The Cupboard Under the Stairs

I think some kids just need their own space. When Gordon was in middle school, he willingly moved his "bedroom" into the space under the stairs. He literally lived in the cupboard under the stairs**, just like Harry Potter. Only he wanted to, so he could have his own "room."

Last week I hit my last nerve with Chandler and the early wake ups. We've struggled with him and his natural alarm clock for the last couple of years, but lately it's been especially bad. Many of my friends around here have heard me complain "I've been up since 4!" and all because of my cute little Chandler. Trust me though, he's not nearly as cute at 4 a.m. One of the biggest problems was that if we put him back into his own bed, he would wake up Emilee with his "chatting" or kick the wall and wake up the big guys. So, he usually ended up in bed with us, keeping us awake. It was getting unbearable.

So, after much thought, I decided to move him into our own little "cupboard under the stairs" where the book nook formerly resided. We moved the books out to the boys room, and made a little wall with a dresser and a curtain, and . . . voila! Chandler has his own room.

You might be thinking, "isn't this "room" in the middle of your family room?" Why yes it is. But, luckily, once Chandler man is asleep, he is OUT. At least for the first part of the night. He goes to bed by 7, and by about 7:20 we can resume our normal activities in the bonus room for the most part. It's been a week now and he hasn't been bothered yet (and that even includes a popcorn and star wars night with the guys!).
The best part about it is, he doesn't wake up the other kids any more. And, I don't have to keep him in my bed because we can send him back to his own room to wait out the early morning. So far so good! Hopefully it will be a good solution for a little while. . .

**for my parents, who are probably the only people on the planet who have not read the Harry Potter series, this is a reference to where poor Harry was forced to sleep before he became a wizard, while his spoiled adopted brother occupied two bedrooms of his own. :)

Look Aunt Bean!

Pants!!!

You see, it does occasionally happen!

Park Hoppin'

Here we are, just trying to take full advantage of every last day of summer. . .

Late Summer Adventures

As of today, we are two weeks and counting to the start of school. We are trying our hardest to make the most of our remaining summer days, and have been knocking things off our list for the last week or so. Today, was Oaks Park with our library reading program discount passes. This kids loved it, but said it "wasn't quite disneyland." I'd have to agree. But we did. . .

Ride the roller coaster

and the frog hopper

and even Emilee got to ride a few!

There were star wars rockets. . .

and "big pink" the giant wavy slide. Emilee and I went down together and I wish I had a video of her squeals!

a carousel with dragons, frogs, cats, and storks. . .

and motorcycles!

Don't forget the wavy mirrors

and the griffeth park style train around the park.

Lots of fun! The boys are already looking forward to the reading program next year!

18 Months

Today, this little miss is 18 months old. I'm not sure I beleive it. And it's a little bittersweet. One of the "sweets" is that I will once again be able to go to releif society, for the first time in maybe 5 months. Nursery, here we come!

But if she's old enough to go to nursery, that's a little heartbreaking! It means she's headed to two. . . and then three. . . and then. . .
I think I'm going to need a time machine. . .

Here's one for daddy. . .

Ambush!!!

This Friday, the boys and I planned a surprise for Daddy. Camping! We kept it a secret and ambushed him when he came through the door. We almost were given away when Daddy decided to meet us for lunch after our Costco shopping. We were all just hoping he wouldn't see the van with the box top on, and luckily he didn't. Phew! Man, they were sweating meatballs! The car was packed and ready and hiding around the corner (because if he had seen the cargo box he would have suspected) when he got home. The boys kept lookout. . .

When he came through the door, they said "HALT!!!" and handed him a pile of clothes to change into, and told him he had only 2 minutes. When he came back down the stairs, they blindfolded him and led him to our car, and shoved him in (so he still hadn't seen the cargo box).
We made a pit stop for dinner, and then headed down the road to Vernonia's Airport park where we found a very nice little camping spot. The boys thought it was the most fun ever to do a surprise like this.
We roasted marshmallows and bread, and had a fun campfire and then off to bed. We were awakened in the night by some truly obnoxious people a few sites away, but still managed a pretty good night.
This morning it was oatmeal and playgrounds and packing up and home again. . .

What a fun little trip! The boys enjoyed the ambush so much I think I better watch my back!

Excuses, excuses

Tonight Ethan got in big trouble for not coming when I said to at a neighbors house. I called him over, and he ran the other direction, then left us standing there for about 10 minutes waiting for him. I was unable to leave the babies there, and I was holding so much stuff. Anyway, I was a mad mama. He went to bed an hour early.

After he'd been in bed for the early hour, I went in to make sure he was thinking about what he was supposed to be thinking about. "do you think you'll run away next time?" etc. Then Ethan came up with this. . .

"I was trying to give you a practice mom. You know, for when I get married, and I won't be able to come every time you call. . ."

Nice one. Yes, I'm sure that's it. You were thinking about my future and helping me to adjust early. Thanks, Ethan.

Foot Fetish?

I think we've got a bit of a foot fetish going on here. Emilee is completely obsessed with shoes these days. She seems to constantly be clacking around in my heels, emptying the shoe cupboard, or requesting that I put her own little shoes on her. Here is about a 2 hour sampling of her fashion statements. . .

And here we have a different little set of feet. Chandler appeared from lunch this afternoon with "painted" toe nails. Claiming he needed "more color!" I asked that next time he come to me and let me use real finger nail paint, and not a dry erase marker. . .

Booby Trapped!

Yesterday at dinner, there was some mention of booby traps that was taking place by hushed voices. Then later, after dinner, Gordon was on the living room floor when the big pop up bus waddled up (with three boys inside) and then a blanket was thrown over his head. Someone was wearing a swim cap. They spent the next thirty minutes or so wrestling and playing on the floor.

Later, as we were getting ready to go to bed ourselves, we saw the following drawings on our bed. . .

They'd been plotting!!!

The second one is faint, so it's hard to see, but it's exactly what happened! You can see the bus down in the right hand lower corner, then a blanket over his head, even a swim cap there in the picture under the T. We laughed and thought our boys were pretty fun, which is a pretty good way to end a day. . .

home again home again jiggity jog. . .

The road home was long, hot, long, hot, and long. We did get to break up the trip though, with a couple of stops for in n' out burgers and shakes, and a couple of sleepovers. The first was back at the Heiney's for another round of fun with all those lovely little ladies.

The second was a stop at my dear friend Jen's house in Redding. When we arrived the temperature was hovering right around 101. But Jenn knew just what to do. We fed our whole crew dinner, and then headed out to a local lake for a dip. It was heaven. The children swam and splashed and had a marvelous time! We didn't get to bed on time that night, but it didn't matter. They could sleep in the car the next day!

The whole crew. . . Tony, Aidan, Ethan, Meagan, and Chandler. Emilee was wandering during this photo. . .

cute little Meagan

Thanks for all the fun Jen! We had a marvelous time and hope we get to see you again soon!

over the river and through the woods

The last week and a half of our California trip, I was at Grammy and Grampys house with all the kids. We had so much fun and stayed surprisingly busy. Here is a little taste of what we did while we were there.

Pioneer Picnic! Pioneer Day brings a pioneer picnic to most local stakes of our church. We headed out to Unkle Theron's stake in Camarillo where there were pony rides and a petting zoo, all arranged by Unkle Theron and Aunt Rachel Laura. It was a great event, and the kids had a pretty good time!

Theron and Rachel Jr. Therons favorite holiday has long been pioneer day.
the baby Alpaca was a hit!
Emilee was especially fond of the goats and spent about a half hour yanking grass out of the ground and putting it straight in their mouths. She loved feeding them and wasn't a bit shy!

The day we got to California, Grammy pulled out Grampy's old microscope and told the kids we would look at it "this week." Well, they begged, and asked, and pleaded every day, until finally, the time was right. We looked at every one's hair, a dead bee, spider web, and raspberry juice just to get started. It was a fun couple of hours of scientific exploration. . .


There were lots of hugs! Emilee is especially accommodating in this area. . .
and swimming. . .



and swinging!

We had such a wonderful visit, and are so thankful to Gram and Gramp for the long visit, and long patience with me and my motley crew. I'm sure it will take them a few days to recover, but the boys are already planning the next trip!