Off The Fence and Most Likely, Off My Rocker

Do you remember THIS POST?  Where I thought perhaps we were ready for another dog? 

Yeah. Well.

"What's that you say? I'm coming to live with you? Yay!!"

This is Luther. He has been with us for 2 wks. now. He is a Bullmastiff. He will be huge, I'm sure.

Yeah. Well.

Sleeping, on the couch. Just this once, I swear!! 

He is very sweet.

And he's also a puppy. Did you know puppies chew? On EVERYTHING?  Did you know puppies don't sleep through the night?

Yeah. Well.

Jeven and Luther, the day we got him. When Luther was 6 wks old.

It's been alot of work. But, it's been oh so much fun! I will only confess this here, on this very private blog, that I love this dog.

I have become one of "those" people. That call themselves "mama" when talking to their dog. I make "smooching" noises. I baby talk.

I have become someone I don't recognize.

Yeah. Well.

I don't care!!

Jeven and Luther, now 8 wks. old. I'm a tad frightened how fast this "puppy" is growing. 

Keeping It Real.

Most times, when I post a picture here or on facebook, before clicking the "post" button, I scrutinize the picture very carefully.

What's in the background?
Can you see the dingy part on our walls? 
Does it show how messy my house is?
Am I in the background, asleep, with my mouth open?

All these things are very possible to see in the pictures I post.

After taking this photo, I decided to post it here, even though it indeed shows just how we live. Not every day. But, often. Because I have 4 children. And, I'm not Martha Stewart.

1:  That is a french fry because I did not prepare a nutritious, home-cooked meal for my 5 yr. old. And, yes, he is holding it above his head because he is the "French Fry Liberty". Also, if you would note that he is wearing shorts (always) and his t-shirt is at least one size too small. Also usual for this child.

2:  That is a pile of laundry he is standing on. Clean laundry I will add. And, yes, it has spread to cover most of the couch as I had not folded it yet. Yet.  I did do it later. I swear.

3:  Those are our living room curtains. And, no matter how many times a day I fix them, they always end up cattywampus and sloppy looking. And, the curtain rod itself has been know to fall down because of the extra weight of a 50lb child hanging off of them. (Hint:  he is included in the picture)

4:  That is the broom that sat there for most of the day. At one point, I attempted to use it to sweep (well, duh!) up the endless supply of crumbs and whatnots that end up scattered here and there and everywhere. I set it there to go do some mindless chore that I can't even remember,(I'm going out on a limb and say I was taking clothes out of the dryer) and forgot about it. So, it sat there, unused, for a big portion of the day.

5:  This is what the picture doesn't show. The other stuff strung throughout the house. The toys, shoes and other odds and ends. Played with then dropped. Forgotten until dinner time, when cleaning up is the price you pay to be fed.
It also doesn't show the puzzle my 7 year old put together all by himself and left sitting on the floor because of how he likes to look at them. And, I promised  NOT to put it away because it is quite the accomplishment.
It doesn't show the feelings I get when I look at it all. I won't get all mushy and say something like "I love my family and all the things they do". Because that's not keeping it real. There are days, more often than not, that I get frustrated with the mess and chaos. But, honestly, I do, (cross my heart) sometimes think that someday, someday in the not so distant future, all these things will be gone. The toys, the piles of laundry, the muddy footprints. And, I think, while there will be days that I will enjoy the neatness and the solitude, I will also miss the time when "French Fry Liberty" was the highlight of my day.

Mother of the Year Award

If there was such a thing, I should get it. Totally, you guys.

Because only a Mother of the Year (MOTY) would be totally patient and kind while cleaning up vomit for the upteenth time.

Only a MOTY would be shrugging her shoulders and saying "It's all good" when, although nobody had vomited for at least 12 hours, child number 3 vomits exactly 2 hours before the planned drop off time to Papa and Nana's, thus ruining the plans MOTY and FOTY (Father of the Year. Not to be confused with FATTY, which is self explanatory) had made for an over night date and a day away.

Only a MOTY would whisper "It's ok" to said child, as he is crying, knowing he ruined the plans his mother and father had made, and being so sad that he doesn't get to be spoiled rotten by said Papa and Nana. And Auntie B. When in reality, MOTY wants to sit on the floor, and scream and pout and throw a TTOTY (Temper Tantrum of the Year).

Such is life of a MOTY.. Kids get sick. Grown-ups get sick. Plans get ruined. People get disappointed.

But, I honestly do hope my kids remember how I held them, wiped their vomit, cleaned their faces and loved on them, even when life didn't go the way anyone had hoped for.

See What 50 Cents Can Getcha?

Last night, we had a birthday party for Jarrett, who turned 7.

Just a get together at the local pizza place, where the kids can ride an old fashioned carousel and parents can visit.

We opened presents, had cake, the usual birthday festivities.

I gave all the kids $2 in quarters to play the various video games and buy cheap toys from the little gumball-type machines. ( You know, spend $2 on toys that are worth approx. 10 cents. Totally logical.)

Along with my oldest, Jayce, 13, was my nephew, 16 and Jayce's best friend, also 16.
 They were sitting cool, at their own table. Not paying much attention to either the parents or the little kids. Just hangin'. Like teen age boys do.

Until.

Jeven was the first to purchase one.

Once the "Big" boys saw it, they were NOT shy about asking me for quarters.

5 min. later, this is what their 50 cents got them.

Oh boys, if ONLY puberty were that easy. 

Can Posting Random Pictures Count As A "Catch-up Post"?

If you answered "No, BoringStayatHomer, that would totally suck! We know you've been doing awesome, important things with your free time. And, we've waited patiently for every last detail.", then you are going to be disappointed.

Random pictures it is.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. (and, if you are just learning this fact, you're in deep trouble). I am not one of those wives that expects a gift on Valentine's Day. Seriously. Nor, do I get my husband something. In the 15 yrs. we've been married, I think we've celebrated,with gifts, V. Day maybe three times. We just aren't "into" it. Now, I do expect a nice gift (or at least, effort) at my birthday and our anniversary. Those days are exclusively ours, where as V. Day is the whole world's.
But, the kids get excited and we do buy them one small box of chocolates and try to make the day somewhat special.
I made these for dessert:

The kids thought I was a genius and a gourmet chef. So, win-win!! 

My two youngest boys go to public school (my other two stay home and do school with me) so they had Valentine's Day parties in their classrooms. Between the two, they needed 50 valentines!!  They got store bought, cheap ones.
But, for my class, the one I teach, at church, we made these:

Again, I was a genius and super crafter, in my kids' eyes.


The other day, while trying to rent "The Smurfs" at a Redbox, I noticed this movie in the little advertisement thingy on the side:

2-Headed Shark Attack. 1 body, 2 heads, 6,000 teeth!

Why, oh WHY!?! haven't I heard about this movie!?! It obviously was so epically awesome to go straight to Redbox and skip the theaters entirely. Carmen Electra. Brooke Hogan. That alone is worth $1.20.
Alas, the kids had their hearts set on the little blue people.

That's it. That's what I've been up to. Strawberries, elephants and two-headed sharks. You know, normal stuff.

James

We are without internet these days. Our piece of crap lovely modem took an early retirement. So, I came to the library to do a quick post.

Lots going on. Too much of it's uninteresting. Except for this:

This is my brand new nephew!

James was born 10 weeks early and is very tiny, 3lbs 9oz.
He is doing awesome, though (takes after Auntie) and mom is recovering from emergency C-section quite well.

If you could keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers, I would appreciate it.

Hope to have modem replaced and be back online soon.
In the meantime, please don't take it personal that I haven't commented on blogs.

I've used up 15 min. of my one hour internet time, just to post this, and check email. I should spend the rest of the time letting kids fill in their school things.

Hey, blog post trumps school and education every time. Am I right?

On the Fence Covered in Dog Hair

I see I lost a follower. I would like to say "it doesn't matter" but for some reason it does. Why? I have no idea. I spent a few minutes trying to figure out who it was and finally told myself to move on, already. Criminy sakes, I'm not in Junior High anymore! But, obviously, it's still bothering me as it's the first thing I mention in my first blog post of 2012.

2012. What will you bring us this year? I don't see any flying cars or jet packs nor are people being beamed up to various places. Interesting how 25 years ago, the year 2012 seemed a lot more exciting! Of course, if you are one of the whackos that believes the year will end in December, then that's probably enough excitement for you .

Christmas here was good!  We got all our get togethers done between Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Which was awesome! We usually have a couple more after Christmas day, but not this year. We sat around and played with our new toys and ate junk, the day after Christmas. Which was just what we needed.

New Year's isn't very exciting here but we did let the kids stay up until just after midnight.  They thought that was a big treat. And, mom and dad enjoyed them sleeping in the next day.

With New Years comes resolutions. Blah. Hate that word. But, of course, it's hard to not stop and think about some changes that I would like to see in my life. So, I do have a few things I'm working on. But, making resolutions just to make myself feel bad when I don't keep them, is not my thing.

Some time ago, we lost our only dog, Daisy.  At the time, we were all very sad, but after awhile, all the things that bugged me about having a dog?  I enjoyed not having to deal with them. But, it has been almost 2 years and my husband is ready for another dog. And...I'm on the fence. The kids would REALLY love a dog.  And, kids need a dog, right? To play with. To protect them. It's part of growing up, in my opinion.
But, I hate dog hair. And dog slobber. And dog poop.

When my husband's friend needed a dog sitter for their TWO dogs, I volunteered. Yup. VOLUNTEERED. My house. And, not only are there two of them, one is a rottweiler and the other is a pit bull. I know. (Please, don't lecture me in the comments. I know how horrible it sounds. But, I swear to all things holy, if I get one more person's opinion about anything that is none of their business, I will lose it. Oh, and I have another blog post in the works about opinions but I'm just a tad heated up about it right now so it probably wouldn't make much sense so we will just go back to talking about dog hair, m'kay?)
But, the reality of it is, they are the sweetest dogs. And, so well behaved. However, they do have hair. Lots of it. And, one of them is all kinds of  large:

168lb Bo with my niece, Brandi. I don't know how much she weighs. But, she's skinny. I hate love her anyway, tho.

We are looking at the next 10 days as a trial run of how a dog would fit back into our family. So far, the kids are an unified "Heck, yes!!" and Dad too. Mom, (me) is kinda coming off the fence. All the hair, people!! Literally, at one point Saturday, I was following around this dog, with a broom. But, there is just something about an animal loving you unconditionally and doesn't talk back or demand to wear shorts no matter that it is 30 degrees outside and throws a fit 3 min. before the school bus is due and wins the battle because I'm too exhausted to fight anymore. There's just something about a dog.

So, we will re-evaluate after this trial run and in the spring, when puppies are due. We do have a certain breed in mind and we would only get one dog. And...it won't weigh 168lbs. Hopefully. But, I bet it will have hair. Sigh....