Lesson Learned (With a Hefty Price)

A while ago, I thought I'd be a cool mom and take all my children to the mall, more specifically to Juicy Berry, which is a self serve frozen yogurt cafe. 

All different kinds of tasty frozen yogurts, all different toppings. The combinations are endless!!

But, I only had $20.  Plenty of money to get us all a treat, no?

I forgot I had a 13 year old garbage disposal boy with us.

As I kept Jarrett and Jeven from sampling every single flavor and thus dispensing frozen yogurt onto the floor, and kept an eye on Josie, making sure she didn't get Latte flavored (knowing she'd hate it and most likely cry the whole entire time and knowing I'd probably give in and give her mine then I'd be out of a treat and that would just suck), I totally didn't keep an eye on the oldest.


I have been to this cafe previously and the most I ever spent was $7.


That day?

Take out the girls, add in a 13 yr. old boy, add about 3 times the toppings. 

  $17.65

We sat at that cafe a REALLY long time as Jayce was eating every single bite of that yogurt. I didn't  care how frozen his brain was. 

I'd better take note of these little lessons as I have 2 more boys that will be teenagers before I know it!! Good thing Juicy Berry has a punch card. ( :

Show Boatin'

This summer has been more on the sucky side than the sunny side. But, such is life.

We are just cruisin' along, trying to enjoy some fun, when we can.

My oldest left for a week, to camp. The house is quiet without him but yet....there is more food for the rest of us. ( :

Here are a few pictures because my kids ARE cute and you NEED to see them!

Jarrett catching some air on the trampoline!

Luther, 7 months.

Josie, doing the trampoline/sprinkler combo the only way she knows how. Diva style. 

We were lucky enough today, to go out on my dad's boat!  It was wonderful!  I forget how much I love to be on the water. My husband took a wonderful picture of me doing a canon ball off the boat but..you will not see it here! 

Josie enjoying the ride.

Jeven. Notice the purple marker on his face?  ( :

Jarrett, catching some more air, as he jumps off the boat.

I love this picture! That's my dad, helping Josie drive the boat.  Her longs are so long! She is growing up so fast!

Here's to hoping the rest of our summer is sunny and not sucky!

Bringing Home the Bacon (Bits)

I never planned on being a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) . I always planned on having kids but I was also going to have a career. 

When I was in Jr. High, I was going to study Marine Biology and work at Sea World.
But, then I grew up (a tad) and realized I would not enjoy being on a deserted island somewhere studying the mating habits of nudibranchs. (which have both male and female reproductive parts but cannot fertilize themselves. You're welcome. )

So, I decided I would become a science teacher and was taking schooling for that purpose. Then, I met a boy and we fell in love and got pregnant. And, suddenly, all I wanted to do was stay home. And have more babies.  Which I have done and have been extremely happy. And, honestly, I have NO regrets about it. None.

I cannot tell you how many times I have been in a social setting, talking, getting to know new people, and I will be asked "What do you do? For work?"  and I will respond "Oh, I don't work. I stay home with the kids."

I have gotten many different responses. I either get "Oh. How nice. I wish I could afford to stay home." ( Yeah. I'm extra wealthy that way.) Or, I get a slight head nod and never see the person again because they are afraid my boringness is contagious. (Wait until they find out I homeschool as well!) 

Or, I get my least favorite response:  "Honey, that is WORK!! That is the hardest job EVER!  I bet you are BUSY!! I don't know HOW you do it!".  (Yup.Busy, busy, busy, that's me!!) And, I am. That's not a lie. And, while I appreciate the acknowledgement that my being home with my kids, raising them, is a very hard,thankless job, I don't think it's the hardest job "ever". 

I get to be with my kids!  I get to set my own hours, I'm my own boss!!

Does this mean that it's all rainbows and glitter, every day? Of course not!! If you know me at all, you know my rainbow is slightly disfigured and my glitter consists of shredded up toilet paper.

I have often looked at my friends/family that are Work Outside Of The Home Moms and wondered how do they do it?  How does one balance work and taking care of the home and making sure the kids get enough attention and how do they find time for their spouse? 

It certainly depends on the spouse.  Is the spouse willing to do some housework? Cook dinner?  Will the spouse recognize he is needed to pitch in, even after he himself has worked all day? 

It is a lifestyle that has never appealed to myself or my husband. My husband is not one to do housework or cook.  Or carpool.  And, it's worked for us for 14 years. For the most part, because certainly there are days I wished he was one to do more housework and such.

Now, having said all that....do you know how much kids cost? A lot. Do you know how much a mortgage is?   A lot.  Do you know how horrible it is to be poor?  Very. 

Money, or the lack of, is a huge source of stress. For me. For my husband. For our marriage.  We are almost 40 and have nothing saved. Nothing for an emergency.  Not very smart!! 

We decided that I would look for a job. But, not just any job. A job that I could work  part-time and that I would enjoy. A job that would work with our schedule, allowing at least one of us to be home, most of the time, with the kids. Perhaps allowing Jayce to babysit and earn some money of his own (you know, to help purchase the expensive shoes he always seems to "need").

Like I said, I have not "worked" for quite some time. There's not much to put on a resume. Or job application. But, nonetheless, I have been filling them out for 6 months. And have not received a single response. None. Not even from fast food restaurants. 

Until I happened to mention, while volunteering at the assisted living home a mile from my house, that I was looking for part-time work to just the right person.

Soon, I was in a job interview!  And, soon, I was being told that no shift existed for the hours I wanted to work.  Soon, I was telling myself "At least you got an interview this time!".  Soon, I was receiving a call saying they invented a shift just for me!  Soon, I was working!!! 

I have a job!! 

We are still in a state of adjustment here at chez BoringHomer.  But, I think once I am done training and things are a little more predictable, it will be great!!!

My "normal" hours are 4pm-8pm, 3 or 4 days a week. Very part time. Jayce stays with the kids until Judd gets home, approx. 2 hours, and I'm home before bedtime.

And? One of the best parts:  I love it! I love the job, I love being out of the house, I love coming home, I love making new friends.

I won't go into details of what exactly I do, at work. I will just say it involves old people that are sometimes naked.  I know, you are jealous.

Like I said, it's not all perfect rainbows and glitter. This is a HUGE life change for us and first and foremost, my family will always come first.  But, I am feeling less stress knowing that I am helping bring home the bacon (or at least some bacon bits, because the amount of hours I work, times the pay, does not equal alot of bacon). 

It may not be a huge deal to all of you that have been working or, never plan to work , but it is a huge deal for us. 

And, worst case scenario, I will have GREAT stories to tell!

Free "Medical" Advice

Do not, ever, do the following:

• scratch your back, mindlessly, with the writing end of a ball point pen 
• later, you might,while taking a peek at your new haircut, notice horrendous blue "veins" running up and down your upper back. 
• you might scream out "Holy Crap! What is wrong with me?  I have a disease. Kids?  Come here! Look at this!!  Is it horrible?  I must google this!!!" or something to that affect. 
• after about 20 min. of looking online and looking in the mirror again you might remember the back scratcher pen.
• you will feel like an idiot.

Reposting of an Oldie But (In My Humble Opinion) Goodie

 

I Can Read A Book,Make A Sandwich and Sew A Bear.   

 All in the shower.

Can't you?

My kids take a shower or bath at least once a week every other day.  In the summer time, it's more like daily.

They are familiar with the concept.

However, when it comes to MY shower/bath time, I am always amazed at what exactly they think I am doing in there.

It never fails, I get a knock on the door.
"Yes?"
"mumblemumblemumble"
"What?"
"googleygoogleygoogleguck"
"WHAT?"
"blahblahblahblah"
"I can't hear you!  Come in here and tell me!"  By this time, I'm irritated and certain this must be the emergency with which I told them was the only reason they could interrupt my alone time 10 minute shower.

Enter mumbler:  "Can you read me my book?"

"Ummm.....Not right now?  I have shampoo on my hair!"

OR:  "I'm hungry, can I have a sandwich?"
"Yes, only if you want your bread extremely soggy."

OR:  "Princess Bear has a hole in her!!  Can you fix it?"
"I'm afraid of what I would poke if I had a needle in here."


My favorite actually occurred about 8 years ago, when Jayce was about 3 years old.  He was a very imaginative child and LOVED Woody and Buzz.
For some reason, we had his car seat in the living room.
I went to take my shower, putting on Toy Story for about the 3rd time that day.

This was "Pre-JosieJarrettJeven days" so my shower time was a lot less interrupted.  However, I'm about 5 min. into my shower when I hear all this banging around.
"Thump. Thump. Thumpthumpthump"

"What in the  world??"

Pretty soon, I hear Jayce "Mom?"
"Yes, dear child?" Again, it was pre-JosieJarrettJeven days so I had waaayyy more patience back then.
"I'm stuck."

I peek around the curtain to find Jayce with his car seat strapped to his back.

"What happened?"
"I was in my rocket ship, getting ready for blast off. I buckled myself in but now I can't undo it!"

Did I rush right out of the shower and help the poor boy?

Of course not!!  I still had 5 minutes left of my shower!!  And, half of my sandwich left.

Family Fun Day!

Summer is in full swing here!  The weather has (finally!) warmed up and the kids are nice and tan.

My husband had his one and only Saturday off for the summer (probably. seriously.) this past weekend. And, seeing as we are poor, we needed to do something close to home and as cheap as possible.

We decided to go for a drive and ended up at Salt Creek Falls.  While the kids were super stoked at first, they soon got bored and said "What next?"
But, we had fun hiking the trails and being outside.

Jayce, Josie, Jeven and Jarrett

Family!

Luther did not take to the hiking as much as the rest of us.

Jeven, in dirt.

Josie makes dirt look good!

Jarrett and his tree! 

I'm happy to report (cough cough, Karey) no serious injuries were inflicted on anyone. Just bug bites and a few grey hairs pulled.

Rolling Along

Oh how I've wanted to post. Really, I have!!  But, trying to finish up school, starting baseball and just "life as we know it" kept me from posting anything substantial .

I told myself that when school was over, I'd do a nice long post. All about feelings and funnies and family. But, it seems like school wasn't even over for a day and we were OFF!

Off to playdates. Off to the library. Off to here. Off to there. 

On one hand, I'm counting my lucky stars that my kids will be happy with playdates, libraries and random trips to the playground. They won't need fancy vacations (can't afford 'em!) and elaborate projects.

On the other hand, I want to hold up my other hand and say "Stop! Let me catch my breath!"

But,that's not what summer is for!  

So, I will roll with it and try  to enjoy it!

Luther, waiting as patiently as possible for Josie to share. (as always, ignore clutter in background.)

Baseball team and ice cream! 

What does one do when one has too many animals/children? Why, one gets more, of course! Meet Tobias. He is MINE. 

Here's  to a rockin' and rollin' summer!