Boy, do I need a girl!!!

While the boys were playing outside today, they decided to become "professional spider hunters." Within a few short minutes they had collected a thorn spider from the swing set and a bazillion baby spiderlings that had just emerged from their egg sack on a rock. They were going nuts with excitement, so the search continued. A few minutes later I hear them yelling, "Holy cow, that one is ginormous!" So I hasten to the scene. Sure enough they had uncovered a very large hobo spider in our rocks and were trying to kill it by throwing rocks at it. Hobos, by the way, are related to the brown recluse, and can give a nasty little bite if bothered (little boys throwing rocks at them might fall into the "bothersome" category). So mommy turned into "Spider Killer Woman" in a hurry and squished that hobo to smithereens; after which, I had a heart-to-heart chat with my spider hunters who are no longer allowed to touch the rocks beside our house, nor try to kill or capture dangerous spiders (thankfully, they know which ones those are since they have read EVERY spider book at the library). Michael agreed and said, "You're right mommy, if Grandma Theresa would have seen that huge spider, she would've BLACKED OUT!" No more than 5 minutes later, I hear their excited voices again, this time trying to capture a jumping zebra spider on our deck. I come to monitor the chase (again) and inform the boys that zebra spiders are way too fast to catch. Michael immediately tries to assure me by saying, "We're professionals. It won't be a problem." The only thing I am sure of is that I need a little girl. Pretend tea parties sound much safer than professional spider hunting.

Michael's Masterpiece

In my last post I included a picture that Joseph drew, so for the sake of equality (and because I'm one of those obnoxious bragging mothers) I wanted to show off Michael's newest creation. It is so fun for me to see how different each of our boys are, and their artwork exhibits their unique personalities so well. Joseph is always precise and realistic in his artwork; whereas, Michael displays supreme creativity and flair. This picture is of an airplane he invented called the Boeing 797. He tells me it has 20 engines (that way if one engine breaks down, there are still 19 others to get the passengers safely to their destination), an impressive 1000 ft wingspan, an airspeed of 80,000 mph (that's mach 40...faster than any jet on the planet), and can hold 136 passengers (and I recommend that they carry a puke bag since they will certainly be pulling some Gs!) :)

Jet Fever!!!

The Thunderbirds are in town and have brought "jet fever" to our household. The boys are flying jets all over the house and making masterpieces of jets when they need a break from flying. I asked them if they wanted to be jet pilots when they grow up, but they said they are still debating between pilot and priest...I told them why not be both! :) We attended the airshow on Friday, but Paul was the FAA personel in charge of the airshow, so he had to attend Friday, Saturday, and Sunday...he was in heaven despite it being hotter than heck. Even Paul got a bit enamored watching those jets and literally started musing about whether or not he could still be trained to be a jet pilot for the Reserves or National Guard! Hopefully that's just a passing thought! :} Here are a few photos capturing our jet craze so you know what I'm going through...

Here are the three little flyboys with the Thunderbirds parked behind them.

Here are the Thunderbirds literally flying towards a Montana thunderstorm!

Here's Joseph dreaming of being a flyboy!

Here's one of Joseph's many jet masterpieces!

The Things Kids Say...

The other day, Dominic was playing with his cars and trucks naming them one by one:

"Excavator, dump truck, fire truck, back hoe loader, convertible, semi-truck, hay-mer..."

"Hay-mer, what is a hay-mer," I asked him, as the strange word caught my attention in the kitchen.

He held up a skinny looking race car, and said "hay-mer" again.

So I wisely correct him and say, "No, Dominic, that's a race car."

"Nope," he relied, "it's a hay-mer," and he turned around and continued playing.

Alrightythen. I guess I should be thankful that my son has an creative imagination and won't be one to follow the crowd :)

Deep Thought Thursday #3

One of the highlights (or lowlights depending on your perspective) of our last camping adventure inspired this week's deep thought. My husband, our 3 boys, and myself were hiking along a beautiful creek and we stopped to take a short break to let the boys throw some rocks in the rushing stream. My husband chose a nice, tranquil place to sit and watch his sons improve their throwing arm. He truly looked like a rustic model, and I thought about taking a picture of him and submitting it to L.L. Bean or some ourdoorsy magazine. About 5 seconds after I had this thought, he jumps up like a mad-man and starts doing a frantic little jig while trying to swat a myriad of ants who were apparently protesting about this giant who dared sit so near their home. I was laughing so hard that I don't think I helped get many of the gutsy little buggers off of him. He was laughing too (once most of them were off and he escaped with only one tiny bite), and that brief, humorous incident sparked a few deep musings:

1. Always look before you sit


2. Always have your camera ready


3. Despite the inevitable "ants" that life sends your way, you can still choose to be a "happy camper"

Truly, for those who love the Lord and know of his abundant love, mercy, and grace, there is nothing this world can send that can steal away our joy if we focus on Him. Who knew ants-in-the-pants could be so inspiring? Deep thoughts from Happy Camper Maria :)

Father's Day Weekend

Over Father's Day weekend we embarked upon our 1st family camping trip of the summer. It was the ideal way to celebrate Father's Day because being in the great outdoors is what my husband loves best. He was truly in his element teaching his boys (and his bride) how to shoot a rifle, showing off his skills as camp-cook and fire-starter, helping his son Michael learn how to ride a bike without training wheels, and finishing the day sitting under the stars around the campfire drinking a beer or two. "Life just doesn't get any better than this," was written all over his face :) Here are a few photos of the weekend's highlights...

Paul in his "happy place" :)

Maria with a gun...something's wrong with this picture!

Paul loved being the instructor for "Rifle 101" with his sons!

Legos made Joseph a happy camper!

Michael was bursting with pride after his 1st bike ride with no training wheels!

Dump trucks and dirt...Dominic's dream come true!

Deep Thought Thursday #2

Now, I'm certainly no hockey guru, simply a concerned hockey mom, married to a former hockey stud, who has been watching the current Stanley Cup Play-Offs (GO PENS!) and getting a bit annoyed. I simply cannot understand the need for so much unsportsmanlike violence on the ice. And I don't mean just the fighting, which is also a lame waste of time exhibited by immature pansies who apparently have no self-control...I'm also referring to the hidden little jabbing, tripping, back-checking, slashing, and other sneaky means of provoking that the players hope and pray the refs don't see. I mean, really, is that necessary? Is that manly? I think not. I mean, think about it... What's manly about pulling a player's jersey over his head so he can't even fight back like a man? For the love of the game, can't players start acting like professionals on the ice? Just look at the Great One (that would be Wayne Gretzky for those of you who are clueless about hockey history)...Gretzky very rarely lost his temper, checked, or found himself twiddling his stick in the penalty box. I wish more players would follow his great example... Who knows, perhaps they'd become Great Ones too, and if they gave the glory to the Greatest One (God), than the Greatest game ever played would be even Greater...wouldn't that be GREAT! Deep thoughts by hockey mom Hurlbert :)

Lawn-Mower-Man & His Fan Club

Here's my hard-working Lawn-Mower-Man with his fan club happily watching him work...
Here's Lawn-Mower-Man's fan club working on their Mr. Freezy-Pops...
Here's who Lawn-Mower-Man hopes to see become the new Lawn-Mower-Boy so that he can happily sip a Mr. Beer while he watches his son work :)

Thankful for my Birthday Babe!

My husband, affectionately called "babe" by me, turned 38 today! Boy, he's getting old! Yesterday we took our boys for a bike ride to the park and then challenged them (and each other) to a series of races. I am ashamed to admit that my husband is faster than me...I guess those extra gray hairs and pounds haven't slowed him down as much as I thought! I really thought I could beat him...I used to beat the boys in high school track...how humbling. But thankfully (for my pride's sake) I can still beat our kids. Anyway, this morning Paul and I woke up stiff and sore and not feeling like the youthful kids we thought we were yesterday racing across the field with our little boys. But I have to say, there is no else I'd rather grow old with than my husband Paul. At 38 he's still as handsome to me as the day I became totally twitterpated. And although I wouldn't exactly call myself twitterpated anymore, I definitely love him more now than when he was a hot 27 year old sailor sweeping me off my feet :) I really love life and my family right now...hence the family picture of us posted with this blog. I love this picture...all of my kids are actually looking at the camera and smiling...that never happens. I love the way my hair-graying husband looks like a kid when he's looking at a map dreaming of shooting a monster bull and the way he still looks at me after all these years. I love the unique personalities of our boys and their fun ages right now. I love living surrounded by mountains and seeing beautiful snowflakes fall in June (yes, that's right, it snowed today!) And I love the Lord and all the things He's doing in my life and teaching me along the way. God is good.

Pillow Fighting

Anyone remember having pillow fights with their siblings? Now that my boys are done with school, they are finding all sorts of ways of keeping themselves entertained, one of which being old-fashioned pillow fighting. Even little Dominic got in on the fun. It was so fun to listen to them giggling while I was doing dishes, and eventually I just had to capture the moment with my camera. What the camera didn't capture was the inevitable outcome 5 minutes later of someone getting hit a little too hard and ending up in tears. Truly, it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Some things never change and that's OK :)

Deep Thought Thursday #1

As my friend Jenny and I were discussing the nuances of potty training this morning, as well as how dog-gone-cute our toddlers look in tighty-whities, we had the revelation about how pointless (no pun intended) it is for toddler underwear to have the little peter-flap in front. Anyone who has a toddler boy knows that their little peter is not nearly long enough to even fit through that opening, let alone being capable of pointing effectively into the potty without creating a pee catastrophy. After pondering further, I've decided it's simply another conspiracy against consumers, a marketing scheme to get mothers to buy the cute little undies, only to take them home and discover that someone could have made those a lot cheaper and more user-friendly without the cute little peter-flap. Just another example of how crazy our world is becoming. ...deep thoughts by Maria Hurlbert :)