thankful thoughts

I turned on the news this morning to see that there had been another crash or something in which two aircraft were involved and the possibility for survivors is little to none. It's been a bad month for things that fly, or at least there has been more coverage of it.

It makes me think... a lot, and it makes me want to hold my family closer and appreciate the little things that really, aren't so little.

I am thankful for every poopy diaper I change.... because every dirty bottom is attached to a sweet face that gives me kisses.

I'm thankful for every hand print left on my white walls.... because every dirty hand is attached to the arms that wrap around me so snugly for hugs.

I'm thankful for every dinner I make that is less then gourmet.... because we have food.

I'm thankful every time the sticky food covered child who sits next to me steals food off my plate.... because at least we are together to eat as a family.

I'm thankful for the times that my husband is late getting home when all I want is a break.... because that means he's here to come home.

I'm thankful for getting caught in a downpour at getting drenched and then having to go pick up dash-1 at school looking like a wet dog.... because at least I'm able to be there to pick him up and share his day with him.

I'm thankful for (granted its hard to be at the time) temper tantrums and nasty attitudes.... because it allows me to show my children that I love them irregardless.

I'm thankful for the downs... because it makes the ups mean so much more.

What are you thankful for?

Honest mommy moment

There is something different around here lately. There is a change in the air and I'm not talking about a poopy diaper needing to be changed. Although there are plenty of those.

I hate to think that it's taken me almost five years of motherhood to catch on but lately I'm feeling like a different sort of mom. Shoot I still think there are plenty of times that I'm "that mom" and my kids are "those kids" but the thing is....

I don't care.

Yeah that's it, I'm putting it out there, I don't so much care anymore what on lookers think.

Here's my honest mommy moment. I can't control my kids. Or rather I can't always control my kids.

I know there are people thinking, "your the mom of course you can control them" and to you I say HA! And I have a lovely bridge I'd like to sell you.

Kids will be kids, they will throw tantrums in stores or in the parking lot of school during pickup time (not that that happened to me today or anything), they will embarrass you, mortify you, confuse you, hurt your feelings, and all that can be not just in one day but in 5 minutes.

And bottom line, you can't always control that.

Kids are adapt at figuring out situations in which they have you pigeon holed.

But I have figured something out and maybe I'm slow in coming to this but, hey better late then never, I've figured out that while I can't always control them, I can control my reaction.

Hard to believe but I used to be a yeller. I still do occasionally yell when life and limb are in danger, which with three boys can happen on a regular basis. I would let them get so far under my skin that I just felt crazy and sometimes I snapped. And I hated it.

And somehow, something has changed. I'm more at peace lately.

Of course that could be my underachiever streak coming out. (See I haven't totally changed I'm still totally unable to let things go)

My new mantra is I can't always control them, but I can always control me.

And that's my honest mommy moment of the day.

Halloween irritation

I'm mildly irritated at my husband.

Oh wait, let me start with, I love my husband.

But I'm mildly irritated with him. And if he's reading this he probably thinks it's because he called me a life long underachiever yesterday. He tried to take it back and said he was kidding but I know him....

He doesn't kid.

Perhaps I'll delve into the underachieving thing in a different post, this post really isn't about that, that's not why I'm irritated with him.

I'm irritated cause he wont go as Maverick for Halloween. I ask him every year and ever year its the same answer. Well not so much an answer more a glare that speaks volumes to me....

And makes me think I should sleep with one eye open if I press the subject.

You see, in case your new around here, my husband flies, and earlier on in his aviation days he got the classic bomber jacket, just like the one in Top Gun. He is in love with that jacket.

Me, not so much, but it would be PERFECT for Halloween.

Put on a white tee shirt, jeans, his aviator sunglasses, which I also could do without, and BAM, he's Maverick.

I really want to dress up the boys, one as Goose and the other as Iceman, I think these days Iceman would have to be Dash-2. How cute would the three of them be? I even said I'd get in on the action and go as Kelly McGillis' character.

But alas *sigh* it's a no. Dash-1 is going as, surprise surprise an astronaut for the third year in a row, and dash-2 is going as a Komodo dragon. No Maverick, Goose, or Iceman around here. Not this year.

Althought next year is a new year....

Flyboy got the shaft

We got ripped off by the wood guy. 700 big ones (dollars, denaros, mucho bucks) for five cords of wood.

It was delivered in a big pile when flyboy was away. This is just asking for trouble. I didn't have a clue what five cords in a giant pile should look like. And yes, it would have been easier had flyboy been here for the delivery but well, it would be easier if he were around for a lot of things, such is life.

So today he stacked the wood.... its not five cords. Its about three.

Isn't anyone honest anymore? Why does it seem to be the norm to get shafted?

Clearly the wood guy didn't pay attention to the Marine Corps sticker on the back of my car. Nor did he understand that he was ripping off a Marine who is a stickler for rules and doing the right thing.

And who qualified as an expert when he shot the range last month.

2mth appt, sidenotes, retirees, and being "that mom"

I was "that mom" today. Of course the more and more I go thru life I'm coming to the realization that I'm usually always "that mom".

And for those of you who aren't in the know, "that mom" is the mom with the semi-crazed children who often looks mildly flustered.

Dash-3 had his 2 mth apt (he has another week and a half till he's really 2 mths but hey you go when you go) and then dash-1 had a follow up apt so we were at the hospital for close to two hours. How long can small kids behave at the doctors (or anywhere for that matter) let me clue you in.... two hours is about an hour and some past the mark.

oh side note! (my children's lack of attention is rubbing off on me)

Guess who is 11 lbs 4 oz and a whooping 24 inches? And smiling real smiles, not just fart smiles?
If you guessed this little cutie you would be correct.

He is long and lean, by far our longest child, in fact he's almost three inches longer then both his brothers were at this point. Perhaps there will be a dash brother on the basketball court.

Any who the point to my ramble. So we did the doctors, then we hit the px, then we grabbed lunch, then we hit the commissary. And I was that mom. And there were moments that they were those kids.

And then I met a lovely retiree at the commissary who made me feel better.

Oh another side note, its come to my attention that there are two kinds of retirees at the commissary.

Those who make nasty faces at us moms wrangling kids, often without another parent around to give us a break.

Yes our kids might be loud, yes they might be "those kids" from time to time, but WE ARE TIRED, cut us a little slack. And I've also noticed that those are the same people who cart hog the aisle. Sorry that was a side note in a side note.

And then the other retirees are the ones who smile and say very grandmotherly (or grandfatherly) "don't worry, they are little ones, they are being good, I remember those days" etc.

Well I came across both sets today. The first annoyed me because I couldn't see over the baby seat in the cart so I might have hit their cart. Hey I apologized.

But the other retiree more then made up for it. Dash-2 darted out of the aisle and almost became a cart casualty, he very patiently stood there while dash-2 was frozen in place and I tried pulling him with me to the line. And then the man said, "I don't know how my wife did it while I was away."

HALLELUJAH!

A retiree who remembers that back in the day they were in our shoes.

So yeah, today I was "that mom" and there were times when my kids were "those kids" but I'm working on not being so hard on myself and on my kids. There will be those who look at me with disgust and those who look at me with the ability to remember when (or pity, I'm cool with pity if it means they wont call cps).

With three of them and one of me, being "that mom" is becoming a permanent state. But you know what? Motherhood still rocks.

Surely I am not the only one

Surely I am not the only person in the world today who....

- walked out of the house today wearing slippers rather then shoes.
{To my defense however, they are very comfy land's ends ones that look like clogs... and I did notice my mistake and run back into the house to get some flip flops.}

-was called a butt head or a poop face...by a ticked off four year old at the doctors office.... in front of a group of wounded warriors.
{at least I can tell myself I helped to put a smile on their face.}

- kids pick their nose.
{however I probably am the only person who has a son who, when asked by the doctor to let her look in his nose replied, "it's all clean, I picked the boogers out yesterday." so proud. so very proud I am}

-who has uttered the following phrases today: "the toilet is not a toy" "get out of the sink have you lost your mind" "no I don't want to make my belly button talk" and my favorite "if you weren't so cute I'd put you up on ebay"
{now to their defense, the toilet does seem like a cool toy I mean it has a handle and makes wicked cool tornadoes of water, he was standing in the sink to reach his toothbrush, I was the one who first started the belly button talking thing, and well I'm pretty sure I wouldn't really put them up on ebay. Craigslist is probably the way to go for that.}

-who's house is being over run by lady bugs.
{I don't care that if you see one they mean good luck or anything cute or charming like that. One may mean that 86 does not. And I don't care if this is just some natural thing that happens around here this time of year. And I don't care that this is the worst its been in decades. I don't care about any of that. It's freaking me out. bottom line.}
-who spent ALL of last night bouncing back and forth between a kid with an asthma flare up, a newborn, and just a cute bone head who kept getting tangled up in his blankets.
{there is no further explanation on this one. Asthma sucks, especially at night, newborns need to eat and sometimes just can't get back to sleep, and the bone head... well he's a bone head, but a very cute one. Ha look, wordy as I am I found a way to further explain.}

-is counting down to bedtime tonight!
{now this one really doesn't need any explanation just an AMEN.}

-is missing her husband
{and while slightly bitter that he only worked TWO hours yesterday out yonder, I am thankful for all he does for us and know that he is missing us too. Ok maybe not so much at night. I can't blame him for that}

It was a pink Cadillac

Just had to share...

I saw a big old burly teamster (he was wearing his teamster jacket I wasn't profiling or anything) at the post office. Teamsters aren't that out of the ordinary around here.

Teamsters driving a Mary Kay pink caddy are.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that its probably his old lady's car.

Or maybe he's just a very open minded teamster.

absence makes the heart grow fonder at least

My mom has a saying about being a mom and getting sick... its short but VERY true... "get sick on the weekend".

I have added another part to this saying, "get sick on the weekend *when your husband is home*".

I am quite thankful that whatever bug I had over the weekend picked a perfect time to rear its ugly head. Flyboy happened to be home for two days in between trips. It kinda sucked that on his two days with us it was yucky, rainy weather, I was sick as a dog, and on top of that the Giants lost.

Flyboy has had better weekends.

But really, THANK GOD he was home. Had he not been home it would have been like the countless times before, you trudge thru it because you have to but as I'm sure many of you know, it ain't pleasant. Being a mom and being sick don't mix. I have yet to meet the four year old (or almost 3 yr old or newborn for that matter) that still doesn't expect their every need to be met. And in a timely manner.

He was here to pick up the slack.

This time.

November of last year, thanksgiving more precisely I had a miscarriage, he was here for that , I was both physically and mentally a bit shaky so he took himself off a trip. And in a little twist of fate we got pregnant during that time. Because I got pregnant so quickly afterwards it wasn't the usual pee on a stick and celebrate.

My period had yet to return and I didn't feel right, I was worried that the miscarriage might not have taken care of itself. I took a pregnancy test hoping to see not pregnant and then I would know that all was clear. Not so. The test came back pregnant. Normally this would have been thrilling, especially after just losing one, however I was still thinking that there might be complications.

It took a bit to get into the doctors, flyboy was away during the wait.

I got in and got blood work, it appeared by the levels I was actually pregnant. Again... flyboy was gone.

The internist wanted me checked out by ob immediately to see for sure what was going on. They did an internal ultrasound and I was told that they didn't see what they should see, the doctor didn't seem optimistic and told me to go for another ultra sound in two weeks.

That two weeks was agonizing... and you guessed it, no flyboy home to lean on.

The following ultrasound showed a healthy little tadpole but again, I went to that ultrasound alone.

And I vomited for 20 weeks for the most part alone, including a fun trip to the ER. Although when he was here he did hold my hair. Or at least hold the kids back. Apparently mom hacking up her guts is very entertaining.

It all worked out, we have a beautiful baby boy upstairs sleeping.

Since having kids I think less of how much I miss out on and more of what my kids miss out on. With the exception lately of thinking back about all this stuff. Dash-1 for instance spent his first birthday with dear old dad. He'll be five this year. And it looks like flyboy will be away for that one as well.

He tries his damnedest to be here for as much as he can, I know that he hates being away for so much, I know it's his job, I know he does it for us, but it doesn't always make it easier to swallow.
This post isn't particularly witty and might not even make a whole lot of sense, I hate the post where I just kinda ramble and then end them without some great wrapup, but alas, this is one of those.

Sometimes I just need to put my thoughts out there and well, those don't always lay the way I like.

Holy crap people

Go get flu shots right now. RIGHT NOW DAMMIT.

I don't care if you buy into the whole swine flu epidemic or not at least get the regular flu. I had some weird fluish bug this weekend and it was awful. At one point my fever got up to 104 and change and I was shivering under six blankets.

It was ugly. Very ugly. More to the point... I was ugly.

Get your flu shot.

*Full disclosure, I have yet to get mine because my hopsital/clinic are douche bags and keep moving the date around that they will give them out.

Oh and Allison, I didn't quite make it to the post office but its on my list to do today.

Giveaway winner!

And the winner of the bags is......... ALLISON! How neat now well be twins, we both have baby boys and I have that same bag as well.

Of course I have two other boys, live in a far colder state, am a Marine wife not an Army wife, hmmm maybe twins isn't quite the word but still your one step closer to being like me. And its ok if that scares you. It would scare me too. If I wasn't already me. And yes, in case anyone is still reading this post is really going no where.

And it's a good thing you specified not wanting the pumpkins so there is no confusion over whether I should send them to you.

Please send me your info, hopefully I can get them out in the mail tomorrow. Of course on that note, hopefully I'll lose ten pounds over night. One can dream.

But getting to the post office seems a hell of a lot more likely.

earth shattering news or not

Yes, two post in one day. But its not like they are earth shattering or anything.

Just so we are all on the same page, today is October 15th and I don't live in some place like Alaska or anything. I just looked outside and there are wet snowflakes falling.

Again. IT'S MID-OCTOBER PEOPLE! Something tells me that this winter is going to blow.

I just walked past the door again and its really coming down but I couldn't get a good shot of it but I did get photographic evidence of it starting to collect on the grill. And yes, we are those people who haven't brought their grill in yet. In fact we might leave it out all winter.

its still going....

AND ITS STILL ONLY MID OCTOBER!

here's whats bothering me

I've always wondered something...

when you see one lone shoe in the middle of a road, especially a busy road, how did it get there?

And where is the other one?

This has always bothered me and now I'm sharing so it will bother you too and cause my mom taught me to share. You can thank me later.

I met someone

I had a bit of a first date yesterday.

Of course it was a first date that included my three kids, boob milk, a hole in the ceiling, and a slightly less then clean handyman "fixing" the before mentioned hole in the wall.

Its a good thing dates didn't go like this before I was married, I don't think that marriage would have happened.

Anyways, I met someone, someone special, not like the"Chris Matthews tingle up my leg" special but special none the less. It was.... LOQUITA! Another Marine wife blogger for those of you who aren't in the know. She was around about the area, give or take a few hours, so she stopped in for a visit.

It's always nice to meet someone who's life you read about and vice versa. I mean shoot, some of you know way more about me then some of my family members. And its especially doubly nice when she happens to be another Marine wife, its not like we grow on trees around here. Her blog was one of the first that I started reading online, back when she was dating her husband and it was set up more as letters to him.

I could relate to so much of what she was writing at the time, relationships aren't always smooth but rather more like a river, sometimes smooth as glass, sometimes bumping and crashing around rocks. And she put it out there. I admire that.

And yesterday she showed up in my driveway.

We had a nice visit, we hung out, did some ball shopping (flyboy's flight got pushed back a day so he did bedtime duty and we went out! and I bought a dress!) had a peaceful dinner, took the boys on a walk to crunch leaves, oh and visited Target.

Nothing in life is complete without a visit to target. Nothing.

But I'll tell you some of the things that she wont... because I'm honest like that. Remember the whole pledge to be more honest thing?

Loqui was very polite and while I'm she said she'd blog about meeting I'm sure she'll leave some details out that I'll clue you in on....

*my kids were just a smidgen away from being total demons.

Dash-2 warmed up and was cute and cuddly when not taking dash-1's lead or when he wasn't having a meltdown in Target because I wouldn't buy him a toy, but dash-1.... wowza. You know how kids like to "show off" when someone new is around? Well I was hoping that he would go for standing on his head repeating the alphabet backwards but he decided to go a different route....being mouthy and apparently deaf to my voice. Really, he's adorable. I swear.

And tomorrow going up on Ebay.

* My sweet baby boy has baby acne. Little red bumps all over his adorable little cheeks.

* I look chubby in my ball dress. Since both flyboy and loquita said no to pants suits I found a dress which is lovely and hides and camouflages some. Except. Except my flabby arms. I know she's far to polite to let that secret out.

* She bought two dresses for the ball, I'm hoping she goes with the one sleeved "bat dress". Its wicked hot and she can pull it off, especially with a sleek ponytail or something like that. She'll try to tell you that she cant, but she can. Damn her cross fitting ass.

* I am a totally skatter brained mom. I forgot a couple times what I was saying mid sentence (of course being long winded doesn't help, she wont tell you that either) and take forever to motivated enough to get out of the house.

* I am not above sometimes plying my kids with a snack here or there to get some damn quiet. Of course maybe this is why they are demonic and don't listen... perhaps I should further investigate this....

* My chocolate chip cookies were flat. (Hmmm, the chocolate chip cookies might be contributing to flabby arms. This too may call for further investigation, or on second thought.... I'll just play dumb.)

Sweet Jesus, my kids don't listen, my arms are flabby, my cookies are flat, and my baby has zits. I know all you bloggers out there are dying to have your turn meeting me.

Though, really, all kidding aside (although the above bullet points are indeed fact) it was great to get to put a face to the writing Loquita. I really think you should skip having Thanksgiving at Camp Swampy and freeze your duff off at your parents (who live rather close to flyboy's parents).

And I'm not just saying that because I have to go suffer at my inlaws and would kill to have a distraction planned and meet up out yonder. Really, you need cold 'burgh weather for it to be a real thanksgiving.... I'm just saying....

You know....

your a mom when...
- you can discuss the frequency, color, texture of poop and it doesn't seem like a strange conversation.

-you have enough crumbs in your car to feed a third world country.

-you never leave the house without a bag full of stuff and none of it is yours, however if anyone needs a juice box, pair of elmo underpants, Lightening McQueen toy, or yo yo you have it covered.

- you smell like spit up more frequently then you smell like perfume.

-you find your self showering with a horse, a sheep, and a chicken, toys of course.

-you use a breast pad as a coaster and wonder why you haven't thought of that sooner.

-it is pointed out by someone wearing a pull up that you don't know anything. Except how to pee in the potty and pull up your own pants but who's keeping score.

-you get hugs and kisses all day and the giver of those hugs and kisses doesn't even come up to your waist.

how we handle it

I read a post by DAR tonight about how she handled her husbands recent deployment and it got me thinking about how we handle flyboy's job around here.

He's off flying tomorrow so while I was getting the boys in their jammies tonight I gave them a heads up that daddy was not just going to work tomorrow but that he had to fly and that flying means that he wont be home for a couple nights. A little while back I hesitated to bring up that he was going away, they were young enough that they didn't really get it when I would try to forewarn them and usually it just brought about more trouble via a great emotional breakdown.

Now they get it, and in the spirit of adapting to ones environment when I told them that daddy was going away for a few days it just brought about a conversation between dash 1 and dash 2 about whether daddy works for money or toys.

Dash-1 thinks that daddy works to earn money for toys, dash 2 takes this to mean that daddy works for toys.

I thought about how I've handled his absence in the past, how I've gingerly avoided things and tried to side step and dance around things....hell why am I talking in the past tense here, I just did it tonight.

Friday was supposed to be a field trip to a local children's theatre but I needed flyboy to be here to either take dash 1 or to stay home with the other two chuckle heads (no one under three is permitted and well that's the age of most of my entourage). At the last minute he had to go fly, after all this is his job, and now dash-1 is going to miss the field trip.

Sidenote cause I know there are people reading this thinking, man she needs a sitter- its not that easy, we do have babysitters however they are in high school and their mom, a dear friend who has bailed us out A LOT, works and especially with a newborn its hard to find good babysitters.

So tonight I found myself avoiding the field trip discussion and instead building up what we were going to do on Friday, which some may think is perhaps tantamount to bribing since I picked his favorite activity, bowling, as a substitute. And I might have promised happy meals too.

Its a hard balance. I try to do special little things here and there when dad's away, but then at the same time, since well, he's away a lot, it can't be a constant party. This is after all our life and well life doesn't consist of ever flowing happy meals.

What DAR was saying in her post that I often think about in relation to my kids is that, you get through it the best you can, in the way that you need to for you.

Do I feed my kids fast food perhaps a bit more then I should? Are there nights that we all lay in bed together to stay up till 8 watching Diego? Have I promised donuts to make the day that daddy goes away on a long trip a little better? Have I gone so far as to take the kids home to my parents in MD so that dash-1 can go fishing with grandpa because he missed yet another field trip?

The short answer.... yes to all the above.

In the flyboy house we've handled things the best we could. Would flyboy and I perhaps be different parents if we were in a different situation? Probably, but I've come to the understanding that accepting that we might be different if the situation were different doesn't mean that we're doing such a bad job.

One of the biggest lessons that the military has taught me is to just put one foot in front of the other and keep moving. How you handle those steps is up to you, just so long as one foot goes in front of the other.

And ps. happy meals do help, dare I go so far to say that they should play a role in peace in the middle east.

Fall Giveaway!

It's fall around here, there is no denying it. Although as lovely as it is who would want to deny it?

Well maybe a little since after fall comes winter which brings a crap ton of snow. Snow which must be shoveled. Yuck.

Anyways I was going to post this giveaway in September but hey, who would have thought that having a baby when you already have two crazy kids would make life a little hectic? So I'm just now getting to it.

But it fits with fall so no harm no foul.

Courtesy of my talented mama (because we all know I do not sew and she is a sew/quilt goddess) is a beautiful corduroy bag. Two actually.

The larger bag is yay big by yay big, you didn't think I was really going to have measurements did you? I have quite a few and I use them as purses or diaper bags so its big enough to carry things around without being too big.

Does that help clear things up? And the other fits nicely inside of it.

To enter just leave a comment!

To be entered again blog about this giveaway on your blog.

If you enter more then once can you leave separate comments.... it helps an already

overwhelmed mind.

The giveaway will be up till noon on Friday October 16th. Goodluck!

oh and the pumpkin is not included. Can you imagine what it would cost to mail one of those?

It's that time of year

The Marine Corps birthday is coming up next month. *insert half hearted yah! here* I shouldn't be like that I should, Marines take the birthday serious. Meaning they wish every Marine happy birthday and drink like fishes.

But with the birthday comes.... the birthday ball.

We haven't been in a few years, this year flyboy will be around for it and so we're going. It will be nice to see the guys he works with, after all so much of the time they see more of him then I do. My parents will be coming up to babysit and it will be an evening free of mommy duties.

Until flyboy hits the bar, if Marines can do one thing, besides storm the beaches and secure freedom for the masses, its put away some boozes.

The thought of getting all dolled up and having a night out with my handsome husband in his blues with his rack of bling does give me the warm and fuzzies.

- and a side note here ladies- not to brag but he has a serious rack of ribbons, I looked into getting his medals mounted and it was just shy of a car payment. I married an overachiever, ironic since I'm cool with mediocrity.

Anyways back to my issues....my qualms with going?

Getting a dress. And a fear of leaking boob milk at during the ceremony or the dinner but I don't really think that I have to expound on that one too much. That one is pretty clear cut.

Sigh. I mean I just had a baby a little over a month ago. I want to go dress shopping like I want to go bathing suit shopping.

I'm fitting into most of my regular clothes but not my skinny regular clothes. I have a great dress I love from a couple years ago but when I had that dress I didn't have Dolly Parton's boobs.

That zipper is going to zip up about the same time that Obama invites Karl Rove for dinner. As in... no time soon.

That's the only old ball dress I have around so I need to go out shopping. I look forward to this about as much as I look forward to bathing suit shopping. I don't have a clue what dress size I'm going to be right now since the top half is a bit exaggerated right now. Well I do have some clue, I know what size I'm not.

The problem with having a baby is that everything kinda shifts around. And for a bit afterwards everything is all jello-ey. This does not make me look forward to what the weekend has in store for me.

I'm thinking I should go invest in some spanx......and some serious breast pads.

Parental pride

My son invented a new word this weekend... butt nostril.

Allow me to use it in a sentence for the full effect "Hey mom I wiped my own butt and now my butt nostril is clean."

Genius! Dash-1 is a genius! And really I'm not sure if I'm prouder that he wiped his own butt, no small feat for a 4 1/2 year old boy (trust me on this) or that he invented a new word.

I should run to get the Harvard application now... and look into getting butt nostril into the Webster dictionary.

This also illustrates a good lesson in parenting, you take moments of pride where you can get them.

Today I...

Today I....
woke up earlier then I would have liked.

had the wind blow a tree full of rain on me as I got dash-2 in his car seat.

felt my sanity eroding in the doctors office, dash-1 slugged dash-2 (in the face) for not sharing his seat as I was trying to calm down a very irritated dash-3.

had all three kids wailing simultaneously in the before mentioned doctors waiting room. Oh yeah and it was full of people. Of course.

was informed that flyboy will be away next week and wont be able to take dash-1 on a school field trip.

had a cart slam into my new car. Thanks again to the wind.

was "that mom" in the commissary with the crazy kids. Yeah, I was definitely that mom.

got the new checkout guy and took forrrrrrever.

heard from a four year old that I am a bad mommy.

BUT

Today I also...
got a kiss from my husband as he left from work.

snuggled with a warm sleeping baby in a nice quiet house as the sun came up and the rain was ending.

had a stranger in the doctors office tell me that I was the "model of patience" and seemed like a great mom.

kept my patience with my kids, even while it was tested.

had a nice conversation with the bagger at the grocery store, a lovely retiree.

got to talk to a friend on the phone while my kids ran around being kids.

had a great dinner with my family in which EVERYONE behaved.

got a hug and a kiss from both my kids for no other reason then being mommy.


All in all today was a good day.

picture post

I don't do a lot of picture post but here are some pics of our cuties. And remember they are this cute in pictures because you can't hear them. Just food for thought.

Dash-3's going home from the hospital outfit. He promptly pooped on it as soon as it was put on. So it goes around here.

Dash-1's first day of school, it was raining and nasty or else it would have been a porch picture.

Dash-2 is flyboy's welcoming committee when he comes home from work and also makes a great hat rack.

Apple picking while visiting grandma and grandpa.

It's a hard concept to understand, put your head in the whole but not all the way in the hole.


Doesn't that look like the life?

This is what happens when mom takes a picture while your pooping.

How we have failed our child

I have something to admit. As parents obviously we have failed one of our children. If not then why would he be acting out in the way that he is.

We have a serious problem in the flyboy household and its with dash-2.

You see its football season and this house is firmly a Big Blue house. No doubt flyboy's blood runs bluer then mine, I mean I like Monday night football cause we order wings and pizza, but still I know who we are rooting for around here. Dash-2 it seems did not get the memo.

Dash-2 is.... and trust me I'm hanging my head in shame while I type this and admit this to the world, dash 2 is a... Jets fan.

I know, the Jets?! I suppose it could be worse he could be a patriots fan but really, the jets?!

Now to his defense his favorite color is green and well its just natural to like a green team if your favorite color is green and you're 2 1/2. But I will say when the giants and the jets played in the preseason and everyone was rooting for big blue except for one lone "big green" fan I do think a bit of flyboy died.

We've joked that our Christmas card picture should be all of us in our Giants jerseys and him in a Jets but neither one of us can bring ourselves to actually spend money on Jets apparel. Gives me the willies.

I see a lot of myself in little dash-2, in this case he sees how much his rooting for the Jets annoys his father so he keeps on keeping on. How do I know this.... I see the twinkle in his eye.

So maybe we haven't failed him as much as I thought we did but its still embarrassing.

Where I was coming from, the post that lives on

You know what I'm really surprised about? A post I wrote way back in April about my take on uniform purses is still getting comments.

I had another thought provoking post planned about how easily it is to switch back into having flyboy on the road even after my hormonal trepidations about it, but sure enough I logged into blogger and I had another comment about the purses to moderate. (After a post has been up for a couple of weeks I have to moderate them, that way they don't get lost in the shuffle).

That post must come up when you search for uniform purses and apparently there are people out there looking for them, cause months later and people are still coming out of the woodwork with their views on them.

And let me tell ya the views are varying. And for that I say good on ya. What makes this country great is that we all have differing views. I don't agree with all of them but then again, not everyone agrees with me but I am surprised that some people can be down right rude about it.

I like to approach my blog with humor (and the occasional drip of sarcasm from time to time) I'm not out to change peoples views or influence the world. Come on folks, this is a blog, I hardly have some over inflated view of myself.

One comment I received last month about the uniform purses said something to the effect (if you want to see the exact one go to the post and scroll to bottom of the comments) of my blog was a waste of time and that did I really think I was going to change someones opinion.

Let me answer that with the short answer first... no I didn't you moron.

Now the long winded response.

I was merely putting out my opinion on uniform purses and the reasons that I personally don't agree with them. Honestly I thought it was a pretty informed rant and I wasn't name calling or belittling those that do like to wear them.

Look, I don't like uniform purses, while I can't speak for all Marines or Marine Corps families, many of us take the uniforms very seriously. Marines get uppity about their uniforms. And as they should. Those uniforms aren't just articles of clothes they are earned and deserve respect, just like the flag.

I wouldn't cut the flag up to make a purse out of that either in case you were wondering. And I cringe every time I see a flag bikini, really who thought that the flag would be proper coverage for your rear or your left boob?

But that's where I was coming from with my post. I didn't think, nor did I care if I changed any minds.

I don't expect every person to agree with my post. Please state your disagreements in the comments. Actually my best friend has disagreed with several post of mine and has left me comments to that effect. Am I mad? Hardly, discourse is needed. That being said there is no need to be a douche.

And to call my blog a time waste? Well yes, yes it is, but its also a journal, an outlet, a way to connect to others who are living the same up and down life that I am, its a way to reflect what life throws at me. It helps me to appreciate the moments that otherwise I might just plow thru because with three kids life gets hectic. So while it might be a time waster in the grand scheme, its a pretty darn worthwhile one.

If you think its worthless, again, your opinion, move on. I'm not asking you to follow my mundane life.

What really irritated me about that commenter was that it was done anonymously.

No blog linked to it, no email to respond to, nada nothing. Granted I blog under the guise of "the mrs." but I'm reachable. So since I can't reach you specifically to the anonymous who thought I was full of myself and that this blog was time waster, I'll put my response out there on here for you.... suck it.

And have a nice day. I don't want to be rude like her.

Now I wonder if this uniform purse post will live on for months too.......

Oh and the winner of the book giveaway is Brie! You will love it although I'm supremely jealous that you'll be reading it in peace and quiet at the gym while BOTH your girls are in school.

***update*** apparently I need to add this line yet again
THIS IS JUST MY OPINION.

I AM NOT THE PURSE CZAR. IF YOU WANT ONE GO BUY ONE. I DONT CARE. I JUST DON'T LIKE THEM.

There has that clarified it enough?