Little Gizmo's Sense of Humor

Preface: I am unsure of what one would call the action of sticking out one's tongue and making it vibrate/spit with a silly accompanying noise (Know what I'm referring to??) So for the sake of the following story we will call this motion *Phlabt*

So, Dayton is a pill. And I mean that in an overly-hilarious way.
Here is a review of last night's bedtime routine:

Lay Dayton in his crib, hand him his bottle, tuck him in and turn around to put Oaklee in her bed. I barely have her in her bed when I hear *Phlabt* behind me. I turn around and Little Gizmo is standing in his crib bouncing up and down squealing at me. I lay him back down, give him his bottle and tuck him in. He seems to be ready to drift right off to sleep.

I turn back around to tuck Oaklee in, this time I barely have the blanket on her and I again hear *Phlabt* behind me. What do you suppose I found when I turned around? Yep, Little Gizmo is again bouncing in crib squealing. Apparently he thinks he is hilarious! (I tend to agree with this line of thinking). This happened repeatedly over the next 5 or 10 minutes while I slowly got Oaklee all tucked into bed. I layed him down a final time and escaped out the door before he could repeat his comedy routine.

Roughly 10 to 15 minutes later I suddenly hear some odd static over the baby monitor, could it have possibly been a *Phlabt* I heard?? I decide to go investigate.

Upon opening the door I immediately discover this:

Oaklee, sound asleep with "pillar" As I am admiring how stinkin cute she is and contemplating getting my camera, I hear a very loud *Phlabt* behind me, and I then find this:

(Wow, what a chunko)

First thing this morning over the baby monitor I did not hear babbling or crying of any sort, but what I know I most definitely heard was *Phlabt* (A 10 month old with a sense of humor, I love it!!)

Cookie Monster Indeed

So I made these itty-bitty brownie bite cookies today. They turned out about the size of a quarter. The other kids were eating them and Dayton thought it only fair that he gets one too. I put him in his high chair, threw a bib on him and handed him 1 cookie.

Here are the results:

(Unfortunately his hands and tray are not pictured here. Take note that his hands and tray were equal in messy-ness to that of the bib and face)

Now, take note that there is a big ol' chink of cookie stuck to his bib, and be reminded that these cookies were only the size of a quarter to begin with. Now take note of his overall messy-ness. With these observations, we can come to two conclusions:

A - Only a very small sliver of cookie could have possibly made it into his mouth

B - With such a small portion to eat, he certainly makes a disasterous mess!!

and a possible 3rd conclusion as noted by his facial expression:

C - He enjoyed every second of it!!

(Let it also be noted that when removed from his high chair, there was also somehow a chunk of cookie stuck to his bum. Research on how said cookie piece could possibly travel from hand to bottom of bum, is still in progress)

Samantha, Don't Read This Blog Until After Sunday

My littlest little sister (Samantha) is leaving on a mission June 10, to Phoenix, AZ, which humorously includes part of southern Utah. As a gift for her mission and for her birthday which she celebrated a few weeks ago, I chose to make her... (wait, Sam, if you are reading this you really ought to stop now so as not to ruin the surprise I will be bringing to your house this coming Sunday... don't look at the pictures either...just close your eyes and scroll to the next post or something...)... journals. What missionary doesn't need journals? Sadly, her journals were on the back burner while I completed my other sister's wedding scrapbook.

Yesterday I finally found a brief moment to sit down and get her journals done, and in my own show-off fashion I am choosing to now post pictures so everyone can get a glimpse at how cute they are.

So here you all go:

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Okay Sammi you can open your eyes now!!

Anyone??

Anyone out there ever feel like they are failing their children? Or that they are completely inadequate as a mom? I am struggling big time with such feelings lately. My life is complete chaos. I have 6 kids whom I completely love and adore, a part time job that occupies 5 nights a week and full time school (17 credits this semester) that occupies my day time (online classes) as well as my other two nights a week for class. As I sit here typing there are loads of laundry to be done, a kitchen that needs cleaned, homework I ought to be attending to and two beautiful little girls begging for play time with me. I can't keep up. Logically one would think that I need to put school on a back burner - but realistically, the sooner I am done with school the sooner I can get out of my dead end job and be able to afford life better, and hopefully in turn have more time with my kids... In the long run, the chaos we are enduring now will be best for everyone, but what about now? My kids are growing up with out me, I'm missing out on who they are now. That right there is what brings me here today...
I'm not typing this for people to feel sorry for me, I am typing away hoping that somebody out there has a few (or many) ideas on how to better organize my day so that I can accomplish the necessities, and still spend time with my kids. Its weird, its like I have so much to do, I can't even get a single thing accomplished because I'm too busy worrying over everything else... so I jump from one thing to another without finishing anything. AHHHHHHHH!! The chaos has got to end. Who has suggestions??

From the Mind and Mouth of One Boy Named Tate

So Tate informed me today that after he retires from playing with the Utah Jazz, he will go on American idol, "Cuz I'm a way good singer, and I'm pretty sure I'll make it to the final two, and when I win, I'll give you my trophy cuz we're bestest buds, right mom?"

He's so stinkin cute!!

Also, a few nights ago he was still wide awake at 11 pm and I had to do a milk-run to the store so I invited him to tag along... while in the car he started singing along to the radio and he said to me, "Mom, trust me I'm a real good singer, just not at 11:02 at night." Too funny!!

Then two nights ago I got home from work around 11:30ish and checked in on all my kiddos as I normally do, put blankets on Kyndi and Oaklee. un-stuck Tona's foot from his crib rails, found Tyson securely tucked completely beneath his blankets in the far corner of his bed and then looked up on Tate's bed (top bunk). No Tate in sight. Bathroom was un-occupied, Not in anyone else's room, not the family room either. Panic starts to set in and I tell Kamron Tate is missing. I continue my search a little more frantically this time... and then I saw it... a small hand sticking out from underneath Tyson's bed. That goof ball kid was sleeping under Tyson's bed. Here's where it gets even better: I asked him last night why he was sleeping under Tyson's bed and he matter-of-factly said, "My bed has too many pressure points from the springs so I moved to the floor" What a freakin crack up!!

Cha-Cha Louise Bronson (aka Sharli)

My oldest-younger sister, Sharli, got married yesterday. I absolutely love her. So much so that at some point during the reception, my other younger sister Samantha and I were bawling together because we love her so much. (And I believe the photographer captured this moment on film too, dang it)

Sharli is just so stinkin cute and I admire her so much. I'm so proud of her for all she's accomplished and happy for her and Dan (her new husband)

Here are a few of the pics I took: (I am certain I will have more pics to post at a later date as I am most certain I will get some from Samantha and Granny at some point)

Sharli and Dan exiting the Salt Lake Temple

My cute family kickin' it on the wall (in the wind)


I got a few cute pics of Oaks...

But for 99.4 % of the time she looked a little more like this:

(Boy was she ornery!!)

Noodle and Moe

Tater-Bacon

(we had to work for the past 6 weeks or so to convince him to wear a pink tie. He pretended he hated every minute of it, but as soon as the wedding was over, he asked me to wash the whole outfit so he can wear it to school)

(BTW: I had all intentions of getting Tate's hair cut-ish before the wedding, but in all my chaos, this priority slipped through the cracks...)

Tysa-Roni

Little dude is his sort-of tuxedo

Kyndi walking the tight-rope that Dan's friends set up (and thats my youngest brother James in the picture with her)

Sharli and Dan dancing their first dance

I sorta cut off their heads cuz I got alittle excited over a potential shot of the shoes...

At the reception we pretty much danced our guts out. In fact my feet and calves really hurt today from all the dancing. Kamron even danced with me for a while. That may have been the highlite of my evening. (Next to seeing my gorgeous sister so happy of course) Sadly I didn;t get any pictures of us dancing, but the groomsmen and dads had to dance the YMCA as the Village people, here are a few of those pics...

(This dance was so far out of my dad's comfort zone it was Hilarious!!)

My apologies to Dan and Jonathan who do not have up close pics of themsleves posted here. Somehow I never got a shot of Dan (???) and Jonathans all came out hideaously horrible, so I thought I'd spare him the embarrassment of said pictures. But for those who want a glimpse, in the group YMCA pic (above), Jonathan is in the Indian Chief hat, and Dan is the construction worker (yellow hat)

Masterpiece?

One of my little sisters is getting married in two days (Sharli). I am so excited for her. I volunteered to make her wedding scrapbook/guestbook. I was totally excited about this, until reality hit me. TONS of people were going to see this creation of mine. That thought alone was a little bit of an overwhelming one for me. I procrastinated and procrastinated, I worried and worried, and finally just sat down and got it done. And I am so PROUD about the final result!!! Her colors are black and all shades of pink. Not only did I get to make the inner pages, I also got to cover the book in a decorative fashion, and I love it. I sorta wanna keep it...

So here is a glimpse at my self-proclaimed master piece:

One Tooth Down, Many To Go...

Dayton's finally has one single tooth! At 10.5 months old I was beginning to think he'd be a toothless magooney for life, but what do you know, one tooth finally cut through. Good to know at least one tooth knows it's supposed to grow in.

A funny thing about Little Dude (Dayton) - He HATES his face being touched, this includes his nose wiped, his cheek touched, and random fingers (of mine) being stuck in his mouth to feel for teeth. He freaks out as any hands approach his face and swats them away. Like he has a finger-touching face phobia. He also very sternly sticks his tongue over his bottom gums so I cannot even ever see his tooth let alone touch it. So, instead of a picture of his delightful new tooth, here are some other pictures of his total cute-ness eating an animal cookie in his car seat. (Please note the messy face, and the attempt at sharing said cookie)

Un-attended

I learned recently that if I leave my children un-attended, crazy things take place. Actually, I was recently reminded of how well behaved my children are. Many days I have to take a shower or get a test taken online and I leave Kyndi to briefly watch one or both of the babies in the other room, here are a few of the activities I've recently found her participating in with the babies...

This is where they hung out to watch tv

She built this hut and convinced him to get inside. He looked like he enjoyed it.

Kyndi really is such a good helper. And Oaklee is quickly becoming quite the helper girl too. So cute. At times I think they both believe they are Dayton's mom.

Eyeball Maneuver

Have you ever seen people who can make their eyeballs vibrate?? My little sister Samantha can do it. Well, a few days ago we discovered that if Tate pulls this exact face...

...his right eyeball vibrates.

Just thought you'd all like to know.

Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh My!

So we went to the zoo the other day. Tyson was at Baseball games up in Idaho so he wasn;'t with us. But it was fun. Crowded and blasted hot out, but fun. The only bummer was that the heat caused alot of the animals to be lazy and just lounge around. Thats okay thought.

Really not much to post about the zoo, losts of animals, lots of people, lots of craziness. Lots of pictures:

My Favorite animal:

See the little-er giraffe in the background? It is eating out of that hanging thingy, but Kyndi insisted it was punching the punching bag.

Serious Complex

I just thought I'd jot a quick note and tell you of a complex I have that dates back to 1998.I have this love/hate relationship with Peanut butter bars... you know the ones with the oatmeal base and then a layer of peanut butter topped off with chocolate frosting?? They are my favorite, and yet I am afraid to make them.

Why you may ask? And why am I telling you this? Back in the summer of '98 a friend of mine and I were making them at friend's house's kitchen and we put the base (oatmeal part) in the oven to cook and left momentarily to get snowcones... when we came back there was a wee bit 'o smoke and the base was overflowing the pan and dripping into the bottom of the oven...

Well that my friends was the creation of my peanut butter bar complex. Do you think they have a name for a -peanut-butter-bar-phobia?? Just wondering. I even bought all the ingredients a few days ago and just cannot bring myself to make them... How aggravating. And I am so craving them right now!!!

Chicken Little

The sky is falling, the sky is falling, okay so maybe it is just our ceiling... I was sitting here typping away on my computer this morning when thud, a piece of the ceiling fell to the floor. Nice. That's always a good sign of loveliness going on. Apparently we have a toilet leakage problem upstairs... good thing Kam knows all about toilets!! Looks like he'll have something on his "honey do" list when he gets home... How exciting for him.

This is the ceiling:

And this is the floor:

The Louvre That is My Fridge..

Kyndi loves to color pictures for me. This morning was no different. She colored in pink and purple and wanted to hang it on the wall. I mentioned the fridge as a better option. She was thrilled by this idea. Apparently so was Oaklee as very soon I not only had Kyndi's beautiful picture hanging, but also 5 of Oaklee's in various sizes.

A Mothers Day Tale

What a delightful mothers day I had today. Unfortunately it started out with me having to work, but I survived that obviously. But that is not where this story gets good. Here is where my story gets good: I got a bird for Mother's Day. Yep, you read that right, a real live bird. A parakeet to be specific. Its white with a few gray and blue spots. VERY pretty. Originally I was gonna name the bird Dr Suess, but since she's a girl, she is now named Pyper. (Oaklee calls her "Diaper") Oaklee loves her but freaks if it comes towards her in any way. Dayton loves the bird so much he tries to pick her up by her head. Good bird though, as she hasn't even tried to bite once. I think Pyper is Kamron's new best friend. She sat there on his hand for like an hour while he watched tv. So anyways, now I have 6 kids, two dogs and a bird. The circus just keeps growing.

Even better today was when Kamron offered to make dinner for me. What a good guy. On the menu? Frozen pizza. Yum. He got the oven all pre-heated and then stuck it in. 15 minutes later, this is what I came out:

Apparently it was pre-sliced and instructed the use of a pan underneath, he somehow forgot to read that part and the pizza is all over the oven. Pretty much melted through the rack. It was lovely. And tasted pretty good too.

I love Mother's day!

Tulips Anyone??

So we moved to this house at the end of last September...it was hard-ish to tell what type of bushes line my back fence, or what tree is in my front yard... Imagine my surprise when I suddenly had bright red tulips pop out and bloom in my front yard. I even took a picture for everyone to see:

Unfortunately Oaklee got to them first...