Friday, July 2, 2010

Full Nest + Full Brain = Brain Dump

I'm sitting here thinking about how I really want to make some Tastefully Simple Beer Bread, but then I don't want to wait an hour for it to bake because by then I'm sure I won't have time to eat it. And I really want a soda, or something fizzy to drink, but I'm drinking boring water instead.

There are 5 boys in my living room watching BOLT on a gorgeous day because I'm too tired to deal with the craziness of them being outside. We've been outside since 8am and came in at noon. I'm hot and sticky and gross and I want to take a shower.... but I can't until this dude comes and picks up the bunkbed he paid for. Or until Jake gets home from the gym. Probably then.

Why are there 5 boys in my living room? I'm babysitting. For my friend who is moving, and I don't like to think about it. At all. :(

Jake always has these great grand ideas for doing stuff together as a family.... but the timing isn't always executed so well. LOL BUT I'm gonna roll with it.... today he wanted to take the boys to the splash pad downtown, but we've got my friends kids until 5ish. So we're going after that. I hope it's not TOO late and they dont' get TOO crazy. Then again, who am I kidding?

I really want to sell that dang couch tomorrow! $40 and I hit the $200 mark! Pair that with the money set aside already to take on the trip and I'll be good!

Trip= Mops Convention in Orlando. ;o) yeah!

I want a new nose ring. I have this month left to keep it in there before I can get a new one put in. I also have to FIND a place to change it out for me.... not sure where that would be around here. Hmmmm......

Jake's home....back to the full nest now. And that shower. I stink.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

The Incentive Program

So, it seems to be working! What you ask? My Incentive Program. LOL

The boys are terrible about going to bed, right? RIGHT. So out of desperation I bribed them. I told them last night if they could go to bed without any problems, without me going up to their rooms, without them coming down to tattle or ANYTHING..... then they would get a prize the next day. Well, they did it....so today their prize was baking cupcakes and eating one. ONE. Let's not get too crazy now. No matter how many I actually ate.... I don't count. ;o)

So, we're at it again tonight.....and tonight they did great AGAIN. So that means I better start getting creative for ideas for fun prizes. A friend suggested taking them to Airmen's Attic on base (where everything is FREE) and letting them pick a toy. Problem with that is that I've NEVER seen a clean toy there EVER and I'm a germ freak....especially since germs breed like rabbits here on base. Sicknesses are passed around here SO FAST it's ridiculous. I'm a fan of staying away from "high traffic" areas.

Instead, she thought of another idea of letting them have a "bubble bath" for their toys in a small pool in the backyard. I'm game for that. Problem now is taking them tomorrow to find a small pool since we don't have one. haha!

I hope I'm onto something great here! If so, it would eliminate a HUGE stress in my life at the moment. Bedtime makes me absolutely insane. Irrate, and insane. LOL Last night was so amazingly good that I watched a movie without interruption AND cleaned the rest of the main level....including mopping floors. I had energy b/c I didn't wear myself out referreeing bedtime for 2+ hours! YES! And tonight, watched a movie with a friend who gabs as much as I do....which is why she didn't leave until 2am....and why I'm on here at 3am.

Priorities people. Priorities. ;o)

Monday, June 21, 2010

Happy Fathers Day!



Happy Fathers Day to the Dad that always makes us laugh! We love you!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Longest week of my life!

Okay, not really, but still.... it was a loooooong week. And we didn't DO all that much, I don't think?

Sunday: I love Sundays because we sleep late, eat late, and go to church late. Church is at 2pm so we have the whole first half of the day to putter around and just be laid back without anywhere to rush. I love that. After church Jake and the big boys went into town while Owen and I just dinked around the house. Him playing and following me everywhere, me cleaning and doing laundry. I love the afternoons when Owen and I get to be by ourselves. So rare with the third child! Sunday night a few friends got together to surprise another friend for her birthday. A very low-scale surprise party, but fun anyway! I made the cake for her, turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. ;o) We didn't wrap it up there until about 1:30. Good thing I live across the street!

Monday: The beginning of VBS is pretty much all I remember. I cannot remember what we did during the day AT ALL. I don't think we did anything big and exciting...I might remember that. Then again, with the way my brain is working these days I might not. LOL
Vacation Bible School started at 5 and only Dylan and Aidan could go. Aidan could BARELY go because technically he wouldn't start Kindergarten this year, but since I'm homeschooling him, he can....therefore he qualified for VBS. ;o) It was from 5pm-8pm alllll weeeeeek loooooong. That made for some seriously late nights all week. Exhausting nights.

Tuesday: I took the boys with me to town. We went and ate lunch at the mall. Everyone got to pick where they wanted to eat so we all got something different. Fun and special for them, but don't think that will be the norm. LOL After that I had to return a swimsuit to Old Navy... and I ended up exchanging it for two aprons they had at the checkout. Sucker for those aprons! ;o) Then we headed down to Victoria's Secret for the semi-annual sale. I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER again take three boys into that store with me again.... especially when they are having a sale. It was AWFUL. I was sweating bullets by the time I was done. It was the fastest I have ever tried on bras and checked out. Ever! To add to my frustration the girl at the counter wanted me to open an account blah blah blah and would NOT leave me alone....meanwhile I have three boys who were NOT paying attention to anything I was saying and were absolutely out of their minds. LOL We rushed home so that the boys could play in the sprinklers, as promised, before VBS. They had about 30 minutes to do that before we had to get ready to drop them off. It was long enough for Dylan and Aidan to get sunburned shoulders and backs though! Yes, mom of the year didn't think about sunscreen since I knew they wouldn't be out there long. Bad. Won't do that again. Owen made it out okay b/c he kept his shirt on, like I asked all of them to do. :o\ After I dropped that at VBS I went grocery shopping with Owen. GOOD GRIEF was that a chore! It was payday so naturally the commissary was PACKED to the brim, and of course I had a huge shopping list since I hadn't been since we've been home from our trip. I made it out of there after almost 2 hours! Longest shopping trip ever. LOL When I got home Jake had just gotten home from the gym and wanted to go to Roughriders for salads.... so we did. After that we picked up the boys and came home to ANOTHER long drawn out night of battling bedtime. They came home each night so wired from the late sugary snack it made for miserable bedtimes! Tuesday was by far our busiest day all week!

Wednesday: rain rain go away! It rained and was yucky all day, so that meant we were all cooped up inside. I think I babysat someones kids this day, but I don't remember. haha! I know I did multiple times this week, but can't remember exactly. LOL Wednesday I don't think we did a single thing outside of the house. :o\

Thursday: More yucky weather which meant more staying inside In the late afternoon we started to get a pretty heavy rainstorm, which turned into horrible flash flooding all over base and in town! Cars were swept down streets, roads were closed, it was insane! Just driving the boys a few blocks to VBS was an adventure.haha! The wall of water that sprayed up on the side of the van was so high and thick you couldn't see out the windows AT ALL. It was actually kinda fun! When Jake got home we all (me, jake and owen) jumped into the truck to drive around base and look at all the flooding, but it had all drained in a short time. It was still raining, just not as hard anymore. It was a needed break though, the flooding was insane! Thursday night was by far the WORST night with the boys and bedtime. The fourth night of still being awake at midnight took it's toll on ALL of us. Many tears were shed.... and not just from the boys! I was exhausted dealing with them. :(

Friday: You guessed it, still yucky weather. It was better than the days prior, but still not nice out at all. Friday I watched one friends three kids in the morning for a bit, cleaned a LOT, and then took the boys to VBS. After VBS (which ended LATE due to awards at the end of the night) my friend and I went out for dinner and drinks at Ruby's. She's moving next month to DC and we haven't hung out since way before we took our trip to Oregon. I'm going to miss her. This is the part about the military that REALLY stinks.... great friends leaving. I hate to think about it. She's one of my closest friends here. :( After dinner we went to the store and got some drinks and went to another friends house and just had a nice night of hanging out the three of us. I love those nights when you just sit around and gab and laugh a LOT. We laughed so hard we were crying. I love that! I finally got home about 2:30 and into bed by 3:30.... late night!

Today: nothing exciting again. Cleaned up from the mess the boys made this morning when they got up before us, then puttered around the house taking care of other things. It AMAZES me how quickly a house can go downhill after just a couple days of not constantly cleaning. Makes me angry actually. LOL Jake is out tonight at a movie with his friend, they went to see A Team. The boys are in bed now and have gotten in trouble twice already for playing instead of being quiet. I hate hate hate bedtime. Hate it. I don't know what is wrong with my children that they don't wind down until about 11pm. Never fails. No matter what we've done that day. Makes me CRAZY. :o\

Tomorrow is Father's Day. Jake wanted to go out to eat today but I swayed him into doing it tomorrow instead since it's Father's Day. ;o) The boys and I got him some gifts so that'll be nice tomorrow. Church and probably dinner out. I wonder if I should make him a cake?? Do you make cakes for Father's Day?? LOL

And I'm spent. Reliving the week has made me cross eyed! And I didn't even include everything! Off to spend some time by myself, maybe go to bed early....what a thought! ;o)

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Family Date Night: dinner and a movie!

Tonight we took the boys to see Furry Vengeance (click on that and watch the trailer!) For a family movie it was pretty good.... no bad language at all really, that I remember anyway...and I'm usually pretty good about that with the kids. The theater was PACKED with kiddos and parents. On base, you find that A LOT no matter WHAT the rating is.

Owen sat with one of us the entire time b/c he was too little to sit in the seat without it folding in on him. haha! Dylan did awesome through the entire thing! Aidan sat in my lap a few minutes into it. He got antsy and wanted to go home halfway through the movie. As my mother-in-law said tonight, he is SUCH a homebody! He really is. He'd rather be home than just about anywhere. ACTUALLY, he asked if we could leave and go to Michelle's house. haha! He loves her!

Before the movie we went and ate at the bowling alley. Whoopideedoo.... but the boys LOVE it. To them it's so exciting! So, that works for all of us. Exciting for them, quick and easy for us!

All in all, great family date night! Now, at 11:10pm, Jake and I are going to watch a movie by ourselves. Night owls. ooh ooh!

Friday, June 11, 2010

Aidan ain't got nothin' on Peter Piper's Peck of Pickled Peppers!

Here is something my Mother-in-law sent me in an email. I laughed so hard!

I forgot to tell you an "Aidan" story before you left though... One afternoon while you kids were out, Aidan came in and wanted to know if he could have some pickles -- he had seen a big jar of them sitting on the garage floor (thanks to g'pa bringing stuff home from his parents' house) and he wanted some of those -- because they were round...he doesn't like the long ones. ;o) ANYHOW, I told him that I already had some pickles open and asked him to try those first to see if he liked them. BOY! Did he LIKE them -- and wanted me to make him a sandwich with them...you know, like the hamburgers. I said, "Well, sweetie they put dill pickles on those, and these are sweet pickles..." No, he insisted he REALLY liked these. So I got a piece of bread (half of a left over hamburger bun), and while I was following his instructions, Dylan came in.
He gets all excited telling Dylan how WONDERFUL these pickles are...and keeps saying, "Dylan these pickles are really, really, really good!!"
Dylan is obviously dubious, so Aidan amps it up!! He goes, "Dylan, these pickles are really, actually, LITERALLY delicious! I LOVE these pickles!"
I was laughing so hard I could hardly get the mustard and ketchup onto the bread -- oh, yes...mustard and ketchup in "measured" amounts! He told me EXACTLY how much to put on....and how many pickles (2)...and how I should center them on half the bread!! HILARIOUS!! He ate every bite though, and seemed to enjoy it!
I asked Dylan if he wanted pickles too. No thanks -- he would take banana bread though. ;o)

Thursday, June 10, 2010

The ugly side of bedtime.....

So, I don't want to become THAT mom blogger that never tells about the ugly side of things. If I let it look as though my children only threw mild fits, then I'd feel awfully bad if I slipped and called them nasty buggers that made me want to pull my hair out and run away..... because that would make me a bad mom, right? Huh. Well, call me a bad mom, but sometimes they are nasty buggers that make me want to pull my hair out and run away! Like tonight. Perfect example.

Setting: Watched a friends FOUR GIRLS tonight. Ages: 1yr - 7yrs. Oh yes. It was a VERY full nest tonight!

Our plan: to put my kids to bed, put two of hers to bed, let the older two lay down with a movie in the play room, while WE watched a movie.

Her husband: deployed.
My husband: working.
Us: desperate for adult time. SO desperate in fact that we think our plan will work.

Reality: My oldest two were absolutely OUT OF THEIR MINDS INSANE with antics. Like one telling the other he hoped that he would put scissors in his mouth, fall, and choke on them. Why? Because he wouldn't SHARE the scissors. UM, HELLO! It's BEDTIME! What the crap are you doing with SCISSORS IN BED! I told the well wisher that HE could put the scissors in his mouth if he'd like, and he burst into tears and said no. Not so nice when it's turned around now is it? Then we had to have the talk about killing your brother and how not very nice that is. Then we had the whole "you need to apologize and tell your brother NICE things.... like how you love him and care about him and don't wish him dead. Things like that."

Then, I SWEAR, they were up NO LESS than 15 times. My poor poor friend just stared at me at one point and said "Brandy, I just want to tell you that I really really love you, so much, and I'm SO sorry you've had a bad day. And I love you." I said "WHERE ON EARTH DID THAT COME FROM?!" and she said "I just want you to know that, because I love you, and I have to tell you.... that you have two little children trying to creep down the stairs RIGHT NOW, and I'm sorry for you." No sooner had those words escaped her mouth, did you hear the pitter patter of feet barrelling up the stairs back to their beds. This went on for the ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE MOVIE.

Heaven help me.

Now, the pretty side of this.... is that when they do wrong, THEY KNOW IT, and try to sweet talk me and give me all kinds of lovin.... and when I tell them NO WAY JOSE YOU CANT SWEET TALK ME they throw themselves on the bed and wail in yet another attempt. The beauty of the night though....is that right now they are finally asleep. FINALLY ASLEEP.

And this.... is a night in the life of a full nest. I kid you not. Anyone know where I can go to get a grip on bedtime?!

OY.