So I told you it has been crazy around our place. I am going to share some of the FUN we've had. A few weeks ago I was making dinner. I had the food in the oven, Oliver was on the couch hanging out and the boys were just running a-muck as always. The oven was about to beep that it was done and Oliver was hungry and was about to freak out that I wasn't feeding him. I was standing by my oven and heard noise around the corner so I went to peek to see what the boys were in to. We have a pantry in our hall. The boys had opened it up, found my Costco-sized vegatable oil, opened it up, and poured it all out. It was all over the carpet and they had proceeded to sit in it and start splashing. Yes, kids, 5 quarts of oil in the carpet. I quickly tried to usher them into the bathtub so I could wash the oil off of them and they were slipping all over since they were all oily. I got them stripped and in the tub, Oliver is now screaming, my oven is beeping, and I'm reminding myself that I prayed and prayed for my children. I had to try to mop up the oil so I locked the boys in their bedroom (why not have them tear up another room with no supervision) and started to work. About this time Brandt got home from work and I welcomed him with a "great, you're home" and he shot back a "um, maybe I should just go back to work" and I said "yeah, I wouldn't blame you". I tried everything to get that oil out of my carpets but I was afraid that it would never get out of the pad and would go bad so a few days after my lovely honey tore up the carpets. We have hardwood underneath and our plan was to eventually pull it all up in the hall and in the living room so it's not too big a deal. They're actually in really good condition so it could be a worse situation than it already was. So that was story one. My boys are lucky they survived that episode. I'm sure it is the beginning of lots of moments like that. They are quite brilliant and two brilliant children together come up with some great ideas.
Story #2. The other day, we were going to take the boys out for dinner for their birthday. I had free meals at Red Robin for both of them and thought that would be fun. Right about the time I was to leave I was scrambling to get everything ready. It's not easy getting the gruesome twosome and baby Oliver ready by yourself. I ran into the office to print out my two meal tickets and left the boys in the living room. By the time I got back out 3 minutes later Charlie (bless his heart) had moved the chair over to the garbage can, and climbed from the chair, to the garbage can, to the counter. He sqirmed on down to the sink and got out my dish soap. He proceeded to pour it all over himself, all over the counter, into my glass of water, all over my cell phone and then to top it off, dunked the phone into the glass of water. No more cell phone. Needless to say, we backed out of dinner (I was crying now, and Brandt couldn't get off work anyway). Again, they are lucky they are still alive.
Story #3. Dylan & Charlie are big boys now. We have moved them into their big boy beds upstairs. It has not been easy and still is a bit of a struggle but we're making major improvements. D & C have been sleeping in their cribs downstairs with mommy & daddy. Now that we have Baby O they're getting kicked out. Saturday night we put the boys to sleep in their cribs but when we checked on them that night we made the move while they were asleep so they'd wake up in their new room. The night went fine but the naps on Sunday were horrible. What naps? They did everything they shouldn't. I tried laying in their with them (ended up getting head-butted and crying), threatening, spanking, everything. They would not close their eyes because it was PLAYTIME!!! We ended up removing everything from their room, moving the beds away from the wall with the window and locking all the doors. They didn't nap Sunday or Monday but on Tuesday they finally fell asleep about 3:30. I don't ever let them sleep past 4 so that they'll go to bed at night so I woke them up about quarter after. Charlie wouldn't stop crying because he was soooo tired and Dylan was just in a daze. I couldn't help but laugh. That is why we have our naps, boys. Neener neener. Then on Wednesday they did wonderfully and here we are on Thursday and they are sleeping again. It take a little while to wind down but they do it and they sleep. Hallelujah! It's working! So, again, they almost lost their life on Sunday and Monday but they've pulled through one more time. And I have evaded being sent to prison again!
So, the moral of the story is either my kids are CRAZY or I am a horrible mother. I would hope it is that my kids are just nuts but maybe it is a little of column B as well. We can only take it one day at a time and hope for the best. I do feel lucky that they are usually relatively well behaved little boys but...we do have our moments.
A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to go to Yellowstone with my family. We had a great time and lots of fun with lots of exciting stories. Lets start out with the best story of them all. Brandt and I decided to carpool up with Craig and Tree's family and my parents and Brenda would drive up separately. We were getting a head start since Brenda couldn't get off work until noon. I figured we would get up their a little early and look around before the parents and Brenda arrived. Craig and Tree got to our house about 9:30am. We loaded everyone up and on our way we went. Craig & Tree wanted to go through Logan to see my cousin's house that was being built and we figured, why not, it's beautiful up that way this time of year. Everything was just as we expected and once we got to Logan, it was suggested we then go through Bear Lake. Ok, a little out of the way, but ok, we're always up for an adventure. Got to Bear Lake. A little futher along Charlie did a little "hack" of a cough. It startled us so we looked back at him and the next thing we know, he is throwing up. Brandt quickly pulled over and I ran around the truck and he threw up again. All over himself, all over the car seat, poor kid. I pulled him out and he was crying and shaking cause he didn't know what had just happened to him. So there we are on the side of the road in some random po-dunk town cleaning up the puke. It was aweful. I never, ever, thought I would be able to take on such a situation but I think when you become a mommy, you become someone you couldn't imagine before. Anyway, we got him cleaned up and then I had to feed O. Luckily, we pulled over next to an old school house and there was a playground so everyone went over and played for awhile while I took care of business.
An hour later we were on our way again. Once we thought we were cruising, we smelled the most awful smell ever. One of the boys had pooped and it was a poop. It was the worst smell and we HAD to stop to take care of it for the sake of our noses and whomever's bum had to suffer. We pulled over again and found out it was poor little Charlie. I started to pull down his pants and oh, my hannah, he had pooped out his diaper down both legs. After that nasty undertaking I decided to just keep him in his diaper since he had already gone through two outfits. Then, back on the road. I didn't realize that the scenic route we had chosen would take so long. We drove, and drove, and drove. I had only packed enough food for lunch and so the last part of our trip I was just feeding the boys snacky foods. Perfect for their upset tummys. My parents, who left 3 hours after us, arrived 2 hours before us. With all the driving we did, we could have been in Disneyland. Note to self: You have children. You cannot "fly by the seat of your pants" anymore. Must get from Point A to Point B in the shortest amount of time possible. 
My boys were so good considering we kept them in the car so long. Poor Dylan has never been strapped down and besides a few exercist episodes, he was quite the trooper. After our eventful drive in, Charlie was great, and Oliver was very content (unless his feeding was nearing). Here are some pictures:
Old Faithful: We were walking up and it went off...perfect timing. 
Oliver officially turned 2 months on the trip 
Little (or should I say BIG) Oliver
Oh, almost got a self-portrait.
Ah ha! Charlie must have the camara cause there is D. Imagine that...he has the phone! 
Turds.
