Grumpy

Sometimes I bloghop. I just jump from one blog, to another, to another, to another. Tonight I have been skipping around the internet, reading all kinds of blogs that are new to me and let me tell you something. I am discouraged. Reading about how other moms have their acts together makes me grumpy. I know, people only show you the parts of them that they want you to see. It would be easy to come across as "perfect" on the internet. Just so you don't somehow come to the conclusion that I in any way have my act together, let me share some of today's failings.

My kitchen floor is disgusting. I don't remember the last time I mopped it. We need a little vacuum cleaner type dog.

Today I made a noble attempt to keep the two little boys from playing computer, playing Nintendo, and watching TV. We tired reading more books and playing legos. They were so desperate, they sat in front of the screensaver for at least ten minutes.

I caved by noon and let one watch Pingu over and over, and let the other save the galaxy from the Rebellion.

Oooh, here's a good one. I got in a "heated discussion" with my four year old today and ended up sounding a whole lot like a four year old myself. Yes, I let him drag me down to his level. I believe the words "Nuh-Uh!" escaped my lips. Someone please remind me, I'm the grown up here.

By the time my poor hubby got home from work, I was is a foul mood and greeted him with a scowl. No, supper was not waiting for him.

After reading all the "happy" blogs, I am now sitting here, typing out all my angst while I enjoy my fourth piece of chocolate cake today.

I think what I really need to do is just go to bed and hope I wake up on the correct side of it tomorrow.

Triple Decker

In the quest for making more space in our little *less than 900 square feet* house, we have started getting creative. The boys are now sleeping in their very own mini skyscraper. Tyler and Caedmon have been sleeping in it for a few years now, but Jack is now joining them.....kind of, he just ends up laying all over the floor no matter where he starts out. The top bunk mess is a ten year old's interpretation of "go make your bed". He really puts a lot of effort into his chores. No, Jack doesn't really sleep on that little mattress while it's under the other beds, we pull it out for him. Eventually it will be a real life trundle, but we just exhausted this month's home improvement energy ration. Maybe by the time he is seven.....

Laundry Status 11/28

I am swamped. Laundry got put on the back burner last week and I am paying the price today. Time to fire up the machines and knock this out or there will be nothing to wear.

Bleh, do I have to?

Trees and Pies and stuff

One more Thanksgiving post and then I will move on, I swear.

Yesterday was the final day of our family festivities. The four from the north didn't have to hit the road until late evening, so we got to enjoy one more meal together. Dad and Mom's dinner table was maxed out with eleven of us squeezed around it and four more sitting at the counter. Mom went all out and fed us another meal of turkey and fixings, including another round of sweet potatoes that I wasn't expecting. Let me pause for a moment of silence in honor of the official "dish of the year".

........

She even made three pies, one of them being pecan. Once again, we over ate. It was fabulous. Don't worry, I cracked the whip this morning and punished myself with an extra speedy run on the treadmill. I'm hoping that I sweated off at least one of the pieces of pecan pie.

Now, just because we wait until December to put up our own decorations for Christmas, doesn't mean we can't participate in the cutting down of a tree that will go in someone else's house. We tagged along to the annual Christmas tree chopping down event. This year we drove quite far to a quaint little tree farm with and amazing selection. It too two vans to get us over there, but once we arrived, we all piled in our 12 passenger van. Sixteen people in twelve seats. It looked something like this and this:

It was a bit muddy, as it had been raining most of the day. We only got stuck once, but Nate rocked the Beast right out of there, nothing like going off-roading in an overloaded 12 passenger van. There were a lot of opinions on tree type, shape, price, height, but Dad finally made the big decision and chose a beauty. Some people missed the tree selection process because they were playing hide-and-seek amongst the firs. It was a perfect ending to a really fun week. And surprisingly, we didn't accidentally leave anyone at the tree farm. At least I don't think we did.....

A weekend of porking out, and little bit of sentimentality.

I'm taking a break from eating to write.

We don't just do a Thanksgiving day feast, we pretty much eat non-stop all weekend, and it has been great. I must say though, the food of the year, at least for me, was Mom's sweet potatoes. She doesn't do the traditional marshmallow thing, she has some sort of a mystery recipe that is just heavenly, or is it just sinful? I guess it depends on how much of it I eat. I'm not exactly sure what's in it, she has kind of a secret recipe thing going on, and I know she won't tell me, I have been known to leak these things to the public. Sorry mom. But I'm sure there is a lot of butter involved, and probably a lot of brown sugar. And in my book, that's all you really need. Yum. I won't tell you how much of it I ate, but it was A LOT, and I mean A LOT. Just ask my Dad, he was sitting right by me, my partner in crime.

The ladies of the family (me, Gemma, my mom, two sisters, and my lovely sister-in-law) did a little bit of shopping today. No, not Christmas shopping, just shopping for us. We're not really into the holiday-giving-spirit yet, still just thinking of ourselves. Today it was all about the shoes. We saw so many shoes I can't even begin to communicate the joy I was feeling. If you don't know me very well, know this: I........LOVE..........SHOES. There was one particular pair that I tired on that is still haunting me. They were green slides with the pointiest toe that I have ever seen. They were weapons. I'm feeling a little bit sad that I didn't buy them. Maybe I will meet them again tonight in my dreams. We did make some great purchases. We are very economical shoppers. Lots of money was saved.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I am so thankful for my family, they are amazing. Growing up as the oldest of three brothers and two sisters, I have been able to observe as they all become adults. Holly has become such a beautiful woman, who is a mentor to so many young women. And she hasn't had a giggle fit at the dinner table for a long, long time. I have watched Shane go from daredevil-oldest brother to a husband and teacher. It seems like just yesterday that Gabe was sitting at the table, refusing to eat his peas, and now he is a college freshman doing his own laundry. Luke was the kid who never stopped smiling, he followed his older brothers around, ready to do whatever stunt they put him up to. Now he's on the verge of getting his driver's license. Little sister Mariah was born when I was sixteen years old. I remember pushing her stroller through the mall. She's almost a teenager herself now, with great new sunglasses I might add. Hanging out with my family this weekend has been almost surreal. I am hanging on to every moment, savoring it. As we all cram around the table for another meal together, or a game of peanuts, I look at each face and feel so much love for each one. Mom and Dad, thank you for going against the flow and having a big family. I cannot imagine life without a single one of my siblings. I am thankful for you all.

Christmas Lights

I know it's still Thanksgiving week, and I'm not usually one to jump ahead. It is an ordinance in our household that thou shalt not put up any Christmas decorations until December 1st. I hate all the brouhaha, and how Christmas decorations are out on the shelves of the stores as soon as they pull off the Halloween candy. Poor Thanksgiving gets overlooked. But this IS a good week to put up the Christmas lights outside.

Christmas lights have always been an interesting topic of discussion at our house. There are various opinions on what would look just right. Sometimes the words "tacky" and "gaudy" are thrown around. You see, Nate has a thing for blue lights, and I lean towards white. Since we have lived here, we have had beautiful white icicle lights wrapping around three sides of our house. Obviously not the back, who sees that anyway? Nate has lovingly, without complaining, and with a cheerful heart, climbed up on the roof every year to bejewel our house. Ok, that is an outright lie. He climbs up the ladder, usually grumbling and scowling. You see, he likes the lights to be perfect. He buys the little clips and makes sure that they are all evenly spaced. He usually spends a couple hours up there, freezing off his fingers. And without fail, every single year, a section of the lights doesn't light. Poor Nate.

Of course our family loves to take a drive, sometime in December, to look at all the displays and voice our widely varying opinions on what is classy, tacky, and just plain fun. Surprisingly, our little town has lot of all three. While browsing around on the glorious internet, Nate stumbled across this. You are definitely going to want to watch that. The whole thing. I don't know if you will have to save the file or what, just make it happen. The rest of this paragraph will not make sense to you if you don't. Now if your Christmas lights display experience is enhanced by listening to a rock opera, yay for you. What a combo! Ok, I will come clean, I downloaded some of their songs. Shhh, don't tell anyone. But we have to draw the line somewhere, there will be no synchronization at our house. It's just going to be some plain old white icicle lights, probably with some sections burnt out, much to my husband's dismay. Don't come driving by until December 1st, they won't be plugged in.

In the meantime enjoy your turkey, your family, and be thankful that 80's Hair bands are extinct....almost.

Today's Lullaby

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
but I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Phases

I'm sitting here at the computer, at ten-ish pm, eating kettle corn and drinking hot cocoa. Kettle corn was a phase Nate and I went through a few years ago. We bought all the different brands to try to figure out which kind we liked best. Jolly Time Kettlemania in case you are dying to know. Sharing a bowl of kettle corn was an evening ritual. But it wasn't always kettle corn.

For awhile it was David Letterman. We watched David Letterman every night before bed. We particularly enjoyed the top ten list, and "Is this Anything?". There was the Yatzee era. That was a fun one, back when we were super poor and all alone in the Great White North. We would put little Tyler to bed, shut off the tv, and roll the dice. I think we also played a little bit of Phase Ten in there too. A couple of years ago was the Star Wars Galaxies phase. I don't like to admit that I have a past tainted by gaming, but I could MMORPG with the best of them. Ok, maybe not the best of them, but I pulled some pretty late nights. It was fun to share one of Nate's interests with him. In a weird(nerdy) kind of way, it was bonding.

One summer, we would put the kids to bed and take tall glasses of ice water out on to the back deck. We would sit there chatting, staring at the stars. Nate would point out constellations, and I would nod and pretend that I could see them. Another year, we made coffee shakes in the blender before bed, never just a small glass, always the biggest cup we could find.

But we are back to the kettle corn, thanks to the Boy Scouts, who are fund raising this month. We purchased a big box and are quickly depleting it. This time we are eating it side by side, on separate computers. One of us with headphones on, winning a virtual WWII, the other browsing blogs and message boards.

I wonder what the next phase will be...

Bliss

I have three words for you:








Girl.......Scout.......Cookies

Eavesdropping

I love watching kids interact with each other. Listening in while a group of preschoolers plays is one of the most delightful things in this world, that is as long as there is no biting or pinching or hitting involved. Here are some random bits I overheard yesterday as two four year olds, a three year old, and a two year old played in the next room.

"Thanks buddy."

"Let's play two-player."

"I know a GREAT idea!"

"I can do it, I'm brave."

"Oh my goodness!"

"No, the penguin is not a bad guy, he's a good guy. He cares about people."

Pumpkin Pics as Promised

Finally got my film developed, so I can share the kids' pumpkin masterpieces.





Aw heck, while I'm at it, I might as well put some costume pics up too.




I'm dreaming of mini Snickers bars. *sniffle*

Laundry Status 11/15, a special treat

Today, a Laundry Pile first. Pictures of the actual, real-life place where I do my laundry everyday. I was messing around with hubby's camera phone, and these are the exciting images I wanted to share. (in my best Kip voice) "Yes, I love technology."

A last minute day

Tomorrow it's supposed to snow. Do you think we have our winter gear out yet? No, we do not. Our coat hooks by the front door are loaded with various jackets, sweatshirts, dress coats, and a few winter coats. But the snowpants and boots were still down in the storage room, until tonight. We pulled it all out and started trying snowpants on. It was exciting, only because we hadn't seen snowpants for eight months, not because we were on our way out to go sledding or to build a snowfort or something. We sorted through about a thousand hats, mittens, and scarves, and came up with an acceptable winter outerwear ensemble for everyone. Everyone except for Tyler. He needs boots. His boots are too small. In fact, we handed them down to Noelle, who handed hers down to Camryn. So here it is, the night before the first flakes fall, and we need new boots. A late night Wal-mart run proved that their selection is lacking. Oops. Procrastination strikes again.

Another incident today: I went on an archeological dig. Yes, all the way back to October, the site was my oldest son's backpack. We suspected that we weren't seeing important papers from school when parent/teacher conference day approached with no little reminder of the time we had signed up for. A quick call to the office confirmed that yes, notes were sent home. Our conference went well, Tyler is doing great. Today after school, Tyler told me that tomorrow is the video. Not A video, not SOME video, but THE video. The infamous fifth grade video, explaining all the changes that come with puberty. The video that all the kids snicker and giggle about. He mentioned that some of the parents were going to watch it, he thought maybe tonight? *sigh* We pulled out the ten pound backpack and started digging. I found massive amounts of candy wrappers, a Gameboy, wadded up school assignments, a signup sheet for wrestling that started a month ago, and finally, a school news letter. I glanced it over and noticed that yes, they were having a parental preview of the movie tonight at 5:00. A quick look at the clock showed 4:50. Of course. I did make it to the preview, only four minutes late. I am still in shock. Not because of all the explicit drawings I witnessed with the other mothers, but because I still can't believe we have a kid old enough to watch THE video. That always loomed ahead of us in the parental trials to come, out in the far, far future. Well, I was blindsided with it out of the blue, and honestly, I think it's going to be ok. Now if we can just get the kid to remember to bring his spelling list home......

My Mom

Today is my Mom's birthday. We celebrated by spending the day with her, a little lunch, a lot of cake, and a few cups of coffee. I feel so blessed to live so near to her. I feel so blessed that my kids get to interact with their Grandma on an almost daily basis. I love having her come by for a cup of coffee some mornings. I love our shopping trips and drive-thru lunches. Mom, you are so generous with your time and money, always sacrificing for your kids. I remember all those late night bowls of cereal at the kitchen counter. You always got out of bed and came down stairs with me. At the time, I had no idea how tired you must have been, with toddlers and babies in the house. I understand completely now. But you made time for your teenage daughter, who thought she was the center of the universe. You got out of your warm bed to spend time with me, even if it was time spent sitting in the dark kitchen, watching me eat a bowl of Cheerios in the middle of the night. I want to be the kind of mom that you are.

You deserve cake for breakfast.

Fear Factor

This week on Fear Factor Kids, contestants had to:

Go Bunk Bed diving:
Take a dive from big sister's top bunk, face first, no safety harness.

Bathe with trail mix:
Raisins and peanuts in the bath water, how long can you stand it?

Clean up the rotten, smashed pumpkins:
They are fun to carve, but can you touch them when they are "over ripe", and all over the yard?

Disclaimer: The stunts described on this web site were designed and supervised by trained professionals. They are extremely dangerous and should not be attempted by anyone, anywhere, anytime. Some episodes contain graphic scenes. Viewer discretion advised.

Veteran's Day

I'm thinking of all the soldiers today. Of my Grandpas. Of my Father-in-law.

I'm thinking of all the soldiers' wives and kids. Of their sacrifices.

I am thinking of all the soldiers in Iraq right now, and of their spouses and kids who are here, an ocean away.

Thank you.

Here is a link to a journalist who has been reporting from Iraq. Make sure you read some of his earlier dispatches if you have time.

Thanks everyone

Thank you everyone for your comments about the music on the bus. You all confirmed what I was feeling, that I should be glad that they can talk to me about these things. I have been praying that they will continue to feel comfortable talking to us about stuff, I know it's only going to get more complicated from here on out, the world isn't getting any more child-friendly. May God bless our children as they live in much scarier times than we had to.

Did you guys really think I was THAT healthy? Oatmeal and black-eyed peas? Ewww. Sounds like some kind of a tribal stew.

Keeping it serious

In honor of the books that finally got my son hooked on reading, I am posting this raunchy little number. It's the Professor Poopypants, Name Chang-o-Chart 2000. Make sure to post your "name change" so we can all make fun of you. I'll start.

Hello, it's nice to meet you, my name is Cheeseball Toilettushie.

Just to clarify....

The "satisfied" post below, is referring to Tina and Vashti's blogs, not their comments here. It seems there was some confusion. So click the links and go see what they had to say.

Satisfied

1 Timothy 6:6-8

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

I have been pondering this since yesterday after reading what Tina and Vashti had to say.

Oatmeal and Black-eyed Peas

So we're trying to be a bit healthier this week after last week's Halloween candy binge. So far (two whole days now), I haven't made one single dessert. Those of you who know me can understand, that is HUGE. I made some muffins and even threw in some *gasp* whole wheat flour. I have been keeping them in the freezer so that I don't eat ten during the day. Oh how I love carbs. I also wanted to share this recipe with you all.

Baked Oatmeal
2 cup uncooked oatmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1 cup fat-free skim milk
2 egg
1/2 cup Crushed Pineapple
1/2 cup Splenda
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 banana cut in to chunks or slices

mix all ingredients

--bake at 350 for 35-45 min in 8 x 8 pan that has been sprayed w/PAM
Serving size is 6 bars -- about 160 cals a bar, little fat.. WW girls.. 3pts per bar

Ok, so that sounds mostly healthy right? Well, I don't use the Splenda. Holy cow, have you seen how much that stuff costs per pound??!! I'll stick with regular sugar thank you very much. Which, I guess would totally screw up the calories and Weight Watchers points. Oh well. I have used brown sugar before too, that's yummie. You can throw in some pumpkin spice for a fall flavor, or some peaches instead of the pineapple or whatever. Go crazy. It is very yummie. I double it and make a 9x13 and I recently tried it warm with milk poured over it. Wow. But that's my carb loving self talking. Another thing I do is cut it up into bars and wrap them individually and put them in the fridge for a quick breakfast on the go. For Nate. Because who am I kidding, I don't go anywhere quickly in the morning, now that the kids are riding the bus.

Which brings me to another thought. I'm just thinking out loud here, so help me out and ignore the randomness. My kids have recently told me about the music that is being played on the bus. A little song by the Black-Eyed Peas is particularly offensive to me. It's one of those catchy tunes that gets in your head and stays there all day. I went out and did a little research on it, (thank you internet) and I really, really don't like it. Now should I run around and plug my kids' ears? I don't know. I want them to learn how to deal with some of these things, I don't want to completely keep them in little personal bubbles, but HELLO??! If I don't protect them, who will? And this doesn't just apply to riding the bus, it applies to everything. AAAK! Being a parent is hard. We had a talk with them about the radio and some of the songs they would probably be hearing, but I just can't help but think I am throwing them to the wolves. Now, I heard nasty songs on the bus when I was a kid, and I turned out ok....I think....., but even the most offensive stuff back then was a lot more subtle. I didn't understand most of it.

Now I'm just rambling, but it feels better to get some of these thoughts out. I'm looking forward to hearing all of your wisdom. How much do you shelter your kids?

It's official.

The Halloween candy is gone. All of it. Eighteen point six pounds of candy, all completely consumed. Isn't that just ridiculous?! We don't waste any time do we? Part of me is mourning. I'm really going to miss having the option of going to the pantry at any given time to choose whatever kind of bite sized chocolate bliss I want. But the pros outweigh the cons:

1. Now the kids will not be on a sugar high all day long.
2. No more little piles of candy wrappers all over the house.
3. This will be the end of chewed up and spit out Almond Joys on the couch cushions. It seems that Jack doesn't remember from day to day that he doesn't like almonds and coconut.
4. No more ripping sticky sucker sticks off of the carpet.

Yay! Let's do a happy dance! And speaking of happy dances, my dear friend Natalie started a blog recently and posted about their family dance. I have decided that if our family had a specific dance, I would want it to look exactly like these guys. Check it out by clicking on the "A Million Ways" dance video. It totally cracks me up. The kids have been humming the song for about three days straight now. I love the internet.

ACK! That was close!

This morning I filled the old Beast up with gas. I didn't mess around, no checking the oil or washing the windows or anything like that. It was just a quick pay-at-the-pump, and we're on our way. Well, I guess I did make squishy faces through the window at the boys, I hope no one else noticed! When we got home, but before we went in the house, I put my receipt in my wallet and noticed that my debit card was not in it's slot. Uh oh. I left the kids buckled in, and searched all over the front seat/purse/my pockets/everywhere. No card. Oh no! Visions of identity theft flashed through my mind. I could just see someone sitting on the beach in Mexico, enjoying tropical drinks at my expense. Actually, something like that happened to us this last year, except it was glassware and Applebee's and gas at our expense. Got it all worked out though. But here I was thinking....NOT AGAIN?!

After realizing it wasn't in the vehicle, I started the Beast back up and made the two mile drive back to the gas station. There it was, laying on the ground right by pump eleven. Whew!

I felt a little bit like the lady in The Lost Coin Parable in Luke:


8"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Except with me it was a lost debit card, and I'm blogging it.

So will you rejoice with me? I have have found my lost card!

So where should I hide the candy?

Obviously not on top of the fridge.

The 2005 Halloween Report

October 31st, 2005 shall be deemed a success, if you measure success in pounds of candy acquired. It will be considered a failure if you measure success in weightloss. I think even little Jack is going to be fat after all this. Especially little Jack.

Last night, the kids rounded up a total of 12.2 pounds of candy. When added to the 6.4 pounds we collected in pre-Halloween festivities, we come to a grand total of 18.6 pounds of candy. Where would you like that Heather? Directly on your hips or divided between your butt and belly? I cannot control myself. Every time I enter the kitchen, I grab another KitKat, or Twix, or Snickers. It doesn't help that I made Randi's yummy apple bread and ate 3/4 of the loaf myself. NOT an exaggeration. But enough about my bad eating habits.

If I had a digital camera, I would wow you with adorable pics of "Link", a salsa dancer, a pumpkin, Batman, a two year old Jedi, and a baby bumblebee. But I probably won't get my film developed for another week or so. Bummer.

I must say, our pumpkins turned out smashingly this year. We went with the Homestar Runner theme and carved a StrongBad, a The Cheat, a HomeStar Runner, a King of Town, and of course, The Poopsmith. Tyler and Noelle carved their own, Camryn had some help from Aunt Mariah, and I carved Caedmon and Jack's. I had way too much fun, and I think they did too. Carving pumpkins is super, super fun. I may have pics of the pumpkins next week too. If I ever get my film developed, since I don't have a digital camera. But honestly, I'm not sure if I really WANT a digital camera. I really like my Pentax K1000. And honestly, I'm not sure that digitals would ever make it to my photo albums, I'm just not that organized. My photo albums are my treasure. I love them. But not in a scrapbooking kind of way. I'm SO NOT into scrapbooking. I know a lot of people are, and I don't mean to offend, but it's not me. I just want to take my pictures, write names and dates on the back, and stick them in albums in chronological order. Wow, where did all that come from? This is supposed to be the Halloween report, not a rant on photo display and storage.

Ok, Halloween was great. We all had fun. We are all going to need dentures, insulin, and a weightloss program after this week. Happy candy eating everyone!