Mother's Day Photo Contest!

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting a contest and the winner gets $1,000.00 yes that is right one thousand dollars! You go to their site read the rules and post your picture of what motherhood means to you. Here is my picture, I don't feel I need to explain, they are my joy!

I've been tagged!

Kari tagged me for "7 random things about myself". I have been trying to think of 7 interesting facts about me since Saturday night. I'm really not that interesting of a person! But I will try to find 7 interesting things...

1. When I was ten I was stabbed with a pitch fork, in my knee, by my cousin, on my grandparents farm.

2. Speaking of the farm. They owned a dairy farm and when growing up and still to this day I can't drink store bought milk. It taste gross to me but I love the milk right out of the barn. It is so rich and creamy.

3. I knew the moment I saw my husband (he was 15) I was going to marry him. I knew nothing about him. It's amazing how God works! We were at Moody Bible Institute on a youth conference.

4. He proposed to me in a dark alley in downtown Chicago after his Senior Banquet (Prom) they didn't call it Prom. I messed up his plans for the proposal. But I think we have a cool story to tell our grandkids someday about it :)

5. J and I went to a Less Than Jake concert (we liked going to them before kids and maybe one day will go again!) on my birthday and the drummer handed me one of his drum sticks for my birthday because it was his too! That was pretty cool.

6. During the summer of 1998 I went to Cornerstone and saw MC Hammer in concert! He was totally NOT the reason I went to Cornerstone, I actually didn't even know he was going to be there until I got there and figured might as well go see him. He now is a gospel singer...very interesting concert ;)

7. I hung out with Alkaline Trio in college before they became HUGE. A friend of mine went to high school with one of the members and they played at WIU several times and we (J and I) got invited to the after show parties. I never even thought about them becoming famous! Not that they weren't good because they are.

Ok, I have way more concert stories but I've already done my 7 and I don't want to bore you! I now have to tag 7 people. I will tag; Corrie from ka-chow, Amber from Jason and Amber, Kelly from the Wells clan, Kristen from 3 Kids=chaos, Heidi from Chris, Heidi and Eden, Lisa from The need for Hope, and Crystal from Crissybug's Crazy Clan!

Why do we do this?

When our kids get to a certain age (about 3 years old) they start asking questions about driving. Like, "why are you stopping?" J and I trying to be good parents explain to them that we are stopping because either the light is red, there is a car in front of us, or we are at a stop sign which ever the case is at the time. Well this has led to many back seat drivers. Red for the past three weeks has been the worst at this. He yells and screams if we go when he thinks the light is red or we stop and the light is green. I have tried to be patient with him on this as he is only 2 but I'm about to crack. My standard answer of late is, "I know how to drive and you don't so trust that I am driving right." Then comes all the buts...the light is red or green and so on. I am hoping this will make him a good driver when he is old enough but for now it is just nerve racking as I am driving.

But on a cute note: my phone rang the other day and I was nursing the baby and it was for J. I had Red take the phone to daddy and as I hand him the phone he looks at it then puts it up to his ear and says, "Who is in there?" It was pretty funny!

Scrape the Driveway!

GlamorGirl came home from school the other day with a book she had written. She was so excited about it and couldn't wait for me to read it. As I read it she was looking over my shoulder wanting to know what I thought. Here is her story with spelling and punctuation the way it is...

The mother said to the father scrape the driveway please o please. No I want! (should say won't) please. Scrape the driveway and do what I saw. (say) Scrape the driveway No Way! Now. No. Scrape the driveway. Scrape the driveway? Oh I thot (thought) you said take the trash out I will scrape the driveway Yippee ya.

By GlamorGirl

It's not prefect but I think it is very good for a 1st grader! She almost spelled all the words right and had most of the punctuation. By the way, I laughed at the end when the father says Oh I thought you said take the trash out :) Pretty funny mind that one has but makes me wonder if that is the way her dad and I sound to her?!?! Hmmm

Love this AGE! and then notsomuch...

I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but I love the age Red is at right now because of the funny things he says. Two examples come to mind right away. The first is from Friday night. I took the kids to the High School Variety Show, we've gone every year, one of the host came out at the beginning in a batman costume. Red was very excited to see batman there ;) Well after the first 4 acts went on he looks at me and says, "Batman is going to come out again." I told him, "I don't think so." Well the host came back out on stage, not wearing the costume and this is what Red said that made the whole row in front of us laugh, "BATMAN! See I told you batman was coming back. Silly goob ball." (Yes, he says goob instead of goof!) Red knew that he had the batman costume on earlier therefore he was BATMAN!

The second happened today while we were grocery shopping. The place we shop for produce is the same place the firemen usually shop as well. Today there were two firemen walking around the store. The first one we saw Red says, "Look daddy a policeman." Of course, we corrected him and told him he was a fireman and he doesn't have a gun. Apparently, we his parents, don't know anything and he had to find out for himself. He basically yelled, "Does you have a gun?" The fireman was very nice and half smiled/laughed when he answered Red's question with a no. But I think Red's face was the best part as he actually got embarrassed that he was wrong and we were right! About 15 minutes later when we were checking out we came across the second fireman and captain obvious says, so EVERYone can hear, "He is a fireman, not a policeman he doesn't have a gun." Then J asked him if he knew what firemen do and he answered, "They drive the firetruck!" And these are the examples of why I love this age and here is the reason I detest this age...

Red has boycotted decided over the past few days he doesn't need to take naps anymore. He will lay in his bed for about 5 minutes and then get up declaring, "I'm awake!" To which I have to be the mean mom and say, "You didn't sleep, now get back in bed and close your eyes." Then comes the slew of excuses for why he can't sleep...I'm afraid, I have to go potty, I can't keep my eyes closed, and so on. It is extremely exhausting and if he didn't need the naps I would let him stay awake but he does. He was in his room yesterday for an hour and a half driving me crazy fighting sleep so I let him up. By 5pm he was a monster but if I put him to bed too early it would be a disaster. So I kept him up until 7pm when the other kids go to bed and guess what he did? He wouldn't go to sleep. He started in with all of his excuses and by this time I have had it with him and he is beyond exhausted. It was terrible. He finally went to sleep at 8:30pm. Oy! Right now it is 1pm and he is sleeping because J laid with him. This would be fine if I had the time to lay with him everyday but I usually have 3 other kids that need me when he is sleeping. Ok I'm done with the whine portion of my post! I really do love his age though. I think the cute funny stuff he does outweighs the bad fighting sleep part.

Oops, I totally forgot to say that he will be 3 years old next month. The 2 and 3 year old is one of my favorite ages!

Evolution of Dance...too funny!

Beautiful

That is what the weather is like outside today! J and I have played tennis the last two mornings and it has been so much fun. I am really sore, shows me how out of shape I really am. The village is doing the 100 days of fitness again this year and we signed up again to participate. I forgot how good it feels to work out! Yesterday we had told the boys that we would have a picnic today if it was nice out. We left the house and forgot to pack a lunch so when we got home the boys got their bikes and we walked/rode to subway for lunch and then walked home. Then Monkey did his homework outside and Red blew bubbles as Peanut watched. Have I mentioned that I love this weather?!?! Here is Monkey doing his homework, I didn't get any of the bubble blowing.

Just so you all know that the Pump It Up party was a blast! We had a lot of fun and the only part that was difficult was when it came time to open presents. It is hard to write who the gifts come from with 3 kids opening at the same time! We got home and went through the presents and asked the kids who they got them from and they didn't remember! Thank yous might be a little generic this year.

I am trying to decide if I should take the kids to the soccer game today. I think there is a double header so we might have dinner and go later?! IT is just too nice out to be inside. Here I leave you with Peanut in the swing! Sorry that you have to hear me I was trying to get her to smile :) I have still shots of her but blogger isn't letting me post them right now so maybe later tonight or tomorrow.

Big Birthday Party!

This year we decided to do all three of the older kids birthday parties at the same time. I figure one big bang! Less stress for us all and today is the day for it. We are having it at Pump It Up, I'm too lazy to link it up. Anyways, I'm excited and nervous at the same time. It's weird. This place has huge inflatable slides, obstacle courses and jumping jacks. I'm excited because the kids will have fun but nervous because I've never done a party like this and afraid someone might get hurt. You have to sign a waiver to participate. Hopefully I will have pictures soon!

Children's Choir!

Here are small little videos I took from today's performance of Hans Bronson. This first song I thought was just too funny with the girls acting like they are going to faint! I don't know why there is no picture but if you click the arrow it will play. The second is GG's solo, I should of started it a little sooner, but you get the idea!

Fighting for your Marriage

Mindy is doing a series on fighting for your marriage. This week she has asked us for our advice on how we fight for our marriage.

About two years ago J and I went through a very bad part of our marriage. There were times I felt I could not be in the marriage any longer. But God is a great God and he gave me the strength and wisdom to preserver through the bad time and the motivation to fight for my marriage. Jeff and I sat down and came up with guardrails to protect our marriage.

*The first one was that we were to never be alone with the opposite sex. EVER.
*Do not give the opposite sex a hug
*Should not be good friends with someone of the opposite sex that you would confide things in them
*check in with each other through out the day
*be open and honest
*respect and courtesy with one another
*not fighting in public

Another thing that I believe you can do to help fight for your marriage is pray for your husband on a consistent basis. It is hard to be mad at or mean to someone you are praying for daily.

And keep porn out of your marriage, I'm surprised how many Christian women think it is ok for them or their husband to look at that garbage. It is toxic and can ruin your marriage.

Answers sort of...

I went to the doctor yesterday to make sure my lungs sounded clear, they did which is good. But I'm in pain. So they tested me for the flu and sure enough that is what I have. Explains all the chills, aches, pains, and sick to my tummy feeling I have been having. Now I just have to let it run it's course. I guess it's nice to know what is ailing me.

Last night was GG perform with the Ark Children's Choir, Hons Bronson. It was really cute. GG of course nailed her singing part and dance. I was a little upset that the battery in the camera was dead and I wasn't able to get her solo on video but she performs again on Sunday! I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not but she got a solo in the school program too. The girl has ALWAYS loved music. She used to cry when a song ended on the radio and she would dance to commercial that had background music! It is so exciting to see her talents develop and be used to honor and glorify God and not self.

Heard in my house...

Red: It broke! It broke!
J: What broke?
Red: My fever. My fever broke daddy!
J: Should we fix it?
Red: No, I don't want to fix it daddy.
J: I don't blame you. I'm glad it broke Red.

Hello World!

I'm not even going to do a sickness update because it is depressing. But I wanted to give my hubby a shout out. He just started a blog! He has a really cool video from yesterday. Go check it out here. If you listen you can hear the kids. You have to stop his music also.

Update...

***Updated***
This morning Saturday both Peanut and Red woke up with fevers so it is back to the doctor with them and GG. We are getting them all strep tested.

Well at the doctor's office they did a strep test and it came back negative but they sent one out for growth. I got the call today telling me Monkey's culture came back positive. Which means he has been contagious for 3 days now and is still until tomorrow at noon. I just really hope and pray that the rest of the family doesn't get it. We were advised to get everyone tested though so I went today and it came up negative in the office so we'll see what Monday brings for my test. I just want to make sure we don't pass it back and forth. If I come up positive I am going to insist on Peanut getting one done as I am in contact with her all the time.

I'm tired!

We had another rough night here. I'm not trying to complain but I would really like to get more than a hour of consecutive sleep. I get the baby to sleep about 9:30 and I made a phone call that lasted about 30 minutes. I climbed into bed around 10:30 which isn't bad. Just as I fall asleep Red starts screaming, "MOM MOM MOM" I jump out of bed not even really knowing what is going on. I run into his room and ask if he has to go potty. He says no. I give him a big hug and kiss and snuggle with him for a few minutes, in which time he is out cold. I realize it is after 11 which my husband should be home, he isn't. I go check my phone and see a message from him saying he will be late. I go back to bed but the commotion has woke up Peanut and guess what she did? If you said pooped you would be right. I change her and lay down to get her to sleep again. About an hour later Red starts screaming again and he stopped before I realized what has happening but he woke his sister up again. And she pooped. At this point I believe it is 1am. I change her and put tons of diaper rash cream on her butt, because I wanted to nurse her to sleep and that tends to make her poop. After 10 minutes of nursing she starts making her poop grunting sounds and she pooped AGAIN. Have I mentioned it is GREEN poop? I think she has another virus, grr. My hubby gets home at 2am waking me a little, but not enough to keep me awake. This morning I have GG in my room telling me Monkey is sick. I tell her to let daddy handle it because he is taking them to school and I need sleep and don't want Peanut to wake up, you know?

Fast forward to noon when we get Monkey from school. We all went. I put decorations in GG locker and then we went to get fruit shakes at the local coffee shop. While we were in the store Monkey says his tummy, throat, and head hurts. We get home and I take his temperature 99.9 well I guess he isn't going to church tonight. He doesn't want to eat lunch, now I know something is wrong. GG has to go to church tonight because they preform next week for children's choir. I get all GG's rides to and back figured out and make Monkey a doctor's appointment. I am hoping that when we go I can ask about Peanut's night time green pooping episodes. Right now Red and Monkey are both sleeping. Monkey stopped taking naps at 3yrs old and only takes them now if he isn't feeling good. I'm just worried this is going to start the epidemic of sickness through our house again. They did send home a sheet the other day saying that Chicken Pox are breaking out at school. Even if you have the vaccine you can still get it, is what the sheet said. I don't believe we gave that vax to Monkey anyways. I hope to update after the appointment.

Total Randomness

I am so ready for Peanut to stop pooping in the middle of the night. Last night she woke up at 1:30am and pooped and then at 3:20am and she pooped again. I can handle the waking up to nurse her but to get up and have to change a diaper in the wee hours of the morning is terrible.

The kids and I went to playgroup this morning. On the way there this is the conversation Red and I had.
Red: Mommy go faster
Me: I can't
Red: Why? Because you will crash?
Me: Yes that could happen or I could get pulled over and get a ticket
Red: A ticket like at Chuck E Cheese?
Me: (trying not to laugh) yes honey something like the ticket at Chuck E Cheese

Computer update. J took the computer to the Geek squad and they told him they were able to recover all the pictures but that the hard drive was damaged. I got online to try and do some online banking and I can't get in because the bank doesn't recognized our computer. I had to call and get a code so I could get in. She told me it will be like this every time because it is a laptop and not a desk top. Great! We need to buy a new computer way sooner than I was thinking. Oy.