Are we late yet?

This morning I was getting the kids ready for church and it was taking forever.  We started out having a ton of time but by mid-schedule all the spare time had disappeared.  So there I am in the middle of the bathroom with four kids each in different stages of ready-ness and my survival mode kicks in.

Rugby was trying to get dressed in a shirt that had gone through the wash with its' sleeves rolled up.  It was a wrinkly mess.  So I grabbed the straightener (you know, for hair) and pressed the sleeves with that.

Emerson was dancing around in his undies and still hadn't managed to put on his socks in the last fifteen minutes.  I sat on the floor and put the dang things on for him to avoid yelling.

Zoey didn't have a thing to wear.  NOT. ONE. THING.  I took her over and introduced her to her closet where there are in fact clothes there to wear. 

Breckyn was messing with the dogs and had taken it upon herself to start training them right then and there.  A quick redirect and we were almost home free.

By the time everyone was downstairs and ready to go the only one left in jammies was me.  As a mom sometimes we get the short end of the stick.  It's called taking one for the team.  There is a reason I have short hair and mornings like this is exactly why.

So today I am thankful for...

1.  frozen waffles that cook really fast
2.  straightening irons that multitask
3.  wrinkle free black skirts
4.  short hair
5.  clocks that are actually 5 minutes fast  (then you really aren't that late)


What are you thankful for?



Oh, and don't forget to sign up for the CSN Store giveaway below.  And hey, thanks for reading my blog.  I really like you.

CSN Stores Big Giveaway

CONTEST CLOSED

Have you guys ever checked out CSN stores? 

No?

Well, you probably should. 

Just sayin'.

I have a few things that I have been obsessing over lately.  I keep them on my mental list and look everywhere until I find something that fits EXACTLY what I'm thinking of.

The first thing on my list is a new table.  If you've been to my house you know that I have a square kitchen table.  It started out looking like this...

Then we had kids that would bang their forks and run their trucks on the table.  After a few short years the finish was almost completely worn off the top.  So I decided to strip the table and start over.  It turned out like this...

Now that our family is brimming with people, I need a bigger table.  I'd like one with leaves that I can expand when we have company.  Which is almost every Sunday for family dinners.  I have four kids, my sister has 5-- we really know how to fill up a table.  So I've been looking around and I found a few options on CSN like this DROP LEAF TABLE.  

If you are looking for some fun stuff for your doggie they have all sorts of things like this training hoop.  I've been taking our dogs to training classes and I love teaching them new tricks.  I've been working on jump the hoop with Scout and this would be perfect.

If you want something fun for your kids-- oh baby.  A few years ago we bought our kids a bounce house so they could stay active in the winter.  We put it in our basement and the kids were in heaven.  It's time for us to move up a size bigger so this one would be perfect.

So, are you ready to shop at CSN yet?

How about if CSN threw in a $45 gift card and let you pick out what you wanted?  (shipping not included)

I thought you might like that.

If you want to shop all you have to do is...

1.  Leave a Comment

2.  Become a Follower

3.  Blog, FB, Tweet about this giveaway with a link back

4.  Tell me what you'd buy with your gift card

You may leave one comment for each entry and up your chances of winning.  All entries must be in by Tuesday November 2 at midnight.

Happy shopping!

CONTEST CLOSED

Mr. Poopy

Little Miss Thang and I have been spending some quality time together lately.  She comes with her own set of quirks just like every little kid. Her latest is, she finds it disgusting to wipe her own bottom.  Apparently she doesn't care that someone else has to do it.  Where is the sense in that?

We are in Wally World the other day and she needs to go.  So we make our way to the potty.  She sits down and gets to business while I'm trying to organize my coupons.  Then she turns to me and says,  "Hey Luc, I've got a new friend for you.  His name is Mr. Poopy and I made him just for you!  He can be your friend forever and he will always be waiting for you right here in the potty!  .....Um, you can wipe me now."

What can you say to that?  Should I say thank you?  How thoughtful?

This kid cracks me up.  Where does she come up with this stuff?  My new friend... Ha!  I'm still laughin' about it.


Got any great one liners from your little friends?

Hulk Halloween Madness

The mister and I went to our big Halloween party as Betty and the Hulk.  It was a nod to our super hero love.  What can I say, we have issues.


In other news, I've been in a bit of a blog funk.  I'm sure you have noticed.  Things have been hoppin' around our house and I haven't seem to have found some solid time to blog.  This morning it was clip my toe nails or blog-- I went with the toe nails.  Sorry, but it had to be done.  I've been working on a scheme to free up some time but for now, I'll do what I can.

Some of the best things about this blog for me are...

1.  your comments
2.  your comments
3.  putting my stories to life and letting my personality shine
4.  having my kids know me better now and in the future
5.  your comments


So this show isn't over yet.  Stay tuned.  Tomorrow Little Miss Thang is featuring a piece I like to call, potty talk.

Little Miss Thang

My little friend and I went shopping the other day.  The store had all of these really cool glasses and we just had to take advantage of it.

 I snapped a few pictures of her in her favorites and then...

...she took over and got a few of me.

Not too bad for a wiggly four year old and an my iPhone.

Since you all loved little miss thang's song of the week last week, she has decided to let you in on another good car tune.  Her pick this week is called Telephone from Glee.  You can check it out here...

Have you heard the one about the dog driving the car?

I asked Emerson to put something in the car for me yesterday.  A few minutes later I hear him yelling, "MOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

I yell back, "What do you need?"

He says, "I can't get the dog out of the car.  He's stuck!"

I run out there prepared for the worst and I see this...

Our dog loves to go for rides.  Em opened the door and that's all the prompting Flash needed.  He was ready to go.  He decided to ignore Emerson's pleas and stay firmly planted in his spot until he got his ride. 

I know I'm officially a dog freak when I start posting stories about them.  But really, this picture gives me the giggles every time I look at it.  Seriously-- it's funny stuff.

Maybe you don't get it.

A dog driving the car...

get it?

It's pretty good.

Alright, for you non-dog lovers out there just picture it as a cat.

Funny now?

Yeah, I thought so.

Oh the Choices...

My Mom and I went to Target today and tried on some costumes for the big party this weekend.  I think we scared a few people in the process.  So I've got some choices for you to vote on.

This one was pretty awesome.  They have a matching Gorilla suit for the mister.  Oh the possibilities with this baby.

They have a bunch of Sesame Street characters including Big Bird and Elmo.  This one is an easy option because it's only half a body costume.  Totally easy and do-able.

(My Mom accidentally took a video instead of a picture so this is what you get.)

This one is my personal favorite-- the chicken.  The mister could be the egg or perhaps if he is feeling frisky-- he could be my rooster. 

I've thought of other things like the Hulk and Betty OR the Fonz and a chick.  Although I think we need to be something a little funny because we aren't a very serious couple.  What do you think? 

From Teeth to Marriage

Call me a sentimental fool or just a fool-- either way, my baby just had another mile stone today.  Now we've done the lost tooth thing many times but this will be the last time I go through it for the first time with one of my kids.  (I hope you got that)

MY BABY IS GROWING UP!

Boo Whaaaa!

I've been smacked in the face with this everyday for the last month or so.  My oldest has informed my that I can no longer pick out her clothes.  I used to just lay them out in a pile for her to put on in the morning.  Apparently that crosses the line now. 

My baby Zoey has decided on her life's profession and it now trying to pursue it daily.  She told me that her class was doing reports about what they wanted to be when they grew up.  The teacher told them it had to be a real career-- not like a Mom or something.  So she said she wanted to be me when she grew up but if she couldn't be that then she was going to be a professional chef.  Now my kitchen is the hot zone for "helping" mom.

The boys have grown like 10 feet in the last few months and nothing fits.  I'm starting to shop in the regular women's sections for the girls. The women's!!  THE WOMEN'S!  That means we can start shopping together in the same section-- the same section.  Z is one size away from sharing my shoes.  Crazy I tell you!  Sheer madness!

Where did the time go?

First it's a tooth and then it's a date.  Pretty soon I'll be trying on dresses for their weddings. 

sniff sniff.

Not fair.

And yes, I did just skip from teeth to weddings just like that because that's what it feels like.  Don't judge!

Can't they just stay tiny and cute for just a little while longer?

I'm just not ready.

Minivan Mysteries

Today was our SUPER cleaning day.

We cleaned the house top to bottom and then we moved out to the garage to keep our momentum going.  We tried to tackle the cars and decided to start with my beast first.

Now that we have Flash, I've got a whole lot of dog hair hanging out in the car.  Not to mention the nose smears on the windows.  That was my main concern when I started cleaning and then my focus started changing when I began exploring the back seat. 

Found:

1.  One moldy piece of cheese in a ziploc
2.  One half eaten gogurt
3.  half of a super hero
4.  DS pen
5.  2673 empty water bottles
6.  candy wrappers
7.  Legos
8.  Gum  (already chewed)
9.  Pencils

I'll have you know that every time we get out of the car I tell my kids to grab their wrappers and bring them in.  I have now confirmed that pretty much no one listens to me.  Check.

I pick up everything I can see which means that the front seat is always spotless.  The third row however, is an entirely different story.  It's the black hole of the minivan.

The good news is I finally confirmed that there was actual poop to go along with the mysterious poop smell coming from the back seat. 

(insert serious sarcastic tone and continue)

No, no one had poop on their shoes.  And NO, no one smeared it on the back of the seat.  It magically flew and landed in our car all by itself.  It's so weird that our car always attracts that magical mysterious junk that just appears in our back seat.

Cause we all know that this clan sure didn't do it.  No WAY!

Song of the Day

My little buddy found a new song that she loves to jam to.  When we get in the car she asks for this song and dances her little heart out.  It's pretty catchy.  You can check it out  HERE.  (Taio Cruz  Dynamite)

brain barf

OK, so I know I've neglected you a little in the last few days.  Sorry.  I've taken on a task that turned out to be bigger than I anticipated.  I should be finished by the end of the week and then we are back to business as usual.

Any who-- I've had quite a few things on my mind.  So, it's time for a brain barf...

1.  I absolutely HATE spending money on Halloween costumes.  There-- I said it.  I'm that cheap mom that tries to dress her kids up in whatever is lying around the house.  I refuse to pay $30 for some super thin flimsy costume that will fall apart after 2 wearings.  Geeesh-- give me a break!!!

2.  I have cleaned up enough dog hair to knit 25 sweaters!  Seriously, what do you do with all of it?  I'm thinking of filling a comforter or some pillows or something.  It's EVERYWHERE!

3.  Brownies were created just for me.  Nothing soothes my soul quite like a nice chewy frosted brownie.

(Brief intermission while I go eat one.......)

OK-- I'm back.

4.  Do kids have to grow up all at once?  Can't they just give us a little time to adjust?  One day they are asking for you to cut up their food and the next day they want to wear dangley earrings.  Could they just slow down a little bit?

5.  Teevo is the best invention since toilet paper.  Isn't that sad?  I feel like both are of equal importance in my life.  I can't make it without either.  Period.  I vow to never watch live TV again.

6.  My kids go through scotch tape like water.  They are always taping something to the wall or fixing something with it.  Last night I took my socks off and there were several globs stuck to the bottoms.  They offer to improve everything with tape.  They tape stuff to their stuffed animals, the dogs, each other-- they really aren't picky.  They will put it anywhere.

7.  I have a secret love of purses.  I can't have too many.  I like to switch out my purses every couple of weeks.  I have a rotation of about 4 at a time.  When one wears out I get another one.  Oooooh, there is nothing like a good purse.  If I see one I really want, I'll wait it out until it goes on sale.  It's worth it.

8.  Grocery shopping, laundry and dishes-- they are never done.  They always need to be done again and again and again and again.  I give up already!  I need a robot to do it for me.  Just keep a constant stream of laundry dishes and groceries coming because we all know it will never end.

Updates

So remember THIS post where Emerson was convinced his friend's name was Horse Way?  Well it turns out he wasn't entirely wrong.  The kids' name is Josue-- pronounced, Ho-sway.  I never in a million years would have guessed that one.  Way to stick to your guns Em.

Thank you for all of your awesome suggestions about what famous couple we should be for Halloween.  The kids are convinced we should be a super hero couple but I'll have to see what I can come up with.  I promise I will post pictures of the big event later.

My tip of the week comes from Cheri at I am Momma Hear Me Roar.  She has come up with a genius idea for no-slip socks HERE.  I love it.  If you haven't visited Cheri's blog before, you are really missing out.  She totally rocks the craft world.  Check it out HERE.

What are you waiting for?  Go check it out already!

Halloween Horror

So I'm home alone the other night and I have most of the lights off and the kids are asleep in bed.  The dogs are sprawled out on the floor drooling and all of the sudden the big guy starts barking.  I nearly pee my pants because I'm still not used to having such a big bark around the house.

I sense no immediate danger so I keep blogging.  Big guy goes out the back door for a security check around the yard.  I think, "Whatever.  No one will even think of sticking around if they see big guy."

Then the door bell rings and it's pitch black outside our house.  I jump about 10 feet.  I muster up the courage to go to the door.  I turn on the outside lights and see a skull with a candle lodged in its head but no one is there.  FREAKY!  SUPER WAY TOTALLY FREAKY!

As a side note there are two things you should know about me.

1.  I HATE to be scared!
2.  I HATE to be scared!

With that in mind, I see the skull and immediately start to slam the door.  Just as the door is closing I notice a note wrapped around the candle with a bow.  Now, skulls and candles are scary but whoever thought to tie a bow with grosgrain ribbon is probably not.  So I open the door and carefully grab the skull.  (You know the kind of grab you do when you are sure the object is toxic.  I've got like two fingers barely touching the thing-- nasty.)

It turns out it is an invite to a Halloween party at our friends house.  Thanks for the creepy invite guys!  I am officially creeped out.  You scared the crap out of me.  I'm a total Hallo-weenie.

Now, the best part about this is we are required to dress up as a famous couple.  That's where you come in.  Who should we be?  I need some goooood ideas.

Flashbacks

I got a shout out after THIS post about past memories to step it up and let it fly with flashback music.  So here goes...

I was obsessed with Milli Vanilli.  I had their tape and I played it all the time.  And yes, I am aware of the scandal and I just don't care.  They were good to me.

Remember when you had to rewind tapes and try to catch the song at the beginning?  Then we stepped it up with tape players that would rewind one song at a time.  Oh and how about making a good old fashioned mix tape?  Classic and frankly not the same anymore.  It's easy to slap together a few songs now days and send them to a friend.  But on tape you actually had to listen to each song and try to time it just right.  Ahh, the good old days.

How about some Paula Abdul.  I don't care what she did on AI-- she will always be the 80's music magic for me.  I loved her sweet moves.

My Dad bought us all tickets to a Richard Marx concert because my sisters and I just loved his music.  So we went-- the whole family to our first concert.  We bought t-shirts and sang along-- it was awesome.  My sisters even got the sheet music so we could play his music for ourselves.

Vanilla Ice was of course a one hit wonder but totally classic.  I loved his dance moves and what can I say-- his rap just spoke to me.  Cheesy and totally cliche-- but you can't get past the fact that we all liked it.


I'm not sure why I remember this but I do.  I can't remember if it was just a show or a real group but I remember the music.  Help me out here.  It's burned in my brain for life!  Who else is with me?

If I go a little older and venture into my high school years it's safe to say that my friends were obsessed with Pearl Jam.  I had all of their CDs but they were stolen from my car in college.  It's probably a good thing I don't have them anymore.  But if you want to take me back to high school this is the band that takes me there instantly.

How about you?  Any good ones I forgot to add?

Big Guy

I know I keep putting off the blog this week but for good reason.  I took on a big challenge this past week. 

A really REALLY BIG challenge.

 His name is Flash and we have had a bit of a transition adding him into our family.  First off he is HUGE.  Secondly did I mention he is HUGE.  We have a 9 lb. Schnoodle puppy that doesn't shed and is hardly any work.  Flash is closer to 100 lbs. and he sheds like nobodies business.  He is a German Shepherd and yes, we did get him Furminated this weekend which has helped a ton.  My heart goes out to this guy.  He is amazing and super smart.  We rescued him from a bad situation.  He had been crated all day every day.  But you'd never know it because he is so good.

He is awesome but it's a bit of a change going from a tiny guy to a big guy.  The two dogs get along really well and big guy is super gentle to little guy.  The kids are obsessed with playing fetch with big guy and so there is never anyone around to help out when I need them.  I've called them in from outside about a gazillion times this week.  (and no I'm not exaggerating-- much)

In other news Em and I have been having a debate all week long.

Em came home from school talking about a new friend that he made.

Me:  That's great.  What's his name?

Em:  Horse Way

Me:  Umm... do you mean Jose?

Em:  No, Horse Way.

Me:  Could it be Jorge?

Em:  No Mom, it's Horse Way!!!

Every night at dinner he brings up his friend and the rest of the family tries to guess what this kids' name could really be.  It's become sort of a game for our meal time.  I'm going in to help out in Em's class Thursday and it's killing me to know what the kids' name really is.  Tonight I've realized that I'm going to feel really really stupid if the kids' name really is Horse Way.  But what are the chances?  Right?