Wow

Earlier this week a friend of mine asked me if I would mind bringing my children to a local nursing home dressed up in their costumes. The plan was for them to go from room to room trick-or-treating, and maybe sing a song or tell a poem. Of course, I immediately said yes (who can turn down the elderly and look classy?), but my heart wasn't in it. I have been tired this week, and really just wanted an evening with nothing going on. But we did it.

When we (Deborah and I) arrived at the nursing home we discovered there was a change of plans. They decided not to have the kids go room to room because the residents could not be trusted to save the candy for the children - and with many of them being diabetic this could be disastrous. SOOoooo, they gathered everyone in the dining rooms and asked my three children to sing for everyone. As I glanced around at their audience tears began to fill my eyes. There were people in wheelchairs, with broken arms, and shuffling around in walkers. One gentleman was enjoying spaghetti, but had lost his napkin and his face and chin were covered. And there was a really sweet lady who kept following my baby around and singing. Even though I have taught my children that beauty comes from the inside, and not to judge by outward appearance, I knew that entertaining this group would be a daunting task for me, let alone three young children.

As I was pondering these things my three children stepped to the center of the room (with Deborah close by to help them stay on tune) and began to sing. They had picked their songs on the way over, and they sang their hearts out. Loudly, and with beautiful smiles on their faces. Then came the best part. As soon as they finished their song, Nathanael began to walk around, hugging every single one of the residents, without missing anyone. The other two followed a little more timidly, but every person in the room received a hug from three separate children. Even the sweet gentleman covered in spaghetti.

We moved over to the next dining hall, and the performance was repeated with a much more lucid, though slightly forgetful, crowd. While my children waited for the residents to gather they hugged and talked with everyone who was sitting and waiting, with Nathanael leading the way. They were all smiling and offering up as many hugs as were requested. Soon everyone was ready, and the kids were able to sing. Many of the residents chose to join in - whether they knew the song or not!! When my munchkins were finished singing they gave more hugs, and then an encore was requested by some residents who arrived late. As they were singing a sweet little lady from down the hall walked up to Noah and began hugging him and petting him and would not let go. Noah stood their patiently, and continued to sing - but the look on his face was priceless, and I got the giggles so badly that I had to walk down the hallway and calm down. One of the nurses finally came and helped her on down the hall. The kiddos then gave some more hugs, and after a final good-bye we headed out the door. Of course, in the lobby right next to the doors there were a couple of women who needed hugs, too, and one of them grabbed Noah and kept talking to him in Spanish and kissing him on his head.

All in all, it went well. After we were in the car and driving away Nathanael said, "That is the best thing I've done all year."

And it was.

Muffin Man ('er Woman?)

The other day I pulled the groin muscle in my left leg. It was truly tragic the way in which it occurred. And my family had NOT one whit of sympathy.

You see, it all started when V and Noey asked me for muffins. They were VERY hungry for them, so I whipped up a batch of delicious pumpkin muffins from scratch (just kidding! box mixes are fab!). However, after the two cousins dissolved into a hysterical screaming fit over bowling on the Wii (their first fight ever, and it was hilarious - I hid in the kitchen and laughed at them!), they had to take a nap. Soooo, the much desired muffins were put on hold until the illustrious older siblings returned home from school.

Finally, the time came, and my beautiful young offspring and niece were waiting patiently at the table. Since I was in a silly mood I began to do a goofy little dance and sing "Do You Know The Muffin Man?" while carrying the orbs of pumpkiny goodness to the table. Sadly, upon one of my beautiful side kicks I pulled my left groin muscle. Said injury was so incredibly painful that I immediately collapsed onto the floor, taking the muffins with me.

In horror, my oldest rushed to my side to save the delectable dessert from becoming dog food. Which is better than the rest of my dear flesh and blood and chosen mate. They all simply crumbled to the floor, overwhelmed by their uncontrollable desire to laugh hysterically.

I simply lay their crying. That is, until I could hobble to the bath tub in the hopes that the warm water would cause the pain to dissipate. And hopefully help me to forget that I injured myself doing a muffin man dance.

My loving husband, however, has been texting me on a daily basis with such phrases as "Do you know the muffin man? Sorry, woman?" and "Can you bring me a muffin sweetie?"

Yep. That's love.

Back to the grindstone

So, now that my birthday week is over it's time for me to get back to eating healthy. I still ran and worked out all week, but I ate quite a bit of "junk" (like german chocolate birthday cake - mmmmm, my favorite!), and I learned a couple of things:

1) When you've been eating healthy foods since August and you eat carbs made out of white flour and fatty foods (cake) you will get a HORRIBLE migraine. At least, I did. And I hadn't had one in such a long time, it was a real bummer. I'm starting to see the benefits to eating healthy and working out - like sleeping better and not having migraines!

2) When you get to eat whatever you want for a week it is incredibly hard to discipline yourself at the end of the week!

So, right now I am cooking two healthy soups to keep in the fridge for me to fall back on when I'm in a hurry:

Cheesy Broccoli Cauliflower Soup (fat free velveeta, fat free low sodium chicken broth, broccoli, cauliflower and a can fat free Ro-tel) and Shrimp Soup (fat free low sodium chicken broth, shrimp, mushrooms, and garlic herb seasonings by Mrs. Dash).

Carl also made some elk jerky over the weekend - which of course I can have for a healthy snack - but Freckles snuck and ate almost all of it so he says he won't make any more until he's the only one at home and he can hide it and dole it out one piece at a time. So sad and selfish. It was delicious, though - so much better than axis (which is really good), and WAY better than mule deer (which is super yuck).

I had a great birthday. My friends gave me a pedicure (thank you April and Jodi!!) and a pink Snuggie (so funny!), I was also given candles and other great stuff. Freckles gave me a beautiful butterfly necklace, and Nathanael gave me the matching earrings. Noah gave me an old fashioned pink alarm clock, and My Love gave me a night at they Hyatt (woo-hoo!) and Under Armour trail running shoes. My doc (who used to run the "big" marathons) said he was all for me running a marathon, but that I needed to be cautious about getting hurt during training. Hence, the shoes. And I LOVE them - my right foot was aching where I broke a piece of bone off a few years ago, and these shoes cushion them perfectly! Now, I just want a body bug to keep track of calories in and calories burned. Oh, and an Ipod (with the arm thingy) so that I can listen to books (ok, and music) when I'm running for an hour or two at a time, I mean eventually I'll be running for 4 hours (Ya, everyone says that you only have to do 14 miles to be able to complete a marathon, but I feel better actually running the full marathon BEFORE participating - it's just me). Anyway, I know, I don't ask for much - I'm such a simple person (haha)!

So, now that my broccoli cauliflower cheese soup has boiled over onto my stove I'm going to go clean it up and take my soups off. Oh, and do the laundry............

Telemarketers

I am convinced that what most people assume to be telemarketers are actually small children playing with their parents cell phones.

After all, my son can't be the only child to call Ohio.

And on a side note, if you eat two pieces of broccoli the night before your 5 year well check you won't have to get shots. At least, that's what Lil Brisket will tell you if you ask.

Captain Underpants

My husband, children and I have always been very close to my Aunt Marianne and her girls. They were the only relatives on my side of the family who lived close to us, and we would get together for every holiday, and during other times of the year. So, you can understand my shock and dismay when they moved far, far away from here and abandoned us here in Texas.

Naturally, when I found out they would be in town for a little while I jumped at the chance to se them. It was so wonderful to see and be with them, and in honor of the day I allowed my two oldest children to skip school and come with me. Of course, I failed to tell my boys we were going to a bridal shower to see them. (I thought I had, they say I didn't). And of course, my children were PERFECT little angels, as they always are. Especially my boys. Freckles truly was sweet and kind to everyone, even if she was just a tiny bit shy. Overall, though, she was simply ecstatic at seeing everyone and - of courser - getting to skip school.

My oldest son, however, was another story. He was, of course, just thrilled to be in a room full of strange women whom he didn't know, and truly adores being able to attend bridal showers - as all 7 year old boys do. He smiled and visited, never once sulking or frowning at people and acting as if he had no idea what manners were. He didn't stomp his feet when I asked him to play a game for me, and for sure didn't throw the cards on the floor haphazardly out of anger and embarrassment during a game of memory. And I am positive that he was not the little boy sitting off to the side, rudely playing tetris on his moms cell phone in a desperate attempt on her part to get him to calm down. Nope, that wasn't my kid. My kids was PERFECT. I can't wait to bring him to more of these functions in the very near future. I think I'll do it right after I take him to a four star restaurant and allow him to order whatever he wants from the menu with no prices by the entree.

Thankfully(?), Lil Brisket was completely comfortable, and acting just like himself. He stuck as close to Julianna as he could (she's his you know) and did his best to charm everyone who looked his direction. Thankfully, he didn't feel the need to yell out random answers to questions that were NOT being asked of him. So when Julianna was asked which scripture character her fiance Jared reminded her of, he DID NOT yell, "Captain Underpants!"

Attack of the killer Bumblebee

We had Lil Briskets family bday party yesterday, and this is what he was given collectively from a couple of his aunts and uncles and his Nani. Carl and I can't stop laughing when he wears it - especially with that big ol' head on and then his little tiny stick legs! If I had shown the whole picture you would have seen that he is, in fact, only wearing his underwear in addition to his marvelous Bumblebee attire. Truly a sight to behold.

Return of the Mighty Hunter

My mighty hunter has returned triumphant. He and his hunting buddy brought home a 300 class 6x6 bull elk from Colorado. The antlers are taller than Brisket, and exactly as tell as Lil Buddy - which he loves! And according to my kids, it's all because they prayed for him to shoot one. They are so proud!

I excitedly congratulated my friend on the new trophy for her home, to which she informed me that her house wasn't big enough so naturally it will adorn the walls in mine. Our husbands, however, have informed us that this massive ornament from nature will travel back and forth between both of our homes. One year in mine, one year in theirs. And, of course, we get to go first.

On a side note, I have 60 lbs of elk steak and hamburger meat, so if you have a great recipe please share!

Pumpkin Muffins

Did you know that pumpkin muffins baked by the pumpkin bread recipe don't turn out so well? Cause they don't.

Nope.

They are still yummilicious, but very sticky and heavy.

I thought about being sad about it, but then I realized that 1st graders who are celebrating a classmates unbirthday really don't care. They are just ecstatic to be eating stuff during class time. And I was right.

They devoured them.

Also, I have learned that if I were a single mom my kids would have breakfast for dinner every night and I would never buy chicken again. I don't really know why, I just don't like to cook it. I think it's a texture thing.

I also learned that my kids would be totally okay with this.

On a side note, the Pillsbury pumpkin cookie recipe (http://www.pillsbury.com/Recipes/ShowRecipe.aspx?rid=18952) is the bestest cookie recipe ever. It really is. Except crystallized ginger is expensive!

I honor of Pammy, I am thankful for cushy blankets, yorkies, pianos, windy fall days and the end of long hunting trips to Colorado to shoot elk when I don't get to go.

Happy Birthday!

Happy 5th Birthday, Lil Brisket!

Today is my youngest baby's birthday, and 3 miscarriages later, we know that he is our last. And so while I rejoice and celebrate this day, a part of me is so sad at how quickly the time has passed with all of my children. They are with us for such a short, short time. What have you done with the time that you have? What have I done? Thankfully, I can honestly say that I have no regrets. I have cherished each and every moment, and will continue to do so....

Thank you, little dude, for all of the joy and adventure that you have brought to our lives! Thank you for the constant smiles and perpetual happiness that you carry with you at all times. Thank you for the cuddles and hugs, the dances and the songs that you sing. Thank you for your crazy words, hilarious little quirks, and horrific science experiments (milk waterfall, anyone? or muffins made out of cocoa powder and water? or how many inches of water can a 2 1/2 gallon jug of water put on the kitchen floor?). Thank you for completing our family in such a fun and exciting way. Here's hoping this is the best birthday you've had so far, and that it's just the beginning of wonderful birthdays to come.

And Happy Belated Birthday to my beautiful cousin Sara. We love you!

I'm ashamed to say

Today I had to bring Freckles to the doctor because of her perpetual sore throat (turned out to be strep throat - did you know you could have strep without running a fever?). While we were there, my beautiful oldest and youngest children sat quietly watching Star Wars and all in all acting like the perfect children that we all know they are. Shortly after we arrived, another small family walked in, consisting of a toddler, daddy and pregnant mommy. And let me tell you, there little one was blessed with a strong pair of lungs, a will of iron, and a very mischievous spirit. As he was running around and throwing magazines on the floor, slamming doors and then crying when forced to stop, a big part of me felt very badly for mommy and daddy, and their failed attempts at discipline. But, as I glanced over at my children, a small part of me - a very small part of me - was oh, so very happy that it wasn't me.

I'm ashamed to say it.

But it's true.

I've learned a few things

I've learned a few things over the last few days:

1) You should NEVER watch Criminal Minds and the Mentalist before walking your dog late at night. In the dark. Outside.
2) Children CAN have strep throat, even if they don't run a fever.
3) When you sleep for 3 days because you've been sick it makes it VERY difficult to sleep at night.
4) Having the bed all to yourself is great - unless you have horrific stomach cramps and nausea
5) It's easy to do laundry late at night.
6) It is NOT easy to clean the house late at night. Especially if you have a yorkie who doesn't appreciate being awakened from her slumber.
7) Lil Brisket can watch Star Wars over and over and over and over and over and over and over......without getting tired of it.
8) When you haven't eaten for 72 hours it is NOT a good idea to eat caramel popcorn and drink Perrier (to settle my tummy) with orange juice (I was craving it). Your tummy will be very mad.
9) Young children will NOT clean the house for you out of the goodness of their hearts while you are sick. They really won't. In fact, they may make it even messier. To the point that you are very afraid to walk through the house that you completely disinfected on Saturday.
10) I really miss Jelly Belly's. Really. And, I think I deserve some.

It's Time

It's time for me to let something go. Something that I have come to depend on over the years. Something that has helped me out in difficult times, and brought some semblance of order to my not so ordered life. They made life easier in so many ways, and prevented many difficult and awkward moments for all of my family members.

I am talking about child-sized hangers.

Up until now, they have served me well. Hanging my children's clothing, and keeping their various forms of raiment color coded to avoid confusion (mostly for the Dad-man :). But, alas, they no longer work. Instead of being met with nice neat rows of orderly clothing when I enter my children's closets, I find clothes hanging on half heartedly. And some who have given up all together and collapsed into an embarrassed heap upon the floors and dressers. So gone are the pretty plastic pink and ruggedly red hangers that joyfully held baby dresses and infant camouflage pants. They will now move onto other homes, to be appreciated and utilized. You will be missed, small, plastic hangers. We wish you well.

Come to Our Party

Come to our sick party, it'll be fun! For games we plan on playing Who Can Take the Longest Nap, Who's Voice Sounds the Most Strange, and Who Can Go The Longest Without Coughing. I have prepared Motrin punch, bowls of cough drops (safety ones for the kids!), and nasal spray for an extra treat. The party has been going on since yesterday, and looks as though it will continue until at least tomorrow. Special activities include Taking a Bath to Try to Make Your Body Stop Aching, and Who Can Keep Down a Bowl of Soup, as well as Keep Yourself Together Enough to Remember to Walk the Dog. The healthy members of our household plan on having a Wii marathon and killing as many brain cells as possible before mom is in her right mind again and makes them stop. In preparation for the party I have washed all the sheets and blankets on sanitary setting, began washing a mountain of laundry, and Cloroxed the entire house. It's gonna be a great weekend.

I am thankful for books, heating pads, TV, medication and, yes, the Wii.

Honor Roll

Freckles received her first graded report card today (they don't do real grades until 3rd grade because of self-esteem issues or some such other gobbledy gook nonsense). Can we say straight A's? We are so proud of her. At progress report time she was sporting two B's, and did a fantastic job raising them to A's. In math she just barely squeaked out a 90, but (unlike her momma) it's not because she's not good at it or doesn't like it, it's because she knows it and she's too busy to spend the time on her math that she should. Ah, well....

Oh, and Lil Buddy got all Satisfactory's on his report card (can't really do better). He had one S- in......you guessed it, handwriting. And can I tell you how proud we are of that S-!!!!! It's been a good day.

Little House on the Prairie Party

Freckles just finished reading the entire Little House on the Prairie series, and Lil Buddy's 1st grade class is currently reading them as well. As a special treat, we decided to have a Little House party. So, I now have to make maple candy, and some other types of prairie foods for us to enjoy. We will also be making our own log cabins out of popsicle sticks and glue, and decorating our own individual quilt squares with fabric markers. Then, we will settle in and enjoy the movie. Probably while enjoying caramel popcorn. All of us think that this sounds awesome - except for one member of the family. He has chosen to actually go and be in the woods, rather than pretend to be. Party Pooper.

On a side note, I have now lost a total of 12 lbs! I am finally down to a healthy weight for my height, and I believe that I am modeling more healthy eating and exercise habits for my children - especially my daughter. Not that we ate badly before, we simply failed to ever do anything even remotely athletic other than go hiking occasionally. My goal now is to get a little more tone to my stomach. I am concerned, though, that after 3 children this may be more of a far off dream, and not a reality. Only time will tell, though. Meanwhile, I have decided to begin training for a marathon. There is one in November, that one of my friends is doing, but there is NO way that I will be ready, so I'll have to wait for one in the Spring. I've always loved dancing, but running has pretty much always been viewed as something very evil and horrible in my mind, and I am slowly changing my mind about it. On the plus side, I feel MUCH better about myself. And while it is very time consuming, and not easy or enjoyable for the most part, I know that it is making me healthier. And that is definitely worth it.

Being a mom

Being a mom means that there are things in my life that I NEVER thought there would be. For example:

*I currently have two tadpoles, floating in puddle water, living in a plastic cup on my counter - my daughter is feeding them turtle food, and they are growing!!! Here's my question, when they turn into frogs, won't they jump out?

*I will wake up at 5:30 in the morning, just to get someone a cough drop (or allow them to take the entire bottle of throat spray and not worry about how much they actually use - just kidding, it was almost empty!)

*I allow my son to wear his Luke Starwalker costume out in public on a regular basis

*I am infatuated with an animated world populated by expensive (but very cute) stuffed animals, and I use my kids as an excuse to buy them

*I get into arguments with my 8 year old about wether or not her hair should be worn down (always her choice) or up (99% of the time my choice)

*I consider calling up a perfect stranger and informing them that their children are horrible little monsters because they made fun of my sons cold sores and made him cry (CONSIDERED, not did)

*I think that high fashion is jeans with a t-shirt and sparkly zebra shoes - they really are cool!

*I believe that when my son has been assigned snack for school the teacher has thrown down the gauntlet, and will use this one simple to test to find out who is the healthiest, most responsible, frugal and kid friendly mom

*I wake up in cold sweats after nightmares of forgetting to prepare lunches even though I know perfectly well that my kids have a lunch account at the school!

*I am not surprised when I am assaulted by angry rocks catapulting themselves out of the washing machine, where they arrived after being wrapped up in coat and/or pants pockets

*I know that black food coloring will never ever ever come out. Ever.

*My counter looks like I raided a pharmacy because of all the prescriptions that my kids are on because of their allergies/sinus infections/sore throats. There are 8, to be exact, and none of them take the same one!!!!!!!

Howdy, With a Chance of Meatballs - Luke Starwalker style

Luke Starwalker using the force. (above)



Opening presents. (above) By the way - I feel the need here to point out that while I don't look that thin in this picture I have lost nearly 10 lbs (thank you very much!), and size 6 jeans are currently too big for me. You probably don't care, but since I've been starving to death on a protein, veggie and fruit diet (okay, I can have whole grain carbs, too) and working out with a drill instructor I needed a pat on the back. Back to the birthday boy.....



The Lightsaber Birthday Cake - I know, I'm a genius! (above)


Since my dearest will be out of town for my youngests birthday, we decided to go ahead and celebrate his 5th birthday early. It was his first friend party, and there were crazy boys galore (girl parties are SOOO much calmer!). It was a Star Wars themed party (of course!) and the Birthday Boy dressed up as Luke Starwalker in honor of the event. He then watched Howdy, With a Chance of Meatballs with his friends. Afterwards, we took our tired Jedi and his two siblings out to eat. He was trying desperately to get the waiters attention, with a very polite, "Sir....sir....sir." When the waiter still failed to acknowledge him before walking off Noah said, very seriously, "I guess he must be scared to talk to a Jedi."

PS - Happy Anniversary Uncle Chris and Aunt Pammy! We love you!

A song Carl could've written

Okay, so I've gone back and forth about putting this video on here, and I've finally decided to go ahead and do it. It is slightly racy (well, as racy as a country song can get), but it is Carl through and through and I thought that it was so hilarious I felt compelled to share it with those I love. For those that I offend, please forgive me, and for those that think it's funny I'm so glad to have made you smile today. Enjoy.............or not.

Pure and Unadulterated

Last night after we got home from church and the boys were preparing to take baths (we thought) Carl heard a funny sound coming from the dining room. He walked in to find Noah lying on his back, spinning in circles (fully clothed, miraculously) with his Bible laying on his face. "I am sooooo tired, daddy. I'm just so very tired." he stated, while continuing with his spinning.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exhaustion. The inability to prevent your body from spinning in endless circles upon a wood floor.

Pure and unadulterated exhaustion.