Embracing Life

Lately, I've been feeling down in the dumps. I've been bitchy and whiny and acting like a big baby. I realized reading some of my latest posts that I sound pretty crappy. I hate when life feels like it's out of control. It sucks. I hate that my kids think I'm mean and grouchy all the time. I hate that I make my husband feel like crap because I'm feeling like crap. Why should everyone else suffer because I don't want to take anti-depressants or realize all that life has to offer me. Why should I feel like life sucks? I have a nice home, I live in a nice neighborhood, I have good friends and family. I have food to eat, a roof over my head and clothes on my body. I have alot more than some people do. And in this bad economy, I still have a pretty decent life. So why shouldn't I feel happy instead of crappy? I shouldn't feel down or feel like I don't matter. Life is what you make it. And if you make it crappy, then it's going to be crappy. If you embrace life and go with the flow and realize that life happens no matter what you do. Bad things are going to happen. Good things will happen too. It's all how you look at it. It's all how you deal with it.

So, while I still may bitch here and there about the dumb things that happen in my life. I am going to embrace life. Live it for all it's worth. Life is too short to complain about everything that goes wrong in it. Do I really want my family to remember me as a grumpy witchy person when I die? Or do I want them to remember me as a fun, loving mom who loved life and loved them enough to let them know it everyday. Someone who did exciting fun things with them. Who made banana pancakes shaped like hearts, or who tickled them silly every night before they went to bed. Yeah, that's what I want. That's who I want to be. And I know I will struggle, we all do. But, I know that I have God on my side and that I can do anything if I only try. Here's to life - My life!

Toot Toot!

My "Toot" for Tuesday is, after having only gotten four hours of sleep, I volunteered to work an extra shift this morning when someone called off. Man, was I tired, but I made it through the day. I did sneak in a nap when I got home though. Then, Rich and I took the kids to a birthday party at the pool. It was for one of Zachary's friends, but they invited whole families too, so we all went and had a blast. Nathan was a chicken at first (as usual when there is water involved), but he ended up getting in with Rich and eventually went down the baby slide.

So, what started out with me working an extra shift, and being exhausted and Rich being exhausted (since he got very little sleep as well), me being grouchy from lack of sleep, etc. turned out to be a nice day. After the pool party we came home and ordered pizza to celebrate Nathan's birthday. We've been letting the kids pick their favorite dinner on or close to their birthdays and Nathan picked pizza. Fun day all around! Now I must get some sleep soon, because I have to work in the morning. And I have a birthday party to plan for and I must clean my house for the party as well.

My Summer To Do List

My list just keeps growing and I don't seem to be making any progress on it. So, I thought maybe if if I wrote it all out here, I could actually get some things done and cross them off one by one. It seems like all we do around here is start one project after another and none of them ever get finished. Here is my list of "to do's" that need to be finished, in no particular order.

*Lay out landscaping fabric and wash the dirt and crap off the rocks for the front yard ---- DONE

*Get Rich to make the flower boxes for my tulip and crocus bulbs

*Finish the front boxes (maybe stain them to match the flower boxes, when he builds them)

*Transplant the bulbs from the tree planter to the flower boxes and weed the rest

*Dismantle the flower ring around our dead tree, so that the tree can be cut down

*Build the flower rings around the other remaining trees (and put the face things on them with the kids)

*Sprinkle Sevin on the garden and weed it again ---- DONE

*Scrape the bathroom window, so that Rich can finish with it ----DONE

*Get Rich to finish the bathroom window

*Go through the kids toys and sort them out (give away, throw away and keep)

*Go through the kids clothes ---- DONE

*Get Anthony to scrape the fish tank glass ----DONE

*Pick a dang color already for the living room

*Paint the livingroom, hallways and entryway

*Paint the shoe bin

*Fill in the holes with dry wall mud and sand it out

*Finish cleaning and organizing the workshop

*Paint the trim in the livingroom, hallways and entryway

*Finish organizing the closets and pantry/storage room

*Plan out Nathan's party and buy the supplies ----DONE


There are many more things, but I can't think of them right now. I'll just have to add them as I think about them and cross them off when I get them done. Now that I see all this in writing, it's no wonder I've been feeling so overwhelmed by it all.

*Something not on the list that Rich did last night was put back the heat/air covers that we took off when he did the floors. Hopefully things will start to get done around here.

Good Cheap Fun

This Morning's Breakfast

Heeeeee's Baaaaaaccck!

Do you ever feel that way towards one of your kids' friends?

I have, this very summer in fact.

Don't get me wrong, on a normal day, I wouldn't mind it. But it's EVERY, SINGLE, DAMN DAY! At first it was nice, because the little boys love when people come over, especially someone that will play with them. But, now that it's been happening everyday, it is driving me absolutely mad.

Have you ever seen Everybody Loves Raymond? You know how Deborah feels about her mother in law, how she is constantly coming over and on one episode they were trying to hide from Marie, but she peeked in the windows and stuff and tried the doors and one of them was unlocked and they couldn't get to it in time to lock it. Is that Everybody Loves Raymond that I'm thinking of, or a different show? Anyway, she figures out that they are home and now they are stuck dealing with her. Yep, that's how I feel lately with this kid.

See, we used to be neighbors and the kids would play together everyday and it was nice. Then, they moved and the kids grew up and the friend had a girlfriend and he stopped coming around. Well, his girlfriend broke up with him and now, he's bored...so he comes to our house....EVERY SINGLE DAMN DAY!

Like I said, at first it was kind of nice. It gave the kids someone new to play with, even though he's Amanda and Anthony's age. But now that he is coming every day and making himself at home and I'm feeding him at least one meal a day.....yeah, it's getting annoying. He's even starting bossing the younger kids around like an older sibling and it makes me mad. You don't get to come here and boss my kids around (they have older siblings for that lol). And you don't get to belittle them by saying things like, "get away from me, you're disgusting" while sitting at my kitchen table, eating my food.

I have enough of my own kids.....I don't need another one that I have to police all day and make sure they aren't picking on the little ones.

So everyday, when I hear the proverbial knocking on the door.....and then ringing of the doorbell...and then knocking on the door again.....ringing the doorbell....and then standing at the back door looking at me through the glass.....I start to feel like - great, here we go again. Can't wait to see how long it takes before I'm wishing he would just go home. Or counting down the hours until 8 p.m. when I make him go home because it's getting late. Maybe I should call his girlfriend and beg her to take him back......or, maybe, just maybe this is why she broke up with him in the first place, eh?

Feeling A Little Blue

First, I'm upset about not getting any comments on either of my blogs. I know this is silly and stupid. I also know that it's summer and everyone is busy doing things with their families, etc. Hey, I'm busy too, I have six children, a husband, pets, and a part time job. I know about being busy. But, I still find time to comment on other people's blogs. It kind of makes me depressed. It kind of makes me think, what am I doing wrong. I don't know what the problem is, I get readers. I guess they are more like drive-bys or something. I just don't get it.

Second, I'm feeling kind of run down. I know it's because I stopped drinking pop. But, I think I have a sinus infection or cold as well. My asthma has been all wackadoodle lately too. I think I picked the wrong time to try to give up sugar, artificial sweeteners and caffeine (I still get caffeine, but in smaller amounts, not an all day thing). My head is killing me, from the lack of it. And I feel like my kids are being extra annoying this week for some reason. They spend all day every day fighting with each other, I don't know how much more of that I can take. Actually, just about everything is either annoying me, frustrating me or making me feel depressed.

Third, we have quite a few elderly neighbors. Most of them just keep to themselves, but this one lady in particular is starting to get on my nerves. She is constantly coming over to our yard and talking to the kids, giving them cookies and crap. Today, she gave them arm loads full of stuffed animals. Do you know how many of those suckers I have thrown away to reduce it down to what we now have (a few per kid) and now my house looks like a zoo with all these stupid stuffed animals. I have been trying to declutter my house all summer long and now it's being filled back up with more friggin crap!! UGH!!! I think she's lonely, in fact I know she's lonely, she lost her husband this past winter (this is a different neighbor than Mrs. Smith, the one that Anthony mows grass for). I think she needs some friends her own age, not my kids. For crying out loud it's just annoying, looking outside and seeing her standing there. She even made herself home in our garden patch. I don't mind sharing, but still??!

Fourth, I have been a walking doormat my whole life. I hate it, but I continue to get taken advantage of and it really makes me depressed. Amanda has these two girls she hangs out with. For months on end this past winter/spring, I seemed to be the only parent out of the three that could drive these girls to the mall. The mall is a half hour away and the excuses that I heard for them not wanting to take the girls is "I don't have enough gas" - Hello, you have a little two or small four door coupe, I'm driving a freakin' minivan - I shouldn't have enough gas!! "I have a job, I can't do it" - Hello, I have a job too, plus 5 other kids that I have to take care of. Then the kicker came last night, Amanda was to spend last night at one of the girls' house, because it was her birthday. They said they would pick her up. She waited and waited for them, they never showed. But they did call and said they were in the same town we live in visiting the mother's friend. Did they bother to pick Amanda up when they were done? Nope, they decided to rent a movie instead and then said they didn't have enough gas to come back and get Amanda, so they wanted me to drop her off. And like a dumbass, I did it. I'm so freakin' tired of that crap I could just scream!!

As I was complaining about all this to Rich, he reminded me of a new song. Country fans will know of the tune, but it goes like this:

Sounds like life to me it ain’t no fantasy
It’s just a common case of everyday reality
Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy
It sounds like life to me

Sounds like life to me plain old destiny
Yeah the only thing for certain is uncertainty
You gotta hold on tight just enjoy the ride
Get used to all this unpredictability
Sounds like life

Man I know its tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy
Sounds like life to me
Sounds like life

Yeah, I realize now that my problems all sound so trivial, but hell it's my blog and if I want a bitchfest than, I'll go for it. And for the record, now that I got it all out, I do feel somewhat better.

More growing.....

Have I mentioned how excited I am over this whole process? Back when I was a kid, my mom always had a garden. And I hated it! Spending all day in a garden weeding the sucker when all I wanted to do was play with my friends really sucked. The only thing that I remember liking about it was snapping the beans after they were picked. For some reason, I just loved doing that.

This is our first year doing a garden and for the most part I'm enjoying it. It's kind of hard though when you imagine a girly girl who doesn't like being outside that much, having to not only go outside, but deal with bugs and dirt and other things such as that. I'm not real thrilled with that part. I'm also not really thrilled by the fact that the kids think it's hilarious to "accidentally" spray me with the hose when I ask for their help. And now listening to them whine about having to help weed the garden, makes me a little more sympathetic towards my mother.

But, I am enjoying the rewards of having a garden. It's exciting watching things you planted grow. It's even more pleasant picking some of those things out and washing them to use in a salad or to make dinner with. And when you can grasp a handle on how much money you can save by not having to buy those things in the grocery store or at the farmer's market - it just makes it all more better in my opinion. Now, I just need to figure out what do with all of it, once it really starts coming in....canning? freezing? It'll be like a whole new adventure for me.

Really starting to grow now.....

Making Progress

In the Beginning

Do they make fly cemeteries?

I think I need a swinging door put on my house. My kids are constantly running in and out of the house.

*I need to go to the bathroom
*I'm hungry
*When's dinner?
*It's too hot to play outside
*It's boring inside
*It's boring outside
*Can we go to......(fill in the blank)
*Can we spray the hose
*Can we take a blanket outside and lay on it
*I need my ball glove
*I need a baseball
*I'm thirsty
*I need to go to the bathroom

It's an all day, every day ordeal. I killed so many flies lately, I could fill an entire cemetery with their remains. Not to mention the dirt and sand all over the floor. At this rate, I should just sweep it all up and dump it back in the sand box, considering I have more sand in the house than in the sand box.

The other day, Rich was complaining to me about the flies and how many he has killed. I told him he needs to complain to the kids, not me, because I was just as frustrated about it as he was.

It's not just my kids that are running in and out all day, it's their friends that are doing it too. And while I'm happy that we can be the "hangout" house and I don't mind feeding extra kids (which I have....just about every day, at least once a day), I just wish they could close the door while they are running in and out. And you know maybe scrape their feet on those - what do you call them - Oh yeah, welcome mats that are placed oh so conveniently right in front of the door.

I was just thinking the other day.......

Whatever happened to the days when we were kids? We'd leave in the morning and didn't come back until it was time to eat dinner, or better yet for our parents, until it was dark and time for bed. Rich told me that his mother used to lock the door on him and his sister. I must admit, the idea did sound tempting, but alas, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Plus, what would be the sense in it anyway, they would just bang on the door until I let them back in anyway.

So until, I come up with a different solution, I'll just have to resort to making them sweep the kitchen floor and wipe the muddy, crap covered sinks that they wash their grubby hands in ten times a day. And Rich can continue bribbing their friends with cash while getting them to help out with the landscaping or other outdoor chores. And I'll secretly keep thanking my lucky stars that their friends like coming here, because it keeps the little boys occupied as well. And feel blessed beyond measure when Amanda volunteers to shuffle them all to the neighborhood playground for a few hours of blissful peace and quiet for me.

Summer time joys and all that - I guess I should enjoy it while it lasts, because it won' t be long before they're all back in school and I'm freezing my ass off again.

Char/Charlene

Just to clarify for some folks. I have two accounts with blogger (one here and one for my weight loss blog). I used my nickname Char on the weight loss blog, so if you see someone named Char (that you don't know) and you're used to seeing Charlene in your comments section - it's just me.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

This morning I made myself a cheesy frittata. If you read my weight loss blog, you know that I'm trying new foods and this was a new recipe I wanted to try. At any rate, Nathan brought me a box of cereal and a cup and wanted some dry cereal to eat for breakfast. While I was pouring the cereal he was looking at my plate so I asked him if he wanted a bite. He said "No, I don't like that kind of cereal" LOL!

Summer's are for Pedicures

Thanks Amanda!!

Top Ten Reasons I Hate Doing Laundry

10. Folding Fitted Sheets {those suckers annoy me endlessly. I usually start out trying to fold them, but I end up just rolling them up and tossing them on the shelf}

9. Folded up socks {that need to be unfolded before washing them}

8. Rolled over socks {you know the kind where somebody - usually the boys - roll the sock down their foot when they take them off...it's the biggest pain in the you know what to unroll them just so they can be washed}

7. Finding clean folded clothes mixed in with the dirty ones {this is a boy thing too and it makes me so freakin' mad - we're talking finding hangers still attached to shirts here}

6. Ironing shirts and pants {enough said...remind me to post a pic of my ironing pile later}

5. Stains that no matter how many times you pretreat, don't come out

4. Putting clean clothes away {at least getting the kids to put their clean clothes away - I should definitely get extra credit for this...trust me!}

3. Having to do laundry for a family of eight {it's an all day...everyday....never ending...thankless job, but somebody's gotta do it}

2. Going through pockets to add to my collection of rocks, sticks, matchbox cars, marbles, crayons and anything else they shove in their pockets {Boys are good for this one as well}

1. Finding clothes that went through the dryer that now have crayon melted all over them, that you find after forgetting to go through the pockets {which of course is the whole reason leading up to this post....this time it was a pretty shade of blue...and yep, I'm still wearing the underwear with green melted on crayon that wouldn't come out last time....thanks}

Is that supposed to be a threat?

Nathan asked me where his leftover dinner plate (that he had put in the fridge went). I told him I didn't know what happened to it. He then said Well, that's it I'm drinking milk then.

Go right ahead buddy! LOL!

That's It...I'm Calling Grandma!!

Sshhhh....Don't Tell On Me!

A few weeks ago, I cleaned out my freezers and put everything in the smaller one upstairs (so I can restock the deep freezer downstairs). I found some deer meat that I forgot I had in there. In an effort to use things up, I decided to use the ground venison to make sloppy joe sandwiches (in this house that means Manwich). I wasn't sure if the kids would eat it if I told them it was deer meat, so I lied and said it was hamburger. And they gobbled it right up without noticing a difference LOL! Bad mommy for lying! Good mommy for getting them to try something new! Don't tell the kids!

MySpace

I'm getting ready to delete my MySpace page. I hardly ever get on there anymore, I'm addicted to FaceBook. I do like to get on MySpace once in a while to catch up with some old high school friends that aren't on FaceBook yet, but since I've been decreasing my time on line, I noticed that I just don't get on MySpace as much as I used to. So, I decided to transfer some of my favorite things to my blogs and FaceBook. And if you are my friend on MySpace and notice you are missing a friend on your list, come find me on FaceBook and I'll gladly accept you as a friend on there.

Oh, and check out my slideshow at the bottom of this blog. It's one of the things that I wanted to keep from MySpace, because I love all those old photos. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed watching it!

Last Night's Dinner

Cabbage Rolls (aka Pigs in the Blanket)

Boil the cabbage leaves for about 10 minutes

For the meat mixture: take 2 lbs of ground beef, about a cup of rice, about a third of a cup of onion chopped up, some parsely and oregano sprinkled in, a dash or two of salt, pepper and garlic powder and 2 eggs and mix it all up. Ooh, forgot add a splash of worcestershire sauce in there too

Form meat into palm sized or smaller balls and roll up in the cabbage leaves. Place in a casserole dish and pour a can of tomato sauce, use the can to fill up with water and pour the water on top too. Bake for about an hour or so (usually by the time the mashed potatoes are done, the rolls are done too).

Not sure if I posted my recipe before or not, so there you have it.

Ooohhh Aaahhh

Lucky Charms

Nicholas told me today, that the marshmallows are smaller than they used to be. I looked and they are actually smaller than they used to be. What gives? I wonder why they did that and if they will still be magically delicious with smaller charms. It didn't really slow the kids down from devouring them this morning anyway, so I guess not.

Cool!

Nicholas (7 yrs old): Mom, how old were you when you married Dad?

Me: 20

Nicholas: How old was dad when he married you?

Me: 24

Nicholas: Dad's 4 years older than you huh?

Me: Yep

Nicholas: Cool

Takin' the Plunge

I switched my weight loss blog back to public again. Now, anyone can read it. No more hiding behind private doors anymore....Take it or leave it - good, the bad and the ugly. The link is on the sidebar.

Locks of Love

Sarah got her hair cut today. She wanted to donate her hair to the Locks of Love program. You have to have at least 10 inches to donate and Sarah had enough to get her hair cut to just above her shoulders. She looks adorable with her new hair cut and I think she feels pretty good about what she did as well.
Before:

There it goes....





New shorter length

She said "I think another little girl without hair will feel better if she has mine."

I'm very proud of her. She is an awesome, super duper kid! I think I'll keep her!

After: Pretty darn cute (if you ask me)!