I wonder...

I read a lot of blogs. A LOT....like there are 51 on my bloglines feeds right now. Yea. There is trend I am noticing among some bloggers that I wonder about. Have you ever read a blog, you know that the woman is married, but you never hear about her husband? Or you only hear about him when she is bitching about him? I seriously wonder about those blogs.

No point to this post, just think it is interesting that on a blog about a woman's life her husband can be so absent. It is sad.

At some point...

You just want to say, "I will not pick up after you people anymore."

I am at that point. I realize that as a stay at home mom part of my job description requires cleaning up after the little people. But, lately, Mommy doesn't have the energy. Seriously, I can have the living room SPOTLESS and within an hour it looks as if I never touched it. Some families the Mom is a neat freak and she is constantly cleaning. I am not that mom. Sorry it is just not the way I am wired. If I scrubbed it once today, I am not going to scrub it again. Even if that means that it is going to look like I did nothing at all. Sorry, I have better things to do with my time, like PLAY with my kids. A foreign concept to some parents I realize.

OK, off to clean, but not that living room again. Not until tomorrow at least.

Yes I know...

I have not updated. Jason is home from Oregon and we tried to just veg most of the weekend. Most of us are battling a cold, though it seems to be fading. I am utterly exhausted and not feeling well.

So, I am just a ball of excitement!

Driving lesson..

I was reading through some of my old posts on one of my older blogs and found this post. It bears repeating. Some people never learn:

*repost*

OK class, today's lesson is on four-way stops. Since no one in the world seems to know how to do them right. Since EVERYONE is determined to piss me off. Pay attention...hey blue-haired old biddy, I am talking to you too!! Chewing gum in the trash, eyes up front.

Here is how a four-way stop works. WHOEVER GETS TO THE FREAKING STOP SIGN FIRST AND STOPS WINS! That means it is YOUR turn. No Grandma I will not let you wave me through...you look like an insurance claim waiting to happen. I will get 3 ft. into the intersection and you will change your mind and you will hit me....and HELL NO!

OK, on with the lesson. If you and another person get to intersection at the same time the person on the right goes first. NO THE OTHER RIGHT MORON. If you are at an intersection that seems to be backed up, PLEASE, I beg you, pay attention to the order BEFORE it is your turn.

OK, there will be a quiz on this material tomorrow during rush hour...you will fail...you will hit me...I will be pissed...I will sue you, I will WIN!!!! Class dismissed

Mommy Mode...

I am in total Mommy mode lately. I have blinders on to anything that does not involve my children or my house at the moment. Some of you know why....the rest will have to wait.

I found this post over at a new blog I found. IT IS HILARIOUS!!! It is a must read for any Mommy that is tired of cleaning up after little people: The Broom and I @ April Showers

Grrrr....

Quick rant:

I am so sick of hearing about the "Immigration" issue on the news. What they are talking about is not an issue of immigration. I have NO problem with people wanting to come to America as immigrants. I love that America has so many ethnic groups and that I have been privileged to live here since I was born. NO, we are not talking about immigration. What we are talking about is ILLEGALLY entering a country. ILLEGALLY!!!! As in breaking a law. Hello? Am I the only one that gets that part. ILLEGAL!!!!!!!!!!! Enter the country legally and I have no issue with you.

SHEESH!

Leaving on a jet plane...

Jason left today for Oregon. He will be gone all week. The boys were bummed as was I, but we will survive. We have lots of projects going on to keep ourselves busy in the meantime.

I will probably spend way too much time online in all honesty...

A few of my favorite things (then I don't feel so bad)...

A gold star for who can tell the inspiration for my post title...

Last night Jason and I were discussing some of the ways we could cut back to save a little more money each month. I am the first to admit I live a comfortable life. Jason makes decent money and even with our large brood we can still afford nice things and dinners out. HOWEVER, there is always places that cuts can be made to put a little back each month. Out of the conversation came the idea to post a list of my favorite "simple" pleasures.

~ Non-Fat Marble Mocha Macchiatos from Starbucks. Yes, I know Starbucks robs people at the door, BUT it is good. I only get these once every few weeks or so.

~ My DVR! There are not many shows I like to watch anymore, so it makes me sad to miss the few I like. The DVR has changed our family (yes I realize that sounds sad). Now when we have some down time on weekends, there is always something to watch.

~ Sleep. Chase is now pretty much sleeping through the night on most nights. It has been 10 months coming and it is WONDERFUL!

~ Flowers from my boys (picked in the yard, mostly weeds).

~ Watching Chase walk in the grass trying to follow his big brothers

~ When Austin gets up in the mornings he always wants to cuddle. He is getting so big and tall and doesn't want to do that much anymore, so I love the mornings.

~ Brodie's imagination keeps me entertained all day. Everywhere we go we have a menagerie of animals with us. Snakey and the puppies are with us frequently.

~ Huge over-sized, front loading washer and dryer. Anything that makes laundry easier I love!

~ Paper plates...cause dishes rank right up there with laundry on the "dreaded household chores" scale.

~ My favorite simple pleasure is my hubby....not only is he a great husband, but he is a fabulous father. He is so involved with all three boys and they all love him. When they hear his car pull up they all yell "Daddy's Home"...well the baby just follows them. When he is here, he is here (anyone that is or has been married to someone uninvolved with the kids knows exactly what I mean).

Before I had kids...

Before I had kids I thought families with more than two children were insane. Growing up it was just me and my brother and that was fine with me. My brother and I are close in age and have always gotten along. Now that I have three of my own I realize that having more kids doesn't make you insane...it just makes your reality different. Yes, I have to FIND time for myself. Yes, I do have to sacrifice for my kids. The truth is...three has not been that different than two. Maybe it is because Austin and Brodie were out of the toddler years when Chase was born. But, for me this has been WONDERFUL. We have a very loud and chaotic house, but I wouldn't have it any other way. There are days when I want to ship them all off to boarding school (they have those for babies too right?). I would be lying if I said it was always smiles and gumdrops, but it is my life. I cherish it so much. I cherish each of my kids as individuals. They each are so different and wonderful. Not to mention handsome devils! Now, I don't think larger families are crazy...I just think they are a different kind of normal.

Stopped up...

Spring has sprung in North Texas...and apparantly it sprung right up my nose and down my throat (stop laughing Kree...inside joke). I can't remember the last time my allergies were this bad. Kill me.

Completely Random...

I know I am not being very good about keeping up here. Let's blame it on things being out of sync with the boys gone and Jason taking a few days off.

And now for your reading pleasure (or for you to read to help you go to sleep), randomness of things that have happened over the last few days that no one cares about:

* Friday night Jason and I went to Shana and Brad's for Bunko. Can I just say...FUN! Jason even had a good time (he is a homebody). It was good! THANKS BAKER PEOPLE!

* Thursday I had my lab practical...I am about to email my instructor to get my grade. I think I did well. It seemed VERY easy...so that means either I did well or I bombed.

* Austin and Brodie are back from Lubbock! It is so nice to have the noisy twosome back. Chase was so excited to see them

* My mom and I went to IKEA yesterday. I love that place so much. I refuse to do anymore to this house, but if/when we move I have some great ideas.

* Jason and I started our monthly rotation in the pre-school area at church yesterday. We are working with the 1 1/2 year olds. SO FUN! This one little boy got so attached to Jason that he cried when we left. Too sweet. Jason is so awesome with kids.

OK, that is all the randomness for now. I must go get a fussy baby down for a nap.

** Updated to add: I got an A on my practical! **

Thank ya Jesus...

My new dryer was delivered at 7 this morning. I am currently in laundry mode. Anyone who knows me knows I LOATHE laundry, but a week without a dryer has made me appreciative....not to mention I am out of underwear!

Hormonal hell...

Chase self-weaned himself completely as of Friday. I am sad about it. That is the last baby I will nurse and it is just such a special bond. I also decided to start cutting out some of the refined sugar and carbs from my diet. So needless to say, the combination of those two factors has thrown my body into somewhat of a hormonal loop. Add on top of that, Austin and Brodie are gone all this week and I miss them. Don't get me wrong, it is nice to have decreased the kid load, but still. It makes me sad to not get my Aussie and Brod lovin' in the mornings. They will be back on Saturday so I am going to enjoy some one on one time with Chase. Who by the way, is walking like pro. He thinks he is so big. Jason and I will get one day all to ourselves. My aunt is going to get Chase on Thursday for some baby loving time and Jason is going to take the day off. Exciting stuff....we might even have a whole conversation without interruption. SHOCKING!

Mr. Sandman...

i had a very strange dream the other night. I don't often remember my dreams because I sleep so lightly, but this one was vivid. Jason and I had a Magnolia tree in our front yard (there are magnolia trees in our neighborhood, but we don't really have one). Our Magnolia tree was attracting a lot of attention because it wasn't blooming white flowers. The blooms were bright pink and purples. They were gorgeous, but definitely not normal for a magnolia. There were crowds of people standing out in our yard looking at the tree.

Anyone care to tell me what they think that means?