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July!  July's here!  Jon's parents are coming for the weekend, and we are all pumped!  We've got some fun plans including peach picking, parades, and pyrotechnics!  (I'm a teensy bit proud of that alliteration.)

A third of the summer is wrapping up and it's been a dandy one so far.  Great in fact.  But... Now let's be honest, my kids all want to sit/play/wrestle/pick-their-noses/climb/whistle/eat/read/fight/craft/sing within a two foot radius of me.  Really, the only one I want to be that close to me is the one that weighs less than 14 pounds. 

I was reading a couple blogs today, and this totally had me cracking up.  It sounded quite a lot like the Mot household.  The following was lifted from this blog:

Si: Mom, how much hours is it?
Me: How many hours for what?
Si: No. How. Much. HOURS. Until the thing.
Me: What thing, buddy? You need to give me more than that.
Si: Why do I need to give you something? Just how much hours???
Me: (gives up)

And this:

Si: Listen, Mommy! I'm going to say all the numbers but like they start with F. Fun Foo Free Four...Fenty-fix...Fifty-five! Hey, that worked!...Feighty-feven...
Me: (retreats to a happier place around fixteen)

And this:

Ruby: When do we get to go back to that one place?
Me: I need more info, Rubes.
R: 'member? We went that one time? Never-mind.
Me: Just give me some details! I don't like it when you guys never-mind me. Just try again!
R: Well, we like went there and...like...stayed at the house and played with...like...our friends.
Me: Think about what you're saying and try again (simultaneously dies a small soul-death).
R: We went to that one place and like, I mean, sorry, we went there and played with...(trying so hard not to say "like") our friends?
Me: Who? Or where were we? Describe the place! (Miraculously opts not to pick the battle of ending statements with a question mark because Jesus died, rose again, and sits at the right hand of God.)
R: I don't know! We went on a tube in the water.
Me: Melinda's house at the lake?
R: Yes!
Me: Oh. I don't know when we'll go back.
Si: Wait. Go back where???

Let's just say I catch myself saying things like, "You're going to have to do your best to not be annoying on purpose or we'll all lose our minds."

I'm not proud of it.

Let's just say, hypothetically, that my youngest child padlocked the closet where I keep the broom then LOST THE KEY.

Enough about me, how's your summer going? (She asked, brightly.)

Our conversations contain the same quantity of desperate pleas to the Lord for enduring patience, but revolve around earning money, tablets, birthday plans, and but why isn't 8 items enough for a garage sale??  Oh.  And the Spy Game.  This is Seth's new favorite game when he can't think of what else to do (read 4 to 9 times a day).  The object is to sneak up on me without me noticing and pretty much get close enough to touch me or steal something right next to me. 
Pros:  This is game is quiet.  Very quiet. 
Cons:  This game requires Seth to be constantly near me/in my hair.  Constantly.

Grandma and Grandpa, you couldn't be coming at a better time!!  I can think of a few people who won't want to leave your side!!
 

4 months!

This little pumpkin pie is growing away!  He's a fan of tummy time these days and can roll pretty quickly to his back.  He's rolled a couple times from his back to tummy as well; gone are the days of walking away while he's on the changing table.  Boo!  Yesterday I gave him a couple bits of my banana to see what he thought.  He seemed pretty neutral about the whole deal.  I told Jon about it, and Jon told me that he had already given him ice cream and few different types of popsicles.  Ha.  No wonder he wasn't thrilled when I thought I was giving him his first bit of real food.

The big boys are still totally smitten with him and sing to him and dance for him multiple times a day.  Seth blows raspberries on his belly and Nolan gives a big guffaw.  They are also asking for more responsibility when it comes to baby care. 

Can we learn how to change a diaper?
Yes!!
Can I carry him around yet?
No!!
Mom, you don't have to stand here.  I can give him a bath.
Nope!

Anyway, we are all pretty smitten!

Photo cred: Seth

Happy Baby!

Jon texted me this picture and it killed me.  He looks 7 months old!!

 

And here's some of our other yahoo's in the last week or so:

 

Murder!!

Barry Underwood, of Underwood Vineyards has turned up dead!!!!  But who was the killer!!?!

The Cast:

Calli, Dylan, Jon, Myself, Sam, Laura, Dan, and Eryn

Also know as...

Marilyn Merlot, Otto Von Schnapps, Bud Wizer, Hedy Shablee, Papa Vito, Bonny Lass, Ralph Rottingrape, and Tiny Bubbles

Ollie:  Mom, you look beautiful and terrifying. 

 

Good news, people!!  Jon and I are not cold-blooded killers!  I maaaaay have been involved with counterfeiting though....

Bronze Smokey Bear Award

We are so proud of Jon!  He traveled to Alabama last week to accept his award for spreading the word about good 'ol Smokey.  Take a look at the press release; poor Jon, he can't ever catch a break about the correct spelling or pronunciation of his name (although it has since been updated).

 

 

Some other cute congratulatory trophies/awards from his friends.

America Ninja Warrior

Our favorite summer-time TV show is back.  You know what that means...

 

Our Week with Mia-Mia-Quesadilla

 

 

Joyland!

We have a little fair-sized amusement park in Lubbock.  I always hear people give bad reviews of it, and I suppose if you grew up here and went to Joyland a few times a summer every year, I can see why you would be sick of it.  But the first time you go, lemme tell ya, it is pure magic.  The agency that we foster through, Buckner, has a foster parent appreciation there every year, and this is the first summer we were actually in town for it!  Ironically, we got a babysitter that night, so we didn't actually take any of our foster kiddos with us. 

The boys were soooo excited and talked about nothing else for days.  Ollie would waffle between extreme excitement and then suddenly decide it was all too much and declare it wouldn't be fun and we should probably just not go.  I haven't felt that level of excitement about anything in a good long while and it was fun to re-live the extreme anticipation through their eyes. 

Pizza before the gates opened!

 

Silly games and running around before the gates opened. 

Is it time? Is it time? 

 

Where the Fun is!!   

 

Our first ride!!  Bumper Cars!  Ollie's face was total glee until he realized the point of the ride was to smash into other people, then he was NOT a fan.  

 

Bumper car selfie!

The bumper cars were Seth's favorite ride, he returned to them two or three times.

 

From the bumper cars we took a left and walked down to this roller coaster.  This was probably a mistake, as it turns out all the younger kid rides were to the right.  Seth really liked it, Ollie declared it scary, and no one wanted to ride it again.

 

This is one of those big swing type rides.  The lady in charge of the ride had a mic and would ask, "who wants to go higher?!?" every few minutes and Jon told me later that Seth would say, "No thanks!" every time.  Haha! 

 

Next up was a smaller roller coaster, but it was super herky-jerky and rough on the turns.  Zoom in on Ollie's face, it says it all.  

 

Then we opted for the gondola, the slowest and longest gondola possible.  The boys pretty much declared it torture to be stuck on it so long.  We did get to see all the rides though, and made our plan for what to do next. 

 

 

Gondola selfie!

 

After a soda and water break we headed over to some rides that were more our size. 

Helicopters! 

 

Carousel! 

 

Semi-truck drivers! 

 

Then the boys spotted the log flume and I was really surprised that they both wanted to go.  After the big bad roller coasters, I figured they would stick to smaller rides for the rest of the evening.  This ride was a total blast though, both Ollie and my favorite of the night.  We went on it three times in a row, the attendant seating me in front, Ollie right behind me, and Seth in the back.  Seth was sweet and told me he felt bad for me for having to sit in the front on such a scary ride.  :)

 

After getting soaked on that one a few times, a train ride, and one more bumper car ride for Seth, sadly it was time to head home! 

 

Joyland, we'll be back!  I don't know if it will ever be quite the same, but we will be back!