Dirty Grubby Clothes

Have you ever noticed how if your a mom (especially a mom with young children) your clothes are always dirty five minutes after you put them on. I put them on in the morning and they aren't stained or covered with food or any other gross things that seem to appear. But within minutes my shoulders are covered in items of unknown origins. Not to mention all the dirt stains on my pants from picking them up after they have been playing in the mud. I remember a not to distant time ago that I could actually wear a white top and at the end of the day still have it look white. Now I'm lucky if it will be completely white after I wash the top. It's gotten to wear I wear a lot of dark colors in hopes of hiding those spots that always show up. But I must admit it, I am tired of dark clothes. I want to wear light colors again and not have to spend a fortune washing and cleaning them. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if it only happens every now and then but for me it happens every day. I guess I am going to have to invest and buy stock in a company once they figure out what to do about all these stains. In the meantime I can only remember how once when I only had one child and he was about four, I wore light clothes on a regular basis. So for me that means I only have around three more years until I can do it again. Sigh, I hope I can wait that long.

Spring Fever

Sprint Fever,I definitely have it. I am itching to be outside in all the nice weather we have been having. I feel like getting the yard all fixed up and planting some new flowers. But instead I have been watching the children play out front with out getting much accomplished. Now that we are finally getting nicer weather we are also having all the problems that come with it. The allergies and asthma have been in full force in our house lately. So even if I can get that twenty minutes I need to work here and there in the yard it would cause an hour of wheezing inside. And while I know we would all enjoy the outdoor time I just hate it when they are to sick to enjoy it. So it's beautiful outside and we are still having to spend a lot of the day inside. Hopefully whatever is in the air will pass soon and we can all be outdoors again without the wheezing and coughing.

So Unmotivated

We have had so much going on the last two weeks that I am feeling so unmotivated to do anything now. My family was in town over the weekend and I should be trying to catch up on all that needs to be done around the house. But instead I am surfing the net and watching TV with the kids. At least I am working on laundry during all this but still that's only because it HAS to be done. What I really need to be doing is my devotional for tonight since I am not finished yet. But like I said I am unmotivated to do anything at all. Hopefully this laziness on my part will soon pass. Because I have a million things that need to be done. So now I hope to get off the computer and try to go fold some laundry and finish my devotional. Could this just be a case of sping fever? I hope so.

Works for Me Wednesday

Cleaning my glass front door has always been a problem for me until I discovered that yes I can use the same squeegee that I use in the shower on it. I just spray it down with Windex (sometimes scrubbing where little grubby hands have been) then I squeegee it. It sparkles like crazy for at least ten minutes until the kids get to it. For other Works for Me Wednesday click here.

No Longer Fenced In

We get so used to living in our fenced in little world. Growing up we had a back yard with a fence but it was made of rocks and concrete. So my parents would send me out to play without a worry that I would get into any danger. Fast forward thirty years and now it is my turn to send my children out into the back yard where they will play. Meanwhile I am secure in the knowledge that they can't get out front and disappear on me. Even though technically my son's do know how to open the gate they never do it without permission. My runaway two year old would easily run off if given half the chance along with her partner in crime our dog. As of yesterday I am now in for a week of worry and extra hassle. The reason is simply because our neighbor next door decided to replace his entire fence and so we are without one entire wall of fence. While it's great that the fence is being replaced, it is a new found freedom that both children and dog alike are loving. I can no longer just throw them out back to play and burn off some energy this week with out first leashing the dog and going out to watch them. The desire of all involved to go and explore all these new and undiscovered backyards is hard to contain. I know that by the end of the week they will all have peeked into the neighbors windows and sniffed around all the yards. The joy they are experiencing at no longer being fenced in is probably equal to the pain that I feel at having to keep up with them when they go outside to play. So if there is a way to get the fence man to put up our fence any quicker than maybe our helpful children and barking dog will spark the initiative to do it, along with a begging mom of course.

Working towards a Happier Day

There are some days that everything just works out perfectly and the children are all reasonably well behaved. So far today it has been one of those days despite the illness running through our home. Everyone is in good moods even after visits to the doctor's office and pharmacy. Is it because I am in a better mood or is it because I have a different perspective on things. I am going to assume it's a little bit of both. But I will take it for what it is worth and enjoy it as long as it last. Because with four children it never lasts longer than a day or two at most. But my mood is definitely better and I can only attribute that to my Lenten activities. They are very basic and simple activities but I must confess that some days are harder to achieve them. That is until I was reading another blog somewhere and someone made a reference to TiVo' ing their favorite shows on EWTN. I was struck by a lightning bolt moment and realized that yes I can do that also. So that is what I have been doing. So maybe that is why my day is a lot easier than it should be with sick children. Because I have been willing to spend my time in prayer (in particular the Rosary, one of my favorites) and in doing so have been blessed by the Lord's grace.

Oh So Tired

But well worth it. Had a wonderful weekend of fun. Even with the nasty dust storm we had during our party on Saturday. So much food and drinks and all shared with friends we hadn't seen in a while. I was telling one of my friends that I don't remember having so much going on in a long time. It kind of reminded me of a wedding weekend. You know with the party, luncheon and then a shower. The only thing missing was an actual wedding to attend. Thank goodness I probably would have fallen asleep by then. But by this morning it was back my normal routine. Or so I thought. My oldest was sick all day and my baby wasn't much better. Then when I thought it could get no worse, my poor husband comes home sick with the same stomach bug everyone else seems to have. So we are off to spend more money at the Dr's office. But me I can barely wait to crawl into bed and hibernate for a year or two.

Having a life!

Sometimes as a mom of four I forget that yes I can actually have a life that doesn't include my children at all times. Sometimes it's really a lot more fun if it's adults only. Well this weekend promises to be more of an adult only weekend than a mom weekend for me. Granted the children will be with us but since I will only be with them sporadically it's kind of like they aren't there. I am really looking forward to both parties that are going on this weekend. Normally we will go months without an actual invite for a "real" party. But as it usually happens when you finally do have something to do there will be another "something" come up that you want to do as well.

Saturday is our big going away party we are having for our friend and boy has it snowballed. We now have over 40 people coming to our home. Granted our home isn't small but it's really not big enough to have that many people indoors. So I'm sure we will be popping at the seams. I can't wait. Then Sunday is the girls only afternoon. I am even more excited about this one and know I will probably enjoy it more knowing my sweet husband is minding our four children with what I know will be a heck of a hangover. Is that a little mean of me? I really don't intend for it to be that way but normally it's me that deals with the children all day after a late night. But for his sake I will talk to them about being good for daddy.

Yes, as you can see I am excited. I have a life again, if only for a weekend.

A few ironies of late...

1. It seems like it never fails that once we finally start to get to some nice weather where we can all be outside someone gets sick.

2. The minute we decide to have an outdoor activity or party during a drought we get rain in the forecast.

3. The neighbor I do work for finally told me the CORRECT way to spell his last name. Sheesh!

4. We are fixing the air conditioner during winter. Although technically Texan winters aren't all that cold and it's almost 80 today.

5. The kids never want naps but mommy would give anything to have one some days.

Life with kids

Life with children is never really what you expect it to be is it. They drive you completely crazy one minute then the next they are declaring their undying love to you. And for what, absolutely nothing. They just feel like sharing that one emotion they are feeling that moment with you and doing it in a sweet and open way that we lose as we mature. I often wonder why my children are so good at always telling me and my husband how much they love us and they tell each other that as well. I'm sure other children tell their siblings as well I have just never noticed it before. I know we always tell our children how much we love and cherish them and if we are proud of an accomplishment then we tell them that as well. But is it our actions towards our children that are coming through in their current behaviour. I know I have been out of patience with the littlest things lately and have been showing my frustration more than I should. So maybe I should take a lesson from my children and just be a bit more easy going and not so quick to get upset over the proverbial glass of spilt milk. And for those wonderful gifts that drive me to insanity and back I hope I can show my appreciation to you today for the small gift you have given me because "yes, I do love you to sweetheart."

Farewell Party to good Friend

We are planning a party for our good friend who is leaving at the end of the month. He is a co-worker for my husband that has been living here far from his own country for the last 2 1/2 years. He was such a good friend to us when we lived in his native Finland that we were so excited to have him with us here in Tx. Now he is so much a part of the family that it will be strange not to have him up here on a regular basis. Hopefully he will be back in the fall if we are lucky. But until then we are planning a heck of a party to send him off with. All the neighbors who have become friends with him as well as other co workers are coming. So it should be a long long weekend of friends, food, fun and of course beer. I hope the livers of all that come are healthy and in full functioning order. So I am excited at the fun of this weekend but also a little sad at the reason for the party. But not to worry because I know we will still get many phone calls from him in the middle of the night after he gets back home to keep us updated on how he's doing. So here's to big "KIPPIS" to our friend.

Girl Scout cookies

What is it about Girl Scout cookies? Every year I buy my usual assortment of cookies and every year the boxes seem to contain less cookies but cost more money. Don't get me wrong, I know that they go for a good cause and all but really $3.50 for 15 cookies. That's 23 cents a cookie, I could almost buy a small pack of gum for that one cookie. Meanwhile I'm sure the cookies are just as good as they always have been but for some reason they just don't seem to do it for me anymore. And with the exception of the Thin Mints they don't seem to impress anyone else in the family that much either. So I guess that this year will probably be the last year we buy cookies from the little girls that come knocking on the door. I'm sure we will still buy the one obligatory box from the neighbor's girls but that's really no biggie there. So unless we know the little girl selling the cookies (or their parents) really well I am now going to hang out a sign that says "No girl scout cookies please".

Warning Labels

These days there are warning labels on everything. It never ceases to amaze me at the absurdity of some of these warning labels. I mean who really blow dries there hair while taking a bath. I really thought we had reached an all time low when they were putting warning labels on cups of hot coffee stating that :Warning contents may be hot. Use caution. Duh, it's hot coffee. But apparently some people really need these labels to know what to do with every little aspect of their lives. But I have now discovered a new low in warning labels. My husband came home with roses for me on Valentine's Day. Now while I loved them and am still enjoying the beautiful arrangement and fragrance they offer I was shocked by the warning label that came with them. The warning read: Warning these roses are not meant to be eaten! So after a moment of laughing over the absurdity of this particular warning label I just looked at my husband and said Duh! I mean come on society have we become that dimwitted that we actually need to be told not to eat the roses. So I will continue to enjoy my roses but I am being overly cautious not to eat them or let my children eat them. I just hope we will be able to resist the temptation that they are offering us.

Preparing for Lent

As I sit here today my mind keeps thinking about how Lent is coming up and how excited I am about that. Which gets me to wondering why am I so excited about Lent? The answer seems obvious, because I will be striving to be closer to our Lord which is something I truly want. Which them makes me wonder, why do I need to wait for Lent to begin before I start trying "even harder" to live as Jesus wants me to. And for the life of me I can't think of why I am waiting. Truly I have baffled myself on this one. So even though technically Lent doesn't begin for another week I have decided to go ahead and start preparing my self spiritually. I will try and devote more than my customary ten minutes in prayer to learning about Jesus. Because let's face it I owe him way more than that. So I am off to pray for forgiveness in being so selfish and spend more time in thankful prayer with the Lord.

A Sleepless Night

As a mom of four, it seems like I never get a full night of uninterrupted sleep. Especially since the baby will still wake up during the night when she is teething. Most nights when we are up I am in a very drowsy mood myself and will tend to nod off while we nurse. But there are some nights like last night when I am completely alert. I hear all the quiet noises that are going on in my sleeping house and I am very in tune with what my nursing baby is doing. It just seems unbelieavable to me how much she has changed since we brought her home from the hospital. She is now hanging off my lap and her hands are still tiny, but I can tell how big they have gotten. But some things are still the same. She still tries to curl up in my arms as best as she can so she can be as close to me as possible. It was this that got me to thinking how fast time really is moving. I remember doing the same thing with my eight (almost nine) year old along with my four and two year old. Now they are all so darn independent (not to mention way to big to fit on my lap) and I miss those sweet little moments from when they were babies. Before I know it my baby now will soon be sleeping through the night like her brothers and sister and I will once again get a full night sleep. But my heart aches at the idea of losing this time in life with my youngest. I know that once we have passed that milestone we probably will never see it again and I will never be needed in that way again by any of my children. I know my children will always love me and need me and there will even be more nights with all of them when they are sick and we are up together at night. But, it will never again be the peaceful sleep of a baby's unconditional love and faith in me that I will hold in my arms. So here I am tired and exhausted and wishing for another sleepless night because I am not quite ready to move onto that next phase of a full night's sleep.

What's for dinner

The ever famous question. My husband and I go around this at least a hundred times in a month it seems. But we never seem to be able to decide on anything. Well for me at least I know what is for dinner tonight but even better than that, I know what I am going to make my husband for dinner on Valentine's Day. It's something he loves and I never really make it for him that often. Shame on me I know. Especially since I like it as well. But since the kids don't like it, we just don't have it that much. So as a special treat for him (and me) I have already got the menu planned. Now for me to figure out what to do about the present....hmmm. Still working on that one.

Our new house is no more

We have decided that our new house is not for us and we are going to keep on looking or even stay in our old house a while longer. I am so excited about not getting the other house that I know it is the right decision. So now I'm just going to enjoy my home just as it is.

Toe Nail Clipping

Enough about moving stress at least for a moment. Last night after watching my husband clipping (and I use that word loosely) his toenails I just had to throw up my arms in dispair. He gets these things that look more like over sized cuticle clippers and starts to work on his feet. Well as he is cutting, bits and pieces go flying off into the air landing in various places across the wood floors in our bedroom. Once there they will never be found again until I step on them in the middle of the night and scream in agony since they are like pieces of shattered glass. Naturally being me, I have to comment that their are toenails all over the floor. He just gives me this look like I am crazy and ask me how is he supposed to cut his toenails and not have them fly off into the air. This is where I am actually speechless for a moment. Is he serious? I tell him I use nail clippers naturally. Poor thing just looks at me and says with an exasperated tone that those things never work for him. I have to agree with him here since we all know that male toenails can be quite bad and decide at this point to just give up and deal with the clippings on the floor a while longer. So now I am off in search of a pair of manly toe nail clippers that will cut through nails as thick as a dog claws.

Oh Such Emotions

I have been on such an emotional rollercoaster this last week and half. From the moment we first saw the BIG house until now I haven't felt a moments peace. I am constantly back and forth on the move. One second I am ready and can't wait to get there and the next I am so scared and sad to be leaving this house and all that it means to me emotionally. My poor husband is being a champ and trying to make this all as painless as possible but I know he is going through some of the same things. Just maybe not at my level of anxiety. He truly is wonderul, he says we can cancel this at any moment if I say the word. But do I want to say the word. My head says we are doing the right thing but my heart is sending out such a mixed message. On top of that the actual packing up process of moving is so daunting to me. I truly just want to stick my head in the sand but I know that won't accomplish anything. So until we are moved I guess I will have to keep on moving forward. I just hope I like it once we get to where we are going.

What have we done..

Well we got the house with the giant mortgage! And yes we still have our current house which also comes with a nice mortgage. So now the stress begins. So many things to do before we close on the new house. So I will try and keep myself sane in the coming days.