Stupid Crap...

Is it sad that my 16 year old daughter has nicer bras than me? As I'm washing her laundry, I see all these cute patterns and colors and then I see mine - boring white, maybe a pink one thrown in there, with holes and the underwiring ripped out. Because once that wire pops a hole through the material and starts poking me in the boob, I just rip it out the rest of the way. Which then makes one boob "perkier" than the other, if you know what I mean by that lol. Sure I could go and buy myself some nice new ones, but I know damn well that once I hit the stores I'll gravitate towards the white ones, for practical reasons. Wouldn't my hubby be shocked one day to see a hot pink cheetah printed bra?!

I love our new Wii. It really keeps the kids occupied and active. Way better than just sitting in a chair clicking on a control playing the PS or whatever. The Wii gets them moving. The only problem with it is I wish we had more than one system. Because I get so tired of them constantly fighting over what game they're going to play, whose turn it is, etc. And yes, I realize that I could buy more controllers, but still wouldn't it be nice to say you two play on this tv and you two go play on that one.

I swear listening to Sarah's whining and complaining about everything, that that girl is going to start her period very...very soon. I just got into the swing of Amanda's mood patterns and now I'm dealing with Sarah's constant moodiness. One minute she's a happy girl, my girl...who likes spending time with me and hanging out and doing fun stuff and the next she morphs into this alien that screams everything is stupid and I swear her head spins in circles when I'm not looking. Another 6 years or so of this.....Makes me really happy that I have 4 boys and only 2 girls. Even if those boys leave rocks and chewed up candy in their pockets, and Matchbox cars all over the stairs for us to trip on and little fake spiders, to scare their mother witless, all over the house. Mmm, yeah compared to the hormones...I'll take the boys.

Did you ever notice that when girls fight with each other, the fight lasts for days? They give each other the silent treatment or scream at each other. And it literally goes on for days, weeks sometimes. But when boys have a disagreement, they just throw the punches and then spend the next half hour laughing about it. They get mad at each other for as long as it takes to fight and then they end up being friends again. People are so weird!

I realize that I was so much more creative as a parent when I was younger....I mean when it came to doling out punishment. For example, Amanda once colored with a red crayon on my white refrigerator (when she was about 3 years old) and I made her scrub it all off until it was gone. That girl never colored on anything other than paper ever again...now I live with crayon colored walls, because I've been too lazy to parent the younger kids the right way.

I swear I watch way too many crime shows. Then I project everything I watched onto my kids. "No, You can't walk to the house next door by yourself...someone might try to kidnap you." When we were kids our parents let us loose and didn't worry until it got dark and even then we still played outside catching fireflies and playing hide and seek in the dark. But my poor kids don't have this luxury (Unless I'm at work and it's Rich's turn to watch them).

I made a craft with Nathan the other day and when the twins came home from school they said how come you never did this kind of thing with us. I lied and said I did, but the reality of it was this...there were two of them. They fought over everything when it came to me. I couldn't ever just hold one of them, I had to hold both of them. And with two kids...well there was twice the mess to clean up. And frankly when you spend your whole day scrubbing poop off of their bedroom wall (Yes, those pesky little trouble makers used to play in their diapers and smear it on the walls - Disgusting!), you really don't feel like cleaning up art stuff - if you know what I mean.

I went to the grocery store today and used my coupons. I used so many that I thought the cashier was going to crap herself when she saw me pull them all out. The upside was I saved over $40...So take that lady!

And there you have it, all my stupid crap thoughts....ain't life grand?

Nathan's Mitten Project

Nathan's little craft project today was mittens. We used foam board, glue, little foam heart stickers, pom poms, markers and some yarn and clothes pins to hang them up when he was finished decorating the mittens. *A bit of a warning if you are going to use the pom poms, you have to use a good bit of glue to make them stick and let them dry before you hang them up, because they fall right off if they aren't completely dry.

I traced Nathan's hand to make the mitten shape onto the foam board. And also used the little scraps to make a "cuff" on the mittens, just for extra decoration. Then let his little mind get creative with the decorating. We had fun!

Upside Down Blueberry Cheesecake

I made two, because I have 6 little piggies - I mean kiddos who like desserts. Just make it like regular cheesecake, but put the fruit on the bottom and the cheesecake on top.

Ooh La La....

First attempt at making homemade French Bread......




......too bad computers don't have smell buttons --- fresh bread baking in the oven smells sooooo good.

I Love When Stuff Like This Happens

The other night as I was taking Anthony and Zachary to basketball practice (Anthony is one of the coaches on Zach's team), Anthony said "I want to learn how to make lasagna." When I asked him why, he said because I want to "expand my cooking capabilities". He can already cook simple easy things like grilled cheese, eggs, sausage, bacon and things like that (all four older kids can do these things). But to hear him say that he wanted to learn how to cook made my heart do flip flops.

I've been pretty lucky with my kids...they will eat just about anything, they get that from Rich (I'm the picky eater). I like to cook and bake and try new things from time to time and it helps when your family gets excited about it. They don't look at it and turn their noses up or say I'm not eating THAT. They gobble it up and ask for more - It's great! It makes me happy.

When I first got married, I couldn't cook worth a crap. Rich likes to say it was like eating rocks, but he ate it anyway, cause he loves me LOL. Then for years I went through my "lazy" stage where I didn't cook anything that didn't come out of a box (and it usually had the word "helper" on said box). Sure there were times that I actually did cook things, but those times were few and far between. I liked cooking when I actually took the time to do it, but it always seemed like such an ordeal that I just didn't like it.

Somewhere along the way I discovered that I actually love cooking. I love creating things with my own two hands. I love the fact that it keeps my mind occupied. I have tons of ideas rolling around bouncing in my head just waiting for the time I let them out. I love the accolades and praise...I eat them up. The other day Rich redeemed himself and said I have turned into an exceptional cook. That comment made my heart explode with pride. Now I'm even more eager to prove that I can do more and become even better...funny, huh?

Tonight I'm teaching my boy how to make manicotti (almost the same thing as the lasagna that he wanted to learn about). I'm beginning to realize that life's too short, not to be doing the things you love to do. Why waste another minute hiding behind fears, or being lazy. Just go for it, at least you know that you tried and did your best in the end. I don't want to get to the end of my life thinking about all the would of's, could of's and should of's. Do you?

YUM!!

Someone's Spoiled Rotten....

They like their crust cut off of their French Toast and I'm a sucker enough for them that I do it....



....And here's a Hint - It's not Nathan.

Ahhh, It must be love LOL!

Last Night's Dinner & Dessert

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy, Mashed Potatoes and Carrots - yum!
Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Yipee!

I don't have to go to work for a week.......

But, I have still have to take Nicholas to wrestling practice three nights this week. Sarah and Zach both have basketball games this week and practices. I have to take Amanda shopping for an outfit for a school project, which is due on Thursday. Anthony has basketball games and practices too, since he's the coach of Zach's team. Nathan's already been asking me if we can do more projects and make cookies, and go to the library and....

On top of all that, I still have all my normal junk to do, you know all that laundry, cooking and cleaning won't do itself. Plus, I signed up for the biggest loser contest at work (Wish Me Luck!!), so I guess I'll have to throw in some workouts and gym time in there somewhere as well.

Better pour another cup of coffee, gas up my van and start the washing machine. Too bad you can't lose weight just from running around in circles all day.....

I Really Wish My Kids Would Stop Doing This!

And This:

Guess what mess they are going to be cleaning today?!