My little Monster

This morning had a dr.'s appointment, and DH stayed home with the kids. When I got back, apparently the little Monster was having a rough go at the morning and had been detained by daddy. But with Daddy needing to head off to work, he was now to be with Mommy. I asked him what he wanted to do, and his response "I want to help you". Okay... it was lunch time and the little Monster and I strolled to the kitchen to work on lunch.

Now when Monster is in this kind of mood... well the smallest thing can really frustrate him.

As he sat on the kitchen island while I worked on lunch, he and Baby Dinosaur (his hand) were talking to me and the dogs. All of a sudden he, Monster, gets really mad and is yelling at Daisy... "Talk to me, Daisy. Mommy, Daisy won't talk to me... Daisy won't talk to baby Dinosaur". Um, little Monster DAISY IS A DOG AND CANNOT ACTUALLY TALK TO YOU.

Poor little Monster... he desperately needed a nap, and that is just where he went after lunch.

Super productive

Boy I'm feelin' productive even though we had a late start this morning... let's see:

1. Watered the lawn/flowers
2. Feed the kids breakfast... and then they played with wipe off boards and magnets for quite a while
3. Downloaded the pictures of the digital camera from the last few weeks
4. Bathed the dogs... unclogged the bathroom tub
5. Did the dishes... well finished loading the dishwasher and started it
6. Did the laundry
7. Finished cleaning up the bathroom from the dogs bath adventure
8. CHECKED my EMAIL!!!

YEAH!!! I'm on top of the world, and I'm feelin' fine :-)

Clap... jump... clap jump and a car chase...

Ahhh, yet another night of jumping jacks. Monster and Bubba just can't resist a little bedtime play action. Once caught they are suddenly exhausted and not so laughy... more crying, screaming, and too tired to go on! Oh, but 15 minutes of jumping jacks sure tires them out.

The thing that sucked about it last night was the fact that there was a really interesting car chase happening (actually the vehicle that was being chased was a semi) when they decided to misbehave. I'm a real sucker for car chases if they are live! Thankfully we have a DVR thingy, so we paused the live chase to go and deal with the children. Once the boys completed their jumping jacks... back to bed with them... and back to the car chase for us.

For those of you wondering how the car chase ended... well the victim was set free, and the criminal was tear gased out!!!! Very interesting... And the reason the man took this woman hostage (the woman was a trucker)... it was all in the name of JUSTICE and EQUALITY in the work force for African Americans. Here's a tip dude... when you hijack two cars, then lead a 3 1/2 hour semi chase... I'm not seeing your plight, only CRIME!

The ole' swimming hole

The boys love swimming, there's no doubt about it. This is a huge jump from two years ago... even from year ago. They used to be so fussy, whiney, and climb all over you while in the pool. Now once those floaties are on, it is hard to keep up with them. Anthony is a step player mostly. He will swim for a while, but he likes his feet on the bottom and playing. Andrew likes the steps, but spends more time swimming around (stalking toys of others that they don't currently have in their hands). And then there is Austin... he kicks out to the middle, and that is where he stays. He loves to just splash around... splash himself, splash passersby, and us if we get to close. He is a madman out there.

While I like the floaties, and not really having to worry about them... I think it is time we move on to real swimming adventures. That's right, we are going to start working with them sans floaties! They are showing readiness, especially Andrew... who seems to be hindered by the floaties these days, trying desperately to keep his face under while he paddles around. But with all new endeavors I see that my sweet little boys are growing up.

So you heard it hear first. Our next trip will be filled with heroing tales of the underwater adventures of the Towers of Power!

Random thoughts

There is a JUICE MAFIA.

Don’t believe me, check out all the commercials on TV. That’s right, you’ve all seen them, 100% juice is everywhere… and everywhere it goes, so goes sugar (check the boxes people... not really all that good for you, just eat fruit)! And KoolAid is the Juice Mafia’s sidekick!

Victory over clutter

For a while now I wanted to re-organize the gameroom and the closet in there. My plan: create a second work station for homeschooling, and free up some much needed space for homeschooling supplies!

After a days work last week, and a weekend filled with shopping, and finally today the completion of operation Homeschool Cleanup, I'm proud to say that my master suite has been returned to just that, and the gameroom will retain it's status and gain the added delight of being the offical classroom.

Not only were we (and I do mean we, DH helped me so much... it was great) able to clean out a bunch of clutter and things we simply don't use/need, we also realized how many things that we have for the boys that we had forgotten about! All sorts of neat little games for us to sit down as a family and play.

But the light at the end of my journey was having selving put into the corner section of the closet... aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh... I just keep opening those doors and staring at it. It just fills me with joy knowing things are more easily in my reach, and so masterfully put away.

For DH, I think that idea that there is not a little desk in our room, and little books and what not will no longer clutter his sight when we wants to retreat to the bedroom for some solace! I would have to agree completely with that statement as well.

What were they thinking?

I mentioned before having issues on occasion with Snookie and Bubba playing after lights out. Well last night they topped themselves. At about 8:15 or so I started hearing this knocking sound, but it didn't sound like it was coming from inside the house... I thought people were playing outside, or messing around with fireworks still (yep, we have people that must have spent some serious dough and are still playing with them). The banging kept on and kept on, and finally at 9:00 DH thought it might actually be coming from the boys room... HMMMMM... so we turned on the monitor and sure enough something was going on in there.

As quietly and quickly as we could we made our way down there, and thru open the door and lights to catch them in the act. And there was Snookie and Bubba, blankets over their head playing in the closet... the closet door was banging against the bookshelf which was banging against the wall!

Pissed off that we have to deal with this again... we made each of the little geniuses go to time out till we could come up with something that would fit the misbehavior. It took a while, somewhere around 15 minutes of them standing in timeout and for DH and I to put our heads together... and we (me) came up with GOLD! They aren't tired, they want to be up... we will give them something to do! That's were jumping jacks come in. Now, their jumping jacks are not the typical look. It is more of, legs shoulder with apart, jumping straight up and down and clapping over their head (kind of spastic monkey style).

The punishment phase, 10 minutes straight of their jumping jacks, a 4 minute break and then an additional 5 minutes of jumping. Oh were they tired when we were finished with them. It started all funny, they were laughing like this was some sort of joke... by the end they were very frustrated and crying. The additional part of the punishment was that they would have to take an additional nap (before lunch) for a few days. So this morning after DH left for his business trip (around 10:00 first nap was to begin). Andrew went down and fussed a little, but quieted down and took it like a man. Austin, not so easy to break. It took an hour and 3 sets of 5 minutes of jumping jacks for him to finally get the idea. That kid just fights and fights sleep! One day he will be begging for more!

Swimming and sunscreen

Well, the boys were restless... and so was I. So we decided to go swimming. After the boys got up from their naps and were suited up it was time to apply sunscreen. I did them, and realized at this point DH does my back and I do his (but he is away on a business trip)... hmmmm, I'm super pasty white and under no circumstance should go out uncovered without protection.... hmmm.

Then came my brilliant plan. I sprayed sunscreen (I love that new spay kids stuff BTW, awesome) into each of the boys hands and they took turns getting Mommy's back. I wish I could have taken a picture it... they were so methodical and gentle. Sometimes they are just the sweetest little guys you will ever meet!

Wedding season...

It's that time again... Wedding Season, your social calendar fills with all those ready to take the plunge.

We actually attended our first of this years festivities last night. A high school friend of ours, and it dawned on me how different it must be for them compared to when we got married back when we were 21 (we are all now 27). Things like, we were just starting out in our new adult jobs while they have been living a long distance relationship for quite sometime and have had their jobs and routines for many years. We went directly from college to being married and started off from scratching with building our lives together. Now they will be trying to merge those two lives into a combined union, one having to start over in the job market and new city. They are moving into their first apartment together, while we have owned a home for several years now. Much like us (when we first got married) they want to have a few years of marriage before they bring kids into the mix... which puts them in their 30's, where as we had our fun but our kids came into our marriage when we were 25 (with plenty of time to have more). Not that it is a bad thing to have kids in your thirties... just if that's when you plan on starting, then you are considerably older when they finally leave (not to mention the mounting difficulties to conceive as you age).

Next week in contrast we are attending a wedding where the bride and groom are 21, new jobs, and just bought their first home! Totally ahead of the game with the world at the feet. I guess I am more partial to how we did it... because it worked so well for us... but neither way is right or wrong. They both have their advantages and disadvantages, I suppose. It is just interesting to see how things fall into place.

Just the musings of someone who has been happily married for 5 1/2 years, and wouldn't change anything about it!

The world around me!

Think back to your youth, what did you think would be the world around when you were a grown up? I'll be honest I thought I might see flying cars and things of that nature. I was a dreamer, I couldn't wait to see how things would progress. I dreamed of being a wife and mother, having the perfect house and a wonderful life.

As I look at my life now, I have a great home, a wonderful marriage, and awesome kids... but I'm not the dreamer I used to be. I guess the reality of adulthood has been an eye opening experience. The things that have happened in the world are not so happy and wonderful anymore, maybe they never were but as a child I never knew it. But instead of how wonderful things will be for my kids, I find myself in the mindset of what will be left for them (not in the tree hugging way)... what kinds of struggles are they going to have to deal with.

What exactly am I talking about... well to name just a few: lack of modesty, immorality every were you look, terrorism, anti-catholic mentality, lack of true education, abortion and contraception... my list could go on for miles.

I wonder if this transition in thought is more because I'm now a parent who worries about the safety and happiness of my children, or if things have just gotten this bad and are on a downward spiral. Right now, I think it is a combination of the two. My other questioning thought is, did my parents (or grandparents) feel this way at this point in their lives?

If you're wondering where such an introspective downer kind of thought process came to me... I'm on a large amount of allergy medicine attempting to rid my body of snot! :-)

Sing little song birds, sing...

Okay, one of the boys favorite pass times is singing songs! Singing songs they make up on their own, ones we sing as a family, or songs from radio and CD's.

Each one has their own way of singing the songs. Bobcat is the first to learn the words, Bubba has the beat, and Snookie... well Snookie has the enthusiasm!

A new favorite is, There's A River of Life. In it there is a verse that says: Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see! So after we sang it a few times we explained what the song was about and what it all meant. For some reason Bubba had figured out what he thought we were singing in that verse with a new spin... OPENS the BLINDS TO SEE! Not quite Bubba :-).

Snookie's favorite song is How Great is Our God, except for some reason he omits the D in God... so it goes something like this:

How great is our Gaw, How great is His Name, How great is our Gaw, Furever da same!

Ahhh, the joys of motherhood...

Vacation, la la la

What to say about a wonderful week long vacation to the beach... VA - CA - TION ( said in a loud midrange tone, kind of like Oprah). Where was this glorious beach, Port Aransas Texas. This some what undiscovered town is great for families (or couples) who want a nice beach, nice water, and not a lot of people! This is the 3rd time we have traveled to this destination, and every year it seems to get better. Here are few things that made the trip better this year:

Previous 2 years: Water some what chilly

This year: Toasty waters and no mounds of sea weed between you and the ocean.

Last year: Children were convinced that the water meant death and that they needed to shriek if they got near it.

This year: The boys loved the water, and the beach, and the sand, and the sea weed!!!

First year: We stayed in a hotel that was not near the beach and we had to drive.

Last year: Stayed in a condo that was a few blocks from the beach and had to drive.
This year: Stayed in a huge house on the beach... NO DRIVING!



Some lessons learned...

-- Five day, four night vacations are the WAY TO GO!!!!
-- Hot boardwalk will in fact nearly burn the skin off of your naked feet, and hot sand is VERY HOT on naked feet.
-- Always carry bug spray, it looked like we were an all you can eat buffet table after the mesquitos got done with us.
-- Chew gum while playing in salt water, it helps rid that taste from your mouth.


I also had some realizations about myself, in particular things that I don't like (the first two I was aware of, the last was new to me).

1. Snakes (they freak me out!)

2. Mice (they give me the willies)

3. JELLY FISH

I've only seen jelly fish in captivity and so I was fine with them in a tank. Well one morning we went down to the jetty for a morning walk and some picture taking, and during a picture moment we were looking over the edge and noticed a few jelly fish swimming near the rocks. I was mostly okay because they were down there, and I was up on top of the jetty... but later at the beach... YEP, there they were. One dead one of the beach where we set up shop, and then later when we were playing in the surf we saw some swimming by. OH MY GOODNESS, talk about lose my stomach... just this feeling of fear overtakes me sometimes. I think it is just the unpredictable nature of it all. They move with the water... the surf isn't always headed in the same direction, and then you have the undertoe... I really was all I could do to keep my cool.


In conclusion, this was the best trip we have taken to date!