Basketball ended.

But not before Mason made two baskets in one game--two more baskets than he has ever made in his whole basketball career. And we are talking about three seasons here, folks. 

 {Not be outdone by his little brother, Jacob made some shots of his own during the last game!}

 {This is Mason's guarding technique. I call it the Backwards Bear Hug. The refs call it no good.}

{An action shot of Mason looking like he actually knows what he is doing. Don't be fooled, he really didn't.}

Caleb coached this team full of friends, which made listening and being serious quite a challenge for these yahoos. But they had fun, and that is what matters to me! 

Doctor.

I had the fun treat of bringing both Camryn and Mason to the doctor today--Mason for a follow-up on his pneumonia and Camryn for her well-visit. And, yes, I am being sarcastic. Attending a doctor appointment with my children is about as much fun as having an amoeba live in your eyeball. As awful as it sounds. Really.
Anyways, Mason is fine. He is still a whiny little brat child, but that has nothing to do with his pneumonia, and there are no meds out there to fix that problem.
Camryn is about 40 inches tall and 28 pounds. And that age, height, weight combination qualified me for a long chat on malnutrition directed by the pediatrician. Clearly apple juice and air is not an appropriate diet plan. But, seriously, this girl eats when she is hungry and doesn't eat when she is not. If not for her genetic disposition to being underweight, she could be a spokesperson for how Americans should model their eating habits. Venting over.
And guess what else we got to do? Shots. Not the fun bar kind. The make my kids lose their mind kind. I was not prepared for this as the boys never got stabbed at their four-year physical. Oh, how things have changed. I elected not to tell Camryn that she was getting two shots until the nurses came in with the needles. And would you believe that this malnourished little warrior said "ouch" and then giggled while getting poked?! My new hero!
We did leave the appointment in tears, however. And--maybe not surprisingly--it was Mason. Because that little punk ass acted like a punk ass the entire hour that we were there and then provided the office staff with Emmy worthy alligator tears and sobs--oh, the drama--when I took away iPad rights for two weeks for poor behavior. Dude should've seen it coming. Especially since I said "if you don't stop acting like a punk, I am going to take away your iPad for two weeks." Maybe we should have asked for a hearing exam while we were there. Bleh.

Back to the star of the day: Here is Camryn looking fancy in her paper dress.

Multi-Tasking at its Finest

Jacob needed to read, Camryn wanted to be entertained, and I had to make dinner. Win for all!


It's amazing, really, that my children can be so kind to each other one minute and then try to murder each other the next minute. At what point should I test for multiple personality disorders?

Two almost-heart-attacks in one day.

Thick clouds filled the air near our neighborhood as Camryn and I were on our way home from doing errands Friday. And my first thought was: Crap, Dad was right when he said I should never leave my house with the dryer running, and now my house has burnt down. How am I going to keep this one a secret from him?
But, happily, the clouds were coming from a few neighborhoods over so we were saved. Normally I would drive my nosy self to ground zero to check it out, but it was lunchtime and I was in a hurry to get home to make Camryn a meal she would end up not eating. (She survives on air. And apple juice. A story for another time.)
Fast forward a couple of hours. While I am mopping the floors in the front of the house, Camryn comes over to me and casually tells me that our house is on fire. And my first thought was: Crap, I knew I never should have wasted my time mopping these floors.
She guided me to the back of the house where we saw this:

Not quite our house, but absolutely our back yard! And if I had been observant enough to read the signs plastered all over our neighborhood, I would have known that the park district was conducting a controlled burn of the prairie behind our house. It was really something to watch, and Jacob had a great time recovering several of his lost golf balls from the charred prairie!

Happy Birthday to Camryn!

Our baby turned four yesterday, but not without oodles of celebration!

 {One present open and on. Now she is ready to open the rest of her loot! Side note: She wanted "Trolls hair" for her celebration. Grandma Joan came up with this crazy do for her!}

 {The first of four pairs of shoes this lady received for her birthday--and so excited. Very mature for her age as toys will almost always take a back seat to clothes and shoes. Oh, brother!}

{And showing just the same excitement for a bag of chocolate coins!}

{Running through the "car wash." Birthday celebrations should always include a streamer door way! I spy with my little eye a second pair of new shoes...}

{Trolls has quickly become this girl's new favorite thing. So lucky us that the grocery store just got in a Trolls cake template!}

All of this happened the day before this gal retired the number 3. So imagine her surprise when she woke up on her birthday and got to do a much tamer version of this all over again!

{This girl is officially four! She thought she might like to try this age, and then go back to three if this just isn't her thing...}

 {It snowed on her birthday, so we played outside. And then we played inside. And then we snuggled. And then this happened. Having a birthday is hard work!}

{Birthdays call for cake, even if lots of cake was eaten the day before (and even if lots of cake is still left over) so I whipped up my traditional birthday cupcake in a Trolls hair fashion. And the kids called me out on my mediocre cake decorating talents. Tough crowd.}

Camryn had preschool today where she was so excited to be snack helper and tell everyone that she is now four. Happy she found her niche as a four-year-old because I had no idea how I was going to explain to her she can't go back to three. Crisis averted. Phew!

Smart Cookie

Conversation Mason and I had while driving home from his guitar practice:

Me: Mason, look, there is a white Tesla car ahead of us.
Mason: It would be cooler if it was red like Mimi's Tesla.
Me: You know what is cool? I got to drive her Tesla today and the crazy thing is that if you take your foot off of the gas pedal, you stop.
Mason: You can't really call it the gas pedal since you don't use gas in that car.
Me: Good point. Maybe we should call it the 'go pedal.'
Mason: How about you call it 'the accelerator' since that's what it is called.
Me: Ummm... good idea. You are one smart cookie!
Mason: Yep. But please don't eat me...

I loved this conversation, and am ok with being put in my place by my gear head first grader!

Said Mason.

"So lightning is actually really good for us because it is so hot that it makes the air around it warm up and then we can wear shorts." Always looking for a reason to ditch his britches. That kid...