My Sweet Husband...

My husband bought me diamond earrings for Valentines Day. He and M were telling me all about the shopping trip the other day and it was so sweet! I had taken Z to the play area and M went with dad to shop. Apparently the store they went to was right across from where I was sitting watching Z, so Chris told M to "be a lookout" and spy on me while he bought my gift. I guess while Chris was paying M yelled, "Dad, she's looking! DUCK!" So, (here's the sweet part) in front of the entire jewelry store Chris ducked below the counter so as not to be seen. He said everyone in the store cracked up, but "I told M it was an important job, so I had to do it!" I loved the earrings, but I love that he is such a great daddy even more!

Hair Trouble...

I've been complaining to my husband lately that no matter how much conditioner I use on my hair, it is still so dry! Well, tonight he came out of the shower laughing because I apparently grabbed one bottle of sleek and shiny shampoo and one bottle of what I thought was conditioner, but was actually shampoo for color treated hair. So, my hair has been doubly clean for the last two weeks, but sadly unconditioned. How stupid do I look right now? (Not to mention the dry hair thing...)

Fighting...

Do you ever have those days where you feel like everyone in your house is fighting with everyone else? Sigh...

Latest Song...

M's latest song:

Burgers are something you eat unless you are a vegetarian.
Boogers are something that comes out of your nose.
Cheeseburgers are something you eat unless you are a vegetarian.
Cheese-Boogers are something that comes out of your nose if you put cheese up there.

Romantic Gestures...

Tonight we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner that is right next to a busy, Chinese restaurant/take-out place. We had to park by the Chinese food place and on our way back to the car I told Chris I wanted him to go and steal me a fortune cookie. He went in and grabbed me one, which was really pretty sweet of him, however also a little criminal, but we eat there a lot, so I'm not too worried about it. I just made a mental note to never express my desire to own a Ferrari.

Yoga...

Today Z woke up from his nap before I'd finished my yoga video. I decided to go ahead and finish up because he likes to do yoga, too. We were doing a pose called tree, where you balance on one foot, when Z got restless. He grabbed the leg I was standing on and yelled, "TIMBER!" I did manage to finish my yoga, but I had to stop for several minutes because I was laughing so hard.

Hide and Seek...

Reason's I like playing hide and seek with Z:

1. He always hides in the same spot so it is easy to "find" him.
2. If you say, "Where's Z?" he always answers, "I don't know."
3. Whenever you find him he says, "You find me! Good job!" and laughs.

Rain...

It is raining today, which it doesn't do all that often here in AZ. That is probably why Z has been standing at the window for the last 5 minutes yelling, "Mommy! Its washing outside!"

Ocean Water...

The following is a statement my husband made on why we don't drink ocean water:

"All mammals work pretty much the same way. Have you seen the size of blue whales?"

Cupcakes...

M and I baked cupcakes yesterday. We even frosted them and put an m&m on the top of each one. Today Z managed to reach the tupperware they were in and before I caught him had, in true Z fashion, eaten the m&m off of about 5 of them. He was covered in chocolate frosting, but it was impossible to yell at him when he looked up and said, " Z no eat cupcakes." I mean, he had a point there...

Starburst...

Pink Starburst are the bestest candy in the whole world!

Telephone Problems...

It used to be that whenever the phone rang M would yell, "PHONE!" Now whenever the phone rings M yells, "PHONE" and Z yells, "TELE-LE-PHONE!" always in unison. I have given up trying to get them to stop, its pointless really. But still, the phone is annoying enough without announcing its presence every time it rings!

Wendy's...

I took the kids to Wendy's for lunch today on our way to the dentist. From the second we get out of the car Z is YELLING (and I do mean YELLING!) "FRENCH FRIES!" So, I go to order and everytime I pause for breath Z says "small french fries, please" and I'd say "Yes, I know!" Anyway the girl goes to read our order back to us and she has like 6 orders of fries on there. Come on, who listens to a two-year old when he orders??? Like I was really going to let him have 6 small fries...

Mourning...

M's fish died.

Remorse...

Z disobeyed this morning and before he was allowed to go outside and play he had to apologize. So he sat on the couch pouting for 5 minutes before he mumbled out a "sorry". I let him out to play and 15 minutes later he came back in and crawled into my lap and started crying and saying, "I sorry, mommy. I sorry. I soooooorrrrryyyyy." Now I feel like the meanest mommy in the whole world! Now that is what I call true remorse...

Fasting...

Today is Ash Wednesday and I fast on this day and have for the past several years. This year my husband decided to join me, so we are both fasting. For the first time EVER I am so hungry that I can't stop thinking about food! I haven't determined if this is because I am not fasting alone or because I am usually just too busy to think about food. However, my nephew just arrived so I should be a lot busier for the rest of the day. As long as nobody talks about food, I should be fine :)

Edgar Allan Poe...

Okay, M's white noise machine has several different background noises to choose from. One of them is a heartbeat and he said that one was "creepy". I agreed with him and said there was even a story written about a man who hears a heartbeat and it was creepy, too. Now he keeps asking me to read that story to him. So, what does everyone think? 5 1/2 a little too young for "The Talltale Heart"?

Weather...

Two days ago, my boys were in shorts and t-shirts. Then yesterday they were in jeans and jackets. Now they are back in shorts. I wish it would just make up its mind. It seems like we have had cold weather for a really long time. (And yes, I am fully expecting very rude comments for this post, but still, it must be said...)

My Son The Songwriter...

M's newest song, sung to any tune you happen to have stuck in your head.

God is bigger than everything. He made everything. That's why He's bigger. 'Cause He was smart enough to make everything in the whole world smaller than Him. That was so smart of Him, 'cause now He's bigger than everythinnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg!

Things I Don't Like About Being A Mom...

toddler puke...especially at 1:00am.

Goodnight Prayers...

Z's goodnight prayer tonight:

Dear Jesus. Thank you for dragons. Thank you for pretzels. Thank you for mommy. Thank you for daddy. Thank you for M. Thank you for Thomas and Percy. Thank you for ice-cream. Help Z sleep sweet. Help Jesus sleep sweet. Amen. Oh! Thank you for Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. Amen.

Props To Walmart Manager...

I was at Walmart yesterday and the manager came over the loud speaker just to thank all his associates for working great as a team and giving 100%. I thought that was nice to hear.

A Mother's Influence...

I think maybe Z is spending too much time with mommy. After lunch today I asked him what he was going to do and he told me he was going to take a bubble bath. (Yes, I let him. It keeps out from under foot for 20 minutes. Besides he was completely covered in peanut butter.)

Did You Mean...?

"Keep me here as president and let my brothers go free."

I think he meant prisoner...

Veggie Tales...

M was singing that song from Where is God When I'm Afraid. The line is supposed to be, "when I'm lying in my bed and the furniture starts creaking, I just holler cut that out and get back to my sleeping." M sings it "when I'm lying in my bed and the furniture starts to beat me". I think his version is scarier, don't you?

Can anyone tell me...

why it is that haircutting places that cater to children charge twice as much as anywhere else? I mean their heads are smaller, right? So they have less hair, right? And they put cartoons on so they don't have to keep up that annoying background chatter. (Personally I feel that if you have scissors that close to my brain you should probably shut-up and concentrate.) If I could leave my children there and run errands while they trimmed their hair then maybe I wouldn't feel like it was such a rip-off. You know, a haircutting/daycare kind of thing. But no, I have to stand there the ENTIRE TIME. Not only that, but they continually ask me how I want the boys hair cut. If I knew that I would not have shelled out $30.00 for two haircuts this morning...

FYI...

Know what happens when you attempt to brush your teeth with a mouthful of string cheese? Well, Z demonstrated this for me today. It's gross, trust me.

Pop Rocks...

M shared some poprocks with Z today. It didn't go over too well since Z kept running around the house yelling, "ROCKS BITE ME! ROCKS BITE ME!"

How Insightful...

We were driving somewhere and the lady on the radio said that if we were the 10th caller we would win a four pack of tickets to My Little Pony Live. M piped up from the backseat, "We could TOTALLY try to win those, if only we were all girls."

Why I Hate Baking...

Recipe For Brown Bread

Combine 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 cups lumpy, hard as a rock brown sugar in large mixing bowl. Turn on mixer to cream, turn off mixer, change outlets, turn on mixer, turn off mixer, turn on coffee pot, turn off coffee pot, unplug coffee pot, plug mixer into coffee pot's outlet, turn on mixer, admit defeat and angrily throw broken mixer into overflowing garbage can. (Make mental note to take out garbage.) Begin to cream eggs and sugar with wooden spoon, stopping frequently to pick out brown sugar pebbles. Carefully put 3 1/2 cups flour into bowl only designed to hold 3 cups. Search for baking soda for 5 minutes before discovering youngest son covered in baking soda. Stop to clean up and discipline son. Say little prayer to God thanking him for sparing 2 tsp baking soda. Add soda to flour and carefully and slowly combine, attempting not to spill any flour. Mix 2 tsp vinegar into 2 cups of milk. Stop to explain to oldest son why this is not a good time to build a volcano. Begin to add milk and flour mixture a little at a time to brown sugar. Discover that mixture is really, really hard to stir by hand. Briefly consider abandoning attempt to make brown bread, but then remember that ingredients cost money. Take brief break to stop youngest son from playing DVD's in his CD player. Remind oldest son that he is not in charge. Return to stirring. When mixture is well-combined or your hand is too tired to stir anymore pause to glance at recipe. Say bad word when you realize you should have added baking soda to milk, not flour. Stop to remind youngest son not to say bad words. Turn on oven that should have already been preheating to 350. Carefully measure dough into two ungreased loaf pans, taking special care to make certain dough is evenly distributed. Glance at recipe, swallow swear words and scrape mixture back into mixing bowl. Rinse out loaf pans and grease. Spoon mixture back into pans as quickly as possible, paying no attention to how much each pan gets. Stick pans in oven. Remember to set timer for 40 minutes. Get baby up from nap and change diaper. Break up argument between 5 year old and 2 two year old. Fold and put away clean laundry. Put wet laundry into dryer. Put another load of laundry into washer. Break up argument between 7 month old and 2 year old. Attempt to sweep brown sugar on flour underneath cupboard with foot. Rinse dishes and attempt to load into overflowing dishwasher. Check bread. Remove bread from oven. Remind children that bread is for dinner and needs to cool. Remind children they cannot have bread. Give in to children because you are too tired to argue anymore. Comfort youngest when he burns tongue. Wrap cooled loaf for sister-in-law. Hand over said loaf and modestly accept praise when she discovers you've made her favorite. Toss recipe in still overflowing garbage and swear to never bake again.

Overheard...

The following conversation took place between two transformers (both parts being played by M):

Transformer One: "ARRGH! My leg fell off! You'll have to go on without me!"

Transformer Two: "Blast your manufacturers and their faulty construction!"

Boys...

M & Z got into a fight because Z wanted to close the bedroom door and shut M out and M didn't want to be shut out. C intervened and made Z stop closing the door only to discover that M really didn't want in their room anyway! He was just basically fighting just in case he might maybe want to be in that room later. So to prove a point C made M go into his room, kicking and screaming. As soon as Z realized M didn't really want to be in there he wandered off to find something else to do. So what exactly were they fighting about again???????

Mondays...

Every Monday I clean our bathrooms. (That way I have a valid reason to not like Mondays.) Today I went to put the rugs into the wash and returned to find that Z had decided to help me clean. He was very methodically scrubbing out the toilet (which already had cleaner in it) with he and M's toothbrushes. How gross is that!?!?!?!?!?!

And Another Thing...

Why does my son feel the need to say "PHONE!!!" everytime it rings?!?!?! Does he think I'm deaf or just really inept????

Never mind...don't answer that...

What Mothers Of Daughters Miss...

Do you know how many hours a week I spend putting transformers back together?!?!? (Actually, neither do I, but its a lot!) I finally told M that if General Grievious Leg fell off again that he would just have to hop until Dad came home...

(BTW: I mostly started this blog because it seems like such a convient way to vent... :)