Blah

blahhh... that's how I have felt all day... blahhh... (would I be crazy to blame it on this crazy weather?)

So I thought I would remind myself of the not so blahness of today.

-Read to my kids today (I love reading to them) -- Seth and I are really enjoying Jim Murphy's history books 

-I stenciled one of my favorite quotes on a pillow .. Mark Twain's "Twenty year's from now...(there's a paragraph of text)...  explore. dream. discover." ... and I have to say.. it is pretty gosh-darn-adorable

-Soccer wasn't cancelled! Levi and Raya were able to ride their bikes around the field while Seth played soccer.  Seth is a sports maniac and loved every minute.  It was a clear and beautiful end of the day.

-Levi is going to get private swim lessons for the same price as group lessons ... Lets just say the aquatic center feels really bad for all the mistakes they have made.  (I don't know how they function, the management seems so unorganized).  Double bonus, the private lessons will be at the same time as Seth's lessons so I don't have to stay longer or come another day. -- I might be nerdy, but this bit of news it very exciting to me! :)
-Thank you to whoever "egged" our house -- the kids loved finding the easter eggs in our yard... and eating the chocolate

-Did a lot of cleaning .. I don't know if I should add this to the list or not...

I am amazed how much mothers end up doing throughout the day... even when they're not entirely willing.  I'm glad that I have activities like soccer to kick me out of the house and enjoy the day, especially when I feel a little blah.

Dr. Seuss

"I am Seth/ Seth  I am"  "There's a wocket in my pocket" -- these two melt me.  

I can't get over how grown up they look! 

 Seth has lost  five teeth now... I hope he doesn't loose any more for a while, it's getting hard for him to eat and talk.

Waiting in line for a whack at the pinata.  I love this picture.

Seth was determined to be the one to break it.

End of a well played party.

Raya found the stickers in her party favor bag... my favorite item was the green eggs and ham soap.  Seriously one of the cutest parties.

Raya was stung by a wasp three times at the party ... she sure is tough though!  -- She's on the phone telling grandma all about it in this picture.  (She tells grandma everything) 

"A person's a person no matter how small."

My BFF

On Strike

It's still snowing outside... the inches are still accumulating ... I'm on strike.

No Spanish, no swimming, no library, no school -- ok, Seth did go to violin, but Jeff took him.
I'm on strike.   I took a day off and cuddled my kids; read a couple stacks of books and ate chocolate sandwiches.  I love today.

Miss Independent

Miss Independent aka Raya... my two year old... went missing again this morning.

She put on her shoes and jacket, opened our house door, opened our VAN door, and loaded her bike into the van.

I was pretty shocked to find her outside. She has now added on a couple more minutes to... "the scariest minutes of my life."

I can't believe she lifted her bike into the van.

She wanted to go biking with her friends. Next time she should probably ask, we had a talk, don't worry.

The mishaps of Raya... continued.

Grocery shopping ...

Raya and I ran to grab our weeks bread while the guys wait at the checkout line.  I walk briskly back to the line with my arms full of an assortment of breads, and Rae is close behind with her bag.  I realize that I had forgotten the garlic bread so, my one track mind, I leave Raya (what I thought) with Jeff, dropping off her bag of bread.  Jeff  with his one track mind of placing the food on the conveyor,  assumed Raya went back with me.

I come back, "Where's Rae?"
"Isn't she with you?"

We both start looking in our immediate area and cannot see her. Jeff then says to stay with the boys and finish the transaction while he looks.

He finds her eventually, with her pants down to her ankles (over sized pants)... waddling along the condiments isle ... holding a bag of bread.

What is she a street urchin?!

How she ends up in these situations I will never know.  It did mark for some of the scariest five minutes of my life though... then when the story was told... it marked for five of the funniest minutes. (Love you Rae <3)

The Mishaps of Raya

Today, Raya has:

-Fallen off a stool
-Wedged herself immobile between our ottoman and couch
-Walked into a wall
-Was flung from her carseat and was dangling matrix style from the ground still strapped to her carseat.
-Just fell out of her bed (seriously I just heard the thump followed by little "aannnh" moan of discomfort)
-And last but not least, fell into the toilet ... I feel so bad, she was trying to be a "big girl" !!

All... today... You know I wish I could say this was an exceptional day, but besides the Matrix scene and toilet dropping (which I hope doesn't become reoccurring!) ... it's been a pretty average mishap day for Rae.

Collage of Collages

Uh-oh.... someone uploaded her camera phone....

 Seth's last day of ice skating lessons...  He was trying to scare me :).  Skating backwards, and racing the other kids in his class.

 At a family science center activity... Raya was "making" (eating) a house with marshmallows and spaghetti sticks.  The boys made a boat and each held over a 100 pennies!

Raya reading to Winnie the Pooh at Hastings during one of our date nights... the boys were at splash and dash.  Seth and Levi wrestling without their shirts on and Jeffrey "laying down" -- pretty typical night.  Baking Cookies.  The WSU Entomology Club brings insects and reads books to the kids at the library.  Seth is holding a hissing cockroach.

haha... This is Seth's Thanksgiving feast at school! (it's been a while since I've uploaded pics...) -- behind him you can see one of his best friends Aaron.  They are in the same swimming class too.

Remember that one time I took three kids on a train by myself... at 2 in the morning?  That day is a bit of a blur... and I think these pictures reflect that :) All four of us squished into two seat to sleep for the majority of the trip.

Seth at "A Christmas Carol" play.  Raya playing with her bike girl that she got from Scott. He knows how annoyed I am about the role models little girls are given in our media.  So when he found a bike girl playmobile (I had recently complained that the only female playmobiles were fairies or chubby mommies pushing babies in strollers) he had to get it for her.   Rae and Cella watching Alvin and the Chipmunks, they were clapping to the music.  Raya on another date night at Cougar Country with Jeff and I while the boys were splashing it up at splash and dash.  And last pic... Wasn't planning on buying those pants Raya tried on at Old Navy... until she decided to roll around in chalk with them on...

 Bowling with friends... Zeppoz has a great deal in the mornings... for $40, 6 kids are fed lunch and can play an hour of bowling.  The kids loved it.

Meeting some friends at the park.. Seth loves climbing up this tower... Raya playing cars... and sneaking them into her sock and hat... she thought she was pretty funny :).  Mommy and Big Girl Dinosaur... these were Raya's main playmates for a while.  Raya reading her favorite book at the moment, it is so girly, and so Raya, "Kittycat Lullaby." I love that smile.

Sick but worth it

... I could feel this head cold coming on all day yesterday... I knew I would pay for it tomorrow (today, which I am) ... but it was worth staying out late and  having some girl time!

My friend Amanda and I went to Pullman's first Roller Derby bout.  1,800 people came to support Rolling Hills Derby Dames!  I think that's more than some WSU basketball games  -- it was a hoot, and now I am kind'of tempted to join :)

Afterwards we went to a concert at the Bell Tower and listened to some indie folk bands, Blind Pilot being the headlining act.

You can lose yourself in motherhood.  I pour so much of my soul into my kids, it was nice to rejuvenate a bit... but now I am sick, I think that's what you call ironic.

Ice skating

I was even a little hesitant about bringing three kids ice skating by myself.... seriously I have ice skated like 5 times? ... Levi none, Raya none.  Seth, he could hold his own, but I was still out numbered.  But my friend really wanted to go ... and I have a hard time saying no :) And I'm glad we went! It was a blast.  The tot skate on Thursday is for younger kids, and there is really no one there... I let Raya "skate" on the ice with her shoes and gave her a walker to help her glide.  She felt independent without me having to walk her, and I could tell she really liked being a "big kid" like Seth and Levi.

Raya was so funny, anytime she or the boys took a fall... she would yell, "plop." -- "There's Levi ... plop."  "Sethy.. plop."  Where did she learn the word "plop?!" -- It was also pretty funny when she would start to rolling around on the ice... like on her stomach and back.  She is quite the entertainer... and will do anything for a laugh.

Levi did awesome, he used a walker but did everything by himself.  I was afraid I was going to be bent over holding him to the walker the hold time pushing him around the rink...  but he even ventured out a few times on his own with out the walker!  He did so well for his first time,  I was so surprised (I usually am with him :))

Seth spent his time skating from one end of the rink to the other, by the end he was a sweaty mess.  

We loved ice skating! I wish I would have known about the tot time sooner. 

Seth brings home a trophy!

Seth is in love with his chess trophy. -- He won 3rd place!

Raya, Levi and I were there to cheer him on :) 

Funnies

I was cleaning the playroom and found a lock of hair, "Seth, did you cut your hair?"
"Let me think about it."
"Seth, did you cut your hair??"
"Yes..."

blah blah blah... I told him that he shouldn't cut his hair because he can't see what he is doing.  Wrongo response.

five minutes later... I find him in the bathroom cutting his hair.

"I can see because I am looking in the mirror."

Seth is now sporting a newly shorn hairdo for the summer.

----------------
Little Miss Raya wishes now to be referred to as... Raya-Charlie-Brown.  I am Mommy-Charlie-Brown, Jeff: Daddy-Charlie-Brown.  But Seth and Levi are demoted to: Seth-snoopy and Levi-snoopy.

ditch and puke

Hands down worst road trip ever.

We went to the west side for the weekend.
-Very late start
-10 mins out of Pullman I realized I forgot a bag... back tracking.  Jeff doesn't get annoyed very easily, -- he was annoyed to go get the bag.
-On our way out to Pullman again, Seth and Raya puke.  EVERYWHERE.

Seth was in the back seat and his puke projectiled far enough to hit Jeff in the driver seat.  AND we had just eaten at cougar country.  A big, burgerific meal...

It took us an hour to get to Colfax because of the puke delay ... imagine cleaning out partly digested red (seth had gatorade) hamburger meat out of the small crevices of seat belts. It was AWFUL.

-Levi had to stop to use the bathroom 3 times
-We got ran off the road on the interstate.

70 miles an hour spinning out of control... we did a 180, were face to face with on coming traffic and then landed backward in a ditch.

So many things could have gone wrong... it is amazing we didn't hit another car ... it's amazing that we landed in a soft embankment.  No one was hurt -- and the car had no damage! -- At one point there were 2 cop cars, an ambulance and a fire truck to check out the scene.  -- A tow truck did have to come and get us out -- we were stuck in mud.

Anyways, I'm done with road trips for a little bit :)

The reason for the trip: To visit my newest niece, a 30th birthday, and great-grandparents came to visit from Minnesota -- it was a triple threat!

It was a fun weekend despite the awful trip to get there, and as usual went by too soon :)

Levi's version of the Revolutionary War

Levi is walking out of the bathroom:

"Daddy I need to tell you something...  When I flush, the water that goes down I call the British.  -- And the water that comes in I call the Patriots.  And the Patriots ALWAYS win!"

I'm glad he is applying his knowledge to everyday activities.

Another play date and grievances.

I'm starting to the get itch for Jeff to be done with school... I am content, and grateful for where we live... but after spending the morning at a friends' house with 33 acres... and going on a walk around their pond... I'm longing for space and a more settled home.

We were lucky that we caught the sunshine, the boys were able to run around outside, finding sticks, kicking snow, (peeing in the snow) ... being wild and free.  It was so quiet -- I loved it. A lot.

Oh life as a graduate student....  This week I have barely seen Jeff.  I know he's around because there are still remnants of him... dishes, eaten food, laundry etc.  He is kind'of like a mouse. -- but I feel for him, he is going to drop any second from exhaustion, he has been up before I am to go to work, and doesn't come back until I'm asleep... yesterday it was 3 am.

Can you empathize why my friends' home appeared so romantic?