FREAKIN' OUT!!!

Ok, so this picture! It totally faaarrreeeeeked me out, I mean, I didn't realize that my son was thrown so precariously into the air. This is what happens when Momma sneaks down to the port-a-jon with her roll of toilet paper, hand wipes, Purell, & a flashlight. Sheesh, that's why I hold it. Things like this happens when Momma is outa sight (that, and the porta-jon things? Ewwwwwwww!).

Here's a pic of us camping (yes, again) and you should appreciate being able see it and the blog you're reading, because coming back to civilization has taken quite a toll on me. I had a hard time answering the phone, I couldn't type, burnt the toast, just sorta FLIPPED OUT, ya know...just like always.

So here I am, home, typing away after yet another fun-filled day of taking care of other people's kids. I don't mind it so much, but I have a new girl and we have to establish the rules, enforce them, learn her likes/dislikes, all that jazz. She's cute and sweet and nine years old ("Geez, I'm not a little kid" she informed me today) and she's the most difficult child I have had the pleasure to watch. Why, you ask? How could this darling little blond stick of cuteness be difficult in any way? Well, because she's SMART. I mean really, really, smart. She read 500 books last year in school. F.I.V.E. H.U.N.D.R.E.D. My hubby hasn't read that many books in his LIFE!!!

So we have this super-smart girl, a 3 year old and an almost 2 year old. And she gets bored very quickly. When the little ones go down for their nap, I thought it would be fun to send up our tent in the living room. Oh, and it is soooo fun, for about 15 minutes. There we are, sittin' in the tent, and she says, "So...whatcha wanna talk about?" "Um," I sophisticatedly reply, "How about we look at the stars?"

Needless to say, I have to bust out with the learning kit that Gila Man bought for his N.A.U. class and try to trick her with money questions . But ACK!! She cannot be fooled by money. So I jump to patterns...piece of cake. Rubber band puzzles. Done. Counting tenths, & hundreths. Will I ever challenge her? Then I see it. The little bag of........fractions. She is going into fourth grade. She has done some of this, but not all of it (chuckling menacingly) so I go all the way. I present her with 1/6's, 1/8's, 1/3's, and 1/16's.

And she is fooled!! I WIN I WIN I WIN!! HEE HEE HEE!!! What? Like age matters when you're celebrating a well won victory?? BOOOO-YA!! Sheesh, people. Give me a break. Math is, like, my total, absolute, WORST subject and it was sooooo cool to actually know more about a math subject than the person I'm with. So she's nine years old, so what? Did I mention that she was a SMART nine-year-old?

She simply looked at me, basking in my glory over the fraction pieces that I was now doing my victory dance on, and said "You are the weirdest babysitter I've ever had" and walked out of the tent. I wonder if her mom will bring her back on Monday.

Once Upon A Time...

Oh, well. This looks all jacked up, but I tried to do it differently this time and naturally, I goofed. Here are some of the pics I took while camping on up at Riggs Lake...I swear, if Mr. B had any idea of what heaven looks like, this is it to him. He got out of the car and DID NOT STOP until we put him to bed. It was great!

There's Gila Man, Mr. B. and I, all sitting on a log in the shade after enjoying breakfast, and on the rock is "Iron Will" (in Pink) as I will call her, because that's what she has (I would love to watch someone try to take candy from THIS baby!!). She's 6 months younger than Mr. B, but can still kick his tush. Noah was trying will all his might to get in the lovely lake of murkey water, but had to be accompanied by Dad, which spoiled all his fun. We did let him play in the tub of water next to the fire that night, as he was coated in dirt and tree sap from running amok with the other children that arrived that day.

Oh, yes. The children. Remember how I had stated that the twin sister was coming up who had 4 kids under the age of 7? Well, I was wrong...SOOOOO WRONG. She also brought her cousin who had 3 kids - and they are all under the age of 5. No, really. I'm not kidding!!! That made a total of 9 children under the age of 5 running around in the woods and trying to sneak down to the lake and throwing weeds in the fire & therefore making a thick, stinky, smoke and drinking half a pop and spilling the rest so we were attacked by ants and gnats, and screaming bloody murder whenever someone tried to prevent them from climbing down the 5 ft stone wall encircling our campsite. The twin also brought her dog that HATES her brother's dog so we had the little weiner dogs barking and nipping and whining at our feet for hours.

I guess I have to admit that I'm a little bit of a control freak. Gila Man says "You're just a little bit compulisive, sweetie." Is there such a thing as a little bit compulisive? I doubt it, but if so, that gives me hope. This situation was competely out of my hands. It was hard for me to deal with. We (by "we", of course, I mean "I") dealt with it by going on long, leisurly walks together, just the three of us. Holding hands, enjoying the smell of the forest, watching Mr. B. get totally and completely exhausted so he would take a 3 hour nap when we returned. It was very nice.

Also got a little fishing in too. Caught 2 brown trout, but gave them to someone who had already caught 2, as the cleaning station was closed and it just wasn't worth the hassle. That was our trip, but there's more to come of course. That was just a quick overview. I'm just recovering enough to post this and recount it for ya'll.

*Singing* A Camping We Will Go...

A camping we will go, a camping we will go, hi-ho-the-dairy-oh, a camping we will go!!

So my husband and I have been planning this wonderful vacation where we will drive all over Southern, Northern, and Eastern AZ, then to Colorado, and end in Utah. But his boss called and said it had to be cancelled. TOTALLY BOGUS, right?!?! Well, let me tell you....we were hoppin' mad (and that's REALLY mad in our house), I mean we were pretty ticked off and all, until I said, hey! You've got a coupla days off this week, let's all go camping! By all I mean myself, my husband, and our 20-month-old son. Yikes! Are we nuts or what? But we have food and a coupla ponchos, what more do you need in the woods near a lake? Oh, yes...we do have a tent, almost forgot about that.

Obviously, we aren't really big campers, so we are going with some friends of ours that are. Big time campers. They've got the whole menu planned, dutch oven dinners, full breakfasts, I mean the works! Except they have a 13-month-old daughter. And a dog. That barks. A LOT. But not too bad, right? They'll all have fun. I mean we'll all have fun. Riiiiiiiiight. Then the bombshell...my friend's husband's twin sister is going to join us. And her 4 kids under the age of 7. Without her husband. AAAAARRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

*Humming to myself to keep from going insane at the thought of this impending camping trip* A camping we will go, a camping we will go, hi-ho-the-dairy-oh (oh, that just makes is sound so pleasant, now doesn't it?), a camping we will go...

My Little Book Worm...

Oh, my little bookworm...
Every kid has their favorite story. Mine was Green Eggs & Ham, my husbands was James & The Giant Peach, my best friends was Where The Wild Things Are.

My son loves books. He has since he was a baby. See, I took this Children's Literature class when I was pregnant with him, and this class showed me where to look and what to look for in a good book. I learned about the different types of genres, the different themes, lessons, rules, and just...stuff...about so many different books. Did you know that there is a different sort of Cinderella story in EVERY culture? If you don't know who Jim Trelesse is (I don't know if the spelling is right on that), then you should look him up and know that he has really turned the world around when it comes to reading to children. It used to be nice for parents and teachers to read to kids. Now it's REQUIRED!!!

Needless to say, I learned how important it is to read to a child. That class and the fact that when I was 13 we moved into a house that had been built and previously owned by Amish people. That meant there was no TV or cable hookup. N.O.N.E. So we had a TV and a VCR. That's it. So, we read. A LOT.

Then...I took this highly infuencial class while pregnant with my first child. When he was 5 days old (and finally started to nurse), I started reading to him. First, it was the instructions to my new breast pump (sorry guys). Then I read all the pamplets about bringing home a new wonderful baby to him, hoping he would catch on...he did, of course. Then came the Parenting magazine articles, the Babywise book (that saved my life), and bits and pieces out of What To Expect When You're Expecting. Then I started reading baby books to him. One of his favorites was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? In fact, that was his very favorite. Until now. Now he runs around humming the tune "The Wheels On The Bus Go Round & Round", but he only hums the "Round and Round" part. It would be pretty cute if he wasn't so facinated with that book and that song. When he hears someone honk their horn, he hums the "Round and Round" part. Same goes for when he hears a baby cry, or sees a wheel...ANY wheel. He goes to bed with a book and seems to wake up with a different one every morning, but I am so glad he loves books and not video games. I think they would be much harder to sleep with!

Oh, The Shame...

Well, here's my snazzy cute PINK crown I got to wear for my birthday! Isn't it just, soooooo....hideous?!?! This would mostly be because I have a deep hatred (a word that I don't use lightly) for this color. Why? Could it be that I was the only girl in my family and therefore I was forced to wear it? That every accessory for every Barbie or Cabbage Patch Kid I had was some shade of puice? That year after year (long after I was hating the 11th grade) when school shopping time came around, I STILL had to get some sort of pink shoe. But I'm not bitter about it, oh no! Not when my husband comes in, stands over my shoulder and says,
"You're putting that on your site? I mean, c'mon! There are cold, hungry, lonely people in the world. At least you had money to buy shoes."
So here's a pic of me in this cute crown, sitting in a comfy chair, getting ready to open more gifts that some kings get buried with, and looking at a cake the size of one of those starving countries (more like a big slab of humble pie). Sheesh, Gila Man...way to spoil my fun...
Have a Happy Fourth!!