All Apologies

I would like to personally apologize to Brandon, my most favorite husband to my sister Beka. When I posted the foohlar links on my sidebar months ago, I somehow forgot his. I am so terribly sorry. This was not intentional. It was entirely accidental. I frequent your blog, I like your blog, I did not mean anything by it.
If you somehow did not notice, forget I said anything.
Because it's always been there.
I swear.

Perfect

I asked the doctor at Cannon's well child about this funny little thing my sweet boy does. You see, he feels the intense desire to be perfect, all the time, in everything he tries. And if perhaps he has a hard time with something, well, he gets a tad upset.

Like the first week of school, when the class was practicing writing their alphabet.

Only he's never tried to write the alphabet before.

And so it was hard.

And he was upset.

And his teacher tried to calm him down.

But he was inconsolable.

And angry.

And frustrated.

And when I picked him up from school that day he burst into tears.

And he said someone was mean to him.

And so I got angry.

And I asked the teacher.

And she said no one was mean to him.

But she said you were sad about the alphabet.

And when we got home you pulled the paper out of your bag.

And showed me it.

And said "THIS is why I'm sad!"

So I helped you finish the paper.

And you felt better.

And you went off to play.

But I worried about you.

Because you think you need to be perfect.

And you don't realize you already are.

Here you are doing your homework.

You are very intense when you color.

It bothers you that you color outside the lines. Because you want your work to be perfect. I blame your father. Stupid Suma Cum Laude graduate.

See this little boy? It is impossible not to love every little thing about him. Impossible. Maybe it's because he was the baby for 4 years, maybe it's because he's sweet and cuddly, maybe it's because of the way he looks at you with those big browns, I'm not sure. I do know he brings so much joy to our lives. And because I forgot to give him his own little 5th birthday post, I am so sorry.

Bloodbath

This is my sweet boy, just an hour after he donated some of his precious blood to the pflebotomist. He has been scarred for life. Seriously for life. Here is a list of things he said before the fact:

• Where are we going Mom?
• Is this doctor for you or for me or for Emme?
• I want to get ice cream after we're done.
• Why is that little girl crying?
• What are they doing to Emme?
• What's going to feel like a bee sting?

Here is a list of some of the things he said after the fact:

• MY ARM!!! IT HURTS SO BAD!!
• AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT! (As he tried to rip the needle out of his arm and out of the hands of the tech)
• I DON'T EVER WANT TO GO THERE AGAIN!! (Loud enough for the entire office to hear)
• I CAN'T MOVE MY ARM!!
• I CAN'T HOLD MY ICEE!
• I CAN'T GO TO SCHOOL NOW!!
• OH NO, I CAN'T PLAY GAME CUBE NOW!!
• MY ARM MY ARM MY ARM!

This continued for an hour and a half. No one was allowed to touch his arm, not even to look at it. And he really freaked out when Emme took off her arm bandaid. I think he thought blood was going to come squirting out everywhere. That kid. It was so sad and pathetic, that it was quite funny. Poor poor Cannon.

Sick Sicker and Sickest

So sorry about the lack of posts.
We've all been sick.
Really sick.
And we can't seem to shake it.
As we speak, I head off to the doc again.
Another pink eye, possibly sinus infection.
And the prof's coming home with Strep.
Here's to hoping it leaves us soon.

In the meantime, my dearest did laundry this past week. For the first time ever, he put my 9 year old sons jeans in my pile. That's right, he thinks that my 9 year old skinny as all get out boy child and I are the same size. I wanted to jump his bones right then. He deserves it.

The Case of the Missing Trash Can, or Where the Heck Am I Going to Put All This Garbage?

Friday night, approximately 5pm, I go to take the trash out.
We have one of those side doors in our garage, you know, one of those doors that you pay a ridiculous amount for from the builder just so you don't have to walk around your house to take out the trash. I opened said door and there was no trash can. Ahh, professor did you forget to bring it in from Thursdays pick-up? No problem, I just put it in the mini trash can we keep in the garage for fast food wrappers. What, you don't have a place you put your QT 44 oz cups and Sonic ice cream cups so no one knows when you sneak a pick me up? You should. Besides, I wasn't going to walk all the way out front to bring in the can. That's someone else's job.
Saturday, approximately 4pm, I go to take the trash out.
By the way, isn't this HIS job? But I digress.
Since the mini trash can is full, I figure I'll open the garage door and, yes, pull the can in. Again, Isn't this HIS job? Everyone knows all trash duties are done by the men, right? Yeah, right. I'm not complaining, he does laundry. It's an equal trade.
Anyways, there's no trash can by the curb. He must've pulled it in and I didn't realize it. So I open the aforementioned very expensive side door. Umm, no trash can there either. Tired of carrying the bag of trash around, I pile it on top of the already overflowing mini trash can and head inside.
"Hey, do you know where the trash can is?" I ask.
"On the side of the house." He says.
"No it's not, and it's not out front either," I say.
We look at each other. Did someone steal our trash can? Who would do such a thing? Don't they know pretty soon we are going to be swimming in our own refuse? Oh no, panic starts to set in.
I bet it was punk teenagers! Or the neighbors looking for an extra! Maybe the punk teenagers stole theirs and so they stole ours and now we have to go steal someone elses! But I don't want to steal someone's trash can! I want my trash can! What are we going to do?!
Sunday, approximately 12pm. I now have to find a place for the trash.
Professor notices the neighbors across the street have TWO trashcans, one in front, one right behind the fence. Are you kidding? They took our can and are trying to hide it from us! And we just saw them at church!
I call, "Hey, I have a funny question to ask," I say.
"I have a funny answer," he says.
"We are missing our trash can," I say.
"So it's YOUR trash can," he says, laughing.
Apparently, during the very windy dust storm Thursday night, our trash can got blown away. And landed in his yard. He thought it was his, so he put it away. A day later he noticed that he already had one behind the fence. Hmmmm. Interesting.
I met him out front to retrieve my can.
"Sorry about the fast food wrappers in it," he says.
"Hey, I completely understand," I say.

Milkshakes and Bottomless French Fries

We love Red Robin.

The food is totally not healthy, but we're okay with that.

Because we aren't always totally healthy type people.

It's fun to go there for birthdays because they sing really loud and always hand out a super duper yummy sundae. Here is Emme enjoying her chocolate sundae. And of course Chance is hamming it up, never missing a photo op, that kid.

Did I forget to mention that we always start our dinner with milkshakes when we attend the Red Robin? You know it's going to be a good dinner when you start and end it with ice cream.
Cannon always gets chocolate. Always. He takes after his grandpa foohlar, that one.
See how happy she is? Don't tell everyone but this little girl gets a little ice cream too. I know, I know. What kind of eating habits am I instilling in my baby?! Come on, she's 10 months. It's not like I'm feeding her Diet Coke in a bottle. Although I might let her suck on the ice from my 44 oz Thirstbuster of Diet Dr. Pepper. I mean, it IS hot outside.
My professor always gets raspberry shakes at the Red Robin. He's a raspberry kind of guy. Although he doesn't like to have someone give him a raspberry, say, on his belly. He really doesn't like that. But if I'm real nice and I bat my eyelashes a little, he gives me some of his milkshake. But he grumbles about it and tells me to order my own. He's so silly, I don't want my own milkshake, I just want a little of his. And a little of Cannon's. And Emme's. Not Chance's though, because that kid sucks his down in 2 minutes.

It's only been 1 week...

Because I can't get enough of her all in white.



If you were wondering what the heck happened to me, let me fill you in.

In the past week, we've had

• 2 birthdays


• 1 baptism


• 3 different school schedules start


• 1 large family get together


• 1 bout of pink eye


• 1 ear infection


• painted 1 room in stripes


• cleaned 1 house, over and over and over and over

So there.

No I didn't forget you people. I just got busy. I apologize and promise to do better. Soooo...

If you've had a birthday shout hooray

Isn't she lovely?

Isn't she so grown up?

She's 8.

She went and grew up even though I thought we agreed she wouldn't.

Giving in

One day while we were vacationing, we came across a candy store. The children begged for caramel apples. Mind you we had just spent $50 on hot dogs for these same children, (Pier 39=tourist trap) but my dear husband could not resist the pleas of our sweet offspring. So he plunked down the money, all $15 dollars, for 3 apples dipped in Kraft caramels.

If you've never eaten a caramel apple you don't realize how top heavy these things are. And the only thing holding it up is a tiny little lollipop stick. And they are really sticky. And you have to bite really hard to get through the apple. And it's probably not the best thing to eat while walking through a crowded pier.

As we were walking away from this candy store, I helped Cannon get to the apple part of his caramel apple by taking a large bite. In handing it back, this $5 apple fell on the ground. To the ground. You should have seen his sad little face. I quickly picked it up and dusted it off and looked for the closest place where I could wash it off. While I was doing this Emme hands me her partially eaten apple, apparently done. Then Chance hands me his. All in all, we spent $15 for about 8 bites of caramel apples. Not that I'm keeping track.

Trying hard not to be frustrated with the ridiculous amount of money now wasted, we head back to the car, the apples forgotten.

But not before stopping at the donut stand for a bag.

My husband is such a sucker.

Should I stay or should I go now

Ahh, the first day.

Yogurt and applesauce for lunch, becuase that's what you wanted.

Geez mom, why all the pics?

Do you like my new shirt? The monkey looks like me.

Hey dad, mom's taking a million pictures of me.

Yes, I know he's cute.

Even though I cut off all of his hair this morning with a #2 instead of a #4 like usual.

And, here we are at school, trying to figure out when your teacher will come for you. Your smile is gone and you won't look at me even once. You really wanted to kick the rocks with your new kicks. Skechers Airators, the only shoes you wanted, but only because they were the ones Chance wanted.

You nervously pull at your backpack, waiting, wondering what's taking so long.

You are sitting in your spot, not looking at me, but sort of looking.

See how it says Cannon right there on your desk? Now you won't have to worry about trying to spell your name all by yourself. All the drama from this morning was for not.

You break a smile for me. See, this really won't be that hard. Do you want me to leave? Because I'll stay all day if you want. I really really will.

No? Okay. I love you. Remember to ask to go to the bathroom, if you need to. I'll be back in exactly 2 hours and 45 minutes. Did you know I loved you? Because I really really do.

Saturday is a Special Day...

It's 10pm, why are you not asleep yet? !

Don't you know we have 8am church starting tomorrow?!

What are you reading?!

Oh, um, never mind.

Listen, put the book down and go to bed.

I repeat, put the comic book down and go to bed!

Didn't I already tuck you in?

Your alarm better not be set for 4:30am like you said.

Son, you are the only smart one in this whole house.

Earlier in the evening...

Would you look at this?

Do you realize these are the first bath pictures I've taken of her?

She cannot wait for the water to warm up.

Mom, can you catch water with your hands?

Don't you just love how running water looks when you photograph it?

Look at those wet eyelashes.

And those rolls.

Darling.

At this point I had to put the camera down, as she slid and fell into the water and got her face all wet and almost drowned. I practically dropped the camera in the water pulling her up.

Lesson #1. Don't fill the bathtub up this high.

Lesson #2. Put the wrist strap on when taking tub pictures.

Lesson #3. Always watch your kids when in the tub. Always always always.

Stinson Beach

Sweet Cannon. You were covered in sand most of the day.
And your poor swim trunks just didn't want to stay up. That's what happens when you have exactly zero tush.

Here we have a Baywatch moment.

The entire leading up to our vacation, all Emme could talk about was how she wanted to go to the beach and find shells. I tried explaining that we might not find any, but she was determined to try. This was our afternoon at Stinson beach, which I highly recommend to visitors of San Fran. The drive was gorgeous and not too far, and the beach was beautiful. In this pic Em had just found her first shell.

She was so excited.

Look at those guns. Trying to get Chance to look at the camera is nigh on impossible. But at least he posed well. Do you see what a summer of swim team does to abs?

I need to be on a swim team.

Claire bear, you loved the sand. You especially loved eating the sand. At first you weren't sure if it was your thing, but after just a minute, you were all over the place, sometimes crawling straight for the ocean.

As you can tell, we found many shells.

Emme was so happy.

I love the beach.

Golden Gate

Hmmm, I wonder if I could fit my head through this. That water looks nice, can we go swimming later?
Classic Emme photo.

Actually I like this alot. We should let her take more of our vacation pics.
This is mine. Not nearly as dramatic.

What're you looking at? The bridge is over THERE!
Ahh yes, the bridge. Very nice. Now show me those fishing boats again.
What a beautiful morning to sit on the edge of a rail.
I took this. Not bad, huh? Why is it that when I smile, my eyes disappear? It was very cold by the way. Very cold.
My three eldest climbing up the railing to look DOWN into the bay. Um guys, get down from there this instant! But not before I snap a photo.

Mythbusters

One of the highlights of our trip was the excursion to M5 Industries, which is Mythbusters Headquarters for those of you who don't know. I found the address online and thought it would be fun to do a drive by, maybe see some taping of the show or even one of the cast. My children were thrilled about this idea. And guess what? We found it, although it seems a tad more glamourous on tv. And a tad more, um, scary here. I was not intending for this shot but Mike told the kids to hurry and get out for a picture. I felt my face go red at the prospect of a burly security guard running us out, so I didn't take much of a picture. Here they are in front. Or back, I'm not really sure, it was all a blur.
See Chance pointing to the M5 Industries sign? Mike made me take that. I was already back in the car.
Mike found this was the sign on the door. Apparently lots of people come by for pictures. Don't worry we didn't knock, but it would've been fun to. It would've been more fun to let Mike knock and, as he ran back to the van, I would've taken off. That would've been hilarious.

Again, lots of vacation fun.

Good Idea, Bad Idea

My idea of a vacation.

Beaches, sun, doing nothing.

Their idea of a vacation.

Touring the inside of the Hoover Dam. Or the inside of a WWII submarine. Or the inside of a prison. Or the inside of abandoned barracks.