Dress up

I'm beginning to think something is seriously wrong with me. I can not stop buying toys for my children. Nor can I throw any out. So in consequence we have way too many toys and have run out of places to put them.

I recently went to our little consignment shop in the middle of town, which has always been a complete disaster every time I have been in there. But I don't mind. I rummage through so much junk and therefore I find many treasures that most people don't take the time to look for. This time I got Jack and Breck a big tub of dress up clothes. There was so much in that tub and it had two of everything. PERFECT! It was as steal at $20! Not that my husband agrees on anything I buy, but the boys are obsessed with dressing up, therefore I am obsessed with taking pictures of them in their outfits. I also picked up a play-dough dinosaur set, a BIG talking Star Wars space ship, a walking, talking and SHOOTING Iron Man AND a TON of adventure men with vehicles. I got all this and Jacks new favorite movie "Veggie Tales" for $40!!

They both were upstairs the other day with nothing but undies and train conductor hats. Jackson had a handful of pirate coins and he was taking Brecken shopping. I love walking into their conversations. Cute Cute CUTE!

Mr. Knight

My little Firemen!

 Hello Matey's! 

Bath Time

Bath time is Brecken's favorite time of the day. Once he hears the water running he is running to it. Kevin always gives the boys a bath. It's nice because I get a 10 minute break and clean up the kitchen and living room. Did I say that was nice? Obviously I'm losing my head OR I'm a mother who thinks things like cleaning without children is a break. But atlas I was lucky enough to bathe the boys a few times this week. They crack me up as they are always antagonizing each other one second and the next second they both are antagonizing me. They sure think they are funny.  What was not so funny is the flood we have in the bathroom afterwards.

Hello Handsome!

He was getting the biggest kick out of drinking from the faucet. Unfortunately they do this in my bathroom sink too. 

Brecken

Of course Jackson wanted the basket on his head the second Brecken did it. And his fishing pole is his gun. Everything is a gun. 

I love this boy. 

Babysitter Woes

Jackson is almost 4 years old, and we have never paid for a babysitter. I signed up for Sittercity and paid the monthly fee to interview potential babysitters. Its like a online dating for parents and sitters.  I had so many responses, and it was a bit overwhelming. I met with four of the fifty that had emailed me wanting the "job", and I liked three of them. That was back in August. It is now January, and I have never used any of them. I have tried multiple times, and they were unavailable every time. I'm very frustrated. A friend of mine recommended  a college girl, 19, who happens to be her daughters best friend. She babysits for two other people that are acquaintances of mine, and they LOVE her. I met with her, and I instantly loved her too. She was so sweet and the boys really did like her. Last Friday night we used her, and I was super excited about it and about the idea of having a great babysitter on hand finally. Jackson was a little under the weather, but I really wanted to make it work for the first time and in the end he seemed okay enough for us to go. We paid her $12 an hour, and we were gone from 6:30-11 PM so we essentially paid her $60. I looked up the average pay for a babysitter in our area for two kids, and this is the norm.

Before I left the house I had typed an entire page of instructions for her. Where we were at, phone numbers, etc. I had made dinner (penne pesto pasta) before we left, and it was sitting on the stove with the lid on. I set out plates, forks and filled their cups up with water. I showed her that Brecken's bottle was in the fridge and showed her the towels on the back of the door for after baths among other things.

I sent her a text at 8:30, and she had said the kids were already in bed and they were great.

When we came home this is what I saw...

1.  The house was clearly a disaster. I am a very tidy person and I don't expect her to clean my house, however I am making a point to say that it was indeed a disaster.

2.  The pot on the stove was still there empty and crusted over with residual pesto and cheese. The boys' plates were completely overflowing with pasta. I made a 1/2 a pound of pasta, which is half of a regular pasta box. Common sense would be that my boys are 1 and 3, and they don't eat like a 200 pound man. But she halved the entire pot of pasta on both plates. Didn't bother to put leftovers in the container I left out for her maybe because there was none since she filled the plates up. All of which were still sitting on the counter.

3.  I told her to give Jack veggie straws while he watched Team Umizoomi before bed. I showed her where the kids plates and bowls were. In that same cabinet we also have tupperware dishes. She got the biggest tupperware dish we have, and I have NO idea how many veggie straws she gave him. I found it in Brecken's room with veggie straws still in it, and I found veggie straws ALL. OVER. THE. HOUSE!

4.  Brecken's bottle was still left in the fridge, unused. :(

5.  The TV room upstairs looked like someone ransacked our house. The cushions, not the throw pillows, the cushions were all cock eyed and some were on the floor and the ottoman was pushed up against the wall where we have our TV hanging AND there were little hand prints completely covering the half the TV. The playroom was untouched with the vacuum lines still visible.

6.  When I went to get Brecken the next morning, his door was locked. Which isn't a huge deal because I had taken off all the door stoppers long ago because the kids put them in their mouths. So if the door hits the wall it usually pushes in the lock. But I am making a point to say it was locked. I got him up, and he was SOAKED. Also, not a big deal  because he pees a lot. BUT when I changed him, his diaper was on backwards. That is actually a difficult thing to do because its awkward while you are doing it. I'm not being unreasonable here. She is a babysitter not a first time dad or grandfather.

7.  Not a big deal, but she didn't use the towels I physically pointed out. She used the towels that I use as decor in the bathroom after baths.

So while some of these are not a big deal and others are and I am completely dumbfounded. I can't help but feel irresponsible for leaving my kids in her care. I met this girl. Kevin met this girl. My good friend recommended her and loves her like her own daughter, AND I had two other people vouch she was a great sitter because she babysits for them. What the heck did I miss, and how can I be more thorough the next time we have someone?

I don't think I'm being unreasonable here. I don't expect someone to even pick up toys, but I do expect someone to follow directions especially when you have hired them. Diaper backwards...BIG DEAL. No bottle....BIG DEAL. Letting the kids bang on the flat screen TV...BIG FREAKING DEAL!!!!! All the other things, while odd, are not a big deal, but altogether I can't handle it. I just wonder what the heck happened in my house! I paid $60.00 for all of that and to feel like I'm a worse mother than 5 hours before. I'm sick about it. What did she do from 8:30, when the kids went to bed, until 11 when we got there? Sit on that disheveled couch? I should have taken a picture of it because its unbelievable anyone could sit and watch TV. But she was upstairs watching TV when we came home and I'm baffled.

I'm sure you can gather that we will not be using her again. So we are at square one again. Yvonne please move down soon!!!

Patience

A few days ago we were knee deep in poop. Not just once. Not twice. But 5 different times. I washed poopy undies 5 different times and washed Jack up 5 different times... You want to talk about trying your patience? Two of the poop disasters became even more trying because while Jack was sitting on the toilet he dropped a Lego-sized gun in the toilet AND an arm of a Imaginext figurine in there. We HAD to fish them out because they are his "favorite". All I can think of is "patience".

I have started up again in our neighborhood bible study. We met for the first time a week ago Tuesday. It was really nice to get together again as I haven't seen some of these women since the Christmas festivities. We each had to think of a word to focus on for the entire year, and I had no idea what to use. To me it was like naming your child. I have way to many "motivational" words to focus on. So my first word was enjoyment. I want to enjoy every single second of life because its too short not to. But as I was cooking dinner and had Jackson screaming at me to change the TV because its not his "favorite" and Brecken hanging off my pant leg whining for whatever reason and I decided right there that enjoyment was just not going to do it for me. I need patience before I can enjoy even the simplest of tasks so I changed my word right before I walked out the door.

Someone once told me that anyone can be a parent but it takes someone special to become a mother and a father. I never really fully understood this until I became a parent and am having those very trying moments daily.  I only know of having children 3 and younger, but I know that right now that my life is very demanding. As they get older I know that my job will be different. It will be so much harder to the say the right thing and teach them the right way because, lets be honest, we don't always follow the same rules we want for our children.

My friend Jennifer has a daughter who is about 14. She had a talent show at her school a few weeks back, and when she was finished singing she was able to sit down next to her mother and watch the rest of the show. After seeing several talents, a set of girls went up to sing and  unfortunately they did not sing very well at all. The 14-year-old daughter turned to her mom and said "What was that?" with a disgusted tone. Now think about what you would say to your daughter or son in this situation. Would you smile and agree, or would you say the right thing? I really admire Jennifer for how she handled it. She took her daughter aside after the talent show and told her "It took a lot of courage for those girls to go out there and sing especially because one girl was much heavier than most of the girls. How would you feel if someone in the audience said the exact same thing you just said?" I know there was much more to this conversation but Jennifer did the right thing. I wonder how I would have handled it. I know I definitely have told Jackson not to do something because it would make him sad if it happened to him. But I also can see myself  saying "Yeah...what was that???!!" and having a funny moment with my son. This is just one small story that really got to me because I don't always do the right thing now, and I know the older you get the more important lessons are.  I have noticed things about myself that I must change if I want to challenge and teach my own children what is right from wrong. I have quite the task ahead of me.

They are having so much fun together. Always. 

I love this picture. Brecken is laying down the law and Jack is being sweet.

 Last night when Brecken finished his bottle Jackson say "Good Job Brecki! I Love you." and then he proceeded to give him a kiss. Brecken didn't even notice. :)

My Top Moments of the Week

My top 5 of this week

#1.  Play dough will never be one color. I MUST get over this!!
#2.  Lego's. Why are they so small? Why does Jack know every 285 piece by heart? Why does he always want the one that is some how missing? Oh I know...it's his "favorite".
#3.  Goldfish are not for eating. They are apparently the newest in-nose apparel.
#4.  We have reached the embarrassing moment of your child calling someone big or "fat" and not pretty, and after a run-in with a heavier woman Kevin had "the talk" with Jack. Now everyone of every race, size, gender and AGE is SOOO PRETTY. "And mama I not say someone is big. okay momma..okay!"
#5.  Last week when Kevin got to sleep in until about 6:50 AM and he comes downs stairs a little groggy while Jackson and myself are eating eggs at the island, Jack says to Kevin....
Jack: Why are you so mad?
Kevin: I'm not mad Jack. I just woke up.
Jack:  Confused, yet honest and innocent..."Yes you are. Look at your face."

My boys

I know I have been posting blogs like mad lately. I guess with Kevin being home all last week I have a little more time to myself, which means more blogs.

Jackson is growing up to be such a sweet little man. I bet you never thought I would say that, but he is. More times than not he is sweet to Brecken. When Brecken cries, he tries to make it better by giving him a toy, rubbing his back, and soothe talking to him. Kevin and I just melt. He LOVES his brother. I mean he tells us he wants to see Brecki when he is sleeping and if he wakes up before him.  He really is a sweet soul.  He asks me if I'm okay and will get me a blanket if I'm feeling under the weather. But I am however getting in trouble 52 times a day because I say "stupid". It is a forbidden word in the house because a couple months ago Jackson came home and called me "Stupid Mommy." I was so angry and I actually thought I never said the word stupid and wondered where in the world he heard it from. Except now with a in-house police man I apparently say it A LOT! Jackson loves school and loves his teacher Ms. Tricia. It is such a different setting than last year. He has learned so much this year. He counts over 20 and is very interested in letters and can play with the computer all by himself.  Every Thursday we get a folder from school and in it is probably 12 papers all of what they did. Counting, coloring and a computer sheet. Of course I save everything. Sometimes I feel like I am going to be on hoarders, but I really can not stand to throw these out. I have placed them in a 3 ring binder and we look through them probably daily. He LOVES all his work and is very proud. He will tell us stories of some of the papers. Yesterday he told Kevin and I "My teacher says not to paint to much because it will get a hole through it." It cracked us up. The stuff they remember and tell us is amazing.  He is also drawing us all sorts of pictures. His favorite, and mine, is a spider.

A couple weeks ago Jackson was in the cozy coupe and just had to go potty right then and there! It was locked of course, and when I finally got him out and ran to the bathroom, he started peeing through this undies, I kneeled down to pull down his underwear and pee shot right INTO my mouth. Yes he peed IN my mouth and on my face. It tastes just as horrible as you think it does. He started laughing, and oddly so did I. I was even on the phone with my beloved friend Kim. Arghhhh!!! :)

Both of the boys LOVE music. Several months back I noticed Jack's head bumping to the music. Sometimes he just closes his eyes and shakes his head with the beat. I asked him one day if he was going to sleep and he said "No, I'm just listening to the music." Brecken is even more animated when it comes to music. Every song that comes on he shakes his head like he is saying yes. This is by far my favorite thing he does. It is so cute to see it in person and I have yet to catch it on video. We have dance parties every day. They love it and I love it more. Kevin started doing the "Gangnam Style" dance and Jack and Breck belly laugh and say "DADDY!" When Brecken and Jack say this like daddy is just so silly it completely melts me and it eggs Kevin on. Jack's favorite songs right now are Gangnam Style. He says "Mommy I want to hear the sexy lady song!" And he loves Diamonds by Rihanna. Our home is rarely quiet. 

Brecken is still wild. He went through a mommy phase and well still kind of is. He can not lose sight of me. Its almost unbearable for me but he is so lovable it makes up for it. He snuggles the best, gives the best kisses and hugs and when he says I love you everything bad just fades. I just looked back through all my old blogs from the beginning of last year and it was a YEAR ago before Jack finally said I love you to us. I'm so happy Brecken is saying it a year ahead of him. Brecken is just funny. I feel like I can't even put it on paper to explain it. His facial expressions are even more expressive than Jack's, and that is pretty impressive. He is so silly, smart and is such a peanut! But don't let his size fool you because remember he is smart. And smart boys can be beasts. This boy LOVES to wrestle and the problem with that is not everyone he wants to wrestle with is 3 years old. Brecken loves candy, he loves the un-animated version of "The Grinch" and he loves to say NOOOO to Jackson. 

Jack's spider

Celebrating 2012!

As we head into 2013 with a clean slate and memories, either good or bad, I want to thank everyone who reads my blog. It makes me happy when I receive feedback through a text or email from my loved ones telling me they enjoy it.  I want to write and share my life with those who can not be in it everyday. My goal is that someday my kids will read this and hopefully enjoy it.

I have no big complaints about this year, and we ended it in style. This is our 2nd New Years Eve party at the Koehler's, and I hope that we will be going there every year! We had yet another sleepover, and the boys LOVE it!! Jackie is all around amazing. She has no enemies, and everyone who meets her always tell me later how much they love her. I feel so lucky to have met her and her husband Paul through a mutual friend 6 years ago. This year we dined on tapas and the kids ate homemade pizza's. Jackie is so easy going, and she tells me that the kids can make the pizza's themselves. I'm looking at her a little worried because we have been there for 30 minutes, they are busy in the kitchen preparing food, and we are all on our 2nd martini, and I am thinking to myself "She is crazy to have 4 children under 5 years of age do this right now!" But that is my Jackie. So when she notices my confused look she say's "What??!! We will just put down a sheet and they can do it on the floor!" Ha! Needless to say I made the pizza's only because Molly said she didn't want to. Phew! :) Jackie also made the cutest menu for the night AND made a mix of the best songs of 2012! She thinks of everything.

"Kid"night was at 8 PM. We did a better job than last year when we used a youtube video from 2008 in Tokyo. They gathered around the laptop while we cheered, kissed, and shot off poppers. Then the kids ran outside to bang pots and scream. The kids also had "fake" champagne. I of course brought cotton candy to put in the glasses before you poured the juice and it is suppose to look super awesome...needless to say it was another dud on Pinterest. The kids went to sleep by 9, and that is when the real fun came out! We have not laughed that hard in a long time or drank like that. Nights like this make you feel happy in life. Cheers to an awesome 2013!!

The goody bags I made for the kids. They turned out SO cute!!

Jackie! 

What adorable pictures of little Molly!

The kiddos having FUN!

KID-NIGHT! Look at them all gathered by the laptop. I have pure joy in my heart seeing all of them together.  

Champagne Toast!!

Let's make some NOISE! 

Paul cracks us all up. I love that he is "baking", wearing a women's hat and using a pink oven mit.  

Middle picture is the vodka flamed chorizo! 

Girls Just Wanna Have FUN!

Notice Kevin is lurking in the background in the middle picture. Do you like his FLAVA FLAV necklace! 

Okay I realize that maybe just Kevin, myself, Jackie and Paul will find this humorous but I have to share. As the night went on and we said "silly" things and if they were funny enough we would put them on the board. If you notice I did not make it on the board. I guess I'm not that funny. 

My favorites:

1. Ivan, who by the way is their dog, I have a short digestive system. 

2. Kevin. I want to hear that Justin Beiber Song. 

3. Roo Roo (Bethany). Chuck Testa. She kept running into the kitchen and screaming this at the top of her lungs. 

4. Jack. FLAVA FLAV!!! So cute when he was saying it. 

5.  Jackie. Paul! I think its already New Year's. This was said at 11:49 PM. :) 

Happy New Year!!