Grrrrrrrrrr.............

It's 8:50 am and I'm already feeling the need to blog today. Someday I will not remember all the little things that drove me crazy about raising these two, so today I will write down my troubles for the sake of posterity.

Although Asher woke up at 4:30 am, today I got him back to sleep. Every other day this week I was not so lucky. Aaron has been out of town all week, just in time for me to come down with some virus. Owen was next, but we are recovering just fine.

So since Owen and I have been down, Asher has taken up the reins and decided to run the house. He's already been spanked this morning, and been to his room at least 3 times. After our last incident, I took him downstairs to watch a movie. And as I was turning it on with my back to him, something flew right by my head and hit the tv- the plastic bat. I looked at Asher with wide eyes and he said, "So-we" (sorry).

Earlier I put him in his room and had a little talk with him. "Asher, mom is the boss. Asher obeys mom. I'm the boss." I thought I would introduce this word to his vocabulary and see how it worked. He looked at me and pointed to himself and said, "I'm boss."
"No, Asher- mom's boss."
"I boss."
Great, this is going really well. Then I explained he could not ram the laundry basket into Tia because she doesn't like it and I don't want to pay for another broken limb.

Yesterday Asher took the bat to Owen's Sprite and we had a Sprite explosion. That ruined my Blackberry and the remote control, and now we have NO TV!!! The Cable is only controlled by the remote. I'm sure if I called Comcast they could bring me a new one next Tuesday. So no Diego, no Noggin, no NickJr. And Owen is home from school today because he was sick and now we are stuck with our scratched videos!!! Ahhhh!

If Asher doesn't shape up he's going to give Owen a run for his money in the title of King of the Castle. Thank the Lord my mom's night out is tonight. 10 hours exactly. I can make it.

Today Was A Good Day

5:30 AM- Asher runs around the house saying, "Mama? Mama! Where are you?"

Seriously? He gets in bed next to me and Owen, because Owen peed the bed and came into our bed in the middle of the night. His feet are in my ribs and his sweaty head is right next to mine. Aaron is already catching a ride to the airport. "I wanna watch show!" For the next hour I try to keep Asher pinned down and keep Owen off of me while I doze.

The next 2 hours are the same refrain. Come eat, please. No more apple juice until you drink some milk. No more chocolate milk. Eat your breakfast please. Don't let the dog in. Don't put your (syrup covered) hands in your hair! What do you say? No, not until you eat your breakfast! Don't hit your brother. You're not allowed to jump on the couch. Be careful please. Come get dressed. Don't PEE PEE IN YOUR UNDERWEAR!!

Time to get dressed: Owen will only wear what feels "cool" that day. If it's too nice, he says it's beautiful and throws a fit. It's a battle every, single, day. Today he ran around in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt most of the day, despite the 50 degree temp and wind. As we drove down the street today he says, "Mom! You forgot to get my shoes!" I did? That was his department. Turn around and go back and get shoes, and a SWEATSHIRT! I'm tired of everybody looking at me like I should really put more clothes on the child.

Off to run errands: accountant's office, Home Depot, chiropractor. Threaten to take away all their french fries at McDonalds if they don't behave. Go to McDonalds. Go to the mall to have my pants hemmed, stop and play at the "tree" (playland). Return 5 phone calls, make appointments, put the kids outside. Owen has no shoes on. Put Asher down for a nap, while Owen watches 2 tv shows. Way more than I ever admit to when the pediatrician asks me. Balance the checking account, call the friend who just had a baby. thank my lucky stars I'm not her today. Change the laundry, do some deep cleaning because we're having a dinner party next week and if I clean the baseboards today I won't have to do it again for 6 months. Hang pictures on the wall. Pray.

Play with Owen during his quiet time. He's so sweet. Give the kids a job- go find pinecones for our pumpkin party on Thursday. Make grocery list for tomorrow morning. Fold clothes. Talk to Jill. For the 3rd time. Put the pizza in the oven....the list goes on.

Today was a good day. I didn't lose my cool too many times. I only yelled at Owen when I was on the phone and he had a tantrum because his pants hurt. He only asked me when we are going to the pumpkin patch 6 times. He told everyone that we passed (at least 5 people) that he is 4 years old and that when he turns 5 he will get a 4-wheeler.

Asher just toddled around after us. Happy-go-lucky. Except when I give him milk. He scrunches up his face and says, "NO!" And if it really starts going downhill, he starts swinging and says, "Stupid! Mama!" And I drag him off to his room...Only happened twice today, so today was a good day.

No poopy underwear. No knockdown, drag-out fights between the 2 of them. Only one bruise on a noggin. No Owen melt-downs. No mama meltdowns. And we got to talk to Papa. So today was a good day!!

Asher's Big Bang

Asher's summer in the backyard

Asher swims in the buff in our cool pool, that only lasted until Tia chewed it. She chewed up 4 pools this summer, but this one was our favorite.















Asher rides on Tia's back. If she wasn't the color of dirt, you could see her better.































This is my favorite 2 year old picture of Asher. All the grandparents will be getting one in the mail! Notice the rock in his hand- there is always a rock in his hand when he is outside!

Owen is showing us a treasured frog































Mimi bought the boys matching shirts (notice how the little mommy has her arm around Asher)















This was the day we learned about the different roles in the family during our preschool time. Owen is decked out like dad, and Gena is the mom!

Summer Fun

Oh yeah- Aaron had a birthday this summer too! Here he is lightng and re-lighting his candle so that the boys can take turns blowing it out.
















Owen loves to climb trees- check out the smile (I'm kind of having fun and I'm kind of scared!)
















Owen took swimming lessons this summer...notice how the other kids are swimming back and forth, but Owen is plunging in from the side.

MN Children's Museum

Asher goes down the Curious George spaceship slide

Owen sleeping in a cave

Happy Birthday Asher!

For Asher's birthday we took all the relatives on a train ride. We rode out to Wisconsin to an old resored station with restored train cars, with retired folks doing all the work in full costume. The ride took us over the St Croix river and it was beautiful-this was such a blast for everyone who came! Here is Owen with his cousin, Ben, and below are the cousins all hanging out the window.

I think I can...

A few weeks ago we were walking around the lake and there were some teenagers playing soccer on the beach. O and A watched for a few minutes, and then Owen wanted to get in the water. But A likes to watch sports a lot longer than his brother. I think he's studying how to get the footwork just right.

Owen is now known as Spiderman ("I'll put on the mask and then I'll be BAD!")

Tim LOOOVES taking the kids on their rides for Asher's birthday

Asher really likes Uncle Tim

More Birthdays!

This is Owen's backyard campout on the night of his birthday!














Owen's happy birthday sign left on the garage by a friend.














Owen's 4!












Papa's out of town- keeping busy at the waterpark!

Owen's 4th birthday!

Owen's birthday breakfast!


For his party we took some of his friends (8) to a waterpark. Thankfully, there were 4 adults to keep up with them (you would think that's a good ratio). However, there was one bloody lip, and lost children several times. Also one brave little girl who had to be rescued at the bottom of the slide. Their food intake for the afternoon consisted of a hot dog, chips and cake, followed by the candy in the treat bag, which gave them just enough power to make it through the afternoon. Curiously, the kids LOVED the indoor portion of the waterpark, over the outdoor part. I didn't get nearly enough pictures because, well, I was busy chasing children.

Owen's sidekick, Asher

More partying this weekend, so more pictures to come.

They are never still long enough for a picture!

Winter in March

In the middle of winter we go to the conservatory- it's humid, warm, and the winter flower show is beautiful! Gives us hope for Spring. March 07

This is a picture from the day Tia came home from the vet with what we expected- a broken leg. This was in March. She look so different now!