an experiment

on july 1st we are going to start an experiment in our house. we are going to store our television in our closet for a month and go without it for the month of july.

by the way the photo in this post is not my television. why you ask? well because when i went to take a picture of our television you could the see reflection of all the toys on the living room floor and i didn't feel like picking them up.

anyhow...

we have only one television in our house. we used to have two - one in the living room and one in our bedroom. we got rid of the one in our bedroom and it's been nice. the officer and i had talked about watching less tv. we do great for a while and then it's back to normal. so... we decided that if we just take the television out and store it in his closet (not under the house), we won't be so tempted.

we decided on july 1, we will take the tv out. we are also going to be cutting down in our computer time too. we will be gone a small portion of july for vacation, so we thought the transition would be easier. the officer and i have talked about projects we would like to complete during this time. i would love to be able to scrapbook more. we would both like to finish painting the inside of our house. we only have our bedroom, bathroom, and the wash/dryer room left.

i don't think it will be too hard on the kids because they usually just watch tv in the morning. we do like the family movies as i have mentioned, but we can go without them for a month. it will be interesting to see what else we find to do. it will also be interesting to see if we can't wait to get the television back out or if we decide to extend another month.

here are some things things i have thought about trying to start or finish (making the list so i can look back and see if i did any of them)

reading several books i have set aside to read
scrapbook
making cards (i like to make my own card - even though i'm not as good as some bloggers i see)
paint our bedroom
paint my bathroom (this in particular i'm a little excited about because the officer said i can paint it any color i want - as long as it's not "dark")
decorate my bathroom differently
go through kid's closets/toys
go through my closet
go through my "craft" closet

hmm... that's all i can think of at this moment, but i'm sure i will remember some more and come back and add to my list.

family movie night

we are always in search of a family movie we can enjoy together. the officer and i have been pre-screening some of the older movies. a couple of weeks ago we finished reading old yeller. we watched the movie and the kids really enjoyed it. we had gotten the dvd from the library and it came with the sequel savage sam. we had pre-screened old yeller and i mistakenly figured since it was okay savage sam would be okay too. i started to watch savage sam w/ my kids, figuring we would just turn it off it if it wasn't good. however, my daughter started crying when the indians in the movie tried to make little arliss into an indian. that's what i get for not pre-screening a movie.

since the kids have enjoyed the officer's make believe stories about pirates, he thought swiss family robinson would be a good movie. we got the movie from the library - have i mentioned how much i love the library?

anywho...

we got the movie and the officer pre-screened the 2 hour movie during the kid's rest time. i had never seen it all the way through. i actually fell asleep during this screening. the officer approved the movie, so we made a family movie night of it.

it was a lot of fun. i had to make dinner during the first portion, but i got to see the last half. my daughter was quite enraptured by the movie. she often sat in her chair with her hands folded under her chin, paying close attention. my daughter also became a little nervous when the pirates arrived, so we would let her know the outcome so she could watch without her fingers over her eyes.

it's hard to find great family movies nowadays. we are always in search of a good movie without language, appropriate content, and characters who show respect to their parents and elders - which is why we have turned to some of the older movies. if you have any good suggestions of movies we could try, comment me.

it takes a lot of time to pre-screen movie, but it's worth it to us. my son is at the age where he asks a lot of questions about things he takes in, so we try to be very careful what we fill his mind with (and ours).

priceless

a pair of pink goggles: $6.99

a pink butterfly lawn chair: $10.99

spending a hot summer day in the pool with your brother eating popsicles: priceless

this week's randomness

you know you try to put together a blog with a cute little idea or story; however, sometimes you just don't have that. i have just random little things i wanted to remember or write down so here they are.

we went to the lake again on wednesday. it was a lot of fun. our friends took us out on their boat. it was fun watching the kids ride the tube with the officer. this time our friends had a campsite. their campsite was right by the water so the kids were able to play in the water a lot, which they love. they are becoming more and more comfortable and confident in the water.


we went to my sister's this past weekend. she lives about 1 1/2 hours away. we went there thursday and friday. we had a great time. my son is finally old enough that my nephew has somethings in common with him - i.e. star wars. my niece is always great with both my kids. we ate at a korean buffet on thursday - a korean buffet. i've never been to a korean buffet. they had kimbobs, which my daughter devoured. they also had yaki-man-du - kind of like an eggroll. they also had the green beans i love. it was good. the kids painted lizards and snakes we got from hobby lobby and baked cookies. friday we were able to go to one of their friend's house to swim. the kids also loved that. although they wore their life jackets, they did great in the pool. jumping in from the sides of the pool and "swimming" to the steps or ladder.

on the way home from my sister's, we stopped to pump gas. i was on the phone and i got out to pump the gas. my kids often take the top buckle off when we stop like this, but they don't get out of their carseats. as i was pumping the gas, my son is completely out of his carseat, banging on the window. i open the door and he says, "mommy you are not supposed to be on the cell phone when you are pumping gas!" he always notices those "do not" signs - the red circles with a slash through the middle. i moved to the front of the car, and he gave me the thumbs up sign from his carseat. apparently that was good enough. rules, rules, rules boy.

my son is desperately trying to reach 40 lbs. when he reaches 40 lbs., he will be able to move to a booster seat. he often asks when he can move into the booster seat. i tell him when he consistently weighs 40 lbs, then he can change seats. every morning he measures himself. i think i've mentioned this before. this morning he went into my bathroom to measure himself. he came out and said, "40.2 lbs. mom! that's 4 days in a row of being in the 40s." about an hour later, he changes from his t-shirt and pj pants to some shorts. he weighs himself again. he walks out of the bathroom and sadly says, "well now it says 39.8 lbs. so it must have been my pj pants that made the difference." so no booster seat yet.

of course yesterday was father's day. the officer had to work. however, when he came home we were able to spend some time with him and give him his gifts. the good ol' tools and fishing stuff. i did get him a pretty cute gift. i think i bought them at winkflash. about a month ago i had the kids draw father's day pictures for their daddy. my daughter drew a picture of her and daddy and wrote she loves daddy on her picture. my son drew a- you guessed it star wars - picture and wrote happy father's day on his picture. i scanned the pictures into our computer and uploaded it to winkflash. i then had the picture put on a mug. they turned out really cool. my son also decided to make a shirt for father's day. he wore it all day.

that's about it. hope you have a good week blog friends.

the officer as the dad - Happy Father's Day

father's day 2009

the officer is a great dad. i mean really - he is. he always puts his family above any work or hobbies. he never settles for an okay dad - he wants to be a great dad. most of my life i have not had a physical dad present every day. i had daydreamed about my husband when i was a teenager and fantasize about what a great dad he would be. the officer is everything and more than i had daydreamed about. you don't have to take my word for it - you can ask his kids.

since father's day is on june 21st this year, here's 21 reason why the officer is a great dad:

1. he always makes time for the kids.

2. he still does ice cream dates with his daughter.

3. on his first day off, he takes our son to get donuts at a local ma/pa donut shop.

4. he takes the time to teach his kids things he thinks they should know - i.e. riding a bike and how to make chocolate chip cookies.

5. his son wants to be just like him and his daughter adores him.

6. he makes up funny pirate stories to tell the kids at bedtime.

7. he works very hard so mommy can stay at home and teach the kids.

8. he remembers all the great things his dad did with him when he was younger that made an impact on him and tries to do them with the kids.

9. he always tries to teach the kids about God and how important it is to have a close relationship with Him.

10. he does not enjoy it, but he always does the hard stuff too - the disciplining and correcting.

11. he gets our daughter roses every year for her birthday - 1 rose for every year.


12. he occassionally brings treats home for the kids & me to let us know he's thought about us during the day.

13. he will make a fool of himself to make the kids laugh and he doesn't care.

14. he lays down with his daughter to help her get back to sleep if she comes in and says, "i had a bad dream!"

15. he lets his daughter put 52 clippy barrets in his hair just because she wants to "fix daddy's hair".

16. he will drive all the way across town to buy his daughter some kimbobs (korean food she loves).

17. he is always trying to think of new, fun things to do with the kids.

18. he will try to paint his daughter's small toes.

19. he often asks me what he can do better.

20. if i leave school for him to do, he will see it gets done (most of the time! :))

21. he loves the kids with all his heart!

i thank God every day for bringing this officer into my life and allowing us to have the time together that we do. thanks for being a great dad!

any suggestions????

of course it's summer time. this mean much more time outside. however, it also means more mosquitos (or squitos as my daughter calls them). i am allergic to them. i think my kids are also. when i was at my mom's house saturday, we went outside for 15 minutes. they have a pond and so the mosquitos were out. the kids and i were bitten. i was only bitten once, but it became a doosie!

the bite's about the size of my palm

my daughter was bitten on her hands and legs. some of the bites swelled but some of them didn't. of course it's very hard for her not to scratch them. i can take benedryl; however, i will fall asleep for a minimun of 4 hours afterward. it's not always convenient for me to take it. does anyone have any other suggestions for mosquito bites??? comment me! thanks!

ever feel like......

ever feel like things are totally out of your control, and you actually know they are?

ever feel like the laundry is never done?

ever feel like you are never going to get the credit card paid off?

ever feel like you don't have enough arms or hands to help the little ones?

ever feel like you will never complete the tasks you have on your to do lists?

ever feel like you are being pulled in 10 different directions?

ever feel like if you don't get 10 quiet minutes to yourself, you might sit down and cry?

ever feel like you've heard the word or variation of the word "momma" 10,000 times in one day?

ever feel like you don't want to have to plan/cook another meal?

ever feel like you live in your car because you driving your kids everywhere or endlessly running errands?

ever feel like you are always sweeping chips, cheerios, lego guns, and polly pocket shoes off the floor, or out of the couch, or out of the car (or out the treadmill, k)?

ever feel like you are not making any headway in the child-training?

ever feel like you are not as good of a mom as "so and so"?

ever feel like will never lose those 10 lbs. you want to lose?

ever feel like you will never be finished with homeschooling your first grader?'

ever feel like it's too long until your next date night with your husband - or you can't remember the last date night you had with your husband?

well you are NOT alone.

we all feel like it whether you are a stay-at-home mom or whether you work outside the home.

you are in good company.

friends, i have these thoughts and feeling too. i am pretty sure that anyone you perceive to be a "supermom" has these thoughts and feeling too.

some people wonder why i write a blog. partly, it's for me. it's an outlet for me. it's a way i can express myself. for some reason i feel i can share things here. in addition, i read other people's blog like mrs. troop's, crazy daisy's, my cousin julie's and i get a reality check. it lets me know there are other people going through the same thing i do or feel the same way i do - knowing it's okay to be a little crazy sometime. sometimes a word of "hang in there" from someone else goes a long way when you've had a long day, or several weeks i should say.

i drove by the field by my house today. i can see that it's coming. every year i get so excited when i see it's coming.

i don't know why.

well, yes i do. it is my reminder that God is in control and He cares about me. sometimes it catches me by surprise. sometimes like this year i see it coming. it's slowly happening and i can see the progress.

there's a huge field by my house that lama-lama ding dongs graze upon. every year about this time the whole green field turns to bright yellow flowers. it's starting now. this year i am going to try my best to pull of the side of the road and take a picture of it. the picture i include in this post will show you what it will look like until i get a great picture of it to replace it.

i can't remember if i've posted this before on this particular blog site. if you've already read something similar to this, sorry.

anyhow, the verse i always think of when i see this vast field of yellow flowers is:

Matthew 6:28-34

.... see how the lilies of the field grow. they do not labor or spin. yet i tell you that not even solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. if that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not so much more clothe you, O you of little faith. so do not worry, saying "what shall we eat?" or "what shall we drink?" or "what shall we wear?" for the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be given to you as well. therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. each day has enough trouble of its own.

the frog tale

my son came running into the house, talking very quickly about how he saved a frog from certain doom. when i pulled out the video camera to record his tale, he slowed his words down considerably. make sure you pause the music at the bottom of the blog before you play the videos.

his sister did not want to be left out in the story telling; however, she had a hard time telling the story without saying brother's name (that's the reason for the staring into the air for the long pause). this was her 3rd attempt at telling the story.

back to black (very, very, very, dark, dark, dark brown)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

as you all know i color and highlighted my hair around the end of february. i wanted to try something different and i needed to get rid of the creeping grey hairs. i did not like it when i first got it done, and i thought it was just the shock of it being the first time i'd ever done it. i would wait. as time went on i realized i thought i looked like one of those bratz dolls with the freaky big eyes (and without all the make-up and too revealing clothes).






i never got used to the color of the highlights, although i like the actual color of my hair - black or for those family members of mine that read this blog very, very, very, dark, dark, dark brown.

i decided i would color my hair back to basic black (very, very, very, dark, dark, dark brown) myself. i looked at all the hair colors and decided on loreal excellence creme dark ash brown- mainly because i had a $3 off coupon. so yes, instead of paying the $80 or so on my hair color i thought i would throw caution to the wind and hope my $4 box of color did the trick.

i asked the officer if i could have it done at the salon if things went terribly wrong. not just a little too dark or a little too red wrong, but like too blue, or stripped orange highlights wrong. he said yes. my sister was going to color her hair too. this made the officer happy because i was going to have him help me.

i went to my sister's house and as it turned out she had the same brand of hair color. i had thrown caution to the wind again by not doing the skin allergy test. my sister said she had never done one. we colored our hair and with the exception of getting the hair color all over my ears, neck and the tip of my nose, it went pretty well.

i can see that i did not get all the greys in the back but that's okay. you can see where the highlights were, but they look very, very, very, dark, dark, dark brown. i am happy with the outcome. i will using this particular hair color again.

on a side note, i guess most hair colors have a smell to them. the loreal one is not too bad. however, my son does not like the smell. in a totally none offensive way, one of those innocent, completely honest responses, he informed me it kind of smelled like a dead rat. don't they say the sweetest things?

sunday on the treasure's island

sunday turned out to be a very good day. it didn't start out bad but it just turned into an unexpected nice family fun day. we headed to church sunday morning. our sunday school class is watching dvds on marriage. it was very good! lots of things i needed to hear. i had a roast cooking in the oven at home so i knew our lunch was going to be yummy and i wouldn't have to prepare a lot.

on the way home, the officer realized he had a missed call. he checked his voicemail. it was from a family friend who offered to take us out on his boat for the day at fort cobb. we got home and quickly ate lunch. it took us about 45 minutes to get all the stuff together. pretty good considering we had to get everyone in swimsuits, sunscreened, get a change of clothes for everyone, drinks & snacks, and stuff for dinner.

we were out the door by 1:30 p.m. it took us about an hour to get to fort cobb. neither the officer nor i had ever been to this particular park or lake before. it kind of seems like it's in the middle of nowhere. in fact, we saw a sign that saw we where "nowhere". however, the park and lake were very nice and the parts we saw were clean.

our friend, l, has a pontoon boat. it's not a high speed boat. it goes fast enough to pull a huge tube behind it. it was very nice and relaxing. the weather was great, but the water was about 72 degrees - kind of cold. the kids were eager to get on the tube, so the officer got right onto it with our daughter. she loved it. my son went next. even though they weren't going real fast, they did get to hit some waves, some he loved and was laughing about and some his head would snap back and he would say scared him. on my son's last time, he informed me that if you spit while you are in the tube, it would come back and hit you in the face. nice. something i always wondered about.

our friends treated us to diner at ski-boy. they had great hamburgers. the kids ate some chicken bites and french fries. i thought for sure the kids would fall asleep as soon as we got into the car. they usually go to bed at 6:30 p.m. and it was 8 p.m. however, they did not. they played their leapfrogs for a bit and then their glowsticks. when we got home around 9 p.m. they were both asleep.

it was so much fun. of course, the officer had everyone telling me we should get a boat. even my daughter came off the tube saying, "i want a HUGE boat!"