Advice Needed

How do you put the kie-bosh on the kids ignoring you? On bickering? On the wee ones messing around with the computer????

The above are all things I'm struggling with right now with (in order) Kidlet #1, Kidlet #2, and Kidlet #3. Ugh.

The 4th... er 3rd of July... :)

Yesterday my family cheated. I'll admit, we headed up to my parents house to celebrate the 3rd of July with them. Their little town does fireworks on the 3rd instead of the 4th so they don't compete with our, bigger city's, firework display. It's really nice cause we can see the towns display from my parents back porch.

This year when we arrived at their house it was raining (it was just a storm cell, no biggy), my mom hurt her arm earlier in the day so I helped out in the kitchen while my dad entertained the kidlets. The picture above is of him divvying out chips one by one so the kids wouldn't track them ALLLLLLL over the house. :)


After dinner we started with the personal fireworks (dad went to Alpine to get some good ones, GOOD JOB DAD!). Goober is describing the fireworks to dad as he sits on his lap.

Here is dad with all my kids! The kids are distracted by the fireworks Jer is lighting off :)

Goober and Missy with the Roman Candles.

Me helping EB with a sparkler.

This is one of my favorite holidays. I love that the whole nation gets together to celebrate our freedoms, not just our national holiday. I think this is one of the many reasons that Americans are so patriotic (or as some other countries would say "arrogant", I think they misinterpret national pride with thinking we are better than others. We aren't better, just more fortunate in many ways and we recognize that.)

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I am so grateful to have been born in this wonderful land, and while a disagree with many things our government does, I am still glad that I was not born elsewhere. As I look around myself and become more aware of the things going on in the world I continually am thankful for all of my freedoms.

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In many countries (even today) women are not thought of as equal, they have no freedom of speech or freedom of expression. They are oftentimes blamed for the hardships that others put upon them. They are often considered to be property, and if they get harmed or killed it is not considered something horrendous. I am so grateful that my daughter is able to be raised in a place that will give merit to her ideas, that will take her ambition and let it take her to wherever it will without discrediting it simply because she is a girl. This year, I'm not only grateful for my country in general but for the freedoms and rights it gives not only my sons, but my daughter as well.

God bless America.

Hair Do's

This is the 4th of July "Do" that I did on missy today. I figured I had been really lax on doing her hair fun lately, mainly due to swim lessons being soon after I have to get her up. Anyhow, I stole the idea from the blog Girly Do's By Jenn. It's my favortie hair blog at the moment :)

Happy celebrating people!

Do-It-Yourself Waterpark

So today Goober and Missy decided they wanted to play in the water, I think it was mostly due to Goober getting a new swimsuit (he refuses to wear the "Nemo" one that FITS, and insists on wearing one that is too small to swim lessons.... so I got him a new one...with a shirt. yippy. can you feel the excitement? :P) Well, a while back I told Goober that when it was warm enough I would put the hose up in the playhouse and we would make the slide into a water slide.

So we did. I even managed to get the hose up in there without it being in their way while they climbed up. Yay ME!

And then there was water....

Even so much water that our backyard once more became a bog (can you see the puddle?), though this time without the aid of rain...

And Missy went down the slide over and over....

And Goober went REALLY FAST down the slide.... even to the point of skipping across the grass.

Then they decided to make it "rain". See the Hose coming out the top window?

And Goober was so excited cause he could see rainbows in the mist.

And mom insisted on taking gobs of pictures... yes, even when the mist was hitting them in the face (I wasn't aware of that when I asked them to smile at me!!! I PROMISE! ... I still think it's kinda funny that they didn't protest trying though, they just did the best they could. What good kids.)

And of course, this was all while EB was down for his nap. Poor kiddo, I really need to find his swimsuit.

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PS EB got to have the same fun this evening, fully clothed of course. Funny kid.

Why I'm glad I DIDN'T go to the family reunion....

1. It happens every year (which is way too often in my book)

2. We would have had to travel with small children (Not my idea of fun)

3. We would have been camping with small children (which is, again, not my idea of fun)

4. very few of the people there would have been anywhere near my age (most of my cousins have lives they can't leave easily)

5. It was 4 days, FOUR DAYS long... of camping (need I say more? I like camping and all, but four days is too long especially with young children)

and last but not least...

6. My extended family is Dis-fun-ction-al. And while it may be entertaining to some extent, it's a laugh or cry situation.

Sorry I've been so quite lately...

I've had a lot on my mind. Not only the day to day stuff, but new exploration on changes in my personal and religious views. My mind has been very busy trying to figure out what these changes mean... if, how, and when they will effect the rest of my life and potentially those around me. Who knows? I certainly don't.

Thanks for the patience.

Yes, Sometimes Women Choosing to be SAHM Confuses Me.

And that is kinda weird coming from a women that is currently a SAHM (stay a home mom).

Here is what confuses me....

There is a lady I know whose husband recently lost his teaching job. Which is very hard I'm sure. This couple has one child who is still an infant but no longer nursing. The mom is having a very hard time with going back to work even though her family needs it, and while her husband had to work full time to support the family she can manage it on a part time basis.

Now, here is the core of my confusion. If she is able to make so much more with her education than her husband can with his, why doesn't she become the primary breadwinner, period? Or if she is really set on being home, why not until he gains more education (which wouldn't take long in this situation) to be able to provide better for their family? Her husband will be home with their child so no worries about daycare and having someone raise their child different that they would like. I'm confused, as I said.

In the past when I was a working mom, I had a hard time leaving my children with their grandmother every day. I understand that, cause grandma/grandpa/aunt/uncle are not as likely to be able to predict what you would want done with your children in any given instance. But a husband should have a much better understanding of this.

Personally, if my situation was such that I could make substantially more than Jer going to work, I WOULD. I fully trust him with my children and think he is a great father. I would not have had children with him if I did not trust him. I think he would be a GREAT SAHD (stay a home dad)! And while I have always wanted to be a SAHM since I was small, I never assumed that I would be able to. I have always seemed life does twists and turns we don't expect. I almost think she may be cutting herself and her little family short because she is so resistant to not having a "traditional" household.

Help me out here, I'm trying to empathize, but it's hard when you don't understand.