What have you cleaned up in the last 13 days?

Well you know I'm a bit of a competitive nut, so here's the challenge: if you can top this list of things I've recently cleaned up then you are my all time hero of heroes.

1. Nov. 14 12:30 am-Disneyland hotel, Cooper throws up all over his bed. Change that out. Sleeps through the night
2. Nov. 14 numerous times throughout the day, Coop continues to lose it.
3. Nov 16 5:30 pm-SLC international airport, we thought Coop was just dehydrated in California and was still recovering, he loses it again while we wait for my brother right by baggage claim. Luckily we were hidden enough that we were able to take care of business without a scene.
4. Nov 16 7:00 pm-We arrive home from our fun filled trip to find that before we had left Abby apparently found the switch in the fridge and turned the whole thing off. Did you know that if the fridge gets turned off then the freezer will be turned off too? Yeah, me neither, but now we both know, don't we. Three full garbage bags full of food including a full bag of chicken (literally we had used one peace out of it) from Sam's Club, a full bag of corn and green beans, both from Sam's. Along with multiple little things like Mayo, left overs, bananas in the freezer for a future batch of banana bread (which actually melted, it you can beleive that) sauces (although ketchup interestingly enough does not have to be refrigerated, lucky us), you know the little things in your fridge-all gone. I'd been meaning to clean out the fridge here soon, no time like the present. This could be looked at as a blessing right?
5. Now there is a bit of a break here that I don't know the specifics of what I have cleaned up but being the mom of 3, I'm sure that could make an interesting list in and of itself.
6. Nov 25 Shelby throws up at church. I don't mean spit up, I mean she lost most of the six oz bottle she just drank all of the floor. Luckily she was playing on the floor at the time, plus we were on the back row so we didn't have to be too incogneto.
7. Between yesterday and today she has thrown up a few more times plus had a few lovely blowouts, one giving me the opportunity to take apart her car seat and wash that pad, been needed to do that one too. What a blessing!
8. Tonight Abby starts complaining about her tummy hurting and we were like, blah, blah, blah...hey, she's 4, she thinks TUMS taste good and is regularly trying to get her hands on some. We blow it off. I go in and lay down with her and she says she has to go potty, about 30 seconds later I hear some splashing on the tile floor, if you will, and I'll leave it at that. Just know this, my experience in the last 2 weeks has taught me that the older they get, the grosser it is to clean up after them. A small tip: if you breathe into you sleave during the process, it lessens the smell considerable. Also having your cute husband spraying Febreeze above you during the process is a big help.

In conclusion, thanks heavens for:

1. cleaning ladies who, although don't speak english, do come through with supplies when needed
2. Febreeze
3. Clorox and Lysol disinfecting wipes
4. And last but not least, washing machines

Top that list and I'll buy you lunch, I could use a break!

We lived to tell the tale

Well I know you've all been dying to see my Disneyland pics, but first I'll fill you in on some of the more exciting points. Good ole Bob takes us to the airport, we get to the terminal unload our gear and I turn to Rob with a panic look on my face and ask, "where's the Dora backpack?"...the Dora backpack, mind you, had all of our Itinerary, maps, ID for the kids, etc. PLUS coloring books, picture books, all kinds of entertainment for the kids on the plane...Rob looks back at me with fear in his eyes and replies, "I didn't get it". This was the beginning of mommy's potty mouth. There were a few more occasions that it happened as well, I'll try not to include those moments. We got on the plane OK and still had our DVD player to keep the kids quiet. First night we went to the beach and the peir. There was a seal there barking at the people fishing and they would throw him fish. It was really fun. Day 2 was Disneyland. I can't describe the excitement from Abby all day. Coop had fun too. We did all the usual Disneyland stuff. Abby and I got to wait in line for an hour to meet some princesses, then we got to go dance with them. She was in heaven. The show there at night right now is called Fantasmic, it was awesome. That night, about midnight Coop wakes up and throws up all over his bed. Yeah, this could be interesting. Abby sleeps through the whole thing, we toss her onto our bed, change there sheets and pray it was just something he ate. He sleeps through the rest of the night, but first thing the next morning it's throw up city. Abby and Daddy go to California adventure while Coop and I snuggle in bed, watch TV, and luckily for me, play Bejeweled on Rob's palm pilot. By noon I'm out of blankets, sheets, pillowcases, everything. The cleaning ladies didn't speak any english but once I got it communicated that Coop was sick, they were very helpful with more supplies. Rob came back to switch me about 2:00 at which point Coop was holding some cheerios and water down. I then took Abby back to California Adventure for some fun. Rob calls about 4:30 and Coop was bouncing off the walls. We think he was just dehydrated. How bad of a mom/nurse am I? DUH? So we finished the night strong. Thursday was our last day of play and here is my advise, squeeze in a day of rest, if you will, during a park hopper trip. The kids were so tired and worn out by this point, things were a little difficult. Luckily there were some places at Disneyland we hadn't yet seen, so distraction still worked. Plus dancing with the stars was there that night, so that was fun. Then Friday we came home, and for those of you interested Tommy Lee was on our flight and I stood right next to him in line for about 15 second, I know, I'll be signing autographs for those who want them. Overall it was an awesome trip, I'm glad I took Coop, and although I really missed Shelbs, I'm glad she stay home. Abby got to meet all of the princesses except Snow White, and we met all the characters including 3 different Mickeys. I took about 80 pictures so I'll only give you a few classics.

Being dead isn't all that bad

Nothing too exciting has happened lately, so I haven't really had anything to write about. I will however share a bit from my life just so that you know I haven't forgotted about my blog. So Abby and I have an ongoing pretend game that happens almost everyday. Basically it's playing house. Abby is the mom, Coop and Shelbs are her kids and I am the babysitter. So she'll come in when I doing random things-working on the computer, doing the dishes, cleaning up, whatever- and she will have her purse on her shoulder, sometimes with sunglasses on, maybe her cell phone out. She will procede to give me babysitting instructions (ie when to feed Shelby next, or change her next, or her nap schedule. She also of course fills me in on Coop's daily routine). Then she tells me where she is going...work, the store, a meeting, on a date with her boyfriend/husband, depending on the day, Josh Williams, who conveniently enough is her cousin (hey, she's 4, she doesn't quite know that some things are against the law for a reason). Anywho, she usually doesn't refer to me by any specific name, and I haven't thought anything about it. Well the other day she refered to me as Casey. I said, "Oh, is that my name? Where's your mom?""Oh, she died", she replies casually. Yeah, apparently I don't mean a whole lot to my 4 year old, and she just kills me off whenever she feels like it. Should this worry me?
Anywho we're off to Disneyland on Monday until Friday so be excited for fun pictures next time. Have a fun week.

Happy Halloween

So this is a classic way to be able to brag about how cute my kids were last night, and I'm gonna take advantage of it. If she isn't the cutest darn elephant out there, who is? Thanks to Andra in letting me borrow the costume.

My little Elmo was going to be a green monster but I couldn't talk him into it after he saw this costume that was Abby's two years ago. Elmo is adorable though, so I can't complain.

Abby had her heart set on a witch all year so luckily when we went to our favorite halloween store (AKA Missy's house) they had a cute one. She put it on at 8:00 am and didn't take it of until bedtime, plus she got to wear it again today to school. Lucky her.

This one is of Rob on Monday "carving" pumkins (look closely and you can see his drill). The kids wanted Mickey Mouse pumkins this year, so Rob busted out one of his drill bits that he uses to drill big holes through your framing to put pipe through and gave the kids Mickey Mouse in about two minutes.

I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but they turned out really cute.

Unfortunately Rob was in bed all afternoon and night with a bad cold so I was on my own for trick or treating. Thank heavens for sisters who don't live in neighborhoods as scary as mine:D Hope you all had fun last night too!