October 2011 photos

Teeny tiny Mochimochi candy corn. Isn’t he cute?

Bobbles the Sheep dishcloth  This was my first attempt at bobbles and might be my last.

Mr. Caterpoopypants is our pet.{JJ} caught him the other day and I felt bad about releasing him outside since the weather channel was predicting major snow and temperatures in the teens. SO I pick fresh lilac leaves for him twice a day which he loves to eat. One thing I never knew about caterpillars, not that I know a lot about them, is that they poop a lot!
 

{O} playing the lap steel and {H} practicing on his drum pad.


{O} at Rock Park on a class hike

 

My three wild & crazy handsome boys! I love them so!
All four of my guys decorating Halloween cookies last night!

Full of energy...

Quitting my job has helped me so much! I didn’t realize just how tired and out of whack I have been but now that I am not working until 3 or 4 in the morning I can see a huge difference in my energy levels and attitude. I am now able to get the proper amount of sleep. I go to bed around 10 pm (sometimes earlier) and get up around 7 am to get the boys ready for school and then head off to the rec center to workout and now that school has started for me I head back home to study.
I know working out is helping out as well. It helps me burn off a lot of the anxiety that I carry with me and I am starting to see a difference in the way my clothing fits. Plus my husband told me he has noticed the changes as well so that’s positive because all he could see before was a tired grumpy frumpy mom. Truth be told!
My boys have been in swim lessons for the last two weeks and today is the last day of this session which I am happy for. They have had a great time but we end up missing out on walking to get the boys from school and walking home since we have to drive straight to lessons after school lets out. It helps me add on a mile a day to my workout and it’s good for the kids to walk home as well.  I enjoy that time with my boys.
Well, I need to hit the books. I start my lab class this Saturday in full scrubs and nursing shoes. You should see me! The scrubs are unisex and boxy. At least scrubs are comfy. I was thinking I could hold on to the scrubs for when I actually earn my nursing degree but I will be in a much smaller size by then! Right!? Right!!!!!  Positive thinking is my new way of thinking!!!!

Summer break will be here before we know it!

Birthdays aren't as special as they use to be so I have to toot my own horn and say it's my birthday today!


Birthday Cakes from WiddlyTinks.com

Anyhow, I realized last night that my kids only have 5 more weeks of school left until Summer break! Holy sheep! I took this summer off from school so I could be home with the boys, so I am really looking forward to spending time with them and not having anything else to worry about.  No homework, no deadlines, no exams! I can’t wait. One more week of school for me and I am done until August! 

Now my concern is what am I going to do to keep them busy and me sane? I joined a few online groups (Moms Like Me &  Mile High Mama ) geared towards moms and I have my doubts about that. I am not a mom’s group type person. I guess you can say I don’t play well with others. Not t because I don’t like to but I literally have a hard time doing it. I have become anti-social over the years and I get really nervous around people even people I have met a number of times and I am not myself. I hate it. I really do. Just thinking about going to a big mom’s group type thing makes me sick to my stomach, that is why I have my doubts. Those things never work out for me.
So I need other fun, inexpensive ideas on what to do this summer. Today I bought 6 passes to Jungle Quest through an online daily deal site and the kids will love that. The price was %50 off so I can afford that!  We have a membership to the recreation center so I can take the boys swimming. If anyone has ideas or suggestions I would love to hear them.

Baseball season has started!

Henry had his first game of the season on Saturday. I was so proud of my boy! He was first to bat and got a hit, made it to third base and the next batter up got a hit and Henry made the first run of the game! This is the first year that the games are with kids only, no longer coach pitched and they also start keeping score which I think is good for them. A little competition never hurt anyone plus his team WON the game 7-1!  Sorry I am biased! I’d still be proud even if his team didn’t win.

(photo 1: Henry with his friend Levi (wearing glasses), photo 2: Jack, Levi, Henry & Owen, photo 3: blossoms, photo 4: Henry & Levi again, photo 5: waiting for the first pitch, photo 6: getting his first hit of the season! )

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in my comments or over at SouleMama’s  for all to find and see.

 

(to view larger photo click on the “read more” link. I am trying to change the css so all posts are on one page and can show more than one photo without having to click the “see more” link.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(please excuse our ugly backyard mish mosh of tiles, rocks, weird wood rail and that ornamental stuff on the right on the bottom of the house. I think each previous added separate things because nothing in this yard matches or even makes sense! LOL  My goal is to get rid of everything and build a beautiful deck)

My sick little guy

I couldn't post these during the week because the battery on my Nikon D70 died on me and I wasn't able to upload photos but I took care of that today. Poor Jack had a low grade fever and a persistent cough all week long. The cough is still bothering bim but otherwise he is doing better, thankfully. I think part of the problem is seasonal allergies. We administered a nebulizer treatment which helped him breathe better and have kept him off milk products which is one of the worse things you can do to that kid! He's a milk fiend and trying to explain to a 5 year old the benefits of being dairy free while sick doesn't matter one bit! :)

Easter Eggstravaganza 2011

This morning I took the boys to the park near our house for the annual egg hunt. We had a lot of fun and the boys saw a lot of friends from school. We took pictures with the Easter Bunny and a cute Panda. The boys were confused about why a Panda was at an Easter Egg Hunt, as was I. Not sure what Panda & Easter have in common but it was cute so of course I had to take a photo.
The sad thing about this event is that every year the park posts signs around the hunt area that it’s for kids only, no parents and every year parents go into the area with their child which blocks the view of the parents who stayed on the sidelines (and followed the rules) to watch their kids so you lose visual sight of your own child.
The other problem is that these well-meaning (sarcasm!) parents can be sadly competitive and do the hunt for their child. While this is totally acceptable if you have a little one in the 0-2 year old group or a child with special needs but does a child in the Kindergarten group on up to 4th grade really need parental help gathering plastic eggs?  Anyhow, I took photos and in the end the boys had fun and I had fun knowing my kids enjoyed themselves  which is all that matters, right?

Easter Eggstravaganza - 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

{This Moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments  over at SouleMama for all to find and see.

This one is here to stay!

One thing you might notice about me is my constant need to change things up with my blog. I think I enjoy changing the design of my blog more than the actual act of blogging. I can spend hours creating a new blog look or searching online for the right template for me and I finally found the perfect one!  A knitting template that doesn't scream major old lady! I love it even though it's a little risque. I really do. I love how the retro girl at top is wearing her sweater as it’s being knit. It talks to my evil/good sides. Like my hubby teases me about wearing Mary Jane Doc Martens. Bad girl/good girl dilemma. Sure, I’ll go with that.
Well, I have lots of reading and my first big written assignment for my psych class so I haven’t been on much lately nor will I be over the next week.I will end this post with pictures of a few knitted items I have finished recently. Enjoy your weekend!

Cassarah scarf from Sheri Berger - Loopy Ewe

iPod cable sock - designed by me :)

Three Mochimochi hearts for the three boys I love!

Shroom slouchy toque hat found on Knitty.com

modeled by my ever loving and patient husband.

Quote of the day:
Special-interest publications should realize that if they are attracting enough advertising and readers to make a profit, the interest is not so special. - Fran Lebowitz

Who shit in my kids cornflakes this morning?

I hope you all understand the saying that I used for my title, it’s pretty explanatory though. If someone shat in your cornflakes you’d probably have a bad day and that is exactly what is going on with my kids today! Only three more days of Spring break and I am counting down the days until they all go back to school!

The oldest isn’t really the problem. It’s mostly Owen and Jack. Either they are at each others throat or completely acting up in public like they did at the library today. I told them if we had good behavior at the library they could get Dairy Queen as a treat. It’s next to the library and it’s been awhile so I thought it would be nice. Well in the end I only bought for Henry. On one hand I felt horrible because Jack cried the whole way home that he wanted ice cream, but on the other hand I gave O & J more chances than they deserved to earn the treat and I wasn’t about to reward that type of behavior!  Jack told me he wished I wasn’t his Mommy. So, I am the bad guy in this?

Have you ever been out in public and been totally embarrassed by your kids behavior? It sucks. I always try to be relaxed and laid back and let them have fun but even that they can’t do without totally acting up and then I get tense and the enjoyment is gone.  Owen was laying on the floor with his feet above his head as Jack was spanking him. I felt like walking away saying in a loud voice “Where is their mother!?” but since abandonment is illegal I didn’t. I just drowned my failure in an ice cream cone.

Quote of the day:
Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth! - Henry David Thoreau

Lowe’s - Build & Grow clinics

Happy Saturday. It’s my first Saturday as a worker so I am enjoying my day off! We took the boys to Lowe’s this morning. Lowe’s offers a free Build & Grow clinic for kids to build one project every week. I have been meaning to sign them up since we have a Lowe’s so close to where we live and I am glad that I did. It was a lot of fun helping the kids build their own kaleidoscope and each of them received a smock, safety goggles and an accomplishment patch for the kaleidoscope project that can be sewn onto the smock. How cool is that!?

 
Quote of the day:
The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it. - Flannery O'Connor

Photos from the past and present.

My boys. Owen, Henry & Jack at last years Field Day at H’s school.

This was taken today with my Nikon D70 which I had lost interest in. There was a time that I took photos daily with that camera and for some reason it became unenjoyable  trying to take the perfect picture. Well, I took it out last night and decided I would enjoy my skills for what they are. Lacking but these photos are great memories to have.

 

Jack was being a bit of a grump in this photo but I love how it turned out.

Henry at a baseball game last summer

Quote of the day:
Seek simplicity, and distrust it. - Alfred North Whitehead

In loving memory of my Mom, Loretta Rose

Born March 23, 1943, died March 23, 1984. She passed away on her 41st birthday. Today would be her 67th birthday and each year I celebrate the life of my mom with my boys with a birthday cake and funny stories that the boys know by heart. They never had a chance to meet her and I know that they would have adored and loved her as much as I did.