School Daze...I mean days...2012

I used to wonder why I would always hear mothers exclaim in exasperation, "I can't WAIT for school to start." Then I became a mother.

Now I get it.

I'm always happy when summer comes around and more than thankful for a reprieve from "structure" and schedules. I usually carry this on through June and even most of the way through July. Then August hits and I am DYING to say "goodbye freedom" and "hello order".

This year was no exception.

 I must say, however, that having TWO kids in full time school made the commencement of this year even more exciting. (squeal)

I'd like to say we went all out. You know, school shopped until we dropped, made a fancy shmancy dinner to welcome in the school year, gorged our pantry with lots of sack lunch goodies, and even woke up early on the first day to create a culinary masterpiece of wholesome breakfast goodness to get the brain going.

But...we didn't.

Instead we dug through buckets of hand-me-down clothes and found some pants that were in "first day of school shape" (otherwise known as hole-less and stain-less), ordered a few shirts from Target.com (which haven't arrived yet)and pulled dinner together at the last minute with very little thought.  But...we DID go to Burger King for $.50 ice cream cones to "celebrate" the end of summer, I DID get up and make oatmeal for breakfast and I DID put a little extra something in their otherwise boring lunches....a string cheese.  Yeah...I'm the BEST mom. 

Don't be too jealous, though. I made up for my greatness rather quickly. 

Gabe spent most of the morning in tears because I INSISTED on doing a bit of painful "doctoring" that just "couldn't be put off a moment longer".  Yeah.....poor kid.  I should have waited.  Sigh....

I may not make "mom of the year" but the kids got out the door to school on time, with excitement in their eyes and smiles on their faces.  Yeay for school!

"Aw MOM...we're gonna be late."

Gabe- 4th Grade

Cael 1st Grade

 It kills me to know that I could have had three in school this year.  However, we decide to keep Isaac at home until next year (bummer). He didn't turn 5 until early August and my "mommy feelings" tell me he's just not ready yet.  Even bigger sigh...... For now he will stay at home and help me entertain Kian.

There are HUGE benefits in that.

Happy School days everyone.  Enjoy it while it lasts.
 

Family Pictures 2012...sneak peek #1

We had an amazing time (sans millions and millions of mosquitoes) yesterday taking pictures with Alisha of Leeshy Lou Photography  .  She was very sweet and good to work with.  The boys did AWESOME!  Total cooperation.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven (again, sans the mosquitoes).  Her "magic potion" (besides being cute and fun)?  A Phineas and Ferb Pez candy dispenser attached to her camera which she would randomly open up and disperse among the restless natives.

Here are a few she has finished editing and posted on her FB page for those of you non-facebooker's to see (grandma's and grandpa's and a few uncles and aunts).

Ewwwww.....their kissing.  Get away as fast as you can.

See...told you they were cute. 

Can't wait until she is ALL done and we have 30 FABULOUS edited family photos.


 

"It takes a village....."

Somehow when we went from three to four boys,we also went from "normal" to "side show".

And let me tell you....a trip out in public with my brood is never very far from just that.  

Let's just say that we attract A LOT of attention.

I'm not gonna lie.  When I see a mom walking through a store with a long line of duckling waddling behind, I stop and count them....doesn't everybody?  It just that because mine are all of the same gender....and BOYS in particular, we seem to turn a lot more heads.


I thought I would entertain you with a list of comments I frequently hear....and my responses:

Q:  "Are 'these' all yours?"
A:  "Yep"...or "Sure are"...or, more often than not, "(sigh)" (usually followed by a "get back here", "stop touching that"or "leave him alone.").  It all depends on the day, # of errands run, or the "time of the month".

Q:  "4 boys!?!?!" or "4 boys, huh?" (depending on the persons level of shock/disbelief)
A:  Again...."Yep ('unless I lost count somewhere back there', I think to myself)"

Which is almost ALWAYS followed by one or all of these: 
"Wow...you must be a busy mama"..."You've got your hands full".....or "God Bless You!"

To which I respond:
"I sure am"...."Yes, I do".....and either, "He sure does" or "He's gonna have to"

But my favorite is...

Q:  "HOW DO YOU DO IT!?!?!?"

The reason I love this one so much is because people are usually caught off guard by my answer.  Which is either...

"One day at a time"....or....."Not very well".....or, my usual "go to"......"I'm medicated."

This last one almost always sends the "questioneer" into a fit of nervous laughter.  Their not sure what to say, so they just laugh.  And I laugh right along with them.  When the laughter finally dies down, I usually follow up with a, "No seriously....(pause)....I am."   (then they are really at a loss for words.  I'm sure they are thinking....Did she really just say that?)


And this was true, until almost 2 months ago when I had the brilliant idea that maybe I should come off said medication.  3 long weeks later I was "free" from them....and now, four weeks after that, I am going back on.

Picked up my RX tonight....tomorrow's the day.

I'd like to say it's because I "need" them, or "can't cope" without them.

But, in reality, it's because I have missed using that particular comeback at the grocery store.  :)
 
hardy har har.....


Okay...no really....in all seriousness...it's just better this way.

I've decided that my boys deserve the "best" mommy possible....and unfortunately, this mommy needs a little help in order to be "on her best".

You know the old African proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child"?

Well...it's true.....and it just so happens that in our village resides Mr. Anti Depressant and Mrs. Anti Anxiety, too.

And you know what....we like them and we are grateful for their contribution.

Here's to hoping that they are just as helpful as they were before.

Wish me luck!

 (for a more "in depth" and far less silly read about my decision to "go back on" anti-depressants, you can visit me at Methodical Musings of an Unbalanced Woman sometime tomorrow (no, I haven't posted it yet so you'll just have to stay tuned).

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A whole lotta yellin' up in dis house

It's bad enough that we have a house full of boys.  I hear they are naturally pretty loud (I don't have anything else to compare to).  Then you add in that Rob inherited hearing loss from his mothers side (not really...they just all talk REALLY loud)... AND they have an obnoxiously boisterous mother (at least that's what my siblings used to say) on top of it.

They had no chance.

So...what does that have to do with today?

Well...several months ago we stopped letting the kids play Lego Batman or Lego Starwars on the XBOX.  They used to play it with their dad every Saturday.  But...we got sick of the yelling, fighting and crying that ensued before, during and after play.

Bye Bye games....it's been nice.

Today we decided to give it another "go."

Rob is tired of the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth that is sure to be a part of "Saturday Toy Room Cleaning Time" and asked if he could pull out "the big guns."  "I guess," I said with a sigh.

"If you can get this room clean in 15 minutes...without whining...we will play 'Lego Batman' after lunch", he told them.

Cheers all around.

And they did it.  With 1.2 minutes to spare. 

Play...lunch...Lego Batman time.

Happy day!  Not really!

Screaming...fighting...Little Red was sent to his room for a bit...more yelling...more fighting...and boobing....Oh BOY!  A WHOLE LOT OF BOOBING after the game was turned off.

"Rob....it's gonna be a long time," was all I had to say.

"Yep..."

Bye bye games.  I'm not sad at all to see you go!

My ears are still ringing....

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"I'm the dad and you're the Father and you're the brother"

 I was just in the hall, changing a rancid poopy diaper when I overheard my 5 year old (little red) playing in his room with two neighbor boys.

"Let's play Mommy and Daddy," a neighbor says.

Okay...this could be interesting.

"No...let's play Daddy and Father," red says, "...oh, and you be the brother," he tells the three year old neighbor.

"Okay," they say.

You see...at our house...there are no females to play the "mommy."

The game continues...."Okay, let's go to sleep."  "Cockadoodledoo...time to get up."

"What does a father do?" one of the neighbor boys asks.

"I don't know," little red says.  "Well,  where is the mommy?" neighbor boy says."  "She's dead," informs my son.  "Oh...."

"Let's go shopping," red says.  "Okay."

then my 4 year old want to join in...."I wanna go shopping to."  "Okay...you can be another brother."

Yep...that's how it is in our house.  Boys, boys, boys....and mom's dead (or at least on the computer writing so much she might as well be so...he he he).

Now they are singing "Happy Birthday" and there is a horse involved somehow.  My how life evolves in just a few seconds.

Just thought it was funny.

Melanie

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Hygienically Challenged

You know your hygienically challenged when you say to your husband,

"You don't mind if I go shower, do you?"

and he responds by saying,

"Mel...you know I ALWAYS encourage you to shower."

I admit it...I stink...a lot.

I'm a mother of 4 children.  4 BOYS to be exact.  And showering is not always my #1 priority during that small block of time during the day when they are completely zombie-d out (aka attached to the computer or TV screen).

Most of the time I reserve that for my workout.

And...if I DO attempt to do it any other time of the day, I run the risk of A. the house burning down  B.  the boys beating each other up C.  food pulled out of every crevice in the house, in which it's either consumed in its entirety or thrown all over the floor  or D. all of the above.

It really is a deterrent.

But in my defense...I usually give people fair warning when they come near me.

P.S.
If you are one of those moms that wakes up every morning, showers, and gets ready for the day (instead of hanging out in your stinky workout clothes), always looking put together and cute AND you can still manage to maintain a healthy weight without ever reserving time to exercise your body...I hate you.  I really do.  :)
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Attack of the flying bugs leads to desperate use of duct tape

Now, I'm not one to get squeamish about a few bugs here and there.

Yes, I kill spiders (even squish them with my hands or bare feet), I pick up praying mantis's, I'll hold a handful of rolly polly's while my 3 year old uses the bathroom at the park,  but I do not....I repeat, DO NOT like infestations of any kind.  You know...a large gathering of small-ish creepy things.  It makes me feel vulnerable and itchy all over.

Among my least favorites are ants (now that's a good story for later), lice, maggots, and swarming winged ones of any kind.


That's why I spent some time this morning repairing holes in some window and door screens (and when I use the term "repair" I mean jimmy rigging things with duct tape because I don't believe in spending money on things unless I absolutely have to (exceptions being any sort of  sugary goodness) because I have a pack of male rugrats who are determined to destroy anything in their path, so until they are grown and out of the house or we become millionaires and can afford to keep up on repairs I will continue to patch things up with a large roll of duct tape that cost me no more than $6 at old Walmart-O).

(Let's see...where was I?)

Right...so...in summers past, at night, when it would finally get dark enough to turn the lights on inside, we would get all sort of winged friends coming in to play.  They'd enjoy swarming, particularly around the dining room light fixture, and then laying their bodies to rest (dying) on the table for us all to enjoy with our breakfasts the next morning.

But this year (I assume because of the wetter spring and the holes in the screens) we not only have them gathering in the dining room, but the kitchen, the windows throughout the house, and my bedroom ceiling.  I swear I went to bed last night with nightmares of waking up to a "blanket" of bugs.

UGH!  So disgusting.


So...the screen door got a bit of work done on her (notice the handle missing?  Yeah...the kids broke that off two summers ago...so last year I jimmy rigged a "handle" down lower where they could reach it and, wouldn't you know, they'd rather just tear a whole in the screen and open and close the door with the frame instead...yeah...that's why I don't replace things).  Now she's all patched and looking perty don't cha think?(We'll see how long it lasts.)

 The other major repair was on the large kitchen window screen.  Earlier this year I just happened to lock myself out of my car at Costco.  Yeah...Rob was out of town with the three older boys so Mr. Golden Locks and I were stuck...really stuck.  Luckily I have a good friend who was willing to break into my house (thank goodness I left a window open) and grab a spare set of keys.  Unfortunately, those screens are extremely difficult to get out (which is a good thing otherwise any crazy might try to get in) and I gave her permission to bend it if she needed to.  So she did...(no don't feel bad) and came to my rescue.  Long story...well, long....the screen was bent and the bugs have had a super easy time getting in.  

Until today...

With a little bit of muscle and, you guessed it, duct tape, the screen is back in place and doing its job quite nicely.    

Now before you go on judging me, just keep in mind that these repairs, although somewhat "trashy" looking,  cost me no more than $.15 cents.

How's that for "frugal" home improvement?  

And, even better,...so far so good on lessening the amount of little buggies buzzing around my head right now. 

That makes me happy....very happy. 

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These are a few of my favorite things...

Life is busy, busy, busy but I did take a few minutes to upload these cute video of my favorite men (big and little).

 Gabe on Mother's Day

 

Kian @ soccer practice

 

Isaac @ soccer practice

 

Cael @ soccer practice

 

My favorite BIG boy.  Isn't he so cute?

If you don't watch any video except this one...it's worth it.