You can picture this

A hectic morning at the pediatrician's for child #2 to be diagnosed with pneumonia, a race through Walmart before anyone "freaks" (my mom hates it when I use that word) out, and then hurry home keeping your kids awake in the backseat so they'll take good afternoon naps.

I get the kids inside for pottying (while child #1 potties I remember that I should atleast get the milk out of the back of my car so I can save the rest of the grocery-carrying-in for later. The dog starts barking so I let him out of the kennel and then outside to do his thing, then back in), then down the hall for book reading, prayer, and naps.

I close Child #1's door, change child #2's diaper and lay her down. Proceed to carry in the rest of the groceries and get the kitchen back in order. Remember that a guy is coming to fix our window so I grab a sticky note to cover up the doorbell so that the kids will stay asleep. Now I think , where is the dog I don't want him barking when the guy gets here so I better stick him back in the kennel.

I check all of the usual spots and can't find the wonderdog. That's when I realize that the door for the attached garage to our mudroom has blow wide open at some point in the past 1/2 hour. He had been going crazy watching the rabbits out the back window earlier in the day so I know he's gone.

So what do I do? After calling out the back door and scanning the neighbor's yards to no avail I determine to lock my kids in the house and drive around the neighborhood in search of the dog. Just as I'm leaving sickie child #2 wakes up crying so I strap her in her carseat and head out. SBG finds it highly entertaining, joining me in calling "Boo, boo, boo" in her sing-songy voice from the backseat.

I talk with walking retired people, the only other at-home mom in the neighborhood, and the farmer a 1/4 mile down the county road. No one has seen him. Now child #1 has been home alone for 10 minutes and I'm starting to feel guilty so I head home. I text message my husband (who's doing an important lunch with one of his neurologists) "HELP BOO RAN OFF!"

So SBG and I hang out playing in the front yard waiting for Thad to come home, the dog to come home, or the window guy to arrive. Thad calls to get my story and say he's on his way home. Then Bubba calls out from his room that he's awake. I prepare to explain to him that the dog ran off and we need to hunt for him. I open the door to his room and THE DOG RUNS OUT!!!!!

Let me just say that the dog is not allowed to sleep on anyone's bed. Bubba has always wanted him to but I didn't want the dog disturbing his sleep and waking him up an hour in to his nap like he did today. Turns out that in the midst of me changing SBG's diaper and laying her down Bubba let Boo in his room.

So all is well in Crazytown once more. That's it :)

Friendly Riders

A chilly but silly play date was had by all this AM. Lydia was brave enough to allow Bubba to take her for a ride. Notice Holly in the background - I think she would have sat in that coupe all day with the crazy riders zooming past her.

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Another pic for that wedding video that just keeps getting longer every year :)

SBG & Holly enjoyed the entertainment and their treats (courtesy of SBG's favorite Sugar Mama :)

Then Braveheart Lydia was ready to hit the trail on her own...

with a little coaching from BubbaAnd then he got a ride tooAfter they left Bubba said to me "Mom, I sure wish Lydia lived on our street." Me too. I'll keep my eyes open for a For Sale sign :)

We now have a 4Boy (well actually 3 1/2 weeks ago)

April 26th my precious baby boy turned 4. He calls himself a "4Boy" :) We came across this shirt at TJ's 2 years ago. I can't believe it fits and that he's 4!

Here's a play by play of a fun couple of birthday days!

First we made the "H" and "4" cookies

A long awaited big kid bike so he can ride with the neighbor kids

The party of a lifetime at PUMP IT UP. Thanks for the recommendation Aunt KT it was a blast! Everyone kept asking how we are going to top it next year. I don't think we will.

King for a day SBG and Mommy enjoy the big slide so much that her hair curled (just teasing - a really crazy weather front came in and the exceptional humidity did it)
Grace and 4Boy climbing the ladder Thad & Uncle Yee solving the problems of the world
The coolest cake ever!Finally present opening timewith a little help from buddy DavidKThe next day included seeing a gigantic scooper outside of our breakfast restaurant so of course a picture was in order
Breakfast with Grandpa & Grandma before they headed home (and the throwing up began for our fam)But the most exciting thing by far -

Helping us top the list of our worst parenting faux paxs

We got rid of that darn BINKY!!
and he lived to tell about it (actually he lived to sleep with no problem and never mention it again). Why do I wait so long on these things? Maybe because then they are such a non issue and they're easier on me?

Well that's it in a nutshell. Call it catch up blog #1

The Best Birthday Gift "We" Ever Got

Lately Bubba's favorite activity at my Mom's house is her fancy, schmancy battery powered Swiffer. So she got us one for his birthday. We are both in heaven!

If you have hardwoods or tile it is a must!. The vacuum part works great especially on edges. You will never use your old broom again. If you are like me you probably sweep first and then Swiffer. No more with this snazzy all-in-one! Go get one this afternoon while the kids are napping :)

Added bonus is that your kids will want to use it all the time and since it's such a no-brainer to use they will actually be helping you.

http://www.swiffer.com/swiffer/en_US/sweepervac.do

Thanks Nanny!

Please vote for my friend Jennifer Pospisil

My friend from my MOPs (Mothers of Preschoolers) group is a finalist to win a dream vacation to Disney with her family. Please vote for her at this link. She promises to take us all with her (just kidding) and you can only vote once. Thank you!

http://www.seetheworldwithwolfe.com/

His First Team Photo

Mother's Day Candids

My sweet 4Boy and me under his buckeye tree in Nanny & Papa's yard.

Me & my girl in her new sporty apron

SBG loved Nanny's set up for ice cream eating. Just lick the spoon a little then wander around and let it drip.

Thad enjoying the festivities
Two cute mommies

"People always say I look like my Aunt Lions."

ReStart

I've been offline for many reasons including my entire family having stomach flu but me and being gone to Arizon-ia (that's what Bubba calls it) for a week of family togetherness. I told my friend Tara yesterday that I'm two weeks behind in blogging and I don't even know where to start and she said just start today so that's what I'm doing. I'll do my best to intersperse the present with the past in the next week or so and you can check out my sister's blog for fun pics of our trip. So...here's all of today's excitement!

When we got home from Arizona we looked out the window and saw this...

Bubba couldn't have been more excited. He just kept saying WOW and then finally "Mom - is it a Backyardigans Park?" That's what he has always called Backyard Advenutres. As you can see it is not only a hit with our kids but with the entire neighborhood too.

Next to arrive was this beautiful furniture for SBG's babies. After I spent 2 hours with a Philips screwdriver she had a great day of patting her babies and telling them "ni-night" and feeding them with a spoon and then she switched to giving them a plastic piece of pizza from her kitchen. Thanks for such a thoughtful gift Nanny. It also came with an umbrella stroller for the babies. I'll get a picture of that this weekend. She couldn't quite figure out how to turn it so the result was driving it straight in to walls and much frustration :(