My Pathetic Attempt at an Interesting Last Post of 2011

It ain't gonna be pretty but I feel it necessary to put up one last post this year.

We are still on Holiday High here. Although all the Christmas decorations have been boxed up and the tree is now residing in the back yard (in the garbage pile. Not planted. We are not that earth friendly, unfortunately.), my house is still not back to working order. We still have a box full of toys that haven't even been opened yet.

But, we have been playing alot of board games and eating alot of junk. So, time not totally wasted. 

As this year comes to a close, I am once again shocked at how fast time really does go.  2012. Shouldn't we all be flying around on jet packs by now? 

This year has taught us many things. My children have learned some valuable lessons. Jarrett has learned* to not try  and ride a sea lion.

Josie learned, just 2 days after Christmas, that sucking helium out of a balloon will make you pass out, fall and hit your head on your dresser, and require 6 stitches.

Jeven learned, the very next day, that putting your hand UNDER the grocery belt at Winco will inflict pain and cause you to bleed and make the management of Winco come running with proper first-aid equipment, (unlike Jarrett's sea lion experience) and an accident report.

I've learned to not trip over things: 

I told you it wasn't gonna be pretty!

I wish I could be more specific and tell you what I tripped over, if only to prevent you from learning my lesson the hard way. But, alas, I do not know for sure. I am clumsy. I trip. Often.

I'm sure there were other lessons learned this past year but these are the ones that are freshest in my mind as they've all happened in the last 3 days.

Here's to hoping 2012 is happy and full of lessons learned with less pain. And blood.

*learned or learnt?  I tried both. But spell check didn't like learnt and I'm too tired to look it up to see which is correct. And, yes, I homeschool my children. Don't judge.*

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve. Just thought I'd throw that out there in-case you have been living in a cave somewhere. Perhaps your cave was neighboring mine?

You know when people say "Christmas sure snuck up on us, didn't it?"  (Which is ironic since the stores display Christmas decorations starting in Oct)  I know what they are talking about!

My hubby and I stayed out late last night finishing up the shopping. I hate the fact that we had saved so much for the last minute but we don't have lots of extra cash laying around so we had to spread all the shopping out a month or two. But, surprises of surprises, we had a good time shopping and now we are done!!

That leaves today for laying around in my pjs, maybe doing some baking and wrapping some gifts. I've always thought that is what Christmas Eve is for. Relaxing.  And for sure this year as Christmas being on a Sunday makes it extra busy. And special, really. What better day to celebrate the birth of Jesus than a Sunday!

I hope all of you get exactly what you want for Christmas and that you have a happy and healthy 2012!

A Note

Jarrett gave this to me last night:

"Dear Mom, think you for bing niss to me"  (Dear Mom, thank you for being nice to me)

Many thoughts went through my head, in this particular order:

• Omigosh! How awesome! I love, love, love to get notes from my kids that they do ALL.BY.THEMSELVES! With misspelled words and everything. 
• I love how he is learning to sound out words and his writing is improving so much!!
• I wonder if my husband got an awesome note like this?
• Probably not because I am so much nisser than he is. 
• Wait a minute. How bad of a crank have I been that when I'm actually decent to my child, he feels the need to write it down?  
• I love this little bugger so much! 

At Least She Has Her Spelling Down.

Getting Josie to do her school work is like...getting Josie to do anything she doesn't want to do.  In the past, I've threatened, bribed, physically made her and any other means necessary. 

Now, I just wait for the storm to pass and move on. It seems to be the most effective. 

Today, she was doing her Language Arts at the kitchen table, while I was in other room helping Jayce with History.

Josie:  MOM!!! I'm D-O-N-E!! 

Me:  Josie, did you do B-O-T-H pages?

Josie: Well, P-O-O-P!!! 

( : 

(if poop is the worst word she ever spells, then we're good) 

Truth is Thursday

Truth is....we haven't done school in two days. I just didn't have the gumption. And, the kids haven't minded. Today, we're back at it. 

Truth is...I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving. But, Christmas is stressing me out already.

Truth is...I don't want to be stressed out about Christmas. I want to enjoy it and make happy memories for my kids.

Truth is...we can't afford much right now, let alone Christmas presents.

Truth is...I don't want presents to be the focus of Christmas. And, it always works out.

Truth is...I've been doing some "light" exercising every day and I can notice a difference in my energy level! 

Truth is..I still have really bad eating habits.

Truth is..one step at a time, right?

Truth is... I've learned that another friend has been re-diagnosed with cancer.

Truth is..cancer can suck it.

Truth is...I've been feeling like my kids are being extra needy and crabby.

Truth is...it's probably ME that's extra needy and crabby.

Truth is...we have a date night planned for Friday and it couldn't come at a better time!

Go visit  Surviving Boys for more Truth Is...

Reading at a Third Grade Level

My daughter is reading a book for her very first book report! 

Now, she is a very good reader, doesn't need much help sounding out words. However, her reading comprehension needs some work.  She has a hard time telling you what has she read or taking a test about what has read.

With some gentle encouragement from me, she chose this book:

(Except, it wasn't this EXACT book. It was mine from when I was Josie's age. So, the book cover is a tad different but you get the point)

Like I said,it was my copy from when I was in 3rd grade. And,it was one book out of a set of 4. But, I thought this would be a great book for Josie to start with.

And, to be a better teacher/parent, I decided maybe I should read the book as well, in order to help Josie with her comprehension. 

I ended up reading all 4 books last weekend. 

I'm very proud of myself!  And, my reading comprehension is awesome! I got 100% on all my daughters tests!

Wordless Wednesday--With Words

Wanna see something gross? 

This? Is gross. This is my 6 year old son's arm cast. After TWO weeks. He has had 3 casts total throughout this whole broken arm ordeal 

My sister in law asked "Is that MOLD?" and it is not. The blue is mouth wash. Jarrett thought he needed some one evening and got under the bathroom sink and helped himself. And spilled it all over. 

Truthfully, I think a nice minty cast is way more pleasant, don't you?

Quickie

Since I haven't posted in over a month, I felt the need to log on quickly just to post "I'm still alive". 

And, I am. Some days, more than others. 

October quickly moved aside for November and my head is still spinning at how fast it went by.  We are entering (some have jumped feet first into it!) the Holidays.  And, some of it I'm looking forward to and of course, some of it is already stressing me out.

I have many, many post brewing in my mind. But, finding less and less time to put them on here. And yet, I feel a very strong need to put them here.  So, soon, I will make it a priority and start posting again.

But, for now, I'm putting my energies in to other things.  Some mundane. Some life changing. 

All is good!

*Warning: Do Not Read This Post If You Are a Vegetarian. Or, A Member of P*ETA

My husband, father and son arrived in Wyoming around 10 p.m. last night.

At 9:30 this morning, I received these pictures via text messaging:

Papa, Jayce and Judd

Jayce with his first hunt! 

Those of you that hunt and/or live in Oregon can appreciate how crazy it is to get an antelope within 12 hours of arriving in the hunt area. Here, in Oregon, you have to put your name in a drawing and maybe once in a lifetime, perhaps twice, your name will be drawn. That means, you can purchase a tag and go LOOK for antelope.  They are few and far between here.  So, even after you've spent money on putting your name in the drawing, THEN more money on the tag, you may come home with nothing. 

But, apparently, in Wyoming, it's not so difficult.

I spoke with Jayce this afternoon and he told me all about it and he was SO excited.
Yesterday was a difficult day, for me, and ok, for Jarrett too but.... I was a rock. Seriously. I didn't cry or break down or panic. (Yes, I know. Jarrett was the bigger stud as he didn't cry hardly at all nor did he panic or break down but I'm making a point here, just stay with me)
But, hearing my 12 yr. old son talk about something that was so exciting to him, he was shaking and vibrating over the phone, and knowing that he was sharing that with his father, his grandfather and his uncle, I broke down. I sobbed like a kid that broke his arm should have.

Fell Off a Sea Lion

It just isn't meant to be, I think. We are not meant to go to the aquarium. If you read this post,  you will understand. If, like me, you are too lazy to read it, I will sum it up--we tried to go to the aquarium at the beach, a few months ago, two hours away, it sucked, we came home.

My husband and Jayce left at 5:30 this morning to go hunting with my brother in Wyoming. They will be gone a week or so.  I decided that myself and my mother could handle taking the other 3 kids to the aquarium as our Groupon expires next week.

Away we go! 

We get there, no problem. No school buses, no rain, no crowds. We walk around outside, we visit the shark tunnel thing. All along the way, Jarrett is climbing on every. single. thing!  I tell him to stop and there is a designated place up the way that he can climb,climb, climb.

And, also, he can fall, fall, fall. Which he did. Hard. I see it, I can't stop it. But, down he goes. He falls off a sea lion statue. I think "Oh, he broke it, he broke his arm. " I rush over expecting to see a bone poking out but there wasn't!  He wasn't even crying. Much.
I think maybe it's just a bad sprain?  We put ice on it, we get out our lunch, which excites Jeven until he realizes he ate most of his own lunch on the ride there.  I notice there is a largish "lump" up Jarrett's forearm.  I start to question if it's a sprain or not. He won't move it, his fingers tingle.  Not good. I decide we should take him to Urgent Care. In a town where I have no idea where anything is, besides the ocean and the candy shop. I decide that we will ask at the front counter, on our way out, where the nearest Urgent Care is.

Josie cries as she didn't get to see everything OR spend the $2 she brought, in the gift shop.

We stop at the front counter, ask about the clinic and are told that we need to fill out an accident report and "Wait right there!".  We wait. And wait. And wait. Until finally, a man comes with a scrap piece of paper in his hand. He asks me for my name, address, phone number and what happened. I tell him. He writes "Fell off sea lion". That's it. My son's worst day EVER has been summed up in those 4 words.

We head out towards the parking lot to find our friends had arrived! Just a coincidence.  But, I explain that we are leaving to take Jarrett to hospital and Josie then cries because she can't stay. I get frustrated with Josie because she is quickly demanding all the attention that should be centered on Jarrett. 

Following the detailed directions of the aquarium staff, "You take , like, the 3rd or 4th right past the hotel with bricks. Yeah.", we find the Urgent Care clinic. Which is closed for lunch until 1:30. Seriously.
It is now 1:15. We decide to wait. When they do open, we find out there is ONE doctor on duty. One. We are told it will be a two hour wait.

I decide, in two hours, we could be home. Jarrett is not crying. He's babying his arm but otherwise, he's cool. Chillin'. 

I call my brother in law, who happens to be a sports therapist (perks!) and he explains that a break will hurt less than a sprain and it would be totally fine to just drive home, as there's no protrusion or anything.

So, approx  1 hour after arriving at the aquarium that we drove 2 hours to get to, we are headed back home.
Three quarters of the way home, I call our pediatrician and give them a heads up, to which I am told we will have to wait until the after hours clinic is open as there is no way we will make it back in time to see our regular doctor. Which, actually is a good thing as the after hours clinic has all the x-ray equipment. I take first available slot, which is at 8:30. At night. But, our regular doctor is the doctor that will be seeing him.

We come home, veg, eat.  Jarrett is still not crying or even complaining. I'm starting to wonder if he's even hurt.  I poke him. He yells at me. I decide he's really hurt.

Finally, we get to doctor's office, where Jarrett tells the doctor "Nope" every time the doctor says "Does it hurt here? Here?".  Seriously?

We go to x-ray. Doctor looks at it. Says "Yup. Broken"
Puts a temporary cast on it. 
I guess we will see an orthopedist next week. I say "guess" because I think I was more confused leaving the clinic than when I arrived. 
Seems the doctor and his staff were in a hurry to get rid of us, he didn't explain things very well to me ( in my opinion) and I was too tired/shocked to really think clearly.

I called my helpful brother in law, again, and now have a little better idea of what's going on and why. Swelling, proper setting, etc.

Anyways, day one of being a single parent while my husband hunts, not so good. Could have been worse. Could definitely have been better.

Those darn sea lions!! 

Wordless Wednesday

If You Give a Mom a Mop

Every day, I am amazed at how little I get done.  Seriously. It amazes me as it seems I am always trying to get stuff done.

There are times when I go to bed so stinkin' frustrated because not only did I not manage to cross everything off my "to-do" list, I can't even find the stinkin' list anymore.

I ask myself "Self?  Where did your day go? What did you do?  Sure, you have 4 kids, you homeschool, you try to have a life. But, seriously?  The floors are still dirty?" 

Today, I decided to seriously evaluate where my time goes.  And, if I am to be honest, a bigger portion than I thought goes to the internet. Blogging (cough, cough.Ok. Reading blogs), facebook, couponing websites, and a big chunk of the big portion of internet time goes to my kids' school program. 

But, in theory, I still have plenty of time to get my other chores done.
Did you catch that? In theory. 

For example, I did try to get all my floors mopped/ vacuumed today.  We only have a one bath, three bedroom home. Shouldn't be a problem, right.
First, I try to tackle the living room.  This is what happened: 

• Picked up all toys, shoes, clothing, DVDs and other various random articles off of the floor. 
• Got out the broom. 
• Got called away to help Josie find page 1 in her text book. Yes. Page ONE. 
• On way back to living room, notice cobwebs in hallway. 
• Search closet for duster. 
• Spill Easter baskets full of plastic eggs. 
• Eggs scatter everywhere. 
• Spend 5 minutes picking up eggs and questioning why I keep them in the first place. 
• Get asked to help Jayce with his vocab test. 
• On way back to living room, again, notice the time. I have approx. 30 minutes until Jeven will be home. 
• Panic. 
• Sweep living room floor. Take cushions off couch to vac the couch. 
• Spend 5 minutes collecting hot wheels, markers, LPS and various other objects one might find in a toy box, not a couch. 
• Vacuum couch and corners of living room floor. 
• Get asked to help Josie with her math. 
• Spend 20 minutes discussing why she must do all 10 problems and not skip them. 
• Get Jeven off school bus. 
• Immediately try to distract Jeven from jumping on the cushionless couch. 
• Make lunch.
• Clean up lunch. 
• Find something entertaining for Jeven to do. Involves paint. 
• Put cushions back on couch. 
• Decide sweeping is almost the same as mopping. 
• Clean up paint Jeven has dripped down the hallway. 
• Notice Jeven has paint in his ears. 
• Spend 7 minutes arguing with Jeven as to why he will be taking a shower and not a bath. 
• Help Josie with her science chart. 
• Help Jayce with his grammar assignment. 
• Decide Jeven must take a nap. 
• Finish up school with big kids. 
• Jeven awake. (JOY)
• Jarrett home. 
• Grocery shopping. 
• Dinner
• Clean up after dinner. 
• Receive phone call friend's dad died. 
• Call friend. 
• Cry. 
• Put kids to bed. 
• Veg in front of t.v. 
• Realize the living room floor is the only floor in the house that got any attention. 
• Realize that is not true. I wiped the hallway with a paper towel when Jeven dripped paint down it. 
• Realize life is short. My floors will always be dirty. I will always have cobwebs.  I will forever be fixing some sort of meal for my family.  However, I will not always have a 5 yr. old to spread paint. I am doing my kids a huge favor by schooling them at home. It's just some days, some days seem pointless and never ending at the same time.  I guess it's all about perspective.

Don't Jinx It

I must whisper. Not speak too loud. I don't want the forces that be to hear me and ruin my good fortune.

So far (as of day 2) this school year is way better than last year.

Shhhhh!!! Don't jinx it.

With one little boy gone until 11:30 and the other until 3:00, we are getting the home school done by 1:30 and it's been awesome.
Josie has a lot of writing this year, which she gets tired of very quickly, but she's powering through.

Yes. I know. Day 2. But, let me have this dream, allright?  3 weeks from now, when I writing in yelling type, instead of whispering type, you can all rub it in my faces about how naive I was. But, until then, hush.

How bout some pictures?

Josie, 3rd grade

 

Jayce, 7th grade

 

 

 

 

Jeven, Kindergarten

Jeven and Jarrett, 1st grade

The End of Something Great

The end of summer is upon us.  And, although this summer was almost non-existent, in the cooler weather and lack of fun pack days, I am sad to see it go.

I will miss the cool evenings where I got a little stress relief by blasting my heathens children with the garden hose.

I will miss the lazy mornings of sleeping in and feeding my kids a late breakfast/early lunch so as to minimize the amount of food preparation for the day.  Which is actually ironic as I am finding my 4 children are actually bottomless pits of food consumers. They are ALWAYS hungry. 

I am not ready for the non-stop rain that we always get here in the Northwest. Everyone enjoys ( I think) a rainy day of laying on the couch, watching some t.v. But, by day 34, I'm done. Hmmm...maybe I should get off the couch?

I do enjoy lighting candles and baking and scrapbooking and sewing, which are all things that seem better fit for the fall, don't ya think? I am looking forward to those things.

The end of having "little ones" at home is upon me as well. My youngest will be going to school tomorrow and riding the bus home 3 hours later. My second to youngest will be going to school and not coming home for 6 hours!  It's hard to imagine my "babies" being away from me, having a life that doesn't include me. They are beginning down a path that is no doubt going to lead them to growing up and becoming teenagers and eventually adults. I wish people would have warned me about this!

What are you looking forward to at this changing of the seasons?

Insert Witty Title Here---------->

You all know (their picture is at the top of this page!) that I have 4 kids, a husband, animals, etc. I won't go through the obligatory "I'm so busy!" excuses to say I've been busy.

It is now 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning.  I should be asleep but it is far too hot but I'm not going to complain as this summer has been fairly mild. So mild in fact, that we haven't put in our window air conditioners. For the reasons they haven't been needed and to see if it made a difference in our utility bill. It did not make a difference as we've all been taking more showers to compensate for being over heated. And, the a/c would have felt nice today.

School will start shortly and I have mixed feelings. Because 2 of my children are home schooled, I don't have the luxury of looking forward to an empty house once school starts as some parents do. But, I'm ok with it. My other 2 children, my youngest, will be going to K and 1st grade. Which I'm very excited for them, because they're excited, but it does mean my baby, my last baby, will be riding a school bus and starting a life that won't include me. I look at him and see such a little boy, but, I know he's not.
The home school curriculum has been delivered and organized on the school shelf. Josie, 3rd grade, has a lot this year. And, being the  challenging pupil ( attitude wise) that she is, I'm a tad stressed. But, I realize that's not fair to her, to automatically say she's going to struggle, when we haven't even started yet. So, I'm determined to keep my hopes high.

My preschool class at church is changing. I'm losing 3 students to the next level, and gaining 1 from the nursery. 
Last week, I had an extremely stressful day as one of my students had a complete meltdown. As much as I hate to admit it, I physically had to sit on the poor kid to keep him from harming himself, and me. Kicking, hitting, spitting, clawing, screaming. For an hour. Luckily, I do have another teacher in the classroom with me now. She was able to take the other kids somewhere else, so it was just me and the boy. As the end of class approached and he was still not calm, I texted for backup as I didn't want other parents to arrive to pick up their children and encounter the teacher physically restraining a student. By the time help arrived, Bob (not real name) had calmed down and was laying on the floor while I rubbed his back and "shhhh"ed him.  When M* walked in, I immediately started crying. At first I thought it was adrenaline, making me emotional, but after a whole day of crying about it, at home, I realized that a) I felt so horrible for Bob because during his whole melt down, I could see he hated that he was acting that way and he couldn't help it  and b) I took it very personally as I have been the ONE person at the church he has connected to and created any sort of bond with.   It was just a sucky day.

And....I wasn't planning on getting into all that but there ya' go.

To lighten the mood a bit:

Upon unpacking Jayce's (12) bag after he spent a week at camp, I took out his deodorant. To which Jayce declares "Oh! There it is!!"  Not. A. Good. Sign. 

My husband took all the kids plus one friend to Sonic for slushes.  (Yes, that means I had approx. 15 of blissful quiet.)
Jeven, upon walking in and discovering the brownies cooling on the counter, declared:  "Mom, my throat is frozen from my slush. I think I need some of those to make it better."

Of course, I gave him a brownie.

Only a couple more weeks of summer left. Hopefully I can post a few more times before school starts. Fingers crossed!

Laughter=Good Medicine

I love my children. I am even loving towards my children. Most of the time.

But, I don't "baby" my children. There have been times when I've felt guilty because maybe I should have babied them just a little.

When my children get hurt, there must be blood to qualify for a bandage. I know. I'm harsh. Some parents own stock in B*nd-Aid, I'm sure. It would be so easy to just slap a bandage on the child every time they invent a new injury.

When my children get hurt, 3 things happen:

1. I congratulate the injured on their awesome wipe out. After all, if you're going to have a scar, it might as well be from something awesome. You don't want to be 36 and have a 3 inch scar on your shin from when you were 8 years old and a pop bottle fell out of the fridge and shattered on your leg. THAT'S not an awesome story. 
2.  Clean up any blood, apply band-aid ( if qualification has been met) and kiss and hug and send them back out to play. 
3. Make a joke. Try to get them to laugh. It's hard to cry when you're laughing. (although it's fun to laugh so much you cry!)

**I must put a disclaimer in here. I have been VERY fortunate that we have not had a serious injury. We've had surgical glue once (Jarrett) and a broken collar bone (Jayce).  We've even only had 2 ear infections EVER (not counting me). No strep throat (again, not counting me) and, Thank you, Lord, no close calls.  I'm talking about the usual scrapes and goose eggs and little cuts that happen when you're an active kid**

Like I said, there have been times where I regret being so harsh.  Like when we were at a birthday party, at a park.  Jarrett came running over to me, crying. Hands on his head.  I saw no blood, no broken bones. I dried his tears and told him to go back to playing. Later that night, as I was giving him a bath, I noticed the HUGE goose egg and abrasion on the back of his head. Guilt. Galore. But, he never told me what had happened, he never acted strange (saw no signs of serious head injury. I'm not so harsh/stupid that I would not notice that), never gave me any concern. 

I like to think I'm calm and don't over react.  I like to think it teaches my children that life can sometimes hurt. But, you gotta keep going. And, if you can, tell a joke and laugh.

Josie was cleaning her hamster's cage.  Jingles was sitting in her carrying case, the one we use when she travels. (Don't judge. Josie bought it with her own money. Jingles has actually traveled 1 time.) Jarrett decided to stick his finger in to the case. He has small, old man hands and his fingers are kinda bony. Jingles got excited, I'm sure thinking his finger was a french fry, and bit him. Hard.

He cried. There was blood. 

I said "Uh-oh.  Go in to the bathroom and rinse it off."

Jarrett:  "Cry, cry, cry." (  Bleeding, bleeding, bleeding)

Me:  "You know, in the movie Spiderman, Peter Parker gets bit by a spider and turns into Spiderman. Maybe you'll turn into Hamster Boy?!!"

Jarrett: silence

Me:  "Here, dry off your finger.  I'll put some neosporin on it.  This is the same medicine I used on the cat last night (whole other story). So, now, maybe you'll turn into Cat Boy?  Which would you rather be?  Hamster Boy or Cat Boy? "

Jarrett: " Cat Boy. Then I can eat the hamster."

We both had a good laugh. He felt better.  Kisses were exchanged and life went on. 

34

That's  how many days of "summer" we have left. 

I say "summer" because here in Oregon, the weather hasn't been very summery.  We will get a few days of really warm weather, then a few days of over cast, cool skies.  And even some rain.

As much as I hate to be hot and sweaty, I do feel a little cheated. 

Because, so far, our summer has pretty much sucked. 

We haven't done anything super fun. I don't have a great tan. We didn't win the lottery. 

My "to do" list I started before school was out in June doesn't have much crossed off.

So, here we are, with 34 days remaining.  We are going to try and cram as much in to these 34 days as possible.

We are done being sickly.  I am feeling somewhat better.  Largely due to my inlaws, they kept the kids for 2 whole days and I was home. Alone.  And, although I didn't get as much accomplished as I hoped, by the time the kids came home, I was feeling refreshed and renewed. Does wonders.
Still "exploring" some things and trying to learn why I was feeling the way I was, and trying to prevent it from happening again.

Jayce left for camp for 5 days. In another state. First time for both of us, him being so far away from home, for so long. With no way to contact him. Unless it's an emergency.  I don't think the counselors would consider me wanting to yell at him because he left his dirty clothes on the floor (AGAIN!!) an emergency.
He will be home tomorrow and I can't wait to hear all about it. 

In the past, I've written, somewhat vaguely about my husband's job and how it makes him feel.  Lately, it's become more apparent that he needs to be doing something different. But what? These days, a job with comparable pay and benefits is hard to come by. 
We did have an interesting offer last week. But, the cons certainly outweigh the pros of said offer. I'm thinking he will turn it down but he hasn't made the official call yet.

We are still hoping to make it to the aquarium. We are hoping to go camping again. My husband and Jayce will be going to Wyoming to go hunting with my brother. 

All things we are looking forward to.

And, there are only 142 more days until Christmas. You're welcome.

Sound Check

This is going to be a quick post.


First, a big thank you shout out to all my friends, bloggy and real life, for the wonderful comments and suggestions on my last post.  They mean so much.  I'm not going to address any of them right now but they did give me a lot to think about. Maybe I'll update on that whole situation later.  


Second, I have been sick for the last 3 days. First it started as a horrible headache, then fever, then nausea, then an ear infection. Actually had to go to the doctor which is usually something I try to avoid. But, they have good antibiotics there. ( :

Third, I am attending a funeral today. For a wonderful 95 yr. old man that I considered my grandfather. My own grandfather died when I was very young, this man stepped into that role.  Not only was he a granfather figure to myself and my brother, but he was a father figure to my own father. My dad went through some stuff when we were younger and Bill gave him some great advice, along with some tough love. 
Over the years, as I've "grown up" I haven't seen Bill more than once or twice a year. Up until these last 6 months. He and his wife moved into the same assisted living home that I visit every week.  When I saw their names on the list, I couldn't believe it!  And, thought for sure he wouldn't remember me. But, at 95, his mind was very, very sharp.  I was greeted by a gigantic hug, (in his prime, he was a very tall man) and an even larger smile. 
I have visited Bill and his wife ( his first wife died after 50 yrs. of marriage and he remarried. And, Mary is a wonderful lady as well but I don't have the same "connection" with her as I did Bill) over these last few months and enjoyed bringing my kids to visit with him.  I didn't enjoy seeing him get sicker and sicker. 
Eventually, he passed after hanging on two weeks longer than the doctors expected him to. 


So, I will be attending that memorial service this afternoon. And, although I am sad and will miss him, I know he lived a long life and considering all the pain and suffering he was in at the end, I KNOW he's in a better place. 


Strangely, I must bring up the ear infection I am currently suffering from.  For some unknown reason I can't hear very well out of my right ear, my left ear is my "strong" ear, on a normal day.  I often have to turn my head  when I'm talking to someone, to be able to hear better.  But, guess what ear is infected? Yup. My left.  So, I've been doing a lot of shouting and missing out on conversations these last few days. 


I told Jayce, who is 12, that today, at the service, if I start yelling or ignoring someone, he must tell me.  He got this very mischievous smile on his face.  Now, I'm a tad worried.  I may just not speak at all.

It's Been A Month...

...since I've posted. Yes. I like to state the obvious.

My husband came home one day with plane tickets to Hawaii and we've been relaxing on the beach for a month.

Ok. That's a lie.

I've been away for a month, at a rehab center for women that have slowly lost their minds.

Ok. That's a lie, too. But, a tad closer to reality.

The truth is, I've hesitated to post. I was (still am) afraid whatever I posted would reflect what's in my heart. Which, normally, would be a good thing. But, lately? Not so much.

My heart is full. Of bitterness. Of anger. Of different emotions that have no definition. And certainly no reason.

I've been searching and praying and thinking for a reason as to why I'm so bitter and emotional. At one point, no joke, I thought I might be pregnant! And, with a husband that has had an vasectomy, and myself with an IUD, that's 99.9% impossible. Only after "consulting" with a friend, did I talk myself out of that possibility. I don't want to change my name to Mary anyways.

I have no good reason to be feeling these feelings. And, I certainly didn't want to reflect them here. Nor onto my family. But, I have failed in that area. My poor husband has bore the brunt of my anger and bitterness for a long time. But, he can only take so much.

I like to think I've dealt with the kids decently but only time ( and therapy) will tell. 

The thing that frustrates me the most is that I have NO good reason to be so bitter.  All the things that make me angry and frustrate me, are fixable!

I get frustrated that the house is always a mess.  (Clean it! Be better about making the kids clean up after themselves!)

I get frustrated we never have any money. (Of course we have money.  Maybe not enough for the Hawaii trip but we have food and a home.)

I get frustrated when I have too much to do on my to-do list. (The word "No" should be used more in my vocabulary.)

I get frustrated with my weight and health.  (We all know the solution here.)

But, do I do any of these things?  Nope. Which only frustrates me more.

There are some things I'm bitter about that are beyond my control. Death.  How other people act and think.  But, I certainly can work on acceptance. 

So, for a month I've avoided my blog. I've even avoided commenting on other's blogs.
My heart is just not into it right now. 

Friends

I'll be there for you.....

I consider myself lucky to be surrounded by friends. Some I've been friends with since I was very young, the ages my littlest boys are now.

A few I know I could call and they would be there for me. And, I for them.

I think we all agree, friends are invaluable. 

It's fun to see my children making friendships. Will these friendships last forever?  I like to think so. 

My children's friends have become special to me.  I enjoy getting to know them, learning what it is about my kids that they like.  Seeing them be silly and speak their own languages. 

I hope I can create an atmosphere that my kids and their friends will want to be with us, hang at our house.

I took this picture, with my cell phone, of my two boys and their friend. 

 

Makes my heart swell.

What fills my heart even more, when I forwarded the picture to the friend's mom, she asked for a copy because she loves my boys as much as I love son.

That's what friends do.

Money Well Spent

A few posts ago, I mentioned how a certain little boy (clue:rhymes with Heaven) has a freakish amount of energy.  And, while most of my kids can sit down and do their Legos or puzzles or color, this certain little boy ( clue:  loves marshmallows) will not do any of these things. He basically follows me around all day and demands food. And attention.  And, while I love this little boy (clue: somehow is constantly sticky) with all my heart, he makes it near impossible to get anything done. Especially the approximately 1000 lessons we have left in school to do in 8 days.

With all his moola he accumulated for his birthday, I encouraged him and his Daddy to have a day and go shopping (killed two birds with one stone, I did!)

I also encouraged Daddy to steer this little boy (clue: was disappointed that he could not buy a real motorcycle with the $60 birthday money he had) towards something productive. Something he could do for 5 min. so I could do something else.

I had this in mind.

This is what Daddy and the certain little boy (clue:  still unproductive) came home with.

Certain little boy and his new friend.

Not to be confused with the real thing:

Certain Daddy with his friend. 

You can see why not much gets done around here.

Post O' Pictures

A couple weeks ago, just the kids and I took a trip up to the zoo. And, not to repeat the last post, I'll make it short.

This time, there were school buses as well, but by the time we had our tour that was sponsored by our home school program, and ate our lunch, all the kids were leaving and we enjoyed a nice lazy day at the zoo.  With no barfing.

Hey, who let those monkeys out of their cages?!

Awesome picture of an awesome bird.

Goat wrangler #1

Goat wrangler #2

Goat wrangler #3

I'm not sure you could call this goat wrangling at all!

It's Never Like It Is In The Movies

Unless that movie is National Lampoon's  Vacation.

This time last year, our family went on an impromptu beach day. 
The kids still talk about it, it was SUCH a great day. We thought "What's better than one beach day?  Two beach days, of course!"

We planned ahead a little and pre-purchased tickets to the aquarium and packed the van the night before. Here in Oregon, you never know what the weather is going to be like at the beach. It could be raining cats and dogs here in Springfield, but be gorgeous on the coast. Or vice versa. So taking extra clothes, blankets, coats, snow boots, etc. is a must.

The day was going to be fantastic ( cue "Holiday Road" music here).

We didn't tell the kids where were going, you know, to be extra cool and all. It took seeing the ocean for MOST of them to figure it out. (I love my kids and I'm not saying that they are dumb but...come on!  You would think that the ocean would be a huge clue that we're going to the beach.)

And of course, it was raining. And not just the normal Oregon rain. But the huge drops that totally soak through any kind of clothing.

That's ok. We decided to go to the aquarium first.  We're easy like that.

We pull up to the front doors of the aquarium and there were four school buses unloading elementary students. Four. Buses.

Now, I like kids. I even have some. But.  Four bus loads?  Not so much. The aquarium ain't that big.  There certainly would not be enough room for us to look at things unobstructed.

You know, when you finally find a cool exhibit of something and you think it would be nice to sit and look at it for awhile. Then, about 1200 kids come running up, and get in front of you and your kids?

Didn't appeal to us.

We decided we could eat our picnic lunch and wait the four bus loads of kids out.

But, it was raining! So, picnic inside the van it was.

We parked at the jetty and watched the boats come into the bay. The kids liked that. For about 3 minutes. We had a really hard time convincing them that it was NOT a good time or place to go swimming.

Seeing as lunch killed approximately 20 minutes, surely not enough time for the gaggle of school children to be done with the aquarium, we decided to go to Old Town Newport and look at the sea lions.

There were 2 school buses unloading there.

But, they were taking a boat tour out into the harbor so really didn't bother us too much.

Saw the sea lions. Walked along the docks.  Jeven discovered the ladder that the fishermen use to go down onto their boats. Made the statement that it would be a perfect ladder to use to get into the water, to go swimming.
Used death grip on my child as we walked back up to the street. 

Decided that by this time, 1:30, surely the school kids would be done. They have to head back to school, right?

Go back to aquarium where not only are the 4 school buses STILL there, but now there are an additional 2 buses.

Decided we'd save the pre-purchased tickets for another day.  Decided we'd go just behind the aquarium to the science center, where donations are appreciated for entrance. (read:  cheap!!)

Get to science center. And guess what was there. Go on guess. I'll wait.



Did you guess school buses?  You would be correct!!!

Again, I have nothing against children. But. It was suppose to be our perfect day. 

Luckily, the kids WERE packing up and leaving. Which meant that we had most of the place to ourselves. It's not a huge center, but the kids got to touch tide pool creatures and roam around pretty much as they pleased.

We decided to take the more scenic route home, which adds about 2 hours to our already 2 hour trip home.  But, hey, we had all day.

The weather was so bad, the traffic so slow, we only made it about 25 miles south before deciding to cut across the mountain, using a highway we'd taken only once before and "I wonder why we never go this way? It's so pretty!".

This highway had so many "S" shaped curves that someone had to get out of the van and barf.  Which made all the kids laugh hysterically.

"Wow, Mom!! What did you eat?"
"Was that Oreo barf?"
"People stared at you when they drove by! "
"That. Was. Awesome!!"


The day did not go any way whatsoever like we had planned. I didn't take a single picture. Who wants to take a picture of rain? And school buses?


We didn't step foot on any beach.


There was vomiting.
There was fighting.


There was also laughter.


There were also lots of "Thank you,Mom and Dad".


When doing our prayers with the kids that night, they each thanked God for the great day they had.


I'm so glad things don't have to be perfect for our family to enjoy each other and have a good time. Lord knows, things are rarely, if ever, perfect.

My Baby Ain't No Baby--Jeven's Birthday Interview

He's a whole hand old now. The big 5.

Jeven is an energetic, funny, energetic, sweet, energetic little boy. Did I mention he has a ton of energy?  Yep. Well, he does.

One may have to meet Jeven in person to truly appreciate the Jeven-ness.  But, here's a small glimpse of him.

Me:  You are 5 now!  Can you believe it?

Jeven:  Yeah. Now I'm gooder.

Me:  What was your favorite present this year?

Jeven:  My "pop" gun! 

Me:  Anything else?

Jeven:  My marshmallows.  I LOVE marshmallows!!

Me:  Are they your favorite food?

Jeven:  YEAH!!!  (said with tons of enthusiasm)

Me:  What do you want to be when you grow up?

Jeven:  A farmer.  A horse one.

Me:  But, I thought you were gonna live with mom and dad forever?

Jeven:  You can live with me, at the farm!

Me:  Are you glad you have a sister and 2 brothers?

Jeven:  I'm not glad about the sister but I am glad about the brothers.

Me:  Why?

Jeven:  Because she always fights with me.


Then, he lost interest and left the room. Things to do. Food to eat. If you ask me, Jeven's favorite thing to do is eat. He eats constantly. After breakfast, he will tell me he's "hungry 10 times" which is hungrier than 5 times but not as much as 12 times.
He out weighs his older brother by a good 6 pounds.  But, he hardly ever puts it to good use. Meaning, Jeven is the one that gets picked on. If I was a betting person, I would bet that in a few years, he won't be so easy to pick on.

I love my silly, cheesy, sweet and even energetic little boy.

There's All Kinds

My husband is a man (go figure) and like all men, he enjoys beautiful things. Sometimes, that means beautiful women. But, even I would much rather watch a movie or t.v. show with pretty people on it vs. ugly people.

I've never had to worry about my husband being inappropriate, though. With movies or stuff online. Or even with his manner of speech. We have a young daughter after all.  I think that tends to change how you view women.  And, we've always believed that your eyes are attached to your brain which is attached to your heart. If you're looking at things that you shouldn't look at, your brain is going to think things it shouldn't think and so on....


So, like I said, I've never had much reason to worry.

Until the other night.

My husband was laying in bed, reading a magazine. I was reading my latest Stephanie Plum novel War and Peace.  Everything was peaceful and "normal". ( I always use that term loosely)
Occasionally, I would hear my husband utter "Wow. That's awesome!" or "What a beauty!" and even " I wish I could get me some of that!"
 Then I noticed he was turning his magazine vertical instead of horizontal.

You know, like one would if he was looking at a CENTERFOLD!!!

I glanced over and rolled my eyes.

Not because I'm a cool wife and have no problem with my husband looking at a naked woman that isn't his wife ( although, these days, I would rather he didn't see me naked either.) but because I know my husband. I know what gets him excited.

Would you like to see what gets my husband worked up?

Personally, I think she's had work done.....

Rules That Are Meant To Be Broken

A friend posted about some of the rules in her house, the ones that no one writes down. The rules that you can't even believe you actually have to make and say out loud.

And for some strange reason, she thinks that maybe I have some of those types of rules.  She dared encouraged me to blog about them.

In our house, there's the basic rules. Be nice to each other, don't lie, don't hit, etc... But, of course, with 4 kids, 1 husband (thank Gawd!!) and a miniature zoo, there are some things that always need to be reiterated. Such as:

• We do not lick another person's corn dog. 
• We do not lick our feet (or your sibling's feet) at the kitchen table. If you MUST do it, do it elsewhere. 
• I don't care if you're 6 or 36, if you can't get it into the freakin' toilet, SIT DOWN!!
• Postage stamps are NOT fancy stickers. 
• When drawing a picture of your mother, always, ALWAYS make her butt smaller than it is in real life. Always. 
• The cat is not for throwing at your sister. 
• I don't care if I can't spit your name out when I'm angry. If you know you're guilty, just fess up, even if I did call you by your sibling's name. 
• If mom is sound asleep on the couch during movie time, so sound in fact that she's snoring so loud you can't hear the movie, do not, I repeat, DO NOT wake her up. You've seen the movie approximately 458 times anyways.
• Speaking of movie time, if mom is crying at a movie that she has seen 458 times, do not make fun of her. 
• If I have to pick it up, or tell you to pick it up, more than 3 times, it's going in the garbage. I don't care if it is the Red Power Ranger and he will kill me in my sleep. 
• When your younger brother wakes up, do not tell him it is his birthday. Every day.
• We do not need to break dance at the grocery store. 
• Clothing is NOT optional. 

I'm sure there are many rules left unspoken. Life with kids and a family is just full of unspoken rules that you make up on the fly. But, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting if it wasn't , now would it?

Clever Post Title Goes HERE

Seems like I do these type of posts often. You know, the " I've been busy doing _____" posts. But. I have been busy. No foolin'.

We are on the downward slide of the school year.  And, being the "totally with it" mom that I am, we are scrambling to get done on time. Which means lots of yelling  teaching, begging  time management, and bribing  rewarding for a job well done.

I would honestly have to say, the worst thing about home schooling, for me at least, is how much time it takes. When I have other things to do. But, since I'm being honest, some of that stress could be avoided if I was better at the a fore mentioned time management.


We've being playing soccer. In the ever lovin', constant down pour that is Oregon. Here, most sports are played rain or shine. But, Josie likes it and it gets some energy out of her system. And, it's nice to put her pushing/shoving/kicking to good use.
We had her "end of the season" pizza party two nights ago. Where she wrote down a phone number of a friend on a napkin. Which, of course, I threw away. I managed to put off letting her call the friend for 2 days, saying "Not right now. I'm sure they aren't home." Or "No, we have to leave in a few minutes" Or "Our phone doesn't dial those numbers." But, she's on to me.
I confessed.
She cried.
I typed the girl's last name into facebook, thinking maybe her mom had a page. I found an older woman with the same last name, and we have a friend in common!  So, message to common friend sent. We will see what happens. My luck, we will get the phone number, Josie will call, and a play date invitation will be issued. Then, the whole "we don't let you go to anyone's house we don't know REALLY well" card will have to be played. Then, there will be more crying.
But, one crisis at a time, I always say.

The little boys started T-ball this week as well. Jarrett loves, LOVES to run (ran almost 6 miles in an hour for the jog-a-thon) but doesn't have much hitting power. Jeven, hates, HATES (even asked "Is there any sport I can do that I don't have to run?") to run but has more power behind his hitting. Together, they will make one great player!

My husband and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary! Yay us!  Looking through our wedding album, it's like we're looking at two different people. We were so young and didn't have a clue. Now that we're older, we still don't have a clue. But, we're having a blast figuring it out as we go. ( :

I've missed blogging, posts run through my mind all the time. But, getting them on here, that's another story. But, don't give up on me!  Eventually, my life will slow down. Right?  WHAT?!! It won't?

Well. Back to the time management thing. I will just have to manage to find the time to blog.  I will do it. Pinkie swear.

Name Game

We are very original here, at the Boring homestead. 

All of our first names begin with "J".  All of our middle names begin with "L".  In fact, 5 out of the 6 of us have the SAME middle name. Yes, my husband and I have the same middle name.  Josie is the odd ball ( in oh so many ways).  Her middle name is Lynn, vs. the Lee that we all have.  I liked Josie Lynn better than I liked Josie Lee and back then, I didn't know she would be my only girl.  Some of the grandmothers have the middle name of Lynn as well so it's not a complete shut out.

And, of course, all of our last names begin with "J". 

I know. Corny much? 

None of the names are that complicated. But,there have been a few instances of mispronunciation and spelling.

Jayce:  (rhymes with Ace) Sometimes misspelled Jace.  Or mispronounced Jay-cee.  But, understandable.

Josie: Not much confusion here.

Jarrett:  Hardly ever mispronounced but often misspelled.  Again, understandable.

Jeven:  Now, this one gets interesting.  Not a name you hear often.  And, usually not within a Caucasian family. Just sayin'.  We knew when we named him , that we would be repeating ourselves.  "Kevin?" "No, Jeven." "Devin?"  "Nope, Jeven". 

When I was pregnant with Jeven, we argued on how we were going to spell it for a long time.  I wanted J-e-v-i-n.  At the time, my husband was working with a Kevin that he really didn't care for.  So, he wanted J-e-v-e-n.  As you can see, he won.  But, that's ok.  Looks right. 

Again, his name does get misspelled.  Understandable.  I'm fine with it.  Really. 

But this?  This is a little ridiculous, don't ya think? 

Happiness

Happiness is walking into my sons' room, feeling the warm sunlight shining through the curtains.
Looking down upon my sleeping 4 yr. old.

Happiness is deciding the laundry I am holding, can wait. 

Happiness is laying down next to my sleeping boy.  Snuggling close as the smell of little boy--mixture of sweat, grass, peanut butter and just a wisp of baby--fills my senses.

Happiness is when my boy snuggles right back and whispers "I love you, mommy".

Happiness is when we both drift off to sleep.

Happiness is believing this moment will last forever.

300?

I got on here to post:  "Does changing my blog layout count as a post?" when I noticed...drum roll please....this is my 300th post!

:crickets:

Too bad I have nothing new and exciting to post about.
I've said it here before and I'm not ashamed to say it again--how do I write about the mundane life I lead but yet try to convey the not so ordinary occurrences that happen on a daily basis, that is my life?

You say it with some pictures!  That's how.

Josie and friend, with a Slurpie. Or Shrimp Sucker. Whichever way you like it. 

Finally, the Science Center day  was rescheduled for last week.  We finally got to Newport, not a tsunami in sight, no rain either.
First, the kids spent some time in a lab room, making a "Little Ocean" of their own, complete with a little crab and some fish.

I am sure I'm boring you with saying this again   don't know if I've told you, but I love anything that has to do with the ocean or sea life. So, when we (all the students that were there that day plus their mothers) walked into this classroom, I may have pushed my own child out of the way in order to get a good seat at the table.  Only to realize maybe I should let her sit down and perhaps go stand at the back of the room with the other mothers. Easy mistake.

Next, Josie and G. got to use their slurpie thingys to dig for sand shrimp.  And, cross my heart, a needle in my eye and all that, they NEEDED my help. Seriously. It was hard for their little arms to work the sucky thing. You have to push and pull at the same time.  But:

Success!  

One sand shrimp.  After an hour of slurping or shrimp sucking, we found one. Good thing we weren't getting paid for it.

That's all the pictures I have of that day.  I may have dropped the camera into a tide pool in my attempt of scooping up a fish for the kids to look at.  I was successful!  They each got to hold and touch the little sculpin before releasing him back into his home.  But, my camera paid the price. Thankfully, the memory card wasn't harmed. 

And, if you're keeping track, that's 2 cameras I've dropped into tide pools in the last year.  This last one was the one I was borrowing from my parents to replace the previous one I dropped.  So, now I need to replace TWO cameras. 

So, I need to figure out how to get pictures from my phone onto the computer.  I will put that right on my "to do " list.  At the bottom.

Currently, my list has: 

• school
• house cleaning (which includes laundry, dishes, assembling a new dresser, cleaning out closets, etc...)
• babysitting
• soccer 
• Sunday School lesson writing
• nursing home visits
• counseling family members 
• worrying about said family members
• watching t.v.
• figure out how to get pictures off of phone
• trying to do Weight Watchers (again) and NOT feeling like a failure because I may go over my daily points allowance because my freakin' "to do" list is so freakin' huge. 

 So, my 300th post. Not so exciting. But, I think it may have motivated me to resume regular posting.  Yes, I think I will!!

• regular blog posting

Putting it on the list is the first step.

My Kids Are Not Weird

The other night, after a seemingly extra stressful day (it probably wasn't extra stressful as much as my 4 or 5th stressful day in a row), I snuck out of the house on the pretense of needing to go to the store. Which I did. After I sat down in a restaurant and ate a meal. By myself. It was delicious!

Behind me was a table full of mothers.  Gabbing and having a great time. It was hard not to over hear their conversation.

"You know, Barb home schools her kids. Can you believe that?'
"That's crazy!  Why would someone do that to their children?"
"Her kids are going to be SO weird. They will miss out on all the social aspects of school!" 

I held my tongue. After all, I came for french fries with ranch peace and quiet. Not to get into a discussion on home schooling with strangers.

But, it did get me thinking.
When we first started talking about home schooling, our kids being "weird" was a concern.

I think we can all think of at least one home schooled kid that had pants up to his waist, pocket protectors and would rather debate politics than play on the play ground. But, I think, today, home schooling is different. At least, in our house it is.

My kids are smart but they are not nerds.  They would much (MUCH) rather play outside than discuss anything. They enjoy learning but I do not force a lesson out of every single thing we do.

As we sat in the dentist office yesterday, a mother came in with a young boy, probably 4-5, the age of my youngest.  The dentist my children see is a pediatric dentist and in the waiting room, there is a small playhouse for the kids to play in.
This mother proceeded to explain, to her 4-5 yr. old, how the house was built and some differences between a real house and a pretend house and how maybe this house could have been built in a different country and blah blah blah.
Me? I sat and read my magazine. My kids? They had their faces plastered against the windows, yelling "MOM!! HEY MOM!!!LOOK UP HERE!!! QUIT READING YOUR MAGAZINE AND LOOK AT ME!!!"

When we told family that we were going to home school, we were NOT met with support. Some were blatant about not supporting us, some kept their opinions to themselves but we could tell what they were thinking:

• Our kids would not get a proper education. ---The schooling program we use actually tests the children's progress twice a year, officially.  Both Jayce and Josie (the ones being home schooled at this point) scored far above the state's standards. Of course, I personally believe the standards for the state are low. But, my point is, my kids are learning. Just as much, if not more, than public school children.

• Our kids would not have a social life.---This one cracks me up. Seriously. At any given day, you could stop by my house and truthfully find at least one child that does not live here. Or, you would find one of my children missing as they are at some function that involves other people, which in fact would indicate a social life.  We sign our kids up for sports, they meet other kids. It is very rare that we go out in public and the kids NOT see someone they know. 

• Our kids would be weird.---Okay. You got me on this one. My kids might be a tad...different. But not in a "nerdy" sort of way. They are weird because Jeven wears shorts and tank tops in the winter. They are weird because Jarrett does not like cheese. (that IS weird in our house). They are weird because Josie talks and sings to herself, all. the. time. They are weird because Jayce thinks he's not weird. 

This post is not, by any means, a "I hate public school and anyone that puts their children into public school"post. Every parent does what's best for their children. In our case, it's half at home with me, half in public school.
And, we believe it's working, for us. For now.

My children are not that kind of weird.

George Spielberg

My son is on his way to becoming a world famous film maker.

This video is 4 min. long, which may be too long for some people to sit and watch but..I think it's hilarious and any time my son will spend all day doing something other than tormenting his siblings, I support that.

It literally took Jayce and his friend all day to film this. They wrote the entire thing themselves and aside from the cameo appearance of the friend's little sister,  they filmed it themselves too.  You will have to look past the 12 yr. old editing skills and appreciate the time and effort it took to make it.

And, in case you're wondering , it was NOT filmed at my house, so disregard the address displayed on the house!  You will not find us there!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Nothing better than a Kool-aid mustache!

Getting To Know You (Me)

I love these things. I love reading them and I especially love filling them out.

• Favorite time of day:  Late at night, when the rest of the house is asleep but I'm still awake. Maybe not the most exciting but I seem to always see the late hours of night. 
• Favorite season:  Spring!!  The flowers, the rain, the hint of better things to come. Love it! 
• Favorite month:  I guess I would have to say March. (see above)
• Favorite holiday:  Christmas!  There's the obvious reasons--the joy of giving, being with family, gifts, food--but also, it's the celebration of my Saviour's birth. Without it, where would I be?  (I know where I'd be going!)
• Favorite subject in school:  Biology!  I enjoyed cutting open the animals and seeing their little "parts".  In high school, there was also a good possibility an eraser would be thrown at Michael Glazier because he never. shut. up!
• Favorite channel:  We don't have cable or satellite. We have digital rabbit ears so the only channel we get good enough to watch an entire show is NBC. But, I wouldn't say it's my favorite. I guess Hulu would be my favorite. 
• Favorite color:  Red
• Favorite song:  This is hard.  I love the old time Bible hymns but lately, I haven't been able to sing or listen to them without crying my eyes out. (see the bullet point that mentions Michael Glazier).  My favorite hymn would be "Victory in Jesus".   Secularly,(spell check does not like this word but I'm using it anyways) I have many favorites.  Most songs I enjoy are tied with a memory. 
• Favorite movie: Love Actually, or Pride and Prejudice. Or Princess Bride. Or Top Gun. (how's that for a range!)
• Favorite celebrity:  Charlie Sheen. JUST KIDDING!!  I love Mike Rowe. And Jackie Chan. Tom Hanks has always been a favorite. I don't like many women celebrities. 
• Favorite type of music:  I like many different types. Depends on my mood. 
• Favorite t.v. show: Castle. And, right now, we are loving Raising Hope. So good! 
• Favorite thing to do:  Lie in bed and read a good book, cover to cover. 
• Favorite place to be:  This was hard as some other bloggers made sweet comments about their husbands here (threw up a little, I did). I will say I love being at the beach with my family on a day when it is not raining. Which doesn't happen very often. 
• Favorite hobby:  Is sleeping a hobby?  
• Favorite kind of animal:  One that doesn't stink. 
• Favorite place to live: In a house. Or mansion. Whatever. 
• Favorite place to vacation:  Anywhere where I don't have to cook.  
• Favorite restaurant:  I love Jung's Mongolian Grill. Yummy!  Or course, I'd be happy with McDonald's since it means I'm not cooking. 
• Favorite food:  Mashed potatoes and gravy
• Favorite thing to cook:  Were you not paying attention?  Go up 2 bullet points. 
• Favorite drink:  I wish I could say something healthy like "lemon water" or "green herbal tea" but I will be honest:  Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi
• Favorite chore:  :snort:  
• Favorite make-up: Any kind that covers my zits, wrinkles and makes me look flawlessly beautiful but also looks perfectly natural.  I cannot tell you what it's called because it does not exist.
• Favorite hair products:  I buy whatever I can get for free with coupons. My hair sucks no matter what. 
• Favorite lotion:  I like the old fashioned Jergens cherry almond scented lotion. 
• Favorite perfume:  Victoria's Secret "Good Day Sunshine"
• Favorite memory:  I have 4--Jayce, Josie, Jarrett and Jeven's birth stories.  
• Favorite blogger:  I can't pick just one:  Karey,  Kelle,  Susan. Just to name three. 
• Favorite thing to blog about:  Duh!  My kids and the silly, random stuff they do.
• Favorite book:  James Herriott:  All Creatures Great and Small
• Favorite verse:  John 3:16. My first verse I ever memorized as a child.
• Favorite thing to wear:  Jeans and a hoodie. 
• Favorite kind of day:  Any day where I feel I did my best as a mom, wife and friend. Those days are few and far between, sadly. 
• Favorite job:  Being a mom, wife and friend. 

Your turn!  Would love to hear all about you!