Wordful Wednesday~ Rock on lil one!

The boys all got a Guitar Hero world tour for Christmas. If the big guys thought THEY were actually going to get a chance at the drums, well, they were SADLY mistaken! Brennen insisted that, "I rock out! I play drums" If they others got anywhere near him, they were more than likely going to be the one being beaten on with the drumsticks. He was SO serious about his job. Quite a cute lil drummer boy if I do say so myself!

and so begins another week......

This weekend was a chaotic mess and I'm more than happy to get back to the ebb and flow of the school week. I would say that my children were in rare form this weekend but that would be a lie. My children were very much themselves. SO much so that I cancelled the "Family Fun" event that we were to participate in at my mother in law's house. I just couldn't fathom rewarding them with a fun filled day when they were having to be pulled off of each other all morning. I mean, they started out fighting and then it just went downhill from there. SO, we didn't do the fun day. Instead, we sat home....cleaning, having time outs, just generally being unhappy. Someday, I think my kids will understand that their behavior is just not ok.

Anywho, we are starting another week and we're not off to a great start. Tucker forgot his viola so I will have to run that to school....or maybe not. Maybe he just needs to learn his lesson the hard way. I haven't decided just yet.

Tanner is HOME from school already. He did go but I got a call saying he wasn't feeling well. He's fever free but is sort of pale. Not sure what's going on with him but he's very teary over the possibility of not feeling well enough to go on his field trip tomorrow.

Brennen is being his normal self which is good and bad. Some of you will be happy to hear that he is NOT a perfect child after all. I know, I know, but he looks SO perfect. Let me tell you, he'll be 2 in a couple of months and you sure can tell. He's getting a bit of an independent streak! He's still very good though and seriously, so dang cute!

Jake had minimum days all week last week so this week will be a bit easier. I finally managed to find all the pieces for his costume and he's going to look fabulous! I'm not going to give away what he's being....but I CAN say that I managed to find all the pieces of his outfit at secondhand stores. SCORE!

Jon is Jon. Never really gives me any troubles. He figured out what he wants to be for Halloween and we picked up his stuff secondhand as well. SO MUCH CHEAPER! PLUS, I like to have my kids costumes be original, even if the idea is not. I hate seeing all the store bought costumes out there.....where's the imagination?!

That's all for now.....

So it has begun.....

I know you may be thinking this is INCREDIBLY early to even be thinking about it but I cannot help myself.....I have started my Christmas shopping. Really, it IS early. BUT, I hate it when December comes around and I am not yet finished with the gift buying. I find myself scrambling then, buying things that I didn't want to buy because, well, the things I DID want to buy are no longer available. (You CAN still get them on Craigslist or Ebay but the cost is astronomical) I do find that if I wait to long to get started then it seems decisions must be made on wether we eat or the kids get gifts. I think that by starting earlier....say, last week...I will find that we can afford to both eat AND have a Merry Christmas come December. I am also cutting back drastically on the amount I spend as the economy just SUCKS! I've been cutting back little by little over the past several years and throwing in more family activities instead of more gifts. I find it rewarding....there are many more original photo ops too! I mean, seriously, after the umpteeth pic of your lovely child opening a gift, they all seem to run together! SO, yes, it has begun...the insanity that is the holiday season. I am going to do my best to be finished by Thanksgiving because, well, back when I only had 2 boys I was ALWAYS done by then. It makes the holidays much more relaxing! Give it a try!

SO, have you all started with the holiday shopping? Thinking about it? Any fun holiday family activities you think 5 boys would dig? Do tell!

Forced vacation

I am going on a forced vacation tomorrow night. Not that I'm not looking forward to it. I am. I know it'll be fun. BUT, it's always a lot of work.....for the mom anyway. Sometimes it sucks to be the mom. Anyhow, I call it a forced vacation because I more than likely wouldn't be going anywhere if my house wasn't getting tented for termites. YUCK, I know! As I've said before, we rent from my folks and we all live on the same property. My dad is getting both houses tented so unless I want to shell out major (don't have) bucks to take the kids to a hotel for several days, I must go to Tahoe. My mom and dad have a condo there and my mom was going to be going anyway. She always invites us along so we are heading to Tahoe tomorrow night. Jared's not going being that he has to work and all......he'll be staying at my brother's house. I'm really looking forward to the time with just my boys though because Jared's been topping my Sh*t list for about a week now and I can really use the time away. This trip has been drastically altered though by Tanner getting staples in his head. I had invisioned a lovely time, lounging poolside, playing cards or reading while the older 4 swam and the baby napped. Now that picture is more like me and Tanner battling it out with games of War or Go Fish! So much for the dream. I think I'll still have me a bottle of some sort in my hand though......
If I knew how to do scheduled posts, I might attempt to write a few but my computer skills are shoddy at best. I'll consider myself lucky if this post even manages to make it on my blog...... Ok, maybe that's overdoing it a bit. I better run, I have TONS of food and stuff that must be packed up in order to get the termiting stuff done......WHAT A HUGE ORDEAL! I think I'll just take a lot of it to Tahoe though because then I don't have to buy as much there...... Still though...not looking forward to the chores ahead of me!

Fair-ly fun!

So, yesterday we went to the county fair. I generally try to get out of that at all costs because it's hot, stinky, the people are weird and it's WAY too expensive to take my herd there. Well, yesterday was $2 Tuesday so I figured we'd go but, "We're NOT going on the rides!" They want $26 for a ride wristband.....um....NO! We have Great America passes anyways which has actual real rides.... I was really nervous about taking all 5 boys to the fair but it went....surprisingly well! There were very few arguments and the ones we did have were done and over with rather quickly. We ate lunch before leaving so the snack buying was kept to stricly "must have" fair treats like GIANT dill pickles, funnel cake and sno cones. We went through all the exhibit halls and looked at all the 4H animals. We really had a fun time. We found some humongous candy apples and bought 3 to have up at Grandma and Grandpa's for dessert (like we needed MORE sugar?!?!?) Well, wouldn't you know it....Tanner was puking his wee little guts out last night. I didn't know his stomach could even hold that much! The worst part was that he didn't even wake up! I had to really raise my voice to get his attention so I could heave him over my shoulder to give him a shower. Jared was super helpful by stripping down the bed while I washed Tanner up. I think I would've hurled if I had to do it. I've been feeling somewhat queasy since the initial vomitfest several days ago...... PLUS, Jared pretty much had to do SOMETHING to redeem himself after so rudely falling asleep while I dealt with sick baby last time! Tanner did throw up again in the middle of the night but it wasn't nearly as bad (he slept through that too! How can he DO that?!?!!) I guess if you eat so much candy that you actually vomit, then your trip to the fair was a good one.....right?!?! I feel really icky though today so my guess is my family has some sort of fun bug....hope it's gone soon!