why you should NEVER dance with a baby after breakfast

I make zero apologies for my no-bra-sagginess
you should know (by now) that when you come to this blog
you get the low-down dirty truth

what the picture above doesn't show
is the spit up that dripped
ALL the way down my hairy legs

we are now both clean, shaved & somewhat uplifted
(picture taken from our daily 60 second video clip)

500 days

last night my sis and I ordered
delicious cafe rio and Aaron brought it home after work
then he left us to play a tennis match
we pulled the couch-bed out for the boys and banished them upstairs
then we watched my new favorite movie

i've been wanting to watch it for 500 days now

but it was never available at redbox
maybe it was the delish food in my tummy that made me love the movie
maybe it was knowing it was the last night I get to spend with my sister in a while
maybe it was the funky-vintage-quirkiness
but I think it came down to the fact that
Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks and acts (& dances) JUST like my husband
if you want to know what's it's like to watch Aaron bust a move,
check out this scene:



i'm no siskel or ebert, but i like what i like.
and i will definitely be buying this one to watch again and again.
oh, and the soundtrack is now playing on my ipod
as I take a bubble bath
love love love

it feels so good to be home

my sister and I drove through the night to get back to Vegas. we are the two craziest people I know. as we were going to bed last night at 11 pm (after a long day with family and a late dinner with girl friends) she mentioned how cool it would be to just leave and beat the snow storm coming in. within 20 minutes my van was packed with four sleepy boys and lots of dirty clothes..

we talked and talked and laughed through the night. neither of us got the least bit sleepy. while driving, I had to pee. She grabbed the wheel, switched me places and I was able to pee in a cup. it was almost 44 ounces. When on a road trip last year with Aaron, I did this because I didn't want to stop. I told him that I peed that much and he didn't believe me. Now I have Kristy as a witness.

there is NO other person that could have done that road trip with me. Kristy and I are seriously two peas in a pod. She is so spontaneous and so much fun. She is the best mom and wife and I pride myself by saying that we are alike. I hate that she has to leave me and go back to her family in Georgia tomorrow. I love being with her.

We drove in the driveway at 4 am. It felt sooooooooooooooooo fabulous crawling in bed next to my husband. I knew the minute I walked in the door that my house was scrubbed while I was away. toilets, sinks and all floors are ready to be eaten off of. the boys bedding was turned down for them. Simon's crib was nicely laid out with a blanket ready to wrap him in an a pacifier if he needed it. he didn't, but just seeing it all laid out perfectly made me realize how much my man loves me. He knows I am crazy. He rolls his eyes at me when I pick up and leave town for a week and he lectures me when I drive home in the middle of the night in the rain. But he loves me anyway and it feels so good to be home.

miss me?

My sisters and I have been planning a girl's getaway weekend in Vegas for some time now. I was looking forward to hanging out with my fave girls and getting a break from the kids. My older sister Kristy (who now lives in Atlanta) flew to Vegas on Wed. Everyone else was supposed to drive down from Utah on Thurs. But plans changed. Things got a bit complicated in SLC and so Kristy and I packed my four boys in the trusty old van and headed up north for the week. The downside is that I came without my husband and all my kids... so it hasn't made much of a vacation for me. The upside is that I've been able to spend quality time with the wonderful girls in my life... except for one far away in Michigan! We missed you, Rachel!

Anyway, that's why I've been absent. We will head home on Tues... I can't wait to get out of this cold weather and get rid of our colds! Lots of pictures next week, maybe. over and out.

Zack Harry

The other day Zack wanted to know why EVERY other Zack had the middle name Harry. It took me a minute to realize what he was thinking.. In his four year old mind Zachary = Zack Harry. I just love the way he thinks.

He is CONSTANTLY making us laugh. He is such a bright personality in our home, especially these last few days, with everyone sick and mopey. Zack isn't feeling well either, but it doesn't keep him from bouncing to and from. Tonight at dinner, Daddy told him to stop kissing Simon (who happened to be sitting next to him.) Zack lifted his head for a moment and explained, "I'm NOT kissing him! I'm punching him with my lips!" I almost spit out my milk, it caught me so off guard. Oh, he kills me.

He is always making up his own rules and often gets Luke and Ben to bend their way of thinking to accommodate his. They will try to persuade him kindly with the two against one theory... Zack comes back with, "Simon thinks we should play this way" or "Simon told me a secret". This gets the older boys to laugh and they often end up doing what Zack wants anyway because he's so charismatic. I seriously worry about him going off into the real world...

His imagination is very real. He has a story for everything and can talk a hind leg off a mule. If ever I try to explain why he SHOULDN'T do something, he will give me a reason why he SHOULD. He sat on my lap this afternoon and I saw that he had written his name in bright red pen on his pants. I scolded him and he grabbed my face and said, "I needed to do that in case someone tries to wear them. I will see my name and say 'Hey! Those are MY pants!'" I tried not to smile as I told him we don't need to write our name on everything just to know that it's ours.

He's so artistically talented and still makes the biggest messes! Recently his punishment has been taking time AWAY from the art table. He hates being banished from crayons and paper... but it's one thing I can hold against him. Every single day he has a million papers that he NEEDS to keep. I throw the majority of them away... every once in a while, he will search through the garbage in the homeschooling room (which is basically a paper recycling bin) and find something he's been "missing". The other day, he found such a drawing and came to me with his hands on his hips. He said, "Mom! Why did you throw this away?" I rolled my eyes and told him I was sorry. He shrugged it off and meticulously explained, "It's okay. Because if a bad guy ever wants to steal it, he would grab it out of my hands and smell it, and think that it smells like garbage, and he would just give it back because it stinks. So I don't care if you threw it away!" And all my guilt just melted away.

Tonight after FHE, Zack was REALLY mad at Luke-- for one reason or another. I could see steam coming out of Zack's ears as he geared up to say something terrible. Luke was going up the stairs (avoiding conflict is what Luke does best) and Zack yelled after him, "You are going to have to marry a GIRL for the rest of your life!!!!" Apparently, that is the worst possible punishment he could ever imagine.

We love our crazy Zack. He gets away with a lot and he's always "too tired" to help around the house, but we think he contributes enough to the family... at least in the entertainment department, anyway.