HA! I wish Summer days were lazy! Most people don’t sit in the house all Summer long doing nothing – especially if you have kids! Whoever came up with the term “lazy Summer days” must not have been a mom! Here in Texas, it has been summer weather since the end of April, and none of my days have been lazy.

Take this morning for instance…

I woke up pretty early this morning, the first day of June. My obnoxious Boston Terrier (who just became obnoxious about 2 weeks ago when I kicked her butt outside) decided that if she can’t sleep (in the house) NO ONE is going to sleep because she insists on scratching the door and whining at the top of her lungs. The only thing that would make her shut up is to kill her, which is NOT going to happen.

So I laid in bed siliently begging, ” PLEASE just be quiet for ONE more hour”.

No such luck. So I got up, thoroughly chewed her out and then commenced with the morning “human minutes” (twilight fans, you ought to remember that).

Soon dear, sweet, cranky son was hanging on my leg, whining something about I need to lay down with him so he can be “cozy”. I decided breakfast would do us cranky folks some good. So it is eggs for the little guy and cereal for me. Then it is time to work out. So 60 minutes later, I collapse on the couch with a bottle of water after some good cardio and ab work. Of course, I had 34 lbs of dead weight trying to cling to my leg EVERY second, whining about nothing and everything. Good workout alright.

So my list is started for the day.

Breakfast. Check.

Workout. Check.

Swimming.

Oh the fun of swimming! Once you FINALLY get there! After my workout, I proceeded to get freshned up, get dressed, and run around the house gathering all the swimming ESSENTIALS that any good mom makes sure to pack. List number two.

Sunscreen for kid. Check.

Sunscreen for me. Check.

Swim Trunks. Check.

Bathing Suit. Check.

Towels. Man! I knew I was forgetting something! So BACK across the house to the bathroom I go. For the THIRD time – to get towels.
Check.

Water bottles. Check.

Sandals. Check.

All the other stuff. Check.

So 30 minutes later, hyper kid is loaded, swim bag is loaded, dogs are chased down, caught, and put away, and I am FINALLY climbing in to the drivers seat.

So we get to the pool, get unloaded, and get in. Boy was it cold the first few seconds, but I adjusted rather quickly and once I am good and comfortable I hear, “Mommy, I need to go peepee”. WHAT?!? I told you to go earlier! So, out of the pool we climb, to the bathroom we go (I am happy he did his business outside of the pool, but sheesh).

Once out of the bathroom, its back into to the pool. Okay…this isn’t so bad….wait…yes it is! OMG! COLD!

So a couple minutes passes by then all of a sudden David Cook and Time of My Life is screaming out of my cell phone. A text message. To get it or not to get it….Well..what do you think?? I didn’t buy a BlackBerry Curve to ignore my messages! So its out of the pool, with the kid in tow (he is only 3) to find a nice “hi how are you message”…guess that could’ve wait..oh well..I am out now.

Back to the icy water we go..and let me tell ya, these 5 ladder steps are starting to make my legs turn to jelly. Me and an extra 34 lbs down, up, down, up, down – again.

The remainder of the swimming trip calmed down a little bit and after a couple hours it is time for lunch. So I haul us out of the pool, pack up ALL that stuff, load us up, get in, drive home, unload the kid and the bag, let the dogs out, go inside, put the stuff down, turn on the light, go to the kitchen, get out the food, get it microwaved (popcorn chicken & mac n chz for the kid, baked potato and popcorn chicken for me), serve, eat, clean up, cartoons put on for the kid, computer turned on for me, and now here I am.

Sorry guys, but there is NOTHING lazy about a summer day when you are mom! And we haven’t even tackled the afternoon yet!

Blissfully Choatic ~ gotta LOVE it!

Until later…

I think every kid has their one special toy that you do not DARE touch and if you do all chaos breaks loose. Have you ever had a moment like that?

Or even worse, you are in the grocery store and your child happens to find a toy they just can’t live without and you make the mistake of THINKING that you will just let them carry it while you shop. Then before you go to the checkout line you say
“ok sweetie, we are done shopping let’s put the toy up.”

Child: “no I want it”
You: “Sweeetiee…..what did momma say?”
Child: “No!”
You: “Maybe next time”
Child: NNNOOO!!!

Is this scenerio starting to become uncomfortably familiar?

Haha….I thought so…..

The solution?

Have no idea. Let me know when you figure it out!

*smile*

Okay first, let me say I blogging from the blackberry (bb), so please excuse spelling, grammar, and punctuation

So, I am ridiing down the road on my way to arkansas to see my soon-to-be deployed-to-Iraq big brother, taking this trip is my daddy (yes, at 23 I STILL call him daddy), myself, and my three year old little boy. As I sit here I am thinking “ok something is missing…what is it?” How about “are we there yet?”, “how much longer, I’m hungry,..etc etc”

Do you remember those days of family vacations when you and your brothers and sisters sat in the backseat of the car and unmercifully went thru 20 questions – EVERY 15 minutes? Then, we didn’t think about when we had kids – but we sure think about now!

Thankfully, my son is just 3 so I have yet to endure 20 questions…right now I can just pop some word world and dragontales into the portable dvd and we are good to go.

However in a few years, it will be alittle more complicated…dragontales and word world won’t do it anymore…..

So….what do you do when your kids are questioning your ear off and you feel like giving them a seditive to quiet them down? (Jk) And swearing off vacations until the “golden years”?

Seriously, .how do you manage the questions?

Since my son is only 3, I can’t give you “mom advice” on this topic, but I can tell you what use to work for me when I was a kid.

Keep the munchkins entertained…have a wide variety of car activities available to your kids. Coloring book, regular books, dvds, games, etc. When you plan your trip, schedule in a 15 minute stop for every 4 hrs on the road…It won’t extend your trip all that much and it can make your drive a lot more pleasant.

Happy traveling!

Until next time…

Yay! Today is the FIRST day of the Grand Opening Blog Party! Already my fellow bloggers are showing gracious support! Thank you much!

So, let the festivities began!

If you haven’t already, jump over to the GOBP page, and join us! All participants will be entered in the giveaway! The participation details are on the GOBP page.

Party Game #1 - Word Association

Are you up for some word association.  We’ll start by writing a word, and then you write the first word that comes to mind.  The hard part is, no repeats!  If you catch someone writing a repeat word, you can quote them and say “NO CAKE 4 U” and then keep the game going with your own word.

The word is: Party

Banana Chips. We all know them, some love them, and some have been eating them FOREVER! They are showcased on the grocery store aisles next to all the yummy healthy snacks we LOVE. They should be healthy then, right?

WRONG!

Did you know that most banana chips are fried in coconut oil, making their Saturated Fat content around 40% of your Daily Value – and that’s just ONE serving. 40% – wow.

You can buy baked banana chips which aren’t so bad. But still – our grocery store geniuses showcase a food that will CLOG YOUR ARTERIES next to the healthy food. Most Americans, see “banana” and think, oh this will be good for me!

So, next time you get a banana chip craving, check the label! You may be better off reaching for a nice fresh banana that you can savor without all the artery clogging effects!

Until next time….

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I am sure as a mother (or Father) you have thought this in your mind at some point. I think with kids, we all have – even the neatest of us! You spend alll day picking up toys, clothes, and shoes – for what?- to have that cute little munchkin of yours drag it ALL out as fast as you pick it up.

Kind frustrating huh.

I don’t know about you guys, but for me, when my house is a tornadic devestation area, I get really grouchy and the big black trash bags start coming out. 30 minutes later, the mess problem is solved and it is all heading outside to the trash dumpster. Not pretty, I can assure you!

This is actually only happened about twice, because I learned very quickly that the “if you don’t put it up I am throwing it away” tactic can get VERY expensive and it only works if you follow through with your child. So, you have a bag full of expensive stuff going out to the dumpster, and a mini-me hanging on your leg yelling “No Mommy, NO!” and you are saying back, “well if you had of put it up, I wouldn’t be throwing it away.” Then to make matters worse, you end up throwing away half of a toy set. So you have one useless part laying at home and the other part laying among “things to gross to name” in a landfill somewhere. A little on the wasteful side..

So, a clean house – as women MOST of us PRIDE ourselves in being able to boast that our house is ALWAYS clean and NEVER messy, and we dust everyday, mop every other day, etc etc.

Please.

I am sure there are extraordinary moms out there that have these super natural capabilities; HOWEVER, most of us are just everyday, oridinary moms that keep a tidy house, but occassionally we feel like we are effortlessly trying to swim to the top but still drowning. Thankfully, even when we drown, we are recessitated.

That’s just how it is – it’s part of being a mom – comes with the territory. And guess what, IT’S OKAY. If you are like me, I kept a SPOTLESS house BEFORE I had my son. Now, I keep it, and that’s all I am going to say. I am not a lazy person, it is just when you have kids, your priorities are rearranged a little bit.  You have a little one that loves to play, drag out, and “help” you by knocking over that fresh folded laundry.  You walk into the kitchen to find that your munchkin has somehow reached the Playdoh -again – and went to work on creating you a “cake”. In the process, smashing it in the floor, on the counter, and on their clothes. You try to be upset, but really you are thinking, “this is such a Kodak moment” so you end up running for the camera to capture this work of mess.

Did I mention you JUST CLEANED the kitchen???

The life of a mom – chaotic – but BLISSFUL!

Until next time…

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I found out this evening that my big brother is being deployed to Iraq in August for his FOURTH TOUR.

There isn’t a good word for how I am feeling right now. Scared would probably do it. No – terrified is a better description..

I don’t have a lot to say right now…

So until next time..

No matter how hard we try to minimize chaos, it always seems to resurface at some point.

Why?

Kids = Chaos. It’s the norm.

And believe it or not, chaos = bliss. Whether you can see it now or not.

bliss (n.) – to have great happiness or joy.
chaos (n.) – total disorder

Enough Said.

Follow me long enough, and you will see the bliss in chaos – no matter how neat & orderly you are.

Until next time….

Okay, so my dream job has always been to be an elementary teacher. Elementary is such a fun age – field trips, crafts, activities, and STORY TIME. I have always had a love for a good children’s book. I admire the way that the authors present stories in a well written and illustrated manner – at least the good ones. I would name a favorite except I have so MANY!

Call me a kid at heart I guess; but when my son turned three years old this past January, I decided that it was high time to make reading a big part of his life. Much to my surprise, he is just like his MOMMY and loves a good children’s book as well. Unlike most kids, my little guy doesn’t love just any book – he can be picky – and at just three years old, he is pretty darn good at picking out good books.

For him it is so easy, he judges by the cover. Ironic, I know. After all, “don’t judge a book by its cover”. But he does, and it works. For him, it has to be visually inspiring from the outside in.

When he and I stumbled upon Barefoot Books during one of our internet searches of things to do for us, much to my surprise (again) – he loved it! I mean, how could you not at three years old? If you have ever visited their website, all you see is COLOR. Lots and lots of COLOR. So, I went to work on finding out the important stuff – like how much the books COST.

I am very familiar with the fact that children’s books are not CHEAP by any means. I mean take Wal-Mart for example. You know the “always low prices” store. You can’t hardley go in and buy a good children’s book for under 10 bucks. The do have a collection of $2 & $3 books, but I am talking about a good, OLD FASHION, real children’s book – so NOT cheap.

So back to the story. I was very astonished to see that you could buy a good children’s book for as low as $6.99. Of course, there are the 20 buck books as well, but all in all they are affordable. So for me and my little guy, it is our new bookstore!

I recommend you check it out if you have little tikes that enjoy books! I would love your feedback, so let me know if you find a FAV book ~ I will definately be checking your favs out!

Until next time….

52 Weeks is a year long challenge issued by Carin over at Forever in Blue Jeans, for YOU to be in a picture once a week for 52 weeks. We are always the ones behind the camera, this is YOUR chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with your family.

So my son and I have found a new pastime at the library – Tuesdays at 10am. You can read our journey to Storytime on Tuesdays at 10am on our blog.

Below is a picture taken by my sister, I am the mom in the red shirt.

Until next time…

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