Another Year Older & Wiser Too.....

Birthdays....ugh. A day that was once looked forward to is now a day of self pity. Shanda and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day...the 'Terrible' = 'Mother Nature' gracing me with her presence, the 'Horrible' = another year older & not feeling much wiser too, the 'No Good' = cramping, bloating, & did I mention 'Mother Nature'!?! , and the 'Very Bad Day' = yeah, you guessed it...'Mother Nature.' (she can be so unkind). Turning 26 just happened. My poor husband was blessed with my wrath and ungraceful demeanor Wednesday morning...the poor guy didn't stand a chance!!! He had made breakfast, bought flowers, made a little coupon book to dispense at my will, had the boys dressed and ready for the day, let me sleep in, and of course the best present...$$$ to do as I pleased. BUT what did I do...no details...lets just blame good ole 'Mother Nature' for acknowledging her presence. The day went on as usual. Big J went on to work, Mom cleaning up the house & the boys destroying it in the same instant, and the hours & minutes that create our daily chaos in the Whiting Home was well under way. Until we get a knock on the door...relief was here! Jaymi and the girls came walking in the door with a HUGE bouquet of roses (from Jason) and gave me a dose of exactly what I needed....a day to myself. No kids, no crying, and no repeating myself 100+ times in a day sounding like a broken record in attempt to maintain some structure around this place. Thank you Jaymi for being inspired or crazy (you decide) for taking on our mess. The day continually got better (besides the annoyance of bathroom trips). Shopping was fabulous mainly because I wasn't having to manage a kid on my hip, the other asking to buy him everything under the sun, while attempting not to loose my marbles in public. Thanks Jaymi for my day out. Dinner was even better with friends and family and the best was coming home to even more friends, surprises, ice cream cake, and late night reminiscing and laughing about the day, the past, and good times spent together....I guess turning 26 wasn't so bad after all.

St. Johns Pioneer Days 2008

Pioneer Days Celebration #2 for 2008 was spent in St.Johns w/ the Whitings. Saturday aka "celebration day" tolled up to be a LONG day packed full of this and that on the "to do" list for our little busy family. An early 5am wake up to have us all ready for the drive...then to hit up Main Street in St.Johns to ensure our prime parade sitting seats...bathroom break at Grandmas...Parade sittin, parade watchin, & and parade candy catchin...Discovering that the camera batteries are dead...Surprise birthday party at teh park...Crew meeting & playing his little heart out with his new BFF Harvy...Trip meeting his new lady friends and future prospects Hayden & Rylie...Naptime-Breaktime for boys & us @ The Whiting Household...dinner w/ crazy kids...the fabulous Magic Show that had everyone mystified...and a late night drive home. Just a typical day in the life of us @ Pioneer Days!!!

Working Hard & Having Fun

Teaching our little fellow a little work ethic. Trip was having so much fun pushing the lawn mower around the back yard last weekend after Big Cousin Dallin finished giving the grass a little trim off the top. It was so much fun watching him attempt to do as Dallin had been doing. A little example goes a long way....just hope that in the coming years he still finds pleasure in doing the Whiting Family Duties (this includes a little yard work here & there along with his partner in crime....Mr. JCrew) and the rest of the 'manly' household chores.
Francoise de Motteville:
The true way to render ourselves happy is to love our work and find in it our pleasure.

Snowflake Pioneer Days 2008

Family, friends, & laughter; Parades, craft shows, & bounce castles; Rodeos, ball-games, & fireworks....thats what Pioneer Days is made of.

Safety First

Crew has decided to play it safe (considering all his recent tumbles and endless tragedies he has experienced this summer.) While out in the back yard cruising on his "awesome bike" he asked for his 'helmet.' ...and so the conversation begins... My response, "You don't have a helmet." Crew: "Ya huh, mom." Me: positive there is no safety helmet in existence in our house replies to his surety, "Then go find your helmet and show me." Sure he would be in his room at least a good 5-10 min. contemplating what he could pull off as a helmet or loose his interest in the idea all together he came running out within seconds, helmet in hand....his football helmet!!! Crew: "Mom, see!?! I told ya!" It was a helmet none the least. He won, he was right....and I was happy that his bike riding experience for the day met the Mom's Safety Guidelines Regulations.

When Nature Calls....

So as I was downloading pictures from the camera today this is what I happened upon...

A little bum shining in the bushes. And wondering when and where this photo took place unknown to my knowledge that someone had caught Crew's little "shiny hiney" hidden in the bushes taking care of business where a bathroom is non-existent...this photo came next....

....and now I understand. A quick fix to a little delima: Big J with our little rascals... 1 crying, the other having to pee and Mom is unavailable for assistance as she is in the middle of an intense softball game....solution = crying kid #1- content in car seat with bottle, kid#2- taking his business to the bushes, Dad catching it all on film (& getting a good laugh from it all), & Mom finding these photos today and unveiling the story.....priceless.

Out of the Mouth of Babes....

"What the Hell!?!...its PINK!" As quoted by our favorite 4 year old. This past weekend Big J and I uprooted the boys from their room (along with all their valuables...cuddly blankets, Crews "special" cars, the pacifier, and ALL the things our boys just cant do without) and moved them into the guest room while we started "the project." Painting the fellas wall RED (which, those of you that have attempted this feat know it can be a long process). And of course we had two, more than eager, little boys that wanted to help splatter red over the wall. So, we let them help...more like let Crew help (supervised of course...we wouldn't let that kid loose on his own with a paint brush soaked in red paint) while Trip peeked at us through his crib. While taking a break and watching Mom & Dad paint it was sputtered from his lips.... "What the Hell...its PINK!" On the verge of laughing out loud Jason took hold of the reins, so calm and collect, while I had to hide my smile that cracked on my face from all visibility from our little man, and explained to him "don't worry it'll dry red." Clear on that confirmation (and the stern talking to about not saying the "Hell" word and why) Crew was satisfied with that answer and he continued on worry free from having a PINK wall in his room. Good Times, Good Laughs, and makes for even better Memories!!!

Independence Day

July 4th came and went with a bang. We spent our Independence Day attempting to make the best of our 4 day weekend with runny noses, constant tears (from one or the other of the 2 boys), fevers that refused to break, and 2 exhausted parents that went sleepless for the weekend. Friday we thought we would lay low, skip the parade, and take the fellas to watch WALL-E at "the BIG movie show." Crew was more than excited when we told him the news...nothing else seemed to matter other than getting to "the BIG movie show" to see WALL-E!!! The movie was a HUGE success....WALL-E is the 1st movie that we, as a family, did not have to leave the theater becasue our little men have too many "ants in their pants" to be able to sit still through an entire movie. Success. We left Pinetop and made our way to St. Johns to spend some time with the Whiting Fam. and watch the fireworks over Lyman Lake. Tea parties with Grandma, playing with cousins, and Big J getting to reminisce through all High School scrapbooks & newspaper clippings of football....then off the the BIG fireworks show!!! 10 min into it and Crew was out for the count. The poor kid just had had enough and was worn out from celebrating the holiday that he didn't quite understand other than it was a "parade & fireworks day."

Saturday was a long day. Sick kids again and Big J gone for the majority of the morning playing in a golf tournament and me left home losing whats left of my mind. Although our day ended well watching Snowflakes 4th of July Firework show with glow sticks and cousins. We survived the "movie show", the fevers, the crying & whining, and survived each other!!! Lets knock on wood, wear some garlic around our necks, throw some salt over our shoulder, that this will be our last summertime sickness blues weekend for 2008.

Summertime Blues

There is nothing worse than being sick during the summer. Summer 2008 just may have topped the list for the most mishaps. Bumps, bruises, sunburns, and nearly stitches poor Mr. JCrew has had them all. Now to top it all off he has encountered the monster of his 'fiets....TONSILLITIS! Poor little fella. He hasn't wanted to eat, drink, play, etc. etc. for the past few days just sleep, cry, and whine. Not exactly the picnic party we were hoping summer would bring. Our little guy was so sweet and asked when he could go to the doctor "to get the sick out" of his belly. So for the cure Big J took him to the Doctor for a fix....and an unsuspecting little poke to his BUTT to cure it all. Needless to say he did just fine getting his shot BUT pretty sure next time he won't be asking to go to the doctors office for another little stabb. At least "the sick" is going away and our "Man" is getting back to his old self again.

Whiting Homestead

Camping...a verb that I despise. A grin and bear it activity that I throw the towel in and let Big J win at least once a year(twice IF he is REALLY lucky). We spent the weekend at the Whiting Homestead and let my little fellas (this includes Jason) pretend to be "Mountain Men" riding around on 4-wheelers, late nights playing cards, nature walking, nature seeing, getting dirty, along with the other activities 'camping' has to offer. The boys ALL had a great time being rough and tough rendezvous "Mountain Men" for the weekend and mom hung in there on one of her last strands of sanity for the 72 hours we spent "roughing it" in the wilderness at the Homestead. My home was a great site for my sore eyes.....my shower was even better!