To my fellow y'all users

and those who wish they were. Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer has tried to explain the proper use of y'all. It's a fun post and defintety worth the time of reading some of her comments. Just click here and enjoy a good chuckle.

Is there anything worse?

Than running up the stairs only to find your oldest hanging his head over the top bunk of his bed and just throwing up continously? I think there is. It's discovery that while you weren't home for dinner your children obviously had ravioli. And now that big red mess is all over your carpet.

Can I just say that whoever invented the carpet cleaner and whatever that purple stuff my Hubs uses in the garage to clean anything and everything is my hero. I was sure I would have a big red stain to match my purple stain in my carpet. But I don't. And that's a good thing. Now if I can only get my oldest to feeling better.

Gone for a few days

Oh wait, you mean I have already been doing that? Oopps sorry. No really things are going to be off this week so I decided not to try and come up with blog posts while in the middle of it all. Hubs is on vacation this week so we will be doing a lot of things around the home together that require both of us to make decisions. (If I'm lucky it will involve paint and Shrubs being planted). We are also preparing for Hoss's birthday this week. So I will do the required classroom treats on his birthday. Add in the fact that I need to somehow finish up the classes I'm taking and restore the house before the parents come in and I feel a bit crazy thinking about it. The one good thing is that it is Monday and the laundry has essentially already been done. Thanks to my dear sweet Hubs.

It Happened

I knew this day would come. But it didn't make it any easier for either Hubs or me. I still don't think the day would have come yesterday except for the fact that one of Z.'s friends came over after school. The boys were running in and out from the back yard with Hoss following behind them. On one of these scrambles up the stairs I hear my sweet five year old Hoss say "Hey wait for me. I want to hear where babies come from to".

At this point it was an all out scream by mom. Boys, come here now! My boys come down wondering what they did to get into trouble. And Z.'s friend has the sheepish look that says he already knows why they are in trouble. Z. says Mom he's just going to tell us about where babies come from. I say no he's not. We will talk to you about it tonight. And that was enough talk about it for the time being. They all agreed and went off to play video games where I could hear every word being said. And you better believe I was listening.

So later that night Hubs takes Z. aside and has the talk. He even tells Z. son this is known as "the talk". You are not to ever have "the talk" with anyone of your friends or your little brother. And proceeds to tell him what he wanted to know. After a few minutes they both come out and Z. runs off to finish his reading. Hubs however was not nearly as nonchalant about it. It went well he said. He understands, he asked questions and his curiosity seems to have been satisfied.

He now compares all females to chickens who lay eggs. Only we can't see the eggs after fertilization when they pass out of our system. He seems a little (okay a lot) disappointed by this fact. Now I must say that even though I was laughing I am a bit concerned. What exactly did Hubs tell Z. and how did all women become chickens. I don't think this is exactly what I was hoping for when they went in together to talk. But Hubs assures me that he explained everything and that he really does understand where babies come from.

Wordless Wednesday

My two girls are more alike than they realize.

For other WW participants click here.

The Last Cupcake

There it was sitting on the kitchen counter. The last cupcake of the bunch from last nights Cowboys game. Sitting there with it's little plastic football ring and very bright blue icing. And I am completely fine with the last cupcake sitting there. It wasn't really calling my name at all. That was until I realized the time. Because in about forty five minutes I am going to have all four of my kids home from school and starving for a snack. And that last lone little Dallas Cowboys cupcake was going to become the object of many affections. I could already here the fighting and arguing about who was going to get the cupcake. So as I seriously did a cupcake count as to who this cupcake really did belong to I made an executive mom decision.

I ate the last cupcake.

There my problem has now been solved. I won't have to listen to any fights over who will eat it. Now I will instead hear who ate the last cupcake. And that is much easier to overcome. Just blame Daddy. By the time he gets home they would have moved on to a new subject to argue over. And I would have thrown all the cupcake reminders in the trash. Now I just need to make sure I don't have any residual blue frosting hanging around my face. Yes, I know I'm such a good mom.

Photo Hunters

This week the theme is road. So what's more fun for my kids than a little bit of golf cart racing on those cart race tracks. Over the summer they got to enjoy a bit of stiff competition with one of their favorite uncles along with dad and cousins. And let me tell you that there was no mercy given for age. It was a lot of fun for everyone.


That's my take this week. For others go visit TNCHICK.COM

Scattered and randon things

Things have been a bit unsettled here lately. So it's been hard to post. It could be because A. has somehow managed to pop off all the keys on my laptop. Even though Hubs was able to get them back on, they aren't really working right anymore. Only about half of what I type actually makes it to the screen. And since I'm way to lazy to go into the office where the desk top is then I just haven't been on the computer much lately.

A. also managed to pull out all her shoes and throw them all over the stairs. She then tripped on them and rolled down the stairs banging up her nose a bit. I seriously doubt she learned her lesson though. She's a bit more hard headed than that.

Z. has had strep throat the past week. Somehow, we have avoided anyone else catching it. Even though I didn't take him to the dr until he had been sick for three days.

I'm ready to start planting some new shrubs in the backyard now that it's getting cooler. Hubs is not as excited about it as I am. He usually ends up doing a lot more digging than I do. And since we need to make some new beds, it's just going to be work.

And top off all this useless random information that no one really cares about. All I want lately is Mexican food. I eat it and that's what I want again at the next meal. What's up with that. Now I'm surethat you guys are all so glad you wasted your time reading this post. I promise to not be quite so boring next time. But when it's a mommy blog and nothing super blogable is going on then this is what you get.

Significance

Why is it that my dear sweet Hubs doesn't understand the significance of our very busy two year old when she is utterly quiet.

Shall I just say that now he does understand the significance of her quietness. It usually means that she is up to something. Something like pulling the sink stopper up and turning on the water in the boys bathroom and then leaving it on. It usually means that when mom gets back from her walk he is frantically trying to clean up the floor with towels before the water pools anymore and starts to leak through the ceiling.

Meanwhile mom is just glad it wasn't her this happened to.

My true feelings..

"An Ode to Laundry"

Laundry pile in my hall,

Why are you so freakin' tall.

I wash you weekly without fail,

Come next Monday your back, Oh Hell!




Updated to add that I posted this and then felt immediate guilt about actually posting something in it with a bad word. I don't normally do that but since I couldn't find anything else I liked as much (in the thirty seconds it took me to think of it) I decided to leave it. Come back next time for a G rated post again.

Not in the trophy mom club

I have long since known that I am not a trophy mom.

You know the ones I'm talking about. They look like they are completely dressed and ready to go to a great cocktail party at eight A.M. every morning. They usually have two kids (anymore than that and it tends to make it hard to remain a trophy mom) because one kid isn't enough to get you into the trophy mom club. And if there was a way for them to be gender specific they would try and have a boy and girl each. And well their kids are always dressed in clean name brand clothes. Did I mention that they are always clean? They never let their kids get dirty and usually have them enrolled in one or two activities each (but only if they can drop off their kids). They have perfectly manicured fingers and toes and their roots never show. They usually drive way to big SUV's or else sporty little cars like BMW's. And the trophy mom must always be a stay at home mom. It doesn't matter if her kids are both in school all day long. That is a requirement otherwise you have to forfeit your membership. And they usually have a Starbucks coffee(venti) in their hands.

So now that you know who I'm talking about you will completely understand how I'm not in the trophy mom club.

1. I have to many kids.
2. My kids are almost never in name brand clothes unless they were given to me by a friend as a hand me down.
3. My kids are always dirty, within seconds after a bath or getting dressed you would find something on them that would automatically disqualify me from the trophy mom club.
4. My van is now considered old and there is nothing sporty about it. However it does hold all my kids comfortably so that's a plus.
5. I am very seldom dressed and ready to go to a cocktail party at eight am. That's usually the time of day I'm driving my kids to school in my nightgown (And just for the record school starts here at eight so yes we are always running late in our house).
6. I can't really keep up with my nails so much. My roots however I never have to worry about. That's because I still have my original brown hair with lots of gray making an appearance these days.

No, I am definitely not in the trophy mom club. I am in the unnamed mom's club that has to many things going on to deal with all the requirements of the trophy mom club. I show up to school functions with an oily face that has long since lost track of any makeup. I may or may not be wearing clothes that have boogers on them courtesy of one of my children. I'm in the mom's club where as much as I would like to help out with my children's classrooms it's hard to do because I always have one or two in tow with me. And no, I can't guarantee that they will behave perfectly. So instead I send things to school or do things that don't require my actual presence. I pay dues in the PTA program but have yet to actually make it to a meeting. I don't get to serve as homeroom mom because of this.

I'm in the mom's club that lets her kids eat breakfast at school because it's easier some days. And in all honesty if it weren't for that my poor kids would probably get a cold breakfast most mornings. I love my kids, ALL of them. And yes, I do all know their names and the names of their teachers. I know when their lunch accounts are running low and need money. And although it may look otherwise some days, my kids do start out the day clean.

So please don't judge me by my appearance or by how many kids are getting out of my van in the drop off line in the morning. I already know it takes us longer to get unloaded but just for the record I am car pooling so technically they aren't all my kids you see. Just most of them belong to me.

One day, when my youngest goes off to school I may actually qualify to join the trophy mom club. And I may do it and run for office (because I'm convinced they have secret meetings and elected officials). I'll become the president of the trophy mom club and it will be all downhill from there. I'll show up to meetings in my nightgown and no makeup and take control. Before long the trophy club moms will all look like the rest of us moms out there just doing the best we can and the best we know how.

But just to fit in, I may have to go out and buy me venti Starbucks coffee.

Learning the Cheese

Some days I just have to laugh at how I hear myself in my children's voices. And how my children's voices can twist what I say into something completely different.

I was dusting off an old (and I do mean old) exercise video the other day. Let's just say it was fifteen years old. I didn't really think it would be as dated as it really was. I was wrong. I suffered through the first few minutes of it. And by suffered through it I don't mean the exercise portion. No I mean the belted workout clothes, the obvious use of a green screen with the instructor leaving no obvious shadow on the beach she was working out on, the music was awful and the exercise it self was just to much. There was lots of booty shaking and I kid you not...dancing with finger pointing. It was at this finger pointing, booty shaking moment that I decided I could take no more.

Now during all this "exercise" my girls were watching the strange lady on the screen. So when I stopped my oldest asked me why I was stopping. I replied that I couldn't do this one anymore because it was just to cheesy and a bad video. And went on to find one that was a DVD that wasn't so cheesy and didn't think anything more of it.

But it apparently made quite an impression my oldest because the second Hubs walked into the house she ran to tell him all about it. She informed him about the bad lady on the TV who was trying to teach her mommy the cheese and how mommy had to turn it off and do a good one instead.

If nothing else, I laughed so hard that the cheesy video did ultimately give me a workout.

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is beautiful. And I'm sure I'm being very predictable with my choice of my four beautiful children. But when I stopped to think of all the beauty that I am surrounded by on a daily basis, well, there was just to much to choose from. So I'm taking the easy way out and posting this beautiful (but not so great) snapshot of my four children together. It's not often that I actually get all of them to sit still long enough for them to be in the same photo. That's beautiful in itself. But the really beautiful thing about my kids is that they remind me on a daily basis of how great life is.

So here is my cheesy beautiful post. And I can just hear the guy in the Budweiser commercial telling his friend, "That's beautiful man".


So there's my take on this weeks theme. For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt

Third Day

I'm a winner! It's the third day of school and I have already overslept. Z. woke me up at 7:20 saying mom it's time to go. Boy was he right. I hadn't fed my kids breakfast again (this really is becoming a problem of mine I think). And upon checking the lunch menu which I forgot to do realized that I needed to make both boys lunch's. So I hastily did that. Lots of love going into those lunch boxes today. So I was faced with the decision of breakfast at home or school. School won out since both boys wanted to eat there. At 7:30 I woke up A. and loaded the kids into the car. Back out into the bright sun and my eyes start to water so much that I barely miss turning into my neighbor (who looks like she didn't oversleep). Oops, must remember to apologize to her later. Pull up to the school at 7:35 with enough time for boys to eat breakfast and get to class by 8:00. The teacher helps to open the door in car drop off lane and starts talking to me but I can't see because of my watery eyes. So for all I know she was laughing at me driving my kids to school in my NIGHTGOWN! Yes, it's the third day of school and I'm definitely on a roll.

Wordless Wednesday

The Last Canon ball of Summer



For other WW participants click here.

The Routine Begins

It is the official first day of school today. Which means that our routine begins again. It's been chaotic here the last week to say the least so I'm very ready for some routine. Hoss started kindergarten this morning and Z. started fifth grade. Both boys were very excited although Hoss was obviously nervous about his first day. But I'm sure all will be fine.

Our morning started with me actually getting up and dressed before the sun actually came up. Something I haven't done in a LONG time and in case your wondering, yes it still stinks. Now Z. had discovered that they were serving one of his favorite breakfasts at school (I don't think they actually serve something he doesn't like) and was begging for me to let him eat breakfast pizza at school. Now normally I'm fine with this and send him on his way to school a bit early so he can eat. But since Hoss was starting his first day I needed (well okay wanted) to walk him to his class. But I couldn't take him that early to his class. So good mom that I am, I decide to feed Hoss at home and just drop Z off in carpool early enough to eat at school. Then I went off in search of the most coveted thing on earth on the first day of school, a parking space actually in the parking lot. But since I was only a half hour early for school there wasn't any to be found. So I had to park on the street.

So we park and are walking inside the school. And since I'm such a nurturing mom, I wave at Z. eating his cafeteria made breakfast and get Hoss to his class. Once we get Hoss settled I do go in search of Z. But he had already scarfed his food down and was long gone to his class where his friends were waiting.

So I decided to stop in at the Yahoo BooHoo breakfast being offered for kindergarten moms. (I'm definitely a yahoo mom) It's at this time we can write our kids a short note and eat some of the snacks they have. So we write our note for Hoss and my two girls consume no less than twenty donut holes between the two of them. Like I said I'm a first class mom who cares about the nutrition needs of all my children. And since up to this point I hadn't realized that I'd forgotten to feed my girls, there was no way I could have kept them away from the food.

All I can say is that tomorrow will be better. I will remember to feed all my children breakfast (and at this point I count the cafeteria ladies meals as my own) and I will drink my coffee before it gets cold. We will eventually get back into a routine.

Teaching an old dog new tricks

We are visiting grandparents for one last visit before school starts. So since we are here, Pappy decided to let me help him with his new toy. He has a new Ipod shuffle. So we have spent lots of hours teaching him how to navigate Itunes. He bought his first song and hasn't stopped there. Oh no, not Pappy. He decided he had to import some of his CD's to Itunes as well. So he went out and found his favorite CD which is guaranteed to clear the room of family, Piano by Candlelight, and he imported it to Itunes. Now hopeully he will just listen to that stuff with his headphones instead of torturing the rest of us.

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Next thing you know Pappy will be blogging.

Important Decisions

Hoss has been trying to make a few important decisions lately. We were talking in the car about what he wanted to do when he grows up. He has decided as of today that his chosen field lays in Nascar. He originally told me that he wants to be a race car driver like Jeff Gordan or Dale Jr. But after careful consideration he now claims to want to be in the pit crew. I couldn't figure out why he would change from a driver to the pit crew so asked him why he made his decision. His response showed he has put a lot of thought into this one.

"Mom, I decided to be in the pit crew because then I could go to the bathroom any time I wanted to. If your a driver than you have to hold it until after the race is over."

How could I possibly argue with logic like that?

The Toothless Wonder

Hoss has a new nickname here lately. I'm sure you've figured out why. It started with one but before long they were both gone.

Child Labor....I'm all for it!!

I must admit to being all for a little bit of child labor in my home. My bunch is all old enough to help out around the house and I must admit to taking advantage of it. And if I'm honest here, I really don't do it all that often. But then when I do make them pick up and clean up I am left to wonder why I haven't done more of it.

Our regualar scheduled cleaning was postponed due to a broken toe accident our house cleaner had. Now instead of me just doing all the cleaning myself, I drafted the kids. Z. had to do the dusting (which I truly hate), Hoss and K. got to wipe down the bathrooms. And A. followed me around with a soapy wash cloth wiping down any spots on the walls she found. Most of them put there by her I may add. That left me to run the vacuum and mop the floors. We were able to get everything taken care of in around an hour. Not a bad time. Granted it wasn't up to it's normal clean standard, but it was clean. And the kids felt a bit more empathy for all the hard work that goes into keeping it clean. Well at least they felt that way for about five minutes then they forgot all about it again.

This morning I looked around and the house was looking a bit dingy again. So the kids were drafted again. Only instead of dusting, Z. had vacuum duty. Now the house is back in order again for at least another three days or less. So once again I am left to appreciate the joys of child labor.

Photo Hunters-Dark

This weeks theme is dark. So I had to go back through some old photos to come up with something. This picture was taken last winter when I took the kids to see Ice. We were in a very dark room surrounded by lots of ice sculptors and some twinkling lights.



So there's my take on this weeks theme. For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt

A new reason to love jello

I have heard of a new reason for us to love jello. This falls into the friend of a friend category if you know what I mean.

She was having some surgery done (she'd apparently lost a lot of weight). Anyways...her plastic surgeon has instructed her to eat jello at least once a day. Why? Well because the gelatin in jello is supposed to be great for our skin by making it a bit more elasticy (is that a word). So your skin will heal better after surgery. It also makes your skin look younger for the same gelatin reason. And if your hoping to avoid strech marks during pregnancy then he also suggests eating at least one serving a day. So whether it's regular jello or sugar free jello, it's supposed to be really good for the elasticity of your skin.

Now I am not sure how reliable this information is, but if it's going to give me a new reason to enjoy my jello then maybe I better not risk it.

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Beauty

Updated to add that this is a Mexican Hat flower. It was taken in the Lincoln National Forest in Ruidoso,NM.




For other WW click here or else you can click here .

Sixty Five and 10,000

I'm trying to get back into shape. Who isn't really? But I've really made more of an effort here lately. I'm actually trying to watch what I eat and seem to be doing pretty good so far. I'm also back to my walking. I finally added it up, and in the last three and a half weeks I have walked sixty five miles. When I actually see it like that, I'm a bit surprised. I usually do a three mile walk in the evening after the kids go down so I've never added it up before. But suddenly sixty five seems like a pretty big number.

But just so you can see a glimpse of how my mind works, I am now trying to figure out when I will hit the 100 mile mark. The way I figure it, I should hit that hundred mile mark somewhere around the 19th of the month. Because we all know that 100 is bigger and better than 65. I don't know why numbers can make me obsess the way they do but they do. I do the same thing with trying to reach 10,000 steps in a day. In fact that's why I walk the route that I do. I calculated it out and by walking this path I am just about always guaranteed to hit that 10,000 step mark, unless I sit the entire rest of the day.

So now you see how crazy my mind gets when it comes to numbers. Kind of strange isn't it? I know this and probably should seek some kind of help or something. Maybe I can start my own support group...we could talk out our therapy while we are all out walking and trying to reach our 10,000 steps each day.

Which Select do you want?

Z. tried out for two select baseball teams this weekend. He was offered a position on both teams. So even though mom and dad had a favorite coach we really wanted him to play with we let Z. make the final decision. He is officially a Dragon now ( not the one we would have picked but that's okay). So this fall he will play his regular rec. league of baseball while doing the select baseball as well. Once next spring comes around, he will be to busy with select so he will only play on one team then. But he is excited about it and anxious to get back with some of his former teammates again. I swear that boy eats, sleeps and dreams baseball. And as such now we will all be doing the same.

Daddy's Got A Lawn Mower or Two

Since we moved into our new house, Hubs has been faced with an enormous yard he has to mow. We spent the first part of the summer just using the regular push mower we have had for a few years. But I felt really bad for Hubs, it would take him up to four hours to mow and edge and then clean up with the blower. By the time he was done, he would be absolutely wiped. Then the next week he would have to do it again.

So when Hubs started watching Craig's List for a riding mower I was all for it. And it didn't take long for him to find one at a reasonable price. Sure it wasn't a brand new one, but it seems to be doing a great job so far. But Hubs is a planner. And as such, he is already planning on the day when he may need replacement parts for his green mower which I have dubbed "Lawn Boy" (by the way don't ever Google that phrase or else your going to a bunch of X rated sites...not a good thing... so all you pervs that got here from Google this isn't that kind of site). I call it that since it has that name across the manual we got to go with it. But anyways, back to my point. Hubs is planning for the day when Lawn Boy will need replacement parts. So he has been back to Craig's List to watch and see if another Lawn Boy will appear. Well it hasn't.

What has appeared is another riding mower. A John Deere mower in need of a little work to tune up the engine. And a little bit of a paint job. But Hubs decided that for thirty five dollars, he had to have it for parts alone. So he brought it home and I'll be darned if the new mower didn't start up right away and work. Not a bad investment for thirty five dollars. So now Hubs has a new plan for this mower. And I'm a bit embarrassed to say it has nothing to do with mowing. It has a big engine on it and he and the boys are now going to start working on it. So that they can make it race. Yes I did say RACE! They want to join in the fun of Lawnmower Racing. I think my family has dropped deeper into the pits of being a redneck than I ever imagined. But both boys and Hubs have watched tons of You Tube videos on this stuff and want to give it a try.

So now Hubs is back to surfing Craig's List again in order to find parts for his Lawn Boy and his Speed Racer. I am afraid I don't see an end to this anytime soon. But at least now it only takes him an hour and a half to get the lawn mowed to his standard.

In other news...

It's been busy this week. Z. has been at a baseball camp all week long. With the heat index being anywhere from 105-109, well I just don't know how they can do it but they can. K. and Hoss were invited to attend VBS with a friend this week, so I thought why not. They have had alot of fun with that as well. They said that they liked it but liked the one from our church more. But they are super excited to go the water park tomorrow night for only a dollar with their friends VBS. Who knows maybe then it will come up to their standards.

So, it's been me and A. doing a lot of running around this week. We finally decided to replace the old swing set with a new one so we went and bought it. The kids have been patiently waiting for the weekend when dad can put it together. We bought a few school clothes but are waiting for the cooler weather to actually start before we buy pants and such.

Hoss started flag football this week and I have to say he is living up to his name. He is the second tallest on the team. He was so excited to be there that the heat and the drills didn't put him out at all. When all the other little boys started whining about the heat and running, he just asked me to poor more water over his head. But he is my child that I can not keep indoors. No matter the temperature he is happiest outside. I think it's paying off for him right now. The heat doesn't seem to be bothering him. His team is practicing three nights a week just to get them (and parents) used to the heat

Z. has decided he wants to do select baseball again, so tryouts are tomorrow morning. It should be fun. They aren't planning on to much traveling for this particular team which is why we chose them. And the costs are actually kept at a reasonable price. I'm sorry but we just can't afford to pay 1500 dollars just for the gear and uniforms some of these teams want you to pay. Not to mention all the out of state tournaments they have to pay to attend.

I'm also going to sign K. up for her dance class tonight. She keeps begging to go and they are finally enrolling. So once a week she'll have her chance to dance. So that just leaves A., who is happily not interested in doing anything just yet. I'm sure that will change in the next year so I'm going to enjoy it while I can.

So there you have all the latest on the Juice Box household. Lots of sports in the last few weeks of summer. Not to mention as much swimming we can squeeze in. Before we know it school will be starting so I'm trying to enjoy my kids while I can. Especially since they aren't driving me crazy yet.

Late Again

Is there anything more embarrassing than thinking that the baseball camp your son is in is over at 11:30 when it's really over at 11:00? If there is than please share. My poor Z. was the last kid picked up and was hanging out in the cool AC car of the coach. When I arrived at 11:15 to watch the last few minutes, I was surprised to see that everyone was long gone. Here I am thinking I am going to be fifteen minutes early when instead it turns out that I'm fifteen minutes late.

A Walking Dog

This is Gigi. She's our Boxer and family pet. She's a pain in the neck.


I only agreed to getting Gigi for one reason and one reason only. I wanted a dog that I could walk with, especially after dark. Gigi however is about fifty pounds heavier than the average twenty pound dog that I can handle. She's just downright big. And she's always so darn excited to see you looking at her that she will wiggle her tail so hard her entire back half shakes. And if by some chance you actually say her name, then watch out, she's likely to jump up and give you one big slobbery dog kiss.

So after I agreed to getting Gigi (for walking purposes only) I had to wait for her to get big enough for me to take on walks. Then once she was big enough to take on walks, I had to wait until she was well trained enough for me to control her while out walking. Meanwhile, it seems like years have passed with me still not having a dog to walk with. Finally, she is ready for me to start walking with and things are going great. That is until a year and a half ago when she got attacked by a mean dog that jumped a six foot fence and went after her. Hubs did a good job of keeping the other dog away from her, but it did change her personality a bit on walks. She became very skittish and very much a scared dog. Not her fault at all. But not really what I had planned on when I signed on for this dog. I wanted a dog who would scare away anyone who got to close to me when we were out walking at night. Now it was her dragging me through the neighborhood trying to flee from things that spooked her.

Then we had a small accident while I was out walking the dog around Christmas. She got spooked by one of those inflatable Santa Claus decorations popping out of the chimney. Next thing I knew I was face down in the middle of the street missing a front tooth and pretty banged up. It truly was the Christmas where all I wanted was my two front teeth. And after that my walking personality changed a bit. I didn't want to walk after dark anymore but didn't feel like I was able to keep up with the dog the way she needed. So then you had me and the dog, both moping around the house because we weren't walking (and because I was missing my front tooth).

Finally, I got back into my walking routine but without the dog. I still missed walking without her but now it was me afraid to take her. And I felt so guilty for that. Especially when she stopped getting excited when she saw me put on my walking shoes since she knew she wasn't going anywhere. So guilt finally won out and I finally got my "cajones" back and started to take her out. Just short walks at first until she got used to being out again. And she's been doing great. She's still skittish but now I've retrained myself to hold the leash different so that if she does bolt, I'm not going with her. Small progress I know..but it is progress.

So now I have to deal with the dog getting all excited anytime she sees me in sneakers again. Even if I'm not going walking. But when I do take her out, I'm rewarded. By the time we get back home the walk and the heat have wore her out. And all she can do is lie there like she's gonna die for at least an hour or two.

At least then, I can finally get some peace from my pain in the neck Boxer. By the way, in case your wondering, Santa did get me two front teeth for Christmas that year. I was very excited.

Wordless Wednesday

Make a Wish and Blow



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It's Hot

It's hot here in Dallas. What do you expect in July? Which makes me really miss our way to short trip to Ruidoso, NM and the mountains. Where it was much more cooler. So much cooler...sigh.



But maybe if I pray like the original Franciscan monks did at St. Joseph Mission, the weather will cool off a bit.



Or maybe I should take a lead from my kids and go wading around like they did in the small creek by our cabin. Then at least it would be cooler.



But if I can't do that, then maybe I will just stare at this picture of running water and imagine myself cooling down a bit. It's worth a shot isn't it? Or maybe staring at all this cool running water will have a different effect. Instead it may make me have to go to the bathroom...who knows. And that my friends is a small glimpse into my warped mind. I've turned a pretty picture of running water and somehow twisted it to bathroom talk. I'm sorry...really I am.

To Clip or Not

I've been going back and forth about clipping coupons. I'm sure we have all been there at some point or another. But this time it was brought on by my friend sending me to the grocery game. They tell you how to get all sorts of free stuff just by clipping coupons and being a savy shopper. And well I tend to be of the mind set of "if it's free, then it's for me". So I thought I would try it out. The only problem is that it is still a lot of stinkin' work just to save what looks like a few dollars here and there. I went to the grocery store today and well let's just say that I still have a headache. Was all that actually worth the five dollars in savings that I had. I honestly don't think any headache is worth this unless you start to enter into the thousands of dollars. But at least I can say that yes I did try it. And FYI, for the future if I'm using coupons, I think I'll just buy generic instead.

Photo Hunters- What is That?

This weeks theme is what is that? So I immediately thought of this picture that I took a few weeks back while we were on vacation up in the mountains. I still don't know what it is exactly, some kind of weed or wild flower. But it reminded me of some kind of alien plant that was about to explode or something. See, I have such a great imagination don't I? Either that, or I have watched way to many movies with talking singing plants in them. Anyways, if anyone can tell me what this is then feel free, otherwise I will just keep on thinking of it as the alien weed like thing.




So there's my take on this weeks theme. For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt

Random Bits and Pieces

We are finally done with our two weeks of swim lessons. The girls really enjoyed it and so did the boys. Although Z., didn't really need lessons, I was able to find a time that all four of my kids could be in the water at the same time. This way everyone had a chance to swim and enjoy themselves. Hoss and K. both learned lots and were able to both play on the big water slide and the diving board today at Fun Day. It was a huge leap of faith for K. to jump into 11 feet of water but she did it and was quite proud of herself. However she really had no desire to do it again after that. Once was definetely enough.

In other non interesting news, my kids finally figured out that when I say please don't play with the buttons on the car windows, I mean it. It's not just because it annoys me, which it does, but it can break the motor on the door, which it did. So until the new part comes into the dealership I get to enjoy having my window down in all this humidity. Makes me a bit cranky to get hot in the car but at least it's only temporary.

And, I don't know about your kids, but mine are always wanting snow cones. So I finally bought a small snow cone maker for us to have at home. The one I really wanted isn't available anymore unless I special order it. And I'm sorry but there is no way I'm spending a $100 for a snow cone machine for our house. But I did find an Icy Treats maker from Hamilton at Target. It only cost about $30 and it seems to be doing a great job keeping us all happy in the snow cone department. I figure with what we have already saved from the snow cones huts that it's already paid for itself. So if your kids are into cool treats like mine, then maybe you should consider this for them.

So now we are back to swimming in our own neighborhood pool with no major things scheduled for at least a few more weeks. It's finally feeling like it's slowing down a bit and I'm enjoying it.

Rise and Shine

It's summertime and so that means bedtimes are a little later than they would be during the school year. That would normally not mean anything to my children who for some reason love to wake up before seven on their own everyday. Even if I put them to bed at midnight they would wake up at seven. (It's times like these when I wonder if they are really mine). Then the next day I'm stuck with tired cranky kids.

But during the summer, something happens about mid July every year, and once again it's happening. My kids are sleeping in later. And by later I don't mean until ten or anything like that. No my kids are getting up at the much more tolerable hour of 8 a.m. and sometimes even 8:15 a.m. That means that mom aka "Grumpy" in the morning, gets to get that extra bit of sleep that makes me a happier and more well rounded person. Okay, not really on the well rounded part but it does make me happier and less grumpy. And it does mean that occasionally I get to have my first cup of coffee with any interruptions. I figure I have about another five weeks left before I have to get them back on the school year schedule. But for right now, I'm going to let them sleep in as late as they will and enjoy another small joy of summertime.

This weeks theme for the Photo Hunt is support. So I decided to show something a bit different. This is a picture of me putting my feet up. Since my feet support me during the day, I like to rest them while I can. In the background you will see some of my children playing. My family supports me in ways other than my feet and are appreciated greatly for it. Even if these particular family members are the reason that I need to prop my tired feet up so often.


So there's my take on this weeks theme. For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt

I miss the desert

Most of the time, I am very happy living in the Dallas area. Until July and August hit along with all the humidity. Then I really begin to miss living in the desert. I grew up in El Paso, where there was never any humidity. No matter how hot the summer days were, you were always guaranteed relief in the evenings when the sun would go down. You could sit out on patios with friends or family and whatever beverage you chose and enjoy yourself. I also really miss the Mexican food from El Paso. It just isn't the same here in the Dallas area. And although I have found many great Mexican food restaurants (usually small family owned ones) it still is not quite the same.

But besides that, I miss the beauty of the desert. For those of you who have never lived in the desert you may not realize how pretty it really can be. You just have to look a bit harder to find it. And if your lucky enough to be in the desert after a rain shower then you will find lots of different colorful blooms on all the different cactus. I got to enjoy a bit of the desert scenery on the drive to New Mexico on our vacation. And since we had our kids in the car, we also made lots of pit stops. It was on one of these pit stops that I just had to grab my camera and take a picture.


Isn't it beautiful. But in case your still not sure what it is I was so excited about, here is a closer look at it. And FYI, I didn't do any editing on this picture. This is all Mother Nature at work here.


Quite a beautiful cactus don't you think? Or maybe your just thinking that I was stuck to long in the car with four children and had to many pit stops along the way. Either way your going to be right. And either way, this cactus really did make me miss living in the desert just a bit more. But then again maybe I'm wrong, maybe you have to have lived in the desert to actually find beauty in this picture.

Where are the lazy days of summer?

I don't know what it is like in other households but in the Juice Box household we are still searching for the lazy days of summer. It seems that there has just been one thing after another to keep us occupied this summer. Between VBS, baseball, vacations and now swim lessons we have not found our lazy days yet. We have yet to have more than a few scattered days here and there to just hang out and do nothing. I'm hoping that after swim lessons it gets a bit better since technically we only have about seven weeks left of summer. I really enjoy having the kids home (well at least most days I do) but the summer schedule seems to be just as hectic as the school year this fall. Hopefully the lazy days of summer will show it's face around here soon, I'm ready for them.

Wordless Wednesday

My Princess



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Home Sweet Home

We are back from our vacation in the Mountains. I will post a few pictures later in the week. We saw lots of deer, a lone bear was seen by the trash,a restored mission, we visited Smokey the Bear and checked out one of Billy the Kid's great shootout locations. We also spent lots of time sitting and visiting with family and lots of eating. We didn't see any fireworks since the fire danger was to high but that's okay, the kids didn't even realize it until we got home. All in all we all had a great time and came home relaxed.

Gone Fishin'

Well not exactly gone fishin' but close enough. Be back next week.

Spring Season Results

All in all, I think my boys had a great spring baseball season. Hoss got second place in his tournament and Z. won first place in the city All Stars tournament. And mom and dad, well we enjoyed cheering them on the entire time.

The Wild Animals at the Zoo

It's been a while since I've posted many pictures. It's partly because I haven't been as good about taking my camera out and about with me. And then when I do take it out and about, I'm having to keep up with my four monkeys. That can be challenging at best. But I do have a few days where I've taken some pictures and some of them have even been a bit fun.

You may remember me returning my monkeys to the cages they escaped from earlier in the month. While we were at the zoo I got some funny pictures here and there. It seems like anytime I went to snap a picture, the animal in question would decide that it was then that it had to relieve itself. So as a result I have tons of pictures of animals peeing it seems. No, I'm not going to post those ones so don't worry. I am going to share a picture of the rhino in the water.

About this time I was actually really jealous of him being able to get cool like that. It was way too hot for me.

K. wanted to see one thing only at the zoo that day. Pink Flamingos. If it's pink then it's for my girl. So we went off to find them for her. They were smart enough to be near or in the cool water also.

Are you noticing a theme here yet. Don't worry I'm about to break it here.

Then we went back past the orangutans. There was one in there that caught my eye since he had a plastic lid in his mouth and was playing with it. But then he got tired and decided to lay down next to the water and rest and cool off. It was then that I took his pictures only to have to stop. It's obvious at this point that I wasn't being very mature. I couldn't stop laughing about this guy and it seemed like it was only me who knew what was going on. Because none of the other people were watching him anymore and it's a good thing. Or maybe they were and they were just more mature than I am. Who knows. What was he doing? Well he was laying there in all his glory playing with himself. And he was very happy and content with how it was all going.


Then he got bored after about 30 seconds and went and cooled off in the water. And I was left standing there without anyone to share my immaturity with. Until I posted it here today. Sorry, I'm very ashamed of myself. I promise I won't laugh at this type of stuff again. I'm a grown up and I should have more control of myself. But sometimes it's just to hard. And this was one of those times.

But by now we were all dying of heat and since we couldn't go jump in the water we opted for over sized, over priced sno cones. And guess what, it worked. We all cooled off and it gave me a chance to grow up again. And now you guys are probably wishing I wouldn't have posted my pictures today. I promise next time to make them nicer pictures.

Wordless Wednesday

I can't believe I talked to him, with this on my face.




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Popcorn everywhere

There are some foods that no matter how careful you are, it gets everywhere. Popcorn is definitely one of those for us. The kids love it and will eat lots of it. I find it everywhere. The obvious places like under the couch cushions and the floors. The not so obvious places like in the diapers where it somehow ends up. I really don't want to wonder on that one to much though. Then when you add in the fact that popcorn is the most requested snack at baseball and movies I also seem to find it in the most unusual places in the car. We naturally have it all over the floor in the van along with the car seats and seat benches. But how does it end up in the driver side door pockets when I know it's not me that puts it there. And how does it end up in zipped up bat bag when the popcorn is purchased after the bag has been closed. Now since it seems like lately we have popcorn and baseball every night that means my van is a mess. Which means that the birds around the parking spots that I park at must love my children. My kids think that every bird out there loves popcorn as much as they do, and do their best to leave it for them. And if that means they brush out old stale popcorn out of the van for them, even better. It just means that there is less of it in my van. But I must say, that is some expensive bird seed that they are eating and I hope they enjoy it.

Happy Birthday K!

Your four today and oh so proud.
Your feel like a princess floating on clouds.
Your laugh is so sweet.
Your smile so big.
Happy Birthday K.

Shoes shoes shoes

How is it that I am the only person in our family that knows anything about shoes? No, I don't mean what style is all the rage now or what pair would look best with what outfit. No, what I mean is that I am the only person in our family who knows where to find the lost shoes that have disappeared around the house. Could it also be because I am also the only person who puts shoes in the closet where **gasp** they belong. I counted out the pairs of shoes that were in our living room alone the other day. Now of course we have six people in our family, but really having fourteen pairs of shoes strewn about one room is really to much. And don't even get me wondering where all the mismatched socks are. My children come straight to me these days when it's time to get their shoes on. My observations skills are such that I can usually tell them what room I last saw the missing shoes in. This is generally followed by the ignored comment of put your shoes in the closet and then you will know where they are. Funny thing is, Z. actually gets mad when the shoes are put in his closet because he can't find them. He will look all over the house and get all upset and never once consider looking in the closet. Am I sure this child belongs to me? No, I think he belongs to dad, whose shoes are also all over the house.

Last night a friend and her son went to watch a baseball game with us. it was late when we got home and the kids had taken their shoes off in the van. We had to look all over the van for her son's missing shoe and we located it. Then this morning I got a call from my friend "Have you seen my son's shoe?" I can't find it in the house and am wondering if he put the other one back in your van. I looked and still didn't find his shoe. But I know for a fact that this child does not belong to me so how come I'm getting calls about his shoes in a different house. But not to worry, because if he can't find his shoe I'm sure he can use on of my son's shoes which has been left over at his house. They might not match but by gosh there will be two shoes on those feet.

Isn't it Fun

Now that my kids are getting a bit bigger it's fun introducing them to some of my favorite movies and things to do. Most of them are the edited versions that are on TV but sometimes they get to watch the real DVD. Today I have both my boys begging to watch a favorite of mine from years ago. It's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, there is just enough fighting to keep them interested in it all. Of course I end up getting twenty questions but they soon quiet down and then I get to enjoy the movie also. The same thing happened earlier in the week when Forrest Gump was on TV. Before long both boys were into it and enjoying it. Then Hoss discovered we had it on DVD and asked if he could watch Forrest the Skunk again. But since it was late we didn't watch that one. Instead we sat down and had another of my favorites, ice cream cones. After that it was much easier to get them to bed. And the plus side of that was that I got to have one also. Yes, it can be fun sometimes.

Crazy Busy...and Baseball

It just seems like it's been crazy busy the last few days. Ever since Z.'s birthday last week. He had his friends over for a sleepover with lots of junk food and video games and very little sleep on Friday.

Then on Saturday Hoss played in a tball tournament. They actually kept score for the first time and when it was all said and done Hoss and his team came in second place. They really should have come in first place but those poor boys had already played three games in 99 degree weather and were playing a team that hadn't played all day so they were fresh. But that's a rant for another day. And just for the record I'm really not one of THOSE parents at your kids games. It was just really sad that these boys who had been out all day long barely lost the game. But none the less Hoss is quite proud of his very big trophy. In fact Z. said it was bigger than his and that made Hoss even more excited.

Z. starts his All Stars games this week also. So now we go to the more serious games of our older son. His games are fun to watch but a lot more competitive. It's amazing how good some of these boys can be at 10 years old. Since they have so many pitchers on his team for the all stars I'm not sure Z. will be pitching as much. But that's okay with me, it's always more stressful for me with him pitching. But Z. takes it all in stride. I will however be trying my best to avoid sitting next to or anywhere close to one of THOSE parents during the games. That woman drives me crazy with how great her grandson is and how bad the rest of the boys are. Makes me just want to throttle her.

The kids are also doing VBS this week and loving it. It's giving me a bit of time in the morning to catch up on a few things. I guess this will be a bit of what it's going to be like this fall when I only have one child home three days a week. I have to say, it's kind of nice.

Happy Birthday

Today we celebrate Z. turning 10. We have a fun and busy day planned. It's hard to believe it's been ten years already. Happy Birthday Z. now I'm off to return you to the monkey exhibit you escaped from.

Messy messy messy

How is it that one little boy can make such a difference in how messy things can get? My children are not neat freaks by any means what so ever. But...and this is a big but...my son's friend is messy. I've noticed it before when we've been at his house before but since it wasn't my house I really didn't notice it that much. But today Hoss has his friend over here playing for the afternoon. Things that my son knows better to do are being done.

Clothes that should stay on hangers are coming out and being dropped on the closet floor...winter clothes. This means they have to push all the summer clothes to the side to get to them in order to take them down. Why? Because they were being newsbroadcasters in a very big winter blizzard and wanted to look the part. I must admit that it was a very reasonable answer to my question and I did see the humor in it. But dadgumit, I just cleaned that closet out two weeks ago.

I thought I was giving his mom a break for watching my two middle children while I went birthday present shopping for Z. Now I'm really not so sure. Maybe it would have been easier to take the three youngest to the stores then it will be to get his room back in order before the grandparents arrive. I'm really not so sure. But I can definetely appreciate my kids messiness which isn't nearly as bad as I thought before. Now if some of that cool air from that blizzard would come down this way then everything would be perfect.

Did ya know?

That ITunes can be a bit addicting. You can spend hours and all kinds of money on all those great songs from way back when. Guess it's time to go listen to some of that money spent.

Another victory for mom

Today has been one small victory after another small victory for mom. It's the first day with everyone home for the summer so I expected a few problems. I just didn't expect them to involve Wal mart quite so soon. Z. was promised a new video game if he got all A's on his report card. So naturally he was ready to collect on dad's promise immediately. I agreed to take him to the store but told him I had to pick up a few things as well. We also had to make one short stop along the way. So the one small stop along the way was to get my boys a haircut. Now normally this is met with much whining,crying and complaining. But not this time. The call of the video game put both boys in a much more agreeable mood. I then did go to buy the promised game along with a few groceries and here is where the other small victroy came in. I actually didn't end up with a ton of other things the kids wanted in the basket. No, it was only the few things I couldn't do without over the weekend. So miracously the shopping trip wasn't a beating for me. I have now got four happy and content children all doing thier own thing without fighting. And that's one small pleasure I intend to enjoy. And no I don't think it has anything to do with the root beer that's been promised to them at dinner if they behave.

Last Day of School

Today is the last day of school for Z. All week long he has been riding his bike back and forth so he can be counted present in his attendance. I have it on good authority that no actually learning ever occurs the last week of school. All my teacher friends assure me that the last two weeks are pointless because the kids have already checked out.

And so the last week's activities are at best just busy work. Monday he had an awards ceremony where he specifically said "mom don't come it's to lame and you don't want to waste your time". I just wanted to hug him for that one. How sweet of him to excuse me from attending the lame ceremony where he gets the ribbons he has won the last six weeks. I guess I may have mentioned that all his siblings would be there as well and he knew it would bore them to no end.

He had his business trade days on Tuesday where he ate no less than two snow cones and two rootbeer floats. I know this because I witnessed him while he was supposed to be selling his cheesy little cowboy hat bookmarks we made the night before. All the siblings went for this fun day and they also scarfed down as many red snowcones as I would let them.

Wednesday was his class party where they pigged out on pizza and then it was followed by an auction. The kids brought things they wanted to auction off and in the process used up all the fake money they earned from business day. I can't say I was really excited about this. I had just finished getting rid of alot of his junk and here he comes home with more junk than will fit in his backpack.

Today he rode off with his empty backpack for his last day of school, I'm not sure what I will find in his backpack today but at least I will have three months before I have to go through it again.

Wordless Wednesday

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Better Late Than Never

That seems to be my motto in life lately. We finally had my youngest daughter A. baptized this weekend. I'm not sure why it took me so long to get it done but we did and now I can finally stop fretting about how she hasn't been baptized yet.

I have also finally gotten some of the summer schedule figured out the last few days. Again, better late than never. The kids are all enrolled in thier different levels of swim classes. This has actually been a bit more challenging than you might think. Four children of all different ages is not easy to figure out how they can all be in the water at the same time. But it's done, yay!

And we have finally figured out what we are going to do for our fun family trip this summer. Hubs and I didn't feel brave enough for the beach this year since A. can be a pistol and keeping up with her and the other three seemed a bit daunting. So if you can't cool off at the beach than you better cool off in the mountains. So we did what every other Texan has done for years to drive the New Mexicans crazy, we reserved a cabin next to a creek for a few days in July in their mountains. It should be lots of fun and not only does our dumb dog Gigi get to go but so do Grandmama and Pappy. The kids will love it and so will we.

So if I can just get a few more better late than never things taken care of then all will be good.

Fun in the Sun

It was very hot last week and the kids were begging for relief. I wasn't quite ready to get in the cold pool water again so soon so decided instead to let the kids just run through the sprinkler toy that I had bought. I got it primarily for the little ones but I must say even the big boys had fun with it.

It all started out innocently enough. They would take turns running back and forth between the spraying noodles. Then Hoss decided that he needed to spray water into his mouth. So they all had to start spraying water into their mouths. Again, nothing to bad about all that, is there?


But you add in a few more boys and next thing you know the girls are left standing on the sidelines while the boys and their friends pretend to be firemen and put out the fire with the various "hoses". Again really not to bad. But these are boys you know, and next thing I know the girls are standing right next to the boys and their friends as they all have a peeing contest to see who's water will go the furthest or who can put out the most fires. My girls will not be left out of any peeing contest if they can help it. (Did I really just say that?)


I'm all about equality, my girls will always be told they can do anything boys can do. Especially if it means that all the kids get to play at the same time without whining and crying to mom about one thing or another.

Photo Hunter- Shoes

This week's theme is shoes. So I grabbed the first pair that I tripped over and decided to take a picture. These are a pair of baseball cleats from my son. I recently went through my boys closets and found nine pairs of cleats in varying sizes. Not to be outdone, my girls have at least as many if not more pairs of flip flops to choose from, but since I wasn't actually tripping over these this morning I didn't get their pictures.



So there's my take on this weeks theme. For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt

Final Score

We have a small bird problem right now. I guess it's really not so much a problem as really an annoyance. We have two little birds that have decided to build their nest over the arch in our front doorway. Now any other place around the house and I wouldn't care. In fact I would probably even like to see them flying and zipping in and out around the place. But on our front porch, I really don't like them so much. I am constantly trying to clean up the bird poop they keep leaving on my welcome mat. I mean really who wants to have a bird poop covered welcome when they go to someones house. Not me! And then what happens if for some reason they decide to poop just at the moment that someone is ringing the bell. Now that would be a great welcome wouldn't it.

The first time I realized what these birds were doing, I was mean and sprayed their nest down with the water hose. It didn't deter them, they just came back and rebuilt again and again. Hubs decided to get in on the action. He then tried to scare them away by hanging up some different types of "stuff" to scare them away. He tried hanging Walmart bags all around where they were nesting. I was quite impressed by his ingenious idea because it seemed to be working. I was however quite embarrassed about having Walmart bags hanging and blowing in the breeze all around our front porch. But these little birds are persistent, they just waited until the bag closest to their nest blew down and back they came. Hubs then decided that he would just cover the entire front porch window with a big black lawn bag. Again the little birds just stayed away long enough for the bag to be blown down. Like I said, persistent little birds.

Not to be outdone, Hubs sat there one evening trying to figure out a way to get rid of the birds without actually hurting them, at least not badly. He then had another idea ( I won't say this one is really as brilliant as the walmart bag one though). He decided that he would take the laser tag gun my oldest son has and have himself a birdie stakeout. So for the past two nights, Hubs has gotten the little Nerf darts and the dart tag gun and gone huntin'. (Hubs has only gone quail hunting once before and had such a hard time seeing the little birds he couldn't do it again...hmmff..and he calls himself a Texan). Right, back to the story. Hubs has been out huntin' the last two nights and he has shot lots of Nerf darts. All I can say about that is that his accuracy leaves room for lots of improvement. And those darn little persistent birds, well I could hear their chirping laughter as they swooped all around him. Then they must have gotten tired and decided to rest for the night. And of course that would mean that they went to sleep in their nest, over our front porch with all the Walmart bags blowing in the breeze and amidst flying orange Nerf bullets.

Final Score

Birds- 3
Humans-0

Wordless Wednesday

The Graduate...Pre K Style

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Works For Me Wednesday

I just learned a new trick of the trade for mommy hood and just had to share it with all the rest of us still in the toddler hood trenches. For some of you, it may be old news but for me it was a first time lesson learned.

I have somehow managed to escape the creative artwork on the walls by my three oldest children. My fourth baby didn't let me escape quite so easily. She went around to a few walls a while back and crayoned on them. Normally I would just get my magic eraser and get it off right away or else just some warm soapy water and elbow grease. But since we just moved into a house with flat paint I was worried that by scrubbing to hard the paint would come off. Today my cleaning lady saw the new artwork and showed me a trick of the trade. You just spray a little bit of pledge polish remover on the artwork and then lightly rub it off. It somehow makes it lift right off and didn't take all the paint off either.

I was so excited I had to do my happy mommy dance. I'm sure I set both my children and the cleaning lady back several weeks into therapy because of this. But I really don't care because my walls are clean again. It works for me so maybe it will work for you.

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Confession Time

I must confess another little dirty dark secret. I'm a bit embarrassed by this dark little secret and only admit it to a few people here and there that I know.

My dirty little dark secret is that I have gotten to where I really love reality TV. I can spend hours watching these ridiculous shows. My all time favorite is still The Amazing Race which I have mentioned before. But now I must confess to being an avid watcher of Dancing with the Stars (most of the time anyways). My biggest secret reality show that I watch is such the ultimate in bad reality TV but never the less I always seem to be watching it, and it's The Bachelor. Now normally this wouldn't be something that I admit to most people so consider yourselves in on my dark little dirty secret. But now they are getting ready to start another one of my old time favorites which is the Mole. Not the celebrity one which was terrible but the real people one which I liked a bit more.

So there you have it, my dark little secret for everyone out there to see. Maybe by sharing my dark little secret I will be able to come out of the proverbial closet and seek immediate help. Well at least until the next season of the The Amazing Race, I already have that one set up on TIVO.

Summer is here

Judging by the hot weather we are having, summer is here. Hoss is out of school now and in just a few short weeks, Z. will be home as well. The flowers are needing a little extra help with all this heat. What does all this randomness mean? It means that summer is definitely here. I'm ready to spend hours by the pool and so are the kids but until Z. is out I really can't do it just yet. Instead I am dealing with the reality of the girls getting used to having Hoss home. And then just when they get used to him, they will all have to get used to Z. being home again. It's always difficult that first week of summer with all the bickering but hopefully it won't take them long to adjust to the new routines. By that time they should hopefully be well behaved enough to take them out in public again without mom hanging my head in shame. It's always good to have hope.

What Duck?

The other night at bedtime was a hard thing for K. to handle. She just couldn't get to sleep. She has discovered that a certain spot on her floor creaks a bit when she walks on it (but only when she walks on it). She kept coming out to tell her daddy that she couldn't sleep because her floor kept going Quack Quack. No matter how he tried, she didn't believe it was just her floor and it wouldn't quack if she stayed in bed. She kept looking for that duck until she was just to tired to look anymore.

My Budding Artist

A. is a budding artist. She loves to make things, whether it's crafts or just coloring. She is your typical two year old. This morning she was feeling very artistic. She found some stickers and decided to decorate herself with as many of them as she could. Unfortunately for mom, they weren't really stickers. Instead she had found my roll of forever stamps and had pulled them all off the roll and covered herself with them. I think she had enough postage on her to make it to China and back. Mom was not very happy and I did try to salvage as many of my stamps as I could. It wasn't very many.

After that I went upstairs to start gathering the laundry. It was then that I noticed her newest creation. It was a lovely red shade all over the wall in the game room. I thought it was just in the two spots that I found. When I scolded A. for coloring the walls, she them proudly proceeded to show me all her other artwork. There were four lovely A. originals, all on my walls. I don't know when she did these but it had to have been this weekend some time.

I guess she just wanted to draw me a beautiful Mothers Day card. At least that is what I'm telling myself otherwise I'm likely to let her re stamp herself and I'll drop her off in the mail and let her make it to China. I guess it's all in a day's work for a budding artist.

Rhyme Time

I remember when I was little I heard the following rhyme, poem, limerick or whatever it is...I really don't know, but anyways I digress. The poem went like this

Fishy Fishy in the brook
come and get on daddy's hook
mommy fries it in the pan
baby eats it like a man

So since I have nothing better to do than think of ridiculous rhymes in my head I decided to come up with my own version.

Dishy Dishy in the sink
There are so many I can't think
Mommy decides to turn her head
And let daddy do them instead.

Or if that's to simple for you how about this one.

Whining crying kids at home
are guaranteed while I'm on the phone
Lock the door, throw away the key
mommy wants privacy while she pees.


So what do you think? Now you all know one of my dark little quirks. I love to make silly, nonsense type rhymes to drive the ones I love crazy. Maybe I should start working on one for Father's Day. Have any ideas, then please share.

Wordless Wednesday

He's Safe!




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True Colors

Most the time I am able to keep my frustrated emotions hidden from people when it comes to my children. But I must say, there are some days when it is just impossible to do. Take for example last Saturday. We had been out running around between every sporting event you can imagine. And so naturally great mom that I am, I decided to take all the kids over to my friends house so they can hang out and play with all their friends. It had nothing to do with the fact that I desperately needed to be able and sit and visit with my friend as well. No, I am going to say it was entirely for the children. But if you think differently, then I can't really say your wrong. After all misery loves company and that Saturday was miserable. Naturally I had to share my misery with my friend and she of course had to share hers.

So now you have the setting, two cranky miserable moms venting with each other. Add to that mix ten children (no they weren't all ours, we picked up a few extra from the neighborhood) and one trampoline and one play set. Toss them all around like you would a salad and this is what you get.

Three bloody noses (none of which either mom inflicted), two band aids, a dirty diaper (again not mom's) and one mom (namely me) being tackled and knocked on my bottom by Hoss as he leaped out of the trampoline. This in turn led me to my finest mom of the year moment losing my temper in front of everyone (even an extra adult who happened to pop in and check on their children). Yes, my true colors showed for a few minutes and then I felt really bad for it. (At least until I saw the grass stains on my bottom) I did calm down and felt immediately better to be surrounded by such great friends that they started teasing and mocking me falling on my butt. At least until one of theirs made them lose their tempers and they showed their true colors. Like I said, misery loves company and we were all at my friends house last Saturday. It's really a good thing that we do all know our true colors or else we would probably never want to play with any of us again.

Photo Hunters

This weeks theme is time. There are so many different ways that you could go with this theme. But I decided to use the following picture of my son and his teammates. They had just finished warming up before their game was about to begin. So then they all lined up against the fence to wait for the other teams to exit the fields. It was only a few minutes of their time spent on the field that morning but I had to take this picture. Not a single one of them was goofing off or talking with each other. No hats were being hit on anybody else's heads. They were actually still and paying attention. And that is no easy thing for a bunch of 5 and 6 year olds.



So there's my take on this weeks theme. For other views on this week's theme visit TNCHICK.com or PhotoHunt