Christmas Wish List

Everyone can feel sorry for my poor husband and my lack of ideas for a Christmas Wish List. Up until a couple days ago, all I knew I wanted for sure were these:

Bosch Cookie Paddles

I've been wanting these since I got my Bosch 2 years ago. I LOVE my Bosch. I was thinking of writing a post, "How Do I Love My Bosch? Let Me Count The Ways..." Until I realized it would be the most boring post ever. Here is a picture what it looks like instead:

Isn't it pretty?!

Up until yesterday, that is the only thing I could think of that I wanted. But then, I remembered this little gem!

I want this stool. I NEED this stool. It is the best stool I've ever seen.

Sadly, it's too late for me to get it by Christmas. But there's always my birthday! Conveniently just 3 1/2 short weeks after Christmas.

I wonder what my husband has come up with to get me since he's been left to his own devices? I'm excited and also a little scared. If you know Josh, you will understand those feelings. We are opposites that attracted. He's creative and thinks outside the box. I am...well, not creative and never think outside my safe and slightly neurotic little box. Stay tuned!

So a couple days ago I was putting my sons to bed and told them I'd sing them Christmas songs while tucking them in. I have to post this conversation I had with J.J. because I am still laughing about it.

Me - "What song do you want me to sing?"
J.J. - "Um...I want the Chipmunk song."
Me - "Huh?"
J.J. - "You know, 'Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire'."
Me - (laughing)
J.J. - "What's so funny?"
Me - "Honey, it's 'CHESTNUTS Roasting on an Open Fire'."
J.J. - (with a completely confused look on his face) "Chestnuts? Why would you roast chestnuts on an open fire?"
Me - "Why would you roast chipmunks on an open fire?!!"

Does anyone want to help me come up with the lyrics to the next hit Christmas song, "Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire"?

Happy Adoptiversary!

Last Friday I surprised my dad by taking him out to lunch. The occasion? 25 years ago, he legally adopted me. Now I don't have any anger or issues with my biological father, he gave up his parental rights and I'm glad he did. I do still have a relationship with him but it's not a father/daughter relationship, I consider him more of like an uncle, or a friend. When my "step-dad" legally adopted me, he became my father in every sense of the word.

Imagine getting married your senior year in college, and immediately having two children to financially support? Not many men would do that, but he did. Imagine being the youngest in your family, knowing nothing about children, and yet suddenly being responsible for raising two? Yeah, he did that. Sure we had our ups and downs as I was growing up. And as he told me during our lunch date, he had no idea what he was doing a lot of the time. But he taught me how to be responsible, how to work hard, how to think for yourself, and the list could go on and on! He is a listening ear when something goes wrong or I need advice. And I can't count the times he's been at my house helping in the yard, moving furniture, or fixing whatever needs fixing!

Anyway, I just want to say, Happy Adoptiversary Dad! I love you!
P.S. No, that's not Chuck Norris.

Smart Brains!

I know he's only in Kindergarten and it's a little early to brag...but my son is so smart! Krispy Kreme does this thing where they will give kids one free donut for every A they earn on their report cards (up to 6). So I took the boys and they had so much fun watching how the donuts are made, eating them, and getting a major sugar high.
By the way, what is the deal with Krispy Kreme? I think they're kind of gross. WAY too sweet. I can only handle eating one. (Note, I said they are gross but I will still eat one. Apparently NOTHING gets in the way of me eating!)

We went on a date!

Yes yes, it's true.  After over 2 months, we actually went on a date!  For years I'd been wanting to go to the Arizona State Fair with Josh.  Well, after 8 years of living here together, we finally did it!  Man that place is expensive...  But thanks to my superior deal-searching, we did it for relatively cheap.  

First off, I love ferris wheels.  I convinced Josh to go, even though he hates them.  I guess he has a point, for someone who doesn't like heights the ferris wheel could be kind of scary.  

I love roller coasters and thrilling rides, like the "free fall" ride.  Josh braved the roller coaster (again, not a fan) but opted out of the free fall!  I loved it though.  My heart was pounding for 10 minutes afterwards and it was awesome!

Josh may not like ferris wheels, roller coasters, or free falls, but he does love the "gravitron" ride.  Which I HATE!  Surprisingly enough, for a girl who loves scary rides, I can't handle spinning in circles.  Thanks to my migraines and because I'm just getting old, it's a little too much.  But I went on it, and did fine, until Josh yelled over at me to look side to side.  It was ALL over from there.  I almost instantly got sick.  (no puking, just a headache)  Luckily I never leave home without my migraine RX!  A couple relaxing rides on the sky ride later, and I was good to go again.  

We checked out some of the displays.  People collect some WEIRD stuff.

And I can't post about the fair without talking about the FAIR FOOD!  I had Indian Fry Bread, which was delish.  It's funny because Josh didn't get what the big deal was about it, and he didn't want any.  I made him taste mine and he said it tasted exactly like a chalupa from Taco Bell.  Hmm...no wonder I love chalupas...  We also had a fried Snickers bar, which was good but probably not worth the $4.50 it cost.  And finally, before we left, I insisted on some funnel cake!  SO good and SO worth it!

All in all, it was a pretty successful day!  A big shout out to my mom for watching the boys, we really needed the break!

Happy Birthday!

So my baby is 2 years old! I'm a couple weeks late posting this but oh well, story of my life. Here's some pics, feel free to tell me how adorable he is!
I had no idea what kind of cake to make for him since there isn't any particular cartoon character, or anything he absolutely loves. But what he DOES love are pumpkins! It's all he says, all day, even in the middle of the night I'll hear him through the baby monitor randomly saying, "Pumpki!" in his sleep! So I decided to make him a pumpkin shaped cake. (not pumpkin flavor) I have to say, even though it's definitely not the best cake in the world, it's the best decorated I've made so far!
He loved it and after I forced him to taste the frosting, even took a couple bites! He's not my best eater...so that was a big success.

Happy Halloween!

They may be crazy little animals but they're MY crazy little animals! Good thing they can be so cute, so I still love them when they make me want to rip my hair out.

Parenting Predicaments

Sometimes, I just don't know what to do. Is it okay to admit you just don't know how to be a good parent? I read countless books on different parenting methods. I STILL don't know what to do. Some of the situations they describe in these books are just so unrealistic. All the little anecdotes end with the parent coming up with the perfect thing to say, the perfect consequence that will teach their child to learn how to reason with themselves, and needless to say, it all ends perfectly.

Umm....

How about they write a book that is actually useful? Using REAL LIFE situations? Like for example, this morning my 6 year old comes up to me in the kitchen, and throws his school shoes down on the floor, which are soaking wet.
"Trey threw my shoes in the potty!"
"Was the potty flushed?"
"No!"
Sure enough, I go in there, and it wasn't flushed. And it wasn't just number one, if you know what I mean. And now school starts in an hour, and I have my son's shoes on my kitchen floor, covered in...you know what.

Now what am I supposed to do? I can't throw HIS shoes in the potty, because I paid good money for those shoes! He doesn't care about time-outs, taking toys or privileges away, or any other punishment you can possibly think of, including spanking. (did I just admit that on my blog?) We've tried all the rewards systems you can think of, praise for good behavior, earning treats, blah blah blah.

So if anyone out there would like to write a REAL LIFE parenting book that will teach me how to deal with situations like the one described above, or what to say when your child tells you he hates you, when your children fight with each other 24/7, please be my guest. I could REALLY use the help here.

Thank you.
Signed,
Mother of 3 Boys

Has it been 9 years?

One thing Josh and I always joke about on our anniversary is about how it feels like we've been married longer, but at the same time, we can't believe it's been this long already. Make sense? On the one hand, I can't believe it's been 9 years. Time is flying!! On the other hand...it's ONLY been 9 years? It feels longer.

Here's a funny little story to sum up how I feel about marriage in general:

Many moons ago I was a college sophomore in Provo, UT, attending BYU. One cold winter morning, my roommate and I were awakened by a scraping sound. The sound of ice being scraped off of a windshield in the parking lot behind our apartment building. My roommate and I watched this young married couple out of our 2nd story window for a couple minutes and then I opened our window, yelled "MARRIAGE IS TEAMWORK!!" in a really high pitched voice, and then ducked down really fast and my roommate and I rolled on the floor cracking up. I'm sure this married couple thought we were insane, we both share a weird sense of humor and back then yelling random things out our window was hilarious to us for some reason. Anyway, my point is this: I was right. Marriage is teamwork. You both have your ups and downs and it's your job to boost the other when your partner is down. You work together to pay the bills, run the household, raise the kids, and on and on and on. Who knew I had such wisdom when that when I was an obnoxious 19 year old college student?  

I'll say this much, 9 years later I love him more than I did the day I married him.  Happy Anniversary babe!  (even though you'll never read this)

I miss it.

I have a lot I need to catch up on. Like the wedding I attended last Friday, my baby's birthday last Sunday... But first I have to download more pictures and figure out how to put video clips on here. All things I'm too lazy to do right now. So this will be a short little post about something that has been on my mind A LOT the last week, ever since I attended the out-of-state wedding last week.

I miss Utah. I miss mountains, and having four seasons, old buildings downtown, crappy freeways, and weird people. (not that we don't have that in AZ but this is a whole different kind of weird) I miss leaves changing colors, snow falling, 100 year old houses, green grass, trees everywhere... I just miss it.
Can you believe my son had never seen Fall before? As in, trees where the leaves actually change color? How sad is that? If I could, I'd move back in a second.

Child Proof

Huh, I passed my 100th post and didn't even realize it.  Yippee for me.

Let's talk about child locks.  You know, those REALLY obnoxious plastic contraptions you put on drawers and cupboards that annoy adults to no end, but are an absolute necessity if you're a parent?  Yes, you know what I'm talking about.  Well, sometimes they are not effective.  Especially if you are my 4 year old son, "T".

This is what I came into my kitchen to see after unloading groceries from the minivan:

Can't open the drawer?  No problem!  Just rip the front of the drawer right off.

He ripped that thing out so hard, it even broke a chunk of fake wood off the drawer face.  I guess he REALLY needed a spoon for his applesauce and couldn't wait the 2 minutes for Mommy to get back to the kitchen. 

Ode to Migraines

Here is a subject that is very near, if not dear, to my heart.  MIGRAINES.  I get them.  A lot.  Maybe you don't understand, I get them A LOT.  I'm sure if I kept better track, I could say with confidence that I have a migraine at least 1/3 of the year.  And that's underestimating.  

Let me try to explain the pain of a migraine.  Imagine feeling like your head is actually going to explode.  Of spending hours literally laying on your bathroom floor in the dark, alternating between puking and passing out.  It hurts to lay down, it hurts to sit, the light feels like it's stabbing your brain, any noise vibrates painfully in your head.  You literally feel like you want to die.  It's not that you're suicidal, you just want the pain to STOP and you don't care how.  You wonder how many more hours you can take of it, you keep taking medicine hoping it will work but it doesn't.  

Beyond the physical pain though, is the guilt.  "Oh great...Mom has another migraine."  This is what I imagine my kids are thinking.  They're too young to verbalize it right now but I'm sure they've started thinking it.  

"We were supposed to go to the library today...but Mom has a migraine.  Again." 

"Yay, today we get to go swimming!  Oh no...Mom has another migraine."

"Mommy, come read a book to me!  Nevermind..."

The guilt and frustration I feel are indescribable.  I hate living like this.  Every day I live in fear that I will either wake up with a migraine, or I will develop one at some point in the day.  Most of the time I don't even tell my husband when I get one anymore.  He never says anything mean about it but still, if the roles were reversed, I'd be annoyed.  It's hard to understand how it feels if you've never had one yourself.  Most of the time he guesses though, I have what he calls, my "migraine smile".  Which is basically a fake smile that I plaster on to pretend everything is okay.

I'm sure many people may be wondering how I manage to live my life?  Raise 3 children with the doctor/dentist appointments, soccer games, school carpools, etc.?  Work a part-time paying job?  Teach piano lessons?  Volunteer in my church?  Not to mention the daily cooking and cleaning involved in running a household?  

I will tell you.  It's called, RELPAX.  My own personal miracle drug.  For the record, I hate relying on any medication.  But migraines are a whole different story.  I have a life to live and children I don't want to disappoint.  So I fight with my insurance company for the maximum allowable number of pills, I mark it on my calendar the soonest I'm able to refill it, I pay my  co-pay, and I try not to think about how every pill is costing me about $2.50 (and the insurance company a lot more).  Instead I try to focus on the fact that by popping Replax and/or Excedrin Migraine almost daily, I can do what I need to do.  And on those days that neither medication works?  Well, you can find me on the bathroom floor...

(**I know people will suggest other treatments, which I am always open to of course.  But just so it's out there, I've tried going to neurologists, chiropractors, an acupuncturist, not to mention a long list of medications to prevent and treat.)

The big SIX

Yup, "B" is officially 6 years old.  I'm way overdue in writing this post but, here it is, badly decorated cake and all.  We got him a bike, his first bike.  I guess I'm a little slow since everyone else his age already knows how to ride one already...but better late than never right?  Also please excuse my pathetic attempt at cake decorating.  Someday when I have tons of time and tons of patience (haha), I will take a cake decorating class and I will make amazing cakes.  For now, they look horrible but they taste good and that's all that matters right?  Plus he seems pretty thrilled about it regardless.  Just slap a Spongebob and Patrick on anything and my boys will love it, guaranteed.

"J" and I also went down to the school and had lunch with "B" on his special day.  We brought him Wendy's.  It feels so weird to sit in an elementary school cafeteria and eat lunch.  I remember it like it was yesterday but it also seems like a lifetime ago.  Anyway, he was very happy we came and was hugging us and holding our hands the whole time.  I am sad to think that someday he will be embarrassed to show affection to his mom and dad in public!  For now I'll just enjoy it while it lasts.  

First Day of School

Okay, the first day was a couple weeks ago but now that "B" has finally settled into his school and not having a nervous breakdown every morning...I feel more like writing about it.  

"B" had a VERY hard time on his first day.  Actually the entire first week was rough.  He would wake up at 5:00 A.M. crying about not wanting to go to school.  He wouldn't eat breakfast because he felt sick, told me there were "too many recesses" and he just wanted to stay in the classroom and finish his work so he could come home faster.  Even going so far as to tell me, "I wish you didn't push me out of your tummy first so I wouldn't have to go to school first."  All things that pretty much just want to break a mother's heart.  

The morning started off fine.  New outfit, new shoes, little bit of nervousness but mostly just excitement.  Observe:

Once we got to the school and the bell rang...it was all downhill from there:

It was just very hard for him to adjust to being gone all day long.  That combined with eating lunch away from home, riding the bus to and from school...all big changes for a kid who DOESN'T like change.  (poor thing, I'm the same way)  

On a more positive note, I'm surprised at how fast they are moving along for Kindergarten!  He is learning so much and I feel confident that I picked the right school for him.  

Now switching over to "T"'s first day of school.   He is the COMPLETE opposite of "B", in every way.  This kid could not wait to get there.  He literally ran into the classroom without a second look back at mom.  I had to hunt him down for a good-bye kiss.  He then told me, "Mommy, I will miss you.  But I'm going to have fun."  And that was that!  

Now for "S"'s first day of school.  Yes, you read that right.  See for yourself:

No noisy, loud, obnoxious brothers to take toys away, scream during his favorite movie, sit on his favorite chair, take away all the toys, or knock him down on accident (or sometimes on purpose).  I think he's going to like school the most out of all of them!  

It's SO weird to just have one child home 4 mornings a week.  Easy.  It's funny how your perspective changes over time with the more kids you have.  When it was just "B" at home, I used to think how hard it was, and it WAS hard at that time!  But now with 3 boys, I'm really enjoying this one-on-one time with just me and my baby.  And I can tell he loves it too!

It's almost over...

(**NOTE**  I wrote this a couple days ago and thought blogger screwed up and erased it.  Duh...it auto saved.  Anyway, here is it for your viewing pleasure.  First day of school was today, hopefully a post on that will be coming soon.)

Summer vacation that is!  School starts Wednesday and I have to admit, I have mixed feelings about it.  On the one hand, WOOHOO!!  "B" is starting Kindergarten full day, and "T" is starting a new preschool where he will be gone 4 mornings a week!  This means I'll only have one child at home 4 mornings a week.  I am looking forward to that.  I laugh when I look back on the days of having only one child, and how hard I thought it was.  If I only knew what was in store for me...  I guess that's why I never had twins, I needed a slow adjustment to "crazy".  

I am also nervous about school starting because I'm going to miss the little stinkers.  As hard as it is keeping them entertained and behaving, they are fun and pretty dang cute and I love them.  I guess that's why I had kids in the first place right?  haha...  Anyway, I just hope they behave at school ("T" mostly) and that they don't get picked on or don't pick on other kids ("T" again).  

Can you believe that I have ALL of "B"'s school clothes for this year, and didn't have to go shopping at all?  Yes, thanks to my obsession with clearance rack shopping all year long, I had his ENTIRE school wardrobe completely taken care of.  This includes 5 pairs of jeans, and about 10 shirts, which I probably spent under $50 for total.  I must say, I am very proud of myself.  Especially considering the fact that he seriously skipped an entire size this summer alone.  That kid is huge!!  Not even 6 years old and already wearing a size 7?!  Yikes.

I am doing a lot of reorganizing around my house, which has been fun and stressful.  Can I just say that I HATE clutter?  Yeah.  I do.  If I wasn't married and didn't have kids, my house would be perfectly clean and clutter-free.  But...instead I'll just buy lots of plastic storage bins and cabinet shelves.  Out of sight, out of mind right?  

We also are putting "B" and "T" into the same room.  It is not going well.  In fact, I'm off to enforce the law right now.  GO TO SLEEP ALREADY!!!  

Grrr...

I'm melting...

In this AZ heat!  Okay so swimming lessons ended yesterday, and I am so happy.  6 weeks was a whole lot of public pool.  Every year I think, "I'm never signing them up for this many swim lessons again..."  But every year I do it.  Mostly because I REALLY want them to learn to swim, it gets them out of the house once a day, and because we get the lessons half price.  Thanks City of Mesa!  

We went and visited Josh's family last weekend in 29Palms, CA, and took a day trip to Del Mar Beach, on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base near Oceanside, CA.  It was SO nice.  I wish I could move there.  The weather was beautiful and I do love the beach.  I hate how the sand ends up everywhere though.   

S wasn't sure about the beach.  First he wouldn't walk on the sand, then he was throwing the sand.  First he hated the water, then he loved it.  It was all very confusing.  One thing he DID love was his cute cousin K, who is 2 months older.  He couldn't get enough of that girl!  Kissing cousins!  (Notice my new hat?  Wore the ugly straw one for awhile and then saw this beauty at Wal-Mart for $7.  B told me he liked this one better.)  

Look at this little boy...he is irresistable.  He had lots of fun running away from the waves.  Back and forth...back and forth.  And of course he loved playing in the sand!  Do you like his hat?  He bought it with his very own dollar at the Dollar Tree.  He was very proud of himself.

Then there's B, I could not get this kid OUT of the water.  He played by himself (with supervision of course) in the waves for hours.  Threw a fit when we had him come up to re-apply sunblock or to eat even!  Told us, "I want to go back in the water, that's the reason we're here!!!"  

Anyway, it was a nice trip.  We got to meet my BIL's fiance, spend time with family relaxing, and of course eat good food!  I am lucky to have such great in-laws.