A Sweet Treat

It's getting hot around here, so I sent the kiddos out back with a popsicle treat to cool them off.

Of course, Alex wasn't hot. She insisted that her legs were "freezing", but I'm pretty sure that was just because she didn't want to take her stripes off. I promise, we don't leave the house with her dressed this way very often.
Oh, and disregard that person in the red shirt in that picture. I kind of forgot that I was in front of a glass door.
But then I embraced it.
Hi everybody. It's me, Erin. It's 1pm and I'm still in my gym clothes.

Did you notice Alex's nose?

That's chalk. She got it on her nose by soaking the chalk in water, "painting" it on to the ground, and then I caught both of them spitting on to the painted chalk. She got a little too close to the ground while spitting. Sorry folks, I can't watch them every second. I was eating my own popsicle! But it made a perfect heart on her little nose.
See? A little chalky-spit heart.

I told her that she had a heart on her nose, and this is the face she made when trying to look at her own nose.

And there she goes again with those crazy eyebrows of hers. Have you ever seen anyone turn from having two fairly normal eyebrows into a quatro-brow?? I can just see God chuckling while he designed Alex... "And for this one, I'm going to make it so that when she raises her eyebrows, they'll double. That'll keep 'em guessing."

I don't know what it was about this sweet treat, but it brought out the sweet in my little monsters. I promise I didn't do anything to encourage this. I've actually been doing all I can recently to insist that they not touch each other in any way. It's been a little brutal around here lately.
But oh, the cuteness.

Ahhh, it was a sweet treat for me indeed.

I'm not sure exactly what's going on in this last picture, but I'm fairly certain that one day Derek will not be very happy with me for posting it.

Rock the Vote

So it's time to make an important decision for our son.

To mohawk or not to mohawk?

Sorry, did I say important decision? I actually meant a decision of little to no significance.

But it's a decision anyway, and I'm terribly indecisive. Really bad. Josh gets mad because I can never choose a restaurant. I just wait until he chooses and then decide that it doesn't sound good to me. I'm sure it's terribly annoying, but it's just the way I am. If you think I'm bad though, don't be anywhere near my sister when she has a decision to make. It's like gouging your eyes out listening to her rationalize each choice. (Oh hey, Corie, just kidding. It's not quite as bad as gouging out an eye. Maybe just a really bad hangnail.)


I digress. I could use some help here. Please consult the pictures below and then rock the vote. I put a poll over in the sidebar.


Here is the little man sporting the mohawk

And here are some more recent shots when we didn't spike it up.

So what say you? Shave it up once more for the rest of the summer or start letting it grow out now?

And remember, I'm not only the president, I'm also a client.

Oops! Wrong inspirational phrase.

I meant, Voting is your right, and your duty. ;)

My Girl

My 4 year old is a girly girl.
She likes to accessorize. Actually, that's putting it mildly. She has an intense, driving need to accessorize.
Depending on the day, it will be a need to wear a tutu...
...high heels... (no pictures please, divas never want to be captured eating)

...heels, hat, and gloves...

...hat and "stripes" as she calls them...

...or the fad that lasted for 2 weeks running-- princess crown with heels.

She became quite adept at running through the house in those heels. I would say the upside was that I always knew where she was with all that clacking, but the truth is that the child rarely stops talking so it's almost never an issue.

And not everything she says is very nice either.

This morning she climbed into bed with me and snuggled up close. Then, in the most disgusted voice a 4-year-old can muster she turned away and said "Mommy, you stink like throw up!"

Wow. My self confidence was soaring on that note. Guess I need to keep some mints by the bedside or something.

And after that, I don't feel bad at all that one of her high heels broke today.

Gone Fishin'

Josh and Alex have been spending some time fishing at the park down the street. They have a stocked pond so that kids can catch & release.

Inevitably she gets bored with it and wanders off to throw rocks or play in the dirt. But she still wants to see the fish, so she makes daddy keep at it.

Something about my man fishing all alone with a baby hat and a princess pole that makes me smile. It's cute.

And highly illegal.

See the bottom sign, but only after you make a mental note not to drop off any ducks or geese at Legacy park. Or etcetera, definitely don't drop that off.

Fisherman in Training

Proud of her catch!

While daddy's busy taking the hooks out of the fish, Alex tries to feed them bread. I tried to explain that it's the equivalent of someone holding her head underwater and offering her ice cream at the same time, but she didn't quite grasp it. She's all for ice cream under any circumstance.

In other news, we have a long weekend! Josh took Monday off and we have some plans. We have business to take care of. Business so important that we will be leaving the kids in the drop-in care center all day.

Remember that wedding the kids were in? Well the bride and groom gave them a very thoughtful gift-- a gift card to this place.

And we've determined that since they aren't old enough to fully appreciate the fun there is to be had there, we'll go ahead and experience it for them. Alone.

I feel just the slightest bit guilty. I think I'll throw in a few extra treats in their lunch bags; that ought to assuage the guilt.

Yup, guilt gone! Here we come water slides!!

Here's hoping that no one needs stitches this time ;)

Play Time

We found a new fun park that the kids love. It has a huge playscape, swings, a music section, a rock climbing area, and a splash pad! Best of all...it's free fun! (You all know how much I love a good deal.)


The downside?

Like everything else worth doing, it's not actually located in Mountain Home. It's in Meridian, which is on the far side of Boise.

Tangent:
I personally think the thing that could have turned Mountain Home AFB from being a decent assignment to a great one is about 30 miles. 30 miles closer to Boise and this place would be totally sought after. And there you have my 2 cents. Tangent over.

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure of the monkeys playing at Adventure Island park.

Let's end this post with a totally unrelated subject:

Do you really think that they wont ask Paula Abdul back as an Idol judge?? As much as I find her drivel to be pointless, I think I might actually miss her on the panel. What say you?

What? You actually have lives and don't give much thought to reality television drama?
Oh, me too. Of course. And I'm totally not going to wrap this up so I can get the kids in bed and settle in for some Bachelorette. I'll be contemplating world peace instead.
G'night!

Saving the World, One Runway at at Time

Yesterday I had the chance to participate in a spouse taxi day with Josh's squadron.
I looked important.

And I was! I made radio calls, steered with the rudders, and even threw the jet into afterburner for our little jaunt down the runway.
And if it weren't for a little thing called motion sickness, I think I would have liked to actually leave the runway too. But it's not legal, so it's probably best for all involved that we stuck to just the taxi. (I did however make sure I was carrying a little bag just in case the thought of taking off overwhelmed my sensitive stomach. I think I was being laughed at for that.)


But it could have just been how ridiculous I was looking in Josh's flight suit.

I have to tell you that I have a new respect for what they do every day. All of the equipment they wear, the endless strapping into the ejection seat, and the tight quarters for those long flights! Oh, and all that technical stuff too...like actually flying the airplane, dogfighting, and bomb dropping. I'm sure it's a piece of cake.

I'm thankful for all of the guys & gals who do this and put their lives at risk for the rest of us. Thinking especially of the families of the F-15 crew that lost their lives early this morning in Afghanistan. As we spent a lazy Saturday morning together eating pancakes, families across this country were receiving news they hoped they might never hear. And if they never had the chance to tell their loved ones how they felt, I don't want to make the same mistake:

We love you baby! You're our hero!

(but even heroes have to change diapers)

I'm a Weiner

Yes, it is true. I can't believe I forgot to mention it sooner.

I am an award-winning internationally acclaimed photographer.

Well, that may be taking it a little too far. But I did indeed win an award for a photo. Okay, more of a prize than an award. Does a mini-grill with some s'mores fixings count as a prize?

(see lovely photo carefully staged next to sidewalk chalk in the garage)

And maybe it didn't come with international acclaim. But I do have some friends in Europe & Asia that read my blog, and they will probably exclaim "Hey Erin, good job."

So let's start over:

I am a mini-grill winning internationally exclaimed photographer.

That's better, I think.

So I entered a photo contest at the local WalMarts (when you read that in your head, make sure you pronounce it with a hillbilly twang).
And it turns out that out of the hundreds tens of entries, mine was chosen as the winner. The theme was Father's Day, so I dug back through some picture files, opened up the 'ol Photoshop Elements, and tried to turn an over-exposed picture into something that would work.
Original photo:

Submitted photo:
Frankly, I'm not all that impressed with this picture. I'm betting the real reason I won is because that strange man who works in produce was probably on the judging panel. And when I'm inspecting melons, he's doing the same thing.

Joking, joking! Sadly, my melons are not what they used to be. *Sigh*

Anyway, the most interesting fact about the whole thing to me is that, despite being on display for a month, those marshmallows were still soft. Great Value marshmallows just bought themselves a life-long customer.

Signing off,

WalMart Winner Weiner

MAAAAAAAAAW

I can't decide whether I like the horsey or kitty-cat noise best...

Wedding Crashers

My little monsters were the flower girl & ring bearer in a 4th of July wedding. I am happy to report that they did not in fact, ruin the wedding.

The ring bearer didn't exactly make it down the whole aisle, but he did put in a brief appearance for his fans.

The flower girl delicately placed about 5 flower petals strategically in the aisle and proceeded to stand as directed-- success!

The day wasn't without drama, of course. At one point in between pictures and the actual ceremony, the ring bearer could be found laying belly down in some bird poop.

Luckily, it was old, dried bird poop.

Here they are "rehearsing" the night before.

With this face, I couldn't be too upset that he didn't fulfil his duties ;)
We have another wedding this summer as well-- Aunt Jessie's! Alex will be the flower girl, and Derek will be a nuisance. Ah, but there will be lots of family around to get stuck with the nuisance so I can go stick my tongue under the chocolate fountain.
What? No chocolate fountain?
I retract my statement. No more weddings this summer.