Adventures of Kit and Ruthie

Haley and Morgan love, love, love American Girl dolls.  They are aching to have Kit and Ruthie, but I'm not buying them each a $100 doll (yes, that's how much they are) until I know for sure they can take good care of them!  So, to help pass the time until they get the real deal, they have the mini versions of Kit and Ruthie and oh my goodness...how they love those dolls!

Every night after we put the girls to bed, Haley and Morgan stay up (too late most nights) and play Kit and Ruthie in their room.  It's become their night time ritual.  Sometimes it goes well, and they play quietly for a while and then go to sleep on their own.  But then, sometimes it goes bad, and they play way too loud, or they start to bicker which leads to full on arguments.  This results in Ryan or me shutting it down and forcing them to bed, which leads to more arguing, which leads to us taking the dolls away, which leads to massive amounts of tears from the girls.  Seriously, you take one of those dolls away from them and their whole world falls apart!

So every night we just hope they play nicely...it's just so much easier that way.

In other news, I came down with the fever Tuesday night.  I had a miserable, no good nights sleep.  And Wednesday I relied on Ibuprofen to get me through the day.  This morning I feel much better, thank goodness!

Weekend Review

Okay, I know a lot of people have already seen these "Baby sleep positions".  But I can't help but laugh every time because it's just so dang true!  After dealing with a few sick kids we have experienced quite a few of these in just the last couple of nights.

"Booby Trap" and "H is for Hell" have been our most recent...ahh, good times.  Kids are so fun.

So yeah, the weekend...Saturday Ryan raced in Salt Lake and I stayed home with the sickies.  It made for a very exhausting and slow day.  I don't think Morgan left the couch ALL day...she was absolutely miserable.  Haley was a trooper and didn't complain once about staying home, and with Morg and Pipes under the weather she didn't have any playmates.  But she entertained herself which was a big help to me!  And sadly, by that night Rory also came down with a fever as well.

Sunday morning I went on a ride up the canyon...it was beautiful and refreshing to get out on my own!  Later Haley and I hit up church.  It was actually quite nice to walk with her over there...just her and me, hand in hand.  I need to try to have one on one time with each of my kids every so often!  It makes them feel uber special because they get all of my attention...and unfortunately that just rarely happens with three other kids hanging off me.  

That night Rory was the only one left with a fever and we were all in need to get out of the house!  So, since she was doing pretty good and the fever was pretty low grade, we hit up Sundance after dinner.  

She doesn't look too sick to me!

Of course the kids got their traditional Sundance suckers and then ran amuck.

It was beautiful!

Those are three of my kids waaaaay out there.

The girls were heaven chasing the marmots all over the place.

Me with my Pipes.

Summer Woes Part II

To add to my summer woes, Piper came down with a fever and yucky cold symptoms yesterday afternoon (and a bit of diarrhea, which wasn't too fun with the whole potty training thing).  Sorry to bring up gross stuff, but it's the facts of life.  Anyway, this led to a very unpleasant night of sleep.

Haley and Morgan didn't fall asleep until around 10 last night...they were actually in "bed" by 8:15, but they play the night away and then crash together in one or the other's bed.  It's kinda cute really.

Piper kept waking up throughout the night, which woke up Rory.  And this went back and forth for some time.  At one point during the night I was sitting on the rocker in their room, each one crying in their beds on either side of me...I felt like crying myself...I was so tired.

And then Morgan started up...crying too.  Sure enough, she was getting a fever as well.  Luckily, Ryan and I make a good pair and tag teamed the whole night.  By morning we were all sprawled out everywhere.  Ryan and Morgan in the spare room...Piper and I were in our bed.  Haley was the only one who woke up refreshed with a good nights sleep.

So today it looks like I'll be chilling here with my sickies.  Woe is me.

Summer woes.

This week has not been the best for me.  I feel behind on everything...a bit scattered...and really discouraged with potty training.

Piper has had a lot of accidents this week.  All of them were at home (thank goodness), mostly outside (double thank goodness!).  I keep telling myself that this is very normal!  I've seen it before where kids will revert back to their old ways.  Sometimes I think it's because the novelty of the potty has worn off...or maybe they're just trying to test their limits.  "How long can I play before I have an accident?" type of attitude.  But whatever it is, I sure hope it doesn't last too long!

Also, summer (that is really hard for me to leave that lower case by the way)...summer is just plain hard to keep the house clean.  I feel like my days are just filled with picking up, cleaning, and laundry.  I'm tired of it.  The girls help with their summer chores.  And Haley is really good at taking care of the dogs everyday, which is very helpful!  But bottom line, there is just a ton to do around here...and I haven't been motivated to do it.  I think I'm going through a sort of slump right now.  I think I need some outings to look forward to...but even that sounds exhausting right now.  Not sure what I need.

Hopefully things will perk up for me soon.

The Jeepers

After a long winter of sitting on the driveway with a dead battery, looking very sad, we finally got the Jeep up and running again!  And it didn't even cost us a cent to do it!  In fact, we made about 30 dollars!  Turns out the battery was under warranty, and the one we replaced it with was cheaper...go us!  Actually, go Ryan.  He's the one who actually handled it.

I took the girls to their swim lesson in it today.  Oh, how I love that car...it's been way too long since I drove it last.  It's so fun to zip around in.  Today we drove with Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" blaring on the radio and girls singing to it at the top of their lungs.  Good times.

And I got to watch the girls swim without having to take Piper to the bathroom every five minutes!  I tell ya, she's like the Boy Who Cried Wolf!  She says she has to go...I take her, but she doesn't go!  And I know that the one time I don't take her she'll have a major accident!  So, I'll keep taking her every five minutes.  But today, I was free!  Thanks Ryan for watching the babies!

And speaking of Ryan...I was just about to publish this post when he looked over my shoulder and told me that winter should not be capitalized.  I totally disagreed!  We finally had to look it up because I would not back down.  He was right.  Winter should not be capitalized.  Damn.  And to think...I have been capitalizing seasons my whole life.  I guess that's why I'm not the English major.  Note to self:  Do not argue about capitalization, grammar or punctuation with an English major...since I pretty much suck at it.

Weekend Review

                                                                       

Saturday: Ryan went on a morning ride while I went grocery shopping, Haley's friend had a birthday party, Morgan had a friend over, I painted, and then we all went to Pizza Pie for dinner with friends.  Whew.

Sunday: Happy Fathers Day!  Big morning breakfast of sausage and eggs, complete with a cheese danish.  Clean the house, church, and Father's Day dinner with Matt and Carrie.

In other news:  It's HOT.  My garden isn't growing.  We're eating lots of ice cream.  The girls are staying up way too late playing Kit and Ruthie (post on that sometime soon).  Piper got up in the middle of the night to pee.  Go Pipes!

Ice Cream Anyone?

Is this a girl enjoying her ice cream or what?

Piper had a couple of poopy accidents this week.  It happens when she's outside playing...she tries to come in, but she's just not fast enough.  I'll say, "Oh no!!  You POOPED in your panties?!  Now they're all dirty...that's too bad!!"  And she always says back, "I arry Mommy...I arry."  (sorry)  

How can I be upset when she does that?

Such a heart breaker.