Cam-eerrrr-ah

I called Canon today to find out what the estimate of the camera damages will be. The lovely lady on the other end told me they haven't yet opened it, but have a flat rate of $180(!) to fix the camera, no matter what the problem is. This $180 also includes a 6 month warranty and they are charging an extra $15 to send it back. Or they will send it back without fixing it for free. Go figure.

After I got upset that no one had told me about the flat rate fixing fee (why was I waiting for an estimate?) and the sneakiness of making me spend money to send it there insured and packaging it up ($30!) when I didn't need to send it to get an estimate, I nicely let her off the phone and called Don. Then I figured out that they make you mail in the camera before you get the estimate otherwise they know smart consumers would've brought their camera to a camera shop here in town where they would only pay for what was wrong, not a "flat fee" fixing rate. In addition to $45 in combined shipping charges.

I am upset that they were being tricky. I feel that if I request my camera back, it will somehow end up more damaged more than what it was when I sent it out. (Can you tell I don't send my food back in a restaurant either?) So in order to get my camera back, we need to cough up almost $200, or forfeit the $30 that we already spent.

They may as well just emailed me this, I'd feel the same way...

Out of the Closet

My camera is now in the hands of a (hopefully) capable Canon tech. We sent it UPS out to their center in Irvine. Nervously I wait for the news letting us decide if we are going to deem it worth fixing or just cry because I will have a crap camera on our vacation come May.

I have been using the camera Don found on his route and while not they aren't clear and pretty pictures, it is at least able to document the going ons around here.



Another one of Don's "treasures" from work, a new play house! A customer knows about the boys and had thought they might enjoy a little house to play in. And of course they do. Except when Jaxon took a tumble after not being able to hold on to the roof that he had just climbed on. Yup. I can only hope he learned from that experience. Or not....

Yesterday, the boys and I were tinkering around upstairs. They were running around -loudly- but content. I was brushing my teeth, getting dressed and putting on my make up, coming out to check on them every now and then. Once I walked out of my bedroom door, looked to the side and saw this.



Before I about peed in my pants, I saw the wonderful scrapbook opportunity and quietly grabbed the camera. Quietly because I didn't want to startle him and also because truthfully, I wanted that picture. After I was spotted, he flashed me a huge proud of himself grin.




Once his brothers saw that this was fun stuff and Jax was being encouraged to do it, it was time for monkey do. Of course (once I got my pictures) I made it clear to the boys that we do not climb in the house any more. And in a desperate attempt to get them to forget the closet, I invited them to jump on Mommy's bed while I finished getting ready.

Something old, Something new

Spring has hit and we have been outside a lot. Saturday morning we had an impromptu garage sale with a friend Michele. They have a huge driveway and live in a great area for a garage sale so we kind of invited ourselves to join in the fun. Don headed over at the crack of dawn and I brought the boys once they woke up.

Lots of playing, laughing and over $400 later, it was time to bring to kids home and put them down for a nap. Don and I took our newly earned money and had a night out on the town. After googling for patio dining in Las Vegas we came up with a few and finally decided on Maggianos. HOLY cow this place is awesome! Definitely our new favorite place. Patio dining is really dining outside of the Fashion Show mall, overlooking the strip (sirens and motorcycles included) but it was nice and the noise helped keep it real. :) The food was delicious and the prices were really reasonable.

Home Depot was having a paint sale this weekend so we used more of the garage sale money towards primer, paint and glaze. I need to get on the quilts and figure out what exactly is the look I am going for.

Yesterday after the boys woke up from their naps we started taking apart the cribs to move them into the guest room during the painting. Before we accomplished too much, we remembered to take a before picture. The boys loved helping Don reassemble the cribs in the guest room and we are pleased that it has been a very easy transition for them. But after being up until almost midnight last night, I will be thankful when the painting is done!

Recovered and Rambling

The meanest headache I have ever had hit me on the head last night with a big stick. For the first time ever, light and noise were my enemy. After dinner Don took care of the kids while I took a long, hot, dark bath and shower followed by laying down in my dark room, listening to the kids screaming downstairs. Luke was freaking out because we have given them the rights to wander upstairs and he was not ready for those earned rights to be taken away.

So after three little bodies joined me in bed, Don laid down with us and we were trying to keep the kids quiet and still (!). So we all began singing songs. Twinkle Twinkle, the ABC's and Moon moon moon. It is so odd how before we had kids, the only time I EVER heard Don sing was when he belted out "Amarillo by Morning" at a karaoke night while we were camping in Ventura. Now he is all for hanging out with the family and singing nursery rhymes. How cool is that?

I finally got up and helped Don put the boys to bed and crawled back into bed. My head was still hurting this am before Don left for work, but I fell back asleep and thankfully woke up head ache free. I am so thankful that headaches don't regularly plague me. And I feel for those people who they generally do.

Jax has somehow figured out my name is Laura. I don't respond to it at all when I hear the words come out his mouth. Don't get me wrong, it is the cutest way I have ever heard my name said -the way it just rolls off his tongue- but he has been calling Don by his first name for over 5 months now, and the cuteness has worn off in Don's opinion. At least 10 times a day we correct him when he says "Thanks Don!"

Luke has begun to use our phrases when he talks, and I love hearing him say things. After Reagan stopped crying the other day, he patted her back and asked if she was "all better". When we ask him the where abouts of a certain toy, he will say it is "white dare" or "over dare!" We have begun using the timer to take turns. The same timer that I use to time dinner cooking. The last three nights when the timer goes off, Luke asks "Wy-wy's turn now?" -even though there is no toy in question. He sings all the time. If there is no song in his head, he makes one up. "Yell-ow car, yell-ow car" was sang for at least 7 minutes the other day on the way to Costco. When his brothers tried to join in, they were told "No, U-key do!" Eventually he let them join in with him, but he is such a little man and he really keeps his eyes open about what is going on around him.

Wyatt has been a bit defiant. Not in an obvious way, but in an ignoring us "he can't hear us" way. Somewhere along the way he has stopped bringing his plate up to the sink after eating every meal and continuously brings his sand ridden Caterpillar trucks into the house even though he has been told dozens of times (in the past hour) that they are outside toys. He has a great game face, but he can only hold it so long before he starts laughing.

Aunt Leigha came by the other day before she got her nails done. The boys ran around, calling her name - trying to show her the sand box and toys they were playing with. Jax, Wyatt and Lucas loved making funny faces at her and would scream and laugh when she returned the faces to them. After hanging out with them in the cubby where Jax and Wyatt would try to make her laugh by jumping up and hitting their head on the ceiling, we called it a day and she helped me put the boys down for their nap.

So even though I have felt like nothing much has been going on, in retrospect there hasn't been many dull moments. Maybe I should force myself to blog more often :)

Under the covers

All is well here in our household. Boys have been playing outside LOTS, getting very dirty and having a blast. They scream loud like little girls, but it cracks me up. I am sure the neighbors don't feel the same way.

Here is a video of the fore mentioned screamers. A bit loud, so you may want to turn your volume down. :)

Catching Up

Seems like all I have been doing is catching up. I have been trying to stretch myself beyond the day to day getting through and have been doing a bit of catching up.

My bathroom counter has been a mess for what seems likes weeks, ever since Jaxon spilled a container of powder out on the counter and in my make up drawer. In order to clean the mess, the drawer needed to be emptied, washed down and put back together. But since it was empty, it was the perfect chance to throw away old make up (like YEARS old) and clean off the things I wanted to keep. Putting my make up back in the drawer gave me a perfect opportunity to reorganize my drawer, which meant I could reorganize my medicine cabinet, etc.

So I guess it seemed like weeks because it really was.

I also organized my summer clothes and got rid of more pants/capris/shirts that no longer fit. It seriously took me a couple hours to go through my dresser and closet to see what I wanted to pass on and keep. But I am now organized and packing will be easy when we go to San Diego this summer!

This week I have gotten three scrapbook layouts done. I figure I am on the computer so much and really don't have much to show for it. Yes, a new knowledge of child rearing information and other helpful nonsense, but nothing I can see. One of my scraps won a "Layout of the Week" contest which was pretty dang neat, too.

And last, Don and I got caught up on some landscaping yesterday. I took the boys to Star Nursery and we picked out a couple vines for the back yard. We have a spot that we have planted two bougainvilleas in the past, but they freeze out and die every winter. I know they will come back, but they look horrible in the mean time. So we planted the new yellow bank vines, trimmed up some bushes, and planted some bulbs, too. Now that Don has weed whacked and mowed the yard for the first time in about 6 months, it looks beautiful again.

I have no new pictures since my camera is still dead. Hopefully we will get it in the shop soon so I can give you new material. In the mean time, we will be using the camera that someone on Don's route threw away. When I asked him why someone would throw away a perfectly good camera, he just said they were getting a divorce. So if any of you are getting divorced and happen to have a working Canon Rebel body, don't it away. Send it to me!

To tide you over with a little bit of the boys, here is a video we took on Easter Sunday. This is Wyatt occupying himself with a "flute straw" while we were waiting for our lunch

Isn't it ironic...

That today UPS came and delivered the perfect hard carrying case for my camera. 2 and a half years after I bought it, but only 4 days after the camera took a total dive on me? The irony...

Easter Preparation

Last night was full of fun as we let the boys "help" us dye the eggs. We were concerned about how to let them color without staining the chairs, tables, hands, etc. After much preparation of covering the table and having towels handy, we just did it.

We showed the boys how to write on the egg with the crayon and put their initial so it shows after being dyed. Since they couldn't see what they were writing, we brought out the regular crayons and let them decorate with those, too. Once we were down to just a final few eggs the boys started taking the spoons and pouring dye over them.

Today we went out to a Easter egg hunt put on by a nearby church. They had over a million eggs out over the course of their three hunts today. Not really a hunt though, more like thousands of eggs laying on the ground -we live in the desert, not many places to hide eggs!

We invited Nana to join us and the boys were thrilled to see her. The boys waited patiently during a little concert followed by a bunny/chicken race, and then a raffle drawing. When it was time to go out and get the eggs, the boys all held their little baskets and knew exactly what to do.

After the egg hunt we went down to the District and had some more Easter fun. Since it was lunch time we didn't do any of the face painting or visiting with the Easter Bunny (who all three are not huge fans of anyhow). The boys did manage to pick up some fun bunny hats while we were waiting to get our lunch.

The whole day was busy and full of Easter preparation. We are excited to see what the Easter Bunny has in store for the boys followed by a fun Easter dinner with our family and friends.



To your family from ours...

Afternoon Romp

Funny how that phrase means something different now that we have children.

I told the boys they could come upstairs with me this morning as I got myself ready for the day -as long as they stayed up on the bed.


Stayed up on the bed, they did, too. Little monkeys...

Sweet Dreams

Putting the boys down to bed leads me through many different feelings.

First and foremost relief. 1) Relief that we made it through another day, 2)relief that we will have quiet time and 3)relief that it will be approximately 12 hours before the madhouse starts again.

Next comes impatience. It happens because bed time is like the carrot dangling before our faces -quiet time, is so close but so far! Why does it take a full half hour to get them changed and into bed? Come on Wyatt, please come see Mommy so we can put your Mickey Mouse jammies on. Lucas, Daddy is putting on your Mickey shirt! You better run! Buddy, you already have your jammies on... why didn't you tell Momma you wanted to go potty before?

Next is adoration, followed by a bit of irritation.
Look how cute they are running and dancing together! Singing songs together and awww, they are hugging. Oh, he pulled you down! Okay, hugging has turned into wrestling. Cue the infectious giggling. Now Don has joined in. Everyone on Daddy's back! Swat team, swat team! Daddy got you! Okay, into bed so we can get a drink. We said "one more drink" five times now. Luke spit his water out of his mouth? Jax, you are going to get an owie hanging from your tent like that!

And then comes heart melting.
Time to blow all the lights out. In the dark, I am holding Wyatt's little body close to me as he joins me in singing "twinkle twinkle little star". He smells so sweet. Luke wanting to be held once and then twice as he gets in his last hugs and kisses for the night. Big squeezes! Jaxon is curled up in his bed, with that little smile on his face as he closes his eyes, pretending to be sleeping -until Don makes him giggle. All their blankets pulled up past their shoulders and keeping their necks warm.

Night-night little guys.

We love you!

Muah!



Last of the feelings is exhaustion as we close their door and have just enough energy left to go sit down in silence. Even though I am glad that it is "our time", I can't help but miss their giggles a little bit as I unwind.

St Paddy Parade

On Saturday morning the boys got to see their first parade! They loved the music, the clapping and all the green. It occurred to me as one of the bands went by, that the boys have never heard how instruments are supposed to be played. So the drums and bagpipes made a big hit, but after two hours we decided it has been long enough and headed home. The boys didn't complain that the parade wasn't over yet, I think the sun had (thankfully) worn them down.

Random Moments

The past week...



Getting the boys up from nap time the other day, Wyatt was still laying down in his crib with his eyes closed. Trying to wake him up gently, Don went to rub Wyatt's back when Wyatt jumped up and in true Moe fashion said "here I am!"

In the car Luke will randomly start singing "mmo moo here, moo moo dare, moo moo here, moo moo dare" over an over agian. If we so much as try helping him move on to the rest of the lyrics, it is met with a "no, I do it!"



Jaxon saw Don's tattoos on his back and then asked Don "gurl-fend Dadoo?"

New Hair Day

Luckily the boys passed through what seemed to be a 24 hour virus (aka vomit fest 2008). They seem to be at full energy force most of the time, but tire out easily and every once in a while I can tell someone is not feeling well. Thankfully, no more vomiting so hopefully the worst of it is behind us.

Good timing too, since they had an appointment to get their hair cut this morning. After talking it up all week and telling them the steps that Miss Nannette was going to do while they got their hair done, Jaxon was ready to go. He volunteered to be first and the beautiful little guy just smiled just about the whole time she snipped away.

Wyatt was just as good, but less enthusiastic. He kept saying "all done now". Lucas -on the other hand- wanted nothing to do with any of it. He ended up sitting on my lap during the hair cut, but settled down enough for her to get a good even cut.

Afterwards we headed over to my moms for lunch and Don surprised us by being able to stop off and visit mid day. The boys loved seeing his truck there and were thrilled to see their Daddy. With Don over sleeping and staying home on Monday and then being sent home on Thursday, they have had lots of time to hang out with him this week and are just loving it.

Before & After

Number Game

in 6 Hours
3 sick boys
12 total vomits
9 pajama changes
3 loads of laundry we did last night
4 hours sleep (for Don)
1 minute late, so they sent Don home

How to kill 10 minutes

All you need is a spray bottle and cold water....

Productive day

In the past 12 hours, Don and I have painted 2 walls -one of which is 2 stories high- and made (with my mom's help) new curtains for our dining area. The painting was begun and completed while the boys were napping. When they went to bed, we had 2 orange walls. Now they are a very neutral cream color. When they woke up they were mystified about the missing orange walls. "Where'd orange go?" We heard it all night and during dinner, too "Orange wall go?".



Tonight after the boys went to bed, Don and I finished the curtains (put the grommets on, finished the seams, etc) and hung the new curtain rod up. We now have two major things off our to do list. I finally feel like I can start concentrating on the boys bedroom and get their quilts started.

Dinner for SIX

Saturday evening Cathy and the boys came over for dinner. Usually we play over at Cathy's since her house is much larger and the boys have more space to play in, but it has been our turn for a long time now to have them over at our house. Soon after she got here, it was time to feed the boys some pizza and realized they are all old enough to hang out at their own "kid's table". All six of them sat down at the picnic table and ate their pizza. Not one child got up and moved around. They all sat nicely there until they were done eating. For the first time EVER, all three of us adults were able to sit down, eat and chat while the kids were eating. It was awesome!

After dinner the boys went in the living room to play. And surprise of all surprises, they played together! Some of them went to the cubby to read and others played a long game of touching Cathy's nose -but they all interacted with the other group of kids, not just their own brothers. Lots of giggling, running and hugging for the next hour or so before Cathy packed up the boys and left.

Jaxon, Wyatt and Lucas stood out on the front step of our house while Cathy's van was pulling away. All three were waving and yelling good bye to their friends. We all had such a fun night and can't wait to see what kind of fun we will have next time we play with our friends.

Day at the Park

The other day we had a play date at the park. My mom, Reagan, the boys and I met up with one of Mom's friends (Debbie) and Debbie's daughter in law (Annie) and grand daughter (Katie). It was a park we hadn't been to in a while and it was a huge wake up call to see the boys run all over it now! Little Reagan is a little younger than I remember the boys being the first time we went there, and it was so neat to see her trying to climb up the slide and crawl around like the boys did well over a year ago.

Here is a video of the boys pushing Rea around in her walker. Notice how they leave her so she can watch them play and not feel left out.


After a lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apples for the kids and crab salad and California rolls for the adults (and kids), the kids played a bit longer before it was time to go. Jaxon tries to be quite the negotiator when he is not done with things, so up his little pointer finger went when he told me he wanted to swing "one more time" before we left. Lucas and Wyatt were not thrilled about leaving, but once we got out of the gated area they all raced over to a huge soccer ball they spotted -lucky for me it was close to the parking lot.

Needless to say, naps were nice and quiet after playing outside all day. I am glad the weather is nice enough to do this more often now!

New things a-happening

Since the new big boys beds are sitting in our garage and I am getting the vibe that it is time NOW to potty train, we have decided to change the boys room. Currently, they are all crib tented up and their room is blacked out to preserve the sacred 3 hour nap time every day. But once they start potty training, I want them to be able to get up and out of their beds to go to the bathroom when needed.

My mom and I spent just about 3 hours at the fabric store yesterday picking out the fabrics for the boys bedding. Finally I decided on colors a bit more sedate than what they have now, but still fun and colorful. I am really excited to get started, and trying to forget there are a dozen other things that need to be done now, too (clean the garage, make the dining room curtains from the fabric we purchased last month, organize things for the MOM garage sale, etc) but this has to take priority because of the time crunch on potty training. I just feel like I am losing my window of opportunity if I don't jump on it now. There is an underlying fear that if I wait too long, the kids will start to not mind the dirty diapers and turn against me.

We have had a busy week, lots of running around and keeping busy. My favorite thing from this week has got to be the boys singing along in the car with the radio. Sometimes I turn the radio up pretty loud to drown out all the whining. Then I pretend to get really into the music, dancing in my seat and singing along with the music while telling the boys to dance. Jaxon totally gets into it. His little arms start waving all over the place (freaking Lucas out because he is afraid Jax will hit him with those wild arms) and Wyatt will shake his head all over, banging it into the car seat, but laughing like a wild man. Then they will sing the last word they heard. The other night it was "Groove is in the heart" and the three of them would sing the word "heart" out as long as she does in the chorus. Even after we were home, we were singing it and it was so loud and obnoxious that the dog started howling. I am sure the neighbors were wondering what the heck, but it was a good time for us. :)

Happy Birthday Pops!

All day Sunday (minus the 3 hour nap time) we spent at Nana and Pops house. Beginning with bringing Einstein Bagels over for breakfast and ending with a birthday dinner for my dad, it was a family packed day. Don and I snuck out to look at fabric for the boys room and stopped on a hunch at Circuit City to see if they happened to have any Wii's in stock. And they did!

Back at Nana and Pops house this evening, we were doing a celebration of Pop's birthday that passed a few days ago. After just celebrating little Leigha's birthday a couple weeks ago, the boys had a better understanding of birthday's, cake and singing and were very excited about celebrating Pop's with him.

All three of them kept saying "happy day, pops during dinner and again during desert. I bet Pop's never has felt so much love on his special day before! When it was time for cake, Wyatt tried to touch the candles and Jaxon had the biggest smile on his face during the singing. Luke was thrilled to help blow the candles out.

Tonight Aunt Leigha popped in to say hello. While she was here, we introduced the boys to playing baseball on the wii. They all have their own mii's Don and I made up for them while we were catching our breath :). They are baseball pros and Wyatt -being the gadget man he is- loved being allowed to play with the remote. They actually won their baseball game!

Now, I am off to go play some tennis with Don.

Harmonica Luke