“Lukie, Lukie, Lukie.  What have you done,” I thought to myself as they approached.

(Oh, how I would HATE to be a teacher during these last few weeks of school!)

Well, it turns out that my sweet Luke and a friend thought it would be fun to have a milk drinking contest during lunch.  While the teacher’s back was turned, they helped themselves to three more cartons of milk than they were alloted and started guzzling as fast as they could.

As Luke started on his fourth carton, the teacher became aware of what was happening and moved in to put a stop to it.  Luke wasn’t feeling so well by then and began to get up from his seat.  His teacher took one look at him and saw the future.  She grabbed a trashcan and thankfully, Luke hit the provided target.

Lovely lunchtime entertainment for the classroom, wouldn’t you say?  Thank goodness he didn’t cause a chain reaction!

Where does this kind of behavior come from?!?  Certainly, not MY side of the family!

I asked for pictures, and she provided them.  I drooled.  And then I spent every spare moment of my next day sorting Lego.  By color.

Awesome, isn’t it?  The one bin on the top left that isn’t sorted by color holds all the Lego guys and girls, their weapons and accessories.

The boys are thrilled, as it makes it much easier for them to find the pieces they’re looking for.  But… will they be able to keep it this way?  Or, will the “baby” be able to resist dumping and mixing?  I guess we’ll have to see…

**********

This morning was absolutely gorgeous.  Really.  It would have been tough to beat our weather no matter where you live.  So, after walking the kids to school, I decided that Andrew and I would take Cheerio to the park across the street.  After seeing our neighbor with one, I had recently bought a Chuckit! and was eager to try it out.  I wasn’t sure how it would go, though, as Cheerio loves to chase balls, but isn’t that great about giving them back.  Plus, she likes to run off.

I filled my pockets with treats, grabbed AP (who grabbed the new toy), and leashed up Cheerio.

Wow!  That Chuckit! can make the ball FLY and Cheerio was all about going after it.  And, she brought it back!  Andrew and I had a blast watching her run.  After just 4 or 5 throws, she was done and we headed home.

Not wanting to go indoors, we all hung out in the backyard and I finally finished a project I had had in the works for a little bit.

I had seen this on Pinterest, and while I didn’t think I wanted to do all of that, I knew I could do the slide.  Problem was, I didn’t want to spend a bunch of money on a slide (they’re not cheap).  Then… lo and behold, some neighbors put TWO slides (and what was left of their play system) out on the curb for trash pick up.  Whooo hooooo!  What a score!  I sent my boys down the street to collect the better looking of the two and then it sat in our garage (much to my husband’s annoyance) for several weeks.

Until today:

I let Jack have the honors this time*:

Success!

*No teeth were actually pulled in the creating of this post, so there’s no need to call CPS.  I grabbed the idea from this guy.

I had asked him a few weeks back what type of cake he’d like (when will I learn?!?) and he said he wanted a Captain Rex head.  Terrific.

It wasn’t too hard to find 3-D (’cause it HAS to be 3-D) Captain Rex cakes, but almost all of them used fondant.  No way am I going there.  I dug a little deeper and managed to find someone who made one with butter cream frosting.  It really looked pretty good, and not too hard, so I set out to copy it.

Jack, thankfully, was thrilled with my efforts:

He was equally thrilled with his gifts:

As were his siblings:

The fish’s name – a Betta – is aptly named… Captain Rex.

This says it all, no?

We celebrated Andrew’s two-ness with a rocket ship cake and some great presents.  Then a few days later, Gran took him to Build-A-BearDog where he made “‘Night’Night” and dressed him in overalls.  Once he got the hang of that animal-stuffing machine, it was hard to pull him away!

Andrew has been practicing his new age by throwing a couple of colossal fits, and he’s talking more and more.  But mostly he’s still my sweet baby boy… for a little bit longer, anyway.

#4 couldn’t find a good pair of pants.  And then couldn’t find the right socks.  Sister and Gran tried to help.  Not good enough.

#2 didn’t want to eat ANYthing

#1 put soap on #2′s toothbrush

#5 fed the dog his cereal (after eating all the marshmallows himself, of course)

#3 was obsessed with the human gastrointestinal tract

#1 couldn’t fit into his pants (which were the right pants and fit a week ago!!!)

Finally, on the verge of lateness, as I was buckling the baby into his car seat, the car alarm sounded.  BEEP!  BEEP! BEEP!  BEEP!  I scrambled around, putting the key into the door  (BEEP!  BEEP! BEEP!  BEEP! ), putting the key into the ignition (BEEP!  BEEP! BEEP!  BEEP! ), hitting the panic button on my key fob (BEEP!  BEEP! BEEP!  BEEP! ).  Nothing worked!!!  The kids went crazy (what great fun to wake the neighborhood this way!)

It dawned on me, finally, that it was the OTHER car whose alarm was sounding.  I hit the button and was rewarded with blessed silence (from the car, not the kids).

Down the street we sped.  I couldn’t get the kids out of the van fast enough.

As I drove home, Andrew tried to tell me something.  Louder and louder he got as he became more and more frustrated.  “Buuuhhhh,” he said.  “Buuuuhhhhh!!!” he wailed.  As I pulled into the driveway and looked at him over my shoulder, I realized what he was trying to tell me.  “Buckle.” I hadn’t finished buckling him!  I guess I had snapped the chest strap but was interrupted by the car alarm before completing the buckling process.  Thank goodness we only live a few blocks from school.

And thank goodness school is back in session.

As is typical, I tried to get a decent family photo and failed…  But, at least this year wasn’t as “colorful” as in years past.  (Sorry, Kristina, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it.)

Here are some of the terrible takes, before I finally gave up (much to the delight of my husband and kids):

Notice Cheerio trying to get in on the action?

One's run off!

The best of the worst

Last year when Luke was learning to ride his bike, he’d get frustrated and VERY angry.  Every. Single. Time. He’d try and fall, he’d rip off his helmet and throw it down the sidewalk in anger.  Sam, having clearly learned this trick from his brother, has done the same thing a few times this spring while trying to learn to ride his bike.  While it’s been quite entertaining for the neighbors, it has been frustrating for him.

Until now!!!

So, I thought I’d teach the kiddos a little lesson.  Mother Nature cooperated, as we had a good rain last night.  As a result, there was plenty of breakfast to go around:

Worms!!!

Unfortunately, my plan backfired, as the kids thought worms for breakfast was a GREAT idea!

Except for Sam…  he was SO MAD he knocked the bowl out of my hands in tearful anger and took off for his room.

Happy April Fool’s Day everyone!

It’s hard for me to believe that I was looking forward to running with Dina.  A year ago, she scared the daylights out of me.  I didn’t really know her, but I knew who she was and that she was fast, fit and tough.  She trained my girlfriends to run their first half marathon.  They claimed that she was really nice, but as a brand-new runner, a woman who has run the Boston Marathon and many others intimidated me.

Fast-forward a year, and while training for her fourth run (or maybe it’s her fifth) in Boston, she’s been helping me get faster.  When she has a slow day, she’ll run with me – which makes it a fast day for me.  She is awesome.  Nice, smart, motivating.  She loves to help people, and despite her experience and accomplishments, she makes you feel like an equal.

Sometime after setting my clock last night, I heard from my 5 a.m. date who had to cancel.  I wasn’t too disappointed, as it would be nice to know that I’d get an extra 30 minutes of sleep before Dina kicked my butt.  I adjusted my clock, checked on the kiddies and went to bed.

And woke up to Dan’s alarm at 5:30.  The time I should have been on the path, meeting my friends.  My alarm hadn’t gone off.  Dammit.

I texted everyone to let them know I wouldn’t be there and then lied back down.  Not that I could sleep.  No, I was too pissed off.  So, not only did I miss my run, but I couldn’t take advantage of the extra sleep.

And the bad day just kept going.

I broke the yoke on my over-easy eggs.

One of the kids clogged the toilet – MY toilet, of course.

And Maria puked on her way out the door for school.  Literally.  All over the front steps.

After taking the kids to school,  I finally put the running clothes away that I had set out last night.  I think they were a bad omen.

****Updated****  Despite putting the offensive running gear away, the day did not improve.  To add to it, I had:

A visit to the principal’s office

A full glass of milk spilled

An overflow on the stovetop

A puzzle disaster (two completed puzzles totally dismantled AND intermixed

And, when looking for Andrew near his bedtime, I found this:

The night, unfortunately, is still young.  Pray for me.