Christmas in July??

Last night Saige and I made the trek to Nebraska Furniture Mart waaaaaayyy out in Kansas. Saige was so excited because she got to ride in the front seat of our minivan for the first time. (We had to take all of the seats out of the van to pick up our new bunk bed) She talked, and talked, and talked the whole way out....the whole time we were there.....and the whole ride home. Is this normal for a 6 year old girls??? How does she talk so much for sooo long??! Even though my ears were numb by the time we got home, we had a great time...just the girls.

We had all three girls sleep in Saige's room, then John and I stayed up way too late to put it all together. This morning it was like Christmas in July! They were so excited! Of course the ladder and the top bunk were the main attraction. Wyatt quickly figured out how to climb up the ladder, but has trouble coming down.

So, I thought I would take a poll. How long do you think it will be before Wyatt either falls, jumps, or otherwise descends from the top bunk to the floor? Not that I would make light of it, but I've learned to just anticipate it... my vote is 5 days.

My Spy Kids

Saige and Micheala watched "Spy Kids" today while the little kids were taking a nap. They both ran upstairs when it was done and proclaimed, "That was AWESOME!" Since they rarely say that about a movie, I had to wonder what the movie was about since I have not actually seen it myself. Well, the girls proceeded to give me a play by play re-enactment of the movie some of which I got on video. Micheala definitely has some kungfu moves!

Smithville's first annual 4th of July parade

Today we marched in the first annual 4th of July parade in Smithville. We all dressed in Red, White, and Blue. I bought the girls matching dresses (couldn't help myself) for family pictures that we had taken yesterday (I'll post those soon). We recited the pledge of allegiance, sang the national anthem, then marched around the square in Smithville. We decorated our wagon at the last minute, so it's not very ornate, but still looks quite patriotic I think. The girls waved their flags the whole time. Then we had popsicles in the courtyard, followed by awards. I'm not sure the girls really understood what we were doing, but they still had fun!

Wild, Wild, Wyatt

Many of you have seen me chasing after Wyatt at church, family events, parks, stores, playgroups, etc. etc. etc. Others of you have only heard me speak about how he is so "active", curious, and destructive. I always think, "I hope people don't think I'm complaining about him", because I really do find it quite amusing, although very exhausting. I have also wondered if people really believe me when I mention all of the precarious situations he gets himself into. So, I've attached a photo collage of many of the "situations" I find him in on a daily basis. Although he is somewhat destructive, messy, loud, and stubborn, I love having a boy who is so curious, inventive, adventurous, intelligent, creative, active, and imaginative. What can I say, he entertains me!

Glamour Girls

For Christmas this last year, Santa brought Saige a "Hollywood Glamour" makeup set. I keep it put up really high for obvious reasons (reference our hair cutting/marker incident earlier this month), so we hardly ever get it out. But last night the girls were determined we were going to play Hollywood Glamour, so we did. Don't they look glamorous?! I think the blue eye shadow sets off the entire look!

Saige's Dance Camp

Every summer the Smithville High School Dance Team puts on a Dance Camp for the elementary kids as a fundraiser. Saige loved it last year, so we did it again this year. They have three days of "camp" after school, then the performance was last Friday night. Here's the video, it's a little bouncy, but you have to consider the video camera operator was trying to keep three kids in line while flying solo (I was at work)! Enjoy! (Saige is in the back row)

A Trip to Deanna Rose Farmstead

Last Friday we went to the Deanna Rose Farmstead with our playgroup. We had a great time, but I think Mariah and Wyatt enjoyed feeding bottles to the baby goats the best. Mariah was timid at first (the goats swarm you when they see you holding a bottle), but she enjoyed it in the end. I'm pretty sure that Wyatt shared his binky with a goat, but I didn't see it happen with my own eyes, so we'll just pretend it didn't happen!

The difference between girls and boys

I recently bought two toy brooms because the kids were constantly fighting over my broom. They all wanted to be little "helpers". You can see from the video that Mariah found one use for the broom.....and Wyatt found another.

For all you "Office" fans out there

Do we have another Micheal Scott in the making? Let's hope not. For some reason this is Wyatt's new favorite toy. Darn it! I'm all out of bubble wrap...

A bloody day...

Alright, I'm a nurse....I see blood on a very regular basis and it does not make me squirm, it does not make me nauseous, it does not make me freak out. BUT, when I see it dripping from my son's hand while he's holding a broken piece of glass I get a little freakish! Yes, you guessed it, another injury. Apparently Wyatt climbed up on our family room couch, and onto the ledge behind it, grabbed a framed picture of himself (of course), proceeded to break the glass, then play with it. I didn't even realize what was going on until I heard him scream. Try holding pressure on the hand of a one year old for 20 minutes! Not fun! I proceeded to call John at work, but he couldn't even hear me because of all the screaming, then called the doctor who told me to keep holding pressure and go to the ER if the bleeding doesn't stop. I'll spare you the rest of the details, but it was not the funnest day at the Carlson house. To all you moms out there who have boys, please tell me this will get better! We're considering putting him in a padded room until he's 18 (not really, but not a bad idea). I've decided that if we get him into adulthood alive and with all of his limbs still attached and functioning, then we've done a good job as parents. Are all boys this way or is Wyatt just extra mischievous? I was warned by many of you before having a boy that boys are very different from girls, but I wasn't quite expecting this. Don't get me wrong, he's a very sweet boy and we love him dearly, but oh my! In the end, the bleeding stopped, no stitches required, and we avoided an ER visit. Every table top picture frame in our house will now have to go into storage, but at least I have a blog now to display those pictures!

Toothless girl!

Saige lost her very first tooth yesterday! She was eating an apple at lunch, then went to take a drink of milk and realized something was missing. We're not sure where the tooth went......we may be seeing it later in other words! But we decided that if we left a note for the tooth fairy explaining what happened, the tooth fairy would still leave something special under her pillow. It worked!

Random thought: That evil Television

Okay, I know as "good parents" we're supposed to discourage our kids from watching T.V. It's evil, right? A bad influence? It encourages laziness? Discourages creativity? Contributes to childhood obesity? Well....I think T.V. has gotten a bad rap! Can I tell you how much my life has improved since my 1 1/2 year old, incredibly active boy has FINALLY found a show he will sit and watch for 30 minutes! Thank you to the Disney channel! We love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! Even though I have to sit and watch it with him, it holds his attention and it allows me to have at least one complete thought a day!