Wordless Wednesday

Our very own two headed monster. For more Wordless Wednesday's go here.

Shuffle Mode

I am a creature of habit. I like to keep track on schedules and have a plan for the day. Nothing extreme, but enough planned out ahead of time so that I know what to expect throughout the day. When my “schedule” gets shuffled for any reason everyone can feel the effects whether it be in a good or bad way. But I am learning to embrace change and see it as a positive adventure.

For instance, the next few weeks I am not going to the gym to workout, but instead I am going to take a break and take it easy. As hard as that is to imagine, and yes it is killing me, but the time I have gained from this I am using to spend with my boys, one on one time with my boys. And they love it, as am I, and I can really see a change in their demeanor. Another example, instead of searching around mindlessly on the computer, I am using that time to sit and snuggle with my boys while they are watching TV. While I could be running around my house doing laundry, washing dishes, vacuuming, and organizing (things of which I all love to do, cause I am crazy like that), I am helping my two younger boys enjoy playing together nicely, practicing how to share, and working on using nice language. It’s not always fun and games, but its important stuff that I am striving to make time for and the benefits are going to make a lasting impression.

I am enjoying life at the moment on shuffle.

Dead and Dry - Don't You Just Love Fall!

The change of the season is upon us. That means pulling out the extra blanket for the bed, cranking on the furnace, and bringing out the flannel pj's at night. I do love the chill that's in the air. It feels refreshing. BUT,

The big issue I have is that every year when we get our first frost and up until the spring returns, I have such dry skin. My hair seems like it has an electric current running through it and my nails are brittle (which isn't anything new, but it is magnified when it's cold outside). The worst part is my chronic dry lips. It is very irritating and I feel as if I have tried all the different chap sticks and lip ointments that are on the market from exfoliators to lip oils. They are a temporary fix as in 15 minutes tops where I then must reapply it for further relief. So I have looked into home remedies and there are some scary ones out there. For instance (and I kid you not) one person submitted the remedy of using your index finger, wiping it on the outside of your nose and using those natural oils on your lips. I am sorry, but that is just sick! No thanks.

If any of you have any suggestions I would love to hear them as long as they don't involve using my other body productions. I know I also need to drink a lot more water than I currently do, and I am sure that consistently taking a multi-vitamin couldn't hurt either. One home remedy that I just started using yesterday is hydrocortisone 1% ointment covered with Aquaphor ointment. That really does soften my lips and last a bit longer. I recalled my son's doctor prescribing this for his diaper rash. So from butts to lips I am going to give it a try.

I really am a winner!

Well, how about that. I actually am a winner. Last night, the gym I work out at hosted a Halloween Party. I wasn't really sure what I was going to dress up as. I headed out to a party store to see if there were any good costumes on clearance and had no luck. But as I headed down an aisle getting ready to leave the store a hat stood out to me. It was a golf themed hat which got me thinking I could be a golf course. I bought a plastic tablecloth that resembled the greens and fashioned a dress out of it with the help of some packaging tape.

I never thought I would ever make a dress out of plastic. When I was younger I used to make clothes out of paper. Why I never ended up in the fashion industry will always be a mystery to me.

But, back to the costume. I thought it would be clever to have the front of the costume be the "front 9" where I taped flags numbered 1 through 9 and then I labeled the back of the costume the "back 9" and taped flags numbered 10 - 18. My hat had flag 19 on it and I made earrings with golf tees hanging from them along with a plastic golf ball necklace. And to finish off the costume I carried around a putting golf club.

The funny thing about it all is that people thought I really was a golf fan, but in all honesty this past summer was the very first time I have ever tried my hand at 9 holes of golf. I did like it and wasn't too bad at it.

The time came at the end of the night to choose a winner for best costume and guess who won? Yep, it was me! I couldn't believe it! And I was very pleased with my prize. It was a Starbucks gift basket. Rock on mama! I also was adorned with a badge that said winner. That makes me feel so special. It really was a good night after all.

Happy Halloween

Today is the big day that the kids have been waiting for. My boys are going to be a gauze-ghoul with flashing red eyes, Darth Vader, and a monkey. Last night I went to a Halloween themed Mommy's group party. The original costume I was going to wear did not make it to my house. I had ordered it from Ebay and the person contacted me saying the package got returned to them completely mangled as if it had gotten caught in a conveyor belt. (What are the chances?) And of course I didn't request insurance, but they are still going to refund my money. That was nice of them, but I was stuck at the last minute without a costume. I did manage to come up with a really goofy idea that was better than nothing. Can you guess what I am? (excuse the picture quality, not sure what happened.)

I am a devil, but with one horn a.k.a. One Horny Devil. Notice the handcuffs too? Yes, it is somewhat lame, but I was trying to be creative on very short notice and utilize things I had in my home, so give me a break! I may still be able to use my original idea tomorrow at another costume party. I am going to see if any local costume shops have it on clearance. I'll keep you posted. Before I left the house, Carson looked at me and said, "Mom, you have some black eyes! And why are you wearing my Darth Vader cape?" Hey, I was desperate people and I loaded on the eye-make up which was kind of fun.




Beth over at I Should Be Folding Laundry posted about a freaky, but true story and that got me thinking about a picture that I cannot explain. We had a house warming party last October and I took a picture of Cory and my brother Jay. Then looking at the picture, there is a large circle looking image on Cory's sweater. I showed them the picture and they seem to think it's an orb. It didn't show up in any other pictures I took that night. What could it be? We may never know.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

How much is too much?

I like to think I have a healthy relationship with laundry. You see, being organized and slightly neurotic has it's perks. I actually enjoy the laundry process. Yes, y'all I am a strange one. Don't be a hater!

For me I see a challenge, which is to try and keep the laundry baskets empty. The only real problem I have with the laundry is that I don't enjoy putting it away. It will sit all nice and folded awaiting it's journey back into the closets and dressers. The piles have gotten so high at times that my boy's dressers have run out of underwear and socks. Now that will never be the case with my husband. I could go over a month without putting his socks away and there would still be enough for another month's wear. He has the largest reserve of dress socks that I have ever seen in my life. Today I decided to count exactly how many pairs of socks he owns and came up with fifty-one and a half pairs. Seriously. Keep in mind that this does not include athletic socks in which those have their own smaller drawer.

Do you think it's time for a sock intervention?

Another way to recycle plastic bags.

What do you do when you have an abundance of Wal-Mart plastic bags?

Pile them up and jump in them, of course.

This is our red-neck version of jumping in a pile of leaves. Our kids are deprived since we live in a newer subdivision which only has small trees. So, this is the next best thing.

What A Day!

What a day we had yesterday. It started off with my oldest son not feeling well. His temp. was 102 and he complained of a cough, sore throat, and dizziness. The dizziness has been an ongoing issue with him. So, he got to stay home from school and I made a doctor's appointment for him in the afternoon.

Carson and Luke were constantly on each others nerves all day and Carson decided he wasn't going to take a nap, or pick up his toys. So, being the great mom that I am, I gave him 3 chances to pick up the toys. By the 3rd request I informed him that if he did not put his toys away I was going to get a garbage bag out and put every toy that was laying on the floor in the bag and they would be gone. Do you know what that little boy's response was? Are you ready for this one? He replies, "We will just go buy some new toys." Oh no you didn't! I was pretty hot by that response. So I replied back that I would not be buying him any new toys and that we should just get rid of all the toys if that is how he was going to act. Do you know what his response to that was? "Then, I'll just watch T.V." He has a rebuttal for everything I say. Can you say strong-willed?!? (He gets that from me.) So, right now I have a garbage bag half full of toys laying on my garage floor laughing and snickering at me saying, "What are you gonna do now, Mom of the Year?"

So, on with the day. My parents come over during what was supposed to be nap time so that I can take Taylor to the doctor. I go to start my van and the battery is dead. D-E-A-D! Thankfully we have my husband's work van and off we go to the doctor but not before I get my pumpkin latte from Dunkin' Donuts. Simply divine! That was probably the best part of my day.

At the doctors office we arrive 15 minutes early as they requested, for what, I will never know. We continue to sit there for another 20 minutes and finally get into a room where we continue to wait for another 15 to 20 minutes. The doctor checks him out and says he just has a cold that will run it's course, but the dizziness has him stumped. He doesn't know or understand what may be causing it so he has referred us to a neurologist. Now understand that this boy has a great healthy track record. The last time he had to go to the doctor was almost 5 years ago. So hearing this news was a bit unsettling to me.

We make our way home and my husband has just gotten home from an overnight business trip. Taylor asks if he can go in and take bath. Afterwards, as he is draining the tub, Jason and I are in the kitchen and hear the sink gurgling. Now that can't be good. We go down the hall to check on Taylor and there is water slowly creeping from the utility closet and bathroom which are adjacent to each other. I pound on the door to see if Taylor is okay, which he was, but it turns out that there is something clogging the main drain for our entire house and it was all backing up and coming out on our floors. Talk about panic mode. The little boys thought it was great that we had puddles to play in indoors. Not so cute if you ask me. I called my parents and asked them to pick the boys up so Jason and I could get to the source of this and begin the clean up efforts. We ended up having Roto-Rooter come out and $300 later the main drain is unclogged. The culprit: too much paper/toilet wipes caused the back up. We got everything cleaned up and by this time I was more than ready for a cocktail or two.

Let's just hope today doesn't present itself with anymore surprises.

Common Sense?

"Mom can I have a Toaster Strudel please?" asks my 4 year old son.

"Sure, let me make it for you." I reply.

"Do you have to cook it in the microwave?" Carson asks.

Do I really need to answer that? It's not like they're called Microwave Strudels.

Come on!

The Pumpkin Carving

The past few days my boys (or should I say I) have carved their pumpkins for Halloween. Luke the 2 year old didn't quite grasp the concept. I cut the top off and started to de-gut the pumpkin to show him how it's done. I go to help Carson with his and check back on Luke who is now stuffing the guts back into the pumpkin. Dear boy, he's inherited my cleaning genes. Bless his heart. That makes me proud. So, I ended up taking over for him and he was off to other tasks. He comes back in the room with his toy vacuum cleaner and begins to sweep the rug under the table.

Have I mentioned how much I love this boy? One way to a mother's heart is cleaning! At least my heart it is. My oldest son has also inherited this cleaning way of life. He is very organized when it comes to his room and things. Now if I could just get the middle boy to take after his brothers we would be one happy, clean, and organized family. Heaven I tell you.

So, anyway, back to the pumpkin carving. Carson is excited to dig in and get dirty in pumpkin guts. He insists on making it a scary pumpkin to scare the neighbor girls. He’s totally all boy let me tell you. I believe we were successful in creating his view of a scary faced pumpkin guy even though I think it looks really cute. But don't tell him I said that, k? And then on to Taylor’s pumpkin, you know the one that nearly tipped the scales because it was so enormous and caused us to take out a second mortgage. Yeah, that’s the one. I knew I was going to have to pull out the power tools on this one. Who knew how well an electric knife could work on a pumpkin. They're not just for carving turkeys - no joke. My husband first recommended it and I thought no way, but it turned out to be the best tool for the job. When we opened it up I was shocked at what we found. It seemed as if it was trying to sprout new pumpkins within itself. Never before had I experienced that before. It was strange to say the least. Once we got it cleaned out, off Taylor went to create his football guy pumpkin. Enjoy the pictures and Happy Halloween.