Halloween 2018

It's the day after Halloween and I'm already posting about it!  I'm on top of things today, people.  Halloween was great fun.  Lots of chaos, noise, candy, yelling about missing costume pieces, driving kids to various parties, and of course trick-or-treating.  I never got a picture of all the boys together because they never were together.  Ethan was off with his friends trick-or-treating to every home in Sammamish and Marcus was attempting to hit 3 different parties.  (He only made it to 2 because I refused to drive him anymore.  I'm so mean.)

 This year I hosted a little Halloween dinner.  I made some yummy soup, the McBride's brought a big salad, and the Brandt's brought over cornbread and sides.  It was fun and easy but next year I think I'll skip dinner altogether and just let the kids go trick-or-treating earlier and then eat after we get home.  But dinner was fun, it was just quick.  Normally sitting around the table with good friends and good food while we visit the night away is my favorite thing about having friends over but dinner on Halloween really meant we had to eat and then run.  By the time we finished our rushed dinner and got the kids trick-or-treating it was still an hour later than when we usually start and totally dark.  The boys were so antsy to get going they were running a full-on sprint from house to house.  It was impressive to say the least.

 It wasn't rainy and was so warm out I didn't even wear a jacket.  It was a Halloween miracle!

I really wish I had better pictures of the kids in their costumes but honestly, this is as good as it gets and I didn't buy a single costume this year.  

Marcus wore Randy's scrubs and went to his parties dressed as a doctor, Ethan threw on his shark costume at the last second, Landon wore Ethan's football gear for the second year in a row so he could be a football player, and Parker switched from being Jerry the Mouse to a Star Wars storm trooper.  Henry wore the dinosaur costume that all of my boys wore except for Ethan.  Henry got lots attention for being ridiculously cute as he walked around growling.

 Ethan was with his friends all day so we never saw him.  He got enough candy to open up a store!

Parker wearing a cute mouse costume at the trunk-or-treat party

He got his face painted and looked even cuter but still refused to wear anything but the storm trooper costume to school on Halloween Day.

And here are a ton of blurry pictures of Henry.  This boy is fast and always on the go.  But since he's so cute I keep trying to take his picture.  We are still obsessed with him.

those cheeks!

Henry running for his life

That cute tail gets me every time

And I don't have a single picture of Landon.  He didn't go to the trunk-or-treat party because he was at a birthday party and I never remembered to get a picture of just him before trick-or-treating.  What can I say?  He is the middle child.

And here is the cutest picture of Ethan way back in 2006.  He didn't wear the dinosaur costume because I dressed him as a horse (Marcus was a cowboy).  Cutest kid ever!

Our Ferry Adventure

Two weeks ago we took the ferry over to the peninsula to see my Aunt Barbara and Uncle John, along with a couple of my cousins who were visiting from Utah.  But because life is never dull I have to tell you about our experience trying to get on the ferry.  We missed the ferry.  We have never missed the ferry before.  Ever.  Unfortunately we left later than planned (thanks to all the boys in my life) but Randy was driving fast so we made it into Seattle with a few minutes to spare. As soon as we got off the freeway our progress came to a standstill as we were instantly surrounded by hundreds of Seahawk fans heading to the football game.  It was so frustrating!  I didn't know there was a game and figured arriving just in time to hop on the ferry the way we always do would be a good plan.  Well, it wasn't!  After anxiously waiting for lights to turn green, crowds of people to cross the streets, and cars to pull into various parking garages, we arrived at the ferry terminal just as it pulled away from the pier.  It was agony!  The next ferry wasn't scheduled to depart for another 50 minutes so our quick drive out to Sequim suddenly felt like an all-day road trip.  Ugh. 
I couldn't take sitting in the van with all the grumpy boys so I took Henry for a walk in his stroller.  Eventually all the boys joined me and they passed the time by walking around and racing each other in the empty parking lanes.  Finally it was almost time to drive onto the ferry so I quickly loaded Henry up, yelled for the boys to get in the van and got ready to pull onto the ferry.  By this time we were boxed in, surrounded by cars waiting to get on the ferry.  I realized Marcus wasn't in the van and was nowhere to be seen so I called his cell and yelled at him to run fast because we were getting on the ferry.  And then the line of cars in front of us quickly started driving forward.  I had no other choice but to drive forward too and looked into my rear view mirror to see Marcus sprinting behind us trying to catch up.  Trust me, as a mom there can't be a worse feeling than driving away from your child as you see them running to catch up to you.  Every instinct told me to stop but there's no stopping when you're in a line of moving cars so I kept going.  This whole thing took place in about a minute or less but as I was driving away from my firstborn child, Parker was sobbing saying, "You can't leave Marcus!  You are the meanest mom ever!  Poor Marcus!" Ethan was yelling at Marcus to run faster, Landon was probably yelling too, Henry was crying, and Randy was so mad at me I won't tell you what he was saying :)  Let's just say he didn't agree with my choice of action.
I was trying to drive, yelling at everyone to leave me alone because I knew what I was doing, and calling Marcus all at the same time.  As soon as I parked the van, I jumped out, grabbed my ticket to get me and Marcus on the ferry, and started looking for my son I had just left behind.  I called him and he calmly said, "Mom, I'm on the ferry and I'm saving you a seat on the 2nd floor."  Then he hung up.  No big deal.  FYI, you can drive onto the ferry or walk on, but if you walk on you need a ticket and you walk on in a separate and safe area, NOT where the cars drive on.  Marcus was sprinting onto the boat when the workers stopped him.  He pointed to the van and told them he was trying to catch up with his family.  The workers didn't ask for a ticket (which he didn't have) and just sent him on with the other pedestrians.  Basically everyone was upset, stressed, or crying except for Marcus.  It was hilarious! Marcus said, "That totally sounds like an episode of The Middle!"  If you haven't seen that show you should really watch it.  It's hilarious and kind of like watching a show about my own life sometimes.

We got out to Aunt Barbara's house an hour later and had a late lunch made even later to our missed ferry episode, but had a good time anyway.  It's so fun to be with family and even better to be with family who loves Washington the way we do.  The boys watched the football game, ate food, played with the dogs, played with the Oculas Rift (a virtual reality toy), and even got crafty and painted rocks.  All while I talked with my Aunt and cousins.  It was great!

Watching people play with this is very entertaining.  They look so funny!

Marcus made himself right at home

After a few hours we headed for home and made it in plenty of time to catch the returning ferry.  This was my first time being on the ferry as the sun set so the views of the city were beautiful and totally worth it!

The ferry boat identical to ours, heading out to the peninsula. 

The only boys who would pose for a picture.  Clearly Henry wanted nothing to do with it.

Summer Chaos

Summer time means lots of kids, chaos, noise, fun, late nights, yard work, and me yelling at my kids.  Throw in opening up a dental office and life is more insane than I ever thought possible.  Here's proof:  I'm actually happy I haven't gone into labor yet.  See?  I told you things were bad.  I'm in the middle of painting Ethan's bedroom and refuse to go into labor until the room is finished.  Baby No. 5 is most likely coming this weekend if things go like my other deliveries.  And if it doesn't go as planned then heaven help me! If I end up having a C-section I don't even know what I'll do because it is most definitely not in the plans.
But let's back up a bit.  A lot has been going on since our amazing vacation to the Olympic Peninsula. 
My sister April and her family came for a week and if you click on her blog over there on the sidebar you can see some of the fun we had, which was a lot of fun, along with a lot more details that I don't have time to touch on.  So check it out!  It will make you want to reserve your week for summer vacation at our house next year.  

Chism Beach and one of my favorite places

 Playing at the park because it was only 70 degrees

 Snoqualmie Falls

Pine Lake is heaven on earth

 Having multiple friends who live on Pine Lake means multiple tramplolines to play on

The 4th of July started with the traditional breakfast at the church followed by a bike parade.  Everyone else went for a little hike while I stayed home, enjoyed the quiet house, and cooked good food like a homemade cherry pie with fresh-picked cherries from a nearby tree {No, I didn't pick the cherries}.  After our barbecue we invited families over to watch the fireworks that go off right over our house.  It was a long day but lots of fun and thankfully, lots of sunshine.

 Boating on Lake Sammamish as the sun sets is pretty magical

I had a baby shower a long time ago.  This was a big deal because the only baby shower I ever really had was for Marcus but this time I needed a little pick-me-up and I feel bad No.5 will be wearing hand-me-downs that are 13 years old.  Poor kid! 

 My neighbor and good friend Barb showing off the yummy brunch which was served

 Recognize this place?  We lived here before we moved to RI and now our best friends live there.  They've done a ton of updates so it's hardly recognizable. 

Last week was scout camp.  This is a BIG deal since Randy is the scout master.  He and Marcus were gone from Monday-Saturday and Ethan left for two days for his scout camp.  I can't even begin to describe the happiness I felt when it was down to just me, Landon, and Parker at home.  I hardly had to clean {Marcus is a slob :)} or cook or nag.  It's not a good thing to realize how much easier life gets as children leave the house, even if it isn't permanent, right before giving birth to another child.  Seriously the timing of this couldn't have been worse.

 And here is Parker hiding under my belly.  I haven't seen my feet in awhile but they are under there somewhere too.

Tiger Mom

I know you're all dying to hear more about the bathroom remodel that is consuming my life, right? Oh, wait. You're probably not all that interested. But it's still consuming me so I had to dig deep into my brain to come up with something other than bathroom drama to post about. But it starts with a little bit of the remodel process so bear with me. James, aka handyman/newest member of the family, has been here every day for three weeks. Naturally we have gotten to know each other pretty well after eating lunch together almost daily and he may not know each of my boys by name, but he recognizes their voices and who does what as he can't help but overhear the noise of our household.
It got me to thinking about what his impression of our family is. Think about it. He's like a fly on the wall, hearing and sometimes seeing everything that goes on. And since a lot of my friends have hired him I bet he's got a lot to say about what he observes from house to house. Believe me when I say I do not have the courage to hear what he has to say about his impressions of the inner workings of the Ball household. I am very certain I can't handle that truth!  But I did ask him if he thought our house was loud and without hesitation he said, "Oh yeah!" One afternoon he commented on how my boys sound really good on the piano. {He overhears Marcus and Ethan practicing in the afternoons and a little bit of Landon when he arrives in the morning.} I laughed and explained that if our boys want to play sports they have to play the piano as well and they aren't allowed to quit until they can play the hymns in the hymn book. "It's a battle," I said.
James laughed and imitated me, "Do you know how much I pay for your lessons? You're going to practice and you're going to practice right!"
I cringed. I had no idea I say that so much to my boys that I'm quotable. It makes me wonder what other little gems he's overheard through his time here. Ugh. So to make me feel slightly better about my inner tiger mom, here are a couple videos from the boys piano recital a few months ago. Now that Marcus and Ethan finally have a teacher other than me, they had their very first official piano recital. Ethan was cute and adorable, and Marcus flew through his song with the same speed and agility he shows on the soccer field. I am proud of both of them and anxiously counting down the days until I don't have to pay for Marcus's lessons anymore. He's got a handful of hymns under his belt so he's well on his way to the finish line. Hooray!

OK, watching kids perform at a piano recital is super boring so here's an old youtube clip from the archives that will make up for it. It's Randy and I performing kareoke in Japan. Man, we've got skills!
A link to the original post is here.

Survival Mode

I am losing my mind.  Most days I run around like a headless chicken, cleaning here and there, driving kids to friends or sports, running errands, taking the kids to do something fun,  etc.  Last week was especially busy and I knew I'd hit a new level of frazzled nerves when I realized that eating breakfast at noon was becoming normal.  That's not typical for me.  Especially since I get up early to exercise.  There's just never enough time!  I feel like I'm a day late and a dollar short in everything I do.  I'm bearing my soul here when I say that I am failing miserably at my life.  I can barely get Marcus and Ethan to their sports on time or even worse, I had the time wrong and raced across town to get Marcus to soccer only to arrive a half hour early because I messed up.  Ethan jokingly said he's lucky I've remembered to take him to football and Marcus to soccer and not the other way around.  We all laughed but really I wanted to cry.  Trying my hardest every day to get my kids where they need to be, keeping the house sorta kinda clean, and putting dinner on the table are not lofty goals but they seem very unattainable right now and I hate it. 
Yesterday was a doozy.  I got up to go running when I got a text from the contractor telling me he's on his way over to start the demo on Marcus's bathroom.  So I skipped my run/shower and raced to Home Depot for supplies I should've already purchased.  Luckily I remember to fill up on gas on my way home or things would've gone really bad and I got home before the construction guys so I even had time to start the laundry.  Then I talked to James/construction guy/newest member of the family about all the water damage in the master bathroom and decided we have to gut the whole thing and it's going to cost a lot of money and they'll get to it as soon as they get done repairing Marcus's bathroom.  Not great news.  Then it was time to take Marcus to the lake with friends and Ethan to his buddy's.  Got that done and was at Home Depot with Landon and Parker when I got a frantic call from my friend.  Her son was dropped off at my house but I wasn't there like I was supposed to be (she never got my last-minute text).  Her son was in tears and traumatized by the two construction guys at the house when he was expecting to see Marcus.  Got that crisis solved after lots of apologies and began my second trip at Home Depot.  The tile I needed was out of stock so I had to drive across town to the other Home Depot.  I found what I needed but it took forever.  All the while I was getting an absurd amount of texts and phone calls from other moms/friends/visiting teachers/sisters/James while pushing around a cart full of heavy tile (making me feel less guilt for missing my workout so that's  a win) and texting Randy pics of the progress on the construction going on at our house.  Finished the third Home Depot trip at two o'clock to eat lunch, tidy the kitchen, and do another load of laundry before picking up Marcus and friends.  I drove to the lake and parked in one of four empty handicap stalls because there was nowhere else to park, and ran down to the water to get Marcus and company.  They took way too long to gather their things which was unfortunate because when I got back to the van a police officer was giving me a ticket!  And it took forever so the kids were way late to their next thing which wasn't a big deal but meant I had to text moms explaining where we were.  I finally get the stupid ticket and drove away without even glancing at it because who has time for that?  Well, Marcus looked it over and delivered the bad news.  The fine was $450!  Highway robbery.  "Are you kidding me?!"  I yelled.  Then the van full of tween-agers got really quiet.  I couldn't believe it. Talk about getting kicked when you're down.  I'd just spent over $2,000 that day on stuff to repair Marcus's bathroom not to mention our unexpected master bathroom renovation.  But my day wasn't over yet.  After dropping off the kids I had a small window of opportunity to make dinner and do more laundry before I had to pick up Ethan from his friend's and drop him off at home to suit up for football practice while I picked up Marcus.  Then I drove back home, Marcus ran in to suit up for soccer and Ethan came sprinting out half-dressed in his football gear which I helped him get on while we sate at red lights. It's a two-man job and we are getting good at doing it while I drive.  Then I came home and got Marcus and drove him to soccer practice on the other side of town and we arrived a minute early!  Miracles never cease.  Then I raced home and ate dinner with Randy, Landon, and Parker before we tag-teamed to pick up the boys from sports and met at our friend's house for an outdoor movie for family night.  We got home at 11pm and the day was finally over.
Today I'm recovering from yesterday. I'm glad I finally found time to blog so that nagging voice in my head has one less thing to nag me about.  I've decided for my birthday this year I want to spend the day by myself (not possible) organizing my mess of a house.  Then maybe I'll feel like I accomplished something. School starts in two days and I can't wait!

To Barb Q, Grandma, family, and other anonymous readers: Thanks for reading me blog and letting me vent.  It was very therapeutic.  

Things My Mom Never Had To Say

No weapons at the table.
Go take a shower.  You smell.
Please flush the toilet.
No, you can't bring a sword to church.
Put the toilet seat down when you're done.
Stop bouncing balls in the house!
Take your underwear off your head!
Why doesn't anyone flush the toilet in this house?!
Get off me! (my boys are always jumping on me especially if I'm on the floor or bending over)
I'm not taking you to the bathroom, find a bush.
Calm down before you break my house!
Stop wrestling in the van and buckle up!
No sticks allowed in the house.
Be nice and pretend you have manners.
Flush the toilet!!

OK, this list could be a lot longer but I think just writing it has been therapeutic.  And yes, I say most of these things daily.  DAILY, people.
And now I'm going to go find some chocolate.

April This and That

As April draws to a close, I have to say we have just experienced the best spring we've ever had here.  Lots more sunshine, lots less rain, a few crazy warm days that gave us a little preview of summer days to come, and a much needed break from school. 

First of all, I ran a 10K.  The only reason it's worth mentioning is because it was so horrible!  HORRIBLE!!  It was the most poorly organized race I could ever imagine.  My friend told me about it at the last minute and the only reason I ran it was for the opportunity to run across the brand new, never been opened to traffic, 520-Bridge, which is the longest floating bridge in the world.  It sounded cool!  But it wasn't.  13,000 runners (mostly walkers) decided it would be cool too.  That's a ton of people to fit in three lanes of road without starting off in waves, and they only had one lane blocked off for the return runners.  It was like the organizers never thought about the fact that all the runners would eventually turn around therefore needing equal space for runners going in each direction.  I got tired of walking and dodging oncoming runners as I tried to pass the slow runners so I finally turned around.  But at least I got a shirt.  And an experience that makes me want to swear!

The mass of humanity preventing me from moving forward faster than a snail

The boys enjoying the sunlight streaming through the windows as they delay getting ready for school

Parker, Landon, and I finally walked through the woods behind our house that connect to a park.  It was a fun adventure crossing the stream and blazing a trail through the ferns so we repeated the adventure the next day and packed a picnic lunch for the park.

After such a strenuous hike, the playground had to wait so we could eat lunch

It's been fun seeing what blooms in our yard in the spring.  I have no idea what this bush is but it is beautiful!

The boys haven't spent much time in the hot tub until lately.  Turns out they'd rather swim when the sun is shining which is the opposite reason we bought it.  We like that it gives them something to do on a rainy day.  Plus Randy's back needs it as well.

Randy put in a new fire pit so this little part of the yard is even more fun!

With the warmer weather the boys and I decided to check out the ponds across the street to see if we could catch any turtles or frogs.  They came home empty-handed and very disappointed.  The frogs sure are loud at night so they've got to be around somewhere.

Landon was determined to find a fish while Parker sat by wearing a lacrosse glove.  Why not, right?

I love the occasional lunch date with my friends.  Parker is always my shadow and sometimes cooperates enough that I can enjoy myself.

A beautiful spring evening at the park

We had a picnic in the backyard while Randy and Marcus were at the Priesthood session.  We haven't used our cool beach mat in a long time!

Sammamish City Council

I channeled my inner Kevin Bacon and spoke in front of the city council to contest the pending development that will go in at the end of our street.  The developer is asking for all kinds of variances so he can fit 22 houses on 2 acres of land.  It makes me sick just thinking about it, not to mention all the traffic that will go through our once quiet neighborhood.  I have to say it felt awesome to speak and makes me want to run for office!  But I won't.  I'm hoping to get Randy to do it instead.

What a month we've had!  Now if only I could post a little more frequently so each post isn't such  a photo overload.