Scenes from a marriage. JESS- Does it bother you that i can read your mind? MARK- No. It's not that complicated.

California

Today we spent a few hours at the beach. It was the first time for Asher and Finn, and Jaxon's first time since he was a baby.
We had a great time. They boys played in the water and sand and even though it was a little chilly, we hope to go back tomorrow.
Here's a great photo I snapped of Mark and his "Mini-Me."

Picturesque to Grotesque

I love my life. It's been a really good day. We've been to the park twice, to the gym, made brownies, played and played some more.

There was just one little hiccup, well almost a hiccup. Here's the scene: we're at the park for dinner having a wonderful time. The weather is 75 and sunny with a gentle breeze. The park has a beautiful fountain and the kids are so cute running and playing with us. Then Finn starts coughing and can't stop (he's getting over a little bug). In fact, he coughs so hard that he starts gagging and throws up all over me (you may remember from a previous post that he has a very sensitive gag reflex). Ew, it's in my hair and shirt. I glance down and notice that I'm still wearing my sports bra underneath, so I take off my soiled shirt and try to ignore the damp strand of hair on my neck and back that I know smells like stomach acid.

The Awesomeness of a Mother's Life:

Going from picturesque to grotesque in the blink of an eye.

P.S. What's with Jaxon acting like a teenager at age 7? He just demanded $20 for a yearbook (In elementary school? Come on.) and when I said no, he ran to his room and slammed the door.

"Get back here with that brownie!" I hollered after him.

PPS. The photo of Finn is actually a shot from today at a different park, but doesn't it look just like the one from earlier this week? That photo was taken in the fall I think.


I totally forgot to mention that the first outing to the park involved Finn pooping in his underwear and trying to crawl away while I wiped him. I happened to be on a conference call for the Hemophilia Assoc at the time. Another awesome mothering moment. It must be meaningful that I still thought today was a good day.

Playing at the park for the last time for 4 months.

Today's Laughs

"Mom, on Friday we're having a Hallelujah at school!" I said, "You mean, luau?"

"Mom, my hands aren't that springy. That's why I can't do hand springs. See?" (He bounces on his bum on the couch and pushes himself off with his hands.)

Jaxon was sent straight to bed from dinner because of disobedience. Here are quotes from the rest of the evening.

"I'm going to move out. I'm going to live with Ethan Householder. If you boss me around one more time I'm moving out."

"I broke out tonight. Out of the house, I mean. I packed my suitcase and went half way down to Ethan's. But then I thought you'd be missing me, so I came back."

I checked Jaxon's "suitcase" (a tiny Thomas the Train roller backpack) and found a stuffed Winnie the Pooh, a shirt and two pairs of shorts. He probably thought he was set for a week.

Addendum added Thursday morning:
Mark reported that last night around 10, Jaxon stumbled out of his room looking half awake. He headed into the kitchen and pulled his pants down in front of the trash can. He paused as if thinking sleepily, "This doesn't seem right." Then Mark kindly escorted him to the bathroom.

Finn: AKA "The Pill"

*Warning, this post involves a poop story. Read at your own risk.

We don't really call him The Pill, but I do refer to him as my birth control. In the last few weeks, Finn has become the most destructive force in our home.
1. He broke our TV (yes, it cost more than I care to admit, but we thought it would last for a year).
2. He toasted metal measuring spoons and broke the toaster. *(I know a 2 year old should not be near a toaster, it was actually the 4 year old who was toasting and Finn jumped in to help).
3. Today, while trying to be helpful with his potty training, he attempted to empty his poop from the potty bowl into the toilet, but his gag reflex is very sensitive, so he ended up barfing all over the bathroom floor. Thank heavens Mark cleaned it all up. By the way, no one was in the bathroom to see this, we just deduced it from the clues. Finn was just walking around (not wiped yet) the house cool as a cucumber. No big deal.

Mark has started calling Finn a raptor (think Jurassic Park) because he constantly adapts to get into things. He was standing on the counter trying to get candy on the fridge the other day. I can't remember all of the other things on my list but actually as I'm reading what I've written, it occurs to me that Finn isn't the problem, it's his parental supervision that is the problem. :(

I guess that's birth control enough.

New Look and Train Park Photos

For those of you who are reading this in your RSS feed right now, feel free to check out our new look. I took the boys to Freestone today to ride the train and we had a great time. I haven't taken many photos this year so far, so I'm trying to make up for it. You may notice that the kids really need a haircut. I'm trying to grow Asher's out, because it curls up at the ends but the other boys' are stick straight. They may end up with mohawks again this year, I'm still not sure.

I'm also not sure if we have any more weekend mornings at the park. It was pretty hot by 11 when we left. I'm starting to get anxiety about the ridiculously hot summers here in AZ. Oh well, I've made it through more than 20 summers here. Another isn't going to kill me.

Back Again

Having been inspired by Mraynes, I'm going to begin blogging again in earnest.

Part of my problem, besides being busy, is that I don't know who this blog belongs to. Is it mine? The kids'? Mark's? The family's? I don't know.

Then I realized that it's okay. I'm the same way. Sometimes I belong to me, sometimes to the kids, and sometimes to Mark. (well I won't be blogging about that exactly, so don't worry :)

But, I've decided to accept that I am pulled in many directions all the time and will blog about what I want to, when I want to. Period. (Are all those periods a little redundant? Perhaps.)

So the big news for today is that I signed my kids up for summer childcare. It's a very reasonable price, but my kids (all three of them) can go to a super-fun play place for up to 4 hrs a day, 6 days a week. It's pretty much drop in.

I'm really excited about it. I can get a lot of stuff done this summer, like teaching Zumba.
That's another thing that I haven't blogged about lately. I'm now a certified Zumba instructor. Zumba is a group fitness class that combines latin dance and hip-hop. Their slogan is, "Ditch the workout, join the party!" and it really does feel that way.

I'll let you know when I get a job! (I'll let Mark know first, actually. He's the one that's most excited for me to be a wage-earner).