sab ba ti cal, two

Here's the thing. I am only to mid-June of last year and currently my hubby is nearly half way through spring training of this year.

I am not really sure how that happened.

I mean, I know how it happened. He got into his car, drove across the country and then baseball players just started showing up outta nowhere and throwing balls and hitting balls and running fast.

And spitting. Lots of spitting.

MLB is thinking about hiring me to write their new ad campaign.

Because words, I know a lot of them.

Anyhoo (not actually a word) (but it should be) we spent last summer in Missoula, Montana. It was a  bit of a full-circle moment for us because Andy had played his own rookie ball season there nearly 11 years ago.

Now he was returning to manage the team.

And when in tarnation did we become old enough to have full-circle moments?

hey mom! dat's our daddy!?!

Missoula is such a great town, so beautiful and  most importantly, not as hot as Phoenix.

We wore jackets to the Independence Day game.

Which was in July.

You know, when it tends to be overly warm.

some of us enjoyed our mother-assigned clothes more than others (e, l, a)

.

 We spent the summer stalking the mascot, eating peanuts, cheering for the team and jumping on the trampoline at our summer home. We were very blessed to be able to lodge in the basement of a great family with three girls. The youngest was 10-year-old Maddie, whom my little people ADORED. She was highly entertaining and quickly became my own little dose of sanity.

Which is not easy to maintain when you're living in a one bedroom apartment, 18 miles from the grocery store.

Eighteen.


Miles.

Maddie and Annie Bananie

we had to hug him. every.single.day.

When I wasn't traversing back and forth from the grocery store (why do these little people need to eat so often?) we got to do fun, adventurous things.

 Like catch mice and go rafting.

For the record, the mice were cuter than I'd imagined. 

But even cute mice poop all over everything.

So they had to go. 

And kudos to Maddie's family for showing my girls the ways of the river. 

By throwing their little life-jacketed selves into it. 

And also for not freaking out when Anna peed in my lap. 

While I was sitting in their nice, leather SUV.

(Although the pointing and laughing was understandable, the photo taking wasn't really necessary).

Fortunately, for you all, I can't find said photo.

You're welcome.

We were also very blessed to have the House family make the journey to Missoula with us. JR was Andy's hitting coach. He and Valerie have some of the most adorable babies evah.  Val and I already knew each other from when our boys played together in Buffalo, many moons ago. I was so glad to have such a sweet friend with me.

Plus, she didn't flinch when she realized that I was going to eat an entire pan of brownies for dinner.

On purpose.

Again.

We spent Sundays running the bases and barefoot in the grass.

And then August rolled around and it was time for us gals to hit the road.

The Lainey Bug was getting ready to be a big kindergartner, you know. 

So we sadly kissed Daddy goodbye...

i could just squoosh them. all.

And my crazy sweet dad flew into Montana, enjoyed few ball games and then helped me drive across the country with all three girls and the dog.

You know what's in the middle of South Dakota? NOTHING. And lots of it.

 At this point we thought Andy would finish out the regular season and then join us at home for the off season. But a funny thing happened. Those boys started winning and then they didn't stop.

So I told the Skipper,
 Listen here fella, if you are going to the play-offs and if you're gonna miss out on family time, the start of school and my birthday, you'd might as well win the whole stinkin' thing,  alrighty?

So he said
 Sure. I'll get right on that.

And then they did.

 

Missoula Osprey 2012 Pioneer League Champions

So that brings us to September. And all those words I claimed to have? They will have to wait for another day.

sab·bat·i·cal

How does one catch up on a few months nearly half a year  in just a few paragraphs?

One doesn't.

But let's give it a go, shall we?

When last we met, I was trying to be crafty and pinteresty.

You can imagine how well that has gone, what with my blazing drive for perfection and my goal-oriented task-i-ness.

Snort.

Rather than me getting all wordy, let's tell the story with pictures!

YAY! THIS WILL BE SO FUN!

So the same day Anna learned to wink....



Lainey ended up in the ER (for reasons other than puking) for the first time. My girl is so talented she  fell UP the steps (while keeping an eye on the Dbacks bobble heads) at a baseball game and nearly broke her nose. Love. Her. Heart. She was fortuitous enough to take a before photo.



and after....


Thankfully, it wasn't broken and neither was she. She was so brave. There is still a small scar on the side of her nose. She blames the giant bobble heads. I blame her genes.

Despite a tragic end to what could have been a stellar career in nose modeling, she's still a champion hula-hooper. Which is really all a parent could ever hope for.




See? Still smiling!  And hey*! Isn't my girl a great hooper? Who says daddy's athleticism isn't being passed down?

Shortly after that we packed our bags

said goodbye to some dear friends
(photo credit: the awesome InspiredRd)

And hit the open road. Again.

Which brings us to mid-June.

Good gravy, this is going to take awhile.

____________________________________

*Uncle Si rocks. The end.

*For the record, in the black and white photo, our buddy, Joe got cut off. I don't know why. I have attempted to fix it and will continue to do so, but I promised myself I would hit "post" today. Because you know how I hate to procrastinate...... Snarkiness aside, deepest apologies to Joe. He's very handsome. Too bad you can't see that.

Doing the Pinterest, One

I have to be honest here. When I was planning the Pinterest posts, this was not exactly what I had in mind. But just days after I vowed to share the ideas I actually do or use I nearly burnt the house down.

I blame Alysa. Just that morning she had posted a cute pic of Joe that she had taken out of a video. She said it was totally easy.

Uh-huh. Sure.

That afternoon, I was popping some corn in the microwave on the other side of the house. (While in AZ we're living in a mother-in-law type apartment attached to our friends house. They moved to Alabama last month. Their side has a better microwave so I was in their house.)

I got a little disctracted trying to pull a hilarious photo of one of Anna's dance moves from a video on my phone when I realized the popping noise coming from the microwave had stopped.

Oh crap! Was that two seconds or three? Or fifteen?

Because all of us expert microwave popcorn makers know once the popping slows to the point that you can count two seconds between pops, the snack is ready. (Feel free to pin that little tip if you want to. Or just read the directions on the bag. Whatever.)

As soon as I jerked the microwave door open I knew we were going to need another option for snacktime. I'm not sure which was worse; the putrid smell or the plume of smoke wafting from the bag that made me run outside and throw it on the patio table.

(no Em, that's not chocolate)

After opening every window and door available and cranking the ceiling fans up as fast as they could fly,

it still stunk.

Badly.

So I did what every gal in a predicament does, I asked the Facebook for help.

Let me tell you, the suggestions came flying. Unfortunately, I had done everything mentioned. And then I commented

I bet there's something on the Pinterest.

(Talking to my self is a daily occurence, but should I be concerned that I am now replying to my own status updates on facebook? Is there medication for that?)

Sure enough, there was (a pin on the pinterest, not medication for my split personality):

(Special thanks to Rebecca Andrews for pinning this from Wiki. Jewels in your crown girl, jewels in your crown. Whoever you are.)

So the main gist of the tips on Wikipedia, through Pinterest, was to get the smell out of the microwave so that it wouldn't continue to be bothersome every time it was used for the next month. It recommended using water or vinegar to wipe down the inside and then boiling fresh lemon juice in the microwave.

I have water.

I have vinegar.

There is a lemon tree in the back yard.

I have so got this.

My lovely assistant Emily helped me procure and squeeze the lemons. Then we stuck it in the microwave for the recommended 5-6 minutes.

Here's where the citrus hit the fan. In the 14 seconds it took for me to take a picture of the happily bubbling lemon juice, show the bubbles to my lovely assistant and then check back in on the boiling bowl, I did this:

That's right. I burnt the freshly squeezed lemon juice beyond recognition.

For what it's worth, the nearly incinerated lemon juice smelled way better than the burnt popcorn.

Although the girls didn't share that opinion.

Stay tuned for next week's installment of

Doing the Pinterest

where I teach toddlers how to properly use fire extinguishers.

Here's hoping I'm kidding.

___________________________________________________

Word to Your Mother

I did a dumb thing yesterday. I took four hungry, tired and fussy girls to the grocery store.

At four o clock. 

In the afternoon.

Did I mention the hungry and the tired?

Somewhere between the pickles,the hot pockets and trying to determine if Emily did indeed have a boo-boo or a new freckle they all three broke out into a mash up of Survivor (remember Beyonce's old band Destiny's Child ?) and Kum-ba-yah.

One older gal pushed her cart past us and said

I've been trying to figure out what they're singin.....

So are they, sister. So are they.

My giant car-buggy got stuck in the check out line, we almost stole a hershey's bar and just when I thought we'd made our great escape on what was supposed to be a run in for milk

Lainey spotted the wind chimes.

And by spotted I mean she side swiped the whole display which led to such a clanging I'm pretty sure it was heard in the Grand Canyon.

Basically it was a normal trip to the store with three children.

None the less, it made me wish that bedtime was at 6:30.

For me.

Once we got home and settled I was scrolling the facebook

And there was this:




A few things:

A) My husband is related to Kelley, who is a creative genius.
B) Kelley was one of my bridesmaids.
3)There-to-fore, I am a genius. (Don't ask how, the math is very complicated).
IV) Jon, Kelley's hubby (also a creative genius), has one of the best worship CD's out there. It's my go-to when I need to talk to Jesus. Tell Him all my troubles. You can find Jon's cd here.

And in closing, if you don't think that those babies (Isaiah, Aaron, and sweet angel baby Aria) aren't the most adorable things this side of the moon

You betta check yourself,

Before you wreck yourself.

_____________________________________________

Doing the Pinterest

I have the Pinterest app on my cell phone. And I kinda love it. It keeps me off the regular computer where I could get lost for hours but I get to check out all the cute stuff my friends have pinned.

Well, I used to love the Pinterest app.

Until I kept seeing all the pics posted on facebook of all the things said friends were

actually making.

What in the world?  I thought this was just a place to pin all the pretties and call it a day.

Seriously? All you people with your snazzy Santa ornaments, hot dogs carved into flamingos and cute front door wreathes made out of recycled dental floss?

And then the other day this showed up in my newsfeed. Mocking me. Calling me out.



The caption read:

Thanks to Pinterest, my kids think I'm awesome!

Thanks alot, Krystal.

And to all you other overachievers.

(I'm pointing at you Missi! Making your own dishwasher soap out of bark and lamb's wool. Sheesh!)

Well, I've had enough of you crafting crazies. If I'm gonna be on this Pinterest band wagon I might as well jump all the way in. I've got  38 boards and 654 pins.

(I blame the app. And my iPhone. And Steve Jobs. May he rest in peace.)

So if I  make/build/burn just one craft/boat/dinner a week I'll have enough posts for like

(hold please ~I'm counting.......carry the two......  )

.......a very long time. That's what I've got. Enough posts for a very long time.

So watch out people, mama's gettin out the glue gun. And once a week  when I can get to it with as much of a regular schedule as I can muster I'll share the awesomeness that Pinterest will help me produce.

I might even make something for dinner that doesn't involve poultry.

And maaaybe my kids will think I'm awesome too.

Maybe.


__________________________________________________

You've Been Warned

Just a small tidbit for all you mom of multiples.

If you're in one room with big sister

And your Littles are in the other

And you hear Baby B say to Baby A

Twust me, Anna. Twust me.

I highly encourage you to drop everything

(sorry about your side braid, Lainey Bug)

And check on things in the aforementioned room.

Twust me.

And

You are welcome.

Up, Up and Away

My girls love to eat.

Mucho amor de comida.

Snacks are king around here, but they eat decently at mealtime too.

It took several years for the Littles to be willing to share a bite of anything.

With anyone.

So what could tear my still sleepy ladies away from the first meal of the day?

(Two bowls of cereal, two waffles, a piece of fruit, water and vitamins
Every morning
And right now, at 10:45 am Anna is asking for an apple
Because she so hawngry)

I digress.

The big commotion that pulled them away from breakfast?

A flying air conditioner unit.

True story.




We woke up this morning to the sounds of a new ac unit being installed on the other half of our rental.

On the roof.

Many homes in AZ have their ac on the roof.

I don't know why. That probably would have been a good thing for me to research before I told you all about it.

Because this blog is so informative.

Anyhoo, because the new unit had to get onto the roof and the old one had to get down, there was a crane involved.

Not the bird.

The machine.

So we hurried outside. In our mis-matched pajamas. And the only shoes we could find at a moments notice.





And some of us had to bring our giddy-ups from last night's birthday shindig with Joe and Leila.


The Littles were more impressed with the fact that there was

A dog! Dwiving dat big twuck! Wook at dat dog, mom!



than the thousand pound box of metal floating above our heads.

Lainey was completely enamored. She watched until the little white dog drove the big rig away.



Meanwhile, the Littles had already returned to their now soggy cereal.

Apparently, their culinary standards aren't too high.

Which is good, considering who does most of their cooking.

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