Phew..

My coworker decided to stay home and have a vacation day with her son. I am in the clear. Back down to 4 tomorrow.

Insanity Plea

I think I may have just officially lost all common sense. Tomorrow I have the four kids (last week of child swap summer 2008) and I planned on doing a little back to school shopping since it is our tax free weekend. No, that is not the insanity part. A girl I work with is having a problem figuring out what to do with her son (a few weeks younger than little monkey) tomorrow since her mom is really sick and her regular babysitter is out of town. Yep, I did. I offered to let the little booger come over to our house for the ENTIRE day. I felt bad, I know how it feels to try to find people to watch your kids... I have missed many 5Ks because of that. And I would have felt incredibly guilty (yes, I am Catholic) if I had not offered.

I think the kids will have a blast. I hope he enjoys my boys as much as they will enjoy having him.

So at my house tomorrow I will have:

one 6 month old girl who pulls up and crawls already
two 2 1/2 year old boys
two 3 1/2 year old boys

Oh, and the new dining room furniture will be delivered tomorrow!! That will be my saving grace, as well as my run Saturday morning.

Last day of school

Well today is the last day at their current school for the monkeys. They were so excited this morning when I told them. Little monkey did not even cry when we turned on the street that the school is on (lately he has been screaming bloody murder which is really annoying sad). Thursday and Friday are still part of the summer kid swap 2008, but then Monday the new nanny starts up. I am very excited and have so many ideas running through my head. I really just need to take a step back and let her do what she has been trained to do! You would think I was the nanny.

I am having some anxiety about this being the monkeys' last day at their school. I have this sad feeling about it all. It makes me want to cry. Yesterday I felt really bad because little monkey's teachers were telling me how much they were going to miss him and making me fib promise to bring him back to visit. I think it really stems from the fact that I grew up as an ARMY brat (dad did 30+ years in the ARMY - HOOYAH!). So we moved all of the time. I did not deal with it well. I was a BRAT to my poor mom. I remember my junior year in high school, coming home for lunch on the first day in a new school and sobbing into my macaroni and cheese. (Of course 3 weeks later I was doing better until my backstabbing cousin made up rumors that I was on drugs - no I was not).

Even mention moving to me right now and my stomach gets into knots. I guess you could say I was/am shy. I just need a little while to warm up to people and then I do just fine. I am not a wall flower but I am not one to walk up to someone I don't know and start up a conversation. I am very pleased when someone starts a conversation with me (unless you catch me at the wrong time!!). This is one of my hesitations for assistant coaching big monkey's soccer team. I have gotten much better with this as the years have passed. I still have the anxiety and every once in a while will catch myself choking over words with someone new, but I push on and make myself do things I normally would not do. This has become sort of a necessity in the south since everyone talks to everyone!!

I know that this nanny move is the best thing for us right now and will be a great experience for the kids. I just have to get over my childhood trauma of moving every 2 years or less. There were many positives to moving so much. I have seen so much of the world and have an eclectic crew of great friends from the places I have lived. And my family had some great quality family time while I was growing up, making us even closer today.

Run, Run

In November, some girlfriends and I are going to participate in a new racing series called ZOOMA. Some of us are doing the half marathon, and some of us are doing the 5K. It is a women's racing series (though guys are more than welcome) and is going to be set up like a girl's weekend. I am so excited. This will be my first half marathon and this makes me a bit nervous. I was prompted to try this one because of the girl's weekend environment. It is intimidating to have all of those lean running men at the start of the race, the ones you know will finish at about the same time I get to the first mile marker! (Though they can be really nice to look at while you are red faced and huffing away!!) Finishers get a necklace and there are all kinds of fun things set up for after the race (massages, wine tasting, shopping). So if you are anywhere near Atlanta, come on and have some fun while challenging yourself!
It is a great excuse to get those college girlfriends that you have not seen in years all in one place. I have a friend coming down from Indy, it is going to be great.
My other good friend has let me sucker her into running agreed to start training to run her first 5K, and she will be the first to admit she is no runner! I am so proud of her.
My mom and her walking buddies are signing up to walk the 5K, and my boys are going to run the kid's run, so there is fun for all!

If you do decide to join us, you can get $10 off the registration fee for the half (enter HREFERRAL08) and $5 off the 5K fee (enter: 5REFERRAL08). But this expires tomorrow.

Lace up those shoes!

Just call me Martha

Look what I made with my own two little hands, and a sewing machine of course! A cute little apron. I have never sewn anything other than a button by hand, and I string popcorn for my Christmas tree every year, so this is quite an accomplishment for me!! It is the second one I made, the first one will fit a 5 year old. I will need to make some improvements on keeping the stitch line (did I just make that term up?) straight before I can make these for Christmas presents.

The boys picked out the pattern, hence the blue color!

Best of both worlds

Why is it that men seem to think that they can have the best of both worlds on everything? (I know this is a generalization). Do their mothers put that unrealistic idea in their heads? If so, I am going to try my hardest to keep that from happening to my boys.

No boys, you can not claim to want a strong willed, independent, equal partner in life and yet tell her she is not fulfilling her "wifely and womanly duties" like a good Southern Baptist wife would.

Not. Happening. End. Topic.

Sleep tight, little ones

Well they all went to sleep for me at nap time. It was a good day for the most part. Little monkey did get his head peed on by buddy while they were all three trying to pee at the same time... I did not ask, just washed hair and was happy for the extra long showerhead!! We went to a local kids play place (for 5 and under) for their story time and some free time (they had a bouncy!). They had a blast and I am going to sign them up for time there with the nanny. We made biscuit pizzas, they love to make their own food. Then it was nap time. The boys took about 30 minutes to fall asleep. The baby was a little more difficult, but she is napping now so I can go vacuum and get dinner started. I got the bathroom cleaned, kitchen cleaned, sheets washed and put on the beds, and dusted. So now to finish the rest.

So should I lie to the other mommy and tell her they were terrible??!! I just don't know!

Spoiled rotten

Just got off the phone with the other mommy in my child swap 2008. They are all still awake!!!!!! She can't get them to go to sleep!! She sounds like her nerves are about shot. I feel bad because I can't do anything about it. I can't wait to see how their moods are when I pick them up. For some reason they are not taking her threats seriously. I even got on the phone with big monkey and all he kept saying was "I wub you mommy!" He knows he will be in trouble tonight. No movie for him this week (I rarely let them watch tv so it is a big deal when they get to and even bigger when they don't get their movie).

Let me just tell you that they will all be sleeping tomorrow on my watch...

Yes, I am a snacker..

My mid morning snack consists of this VERY yummy guacamole and some baked tostitos scoops. SO. GOOD. What is even better? I had a $1 off coupon for the guac and it was on sale for 99 cents because of a close expiration/freeze date...

Need nutritionist

Every two weeks I plan out two weeks worth of meals and go to the grocery store (love SuperTarget). Well with the new nanny starting the beginning of August, I have to figure out lunch meals too. I figure if I make more the night before they can just reheat leftovers most times. But I am trying to mix it up a little and trying really hard to keep things nutritious and easy for the nanny. Here is where I need your help. Anybody have any ideas of easy lunch fixes for the days I don't have left overs (that are nutritious and I have VERY picky eaters to deal with!)?
And snacks... trying not to get into a rut here!!

This morning, on the way to school, big monkey told me that he wanted to live at his buddy's house (crushed mommy heart here). So I asked him if he would miss mommy and he said that I should live there too. It would be both monkeys and mommy. So I asked where would we fit?
Big Monkey's Answer "little monkey and me would sleep with buddy, you can sleep in the middle with buddy's parents".

I laughed the rest of the way to school and am still chuckling about it off and on, he was totally serious. I did not even try to ask where daddy would be.

Soccer evaluations went well last night, he was quite a natural (my very unbiased opinion). Little monkey was so sad, started crying about half way home because he realized he did not get to play!! We stopped for a milkshake.

Even Steven

Well I feel much better today. I just finished buying a new dining room table and chairs. I got hooked on ebates from Sasha's website and have been saving money on internet purchases ever since. So today's double earnings site was Overstock and I went to browse.. and ordered this dining room table


And 6 of these chairs, they are olive green


I have been putting off dining room furniture purchasing for a while because I usually have buyer's remorse on big purchases but I know I am going to be SOOO happy when it arrives.. and I saved so much money!!

Bad mood, bad night

So last year for big monkey's 3rd birthday I bought the above bouncy for a fun time. We have his birthday parties in the back yard which saves loads of money and I had a coupon and waited for this thing to go on sale (still cost a bunch). Well my wonderful hubby (I am going to try not to do any horrible husband bashing tonight but I have very little wine to relax with at this point) never would get outside and roll the thing up. He is a hard worker and yet so incredibly lazy, we all have our moments. So this bouncy has been outside since last October. Rain, frost, mosquito larvae, mildew, etc. I refused to let him throw it out. So I started to pressure wash it yesterday. It was coming along quite nicely. I just needed to spray some mildew killing chemical on it. Well he decided I needed to do so tonight (after working 10 hours, running 4 miles, making and serving dinner) so it would not kill his precious grass. Okay, start to get it clean. Scrubbed, fought with it, etc. STUCK MY FREAKING FOOT THROUGH THE SEAM!!!!! Right in front of the monkeys it popped. Gone. Kaput.
Little monkey is devastated, it is his favorite thing to do in the world. Big monkey says to go buy another one. Husband is quite happy he finally gets to throw it out. I am pissed.

So horrible fighting insues due to tempers. Unfortunately the husband can not keep it directed to me, so like a momma bear, I get VERY defensive. Both of us said things we should not have. I said his father (step) was a horrible (X4) man and I have no respect for him. This is something I have kept inside since the day after we got married and I found out FIL had told my husband he had a car outside so he could rescue him and to remember he was not marrying my mother. So guess who he has been on the phone with for two hours. Yep, you guessed it. This makes it worse. I have big issues with this man my husband thinks is awesome (whole other post!!).

So, now to figure out if I should just go to the bedroom and read or wait in the living room and stay up all night hashing this thing out. I guess we will see how long I can keep my eyes open. Oh, and even after showering I can still smell mildew and tilex on my skin!!!

Sucker...

So I did it. I signed big monkey up for soccer on the way home from work on Thursday. I am so excited for him to get out there, he seems to be a natural (not biased or anything here). Only thing is, since his birthday is just past the cut off date the only way he could play on the 4 year old team is for a parent to assistant coach. Yes, those funny/horrific thoughts running through your head are right... I agreed to assistant coach his team!! I have seen soccer games, dated soccer players, love to look at pictures of David Beckham... does that qualify me?!?!?! Apparently it does.

I am SOOOO nervous about this. I usually need time to warm up to people, but there I will be in mid August thrown in with a bunch of 4/5 year olds (and big monkey) to help them learn how to play the great game of soccer. AAAAAHHHHH!!
Funny thing is, I am having more anxiety about big monkey enjoying it all than my lack of coaching skills!

I survived..

Well I survived the Friday child swap. It really was not that bad. I thought it was going to be awful after I saw the state the kids and buddy's mom were in Thursday when I picked up! No naps, dirt everywhere (they dug up the back yard), and toys everywhere. She had the rough first day. I got the milder second day I guess. We did an art project, played on the slip and slide, made brownies, and I got them all to nap for two hours at the same time. Yep, all four asleep at the SAME TIME!! I got the bathroom cleaned, kithchen cleaned and a couple of loads of laundry done..and some lunch and two crossword puzzles attempted.
I was pretty proud.

I was pretty tired.

I forgot how bad my back hurt when I carried babies around.

I forgot how to feed a bottle to a baby (I nursed).

I realized how much a baby girl is needed in this house.


So, I am fighting a migraine today... could it be backlash from yesterday? I don't think so. Okay, probably!!

Need a stomach pump!

Yummy, I had a weak moment and went with coworkers to get a lovely sub from Firehouse Subs. SO. YUMMY. Of course I had to get the jalapeno chips to go along with my veggie sub on wheat bread (this is the part that makes me feel like it is healthy!!). I am still overstuffed, 2 1/2 hours later and am probably about to go puke it up while on my run this afternoon.

Oh well, it was worth it!!

Open your eyes Mommy!!

Today is the first morning of child swap summer 2008. The monkeys are off with their best buddy's mommy at their house. I hope this goes well! Tomorrow they will all four be at home with me. This is of course only temporary until the nanny starts in 2 1/2 weeks.
The sort of sad part was that big monkey was the most excited in the morning that I have seen him in a LONG time!! I usually have to try and dress him while he is still asleep and then bribe him with special treats after school to get him in the van without a cranky moment. And even little monkey, who is usually a pleasant morning person, was excited. I really think that they were just excited not to be going to that school. I usually have to drag them in or pry them off my leg but this morning they hopped into the other van and little monkey said "shut me door" and told buddy's mommy "you dribe". Off they went.
It has not always been this way. They used to be easy to get off to school. No crying in the morning, no bribery. But lately it had gone downhill. I should have figured this out a long time ago. There is yet another mar on my mommy of the year application.
Oh well, all will be well in 2 weeks.

And say a little prayer for me tomorrow!

Famous, sort of..

I have a wonderful new friend who has made me feel famous and loved and added even more (if possible) to my excitement for blogging.

Thank you so much Jennifer from http://playgroupsarenoplaceforchildren.com/


Oh, can somebody explain to me how to do links and strike through words?!?

Redneck Riviera

So as of last night, we have hired a nanny!! Yippee. I am so excited and I can't wait until our start date in a couple of weeks.

My husband cracked me up last night. He told us all that we are the epitome of redneck posh people! I sort of understand where he is coming from. We have hired a nanny but we are doing a nanny share system. Basically two families using one nanny and alternating between houses. So if I wanted to, I could be all hoity toity and say "yes, I have a nanny", but deep down inside I live in a rednecky world with my shared nanny!!
I don't care, I love that the boys will have more one on one time with a highly qualified person and the comfort of their homes and lovely field trips. It makes my heart smile.

They did make fun of me when I brought up the issue of how my house looks when I get home. I thought it was important to be straight forward right away and explain that I did not want to come home to complete chaos. She understood and realizes my neurotic issues!!

Use the spray

Would it be rude to send out a company wide memo asking people to stop shitting in the bathroom right by my office??!! Or at least use the freaking spray and courtesy flush?!?!?!

We used to have a sign up on the inside of the door explaining the steps of courtesy flushing. Apparently the newbies downstairs are not concerned (what in the hell are they eating?!?!?!).

Thank God I have an extra can of febreeze (I only have 5 left at home from my over the top coupon shopping this weekend!!)!!!

I am such a slacker..

I have not gotten much done at all at work the last couple of days. Worse than normal! I am all consumed with figuring out our child care situation, there has been not much else in my head. (Except five million other things that I can worry about tend to pop up too). Am I weird? Don't answer! My mom calls me neurotic. I think I might have to start agreeing with her. I get something stuck in my head have have to organize and reorganize the situation until I am exhausted. Our meeting with the possible nanny is this evening so I am hoping it helps me out. I have been making lists (like 5 dozen) to use for the meeting. Those who know me are not surprised. I am a list maker. I come from a family with a long line of list makers (my dad's side) and we make lists about our lists. I will even make other people lists to keep situations under control, just ask my husband and wonderful friends! There is nothing more satisfying than crossing things off of lists, well vacuuming is right up there with list making. Don't judge me or think I am crazy, well maybe neurotic!!

So here is my list for today:

1. Put lists away until this evening
2. Get two projects finished up by quitting time
3. Run at lunch/break
4. Organize my desk so I can find the above projects (I have lists everywhere!!)

Things are looking up

Well, the weekend was packed full of stress. I am feeling a little better though. We have a possible solution to our child care issues. A teacher from the Montessori school (she quit a few months ago) is interested in being our nanny. We are all going to get together Tuesday evening to talk things out. Meanwhile, I am going to look for local free children's' activities she can cart them all off to in order to keep their social skills developing!
For the time being, in order to save a little money and get the kids in a "happier" environment, I will have a 6 month old, 2 1/2 year old, and two 3 1/2 year olds at my house on Fridays with me and they will go to our friend's house on Thursdays with her. Am I crazy? I will keep you updated.

I got a really funny phone call from a great friend of mine on Saturday. Apparently her Saint Bernard (10 years old) has produced puppies with the neighbor's very low to the ground Basset Hound!! I am still laughing when I think of that one! Anybody want a puppy?

Wine, Wine, and more Wine

Okay, I have had my wonderful bath and a half bottle of Trader Joe's Wine so now I can blog with a level head?!!? You can not beat a good wine for less than $3 a bottle (too bad I have to smuggle it across state lines from where my parents live!!) It comes in all varieties and is great.

Well, since I get Fridays off of work (I think I mentioned I work 4 ten hour days to do this), I usually make big plans with the monkeys. Today was grocery shopping in the morning, cleaning the bathroom and then whatever the little guys wanted to do (hoping for swimming). Turned out ALL wrong.
Let me start at the beginning...
My list of stressful things:
1. Big monkey has been a royal terror lately, throwing fits, yelling and not listening to anyone. This is a rare occurrence and usually only happens when he is having some stress in his life. So I have to figure this one out.
2. Figured out that the stress he is feeling is due to serious issues at the school. We pay a hefty price to attend a Montessori school. Well just recently all of the Montessori trained teachers have bailed.. so what in the heck are we paying for? Teachers that the children know they can walk all over.
3. New stress is finding another school for the next year until they transfer to their small quaint Catholic preschool.

So we spent the day going to different schools/daycares checking them out. The first one I went to told me "we learn them lots of stuff to git ready for Kindygarden" REALLY I AM NOT JOKING!!!! So they are off my list quickly. The other one was like a little prison and made me sad to be there. I am going to look at a La Petite Monday during my break.. anyone have any experience with this school?
One problem is that most have a year or longer waiting lists. And I have to find one with room for my boys (2 and 3) and our friends' kids (6 mos and 3). Package deal since the 3 year olds have been best buddies since 3 months old (they even call each other buddy).
The rest of the day we did the grocery shopping (oh how I love SuperTarget). The boys were pretty good (bribery) there. But we also went to CVS because I am determined to be a smart CVS shopper and I had the crappiest service. One of the two 60 year old men working there made it a point to tell me that little monkey could easily fall out of the shopping cart he was standing in.. no way man, never would have guessed that. The other 60 year old man was at the register and refused to say a word to me. So I let the monkeys "rearrange" the candy section!! But I did make out well at both CVS (got $45 worth of stuff for $12) and SuperTarget (saved nearly $50 with coupons!). So that made the day better.

Thanks for letting me vent! Now to finish the bottle...

When did it rain?!

I woke up at 4 AM hearing the big monkey walking into walls and calling for me. I realized then that the power must have gone out and was praying for it to only be 1 or 2 am so I could get back to sleep. NOPE!! I got my watch and looked twice and there it was, 4 in the morning. Crap! I get up at 5 so why bother going back to sleep. I crawled in bed next to the monkeys and tried to catch a few more minutes. HA Pretty much just got up and got into the shower. Luckily my kids are obsessed with flashlights, so we have tons of them all over the house. Unfortunately, my kids are obsessed with flashlights, so most of them have low battery issues!! But we made it out of the house.



Here is big monkey with his headlight flashlight that his granddad got him for Christmas to find Santa. Love the outfit, don't you!?


So it turns out it poured this morning and lightening struck a transmitter or something. The power was on ten minutes after I left the house.

Best Salsa EVER

I just finished my (3rd) morning snack. I had the best salsa ever. This stuff has the perfect amount of sweet and spicy and just makes my morning wonderful! Go get you some! I got mine at the Fresh Market but I hear they have it at superTarget too.

Now if I just had some guac to go with it!

Pillow Please!!

So I am really working on trying to get this blog together. My lovely cousin explained a few things and I am working on it. Problem is, I am about to fall asleep at my desk (yes I am at work slacking off!!).
I started working 4 ten hour days a few weeks ago. Trying to save on gas, but mostly I just love having one more day away from the office!! The boys love it too, they wait all week for Fridays! Well it is exhausting!! Getting up at 5am and out of the door with two little ones in tow by 5:45 am drains me for the day!! Actually, I would be okay if I had not stayed most of the night reading a book with a depressing ending! And of course there my wonderful husband is, snoring and spread eagle in the bed until about 10 minutes before I leave when he scoops the big monkey (crawled back into bed after I dressed him) and carries him to the van for me!! Must be NICE!
On a plus side, both monkeys woke up for the second morning in a row with dry pull ups!! Every morning gets us a little closer to being completely pull up free!! Funny thing is that the little monkey (2 1/2) is drier more often than the big guy (3 1/2)! I should not complain, they were both day time potty trained by 2 years old so I have been blessed in that aspect.

Okay, so I am going to try to add a few things to the blog, wish me luck!!

A bit excited..

Here I am, thanks to my cousin Lacy who got me hooked!!  I have no idea where I am going to fit work into my busy day now!! HA
I wish this came with my very own personal tutor! It may take me a while to figure things out, but I am right on board!