Mt. Vernon

268. That's how many pictures I have from our trip.  And what a trip it was.  We left Maddox in the capable hands of my little sister, Julene (he had so much fun with her that he didn't even have time to miss us) and took Kylie and Jayden to Washington DC and New York for spring break.  We were gone 7 days, visited 6 different states and walked more miles in one week than I have in the past month.  We missed our NaNa and I felt guilty for leaving him when he came down with pnemonia the day before we left, but there is no way we could have done this trip with a 2 year old in tow (arriving in Baltimore at 1:30 AM after a long flight and a long day confirmed this).  It was also so nice just being able to spend time with the older kids, Maddox requires so much of our attention so it was good for us to be able to spoil Kylie and Jayden with our attention for a change.  The next day we slept in then went to Mt. Vernon, Virginia, the home of George Washington.  Not only was it fascinating, but it was so huge, like a mini village and so gorgeous.  So peaceful and so serene.

Kylie was very preoccupied with the slave house.  We had some interesting and good conversations with the kids about slavery.  They've learned a little bit about it in school, but to be there and get some real insight into what kind of lives they lived was really eye opening to them.  Jayden is also preoccupied with African American people in general.  I had to give him a little prep talk before we left on our trip to let him know that there will be a lot of black people on the east coast and that he shouldn't stare or point at them.  I don't know if that was a very good idea since every time he saw a black person he would whisper to me things like, "mom, I didn't point or stare, but that guy is REALLY black".

We all know George Washington was a fearless General and amazing President, but I had no idea he was such a successful farmer and business man too. Georgio was quite a multi tasker, who knew.

The grave of George and Martha.  Pretty cool to be only feet away from the body of the first president of the U.S., kinda creepy too.

The family crypt. Ewww.  Not sure why they were so determined to try and break in.

I didn't realize Jayden had such an obsession for maps until this trip.  I can't even count how many times he ran into glass doors, people, golf carts, posts and walls because he was too preoccupied reading his map.

Kylie wanted to leave her mark with a cartwheel every where we went.  From Mt. Vernon to the monuments, to the statue of liberty and everywhere in between.  I drew the line at the subways though, her hands were not getting anywhere near those nasty floors.

I'm going to bore you with more facts: the house looks like it is made of stone, but really it is just wood that is cut to look like stone then they mixed sand in with the paint.  The pioneer of the faux finish.  Photography wasn't allowed in the house, but it was beautiful inside and filled with cool artifacts, even the bed that he died on (once again, equally cool and creepy).  They had a museum filled with more cool stuff also, like his dentures, sword, uniform and part of the famous cherry tree trunk.  I never considered myself a history buff, but after visiting this place it made me want to go home and research everything I could about the revolutionary war and George Washington (like did you know he didn't have any kids? Martha was married before and had children but they never had kids together, so he doesn't have any real descendants).  I'm such a nerd.

The burly, hairy chested man wasn't too interesting to look at, but the kids were fascinated with how they made nails back then.  Jayden is begging me to let him try it at home.

No wonder George retired here. I think I could too.

The park incident

I'm trying to decide if I was being a really good mom or a really bad mom.  I took the boys to the park while Kylie was at activity days a couple of blocks away.  I lost track of time and when I checked the clock I realized I was already late picking her up.  I told Jayden atleast 6 times that it was time to go, I made 3 different trips to the car loading up sand toys, flip flops, water bottles and Maddox, each time telling Jayden to get in the car.  Finally I'm loaded up, the car is on and he is still playing in the sand.  I'm yelling out the window at him that I'm leaving, and every other kid on the playground looks at me but him.  So I did it.  I drove away.  I knew I would only be gone a couple of minutes and that he needed to learn his lesson about being obedient.  I was gone no more than 4 minutes but when I came back he was standing there sobbing as another dad in the ward was trying to help him.  When I saw him crying so hard that he could barely breathe, not only did I worry that the dad would call CPS (and I'm sure he also vowed right then and there to never let his kids play at our house), but I worried that maybe that wasn't the best way to teach him the lesson. Several times throughout the rest of the evening his little eyes would spill over with tears and he would remind me how scared he was.  As I tucked him into bed that night his little chin started quivering and he told me that I had broken his heart. I love that boy and he was breaking mine. We had a good talk about consequences and hopefully he will learn from this and listen the next time I tell him that it's time to go, either that or he'll suffer from post traumatic stress disorder and seperation anxiety.  Good moms follow through with their threats, good moms let their kids learn through natural consequences, good moms make their kids learn the hard lessons in life, so if I did the things that a good mom should then why do I feel so rotten?

What's different?

He still has the same adorable dimple. He still has those plump little lips.  He still has that sparkle in his eye. He hasn't lost a single ounce of those chubby cheeks.  He still has his fabulous hair (which I refuse to cut. When the time comes, I may have to petition Salt Lake for an exception to the missionary haircut rule).  Nope, the only thing missing from his cute little face is the drool.  For the past 29 months the constant string of slobber was like his 5th appendage.  I don't think I have a single picture without his shirt completely drenched in drool.  Until now.  It seems as if over night he became aware that the saliva beard is no longer en vogue and is always wiping off his "swobber".  He even gets mad if he accidentally "swobbers" on his toys while he's playing.  I have to admit it's kind of refreshing to not have to wipe off my mouth after every kiss and I don't even recognize his neck without that familiar glistening sheen of drool. My baby's growing up.  Time for another one.



Jay's little proteges

I can't help it.  I think they are the cutest little 4ft human beings on a snowboard.  Just look at them. The pint sized boards, itty bitty boots, miniature gloves and goggles that still swallow up their faces, it is all just too much for me to handle.  Maybe it's a good thing I stayed behind with Maddox while Jason took them up to Flagstaff for the day, I may not have been able to keep my hands off their cute little buns in those little poofy pants.  This was the first time they've had a chance to go this year and Jason's half time report was that they both had digressed, he had dealt with more tears than any one man should have to handle and they were about ready to call it quits.  I was pleasantly surprised to get a phone call at 6:00pm saying they were just leaving the resort and had an awesome time.  I'm glad the second half of the day was better and they are back to being Jay's little proteges (where's the fancy little "e" with the mark over it when I need it?).  You know I've been on a little centimental kick lately thinking that this little guy might be our last and I'm not ready for my kids to grow up, but I'm trying to psych myself up about the next stage of life.  It will be so fun when all the kids are old enough that we can do things like snowboarding together as the whole family.  I can't even imagine the day when we can all go to a movie or a restraunt without chasing a miniature person who is yelling "catch me!" at the top of his lungs. I'm seeing more and more advantages of having the kids get older, I love the new relationships we're forming and it is actually really fun.  I have, however, finally pin pointed exactly what it is that I will miss about having little kids around.  Sure I will definately miss the "I wub you mom!" and the way their eyes light up and they run to you after you've gone. It will be sad when the love notes that I find on the back of their school papers stop coming and when they no longer think I am the coolest person around.  But this is what it really boils down to: at some point it gets creepy when you are still holding their hands, tickling their backs, cuddling with them on your lap, pinching their cute little bums and kissing on those perfect little lips and it makes me so sad to think of the day when I can't do that anymore.  Whenever I go out of town or are away from them for a while my heart just aches to eat them up and I swear the need to hold them is as strong as the need for food and water.  How sad will that be when I can no longer snuggle up in bed with my 17 year old son and stroke his face while he falls asleep? I know, creepy.  I just hope my grandbabies are okay with being smothered because I'm sure at that point the squeezing and nibbling drought may very well have driven me to the brink of death.  Either that or I'll follow in my moms footsteps and have 10 kids, I don't blame her for not being able to stop. And on that note...the kids had a fantabulous day of snowboarding and their mom is just a little bit nutty.

I have taught her well, that girl has got the hand on the hip pose down like it's nobodys business.

Really, I have to laugh when I look at this picture.  They look like any old couple riding the lift together, except they're half the size.  Like what are they even talking about? "Dahling, when shall we plan our next ski trip to the Swiss Alps?" "I don't know, but why are you sitting so far away from me like I have cooties?"

Horses

I have been trying to convince Jason for the past two weeks that going to the Arabian Horse show would be life changing, cause here's the thing: I hate Saturday chores more than the kids and I'm always looking for an excuse to get out of them.  I know I'm probably the only mormon mom out there that doesn't have her kids cleaning windows and vacuuming floors all Saturday long.  It's not that I'm against chores, I'm just against doing them all day on Saturday because after a long week all I want to do is relax with the fam.  And I also have to put in a plug for allowance while we're on the subject. I've heard so many moms say that kids shouldn't be paid for being part of the family, but I disagree.  Ever since we started doing an allowance the kids have kept their rooms and bathrooms cleaned all week without nagging, the dishwasher gets unloaded, the table gets set, lunches get made and clean clothes are no longer sitting in their baskets for weeks at a time. I also think it's so good for them to start learning how to manage their money--they put 10% in tithing, 50% in savings and 40% for spending, my parents had us do that and it was a great habit to get into. At a weekly rate of $2.50 they are starting to realize that it will take years before they can save up for anything. Oh well. Anyways....that was quite the unrelated tangent.  Back to the horses.  So Jayden envisioned the horse show to be like the Kentucky Derby and Kylie thought we were going to see a Rodeo so we were all a little disappointed that we drove 45 minutes to see a glorified beauty pageant for horses where all they did was trot around the rink then waited to be judged. Yawn.  Even Maddox kept asking where the "super fast horsies" were. (this lady looks the least bit pleased that I keep taking her picture)

They did have some beautiful horses and the day was saved when Jason found this "paint your own ceramic pony" booth.  Maddox insisted on painting his green. Then he named his horse "Red". 

 Eventhough it wasn't all it was cracked up to be, it was nice getting out of the house and enjoying a day together with the family.  It's also been fun seeing them go through a horse phase, besides seeing Maddox drag his now two-legged "Big Red" around everywhere, they also spent all Sunday evening playing cowboys.  Yee-haw!



Lego city

Sure they hurt like crazy when you step on them barefoot, sure they are a constant presence all over the toy room floor, sure I've vacuumed up atleast $100 worth of legos, sure we have spent a small fortune on kits that get built once then are mixed into bottomless pit of legos, sure I have a whole stack of instructions for those kits that will never be assembled again...BUT I still love legos. I have yet to find another (non techno) toy that will keep Jayden's attention the way that legos do.  I love the creative outlet they provide and am constantly amazed at the intricate details of his creations.  My new favorite is his "lego city", he is always creating new additions and has a whole story line to go along with every creation.  I think any mom of boys will agree, so let's raise our Capri Suns and give a toast to those little plastic bricks!

Boys boarding trip
Once again I've got the pictures, but not a whole lot of dialogue to go along with it. Jason went to Utah with some AZ friends and then a few weeks later went with his Vegas buddies, it was good for Jason to get a break from work, he's had a pretty stressful past few weeks. It sounds and looks like they had a great time!

We all love the Vegas boys, Kylie was so excited when "uncle" Shawn stayed the night and I had a hard time convincing her to go to bed after their late night Heelys party.

A LOVEly love day

Traditional valentine's gifts on their plates....

 Traditional valentine's breakfast with THE best pink hot chocolate (I can't find what blog I got this off of to give credit, but here's the recipe: 1 C white chocolate chips, 1 C heavy cream, 4 C half&half, vanilla, red food coloring, whipped cream- melt chocolate chips in saucepan with cream, stir until smooth. Add the half&half, vanilla and food coloring, about 7 drops. Heat through and serve with whipped cream)

 New tradition-heart attacking their bedroom doors and packing a v-day lunch with everything red (red juice, strawberries, doritos in a red bag, little Debbie heart cupcakes, red jello and a heart strawberry jelly sandwich)....

Then jetting off to what I would love to be our annual tradition...Valentine's in Vegas.

I was feeling sorry for myself after we had our fabulous Vegas v-day last year while my dad watched the kids and this year my valentine would be there without me.  Jason kept trying to convince me to find somebody to watch the kids so I could go with him, but please, who would want to watch 3 extra kids on valentines day??  This is where my friend Melissa swoops in to save the day and insists on watching them (I didn't ask, but I didn't put up a fight either), so I booked a last minute flight (thanks to the free flight with the companion pass) and we were off at 7am that morning (which made for a hectic morning with the kids, hence the staged day after pics, but I'm glad we got to spend some time with the kids before we left so that they know how much we love them too!) Jason had to work and I spent the morning meandering around the outdoor mall, cozying up on the couch at Borders with a stack of magazines and doing whatever my little heart desired. Jason was worried I was going to be bored. Pssshhh, as if. I met up with my cute sister-in-laws for lunch, got caught up on the latest gossip and loved on my new little nephew.

Then I was faced with the impossible decision...more shopping or napping. Life is so rough. The nap won out and I awoke from my blissful slumber right before Jason got off.  We wanted to fit in as much as we could that night and had a huge agenda, but as the night got progressively later and we got progressively more tired, the list got progressively smaller.  We did enjoy a quiet and delicious dinner where I think I ate myself into my third trimester (if I get stretch marks during this pregnancy, I'm blaming it on the food). We even considered the hour and a half wait a priviledge, because when was the last time we got to wait for that long without kids? Parenting gives you a whole new perspective on life. After that we walked around Aria and City Center where I was wishing I was Showntell on the Bachelor with her limitless shopping spree.  We finally ended the night with a dip in the rooftop hot tub at our hotel.  I ignored Jason's concerns that I was boiling the baby in-utero and instead just basked in the romance of it all...a hot tub. on the rooftop. at night. in Vegas. on Valentines day. with my man. I could almost hear the echo of the tolling bells from Elvis' Wedding Chapel of Love.  And then the security came two minutes later and killed the moment when they told us the pool was closed. It was short, but atleast I had my moment where I realized life is good.  Life is really good.  We called it a night after that since we had to wake up at 4:30 am to catch a flight back, it was a harsh reality check, but we soaked up every minute of our quick romantic getaway. Happy Valentine's day to all my loves....

A not so secret secret admirer

So Kylie got her first Valentine and I know I should probably be worried, but I think it's the cutest thing ever.  One of the early morning teachers came up to Kylie and gave her a gift bag with a card that said "to Kylie, from your secret admirer, Brycen" and inside was this little bear filled with chocolate hearts. Oh my cuteness.  She was so emberassed and tried to give it away to her friend (which I can not understand why, if I was her I would have been so giddy and on cloud nine. Of course I think I was boy crazy from the minute I emerged from the womb).  This little boy has had a crush on her ever since kindergarten and she has always blown him off.  She may flirt with the best of them, but she really isn't into boys and I'm glad.  She said it did make her feel good that he gave her the present, but that she only liked him as a friend.  It was sweet and innocent which is a far cry from the drama with another boy, Zach. He is every parents worst nightmare for their daughter.  He kept telling Kylie she was "sexy and hot", invited her to his house for a hot tub party, told her that she needed to wear a sexy bikini to the hot tub party and said he would buy her one of she didn't have one (her response: "I don't own a bikini and I never will!" Go Kylie, I must have done something right.), and chasing her around the playground every recess to show her his boxers. I wanted to smack the kid for bursting her little bubble of innocence, but instead of resorting to violence I talked to her teacher who talked to the principal who immediately took him into the office for a chat and called Kylie up to the office to tell her how proud she was that she stood up for herself and told someone what he was doing (a shout out to her amazing principal).  Then a few days later her friend overheard a conversation he had with his friends involving Kylie and the "F" word. Kylie immediately told her teacher who didn't do anything about it (no shout out to her not so amazing teacher), so instead Kylie marched her little legs straight to the prinicpal's office where she immediately called him in and he had to sit there the rest of the day and was also suspended from recess for the entire month (another shout out to the amazing principal). Hopefully that's the end of that. I was so proud of Kylie for the way she handled the situation and I was glad that we were able to have some good conversations about what kind of boys she would want to date and what boys to stay away from when she's older.  I honestly was so surprised to hear that kind of stuff coming from a little 8 year old boys mouth and it makes me wonder if I need to give her "THE" talk. I never thought we would be dealing with so much boy drama in the third grade and it scares me to think of what is yet to come.