Paper Smooches December Design Draft

I was looking around the net for cardmaking inspiration and saw this post:
http://papersmoochessparks.blogspot.com/2013/12/dec-22-28-designer-drafts-challenge.html

It is for a sketch type challenge. I love this particular sketch and Paper Smooches is one of my favorite stamp companies. I had to get right up and give it a try.

And this is what I made:

 Please note the matching envelope. I make all my envelopes. I might enjoy that as much as making cards actually. I like to think of the fun of finding these bright, colorful envelopes in your mailbox.

All the stamps are by Paper Smooches and you can get them at the link I put above. I put the word strip and the Earth on pop dots, give them a little depth.

And that is that. I will be posting soon with my December update.

Notable November

This first pic isn't actually from this month, but it was in the November file on my computer and it's stinking adorable: 

So I told you last month that we got a boat. If you look super closely in these next pictures you can see, we keep seeing dolphins from our boat! This is in the St. Johns river near the Cruise Terminal. Awesome! They were so close to the boat and playing in our wake and jumping all over and swimming under the boat. It was amazing. I've never been super into dolphins, but seeing them in the wild from your own boat is amazing. Calvin is sure they were whales and tells everyone that we see whales from our boat. Which would be scary and amazing. I mean, whales are huge.

 Calvin had his birthday. He got a bunch of fun presents. He had a tiny birthday party, he only wanted to invite two friends this year. Easy peasy.

Ethan got his teacher switched on him. It was HARD for me. I had a two hour meeting with the principal about it. I didn't want him to switch, he has had such a hard time with school and his teacher was so very good for him. But eventually I agreed to try it out and the new teacher is great too. I actually really like this school. The principal is awesome, and all the other people I have talked to have been great. It is a good school year.

Brian traveled. Boring.

I did a thing on Facebook where I put what I was thankful for every day. More than half of them were about sleep. I value sleep so much more highly than I used to. I wish Calvin did too.

I finally went to Chamblins book Mine here in town and I hated it. It was huge and all, but so much more expensive than I'm used to paying for used books. I also went to the Friends of the Library book sale and that was AWESOME. Cleaned up there.

I borrowed Napolian Dynamite to show the boys and to give it another chance for myself. Didn't even get through it, that is the most boring movie I've ever seen. I mean really, why do people like it. I truly abhor it.

Ethan is watching me type and he is amazed at how fast I type. I am just about out of content, but I want to keep typing so he can keep being amazed at me.

Oh my friend Laura came down from SC where she moved. We went to a party and the Hunger Games premier with a bunch of friends. We dressed up like people from the movie and all, super, silly fun.

Started a book club. We are reading Garden Spells as our first book. It's awesome, I've read it before, but I'm happy to read it again.

 I loved the mid season finale of Walking Dead. I was kinda hoping they killed off Carl though. I bet he is the psychopath who is doing crap to rats. I get a sketchy feeling about that kid.

Well, I rekon that's all I've got for this month, more stuff happened but I can't remember it all.

Monthly posts? Oh My October!

I have a good friend Lindley who posts only once a month. She does a huge post with all the stuff she wants to share from the month. I'm gonna try that, as, clearly, posting every day isn't happening anymore. Remember when I blogged every day? Ain't nobody got time for that.

So here is Oh My October!

October is always crazy busy for us. It starts with General Conference. This is a twice a year huge address the leadership of our Church gives us all. This is the first year we have not had the BYU channel so we listened to it on the computer instead. Still great. My favorite talks were by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Love that man. The general them was member missionary work. Great theme, been on my mind a lot lately.

I got a new calling this month too. I now teach Sunday School to the 14 and 15 year olds. I love it. I'm still a bit nervous, but I really like the kids. Actually I love these kids. They are some of the most fantastic kids I know. They are crazy smart and cool.

We brought down the Halloween costumes to try them out:

 We said a sad goodbye to a friend who moved away this month. Missing you Emily. But glad you are coming back to visit soon. :)

 Finally hung the photo wall. This project took forever. Ethan dropped a hammer on my toe and that was awful. But it is done and looks awesome.

 In sadder news my grandfather passed away this month. He had cancer, but that's not what got him. Some complication from an earlier surgery. Then infection. It was super fast. And sad. It was nice to see so much family gathered though. That's the bittersweet part of funerals I guess, seeing so much family. They are like depressing family reunions.

 Calvin was the Grimm Reaper. He loved the costume. Here he is at a costume contest at Brian's work party. We do a lot of costume events: Brian's work party, The Catty Shack Ranch party, Church party and Halloween. They had a festival thing at school this month too, but it wasn't costume.

 And we bought a boat. Her name is Gypsy. We love her. We have only taken her out once, weather and tides have conspired against us.

 At the school party a sweet little girl painted Calvin's face. He wanted a Tiger. Brian insists this looks just like a tiger. I think it looks like a hot mess. She was so nice though. This paint job took about 20 minutes.

 You can see some of our Halloween decorations in this photo. This house decorates so well. We had them all up for our Housewarming Party we had earlier in the month. It was the day we got home from the funeral. Busy times. But the party went swimmingly. Super well attended and everyone was nice, there was yummy food and I think everyone had a good time.

The last few days of the month found Calvin VERY sick. Breathing, possible pneumonia and so on. It would be cruel to not tell you how that ended till the November post though, so I'll tell you now, he's fine now. :) It was scary. Had to go to the hospital and sit up with him and make sure he was breathing and all that, but he's totally normal now. So no worries.
So that's my October update. I think it was pretty good.

Adorable

Found this today. Well, my cat did. He was sorta licking it. No injuries or anything. After consulting the net and a friend Natasha, who rehabs injured wildlife, I knew what to do. I put him in this box, with this and a hot towel. Then put him in the crook of a tree near where I found him. Within an hour he was gone. I had peeked at one point and saw an adult coming around, sniffing, shaking the tail and so on. I guess she got him. So that's awesome.

Other annoying things happened today, but I don't care about them anymore because I got a squirrel back with it's mom.

In other news:
I sorta have downstairs AC, it's on but not zoned, they plan to work more on it tomorrow. Upstairs has always worked, but needs replaced to get up to date and such.
I hate my new van. I might like it later, but I hate it now. Like, want to leave it on the side of the road and just run, hate it.
I have been getting into the craft room some. I have a small TV in there, so I put that on for Calvin and do some crafting. That room doesn't have AC yet though, so not much work yet.

A day in my life

I'll do a full catch up post soon. I did get the house on Bess. I did sell my house. Both are totally closed. Marcia moves in here this week. I've been fixing up her part of the house.

This weekend we bought a "new" van. this one is only 13 years old. As opposed to my old van which was 17 years old. Moving on up!

then this happened:

I polyurethaned Marcia's wood floors this morning. Then I decide to put a coat on my upstairs too, it's all clean and it will be fun with brian out of town to have a cool sleepover downstairs tonight while it dries. I get the boys clothes down and diapers. Forget my clothes though. So I'm stuck in my pajamas with no change of clothes. Nothing is even in the laundry room because Brian caught up all the laundry before going out of town. 

That's OK though, I'll just chill in my PJ's. All I have to do it pick the kids up from school. 
Rest for a while then:
got in the car to get the boys, put it in reverse with the break down and it rolls FAST out of the driveway. Thank God no one was there. Right before I hit the neighbor's stuff I slam on the emergency break and it stops. I put it back in Drive and park it back in the driveway, again with the emergency break. Yes, the van I bough two days ago. No freaking breaks. 

Then I start walking. To school. Takes forever. 

Call Bell (our mechanic) on the way. He has a guy who will come tow it to him. 

Can't drive it, there are NO breaks. 

Also, how would I get home. 

So I'm walking. 

And walking.

Get to school. 

OH I"m in my PJ's. Don't forget that. I am in my freaking pajamas with no bra. 

Fort Caroline Elementary is great, they see me, get me inside, get me the boys, let me cool off a bit. 

Then we walk home. We are all the way by the Victorian houses (about half a mile) when I hear, "MAM!!!" and turn around. A teacher is running after me with cold waters! Wanted to make sure we were OK on the walk! 

Amazing. 

Go to call this Allan person, couldn't call him yet because I had the keys, and he will need them. Phone is dead. 

Get home, Brian is doing the yard. Somehow him seeing me dripping sweat in my freaking pajamas is the icing on the crazy cake. 

Call the Allen person, he will be here in about 45 minutes, knows right were we are. Your mom said she can come up tomorrow if the car will be done. 

I'm SUPER sweaty. Can't shower though, can't go upstairs at all. Might take a hose shower later. .You know, when our friend is not doing my yard back there. 

No change of clothes though, so whatever. 

Gonna be walking to school a few more times. It's farther than we thought. 

I'll be the stinky woman in her PJ's. Oh I'll be looking hungry too because no freaking food! I was gonna go get some drive through or something. 

Next part is only for the ladies: 
Also, left some other stuff I need upstairs. MIGHT have enough to get me through. .Not sure though.

Now to count my blessings on this matter:
1. I have a great mechanic
2. That teacher! How nice of him! 
3. I have cool pj's that KINDA look like normal clothes.
4. I can afford repairs. 
5. A friend offered to bring me clothes. 
6. This does make a pretty great story. 

Past few weeks

It has been crazy. We were going along all good. Loving our home and our lives. Then we decided to check again to see if any waterfront opened up that we might like. We do that ever so often. Go nuts and wonder about waterfront. So we find one. And it's pretty cool. But it has a whole Mother-In-Law suite. What would we do  with that we wonder. So we call my MIL. Guess what? She has been needing to ask us about the very thing. She needs to move in sooner than later. Well that's pretty inspired so we look at the cool waterfront house and get an offer in. AT THE SAME EXACT TIME someone else puts in an offer. They offer cash. I can't do cash right now. They win. No cool waterfront house for us. 

In the mean time we pray a lot and decide MIL does need to move in soon-ish. Like within the year. It is time to look for a place with a separate suite. So we look. We look and look. I fall for several that go under contract before I can even offer. What is going on? The housing market here is picking up in a  huge way. So weird. But we trust in the Lord and know something will work out. 

Then I see Bess. As in the house on Bess Road. I know online that I'm gonna buy this house. My husband is not as sure, but he wants to see it. I drive by it like 10 times before my agent gets me in. I know the school there, the parks (FOUR really close), I map out how to get to the grocery stories. I peek in the windows. I own this house in my mind. Here it is: 

 Look at those trees. LOVE. It is huge. The price is good. We get in. The MIL area is so nice, way bigger than the last one. Perfect. The boys all get separate rooms AND Brian gets an office AND I get a craft room. It has the coolest terraced backyard patio situation. Hardwood floors. Miles of cabinets. It does need a new roof and a new AC system. It's Florida people, can't mess around with that stuff. Even with those expenses it's still a good price. So we go home and pray. My prayer is something like, "Please let Brian know this house is perfect. Or let me know it's not... but I know it is." I'm sure Brian's is something like, "money, square footage, roofs, plumbing, electrical boring boring" Together we just ask for guidance. We go to bed. In the mean time I have been getting sick. Brian wakes me up in the middle of the night to tell me he thinks we should put an offer in.

That offer was just officially accepted. We need a home inspection but otherwise we are good. We should be moving in about 40 days.

That means I have to sell this house! (New house purchase is not contingent on this house sale, but I can't just hang out with two houses, so I gotta sell this one.) So taking down photos and paintings, packing, repainting, carpeting, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. And I'm dog sitting and  hosting a friend's kid's party in the next month. (Neither one I'd give up for the world, love the dog and all the people involved, so no one offer to break those plans, I'll work it out)

So that's great for whatever this mystery illness is. It is the same one I always have. Sore throat, cough, mostly at night, tired... Then nothing and it gets better. I'm allergic to stress.

In other news Ethan had his birthday party. I am tired and can't blog all about it, but look at this awesome Tie Fighter he and Stephen built. Love those guys.

Huge Flamingo

Here is one of the largest balloon sculptures I've made. It is a huge flamingo. I LOVE IT.

Weight loss, Disney, house hunting, balloons...

We really have been busy. Last month we went to Disney twice. Here are some pictures:

 Calvin LOVES Ethan. You can so see it here in this pic. Total adoration.

 Calvin became a pirate. Jack Sparrow made it official. This was a big deal for him. Calvin loves pirates. That Jack Sparrow was REALLY good too.

 Splash park joy.

 Wet Ethan.

 Meeting Jake. HUGE deal.

 Stephen was always there of course, but he was serious about rides and such and didn't ever want to stop for photo ops. I did catch a few. Here he is with Ethan.

 Calvin was happy to pose though!

I could post 50 pics of Disney, but I think that covers it. We had a blast.

So weight loss. It is slow. VERY slow. I'm frustrated. But I'm way healthier too. I have been working out a lot and I can feel that I'm stronger and have more endurance. So that's very good. I have not lost much though. I did finally take "before" shots. Here they are (no makeup, in my pj's with wet hair, super duper sexy I know):

 One of the most fun things going on is the balloon making. I am thinking I really should consider parleying this into a job. I'm actually pretty good. And it is FUN. And seeing the kid's faces is GOLD. Look at this cute puppy balloon:

So I told you we were done with house hunting. Then Brian sees a house in our neighborhood that is for sale on the water. We love our neighborhood. We want water... We check it out. It is a bit of a financial stretch, but not impossible. It is huge. There are trees in the backyard that you could put swings or forts on. And there is water. It has a downstairs mother-in-law suite. My mother-in-law is interested. That would help the financial. Me, the MIL and the kids are game. Then Brian decides no. I will admit I'm confused and frustrated. I think it could be great. But I already live in a beautiful home that I love, so I'm not really upset. Maybe a little. I guess I'm torn because I can't tell how serious he is about looking for a waterfront property. waterfront is his dream. I want to see him get that. I guess if I have a dream it's a slightly larger house. But I'm not hung up on that. I am pretty much living the dream already. (the Mother-in-law part will have to be revisited. There may be a need there in the not too distant future, but my great house now does not have a possibility for that.) So that's that I guess. I'm trying to be a cool and supportive wife and not a shrew who insists on moving.

Kids are all doing well. Calvin got out of that not-sleeping-always-fussy thing. He is always happy and sleeps fine now. Ethan is back in school and doing great. His writing needs work, but otherwise he is fine. I expected that so I'm happy. He is actually enjoying it now which is new and great. Stephen continues to do great. He is a cub scout now and LOVES THAT. Here he is in his adorable uniform. He already has some new swag on it, he got his bobcat and two activity badges.

I painted the table and chairs in my dining room. I love it.

Well I guess that's all for now. Of course there was more, but that's all I can think of to add. We are good, happy, fairly healthy (cold going around the house) and having fun. Can't ask for much more. 

Calvin and sleep

For two nights in a row Calvin has messed up my sleep. Yesterday he woke up well before dawn and though it was time to get up and talk to Mommy. ONLY Mommy will do for this. So I got up WAY early. The night before Brian and I had been up way late too, so I was tired. And crabby. Then last night the same baby would NOT GO TO FREAKING SLEEP! He was up talking to me till 2am. If I left the room he would scream and wake up everyone else. Brian tried to lay with him but all he did was cry for me. WTHECKCALVIN! And today he might have slept in, but today is the day he CANNOT sleep in because I leave in the morning and am gone for hours. 

Look at my little sleep eating monster. SLEEPING. Brian lets him nap sometimes. If I catch him doing this in the middle of the day I wake him the heck up. Or take a nap myself. But isn't he sweet? 

Last night while talking to me he goes, "Mommy, guess what?" "mmmff,wha??" "Baby butt!!" "mmmmok" (these noises are me mumbling because I'm trying to sleep.) "Mommy guess what?" "mmmmzzz" "Shake your baby butt!!" then he jumps up and shakes his baby butt. It's one in the freaking morning, but still so cute.

 Anyhow I'm tried. But after picking the kids up at school I bring  them to the Children's Museum. Gotta let them play and also keep them out of Brian's hair, as he is working from home. I bring in my balloon stuff to work on a few things. And I'll be honest, I hope a few kids want stuff too. And they do! I ended up making a balloon for every single kid. Like 40 of them by the time I leave. (there was a group there.) And everyone loved it. If I had taken the offered tips I bet I would have made $30 to $50 dollars. I made:
monkeys
puppies
monkeys on trees.
flowers
swords
a pig
monkey on tree hat
horses
unicorn
zebra
ladybug bracelet
a football (which I'd never made and didn't like AND they wanted it in red of all colors, but the kids loved it)
I think that's it. I taught a few kids how to make their own swords and they loved that.
I'm exhausted, but it was so much fun! I have a party coming up for Church where I'm doing balloons and a charity event where I'm doing them too. (North Florida School of Special Education) So I'm excited.

Here is a recent creation. It is a snail. I LOVE his mouth.

 Here are some of my balloons. I have a lot of them. Yo

Dreams

Do any of you have reoccurring dreams? I have had a few, some drop off, some I've always had.
1. Super hero/spy dreams. Not always the same, but a common theme in my dreams is that I have to save the world with either my super intelligence or some amazing martial art type powers.
2. Sharks. I'm not really afraid of sharks in real life, but in my dreams they always kill my dad. Which would suck. I like my dad a great deal.
3. Aliens. I'm totally freaked out by aliens. I'm actually not going to dwell on this because it will freak me out. But remember those Time Life Books on Aliens? They were HORRIBLY scary to me. Just the commercials, I never saw the actual books.
4. One where me and my mom are trapped in a bathroom. We can't get out and I cry and cry and my tears fill up the room and we both drown in my tears. This is the most upsetting for me. I always wake up terrified from this one. So much so that I have to get up and turn on lights and stuff. (because you are so less likely to cry yourself to death if the bathroom light is on?)
5. The house dream. I dream all the time about a certain house. Actually found this house on my recent house hunt. Freaked me out. But it had a sagging foundation and was in an area my kids could not play outside without armed escorts, so I didn't buy it. Two story, 100ish years old, lots of great molding/trim, my bedroom looks out over the back yard, which is fenced, storage under the stairs, play room next to the kitchen...
6. My least favorite: The normal day dream. Like I dream that it is tomorrow. Wake up and feel cheated. I mean no sharks, aliens, super powers or amazing houses? No fair! Also in that dream I always get something done that I've been putting off and wake up all happy that it is done, but nope, still need to do the thing.
7. Teeth stuff, usually that they fall out, sometimes they break.

So those are my most common ones. What about you.

I read that all blog posts have to have a  photo so here is an unrelated photo:

Calvin with fishing pole balloon

Surgery, colds and my mom.

I had a bit of surgery last Monday. It went well but knocked me on my butt. Then I got this super cold that is going around. I actually cried yesterday I felt so bad. UGH. I'm sure you want to know more about the surgery though? I had girly stuff done. I can't have babies anymore. But that's not WHY I did it, I was having problems, and this is a two birds one stone solution. Because I have enough  babies. The perfect number of babies. Anyhow fairly minor, but I'm taking a while to feel 100%, then I came down with this nasty cold. 

The good news is that my mom came up to help me out for about 5 days. Awesome! My mom rocks. She spoiled me and my kids. She cooked and cleaned. She sang me Soft Kitty and rubbed my back. She took the kids to and from school. She read books with them. Awesome. 

The last day she was here I was feeling a bit better and she took me shopping. Yippee!

Look at this amazing Octopus picture! She also got me the floral/shell stuff that is in the blue vase and the birds. 

 These are not from mom, but I have not shown them. I got these on vacation, then framed them. I love them.

 Mom also brought me this painting. It has been in her house for a while and I coveted it, now it's mine!

 She also bought me a new shower curtain. Which needed a new liner, and hooks, then also new bath mats. But it is an amazing transformation! I liked my bathroom before, but this is awesome. I moved the old curtain to the boys' bathroom and it looks awesome there! So it's like TWO new rooms!

I realized I didn't take any pictures OF my mom while she was here. Imagine a slightly older, skinnier version of me reading to my kids here:

Nice isn't it! :) 

Well I'm going to go nurse this cold more. Talk to you soon.

Balloon Animals!

A few weeks ago I went to a library story time. There was a lady doing balloon animals. She only was making the dog. (seen here in orange in the middle photo) I was entranced. I've always liked balloon animals. I watched her make dog after dog and decided I could do it. She happily let me try as there were way more kids than she could make for and appreciated help. And I could do it! I always assumed I'd not be able to. 

So I went online and ordered a bunch of Qualatex balloons and a pump and a simple instruction book. (Which was silly, don't get a book, go to youtube.) I tore through that 100 balloons in a few days. I can't stop making stuff. At the party where Stephen got sick I made probably 20 balloon dogs. Then I came home and started studying how to make more advanced animals. Like the penguin. How cute is he? The flower looks simple, but it is one of the hardest for me. The monkey and bunny are not too hard but I won't be able to memorize them for a bit. Swords are the most easy, I even taught Stephen and Ethan to make those. 

I'm hooked, I placed a second order for a few hundred more balloons yesterday. Love it! 

Where is this new hobby going? No where. I mean I'd love to make them for kids I know at parties and such, but no, I'm not planning on a balloon business. I just love making these critters and seeing the joy they give kiddos.

Last NIght *

*read the title in the tune of the Traveling Wilburys Song.

Yesterday was pretty cool. A friend of Ethan's from school (back when he went) had a birthday party. He made sure Ethan got an invite. So we went. It was super fun. I LOVED all the adults at this party. The kids played well, but I seriously loved these parents and grandparents. So it was a total blast.

After that party we stopped at home then headed to Savin's party. Savin is a good friend of ours who has the BEST parties. She has recently moved one county south of here, which is GARBAGE, but we were excited to go down there and see her.

Savin is Cambodian. Cambodian food is AWESOME. But there are a lot of peanuts. So Stephen usually can't eat much. There was a new dish last night, amazing steak on a stick. Stephen was getting hungry so he asked if he could eat that. I asked Savin. She didn't know, her dad was the cook on that one. We asked her mom and dad and they said it was safe. So he ate it. And it was AWESOME. So he ate two. Then looked up at me and I knew. I told Savin to double check for me. Yup. Peanut sauce. They thought we were asking about peppers.

So Stephen's face is swelling, his lips are swelling, he is crying and gasping. I calmly bust out the epi pen and give him a shot. Savin has a friend at the party who is a nurse. She gives him benydril and tells us to get to the ER.

At the ER: The epi was wearing off. His breathing was getting worse. Then they can't get a needle into him. They only have these thicker gauge needles. They discuss if it is worth running around looking for tiny needles or if they need to just force this huge thick one into his tiny vein. They decide to force it, they don't have time to look for tiny kid needles. Took FIVE times to get it in. Going back and forth on his poor arms. He is freaking out and asking for his Grammy.

So I decide to call Grammy. Because they are asking me to see what I can do to calm him and all. So I call my mom. And scare the crap out of her. I try to be gentle, "Mom, I'm in the ER with Stephen, he is going to be FINE, he can't talk (his throat is almost shut he just has to breathe) but he needs to hear from you. I need you to chat to him, I'll talk to you in a minute." And I hold them phone up to Stephen. He listens to my mom chatter about cool stuff like an upcoming visit and such. And it works. He settles down and they get the IV in. I get back on the phone with my mom and thank her. I update her. She tells me to call back in an hour or so. I promise to.

I look at the arm they finally got the IV in. FREAKING BLOOD EVERYWHERE. The guy apologizes, he is cleaning it all up, the IV is safely in. They also had given him more epi in his leg. So he's a wreck.

They give him all sorts of meds. His breathing sorts out within just a minute or so. They didn't have to put tubes in his throat. Which is good. They had already opened the pack and all. But it hurts and is scary so they don't WANT to do it.

He gets super tired. Stress and some of the meds. I ask, and they tell me he can sleep. Then we sit there for five hours. Because they want to make sure he is good.

Ethan waited the entire time in the waiting room. He refused to sleep or rest while his brother was back there. Calvin had fallen asleep early on. I was able to keep Brian updated.

And that's what I did yesterday.

Today everyone is fine. Actually right now Stephen is rambling to me about Mario Brothers game. So I rekon he's fine.

A Poetic Valentine's Day

We don't usually do much for Valentine's day, but this year we are. I ordered Brian a cool present that will come tomorrow. We have a babysitter tomorrow and mystery reservations that Brian made us. He also got me both cut flowers and potted ones. And I wrote him this poem:

Teal Poem

I wanted to express my love

With words that you’d hold dear

and reference your favorite teams

but I cannot I fear.

Not much rhymes with “teal”

except maybe heal

and not much rhymes with “mustache”

and I refuse to do those stupid puns

Not much rhymes with “jaguar”

Unless I promise you a new car

Which I can’t because we both know

We don’t do that crap.

Not much rhymes with “Jacksonville”

Oh I did pay the car insurance bill,

Because I’m romantic like that.

Go Falcons!

It is based on a poem that Stephen wrote me: 

Poem:

Dont read teal valintinsday

I love that your my mom

so kind and gineris

your so so so sweat

helpful and that is why

As you can see it's a work of genius  But Brian said at first he thought it was a "Teal Valentine" and was a little bummed it was not for him and football themed. So the above poem was written for Brian. Because all the best kid poetry is always for me. 

For Valentine's Day Ethan is refusing to eat the TINY lunch I made him. He was starving to death but now it has been 3 hours and he's still crying about how his mashed potatoes are touching his lasagna. Guess how lovey I feel about that. No, wait, stabby, I feel stabby about that. But I'm trying to just not care. Just sit there my sweet middle child and let your tears salt your food. 

Current Obsessions

Kids change their loves so much. At least, mine do. So every once in a while I like to note what my kids (And Brian and I for good measure) are currently in love with.

Calvin: Age 2;

•  Mickey Mouse, which is great as we plan to take them to Disney next month.
• Pirates especially Jake and the Never-land Pirates
•  puppies
• bugs
• spiders
• trains
• wolfs
• dinosaurs

Ethan: Age 6

•  "Baby toys" as he calls them, he loves to play with toddlers and their toys
•  Dinosaurs, especially the Imaginex line of dinosaurs. He wants ALL of them. He's pretty close too.
• Wild Krats show, this show has remained popular with him
• Phineas and Ferb (My personal favorite kid show)
• Eric Carle, He only owns one of his books, but at any time we have 5 or more out of the library
• Nurf Guns

Stephen: Age 7

• Science. Beekman's World, Nova Science Now, Science Friday, any science he can get his little hands on. 
• Phineas and Ferb
• His DS game system and other video games. 
• Pokemon
• Riding his new bike, after years of telling him bikes were cool he finally mastered it and now loves it. 

Erin: Age 34

• Zombies, Vampires and such
• Reading more than is probably healthy
• Octopuses
• Painting stuff like furniture and such, generally fixing up the house. 
• Several stupid shows I should not like, Dance Moms, Face Off, Project Runway and so on. 
• Working out. I won't say the dieting part is something I enjoy, but I'm doing that too. 

Brian: Age 34

• Sports. Watching them mostly, but playing basketball as well
• Autographs. Of sports people. He has some list of everyone he is trying to get. It's actually all very organized. He finds a great deal of joy in that.
• Outdoors, hiking, canoeing and such. The man loves that stuff.
• Secondary Market shows, such as Storage Wars and Auction Kings. 
• History

I think that's us for right now. Posts without pictures are lame, so here is Bootsie snuggling Stephen. We can't let this go on for more than a few minutes because Stephen is allergic, but it is so very cute.  (I just realized those are CANDY WRAPPERS in his BED. Totally NOT allowed.)

Sick and Perspective

Calvin took this photo of me. It makes me wonder if this is how he sees me. I don't know how I feel about that. 

So a few days ago Brian came home and took a shower and then put on TONS of clothes and got under blankets. Said he could not get warm. Then he was all hot. You know where this is going, mystery fever. But he felt better within two days.

Last night I felt sick. Sort of dizzy. So I go to bed, wake up. Stephen says he is sick. I say, "Ok go back to bed." and we do. Well Stephen may have felt bad, I won't go as far as to accuse him of lying, but he was FINE by the time we got rolling on our day. I, however, was not. Crazy hot, then crazy cold. Every joint I have hurt. Weird ones even. So I have all 3 kids running around being crazy, Brian working from home, so they need to be quiet and I feel like I'm going to die.

But my family rocks so it went like this: The older boys did a pile of Home School work in the morning, then did the dishes. (Healthy enough to drive me insane, healthy enough to do the dishes.) Then I made them lunch and put the baby down for a nap. The other two I have no idea what exactly they did, but they did it together, in their room and quietly. The baby didn't stay down, because turns out he has the hell fever too. So he gets in bed with me and watches Netflix on my Nook while I snooze. Because Calvin can't sleep when he's sick. I think he thinks he will quietly slip away in his sleep or something. Probably he just can't get comfy. He doesn't know about Tylenol PM yet.

Of course I was terribly crabby today. But I managed to shove a Stofers in the oven and everyone complimented my great "cooking". AND I did bedtime without yelling at anyone, so I'm like a super mom.

And that's my day. If Brian is any tell I'll be all better tomorrow. Which would rock because we are supposed to go for Sushi tomorrow and I'd like not to miss that.

In other news: I learned how to make a balloon dog the other day. It was super cool. So yesterday I ordered cool supplies to make balloon animals. I'm hoping to be the Balloon Animal Girl at church parties.
I also ordered Brian's Valentine's Day present. I got him the 3 Wolf Moon T Shirt on Amazon. Search that and read the reviews. Hilarious! Of course it was way over our "About $5" limit, but it is sooo funny.

Rules I wish we had

I believe I've mentioned I had 3 kids. So I'm like a total expert on running a household. IN My MInd.

Here are some rules I think I should have but do not:

1. Bedtime means lay in your bed quietly until you fall asleep. Period. This never EVER happens here. I'm the worst at bedtime in the world. EVER. It is actually where I fail most as a parent.

2. All food needs to be consumed at a table. I'm even down with some snacks or even meals at the coffee table in the living room as a treat. Right now my 2 year old is running all over the house with a banana. Will I get him to clean up the peels he has scattered? There really is no telling, but it hardly matters because the apple peels he left all over this morning are still in the living room so what's a few banana peels on top of that. I need a dog. To clean this crap up.

3. Boys clean bathrooms. Never in my life have I peed on the floor behind a toilet. Do they not realize that happens? I'm not just talking to the babies here. Men too, what happens in your mind that you see yourself get pee on the seat and think, "Hmm. I'll just leave that." I actually have two theories. A: When a boy starts pottying on their own moms and dads are so happy. We cheer and praise them. Even before good aim sets in. So in part of a kid/man's mind they are hearing their mom cheer for them just for ATTEMPTING to pee in the potty. B: one of the good parts of being a boy is not having to wipe when you pee. If they took a square of paper and wiped the toilet seat or floor would they just be wasting that special no toilet paper power? I don't know. But I clean bathrooms, so what is going on in the minds of these boys had better dang well NOT be, "Erin/Mommy will get that later." Because the idea of that makes me stabby.

4. Times for snacks. I thought schedules were stupid. But getting asked for snacks CONSTANTLY drives me freaking insane. And with 3 of them eating when their bodies tell them to it really is constant. I wish we had 3 meals and 2 snack times and no one expected to eat any other time. Not even running around bananas. (Had oldest kid pick up the peels by the way, 3 kids does have benefits)

5. One cup per person per day. There are 5 of us living here. I wash about 20 cups a day. I'm pretty sure they get a new cup each time they drink a sip of water. Because they want me to spend my whole day washing dishes and toilets.

6. On that note, no layering. No you cannot address the coldness outside by wearing 3 T shirts. You can wear one and a coat like a normal person. You can't wear two pairs of pants, you can wear one warm pair and have slightly cool legs. My children refuse to wear jeans, so they don't have the warmest pants, but that's not my fault is it? Also it's Florida. "Cold" here is like 65 degrees. Just buck up.

Well that's all I can think of right now. Here are some photos to make this post more fun. 

Calvin wanted his pic with "dirt".

Stephen cried for hours over a wasted $.75. Because he never gets anything and who knows when he would have three freaking quarters again. I almost killed him by the way. 

This bird is more photogenic than anyone in my family. Pretend it's me. 

Well maybe Ethan beats the bird. He's pretty stinking photogenic too. 

Brian meeting Mean Joe Green.