Haircut day at the Hamers' house

Jason asked this morning if he should take the boys to get their hair cut, because he would like to get his done. That was my hint ;) 

One way that I like to try and save money is giving haircuts to the boys at home. At $10-12 (plus gratuity!) a pop times 4 guys (3 boys and Dad), it adds up quick every 2-3 weeks. 

I refuse to do Jason's because I'm always worried I will mess up the back hairline, so he still goes to the barber/salon. I've done it before, but it always causes an argument because I'm nervous and he has 100% confidence in me.

The boys are a lot easier. They get a buzz cut using the #3 on Dad's clippers. No fuss, no muss. I usually don't bother trimming the hairline

They all do pretty good too. Even Jackson. 

None of them - well, the older two - like their hair long anyway, so it's never a struggle when I suggest. Jackson watched me give them haircuts and then sat very still on the step stool in the half bathroom just like them so I could cut his. 

Now if I could just figure out how to trim my own...

Here's a pic of my handsome boys!
 

From L: Ethan (11), Jackson (22 months), Alex (8)

7 Quick Takes ;) - July 5, 2013

--- 1 ---
Just the 3 of us!

Yesterday was the 4th of July. Independence Day. We didn't have our 2 older boys with us, so it was just Jason, Jackson and I. After a light lunch, we went to Great Lakes Crossing and walked around for a couple of hours. Jack LOVED the animals at Bass Pro Shops. He was pointing at them and trying to name them. Even the fish were just the most amazing thing to him! We decided to have dinner at Toby Keith's I <3 this bar and grill. It was pretty good. I ended up ordering a half-rack of St. Louis style ribs, baked beans and sweet potato tots.

We didn't go see fireworks last night, but we sure did hear them. Our dog is a scaredy-cat and spent the whole night whimpering and whining. I can't wait till people are done shooting them off... 
Actually since Monday, we've just been kind of not doing a whole lot. Jason has had class most evenings, so Jack and I have been spending time together.

--- 2 ---
Technology growing pains...

While at the mall, we passed the Verizon Wireless store. My Droid X2 has been acting up for the last couple of months. Missing texts, not dialing, dropping calls, the screen freezing up, having to do a hard reset by removing the battery. It has gotten quite irritating. I'd already gone over once to the store nearest to our house, but the customer service rep was less than helpful (kind but unable to offer me a replacement). So when Jason suggested stopping in to this store, I wasn't exactly enthusiastic. However, the very nice lady looked up our information and found that not only do we have insurance, but also the extended warranty, meaning they would replace my phone with something NEWER, of equal or better value! For FREE! And it won't change our plan or "renew" our contract so we won't lose our current unlimited data. I should be getting my brand new Droid RAZR M on either Monday or Tuesday! It looks pretty sweet. Smaller phone, but all screen, so it's actually a bigger screen, lighter, faster, 4G, and I won't lose my apps. I'm pretty thrilled to say the least.

--- 3 ---
From me to you! 

I want to let people know that if you get a message from me on Facebook, I'm not spamming you, nor am I just trying to bug you or sell to you. I'm genuinely reaching out to help others. My thought is this: If I don't reach out to so-and-so and they DO want help reaching their goals, I'll never know, nor will they know I want to help them. If I do reach out, and they don't need or want help, at least they know I care, and if they ever need support, that I'm there. Also maybe they know somebody that wants or needs assistance. So please don't mind my messages. If it's not of interest to you, a quick no thanks would be grand, but if you forget or don't have a minute, I understand. Just know that it's not to bother you or because I think you are in particular need of something. I figure all of us could use some support at sometime or another. :) Thanks for your understanding!!!

--- 4 ---
It's all relative

You don't realize how much you are alike (and different at the same time!) until you spend a lot of time with family members. This past weekend, after dropping the older boys off, I picked my mom up and we drove down to Columbus. We stayed at my sister Heather's house for the weekend, and while it was fun, it did get a little, ahem, tense? sometimes. Really it was over silly stuff, and most of it was myself overreacting. I do want to apologize though, again. Love you!! We threw her a bridal shower, and even though no family from out of town came in (...), we still had a good time and made the most of it. Jackson had a blast running around with all the "little" girls that were there. They ranged from 4-12, I think? Oh my gosh, he was so funny. Back at the house, he'd chase the dogs, yelling "dog" or "gigi" (one of Heather and Matt's pups names). Jack loved that they were almost all smaller than him.

--- 5 --- 
Shoe important!
 

Looking for boots for the wedding party proved fruitful. We found a pair all of us girls liked, though a different color we originally talked about. We did have to go online to order them (planning to do so this weekend actually) and found a better deal too! I promised I would share a picture if it was alright with the bride-to-be and she obliged :)

Justin Boots Red Torino

On top of finding those, yesterday proved fruitful too. I found a new pair of tennis shoes for exercise, walking and hopefully, eventually, running! They are Asics, very cute, comfortable and not terribly expensive. I guess, after reading the description on the site linked below, they are technically trail-running shoes, but whatever ;)

Asics GEL-Venture 3

I'm still on the lookout for a good pair of tennis shoes for everyday wear to replace my 4 year old Sketchers shape-ups that I love but are worn out... I did find a pair of Sketchers D'Lites that I like, but wanted to price them elsewhere before I got them. These look and feel good, and even though they are actually considered "athletic training shoes", I could wear them everyday, with jeans or whatever.

I'm not much of a shoe or fashion person, but since I'm losing weight now, I need to start slowly replacing my clothes with things that fit. I may need a fashion advisor... anybody want the job? LOL.

--- 6 ---
Finding myself in my hobbies is a chore in itself

I got married pretty young and never really developed a sense of "self", so to speak. I didn't really have any hobbies or at least I didn't really grow them? As I build this blog, and grow as a person, I want to find new things to do. Photographing things has been fun, but I always seem to put it away and never learn more, or I forget my camera and miss out on opportune shots!

I have tried learning to knit, and while I did successfully make a hat, I just don't seem to take the time to work on my projects!

Excuse after excuse, really. I have got to stop that.

--- 7 ---
Kicking the Summer Bucket List starts...

NOW! Well actually tomorrow. Well, technically, it already did a few weeks ago, BUT we only did a few simple, already scheduled things. Now it's time to hit it and hit it HARD! Ethan and Alex will be excited to get moving on it and start doing some of the fun things we have listed. I think first thing we should cross off is making homemade donuts. A couple of weeks ago, we found a BabyCakes donut maker on clearance at Meijer and snagged it. Sunday morning would be a great day to do this :) I will try to remember to snap some pics of the process and the aftermath! I'm thinking using our whole wheat pancake batter recipe, just a bit thicker might work? Any thoughts? I'd like to make them a healthy version. They are basically baked, not fried, and we have tons of King Arthur's white whole wheat flour, and fresh berries we could add. We'll see how they turn out!

Thanks for reading!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

The road we travel...

We never really put down our roots for very long, it's the wandering gene that Jason and I both were inherently born with. A few years here, a few there, never more than about 5.

Having live in Michigan now for just about 5, we've actually been getting that itch. The itch to move somewhere new, somewhere away from here.

It's funny actually, when we lived in Maryland with two small children and the dog, all we ever wanted (so we thought) was to move back to our hometown in Ohio, to be near our extended family. While we missed them, and still do, now that we live 2 hours away AGAIN, I've realized that it's just not meant to be. Never would Jason find a job doing what he does in Toledo, nor would we end up being settled. It's just not us.

We always hated the long drive back and forth when we'd go for a holiday or summer visit, even knowing that our short time would be so filled with activities and time with loved ones, because it just wouldn't ever be truly enough enjoyable, quality time with our families. We knew we would have to leave too soon and we had two crabby, out-of-their-normal-routine kiddies. Now we live just far enough that it's a hassle for us to go visit too often - packing up bags of clothes for overnight, diapers, the dog and his necessary things - but just close enough that we feel we should and everyone expects us too - not that that's a bad thing, but it's true.

There are days when I'd love to just pack up the car, fill it up and drive with my amazingly supportive husband and our 3 crazy, funny, annoyingly-loud-at-times, awesome sons and just go in one direction until we run out of gas and just stay a while. And then do it all over again. And again. And again. That's my wandering gene, my gypsy blood, if you will.

Mind you, I'm a "lister", a planner to an extent, when it comes to silly, frivolous things. But the big things? It's ironic because not so much. I think Jason and I both have a tendency to be impulsive. Not in a bad way, but just going with our guts. Our first instincts are almost always right, for both of us. We are so in tune with each other, he will call to ask me something and I would have just been thinking of the same thing, or sometimes, I'll be ready to tell him something and boom, he was just talking to somebody about that earlier or whatever. It's kind of freaky. But it just shows me how perfect we are for each other, how we just seem to fit together. Before anybody says, "gimme a break!", that doesn't mean we always get along, or even close to it! It just means that we have definitely grown into this relationship and understanding of each others' wants and needs over the years. We certainly are both still quite selfish sometimes - I more than he - but that's how it goes. But I digress.

Where we will end up next? Who knows? We've both talked about moving somewhere, Jason finding a new job or a different position/place with his company and going somewhere South or West. I know the boys love their school and their friends and it always seems just as I finally make new friends or at least become more social with the ones I have ;) , I'm ready to move on in a sense to a new place, not leaving those people behind, but to find more to add richness to my life. That's how I look at those people I've met along this long, strange road called life. They've all played a part, and added something to my life, taught me something, shared their little corners of this place with me, made me a better person in some way. From the girls I went to high school with or met in Germany to the co-worker who became one of my best friends in Maryland to my newest friend and co-blogger Julie, they've all changed my life and truly helped me grow and still are!!!

The real question at hand is where are we being "lead to" and should we follow the pull down this winding path? I guess time will tell...

Umm...

I never thought I'd have to say to my almost ELEVEN year old that he can't use scissors without adult supervision...

Last Saturday after Tons O' Trucks, Jason gave the boys a hair cut, which was needed but not absolutely necessary. They could've waited another couple of days. Except for the fact that E decided to cut his "sideburns" and around his ears because it was bothering him. Without telling us. Oh and then he cut the small little "Alfalfa" tuft he tends to get once it's a certain length. Ugh. It was kind of funny, but I'm just glad he didn't snip his ear in the process.

This was what it looked like. Of course, we didn't notice until AFTER we left the house!

Tonight, we went out to dinner, and when we outside waiting for our table, I kept looking at E and thinking "What is different about him? His eyes look different to me." I asked Jason what was different and he couldn't figure it out either but saw what I meant.

After a few minutes, I leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek and noticed what it was...

HE CUT HIS EYELASHES!!

He's always had really long eyelashes, and apparently they were bugging him this morning. So he decided he was going to use his "kid" scissors to trim them. Wow. That's all I can say.

So no more scissors anywhere for E. Again, I'm REALLY glad he didn't hurt himself somehow.

I do have to laugh though, not in a mean way, but a what the @%#* kind of way!

This last week has been, wow, just a little off! Last Sunday was Alex's First Holy Communion, which I already shared about. We had his party in our basement and backyard. After Sunday night, I didn't set foot back down there till Wednesday afternoon.

Alex actually went down to play after school that day, and came running back up to say there was tons of water all over the basement. I expected to go down and see some water backing up out of the drain or something. Oh, no, not even close. There was almost 2 inches of water throughout the entire 1900 sq ft basement! The sump pump went out - the outlet tripped. We got it started and called the insurance. Thankfully, we have water backup coverage, so they sent a cleanup crew Thursday morning. After a couple more mishaps - missed calls and messages, more equipment, sump being unplugged accidentally and additional flooding - the basement is almost completely dry and hopefully only needs a little fixing up. I'm truly grateful we had never put carpet down there.

Friday: Jack and I went grocery shopping, dealt with the cleanup crew for the 2nd time and the insurance claims adjustor and we had Julie's oldest son spend the night. Jason, E, Alex and Jordan all played outside and had a small fire in the BBQ pit. They also shot Alex's bow and arrow and broke a window on the shed! Silly boys. I also had a very important phone call to take care of for my new adventure. More on that soon, hopefully.

Julie and the rest of the boys came over first thing Saturday morning and while we finished up breakfast, poor Jordan shot an arrow at the ground and it bounced up and hurt his eye! Not too badly, thank goodness. Julie and I took the 7 boys to the Detroit Institute of Arts and walked around for a few hours. There were some very interesting pieces of artwork and historical/archaeological pieces too! I think the boys really enjoyed themselves as well as learned something new.

Sunday morning came too early and we didn't make it to Mass, even though we all wanted and planned to. :( I had 4 loads of laundry to do and had to spread it all out day, so I wouldn't trip the circuit breaker. E, Jack and I went to Costco while Alex and Jas worked on his diorama.

Today has proven to be a smooth day and I'm hoping the rest of the week is the same!

32

My weekend went a little something like this. Crazy.busy.non-stop. Ha!

Friday morning, Jackson had a 9am dr. appointment which went pretty well. Jack is healthy and strong. He's 21 lbs 10 oz (he actually gained more than 1 1/2 lbs in just under a month! That may be a record for him!) and he's 31 1/4 inches tall! I had to fill out another questionnaire like I did at his 12 month appointment for gross motor, fine motor and speech assessment. He scored a little low on his gross motor again ~ but one of the questions was about climbing/crawling up stairs, which was impossible to assess since we live in a ranch (with a basement, but he doesn't go down there), so that was a "not yet" answer ~ and he was borderline for speech. The pediatrician ~ whom I love, but am a little frustrated with about this ~ is wanting us to call that early childhood place again. Since they said they would follow up in May and the PT gave me her name and number if I had questions before, I will call her directly and see what she thinks. Also, over the weekend, at my sister's, he proved he can crawl up a whole flight of stairs, and he learned a new word or two. Jack says "dog" now and it sounded like he said A's name and a couple of other things too. So honestly, I think it's so hard to follow those assessments. I understand why and that they are probably very helpful and a great tool, but sometimes, it's not a good indicator of skills/milestones. Also, she wants us to sign a form about vaccines, saying we are declining and it goes to the state or county health department. I really want to wait since I know we don't really need to sign anything till school starts (5 more years!) plus the way it reads somewhat worries me. We are not necessarily planning to get him any, but currently we are delaying until at least 2. E and A won't be getting anymore either. It's a personal decision based on lots of research and loads of discussion with Jas. I know it's a controversial choice and people may not agree but it's our choice. Besides, I have to say, he's been our healthiest boy so far... makes you wonder, you know?

OK. So back to the weekend's craziness!

Jas, E, Alex, Jack and I drove to Toledo, and took the older boys to Jason's parents' house for the weekend. Oh and Buddy, our dog. I have to say, my in-laws are pretty wonderful to not only take Ethan and Alex for 3 days but also our dog when they already have 2 of their own! It was super-helpful. After we dropped them off, we went to pick up my mom and visit my dad for a few minutes before heading South to Columbus!

On the way, we stopped at picked up my nieces (my sister's fiance's daughters), A - 10 and M - 12.

Friday night, we ate dinner and then between all of us girls, we got some of the wedding favors taken care of (no details, because I know some family members will be reading this! ;) ) and finally go some sleep.

We all woke up pretty early Saturday, some earlier than others *ahem, Matt!* (<--- he was up and out in the yard both days before us, building stuff!), ate a quick breakfast and headed out to the bridal store to look for dresses for us bridesmaids. Of course, the store had our appointment wrong, made Heather (my sis) pick up her dress that day ~ the wedding is in September... ~ and the first lady we worked with was so rude. We got "assigned" to a different, much nicer lady but we couldn't all agree on one dress. The one we all kind of liked was way over-budget, before alterations (and because I'm fat - hey, I am! - there was an additional $20-40 charge.) so we decided to keep looking.

Heather, the girls, mom, Jack, Chelsea (another bridesmaid) and her daughter and I went to lunch at IHOP in between shopping. I think it was a much needed break and we were able to sit and talk a little about our plans for a bridal shower.

 The next place we went to was not really any better. They were a little more polite, but the selection stunk and anything we did like didn't come in our color (hello, black is a pretty easy color for a dress, people!). No luck.

Off to the mall. Well, most of us. Chelsea and her daughter live about an hour from Heather and it was already after 4, so they had to get home. I feel bad that we wasted their time shopping. :( Chelsea is very nice and between her and her daughter, I was cracking up!

So we checked a few stores at the mall, to see if maybe they had any prom dresses that might work. Ugh. Time to just go home.

Late dinner - pizza which was yum! - and Heather and mom and the girls did some more of the favors while I tried to get Jack down for the night.

Oh by the way, Saturday was also my birthday. Not to mention, I'm not really a fan of clothes shopping but this was somewhat fun. Even when it was stressful, LOL. I got a sweet card from my honey.

Heather did some online searches and found another local bridal shop that opened at 11am Sunday that looked promising.

After a big breakfast, all of us girls and the baby went out to the shop, which is in a 120+ yr old farm house! To be honest, upon first sight, I was a bit nervous about their selection. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by three very sweet ladies who showed us where to look, got us what we needed and helped immensely. We found 5 dresses to try on and since the largest in-store size was a 12, we had M try on the dresses. 2 of them we somewhat liked, 2 we didn't really, and 1 we fell in love with. We can get it in black with ivory, it's much less expensive (by almost $100!!) and comes in every size we need. I tried it on with a corset-type strapless and while I couldn't get the 10 zipped all the way up, it gave me a good idea of the fit and I loved the flowiness (sp?) of it. By the way, Mom got it on, zipped and it was big on her! I think that put a big smile on her face :) She looked beautiful in it - too bad she's not a bridesmaid, LOL. Also the salesgirl didn't charge me the "extra" fee so I got it for the same price even though I needed larger than a 16 (typically they charge $25 per the manufacturer/designer). We put half down on mine, M's and A's. Chelsea and Marcy, the other bridesmaids, got pictures texted to them and they both answered with an affirmative answer :) Thank goodness. I was getting depressed that we were having such a hard time!

By this point it was after 1pm, so we had to get the van loaded so we could head back to Toledo, drop off Mom and go to Jason's parents' house. We didn't get there till 5:30. My MIL had dinner ready almost immediately (thankfully!) and we went out and played for a little while with the boys before cake and ice cream. We never got on the road till after 8, I think. Home around 10pm, boys were in their jammies, so they went straight to bed.

This morning was a little rough because all of us were tired from a long week/weekend and a late night again, and I didn't realize we had finished the juice boxes sometime last week so when I went to pack lunches this morning, I had to dig out $0.30 for each of the boys to buy milk (chocolate for E since he can't stand regular ~ he's got to have something with lunch and I don't have a small thermos for water that fits in their lunch bags :( ). We were late, but neither of them seemed to upset. I didn't remember till I was helping E at his locker, that I forgot snacks for both of them. It's going to be a long day...

Oh. Yeah. The title of the post is 32. I forgot. I turned 32 on Saturday. But apparently I look 17. According to A, at least. LOL. That was a great compliment. I look half my age! Yay! But I also don't look old enough to have kids, she said. Hehehe. Silly, sweet girl.

Daybook #1 - April

FOR TODAY - April 2, 2013

Outside my window...

It's sunny but cold! After such nice weather this weekend (50's Saturday and Sunday!), it's somewhat frustrating that it's cooler today. We've all been looking forward to more spring-like weather. Oh well. The older boys decided to go out and play for a bit this morning and now they are playing video games.

I am thinking...
I should get a particular blog post written that I've been thinking about since last Monday. The ideas have been floating around in my head for a week and I'm not entirely sure where to start. The most important thing: I know there are SEVERAL other parents (not to mention at least one teacher) who agrees with me about some things. Also it's difficult to not say something to people when they are doing things that, at least to me, don't really make sense! At the same time, it's even more difficult to say anything to them about it without worrying about offending them. And to the mom who said to me this week "Well, you probably don't like me then, I'm the mom who sends in a big bag of candy for the class to share!", you're right - while I do like you as a person, I don't appreciate the actions of parents who send junk in to the classroom. The students get parties galore, as well as teachers using it as a motivational tool, not to mention the outside-of-school treats. By the way, NO it does NOT make me feel better that our school is "way healthier than the public schools." Because if this is "way healthier", it just shows what a pitiful state we are in when in comes to our understanding of good food and moderation in regards to treats.

I am thankful...
that my husband is thoughtful. A co-worker and friend passed away tragically and unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago while away for work. Jason has done everything he could to help the man's family and especially his wife during this time, including getting him home. His wife asked Jason to be a pall-bearer and he agreed. While I'm sure this has been hard on everyone at work, I've seen the toll it's taken on Jas and how it's made him see things a little differently.

In the kitchen...
Jas cooked spaghetti for dinner, the dishwasher is running, leftovers are in the fridge and I am trying hard to stay away from the mini p.b. Snickers.


I am wearing...
My favorite jeans, a black tank top and a long-sleeve Harley shirt. Layers are good for nursing ;)

I am creating...
At the moment, nothing. I finished the hat I've been knitting for over a month, my first time following a pattern!! Time for a new project.

I am going...
to bed earlier than last night - 1:00am is way too late :)

I am wondering...
if I should just go and ask for what I want. Also if we should keep considering a move.

I am reading...
currently nothing! Although there are a few new free kindle books I want to start. I can't remember the names right now though!

I am hoping...
this week will bring some nice weather and we can go for some more walks.

I am looking forward to...
maybe taking the boys to the art museum. Also to next weekend!

I am learning
to take things in stride, as much as I can ;) And that E and Alex are growing up.

Around the house...
I've got lots of laundry to fold. I washed it all Friday so we would have clean clothes when we went to Ohio over the weekend but didn't get it folded and put away. Also, I would like to take this week, since the boys are on spring break, to clean and organize their room, the guest room and most importantly their desks! Thinking we they I will clean and go through the basement/playroom if there is a good time.

One of my favorite things...
mini peanut butter snickers. 'Nuff said.

A few plans for the rest of the week:
DIA
watch Army Wives x2
go to Ohio to do some wedding planning/dress shopping and of course, spend time with some of my family ;)
who knows what else - Jungle Java? Park?

For more daybook entries or to participate, go here: The Simple Woman's Daybook

To be honest,

I don't really want to go. I don't want to take Jackson who will be tired and cranky, because he won't have napped before, and he won't nap there. I don't want to take E who will most likely be bored and end up having a meltdown. I don't want to take myself, because I am not in a good mood. I am not in a mood that is conducive to being supportive and cheerful and the mom I want to be.

Alex has his first pinewood derby race in just over an hour.

We got up, E and Alex showered, ate breakfast and dressed for Mass. Jason fed Jack while I showered and got ready to go. After he finished, I dressed him and we were ready to head out for Mass this morning. Having only 10 minutes to get to our parish and not be late, I thought it would be prudent to go to a different parish today. The closer one is larger and has quite a few more families, so it's usually a little more crowded. I didn't anticipate how crowded it would be being Palm Sunday, so when we pulled in the lot and found not only every actual parking space filled, but also each curb "space" full, I decided it was just time to go home.

I guess it's a good thing we did, because when we got home, I checked Mass Times to see if there is a later (evening) Mass in our area and I realized that the Mass we almost went to started at 9:30 not 10:00. So we were very late anyway ;)

Regardless. Since we've been missing Mass a lot lately, either because one of us - or several! - are sick or because I can't get us all moving or don't want to "deal" with 3 kids at church by myself again, I really did want to go today. I was honestly looking forward to it. Not going, well, it put me in a bad mood. I know, it's silly really. But it's the truth.

Now it makes me not want to do anything today. Jason says I have my priorities screwed up. Because I was planning to take them to church, but I won't go support our son doing his Cub Scout activity.

Here's the thing though. I did plan to go to church. I planned to go to the derby too. And even though we didn't make it to Mass, and even though I don't want to go to the derby, even though I told Jason I plan to just drop Alex off and bring the other two home, I won't do that. I am his mom, whether I am having a good day, or a bad day, whether I want to do something or not. I will go, I will support him, I will cheer him on. Because I LOVE him and I want him to always know and remember that.

So yeah, maybe my priorities seem screwed up, especially when I spout off at the mouth. But, to be honest, my boys will ALWAYS come first, their needs, their wants, whether it's a good day or not.

Off to the pinewood derby in 35 minutes or so and I'm sure we will all end up having a good time, despite a cranky, tired toddler, a 10yr old Aspie's anticipated meltdown from boredom and a crabby mom, because sometimes, you just need to get out of the house and do something, anything to change everybody's attitude :)

Spring brings lots to do!!!

We've got a busy few weeks ahead of us! Starting with this weekend, Friday is the school carnival, Saturday the boys have their final Catechism class of the year, and Alex has his first Pinewood Derby on Sunday.

Next week, I'm helping out at the school book fair pretty much all week - Monday and Thursday from 8-4 and Tues and Wed from 8-12 - and of course, Jack-Jack will be with me destroying the displays helping the kids all pick out books ;) Then Thursday evening, E and Alex have the school talent show with their friend J. Good Friday starts their Spring break, and Easter Sunday, we may or may not head to Ohio to see family. Not entirely sure what our plans out, so we shall see.

At some point over their break, the older two boys are going to visit Jason's parents for a couple/few days, probably the following weekend. My birthday is also that Saturday (April 6). Since I'm in my sister Heather's wedding - Matron of Honor - and we are still doing all the dress fittings and looking for the perfect bridesmaids dresses as well as making the table decor, we decided that weekend is perfect to go down to Columbus. So after Jack's 15 month dr appt., we are driving down (probably dropping E and Alex off at the in-laws that afternoon, on the way) to my parents to pick up my mom and then down to Heather's house till Sunday afternoon. I'm thinking we should go to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner as a birthday treat ;)

A week after that is Jason's sister Jorie's wedding. It's in Florida and we aren't going to be able to go. :( It makes me sad that we aren't going. I really, really hope that her and Matt's special day is perfect and they enjoy their day surrounded by everyone who loves them and that they know we are thinking of them.

The following Sunday - April 21st - brings Alex's First Communion. We are having a small celebration with immediate family and a few close family friends - I'm talking like 30-35 people, including the five of us!

Thankfully after that, it's pretty mellow around here for awhile. At least as mellow as it can be with 3 young boys, and a crazy husband ;)

Or if this crazy mama forgets something!!

It's certainly been a day so far!

After a very long week of being sick, I finally started feeling a little better last night and slept more. I feel a thousand times better today. Jackson is sick with a double ear infection and a sinus infection though, which would explain why the poor boy couldn't sleep well, nurse well lying down, and didn't want to lie flat in bed :( I honestly had no idea it was so bad. He's had no fever, but a cough for a few days that got worse a couple of days ago and Wednesday night, he started pulling on his left ear so I knew something was up. I love, love, love our pediatrician's office. They always have open slots for last-minute sick visits so we are always able to get in the same day. There are 2 doctors in the practice and they are both sweet ladies who take the time to really listen and talk to you. To be honest, if they would see adults, I would so go to them! LOL. While we were there, I made a point to ask about his thumb and she was equally concerned. She said even though it isn't currently bothering him, she worries that it could become a problem as he gets older and is learning to write. (Even though it already appears he will be right-handed and it's his left thumb. Hey, you never know!) She gave me the phone numbers for 2 pediatric orthopedist (is that right? LOL) and said to see what they would like to do. I'm just happy at 14 months not only is it the first time he's been really sick and need antibiotics, he's also finally hit 20 pounds!!! That's huge because even though we finally came to the conclusion that he's just going to be a small (thin and average/tall) child, he's been either off the growth chart or barely at 5th% so it's nice to see he's gaining more weight. Especially since he's way more active, and learning to walk. He actually took some steps the other night and E recorded it with my phone. :)

E, Alex and their friend have an audition for the talent show Monday at 3:48pm. I've got all the supplies for the pillowcases/costumes, just have to get on them. Also need to have the other little boy (and his family - JULIE!!) come over this weekend to practice.

I thought ahead last night. I decided to use up all the leftover taco meat and beans and made the older two boys tacos and Jack had leftover spaghetti surprise - mama wasn't very hungry, my stomach has been wonky ever since I started getting sick so nothing has been sitting right, so I just had some snack-y stuff, something light - and while I prepped that, I figured I could pack the boys' lunches last night. Since it's Friday and Lent, even thought technically they can have meat until they are 14, I've just kind of made it a habit for them to not eat meat just like myself during Lent. Alex decided he wanted hummus and pita bread - Costco sells a large box of 30 individual servings of Sabra hummus which are perfect for lunch!- and I threw in mandarin oranges, cheddar bunnies and a juice box. E wanted a tuna and cheddar sub, so that was easy, along with some sliced strawberries, tortilla chips and a juice box.

Of course, I took the boys to school and about an hour later, I got a phone call telling me E had thrown up and to come pick him up. I made a quick decision and chose to pull Alex out for the day too. No sense in driving back up there in a few hours with a crabby toddler and sick middle-schooler.

On the way home, we stopped and grabbed a few essentials for the week, plus some ginger ale and crackers for E. Now that we are home, I've been getting nothing but attitude from Alex. I had to sit him down and talk to him. Just because he is home from school today, doesn't mean he can treat me that way, and he can help me out. He's not sick (well at least not with a stomach bug, his sinus infection is almost cleared up) and so he can do his normal chores that I've been letting him slack on. He had to take 2 board games to the basement and empty the dishwasher and you would have thought I told him he had to move a mountain! It was like an impossible task. After we talked, he changed his tune and did what I asked much nicer.

Today is Budget Day (payday) so I get to figure where all our money is going, going, gone. LOL.

Fast forward a couple of hours  - lunchtime - E has not thrown up again, has kept down a bit of ginger ale and says he's hungry, and of course he's laughing and practically running around the house...  not sure if I should actually feed him lunch or make him go back to school, haha. I am a bit leary about giving him anything too heavy though as he did say his belly still hurts a little. :(

Oh yeah, and Jason comes home tonight. Yay! Except for the fact that he got to miss out on all the drama this week, I'll be glad to see him ;) I forgot to mention Jack split his lip, well directly under his lip last night. It didn't bleed to bad and it isn't a very bad cut, but I sure freaked out. I ended up calling the on-call/after hours number for our ped - per my mom's suggestion! - and she reassured me that it sounded pretty minor and just to ice it and watch him closely. Aye, aye, aye. See, I told you he missed all the drama!

Lenten Photo Challenge: Take 3

Day 15: Word

Today, I chose to take a picture of the Little Black Book. Today's photo was "word". How fitting to share God's Word.

"And behold, two men were conversing with Jesus, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem." Lk 9:30-31

Day 16: To be still

My caption for this photo was that it may have been the first time Jack had been still all day long. He's getting so big and is checking everything out. He really is a boundless ball of energy some days ;)

Day 17: Joy

Paying off this furniture store credit card bill was definitely a joyful experience. We used most of our federal income tax return to take care of this bill. Saving ourselves all the back interest (about $1000!) was a really big deal. We had to pay Michigan state taxes this year, so between the two our return is gone already! :( At least it went to something important.

Day 18: Kindness

Alex wasn't feeling well and was cold so Ethan decided to give him a blanket to cover up. :)

Day 19: Joy

Jackson has discovered cupboard doors, and will stand there all day opening and closing them, all the while looking up at you to see if you notice and then just giggle and smile away! Oh the joy of being one and discovering things the first time.

Day 20: Flexibility

We were going to have tacos or something else for dinner but I really didn't feel like cooking. Plus Tuesday is trash day, so we try to have leftovers Monday night. Leftover night is all about flexibility. You have a few choices and when it's gone, it's gone!

Day 21: Time

After Cub Scouts, I was not feeling so hot. I took this picture right before I headed to bed for the night. It was a very early night for this sick mama. Of course, I didn't sleep good at all and am going to bed early tonight also. I'm glad I took time to take Alex to Cub Scouts last night though. He had fun and I got to see how it goes firsthand.

Very rough day and night

I picked the boys up from school yesterday, only to find out they both had "questions". It's the school's disciplinary actions. First they get a warning, then RTC questions (what was I doing? what should I have been doing? What can I change? etc.) then finally they go to the RTC (responsible thinking classroom) room for a little while and talk to the vice principal or whomever.

Alex always seems to get his questions from talking, interrupting or not listening to the teacher. His "problems" are never too bad, and he's 7, in the third grade and the whole class is a talkative bunch, according to his teacher.

Ethan, on the other hand, has been having some meltdowns. He's our Aspie. I love my children dearly, but there are certain things that I don't understand when it comes to E's frustrations and anxiety. I don't know how to help him. 3 or 4 weeks ago he had started hurting himself on a daily basis. He would get upset about something and punch himself, pinch his cheeks, smack himself with a book, etc. He was doing it out of anger. E has never hurt anyone else, and never seriously injured himself, thankfully. The worst incident was a few months ago when he smashed his head on the office wall and put a small dent in it, but he was uninjured. Anyway, about 2 weeks ago, after talking to him till I was blue in the face, for the gazillionth time about why we shouldn't hurt ourselves, that feeling angry is ok, but there are better ways to deal with those and ALL feelings, I came up with our incentive plan. If he could go all day with no self-injurious behavior, he would earn a star. After 40 30 stars, I would take him to go buy a used DS game. He loved the idea and it seemed to give him something to focus on and help him calm himself in class. E went 8 days of school (so Wed-Fri of week 1 (started on Wed), and Mon-Thurs of week 2(no school Fri) and Monday of this week) with no incidents. Then yesterday, every little thing started bugging him. He ended up punching himself in the right cheek, and it came to the point that the teacher, after asking him to stop, had to gently take his hand and hold it so he would stop. Then he went to the office for a break. He has a behavior plan and built-in breaks, for whenever he feels he needs them. The boys go to a public charter school and E is in a "regular" classroom, self-contained 6th grade, instead of switching classes with most of the middle schoolers. The school added a 3rd sixth grade this year and this is how they did it. We chose to have him in there, as he's a year younger (10) than most of the other kids and thought it would give him another year to mature and learn responsibility and organization. He does have a first hour that he goes to that switches each trimester, currently Spanish. This year, his IEP is focused on social skills and behavior, as academically, he is at or above grade level (even after being a grade ahead!).

So, after all that, I go to ask him what happened and he says "I'm sorry, I accidentally punched myself." Sigh. Really, buddy? How can you accidentally punch yourself, over and over. It makes me sad. Regardless, we talked to the teacher, and he had a better afternoon. I ask several times if he had all of his homework. Yes, mom, of course I do.

We get home and I tell the boys to do their homework, the play 60 challenge, and the March is Reading Month calendar. E proceeds to tell me that he forgot a sheet of paper to do his vocab pictures. Seriously? Well, I let him know he still needed to do them and to figure it out. I'm proud of him, because a few minutes later he lets me know that he's going to draw them on another sheet of white paper and paste it on the yellow construction paper when he gets to school tomorrow. Hooray for problem solving!!

At this point, I'm starting to not feel so hot. I've had a cold off and on for a few days, Alex has had a sinus infection and is on amoxicillin, and Jack is coughing and has a runny nose. E is the only one of us not sick. Jason's out of town for work and Alex has cub scouts. So I hurry up and make scrambled eggs, sausage and toast for dinner, we eat, I put Jack in his jammies, and we leave. By the time we get to cub scouts, I feel dizzy, chills, achey, and have a really bad headache starting.

We left a few minutes early and by the time we got home, I was ready to just go to bed for the night. I had the boys take showers and go to bed early and Jack was sleeping until five minutes before I was ready for bed (HA!). I had the worst sinus pressure. It was so bad, my teeth were hurting. We don't have any aleve, ibuprofen or tylenol (only 3 meds that I know are safe for breastfeeding for pain) and I can't take sudafed because I get heart palpitations from it usually. Jack and I laid down and I think between him waking up due to a stuffy nose or wanting to nurse - he didn't eat well at dinner last night, and slept right through lunch so he had a light snack around 3:30 and so he wanted to nurse on and off all night last night - and me waking up due to sore muscles and my head still pounding, we were up at least every two hours from 8:30 till 5:30, sometimes for over an hour. The little sleep I did get was very restless. Finally at 5, I dug through our medicine cabinet and found some advil congestion. It has pseudoephedrine in it, which I was leary about but I had to do something! By 5:30am, my headache/sinus pressure was waning, and I fell asleep on the recliner with Jack till 6:45.

Since I had told the older boys the night before that if I wasn't feeling any better, I might just keep them home today, E came out and asked how I was doing. I told him I was ok, and to go ahead and get ready for school. He looked very relieved. :) We were running a little behind and I think he was probably marked tardy for Spanish today, so hopefully that doesn't ruin his whole day. :(

Here's hoping they both have a better day and less homework! I really want to just come home and spend some time with them. We are going to sit and do cub scout stuff maybe. Alex has his Light of Christ book so he can get his religious pin, and the Fun for the Family book with activities we can all do together and earn pins/patches! I was thinking we can sit and pick out which ones they would like to start with from each section. Also we have to decorate their pillowcase for the talent show. I still haven't gotten everything I need, but I have some stuff around here, so I may be able to improvise.

Kudos to all the single parents out there. I have done it alone before, when Jason was in Afghanistan for 6 months and Louisiana for a few months with just the two older boys and when he was in California for a month when E was 2, and then when he first started working at this job and he was only home 2-3 days a week (usually the weekend) and he was living up here in an apartment during the work week for over a year. It was hard. This seems harder, having a third child thrown in. I don't know if it's because Jack is still so little, or maybe it's because we are (almost) all sick right now. But I miss Jason, I miss his help, and his jokes, just his presence. He and I really do feed off of each other, good and bad, but right now, I could use the calm, collected side of him. It always seems like when I have a bad day, he's able to be the rock, and vice versa. We are a pretty great team. Most of the time. ;)

7 Quick Takes, #3 - Music Edition

--- 1 ---

Alex, E and a friend are doing a dance for the school's talent show. They are going to dress up as "pillow people" and dance to Cha Cha Slide by D.J. Casper. If you've ever seen any of the videos of kids or teachers doing "pillow people" on youtube, you know how funny and cute this is. The 3 of them were supposed to start practicing today, but Alex isnt feeling well. He's got a sinus infection. :(

--- 2 ---

I was flipping channels in the car yesterday and ran across a good station. They were playing Pink Floyd "The Wall". Is it just me, or do you sing along, and all the while use that British accent that you don't actually have? LOL. Maybe it really is just me...

--- 3 ---

We also listened to Guns N' Roses, which made me think back to when I was little and my sister Heather liked that kind of music. I did somewhat too when I got a little older (I'm a child of the '80's and 90's so I listened to a little "hair" metal, some heavy metal, some "grunge" - think Nirvana - and NKOTB when they were big the first time around. Joey was my crush, his blue eyes, and he was the youngest, only 16, so being 10/11 it seemed feasible to me, LOL). Anyway, it just made me think of how much changes over time. People's style - clothing, music, hair (!!) - all for the better in this case ;) I wish I could find a good picture of Heather from the late '80's early '90's, maybe even with me to share. I'm 6 years younger than her so we didn't "hang out" much but still. My other sister Linda was a HUGE New Kids fan. I remember she did the nicest thing for me for my 10th birthday. I had a slumber party and she took all of her NKOTB posters and decorated my bedroom with them and other things as a surprise, and my friends all signed one of those huge birthday cards with a picture of the guys on it - I'm talking like 2 feet tall! It was the best birthday party ever as a kid!

--- 4 ---

If I see one more McDonald's commercial with the fish singing, I may lose it. However, I did show my 14 month old the original fish sandwich commercial with the big talking fish. My older two used to laugh so hard at it, and he definitely followed suit with that! He was cracking up! 

--- 5 ---

Alex is learning to play the recorder in music this year. He's got the B-A-G down pretty good. I'm glad he's enjoying music class.  

--- 6 ---

E likes to hum. A lot. I know that it's a "stim", most likely. However, it certainly gets somewhat annoying. I have to remind him to stop. He's getting better. He also likes to sing in the bathroom. It doesn't matter if he's just in there for a minute to wash his hands, or if he's showering. That's actually kind of cute, unless it's after his brother is in bed. Their room shares a wall with the bathroom and he doesn't always remember to keep the volume down. Still though, I do like hearing him sing and he sings the songs at Mass very nicely!

--- 7 ---

I will leave you with this:

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Lenten Photo Challenge, week 2

Sharing my photos again from the Lenten photo challenge on Instagram.

Day 8: Gift

Gift: E's teacher (as well as Alex's teacher) has truly been a gift to our son, and our family. I'm grateful everyday for them both and the school as a whole!

Day 9: Family

Family: This only part of my family. Our nieces and nephews and our sons from my side of our family. Not everyone is here. 3 of our nephews are not in the picture. We also have a beautiful niece on my husband's side of our family. I'm thankful for all these special kids!

Day 10: Something I carry

I don't do it as often anymore in a baby carrier or wrap but he's still in my arms plenty. This is an older picture of me wearing Jack in the Moby Wrap.

Day 11: Witnessing

Ethan and Alex are always playing with and helping to take care of Jack. They truly love him and he loves them too. It's hard to snap a picture with both of these boys not in motion, LOL. Alex is always on the move and Jack is definitely following in his footsteps! I was "witnessing" brotherly love in this picture. :)

Day 12: Charity

This one took me a while, but I found this carton in the boys' room for Habitat for Humanity. They are supposed to collect money to donate.

Day 13: Humanity; Day 14: Alive

The next two days I put two photos together. One I've had for over a year, the ultrasound picture. It's the very first picture I have of Jackson. The other is from just a few days ago. Just as I wrote on Instagram, this IS humanity, and he truly was no less alive the day of that ultrasound than he is today. I really believe that. A baby is a baby, no matter how "big" or how many cells they have. Conception is the beginning of life. What you do with that truth, I suppose, is up to you. But it is the truth.

IRL, my existence is

quite lonely.

Sad, right? I am not writing this for a pity party, or anything of that sort. More so to see if I'm the only person like this, and to give others some perspective, some insight on my life. 

My typical week (which is seriously probably 50 weeks out of the year) goes something like this:

Sunday: Go to Mass if we all make it up in time and are in decent moods, drive home, sit at home or maybe go to a store and walk around with Jason and the kids. Possibly go out for a cheap meal. Watch TV. Go to bed.

Monday: Get up, shower, make breakfasts/lunches. Drive the kids to school, go home and sit with Jackson, clean the house, watch tv, etc. Pick the kids up, go home, cook dinner. Watch TV. Go to bed. Throughout the day, go online.

Tuesday: Repeat

Wednesday: Rinse, Lather, Repeat (seeing a pattern yet? LOL), except throw in a couple of hours of babysitting now.

Thursday: Same as Monday.

Friday: All of the above, plus I do the budget. Every other week I try to do the grocery shopping with just Jack, which usually entails 2-3 stores and several hours. Sometimes that's not done till Saturday, or even Sunday on occasion.

Saturday: Take the boys back and forth to Catechism, most weeks, and then usually we end up just sitting at home the rest of the day, unless there is some special thing going on.

Holidays are special because we always go to see family, so that's always out of the norm.

I haven't gone out with a friend for coffee, or lunch in 18 months. And before that, I don't think ever. When we go to Mass, we get there right at the start (if not a couple of minutes late :( ) and leave right after, and since they don't really ever have fellowship Sundays or things like that, I don't know anybody from our Parish. Well except in passing, like the boys' teachers, our priest and deacon, the religious education director and a couple moms that happen to have daughters in Alex's class. I don't even think any of them know my first name. Is that their fault? I suppose not. There's no "moms' group" or anything.

Since we've lived here, we've been to one of Jason's co-workers houses once to hang out last summer, we have asked another to watch our dog when we took a mini-vacation, and had my one friend over with her boys for dinner one time. In 3 and a half years. 

Even when I did work, back in MD, and then in OH, I didn't do anything outside of work or home really. Sometimes in Maryland, my friend Jill and I would get together, and while we had fun, in all honesty it was mostly play-dates for E and her daughter. I think we may have gone out once in almost 4 years of living there. 

Boring.

This part has nothing to do with loneliness but I don't buy clothes or shoes, for myself, unless it's an absolute necessity. I just don't find it worth it. I own 3 pairs of jeans right now, and that's it. Several shirts that get rotated each week (read: 8 or 9!). My pj's consist of old t-shirts that just aren't suitable for public sight, LOL - stains, etc and sweatpants/pajama pants. I own 2 dresses that I bought back in 2007 for my S-I-L Confirmation and I usually wear those to Mass, 2 or 3 dresses that no longer fit :( and 2 skirts that I'd wear but I have no "dress" shirts to go with them. I own one pair of black heels that I wear whenever I dress up, a few pairs of flip-flops for summer and  pair of sketchers shape-ups that I wear daily (even in the winter!) and have had at least 2 years now. My coat is about 5 years old, and I almost replaced it this year, but the one I wanted, they were out of my size locally and I didn't want to spend double ($120) on it online. I know, I probably sound cheap. I really do buy my clothes at Meijer. I haven't spend more than $15-20 on jeans or a shirt in a very long time, and when I did, it was only once I think, at Torrid. I actually splurged and spent $80 on some stupid jeans and they didn't even last as long as many of the ones I've gotten at Meijer!

I don't wear makeup. I don't see the point really. Jason doesn't mind and I'm sensitive to many of the ingredients anyway. Mascara and eyeshadow make my eyes itch and burn something fierce. I honestly can not get lipstick to look right, I haven't found a shade that looks good on me. Generally, the only jewelry I wear is my wedding ring and occasionally I'll wear a necklace. I have my ears pierced 3 times, but never even wear earrings anymore. I don't paint my nails (and even if I did, it would look like crap!). The last time I got my hair cut, I had it trimmed a couple of months ago, but usually it's a year or more in between because it feels like such a waste of money. It's not like I ever do anything with it anyway. Wash, condition, brush. Every day. It won't hold a curl, even with a can of spray. I don't even remember the last time I had it in a ponytail, haha. It's getting really long now though. Basically I'm not a fashionista, and I'm not into beauty "stuff". I don't have time, expertise, or the money to deal with it. 

I literally do nothing. I mean, I do stuff. I clean (sometimes, HA), cook, take care of the kids, watch tv, read, blog, facebook, etc. But when I leave the house, it's to take the kids to school, catechism, the doctor/dentist, or to go grocery shopping or to a restaurant with the family. We don't have a date night. Ever. We don't have a babysitter. Period. It's like a vacation to go visit our parents 2 hours away or my sister down in Columbus. Just to be around other people, other adults. I love Jason very much, but sometimes it's a drag to not have anybody to just hang out with and do stuff with besides him, or even go on a date with him.

Like I said though, I'm not trying to complain. I just don't think people understand where I'm coming from. I REALLY don't have any friends (at least that live close enough to just go visit) or a support system nearby besides Jason. My son's poor teacher is about the closest thing I have to a "coffee break" and only because when I get there each morning, I talk her ear off for 10 minutes or more. I'm surprised she hasn't reported me for stalking! LOL. Luckily, she's nice and has pity on this SAHM. Now I'm not saying all SAHMs are this way. I'm sure it's just me. I also don't think having a job would help. If I did, I would never see Jason, because we'd work opposite shifts so we wouldn't have to pay for daycare for Jack, let alone find someone we trust. I would probably have to work weekends, due to my skill set and experience. Plus, at work, I'm all about work, not making friends or socializing really. So I still wouldn't have friends or whatever.

I don't even know what the whole point of this post is. Sometimes, you just get a bug stuck in you, and you have to get it out, ya know? Whatever. It doesn't matter. It just is

7 Quick Takes #2

--- 1 ---

I'm looking forward to this weekend. We aren't doing much of anything tomorrow, but Sunday is going to be a fun, busy day. Ethan is in the regional bee for the Scripp's National Spelling Bee and if he wins, he goes on to the National Bee in Washington, DC. Alex is attending the Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts and will get (hopefully) his bobcat and wolf badges and possible his gold and first silver arrow points. He's super excited about it. Jason talked to his mom last night and they are going to come up and visit for the day. Jason and F-I-L will go with Alex, and M-I-L, Jack and I will go with Ethan, since the events are at the same time. Exciting!

--- 2 ---

 We've got a cold bug going around here. First, Jason, who hardly ever gets sick, came down with it a few days ago, but is feeling much better now. Then I started feeling not so great, first with a stuffy nose, aches, and just kind of yucky feeling. Now I'm pretty much just coughing and a bit stuffy. Last night, Baby Jack started coughing some and has a runny nose. :( This is probably his first real cold, though he had a stuffy nose for a couple of days a while back. I'm just hoping that he's better quickly and that E and A don't get sick.

--- 3 ---

The second trimester at school is over next week and we have conferences. I like that I can go online and keep track of their grades, so there's no shockers on the grade cards. Right now, they are doing good. Alex has all A's and E has mostly A's and B's with a C in Art. I'll be glad when Art is over for him, because his perfectionism holds him back so much in there. He's assigned Spanish next trimester, which I hope he enjoys. Alex has Spanish, too, but goes all year since he's only in elementary (3rd). Talent show is coming up at the end of March, right before Spring Break.

--- 4 ---

Speaking of Ethan, we've been having a lot of frustration lately, to the point of him being self-injurious. He'll pinch his cheeks, smack himself, bang his head with a book, he even poked himself in the leg with mechanical pencil. No amount of telling him not to seemed to be working. So I offered him some incentive. Earn a star for each day of no hurting himself, and a second star for following along with class (he has a tendency to go ahead in the subject, or finish early and then find something else to do) and collect 40 stars. At that point, he can pick out a (up to $15) video game. So far, he's had two great days in a row. We'll see if the bribe incentive works...

 --- 5 ---

Jason has to go out of town for work, starting March 3 but he'll be back the 8th, thankfully. He gets to go to Ft. Worth, TX to meet with the big bosses. It should be an interesting week around here.

--- 6 ---

 Thanks to a good friend who told me about them, I bought some dye-free suckers and gummy bears at Meijer (local grocery store). They are Yum Earth brand, and even though they are on clearance and we probably won't be able to get them there for much longer, I'm pretty excited! The suckers are pretty good - I especially like the watermelon flavor and the boys liked them a lot. They have yet to try the gummy bears, but I ate a pack. They are pretty good flavor-wise, but kind of hard/sticky, not really sure how to explain it. They don't remind me of the softer versions I'm used to, I guess. But none-the-less, they aren't bad at all! I'm sure the kids will enjoy them as a treat.

--- 7 ---

I played my flute the other day for the first time in a while and it was nice. I want to get into playing more often. I was even thinking of looking into a local community band that is through the community college, maybe in the fall. It might be fun! If not, at least I have quite a few decent pieces of music laying around here and the boys always love to hear me play. :)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes Friday, #1 :)

This is my first time joining in on Quick Takes, so you'll have to forgive me. I'm not sure if I'm doing it right ;) I've seen it several times before and it looked like fun. 

 

--- 1 ---

 I joined Instagram on Wednesday. I saw a link-up on Facebook for Catholic Sistas to their Lenten photo challenge and thought "How neat it would be to join in!" I love to take photos and I'm trying to grow in my faith so this goes hand-in-hand with both. You can follow me on Instagram. My username is growingintome. :)

--- 2 ---

Baby J went to bed early last night but woke up around 10 and was wide awake till after midnight. He didn't eat a lot at dinner and even though he had nursed right before he fell asleep around 7:30, he was hungry. I gave him one of those baby smoothie things and he seemed happier. But he didn't want to go back to sleep, or be held. After a little while of playing, he didn't really know what he wanted. Just about midnight, he laid down on the living room floor and just crashed out. It was really sweet. Of course, by that point, I couldn't fall asleep and I never went to bed until 2:45 :-o Talk about a tired mama this morning!

--- 3 ---

Speaking of Baby J, and nursing, I think he's starting to slowly wean himself. It makes me sad and happy all at the same time. E and A both were formula fed after a few short weeks of struggling with breastfeeding, so this is a much longer time, being over 13 months now. It's been a really amazing journey, even with a few hiccups in the beginning. Having support and help has really made a difference, and he and I have such a wonderful bond and experience. Nursing a toddler is definitely different than nursing an infant, and I love the way his face lights up when I recognize what he wants and mama's milk makes him happy, healthy and full. I love that I can give him that and that he can play with daddy and still bond with him. That's been a journey in it's own right.

--- 4 ---

I'm babysitting today. 2 little girls, one that's 11 and in 6th grade with E, and was in his class last year, and one who is 6. They are usually over here on Wednesdays for a couple of hours after school. It's been very interesting to see the differences and likenesses between girls and boys. I'm not used to having girls around :) It's been kind of nice to have some other girls around, plus it's done wonders for my boys' social skills, especially E.

--- 5 ---

Ash Wednesday ended up being a long day. We didn't make it to morning Mass, and then by the time dinner was finished, and everybody was done with homework, I had lost track of time, so we didn't make to evening services either :( The boys have Catechism class tomorrow and we are going to make it to Mass at some point this weekend. It's been difficult taking the 3 boys myself but when we make it, it's so worth the effort. 

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I'm still doing The 6 Ingredient Challenge and this week's writing prompt asks what new foods/recipes we are trying, so I'm eager to find at least a couple of new foods AND recipes. Join in over at Hobo Mama and Anktangle.

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There's a talent show coming up at the boys' school and they are doing a skit/dance with friend. Have you seen "pillow people"? It's really cute. I can't wait to see them do it. We've just got to get their costumes together and have them practice the dance. We're using the song "Cha Cha Slide 2.0" by DJ Casper, so it should be fairly easy to learn. I just hope they enjoy themselves. :)

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Mama's been busy!

I spent seven-ish hours going through cupboards and drawers in the kitchen today. We had 2 overflowing junk drawers, lots of wasted space and just some things in not-so-convenient places. I moved a lot of things around as well as cleared off some counter-space.

Have you ever noticed that once you start throwing stuff away, how much easier it is to part with things? I filled at least one garbage bag with trash, plus 2 brown paper grocery bags with recyclables! Being down to one, semi-organized junk drawer is nice, as is having things available that you use daily.

Next up: the family room/office. Our desk is a mess! I used to do all our budgeting and bill-paying out there until Jas bought the laptop. Now I usually figure out the budget at the dining room table and then pay the bills from the living room. Our poor, neglected desktop and desk are overflowing with old statements, papers, dust, and random things that we just set down and forget about. It's definitely a catch-all for clutter. I need to go through our filing cabinet too and get rid of anything older than 6 months. I like to keep statements from every bill at least 6-12 months just in case. I can go back and make sure I paid the bill, when and how much. Also, I need to tackle the bookcase. I have a ton of books that I've read, and many I haven't. Many will probably never get read again, not because they're not good, just because, a lot of the time, if I've read it, I tend not to go back to it. The kids have a tendency to bring stuff out there and just forget about it.

This mama is ready for bed now though. All three of my handsome little men are sound asleep, Jas is home and I'm exhausted. We have a long day ahead of us, as well as a full week. A has cub scouts tomorrow. I'm babysitting Wednesday. Baby J has his PT eval Thursday and E has to turn in his Ronald Reagan report. Then E and A have a 4-day weekend (mid-winter break. Didn't they just go back from Christmas break? It's weird to me...), with Catechism class on Saturday, and - hopefully - Mass on Sunday. We did good this weekend. We (the three boys and I - Jas doesn't go to Mass typically, only for special occasions) made it to 8am Mass and the boys were well-behaved and polite. It was a special day for A though, he received  a special blessing as a scout!

I was sitting here thinking the other day and realized if I could have the perfect place to live, it would include at least one thing from every place we've lived. From NY: my job - the place and the position I was in, because even though I was a manager-in-training at a pizza joint, it was fun!, my friend Cathy (and her kids of course!). From MD: our parish - which is where I went through RCIA- including my sponsors/Godparents, my friend Jill and her daughter. From OH: our families, my friend Sharon and her family. From MI: my kids' school - including all the teachers, well most, there are a couple I do NOT like, but we are like a large family (it truly takes a village!), my friend Julie and her kids. Then I would throw in some amazing friends I've made online, but never met. It's funny how things are though. We never really realize what we have until it's gone.