I don't take my kids to McD's very often but I used to take them far more often than I should have.  We have an overabundance of the toys to prove it.  Of course they never want to part with any of them. My new deal with the kids is if we go to McD's and they want a happy meal, they have to throw out two of the old toys.  It is kind of a two steps forward, one step back program.  We have already managed to wean them of expecting pop when we go out to eat.  They b...

This weekend my mom called to deliver the shocking news that my cousin/aunt was found hanged in her home.  To clarify, cousin/aunt means she is my uncle's daughter but she got taken away from him and my grandparents then adopted her making her legally my aunt (and to make things really confusing, legally her father is her brother).  Yes, I'm a hick.  There are a few "uncle, daddy, Bob" situations in my mom's side of the family. My poor cousin's life got off to a rotten start be...

Today has been a very relaxing day.  They kids woke up around 9:30 and went straight to playing with each other so I stayed in bed for a while.  It wasn't until about 11 when Alex came in and told me he was starting to get hungry. We all had a nice brunch together and boys took their dishes to the sink like the good boys they are.  Then it was back to playing.  They drew me some pictures and explained the stories that went with them.  Ryan still likes to sit on my lap...

My kindergartner, Ryan, got his first loose tooth this morning.  Just as I was seeing his brother off to school he came up and said "Mommy, I have a wiggle tooth".  When he smiled I could see one of his front bottom teeth jutting forward in an unnatural position.  He was beaming! His brother was good about letting me give his teeth a little tug when they wouldn't come out on their own.  Knowing this guy, he will probably yank them himself.  I think the tooth fairy wil...

We are fixing up the bigger of the boys' bedrooms for them to share so we can make the other into the nursery.  They picked out the paint color, fabric for curtains and the bunkbeds!  The bunkbeds arrived today and they are soooo cool! It is actually a loft bed with an area for a bed underneath.  There are shelves and cubbies on one end and a desk on the other.  The headboard underneath has its own corkboards to display artwork created at the attached desk.  I think B...

My 5yr old is such a sweetie. We were talking the other day about where things come from and why. He knows that mommy has a baby growing in her tummy. He believes in God and that God made everything. He asked me "Do you know how God makes people?" I told him I really didn't but asked what he thought. He said "I think maybe the Tooth Fairy takes our teeth to God and he uses them to make new people when somebody dies." I thought that was a clever and imaginitive theory that I had ne...

Our 5yr old son, Ryan, is so much like his daddy.  It is kind of spooky sometimes.  As he gets older we see more and more similarities. We started calling him Brad's mini-me at an early age because he looks so much like him physically.  His hands, feet, and build are almost identical.  There are pictures of Brad when he was 4 or 5 that you would be hard pressed to be able to discern from some pictures of Ryan. The spooky part is the mannerisms.  Ry chews exactly li...

My 3rd grade son Alex went to a "slumber" party last night.  I have never seen that kid that tired in his life!  Apparently the other boys were pulling pranks on the ones who fell asleep so Alex refused to give them the chance to pull anything on him.  He was not a happy camper when I picked him up at noon. He is one of those kids, like most of us, who gets very wobbly and clumsy when they are over tired.  Apparently the boys all went outside to play after breakfast and Al...

I have talked to a lot of friends about their mothers.  Relationships range from being totally estranged to being like best friends.  I find it fascinating how parental relationships affect how people mature and evolve. I am extremely fortunate in the parent department.  Don't get me wrong, my parents certainly have flaws but doling out unconditional love and acceptance has not been one of them.  My parents always made me feel loved and valued.  I never had to worry a...

Now that we are expecting child #3 I have been thinking a lot about how we will convert Alex's room into Alex & Ryan's room.  The boys are very excited about getting bunkbeds and decorating the room together.  I am only concerned about storage space. The room has a small walk-in closet that, for some unknown reason, has the door opening into the closet.  I know we are either going to have to change the door so it opens outward or take it off and replace it with a curtain.&n...

My kids have this week off but my poor hubby went right back to the office Monday.  The kids are having a great time.  My 9yr old went to play lazer tag with a friend.  My 5yr old has a friend over playing Legos.  My fun for the day is laundry.  Where does it all come from?!  It just doesn't seem like 4 people could go through so many clothes and towels in one week!  Oh well, I have a large capacity washer and dryer so I can't complain.  I'd rather pla...

Our air contioner wasn't working and I checked everything on the check list they gave us with the unit before calling.  One thing that wasn't on the list and didn't occur to me was to check for signs of freezing.  This little tidbit would have saved the AC guy a trip out and would have saved me about $60. Aparrently our AC unit has a freon leak and froze up solid.  The guy came out, took one look, switched the unit off and told me he will have to let it melt over the weekend an...

I know it sounds cliche but I truly love my family so much it pains me.  When my husband is gone I have an empty ache.  I usually try to soothe that ache with chocolate but during this particular trip of his I have been having oatmeal, banana bread and snuggling the boys until they start complaining. Today is school picture day and I helped my 8yr old get dressed (casual but cool according to him) and do his hair.  He wanted it to spike up in the front and be neat in the back.&...

There I was trying to be handy in the garage (feel free to snicker as you should), drilling a starter for a hook to hang a ladder  when the drill bit got stuck and came right out of the drill.  (Here comes the "duh!") So I grabbed right ahold of the bit intending to pull it out and carry on.  Well, seems this thing called friction heated that sucker up hot enough to blister me on contact. Luckily, both children were safe inside the house when choice words started to fly.  ...

Next week my son's second grade class will be attending an historic one room schoolhouse for two days.  He is to wear authentic 1800s clothes and bring lunches that are appropriate for the time period.  They will be using chalk slates and books from the period.  I signed on to make homemade bread for the class. My mother fashioned two period outfits for him consisting of knickers with suspenders, a cotton blousy shirt and cap.  My son said that the teacher is going to take...