The Nature of God

(Bath time, last night)

Tyler: Mom.
::silence::
Tyler: Mom!!!
::silence::
Tyler: Mooooooooooom!!!!!
Me: What! I'm changing the baby! Can't this wait for just 2 seconds!?
(I'm very frustrated and flustered by the screaming baby)
Tyler: okay, I'll wait.
Me: Okay, what was so important?
Tyler: Um... does God have a sword?
Me: What?
Tyler: Does God have a sword?
Me: No. Why would God need a sword? Just finish washing up and then brush your teeth.
Nicole: See, Tyler! I told you God was a girl!

I laughed for a full 10 minutes after that. Thanks for the laughs kiddos.

Shoes

I like shoes. They are a wonderful thing. They keep my feet from getting all cut up when I walk down the street. They keep my feet warm in the winter. They accent my cute toes in the summer. But I never really thought of myself as a "shoe girl". You know who I'm talking about. That girl who LOVES shoes and can't pass by a shoe store without drooling at the display window. I am not that girl. (not that there's anything wrong with that.) Well, today was my 'organize-my-closet' day. I hate that day. I need a bigger closet and trying to cram all my stuff in there is never pretty. I decided to take all my shoes out, get rid of the ones that I haven't worn since I had children and maybe I'd have more order in my life (and my closet). I was SHOCKED to see how many shoes I have! I counted them up and came up with the unbelievably large number of 50! Are you kidding me! I weeded through them and got rid of 8 pairs of shoes. But I would never in a million years thought that I had 50 pairs of shoes. I'm not sure if I deserve a high-five or if I should hide my head in shame. I guess it depends on who I'm around. Anyway, I took a picture of my shoe collection. My entire king-sized bed is covered in my shoes. Sigh. Maybe I should just embrace it and be that girl. Laurel, will you teach me?

My Ball and Chain

It finally happened. Ben turned 30. He is such an old man. Seriously. I cannot believe I'm married to someone so OLD! Of course, when I turn 30 I won't be old because Ben will be 31 and therefore older than me :-). In all seriousness...

Ben is amazing. If you know him, you already know this. He is a great guy and I'm truly blessed to have him by my side every day of my life. Wanna be jealous of me? Here's some of the great things Ben has done lately:

-taught Tyler how to tie his shoes
-plays Star Wars with the kids almost every night
-lets Tyler and Nicole walk all over him and either jump on his neck or other sensitive parts of him (you know what parts I'm talking about)
-cleaned out the gutters
-put in a sprinkler system
-built a fence for my friend BY HIMSELF
-took all 3 kids to the store so I could have a few minutes by myself
-helped Tyler learn how to read
-helps to coach Tyler's t-ball team
-goes to work every day so that I can stay home with the kids
-did the dishes while I was at mutual so I could come home to a clean house
-took me to see Star Trek
-washed the kids hair in the bath (I hate doing that)
-got the kids ready for church so I could have a few minutes to do some primping
-took the blame for something stupid that I did so I wouldn't look dumb
-He even pauses his basketball game when I need to tell him something!

He is my best friend. I love him more than anything and I love him more today than I did 8 years ago when we got married (our anniversary is in 2 days).

Thanks for always being there for me, Benamin. I love you and I can't wait to spend the next 30 years making memories with you.

The Never Ending Battle

If anyone is wondering... "gee, I wonder what Kristi is doing today?" here is your answer:

Do your kids mess up their room this badly in just a day? Please say yes. I'd hate to be the only one.

Warning!! Baby Bottom Pictured Below

I thought this was just too funny not to share:

More Pages

I thought I'd post the pages of Tyler so he wouldn't be left out. (if you missed the pages of Tori and Nicole, they are on the post from earlier today.) I have a hard time really getting motivated to do pages for Tyler because almost every picture that I take of him looks the same! Tori changes so quickly, I want to capture all of it. Tyler... well, let's just say that I have to date the pages or else I wouldn't know when the pictures were taken!

Mother's Day Gift

Since my mom doesn't read this blog (EVER) I don't have to worry about her seeing this. I thought I'd share what I've been working on for my mom for Mother's Day this year. She has a scrapbook (which I update periodically) with pictures of the kids. I thought she might want pictures from the rest of her family, so I conned my brothers into doing some pages. Hopefully they'll actually do them! For now, here's some pages that I have done:
(yes, I realize I need to do more pictures of Tyler and Nicole, I'm working on it people!!)

Our Vegas Vacation

People keep asking me if we had a good time on our trip. I always answer "yes, it was great." Then I thought about it and really, ANY trip would be good when it's just Ben and I! I saw people trying to wrangle their kids all over the place and just kept thinking, "wow, I'm soooo glad our kids are at home." Don't get me wrong, I love them to death. I missed them like crazy. But it's awfully nice to have some adult time with Ben. So, the highlights of our trip were the warm weather, time by the pool (no pictures there, sorry) gambling our life savings away (I won $24 on penny slots!), Jersey Boys (a musical) and of course, eating enough to feed a small country. Oh, I can't leave out our terrifying ride on the Stratosphere, eating at In-and-Out as much as possible, playing shoot-em-up games at Game Works, and seeing all the crazy drunk people on the street. I saw Batman and the Joker. Tyler thinks I'm the luckiest person in the world. It was a wonderful trip and I feel like a real person again after having a few days where I didn't have to change diapers or play ring around the rosie.