This was yesterday's post...

(but I never actually posted it. So here I am a day late. What else is new -- a day late and a dollar short -- that's me!)





Sunday mornings have potential for me…the potential to be really good – or really, really bad. Usually, they are a bit of both.

Sunday morning is important to me. I grew up in a very strict, traditional Catholic home. I look forward to a little recharging of my batteries at church on Sunday morning. However, since I am the mother of three young children, somehow the strength and uplifting I am hoping for doesn’t always happen due to a certain level of distraction and/or chaos.

Today, our priest was giving a good sermon, with the basic message being that our mistakes (even our biggest ones) do not define us. He was speaking of God’s mercy and how God will continually reach out His hand and give us another chance. I was feeling a bit down this past week and the sermon was really making me feel better. The kids were being really good. I was focused – I was actually able to pay attention and feel some of the weight of my world lifting off my shoulders. It was nice.

It couldn’t last forever.

I wanted to hang on to that feeling for as long as possible. So when I heard the sound of two bowling balls hitting each other right next to me, I really wanted to ignore it. But since it was actually Nicholas and Rachel knocking heads (not bowling balls), I was forced to jump into action before there was drama and loud, wailing tears. I was furiously rubbing their heads and giving quick mommy kisses (which we know, heals all boo boos). Thankfully, a crisis was averted. However, this was definitely the beginning of the end of my lighthearted, focused time in church. I won't bore you with all the details, but suffice it to say, by the time I was back in the car to head home, I wasn't really feeling "refreshed" much at all.

Someone please keep reminding me that there will come a day all too soon when I will miss all the chaos. Right??? Won't I???

For now -- thank goodness for things that remind me that there is always hope. And that without struggles, we wouldn't be able to enjoy all the good stuff. You can't have a rainbow without the rain, right?

(Oh -- and THANK GOODNESS for margaritas. hee hee....)

Hope you had a great weekend!

Just a few more pics...

Thought I'd take a quick break in the day to share some more photos. Mostly because I'm stalling before I start dusting....I hate dusting...the worst part is moving all the darn photos I have on display. I think I hate dusting as much as I hate ironing. Oh and cleaning bathrooms -- that's right up there too...maybe I just hate chores in general...hmmm....

But let me not digress....

More photos from our day at the zoo....

I have shared a "baby-camel-with-my-daughter" picture before, but this one is too cute not to share. I think they've bonded and that camel remembers her when we visit. LOL (he actually really wanted the camel food in her hand!) ;)



Here are some beautiful butterflies that I wish would stay at our zoo forever...I love them! But I think they're only on display for a while.



A tuckered out Nicholas...I had to share this one, because rarely will you see this kid sitting still. And that look on his face is his new face that he makes all the time -- like he smells something icky -- who knows where it came from. I think it's rather cute (as I always think his face is cute!)

A very serious frog...

And finally, my oldest son (so you don't think I've forgotten him -- but he is hard to photograph these days... guess he's tired of nine years of mom's camera in his face!) -- anyway -- here he is finding out how many scorpions it takes to equal his weight...useful information you know...

Alright...I'm done. Thanks for helping me stall with my dusting. I was hoping it would magically disappear while I was blogging, but no such luck.

Chat with you soon!

Slug Bug

Do you ever tell your kids a story without realizing the consequences or the monster you've created??

When I was a little girl, my mom had a Volkswagen Beetle. I loved that car. It was light blue and oh so very 70s (it looked even better than the photo I've attached!). My cousins and I used to play a game and I don't know if it's a common one or something we made up. It was called Slug Bug. Every time you saw a VW bug, you had to be the first one to yell out "Slug Bug!" and then you got to "slug" the other person (or person of your choice if there were several of you playing). Anyone else ever heard of this silly little game?

Well one day I was taking a trip down memory lane, telling my kids about my fond memories of my cousin Amy and I and how we used to love to play Slug Bug. For some reason -- of all things -- I remembered Slug Bug.

You can well imagine the monster I've created, can you not?? Now, anytime we're out and about the older kids cannot wait for the opportunity to slug one another. And Nicholas is so confused, he says "slug bug!" anytime he sees an actual bug and thinks he gets to smack his siblings. And my daughter just so happens to have two little banks that are shaped like VW bugs, so each and every day when I enter her room, she thinks it's just hilarious to yell "Slug Bug!" and slug me twice. Nice mothering skills eh?? Teaching my kids a hitting game?? It's kind of fun though -- so far they think it's quite funny and the injury rate is low. I get the occasional whining ("Mom! He hurt me!"), but in general they just laugh. The real challenge to each of them is who will see the most slug bugs on any given outing.

Speaking of bugs, we made yet another trip to our zoo yesterday. We went with friends and had a great time. We spent five long hours there in the hot sun, so my head was throbbing by the time we got home, but that's okay. As usual, I took many, many photos and thought I'd share a few.

First, my very brave daughter holding a disgusting hissing cockroach -- you would not catch me touching that thing --

Next, one of my little meerkat friends -- they are always more than willing to look cute and pose.

And one final photo for today -- this one is just for my friend Jayne who is a self-proclaimed "monkey junkie" -- how cute are these hugging chimpanzees???

I may share a few more zoo photos soon -- for now -- enjoy your day!

Reality TV

Are you a fan of reality TV? I think if you asked me, I would say not so much.

But then last night as I sat riveted (along with the rest of my family) to (oh man, I am almost embarrassed to admit it)....American Gladiators, I began to wonder if I am more of a reality TV fan than I realized. Because we really had fun watching that show -- and my kids immediately started exercising and performing amazing feats of skill involving various toys and my furniture when it was done. I know we'll be watching again.

This led me to consider what other "reality" shows I enjoy. American Idol. (I just love David Cook -- so glad he won this past season!) Top Chef. Project Runway. The Next Food Network Star. And I have been known in years past to follow a season or two of The Real World, Beauty & the Geek, Average Joe. I'm sure I'm missing a few.

In general I hate being "hooked" on too many TV shows. If I watch too much I feel like I've wasted an enormous amount of time. Plus I think after working in the TV business as an advertising salesperson for 12 years, I tend to be a bit more anti-TV. I got burned out on the whole process of ratings and what's hot and what's not -- and really, who the heck cares. It's just TV, it's not life or death.

On the flip side, sometimes it's just nice to not have to use your brain for a bit and to flop your rear on your couch and enjoy a show or two. OR to get caught up in a show like "Lost" that completely exercises your brain and leaves you anxious for more each week. Love that show!

How about you -- TV junkie or not? Reality TV junkie or not?? What are your faves?


Moving from TV to music...my sweet friend Carolyn (love ya girl!) spoiled me with a little surprise this past week. I got the new Journey CD in the mail as a gift from her, as she knows I am a big fan. Journey brings back so many memories from my high school years. Anyway, they have a new lead singer that replaced Steve Perry. For anyone who knows Steve Perry or Journey, I have to tell you, the new guy sounds EXACTLY like Steve Perry. Exactly. It's almost scary! If you are or were ever a fan of Journey, I would definitely recommend this CD.

I hope you are all having a great start to your week. Chat with you soon!

Who Can It Be Now??

(Did my title get that song stuck in your head -- you know the one -- "Who can it be knockin' at my door...go away...don't come 'round here no more...") Yes, it's another one of my 80s song references...whatever happened to Men At Work I wonder.

Moving on...

I feel like blogging, but have absolutely no idea what about, so first, I will share some funny photos of my youngest. I seem to be giving him the most face time on my blog these days, but really...who can resist when he poses like this for me???

First, he poses with Harry Potter glasses -- but I think he looks much more like the chicken hawk from Foghorn Leghorn cartoons -- what do you think??





Next up, he is modeling the Incredible Hulk hands that are nearly as big as he is and giving me his best Hulk roar.





Finally, he decided to just plain look cute for a moment...




This little boy just makes me smile (and he also makes me insanely crazy much of the time with his non-stop energetic ways, but I'm sure he just doesn't want me to be bored!)

Speaking of this boy -- he has a lovely fat lip today. His little lip made full force contact with my older son's head last night and it wasn't pretty. My oldest son felt so bad! And speaking of my oldest son -- he fell at the splash park we were playing at today and smacked his head on the cement. Scared the heck out of me. I hate when they hit their heads -- it's scary not knowing if they injured anything inside! But he seems fine so far and my friends Alice and Wendy were there to help me doctor him up and make sure he was alright (thanks girls!) Not to be outdone, my daughter began counting the scratches and bruises on her arms and legs today and she came up with something ridiculous like 15 or 18. (For the record -- ten of those are on each of her toes from the swimming pool we go to -- the pool just messes up your feet!)

I do not think I will be winning any Mother of the Year awards this week. ((sigh))

And since some of you seemed to get a kick out of my last post about the cheese and fireworks store -- I had to share one more photo. It looks like the cheese/firework/gift/gas mart has a mascot. Why oh why does this just crack me up??

Enjoy your weekend!

Only in Wisconsin....

can you buy cheese with your fireworks. In fact, I think you can buy cheese just about anywhere in Wisconsin. There are random huge signs in many, many places that simply say -- "CHEESE". They are proud of their dairy products -- and they definitely should be. And trust me -- I am not making fun of Wisconsin. I love that part of the country. I'm from very northern Illinois -- only about 30 minutes from the Wisconsin border. This sign just made me laugh. A cheese-fireworks-gift shop. And a gas station to boot! Pretty impressive.

Yes, as you have probably deduced -- we were just in Wisconsin and Illinois. One of my many, many cousins got married (congrats Mike and Laura!) and we were there for a long weekend. We stayed with one of my uncles in Wisconsin and had a great time. I miss my family so darn much. When we get into that part of the country, it just feels like home. Even though I spent more of my life in Kansas than Illinois, I still get the feeling of home from going to Illinois. I guess because my early childhood memories of lots of aunts, uncles and cousins come from there. And most of my family is still in that area, with the exception of my mom, me and a few cousins.

I have more pictures to share in the next few days, but here's one more.

My baby turned four yesterday. *sniff* And this is how he spent the day -- strapped in a car seat -- for 12 long, tiring hours. Lucky for me, he didn't really know the difference. But as a not so subtle reminder he would burst into the Happy Birthday song off and on throughout the day. Singing to himself -- maybe to make it seem just a bit more festive. Bad Mommy that I am -- I haven't even gotten him a gift yet! We're hoping to do something special for him soon.

Okay -- it is now nearing the dinner hour and I have successfully avoided the mountains of laundry all day. I can't avoid them any longer, so for now I leave you. But have a great week -- and I hope to catch up with each of you very soon!

Meet Cally...

Once again, I have to mention my friend Alice.

(She might start charging me a fee for making mention of her so often!)

Through Alice, I found her friend Cally's blog. Cally is not only incredibly creative, as you will see from her handmade items -- but she is a great writer. So if you get a chance -- go say hello. Check out her shop -- read a few of her entries. In fact, there is a link on her blog right now that will break your heart -- but it's a huge reality check. In fact, I'll just put the link right here -- Lucy's Story -- what an example of faith and strength.

Back to Cally... I met her just once, but let me tell you -- she amazed me. She has five beautiful children. And she is willing to take them out for fun -- all by herself. This makes me -- pathetic, inadequate me -- realize that I need to get a grip. I take my three children out and nearly have a nervous breakdown half the time, just trying to keep an eye on all of them.

Isn't blogging amazing sometimes?? We can find inspiration and laughs from our friends -- and from complete strangers. So go see Cally -- you won't be disappointed!

An overdue Thank You...

to my sweet, totally rad, groovy to the max friend Alice, who likes to encourage my geekiness and love of 80s music by sending me 80s music quizzes to take on the internet -- and by buying me a very cool present!!!

I have yet to play the game -- we have been so busy -- but I do greatly look forward to playing with my hubby and beating him soundly! (no pun intended -- hee hee) Actually, I'm getting forgetful in my old age, so he'll probably make me eat my words!

I also have to thank Alice who inspired me without even realizing it. The other day, Alice's oldest daughter told me her mom had set up a reading incentive for her over the summer and that she can earn prizes if she keeps up with her reading this summer. My oldest son, who is a fantastic reader was moaning and groaning every time I suggested he read a book and I was needing something to motivate him. It's important to me that my kids keep up with their reading even though they are on vacation. So, we now have charts on their bedroom doors and they are earning points with each book that they read. It is working wonders! My six-year old gets a new Littlest Pet Shop toy for every 15 points -- my nine-year old is working for Nintendo DS games. He has to get more points since he is older and the games cost much more than LPS toys. But they are excited and reading every day. So thanks Alice -- I needed that little shove! I like to buy things for my kids every now and then, but I prefer that they are "earning" things -- especially when it's something like a video game. I don't want my son to expect new games constantly, but if he can set goals for himself and earn them -- I'm okay with that.

I will probably be scarce for the next week or so. I really want to catch up with all of you and your blogs. But if it's not soon -- I promise it will be eventually!

Enjoy your week!!! Stay cool -- and for those of you that are getting entirely too many storms -- I hope you are safe!

How Annoying is This Kid's Mother???

Oh wait...that would be me!!!

My poor kids -- my camera is constantly in their faces -- sometimes for no apparent reason.

But hey -- I have blogging to do and scrapbooks to make, so they better just DEAL with it, right??

(and no, that is NOT my tatooed arm in the photo ... I am not even close to being that cool!)

Teacher Gifts

I need to wipe away the blahs of my previous post, so I thought I'd share pictures of the teacher gifts I put together at the end of the school year.



A couple of other moms and I went in together and made a little summer survival kit for each of our two kindergarten teachers. I made one for my older son's teacher as well. We found some cute mesh beach bags at Hobby Lobby that came with a matching mat and flip flops (neither of which looked very comfortable, but we got them for the cuteness factor!). We added sunscreen, a gift card to Border's and attached a beach towel to the back. They also should have had an ice cream gift card, but I went to two Baskin Robbin stores that couldn't help me and I just ran out of time to go elsewhere for a gift card.

Then, although it has nothing to do with summer survival, I made each teacher an altered, personalized clipboard that they can hopefully use in their classrooms next year. The kids signed the back of the clipboards. Instead of a thank you card, I used a matted picture of the kids that said thank you and attached it to the clip of the clipboard. We just slipped the clipboards into the front of each bag.

I hope they liked them. Whenever I make something for someone, I get excited about working on it, but then when it comes to actually giving it to them I wonder how they will feel about my handmade item. I always worry they'll find it tacky or might not enjoy it. They were really fun to put together though.

Hard to believe our summer vacation is in full swing. My kids have already been on quite a few adventures and we're barely two weeks into our break.

I hope to catch up with as many of you as possible on your blogs this week. In the meantime -- Happy Wednesday!!!

I Need....

to lighten up.

I need to take a deep breath.

I need to calm down.

I need to be patient.

Today, I took all three kids to the grocery store. I hadn't done that in a while and I was quickly reminded why I hate taking all THREE of them to the store. They ask for too much, they don't pay attention to what's going on around them and then get in other people's way. They constantly touch things when I have said 452 times, please don't touch anything. They ask me over and over -- "How many more things do we need? I'm bored!" By the time we get to the checkout I am hot, grumpy and snapping at all of them and hoping that I never, ever have to grocery shop again in my life.

Today, we got to the car and poor little Nick -- he struggles with communication and I know it and I try to be patient. But sometimes, I just want him to hear me -- to get what I'm saying -- and to do what I'm asking. But he just doesn't get it or doesn't listen at times and I want to pull all my hair out. Especially after a stressful trip like today's adventure at the grocery store.

Sadly, it was a juice box that set me over the edge this afternoon -- a stupid little juice box.

I had a cooler of drinks in the car and I gave Nick a juice box. I said to him again and again, "DON'T squeeze it." And what does he do each time he grabs it? Yes -- he squeezes it. Juice spurts onto the floor, on his lap, on his brother. I am getting so irritated and my voice is rising as I continue to tell him, "NO! Don't SQUEEZE it!" And each time I say it, my oldest son is getting upset because I'm getting irritated and my little guy is clearly not sure what the problem is. So my oldest starts yelling at me, "Just don't give it to him Mom! Please don't give it to him!" And I am determined to make Nick understand me and then Nick just bursts into tears. The saddest most heart-wrenching tears that break my heart and make me go -- WOW! What is wrong with me???

I have got to calm down. I have got to relax. I have got to have fun. And I have got to let the negative things that are forever in my household not affect me like they do. But it's such a struggle. Truly a struggle. Some days, I do not rise above. And I want to rise above -- every single day. Life is too darn short.

I do not mean to be a downer -- but it is just one of those days.

On a much happier note -- I have taken well over 500 or 600 photos this past month. I know that sounds crazy, but we have had so much going on and I have gotten some fun, fun pictures. Surely the photos from this past month alone will give me plenty of great things to blog about in the coming days. Things that aren't quite so gloomy.

I apologize for being scarce -- it really has been hectic at our house. But I do hope to catch up with all of you soon.

Enjoy the rest of the week!