I miss it.

I haven't blogged in so long.

I miss it.

 I miss sharing the day to day humorous stories that I live each day.

 I miss sorting it all out visibly with written word.

I miss sharing my stories.

I always said that blogging was like free therapy...

I could really use a little free therapy right about now, lol!

And Fenix says...

"I want to play with the squishy stuff."

It took me like ten minutes to figure out that she was talking about play dough, lol!

And Bear says...

"Mom, would you pay to get me out of juvie?"

What the frick, this must have been something he heard at public school, aaaaaaahhhh!!!!!

And Bear says...

"Mom, what is flesh?"

Cross Country...

"Morning.  It's morning everyone!  Today's the day!  

The sun is shining, the tank is clean and we are going to get out of...

The tank is clean.

(gasp)

The TANK is CLEAN!!!"

-Peaches, Finding Nemo

Well, today is the day, and the sun is shining,

but the tank is not clean.

We are headed off on our cross country road trip today, 

and sadly I find myself stressing about the fact that my house is not clean.

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so anything less than perfect is well... a trial in and of itself.

But I must get over the fact that my house is not perfectly coifed.

For the next ten plus days we will be more or less living out of a van.

Yesterday we drove all the way up to Salt Lake City Airport to rent a van for this trip.

The drive alone was a catastrophe.

Fenix started bawling the minute we got into the car.

Lyon could not just leave her alone, at one point I glanced in the rearview mirror to see him laying on his seat and kicking at Fenix with his feet!

Lyon found entertainment in pestering her.

Bear asked every five seconds how much longer until we got there.

And whined pretty much the whole time.

It was sweet relief when Lyon and Fenix both fell asleep.

The whole time I fought off the panic of knowing that we were on a very short jaunt compared to what we'll be heading off on today.

Well we made it to the airport, parked the car, and headed to the rentals.

We needed to rent through National car rentals which is why we went all the way up to the airport.

In the past when we've rented a vehicle we've gone out to a parking lot, picked out a vehicle loaded up and pretty much were on our way.

The selection this time was sparse, we needed to be sure to get a van, nothing else would capable of providing for our needs for this trip.

At the very end of the lot we found two vans,

a Toyota and a Kia.

We chose the Toyota of course.

We loaded up and were pretty well set to leave when Superman found that there was no key in the ignition.  This was new.

He headed out back down the lot to talk to National car rental.

An hour later he came back.

With bad news.

We couldn't rent a van.

They'd let us pay extra to rent a crossover, but that wasn't going to work.

Turns out renting a mini van in Salt Lake county is not nearly as easy as you'd think it'd be.

They just don't carry many mini vans.

I was totally weirded out by this, seeing as this is practically mini van country.

But whatever...

Superman decided that the kids and I had had enough.

We were hungry, hot, and tired.

He sent us home.

I protested that if we left and he wasn't able to find a mini van up at the airport I'd have to come back and get him.  He sent us on our way anyway.

I drove all the way down to nearly the point of the mountain where I stopped to get the kids Happy meals and to take Fenix to the bathroom.

That's when Superman called.

After many calls and a thousand different rental companies he'd finally found a mini van 

at Enterprise rentals in West Valley.

I'd have to drive back up to the airport.

I'd planned to spend the day prepping for our trip.

As it was, I'd spent the entire day on the excursion to get a mini van.

The one we ended up with is nice and has a lot of great features, 

but it is DIRTY!!!

Animal hair, soda spills, smashed candy, etc...

Oh the horror.

We just didn't have time to have the rental agency get it any cleaner than they attempted to.

I drove it home.

Had an angel (My Mother-in-law) take my kids for the evening.

And I took the van to Wiggy Wash.

Though I'm not a big fan of their prices and lack of perfection in cleaning interiors,

I just couldn't bring myself to spend an hour cleaning it myself.

They did an okay job, not perfect, there is still soda spill on the middle console and a bit of dust on the dashboard....

Oh well...

Today's the day!

The sun is shining,

the tank isn't clean, 

and we are gonna get out of here!

Little nuts...

Lyon and Fenix drew themselves some facial hair. And well if ya can't beat them, join em. ;D

And Bear says...

"Um mom... I think you should make some of those pills that like make you happy and swallow some. So you won't be all grumpy or whatever."
Referring of course to an anti-depressant that I picked up from the pharmacy yesterday. Bear had asked me what they were for and i told him they were pills that would help me to be happier, lol!

And Fenix says...

Upon glancing into the bowl of soup I made (at her request) for her lunch today she whined;
"This doesn't have any drink in it!"
Referring to broth.
I had to scoot the noodles to the side and show her the broth before she would eat it, lol!
Soup on a burning hot summer day! What can I say, it's my own fault really, she asked for salad first and as i've not been shopping recently so we don't have any...

And Fenix says...

"Mama? Did you didn't get nofing?" said while bawling.

Practice, practice, practice...

So I signed up for tennis lessons.

Something I've actually been wanting to do since I was a teenager and never had the confidence or the money to follow through and do it...

Not that I've really got those things now, 

in fact I could even easily say I don't have the time to take tennis lessons now, lol!

I suppose one can always find an excuse for not doing something,

but when you want something bad enough you'll find away around any excuse there is.

So I signed up for tennis lessons.

I saw that I could sign Bear up and thought it would be good for him to learn the basics.

So we signed up together.

Bear would be going to the children's class, I'd be going to the adult class.

The children's classes were held at 8AM.

The adult classes were held at 7AM.

Nothing to balk at when you are used to getting up even earlier than this,

like Superman is,

but I am not used to getting up that early and struggle to wake-up in the morning.

But like I said you can always make excuses to not do something.

I figured that if I really wanted to learn to play tennis, 

I'd get out of bed no matter how much I wanted more sleep.

And lo and behold I have been!

So we've made it to tennis lessons.

Bear has finished his two week's worth of lessons,

and I have two weeks more.

We've been having a lot of fun with it.

I never appreciated how much of tennis is about technique and form.

How the smallest adjustments to how you hold the tennis racket can result in huge direction change, height, and speed that the tennis ball will take.

I had no idea how frustrating just throwing the ball up in the air, in just the right way so that one can serve it over the net and into just the right area, could be. 

I had no idea that Bear would be so much better at doing all these things than I am.

Alright I had an inkling, Bear is such a natural when it comes to all things sports. :)

I've found that the only way that I can improve and actually play this sport like I want to,

is to practice, practice, practice, and then practice some more.

Even a few days of not playing or practicing my swings and serves leaves me struggling to figure out how to get my form, strokes, and throws just right again.

The thing about practicing is, it's fun.

Surprisingly fun!

There is just something so unbelievably satisfying about hitting the ball just right.

The swish the racket makes as it glides perfectly through the air,

the arousing thunk as the ball bounces off the tight strings,

sailing through the air to either hit the ground just out of an opponents reach.

Or to come speeding right back at you for another kiss on your own racket.

Yep, playing tennis is really fun, but more so when I've been practicing :D

break down

My computer is broken!!!!

Sob!!!!

It has been for a few months now and I am not happy about it :(

I had all kinds of blog posts planned,

so many pictures to post and funny stories to tell.

Though I've been using my iphone and iPad to post, it's just not the same.

I can't move photo's to where I want them,

I can't write as fast as I want to with those tiny little screen type pads....

For this post I am using Supermans computer.

(I know I know, we are totally spoiled in the amount of gadgets we have)

***

We've tried all sorts of things to get my computer fixed,

Superman has "fixed" it several times only to have it "break" again almost immediately.

The only thing left to do is make an appointment to take it to an apple genius.

Which would mean having to drive an hour and a half north to get to THE apple store.

I suppose it's a small price to pay to get my computer back into working order.

Assuming of course that they can fix it...

But it requires time and energy, both of which I am lacking right now, lol!

***

Meanwhile the screen on my iPad has been shattered-ish.

I don't know how to fix it, but Superman does.

He bought the parts, and after weeks of not having time finally found some on Saturday.

After working on it for several hours he realized he needed two more parts.

So now my iPad sits on a shelf in pieces waiting to be put back together again.

Sad isn't it.

It'll be okay though,

I've got my iPhone, I've got access to Supermans computer.

Life goes on :)

Not quite camping....

We spent our Memorial day weekend in the Yellowstone area. Our first family trip since California last summer. Being a beach loving gal you wouldn't think YellowStone would be my first choice for a family vacation. Superman asked me to plan something for our family to do and when my sister Wendy suggested we split a cabin in Island Park (an hour south of YS) it sounded so fun I couldn't resist.
So we packed up our truck on Friday and started driving North. It took FOREVER to get to our destination, lol! First we needed to drive to Logan to drop off our car (which Superman was driving, our boys with him) so we could drop it off to his sister Stephanie. Once there we stretched our legs for a minute had a bathroom break and then we all climbed into the truck to finish the drive to the cabin.
This part seemed to drag on forever. With the kids fighting and picking on each other, I finally couldn't listen to anymore of their whining so I put in my earbuds and listened to my music while reading my book.
We made it to the cabin in one piece by nine-thirty that night.
I was so excited, even though it was freezing cold and snowing! Lol!!! With the pine trees and the cabin the snow just worked :)
The cabin we stayed in was really nice with comfy cozy beds for everyone, showers, a kitchen, and a washer/dryer.
We got our truck unloaded, very grateful that I'd thought to put all our
duffle bags and stuff into plastic bags to keep them from getting wet on the drive. We got our kids to bed, grateful for the big comfy bed they had in their own room. Then Superman and I finally went to bed excited to go see the sights in YellowStone come Saturday morning.

It stinks...

It'd been a stressful day to begin with...
Long Sleepless night,
Early morning,
Melted ice cream cone in the middle of my already disastrously messy kitchen,
Lyon slammed Fenix's hand in the front door, Now her pinkie finger is swollen and ouchefied,
We got Bear to school,
Lyon to school,
We went to the doctor,
We went to have parent/teacher conference with Lyon's teacher, and then finally, finally we got to relax for a minute at the park...
We caught our breath.
The day went on,
Come dinner time,
Fenix poops her pants,
Lyon crashes on his scooter "breaking" his foot again,
He screamed at me that it was all my fault, that I am the worst mom ever, and that he wants a new mom,
and then he refused to eat his dinner,
We finally settle down for a movie,
Then bedtime rolls around,
By some miracle I managed to get all three kids ready for bed,
Lyon and Bear tucked in and kissed good night,
Fenix skips happily out their door heading to her room before letting out a blood curdling scream and bolting back into The boys room,
What's the matter?
She's seen a spider,
How I managed to deduce that from her screams I'm not even sure.
I tried to get her to show me where it was but she was to horrified to tell.
Bear went to investigate,
I came up behind him as he gasped that he saw it,
"is it big?"
I asked him.
"no, but I lost it."
Nothing worse than a lost spider, no matter how big it is...
We stood there for a moment contemplating our options and cringing with creepy crawly heeby jeebies,
Then Bear points,
He sees the spider,
I follow his gaze, and there to my complete and utter consternation I see crawling out of Fenix's door a spider that no woman would ever, EVER refer to as small.
I watched in shock as it made its way out of the shadows and into the light cast by the hall light.
I wore no shoes,
The vacuum was upstairs,
All I had to battle this nightmare was a half box of wet wipes, mercilessly placed between me and IT.
I armed myself,
Crept forward,
And got a nice close view of what we thought was a spider.
It wasn't much better, but the threat was no where near as paralyzing.
A stink bug.
Relieved and knowing it wouldn't put up much of a fight I used my weapon (wipes) to grab it and pulverize it.
My voice is gone, my throat is sore, I'm tired, and I've more than met my quota of stress for today.
But whatever, we keep calm and carry on, right ladies...

And Fenix says...

"Mom? Are you evil?"

I told her that, no, no I'm not, lol!

And Lyon says...

Lyon's outside hopping around in Fenix's sleeping bag when he falls off the back porch.
He starts crying that he's broken his leg. So I pull him onto my lap while he cries and cries all forlorn that he'll never be able to walk again and that he'll only be able to hop and how that is not fair!
At which point Bear chimes in that it is fair because Lyon ate all the Popsicles.
Lyon carries on about how he'll need to go see a doctor.
Now his leg was no where near broken, he'd barely stubbed his toe, so I mentioned that I happen to be a doctor myself, because
I am doctor Mom.
Lyon stopped his crying for a minute to think this through. He finally tells me that I'm not a doctor because doctors go to doctor places.
Bear chimes in again,
"Lyon," he says exasperated.
"Mom goes to the doctor all of the time!"
That made me laugh.
He continued,
"Moms got the most hurtingest tummy in the world!"
That made me lmao!
I told Lyon i could fix his foot really easily, he asked me how.
I told him all it'd take was a kiss from doctor mom.
I kissed his foot.
He insists my kiss didn't help, but he's up and walking, so I'm going to go ahead and claim his recovery on my impressive healing skills. ;D

And Fenix says..

While watching SuperWhy;
"Mom, Dad is a father. And you are my mother. And I can do somersaults. And I don't like monsters!"

Safety fair and breakfast

Bears school had a fund raiser/safety fair on Saturday morning.
Bear had asked to go and though it meant getting up early I figured it was worth going if not for the pancake breakfast (i don't like pancakes) then for the fair. We got there to find the breakfast line a half mile long, but since we went with Superman's parents, who offered to save our spot in line, we took our kids outside to see the fire truck, ambulance, and police cruiser. Kids were climbing in around and on these vehicles like ants would a plate of donuts.
After a very detailed tour of the ambulance we headed back inside for breakfast. Though I am not a pancake fan, Superman and our kids are, lol!
They loaded their plates with pancakes covering them in strawberry syrup, strawberries, whipped cream, and sprinkles. They loved it, Bear and Lyon went back for seconds, and Fenix simple needed more syrup and whipped cream because she'd eaten all of what she already had off the top of her pancakes.
When we finally finished eating and cleaning the kids up we went to check out the different safety stations. Bear saw one of his friends mom's and made sure we met each other so we could set up play dates, lol! And then we went back outside to see the vehicles again :)
All in all it was a fun way to spend our Saturday morning.