Life with my 3 kids

Life is hectic. Life is crazy. 

I honestly thought that living in Gallup would somehow eliminate half of my "to do" list, since we're always saying, there is nothing "to do" in Gallup! Well, somehow there is. There is still laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, driving to school and jui-jitsu, playdates, church callings, exercising, blogging, special occasions and general up keep of all things kids, husband, me, car and house. That stuff doesn't change no matter where you live! Plus, on the contrary of being less busy in po-dunk city, we are probably more busy since we're always going out of town! When I was growing up, the ONLY time we drove for a semi-long time in the car, was once a year to go family camping. I could never count the amount of time my kids have spent driving long distances in the car. It's a little out of hand. I've started to put a lot more effort/care into luggage/traveling accessories, given we use them so much. It's a strange life. Not one I ever pictured, but it's OUR life, so it's good. 

OK, not sure where that rambling came from... on to the pictures of my life with these 3 crazy kids.

Olive is at that stage of putting EVERYTHING into her mouth. She especially loves the texture of plastic bags. Always hearing my mother's voice warn of the danger of plastic bags, I'm careful to allow only a moment of contented sucking on a thick bag that couldn't possibly be torn or inhaled. She loves it.

There is NOTHING sweeter than a babe sucking her thumb while asleep. Be still my heart.

Been trying out the mohawk "do". Not much to do with these wispy tendrils.

If I can ever hope to get dishes washed or dinner made, I must have Olive two feet away in her Bumbo. Her throne.

She is so tired of her toys. Spiderman it is!

Lilly is pretty obsessed with her. She always tells me how cute she is and asks to hold her.

I saw this Rainbow Foam Dough online. It's just 2 ingredients, shaving cream and cornstarch. Can't fail. Seemed like a fun activity for the boys.

Nailed it.

Bah! I tried all combinations of proportions, but could not get it to the right consistency. I still had a ton of shaving cream left over, so I decided to get crazy and let the boys drive their cars in a foam race track. (It had been a long day of watching TV. My guilt meter was through the roof. Obvs this is NOT normal behavior around here. But also, I never got to do stuff like this when I was a kid. So every once in a while when I struggle with whether to let the kids make a mess, I let my inner kid out and think, to heck with it... lets have some fun!)

I knew they'd eventually get it on themselves. I wasn't quite prepared for this though. I had made a giant pile of shaving cream for them to drive their cars through and before I could stop him, Collin slammed his body into it. Awesommmme. Guess that's what I get. I really wanted this activity to last a while, so I won't even tell you what I did when Weston suddenly had to pee. I DID NOT get out a diaper. And I DID NOT let him fill 'er up! That would be gross. And we are clearly not gross around here.

Even the underwear eventually came off at the end. Hiding their pee pee's for one last picture. I hope they remember my generosity for years to come. My kitchen had the faint smell of men's cologne for quite a while after.

I was in my bathroom, getting ready one morning, when Weston sauntered in, nonchalantly. I glanced down at him, then did a double take and gasped. I think my shocked face threw him off and he instantly got a worried look. I asked, "Weston, why did you color on your face?!" Ever more upset, he quivered, "I didn't color on my face." 

Kids. I had to laugh. Like lying was going to cover his behind. 

Perhaps the highlighter goatee will become the new fashion.

Apparently the boys were taking simultaneous pictures.

One thumb suck with a finger curl around the nose, and one nose pick with a booger taste, please.

Shameless selfies. 

Hey, when your hair spends 75% of it's days in a top bun and your apparel of choice is pajamas, it needs to be documented that you can actually get ready.

Collin was loving this.

Favorite picture of the year. No contest.

How sweet is this moment??!!

LOVE that they are holding hands. All, self initiated.

I made Travis take this picture. It's never enough to have one child in your arms. In no way does that send the message to the other kids that your lap is full. There's always room for one more.

(This is also our second home. Travis's parents spare granny apartment on the side of their house. They are so nice to let us crash there so often!)

My view from the toilet. You're welcome. 

Note that Collin is mid-animated sentence, Weston is digging through a box of bathroom amenities (smelling something?? hopefully not tasting something!!), and Olive is bouncing away. 

Never. A. Dull. Moment.