Mishaps

We are getting ready to go on this road trip and what happens? Lefty and Lady Bug catch a little stomach bug and end up with some nasty diarrhea and I start my period. This could make for a fun road trip!!!

OH and let's not forget that I had a nice zit on the end of my nose yesterday. Thank you Mary Kay acne cream (or whatever it is called). This thing cleared up nicely!! phew!

**UPDATED: Actually, and thankfully, that it seems like the kids are over their little thing and as for me, well, it is what it is (unfortunately).

Dolly needs clothes too

I was laying out some stuff in piles to pack for our trip. I would walk away to do something, come back and there was a tiny pile of doll clothes in one of my nicely organized stacks. I would put the doll clothes back in the basket and then pretty soon, I'd look over and there they were again.

I said - half under my breath because I knew full well who was doing it - "who keeps putting these doll clothes in my piles?"

A small voice from the other room said (and this was probably under her breath too because she knew full well who kept putting them away!) "well, who keeps putting them away? My doll needs clothes for the road trip too."

I decided Lady Bug had a good point (especially since 3 or 4 of the poor girls are laying around naked!), so I included some doll clothes in her back pack that we are taking in the car.

I thought I was going to wet my pants though because I was laughing so hard at her comment. Times like these are so much fun!

Mr. Procrastination

Mr. Man has always been a procrastinator, a very last minute kind of a guy. Our trips (and our recent move) isn't a priority until last minute which drives me insane!

I must have finally rubbed off on him a little bit.

I got home from work last night and he said "We have a lot to do to get ready for this trip." I asked him what he was talking about (because usually I do a lot while he procrastinates) and he said that he needed to start deciding what he wanted to pack so we could make sure it was laundered (notice the "we" in there?)

He also saw my list of items I need to pack and added a few things to it, like his cell phone charger (I was just going to bring mine since we have the same kind of phone, but I will pack his too, since he so nicely added it to the list). This is critical too because he has never been much of a list-maker.

Finally making him less of a procrastinator and more of list-maker!! YAY!!! ;o)

Details of our trip:
We leave Thursday early in the morning. We will get to about Boise, ID and stay for the night with some very important people and then head on into Portland, OR Friday morning, getting on the road no later than 8:00 AM so we can get to Portland mid-afternoon. My niece's wedding is Friday night in downtown Portland. Saturday we have a free-day of sorts in which Mr. Man would like to try to visit some of his friends or maybe go ride a train outside of Tillamook, OR. (where they make really yummy cheese and also serve some very tasty ice cream!) Then on Sunday my whole family will be heading to Newport Bay to go camping. We have several camp sites reserved at a campground near the ocean. Unfortunately we can't stay too long because Mr. Man needs to get back to work so we will head back out Tuesday (August 5th) morning.

I will keep posting but am not sure how many blogs I will be able to keep up with while I am gone! See you after the 6th!

The trip is on...

Thanks to some very important people (more on that later), we are going to be able to take the road trip after all. We will be leaving this Thursday and returning next Thursday. It should be fun and exciting!

I spent the weekend trying to get some of stuff gathered up and I am putting it in one corner of the living room. I've got our tent, we have a cargo thing for the top of the car that I laid out, I packed the kids backpacks and put them in this corner. We are moving along. Part of my problem is that we have a VBS meeting at the church tomorrow night from 5:30 until 8:00. So that means any hopes of doing laundry or packing tomorrow is pretty much shot!

We also cleaned out the car... I mean really cleaned it out. The kids had all kinds of stuff in there from who knows when. We vacuumed and Armor All'd it. It looks purdy!

More details to come about what we are doing on our trip!

Chewy Brownie Cookies

These are so yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
2/3 c shortening
1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 Tbls water
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 c flour
1/3 c cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 c (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place a length of foil on a flat surface. In a large bowl, beat shortening, brown sugar, water and vanilla on medium speed. Add eggs and beat well. Stir together flour, cocoa, salt and soda. Gradually add to sugar mixture, beating on low speed just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls 2" apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 7-9 minutes or until set. Cookies will appear soft and moist but will harden slightly when cooled. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Cool 2 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet to foil and cool completely.

Excellent dad status

I'm happy to tell you that all three of my sisters and my mom think my husband is an "excellent dad". They haven't always thought this, however. But over the last couple of years when one of them comes to visit me or when we go to visit them, they have been very impressed with how much he helps me and the things he does with the kids.

One of my sisters has a husband who travelled a lot while their kids were little and she is a dominate person anyway so she "handled" most things by herself. Another one of my sisters was a single mom, dad was never even involved in the child's life. Then my other sister is also a working mother of three kids like me and our kids are about the same ages. Her husband is addicted to his television and is not very much help to her at all. She loves him and that is the life they have together (although she does admit she wishes he would help more).

Whenever we are all together and they see Mr. Man in action they are always commenting, like "I think it is so neat how much time he spends with the kids." or "Does he always help you bathe the kids and get them in bed?" or "It is really cool that he takes the kids with him like that."

I know I am lucky to have him (and of course he is very lucky to have me... hee hee) and I am very thankful too!

So, a couple days ago when we were analyzing our finances for the trip to Oregon for my niece's wedding, Mr. Man said "Is it totally out of the question for us to leave the kids with my mom and you and I fly out for the weekend?" I explained that the kids were pretty excited to be able to go with us and they would be really upset if we didn't take them.

Later that night, my mom called and I told her about his idea and how I didn't think that would work and she said "Oh. He will SO lose his 'Excellent Dad' status if he does that!".

We got a good laugh out of that one. I told Mr. Man what she had said and he admits he doesn't ever want to lose his Excellent Dad status with anyone, especially the kiddos!

Breaking bad news

I called my sister to tell her I didn't think we were going to be able to afford to go to my niece's wedding. With the price of gas and all and it will be a 1300-1400 mile trip with 3 kids in the heat of the summer so we were sort of thinking it wouldn't work out. Here is how my conversation went:

Me: (a little scared because of what I am about to tell her) Hey! Whatcha doin'?

Sis: (yes this was all in one breath!!) Just painting my kitchen since we are going to have all these people staying here for the wedding. My husband wanted it painted so it will look perfect when everyone is here. Remember when we were kids and we used to be totally embarrassed when mom would drag us to the store and she wouldn't shower first or do her hair and her clothes were mismatched? Well, I've turned into mom. I have my paint clothes on and my hair is up in a pony that is falling out and I look like a wreck -- but yep. I went to the store! OH! But guess what I found there? I bought each kid a goody bag for the reception. That way they don't have to just sit and be bored. I am going to cover one table with paper and call it the Kids Table and they can color, I put a small box of crayons in each bag. I also put some bubbles and card games, each kid got a different card game. I got the little girls some fun necklaces and stuff. It will be fun. That way they have stuff to hopefully keep them entertained. I just can't wait for you to get here. Getting all the little kids together is going to be so much fun. Then when we go camping I was thinking all the girls could sleep in the RV and the boys in tents? Would that work?

Me: ummmm, well...

Sis: (interrupting me) Oh shoot. I gotta go I just dumped this paint can. Love you. Bye!!!

That is just great. Now what do I do? I told Mr. Man and he said that maybe we could just charge the whole thing. I'm not sure we have enough "available credit" to do that, but he said he'd analyze it.

EEEKKK.

A mom always knows . . . or not

The babysitter called me at work to discuss some things that happened during the day. She said it was nothing alarming, she just wanted to tell me about it before I got home because when I first get home it tends to be chaotic with the kids all jumping around me trying to tell me about their day, leaving the sitter no good opportunities to tell me things. We manage, mostly being interrupted 200 times before she gets to one point. She has also tried writing it all down for me to read, but one time I mis-read something which caused more confusion later.

Soooooooooo, anyway, she called me at work to tell me a few things. She was right. Nothing earth shattering, but definitely some things I needed to address with the kids.

At the end of my work day, I went home. I walked in and chatted with the sitter a little bit. The kids did their usual dances around me, etc. After the sitter left I started dinner, as usual. At the dinner table, while everyone was eating I said to Spirit: "Would you like to tell dad what you did today or do you want me to?" His jaw dropped to the floor and he stared at me for about a minute. I just kept eating without changing my facial expression. He finally said: "I guess I should."

He told his dad what happened, Mr. Man addressed it with a good talkin' to and that was that.

At bedtime, as I was tucking Spirit into bed he whispered "How did you know about that?" I said: "Moms know everything." I could tell he wasn't sure whether to believe me or not. *insert evil laugh now*

Banking error in your favor

Ever played Monopoly and drew the card "There has been a banking error in your favor. Collect $200"?? I feel like I just drew that card!

I have spent the last several days, including 2 hours on Saturday morning sitting in the bank with a banker, fighting with them about my account. I made a deposit one morning of some checks, but forgot to deposit some cash that Mr. Man asked me to. Later that day I made the deposit at an ATM of the cash. Two days later the check is posted to my account and the cash isn't showing at all. Usually when I make a deposit (whether it be at a teller or an ATM) it shows online as "pending". The cash deposit didn't show at all for 3 days, then it showed up as pending. It didn't get credited to my account for 4 days.

In the meantime an automatic payment was deducted from my account and since the deposits weren't credited in a decent time I accrued over draft protection fees. I felt those fees weren't justified and tried to get the bank to reverse those charges. They keep standing behind the fees. I have gotten several different answers. One of which is that all ATM deposits are not credited for 3 days and that all teller deposits post immediately. I told them that the teller deposit didn't credit immediately either. The answer I got to that was "It should have posted right away." So I am thinking, "Exactly. That is why I want the overdraft fees reversed." I am not getting anywhere.

So after arguing with these people I just decided it wasn't worth the fight and I decided to wait until today when our account representative, which we have built a pretty good relationship with, gets back from vacation to see if he can do anything about the fees. BUT, since I was at the bank I walked over to the teller and made another $80.00 deposit of a rebate check I had. Guess what they did with that deposit? It was credited immediately as "available funds" BUT they credited my account for $800.00 instead of $80.00. UGH. It isn't even showing as pending...it is showing as available. Can these people not get this figured out???

I spoke with our account rep this morning and he agreed to reverse a couple of the fees, but not all. As for the $800.00 he said he would check into it because from what he was looking it at was a deposit made for $800.00. I can't believe these people are so messed up -- and at my expense!

Chicken Pot Pie

I am sad to say that this looks nothing like my sister's magazine-picture-perfect pot pie, but it tastes pretty darn good and is really easy to make. I love easy, since I work full time and don't have a lot of time after to work to prepare something extravagent.


Chicken Pot Pie
INGREDIENTS:

2 c cooked chicken, cubed
2 (10.75 oz) cans cream of potato soup
1 (16 oz) bag frozen mixed veggies (the kids aren't fans of lima beans, so I just use a bag of peas and carrots)
2 pie crusts (found in the dairy section, not the frozen kind)
1 Tbls milk
salt and pepper to taste


Mix chicken, soup, veggies and milk in a bowl. Stir together. Add salt and pepper. Put one pie crust in the bottom of a 9" pie dish. Add chicken/veggie mixture. Top with the top pie crust and pinch together sides so filling doesn't come out. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-60 minnutes or until heated through.

Spirit's report

Spirit wrote his report for his dad Monday. He was instructed to write a full page in his journal about his thoughts and what he could have done to show us that he appreciated what we did for him.

We came home and he had written two half pages and then one almost full page. He wrote down what we did over the weekend, what his favorite part was and then he spent some time writing down how his dad misunderstood him.

Here is an excerpt from his writing (typed out here just the way he wrote it):

My favrete part of the wekend was ice skating. My dad thought i knew what he was talking abot but i didnt. He said it wasnt fare to you but It was fare because I had a good time and I loved ice skating. I did not mean to sound the way I did but he said I did. The chicken was good. i felt bad. the guy helped me skate. i want to go skating again.

Mr. Man and Spirit had a long talk discussing that it isn't so much what Spirit said it was how he said it that upset Mr. Man in the first place. Spirit has had a really good attitude ever since.

Road trip with kids

As I prepare for our road trip for my niece's wedding in a couple of weeks, I thought I would share some of the tips that have worked for us on past road trips.

I give each child a back pack and inside I pack:

• A homemade activity book. Here are the instructions for the ones I made.


• A favorite soft toy (my daughter has a soft doll that she loves to sleep with)


• Go to a dollar store and find some small novelty toys and do not give them to your child until the trip. Since they are new they bring about a new kind of excitement!


• I do not recommend bringing crayons, unless you have a toddler. Then only offer one or two at a time. Crayons melt in the sun and can make a big mess if they get left in the car in the heat. I prefer to bring colored pencils or washable markers.


• Stickers and paper. Be sure to monitor that the stickers get stuck to paper only!


• Audio books (libraries are a great place to get these)


• Children CD's for singing.


• We also have a portable DVD player so the kids get to pack movies in their back pack too.


• Books (picture books for younger kids or chapter books for the children who can read) Maybe get some new books as a surprise for this trip.


• Lacing cards. I just took some cardboard and cut out shapes and punched holes about 1" around the outside. I put these shapes in a large Ziplock bag with shoe laces to be used for the lacing.


• Magnetic play board. Lady Bug had a princess one, for the boys I made this one that I adapted from Family Fun. I found small cookie sheets at a thrift store and then made ours following the instructions on Family Fun. I made game pieces from buttons for tic-tac-toe. I plan to cut out shapes out of felt and attach a magnetic piece to the back. I am thinking like a face with parts or maybe a farm scene or something.


• Travel sized games (we have a travel bingo game and a travel Connect Four that the boys love)


• Deck of cards for playing games.


• These activity bags would be fun to have too, especially for the 3-5 year old crowd!


• My 6 & 7 year old enjoyed having a map. I made a color copy of the US map and they helped Mr. Man highlight our route. Then along the trip they would say "where are we now" and they would look for it on their map! It was fun!


• Lady Bug enjoys making necklaces, so I packed a Ziplock bag with yarn that I had tied a knot in one end and then wrapped the other end with tape and fruit loops for her to make a necklace. This doubled as a snack bag too!!


• Give each kid a bag of quarters. The rule is that if they hit someone or fight over something they must give mom/dad a quarter. When you reach your destination they can use whatever money is left over at a vending machine or souvenir shop.


• My friend Aubrey at The Fam Five says post it notes are good entertainment.

Miscellaneous items to pack in the car

• One large or two small coolers for water bottles, juice and snacks. (Buy ice packs to freeze ahead and also a bag of ice) -NOTE: My husband drinks a lot of soda so he gets his own small cooler, just for pop. It is a zippered kind with a flip top thing on the top so he can easily reach in and grab a soda as he drives.


• Sippy cups for younger kids.


• Wet wipes for cleaning hands, faces and the occasional spill.


• 10-12 plastic grocery sacks to use for trash. I throw ours out at the gas fill-up or sometimes rest stop if necessary.


• Pillows for each child.


• Small plastic containers with lids. Put cheerios or grapes or other bite-sized snacks in the individual cups for divvying out along the road.


• Bring water or lemonade in a large thermos to drink along the road. I love iced tea and so I bring a big jug of iced tea for myself. I brew it extra strong and load it up with ice. The ice "waters" down the strength of the tea.


• Everyone should wear comfy clothes and slip on shoes. The first thing I do is take off my shoes, so I let the kids take theirs off as long as they are slip ons. We don't want to wait for someone to tie their tennis shoes each stop.


• Make sure everyone goes potty before leaving the house and also every time you stop for one person to go, everyone has to "try" to go (most times they end up going!)


• Roll of toilet paper/box of kleenex/stack of napkins -- this will be used for any emergency bathroom stops or in case the rest area is out of toilet paper.


• Small bottle hand sanitizer. This is for the same emergency bathroom stop or can be used just before eating a snack in the car too if you don't want to use a wet wipe for that.


• My husband is a stickler for brushing his teeth and we spent one too many times sifting through his bag looking for his toothbrush. Now, I pack all of our toothbrushes in a toothbrush travel holder, along with toothpaste and a travel mouthwash. I place it all in a ziplock baggie and store it in the glove box. Then when he feels the need we can brush either at a rest area or even the side of the road or a parking lot with bottled water.


• Pack a few balls and a Frisbee which can be easily accessed at a rest area. When you stop for a potty break allow the kids to play ball and encourage them to run, run, run for about 10-15 minutes. This gets rid of the built up energy and can reduce the crankiness in a long car ride.


• Put a towel or folded up old sheet under the car seats to help with spills and drips. Then when you get home from your trip, just take it out and wash it!

Food to pack

Pack items that don't need to be kept cold in a small, sturdy box.

Some of my favorite food items to pack are:

• PB&J sandwiches (which can be made the night before)


• Grapes, apples, oranges (can slice these before hand, eat whole or bring a knife for slicing later..do not try to slice while the car is moving!)


• Carrot sticks


• Sliced cucumbers


• Bagels with cream cheese (spread cream cheese on and put the halves back together and seal in a ziplock baggie)


• Sandwich deli meat. Some of these come in re-sealable containers. My kids will eat this with cheese and crackers and don't need bread, but you could also pack some bread too if you wanted.


• Granola bars


• Cheese sticks


• Red Liquorice (this is my favorite)


• Fruit snacks


• Trail Mix


• Cookies or graham crackers


• Goldfish crackers

TIPS FOR PACKING A COOLER:
1. Ice packs
2. Beverages
3. Bag of ice on top of beverages
4. Sealed containers and baggies of food

This is what works for me. For other great tips check out Rocks In My Dryer

Love letter

Dear Wal-Mart Pet Department Manager:


My seven year old son and I were in your Wal-Mart Pet Department over the weekend looking at the fish and in three different tanks... count them 1...2...3, there were dead fish. I mean bobbing on the top of the tank. Dead. My son thought it looked fun that the fish's were "floating along on their side". I stood there looking at them for a few minutes to be sure they were in fact dead and yes, they were. Thank you that I had to explain to my young son that those fish were actually dead and not playing. Thank you that when I brought it to the worker's attention she stared at me as if I was speaking a foreign language. I explained in several ways that there were dead fish in the tanks and that I thought they should be cleaned out. She didn't seem concerned at all. In fact, she said "That happens all the time." I asked her if she was going to clean them out of there and she said she had other duties to do first. Mind you, when I found her she was leaning over a counter looking at her cell phone (no doubt texting someone).


I am sorry to interrupt her "other duties" to ask her to dispose of dead fish. Seems to me that if I were planning to purchase some fish from your department I would question the health of the fish when there are dead fish in 3 different tanks. But who am I?


Sincerely,


Thankful shopper

Weekend with mom

Spirit has been having some problems over the last couple of weeks so I decided maybe a mommy/son day would do us both some good. I arranged for Lady Bug and Lefty to go to a friend's house because Mr. Man had to work. Spirit and I then spent the morning doing stuff he enjoys, playing video games, we went to the pet store to look at fish and puppies (both of which he wants and didn't get). We ate lunch together and then went swimming - we really had a good time. Then when Mr. Man got off work we all went to dinner together (when asked where he wanted to eat he said: "How about that chicken place dad likes so much?" isn't that thoughtful of him?) and after dinner we went ice skating. Nothing fancy, but a good day over all.

Then it came bed time. The other kids were home and I guess Spirit felt like they were taking the wind out of his sails, but his attitude just flipped. He got selfish and rude. He wasn't appreciative at all. He was mouthy beyond belief.

We gave him a "pass" in hopes that he was just tired. Sunday - no change in the attitude. Then he told his brother that he could never get to go ice skating or to dinner with mom because we don't have money for him. WHAT???? Then he also proceeded to tell his sister that we were going to buy her a new shirt (which we did look at some) but decided she didn't "need new stuff" -- again I ask WHAT??? where is he coming up with this stuff and why is he being so mean to them?? Of course, Lefty and Lady Bug were upset about that so Mr. Man had to talk to Spirit, but it didn't go well. He ended up in bed early last night and the conversation started over this morning, when Spirit got up and mouthed off to his dad.

Spirit is in his room as we speak, writing in a journal about what we did for him this weekend and what he should have done differently to show us he appreciated it. Mr. Man wants a full page report when he gets home from work tonight! (this could get ugly!)

How can something that was supposed to be special have turned into such a mess? Such is life I guess.

Homemade Donuts

I saw this recipe over at The Grocery Cart Challenge and tried it last weekend - they were yummy. We made a glaze for ours too from a recipe I found in a cookbook I had at home. I added the recipe for that below. We made half of ours sugar donuts and the other half glazed.



Baked Sugar Donuts
INGREDIENTS:
2 cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
6 Tbls melted butter
2/3 c sugar


Heat oven to 375 degrees. Separate the biscuits, flatten each to a 2 1/2 inch round. Cut hole in center using knife or a 1" round biscuit cutter (I don't own a biscuit cutter, and the knife worked just dandy!). Dip all sides of biscuits and centers into butter, then into the sugar. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.


For Chocolate Glazed Donuts:


Prepare as above, except do not dip into the sugar after the butter. Bake as directed above.
Melt 4 oz semi sweet chocolate and 3 Tbls butter over low heat, stirring often. Remove from the heat. Stir in 1 1/2c powdered sugar and 3 Tbls HOT water. Stir. Add more hot water until it is spreadable consistency. Spread on cooled donuts.

Road Trip Activity Books

I actually did these activity books for a road trip we took 2 years ago and we still have them and still use them.

I took a 2" 3-ring binder with the plastic cover where you can insert a page in the front as a title page. I then printed off the computer the kids' names so each kid had their own binder.

I bought those pencil holders that have three holes so they can be inserted in a binder. We put a couple pencils, pens, colored pencils and a few markers (I put a pencil sharpener in my purse because it made the book too bulky)

Then I downloaded color sheets, tic-tac-toe boards, dot-to-dots, color-by-numbers, etc. from the Internet. I even did some math pages and writing practice sheets. (You could include lined notebook paper or even a separate journal to encourage a child to write about the road trip.)

I 3-hole punched these and put them in the books. I made extras for when we got to our destination I could throw away the "used" pages and add some new ones. I packed the extras in my suitcase (just laid them flat in a file folder on the bottom) and they didn't take up much space. These were great and even kept the kids occupied in the hotel when we needed them to sit and wait on us for whatever reason.

This year we are going to take them with us on our road trip to my niece's wedding in August. After the wedding some of us are going camping along the Oregon coast so I am hoping that if we get some bad weather or need to entertain the kids that the books will come in handy then too! Because they aren't too bulky, they are going to fit nicely in our tote bag and I can still have room for a few other items in the bag too, like snacks or whatever.

Here are some great websites for printing pages:

Family Fun Printables

ABCTeach

Print Activities.com

School Express

KidZone

DLTK

TLS Books.com

Coloring Book Fun

PBSKids

Preschool Education

First School

Lil' Fingers

Moms Mini Van

Here is a link to print out a Map to play the license plate game.

Activities for Kids

Raising boys

You will have to forgive this vent session, which, as I re-read it, is more like a pity party, but I need to write it down and get it off my chest... so here it goes:

I am not really sure why God thought I needed two boys and why he thinks I know how to raise them. Because every day they do something new that boggles my mind and totally makes me feel like a worthless parent!

I am the baby of six, there are 4 girls and 2 boys. My brothers are 14 and 15 years older than me so I never got to see my mom dealing with 6 and 7 year old boys who do wild and crazy things. My mom has told me about my brother Scott climbing trees, jumping off the roof (which resulted in a quick trip to the ER), hanging by his pant leg from the clothes line, etc. but I never got to see how she handled these situations.

I freak out when the boys wrestle because I just know someone will end up hurt. I can't stand to watch them climbing things or racing fast down the hill. Mr. Man continually says to me "They are boys. That is what boys do."

This morning I realized I just have no clue how to discipline a boy, or when to actually do the disciplining. Today I feel like such a bad mom. I have no clue what I am doing here with these boys of mine!

This morning, for instance, I watched the boys chase each other through the house and then one tackled the other. All this ended with one crying. I then started to talk to them and Spirit yanked something out of Lefty's hand and the thing went flying right at my head. I tried to take Spirit's arm to lead him to a chair so we could talk and he yanked his arm out of mine. I then got upset and grabbed him by the back of the neck and led him upstairs to talk. He told me that he hates his brother -- that hurt me. I don't want them to hate each other and I'm sure he really only hated him for that moment, but it still hurt. I didn't know what to say though. I tried my best. I thought we resolved it. We both headed downstairs. I had to leave for work and Spirit followed me out. Then when I said my goodbyes to him I asked him to go back inside. He said he didn't want to. I said I needed him to. He got defiant and said he wasn't going inside. I had to get firm again and he reluctantly went inside.

As I drove away I felt like I just didn't handle the situations right and frankly, I have to admit that I am glad I am not home and don't have to deal with them all day. I am either not firm enough or too firm or what I say isn't working or something. I almost feel like I need some professional guidance in how to deal with things like this.

A pet peeve

After we delivered our stillborn baby, Wesley, 5 years ago, I had to make a trip to the grocery store because even though food was the last thing I wanted, I had two little boys who needed to eat. First of all, I noticed every baby and every pregnant woman. It seemed that there were hundreds in the store that day. I know it probably wasn't any more or less than any other day, but since I was grieving it seemed that babes and pregnant women were at every inch of the store. It felt as though I could not turn my head without seeing one. It cut me to the core every time. Then I got to the checkout and was so sad I didn't speak much to the cashier. As he handed me my receipt he said words that I know I had said to people probably many times before, but at that moment I swore I would never say them again:

"Smile. It isn't that bad."


I didn't say anything, but I thought to myself: "You have absolutely no idea how bad my life is right now."


It was at that moment I decided not to ever say that to someone. It frankly has become a pet peeve of mine, if I hear someone say that I just cringe. I guess it really made me realize that unless you really, really, really know someone you don't know what is going on on the inside of them.


I also acknowledge the fact that this gentleman was not trying to twist a knife in my already aching heart (he would have no way of knowing that my heart was already in shreds), I know he was simply trying to bring a smile to my face, but it stung so bad that I just decided I would not and could not ever say that to someone.

Busted

I sure hope that I can write this and make it as funny as it was in real life...

We were driving home from dinner with my SIL Sunday night. The boys were in the way back of the van and they both took off their shoes and threw them up in the seat where my SIL was sitting -- they fortunately did not hit her, they just landed on the seat next to her (they were not being the best little boys!) I told Mr. Man to deal with it because I was getting really upset with their behavior. Before he said anything to them Mr. Man said "They are so excited to have their aunt here that they are just too wound up." So my SIL turned to them and jokingly said "You're gonna get me in trouble now."

Spirit popped up and said: "Did you take off your shoes too?"

I was laughing so hard I was crying!

Weekend Recap

Our weekend started out with a wedding. I know what you are thinking: "a wedding on Independence Day?", but this is a second marriage for both of them. They each have 3 grown children, they have been having a long distance relationship and this was a convenient day/time for all involved. It was a very intimate, private wedding. It was very lovely too! The wedding was at 10:30 on Friday morning, there was a brunch type reception afterward and then we all helped cleaned up and went about our merry way. Very nice event.

After that we headed home for a quick nap, then we went to a friend's house for a BBQ. They do this every year (at least they have for the last 8 years or so), there are several homes on the block that all participate. They all set up tables in the street with lots of food and goodies. People everywhere, you don't know who belongs to what house or what family. It is a lot of fun. There are volleyball nets set up, kids everywhere, food of course, but my all time favorite is what is in our friend's backyard. He owns a business called White Birds Unlimited so in his backyard is a huge "house" for the birds. He trains his birds so that they can be released at weddings, funerals or other events and they return home. These birds are actually homing pigeons. They are so pretty and so interesting. I am fascinated by them. I love to wander around the "bird house" and watch them, listen to them, admire them.

These birds actually have a more deeper, more significant meaning to me, because after we delivered our stillborn baby 5 years ago our friend asked us if we wanted him to help us do a bird release in our baby's honor. It was so special --Mr. Man and I released one bird together (symbolic of releasing Wesley), then our friend let Spirit and Lefty each release a bird also. We stood by Wesley's name plaque as we did the release. Then we watched as the 3 birds sort of circled together above us before heading home. It still brings tears to my eyes as I think of that day.

But, let me get back to our weekend recap: we hung out at the "bird man's" house (as he is affectionately called by my children) and watched fireworks which put us home about 11:30 pm. The kids had so much fun and that is what it is all about, isn't it? creating memories for them??

Saturday we cleaned and worked in the yard. Pretty unexciting and uneventful!

Sunday was exciting though because my SIL came from Missouri to visit us. She had to head back home this morning, but we were thankful for the day we got to be with her. The boys were in rare form and were not on their best behavior, so she was probably thankful to have to head home today!!!

Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Watermelon slushies

This is a yummy treat to help you stay cool this Independence Day!

Watermelon Slushies

INGREDIENTS:

6 ice cubes

2 c cubed, seeded watermelon

1 tsp honey

Place the ice cubes into a blender. Cover and pulse until crushed. Add the watermelon and blend for about 1 minute, until slushy. Add the honey and blend for 10 seconds. Pour into glasses and serve.

A love for her dad

I went in Lady Bug's room and Mr. Man was in there telling her good night. He was kneeling on the floor next to her bed. I sarcastically asked Lady Bug what she was doing still awake and she said in the sweetest, most gentle voice:

"Loving on my dad."

Oh it melted my heart and I'm sure it melted his too!

Easy Chicken Stir-Fry

I didn't think I was going to be able to participate in this week's WFMW because it is a themed edition -- I didn't think I had a recipe (that I haven't already shared) that had 5 ingredients or less. Then I made this last night and it was very simple and has 5 ingredients!!

Easy Chicken Stir-Fry"

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16 oz) bag of fresh stir-fry veggies (mine had broccoli, sliced carrots and sugar snap peas) **This can be found in the bagged salad section of the grocery store**

1 (14 oz) can or 1 small bag of bean sprouts

1 lb chicken breasts, sliced into strips

1 package of chicken flavor Ramen Noodles

1/4 c soy sauce (or for a variation you could use teriyaki sauce instead)

Remove seasoning packet from Ramen noodles. Cook Ramen noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, saute chicken strips in a large skillet in 1 Tbls olive oil for 6-7 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink. Add veggies and bean sprouts to skillet and saute for 5 minutes, or until veggies are tender, but still slightly crisp.

Drain water from Ramen noodles and add seasoning packet, stir. Add noodles to skillet and mix. Stir in soy sauce. Serve immediately.

This took me about 30 minutes to prepare and that is what Works for Me! For more tips and ideas go to Rocks In My Dryer.

GNO = Girls Night Out

Last night the boys (which included, Mr. Man, Lefty, Spirit and our friend, Dan) went to a baseball game. They left just before dinner and didn't get home until after our regular bedtime. So Lady Bug and I went to a burger place and grabbed some dinner, then we did our grocery shopping. Then after I put the groceries away, we got into our pj's and watched a short movie together. After she brushed her teeth and went potty, we read a couple of books before I tucked her into bed!

I enjoyed my GNO so much and would do it again tonight if I could!!!

Entrepreneur

My kids are entrepreneurs -- not really. Most kids want to sell lemonade or something..... but my kids decided to set up shop on the driveway and sell mints. Yes. I said mints. As in the wrapped mints that the maid leaves on your pillow in a fancy hotel.

They worked this whole thing out on their own. Writing details on a notepad like:

1. Set up table

2. Make sign

3. Get mints

(good idea if that will be your product of choice!!)

4. Get a bag for money

5. Sale the mints and stickers for 10 cents

(not sure when they decided to add stickers to the product list, but hey good combo I guess???? and yes the list said "Sale the mints..." and not "sell the mints..."

In order to "get the mints" they begged their sister who had a whole big box of them that someone bought for her and she was hording in her purse.... (even at 3 yo she is addicted to her candy). This gave them about 25 mints or so.

When I called my husband to tell him what they were doing he said "Are the neighbors really in the market for a breath mint?"

The college kid from across the street apparently felt sorry for them -- or maybe he really needed a breath mint -- and he came over and bought 5 mints - he opted out of the stickers.

I tried, but was unsuccessful, to get a picture of them sitting at their table. It was so cute... actually they looked a little pathetic, poor things.

They were pretty bummed out that they didn't earn more money, so Mr. Man and I talked about it and we had some stuff set aside as garage sale items. We are going to let them set up a garage sale. Whatever money is earned they get to use it for summer activities with the sitter. (Let's hope it earns more than the mint sale! hee hee)