Busy Nutty Mom

Summer time used to mean relaxing and doing nothing.  Then I had kids.  Now it's just as bad as the rest of the year. With no school to do you would think the kids have ample time to clean up after themselves.  All the extra free time did was give them extra time to make even more creative messes.
I could provide the confetti for a parade with all the tiny scraps of paper they have created.
No one will admit how paint got on the couch pillow.  It's red paint so it looks like they were sacrificing things over summer break.  I'm ready to throw the pillow away after many attempts to clean it have failed, but then they would just move on to kill the remaining pillows.  Plus if you visit my house you will know I have kids or a tribe of feral savages. (depends on their moods)

Summer camp for the oldest two was only a week long but they are stereotypical girls so they packed for closer to two weeks.  We almost had the youngest fully potty trained while they were away. Then his sisters came back from camp and it's back to refusals and accidents. I'm almost ready to ship them off again so we can be done with diapers FINALLY.

My husband was out of work with a broken wrist. Only reason he was out of work was because his work does not allow him to do light duty for his job.  It's full work or nothing.  Luckily we were covered by AFLAC for the accident and he had plenty of sick leave and vacation time saved up. With our 5 kids and mini backyard zoo we never go on vacation anyway.  I spent the 5 weeks helping him with everything. A few times I got cranky at his helplessness. Any normal human would after watching him play video games for hours then say he couldn't make his own sandwich.  I ended up telling him he was starting to abuse the in sickness and in health portion of our vows. I didn't begrudge having to help him shower even though he always waited until I was ready to go to bed to choose to shower.  Even though there was times he drove me crazy with his extra chattiness while I tried to steal some quiet time to read, I miss him now that he is back at work.

I choose summer time to deep clean the house, because I'm nutty like that.  Old school books are packed up and shipped back. I have the kids clean out their closets and dressers to shed any clothing they don't fit into.  It seems insane while in the middle of it all, but once it's done it helps the school year start off easily.

Our chickens have kept me on my toes this summer. With heat waves threatening to kill them if they went broody, so I had to keep a small swimming pool ready for them to wade for cooling off.  The girls have all suddenly decided they are explorers and have taken to escaping their run and walking throughout the yard. They harvested a few of my tomatoes before I had a chance to get to them and before the summer heat scorched my whole garden.  

Recently one of our girls was discovered to have a hidden clutch of eggs.  We didn't even know she was laying yet.  My oldest found her hidden behind the duck house, sitting on 5 eggs! The little feathered stinker has been laying for almost a week with that big of a clutch hidden.  They were rotten as she wants nothing to do with our rooster.

Speaking of the Rooster.  The one we aren't technically supposed to have. (I hate legislation on my backyard due to jerks that pay to watch roosters fight)  Bubo recently learned how to crow.  Our guy seemed to think he was Chantecler from Rock-A-Doodle.  He was doing his best to crow up the sun every 5 minutes from 5am to 10am plus anytime the sun went behind a cloud.  He was quickly fitted with a homemade rooster collar to prevent his call from being so excessive. He can still eat and do all other rooster business, it just prevents him from crowing when fitted correctly.  The law around here state you can't have a crowing rooster, so technically he not a crowing rooster.  He's just a rooster.  This guy is much sweeter than our last one and so pretty with his white coloring. I'll try to get a picture of him. My husband is afraid to share his picture too much as he doesn't want any trouble for having him.

Celebrating 15 years of Marriage

Our Wedding Day

I remember looking at him that morning and thinking that I could never love this man more than I did as I looked into his eyes at that moment.  I stood there gazing into his eyes silently praying my bitchy soon to be Monster in Law would not interrupt the ceremony.  (shockingly she didn't interrupt but she did show up halfway through our vows.) We have been through so much together as a couple through the years and even when things threatened to tear us apart, we became closer in the end. I look back now and am astonished at just how much more deeply in love we are. 

Best advice I can give to any couple is Communicate.  Speak up when you are upset, don't let it fester inside. When angry don't say hurtful things and always say your sorry. Don't talk bad about your spouse to anyone, it doesn't make you feel better to vent.  It just reinforces the negative feeling.  Be their cheerleader, crow their good deeds and accomplishments.   Declare your love for each other often and express it even more.  You are now a part of a whole.  Treat them as the other half that makes you whole.  Continue to always date each other even if it ends up being a bag of popcorn and a shared movie in bed after the kids go to sleep.  Never leave the getting to know you phase.  You will both be growing and changing through the years. I know I am not the same person he started dating almost 18 years ago.  

Senior Prom

Junior Prom

Looking at our pictures here I swear his face has changed more than mine. My change has all been in hair color. I now sport a super awesome racing stripe of silver grey near my temple. I'm slowly starting to look like some comic book villain or leader of a secret group of super hereoes. 

It was at my Junior Prom that he proposed to me for the first time.  They had stupid little fake wedding ceremonies going on at prom. (I don't know why.. Vegas I guess)  Standing there laughing with my friends about how stupid the fake ceremony is and how it is our teachers doing these cheese fest ceremonies.  When Dan gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him.  Instantly I feel like everyone is watching us.  I blush deeply and tell him, "Yes, yes let's go get in the stupid line get off the ground."

I am blessed to say that my husband is my best friend.   He's my Addiction too.  It's really not my fault.  It's his fault because he's mostly amazing.  I say mostly because he can sing, dance, really good sense of humor, and has great looking into his 30's (no grey hair yet.. the lucky bastard) He is no paragon he has his annoying habits as well; like shedding clothing like Bruce Almighty (they stay where they fall) or hair from shaving is always left as evidence that he actually did shave.  

I'm no angel either. I'm sure I annoy the crap out of him some of the time. (okay a lot of the time, but he says I'm worth it) I'm so grateful this man fell so deep in love with me.  He says the moment he met me it was like time stopped and everything else faded away.

We rarely go out, with 5 kids can you really blame us?  Instead we spend our time together playing Final Fantasy 11.  I joke that he only had me start playing because he needed a healer.   This way sure is a lot cheaper of a date night than to get a babysitter, movie tickets and have to be around annoying people coughing /sneezing.  ::throws a gummy bear::
My idea of a great date night is take-out in bed with netflix/video games.  Dessert of chocolate fondue and a late night of laughing.  It works for us, it may not work for you. Find what fills your cup as a couple.   Do more of that. Be open to trying something they like, you never know.. you could enjoy it as well.

Gunnerace and Lunarine on Leviathan server FFXI

30 Days of Thankful (Day12)

My 30 Days of Thankful

Day 12
(a day late thanks to spending it enjoying my husband for another full day)

I am thankful for my husband's job.  Although no glamorous, it makes is so he is able to spend holidays with us and be paid for them no less.  He may dreadfully count the minutes until he has to work but it provides us with insurance for our very large accident prone tribe of  disaster prone little people.
He has done some of the crappiest jobs I could imagine to provide for us.  From being a fry cook at McDonald's to stacking bricks at a Tennessee brick factory in humidity/temperatures so high and conditions so unsafe that OSHA inspectors practically had their own parking spot.

30 Day of Thankful (Day4)

My 30 Days of Thankful

Day 4
I am thankful that my husband has a job that he gets the weekends off to spend with his family.  Two whole days of not having outside responsibilities. Just recharging and reconnecting together as a family.  Even though we home school and they get to see him before work, it still never feels like enough time. I still feel like we are constantly making up for all the time he missed when they were in public brick and mortar school and only got to see him on weekends.  Our kids are growing so fast and we will never get a second chance at this time again.

Eww, Not on my watch!?!

Just a warning.. if you have a weak stomach.. turn back now.  

Don't say I didn't warn you....

Last night out of the blue Morgan comes running down the stairs screaming that Nadia just threw up.  Instantly I cringe in horror thinking of the wall to wall carpeting covering every inch of the upstairs floors, even the bathrooms.. ::cry:: 
I ascend the stairs trying to hurry but the visions of past puking experiences slowing my steps.  My palms start sweating.  I start whispering fervent prayers.. "Please god not on the carpet."  I'd be happy with barfing in a full toy box at the moment.  I timidly ask Morgan where?  ::cringing in wait of her answer:: She points to Nadia's bedroom as her face starts to turn a sickly green.  I walk into the room and there she is sitting in the middle of her blankets and pillows with a pool of vomit at her feet.  Thankfully none got on the carpet.  Now I have a puke dripping child and vomit covered bed stuff to deal with. 

I rush her to the bathtub hoping that if her head starts spinning and she spews split pea soup it will be somewhat contained.  As I step back into the room my stomach instantly thrusts upward and I start dry heaving.. Thank you very much pregnancy induced nausea.. (I swear a mouse fart makes me gag now)  Luckily for my my older daughters see this and take pity on me and agree to get the blankets to the wash.  I am so grateful for my older girls when they choose not to be evil tween demons.

After getting her washed and settled back into a clean bed.  I give her a cup of ginger ale and some saltines. (thank you pregnancy nausea or I would not have these stocked in my cupboards)  The house settles for the night and I think my horror is over.  Oh how naive can I be?

I hear my son cry out once but fall back asleep.  (he does this often.)  My husband comes home and after spending some time together my exhaustion catches up to me and I slowly head up to bed.  (I hate you stairs at this point of the day)  As I take each step this horrible smell gets stronger and stronger.  Until I am at the doorway to Maxx's bedroom.  I look into his crib with revulsion.  There lays my son with vomit covering his entire head and body.  His sheets and blankets are covered.  I run out of the room gagging and cry out for my husband's help.  He thankfully brings the Scentsy Room spray and quickly douses the room to remove the revolting smell.  (I love you room spray, for not covering the scent but removing it!)

I give him the choice.. the bed or the kid.  He wisely chose the non-moving one.  It took me 4 scrub downs to get all the vomit chunks from his hair and I still had to climb into the shower with him to get him fully rinsed off and cleaned.

I walk back into his bedroom to find his bed stripped.  Damn you, slacker!! Job not done... After wrestling a now angry Maxx into some clean pj's I look at the bed and find vomit still covering the rails.  ::tempted to start cursing loudly::  Instead I call him back upstairs.  (just a tip.. now is not the time to huff or roll your eyes or even mention how tired you are)  I wipe down the bed and make Dan remake it.   (I didn't realize it needed to be said)    I lay Maxx down again praying this is the last puke episode of the night.  As soon as his "part" is done my husband abandons me again for the glow of the boob tube. 

No sooner do I step through my bedroom door but I hear Maxx call out "Ma!" and listen in horror as it ends in gagging.  Not again!!  I rush in and grab a blanket in a vain hope of saving this new set of sheets.  I lift him up and rush him through the house to the nearest bathroom.    I managed to get him to a toilet where he vomits again.   Except now he wants to splash in the toilet between heaves.  So not only am I wrestling him over the toilet but his hands away from the nasty water.  I call for help again but the draw of the boob tube has sucked my normally helpful spouse into a mindless oblivion.

I get Maxx cleaned up yet again and change the sheets myself.  (easier to do it myself so I don't attempt bodily harm against my spouse at this point)  I go to lay him down again and instantly he starts gagging.  So I haul him downstairs and sit with a towel wrapped around my upper body. I refuse to carelessly allow myself to be vomited on bare skin by another child.  I learned that lesson with my oldest.  ::shudder::

After an hour of cuddling a dry heaving angry bundle, he abandons me and finally curls up next to daddy.  Once Maxx falls asleep I angrily tell my husband I am going to bed.. you handle him now.. I am off the clock .. on strike whatever it takes.  He gets pissed and tells me "but I was ready for bed."  Angry curse words are now at the tip of my tongue. I think back on the past month of him sleeping undisturbed for 7-10 hours straight a night as I in comparison have not gotten 4 hours sleep without being woken by a child or snoring bed mate.  I give him a non-verbal sign of how much I care about his "tiredness" and drag myself to bed.

I may be a mom of 4 kids (going on 5) but I can't handle puke.  Just the thought of it makes my stomach turn.  Being pregnant doesn't make it any easier.  Can you handle vomiting episodes?  After dealing with my oldest and her creepy colored, when did we eat that chunks pukes.. I just can't do it anymore.

Yes, I do know that it is not good to keep a tally of who did what in marriage, but when you are already pregnant and sleep is a commodity. Lack of sleep can push you to be the stereo typical angry pregnant woman.  Even quicker if your partner dares to complain about their tiredness after they get almost double the sleep you do every night.

I've got an Addiction

I'm actually going to admit it. I have an addiction.  It's overwhelming me to the point that it's all I think about throughout most my day.  I've been told it's unhealthy but that doesn't change anything.  I just can't live without it.

What are you wondering is my horrible addiction to?

I am addicted to my husband.  I know kinda corny huh?  After 15 years of being together and almost 13 years of marriage I still can't wait to be around him.  I used to think I had it really bad when we were dating and I would pine just to hear him on the phone.  It's so much worse now that I actually get to have him in my day to day life. My day is spent in countdown until he gets home from work.

Don't get me wrong there are times when he drives me nuttier than squirrel poo.  The days I just want a shower alone, but I'm there it just feels so empty.  I feel guilty taking a nap before he leaves for work because I know just how much I will miss him when he does leave.

I've been told my my Monster in Law that this is unhealthy.  ::rolls eyes:: That we should not be each other's best friend.  That we need interests that don't include each other.  (yeah.. relationship advice from a twice divorcee)  ::rolls eyes::  We do have interests that do not include each other.  He watches some of his favorite shows that make me want to stab myself in the eye with a spork.  I read romance novels that he refers to as "your dirty books".  Is that not enough?

Over the years, (eons in today's society of marriage lifespans) we have learned to communicate our needs to each other.  "I need a nap or I may just run away and join the circus." Ok, so that one is only a recent addition since our 1 yr old only power naps and I am such a light sleeper that a mouse fart two houses down would wake me.  Just being able to say you need a hug is powerful.  The power of touch is amazing.

You can have your caffeine and tobacco addictions... I'm going to stick to my Danny addiction.

Weight Loss Sabotage

I was doing great on my workouts. Julian Michaels was thoroughly kicking my sorry hide into shape. A shape I was beginning to really enjoy seeing. Then it happened...

Aunt Flo finally reared her ugly head after 6 months of no Postpartum visits. She arrived with all the evil excess baggage of migraines, bloating, cramping, sleeplessness, mood swings and feeling perpetually tired. I really did try to stick with working out, but after the first day I thought I was going to need some sort of hospitalization just to recover.

Then once I finally got Aunt flo and all her extra baggage out, I got sick. Not just a little sick either, no.. I am an overachiever and get a lingering chest cold that made me want to drag myself to the doctors for. Which was understandable since I ended up having my first asthma attack in years, but thankfully we still keep a rescue inhaler for that type of emergency. I hate the doctors though, they always want to poke me with needles and rarely do they only stab me once. All that poking and prodding would be for nothing, because I am breast-feeding and couldn't take most medications to help ease any of the symptoms without affecting my milk supply or flat-out being dangerous for my son. A visit to the doctors would be pointless and just be atrocious on top of me already feeling miserable. Instead I drank my orange juice, stayed hydrated, and tried to take it easy.

Back to the weight-loss saboteur sidekick, my dear sweet loving husband who isn't the most helpful when trying to lose weight. Sure he is a great workout buddy, but when it comes to healthy snacking it's a disaster. During this past month he has brought home ice cream sandwiches for me. (He's Lactose intolerant so none of them are for him.) Sure, they are the Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches but that is a slippery sugary slope for me. Then next it was the Twix ice cream bar and more ice cream sandwiches. Which turned into a daily iced coffee instead of it being a weekly treat. Sweets are my weakness. Maybe he's being sneaky and vindictive after I silently giggled at him for never again attempting the 30 day shred after that first workout. Nah, he's not that spiteful and he is enjoying the results of my workouts too.

So, back to the 30 day shred I go. Maybe I'll switch it up a few days with the Zumba workout my mother's group has talked about. Back to the grind! Those goal jeans have been taunting me from the bottom of my dresser. No more self sabotage.

I love you honey, but no more ice cream sandwiches to say you love me, a hug and the real words are better for my waistline.