it when the first couple teeth came out. Even then when the third came out...she was right on it. Now, about the time the fourth tooth popped...well, I think she headed out on vacation!

Remember from Mr. P's Birthday post...the Tooth Fairy forgot to come. I blamed his messy shelf and he quickly got to work cleaning it up. Viola! The next day there was his money. Great!

Well, this week the fifth tooth came out. Mr. P put the tooth in the little tooth box and the next morning....Nothing!!! What is happening to that Tooth Fairy? I think she is losing it. When Mr. P announced the second time that he had been forgotten....Well, I was thinking I needed to have a talk with that girl! Sheesh...what exactly is her problem?? Mr. P told me he thought that she probably couldn't get into his room to get his tooth because his door was shut all night. Okay, so I went with it. "Yes, I'm sure that is what happened" I agreed. Then, I quickly laid out $2.00 on the bathroom counter and sent Mr. P in to brush his teeth. He came out holding the money, "what's this?". I assured him that the money must have been left in there since she couldn't access his room. He seemed unsure...he did still have the tooth after all in his room. I guess he thinks it's a swap, tooth-money deal. Last night he announced that Meg (his sitter and our dear friend) told him when she was little that she put her tooth in a glass of water in the kitchen for the Tooth Fairy. When I asked him about the money he already received he said he would give it to me since it probably wasn't from the Tooth Fairy anyway...but probably just money we left laying around.

Ugh! This was becoming too much work! I gave in and let him put his tooth in the kitchen...in a glass of water. At bedtime I....I mean the Tooth Fairy left $2.00 on the counter and threw the tooth out. I could sleep easy knowing that was taken care of. I was the first one up this morning and I was making myself tea and noticed the money was gone.....GONE! I could hear Mr. P stirring and started to freak out. In a matter of seconds I mentally blamed Cam for the money being gone. I thought he must have not noticed the tooth glass on top of it??? I was instantly annoyed with his pilfering of the Tooth Fairy money. I ran like a mad woman with hair on fire to my purse and scrounged for another $2.00. Thankfully I had it. I ran back to the kitchen and put in under the glass. With a wipe of the brow I settled back down. In walks Mr. P, he points to the money and asks, "what's that?". I tell him it's the Tooth Fairy money and show him how the tooth is gone this time. He looks at me all concerned. "But I already took the money. I woke up last night around midnight and came to see if she had come yet" he tells me. WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!! I was dying!!!! I managed a little squeak and mumbled something about double his money for all the trouble.

Oh, brother. She is fired! She is retired. That tooth Fairy...she just can't catch a break!

The crazy days of summer

God's handmaiden Melissa entertaining Baby George with her sunglasses.

Busy, busy has been our household. I'm not sure why I always think summer is going to be relaxing and long lazy days. Ha! There are NO lazy days...just lots of activity and busy bees. It has been fun though.

Cam is half-way done with this last quarter. Yeah! The second half is going to be very stacked...and he'll only have 1 day off in 4 weeks. Ewwwwww! He will be driving lots and doing some crazy late night shifts at the ER for his clinical rotation. I am trying to get my game face on so I can make it through these last weeks. Eeeeeks! I am really missing my partner and drowning in chaos. Ugh!

I'm trying to be flexible....not so easy for me. I am adopting some new tactics to help me get through it all AND enjoy it too. For instance I have decided to only clean my kitchen once a day! Brilliant! After breakfast I just push aside the dishes...I don't even wipe the counter. :) Then for lunch I feed the kids outside on the deck. No clean-up there...I give them their lunch on a napkin and crumbs that fall on the deck...well, who cares?! At dinner time I unload and load the dishwasher while I cook and then after dinner I wipe it all up and leave the kitchen clean.

I'm trying to get out with the kids and have play dates. We've had some really fun days playing with our friends. Such a nice break from our own yard and routine. But, some days are just hard. Long and hard! I keep telling myself that having 3 toddlers (Tuba is basically a toddler in development) would be hard for anyone. Still some days I'm frustrated and short tempered and just plain tired.

On Thurs. I was having a VERY hard day. It started early in the day with toddler fights, whacking each other, high maintenance little girl fussing and clinging and yelling, just lots of crazy kid behavior. I was beyond tired, frustrated and lonely too. I tried to call my friend Melissa so we could chat about the latest book we both just finished. Of course (any mom knows this) the kids were awful while I was trying to talk. Shocker! Ha! I had to put the wee ones in their room so I could hear for two seconds. Eventually I just gave up and got off the phone.

I took the kids out front to ride bikes and play....and get some fresh air (for me). I saw a van pull into our drive-way and I thought "OH! Someones come to visit me!!!!" and out pops my friend! I was so surprised. She said she came as soon as her husband got home. She has three small boys of her own but she got in her car and came to my rescue! A true life saver! Not only that but she brought dinner for our family AND spent hours helping me with the kids until Cam came home.

I can't say how much I appreciated her help! I am thankful for her and I'm thankful to God because I know He sent her to me. God bless you Melissa!!

Smores

Around here summer is pretty short. We have to get out there and enjoy the nice weather. Our summer had a slow start and lots of extra cold weather. What better way to still get outside than to have a bonfire....and smores! Mmmmmm. Really, there is little I love more than sitting around a toasty fire, in a toasty coat, and eat a smore. Yum!

We went to my mom's house...and here I am wearing that toasty coat. It's my mom's bonfire coat (since it already has holes in it from sparks). I love it! It's like wearing a sleeping bag. Plus a nice glass of red wine. Beautiful!

Cam is the BEST marshmallow roaster on Earth. Seriously! It's why I married him....no, really it is!!!

My mom bought these HUGE marshmallows that tasted like a vanilla cloud. Yummo!

My nephews were there for the day too. Cousin fun!

Grandpa always builds a BIG fire...of course Tuba is happy to help out with that chore...and Busy Guy too.

And...a big nature walk to burn off the smores. Well, not for me. I prefer to watch. ;)

Birthday Time Again

It just can't be. My baby is 2! My sweet baby boy is getting so big. I'm glad he still likes to cuddle with me. Here he is two years ago. Beautiful sweet baby.Sis and I getting some time together. She had been home only 4 days when baby brother was born.

Proud big brothers. Busy Guy is missing from all these photos. Yes, he was at the hospital too...but he was just TOO busy to be in any photos. He was busy pushing all the buttons and alarms found in my room! No joke. He did make it into our family photo (shown on my blog side-bar).

And...the big boy today. Cake! Yummy. He would not look at the camera and would not smile. Stinker! He did however LOVE the raspberry and whip cream cake....and really loved the truck and trailer with motorcycle on top of the cake.

Happy Birthday to my sweet cuddly baby boy!

Silly Face

Someone is learning how to mug for the camera...

She knows how to make some silly faces...I don't know where she's learned it!

Goin' to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

We spent the day at the Zoo yesterday. It was our first day of really warm weather and it was nice to spend it outdoors. Tuba was sick and went to Nana's house to hang out with her. We were taking Baby George to the Zoo for his birthday which is coming up. He's almost 2!!!

We started our trip with a lovely picnic in the shade. Considering it was 60 degrees on the 4th of July we were thrilled to enjoy a day of 89 degrees! And...no that is not BG's Diet Coke. ;) He was happy with his apple juice since I never buy juice at home....too sticky! Blech!

We brought our little red wagon and even put the canopy on it for nice shade. Of course the wee ones rode in it for about 3 minutes. But, the BIG kids wanted to ride in it the whole time. I had to pull my mean mom voice out. After telling them about 100 times that they are too heavy to pull...that they are young...that they should enjoy running around...I lost my mind and yelled at them some ridiculous thing about not taking them to Disneyland since they can't walk around a zoo for 3 hours and Disneyland will be walking around for days on end. Nice! I'm such a good parent. :0

We found this wild animal to be the most entertaining. Isn't he cute?

The grounds at the zoo are as wonderful as the animals. The paths are full of trees and shrubs and it was so shady and cool. A perfect place to go on a hot day.Sis spent the day running, and jumping and running some more. She dug in the dirt and threw rocks...and ate some rocks. She was so dirty that she looked like we had drug her behind the wagon all day long. Her she is fast asleep on the way to dinner. Good thing I had a change of clothes for her. How do you like her hair? She ripped the "pretty" out and fell fast asleep. Those feet are yummy! After a quick nap she was refreshed and ready to go again...after I gave her a sponge bath with diaper wipes.

4th of July

We had such a great 4th of July weekend. Cam was home and it is my very favorite holiday. All the fun and not so much work. We spent the day with our friends and had delicious food and such a good time visiting and watching the kids play. The weather was the only complaint! Very cold...I wore my down coat...in July! And it rained a bit here and there. The solution was a big bonfire...and more food. :)

These beautiful pies made by my friend Teri were as good as they look!

The kids got LOTS of time to run and play and be very silly with their Godbrothers!

Lots of time to visit and snuggle babies around the fire.

Everyone enjoyed fireworks...especially when all the kids did sparklers. Man was it smoky!

Oh, what fun the kids had getting rides on the quad. Even I took the kids for a ride...and Mr. P was quick to let me know I wasn't as good as Dad! :0

Tuba of course hunkered down by the bonfire.

The wee ones had a great time swinging and even pushed each other.

A great shot of all the kids...minus one baby who had gone to bed.

7th Birthday Boy!

It was Mr. P's 7th Birthday. Oh, how the time has flown. Cam and I got all teary looking at the photos of when he was born. We had waited and prayed for so long for another child. His big brother Tuba was over the moon. He couldn't really understand the concept of a new baby coming but when he came up to the hospital to meet the baby...he was thrilled! Here's that bundle of joy 7 years ago. Precious!
Tuba's reaction to meeting his new brother.

He jumped right into my bed so he could hold his new brother. Tuba was 7 years old when Mr. P was born. He was so tiny though due to the Ketogenic diet he had been on for 3 years.

Cam with his two boys. Look how proud Tuba is!

And...here is Mr. P today! So big. The birthday started out at 5:30 am when he woke up and realized his VERY loose tooth was out...he quickly located it in the back of his cheek. We had the traditional pancake breakfast with birthday candles in the pancakes. Then we were off for a day of fun. Mr. P choose to go to 321 Bounce. It's a big building filled with bouncy houses and bouncy slides. So fun!

Next we came home for a quick lunch and put the wee ones down for a nap. Mr. P, Busy Guy and I went to the mall to buy me a new pair of sunglasses....courtesy of Sis and her expert sunglass arm removal technique. :0 The boys needed a haircut so we stopped in and did that too. Since it's summer I let Busy Guy get that mohawk he wanted so bad! Doesn't he look tough? We came home picked up the tribe and headed to the beach. They were having a Farmer's Market which we perused and bought fresh raspberries. Off to the park to play for a bit. The sun was out and the breeze was lovely.

The train tracks run along the edge of the park. These two characters were so entranced when the train rolled through. They sat down to watch it go by.

Next on the agenda....led by the birthday boy...was a ferry ride. We can walk on and go for a ride and then back.

After the ferry ride we went to dinner at Ivar's for some fish and chips. Then off to home and swimming lessons. After swimming we went home for cake and ice cream! What a day!!! It was so much fun. I was so tired!

So tired that this morning I woke up to hear, "Mom, the tooth fairy forgot to come". Oh!!! Whoops...that tooth fairy. I told Mr. P that his shelf (where he put the tooth) was so messy she probably couldn't find it. LOL. He is cleaning the shelf today. ;)