Fourth of July. 2010

Sometimes it's best not to count your chickens before they hatch...

Take, for instance, it's probably not a good idea to pat yourself on the back for being a cool mom until you have all the facts.
(I should have learned this lesson right?)

But let's start this post pretending like you don't have all of the facts (because you don't) and you can think I'm a cool mom for about 20 seconds .
Unless, of course, you are Gwen (a for reals life cool mom) and your initial thought will be "you are crazy!" (which is probably the best assumption of my social status)


In my blog-stalking/following I have been gathering up ideas for fun summer crafts and activities and saving them in my delicious account. This particular one I found here and it looked so neat that it just had to be done.

One day in early July, after a week and a few hours of not being a fun mom, I decided to pull out my world's best mom pin and prove I still deserved to wear it.
This art project, Corn Syrup Paintings, was perfect seeing I had all the supplies on hand and it required little to no prep.

I even took pictures.
(Remember, I was thinking I was cool... As they say, "pride cometh before the fall.")

we're working with Landon on opening his eyes in pictures. Sometimes it works better than others.

It was very clean (surprisingly) and super simple. The kids loved it, I loved it, and there were happy feelings all around.

See look! Everyone had a good time and I was a pretty cool mom.

Check out this link for detailed pictures and instructions on how to do this.

Fast forward about 5 hours...

Let me preface this with saying I don't know how these things happen...

I turn around to see Cooper walking on the carpet with his corn syrup painting stuck to his feet.

(why?)

Which wouldn't have been such a big deal (I say that loosely) had he not found it fun to unstick the picture from his feet, walk around on my freshly mopped kitchen floor, stick it back on his feet (to apply more ammunition, naturally) unstick it from his feet and walk all over my recently steam cleaned carpets, stick it back on his feet and repeat... until I found him.

I'm trying to sort out my feelings... do I love this art project or do I hate it?

I guess I love it. (It really was cute and super fun and unexpected)

Unless, of course, you have a Cooper at your house, and then I say... probably not a good idea. (unless you hate your carpets. Because, while corn syrup cleans up remarkably easy, food coloring does not.)

AC Drive-in: Burley, Idaho

Well, so here is the deal: I am so desperately behind on blogging that I pretty much just want to cry thinking about it. I decided the best course of action was to browse through my pictures and blog according to what they dictated.

So, keep in mind these next few bazillion posts will probably be in no decipherable order. I picked this first one because, well, it was fast.

There is this little dive in Burley called AC drive-in. Anytime we drive by it I am told how delicious it is. But, the kicker is, we've never been because it is a little off the beaten path. (and by beaten path I mean scheduled route to Grandma's house)

A little more than a week ago we got a call from Grandma who told us her relief society was doing a special mothers and daughters activity. She asked if we wanted to come and we said did we ever!

Due to some poor planning on our part and road construction on the part of the city of Burley we found ourselves off the beaten path and in need of food.

Enter AC drive-in.
We were slightly excited to try it for the first time. See- just look at our excited faces!:
at this point Brandon was tired of taking "excited" pictures and he just wanted to eat his food.

So guess what? Believe the hype! It was delicious. But I think the best part was finally being part of the exclusive club of "in the know"-ers.



And, by the way, the Relief Society Mother Daughter Extravaganza was a blast. We were so grateful to be invited. And while I remembered my camera I forgot to pull it out. But here Kami is afterward with Grandma and Aunt Mandi and all her "loot". (She made a washer necklace, a button ring, a fabric flower for her hair, and even got her nails done by the uber talented Aunt Mandi.)

Magic Elixir

I'm trying to market this sports/energy drink for children. I figured my blog would be a good platform to launch it from.

So, it's a special formula, targeted just for children, with some pretty powerful results. Believe me, I wouldn't be selling something unless I was 100% sure it was the best thing on the market.
And this is!
My kids just can't seem to get enough of it.

Let me run through the gammit of things it can do for your children. I am sure you will be just as impressed as I was:

Improved Speech and Vocabulary - Expect to see dramatic improvements in their back talking skills as well as heightened name calling abilities. Some children have also shown improvement in sass, although those results are dependent completely on age.

Greater Lung Capacity - After just a few sips of this energy drink your child will be able to scream louder and longer than before. This increased lung capacity also enables them to whine at an even higher decibel, a vast improvement to their current lack luster tantrums.

More Precise Hand Eye Coordination - Hitting, pushing, and pinching skills will improve instantly. So no more missing their target, from now on all hitting, pushing, and pinching will be spot on and possibly with even greater force. (Results are typical)
Amazingly, I have noticed that my children's kicking skills have also improved. (And that isn't even hand eye coordination.) I'm telling you, this product is amazing!

Cleaner Tear Ducts - No more plugged tear ducts, in fact, the water works are guaranteed to be flowing. Anything and everything will now be able to trigger your children's tears to start flowing by the bucket loads.

With your child's increased stamina in all the above areas don't be surprised if it seems like your stamina decreases. In fact it is expected for the parent to see a a sudden decrease in patience and disposition.

Anyway, I'm not exactly sure how long we have been drinking this magic elixir but our results have been phenomenal! When a product has such great success you can not help but jump on the band wagon. So, give me a call or leave a comment and I will promptly get a case of this drink into your grubby little fingers.

Results are promised and dissatisfaction is 100% guaranteed!

-Also, a name for this children's energy drink
is still being hashed out in management.
So, if you have any suggestions,
be sure to jot them down for us.

Rolly Polly or "Happy Birthday Brother"

This morning, early in the wee hours, Cooper fell 3 ½ feet into a pile of balloons.



Perhaps this warrants more of an explanation…
or do things like this happen at your house too?

We are currently on vacation in the great state of Utah. While we are here we kick my youngest brother, Jamison, out of a bedroom. (his room has 2 full sized beds in it, naturally.) Naturally, you would think we’d use both beds. However, every night Cooper has wanted to sleep on the floor in between the two beds. Every night until last night, that is.

As I was tucking him into his bed on the floor he told me
“I think maybe Mom I will sleep up in the bed this night.
But you can sleep in my bed on the floor Mom.”
(Fortunately the bedroom has those two beds, so I didn’t have to take him up on his generous offer.)

Kameryn was spending the night at her cousins and so that left our two little men to share a bed together. Things started off rocky, but expected, with a few cries of “Mom! Lan-un teeps hit-un me!” But, with in minutes they were both sound asleep.

So asleep, in fact, that when the bedroom was filled to the brim with squeaky latex balloons and a rowdy aunt, they didn’t even squirm.

And they continued to sleep peacefully until 1 am, when, you guessed it,

Cooper fell out of bed (my brother has unusually tall beds) and into a pile of balloons.

I snuggled him up into bed with Brandon and I as he wimpered in half awake/half asleep pain.

Poor kid rolled clean out of bed.

I lay there contemplating the boys luck. He had acted so surprised when he fell, as if he didn’t see it coming. But then, I guess, no one really plans on falling out of bed.

Since he had pulled all the covers off the bed in his fall, and since our full sized bed was suddenly crowded, I migrated over to return the covers and climb into bed with Landon. As I climbed up into bed I was greeted by a pair of feet.

Suddenly it all made sense (I felt like Matlock.):

why Cooper acted so surprised to suddenly find himself beck in his bed on the floor,

why a kid who never moves when he sleeps would have rolled out of bed,

why Cooper had preferred to sleep on the floor as opposed to sleep in a bed with his brother...

You see people, here's how it really went down:

Landon, the real sleep mover in the family,
had firmly kicked his brother out of bed.

And on his birthday, no less.