Bahumbug and Yippie!

     I have in past years have had very mixed feeling about the holidays, they end up being a lot of stress for me with prep, planning, shopping, wrapping, shopping, cleaning, stocking, stuffing, stressing, etc.  I start off with a boom and fizzle by the 21st. Then I just want to hibernate till Valentines Day.  I know that part of it has to do with my little brothers birthday being this month and so close to Christmas.  It's still a hard time of the year for my whole family, but a tad bit easier each year.

     This year, I feel different.  I feel less stressed out and more relaxed.  My boys still run around like hooligans and try to eat all the advent chocolate in one day.  My teenager still throws attitude, like snowballs...there is still family drama and planning conflicts.  The hustle and bustle is still there, but I feel calmer, slower, less urgency to get everything done all in one day and have it wrapped in a bow with sparkles.  I attribute this to 2 things.
   
     First, my husband is amazing. Second, I have found a whole new joy in watching my kids enjoy the Christmas season.  My kids could care less about the order of fun or how pretty it looks when it's done.  They just want to be together, laughing (crying too) and having a good time!  Seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child is an amazing thing.  Each little light, ornament and treat is enjoyed with such awe that you can't help but smile.

     It's not about quantity.  It's about quality.  That is such a simple lesson to learn and it does not take a lot to figure it out.  Spend time with your kids, they get a little bigger each year, so take the time to really enjoy the awe of the season with them. Create memories and smiles.  After all, do you remember every single gift you were ever given? Yeah, me either.

It's 1:44 pm.  P.S. Peppermint MnM's are like crack, and I am a junkie!

Thank You!

Thank you. 2 simple words designed to convey appreciation and flattery for a job well done.
My 2 year old is ridiculously polite. He says please and thank you for everything,  every time. We are clueless as to where these manners came from, my guess is Dora or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. My 4 year old not so much and my 13 year old, well she is 13...
Does this mean my kids love me less and appreciate me less if they don't say thank you? NO. It means they express their appreciation and gratitude in different ways. My 13 year old will help more,  or play with her brothers,  my 4 year old will draw me a picture.
Do we have to hear THANK YOU to know that someone is greatful,  no...but unless we are around them enough to see or feel gratitude in a different way, then our options maybe limited to verbal communication.
During this especially busy time of the year, I want to try to communicate my gratitude as often as possible.  It will be interesting to see how it works in each situation,  but I am convinced that conveying gratitude and appreciation in am audible and visible way will make others feel as warm and fuzzy as it makes me feel.
Maybe I should thank the delivery man who just woke up my napping child first...
It is 12:30 in the afternoon. 

Trip to the store.

So there is a great sale on footie pj's at Carter's, and J has been asking for "gajama's that cover his whole body," so we went shopping. Well if that's what you  want to call it...I think it looked more like frantic grabbing and pig wrangling all at the same time. Neither boy wanted to walk, yet neither wanted to sit at the Lego table either. Neither boy wanted to shop for clothes, but both wanted million dollar toy sets, you know as a reward for being super naughty. Thank God I work out, because I had to pick up both boys, about 80lbs total of dead, screaming, sweaty weight, one in each arm, with my bag and purse and walk out of the store, to the car and hope I didn't drop one, where anyone could see. I get in the car, tell them both they are out of line and needed some wooden spoon time. I am not sure why epic little boy melt down still surprises me so much?! 

We get in the car, and the melt down continues. And I am a hot sweaty mess. All I want to do is go home, duck tape my kids to their beds and have nap time. So what happens next? I swear, just as soon as the car starts moving they quiet down. Why is the car so soothing?! I swear these boys looked like toddler zombies in their seats! 

Anyway, we grabbed some lunch and were on our way. 2 things: thank GOD for carseat restraints and seriously, check out Carter's, deals so good...it made the insanity worth it!

It's 2:56pm

too BLESSED to stress!

Ok that is one of the hokier christianese sayings that I have heard in my life, and I understand it, but today, I felt it. I had court today, for child support for my oldest child. I never in a million years thought the amount would be reduced, but it is. As I sat there, all I could feel was pity and pride. 

Pity for the other party, being called "low income," and being told that perhaps their goals are not realistic. 

Pride, for the blessings The Lord has gifted to myself and my family. 

At that moment I truly understood the concept. I am blessed. The Lord has always taken care of me, and He will continue too. My husband is an amazing provider that takes excellent care of his family. Period. I am lucky, regardless if what the other party can scrounge up, because I don't need it. I am not tooting my own horn, I understand hardship, but to be at this place, with this situation is a big step for me. I feel good. I am happy and truly...too blessed to stress!

Driving Around in My Automobile

I really like my new car. A lot. I really dislike the interior of my new car being dirty...a lot. This is a problem, I have 3 kids. 1 child loves Cheetos, orange fingers. 1 child is an artistic genius, paper, markers, crayons. 1 child is a moody teenager. No explanation needed.  I feel like I am constantly picking up crayons, Cheetos and paper. It's because I am. But this is my family, and this is a family car, so we have a family sized mess! I used to get very irratated. Rage might be a better word. How dare these ankle biters mess with my space?!? Oh and there is the problem...it's not "my," anything. It's "our," everything, but more specific, it's our blessing. Just like the kids...really I believe that...count it all as joy, right? Ha easier said then done! I struggle with this. With taking the good with the bad, with realizing that it's not all rose tinted glasses all day. That my children are loud, dirty, crazy little blessings. Just like a new car or any other thing we have. Our blessings aren't always the way we envision them to be, but it doesn't lessen the impact if the blessing, or at least it shouldn't, right? There is alot of thinking that goes on while being in a car. And I am thinking this car isn't so messy, but full of memories.

So smart...not really?

True (and sad) story:

In my math class tonight, we were exchanging ideas on a list of math word problems, such as 3=F in a Y, so 3 feet in a yard or 18=H on a GC, so 18 holes on a golf course. Well I see this, 20,000=L U the S by JV, and this is a no brainer for me! So I say "this is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne." 

Both of the (much younger) student in my group say what? I repeat myself, they say how to do spell that? I spell it, by who? They say...I say Jules Verne, they ask how to spell that name. 

At this point I am a little dumbfounded.... But the real icing on the educational GMO cake? One of them says to me, "is that a song?" 

I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

My response? "...I guess it's a really old book..."

The 2 kids next me are Japanese and Science majors. Really!?! So smart an yet so dumb.

Feeling like a mom, my mom.

Ok, I may be late to the "mom," party, but man did I feel like a "mom," today! Up early to take H to urgent care to have his ear looked at, I infected, off to CVS for the prescription, and then home to get Jax and off to the gym, pick up Miya from school, then across town to Buy Buy baby for H's shoes, size 9!!, and these pouches he LOVES that are normally twice as much. 

Well while we are there, kids are crying, feet are so sore, but we need meat, so we head to Costco, and thank goodness for their cookies, which enabled me to get all 3 kids fitted for rain boots, FIND them in the piles, and pick up the goods we needed. 

So the end? 

No. 

Miya asked for a book from Barnes and Noble. For school. So book reserved while at Costco, then happy rain booted kids in the car and I grab the book. Home to prep dinner and cook meals for the next 2 days for Clint and I. Bathe a child, cooked high protein chopped salads for dinner. Aaaaaand i'm done. I am sure there are 20 other things I need to do, but I am so tired and sore, they will have to wait. I remember my mom doing this with us. She is pretty awesome.

It's 8:22pm

My Favorite J and H...and Sissy

As my kids get older, I notice they become much more aware of the affection I give to their siblings, keeping a watchful eye to make sure that "their love," is not distributed to a baby brother or big sissy. 

I often want to express to them that I do love them so much, but I want to be honest and make sure no one feels "more," or "less," than anyone else. 

So I have applied the "favorite," to each of them, by name.

"H, you are my favorite H I have ever had, and I love you more than any other H in the whole world!"

This is genius, really, because you are able to give the warm fuzzies AND not feel conflicted AND speak freely in front of your other children, without anyone being left out! 

So far this is working out really well, especially for my 2 boys who constantly vie for mama's attention. 

Now Sissy is a little different, she is a teenager, so I have to love her in a non intrusive or uncool way, so she gets " hey your cool, and stuff. And Iet's hang out, and stuff."  ...but at home...she gets the love, the climb in your bed and lay on top of you love with 2 brothers giggling in tow!

These are a few of my favorite things.

It's 11:23pm.

Long Days, Longer Nights

I Wake up at 6am to a drooling toddler asking for "Gabba," or "Dora." Shortly after I hear a 4 year old grabbing 1 million blankets and dragging them all into my room. On the bed we snuggle, until someone decides to break out for downstairs, and then the day of kids x3 begins! 

Drop off sister, go to the gym, errands, lunch, naps (not for mom), pick up sister, prep dinner, break up 400 fights, chase down a 2 year old 50 times,  tell a 4 year old to pee 20 times, help a 13 year old with homework, or assorted teenagerness, make and serve dinner, bath time, bed time, shower and bed. 

Sleep? ...noooooooo...

Toss and turn, watch ridiculous Amish rebellion shows, play Candy Crush, Instagram, Facebook...repeat...

It amazes me that a day can tire you out so much and yet a bed can energize you like a quad shot espresso.

It's 12:01am.

Trains and Automobiles

This weekend, our oldest child ditched us to go camping, so we decided on an adventure with our younger 2. Around 930am we packed up the Journey for a Hines Family Journey to the Sacramento Railroad Museum. 

We started by making sure we had snacks for everyone, changes of clothes, water and anything else we may need for the about 2 hour drive to the "shoo shoo shrains."

It first started with screams and cracker throwing, then cozy and Sully slaps and ended with J slapping his brother in the faces with his stuffed dog. This was 20 min into the drive...oh Lord what are we doing?!?

There is something about 2 little brothers sitting within arms reach of each other in the car. There bodies seem to explode and they lose their minds! Eventually we decided that they needed to sit behind each other, not next to each other, if we wanted the screams of cracker delight to subside. 

So about 2.5 hours later, we pulled into the parking garage and were ready for some "shoo-shoo's!"

It's amazing the fascination boys have with trains, especially H. He wanted to see every single display and picture and train there was to see. It almost made the  2 hours of screaming in the car worth it, to see his eyes light up and a huge smile form on his face. 

H loves trains, trucks and planes. He loves to see and ride just about everything except the cars we have, go figure!

He also loves "Taxis," which are actually police cars. Not sure what happened there...

Our weekend was filled with driving around in our automobile, trains, 2 giggling boys and lots if memories.

It's 8:48am

Brothers and Balls

Tonight we spent the evening outside, enjoying the brisk weather and a neighborhood potluck. It was so much fun. We started an hour early, as soon as I saw that the street had been coned off to decrease the flow of traffic. 

We were sitting outside, watching the boys play on their bikes and trikes.

Slowly more kids joined in, until it was a full blown kids laughing, chalk on the sidewalk, wagon rides, bubble blowing cul-de-sac of fun!

As the kids were playing, stealing cupcakes from the dessert table and drinking more juice than they have since the last party we went to, J appeared with 4 small bouncey balls. As he threw them and chased them bouncing off cars and tables, H noticed the fun. The ball fun. 

Now in theory, they each would have played with 2 balls and would have been happy, EHHHHHH...WRONG! 

The each wanted what the other had, and they each wanted to play with their balls the way the other played with them. Well as a parent, you know that "results may vary."

Why are little boys do drawn to balls? And what makes someone else's bouncing ball so much better than your bouncing ball? 

Eventually a soccer ball and bucket of candy in a grassy lawn drew the attention away from the 4 bouncing balls of argument, and it seemed the boys had moved on to fight over something different.

But this had me thinking...why do we want what other people have, the way they have it? Terribly unrealistic way to expect life to pan out, if you ask me...

And yet we all would LOVE for life to pan out that way! 

I guess the moral of the story is that even if there are equal bouncing balls for all the boys, the soccer ball and candy may be a better option.

Someone also made super cute mini hamburger desserts! With Nilla Wafer buns! So creative, little odd tasting, but very cute!

It's 11:32pm.

4 and 13...and 33

One would think that at the age of 13, your ability to function, minus major attitude would diminish quite significantly...well as a parent of a 13 year old...you probably already know the answer...

I am often amazed when I see a teenager arguing with a 4 year old, even more so when it looks like the 4 year old is winning! But maybe we would all win our arguments if we could end them by sticking our tongue out, yelling "baby head" and running away.

These arguments don't actually surprise me, it's human nature, and this particular 4 year old really likes to touch his sisters hair-like a bear.

What I have learned is that regardless of the age gap, when a person feels wronged, they say something. Hence the arguments I have at 33 with a 13 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old. 

It is so much easier for me to tell my daughter to ignore her brothers, than it is for me to not have the last word with someone I think is wrong. 

This is not news, we like to be right, but even more than that, we like to make sure everyone else knows we are right!

So in an effort to take some of my own advice, perhaps the next time we argue, I will just stick my tongue out at you, call you a "baby head," and run away. This will be my way of ignoring you.

Seems to be working great for my 4 year old!

Brother, Uncle, Friend

A few times a year I post about my brother Matt. It's usually around his birthday and the anniversary of his death. In between that time, I see various posts from different friends on FB regarding the loss of their loved ones. I often get very teary eyed and begin to think about my own brother.

I miss him, he was a pretty cool guy. But I think that what really gets me is that my kids, 2 of the 3, will never get to meet the   "Uncle Matt," I say "the," because he was quite and entity. Making an impact on all who knew him, including my oldest daughter Miya. 

Miya was about 4 when her uncle died. I remember telling her that he went to heaven and that we would not see him again. I also remember hearing her sing about him being dead, like a sad country song with lyrics made from bits of information she would overhear. While he was alive, Uncle Matt spoiled Miya-sand boxes, with colored sand! Giant inflatable swimming pool, with bubbles and a big stuffed red Clifford dog, these were just a few of the gifts he would come home with. There was also clothes and smaller goodies, he thought about her a lot. She was loved by him.

I know that my 2 boys and nephew and niece would have been loved by him just as much. I am sure that the family camping trips, boating adventures and family holidays would have been filled with small feet being chased by the Uncle Matt. 

The loss of any family member is hard, it sucks really, and the more time that passes the more healing can occur, but it can also bring about new hurts too. Siblings were our first friends, the first line of defense against parental tyranny. Or so we thought. 

As I see my kids grow, I miss my brother more, in a different way. I miss the idea of my kids having another uncle. As I am sure all of us do who have lost a brother.

So in true country fashion, and because I am sure my love of Tim McGraw would have been the topic of many laughs, this one is for Matt.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Wly8pBuEE

Graco and Disney

We have 3 kids, they range in age from 13-2. Today we all piled in the car to go and pick up a new Graco Ready2Grow, a sit and stand double stroller, because our younger boys like to be together, but it's better if they can't see each other...as we were driving I was thinking, with the youngest being 2 and 4, this will most likely be the last stroller we ever buy, hopefully.

I started thinking about having M, my oldest, over 13 years ago. I was young, had no idea about strollers or kids stuff, brands or anything. I had a very basic stroller an carseat for Miya, and very early I noticed that a lot of other people had MUCH nicer baby things.  Now I knew that someone would always have something nicer than I, that's life! ...but I really wanted my child to have nice things, and nothing makes a mom feel better than a nice diaper bag, stroller and carseat. Not expensive, nice. I guess this was phase 1 of early stroller envy...

I remember finding M a nice Eddie Bauer carseat and a really nice Eddie Bauer stroller, by Graco. It felt good.

Fast forward 8 years and it's time to pick out a travel system for J! What do I pick? Why Graco of course! I loved it. The cup holders, the easy ride, loved it!

So along came baby #3 and we reused a couple things and splurged in a "nice" double stroller! A Baby Jogger. It was great! ...until it wasn't. So here we are picking up our final stroller, a good ol' Graco. It's funny how something like a stroller and The Disney Channel have been family favorites for the past 13 years. Our lives are intertwined with amazing memories of Mickey Mouse and Graco strollers. As our kids age I wonder what will be next? Maybe Vans and BMX bikes? Or TOMS and surfboards? Maybe  VW's and Nikes, like my teenage years! No matter how it happens, we are definitely enjoying the ride! And I am sure Dora will also be a part of it...

It's 9:06pm.

Caramel Corn and Cemeteries

This weekend, my husband and I took a much needed break away, more for him then me of course, from the kids and headed out to Washoe County, Nevada (Reno). We headed out Friday, and decided to "just get on the road," and deal with the traffic. As we headed out of the area, I got hungry, but in an effort not to miss our check in deadline, we kept driving. Bad idea. Apparently, when I get hungry, I get a little (LOT) cranky (RAGE) and am not so nice (raging jerk). What does ones husband feed the wild savage wife when hunger strikes? Why caramel corn of course! 

We made it to our hotel with an hour to spare, checked in and started our adventure in Nevada. We found ourselves the next day in Virginia City, checking out the old mining town. My husband loves historic cemeteries, so The Silver Terrace Cemeteries was our first stop. I am all for history and exploration, but flip flops, GIANT WASPS, and loose gravel shortened my trip and I headed back to the car while my husband looked around more.

I always feel a little strange exploring a cemetery, like I am having fun where so many people have spent the hardest times of their life, so I try to take a different approach and read as many of the tombstones as possible. This is sorta my way of paying my respects and acknowledging the lives if people. And then we happened upon the babies, and the children, and those get me every time. We spent about 80 min there, and then hoped in the car and drive around more. 

Through the city, and on to Carson City. On the way there...I got hungry. Low and behold, the caramel corn came to the rescue. 

By the end of this trip, I think my husband was ready to write the caramel corn company and thank them for saving our marriage. 

We ended our trip and headed home today, well rested and ready to hug our babies and our big girl. We are very lucky to have great friends and family to watch our kids, so we can have our time together. 

I think I love caramel corn and if you have a chance, visit the Ghirardelli Chocolate Outlet in Lathrop, it's well worth the stop. 

It's 8:59pm

Full Hearts and Fuller Bellies!

Today a group of families that I grew up with met at a park to hang out and catch up. We are all grown up now, with kids of our own. Some of us have older kids, some younger, some both! What I loved about today was that no matter how long it's been since we have seen each other, we instantly connected over memories, food, family and screaming children. 

There were the baby handoffs, the shared child watching and of course the shared snacks! 

H and J each found a buddy, which made play time even more special and a little easier for me. Then after a few hours of sun and water play, came snack time. 

If you know Aunty Mama, you know I have snacks! Here I am, like an old lady on a park bench feeding the birds, they swarm at the sight of food, and I LOVED it! In a way, it mad me feel like even though I don't get to see all these awesome kids on a regular basis, I was still able to connect and pour (sugar) into them. It made my heart so full. Who knows when we will all be together again to have this time, but I know that whenever it happens again, it will be just like we saw each other yesterday and I will have a lot of snacks. 

I am also now the color of a coffee bean.

It's 8:08pm.

Pizza and Donuts

Today was a long day, a fun day, but loooong! My boys don't sleep like they used to, 7pm to 7am, it's a lot more like 830pmish to 230am to 5am to 6 or 7am...so my plan today was to run a few errands, lunch with a friend and a bit of shopping AND a nap! I was able to do everything EXCEPT the nap. But I noticed something's today. #1 I sweat a lot, Am I too young for hot flashes? #2 I get REALLY tired around 2pm everyday and #3 I don't like stuffed crust pizza. 

Oh and M loves Krispy Kreme donuts. So  does C, F, H and J. 

M had been asking for a drive to KK, and I felt obligated as a good parent to do so tonight. So we packed up the kids and drove up to Union Landing. 

While we were ordering, the person working there interrupts us to ask, "so are you getting a dozen or what?" EXACT words. 

I was shocked. I realized the older I get, the less customer service is a part of my shopping experience. I remember being trained to give excellent customer service at all my jobs. Was that so long ago? I felt old. 

It saddens me to think that in the world we live in, instructing your kids to be polite, respectful go getters is somehow squashing their creative spirit. It's sad that culture and world view, the things that make us diverse and unique are being diluted by the "everyone gets a trophy for trying, we are all winners, go with the flow, YOLO," attitude. It's not trendy to be rude, it's not cool to suck at your job, you should care. Someone worked very hard to establish that company that you are belittling with your bad attitude and lack if customer service. 

Sheesh. Dang slackers. Oh man. I am old.

It's 9:41pm

 

Boogers and Bald Spots

Today hubby and I had the sleep deprived delusion of giving H a hair cut. So our plan? Mom hog ties him and Dad tames the mane. Sounds easy enough? (Insert basket ball buzzer sound here) WRONG. Let's see, first act in this comedy of errors? Although I could restrain his body, his head moved as if he  was ready to spew green pea soup at us and chant in Latin. End result, an awesome bald spot, uneven lines and then clippers dying before we could finish. To add a little more specialness to the moment, the amount of snot coming out of H's nose rivaled that of a spitting camel. So needless to say, the haircut did not go so well, and when I left the house, H looked like he was attacked by a rouge group of toddler barbers, roaming the streets, looking for pacifier sucking victims. We knew 2 things, we would never do this again and this needed to be fixed BEFORE my mom came home and saw it. Grandma would never let us forget the time " you ravaged my poor babies head," so the plan? Clippers charge and H naps and then we fix the hair...now if you don't already know about my Super Hubby, he is super awesome and went ahead and fixed the hair while I was out. Not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous. Who held H down? Was any hair left? Then I get the text message. 

So here is H not boogery, not bald and not bleeding. 

Not too shabby! 

But something else had occurred with this big boy hair cut! H is acting like a big boy! He fed himself his yogurt, took off his own clothes for bath time and has been playing quietly! What?!? Was this some sort if freaky hair crack? When it came off he calmed down?!? Probably more likely that he is so traumatized from being held down and attacked with clippers that he is too tired to be naughty. And I'll take it!

I had a bite of my daughters Caramello cupcake from Frost in Campbell today. Now that is some dessert crack! 

It's 11:22pm

Big Boy Beds and Crackers

Today we said goodbye to our last crib, and put a twin sized bed in the boys room for H. I have to say it was a little bittersweet. This was the crib that both our boys slept in from the day they came home from the hospital. Both boys also learned how to propel themselves from this crib and both boys were dropped about 6 inches into the crib, J when my pregnant belly was to big to bend over and lay him down all the way and H when my back pain prevented bending...and H because he liked it too...

So out went the crib and in went a big boy bed. Along with the new bed came new matching bedding and a new nightlight. There are 2 little boys that live in that room now. The same 2 little boys that used to live in my belly. The same 2 little boys that will eat me out of house and home in a few years. The same 2 little boys that ate all of my cheesey crackers. I am sure it will happen again, and I can't think of another 2 little boys that I would rather share my belly, my life and my cheesey crackers with.

It's 9:39pm.

Whaling Cats and Leaky Diapers

There is nothing quite like being jolted awake by the sound of your screaming child in the middle of the night. It's good for us. It helps us remember we are alive, well just me, my husband apparently can't hear any of the middle of the night fun. It also reminds me that I can hold my pee for extended periods of time, while rocking a 2 year old bag to sleep, who woke up wet after leaking out of his almost dry diaper...hooray for leak guard. Oh wait... 

So while I am rocking my big baby boy, I hear his screams again! But I am holding him, and there is a pacifier lodged in his mouth, so how is that possible? Cats. The screams of terror are from cats brawling in the street. I wonder if they have a dance off? Like a Beat It video? I wonder if there is an MJ cat with a glove on one hand? I wonder if that's the sound I heard and jumped out of bed to? I wonder if my bladder will explode? Well at least H got a diaper change. I'm starving right now. 

It's 5:51am.

Hair and Trucks

So my boys are very different, one boy is VERY boyish-cars, trains, balls, boogers, etc. My other boy is very artistic-coloring, crafts, etc. Currently they are both "helping" my hair. I have a brush trying to detach any hair left on my head and a car driving down my highlight. End result?

It just glides right through mom! Dad will love it!

I think it's coffee time. 4 iced shots with a pump of white mocha. Caffeine uppers. It's 11am. 

There's a monster under the bed!

I woke up this morning to a screaming 2 year old with half of his body under his brothers bed. Not sure why he opted for the floor, over his bed? What do you do when the monster under your bed is your little brother? I pulled him out and rocked him for a while, then we watched some "shoo shoo shraines," and he felt better. But he also needed to be attached to me. Like I had a bathroom buddy attached to me. I never thought I would have to pee with a 2 year old trying to climb onto my lap...awkward...after about 40 minutes he decided that I was old news and moved on to prowling around downstairs, trying to score some treats from Grandma, because he knows I won't give him a tube of Pringles at the butt crack of dawn. Where did the Pringles come from?!? ...I don't buy Pringles...

I really think there are laundry trolls hiding my clothes. It's 8:43am. 

Ranty McRanty pants

Soooo....a few days a month I MAY have a little rage...perhaps hormonal, perhaps stress related, perhaps paranormal possession...ok maybe not THAT bad. It starts with irrational annoyance at the smallest things, usually cars parked to close or slow people, or people in diapers calling me mom, you know small things. Then I find myself wanting to kick the car parked to close to mine and give the slow people a little push (shove into the street) or hide from Thing 1 and Thing  2. In the past I have eaten comfort food, worked out, shopped, etc to help calm down, but recently I feel much more aware of the rage and less willing to spend money to feel better. The good news is that I haven't kicked any cars...I haven't aided any elderly people into oncoming traffic and my kids know where to find me. What is my secret you may ask? Ice water. I have found that a huge cup of ice water is an excellent way for me to calm down. Why? I have no idea, but I'm just going to keep drinking it. And I also went back and ate my daughters egg, just the yolk. It's  10:55pm.

No yolk for me

This morning my boys wanted pancakes and bacon for breakfast. I don't buy full fatty bacon, because that along with whole milk and real butter in my shopping cart looks bad, right?! So pancakes and turkey bacon it was. While I was standing over the stove, slaving away microwaving my pancakes...I realized that a protein shake today sounded terrible and a whole wheat English muffin, egg and turkey bacon breakfast sandwich sounded so much better! Why? Because I was so looking forward to that yummy yolkey goodness with my bread and dry bacon! ...see and right there I had already jinxed it. Kids eating and breakfast on the table. Time for mama! Oh wait, I also decided to make an egg for my disappearing daughter. Now 2 eggs, which one has the best oozy yolk potential, that ones mine! See...problem #2, I should have given the golden yolk goodness to my daughter, but instead I hoarded the yolk. Time to make my breakfast sandwich, bottom English muffin, 1 turkey bacon and throw down that egg and WHAT!?! ...the yolk breaks and shoots off the plate, I can't even dip now! Oh there's more yolk, let's do this! Top bun and...seriously?!? More yolk on the counter...now I am mad. So I sit down with my boys and yes I am not joking...the yolk...it fled from me...it ran away from my plate and on the table. Now I I was alone, that would not be a problem, that yolk would be swiped right up with my dry wheat muffin and in my mouth, but there are these 2 copy cats string at me...the yolk stays down. My breakfast was still good, minus the creamy golden goodness if the incredible edible egg, but no yolk for me. AND why the heck is there no iron in my $50 vitamins from GNC? Really!? For $50 they could slip a little iron into ANY of the 6 pills in that packet? It's 9:30am.