Breathe in......breathe out.....breathe in......breathe out. I can get through this evening without blowing a gasket. I know I can. Positive thinking, right? These little monsters are smaller than I am and not nearly as clever (tee hee). Stuffed animals don't really need eyes, or stuffing, right? Water can be cleaned up with a towel, right? What's a bloody nose or two? The boys don't HAVE to wear their uniforms to scouts, right? (The boys have informed me that they do) Well, the uniforms don't have to actually be clean, right? Speaking of uniforms, did my whites get washed? And I need to scrub my freakin awesome white work shoes. They're lookin a little peaked. I should really do my once a month email check (shame on me, I know). I suppose the children really should eat at some point, and the dog REALLY needs a bath. Really. It would help if we actually had a bath tub that was not broken. I wonder if the replacement part ever came in... or if it was even ever ordered. Hmmmm.... I don't have the handyman's number or I would call and check on that. I guess I could put her in the shower. Then that means I get to scrub the shower, too. I didn't have a chance to do it this weekend, so I guess it needs to be done anyway. I think all I really need is a super comfortable mattress and a down comforter, so my hour and a half of sleep will feel more like three hours of sleep. Breathe in......breathe out......breathe in......breathe out......

I want so much for my children. I want them to know they are loved (first and foremost). I want them to have happy childhoods. I want to be able to devote all of the time they deserve to them, but I also want them to be comfortable. I want to be able to cool the house to 78 without worrying about taking out a loan to pay the electricity bill. I want to have a pantry stocked with (hopefully healthy) food to fill their cavernous stomachs. I want for them to have shoes that fit their rapidly growing feet. I want them to be on sports teams and debate teams and whatever teams interest them. To financially back all of the wants I have for my children, I just got a second job. Yeah. And even though I will only be working there three days a week, I will accrue enough hours to be considered a full time employee.   I am not quite sure where the line between reallybusy and justplaincrazy is, but I feel as though I must have crossed it a looooong time ago. In my insanely paced life, lives a lot of gratitude and love. I love being able to go to work and do something I am passionate about. I love being able to come home to my crowded nest. I love my husband and appreciate that he is working so hard at his studies, so I won't have to take on a third, fourth, and fifth job to pay for college five times over. I am grateful for wonderful parents who would juggle planets if they thought it would help me out. I am also immensely thankful for friends who either ignore my insanity, or are just as crazy as I am; either way, they keep my spirits up and make my days seem less hectic. (COOKIE!!) Oh, and of course thanks to Dan and Bradford for giving me (another) job. Little do they know... muahahahaaaa.

I have recently been compiling a mental list of "Things To Do"

• Hang out in the kitchen (MY kitchen, not so much the one at work) a little more. Experiment with                                                    food  more. Bake more.
• Finish painting the walls in my house that have been so beautifully completed except for the 2 inches between the top of the walls and the ceilings.
• Possibly exercise (this one is just a maybe).
• Create. Doesn"t really matter what. Pictures, little fuzzy creatures out of buttons and old socks, papier  mache sculptures, maybe a mobile. Just create.          

  The list is really quite a bit more lengthy than shown above, but quite a bit more tedious/monotonous/boring, as well. Sadly, I think I have the time to complete all of the crazy little things on my loopy to do list. I just can't  seem to find the energy.

  Today was the first day of school for my older 3, and the last day of  my "vacation." I had plans. I had massive plans. I would even venture to say my plans were grandiose. Oh yeah. Plans. Today,  aside from getting the boys to and from school, I managed to do a few loads of laundry, made an Aldi run (I LOVE ALDI, and even though I wish I were being paid to say that, I'm not), put the groceries away, helped with school stuff, listened to friend present a "vacation business opportunity" to me and my husband, and made some pasta, (not fresh, I didn't have the energy). Though it was a productive day, it was a productive day just like every other productive day I have. Tomorrow will be a productive day, as well, but I will also be adding "went to work" to my got-done-todays. Sigh. So much for grandiose plan filled vacation. If there is ever an experimental medical test for an amazing energy booster, I would really really really like to be informed about it.

sorry not this year

I don't have sparkling blue-green water, thunderous waves, or white sands. I don't have flip-flopped, kick my feet up,  nap under an umbrella carefree afternoons. What I do have are five beautiful days when I am not expected to be at work. I don't have to don my chef whites (unless I fancy to do so). I don't have to fine julienne any carrots, or mince any capers. I don't have to label or date any of the food I make (at least until Tues.).  What my "vacation" does consist of is mountain climbing (scaling Mt. Laundry), lots of shopping (school supplies for three boys), and probably a little bit of interior design (rehanging the curtains that Mr.Teeth somehow pulled down). I also have 6 book reports to help polish up before Monday, a Sunday School lesson to prepare and teach, dinner plans with an awesome family from down the street, family movie day with my World King Awesome Sous Chef, I should probably go grocery shopping, and it would be nice to spend a little time with my husband, (who actually starts back to school on Monday). Yeah. Woo.         My twins ask all the time "You tired mommom?"  Yeah I'm tired. "You tired all the time mommom."  Baaahahaha. No kidding boys.

diorama time

     

school uniforms

I was talking with a friend who was pretty down. His awful day made me pretty sad. I know not all in this life is easy. I know not all in this life is calm. I hope he realizes that he has a lot to offer and that sometimes (I'm getting all greetings card style cheesy here) there are a bunch of pretty nasty storms to weather before the rainbow (double rainbow all the way).

Ok, so yeah...


Here are a couple of cheer-anyone-uppers.

"snake-stache"

corn teeth

I took a long nap after work.

I played on the Internets.

The boys wanted cereal for dinner. I didn't argue.

Just call me Mrs. Lazybones.






 









This is what is referred to as a "Car Garden." These pop up nearly every day.

 WHOOOAAAA! An earthquake in Dallas?!?! Too bad my life is so insanely turbulent that I didn't even know about it until my momma informed me via text. And then I started thinking about life and mortality and natural disasters and got uber meditative. And somber.              Then..... I went to work and, (don't get me wrong, I work my patootie off), I forgot about being somber and put on a mustache!       I love my job! 

Our air conditioner was so kind as to wait until the 35th consecutive day of triple digit weather to stop cooling our house and instead, begin blowing hot air into every crevice of our domicile. I suspected foul play (on the air conditioner's part) when I noticed all of the boys' faces were flushed, even though the hallway races were at a minimum. Upon entering the house, my husband pointed out it was actually cooler OUTSIDE. Woo. Amazingly, the repairman was here within 20 minutes (my hero). Only about 15 minutes (and 150 bucks) later, our home began to feel less like the inside of a volcano and was creeping steadily toward sauna comfort. Everything is now at an almost chilly 75 degrees. I will revel in the cool air, at least until the electric bill comes in.

On a different note, one of the twins (not exactly positive which one) discovered that baking cocoa does NOT taste like Nestles Quick.

I don't know what made me think it would be safe to indulge in a sea salt caramel truffle waffle cone only an hour after the boys were put to bed.  Bad idea. But it was calling to me.
   Mid bite...   "Mommom! He hit me weal hawd!"
                      "Why did you hit your brother?"
                      "He said he not like me. I HAD to hit him!"
Yeah, the ice cream was spotted and all hades broke loose.  I'm sure they'll all be in their respective rooms talking and laughing and wrestling for at least another 45 minutes. So much for going to bed early.

I needed a 20 minute self portrait release. Then, I needed to wash the paint off of the counter and my hands, put the canvas in the garage, and get the darn dog off of the kitchen table. In my short trek from one end of the house to the other, I dislodged 3 pilfered dum-dums from a small screaming child with an abnormally strong grip, transformed the trampolines back into (once nice) down cushioned living room seating, iced down a swollen wrist and a bruised ego, refereed a laundry argument, rescued 4 matchbox cars, 3 flip flops, and a plastic hippo from  sheer destruction at the hands of- or should I say jaws of- "Mr. Teeth" (aforementioned table dog) -all without raising my voice.  I do believe that must be some kind of a record.