little heart desires.

Tonight my kids yearned.
...SO specifically.

Individual night-time prayers included the following:

Sheamus- "Heavenly Father, We the people of the United States wish to be happy!"

Elyott- "Please please help our family to not get any bruises. And help us to teach Sonny good things 'such as': that to do a good 'butt bomb' you have to lean far forward (when you jump on the trampoline).

Sonny: yearned to feed the Hippos.

For about 2 hours.

He fed and fed those hungry little hippos.

His therapist would say that this was an awfully "autistic" thing to do. 

But how could any mother pry her boy away from those hipps? 

They are SO hungry after all. 

team Boo ♥'s you

learn something new everyday

what ISN'T fascinating when you're two?

 Go sonny go!

team Boo ♥'s you

boy crazy.

What is a six year old boy to do when his mom makes him and his best bud/cousin slow down and take some pictures in front of a floral backdrop?

In one (not so subtle) act of defiance...you end it in a sword fight.
doi.

team Boo ♥'s you

squeak

This summer Elyott was in a production of Cinderella in which she played a mouse (with a small song solo :) All was very exciting and great until the day of the show when it came time for the heavy stage makeup. Rather, all was exciting and great until I had to put eyebrows on her. She hated it. So much. 

I distinctly remember in junior high when my sisters would put makeup on me and they tried to convince me that blush and lipstick looked more natural, but instead I insisted that the pale monochromatic face was best (why!) I looked like a powdered donut. Similarly Elyott did not like the look of eyebrows, and was totally deflated and grouchy when I sent her to curtain call with them freshly filled, patronized at my reassurance of her adorableness (and likeness to Adam, geesh).

To her shock, all her friends in the production raved about how beautiful and grown up she looked. Then all of the sudden she loved them and wanted brown eyebrows everyday (shocker.) I realize as a general rule it's probably safest to NOT believe your mother when it comes to makeup tips, but Im still in my 20's girl. Hanging by a thread, but at least give me that! Too bad though sucka. Try me again in 5 years. Look how happy she is!!!

"my eyebrows stole the show, hooray!"

team Boo ♥'s you

ranch ABC's

On our annual trip to my in-law's family ranch in Prescott, AZ over the fourth of July Sheamus and I did an ABC photo search. Sheamus does lame things with me sometimes cause he doesn't want me to be "lonely" (what a flipping sweetheart). With the slow pace at the ranch it turned out to be the perfect opportunity. It started out fun and Sheamus stuck with me for a while. But eventually he got lured into the cowboys and indians game with the cousins when I characteristically got too hard-core about the task at hand. Elyott, in her usual vacation fashion, was only spotted as an occasional blur across my field of vision. It was tricky but we found the whole alphabet...

a few more pics for full ranch flavor...

 

 

team Boo ♥'s you

hap-pea-ly ever after.

I thought you might like to hear this sweet little song. I am dedicating it here to my love with whom I desperately wish would I could sing songs we both knew the words to without me immediately begging him to stop ruining the music in my soul (seriously terrible singer. maybe the worst?). We may not sing duets, and he may always comment on how gross the food I'm eating looks/smells but we were always meant to be...

for some reason I can't get the video to embed...so click here to watch!

team Boo ♥'s you

unclenching in the redwoods.

If there is one question I get asked time and time again when I am recognized on the streets it's: "Hey Boo, what's your general motto for a vacation?"

Everyone wants to know! ;) And now I will tell you...

-When a 12 hour drive becomes a 16 hour drive, but not because you got to stop at all the cute picturesque spots and antique stores that you wanted to, but rather due to ridiculous Los Angeles traffic and a general unprepared slowness that is the Dike family (we are an "A" type personality's nightmare)...I say "unclench A type".

(Ferndale, CA)

yes we are playing in a cemetery   

When you do a multi family float down a river with many small children but no food or water cause it's only supposed to take one hour, but then it ends up taking 5 hours due to late afternoon winds, a weak current and janky alligator floatation devices. Then half way through, your (pants and diaper-less) baby falls asleep sitting straight up on your lap after hours of crying and you are so cold and have to pee so bad but can't in fear of reversing this small quiet miracle, even though he's probably peed on your lap at least 8 times. Then you start scanning the sides of the river bank for berries and shelter sources just in case your are stuck on this river wild forever, with Kevin Bacon undoubtedly on his way to relentlessly terrorize your family!...stop to slap yourself for being unrealistic (Kev sticks to much larger rapids) and just...

...UN-clench 

but not too much or you WILL pee on yourself

*Fun facts: After we "survived"...I peed for at least 2 minutes straight. Not even joking. Also my nephew's ears were so cold he panicked-ly asked me if they were bleeding (it was hilarious sad).

-When your kid (non baby) poops their pants on the beach and your other leaves behind their brand new pair of $30 moccasins, remember that the underwear you had to tear off their body and adorable shoes are only "things"...and then unclench your B. Beach trip memories all start to blend together without a good pants pooping.

(Lost coast)

-After you ride the 60 year old Graviton at the small town fair directly after eating rodeo nachos in the hot sun you and your Sheamus are so sick that one of you is literally crawling on the ground and the other still has to walk a mile back to Grandma's house...well...in this case you vomit (like Sheamus did in my sister's car).

(Fortuna, CA)

People are always so wound up on vacaysh (who shall remain nameless). But whenever the inevitable vacation foul comes along and you feel yourself getting a wee bit tense below the waist...you just have to UNCLENCH. I do my best to embrace the unplanned. That way my vacations aren't pure crap even if they kinda were. After all, it's the 1990's comedian-cast-as-the-dad-driving-cross-country-chalk-full-of-zany-mishaps that make the memories built to last! come what may...

team Boo ♥'s you

This is not a vacation blog.

Before we reacquaint on the wrong foot...contrary to what the last few have been (and the next few posts will be), I promise this blog is not all about my "lavish" family vacations. In fact they are quite void of all traces of lavishness...

-We get "vacation poo" just like everybody else; The kind where it stops coming out of your body no matter how much candy and cheetos you feed it (where is it all going??) 

-Our baby's sleeping schedule gets whacked and he screams like a banshee most minutes he is awake. 

-Our photo ops consist of me bossing everyone, Adam being annoyed with me for stopping "again", snapping a few contrived photos where none of my kids look at the camera, and then go on basically ignoring me the rest of the time. Until I buy them more toys (parent of the year?) 

 -87 people being stuffed into a hotel room for a week straight most of which are children under 6. 

-And lots of car sickness driving with pink duct tape holding the gear shifter together :)

We are in our formative "character building" years! Where you are a sucker to your children's demands in fear of public humiliation and you're never as showered as you want to be. This is a blog about my actual life, in which we occasionally tag along on a free-ish vacation with my parents :)

team Boo ♥'s you

potato po-tah-to

Kids can be so lame in the summer.
Constant video and computer games!
"Potato Heads" is what we call it around here...

When left too long unattended, body snatchers invade their human forms.


During the school season our rule is that they can't play them until after the sun goes down (and homework is done). But during an AZ summer even we (the parents) know that rule is horse crap. The sun isn't down until 8, and it is down right torture to be outside between 12 and 2. This week we started "media bucks" (which i think is a really dumb name but it works for now). Since my kids aren't very good at visualizing the goals and value of saving their allowance through chores, they lose motivation to get them done. Now they can now also get an instantly useable media time voucher. Hooray! (Reading can also earn these said vouchers) It gives them daily purpose. And since the "bucks" are always burning holes in their pockets they are constantly aware of new things that can be done around the house to earn more. Less chores for me!

Yesterday morning instead of waking up to cartoon watching (which I'm fine with and is "free" until 10ish) I woke up to Elyott and Sheamus quietly reading. yes READING! Like little angels! Little ulterior motivated angels...but angels nonetheless. 

Here is the PDF i made just in case your electronic addicted zombies children are making you bonkers too.

ten minutes pdf
five minutes pdf
blank minutes pdf

team Boo ♥'s you