THE chocolate syrup

so most of you know the story by now, but just in case you don't...here goes:
today, after a very long morning, it was time for vivian's nap. our pre-nap dialogue went a little like this...
m: would like some water?
v: no. chocolate milk, please.
m: no, vivian. not before bed, how about some water?
v: no mom, chocolate milk.
m: i'm sorry, no. it's water of nothing. you may have chocolate milk as a reward for taking a good nap.
v: ok, mom.
miss vivian gives me a kiss and heads to bed. ahhh, time to shower...i jump in and out in less than five minutes....wait, did i hear something?....nnnnnaaaaaaaaa. ok, blow dry hair...was that a noise? nope. start to fix...definitely hear something! will just peek at miss vivian. as i walk out of my room i notice her door is cracked and she is peeking out at me....dialogue follows:
m: vivian what are you doing?
v: nothing. (big brown eyes blink-blink-blink in innocence.)
m: what is that on your face?
v: what? (like she is suddenly hard of hearing.)
m: what is that smell? (it is a disgusting sick-y-sweet-y-nasty smell)
v: i thirsty.
m: what?! vivian, what is going on?
at this point i realize something is very VERY wrong. i open the door to find THIS:
an ENTIRE BOTTLE OF CHOCOLATE SYRUP 64OZ.(just opened the day before!) all over the room!!

and can i just say these DO NOT do it justice. it was on the couch, on the walls, on the floor, on the door...

on the mattress, on the sheets, on the babies, on the pillows, UNDER the sheets, under the rugs,

in the doll furniture, on the bumpers, in the babies eyes...i mean EVERYWHERE!!

i swear it was literally dripping from the furniture!! it looks like a bad csi episode!!! and all this happened in a matter of minutes. i was horrified, shocked, and totally insanely wanting to laugh but knew better. i took vivian (also COMPLETELY covered in chocolate syrup) to my shower and put her in, clothes and all, and told her to wait there for me. only then was it safe to take a few photos. :) luckily, clif was en route home, bauer was asleep, and jill called at just the right time to check online "how to remove syrup from carpet". so after an industrial carpet cleaner was rented, six loads of linens and various baby items were laundered, furniture was scrubbed a third time and daddy banned any and all chocolate syrup for the next two weeks, i finally sat down to ask vivian what happened.
m: vivian i want to talk to you about what happened today.
v: ok, mommy.
m: why did you get the chocolate syrup? (i figured she got it out of the fridge when i was in the shower.)
v: i needed it.
m: for what honey?
v: i was thirsty.
m: ok, but that was a lot of syrup.
v: i know mommy, it was too much. that why i shared it with my babies!
indeed miss vivian you did. :)

here is what that pillow in the first picture (yeah it's that brown thing on the ground) SHOULD look like. i told you it was EVERYWHERE!!

happy birthday, ladies!

so steph, do you remember asking where that gas picture was? well here it is, girl...i was saving it for this special day! ;)

and our dear, dear, beloved, thespian jill...as a angry but forgiving king during vbs. (or is she just taking a nap...the good lord knows she deserves one!) heheee...

ladies, it is truly wonderful to call you both my friends. happy, happy birthday...i love you! :)

FINALLY...

daddy is home! after a week in denver (q's headquarters) we were so happy to see him step out of the terminal saturday morning!

of course like any good daddy, he brought everybody presents. bauer got a tiny outside chair (possibly a bit too small, we didn't realize he had gotten so big!) and vivian got a whole barbie fishing kit!

these pictures crack me up. why is it when a picture is great of one kid...

the other kid isn't paying attention? oh well...

there is definitely love there, and that is what matters! :) and speaking of daddy and love...why might you ask, isn't he in any of these welcome home pictures? well, because just before i got out the camera vivian had made him super pretty....

teeheee....i snuck this one shot! he is strangely pretty...look at those eyelashes! :)

texarkana or bust

on thursday (since daddy was STILL in denver) we decided we would head to aunt shannon's to spend a little time with the crow clan. after dinner we went outside to play and admire shannon's new landscaping. we thought we might get a little group shot...

well, maybe later. ;) bauer and jackson had a great time riding around in the radio flyer.

if only SOMEONE knew how to merge these two jackson\bauer photos to make one shot...hmmm who could that be?!

vivian had a great time trying out jackson's scooter. we might need one of those. they are super cool!

soon baby bauer had enough sun and needed a shady spot to sit, aunt shannon was only too happy to oblige and offer her lap!

after all that play it was time for a bath...

what a bunch of crazy kiddos....no wait....

here are the truly crazy kiddos. while i was drying bauer, shannon was almost drowned by these two silly monkeys!

look how proud they are of their big mess. we basically just took it easy and did a bunch of nothing...and it was better than GREAT! the next day we played outside in the pool, in the sprinkler and on the slide. and when the kids went down for a very brief nap, shannon and i plotted together to get some great group shots. these are the results:

shannon thought they might be happier on a blanket. good idea...but nope.

i thought they might be happier standing. good idea...but a no go.

maybe we'll have more success with just two of them...ahhh that worked!

what sweet smiles. i still can't believe how much they look alike!

wait...vivian wants in on some of this action! :) so finally, we gave up...we figure there will be plenty of years to take pictures. after a brief stop at target we headed home for a very late dinner and to pick up daddy at the airport the next morning. when i got in the car to leave the outside temp read 104!! (by the time i could locate my camera in my purse it said 102), but i had to take this picture for someone...oh, you know who you are!

church picnic sunday

most sundays we make our way to the back row of fumc. it is a tradition that i am so happy to carry on. i spend many a sunday as a child next to my mother on this very bench. and i know i have said it before, but there is something very comfortable to me about the loving "history" the church and our family share. last sunday i couldn't help but sneak this shot...

aren't they cute? and speaking of cute...i bet this is the cutest picnic attendee ever!!

ooops...ok, maybe there is a three way tie...these two*are pretty darn cute too!

*take a look at that desert. a cake nene let vivian decorate with bauer's graham crackers. what silly goose-s they are! :)

downtown playdate

this summer wednesdays have become play-days...and there is nothing wrong with that!

this week we ventured downtown to the museum of discovery....more specifically the room to grow exhibit. it was great! and can you believe we got a picture with all four kiddos?

even bauer had fun, finding himself in the silly mirrors.

after playing we decided to grab a bite at the flying fish. one of my all-time favorites...and the boys seemed to like it a bit, too! ;)

next we headed to the new water park. i thought it would be just a little sprinkler...i was WRONG! it was a great big, VERY cool water "thingy" and the girls LOVED it. really the pictures say it all...

there was even this very neat waterfall. we will definitely be going back, but in our swimsuits.

again reeves, thanks...as always it was a blast...now what are we gonna do THIS wednesday?! ;)

princess party

sweet ruby turned three on the 8th, and today was her party. it was princess themed, what else is there when you are three?

the girls had a great time in their matching crowns.

and stephanie (as usual) had thought of everything. she even had fancy nancy coloring pages, which the girls LOVED!

look at that big girl blowing out the birthday candles on her cake...

and what an amazing cake it was! can you believe ruby's yaya made it?

and didn't you know, even royalty must jump on the trampoline!? ;) the party was amazing...but it must be hard to be a princess...

look who i caught having a little candy treat as they relaxed after the big day! :) happy birthday ruby, thanks for letting us be a part of your special day. we love you!!

party prep

every girl knows that for the big party there is a little bit of pre-party prep work. you have to make sure you have your hair, make-up, accessories, and outfit all worked out.

luckily, vivian has a wonderful assistant* who tests all of her wardrobe choices.

and even spends time checking accessory durability. unfortunately, vivian's hair team fell a bit short this time, misjudging the size sponge roller that would be appropriate for this event.

this morning she woke up looking a bit....let's just say her daddy's nickname of "frizzella" was spot-on!

ohhh the diva drama. don't worry crisis was averted by a quick thinking mommy, and a VERY strong roller brush! (*it was clif's idea to put bauer in the dress, just for the record.)

mother and daughter

after vivian's little trip to the doctor (she is fine), clif offered to spend some man time with bauer, so vivian and i could have some girly fun. first we went for pedicures.

vivian sat perfectly still and got to pic out both of our paint colors.

of course, she picked purple for herself, and the sweet little lady even put a sparkle butterfly on her big toe. then it was off to do a little shopping, and buy some new sandals.

for some reason we didn't want our picture made, but after a brief discussion that went something like:
mommy: what is wrong vivian?
vivian: i'm huuungry.
mommy: how about some rainbow chocolate cookies for lunch?
vivian: 'ummy, 'ummy! tank you, tank you, mommy!

how did i know that would get a smile!? ;) i love you miss vivian, i am so blessed to be your mother! thank you for our fun day!