Life comes at you fast...

Life has been a fun, blurry mess lately. Here are a few highlights from the last 5 weeks:
* Went to Erica's (SIL)for Labor Day and had a great time with them and their new pool!
*Noah turned 5!
*We went to Alabama and had a great time seeing family and even an old pal from HS (Iana-it was great to see you!)
*Haley turned 3!
* Oma and Opa Frampton came out for Haley's birthday weekend and it was the best!
*Noah had an international day at school and was a young german with an alpine hat, vest (Thank you susan!!)and store-bought german potato salad (thanks to Matt!)
*We had family pictures taken by Michelle Cortez and she did a great job keeping the kiddos involved. I know the pictures will be awesome.

With all of these happenings is it any wonder that I am exhausted and have the patience of a fruit fly(my guess is they are NOT patient) I am really trying hard to be full of love and goodness and I think of really good parenting techniques after the fact, but when my son is in the bath yelling at me to make the hot water heater work faster I can't seem to summons the right thing to say 'cause really all I want to do is turn the shower to cold and see if that quiets him down. (I did not do that bytheway)

I really do love being "The Mom"!

Enjoy the pictures.

P.S. you may notice I am pregnant..I am due Feb. 2010! Yeah, us!

Good times

Really not much to report since my last post....we have been checking out a few free events: the salsa fiesta, the outdoor expo, and a family event at Haley's dance studio. The best part was "bubbles the clown" her face painting was crazy good. As you can see...

In other non-event news, I was talking to a friend of mine who has 8 kids and she said her 4 year old is her best MOPPER-Yes, you read that right! Her 4 yr old son mops the floor! This got me thinking that it was time for me to let go and for my kids to get going on cleaning. I mean really, at this point Noah makes his bed, feeds the dog, and occasional cleans his rooms-with much prodding. So on Tuesday I thought I would teach my kids a few basics they could be responsible for. Namely, windows and sweeping. (Sweeping is way out of their league for now) The process was a little time consuming and we did use 83x more paper towels and windex, but the part I didn't expect is that they loved it! And today we added a new skill: dusting. Tomorrow: maybe toilets!

My girl Hays...

A few nights ago I made a completely un-child friendly meal that I assummed would end in me making pb&j for the kids. Boy, was I wrong. I made shikabobs (SP?) load with shrimp and veggies and grilled some articokes on the grill with rice on the side. Noah attacked the shrimp-to the point that Matt and I were left wanting. And my girl, Haley, ate an entire articoke that night. The picture is no exaggeration and all her handiwork.

Also, is a picture of Haley at her new dance class. She beyond loves it. I love that when Matt comes home she sows off her "dances", and loves wearing her dance-wear.

p.s. My mom bought the unitard at a yardsale about 2 years ago and we've had it in the dress up box-score!

I'm a blogging machine

I guess it comes in waves...


Noah started preschool today!!






I thought this morning would be a bit emotional and one of new traditions. Which it was, BUT not the ones I intended.

Let's start from the beginning: Being the mother, I assumed that I would be able to pick out the first day of school outfit. Khaki shorts, white polo with some design on the front and tie-shoes that were cleaned and matched. Noah immediately vetoed the shorts and said he would wear his favorite plaid ones. Fine. We put on the white polo, he looked in the mirror and started crying.

"Okay, okay", I say, "why don't you pick the shirt you want."

Noah's response: "I am going to pick out the shoes I want too."

"Sounds good." says me-wondering why I care what he wears anyway and then wondering why he cares so much. He's almost 5-not almost 13!

At the kitchen table to further lay down the law and keep me in my place; He tells me he'll pick his clothes for school from now on, but I can do his hair on school days-only. I remind him that I will also do it for church. He concedes.

Then we move on to brushing his teeth. He says he wants to floss and do his floride rinse- I remind him that we do those only at night. He beginnings to lecture me on the proper care of ones' teeth and how there are GERMS in between his teeth that he needs to GET OUT! (Even as I write this I feel like a lousy mother that wants my child to have poor hygiene, bad breath, and intense root canals as an adult, but believe me it's not true.) Noah is a child-a remarkable one- that gets caught up in the schedule. I can not mentally add anything eles to the morning schedule! I hope my blogging public understands.

So I resume the parental control I had lost earlier in the morning say "N-O" to proper dental care and we move on to packing his lunch aka 72 hour kit.

By the time we dropped him off I am not sure if I was tearing up because my baby was going to preschool or if I was exhausted and completely overwhelmed that I would have to repeat the process tomorrow!

It 8:11pm and I am going to sleep.

Sewing Machine Suggestions

I am on the hunt for a new heavy duty-no frills sewing machine...any suggestions???

Alright, It has been long enough...

Yeaterday I went to the mall with my kids and we ended up in the Playground area. There was a young woman with highlights, dark eye make-up, and limited clothing coverage rolling around on the floor. As I looked at her more closely I realized that she didn't have her legs shaved. Which means, her mother didn't think she was old enough to shave her legs but was old enough for highlights, eyemake-up and slutty clothing. Is anyone eles confused? I later located her mother, she too was wearing heavy eyemake- up, and tank top with a word across her chest. I wondered what their actually ages were. The daughter was attempting for an increase in her age and mother an obvious hope for a decrease in her own age. WHY!?

What happened to looking like a little girl and not a "mini me" in fashion and sexual experience of your mother? What happened to wanting to look like a mom? Why is that such a bad thing-it has becomce a dirty word. If you ever hear: "Those are 'MOM' jeans or that's 'MOM' hair" you know you are NOT being complimented.

I think the way the world view's our roles as women is one of Satan's biggest triumphs. I know this is a ranting post but this is what is on my mind.


If you want to see pictures of our summer you should check my sisters' blog- sorry I'm lazy.

Being Private was a hassel...

For me.
For some reason I could NEVER just get into my own blog. I was always having to type in all my info. and it NEVER remembered me. It's my blog! So we are no longer private.

Welcome back blog stalkers and the like :)