A Fish Tail (part deux)

Last week I told you all about how we acquired a few new pets and all of the trouble that goes with having them.

NOW...

I am sad to announce that Fire Flame 2 has died.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT GOLDFISH, MAN?!!

While Choo Choo Train was chugging along, it seemed that Fire Flame 2 was a survivor as well. We kept the tank clean, fed them normally (no more fishies going KA-BOOOOM!) and even "played" with them a bit.

Did you know that goldfish like to play follow the leader? They'll follow your finger if you trace it over the side of their tank!

Anyhooooo -

I took Logan to school last Friday and when I got home, I realized that the boys had forgotten to feed their fish that morning. I fed them the usual amount and both Choo Choo Train and Fire Flame 2 were ready to eat! About a half hour later, Fire Flame 2 was floating in an... awkward position in his tank.

And trust me, this time I made sure that he was dead before his "Burial at Sea."

Logan decided the next time he gets a new fish (this Friday?) he wants a Beta.

Hopefully this one will be hardier than these silly little feeder goldfish we've been getting!

A Fish Tail

Last week was the Great Kern County Fair. As always happens, we went on one of the last weeknights of the fair to avoid the pressing crowds and weirdos and we were pretty successful. It was busy of course, bit not near as busy as it could have been had it been a Friday or Saturday Night.

The kids enjoyed corndogs, lemonade, and a few rides (are those things REALLY all that safe?) and while Hubs and Logan went off to enjoy some of the “big Boy” games and rides that Caleb was too little for, I took him around by myself for a few kiddie rides and games.

One of the games was the an obvious dollar drainer; for $5.00, you get a small bucket with 30 ping pong balls and have to attempt to land one in a teeny tiny goldfish bowl to win… well, a goldfish.

Believe it or not, Caleb sank a ball after about 8 throws. In an attempt to just keep him busy for a few minutes and avoid a melt down at not being able to join Hubs and Brother on some rides, we ended up taking home a goldfish, complete with mobile home.

If I had EVER thought that he would have been able to ACTUALLY win a goldfish, I probably never would have taken him to that game booth. Dime store stuffed animals are one thing, but a $0.29 goldfish you paid $5.00 for screams SUCKER!!!!!

He named it Helicopter.

After Caleb won his goldfish at the fair on Thursday, Logan was bummed that he didn't have one. So Saturday we loaded up the family and made a trek to the pet store to get Logan his own goldfish and a tank.

Sunday night, Fire Flame (Logan's goldfish) bit the proverbial dust and we "buried" him at "sea" IYKWIM. He was fine with promises of a replacement when he got home from school, Fire Flame 2.

Thank goodness he wasn’t scarred for life.

Then Monday morning, Helicopter, Caleb's goldfish also had to endure the same treatment.

Unfortunately for Helicopter, the damned fish started flipping around in the bowl of the toilet as it was flushed.

Oops.

Caleb's new fish is named Choo Choo Train. Lets hope this one puffs along longer than Helicopter.

Pulling My Hair Out... And It's All My Fault

So I'm running around the house this morning trying to get my laundry finished up so Logan has clean underwear (I can't believe he ran out so quickly!) when I realized I really need to get back into getting keeping my house up to snuff.

Because really, when you see that thick layer of dust that's settled on the bookshelves, don't you just want to get that stuff wiped away ASAP?

I think the reason I got off task for the last few weeks is because I sometimes feel like my kids are suffering from not having enough of my attention because I get caught up in the feeling that my house has to be spic-n-span all of the time. Darn that procrastination gene; because of it, things have slipped more than just a little bit around here and now it seems to me we're living in a dump.

It's time for me to get off my duff and get SOMETHING accomplished around here. I'm getting tired of always stepping over piles of toys, sick of looking at that pile of dirty laundry, and done with digging through the pile of wrinkled laundry for something clean to wear everyday.

I have to remember that now that I'm a stay at home mom, this is as much my job / career as when I was working outside the home. When it comes to keeping up the house, what kind of a schedule, if any, do you follow? How do you balance your daily chores with time for your family?

I Made Homemade Sandwich Bread And Declare It Good... Enough.

I am not a baker. At all. Baking is all about exact measurements, patience and science.

I hated science in school.

I'm really much more of a "cooker". A little of this, a little of that; eventually you get to a great end result, despite not measuring anything. I'm a dump and stir kind of home-cook.

Beside the basic foods of milk, cheese, butter and the like, our family goes through several loaves of bread every week. I have no problem buying several loaves at the bread store and sticking some in the freezer and one in the fridge when we get home. We go through it so fast, it doesn't have time to go bad in our house.

Now whether it due to miscalculation, more sandwiches and toast than usual, or a serious case of bread eating pests (reminder to call the bug man to solve that pesky problem LOL) we ran out before payday.

WHAT!!!!

I've said before that I am one lazy momma; I really don't feel like packing both boys into the car to trek through the rain yesterday for one stinking load of bread.

So how to solve my dilemma?

You know me; I Googled it!

I found some recipes for homemade sandwich bread that seem easy enough, even for a slacker like me.

I found this one and used it since I had all of the ingredients on hand. The boys and Hubs liked it so much, it was almost gone by the end of the day.

Om Nom Nom!

Definitely another one o add to the list!

A Boo Boo Mommy Can't Fix

When I was a kid, I had to endure school portraits with a closed smile because I was embarrassed by my teeth. When I was about 15 months old, I slipped and knocked one of my front teeth out. As the story goes, and if I remember it correctly, my mom put the busted tooth in a glass of milk and rushed me to the doctor where they were able to put it back in.

And then about a week or so later, I knocked it out again, leaving me snaggle-toothed until about third grade when my permanent tooth finally grew back in.

Insert Snagglepuss jokes here; I've heard them all...

"Heavens to Murgatroyd!"

There is actually a funny coincidence here though. I have a school picture of my dad, also from third grade, where he's missing the same tooth.

Now I am the first to say that I am definitely not graceful, AT ALL. Many times as a kid I found myself tripping over my own feet, running head-first into walls, and just generally being an all around klutz. I frequently sported bloody knees, scraped elbows, and goose-eggs in the middle of my forehead. It's a miracle I've never had a broken bone in my life or the need for stitches to put me back together again.

Well it's finally happened. The legacy continues. A boo boo this mommy can't fix and has to be taken care of by a professional.

Since Caleb was born, Hubs and I have always said that he was our most spirited child; the one to jump off roofs and into swimming pools, the one to crash into a tree on his bicycle, the one we're thankful we have health insurance for.

Some time in the three hour window between his nap and dinner, Caleb busted his front tooth. He didn't knock it out, but it's enough to make sure his future smiles are full of character! Unfortunately, I know it's the first of many injuries our family will endure in his growing up years. Maybe he'll have an interesting third grade picture too; time will tell!

Off to the dentist we go!

Take a Xanax Before Kindergarten Registration...

If you're like me and getting your child registered for the 2012-2013 Kindergarten school year, be prepared!

I seriously wish someone had told me about the MOUNTAINS of paperwork involved; the pile they handed me to fill out was the size of Mount Everest! At least 15 different pages of information needed to be completed both pencil (yes, #2) and blue ink (very specific!) along with providing the school a copy of a birth certificate, immunization records, medical records, dental assessment records, proof of residency, and a DNA test.

I'm just kidding about that last part. I hope.

On top of all that paperwork, parents are NOT allowed to take it home and fill it out at their leisure between naps, errands, house cleaning, snacks... I think you get the drift. You had to stay put and fill it out.

Why they didn't tell me this on the phone when I called for information Monday morning, I have no clue. Be prepared my fellow parents for a 2-hour fill in the blank session combined with waiting in line, waiting for someone to go over the paperwork, waiting for someone to tell you if something is missing, waiting for someone to give you YOUR documents back instead of the other three families birth certificates.

Make sure you bring your patience, ALL documents (because do you really want to go through all of this again?), snacks and activities for the kiddos if you're one of us unfortunate ones who have to take the whole brigade with you.

Oh, thank you to the mom who brought the iPad to entertain all of the kiddos in the office; you're smarts are what make YOU a Super Mom!

Because, once again, all I had was Angry Birds.

How would you handle this?

It's no secret to friends and family that both Hubs and I are smokers. We only smoke outside and always try to do it where doors and windows are closed so the smoke and smell don't permeate the house. A nasty habit I know, but one that's extremely difficult to quit.

Last night, Hubs took both of the boys to the park so I could have a bit of a "mommy break". With the weather here in Bakersfield lately, we've been fortunate to be able to keep doors and windows open during the day and into the evenings. Last night while I was cleaning up the kitchen and the boys were at the park, I heard voices and little feet outside on our front porch.

There were three little girls and a little boy milling around outside and when I asked them if they needed any help, the oldest girl told me they were looking for their lost dog. I asked what the dog looked like and what it's name was. Then one of the other girls piped up with a different description of the dog.

Hmmm.

I then noticed how the oldest girl had her body turned away from me, as if she was trying to hide something; I figured she'd been picking geraniums from the plants along the walkway. Really not that big of a deal to me.

No geraniums, but she did have a brick in her hand. I asked her why she had a brick and she told me "no reason." That's when I noticed what else she was hiding.

Cigarette butts.

From my ashtray...

**sigh**

I made her hand them over immediately and told her that she needed to go home, wash her hands, and make sure I never caught her doing it again. I then explained that her mommy and daddy would NOT be happy if I escorted her home and explained what she had done.

Should I feel guilty for being a smoker? Should I have just taken her straight home to her parents so SHE could explain what she had done?

I shouldn't have to change my habits (bad as they are) because of this, but it really makes me reconsider where we smoke.

What would you do?

I'm Not Perfect (and Neither Are You)

It's a common misconception for women who take the plunge into leaving their careers for SAHM status that their homes will instantly become tidy (they're at home all day), their bodies will become fit and slender (lots of time for exercise and creating healthy meals), and that their children will remain perfect little darlings with impeccable manners.

Really?

For the first few months of my tenure as a new stay at home mom, I thought I could do it all. I’m at home all day, every day, so why not.

The first week I spent cleaning my house from ceiling to floor in every room until it sparkled. I even got down on my hands and knees to scrub the bathroom floor with bleach and a brush to get the grout back to its original white color.

The next week was spent coming up with fantastic, wonderful gourmet meals for my family. I didn’t care that they weren’t met with the same enthusiasm that I had in making them. It’s the thought that counts, right?

After that, I scoured my cookbooks and the Internet for cookie and bread recipes, telling myself how much my family would like it and love that I did this just for them.

After a few months of this, I quickly started losing steam and my “progress” faltered. Things started going in the opposite direction.

Piles of laundry. The sink overflowing with dishes. “I don’t wanna cook, let’s order a pizza.” Again.

I think the reason I started out so well is that I had this idea in my head that I had June Cleaver, Martha Stewart and The Pioneer Woman all wrapped up inside me, just bursting to get out.

It’s now been one full year since I started staying home with my boys. A lot has changed and will probably continue to evolve.

First, I’m not really that crafty. Quite frankly, I pin a lot of crafty and fun stuff on Pinterest (have a look through my boards and you'll see what I mean), but am I really going to do all those projects? Probably not. One or two maybe…

I don't even know how to use a sewing machine, people!

Source: gltc.co.uk via Stephanie on Pinterest

I love the photos of perfect living rooms, perfect kitchens, perfectly organized pantries and linen closets. I’ve come to realize my house will never look like those pictures, at least not until after the boys are grown and moved out. I like our lived-in look. 

I’ve found that simple meals are much more preferred by my family than the complex meals I tried when I first started staying home. I realize my five year old doesn’t like prosciutto or avocado as much as I do and may never. Oh well, spaghetti it is then.

I’ve found MY way of organizing my pantry and I like it. So what if all the labels are facing different directions or the peanut butter is next to the pasta? It may not make sense to others, but it works for me.

My kids are not as perfect as I’d like them to be, but that’s okay. There are MANY days when my boys are not the little darlings I’ve always wanted them to be. They somehow morph into devil children heathens little monsters misbehaved little boys, but I’ve learned to accept the bad days. They are far outnumbered by the good ones. 

Dishes and laundry still pile up, and I’ve come to terms with it. Don’t believe me? Take a look at these pictures and you’ll see I tell the truth!

Mommy's Guilty Pleasure

Every once in a while I get the urge to shut out the noise, the boys and the rest of the world and take a little time for myself. One of these ways is to escape through reading.

I’m a romance novel junkie.

Yeah, I’ll admit it.

When I was thirteen, my aunt gave me a HUGE stockpile of Harlequin romance novels to read shortly after we moved from the small mountain town we lived in to “the big city” to keep me occupied over the summer before school started.

Oh, my. If only she knew what a voracious devourer of books she unleashed!

Luckily on a tight budget, there are lots of ways to fill my addiction without breaking the bank. Did you know you could download an app to your smartphone and laptop that allows you to read books published for the Kindle?

I “discovered” this while researching whether or not I wanted to drop the cash for a Kindle shortly before Caleb was born and I haven’t looked back since.

The best part of that discovery, after purchasing a few books to read on my phone and laptop, was that there are also TONS of free books, in every genre, that you can down load for FREE!

Did you know they’re FREE?

FREE!

At last count, I’ve loaded at least 80+ books to read and have quite the “stack” to work with.

You can download most classics for free, and lots of new releases for just $9.99. The best part is that you can search by genre, change your filter settings to look for “$0.00” and find all the great deals you can. Plus there's a tab on the right side of their page you can click that lists their 100 Top Free Bestsellers.

Here are some other resources for filling your reading addiction:

Open Library

Project Gutenberg

Many Books

So now that I've admitted mine, what's yours?

(I don't make any money when you click on these external links, so click away!)

Menu Planning Week #4 and major FAIL!!!

I am not a perfect mom.

There, I said it... Don't they say the first step is admitting it?

I totally failed last week at using my meal plan. All of the birthday stuff got in the way last week of my having any attempt at accomplishing ANY goals other than getting things wrapped up for yesterday's blowout. Because of that, some of the meals you'll see listed for this week are a re-hash of what was supposed to happen.

To that end, I bring you this week's plan. And since today is also my Boo Boo Bear's 5th birthday, he got to pick what he wanted for dinner! This was a recipe I first tried about 3 weeks or ago and he loved it! I'll link it below along with the other recipes.

Arroz con Pollo via simplyrecipes.com

Mexican Casserole from simplyrecipes.com
Salisbury Steak from bettycrocker.com

On another note; remember the new recipe I found for last week? It was the All In One Pork Chop Bake. That is one I will probably NEVER make again! It seems to be a pretty popular recipe for some food bloggers, but it was just to overly tangy and weird for me. I was a little surprised at the fact that the potato wedges in this one were not cooked through at all, even though the chops were... Hmm, maybe instead of just tossing the recipe out altogether, I can spiffy it up a bit. Any Suggestions?

A great new resource (to me!) that I came across last week is the 30 Meal Plan over on nannygoat. I'm going to be making my list over the next few weeks as I try out new recipes and make old favorites to use over and over again. Go check their plan out here!

I'm linking to Menu Plan Monday!

Murphy's Law Monday

It's inevitable that no matter how hard you try to make your day run smoothly, something comes along in your path to make you want to crawl back in bed, huddle in the fetal position under your blankets, throw out the rest of your day and just say "screw it."

Today it's been a number of things. From accidentally adding real sugar to my coffee instead of the Splenda I usually use, to the hour and a half long dish-washing fest, it's been a less than stellar day so far.

Incident #1

 - My oldest woke up in a wet bed this morning. Not uncommon for a four year old, I know, but he's been doing so well lately and he was disappointed in himself this morning. It's clouded the rest of his day. Attitude adjustment and patience needed, please!

Incident #2

 - The laundry monster attacks. My laundry room is overflowing with dirty clothes, a basket full of towels, and the bedding from the previously mentioned incident. Halfway through the first load of laundry, I hear a grinding and growling noise rattling through my house. Yep, the washing machine is broken... Hopefully the appliance repair man can get it fixed quickly and inexpensively! I can't fathom hauling two kids AND a room full of dirty laundry to the laundromat.

Incident #3

 - Finally planning on tackling the pile of dishes in my sink (no dishwasher, remember?) I end up slicing my fingers open while trying to unscrew the lid of a broken travel mug. **sigh** After getting the bleeding stopped and my fingers bandaged, I gingerly finished the dishes, finally getting a moment to sit back and take a breather when...

Incident #4

 - **sigh again** The little one decides that today of all days, he's going to shorten his morning nap.

Is it possible that someone could send me a beer/Starbucks IV infusion this morning? I could really use it.

Sometimes It’s Ok To Cry Over Spilled Milk

Have you ever had one of those days when you wish the Magic Mommy Fairy could sweep down, comfort and calm your children, finish laundry, prepare a gourmet meal for your family and just set up a nice coffee and pedicure station for you?
For me that was yesterday afternoon.

After spending 45 minutes of getting a cranky, whiny, teething Caleb calm enough to fall asleep for nap time, down the street comes a ghetto-fabulous, bass-bumping, pavement-scraping, the-pictures-are-dancing-on-my-walls car down the street. Normally this would never wake Caleb up; I’m fortunate that both of my boys are pretty hard sleepers.

There went my nap time plans of finishing laundry, starting dinner and cleaning out my expired coupons!

After finally getting him calmed down after his screaming fit (because really, who likes being woken up when you’ve JUST gotten to sleep, right) I set him on the floor to play cars with big brother Logan.

Finally I could get at least one task done while the boys were playing nicely together. I finally had all of my new coupons cut and ready to be sorted and my expired ones cleaned out and in the little trashcan next to me. I put my binder away and go back to retrieve the trash can.

I should have brought it with me when I left the room…

When I returned back to the living room, Caleb was sitting in the middle of Coupon Mountain, eating his way through about five dollars’ worth of expired cereal coupons.

Sigh.

Deciding that the boys needed some winding down time in the pool last night, I decided to keep dinner simple: hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and green beans. Easy-peasy. 

All I need to do add the milk to the mac and cheese, and give it a stir. Just as I’m stepping from my stove to the fridge to put the milk back, while at the same time screwing the lid back on, here comes Captain Destructo, quiet as a mouse, right in my path and I trip, dropping the milk and spilling about a half-gallon worth across the floor.

After the way the afternoon had been progressing, you’d think I’d know better by now.

By that point I’d had it. All I wanted to do was lock myself away from the kids and curl up in the fetal position and cry. But a Super Mom can’t do that.

Hopefully today is better.

**On a side note, I just want to wish my friend Courtney’s son a Happy 10th Birthday!