Summer's here which means lots of craziness because I have lots of crazies.

Ashton drank too much pool water doing the backstroke at swim team practice and threw up -- inside the pool. They evacuated the kids to the lawn to play hot potato but Ash wouldn't join. "I don't think anyone wants to be around me today," he said.

Cade runs over. "Mom! Someone threw up in the pool!"
Yeah, it was Ash.
"Oh My Gosh EVERYONE," Cade yells. "It was ASHTON."

Leaving the aborted swim practice with all but Cade. I drive around back to find him. He sees me and thinks I'll leave him. (What?) So he hops the fence and gets a large chunk of his tighty regulation swim suit stuck. He's racing with a hole tonight.

Then we pull up to the post office. I find Ashton has only one flip flop.
"No problem, mom, I'll just hop," he says.

Meanwhile the family allowance has returned with great effect.
Twenty-five cents if I walk in their room at night and it's clean. Love that one.
Twenty-five cents for an act of service. Can't be toward me or Wyatt (too easy). There's been lots of discussion about that one. And some tears that it's too hard. Ha ha.
And more...but the kids can earn up to $2 a day and they have dollar signs in their eyes.

I'm dreaming of sanity.

There was a Hollywood invasion of Delaware last night when Cade and Ruby took the stage for their school's annual Lip Sync competition.



I loved that they wanted to perform together. And I loved it when Cade broke out with some moves (after gentle coaching..."Mom, what's an air guitar?")



They got beat out by six first-graders doing "Eye of the Tiger," and a Kindergarten duo slamming their guitars to "We Will Rock You," but boy, were they flying high to take home third place and bragging rights. Winners perform for the student body on the last day of school.

Freaky Things

Cade was rushed to Urgent Care Saturday for ten stitches in his big toe after he slid on a wet trampoline and impaled his toe on the hook end of one of the springs. I could post a picture but it would make you sick. Ten stitches in one toe is a lot. Nasty.

I was at the gym when it happened, but fortunately the Judge and Jack Legge had just pulled up to the house to borrow some bike shoes. It was a two man job, and an intense one at that, to alter the tension on the spring enough to twist it off the toe without ripping it more.

"What kind of freaky thing does this happen to?" the Judge asked.

Well...maybe Cade.

Who else fell through a lawn chair at swim team practice last summer and cut open his side -- stitches.

Who jumped off the swing last May and had his shoelace catch the rings -- broken arm.

Who hopped a fence and came down head first -- broken arm (same one).

Who hit his chin on the handles of his scooter while doing a jump -- stitches.

Who breaks his femur at two-years-old and lands in a body cast...."No one ever breaks their femur. It's the strongest bone in the body," the ER nurse tells me when we arrive at the hospital. Uh Huh.

And more...I know I'm forgetting some...Broken arm while I'm chaperoning a youth dance...

Before all this happened he was having a great week: band concerts, lip sync practice (competition's on Thursday), soccer, Webelos Arrow of Light. He even came home from school one day and said, "I'm really happy with myself." Funny Huh!
"Why?" I asked without laughing. "Because I've done a lot of things this year."

Looks like he's done one thing more.

Miracle of Life

There's a miracle of life happening on our own front door.



Closer.


Closer.



Mama bird made my wreath her home this spring and boy oh boy were we excited when we found her nest...and then found four little blue eggs nestled inside.



Last week we pulled up a chair and saw the little peepers.



I LOVE Delaware in the Spring.

Boy oh Boy

Sometimes I can't believe I'm a mom to three boys, one of which counts for two.

How did ultra feminine me wind up with these tornadoes of energy?

I count my blessings.

I love when they run to me after a day of playing outside with their sweaty little foreheads and that dirty smell that is oh so sweet to me.

I love the "pew, pew, pew" that bounces through my thoughts, hour after hour, day after day, as Wyatt fights his "guys," fends off Ashton, or just finds a stick.

I love the crazy immagination -- moseying around town becomes a race with each and every car on the road. Bugs are playthings. Trees are forts. The neighbors are droids.

Their fascination with numbers goes against all my natural capabilities. Why do they care what comes after a gojillion? Does it matter if ten ten times is more minutes in a day then they are awake? Is one gold dollar really more valuable than five paper ones?

Even the gross things have lightened our family and injected humor over the drama. When two-year-old Wyatt proudly announces, "I burbed," I know there is some innately boy stuff going on. Ashton knows there's some naughtiness which sends him into peals of laughter.

But with boys comes disgusting toilets....and teasing.

"Ruby, everytime you leave your purse on the floor I step on it as hard as I can."
Thanks Cade.

Lucky for me I also get trash removal, and lawn care (GO CADE!), and they carry in my groceries, and clean up after Primary and take my stuff to the car.

I love these boys of mine. And as I held Wyatt this morning and rubbed lotion all over his poor eczema covered legs and then Ashton curled up next to me and rested his head on my arm, I shut my eyes and tried to freeze frame the moment so I will always remember the perfect, perfect world that was mine for today.

Easter, part 2

Family is now in good health.



Wyatt is still supertude, but I'm chalking that up to two-year-old-itis and not some other illness. Nothing I can medicate. Sigh.



So I finally got my pictures to remember my beautiful cherubs.



And, the sweetest thing happened at church.

I've been the Primary President seven months now and when I went to the front of the room today to thank our music leader and tell the kids I was teaching sharing time, they all cheered, and then those sweet, sweet, junior primary kids ran up to the room and started to hug me! So much love. And I had to tell them to sit down and stop hugging me, so we could begin. It was the most beautiful, impromptu, display and mirrors how I feel about them.

I just had to write it down so I wouldn't forget. I am not a "Primary" person and can't believe I have this calling...but days like today I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Easter

Who has time to blog when you're frantically cleaning the house for parents and inlaws, your only daughter is getting baptized, and then on the day of the big arrival you come down with the flu?

So in an effort to catch up...

Good thing I realized after the last company visit that I just CAN'T get my house clean in one day. Certain superheroes are constanly conspiring against me.


Which means I start two days before my family comes and lock the bathroom doors as I finish them until only one is remaining. Then I unlock that door right before I head out to the airport. Love that I'm the only one who can bust in with a key. Love the control.

Such insane cleaning organization made it so when I awoke sick as a dog last Tuesday, all I had to do was a quick pick up and unlock those bathroom doors. Then off to the airport to get my mom. I LOVE having my mom. So does Ashton.


The next couple of days were filled with Ruby celebrations -- hair cut (hasn't been this short since she cut it herself when she was 4), ears pierced, trip to the Brandywine Art Museum, home of the Wyeth's. This little gem is just a few miles from me and fabulous. When I first moved to Delaware I went through it with my mom and cried?! Was postpartum with Ashton, but still, I love N.C. and Andrew.

Look at Ruby's before (on day of her birthday) and after...





Then the rest of the family arrived and we mini golfed, played games, had easter egg hunts, and made 150 cupcakes for Ruby's baptism.

I meant to take pictures of all the cuteness -- monogramed placecards telling what kind of cupcakes there were, chinese takeout boxes with "Ruby" stickers on them so friends could take home an extra, the beautiful baptism dress which I made and then my mom fixed for Ruby.

You can kind of see her dress here. Look at her cute grandmas.



But come baptism day the flu had spread to the rest of the family. I could barely get Ashton and Wyatt into ties and to the church. Jeremy forgot he would need a special key to get into the font and fill it up which made for some additional craziness. Ashton fell asleep across the front row he felt so lousy. Wyatt wouldn't leave my lap. And the whole family coughed and hacked through all the talks.

This family photo says it all: Ashton has been woken up for the picture and is taking off to curl up in a ball. Dang he's mad. Wyatt is DONE. Ruby's hanging in there. And yeah, this is the best we could pull off.



Then after the baptism I was so wrapped up in making sure three lovely nonmember families felt warm and comfortable that things got cleaned up without a pix. Alas.

I was in the middle of answering some question about the "dominant matriarchs" in the LDS church (was neighbor referring to ME?) when I looked over and saw the table being cleared.

What's worse, there are no Easter pictures because only Cade made it to church.



Everyone else was home in bed. Even our Easter egg hunt was moved indoors. Somehow the candy still got eaten but there's not a picture of a basket either. Should we go for a repeat next Sunday?