Happy Hour?

Okay, I'm sure that I am not the only mom in America that hates the hour between 5pm and 6pm.  Of course, that's during the summer.  During the school year the most hated hours are from 4pm to 6pm.  These times may vary from home to home depending on the most common time that you try to have dinner ready and the time that your kids get home from school.For me, my oldest gets home from school right about the same time that the other two get up from their naps.  Certainly, everyone is wanting a snack, and I struggle very much with giving snacks this late in the day because I don't care how many promises are made, if I give snacks there will be no dinner eaten that night.  That is primarily with Jackson.  It never fails.  Middle of the day.  Jackson begins begging for food.  I tell son that he doesn't need to eat because dinner is not that far away.  He insists that starvation is near and if he does not get some food, he may in fact die.  I tell near death child that if he eats snack and does not eat dinner that death will in fact be closer than he thinks.  Dinner comes.  He takes 3 bites and says, you guessed it...he's just not hungry. And, it's usually followed by the reason being that his stomach just hurts.  Never fails...every time. We at this point have to give him a number of bites to eat of each thing before he may live!! But basically snacks have been cut out in the middle of the day so there is ALOT of whining about needing them.  So, also during this time we are trying to do homework.  I am trying to help Jackson do his homework while trying to maintain some sense of order with the constant...uhm...circus that takes place in my house.  To add some more fun while all of this is going on, this is also the time that I am trying to prepare and cook dinner so that sometime close to 6pm we can eat.  Now I understand that during the summertime, you can cut out the homework stuff.  But everyday, we still have the 5:00-6:00pm.  So if you read this here are some helpful tips for you that will in turn help me.  Please do not come by my house at this time.  I may not come to the door, not because I don't like you, but because I quite possibly can not hear you at the door and/or I can not get to the door because of circus paraphernalia lying around.  Second, do not attempt to call me during this time.  Chances are that I will not be able to hear what you are saying on the phone anyway or have any type of intelligent conversation.  Instead, spend this time in deep, intense prayer for me and every mom out there who is probably spending their "Happy Hour" the same way that I am.

New Addition

I know, you don't have to say it.  Like I really needed just one more thing in my life to manage. But...we do have a new addition to the circus.  We got him on Friday.  He is a 6 week old English Springer Spaniel and his name is Notch.  He is sooo cute.  And he has a very cute personality to match.  He fits our circus perfectly!!  The kids all love him.  I have to remind them that he thinks their hands and toes are toys so he may frequently chew on them.   They love to start running so that he will chase them so they can watch him bounce behind them.  Zoey basically ignores him, but 

he sure does like to follow her around.  Frank and I are going to

have to consider changing his name to Rotten though.  He is already spoiled rotten.   We are trying the crate.  Absolutely when we are not here.  As a matter of fact, when we left for church last night we put him in the one we borrowed from my beloved sis.  Now this crate is made of a combo of mesh and a canvas material.  It's really meant for small dogs, but we figured it would do for the puppy training.  He hates it.  So much so in fact that he clawed and chewed his way out!!  He was a free agent when we got home.  Thankfully for his sake, that was the only thing that he had  clawed and chewed.  The other thing is that at night(now I

already know what you are gonna say so don't bother) he hollers and screams and howls so bad that...yes we did...we just put him in our bed!!  And he sleeps all night.  And we don't have to take him out.  And my sleep is very important.  Literally, the moment his little paws touch the mattress, he falls asleep.  This rule also applies during the day as well!  But he is very cute and he's a keeper.  I'm sure we will get many, many stories out of this little guy.  So stay tuned!

Does anyone know what time it is?

So, here is a couple of snapshots from this morning.  They were actually having a good time with each other even though Jack wasn't smiling.  Let me give you a run down of my morning so far:

There has been 2 bowls of cereal eaten, 2 glasses of milk downed, 3 cups of coffee drank (not all consumed by me thank you very much!), 4 sets of teeth brushed, 2 packs of fruit snacks eaten(don't ask/don't tell rule applies here), 2 people completely dressed, 3 beds made, 2 loads of laundry started, 1 fruit smoothie made, 1 Bible study done(not mine haha), 1 dog let out to potty and let back inside to eat what kids dropped on floor, and 3 costume changes as noted  from the above picture of children that were awake. "Awake?" (you ask me this in a startled and questioning voice) "Yes" I answer.  Mallory is still asleep because it is only 7:45am!!!!

From My Heart to Yours

Our very dear friends Jay and Emily have been in the process of adopting a child from China for a while now and while they were on vacation this past week they found out they have already been matched with a baby!!  It typically does not happen that quickly, but God knew that baby was ready to come home.  I, myself being a very big believer in adoption whether it's local or otherwise, am so very excited for them on many levels.  One, that when she finally comes home God will have completed this process that Jay and Emily began so long ago believing that this was the direction that He wanted for their family when at times they had really nothing else to go on but faith for their confirmation.  Second, Jay being a manly man will now have 4, yes 4 girls.  But on a more personal level for me, she will bear my name...Ashley.  Ashley Mei Hao Flynt.  The little girl who has been loved before we ever knew her.  The little girl whose picture is now on my refrigerator door.  The little girl who has 3 sisters waiting at home for her.  We all can't wait to meet you sweet girl.  You are so special to us and to your mama and your daddy.  God has something so special in store for your life.  I'm so glad I get to be a part of it.  So, from my heart to yours, I will see you real soon...just hold on little girl, hold on...

All in a Day's Laundry

If you wash one of your children's peepee soaked pullups in the washing machine by accident, can you now technically call it clean and reuse it?  Not saying I did it...just asking...okay so what if I did it...twice

Morning Joe

I am NOT a coffee snob.  But, I do love coffee.  All coffee.  I love to try lots of different kinds of coffees.  I love to go out with my beloved friends to quaint coffee places here in town (we do have a couple) and when we are out of town.  I love to try new blends and flavors.  In fact, coffee or the thought thereof is truly just about the only thing that really gets me out of bed in the morning...really...I'm not kidding.  And before I was trying to limit my intake of sugar so as to decrease the size of my behind, I drank way too much of it in the morning.  Because the only way I will drink my coffee is with splenda and creamer, lots of creamer, flavored creamer.  My hubby hates it that way.  Anyway, all that basically to say that I am usually drinking my very large cup of loved juice on the way to wherever I am going in the morning.  In my plight to decrease the size of my backside, 3 of those mornings are spent going to where I affectionately have come to call the torture chamber aka the gym.  Now I do have common sense, really I do.  So here's a little tidbit for you all...don't down the majority of your large beloved coffee right before you enter the gym.  The two really don't mix all that well!

Potty Training, well kind of...

So now that Mallory is 2 it is time to start potty training and honestly she is truly interested.  She says all the time that she needs to "tee tee potty".  It's funny that no matter the length of time between the potty trainers the things that you forget or no matter how many times you have taught little people to use the potty, you feel like each one is the first.  So as I have been trying to figure out where to begin with my daughter, a thought occurred to me.  I have never taught a girl before.  This could be fun.  Easy even.  Well, today while I am rushing around trying to get my house somewhat clean before I have to go pick up Wyatt from camp, down the stairs comes said daughter announcing that she needs to go tee tee.  Now I am in a hurry at this point and I know that she really probably does not need to go, but...ok.  So we hurry to the potty and have a seat.  She looks up at me and with a smile says "read book".  I give a quick glance up to God that says "really" then go get a book.  We read the book, she gets up from potty without going, and runs back upstairs.  Fifteen minutes later same thing.  So we go to the potty again, read the same book, and then she announces that she wants to read a different book.  I initially say no.  But as she continues to protest louder and louder, I begin to rethink my initial decision.  So I give my precious daughter the original book and ask her to sit there while I go and get another book.  Upon my return, precious daughter is not so precious anymore because she got up from the potty and walked over to my carpet...and went tee tee.  So much for potty training...

Birthday Extravaganza Weekend

Saturday was my birthday.  But the celebrations began on Friday with a birthday supper at my parents house.  Earlier that day, my mother had given Mallory a surprise of some dress-up shoes.  She LOVED them!!!!  She clomped all over the house with them on.  The biggest problem was that my 3 yr old also liked them and wanted to wear them.  This would not be a problem if the 3 yr old wasn't a boy!!  Now I know that many of you are going to say that it's no big deal and not to worry about it and typically I would agree.  But the older he gets, and the more it continues, I just think that it's time to set the clear boundaries.

Also later that afternoon, I went to visit our new puppy who lives very nearby my parents house and they let me bring him over for a nice long visit.  It was the first time my children had seen him and they all fought about whose turn it was to hold him.  My daughter's maternal instinct kicked in and not believing that those stinky boys could take care of the "baby" as well as she could, she opposed very loudly any time it was suggested that it was Wyatt or Jackson's turn to hold the puppy.  She rocked him in the rocking chair like a baby and would say "Shhh, puppy seepin"  whenever she determined that we were too loud!

We had a nice dinner with my family and Steph and Ryno came and ate with us too.  However, our game of dominos that we played afterwards did not go so well and we almost called it quits as friends. (j/k)

Saturday night we went to dinner and the Wildcats game with Steph, Ryan, and Patrick.  It was alot of fun. While we were there a few very interesting things happened.  One thing was our friend Tracey Goode is the announcer at the game and my wonderful hubby sent him a text during the game telling him that it was my birthday.  Now you just have to know Tracey.  He is the biggest  jokester that ever walked the face of the earth.  On top of that, he is also the funniest person I think I have ever met.  So once Tracey got the text, you can guess what happens next.  He wishes me a happy "24th" birthday over the loudspeaker.  Yep.  Wasn't sure if I should kill Frank first or Tracey!!  But, on the upside, as natural payback for Frank doing this to me, because he had the phone in his hand from sending a text, when the football came soaring through the air right over to us, I closed my eyes and quickly ducked.  Frank did not and didn't let go of his phone so....the football bounced right off his face.  Oh yeah...   The other thing that was really funny was that Tracey didn't know the names of the opposing team so, he just used the names of the people in the stands that he did know.  For example he would say..."and there went Frank Griffin for 10 yards"...  it was pretty funny!

 I feel so lucky to have such great friends.  Some people are only lucky enough to have 1 or 2 very special friends.  God heard my cry several years ago and now truly my cup runneth over!!!

Is it just me or does anyone else need a locator device for their kids crocs?

A Rainy Afternoon

So yesterday afternoon it was storming.  My very smart hubby suggested that we all go to the movies to see WALL-E.  I quickly said yes, not really thinking it through.  Only 2 of our children have ever been to the movies before.  Our just turned 2 yr old has never been, and there is a reason for that.  So off we went, and I was really excited that finally all of us were going to be able to go to the movies together.  After we found our seats Frank went to go get the snacks along with Mallory.  Wyatt was full of questions as we watched the previews (which is my hubbys favorite part that he was missing because we were late) and Jackson thought he was Mr Cool because Frank had let him wear his sunglasses into the movie theater.  Even though it was dark, he still had them on.  The movie started and everyone settled in.  Mallory was in my lap holding her pink blanket, glued to the screen.  She and Wyatt were sharing the Reese's pieces nicely and Jack and Dad were sharing their popcorn nicely.  But, eventually the candy ran out.  Down hops Mallory to go check out what the others have.  Once she is no longer satisfied with their goodies, she makes her way back down to me.  And back and forth we go.  Wyatt decided he wants to join in the fun too.  But he decides that trying to find more candy on the floor is a better idea.  With about 40min left of the movie, Mallory being bored, thought the time right for singing.  Loudly.  She sang her A B C's and then moved on to DeekaWi (translation Deep and Wide).  At this point my husband (whose idea this was in the first place) could take no more and he grabbed the said child and took her out.  This left me with the 2 boys.  We lacked about 7min before the movie was over and both boys declared with a loud voice that they needed to go to the bathroom!  Needless to say, our first movie experience with every member of our family present was not exactly what I thought it would be.  So once at home and the kids start to go to bed, I begin to look for Mallory's pink blankie.  You know, the one that she can't live without and no other will do!  Guess where it was.  You got it!!  At the movies.  Off Frank goes to retrieve it from the theater.  Meanwhile, my daughter is crying herself to sleep because she doesn't have the "right" blankie.  By the time husband returns with the sacred blanket, little one is asleep.  Good thing too.  Frank had to fish it out of the dumpster behind the movie theater!  Guess we won't be going on another family movie outing for quite some time!

Could someone explain to me how a 3 yr old can use an entire roll of toliet paper to wipe his behind and still not get all the poop off?

Fourth of July Fireworks

So last night we took our besties and our three kids to the fireworks downtown.  None of my children had ever been before because we always had at least one that would not be able to stay up late enough to see them.  We decided that now we could and I must say that secretly I was very excited about seeing my kids faces watching the fireworks.  Now I also must remind you that I do live in a three ring circus so...we arrived downtown early to find a good parking space and to stake our claim on a great spot to see the festivities.  As we started to walk down the streets seeing all the vendors selling their tasty treats and goodies I got more and more excited.  And things were going well.  No one was crying or having a tantrum.  No one was complaining about having to hold our hands or drawing attention to themselves in any way which is always a great relief.  Once we got our ice creams and made it back to our great spot the kids were running around and playing, having a great time.  Wyatt (age 3, almost 4) and Mallory (age 2) had been chasing each other for a good 30 to 45 minutes when I noticed that Mallory no longer had on her glasses.  I asked my 2 year old what she had done with them.  She proudly pointed out that she had dropped them down a hole in something that was covering up what my hubby said looked like some gas valve.  She was all smiles.  My man was not.  Have I mentioned that it is also very hot outside?  So he did save the glasses and promptly put them back on the 2 yr old and instructed her not to take them off again.  2 yr old looks at him and grins.  Besties parents come and spread their blanket out in front of us.  On their blanket is a basket full of snacks.  My children, not really knowing these people, go sit on their blanket and begin to eat all of their food and drink their drinks.  Then finally the fireworks begin.  All appears to be going well and then my 3 yr old decides that the noise is too loud and begins to make some noise of his own.  My husband finally tells him to stick his fingers in his ears.  This seems to make everything better except now the 3 yr old can't hear himself talk and begins to speak louder than the fireworks themselves.  He also repeats the word "awesome" at least 60 times.  Meanwhile my 7yr old is sprawled out on the parents blanket appearing to be asleep and the 2 yr old is running around, not really paying attention to the fireworks at all.  Slight disappointment for me, seeing as that I was all excited for them.  But isn't that the way it normally goes?...

I've joined the ranks of blogdom!

So I've finally arrived in the world of blogging. I've been thinking about starting a blog for some time now, but my friend Steph finally got one set up for me.

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