Wednesday, July 30, 2008

My Confession Monday (On Wednesday)







The Craziest Thing I Ever Did For Love

Compared to others' stories of crazy things done for love, (click on the pic above to go to Mommy Confession's Blog to see some cool stories) mine will seem pretty tame. But given that financial security is something that makes me happy, it was at least kind of crazy.

Rob and I got married 9 months out of college. Neither of us had found a job in our field. So, on a whim, one week after we got married, we took the money we got from our wedding, packed up our meager belongings and moved to where we live now where we knew absolutely. no. one. And, we did this because Rob had always wanted to live here. His whole life he wanted to live in this city. Why??? Because he had always been a huge fan of their sports teams. I'm serious. So, I left everyone I knew, moved to this strange place where neither one of us had a job, with only $2000 to our name, so that Rob could be near his favorite sports team.

It worked out OK. 15 years later, we are still here, raising our family, and loving every minute of it. We've also attended lots of fun sporting events!!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

IComLeavWe

I am so sad that today is the last day of International Comment Leaving Week. It has been so fun to get comments and to read so many awesome blogs! I've even subscribed to a few. Thanks to all who visited here for the first time. I can't wait for next month!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Can Anyone Tell Me

why crude oil prices have gone down 15% since July 11th and gas prices have only gone down 2%???

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Answer to that Burning Question

Over these past 11 years of being a mom, especially a mom to a gaggle of kids, there have been several questions that I have been asked.

I have been asked 1,417 times "Are these all yours?" Yes. For a more detailed look at my feelings on that question you can look at this post, if you care to.

I've been asked 989 times if I took fertility drugs. The answer is yea, although, a word to the wise, it's usually not polite to ask this if were not on a first-name basis!

I've been asked 189 times if I just love Jon & Kate Plus 8. This one is new to the countdown, and the answer is that I don't like it at all. I can't quite put my finger on why though.

And, then I've been asked 9,457 times "How do you do it?" Or it's equivalents: "I don't know how you do it", "When I'm overwhelmed I just think of you and then I don't feel so bad about my life" or my personal favorite "If I were you, I'd kill myself". Well, for the first time, I am going to reveal the answer to that question...the secret to my success if you will.




Diet Coke. Alot of Diet Coke. Prayer doesn't hurt, either.

There you have it.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Trouble with Triplets

well it's that time of year again when I begin planning in earnest the triplets Birthday party. In Kiddyland, we do not do a friend party every year. Instead, Ryan alternates every other year with the triplets. Can I admit that planning their party causes me great anguish?! Let me tell you why.

It is no easy task to find an activity that all three will enjoy. I have considered having seperate parties in the past, however, they have mutual friends and that makes things trickier. Over the years we have managed to agree on something. This year we have rented the town pool and are basically inviting the whole town. Trisha still contends, however, that she has been jipped sice she's never been able to have a princess party, bead party, etc. etc. She's probably right. SHe probable has been jipped. I'll throw another $20 in the therapy jar.

Then there was the issue of presents. I sure don't want to make coming to the triplets party a financial burden on anyone and I sure didn't want to come home with 80000 gifts. So, we've come up with a solution where we invite a friend as say "Jonathan's special guest" to the party. That seems to work OK. The problem with this is that there are certain friends who all three want as their special guest. There negotiations that go on are amazing! "I'll give you Joey, if you give me Jenny." Pretty funny. You can imagine that while all of the negotiations are going on, I am just praying that the list comes out with exactly the same number of guests on each list.

Which brings me to the next problem. One year, half of Jaden's guests couldn't make it. That was a bummer!!

It makes me sad that their birthday is such a stressful thing for me. I want it to be perfect and I want it to make them feel special. It just never works out quite as I planned or hoped. Maybe this will be the year. Here's hoping!!

Friday, July 18, 2008

As if buying a new bathing suit isn't painful enough...

So, the kids and I bought season passes to the local pool. Thanks to a very vigorous baseball schedule and a coach who doesn't like the kids to swim on game days, our first trip to the pool was this week. There were three rules posted on the entrance:

1. No profanity
2. No Cutoffs
3. No sagging

I am not totally sure what is meant by rule number 3, but I'm pretty sure given the lack of support in the bustular region and low cut nature of my bathing suit that I was breaking it. So, I thought I should get a new suit. Being that I didn't want to spend very much money, I decided to go to KMart.

I have always really not liked KMart. I remember when I was a kid, my mom would try to get me to go to KMart to buy stuff. Please! What if I was spotted?!?! My mom tried to tell me that if someone saw me there, it would mean that they, too, were there. Of course, she failed to mention that they would probably be getting tampons or sunscreen or something else that would be acceptable to get at KMart, and there would be me with my shirt or something...can you imagine?!?!

Anyways, before heading over to the swimsuit aisle, I pick up some tampons and sunscreen just in case I should happen to run into someone. The actual picking out of the swimsuit wasn't so bad, which is surprising. I think this is most likely due tot he fact that I have totally given up. I am not going to look good. I can't look good. The goal, really at this point, is just not to scare small children with body parts falling out all over the place.

So, I pick it out and go up to the cash register. Here's what happens:

Lady: "Did you find everything you needed today?"
Me: "Yes"
L: "Would you like to receive a $10 coupon over email by giving us your address?"
Me: "No thanks."
L: "Would you likr to donate $1 to Make-a-Wish?"
Me: "No thanks." (Hey...before you say anything, we already donate to make-a-wish!)
L: "Would you like to participate in a short.."
Me: "No" (thinking: What I would like to do is get my total, pay, and get out of this place!)
L: "OK...that's $24.00. Will this be on your Sears card?"
Me: NO
L Would you like to open a Sears card?
Me: no

Seriously...this should be illegal. If I were running for president, part of my platform would be to make this illegal. Just ring me up and let me be on my way. Didn't the crying baby in my cart make her think that maybe I was at least in a semi-hurry?!?!

I think she was just trying to keep me in there to increase my chances of being spotted.

Monday, July 14, 2008

This makes me so proud.

Who among us really likes to walk into a room full of people where we know noone? I know that I sure do not. I do it, but I always like it better when I know someone I know will be there. Which is why I am so proud of Trisha.

She has wanted to try cheerleading for a few years now. She hasn't really pursued it because none of her friends do it. All of her friends seem to be into soccer and Trisha has tried that and decided it's not for her. So, when cheerleading sign-ups came around, she was really thinking about it. I asked around town to see if any of the ladies who are "in the know" had headr anything bad about girl-fighting going on with the cheerleaders, and really everyone had only heard positive things. So, I signed Trisha up.

Cheer camp was a little rough. MOst of the girls seemed to already know each other and one night Trisha got kicked in the nose during a stunt which made it start to bleed, which made her feel ridiculous. But, she hung in there and now she's chatting with all of the girls and making new friends...many of whom will be new friends she would hopefully make anyways when she moves up to the intermediate school in August.

I'm really proud. Learning to walk into a crowd of people and make new friends isn't easy, but it is a skill she will need all of her life...and I think she'll do just fine with it.


Thursday, July 10, 2008

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Ryan and Hayleigh,
Happy Birthday to you!



Ryan is active, active as any 8-year old should be.

And, how can it possibly have been a year since Hyaleigh was born?!?! It's hard to believe. I love, love, love one-year-olds. They are just about the funnest ever. Every day is a new learning experience for Hayleigh, and it is so much fun to see what her interests are and to see her make connections about the life around her. It is sad to be done with babies though. But, as Dr. Seuss says, "Don't cry because it's over...smile because it happened."

Happy Birthday!

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Waving your WHAT all over the place?!?!

How about this gem:

We have compiled a "Pre-Game Warmup" CD to listen to on the way to games. Yesterday we were on our way to Ryan's semi-finals and "We Will Rock You" was on.

Jaden says: "Mom, this song is really inappropriate."
Me: "I know, Jaden. It talks about having blood all over your face, which is really quite gross, isn't it."
Jaden:" No, that's not what I mean. I mean the part where it says 'waving your bladder all over the place.' That's inappropriate. "

Um, it's banner. Waving your banner all over the place.

I can hardly blame him. Since as all of my loyal readers know, my bladder does tend to wave a tad at these games!

Monday, July 07, 2008

I'm Starting to Think it's A No-Go

I must admit that when it comes to figuring out what God might want for my life, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I'm starting to get the idea that maybe, just maybe, it's probably a long shot however, that God doesn't want us to move.

Exhibit A. After out trip to Arizona we had two visitors on the same day. The first family was a second visit. They ran into each other on the way out/in. The second family called my agent while they were still in the house and said that they loved it and she would be in touch. Meanwhile, while all of this was going on, the agen listing the house we want called our agent and said a deal they had on the house had just fallen through and the owners would work with us, basically give us whatever we wanted. They were depesperate. Sure seemed like maybe things were falling into line. Except that 2 weeks later we hadn't heard anything from either looker.

Exhibit B: We have another person come through for a second time two weeks ago. We decided for kicks and good times to go through the house we like once again while they are looking through our house. Before going through the house that we like, the listing agent called our agent to say they had dropped the price $10,000. The next day, we were told to expect an offer. It really seemed like things were falling into line. Two days later the offer came in $25,000 lower than our asking price. That of, course, made me want to respond to them with a hearty offer to um, jump off a cliff or something. But, we countered politely. And, they didn't budge.

We've tried to leave this house many times. There were the resumes to Michigan, and then the bidding with 45 other people on the drug house and now having all this. I think I'm starting to see a pattern here. Maybe the message is pretty clear.

Or, maybe not.

So, I'll keep cleaning up while the kids follow me and immediately mess it up and I'll keep repairing every blessed thing that they break. Like the railing...for the eighth time. And, if I get 10 examples of failed tries to move, THEN I'll know it's a no-go...or will I?

Saturday, July 05, 2008

On Having More than One Boy...



This is Jonathan about to take a corner kick at an annual soccer tournament he recently attended. His team went 2-1-1, which is pretty good, considering I don't think during either the fall or spring regular season they won more games than tehy lost. Which is the reason for this post.

I know moms of more than one boy have noticed that boys are just the teensiest bit competitive. (Or am I the only one??). My boys can make a competition out of anything from "Who can eat the fastest" to "Who can brush their teeth the fastest" to "Who can finish peeing the fastest". Anything, really, can be made into a competition. Except for the ones I keep trying like "Let's see who can clean a room the fastest" or "Let's see who can make the most compliments". Those never seem to catch on. I think the boys are starting to notice that one of them is perhaps better than other ones of them in sports. And, an on-going competition has begun: "Let's see who has the most trophies".

Ryan is always on a winning team. Always. He's got more trophies and he's an all-star. (Who is more than likely going to win more trophies this summer). Jonathan hasn't been on a winning team yet. He's a good soccer player, but he has had to work very hard to get better. He's received trophies and medals, but only the "particiaption" kind. It's starting to really bum him out. Although, really, in the future, that practice of working hard will serve him better than Ryan having everything come naturally I would think. It especially stinks for Jonathan since Ryan is the LITTLE brother! I'm just glad they play seperate sports, so the difference isn't entirely noticeable.

My philosophy as a mom is to always play on my kids' strengths and downplay their weaknesses. One of the coolest things about Jonathan is that if you asked every kid in the family who their favorite sibling is (which, of course, I wouldn't do) they would all answer Jonathan. Just there's no trophy for that. And, believe me, if I made some and passed them out...well, it just wouldn't be the same.