~Finally...I love it on top~

If you are like me, which most are not (be thanful, be very thankful as Tommy would say)....my housekeeping skills, or lack-there-of, this entire.... hot summer, have been on hold. Seriously and Completely on hold. Don't get me wrong. My house is not a dump...maybe a dumping ground some days, but it is still clean enough for the kids to safely play without catching a serious virus, clean enough to have certain company over and clean enough to just get by before I started gagging....even still, it was due for the window sills to be cleaned and the floors to be completely scrubbed, finishing touches of wall words and pictures put on the walls that have been waiting to be hung for oh, say, two years...... etc. A serious scrubbing and cleaning up after a summer of kids running rampant and me being sick and tired of this friggen heat.

Now, with that being said... a three year old and clean house truly never go hand in hand. (Well, except for one of my friends and you can't even tell she has a child. And I would eat off her floors anyday, but that makes me sad and is a totally different post !!)

The last few days have been so different around our house. I asked Pudgie to find things for me, and he actually did. I asked him to help me clean the floor, and he did. I showed him how to clean the banister on the stairs, and then he cleaned them all. He dusted, he picked up toys, he fed the dog for me, he then fed himself anything he could reach that looked unhealthy in the pantry... he was pretty much...my underage, underpaid hard laborer for the week. And really, what are little ones for anyways, right ???

So, in hindsight, underage laborer, that has no choice if he wants to eat, was a really good idea, seeing as that there are going to be upwards of 60+ people here tonight. Most of them have never seen our house and have been told some pretty tall tales of it. (Sometimes I think I live in the twilight zone when I hear what kind of house I live in from other people!) I always tell people we live in a shack that we are bursting out of it at the seams..... and I hate having any color on the walls and my kids sleep in the toy closet, under the stairs. I know...I'M A LIAR!

So, I love when I get on top of this house. Cleaning things out and getting rid of stuff we just don't need anymore. So nice. Somehow it just makes me breathe better. A little less clutter and lot less yelling makes for a great weekend to come!!!

P.S.

Don't forget, we are having a huge garage sale next Thursday and Friday. You name it...we most likely have it and are gonna sell it. Baby crib, baby glider and ottoman, eliptical trainer, treadmill, leather pottery barn chairs, rugs, dishes, toys, leather benches...stuff, stuff, stuff, and more stuff. (No, I am not selling any of Pudgie's ride on toys ... ahem ... Daddy!)

9/11

REMEMBERING.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZFkZiwMLZ4

YOU WILL BE IMPRESSED...

I GUARANTEE IT!

911 changed our lives in an instant. I will never forget that morning. You see, I had just had Brinkley and I was feeding her in our bed watching the news. I was barely paying attention, but enough so, that I shook Tommy awake. It was one of those moments that you only hear about. Like growing up my mom always said, "I will never forget where I was when Kennedy was shot." I never really understood that feeling, until that morning.

Like all Americans, our life changed and then slowly went back to what we would call some-what normal. We are not a military family but watched as friends left for over seas. Policing changed. It changed in huge ways. If you thought cops were over-reacting before 9/11.... you had not seen anything yet. Training changed but one thing remained the same, the brotherhood or sisterhood became stronger and somehow united us all.

I am always saddened by the stories of babies born without their dads anymore. Moms having to leave for their tour of duty and children that lose both parents to this war. It is horrible. I can't say that I would want for any of my kids to go into the military, but Jax has already talked of following in his Grampie Franks footsteps. Who can argue with that, really?

We are a society that has their own opinions about whether or not we should be fighting this war, whether or not it is worth it, are we accomplishing anything? I am not the person that knows any of that. I don't know that many really do. The ones that do, are thousands of miles away, or right next door, fighting so that you can read a blog in the comforts of your own home, so you can grocery shop for extras that our soldiers go without, so that you can kiss your babies good-night, and so that you can go on vacation in safety.

Either way, no matter what my opinion or yours is, of the war, we all just need to be thankful there are a lot of men and women who are willing to be our hereos!

Time Out

Somehow, when it rains, it pours with me. I function very well under stress.. probably better than without it. This week is just chalk full of it. Even though it started last Monday, the stress, that is.

If my back was not hurting so bad, everything else would be fine. My house would be clean for the busy weekend and I wouldn't have to slowly do my errands one per day, this week. (I could have been done in two hours normally!)

Poor Pudgie would be having a rockin, "berday week YEAH," as he yells constantly, at the top of his lungs, in any store, any time of day or night!

So to make the best of it...we took a TIME OUT out at Target today and then at home. Pudgie was so awesome sitting in the cart. He wanted some fruit snacks and after all, it is his berday week! He was shoving Spongebob fruit snacks in his mouth faster than I could grab them from him. He loved it and laughed for an hour! (10 fruit snack bags later...sorry DADDY, but he still took a nap!)

When we got home I pretty much dumped everything for our weekend in Daddy's garage and we headed straight for the pool. That is all he has been talking about all morning! Again, his week, his rules.

Sitting with him I just wanted to stop everything. Stop him from growing and becoming a big boy. I wanted to go get Jax and Brinkley out of school so they could spend the day with us. I wanted to hang out by the pool and eat popsicles and ice cream all day with them. I didn't take anything away from Pudgie though. It was just me and him and that was how it stayed.

I just wanted to squish his little cheeks until he screamed for me to let him go. I wanted to tickle him until he got the hiccups and hug him until he pushed on my face to get away.

We settled for swimming and playing with the 7 birthday trucks he and Daddy picked out. It wasn't the most ambitious thing we could have done this morning, but you couldn't have paid me to be anywhere else!

~3~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY JUSTICE!

My sweet little Pudgie man is three today. I loved the fact that he marched straight into my room, way too early for a three year old, and matter-o-factly stated, "Mommy, it's mine. Pubbie berday. MYYYYYYYYYYY BERDAY!

Pudgie is the greatest miracle of my life. For so many reasons, he should not have made it here and for so many more, our lives would be incomplete without him.

There are so many times during the day that I am asked why we call him Pudgie. People either love the nickname, or seriously HATE it! He really is not fat, nor has he ever been. The story is.... I was a scheduled c-section because of the pins in my pelvis. There was no way I was having a natural childbirth with this boy! The day we scheduled was a Wednesday so we took Jax out of kindergarten, had Grammie Alkire in from California and Grammie Diane planned to meet us at the hospital. The night before our big day, Tommy had bought the movie Lilo and Stitch for the kids. We watched it.. at least 4 or 5 times. I really thought nothing of it until about 25 minutes before we were leaving for the hospital.

Jax was asking a million and five questions about babies even though I had let him watch c-sections on t.v. He couldn't understand why I was going to have to be careful. Some things were just not sinking in. No matter how hard I tried, he just couldn't figure out why, if the baby was unhappy or crying or fussy, the whole house would be. I tried telling him about babies getting used to food and their diapers being cold and wanting to be changed...NOW, but nothing worked...

until...

I used a phrase from one of the scenes in Lilo and Stitch. There was a fish named Pudge in the movie. Lilo made the comment, "Pudge controls the weather." BINGO. Baby Justice would ultimately control our house just like Pudge. If Justice was happy, we were happy. If Justice was cranky...the whole house was cranky. That began our love affair with the nickname Pudgie! He still, somewhat, controls the house, to this day!!!

I will never forget the night I told Tommy I was pregnant. Brinkley and I had gone to the grocery store and I knew I needed to get the "TEST." I didn't think I was pregnant but figured I needed to rule it out. Being the freak that I am, I took the test at Albertson's when all of our shopping was finished. I put the test back in the box, took Binky to the truck, loaded up the groceries, got the truck started and got the the edge of the driveway to the street before I remembered to look at the test again. When I saw the two lines I almost hit a pedestrian. Then I tried to erase the lines. Then I panicked.

Binky and I got home and I ran for the bathroom. Maybe the sunlight was wrong and casting a strange shadow. NOPE, still two lines.

I contemplated this all day. This day was already a special family day so I knew I was gonna make the day even better or this was going to be a total flop!

You see, it was Jax's 5th birthday. Jax chose to go to McDonald's for his family dinner and we all headed out for the night. I was terrified to even bring the thought of another baby up. After we got the food and goodies for the kids, we sat watching them play in the toys. I figured it was all or nothing so...

I looked straight at Tommy and asked, "How much do you really love me?" He got one of those looks on his face like, what did you do now? I asked him again, "Are you sure that no matter what, we are good?" Still, a look, but with a smile. I burst into tears.

That is when I took the test out and handed it to him. He was still a little confused. He asked me, "What does this mean? I mean, does this mean you?"

Obviously he was thrilled but scared at the same time. He immediately told Jax and Brinkley even though we had no idea how far along I was. All's well that ends well, as they say. Although I don't know who "they" are.

Our life is complete with this little man. He is my angel and Jax's buddy. He is the thorn in Binky's side but she couldn't go a day without this little boy and he is Daddy's little helper.

Happy Berday Pubbie!

What's a girl to do....

when she didn't really run out of projects inside the house, but in reality, she really doesn't need to decorate the inside of the house that much more? Well...if you are like me, you decorate your husband's garage and add a lot of wow out there!!!!

It is rare that Tommy cares about projects around the house. The problem with that is, when he does care..it is all or nothing. The rules for projects with him are:

1. Kids shall fend for themselves. Popsicles and ice cream count as meals and if you fight... someone will eventually just win becuase Mom and Dad won't hear it outside. (Hence the photo of Binky's head and the egg size knot smack in the middle of her forehead)

2. No time is too late to finish the above mentioned project.

3. He shall take credit for the entire project. NO MATTER WHAT! (Unless of course something goes terribly wrong. Then it was a stupid idea and I should never have thought of it)

4. He is the project boss. Unless of course it involves building, painting, measuring, drilling, cleaning, touching up, nailing, moving things, organizing. Then he becomes the coordinator and lets me decide everything.

5. It is his project. ALL HIS.

I absolutely love the Police Officer's prayer. I had it made a year and a half ago and it has just been waiting patiently in my butler's pantry to be hung. That was a huge undertaking, let me tell you.

The garage looks amazing. I painted the cabinets for Tommy and we both put up the vinyl lettering. It turned out amazing. We have had so many people in the neighborhood come by, even one's that we don't know, stop to look at it. I still have a few touch ups and plans but for the most part, I think Tommy is pretty dang proud of his little corner of the house now!!

Finito.Finished.Kaput.The End.Complete...........................BEAUTIFUL!

It has been a long time in coming with some very hard lessons learned along the way. Today, I finished the house I was decorating. I was pretty pleased with the gift I made for them. I tried my hand at oil painting this summer and gifted Sherry the final result of 12 canvases, for letting me do whatever I wanted to, no questions asked.

I even tried refacing the bathroom cabinets for them. I personally think everything came out really good. There was one bathroom that I was not allowed to decorate. I am sure that they are rethinking that one now. After all... it is red, white, and yellow. Not the prettiest of sights!!!

SO.....

What is this decorating girl to do when she finishes on heck of a major painting project, feels like she should be cleaning her house for a very busy upcoming weekend, but wants to keep painting... but is really running out of interior walls to paint in this little house we reside in...

Just wait and see...................................because Tommy and I are almost done with another major re-do project!