Mom, I Am NOT A Performing Monkey

We had watched the video of my nephew, Ebby, sweeping the floor, and Livi got inspired. She loves to help and has pushed the broom around before, but this time she was actually taking the dust pan and pretending to dump it in the trash! I ran to get my camera, because I knew no one would believe me and this is what I got instead:


So it didn't work out as I expected, but I thought "hey, I'll have her sing Ba Ba Black Sheep, like she loves to, and then I'll have a cute video for our parents." She starts out really well and then...

My Reading Rainbow

It's no surprise that I love reading, but some people are shocked when they find out how much I love reading. I am always reading a book. Always. I have to read at night before going to sleep, I love to read in the tub, and sometimes, if I don't feel like shaving my legs, I read in the shower while waiting for my conditioner to set (much to Eric's chagrin). I have a back up book in my car, in case I get stuck at a train crossing, or backed up traffic, or even red light! I have multiple books on my ipod. I have 5 bookcases full of books that I constantly reread. I would not survive without the escape that reading provides.
I was lucky to have parents that really cared about reading. My parents bought us books constantly, we went to the library, and we always had books at night time. My mom would read with the best voices that made the stories come alive. My dad would read the stories wonky so "Lizzie Bruin" from the Berenstain Bears became "Lizzie Borden" who gave her friends 40 whacks. His books always ended "And they all died, the end." Reading is a pleasure, an escape from my life into something more interesting. I LOVE READING.
With reading being so special to me, I have tried very hard to instill this same love in my kids. We have read to them every day since they were born. They always get books at nap time, and when they are older and don't want me to sing to them at night we do books instead. If I need quiet I ask the kids to go read books. Ethan and Ella both beg to read books for about 30 minutes after we have read to them (Ella just looks at pictures and tells herself the story in her own words, but we are are working well on actual reading).
It was heartwarming to walk into Ella's room the other day and find the girls curled up on her bed reading books together. Ella was saying the words from memory to her book and Livi was babbling along like she knew her book. It didn't matter that her book was upside down!
I teared up, just a little, when I saw this. I guess all 3 will be awesome readers and will enjoy that experience as much as I do!

Somebody Call Ripleys

We looked out the window and what did we see? Hail the size of baseballs falling down on me.
We were going to be last night when it sounded like someone was trying to break into our house with a baseball bat. Turned out it was just the biggest hail I have ever seen in my life. We tried to stay away from any windows while still watching through the door. It was crazy. I would never have believed it if I didn't see it. Eric kept one, and it currently resides in our freezer in case anyone calls us liars and I have to pull it out and say "Boo-Ya."

Who Likes Pizza?

Pizza night at our house has it's up and downs. 4 out of 5 of us LOVE it! One of us is not so favorably inclined toward the yumminess. Here are two enjoying our homemade pizza: Here is one, in time out for throwing a fit (she decided time out would be under there).

Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

We gave in. I swore we would never again have pets (okay, more like forcefully told Eric I didn't want to) but somehow the kids saved up enough money to buy some fish (they are $0.28 at Walmart). Eric and I bought the aquarium, but the kids bought the fish, the decorations, and the food. Eric took Ethan and Ella to Walmart to pick out the fish. Eric said the whole time they were at Walmart Ella kept saying "I can't believe you are letting us get them!" They came home, set it up, and for over an hour everyone sat around and stared at fish. No joke.
Ethan drew up a key so we could tell the fish apart. Ella named three of them, and so did Ethan. Their names are: Deade (pronounced Dead-ee), Silly, and Cupid (Ethan's) and boy, Pea-pea, like the vegetable, and Julian (Ella's) I know it's pea-pea and not pee-pee because it was Ella, not Ethan who named it.
Unfortunately we have already lost 3: Silly, Deade (ironically), and Pea-pea.

Tripping Down the Monument

So we had to leave our house again today for a showing. 7 showings so far, no offers. Great.
Well we decided to take advantage of the time out of the house to hike down the monument. It was fun, a good work out with Livi on my back, and it was beautiful. It was also weird. There were the smallest sunflowers, but the biggest dandelions I have ever seen. On the trail head map it says "There is no drinking water along the trail." Ethan started freaking out because we had brought water bottles with us. We tried to explain that it meant there was no water available on the trail, and that we should bring our own, but the way it was worded and Ethan harping on it over and over, had me unsure about what the true meaning was. A ranger went by and I was tempted to hide my water bottle from him. Just what I need, the fears of my 7 year old combined with my own.

Our Friend Justin On So You Think You Can Dance

Our friend Justin is a man of many talents. He reads crazy books, he is funny, he is a great photographer, he is a beekeeper, and now he is a back up dancer for Usher. Yep, you read that right. Eric and I were watching So You Think You Can Dance when we noticed our friend Justin dancing in the background on the premier of the Usher/Justin Beiber video. Awesome! Okay, so maybe it's not Justin, just some other group of dancing beekeepers, which begs the question: Usher, what are you doing with Justin Beiber and a bunch of dancing beekeepers? New low Usher, new low.

Fun in the Sun, or Not Winning Any Awards

We were able to go over to the Bagleys today and take advantage of one of the first days of summer we've had in weeks. Melissa set up the sprinkler and the kids went nuts. They tried the sprinkler on the slide, the sprinkler on the swings, and the eternal favorite, the sprinkler under the trampoline. Ah good times.
The babies didn't like the sprinkler so much. They liked a bucket full of water better. I guess it's more their size.


Here is my bad mom moment of today:

Good Morning Welcome To Sonic

I'm getting a little tired of hearing that phrase. We've had too many mornings where I've had to grab the kids and rush out the door. With the poor weather we've headed to sonic a few times. Here is what we have learned:
1. If you don't have your card waiting to swipe the car side payment option will time out and you will be forced to give your card to the carhop who will give you a dirty look.
2. Ordering a 44 ounce soda at 9:00am gets you fewer looks than ordering a doughnut at the same time of day at a bakery. Go figure.
3. Sonic has nasty milk.
4. Ella will order an orange juice every time and take about 2 sips.
5. Livi loves lemonade. Really loves it. She will cry and scream if you try and take the cup away from her even if it is to undo her seat belt to take her out of the car.
6. Ethan is not a morning person.
This is what we look like at 9am with 10 minutes notice to get out of the house. Eric couldn't figure out why I didn't want to go walk around Target.

Yelling in the Street

We've had a lot of foot traffic coming through our house as we've had 7 showings already. I'm running out of things to do with the kids while we are out of the house so often. The weather has been really bad, so hanging out at the park isn't an option. We've been to the bakery so often over the last few days I am starting to get the "you are a bad mom" look from the workers at the bakery. I don't doubt that next time we go in they will start getting our order together before we make it to the counter.
Wanting a little distraction I was grateful when Mrs. Hessler, Ella's preschool teacher, called to say the graduation photos were available to pick up. We had a showing yesterday evening so I headed over to Gering to pick them up. As I was loading all 3 kids in the car a gardening truck drove by. All of a sudden I hear a guy yell out the truck window "Hey! You're Cute!" Looking around for said cute person and seeing it was only me and the kids on the street I realized he may have been talking to me. I don't know what is the weirdest part: The fact I am at least 10 years older than him, the fact I was loading 3 kids into a car, or the fact my hair was frizzy and I had no makeup on. Hmmm, I know I should be flattered, but I just feel embarrassed for the poor guy who thought I was worth yelling at.

8 days a week, 28 hours a day OR Julia's life is more interesting UPDATED

Or at least that is what it seems like when you are trying to keep a house clean with 3 kids. My life consists of cleaning sinks, scrubbing cabinets, sweeping floors and then doing it all again when the kids blow through like tornados. Time consuming, yes. Worthy of taking pictures, no.
Needing something to blog about (to do something other than clean), I decided to share some cool pictures my sister sent us of her trip in China. Some of you may have seen them, some of you may not care, but she isn't blogging herself, so I'll do it myself. I guess they take their parks pretty seriously. This is a park lit up at night that reminds me of Disneyland at Christmas. Hmmm, spend a bazillion dollars to go to China, or spend a bazillion dollars to go to Disneyland. I'll have to think about it.*update* I found out this is not fish flavored toothpaste. It is pea flavored ice-cream. Oh, that makes it so much better! Mmmmm, I think my decision has been made for me. Plus Julia said all the drinks are warm. The water, the juice, everything. Plus they have a corn smoothie. Corn. Enough said.Milk? Check. Smiling Cow? Check Julia's nickname, jujube? Awesomeness!
To quote Julia's email "In China, there are no trumpets allowed, nor cars on fire, nor blue. Blue is just out of the question."

Before and Afters - Our Journey in this House

It is official: We are selling our home. It went on the market this morning (or as Ethan told Ella "Vicki (our realtor) will come, pick up the house, and take it to the market.") and I have worked like a mad woman the past few days to get it ready. I am sad to leave this house that has so much of our time, sweat, and blood in it, but there are just too many things we would like in a home, and it would be too much for this house in this neighborhood. Most of the improvements we have done ourselves (except hanging kitchen cabinets, which we could probably do now). I was looking over pictures from when we first moved in and thought I would share the transformations with you. There is a direct link at the bottom if you want to see bigger pictures.

http://s643.photobucket.com/albums/uu155/nikkistott/House%20Before%20and%20After/?action=view&current=c00493b0.pbw

Somebody Got Hungry

Can you guess which child thought eating modeling clay was a good idea, and was not happy when I took it away? (no worries, it's non-toxic, but I just couldn't sit and watch my child nibble on bright purple clay.)

Livi and the Tramp

We were lucky to be with the Bagleys this Memorial Day with great conversation and yummy food. Chad grilled some awesome steak, Melissa made killer marshmallow brownies and scrumptious soggy fries (ha ha). Eric cut up a watermelon and my contribution to the meal consisted of opening a can of olives to put next to pre-pealed baby carrots and celery. Awesome! The highlight for Livi was jumping on the Bagleys new trampoline. I'll post them in order so watch the top one first. The second one shows us trying to get Livi off the trampoline. I can't even remember how we finally got her off, it took so long! By the way, the incessant giggling is Olivia.

Payback

We are in SOOOOO much trouble in about 10 years.Ella, dressed and made up to specifications for her recital.