Surrounded by boys.

My daughter cracks me up. Today we had a play date get canceled. My daughter was quite disappointed so her colors began to show. She looked at me in desperation and said, “But mom I HAVE to have a friend over, I am surrounded by boys, and they are so mean to me.” Being perfectly aware of her own feminine dominance she tries to use over the boys I said, “Honey, I think we both know how you talk to the boys at times. Her response, “Mom, seriously, they MAKE me yell at them.” Haha I just thought that was so cute. Hey I gotta hand it to her for trying. Some how she was able to able to survive the day here with ALL the boys. They ended up playing four square together, and hitting golf balls with the kid clubs. It was cute to see. While they played I finished cleaning out the boys closet, which was much easier now that Bo was outside rather than in the closet with me. I spent 20 min. sorting clothes putting the ones to small for Josh into a storage bin. I turned my back to put the ones too small for Bo in a bag and when I turned back around there it was upside down. Oh yeah. Good thing he's cute I tell ya.

Spring-cleaning, time to get out the power tools.

Well, yesterday I started my first step of spring-cleaning. I know right, I am way on top of things. This nice weather has just begun and I am spring-cleaning like a good little housewife. Well, the truth of the matter is I haven’t done “spring cleaning” since we moved in. Yeah, and that was 5 years ago this May. Five years makes for A LOT of grime build up on the top of my cupboards. I finally had a moment to take my winter décor down and knew I should take this opportunity to wipe down the tops. Cause let’s face it, once I put my summer décor up there it was going to be another year before I got to it, cause I am not taking the stuff down again until Winter, and I don’t spring clean in the Winter, I have absolutely no motivation then. At least the warm whether gets me in the mood for that fresh clean feel. Anyway, I got my hammer and chisel out and went to work on the petrified layer of dust, and grease in the areas above my stove. Oh my gosh it took me forever. I would like to say that the experience has motivated me to wipe them down after each décor change, and perhaps it will, but more than likely the hammer and chisel will have to come back out in another 5 years. But at least I am off to a good start, by the end of the weekend I hope to have “power washed” my fan blades. I also hope to power wash my garage floor; I just pray there is still concrete under all that dirt! That truly is no exaggeration.

The boogie man must be real.

Well I am here to tell you that the “boogie man” must be real and he lives with us. It is the only way I can explain how everything gets left out at my house. It never fails, I walk into the office to find the crayons and coloring book out, or kids coats will be on the floor rather than hung up, or various toys will be around the house. However, when I say who left “this” out, all three answer, “not me.” And when I even suggest that someone may have forgotten that it was them, oh my gosh, they are so offended that I don’t believe them. My question is do they not see the craziness of the fact that NO one left these items out. Do they think we have little invisible friends that live here, or perhaps and army of ants came through to play a practical joke on us. Well, I have resolved myself to the fact that it must be the “boogie man.” When I was in high school my Dad used to claim he lived in the crawl space under our old farmhouse. So I just figure he has relocated and is living here.

Been there, Done that...what is your story!?

So this story goes out to all of you with little boys! I want to hear your “Been there done that” story. This nice weather and thinking of potty training Bo, reminds me of a story about Timmy when he was 4. He turned 4 in May and it was during ball season that June. Michael and I were watching Kate play ball from the first baseline side. We let Timmy go with Josh over to the bleachers on the other side. We kept an eye on him from a distance. He like walking up and down the empty set of bleachers. Well, on one of his trips to the top I saw him take “The Stance”. Every mom knows what “The stance” is. I began to head that way thinking to myself, “surely he isn’t going to… uh oh he is.” And then I saw buns. He was facing away from the crowd, so that is all anyone else could see too, aside from the stream arcing out onto the grass. He was taking a leak. I ran over there as fast as I could and stopped the sideshow. Earlier that month as summer started take off, I had told him he could pee outside if he didn’t want to come in to use the bathroom. I figured anything to keep him from holding it to long and having an accident. Seemed harmless, until there we were at a ball game. I had to explain the difference between our back yard and crowded public places.

So, please share your stories too, I would like to know I am not the only one with a kid taking a leak in public! Ha ha. :)

Why do they take things so literally?

Why do they take things so literally? I would say to get away with whatever they can. But I sometimes can’t help but laugh. Today, at a birthday party, Bo picked up someones pop can and went to take a drink. Quickly, I said, “Bo! No, don’t put your mouth on that.” Sensing my urgency he immediately pulled his head back. And I repeated, “Don’t put your mouth on that, o.k.” So he leaned down and stuck his tongue out to touch the opening on the top of the pop can, slobbering all over it. His mouth was not touching it at all, of course now it was covered in drool. Thank goodness the drink was already finished. As frustrating as it can be when he pushes the limits, sometimes I just can’t help but laugh.

Perfect Day

I woke up this morning to the birds chirping and the sun shining through my window. My kids popped right out of bed when I woke them up for school, and they were so polite to each other at the breakfast table. And then they each gave me the sweetest kiss on the cheek as they walked out the door five minutes early. Bo listened so well today. After I put the turkey in the oven, we went for a stroll through our hayfield looking at the grasshoppers and butterflies. Later I picked up the kids from school and no body fought over the front seat or complained about who was touching who on the way home. When late afternoon arrived and it was time to prepare dinner, Bo sat at the kitchen table and colored in his coloring book. I could see his halo glistening above his head. My older kids ran to do their chores and even did a few extras. They said they thought I worked hard enough and just wanted to help me out cause they love and appreciate me so much. I strapped on my apron and prepared mashed potatoes and homemade gravy. And thought I would throw some homemade chocolate chip cookies together since everything was going so smoothly. Then just in time the turkey thermometer popped and the turkey was as pretty as if it was Thanksgiving. Just as I was putting the turkey on the table with the rest of the prepared food my wonderful husband walked through the door. He smiled at me with a twinkle in his eye, kissed my cheek and pulled flowers out from behind his back. He said I was the greatest wife ever and he was giving me the night off tonight. The kids cheered in agreement. They all volunteered to clean up after dinner so I could relax. That evening we all sat on the couch reading Dick and Jane laughing together at the funny stories. Then off to bed the kids went and just as I was about to kiss their little angelic faces, “BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!!” I flung my arm over and slammed down the snooze button on my alarm.

All in all a good day.

Well today was a pretty smooth day. We watched curious George to start the day, and then Bo played with his friend till lunch. (I was babysitting) Lunch was rather calm. Aside from Bo putting Mac and cheese on his eyelids, can’t really complain. Bo only took the pillows off the couch 2 times today so I only had to re-do the couch twice compared to 15 times. He does put them back on the couch when I ask, which is so cute, but I still have to re-do them properly. That is my OCD kicking in. Although I have to say, since I have had Bo my OCD has calmed down a lot. I think mostly out of sheer exhaustion. I just don’t have the energy to be as picky as I used to be. There are crayon marks on my walls and stale goldfish under my couch. And lets face it, if it lands on the floor and you can’t visibly see anything stuck to it well, right back on there plate it goes. I am sure they consume a lot worse when I’m not looking. I have drawers that need to be cleaned out and cupboards that need to be wiped down outside and inside. I don’t even want to tell you how much dust I notice had collect in one of my cupboards. If I don’t clean my fan blades before I turn them on this spring all the furniture will acquire a certain texture like pattern I am sure. Either that or we will all need breathing treatments. Funny how 4 kids will tame the clean freak in ya. Well, maybe not tame, more like BREAK. Cause I still would like to be a clean freak. I just don’t have the energy.

Speaking of energy, my day ended with that insane workout called insanity. I am still wondering why I subject myself to the torture. Every time I am about half way through the work out I say to myself I am NEVER going to do it again. And then when it is all over it does feel good and so somehow I keep dragging myself bag for more. We shall see how long it lasts. I feel better during the week after working out.

Just a little Rambling

The past few days have been busy, but pretty good. I don’t recall too many Bo catastrophes. Well, accept for today he climbed to the top of the grain elevator at my in-laws place. But we were able to retrieve him with all his limbs in tact so all in all a successful day. It’s like I tell my husband if we come home with four kids it’s a good day, we strive to come home with the same four we leave with but ya know we gotta be realistic when setting goals. haha My life revolves around a constant head count, that is for sure! Especially these days.

My thighs are finally starting to feel normal again. For those of you who missed that post, last week I started going up to the school to do the insanity work out with others who are clearly insane. I would have thought I would have been in fairly good shape from running after Bo all the time. My biceps should be bulging from carrying him home after he runs off to moms. My thighs should be in great shape from running up and down the stairs to do the laundry, or give Bo bouncy rides on my legs. I get lots of cardio from running down to the jungle gym to Bo off the top of the bars. But for the past week every time I bend down to pick something off the floor I could feel the painful pull in the back of my thigh. Seeing that I have 4 kids and 1husband, there is a lot to on the floor. Now I can finally clean again without wincing and it is time to go back to the workout again tomorrow. Oh boy.

Have a little patience with me.

“Be patient with yourself”. Through all the training I have been through with Dean he is constantly telling me to be patient with myself. I am continually learning and growing, and I do love all the amazing concepts I have learned through the principals TurningLeaf teaches. I just want to learn it ALL yesterday. I see where I have grown and I just want more. At times I get impatient with my shortcomings and then I even find myself getting impatient about the fact that I still get impatient with myself. It is in those moments that I have to remind myself, that Life is not about perfection, it is about progression. Which is in fact a concept TurningLeaf teaches, and I have sincerely grown to love it. It reminds me that the valleys we sometimes find ourselves in aren’t bad. They are all just a part of the climb. The adversity we experience in the valley teaches us and gives us amazing insight into ourselves. It is because of what we learn in the valley that we truly appreciate the view from the mountaintops. So today I challenge anyone reading to have a little patience with yourself. Look at yourself honestly without judgment. In order to keep progressing we have to embrace our humanity. Stop comparing ourselves to what we think we should be. Stop belittling our accomplishments while holding a magnifying glass over our weaknesses. Everything is a stepping-stone. Even our mistakes are one step closer to our goals than just standing still. So today give yourself permission to be human and enjoy all the fascinating aspects of LIFE!

Me in a nut shell

For the past 10 years I have been pursuing a degree in motherhood. I have mastered many ways to change diapers. These include, but are not limited to “The wiggling kid”, “The stand up change” and the “in the car while at a stop sign change”. I can successfully cook a meal with a baby on the hip, while a 3 yr old is whining about how hungry he is, and still manage to prepare my 9 and 10 year olds for the debate team with the subject of “chores”. My second major is in medicine. I can now diagnose 7 shades of snot, easily judge how much blood warrants a trip to the emergency room, and I can man 3 kids with the stomach flu all at once. Oh, yeah, and before all of that I did something else too. I think I worked in an office or something. Oh, well, those skills are useless now anyway.

As a life coach I believe we are all amazing human beings. We are all great spouses, great parents, and great friends. And the only thing that ever stands in our way from empowering our greatness is ourselves. My objective is to help people see who they are, step out of the self-doubt, and move forward, living each moment knowing they are amazing. I want to help them accept themselves embracing their mistakes knowing it is perfect, not to be perfect. And to realize as we accept our humanity, our greatness can’t help but shine.

Seriously, is frozen pizza that hard to make.

It was a regular Monday. Laundry to do! I also had other TurningLeaf work to catch up on. Bo laid down for his pretend nap and I was able to accomplish quite a bit. I picked the kids up from school and when we got home they all scattered to do their chores so they could have “free time”, and I stuck Bo in front of a movie hoping to get a little more computer work done. It is impossible to be on the computer while he is awake. The computer is like a magnet to his chubby little body and he just has to push the buttons. But all was calm while he was watching the Rescue Rangers and I was typing away.

And then I got the call AGAIN. It was my mom telling me Bo was at her house, AGAIN. So I thru the frozen pizza’s in the oven and ran across the yard to get Bo. I brought him back and my oven had shut off, I must of pushed the wrong button while setting the timer. So with pizza’s in the oven I started heating it again. I put Bo back in front of the movie, hoping to quick finish up. Then the smoke alarms went off, letting me know the pizza was done(those of you who have read my past posts know what I mean). I opened my oven to find two of the pizza’s were rather well done. Yeah, the bottoms were black. So I had to pop one more in. Fortunately, I had a spare. I mean seriously, the whole reason we were having frozen pizza was to be quick and easy. And do the smoke alarms have to go off EVERY time I make them.

So finally I salvaged dinner, and we headed to up the school to try the Insanity workout they are doing up there. All I can say is they picked a very appropriate name. It is absolutely insane!!!!! I thought I was going to die. Maybe I did die and I am having an out of body experience. No, if that was the case I don’t think I would feel my aching muscles. So if anyone is looking for a torturous workout come on up.

After sending my body through the gauntlet I was home with appointments and more work. Now I am almost done and looking forward to my bed and TV. Hope you all had a great day. I am sure if you are parents it was eventful as well.

I have to say this week Michael’s project is installing locks at the top of the door where Bo can’t reach. I wonder how long that will last.

First day of wrestling

An exciting day today!! My oldest boy wrestled his first wrestling match. I spent my first of many, I hope, days in a gym on the bleachers. A gym full off sweaty, stinky adolescent boys, some of which take any moment to show off their muscles when ever they can, so funny. I sat there in those bleachers for a total of four hours and my son wrestled for a total of 30 seconds, counting both his matches. He lost both matches and yet I was sooooo excited. I was already ready for the next meet. Bleacher butt here we come. I am just so proud of my boy. He was nervous and he is so new to wrestling he knew it would be tough, but he took on the challenge. He inspired me today. He knew he was going to take a beating, but he also knew he was going to have to start somewhere and was willing to take the risk to LEARN. He is excited about what he learned today and told me he plans on practicing those techniques this week.

Is it summer yet?

I got home today and I was grouching a bit. The snow had melted and it revealed A LOT. First I counted 10 piles of dog poo from the dog we don’t own but thinks it lives here. It is my mom’s dog and she is my neighbor, so yeah, along with our cat that my hubby finally talked me into, we also kinda have a dog, even though the only pet I wanted was a fish. Along with the poo were various toys that never got put away. Two squirt guns, a bat, two little tykes cars, two sleds from winter, a water balloon launcher, and a fisher price lawn mower. And if that is not enough Michael never put the hose away, and it is not even wrapped up, it is strewn about the yard. I like things in order. I like things to be in their place. Too bad I am the only one in my family who shares such feelings.

So, aside from my yard looking like an abandon day care I am loving the warm weather. I usually will take the mud in stride as long as it is warm enough to go out without a coat.!! I was definitely made for summer. So today I was vacuuming out my van while Bo played in the yard. The next thing I know he is in the sand box. So not only is the sand box muddy from the rain and melting snow, but the BIG bucket of sand toys is full of water and he is filling up his toys and dumping them out like it was 80 degrees. And then I notice he is not wearing his boots. His once white socks are vary brown. Being the responsible mom I am I figured no use in disrupting playtime now, it is to late to save the socks any way. He was happy and out of my hair!! So when he came in I asked him where his boots were. He said, “They are stuck!” and he pointed to the sandbox. Sure enough they were stuck in the mud. He had to pull his feet out to even walk. I couldn’t help but laugh.

Is my kid over there?!!!

Yeah, so last Sunday I was preparing my house for company. We all piled out of the van and each ran to do various tasks around the house. The one task I forgot to assign someone was “watching Bo”. At some point in time I called my mom to ask her for some eggs. She is my neighbor so it is easy to send one of my kids to what I call the closest store ever!!! Well she answered the phone and as I was asking her if she had eggs I heard her say, “Does Bo have chocolate all over his face.” Now I knew which one of my kids was covered in chocolate. It was Bo of course. What I didn’t understand is how she knew. I was like yeah, and then I here her say “hey buddy do you have chocolate all over your face?” “Oh my gosh, is my kid over there!” I exclaimed. “Yup” she said with a laugh. “Wow, well I am glad he didn’t decide to walk to the Dairy Kreme.” I said.

Yeah. Not my best parenting moment “again”. Thank God my neighbor isn’t crazy. Well, not any crazier than the rest of us in the family.

So sweet while they sleep

Every night before I turn out my own lights and fall asleep I slip into the kids room and check on them. Sometimes I just stare at them while they are sleeping. Looking at there calm serene faces I just let the crazy events of the day fade. They look so precious and so fragile. In these moments I feel so in awe of my maker. What little miracles I have sleeping so sweetly. I just love to here them breath. Not a care in the world they just lay fast asleep. It has been a long week. For those of you who have been reading, the test result for Bo’s rash came back and we found out he had MRSA. Fortunately it was the community kind, which is more responsive to antibiotics, and the one the doctor prescribed worked, however the mental stress of it all was exhausting. So especially after weeks like last week I find myself just soaking up these quiet moments when they are so peaceful.

So no crazy stories today, just resting and thankful that all is well.

And then they grew up

I remember when Josh was just a baby thinking he would never be in Kindergarten, and now he is in fifth grade. Sometimes my life is so tied up in my two year old I have to stop and take a moment to realize how grown up my others are getting. Josh and Kate had their DI competition today and they had to do an improv skit. Their whole team did great. It was so cool for me to watch both of my kids plow through nerves and put on a good show. My daughter, for those who have read about her “drama” did put all that flare to good use. I do believe your greatest weakness is also your greatest strength. Later that night they were telling me about their awards and I just looked at them and soaked up the moment. They seemed so grown up. I am so proud of them and I just hope I soak up every moment I can. It is going by faster than I ever thought it would! I am sure most of you would agree. From getting up in the night to crayons on the walls sometimes it feels as though they will never grow up…. and then one day you look at them and realize they have been growing up the whole time.

Thank God for ice cream!

Well this will be short cause I just can’t wait to climb under my electric blanket at watch TV. Bo is recovering. He is on an antibiotic. Yesterday I spent most of the day next to him watching cartoons. He was too uncomfortable to walk. But today the antibiotic was obviously working cause he was back to his busy self. The day went pretty good just a little chaos in the end when I was trying to clean the house of course. I was mopping my floor when Bo decided to go outside in his footy pajamas with no shoes. Then later he was coughing (yeah, on top of everything else he has a cold), while coughing he gagged and through up on my couch. Yuck. Then not missing a beat he and Ayden (his 1 year old cousin) took all the pillows of my couch so they were scattered all over the floor. I soon realized trying to clean the house was just not worth it.

So I cleaned up dinner and gave him a bath and put on his clean PJ’s. And as soon as Michael and Jake walked through the door Jess and I ditched them all and went up to the dairy crème to get flurries with chocolate ice crème, stuffed with reeces peanut butter cups. Cause nothing like a good Flurry after a long week! Funny thing is 2 days ago I was laughing at all the people in line for ice cream with the snow all around, and now it was me!!!!

Well, that about raps it up. I am glad my boy is on the mend, and I am very thankful for ice cream too!!!!!!

A trip to the doctor, what fun.

What a day. My poor baby has some sort of skin rash and I had to take him to the doctor. I am sure any parent can totally relate to how enthused I was about taking my 2 year old to the germ infested waiting room where I would have to spend all of my energy trying to keep him occupied while trying to put out of my mind the little green gremlin in my brain screaming, “eewww, germs!” every time he touched something else. And then on to the back room, a whole new set of germs, cause face it I hardly think he is going to contain himself to the little isle of paper on the table/bed, whatever they call it. I call it that table that is just one more thing for me to yell at my kids about while waiting, “stop pushing the buttons, leave the table where it is at, stop playing with the paper, don’t lick the paper, don’t sit under the paper etc.” I am sure there are more; just thinking about it again has made me to exhausted to recall everything. Today when the doc walked in the paper was torn into at least 4 pieces and scattered on the floor. But hey I was just happy I got him to quit playing the with “hazardous trash cupboard”. Oh yeah and ya gotta love that spinney chair, especially if you have more than one kid in the room. The range of games they come up with. We have the obvious take turns spinning each other, but my favorite is “hey, lets see how fast we can go and crash into the wall. Finally, after what seems an eternity and I am about to commit myself to the mental institute if I have to be boxed in with the toddlers any longer, the doc arrives.

This is where the real stress kicks in. My poor baby is in a lot of pain from his rash. It hurt just to barely touch it. Well I had to hold him down so the doc could get a culture done. Poor thing. It just drained the life right out of me. I just hate to see them suffer.

Finally after 2 hours the trip was over and we were headed to pick up the antibiotic.

What I found endearing about today was when it was all over and he was lying in my arms nothing else in the world mattered. I didn’t care that he through paper all over the doctors room, I didn’t care that he makes 50 million messes a day, I didn’t care about the play dough in the carpet or the crayon on the walls. All I cared is that he was going to be ok and that his chubby little face was in my lap. And I think to myself, it is all worth it. All worth it to have the privilege to love someone so precious.

Where is the silver lining.

Silver lining, silver lining, sliver lining. OK so any of you who have read, “why I write” at the top of my blog knows what I mean by silver lining. I just keep saying it to myself to somehow convince myself to find it for today. It has just been one of those days.
I woke up with a cold accompanied by a headache. Fortunately I was able to convince Bo to watch cartoons for a while so I could take some painkiller and lay down longer.
The rest of the afternoon mostly consisted of laundry and cleaning, a typical Monday. The time came to pick up the kids and I headed to the garage and saw our cat in the front window. At that moment Michael’s words from this morning came back to me, “have you seen the cat, I couldn’t find him last night or this morning, is he in the house somewhere?” Well, I found him and was scared to open the door. Sure enough I opened the door and the odor of cat pee hit me in the face. Oh my Gosh, the pet that I didn’t really want, cause I didn’t want something else to clean up after took a leak in my van. Not my happiest moment. I called my husband leaving such a cheerful message using all my polite words as you can imagine. He called me back and said he found the van door open last night and shut it before he went to bed. He didn’t know the cat was in there. When I picked the kids up I told them when Dad got home they would need to clean the van out with him. There comment was “why do WE have to clean up after the cat.” I told them cause it was their pet. They saw fit to respond with “well he is your cat too you should have to help.” Yeah, I probably should have waited until the steam quit blowing out my ears to respond. It could have been a better parenting moment. Nope, instead I said, “ I never wanted the cat because when it came to cleaning up its messes, I figured the kids would complain about it. So if you really don’t want to clean it up let me know I will give the cat away tomorrow.”
So they cleaned it out and sprayed it down with odorban. It is now airing out in the garage. We made sure the cat was locked out tonight. I am hoping it works. So maybe someday I will laugh at this moment, but not today. We will see how it looks tomorrow.