My daughter said what??

My mom is in town for a couple of weeks which is so fabulous! It's like having a wife, she cooks, she cleans, she changes diapers and plays with the kids. Yesterday my sweet, newly turned 4 year old daughter Ella was full of vinegar.

It seemed like it was going to be quite a day with Ella. She started off the day by getting frustrated that she couldn't cram 10 things into her small makeup case. She uttered this sentence, "I can't close the damn thing"! I told her that she couldn't say that word, and helped her fix the problem with the makeup case. Then my mom told me Ella couldn't open up something in the play room, so she said "what the Hell?". My mom told her that was a bad word, to which she replied "I didn't know Hell was a bad word".

We all went to Target yesterday afternoon and my mom bought each of the kids a $5 gift at Target, much to my dismay, but none the less. So on the drive home Ella kept teasing her brother with her doll, and poking him with it. After the 5th time of asking her to stop teasing Ryan, I grabbed the doll and tossed it on the floor by my mom's feet. Well, Ella was ticked after that and she decided to take her anger out on her Gigi (my mom).

Here is what happened next. Ella says out of nowhere, "Gigi, I hate your shirt". My mom didn't miss a beat, and said "oh thank you". Then Ella said, "no, I said I hate your shirt", and Gigi said again, "I know, thank you".

I was a little shocked at her nastiness to her Gigi and I asked her why she would say something like that and she said "Ryan told me to". Ryan is not quite two years old yet, and although he can say many words, he could never say that!

Then my mom said "Ella why would you say you hate my shirt"? to which Ella replied "because I hate you". At this point I had no words, it was clearly a case of her trying to shock us and it was kind of funny, but so inappropriate that I had to address it.

My mom then said "Ella, what you should do is say that you are sorry for being rude to Gigi". Ella then replied "I'm not going to say that". At this point I told her she was going to time out when we got home. After the time out I told her that it was NOT okay to talk to people like that and asked her what she should say to Gigi instead. She replied "tell her I'm sorry". I told her that was a good idea but she ignored the advice and didn't say anything. So after a few minutes I had to force her into it! AHHHH!

So we had quite a day yesterday. To follow up, she did get up this morning and tell Gigi that she didn't hate her shirt. What will the high school years bring? I guess one day I'll look back and laugh at all of this.....I hope.......oh and my mom just informed me that Aubrey said the other day he was half Italian and half Southern.....does it ever stop?

Tae Kwon Do

I haven't blogged in a while and it is NOT for lack of material but lack of time. There is so much I could talk about, our flights to and from Mississippi for our family reunion.....lots of material there. All the sicknesses we've had over the past two months, or all the craziness that surrounds our weeks, but I've decided to skip ahead of all that to this past Friday.

It was a busy day, Aubrey was in cub scout camp all week from 9-4 which sounds like heaven, but it's an hour and a half round trip drive, and that alone is painful when Ella and Ryan are so over it! The back story for Tae Kwon Do is that the kids have been taking lessons since April. You are supposed to attend class at least two times a week. Well, I went and lost my mind the day I signed them up and paid all that money. With baseball, cub scouts, summer camps, swim lessons etc. we don't have the time to get them there twice a week. So after cub scout camp all last week and baseball two nights that week I thought that we should try and get them there for Friday's class.

I make a, not so nutritious meal, get them dressed in their outfits, and have Wyatt come home from work early to get them there by 6:15. Some little voice in the back of my head told me to double check the schedule...........to what do my wondering eyes do appear?? The schedule says that on Fridays it starts at 5:35. At this point it's 5:40, so we missed that class! Ugh!

Then I decide to get them to the North school which is about a half and hour away on Saturday morning. I had it all planned out, Aubrey has a baseball game at the Air Academy, (same direction as the Tae Kwon Do center), so we get breakfast early and head out the door at 8:30am. We get there with extra clothes for everyone because it's raining, cold and nasty and Aubrey's baseball game starts at noon.

We pull in the parking lot and there is only one car. I figure something is wrong here because the lot should be full. Wyatt looks at the note on the door and it says there is no class today because there is a black belt spectacular event. I just sit there wondering if I should laugh or cry, all I can do is throw my hands up and say, "come on"! We are now on attempt number 2 to get them to class, my intentions are good and I just can't seem to make it happen!

We are a half an hour from home and three hours away from the start of Aubrey's game, and I have to pee. So my husband decides to makes lemonade out of the lemons. "Let's just go up to the air academy and tour the chapel". It's a good idea since we haven't seen it, and even though it's crappy weather I decide it's probably the best option.

So we end up touring it with the kids, stopping by Burger King (only option on base), and off to Aubrey's game to freeze our buns off! All in all it turned out pretty well, but I've discovered that with three kids, less is more. I really need to stop over extending us. I guess this frustration is just life and as long as we have three kids at home and are involved in activities, this is our life! So today I welcome it with open arms. I will take a day at a time, and today is My sweet Ella's 4th birthday and I will enjoy this day! Now we're off to swim lessons, home to make brownies, decorate, and then her party is here at 4.......it never ends! At least gigi ( my mom) is coming for a visit on Wednesday and I will have some extra help! woot woot!

Can this all happen to me you might wonder......YES it can!!

Today started off like most days, the rush of getting Ella and Aubrey ready for school and out the door. The dog jumped on Wyatt's leather chair and promptly puked. Luckily she missed the chair and it hit the floor. Ahhhh it's finally quiet.....relatively quiet because Ryan is hollering at me and I'm not sure what language he was speaking in, but "me no understand" so he continues to holler.

Never the less I decide to enjoy my cup of coffee which is by now cold. So I get a refill and prepare to sit down. I set the cup on the kitchen table and turn my back to get something, and Ryan reaches up to grab the handle and proceeds to dump it all out. I guess the silver lining is that I put so much cream in my coffee, it wasn't very hot so he didn't get burned but it made quite a mess. It dripped down in the cracks of the table, and all over the floor, wall, and chairs. Major sticky mess there, so I take a deep breath and tell Ryan "don't touch mommy's coffee it's HOT", and then clean it up.

Then among my errands I drop the dog off at doggy daycare so she can get used to this new place before we board her. After picking up Aubrey from school we swing by to pick the dog up for the day. She's excited to see us, but clearly Po'd that we left her there all day. We get home and the kids stay in the car so I can let the dog go outside before our play date in ten minutes.

I watch the dog to make sure she goes to the bathroom. I wait and wait and finally Hailey (the dog) squats, and squats, and squats some more. She never went but was trying to reach her bum, so I knew what I was in for. I go outside and see that the damn dog has managed to get smashed poop all over in her hair. OMG at this point I've got Ryan screaming in the car, a play date to be at in 5 minutes and crap all over the dogs bum!!! I have to give her back half a bath in the laundry room sink so I grab the gloves. I set the dog down for a brief moment and of course she hops on the blanket on the couch and taints that, so I grab that and throw it in the washer, and get the dog in the sink. At this point Aubrey comes in to investigate why we aren't leaving.

Then we go to my friends house to "relax" while the kids are playing. Hahaha, that is funny, the kids were so nuts today we didn't get much time....okay any time to talk. We were interrupted by crying, Ryan hollering at me while stuck at the top of their play structure, and Aubrey crying because he and his friend super soaked the girls and they were crying. It was a mess! My friend said it best when she said "well, we tried". There were 3 women including me, and 7 kids and we all agreed we need to go out next time.........without the kids!

Domestic goddess.....I say YES!

I know that all moms tend to be overachievers. Not because we necessarily want to be, but because we have to be! There are days that I'm more productive than others, but some days the only time I sit is to write this blog. This morning Ryan woke me up at 5 am, which is an improvement from the all nighters lately due to his ear infection.

So I'm up,....oh no cramps! Great! I look on the bright side that I can get it over with before our trip. I get everyone breakfast, , and Aubrey and Wyatt out the door. Then I realize that since I'm going to Costco today I really need to order some pictures online and pick them up. So with all of the bickering between Ella and Ryan, it takes a while. Then it's upstairs to get them dressed. I gather up all of the things we need just to leave the house, diaper, wipes, water for the kids, snacks, and keys........found em! Then I smell something not so good, so it's upstairs to take Ryan's shoes back off, and change the diaper. He is on antibiotics for his ear infection and that is apparently making for some soggy poop conditions....ahhhh!

Back downstairs, into the car, and off we go! Stop at Target to pick up a birthday present for Ella's friend's party on Saturday afternoon, black shorts for Aubrey for his track meet on Saturday morning, and off we go to Costco! Costco is the usual zoo, so I make a detour into the liquor store attached to Costco because I'm out of red wine and that is a crisis! Here in Colorado you can't buy wine at the grocery store, you have to go to a liquor store. Then Ella asks "mom is that all your getting"? I kind of laugh because I've got three bottles in my cart and maybe she expects me to buy more....

Then Costco here we come, pick up the pictures which are done early, whew! Then off to get the groceries, sample a few things, listen to some fussing from the kids, sample a few more foods, and check out! Then Ella starts in asking if she can skip the nap. Yesterday she went to the zoo on a field trip and then Tae Kwon Do last night after Wyatt pinched her leg in the car seat buckle and we had major screaming going on....needless to say she was exhausted last night and still is a bit tired today. I know my sweet Ella and when she's tired and you can"t tell her in a public place that she CANNOT skip the nap she starts to wail. So I simply say "we'll see" and change the subject. I saved the "You have to take a nap today" speech for once we got home.

On the drive home I call the husband to see if he wants me to pick him up for lunch, my secret plan being that he can help unload the massive amount of groceries I have in the car. Of course today of all days he can't because his co-worker is out of the office. "Fine" I say.

So the kids are running wild, the dog too and I'm unloading the groceries and trying to put them away, run out and pick up dog poop so the kids don't step in it, and get the kids lunch so we can get to the nap. Then I pick Ryan up out of the high chair and there are two brown butt prints on the chair, and I realize he's had diarrhea AGAIN and it's through the shorts and everywhere.....so off we go to change everything out again. Then change out the laundry for the 2nd time today, include the newest poopy items, pick up all of the million little pieces of paper strewn all over the house (Ella's new hobbie, paper everywhere). All of this before I have to head back to school to help coach track practice!

I realize that it's after one o'clock and I haven't had lunch, a shower, or anytime to myself. And then there's me already thinking of what I'll cook for dinner tonight, the baths I have to give the kids, the homework that Aubrey will have,.............and then one more thought is in my head.........Will I complete all of these tasks in time to watch the season finale of Grey's Anatomy and have a glass of wine tonight? I surely hope so because I am a domestic goddess!

Oh and the husband just walked into the house for lunch and said "where's my food woman"? He's kidding of course but if looks could kill!

The guitar recital

Tonight was Aubrey's ill fated guitar recital. So to do this story justice I must share with you, that this arts night/recital was scheduled to happen in April. So last month after shoveling in a frozen pizza, and getting everyone dressed up, in the car and down to the school, we arrive to find no one there? Wyatt jokingly asks if we have the right night. So Aubrey and I knock on the music teachers door and she says that it was rescheduled because of the snow storm north of us, and asked Aubrey if he heard the announcement on the loudspeaker after school. Okay I have a first grader, he rarely listens to me so I'm sure he missed that one. Instead of being mad we decided to take the kids out for ice cream which was fun, and later Aubrey said "mom, I'm glad it got canceled because if it didn't then we wouldn't have had ice cream". To which I replied "this is true son".

Fast forward to tonight. I pick Aubrey up from school and announce that we have to get home, have a snack and head to
Tae Kwon Do, and then off to the arts night recital. He says he has a stomach ache and can hardly move his stomach hurts so bad. So I ignore it and when we get home he uses the bathroom and then lays on the couch moaning and groaning. So needless to say we don't go to Tae Kwon Do.

I make pancakes for dinner because I haven't been to the grocery store yet and we're out of everything, then it's off to stop at the Class 6 (convenience store on base) and it's NOT so convenient. We have to pick up cookies for tonight (I had only remembered an hour before we had to leave) and the line is really long. So finally we're off to the school for the reschedule of arts night. Also known as "the ill fated guitar recital".

We get there and Aubrey is getting tuned up and ready to go, Wyatt, the kids and I are looking at the art in the hallway waiting for the musical part to begin. One of the teachers told me that Aubrey is going to be quite the musician because he headed back to the guitar room because "he didn't want to pop a string before the concert". She said he even had the lingo down.

So we are waiting in the gym for the show to begin and we watch the show choir, classical band, a soloist, and finally the guitar band comes out. I'm trying to keep Ryan from cracking his head on the bleachers and Wyatt says "Aubrey doesn't have his guitar". "What"? I reply. Then I see that he's sitting in a chair without his guitar. So as the music teacher is talking to the audience I head up to the gym floor to ask what is going on and she sees me. She then says "oh Aubrey let me get you my guitar". Aubrey mouths that his guitar is broken. I'm thinking he "popped a string" but then Wyatt says that the teacher would let him play with one broken string, so then I'm worried about the condition of the guitar.

A little back story on the guitar, Wyatt and I bought it at the school auction and then had to go trade it for a smaller one that he could play better and now three months later it was all for not.

Back to the story, so after the concert the music teacher came up to us and said that she wasn't in the music room at the time, but some parents were and she didn't know what happened exactly, but that the guitar was no longer with us. I'm in a bit of shock, but she explained that Aubrey was so upset. She told him he could play her guitar, and that helped, but he looked upset so I tried to remain calm.

Aubrey said that one of the older kids (he doesn't know their name) knocked his guitar off the table it was on, and then a little later he picked it up and then dropped it and the neck snapped off. So needless to say, Aubrey "hates himself" as he put it because he broke his guitar and now he can't take lessons. He was also very upset that the older kids laughed at him, he's so sensitive that it broke my heart.

So I am sad about the lost money, the broken guitar and my son's disappointment but at least he wants to play, so I'm trying to look on the bright side! For this is the life we have chosen to share with our three kids who break the hell out of all of our stuff!

Ground hog's day

You would have to read the previous post for this one to make sense, but this morning I woke up to a big poopy mess in the mud room from our lovely dog......again! Oh do I wish it was mothers day again so I could have avoided all of that. Our dog is not well although after cleaning up that mess, and giving her a bath she seems perfectly fine. I will pray tonight, and I will pray hard that she does not give me a toxic mess like that again I just can't take it! ugh!

A Mother's Day Surprise!

My husband had told me yesterday that he wanted to cook me breakfast for Mother's Day, now my husband doesn't do much cooking but I won't look a gift horse in the mouth, so of course I agreed. He woke up today about 7am. I laid in bed a few more minutes then thought I should get a shower as long as he's cooking this morning. After my shower I go downstairs to find the pancake batter made up, but the rest was undone and a mess. Now it had been a little over a half an hour since I started getting ready so I was a bit confused.

The story from my husband Wyatt goes something like this: He would have had breakfast ready before now, but when he got up and went into the mud room to let the dog out, she had crapped all over the place. He cleaned up that nasty mess, and then tried to get breakfast going again. Then low and behold the baby woke up and started crying so he went upstairs to get him, only to find him covered in poop coming out of the diaper. After he cleaned up that mess he came back down and tried again to get things going for breakfast. So the Mother's Day surprise was really for my husband.

At this point I'm so happy that I missed all the poop adventures this morning and thankful that I knew nothing of it while I enjoyed a long shower! So I don't want to get in his way when he's trying to prepare a meal for me because it's so rare, but after he burnt the 8th pancake I had to step in. I decided the best thing to do was to make more batter and throw away the burnt ones. Needless to say, I have to give credit to Wyatt for dealing with the messes this morning and even though I had to take over breakfast and get the kids ready, it was a valiant effort!

Then we went to church and the kids were a little on the cranky side, so all I kept thinking was get me home so my Mothers Day gift to myself can begin! Yes, this year I requested no gifts. All I really wanted was to go shopping by myself! So I was out of here around 12:30 and I didn't get home until after 4pm! It was so wonderful, it was just me and my thoughts! I saw all of these moms shopping with their husbands and their kids.....now what fun is that? You know that the kids and husbands were miserable. I just thought I'd spare everyone and get out on my own! It was wonderful and I really enjoyed my day after all! It started out a little bumpy but it got better, and even though the kids were still cranky when I got home to cook for them, I realized that I am really lucky to have such a great family.......and I vow to appreciate them everyday! Well, most days........well when I'm not livid at them!

So Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! I know I appreciate my mom so much more now, then before I had kids!