Dear so and so

Dear New Jersey,

You stink. No really, you smell.

And dare I even ask what you smell like?

from a curious passer thru

Dear Nasty McNasty at Walmart,

Let's review: I was in the cross walk, it was raining {HARD}, I was carrying my baby in his carrier trying to get into the store before I got soaked, you were in your car where I'm guessing it wasn't raining and did you stop to let me walk?

NO

NO, you big dbag you did not. You made ME stand there in the ran while you almost ran me over. And splashed me.

I was in a crosswalk and in our state, the state we were BOTH in, that means I had the right away.

That makes me right. And you an Ahole.

love,

the pissy lady who was glaring at you

Dear dash-3,

Please eat. It's been two days, I look like Dolly Parton, help me out here.

love,

mommy

Dear man on the scooter,

You were on a road {in an actual lane of traffic} meant for cars while riding on a scooter, you were going 15 mph UNDER the speed limit, with a line of traffic behind you, that makes you not so smart.

Do you have a death wish?

-the lady in the mom mobile behind you

And last but most certainly not least,

Dear dash - 1 and -2,

Mamma missed you. A lot.

your very loving mamma

Honest Mommy Advice on Potty training

Potty training.

I will admit, since I'm going all honest mommy here, very few things scared me like potty training did. And still does.

A couple of you asked about potty training, any tips or when we started, how it went, that sorta thing, since I could ramble about PT for hours, I thought it deserved its own post.

The good, the bad, and the poopy.

But first its REALLY important to remember a couple of things, every kid is different, boys do tend to potty train later {and really when you think about our husbands ability to hit the toilet bowl is it any surprise?}, and do some deep breathing when you think your child will never be trained, chances are you probably wont be changing his pullup come college.

Oh and one of the most important tips in this whole saga? Until they're ready.... it ain't gonna happen.

{And of course, every kid lets you know they are ready differently, some stay dry longer, some start to let you know when they are wet, some seem embarrassed by pooping in their pants, some just seem to show interest in the potty and seem curious.... if your kid shows curiosity JUMP!}

But before they are ready you can try and try and try, you can have some success but really, it's just not going to take. You will be steam cleaning your carpets and your sofas a lot.

Dash-1 was quite possibly, the easiest child in the world to potty train. We had tried a couple of times after he turned two, because well, he was our first and we were idiots. We thought we could train him when we wanted him to be trained. My mother told us to back off and we did.

His little potty was always kind of around but we didn't really push him to use it. Then around the the time dash-1 was about 21 months and dash-2 was due soon, we sat him on the potty and went over how this was where big boys peed and pooped. And. That was that.

I kid you not.

He peed and pooped in the little potty and had only a handful of accidents. He went from diapers, to pullups, to underpants in two weeks.

Dash-2. {sigh} Dash-2 is proving to be a little more challenging.

With dash-1 we had his love of routine and "this is the way its going to be" on our side, with him telling him you pee in the potty was enough for him to pee in the potty. After all, that's just where you pee right? Dash-2 could care less. In fact I think for the longest time he thought it was funny that he wasn't potty training when we clearly wanted him too.

Just in the past month he's been doing great. He's making days on end without peeing in his pullup or underwear. {I will admit, with three kids right now I just can't deal with accidents while we are out, even to teach a lesson so I let him wear his pullups out. It's all about saving mommy's sanity sometimes. Don't judge.}

Pooping is a little harder. He seems to have some apprehension about pooping in the potty but again, that'll happen.

Here are my best potty training tips:
-get a little potty to leave out so that your kiddo gets used to seeing it and sitting on it. {If you have a 2 story house buy one for each level, trust me you don't want to be sprinting around trying to find it.} We have one little potty sitting in our living room {again don't judge} and one up in the play room.

It made it easier for them to stop what they were doing and going to the bathroom, they didn't feel like they were being sent away. And they could sit on the potty in front of a cartoon, who wouldn't like that?

- potty treats work {with some kids}. They worked fabulously with dash-1, he got one gummy lifesaver every time he tried sitting on the potty {within reason}, two if he peed, and shoot, when he pooped I think I gave him the whole bag!

Figure out what works with your kids, maybe stickers are enough, flyboy loathes stickers so that wasn't so much an option, and honestly, potty treats never really worked with dash-2.

- When your in the thick of potty training and want to tackle peeing in public take one of the little crappers with you. {And I mean the potty, you already have to take the kid}

I luckily had enough trunk space I could do it with no problem. When they start going pee they haven't yet figured out how to hold it and word to the wise, when they say "Mommy I think I need to pee!" that translates too "Mommy if I don't pee in 5 seconds I'm going to pee all over the car that you still have years to pay on!"

This way you just pull into a parking lot and let them use the pee nice and easy. {However if your in the middle of no where this is where having a boy is fantastic! They can pee anywhere!}

And cleaner. LOTS CLEANER.

-We are lucky, we live out on a country road with tons of space, for this reason, our boys are able to just pee outside if they are out playing. Just to clarify, they don't drop their drawers where ever they are or stand by the road to try to pee on cars, but I found it much easier when we were potty training to let them pee outside, behind a tree then try to run them back to the house quickly. And we don't have neighbors close by so no one is the wiser.

And let me tell you, nothing, nothing potty trains quicker then letting your boys pee outside. Sorry all you moms of girls, I don't have any tips like this for you.

-Moms of boys, another tip just for you {sorry moms of girls but I don't have any girls remember} if you do have to take them in a public restroom and they freak about sitting down on the seat, mine were paranoid about falling in, but they aren't tall enough to really pee standing up, try standing behind them and having them stand on your feet.

-Try not to freak out over it. Trust me, I get it, potty training can be stressful. And after a while you get tired of accidents and steam cleaning, really, I get it. A lot. But freaking out will not help. Taking things away and making it a negative experience will not get you anywhere but a power struggle, and a power struggle over poop is NOT what you want.

again... trust me.

I think that's about it, if you have any tips please add them in the comments! And if you have anymore questions on potty training feel free to email me.

life lessons of motherhood. {and toothbrushes}

Motherhood is pretty amazing.

I watch my babies grow, learn to roll over, take their first steps, run far and fast.

To see the joy in their faces as they experience their firsts.

Tenderly touching the grass, blinking away raindrops, getting up close to the nose of a very brash bull.

Being the one that they run to when they need a hug, when a boo boo can only be healed by my kisses, when they just need some lovin.

Motherhood has changed me.

I now understand unconditional love.

I've learned a lot about life.

And some important life lessons along the way.

Tonight I misplaced my toothbrush.

I went in to brush my teeth and I couldn't find it anywhere.

Cabinet? Nope.

Oh crap.

Did I leave it on the countertop?

Oh shit.

If I left it there and its not there anymore, they've taken it.

They've gotten their grubby mits on it and if that's happened, it's been to horrible places.

My perfect toothbrush, pretty pink and wonderfully soft bristles and its been hijacked.

Maybe it's been used to swoosh around some toilet water.

Maybe it's been dipped down the drain of the bathtub.

Maybe worse.

Oh no.

Now even if I find it. I can't use it.

I cant.

It's been compromised.

Never, ever, ever use your toothbrush if its been in the reach of your children.

EVER.

That's what parenting has taught me.

And that my friends, is a very important lesson.

And to my relief, I found my toothbrush, uncompromised, in a very high shelf in the shower, where I left it this morning.

Whew.

Opinions on life lessons

So tonight dash-1 {or Rufus as he is also known} starts tee-ball.

This is it. We are jumping into the world of competitive team sports. Or rather we are jumping into the world of team sports because at this age there is no keeping score. {I know I've done post on this before, but hang on, this is going somewhere}

This no scoring thing is bothering flyboy although he will concede that perhaps keeping score of a bunch of five and six year olds would probably prove to be fruitless.

Especially when in the words of one of the coaches, "At any given time, one kid is at bat, one kid is at first base, three are wrestling in the out field, and one is peeing on the fence." Sweet dash-1 is going to fit right in. Although jury is out whether he'll be wrestling in the outfield or peeing on the fence. Should we start a pool?

But at a little league meeting they did talk about how later as the kids get older, there are tryouts and a draft.

On a mommy board that I'm on, other moms were talking about the draft, and they were all apalled, but I'm on the fence. Part of me wants it to be about the fun, but well, part of me wants it to be about the winning, because when its about the winning it's also the losing. And there in lies the most important life lesson.

The other moms were saying bs like "well we should foster the feeling that everyone is a winner". Ummm.... no, no everyone is not a winner. In fact rarely when it came to sports as a kid was I a winner, in fact my own mother would be the first to call me a loser. In that loving motherly sorta way, but I still played.

In fact I played quite a few sports, and you know what I learned?

That I wasn't good at everything.

And that tight white softball pants did not do me justice. But that's another post.

Seriously, I learned that if I wanted to play and not make an ass out of me, I'd better hustle and work harder. I did that with soccer and with tennis and towards the end of high school I wasn't quite an embarrassment to myself.

Look, I don't want any kid in Little League to feel like they aren't good enough, but what's wrong with instilling a little good old fashion hustle in these kids. Keep score, someones gotta win and someones gotta lose.

Isn't that the only way to really take anything from sports?

Isn't the bigger lesson not how to hit a ball off a tee but how to win and lose with a little dignity? Don't we do them a greater disservice by making everyone a winner?

Seriously folks, we are raising a generation of kids who have never lost at anything, they've always been "winners".

Attention : not everyone can be a winner.

I don't want my kid to get the shaft in the draft a few years down the line. But then again I also want him to know that he's going to realize that if he wants something he's got to work at it. And then again, the other important life lesson, not everything is for everybody.

Case in point, starve myself as I might want to, I'm probably never going to be a ballerina.

So what do you think? Is the draft appalling to you? Is that kind of competition, too much competition?

overheard

If you were to follow me around today these were just some of the little gems you would have overheard....

me "bubba {my affectionate nickname for dash-1} go toss that in the trash for me please."

dash-1 "I have to do everything around here, why does everyone always ask me to do everything."

me "Really? Really bubba? What do you have to do around here?"

dash-1, his face and voice just dripping with utter indignation for asking, "you people make me wipe my own butt after I poop!"

Really, the nerve of us.


Another dash-1 story, after all he was in rare form today, he got in a bit of trouble while we were waiting in line at S*m's Club so he got upset with me for getting upset with him. Sometimes when he gets upset with me and pushes my buttons, I decide that its more fun to push his buttons back.

I know, mother of the year I am.

dash-1 "I am not speaking to you anymore."

me "You're speaking to me right now dash-1."

dash-1 "well this is it."

me "Ok dash-1, but you're still talking to me."

dash-1 "This is now it. And don't say my name anymore."

me "Ok dash-1, I'll just call you Rufus. Hey Rufus look over there. Oh wait, Rufus what do you want for dinner tonight. Rufus, that's a nice name."

dash-1, stewing "don't. call. me. Rufus."

me "What was that Rufus?"

Again mother of the year, right here.



And finally, yet another dash-1 gem, because it really was a banner day for him.

As we are leaving said warehouse store he's trailing behind me when he pops out with this,

dash -1 "How bout if I behave you buy me a toy?"

me "How bout I let you live rent free in my house for the next 13 years?"

Silence. Beautiful silence.

And that my friends, is a slam dunk mommy style.

Mama done shut you down Rufus.

Ask the honest mommy

I haven't done an honest mommy moment in a while, I'll get on that I promise. Don't worry I don't have any shortage of honest mommy moments around here. But I wanted to do something different, so why not an Ask Honest Mommy post!


Ask any questions about pregnancy{yes, that feeling that your hips are about to split apart is normal, delightful no, normal yes}, labor {yes, yes you probably will poop while pushing, something to look forward too right?}, baby rearing, potty training, child wrangling {useful tip to share, keep anything you don't want in the toliet out of reach, ie toothbrushes}, all the good fun stuff that falls into my mommy role.

I can even share the tip of how to identify if your three year old is about to vomit all over the floor of whatever store your in.

And you know what I'm going to make flyboy help me out. Now I'm sure he is laughing at the idea of us giving out any advice about parenting, after all last night we did have a three year old standing in our bedroom buck naked refusing to poop, but if nothing else, over the past five years of motherhood we've seen a lot.

Now, I can't promise that I have all the answers, hardly, but you never know, I might just have an answer for you.

And if you don't have kids this could still hold a plethora of laughs.

so.... shooot!

I got......

nothin.

Nothing people!

I can't come up with anything to write about. I've been thinking and thinking and nothing. I'm running a little bit on empty lately, three kids = someone needing something 24/7, I'm just kinda tired.

And I rammed my head into the corner of a cabinet door this afternoon, to my defense, it opened on its own, I did not leave it open. I'm afraid I might have done permanent damage, so these things might have something to do with it.

So what should I write about? I need some ideas... and some time, there isn't much you guys can do about the later, but maybe you have some ideas of something I should write about.

Recipes? More military posts? Kiddo stories? Parenting post? {as if I should be giving parenting advice, lets all get a chuckle over that one} Something to which I should unleash some snark on? I need some direction here..... sigh....

A mish mosh, a tip and a picture

It's a mish mosh post because well, that's the way my mind is working these days.

First, a tip from my soon to be sister in law {hi Allison!}, she passed this to me after my last baking soda tip and her tip kicks my tips ass.

Take a small {but decent} amount of baking soda in a little cup with you into the shower. Pour some of your shampoo into the cup and swirl around, then dump it all on your head. Or if you like a little more control you can put it in your hand and then on your head. It's all going to the same place right?

Viola, instant clarifying shampoo.

Scrub away and you'll remove all the gunk and buildup {and dandruff!}. Rinse well and then you can shampoo again with just shampoo if you feel the need. {I felt the need because I felt a little salty}

My hair is amazingly clean and bouncy looking. Honestly, I'm ready for a friggin shampoo commercial. Expensive clarifying shampoo kiss my ass. I have baking soda.

Second I went to the commissary the other day and grapes were 6 dollars. SIX DOLLARS! But my boys {little and big alike} demand their produce so six dollar grapes it as was. If they go any higher I might have to trade in a dash brother.

And not the little one he's just too cute and quiet. A combo that has stolen my heart.

And here's some proof as to how cute he is:
Speaking of the little one, Dash-3 went for his first round of blood work on Friday and has to go back again this coming friday {and possibly a third time but I'm really hoping not}. When you're a little guy they can only take so much at one time and to my relief the doctor has ordered every test under the sun.

I've already turned in his pee in a cup and three poop test so maybe those along with the first blood tests will yield some answers later this week.

In other news, there really isnt much other news.

Oh a cousin of mine found my blog. {Hi Lindsay!} I haven't seen her in years, really the last time I saw her was at my wedding. Seven years ago.

I haven't seen her or talked to her in years and now she's found my blog. Well first she found me on twitter via my brother and then she found my blog. It's like going from the first date to marriage.

As weird as it may have been a. I'm touched that she wants to read my mindless ramblings, {people, she is reading thru everything, that is some effort} and b. I'm excited to have reconnected with her and as of last night, her sister, although I'm not sure if she's reading the old blogo yet.

And finally, spring is here!

The weather has been amazing so most of our time has been outside. We've gone on lots of walks, explored around the farm, flown kites. Ok so I sat out the kite flying, that was more just the bigger boys. Dash-2 explored some bushes and hay and I sat and admired the views. The sunset that is. Well and my boys.

That's about all I got right now. I'm trying out a couple of recipes this week so if they work I'll post those and of course, my usual rantings and ravings.

As for now, the one that I said was quiet isn't so much right now. But lucky for him, he's still cute.

New digs

I'm sure you've noticed the new look around here, kinda hard to miss.

Much thanks to Casey @Ever Changing Life now I have me a new peppier look just in time for spring. It's amazing how just a change in colors can change your mood.

One of the best parts, I'm not going to lie was that she fixed my twitter issues. I was unable to get any of the twitter stuff to show up. I was on the twitter fence at first, now that my husband downloaded ubertwitter to my crackberry I'm addicted. Come find me if you haven't already.

The colors are fresh and the polka dots are peppy. Thank you Casey I love it!

And I think it makes me look thinner. Don't you agree?

question of the day

One thing that has not escaped me since having kids is that they are not growing up in the same world that flyboy and I did. Not only have all of our kids been born during this war, but times and society have just changed.

I remember playing outside, when we were elementary age, with our friends and our parents merely peering out the window to check on us. I remember my mother leaving us in the car while she ran into the post office. Flyboy remembers riding his bike all over town after school, walking himself to soccer practice and school.

My kids won't be doing these things. They can't. It's a different time.

We have a giant yard surrounding our house, yet I don't know, if ever, when I'd ever let my kids play outside without me watching.

I'm sure if we're here when they are teenagers and are at the point where they can go bombing around 4 wheeling on the farm I'll let them go, but in terms of running out the door with a "see ya later mom we're going out to play" is that possible anymore?

When the weather is nice my boys are content to be outside all day. They collect sticks, play in the stream, feed the animals, climb on the rock piles, anything and everything, but I'm out there with them. This means that not a whole heck of a lot gets done on the inside.

I'm always torn, get stuff done on the inside or let them be outside, where kids should be?

There are days I wish I could just let them go out and play while I cook dinner inside, but I'm terrified something would happen. Someone could snatch them or some nosy person would be alarmed at the small children by themselves and call cps.

As a disclaimer, I don't think even if it were the good old days I'd let a five year old be in charge outside of a three year old. He's gotta be at least seven before he's in charge.

Eight to wield a stick AND be in charge.

So I'm curious..... what say you on kids playing outside alone?

Does it matter if the yard is fenced in? {to me not so much, our yard is big enough they can't make it to the street easy enough and well a perv can open a fence}

Does it matter if its in a neighboorhood? {but then someone is still watching right?}

What do you do at your house?

And don't even think about leaving your kids locked safely in your car {when the temps are nice} and you run into the post office or something quick, someone will break open that window and free your kids right quick.

You think I'm joking? That happened around here last year.

It seems like the world was simpler back in the day.

Sigh

After the rain

Bad weather is like bad moments in your life. Wait them out and they will pass. Now granted, they might ruin your day {or week or cripes even longer}, but after a while they'll end and you'll have a greater appreciation for the sun.

Over the past month we've had some weather doozy's. A blizzard, power outages for days, 60 mph winds, floods, really, short of locus I'm feeling like we've had it all.

{note to the big guy in charge, I do not need locus. I'm good. I gotta enough ladybugs to suffice.}

And like bad weather, we've had bad mojo in the house. Stress, stress and more stress.

Today is a good day. The sun is out. There is a breeze and yet its still warm enough to be outside without a jacket on. The dash brothers are running around and I'm just sitting here watching.

Days like this remind me that perfect is all relative and relatively speaking my life is damn near perfect. Or perfect enough for me.

Now, my kids may occasionally yell at me {yes that happens even to us great moms}, they might slam doors in frustration, they might act like savages in public every now and again, my little one maybe too little, and from time to time flyboy hates his job.

{Shocking right? Working with idiots, in fact, is not his true passion in life.}

That's just like bad weather, periods of crap coming and going, it helps us to appreciate the really good times. Even if they are just simple little moments. After all rain must fall for flowers to bloom.

{Even if a deer is just going to come along and eat one's blooms that they spent time and money on planting.}

Each child...

I had a lot of concerns when we started having kids. After all, we didn't really know what we were doing, in fact, I'm not sure if we've figured it out yet, five years later. But one thing I never worried about was my ability to love them each as much as the other. I was, however, surprised things about them that I would love.

Dash-1 is my first. He holds a special place you know. He's my wickedly smart little boy, he sees the world like his father, in a big way that's his for the taking.

While he is serious, he's my dreamer.He doesn't just want to be an astronaut, he firmly believes that he will be one. And I'm inclined to believe him. {If that whole allergy thing works out}

He doesn't just look at the stars, he dreams about going there, about finding a new one. He doesn't just wonder what to do, he wonders how he can do it.

Now just in case dash-1 is reading this 10 years from now I want him to get a clear picture of what he's putting us thru, he's a bit mouthy, he feels the need to constantly butt heads and doesn't always understand who in charge, but all in all he's a good kid.

Some kids have imaginary friends, dash-1's imaginary friends are his space shuttle crew. And Buzz Aldren. He's a funny little kid.

My dash-2. {Sigh} He holds a special place, he's the middle kid, I'm the middle kid, we have that bond. And he makes me laugh. Really laugh. The kind of laugh that may start in your stomach but goes straight to your heart. But just the same as he wants to make you laugh he enjoys the silence of being by himself.

As adorable as he is, he is stubborn. Very stubborn. He sticks his heels in, furrows his brows and NOTHING is moving him.

Shame that he too has not figured out that he's not actually in charge around here either.

Tonight he didn't want to go to bed so he stripped his clothes off and stood naked in the hallway. Moments like that I don't know whether to laugh or be mad. {Flyboy was much less amused. He wasn't confused on how to react.}

And my baby, who being my baby has to have a special place. My sweet dash-3. My simply sweet baby boy who has big blue eyes, fuzzy blonde hair, and just one dimple. {My favorite line is, "Mama could only afford one dimple so that's all you got!"}

Now granted he does not nap. At. All. he is perfect to me. His personality is fit for a third child, go with the flow, he just gets dragged from here to there with the other two and smiles all the same.

And even his small size be damned because he fits just perfectly in my arms. It's like it's where he's meant to be.

Three kids.

Three uniquely wonderful kids and one me to love them all.

And enough love to go around. Funny how that works out.

If you have kids, did you worry you wouldn't be able to love them the same? Or if you don't have kids {or just one} do you have that fear?

{Even when the point of my post is to ask you all a question I'm incapable of a short post. I'm working on my wordiness, I was hoping that twitter would help me with that some. If you doubt I can type 140 characters or less, check here}

And thanks to everyone for their very much appreciated kind thoughts on my last post.

We be a little stressed

We in the flyboy house are a bit stressed out.

All of us.

{Well I'm not sure how stressed out a 5 year old and a 3 year old can be but flyboy and I are and well, since we're the two biggest people in the house and contribute the most, quite frankly, just having the two of us stressed out qualifies as the whole house.}

I lost my military id for a bit today in the car and had a total breakdown. I called flyboy and I'm not quite sure what I thought he could do for me but I unleashed. Stress I tell ya.

Speaking of flyboy, poor flyboy. I feel for him at work. Ever have one of those weeks where the shit hits the fan and then the next day more shit hits the fan? And then the next day and the next day and the next day, you guessed it.... more shit hitting the fan.

Yeah he's had one of those weeks. Only his week started last week since he worked thru the weekend its just all blurred together.

When I talk to him on the phone during the day or when he walks thru the door evening I can hear it in his voice and see it in his body that he's just dragging.

And little dash-3. My sweet boy. Something is just a little off and we just don't know what. The doctor was concerned about his weight at his six month appt and he was supposed to go back in four weeks for a follow up, we ended up going back today because I just didn't want to wait four more weeks.

Something is off. My maternal radar was going ape shit crazy.

They recorded his weight wrong at the last visit, so while the doctor thought he was in the 5th percentile it turns out he isn't at all on the growth chart.

Well shit.

Because of that and the fact that he hasn't gained enough weight in the past 11 days the doctor feels that something is amiss, failure to thrive.

Excuse me, what was that?

Failure to thrive? Well double shit.

My bright eyed, fuzzy headed baby boy? {And its not a matter of supplementing with formula or having him nurse more.Please don't suggest that I might just snap.}

As a mom, as a parent, to have questions about your child's health is hell.

Lots of test have been ordered, hopefully after their done well have more of an idea what's going on. It could be something, it could be nothing. My vote, my prayers, are for the latter.

So you can see, the flyboys are a bit stressed. And tired.

Cause along with the big stuff you have the little stuff, potty training dash 2 who likes to wait until 8pm to poop, a preschooler who doesn't want to go to preschool, little boys who decided to play in fertilizer, stuffed animals who are apparently biting and need me to lecture them, a house to clean, laundry that seems to be procreating like bunnies, taking three kids to the doctors, then the px, then the commissary {sigh} and I know there is more.

Life is stressful. Par for course. Our stress compared to others is nothing. But right now its a weight on our shoulders. It's not unbearable its just nagging.

As stressed out as I am, as worried as I am, as tired as I am, I still feel lucky.

But I do feel stressed.

day late dollar short wondering weds

Crap I missed another Wondering Wednesday. I had yesterdays post set to auto post and then it was only half way thru the morning I realized it was Thursday.

I need to learn dash-1's day of the week song to help me out.

So I'm just doing it late. So here's what I'm wondering about.

-Why won't my darling little one sleep? His naps? Non existent. Sleep at night? Ok but I know he needs more.

Could it be the constant stream of noise and chaos in the house as a result of the other two dash brothers? I'm thinking that has something to do with it. We've done some sleep training, we've done self soothing, nothing is working. At all. I'm at my wits end, he's at his wits end. And flyboy. Let's not even talk about flyboy.

Any great baby wearing suggestions? That's my next idea and I'm definitely wondering about that.... {for those that were wondering he's 14lbs 13 oz and 27 inches long}

-I'm wondering about the emails I get. More specifically, the ones about Russian brides that I've recently started getting. I'm good in the marriage department, thank you very much, I have a fantastic husband who cleans like a Russian bride, but get this, he speaks english AND he's a he.

A definite plus in my book.

I used to really wonder about the emails I used to get from m*tch.com saying that they had found my mate but those seem down right normal compared to the emails from the Russian brides.

-I'm wondering about people who smoke in the cars with their small kids.

Smoking is a personal choice, you wanna smoke, go right ahead, I could care less. There is a warning on the box and surely everyone knows now days that its not good for you. So if you want to puff, puff away my friend.

But.

To puff near your kids is, in my humble opinion, trashy. To puff in an enclosed car with the window cracked barely an inch {oooh its just so cold out there, I couldn't possibly let the cold air in, that's not good for the kids, but the smoke, that'll keep them warm} and smoke swirling around the car AND your small kids who are strapped into their car seats in the backseat? REALLY TRASHY.

Really, really trashy actually.

So there, that's my day late, dollar short, wondering Wednesdays.

What are you wondering about?

Pictures from the blizzard

The dash brothers more then enjoyed the snow.

And learned a very important lesson on which snow is safe to eat.

{hint..... not the yellow stuff}

As you can imagine dash-3 sat out the snow and admired it from afar.

It seems that the cows don't mind the snow.

Maybe they too think its funny to see steam coming off their poop.

Not sure.

There is no arguing that it was beautiful, but what made it beautiful made it nasty.

The snow was so wet and heavy that it just clung to the trees and power lines, everything was coated with the snow for days.

And down went the trees and power lines.

What is a girl to do when her fridge doesn't work and she needs a cold beverage?

Stick it in the snow of course.

We had to toss a ton of food, we couldn't stick that in the snow. We live out in the country, I'd rather toss my food then have a bear sitting on my porch eating it.


See that little green thing sticking out of the snow?

That's the original well, used back when they used the outhouse out back, which by the way, I did not use when we lost power. The well pump still works.

Anyways, flyboy melted snow on the wood stove for two days, so that he could have spare water to flush the toilets.

After the storm it occurred to me.... why didn't we just go out to the water pump?

Not fit for drinking but more then fit for flushing.

base or post?

I drive flyboy crazy.

I leave cabinet doors open, I refuse to try brussel sprouts, I teach the boys funny little sayings {come on how isn't it funny when your three year old says "awww snap"?} all in all, much as he loves me I drive him nuts.

Another way.... I mix up my branches. TDY or TAD? He says TAD I say TDY. He says base, I say post. It annoys him.

Apparently quite a bit cause the other day in the car I said something about going on post and he snapped and yelled said {rather sternly} "STOP SAYING POST WE'RE NOT IN THE ARMY! IT'S A BASE. A BASE NOT A POST!"

Allrighty flyboy, tell me how you really feel.

To my defense, I worked on said post before we had kids and the overwhelming majority of people down there, all Army, called it a post. Well its just stuck. I call flyboy's little place of business a base. But the Army one that we go to for everything else, that's a post.

But I'm curious.... what do you call it? Is it a base or a post? And make sure you let me know what branch your with.


pst. Trudy you won the giveaway for mama's bags! Congrats! I'm sorry it took me so long to get this posted, send me an email and I'll get your info.

I have a couple other giveaways planned so stay tuned.....

Spinach and Feta Turkey Burgers

Flyboy issued an edict sometime last year, less beef. It hurt me right in the heart, because around these parts, we *puffy heart* beef.

But I rose to the occassion, I jumped full speed on the ground turkey bandwagon and now I don't ever want to get off. He likes it because its healthier, I like it because it's cheaper. A lot cheaper.

When we buy ground beef I like it to be as lean as possible, 93% lean meat is pricey, even at the commissary, around here about $4 a pound but I can buy a pound of ground turkey at 93% lean for just under 2 dollars. Easy choice.

And in my quest to stretch the budget and to help our health I've added some other fillers to the meat, mainly spinach and mushrooms. Your liable to find those in a lot of meals around here, meatloaf, lasagna, ground turkey enchiladas, you name it I've snuck it in.

That's what lead to this gem.

Ground turkey burgers. But these are not just any regular turkey burger. They are chocked full of spinach, mushrooms, onions and another fave around here.... FETA!

{In fact we *puffy heart* feta so much we buy it in a giant tub at S*m's Club.}

These things are amazingly good, I shared the recipe with Erin and she said I should blog it for the rest of you. Actually her mom did. Here goes:

Start with
@4 cups of chopped fresh spinach {you need to chop it up on the fine side, big chunks don't work so well in burgers}
@2 cups of chopped mushrooms {same goes here, chop on the fine side}
1 medium onion, chopped

Saute the spinach, mushrooms, and onions in a big sauce pan. You can add a little bit of olive oil if you like, but its not really necessary especially as the spinach wilts. I figure why add it, save the calories.

Add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

When the veggies have wilted down and are tender remove from the heat and allow them to cool off.

Depending on how much liquid there is sometimes I'll drain off just a bit, some liquid is nice because it makes the burgers moister, too much can make them fall apart so be careful.

Mix the veggie mix and the ground turkey {93% lean} well with your hands.

Add about a cup of feta. {If you really like feta you can add an extra 1/2 cup, I wont tell anyone}

Mix well.

Add about 1/2 cups of breadcrumbs to the mixture.

{I use Italian seasoned ones cause that's what I have}

Mix it well.

Form into patties, I make mine about the size of my palm and I usually get anywhere from six to nine patties.

If it's grilling season we toss them on the grill {make sure to spray your grill with grilling PAM first} if it's not I just toss them in the oven on broil. I wish I could tell you how long but I've never really paid attention. About 5-7 minutes on each side. Cut one open to double check.

If you want to put cheese on it, swiss is yummy but with the feta in there you don't really need any. Flyboy likes his on a hamburger bun but I actually like mine on an english muffin {more specifically the light english muffins with like 8 grams of fiber in them}.

If you have any questions let me know! This recipe is a lot easier then it may seem, I can't help it, I'm just too wordy.

If you like these, you'd love the enchiladas....

Handy kitchen tip

Just a quick tip to share, I know I've read this some place that I can't remember as I sit here typing, but I rediscovered it two weeks ago by accident.

We have a little shelf over our sink, I had some baking soda sitting up there from the boys baking soda submarines, I had a nasty pan sitting in the sink from our stuffed shell dinner the night before. The baking soda fell in and a fair amount fell out. I, in my infinite laziness, picked up the box but didn't bother to rinse out the pan yet.

When I went to make dinner that night, I went to scrub the pan and found that the part in which the baking soda had been soaking came clean with barely any effort.

So, if you have a nasty pan from baking or if you burned something in your saute pan {perhaps because you had two little boys fighting with chairs while in their underpants.... or... perhaps not} sprinkle in baking soda and enough water to make a paste. Allow it to sit for a bit and then use the baking soda to scrub away the nastiness.

There ya go, a useful tip from my kitchen. Go forth and clean easier now.

speak up or weenie on?

Hello my name is the mrs. and I don't have a backbone.

{hello the mrs.}

I need some help for this problem, this problem being speaking up for myself. I know some of you maybe shocked by this. You're probably thinking but she seems so opinionated, how could she possibly ever be a weenie.

Easy.

I'm a weenie.

Here's the recent event that I'd like to put forth to you.

The other day flyboy was off of work so I went to get a haircut. I went ALONE. Not one child with me. {I took dash-3 with me to get my eyebrows done the week prior}. That's a helluva feat for a breastfeeding momma.

Anyways, the woman who cuts my hair has the set up at her house to do hair, she charges a great rate, and the first time she cut my hair I loved the cut. This time however, I went to get it done, her daughter was alllll over me. In fact for most of the cut she was sitting on my lap trying to brush my hair.

{total sidenote here, its like when you go to someone's house and their dog spends all night trying to hump your leg why do they try to make you less uncomfortable by saying "Oh he must really like you, he never does this to other people, but you, you must be special." As rather then feeling horribly awkward you'll feel really honored.}

Anyways, the mom asked a couple times if it bothered me and I don't know why I didn't just speak up and say, "well this is my alone time, would you mind not having her on me?".

Oh yeah, cause I'm a weenie.

At one point while she was cutting my hair her daughter was combing over the parts her mom was trying to cut, I did say something about being nervous that I'd have a huge uneven part, of course while nervously laughing {I'm wayyyyyy guilty of being a nervous laugher}.

When I did my hair today, it does seem as if some of the front is uneven but who am I to know these things.

Oh and then there was the part when she was chewing goldfish with her mouth open in my face. Close enough to smell them. Yummy.

But why didn't I say anything? I realize to her defense, she can't read my mind and if I don't say anything, well then, it might not change. Although to my defense, I am paying her {and tipping} for this service.

Sometimes I'm jealous of those people that can speak his mind about anything and everything, to anyone. You know the type, they blaze thru life taking no prisoners. It's impressive, in a scary sorta way. {I may or may not have a few of those in my family on either side}

So I'm curious.... are you a weenie like me? Do you speak up or do you just hold it in {holding it in with the exception of blogging about it of course} and then kick yourself later for not saying anything.

six month checkup

Six months ago {on the 1st} it wasn't just another day. Dash 3 graced us with his presence.

Yesterday he had his six month checkup. He's a small fry, weighing in at 14lbs 130z and head to toe he's 27 in.

So skinny and long. {I wish I could say he gets it from me.... but he doesn't. In fact we aren't sure where he gets it from.} Because he's so far down the percentile chart for weight {hanging out in the 5th} we'll head back in four weeks for a weight check.

But he's an overall healthy and happy baby. And so stinkin adorable. And really there is nothing more you could ask for, the healthy and happy part, the stinkin adorable is just a nice bonus.

It sounds so cliche to do the whole "I can't believe its been six months" thing but, well, I can't. Not for the life of me can I figure out where the time has gone.

Althought if you guessed breastfeeding and changing an insane number of diapers you would be correct.

I did a little math {which since I was a political science major in college is impressive for me} there are roughly 180 days in six months. So thats....

{very very roughly of course}

1440 times we've nursed {24 hrs in a day, every three hours, again give or take a few}

round about 1100 diaper changes

just guessing but it would seem at least 100 explosive poos

countless of smiles and coos

a few hundred raspberries on the tummy

endless amounts of joy and love

You can count feedings and diapers, but you can't ever count how much you love them. Each kiddo holds a very special place in my heart. Each one is different, each one is special in their own way, and with the birth of each one, my heart has grown.

I'm certainly glad that six months ago just wasn't another day.

I'm back baby!

We are back on the grid. Thank. God.

Not that melting snow to make water to flush toilets wasn't lots of fun. {if you think it is, trust me, its not} I'm ready to go back to living the 2010 life and if ever I start to think of pioneer living as romantic I'll just watch a rerun of Little House on the Prairie.

And remember not showering, that'll end that day dream right quick.

I have lots of post to catch up on, a giveaway to finish, a turkey feta burger post to write up {how sad I had to toss all those yummy burgers when the freezer died}, and lots of power is out blog fodder {and some pics} to regal you all with.

Contain your excitement, it will all come in the next few days.

For now I'm off to flush my toilet over and over, just because I can.