Worst Mom Ever. Almost.

First let me start this post by saying that over the last 7.5 years I've come to this conclusion: there is no other profession or position on earth that produces the level of guilt that comes from motherhood. Not even fatherhood. Sorry, but its true. There. Now on to my most recent cause of extreme guilt:


Did you see those super cute pictures and the video of Hayes graduating and participating in his class program? Well, the first grade didn't have a graduation ceremony (you can only graduate so many times) but they did have the First Grade Program and Picnic Lunch to which parents were of course invited. Here are the pictures and video of the super cute songs they preformed:




Oh wait. That's right. There are no pictures and there is no video. Because Daxon's mother missed the entire program. For no good reason.

Last week Dax brought home a note which I could swear listed the program time as 1pm. We promptly lost the note. No biggie, I can remember one event's date and time. Fast forward to this morning. Several times I had the thought occur that maybe I should call and double check the time. But as fleeting thoughts tend to do, it fled my mind a least a few times before it remained long enough for me to actually pick up the phone and call the school. At exactly 11:22 the secretary informed me that the program started at 11:30. I was dripping wet and naked. Well, under the robe. After the ensuing rush to get clothed and to the school, we arrived just in time for the gym doors to open and the kids to come out for the picnic portion of First Grade Program and Picnic.

This should not be a huge deal. One program out of a million. Yeah. Try telling that to a very sad first grader. The worst part was he is now old enough to do that thing where you try really hard to keep the tears back by blinking a million times. But that never really works and a few aways squeeze out. And the "how come you didn't come" and "I looked and looked and couldn't find you" really are heartbreaking. It made me cry just a little bit. Not to mention that I had no lunch for the picnic...



Well, ok. There is one picture. In the park at the picnic with his teacher, Mrs. Ellis. (Who, by the way, was a great teacher really helped Dax excel this year. )The good thing about motherly guilt is that kids have unconditional love and tend forgive and forget quickly. Thank goodness.

Pomp and Circumstance

Hayes Rocks. He offically graduated from kindergarten and is now offically a Mr. Smarty Pants. We absolutely adore Mrs. Holt. Dax and Hayes both got to have her for kindergarten. She also rocks. In fact, I'll say it again: we adored Mrs. Holt. And She Rocks.

With his best friend, Daniel





Just a little taste of the program. You've gotta love it.

Its been quite a year. Now its up to you, First Grade.

Sand Dunes

Spring Break weekend we went on our first camping trip of the year. I won't lie, it was freezing cold the first day. But fun won out over the cold this time. We just bundled and didn't stray far from the fire. As always, the boys loved every second of it. What's not to love? Dirt, an open fire you can poke at with a stick and not get yelled at (well, not every time) and four wheeling. Asher totally discovered a need for speed this trip. Hayes already had one. Poor Dax mostly has a need to stay safe-which to him is not the same as a need for speed:) Cold enough they even had to sit by the fire to color. Yes. We colored while camping. I don't know.
Ash seems to really be enjoying that marshmellow. And he really loved that headlamp. It made his hair very large. But that's not hard to do, either.

Oakley braving the powerfulness of the powerwheeles with Dax


And thank you so much to Camille and Broc for letting us dominate your four wheeler the entire weekend. And for taking the boys on at least a million rides. And thanks to Grandma Jo and everyone else for keeping the boys an extra day. They were in camping heaven.

We spent conference Sunday at the Rupps with the Bells enjoying the sunshine and the cousins (aren't cousins the BEST when you are little?) and the Rupps new four wheeler-thingy.

Emmie, Max, Hayes, Asher and Dax

Tyson and Tyler.

Tyler loved the ride more than any of the kids and was only reckless enough to be responsible for one accident involving his oldest child and copious amounts of blood. Which, interestingly enough, revealed that Daxon's front tooth was always that big and always hung a little lower than the one next to it. The dentist said so. The next day I took him because I was positive it was going to fall out after the accident. But no. Really his tooth is fine and just looks like that. Hmmm.

We're All Nice

Um, yes. This child belongs to me. Although, in my defense he has had a haircut since this picture. I just wanted to jot down Asher's latest. He's now learned how to pout and hold a grudge. He's totally got the whole crossed arms/glaring/huffing and puffing thing down. Where do kids learn that? And if he is mad at anyone or if he gets in trouble (he's two and a half, so that never happens) he yells as loud as he can "YOUR'RE NICE! YOU'RE NICE TO ME!" And then he tattles "Mommy, Daddy is nice to me." So I say, " Yes, he is nice. We love Daddy." and he always agrees "Yes." It makes me laugh every time. I'm going to appreciate this now while its the worst thing he says when he doesn't like me:)

Team Jacob Rocks

Sunday night Camille hosted the best Twilight party ever! And yes, you are seeing correctly. We are each wearing a Twilight shirt. Except for Grandma- but look closely and you will see she is sporting the largest Twilight button JoEll could find. We've offically crossed the line. And we're ok with that. The night started with a delish dinner and dessert and we even enjoyed some official scratch and sniff Twilight conversation hearts. Then on to the main event! A pajama party in Camille's basement. Seriously, it took about three and a half hours to actually watch the movie because we had to pause it to comment so much. I think Jaci is actually in love with Edward. Like really, really, make out with your pillow and pretend its him eleven-year-old crush perma grin in love. I think I laughed so much I might have peed my pants just a little:) And this is just the begining. #2 comes out in November-and you can bet we'll be there with our shirts on.

"Happy Six Years Old Haysie!" And "Meet Skid"

Yesterday my Haysie Baby turned six. I can't believe it. Well, ok I guess I can since he likes to act 14. But yesterday he was truly a sweet six-year-old loving his birthday. It started off with a bang. I mean a lizard. Hayes LOVES lizards and snakes, and since Tyler is not a huge fan of snakes (a screams like a little girls when he sees one fan) we got Hayes his VERY OWN pet lizard. A real live one. The liz is a Leopard Gecko named Skid. Skid because when we opened the cage we said, "Now, be very careful until he gets used to us he'll be very skittish." Hayes caught on right away and said "Skittish! Skittish is the perfect name! What does Skittish mean?" And so, he is officially Skittish, Skid for short. Or Skiddy Skiddy like Ash says, which sounds a lot like kitty kitty coming from him.

I can't get Hayes to smile nicely lately. He always wants to pull a weird face. I guess its a six-year-old smile.

He got to have his very first friend party which he really really loved and I really really loved when it was over.:)

Now, don't go judging my lizard cake. I never said I was a pretty cake maker. But I try, and I like to tell myself that counts for something. Plus, thankfully, it doesn't take much to impress a six year old boy.

Hayes is not only an obnoxious, eye-rolling teenager trapped in a little boy body who loves Sponge Bob and video games. More than all that, he is my sweet little boy who adores to be kissed and cuddled and snuggled when he thinks no one is looking. He says the most sincere, heartfelt prayers. He loves school and riding the bus and has already learned how to effectively fake sick on Sunday morning and make a miraculous come back by Sunday afternoon. He is a smart, good boy. And something I love about Hayes that I hope never changes: he is his own person. He dosen't care what anyone thinks-he knows he's cool. Now if I can just channel that knowledge for good and not evil...