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?




For other WW participants click here.

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



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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.