Five For Friday ~ Things That Make Me Smile

By | Posted July 27, 2012

Posted in Five For Friday | 2 Comments »

Five things that made me smile this week…

:: My mother in law buys cards for everyone’s birthday.  She signs her name, then leaves it out for my father in law to sign them.  Once I asked if he just signed his name or if he actually looked at who the card was for.  With several cards to sign in July and August, you might think he just scribbles his name, but he doesn’t.  He knows whose birthday is up next.  He even makes his own phone calls (when out of town) to the birthday person.

:: Sunshine refuses to wear anything in her hair, despite the fact that she has lopsided hair.  I can’t believe I am going to have to get a haircut for my 19 month old.  Thankfully, my hairdresser and I have been wanting to get our close in age babies together.  Yes, I am angling for a discount.  Anyway, Sunshine doesn’t like bows, headbands, nothing.  Yesterday, I found her with a tiny barrette (would have missed this word in the spelling bee) in her hair.  Her ladies (yes, they are all hers!) at the gym bribed her with cookies.  Smart ones.

Seriously, isn’t she adorable?!

:: My book, Gone Girl…so freaking good.  Yes, I read the end of the book before I was 100 pages in, but that is only because I wanted to be sure I was correct about the ending.  I was.  Not sure if it’s a gift to be able to guess the ending of shows, movies and books.

:: A very dear friend moving back to Houston.  I love this girl.  We met at church and were drawn to each other with our dislike of mom’s groups.  We clicked, our kids clicked, then they moved to Michigan.  They also have five kids.  We are Godparents to their youngest.  I am so happy for them to come home.  To share Whataburger, talk about the kids, have a mom tell me when I need to get my shit together, get to know my Godson and just spend time with one my bestest (this isn’t a word?!) friends.

:: Puzzles…The boys finished this puzzle today.  Personally, I love puzzles.  Lance can’t stand them.  Doesn’t have the patience for them.  He and BH are the same.  The rest of us love them.  Years ago, Squirt and I used to do them.  Now it’s me and Goose, mainly, but not kidding, Snax did more of this 300 piece puzzle than BH.  Afterwards, they each ran for their Snoopy to show them.  Kind of sweet.

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And BTW,

By | Posted July 26, 2012

Posted in Baby Z, pictures | 6 Comments »

Sunshine…

She Walks.

She freaking walks!

19 months, 1 week.

And she walks.  In fact, she likes to walk more than crawl.  She is so proud of herself.  She stands up and walks with that shy little smile on her face.  God, I love this girl so much.  And the fact that she walks kind of makes me love her even more.

I am just so proud of my little girl.  Of course, I figured she’d walk one day, but it was taking quite a bit longer than most babies.  And look at her, she’s just adorable walking around!

No more shaking my head no when people ask if she is walking.  Because you know, they have been asking this question since before she turned one.  (I’ve never had an early walker, ever.)  I always tell people my kids don’t walk fast, then remind them how fast they read.  I assume this means that Sunshine will be reading when she is three.  Guess she needs to start talking soon.

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Simplicity

By | Posted July 24, 2012

Posted in cleaning, Random, resolutions | 2 Comments »

Shameful.  Just shameful.  That is how I would describe the closets in this house.  No, they aren’t messy.  They are just full of clothes.  Never ending amounts of clothes for my kids.

Yesterday, while the kids got their television on, I cleaned out the closets and drawers in an effort to figure out what we need to buy for school this year.  The answer: not one single thing.

With four boys, three of who are close in age and one who wears uniforms to school, we have a lot of useless clothing.  The oldest tends the wear the exact same thing when not in school.  And while in school, he seems to relish in pissing off his teachers by trying to show off his muscles.

The youngest is wearing stuff I remember buying for Goose.  If something looks ratty, I generally don’t let the next kid wear it.  But until Goose actually went to school, his clothes were in really good condition.  So instead of buying a new wardrobe for each boy, we only bought a few new shirts for the boys next in line.  Now Snax has a ton of nice shirts, shirts that he could actually wear to both mass and with shorts, but doesn’t like to wear.  Because if a shirt doesn’t have a picture, it’s not worth wearing to him.  Enter all his cool t-shirts, and by cool, I mean Star Wars or Snoopy.  He will wear his Longhorn shirt, but not as often as I want.  So we’re stuck with a closet full of nice shirts that aren’t being used.  Wasteful.

And the girl…I promise I don’t buy a thing.  My dad and Aunt Stacy do all the shopping for the princess.  But it’s not like they buy nonstop, they just buy big during the fall and during the spring.  I can safely say that Sunshine wears each of her outfits.  I rotate them.  And as I packed away outfits, there wasn’t one I would have given up.  I’m not quite ready to depart with any right this second, (too many sweet memories!), but soon I will make a keepsake box of her clothes and donate the rest.  Frankly, I could sell them, they are so nice and in great condition, but that’s just not me.

So what does this mean?  It shows me that thus far, I am failing at simplicity.  Failing.  If there is one thing I want my children to learn, it’s how good they have it.  No, they don’t have every new gadget on the market, heck they don’t even have a DS, but they aren’t worried about having food to eat.  (Except Snax.)  I don’t think they have to live in poverty to appreciate what they have.  I’m not going to force them to give up their toys.  I am going to manage what comes into this house a lot better than I have been.

I have one child in particular that I worry about when it comes to “things”.  I affectionately call him a hoarder.  And to be honest, he really is.  You should see the crap he saves.  Christmas gift labels is my favorite so far.  He also likes to buy a lot of little crap.  Yes, crap.  Yesterday we were at Bed, Bath and Beyond and he saw some angry birds toy.  He didn’t just want one, he wanted all five.  Today at Barnes and Noble, he wanted three toys, those toys by the register.  People really buy that stuff?!

I’ve been checking out as many books as possible, trying to show the kids that we don’t have to buy every book we like.  This is a hard one for me because books are supposed to be good purchases, right?  There are purchases I feel I can justify because I can use them with all the kids, even at the same time.  But how many books do we need?  I guess with simplicity I’d like to teach self control and discipline.

Recently, we had two birthdays.  And when the boys couldn’t come up with gift ideas, that was it.  I didn’t wander up and down the aisles trying to find more and more just so they could have a lot of gifts.  They had gifts, I do keep a journal of ideas, and obviously I know what my kids like.  Two years ago, I racked my brain at Christmas to come up with ideas for my family to buy gifts for the kids.  And the result was sickening.  I won’t go there again.  And the reality is that my kids had a better Christmas this year than last year.  Everyone complains that people don’t know the meaning of Christmas yet fall into the trap of over buying.  (And I’m not trying to be a grinch, I love seeing my kids happy Christmas morning, and my kids certainly know the real meaning of Christmas.  There just has to be more discipline.)

It is too easy to forget what is really important.  And while I am so far from where I’d like to be in buying stuff, I am on the road.  And hopefully, my children will be better for it.  I hope they will be better for the time spent together doing things over just buying them things.

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Easter In Pictures

By | Posted July 24, 2012

Posted in holidays, pictures | 4 Comments »

Yes, Easter.  And then Mother’s Day pictures are coming soon…never got around to posting these pictures for whatever reason.  Lance says it’s too late.  I say it’s my blog. I want them here, so here they are.

 

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Five For Friday

By | Posted July 20, 2012

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

I made cookies yesterday.  Bomb ass cookies.  I make cookies for one reason.  Cookie dough.  I was in a hurry, so I didn’t let anyone help.  Snax sat by the stove staring at the entire process.  When I started eating the dough, he asked if I liked it.  I told him that I liked the dough even more than the cookies.  Not to be outdone, he let me know that he liked the “dough better than anything in the whole world, even you.”

I took the boys to the roller rink yesterday.  Goose and Baby Hulk were shaky at first, but after fifteen minutes they each ditched the triangle.  Meanwhile, our friends, the same age, were making five laps for every lap they took.  Baby steps, I guess.

Two of our play dates were cancelled due to sick kids.  But we still managed to get to Mam’s.  Not bad at all.  We also took in a puppet show.  The kids seemed to enjoy it except for the life sized puppet.  Snax wasn’t a fan, neither was I.  Too ugly.

That new phone…a total POS.  From the first day, there have been issues with people hearing me speak, as in they can’t hear me at all.   Lance thought he fixed it.  I haven’t been able to talk to anyone on that phone in almost two days.  Here’s the problem, I like talking on the phone.  And honestly, I like talking when I drive.  It’s one of the few times, I’m not focused on my kids.

I’ve been in a bad mood so maybe not being able to talk on the phone is saving me from pissing people off…

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Intentional Summer

By | Posted July 18, 2012

Posted in Baby Hulk, homeschooling, school, Summer | Comments Off on Intentional Summer

Well, I just got the punch to my stomach.  The whole I love my birthday…well, that’s done.  Baby Hulk is off the wait list at Rogers.  I completed the paperwork this afternoon with a very heavy heart.  I’m not happy.  My mind had accepted that he was home, and the year was set.  Now it’s not, and I immediately had the same feelings I had when Goose left home.  (Anyone not remember?  I have only two regrets in life…not doing study abroad and not homeschooling.)

The discussion was short.  It didn’t go my way, despite the “new” reasons I have to keep Baby Hulk home.  I felt them compelling.  Not compelling enough.

So now, I’m feeling more than a bit frantic.  Instead of using it for evil, I’ll be positive and push myself towards finishing the summer intentionally.  I had been planning to look over ideas, but it’s been busy since we came home.  Now I’m forced to do it because I want every second to count.  Not to be full of activities, but to count.  With that thought, I would like to…

  • spend an afternoon doing puzzles
  • play soccer outside
  • make stepping stones for my birthday
  • make blueberry cake with BH
  • make peach cobbler
  • plan the drive to Colorado so that we take advantage of what we can see on the way
  • plan vacation
  • read books with each child.  Every day.
  • go to the beach, yes Galveston
  • see The Lion King with Goose and Baby Hulk
  • go to the YAC
  • swim
  • go bowling
  • see friends we haven’t seen in forever
  • go back to Austin for a quick trip
  • get snowballs
  • finish reading 4 books before summer ends
  • go back to daily mass, there is a noon mass
  • adoration would be nice too
  • celebrate a couple of feast days
  • finish one house project
  • organize all of the kids clothes, simplify everything
  • do a few arts and crafts projects
  • buy new shoes for each child
  • have a girls night for fun and for crafting

I’m sure there are other things I could think of, but for now this is it.  I just want to enjoy my time with my kids.  Soon enough someone else will spend more time with them than me, then I will get the joy of doing useless homework, anxiously waiting for the weekend.  Sigh.

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What I Love About Summer

By | Posted July 17, 2012

Posted in Happiness, Random, the boys | Comments Off on What I Love About Summer

Our favorite poet, Douglass Florian, has a book for each season.  It is taking all my strength not to buy each book for our nature collection, which is mighty small, but proving to be a huge interest in this house.

One of our favorite poems is titled: What I Love About Summer.  It’s a great poem, bringing back memories and making me wishful that one day we will gain some new traditions/memories, (read: live in a different climate).

I had each boy write their poem.  They weren’t required to rhyme.  I thought I would do the same as well.

What I Love About Summer
N. Zierlein

Late mornings
Long breakfasts
Playing outside in pj’s
Swimming
Reading in the middle of the day
Miller’s Outdoor Theatre
Afternoons at the library
Long weekends
Family vacations
Birthdays
MY birthday
Afternoons at the library
Play dates with friends
NO SCHOOL
Evening workouts
Ice Cream
Watermelon
Peaches and Plums
Berries
Cantaloupe
Evening rainstorms
Fun pedicures
My anniversary
Time with my family

Baby Hulk

Goose

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Daybook~ The Second Half

By | Posted July 15, 2012

Posted in Daybook | 2 Comments »

For Today…Sunday, July 15, 2012

Outside my window…the sun is shining.  Two hours ago, my street was flooding.  We will not complain about the rain.  We will not.

I am listening to…three little boys play ball outside, one of Goose’s games.

I am wearing…my pj’s.  That’s how long it’s taken to get this post going.

Moments of grace…playing with the baby, boys fighting over who gets to sit next to me during mass, (although it doesn’t always seem like a grace filled moment), catching up with a friend I haven’t seen in far too long, making plans with friends, learning about humility in my life.

I am praying for…a special intention, my children, my parents, my aunt, that I get over this bug, and that I remain calm and peaceful for the second half of summer.

I am reading…I am reading!!!  Still taking notes on Raising Lifelong Learners; just started Gone Girl.  Great read so far.  I had to buy the book because I wanted to read it that badly and the library had one copy with 94 holds on it.

On eating healthy…a few weeks ago, I was mocked for being happy that my kids didn’t like sliced processed cheese.  It turned into a thing about me not liking processed foods.  Actually, I’m not a fan of processed foods, they’re processed not real.  What’s weird about that?  Plus, hasn’t anybody heard?   There is a huge problem with kids, their weight and eating the right foods.  If my kids live their lives without entering McDonald’s, I’m really okay with it.  Regardless, of my feelings on processed foods and what others feed their kids, I have to admit two things: 1 my kids love Velveeta and shells (processed food if there ever was one) (a fact that was stated out loud but ignored when the need to mock me came up) and 2 I can’t always afford organic food.  That said, I will do whatever it takes to feed my kids healthy food, including fresh fruits and vegetables, and those foods are more often than not organic.  My kids already eat loads of fruits and about 6 vegetables without complaining, but have now started eating spinach.  How about that?!  Goose ate plain spinach, without fussing.  And Baby Hulk ate more sauteed spinach than even Squirt.  Soon we’ll be able to join a vegetable coop because we will be eating whatever is in season, and I won’t have to worry about it going bad because nobody will eat it.  We also changed to Greek yogurt, a big hit with Goose and Snax.  I am by no means an example when it comes to feeding children.  But personally, I’m happy to try and make some healthy changes now before they develop poor eating habits.

Towards being fit and happy…My body still thinks we’re on vacation.  I must have gained the weight I never lost before the vacation while on vacation.  Then I got sidelined with a virus so I’ve yet to make it back to the gym.  This week we’re back to normal.

From the kitchen…I came up with 4 meals, Marivi came up with 3 and the week is set. Fish, Jenn’s chicken dish, Italian sausage roasted peppers and orzo, fajitas, pasta, veggie night and chicken Parmesan.  Excited about each dish.

Baby Hulk…July is a hard month when two brothers have birthdays so close together. But he took it in stride and didn’t pout.  Just made me promise that he could have a party in September.

To live the liturgy…July is actually a big month of feast days to celebrate…Blessed Kateri who will be canonized in October, (we missed making anything so I think we’ll do something anyway and have it ready for October), Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Mary Magdalene, (a personal favorite), and Saint Anne, a namesake.  No specific plans for anything, but would like something special for Saint Anne.  Starting a novena tonight.

On Rhythm and Balance…The last few weeks have been a bit out of balance for us.  We left town and immediately returned to three birthdays.  The birthdays were wonderful, but so far we’ve only had family celebrations, but soon…we need a party.  I  want to balance things out and just live.  Celebrate the day for what it is, just a regular old day.  That said, I loved the birthdays, I’m just tired.  Really tired!

On birthdays…I LOVE BIRTHDAYS.  LOVE THEM.  You will never hear me moan about becoming a year older.  EVER.  You will hear me tell you who has forgotten my birthday.  My birthday is this month, as are most of my favorite people.  Of course, there are my sons and brother, but then there are Nikki, Laura, Denise and Shea.  July really rocks for birthdays.

Random fact…I’ve had an iphone 3 since the 4 came out.  I got Lance’s old phone.  About 15 months ago, I cracked the face on my phone.  I never got it fixed, and it’s just become worse.  But it still worked.  Mostly.  I finally got a new phone.  And I hear the next version is coming out this fall.  Figures.

Around the house…we made this flag.  The stripes are courtesy of one very loud, screaming little girl.  She hated every single second.  And despite my best efforts, she got paint on her shorts.  Stars are the boys’ fingerprints.  It’s on canvas so we can bring it out each year.

Loving the moments…when I get to spend some time with just Baby Z.  I hate to even admit this because many people have the opinion that having several kids means less attention for each child.  I disagree.  My life is not busier than my friends with one or two kids.  Now shower time might be more chaotic.   Anyway, it’s just so sweet watching her play, listen to books, get bored with books, and her toys.  She has a slight temper.  Today she tossed a toy clear across the room.  I managed to calmly tell her to find it and bring it to me.  She did.  Guess there’s something to be said about keeping my cool.

Little one…had a rough night.  Had no desire to sleep in her room, finally after failing to calm her down, I had to take her out.  Then she refused to look at me.  She’s an interesting sleeper, she’s been sleeping through the night since 3.5 months, but she definitely has evenings every month where she just wants me.  And I guess that’s okay.

Plans for the week…a week of play dates.  There are lots of friends we haven’t seen in awhile and this is the week.  I am pretty happy to spend time with these friends, mainly because I really like the parents of said friends.

A picture to share…

My 8 year old was having a birthday party for one of the Snoopys.  His idea.

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Old School Birthday

By | Posted July 15, 2012

Posted in birthday, pictures, Snax | Comments Off on Old School Birthday

Those women pinning party boards have nothing on me.


Snax wanted a chocolate cake with white frosting.  And sprinkles.  And strawberries.  He was very clear.  Nothing else would do.

He also wanted hats.  So he got hats.

I do have aspirations that someday I will have a party worthy of Pinterest, (yes, I am one of those women that have several party boards) but for now, I’ll settle for these smiles.

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Vacation Pictures, The Uncensored Version

By | Posted July 14, 2012

Posted in Brian, Lance, Paul, pictures, travel | Comments Off on Vacation Pictures, The Uncensored Version

I love pictures.  A lot.  They make me happy.  I took quite a large amount of pictures over the vacation.  Paul asked me what I did with all my pictures.  I’ve known Paul since high school, he’s made all the photo albums.  He should know better.  I look at them.  What did he think I did with them?!

Seriously, though, I look through old pictures more than most people.  And not because I’m yearning for old times, but because I love the people in my pictures and they make me smile.

Without any apologies, but a word of warning, here are the vacation pictures that make my heart happy.  It took a lot of condensing, but here are my favorites.  All 36 of them.

 

 

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