"Mooshtash"

At the beginning of the week, Darrin decided to shave off his goatee (is that how you spell that???) aka facial hair. Well, evidently Sawyer has never seen him 'clean-cut', or she just doesn't remember it. She had a complete meltdown when she saw him for the first time with no hair. She wouldn't go to him or even look at him. She just kept saying, "Daddy's face not wite, it's not wite." Eventhough I tried to convince her that it would be grown back in by tomorrow :-), she still had a real problem with it.
So today, for some reason, the whole facial hair thing came up again. This is her side of the conversation:

Sawyer:
You mommy, you no have no mooshtash
Bama no have no mooshtash
Button not have no mooshtash
Papa has mooshtash
Poto (Porter) no have no mooshtash
Tucko (Tucker) no have no mooshtash
Daddy no have no mooshtash....not wite (right) (as she shakes her head)

By the looks of things, the 'mooshstash' is back. And it only took 3 days:-)

Mine, all mine.....

Is this really my child? This baby is never fussy ....#1 & #2 - lots of fussy going on

This baby loves his baby food ....#1 & #2 - two bites, done.

This baby has gone through 2 different sizes of binkies ....#1 & #2 - wouldn't even touch them

This baby would rather sit/ lie down and be entertained, smiling and laughing, than roll over ....#1 & #2 were rolling over at four & five months

This baby had his first tooth pop through today at 6 & 1/2 months ....#1 & #2 - no teeth until their first birthdays

But.....there's no mistaking those legs. Yep, he's mine, all mine:-)

Memorial Day...and our love of animals:-)

So, today my parents came by to see the kids. They hadn't seen them in a week because of course, our wild wild west adventure. They always seem to go through a sort of withdrawal when separated from these 3 crazy monkeys. Anyway, we had a nice Memorial Day lunch of hot dogs, baked beans, corn on the cob, and of course mac & cheese. And of course, when it came time for them to leave Sawyer begged to go home with them, Tucker gladly shuffled her out the door, and there was just me, Darrin, and the boys. Later on, I went to the basement and decided to check my email while down there. Mind you, our downstairs computer is in the storage room -- an unfinished, concrete walled, full of storage bins, dungeon. So I'm down there awhile and eventually Tucker comes down to see what I'm doing. I kind of am not paying attention to him (as I'm glued to facebook) and pretty soon I hear him say, "look mom, a rat".

OK, a few months ago I noticed a mouse in the house. We debated the cat thing but eventually decided it just wasn't the right time yet so Darrin went out and bought a ton of traps. I, being the animal lover that I am, begged Darrin to only get the humane kind. I soooo did not want to hear a 'SNAP' while home during the day with the kids and I just can't handle the whole idea of the 'process' of the traditional mouse trap. Well, I'm here to tell you that those 'humane' traps are for the birds and TOTALLY don't work. We never caught anything and I just convinced myself that the mice were smart little buggers, saw the traps, and left on their own doing. Yeah, right! One evening, I'm in Tucker's room and I catch a glimpse of one going into the vent...blaaahhhh....OK, this was it -- time for the big guns -- the dreadful 'snapper'. I told Darrin to go to the store and just get the ones that kill...yes, these were my exact words. All of my humane, warm & fuzzy, "ohhh, poor little thing" feelings were GONE, GONE, GONE! I had seen a mouse in MY son's room and this was completely and totally unacceptable!

So yes, let's get back to this evening and the storage room...I hear the word 'rat' come out of Tuck's mouth, I turn my head and see him holding the 'snap' trap with yes, you guessed it, a dead, dangling mouse hanging from it! Again, blaaaaahhhhhh....!!!! "PUT IT DOWN AND GO WASH YOUR HANDS IMMEDIATELY!!!" [yes, both of you who read this blog, you probably remember Easter weekend...the oppossum episode....here we go again] So Darrin comes downstairs, takes the occupied trap, and disposes of it in the trash, this time in the outside trash.

Later on, the four of us decide to go get something to eat and after, got ice cream. We're sitting there enjoying our Cold Stone and

Tucker says, "Mom, I'm really sad for all the dead animals."

Me: "I know, me too."

Tucker: "I'm sad because they don't get to see their mom and dad and grandma and grandpa and sister and brother...."

Me: "I know, but it's ok because we'll all meet up again someday in heaven. Just like that little mouse [which is why I know is the reason this whole conversation started], he's in little mouse heaven right now" [yes, I know, I sound ridiculous, but come on....he's such a lover of animals]

Tucker: "No he's not, he's in the trash."

OOOOKKKK....so much for sparing the feelings of a little 4 year old boy. I guess he just says it and sees it the way it is:-)

a trip out west

The kids and I are back from the wild wild west/ Grandma & Grandpa Bucholtz's house. Last weekend Darrin's nephew, Trevor graduated from high school and this weekend (yesterday), Darrin's nephew, Derek got married. Everything happened in the same town....6 long hours away...so I decided a long time ago that since Darrin still had school to attend to, the kids and I would stay the week in St. Francis. We had a great time and I ABSOLUTELY love getting the kids out on the farm. We don't see too many tractors, never-ending dirt roads to ride bikes, or farm animals in the 'big city'....although, I'm still thinking about that pet chicken, Esther:-)... I love that my children will always know and love such a different atmosphere than what they are used to living in. It will be nice to get back to routine but I am so so so thankful for the family that I married into and we will miss them until we get to see them again. We were there a week and they (Grandma & Grandpa) got to witness every emotional variation of a 2 (soon to be 3) year old. For that alone, they deserve an all expense paid vacation to the destination of their choice....far, far away from toddlers:-)

Thank the Good Lord above for Grandparents!!!! We LOVE you 'Bama' and 'Papa' Bucholtz:-)

And thank you for the best time ever!!!

The antique fire truck at the fire station. Uncle Doug is a volunteer fireman...we got special privileges:-)

Water gun fights

Cooking s'mores on Grandma's firepit

Porter hangin' out by the fire

Caught a baby toad in the flower garden....and....unfortunately, they DIDN'T get to bring him home

The cutest ring bearer and flower girl EVER!

Yes, there were live goldfish at the reception

Cuttin' a rug at the dance

So stinkin' sweet...

Wordless Wednesday

Ladies Man

While making lunch today, Tucker and I had a very interesting conversation. He's growing up wayyyy toooo fast.

Tucker: "So Mom, next year I get to go to regular school with Olivea (neighbor girl...she's in a previous post) and we get to hang out, right?"

Me: "Well Tuck, you actually have 1 more year of preschool then you get to go to regular school."

Tucker: "But Mom, she's my girlfriend [with a BIG grin on his face]"

Me: "[with a WHAT??? look on my face] oookkkk, she's a girl that's your friend...yeah, there are lots of girls that are your friends."

Tucker: "Yeah Mom, girls really like me."

Me: "Yes, I know [arrggg]"

Tucker: "Yeah, they like me 'cause I can spell lots of words [:-)]"

Me: "That's EXACTLY right!"

Motherhood

I got a Mother's Day card in the mail yesterday from my friend (Thanks Jen:-) It read:

"Motherhood"

a summary

(Inside)

Holy Crap!
It's Hard.

The End

I laughed so hard because it's sooooo true. Anyone who is a mom understands this. But....no matter how hard or rough or crazy it gets, I would never ever ever trade my life in for something different. I just wish it would slow down. I got to thinking this morning (after my already-made-by-my-loving-husband breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast next to my daisies that my kiddos picked out for me...yes, they are the ones pictured) about how lucky I am and how this is my very first Mother's Day where my family is complete. Little Porter man made our family whole when he joined us back in November and life is just perfect.

Dear Tucker,

I hope that you never lose your sense of adventure and your love of all things living. I love that you would rather be outside fishing, exploring, inventing, playing in the mud, playing with creepy crawly things, and just plain loving nature than inside with a video game or tv. I love that you are emotional like me when it comes to animals and loved ones. You are my first born and you changed my whole life the day you came into it.

Dear Sawyer,

You are my independent girl and I LOVE it! You are strong and secure but you still have that sensitive sweet female side that makes everyone fall in love with you the second they meet you. I love that you would rather wear blue jeans and a t-shirt anyday as compared to a dress and bows. I love that you are an outdoor lover like your brother and one day the two of you will realize just how much alike you are and become best buds. You are my only daughter and I am so so happy that you are:-) God gave us the perfect girl.

Dear Porter,

You are 6 months old today! and I can't even remember what our family was like before you came along. You complete us:-) I love your easy-going baby attitude. Nothing seems to really bother you. You are so patient and I hope you hold onto this along with your sweet sweet little personality:-) You have a smile that lights up the room. I may be having the worst day yelling and screaming at your siblings, I look at your little round face as I'm holding you in my arms and your big, gummy, slobbery smile melts my heart and reminds me that life is so so good. "Be happy, Mom, we're the coolest kids ever!", you seem to say:-)...I can't help but smile back and TOTALLY agree with you:-)

I do have THE COOLEST KIDS EVER and I'm so happy that I get to be their mom. So even though motherhood is hard, I wouldn't trade in this adventure for anything:-)

The End

Esther....????

Tucker: "Hey, ya 'member that chicken we used to have?"

Me: "Huh???....what are you talking about? We've never had a chicken."

Tucker: "Ya 'member? His name was Esther."

After this tantalizing conversation, he went back about his business. I guess he just had to throw that out there:-) Makes me kind of want to get a pet chicken and name him Esther:-)

Wordless Wednesday

Parents of the Year

So, Darrin brings home ice cream cones last night. In my opinion the timing couldn't have been better. Sawyer was in the middle of her bath time. Let's just kill 2 birds with 1 stone, right???:-)
(She's going to hate me for posting this picture someday....oh well....)