spitballs and losing control

here's how you know you've lost control:

as aiden and i picked up colton and chase from school yesterday, i notice in the mirror that colton is holding his left ear and his eyes are really bloodshot. when we got home, he basically collapsed on the couch while i was getting aiden and chase in from the car. i felt of him and he was burning up...the thermometer agreed and displayed 102.5. i gave him motrin and he was asleep. while i was dealing with this and seeing our san antonio, seaworld, superman birthday extravaganza going up in antibiotic-filled smoke, i hear chase scream from the other room. as i round the corner i can't help but do a double take. am i seeing this right? there's chase running toward me while holding his enire cast up in the air in his right hand. is it just me, or is the whole purpose of the cast to stay on. how could a three year old get the thing off. this is not just a temporary cast people, this is the full on tightly fitting, fiberglass cast that we are dealing with. i was just noticing the night before how tight it seemed around his thumb and fingers, wishing that they had made it a little looser so that it could at least air out a little. (imagine the activity level, sweat, bacteria and dirt of a little boy all contained in a dark, moist place. needless to say, the smell of the exposed arm was not pleasant.) all-the-while...aiden is carrying a bottle of ranch dressing around the house and i have absolutely no idea how and when she got it. in case you're wondering...this is the moment you realize that you are no longer in control. i used to live in control...now it's just a place i occationally visit.

quick funny story...the other night, we had an early dinner so that we could all go outside and enjoy the cooler weather. we were playing baseball in the backyard. colton was the pitcher, chad was the outfielder, chase was the run around the yard (field) kicking a soccer ball while feeling a part of the game guy, aiden was all-time cheerleader while swinging on the swingset, and i was the batter. i had already hit a few and been chased around the yard by the boys trying to get me out, and pelted a couple of times by chad while rounding 3rd (which i was beginning to get tired of, by the way) when colton gave me a special treat. i'm all prepared to knock it out of the park when colton, while peaking out at me over his black baseball glove(something he's picked up watching andy pettitte) winds up for a great pitch. i make a mental note that this one's going to be good. then he pitches like he's never pitched before. he drills it right at my head and i happen to quickly catch it before it hits me. as i do, i feel that the ball is wet...i mean REALLY wet. i say, "uhhh, why is it wet?" and colton says, "that's what you call my spit ball."

Candy Corn or Corny Candy?

colton and chase are at school and aiden is watching baby wordsworth so i thought i would blog instead of clean or do laundry...this is way more fun. after we dropped chase off at school, aiden and i went to michael's to look for cake pans for chase's birthday cake that i am going to make and take with us to san antonio. how am i going to do this, you may ask. well, easy...my trip to michael's was such a success...i not only found a wilton superman cake pan, but also a super cool tupperware cake carrier thingy that has a handle and everything. it also has a tray that you can carry cupcakes in. this lead me to decide to take superman cupcakes to chase's class on thursday instead of a cookie cake. the cookie cake would be $20 and we are leaving on friday for san antonio so the extras would go to waste. they had superman cupcake liners, the super S triangle symbol made of candy to go on the cupcakes and all the icing i needed. yea!! and bonus...now i get to carry them up there in my cool new carrier. colton's teacher is very sweet and is going to let colton come to chase's class to have a cupcake with him. and i got superman plates, napkins and masks for each kid to have. this is total overcompensation on my part, i am aware, because of not having a birthday party.

i have purchased my first bag of candy corn. i wait for these all year. i try hard to wait until october 1st, but some years i just can't. this year was one of them. my very favorite are the pumpkin candy corns, but they did not have these at walmart. i was very torn because even though regular candy corn taste the same as the pumpkins, the pumpkins are still way better. i never get the indian corn with the brown bottom instead of yellow...beware and don't be fooled. they are imposters. i stood in the isle for a while holding the bag of regular candy corn and torn because i really wanted the pumpkins...do i settle or do i wait for the best? due to the fact that aiden was 48 seconds from throwing a fit (she had started that whole back arching in the cart thing)and i still had to check out, i settled. i talked myself into the regular, thinking they would be a better size for the kids (smaller...less suger) and i knew they would constantly be beggin. well, i have always been too impatient and now i pay the price. when i do get the bag of pumpkins...it just won't be the same. why is it called candy corn anyways? it's not shaped like corn...and trust me...after my 2 year stint in iowa, i know what corn looks like. this leads me to the question i asked myself today...is it candy corn or just corny candy?

A List of Firsts

Here are a list of some firsts in my life over the past week or so:

1st cold front: i wait patiently for this every year when approaching fall...i get the same feeling now that i did when i was little on the first day that you feel the cool fall breeze. it makes me happy.

1st guitar lesson: colton and i are taking guitar lessons together. my repertoire includes twinkle twinkle little star, mary had a little lamb, and happy birthday...which i will play for chase this coming weekend for his birthday.

1st bow: aiden got her very first bow for her hair yesterday. this is important in a girl's life!! it is small (but not small enough to choke on...SAFETY FIRST!!!) and pink and it looks so cute for about 2.5 seconds before she yanks it out and throws it across the room.

1st technical cold: aiden woke up with a substantial runny nose friday morning...her first real cold. she is handling it well...no fever, etc. colton, about 30 minutes ago yelled from the other room..."mom, i have boogers running out of my nose." great. chase should come down with it just as we are loading the car for san antonio.

1st broken bone: chase has a buckle fracture of his radius and ulna at the wrist. he is the tough one of the bunch. i think he personally thanked every nurse, doctor, aide, or volunteer that we came in contact with. he has not complained or cried once about the cast up to his shoulder...however, it is putting a damper on the super-fit of the superman costume. the left sleeve is just not happening. his superman action figure has a cast made of masking tape. the two are off fighting crime as we speak.

1st trip to sea world: we are going to san antonio with my mom and dad this weekend for chase's birthday.

1st absence from kindergarten: colton missed friday because he had a low grade fever the night before. rules of the school...no coming to school if fever within 24 hrs. this is probably the same cold aiden has.

1st time in my career as a mom to not do a birthday party for one of the kids. colton has had 5, chase 3, and aiden 1...that's 9 birthday parties, but this year it is seaworld instead for chaser. i'm a bit conflicted about this being that he keeps saying "no shamu" after we suprised him with the idea the other day. oh well, we forge ahead anyway.

1st time to be a room mom: i went to a room parents meeting on friday to learn my duties as colton' s class room mom. this is going to be way more than i thought...but should be fun. i'm working some booth at the fall festival...i didn't even know there was a fall festival.

1st time aiden said "hi"

1st time all three kids got in a fight: i had my back turned 1 second too long the other day...all i know is that it involved 1 superman, 1 rescue hero, aiden's baby doll, spiderman fruit snacks and every throw blanket and throw pillow we own. what??????????? i still don't know.

1st time i caught a gecko all by myself: one got in the other night and chad was at a meeting...did i mention that i HATE geckos...they really give me the willies. i mean they're see-thru. nothing is natural about that!! usually i stand on the table or couch while chad gets it...but tonight, mom came through. with all 3 kids watching...i caught him under a tupperware. then i panicked and got the neighbor to come finish the job...which involved letting it go with at least a 3 house buffer.

well, that's it. a list of firsts. i better go help chad downstairs with the kids. i just heard a loud bang followed by chad saying "ouch" and colton and chase laughing. that can't be good.

Rocket Science

aiden annee-grace -- 16 months


colton lloy -- 5 1/2


joshua "chase" -- almost 4

ALRIGHT...finally!! you would think that we were trying to launch the shuttle or something. uploading pictures...not easy. i called in chad for reinforcement and he did it for me. there was lots of clicking involved...kinda scary!! hopefully it will get easier.

c spot run

o.k. we are actually running with this whole blog thing and i am pretty excited about it. i must admit, my knowledge about computers, uploading, downloading and everything in between is limited to say the least, but this seems to be the thing to do...and the best way to let friends and family who live so far away (iowa and south carolina) into our lives a little bit better. i will say, i know why reality tv is so catchy...if we can get out of our own lives and into someone else's, even for a second, we do. well, some of us do anyway. it is kind-of nerve racking knowing that other people will be reading this and more importanly, realizing what a horrible speller i am. boy, if you are lacking stress in your life, try coming up with a blog name. you'd think your life depended on this decision. well, my goal is to get recent pictures of the sweeties (colton, chase and aiden annee-grace) on here so that you can all see them and go from there. first i need to figure out how to use the digital camera and then how to upload or download or whatever the correct term is for the magic that happens between a camera and a computer. i am very excited to start writing these blogs and i hope you are excited to read them. tune in...the clarksons are coming to you soon.