My imperfection

I am sure, actually I know there are people out there that think I am overly organized or a perfectionist. I do try and make an attempt, but living in a house full of boys leads me to settle for a different form of perfection.

Don’t get me wrong, if it was just myself and hubby the house would be on a whole other level. But how boring would that be? I love having the boys even if they are completely messy and somewhat irresponsible when it comes to picking up after their own selves.

I read a post the other day that really summed it up well, much better than I ever could. So, I thought it would be humiliating fun to call myself out on things in my life and house that are far from perfection. You can now see the true Lynette lifestyle that I am okay with. I just keep reminding myself someday it will change, but for now it is what it is.

· All of the Play dough in our house is a nice shade of poop-brown if it’s not already dried up and crusty. You can even find some dried into the carpet from a month ago. I haven’t gotten around to scraping it out.

· A lot, if not most of the markers are also dried up from failure to recap them, which I refuse to do any longer. If the kids want to use markers they need to learn to recap them when they’re finished. This should not be my job, right?

· I hate dusting, it is one of my least favorite chores, and therefore I only dust when we are having company over.

· DVD’s and video tapes: we have too many and most of the video boxes are torn or are missing along with the DVD sleeves. Most of the time they get left out until I feel the urge to reorganize them.

· My clean, folded laundry piles sit until the towers start to tumble. I have no problem doing 2 to 3 loads a day and folding them, but actually putting them away is where it gets neglected. If the boys want their clean clothes, they end up coming downstairs to the “master-laundry-closet.”

· You don’t want to know how long I let our showers/tubs go before I clean them. Don’t ask. But also, don’t worry if you come to visit and stay with us. They will be sparkling clean.

· There is smashed, ground-in cereal in my van that has been there for weeks. I let the dog in the van in hopes she would clean it up by eating them. Apparently, there were too many because after a few minutes of eating, she became uninterested. Guess I better get the shop vac out.

I think I've shared enough of my inadequacies for the day. Trust me, I could go on and on. See, I am normal just like the rest of you, right?

Wordless Wednesday

Apparently, toilet paper has other uses according to Carson and Luke.

For more Wordless Wednesday participants, click here.

Grandma's games

A few posts back I wrote about fun games I remember playing as a kid. I was reading on a local message board about similar games and remembered two that I am very fond of playing, which my Grandma taught me.

It's been awhile since I have played these, but they are SO much fun and can be extremely entertaining. They are not only fun to play with your kids, but also with adults.

I am not sure these games really have a name, but here they are:

Mini Story
This game works best with three or more players.
You will need pieces of paper about the size of an index card and some pencils.
Each person writes the name of a person and it can be a character from TV or a real life person. Once you've written the name, fold the paper over to hide it and pass your paper to the left.
The next part you write an action or something that person did such as, "ate a bowl of ice cream." Fold it over and pass it again to your left.
The last part you write why they did the action such as, "because there was a thunderstorm."
It doesn't have to make any sense, and it's actually funnier when they are random.
Last, fold the paper once more and pass it to the left.
Then each player takes turns reading their mini story.

Funny Creatures
This game can have two to three players.
You will need paper and pencils.
Each players draws the head of your creature making it as silly or as normal as you want. Fold the paper leaving only the neck showing and pass it to the left.
Next, draw the torso of the creature including the arms, chest and waist. Fold and pass to the left.
Last, draw the bottom half of the creature including the legs and feet. Fold and pass left.
Then take turns revealing your funny creature to everyone.

Disturbing

To say the least.

This is ridiculous.

I could not believe what I was actually seeing at first.

Then when it sunk in, it was some of the funniest 'crap' I've seen in awhile.

I thank my oldest son Taylor for showing me this entertaining commercial.

And please, PLEASE, if you have a daughter, don't tell me you are seriously contemplating buying this for her for Christmas.

Seriously?!?!

You have GOT to be kidding me!

That is just wrong people.

Makes you wonder who creates this kind of stuff? I would have loved to be a part of the meeting where they pitched that idea.

Maybe I shouldn't be driving

Do you ever have one of those moments when you realize what an idiot you are?

I just had one of those moments in the car.

I have this nifty G.P.S. device to guide me around town. It has been a life saver! Well today I was messing around with it while I was driving and found a screen that I had never seen before. It looked like my dashboard. It told me exactly what speed I was driving and everything. I noticed on one of the gauges it showed an E. I couldn't believe it knew that I was almost on empty and needed to refuel soon. Then I turned slightly right and the E turned into and SE. Could that mean it's now only "slightly empty?" At this point I was smacking myself in the head. Duh! It's a compass.

So I had a good laugh at my own expense.

This is not the first time I have read something incorrectly in my vehicle.

I remember it was the first winter we had the van and we had just gotten our first snowfall. The flakes were big and beautiful, but I was cold and needed to turn on the heat. I saw this button and thought since it had a snowflake on it that it should be pushed when it is snowing. Sounded practical enough. Five minutes later I couldn't figure out why I was even colder than before.

Here comes another smack to the head. Idiot! That was the button for the air conditioning. I kid you not.

Some days I scare myself.

More of what my kids say that make me laugh, smile and turn red in embarrassment

Here is the latest installment of my boys and their craziness.

As we were eating a Dairy Queen cake which had chocolate sprinkles on it, Carson asks, "Doesn't this look like Taylor's pet's (dwarf hamsters) poop?"
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One of the boys favorite cereal is Kix, except they don't call it Kix, instead they call them Kick Balls.
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I was awakened by Carson tapping on my shoulder to tell me he pulled his tooth out. He said, "Now the tooth theory can come."
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Luke's word for dining table is "diming table."

Luke calls paper clips, "toe nail clips."
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Luke was flipping through the channels on the TV and he stopped at one of the home shopping channels. They were showing a piece of jewelry and I asked Luke if he thought it was pretty. He responded, "Yeah, I wanna get that for you."
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Carson was watching football when one of the players got injured and the coaches had to help him off the field. Carson asked, "Is that his parents?"
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Carson and I were working on his homework and I asked him what another word for door would be, trying to get him to say gate. Apparently he thought he was supposed to find a word that rhymed with door and his response was, "whore." (I about fell off my chair!) I just hope he doesn't use that one at school.

A good night's sleep indeed

5 Minutes for Mom is having another great giveaway. This time it is for a children's bedroom set. The summer breeze set would be my choice. Below is my photo entry to the contest and a little background information.

This is the way Carson has been sleeping for a little over a year. He has had some major anxiety issues relating to night time sleeping and has found much comfort (and sleep) by us allowing him to sleep in our room. I had to draw the line and keep our bed off limits. Therefore, he has made his SpongeBob couch, Cars pillow, and Mickey Mouse blanket his "bed." I wanted him to be able to feel safe and that we did care about his fear. So this has been our sleeping arrangement. Yes, it's sad, but I knew it would be temporary.

Just recently, this past weekend we took the plunge and purchased a double bed for his room thinking we'd turn it into a dual functioning room as part guest room and part Carson's room for when he was ready to have his bed back. I bought some really soft fleece sheets, washed them, and made the bed. That night I asked Carson if he wanted to try sleeping in the new big guest bed not even thinking he would consider it. But guess what? He said he actually wanted to try it as long as Dad or I would lay with him the first night.

As much as I did not want this to become another bad habit, I agreed to lay with him. He got so cozy under the new sheets as did I. It took him no time to fall asleep and I was able to sneak out of the room. He only woke up once in the middle of the night and called out for me, not in a panic like in the past, but in a calm voice. I went in to check on him and he said he had to go potty, but was afraid because it was too dark. After he went potty he climbed right back into bed and I told him there were only a few hours left until it was time to wake up. That seemed to help ease his mind and he cuddled his stuffed dog and bear and fell back asleep as I walked out of the room.

The next night I was hoping it would go just as smooth. I put a night light in the hallway for his middle of the night potty run. We tucked him in and laid with him for a little while we talked. I could tell he was starting to drift off to sleep, so I kissed his cheek, told him I loved him and that I would come back in his room in the morning when it was time to get up. In a half asleep state, he turned and looked at me and asked if I would come in without Luke. Sure thing buddy.

And that was it. I walked out of the room. There was no screaming, no crying, no throwing of fits. It was peaceful and so very right. My boy is maturing and growing, and he sure is proving that to us.

I'll take it

I was going out to get the mail just now and two neighbor girls were across the street playing basketball. They yell out to me, "Hey Regan - want to play?"

I turn around thinking Regan is behind me, which she's not. I yell back, "I'm not Regan, I'm Taylor's mom." They apologize and say they are so sorry.

Don't be! That was the best compliment of the day - someone thinking I am a cute 6th grader.

I must be aging gracefully or I may need to re-evaluate my choice in clothing.

Wordless Wednesday - Sort of

On a trip back home to Indiana we stopped to get a bite to eat and parked next to this sad dog. He intently watched for his owner to come back for a good 45 minutes and wasn't even distracted by me taking his picture or trying to talk to him. What a sweet and loyal dog.

For more Wordless Wednesday participants click here.

Realizations

· While folding laundry I realized that Luke and I wear the same size. Of course not in the literal sense.

· I had my first kiss in fifth grade and I realized that Taylor is now in fifth grade. I'm not ready for that chapter in his life.

· October is here and I just realized we are going on a cruise the end of this month which makes me realize I am not even close to being ready.

· I got an invitation to a jewelry party here in Ohio. I just realized it's the first event I have been invited to since we moved here.

· Our house is still on the market back in Indiana and I just realized it's been too long and we NEED to sell it.

· I took Carson and Luke to the dentist for a teeth cleaning and I realized that Carson has now lost 8 teeth at the age of 5 and his two front teeth are already in. The dentist was even surprised at how early this was happening.

· And I also just realized that Taylor (who is 11) has only lost one more tooth than Carson has.

· I finally realized how nice it is to have our bedroom back to ourselves at night.

· I realized the song Realize by Colbie Caillat may be stuck in your head right about now.

· I realized that I have already typed the word realize 13 times. And it's starting to sound funny in my head.

· I just realized I am a dork and apparently I am bored.

Imagine that.