The Power of Music

Okay, that title is cliche'. But seriously, I'm on to something here. If you don't have kids yet, and are reading this - you have to remember this post. File it away in the random remembrances for a later date.

So every mom knows how the hours of 4-6pm are pretty much when you want to go in the bathroom and lock yourself in it - and your not doing anything in there, either. You are trying to get dinner on, the kids are at your feet, begging you for food, they've already watched too much TV so you can't use that babysitter, there really is no other way to describe it other than h-e-l-l.

The other day, I discovered something that has changed my world. Classical music. I turned on a classical music CD, because I was into playing that for my first baby, per all the baby books. The children began playing together nicely, my blood pressure went down tremendously, and I was able to cook my dinner of roast chicken, fresh salad, and homemade rolls. All right, not really - it was really mac and cheese with beans and tomatoes. But that's beside the point. Something about that calm music saved us all. I even think Andy was proud as he walked in the door and there wasn't lots of crying, screaming, and a look of desperation from me. I tried my theory another day, just to see if it was a fluke thing. It wasn't. So now everyone - the secret is out. No only can you culture your children, but you can actually get dinner on the table in peace with your classical CDs. I dare you to try it. And I expect you to come back an comment on how this has single-handedly changed your life.

Morning reminder

The weekend

• I'm pretty sure Rene' ate a baby blue button off her barrette. I found the barrette, in pieces, in her bed, but the button was nowhere. She likes to eat them more than wear them.
• Not only do I love going to church on Saturday nights, but I love that this summer they have hot dogs, root beer, and chips for $1 afterwards, along with a moonbouce to tire my kids out.
• Andy found lots of little white worms in the garage........
• I got to spend 2 entire hours at the local bookstore - by myself - reading magazines and browsing.
• Zak spent the night with a friend for the first time.
• It was triple digit heat all weekend - with no end in site - I think I've mentioned before that I loathe the summer season.

The Mental Peptalk

I may be the only person who does this, and if so, just shake your head and say a prayer for me. But today is like the day of the mental pep talk. For some reason, things people have said to me, days or even weeks ago (and okay, really, one was like months ago), are bugging me. And I'm thinking of all these great things I wish I had the nerve to say, and of course never would. I'm thinking of how right I am and how insensitive they are, blah, blah, blah. Then I follow it up with how I need to just let it all go. This is a conversation I have had with myself about 5 times today, regarding different things/people. And all of the sudden it hit me - this actually might be dialogue of a spiritual nature. And if I chose to dissect it even more, I'd probably see some evidences of the gentle quiet nudge of The Holy Spirit.....not telling me to give them a call along with a piece of my mind, but the letting it go part. Nothing like a little conviction to start off the weekend.

The Addiction

It is blogs. It is out of control. Just today, I clicked away and found myself on so many amazing blogs. I have no idea how I got there. It just got crazy. I'm afraid I'm going to have to do to myself what I do to Zak and start the timer. Since an addicted person wants others to be addicted as well, I'm going to share a couple of the blogs that have stolen my time today. Beware.....

1. The Tip Junkie - there are so many ideas on this I don't think I have a favorites folder big enough.
2. Nesting Place - Unlike some, I need decorating inspiration - well - I copy. I copy what everyone else does, because I am an accountant, not a visionary. I will be copying a lot here.

And I will leave you with that.

Money

I talked Zak into playing with Rene' while I took a little nap. I told him I'd pay him $1. This got the response of how $1 would not buy a large toy, and how about $50? He's a dreamer. So I told him to never mind, I'd keep my dollar. He decided a dollar was better than nothing.

He's been getting his money out of his bank and counting the quarters by 4's. He talked his sister into counting her money. Of course she has more because she didn't buy a Super Soaker last week. This produced more tears. Then he tried to talk her into spending some of her money.

He's now begging me for more chores so he can earn .50 a day instead of .25. This is good. But I also have to come up with .50 a day.

I love it. Its such a good lesson in money management. Although I dread the tooth fairy. I'm afraid his won't be passing out enough to his liking.

Blog of the week

No, its not mine. Its Kelly over at Blessings Times Two. She's an adoptive mom of 2, a photographer by hobby, has a voice that makes you feel like your ina piano bar, and has the best ideas for everything! She's one of my best friends and I want you to go visit her blog. You'll be glad you did.

Muffin Tin Monday

This is sheer brilliance, if you ask me. Lunch is the thorn in my side - I never know what to cook. But as of today, Monday's are taken care of. I'm taking this idea from Sycamore Stirrings. You serve lunch in a muffin tin. My kids loved it, and it made the veggies disappear. It amazes me how presentation is everything. Even to kids. Here's what was in mine:

The menu: carrots, pretzels, ham, tomatoes, red pepper strips, turkey pepperoni, ranch dressing, blackberries, cheese, apples, peas, and one more ranch dressing.

I tell you, mothers who loathe making lunch, you will feel really cool if you do this.

The fruits of our labor

You can see the fruit of our labor from the Blackberry farm here on my recipe blog!

We went back since The Sky Mom and her kids were in town. We made it a large family affair. There were 11 of us. The berries were even bigger and better the 2nd time around!! I just froze 3 pounds of berries.Here's some more pics.

Hot Tip

The other day I was thinking we needed to put back some money for Christmas because I hate having to come up with it all in one month. Then I had a stroke of brilliance - instead of putting back money every month, why don't I just spend it - on Christmas gifts. So that is what I am doing. Today, I went to Target to pick up something and didn't have my kids with me so I browsed the toy aisle. I am not exaggerating when I say that every single aisle had at least 10 things on clearance. One of the things on clearance - Paige's main gift from us - her very own pink and purple Leapster - $20 off. I was so excited!! Run, don't walk to Target to get a jump on your Christmas shopping!!

Country Girl wannna be

One of my wishes is that I lived on a farm. With lots of homegrown fruit and vegetable trees and plants. So if you don't have it - you must go visit. Thats what we did yesterday. We took a short 35-40 minute drive with some friends to the most beautiful farm with rows upon rows of blackberries. We had the best time picking them. Rene' just kept eating them out of everyone's bucket while they were picking. It was the cutest thing. The whole experience made me want to live on a farm even more. Some day...

These 2 are definitely my kids - they had as much fun as I did

Joanna with Jax and Jonas

The biggest, plumpest, ones were way back in the middle of the bush

Now that is a blackberry picking hand

Trying to be like her brother....

Yesterday, Andy went to church before us because he's helping with the sound for the kids. That meant I was bringing everyone later. No big deal, right? When we get to church, I'm rounding the side of the van to get Zak and Paige. Zak jumps out of the van, like he does every time. Paige decides she wants to be like her brother. Only when she jumps, her shoe catches on her dress and her face hits the ground first. Paige is my most dramatic child. As you can imagine there is lots of wailing. She looks at me with a very scraped up nose and blood coming out of her nostril. So I put Rene' down in the van (which she is terrified of. I don't know why she is so scared to stand in the van by herself, but she is) I try to mop up the blood from Paige's nose, but it has already gone all over her dress. I strategically figure out how to hold both Rene', Paige, and a Kleenex to Paige's nose. All the while, Zak is saying, " Mom, she shouldn't have tried to jump like me", over and over. Now this next part is a testament to the body of Christ. My friend, who is the greeter for the day, sees the look on my face and immediately takes Rene' and Zak and checks them in for me as I take Paige to the bathroom to try to put her back together. By the time I'm done with that, the kids are checked in and in their rooms and Paige is with her favorite children's director, Miss Brooke, who pampered her with donuts and hugs for the rest of the morning. I love my church.

To cable or not to cable...that is the question

We have been cable TV less for 3 years now. The decision was a hard one but an absolute necessity to clean up the budget. It was the cell phone or cable. That made it easy. We were astounded at how much free time we had all of the sudden. We even started to read books again. (gasp!) Randomly, I miss my friends like Paula Deen and Rachel Ray. I also miss seeing how to design a room on a dime. I really miss Dora and Diego every 3 hours. But the thought is fleeting.

A couple of days ago I got the mail. It said Cox cable on the envelope and I knew it was not for the Internet service, but the TV. Curiosity got the best of me and I opened it. That was my first mistake. I guess cable rates have gone down in the last 3 years. And now they have a family package that has the few channels we actually care about like National Geographic, HGTV, and the station of all stations for every mother of a child between the ages of 1 and 3, PBS Kids Sprout, without getting the mindlessness of MTV that I got sucked into in my early 20's. I saved the flier and just mentioned it to Andy. He came back with, we could probably get satellite for that price too. 20 minutes later, he has found a deal even cheaper than the Cox Cable for a year. Visions of me preparing meals along with Giada De Laurentiis pop into my head, then I envision myself being on Trading Spaces........Yeah, it got out of control. We stopped ourselves and questioned whether we want to give up our evenings on the back porch. So, give it to me - do you cable?

Snack boxes - a mother's sanity

We made the snack boxes I mentioned the other day. They are working beautifully. They love picking out their snacks in the morning. This saves me from having to make them all day long. They are required to pick 2 fruit/veggie snacks, one protein (cheese sticks, pb and crackers), and one fun one like a granola bar or pretzels. I didn't want a mess to clean up when we decorated the boxes so I got out all my old scrap booking stickers and let them have at it. They loved it. To steal a line from one of my favorite people - Snack boxes, they're a good thing.

The Power of the Oldest Child

Zak and Paige have been very "brother/sister - ly" lately. They've all of the sudden discovered they can have fun playing together. There's been lots of hugging, too. And while I thought that Paige was going to be the boss of all the siblings, Zak has discovered the advantage of being the oldest.

This afternoon, I gave Zak a few things to do - mostly cleaning up his toys and unpacking his bag from spending the night with Grandma and Grandpa. As I went about my business, I over heard him telling Paige where to put everything. He was taking things out of his bag, and then giving them to Paige who was then heading all over the house to his room, the laundry room, etc, delivering his stuff. I gave Zak a look and he said "She's just doing a favor for me, Mom". I decided to just let it be. She'll wise up one day. And then he'll be sorry.

Happy 4th of July

This is my absolute least favorite holiday. So I started a new tradition. We had breakfast as an extended family including my mom, my brother and his wife, my grandma and my aunt and uncle. We feasted on homemade cinnamon rolls, egg casserole, fruit, and coffee and juice. And now everyone is off to buy GeeGee (my 89 year old grandma) a new TV and somehow I have scored being home by myself with the napping baby. Happy 4th of July!!

Aunt Linda and Uncle Lewis (when they pulled up, Zak said "Yea, Aunt Lewis is here")

Breakfast outside

Grandma Paula and Paige

857 ways to get in the water this summer

Okay, well, its really like 5. But I feel like we have been in almost every kind of water activity there is in the past 2 weeks. First we'll start with the spray grounds. If you don't know what it is, it is sheer brilliance. And the fact that a new one was built just a couple of miles from my home is icing on the cake. It is an area of a park that has all kinds of water features, spraying out water and the kids just run and play in them. Its great when you have little ones who you don't want to have to worry about drowning. Except, I found the day cares discovered my little haven. And it wasn't such a haven this week. Next is of course the public swimming pool. I'm so happy they are getting creative and making it all a whole lot more small child friendly. Lots of shallow water, etc. Then there is the baby pool and slip and slide in our backyard. When we aren't up to going anywhere, that's where you'll find us. And finally one of our friends has a metal watering trough turned swimming pool. Yes I'm serious and my kids love it.

Now, I'm pretty much summered out so bring on the fall weather, pumpkins, and sweatshirts.

A woman can dream.