Road Trip Part #2

After Seeing Sister #3 we headed a few hours away to visit Sister #2 and her fam.

The Kids at Play:

These two are about 7 mos apart and had so much fun/caused entertainment for all.

Little C with his Cousin J

They spent many hours at the park digging out their "mote".

Lou with Cousin K.

Little C and his older cousins made an air gun shooting range in the backyard.

Giving us an example of how it's done.

Little C and Cousin H.

Softball game:

Cousin DV batting at her softball game. She was also the pitcher for her team and struck a few people out.!

Sister #2, myself, and Ruckus - the doting fans.

The Baby likes the game but not as much as his do-nut.

Shooting Range:
(one of the things on my "before I turn 30 bucket list" is to learn how to shoot a gun. My Sister and her spouse were so awesome to help me out with this endeavor - plus so much fun to hang out with - thanks guys!)

Sister #2 and I preparing for some shooting practice. Isn't she cool? :)

What a fun date! Love that guy!

The kind of happy looking host and smiling hostess:)

Taping up the target.

Sister #2 was born with an excellent shot... me on the other hand have a bit of practicing to do.

Attempting to load a gun.

The Beloved tearing up the target.

Loving it. 

You go girl!

The Men.

For your entertainment:

The Zoo:

Car Ride to Zoo - it s car full!

Cute Cousins.

Ahhhh.....

Staring down at the fun turtles below.

Lou's 7 year old cousin being kind enough to hold his hand. :) what a sweetie.

They're SO Tough.

Car Ride home - Ruckus with a Wipe on his head. :)

Sister #2,

You are a delight! Thank you for letting us hang out with you and your cute, cute family.

We love you and miss you already!

Road Trip

Our dependable van has carried us all over the country and finally arrived at the 100,000 mile mark.

 Spring Break 2012 took us to AZ to first spend time with Sister #3 and her family-

she's the sister who's closest to me in age and taught me all the bad things I know. (Such a joke.)  I love her.
The Girls:

After viewing the Hunger Games movie. mostly LOVED it. 

After church taking advantage of a few photo opportunity moments.

We're Pals.

 Looking back, it probably wasn't my best picture.
Gross. A little gross.

The Boys:

Hmmmm.... I guess...
They also love each other. :)

These two were friends long before Sister #3 and I were in the picture.
They enjoyed their male bonding time.

The Kids:

Dressing up with cousin D

Lou is enjoying a ring pop he was rewarded with after being good in church.
Cute cousins!

The babies adore one another. 

Me with Lou and Baby A.

Couldn't squeeze my sister's kids tight enough.
 (Notice Lou in the background pouting because he couldn't be in the picture :(

The Beloved loving on Baby A.

Thanks Dear for traveling those long, grueling hours in the car with me to see my fam. I love you. 

Why must there always be things in my nose? 

Thanks "R" Family for your awesome hospitality.

I love you sister. 

Oh Child....

that I love - you drive me Coo Coo!

Ruckus' latest mischievous act involved a left out beard trimmer:

I was watching some of my friend's children that day and was so relieved that he didn't shave the little girls or her brother's heads as well that his punishment wasn't as severe as it otherwise would have been. He's a lucky fellow.

The Beloved and I decided to have Ruckus sport a Mohawk, but then were reminded that children who have this particular hairdo act like the Mohawk, so it will soon be removed. 

Oh my little Ruckus, what shall we do with you?

Aquarium

Boys gleefully trying to pet a shark...
except for Little C who had just jumped back in surprise after a shark swam toward him a little too quickly. :)

Little C brought along Flat Stanley on this adventure so he can mail him back to a friend in IL.

Lou petting a baby shark.

While trying to pet a shark Ruckus proclaimed, "Mom, I want to wash  my face in this!"
After receiving a disappointing "No" he somehow proceeded to get drenched anyway.

Discovering the clams.

Genetics -

Strikes again.

We love those cute big toes! - and the person they belong too!

The Happenings...

Update on the Boys -

Weekend Camp-out on the Floor.
They argue during the day but cuddle in the night.

Little C is getting so tall and at 9 yrs old is about the same height as some of the 5th graders in our neighborhood. Crazy. His feet are competitive in size to mine which is grand when I am out of athletic socks and can snag some of his.... I think. It's a convenient grateful feeling/gee I hoped I used enough bleach on these puppies (cringe).
He's our early riser and has started making me breakfast toast a couple times a week, serving me in bed. :)
I love listening to Little C's vocabulary as of late. The adjectives he squeezes in here and there are so entertaining to my ears. He described someone the other day as being a sly, little kiddo.
Cute. 

If the Baby is rolling on the ground you can guarantee Ruckus is also.

Ruckus loves, loves, loves the Baby. I mean - CAN'T GET ENOUGH.

If I set the Baby on the floor for a moment Ruckus has a sensor going off and will be there immediately.

The other day I moved the Baby to a different location and Ruckus freaked out,

"Where'd he go? Why'd you take him?"

(then looking down, appearing so sad)

"He's my best friend".

The Baby returns Ruckus' love but with a little more panic in his eyes,

"Mom, stay close. Please stay close. He's playing steam roller with me again and there's nothing I can do about it."

Can you believe our baby is 9 1/2 months old? Gosh, time goes by too fast. He's sitting up, rolling everywhere, and eating anything and everything you put in his mouth. His personality = perfect little sweetheart and has the most kissable cheeks alive.

Taking advantage of the perfect gaming opportunity.

The above picture is SO Lou. He eats, drinks, sleeps technology. If there is a DS, phone, tablet, anything game worthy sitting about he will grab it without second thought.

Anything Lou does he puts his whole self into. If he decides it is time to draw he'll sit at the table for about an hour drawing picture after picture or practice writing everyone in the family's name over and over again. He thought giving valentines away on Valentine's Day was so amazing that he's been making them for me everyday since.

Little C, Lou, Ruckus, the Baby -

I so enjoy being your mother.

Love you guys!  

We Scored a 5

So, it has been a typical sabbath day thus far -

twenty minutes late for 9:00 church,

Ruckus gargled his chocolate milk during sacrament meeting, let it slowly drizzle out of his mouth onto the floor,

then proceeded to clean it up with the baby's blanket,

I made note to self never to bring chocolate milk to church again,
Ruckus proudly announced that he had swallowed his gum,

Lou head butted Ruckus gently in the stomach when he got too close to his dragon drawing...

yep, that about sums it up.

The good life. 

The thing is, I have really good kids.

Really fun, kind, hilarious, good kids -

who enjoy killing each other in public.

Such a shame.

But it is okay.

We work on it...

 EVERYDAY.

I know that in five years when Ruckus is seven he will sit there as reverently as Little C does now. Lou will comprehend that Ruckus just thinks what Lou is drawing is cool, he is admiring it, and he will be to the point of understanding that head butting, though as soft as it may be, is completely inappropriate.
I rate sacrament meeting today as a 5;
a little stressful but manageable.
7 or higher is desirable but it's definitely better then the 2 we scored during a nephews baptism a month ago.
Besides those few incidents church was lovely. My aunt and cousins joined us (or maybe we joined them since we were late) and it was delightful to look down the row and see their wonderful faces. That added 2 points to the rating. 
My appearance docked us back down to five. 
When my babies turn about 6 months old my face breaks out every other day and my hair begins to fall out/break off, leaving little shorts hairs all around my face and surrounding the part in my hair. Plus, this time around if I don't use a clarifying shampoo every day I look like a grease bomb. Today, unless we wanted to be 40 minutes late for church, time didn't allow for this mop to get washed.
The disgustingness of it all continues until I stop nursing.
So since my baby turned six months four months ago - I'll just let you know that I am one hot 29 year old babe experiencing puberty once again.
Loving it.

In the Middle of the Night -

Check out what The Beloved does during the middle of the night...

http://pattonartist.blogspot.com/

Don't be afraid, it's only homework... but there is a naked bum... sweet.

 Almost.

Amidst the nakedness of it all, he is still quite the talented fellow.

Good work Dear! You're incredible!