The One Where I Lose My Mind

I'm just popping in to say Hi and Good Morning!  - or "Ah' Low" and "Ah' Morning", as Nathan would say.

This week is a super duper busy week for us. 

Saturday is the big Destination Imagination competition so we are doing last minute practices and projects to prepare. This year, I'm coaching a team for both Hayden and Davis - and they have been hard at work on their challenges since the end of October.

You have never seen so much epoxy, spray paint, modge podge, hot glue, and duct tape as what is floating around my house at any given moment. At this point, I am starting to get mixed up about which project goes with which team - and I am just ready for Saturday to roll around so we can see them shine. If they win, they go to the State Tournament in Austin and if they lose, I get about 10 hours a week of my time back.

In other words, it's a Win / Win !

All that to say Jeff and I have spent an excessive amount of time deciding what bottle of wine we want to crack open to celebrate on Saturday night - after the 12 hour competition, and then Hayden's football game - that is.

Also, Hayden started flag football and had his first game last Sunday. The good news is that he looks really good. The bad news is that their first game was against what could only be described as a professional team of 10 year olds. That fifty minutes seemed to DRAAAAG by as the Hurricanes got strummed. In the end, it looked more like a basketball score than a football score. 

Davis starts his flag football career tonight. And while there aren't many things I love more than sitting outside and watching football practice (love it!), I may have to sit this one out since it is scheduled to be 44 degrees this evening. Brrrrrrr. 

Good luck Davis! Run fast  in your new cleats!  You're up Jeff!

Blake is going to be playing his first sport this year - t-ball. He he hasn't officially started practicing yet, but I am so excited. I can't wait to see how much he is going to LOVE having his own team - and jersey - and audience....instead of being a spectator at his big brother's games. However, I just found out that parents might be required to participate and run to the bases with the kids. If that's the case - I need to make it official and say...

NOT IT!

You are up again Jeff! But you understand right? That would just be embarrassing to have everyone in the stands see my 3 year old beat me to first base. 

***

Since all of that above wasn't keeping me busy enough, I thought I would add a little more excitement to the mix and decided to click the 'Make Me Move' button on Zillow....just to see what would happen.

And you're not going to believe what happens when you do that.

People call you and try to make you move!

And want you to show them your house that day.

There is not much on the market in our area so while we haven't officially listed the house, we have seen A LOT of interest. It's clear that it's a sellers market, which is great until you go and look for a replacement house. 

I have shown the house twice now and at some point I even told Jeff this news. After he mentioned he was going to come home for lunch, I informed him there might be people looking at the house at that point. 

To which he replied, WHAT THA WHAT?!

I figure if we can sell it for my overstated asking price without a realtor, he'll get on board. Plus it makes it a whole lot easier to negotiate when you aren't even quite sure you want to move. :)

In fairness, he knew I had clicked the 'Make Me Move' button on Zillow, but neither of us had any idea anything would happen since it wasn't listed through a realtor / MLS. 

So here is how it usually goes down: 

The person calls and asks to see the house (ALWAYS on a preschool day). 

I rush home and spend 2 hours "picking up" the house and making beds and doing hiding dishes. 

The people show up and get the tour from me.

I'm literally out of breath from last minute RUN/cleaning.

They leave. 

I open my computer to look for houses in the area we want to move (West Frisco / Prosper).

I find nothing.

And then I'm all 'oh crud...I hope those people don't really want to buy our house.'

Anyway, that's us in a nutshell this week. 

Whew! 

Adventures in Grocery Shopping

If you are looking for a blog full of how to's and wonderful recipes, this is probably not the one for you....but if you are looking for a blog that makes you feel better about yourself for doing routine tasks that should be easy -  you're in the right spot.

Last weekend was an extended one because the kids were out of school for Martin Luther King Day.

Side note - apparently the kids these days refer to it as MILK weekend. (I'm proud to say that it only took me thirty seconds to figure out what that meant). 

Anyway, the long weekend without any real plans was topped off by the fact that Jeff has officially entered his "busy time schedule" for the new deal he is working on.

Which meant he worked all weekend long.

On weekends and holidays, my kids tend to be homebodies - moaning and groaning about doing much of anything including fun stuff like going to the park or on a bike ride.

So, I did what any adventurous mom would do.

I loaded them all up and headed to the grocery store. And in a bold attempt at bribery, I promised the kids that they could each buy a new toy.

(With their own money).

We needed only the basics to survive the weekend so we could make a proper sandwich out of something other than carb-balance tortillas and cream cheese.

Three Hundred and Thirty Six Dollars later, I think I think it's safe to say that I am officially the world's worst grocery shopper.

Especially when I am hungry and trying to keep four kids happy.

After I meandered the grocery aisles letting the kids talk me into tons of stuff we didn't need, I found myself standing in the toy aisle examining every. last. Lego. box. that Walmart had in inventory.

The boys were deciding which ones they could afford - and also had the time to tackle over the weekend.

Hayden decided on one that was above a $9.99 sign, but since was an entire Lego city - and had over 40,000 pieces we both knew it was just in the wrong spot. Since Walmart has removed all of those price checker thingies (I know because we walked the entire store looking for one) we just decided to wing it.

That bad decision is how Hayden ended up with his first $70 Lego set and an outstanding $5 loan from Davis.

Finally - FINALLY - we were finished grocery shopping and toy shopping and made our way to the check out line.

And that's when for some reason....A REASON TOTALLY UNEXPLAINABLE....I decided to go through the self-checkout line.

With THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY SIX DOLLARS worth of groceries and four kids and NO ROOM to put any of the bagged groceries.

Let's just say that the poor soul that has the brutal task of managing the 4 "self-checkout" lanes had to come over to my area no less than 17 times to clear an error. 

About 1/3 of the way through ringing out my own groceries...I think it was one of the times I was waiting for the cashier to come over and examine the "unknown item in the bagging area", I realized what a HUGE mistake the self-checkout line was.

I stopped. I took a deep breath. And I seriously considered voiding my transaction and starting over in a line with a cashier. At that point, it didn't even matter if the cashier took out his teeth. But then I thought better of it and kept on plugging away in an effort to accelerate The Self Check-out Fiasco.

Meanwhile, Davis was trying to help me by scanning items as well....and then putting them back in the basket. Not in a bag. (That probably accounts for thirty dollars or so of my over budget).

Behind me, Hayden was tending to Blake and Nathan.

The once-empty self check-out line quickly began to fill up with customers. Customers who were all looking at Me and My Hoodlums. I felt eyes peering at me from every direction.

At one point, Blake started to squeal and I turned around to see Hayden holding Blake's arms down.

So I stopped scanning (don't worry - Davis  scanned a few more items) and reprimanded Hayden for restraining Blake and making him squeal.

Then I got back to scanning.

That's when I heard "excuse me ma'am....excuse me ma'am....excuse me ma'am" from behind me.

I turned around right in time to see someone we'll call Mr. Mediator Man (another Walmart guest) raising his eyebrows and pointing squarely at Blake, who was whacking Nathan with a loaf of bread that very instant.

The man didn't say anything else. But his raised eyebrows said it all.

He expected me to apologize to Hayden and reprimand Blake before I rang out one more item.

So I stopped scanning again (don't worry - Davis scanned a few more items). I apologized to Hayden and said something in a very stern voice to Blake...if only to appease the long line of self-checkout customers that had suddenly turned into baby-sitters.

----
The moral of the story:
Don't self checkout with more than 3 items.
Don't bribe your kids with toys.
Don't buy something if you don't know the price of it.
Don't go to the grocery store hungry.
Don't go to the grocery store with four kids.
Just don't go to the grocery store.

***Just so no one feels sorry for my boys, 

we also went to the park, went to a play area, 

had three play dates and a sleep-over. 

Life Lately

Oh wow! It's been awhile since I have found the time to blog.

Actually, that's not true. I've found the time on plenty of days, but used that time to look at other blogs, follow crazy facebook drama, and let's face it - Live With Kelly and Michael isn't going to watch itself.

Anyway, yesterday I got an email from a friend pointing out the fact that the last day I blogged was February 22nd. Now normally I could have just ignored the strong hint that I need to get back on it, but since this particular friend had a baby less than a month ago and is still managing to FREQUENTLY update her blog, I decided to carve out time and save my Kelly Ripa watching for another day.

We've been up to a lot lately. A lot of life moving too fast. The calendar has been full with destination imagination, birthday parties, baseball practice, home decor projects, and bike rides.

Destination Imagination is a creative problem solving team that works for months to solve a central challenge. I was in something very similar in 4th and 5th grade called Odyssey of the Mind. Anyway, this year I allotted a little bit of my "leisurely time" and a lot of my garage space to managing a team of third graders. It was a team of four boys and three girls (thank God for little girls!) and it was just what I needed as I transitioned from working mom to stay-at-home mom. Because as it turns out - managing people is a hobby of mine - whether it's 30 year old professionals or 9 year old kids.

(For the record, managing a two year old is not the same. We're still in the throws of potty training, but Blake does know how to change his own diapers now...so if he doesn't figure out the whole toilet thing by college, at least his diaper changing skills will set him apart).

Sure, the weeknight practices were long, and losing my voice from explaining something fourteen times was difficult, but the whole thing was a great experience. Even the smiley face shoe marks on my wall.

(Never ask a group of kids to sit up against a wall if they are wearing shoes if your coaching will take longer than thirty seconds).

(It's a lesson I had to learn the hard way).

So anyway, the team placed 2nd place at the regional tournament and recently we spent a week in Houston for the state tournament where the competition went from what I'll call entry level DI'ers to what could only be described as PROFESSIONAL DI'ers.

Picture every cool thing you have ever seen on Pinterest.

Now picture that all of those moms united to create a group of elementary kids that competed against us at the State Tournament.

We were out of our league.

These other teams totally brought their A game.  They wheeled in wooden backdrops and replicas of the Statue of Liberty made solely of bamboo and duct tape and made our cardboard box props look like they were made by a bunch of 3rd graders.

Which makes sense. Because they were.

All that to say that we were totally out-played at the State Competition and so DI is officially over until next fall. Which I have to admit is a little sad, but we are moving on. I have to look on the bright side, this will allow for more time to do whatever stay at home moms are supposed to do. Exercise or something.

Actually, I just spent an entire hour registering Hayden for flag football this summer and tackle football this fall. Between that and Davis' baseball season that officially starts this weekend, I think we have our role as a spectator cut out for us.

And because I can't post a blog without at least one picture or video, here is one of my favorite videos I have taken over the last few months. It's Davis teaching his internet watchers (me) how to catch a fake fish.

My favorite part?

It's a toss up between the part where he acts surprised to be filmed despite the fact that he just asked me to video him ("Oh! Hey Guys!) and the part where he refers to the audience as folks ("ok folks - I really don't have all my stuff"). I guess he was explaining why he didn't catch as big of a fake fish as expected.

Which is always disappointing.

Some Days

I look forward to checking the mail.

Some days I walk back up the driveway extra slow, and linger as I sift through the junk mail / bills / and cards full of box tops (thank you Grandma Lyle!).

Those days...this is what I find when I arrive at the front door.

It feels good to be missed.

{I'll miss being missed one day.}

On Belly Buttons, Jell-O, and Me As A Nurse

Last week was quite eventful. Besides the ginormous pile of never ending laundry, the potty training that isn’t quite sticking, two destination imagination meetings, karate practice, and a flu shot to a child deathly afraid of needles, we added another wrench in our week.

Davis had a double hernia surgery.



The week before he was complaining of a stomach ache and I was bracing for the inevitable projectile vomit that Hayden had experienced only a few days earlier.

But the vomit never came.

Only tears and tummy complaints that would come out of nowhere and disappear even faster.

One day Davis went to the nurse four times. He had no fever and no symptoms other than his “tummy hurting.” She called me each time he visited her and said I’m sending him back to class – just wanted to let you know. Finally on the fourth time, I think she was so beat down that she finally suggested I come get him.

We were both still a little skeptical, but I agreed to pick him up.

Background Information regarding The Boy Who Cried Wolf: It had only been a few months since we KNEW we were duped by Davis playing hooky from school. Back in September, my first month out of the working world, Davis moped into my room early one morning complaining of some ailment (I don’t even remember what).

Jeff and I were so elated that I was now a stay at home mom, thus we didn’t have to do the whole ‘who has the more important meetings today’ dance, we forgot to do our typical interrogation to make sure Davis was actually sick – and not playing hooky.

Fast forward a couple of hours - I walked down stairs to find Davis dancing and practicing "baseball slides" - Risky Business style in the living room.



 Davis was taken back to school by lunch that day.  Okay, so back to January….present time. Hopefully, based on the video above, you can understand my uncertainty in the whole situation. Finally on night two of these come and go symptoms, we pinpointed that the pain was coming from his belly button.

As soon as Jeff heard that, he knew Davis had a hernia – something Jeff also has dealt with for years. Jeff was so confident in his diagnosis that we skipped the obligatory (read: wasteful) pediatrician visit (you know where they confirm what you tell them and then send you to the next doctor that can actually do something about it).  We made an appointment with a pediatric surgeon – who as luck would have it – had an appointment the very next morning. The surgeon and I bonded quickly after he told me he had SIX boys and no girls. He took one look at Davis’ belly button and confirmed that he had not one, but two different kind of hernias. He also validated that the pain with hernias comes and goes and all the symptoms Davis had been experiencing were completely normal.

We scheduled what was described as a very minor outpatient surgery for the following Tuesday and when asked about how long it would take Davis to recover, he shrugged his shoulders and said – ‘oh that night he will feel fine – but we will let him take the next day off of school just in case.’ Which turned out to be a BIG FAT LIE.  Davis woke up from the surgery in so much pain. Crying out in pain. Refusing a perfectly good blue popsicle.

This is the part where I am going to refrain from venting about the anesthesiologist and nurse that sent us home after the required 45 minute recovery time was met – even though he was still saying his pain number was a 10. I had been asking him his “pain number” throughout the week before and it had never gotten above a 4-5….so I knew he was seriously hurting. I had to hold back the mama bear in me and not scream – WHY DO YOU KEEP ASKING HIM IF HE IS FEELING BETTER – BUT YOU ARE GOING TO SEND HIM HOME EVEN THOUGH HE IS TELLING YOU HE IS NOT!

That night he was not completely fine, as the doctor had suggested. Nor was he fine the next day. Or the next. In fact, over the course of the next three days, Davis would lay in bed, and refuse to get up for almost anything other than the bathroom. Over the course of the week, he watched the same movie on repeat twelve times.

TWELVE TIMES!

Not because I wouldn’t switch out the DVD, but because I think it required too much of his own energy to decide on another movie. Green Jell-o was delivered to him on a schedule more frequent than his Tylenol with Codeine. Sprite was at his beckon call. He was spoon fed fruit and cottage cheese. And then by day 3 he got used to all the pampering. And started to get a bit demanding. This is what being sick in the year 2013 looks like. (jelowe = jell-o).

I promise I wasn't texting in my nursing skills the WHOLE time - but I was just sick of watching that dang movie so I'd occasionaly do my "rounds" via text.

Then finally the weekend rolled around and things started looking up for sweet Davis. Although with Monday right around the corner, he knew he needed to plan ahead. One night while we were saying prayers, we talked about how he had a doctor’s note and he wasn’t going to have to participate in PE for two whole weeks – until he is completely recovered. He argued that he should probably just come home during PE time, because the section of the gym where the kids sit out is really stinky.  Then he moved on to his next requirement for going back to school.

He should probably go ahead and get a note for Music too. 

Because when he sings, he uses his stomach muscles and it was really going to hurt.

And that is when I knew – the argumentative-got-to-have-the-last-word Davis I know and love was back.  So today Davis is officially back in school after missing 6 out of the last 9 days.

 He’s still kind of walking like an old man from the stitches in his belly, but he’s there – and I’m here – eating left over jello.

*** Note: all the pictures of Davis above were taken BEFORE the surgery and AFTER the silly juice. A big thanks to Aunt Amy for the super-cute Build a Bear that definitely helped to brighten Davis's day.

Command Center

The next thing on my home decorating to do list was a mud room to store the thousands of shoes, backpacks, school papers, and McDonald's happy meal toys that seem to be overflowing from my car. I have been loving all the pins coming out with Ikea furniture that has been dressed up and adapted to fit a mud room, like this one.

But since a mud room for us would involve knocking down walls, and pulling up tile, I was forced to put it on my long term to-do list - which will probably be when Nathan graduates college, which ironically, will be the exact time I will no longer need a mud room.

So I settled for the next best things I have been drooling over on Pinterest....a command center to keep up with our ever growing calendar.

I really thought of the wall as more of a decoration than a true calendar since my calendar is stored online, until Jeff reminded me to update it the other day. Apparently, this is the only way he knows how many birthday parties, karate belt tests, and baseball playoff games to look forward to during the week.

Photo Collage Wall

I've been knocking out my five year running home to-do list lately.

One of the first things on the list was creating a photo collage wall right when you come into the house. I love the way it turned out but the lighting is terrible, so it's hard to capture the true colors.

I know you can buy these frames at Organic Bloom or you can also buy the unfinished frames at Cut It Out , but since I'm an instant gratification type of girl, I bought all of my wall decor (including the hooks and paisley frame) at Hobby Lobby and then just painted a few of them to go with my color vision (white, blues, and purple).

Dog Training At Its Finest

Except when he says "SIT" it sounds more like an obscenity than an actual command.

A Whole New Meaning To The Phrase "Bench Warmer"

Easy Peasy Almost Homemade "Crab Cakes"

As you know if you have been reading this blog for almost any length of time, I am fairly new to the kitchen, even though I became a wife 13 years ago and a mom 9 years ago. I love trying new things, but just not that creative when it comes to food.

But now I have turned over a new leaf since I recently started my new career staying at home. And since my newly revised "goals" included being more domestic, I thought I would start trying some new things on a weekly basis....assuming there aren't more pressing things going on in the Lyle house - like dressing up a medium size pumpkin like a fictional character, for example.

But before I begin, you should know that my favorite cooking show on TV (I'm not even sure it's still on TV) is Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade. She is right up my alley because she takes a few store bought ingredients and turns them into her own.

I love that.

Take something and make it look like it took a lot of time... leaving more actual time to help with homework, cart kids around to practices, and decorate pumpkins like fictional characters.

Even Rachel Ray's thirty minute meals are over my skill set. Pretty much every dish I make in the kitchen has a prep time of 15 minutes or less (longer cook times are okay, as long as I can multi-task), whether it's dinner on a weekday practice night, or a side dish for Thanksgiving.

So here is my own concoction of Easy Peasy Almost Homemade "Crab Cakes" using only two ingredients. They look super fancy, taste delish, and take two ingredients.

Crescent Rolls + Crab dip (found in the seafood section)

The crescent rolls are already cut into triangles, but cut in half again to make 4 triangles.Spoon in crab dip.

Fold over the corners of the triangles.

Place into the oven on 375 degrees for 11 minutes.

Enjoy!

20 Little Things I Love About Fall

I am joining The Inspired Room’s link party this month and right now it’s all about fall nesting. I love all things fall – here’s 20 little things I love, in no particular order. Check back this month and I will also show you what else I am working on this month. It includes organizing, redecorating, and learning how to decorate for the season (which is somewhat new for me, with the exception of Christmas).

1. I love the annual trip to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch to enjoy hayrides, bounce houses, and lots of photo ops. This is a must do in fall t to capture the obligatory pumpkin shots….sometimes with costumes, sometimes without. Sometimes with tears, sometimes without. But never to purchase the pumpkins there because Holy Moly Expensive – especially when compared to the rolled back Walmart pumpkin prices of $2.88.
2. Fall Baseball. I love the cooler weather that fall brings and Jeff and I literally argue over who gets to take Davis to baseball practice because of how relaxing it is (sans little kids) to sit outside in the evening and watch the sunset (and batting practice, of  course).
3. I love that the temperature is finally tolerable enough for a hike around the park to look for creatures. Jeff took the boys out this weekend while I was out of town and found 40+ craw-daddies. The boys were so excited, they filmed themselves doing a "news report" about it.
4. Pumpkin Scented Candles
5. The first pot of chili of the season. This also always causes a little bit of argument in our house, because my idea of the first pot of chili is when the first “cold front” hits, regardless of how cold it actually is. In Texas, a “cold front” could be 89 degrees.
6. Fall football. So far, we have only made it to college football games to see the Aggies play – but since tickets are ridiculously expensive this year, watching the Lewisville Fighting Farmers (a local high school team) will have to do on a go forward basis.
   
7. Starbucks pumpkin spice latte are out. However, truth be told - Jeff makes fun of me because I always ask for the “seasonal” latte, regardless of what season it is.
8. Seeing the State Fair of Texas (from afar)! We have a strict rule on our house - one fair visit every five years and we aren't due to go again until 2015, but it is still fun to hear about all the crazy fried food concoctions every year.
9. The elementary school vocabulary parade. So far, I have yet to convince the kids to recycle a prior year costume so we have been "Partly Cloudy", a "cube", a "laptop", and a "pattern". Hopefully, one day it will be cool to recycle some of these vocabulary costumes. Isn't that one of the benefits of having older siblings.  
   
   
   
10. Fall is Birthday Season in our family. There are lots of cousins, and with that comes lots of birthdays. Three out of four of my boys were born in a 25 day window. Double birthdays….costume birthdays….forgotten birthdays…it all comes with the territory.
    
    
    
11. The Plano Balloon Festival. I already mentioned this is one of my favorite traditions of all time. This year didn't disappoint.
12. Bike rides around the park
13. Annual Pumpkin Carving Party
14. Prestonwood’s fall festival
15. Trick or Treating with cousins. Last year we joined Matt and Melissa and had so much fun that I think we declared ita tradition.
    
    
16. Canton Trade Days Hint, hint…Mom…Tiffany…anyone? Technically these run all year long, but Fall is the best time to go.
17. Picking out Halloween costumes… especially costumes for the two boys I still have a say in the choices. Have you seen the little lobster baby costume in the big silver pot in the Pottery Barn catalogue? With the Dad dress up as a chef? So Cute! Nathan needs it!
18. Thanksgiving Dinner! Thanksgiving leftovers. Thanksgiving leftover-leftovers. I bet I just gained 5 pounds typing that sentence.
19. Black Friday Shopping. Its mandatory to go shopping on the day after Thanksgiving regardless of whether my Christmas list is firmed up.  Mimi and I will start around 7am (although we always plan to start earlier) and GrandDad drives us around and drops us off at the doors. So spoiled.
20. Family Photo Shoot for Christmas cards -  and the joy that whole experience brings. And by joy, I am referring to the final, printed pictures....not the actual process. Anyone that has tried to coordinate family pictures and family outfits and force their kids to stand still, smile, open their eyes, not smile like that, and not look posed knows what I am talking about.

Pinterest {Addiction}

I've talked about my addiction to pinterest (or "Pin-Interest" as my mom says) a time or two before.

I don't know why I like it so much. It's the number one website to visit if you want to feel completely inept at whatever you are trying to do.

Recently I even had to take a break from logging in because:

1) Jeff banned it after one too many "$50 dollars and less than thirty minutes" projects that ended up costing "$300 and a long weekend"

2) When I started to realize that I was starting every third sentence with "I have this friend on pinterest that..."

But no temporary hiatus will stop this addiction. Even Hayden has joined in on the pinterest craziness. There are many 'a mornings that I am woken up at 5:30 am with a tap tap tap on the shoulder and whispered request of the boy craft du jour - "can we have a pinterest day and look up how to make ninja outfits."

So in honor of my "addiction" here is my latest craft project that I completed without stealing the idea from pinterest.

Box from target dollar spot + silhouette machine + vinyl + free 'monogram' font = great gift idea for weddings, babies, birthdays, or Christmas.

{Hot} Air Balloon Festival - AKA: The Boon Festival

Last weekend, we went to my favorite festival of all time...the hot air balloon festival.

It's become somewhat of a tradition to go every year but we have had to skip out the last couple of years because of the babies. So this year, when we got a flier in the mail a couple of months ago, Hayden was so excited to show his younger brothers the hot air balloons. We went on Saturday evening and once the sun set, the weather was amazing. It's sort of a beating to get to with all the traffic but totally worth it once you do finally arrive.

Blake LOVED it but I can't say it had anything to do with the hot air balloons.

In fact, I am not even certain he noticed the hot air balloons.

With all the talk about balloons, he became fixated on all the little yellow latex balloons that were being passed out to the kids. And when those kids would inevitably drop their balloons, and they would float up into the sky - Blake would squeal with glee.

"BOON!" he'd shout as he pointed to a tiny spec in the sky...over and over and over.

Each time more excited than the last.

And in addition to watching small yellow latex balloons float away, we also enjoyed roasted corn on the cob (which almost resulted in the fall of Davis' front baby tooth), greasy corn dogs and the company of Mimi and Granddad!

And when evening rolled around, we watched the balloons glow in the night sky.

Sloppy Joe {Recipe}

We have Sloppy Joes for dinner about once a month and there always has to be some clarification around which kind of Sloppy Joes they are.

Jeff prefers pulled pork sandwiches (which we call Sloppy Joes) as opposed to the ground beef Sloppy Joes.

Hayden prefers the ground beef Sloppy Joes.

To keep the peace, I rotate the variety up.

I'm kind like that.

Anyway, on this particular night, Hayden found out we were having Sloppy Joes and he and I had that same old "which kind of Sloppy Joes" conversation. This time, with a twist.

Hayden: What are we having for dinner?

Me: Sloppy Joes.

Hayden: YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Wait!!?!?!?

Which kind??!??

Is it the stringy kind of pork stuff or is it the kind that looks like mashed up barf?

Me: Uhm. The kind that looks like mashed up barf, although that's not how I would describe it.

Hayden: YESSSSS!!!

That's my favorite!

****

p.s. isn't it ironic that this is the first post under "recipes" on the menu bar up top. They are going to get better, I swear. Once I finish my bon bons, my soap operas, and quit jacking around with this website, I will surf Pinterest and find something better.

Or you can just go straight to my pinterest account and make the assumption I have made everything I've pinned and check out all the super-creative "friends" I am living vicariously through.

Sitting Up Without {Falling}

Sitting up today...

arguing with me about wearing collared shirts tomorrow.

{Black and White}

{Verse} Versus

As the boys get older, they seem to lose their little boy-isms,

little by little each day. For this reason, I have stopped correcting them

when they say words wrong.

These days it's just so far and few between that they mispronounce something or use a word incorrectly, that now it's just better to let it slide, and let serve as a reminder that they are still little boys...little boys that don't know everything, even though they would have you believe they do.

One of those boy-isms is the way Hayden and Davis add an 's' plus and apostrophe 's' to the word mine.

"That's mines's!" they'll shout about a toy or snack or whatnot.

Another, is the way they misuse the word "versus."

Hayden and Davis "verse" each other constantly.

Whether it's in a made up game of pirates, or a game of basketball, they use this word all the time. And now that they are getting older, they are starting to show more interest in college sports as well.

Who are the Aggies versing today?

So when I saw this topic, I couldn't help but think of them.

Fall baseball is in full swing now and Davis is on a Great Team.

The team is amazing and has been playing together for three seasons. Last season, they finished second in the playoffs. It feels good to be on a winning team for a change.

Just to give you an idea, we've been in PSA for three years now, and just found out last week that they even had playoffs.

I can't say Davis adds a whole lot of value but being with better players is definitely improving his game. It's so fun to watch that I actually look forward to the evening practices...just sitting back, relaxing, watching him play, and enjoying this cooler air that has rolled in these last few weeks.

So here is a thirty second highlight clip of his last game.

On this particular day, the Giants were "versing" the Giants.

And as Davis says at the end of the video,

"It's not about winning. It's about having fun."

(But for the record, we won...15-1, no less)

{Size}

 

This was the growth guessing game that was written
on the dry erase board for Nathan's birth.

 

It's become a tradition to guess the
weight, height. and time of birth during the labor process

to help pass the time, and bring into play
my favorite thing ever - a competition.

 

Not to gloat, but I totally ROCKED my guesses,
coming in at FIRST PLACE!

 

Nathan was born at 7:01pm, weighing 6 lbs 2 ounces,
 and was 19 inches long.
 

Granted, I could have stalled my  "pushing" to secure the win,
but note that I was right on the money on the weight
and only 1/4 of an inch off on the height.

 

That's less than a CENTIMETER people!

 

I think you could say, by the fourth time around,

I was pretty good at making these sorts of predictions.

{Two More Minutes}

 

We've adopted a new strategy in the Lyle household and if you have seen me in the last month, its likely you have heard me raving about our Best Parenting Tool EVER.

 

Also, it's our only Parenting Tool I can think of.

 

It's called the Time Timer.

 

It is technically for toddlers to help them understand the concept of time (time out for 2 minutes, we'll go to the park in 20 minutes, etc.) and when I bought it, that's what I thought I would use it for.

 

But then I realized that while Blake has no idea of the concept of 1 minute vs. 30 minutes, the older boys probably didn't either. Also, as they get older, I realize that it's just common courtesy to give them upfront expectations regarding the daily plans.

 

Think about it...even as adults we get annoyed if we are busy doing something and someone walks up and says "Stop what you are doing. Put on your shoes. We are leaving. NOW!"

 

The night before the first day of school this year, I had a light bulb moment and decided to use it for the bigger boys. Each morning, during the breakfast/cartoons/getting dressed routine, Jeff sets the timer for 45 Minutes.

 

If the kids are completely ready by the time the timer goes off (the red disappears), they earn their electronics privilege after school. Originally the plan was that they would lose their privileges if they were not finished in time, but Jeff came up with the brilliant idea to flip around the sentence and make it more about positive reinforcement instead of negative consequences. It's really the same thing, but it's all in the way you say the sentence.

 

Anyway, this has been a life changer in our house.

 

Before the Time Timer, you would hear Jeff and I barking out orders to Brush Your Teeth! Put Your Shoes On! from every room in the house. I'd say on an average morning, we'd say it around 1,897 times.

 

But Now!

 

Now we don't have to say anything except noting that the timer is starting.

It's so much better and happier in our house because of this one simple clock and incentive.

 

If I do happen to see that they are struggling staying focused, I just ask one of the boys to confirm how much time is left since I pretend that I am "racing the clock" as well.

 

So far, so good. We are at 100% success and they are both riding the bus to school now, meaning they are walking out the door about 40 minutes earlier than last year.

 

I highly recommend it.

Buy one here.

{Oops}

So, as it turns out, you should never go to Walmart during naptime.

Not even if your new, naive, stay at home logic tells you

 that it will "wear him out" and he will take a really good nap when he gets home.

Not even if you think chicken nuggets and a fancy Suburban

of shopping carts will win him over.

Don't be fooled by the picture above.

Less than five minutes before that picture was taken, Blake was

literally flopping on the ground behind the cart. I could have buckled him

in but I knew that he would not like that and he when he doesn't like something,

he will let the world know.

So I stopped and regrouped.

Just then, Elmo happened to call on my iphone and

so I let Blake take the call.

I got everything under control but  this lady must

have been following behind me for the whole dragging incident

because just as I got him sitting in the seat and happy, she walked by me

and said "Bless Your Heart."

Read that sentence again.

She didn't just think "Bless Your Heart."

or mumble "Bless Your Heart."

She wheeled her cart up next to me.

Stopped.

Looked me in the eyes.

And Said "Bless Your Heart" with a subtle tilt of her head

and knowing nod.

I am sure she was trying to make me feel better. I guess?

But I couldn't help but take it as a big, fat,

"Needs Improvement"

stamp on my goals I posted the other day.

To make matters worse, I ran into an old co-worker while I was there. 

I was erroneously assuming that everyone I know works, therefore no one would

recognize me at Walmart. I was wearing black yoga pants, hair in a messy bun,

no make up and looking like the definition of a worn out mom.

Oops.