What your child draws during art!

If you really want to know what you look like to your family. Look at the picture that your child drew of you during art. Signing off to go get an attitude adjustment. I'm off to choose joy!!!!

The many hats

As a woman, and I'm speaking as a woman because that's what God made me. Anyways, as a woman, we are expected to wear lots of hats.

Here are some examples of the hats that I wear:

Wife, mom, daughter, teacher, cook, cleaning lady, nurse, laundry worker, housekeeper, bookkeeper, accountant, taxi cab driver, entertainer, jungle gym.

I know that there are lots more, but these will do for now.

Sometimes I find it hard to wear all the hats. I know that my Lord sustains me and he makes it possible, but sometimes, I don't listen.

I'm always too busy to stop and play games with the boys.

Last week, as I was wearing the teacher hat, UB and I were reading on the floor cozied up on lots of pillows. All of a sudden he started tickling me. It went into a tickling party. Pretty soon AB joined us and we were all playing this game.

We laughed and played for a good 30 minutes. I had taken off all my hats and was just me. When it was time for me to put on my cook hat, the boys said they would like to do it again.

I just can't believe that it took me that long to realize that sometimes we have to take off all our hats and let God hold them for us.

Anyway, so here is a picture of me as I continue my au naturale hair color. I wasn't going this short, but decided that in order to get a lot of the color off, I needed to. It was actually shorter not too long ago. Some places were even shorter than the rest of my hair. So short that UB said I had a mohawk. I'll be so glad when my hair grows out.

Is it noise or is it music?

Hubster and I went on a date Saturday night. Well, if you call going to a nightclub and listening to noise a date.

When I was growing up, mom had us listen to Brenda Lee, or Freddy Martinez or just oldies. Then I discovered George Strait.

As I was getting older, my friends introduced me to Duran Duran, OMD, The Outfield, Little River Band, Chicago, Foreigner and such. And of course I still listened to George Strait.

There came a point in my life when all I would listen to was country with the emphasis being on, yes, you guessed it. George Strait.

I think I liked him because he was from San Antonio. That and his sexy country drawl just made it worthwhile to listen to.

When I met Hubster, he introduced me to Classic Rock.

When I became a Christian, I started listening to lots of groups like Mercy Me, Point of Grace, Casting Crowns or other Christian music.

So when Teenster had a battle of the bands competition a couple of months ago, Hubster went with a cousin of his. Teenster plays none of the above type of music.

They won that contest and Saturday were the finals.

So Hubster and I found a babysitter, went to the city to eat at Salt Grass, boy was that delicious, then went downtown to go to the club where Teenster was playing.

They were having some sort of zombie fest so there were lots and lots of people. The Haunted House was a hopping place as well.

Walking into the nightclub felt weird. We weren't there to party hard or to make fools of ourselves, we were just there to support Teenster.

I just don't understand it. The girls were clothes that are 2 sizes too small. And guys dress well, strange. Then the music they were playing in between sets was vulgar. Extremely. All these teenagers just drinking and laughing and dancing. What happened to me?

Anyway, so Teensters band gets up there. They have great potential to go places. They do have talent. All they have to do is learn how to gel together when they play their instruments.

Of course, I call it noise when I can't understand the singer. I'm sure the young kids understand it. But not me. It's noise to me when the guitar player tries to be louder than the drummer who tries to be louder than the bass player who tries to be louder than the screaming singer.

I'm no recording studio representative. Just a mom.

But they did sound pretty good. They ended up getting third place. Teenster wasn't happy, but we were proud of him.

We left early because it was getting past our bed time. Just kidding. Our sitter needed to leave.

We leave the club and Hubster and I just look at each other and start to laugh. Are we just too old for this? The loud vulgar noise/music, the smell of cigarette/ash tray on your clothes, hair and every place you didn't think that would stick on?

But especially the fact that it's only 9:30 and that we would like nothing better than to take showers, get in our pajamas and lay in bed?

Hmm, I guess we need to broaden our horizons.

We don't need our heater on yet!

The cooler weather has arrived. With the cooler weather come a couple of things.

First, I don't need the A/C. And second, I don't need the heater. Yet.

We like it to be cool in our house. The only time we turn our heater on is if we've got icicles hanging down our nose when we wake up in the morning.

And when it's cold outside, with no heater turned on, it means that it is pretty chilly in my house.

I would rather bake something to warm up the house than to turn that heater on.

So yesterday, it was colder in my house than it was outside.

So we did what any other crazy person would do and went somewhere where I knew would be warm.

The library.

I had intentions of taking the boys to story time. But as I arrived there, I realized that it was almost over.

We go in to get books. All three of us get some books and go up the elevator to sit on the nice comfy couches to read.

A couple of years ago, AB got his hand stuck in the elevator. Don't know how he did it, but it sure was scary. He stays clear of all moving parts of the elevator now.

UB was excited to be upstairs. I read with him and then he went to look for a magazine. He walked back and forth from where we were sitting to another area with some comfy chairs.

Thinking we were going to get kicked out for UB being a distraction, we decide to go home.

UB pushes the button to the elevator. We get in and we wait. And wait. And wait. Something is just not right, but we still just wait. The elevator isn't going anywhere.

During this time of our wait, AB tells me with a big grin that dropping that paperclip down from the top floor was fun.

What do you mean dropping? When did you drop it? I was with you the entire time.

Well, he obviously dropped it while I wasn't looking. While still not moving in the elevator, I explain to him why he shouldn't do that and tell him to never do that again. Uh huh.

At this time, I realize that we still haven't moved. Thinking that we are going to be stuck in an elevator in the libraray, I start looking around.

I ask UB if he had pushed the button. No. What button should he push?

I push the correct button, the elevator starts going down and when we get there, I hightail it out of the library before we end up getting kicked out.

Hey, at least we warmed up enough to enjoy our cool house again.

Heaven

Scene: Kitchen where I am washing dishes and UB is sweeping for me

UB: Mom, when I die, I want to be in Heaven with you

ME: How do you get to Heaven?

UB: You have to go to church first

ME: Church?

UB: Yes, you go to church in that big box when you die

Hmmmmm!

What is this in the tub?

I don't know if anyone has the same problem I do, but I don't understand why my boys can't aim in the toilet.

It ends up everywhere but in the toilet. The walls, the floor, the rim and seat of the toilet. You name it, it's on there.

Don't tell me to make the boys clean the toilet because that doesn't work. They fight over who cleans what toilet. AND, they have fun doing it.

So last thursday, I took apart the toilet seat and cleaned every inch of it. From the seat, to the screws. It was nasty.

Hubster had the boys with him, so I was getting a lot done. I wiped it all. The walls, the floor and everyting else.

I really don't know why, because we were having freshmen boys for the next two nights. But I did anyway.

I then pulled the shower curtain back and I found some pee in there. Yes, you heard me right. Pee. In. The. Bathtub.

All I can say is it's a good thing the boys were with their father at that particular moment.

I called Hubster and told him to look each one in the eyes and ask who did it.

No one owned up to it.

I did get upset then started to ask God "Why didn't you send me any girls. Why only boys?"

And He said "Why NOT boys?"

So I shut my mouth and continued cleaning. They took a long time getting home. I guess they figured I needed to cool down.

Then they took me to Whataburger. Who can be mad after a Whataburger?

So I ask you to be the judge. Who do you think peed in the tub?


Culprit #1














Culprit #2

You decide!!!

I'm not leaving without my Krispy Kreme!!!

Recently, we went to the city to get the seat belt fixed in my car. Everytime a kid would sit in the middle in the back seat, they would complain about not being able to buckle up.

And since I don't have the midas touch, it wouldn't work for me either.

Hubster of course could get it to work. But I can't take Hubster with me everywhere I go, someone's got to make some money so that I can stay home and watch spanish soap operas and build Lego's.

I'm kidding. I don't watch those spanish shows ALL day.

So we went. Hubster ended up going with us since he had to go check on some jobs while we were there.

We went to the dealership and the guy called me out and said that it was working fine. Figures.

He then asks me if I was putting the middle seat belt into the middle latch. Well, maybe that was my problem dude, I was using the side seat belt that is located by the door, into that latch.

OF COURSE NOT DUDE!!!! I may be a stay at home, homeschool mom and lose some brain cells sometimes because I don't have much adult interaction, but I know where the seat belt goes.

But I kept my nice smile on and told him that I was doing it correctly. Even the boys said that it hadn't been working properly.

Whatever!

We go check out the jobs that Hubster's guys are working at. This takes a while because there are two jobs and Hubster has to talk to all on site.

But that's okay because our next stop is Krispy Kreme.

When we arrive at Krispy Kreme, I go into the woman's bathroom and the boys go into the men's bathroom with Hubster.

I'm using the bathroom but then hear knocking on my door. What do you do when someone knocks? Say "Hey, yeah, I'm here. That's why the door is locked" So I just stayed quiet. Didn't feel like talking to strangers.

Then another knock. Good grief!!! I open the door and it is Hubster and AB. Hubster is asking me if I heard knocking on the door. Why yes, I say. Well, that was me, he says. He's not happy.

I ask what's wrong. Here comes UB holding his hiney with a towel. Well, as they were running, yes running, into the bathroom to beat each other as to who was going to be first, UB slipped on a puddle of pee and water mixture and fell on his butt.

Normally, I would laugh at this because there's not much you can do. But with Hubster around, laughing was not an option.

So I held my innocent look pose and listened to the story.

While Hubster took UB to go strip off his clothes in the car, AB and I stayed to get donuts. There was no way we were leaving Krispy Kreme without donuts.

We get in the car and then decide to go to Wal-Mart. We would have gone home but I still needed to go to Mardels.

I tell Hubster to drop me off at the doors while he goes to the gas station to fill up. It was $2.41. Of course, all the rest of the city thought that was a good deal too. I look for some clothes, pay for them then see that they are still filling up.

I walk over there and Hubster is not happy. It seems that the pay at the pump thing was having issues and wouldn't take his card. He had to walk up to the lady and pay her.

I tell UB to get dressed. He tells me that he needs underwear. Underwear? I didn't get any underwear. He says it's okay, he can put his ironman clothes on without underwear.

We stop at Mardels so that I can get a Bible for the pastor in Ecuador. AB and I get down while Hubster and UB (commando) wait in the car.

I get the Bible, pay for it and tell them to engrave it. I go back for it and the name is crooked. Hubster tells me I shouldn't accept it like that. I go back in and tell them my problem. She says that they can refund me 1/2 my money back and then put a gold plate on top with the name on it.

I decided to get a refund on that one, buy a new one and start again. This time I hung out while the girl engraved it. It worked.

It was dinner time and we decided to go eat some Mexican food. We sit there and we pray that God just help us relax and watch over us.

And you know what? All this time, I believe it was God telling us to slow down. If we would have listened, all those things wouldn't have happened.

But then, I wouldn't have anything to write about.

Dressing like it's summer in the cold fall days

It is 55 degrees outside. Can you tell?

This is how the boys dress when it's 100 and this is apparently how they are going to dress when it is sub zero.

Looks like I'm going to have to hide the tank tops and shorts and flip flops this winter.

I'm sure I'll get looks of "you neglectful mother" or "what kind of mother are you" when we go out today, but you know what?

Some battles are just not worth fighting.

Wordless Wednesday

AB and his red converse

Guess what we got in the mail?

Anyone?

Well, let me show you.
Yup, AB got his new red converse Chuck Taylors. He was extremely excited.

The only 'opportunity' I see is that AB is OCD. A lot. Not a little.

He has to match. Everything is about matching for AB. His shoes have to match the rest of his outfit.

He even gets embarrassed when UB doesn't match. Doesn't even want to be seen with UB during these mismatched times.

So after AB got his shoes and was wanting to wear them, the dilemma came about what to wear.

Red shoes just don't match much with.

So the tears came flowing down because the shoes would match with the shirt but not the shorts. Or with the shorts and not the shirt.

But suddenly, the tears stopped because he found an outfit that matched and that he could live with.
I think the red shoes are going to make it in AB's world.

He might be wearing the same outfit day in and day out, but the shoes will definately survive.

Don't you think he's happy now?

Why do I have to break up fights about heads?

"I want my head back"
"Please give me back my head"
"mooooommm, he has my head"

That is what I awoke to yesterday morning.

It was early, I hadn't had my morning coke and they were arguing over a head.

A Lego head, just in case you are wondering.

That is what little boys fight over.

UB doesn't understand the concept of trading and AB takes advantage of it. Even if they are just playing, AB takes it out of context and tries to make UB think that he gave it to him.

AB did do the right thing and gave his brother his head back. Heads, good grief. Never did I think I was going to be in the middle of a fight about heads.

Life with kids.

So here are a few pictures of some of the heads and bodies I found. They are all scattered all over in different places in the house so not all of them were there for the family photo.

Some are getting ready for dinner while the others are left to starve.
This poor chump is saying "where is my body mate?" But he can't see that his friend has no legs.

And I really don't want to know what's going on here. It seems to me that Darth and his compadres are getting ready for a manly dinner.

But wait, what's that on the table? A head? Or a hair piece? I guess it's up to your imagination.

Fields of Faith

We went to Fields of Faith at the football stadium last night. Hubster was playing in a band and we went to listen.

We are his groupies you know. Experienced ones as well, according to some friends, who saw that I had a chair to sit on and the boys had a blanket to lay on.

It was neat to see all these kids represent different schools. All coming together to sing praise to the Lord and to listen to His word.

Hubster wanted me to take pictures of the event. I started taking pictures of the band, and then of some cute kids that were dancing. I just love taking pictures of kids. And no, I'm not a pervert. Their innocence just captivates me.

But after a while I was just enjoying God's presence there. I looked around and saw all these kids worshipping God without worrying about what their friends thought. Or without fear of persecution.

It made me appreciate the freedom of where we live.

Yes, there was the middle schoolers who were more interested in playing with members of the opposite sex. And there were the junior high kids who were passing notes, but then there were the older kids who were there to pray together and encourage each other.

At one time, what really got me was this young guy. He was singing loud and raising his hands up. After a while, he got down on his knees and was singing and praying. Several kids around him looked at him and were giggling and whispering to each other while pointing at him, but he didn't care. He wasn't there for them.

So that is why I didn't take pictures after a while. I got caught up in watching what was happening.

It was a wonderful time. The band did great. The turnout was fantastic and I do think that all the kids enjoyed it.

Even mine. UB wanted to just run the length of the football field over and over again and AB was just wanting to play a game on the phone.

What do you find on a nature walk?

I decided to take the boys on a nature walk to celebrate fall. Never mind that it was 90 degrees out there and that the calendar and the news said it was Fall. But I'm thinking that Fall didn't get the memo that it was supposed to make a cool appearance.

Anyway, so I told the boys we were going on a nature walk. Down our country road, to find things that God had created. Along with smelling the beaty of outdoor odor.

We start off with AB listening to his MP3 player and UB carrying his 'backpack' (a small grocery bag) with his cap gun and caps. Just don't know when you might need that stuff.

I asked them, "Can you see something that God created?" "Yes, mom." the answered with excitement in their voices "these bones".

We continued on and I said, "Take a deep breath and tell me what you smell?" They did as I asked and AB said "a dead animal" UB said "my toot".

I could see this little trip was going to be FUN!!!!

So we continued on and we found some branches that the boys used as walking sticks, which later ended up being weapons towards each other.

They found some rocks, some nuts and a whole bunch of other stuff that makes sense only to boys.

On the way back home, I was walking ahead of the boys and this is the conversation they were having.

UB: that was fun right AB?

AB: Yes, I think we found some cool stuff. Those bones rocked! And I even have my cup.

UB: Yes, and I have my nuts.

Aaaahhh, the joys of living in a house with boys.

Church and UB

It was a Sunday evening. We were having The Lord's Supper at church as well as watching some baptisms. What a great way to start the new week.

We watch the baptisms, the Pastor preaches a bit and then he tells us to take some time to clean our hearts out. So that when we receive communion, we have pure hearts. Some people go up to the altar. I choose to stay in my pew in order to keep a close eye on the boys. I turn around and get on my knees to pray where I am.

I am in deep prayer and am talking to God when I feel someone climb my back. I open an eye and UB is on back there. Just like a baby monkey get's on it's mom's back.

He just lays on me and I go back to prayer because at least I know that he's staying out of trouble.

When all of a sudden, in a quiet room of people praying you hear it. It sounds like a song, but it's not a hymn of any sort. I realize it's my watch. My watch that is playing the song M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E.

I try to reach the watch in order to turn it off, but UB is hanging on top of me and holding the button. I get him off and turn the watch off.

I try to go back to praying, but the tune of the song is in my head. Besides, it's hard to pray when you have one eye open while making sure your kid isn't doing anything noisy again.

And then it happens. I hear a toot. I open the eye that wasn't open and there UB is, grinning at me with a proud grin.

I realize that it's no use in praying anymore because the people all around us have obviously heard the commotion going on and are by this time laughing.

Next time, I think I'll just sit on UB while I pray.

What happens when the mommy is sick?

I got sick Friday after the Wildlife Expo and it continued until Monday, when I could no longer stand the pain. I went to the Dr. to find out that I had a bladder infection. Any longer, because my kidneys were already being affected, and I would have had to visit the ER.

You don't realize how serious it is until you hear it from the Dr. Now, in my opinion, I have a high tolerance for pain. But this ranked right underneath labor pains before the epidural.

We still had school because even though the teacher is sick, life must go on. And it's kind of hard to find a substitute teacher for you. If that even exists for a home school mom. Besides, my principal is tough, no sick days for me.

After school, I was laying in bed in a fetal position trying to pretend the pain wasn't there and trying to get warm since I seemed to be freezing. I gave the boys free reign.

I knew they wouldn't be doing anything bad because we had just had a Bible lesson on how God sees everything we do. Imagine UB's surprise during the lesson when I told him that God knew if he was lying or not. So I wasn't worried about them recking the house.

They rub rocks with sticks to try to make fire, they leave the sink on with the drain closed, but I knew they wouldn't tear the house too bad.

I vaguely heard them talking about making an experiment, a concoction of some sort. At that point, I didn't care what they did.

So this is what I find in my freezer when I went to look for something to make for lunch yesterday.
Each boy had his own 'concoction' milk jug. I started to ask what was in it, but changed my mind.

I think this one had some grass and flowers in it. Among other 'natural' stuff.

Oh look! There is even a wad of paper towels. Frozen. Ready for the next experiment.

Oh well, it could have been worse. And, I will throw it all away this weekend when I empty the freezer out in order to defrost it.

So what's in your freezer?

A bad case of Road Rage

Last week the boys and I saw someone besides Hubster experience road rage. Road rage that almost ended in a fight.

I was driving when I noticed that the truck in front of me was swerving to the next lane that an SUV was driving in. The SUV slowed down in order to avoid a collision.

The truck moved back into it's lane, only to swerve again into the same SUV.

But this time, the SUV slowed down enough in order for the truck to get right in front of it. But then the SUV pulled up next to the truck and was using hand gestures to talk to him.

He even swerved close enough to the truck that I thought they were going to wreck. The truck had Rambo in it because he wasn't backing down, he was turning his truck to aim directly at the SUV. The SUV had to drive to the shoulder in order to avoid being hit.

Somehow, the truck ended up behind the SUV and was tailgating. The SUV turned into the parking lot of a shopping center and there went Rambo behind him.

I of course was not going to miss what was happening. Come on, I saw the start, I wanted to see the end.

I pull in after them. Did I forget to mention that the boys were with me? And that they were encouraging me to follow?

So we sat in the car watching Rambo get out of his truck and grab a long pipe from the bed of the truck and walk towards grandpa, who got out of the SUV.

Grandpa, not being armed, raised his hands as if to say, whoa. But Rambo raised the pipe and I really thought was going to hit grandpa. Grandpa was red in the face, obviously from telling Rambo some nice words about his driving. Rambo just stood there with the raised pipe and occasionally the pipe moved a little like he was about to swing it at grandpa.

I really didn't know what I would do, but I knew that I wasn't going to let Rambo hit grandpa, who as unarmed. Even the boys were not liking the scenario. I was on the phone with a friend of mine and she kept asking if she needed to call the cops. I had already been telling her everything that was happening.

But by this time, Rambo was too macho to stand there and listen to grandpa because he threw the pipe in the back of the truck, jumped in his truck and sped off. Grandpa just stood there shaking his head.

Then Rambo got back on the same road he was on and was on the phone at this time. I of course started driving too. So I happened to be behind him again. Rambo did it again. He tried to get in the left lane from the right lane and almost hit a car.

I told the boys that not only did we have to pray for Rambo's attitude while he was driving, but also his driving. UB said that he needed lots of prayer because he sure didn't know how to drive right.

Wordless Wednesday