"Someone has to provide for this life of luxury." That's one of Yosh's favorite sayings. It doesn't matter if I'm out of town visiting family. Or at the beach ALONE chasing three rugrats and trying desperately to keep them alive and well. Or at Disneyland ALONE with three kids, possibly holding two and trying to calm the third. Whenever we say, "We wish you were here with us," his standard reply comes out again, "Well someone has to provide for this life of luxury." A always quickly challenge his definition of luxury. (I'd love to send him to Disneyland solo with the chitlins and then BEG him to call it luxurious.) But he stands his ground and I surrender. Never really considered myself to be on his side of the fence. Until the other morning.

Dallin B comes into my room barely awake, rubbing his eyes. "Mom," he whines, "I need breakfast in bed." "What?" I'm shocked. Where in the world has he come up with this? "I need breakfast in bed," he says. I laugh out loud. "Dallin B, how do you know about breakfast in bed?" I mean, Yosh has brought me breakfast in bed a time or two. Possibly Mother's Day or something. Possibly. (Oh no, is this also the life of luxury he's talking about?!!) I feel like I have no choice. Except to bring the boy breakfast in bed. I go downstairs, slaving away to prepare some instant oatmeal with berries- as requested.

I deliver breakfast to a little boy relaxing on my bed. I transfer the platter to his outstretched hands. He simultaneously asks, "Mom, why aren't you still in bed?" And I have no response that seems plausible...except, "Someone has to provide for this life of luxury."

Guess what we had for dinner tonight? That's right...bacon cheeseburger sliders. You must be thinking, "What's the special occasion? Sliders- I can understand. But bacon cheeseburger sliders...something must be going on." And you're absolutely right. It is not everyday that I fry up some Trader Joe's Applewood bacon and throw it on a burger. And you know what? Maybe that in and of itself was the special occasion. I had two burgers- one with bacon and one without. And the one with was far superior. Not to mention the avocado I generously spread on both sides of the burger. Things were well tonight. And to celebrate the bacon- and possibly the sliders too- we ate outside. On a blanket. And I didn't get impatient with my kids. And they didn't get impatient with me. And there was sun. That only the hedge received, but we still saw it. And we even all took pictures of each other.

I have never claimed to be photogenic and this is proof that I'm always telling the truth. Unedited. Out of options. And Dallin B, on the other hand, has always claimed to be photogenic. All their photography skills are on the line. I think this is Porter's first solo session, so we'll forgive him for cutting off heads and blurring us out. And yes those are still my workout clothes from my 8:30 am run hiding underneath my apron. At least I went running and at least something is under that apron!!

How it Goes

I thought the day was off to a decent start. But before I knew it, mr deetz was a whiny mess (the story of his life these days) and Dallin B wasn't too far behind. Ok, and maybe I wasn't too far behind either, as long as we're being honest. I mean, really, were B and I really fighting over whether he was going to take a bath or shower? Yes, we were. And who won? I don't even know. Cuz he ended up asleep in his bed by his own free will by 10:30 and he hadn't bathed or showered by the time we left the house. That's right, red Popsicle residue streaming down his chest and last night's chocolate milk mustache still present. During his nap, I had decided to stop acting like a 4 yr old myself. When I went into his room to apologize, I found him asleep. But I still had the same resolve to be the bigger person- especially since I should be- once he woke up. When he woke up, we decided to all go to lunch. And I was going to let him pick where. Choices- we have lots of choices. Walking to the Village or Panda Express, going to Ruby's...but those would all be way too reasonable. He would like to drive 35ish minutes to Stonefire. And he let me know with a quivering chin, eyes welling up with tears and the plea, "But Mom, we haven't been there in forever." While this is true (as mentioned it's not next door) and their food is worthy of tears it's so good, I was still bugged. My resolve to be the good girl was slipping away. With all three kids loaded up and ready to go, we pulled out of the driveway. I was resigned to a sub-par day. And then I turned the radio on. What what? Are you serious? Sure enough Snoop Dogg is blaring through the speakers talking about sippin on gin and juice. "Lay back." Things were looking brighter already. All of a sudden, I'm subconsciously bobbin my head and can't help but sing along.

When we got to Stonefire, my patience had returned. The boys were angels. All 3 of them. To the point that- I kid you not- 8 people stopped to tell me what good-looking, well-behaved boys I had. And all I could do was smile and nod. Now I don't write this to say I'm an awesome mom or that I have three awesome boys. All I'm saying is that there is nothing a little Snoop Dogg can't fix.