Me, Peestool!

Yup, Lachlan is now going to preschool! I am so excited for her. She has great teachers, Miss Tiffany & Miss Carrie. She practically runs out the door and jumps in the car when I tell her it is time for school. I was so proud of her because she only cried a little bit on the second day. She got a little nervous when Jack and I left, but she pulled it together and had a successful day. She has been learning about caterpillars and butterflies. These are her art projects. Miss Carrie said that Lachlan is very "creative" with the paint. I interpreted that to mean that she was the only child who painted her whole body and ate some of it.

I also wanted to share that Miss Tiffany said that she is friends with everyone in the class and always wants to make sure that everyone is included. There is one little girl who has cerebral palsy in her class. Her mom carries her and helps her to do the class activities. Lachlan is a good friend to her and helps her get toys and cookies. When it was time to go home, Lachlan gave her a hug and a kiss goodbye and helped her clean up her treats. I almost started bawling, but decided that I didn't want to look completely emotional on the second day. Let's face it, compassion has never been my strongest characteristic. I am so proud of Lachlan and I feel so blessed that she has this incredible gift for taking care of people.

Jack puts Lachlan down for her nap. "Night, Night"--Lachlan says, "Night, Night, honey."

Let Me Just Tell You...

This one more thing... that's what Jeff's mom always says when we are trying to leave. I almost forgot to post these non-essential items.

I put up new drapes in Jack's room. They were a screaming deal at DownEast Home. I had a neighbor lady help me with the hemming. I decided that if I put drapes in his room to darken it that he would sleep in a bit longer in the mornings. Drapes went up two days ago, they make the room as dark as sin...kid still wakes up at 6:15 AM. Go figure.

We went to SummerFest. Most of it, same old stuff. BUT I did find something special. I am so in love with Owen's jewelry. You have to check it out!! I hope that Jeff remembers this in August--you might want to write it down honey. He does everything with pressed flowers and leaves. These earrings have queen anne's lace--they are so original and beautiful. I also love his artwork, but I've got to wait until our retirement to purchase it.

I also want to remember how simple it is, and how difficult to raise a toddler. Here are some pictures of Jack enjoying life one minute, and wanting to curl up and die the next. (Time lapse: 6 minutes 22 seconds).

Nothing smells better than a good rock!Stubbed toe while smelling rocks with eyes closed.Move on to drinking out of the hose.Cry again because some water got on his pants and up nose.

"Mama, house, now, treats, peez." At least he knows when to call it quits.

Trading Spaces

Jeff went to Florida for work last week. I'm headed to California tomorrow morning. We are swapping places so that the other can watch the kids. After a week of single parenting, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't looking forward to reading a book in silence on the flight to SoCal. So help me, if I get stuck next to chatty Cathy on the plane I will have to pretend that I have laryngitis or something.

For the most part, the kids were really good last week. We set up a swimming pool and shade in the backyard and pretty much did everything out there. It helped keep the house manageable and the kids were really tired at night so I didn't have any bedtime troubles. I got some great pictures of the kids running through the sprinklers. They were both a little scared of the swimming pool. I think that I got too much water in it--it was a little overwhelming (and cold) to enjoy on the first couple of days. It was much better by the end of the week when the sun had warmed up the water (although we did have to swim with some bugs and a few chicken feathers :)). I also introduced the kids to Popsicles. It was a big hit. The funniest part was how nervous they were that the chickens were going to get their treats. Jack kept saying, "no, no, chick, chick." It was so funny. Oh, and check out Lachlan's swim top. Apparently, it wasn't skimpy enough because she wanted to fold up the top even higher. She wouldn't let me pull it down. She calls it her "Boopy, bra". Yup, she is in love with bras. She told me in Target (as we passed by the lingerie section), "mama! Me need boopy bra!!"

Oh, and before I forget. Happy Birthday to Susan. You are so amazing. I'm so glad that you are one of my closest friends. xoxox. Thanks for sharing your motherhood humiliation with me. It makes me proud!!

Caught in the Act

I caught Bruce and Fritz making out. So here's a little tribute for all our friends in California who are celebrating their legal marriages.

The Dog Days of Summer

It's been a while since I posted a "cat" entry. I'm posting one today because the boys have been walking a thin line lately. For the last few years they have been strictly indoor cats, I have, however, gotten tired of fighting the good fight. I have decided that if they run out the door they will stay out of doors until I am good and ready to let them in. To say that they are thrilled with this new level of exhaustion I have reached...would be a vast understatement. So, I've pumped them to the gills with Ivermectin and Heartworm medication and they have started a new life in-and-out of doors.

Back to the thin line...they have eaten 5 catnip plants to the ground. Okay, so I know that it is catnip, but seriously, it is getting embarrassing to go to the farmer's market EVERY Saturday for a fresh supply of young plants. The woman seriously must think that I have an entire yard of this stuff. I finally found some gigantic overgrown plants at Walmart and I bought a bunch of them. I suppose that it was a gut feeling that only a few would survive (one to be exact). These pictures are a fine display of Bruce finishing off his morning hit. Stupid cat.

Fritz has lost his collar and tags twice in three weeks. We got a call from the lady at the end of the street-said that she found his collar in her horse field. uggh. The second time he lost it--well, no calls this time. So he is wearing a back-up collar that has some old tags until I can get it replaced (in the winter when he will want to stay inside). The turkey also sharpened his claws on my new tree.

So why keep them? Well, lets just say that I have had my share of amusement lately by watching them suffer through the tortures of toddlers. It's a little payback. The first picture is Fritz wearing Jeff's hat. Jack is obsessed with Fritz wearing hats. He is contantly telling me that "cat hat". I love it! He also watched Bruce hack up a hair ball in the backyard last week. Now whenever he sees Bruce he says, "Bubba, coke (choke)!!" And then he pretends to hack and cough like a cat throwing up, which brings on fits of laughter. Man, I love that kid.

Lachlan, however, prefers to help the cats make long distance phone calls to all of their friends overseas. Here she is helping Fritz call "Gigi". Fritz is also learning all the words to Little Mermaid songs.

Meet the Press

Heartbreaking. Tim was a staple in the Murray home. He will be missed. Jeff and I are wondering where in the world will we go for election coverage? I personally watch the news several times a day and Russert was always a trusted source. He will be nearly impossible to replace on Meet the Press. Oh, what a loss.

Rough Start

Some mornings are harder than others. I wish I could say that today started better, but this is the first conversation I had...

Me: Why does that stupid bird keep chirping right in our window!! It's making me crazy!
Jeff: What??
Me: Freak, where is Bruce?!
Me to Bruce: Get outside you fat kitty and kill that bird before I go insane! (I throw cat out back door)

In my own defense, the bird was flying back and forth between two trees and it was chirping its guts out...not singing, just this chirp, chirp, chirp (over and over and over). aauuggh. AND, Bruce is far too fat to catch a robin. He has to stick with finches and other "bird feeder dwellers". He didn't even try to stalk it because the grass was too wet. Good grief.

Tickets Sold!

Sorry, for those of you still interested, but the tickets have been sold.

Make an Offer

I have two tickets to Jerry Seinfeld. Great Seats. The show is at Abravanel Hall, SLC, Friday, June 27th @ 7PM. I originally paid $60/each. We can't go. If you'd like to go, make an offer. The show got really good reviews when it was in Las Vegas. Leave a message in the comments and I'll get in touch with you.

Hike in the Rain?

Lachlan learned how to blow the seeds off of a dandelion. We laughed so hard because she got all the seed stuck to her mouth. I was nervous that she was going to inhale and choke!

"Daddy, go?" "Daddy, go?" We hear this all day long. Even when he is riding on daddy's back.

We didn't get wet, but I think that we got lucky. I can also report that the kids are significantly more heavy in these packs than I remember from last summer. The first half mile of the hike I was a little nervous that my calves were going to give out before we even got started. It was a lot better once they got warmed up to the weight of Lachlan, (a huge sigh of relief for all body parts). She is really starting to get some good muscle weight. Some of you who have lifted her in the past will know that it is like lifting an empty cardboard box--you anticipate something heavier than what you get. Recently, however, I have noticed that I really have to "get ready" to lift her up or it can be something just shy of disaster (for both of us). There have been a couple of times when I have almost tipped over because I'm not used to having any weight on her end. I suppose that eventually all of the calories were going to add up.

Jack also gained a pound last month (up to 18.8 lbs and 30 inches). I was really hoping that we would break the 20lb. barrier, but I guess we'll shoot for his 18mo. checkup. It's next month and I can't believe it! In fact, I sent him to the church nursery today. I thought that it would just be a "trial run" so that he could get used to the other kids and teachers/wranglers. Well it took him all of 30 seconds to decide that this was a much better deal than Sunday School and stale goldfish crackers. He never shed a tear. Never even acknowledged that Jeff and I left him there. I peeked in about a million times and he was being such a good boy (I was so proud!). Lachlan on the other hand, whoa, I peeked in on her too and I think that we need to have a talk about respectful behavior and leaving our dress down and not showing everyone our bum at church. I probably should have checked on her a LONG time ago. So much for believing that no news is good news...

Jack's first day at nursery. He colored a paper that said, "I can do many things."

Lachlan models her dress that Nanny Nancy brought her from San Francisco. Looks pretty, but needs some bloomers to avoid the previously mentioned "bum showing". Later on that evening, she modeled "mama shoe"--only the feet are shown because she was doing her post-bath "Spring Break" run.

"The" Movie

So Pearce wants to know "what movie"? Well, just for all the sinners out there...Sex and the City! Yeah, I went with Jen and Carrie last Friday and it was FABULOUS. I loved it. I laughed, I cried. It was such a fun night. We were completely overdressed for the theater, but so were the other 500 women who were there cheering in their seats along with us. The best part was that they didn't deviate from the original format of the show. It was like watching an extended version on steroids. I recommend it to all my old girlfriends. Don't see it alone--but don't take a man. This is one that is best seen in an estrogen-overload environment.

*spoiler alert*
Becca, my favorite line was when Carrie was trying to talk Charlotte into running again and Charlotte was so passionately explaining how she had the perfect life and she didn't want anything bad to happen--and then Carrie says, "Charlotte, your life isn't perfect, you shit your pants this last year!" I laughed so hard that I literally had tears in my eyes.

Oh, and "I wore a bird in my hair for him, a bird, a bird."

To my Carrie and Jen: You guys are the best. And Carrie, I would never judge you. And Jen, a big congrats on the rock.

Speech Therapy

Our speech therapist recommended that L lick pudding off of the edges of her mouth. She has some trouble with lateral tongue movements. I really think that Jeff took "therapy" to the edge. There was enough pudding to fly to the moon.