Phases.

 Whenever a child, especially a toddler, does something naughty, people like to refer to it as "just a phase". Well Piper has a nice, fun assortment of phases right now! Including (but not limited to) taking off her pants whenever and wherever she can, climbing up on the bathroom counter and turning on the water, climbing up on the table to destroy whatever anyone is working on/eating, not eating anything herself. But my favorites are following me around all day screaming "mom!" at the top of her lungs like an angry teenager, screaming super loud whenever any other child goes near her and being REALLY mean to Deacon. In fact, a woman at the store actually stopped me yesterday to tell me that her baby also went through a really loud screaming phase and she recommended ear plugs. It's THAT loud.  My theme song for her right now is "Why you gotta be so mean?" The tricky part is when I get upset with her and attempt to use a stern "NO" voice, she thinks it's really funny and laughs and says "wowwy" (sorry)... and smiles her huge smile which makes it really hard to stay mad!  This video was at first an attempt to capture the way she yells "mom!" I didn't really get the essence of the way her voice usually sounds when she yells it, but I did capture a screaming match with her and Deacon over some root beer and in the end her hitting on Deacon. Seriously, she whacks him with toys and pulls his hair whenever possible and he just takes it like a champ. Little stinker. I should have let the camera roll longer but my instinct to stop the hitting took over. Enjoy. :)

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Boo!

Look who learned to spell boo.....on our sidewalk....with permanent marker.

The highlight of our day

.....was playing outside until dark and eating homemade popsicles!

He said what?!

So last week I'm in Target with my mom and Deacon. You know when you're busy looking at something and you hear your child in the background saying something over and over again but you're mentally blocking out what they're saying? Like tuning them out? So I hear Deacon saying something over and over but I'm not paying attention. Finally I look over and he's holding up a bra saying boobie masks! Boobie masks! Boobie masks! When I realized what he was saying my mom and I just started cracking up! I can see where he's coming from! But this kid is actually obsessed with boobs. Hopefully this post doesn't get flagged as inappropriate.  But just for good measure, boobs.

Appreciating it all

Lately I have been almost in a panic about how to appreciate my kids while I have them at home. I think part of that comes from the infertility and a lot of it right now is coming from Brighton starting the 1st grade. All the sudden she is just gone all day, & I have no idea what she is doing, if she is eating, who she is playing with, if she is happy or sad. Letting her go has been harder than I thought it would be. I always hear people say they wish they would have "appreciated it more" when their kids are little, but how do you do that? I think part of it is playing with them so I have the memories when they grow up. But the idea of just appreciating it more is a little abstract to me. I use to be a lot better at blogging when I only had Brighton but its so hard for me to find time to sit down at the computer and type, especially with Aaron working at home on our only computer. Plus, getting pictures on the computer to use for blogging takes forever. Last night as I was driving home from Idaho Falls it hit me almost like inspiration, that I should check to see if there is an app for blogger, and there is! I just downloaded it onto my tablet and now my goal is to blog a lot more so that I can appreciate the little things that happen in my day. I think it will be easier just taking pictures with my tablet and blogging  right from my tablet. Even if there are more typos because I'm using the speaking feature, instead of typing. Plus there will be a lot fewer ...'s like I use all the time when I type. An old habit from my days off television news writing. My blog probably won't be as entertaining as it once was but it's something I feel like I need to do. We'll see if I stick to this new resolution!

Also I will continue to post the things that are real in my life like Deacon playing the Wii and the mess in the background. and my constant view of Piper reaching up to me, wanting to be held all the time. Its kinda annoying but maybe thesse are the things i need to appreciate.

A Time When I Got in Trouble...Kinda

Today at Brighton's school there is a "story basket" where the kids were asked to get a story from an elder-person... parent or grandparent, etc. Since the event is in 45 minutes, I decided to sit down 15 minutes ago and type this one out. The subject was "A time when you got in trouble". This story popped into my mind because I remember how funny my mom thought it was and how dead I thought it was! This was meant to be read out loud, so excuse the "tv news broadcaster" punctuation.

A Time When I Got in Trouble...Kinda.

By Brooke Hale Flake

It was a Monday morning and like all Monday mornings at school we all stood up, said the Pledge of Allegiance and held our hands to our hearts as "The Star Spangled Banner" played on the loud speaker.

This day was no different except my Sophomore Algebra math teacher, Mrs. Borenpole had stepped out into the hall during the morning ritual.

  "Oh say can you see...."   I stood and listened to the song but my mind was started wandering "Did I have homework due today? Do we have a test?" Suddenly I was snapped back into reality as the National Anthem stopped playing mid-song! We all just stood there with our hands to our hearts looking around at each other. Just then I knew I had to do what any other patriotic 16-year-old girl would do. I had to finish the song!

  "And the rockets red glare..." I sang in my best opera voice. "The bombs bursting in...."

 "Brooke Hale!"  Mrs. Borenpole had walked back into the room at just the wrong moment!  "What do you think you are doing?!  Come with me this instant!" I looked at the back of Mrs. Borenpole brown polyester bell bottoms all the way down to Mr. Kane's office and could feel my heart about to burst out of my chest with nerves!

  "She did what?"  Mr. Kane questioned after the teacher explained why I was in the principal's office. 

  "She started singing the national anthem when the recording stopped!"  a flustered Mrs. Borenpole explained. "She deserves detention... or worse!"

  Only I could see a hint of a smile as the edge of Mr. Kane's mouth threatened to turn upward. The slight gleam in his eye as he looked at me, only made the teacher more upset.

  "She disturbed the entire homeroom!"

  "Mrs. Borenpole why don't you go take care of the rest of the class as I talk to Miss Hale." said the vice-principal.

(Oh great, now I was really in for it!)

  "Miss Hale... I've seen your sisters and parents in every musical and play this city has ever done," started the vice-principal. "I might know where you get your musical and dramatic flair...  Let's just give your mom a call and see how she feels about this spectacle."

My mouth went dry and I could feel the grounding punishment already setting in as Mr. Kane called my mom at work and explained to her why I was sitting in his office.

  "MMhmmm... Yes... she did... Mrs. Borenpole's class yes.  Ok …. very good. Goodbye."

"Well?" I asked? "What did she say? Was she upset?"

Well Brooke.... (there was a long pause.)  Your mom... laughed!

The End

Week from HELL!

Not even week from heck or week from H. E. - double hockey sticks. Week from hell... well mom-hell. No one lost a limb or anything so don't compare me to people with "real trials" but last week just would not end!
Monday- I'm scrapbooking with a friend- Deacon is asleep and Bright is home from school because there's a crazed gunman a block away from her school. Bright runs in saying "Deacon just threw up!" She's super dramatic so I expected a teeny-bit but it was ALL OVER himself and the bed. So gross... So the rest of the day goes without saying laundry, baths, - trying to get a 2-year-old to puke in a bowl instead of wherever he sees fit.
Tuesday- Deacon's doing better and it's the last nice day of the year so I am raking leaves and attempting to fertilize my lawn. Under all the leaves is a plethora of dog/cat poop. Both, I think. I'm trying to avoid it but I keep smelling it and I don't know where it is! Then I hear Deacon yelling and he's stuck in the back of the mini van where Piper was sleeping. I go to get him out and he is covered in the worst-smelling dog poop EVER and has tracked it ALL through the mini-van. It is ground in to all the carpet and seats. I had to let it sit there for like 4 or 5 hours due to naps, school drop off and gymnastics and by the time I got it cleaned out I was in tears- for some reason that poop just totally overwhelmed me. EW.
Wednesday- Keep smelling dog poop! Is it phantom poop? Is it stuck in the fibers of my nose from smelling it so much the day before? Is it on ME somewhere? Finally I find a bunch in the trunk that I had somehow missed before because it was also all over the stroller. Back to the carwash.
Thursday- While watching my friend Lisa's little boy (same friend who was there for Monday's puke incident) Deacon jumped up on a couch and smacked his eyebrow bone right on the sharp corner of a window sill. At first glance I knew it needed stitches. It was wide open, gushing blood, and I'd seen the same thing a year and a half ago on his other eyebrow. I had to load FOUR kids up and take them all to the Dr. Lisa got there part-way through and helped out with Piper and the other kids, so that made it easier but I seriously could not watch as they had to hold him down to put those stitches in.
Friday- Return of the vomit. It started up again in the middle of the night (why does that happen so often?) Something about stripping beds, cleaning kids up and starting laundry at 3:00 a.m. makes me weepy. 
Saturday- Piper comes down with a cold. Deacon seems to be doing ok.... but still hasn't eaten all week. I can get him to drink, so I'm not super worried but his face looks thin. :(
Sunday- Another mid-night puke fest. By this time I'm in total bad mom mode and I'm actually YELLING at my 2-year-old for being sick.  I might add- since he's been taking 3 hour naps and going to bed at 7 p.m... he wakes up at 4 or 5 a.m. every morning and wanders the house, while coming in and out of our bed and demanding milk (which we have to refuse because he keeps puking it up.) He always goes and turns on the TV, which I've learned is Yoga at 5:00 a.m. on PBS. I should have stopped and participated in a little downward doggie or something to calm my nerves.  I spent an hour cleaning up throw up from my carpet and then in the morning discovered puke in his bedroom and the TV room. I think he was so used to it by now it's just no big deal but I was MAD that he wouldn't even try to hit a bowl!  That was my low point.
Now it's Monday morning- we're getting his stitches out in a few hours and I just pray this flu is gone. He ate a whole bowl of cereal this morning, which is more than he's eaten in a week, so that's a good sign. OH- and one more thing to add- Aaron is in his busy season right now which means working Monday-Saturday 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. or later so I've been alone through all of this. Again, I know I'm not a military wife, a divorcee or a widow, aka people with "real trials" but it was still a poopy week, k?