Vanity is...

...waking up at 5 AM wide awake, thinking briefly about going on a run, and then opting not too despite being WIDE awake with no prospects of going back to sleep because you got your hair cut the previous day and knowing it would still look pretty awesome even after sleeping, not wanting to mess it up by sweating, thus having to wash and blow dry it.  Oh the horror! (And that sentence is a monstrosity all on it's own.  Excuse the massive run on sentence, please!)

A gift

For Christmas, Ben got a set of lacing beads. I was going for toys to build fine motor skills since two of my four have struggled in that area. Zack made me a necklace with them and was so proud I graciously put it in my room to collect dust accepted it. Several times I've tried to slip it into the "take upstairs and put away" pile, but each time my boy removes it and reminds me that he made it for me. Just yesterday, I tried one more time to put it away, met with the same answer. As I was straightening my room today I ran across it and thought about slpping it into Ben's room, and smiled that for five months, Zack has insisted on me keeping this gift. I'm wearing it as I type this. And the love it represents makes me the happiest mom in the world. It took long enough for it to sink in.

Home Improvement

Every now and then I just get the urge to paint something whether it really needs it or not.  This wall was really perfectly fine. 

I just decided I wanted it to be...

                                                                               red.



Perhaps too much Food Network

We watch a lot of Food Network around here.  Now there is also the Cooking Channel, and we can't forget the travesty of a food show on the Travel Network.  Kevin enjoys them, I love most of them, and the kids have really enjoyed watching "cooking shows" since they were quite small.  However, sometimes I think it might be getting a bit out of hand.

Recently at dinner, we were having hamburgers, and Eric went into this little speech, "Each layer in this burger has it's moment.  First it's the soft bread, then the ketchup, then the crunchy pickles.  Then  you get to the melty cheese, and then the meat."  OK.. he sounded like Adam Richmond on Man Vs. Food and it freaked me out a little bit.  (For the record I can.not.stand.that.show. Obesity epidemic much?  Lets go eat 5 pounds of heart attack inducing greasy *insert random extra large food* Ok, stepping off the soapbox now.) Disturbing comparisons aside, it was adorable!

We've been watching Iron Chef lately too, and the same kid made a comment, "Mom, don't be offended
but your food is TOTALLY not as good as the food on this show."  Yep, have to agree. The thing is my kids probably wouldn't EAT half of that food anyway. 

Maybe it's okay. Maybe I'm just raising a little foodie in the making.

Dearest Children

When you notice your hands are dirty, please wash them.  When you go to the bathroom, wash your hands.  When you come in from playing outside wash your hands. If for any reason your mother calls out "Hey guys, everyone wash your hands!"  it is a clue that you should go wash your hands. Other times include before you eat, after you eat, and pretty much any other time you feel it necessary to wipe them on something.

When your hands are dirty do NOT touch the walls.  Do not wipe them off on your shirt.  DEFINITELY do not wipe them on your Mother's clothing.  Pretty much the only answer when your hands are dirty is addressed in the above paragraph.

There are other cleanliness and hygiene issues I would like to discuss at a later date, for now, lets practice this one.

Love, Mom

PS I washed the walls today.  Let's try to keep them clean for a few days.

Not Your Average Laundry Post

Yesterday, I got caught in one of those cycles where I click through my blog reading random posts and laughing and remembering why I waste spend time typing out mundane and everyday things.  Because my family is awesome and stuff deserves to be remembered and I have the memory of a gnat and sometimes I read these things and think "Wow! I would never have thought about that again if I hadn't written about it."  There are those posts that amaze and warm my heart.   There are also those posts about laundry.  Quite a few of them actually.  Sometimes I'm behind on laundry... sometimes I'm caught up on laundry... sometimes it's  a picture of a whole lotta laundry I've folded.

I'm not sure why I post about laundry, except that it is a huge part of being a mom, particularly a mom to four grubby boys.  However, laundry is boring.

Except, like so many other things in a house full of boys, when it is hilarious.

Today, I was catching up on some chores, and was taking a bag of trash out to the giant, green trash can in the garage.  You have to go through the laundry room to get there, and I stepped in something slimy.  "Oh.MY.Gosh" I thought.  What on earth?  Well, then I noticed the bottle of detergent laying in the floor with the lid half off.  Still gooey and slimy, but at least it was soap and not... something else disgusting.  I wondered how it got there and was running several scenarios through my mind when I noticed that the laundry basket on TOP of the dryer that had previously been full of clean, folded clothes was now... empty.  However, there was a noticeable lack of clothes strewn about the floor like I would have expected in these circumstances. 

Then I remembered earlier how Ben had run out of the bathroom naked, telling me he needed new clothes (who says girls are the only ones who change 5 times a day?) and then I remembered how much he likes to help me do the laundry.  I opened the washing machine. Bingo.. full of clean, dry clothing.

So, now the clothes are refolded, and the laundry room floor is remarkably clean. I'm still laughing!

Florida Awesomeness!