Day 136 - Mocha, the backwards dog caught on film!

Last month I blogged about Mocha - our goofy dog who turns right in reverse.  A couple people mentioned that they would like to see her in action!  ...So, I decided to video tape her shenanigans!

So I am pleased to present... Mocha, our backwards dog!

I hope that goofy Mocha made you smile - or even giggle a little!

Happy Day!

Day 133, 134, and 135 - Hibernation is over!

I had a mother's day hibernation...and shut out the world.

On Saturday, I didn't mean to forget to blog.  But...life happened!  And, then on Sunday, Mother's Day, I decided to take a day off.  I didn't answer my phone, I didn't check my email, I just did a whole lot of nothing (in between dealing with my two feuding, whining boys). 

And, I have to say, a whole lot of nothing, felt good!

But, now, I am back!

And I want to share with you my two favorite mother's day gifts...

The first is from Owen (age 6).

I love my three faces of

Owen - silly, smiley, and serious!

And the second is from Alex (age 7).

Something about this bird melted my heart!

Oh, and my hubby got me flat screen TV (for our bedroom) which I love...  But, it doesn't compare to the gifts from my boys!!!

Happy belated Mother's Day

to all you WONDERFUL moms!

PS...a while back I made a video that I think is Mother's Day perfect...so I figured I'd share it again!

Day 132 - Mommy's Spent (revisited)

This was origionally posted on June 15, 2010...and I still dream of silence! 

Silence is my dream

If the noise continues I am going to scream!

Stop the crying and irritating sighing

No brawling or name calling

No spaceship blasting off, Not even a cough!

And please NO

Whining or pretend coal mining,

Dinosaurs roars or beanbag wars,

Car zooming or truck vrooming

No talking - at all

No matter how small!

Mommy needs a moment

I am, oh so spent!

It was one of "those" days. Thank God, tomorrow is a new day!

Day 131 - The boys, Pitching in!!!!

We are doing more work at the new (old) building for my husband's business.

And it is a family affair!  Everyone is pitching in, including our two boys.  Some call it a violation of the child-labor laws...but shh...done tell them!

Alex, age 7, loved scraping up the flooring.

They have no clue that work is suppose to be no fun...at least for one of them...

There must be a gene that traveled from father to son (to one of them).  My husband, Jeff, loves to work.  Give him a big project - landscaping the entire yard, or taking down a tree, or building cabinets, or putting in a new window or door, or renovating a building - he is as happy as a clam. 

And, Alex, our oldest is SO much like him!  He tells me often "Mommy, I love to work."  Yesterday when I told the boys that we were going over to do some work on the building, after school, Alex got a huge grin on his face and jumped up and down in excitement.

Owen is a bit more like me.  He isn't that excited about work.  But, he is a good sport and pitches in - especially for smaller jobs that feel more manageable.  He really enjoyed moving the long pieces of molding.  He turned it into a game, by guessing with piece of molding would be the longest!

Owen (age 6) was having so much fun, that Alex
stopped what he was doing to help his brother.

Some piece were REALLY long!

I truly only expected to get about 45 minutes to 1 hour of work out of them, but two hours later, I was ready to be done!  So we packed it in and headed home.

Hopefully the novelty of helping out at the new building won't wear off too soon, because we have a LOT of work to do!!!!!!

Day 130 - Plans and projects

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.”
― Leo Tolstoy

It's that the truth?!!!

For our family, every spring, the plans and project begin.

yard work

spring cleaning

the seasonal clothes swap

vacation plans

scheduling summer activities for the kids

building projects

plus more...

The anticipation of what can be is exciting!

And exhausting!

What are your plans and projects?

Day 129 - Storage Wars

The other day I talked about the Grubby, Messy, Yucky Work that I did over at the new (old) building for my husband's business.

A little OOPS happened to this one...Who knows what caused that!

Well, in addition to the building for the business, there are a few self-storage units on the property.  So when we got the keys, I was SOOOOO curious about checking out the storage units. 

I mean, I watch Storage Wars on the A&E channel, and the stuff that they sometimes find in abandon units is worth some serious cash-olly!


I should explain...  This property was foreclosed upon and owned by the bank and most of the storage unit were abandon for at least 1 year.  So, since we bought the building, the "stuff" inside is ours!


So there I was, dreaming of treasures, as we opened the doors, and all I saw was T R A S H! 

And, lots of it!  Piles of it, on top of more piles of it!  And, BONUS, some even included a crap load of mice poop!

Storage Wars treasures, not so much!

But I didn't walk away empty handed. 

I found something that I really like...

this is not the actual Dolly,
but this is what it looks like.
photo credit: Yvonne Emerson

YUUUUUP!
I am the happy owner of an antique dolly.

Not sure what I am going to do with it, but I like it!

Day 128 - I'm NOT tired!

As I am writing this, my 6 year old, is screaming at the top of his lungs,

"I'm NOT tired!  I'm NOT tired!  I'm NOT tired!"

It is beautiful spring evening, the windows are open, and I am sure that neighbors in a four square mile radius can hear him! 

Clearly, my mother of year title has just been revoked!

This all started because my husband asked him to clear his dinner dishes from the table.  And suddenly, he was toooooooo tired to take his plate, cup, and silverware to the dishwasher (approximately five steps from the table).  He whined, moaned, and groaned about how tired he was. 

So I suggested he leave the room and go to the "fussy chair", until he was done whining, moaning and groaning. 

He promptly left the room, sat on the "fussy chair" and continued his noises, but louder. 

"I'm too tired!" 

"I'm TOOOOO tired!"

"I am SOOOO tired!"

So, I figured that he needed to go to sleep pronto.  I mean, if he is too tired to clear his dishes, then, obviously, it is bedtime. 

And, that is what I told him.  "Go to your room and get on your PJ's" I said.

Suddenly the tune changed - although it was still in the key of whine - and, presto, he is

"NOT that tired!"

Or so he tells me (and the entire 3 county area) at the top of his lungs.

Oh, the joys of motherhood!

Day 127 - Grubby, messy, yucky work.

My husband's printing company is going to be moving to a building that we just purchased.  A building that has been foreclosed upon and vacant for a few years.  Needless the building is in disarray and need repairs, and remodeling - but it has "good bones."

See the 4 rectangles of green wall paper?
There used to be 4 large posters of scantily dressed
large breasted women - until I tore them down!

And when I say "good bones", what I mean is it is made of cinderblocks, bricks, and other hardy "stuff".  So, basically, should there be a tornado heading in our direction, this is the building that, in all likelyhood, is the place to be.

Since we just got the keys last week, much of the work is ahead of us. 

So today, we (as in my husband, my in-laws, my boys and me) spent the day doing grubby, messy, yucky work.

What is grubby, messy, yucky work?  you ask...

It is...Tearing up and ripping out overgrown ivy (it had even found a way to grow into the building), picking up litter (bottles, McDonalds cups lids, broken toys, and piles of lord only know what), cleaning a disqusting bathroom that only a microbiologist could love and kicking through dry wall (just because I could) plus more fun stuff like that.

A sink in an office - don't know why!!??!
And, yep, pipes broke while the building was vacant!

When we arrived home, we sanitized the boys and ourselves and treated ourselves to dinner out. 

Now the boys are in bed, and I am exhausted. 

Truly exhausted.

So while I wish I has some spectacular insight about our day of grubby, messy, yucky, work. 

But, I got nothing! 

Nothing but achey and sore arms, legs, and back.

Oh, the joys of grubby, messy, yucky, work!

Day 126 - Cousins

My parents, siblings, and niece are visiting this weekend.  It is 3 days packed full of stuff...awards ceremony, birthday party, hanging out, + more!

Because my niece and my brother live in Wisconsin, we don't see them often.  So when we do, the kids play, and they play hard!  It a long weekend of non stop games, coloring, racing, building, creating, jumping, imagining, competeing, bike riding, soccer matches, and noise! 

All of that stuff, is the funnest part (and the most exhausting part) of their visit! 


Cousins!!!!

I hope that days like these build a foundation of love and trust that lasts a lifetime!

Day 125 - 50 by 50

Back sometime in the late 90's I decided that I wanted to go to all fifty states before I turned the big 5-0.  I was in my twenties, single, and it seemed as if there was plenty of time to accomplish this goal. 

Now, I am 42, have kids and a bit less freedom.  Only eight years left and 11 states to go.

Alaska
Delaware
Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
Louisiana
Nebraska
New Hampshire
North Dakota
Oregon
Rhode Island


I am hopeful that I can still reach my goal.  But, I do have one little caveat - if I don't make it to Hawaii, that will be OK.

SIDE NOTE:  I should clarify - my definition of "go to all fifty states" is to spend a night or do something significant...visit a site, or spend a large portion of the day (something more than have dinner in or drive through the state). I am hopeful to visit New Hampshire and Rhode Island soon...I am crossing my fingers for sometime this fall (hint, hint - dear sweet hubby!) ?!!? Where do you want to travel that you have never been before? Happy Travels!

Day 124 - Mad Housewife in a Bottle (again)

This was originally posted on May 4, 2010...

Craziness! Being at this conference for the past 6 days has been a whirlwind and I am feeling out of touch with my everyday life! So I need to get back into reality - on my blog, at home and with the boys.

But before I go off to do exciting things like unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, returning phone calls, while the boys are at preschool, I had to show you perhaps my BEST shopping find EVER!

The back of the bottle reads:

"Somewhere near the cool shadows of the laundry room. Past the litter box and between the plastic yard toys. This is your time. Time to enjoy a moment to yourself. A moment without the madness. Dishes can wait. Dinner be damned. Mad Housewife Chardonnay."

It is vinted and bottled by Mad Housewife Cellars. Nobody asked or paid me to share this - I just thought it was too fun not to pass on!

I have much more to blog about (like our road trip home including a 4 hour detour around the poor flooded city of Nashville and a turkey crossing, plus some blogging awards I might have to brag about and pass on to others) - but it will have to wait until after the boys go to bed, I have a glass (or 2) of Mad Housewife Chardonnay and get a good night sleep! So, I'll be back tomorrow!

Day 123 - Imagination Out of Focus?

You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.
~Mark Twain

Day 122 - You know it's gonna to be a long week, when...

This morning, my husband's alarm clock went off at 5:30am. 

It woke me up and I was so miffed!

I wondered...

"Why is his alarm clock going off so early on a SATURDAY?!!?"

"It's my morning to sleep in!  Seriously, not cool!"

And then...I realized...  OMG, it is only Tuesday!

Wow!!! ...It's gonna a long week!

ps...I guess that just means I have more time to get things done...

RIGHT?