My Wise Son

The other day my 8 year old and I decided to run a quick errand. I was completely exhausted, but we just needed 1 thing. My sons ears perked up when I invited him to go with me to Target. He quickly ran and got his wallet. He loves shopping at Target and never leaves without finding some new toy to buy. It was about 6 PM. Upon arriving, I quickly got my shopping done. My son was ready to do his. He wanted to go to the toys and then he wanted to circle the complete store because he couldn't find the Halloween display. I explained that I was tired and that surely the Halloween stuff wasn't out yet.

He kept begging, "Please, let's just go around one more time." Oh, I new I couldn't do it. Everything hurt.

I said, "Look bud, imagine if I strapped two gallons of milk on the front of you and you couldn't take them off. You had to wear them everyday, everywhere you went, even to bed."

He looked up at me and responded, "Well, if you and dad would quit going all the way, you wouldn't be in this mess." I was completely shocked, afterall, he's only 8. What was I going to say? I composed myself, surely he didn't know what he was talking about.

I said, "What does, 'Go all the way' mean anyway?"

He responded, "I don't know, but I do know that that's how babies are made." Wow, how wonderful to have my 8 year old son solve my problems. I will have to keep him in mind when I need advise in the future.

My Huge Mistake

Ahhhh! So last night while I was having my standoff with my 3 year old because she wouldn't, or couldn't, go to bed (read last nights blog for the complete story), I made a terrible mistake. I was trying to kill time, just waiting for her to fall asleep. First I began to sew, which I do quite often. At this point, I had my tape measure draped around my neck (and proceeded to leave there throughout our little standoff). I got antsy so I got onto the computer and updated my blog. I saw an ad for Monster.com and decided to search for jobs. Yeah, totally crazy since I'm getting ready to have my fourth child, as if four kids isn't a job. It's a pretty cool site and I could see how job seekers could have a lot of success. Some of the jobs sounded fun and profitable. Maybe I'll quit my current job. My husband would love that. "Honey, I've decided to quit. You'll have to find someone else to take care of the kids." Anyway, my eyes were getting tired (too bad it was about 12 AM and my daughter was not also getting tired). The tape measure was still around my neck. Hmmm. My waist looked huge at 8 months pregnant. It is bigger than it ever was with any of the other kids. A little devil on my shoulder chanted, "Measure it! Measure it! Measure it!" I did the dreaded. Ahhhhhhh! I measured it. 43.5 inches. Holy cow. I looked online and that is the equivalent of an XXXXL. I've never even seen an XXXXL. Wow, all those people who have been making comments about my size the last couple of weeks were right. I was completely depressed. I was completely huge! However, I had just won the standoff. It was 12:30 AM. My daughter had fallen asleep. Good night!

Bedtime Wars

Yes, my 3 year old is still awake (10 PM) and it has turned into an all out war. She is wide awake because my husband decided to take a nap with her today. "Oh she was just so exhausted when you went to run errands," he said. Which really translates into, "I partied too hard at the lake and so I needed to take a nap. The only way I could take a nap is if my sweet little daughter slept with me." Well now, I am paying the price. We have gone to the bathroom twice, gotten water twice, crawled out of bed about 10 times. What next? If only my children had on/off switches. Maybe I will invent that. Is it ethical?

The Innocence of Babes

Okay, so before I tell you a little story about my 3 year old I have to say that my entries on my blog have been a little sporadic lately. As the birth of my 4th child gets closer, things seem to be getting really hectic, so my time on the computer is very limited and random. I will try and steal time away and write as much as possible.

Anyway, now for the fun stuff. My 2 older children started school today, 3rd and 1st grade. They go to a local Catholic school. As you might imagine, being a Catholic school, there are religious symbols and statues throughout the building. On the first day my husband and I always walk the kids in and drop them off at their classrooms. My 3 year old went with us today and quietly watched as we said goodbye to her older siblings. Once we left school, we had to run an errand before heading home. My daughter was very quiet in the car and then said, "Mom, why is the Jesus at sissy's school black?" (I have to say that I was a little shocked at the question because we do not describe people by the color of their skin in our household.) I thought about it for a minute. Throughout my life I have seen Jesus portrayed as various ethnicities, and never really given it much thought. I hadn't ever noticed the particular statue that my daughter was talking about, but I imagine that it had dark skin, not like any that she had seen before. I said to her, "Jesus can look many different ways. Each person has their own thoughts about what Jesus looks like."

If you remember from previous blog posts, my daughter has repeatedly gotten into my makeup and other beauty products. In her little 3 year old mind she had the perfect explanation to describe his appearance,

"No mommy, Jesus got into his mommies makeup. He was real bad. I bet he's in trooouuuble!" Oh the wisdom of a 3 year old mind!

Screeeeeech!

Oh there's a new sound in my house :( It's that screeching hault sound that makes you grab your ears and go, "Ugh!" I just heard it and it was the sound of my lovely, wonderful, peaceful staycation away from my kids coming to a sudden hault. The kids are back from their vacation and the peace has left the house. It will all be okay. We will have a little last minute summer fun at the pool and then school starts next week. Yahoo!

A Balloon, A Chicken or a Pregnant Lady!

In recent days, my pregnant body has spurred people to compare me to non-human things. Two days ago, an older gentleman described me as a balloon saying, "you're so big, you looked like you're going to pop!" Yesterday I was enjoying a leisurely float in the pool (you see, I am still on my staycation and my kids do not return for another 3 days:). Another older man said, "When are you due?" When I responded, 7 weeks I thought his eyes would pop out of his face. Then he proceeded to refer to me as some sort of chicken and say, "You're huge, you're going to hatch any day. There's no way you will make it another 7 weeks." I think I'm ready to return to my humanly body, but I guess I've got to wait a little longer. I'll be out running errands today. We'll see what other ego building comments I get today.

Huge Pregnant Lady!

It's official, I am huge! I have had enough people ask me if I am having twins in the last week to no longer be able to deny that my belly has gotten enormous. I still have 7 weeks and I can't imagine getting any bigger. I feel like a science experiment at this point. In the days leading up to my delivery, I think I will keep a tally of how many people comment on how giant I am. We will see where this leads. When my husband returns with the camera, maybe I will get brave and take a picture. Stay tuned . . . .!

Husband of the Year

Good Morning! Do you hear that sound? Oh, yeah, there is no sound. I am the only one at my house right now because my super wonderful husband decided to take all 3 of our children on a 17 hour drive to visit his parents. For eight days my husband and kids will be seeing the wonders of Myrtle Beach and Charlotte, North Carolina and for eight days I will have peace and quite and the ability to get my house organized with no interruptions. I'm sure you are wondering why I didn't go, well I am now eight months pregnant and feeling somewhat like a small elephant. My doctor highly recommended that I don't make the trip and I agreed since our baby is almost here and we've done nothing to prepare (poor 4th child). This is actually a win/win situation for all of us. My husband gets a much needed break from work and he gets to see his parents. The kids get to see their grandparents and go to the beach (always a favorite vacation). I get tons of rest, relaxation, and time to prepare before the baby arrives. Well, I must be going. I think I'll read the paper now.

THE 5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE CAKE FOR ONE PERSON.......

. . . . .Ohhh the yumminess of this cake. I think I am in big trouble late night when my husband is out of town. Maybe I will just throw away the BMI calculator that is attached to the fridge and say what the heck. Check it out!

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE 4 tablespoons flour 4 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa 1 egg 3 tablespoons milk 3 tablespoons oil 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) A small splash of vanilla extract 1 large coffee mug (MicroSafe) Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT ! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous). And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!