This was NOT my ideal Monday, to say the least.  I was exhausted this morning…go figure, so I got Jesse up a little later than usual to get ready for school.  He was a little crabby because he fell at church last night and busted his mouth on the concrete and was a little sore…once again…go figure!  My phone was turned off, so I missed the call from my car pool buddy that she was not going to be able to pick Jesse up for school, so Josh had to take him, which was not a big deal, I just felt bad that my phone was off!  I had grand plans to do school with Joshua this morning as well as get the house cleaned up from the weekend.  We did get a good bit of school done, but then I got side tracked and we went to the christian book store so I could get some ideas for the toddler nursery at church… entirely different story in itself.  While I was there, Owen proceeded to grab any and every toy or book that was wrapped in celophane and begin to open it so he could PLAY WITH IT!?  Each time I told him “NO” and took an item from him, his frustration and anger mounted until he finally threw himself on the floor of this nice, quiet, good smelling, slightly populated CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORE.  Have you ever heard the term “LOSE YOUR RELIGION!?”  I was SO there.  I could literally feel someone staring at me as I “gently” grabbed his arm and tried to “talk him down”, knowing that I was really the one that needed talking down at that moment.  By the time we got to the check out counter, I was sweating and I’m pretty sure I had veins popping out of my neck.  The lady smiled and said, “Aw, so that’s who was making a little fuss.  Would he like a balloon?”  Gee, thanks lady, that’s exactly what my disobedient, tantrum throwing toddler needs…a REWARD!?!  I let her give Joshua and Owen both a balloon, but Owen, of course, threw another fit getting into the car so I looked him right in the eye and popped his balloon.  Go ahead, gasp as you picture Owen’s sweet face in disbelief that Mommy just popped his brand new balloon…but he SO deserved it! 

From there, we met Josh for lunch near his office and surprisingly, that went smoothly.  When I got home, however, I was greeted by hundreds, if not THOUSANDS, of ants in my kitchen.  You see, apparently my husband tossed a bag of candy into the ‘plate’ cabinet thinking that was a good hiding place from the boys.  However, all he did to seal the bag was roll the top down a bit.  When he tossed it into the cabinet, it apparently unrolled itself and was basically a giant NEON sign for ants, “ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET–RIGHT HERE!!  Of course we are out of indoor/outdoor bug spray right now, so I pulled a Big Fat Greek Wedding and began spraying every square inch of my cabinets and walls with WINDEX!!  As I’m spraying the cabinets, walls, and anywhere I can see ants, I realized something…we haven’t had ants since we put our new BLACK countertop in.  I swiped the windex-soaked paper towel across the counter, and with ONE swipe, covered the bottom of that paper towel in ammonia scented ants.  GREAT, the ants were ALL OVER my countertop and I couldn’t even SEE them!  All of this was happening as I’m TRYING to prepare dinner.  Chicken parmesan was on the menu tonight.  I was very excited about this meal.  I hadn’t made it in a while and I have a really great recipe.  I had defrosted the chicken and had all my ingredients ready to go…except the OIL.  It’s pretty hard to fry chicken for a family of five with less than a 1/4 cup of oil.  Very hard indeed.  By this point, I was laughing hystarically at what could POSSIBLY go wrong next.  I actually considered for a good long moment, completely downing the remainder of the cooking wine sitting on the counter in front of me.  It was THAT kind of day.  I mean really, has anyone ever actually consumed white cooking wine for the purpose of a “glass of wine”??  Gross.  I’m so glad I talked myself out of it, but it was a close call.  The meal turned out just fine and I’m still squishing ants with my fingertips every time I go to the sink in the kitchen.  

I must say…I’m good and ready for TUESDAY!

~audrey

I suppose I’m like every other mom when I start feeling like I NEVER have a day off.  The last three weeks have just about killed me with the early mornings (and late nights).  My kids have always been fantastic sleepers.  Even now, the big boys get up earlier than ever before (around 7 or 7:30am), but they’re self sufficient now, so they can get their own breakfast and entertain themselves until I get up.  But those days are LONG gone, as of three weeks ago, when Jesse started school.  The alarm goes off at 6am and Josh proceeds to push SNOOZE for the next thirty to forty five minutes!   Some days I literally want to cry as I hold my eye lids open and try to adjust to the bright lights of the bathroom.  Jesse is NOT a morning person and does NOT like to be woken up before the sun.  I try my hardest to maintain a cheerful disposition as I drag him out of bed and we begin the routine…

…needless to say, I was very much looking forward to sleeping in this morning…and I did.  I remember Owen coming in around 8:00am.  I had ear plugs in because Josh had been snoring last night, so I couldn’t really hear him, but he shoved a cup of yogurt in my face and for whatever reason (I guess I was still half asleep) I put it under my pillow and went back to sleep.  I think deep down, I was really nervous about what kind of mess I’d find if I opened it for him and let him wander around the house eating it by himself!!  Next thing I know, I smell cinammon rolls and Josh is jumping on the bed (yes, my husband) telling me “IT’S TIME TO GET UP!  IT’S ALMOST ELEVEN O’CLOCK!”  Thankfully, he was lying.  It was about 9:00am.  I felt like a new woman.  I think it took me another ten minutes to actually pull the ear plugs out and put my feet on the floor.  Our day was good.  Josh and the boys worked outside for a while.  He and the big boys went to Lowe’s while Owen and I went to Sam’s and Walmart.  It’s so funny how excited I can get to buy toilet paper and saline solution.  Last month was TIGHT to say the least.  Lots of expenses with school starting and wrapping up all the last details on the house for the foster children.  By the time the very end of the month rolled around (last week) I was putting $20 at a time in the gas tank and praying that we’d make it to Friday…pay day.  We made it and today we celebrated.    We bought our much needed toiletries, went to see “UP” at the dollar theater and then went out for pizza with friends.  The boys had a fun evening and were more than ready for bed when their heads hit the pillow at 8:00pm.  Now, it’s 9:30 and I’m trying to wrap things up so I don’t go to bed late, which seems to happen every single night, even though I talk about how badly I need to get into bed earlier!  All in all, we had a great Saturday.  I feel like we relaxed even though we stayed rather busy.  We were busy with what we wanted to do, not anything we HAD to do.  Tomorrow, on the other hand, is a very busy day and I will be looking forward to Monday and getting back to the same old, same old.

goodnight!

~audrey

It’s been a long week and a short week all at once…is that possible? It’s been long because we had lots to do every single day, but because of that, the week went by fast and I’m very thankful it’s Friday! Next week I’m hoping for a lighter load and MUCH more time at home to do ’school’ with Joshua and catch up on my house work if it doesn’t get done this weekend.

On Monday, I finally repainted the bedroom that the foster children will occupy. I really didn’t want to spend $30-$40 on a gallon of paint, so I bought a $5 gallon in the ‘returned’ section. It ended up being WAY too pinkish once I tried a little on the wall. It actually resembled a color much like my grandmother puts on her cheeks…completely awful for a gender nuetral room…or ANY room for that matter! I decided to check the garage and see if we had something I could use. I found the can that contained the paint we used on the boys’ bathroom. A very soft and nuetral green. I mixed it with a tiny bit of “Adobe White” that I also found in the garage. Together, that made a full gallon and I spent the next two or three hours painting the walls. I even let Joshua take a roller and help. He did an excellent job and surprisingly, we didn’t get paint on anything but the walls and maybe a few fingers. I hung a few things on the wall and got the curtain rod up, and I’m very pleased with how it turned out. This is the warmest this room has ever felt. Even more so than when it was a nursery for Owen. I’m very excited. You may notice above the bed, I tried a new craft that I saw in my latest “Family Fun” magazine. I bought floral wire ($0.67/package), cut up a few fabric remnants that matched the colors of the room, and wrapped the fabric strips around the wire. I spelled the word in cursive because it made it easier to hang. I know, I know, a cursive “m” has three humps, but it just didn’t look right when I made it that way, so instead, I only did two humps in my “m” and I added a little hook to the beginning of the “m” to make it look a little more like it’s own letter. That was totally random, but I just wanted all to know that I DO know how to correctly write in cursive and the word does NOT spell “Fanily”.

Last night was back to school night and it was fun meeting some of the other parents from Jesse’s class. I absolutely love both of the kindergarten teachers and I think this is going to be a really fun year. They have a field trip planned for almost every month of the school year, sometimes two in one month! Today I ate lunch with Jesse and he chose a friend from his class to sit with us. It was a sweet time and I enjoyed getting to know Ryan, who happens to have an identical twin brother in the other class.

Tonight, I have a babysitter coming at 5:30 so Josh and I can go to a “young adults” party, hosted by…a young adult from our church. I’m looking forward to hanging out with some other couples and friends (that aren’t couples) and just laughing having a good time without the kiddos tonight. Thankfully, we have NOTHING planned for the weekend and I’m hoping to really relax and catch up on some little things around the house that I’ve willingly neglected this week in order to get EVERY THING ELSE done. All in all, a great third week of school. Full speed ahead!

Happy Weekend Everyone!

~audrey