WAHOO!!!

My husband passed his test!!!

He is the bomb diggity.

Freaking Amazing.

We, of course, knew all along that he could do it.

He's just brilliant like that.

I've got to make this short though because I am taking him out for a celebratory lunch.

(of course he's driving...and paying... funny how that works.)

Love My Job

There is nothing better than being a mother to these hooligans.

It's definitely rough, and messy, and a lot of work. But it is also the most joy I have ever felt.

Cooper went "poopoo" in the potty today. All by himself, with no coaxing or bribery on my part. Life is the best. I'm sure it's a fluke and now that I've blogged about it, it will never happen again... but I'm just too proud and excited not to share my elation and surprise.

"Imagine my SUUPREESE."

(bonus points if you can name that movie. Which I doubt anyone, but myself, loves.)

you know. I really have a knack for putting the most horrid pictures of myself on this blog...

"We just want to play but we're being naughty... I'm sorry."

yep, we are having one of those days.

Not sure what the fascination with balmex is? But it is currently charming it's way into the hearts of my children.... super excited about it.

Really??

I'm actually thinking boredom is to blame for our current naughty outbreak. I think I'm in the mood to bargain for my sanity. Some days they just need mom to help them with their constructive play. I guess today is one of those days.

by the by, Kami is so funny these days. She says the most randomly accurate things. My favorite is her current fascination with the "magic" word that is sorry. "I did this even though you told me not to, but I'm sorry." Not sure she understands that in order for sorry to work, you have to be truly sorry. It's not exactly an escape clause...

Handy, Handy

It's always good to keep a handy man around just in case.

And, well this one, he's just too cute to get rid of

(despite the fact that he breaks more things than he fixes)

My piano students were over and they loaded him up with every tool he owns. He thought he was pretty special. So did we.

Feeling Groovy

Nearly every morning in our house begins like this. (Some days I love my piano UBER much....) Talk about a love affair with dance! They will go for hours. Their styles are so different. Kam is a quick foot little one, total Lord of the Dance meets hip hop. Cooper loves to punch and spin, reminds me of tai bo (which, ironically I have never done). And Landon is a head banging bop up and down kind of kid. So much fun.

I apologize for two videos... but I just couldn't resist.

Love Us Some Butcher Paper

Mom sent us home with one of her rolls of butcher paper (so I could make some duplicate patterns for the superhero capes) and...well, we put it to good use.

I'm sure she doesn't mind.

I've always wanted to own a big roll of butcher paper, but I couldn't exactly swallow the cost at Costco. I'm thinking now that I might just have to save up my pennies.

If you have extra butcher paper laying around you house, whip this little project out (since it is SOO hard) My kids loved it / are still loving it. I'm sure our little look-a-likes will be hanging around for the next few weeks.

Given

It's a given:

• that every morning my son will pull a cup of liquid (water, milk, and my favorite; koolaid) on top of his head while trying to get a drink.
• that 24% of all the yogurt consumed in our house is consumed by our living room carpet.
• that every time Cooper finds a crayon, I find a new little "sketch" adorning a non-paper surface.
• that my "office" trashcan will spend the majority of the day on top of my desk, so I can avoid spending the majority of my day picking up rubbish off my floor.
• that at least once a week, Cooper will spend the wee hours of the morning sleep walking.
• that the day I mop my kitchen floor, my husband will walk across it with muddy feet, or one of my children will spill their milk at lunch, or I will drop something extremely messy while making dinner...
• that every time Kami sees a puppy or a kitty, she will ask for one.
• that if I ask my children to pick up their messes, there is a 50/50 chance of a meltdown
• that the second I finish cleaning a room, my children will come running with the intent purpose of trashing it.
• that baby will be sat on at least once a day.
• that since the baby has learned the art of the fake cry, he will employ it 3 times out of 10
• that if you stop by our house we'll probably look like this:

{yep, everyone is in their jammies, no one has their hair combed or their face washed, and those who should most definitely be wearing makeup - are most definitely not. and it's 10:30... or at least it was when I took this picture yesterday.}

And, as you might have guessed, it is also a given that we wouldn't have it any other way.

artwork. Kami G, February 09

this is Joseph Smith in the sacred grove with the sunshine

Quite possibly, a sweeter depiction does not exist.

I Mother a Monkey

WORD UP!! I have started a new blog for our community sewing circle.

littlemonkeymamas.blogspot.com

Just wanted to hype it up here (as well as everywhere else).

Please check it out and e-mail me your ideas and projects, etc.

littlemonkeymama@gmail.com

Leave comments, and all that jazz.

And, if you live in my area, come to our monthly zoo (our get togethers where we make fun projects and talk ourselves silly while are children run around like maniacs: a zoo)

There is also a group up on facebook by the same name (little monkey mamas), so join it.

By the by, you don't have to live near by to contribute or be a "member" Everyone is invited: to share their ideas, to come have fun, or just to browse.

Everything is still new, so be a little patient and be a lot excited.

I know I am.

this is what happens when I blog:

What happens when you blog?

toothpaste by the way.

We had an incident on Sunday where Cooper put toothpaste in his hair and I had the wet it down and comb it out. Apparently the scientist in him wanted to see if the same scenario would work with his brother. So, I found Landon in the porch covered in toothpaste and Cooper standing over him with a comb and a spray bottle. Curiouser and curiouser.

(Pretty sure Cooper has a toothpaste obsession. Too bad it never ends up where it should. Instead, I find it here and here.)

What's the Point in V-Day if You Can't be Mushy?

A couple nights ago,

I fell asleep holding my husband's hand.

It was the best.

I love him.

Saturday,

Brandon sang an entire song

to me

that he had made up

on the spot

in Spanish.

I laughed until I cried.

I really REALLY love him.

And then today,

I tried to take a picture

of the two of us together

and he did this.

And now I love him like crazy.

*HEART ATTACK*

We are going all out for holidays this year. Any excuse to make an ordinary day extraordinary we are going for it. Currently we are exploding pink and red hearts all over every square inch of our house. It has been fun. I forgot how much I love little things like this.

Today Kami helped me heart attack their bedroom. This project kind of morphed from one thing to another and "us girls" are extremely pleased with the results.

Kami made all of the hearts out of pipe cleaners and then she cut the ribbon and I stapled them to the hearts. Then we taped them to their ceiling (very high tech, I know) We had a blast and it was a fun mommy-me project.

Last Friday was heart filled as well. We made little mosaic hearts with scraps of red, pink and purple scrapbook paper. Kami and Cooper (Cooper especially) loved ripping all the paper into small scraps and then (the messy part) gluing them onto the paper. Many thanks to dad who helped remind us that glue could be made from flour and water. (I can't believe I didn't have any glue) But the kids loved our goopy paste mess. It was such an adventure in creativity for them. Cooper probably had more glue than paper on his heart, but he loved every minute of it.

Finally, here is a pic of my valentine's garland that I made a week or so ago. Very easy and fast, but it's been so festive!

(Kami wanted to be in all the pictures)

Many, many more pink things on the horizon. This is so fun!