Christmas Picture Outake!-I'd rather take pictures of ANY kids other than my own! 

1.  I am now 29 years old...some days it feels 79!  I guess that's what happens when you don't get more than 2 hrs of straight sleep in almost 10 yrs.  Spent the day yesterday as usual, home with the kids,Honey @ work.  The kids each bought me another lil birdy to add to my collection which they were very excited about (from the dollar store).  Then Mimi came and watched them while Honey and I went out for Mexican food and saw Old Dogs.  Cute movie.  Then we came home, had cake the kiddos made and went to bed!  29 is gonna be a good year for me!

2.  Monkey 3 refered to the spider in my jacket as a coyote spider ( instead of a wolf spider.)

3.  So glad my mom knows when I need a break, even when I don't tell her.  She came and stole the kids away for a few hours the other day so I could have some peace.  Thanks Mom

4.  Have too many ideas racing through my head of fun vintage projects do, make or try.  Like I have the time for more hobbies!  But checking out some blogs/online shops have the juices flowing!

5.  Instead of braving the cold for the parade tonight we stayed home and played hide n' seek with a flashlight.   That's so much better anyways!

God Bless,

Mandy

Momism:  If your printer stops working, you may want to check it for rocks ;)  This was today @ my house!

That is Monkey 3...fell asleep on the top step!

1.  I am  so blessed and have so much to be thankful for...all year round.  So happy honey has such a wonderful family I call my own and that time spent @ Auntie Robyn's is going to be such a big part of the monkeys memories.

2.  Blessed to have my mom who will go out sick and in the freezing cold to wait for Santa with me and the kids and treat us to Dilly bars after.  She even took the Monkeys to Boatnik this year- by herself ( I had shingles)!  Now that's a Grandma! 

3.  Watched It's A Wonderful Life last night...I MAKE myself wait till Thanksgiving each year...well worth the  wait every time

buffalo girls won't you come out tonight, come out tonight...

4.  Monkey #4 is getting cuter, onrier and more entertaining each day.  He will put on anyone's underwear or socks and gets mad if you take them off.   He has great face expressions...just waiting on words(so then I can tell him to be quiet!)

5.  Monkey 2(though sassy as all get out)  is a sweetheart too.  Yesterday  Monkey 1 was NOT going to Thanksgiving dinner until he cleaned his room (he'd known that for days)  and it was coming down to the wire and he insisted he couldn't get it done and therefore was not trying.  Quietly Monkey 2 went up stairs and was gone for 1/2 hr.  Then she came down, told me she had cleaned up most of his room , left a little for him so it counted, because she didn't want him to miss out...What a sweet girl  ( in 5 min. I'm sure she'll be in trouble so I'll savor it now.

MOMISM OF THE DAY:  You may be a mom if getting dressed to go out means changing out of your stained sweats and into your 'nice' ones...

1.  Whenever Monkey 3 pretends he is a pirate (which is multiple times a day)  he says "Ahoy Ladies" instead of 'mateys', too stinkin cute!

2.  Monkey 2 calls chihuauas (sp?)   Chick-a-wah-wahs!...also too cute

3.  I have decided that waiting for my kids to cooperate while I excercise is just pointless.  They will run around or cry @ my feet if I try to do a video, they can't keep up on a walk and wouldn't stay in a kid center if I got a gym membership...solution?  well this morning I rode my stationary bike for 40 min while holding and tickling Monkey 4.  A  mom must do what it takes right?

4.  Lovin that lil Monkey 2 is so excited for school.  She whines on days when she doesn't go, wakes up ready to roll when it is a school day and asks to do homework all the time...praying it lasts the next 12 years  :)

5.  Getting the Christmas decorations out and will put them up this week!  The kids and I made our own ornaments with vintage images and glitter!  Have I mentioned that Honey despises glitter?  No, really...he thinks it is evil and should be banned, I however love it.  We may end up in counseling over it :)

So I always get these ideas in my head that I call 'momisms'- things only moms would do, say or think.  Honey keeps saying I should write a book with them...instead I will give a 'momism' each post.  Exciting for the one person who reads this on occasion huh?  How can you contain yourself?   In the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy...

MOMISM OF THE DAY:   You may be a  mother if you have ever found yourself scrubbing the bathroom sink while using the toilet.  Moms are amazing multitaskers what can I say:)!

God Bless,

Mandy

1.   I ran away last night. yep, for a whole 45 minutes I ran to Fred Meyers all by myself.  I never do anything by myself, but last night I was going to loose it if I didn't get out...and we needed bread so I had an excuse.  It's sad that 45 minutes walking around the grocery store all by myself is so theraputic but it worked and I came home refreshed!

2. Monkey #1 says last night " I don't want to go to school tomorrow"

me: "sorry, you don't have a choice"

Monkey 1:  "yeah...unless I want to be a hobo"

he cracks me up

3.I think the Smuckers andes choc mint hot fudge is some of the best stuff ever.

4.Went Christmas shopping on Monday with my sister and got a good start on gifts.  I could live in Target. Love that store.

5.Monkey #1 says that Sun. @ Mimi's house was his best day ever!  Running around wiith his cousins in the woods shooting bebe guns and exploring like young boys should.  I am glad he has that memory...

God Bless, Mandy

Been meaning to document my ever growing collection of birdies

...this started on accident, I had picked up one because of its color...then I saw another one that I thought was cute

..one day found a picture I LOVED...

and before I knew it I became an official 'bird lady'

 

and this guy got shoved down the couch and lost his beak

and these next 2 guys caused quite the argument between my honey and I.  We were on a trip to the coast at an amazing store called 'Feather your Nest', when I picked these ones out to bring home.  Honey made a remark about them being too chubby for his tastes and that he preferred the skinnier birds!!:O!!!  Excuse me?  and what is wrong with  plump ?  So skinnier is better?  He knew he was in deep...and I'm sure the workers were curious as to why we were laughing so hard in the checkout line...

got these pictures for $1.00 @ a yard sale!!!

pretend you don't see the dust on that picture frame...

and there they are!

1.  Sooooooo  miss my husband on nights when he is away for work.  I get all sentimental and mushy.  I am pathetic and a scardy cat .  I have so much respect for military wives ( Love you Crystal)

2.   Been working on a little scrapbook all about Honey and I.  Answering questions regarding each other, etc., to mark our 10 year anniversary next summer!  Crazy how fast time goes...and my honey just loves answering the lamo questions I come up with:)...

3.  My house is a disaster.  My tidiness is so futile in a house with four kids ( and a husband;0))  Auntie Robyn used to have a sign that said cleaning house while raising kids is like shoveling snow in the middle of a snowstorm-yep-that sums it all up!

4.  In love with the shoes I just ordered from Forever21,cute strappy teal wedges with a flower!   Can't wait to get 'em!

5.  2 little monkeys are green snot nosed and coughing, had to cancel the first book club meeting :(  Praying H1N1 stays away...

God Bless,

Mandy

Today's 5 Things...

1.  Happy birthday to Lailee, my niece, and Cole and Jessie, neighbors and my kids best buddies!

2.  That german choc. cake Orenda made was AMAZING.

3. Monkey #1 informed me he'll be asking Santa for a DSI...I'm afraid he will be sorely disappointed since Santa thinks dsi's are too expensive, inappropriate and just not happenin'

4.  Midway through Portrait Of A Lady by Henry James and thinking that he is one fabulous writer.

5.Monkey #3's blood work came back clear, now next we'll see an orthopedic specialist

God Bless,

Mandy

Okay so I have finally "prettified" my blog to where I feel more comfortable writing!  It will be under construction here and there as I learn to improve it                                     ( I am a complete computer moron!)

So I will do a "5 THINGS" list on my posts, tell you something you don't know about us/me, whats going on in our lives, etc.

1.  

monkey #3 finally had some blood work done today to see if maybe anemia is the cause of the leg pain & exhaustion he's had since he was 1 1/2.  We will get the results tomorrow.  He was such a little trooper, no tears or anything.  The first time I had blood drawn I puked on the phlebotomists shoes :)! 

2.  I am TIRED, and yes, I am always tired, but especially right now, just want to sleep...

3.  Thinking about all our veterans, their sacrfices and their familie's sacrifices.  What a blessing they are and I pray they know the gratitude we as a nation have for them.

4.  I      CAN. NOT. WAIT.  to have a storage shed built and get all this JUNK off our front porch, tired of looking like a bunch of rednecks!

5.  I really need to get healthy...With the last pregnancy I just couldn't keep up and ate worse and couldn't exercise...and I haven't had the energy to start again.  That darn cyclical affect, need to exercise to feel good , don't feel good enough to excercise...

God Bless, Mandy

DAY 1

Day one of blog life. Hmmm. I believe that this will become a sort of random thoughts thingy where I can recapture all the days little happenings and my thoughts. And looky , I already have a follower!!! Thanks Dena, your $20.00 is in the mail ;)







Monkey A ( I think I will switch this to monkey A, Monkey B, monkey C and Monkey T to correlate with their secret names. And yes I know we screwed up the whole vibe by not naming Monkey T a 'D' name. But I digress), so Monkey A says to me "Are the guys on baseball cards just the really famous ones?"







I say " ALL of them aren't necessarily really famous, just major league players."







Monkey A : " Watch, I'll be on a card one day" :)


you never know...

Another point of this blog is to force me to take everyday snapshots.

I used to be great @ this, not so much now that I've gone "pro".

Because my snapshots look like...well, SNAPSHOTS. And this frustrates me. But now I pledge to take more snapshots of daily life to post here. I will not worry about exposure or aperture or photoshop. I will only care about the moment.

And by the way-who ever thought of taking a personal diary and broadcasting it to the world? Because that is essentially what a blog does. Total oxymoron...and yet here I sit.

In The Beginning...

Well here it is...

Welcome to my blog family and friends!


I am starting this blog as a way to document my crazy , hectic and very blessed life. I love to remind myself that it is those "little things" that matter most and by blogging I hope to preserve that. This also an effort to share with family and friends what is going on with us since we have such a fascinating life everyone is so curious about. The previous sentence was a joke. Unless your idea of fascinating includes wondering how many diapers and "accidents" you can clean up a day. Then you will love this!

And I am sure you will find a wealth of information here. Such as...the amazing assortment of food that can be thrown onto the floor in one sitting, the fun things I pull out of pockets in the wash, the best ways to disguise the boogers you wiped off your child's nose that are now on your only clean shirt,etc. etc.

Oh and I am pretty knowledgeable in all matters of breastfeeding, in case that is of relevance to you.

For the sake of my overprotective psychosis my kids will be known on this blog as monkey #1 #2 #3 And #4. Please use this unbreakable secret code if you comment.

My hubby will be known as honey. Because he is even more neurotic than me.

God Bless, Mandy