Okay, so not really. I don't even want to joke about that! My body is so achy and I'm only carrying one baby, so I can't imagine carrying three...but I'm guessing it's something like this:
Last weekend while I was "single-mommying" it, Kelli and I threw an Old Navy accessories party. Old Navy and Crowdtap sent us some accessories from Old Navy for us and some girlfriends to try on and play with. We got some hats, scarves, sunglasses, tote bags, and purses. Let me first say that when I think of accessories, I usually think of earrings, necklaces, etc. How awesome of Old Navy to broaden my limited horizons! I never gave much thought to accessorizing with other things beside jewelry and now when I go shopping I look at other things too. I decided I'm not really a hat girl - unless it's a baseball cap - but maybe someday?? But I loved the scarves, and I love the idea of using a purse or a bag to add some color to your outfit.
For our party we invited some girls from our church - Mary, Tessa, Carissa, Kelli, Kim, and ME!! We are all in our mid-twenties to early-thirties and all but one of us are moms. We started the evening with some yummy food (because, really, what's a good party without food??) and some conversation to catch up with each other. We see each other a lot, but we are also busy girls with school, work, and kids. We had garlic cheese biscuits, sweet and sour meatballs, and (my fave, but I'm biased because I brought them) chocolate-covered strawberries.
After we ate we tried on the stuff sent to us from Old Navy. The hats were a hit, with Mary deciding maybe she was a hat girl after all, and Tessa rekindling her love for hats. We all decided the purse was too small and "young" for us. And most of us still use our purse as a diaper bag too, and so the purses got sent home to Carissa's daughter and Mary took one home for times when she just needed a small purse (like a vacation). The reusable bags were of course popular because who doesn't need more reusable bags? And the bright pink will be perfect for the beach or a trip to the park this summer. The sunglasses were not my style (wait, I have style??) but they fit the face shape of some of the girls, and they got snatched up as well. One pair of sunglasses was blue, which was fun and different than the ordinary black or brown shades.
However, the scarves were the hit of the night! We spent a good portion of the evening figuring out different ways to wear them and laughing over some of our ideas. I know I have seen manequins at the store wearing them, and so I've made a mental note to see how they wear them so I can copy their style. But the scarf colors were pretty and feminine, and were versatile enough to match almost any color we were wearing. And it was fun to try something new, since none of us really have scarves as part of our wardrobe.
Overall it was a fun evening and a nice break from the husbands and kids. We all decided - accessories or not - that we were going to get together more often for a girls night!!
Bryan left us, uh, I mean, went on a six-day vacation to Utah to go horseback riding with his dad and Kramer. Leaving me, huge and all pregnant, to take care of the kids, put our newly remodeled (and not quite finished) kitchen back together, and all at the same time try not to go into labor (no worries, I didn't).
But while Bryan was gone we stayed busy with t-ball practices and a game, I attended a baby shower and an "accessories" party, and I took the kids to the Idlewild Elementary carnival. Now this carnival is no ordinary school carnival. It's been going since I went to school there, and it's a blast every year! There are games in every classroom, food, treats, a cake walk, several bounce houses, and face painting done with air brushes. My kids ask about it every year. This year I was brave and took all three by myself. Well, my sisters were there with their kids, and so were my friends Tessa and Cory and their kids, and my mom, and, well, Adam did leave a little early with Rix (he was meeting my dad at the father/son campout), but really, I was BRAVE! I was. Really.
Here are some pictures of the boys playing games, sliding down bounce houses (I need to invest in one of thse) and eating more sugar than they probably eat in a month (they had suckers, Laffy Taffys, ice cream, cotton candy, and peach rings).
If you know Rix, he is super competitive. So you can understand his problem when all his friends and cousins had lost not only one, but several teeth. Every day he would state that he had a loose tooth, and insist that I come wiggle it. And every time I would humor him and "wiggle" it, only to state that his tooth was indeed NOT loose. He would mope a little, and then wait until the next day, hoping his tooth would be loose that day.
So last week during dinner, Rix had me come wiggle his tooth. Being the awesome mom I am, I wiggled it. And it wiggled! It was crazy! It was the first loose tooth I had felt since I was a kid and I was super excited for him. The next morning, though, he came in crying because his tooth hurt when he breathed (that was his complaint at least) and he said he couldn't eat breakfast because it hurt and he couldn't go to school because it hurt. It wasn't loose enough for me to really pull it out, so Bryan said he wanted to look at it. Rix opened his mouth, and Bryan wiggled it a little, and then yanked down really hard, pulling the tooth out and sending Rix into immediate panic mode. To be honest, I thought the whole thing was funny, and I did laugh a little, but I gave Rix a hug and some tissue for the bleeding, and then went to Bryan to get the tooth.
This is where Bryan gets in trouble.
Bryan lost the tooth.
His first child's first loose tooth. Gone. We looked all over the room, in the tissue Rix had used, on the floor, but nothing. We concluded that Rix must have swallowed it when he was freaking out.
Every year for the past four years, my dad's company, Phase II, has joined the Master Builder's Association for the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event, a fundraiser for the Sexual Assault Center of Pierce County. The idea? Men literally walk a whole mile in "her" shoes, meaning women's shoes. Some men (ahem...my dad) wear really comfy women's shoes, like pink tennis shoes or Keds or Crocs. Other men really get into it, wearing heels I would think twice about wearing, and even adding boas, frilly hats, and nailpolish to the mix. Bryan has always worn some flat canvas shoes, but this year, while on a random trip to the Goodwill to find Rix baseball pants, he actually found a pair of size 12-wide black peep-toe heels, and they were only $6. And they say modern miracles are dead...
But you should have seen Bryan walking around the Goodwill carrying his heels. He got some pretty long and curious stares.
Bryce skipped school and went with us and so did Cole. Bryce was going to wear a pair of Olivia's shoes, but that morning Rix (my ultra super anti-girl child) sort of made fun of Bryce wearing girl shoes, and so Bryce changed his mind. Cole, on the other hand, threw a big fit because we weren't getting the girl shoes on him fast enough! The best part (here's a good story for you) was Bryan put his heels on with a pair of my pink knee high socks at the car, and then walked to the tram that would take us to the Walk a Mile starting point. Carissa, who came with us to photograph the event, and I hung back because, um, we were NOT walking with him. But Cole and Bryce didn't care that their burly dad was in heels. Until Cole sort of walked in front of Bryan, and Bryan, being a little off balance, ran him over and made him fall to the ground. And I yelled "Oh my gosh! That little boy just got ran over by that man in heels!" It was really funny. At least Carissa and I thought so. Anyway...
It should be noted that Bryan is a very good walker in heels. Almost too natural...
The walk went really well though. Bryan was a hit, and most of the time we walked with Rhubarb, who is the mascot of the Tacoma Rainiers, the minor league baseball team here. Bryce used to be terrified of Rhubarb, but Cole thinks he's a celebrity. And since Cole was being, well, Cole, and clingy and wanted to be held, Rhubarb took pity on my huge pregnant self and carried Cole for a few blocks. It was awesome! Cole wouldn't let Papa or Bryan carry him, but Rhubarb was allowed to.
Now that you've read about the walk and the heels and the pink socks, I think you deserve some pictures. Words just don't give them justice. Oh, and I love being able to say "Bryan, you left your heels in my van. Can you please get them out??" How many of you wives can say that to your husbands?? Huh?
Remember the good old days? You know, when I updated my blog more than twice a month? Yeah, I remember those days too. Seems like so long ago. Back before I was HUGE and PREGNANT and sooooooo tired. Did I say tired? I meant down to the bone exhausted. I feel like I'm literally dragging myself through each day, counting down the hours and minutes until a decent bed time. I have to reward myself with chocolate chips or something in order to do housework (see?? bribery works on kids of all ages!). And to top it off, the past couple of weeks have been busy with YW activities, T-ball practice, science fair stuff, and PTA responsibilities (we just finished teacher appreciation week, so it should die down a little). I just hope that when the baby comes I have more energy, or the whole getting up all night to feed may just darn near kill me.
So Easter was a couple weekends ago and my boys were so excited. They wanted to do an Easter egg hunt so bad that the week before Easter they probably asked "How many days until Sunday" like a million billion times. We always try to talk about why we celebrate Easter and if you ask Rix and Bryce, they will tell you it's the day Jesus was resurrected and give you the story (Cole will tell you it's the day Jesus was directed, but he's three so I'll give him a break) but really, kids are kids, and they were most excited about the candy. I don't try to glorify the Easter bunny because I don't want my kids to think Easter is about a bunny, but it did get brought up, and Rix was pretty doubtful that a bunny was bringing him candy. Which is fine, I don't care if they believe in the Easter bunny or not (now Santa is a different story...).
Of course we waited until Saturday to do all the Easter candy shopping. I found some great deals on candy, and only spend like $7 - I know, I rock. Besides, the last thing my kids need is more sugar in their diet. So we went minimal this year. I was also preparing my lesson for YW and making a 30 page booklet of Jesus's last week on Earth, which took forever to make and I only survived thanks to Lindsay, who came over and helped me put them together while we watched Tron with the guys (who didn't help...they just ate candy). Bryan and I got all the candy in the eggs and hid them and the baskets and fell into bed around 1am. We are so not young anymore. It about killed us.
Sunday morning the boys did their Easter hunt. They each got to find 10 eggs, and were so excited each time they found one. It was really cute. Bryce had been battling this weird fever/cough sickness, and although he felt fine in the morning, by 11am he had a fever around 102 and was coughing again, so he didn't go to church, but I got the other two boys ready and we headed out.
