After posting yesterday's novel I realized I didn't use the opportunity to personally THANK everyone who helped me on Saturday, which is a shame because I wouldn't have been able to make it happen without my helpers!
So without further adieu, a big shout out goes to the following people who will forever remain in my good graces and who earned MAJOR brownie points in Heaven for giving up their Saturday morning/afternoon. Credits appear in no particular order.
Abby Hobson - painter extraordinaire, drop cover fitter, baby watcher (said baby was also pooping the whole time, sorry Ab!). Abby was able to paint an entire wall faster than I could say BOO! She was even able to run off to see her Young Women finish up their bball game and got back in time to help me edge the corners. Thanks for being left-handed, Abby.
Stephanie Bean - painter extraordinaire, tape master. No one can tape a room off the way this girl can. Stephanie also braved the window wall and managed to get an even coat of light pink paint over the entire surface despite being blinded the entire time with the sun glaring in her eyes. You're a doll face, girly.
Pop Rawlins - gossip monger, painter extraordinaire, aspiring blind hanger. This was Tony's first time painting! The south wall of the room thanks you, Tony. Tony also kept the girls laughing with his repeated requests for girl gossip. Tony was also the one who returned at 5 pm to help me hang the blinds when the paint dried. Unfortunately/fortunately Chase made it home before we made the attempt and informed us that: 1. We needed anchor bolts to hang the blinds, and 2. The curtain rod was about 6 inches too short. Thanks for your willingness, T-boss!
Mama Rawlins - baby watcher, loving grandmother, seamstress from heaven. Tori showed up prepared to paint, but armed with a sewing machine. She took on the responsibility of hemming my very wrinkled, very LONG curtain panels. She did this all the while being in charge of little miss Sophie. By the end I had two perfectly hemmed, perfectly ironed curtain panels and one happy baby. You rock, T-bull.
"Aunt Denny" Jen Rawlins - mod podge expert, drink-getter, Hobby Lobby runner, cheerleader to painters, baby holder. It was Jen's job to make my vision of a beautiful toile lampshade come to life and she succeeded. I'm no good with the 'podge so it was up to her to make it happen. In addition to that she would peek into the room periodically to let us know that it looked cute. She rounded out the day by running to get the rick rack (is that what that stuff is called?) and bias tape from Hobby Lobby and stopped at Sonic to get drinks. Someone had to do it. You made me love you, Jen.
Garrett Rawlins - lawn mower, food eater. The lawn was nice and high when Garrett arrived and was sweet and low when he left. Garrett is also a very appreciative eater. I made some cupcake thingy's and Garrett swooned. That makes a girl feel good. Peace out, G-Rawl.
AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, THE HARDEST WORKING OF ALL...
Aunt Susan and Grape Grandma Rawlins - Miles watcher, Cameron watcher, Natalie watcher (need I say more), lunch feeder, diaper changer, Easter egg hunt planner. Let's face it people, there's NO WAY the rest of us would have been able to paint walls, mod podge, mow or sew if Cameron, Miles and Natalie had been around (okay, mostly just if Miles had been there). Aunt Susan and Grandma answered the call and generously watched the kids for about 4 HOURS! The kids had the best time and, by some voodoo magic that Susan has not yet taught me, they ate their lunch! When returned to us, the kids were all so wiped out that they took nice long naps. Susan and Grandma, I'm your biggest fan!
I LOVE YOU ALL! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

WHOA! What a weekend we had! It was just fantastic, I must say. Saturday Chase had his last CPA prep class and I decided to rally some friends/family to get Sophie's room painted as a way to surprise him. See, the thing is that during busy season Chase's "to do" list grows and grows and grows. It's really awful because he knows he has all of these things he needs to do but really what he WANTS (and deserves) to do is just chill out and take a nap! So I thought it would be a nice treat for him to NOT have to paint Sophie's room. And I was right! Chase was pretty dang happy to come home Saturday night and see that the room was painted, the curtains hemmed, the lamp was covered (okay, he wasn't going to hem curtains or mod podge a lampshade, but still...). As a bonus I got Garrett to mow the lawn, too! The only bummer was that we couldn't get the blinds or curtains hung - Chase is going to have to do it! Oh well... He's still happy.

That night I also got a babysitter and we went out to dinner. SO nice. Of course when we return Cecily had a great story for us. Apparently at some point Miles came out of his room and demanded to be taken to the potty. Cecily knew that Miles is not potty-trained but acquiesced anyway. However when she put him on the potty Miles didn't want to go. Instead he continued to yell "POTTY, POTTY, POTTY!" And then he took off running out the door and onto the deck where he promptly relieved his bladder.
WHAT?!
So, I can only guess which big brother is teaching him this behavior while they're playing outside. Cool.
The night ended with us "helping the Easter bunny," and finishing up our respective lessons for Sunday. As we were about to turn out the lights Chase went to look in on the boys. He came out looking really worried and said, "Anna, where is miles?!" He wasn't in his bed and Chase couldn't find him. We looked up in Cameron's bunk bed and there they were all curled up together. So sweet!

Sunday morning started bright and early with Miles and Sophie joining us in bed as usual. Cam joined us soon after, holding up his new Power Rangers coloring book from his Easter basket. But who did he attribute his goodies to? CECILY! "Mommy, look what Cecily left us!" So Cecily is now our most favoritest babysitter ever.
Eventually we did have to get out of bed to start getting ready for church. This is usually when the bedlam begins. And holiday or no holiday Sunday mornings are ALWAYS the same. I'm running around trying to make sure I have every possible thing we might need during those 3 hours. Snacks, blankies, binkie, coloring books, sippy cups, quiet toys, etc. It all goes in the big, red, shiny Superman bag that yours truly gets to schlep around. During all of this madness Chase suddenly remembers that he is supposed to be there early for choir practice. Oh, and can I stop my madness for a moment and help him go through the song a few times? Sure. Why the heck not. Sanity is so overrated.
So we FINALLY make it to church, and Chase's friend from work joins us. The poor, poor man. I don't think Chase adequately warned him what it's like to sit in a pew with us. It's something akin to swimming with sharks. You only want to do it if the sharks have full bellies, have had good naps and get their way. If they're the slightest bit hungry or tired or you do something to tick them off you're going to lose a limb. It's just bad. And that's what it was. Bad. We were up and down and in and out the whole time. I had to get up to lead the primary kids in their song (see story below), Chase had to get up to sing with the choir. And that required ME to get up and drag Miles and Sophie out because Miles was having a breakdown without daddy. Then I had to get up to go feed Sophie. Then I had to go back out in the hallway because I FORGOT Sophie's binkie and she was squawking...sigh. I ended up just sitting it out in the hallway for the remainder of the meeting. Thankfully Michelle and Erica provided me with good company.
Side Note:
So the primary kids sang in Sacrament meeting. I'm the chorister so I got up and was walking with Cameron to the front. I noticed right away that he was holding his Superman jacket in his hand. I said, "Cam, no. Let's leave this here." But I could tell instantly that if he was required to relinquish said jacket he was going to explode like Mount St. Helen's, circa 1980. So I quickly said, "Okay, you can HOLD it." And you know what? I honestly thought he would just hold it. Really, I did.
So I shepherd him onto the stand and get him in line with the other kids and I'm sitting in the front pew trying to get all the kids to look at me and smile so I don't notice what Cameron is doing. But the rest of the congregation saw, don't worry. No, it wasn't until halfway through the first verse of "Did Jesus Really Live Again" that I notice that Cameron has donned the Superman jacket and is now singing in character. Sweet. Needless to say we got lots of comments from our friends about how much they LOVED watching Cameron stand up there and get into Superhero mode.
Moving on...After church we go home and get the kids fed and put down for naps. I needed to make a potato casserole for Easter dinner and one of the ingredients is bacon. Personally, I hate cooking bacon. It always makes the house stink and it's just a big, greasy mess. I love to EAT bacon, but really hate to cook it. So I thought, "I'll just put it on the broiler pan and broil it! No messy pan and I can do it faster since my broiler pan is larger!" And the plan was working great until smoke started pouring out of my oven. Apparently the grease was splattering onto the broiler elements in the oven and burning, thus producing exorbitant amounts of acrid smoke. Not only that, but while trying to remove the pan from the oven a large amount of bacon grease splashed out of the pan (see story below), further smelling up my oven/kitchen. The smoke alarm had to be detached from the wall at some point and every window in the house had to be opened with fans running to de-smoke the house. It was awful.
Finally we made it to Easter dinner at Mom and Pop Rawlins' house. And nothin' says "Happy Easter" like Miles removing his poopy diaper and sitting on the white leather couches! FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC. So Miles was off to the tubbie - which he thought was a big reward for his ingenuity -and someone had to clean the poo off the couch. Whoever did that, thanks.
Anyway, we did have an egg hunt after dinner and it was so FUN! Cameron knew exactly what was about to happen and he was super giddy. Miles and Natalie were just wandering around, happy to be outside! Natalie kept opening her eggs whenever she would find one. Cameron was so annoyed that he couldn't find ALL the eggs - he had to leave some for Nat and Miles! Poor kid. I think next year I'm going to do an egg hunt just for him.

Later we had an egg hunt for the adults. Mom and Pop R (okay, just Mom) likes to put money in the eggs and hide them. This egg hunt is so funny to watch because they're money at stake. So silly.

Like all good things, though, the weekend did have to come to an end. We decided to leave just as the boys were coming down from their major sugar high. They were not happy about it, but crashed as soon as we got teeth brushed and jammies on.

Of course this morning I've been RECOVERING from the weekend. Why is it that I spend so much time on Saturday cleaning and then by Monday morning my house is WRECKED!? The one thing that absolutely had to be done was clean the oven. So I spent a few hours this morning cleaning it. I HATE cleaning the oven. I'm seriously considering just hiring someone to come clean it every 6 months. Anyone want a job? Rubber gloves included...

This is going out to Jeni and Brian who are on their anniversary trip...

Okay, so the pictures are out of order because I couldn't get them to load right but this is what Natalie looked like AFTER the bath that came after the mud. She was NOT happy that I tried to bathe her...

The day started great with a trip to the park. Cam was excited to have Cousin Nan sitting next to him in the backseat. I got a glimpse of what it would be like to have four kids. Glad I've got a couple years before that happens...
No, Natalie...the park is THAT way. Slow down!
Just kidding, mom. Aunt Anna only lets me drive while on her lap.
After naps it was time to go outside and play but Natalie wore pretty white sandals and my backyard can get a little muddy. We fixed the problem by rolling up her jeans and putting on Miles' old shoes. CUTE!
The backyard was a success! The kids got totally and completely CAKED in mud. They kept SITTING in it on purpose just for fun. So I had to lock them out, draw a bath and then bring them in one at a time. Natalie was not happy that Miles got to come in first so she stood outside crying while she waited to get her muddy clothes removed. After this she decided she didn't like me anymore.

So, a lot of random things have been floating around my head today. Chase is on a recruiting trip to BYU so there are no adults around for me to exercise the randomness in my brain. So it's all coming out on you. Buckle up.
Random thought #1:
Have you ever eaten something bad simply because you wanted to get it out of the house? Whenever we get too much candy or cookies in the house - something we don't normally have - my first thought is: "I hate having this stuff in the house so I'm just going to eat it ALL really fast so it's not here anymore." How does that make sense? Seriously. If someone left a bottle of wine at my house I wouldn't say, "Boy, I hate having this stuff in the house. I better drink it up." I would dump it out. If someone left a carton of Marlboros on my kitchen table I wouldn't think, "Gee. Smoking is awful and I hate that these cigarettes are laying here. Pass me the lighter." So why on earth would I do that with food? Strange.
***Remember this blog is full of the random thoughts that have been plaguing me. I didn't say they were REASONABLE thoughts. No one actually ever leaves wine or cigarettes at my house.
Random thought #2:
My life changed drastically on December 7, 2007. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was the day Sophie was born, but that's not why. No, my life changed that day because Abby Hobson brought White Chili to me in the hospital and forever changed the way I view all chili. Never again will I cook regular chili.
Random thought #3:
Why don't I clean my microwave more often? Seriously, I use it 40 times a day and it's never really that clean. I clean it maybe once a month. That's totally gross! What is wrong with me? The rest of my kitchen gets cleaned multiple times a day simply because I have to but I've been living with the goop on the the inside of my microwave for weeks. Yuck. The only thing I can say for myself is that at least you know the gunk in there is pretty clean since it gets zapped with microwaves 40 times a day.
Random thought #4:
I hate making mistakes. Mistakes suck. Seriously, it takes you about 30 seconds to make them and you spend the next who-knows-how-long trying to live it down. For instance, I accidentally say the word, "Crap" and then have to spend the next 4 weeks trying to remove it from my kids' vocabulary.
Random thought #5:
Why do I get so much junk mail? And why don't I ever throw it away? Why does it just accumulate in my entryway all week before Preston comes over and throws it on the ground (twice), thus prompting me to finally deal with it? And by dealing with it I mean just moving it to another location where it will sit for another 3 weeks before I finally "find time" to deal with it (note to self: Stop blogging and deal with junk mail). I hate junk mail. A lot.
Random thought #6:
Am I a bad mother because I get seriously grossed-out by my own children. Runny noses, diapers, food smeared on every square inch of exposed skin...it's gross, right?
Random thought #7:
Gross is a strange word. Really. Type it a bunch of times and you'll see what I'm talking about. Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross. Doesn't even seem like it should be pronounced that way...
Random thought #8:
My SIL, Sara, got me a day-by-day calendar with quotes from The Office. I laugh at these every morning. Sometimes they're so good that I try to tell other people the quote, but I usually get it wrong or mess it up with a bad delivery and they don't laugh. I hate that. People, if I ever try to re-tell you an Office quote have the good sense to laugh at it. So here is my favorite quote (so get ready to laugh):
"I have been Michael's number two guy for about five years, and we make a great team. We're like one of those classic famous teams. He's like Mozart and I'm like Mozart's friend. No, I'm like Butch Cassidy and Michael is like Mozart. You try and hurt Mozart, you're gonna get a bullet in your head, courtesy of Butch Cassidy."
Random thought #9:
Do you ever watch the mop commercials and wonder why the floor is so dirty? I mean, I know they're trying to sell me a mop, but holy crap, what did they do to that floor? And why is the rest of the kitchen so clean? If you can keep your white counters and cabinets glistening what's so hard about the floor? MY floor is never even that dirty. My microwave, maybe...but my floor? That's just gross (see thought #7).
Don't worry. Sometimes I don't even understand my brain.

How stinkin' cute are my kids? Too bad they don't look anything alike, right?

Today Sophia was in an excellent mood so I took the opportunity to put her back in her blessing dress and take a picture. It still fits but her biceps are starting to get so big from all those push-ups she's been doing...so the arms were a little tight. But I thought you'd all enjoy seeing these. As for the bow - I was recently talking to Jen about bows and she made the comment that she is just now starting to put bigger bows on Natalie now that Nat is bigger. I responded that I've waited so long to have a baby I could put a bow on that I'm not messing around. Go big or go home. My sweet little princess will be decked out in giant bows until she gets old enough to tell me how much she hates them. And then I'll just sneak into her room and put them on her while she's sleeping and I'll continue that until she gets married (though, I'll most likely want to do it anytime she's visiting me).

The blanket pictures are of our newest favorite blanket! My SIL, Sara has made quilts for each of her neices/nephews and probably other people, too. I always look forward to seeing her new creation with each new child. I had originally decided on a cherry print for my nursery, but then got lazy and decided to buy something. I'm glad Sara had already bought the fabric, though. I LOVE THIS BLANKET! Now Sophie has a gee-gee! Thanks, Sara!

Okay, three blogs in a week is like a blogger record or something, right? Do I get an award? I'm waiting for balloons to start falling from my ceiling any minute.

Anyway, I only have a couple of minutes to blog but I just had to get this off of my chest. THIS IS MY HOUSE RIGHT NOW...sad, I know.

I just feel like a cleaning machine! There's always some sort of craziness going on and I only get to clean during the four 30 minute naps that Sophie takes during the day and by the end of the day I'm too exhausted to be bothered.

So there it is. I'm not going to be embarrassed next time someone drops by unannounced and finds my house looking like this. Whew. I feel better.

Oh, and I just had to throw in that pic of the kids. THAT is what Cameron tried to wear to the park 2 days ago. Ugly Christmas Sweater, beige shirt and blue striped pj pants. Cool.

I've been inspired by my sis-in-law (or SIL to those of you who can read 'internetese') to write about why my day is great so here it is.
Today is a good day because...

...I only have one load of laundry sitting in the washer and only one to follow it (notice I'm not mentioning the laundry waiting to be folded...).

...I skipped most of the things we were supposed to do today and stayed home with the kids and ate cookies. A lot of them. Diet what?

...I played Candy Land with Cameron while Miles was napping. But instead of using the Candy Land "guys" we used Spiderman and Robin. Spiderman won.

...I hung out in my pj's most of the day and didn't regret it at all.

...Sophie is staring at me with that very satisfied, "I just ate and pooped and I feel GRRRRREAT" look. Charming.

...I finally mailed my last Christmas present (sorry Ty).

...It's snowing (ish).

...It's leftover night. No cooking for me!

...Sophie slept from 7:30 pm to 4am last night. Here's hoping she repeats tonight.

...Dad Rawlins called out of the blue and asked if he could watch the kids while I ran errands. I got out of my pj's just long enough to take him up on it.

So what made your day fabulous?

Lest you all think that my children are just insane every minute of their lives I thought I'd show you what they REALLY spend their time doing. It's called Wardrobe Change. Cameron is obsessed with every superhero and since he doesn't have the actual costumes for each he has designated different clothing items as superhero clothes. Peter Parker clothes are my favorite because it usually involves a nice shirt and sweater vest. Anyway, Cameron will layer his superhero clothes under regular clothes so that he can have a big reveal whenever crime needs fighting (or whenever he is with his friends). When my dad was visiting he got a kick out of the way Cameron would just suddenly remove his outer clothes to reveal the superhero within. In the event that I have not allowed Cameron to wear his superhero layers (like when we go to church or preschool) Cameron will simply turn his shirt backwards when he's ready to make the change. Kind of like a portable phone booth. A couple weeks ago as I was dropping him off for preschool he was having a really hard time so I decided to let him wear his shirt backwards so he could go to preschool as someone else. It seemed to help.

Anyway, today he decided that he had multiple personalities because he layered Captain America on the bottom, Sandman in the middle (perhaps he's fighting some sort of internal battle, since Sandman is a villain...), and Peter Parker is on top. Oops, I just looked over and as I was writing this he has stripped down to JUST Captain America. It could be the fact that I'm playing "Eye of the Tiger" for them. It always brings out his superhero side...

And Miles? He doesn't quite get the idea of being a superhero yet so he just changes his clothes 40 times a day for no real reason. Let's just say I do A LOT of laundry!