For all the hard working SAHMs!

Came across this and it made me laugh...


A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife
stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed:

"Dear Lord: I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife
merely stays at home. I want her to know what I go through, so please
allow her body to switch with mine for a day Amen."

God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish.
The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman.
He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, Awakened the kids,
Set out their school clothes, Fed them breakfast,
Packed their lunches, Drove them to school,
Came home and Picked up the dry cleaning,
Took it to the cleaners and Stopped at the bank to make a deposit,
Went grocery shopping, Then drove home to put away the groceries,
Paid the bills and Balanced the check book.
He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog.
Then it was already 1P.M. And he hurried to make the beds,
Do the laundry, Vacuum, Dust, and Sweep and
Mop the kitchen floor. Ran to the school to pick up the kids and
Got into an argument with them on the way home.
Set out milk and cookies and Got the kids organized to do their homework,
Then set up the ironing board and Watched TV while he did the ironing.
A t 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and Washing vegetables for salad,
Breaded the pork chops and Snapped fresh beans for supper.
After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, Ran the dishwasher,
Folded laundry, Bathed the kids, and put t hem to bed.
At 9 P.M. He was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't
finished, he went to bed where he was expected to make love, which he
managed to get through without complaint.

The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said:
"Lord, I don't know what I was thinking. I was so wrong to envy my
wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh! Oh! Please, let us
trade back."

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied:
"My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy
to change things back to the way they were. You'll just have to wait
nine months though. You got pregnant last night."

I loathe Wells Fargo

Most people pick a bank and it's done, no big deal. You deposit money, you withdraw money it's not exactly rocket science. For the past 10 years I have used Wells Fargo bank and I have never experienced stellar service, but nothing really to complain about. However in the past year, actually past two years, I have had nothing but bad experiences. From ridiculous fees, to credit card issues, and incompetent customer service agents, I just don't know why I have stayed for so long. Today my incident at Wells Fargo though is the straw that broke the camels back! First I get there with my two boys in the car, I park right in front of the ATM and get out to deposit Aaron's check. I notice they have a new non-envelope deposit feature, so at first I think "cool, no more envelopes to fill out." WRONG, not cool. As I'm sitting there playing peek-a-boo with Kai from the ATM waiting for the check to be deposited, the machine spits the check back out and tells me it has been rejected (can't be read). So I try again, same thing. CRAP, now I have to unload two little boys and haul them into the bank - I hate technology! Then I get in there, fill out my deposit slip and am first in line. There are like 8 tellers behind the counter and only one open! I'm running late now to pick up Mia because I thought it would be a quick ATM stop. Finally it's my turn and I hand the teller the check, I politely tell her I'm not a fan of the new envelope-less deposit system(I promise I was polite) and she gives me this look like I am the worst person alive. My check can be read fine from the teller desk and of course she can't tell me why it didn't work from the ATM. Anyway, we leave the bank and I turn around Kai is 15 feet behind me looking at the writing area where they used to store the envelopes, and little do I know they turned this "island" into a trash can. There is a door that opens on the writing island so you can remove the trash can inside and empty it. Kai is swinging the door (it's not locked for some reason) and then the trash can falls out spilling half of the can's contents. So here I am with a baby on my hip and a two year old at my side trying to collect all the trash and put it back before it blows away. This trash/writing area is right outside of the banks front door which is all glass and I'm sure bank employees saw what happened (there were four ladies standing behind the desk right next to the door.) and not one of them came out to help. A customer came out and actually helped me half way through it and I was very grateful. I was so ticked at the employees at this point I wanted to take the garbage and dump it inside the banks front door and leave-I didn't of course. I don't usually complain about not getting help, but I just felt so pathetic try to pick up all this trash with two little children by my side, I never could have sat and just watched that happen to someone. The next time I go into Wells Fargo it will be to close my account there. I've decided to go with Washington Mutual, free checks for life, and free online banking sounds good to me. I figure they can't be any worse than what I've already experienced. This was a long time coming and I think this is what I needed to finally get me off my duff and go somewhere else. Ahhh, feels good to vent.

I was craving a shake and apparently so was Noah!

As Mia and I walked into the playroom we found Noah on the floor, straw in his mouth, licking away at this milk chocolatey mess. Mia looked up at me waiting for my head to explode, since that's my usual reaction when something is spilled, but I just broke out laughing and then so did she. What else could I do? Of course he had just had his outfit changed because he had a blow out (I was out of cloth, so he was in a disposables) and now the new clothes are covered in Jack-N-Box chocolate shake. I'm not saying I would explode at Noah, just myself for letting it happen. The most ironic thing about it was I left the room to get napkins!!!!!!!!! Click the pictures for a much goopier view.

For the other kids clothes horses out there...

I am in so much trouble! My family knows what a gymboree-aholic I am for children's clothes and now I've just been told about a Gymboree concept store called Crazy 8. It's what Old Navy is to Gap. Anyway, I just placed my first order and know I'll be a frequent visitor. It seems like they run out of sizes pretty fast since they're fairly new and testing out their demand. I just got Kai's Christmas outfit and a bunch of sweats for the boys. The girls clothes are cute too, but Mia's drawers are overflowing so I was able to hold myself off (for now). There's a store 15 minutes from my house, but SHIPPING IS FREE right now which is better than dragging the brood along clothes shopping. Check it out www.crazy8.com

Under the Boardwalk

We had a beautiful Saturday here a couple weeks ago. And even though it was a wonderful day, Mia's soccer game was canceled because of all the rain the night before, so the fields were mush. We took advantage of our freed up Saturday and drove down to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The kids had a great time even though I could tell colds were coming on (they're full blown now). Anyway, Mia and Kai got to go on as many rides as 60 tickets would get them. Mia was bummed she was too little for the roller coasters. Her favorite ride was a kids sized Supreme Scream type ride. We went down to the beach and it was like a dream watching my kids play together. It was so peaceful and serene. Of course this is northern California so the water is freezing and they didn't even get their ankles wet. It was so nice just forgetting about all the chores at home and getting out as a family. The sweetest thing was turning around to find all three of our munchkins fast asleep as we drove home through the mountains. This one little excursion prompted Aaron to take a few days off work next weekend and I scheduled a long weekend to Yosemite. I can't wait!

Mia updates: kindergarten and soccer

Well, Mia has been in school for almost two months now. She is having a really good time. They started getting homework. Basically it's doing two "book reports" a week. We read a book together and then she has to draw a picture and write a sentence about the book or her favorite part, or whatever. Her two favorite things to do during recess are playing soccer with the boys or chasing the boys with Thea...either way I guess she's running after boys. Can we just say UH-OH! I get to volunteer in her class the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays (thanks to Aaron's cousin watching the boys). It's been fun watching her and seeing how independent she has become.
On the soccer front, things are going well. There is one little girl from her K class on the team and she just loves her teammates. Still no goals and she still hasn't let any opposing goals in when she's goalie. We're seeing some HUGE 6 year olds now that she's played a few more teams. I want to see some of their birth certificates! In her game two weeks ago Mia was able to keep up with one the big girls and I think this girl didn't like it because she kept pushing Mia. At first Mia was surprised, but then she started shoving back. I was a little disappointed. I didn't want to have to explain at this age why sometimes pushing is allowed and other times it's not. I mean I'm glad she didn't let the girl bully her, but I didn't think she would be in those situations in this age division. We have a lot of fun cheering on the mermaids and next week it's our turn to bring orange wedges and snack ;) The pics are a little distorted, but I couldn't make them fit on my page without resizing them and I had to share.

8 beautiful soccer stars


First school picture

Another toy recall???!!!

This gets the award for my biggest laugh of the day! What if they really made a grater that big? I love this kids face :)

I HEART BOYS

What is it about same gender siblings that is so sweet? I love watching Mia with her brothers , but seeing my boys together just makes me misty. These little boys are just so cute and loving. Perhaps it's because boys get the bad rap of being overly active troublemakers, so it's especially tender when you see them being caring or interested in each other. Little girls are *supposed* to be sweet and you expect them to say things like "I love you". Kai just started saying I love you or more like "La Lu Mommy" and it just melts my heart! I rarely watch Regis and Kelly, but I was the other morning and I heard Kelly Ripa say "5 boys is like 15 girls". It got me thinking and I have to completely disagree. Girls have so much more drama, so much more emotion and to me that can be harder to deal with than boys who like to run around and eat a lot. I think I would rather be in a house with 5 boys than 15 girls anyday! Kai and Noah just started being able to "wrestle" and it cracks me up as they're crawling all over each other. They love each other so much!
I really think there is a special bond between same gender siblings and I feel so lucky that I get to see it every day in my boys.




I especially love my son eating chips right out of the bag in this one ;)

Survey Friday...again.

Between Aaron and I

1. Who eats more?
Aaron

2. Who said "I love you" first?
I did, Holy cow, my heart was pounding so hard that night!

3. Who weighs more?
Aaron thank goodness

4. Who sings better?
Neither one of us is a particularly talented singer, shower voice=Aaron, church voice=me

5. Who’s older?
Aaron 3yrs 9mo

6. Who’s smarter?
There's so many degrees of being smart. In a classroom...me. He's really smart when it comes to fixing things.

7. Who’s temper is worse?
Probably me, although since working at the airport Aarons comes out more.

8. Who does the laundry?
ME

9. Who does the dishes?
I do

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Me

11. Who’s feet are bigger?
Aaron's are

12. Who’s hair is longer?
* Mine is

13. Who’s better with the computer?
Aaron...good at fixing things

14. Do you have pets?
Do kids count???

15. Who pays the bills?
Aaron makes the money to pay the bills, but I actually pay them

16. Who cooks dinner?
I do

17. Who drives when you are together?
Mostly Aaron

18. Who pays when you go out to dinner?
Me, Aaron has a terrible time figuring out tips

19. Who’s the most stubborn?
ME!

20. Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong?
It's rare for either of us to

21. Who’s parents do you see more?
Aaron's since they live 10 min. away

22. Who named your pet?
No pets, but Aaron actually got his way in naming all our kids.

23. Who kissed who first?
It was mutual

24. Who asked who out?
We were friends first, so I don't even remember our first "date".

26. Who’s more sensitive?
Me, me, ME

27. Who’s taller?
Aaron by an INCH

28. Who has more friends?
We share most of our friends

29. Who has more siblings?
I win! 4 to 1

30. Who wears the pants in the relationship?
NO PANTS. In the words of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Aaron is the head of the house and I'm the neck and I can turn the head any way I want!

Spouses Survey

1. What was your first date? I honestly can't remember

2. How soon did he/she say I love you? Two and a half months

3. How long before he/she proposed? Two and a half years

4. How long did you date before you got married? Almost 3 years

5. Did you have a big or small wedding? medium 140 people

6. Married indoors or outdoors? outdoors

7. What's one thing you would change about your wedding? I wish Aaron and I would have done a speech together, I also we wish we had assigned tables for dinner

8. Traditional vowels or wrote your own? wrote our own

9. What's one part of the wedding that was unique to you? our vows and we had the flower girls ring bells instead of drop petals.

10. What does your wedding ring look like? I'm too tired to explain it all, it's platinum and diamonds

11. Where did you go oun your honeymoon? Maui, and I'm dying to go back

12. How many times do you say "I love you" in one day? Maybe 3-4

13. How long have you been married? 7 years now

14. What's one thing you would change about him/her? I wish he knew how to pick up after himself. Clothes, food, tools, you name it.

15. What did he/she give you on your first Chrismas married? a bracelet, perfume, clothes

16. Do you get along with your in-laws? Most of the time

17. What do you do an a typical date night? what's that?!

18. Do you have kids together? 1 girl 2 boys

19. What's your dream vacation together? Europe

20. Where is your man/woman right now? working at the airport

All Hail the Mighty Dustbuster!

HOORAY!!! I found our long lost dustbuster this morning. It has been missing for months, Aaron misplaced it back in August and we have been hunting for it ever since. I didn't understand how he could lose something of that size without a trace. It's not like a key or a DVD. We even had Aaron's dad searching high and low in the garage.
I get so tired of getting the vacuum out for little messes and I love it for the hardwood floors. I asked my mom for one for my birthday and she was like "you don't want a dustbuster for your birthday." I kinda agreed and asked for something else, but then Aaron's mom offered us hers that never got used and after having it for one week I realized it was one of the best inventions ever! If you have children this is a great time saving device, some of the best money you'll ever spend. I grew so accustomed to having one that when it went missing I almost forget I could sweep.
OK, so you want to know where my sleep deprived husband put it? Kai was in the play room this morning and he had pulled all the cushions off the couch in there and as I'm putting them back on, I see a glimpse of shiny navy plastic under the folded up hide-a-bed. Could it be?! Was it really my long lost dustbuster?! Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!! I actually had to pull the hide-a-bed out from the couch to retrieve it, but it there it was. Can you tell I missed it. I immediately called Aaron and asked him if he had been using the dustbuster around the bed and he was said "yeah, I guess I forgot, I didn't think bed would clear with that in there." So now it's back on it's charger and will be ready to use for whatever messes are in store for me today.