Confessions of a bad mom

See, well, now...not wanting my kids to lose brain cells over the summer I decided that we'd have a contest over math facts on Friday and the winner would get to chose our family movie and dinner for Friday night....and I sorta helped Jacob practice but not Brenden.

It wasn't an intentional mean thing...Jacob is two grade levels lower than Brenden so I thought that it was fair to help him practice some....well, it wasn't pretty. This is why Brenden isn't in competitions and team sports.

Jacob kicked his patootie and Brenden came unglued. It was almost a massacre until I think Jacob started missing on purpose. He still won by three and began asking Brenden what he wanted for dinner and what movie he wanted, an attempt to cheer him up. He even offered him some of his flashcards that he got right.

It was a surprising and somewhat sad display to see Brenden coming unglued during what should have been fun but he did manage to make me smile anyway.....

How? Glad you asked (and if you didn't then we'll just pretend you did). Halfway through he screeched out the following:

"This is like vacuum tubes versus microchips!!"

Confessions of a bad mom

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/confessions-of-bad-mom.html

Wow!

pariah n. A social outcast

Wow! That's about all I can say without saying things that are not appropriate here...

From a movie review from Rex Reed of The New York Observer.

"Far from just another exotic Disease of the Week, Asperger’s is an incurable neurological disorder similar to autism that turns outwardly normal-looking people into high-class idiot savants. I know at least two people with Asperger’s. They are incapable of thinking of anyone or anything outside of themselves. Challenged by social interactions and given to obsessive routines that revolve around a single subject of interest, they do not like to be touched, they feel incapable of explaining things and they cannot cope with people in general. Emotionally blocked, they say things that hurt and sting without meaning to be rude, and are weak at understanding, receiving or exchanging the emotions of others. They cannot look you in the eye. Adam is a fascinating study of a rare affliction in which all of these qualities are evident, in carefully researched scenes that are humorous and touching. It is lethal to get involved romantically with any person with Asperger’s syndrome, since they care nothing about other people’s feelings, needs or priorities. Almost without exception, they leave you perplexed, riddled with doubt and totally depressed."

Review and promote this movie "Adam" but don't perpetuate the myths surrounding our loving Aspie kids, turning them into pariah's to be avoided because of label only.....

You....you....you sad uneducated man!! Slap a "stupid" sticker on your forehead and find another job!

Wow!

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/wow.html

When mom runs out of taco seasoning....

..she gets creative.

When mom runs out of taco seasoning....

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/when-mom-runs-out-of-taco-seasoning.html

My budding artist...

I just had to brag... This is our week of "summer school". Jacob is taking an art class and here are the products of his creative time...

My budding artist...

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-budding-artist.html

Ah, motherhood....

So, Friday was to be filled with a fun outing to Micky D's but it turned sour when a certain red-headed cherub decided to load the lower half of her clothing...not once, but twice. I was not pleased, to say the least, but didya ever notice how God finds ways to tell you it could be worse???

After church on Sunday our bible class was headed to Dickey's BBQ for a lunch (great place...kids eat free on Sundays which makes the food taste ever so much better). We have our lunch and I'm visiting with a new friend who just so happens to have an Aspie son about Brenden's age when my sweet, sweet friend Lene somehow finds a way to teach me God's lesson of "It could be worse."

Lene comes around the corner carrying Kent, her 9 month old son, in a horizontal position by the legs and arms, bottom side up. She politely, and with some hesitation (Hesitation???? I think I need to remind her that there's nothing one good friend won't do for another) if we will please help by holding hands or feet..... Huh??? What????

OH YIKES!!!!!

BLOW OUT!!!

News at 10 pm "BLOW OUT AT DICKEY'S BBQ!!!!"

Kent's diaper was absolutely no match for this...this...this???? Um, well sometimes what a baby's body can produce is utterly and absolutely amazing...I mean put aside the actual nature of what it is and you really have to admit, that's AMAZING!!!

It was up his back, on his pants, his shirt....

and guess what....

Dickey's doesn't have a changing station.

Kim (the friend I was visiting with) layed out layers of paper towels on the bathroom counter (bet that will make you think twice about setting your purse on a counter in a public restroom) and I got wipes, a fresh diaper and a plastic bag from Lene's sweet smooch while Lene held the now unhappy Kent. I tell ya we sure blew through a stack of paper towels in that bathroom!

I feel a joke coming on..."How many moms does it take to change a poopy diaper?" :)

Neither Kent nor Kent's poor tushie were happy with us....after we got him cleaned up...ya know, the worst of it (or the best of it...I'm not quite sure)....he got a bath...in the sink....of the public restroom...of the restuarant....

And Lene, being the GREAT mom she is just so happened to have a camera handy! (Seriously, this mom has not only clean shirt ready, wipes, diapers and a plastic bag but SHE HAS A CAMERA HANDY TO CAPTURE THE MOMENT!!)

We did clean up as best we could and Lene did notify the management that 1.) they needed a changing station and 2.) they might want to go disinfect the bathroom.

I learned that 1.) Emma's Micky D's incident....well, not so bad, 2.) You can bathe a baby in a public restroom after all, and 3.) God really does have a funny way of telling you "It could be worse."

Ah, motherhood....

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/ah-motherhood.html

Kitchen update

Bits of progress here and there...We took Saturday off and had a fun-filled day of family stuff. Sunday we overslept, missing church but once we did get our cans out of bed we worked on the kitchen some more so here's the latest on the kitchen.

No more bay window!! The window on the right as you look at the first picture is where the bay window was and the window to the left was where we had a single pane double window (5x3) with a storm window add on. Now we have two matching 36" windows. YEA!!!! The grids are in between the glass so they can be cleaned easier...assuming someone around here cleans windows, of course.
This picture below shows the fridge cabinet. There is another cabinet that sits on top of it but that can't go in until we get the sheetrock in the ceiling. Note the new light by the new window? There will be a total of four of these lights...one over the sink, the window pictured, the bar area for the kids and the stove.
Another picture of the former breakfast nook area. Notice the missing cabinet door? Well, note to self, when bringing in a cabinet using a dolly secure the door or it can suffer damage...nothing a bit of wood glue won't fix up. Hey! We're on a learning curve...our other lesson??? Install the uppers FIRST!!! Makes reaching everything ever so much easier!

Kitchen update

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/kitchen-update.html

Better late than never....

Okay, so maybe I didn't make her a matching dress for her birthday like I had wanted to but....well...better late than never.

Better late than never....

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/better-late-than-never.html

"When I get 18" by Ms. Em

"Momma, when I get 18 I can wear make-up."
"When I get 18 can I get keys just like yours?"
"Momma, when I get 18 can I get in the big pool?"

"When I get 18" by Ms. Em

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/when-i-get-18-by-ms-em.html

Too funny not to share....

Doing periodic snooping into Brenden's email account to check the comings and goings and decided to check his sent box in addition to his in box.....this is what I found in his sent box....We had a great laugh over his response to the "mailer demon".

Re: failure notice

Monday, February 4, 2009 5:46 PM

From:"Brenden" <************@yahoo.com>

To:MAILER-DAEMON@yahoo.com

What do you mean. I'm only 10.

MAILER-DAEMON@yahoo.com wrote:

Hi. This is the qmail-send program at yahoo.com.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.

:
206.41.2532.11 does not like recipient.
Remote host said: 550 5.1.1 unknown or illegal alias: ******@verizon.net
Giving up on 20116.416.23552.11.

--- Below this line is a copy of the message.

Return-Path:
Received: (qmail 28870 invoked by uid 60001); 4 Feb 2008 23:43:02 -0000
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=s1024; d=yahoo.com; h=X-YMail-OSG:Received:Date:From:Subject:To:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding:Message-ID; Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2008 15:43:02 -0800
From: Brenden
Subject: brc
To: Sheri , Mom
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="0-1981017326-1201112168582=:28651"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Message-ID: <488384.28651.qm@web36913.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

--0-739304495-120112168582=:28651
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

please print the attached files

Too funny not to share....

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/too-funny-not-to-share.html

Thank you...

Dear VBS coordinators:

I just wanted to thank you so much for giving my children such delightful noise makers today at VBS. I must tell you how much they are enjoying using them over and over and over and over and over again.

A grateful mommy to THREE kids who attended your VBS today.

Thank you...

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/thank-you.html

My booty hurts.

TMI? Sorry, I thought blogging was all about sharing.....

See, thing is, the kids are going to VBS at the church by the school and since it is "so close" (my words to Brenden yesterday when he complained about bike riding) I thought it would be "smart" to ride our bikes.

Yes, smart...as in MY BOOTY SMARTS!! Women, especially shorter women, were not designed to ride bikes! I haven't been riding as much as I had been for a while and it shows (I could make a smart remark about how it not only shows in my booty pain but my booty size too but I'll let it go...).

They all three had a GREAT time at VBS yesterday. I came home (on the bike) and painted. We put up the siding around our new window Sunday after church and I must say, it looks SMASHING!! YEA!! Saturday we had put up the sheetrock inside around the window and installed a few more cabinets. I'd say we are 1/3 the way through...a bit of an ambitious estimate but sometimes ambition keeps you motivated.

So, needless to say, I'm giving my booty a chance to recover today and we're taking the four-wheeled mode of transportation to VBS (all you environmentalists out there...SHH!! I did my part for the environment yesterday between the bike ride and hanging clothes out on the line to dry so JUST GIT OFF MY BACK!! I'm DRIVING the less than 1 mile to VBS!)....where was I???? Oh, yes, the fun-filled, relaxing plans for the day.....after dropping off the kiddos for another fun-filled VBS day I'm coming home to eat bonbons and watch soaps.

Okay, not really.

I'm coming come to mow, weedeat and sweep and try and get it done and get cleaned up before VBS is over so I don't present to pick up my children as a sweat, grass covered vagabond.

Did I mention it is supposed to be 104 today? Mmm, should be a pleasant day.

My booty hurts.

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-booty-hurts.html

MY EYES!!! MY EYES!!!!

Or I could have titled this one simply "EMMA!!!!!!!!!!!!"

This morning I jumped into the shower for a quick clean-up only to have Ms. Em come into the bathroom to ask me where our hamper was...life is confusing when you're four and your mom and dad keep moving the house around. Upstairs at one end of the hallway is a simple little built in cabinet that just looks like a side table with a lamp and such but instead of having a drawer it opens up as a laundry chute. The clothes used to drop down to the first floor into my Rubbermaid hamper but now that we have a cabinet there the clothes are all hidden away. Poor Ms. Em hasn't figured out that her itty bitty body can't/won't reach those doors and she can only either ask for help or go up the stairs to put clothes in the hamper.....I know, I know I need to explain but being as I was in the shower trying to wash my face I didn't feel it was the most opportune time.

So, needless to say, after a bit of confused silence over my disjointed answer she closed the bathroom door and went about her business. I finished my shower, dried off and walked out into my bedroom. I heard a sound and figured for sure I'd find Ms. Em parked in one of our chairs but a quick scan found her neither in our chair nor in our bed.....

Mmmmm....what is that noise?

Well, it was Brenden. Standing in the doorway. The open doorway. Of my room. With a magazine. And did I mention an open door? And me. In. My. Birthday Suit.

"MY EYES!!!! MY EYES!!!!" was what I read written all over his face.

Needless to say, Ms. Em did not get a lesson on the hamper this morning but a lesson on remembering to close Mommy's door when she leaves the room. Poor Brenden. I think his skin color matched his hair color this morning. Oh well....just a little more baggage to add to his therapy list for adulthood.

P.S. There will be no accompanying picture for this entry...I'm sure you'll understand.

MY EYES!!! MY EYES!!!!

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-eyes-my-eyes.html

Mmm, yum! Meatloaf!!

So, I guess I make a pretty darn good meatloaf 'cause I got my window!! :)

Have I mentioned to you bloggy friends out there that my husband (the banker????) is uberly talented with...um, well I'd say hands...or maybe power tools.....I'm struggling here to keep this clean......He is very gifted at home improvements. How's that? No blushing? Good....

Where was I? Oh, yes. He made magic with the 2x4's I took nails out of and made a frame for the window and AND INSTALLED THE WINDOW!!!!! Serious dancing going on around here!!! I have a window! I have a window!! I'm so happy. I did, however, have to hang a bit of makeshift curtains over it because there was so much light streaming through there this morning but a shower curtain rod and old curtains later....my eyes are okay again.

Cousin Lene saved me from myself today by coming to visit, play and have lunch. I did pull/scrape/remove 12 more lovely peel-n-stick tiles and the three layers below that before she came over...in the hopes, of course, that more lovely cabinets can go up over the weekend. That remains to be seen...I'm serving fish sticks and macaroni tonight so I don't know if smooch can be buttered up for work on that food or not. :)

After a nice visit with Cousin Lene and some delicious cookies and milk for snack (cookies courtesy of Lene....thanks again...they were great and, yes, I did save some for Perry), I removed a bit more tile and some sheetrock to see what yummy termite dining had been done and would need to be repaired....So far just the paper on the sheetrock. YEA! Have I ever mentioned you should NEVER (EVER, EVER, EVER ) trust an inspector in Texas? (Though I could be just a bit biased).

Mmm, yum! Meatloaf!!

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/mmm-yum-meatloaf.html

Shhhh! Don't tell him....

I just got back from buying a window at Lowe's! Subtract the $10 coupon, merchandise credit for things we didn't wind up using and the cash leftover from selling the old kitchen cabinets on Craig's list and whala...you have a window the tightwad way! But don't tell smooch....I plan to butter him up with homemade meatloaf for dinner first.

Shhhh! Don't tell him....

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/shhhh-dont-tell-him.html

Robo-NCIS

An original work of art by Big Red.

Can you tell we love NCIS in our house? Put aside that Gibbs is a major hottie.....did I say that outloud?

Here you will note that Ziva is larger than all the rest of the characters and she is also Gibbs-slapping both Gibbs and Tony....I think Big Red has the hots for Ms. Ziva. What do you think?

Robo-NCIS

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/robo-ncis.html

Feelin' rather bloggy....

Okay, today is the ultimate in SAHM freedom around here...I slept in and then after dining on some powdered donuts and coffee (and definitely breaking the "no breakfast after 9am" rule) I piddled in the garage, pulling nails from old 2x4's and pouring down sweat (hoping beyond hope no one saw me raising my shirt to use it to mop the sweat 'cause frankly I was too lazy to get a rag to wipe it with). My background music was a combo of Jack FM and three kids playing on the slip-n-slide and eating freezer pops.

We saved and saved for our kitchen cabinets and we had enough for them saved plus a small cushion leftover. Sure, they were unfinished and yes, we had to go get them and we are also installing them but it fit our budget...and sure, that budget didn't include the countertops (yet) but we did it paying cash and no credit, the goal. However, sweetie's ac going out wasn't a factor in our math so imagine the mechanic's surprise when we showed up with a baggy full of change, all the cash in the house, a coupon and a debit card to pay for Mr. AC. Hey, you gotta do whatcha gotta do and we were determined not to break out the plastic to pay for it. So, here we are waiting for payday to take care of the windows....I tellya, living within your means is tough (GM execs didya hear that?).

Initially I was going to give our old cabinets away on Craig's list or Freecycle but after the ac repair I decided to see if I could get a little gas money/Sprouts money for them to hold us until payday. I had a dozen replies wanting to buy our old cabinets. YEA! So yesterday we bought three gallons of milk and two week's worth of produce at Sprouts. I love it when a plan comes together (Hanibal from the A-Team anyone?)

With a little planning, pulling some nails from some previously loved 2x4's and other devious, tightwad plans I think I have a way figured out to pay for a window BEFORE PAYDAY!!! Sorry, was I yelling? Please forgive...something about the duct tape, plastic and plywood covering the hole in the back of the house! :)

So, ya think smooch would bellow loudly if he came home and found a 3x3 window parked in what use to be the breakfast nook (which desparately needs to be called something other than the "used to be breakfast nook" or "where the bay window used to be")?

Feelin' rather bloggy....

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/feelin-rather-bloggy.html

Kitchen pics

Now you see it....

Now you don't...no more bar in the middle of the kitchen. YEA!!! Just a big empty space where it used to be. I still don't think I want an island but we'll see.


Our new bar area will be here where this little wall is, remember there used to be a full wall here. Cabinets on one side and a bi-level bar just big enough for the kids to eat or do homework above it.

THIS is the pantry of my dreams!! :) The double doors (top and bottom) on the left are full of my dishes and things as are the double doors on the bottom right. However, the double doors on the upper right open up into the hole in the ceiling we cut in almost four years ago to drop laundry in to....(anyone want to buy my plastic laundry hamper?)...and I am unbelievably pleased and happy about this set up. It holds lots of dirty clothes but it very well concealed and discrete.

The stove wall...We took the old countertops and split them to fit over the new cabinets. We ran a strip of duct tape down the seam to keep anything from falling into the drawers through the cracks....Smooch and I had a grand time with the "You know you're a redneck" jokes about the duct tape on the countertop....that's okay....we had duct tape covering a bad spot on the tile for the last several years. :)

Kitchen pics

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/kitchen-pics.html

Grand kitchen, Gran Torino and grand dissapointment

Grand Kitchen....Three day weekends are notorious working weekends for us and this past weekend was no exception. The 'whoo-hoo' moment was Wednesday (after our four dentist appointments) we picked up our kitchen cabinets. It took two trips with our little trailer, the truck and the van but we got them all home. The bad part was partway through the little adventure of picking them up Smooch's AC went out...not good when the highs over the weekend were 101. With our funds hitting a big fat zero with the AC repair, we couldn't do all that we had hoped in the kitchen. We still have two windows to buy and the necessary supplies to finish them out; however, we still made good use of our weekend. The worst was the tile removal where we did put cabinets in. Our poor knees and hands really took a beating scraping that mess up but it was well worth it. We have the large pantry/laundry chute in and two stove cabinets. The small pantry is set in place but not attached since there's still much to be done on that side. Just having those cabinets in I was able to move all my dishes and items from the old cabinets into these new ones. We are still using our coat closet for a food pantry but once the rest of the cabinets are in we can change that. The biggest change? Pulling that bar out....the kitchen feels HUGE!!!! I CAN"T WAIT to have my grand kitchen all done and show you all what I see in my mind when I think of how it will look...now to start saving for some kitchen counters! :)

Gran Torino...so, after working our tales off on the kitchen we sent the kids upstairs while we watched a 'mommy/daddy movie'. We watched Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood. I loved this movie, though the ending was a bit surprising and maybe a bit unfulfilling, especially given how they built his character up as a vengeful/angry type of person. The story was really good and I think the only reason it gets an 'R' rating was because of how foul the language was but by the same token, given the story line and character building, especially that of the main character played by Clint Eastwood, the language was a necessary evil. It wasn't violent at all, especially compared to some movies.

Grand dissappoinment...Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson. I so tired of all the news on Michael Jackson. At one time he was an inspirational performer, talented and skilled, but then it seems it all went to the wind, wrapped up in a warped adult-child-Freudian-field day. I feel sorry for his family in losing their son, I feel sorry for the children being embroiled in such a messy world but I feel even sorrier for those people so wrapped up in this they have forgotten about the "real" world. There is still war going on. We still have loved ones going to Afganistan, fighting, serving, dying....a serial killer in NC....people without food, electricity and more. The premature death of a man who alledgedy had an ongoing love affair with various prescriptions medications, plastic surgery and small children should rank much lower on the national news media' radar than it has. Seriously, tickets to his memorial? Live coverage. NBC apparently didn't decide until the last minute but now the evening news anchor is also anchoring his memorial service. Sad, sad, sad (embarrassed and shameful head shaking right about here). Life is short enough without focusing on the passing of a sad and confused man who had the potential to be a real legend in a positive way. He could have used his fame and fortunes to the betterment of many many people but instead he died a rather sad and perverse legend.

Grand kitchen, Gran Torino and grand dissapointment

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/grand-kitchen-gran-torino-and-grand.html

Stinkin' hot in Texas!!

So I just had to share....It's been sorta hot around here. How hot? Glad you asked (and if you didn't well, we'll just pretend you did).

These little flower pots were on my back porch waiting to be tossed in our missing recycle bin (evidently the storm a few weeks back carried the bin into the land of missing socks from my laundry room, never to be seen again).



So, pardon me if I 'hibernate' for the summer!

Stinkin' hot in Texas!!

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/stinkin-hot-in-texas.html

Serious cute!!!

Nuff said.

Serious cute!!!

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/serious-cute.html

Some summertime happens'

So it's been hot, very, very stinkin' hot but we've not been letting it get us down (most of the time).

Uncle Keith and Aunt Susie were gracious enough to let us take a dip last weekend in their backyard pool. I must say FABULOUS! Even I, Ms.-I-can't-stand-to-wear-a-swimsuit, put a suit on for this little adventure (although I threatened to go after any cameras with a John-McEnroe-style beating).





The kids LOVED IT (dragon-tales sing-song here) and didn't want to leave the pool. Jacob and Brenden were delighted to have a pool big enough to jump, dive, and cannon-ball into. Jacob was climbing on Dad's shoulders and Nestea-plunging into the water. Emma took a bit but finally got a little more comfortable. She went from noodle to life preserver to floatie and everything in between but her favorite was on the step where she felt safest. She, by the time the day was over, was comfortable enough to stick her face and eyes in the water, jump to day and float with the noodle. Progress!





It was 105 that day but we all sunscreened up with some of that spray on sunscreen. That stuff does a good job except....well, except for wear we "rubbed" it on our faces. :) Since you're not supposed to spray it on your face we sprayed our hands and rubbed it in...Perry had a neat little pinkish/red area across the top of each shoulder (where I missed) and then just above the eyebrows and down the center of his head. :) Emma had a sunburn on the part of her head. After both parents either having suspiciuos or confirmed skin cancer areas removed, we are trying to be even more diligent with our sunscreen usage.





We are hanging out today...me going crazy even trying to get one little bloggy update in....I just had my fourth "Mom!" in the last couple of minutes...UGHGHGHGHG! Sorry, mild expression of frustration there. We're having five dental appointments this afternoon (Have I mentioned I LOVE our dentist and the fact they will see us all on one day for cleanings?) and then we go to pick up our kitchen cabinets (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo!). No big plans for the fourth unless you count banana pudding and kitchen cabinets. >O)

Some summertime happens'

http://momsbaggage.blogspot.com/2009/07/some-summertime-happens.html