Queen Domestica in the Land of Testosterone

My Own Barbershop Quartet

2011-02-03T11:09:00.000-05:00

Barbershop meets Show Choir. My not-so-inner music nerd is jumping for joy at this video. See, music is cool and fun! May your jaw fall open on awe, and stay that way, as mine did.

Life with 3 boys leads to many interesting situations, comments, and questions. Often I get asked if I am planning to have my own basketball team. No, I reply. Now I have a new response. "No, I am not planning to have my own basketball team. I plan to have my own Barbershop Quartet." When they ask why on earth I would do something like that, I can just point them to my music degree and then show them this video. "Ah, I now understand,"will be the response. Now, how to convince my fabulous husband (who can sing quite well, and in tune) to be the bass?

Life is Nuts

2010-11-18T10:00:00.002-05:00

Life is insane, as usual.

My fabulous husband went back to work Monday. Hooray for rejoining the ranks of the employed. On the down side, I am back to being the only adult around during the day. No more leaving the kids home while I go run errands. He also showed the kids the woods and creek behind the house. It is now common to have missing children, only to holler out the back door and wait for three little, very dirty hooligans to come trooping back up from the creek.

Thomas is doing well in school. He loves to read and reads to all of us often. Shocker, the kid needed glasses. One of these days we will get a picture up.

Jerry is Jerry. Less than a year until he is in school and we are all looking forward to the day.

Michael is no longer a baby. He looks so much like Jerry even I get them mixed up sometimes.

I am still teaching music and loving it. I am also doing well with Pampered Chef and loving that too. It is nice to get paid to have fun.

Currently I have two little hooligans in the back yard, still wearing their feety pajamas. Neither one wants to get dressed. I am quite enjoying the hysterical laughter coming through the open door. Love this weather! Wait, kids outside, laughter, this can't be good. Yikes, gotta run!

Tape It Together?

2010-09-18T17:21:00.003-04:00

Michael comes downstairs and says, "Mommy, Thomas popped Jerry's Balloon."

Soon after Jerry comes downstairs with a sad look on his little face that still has red birthday cake frosting on it. Balloon pieces are in one hand, the string is dragging behind him in the other hand.

"Thomas broke my balloon. We need to tape it back together."

Good concept, Jerry. Good thinking. I think this job is a bit much for a few pieces of tape. Although, if we had a balloon we could have Thomas blow it up and it should float to the clouds with all that hot air he is full of.

You're Serious

2010-09-10T18:47:00.002-04:00

Michael: Daddy, you're serious?

Daddy: yup

M: Daddy, you serious.

D: yup

M: Mommy, you serious?

Mommy: as a heart attack.

a little later, from the boys' room upstairs

M: Thomas, you serious?

M: Jerry, you serious?

Is he serious too? I think not. Now, where on earth he learned this one is anyone's guess. What a funny kid.

It Fits, Sort Of

2010-09-08T10:11:00.002-04:00

Jerry, are you wearing Michael's shorts?

giggle giggle

I check the tag on his shorts.

Jerry, why are you wearing Michael's shorts, silly boy?

I didn't have any, so I took Michael's!

giggle giggle, goofy grin

Have You Ever...?

2010-08-14T19:00:00.007-04:00

Been a while, I know. Been a bit busy around our house. Trip to the beach, time with lots of family, meeting new family, more doctor appointments than I have fingers and toes, starting school again, new students, and now home enhancements.

Every day I seem to find myself saying "I never thought I would...." Most of these are directly related to the hooligans. Most have my just hanging my head or walking out of the room until I can figure out how on earth to manage this new misadventure.
Have you ever been grateful to know that rubbing alcohol quickly and easily takes pretty pictures off the bodies of three little hooligans...

We won't mention the arms, legs, belly button, bum or other unmentionable parts that were also colored.

Have you ever cleaned ice cream or sherbet off the floor. The same bedroom floor on multiple occasions?

Have you ever cleaned the stuffing from a cat costume tail out of the space where the handle of the vacuum is supposed to slide down into the vacuum for easier storage? And then also found a toothbrush in said vacuum handle storage space thing?

Have you ever walked into a bedroom only to discover that your 4 year old decided that under the window is a good place to pee? Nevermind the bathroom that is only 10 steps away.

Have you ever scraped the popcorn off your ceiling? Have you ever cut holes into your ceiling? Have you ever eaten two plates full of mac n cheese and 3 hot dogs for dinner? Have you ever had your leg fall asleep while you are writing a blog post?

What on earth does tomorrow have in store for us?

A Nasal First

2010-07-20T15:33:00.002-04:00

We had our first object other than a finger shoved up a nose today. Is it terrible that my first thought was "Crap! I don't want to drive to the pediatrician again today, and we have 2 more other appointments that I can't reschedule."

No, it wasn't Jerry. I am SHOCKED!

Michael was on the stairs fussing, so I went to rescue him from his brothers. He also needed a diaper change. I quickly discovered. Boy did that child stink! As I picked him up and started to put him on the floor I noticed something green in his nose. Not booger green, this was metallic, shiny, green. That silly little boy had stuck a bead up his nose. Thanks for the Dress Up necklaces, Annnnnntamanda.

Smart Mommy that I am tried to get him to blow out like blowing his nose. He blew out his mouth. I tried to show him. Not exactly working. Mommy moment... close the nostril without a bead and blow. Yes, I am brilliant. You may now bow down to my incredible brain powers. One quick blow and a bead flew out at me. I have never been so happy to see something come out of my a child's nose.

Bead, in the trash. Michael, running around with his big brothers.

Moral of the story... only objects the size of your finger should be placed in your nose. They are much easier to get out.

Fun idea... if you do stick an object smaller than your finger in your nose and it gets stuck, try closing the other nostril and aiming for your brothers. Their reaction could be pretty funny. If anything, you could have a contest to see who can shoot the farthest.

Mom of the Year Award, here I come.

I Spy

2010-07-05T14:23:00.002-04:00

On the way home from dinner at Lolly's last night.

Kids: "Let's play I Spy!"

Thomas and Jerry fight over who gets to spy first.

Michael: "I Spy that house over there!" as we drive past.

I think we need to work on how to play this game with Michael.

A Horse Named Carl

2010-07-03T16:53:00.002-04:00

We were out running errands earlier today. We stopped at a local farm for some fresh corn to grill. Across the street is a beautiful house with lots of green grass. And eating that green grass was a horse.

Jerry, "Look! A horse! I think his name is Carl"

We start to laugh, look at each other, shake our heads, and wonder where on earth he comes up with these things.

Jerry, "You want to keep me. You want to keep me forever and ever. I tell funny jokes."

Yes, Jerry. We do want to keep you forever and ever. Your jokes may not make any sense at all, but you sure are a funny kid. We can't imagine how boring our life would be without you.

And pink is his favorite color. In case you haven't heard. And purple is his other favorite. And he will jump off the top of a play set, but is terrified of butterflies. Crazy kids!

Calling All Baseball Fans

2010-05-23T21:49:00.000-04:00

We were flipping channels this evening and came across a baseball game. Mets vs Yankees, in case that matters to you. Michael got a bit excited. So that might be an understatement. He went on and on like this for quite some time. He told us "out" at one point too. We both just sat and laughed at him. He is still holding the baseball and glove. He may have to go to bed with them. I think another family outing to small ball Carolina Mudcats is in order. What will he do if he gets to meet the players or walk onto the field again? And yes, this happens any time he sees baseball on TV and he carries the glove just about anywhere we go. He even puts socks on his hands for gloves and wears his bike helmet for a batting helmet. You could say he is a fan.

Mushtash

2010-05-08T12:22:00.002-04:00

"Look Mommy, I have a mushtash!"

Yes Thomas, yes, you do. Although, the marshmallows do leave some bare spots. Nice hand position too. You should be a model.

Mr. Fix-It

2010-05-05T09:30:00.003-04:00

The door on our game cabinet met another disaster. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but it came off, again. Jerry fixed it for me this morning. Yes, that is a bandaid to hold the broken piece on. Nice jammas kid. Tell your parents you need a haircut, and pronto.

Bandaid, the first step towards duct tape.

(A More Real) Love Story

2010-05-04T15:56:00.001-04:00

I figured out how to post the video, go me!

Taylor Swift's "Love Story" is cute and fun, and so is the video. Here is a more real version. It just happens to be my life, although, I did get a shower today. They even drive a Honda Odyssey. Now who is going to keep the hooligans for a date night? And who is going to fill in my fabulous husband about this wonderful plan and help him make it happen?

The Real "Love Story"

2010-05-04T09:04:00.003-04:00

Taylor Swift's "Love Story" is cute and fun. Here is the non-fairytale version. Enjoy a look into my life, complete with a Honda Odyssey mom mobile.

When I figure out how to post the video and not just the link I'll fix it.

123456

2010-05-03T08:43:00.002-04:00

I am definitely an easily amused person. On the way to pick up Thomas from school the other day the odometer on the mom mobile hit 123456. I called my fabulous husband to tell him. He humored me and said "Oh, how fun." I even took a picture, but it didn't turn out. Oh well.

What amuses you?

My baby is singing about who knows what, but it sure is cute.

Beans ala Domestica

2010-04-22T11:57:00.003-04:00

I did it! Mark off another accomplishment on the Domestic Goddess checklist.

I have a habit of buying dry beans. Do I have any idea how to prepare them? No, not really. But they are a good food storage item, and they are so much cheaper and better for you than the canned beans. I buy canned beans in the same shopping trip as the dried beans. Does that make me extra prepared?

I finally decided I had to learn this skill. I remember Aunt Scottie preparing and cooking beans at the beach. Why didn't I ask and learn then? Oh yeah, I was a teenage twit. I found a great tutorial that seemed simple and fail proof.

Last night I sorted and pulled out the broken beans and the rocks, just like the directions said. Why on earth are there rocks in with beans? If technology can dismiss the substandard Cheeto before it gets to the bag, why can't technology get rid of the rocks? I'll solve that mystery later. Right along with where all the socks go.

Oh yeah, beans. I sorted and got my hands dirty. Dirty, dirty beans. Then soaked them in hot water in my super huge and oh-so-nice Pampered Chef 6 quart bowl. This morning I drained and rinsed them. And I discovered the wretched little black beans turned my bowl black. Eventually it did come clean. Otherwise, I might never attempt fixing my own beans again. Lucky little beans.

Beans, the point of this story. Sorry. They cooked on the stove for a long time. They boiled over and made a mess of my stove top. They bubbled and spit on the back of my stove. They made a big black mess. Should have taken a picture.

They were done, finally. Not like I did anything but stir them once in a while. The tutorial didn't say to stir, but it made me feel better. Then I started bagging them. And I burned my right hand. I overfilled the measuring cup and the hot bean liquid sloshed back all over my hand. Note to self and lesson learned. Ouch is all I have to say about that one. A friend suggested shocking them in a bowl of ice water before putting them in the freezer to prevent gritty beans later. Nobody likes gritty beans.

I now have 5 bags of black beans in my freezer just waiting to be added to some rice in a burrito. I even saved some for my lunch today.

My kitchen was a mess, but now all dishes are clean. The counters and stove are all clean and black bean free. Go me!

No more cans for me. Unless I forget to do the next batch of beans and need to fix dinner now and don't have any beans ready and call my mom to see if she has any she can bring or send my fabulous husband to the store to save my tail again because I am a dingbat and can't figure out how to plan ahead or replace something when my stash is running low. But that is a whole other post for another day.

For now, I am one step closer to becoming a Domestic Goddess. And I have about a dozen more bags of dried beans in my pantry just waiting to be prepared and stashed in the freezer. I feel healthier and more frugal already.

I WON!

2010-04-07T10:26:00.002-04:00

I rarely win anything, but I WON! A blog I follow is a great money saving blog with all kinds of tips and ideas and deals that are seriously helping my budget. She is really funny too, and she drives a Suburban, so I have to like her. Seriously, go check her out. It'll be fun. Yesterday she offered a can of Shelf Reliance taco TVP on her blog. I won!!! If you have no idea what Shelf Reliance is, take a look. I so want the can rotating systems. They also have tons of dehydrated, freeze dried, and other food, as well as lots of food storage and self reliance items. Need a year supply? You can order an entire year with one click. They make it super easy.

Back to my story. I had been planning to order a can of something at a time, just to see if the family would like it. If they won't eat it, it isn't food storage, just wasted space. Lo and behold, the fabulous Tiffany offers up a can of one of the exact items I wanted to try. Of course I was going to enter, but certainly not expecting to win. Thanks so much Tiffany for getting us started on this part of our food storage and year supply venture. If you need dish washing tabs or paper towels, we've got you covered.

Also, if you decide Shelf Reliance is for you, get up with Tiffany and place an order. She is a new consultant with Shelf Reliance, and I am all about supporting independent consultants. Pampered Chef, anyone? Call me :)

Have You Ever Wondered...

2010-04-01T12:58:00.003-04:00

I meant to post this last night. Oh well.

Have you ever wondered what happens when your kids get up before you do?

They will help themselves to the chocolate cake that is sitting on the counter. They will eat it in the living room and get crumbs all over the carpet. They will turn on the TV and watch cartoons when they both know they are not allowed to watch TV. They may have had some grapes too.

While doing all this they will leave you alone and let you sleep until 8:30.

Let them eat cake! And then give the baby a cupcake for breakfast when he wakes up, because it is only fair.

Have you ever wondered what happens when a wet diaper gets thrown up at the ceiling?

Wonder no more. I even have pictures to answer the question.

Yes, while I was teaching and they were supposedly having naps and quiet time, the older hooligans trashed their room. They also came down and interrupted my lesson, but that is another issue. Dress ups everywhere, toy box from one end of the room to the other. And an exploded diaper all over the room. Ceiling, floor, stuck to the dresser and window, on the window sill... everywhere. Lucky for someone, who I am not exactly sure, I forgot to change the vacuum bag the day before.

I am not sure if I prefer this kind of exploded diaper or the blowout kind of exploded diaper. I do know I prefer neither.

The evidence, after toys and dress ups were already cleaned up.

Have you ever wondered what happens to hooligans like this at the end of the day?

After several time outs and dinner they were sent upstairs for bed. The house was entirely too quiet. Hooligans and silence can't be a good thing.

Maybe it can.

My fabulous husband called me upstairs when he went up to investigate. Oh dear, what have they done now?!?! I look in the room and see two sweet, not so little hooligans curled up in their bed, under the covers, snoring. Not even five minutes and they were both out cold at 6:30.

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to want to strangle your hooligans and give them away one minute and just stand and watch their angelic and awe inspiring countenance the next?

Come to my house and find out. I promise, it won't be boring, and it will definitely be worth it.

Shame

2010-03-29T22:22:00.004-04:00

My fabulous husband reminded me how terrible I am with the blog. I will now hang my head in shame. Aaaaaaaand, I'm over it. In my defense, I started a new job/business as a Pampered Chef Consultant (so much fun!), still teach and perform, volunteer at school, have busy church callings, have three crazy hooligans, and do not do mornings. My fabulous husband is still working to keep a roof over our heads, food in our ever hungry mouths, and all that other provide for your family stuff. The hooligans are all still alive and a little older. Thomas is 7, Jerry is 4, and Michael talks! We have a bunch more miles on the mom mobile, as in over 6000 miles in 2 weeks, what an adventure. We are all plugging along and making the best of what we've got. If I'm a good girl I will get more stories and details and disasters up soon. I never really was a good girl though, so don't hold your breath too long.

Hot Girl

2009-12-08T13:29:00.002-05:00

Background for my story: There is a commercial on the radio for wireless internet. Girl runs into old boyfriend at the park because she isn't stuck at home blogging (like me). They go out for coffee.

Girl: "You're slurping"
BF: "So?"
"Check please"
"We goin Dutch?"

They go away for the weekend.

"What are you looking at?"
"That hermit crab over there."
"What, that hermit crab next to that hot girl?"
"I didn't put it there"
"Creep!"

And now she remembers why she broke up with him in the first place.

Now, the story.

We are on our way to the chili cookoff at church. Commercial comes on. We pay no attention the the commercial because it is a commercial. From the back seat Jerry says "I not gonna be a hottie girl."

"That's good" My fabulous husband replies.

"Yeah, I not be a hottie girl. I not gonna be a creep either"

I just about spilled the crock pot full of chili in my lap from laughing.

Glad to hear it Jerry. I don't want you to be a hottie girl or a creep either. Good thing we got that one straight at an early age.

That Time of Year

2009-12-01T23:58:00.002-05:00

It is that time of year. Sorry folks. I am meeting myself coming and going. I have no idea what day it is half the time. The world would come to a screeching halt if I didn't have my calendar. Sleep is elusive. My cell phone is about the only way to catch me, and even then only when we are between points A and B. Between rehearsals and performances, the life of a musician is a bit busy. Add to that the busy life of a mom of 3 boys and things get really interesting.

Thanksgiving was great. Concerts went well. Solos were fun. House is a mess. Meals are interesting and last minute. Hot dogs, cheese roll ups, PB, and cereal are staples of our diet. We live in the mom-mobile. Just a couple more weeks and life slows down. On the bright side, Christmas is done around here. The list was made a while ago, and all is done and waiting now. GO ME!! Now I need to go take out the last batch of mini bread loaves that will be teacher gifts in a few days. Yes, baking at midnight, the way things are right now. My bed misses me.

See you when the musician's busy season is over.

Messiah Ballet

2009-11-12T20:41:00.002-05:00

I am so excited about my latest singing opportunity!

Thanksgiving weekend I get to sing Messiah with the Ballet. Could that weekend get any better?

I also have a solo!

If you have never had the chance to see this performance, you are missing out. This is one of the most beautiful performances I have ever seen. How often do you get ballet, beautiful music, and a beautiful and incredible story. The members of the ballet company are incredibly talented and emit such emotion and beauty in their performance. Even the rehearsal touches your heart. Words cannot describe this show, you just have to come see it. When I was in college I had the opportunity to see the Ballet perform Messiah and one of my music teachers was a soloist. Time flew that night. We could have watched it over again. I wanted to go back for the next performance. Even my fabulous husband was touched. I would pick this performance over Nutcracker any day.

Please, come treat your ears, eyes, and your soul to the most moving and breathtaking performances. You will not regret coming!

Contact me for more details (specific date, time, discount offers)

I Want this Blanket

2009-11-10T12:35:00.002-05:00

Layla Grayce Blanket Set GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Go click this link for the softest looking blanket I think I have ever seen. I want this blanket for myself. My hooligans love soft blankets to snuggle with too. Do you think they would make it big enough to be a bed cover?

Where Are You From?

2009-10-31T09:23:00.002-04:00

Thomas was working on his spelling homework the other night. One of the exercises is to write sentences with the words. The sentence he came up with for "grin" was "A smile is a grin." Cute sentence.

He was busy working, I was busy getting dinner ready.

"Mom, how do I spell smile?"

"Sound it out. You can do it."

"S-M-I... What comes next?"

"Sound it out, Thomas."

"S-M-I-Y-U-L-L!"

Um, not quite. Only, exactly how it sounds when he says it. I set him straight while laughing at his serious southern drawl. Phonetics can be quite interesting when you have a bit of an accent.

The Good Mom

2009-10-25T22:13:00.002-04:00

In my head I have all these ideas of what makes a good mom. Some I learned from my mom, others I came up with from seeing other moms, some from what society says makes a good mom, and others from who knows where.

What makes a good mom, at least in my little head?

feed the hooligans
drive them to school
help with homework
provide clean clothes
bake cookies
do fun crafts and other exciting activities
make Halloween costumes
happily teach throughout life
read scriptures together
say family prayers
hot breakfast on the table each day
cute notes in your lunch box
make pajamas for Christmas
play games
good nutritious dinner on the table
calm in the face of disasters
patient in all things
puts everyone to bed on time with hugs and songs
has endless ideas to teach and nurture
makes sure teeth are all brushed and clean
kids are neat and clean
teach about the world
attend all meetings and activities
be on the PTA
serve as room mom
help with field trips
posts on the blog regularly
takes a shower each day
has clean walls, with no sharks on them
maintains a spotless house

My list could go on and on and on. Unfortunately, I seem to be lacking in many of these qualities. However, I don't feel like I am the bad mom either. My kids seem happy. Dirty, but happy. We have fun. We teach and learn from each other every day. They smile, even if they do have fur on their teeth.

What have I learned from being a mom? We are all different and good moms in our own way. Those qualities that may seem to make us a good mom, don't necessarily make it so. We do the best we can with what we have. If I try to be everything I think makes me a good mom, I will never sleep and will not be a good mom. I can't do and be everything all the time. Doing things to say they are done isn't the point. My hooligans don't have a checklist for what makes me a good mom, only I do. The priority is not the stuff or great things, but the time and the quality.

I am far from perfect, but I love my hooligans and I do the best I can for them. Hopefully, in the end, they will think I was a pretty nifty mom. They will remember that I tried to be a good mom. There will be no doubt that they are loved. Wrestling on the floor and eating brownies for lunch are far more important that many of the "important" things in life. My house may not be perfect, but it is a home. And a loving home and family far outweigh being the good mom in my head.

I can now check playing with the hooligans, good dinner, somewhat clean and dressed for church, and blogging off that list, for today. Now to do the dishes. Oh, wait, my fabulous husband took care of that while I edited his paper. Life is good.

What to Write?

2009-10-12T22:27:00.002-04:00

I am trying to post every day. Sometimes that is much easier said than done. Yes, I have past posts to get on here still, but I just shut down my computer that has the pictures on it.

Today...

I tried to do something fun for the kids for lunch. I cut up fun stuff like apples and bananas and cheese and hot dogs. I put it all into a muffin pan. In theory, the kids would think it was fun and exciting. In reality, they ate most of it. They put ketchup on apples, cheese on bananas, and all sorts of odd and gross combinations. Then they started launching it across the kitchen. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea.

On a fun note, I have a double jogger. I inherited it and can't wait to try it out. Maybe I can even get back into running again. When I put Jerry in it and asked if he liked it, he said NO. Tough turkey kid, you have to ride in it anyway.

Thomas had Flat Stanley for school over fall break. I'll explain later. We got fun pictures of Stanley doing various activities and Lolly even took him on a road trip. I sent the pictures to Target to get them printed and my fabulous husband was going to pick them up. When he went to get them, they were nowhere to be found. Turns out the online hosting site is having issues. Sorry Thomas, you have to wait 24-48 hours to get your pictures.

Happy Monday!

Boys and Football

2009-10-11T19:05:00.002-04:00

The hooligans and my fabulous husband are watching football together. Channel surfing ensued and this is where they ended up. I'm not sure the hooligans understand football, or any sports for that matter. I certainly have never figured out the game. Rugby was definitely more interesting and easier to figure out and certainly moved faster thanks to not clock stopping. So fun, you really ought to watch it some time. Really. Legs like you have never seen, no protective gear, incredible legs. Did I mention the unbelievable legs on those guys. My trainer played rugby. It fascinates me.

Back to American football.

Interesting comments...

"Those guys are the best!"

"I like the yellow guys. I mean the gold."

"I like football."

"What are they doing?"

I have to agree with the what are they doing comment.

And now they are all sitting in the toy bins, on the blue carpet. I feel a round of boats or pirates or something of the sort coming on. Just the kids, not the husband playing this game. I don't have a bin that would work for him. He also doesn't like to smash his knees up into his nose for the sake of an imaginary game.

Tiger Pirate or Pirate Tiger?

2009-10-08T22:13:00.005-04:00

We had a great day today. We had the opportunity to help out some other people and the kids went along and were most helpful. After dinner and showers we even watched a movie. Even better, I only had to go upstairs once to get them to go to sleep.

And now, for some not so recent pictures. These came up on the screen saver today and I thought they were cute, so I decided to post them.

I seem to have a vast number of pictures that have fun stories that I plan to post, yet somehow never do. Maybe I will make a habit of posting older pictures and stories. Rats, when I do that, it just leaves more recent ones on the wait list and then I get behind again. Be prepared for pictures in no chronological order but with cute or fun or pointless stories to come.

Yeah, that sounds like fun.
This was back in January 2009. Pirate Jerry took Tiger Michal's ears and found himself quite cute and funny. I especially like the orange bowl and camera case he chose to use as accessories.

Oops, seems the tiger forgot to cover his legs. Or maybe his mom is just too much of a slacker to do the snaps after changing a diaper.

Oh dear, I seem to see a problem here. The tiger is studying the antics of the pirate. Looking back, I see where he learned his tricks. Perhaps if I had studied them earlier, Michael would not have learned so much and be creating so much trouble now. Maybe not. Big brothers are supposed to pass all their skills and tricks on to younger brothers.

YIKES! Somebody give that tiger a hair cut! Why on earth do I let my kids get that scraggly ragamuffin hair before I cut it? It looks so cute at the time. Then I see a picture and want to photoshop their hair shorter.

Enough with the nostalgia of 10 months ago. Back to reality and the loads of laundry that need to be done and the groceries to put away and the kitchen to sweep. At least I unloaded the dishwasher earlier.

How Was Your Morning?

2009-10-07T10:27:00.006-04:00

My hooligans were so good this morning. They were playing and laughing in their room and having fun. It was a great morning.

WRONG

I went in to let them downstairs for breakfast and discover a nightmare.

Chocolate footprints all over the floor. A pint of Chocolate Cookies and Cream ice cream partially eaten and partially melted next to the closet. Sticky door knob. Two very guilty hooligans.

It seems that Jerry snuck downstairs and got my ice cream and a spoon. He then took them upstairs and began to eat. And everyone knows that ice cream is better on your TOES. Yes, he stuck his TOES in the ice cream. Then he pranced his little self all around the room. Moms just love to find chocolate footprints all over the room. We live for it, don't you know?

A side view of the little prints and spills. There were more all around the room, but this was definitely the point of origin. Can you see the little toes. Wait, I see some hand prints too.

Do you have a carpet cleaner? If not, you should invest. My little scrubber has revived many a carpet.

An hour into cleaning most of the prints were gone. All that remained was the worst of it. My knees were soaking wet.

I just love cleaning carpets first thing in the morning.

Poor little Michael got the short end of the stick too. I couldn't let him out of his bed because I knew he would add more little footprints to the scene. So he sat in his bed yelling "Maaamaaaa" over and over.
In the end, I think I won. After almost 2 hours. There is one little spot left in the picture, but I killed that one with some Spot Shot soon after. I used almost an entire bottle of cleaner and made countless trips to the bathroom to dump out the nasty chocolate/cleaner mix or to refill the cleaner dispenser.

Don't you just love my little carpet cleaner? The not-so-baby is quite the nice touch to the cleaning process as well. Just look at those legs. Once I turn the cleaner on he can't get away fast enough.

If you look really close, you can see the purple sharks still on the wall.

Not only did I have to clean up the mess, but I had to try and fix my little cleaner. Somehow something got stuck in the spray line. It came out, but only a little at a time. I was shooting cleaner all over the floor. There was no telling which direction the spray was going to go. Yeah, just a bit frustrated with that one.

I still have my two older children. My carpet survived another disaster. I have more ice cream in the freezer. I smell like carpet cleaner. My knees are still wet. My bum is soaked from sitting on the wet carpet. I didn't get breakfast. My children are forbidden from entering the kitchen for the rest of their lives. I have a headache.

Maybe I will banish my children to tents in the back yard. Then it won't matter if they prance around with chocolate ice cream on their toes. Oh, wait, they would run into the street chasing a bug or the ice cream truck. No bugs, Jerry is afraid of them, but definitely the ice cream truck. Shhhh, don't tell Child Protective Services about my tent city and chain gang children in the back yard.

Moral: Laughing children are just as dangerous as quiet children.

I wanted to use a brown font in honor of the chocolate ice cream, but it looked just a bit gross, so purple it is today.

Now, I will go and clean their stinky boy bathroom and do more laundry.

I Have a Surprise for You

2009-10-05T11:24:00.002-04:00

Thursday morning I informed the hooligans I had a surprise for them. I had been planning for a while, but prefer to wait until as late as possible to tell them. Something about "is it time yet" or "I'm ready to go" constantly coming out of their cute little mouths in whining tones makes the planned trip less than enticing for me.

We were all playing on my bed when I told them I had a surprise for them. Of course, they got all kinds of excited and wanted to know what the surprise is. I decided to have fun with it.

I whisper to Jerry "We're going on a trip."

Jerry: We're going on a trip?!?!
Me: Yep
Thomas: Are we going to the dinosaur trail? (he could hardly contain himself with excitement)
J: No, that's too scary.
T: No *with that you silly boy tone of voice* they're models *duh, everybody knows that*
J: Oh, ok *smiles and laughs*

Then I tell them where we are going...
Me whisper to Jerry: We're going to ride horses
J: We are?!?!
M: Yes
J: I have to go tell Thomas! (Thomas was sitting right next to him)

A few minutes later...
J: I want to ride a black horse
T: I want to ride a magical horse

And so the morning continued.

We had lots of fun on out little mini adventure. More details and plenty of pictures to come. For now, I have to deal with whiny children who keep annoying each other and thus annoying me. At least I made yummy cheesy bread braids. Yeah, more to come on that one too.

Call Me Alexander

2009-09-30T14:11:00.007-04:00

Alexander had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Call me Alexander, or Alexandra if you will.

I finally slept pretty well last night. Until the alarm went off. Then a kid got up. Then I tried to go back to bed and snuggle with him. He didn't sit still, he didn't keep quiet, he didn't let me sleep. I nodded off a bit, then the phone rang. Forget it. I give up. Some days are just meant to be rough.

We went downstairs and had breakfast without major incident. The hooligans made a mess and didn't clean it up. I put them in their room so I could take a shower before we ventured out into the world.

Shower was great. I got dressed in my jeans that make me feel good, my rockin' Danskos that my fabulous husband surprised me with several months ago, and even dried my hair and brushed my teeth.

As I was going to the hooligan containment unit, I heard Thomas yelling "MOM, Jerry drew on the wall!"

GREAT! I just love when my kids draw on the walls with utensils that shouldn't be in their rooms. What fascinating surprise will I find this time?

The picture does not do the shark justice. The shark that Jerry supposedly drew is probably 7 feet long. From the door to the closet is shark. Purple shark. Jerry can't draw a stick figure. At this point, I draw better than Jerry, and that says a lot.

"Thomas, let's try this again. And this time, you will tell me the truth."

"I did it," came the pitiful wail.

Sorry bud, no sympathy here.

Then, I turn around to see this little guy on another wall.

Nice. He is kinda cute, though.

I turn to walk out the door while trying to not throw children out the door or sprout 3 heads and scream like a banshee. I see this master work of art on another wall.

LIVID! That doesn't even begin to describe me this morning.

Then, we head over for the previously blogged about Wal-mart trip.

This day really stinks. Big time.

I go to post Michael's birthday pictures and discover my memory card is missing. The living room is still a mess that the hooligans were supposed to take care of.

Time to teach a voice lesson. Send the hooligans to their room. Michael goes down for his nap like a little angel.

Near the end of the lesson Thomas brings me a bag and says "Jerry ate these."

I keep a bag of goodies in my purse. A handful of skittles, starburst, Hersey's kisses. It comes in handy when I need to bribe, I mean reward, my kids.

No rewards today. They had taken my purse up to their room. They ate almost all the goodies in my purse. They found fruit snacks in my purse that I keep for while we are sitting in the carpool line. Thomas took my chapstick, my good chapstick, and tried to clean the crayon off the walls.

I have no magic erasers because I used them all last week and ran out after cleaning the last disaster on the wall, thank you Michael. I have no magic erasers because Wal-mart really messed up my day and I didn't make it to Target to get the great deals on them that my coupons expire today.

Dinner is in the crock pot and will likely burn or not be cooked all the way. That is just what I predict. There is also probably a bill for $34,239,340.17 in my mailbox waiting for me. And I bet my phone will ring to tell me someone died and my fabulous husband was in a wreck and has lost his job. And I probably have an inoperable brain tumor and will need to have my left big toe amputated. And my ears will fall off and my teeth will rot out in my sleep. It is just one of those days.

I quite. I'm done. I am going to bed and not coming out until you can guarantee me it will be a better day.

Anybody want any kids? They are cute and loving and give great hugs. They have blue eyes and blond hair that will melt your heart. They are adventurous and creative. They are problem solvers and will keep you entertained. Both are potty trained and can scavenge their own food.

Hello, my name is Alexandra. I am having a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day.

I will no go drink a Dr. Pepper and eat junk food.

It Should Have Been Easy

2009-09-30T12:16:00.002-04:00

This should have been easy.

Mission: Go to Wal-mart for leftover Sunday newspapers.

What actually happened:

I called ahead to verify that they had the papers. "Yes, we do. They are usually here all week." Perfect! After a shower and a disaster, more on that one to come, we headed out to the store. Me and all three hooligans. Easy is relative.

Park, head inside. No cart necessary, this will be quick. Kids, hold hands. Stay close.

Grab 2 papers, head to check out. Discover that the papers are today, not Sunday. Check out girl says go get the Sunday papers and we will exchange it. Great. No problem. Slight inconvenience, but easy fix.

No papers. Anywhere. I must be blind, they said they are here.

Go back to customer service, which is falsely called such. More like customer headache. Nope, papers have been gone since Sunday night.

Get refund.

Not quite.

I had left my change there with the papers and the clerk because I was coming right back. Clerk refunds me the price of the papers, but puts my previous change back in her drawer. I tell her I should have $3 returned, not $2.42 that she gave me. She tried for all she was worth to convince me that she was right and it all worked out. "My drawer will be short," she says. I try to recount what happened... I gave you $3, you set the change on the papers I was going to exchange, when I returned you put my change from on top of the papers (which I should have just put in my pocket, but was too set on getting the papers) into the drawer, then you refunded me the cost of the papers. I gave you $3, so I should leave with $3. She got irritated and called to have her drawer counted because she was so sure she was going to have her drawer be short.

As this entire saga goes on, the hooligans are losing it. Sitting still, not gonna happen. Sit on the bench, not gonna happen. Keep your hands to yourself, not gonna happen. Everyone around us getting irritated, so gonna happen.

Stress level, continually rising. Anxiety level, not far behind. Irritation level, on the rise. However, in spite of this, I was very nice and polite to the cashier. I was calm and patient and tried to be as kind and understanding and logical as possible.

Cashier grumbles about annoying people who won't let things go when there is a long line. Manager sends her to go work on another register so manager can count. Manager cuts me off when I try to explain to save time and headaches. Another clerk comes and asks if she can help. Manager says she can't run a register, but she can count this one. New clerk was happy to help. New clerk continues to count register and asks me what the amount is and what happened. "I would have just given you the change. Here you go."

Thank you. On my way out.

No time to run to Target. Wal-mart took 72.8 times longer than it should have. Now I have to find some other window of time to make that trip. And the CVS trip. Please, no kids this time. Wishful thinking.

Moral: Nothing is easy, especially with kids.

Secondary moral: Far too many people are lacking in common sense and simple math skills.

Other Secondary moral: Nobody likes to be wrong, even if it is painfully obvious.

What you should know about me: If I am right, I will fight to prove that I am right. I will not give up just to give up if I am absolutely certain I am right. You will not cheat me out of money when I know I am right. I do not like Wal-mart, but they have great deals that keep me coming back, in spite of my distaste for the store. Tight budget means cheap shopping. The store I went to is one of my least favorite locations, but it was the only one with a working phone number where someone answered. Newer locations tend to have people with more common sense, at least in my experience.

Anybody have Sunday ads they want to donate to my coupon binder? I could really use a couple more Tide coupons for the CVS sale this week.

Duck!

2009-09-28T18:39:00.001-04:00

Kid: Michael is about to throw a ball at us.

Mom: Make sure you duck!

Yep, I just qualified myself for the Mom of the Year award. Don't you wish you were as good a mom as I am?

Later....

Kid: OUCH! He made me hit my head on the wall.

Mom: Oh well. When you play rough, you get hurt. Now go play some more.

More wrestling ensues.

Michael's Two!

2009-09-27T22:09:00.003-04:00

Michale turned two today! I am not exactly sure where all the time went, but it went. I know many moms say that on each birthday, but with each birthday of a kid, I get reminded over and over.

This weekend I have been doing the "at this time two years ago I was...." At lunch on yesterday Lolly mentioned the 1am phone call she got two years ago. If you missed that one, check it out here and relive that exciting day.

CiCi's pizza is one of our family favorites. Can you really beat all you can eat pizza, pasta, and salad, and dessert, and cheap too. Kids 4 and under are free, for crying out loud. Lunch at CiCi's then back home for fun and goodies. Today we had his favorite foods for dinner... Mac N Cheese and Hot Dogs. I even let the hooligans have fruit punch with dinner.

I did manage to get pictures of yesterday and today's fun. I will get those up soon.

Happy Birthday little buddy! We love you bunches and have had so much fun with you for the last two years. We look forward to lots more fun, adventures, loves and hugs. You are one special little boy! You are my favorite 2 year old :)

Happiness

2009-09-23T22:35:00.002-04:00

At the beach.
With Aunt Amanda.
In a big squishy chair.
Does life get much better than this?

Conversations in the Car

2009-09-22T15:36:00.006-04:00

This picture is old and completely unrelated, other than being Thomas. But isn't he so sweet?

Do you ever have those days when you wish you could record the conversation and replay it later? All too often those happen in the car. Today was no exception.

Thomas: I want to make Flat Stanley be Dark Vader.

Me: Oh yeah?

T: Yeah. He has a red light saver. Obie Kanobie has a blue one.

M: He does, huh?

T: Yeah. And who is that other guy he is with?

M: I don't know. Obie Kanobie is with lots of people at different times. (Yes, I know it is Kenobie, but I wanted to keep him going because it was so cute and honest)

M: Are you talking about Luke or Anakin or...

T: Luke! He has a green light saver.

T: When I grow up I want a red light saver. I want a real one, not a pretend one. A light saver like they have, not like the candy.

T: The other guy has a green one too.

M: What other guy.

T: The other guy.

M: Can you tell me what he looks like?

T: The little guy, in Star Wars.

M: The green guy?

T: Yeah! The green guy.

M: His name is Yoda.

T: Yeah, Yoda. He has a green light saver too.

Maybe when he gets a little bigger I will tell him that Gingams has hair like Yoda. But that, my friends, is another story for another day. Or maybe not. Maybe you had to be there. Cousins and other unruly family folk, tell me, did you have to be there for that one to be funny?

And the conversations just continued. Different topics, but all just as funny and matter of fact as you can be. I can't even remember everything they talked about, but it was a funny trip home today. Thomas also wants a 3-dollar bill for dress down day, the day they can buy a pass to wear regular clothes and not uniforms.

I love my kids. They are so funny. I think I just might keep them.

Biker Boys

2009-09-21T22:25:00.008-04:00

Saturday we all went out for a little mini adventure.

My fabulous husband rides a motorcycle. It is his fun and stress relief. I call him the flying bumblebee because his bike is yellow and he wears a yellow jacket and black pants. He says he is the stunt driver for the Fire Department. Lest you worry about him, he wears safety gear from head to toe.

One of his fun things with the bike is an online biker forum. Not your Hell's Angels or other bad image kind of group. A bunch of middle age careful riders who have fun going out to dinner or chasing pictures. A fun game they play is called TAG. He does the NC tag, but there are other states and even a US tag. Someone posts a picture of their bike at a random location. They don't give much by way of details. The object is to get a picture of your bike in the same location. Then you have to be the first one to post your picture, and you are not allowed to use a previously taken picture. If you are first, you get to post your bike at a new location within 24 hours. My fabulous husband has caught several in the past and we have fun hunting them down from the couch to see if he can go chase it. We call them the Arm Chair Tag Getters. Sometimes someone gets it posted first and you get bruced, but it is still fun.

Anyway, now that you know the game, you can understand the fun. Remember that motorcycle Jerry got for his birthday? Well, here it is again.

My fabulous husband got the tag Saturday morning and we were trying to come up with a new fun one to post for the next chaser to get. He had wanted to get a picture at this location, so I suggested packing up the hooligans and taking then along for the ride and a fun picture.

Cute? Yeah, I think so too.
Jerry with his helmet, or hemet as he says, or haaaaaa as Michael says, and his gloves. It is not unusual to find him riding the bike around the house with a jacket, cowboy boots, mittens, and some sort of head gear. At least he wears all his gear to protect from those rug burns.

The whole crew on the side of the road.

Isn't he cute on the bike too? He's another mitten and cowboy boot kid. Maybe he will get his own bike for his birthday next week.

And then the camera died.

Sorry Thomas. We love you, but the batteries didn't hold out for you. You're too big for the little bike anyway. Maybe we can get a picture of him on his bike next to daddy on the big bike.

We all had fun, which is what the tags are all about.

Random unrelated bit of information that is slightly related... This is the baseball team I sing for. The kids were quite upset we didn't get to go see a game this time. Sorry kids, season is over.

What fun family adventures have you taken recently?

Can You Hear Me Smiling?

2009-09-19T22:43:00.005-04:00

I went shopping tonight.

I went shopping tonight without kids.

I went shopping tonight without kids and took my time.

I went shopping tonight without kids and took my time and saved BIG TIME!

On the way home I called my fabulous husband to tell him about my escapades. He was less than impressed. Thanks to my great friend and incredible mom for sharing in my excitement. They could hear me smiling over the phone. Why was I smiling so huge that I had to call people and share, you ask?

Kroger has great deals this week. You get 10 items and automatically get $5 off your purchase. You can combine as well, so if you have 20 items you get $10 off. Not only are they great deals, they are name brands like Philadelphia cream cheese, Kraft cheese blocks and slices, Pop Tarts, DiGiorno, Edy's ice cream. Yeah, total score on that alone. Then, go and add some coupons on top. Yeah baby! Kroger is also doubling up to $.50, so double score.

The loot... 8 boxes Kraft Mac n Cheese, 2 large Jell-O Pudding, 2 Cream Cheese, 2 Kraft Pepper Jack blocks, 2 Kraft singles, 2 12 count Pop Tart, 2 Nestle chocolate chips, 1 DiGiorno flatbread (Tuscan Chicken, YUM), Edy's Mint Brownie Bites Overload. I also got Tyson boneless, skinless on a good sale and Tostitos chips for my fabulous husband to use with his favorite salsa that I have a stock of, but no chips with which to eat it.

The deals... multiple coupons on cream cheese, cheese, slice cheese, pop tart, chocolate chips, and DiGiorno.

In the ad you could purchase Playtex, Energiser, or Shick items and get $5 off your next purchase. Slight problem... the ad was a misprint and you had to spend $25 on participating products to get the deal. I walked my little self over and returned that Shick I didn't need but bought for $1 to get the coupon.

Grand total... about $25 for everything. SCORE!!!

I also hit it pretty good at Target. Now I get to build my own Coupon Notebook. Digging through my little envelope just didn't cut it tonight. Time to get more put together. Take some time, save some cash. Sounds good to me. And I really like the idea of shopping alone, even if it is when most people are going to bed.

More Funnies

2009-09-17T22:23:00.003-04:00

I'm tired. It's late. Here's a cute quick little funny for you.

This morning Jerry sneezed.

Thomas said "bless you."

Jerry got upset and came over crying.

I told Jerry that Thomas was just being nice. When someone sneezes, we say "bless you" because it is the polite thing to say.

Thomas says, "Yeah, I was just being nice. And when you are alone and you sneeze, you say ble-shme."

You are absolutely right, Thomas.

Get it... blesshoo... bleshme.

Whatever, I'm going to bed.

Funny Words

2009-09-16T20:11:00.002-04:00

Kids say some funny things. More often than not they have no idea they are being funny. To tickle your funny bone, here are some of the fun ones around here lately.

Thomas upon hearing and seeing Sound of Music come on TV one night excitedly pointed and said, "Look Mom, it's Mary Poppins!"

Jerry has all kinds of funny almost, but not quite words
swywater is flyswatter
askident or askdident is accident
mint truck is a cement truck

Jerry and Thomas also used to call my sister AaaunTamanda. Drawn out "A" and all run together like that. She misses that. Now I just call her my seeeeeeeeeester.

Michael, among the dog and cow noises, has a new funny. He shakes his little head and says "No doggie, no doggie, no doggie." Sometimes he looks at Daddy and says it and we can't be quite sure if he is saying doggie or daddy. Yesterday, when I went to get him out of bed in the morning, that was the first thing out of his mouth. Today he started doing "no mom," but it didn't last. Or maybe he was doing his best Jamaican accent and saying no mon.

The things they say are so funny and cute. I could even get all sappy and think about how much I will miss the little funnies when they get older. Then I listen to my fabulous husband and the way people laugh at me, like when I tell the kids to get their shoes out of my feet, and realize they will never outgrow it, they just outgrow the cuteness and sweet voices.

Now, if you will please excuse me, I now need to go silence those little sweet voices. Way after bed time and after multiple re-beddings, the words and voices are less than cute.

Interesting Choice

2009-09-15T09:16:00.003-04:00

Jerry's favorite color is pink. For some time now he has said this. It wasn't just a one time fluke. Any time you ask what his favorite color is, he says PINK. He points to things that are pink and says they are his favorite color. The boys got balloons this weekend and Jerry picked pink.

Yesterday he said he wanted something to drink. He said "I want the princess cup." I have a plastic cup with angels on it that I got from who knows what event, but probably something at college. Love those Angels! After telling me several times and I had no idea what he was talking about, he went over and got it himself.

Pink and Princesses, that's my Jerry. One of a kind.

*After my fabulous husband read this, he so kindly requested and suggested that I be sure to add that Jerry is all boy, he just likes pink and princesses. If you have no idea how boy he is, just take a look back at all the blogs labeled with his name. Odds are "disasters" will also be one of the labels.

Happy Valentine's Day... in September?

2009-09-14T13:39:00.005-04:00

I was going back through my posts recently and putting labels on them. It was fun to go back and read through them and laugh at some of the old disasters. I was reading about one day that I remember being a complete nightmare. While I read it I was crying from laughing so hard. It was a nice reminder that eventually I will look back and laugh at many of the disasters and misadventures that I can only endure in the moment.

Not only did I get a good laugh from reading, but I also got a serious kick to the pants reminder of how far behind I get on posting and how many moments I forget. Today's post was sparked by reading a reference to the event in another post, and seeing the picture pop up on the screen saver this afternoon.

I mentioned that I made a fun surprise for everyone for Valentine's Day. I still am not a fan of the holiday, but I do try to make it fun and special for the kids and my fabulous husband. They deserve a special treat now and then.

This year I found a super cute idea to make candy boxes out of cake. Make the cake, cover it to look like a candy box, then fill it with cake balls instead of chocolates. It didn't come out near as neat as Bakerella's but it was still cute. We made red velvet cake balls with cream cheese frosting then covered in white or milk or mint chocolate, chocolate cake with vanilla frosting covered in white or milk chocolate, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting covered in white or milk chocolate, yellow cake with chocolate frosting covered in milk or white chocolate, and yellow cake with vanilla frosting and covered in white or milk chocolate. Doesn't that just make you hungry?
Cute little boys with their goodies they woke up to find at their seats at the table.

The candy boxes with cake balls. One day I will try again. I learned some things that don't work and others that do. Rushing at midnight to get it done does not work. Trying to hide it all and surprise your husband also does not work.

Upcoming posts, more catching up. Man, am I behind!

Energetic or Hyperactive?

2009-09-13T22:09:00.003-04:00

I am in charge of the children's music at church. For two hours each week, I am the master musician and I work alongside the person in charge of the lesson. I teach songs, gospel principles, and some general music. We have fun. At least we try to. On the months when there is a fifth Sunday we get to do ALL music. It is a fun day, but requires a lot of me and I am wiped by the time I am home.

In order to keep the kids involved and participating, I put on a show. Anyone who has ever been involved in theater knows that you have to do things over the top in order to engage your audience. Kids are not your average audience. My show is not your average show. Kids have the attention span of a gnat, especially if they are less than thrilled about singing.

So what happened August 30?

I had a Dr. Pepper at breakfast. It was there. It was a 2 liter bottle. If I didn't finish it off soon, it would go flat and be nasty. So I had a DP that morning.

I had my activity planned and all ready to go. The kids started coming in and it was time to let the fun begin.

We start with wiggle songs since the kids have been sitting with their parents for an hour already. If we get the wiggles out early, the rest of the time goes much easier. We did our favorite round of who can do Head Shoulders Knees and Toes the fastest, I won again, and finished other announcements and birthdays before it was my turn.

PARTY TIME

I try to make my time fun for the adults as well as the kids. I throw in little funny comments that generally only the adults will catch. I was having fun, playing with the kids, throwing jokes, and making fun of myself. All the normal things, at least as far as I can tell. I looked to the back and commented that the presidency, those fabulously wonderful women in charge, was laughing at me. One of them said they think I had an energy drink before I came in. Nope, no energy drink, just my usual fun and energetic and exciting self. I didn't see anything different.

As part of the activity I taught them how to conduct music. In 4/4 it works well as floor-door-window-ceiling. To make it easier for them, I exaggerate the movements. I realized I was moving my entire body as I did this and said "I could throw in some Happy Gilmore here and say it's all in the hips," to which one of the adults almost fell on the floor laughing. Glad I could entertain you.

Was I being excessively chatty? Was I more energetic than usual? Was I bouncing off the walls? I was just keeping the kids attention and making music fun for them.

The following week I mentioned to one of the adults that I am always energetic and having fun, see? She said that I am, but last week I was nuts. Maybe weeks without DP and then drinking one with breakfast did have an effect on me.

I think I should stay away from energy drinks. Just a thought. Although, that could be interesting, in a very controlled setting.

BTW, spell check will fix all my shortened alphabet issues for me. Problem solved. For now.

Shorten the Alphabet

2009-09-11T11:00:00.003-04:00

My alphabet consists of 25 letters. I know, yours has 26, but mine is one short. Thanks to a little hooligan, I am missing a letter on my keyboard. What ever makes a hooligan think that using a mini screwdriver to pry off a letter is a good idea? After re-attaching several times, it gave up. For a while I could push really hard and get the sensor to work, but now, there is no hope.

The alphabet ends at Y.

That missing letter makes for some interesting scenarios. Words just don't have the same meaning when you use an S instead. Have you ever seen a sebra? Do you find it amasing how much damage three little hooligans can do in 7 seconds flat? Do you have a sister-in-law that you try to call one name and end up calling her a floosie? In that context, floosie sounds better, I think. (It was a joke, really, she is nothing even close. She couldn't be one even if she tried.) I can't tell you to examine your sipper. Oh my, how that meaning changed!

Why don't I just hook up a new keyboard, you ask? Right now, I have a laptop with a broken screen hooked up to the screen of the desktop because the desktop internet doesn't work. Two computers makes one. The hooligans killed the desktop keyboard and the extra keyboard. The same key-prying hooligan also pried off the buttons on my mouse. Two mice. My computer situation is pretty pathetic, but I make do. I am still able to post entertaining stories for my audience that keeps asking for more.

Now, when my words look funny and you think I misspelled the word, remember how my children helped me along this path of insanity. I hope you have an amasing day with many crasy adventures along the way.

My two little hooligans are in the bathroom laughing. I must go investigate. Patience at the ready. More laughter.... now running.

Feet

2009-09-09T09:58:00.003-04:00

I have no idea why this popped into my head. Okay, I do know, but I have no idea why I am posting about it. You would think I could write about something funny that my kids did, or the latest recipe I tried, or post about the birthday in March, school graduation, summer fun, school starting, funny things the kids say, or something relevant or enlightening in our lives. Instead, I sit and post about feet.

Go figure, I'm weird like that.

Last night at rehearsal I noticed a guy who had really big feet. They just caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. Why is it that some people have feet that are unusually large compared the rest of their body, and others have really small feet? Examples, you ask. I am 5' short and I wear a 39 European or 8-ish American. My mother is 5'5" and wears a 6 American and I think a 36 European. Correct me mom, please. My good friend and fellow shoe shopping buddy is 5'6" or so, correct me, and has feet just a touch bigger than my feet. This has recently worked out GREAT for me since I got the shoes she outgrew when her feet grew just enough that her shoes didn't fit. Pregnancy will do that to you. I had smaller feet three kids ago. Thanks for the kicks, I love them all, even if my husband thinks all but one pair are ugly. They are my feet, not his, so he can just get over it. He always does.

Some people are destined to have big feet. Maybe not destined, but you know early on that they will have flippers. Case in point, my shoe shopping buddy again. Love you, mean it. Her little boy is a few months younger than my oldest. As long as I have known that child, he has had flippers. He could put Michael Phelps to shame once he gets older, you know, in 14 years or so. We laugh about the kid's feet. It's his dad's fault. Dad had flippers too. Again, it works great for us since we get the hand-me-downs. Thanks guys, you saved our bacon again. Even her little baby girl had flippers in the ultrasound, but she seems to be growing into hers, so there is hope. Skinny feet look longer anyway.

Feet are weird too. Toes grow at odd angles. Maybe that is from all the pointy toe shoes. Cute shoes are worth it. At least until you try to wear cute sandals and then you are stuck with weird toes in cute shoes. Stick to the cute toe smashers or sandals, I guess. We need to find a solution to this problem. Really, this is a problem.

I can't stand naked toes. On girls, that is. This has made me nuts for as long as I can remember being aware of it. If you plan to wear sandals, please paint your toenails ladies. Please use a dark color, not a super light color that makes you look like you have a foot disease. Barely pastel pink does not work. Dark wine red, so totally works on toes. French pedicure, might as well be naked. Nice on fingers, not on toes. Even worse than naked toes is half-naked toes. When you are missing half or most of the polish, just take off what's left. I must admit that I prefer naked toes to half-naked toes. Sadly, I must admit guilt on both counts. I wore sandals the other day and scraped off what was left of a previous nail color on the toes that were visible. Yep, I cheated. I am ashamed. I must right my wrong. At least I admit my mistake. Please forgive me. It won't happen again. Until I forget on my way out the door and don't see the disaster on my feet until I am in the middle of the outside world. I prefer to not pick at my toes or nail polish when out in public. Don't you agree?

How else are feet weird, you ask? I shall enlighten you. They get super stinky. Did you know this? If you didn't, you must be living under a rock. Or you have no smell like my dad did. Really, he couldn't smell. My mom made him take care of all the stinky diapers. He used to walk in the house and say "Dinner smells good." Silly Daddy.

I have a horrible story about my brother's shoes when he was a kid. Long story short, his favorite dinosaur hi-top shoes had to live out on the deck. Cute shoes, really. The appendage that gets so stinky is also the one we love to have massaged and rubbed and pampered. Pedicure anyone? And yet, as much as we love that attention to our extremities, we laugh and jerk around when someone unexpectedly touches them. My grandfather used to run his finger from your heel to toe if you had your feet where he could reach. Fun memories. I miss him. I miss him making my jump out of my skin when he did that.

Summary: feet do not always match the person they are attached to; please keep your toes painted; feet are stinky; we love some foot love; all those nerve endings make for some super sensitive tootsies when it comes to tickles.

I am now going to prop up my disproportionately large feet, give myself a pedicure, and hide my feet from my husband how now likes to make me jump. And then I will put on some rockin' shoes to show off my fancy toes, even if my husband thinks the shoes are ugly.

That is all for now.

Lighten Up

2009-09-07T16:25:00.003-04:00

I know you are totally jealous of me. You should be. Now, to enlighten you as to why you are jealous of me, yet again.

I have under-counter lighting. My kitchen is so bright and happy and cheerful. My counters are clean, for now. My stove top is clean, for now. The hooligans are smiling and oh so excited to be in a picture. Everything is put away and neat. At least so far as you can see. There is a reason the picture is of part of my kitchen and not the entire kitchen. Must keep disasters out of sight. If I don't post it, it must not exist.

Yes, my husband is fabulous. He is crafty. He is handy.

I think I will keep him.

I will loan him out, for a fee.

Now wipe that drool off your chin and come visit us in my nice, bright, lit-up kitchen. I'm baking, again. Molten lava cakes and chocolate cookies with mini Reese's Pieces. Yummy.

Please pardon the Chick-fil-A sandwich wrapper in the background. Today was yet another free food day. Wear your team logo and get a free sandwich. Two rounds in the restaurant and one round of drive-thru window. Free CFA, we're so there.

Nice Night

2009-09-05T23:09:00.003-04:00

Tonight was wonderful around here. We were able to go to the temple this evening, which we are now able to do the first Saturday of the month. Hooray, we are finally regulars! We are so glad they decided to try adding this time to the schedule since it works perfect for our insane life. Our sitters are great, and tonight we had three. I can only imagine the fun the kids had with so many fun people around this evening. Thanks guys!

I am a bit of a control freak. I know, you had no idea. It makes me nuts when I don't know where I am going or what we are doing. Change plans on me and I might just blow a gasket. I just don't deal too well with things like this. Not to say I don't like surprises, but when I am expecting one thing, I get thrown for a loop with the change.

My fabulous husband is well aware of my control freakishness. He very much enjoys exploiting it. On the way home we were moving along on cruise control. Um, that was our exit. I know, he says. Then we pass the next exit option. What is going on? He just smiles and keeps throwing out possibilities that aren't really possibilities. No, dear, we aren't getting gas since BJ's closed at 9 and that was 30 minutes ago.

Not until we are almost pulling in front of Cold Stone do I figure out what he has up his sleeve. My fabulous husband surprised me with Cold Stone ice cream on the way home. You can bet I had a coupon too. He even let me get a waffle cone bowl. So yummy. Yup, he knows what makes me happy.

I think I just might keep him. He's pretty good to me.

Mouse Man

2009-09-04T22:00:00.003-04:00

Remember Halloween a couple years ago? Thomas was a cat. Jerry was a Mouse. They were the cutest cat and mouse you ever saw. Get it, Thomas and Jerry were a cat and mouse? Oh, nevermind...

Michael, only one month old, was a super soft and snuggly penguin. My penguin is cuter than your penguin.

Jerry continues to wear the costume. Thomas is a fireman, Jerry is a mouse. Thomas is a missionary, Jerry is a mouse.

This morning Jerry came downstairs dressed as a mouse. I figured it just wasn't a battle worth fighting. Whatever. It's cute. He's cute. At least he was dressed.

We went to the Ear Doctor today. They thought the Cat and Mouse thing was funny. And cute. Even when it got warmer, he kept wearing his little sweatsuit costume. He even took a nap, covered in a fleece blanket. Have you ever looked at a sleeping mouse. They are quite cute.

My little Mouse Man.

I think I remember my dad being called Mouse Man too. My dad's name is Jerry. He had a friend they called Stamper. Don't ask, I don't know the whole story. I'm sure someone will enlighten all of us now that I have said this.

Jerry, meet Mouse Man aka Jerry. Mouse Man, meet Jerry aka Mouse Man. I sense a connection here.

You're On

2009-09-02T12:31:00.002-04:00

Alright Tiffany, may I call you Tiffany? You're on!

Remember that coupon lady/site I blogged about yesterday? Well, she's got my attention again. She offered up a challenge, and I love a good challenge. I especially love a challenge that I can win. Even better, a challenge that is good for me. Ms. Tiffany wants to be healthier. Me too. She needs to be held accountable for working on it. Me too. She is holding herself accountable by blogging about her progress weekly. And, she wants her readers to do the same. Misery loves company, perhaps?

We are all busy, goodness knows I don't even want to see her schedule. It must be color-coded and down the the 20 second interval in order to keep up with everything she has going on. We can all come up with excuses, no matter how bad they are. My latest is "the gym closed so I don't have child care or the chance to take a shower afterwards anymore." Sounds good to me, but also a bit pathetic.

Here we go. I'm still not sure what I am going to do. Even pushing the hooligans in the stroller is doing something. However, you get to bother me about it and keep me going. Tiffany challenged us for 12 weeks. I can do this. My last race was in February, so it's been a while. Even if I don't register and run another race soon, I have my nifty spifty watch that times me.

Enough excuses. I'm going to win this challenge. I can do this. LET'S GO!

Coupons!

2009-09-01T12:13:00.003-04:00

I try to be good with coupons, I really do. I clip while sitting in carpool. I sort before going to the store. I pile store sales and coupons on top of manufacture coupons. I scour the store ads to plan shopping.

Recently, a few months ago, I stumbled upon a great blog that is helping me out. She's in Texas, but Target and Wal-Mart and Walgreens and CVS are everywhere. She tells you what to buy, where to get the coupons, and how to get the best deals. She even takes pictures of her shopping trips to either encourage you with what she did, or make you feel like a shmuk because you couldn't do as well as she did.

She also teaches you how to organize your coupons. Go check her out. Her shopping will encourage and her stories will make you laugh.

I feel inspired to go to BJ's and get the rockin' double binder that she is giving away. It's on sale for $11.99, but it doesn't come with all her cool stuff inside. Maybe I can fly to Texas for a private coaching session!

www.theivanovskys.blogspot.com

More Puppy Info

2009-08-31T11:29:00.002-04:00

So my fabulous mother enlightened me on Critter Coach after reading my post. Again, I have no idea what the real story was with my encounter the other day. I don't know if the puppies jumped out the window, if the puppies figured out how to open the door of the van, or if Mr. Critter Coach was engaging in puppy saving heroics by running into the road to rescue the cute little four legged critters. I have no idea what happened, just an overactive imagination that keeps me quite entertained at times.

Anyway, here is what I have learned about Critter Coach. They take your pets to the vet or groomer or pet sitter or play date for you. Many people are quite busy and unable to take off work to care for their little friends. Enter the Coach that transports for you. It sounds like the animal equivalent of a motor home with padded crates and heating pads when you need them. Kudos to Mr. Critter Coach founder for seeing a need and taking initiative. The vets and animal hospitals and clients love you. They appreciate you helping them out in a tight spot.

Now, I repeat... I have no idea if the Yorkies escaped from the van. Don't go taking out my imaginative story on Critter Coach. They seem to be super nice and animal loving people.

And they don't transport people, so I need to find another benefactor and chauffeur to the spa.

Puppies on the Loose

2009-08-28T10:20:00.002-04:00

No, not my hooligans, or their fault. And NO, there are NO, I repeat NO PUPPIES in this house, nor are there any anywhere around it that have permission to be here.

Driving Thomas to school yesterday we saw something a bit odd. Traffic was slow, then stopped. Yeah, nothing new there. Then, however, I saw why were were slowing and stopping. There was a van pulled off to one side of the road, and in the middle of the other side and in the dirt on the side of the road were two cute little dogs. They were still alive and running around, hence stopped traffic. The back of the van said "Critter Coach" which I first thought to mean a coach for critters. Like a football coach or vocal coach for little critters. Perhaps even a soccer coach. A coach for your kids, or hooligans in my case, kind of critters, even.

Wait a minute, the guy from that van is running across the street into traffic and towards the dogs. Lucky for him, traffic wasn't going anywhere because people were looking at the dogs and had no clue where the little four-legged guys were headed next. All the drivers were very careful and concerned about the little dogs. I could see it on their faces and hear it in their thoughts. Body language screamed "I am being careful because I am concerned about these little dogs in the road."

The dogs looked like Yorkies. With my vast knowledge of dogs, I am 138% sure they were Yorkies. Yep, definitely Yorkies. Cute little Yorkies.

Then, I decided "Critter Coach" probably must mean a coach for critters in the stagecoach sense. A chauffer for your animal, non-kid, critters for those people with more money than sense who send their pets to the spa or other pet outings. I will volunteer to ride in the critter coach if that is how I can get a trip to the spa. Just give me enough advance notice so I can take some allergy meds to endure my travel companions.

Scratch that. Somehow, these little dogs escaped from a guy 9 times their size and 27 times their weight out of a moving vehicle. If you want to pay for me to go to the spa, I will just drive myself, thank you. I also don't want to see a guy 9 times my size and 27 times my weight. That is one big, make that enormous, dude. I accept cash and gift cards.

**Disclaimer: I have no idea who or what "Critter Coach" is or if this is the actual scenario that occurred. But it sure did make for an entertaining trip of my imagination. And don't tell me you didn't like my recounting of my version of the story. Sorry if I insulted you, Critter Coach and Critter Coach driver. Maybe you were so touched by the little dogs in the road that you just had to stop to rescue them. I feel a commercial coming on.... "We salute YOU, Mr. Critter-Coach-with-escaped-puppies-driii-iiii-ver!"

Say What?

2009-08-24T18:53:00.002-04:00

Jerry is going to the eye doctor tomorrow. We were snuggling before naps when he started talking about the doctor looking inside his eyes. Then he said "The monster took my eyes out. And the dinosaur put my eyeballs back in. The dinosaur will glue my eyeballs back inside my head." Um, okay?

This evening I was playing with the boys and squishing Thomas and Jerry together in a big tight hug. They would both scream and laugh. Thomas let out an exceptional scream, right into my ear which is still ringing. Then he told me "some of my voice came out and it's missing."

Michael has a slight cow obsession. Maybe we made one too many free trips to Chick-fil-a. When he sees a cow, he throws his head back and lets out a loud and long MOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The first time he did it we were on the way to school. We pass by a place that has about 20 cows or so. Out of nowhere I saw in the baby mirror he threw both hands up over his head, threw his head back, and let out his moo. I'll try to get that one on camera. I laugh every time.

These kids are strange. I need to write more of these down.

Obsessively Stitching: Kids' Art Apron from Dishtowel -- TUTORIAL

2009-08-23T21:17:00.000-04:00

Obsessively Stitching: Kids' Art Apron from Dishtowel -- TUTORIAL

This little apron is so stinkin cute! With my little artsy boys around, this is perfect. Now if only Michael would stop eating the crayons :/

Do I Know You?

2009-08-18T10:50:00.002-04:00

Do you ever feel like you know people that you don't really know? Not the celebrities who have their lives plastered all over everywhere for us to live vicariously through. I'm talking about the random, every day people that we "know" in some way. For example...

I spend hours, literally HOURS, doing carpool each day. Seriously, I spend close to 3 hours a day for my kid to go to school, but that's another story. There are several people I know through carpool. There is the "Twingles" nice white Suburban (oh, I want her truck so bad) lady. Why do I call her Twingles, you ask. Well, I shall tell you. She has the cutest bumper sticker that says "Twingles/ Twins and Another/ I'm a lucky mother" and I just think it is the cutest thing. Her twin boys are in kindergarten. I wanted to wave to her and say hi when I saw her school supply shopping at Wal-mart, but she has no clue who I am.

There is the new red Suburban lady who works near the rock quarry in Knightdale, less than a block from Krispy Kreme (that doesn't make their donuts at the shop and trucks them over from the Raleigh store) and Chick-fil-a. There is the teal MPV lady who has a kid in 3rd grade. She used to have the same trainer as I did and she read books while on the bike at the gym. That is until the gym closed down.

Of course, there is also the gold Lexus SUV lady who cut in front of everybody who had been waiting 30 minutes in line because she happened to pull up just as the security dude let the cars onto campus, but we won't talk about that because my mom taught me "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all," and so I shall remain silent. Thumper taught me that too, BTW. I also get a kick out of the silver Odyssey. It just makes me giggle to see someone else driving a car just like mine, with the same little magnet on the back. I want to wave at her and say "nice car" one day.

I can't forget to mention the green Sienna dad who gets off the same exit I do, then turns the other way. I really want to follow him home one day to see where he lives and then offer to carpool. Then again, would you want your kid to carpool with some nutso lady who followed you home just to ask if you want to carpool. Scratch that. Need another plan.

How on earth do I know what grade these kids are in, you ask. Carpool hang tags, of course. The school is so smart, your grade is the first digit of your carpool number. Kindergarten is 0--, and first grade is 1--, and so on. Most I can tell if they have boys or girls because we sit in the same spot each afternoon as we wait to start the slow crawl through the line. Actually we get there 30 minutes before school gets out, sit on a side street with our cars off and sweating our brains out with little siblings screaming for fruit snacks from the back seat, and wait for the magical whistle to start your engines. I may sit for 30 minutes on a side street to get to the front of the line, but I don't have to pay attention to the line in front of me moving, or not moving. I sit and wait, then get to the front of the line and sit and wait again for the kids to come out. It's cheaper to sit with the car off than on and creeping along for 20 minutes, and when I drove almost 90 miles a day for school, every idling moment counts.

So who do you know? Do you know the bank teller that deposits your check each pay day? Do you have your favorite grocery store checker-outer? The librarian that keeps your kids entertained for a few precious minutes for you to shut your eyes?

Maybe this afternoon I will get out of the car and introduce myself to these people. Or maybe not, I kind of like the mystery about them. Or maybe I like the mystery about me... if I don't prove I'm a nut case, it is just what they think they know about me.

Swimming in Syrup

2009-08-17T10:29:00.002-04:00

Yes, you read that right. We went swimming in syrup this morning. Dinner last night was French Toast and I made enough to have leftovers for breakfast. Despite going to bed at some insanely late hour for a three year old, the little hooligan was up with the sun. I needed to jump in the rain room before heading out for the morning carpool run, so I set the older two hooligans down with their breakfast, made sure the pantry and fridge were locked, and headed up for a quick shower. By the time I got downstairs the little bugger had two plates covered with gigantic puddles of syrup, one piece of toast with the middle eaten out swimming in the syrup on one of the plates, a massive syrup puddle on the table that was dripping onto the floor, drips and puddles on a chair, and the floor. Half a bottle of syrup all over my kitchen. The pill pushed a chair over, climbed up, unlocked the pantry, scaled the shelves and got the syrup down. Nice discovery 10 minutes before you need to pull out of the driveway.

Since getting home the little two emptied a bookshelf, dumped out the toys, made a picnic in the living room, splashed the toilet water all over the bathroom, adjusted the radio in Baby's room, took apart the cheese slicer, lost a piece, and have somehow managed to survive.

I think I need a padlock on my pantry and a cage in my living room.

Buckle Up

2009-08-07T12:31:00.003-04:00

We have an extra car seat from when Thomas was little and we had a seat in each car. Back when we had 2 working cars. Way back when. Anyway, this extra seat hangs out in the music room. Why, I have no idea, it just does. Today, I walked through and passed by the seat. I looked down and saw Winnie the Pooh buckled in tightly. Good job Winnie, you can ride with me any time.

And now Jerry is sitting in the shopping cart and reading a book. Nice recliner kid. No seat belt, though.

The Pod Swaddler Pattern GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-08-05T20:49:00.000-04:00

The Pod Swaddler Pattern GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I saw this today and thought it was a cute and great idea. I just might have to get the pattern and start making them for baby gifts. You ought to at least go check out the cute baby in the pictures. I just want to rub her little head.

Frick and Frack

2009-08-05T10:45:00.002-04:00

My little hooligans are full of fun and adventure. Maybe not always the kind of adventure that parents love, but they have a grand time in the moment. Now that Thomas is back in school, Jerry and Michael have lots and lots of hours of time, just the two of them. They are pretty much conjoined in their escapades. They can be the best of buddies and a disastrous or dangerous team. This morning they dumped out all the toy bins all over the downstairs. They ran around chasing each other and laughing hysterically. They hide under the blankets and find themselves quite amusing when they pop out or ask me to find them. Whatever Jerry does, Michael is sure to follow suit and copy him. If Jerry climbs on top of a bucket, Michael is next. It also goes the other way. Michael started dumping all the diapers out of the bucket, so Jerry had to get in on the fun. It is so much fun to watch and listen to them play together. They really are great buddies. However, they are still brothers too. We have many battles over the same toys. Both seem to want mommy time at the same time. They are really learning to beat the daylights out of each other when they get mad. Note to self, need to work on that one.

I am so glad my hooligans have such a fun time together. As much as they both make me nuts, it always puts a smile on my face to hear them playing and laughing and enjoying being together.

And now they are racing up and down the hallway while roaring at each other. And now one is pushing the shopping cart while the other rides the motorcycle in circles through the house. I need some earplugs.

Random Kindness

2009-07-23T13:48:00.003-04:00

We went to Wal-mart today. I will give you a moment to compose yourself after that statement. It was there, they had great prices on the school supplies for Thomas, and I was already out with 3 kids, so why not. If you have now recovered from your shock of me shopping at Wal-mart instead of Target, we will now continue our story.

After getting most of Thomas's school supplies for first grade, we finally made it to the check out line. Of course, there were not enough open, so there were long lines at all of them. And, of course, the person working at the check out was slow. I was very nice and patient and the kids were very good. Not once did they ask for treats, and I only had to take one thing out of Jerry's little sticky fingers. There were two older ladies in front of us, at least seventy years old. They finished and were getting situated to head out the door as I was starting to get my stuff checked out. One of the ladies turned and asked Thomas if he had a piggy bank. He said he did. She then took one dollar from her change after her purchase and handed it to him and told him to put it in his piggy bank. Then, she asked Jerry and gave him one dollar. She did the same for Michael. The boys were all so good and polite and thanked her without prompting. Well, Michael needed some encouraging to sign thank you. I also thanked her profusely and told her that was so sweet and the boys will be so excited to put it in their banks or get a special treat.

It was all such a simple thing, but so sweet and kind and thoughtful. It made the boys' day and renewed to those who witnessed what took place that there are so many good people out in the world who do countless random kindnesses. You never know when your seemingly little effort can brighten a person's day or restore lost hope. Thank you, sweet ladies in the Wal-mart check out line. You reminded me to go and find something nice to do for a stranger and someone close to me.

Cows!

2009-07-11T09:10:00.007-04:00

Introducing, Our Herd

Yesterday was Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A. What does this mean, you ask. FREE FOOD!!! All you had to do was dress like a cow and you got a free meal. Just a little bit cow still got you an entree, so you can't lose. Thursday we made our costumes and the kids had a blast making cow faces on paper plates. We used the plates for breakfast and lunch, but at lunch we got these cool cow hats, so we used them at dinner. You read right, we ate out for all 3 meals yesterday, and only paid $0.32 for the entire thing. I know, it was a free meal, but someone, Jerry, decided he wanted fruit instead of fries at lunch, so we had to pay the upcharge. We had lots of fun and entertained ourselves for many hours. Now we have spots ready for next year.
Isn't he the cutest cow you have ever seen?
The other two adorable hooligans, enjoying their third feast of the day.

Testing

2009-07-07T18:43:00.003-04:00

Thomas went to the doctor for his annual physical. He is healthy and growing, as we already knew. Earlier this year he had an unusual reaction to something, possibly a cashew, that sent us to the ER, and now we carry and EpiPen. I was asking the doctor about getting a new one when this one expires and after a short discussion decided to draw blood and do allergy testing to get a better idea of what might have caused the reaction so that we can avoid it in the future. Tonight at dinner Thomas was saying the prayer and said "We're grateful that I could go to the doctor and they could take my blood so they can tell me if I like nuts and what food I like." I'm thinking we might not share the test results with him if this is his line of thinking.

COLOR

2009-07-04T15:24:00.002-04:00

We just got home from a wonderful week at the beach with lots of family and fun, posting to come, of course. Usually Tyler only makes it for a couple days, so he entertains himself while we are gone. With no kids around it is the perfect time for various projects that collect over time. Several years ago he painted some dressers that I got a great deal on, but they were not too pretty to look at. It is one thing for me to sand them with hooligans running around, but quite another to try and paint them. Last year he just worked lots of crazy hours. Sometimes the project is a surprise, others the projects are things I ask him to do. This year the project was a surprise. He took Jerry out to run errands while I was teaching. Yes, my husband is so great he takes kids away for me to teach music lessons. He worked all week and ended up taking more time than anticipated on his surprise project. When we got home today he walked in first with loads of stuff and I was close behind. What a surprise greeted me. MY WALLS ARE PAINTED A COLOR OTHER THAN WHITE!!!! Tyler painted downstairs a beautiful color. The music room is still white, but I like the visual separation of the dining room one color and the music room another. Each time I walk out and see the colors, I can't help but smile. Now aren't you jealous that my husband is so good to me? Not only did he paint the walls, but he used satin finish paint, so it will clean easy and without taking the paint off like the nasty flat stuff that builders use. My house is so fabulous and beautiful and I am beside myself excited about it. Stop in and take a look.

Funny note, the color is called "Holmes Cream." Maybe it is a cream that helps generate perma-grin. And no, he didn't pick the color for the name, he just sort of groaned when he realized the name of the color he picked. We have a habit of doing things like that without meaning to.

Oh, Jerry

2009-06-26T12:54:00.004-04:00

Jerry, oh, Jerry. Of my three hooligans, Jerry is my challenge, my test in life, a terror. On many occasions I have said that he is payback for both me and Tyler, rolled into one child, and boy are we in for it.

Jerry makes me crazy several times a day. He destroys just about anything he touches, it seems. Give him a BB and it is toast. Nothing stands a chance in his little hands. He climbs on things you wouldn't even dream of, like stacking a stool on top of a chair to climb onto the counter top and then on to the top of the fridge. He has a temper that can be out of this world. He screams. He yells. He cries. He screams at the top of his lungs. He has mastered the tantrum, especially out in public. If he doesn't want to do it, forget it, there is no way you can make him. No bribe or threat can get in the way of what he wants to do. Just look at the family picture at the top of the blog. He didn't want to smile or look at the camera. He hits for no reason, usually his little brother. Today, all I had to do was go get something out of the garage, a mere 6 feet away, and came back to find Michael hollering with a big red mark on his arm. Last week, Jerry poked Michael with a safety pin, multiple times, while the all the boys were happily playing in their room. He throws things, and at people or things. If you need to go to the bathroom, be prepared for what you will find when you come back. Yesterday, he chewed up chocolate animal crackers, sucked up the mush into a medicine syringe, then shot it on the walls and ceiling. The child does not listen, worse than any other child I think I have ever seen. He will just look at you, smile, laugh, and go right on doing whatever it was, like running into the middle of the street or dumping water all over the bathroom floor. Jerry can push my buttons in a heartbeat. I want to run from the house screaming. I want to give him away. I want to leave him at the fire department. Jerry makes me absolutely nuts!

HOWEVER

Jerry is as sweet and loving as can be. He helps, happily. Setting the table is one of his favorite chores. Not too long ago I came downstairs and Tyler was hiding around the corner. Tyler motioned for me to come closer, but be quiet, then pointed into the kitchen. There was Jerry, pulling out the trash can and taking out the trash bag, all by himself, without either of us asking him to. He also loves to take out the recycling, that is his job and he knows he does it well. He is a huge help with his little brother. He loves both of his brothers dearly. Each day, when we drop Thomas off at school, Jerry waves and tells him goodbye, even though Thomas is too far away to hear. He has even had inconsolable meltdowns because he doesn't get to go with Thomas. They all play together for hours on end. The dump trucks are such a fun toy, and now Jerry likes to push Michael around in them, just like his big brother used to do for him. Jerry and Michael are best play buddies, and Jerry enjoys teaching Michael all of his tricks, just as a big brother should. He loves to dance and play. If you haven't seen him dance, you are missing out big time. He is a smart little boy and is very curious. He just wants to know how things work and what will happen if he does something. What will happen if I crumble syrofoam... it looks like snow all over the dining room. He is a problem solver. He is stubborn, and won't give up until he has accomplished his goal. Jerry is so funny. He is the most animated person I know. I say he is a miniature Jim Carey, think "The Mask" and you have it. There is the personality of about eight people crammed inside his little three year old body. He tells the funniest stories, and acts them out as he tells them. Oh, the stories he tells. He could be his own stage production. The puppet shows he and Thomas put on are a sight to behold. He loves to snuggle. I love nap time every day. Naps are great for the break I get, but I love the falling asleep part. Every day, after lunch, Jerry goes up to his room and waits while I put Michael in his bed. Then, it is Mommy and Jerry time. We lay down in his bed and snuggle. We just spend quiet time together, just Jerry and Mommy.

Right now, he is in bed asleep. In the middle of tantrums and screaming, I decided he needed a nap. We went upstairs and snuggled and he was asleep in a few short minutes. He has the most peaceful look on his face. His long, dark lashes are resting on his cheekbones. Under his arm are his ragged teddy bear, who has red drink from some escapade that I have yet to clean off his fur, and his snuggle blanket. His blanket is covering him up and he looks so nice and snuggly and peaceful. Once he fell asleep, I just lay there beside him, looking at him.

How can he be so sweet and loving, and make me crazy at the same time? As much as he makes me nuts, I love him even more. He tries my patience to no end, and yet I just want to hug him and keep him little.

Jerry, I love you to pieces, even when you make me want to pull my hair out and run away screaming. You are a joy in my life and I would have a gaping hole without you. When you turn around and flash that smile, or run up and hug me for no apparent reason, you melt my heart.

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

2009-06-26T11:02:00.000-04:00

Boojiboo Flirty Apron GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I so want a cute and fun apron, and now I know where to find one. Thanks to friends for posting it on their blogs so I can snitch it and enter too. Have fun looking at all the stuff on here, but beware, you could spend hours.

In My Head

2009-06-21T21:20:00.003-04:00

First off... Happy Father's Day to all of you father types. We hope you had a wonderful day, with lots of yummy food, eye catching ties, priceless handmade crafts, and plenty hugs and love.

So, we had Sunday dinner with Lolly, as usual. We had super easy and yummy crock pot beef BBQ with homemade sourdough bread. Lolly brought rich, heart attack inducing Texas brownies. After dinner, we were getting ready to eat dessert and the kids decided we needed candles to go with our brownies. It seems after Tyler's birthday and Aunt Amanda's birthday, all desserts require candles, so Jerry and Thomas had candles which we lit and blew out several times. Anyway... Thomas wanted to sing Happy Birthday to himself. Fine. Whatever. He started to sing "Happy Birthday to you, Happy..." Then it happened. He stopped and looked at us and said "I'm going to sing to myself... in my head." He got this look on his face and we could just hear him singing inside his head. Then, he looked up without the singing in his head look, smiled at us, laughed, and ate his cake. Is there anything to do at that point but laugh? What a funny boy.

Lame

2009-06-14T15:51:00.003-04:00

Thomas asked daddy for snack. Daddy told Thomas to ask mama. Thomas asked me, I said I changed my name. Daddy asked what I changed my name to.... I just looked at him with "that look" and didn't answer.

Daddy says we should change Thomas's name. We should change it to "Cindy." I say it should be "Grumpy." Daddy says "How about Grumpy Cindy?" Thomas rolled over on the couch so he couldn't see either of us.

Daddy asks Thomas if we can call him Grumpy Cindy. Thomas says no, again. Daddy asks why not? Thomas says:

THAT'S LAME

Much laughter and disbelief ensue. Just to clarify, we asked him to repeat. Yup, he said it's lame. More laughter and the obvious statement that this incident is definitely blog-worthy.

Oh well, he's Grumpy Cindy until he isn't grumpy anymore. Maybe snack will make him less grumpy. What do you think, Aunt Amanda?

Today

2009-06-10T10:40:00.002-04:00

Today is Tyler's birthday. He's old.

This morning I was making his lunch and breakfast. He came downstairs and started laughing. I had my shirt on backwards. Painfully, obviously, backwards. It is a shirt from one of my races and has all the sponsors on the back, well, front this morning.

I am making a German Chocolate Cake. It is his favorite. I have never even attempted one. I am not using a box or can frosting. I can't stand coconut.

All the kids are home now. It is summer break. Kids are thrilled, parents not so much.

I made sourdough bread this morning. Right now it is just dough, and it has to rise for 12 hours, then another 12 hours. We'll have yummy warm bread for breakfast tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another day.

Stalker

2009-06-04T09:11:00.002-04:00

I have a confession.

I am a blog stalker.

Yes, I stalk blogs. Not only do I stalk them, but I hunt through all your links to find other people I know and want to stalk. We have so many friends all over the place, this is such a great way to keep up with everybody. It is also quite difficult to find out the blogs for all the people we love to keep up with, so sorting through others' links is my new activity.

So, how on earth do I keep up with all of you? Yeah, that is a lot of sites to visit every day, just to check and see if you posted. Enter Google Reader. You haven't heard of the reader?!?! This was news to me until I stumbled on it mentioned in another blog. How cool is this.... you click the follow this blog link at the top of the page and it attaches it to your google or yahoo or other pages. Then, everybody is listed in one place and it shows you when they post. Then, all you have to do is scroll through your reader page to see what your friends are posting. No more clicking through all my favorites. AND, I can check up on everybody anywhere I am, so long as I can access google.

There, I feel better now that I admit I have a problem. Now send me links for you if I'm not one of your "followers" yet. I need more people to keep up with, because we love you.

NOT so impressive

2009-05-29T08:58:00.003-04:00

Here I was, basking in the impressiveness of myself as stated by good friends, when karma or something like it came and bit me in the rear. Shall we begin the tale?

I am not a morning person. Don't test this statement, just take it as truth. If you are a testing kind of person, I suggest you do research by contacting those who experience me in the mornings, rather than testing me. Family and friends have plenty of horror stories to share, I am sure. However, as much as I am not a morning person, I am a devoted and caring wife. Need proof? I get up every stinkin' morning, sometimes before the sun is up, even when it is cold or snowing or raining, even after kids were up sick all night, and make lunch and breakfast for my fabulous, hard-working husband. Yes, I am that nice.

I can't quite remember how the conversation started the other night, but it eventually came around to meals over the last few days. Tyler has had some issues getting out the door this week, including a dead battery on his work truck. Usually he is the one who puts all the goodies together on his bacon, egg, and cheese English muffin. Obviously, the truck battery took some time, so I put the sandwich together. Sort of. I forgot the top. OOPS. Turns out he discovered the missing sandwich top when he unwrapped his breakfast as he was about to pull out of the driveway. He says he almost called me to bring the top out, but decided it might be better to just leave me alone. This was probably a smart choice, seeing as I might have just stood at the door and chucked it at him, or maybe just told him in a not so nice way to come in and get it himself if he really wanted it. Yeah, best to just leave that one alone. "Thanks for breakfast, dear. Can't wait to see if breakfast is topless again tomorrow."

Not only did I mess up his breakfast, the day before I forgot to put granola bars in his lunch box. Drinks, check; sandwich, check; water, check; ice packs, check; brownies, check. On the day of the missing muffin top he was sure there would also be missing chewy sweetness, but I at least got that part right.

I had also made brownies this week. Yummy and chewy. I like the insides, he likes the outsides. We make a great brownie eating team. When Tyler got home from work the other day, though, he saw something he wasn't expecting. I had cut around the pan, leaving all the edges for him. What does he see? Half a pan of brownies, sort of, with a ring around them and part of the insides gone. Should have taken a picture of the pan and his face... that was a bit humorous too.

Needless to say, we got a serious laugh out of it all. I cried I laughed so hard. Not only was the entire situation funny, but my wonderful husband didn't plan on telling me about my mistakes with his breakfast and lunch. He must like me or something. Oh well, at least I tried. It's the thought that counts, right? And there were brownies to make it all better.

Impressive!

2009-05-26T22:40:00.002-04:00

I have lots of friends, but only a small handful that fall into the category of "I can call you at 4am to bail me out of jail, clean me up, and then ask you to give me one of your kidneys." I hold these people very close to my heart. Unfortunately, most of them are too far away to bail me out. Lucky for me, one is moving back down this way. *happy dance* (now the rest of you can start making moving plans, now, right now, please) Even better, we got to meet for lunch... with all the hooligans too, well, all but Thomas who was in school. Have I ever mentioned that I love Cracker Barrel? We laughed at the menu's "low car" offerings. Sure, the 1/2 pound bacon cheeseburger is low carb, so it must be health?!?! Whatever. You don't go to Cracker Barrel to eat low carb, dimwit.

My dear friend has a new baby that I have been itching to get hold of. She is a teeny tiny little 3 months and weighs maybe 10 pounds. I was holding her and having a grand time. Then food came. Jerry had pancakes. While holding her, I spread the butter, cut the yummy goodness, and opened and poured the syrup. Michael was on my other side, and I kept reaching into the diaper bag for granola bars and lots of fruit snacks to feed him. Oh yeah, and keep retrieving the little golf tees from the game on the table that Michael kept launching all over. Still holding the sweet little baby girl. Then my phone rang. "Hey Tyler, whatcha need?" I think I was eating some here and there too.

Both my friend and her husband looked over at me and kept offering to take the little girl. I told them I was fine and for them to enjoy eating their food without having to take care of her for a few minutes. The husband looked at his wife and said "How does she do that?" to which she replied "She's been through 3 kids already. She's had practice at this." He just sort of looked at me and said something along the lines of "impressive."

Yup, that's me... Ms. Impressive... I can hold a baby, fix and cut a pancake, find and open and serve fruit snacks, fetch falling and flying objects, talk on the phone, keep kids relatively happy, carry on a conversation with two other adults and two other children, and eat my own food.

Thanks for lunch and the company, guys. Can't wait to do it again!

Gentlemen Prefer Blonds?

2009-05-22T11:03:00.002-04:00

Do men really prefer blonds? I think we found the answer in our house. Well, sort of.

Last night I made Blondies. You don't know what blondies are?!?!? Shame on you. They are cookie bars or brownie type yummies made with brown sugar instead of white sugar. Oh, they are so good. I might even post my recipe later, if you ask nicely.

Back to the story. So Tyler asked me what I was cooking this time. I have been in a very munchy sweets garbage food mood lately (no bake cookies, oatmeal cookies, brownies, ice cream). No, I am not pregnant, before you start rumors.

Back to the story, again. Tyler asked what I was baking and I told him "blondies." He asked me again, and again I said "blondies, you like them." To which he replied, "I don't like blondies, I like brunetties!" *GROAN* I then asked if I should make regular brownies next, since he likes brunetties better. Sure, why not. Maybe I'll even put reddish frosting on them for some fake coloring...

I guess we all know now what he prefers, that is if we weren't clear on that before.

BTW, spell check went nuts with this post. For some reason it doesn't like blondies or brunetties. Must be diabetic.

Sunday Sillies

2009-05-17T21:09:00.003-04:00

We have had lots of funnies around here, so I thought I would share and make you smile too.

The sun was shining really bright through the kitchen windows.
"Mommy, turn off the lights," says Jerry.
"That's not the lights, that's the sunshine. We can't turn the sunshine off," I reply.
"We can't turn off the sunshine?!?!" he says as incredulously and shocked as a 3 year old can.

Michael will not sleep with socks on. Not even an option, no socks at all. When you put him in bed, he will stick his feet up in the air until you take off his shoes and socks. Then, once they are off, he will put his feet down and go to sleep.

In the car tonight, and a couple weeks ago, the kids were singing. I was so proud my kids knew the primary song "Follow the Prophet." That is until I couldn't keep my laughter to myself once I realized what they were singing. Instead of "Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet don't go astray. Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, follow the prophet, he knows the way," the hooligans were singing "Follow the prophet... don't go away" over and over again. Ah, so funny. Just ask Aunt Amanda about some of her goodies with messing up the lyrics. That one could have you laughing for hours.

We went to see my grandmother for Mother's Day. It is about 3 hours there, and we do it all in one day. We had some fun conversations throughout the trip. Aunt Amanda said she didn't want to drive back home (she is not a fan of driving and never has been). She invited Jerry to come home with her and play and asked Jerry if he wanted to drive her home. We laughed because of all the hooligans, Jerry is the one who would try and drive someone's car well before he reaches the legal driving age. We went on laughing about how he would reach the pedals and all the places he would go. Well, he was a bit tired and fell asleep. He woke up as we were dropping Aunt Amanda off. OK, he didn't really wake up, just sort of came out of unconsciousness enough to respond to her. He sort of rolled his head up, half opened his eyes, and said "I need to drive your car," then his head rolled back down and went back to sleep. Oh, Jerry, what trouble you have in store for us.

Another day, we were near Lolly's work and stopped in to say hi. She came out and said hi and brought animal crackers for the two little hooligans. Jerry asked Lolly to stay and she told him she had to go back to work. "Work?!?!" he says, with his head cocked to the side and his eyebrows raised (you have got to see this kid's facial expressions), almost in disbelief. Lolly offered to trade with him and said he could go to work and she would go home with me. I laughed and told him he would get to play with all the things he isn't allowed to use at home like the stapler, hole punch and scissors. If that doesn't get a 3 year old excited about going to work, I don't know what will. For days now, he has been telling me he needs to go to work and use scissors. I think I need to hide all of ours in the safe, or who knows what he will cut up all in the name of "work."

Finally, tonight's funny. Thomas was doing something in the back seat. I told him to stop and he asked "How did you know it was me?" Tyler said "Because Mommy is a secret agent. She has eyes everywhere, only a lot less funding." Ah, the things I could do with the resources of a secret agent. Perhaps a new career is in my future....

Smile, there is silliness all around. All you have to do is look for it.

Laughter for Lunch

2009-05-15T12:14:00.004-04:00

I am sitting here paying bills on the computer and doing the email thing while the hooligans, Jerry and Michael, eat lunch. They have the usual PB and honey sandwich and milk or juice to drink. Yeah, we go all out for meals around here. The little clones are having the best time today, though. They are both laughing hysterically, and both have that deep belly laugh and they laugh with their entire face and body. Jerry says "Michael is so funny," and they both crack up. Then milk starts to dribble out Michael's mouth because he is laughing so hard and the laughter just grows. Jerry also has learned that if you close your eyes at Michael, he will do it back with this funny look on his face. (More on that one to come, with pictures, even.) Who would have thought that eating lunch could be so much fun and make you laugh so much. Moments like this make what I do so much fun and worth all the mess that comes with the job. As often as I want to strangle one or more of them, these moments of spontaneous joy are far more frequent. Life is far from boring around here, and it is also far from miserable. Sure, we have bumps and frustrations and bad days, but who doesn't. I am so lucky to have my insane, happy, healthy, loving little boys. Thanks little hooligans for making me smile.

UPDATE: They are now smearing PB around and Michael is growling at his try. Jerry is even starting to have a hard time breathing from laughing so hard. Add some squeals of laughter and delight to the mix and you have one entertaining lunch.

Birthday Biker Boy

2009-05-11T21:06:00.007-04:00

Jerry had a birthday, shout HOORAY!!

OK, so he had a birthday over 3 months ago and I am just now getting around to it. At least he won't be able to say his mother didn't love him and neglected his birthday.

He wanted a Spiderman birthday with red cupcakes. Nice! Easy! Sounds good to me. We did red velvet cupcakes with whipped vanilla frosting. Super easy and super yummy. I want one now, just thinking about it. Then we put Spiderman decorations on top that Tyler was sent on a mission to find while out running errands. Cakes are fun to decorate, but easy is nice too. Aunt Amanda came home for the grand occasion and Sunday dinner was a regular party.

I love the action shot with his cheeks all puffed out! The pictures are still making my hungry for one of those cupcakes.

Michael has one of those looks that I can't decide if he is trying to say "Who, me?" or "I want more, pretty please." He definitely enjoyed it. And the floor even got some cake. The single sock cracks me up every time.

Ah, the loot. Aunt Amanda found a Lightning McQueen flashlight and cell phone for Jerry. The flashlight had (note the past tense here) little caps to put on the end and it put pictures on where you were pointing. He kept taking it apart and eventually lost pieces. Several pieces we later found in the wall, along with some caps. I had McQueen on the roof of the van or the walls for a week after he got them. The phone has been washed several times and still works. He likes to put it in his pocket, but forgets to take it out. Oh well.
And now for the big box. He had to work hard to get this one open. It was a motorcycle from mom and dad. Now he can be just like daddy. Too bad we didn't realize it was a little involved to put together. He ended up waiting a few days for it to be completed.
And on the bike. Yes, my child wears heels to ride the bike. Good news, that isn't the usual attire. It is not uncommon to see him in pants, jacket, Thomas's bike helmet (McQueen, of course), and cowboy boots. He wears all his safety gear, just like daddy. He wants so much to be like daddy, Tyler shared one of his motorcycle decal stickers with Jerry and put it on the bike. Talk about exciting!

Jerry rides his bike everywhere, no kidding! "Jerry, go put this in the recycling," and he rides out into the garage to put it away. He answers the door, comes to dinner, cleans his room, everything on the bike. I think this one was a hit. Even more fun now is Michael loves to ride it. He gets on and makes the "vroom vroom" in his throat. I do believe we have several biker boys in the making. Thank goodness they are learning at an early age to be safe about it, mostly.

Happy Birthday Jerry! We love you bunches and have so much fun watching you grow! Next year I will try to post closer to your birthday. Try being the key word on that one.

Hungry?

2009-05-08T09:39:00.002-04:00

Sorry folks, no pictures this time.

If you listen to my kids, you would think they are starving and never get fed. If you hang around my house, you soon realize that I am in serious trouble once we hit the teenage years.

These boys eat. A lot. Often. Strange things.

Michael, for example. Michael seems to have some odd deficiencies in his diet. Namely, rubber, chalk, and wax. The funny little baby will eat shoe soles. He takes his shoes off in the car in order to eat them. At Christmas, he was thrilled with cousin Adam's new bike. He walked right over and started gnawing away. I think we found a new use for used tires. And no, he is not teething. He also loves chalk. We have a bucket of sidewalk chalk in the garage. Any time the door opens, he makes a run for the garage and starts chomping chunks off. Crayons hide very high up in our house too. Not just to keep them off walls or out of the dryer, but to keep them out of diapers. Let's just say it looks like a confetti bomb went off with many diaper changes. He also likes to eat pencils and erasers and wipes. Strange kid.

Jerry must have a paint deficiency. The other night he bit the widow sil and peeled the paint off. What on earth posses this child to do these things? He also scales the pantry shelves. The other day he climbed up to the top shelf, (above my head, mind you) opened up a box of hidden goodies, snuck a cupcake, and hid in the dining room. I heard plastic crinkle and investigated and found the happy boy. He sneaks cookies, granola bars, bread, animal crackers, cheese slices, and anything else he can find (leftover lemon pepper chicken from dinner last night as I type this). He even climbed on top of the fridge (while the sitter was here too) to get cereal. Yesterday, he bit off the end of a banana, peel and all. The other night, while I was upstairs getting Michael's jammas, he scaled the fridge, got a Diet Dr. Pepper of the top shelf, cracked it open, and started drinking it. (at least he took daddy's diet and not mommy's real stuff!) We have to keep the fridge and pantry locked to keep him out. Thomas sneaks treats too, but not as often.

Thomas eats, says he is full, then cries from starvation within an hour. How on earth a child can eat 6 chicken nuggets, veggies, a glass of milk and then want the same thing again so soon after is incredible to me. At dinner last Sunday, he ate 3 tacos, then dessert. It makes me hurt just to think about it. At least he eats a good variety of food. In the strange department, though, he likes BBQ sauce on his broccoli. Where on earth he came up with that one? I think the mac n cheese with ketchup is nasty, but the BBQ broccoli wins, hands down.

We also go through about 6 gallons of milk a week. I think I need to start saving now for groceries when they get older. I am in serious trouble. Maybe we will buy a cow. It has to be cheaper to feed the cow and make our own cheese and milk than to keep buying the insane amounts of dairy products they consume. Now accepting donations for future grocery purchases.

Gone Fishing

2009-05-06T22:21:00.007-04:00

A couple months ago we had an interesting experience around here. The last time I went fishing, a catfish swam off with my fishing pole and my dad went swimming after the fish and pole. Needless to say, fishing is not on my list of fun things to do. This time, I went fishing in a different fashion.

I believe I mentioned a while ago that the boys put a hole in the wall. Well, that hole grew. It grew and it grew and it grew. It grew until it was a giant cavity in the face of the wall. Tyler patched the hole when it was relatively small. We were gone for the day, so he had a great opportunity to fix the mess, which he did. Unfortunately, the boys decided they liked the hole there and pushed the patch through and into the wall. They then proceeded to make the hole bigger. They also decided there are lots of fun things you can do with holes in the wall. There are so many fun things you can do, they decided they needed another hole to go with the original one.

And so our story begins.

Some of the weapons of choice... plastic knives. They also used a toy saw, pencils, and anything else they could think of. You can also see the nice patch work they pushed back through.The damage. Well, one of them. Tyler ended up cutting out the wall. You can see the other pieces in the background. In the end, a 2x4 was put in the wall behind the door knob to add some extra support. If they break through that one, we have some serious problems on our hands.

Now for the fun stuff, the loot!

I first sent fishing in the wall to get a turtle shell out of the wall. Something is definitely not right when the turtle shell is at the level of the door knob, yet inside the wall. That thing wasn't floating, there was plenty of stuff underneath to hold it up. Toilet paper, snuggle blanket (the original reason for going into the hole in the first place), and that was just with my hands. I could see more, so I went and got Tyler's little grabby tool thingie. Yes, that is the technical term for it, now leave me alone. A little flashlight and mirror became my buddies for the next little while. I pulled out a stuffed dog, another stuffed dog, several little people, little people cars, Thomas's belt that disappeared during Christmas break, hippo, sensory blocks, regular blocks, Clara Thomas train, snake, toy screwdriver, and other stuff I don't remember. I had my arm in the hole up to my elbow. I was covered in sheetrock dust.

On to the next hole in the wall to see what we could find. More Thomas trains, little soap crayon bathtub things, Thomas train canopy, insulation (oops), and... drumroll please... a lizard. Picture this... you are pulling things out of the wall, out of the hole comes a lizard head. Sudden shock and surprise, until you realize that the reason this head is coming out because you are pulling it out. You may now start laughing at yourself.

After an hour of fishing and killing the flashlight battery, I quit. I was frustrated, irritated, amazed, and dirty.

Fast forward. Tyler cuts out wall to fix the mess. I told him to put the loot into a box so I could see what actually came out that I couldn't reach. Here ya go, piled into a diaper box.

So, what was I unable to get out with my tool and patience?
11 blocks
7 little people
2 knives (hide the evidence)
2 train tracks
large water from Rescue Heroes fire truck
small water from mini version of Rescue Heroes fire truck
pacifier leash
2 train signs
toy wrench (wondered where that went)
2 nuts, the tool kind
1 bolt
car
fireman
blocks
magnet "z"
and of course, the original snuggle blanket that started it all

So, next time your kid's toys go missing... check in the wall. It's like finding a buried treasure.

Funny Words

2009-05-05T22:58:00.002-04:00

Some funny sayings around here that I don't want to forget.

Thomas says "McDonald's has a play station!"
"Really? What are you talking about?" I ask.
"They have a slide and stuff to climb on... a play station"
NICE! Can we keep that concept for a long time? Probably not.

Jerry was in time out this morning. I hear a commotion coming from the corner.
"Michael... go away... I'm in trouble!"
Apparently Michael was trying to play with him or talk to him.

Jerry likes to watch Muffins.
You probably know them as The Muppets.

If you tell Michael to lay down and go to sleep, he lays down on the floor with his head down and bum up in the air. Then he starts to snore.

If you look at Michael and close your eyes and open them, he does it back, but with a cute look on his face.

Michael and Jerry love candy and sweets. Michael comes running over and opens his mouth up like a bird any time someone has treats. Jerry just does anything he can to get to the treats.

There are plenty more cute things, and more are sure to follow as I think of them.

I think the next post will be about fishing. Just wait, you don't want to miss this one.

Time Warp

2009-05-03T20:18:00.005-04:00

So Tyler tells me I need to update the blog. This evening he informed me it has been about 6 weeks since the last post. What can I say, we have been busy. For the next little while, I am going to try and post like a fiend and get everybody all caught up.

Thomas celebrated the 100th day of school with a parade and other fun events centered around, you guessed it, 100. For the parade, all the kids wore hats with 100 of something on it. I thought beads on a hat would be easy. Tyler suggested 100 safety pins around the brim of a hat. Of course, most of what I do doesn't turn out right. I thought the hats had to be in on Friday... oops, they were supposed to be in on Thursday. Fortunately, we were able to get the hat done and to the school in time for the parade Friday morning. This was probably in the middle of some insane week where it was quite difficult to find time to get to a store. In the end, the hat took about 3 hours to get 100 beads stitched on. Yeah, should have listened to Tyler on that one. Oh well, he had fun with the hat and parade, so all was fine. All I had was tired fingers and less sleep. I imagine I have more of that to come with other school projects. The kids also like to play with the hat, still. Too bad one of them, different each time, likes to pull a bead as far as they can, so I then spend way too much time fixing the hat by pulling the yarn back through from the inside. Gee, I must be a great mom with too much time on my hands.

On a different note, we have had other adventures lately. Michael got tubes, again. Jerry created his usual messes and disasters. My dining room carpet was perfectly seasoned for the grill. The living room carpet should be free from headaches, muscle aches, fever, and inflammation for about 6-8 hours. Yes, the hooligan dumped grill seasoning in the dining room and Motrin in the living room. He also climbed up the shelves in the pantry, got into a storage box on the top shelf, pulled out a cupcake, and hid in the dining room eating it while I was on the phone doing something important enough that I wasn't paying constant attention to him. Tyler has his final exam in his math class on Wednesday. Thomas is doing great in school and is reading quite well. He loves school and has a great time and is learning more every day. I am still teaching and running around all over the place trying to do and be everything for everybody.

Keep checking back and following us through our time warp recap of the last few months. We still have to cover 2 birthdays, a beach trip, and other fun and exciting adventures and misadventures.

Life Lately

2009-04-01T14:31:00.002-04:00

Life lately has been one thing after another. In addition to the usual antics around here, we have had the plagues. Rather than tell the whole annoying, boring story, I decided to cut and paste my facebook status and some of the comments the posting generated. Hopefully you all stay away from whatever was around here lately!

March 19: has two sick kids and a Jerry. What a fun day around here.
Rachel Coombs HolmesThe both have the cough, Michael has wheezing and the nose and no sleep (me no sleep either, thanks baby), and Thomas has a stomach bug type thing and a fever and just wants to sleep all day. Too bad I have to pack them all up and drag them to the doctor for Michael. (response to earlier comment)

March 20:entered the puking phase with Thomas this morning. At least Michael slept most of the night and just has a nasty viral cold.
Rachel Shill Beck The best part of your status...the two words "this morning." My kids always begin their puking about 11:45pm and continue all night long. Hang in there, it'll be over soon!
Rachel Coombs Holmes It seems to have been a one time thing. He has just been tired and fever mostly. He was up for 3 hours, then went back to sleep going on 2 1/2 hours now. Better them than me. I can take care of them, nobody around to take care of me.

March 22: just cleaned dirt and lots of pollen off Michael's fingers and face and mouth and TEETH. He had fun playing on the window sill.

March 22: banishes all bugs and viruses from the premises. You are trespassing... LEAVE NOW!!!
Dare Wyrick Peed don't forget to hang garlic over the doorway! ;) Hope everyone is feeling better soon.

March 23: went to the doctor today. Check my page for the verdict.
Rachel Coombs Holmes Nevermind, new facebook won't let me post on my own wall. After our 1 1/2 hour visit to the doctor we have 3 children and 6 ears attached to said children. Also, there is one ear missing a tube.

Problem: 4 infected ears (two of which are draining), 3 viral infections with fevers and occasional vomiting attached as well as various sore body parts... Read More, 1 sinus infection. There should be a "2" something. Nevermind, we'll just skip the "2" in this count.
Solution: 2 kids on Omnicef, 1 kid on Amoxicillin, two kids on ear drops The missing tube kid gets antibiotic and drops, one Rx for each ear. 10 days and we should be back to normal. I think I have forgotten what normal is like around here. I can't wait to see how they all react to the antibiotics, lucky me!

Kristen Jarrell Barnett Sheesh. Hope the antibiotics kick in soon. Go eat a piece a chocolate. :)
Rachel Coombs Holmes I ate 3 twinkies and I'm drinking a Dr Pepper! Shhhhh, don't tell anyone.
Alida Lee Mmm twinkies!

March 24: had crappy not sleep last night and is already having one of those days. Great!

March 24: cannot do this anymore. Kids for sale. I'll pay you.
Malinda Coombs I think I still have my kids 4 sale sign.....need it?
Allyn Sandridge having a bad day?

March 24: was sick and left rehearsal early, only to be greeted by children sleeping on the floor after one puked on the freshly cleaned bed.

March 25: wonders why Jerry pooped in Michael's bed first thing this morning. Is it only Wednesday?

March 25: still has a disaster on the wall, even after 30 min scrubbing and 1.5 Magic Erasers. If I color the wall with white crayon will it cover the mess?
Alida Lee Just put a frame around it and call it "art".
Lindsey Dean Brogli perfect place to hang a huge photo of the family...

Rachel Coombs Holmes at 2:11pm March 25

I could put a life size picture and it would cover it, but they would break anything I put there. Jerry is a destruction crew all in one little body. To make it better, I scrubbed through the drywall in a couple places. And, it's their new room. I'm crossing my fingers Tyler doesn't notice, yeah right!

March 26: can't believe we now get to add pink eye to the list.

March 27:wishes her big boy Thomas a Happy 6th Birthday! Now stop growing up.

March 28: needs to decorate a cake for tomorrow's birthday dinner. And laundry, and mop, and bathtubs, and get kids ready for church tomorrow, and plan music....

March 30: might be rid of the 7 plagues around here. After another round of pink eye the end might be in sight. Don't say it too loud, though, sometimes the man in charge has a twisted sense of humor.

3 more days of antibiotics, then their little systems should be back to normal again soon. Thank goodness for pull-ups! Almost there!!! (response to previous comments.)

OK, so I can laugh a little bit now. Thanks for the comments and encouragement. We all survived this far. Hopefully we can stay healthy and keep improving.

Room for Improvement

2009-02-25T18:12:00.002-05:00

Monday was a nightmare. Tuesday and Wednesday have not been much better. At least they haven't been worse.

Let's see.... Tuesday. Morning student had to reschedule, no biggie. Jerry was his usual make me crazy 3 year old self. Michael has an ear infection. My children were hooligans while I was trying to teach. I never made it to the gym. Jerry flooded the upstairs bathroom.

I was on the phone with insurance, a headache in itself, when I heard hysterical laughter and the toilet lid slamming. This could not be good, I knew it. Before I was finished on the phone I could hear Michael screaming from the top of the stairs. By the time I got off the phone and upstairs there was a sight to behold. Michael was soaking wet from head to toe, Jerry had no clothes on, and there was standing water in my bathroom. *Run for the towels* and step on soaking wet carpet. Irritation is a mild word for how I felt at the moment. The rascal had taken a tub toy and scooped water out of the toilet and dumped it on Michael, the bathroom floor, the bedroom floor, and the hallway. As I was trying to contain the mess, Michael walked into the bathroom. Well, he tried to. Grippy feet on pajamas don't help much when an inch of water is covering the floor. Down he went, and none too happy about it either. Eventually everybody got dry clothes on and the disaster got cleaned up. Hey, it could have been worse.

I also went "fishing," but you will have to wait until the next post to hear about that one.

Wednesday brought the pleasure of two more nasty ear infections, Jerry this time. We also had red juice on the floor, banana smashed on the kitchen floor while I was teaching, sneaking food, temper tantrums, very busy bodies, no nape and minimal nap, a motorcycle thrown at Michael by Jerry, and ruined dinner.

Ah, dinner. I had great plans for dinner. We had leftover makings for chicken cream cheese enchiladas that I put together. The oven was pre-heated and ready to go. All I had to do was put the dish in the oven. Then, of course, disaster strikes, in the form of a 3 year old. Jerry decided it was a good idea to flip the lock over to "lock" for the self-clean cycle on the oven. With my oven, I don't know about yours, this is a problem. I tried to turn the oven off for a few minutes and then back on. Nope, the cleaning light kept blinking. Maybe if I just set the temperature it will cook anyway. Wishful thinking. Finally I went up to find the instruction manual. While searching the hooligans went nuts doing who knows what. Poor Tyler was trying to finish his homework, so their antics were less than appreciated. Children were quickly banished to their room to play until dinner was ready. Finally I found the information I was looking for. Not good. In order for the oven to reset after turning off the self clean cycle, it has to cool completely. No time for that, Tyler has class in 45 minutes. I kept trying to turn the oven back on, hoping it would think the temperature was low enough to reset. No such luck. While banished in their room, Jerry threw his motorcycle, a ride on toy, and hit Michael. I give up. Tyler ended up with leftovers and made it out the door for class in time. I even got his lecture notes printed for him. Maybe he will want dinner when he gets home. Yeah, probably not. Another wasted effort and lost attempt at getting something right.

Go ahead, laugh at our misadventures. Smile and say "I am so glad it is her and not me!" Share some story that is worse than this one. Let me laugh at your misfortunes, please. Post on your blog and tell me to go read it.

Eventually we will laugh, but for now I just want to quit. Tomorrow is going to be better. It has to be. I can't take many more of these days. One more and I just might run away and not come back.

99 Things

2009-02-24T17:24:00.003-05:00

We found this on a friend's blog (hey Kory) and Tyler wanted me to post his list, so here goes. Who knows, you might find out something new about him, I did.

Here are the rules:
Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band(only if bebopping on live radio when I was 15 counts)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis( he may have been lunch for me)
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (not organized, USMC)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise(Does a Naval Aircraft Carrier count?)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke(badly)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant(turns out she was already engaged)
44. Visited Africa(not much in the way of a vacation)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance-twice
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Redwoods
82. Bought a brand new car-no plan to, ever!!!
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury-maybe next month
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby-not able, thank heavens
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Who wants to play?

You may now pick yourselves up off the floor from the shock of 2 posts in one day and the fact that Tyler is voluntarily posting information about himself. Carry on with you day, just beware of the astonished look on your face that may remain for several hours.

Mondays, UGH

2009-02-24T11:16:00.005-05:00

Mondays are no fun. Neither are mornings. Combine the two and you are asking for disaster in my world.

Yesterday started with no hot water. I had to take Jerry to Duke University for a study he was taking part in, so I kind of needed a shower before leaving for carpool. I am not one to enjoy a cold shower or find it invigorating. In the end, I shoved my head under the faucet and had a chilly hair washing session. As a result of the water incident, we ended up a bit behind schedule, only a minute or two, so not too bad. The kids had a pop tart morning for the sake of my sanity. Unfortunately, as we were walking out the door, little Michael dropped his in the garage. I didn't realize the "breakfast" had hit the floor, I stepped on it, and almost fell. Pick up the pieces, send Thomas back inside to grab another and we are out the door and on our way.

Wait, hold that thought, we are out the door, but far from on out way. As I was putting Michael in his seat, I noticed the seat belt was slack. Strange. I pulled on it to tighten it and the entire belt came through the seat. JERRY!!!! The little stinker had unbuckled Michael's seat at some point. Do you know how hard it is to re-buckle a seat with a child buckled in it already? Not easy, at all. Poor Michael got a bit squished in the ordeal.

By now, we are really running late. I told Thomas to hold Michael's pop tart until we got to pick up carpool, then to give it to Michael. As we pulled in the driveway I asked Thomas where the pop tart was. He held up 1/3 of a tart. The pill totally ignored what I said and ate his brother's breakfast. On the way to school Thomas and one of the girls got into it... again. That is another issue that I need to deal with. Those two seem to love to irritate each other. Of course, we can't forget the big sign on the mom mobile that says "please cut me off, drive slow, or do other irritating things, but especially drive slow... the slower the better."

The traffic report says there is a nasty backup on the freeway. Great. Wait, some good news?!?! My fabulous husband called and told me how to get around the mess. It worked and we had no trouble, other than the u-turn due to a missed turn. We also had computer issues, blog issues, and kids not eating dinner issues. Oh yeah, and I totally forgot that I had to take Tyler to class because I had to go to the store while he was gone and needed the mom mobile.

By the end of the day I was about to lose it. So, what do children do when mom is barely hanging on?!?! They push her over the edge, of course.

We had milkshakes earlier in the afternoon and Jerry didn't finish his. I put it in the freezer and he just got it whenever he wanted. Slight problem, when Jerry opens the fridge or freezer, Michael pulls out anything he sees. So, next thing I know there is a glass bottle of Soy Sauce hitting my floor. No breakage, thank goodness. Put everything back in and repeat several more times. Now we have 3 poopy boys (possible stomach bug coming on, great) to add to the mix. I just love poopy underwear, don't you? All kids clean, time to go to the store. Oh, wait, nevermind. Time to clean ice cream out of little boy HAIR. While I was helping Thomas clean up, the other two played with milkshakes and thought it would be fun to drip onto the floor or in each other's hair. Run over with wipes and we are out the door. Shopping at BJ's with 3 boys, so much fun (no sarcasm here, ever)!!! Potty stop for Jerry at BJ's. Problem, what do I do with the other two hooligans? "Thomas, stand here with Michael while I go help Jerry." Piddle, piddle in the potty, wash hands, out the door.... YES, they are both still standing there waiting for me.

I treated myself to Chick-fil-a and a gigantic Dr Pepper. The we put on a DVD in the mom mobile and headed to pick up daddy from school. I never do this around town, the DVD is for travel only, but desperate times and mommy's sanity called for breaking the rule this time. More disasters once we got home, including sick tummys and lots of laundry. Can't forget cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the bathroom, staying away from the broken bathroom, laundry, and not having a meltdown.

I don't know about you, but Mondays are just not my friend. It has to get better from here. I certainly don't want to know how it can get worse, that's for sure! I hope your Mondays are better than mine was. Off to deal with a nearly as rough Tuesday. LUCKY ME!!!

Photo Tag

2009-02-23T16:38:00.003-05:00

Here you go Kory. You tagged me and I am actually doing it. The rules are:
1. Go to your pictures
2. Go to the 6th file folder
3. Select the 6th picture
4. Blog about it
5. Tag 6 peopleHere's the story behind the picture.
Tyler went to the beach with my family for our annual trip. While there he proposed and we were engaged. I am wrapped up in a blanket because I was cold, as usual. I have no idea who took this picture, but it is a fun one to have. We have many happy and fun memories of the Slingshot, our beach house (ok, not ours, but we like to claim it), and look forward to many more.

Tag: Erin, Stephanie, Kristen Holmes, Cousin Beth, Aunt Jean, Kristen (any other Kristen will do), and anybody else who wants to play along. I like this one, and it is easy.

Krispy Kreme Challenge

2009-02-17T10:51:00.004-05:00

So I am a little slow on getting this up here, oh well. The details don't change, just the reference to "yesterday." This took place on Feb 7, 2009. I originally sent out an email, but didn't send it to everybody, so here is my story for all the world to read.

Yesterday I did my first race of the year. So, it ended up not being so much a race and more of an event. I woke up sick with a nasty head and chest cold, but went to run anyway (I am not about to pay the entry fee then not show up). By the time I got there I was breathing somewhat normal again. As I was waiting at the start line, I ran into some friends and we laughed about all the costumes and crazy people at the race, about 5200 people running in all. There was Superman, The Flash, Santa Claus with a gigantic cowboy hat, lots of donuts with sprinkles, KK coffee cup pair, Duncan Donut and KK coffee cup pair, Richard Simmons, Elvis, Waldo and his buddy Waldo, and a giant gorilla. We can’t forget the crew that was shirtless (or tank topped) and painted “Do It For the Kids” and the other crew painted with the name of some ESPN sportscaster. Yes, the event was so big it was covered by ESPN. There was also a National Guardsman in fatigues, boots, and a 60lb pack. One guy had a broken leg, so he wore a life jacket and rode in a shopping cart; he was the designated eater he said.

Anyway, back to my race. We headed the 2 miles to Krispy Kreme. Right from the start we headed downhill, and as I reached the start I could see the massive swath of people on their way up the other side of the hill. This was not going to be easy, especially on the way back I couldn’t help but think. Once I got to KK, I had to wait almost 10 minutes to get my donuts. Again, that many people can really slow things down. I ate 3 donuts, that was enough. A guy near me told me to cram them all together like a donut sandwich and I could eat more and faster. Um, no thanks, I’m good slowly eating my little 3. There were several people that didn’t do so hot at holding their donuts, but we will just move on from them. Let’s just say I hope the fire department comes by to hose down the parking lot. (Later on the news we saw a reporter at the scene, very obviously after all the racers had cleared. Gross, but it was much worse earlier.) The trip back was more of a jog here and there than it was a run or race. Most people walked the way back. Let me just tell you about the trip back. There were a few hills. OK, there were a lot of hills. Long and slow hills at that. Even my more serious racer friends said the hills on the way back were rough, and add to that the donut weight and the hills were even worse. Today, my legs are definitely feeling those hills. And we just won’t talk about my time. Donuts in the middle of a race really kill your time. On the bright side, I was in the middle of a pack the entire time. I passed some and plenty passed me. My overall time, including food and the delay of getting to the start, was 1:22:28. My run time, based on my watch (my rockin’ new ironman watch that tracks laps and overall runs) was 58:45. Yeah, crappy time, oh well. I had the cards way stacked against me this time.

In the end, I did the race. I made it the 2 miles there, ate a few, and made it 2 miles back, and I kept it all down. The odds of me doing it again are pretty slim. I ran it once, and I can now say I have done it. The whole thing was fun, especially to see everybody there and having such a good time. On to the next race now. Crystal Coast on Feb 28, I will be doing the 5K. I will be sure to keep everybody posted on my new running habit. Thanks for all the encouragement and support!

If you want, go to www.newsobserver.com and check out the photos from the race. My picture is in there, #64. There was a girl riding on a guy’s shoulders and I happened to be next to them when the picture was taken. That’s me, Runner 2009! No, really, my entry number was 2009 for this one. Cool, huh?

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/multi/first-look-the-krispy-kreme-challenge

I can't post the photo here because the newspaper owns the photo. Sorry, if you want to see it, you have to go find it.

I Prayed to Jesus!

2009-02-16T22:07:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Star Wars came on TV after church. The kids go down for naps after lunch, so Thomas was quite upset that he was going to miss Star Wars. I told him that if it was still on once he woke up he could probably watch it. I knew it would be over, but wanted a nap and would deal with the drama later. I was awake in my room when Thomas woke up. From downstairs I heard his little voice "Star Wars is on Daddy! I prayed to Jesus that it would still be on when I woke up and Jesus answered my prayer! Star Wars is still on!" We just laughed about it and were also quite proud that he has the basic concept of Heavenly Father will answer our prayers. I love my kids and all the teach me.

Will you be my Valentine?

2009-02-14T16:19:00.002-05:00

Valentine's Day is not a popular holiday around our house. Don't get me wrong, the concept is nice. Who wouldn't appreciate a day to focus on your love and mushy feelings for your special someone? However, what makes it such a ridiculous holiday is what it has become. Since when does the amount of money you spend justify your love. "The more you spend, the more you care" is disgusting. It has become a holiday that only exists for merchants (Christmas is falling into the same category, but that is a different post for a different season). Flowers only sent on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day... don't even bother with the effort. If you need a holiday to do something nice, at least pick our anniversary or something. Don't even waste your time and frustration to elbow your way through all the last minute shoppers to pick out the first card that sounds nice and then slap your name on it. Fine, pick a card, but at least write something meaningful inside. Do you really need Hallmark to tell you what to say? Really, flowers, cards, candies, jewelry, fine dining reservations appear in mass quantities for February 14. May Day is for flowers, cards are for sympathy or thinking of you, and candy is for Halloween.

Now, all these ill feelings for Valentine's Day do not mean the holiday is non-existent in our house. We have both been known to write sweet notes to each other. OK, I have been known to pick out a nice card and write a nice note inside. Once, long ago, I woke up to a huge "Happy Valentine's Day" written on the white board before Tyler left for work. We do nice things for each other, our kids, and other special people. No flowers here. Again, another story for another post (careful what you say when you are dating).

So, what was Valentine's Day like around the nut house today, you might ask? Well, for the past two days I was working on my special Valentine's treat for everybody. Time is worth more than money for things like this. Unfortunately, my super sleuth husband kept finding the pieces of the project. He wasn't out looking for them, just kept finding them. Finally last night I gave him the coolest idea ever. Too bad it didn't turn out right. It may not look right, but it sure tasted good! This morning, the kids woke up to the same super fun treat at their plates. We made french toast and bacon for the family for breakfast and ate together. For dinner we were going to order heart shaped pizzas from Papa John's (our favorite take out pizza that we never order because DiGiorno is so yummy and so much cheaper). Plans changed when I found bigger pizzas for less, so the idea remained, but the appearance changed.

Our Valentine's Day was perfect for us. So in the future, try and put a little more thought and a lot less commercialization into your holiday. We need to show our love every day, not just on Valentine's Day. A day to make an extra special effort is nice, so long as it isn't the only day. And celebrate your dinner out on a random day, trust me. The food is better and the service is better. Take that from a former restaurant employee that hated Valentine's Day from a whole other perspective.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU ALL!!!!

Funny Sayings

2009-01-26T13:13:00.002-05:00

Jerry is known around here for the funny things he says. Here is just a taste of his little, or not so little, personality.

*Last morning, instead of yesterday.
*Pomatoes.... not tomatoes, not potatoes, but pomatoes. This is what he calls potatoes.
*"I talk to Zona" when he said he was talking to Arizona. We asked what Arizona said to him and he said he didn't know.
*Sticky Cheerios are Honey Nut Cheerios
*Tyler was sitting on the couch and said he was going to go make lunch. Jerry came running over and said "I LIKE LUNCH!"

Jerry has also become very animated. Just picture Spanky from The Little Rascals. That would be Jerry. He uses his entire body when he talks, and of course the funniest facial expressions you can imagine. He makes us wish we had a video camera. This child is far from lacking in the personality department.

Snow

2009-01-20T21:57:00.014-05:00

It isn't that often that we get snow in our area; not uncommon, but certainly not a weekly event. Last night it started snowing and it didn't stop until this afternoon. Of course, the kids went nuts and were beside themselves with excitement. After a yummy breakfast of pancakes (thanks Tyler), the kids couldn't stand to wait any longer. We got all bundled up and went out to play. Soon after Jerry went out, he came back in screaming. He learned pretty quick that making snowballs without mittens starts to hurt.
Thomas and Jerry, just dying to go outside and play.
The view out the back door. Of course, I opened the door to take the picture and the wind started blowing inside. And, I was the brainiac who did it all while barefoot. Can we say cold toes?
Our house from the front.
Jerry having tons of fun with his Sponge Bob hat on. Thanks Aunt Amanda, it's a favorite, year round. He also decided that snow is much more fun and snowballs are much less painful to make when you have your mittens on.
Michael's first toy of choice was an umbrella. Nice rain boots. We had to put on 3 pair of socks because they were so big on him, and they were still funny on him.
Spoons make for great digging tools, just ask Michael. You can't even see his cute boots because the snow is so deep on him.
Tyler shoveled the driveway and walkway. As soon as he was done, there was more right where he had finished. He also had a bit of fun launching shovels of snow at us. I certainly got my fair share of snow on the head, and back, and neck, and pants, and anywhere else on my body. He didn't quite follow the rules of a snowball fight. Or did he? All's fair in war?
Michael and I came in first when he decided he didn't want to keep his mittens on. He wasn't such a fan of the mittenless snow either. Thanks Lolly for the super soft and warm mittens and scarf and hat from New Zeland. Too bad our kids have massive heads and the cute Rudolph hat with antlers have yet to fit one of their noggins.
Michael was a bit unhappy about coming inside. He threw himself face down on the floor and pitched a royal fit. We are so proud our baby has learned to throw a top notch fit.
Thomas stayed out the longest and came in the wet-est and red-est. He was so wet he needed help getting out of his clothes. Yes, he looks drunk or stoned. Let's just chalk it up to tired after lots of fun. Why do they always blink and make a funny face when you tell them to smile?
After lots of fun, it was time to take off all the wet clothes and curl up in warm blankets. Of course we had hot chocolate and snow cream to top off the day.

In the end we got around 5-6 inches, the most since 2002. Who knows what else is in store with the wacky NC weather we have.

Yes, I am also quite aware that pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas have yet to make it on the blog. Don't worry, they will show up soon enough.

My Child!

2008-12-16T11:55:00.003-05:00

This could easily be one of my children. Can you guess which one? An unlocked Dollar Store, it doesn't get much more fun than that to a kid. Just think how much fun the boys could have had with all of them together in this situation. It cracks me up at the end how the little boy is so excited to see the police. I can just hear him "Officer, come play with me. I found all these fun toys!"

I Looked Out the Window

2008-11-18T13:42:00.002-05:00

You will not believe this! I looked out the window, and what did I see? No, not my children dangling from the rooftops. Even more incredible! I just looked out ans it was SNOWING! Snow, in NC, in Raleigh, in November. Forget White Christmas, we really might end up with that white Thanksgiving the forecast is hinting at. The world must be coming to an end if this is happening.

Students and Such

2008-11-18T13:23:00.002-05:00

The latest and greatest around here is fantastic! Thomas got treasure box a few weeks ago, then he got it again last week. FINALLY!!! Unfortunately, we already blew it this week. He came home from school with a note that he had hit one of his friends.... in the nose.... with his fist. So much for two weeks in a row. We will just have to keep trying. At least we are on the improvement track. Tyler is now registered for classes and starts a math class in January. My little boy is all grown up and going to college. Yeah, whatever, no tears here. Not like he is that little either :) We are so excited that he is starting on his way to the degree he wants so badly. After helping me through, we can't wait to return the favor and cheer him all along the way. The goal is for him to graduate college before Thomas graduates High School. That sounds reasonable. As for the other two, we just can't wait for them to be in school and out of my hair. They are so good and we have lots of fun around the house. Yesterday Jerry came up to me wearing garden gloves. He said "I ride my motorcycle to work, like Daddy. I wear gloves and a hemet." (If you haven't heard the hemet story, give me a call, it is so much funnier when you hear him say it.) Not that Daddy rides his bike to work (tools don't fit in a tank bag so well), but at least Jerry knows to wear all the gear when he rides. Michael is as snuggly and sweet as ever. Right now he is hiding under his pajamas that never made it to the laundry and making cute noises. He waves now and I taught him to blow kisses last week. He also smacks himself on the forehead when you say "Oh no!" He is such a funny little baby. Me... I have a headache, 3 little boys, and lots more performances coming up. Life is good.

One month from tomorrow we leave for the trip. Can you believe it is that time already? Happy thoughts and wishes to everybody this wonderful season. Remember all you are thankful for and all that we are blessed with. Although things may not be perfect or easy, we are truly blessed. Take the time to slow down and focus on what is really important and share where you can. Even a smile can mean the world to someone.

Halloween

2008-11-04T11:43:00.003-05:00

The boys all had a blast this Halloween. After several parties, we finally reached the big night. Pirates are a favorite in our house lately, so Thomas and Jerry paraded around as the cutest pirates in town. Michael was the usual 1 year old bumble bee. Of course, he was the most adorable, fuzziest bumble bee to be seen. We went to Lolly's neighborhood to avoid the massive crowds around our house. This was Jerry's magical year when he discovered that trick-or-treating is fun and easy work. By the end, when someone answered the door, he would start jumping up and down and yelling "Candy!!Candy!!" as only an excited 2 year old can. Of course, his reaction endeared him to the givers and the kids got more goodies. Little kids are definitely what makes the annual sugar fest, part one (we still have Christmas to come), so much fun. All told, we hit 15 houses. From the looks of their bags and the number of times we had to unload their bags into the diaper bag, you would think we had knocked on as many doors as a missionary in a day. Now I am the candy Nazi and the goodies are highly regulated around here, even for the adults. Thanks to those of you who the boys have such a fun time. Also, thank goodness Lolly remembered to take out her camera, otherwise there would be no pictures of pirates and bees. Silly Mommy flaked and left the camera buried in the bottom of the bag. I guess I was to busy with kids to remember a thing like a camera.

Any thoughts on next year's costumes?

A Matter of Cost

2008-11-01T15:48:00.002-04:00

This is the year for our trip to AZ for Christmas. We have finally reached the point of being cheaper to drive than to fly, so guess what we are doing. With gas prices being such a bugger lately, we have had the trip in the back of our minds each time we fill up the mom mobile. I just found a cool feature on the website gas buddy that predicts the cost of your trip, depending on gas prices along your trip route. What did we find out? Exactly what we already knew. To fly, we would have to shell out about $3000 for air fare and a rental once we get there, plus figuring in "stuff" while we are out there. To drive, $212.76, each way, for a total of $425.52 plus the possible hotel stop along the way. Gee, which one is better. Even with taking extra time off work, driving is by far the more practical choice. So, now we can go to Pete's for every meal instead of just one. Monster Burgers, here we come. Oh yeah, and we'll see the family too.

Treasure Box

2008-10-27T11:59:00.002-04:00

Thomas has a slight issue at school that we have been working on. The first week of school, he came home and excitedly said "When you talk in class, you get your name on the board!" We eventually got him set straight that your name on the board is not a good thing. In his class, you get a green check each day you don't get your name on the board, along with a reward of Skittles or M&Ms. After a week of green checks, you get the treasure box. We usually do great on the first day of the week. Second day is usually pretty good too. By day three, you can be almost sure we don't have a green check coming home in the homework folder. This was such an issue, that his teacher and I talked about it in our conference at the end of the first quarter. I told her the day he got treasure box I just might take him to Chuck-E-Cheese (nasty place that it is, the kids love it, or at least the idea of it in our case, since he has never been.)

The first week back from break, he had 3 green checks. All we had to do was get one more. Friday, when I asked him if he had a green check, he said he didn't. Rats! He probably lost his green check at 2:00, at the end of the day. So, last week, we tried again. Every day I got oh so excited for each day he had a check. Every day, as I dropped him off, I would remind him to get a green check. Each day he came home with a green check. Friday was the big day. Would he get the treasure box? 3:15, Thomas comes through the door. "Did you get a green check today?" I asked. "I GOT TREASURE BOX!!!" was his excited reply. (Of course, his toy is a most annoying McDonald's Happy Meal toy that plays music. Not like that one can conveniently disappear any time soon.) Finally, after 12 weeks, we finally had a complete week of green checks. Can I just tell you the party I wanted to throw. We called anyone we could think of who knew our battle. Also, I have become a sappy mom. Yes, I nearly wanted to cry I was so excited and proud of him. Instead we just did a Happy Dance.

So, tonight, we are going to CiCi's for dinner. He loves it, and it means I don't have to fix dinner. I think I can manage to pinch the budget enough for this treat. Now, can we do it again this week? Check back and see.

Unihorse

2008-10-17T10:40:00.002-04:00

Thomas is working on letters. We go over recognition, sounds, and words that start with the letter. Last night we got to the letter "U" and the "U" word he gave me was unihorse. I knew exactly what he meant and double over on the floor laughing. Tyler was lost, at best. He said "what?" Thomas repeated, "a unihorse. It has a long pointy horn that comes out his head like this." Then Tyler got it and started laughing just as hard. I think from now on, I will call it a unihorse, because it is a horse with a long pointy thing on his head, no corn to be found. Sometimes it takes a kid to make us realize how silly some of our words or descriptions are. Nope, still not seeing any corn on this horse.

Pirates

2008-10-06T11:02:00.003-04:00

While enjoying Sunday dinner at Lolly's house, they boys decided to be pirates. Pirates with umbrellas. Pirates with winter hats and scarves and gloves, on a blazing hot June day. Yes, I have the best pirates ever. They sang pirate songs and said "Arrrrr" over and over. I am sure there was some plank walking involved, but I don't remember all the details. I do remember all of us laughing hysterically for quite a while. Eventually the pirates left and the boys and Aunt Amanda (she is so great!) came back. You never know when they will reappear.

Operatic Family

2008-09-28T22:40:00.002-04:00

Another night at the opera. This time Thomas had family there with him. Nope, not the professional opera singer, again. Tyler got to be part of this one. Thomas was one of the town people, and Tyler was a prop moving town person. Also, one of my piano students had the chance to be a town person. I got to watch from the balcony, again. (Huge thanks to Lolly for keeping the little two so I could see the show one night!) I was invited to be in the chorus, but was involved in another opera at the same time and it was too much to do two operas at the same time. Turns out, I should have gone with the Italian opera and turned down the French from the start. Maybe next time...

Michael in Motion

2008-09-18T22:06:00.006-04:00

Michael is growing, so here is some fun stuff for proof. When he is hot, tired, or mad, his hair stands up all over. It cracks me up, so I just had to take a picture one day.I think he is sufficiently mad here. One day he will look back and laugh, but for the moment, not so much. I think I will blow up the picture, make a mask out of it, and hold it up to my face when I am having a bad moment. Then I can be cute and mad, all at the same time.

While getting ready for bed, I decided to take the requested video of Michael walking. Jerry, um, helps him. Yes, my kids are running around in diapers. Sometimes it is just diapers, others is diapers and a shirt. It just makes changes so much easier. Besides, if I could run around nekkid in this heat and humidity, you bet I would. Well, if I had a fabulous body and outrageous self confidence. Oh yeah, and no sense of modesty.

Michael also made videos difficult because as soon as I started trying to record, he came running at me, full tilt. At least you get the idea. I love the way babies walk when they are learning. They look like Frankenstein.

So there you have it. Michael is a wild headed, fluffy headed, walking, moving boy. Who just happens to be the cutest little baby around, if I do say so.

Michael Walker

2008-09-05T13:22:00.004-04:00

Michael Walker is now officially a walker. He started walking last week, and he adds a few more steps each day. He is so funny when he smiles and makes a baby run for me. Then, he gets a step or two away and falls forward, absolutely sure that you will catch him.

We seem to be somewhat adjusted to our new routine. We drop Thomas off at school, then we hit the gym. The gym is fabulous and I look forward to my time each day. Best part, besides getting to work out and have time alone, is that the childcare is free. Oh yeah, I make full use of my 2 hours. Maybe I will start taking showers there, just so I can have them uninterrupted by hooligans.

Thomas loves school and his teachers think he is great. We also found out that he is quite protective of a little, and I mean little, girl in his class. His teacher says that she is very shy and quiet, but when she is with Thomas, she talks up a storm and they tend to get in trouble for talking too much. He waits for her and she waits for him, and he makes sure she is included in anything they do. Yup, we are just a bit proud of him. I guess this means we did something right in the parenting department. Thomas is also doing more operas. He was so good in Butterfly, that he was called back to do another.

Jerry is a riot. He laughs at just about anything and has lots of fun, at least when he isn't having a temper tantrum. Also, he talks, a lot. He was in speech for a while because he wouldn't talk at all. Now, he is non stop. Every day he has more words that he says. He also seems to be developing the memory like a steel trap like Thomas. He hears something once, even in passing, and will tell you about it later. He is also big on possession. Everything belongs to someone. Fortunately, he has not started the "everything is mine" phase. Jerry also loves to sing. At church, he has to have his own hymn book and he sings along. It is so sweet and so cute, half the time I can't sing because I am laughing at him.

Michael is so dang cute. He smiles and laughs and loves. He also is on whole milk now, so that frees me up quite a bit. Still no sleeping though the night, but we are working on that. He also likes to eat. He was really fussy for a few days, until I figured out that he was still hungry. Hooray, a house of three growing boys. Michael loves music too. When I am teaching, he tends to throw fits, but not because he isn't the center of attention. No, my baby throws fits because he isn't the one playing the piano. He loves to play and will bend over backwards in my arms to be able to play.

A favorite activity in out house is to have both pianos going and lots of us singing. I am thrilled that they all love music so much and that it is such a central part of our home. It is such a blessing that all of us appreciate music. Maybe we will be the next Von Trapp or Osmond family, without so many kids. Then again, maybe not.

We are all growing and changing, for the better. We are happy and there are so many good things in out lives right now. Each day, we share what we are thankful for, and there are new things each day. We love our family and friends and are so grateful for them and all they do for us. We are blessed in so many ways.