Dawg Days

We have been busy this week. Z. was competing in the Little League World Series tournament this week. Seven games in six days in hot Tx. weather makes for a long week. But it was fun and our boys ended up in third place for thier division. So we are proud of the effort.

Just to finish the day off, we went to the water park for a few hours this evening. And it was fun. It's the first time in years where I haven't been afraid the entire time that one of my children was on the verge of drowning at a moments notice. The boys are old enough and swim well enough that I didn't see to much of them. They took off and enjoyed the park and periodically came back to spray water on me. The girls and I hung out in the shallow play area and the lazy river. It was fun. Fun to know that we are finally getting to the point with our kids that we can do things like this and not have to worry about every little thing. They are getting bigger and older and are easier (at times).

So while I realize that time is fleeting and they are growing way to fast. It's fun to be able to do some of the "big kid" stuff with all the kids.

Tap Tap Tap...Hello anyone still there?

Okay I have been gong a very long time. It was proven to me this morning when I typed in my blogger password and had forgotten it. Once I thought for a minute and retyped it, life was good again.

So since I've last blogged I have been busy with summer life. I now officially have all my kids potty trained. Never thought the day would arrive but it's here and boy am I excited.

We have been going to summer reading tutoring for Hoss the last few weeks. He's doing better but it's almost over and I will be glad. It's at a bad time for me. One in the afternoon, right in the middle of everything so it's been hard to get there and still do anything before or after that feels like fun summer stuff for the kids.

We have seen more movies and eaten more popcorn than should be legally allowed, but now that the kids are all old enough to sit through a movie we are finally getting to do it.

And lets not forget swimming. K. is determined to be in the big pool without floaties this summer. So we spend lots of time at the pool trying to get her swimming like a big girl. The boys are fine in the pool and A. is usually close by with her floaties. Won't be long until I have four little swimmers on their own.

I wish I could say that I've been a dedicated walker and exerciser lately. But I haven't, it's been sporadic at best but I do seem to get in at least three or four days of some kind of exercise. Not the greatest but at least it's still something.

June was crazy, we had an anniversary and two birthday's to celebrate. So now that July is here, we are back to sanity for a while at least. Hopefully I will not be as infrequent a poster now. But it seems to be a standard thing for me to say lately so we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Dare I say it?

I am afraid to say it out loud. So maybe if I just type it I won't jinx myself. I'm sure by now you have guessed it. My youngest and most stubborn daughter, A. has been in big girl panties for over a week now with out an accident. I can hardly believe it's finally happened. I think I now officially have all my children potty trained. Considering I have been changing someone's diaper non stop for the last six years and eight months (but whose counting)I think I have a right to be excited.

Can you feel my excitement!! Can you really?? Because I am.

Almost here

It's the last week of school so summer is almost here. Only three more days of having to get the kids up, dressed, fed and out the door before eight. I can hardly wait for that part. As for the rest of summer, we have lots of baseball and swimming ahead of us. Toss in a few movies and sleep overs here and there and we will be enjoying ourselves in no time. I can hardly wait.

Our Lucky Day

Well since we were so unlucky with the rain on Saturday, I guess our luck was bound to turn. And it did on Sunday. The weather was beautiful and as I was finishing up all the planting in the front flower bed I decided we really should be at the Ranger game instead. We had bought some discounted ticket vouchers from one of the neighborhood boys and need to get started on using those passes. So without much trying, I was able to convince Hubs and the kids that it was the perfect day to be at the Ballpark. So we packed up and headed off.

We got there at the beginning of the 2nd inning and I got in line to get our tickets. A very long line (seems like everyone thought the same thing I did). While I was waiting Hoss looked down and saw where someone had dropped some money. So he picked it up and started asking who lost it. No one claimed it and finally everyone around us where it was dropped said he should keep it for himself since it was only $2. Hoss was off to a good start already. Hubs and the rest of the kids were sitting on the bench waiting for me when someone walked up to him and asked he if he wanted these 6 free tickets since he didn't need them and they were going to go to waste. Since it was 6 we needed, he said definitely and came and got me from the back of the line.

We got inside, got the kids their free t shirts they were giving away and headed off to buy some food and drinks before we got to the seats. More long lines, where they ran out of hot dogs (how is that even possible) but by the time we got to the front of the line, hot dogs were again ready. So we were once again lucky. We got to our seats only to discover they were in the shade. Our luck continues. So we sit down in our free shaded seats surrounded by lots of happy people right on the 3rd base line side to enjoy ourselves. We ate, we drank and we cheered. Then the people behind us decided that our kids were to cute and well behaved (they obviously don't know us that well) so they bought some Cotton Candy and gave it to the kids to share.

To top it off, our beloved Rangers beat the Angels again to sweep the series. So we headed off into the traffic to head home. Once we got to the car, I saw where people were leaving the parking lot without a long line so sent Hubs that way. We discovered it was a roped off exit but for a small $1 donation some entrepreneurial college boys would hold the rope up long enough for us to drive through it and be on our way. So we paid our money and headed home with a twenty minute shorter drive.

So yes, we had the bad luck of rain on Saturday, but Sunday with the great family day we had more than made up for it.

One more day

Normally there is nothing I like more than having it rain. Especially when I don't have to be out in it unless I choose to. The past few weeks here have seen a lot of rain. In fact we are now officially out of our drought again. Well until July and August, then I'm sure we will be back in our drought since that seems to be permanent thing. But anyway, back to this rain.

The rain has been a bit of a pain to me personally lately. Between all the cancelled and rescheduled baseball and softball games, I should be crazy enough. But it's never really that simple is it. You see about three weeks ago, Hubs and his good friend decided that the time was right to finally extend our patio. So since I've been begging for one since we moved in I was certainly not going to stop them once they got going.

So they started to dig. And then it rained. Then it dried up so they started to lay all the brick sand during which time it started to rain. I then had a 10x20 ankle deep muddy swimming pool off my patio. Then it dried up enough to add more sand. Then just for good measure, it rained again. Finally it dried up enough for the guys to lay and weld the re bar. That was on a Thursday and the cement truck was supposed to come that Saturday. Only Hubs came down with some really bad kind of chest infection so was out of commission for a few days. So we missed our window of dry sand,good weather and available volunteers. The next weekend was Mothers Day weekend which was harder to get volunteers for (rightfully so) and lots of makeup baseball games. Which now leaves us with this weekend. We have rescheduled the cement and volunteers again for this Saturday. I have run out and coverd the sand pit anytime the rain started this week just to keep it from flooding completely. But as I watched the weather last night and saw the 70% chance of rain for Saturday, well I just had to shake my head.

I'm not sure when we are going to finish this patio, but hopefully it will be before it gets to hot to actually enjoy it. Meanwhile, I just keep sweeping up the mess on the floors that having an open sandpit five feet from the door always leaves inside. So for Pete's sake save the rain for one more day, that's all we need, just one more day.

My Muffin Message

It was Muffins for Mom this morning at my daughter's preschool. And while the muffins were good, I love the things I get from my daughter even more. I have all sorts of cute things all around my counter tops right now.

But as well as that, I get a letter with fill in the blank spaces that my daughter answers all about me. In my letter, I am told my name and my age (I'm 20 by the way, boy do I love that girl). According to K. my favorite place to shop is at a "store". She knows how much I hate to shop so she can't even name a store apparently. My favorite thing to do while she is at school is "read a book". Yes, she's right that is my favorite thing to do. Sadly, though it doesn't seem to happen often enough. My favorite food is "vegetables". Have to laugh at that one because I really thought my favorite food was chocolate but we won't disillusion her just yet. And my favorite is, she loves her mom because I do so many nice things for her. Have to love how simple it all is my sweet daughter. And I definitely have to love my sweet daughter as well.

Riddle for ya..

What do you get when...


You mix days of heavy rain followed by a day of high winds?

You get all six of us in misery with allergies that are out of control.

There are not enough klenix and allergy medicine in this house right now to help us all. Just have to love days like these when you can't do anything accept sneeze and tear up everytime you walk outside.

Oh No He Didn't....(as my son says with attitude)

I'm a little ticked off today. Okay really a lot ticked off. I had a comment left on my FB page from someone I haven't talked to in 20 years. Instead of the normal hey, great to see you comment. It was something more offensive. Not to mention completely untrue. So I immediately deleted it after it had been up for about an hour. Then I sent a private email to the "friend" asking what gives? Now if this was just a joking around comment, it was in very poor taste. Especially since it's been so long and I've obviously lost my sense of humor. So I'm waiting to hear back, if I even will to find out what that was all about. Obviously this guy has forgotten that I am not one of those people to take rude comments like that and just ignore them. So yes, I'm ticked off and considering for the first time ever actually de friending someone. So me and my head bobbing self chanting Oh no he didn't...will calm down before I make a decision. Until then, if your on my FB page and you see any offensive posts, well I would just stand back and wait for the fireworks to begin.

Being Lazy

I feel lazy. I have been lazy in my blogging. I have been lazy in my walking. I have been lazy in my cleaning. And I've been lazy in my flower beds. By now I've already got new things planted. And it's not that I'm not busy doing things that take a lot of time, it's just that I've been lazy in delegating other things as well. So blame it on all the rain we've been having. So here I am on a Friday morning probably enjoying my last day with all the kids in school (I'm convinced schools will close here soon due to the Swine Flu paranoia). And guess what I'm feeling lazy. I need to go buy groceries so that will probably get done. But I'm reading this book right now which seems to be taking up a bit more time than it should and so I have a feeling that I'll continue to be a bit lazy a little longer.

S-P-A-N-K-E-D

We spent this past weekend in the lovely town of Ardmore,OK. Where the sun shines brightly and winds, well they blow...and they blow big time. No really, it was so darn windy. Why were we there? An out of town baseball tournament for Z. We decided that since we had a game Friday night, two on Saturday and one on Sunday to make it a weekend with the whole family.

We and the other players families all rented cabins and planned on a long and busy weekend. We get there Friday night ready for our first game. We went into this tournament knowing our team stinks compared to a lot of the teams that would be there. But we also had the bad luck of the draw. Our first team to play against was in what is called a major classification. It's the best there is when it comes to little league and in fact just returned from Florida where they competed and placed 5th in the nation. We did not realize this until we got to the game. Just to share our pain with you we only played about 45 minutes of the 90 minutes allowed. They called the game when we reached the mercy rule of being ahead of a team at any time by 20. Not only that, we only batted the first 6 players in our lineup, yep, that's right, 3 up 3 down each inning. We were glad to provide them with some batting practice. It stunk! But the other team was amazing.

Saturday we were hopeful for a better game. Z. was having a good game with his pitching when his worst fear was realized. He threw a ball and it ended up hitting the batter in the head. The batter ran to first to take his base and said he was okay. But then the first base coach noticed all the blood dripping down from his helmet. So they stopped the game to check him out. Turns out he was bleeding from his ear and at first they thought if was from inside the inner ear. Instead it turns out he had a defective helmet which cut int the cartilage of his ear. He was deemed okay by everyone and continued to finish his turn around the bases. ( I saw him the next day where he proudly showed me his war wound) We played better but still lost.

Second game was pretty similar but without the blood. So we finished up early and went back to the cabins to enjoy our down time. We had a cookout with everyone where pretty much everything had to be bolted down or it would blow away. Lots of playing around with lots of 10 year old boys and siblings was going on. And us parents, well we were busy supervising...well okay I admit it not much supervising going on. But we did get lots of talking done, and a little bit of cow tipping. Just kidding! No talking involved, it would have alerted the cows we were there. Then we all went back to sleep in our cabins with some of the biggest spiders ever seen.

Sunday's game was good, we had them and our boys were playing well. But a few bad calls by refs and some good hits by the other team and well we were packing it up and heading home.

All in all, we were S-P-A-N-K-E-D this weekend in baseball. But the boys enjoyed themselves and the parents enjoyed themselves. And now I'm home and trying to wash out half the state of OK. out of my laundry. There is sand everywhere but at least I'm not out in it anymore.

All things mermaid

I am surrounded by all things mermaid lately. I have made it through the first three children without the mermaid fascination. But my youngest A., has other ideas.

She plays mermaid in the tub.
She plays mermaid on the rug.
She plays mermaid on the stairs.
She plays mermaid with her hair.

You get the idea, it's all mermaid all the time. And silly mom that I am dug out the Little Mermaid dvd to see if she would like it. She does, so it's on constantly. At this time, my A. would very possibly answer to the name of Ariel. I should try it out and see what happens. I didn't expect this latest craze and it's been pretty fun to watch and enjoy so far. Well except for the constant DVD running on the TV. It just goes to show you how even after four kids, you can still be surprised by the little things if you notice them.

Very Disappointed

I'm very disappointed in my kids school today. My oldest came home and told me something his teacher told the class which I didn't agree with. It's not the first time I have had issues with this teacher this year. Normally I email her and get it resolved. This time I've actually scheduled a conference about it for next Monday. This teacher is not my son's homeroom teacher but has him for two classes through out the day. She has been through an unimaginable year which resulted in her losing her husband to cancer. She has a lot to deal with, and I understand this and have tried to empathize with this. In the best of times, I have heard that she is a good teacher but prefers girls. Now in the worst of times, well lets just say it hasn't been easy for my oldest son.

But the thing that has me the most upset is that his teacher has told the class on two separate occasions that they are her least favorite class ever and that she hates them. Yes, she actually said hate. Now my first reaction was to make sure I heard it right. Z. said that what she said the first time was that she disliked them more than any other class she has ever had. But on Tuesday she said she hated them more than any other class she ever had. I decided to call a friend who has a son in the same class to see if he heard the same thing my son heard. And it was confirmed that yes, she did say she hates them.

So I decided to talk with the assistant principal about this. Not only for my child and the other students who should never hear from a teacher that she hates them. But for the teacher herself. It may be that she needs to take a bit more time off or something, I don't know. But they need to be aware of this. While the assistant principal listened to me, I don't feel like she felt all that concerned about what is being said to these students. She seemed much more concerned about all the teacher is going through. Which I agree is awful, but still my child does not need to be taking the brunt of her emotions. My friends husband was going to also talk to the assistant principal today, maybe since he's also an assistant principal in the district she will listen a bit more to what out kids are being subjected to.

Meanwhile, I am also intending to bring this up during our conference, it's one of the few things I want to discuss. I hate that I have to do it, but I have a son who up until this year loved school and now doesn't. Yet he still makes the honor roll every six weeks. I have a son who is being told both verbally and in the actions displayed to him that he is not worthy. And I do not agree with it. I am my son's only voice and unfortunately I am now being forced to use it. I'm very disappointed in this entire situation. Up until this year, I've never had a serious complaint, but now I can not say that. I'm mad, I sympathize with his teacher but I'm still mad.

Poor planning

I suffered from some seriously poor planning this morning. What's that saying, you know the one, the road is paved with good intentions or something like that. Anyways, I thought I would wake up early and get my treadmill torture out of the way early this morning before the boys had to be taken to school. But instead, I woke up at my regular time. Then I thought, that's okay I will still have torture time after I drop the boys off but before I had to get K. to pre school. Only I got distracted by GMA talking about the singing sensation Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent. I totally love stories like these by the way so if you get the chance then click on over.

So instead of my torture time on the treadmill I drank another cup of coffee and took K. to school. When we got home I was faced with another dilemma, treadmill torture or a really nice brisk walk around the lake. So naturally I chose the walk around the lake. (Now what am I going to tell Hubs who has been sworn to keep me going on treadmill)

Then after our walk I came home to see my neighbor out planting flowers. So naturally I had to stop and talk flowers with her and catch up with all that was going on. Then another neighbor joined us and we had us a good visit. Finally I realized I really needed to come in and get showered. It was then I realized the time. I had both the lawn company and the exterminator coming to the house at the same time. Crud, I realized that the inside was a mess. Now I know the exterminator is no reason to clean up but I just have issues with strangers seeing my house with no beds made and a dirty kitchen. Plus, I didn't want him to say that any bugs found, were probably there because it was so messy (not dirty...messy. Well except for the kitchen, that was dirty with all the breakfast dishes) So instead of a slow shower, I ran a marathon and got the house in order just as the lawn company was finishing up. Then within five minutes the exterminator was there. But at least the crumbs and mess were all gone.

So now I'm finally on track again. Well except for the treadmill torture. But I promise tomorrow to get up early and get back on it and cry some more. At least that's what I'm planning.

Cereal-iously

Ok, I know that's not really a word, ceral-iously, but it could be. It's morning, and I'm faced with the day to day dilemma of what to feed myself and my kids for breakfast. The boys are easy and choose to have egg burritos at school, the girls aren't to bad either. They pick cereal, Berry Crunch to be exact.

So that leaves me. I decide to join the cereal bandwagon and join in the crunching going on. So I wander off to the pantry to see what kinds of mom cereal there is in there. I see three boxes sitting there to choose from. I have my Crunchy Go Lean, I have my Fiber One and I have bran flakes. Ooohh, what to choose. I finally decide on Fiber One and go to put it in my bowl. Only to discover that there is hardly any left, not enough to even count as half a bowl. So I decide to move onto my Crunchy go Lean (this is really not one I like that much but I decide to eat it just to get rid of it) and discover that this to is hardly worth putting in the bowl. About this time, I'm wondering what is going on here, I am the only one who eats mom cereal how did this happen. Then I remember, we had company this past week and mom has to watch her sugar levels so she probably had some at some time or another.

So I am faced with the decision of do I just go for a bowl of Bran flakes on there own or do I mix all the cereals together to make a hodgepodge breakfast mix. Or I could just have two small separate bowls of cereal but that doesn't sound so good. But now that I know these essentially empty big cereal boxes are taking up some high dollar pantry shelf space I want them out of there. But do I want to be wasteful and toss them, it seems such a shame to be like that. I am trying to cut down on the grocery budget and this just doesn't seem to fit into it at all. I decide to just get over it and mix the cereals together. I was really a bit disappointed, I mean if I like them by themselves, then surely mixed together they would be equally as good, but they weren't. I guess I like my cereal in it's purest form and mixing them just doesn't do it for me.

But on the bright side, I now have more shelf space in my pantry and was not wasteful. Just doing my part to save money for the family budget. Well unless you count those really great tops I bought at the store the other day, but cereal-iously that's not the same thing at all.

Facing the facts

I can't deny it any longer. Swimsuit season is almost here. I'm being reminded of this from every direction. Time to refocus and start walking again on a daily basis. It's hard to do this time of year with all the practices that are going on but I just need to give up a TV show or two and it should all work out. Hopefully by the time I actually have to force myself into the swimsuit, it won't be as bad as it would be now.

I may say that just a bit to much

I hear myself in my children. What I tell them, usually comes back to me sooner or later. Sometimes it's not so bad, other times I'm embarrassed and then other times I just have to laugh.

I've been listening to A. quite a bit lately. And I must say, she is definitely repeating things that she hears me say. But in my defense it's not the embarrassing phrase of darn it (only it really wasn't darn). Instead it seems that everything she is seeing or noticing for the first time requires a very loud and enthusiastic Holy Cow! (Mental congratulations to myself that it was not anything worse than that) So since this doesn't fall into what I consider the offensive category, I'm enjoying her Holy Cows. Everything from a new roll of toilet paper being put on the roll, to a dead bug in a window sill gets a big HOLY COW.

So I've decided that I may just actually verbalize my thoughts a bit more than I should. I must try to keep things where I really am thinking Holy Cow inside my head, instead of verbalizing them. But Holy Cow, it's harder than I thought it would be. So maybe I will just give it up and be glad that at least it's not quite as offensive as Bugger, which I've been know to say a time or two. But if we aren't actually in England is it still offensive? Just something to wonder about.

It's that time again...baseball season

Baseball season has started up for us again. We now officially have three kids we have to shuttle back and forth to practices and games. So for my friends that I see on a regular basis, I'll see you around June sometime. But contrary to what you may think, I love it. It's fun to watch the kids as they grow and get better at sports. You can really see a difference in them from season to season.

This past weekend we watched my oldest son Z. play in a weekend tournament. He is with a new team this spring. And we decided on this team not for their winning records (which they didn't really have) but for the coaches and parents of the other boys out there playing. We are really enjoying being on this new team. Since we've joined them, the boys have finally started to click and they are finally playing pretty good. They finally finished a tournament and got a bit of hardware (ie. trophies, medals, rings) to show for it. They didn't win this tournament so they didn't get the championship rings (which I'm still laughing over) but they were all so excited to have done so well. Hoss my youngest son is now the official bat boy for this team and even he received a medal. Talk about an excited 6 yr old.

So if you start to hear more and more talk about baseball than you really want to, I'm sorry. But that's pretty much all I'm going to be doing for the next 3 months so I won't have much else to talk about.

So pull up a chair, grab some sunflower seeds and start spitting, it's baseball season.

It's Spring Break

We are on spring break this week. I have high hopes for everyone getting and staying healthy this week. So far it looks like it may actually happen. Z. is fine and at baseball camp this week every morning. Hoss and K. and A. are all better and for the most part seem to be better as well. So that leaves me to plan a few things to do this week. I'm planning but it's a bit hard to do the long all day activities when I have Z. at camp until noon. After being physical and on the go all morning he does get a bit tired. But I'm sure I can get him to go on an extra long all day outing if it were worth his while.

So that leaves me with a lot of free mornings to fill this week. And what seems to be filling it? One of my all time favorite TV shows as a child. My son Hoss has discovered Little House on the Prarie. He likes it because of the horses. I just like it. I can honestly say I've seen every episode ever made. And I can name and place every episode within 60 seconds of sitting down to watch it. I was a bit obsessed as child I think. But I can't deny that I still love this show. Who knows, if I'm lucky I'll get to watch it more than once this week on spring break. It is my kids putting it on to watch, not me. And I will indulge them on this one.

Sick and Tired of Being Sick

I have to say it has been a hard winter for us. For the last two months straight, we have had one person after another in our family getting sick. And it continues to rage on. We have never had it this bad before and I hope to never see a winter like this again. It all started at the end of January when Hubs came home sick from a business trip. Hoss then caught it and developed pneumonia. Then K., A. and I decided to get the flu and spread the love to my parents who were visiting. We finally get through that then Z. comes home with strep throat. Now we are battling the dreaded stomach virus for a second time this winter. Both K and Hoss are fighting this one right now. It's just not seeming to end.

I must say, that I am so tired of being sick and caring for sick children. They've been great but it's just been really hard. I'm hoping that the kids will soon recover and get over all these viruses soon. That should leave us healthy to deal with all the allergies that are about to hit and the asthma problems that go with it. I am hoping that we can spend spring break next week home and healthy. So now you know why I've been gone so much lately.

Birthdays are in the air

We are starting our next round of family birthdays. Today is Hubs birthday. He is now 41. It's really not that upsetting to him so that's a good thing. So what does Hubs want for his birthday? Who knows. He doesn't have anything that he really wants and doesn't really need anything. So we are just going to go out and let the kids pick him something that they think he would like. It's always fun to see what they come up with. One year he got a bag of marbles, Z. really felt that he needed those. And of course he felt he had to play with Hubs in the process. I've already been requested to make his favorite birthday cake. So of course I will do that, what flavor you may wonder. It's almost embarrassing to say it but he really likes pink strawberry cakes. So that's what he gets, even though the girls have told daddy that it's a girl cake. He doesn't care though and still wants a pink cake. I guess he never believed that whole boys don't like pink theory.

So Happy Birthday Hubs, we love you very much. Enough to eat pink cake and play marbles with you. May your upcoming year be filled with as much love and joy as you give all of us on a daily basis.

Sick Again

We are sick again. The girls and I are suffering from the flu. Hoss has recovered for the most part from his pnuemonia so that is a bright spot. Z. and Hubs seem to have dodged the bullet so far. But my poor parents who came up to visit, they went home with the flu. Courtesy of us of course. I feel so bad about that. They always seem to catch something when they come to see us. I am amazed that they continue to risk it but they love thier grandkids and can't be kept from them. But hopefully we will all be well soon. Because I have to tell you, this being sick with the flu is for the birds. I must remember this next year and get a flu shot.

Can you see anything

The last few times I've logged into blogger I can't see anything. I was just wondering if it's happening to anyone else or if it's a user error. Will you leave me a comment either way letting me know if you can or can not see my posts.

Company is coming

It's really sad how excited I get when we have family come and see us. You would think I'd be tired of it by now. But I'm not. In fact, they really don't come enough for me or the rest of the family. Yes, even Hubs thinks they should come more often. But starting tomorrow, we have company in town for about ten days or so. My parents are coming which is not all that unusual but still a reason to be excited.

But during the time that they will be here we will have more company. Hubs sister and her husband are driving down from Missouri to Houston for a cruise. So they will stop and stay with us along the way both coming and going. It's been a while since we have seen them and we are looking forward to it.

I can imagine now all the cooking that will be going on in this kitchen. Because that is what we do when family gathers, we cook. Lots of food and all of it delicious. It's amazing how we cook so much more for company than we do just for ourselves but we do. Hmm, maybe that's why I'm so excited when company comes. It means that good food is sure to follow. It's worth considering....

A Talk with the teacher

I had a talk with K.'s teacher this morning. It was very enlightening to say the least. Ms. Tammy asked me if my husband was doing okay. So I told her yes, he was doing good and would be back from Finland very soon. At this, she looked very relieved and started to laugh. She then told me about a conversation she had with my daughter.

K.,my daughter told Ms. Tammy that her dad was in heaven. Ms. Tammy asked her if she was sure and K. said yes she was very sure. Her mommy had dropped her daddy of at the drive thru and then he went to heaven. He'd be back in a few days.

Of course by now I am laughing and wondering why she came up with this. I can only guess that to her the airport is the drive thru and the planes then fly up to heaven. I still don't know for sure and will talk to her this afternoon about it. But I'm still laughing at this. Especially since I didn't drive Hubs to the airport, he drove himself and left his truck in long term parking.

I'm just glad that he was able to get a return ticket from heaven and I'm sure when I tell him, he'll be just as relieved.

Wordless Wednesday

For other WW participants click here.

Another way in which girls are different than boys

Having girls is different from boys. In so many ways. But I recently realized a new way they are different. Birthday parties. In particular, girls only parties. Now my poor girls will never have a girl only birthday party simply because of the fact that they have two brothers who will always be at their parties. So that along with the fact that my girls like to do a lot of what the boys do means that we very seldom have true girlie time.

But one recent Saturday K, my oldest girl was invited to a girlie party. So dad packed up the boys and took them off to basketball games while I packed up the girls and took them to parties. The girls were then treated to an experience they won't soon forget. We got to the party where they were whisked off to put on princess gowns. Then they were put into big director chairs and had their hair put up in pretty buns complete with glitter hairspray. After that they were rushed off to get their nails and makeup done. Once all the girls were finished, it was time. Time for the big presentation. One by one all the girls made there way onto a runway through a curtain of golden beads. There they walked the catwalk showing off the new princess look they had. They were then presented with a crown and a certificate.


I'm thinking to myself, what could possibly top this for these girls. Then it was cake time. They had the most beautiful cake from my favorite bakery Candy Haven. So naturally I had a piece. And then we opened presents. Lots of fun. Just when the girls thought it was over they put on their regular street clothes and jackets and went outside. There they were greeted by a very big and long pink limousine in which they all piled into and went for a ride. They loved it. And I was once again left to wonder at how different things with girls can be. Now while my girls loved it, I know I will never spend the money on that kind of party for my girls. I just can't imagine doing it. I know that from now on though that anytime either of my girls gets an invite to a party like this again that my boys will be begging to go. They are pretty mad that both of their little sisters have already ridden in a limo and they haven't. They assure me they will suffer through the whole party if they can go in the car afterward.

Yes, boys and girls are as different as princesses and hot rods.

On my own again

I'm on my own again this week. Hubs had to leave for work for a week. Could have been much worse, he somehow managed to change it from 2 weeks to 1 week. So for one short week, I am the sole chauffer. But at least it will be busy and go fast. We did a quick and quiet brunch (since we only had A. with us) before he left to fly out. It was very enjoyable. Sometimes we forget about how simple it is to eat out with only one child. In fact most of my food was hot while I was eating it. That hasn't happened in a long time. So this week will be an easy week for cooking since the kids are so easy to please. But still, Friday night can't get here soon enough.

Love ya' Award...right back attcha!

Nicole surprised me with an award the other day. She's my friend in real life, so I take it to mean that she really does like me and not just what you see on the computer screen. That's nice to know. I think I'm supposed to pass this on to other bloggers that I read and appreciate. I have several bloggers who I think deserve this, but since some of those blogs are private it makes it kind of hard.

This award is officially called The Love Ya Award, and here's why:


"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be
friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when
the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.
Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight
bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into
the body of their award.”

So thanks Nicole for appreciating me. And I want to pass on this award to a few of my favorite blog writers. I don't know if I have eight though, so if I break that rule, well I'm sorry. I can be lame like that sometimes.

Ginny is my friend in real life and just started blogging. She always writes about things that are important to her. She's amazing.

Lauren is one of my first ever blogs that I started to read. I always enjoy her posts about her life, books and Disney Trips.

Keelan just makes me laugh. I can so relate to her stories and am sure you'll enjoy her to.

Heather, Lynn and Kim are more of my favorite blogs to read. But they're private now so you'll just have to take my word for it. But I want them to know how much I enjoy their blogs.

So if you get a chance, stop by and visit them. I think you'll enjoy their blogs.

Quick Takes

I am so stealing this idea from my friend Nicole. I know she will understand. I just give a few random things (I think)about what's going on. This saves me from actually having to come up with a true blog post.

So without further ado.

1. I cut K. hair for the first time ever this week. She's 4 1/2 and it was long enough to get caught in her bottom during bath time. Enough said. It is now a short and sassy length (to her) of mid back. She can wear it down, and I can still put it up. See everyone wins.

2. I am also a dork like my local friends who are excited about a new grocery store opening close to us. Another option without the traffic is always something to be excited about. I plan on going here in a bit to so some shopping and enjoy all the freebies that go with a grand opening.

3. I think I have found a solution for my child care issue on the few occasions that I need it. Some of my neighbors have used this facility before and it's a pay as you go type place. Plus it's good for all ages and stays open till midnight (can you say date?) I am checking into it further but so far it seems promising.
Plus they have all kinds of camps they offer during the summer months when the kids tend to get bored.

4. The treadmill and I have come to agreements. I don't like it as much as walking outside, but it's pretty darn convenient. So I'm still using it.

5. Lost started back up this week. Can I tell you how excited I am. Very. I now have something non reality to waste my time with. Can't say it's time better spent but it's still good.

6. Tomorrow is K. first back to back birthday party invites. So it should be fun for her and torture for me. I have a dollar amount that I allow for presents but the ones she picked out were even below that. So she added these giant circle lollipops to the gifts. I think she is more excited about those than anything else.

7. Homework has been hard this week. Z. has two teachers that for whatever reason both had huge projects due. So with all this nice weather we have been having, we have missed alot of it since homework has to come first. Stinks to be a grownup sometimes.

So there we have it. For more quick takes visit Jen

Not Possible

Today is the inauguration of our new President. And yes I know this is a historic day on so many different levels. I'm excited about some of the the history being made. I'd love to be able to have my children witness this change of power in person someday with me. Of course it will never happen because I just don't like being in crowds, but it would still be awesome to watch. But at the same time, it is barely 8am and I'm already tired of some of the news coverage going on. The things that they feel we need to know just in order to fill air time just drives me crazy. So while I will probably tune in to watch the actual inauguration process where the new President will be sworn in, it's not possible for me to watch it all. So just give me the highlights and leave all the fluff alone already, I've still got a house full of kids to take care of today.

Is there anything better

Today is going to be a cold day. And I am so excited that I really only one obligation so far that requires me to leave the house. Is there anything better than getting to stay inside where it's nice and warm when it's cold outside. I myself think it's one of life's little pleasure. Kind of like when the kids are all quiet and happy and not getting into mischief. It doesn't happen that often, but when it does, I try to enjoy it. So my plans for the day don't include to much running around. Instead I think I will stay home with the girls and stay warm. Is there really anything better than that?

Just not right

It's January, one of the coldest months in the year. But even though it's January, I am off to have the AC in my car fixed today. Why? Because the weather is so crazy going from 80 to 40 on a daily basis it seems. And on those regular occurring warm days it gets down right stuffy in the car. And since I'm part of a family whose allergies who are terrible, we never have the window down. So even though to me it just doesn't seem right to have to fix the AC in January, that's what I'm doing. Crazy isn't it, this Texas weather.

A bit of this and that

In case your wondering, and I'm sure you not. Things are still hectic around here. Here's a bit of what's been going on around here.

-School started back so kids are up and going early. Mom, not always the case.

-I've been to some more training classes that I probably didn't really need but had to have anyway.

-Dropped off K. at school and headed to the dealership to have my A/C fixed. (Yes I know it's January but this is Texas and we still are seeing the occasional 80 degrees) So get to dealership and wait while they figure out what's wrong. Get the call from preschool saying daughter is having severe allergic reaction to something can I come get her and can they give her benadryl. Yes give her medicine and I'll be there as soon as my car is off the big rack they have it on. Then go tell them to get it off the rack and I'll be back later for them to fix it. Get to preschool and K. is all better and doesn't want to leave. Still don't know what caused reaction. Now I'm waiting for my part to come in so I can take the van back to be fixed.

-Went and played Bunco with some friends. Lots of fun.

-Hubs and I have talked about getting a treadmill. Discovered Hubs boss just bought an $1800 one last year that has only been used around 6 times. It's now being offered to us to try out. At no cost. If we decide we still want it in 6 months then we can talk about price then. So Hubs said yes and will go get it this evening.

-Talked Hubs into painting girls bathroom last week, now just need to get the rest of the house done. It's just hard to decide on the color I want since there are so many of them to choose from.

-Really need to get the kids used to not interrupting me on the phone when I'm talking. They are having a hard time with it, but since I am now on the phone alot with work stuff, it's vital they learn. The big ones have it, but the girls are still struggling.

So there you have it, aren't you glad you read this far. We are just so exciting in our house. So until I bore you again, that's it for bits of this and that.

Last Day of Vacation

Since today is the last day of vacation for the kids I thought we would do something fun. But instead it started to rain and get cold which pretty much put a stop to any outdoor fun I had in mind. So I did what any good mom would do, I started the laundry that's been piled up since last summer I guess. Now I have half the laundry done and four wound up full of energy kids running crazy through the house. But, I can't say that it's really been all that bad. Well except for the whole laundry thing.

The rest the week should be busy as we get back into our normal routine and all the running around it takes. So it's really a good thing to get caught up on laundry instead, although I'd ditch it in a second if something better came along. Just being honest ya'll. See I told you all that I have one of the most boring life's of all. And yes, I'm still happy with it.

Hershey Kiss

Hershey Kisses calling my name.
Hershey Kisses make me gain.
Hershey Kisses go away,
I want to zip my pants today.



Can you tell what I'm craving right now...

Scheduling

I feel like I'm not ever getting everything I need or want to get done, done. I've gotten very lax in my scheduling which has in turn had a bad effect on me and those around me. If I'm feeling rushed and frazzled then it wears off on the rest of the family. And it just puts me in a bad mood. Now I'm normally a pretty laid back type personality. But I'm anal at the same time. I want things to be a certain way and they have to be that way for me to be in my happy place.

I have gotten very lazy about scheduling things. I realize that and do intend to work on it. It just makes life so much easier in our busy house. So even though it stinks to high heaven, I have to start getting up earlier to get things going smoothly and calmly in the mornings. Because once the mornings are going smooth, then everything else tends to fall into place. I get started on my to do list earlier, and it's finished sooner. Which leaves me with more free time to do what I would like to do.

I've gotten away from letting my husband know that between this and this time each night I will walk. Instead if things are crazy I don't go, which puts me in a bad mood. So you see, a bit more scheduling and he knows and is fine with it, I now have my walking time scheduled and am good with that.

There are so many other areas that I've gotten lax with in scheduling. But simply by starting up on this one little thing it makes things so much easier for me. The thing is, it's hard sometimes. I know that, and just need to remember how much more I enjoy the peace that comes from scheduling rather than the craziness of unscheduled chaos. So I guess for me my anal type A personality just requires it, then I can enjoy my laid back attitude with my friends and family a bit more.

Wait, what's IT?

Since I'm on a roll this week about being mom of the year. I did after all let my oldest daughter get bit by spiders multiple times. I thought I'd share the latest casulaty report from our house. It was time for baths and Hubs had taken A. upstairs to get her ready (I love how he helps out like that) and I was left to clean up the rest of the dishes.

I hear what to me sounds like a slamming door. So much so that I automatically say stop slamming doors before you hurt someone. Then there is a lot of screaming. So as I head upstairs I ask Hubs what is going on. He replies she was running towards me and tripped and banged into the wall with her head and cracked it? Wait...what's it? Is it her head or is it the wall? Is there blood involved because if there is then I can pretty much count Hubs out on any help since he's not good around blood. No, her head isn't cracked he said, it's the wall. She cracked the wall with her head. Oh well then everything's okay, I think. You can patch a wall no problem. But I didn't want to deal with a cracked head.

Call me crazy but a cracked wall is so much easier to handle. But this does just prove to me that my youngest daughter is a very hard headed, stubborn and determinned little girl. And she wasn't going to let the wall get the best of her, no she was laughing and back to herself after a few minutes.

Is it Chicken Pox?

UPDATED TO ADD THAT OUR DR. SAID IT WAS NOT CHICKEN BITES BUT INDEED LOTS OF SPIDER BITES. I don't know whether to feel better or worse about that one. But she was out rolling around in the yard and in the shed the other day so there is really no telling how they got her. I'm just glad it's not chicken pox.


I am trying to find out if K. has been bitten by insects or may possibly have Chicken Pox. She's not run a fever but had 3 insect looking bites on her face yesterday. This morning it is now 5 but the old ones don't have the crusted over look to them. I just don't know of anybody that has actually had it these days since we now have the vacinne. So if you have any hints for how I can tell in the very early stages then let me know. If she has more spots tommorow then I am sure she has them. Until then, I guess I'm hannging out at home today.

I may have missed the boat

I'm late in getting the shopping done this year. I'm not sure why really. I know what we are going to get which is half the battle. But getting out and buying it has been the problem. So today I went to two stores to look for a present and they were out of them at both stores. Oops, I'm thinking I may have missed the boat on this. But then again, I'm really not that worried about it. If we are really supposed to have it for Christmas then I'll find one. If not, it will be bought eventually some day down the road. I'm really not that worried about it. There are lots of other things the kids would be excited and happy to have.

But in order to not miss the mailing packages deadline. Well, I still have to wrap presents first. And that's one huge process for me. My packages are likely to make it around Easter. No really, I won't let it wait that long...I hope.

I've also missed the deadline for me to send in money for the boys to have for their Christmas parties at school. Must remember to do that tomorrow no matter what. I just didn't have enough one dollar bills to do it today.

I'm a great mom, I know this really. You don't have to remind me. Okay, at least tell me that I'm not the only poor fool who is constantly late on doing things for the kids at school. Then at least I'll feel a bit better. Well until the next deadline comes and passes and I realize that darn it, I've missed the boat again.

No No and in case you didn't hear it...NO

Can you guess what has been said in the Juice Box household at least a million time in the last 24 hours. That would be the answer...NO! What surprises me is that it is not my youngest three who are asking the question (well at least not yet) but my oldest Z. He in turn is spurring the others to ask over and over in turn getting the same NO response.

What could possibly cause me to have to say No so much. It's not really what you think, it's not about Christmas presents at all. NO it's much worse than that. They want me to give in and allow them to get another PUPPY!

NO NO NO NO...no no no no!!! I do not want another puppy. We already have one overgrown dog who thinks she's a puppy, that I have to have underfoot. But a friend has just gotten a sweet new baby puppy Chihuahua and so the begging has commenced. No matter how much I let him go over and visit this still unnamed puppy, I will not cave on this issue.

I already have a husband, two boys, two girls and an overgrown Boxer. I certainly don't need to add to my nest with a partridge in a pear tree. So the answer is most definetely NO. But secretly I will admit to enjoying holding the puppy myself, especially since I don't have to deal with any of the rest of the work that goes with her.

Where or where are my pictures?

Some of you may have noticed my lack of pictures lately. It's not because I'm not taking them. I am, lots of them. It's because Hubs garage computer (yes he has one in the garage) has gotten so old that it won't run the programs or equipment he needs anymore. So he has taken my Desktop out of the office and put it in the garage. (By the way if your spouse requires a computer in the garage please tell me so I won't feel so alone in this)

So until I can find the software for my camera and photoshop, I can't download my pictures. At least not until I get the Desktop back in the office. Hubs solution is easy, lets buy another computer and he can keep the Desktop in the garage. I don't want to buy another computer. I want to be normal and not have to have a computer in the garage. But I'm not normal and I'm still not able to download pictures or music just yet. I guess I better find that software quick and put it on the laptop. Then I will feel normal again.

Land of the Infected

I'm living in the land of the infected and contaminated right now. We are busy fighting germs on every level. So far we have three wounded with two of them well on the road to recovery. The last one is still waiting to see if a recovery is in order yet. Hopefully we will all be healthy again soon.

How many days left

I am counting the days. Not for the reason you may think. I am counting days until school lets out for Christmas. I can hardly wait to have two weeks where I don't have to force my kids out of their warm beds. Then I won't have to hear complaints about how they are tired and don't want to go to school. Then I don't have to get out in the cold weather and drive the kids to school. I'm counting the days until I can enjoy my hot cup of coffee without interruptions. So yes I am as bad as the kids counting the days until Christmas, but it is for a different reason than thiers.

They Finally Found It

I am very excited to say the birds finally found it. What is it? It's the bird feeder that's been hanging outside my kitchen window for over a month now. Filled to the brim with wild bird seed. And yet up until this week, not a single bird was willing to brave it and try it out first. But I guess that one lone little brave sparrow who first tried it out sent the message back to his friends. Now most days I can look out and find little birds eating from the feeder. So far, it's not been the big birds like Cardinals or Blue Jays but I'm sure they will make it eventually. In the mean time, I'm just excited that the birds showed up. But really do you ever know of anyone or anything that turns down free food?

Recovered and well

I've recovered from our big party this weekend. In fact I didn't even realize I posted about it here on my blog until I checked in today. How's that for embarrassing. Oh well. Hubs is off this week and we are preparing to get ready for our trip. But first things first, I'm off to have lunch with Hubs. Have to love vacation time.

jWell Crud!

We had a Tech watching party at my house tonight, and Tech lost. That was the bad news. The good news is that we all had a lot of fun, and I have reaquainted myself with Capt, Morgan. I have thourourgly enjoyed him tonight. I hope I enjoy him in the morning....but not likely. But it was a fun party at my house anyways!!!!

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!



For other WW participants click here.

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?




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



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.