Candy Planes

I've mentioned before that Sam loves scouts. He looks forward to scouts every Tuesday afternoon. On Tuesday, he came home with a cute candy airplane he made out Lifesavers, candy, gum and beads. Last week he came home with a toothbrush head wrapped with a wire that made 'feet' and a tiny motor hooked to a tiny battery. It was a robot bug. Aren't his scout leaders so creative?

Joe and Mary

Hello!

Rain + Dirt = MUD!

It rained yesterday. It rained and it poured and it rained some more. On the bright side: the grass is a bright and beautiful green! On the down side: muddy areas not covered by grass attract the dirt-loving mind of a 3 year-old. In my case, two of them.
This is what happens when I turn my back, to clean the kitchen floor (how dare I think I can get something done?), and take my focus off of Joe and Mary: They dig in the non-grassy (muddy areas) part of the backyard. Rookie mistake, shame on me, I should have known better.
They love to dig in the dirt. This time, not only did they dig in the dirt/mud, they collected said mud into a bucket and 'washed' Joe's fire truck. The truck, their hands and feet and clothes were covered in mud! They also 'swept' the porch with the mud using a play (indoor) mop. UGH! Welcome, Monday!

Sunday is a day of.....

Certainly and definitely not REST. Sunday is usually an all out battle for control. In the Lee house, it's four kids against two adults.
Round one: Getting the kids ready for church. Usually starts of with, "Is it church day?" Followed by, "I don't want to go to church" or "I don't want a bath/shower!"
Round two: Keeping the kids quiet during church. Anyone who sits within 8 rows of us can hear Joe say, "I don't like this kind of food!" when the bread and water is passed. He also says, "I don't want to be reverent!" You may also be able to hear my loud SIGH and Mike's frustrated and audible GROAN.
Round three: At home, trying to keep things calm so we can pretend the 'day of rest' is observed. The house is always at it's messiest: every toy and book out on the floor. I have a Sunday cleaning ritual (no rest involved).
RESULT: Knock-out. Kids: 1 Parents: 0

Man, that due can play the flute!

Now: It's late afternoon on Friday, the kids are restless and I am trying to cook dinner and clean the house at the same time. It can be done, although, yelling is (always) involved.
Much Earlier: The day started off like any other day...wake up, dress, eat, take the kids to school, teach aqua, pick up kids, blah, blah, blah. Sorry...I know that sounds a bit ungrateful for the many wonderful things that I have and enjoy on a daily basis. My tude will change as soon as Mike gets home.
Earlier: After Sam got home from school, we spent most of the afternoon picking oranges and the most awesome house ever. They have an entire park in their backyard, not to mention a way cool pool and tons of grass to run around on. I came home with 3bags FULL of the best oranges in the world. Jealous?
Earlier and Now: I have an itch to go out and do something - dinner, a movie, window shop, shop for-real, whatever, but I don't want to leave the house. Sigh. Stretch. Sigh again. I think I will just stay home and hang out with the hubby and kids.
I decided to cook the kids a lazy dinner consisting of corn dogs and bagel bites. They were happy, I felt guilty. I didn't even cut them an apple or offer them any veggies on the side. Oh, ketchup counts, right?
Mike and I will eat chicken, broccoli and salad (same dinner almost every night). Then we will watch a little TV, put the kids to bed at 7, put Sam to bed at 8, then watch TV until we are ready for bed (usually 9 o'clock sharp). Consistent or routine?
Now: listening to M.U.- The best of Jethrol Tull. Love the flute. I wonder if that guy was teased as a young lad. Making my yummy granola.

My 4:00pm break

I know this sounds totally lame and uneducated and everything in the realm of, well, lazy, but, I have to admit that I look forward to 4:00pm every weekday. It's the one thing that I do to keep sane. A world outside of my 'now' world, a time I take for myself, a little time away from the kids. This is what I do: I go and hide in my room and watch Inside Edition. Totally trash TV but I love it.
The kids are yelling, their homework isn't finished, the house is a mess and there is lots of work to be done. It can wait. It's starting.....

Three Cheers for Grandma!

I came home last week to find four coloring books and four boxes of crayons on my counter. They were put there by my mom, while I was out, for my kids to enjoy. And enjoy they did! It was quiet in my house for, like, 20 minutes. It was so nice. Thanks, MOM!


Oh - I did apologize to my mom for the horrid smell she had to endure when she entered my house. I told her that I cleaned out my fridge and threw the rotten 'left overs' away but hadn't washed out the containers. WHEEEEWEEE! It was smelly; and that is being kind. I told her I hope the smell didn't bother her. She said she didn't even notice. Aren't moms sweet?!

What's that behind us?

It's the Declaration of Independence! Yes, it is...look again. An official copy is currently on tour, visiting a few select U.S. cities, and Phoenix is one of them. With only one hour and 15 minutes remaining (at the time of this posting), I will tell you that it is a one-day-only showing, today, Saturday, February 20th. Go, run, now...1700 W. Washington, Phoenix. Anyway....
We took the whole gang and spent 2 hours in line, waiting and waiting and waiting. And waiting and waiting and waiting. It was worth it.

No more song embedded in a slideshow!

Can you say YEAH! I dreaded logging onto my own blog because I didn't want to hear that silly song that was embedded into one of my slideshows! I finally figured out how to delete it. And delete it, I did!
I am so much happier now. I might even post more often.
In celebrate of this lovely event, Mike is going to take me out tonight for a nice dinner, some dancing and a movie. Not really. We will attend our ward's adult Valentine's Day Formal dinner and dance and then skip out early to meet some friends at a movie. I am really excited. I know it sounds cheesy, that Valentine's Day movie looks really cute. I will post later to let you know if it's a thumbs-up (puts me in the mood) or a thumbs-down (sorry honey, not tonight).
Here are some more pics of the kids. Sam at his first Blue and Gold banquet and Sarah with her new hair cut.

it's hard to get on the computer and post. I can surf in much less time.

It's true. I've been on the computer enough times this past month that I should have updated this blog. Instead, I did what was easy and fast: I checked my email, a few other blogs, FB and then logged off. Lazy, I know.
So here it is in a nutshell....
I turned 35 years-old (uh), Sam got his Bobcat at his first Blue and Gold Banquet, Sarah learned to roller blade. Those are just the highlights. The low lights are: I turned 35 years-old and the twins are still not potty trained. I feel like the twins will learn to potty train at the same time I grow into diapers from old age. (Let's hope that doesn't happen)
All-in-all January was a good month. Although, we had a few rainy days (seemed like record-braking) that kept us indoors and caused the kids to go wild from cabin fever. We also spent a long weekend up in St Johns and joined Mike's family in celebrating his grandma's 90th birthday.

Time flies when you're having fun

It's already the middle to-the-end (?) of January 2010 and I have nothing to show for it. Oh, wait, my Christmas tree is down and packed away. Other than that, the house and kids are exactly the same as they were in 2009: loud and messy.

I should buy stock in wrapping paper!

Well, it's done. All the gifts are wrapped and under the tree. The presents from Santa are open and displayed nicely bearing the lucky child's name.
I was worried at the beginning. Barely into the first quarter of the wrapping game, I ran out of tape. I didn't know what I was going to do. Then, to make things more tense, the Barbie convertible Corvette required 4 (yes, 4) 'C' batteries and a 9-volt! Come on, seriously! But, I managed to pull it off: I grabbed packing tape and used my husband's fingers to hold asymmetrical strips of the stuff. Searching, I found a 9-volt and 3 'C' batteries in my battery box and one my son's drawer. Whew!
Problem solved.
I also had a nifty idea to wrap presents for each child in distinct paper. They each got to choose a pattern of paper they liked. Joe wanted snowmen, Sarah wanted rainbow, Sam got a Santa motif and Mary wanted Strawberry Shortcake. Sounds easy, right? Just wrap and each child knows which presents are his/hers! No tags! Yep, you guessed it. I managed to screw that up. I gave my mom the wrong wrapping paper and Joe and Sam's papers/presents are mixed up. It wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't already wrapped some of the presents in the original set-up. Thank goodness for my mom who wrote the correct name on each of the mixed-up wrapped gifts.
Overall, the night went well. With the help of my mom and husband (who barely complained while putting together the 2 3-wheeled scooters for the twins), we managed to finish up by 10:00pm!
Merry Christmas to all! Now get some sleep!

Christmas is almost here!

Wow! It's been awhile since I've posted. Probably thought I'd fallen off the face of the Earth? Not quite. The poop is...I've been busy working towards having that 'perfect Christmas" we all dream of. You know the one. The Christmas where, for starters, the weather is perfect so the kids can enjoy all the presents they got OUTSIDE so you can clean up the wrapping paper bomb that exploded on your living room floor. The Christmas, or pre-Christmas, when all gifts were planned out and perfectly shopped for and purchased at the LOWEST PRICE. The Christmas morning where the kids want to sleep in (taking suggestions on how to achieve this one). The Christmas where...well, I realize there is really no way for that prefectly planned out Christmas morning to happen. Still, I can dream. Right?
Mike needs the computer ASAP so I will have to continue this post later.

we all had a wonderful time at Sam's baptism.

Saturday was such a special day for all of us, especially Sam. It was his baptism day! He woke up with a big smile and a great attitude...he knew he was making a good decision and choosing the right thing to do. Mike and I were so happy for him and his younger brother and sisters were excited about his decision to get baptized. Sam was surrounded by his friends and loving family. It was certainly a special day for us all.
After the baptism we had a luncheon at our house. Plenty of good food and company was had.

and we made it through Thanksgiving dinner without braking anything!

We had the pleasure of going to my aunt's house for Thanksgiving dinner. For the first time in my life the adults out numbered the kids at the annual feast. It wasn't any quieter, though, there were 6 kids and 4 of them are mine. Anyway, the food was fabulous! I cannot describe how yummy everything was...the turkey, the ham, the potatoes, the stuffing, the green bean casserole! OH, and Mike's pies. Oh, oh, oh, Mike's homemade yummy, yummy pies. Every bite was worth every calorie! We all ate until our bellies and pants could hold no more.

The weather was perfect for outdoor play so we took advantage of it and sent the kids to 'work off' their big meal. They happily played with bubbles (until Joe spilled them all) and I taught them how to play ninja destruction (awesome game).

Other than that, I've been trying to update my house with a new bathroom while planning my black Friday shopping and Sam's baptism. Yeah, I know, bad idea. I am already in over my head! Our hallway bathroom is still not put together; the vanity, sink and facet are in my front room still in their boxes. And where is the old toilet, sink and vanity? It was sitting on the front porch but now it's in the back of Mike's truck waiting to go to 'bathroom heaven'.

I have to mention how grateful I am for all the wonderful things that I have and enjoy on a daily basis. Things such as (in no particular order) freedom, modern medicine, conveniences of technology, religion, the list can go on forever. I am especially thankful for my wonderful husband and for my four happy and healthy children! Oh, and all my family (lest no one be offended)

today was a busy, busy day

I had a bright idea: Ask the neighbor if her husband would be willing to tile my bathroom floor for $100 (small bathroom). I already have the supplies, all I needed was for someone to do the labor. I double checked with Mike to make sure it was okay (price and all) and, thank goodness 'cause I already committed, it was a go! Mike did insist that we put in a new vanity. That meant that I had to run to a store and pick one out and bring it home TODAY.
Well, that didn't happen. Vanities are major bucks, jimminey. I was able to find one that was reasonably priced. I purchased it and a sink topper (counter top). I will pick it up in the morning and hopefully the grout will be dry by then. (Neighbor guy will be back in the AM to grout.) The tile is down and it looks great. He did it all (take out old floor, rip out sink and base, pull up toilet) in less than 2 1/2 hours!
A new bathroom floor and vanity! Exciting! Bonus: I already have a new fixture for the sink. All of this will be done just in time for Sam's baptism on Saturday (we are having peeps over for lunch afterwards). I can't wait to share the pictures will y'all.
Until tomorrow.....

Title change

I decided to change the title of my blog. Since I don't keep a daily journal (or a weekly or monthly one for that matter), I thought it would be a good idea to 'double dip' and expand the purpose of my blog. I will call it a journalog. Or a blogurnal. Something that combines a blog and journal together. I am open to ideas.
In case you were worried, the format of my blog won't change. I will still write about the daily happenings and goings-on of the Lee family, just more frequently (I hope). OH, and maybe the writings will be (might be) a bit more personal. You know, for the children. I hope you don't mind. I figure that my memoirs (used loosely) would be read after I expire by all who wish to expand their knowledge of the daily dealings of a housewife. So, why not pass the time by reading them now?

Scouts!

Sam is officially a Cub Scout. Doesn't he look dashing in his Scout uniform?
His first Scout meeting was last week, they went to the Wildlife Zoo in Phoenix. He came home showing me the Scout sign and talking endlessly about the 1/2-day trip.
We went to the scout shop yesterday and purchased his uniform and the basic materials a Cub Scout requires. By the time we got home, Sam had already read half of the Scout Handbook. Talk about excitement!
Sam will attend his first Pack Meeting tomorrow. I heard those meetings are really cool - the boys who've earned badges and arrows and other things (?) are recognized and congratulated. It won't be long until Sam is one of those boys.

Messy House

I just swept my floors. Oh. My. Gosh. You should see the pile of 'stuff' that was on my floor. Dirt, sand, food, bendaroos, hay, sticks from corn dogs , grass, paper, wipes, gum, candy, chocolate, water bottle lids, popcorn, cards, wrappers, old fruit, a chicken nugget, the list could go on and on.
Since yesterday was a no-school day, I feel like today is Monday. It feels like a Monday and I definitely have Monday-house. Anyone want to come and do my laundry and dishes? I need a nap.

Sam turns 8!

Happy 8th Birthday, Sam!
New clothes, Wii games, a remote controlled helicopter...this 8 year-old has it made! In addition to all the wonderful presents, he has his health (the best gift of all, I think).


post party note: The party went so well - the kids had a blast running the obstacle course. Some of the kids wanted to do it again and again and again. I had no idea that 7 and 8 year-olds can be so competative.
Sam got some really cool gifts and already played some of them into extinction. I can't tell what his favorite gift was but I am sure that the fact that he gets to stay up 'til 8 o'clock, now that he is 8, is in the top 5 gifts of all time.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween. The kids ate at Chik-fil-a for free (kids in costume, talk about a bonus), we visited grandparents, went to a friend's for a 'weeny roast, visited Aunt Linda and Jean and Blaine, and trick-or-treated until the cows came home. Talk about a ton of candy....sheesh. The night was full of fun and adventure. I wish I had pictures to post: Sarah was a beautiful mermaid, Mary was a cute little princess, Joe was a energetic spider man and Sam was a Ghostbuster (proton generator pack that glowed in the dark and everything)! Whew!

A new week

I am excited that a new week is starting. I am also excited that this new week ends with lots and lots of candy.

It's a park kind-of day!

How perfect is the Arizona fall weather? Pretty darn perfect, if you ask me. The mornings are crisp and fresh, the midday is ever so calm, afternoons are cool and evenings are relaxing. Yep. Nice. Ahh.
Since the weather is do dang perfect, I am taking the younger 3 to the park today and who knows when I'll come back. Last week, we were there for more than 3 hours, enjoying every minute of it. We only came home because it was just about dinner time and we had eaten all of our lunch leftovers.

First Family Camping Trip

We managed to survive our first family camping trip. We didn't plan this trip, we happily (maybe not Mike) participated in the Souther Estates Ward Family Camping Trip - and it was sooooo fun. It was only one night and there were bathrooms with running water and flushing toilets but we did sleep in a tent on the hard hard ground. Oh, and it was a bit chilly at night.
We had a great time visiting with ward members, playing games, hiking, eating, putting more wood on the fire, roasting marshmallows, singing songs and enjoying the cooler weather. I wish I had pictures to show you. They would have been neat to look at. They probably would have made you wish that you were there with us. Unfortunately, both of my cameras are broken and I didn't even consider taking pictures with my cell phone. Sorry. Maybe next time. And, yes, there will be a next time.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Sarah is officially a 6 year-old. She woke up to find presents wrapped and tagged bearing her name. She politely asked if she could open them. I was still in bed, it wasn't even 6:00am. She opened her presents with her siblings looking on...she got just what she wanted. A new outfit to wear to school, some decorations for her room and something else (I can't remember at the moment).
She wanted other things, too. Lucky her, she got them later on in the afternoon from her friends who came to her party bearing gifts galore. It was a mixed party - boys and girls her age from school and church. Oh, and cousins. What a great bunch of kids, all were well behaved and polite.
Her party started off with coloring Halloween pictures (while the pizza cooked). After they ate pizza it was time to decorate cupcakes. Each kid did a fabulous job frosting their cupcake and decorating it with colored sugar, sugar shapes and other confection decorations. YUM! You know what I'm talking about! Sarah got the biggest cupcake to decorate, of course. Then, we all moved over to the patio where we watched Sarah open her bounty. Oh boy, what a bounty. Finally, the party ended with a bang and a pow and a whack - a pinata. (How do I put one of those ~ things over the 'n'?) Anyways...all the kids got a hit, some kids got two hits. Xave, my 15 year-old nephew, put more muscle in his swing than any of us could and knocked the pinata right off of the rope. It hit the ground and lost its bottom. In the end, the kids got enough candy to last them 'til Halloween. What a great day for me and everyone who got to celebrate Sarah's special day with her.

Cell Phone Photos

I have some very cute photos on my cell phone but I am unable to get them into a program that accepts 'this' type of image. I am unable to copy them or send them to my desktop. Any suggestions?

edit: so after many, many (limited in size) emails from here to there, I got some photos to a safe place where I can share them with you!

El Conquistador, Tucson, AZ

Ah, one last hurrah for summer! We followed Mike to Tucson for some needed R & R. We didn't get any R & R but we had a good time. The weather was great, can't complain about that. The pool was kid-friendly, can't complain about that. The kids had a great time, can't complain about that. Now don't get me wrong....it wasn't all peachy and perfect. The nights were long. The kids did not want to sleep in their beds or in their sleeping bags. Instead, they wanted to jump from bed to bed and climb the tables and jump off of the hotel furniture. If we weren't on the
3rd floor I probably would have let them. Their landings sounded bigger than a loud thud and I was almost positive that we were going to be asked to leave.
These pictures were taken the first day we swam. Enjoy. We sure did.

It's already the middle of September!

What the heck...where has the time gone?
I am still working on being motivated to get somethings done.
The twin club I am in is having their huge bi-annual garage sale next weekend and so I am taking full advantage of selling off stuff that I don't need and don't use. I'll admit, easier said than done. I am a Whetten at heart and we Whettens like to keep stuff around, just in case.
On a lighter note, we just got back from a mini vacation and I will post about it soon. On, and my new camera broke. The same way my old camera broke. Darn
In the meantime, vote in my poll.

Motivation

I am in serious need of some motivation to.....do everything that needs to get done.
I could easily make a list of all the chores around the house and in the yard that I should work on daily and weekly. But I won't. It would take too long and, frankly, you would be bored. So, I am asking you to post a comment with a suggestion on something that I could (should) work on. Let's see what you come up with and let's see what I can get done. Together, yes we can! Ha ha! (notice, that in my statement, I am not implying that you come and do it for me or that I am suggesting that anyone do my work for me when I am capable of doing it myself)
Hope to hear from you soon!

Summer Wrap-up

Summer break has come and gone! School started on the 12th and it seems like we are finally on a schedule that we can all follow.
Here's the skinny on our summer break: No schedule = a whole lot of nothin' to do. I'm not complaining...I thought it was the best summer in the history of 'summer with the kids' summer (huh?). Anyway, we spent just about every weekday at the pool, hanging out and soaking up the good 'ole late-afternoon sun (no sunscreen required). The kids had a blast playing in the water, jumping off the diving boards and going down the slides. I followed the twins around the pool (shallow end) and occasionally took them to the deep end where they could kick their legs freely while hanging on the edge. Sam and Sarah also took swimming lessons to improve their rank in swimming survival; I'm still not sure how well they'd manage, sometimes their freestyle and breaststroke looks a lot like they ARE having a stroke. We filled in the spare hours with basketball camp, trips to the zoo, a bounce house and afternoon movies. Any other spare-spare hours (or hours where I couldn't take it anymore) were spent with friends or cousins or our fifth child, TV.
We squeezed in a quasi family vacay in St Johns and spent a few days with the in-laws. They kids had a blast playing with cousins and watching a parade.
I will update with another slide show soon. So many pictures, so little time.