details

Sunday morning I was on it. You know, the ball. Angus woke up early so I was able to put him back to bed at 7:00 and hop in the shower and actually put some effort into my appearance for church. I blow dried my hair for the first time in 2 months. I just got my toes and hair done too, mentioned in my previous post. And I just did all the laundry so all my cute clothes were clean. I was feeling pretty good as I walked out of the house in my cute clean outfit, my blow dried, recently highlighted hair and I put my black heels on (well... wedges) to match my pretty toes.

Dan took the big girls to their Sunday school rooms and I took the babies to theirs. I dropped off Angus who also looked pretty cute I must say. Addie slept in her dress the night before, however, but no one could tell. I took Addie to the potty because we are still potty training and then we went to wash her hands.

That's when I saw it. My reflection in the mirror. My smile quickly turned into a look of panic. Aaahhhhhhh!  I forgot to put makeup on!!!! 

Okay I know. Much more tragic things are happening right now all over the world. But when you're 35 and sleep deprived and in denial that you aren't 25 anymore you NEED mascara, eyeliner and eyebrow pencil (especially when you're blondish eyebrows disappear without it). Oh well, at least I could put my sunglasses on outside. So close to fabulous.

Chuck E. Cheese. Friend or Foe?

Mari's daughter Grace turned 6 today. Happy birthday Gracie! And because Mari is a giver, she agreed to take her to Chuck E. Cheese and because I love Mari, I couldn't let her do that alone so I came too.

Imagine you are sitting at Chuck E. Cheese (I know you don't want to but just humor me) and good ol' Chuck comes out and all the kids go nuts like they always do because Chuck makes it rain tickets for crying out loud. But then you hear a kid start screaming no! no! NOOOOOOOO! and her face turns red and displays a look of horror. She's in tears she is so upset. And then you realize that her eyes are fixed on Chuck E. Cheese. She's totally, completely terror-stricken. 

That was Mya today. I had no idea that her fear of humans dressed as animals had reached this new level. Last time she ran away from him but there was no screaming and no crying. It's like he was coming to get her. She tripped over Mari's stroller and dove into the booth behind me. 

I was in tears too, but because I was laughing so hard. I felt horrible but I couldn't stop. It was so completely ridiculous. She knows that there is a person in there but she can't help it. She freaks the freak out. 

But she is SO brave. With tears streaming down her face, she asked, "Is he gonna throw tickets?" I assured her that he would like he always does and bless her little heart, she got up the courage to sprint over there, grab a handful of tickets and sprint back. So brave! Oh Mya.

After Mya calmed down and everyone ate their pizza and cashed in their tickets for vouchers, all the girls went over to buy ridiculously overpriced toys with their vouchers. 

Then it was Winter's turn to melt down. She came back in tears still holding her voucher and said, "I just wanted the cotton candy but that man wouldn't let me get it!" The bigger girls informed me that it was 200 tickets and Winter had 29. So I bought her a popsicle and she was all better. 

The girls were entertained for an hour and a half AND Chuck E. Cheese sells beer because they're smart. It's a win win. 

5:11

Here we are at 5:11AM hanging out in the living room while the rest of the world sleeps. These two have been taking turns waking up since 2AM. Angus decided it was time to get up at 4:55. He cried loudly and woke Addie up who then turned all the lights on in the house. She's always super excited about morning time. Winter came down ready to play and I sent her back to bed. You may get up when the gets up I told her. I set my alarm for 5:30 in order to read my bible and pray for patience and peace but that's obviously not happening today. It's too bad cuz I really need that extra patience today with all the sleep deprived children. 

Look at Angus. Obviously he's still tired. Why then did he need to get up? Angus is by far the worst sleeper of the 4 kids. He goes to bed at 7:00 with his sisters. He has yet to let me sleep past 5:00. One day...

Augusting

We are still potty training. Instead of being naked now, Addie wears panties at home. She's getting the idea. Yesterday she ran to the potty but forgot to take her panties off so she peed in her panties on the potty... and then I heard, "MOOOOM! I ALL WET!" You'll get it one day sweetie.

Kraft Mac and Cheese. Providing 10 minutes of sanity (okay more like 5) for mommies since 1937. (I looked it up)

Angus has 3 sisters. I'm not sure when he's going to figure out he's not a girl... I'll give him some more time. 

Dan and I went to a Dodger game. You can tell I don't get out much.

5 loads of laundry. A normal Friday night =)

So many things in my crazy mom life make me laugh. These days this is one of them. Angus's tranquilizer swing. No matter what time of day it is, if I put him in this swing, he cannot keep his eyes open. The motion of the swing is so relaxing it's too much for his little eyelids. I sit there and push him and just laugh. 

I know my baby swing won't hold Angus much longer because he's about 30 pounds and what baby weighs 30 pounds? I'm hoping Dan installed it to support a 10 year old. Dan builds everything with extra enforcement and safety. 

Mya turned 7! We had a combined birthday party with Grace who turned 6. Mya was more than pleased to share the attention with someone else. She gets "umbarrassed" when everyone is looking at her. Pool party. Easiest birthday ever. Pool, pizza, popsicles. Done. 

Mom came over yesterday and watched the little ones and I got my hair and my toes done! Sittin' in the carline like

I'm not actually that patriotic. I just lost the other 5 pairs of sunglasses I purchased at Forever 21. I knew I should have bought 10. 

Dan's last stand

When you have 4 kids, you have to let go of a clean house, a clean car, a clean anything really. Everything is used and abused by little people and it doesn't help that there isn't time to clean it. I've embraced the dirty. I'm not happy with the mess. I hate it. But I've accepted it. Dan isn't quite there. He's come a long way but not the whole way. 

Since we got the minivan before Addie was born, Dan has insisted that it stay nice. He gets really grumpy when it's dirty on the outside or smelly on the inside. He'll kindly remind me that I should head to the carwash. I laugh at him because this is a battle he's not going to win. 

The other day he came home from work and took the kids to school like the helpful husband he is. Before he headed out he yelled, "Hey the van stinks!" I replied, "Thanks?" 

Twenty minutes later I got a text from him, "Going to the carwash."  When he got home, he didn't come inside. I guess he decided the carwash didn't do a good enough job. He still wasn't happy with the smell. So he tore all the carseats out and threw them inside to be washed and went to town on the van like an OCD crazy man. He sprayed the leather with cleaner, vacuumed out every corner and pretty much made it look new again. He spent hours out there. And it was 100 degrees outside. 

Mya came inside after he picked her up from school and said, "Mom, you gotta see the car. It looks like new!" I just rolled my eyes, irritated that I hadn't seen him all day and thought the van was perfectly fine the way it was. He was very pleased with himself and kept telling me what a great job he did, expecting a thank you. I refused. I think I eventually half-heartedly sarcastically said, "Thanks for spending all day cleaning the car out in 100 degree heat while I listened to crying babies all morning. You have issues."

I told my mom what he did and her reply was, "Wow! You are so lucky to have such an amazing husband!" She was serious. Love you mom.

The next day, I was keeping the babies happy with crackers in the pickup car line as I often do. When we got back home and pulled into the driveway, Mya exclaimed, "Mom! Look at that mess. Daddy would NOT be happy. He would say, pick that up right now!" At least he has Mya's support... But seriously, look at that floor. It does look kinda new... Whatever. "Try and keep it clean kids!" He says. Hilarious.

sippy cup of shame

Mya and Winter now go to the same school, Stanton Elementary. Hallelujah, no more preschool drop offs with two babies in tow. All I have to do is drive up to the school and push the button to open the car door. They walk in all by themselves. So easy. I have been to a few schools in the area and the drop off situation is kind of a mess. I've always appreciated Stanton because it is very organized and safe. And that is because they have two car line people that take their job seriously and keep things running very smoothly. There is a car line guy that stands near one end of the line and a lady that stands near the other end. Sorry I don't know what else to call them. 

Well, this morning, something happened that resulted in this mom yelling at the car line lady.  

We've only done drop off with both girls a few times and we have some kinks to work out. It seems like it takes the girls forever to get out of the car. Nobody see's the urgency of the situation. They both hug and kiss me which is fine. Of course there is time for a quick kiss good-bye but then Addie wants a big long hug from Mya and Winter. She goes mmmm I yuv you sissy. Mmmm I yuv you Mya. How can you say no to that? 

As Mya and Winter were finally getting out of the car I heard Angus's sippy cup fall into the street by the curb. When Angus hears a door open, he likes to throw whatever he's holding out said door. Why? I don't know. Why not? I yelled to Mya to grab it but she didn't hear me. So I got out of the car to go get it and the car line guy told me to pull forward. Seriously? I just wanted to grab my brand-new sippy cup that arrived yesterday from Amazon. The only one that Angus will drink out of. But I complied, slightly annoyed, and got back in my car and started to move forward. 

Then the car line lady yelled at me "Pay attention! There's a car pulling out behind you!" I guess she thought I was leaving and was going to pull out too? But I wasn't. I was pulling forward like I was told to. I was being totally obedient. And yet she was yelling at me like I was doing something wrong. Irritation started to build. Then she yelled again. "Pay attention!" My irritation became anger. "I AM PAYING ATTENTION!" I yelled back and got out of the car, slammed the door, and marched over to go get my sippy cup that was sure to be smashed. The car line guy handed me my cup that he was nice enough to rescue for me. Thank you! I yelled with no smile and walked back to my car. Everything OK?! The car line lady asked. WHAT?! NO! UGH! I yelled in my meanest voice. Then I slammed my car door and left. 

As I was driving away I looked down at the sippy cup next to me. Tears started to well up. Shame on me. I totally just yelled at the car line lady. She was just doing her job. She was protecting the kids. My kids. She thought I was going to cause an accident. She didn't know that I was pulling forward to get my cup. I wanted to reverse and explain to her that I wasn't a crazy mean mom. 

I wanted her to understand that mornings were hard for me. I wanted her to know that Angus follows me around crying all morning because he wants to be held. I wanted her to know that Addie does not stop asking for cereal, water, crackers, yogurt, cookies, and everything else under the sun while the hungry dogs jump and pant outside the sliding glass door wanting to be fed. I wanted her to know that I have to remind the big girls 852 times to put their shoes on and put their water bottle in their backpack. I wanted to explain to her that I've never been a morning person like my happy neighbor Mark who always seems to be in a good mood no matter what. I wanted her to know that Dan was working a lot and I was hanging on by a thread.

But I couldn't explain. And now she thinks I'm a mean mom with attitude. Maybe she won't remember me, I thought. There are 30 dark grey Honda minivans at the school every morning. But wait. Mine is the only one that says in giant letters, FAITH, HOPE and LOVE on the back window. Why did I have to get that sticker? I wish there was a way to hide it when I'm feeling cranky. But I can't. People are always watching us Christians. We are supposed to be the light and salt. But it feels like lately I have been acting very dark and unsalted.

And I know exactly why. I haven't been starting my day with prayer. I haven't even glanced at my bible in the last 2 months. No wonder I'm acting like this. I'm trying to do this mom thing alone and that's just silly. 

I said a prayer then and there that God would help me get up early each morning to start my day with Him. Just 30 minutes before Angus wakes up. I can do that. And if it doesn't happen, even a quick prayer inviting the Holy Spirit into my heart would be a good start. 

I also decided that I'm going to have to apologize to the car line lady on Monday morning. And I think a donut may be in order. 

Update: I did go get donuts Monday morning. But there were two girls there and the guy was gone. I didn't remember which girl I had offended so I just thanked them for keeping the kids safe and gave them each a glazed donut. They were super excited and told me to have a great day... twice. =) 

target with 4

The other day, I took everyone with me to target because I felt ambitious I guess? Okay truth is I needed to print out a picture for Dan that he had been asking me for for months. And of course I waited until the day before his birthday to do it so I had no choice but to bring them all. Oh and we were headed to a birthday party that day so we needed a present... The repercussions of procrastination are multiplied with children. Wow that sounded super smart! I have my moments. 

Whenever I have to take all four kids anywhere I start questioning my judgment. Why did I have so many kids? Did I not think it would be a big deal to add one more to the mix? Obviously I love my babies but seriously, I didn't think this through. I didn't think about how many times I would have to take four little kids with me to Target. Who thinks about that?

So I'm at the Kodak kiosk trying to print out pictures from my phone. It is not going well. The babies start growing fussy and Mya and Winter are on the next aisle looking for a present for the birthday party. I hear them giggling which isn't really ever good. The Kodak app that I had to download in order to print pictures (lame!) is not downloading. And finally when I get it to download, I can't load the pics. Ugh, so frustrating. And the target people, no offense, have no idea how to work that thing. 

I was growing more angry and flustered by the minute and finally gave up and actually yelled something like dammit I hate you Kodak! Poor Dan. He didn't get anything for his birthday. Not even a card. It's okay. I think he's used to it. 

Then I moseyed over to where the big girls were to see that they had suckered an old man into helping them reach for some toys on a high shelf. He looked at me and then looked at the floor where there were several unwrapped little packages. They were trading cards and stickers that winter had decorated herself with. Oooooh not cool girls. Mama was not in the mood. I was so mad I couldn't even say anything. I picked up all the empty wrappers, threw them in the cart and walked over to the toy section to pick out a present.

Picking out presents for birthday parties is one of their favorite things to do so I decided that their first punishment would be to watch Mommy pick it out. Then I picked out a card and a bag and tissue paper and proceeded to pay for all my things. I don't think I said a word to the lady at the checkout. But she did tell me that she hoped my day got better. What a sweetie.

i heart school

 It's the most wonderful time of the year. I love you teachers. It's weird. Summer is so hard but always flies by. It doesn't feel like it has been two months. It's a busy time of year with no schedule and lots of sun. And some fun I guess =)

I would have never made it through without a little help, however...

How i survived this summer...

Limeritas and lots of them. 

The pool - many early evenings were spent at the pool with neighbors, talking, laughing and yelling at our kids together. So fun. 

Mango black tea - Going to Target with little ones isn't so bad with a refreshing iced tea from Starbucks.

Microwaveable breakfast sandwiches - I have heated up about 50 of them this summer... literally. They are the perfect breakfast, lunch or dinner on the go. They are perfect to take to the pool or on the way to gymnastics or heading out on a road trip to Yosemite or Bakersfield. 

TV - I'm not going to lie. TV saved me this summer. It is a wonderful invention. It was even used as punishment sometimes. If you were one of my neighbors you would have heard me yell, "Go to my room and watch TV! Right now!"

Acceptance that anything goes. A few years ago I decided that I wasn't going to try to be a good mom during the summer. Summer is a break from all of that. Sounds unhealthy doesn't it. Well, around here, I'm just trying not to kill anyone until Dan's work schedule calms down and the girls get back into the swing of things and I have a spare minute to do housework. Summer is a time for In 'N' Out and Chick Fil-A. Eggs become a dinner food and lunches don't really exist. But we made it!

Lifesaver neighbors - Melissa is always there to steal a baby or two so I can take the big girls to gymnastics or the pool or go grocery shopping. Rylie (10 year old saint) is always there to take Addie home with her for an hour or swim with Angus so I don't have to get in. She occasionally drops by to play with my babies just when I'm starting to go over the edge. Love that girl. And good ol' Mari. Although I didn't see as much of her as I would have liked to this summer, just knowing she was down the street living the same crazy summer life as me was comforting. She was always down to go to the pool or the park anytime too. And let's not forget the gas station kid rescue =)

Mom - my amazing mother is always willing to help me with the kids. I come over and turn her house upside down and leave it in shambles and she says, "Don't worry about it! It's always so good to see you guys!" Love that lady.

And last but not least, my amazing husband. He's such a giver. He got up with the babies on many occasions and let me sleep in as long as I wanted, sometimes 'till 9 or 10 in the morning. He always fixes what I break and is patient with the impressive piles of laundry and dishes he comes home to after 2, 3 or 4 hard days at work. And he doesn't say anything about the slightly larger credit card bills I accrue entertaining the children any way that I can think of. He tells me I'm amazing and loves me unconditionally. He really is wonderful. I don't say it enough. Love you Honey!  

What I learned this summer:

I should not rent library books. They sit untouched until they are due back and yet there is always one missing and I have to stress about it and re-check them out until I can find the missing book. 

I should not rent redbox DVDs. I just can't return something in 24 hours. It is simply impossible. Pretty smart of the redbox people I must say. I'm sure I'm not alone in this one. 

robin and jewel

My cousin Robin and her daughter Jewel came down to visit us from Oregon recently. She told me she really wanted to make it on to the blog. So I'm dedicating a whole post to her =)

Robin is a very fun, talkative, passionate lady that makes me laugh all day long. Not sure how she has the energy but I love it. Jewel, 13-year-old cuteness, is a super sweet, funny, cool, down to earth, tech savvy teen with a love for kids, which I appreciate. Both of them easily won the hearts of all of my children. And for that, they are amazing. When someone gushes over my kids, they hold a special place in my heart.

When I was growing up, in the summer, Robin would come stay with my Grandma, and my sister and I would sleep over and stay up late and have a month long slumber party. At least a couple years for me, probably longer for my sister. I was the younger little annoying tag along. But I had so much fun hanging with the big girls. I remember lots of swimming, costco tubs of treats, chocolate pudding and Grandma's square dancing outfits that we would try on and dance around in. We would stay up late and watch shows I hated (and now love) like The A Team, Gilligan's Island, The Love Boat, MASH, Murder She Wrote, The Facts of Life and others I can't recall. Yeah... I'm 35. We played Monopoly and Mother May I a lot. We played lots of pool games like marco polo, professional scuba divers, mermaids and performed a record amount of underwater handstands and flips. We pretty much lived outside and only came in to eat usually.

Over the years, we all started growing up and life got in the way and Robin would come out for a week or so here and there. It was always fun to see her. Addie was just born the last time she came out so it was fun for her to see the babies in person (not just on Facebook)

Wendy arranged a giant family get-together like she does, and managed to get everyone to Bakersfield in the hottest time of the year. And oddly enough I don't remember being hot at all. I love hanging out with my family. They are just the best. Some cousins even joined us from Napa. Click HERE to see a little video my uncle Doug made. (and Jewel gets camera girl credit! =))

Then the following Monday my sister talked my mom into watching my four kids (along with my brother's 3-year-old) so we could go to Magic Mountain with Robin and Jewel. I'm so glad she did because I never get to spend kid free time with them and we had the best time. And mom survived the 5 children! Thanks Mom!!

I was a lot braver in my 20's, and I'm not used to walking around outside in the summer heat, and it took about an hour to recover from each roller coaster but it was all totally worth it. There were also a lot of bees darn it. They really need to do something about that. But I survived the crazy rides and bees and extreme heat and live to blog about it. The scariest rides of the day were Tatsu and Lex Luther's death plummet or whatever it's called. Tatsu was fun but I did NOT feel safe. Lex Luther was just ridiculously high. No thanks.

Here are some pics that Robin, Jewel and Wendy took. I did take a pic of my Limerita slushy. I was just too excited about it. A slushy margarita when it's 95 degrees outside and you just nearly died of a heart attack from the death plummet? Yes please. Totally worth the $12. Oh and I felt the need to document the gum tree I saw in line that repulsed me. Animals.

Good stuff. 

Bye Robin and Jewel! 'Till next year!

fitness friday - for real

Thirty-two days 'till the Wagenbrenner Newport Beach vacation aaaaahhh! That's half excitement and half panic and half motivation (I know that's 3 halves) to get my booty fit before I have to hang out in a bikini for two weeks.

I know I know poor me. I have to go live at the beach for a couple weeks. I'm getting no sympathy from anyone on this one.

You look great! they say. Oh but they don't know what people look like out there in Newport. 11 months out of the year I have great self esteem. I put on my size 6 Target jeans and strut like the cute mom that I am. But come September I become very aware of my pale cellulite filled thighs, my muffin top and my flabby arms. Ugh, so annoying! Why do all the ladies out there have to look like TV people??! It's ok I have a plan. Operation Newport. It's time to get serious about this fitness Friday business.

For the next 30 days, my plan is to workout 6 days a week which includes running when Dan is home and doing Fitnessblender.com workouts when he's at work. No way I'm running with four kids.

I haven't been working out much these days. I tell myself I'm an active mom of four. I don't have to work out every day. But I guess rolling around on the floor with Angus is not helping my fitness as much as I thought it was. So 6 days a week it is!

Also, no sugar except for my mandatory after dinner dark chocolate snack. Red wine only for the next 30 days as well. No beer or margaritas or any of that sugary stuff I love. 

Lots of water all day. 

Plenty of rest so I have energy to workout!

Breakfasts consisting of eggs, avocados, tomatoes and smoothies.

Lunches consisting of salads.

Dinner consisting of fish or chicken and veggies.

No snacking. If I have to, I can have nuts or an apple and peanut butter.

Walk the dogs for 20 minutes after the kids go to bed. They need exercise too.

That ought to do it! 

It is day one and so far so good. Angus woke up at 5:30 so I decided to take him for a run. I feel fitter already. 

Near death Tuesday

I wrote this post like a week ago but I kept forgetting to get pictures of the toaster and Otter. I'm visual so I really feel that it is important to have pictures with my stories. And smart phones make it so easy to illustrate my point. 

So last Tuesday I was scrambling and egg and the doorbell rang. (That happens more than one would think) So I turned the stove off and I turned to start to walk to the door and noticed that there was a 4 inch flame in the toaster oven. A piece of burnt something had caught fire. I thought to myself, This is it. This is how I burn down the house. I went into panic mode and thought, I can't pour water on it, it's a toaster oven. How do I put out a flame in a toaster oven?! So I told myself be calm and handle the situation. It's just a tiny flame. Your house is not on fire. What would Dan do? So I turned off the toaster oven and unplugged it. The flame went down and then a few seconds later completely out. Whew that was close. 

(Here's our toaster right next to the super flammable paper calendar...)

It was my neighbor at the door. My house is such a circus these days when the doorbell rings. First the big loud dogs bark and I yell at them to stop barking and try to get them to sit or lay down so they don't run over to the door and scare whoever is on the other side (and run over a kid and escape out the door), then all 3 girls squeal and run to the door. It's a big race to see who gets their first to answer it. Mya or Winter rip the door open and Addie runs over, naked, because we are STILL potty training. Then Angus crawls over as fast as his little chubby legs can go and hopefully manages not to get trampled by the big loud barking dogs. Add a flame in the toaster oven and you've got pure chaos. 

Later that day, Winter wanted the leftover chicken Dan made for the camping trip. She's such a meat eater. She didn't even care if it was heated up as long as she could eat it off of the bone. So she went to town on her chicken, and I went upstairs to do some laundry. Ugh laundry. All the time, for the rest of my life, laundry. Sorry, where was I? So I put a load in, came back downstairs and saw an empty plate on the table. Otter was licking the floor next to the table... not good. There were chicken bones in that chicken. And Winter never puts her plate in the sink like she's supposed to... ever.

Oh man, panic mode again. Otter ate chicken bones. I started to look for my phone to call Dan (cuz I never know where it is) and then I spotted a pile of puke... chicken bone puke on the floor by the table. I've never been more relieved to see dog puke in my life. It looked like a good amount of chicken bones in the puke so I assumed Otter didn't have any in her intestines. I watched her closely for a couple of days and she's been fine since... She could have totally choked to death and died. Another close one. 

nana

Have I posted about Mya and her nana before? I'm not sure. Well if I haven't, this is Mya's most favorite thing in the whole wide world. Her blanket. One of my good friends' mom gave it to me when I was pregnant with her. It was SUPER soft and very nice. It came in a Nordstrom box so yeah. A quality blanket. I'm not sure when the attachment started to form but before Mya could speak, when she was tired, she wanted her blanket. And when she would hold it, she would make a sucking noise like she was sucking on something. She still does it =) She started calling it nana when she first started forming words. I didn't really know why until my mom said, I think she's saying night night. Makes sense. So 7 years later, she is still attached to that ratty old thing. It has gone from pink to a greyish beige color. Sometimes she takes it to my moms and forgets it there. It is the hardest few days and nights until we can go over there and get it. One time she and Winter spent the night with my sister and we forgot to pack nana. Winter said she missed mom and dad. Mya said she missed nana. I took this the other day after she had left it at my moms again. We pulled up and Mya squealed, NANA!!!! 

Reunited