Misadventures and Fits

My crazy little angels!

Okay, so if you are a parent, you will totally understand how frustrating some of these types of scenarios can be.  If you aren't a parent and you read this....you may rethink if you want children, lol!

I am told, at least once a week, sometimes more often how w.o.n.d.e.r.f.u.l my children behave at daycare.  They are said to be polite, well mannered, sweet, etc.

Sometimes when I am home with my children, I wonder....are these really the same children that the daycare raves about??  And don't get me wrong...I would prefer it to be this way....behave in public/misbehave at home.  As much as it sucks sometimes at home dealing with them, it gives me great pleasure to hear others rave about how well behaved my children are.  :)

But, I just want to share some of the fits and misadventures that I recently had with the kids.  Saturday morning, while Lee was at work and I was alone with the kids, I had stepped into the bathroom.  Jake (4 1/2) comes to tell me that he spilled a little water.  Well, it turned out that he had knocked over a huge cup of water on the end table...which had lots of magazines and newspapers that were now sopping wet.  Our tables are glass top with wood around the edges.  So the glass sits down into the wood.  Well, anytime a drink is spilled....it runs under the glass and gets everywhere down below.  So I had to move the lamp, candles, picture frames, Scentsy burner, etc. to clean up all the water. Ugh.

A little later, while I was ironing clothes Julz had gone into the bathroom....I thought to brush her teeth.  Jake comes in and says, "Julz has nail polish".  Oh! Yes! She! Did!!  It was on her face, on her hands, on her shirt, on the sink and in the bathtub.  Mind you this happened in just a matter of three minutes tops that she was out of my eyesight!  So, I did get it off of her, but not so much the shirt.  And I did manage to save the sink and tub as well.

Then Jake had a small fit after that because he didn't want to put on clean underwear!  (boys!)  When I picked a gift bag for his friend's birthday present (I have to climb up in the attic to get this, since that is where I store all my gift wrapping items) he cried for I know 20 minutes because the bag was "too pretty" and he didn't want to give it away! (me=rolling my eyes)

Later in the day after being at a birthday party and visiting Mimi & Gramps we were almost ready to head out.  I needed to go to the grocery store to pick up some items for Julz's birthday party.  After the behavior they exhibited at Mimi's house (running, being loud, not listening), I told them they wouldn't be allowed to go to the grocery store with me.  So, they were both upset, crying and pouting.  On the way out of the house walking through the garage, Jake stopped beside my mom's (very nice, shiny, well taken care of, immaculately clean) Dodge Nitro and proceeded to kick it t.h.r.e.e times!!!!  aaaarrrrgghhhh!!!!  So then, Gramps spanked Jake (very unusual) and Jake was crying and mad and then Julz hopped in between Jake and Gramps and says loudly and sternly, "don't you be mean to my Jakey!!!  (gotta love the sibling love!) so, then Gramps told her that she needed to be quiet that he wasn't talking to her.  Crying, more crying.  Both crying.  Crying all the way home!!

So I hope you just enjoyed a day in my life with children, lol!!  I still love them even though they drive me crazy!!

How many of you can relate to this craziness???

My Brown Eyed Girl

(about a week before she was born)

My Brown Eyed Girl

Three years ago today, it was a beautiful, sunny Saturday.  I woke up, felt a bit strange, but not too bad.  Went on over to my Mom's house for my normal Saturday routine.....eating breakfast with them and then cleaning their house.  I had my boys with me, Joey and Jake.  I kept having contractions, but thought they might have been Braxton Hicks.  As the morning progressed, they became stronger.  But, I was in no rush to get to the hospital, so I just kept cleaning and every so often would have to stop, bend over and breathe....then I just cleaned some more.  Finally, I decided I should be heading home.  I left my little Jake (age 21 months) with Mimi and Gramps.  And I asked Joey (age 15) to drive me home.  I had never let him drive me anywhere up until that point....he had his learners permit.  He was pretty excited that I let him drive.  I called my doula, Autumn, before leaving Mom's and asked her to meet me at the house.  (A doula is a birth assistant.) She seemed to think I was still doing pretty good.  I remember having to stop and get gas for the car....seemed like it took forever.  Got home, rushed around to pack my bag and gather baby things.  Autumn arrived, Lee was ready to go!  He was afraid I'd have the baby at home!! (I would have loved a home birth.)  I wanted to go upstairs and take pictures....I have beautiful pictures of me from the day I gave birth to my son.  Unfortunately, I couldn't handle the contractions too well at this point, so no pictures.  Autumn tried to check and see how dilated I was, but she couldn't tell....I thought she just didn't want to tell me that I was like a 3 or 4.  When we arrived at the hospital and they had me in triage, the nurse yelled for the doctor to come check me.....she said I "sounded like a 7".  I was actually at 8 cms!!  woohoo!  I was sooooo excited.  But, when I had Jake I was a 7 when I arrived and didn't have him for 5 hours.  So I was thinking I still had awhile.  Well, things began to move pretty quickly, they got me to a room and before you knew it....we became proud parents of our beautiful Julz Alaina.  Total time at the hospital until she arrived: 20 mins!!  Awesome delivery!  2/23/08 @ 3:36pm, 7lbs12oz. Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet girl.  

February 23, 2008

With big bro, Joey.  February 23, 2008

Giving sis her first present. February 23, 2008

I love this pic!!  February 25, 2008

Julz is a beautiful little girl with big brown eyes and light brown hair.  She loves all things girly....baby dolls, Barbies, Littlest Pet Shop, My Little Pony, etc.....but, she also enjoys playing cars, trucks, trains, monsters, etc.....she does have brothers!  She makes me smile every day.  She loves to color.  She can fold laundry almost as good as me.  She is potty trained!!  She loves us all, and has the best giggle in the world when we tickle her.  She likes zebras and pigs.  She is a people pleaser.....except when she is being Miss Independent and trying to get her way!  She does have a bit of a stubborn streak at times! 

~{{She makes our family complete.}}~

December 2010

My big 3 yr old!!

High Standards

Really proud of my son, Joey, for posting this on his blog.  For a young man, he really has high morals and is a good Christian.  Please take a minute and read his newest blog entry.  It is referring to a song he listened to, Gym Class Heroes/Faces in the Hall.  At this time I haven't had a chance to listen to the song, but he explains the lyrics well and what the song meant to him.


Here is Joey's post.....to-go-with-my-audio-post


Any opinions?

Sibling Love....For. Ever. More!

(my photo)

How long will it last?  

My kids are so freakin' adorable *sometimes*, lol!  

But, really, they truly love each other.  

It just melts my heart sometimes the sweet things that I see them do for each other or the things they say to each other.

We really encourage this love in our home.  We talk about how we are a team and that we are supposed to love and take care of each other.  

Oh yes!!!  we do have the "he hit me", "she bit me" moments, but they are also the first to jump up and defend the other.

The other day, our 4 1/2 year old had gotten in trouble.  On the way home from daycare Mommy & Daddy were fussing at him for his behavior.  Our daughter, who is almost three says, "Don't you be mean to my Jake for. ever. more!!!" (not "forever", but she said each word separate)

Love them!!

What do you do to encourage sibling love?

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Little Boy Shoes

(my photos)

How is it that I look at my son on a daily basis and hadn't noticed it.  4 years, 8 months, 10 days. He's no baby anymore.  But, he will always be my baby.  My first baby.  Shoes, that's what it was.  Shoes.  I just happened to walk by and glance down at them.  Empty.  Not wrapped around my son's little piggies.  Not little shoes.  It just hit me.  These are the shoes of a boy.  Not a baby.  Not a toddler.  w.o.w.  Such a simple little thing, but it just jumped up at me.  Where has the time gone.  I will be sending my baby to kindergarten in eight months.  Blows my mind.  I will cherish every kiss, every cuddle and every "I love you, Mommy".  Especially the cuddles.  :)

Where it all started,
 his sweet little baby toes.

Was there ever a moment where you just realized your kiddos weren't babes any longer?

Inked

     New obsession?  I could spend hours perusing the internet looking at other peoples ink.  Tattoos.  I love them.  I'm curious to why people permanently have certain images on their body.  I love when people post a description of their tattoo and why they got it. One of my fav sites to look at is Check Out my Ink, people are uploading new pics every day.
     I only have two tats, so far.  My first one I got when I was 19.  I went with my exboyfriend.  I wanted one, but I didn't want it to mean anything.  I was young and didn't know what would be meaningful to me when I was older, so I just went with meaningless.  I decided to get colorful bubbles, on my ankle.  I drew them on and walked around with them for a day or two to be sure I liked them.  Oh my gosh....wow, it hurt!!  Not to mention the tattoo artist who was very well known in the area, was an ass to me.  (The night before when Tony got his tattoo, I watched this man have about five to six people hanging out in his space while he was tattooing.  When he did mine, he wouldn't let Tony or Rocky come back with me.  He said there wasn't enough room. Until I almost passed out, then he let them come be with me.  He also mentioned that I'd apparently never given birth or the tattoo wouldn't be pain to me.  Like he had any idea what childbirth felt like.  Ass.) 

Almost 20 years later, I decided on another piece, that actually meant something to me.  I'd also been through natural childbirth twice (no drugs).  And the tattoo was still painful.  But, I handled it much better this time.  I chose to have my new tat on my  back.  When you work in a school, you have to be careful where you put stuff like that!  I had an idea in my head of what I wanted, took several pics with me to the tattoo artist  at Asylum and she drew up a design for me.  After that I tweaked it a bit to my liking, decided on colors and placement then we made our appointment.

Drawing done by tattoo artist

Design after I added some more limbs, leaves and a circle

still smiling!

 I chose a tree of life pattern to represent family, family tree, roots, mothering & sheltering your family.  I decided to only use color in this tat, since most all tats have black outlines, I just wanted something different.  Lots of pink since that's my fav color, and the initials JAF to represent my babies, see my other post about their names.

DONE!!  woohoo!  I love it!

  

We actually made it a family affair, lol.  My stepson, Joey was turning 18 and we had promised him that he could get a tat when he was 18.  So the three of us went together as well as Joey's girlfriend, two other friends and my bff. We took over the tattoo studio, lol!  (that was good for me, comfort zone)  There was a minor snag in the event, the tattoo artist I had been talking with was unable to do my tattoo, she had gotten behind and it would be very late if I waited for her to be done, so I lucked out and the owner, Daniel Jones, of the shop was able to do my tat!  

Joey's  new tat (verse from Bible)

Lee's new tat, also has JAF in it, can you see it?  Tattoo designed by Joey.

    Do you have any tattoos?  what kind?  any special meanings?
     
    

Jingle Bellz & Jolly Elves

Do you know about Elf on the Shelf?

Do you have elves living at your house?? We do!  at least for the holiday season, then they will head back home to the North Pole to hang out with Santa.  

Santa sent ours at the beginning of December, we came home one day and they were waiting at the front door for us!  Jingle Bellz and Jolly Elves are the names my kids bestowed upon them. We even registered them in the Book of Elves on the Elf on the Shelf website.  And then Santa sent us a letter! (one you could print out) (Jingle Bellz is actually a reincarnated elf that grew up with my father, I added a little pink felt.... and *bam*, it's a Girl!)  My children have a great time with these elves living in our home!  I have caught them reading to the elves, tattling to the elves, leaving candy and toys for them!  It is so much fun to figure out where they are hiding and to wonder what they have been doing.  Also, seems like their behavior has been pretty good since they fear the elves will tell Santa if they are Naughty! 

If you have an elf in your house, what's his/her name and have your children enjoyed tradition?

The elves brought the kids candy canes one day

One day Jake's elf brought him a hotwheel and Julz's elf brought her Tinkerbell
undies since she has been doing such a great job potty training!

When You Can't Fix It

Recently, my husband was wrongly accused of doing something that could make his business look bad.  He had two upset people calling him one night.  It was so disheartening to hear my husband on the phone with these people trying to make things right.  At one point he was hung up on.  After that I begged him, "please let me call them."  Which he finally conceded.  And I did.  Did it help?  I don't know.  Did it make it worse?  I don't think so.  Did it ruin our night? yes.


I came away from this experience knowing that one day, in the future, when someone does one of my children wrong, and I can't fix it.....it will be a very bad, sad day.  I'm a fixer.  I like for everyone to be happy.  I don't want someone to be upset with me or someone I love.

Take Me Home Country Roads

(Journal Prompt: List 10 things that arouse a fond memory of the past.) One of the biggest things that brings memories to my mind is music.  There are many songs that will instantly take me back in time. *"I'll Be" by Edwin McCain.  Our song.  My first dance song.  When I hear it, I remember the first time that Lee told me, "I love you" *"Free" by Zac Brown Band.  Jake's "best song".    When I hear this song, I think of my Jake singing.  I will always remember this as his first "best song". *AC/DC music.  High School.  Angela Boitnott.  Cruising Williamson Road.  Carefree fun days. *"Dirty Dancing" movie soundtrack.  High School.  Angela Tolley.  Sitting on top of the motor home.  Stalking the neighbor boy.  Silly string. *"Take Me Home Country Roads" by John Denvar.  When I hear this song, I think of my grandparents, Freda/Clemmer Smith.  I remember singing this in their living room.  It is also recorded on tape.  :) *"Kryptonite" by 3 Doors Down.  My sis.  Paula Layman.  Two boys we were babysitting.  Driving down Main St., Salem.  Singing at the tops of our lungs.  Fun times. (Cayman) *"Brown-Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison.  When I hear this song, I think of my baby girl, Julz.  She is my brown-eyed girl. My beautiful, Julz. *(incomplete at this time....too tired to think of other songs right now.)

What's in a name? JAF

I have a coworker who is really into genealogy and recently we were talking about how the old german families had reasons for why they named their children certain names.  Such as the first born son was named after a certain family member, etc.  It got me to thinking about how these days people choose names for so many different reasons, not because it's always been done a certain way and this child has to be named after his maternal great, great grandfather.  


When I was younger I had some names picked out for when I had children.  Mostly names that I just "liked".  Nothing really special about them.  Well, I take that back, there was a boy name that I had picked out that was the name of my grandfather's brother that died at a young age.  And the name from a Titanic movie character.  Then there was a middle name I had thought of using that belonged to a child I loved very much from a past relationship (I was kind of like her stepmom).


When I became pregnant the first time we had discussed many different options.  I wanted to somehow connect my children to my stepson.  At first we had talked about using his middle name "Austin", but he didn't like the idea of us using his name.  So then I had thought of doing a rhyming name.  He is Joey, so Chloe or Zoey would have been cute girl names.  But, no other boy names really rhymed with Joey.  So we had to come up with a plan for if the baby was a boy.  So that is when I thought of using the same initials.  So then we had to narrow down all the choices for boy names that start with "J".  I also wanted it to be four letters like Joey (even though his name is really "Joseph", he goes by "Joey" and has always been "Joey" to me.)  So we finally decided on "Jake Alexander".  Next time we got pregnant we found out that we were having a girl.  We had a really hard time agreeing on a name for her.  Lee was on board with the JAF initials, but we weren't agreeing on the name.  Since we already had "Jo--" and "Ja--", I wanted to use either "Je--", "Ji--" or "Ju--".  Lee really liked "Jena" (pronounced Jenna), but I was afraid people wouldn't say it right.  I also wanted my baby girl to have a special, unusual name.  I liked the name Jewel, and one day came across the spelling "Julz" online and really liked it.  Lee had to really be talked into it, though he loves it now.  So Lee got to pick the middle name....so many great "A" names for girls.  So we ended up with "Julz Alaina".  If we ever have anymore kids....which I seriously doubt....if it was a girl, Lee would get his "Jena" and if it was a boy I'd pick "Jett".

What not to do with your pumpkin....

So we got our pumpkins, the kids picked just the right ones....not the ones I would  have picked, lol.  Anyway, we opened them, scooped out the mess....yummy roasted seeds (my fav part).  

Then we put them on the dining room table on my fav placemats.  And then they sat and sat and sat for one week....then tonight I decided to move them.....omg, naaassstttyyyy....they were all soft and moldy and had leaked nastiness onto my beautiful placemats....ick!  Note to self:  next year when you get pumpkins you should actually carve them and then put them outside!

Growing Fast!

April 28, 2007, from an older blog
 

Wow! My boys are growing up so fast!  It's hard to believe that Joey will be 15 in 11 days!  I first met him when he was at the daycare in Kindergarten, then he moved into my class in 2nd grade.  And, Lee and I started dating when he was in 5th grade and had just turned 10.  He is growing up to be such a nice young man.  He is very smart, funny and just a lot of fun to be around.  I really enjoy hanging out with Joey, we have a lot in common and get along about 98% of the time which I think is great for a stepmom and a teenager! Jake will be one in 9 days!  That is so incredibly hard for me to believe!  I can't believe how fast this year has just flown by.  It's just been so incredible.  I really enjoy being his mom.  I was so nervous about having a baby and wondering what kind of mother I would be, but I think I've done a great job.  (Except as my husband would tell you, not that I was ever a domestic goddess, but now it's even worse!!)  I just want to spend every minute with him.  I love watching him grow and change.  My advice to any new parent is to enjoy every second and every stage.  Because if you blink your child has moved on to another stage.  You think the baby will never roll over, then the next thing you know they are sitting, crawling, standing, cruising, WALKING!  Take lots of pics/videos!