Referee

That seems to be my current occupation.

I have a younger brother. I can remember, being at home, alone with him, while our parents were at work. And hating him. Not just being annoyed or aggravated but hating him.

I remember how my mom would say "just ignore him" or "you're older, you should know better". I vowed that when I had kids, I would never say those things. I would always try to be fair and just.

Famous last words!

My kids have been fighting constantly. Over every. little. thing.

It's driving me bonkers!

I do try to be fair. I know how annoying Josie can be. I know she pushes Jayce's buttons on purpose. I know that Jeven loves to destroy Jarrett's art projects and Josie's Barbie house. I know Jarrett keeps Jayce awake at night signing. I know these things but for pete's sake does it mean world war 3 must break out?! Every day?

We punish. What we think is appropriately. We make them apologize. We separate them. We threatened for the fighters to have to sit together with their arms around each other. But, I don't want to force "love". I want them to love each other because they do, not as a punishment.

I know with 4 kids, a small house, and different temperments that fighting will happen. I think the thing that frustrates me the most is the viciousness and meanness behind it all.
And, when confronted, they never, ever, ever take responsibility for their part. It's always the other child's fault.

"Jayce made me kick him!"

"Josie asked for it!"

"He hit me first!"

I just don't know what to do.

Anyone?

For the record, I do not hate my brother. Not at all. I can remember falling to my knees and weeping when he boarded that plane for basic training. I cried at his wedding. I cried when his babies were born. I love him and miss him. (his family lives out of state). I would give anything to have those years back, when we did nothing but fight. We could have had so much fun.

I hate to think of my kids regretting their times spent fighting. But how do I explain that to small children?

Baby Lizards and Ear Aches

We have both here at the Boring Home.

I am the lucky one with the ear aches. Turns out, grown ups can get ear infections! Double ones in fact. Blah. Wouldn't recommend it.
Turns out, it hurts like a sonofa!

Out of my 4 children, we've had a total of 3 ear infections. Josie has had two and Jeven one.
Now, I can understand why babies cry all night when they get one! I got no sleep last night and anxiously awaited the local urgent care clinic to open. My mommy took me. And, no I didn't get a lollipop. Bummer. Bought myself some gummy bears at the pharmacy though!

Meanwhile, we've all been having fun watching our bearded dragon eggs hatch! It took about 8 hours average for one to hatch entirely. We've been watching the eggs regularly. We'd go out, check, and there would be nothing. Then 20 min. later, a head would be out. But then, it would take awhile for it to totally emerge.


They are so cute, no?


We even had one egg that had two babies! Twins!

Here is a picture of the twins, with my husband's working man's thumb for size reference.


So, we now have 13 baby bearded dragons. Anyone need Christmas gifts? We can put a bow on them!!

Irony

I took a picture of Josie doing her handwriting lesson today:



Notice the name of the book?



Originally, she started throwing a fit because she didn't want to do handwriting. Then, when I told her it was illegal to cry while doing handwriting because it's "Handwriting Without Tears", she cried harder. She told me "no one will ever know if I cry!".
So, I took a picture. To send to the proper authorities.

Award!

Wow!! Thanks Green Eyed Momster! I love these things!! I love reading them and filling them out myself.



The rules of this award are as follows:
~Answer the questions below using only one word (it's harder than it seems!)
~Thank the blogger who gave it to you (See above)
~Pass it on to 6 of your favorite bloggers (See below)

So, on with the questions:



1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Your hair? Laughable
3. Your mother? Friend
4. Your father? Supportive
5. Your favorite food? Potatoes
6. Your dream last night? Scary
7. Your favorite drink? Soda
8. Your dream/goal? Godly
9. What room are you in? Bedroom
10. Your hobby? Stitchery
11. Your fear? Death
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Together
13. Where were you last night? Church
14. Something you aren't? Skinny!
15. Muffins? Orange
16. Wish list item? Money
17. Where did you grow up? Oregon
18. Last thing you did? Cooked
19. What are you wearing? Jeans
20. Your TV? On
21. Your pets? Scaly
22. Your friends? Priceless
23. Your life? Wonderful
24. Your mood? Satisfied
25. Missing someone? Brother
26. Vehicle? Caravan
27. Something you're not wearing? Socks
28. Your favorite store? Ross
29. Your favorite color? Red
30. When was the last time you laughed? Minutes
31. Last time you cried? Wednesday
32. Your best friend? Husband
33. One place that I go over and over? Walmart ) :
34. One person who emails me regularly? Jennifer
35. Favorite place to eat? Roadhouse

As far as for the others I'd like to pass to:

• Tamara
• Stephanie
• Alexa
• Rachael
• Daisy
• Sabrina
  

My Score: F-

Update:
Thanks to those of you that left uplifting and supportive comments. Long and short of it: I was having a crappy day! Shortly after I posted this, I told the kids to put the school books away, put in a movie, play with your Barbies, do whatever you want to be happy! After all, that's one of the things I was looking forward to with home schooling--me being in control of how my kids spend the day.
As far as the other things, I didn't win the lottery or lose those pounds but.... life is good....





Right now, if I was to be graded in life, that's what my score would be.

The kids have been fighting constantly. With each other and with me as well.
Homeschooling was going great up until the last couple days. I am finding myself resenting the time that it takes. It's hard not to think about what I could be doing if my children were at public school for 6 hours of the day. Yes, I still feel like we made the right decision but when your 5th grader is in tears because he needs help with his History but you're too busy with the 1st grader and toddlers, who are screaming and hitting each other AGAIN, it's hard not be frustrated.

I hate how I look. I hate that my hair is so thin. And my face is so fat. And the rest of me too. I hate that I can't diet for a week and have it all melt off, I hate that it has to be so hard! I think back to when I was in high school and thought my body was horrible. Now? Now, I would trade in a heart beat.

I am tired of never having any money. It's a constant battle of picking and choosing which bills to pay, how much can we get by with as far as grocery money.
My husband works extremely hard and hates his job. I wish I could be more supportive and encourage him to go ahead and quit and find something else. But these days, we're lucky he has a job to hate.

All these things are making me feel like a failure. And,the troubling part is, that I could do things, small things to change. But I don't do them! And I'm not sure why.

I can't end this post on such a negative.
So, some positive:

• with all his struggles, Jayce scored a 91% on his Unit History Assessment!
• Josie got baptized on Sunday!
• Jarrett's preschool teacher told me she loves having him in her class! I suspect she says that to all the parents, but right now, I'll take it.

Well, that's it for now. I'm off to see if I can score extra credit and bring my F- up to at least a C.

He's a Frugal Shopper, What Can I Say?

There was a commotion in our house tonight. Not unlike any other night.
This one was between Jarrett and Jeven. And it took place at the garbage can.
Jeven was attempting to throw something in the trash and Jarrett was not impressed with his brother's housekeeping skills.

"NO!! Jeven, that's mine!!"

"Jarrett, I throw it away."

"NO! It's mine! It's my paper!"

"I throw it away!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!!"

This last statement said so loud and high pitched that I think only our neighbor's dog truly heard it.
I decided it was time to interfere. (I'd like to say that I'm such an awesome parent that I let my kids handle their own disputes. It teaches them confrontation skills and listening techniques and so on but truly? I just didn't want to get my lazy bum off the couch!)

"What's going on? Jeven? What do you have? Let me see"

I unfold...drum roll please....

Pizza Hut coupons. A whole page.

Coupons. That is what had my 4 year old son in such a tizzy. And I say tizzy because I think it fits well here.

When asked why he was holding these coupons so dear, he said he likes to look at the pictures of pizza. And next time we go to the pizza place, he has money to buy the pizza. And sure enough, he opened his hand and he did have money! Two whole quarters!

I love being these kids' mom! Makes getting off the couch totally worth it.

Where Are My Followers?

Has anyone had their followers disappear?

I worked hard for my measly amount of followers and now they are gone!

They don't show up on my dashboard or on my blog page.

Come back,come back wherever you are!!