Happy Halloween from the Munsters!

Last night's trunk or treat was a blast!

 

 

Our creepy, warty pumpkin.

 

 

Max as Eddie Munster. (Thanks mom for the cute suit!)

 

Family portrait: Lily, Marilyn, Herman, and Eddie.

 

Me and my beautiful girl!

 

Max with his woof woof.

 

Max fell asleep with his glow regalia on.

 

Hope your Halloween was memorable, fun, and involved chocolate!

Have you ever been this tired?

The other night Jack took Kizzie to our friends Heather and David's house to hang out while I was helping Max do his homework.  Kizzie was really tired, and Heather took this video while she was bobbing and weaving, trying to stay awake.  I've only ever seen her do this at her high chair.  I just love this little girl with all of my heart!  Enjoy.

Mowhawks and Kizzie Walking!

Okay, so I've been meaning to catch a video of Kiz walking for a couple of weeks now, and the only one that I have is me getting on to the kids.  So just ignore the audio (I sound ridiculously upset--forgive me, I've been surviving on 5 hours of sleep for about a week) and watch my crazy children playing in front of our apartment.  Kizzie's favorite thing to do right now is to walk in circles till she gets dizzy and falls down.  Max just got a haircut that Jack's been dying to give him for 5 years now, a mowhawk.  It's sort of a modified one, and when his hair's not spiked up he looks a little bit like bon jovi from the 80s.  Tell me what you think. 

Belated Pictures of Awesomeness

I have been meaning to post some of these pictures for over a month.  Jack and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary in May, and I made him promise that we wouldn't just go to dinner and a movie.  His solution: spending the day hiking in Monument Valley on the Navajo Reservation, and sightseeing on the drive back home.  Here are some of the beautiful pictures from our trip.  I absolutely loved it, and spending time alone with my honey was completely awesome.  I can't believe that it's been 10 years!  We were such little babies when we got married.  Here's to 60 more!

My brain is a wet noodle

I have just finished 5 hours of homework.  Add that to the 7 hours that I'm in class each day, with short breaks to eat, ride the bus with smelly people, and go to the bathroom, you have the majority of my day.  Don't get me wrong, I love learning and school (heck, I'm a teacher) but I feel like these past few weeks have caused me to delve into the little used recesses of my brain and give them a poke with a cattle prod.  All of those calculus and math indents in my brain tissue have lain undisturbed for 12 years, only to be rudely awakened by statistic formulas.  "Help!" they scream, "We thought that we were in our retirement years, sipping virgin pina coladas on the beach."  Oh no, now they are forced to work again like septuagenarians at Walmart.  Argh.

Where the heck is my mommy hat?

         For the first time in a really really really long time I am being selfish.  By selfish I mean that 99.9 percent of my day I am catering to my own needs and no one else's.  Strange, I don't think that I've felt this way for over a year, maybe two?  I'm in Phoenix taking concentrated graduate music classes for three weeks while Jack is watching the kids (blessed wonderful man!)
        For those of you who aren't in the mommy time of life, you might not think that any of the things that I will mention are extremely exciting, but others of you will smile and wistfully remember the time in your life when these things were a given.

I get to go to the bathroom, by myself, not holding anyone or talking to anyone or listening to anyone--with the door closed.

When it is time to eat lunch I can ask myself, "What do I really feel like eating?" and do it, with a minimum of fuss and drama.

I can spread myself out in the bed and not worry about hitting anyone or being elbowed, grabbed, kicked, or cried on.

I have time to put makeup on in the morning.

I actually care about putting on makeup in the morning.

I will go hours without having a single conversation about poop.

I don't have to check with someone before I use the computer (Max or hubby)

I don't have to watch a kids TV show.

I don't even have to worry about putting out tantrum fires.



Lest you think that I'm unduly enjoying my alternate universe, I confess that I'm missing out on the good things too, like sticky kisses, cuddles, and sibling laughter.

It's a nice break, though.

Picture of the Day

Hey Shoty, it's your birthday!

Two days ago was Jack's birthday, and in the morning when he was playing some birthday songs for himself, we discovered something amazing.  Kizzie likes to dance to 50 cent.  What?  It was so cute that we had to film it for posterity.  Who new that my year old would dig hip hop?

splish splash I was taking a bath!

Hello all.  Here are some pictures of my lovely bathing beauty in her new bathing suit she got for her birthday.  She was so cute I could just eat her up!

Bubbles and Birthdays!

Today was my baby's first birthday.  Fun was had all around as Kizzie and Max helped me make cupcakes, eat cupcakes, play with bubbles, and share toys that Kiz got as presents.  We introduced slaw dogs to our Arizona friends, played hard, and had a blast.  I just have to share the precious pictures of my little girl on her first birthday party.  The other pictures are her in her Easter outfit and us on our hike last weekend.  Loves to you all!  ps--Max was hunting bears on our hike with a broken stick/gun, that's him staking out the "bear" hideout on our hike.  I've also added a video of Kiz dog at her Birthday.

Happy Spring Ya'll!

These last few weeks have been crazy, but really fun. We got another snow on Saturday (hopefully the LAST one) and it's already almost melted. Hallelujah! Max is going through a rough patch of frustration issues; maybe we should stop watching so much Hulk? This week I don't have school because of AIMS testing. I never thought that I would be excited about that! I really really love my family, and I get to spend alot of time with little Kiz this week. She coming up on one year in just a couple of weeks. Jack doesn't understand why I get so excited planning birthday parties for my kids. He thinks that I'm going overboard. I keep telling him, no--renting a jolly jump and a clown for your one year old's birthday is going overboard, I'm just having a blast! Kizzie is going to have rainbows and colored chalk, and adorable cupcakes. Max is going to have a superhero party complete with costumes. I stood yesterday staring at the cake decorating aisle in Michaels in shock. Yes, I love making cute and whimsical cakes for my babies for their birthdays (my favorite was Max's choo choo cake a few years ago), but I have no desire at all to make fancy wedding cakes with yucky tasting fondant icing. The money that you could blow on that hobby is unreal! No icing roses and edible glitter for me. Okay, maybe edible glitter . . . I've always liked shiny purple things. Here are some pictures of the fam that we took on Easter. Notice that Max is blurry (he wouldn't stop jumping up and down).

It Smells Like Spring Break

This past week was at times stressful, full of memories, and brimming with awesomeness! I was able to go with the kids and my mom and sister to visit my grandparents in Santa Ynez, CA. I can't tell you how many wonderful times I had at that wonderful house as I was growing up. Lily and I would spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa at least once a year, and in the days leading up to this trip, I would catch myself in quiet moments closing my eyes and visualizing the sights and smells of the house. The green grassy hill in the front yard, the rose perfume of my Grandma, the beautiful flowers and the wind chimes, and the warm sun coming through the spa room.

I was really looking forward to sharing these memories with my children, and Grandma was really excited to finally meet her grandmother's namesake, my Kizzie. The 14 hour car ride with the kids was CRAZY! But we survived, and had a great week. We went to the beach, hung out in Solvang, hunted for yucca branches to make a walking stick, played in the dirt, ate In N Out burger (YUMMY) and enjoyed every moment.

My sister took great pictures, and I will make sure I post them on the blog as soon as I get them. We have great ones of Kizzie eating a rib bone, Max playing with the dog Barney, and me and Lil soaking up the sunshine. Ahhhhhh. I hope that Max remembers this fantastic time and that I will have new memories to make with my loved ones.

Happy Valentine's Day from the Flemletts

This morning was gorgeous! I don't think that I've ever had a white Valentine's day. The crisp white snow and the happy sunshine just combined to make a joyful morning! Not to mention it contrasts nicely with red stiff construction paper Valentines. Max was totally digging on his Iron Man Valentines. He will come home from school hopped up on sugar and I will be worn out from celebrating an even more decadent holiday--Mardi Gras. Loves and kisses to you all.

I'm having a cow!

We had a horrible event this morning. While riding the campus bus home from dropping Max off at school, I tripped on the last step of the bus at my stop and fell on the ground--while carrying Kiz on my back in the backpack. I rolled slow motion-like and then heard a thud as her little head hit the concrete. I had a passerby help take her out so that I could assess the damage, and blood was running out of her nose. I will admit something. I have absolutely no calm when it comes to emergency situations and my babies. I sprinted up the hill to the house and then hyperventilated and cried uncontrollably for several minutes while I tried to clean it up and figure out what was going on. Luckily she just has a little skinned nose and will probably have a nasty bruise tomorrow. Now I can't shake off the guilt that I'm the worst mother in the world. I know that my clutziness was not intentional, but it still sucks! I wish that I had a harry potter wand to magically erase her boo boo.

Pictures round 3

Here's our MLK day adventure to Walnut Canyon to see the Sinagua ruins.