our sweetest sugarlips!

when caleb turned 3 (almost 4 years ago if you can believe that??!)we realized the so-called terrible 2s was only the preparation for the really terrible threes!!! actually the 2s were the sweet stage we determined. so ethan turned 3 a few weeks ago and we are holding our breaths for another round. ethan is a sweet, opinionated, strong willed, wonderful addition to our family. we love him dearly and are so glad he chose us as his parents. he is an awesome kid in every sense of the word, i can't even explain it. he stood up on the pews in church last sunday and sang 'called to serve' at the top of his lungs, on pitch, perfectly timed. i cried. what other kid would be able to complete his 1st guitar hero song at 3?!

the birthday breakfast

i'm 3 now!!!

yum

the goods. ethan rides this thing all over the house. he loves it! his only concern, "it no turning mommy!" following 'safety standards' radio flyer made this scooter a little too slow for my kids, they need speed.

lunch time! no comments on the nutritional value of a cheeseburger from burger king. don't lie--your kid asks for it for their birthday you'd get it for them too.

dinner time. if you ask a 3 year old what he wants for dinner you better be prepared to make a few strange things in order to deliver. this is what he requested. chicken, pineapple, cucumbers, avocados, french fries, root beer and corn. yum! here's where i admit that the only reason there is a vegetable listed at all was because i reminded him one was needed...

the cake in all its glory. he wanted chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting with chocolate ice cream. wonder if he gets that craving from his mom? had to skip out on the frosting, chocolate doesn't color well, but we got the race track going and all was forgotten.

you can tell by his nostrils he thoroughly enjoyed his cake.

gotta lick the car....can't waste any frosting.........

we love our ethan dearly even if we are starting to see signs of the terrible 3s already. what a blessing this kid is to us!!!

Tell me who admires you and loves you, and I will tell you who you are.

Not any woman can raise a boy. Boys by nature are hard to love. They crave noise and mess and activity. They don't think about feelings or physical laws when acting. They don't have a plan for much of what they do. They don't care if their clothes match, or are clean or free from rips or tears. They know that anything that can be picked up can be thrown or dropped. They don't sit still. They don't use napkins or forks or plates, at least not for their intended purpose. They think bodily functions are funny. They hear nature's call in any outdoor setting and answer no matter how many people are around and watching. They fight. They laugh in bed when it's time to sleep. The bump into everything. They break your favorite everything. Boys are tough.

Needless to say, not any woman can raise three boys.

I'm sure everyone reading this knows that I am working in Arizona and have left my sweet bride alone to close up a house and keep my boys alive and well. This is the hardest thing I've ever done. Nothing I've ever done has caused such a lack of sleep and sanity. I didn't make this decision lightly. I love my boys very much. I am also aware of the boy factor described above. See, Daddy brings a certain balance to the household. Daddy can channel the activity and enjoys winding the boys up. He can get the boys moving in a way that Mom can't because he gets them. Daddy is still very much a little boy in his heart. I knew that there would be a huge void in the boys' life with the split.

I also love my wife very much. The only reason I chose to move forward with this arrangement is because my wife rocks. Cariss is the coolest girl I've ever met. She likes sports and camping and getting dirty. She doesn't want fancy things (even though she deserves them). She always places the needs of others before her own. She's the first to volunteer to help someone in need. She is always there to help a friend that needs a baby sitter or a child picked up from school or a listening ear. And, to top it all off, she puts up with me.

Life isn't easy on the block with Daddy gone. Caleb has school and Scouts and is prone to a sour mood from time to time. Ethan has hit the curious stage and loves to be entertained by Mommy. Garet is totally spoiled and cries if he is put down and cries if he's not picked up. Garet sleeps when Ethan is up and Ethan sleeps when Garet is up. There is homework to monitor, playtime to regulate. A crawling baby, we nicknamed "Hoovie" because of his uncanny ability to eat up anything he finds on the floor , adds even more fun to the mix. There are breakfasts and lunches and dinners to prepare. Laundry and cleaning and necessary things must be done. Library runs and play dates and volleyball somehow find their way on the schedule. Packing has been done. Pictures have been taken off of the walls and ten years of memories sent on their way to a new chapter in the Mullins family history. Sleep has been of short supply. Rest has been of great demand. There are no hands but her own to feed, comfort, and care for our little ones. Life has not been a picnic.

A very wise man said "We are shaped and fashioned by whom we love". I am the person I am today because I love my wife. She inspires me to be better every day. I could never do the things she does, not without complaining. I am uplifted by her example of righteousness and charity. I do not want because she does not need. I owe her everything I have and will ever have.

I know she will read this and be totally embarrassed. I am fine with that. Great people are often embarrassed by the admiration of others. She can be embarrassed of mine.

In September of 1996, Cariss and I met for the first time. She just started a job working the customer counter at UPS in Farmingt0n, NM. I had been working there for three years and ran the warehouse in the evening. Her first day on the job she was leaving packages in the wrong location and I had to tell her to move them. I don't remember her exact words but she said something like "you have arms" and walked off. I fell in love with her on the spot. We became friends and after a time began dating. One night in November I left work very ill. I had been sick for about a week and took a bad turn. I drove after work to her Grandmother's house and asked her to take me to the hospital. It was about 11:00 pm and she was in the middle of doing coursework and dropped everything and took me to the ER. They took me in and said I was passing a kidney stone. I was in the ER for about four hours that night. Cariss sat in a corner and did her homework and waited until my release. I don't remember her handling my discharge. I don't remember her driving me to my parents' house. I don't remember her meeting my mother for the first time. I don't remember a lot of that night. What I do remember is waking the next day and my mother telling me what Cariss did and knowing without a doubt that I would spend the rest of my life with her. Best decision I've ever made.

to my sweet husband....

who is patiently waiting at the airport to come home to us.

these ones want to wrestle you up:

this one wants to take a bite out of you with all his new teeth:

and this one can't wait until we are whole again:

i love you. i loved when i said "all our hard work" and you corrected me and said "all of your hard work"...it makes me realize that maybe you may understand what goes on around here a little more than i thought you did. i love you, let's stop doing this soon!

happy cinco de mayo!!

or happy pico de gallo depending on who you ask around here. i found this cheesy but cool mexican flag banner in a box and decided, why not!!?

everyone needs a reason to celebrate! so up it went and the boys were so excited to celebrate. the boys made an invitation to invite grandma and grandpa to come for dinner, i made 'real' mexican (being that i am the real mexican i guess)beans, tacos, rice, salsa, and guacamole. it was delicious! and the boys liked it too! i even gave into letting them have jumex and paletas-i know i am a horrible mom! that caleb can really pack away that hot chili, i am so impressed...before dinner started he runs to the radio frantically trying to find mexican music. had to set the scene. i wonder where he came up with that? he didn't have to look too far, the little smartie! ethan didn't care either way, he was just hungry and also really liked that the radio kept saying "mas guapo!!" (he considers himself muy guapo)!!

i had to include this picture just so you could see the food better. i have to brag...i made all of this without a stove. i know-i'm awesome!! it wasn't easy but,all in all; our pico de gallo/cinco de mayo celebration was great! and next year i have promised to make some pico de gallo to go along with the fun...might as well keep it real!


and maybe next year caleb will understand a little bit better that their 16th of september is more of a 4th of july than cinco de mayo is. also they really don't celebrate cinco de mayo much at all (except in puebla), its more of an american mexican holiday. bet you didn't know that either though, huh!?

the oldest child

there is one phrase i always remember hearing from my mom growing up. tyra, jason, dad....back me up on this one: "you guys just keep me around for laughs!" okay, mom- i love you so much that i have passed that torch onto my oldest child.....hey-my mom is an oldest child, maybe its in the genetic make-up!!! sarah-you will have to let me know if luke and/or jason starts this.
is this a little mean?? probably
a lot funny?? oh yes!!!
after this episode we have now adopted the theory 'you gotta work for your candy!" ***on a side note this is more humorous if you actually only pretend to place the candy there, however that is a once i a lifetime opportunity!

i will never admit to caleb that he has absolutely no rhythm whatsoever. i know he's white, but come on!!! poor kid takes after his mom. when jeremy and i took a ballroom dance class he was always leading (as he should) and i was always so far behind i felt like a moron. i don't think i ever even got to look at jeremy i was so busy counting steps and making sure my feet were doing what they were supposed to do. sorry for the shaky, blurry pictures, we couldn't stop laughing, especially his pose at the end!
be sure to check out the little girls on either side of him-they're rockin' it and caleb is totally opposite them--oh, oh, oh!

and here is ethan taking over the spotlight. apparently he got dad's rhythm genes. maybe there's hope for him the houghes are white too ya know?! caleb is just busy making sure his hands are doing what they are supposed to be doing! poor caleb.
and no-we did not teach him to hand jive. i guess they teach that in school now.

caleb makes me want to strangle him almost every day. but....when i look at him i also want to hug him and love on him every single time. even when i want to spank his butt. i guess this also goes with oldest child territory: i am hard on him (too hard), i expect a whole lot out of him (too much), i ride him harder than anyone else and i know it. but when i look at his sparkling eyes and hear his infectious laugh, i see the person he's supposed to be and i can't help but to try to save him from the struggles of getting there the hard way. there is no better look and no way to put into words the look caleb has when he finally 'gets' something. his whole countenance glows and for this, i love him more than anyone else ever could. i know caleb was sent to me because no one else can understand him like i do and no one else can love him like i do. i just hope i don't mess him up too much getting him there.

and, yes i do keep him around for laughs,

but i also keep him around because he is so much a part of me it hurts.

and let's face it, he does have a whole lot on his plate...

let us pretend its still easter

so i know its been too long and easter was a few weeks ago-sorry!! here's the festivities. you don't even want to know what i'm having to multi-task with in order to get them even posted now. actually if you know me well you know exactly what i'm doing..i digress...sorry- promise to get another post this week.

gotta get the silly picture out of the way

caleb hunting
.
E finds one!!

G finds one

my 3 cute boys at the easter house

so this is when things go astray, i'm so busy trying to get all the boys to look at the same time that i forget to center the shot... just pretend i was ambitious enough to crop this picture perfectly


at least we got a cute family one!!


spoiled kids, they got 2 easter outfits this year


i think our days of matching shirts are numbered. especially since i hunted clearance racks for weeks to find the pink ones, and poor G got left out! to my credit he wasn't even born yet and my pink options for his age were a bit more frilly than i'd like to imagine my boys in! oh well! life is taking over again...help!!!