It Begins With A Seed....

I wanted to write this post about our new garden. After looking at the pictures, the focus quickly shifted south.

Clint and I have discussed planting a garden for a while now and last weekend he and the little boys decided to do it.  With the help of Ethan as the seed dropper guy, and Jett in the cheering section, the process was smooth and precise.  Well, mostly.  I think what they forgot to tell me is they were going to use this "gardening time" to have a secret club meeting.  You know, the "let your butt-crack fall out of your pants" club.

I realize the picture was small enough, but I didn't want to take any chances.
I've carefully placed a star on an area of "over-exposure".

I had to place another tiny star on a smaller area.
(See Ethan)
Notice the onlooker in the grass.

He's in deep thought about whether he's ready to man up and join the club.

This is probably one last question from the club President
to make sure he knows what he's getting into.

There it is!  Moons over My-Hammy!
If mom didn't have my damn shirt snapped at the crotch....
He still gets a tiny star for fearlessness!

And now he looks like he's ready to high tail it outta there!

Wait.... I think he's coming to destroy the film!

Dad showing Ethan where to drop the seeds.

Haha!  Ok, they really were planting some great stuff in our back yard and I can't wait for my garden to start sprouting!  I just had a good time making fun of a few wardrobe malfunctions.

Frames of Life....

First thing's first:  Scroll to the bottom of the page and pause the music player.  Don't mute your speakers, just press pause.  Don't ask why, just do it.  Oh, and right next to the play button on each frame, make sure the little speaker doesn't have a red "x".  If so, click it and you can turn the volume up on each one.

Now, because most of you are far away, and not able to see the kids in live action, I thought I'd make a post with a few little videos.  (See!  That's why!)  They're not Oscar worthy, and most of them have my annoying voice right above the microphone.  Sorry.  But, in the big picture of life, it will be these little moments we'll look back on and be grateful we caught them on film.  Get comfy, settle in, and pop some popcorn, 'cause here we go.....

Welcome to my wild ride!

The kids love having a new puppet in the house.  Now that Jett doesn't just lay around cross-eyed and drooling, they enjoy teaching him new, naughty side-show tricks.  He gets away with it because he's so stinkin' cute.

This next one is a sneak peek at a typical sit down for dinner.  Always a good time here...Oh, and don't mind how many times I said, "hell".  The kids laugh when I do.  It's their fault.  They make me swear.

Ok, it probably seemed like overkill on the videos but the great thing is, you can press pause or stop and skip right over them.  Sadly, some of you may not have thought of that.  Good thing I put the suggestion at the end.  Oopsy for you....hee hee.  Good night!

Babysitting??....

I just had a few random things to share.  My Jett is getting so big.  His personality is stunning, he's funny, he's sweet, and I'm starting to learn, he's creative.  I think he's going to have the artistic bug.  Here he is displaying his artwork on his favorite canvas....

It's a little hard to see but he has marker on the back of his chubby hand.
It also looks like he's made himself a snazzy green goatee.

An artist at work.  Look at the deep concentration.
He's really working on a masterpiece!

Now, I could end it there, but then you wouldn't see just how far he likes to take things.  He really knows how to make a finish.

Here he is, head to toe in green marker.

Wow.  I should give my sitter a raise.  She's good.

GOAAAAAALLLL!!....

Soccer season is officially upon us.  Haiden is playing for the 5th year in a row and now we've added a new player to the roster.  Please welcome our starting squirt.....ETHAN...JAMES.....SMIIIIITH!!!  Yes, that's right.  He's now old enough to don shin guards and cleats.  He was so excited to start playing; because according to him, it's cool because Haiden does it.  I think that's probably just the start of a lot of "cool" things to come.  Great.

Anyway, here a some pictures from his first game.  Now, I don't have alot of "game stats".  That would mean something else would have to happen, other than the ball being kicked out of bounds every 3.8 seconds.  So, without further adieu, here he his.  In his soccer debut....EJS #13!  (And sometimes #5.  It just depends on which jersey he wears.)

It was a cold and windy day.
The Michelin Man makes his soccer debut!!

He ran quite well, considering all the layers he had on.

Being silly for the camera.

Probably telling his coach what to do.
For some reason, he thinks he knows quite a bit about soccer.
In reality, he knows you're supposed to kick the ball.
That's it.

Speaking of kicking.....here he is!

Because the team is so small, they actually play each other.
At half time, because they were short a player, Ethan got to "switch" to the red team.

Somewhere in the pack...running.

The coach, basically teaching the game as they play.

His number one fan.
Notice the extreme concentration on the "bench".

Mr. Jokey-Pants, showing off for the camera.

He's behind the head of the kid sitting down.

Getting in the middle of the action.

I laughed, I cried, I couldn't wait for the first play to be over.  Each quarter is 5 min., they don't actually have a goalie, and halftime is 10 min; unless someone has to take a potty break.  Each week is more fun to watch than the last.  Stay tuned...I've always got more pictures!

While Dad's Away...

So, many of you may recall back in March (I know, get off my back) when Clint went out to visit his family in Washington.  Not only did he get to see his daughter and family, but he was also invited by his dad to the UFC event held at Key Arena in Seattle!  I'm so jealous!  Tito Ortiz, (Clint's secret dream-BFF) was supposed to fight that night but because of an injury, or surgery or something, he wasn't able to fight.  I'm going to end with that as I'm sure many of you really don't want the details of Fight Night.  If you do, google it.  :)
Here we are at the airport saying goodbye to daddy.  Oh wait, it's just me.  Oh well.

If you look in the reflection of the van window, you can see his arm around me.
I think he likes me!

So, with The Enforcer, I mean, Dad gone, I figured it was time to let our hair down...Party time!!  The whole week prior was Spring Break for the kids and we really didn't do anything so I felt like this was a great opportunity to not only take them out, but to do something we've never done before.  There's a lot of pictures so get ready....

After leaving the airport, I took the kids to the Children's Museum in Denver.  I didn't spend nearly what I thought it would be for admission and the kids had a BLAST!!  We were there for about 3 hours (well beyond what Clint would've been able to stand) and even managed to skip the gift shop afterward!  It (usually) never fails.  I can't even take these kids to a gas station bathroom in Elksnout, Idaho without one of them asking me to buy them something.  This was a record breaking day!
Right when you walk in, they have a real fire truck on display, with all the bells and whistles, for the kids to climb on.

Hailey and Jett in the cab.

Ethan controlling the fire hose.

"Did he just say something?"

Jett's gotta get in on the action.

Haiden was a little too big for the coat.  I didn't say he didn't try.
I just made him take it off.

Ethan to the rescue!!

The 9-1-1 call center....
Teaches kids when to dial 911 and how to answer the operator's questions.

Ethan thought he was really on the phone with someone, even though we were only role playing.  He was scrambling to think of what to say.  He got some much needed coaching from Haiden.

The next room we ventured into was every kids dream.  It was a mini workshop with real tools and lots of different recycled items like; milk cartons, plastic containers, granola bar boxes, paper towel tubes, toilet paper tubes, and other such clean materials.  In this room you could build a very special toy made from the recycled material, like a train, a snowmobile, a lunchbox, and a few other things I've probably blocked from my memory.  Ethan's first choice was a level 3/3; the hardest, most tedious, and most time consuming project.  My response was, "Hell, no.  Pick again."  After much discussion, we opted for the tractor, which was supposedly a 1/3.

There aren't a whole lot of pictures because all you'd see would be different angles of me sweating and swearing; over 40 minutes worth, trying to put together some piece of crap tractor, made out of recycled crap.  Please feel free to ask me if he plays with this thing....

He would not stop bugging me about using the stupid saw.

This just looks like a disaster waiting to happen...

Entertaining himself....clear from mommy's path.

This was as much interest as he had....
They were ripped off of his face milli-seconds after this shot.

Our next stop was the Bubble Room and it was pretty cool.  There were tables set up all over with different stations for making bubbles.  The room stunk of dish soap and, if you weren't careful, you could slide across the floor faster than Dorothy Hamill at the 1976 Olympics.

Ignore the Albino boy.
Just look at the cool bubbles in the background.

Bubbles, bubbles everywhere.

The curse of the soap...
Here's Jett trying to stick his landing from the Triple Axle.

He was taste testing the funnel...then decided to pop everyones fun.

It was a standing snowman....until it started tipping.

This one made a giant bubble cube you could stand inside.

Ethan wasn't watching the bubble.....He's mean-muggin'.
Someones little bratty child kept popping it.
I told him to go find his mother.....quickly.

 These last one's from the bubble room are pretty cool.  The kids each got a bubble maker thingy (that's the technical name) and tried to make giant bubble-tubes at the same time.  They turned out pretty good!

You can see all three of their "bubble tubes".

I took this right as it popped on his head.
Notice the falling bubble goo.

Hailey's got one as tall as she is.

Ethan looks so proud.
Haiden just looks shocked.  As usual.

OK, moving on....the next stop was like walking onto the set of some animated film.  It was a giant wooded forest; but a squishy kid-friendly version.  There was a big Oak Tree the kids could climb on and it had a little tunnel system underneath it so the kids could crawl all around.

Jett figured out the petals turned.

And now he just spotted the tunnel system.

A little blurry but you get it...all the kids in the tunnel.

Hailey crawling after an escaping Jett.

I have no idea what this is supposed to be....
Maybe some kind of habitat...whatever it is, Ethan's standing in it.

Jett found the crabs and frogs.



The top of the big tree.

 Now, these next pictures are quite humerus.  They had these little animal outfits the kids could put on to look like little woodland critters.  I know what you're thinking, "Eww, you let the kids put those on??  What about lice and dirtiness??!"  I had the same thought.  And then it went away, and I got the kids set up for a photo shoot.

Ethan as cute Mr. Squirrel with his giant acorn.

Looking more like a rabid squirrel without a nut!

Getting little fat man all suited up.

You can't tell me this isn't cute!

Still enjoying the crabs and frogs....
although now he looks like he's looking at a menu.

He found a puzzle piece to bite. 
Him and every other kid who's ever gone in there.
Mmmmmmm.

Back to those cute little flowers.

Ethan from behind.  What a cute little tail!

This is his "plotting" face.
I'm fairly certain something horrific happened moments after I took this.

Now, just when you thought this post couldn't get any better, or longer, I must treat you with a video clip of these little furry outfits.

A few comments I'd like to make in reference to said video:  First of all, please notice in the background of the video, our red and black stroller.  In the seat of the stroller you'll find 1 piece of crap tractor.  The big white discs you see are the "wheels" made from some crappy plastic container lids.  Have I mentioned what a piece of crap it is?
Moving on, if the video seems a little long, get over it.  You just watched a small snippet of my 3 hour adventure.  I felt like I was in the middle of a natural disaster.  People, little people, were running and screaming everywhere, cutting me off, and tripping in front of me.  (What?!  My foot slipped.)  In no section of this entire facility did anyone exercise their use of an "indoor voice".

The last section of the museum was rather calming.  It was a special area set up for little ones, 4 and younger.  I was so thankful we hit it last!  The last of the pictures was really just me trying to capture all of our adventures before:  A.) I ran out of battery,  B.) I ran out of memory card space, or C.) they kicked us out; which I truly expected at some point.  (Most likely earlier in the day during shop class when I blurted out a few expletives I was certain the little Amish girl next to me had never heard.)

Crawling through the log tunnel.

I need a time-out spot like this at home.

He's reelin' it in....

He's got a big one on the line!

Such a big boy!

Handsome big brother.

Big sissy helping him down the slide.
I think he has the greatest big sister ever!



Jett:  I'm giving her all she's got, Captain!
Ethan:  All she's got isn't good enough!

And there you have it!  Our amazing adventure to the Children's Museum in Denver.  I'm tired just writing about it.  It's no wonder it took me a month to post it!  If you enjoyed this.....stay tuned!  We're just getting into soccer season!

Not sure what to expect?  Rent the movie Kicking & Screaming.  It's my life every Saturday morning, starting at 10 am.