Friday Fun

As a corollary to the Hair Metal, here is a fun QUIZ. I got all 10 correct. I think I am embarrassed to admit that.

FRIDAY FIVE

FIVE BEST HAIR METAL BANDS
1. Def Leppard
2. Poison
3. Warrant
4. Winger
5. Guns N Roses~~I hesitate to include them since they really aren't "hair metal"

FIVE THINGS I MISS ABOUT MY HIGH SCHOOL SUMMERS
1. My thighs
2. Hiding in the dining room to talk on the phone since there were no cordless phones!
3. Cheerleading camp
4. Cruising Bremen mall to pick up boys from the public high school (gasp!)
5. Seeing every movie that came out

FIVE THINGS I MISS ABOUT CAROLINE
(She's away at camp this week.)
1. Having another non-toddler in the house.
2. My gopher
3. Someone to share my excitement over the new fall clothes popping up online.
4. Her sweet willingness (well, most of the time!) to help her sisters
5. Her chores being done. I have had to unload the dishwasher all by myself! :-)

The Boy is One

This was the little peanut last year. SO teeny and cute cute cute! Wyatt Nathan was only
5 lbs 2 oz and 17 inches long~the smallest of all my babies. It is a miracle that he has survived his sisters' "love" for an entire year. To read all about his birth story GO HERE.

Here is the big boy now. Of course he is nowhere near walking or even standing alone but his sisters were late to that party too. He crawls faster than I can run and screams like a girl. He was a great eater but lately has been on a hunger strike. I don't know if he's protesting high gas prices or lack of cheeseburgers for each meal but he eats like a bird. I'm not too worried since as Aunt Kim says, "Well, he can live off his own fat for a few days."

And so with this picture you can see my first boy mom dilemma (well, other than my constant worry that his boy part doesn't look "right") What to do with his hair? It is starting to get long and girly looking. As my ever-hip dad said, "That's the way the kids are wearing it these days." I am aware of the return of surfer/skater hair for boys but Wyatt has no curl or wave. Just stick straight locks. I really want to trim it so he can sport a faux hawk or at least get some product in there to wave it up. Hmmm. . . .

Here's one picture of Wyatt opening a present from Grandpa and Grandma up at the lake. He was pretty interested in the whole operation but his sisters were much more into stealing his toys and fighting over them. Ah, the story of his life. He will have a party at the end of this month that he will get to share with 2 of his sisters who also have summer birthdays. Just a small family thing~no ponys or jumper things. I still don't even have a menu.

So to my sweet baby boy Happy First Birthday! We're so glad Amelia hasn't scarred you for life. Yet. We all love you!

Clarifying and De-Junking

First off for today, I want to clarify my last post. I wrote it after reading a magazine article about how kids don't have enough time to play and it got my brain churning. I was truly surprised that "lack of free play time" was a big enough issue that I was reading a magazine article about it. I wasn't trying to be negative about kids being in sports and activities but that's totally how I came off. SO sorry about that. I think sports are GREAT for kids to be involved in and as mine get older I'm sure we will. I was just stating why at this time in our family's life, it doesn't make sense for us, time-wise, financially, and otherwise. I'm not saying we CAN'T afford it, but just that it makes more sense for us to spend our cash on things we can all do together. With 3 little ones, schedule is huge. If we get off kilter for more than a day or two, Mommy pays dearly!

Moving right along, I'm on a quest. I have been reading a lot of labels lately and I'm getting serious about removing junk food from my kids diet. Now, I'm not going crazy and outlawing McDonald's or anything but I want our eating at home to be as healthy as possible so that things we have elsewhere are a treat. My first goal is to remove refined sugar from our house. It is SO much harder than I thought. Sugar is in everything! I have started with the basics~all natural peanut butter, applesauce, yogurt, ect. I am trying to get rid of the high fructose corn syrup type sugars. Some things like dried fruit are higher in sugar but are also high in vitamins and fiber. I'm also trying to keep all processed foods to an absolute minimum. Things like hot dogs, Spaghetti Os, and such.

I want to get some breakfast, lunch and snack ideas for summer and for fall lunch boxes. Breakfast is the easiest but snacks are killing me. Once you get past fruit and veggies there is not much left! We already do things like low fat string cheese and yogurt. The big girls love hummus with whole wheat pita chips.

The other big challenge with healthy eating is the cost. It is more expensive to go all natural for many reasons but so far in my experience, the biggest reason is the removal of generic products from the mix. We go through applesauce like crazy here but only Mott's makes a "No Sugar Added" applesauce so I'm stuck.

So throw some ideas at me! What healthy snacks do your kids love? What healthy options are good for lunch boxes? Do you have budget friendly tips?

If Play Is the Work of Childhood, How Come None of My Kids Gets a Paycheck?

"Children today do not have enough time to play."

"As difficult as it is, we must encourage unstructured free play for our kids."

Am I the only one who finds these quotes a bit, um, nuts?! All my kids DO is play. Not one of 'em did a lick of work today. Not one of 'em earned a paycheck. Not one of 'em did a single thing to earn their place at the dinner table. They are a bunch of free-loaders.

I have never been a joiner-type mom. My girls have never taken dance. No one in our house plays soccer. They wouldn't know a T-ball if it hit them in the face. Gymboree is a store we shop at not a place to have "Mommy and Me" class at. I don't like chaos and all these activities would seem to bring a whole lot of unwanted chaos to my world. I like days at home. I like all my ducks in a row.

My other issue is money. All these things cost lots and lots of cash. I don't want to spend my cash until I am totally convinced that it is something they will truly love and benefit from. Stalin-esque mom that I am, I also require them to kick in some funds for an activity. Yep. Caroline is forking over some of her allowance for this week's golf lessons. I'll probably let 'em hit VBS for free being that it's spiritual enrichment and all that jazz.

So back to unstructured free play. Um, I guess I'm a good mom cuz I spend most of my day saying, "GO PLAY!"

Not a Baby

It's a Garage SALE Not a Garage GIVE AWAY

I survived Day One of my garage sale. Heck, I thrived on Day One! I cleared just under $1000 and I am pretty cleaned out. People were buying things as Tim pulled them out of the basement. My glider that has rocked four babies~2 of whom had reflux~sold as we carried it out the front door. The funnest part was by lunchtime I had people showing up telling me their friends were calling them to come to my sale. Hee, hee. I'm famous.

Lady #1~How much for the glider?

Me~Um, $45?

Lady #1~Sold. Just keep walking it to my truck.

Me~Okie dokie.

The one thing I hate? The barter. I do make offers when I go garage sale-ing. If my pile is $12 I will offer $10. I had a lady this morning and it goes something like this:

Lady #2~Can you add me up? (As she drops about 15 outfits at my feet.)

Me~Sure. Add, add . . .$48.

Lady #2~Will you take $10?

Me~Uh, no. I'll take $45.

Lady #2~Well, all I have is a $20. Will you take $20.

Me~No, I'll take $45. You can come back Saturday afternoon and I might take $30.

Lady #2~Fine. (All huffy.) Here. (shoves $45 at me.)

Evidently, It IS a Toy

My sweet baby boy is a man. He has discovered his winkie. Last week at a routine diaper change, his chubby little hand accidentally ran into the member and The Boy broke into a huge grin. Now any time he can, he shoves both chubby little hands into his Manland to play. He giggles. He squeals with delight. He yanks, pulls, and twists. I get a little green just thinking about it.

FRIDAY FIVE

FIVE BEST STORY SONGS
1. Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves~Cher
2. Dead Man's Curve~Jan and Dean
3. Leader of the Pack~Whoever sang it?!
4. Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun~Julie Brown
5. Mr Roboto~Styx

FIVE REASONS I'M GLAD SCHOOL IS OUT
1. I don't have to get dressed til lunchtime.
2. Caroline is here to play with her sisters.
3. It's warm.
4. I don't have to remember to read 900 papers every night.
5. School lunches.

FIVE REASONS I'LL MISS MY BFF WHEN SHE'S GONE
1. Who else will I talk to at 7:30 am?
2. She gets me, man.
3. She doesn't laugh at my strange quirks.
4. She reminds me that my house really isn't that small. :-)
5. She goes shopping with me in the "backroom"

Wearing Her Wooden Shoes

My conversation with Caroline this evening while listening to the Sox game.

Caroline~How many people in baseball are named Cabrera?

Mommy~Lots. In the Spanish speaking world it is like. . .

Caroline~Van Drunen?

Preschoolers and Baseball Do Not Mix

We took the girls to the White Sox game today. THAT was an experience. Some dreams were fulfilled and some went unrequited. Amelia was begging to leave in the top of the 2nd inning and Greta slept from the 4th to the 6th. Yep, you read that right. She slept. Not even Alexsi Ramierez's 3 run shot complete with fireworks could wake her up. It was Kids Day so the girls got to meet some players and get lots of "phonographs" (as Amelia referred to it as!)

Too bad Tim and Wyatt aren't in the pic~this would make a great Christmas card! Well, at least Mark Buehrle and I look good!

You can't see his face but at this moment Caroline's dreams are coming true~Mark Buehrle is signing her jersey! Other girls dream of meeting Miley Cyrus, mine dreams of baseball players. She was positively star struck.Greta on the other hand was not. She asked every player she saw, "Is you Bobby?" Lucky for her, they either laughed or didn't speak English. Unlucky for her, no one could point her to her beloved Bobby.

Ah, the ballpark hot dog. At least Tim got Greta's order of "plain" correct. Somehow my request of "Polish with onions" was heard as "hot dog with mustard." I hate mustard. Always have.

Just plain pre-nap cuteness.

Amelia was true to form. She either loved something or wanted to go home. She cried when she heard AJ wasn't signing today but perked right up when she got a bottle of Gatorade. She was too hot, she was too cold, it was wet, it was boring and on and on and on. . .Nighty, night.

New Summer Resolutions

So tomorrow is the last day of school. Yay! I think. . . I am so excited about sleeping in~if you can call 7:15 sleeping in~and not having to go go go. I am not so sure I want 4 kids in my face ALL. DAY. LONG. This is the first summer in eons that we are FREE! It's been a long time coming! Summers past. . .

2002 My mom died in June so that was kinda a crazy summer.
2003 Amelia was born in June
2004 I found about I was expecting Greta in early June and spent most of that summer puking and sleeping on the couch.
2005 Greta was a teeny baby and I was post-partumly messed up.
2006 We moved in the middle of July.
2007 Wyatt was born in July.

SO 2008 is going to non-stop fun and games! I think. . . This is my solemn vow.

I will take the kids to the library once a week.
I will cook a real dinner 4 times a week.
I will do a fun craft/activity with the girls once a week.
I will say "yes" to more sleepovers.
We will all make our beds every day.
I will make a new chore chart next week. (Stay tuned for that post)
I will put sunscreen on everyone every day!
We will have ice cream for dinner once.
We will play in the sprinkler.
I will make lots of healthy snacks so we don't eat junk all summer.

Check back in Sept. . .

Jesus & Joanna, Sunburns and Plaid

We were at my niece Joanna's Profession of Faith all day on Sunday. At the risk of sounding totally cheesy and old, she's growing up so fast!! Joanna was born right before Tim and I got married. She was my first niece and I had so much fun with her! She's almost 15 now and so pretty! And TALL! She's a sweet girl and totally lets my girls look up to her. They think she walks on water so hopefully she'll be the perfect teenager!
Yes, I am aware that sun causes sunburn. Ouch. I was so comfy in my chair at the party after church yesterday. Wyatt was sleeping in the house and the girls were playing in the barn. I was so relaxed and now I'm paying for it. Ouch again.My children have been taken over by a strange plaid virus.

Meal Plan Monday---On Tuesday

Monday~~Sweet and Sour BBQ Chicken
Sweet Potato Fries

Tuesday~~Bar Louie $1 burger night

Wednesday~~Sonora Chicken Casserole
Rice and Beans

Thursday~~Dr appts for the girls~SHOTS! so leftovers

Friday~~Skillet Shrimp and Rice

Saturday and Sunday~~Going to Michigan for Joanna's Profession of Faith on Sunday~might leave Sat, might just go for the day

FRIDAY FIVE

FIVE LEAST ANNOYING KIDS SHOWS
1. Kai-lan
2. The Upside Down Show
3. Zaboomfoo~Whatever happened to the HOT Kratt brothers?!?
4. Sesame Street
5. Super Wy!

FIVE BEST 80's TEEN MOVIES
1. Can't Buy Me Love~He is NOT McDreamy. He is Ronald Miller.
2. Say Anything
3. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
4. Back to the Future
5. Less Than Zero

FIVE BEST GIRL NAMES I NEVER USED
1. Grace
2. Scarlett
3. Bronwyn
4. Charlotte
5. Reagan

FIVE BEST BOY NAMES I NEVER USED
1. Wilson
2. Hudson
3. Jack
4. Patrick
5. Reed

I Have the Asian Typhoid South American Parasite Tapeworm. . .Or Something Like That

I have been fighting this weird thing for 5 days now. According to WebMd, I either

A. am Lactose Intolerant
B. have just returned from a third world country
C. have an intestinal parasite
D. have a tumor
E. have scurvy or dysentary
F. am going to die

Hm. . .I really don't like any of my options. All I can say is that the 7-Up and Chicken Soup diet had better get me to my goal weight.

I Hate Mother's Day

There. I said it. I hate Mother's Day. For years I hated it because I wasn't a mom. I tried so hard for years and nothing. I lost my first pregnancy at 10 weeks on May 1, 1997 and week later was Mother's Day. I cried a lot and I'm not a crier~ask my BFFs, they'll tell you. Then later after I was granted temporary earthly possession of my babies, I hated Mother's Day because I didn't have my mom. I miss her. She should be here to laugh at her granddaughters falling into the pond (story for another blog) She should be here to yell at me for not watching her granddaughters and allowing them to fall into said pond. I miss having a mom. I have a great stepmom. Judy has been a great addition to our family~she truly has a gift of being a grandma to my kids without making me feel as if I can't miss my own mom. She has never once tried to mother me~which I appreciate SO much cuz I really don't like to be told what to do. (I needed to add that in case anyone was unaware!) Today I hated Mother's Day b/c it was the same as any other day. I got up and made the kids breakfast while Tim slept. I put them all to bed and did 90% of what happened in between. No rest for me! Amelia and Greta fought all evening, Wyatt fussed and refused to sleep and Caroline "forgot" her homework that is due tomorrow. Ugh. Would I trade back to Mother's Day 1997? Nope. Not in a minute.

FRIDAY FIVE

FIVE PEOPLE I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM WHO NEED TO COMMENT HERE
1. Candi
2. Laura
3. Carol
4. Kim
5. Melissa

FIVE REASONS I HAVEN'T BEEN TO THE GYM IN 4 DAYS
1. Wyatt is covered in snot
2. PMS
3. The anorexic runner girl hogs the treadmill
4. I haven't done laundry so I have no clean work out clothes.
5. I don't wanna

FIVE REASONS I STILL LIKE ER
1. Linda Cardellini
2. Uncle Jesse as a Bad Boy Doc
3. Mekhi Phiefer~Yum
4. They still turn medical cases into thinly veiled political statements
5. I wanna be a doc

FIVE REASONS TO VOTE MARTY OZINGA FOR CONGRESS
1. He's been in charge of Ozinga-land so why not more?
2. Red and white will be come the official colors of his district
3. Ruth throws sweet parties
4. Because we all need one more reason for people to say "Are you related to . . .?"
5. He can't possibly do a worse job than some other IL politicians.

Can You Hear Them?

The angels. They are singing. Loudly. The Hallelujah Chorus. Why? I'll tell you why. This is no longer our house. It is done. The very nice people moved in today. I love them. We are now the proud owners of only one home. Yippee.

Of Sliders and Sox

Oh what a week! All kinds of fun and games. Things have been pretty stressful around here with the house not selling thing and business woes so some fun was just what we needed! Wednesday I blew off all my chores and went to meet Christine for breakfast and to shop ALL ALONE at The GAP. Oh the fun. Got some great deals for the kids for summer~gotta love those clearance racks. Now for the fun with pictures!

On Thursday night we met Dad and Judy at the Cell for a Sox game. They had the tix and parking passes so we needed to figure out a way to meet up. Dad called Tim's cell as we were coming up to the Dan Ryan and asked where we were. We told him and looked out our window and they were right behind us. Couldn't have planned that if we tried! Anyhoo, our tickets were for the JIM BEAM CLUB. The pic above is the view from the seats. Even better, it's all you can eat and drink! I think I slipped into a food coma somewhere around the 6th inning. The cherry on top? The Sox beat the Yankees! I hate the Yankees.

It was a week of firsts for Wyatt. We took the kids to White Castle for the very first time. Everybody but Greta loved it. She was very put off by the lack of cheese and small square burgers. Here is the Boy with his new favorite food~sliders. He scarfed almost a whole one all by himself.

Lastly, Caroline and I went to the Sox game on Sunday afternoon~great tix again courtesy of Dad. We were right by first base and had a great view of the game! Only downer was I believe we were seating in the Ligue Family section. Holy drunk dudes, Batman. Since we were right near the visiting dugout all the drunk folk from all over the park came down to heckle the Orioles. We got there a bit too late for autographs but Caroline did get to run the bases!

The view from our seats.

AJ Pierzynski with a bit of a lead.

All the kids running the bases. Caroline is there with the Schutt boys.

GO SOX! Caroline got really good at screaming all of her favorite players names. Over and over and over. She also truly believed that the Fan-O-Meter would go up if she shrieked loud enough.

We had passes to the Stadium Club so we went to share some nachos and hot chocolate before the game. I *thought* I saw Ron Kittle at one point so I ran around like a crazy woman trying to find him. I know I can stalk him out here but hey. He's my fave.

Here he is.