Thursday, July 9, 2009

It's been awhile!

Phew! I am failing miserably at this whole blogging thing. I don't have enough time to concentrate on writing and I really don't live a very interesting life, BUT I am going to keep plugging away.

Lookie what Papa got me for my early (a whole month early) bday present! I love it!! I have taken over 400 pics with it already (I deleted quite a few too). It is going to take some getting used to (and some online friend's help ;)).

Sooo, in an effort to keep my blog going, I am going to start posting pictures in with my insights and my experiences (see I am really trying to pump myself up to give this blogging a real shot!).

Papa and I have recently started doing more grocery shopping at Target. They have the best meat and produce sections I've ever seen! Everything looks so pretty and fresh! Anywhooo....we decided to peruse the snack aisles (I had told myself I was not bringing any junkfood into the house this time) and see what good things we could find. I had noticed that they had Kashi products on sale this week and I wanted to try some of their TLC products. We grabbed some Oatmeal Raisin Flax cookies....they are sooo yummy and very filling. We also got Baked Apple Spice cereal bars, Chewy Trail Mix Bars and Peanut Peanut Butter chewy Granola Bars. I have not tasted any of them, but the boys really liked them.

Then I spotted them, right there across the aisle from the kashi snacks! Archer Farms fruit bars and Archer Farms fruit strips. I grabbed the strips because we really like the fruit leathers and these looked very similar. Then I decided to try the bars. The strips are even organic. The boys and I devowered the bars! They are delicious! And not full of crap either...real fruit and juices! I wish I would have known they were that good, there are only 6 in a box. We'll have to see if we can compelle G&G to go to Target on a bar run for us sometime.

Then, we found Archer Farms Hot Dogs that state that they contain no artifical colors, flavors or fillers! We liked their bacon and sliced ham, so decided to give them a try. The boys had some for lunch today and seemed to like them.

So, that sums up this post, new camera and yummy snacks.



Thursday, May 28, 2009

Its been awhile!

Oh wow! I have totally been neglecting this (better this than the boys though!).

Lets see....what interesting things do I have to share with the world...

School is out for summer! It is nice not to be running around like a dog chasing its tail, but having all 3 kiddos home all day is definately taking some readjusting.

We've rented some really cute movies. "Bedtime stories" with Adam Sandler is cute and funny (his movies usually are) and "Hotel for dogs" is heartwarming. Both really excellent movies for the family.

I had a horrible time trying to sleep last night. I kept thinking about my paypal bill. Papa bought some cards from ebay, I had a $10 credit on my card so we used it to pay for the cards. This all resulted in a $7.12 bill. I kept meaning to mail it, but life has been a little crazy lately and I forgot. I was going to have Papa mail it last night, but remember that stamps had gone up (AGAIN?!) and I needed to put a .01 stamp on it. So, last night I was worrying about this stupid $7.12 bill being late (now, anyone who has a cc knows there is a simple solution to this-especially with a paypal card, but that didn't occur to me until 2am-ish). I won't get a nap in today either and I have to drive for 2 hours tonight...fun! Oh, and my bill is paid ;).

We are going to forks for the big "everything goes" sale in the Alerus center. We've finally decided it is time to part with some of the boy's old clothes. I've sorted through 11 totes. I've washed, folded and priced 7 totes worth of clothes, tossed 2 big garbage bags full of stained and holely clothes and kept only 3 totes of clothes (yay!). We are also going to try and sell our baby swing, pack 'n play and high chair. I hope we can sell alot of it, but if not the ad says that you can leave whatever you have left there and they will take care of it!! So, reguardless, it will all be gone!! Selling the boy's baby clothes is bitter sweet. I would love to have another baby, but it is nice that we are moving on to different stages and new and exciting things.

Now for the bad news....I discovered this morning that my curling iron is dying :(. I can hardly keep it together!! I love this iron. My mom gave it to me and I love it (even though its only been with me for a year, it grew on my quickly). It is the most awesome iron I've EVER had. It has turbo heat, which heats it up fully in a couple of minutes! I just don't know if I can ever replace it....waaaaah!

Well, I think I've caught up for the last 3 (?) weeks? Man, my life is sooo interesting....

Now, I'm off to buy some .01 stamps and mail some bills!!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

BB's birthday is coming up. He's going to be 8! I can hardly believe it!! My baby is going to be 8 *snif*.

We're going shopping tomorrow. Since the BB and MB learned how to tie shoes they both insist that they need new shoes, plus they want to wear flip flops for their spring concert, plus I want to get them new shirts for thier concert, PLUS LB needs socks....its expensive having kids!

I've got everything packed except for a pair of pajamas for BB. He wore them last night, but asked that I had them washed and packed so he could wear them again tonight.....I better get something good for mother's day! I should be sweeping and vacuuming and soon the laundry will be ready to fold, but I'm sitting her blogging (trying to find something good enough to put on here...don't think I've done that yet).

The boys are all getting excited for school to be over. BB and MB are excited for a break and LB is excited to have his brother's home to play with. I'm a little concerned for my sanity, but we'll make it through ;).

Well, I suppose, my floor isn't sweeping itself. Its whole house day today (every other day I sweep the bedrooms and play room and the other days it is just the living room, kitchen and bathroom) so that means the swiffer is going to get a ride around the house (I love those swiffer dry pads! They get the hair up like nobody's business!).

YIKES!

We rented THE SCARIEST movie I have seen in ages last weekend!

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/quarantine/

It started out as a total snooze fest, but quickly picked up and turned scary all at once! I was definately on the edge of my seat and up all night long thinking about it. I like to be scared like this sometimes, but not often.

There are mixed reviews of this movie online, but I for one thought it was VERY scary so, if that's your thing, its worth the watch.

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Rain, Rain GO AWAY!!

Ugh! Day 2 of gloom! It is officially spring, where is the sunshine and birds?! The saying is "April showers bring May flowers"..... I'm beginning to believe that these old sayings just do not apply here!

MB has decided he wants his ear pierced. He saw a boy in high school who has his pierced and now thinks its the coolest thing. We told him that we would revisit the issue when he's in high school. He then asked how many more days until then! Then he decided that if he couldn't have his ear pierced that getting a tattoo would suffice..... Yep, he's going to be our rebel.

LB is not taking to his de-spoiling very well. He lays on the floor and thrashes around kicking and screaming if he doesn't get his way. He cries and cries and cries. Then he gets all insulted and try to play the guilt game by telling me that I don't love him any more. I've even had to give a few spankings (its a last resort, but it has gotten there lately). BUT, he's coming along. Hopefully he will learn that he isn't "the boss".

BB is rocking his accelerated reading. He almost has enough points for honor roll! We promised him that if he makes the honor roll we will buy him a Wii or DS game (a guy has to have some motivation sometimes!).

I have been trying to prepare for our garage sale. I think we have a date set (finally!) and I think I am almost done sorting the boy's clothes! I hadn't saved much until I got to the baby sizes and started remembering them in certain outfits (awww) and I just couldn't do it, so I have almost a whole tote of baby clothes. I've been making mental lists of things that I have sitting in nooks and crannies in the house that I want to get rid of. Reminds me of how many things I think that I just HAVE to have and then never use! I should just keep the money in my pocket!

Speaking of money! I got a bill from my dentist about 2 weeks ago. Most medical bills come with an area to fill in credit card info, but this one didn't so I just wrote our flex spending card info on there. I get the bill AGAIN last week with a note saying, "Sorry, we don't accept credit or debit cards".....seriously?! This day in age?! I know we live in the back woods, but credit cards are not a new fangled invention for pete's sake! Thankfully it was only $76 (after ins) so nothing to cry about, but still, why are we socking money into the fsa that we can't use?! Ok, vent over!

Oh and in exciting news....BB and MB FINALLY learned how to tie shoes last night. Yep, both of them within 15 mins of trying! We've been working on this for years! MB got it first which frustrated the hell out of BB, who tried to throw a tantrum (he likes when things come easily to him), but finally bucked up and did it! That means we can branch out in our school shoe purchases!!! We usually get them skechers, but BB always seems to trash his shoes sooo fast! They end up frayed with holes in them! Like this year, MB was begging for those cop light up ones (I had no clue what on earth he was talking about at first!), we finally found them and got them. BB got some tie ones that had to be returned (we thought it would encourage him to learn to tie shoes...not so much) so he decided he wanted the tank ones like MB's. They've both had them since the beginning of the year, MB's lights fell off, but otherwise they look fine, BB's are hashed! There are holes on either side of the toe box on both shoes (I just noticed this, he will be getting new ones)!!!

Well, I better get to cleaning while LB is occupied with lego star wars on the wii!

Monday, April 27, 2009

I'm trying to post more!

I'm trying to be better about posting on here, its not working.

Well, Papa broke my cat! He dropped a 50lb weight on Gizmo's back foot. It was an accident and Papa feels AWFUL, but Gizzy will live. He doesn't seem to be in too much pain. He isn't putting weight on it, but he isn't yowling either.

We had a toilet overflow this morning (well not overflow, but it was THIS close to over flowing). I questioned the boys, who denied putting anything aside for toilet paper in it. Turns out MB is just using too much toilet paper (I can't imagine where on earth he gets that habit). Good thing Papa decided to go in to work late so he could plunge the toilet for me!

The weather has been nice lately! The boys were outside TONS this weekend. Yesterday Papa and I were in the house when we heard this rumbling on the roof (to be honest my first thoughts were the boys had gotten on the roof). After investigating we discovered that the boys were throwing balls onto the roof and watching them roll down. Not too bad of a game EXCEPT that occassionally they would miss and hit the windows. Papa told them to go roll the balls off the roof of the shed in the back yard. A seemingly harmless activity, right? WRONG!!! Awhile later MB comes in and tells Papa that BB and LB are stuck on the roof of the shed! Do I know my kids, or what?! Turns out they found the ladder (which Papa had put on top of the clothes line, btw) and MB convinced the other two that we said they could do it.....yeah, BB got a lecture about listening to MB when he says that we say he can do something that we would never approve of. MB is naturally very inquizitive.....a good thing, but not always fun to deal with in a child! He also has a strong personality (again, where does he get that?!). Add that all to the fact that he's 6 and going through that "not always so truthful" stage, I'm surprised I'm not bald!

I have had an epiphany reguarding my baby (LB). He might, just might, be the teeniest bit spoiled. His brothers definately think this is true. I think Papa and G&G tend to agree. He is my little cuddle bug and I think he knows that if he cuddles up to me he'll get what he wants. He was beating BB with a plastic bat and got 2 spankings (he wouldn't stop!). He was DEVISTATED that I spanked him (don't judge me for spanking! I gave him warnings and tried to remove him from the situation, it just didn't work). I cuddled with him and told him that he needed to be a nice boy, but he also needs to learn that Mommy means business. His brothers hurt him and he comes crying, so they get in trouble, but I think he might be instigating some of it (DUH, right?). I've always made excuses for him because he's little, but he's going to be 4 in July and staring school in Sept, so we need to nip this in the bud.

Oh! That Skechers ad <------reminded me of my new shoes. I got a pair of those d'lites, they are soo cute! They have glitter and rhinestones on them! And they're sooo comfy! LOVE THEM!!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Its been awhile!

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't posted on here since the 9th.....thats 2 weeks!

Not much has happened in the last couple weeks. We had a nice Easter. G&G came up and spent the day with us and we had a nice dinner together. The boys and I dyed eggs and we did an egg hunt (Grandma brought change for the eggs so it wasn't all candy). The boys were pretty impressed with the goodies from the bunny.

We ordered parts for our dryer, but as usual, Papa didn't listen to me and measure first so we ended up with the wrong size parts! Papa decided that we weren't going to bother with fixing it and announced we were going to get a new dryer!! We ended up getting a new set! FRONT LOADERS!! Whoo hoo!! They are so nice!

We went to Grand Forks last weekend. We stayed with my Parents and got to see my Aunts and Grandma for a bit, which was nice I haven't seen them in years. The boys got to play at Burger King with my cousin's kids, they loved it.

I got myself a shark steam mop. I like it! It works pretty good and dries fast. The only down side is that our linoleum has groves in it and the dirt and mud stick in there and nothing but a good hand and knee scrubbing can get that up (and I am not about to do that at this point in time, I'd be doing it several times a day to keep up).

Papa's route to work did end up getting flooded, so he had to take the backwoods way to work. Luckily, he only had to go that way one day and then yesterday it was passable. Seems like the water is moving out of our area and on up to Canada.

Well, now I'm caught up for the last 2 weeks. My life really is uneventful....not always a bad thing though.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

George Lopez

This guy CRACKS ME UP! Papa and I love his show. We laugh until we cry, especially when it shows flashbacks of him when he was a kid and his head is the same size as it is now.

I love when he says "Memer? You memer!".

I watched one of his standup shows on comedy central. HILARIOIUS!! I get such a kick out of him talking about his childhood, swimming in puddles and drinking out of the hose. Or when he talks about his aunts and other women in his family shaving their eyebrows and then drawing them back in too high!!!

He just has the greatest expressions! Funny, funny man!

Easter is coming!

Yay!! I love easter! The boys are pretty excited too ;). The bunny has all of his goodies ready (he has them stored in our closet).

The boys got out their bibles yesterday to find the story of easter. They came over to me sooo excited because they had found it. MB said, "See Mom!, it says right here "EASTER"!!". I looked over and he was pointing to. They had found the book of "Esther". I think they did pretty good for a 7 and 6yo. I helped them find the story and we talked about it for a few minutes (it was homework for kid's club).

We are all a bit disappointed because we won't be going to G&G's house for easter. Papa ended up having to work! We are going down next weekend though with a bonus! We get to see Great Gma! The boys enjoy seeing her (we don't get to all that often).

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Adult ADD??

Haha, if you've read any of my previous posts you might agree with me, I think I might have adult ADD. I am all over the place with my thoughts. Sometimes I'll be on the phone with someone and start and sentence and go off in a totally different direction, its crazy! My mind just goes a mile a minute. I have a hard time falling asleep without the tv on because I just lay there and think and think and think about all kinds of things.

I can multitask like noone's business though, I actually do best when I'm doing 2 or 3 things at once, it keeps me on tasks.

Its hard for me to concentrate on things like reading. I really have to be focused. Like when I'm talking on the phone I cannot have the tv on or anyone in the room talking because I just get lost and the poor person on the phone gets a very strange conversation.

Ahh, I guess just another "issue" to add to my laundry list of mental issues. But, hey, its almost cool to have a mental issue these days, isn't it?

Monday, April 6, 2009

I think I need to have another wedding

My trusty old crock pot still cooks great, but I have to use a plyers to adjust the temp. My electric griddle heats unevenly and I have to have a bowl under the grease drip area because the little grease catcher broke. We have place setting for 6.5 people (as long as that .5 person doesn't want soup or salad). Our silverware (that my G&G gave us) is still in good shape, but there are a couple of spoons that got attacked by the garbage disposal and a fork that BB stuck in the furnace vent when he was about a year old and bent one of the tongs. I got to thinking, "wouldn't it be great if after 10 years people just gave ya new stuff or you got to have another wedding?". Like household items should be a must at a 10th anniversary party!

I was thinking about the things I would put on a registry. We had no idea what we would need when we did our registry. We did pretty good, but we could do MUCH better today. I have to laugh when I think of the first time we attempted a registry. We had no idea what we were doing, we ended up with about 10 things on there all on the more expensive side. I think it was just the novelty of doing something wedding related. Thankfully, we came to our senses and went back and fixed it!

I also get a good chuckle when I see registries with dog bones and sporting supplies. I'm sure those snausages and that camping chair will come in handy when making dinner! Even if the person has an established home on their own, who can't use newer things?! I guess its just one of life's little mysteries....

Friday, April 3, 2009

One of THOSE days

You know, those days. The kind where you drop everything you pick up and everything just goes a little wrong (not catastrophically, but a little). I'm having one of those.

It all started this morning at 6:00 when I woke up to stare at the clock. I normally get up at 6:20 (don't ask), it takes me forever to fall back to sleep so I just figured I would lay there wake up slowly. After listening to rotten dog SNORE for 17 minutes, I got up. I went in to take a shower and remembered there were no clean washcloths-NONE! The boys and I shower every school morning, its a must. Soo, I dug through the cupboard and found a baby washcloth for myself and two flimsy hand towels for BB and MB (LB would have to wait!).

After my shower with the teeny washcloth, I went to get dressed when it hit me that if there were no clean washclothes the odds were against me having clean underwear! Yep, no clean washcloths, no clean underwear and then I realized.....NO CLEAN PANTS! Ok, they were clean, but our dryer is on the fritz and I overloaded it (with a half dry load and a wet, wet load... I know, I know), so we had pants and shirts in the dryer and undies and their pals in the washer!! So, I threw a shirt on and got the boys in and out of the shower and then scurried down to the laundry room to put pants on and start another load of laundry. I was a minor snafu in the scheme of things, but VERY day damaging!

I felt like a ringmaster trying to get the boys out the door for school this morning. MB's boots were wet (keep finding the deepest puddle then!), BB's gloves were wet (again with the water!) and LB was having a meltdown about something or other (ugh, no explanation, he's 3). We got to the school when BB comes to the realization that today is friday and we didn't practice his spelling words-OOPS (turned out not to be a bad thing, he got 100%)!!

Papa and I got in a disagreement (I like that word better than "fight" because we didn't actually have any physical contact (don't worry there, folks, we never do!) this morning, so before it turned ugly we decided to go to our own corners, him to the basement to lift weights and me to the mess that was my kitchen to begin cleaning. He commented on the dog hair on the couch, got the stank eye and retreated back to the basement to finish his workout.

After cleaning up a bit, I sat down to watch some Golden Girls (I love me some GGs!!) and calmed down a bit. The rest of the day went well and we even ordered out so I didn't have to cook (SCORE!)!

The sad note of the day is that we might be saying farewell to our dryer (its been a good old friend), but its 15ish years old (It was a leave behind from G&G!) and things like this happen when dryers get to a certain age. We ordered some parts for it and Papa will give it his all but, sadly, Papa is not a real great repair man (he has many wonderful traits, but repairing isn't one of them). I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst (by next week I might be down there shocking it with the paddles-especially if I have no undies again).

Thursday, April 2, 2009

The value of a dollar

I was watching Dr. Phil a few days ago. It was about teaching kids to save rather than spend. They had a panel of kids on there that they asked how much different necessities of life cost (like house payments, car payments, utilities, groceries, etc). Some of the kids were way off, they had no clue. This got me to thinking about my own cubs (although the kids on Dr. Phil were quite a bit older than mine, I figure its never to early to learn).

Papa and I are really hoping to help the cubs get a realistic grasp on the value of a dollar. They like to go to the grocery store and plunk quarters into machines and get a little toy that ends up broken (or is broken right out of the machine). Before they know it $3-$4 is gone and they have nothing to show for it. We've implemented chore charts for them. They have a chance at earning $3.50 a week (.05 per stickers per chore completed). We are planning on letting them have some of it for fun money, putting some in the bank and taking the rest for donations.

We don't have a homeless shelter or soup kitchen around so the animal shelter is going to be our donation recipient. We plan on taking them to buy a bag of cat food or dog food and then taking the food to the shelter to donate it. They see those commercials for the ASPCA with all of the poor animals and usually end up asking why people are so mean to their pets, so we figure this is something they can relate to. They will be able to see the animals who are going to recieve the food they are donating.

Papa and I have had our own problems with credit cards, we want better for our cubs. We want them to be responsible with money are realize that it doesn't grow on trees.

Some people actually consider spoiling your children a form of child abuse (Dr. Phil being one of them). It makes sense.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Yuck

More snow today! I am so tired of winter, it needs to move on and let spring have her turn. So much for "in like a lion, out like a lamb", guess that doesn't apply to ND.

Poor Papa, due to our trip to Grand Forks on Friday and losing 2 hours of sleep that night, he's been tired and is now getting another cold (another reason I am not-so-patiently awaiting the end of winter!) and now finds out that they want him to come in an hour early tomorrow and probably stay an hour late. At least he has the weekend off so that he can get some rest. I'm hoping the Olive leaf extract that I've been giving the cubs in their OJ every morning will keep them from getting the sickz (AGAIN).

Monday, March 30, 2009

Grab your floppy hat and follow me!

We are gearing up to start a garden this spring! It is more of a hobby garden for the cubs and I. We tried to stick with things that we knew grow really well up here (and watermelons and pumpkins that the boys requested). We have been saving some egg cartons to start our seeds in.

We are planning on getting them started this weekend when Papa is home. I just cannot bring myself to tackle playing in dirt with the cubs alone.

I even found the cutest little gardening tools at Walmart! The cubs will be so excited. MB even told G&G that he couldn't go stay with them this summer because they were going to be gardening! They are pretty excited!

We are hoping to learn to can if we have anything to can. We want to can some of our apples too. I'm pretty excited about that!

Out on the town

Papa and I decided that we needed to get some groceries in this house before the water got too high and we're stuck here starving (and we wanted to ensure the easter bunny would be making an appearance). Talk about a spur of the moment decision, we were on our way to take the BB and MB to school, pulling up to the drop off point and then pulling away. We hated to take them out of school for something like that, but it is 100 miles to Grand Forks and I hate gambling on being back before they get out of school (I am not a gambling woman and I know my shopping habits!) AND the water is definately a comin'. The boys got to spend the day with G&G and go to McDonalds (what else is there in life?!). I got to go to Target, I love Target and Target loves me (and my checkbook). We got Papa some yogurt (a girl's gotta have an angle!), he loves the Archer Farms yogurt (no HFCS!-it was NOT an easy task finding some that didn't have it). I found my pledge hair thingy for fabrics (love it!!) and the cubs found some star wars legos that they HAD to have (I must subconsciously enjoy stepping on them because I keep buying them). LB is so funny with legos, we buy him a set and the only part he plays with are the guys, but he carries them around for hours just loves them, so its worth it. We also bought some school snacks (BB loves the 100 calorie packs that he can just throw in his backpack). Papa and I returned later to do a little easter shopping and get some cat food for the kitties (I got my hands on some of the $5 Iams coupons-5 bags for $15-SCORE!).

We also stopped at Walmart. I like walmart but ours is always packed, the only time we've found it not packed is at 6am or 11pm (not ideal shopping hours, but I am willing to do it when possible to avoid the crowds!). We did our grocery shopping and snagged a few more bunny items (I love easter, love the true meaning, love the kiddie parts of it too, I just love it!).

We went to Sears and picked up the cub's pics. They turned out GREAT (not a huge suprise, my boys are cute ;)). We were wandering around looking at tools and refrigerators (found the one we want when it comes time to replace ours-it was GORGEOUS!). The we happened upon the bedding section. I forgot to mention that in the time we drove over to the school (3ish blocks) and back, Rotten dog decided to shred our comforter! So, thats a pillow and a comforter in just a couple of weeks! I told Papa that me must have really done something to upset RD because it was his pillow and his side of the comforter. Soo, we were at Sears and decided to look at their bedding. We want to get a new bed in the nearish future (we're hoping to upgrade to a king size bed!) so we didn't want to break the bank on this comforter. We found several nice ones, but as is usually the case, there weren't any in queen size! BUT, I spotted a sign advertising a pillow sale! YIPPEE! It was B1G1 so Papa could replace his pillow and I could continue my journey to find the perfect pillow. We found some that were specially designed for back sleepers (papa) and side sleepers (me). Papa disliked his the moment he laid his head on it. I liked mine....at first. I have had a sore neck every morning since I got it...back to the drawing board. At least they were free (we had a credit on our credit card).

Papa and I went to Petco to try and find a crate for RD. She cannot be trusted. The pillow was a little funny (a little), but she is pressing her luck! We didn't have a whole lot of room in the car anymore and they were quite a bit more than we were planning on spending. So, for the time being she has to stay outside while I do the school running and we will get her something for next winter.

G&G took us out to eat at Perkins! Yummy! This is fine dinning to us. We don't do sit down restaurants often with the cubs. Although, I have to give the cubs credit, they were very good. Papa and I actually got to enjoy our meals! It was a nice meal.

G&G also gave Papa and I their dresser. It is a beautiful old (I say old cuz it is almost as old as I am!) real wood (no cardboard here!) dresser with a big mirror. And it weighs as much as 3-4 elephants right after they eat lunch! UGH! Papa and I had to lug it out of G&G's house and into ours (at 10:30 at night). But, we did it and it is nice to have more space for clothing. We moved our old dresser in to the boy's room for BB and MB to share. Papa and I have plans for all new furniture for the house, but we are waiting a bit longer for the boys to grow up a little bit more (they really take a toll on things). We are very appreciative of G&G's hand me downs in the meantime.

All in all, we had a great time out. It was nice for Papa and I to have some time alone together (even if it was while shopping).

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Row your boat ashore!

Yikes! We are getting more snow today! This is not good for the flooding situation up here. I keep hearing of flooding out east, flooding down south and the overland flooding in between. It's coming for us!

My mom said I should have got the cubs waders rather than rain boots. Hopefully we won't need to worry about wading!!!

http://www.justin.tv/gfherald

That is a link to live feed of one of the bridges in Grand Forks, ND. They've built up a temporary flood wall. Pretty neat to watch.

He's looking at meeee!

I cannot get over the things my cubs fight about! LB took a shower with MB this morning. When he got out he ran into the kitchen to see what I was making for brekkie. BB was sitting at the counter and made the mistake of turning around when LB came screeching into the kitchen. LB started screaming "HE'S LOOKING AT MEEEE!!".

Yesterday it almost came to blows at breakfast over a cereal box. MB was looking at the box and BB decided to be a big brother and take the box away. MB was in tears and BB telling him why he can't look at the box, "It's not fair". I hear that phrase more times a day than I care to think about, that, and, "Why does HE get (to) ____ and I don't!". And, heaven help us if one of them gets praised for being good! The other two don their party hats and start with the, "Am I not a good boy?!", "Why am I not a good boy?!".

I am an only child, so this whole sibling rival thing boggles my mind. They have built in friends, why are they always fighting (I know why, but that would have been my thoughts as a child)? I just don't get why if one of your siblings is bothering you, why stay??? Walk away, run if you have to, but just seperate yourself from the situation! That is a HARD concept though. My cubs just do not get it. Why walk away when you can turn and inflict pain on the other guy!

I keep asking Dh what we're going to do when they are older and we can't peel them off of each other. They get pretty vicious now, I can't imagine what it will be like when they have some weight behind them!

I just keep conforting myself with the thought that it is normal for siblings to fight and they will probably be closer for it.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Can't a girl get a nap?

This rainy weather combined with the fact that I have not adjusted to this time change is killing me! I woke up this morning thinking that I had no business doing so. I was EXHAUSTED. But, cubbies must get to school, so I gathered every ounce of energy I had and peeled myself out of bed. I am proud to announce that the cubs were safely delivered to school!

When we got back home I conned LB into watchin some cartoons while I rested my eyes (don't call cps, he is really good about staying where he should and I am a light sleeper). Suddenly I woke up to the doorbell ringing. I hopped out of bed as fast as a tired mama can. I peered out the window when I got to the door and didn't see anyone, I opened the door to find one of our kitties sitting on the step looking at me (he got out when we got home and I just didn't have the energy to chase after him). I'm guessing he was trying to climb the door and hit the doorbell..figures!

Yesterday I was rudely woken by a "TOLL FREE CALL". I'm guessing it is someone who wants to talk to Papa and try and get him to either transfer a cc balance, sign up for some cc protection plan or some other crap like that. I am so tired of these people calling! They call here several times a day and, on the off chance that I do answer, they don't want to talk to me anyway. Why are they even calling us, we don't carry cc balances. They won't be getting any transfer fees or interest off of us, we are no good to them!

I am tired and grumpy today, I need to turn off Family guy tonight and just go to sleep!

Monday, March 23, 2009

It's raining it's pouring!

Spring has sprung! It is misty and cool today, but I like it. I like rain, not so much the dreary days like today, but I like the rain. A day like today is a nice change after months and months of snow, but days like this make me mopy when they come in the middle of summer. The weather people are talking flooding. I'm not looking forward to that. It makes going anywhere a pain and Papa's way to work could be rerouted, turning it from a 1 mile drive to a 15-20 mile drive.

I'm also not liking the wet so much. Make sense, I like the rain but not the wet, right? I like to watch rain, not walk in it or have my kids or dog out in it. Our backyard has become what we like to call "poop soup" it is all of the dog's messes from alllll winter and water and mud. It is a mess.

All of this wet weather prompted me to start looking for the boy's rain boots from last year. I found MB's boots from last year, which are now LB's boots. I also found BB's boots from last year and decided to pass them on to MB and find a new pair for BB. BB did not exactly like this idea. He couldn't understand why MB got to wear HIS boots and he had NONE! They were HIS BOOTS! They still fit, even (and he proceeded to show me that they still fit). I explained to him that if we get him a NEW pair (new here, people, since when is NEW bad?!) then when he outgrows them his brothers can use them. So, I called Grandma and Grandpa Grizzly to see if they could keep an eye out for some boots in his size and send them our way. G&G, being the great grandparents that they are, went to several stores in search of BB's new boots. They called several others and, apparently, rain boots in a size 2y are a hot item! So, I decided to hit the net. I searched several sites and couldn't believe how hard it is to find a pair of boys rain boots that don't have duckies, frogs or trucks for less than $50! I finally settled on a pair from a site that I had a $20 coupon for. I had to explain to Papa that $30 (price AFTER coupon) wasn't bad split between 3 boys, not a bargain, but not terrible. He growled a bit, but then agreed.

I caught the dog chewing on a marble this morning. No idea how she got it OR how she bit a chunk off of it. I guess when we say that she will eat anything, she WILL eat ANYTHING.

OH! I almost forgot the little surprise I had yesterday. BB likes to call his friends on the phone. I don't mind that he does, but it gets a little old that every time he calls someone he asks repeatedly if they can come over. We do let him have friends over, but I like to schedule them for days when Papa is home to help keep the younger two cubs out of BB and his friend's hair. Anyway, BB called his friend saturday afternoon. I didn't think much of it, he had his usual session of begging for his friend to come over, I had my usual answer of "not today". All was fine...I thought. Then yesterday morning I rolled out of bed at 9:30 (still adjusting to time change!). I got the boys some cereal, threw some laundry in the wash, folded 2 baskets of laundry and made beds. As I was making BB's bed he asked if the friend he called the night before could come over. I gave him my , "not today" and went on about my business. I was in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast when I happened to look out the window and spot BB's friend's parent's truck. They were dropping friend off to play! Did I mention that I was still in my jammies? I ran to the bedroom while yelling to BB that he was in SO MUCH trouble! His door was closed, so when I whipped it open to tell him to hurry up and get dressed that his friend was here, he was a little shocked. I let friend stay because he is a good kid and they played pretty good together (except LB had a couple of episodes over the wii), but BB knew he was in trouble. He is grounded from the phone (haven't set a limit on that one yet) and the wii (for 2 days). His eyes were HUGE when I opened his door to tell him his friend was here, he knew he screwed up! Papa thought it was pretty funny, I wasn't impressed at first, but was able to find the humor in it later on. Thankfully the poor child didn't catch me in my jammies though.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Free to a good home...

2 adorable kittens and a friendly pooch.

Ok, not really, but it is tempting! The dog is really a good girl, but it is spring and she is shedding like nobody's business. She seems to particularly like to rub up against the couch and roll around on the rug...LOVELY! LB was playing by the couch this morning. He suddenly got a disgusted look on his face and shouted, "EWWW!!! Dere's hair all ober the couch!". Well, I'm certainly not blind and I was in the middle of unwinding the vaccum cord at that exact moment. I informed him that it was the dog's hair, that I did not put it there and I was working on getting rid of it. That seemed to be a good enough answer.

This morning LB decided that he wants a squirrel for a pet. He saw one on the playground as we were dropping the older cubs off at school. I was really getting into him being excited about seeing the squirrel (spring is coming!), UNTIL he mentioned the whole pet thing. He tells whenever the dog or cats do something bad that we should "put them back"...yeah, I'm sure there is a momma dog and momma cat out there that might veto that. So, he wanted to "put the dog and kitties back and get a squirrel". I tried to explain to him the mess that a squirrel would make in our house, but in reality it wouldn't be much worse than the kitties.

Ahh, the kitties. We got these two this summer. They were the cutest little furballs at the petstore (I know, I know, never buy an animal from a pet store). They are brothers (the cubs think that is the neatest thing) and part siamese. One of the kittens has an obesession with dumping any liquid that he finds sitting anywhere in a cup (and when I say anywhere, I mean ANYWHERE, I had a glass of water that I sat on top of the fridge that he dumped). Very annoying! The other one likes to shred toilet paper rolls....always nice to use toilet paper with holes in it! They both run through the house at night. It sounds like a herd of elephants but faster and with louder thuds. One of them likes to try and open the cupboards but can't get them open enough to get in, so there is a constant thud, thud, thud of the cupboard door slamming shut. It's no wonder we are all so tired around here!

They say that people who have pets generally live longer and are happier.....

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Just another day

I tried a new recipe today. Maple Dijon chicken is definately a keeper! I hope this woman doesn't mind me linking to her blog (which I LOVE). She is AWESOME!! I love my crockpot and am tickled to have found her blog!

Little Brother "broked" his leg last night (not really, but in his mind it was BAD). Judging by the noise that was coming from their room, I'm surprised any of them came out alive, but he really wasn't broken. He then told me that his "broked" leg was going to make him "died". He was so concerned about his impending "died" that he forgot about it 2 seconds later when Papa walked through the door.

Middle Brother came home today and shared his newest wisdom with the family. A little friend of his decided to teach him about flipping the bird. NIIIIICE! Apparently she told him to do it at school (she didn't enlighten him to its meaning though). Thankfully, Papa and I had a talk with them just last week about being gullible (kids promising to pay them $1 for their snacks and other such scams). So Middle Brother was smart enough not to, but he was curious as to what it meant. That was a fun discussion. They just learn those things so early. I don't think I'm ready for this yet!!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

checkbook balancing, conferences and phone dilemmas

I am failing miserably at checkbook balancing 101 (I am excelling at check WRITING 101, though ;) ). Some how I found an extra $182.31 in our checking account. I have tried several different ways to balance my checkbook and it all turns out the same. Not that I'm complaining about the idea of having extra money, but just can't imagine how I keep screwing up like this. Every month I'm off over $100 one way or the other (its never the same amount either). Bah! Anyway, I'll just make a note of it and look back at it next month when our statement comes (I've wasted enough time and energy on this already).

Parent Teacher conferences went well last night. We heard from both teachers that the boys are nice little guys and they like having them in their classes (I'm pretty sure they even meant it!).

Papa got things smoothed out with our phones and all in well there (I know you were on the edge of your seat, waiting to hear the end of that story!). He spent quite a while on the phone trying different things only to be hung up on when they tried to "transfer" him to the tech support. He finally got ahold of tech support , they instructed him to take the battery out and VIOLA! it worked.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Mondayyyy Mondayyyy!

Ahh! Monday is probably my favorite day of the week! Why, you ask?

The cubs are off to school (those monday's off about kill me!) so the fighting ends for a few precious hours. Papa usually has to work mondays. So, it is just Little Brother and Mama.

It is nice to have everyone home on the weekend, but after 2 days everything is a mess! I have given in and put off cleaning (for the most part) while everyone is here....its just a losing battle!
Soo, monday mornings LBB gets his dose of Dora, Diego and Kilan (sp) while Mama scrubs the kitchen and bathroom (I cannot believe the places these cubs pee! They just have no control!!-thank heavens for those clorox wipes!) and vacuums and sweeps floors. There is usually a pretty hefty pile of laundry because, as I've said before, Saturday is our veg day and Sunday just doesn't usually feel like a laundry day.

AND today is BEAUTIFUL outside! I even have the patio door open. What is not to love about that?!

Papa and I are off to parent teacher conferences this evening. We really like both of the older cub's teachers and so do they (which always helps). We are prepared to hear that BBB doesn't like to read. We know this. He can read, he can read fast, he can comprehend what he reads...he just doesn't enjoy reading and forcing him to read just isn't helping. We are prepared to hear the MBB rushes to get his work done. Yep, I've talked to him about it, he is his Mama's boy and dislikes cricism, so that talk didn't go too well.

I finally got my new phone activated today. Papa came home early from work and did it for me (my name isn't on the account so they won't have anything to do with me :( ). Well, Mr. Alltel man didn't listen to what Papa wanted. We couldn't understand why Papa's phone wasn't making or recieving calls and why my cute new phone's number showed up as Papa's phone's number on our home phone. I decided to charge my Blackberry and see if that was the culprit. Yep, they cancelled Papa's phone instead of my Blackberry and then gave my cute new phone Papa's old number! Ah well, I'm just glad my name isn't on the account!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Papa bear has the day off!

It is beautiful out today (well, for this area). Papa bear was a little growly when he rolled out of bed this morning. It was largely due to the fact that the cubs were up before the sun was and made no attempt to play quiety in their room.

As soon as I rolled out of bed, I noticed the sun was out!! I had noticed yesterday that the snow was melting and deduced that it must have been warm (saturday is usually our day to hibernate ;) ). I made a promise to myself that I was going to get the Bear family out into the sun today even if it didn't last long!

We got the cub's bikes out and dusted them off (all except big brother bear's, he is still a little afraid of his big bike). Little brother bear gave his all to get his bike moving, but unbenounced to us, he had GROWN over the winter! So we got about a block before papa bear decided we needed to go home and adjust LBB's seat. We gave the family outing one more shot after the seat was adjusted. We got a block away in a different direction when LBB decided he was done riding bike, so BBB took over and ended up lodged in a puddle between two chunks of ice! Papa bears always gets the pleasure of helping in these situations...Mama don't do that. Sooo, Papa gets BBB out of the water puddle (without tipping!) with my instruction (I know Papa always appreciates insight from me ;) ).

On the way home, Papa decides to start throwing snowballs. He hurls the first one at BBB, who laughs and decides to retaliate. He lobbs the next one at MBB, who laughs and falls from his bike to the ground (in a bad attempt at acting). Next, Papa looks at me and LBB. He gets and earful from me and decides BBB is a more appropriate target. Well, BBB decides he isn't impressed and runs to the side of the street to grab another snowball. Something goes horribly wrong and BBB ends up face first in a puddle! Sometimes I wonder if Papa Bear is really out of his cub years yet, because a grown man decides that the minute a cub is crying because he fell is a good time to throw yet another snowball at him!

We eventually make it back to the cave. There are mummblings of a snowball fight in the front yard. I just know this is going to end with one of the cubs crying....it ALWAYS does. I just keep walking right into the house. Shortly after, BBB comes in BAWLING that Papa Bear was on LBB's team and he was on "dumb MBB" team and MBB wasn't protecting him and Papa Bear was throwing snowballs at just him....Do they never catch on?! Seriously, this is not an isolated incident!!

But, the cubs are all happy today because Papa has the day off and we're able to just stay home and enjoy the day!