Are black socks allowed?!?

So I wasn't sure if I should laugh or be jealous of this man's desire and ability to be running through town on a beautiful sunny day like today. I do wonder however about the black calf-high socks...but for what it's worth, way to go friend! Now if only he could run a mile for me....

Bag lady...

There are so many moments about today that made me outright laugh; however, none more than the thought of Kate as a bag lady. The circumstances leading up to this moment will be left between the two of us and the DMOTC committee members ;-) Let's just say, it's a good thing I'm a Christian woman, or I'd have had some obscene words spewing from my mouth in the direction of several women today....so glad that I always have Kate to make me laugh and get me through

Hide-N-Seek and Little Prayers

I love the little moments when everything in the world just seems right and the other night I got two within about an hour.

Michael was gone at Guy's Night Out and I was alone with the kids for dinner and bedtime. Not necessarily my favorite time, but manageable. Laila was in the high chair cooing and sucking on her hands while I was washing dishes. Every window in the house was wide open with spring breezes blowing and the sound of the occasional car driving by. The older kids were all playing in the yard, when I hear 7...8...9...10. Ready or not here I come. Laughing, giggles, chasing and more giggling. It was the perfect moment of the world and everything in it being right.

Later that night, Kensie and Carter were sleeping when I put Hudson to bed. I brushed his teeth, put on his pajamas, said our prayers and kissed him goodnight. I went downstairs to feed Laila and thought nothing else of it. About five minutes later I heard Hudson talking and started up the stairs to see what he was doing. I stopped just short of his room when I realized he was praying out loud. I stood there in the dark of the hallway, holding my beautiful baby and listening to my 5 year old son talk to his Savior - bringing tears to my eyes and joy to my heart.

"I have to peeeeeee...."

Every parent with kids out of diapers has heard these words at some point in time. Most importantly however, is the fact that they never come at a good opportunity. This was the case last week. We were driving home from the babysitters (6 miles to be exact) and my daughter says she has to pee. I turn around in the passengers seat and tell her to hold it. She smiles that sweet smile and says okay. About 1 mile laterI can see her wriggling in her seat and swaying side-to-side. These are sure signs of a potty emergency. Unfortunately there was no restroom that was easily accessible at that moment, so I did what any logical parent would do - I told my husband to pull over.

We pulled over into a huge, empty parking lot and parked discretely so that no one could see my daughter doing her business in the empty spot next to us. The boys laugh and say, "girls can't pee standing up", I assure them that mom will help Kensie figure it out. It's also at this moment that I remember an invention that I'd recently seen on The Doctors, and thought, who needs that thing...well, at that moment, I truly needed the Go Girl. So here I am stripping my daughter's pants and underwear off because I knew she would pee on them. Never did I imagine that I'd need to worry about her shoes. As she is peeing, she starts saying, "my sandals, my sandals!!" To stop the hysterics I lift her up by the armpits and am shouting "bend your knees" while I hold her up and out to keep her from peeing on me and herself.

As you can imagine Michael and the boys were cracking up, as I kept looking around for the police to arrest me for indecent exposure or child molestation!!!

The hottest guy....

So the other day I saw the hottest guy -

He wasn't dressed up fancy

in a 3-piece suit.

Hadn't shaved in days

and wasn't worth a ton of loot.

He didn't drive a sporty car,

or drink a Starbucks coffee.

He doesn't have a foreign accent

or yacht upon the sea.

Instead;

He wore a t-shirt and jeans

with muffled hair as dark as coal.

Spoke gentle words of kindness

and laughed from within his soul.

He kissed away the boo-boos,

and put up hair in bows.

He pretended to be Superman

and changed kid's dress-up clothes.

He folded up the laundry

and wiped off hands and faces.

Home is where his heart was

instead of exotic places.

As I watched this man laugh and play

I didn't have to ask Him why.

I just thanked the Lord up above

for my husband Michael -

To me you'll always be - The Hottest Guy

Peep Show....

So this morning I wake up to the pitter patter of little feet - 6 little feet to be exact. As with most mornings, once the numbers 4:45am roll around on the clock, the kids are up and the house and everything in it is fair game. I listen to the gentle breathing of my husband sound asleep, then I go and check baby Laila. Ah, at least one will sleep in late (I consider 7am late). As I drift in and out of consciousness I am suddenly awakened by the sound of the dining room chairs being scooted across our hardwood floors. This is not a good sign. Typically this means the kids are pushing the chairs into the kitchen, so that they can climb onto the counters, open the cupboards and raid them for Nutri Grain bars. I quickly throw back the covers and tip toe downstairs so that I can catch them in the act. Much to my surprise however, the kids were all huddled together at the dining room table. As I walked closer, I discovered the reason for their huddling and quiet whispers. Candy. Candy, candy everywhere. The kids had received an Easter package from their great-grandma the evening before. We hadn't opened it, so we had no idea that the box was filled with candy. So at 5:00 in the morning, my 3 children had taken it upon themselves to use their little scissors to unwrap and open the box to reveal its contents. They then used the same scissors to open the packages of candy and consume, I can only imagine how many.....So it is official - for the first 5 years of my sons life, he had no idea what a peep was, but now they have made their grand entrance into our home - and Kate, we're passing the rest on to you ;-) Enjoy!

Goodbye Lexi

When I first talked to my husband about starting a blog, my only concern was that I didn't have anything to blog about. Friends told me just to write about my everyday life - that in itself is interesting enough, but I was hesitant. Well today provided itself with a blog worthy moment I wanted to share:

So it's Saturday, and it started out like every other Saturday - me wishing I could sleep in longer, and Michael making a big pancake breakfast with the kids. Our 8 year old Great Dane woke me up around 4am acting weird, so we were keeping an eye on her and trying to decide if we needed to take her to the vet. I finally called and made the appointment for 11:30 - Michael already had plans to take the boys to a basketball game, so it was me and the girls. As I fed Laila on the couch I watched Lexi labor to breathe - this was the end and I knew it.

Skip ahead 2 hours (to spare you all the details)

So I'm still home with the girls and Michael walks in the door. (I had cancelled the vet appointment seeing as Lexi had already passed away at home) We had never been in this situation before - dealing with telling our kids about death and helping them understand that Lexi wasn't coming back. This is kind of how the conversation went:

Hudson: "Is Lexi still sick"
Me: "Well, kind of, honey, we had Lexi for a long time and she was old and she...."
Kensie interrupts: "Lexi's dead"

*Nice and blunt and to the point, but ouch!*

Hudson: "Can we get another dog?"

Carter walks in the door, walks right up to Lexi, steps over her body and says, "bye Lexi" while I try to stiffle my laughter - this is like some scene right out of a Weekend at Bernie's movie.

Hudson: "Mom, dad said we need to bury Lexi, so I'm going outside to get my shovel. I'm
going to make a sign for her too"
Me: "I think we can wait a minute honey..." Hudson continues outside "at least get a hat on."

Skip ahead about 20 minutes - in which Michael and I have to get a 145 pound Great Dane from our living room, outside and into the lawn mower wagon. Not a pretty sight. All the while, I'm sure of the fact that I am going to be voted worst mom in history for my children witnessing this entire scene - not my idea - they wanted to stay there and Hudson refused to leave. So now that they are forever traumatized, fast forward another 20 minutes.

So we are digging this monstrous hole and trying to guesstimate if it's big enough for our dog and trying to preoccupy the kids all the while. Did I mention that my husband had to get the ax and cut roots out of this hole as well....Okay, so to spare counseling sessions as adults, I talk Hudson into going in the house to get more paper for the sign that he wanted to make - Kensie and Carter follow. Excellent - perfect opportunity to put Lexi into the hole. We quickly find out that it isn't big enough and have to enlarge the hole before the kids see. We cover her body so that the kids can't see dirt being put on her and we wait for the kids to return and have our memorial service.

Hudson: "Mom, I got the paper, one for each of us"

Me: "That's great Hudson, where should we put our sign"

Hudson then finds a spot close to the hole, we put the stake in the ground and prepare our

paper.

Me: "What should we put on the sign?"

Hudson: "Lexi is dead"

Me: "Lexi is dead?"

Hudson: "Yes, Lexi is dead."

Me:"How about we add, We loved her"

Hudson: "Okay, Lexi is dead. We loved her. Perfect"

As we finish covering her and saying our goodbyes, Hudson blurts out:

"Dad, we've done alot today. We got up, we ate pancakes, Lexi was sick, Lexi died, we dug a hole, we put Lexi in it and we buried her with the sign. Oh yeah - and we went to the basketball game too."

So today, although starting like any other Saturday, was a significant day in our children's lives. The loss of a pet is never easy, no matter what the age, but kids are resilient. They loved their dog and we have many great memories and pictures of them together, but animals get old and life happens. I'm thankful for the questions they ask and the way the Lord allows us to explain in the best way we know how. I'm also thankful for the fact that as hard as today was, God still allowed us to laugh because His plan is perfect.

And by the way, our kids are still asking when we're getting a new dog.

Spring Cleaning

I LOVE - LOVE - LOVE Spring!

The idea of opening the windows and shooing the kids outside is refreshing to the soul after a long winter! All that said, it's about 20 degrees outside (give or take) and my kids are driving me crazy. I'm inside tagging clothes for a "kid's garage sale", which has become a semi-annual tradition. Out with the old, and as the saying goes, in with the new...toys and junk that I think my kids can't live without. So bring on the sunshine and let the annual clearing of the shelves and closets begin because I'm ready to be refreshed.

Nobody ever told me....

What the crap....these are some of the things that nobody ever told me about parenting - maybe if they had I wouldn't be in this predicament...

1. Not only will I change a gazillion diapers, but then even when they are potty trained, I'll hear
a voice from the bathroom - "Mom, come wipe my butt."

2. You no longer need an alarm clock. Even if you have one, there is no need to set it because
you'll be woken up before it is set to go off anyway.

3. I will spend everyday from the second they are born doing at least one load of laundry and
two loads of dishes.

4. Just when I think I've figured it all out- they find a new weakness and attempt to exploit it.

5. The terrorizing feeling of taking your first baby home from the hospital is nothing compared to
sitting in traffic after a long day with 3 cranky toddlers.

6. I never knew I'd wish I owned a limo - not only is there more leg room, a sunroof and a mini
fridge, but they have those nifty little windows that roll up between the kids and the driver so
I don't have to listen to anymore (*bleep*) while driving.

7. A boy doesn't need sugar to be hyper - they are naturally designed to run, jump, scream and
shout - all for absolutely no reason at any given time.

8. When you have no kids in tow, the longest line or the slowest cashier at the grocery store is
your best friend. Take that moment to pick up a magazine and catch up on all those frickin
rich people that have kids, then hire nannies to actually raise them.

9. The super mom down the street that you've always admired is really just hopped up on
prozac and faking it, because that much perfection isn't possible! If it is, she's on the top of my
hit list.

10. Boys of all ages are absolutely facinated with their packages - I never knew I'd have to
say"get your hands out of your pants" at least once a day.

Find Money in your Home

This doesn't mean just flipping the couch cushions and hoping to find loose change. I once heard that everybody has money laying around their house - this person obviously didn't know me. My husband and I are both teachers and we have 4 kids ages 4 and under, so there is no cash just laying around my house. Soon after I heard that statement, I learned about Craigslist and got interested in eBay. I started scouring the house for items that may catch a buck or two on either site. The basement was my biggest jackpot - I started going through old clothes and furniture that had been stored away. I quickly found that one man's trash truly is another man's treasure. Every dollar I made I put in a jar hoping to save enough for a large purchase. Sure enough - less than 6 months later, we were able to pay cash for an outdoor playset for our kids - nearly $1,000.00. Since then we've been selling more stuff as we see we don't need it or use it. The key is find stuff you don't or haven't used in a year or so and list on either site for a reasonable asking price. Remember that everybody is looking for a bargain, so it's easier to sell 10 shirts for $1.00 each and make $10.00, then to list them for $2.00 each and never sell them because they are priced to high.

Creative Minds...

I felt it necessary that my first blog be about creating a blog...I spent nearly 20 minutes of my life trying to come up with a url name for this site. I've always thought of myself as a creative person; however, it seems that everyone has already taken every blog name out there. I enlisted the help of my husband in funneling our creative minds and the results were quite humerous. Despite the temptations to alter the spelling, add numbers and down right give up we finally found a name that came up as "blog site name available." After much deliberation, we felt that Deadbeathusband just didn't sum up our life and was in no way a good representation of our family, so we settled on meandmyfour. So for all of you blog readers out there struggling with your own creative genius, I will let all of you fight over the name I left behind.