Not ready

Holy Cow, it's the week before Thanksgiving and I'm not ready for the busyness that seems to come along with the holidays.

I've not got a shopping list ready for either the Thanksgiving dinner (which I'm not really responsible for this year) or for Christmas presents. I'm not ready to get out and go to all the different classroom parties and celebrations. I'm not ready to get out the decorations yet. I'm not ready to fuss for my youngest to leave the tree alone. I'm not ready to do any of the serious heavy baking the kids have come to love having. I'm not ready to deal with all the extra people in the stores (including the grocery store). I'm not ready to deal with all the extra excitement and energy the holidays bring out in the kids.

I'm just not ready. Does that make me a scrooge? I am ready for my kids to be home on breaks from school though. Even if there is more fighting, I miss having them around. But I'm just not ready for the rest of it yet.

Over the fence

Z. was a guest player for another select baseball team this weekend. They were in need of players who could hit the ball well for a tournament they entered. They happened to see him at batting practice last week and invited him to play. So Hubs said yes, even though I was glad to finally have a baseball free weekend. Then Hubs decided that I should get to take him on my own so I could watch him play on Saturday. The fact that it was below freezing and that we had to leave the house by 6 am just to get to FT Worth in time for his game wasn't the reason ( or so he claims ). So I went and froze along with all the other players and parents. They didn't do so bad the first game and won it. They fell apart the second game and got spanked big time.

But Sunday was a new day and a warmer day. So we all went down to watch him play. Z. was having a good game. He got up to bat and got on base each time. But at his last bat he hit a foul ball over the left field fence, but since it was obviously a foul he had to bat again. So at a 3-2 count, he was able to straighten it out a bit and knocked another one out over the fence again over left field. It went over the fence and landed in the grassy median of an four land road (very lucky it didn't hit a car). So he finished his run around the bases only to be greeted by all his teammates who did their best to carry him off the field. He was psyched. He was responsible for three of the four runs yesterday. So even though their team lost 5-4 it was a good game for him.

Nothing like a home run to bring the spirits of everyone up.

More alike than I realized

Out of all my kids Hoss and A. are more alike than I realized. They both love being outside regardless of the weather. They both play with the dog more than any of the others. They both can't seem to stay away from water or puddles no matter how much they are told. They both have very selective hearing when they want to. They both have a stubborn streak you would never guess was there. They both challenge me more than the others did. They both have a hard time staying in their beds at night. And they both surprise me on a daily basis with what they can come up with. Yes, these two are more alike than I ever realized. It's not a bad thing, it's just funny how two little people so different in so many ways can be so alike in so many others.

Thankful

Things I am thankful for right now:

-friends
-family
-a clean house
-most of my kids are on the road to being healthy again
-the dog who isn't throwing up for now
-Diet Dr. Pepper

Wordless Wednesday

Look Ma, NO HANDS!



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Go Vote

The following is a non politically paid advertisement. It's free. How many things in life are free. Not many. So take it for what it's worth.


Go Vote today if you haven't already.

Put these last very long two years of campaigning behind me. And while your voting, vote the same way I did, just to make me happy. What is that you ask, how did I vote? I'm from Texas,you figure it out. You have a fifty fifty chance at getting it right.

Not that I'm a huge football fan or anything

But this weekend's game of Texas Tech playing UT was fun to watch. Since we had both Tech and Longhorn fans in our house it didn't matter to me who won. What did matter was all the fun we had watching it. If only I had managed to record the last 25 seconds for Z. he would have seen it all. But I didn't realize it had stopped recording so I didn't extend it. I just had to console him with the fact that he didn't want to see his beloved Longhorns in such a state. But he was still miffed.

Time has caught up with me

It hit me this morning, Halloween is tommorow. I knew it was coming and have somewhat prepared for it. I have no less than a million bags of candy. So much in fact that I could probably feed a third world nation for a month if it actually had any nutrional value to it. The kids all have their costumes and only one has decided to change her mind. But since she already has a princess costume in her closet it isn't that big a deal.

So how did time catch up to me? I just realized that I don't have a pumpkin for the kids to carve. I really am tired of the whole pumpkin carving thing. It's very overrated...and more importantly Messy. And it never fails that I or Hubs end up doing all the work since it's so gross. The kids love the end effect of a Jack O Lantern but don't like the work involved. So I guess tonight we will be making a Jack O Lantern. After all, I'm a sucker for getting my kids something as easy as that to make them happy. But I can honestly say that I'm really not all that excited about it. Except for the pumpkin seeds, I love roasted pumpkin seeds. But can't I just go buy a bag of those at the store and save myself all the work?

I'm distracted

I'm very distracted from blogging lately. Lots been going on with studying and kids. But the main distraction is that I finally signed up with Facebook. I can't believe how late to the party I am. Lots of old friends out there,some even as crazy as me.

Weekend Update

Well since I've been bad at posting, I thought I'd bore you with some of our weekend.

1. Saturday was my birthday. I'm twenty five....again.

2. Saturday was the day that Z. had a baseball tournament that lasted ALL day long. I had the three youngest running around and filthy in no time. Not really all that much fun.

3. Hubs flew in from Finland late Saturday afternoon. He went straight to the baseball fields to become my knight in shining armour and save me from all these kids and baseball.

4. Hubs took me out for Mexican after the last baseball game and then we went home and ate birthday cake that K. made for me.

5. Mom and Dad gave me a beautiful, very big antique crucifix with a water font on it. It came from an antique store outside of Pairs (the real one, not the one in TX)

6. I love my crucifix because now all that teasing my Hubs about needing a water font by our front door can now be turned into reality. And this one is much nicer than a plain water font.

7. Z. wrote me the sweetest poem for my bithday. It was written the way only a 10 year old boy can do when he is trying to make his mom feel good when he realizes that he doesn't have a present for mom.

8. Sunday we had more baseball games. Then we were finally defeated and it was all over. So I made Hubs take me out to buy me a present. I'm sublte like that.

9. Of all the things he offered me, the only thing I wanted was a new bird feeder outside the kitchen window. So that's what I got. Now I can see all the Blue Jays fighting over the seed in the morning.

10. Then I talked my way into another birthday dinner since I really didn't feel like cooking.

11. I am so glad that Hubs is home. I missed him. And more importantly, he brought me my favorite chocolate ever.

So there you have it. Our weekend. Baseball, Birthday Cake, Crucifix with water fonts, Bird Feeders and dinner out. The weekend doesn't sound so bad after all.

Our first cold snap

We have had our first cold snap. And I am enjoying it. At least I was until it came time to get the kids out in it this morning. I had to really convince them that they couldn't just run out without jackets or sweaters. Then I had to get those same jackets and sweaters on them. Much grumbling was heard and it wasn't only the kids doing it. Tell me why it seems every fall my kids have seemed to have forgotten how to put on a long sleeve shirt or sweater? Please, I beg of you why do they forget such a simple task. And then once we get them all ready to go, we always have to stop for a bathroom break.

It is times like this that I am grateful that we live in Texas. I don't have to deal with the snowsuits and the mittens. It is times like this that I am grateful that when we did live in Finland and we did require snowsuits and mittens that I only had one child. I don't know if I would have the patience to deal with four kids and snowsuits these days.

But since it is Texas, I am grateful that this cold snap won't last long and my kids will soon be out of their long sleeves and sweaters. Probably by late afternoon, at which point I can only hope that they all make it home again with all those jackets.

The Mother of All Days

Wow today was hard. Hubs had to be on a plane to Finland for a business trip by noon. Hoss had his last football game in one town at 11:45 where the girls would be with me. And Z. had a baseball tournament in a town about 45 minutes away that started at 11 and didn't end until 8:30. I was lucky enough that one of his team mates was able to get him to that tournament so that I only missed 1 and 1/2 of his 3 games he played.

But I made it through and so did the kids. Hoss kept his football record as a perfect score of 0 wins but had fun anyways. K. had one scrapped knee to show for this game and was quite upset about it. A. survived football okay.

Now for baseball, well that's another story. At some point before I got there Z. lost a tooth of his while he was at bat. And he was pretty upset that it never was found. He was so upset he hit a heck of a triple and brought in quite a few runs. By the time we got there to watch him he was on a roll. He had some great hits, some amazing slides where he was safe (and a scraped up arm also). But he was definitely on fire when he was the last pitcher of the game. He finished out the inning getting us 3 quick outs with his speed that they just couldn't hit. He plays on a 10U select team and they have been playing all fall in a league against 12U boys. They've lost a bunch but won a few here and there. But it was obvious today when they were playing against kids their own age that they have improved a lot.

So K, Hoss and A. got completely filthy at the baseball fields playing in the woods, dirt and with all those nasty horse apple thingies. (I wish I knew what they were really called) And Z. left alot of sweat, blood and body parts (teeth) on the field for all eternity. But he still made out pretty good. His coach gave him 3 bucks for his tooth which is more than the tooth fairy ever left him before. And on top of that they came in 1st place in their first ever tournament.

Now I am exhausted and ready to go to bed. And tomorrow for the first time in weeks we don't have a game on a Sunday afternoon. Can I tell you how excited I am for that?

In case your wondering

where the heck I have been the last few days. I've been here, just busy doing things that needed to get done. I now can claim to have three full boxes of clothes and 2 overstuffed lawn bags full of toys that I have deemed to just not need anymore. I would have gotten further but I have to be careful as to when I do this type of sorting. If anyone else is around besides my 2 year old then I am fighting a losing battle. But I know that when they are all back in school on Monday I will have at least another 2 bags of toys that they really don't need anymore. Pretty sad when you consider we moved 8 months ago and went through a lot of things then also.

But like I've said before I am working on having less. Well at least I was until I saw these cute little skeletons and ghosts on clearance for $6 at Micheal's. Somehow I seem to have forgotten about my less theory when I saw these. But I must say that they are pretty darn neat and the kids were excited to see them. So for every two steps forward I am taking one step back. Really it's kind of sad isn't it. I was thwarted by a bunch of skeletons well that and a bag of dark chocolate M&M's. I totally forgot about the less thing then to. My hips can attest to that one.

Fall planting time

It's that time again. Time to pull out those summer flowers that still look good. It's time to get the beds ready for your bulbs and winter flowers. It's time to redo your pots with some beautiful fall mums. So since it's that time, I have started doing it. I've got my summer flowers ripped up, weeded those same beds and am now ready to plant. I started yesterday by redoing some of my pots.

I found a huge and I do mean ginormous (yes I know it's not really a word) yellow mum yesterday. So I planted it in my largest pot I owned and placed it out in front of the garage area. Right where I would see it anytime I'm out front. So naturally I ask Hubs if he noticed it when he got home. Hubs responded in a daring sort of way yesterday. He replied "No, I didn't notice anything but that big yellow beacon calling me home". Smarty pants! He's lucky he's still standing. The thing is, I need his back to help me redo the mulch so he got away with it.

So this morning, the girls and I will plant the rest of the flowers in the bed. I will have way to much help I'm sure. But it will get done. Then we just have to wait for the mulch man (ie Hubs) to spread out the heavy stuff. After that, we will be set to go for a while longer. Well at least until I get back to the nursery again. I may just have to buy some really big shrubs so Hubs has to dig some really big holes. Paybacks buddy!

Photo Hunters

Since this weeks theme is lazy, I though I'd show a lazy moment of my oldest daughter. It was almost nap time and she was fighting it. We get lots of lazy moments like this in a house with four kids.



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

We have so much

I am going to come right out and say it. Our family has been blessed. Very blessed. We have way to much. And because of this our children expect more and more it seems. And I have to say that I am guilty of this as well. It's all brought more to my attention lately because of the fact that we have had a recent birthday and report cards. It seems like they just expect that if they do good at school they will automatically get rewarded for it. You know how it is, they think they need to be rewarded for every little thing they do instead of just doing it.

I'm reminded of how little we had while we lived overseas. We had four plates, four sets of forks,spoons,etc. We had just enough bath towels for everyone to have their own. Z. had about five or six toys and that was about it. We had one TV and it only had one station we could understand. If I wanted on the computer than I had to go to the library. And we only had the clothes that would fit in our suitcases we took over there. And you know what? With as little "things" we had, we were very happy.

Now it seems like I am constantly tripping over things that we really don't need. Our closets are stuffed with clothes that don't fit but still they sit in there instead of being donated. And so now I'm left to wonder why it is my children are like this. Could it be because I have gotten to where I like having stuff around also.

This is obviously an area that I need to work on and am planning on starting today. I'm going to try and thin out alot of the things that we really don't need in order to be happy. I can't say that I will get rid of all those dishes I have but I am planning on having a lot less than what it currently there. That may mean that "gasp" I may have empty spots in our pantry because we really don't need five different kinds of chips. I just think that everyone in our family could benefit from a little less.

So wish me luck as I try and retrain the way that our family thinks about what we need and what we "truly" need. I'm sure it's going to be a long and bumpy journey.

Wordless Wednesday

Can you guess what he wants for Christmas?




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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.