Monson Humor

My children quite often push me to the very brink of my sanity and constantly test my ability to make rational decisions and/or actually see a thought through to its glorious finish. Thankfully, they also have a great talent for making hysterical and adorable remarks, which helps me remember that lightness, though sometimes harder to achieve, is definitely the way to go (when at all possible!) in the midst of raising 4 squirrelly children. Some gems of late:

Julia:

~You want me to dust? I'm not a butler!

~Savanna, do you know what rain is? It's the clouds throwing up.


Alexa:

~(mouthing the words to "Let it Go"): I'm singing, Mommy. I just have my volume turned down.

~Lex: I can't wait to get bigger so I can buy pretty clothes and things.

  Me: You know what makes you perfect? How kind and helpful you are. It's not the things you wear.

  Lex: Mmm, I'll still be perfect and kind when I have pretty clothes.

They're kooky. And crazy. And they're mine, all mine.

Guess Who's a Water Baby?

It's official: Spencer loves the swimming pool. 

Not really a surprise since he does this when it's time to take a bath:

But still, I do love it when my babies love to swim (which Alexa still doesn't) because that means that I get to get in, too, without being stuck out of the water or sitting on the steps in triple digit heat.

Spencer loved the pool so much, in fact, that he could not be bothered to stop splashing and/or kicking long enough to actually look at me for a picture. Oh well. At least we know it's a hit.

Looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship for a long, hot summer.

As it Turns Out, Google Loves Me

Look what happens when you put your birthday info into your Google profile! I'll admit, it's a little silly how happy this made me, but I got so giddy when I saw it. (Have I mentioned before that I'm very easy to please?) I actually thought that Craig had somehow rigged this since he is a computer genius and all, but nope, it was just the universe...er, Googleverse...telling me to have a fabulous birthday. 

And I sure did.

Thank goodness I use Google regularly or I might have missed this little gem!

Glorious Mornings

Mornings around here (after the older girls are off to school and the initial rush is over) are truly blissful. Lexa is calm, and plays independently really well, Spencer sleeps in, I can usually get a run in before Craig goes to work, and, if I am feeling so inclined, I can actually get a decent amount of things done before naptime.

Life after school is a different story. Tempers and messes explode, the volume quadruples, and my stress-level basically peaks until bedtime. So we'll just focus on wonderful mornings for now so I don't have to start stressing about messes and fights that haven't actually happened yet.

I love what a kind and dutiful big sister Alexa has turned out to be. And also that Spencer can't talk yet and tell her to stop bossing him around. (I think that might be the trouble when the other girls spend time together: they can all talk.) Thus far, Spence takes her direction like a champ, though I suspect the winds will change once he can voice himself more articulately.

Here's to the limited number of peaceful, pre-verbal mornings that stretch out before me!

Spring + Beautiful Girls

Okay, so technically Spring has been around since February, and we are pretty much already on our way to summer, but I look at these photos, and they just seem so Spring-ish, and sunny, and beautiful, so since the sun is not quite my mortal enemy yet, I will try to embrace its splendor for the time-being.

Our wonderful HOA puts together an awesome neighborhood event in April that includes free food, petting zoo, pony rides, face painting, and rock climbing. I missed the event last year to be home with a newborn baby, and since it was happening right in the middle of Spencer's nap-time this year, Craig kindly let me be the "fun parent" and take the girls on my own.

News flash: Being the fun parent isn't so fun. The girls certainly did have a blast, but man, this fun-parent business is a lot of work. Like pushing Lex almost the whole way to the park on her bike (since she pedals about like she's cycling through molasses), waiting almost an hour in line for face painting and making another little girl cry because she was trying to cut in front of other kids that had been waiting equally as long, trying to dish up everyone's food by myself, then hurrying home with my hands so full of plates of hot dogs and chips and capri suns that I couldn't push Alexa back and had to keep yelling behind me "come on honey, speed it up a little," and then having to give my own hot dog away because someone else dropped hers in the dirt.

Man alive. Henceforth and forevermore, Craig has my blessing to be the fun parent, and I will gladly volunteer to stay behind with the napping child and watch Netflix by myself for two hours. Now I see that he has actually been doing me a favor for all these years and not the other way around. Thanks, babe. Be as fun as you want and I'll be here when you get back.

Some highlights:

I love these sister shots

No words to describe how much I love love love these girls

J went right for the baby chicks...

...while Lex wanted nothing to do with touching them.

Natural Caregiver, this one

Oh, also I learned that Craig is an awesome picture-take and I am a lame-o. (Okay, so I already knew that.) This was all I got because the rest of my time was spent in line for something or other. Fun Shmun.

A Style All Her Own

My little Lex has quite the eye for style, something that I love madly about her, in addition to her helping spirit, her impromptu concerts and performances, and the way that she talks with her hands almost incessantly (even in her sleep--no joke). She basically refuses to wear anything but leggings and skirts, and coordinates them by aligning like-colors even when the patterns don't really go together. ("What? Pink, pink, and pink. It matches!") She is never without accessories--candy necklaces, lip gloss rings, witch hats, headbands, and high heels, just to name a few--and, where possible, carries a cell phone with her in case she gets any important calls...which of course, happens quite often.

A more princessy princess you will likely never meet. Man alive, I love this girl!

On to April

I almost can't believe that it's April already. Being that it's my birthday month (what, don't you celebrate your birthday for a whole month?) I am usually ready to jump ahead and fill out my lovely wipe-off calendar the minute it's legitimately April. That's right, folks. I watch the clock intently on the last day of March, dry erase marker in hand, and I'm all over that bad boy the second the oven clock changes from 11:59 pm on March 31st to 12:00 am on April 1st. 

Okay, so not really, but I'd be a whole lot cooler if I did. The truth, though, is that I normally have no issue whatsoever of erasing March's events and immediately filling in the promise of April, starting, of course, with the Very Important Date of my birthday. And yet this month, I will admit to dragging my feet until almost the second week of the new month, not because of a silly issue with aging or anything vain like that, but because I don't want to erase and thus obliterate the requisite validation I've gotten used to from seeing "5k!!" staring at me from March 8th's snug little box. It's been good for me, I tell you, to be reminded me that yes, I actually do do some things that don't involve making unpopular dinners or cracking down on teeth brushing or picking up other people's messes.

I guess I'll have to start wearing my medal around my neck. And maybe stick my college diploma on the front of the fridge. And while I'm at it, I should probably pin my Writing Celebration Certificate of Merit from the 3rd grade to the front of my shirt, too, just for good measure.

Just don't be surprised at my bulky new accessories the next time you see me.