Vent

I must admit, this post idea was actually my husband's.  He suggested having a regular feature called VENT where people could anonymously vent their frustrations.  I was impressed that he was actually taking an interest in my blog and said I'd give it a shot.  Everyone needs to let off a little steam from time to time.  And to do it without anyone knowing who you are - what could be better?

So here's how it goes:  leave a comment venting the worst frustrations in your life right now.  (Please watch your language.  "*#&!" is permitted.)  Before you submit, click on that drop down menu and select Anonymous.  That way, you can say anything and everything you want. 

I'll go first...
I feel really frustrated about Hubby's job.  The poor guy leaves the house around 5:30 every morning.  They've added more work to his schedule and he's not getting home until 7:00-8:00 every night.  That's one ridiculously long day!  As soon as he gets home, we eat dinner.  After that, he's pretty much ready for bed.  I feel guilty keeping him up to converse about life.  And he's not getting to be a very good dad right now, which kills him.  I told him he needs to refuse the extra work and get home at a descent hour.  Then he told me how much money he'd be losing out on if he did that.  So, to have any kind of a life, he needs to be at home with his family.  But what kind of a life is that when there are no finances to enjoy it?  I feel like I'm prioritizing money over family and it's really frustrating.  I try to tell myself that this is only temporary and we need to bank the extra cash while we can.  He's not going to be able to keep this kind of schedule when the kids are back in school or he might just miss them completely.

Whew!  Thanks for allowing me my vent of the day.  Now go ahead and add yours!

The Craziness that is My Life

Here's what's been going on around here lately. 

Son #1 is at Boy Scout camp this week.  He's never been away this long before and I'm worried about him.  Fortunately, two of the leaders are related so that helps ease my mind.  He just seems too little to be doing stuff like that.  See, look how precious he still looks in this plush lion costume!  (He would kill me if he found out I posted this!)  I get to visit him tonight.

Son #2 had to follow suit since he was the original owner of this Cowardly Lion costume.  If I'm being honest, he looked much cuter in it six years ago.





The boys have been cleaning out their closet.  They have found many treasures.  Here is another friend who recently came to greet me.  I was told that his name is Professor Poopy Pants.



The Professor brought this friend with him:





This has been quite an interesting summer thus far.

Day at the Zoo

Over the weekend, we went to the Big Zoo with my parents.  It's an hour away and Hubby hadn't been there since the 5th grade.  We have a small zoo close to our house and the kids and I have a membership there.  The small zoo doesn't have elephants or giraffes.  Big Sis was so excited to see a giraffe for the first time.  She even took her stuffed Giraffey with her.  The expression on her face when she first saw the giraffe was priceless!

The zoo was holding a photo contest so I was all too excited.  Sadly, I didn't come home with anything worth submitting.  To enter that kind of contest, you have to set up at one area with a tripod and wait for the animals to get into the perfect position.  I was more interested in enjoying the zoo with my family. 

The primates were by far my favorite.  I could sit and watch gorillas and orangutans all day.  Grammy had to spoil the kids, of course.  So she bought a blue monkey for Big Sis and a purple frog for Baby Girl.  When we saw the little monkeys, Big Sis decided to show her blue monkey to them.  We snickered but were amazed at what happened.  All the monkeys crowded up to the edge and stared at that blue monkey.  A stranger next to us was tickled and said the monkeys were thinking Why are we not blue?  Baby Girl had to follow suit and held out her purple frog.

Big Sis did the same thing when we saw the giraffes.  They didn't seem to care like the monkeys did.  Maybe they're a snooty animal?  They do hold up their heads awfully high.

We reached the orangutan display a few minutes before closing time.  They must have been super excited about the day's end because they were showing off like no one's business.  They were swinging and jumping, but I just couldn't get a good shot.  The glass was thick and scratched and wasn't conducive to photos.  So I decided to try to get one of the active guys to come closer my way.  I lightly drummed on the glass with my fingernails.  When I did that, he charged at the glass and hit it right where my face was.  I nearly wet my pants, jumping back and screaming!  Everyone laughed at my expense.  The orangutan was apparently amused and continued playing with us.  He screamed right at Big Sis and played around with Hubby.  (Maybe he saw a resemblance there?)  But before I could get any good pictures, the zookeeper kicked us out.  We will definitely visit that display first next time.

The kids also rode a camel!  (They get to do a lot more when Grammy is there.  She doesn't know how to say no.)  We ate Kettle Corn, toured the Butterfly House, and walked a few hundred miles - a perfect day at the zoo!

Summer Is...

Losing track of the day of the week

Sleeping in until the Baby decides to get up

A midday rainstorm to cool things down and give nature a drink

Having at least one dinner a week that was prepared on the grill

Fragrant flowers, shady trees, green grass

Kiddie pools

Realizing it's almost time for bed, even though it just got dark outside

Having skin that is beige-colored instead of pure white

The smell of mulch, the smell of charcoal

Mosquito bites and lightning bugs

Zoo trips, picnics, days at the park, bike rides, long walks

Having feet that are stained on the bottoms from running around outside barefoot all day

What does summer mean to you?

What I'm Listening To...

I must confess that my 12-year-old son is the one who introduced me to this band.  But then again, he is slowly becoming cooler than me.  The band is Royal Tailor and I can't get enough of their catchy tunes, mesmerizing rhythms, and soul-stirring lyrics.  The best news is that their debut album is only $7.99 on iTunes.  Check them out and let me know what you think.

Confessions

I am a nosy person.  If a new friend gives me their address for one reason or another, the first thing I do is go to Google Earth or Zillow to see a picture of their house.  I have even been known to find someone's address on whitepages.com so I can plug it into Zillow to find a picture of their home.  I don't know why I'm so nosy like that.  I guess it's so I can judge them.  If their house is nicer than mine, I think Wow, they must be really well off!  If it's not as nice as my house, I think Boy, they must be hard up.  Ha ha...I guess there's no happy medium as far as my judgemental nosiness is concerned.  So if you don't want me to judge you, don't send me your home address for any reason!

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I love the fact that Son #1 has his own cell phone, but it's mostly because of my own laziness. If he's upstairs and I don't feel like getting up, I can text him and tell him what I need to say. When he's outside, I don't have to hunt all over tarnation for him. I can call to tell him to come home for dinner. It's great and I highly recommend it for all lazy parents.

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There are more weeks of my life that I eat at Chipotle three times than weeks when I don't have it at all.  Yes, I am aware of how ridiculous that is.

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The trend this summer so far has been to goof off all day, then clean the house really quickly before Hubby arrives home so it looks like I accomplished something.

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I have totally fallen off my diet.  It's such a shame too because I was doing so well.  I feel really guilty about this one.  (This is due in part to the Chipotle confession above.)

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I have only run a handful of times in preparation for my marathon leg in September.  I'm running double what I ran last year.  If I don't get on the ball soon, I'm not going to make it. 

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Do you have any confessions today to make me feel less guilty?

Niagara Falls

I had the wonderful privilege this week to travel via train to Niagara Falls with the kids group from my church.  How awesome is a church that rewards their students with a trip like that?  I am very blessed to be a part of it!   There were 53 of us in all and we had a fantastic time!

The day started at 3:45 AM when we all met at the church to drive to the Amtrak station.  A wonderful gentleman from our church and my sweet Hubby drove all of us up there.  Then Hubby headed straight to work, returning home at 8:30 PM.  He was just in time to pick us back up at the church and have his dinner at 9:00.  What a trooper!

We were only able to view the Falls from the American side since the kids didn't have passports.  I had only been to Niagara Falls, Canada before so seeing it from this side was like being there for the first time.  It's much less commercialized in New York and there are beautiful parks to enjoy.  There isn't a good view of the Horseshoe Falls from there but you are able to get much closer to the action.  We walked up the steps right next to the Falls, getting blasted by the spray the entire climb.  It was a refreshing break from the 80+ degree day.

We walked on trails, rode the trolley, went onto the observation deck, had a picnic in the park, and paid $10 for 2 ice creams and a Coke.  We boarded a charter bus back home where all the kids powered down and slept.  We stopped at a souvenir shop and then Cracker Barrel on the way home.  It was a perfect day with no injuries, no sickness, no fights, and no problems.  We were very fortunate!

Baby Girl vs. Big Sis

(Warning: graphic picture to follow.)

I was in my closet picking out something to wear.  The all-too-familiar sound of Big Sis crying filled my ears.  She's a drama queen and cries at the drop of a hat.  Usually, the purpose of the crying is to get one of her brothers in trouble.  She thinks the louder she cries, the more trouble the perpetrator will get into.  So when I heard her bawling yesterday, I hollered at her to get back in her room and finish cleaning.  (That's where she was supposed to be anyway.)  She settled down a bit and started toward her room.  When I asked what happened, she said her baby sister hit her with a plastic broom.  "You'll be fine," I said.  "If you had been doing what you were supposed to be doing, this wouldn't have happened."  I scolded Baby Girl, who was smiling proudly, and gave her a swat on the bottom with the same weapon, the plastic broom. 

Life went on.  I picked out my outfit and turned on the iron.  Meanwhile, Hubby went into the injured's room to tell her to chill out and clean her room.  She obliged, turning around to clean her room.  Hubby discovered that her entire back was covered with blood.  He flipped out.  "She!" he screamed.  "We're gonna have to take her to get stitches!" 

I ran to check her out but he was carrying her out the door.  "Let me see," I said. 

"No, I'm taking her to show your dad." 

"Just let me look at it!"

"No, it's bad, I'm showing your dad."

"Can I see it first?" I was pretty loud by this point.  But he was already out the door.  My dad lives next door so the trip was quick.  He opened the door to discover a sleeping dad on the couch.  "He's asleep," I said.  "Let me see it."

At this point, he obliged and sat down in a lawn chair outside their house.  I couldn't see anything because her hair was matted with blood.  He was still insisting on taking her to ER but I insisted louder that I wanted to clean her up first.  I was not taking a blood-stained child into a hospital emergency room.  (Although we would have gotten urgent attention!)

I sat her on the counter and attempted to clean her up with a wet rag.  As I cleaned it up, I noticed that the cut was not actually that big.  It blew my mind that all this happened with a toy broom!  Then, I remembered that my cousin from two doors down is studying to be an RN.  I had Son #1 call and ask him to come over.  He rushed to the scene with a giant medical bag in hand.  He had me ice the area to slow the bleeding and he cleaned it up with some peroxide and gauze.  (She might be a bit blonder after this event.)  He said that the ER would definitely cut her hair if they had to stitch the wound.  This is when I decided that we were definitely going to stop the bleeding on our own.

I held her in my lap for about an hour, applying pressure to the wound.  She was content to watch TV and barely fussed.  The worst part was that the melting ice dripped down her matted hair and caused a bloody puddle to form on the floor.  The first level of my house totally looked like a crime scene!  After a while, I checked the cut and noticed how small it actually was.  It would have required no more than one stitch, if any were needed at all.  A doctor friend said it sounded like she didn't need stitches after all.  As long as we were able to stop the bleeding, she was going to be fine. 

So that's what life around here has looked like.  Again, I was the calm one in the situation while others around me flipped out.  And again, I thanked God for giving me a calm disposition.  A mother of four certainly needs that trait on her resume'.

Weirdness

I'm weird, you're weird, we're all weird.  But someone who chooses to share their weirdness on a public blog - now that's just plain weird!  Here's my documented weirdness for today:

• In a restaurant, I cannot sit facing the wall.  I must face out into the room.  I thought I was alone with this craziness and didn't ever discuss it with others.  Once we went out to dinner with another couple.  Hubby and I arrived first and took our seats on the side of the table facing out into the restaurant.  When the other couple arrived, the man confessed that he couldn't sit with his back to the room.  Hubby got up and switched him places.  So I sat next to someone else's husband the entire meal while another woman sat next to my husband!  How weird is that?
• I do not like songs that break grammatical rules in the lyrics.  I won't sing them a written.  For example, in Carrie Underwood's song I'll Stand By You, she sings, "I won't let nobody hurt you."  If I'm singing along, I change it to, "I won't let anyone hurt you."  I know, weird.
• I will not permit any scented trash bags in my home.  My parents use them - they're supposed to have a light, fresh scent.  They totally make me sick.  Who wants to smell trash in a field full of flowers?
• I don't like artificial light in my home.  I prefer to live by natural sunlight.  I don't turn on lights in my house until it's too dark to see.  In the mornings, I will even comb the kids' hair for school in semi-darkness to avoid turning on the lights.
• I always count how many times I knock on someone's door.  It's usually either 5 or 7.
• I love letters and words.  A lot.  My kids' names happen to be in alphabetical order according to age and I'm oddly proud of that.

Cute Kid Sayings

Baby Girl calls this "Pepper-Oni" instead of Macaroni.

As she was drawing a picture, I told Baby Girl to write her name.  Making one small mark at a time, she said, "I...love...you...eleven...twelve...firteeen."

When you give her something, Baby Girl replies, "Thank you much!" with exuberant expression.

Big Sis was talking about her upcoming birthday.  She was planning what kind of cake she wanted and suggested a purse.  "I can do that, I think," was my answer.  She replied, "Well, yeah!  It's just a trapezoid or a rectangular prism!"  (Those are NOT words I taught her.)

Baby Girl told us she wanted "Eggo." The brothers disagreed about what this meant. #1 said she wanted eggs. #2 suggested maybe it was a waffle she was craving. But Mama understands all things and figured out she wanted to watch DIEGO on TV.

I decided I'm cool enough.  I broke down and ordered some Tom's.  Big Sis called them Papa shoes.  They're exactly the kind of shoes my dad uses to work in the shop.  Except for the fact that he gets his for $8 at Wal-Mart.