I'm Off

Well, I'm off to Girl's Camp for the week. I have so much to post about, but no time. So, hopefully, I can play catch up when I get back.
I think it's going to be a great week, I just hope I don't miss my kiddies too much.

The Dog Barks at Midnight!

The past few days I've been doing a lot of preparation for Girl's Camp in two weeks. It's been so much fun. Somehow I got recruited by the girls as their co-conspirator in planning lots of pranks. I don't mind one bit--that's my specialty and my favorite thing about camp. So, about a week ago, I got a call from some of the girls at about 10:30 pm to see if they could come over and discuss some of our secret plans. Since my kids had just gone down for bed, I went over to their house instead. We discussed some plans and we've been spending the past few evenings building "Herb"--a paper-mache dummy that we're taking with us to scare people. I don't necessarily think that placing a paper mache dummy outside people's cabin windows is the best prank in the world, but we're sure having fun building him. I don't think the girl's really even care how successful the pranks are, they just have fun talking about them and planning them. I think mostly they just like hanging out. So, we've been paper mache-ing different body parts and then hopefully once we attach them and put clothes on him, he'll actually somewhat resemble a person. I suggested that we stuff him with candy so that we can have a giant pinata after we're finished scaring people with him. :)
Anyway, a few nights ago, I suggested that we have a code phrase for when we are meeting together to work on pranks. So, I suggested "The dog barks at midnight". So, now I have girls passing by my house yelling, "the dog barks at 9:30" meaning there is a meeting at 9:30 or phone calls saying, "The dog is barking, the dog is barking" so I know to go over right then.
I'm really having so much fun with these girls. They are great. They've been helping me with all the other preparations that I'm in charge of--writing the song, doing the decorations, etc. I can't wait for camp. I know we'll have a blast and make tons of fun memories.

Long Day

Today has been a long day. It all started at about 3:00 this morning when Britton climbed in bed with us. Then he started screaming and crying that his foot hurt, so we had to actually wake up, turn on the light, and check it out. He has a really bad sliver in his foot that we didn't know about and everytime it got bumped, it would hurt really bad. So, I suggested that he move out onto the couch to sleep. Well, Haley heard us and woke up so she moved out onto the couch as well. When they were both back to sleep, I went back to bed only to be awoken again around 4:00 by the phone. My friend Cieanna was in labor and needed me to come over to stay with her 3 kids while she and her husband went to the hospital. So, I quickly ran across the street. It was hard falling asleep at their house because it's a different bed and different noises, etc. I did get a little sleep though until 6:00 when their youngest woke up. I got up and hung out with the kids for about an hour and a half when another friend showed up to take over for me so that Jason could go to work and I could go be with my kids.
I came home and immediately started hauling stuff outside for a yard sale. Our other neighbor was having a yard sale, so we saved all our stuff from our last one and put it out again today. Since it was just leftover stuff, I was just happy to get rid of things. So, it was kind of fun selling things for super cheap prices. It surprised everyone that came and I think a lot of people really needed the things they bought. Plus I got rid of a lot of stuff. And made more than I expected.
I had to deliver some chairs to a lady, so after doing that, I loaded most of the remaining stuff into our van while the back seat was still out. Now I'm just waiting for Haley to wake up so that I can take it all to D.I.
I've decided that I really like doing yard sales. It's so liberating to get rid of stuff. I know I could do that by just taking it to D.I. but I usually don't. I get attached to my stuff, so it helps me to actually get rid of it if I think I might make a little money. Plus it's fun to see people who actually really want and need the stuff. And they get it for cheaper than they would at thrift stores. Also I really like being out all day long and talking to everyone in our neighborhood. Everyone comes over to hang out and visit for a bit. I meet people in the neighborhood that I didn't already know. It's just fun.
Jason has been working over at our neighbor's house all day long (the other one's doing the yard sale). He is doing their soffit and fascia on their house. So, it's been fun just watching him work and going over to chat with him and the neighbors.
My kids have been great all day too. Haley has been outside with me most of the day helping with the yard sale. (And by "helping" I mean moving things around from the boxes that they're in and taking things out that she doesn't want to sell, etc.) Britton has been in and out all day and back and forth from our house and the neighbors. He's actually been in heaven because I've been letting him play Xbox and computer games and PSP. It's not too often that I let him play without a time limit. Or at all recently.
It's been a long day, but a very productive and rewarding one. Now I'm tired. I need Haley to wake up so that I don't get too comfortable and too lazy to take the stuff to D.I. I don't want it to be in my van any longer. Maybe I need to go make a lot of noise outside her door. :)

Budding Actress

Haley has taken to storytelling. She loves to make up stories and tell them to me. She has quite the imagination and I love to hear all the things she comes up with. But, my favorite part about it is how expressive she is as she's telling them. She really gets into the words she's saying. I think we have an actress on our hands.
This morning she was telling me a story about a baby alligator who was lost from her parents. As she was telling about how sad the baby alligator was, she actually started crying. And not fake crying, like most kids. It was real, lump in her throat, tears in her eyes crying. It was amazing (and so cute). Too bad she's probably too shy and/or stubborn to ever do it on demand for an audience.

Conversation with Britton

Here's a conversation that I had with Britton this morning.

Me: You need to eat something healthy, you've only had cookies today.
Britton: Well, I ate oatmeal yesterday.
Me: But, that was yesterday.
Britton: Well, actually I've eaten oatmeal today because I had cookies and you said cookies have oatmeal.
Me: Not all cookies have oatmeal, those cookies are made from pumpkin.
Britton (smiling): Well, that's perfect, pumpkin's healthy.

How can you argue with that?

Mountain Mondays

Yesterday we had our first official "Mountain Monday"--something that we're going to try to do all summer long. The kids and I had so much fun. We went to Donut Falls for our first mountain excursion. We went early in the morning so that it was still cool enough outside. The weather was perfect! The whole morning was perfect! I forgot how much I just love being in the mountains. And my kids love it too. It is an easy and short enough hike that they didn't get too worn out or tired. Plus it has the really fun waterfall. It's one of my favorite places. Haley was too scared to cross the river on the logs, so we weren't able to go very close up to the falls. But we still had a nice view of it. Britton would have liked to go up farther, but I didn't dare let him cross without holding my hand and Haley insisted on me carrying her, so it was too much for one person and two little kids. It was such a fun morning though. I can't wait for our next hike next Monday!

The Cutest Thing

On Saturday, while driving to Walmart, I saw the cutest thing--this old couple driving matching "His and Her's" mopeds. The lady had a pink one and the man had a blue one. It was so cute. They were coming up the hill as I was going down. The husband (I'm assuming they were married, but maybe not) started slowing down and the wife sped right passed him and gave him the greatest look. Anyway, it was so cute. Now I want to add that to the list of things for when we're older--owning matching mopeds.