Conversations I had today

My 4 yr old had a sip of soda.  One teeny tiny sip to match his teeny tiny body.  I think he just slurped up the few drops there was on the lip of the can.  A few minutes later he came back to me and said, "Soda makes you fart."  I told him, no it makes us burp.  He wasn't convinced.  "Well it makes me fart, right?" 

After playing outside my 3 yr old came in, wearing his sisters shoes and licking a shovel.  "Dude, we don't lick shovels."  So he throws the shovel back outside and tells me hes mad at me.  How dare I stop him from making himself sick.

My 7 yr old came to see me while I was folding some clothes, "Mommy..."  and then got distracted by Spongebob on behind me.  I asked him what he wanted but his eyes were fixed on the tv.  "Um...I can't remember."  I offered some suggestions, "Is it about the baby?" Nope. "You have the hiccups?"  He did, but thats not what he was gonna tell me.  "It was an emergency."  Hes starting to remember, but hes not taken his eyes off the tv once.  I offer more suggestions, "The baby has poop coming out? Your sister broke the computer? Somethings on fire?"  No dice.  At least the house wasn't on fire.  Finally he remembered, "Oh yea...its not an emergency.  Did daddy install zoo tycoon?"  I love how his brain thought it very important and yet not important enough to remember both at the same time.  And btw, the baby did poop, but the house wasn't on fire, thank goodness.  And no, daddy did not install zoo tycoon, cause someone lost the cd.  Hmmm, I wonder who that was. 

Training Wheels

Today was "Bike Trade-Up" day.  That means the oldest got a new(er) bike and everyone got to move up one.  What that meant for my 6 yr old was a bike with no training wheels.  It had training wheels once upon a time, but who knows where they went.  I guess he didn't realize they didn't have training wheels, or at least was meant to have training wheels.  Cause after several minutes struggling to stay upright he look at his younger brother on his bike and exclaimed, "He can do it! Why can't I?"  We pointed out little brother had training wheels, he did not. 

So I was his training wheels.  I held on, with one hand because I was carrying the baby, to the middle of the handle bars.  I walked with him up and down the street, turning around when we got too far.  I didn't even let him wobble.  He was safe and secure, as secure as he would have been with some extra wheels at the end.  And I was reminded of all the times in our lives we require training wheels. 

When they learn how to sit we place pillows around them, or sit behind them  to prevent heads cracking on the floor.  When they stand and take those first precious steps we walk behind, ready to catch at any second.  When they are ready to take off walking, we are there by their side, holding their hand.  When they go off to school for the first time or go to a friends house overnight, we let them know we are just a phone call away or just on the other side of the wall.  We prepare our children with all the rules of interacting with people, showing them examples by taking them shopping, to museums, to friends houses with us.  Then when they are ready to go out on their own, we watch them off, knowing we have instilled in them all we could and its now their time to shine. 

At first it might be scary to realize you don't have your training wheels anymore, but the more they do it the more confident they become.  For them as well as for us.  And when its time in our lives to once again enter a new phase, to do something we never have done before, we know that all our training up till now has been our training wheels.  When its time for us to switch our focus from our children to the rest of the world, when we become the volunteers or the grandmothers  - its then we realize our children were our training wheels. 

When the boys are away...

The girls will play.  The 2 oldest boys have been at my  moms house since Friday and its been pretty peaceful.  Girl #2 has been following Girl #1 around everywhere.  They've painted their nails and shared a soda and giggled non stop.  Unfortunatly, since there is not a big boy around for them to fight with they have also been fighting with each other.

There is peace and quiet.  I don't understand the phenomenon that when you suddenly have less children, even if its just 1/4 of your kids, the house seems so much quieter.  I guess you get used to a certain noise level.  Its not like other kids are quiet.  The neighbors would certainly argue that point. 

You suddenly remember how easy it was when you only had 6 kids.  Wait, did I think it was easy when I only had 6 kids?  Well I think 6 kids is easy now, compared to the 8 I normally have.  Although, when we went to the mall I kept thinking I was missing someone.  I felt like Marlin on Finding Nemo trying to count my own stripes.  "Thats all I have?"

Hes going places now

Now that he walks he thinks he can go anywhere.  Remember, hes 10 mos old.  He really is way too smart for his age.  Earlier I caught him trying to get out the sliding glass door.  He had his head out and got stuck.  He was screaming, probably more from anger than anything else, that he couldn't get outside.  I tried not to laugh at him. 

High Chairs

I am still searching for a tray for my mothers highchair but its a little hard when we don't know the manufacture.  I am tempted to carry the thing into a Babies R Us and just try attaching trays to it, see what fits.  But I have been searching online, so much so I think I might be an expert now.  I have read more about highchairs the last few days than any person would ever need to. I have learned one thing: I am picky.  There, I said it.  I want too much.  Well ok, I want too much for my budget.  I want: a wood high chair, that folds, and reclines, and has a removable tray, and a cloth cover...and if it can, adjust in height.  I don't want any toy attachments, or nets under it, and no casters.  Have you ever tried cleaning those after they have rolled over a slobber soaked teething biscuit? 

I can not find a wood high chair that does all those things.  I did however find this lovely Peg-Perego model:

But you know I decided not to buy the $50 wood highchair I saw at the thrift store last night because I thought it was too expensive.  This one is $300.  As nifty as it is, I am just not that girl.  I could buy 6 $50 for that and they would probably go further for feeding my baby than that highchair would.

The Glory of Early Parenthood

People think if you can just get past the baby years parenthood is easier.  Hurry and get the kids out of diapers and into underwear.  Hurry and get them on that big kid cup and off the bottles.  Get them sleeping through the night as soon as possible.  Get them into school and out of day care.  I think people have it all backwards.  Sure toddlers are hard, especially when they paint themselves with blue paint.

But over all an easy fixed compared to some of the things my older children have done. 

Like the time my oldest daughter told her best friend we didn't like her parents.  Or the time my 7 yr old told the neighbor boy that we couldn't spend the night at his house cause his father could be a bad man.  We sound like a bunch of winners don't we?  Try fixing that!  Talk about putting you in an awkward spot.  Especially when your daughters best friend tells her parents, who then calls MY parents to complain about it.  Nothing like being 30 and getting yelled at by your mom, over something your 12 yr old completely took out of context.  Or having to go face the neighbor to fix what your 7 yr old said, which was just part of this conversation, "You can't spend the night at their house till we meet his parents.  We don't know if hes a bad man or what, we have to meet him first." I don't know about  you but I would rather be scrubbing crayon off walls than deal with that drama any day.  I keep telling them to stop growing, but they don't listen to me. 

*btw, notice my ds in in paper diapers?  My dryer won't dry.  Someone know how to fix that?  I won't even  tell you what its doing to the state of laundry in this house. 

Monetary Monday - Clipping Coupons: Step by Step

Apparently some people think clipping coupons is a huge hassle.  I beg to differ.  I am offering my evidence on how clipping coupons is NOT a huge hassle and is a money saver.  There is a German saying that basically states "If you don't respect a penny, you don't deserve a dollar."  While I am not one of those Couponers who will save as much as she spent, I do save money and enough to make it worth while.  Sunday Newspaper costs $2 at the stand but you can get much of the coupons free online.  For the sake of examples I am doing the newspaper.  I paid like $1 for the Sunday paper to have it delivered for the year. 

First you must fetch the paper from your driveway.  If its wet where you are get to it before the moisture does. 
















Next you want to open up the news paper.  Find the comics and set the aside so your children won't destory the paper looking for them.  Look for your coupons.  Be careful, sometimes there is extra, so be on the look out and search the whole thing. 








What you are looking for will look something like this:
Red Plum as you can see is online at redplum.com.  Smart Source is also online at smartsource.com.











Now go through your coupons and clip the ones you like.  You don't have to clip them all.  Now you might think you might not want to buy something because of the price, even with the coupon, but if you like it clip the coupon.  Frequently there will  be sales and you can get the item for a steal.

These Bob Evans side dishes for instance I wouldn't normally buy.  But once I saw them on sale or 89cents.  These are great for the dh to take to work with him. There are other things I only buy brand name stuff because we have some dietary restrictions and I know they are something we can eat.  Not to mention some stuff, just tastes better.  Not all but some.  Like Walmarts Mac and Cheese is da bomb. 

When you are through you should have a nice pile of coupons like this:

I saved over $6 from this newspaper.  I also get coupons from the companies themselves by being on mailing lists.  I follow couponing blogs, a few clicks of the mouse and I have a coupon in my hand. 






Once you have all your coupons you need to do something with them.  I organize them by date.  The ones expiring first up front the ones expiring last in the back.  So April, May, June and anything later than June and then in the very back ones that have no expiration date.  This makes it easy when I go shopping to pull out the expired ones quickly. 






All that took me less than 15 minutes.  And I don't have to do it again for another week.  Every few months my fil will bring a bag of coupons over.  That takes me a bit longer, but more than worth it in the end.  If you go through your tuesday ads when they come you can find some fantastic deals.  I don't spend that much time but I save $5-$10 every time I go shopping.  That's $20-$40 a month.  That might not seem like a lot to some people, or perhaps not worth it (an hour a month for $20-$40.  My dh doesn't make that much an hour at work!) but considering thats a fast food dinner for your family, or a christmas present you otherwise could not have bought or savings for those outrageous heating or cooling bills.  $20 a month means $240 a year in savings. If you can look that savings in the eye and say its not worth it then I don't know where you are shopping, but I would like to shop there too. 

Arizona - The Grand Canyon State

Yes, It is a grand canyon state.  With Canyons around every bend.  If you aren't careful while walking in the desert you might just find yourself in one.  Perhaps not the best state to live in if you are scared of heights.  I have talked about the Dhs fear of heights before.  He said hes not afraid of heights.  No, hes afraid of people falling.  Hmmm, I think hes a big chicken. 

Yesterday, we went to Walnut Canyon, and they even had guard rails most of the way and he was STILL scared to look over the edge.  Oh what he missed!  The views were incredible.

There were ruins inside of the cliffs, like Montezumas Castle.  A lot like Jerome, just older.  Very educational because you are actually able to walk inside the ruins.  This picture was taken from the Rim trail.  We didn't get to go deep inside the canyon because the dh was chicken.  But the rim trail was pretty and educational.  Inside the visitors center was a museum and some artifacts that they found.  This park, more than any we have visited in the past, really explored archeology, why we need to excavate the sites and why its important not to disturb anything. 


As if Walnut Canyon wasn't enough we had to visit the Meteor Crater.  If you don't know about Meteor Crater, it is the best preserved meteor impact site on the earth. Its about a mile wide and 550 feet deep.  Its a HUGE hole in the ground.  And you get to stand on the edge.  You can imagine this went over really well with the Dh.   The science center was very educational though.  The children got to see and touch meteor fragments.  Well fragments of the 150 ft meteor, so fragment is a relative term.  It looked about as big as the boulder in our front lawn.  My 4 yr old especially like the video of Shoemaker-Levy 9 hitting Jupiter.  There was a "movie theater" explaining how the impact happened and why studying meteors is important.  My 3 yr old kept asking for pop corn and soda.  I think he was a little confused with the role of this particular movie theater. 

Here the kids are looking down in the meteor crater.  The Dh refused to come down.  He stayed inside with the little ones. 

Heres 7 of the kids at a replica of the floor of the meteor crater.  Wierd thing looking down from the rim, I couldn't see any walk ways down.  How people got down there, let alone made buildings, is beyond me.  I think I might edit the photo so it looks like they are right down there. 

And here are 2 of my goofs with a cardboard cut out of an astronaut.  It was funny, they had a memorial to the astronauts there and my daughter found it boring, there was no pictures. 

Dealing with Drama Kings

My boys ain't got nothing on your girls.  If you think for one minute that girls overreact, are unnecessarily emotional or blow things out of proportion you maybe haven't dealt with enough boys.  If you told these guys to pull up their big girl panties that would be a compliment.

For instance my 3 yr old was being his usual self, which involves non stop movement, jumping and horse play.  The moment it was pointed out that he had a scabbed over (meaning its been there quite sometime) scratch on his knee he suddenly can barely move.  He looks like an arthritic 90 year old.   He refuses to unbend his knee and gingerly steps across the room to find a bandage.  If he had been wearing pants no one would have been the wiser.  But no, he acts as if his leg is broken.

My 9 yr old son today refused lunch, refused to talk to me, and refused to come out of the corner.  It took me a good hour to get him to talk to me.  I was thinking someone picked on him.  Hes mad at me for something.  Maybe he doesn't feel good. What was it?  His oldest sister got a star on a game they both play and he didn't.  A star.  Not that she won the game or got a better character or something having to do with the actual playing of the game.  No, she got a star; which does nothing for in game play besides looks pretty next to your name. 

And there is nothing like the complete and udder breakdowns they have when asked to do their chores, or  school work or go somewhere.  You would think life is going to END as we know it.  As if there isn't a record button on our DVR or a pause button on their game.  Or as if they can't continue playing when they are done doing school or when they come home.  No, its "But it took me forever to make this!"  Yes, in their world 5 minutes is a lifetime and you know they will never have the patience again for making something that requires a whole 5 minutes.  My daughters often look at their little brothers like they might be from another planet; perhaps they suffer unimaginable physical pain when someone asks them to make their bed. 

I would blame this gene on my husband if it weren't for the memories of my own brothers doing this very thing.  My oldest brother once cried because he had a cut on his finger and it was bleeding.  Seems valid right?  Until my mother pointed out it was only red ink.  Brother #4 was the most emo of all.  He would cry hysterically if you went around a circular clothing rack at the store and he couldn't see you.  He once threw sopping wet wash clothes all over the bathroom in a frantic attempt to keep them from going down the bath tub drain, all while screaming, "Not those wash clothes!" 

All the stereotypes of women being emotional and the men rational must have come from men just trying to cover their butts.  Let there be no mistake, males are far more emotional than females.  If you don't believe me you can come babysit for awhile. 

Now wheres my bottle of wine?  I need to go relax somewhere. 

Maybe I expect too much

When I had my first I was given a high chair, and I had that high chair till about 5 years ago.  The cover was vinyl and fell apart on me.  I bought a new high chair instead of a new cover.  I can't remember exactly now why I decided on the new seat instead of a new cover but I am sure there were other things wrong with the high chair.  Now that second high chair has been recalled, twice.  We fixed the first problem, but this problem I think I am gonna let slide and just get a new high chair.  Because the fix for the recall wouldn't fix what is wrong with high chair.  Somewhere between #7 and #8 it broke.  So I would have to get the repair kit for the recall and then get another repair kit for the other problem as well.  And this upsets me. 

Shouldn't high chairs last like, forever?  I remember sitting in my dads high chair.  I can't even get a high chair to last 5 years.  Ok, I have 8 kids and have only had to buy 1 high chair.  So really, it's probably not fair of me to complain about having to buy a new one.  But my mother had the same high chair for all 6 of her children.    I remember her being upset at having to buy a new one when I had a baby, instead of having kept her old one.  I guess this is all my fault anyway, for having bought plastic to begin with. 

And the same is true for strollers.  I am upset that I have to buy ANOTHER twin stroller. This will be my 3rd one.  Of course I did buy them used.  So who knows how they were used and abused before hand.  But really, shouldn't they last longer?  I know for a fact my mothers stroller was my stroller and I used it for my brothers.  It was a pram.

But maybe I expect too much.  If I buy plastic baby products I should expect them to fall apart.  If I buy used baby products I shouldn't expect it to last through 8 more children. Of course companies making them realize 99% of families will only use them for one maybe two kids.  They aren't making heirlooms.  I want an heirloom.  I want to buy a wood high chair and I want it to last for my grandchildren to use.  And there better be grandchildren.  But maybe I expect too much. 

So any advice on a high chair? 

"How was school today?"

 Most mothers and fathers, for the last century, have probably uttered those words to their children after a day at school.  Children would tell them who go into trouble, who was sick, what homework they had to do, how they did on their test.  I remember yapping away to my mother as soon as she would pick me up from school about everything from who was gonna be in the play to how much I hated writing my spelling words every day.  Never once was there ever a question about how I liked my curriculum.  If I enjoyed learning what I was learning.  If I wanted to learn something different.  Oh sure, I remember begging my mother to take me out of private school and put in the public school all my friends went to.  But the heart of learning, what I was learning, that was never discussed.  I doubt I was different from other children.

Its time for me to start thinking about next years curriculum.  I have some books already that I have picked up along the way.  But the majority of it I still need to decide on.  So I asked the kids "How do you like your curriculum?".  My oldest likes Abeka the best.  She says Spectrum has too many mistakes.  Even though Abeka has more reading and writing; she enjoys it more.  My youngest daughter also likes Abeka, but she likes spectrum for spelling.  My oldest son likes Abeka for history but likes Spectrum Science.  My 7 yr old hates all his school work.  There is not one thing he likes, except maybe a little bit of Spelling.  So now I have decisions to make.  And isn't that a wonderful thing?! I get to decide, along with my children, what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. 

My oldest only want to do Abeka.  My youngest daughter will probably have a mix.  My 2 oldest sons might just do something like SOS.  They want something different.  Especially my 7 yr old, who will be in 3rd grade come the fall.  I want him to enjoy his school work.  My 6 yr old and my 4 yr old (who will be 5 then) will likely be doing spectrum or some other easy work books for their core subjects.  So I could have 6 kids all doing different curriculum.  You couldn't do that in any school anywhere.  That's freedom right there. 

The people learning and the people teaching get to decide the curriculum.  That's awesome right there. 

Hand Washing

As part of your morning routine you might want to include hand washing.  Before say, brushing their teeth or eating breakfast.  Don't know why I would think that...just something I came up with this morning.

Being a Grown Up

My 6 yr old was talking to the baby this am, "When you are my age, you will be a grown up."  Ah, so thats the power struggles we have been having!  He thinks hes all growed up now.  And here I thought we were dealing with the typical childhood testing of the limits.  No, he thinks hes an adult.  Wonder how that got into his head.  With 4 older siblings, who still live with momma, you would have thought he would have realized the error in his thinking.  This also explains why he thought he could spend the night at the 12 yr olds house across the way.  I tried to reason with him, that a 12 yr old doesn't want a 6 yr old to spend the night but he didn't seem to understand.  Now I know why.  He thinks hes as old as the 12 yr old. I had to explain you aren't an adult till you are 18.  "Ooohhhh.  18. "  Yea.  I think that was a bit of a shock to him.  Silly boy.  After a little conversation about age he seemed content to go swing on the swing and not rush out to get a job.  Although, he probably has more sense than some grown ups I know! 

What kids say...

Sometimes needs to be deciphered.  What kids say often times sounds like a foreign language.  If you ever heard 2 kids talking you might wonder if they will turn out normally.  You just need to get inside their mind and find out what they really mean.  Here are some things kids say and what they really mean.

When your 4 yr old says, "I can hear the smell of my burger."  That means he can hear it sizzle and smell it at the same time.

When your 5 yr old says, "His face is leaking."  That means the baby is drooling and its getting everywhere. 

When your 4 yr old says, "Look this rock is half gold and half sand."  That means its a rock that has been cracked open and the outside looks like a rock and the inside looks like a gemstone. At least I am hoping.  If its real gold I'll be ticked!  

When your 2 yr old says, "Moon go down sun come up."  That means its morning, get out of bed and make me breakfast.  Seriously, that one took us months to figure out. 

And you better figure out what they are saying instead of the "uh huh" you normally give them.  Cause if you don't you are met with a 2 yr old screaming, "Talk to me!" It really is cute if he wasn't screaming it. 

Consequences

Everything we do has consequences. Some are natural consequences.  Some are punishments.   It takes kids a little while to learn one way or another there will be consequences.  I still have not learned about natural consequences.  Like eating too much pizza leads to too much fat to work off.  Ugh.  Stupid employee discount.  Anyway.  My kids, however,  have learned some valuable lessons this week on natural consequences.

My 2 yr old learned if you sneak into the pantry to eat cookies your consequence is getting locked in said pantry.  And then we might not find you right away cause it sounds like your screams are coming from the garage or outside somewhere.

My 6 yr old learned that if you stand on the back of the sofa, after we told you not to, a picture might just fall off the wall and bonk you in the head.   He was convinced it tried to crack his head open.  Cause we all know pictures have it out for us.

And when they think they have out smarted consequences, when they don't do their spelling work for the week and still get 100% on their test, they would be wrong.  They are just given harder and harder spelling words until they have to do their work to get that 100%. 

Choices and Chores

Back in college I took an Interpersonal Communications class.  Basically teaches you how to avoid conflicts with different  personality types and understand others viewpoints.  I took it because I was a communications major but that one class did more for me as a parent than anything other class I could have taken. 

For instance my teacher once told a story how she and her daughter were fighting over her doing her chores.  Finally my teacher asked her daughter which chores she would be willing to do. Her daughter was willing to do any job that didn't involve pee and poop or trash.  What chores had my teacher given her?  Yup, you guessed it.  Cleaning toilets, picking up after the dog and taking out the trash.  To reach a compromise she gave her daughter chores that didn't disgust her and her daughter happily did her new chores.  Its not that her daughter didn't want to help out the family, its that she wanted to help out the family more on her terms. 

I have since employed that strategy with my own kids.  Some times you can't compromise.  Things have to be done.  School work, showers, brushing your teeth etc.  But you can give them some sense of control by giving them options.  I will tell them what needs to be done and ask them when they will be doing it.  If they don't do it by 30 min after that time they get a privilege revoked.  Just giving kids a little bit of control in a situation will often diffuse an argument, make the child happier about doing the chore, and make you a happier mommy. 

Sometime battles ensue regardless but much of the time things can end better if you learn to compromise.  We just have to remember as much as we like being in control so do our children.  After all, where do you think they got it from?

Humor on the Road

My 5 yr old was challenging my 7 yr old to read a sign on the side of the road, convinced he could not read.    The sign?  Chipotle.  I know adults who can't even read that!  He did however read every other sign he could find, just to prove his point.  My 5 yr old was not impressed.

We took 2 extra kids with us on our trip up north.  If you are counting, that makes 10 kids.  Surprisingly 10 kids is no harder than 8.   We ventured into one store and the lady working there asked, "Are you from a reality tv show?  Like that 18 kids and counting or something?"  Wow, we have gone to a whole new level.  First it was, "Are you trying to get a reality tv show." now its "Are you from a reality tv show?"  I hear the television execs knocking on our door!  LOL  I assured her we weren't but on the inside I was cracking up.  I would have thought the lack of camera crews would have given it away.

Boys can be Smart

I offered my 4 yr old 2 choices.  He could clean up the blocks or he could go to his room.  His response?  "I want another choice."  When I told him he was way too smart for a 4 yr old he said, "No, really. I want another choice."  I asked him what that he would be and he said, "You pick up the blocks."  Yup, way too smart.

We were at the park playing Frisbee when an airplane flew over head and my 4 yr old said jokingly, "I am gonna hit the plane it the Frisbee."  So the dh told him to go right ahead.  The 4 yr old whispers to the dh, "I can't really throw that high you know."

My 6 yr old told me today, "I know why you had lots of boys.  You wanted lots of boys to kiss and hug on." He's found me out!

And when I told my 4 and 6 yr old that plants like to be talked to my 4 yr old asked the Aloe plant, "Wanna hear a joke?"  He then went on to teach it addition.  "Whats 2+2? 4!  Very good!"

A Proud Parent

When asked where the trash can went, I flush with pride when I get to tell the Dh, "Your son was wearing the trash can on his head.  It's on the floor in our bedroom."

Even prouder still when, after yelling at our 2 yr old not to "Stick that thing up your nose.", and the Dh says, "It has a string, we can pull it out if we had to." 

And I positively beam when I hear my 4 yr old tell my 2 yr old to "Try to hit me this time." whilst throwing a golf ball in the house. 

Boys were born with brains.  I know sometimes it doesn't seem like it, but they were. 

My 8 kids are easier than your 2 kids

I think I might make that a bumper sticker. 

Not that I am catholic but I saw linked this by the Jeubs on FB.  Thought you all might enjoy (Someone called me out for saying Ya'll.  Ever hear a person with a New York accent say Ya'll?  It ain't pretty). 

Why having more kids is easier.  Something my own mother has been saying for 2 decades now.  The author forgot Self Reliance.  When Momma can't get to it right away they often go do it themselves cause they know it might be a while before I get to it.  Say like when I am spending my time cleaning the garage. 

Don't pray for somethng to blog about

Or this will happen to you.

A fire extinguisher went off in our garage.  This is the aftermath.  We were taking stuff out of the house and putting it in the garage.  The dh threw something on a box and suddenly the garage started to fill with foam.  My 2 yr old was out there at the time on his scooter.  He started screaming, "Help me!  Helpa ME! Argh argh!" As he stood frozen in fear and amazement.  The dh too was frozen in amazement.  He just stood there he said, "Cause I knew it would stop eventually."  Yea, because we wouldn't want to MAKE IT STOP.  That would just be stupid. 

You can see in the 2nd picture the empty box in the blue bin.  Thats where the extinguisher was.  I guess God felt we didn't have enough to do. We were moving stuff around in the house for the party on Sunday, which is why stuff was going out in the garage.  All that has been put on hold now as we clean the garage.  Fun times.  Fun times.  At least we know they work. 

Things I overheard on the baby monitor

Who needs a fancy intercom, just buy a baby monitor.  Its also great for spying on the kids when they think they can get away with stuff. And Daddies.  Daddies think they get away with everything.

"Hey whats going on in here? I'll eat your brains if you are being bad.  Don't make me be the zombie again."  Yea that won't give them nightmares or anything.

Right now I am listening to a toddler snore.  It kinda sounds like a train whistle far away.  No wonder why he likes trains so much, he must think he is one.

"I can make burps come out my butt."  My 4 yr old.  I have told them they are called farts, but burps sound better honestly. Gross regardless what you call it.

And my favorite, "Shhh don't tell her where we are going.  Just Go - quick!" Hmm yea. I'd like to blame the neighbor boy for that but lets get real, they would have done it anyway.

Monetary Monday - Birthday Parties

Tis the season for birthday parties.  At least in my house. I have 3 kids and the Dh in a months time.  Thats a good thing.  We can do a combined birthday.  Which not only saves me money but also easier for those attending, then they don't have to come to 4 different parties, just the 1. 

For a long time we would just do whatever the kids wanted.  Wanted a bowling party, not a problem.  Want a bouncy house?  Ok.  Chuckie Cheese?  Fine.  Till we had no money.  Then it was, "OMG how much?" When you spend as much on a birthday party as you do your groceries for a week (my grocery bill mind you), then that's a lot of money!  So we came up with something else.  Something better, more memorable and cheaper.

Each child gets to pick what they want to do for their birthday and just them and their daddy go do it.  The kids look forward to than they did to any party.  If they want to see a movie they get popcorn too and it costs like $20, instead of the $200 for a bowling party.  This also frees up more money so I can buy them a better gift.  It was almost like the party was their gift.  Which for kids doesn't make a very good present.  Now I can concentrate on what they really would love and would make their life better.  Like a new bike or that software they want so they can draw or a really awesome MP3 player for road trips  I can say it cause I bought it, the Dh's MP3 player SUCKS! Get a decent MP3 player,  one you can see the song titles would be a good start.  Anyway...back to birthday parties. 

So our birthday parties are little more than home made cake and family coming over.  Friends if they are around too.  If we have one at a park it has to been in the cooler months and has to be free.  Some parks charge a heck of a lot for a pavilion.  Like $35 an hour if you are a resident! Thats nuts!  At least in our development we get use of the pavilion for free.  Well our HOA fees pay for it, but you know what I mean.  I am planning a party right now.  We  are gonna bbq dogs and burgers, make cake, and take pictures.  And then the weekends will be spend with daddy seeing movies or going mini golfing or whatever they choose.  And after all that: Their awesome present, the birthday party, the time alone with dad, I am still saving money over those ridiculously prices party packages.  No ones complaining.  Well maybe except all the people we used to buy from.