Today's Life Lesson: Spontaneous Combustion

I never cease to amaze myself. Today, it was my stupidity.



See, the other night I went to one of my friends homes for a Mom's Night In. We all got together to watch a movie and chit chat, kid free. Everyone brought something to eat and I brought a bottle wine. Which, I will admit, was great!



The problem, however, started with the trip to the liquor store. I couldn't decide how much wine I should get. I wasn't exactly sure how many moms would be drinking. So I decided to get 2 large bottles. One was cold and I took it inside with me.



The other, was not cold and I decided to leave it in the car. My thought process was that I would have a second just in case, but if we didn't need it, I would just take it home with me and drink it another time. Genius! Everyone would be happy!



The problem continued when I forget to take the extra bottle out of the car that evening.



I left it in the trunk. All day. In 95 degree heat. Hmmmm......



The next day I popped the trunk open and was smacked in the face with the smell of wine. Apparently, if you leave a bottle of wine in a hot trunk long enough the cork will pop and wine will leak all over the place.



Thank goodness for spontaneous combustion!!!

It's a shame that my bottle wasn't sitting upright and then tilted itself and poured the wine into glasses after the cork popped!!!

Well, we'll just chalk this one up to another lesson learned.

The Best Confirmation

As a mother one of my biggest fears is that my children won't know how much I really love them. I know that they know I care about them. They know I'll protect them and feed them. I'll nurture them and take them to the park. But do they know how much I really truly love them???

Earlier today I have my 3 year old a big hug and hold him, "I love you." Just as I do all the time. He usually looks at me and says, "I love you too." But he didn't today.

Instead, today, he looked at me and said, "Mommy, I know."

Those three simple words gave me confirmation that I must be doing something right. I hope my kids will always know that Mommy loves them!!!

My Utter Impulsivity, Take 2

We all know that I can be impulsive. It's a bad habit that I can't break. I do and say things without ever thinking about the consequences or what I'd do next. Now, I know everybody can be impulsive at times. But lately, it's gotten really bad!!

Over the last couple weeks I've been going into work a few days a week to put in some summer hours while all the kids are on vacation. It's nice being able to go in and work without students. I have been very productive! However, when I go in during the summer I'm almost always the only person in the whole building. And just in case you're wondering, empty schools are freaky!!

On the last day of school all of our lockers were cleaned out and opened. And they're still open. All of them. Every single locker, empty and left open. And there I am all alone with them.

Every now and then I have to leave my office to go somewhere in the school, usually the copier.... and when that happens I have to walk by said lockers. This is not a good thing!!

See, every time I walk by those lockers I get this uncontrollable urge to run down the hall as fast as I can and slam all of the locker doors shut!! Wouldn't that be fun?!?! If I did it right, I could get the top row and the bottom row at the same time, in one swift move!! It's be sweet!

But there are cameras, and I'm afraid of getting caught. So I try to resist. But to be honest, I'm not sure how I'm going to make it all summer without shutting them all!!

By the way- I still sometimes get the urge to lick the TV. Only sometimes though. :)

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there!!! I hope you all had a great day! And I hope all of you moms, wives, daughters had a great day with the special men in your lives!

And a special Happy Father's Day to my dad. I couldn't dream up a better dad than you. And I couldn't imagine my life without you. I am so grateful for everything you've ever done for me and for everything that you continue to do. You have helped make me the strong, caring, independent woman that I am today. Thanks, dad!! You truly are the best dad (and Grandpa) EVER!!!!

Search for the MIssing Phone

I've been known to be pretty absent minded sometimes, and today was no exception.

Tonight, the boys and I took my hubby our for dinner to celebrate Father's Day. After dinner my hubby took the boys home and I went shopping to get Father's Day gifts for all the daddy's in my life.....

I got fed up and decided to head home, after not being able to find anything I was looking for. About 10 minutes into my almost 30 minute drive I reached for my cell phone......
And it wasn't there!!! Uh OH!!

Where the heck did it go?!?!?! I SWEAR I didn't leave it anywhere! Great! Now what? I began searching frantically as I drove down the road. I emptied my purse, several times. And my wallet, several times. I triple checked the seats and my pockets. I even checked the center console, which I knew I hadn't opened.

I couldn't find it. Great. I must have left it at the last store I was at. I was checking the time when I was in there. Sigh.... Guess I'll just have to turn around and go get it....

So I turned around went back to the store I had just come from. And 15 minutes later, I arrived. Upon arrival I jumped out of the car to head into the store....

And low and behold, when I got out of the car there sat my cell phone on the seat of the car....

I had been sitting on it the whole time!!! Geez!! I really wish someone would have called me so I'd have heard it ring!! :) Oh well.... at least I found it!! Next time I'll check the seat before I turn the car around!

The Simple Ways they Melt My Heart

I've always believed the saying, "It's the simple things in life that matter most."



But lately I've been trying really hard to pay more attention to those simple things in life.

Today I noticed the little things that my boys do that bring a smile to my face, even if I'm not in a good mood......



How'd my little loves make me smile today???



Every day when I get home and go pick up the boys I always greet each of them with a big hug and kisses. Today, I gave my 5 year old a hug and he pulled back and just looked at me. Then he said, "Mommy, let me smell your hair." So leaned in and let him smell my hair. He gave me a big sniff and then looked at me and said, "Hmmm, it smells really nice!" LOL!! Thanks, honey!!

Later, I was standing in the kitchen at my mother's house and my 14 month old started yelling "BOO!!" He cracked up when I would pretend I was scared of him, it was so cute! I scooped him up and he kept yelling "BOO", so I started yelling back at him. He started laughing so hard that he would get confused and sometimes his "BOO" would be a combo laugh/boo. Then he'd shake his head, look at me and yell "BOO" again.

On the way home tonight, my 3 year old says to me, "Mommy, can you do this??" I looked in the mirror and he was making the 'I love you' sign. I said, "Yep, I love you." And he got this huge smile on his face and said, still making his sign, "I love you too, Mommy!"

My boys melt my heart each and every day!!

Today's Life Lesson: Get Up and Go!

We've all heard the say, "You learn something new every day." And I will admit, I use it quite often. I, however, never really put much thought to the saying or whether or not it was true. But when I stop to think about it, you really do learn something new every day. Sometimes it's a new fact that you never knew, sometimes it's a bit of insight and other times it may be something that you already knew, but hadn't thought about lately, or now look at in a different way.

My life lesson today??

JUST GET UP AND GO!

About 3 weeks ago I started jogging in the mornings. Ok, so I started speed walking/ slowly jogging. I run about 2 miles every morning around my neighborhood. And I'm happy to report, I've been doing pretty well. I never thought I'd like running, but I LOVE it! I have a ton more energy and I just feel better about myself.

But some mornings it's hard to get up and get motivated to start running. This morning was one of those mornings. I kept pushing the snooze button. And to make it worse, I knew that I could sleep in today and it was a groggy, humid morning. But alas, I got up and headed out.

When I returned everyone in my house was still asleep, so I got in the shower and got ready. I had energy to keep up and play with my boys all day. It was great.

Now I just need to keep this motivation up and keep going!!!

Pushing our kids too much?

Why do we push kids to be mini athletes? It's a fact that less than 1% of all high school athletes will be professional athletes one day. And we all know that many of the little 5 year olds playing sports will not even play high school sports. So why do we push out little ones to play so perfectly??

Our 5 year old is playing t-ball in for our local little league this year. At a recent game a father repeatedly yelled directions at his young son. Every time the boy was in the field we would hear "Jacob stand up! Jacob look at the ball! Jacob pay attention!" And on and on. When he was up to bat the father was yelling over the fence how to stand. Now I'm not saying that a parent should never give directions, I yell directions occasionally. But this was excessive. Every few seconds this father way yelling.

I can't help but wonder what will happen to the self-esteem of children treated like this as they grow. How will a child like this boy handle failure? He is going to have such big shoes to fill. What if he just simply can't do it?

It's a fact that kids want to please their parents. Even though they won't say it and some times it won't seem as though they want to please their parents, in their hearts they do. As parents we need to teach our children to do their best. Don't set expectations too high. Allow room for failure and teach them how to cope with failure.

Teach your children that it's ok to miss the ball. It's ok to strike out. Even if there are 2 outs and the bases are loaded. It's ok to strike out. It's ok. What's important is that they try their best. It's important that they get up the next inning and try again.

Foster resilience, push for growth and allow for failure. Don't strive for perfection, they will only let you down if do.

Wordless Wednesday: Our Soldiers

Because there's so much more to our soldiers than mysterious uniforms and big guns.

Support Our Troops! If we don't, who will?

For more amazing Army photos and details of the pictures posted here check out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/

There Should be a Warning Label!!

There should be a warning label on Bath and Body Work's Stress Relief lotion. What would such a warning label say???

"WARNING - This product will not always provide stress relief. In fact, at times it may cause a rapid increase in stress."

Why would you need such a warning?

Because while you're getting ready, your 5 year old will take the bottle and empty it into your 3 year old's hair. The two of them will then begin to rub the lotion all over the 3 year old's head and arms. By the time you peak your head out of the bathroom to check on them, approximately 2 minutes later, said 3 year old will be such a mess you will have stop what you're doing and go give him another bath.

And if you're really lucky, while you're bathing the 3 year old, your hair (which you were in the middle of blow drying) will become frizzy and you'll have to double the amount of time you spent fixing it. At the same time your 5 year old will go down to the kitchen and spill a bowl of cereal and your 1 year old will attempt to help you give the 3 year old a bath and will get so wet, he'll require a new outfit.

Morale of the story? Keep your stress relieving lotion up out of reach of your little ones.

Music Makes Me Dance!

I've always heard that music can really connect with a person's emotions. Music can make you laugh, cry, think, dance, or who knows! We've all got that one song that evokes some type of feeling or brings back memories whenever we hear it. I have several. :)

For example, every time I hear "Strawberry Wine" it takes me back to the awkward 8th grades dances in middle school. I still remember how badly I wanted to dance with my crush, we'll just call him "Bert". And of course, what did Bert and I dance to? Strawberry Wine!!

And "Genie in a Bottle" reminds me of high school. I remember choreographing that song in the basement of one of my best friends houses.

The list could go on and on. But I never really thought about how much music really can have an impact on someone until today.

I had a horrible day. NOTHING went right. I had problems with co-workers, students and some nasty parents. It was just one of no good, horrible, terribly bad days. I then got off work and went to the sporting goods store to get snow pants for the snow tubing field trip I got suckered into tomorrow. And of course, there were NONE. But the clerck did say that they'd have more next year!! Ugh! Then I headed home and found the kids sitting in my mother in law's kitchen eating ice cream, BEFORE dinner! Seriously?! They were so wound up. Headache!!

Anyway, on the way home Michael Buble's new song "Haven't Met You Yet" came on the radio. I turned it up and started softly singing to it. I slowly got louder and louder. Then I started dancing to it as I drove down the road. By the time the second verse started I was belting out the song so loud passing cars could probably hear me! And I was trying so hard to dance in my seat that those passing cars probably thought I was having convulsions!

But I noticed I felt so much better. I had a smile on my face. Everything was ok. None of the 'bad' things of my day really mattered. I remembered that I just need to LIVE IN THE MOMENT! Enjoy life. Have FUN! Live a little! Dance a lot!!

Try it! Turn on some of your favorite tunes the next time you're feeling down and see what happens! I'm convinced that no matter how bad my day has been all I need is a good song and some cute dancing shoes (or socks)!!

Snow, Snow, Snow!

Over the last week my area has been pounded by snow. I'm not in the hardest hit area, but over the last week we've gotten around 3 1/2 feet where I live. The roads have been horrible. Many roads have been closed for days. Some areas have had driving bans to try and keep people off the dangerous roads. After the first snow storm my husband and I took the boys out to play, and I thought I'd share some pictures. These were all taken earlier this week, after the first band of snow. We got another 18 inches the day after these were taken.

My husband decided to jump off of our porch into the snow, just like the big kid he is!! :)

Poor little Bear didn't like being put down in the snow!

At one point I looked out the window and 4 of our neighbors were all out with their snow blowers, and several others with shovels. They were all helping each other. This man was snow blowing paths from house to house down the middle of the road, which hadn't been plowed.

Writer's Block

I have writers block.

Well, maybe I'm just not a writer, because I have "writer's block" nearly every day. Hence the reason I only write a few times a week.

But I have noticed that there will be times during the day that I think, "Oh, this will be so good to blog about!!!" But later that evening, as I sit down at the computer, one of two things happens.

Either, one, I can't remember that "great" idea that I had earlier. Or, two, that "great" idea is totally lame and boring.

For example, earlier today I broke my toothbrush. It's one of those fancy electric toothbrushes, that my mom got me for Christmas last year. One of the little parts with the bristles on it popped out and was vibrating all over the place. It was very annoying. I thought I could fix it, and pushed it back together. But it popped out again. So I pushed it back in, harder this time, jamming it. So now it just makes a strange grinding sound. Sigh....

Anyway, I was so upset this morning about my toothbrush, I thought, "you know, it is true, you never how much you'll miss something until it's gone." Then I stared at my toothbrush a little longer, wondering how much a new one would cost me and thinking about how horrible it would be until I got a new one. Then it hit me.... BLOG POST! Yes! I have something to write about!! WooHoo!!

And guess what?! I even made a note of my amazing brain storm!! The problem? When I sat down this evening I remembered thinking that I had something to say, but couldn't remember.
Then I remembered my note.... so I went and looked at it. Then I realized how stupid my toothbrush story was. (Yes, I know, I told it anyway. But in a different way and to illustrate a purpose, so it's ok.) :)

I love blogging. I really do. But I have the hardest time coming up with material sometimes. Hmm.... what shall I write about tomorrow?? I'll have to remember to keep taking notes!! That really helped tonight!!!

Five for Friday: 5 Reasons I have a Headache Today

1) I ate all of my chocolate yesterday, which left me with none for breakfast this morning.

2) My 5 year old kicked a ball which hit me square in the side of the head.

3) My kids think that they are the Jonas Brothers, even at 6:30am.

4) I was graced with my special visitor this week.

5) I ate all my chocolate yesterday.

My Utter Impulsivity

Last night my husband turned on the Pro Bowl and took his usual position on the couch. I walked into the room and asked him a question about the game, pointing at the TV. Now I didn't touch the TV, but I was very close to it, within an inch or so.

At this point my husband looks at me and yells: "Don't touch the TV!"

I replied: "I didn't touch the TV, but so what if I did. If I want to touch the TV, I will!"

I turned and started to walk back to the kitchen, but of course I just had to walk back in and say: "In fact, if I want to lick the TV, I will!!"

And I hate to admit it, but it took every bone in my body to NOT lick the TV!!

Ugh! My husband really brings out the best in me!!

Wanted: Industrial Strength Ear Plugs

Wanted: Industrial Strength Ear Plugs

Mother of 3 is desperately searching for a set of industrial strength ear plugs. It is imperative that the ear plugs be able to block out sounds at all octaves. They must be able to block the sound of 3 children having a screaming match in the back seat of the vehicle. They must also be able to block out tattle tales, children's cartoons (especially Barney), loud toys, and complainers.

Additional desired features: Able to block out husbands, mother in laws and the telephone.

Will pay top dollar for product!!!

I'm so sleepy!!

I struggle to wake up every day. Last week there was a day that I hit the snooze button for an entire hour. Needless to say I was nearly late to work that day.

Of course the obvious solution to such a problem would be to go to bed earlier, hence getting more sleep at night. Easy enough, right?

Well, there's a reason I never make it to bed early. See, my children have devised a plan to drive me crazy. Every night I put my boys to bed and then to go about my evening. A short while later I'll go crawl into bed to wind down and watch TV or read.

And every night, just as I'm turning out the light one of my little ones wakes up, most likely Jellybean. Here's a chronology of my typical night:

10-11 pm I go to bed

11pm Jellybean will wake up and I'll go and settle him down and then go back to bed.

1am Bear will wake up and I'll feed him and put him back to bed. This will be immediately followed by Jellybean waking up once again.

2am (Nearly an hour after Bear woke up) I will finally be able to go back to bed.

4am I will hear Little Man coming and crawling into bed with me.

5:30am My alarm clock will go off and I will hit the snooze button every 10 minutes for the next 20-60 minutes.

Of course during any given night any one of the 3 boys will wake an extra time, causing me to get even less sleep.

I love my boys, but it's quite obvious why I am always so tired in the morning.

But that's ok, I only have about 5 more years to go and then they should all be sleeping through the night!! WooHoo!! Come on 2015!!

So Stressful

When you become a parent you will inevitably hear "Enjoy them while they're young, they grow up too fast." Or "You'll miss these days when they're over." Or "These are the happiest days of your life." But is this really true??

I do believe that my babies will grow up too fast. And I'm sure I'll look back on these days and will wish my boys were still so small and innocent.

However, while listening to the radio a few days ago they were talking about the most stressful time of a person's life. The most stressful time? Mid 20s- Mid 30s.

The least stressful times? The college years and retirement.

Hmmm...... I'd have to say, I think I agree with this. I know that my college years were not very stressful at all. Granted I did have to stop partying occasionally to keep up with my school work and I did travel home many weekends to work. However, overall, college was just plain fun.

By contrast, the last few years since becoming a mom have been extremely stressful. Of course I wouldn't trade my life or family for the world, but I sure am stressed. Parenting is fun, but the little ones require so much time and attention it can become quite overwhelming.



That said, I do wish that people would stop telling me to enjoy my kids now and that this is the happiest time of my life. I know that my kids are growing up too fast, I don't need you to remind me of that. And I know I'll miss these days when they're gone. But that doesn't mean I don't have other things in life to look forward to. Like baseball games, graduations, weddings and grandkids!

I'm Back!

Wow! It's been over 4 months since I've made a post!! What happened?! It's been a busy couple months! Granted I wasn't a die hard blogger with thousands of visitors, but there has always been something about blogging that I loved. I love being able to share my thoughts and stories with others. Though I have to admit, after a couple of months I started to wonder if it had been too long.... Should I even continue my blog? Should I just start a new one? I think I'll stick to what I know. So here's your fair warning.... I'm back!!! :)