bragging on my boy

This little guy constantly amazes me. Yesterday, I had to take him for his doctor check up. (Let me just say, I think it is crappy that the doctor's office won't fill out a shot record for school enrollment without a visit. Whatever! We are there constantly, it's not like they don't know us. Before anyone gets all huffy, and tells me how important these check ups are, I know they are, I was just complaining!) Any-who, we went just to get his shot record filled out so he can start preschool in a couple weeks. **sigh, sniff, boo hoo, I am not ready to release him to the world**

He had talked to Zoe before leaving and she told him all about his kindergarten shots, the ones he will get next year. Thanks Zoe, way to scare the poor guy to death. So he was asking me all about them on the way to the office. Once we are there, everything is going smooth, no problems. He is growing, developing, changing, all fine. Then, our Dr. says, "why don't you just get your shots now, they hurt worse when you are bigger anyway." In my mind, I am thinking, NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I remember how bad it was for Zoe and how her screams could be heard for miles. I had already planned for Daddy to bring Parker to that check up, next summer! Parker thought about it and he said, "sure, I'll do it today." My mind thoughts: oh crap! I am not ready for this. Let's get out of here! Help!

He then told me, "mommy, I am going to be brave like Tanner was last time he got shots. I am not even going to cry." Ok, I might be buddy, but ok. And guess what!? He did not cry. He got them all, without flinching, well barely. He said, "ow ow ow ow" really quietly, but that was it. Holy cow! Could this really be happening? To me? (Seriously, Zoe scarred me for life getting her kindergarten shots, I'm not sure the nurse has recovered either, three years later!)

Then, he about smiled so big his face almost broke because the nurse gave him prizes for being the best patient she'd ever had. Yep, he was super excited. I was so proud. I still can't believe it. And bonus, we don't have to do it next summer, I can quit thinking/worrying about it. Whew, what a relief.

Here is the "after" of his room color*. I just love it. Pink is my favorite color for sure, but blue is a very close second. (Go Big Blue, you know!) He is so proud of it. He keeps telling me how much he loves it, how he likes the way I rearranged his pictures, the color is "so perfect" (he tells me), he can't wait for his friend Aiden to see it (that must be a true coolness test!). I am soooooo glad I did it instead of waiting for our house to sell. He deserves it. Of course I am having huge guilt, kicking myself for not doing it sooner. I mean, he is just so darn appreciative. I love that guy.

And one more thing to brag on him about: he told me I looked "very pretty" for the past two days. Not sure why, but I'll take it, thanks buddy.

*This was my first time using Martha Stewart's paint from Home Depot. We were devoted to Ralph Lauren and I was really mad when they discontinued it. I will say the Martha paint worked really well. True to the color sample (this one is called "waterfall") and hardly smelly at all, and I only used one coat. I'll buy it again for sure.

Watchin' my weight Wednesday

I wish I burned calories like this little hummingbird who visits us every day... he's right in the middle, hubby took this picture, he is very tall, thus explaining the big bird's eye view.

I forgot to post about my weight watching last week, oops, I am blaming it on our trip to see Paul's mom and dad. We came home on a Monday, instead of Sunday, after our weekend visit and I was messed up all week. Anyway, I've been thinking about numbers a lot lately.

Specifically these kind:

Money and how expensive everything is

Miles my husband has to drive to work

Months our house has been on the market

5th birthday party for Parker coming up soon

Three meals a day that I prepare for everyone

Four beds I make every day, even though the kids are supposed to help me

Three or four loads of laundry I do every day

Our utility bills this month, holy cow, out of this world

Six more payments until my van is paid off

2nd grade where my daughter will be going in a couple weeks

Three trips to the YMCA every day this week, shuttling my kids to and from camp

Four minutes it takes me to drive to Walmart or Target, where I need to go for about a million things

$9.39 the amount I paid for organic chicken breasts for my family a couple days ago

7-9, the age that the news reported some girls are beginning puberty (yikes!)

4 months or so until Christmas (double yikes!)

45 minutes a day I need to exercise

19 points I am allotted to maintain my weight loss (if you are a fellow Weight Watcher, you know what those mean, if not, well, trust me, that number correlates to how much food I should eat every day and it is not a lot)

4 pounds I want to lose

OK, so 4 pounds, not too much you say. Well it seems like a huge number to me now. With all that other junk weighing on my brain, it's no wonder I stress eat. I am currently at my official Weight Watchers goal weight but I prefer to be 3-4 pounds lighter. That is the weight where my clothes fit perfectly, not gaping, tugging, or wedgies.

My plan to lose this weight is to continue my daily workouts but to increase my strength training. I'll admit, there are some days when I do cardio work only. Shame on me. The funny thing, I prefer to use weights instead of running or walking (or whatever) but I guess I am programmed to feel the burn by cardio work. I also plan on going to WW meetings weekly instead of monthly for my lifetime weigh ins. Those meetings work. I know it, now I just have to go. Wish me luck. I will keep everyone posted.

Tanner discovered the stairs

Been doing this a lot lately...

Funny how there is always a laundry basket or pug butt in my pictures.

This little guy thinks he is so big all the sudden. He runs for the steps if someone leaves the gates open. Which makes me scream my head off like some evil character from a Disney movie. Our steps while gloriously beautiful are quite scary and dangerous.

I am loving having him all to myself while the big kids are "camping" this week. He is loving it too. The only thing I realized is that real school starts in a couple weeks and that about sent me into a fit. I have so much to do. So much I want to do. Summer just isn't long enough. Ho hum.

just call me the shuttle driver

Longing to be back here...

This week Z & P are attending day camp at the YMCA. When I originally booked this week, they were both fighting nonstop and I thought by August we'd all need a break hence camp for both of them. When this morning rolled around, I was so sad to take them both. They have been getting along pretty well all summer. They don't really have a choice. They don't have any neighbors or family to play with regularly so they are stuck together. Also, this was also the first time Parker went anywhere without me, or at least where I wasn't waiting/watching him. I had to wear my sunglasses out of the building to the parking lot, yep, big, huge, alligator tears, from me, not him. Although, when I left, he kind of gave me a desperate, lost look before he found some puzzles to explore. It was a rough morning, the kind that left me scavenging for chocolate in my pantry. Never found any I wanted.

Now, on to the shuttle driver thing. I thought I'd have all this time with Tanner to play while Parker was at his camp this morning, all bonding and sweet baby play. We played for about 20 minutes after we got home and then he realized the other two were gone and he was really mad. Crying. Fit-throwing. Hitting me away. OK, not what I imagined. Then after a teeny bit, I had to go get Parker. We had lunch talking all about his morning. Then we played Legos, puzzles, Super Hero squad, you name it. He was glad to have me all to himself again since Tanner fell asleep in the car on the way home. And in a few minutes I have to go get Zoe. And probably pick up a couple ingredients for dinner (since I have had to take ALL 3 KIDS to the grocery the past couple weeks- don't get me started- and you know I can't remember everything while I have all my "helpers"). That makes my 3rd trip to the Y, today. Tomorrow I have my spinning class, that will make 4 trips in one day. Seriously, I am living the life of a shuttle driver. I have no one to blame but myself. Me and my bright ideas.

some stuff, random, but felt like sharing

Totally unrelated picture, just sharing, they do love each other, even if they call each other "butthead" and slam each other to the ground every day.

Isn't it funny how you can miss weird things? Like, I miss drinking Diet Dr. Pepper but not enough to start drinking it again. I miss the smell of my Grandma's Oil of Olay, so much so that I have bought every kind for myself to use and none of them smell like hers. I miss how my old house was always neat and tidy (maybe because it was smaller than this house and I only had one child!?) I missed blogging yesterday and today. I know, weird. I love sharing random stuff with everyone but I really love reading about everyone else's stuff. So interesting. Blog buddies are the best. I love "meeting" new people and getting to know them. Anyway, that leads me to today, nothing really important to say, just stuff.

I painted Parker's room, finally. Poor kid has been asking me for-ev-er! I kept putting it off because we thought we were moving. We still hope to of course, but I felt like it wasn't fair to not paint the little guy's room. And you know what? It looks so great. So much better. Wish I had done it sooner, it did however cut into my blog reading/writing time ;)

My kids have another cold. All of them. Grr. This is seriously annoying. Summer colds are so bad. All that sun and pretty weather is just calling my name and we are trapped in here with snotty noses and popcicles.

After I went to the store today, I realized I was running out of room in my fridge so I just made some corn on the cobb and froze the kernels for a future casserole or soup perhaps. I also made a berry cobbler for my hubby with berries that were almost mushy. He will think I am the best wife ever, he loves baked goods :) My summer goal is to throw out as little food as possible, I hate paying so much for organic food and then throwing it out. I am forcing myself to be very creative.

I scrapbooked a page last night in nine minutes! Woo hoo. Parker was in the shower and brushing his teeth and I was waiting to read him a bedtime story and so I got busy. It turned out so cute. Now I am hoping to steal some more time this weekend to make some cards for upcoming birthdays.

I am hoping to paint a chair I got for $3 at a yard sale this weekend. I am hoping to use it for my desk. $3! Isn't that amazing?

That's it. See, nothing important, just an excuse to log on and check out everyone else's exciting lives. Have a great weekend.

little slugger makes me cry

Wanna see me cry?

Play/sing the national anthem. Works every time.**

Wanna see me do the ugly,snot flying, snorting, puffy eyes, mascara running cry?

Play/sing the national anthem while my little boy is on the field of a major league baseball game.

Pure ugly, I cannot lie.

Parker got to go on the Reds field with his t-ball team for the national anthem and we got to watch. Oh, do I have high hopes of him being in the bigs someday. Our kids are so lucky nowadays, they get to go to MLB games AND go on the field. I swear I would have given up all my Barbies to do that when I was his age, well maybe not all of them. I am so glad we get to give our kids the kind of experiences some might never get. I guess we're pretty lucky too.

**songs that induce tears regularly: the wedding march, the graduation song Pomp and Circumstance, "I was brought to my senses" by Sting, "You are my sunshine" only when sung to a newborn, the songs Zoe dances to each year for ballet, oh who am I kidding, I am a sap!

Whew, I can rest easy now

Don't you just love it when you do something you've been procrastinating for a long time?

I absolutely do.

I finished cleaning/straightening/purging/labeling (of course!) my laundry room cabinets last week. (Sorry I forgot to take a before picture! I know everyone likes the before and after. Trust me, they were pretty bad, all crammed and jammed, not pretty at all.) This is one of "those" projects that I have been meaning to do forever and I just pulled out my trusty step stool and garbage can and went to work one day. I didn't buy any new baskets or containers (obviously, they aren't all cute matchy matchy) but I like how everything turned out. Sorry my pictures are weird angles, I'm only 5'2" and these cabinets are HIGH up over the washer and dryer.

You can't really see it, but there are baskets for diaper cream (I change Tanner on the dryer when we aren't upstairs), sunscreen, pet supplies, light bulbs, floor steamer stuff, vacuum bags, flashlights, and batteries. I also have my teeny college tool box in here, the lid isn't shut (see the red thing) because I was using some stuff in it, oops! I also keep diapers and wipes in here.

Don't you love how I have my lint sticky thing hanging in here? Owners of pugs know that no outfit is complete without dog hair. I use this right before we leave most of the time.
This cabinet is truly laundry stuff. Obviously. (I promise I am not trying to insult your intelligences! Just sharing.) I have a basket for lost socks and a jar for pens and Clorox bleach and Tide to Go pens. The very top is where I keep towels for the dog. And the paper towels get replenished all the time. I am a paper towel junkie. I know, so not green, I can't help it, I am addicted.

So anyway, I love now that everything is all cleaned up and labeled. I put away stuff that had found its way here over the last couple years. Do you think I'll like doing laundry any more now?!