Birthday Cake!

As soon as the boys woke up yesterday all they kept asking for was Birthday Cake. I had a recipe for a from-scratch cake that I have been wanting to try so I thought it'd be the perfect excuse. Knowing how helpful my kiddies are I was planning on putting them down for a nap and making the cake then.

So, according to plan, I put the boys down but lucky for me, they were not interested in sleeping yesterday. I started mixing the ingredients and had made my suger mixture, my dry ingredients mixture and the recipe called for buttermilk and since I didn't have any from the store I had my bowl of milk I was turning into buttermilk. While I was mixing the sugar mixture Charlie was at his door yelling "my birthday cake", "my cake", etc. Then it changed to "I have to go pee, I have to go pee!"

So, I stopped where I was at and got him out to go pee. I told Dylan to stay in bed. As soon as I finished with Charlie, Dylan came out and said he had to go poop. So, I told Charlie to go to bed and I helped Dylan take care of business. As I finished with D, Charlie came around the corner from the kitchen and said "make my birthday cake." I shut their door, went into the kitchen to discover my box of baking soda was now empty. I got Charlie back out of his room and asked him what he did. I asked him if he dumped it into the milk since my sugar mixture was still intact and I was praying it wasn't into the dry ingredients. He said yes, I stuck my hand in the bowl of milk, and sure enough, it was full of baking soda. Luckily for me, that was the easiest to fix, but come on! Even when they're "napping" I can't get crap done. So I finished mixing and baking and took the two rounds out of the oven. I had put them on a wire rack to cool and Dylan didn't sleep so I let him out of his room early. He saw the cakes and I told him not to touch and that they weren't ready. We went downstairs to clean up and while I was vacuuming he had snuck upstairs. I came upstairs to find this. He had taken a bite and I had two toothpicks to test the cake and he shoved those into the cake. Such wonderful helpers I have. So - if you're thinking about baking at my house, probably not such a good idea. WAY too helpful! Here's the finished product. Happy Birthday Boys!! And this is what we did at 10:30 last night. Oh the joys of homeownership! Jealous?!?

**THREE**

My dearest Dylan & Charlie,

You are 3 today. 3 years old is so grown up! I have been reminiscing quite a bit lately about you two. I've been thinking back to the years before you came to join our family, the adventures as we prepared to welcome you into our family, and the utter joy and excitement and craziness that has ensued after your arrival to this earth. I am so humbled and honored to be your mommy. There are many times that I feel inept and overwhelmed but you still seem to love me througout all the mistakes I make raising you.

There were many years that your daddy and I prayed for you. There were many years that I didn't think I'd be able to have a baby. There were many years that I lived in a bit of anger and resentment that things were not on "my timeframe" and with so many unanswered questions. We had to be patient for you and because of it, we learned so much. Not only were we blessed to have both my guys join our family at once but your daddy and I experienced some of the most spiritual moments in our lives. It's funny how after time has passed you are able to reflect back and see how things happen for a reason, how things fall into place just like they're supposed to. From daddy getting a new job, to a new calling in church, to a mission call, to a crazy work schedule coupled with the faith and prayers and fasts from so many that love you oh so much, it was finally time for you to come into our lives.

You both are so good. Right from the beginning people have commented about your kind, warm eyes. We joked when you were little as you'd stare at a stranger that you'd have to "read their soul" before you'd warm up to them. You both did this. So deep. So caring. So fresh from your Father in Heaven. You both took a little while to start talking (who would have thought that now!) and for so long you both would just observe the world around you. You play so well together and I know that I took it for granted that you always just had a playmate. I've never known anything different so I didn't realize what a blessing this is. You have always shared so well. You have always been quick to apologize if you hurt another. You (almost) always are quick to obey.

As good as you both are we've had some crazy fun, too. With the two of you bringing your best plans together we've had some good stories. I can only imagine the genius ideas that are going to come to form throughout the years. From 5 gallons of oil on our carpet to torn up beds/bedrooms during naptimes we've had some good laughs (after the fact). So creative you are. You are quite brilliant and I love how you both think. I love your innocence and your thirst for knowledge. I love that you strive to do good. I love your willingness to love, especially your little brother. I'm so lucky that you have been amazing to the little man that suddenly disrupted your lives. You all will be the best of friends through the years and be each other's watch-keeper. I just know it. It is instilled in you. You are the best of the best. I am so lucky to have you and spend each day with you. I am so excited for the future and all it holds. I wish you the best 3rd year. Thank you for letting me be your mommy. I love you with every ounce of my being.

Happy Birthday little buddies!!! xoxoxo

I HATE DIRECTV!

A couple weeks ago a satellite company sales rep came to my door and convinced me to switch our satellite services. They switched us to Directv and we HATE it! I tried to get it switched to something we could deal with for 24 months and after getting the run around for 2 weeks I finally was told today that I've missed our opportunity to do anything about it because I was being avoided and dealing with the wrong people for all this time. I was hysterical. I was so mad. I was all upset about it...not cause I have Directv but because I feel like I was taken for. I still get worked up thinking about it. The few people I talked to today on the phone probably think I'm a looney. I must be hormonal right now cause I was a mess. So the moral of the story is...I hate them and cannot wait for our contract to be up in 2 whole years. I don't hate anyone but I hate them. I wrote them a nasty letter and mailed it out. It made me feel a teensy bit better. The end.

{twinisms}

Oh how little kids say the cutest things. One of my favorite things Charlie says is his response if I ever call him bud, buddy, dude, etc. He responds with "I not Dude, I Charlie." It catches me off guard most the time as I'm not paying attention when I say it. One of my favorite things Dylan says is hamburger. I'll ask him what he wants for dinner and he'll say "I want a hom (space) burger (with the emphasis on 1st syllable opposed to the 2nd in burger)". And last but not least (not a twinism but must be noted regardless), I think Oliver says "dad" and "ball". Dad sounds like "Da..Da" and ball is just "ba". I'm pretty sure he is saying that as he'll be holding a ball when he does it or when daddy gets home from work.

There is a thief among us!

I had to go grocery shopping today and with Brandt working so much I don't have time to go at night (that's my only time to spend with him so I am selfish and don't want to leave for an hour or whatever). Anyway, I ventured out with my three little ones. We hit up the Smith's first and got what we needed and I ran home and threw the cold items into the fridge before heading on over to Dick's. I thought Smiths would be the tougher one since Dick's has the little truck/carts. We did ok until we go to the checkout and the checker wanted the cart to go through backwards (he mumbled something about his back hurting and didn't want to bend over...whatever that means). Right there in front of the twins in the truck was a sucker display. I kept saying "no, put that back", "we're not getting suckers", "get back in the truck", "sit down"...you get the idea. He finally finished ringing us up and off we went. I loaded the car with the groceries and told the boys to hop up in the car while I was loading Oliver in. C pointed to D's pocket and said "sucker." I asked Dylan if he had one and he admitted. So...out came Oliver and I took all the boys back in so that D could give the sucker back to the guy and say sorry. I had to pry the sucker out of his hand and Dylan sobbed all the way back to the car and for about 20 minutes after we were home. I don't know if any of it sunk in. We keep talking about how you can't have things at the store unless we buy them and that he needs to ask mommy or daddy. We'll probably visit this again in the future...how did my babies get old enough to start ripping off the store???

The unspeakable phrase

I said it. I said the unspeakable phrase this morning. I'm not allowed to say "Am I not allowed to have anything nice?!" Apparently that was a common one aimed towards Brandt when he was a little tyke so it's forbidden at our house. But, alas, it came out of my mouth this morning. I cleaned my car this morning and thought I'd let the boys play outside for a little bit (which they always beg me for). I brought out my little crochet project and pulled up a chair. Charlie had gone inside and I asked D what C was doing and he said "toys" and I said "he's playing with toys?" and he said "yes". Ok, that's fine. A few minutes later D had to go to the bathroom so he ran inside and Charlie came out with my baggie of cinnamon chips (used to make Cinna-burst Bread) that my neighbor had given me. He said "chocolate" and I said "no" and as he got closer I screamed "and why is it wet????" He had pulled his chair up to the cabinet he knows he's not supposed to get into, pulled out the bag of what he thought was chocolate chips, which he knows he's not supposed to get into, and then took it to the sink and put water in the baggie, which he knows he's not supposed to touch. And those few words slipped out of my mouth. I was so so so mad. You leave them alone for 2 minutes...make that seconds...and the whole house comes down. Welcome to my life.

ps - the picture is from the other day. 1st bath with all three boys together. Oliver thought it was somethin' else. He LOVES to be big and be one of the boys.

{sigh}

I need a break. I need a break from reality. When I was working full time and it was just the 2 of us, when I got overwhelmed I would want to go to a movie to tune out my life. We don't get to go to movies anymore. It's too much work to find a sitter and scrape together enough pennies to pay the sitter and pay to go out. We do occasionally, but not near as often as we should. B was sick all weekend up until he went back to work on Wednesday and so I was "on duty" with my 4 boys and I think it's caught up to me. I am in a funk and I need to get out. When I should be taking a nap with my boys I can't because there's so much to do, but I'm too tired to do any of it so it's a vicious cycle. I need to just take a deep breath and change my attitude and move forward again. Do you ever do that or am I the only one that cycles through this? Feeling like something is missing but you just can't put your finger on it? I don't know. Maybe I'll figure it out one of these days.

I got a pattern the other day to make bowties. I thought I'd add a few of those to my repertoire of craftiness. I also found a website that shows how to do suspenders. There was a lady at the market that asked me about kid suspenders and I thought that might be fun to try, too. But...I need to umph to do it. Need a little ambition.

The other day I was thinking about posting, since I haven't been so diligent lately and I really need to pick it up again. So, I am going to try to post more frequently again like I did at the beginning of the year. It will mostly just be the ramblings of my mind, more for me than for anyone else that stumbles onto this site. There is my warning.

And lastly, this is part of the fun we've had around here. This little guy is very busy, just like the older two. He seems to think this is his favorite place to be. I think he feels big that he can get up onto the fireplace but what a mess. His brothers did this, too, so I am hopeful that he will grow out of it quickly. What a funny little boy...