Braxton turns 3

In the morning we went out to run some errands. We needed a couple cake ingredients and we needed to get his birthday balloon. He got a Nemo Happy Birthday Balloon but sadly it's popped already. He did have a blast playing with it though! Daddy had to work late last night so I had the boys take late naps so they could stay up and do cake when he got home. Braxton requested a snowman cake so that took a bit of figuring but we got it. The boys enjoyed eating the decorations as I was putting together the cake. Braxton ended up getting more than I plan for his birthday. We gave him a small backpack(he was always trying to snitch Chance's). He got the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak(Braxton has a huge thing for monsters and bad guys). And then Keith decided Braxton needed a toy too so he gave him a transformer. Here are some pictures of the fun.

When Birthdays land near Christmas

It's Braxton's Birthday today, he's 3! I'll blog more in detail about it latter. For now I want to talk about a topic that is close to my heart. Soon I will have 2 children with birthdays that fall at this special time of year. I strive to make the birthdays special and separate from the holiday. Birthday presents are never wrapped in Christmas paper. We usually wrap birthday gifts in grocery bag paper. The child who is not the birthday kid gets to decorate it with markers and stickers. Our birthday traditions are a cake made by me and then the children help decorate it. A birthday balloon, a special dinner, and a birthday banner. After cake we do do the birthday present. Sometimes Grandparents come but usually it's just my husband and my children. So I just wanted to share that and this article I found online about this subject...

Tips to Celebrate a Child's December Birthday
Have Yourself a Merry Little?Birthday?
By Laura Hill, Birthday in a Box?s ?Party Pro?


The month of December is a joyous time of year, full of friends, family,
fun, good food, and great gifts. In the midst of all of this holiday cheer, however, many holiday babies get the short end of the peppermint stick. Instead of being thrown separate birthday parties, their celebrations often get lumped together with Christmas parties, Hanukkah dinners,
and New Years Eve gatherings. Then there?s the ever-sore subject
of presents, which are often doled out with the illogical logic,
?Why buy two when one will do?? Even worse is when these ?combo?
gifts come wrapped in holiday paper?presented after birthday pie, no less.

It?s not surprising how often these holiday birthday missteps occur.
After all, few people have money to buy twice as many presents or time
to throw two or more parties during this hectic season. Even so, if you have a holiday baby in your family, you should always do your best to make their special day, well, special. Here are a few great ways to do this without breaking the bank or running yourself ragged:

1. If at all possible, plan a separate celebration around or on your child?s birthday, and invite a few of his or her favorite friends and family members. Select a theme and complimentary decorations that are very different from the standard red-and-green, holly-trimmed Christmas designs, or blue, white and silver, dreidel-imprinted Hanukkah designs. Instead, consider the birthday child?s favorite activity, story, TV show, movie character, or anything else that his or her heart desires. Be creative, and have fun with this process! (For other free theme-related decorating, game, and activity ideas, check out Birthday in a Box?s Party Planning section.)

2. When funds are limited, consider asking family members and/or friends
to pitch in on one bigger gift that the birthday child has requested.
Or, purchase a gift card with everyone?s contributions, and then plan your child?s special day around shopping for presents. Invite one or two of his
or her closest friends, treat everyone to lunch, and spend the afternoon on a shopping spree. Wrap things up by taking the kids back to your house to make ice cream sundaes and watch a movie.

3. If you?re overwhelmed by the thought of having a house full of kids during the hectic holidays, have a small family gathering around or on your child?s actual birthday, and then throw a bigger party with his or her friends halfway through the year. Two parties are always better than one!

4. For a low-key and inexpensive home party, invite several of your child?s closest friends for a sleepover. Play traditional games like Telephone and Name That Tune, make popcorn, watch a movie, or tell spooky stories. Before the children leave in the morning, serve them Funny Face Bagels or Smiley Face Pancakes. (For more sleepover ideas, check out Birthday in a Box?s Slumber Party Planning Guide.)

5. Take your child and a few friends on a birthday outing to an ice skating or roller rink, a museum, an aquarium, an arcade, a bowling alley, a movie theater, a salon, or anywhere else that the kids might enjoy.

6. If worst comes to worst and you can only fit in a combination birthday and holiday celebration, make strides to single out the birthday child and make him or her feel special. Give your child a special hat or pin to wear, hang a personalized birthday banner in the main party area, make a production of opening birthday presents (which should definitely be wrapped in birthday paper and given separately from holiday gifts), and serve a birthday cake in addition to other holiday treats. Make sure that at least one of your child?s friends is present if at all possible, too.

Whichever option you choose?whether its one of these or an idea of your own?just make sure you deck the halls with streamers and balloons instead of holly this December, and make this the first of many unforgettable birthdays for your holiday baby!
http://www.amazingmoms.com/htm/partytips-december-birthday.htm

Welcome To The Show

My Boys put on a show for us last night. It made me smile!

Wrestling with Daddy

Here is a video clip of my crazy boys beating up on daddy.

annoyed w/ myself and what flylady would say

So today I got bored and I finally tackled cleaning and organizing my linen closet. I swear it has been nasty for over a year. Things fell out when you opened the door. Door wouldn't even close most of the time. I had so much crap in there that the towels didn't even fit in there, so I put them in the top of the boys closet. Icould never find anything in there except maybe toilet paper. So I did it, finally tackled the project. It looks so great and so does the above the toilet cabinet(doing both gave me places to put things). And you know why I feel annoyed? I should be happy I did it, that it looks great. Instead I'm peeved at myself for not doing it sooner. Peeved at all the stuff I kept still after throwing so much out. It wasn't that hard! Flylady would tell me she absolves me of all my guilt for not doing it sooner. You are not behind, jump in where you are. I really need to listen to her. Already typing this out is helping. All I can say is thank-you flylady for being that voice in my head that talks me back up.

Eventually when I'm up to it I'll declutter some of the things I kept that I don't need or use. Like hair care products that I don't use and all that scented stuff that gives me a headache. But until I'm ready for that I'm determined to feel good about what I did do. I gave myself less frustration, I gave myself back a linen closet. I am going to tell this guilt to shove it!


Flylady is a lady that helps you organize your home. Her help is free. You can learn all you want from her website http://www.flylady.net/. If that doesn't do it for you you can listen to her on http://www.blogtalkradio.com/stations/flylady/flylady. And if all that is not for you try her book, check it out from the library if you want. Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley(aka flylady). But I bet after reading it you'll be off buying it for yourself!

Little Boys and the Dishwasher

Here are 2 short video clips of my boys unloading the dishwasher. They think they are so cool when they can help. I think it's so cute, just had to capture it. Chance age 6 and Braxton soon to be 3.

weird quiz that is right on! neat

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz ...
You Are an Audrey!

You are an Audrey -- "I am at peace"

Audreys are receptive, good-natured, and supportive. They seek union with others and the world around them.

How to Get Along with Me
* If you want me to do something, how you ask is important. I especially don't like expectations or pressure
* I like to listen and to be of service, but don't take advantage of this
* Listen until I finish speaking, even though I meander a bit
* Give me time to finish things and make decisions. It's OK to nudge me gently and nonjudgmentally
* Ask me questions to help me get clear
* Tell me when you like how I look. I'm not averse to flattery
* Hug me, show physical affection. It opens me up to my feelings
* I like a good discussion but not a confrontation
* Let me know you like what I've done or said
* Laugh with me and share in my enjoyment of life

What I Like About Being an Audrey
* being nonjudgmental and accepting
* caring for and being concerned about others
* being able to relax and have a good time
* knowing that most people enjoy my company; I'm easy to be around
* my ability to see many different sides of an issue and to be a good mediator and facilitator
* my heightened awareness of sensations, aesthetics, and the here and now
* being able to go with the flow and feel one with the universe

What's Hard About Being an Audrey
* being judged and misunderstood for being placid and/or indecisive
* being critical of myself for lacking initiative and discipline
* being too sensitive to criticism; taking every raised eyebrow and twitch of the mouth personally
* being confused about what I really want
* caring too much about what others will think of me
* not being listened to or taken seriously

Audreys as Children Often
* feel ignored and that their wants, opinions, and feelings are unimportant
* tune out a lot, especially when others argue
* are "good" children: deny anger or keep it to themselves

Audreys as Parents
* are supportive, kind, and warm
* are sometimes overly permissive or nondirective

Take the quiz yourself at http://helloquizzy.okcupid.com/quizzy/take

School Of Rock

Friday night we watched School of Rock. When it was over I suggested the boys dance. It turned into a show. Funny little boys! Forgive my odd giggles!

Money

Somehow it will all work out. It'll just take time. Thanksgiving is coming up, thank goodness we already have a turkey(free from DH's work). Now comes all the trimmings. How much will all that cost. Next comes Braxton's birthday. What to get him? I really don't know, I'm so sick of toys. But will it be disappointing if all I get him is books? Recently I went to a really great homeschool seminar with DH. She gave us some great book lists, so many of them I would love to own. Braxton is turning 3 so I might get away with it. Next is Christmas, which is going to be so small this year. The trouble with it is Chance my oldest is 6 and I'm afraid he'll be disappointed if we don't really get toys. Again I would love to get books. Ahh a dream would be a nice new bookcase too. And now for the reason Christmas money is tighter than usual. Our 3rd child is due Jan 13th 2009. I may go 2 wks early(I did with my first 2 children), exciting. We have gotten credit cards to pay for the birth and prenatal care. You see I will be having a homebirth. My sweet husband has been selling plasma to pay those new credit card payments. After the birth insurance will hopefully reinverse for some of it. Crossing our fingers! Normally he finds a little extra money in the budget to help me buy for Christmas but this year that money is just not there. Currently I am feeling this strong urge to get the house in order for baby. That means I really need a dresser to start unpacking baby clothes. Wish I had the money to go buy that dresser now! We have all boy clothes so if we have a girl(we don't know), I'm hoping for friends and family to buy us some pink. Please no polyester, my children tend to be allergic to it. I want a Moby baby wrap. I also need a new glider rocker. We haven't been able to get a nice one with either of our boys so they break before the next child is born. I have to be honest I blame my husband(DH) for the breaking chairs. He's hard on furniture. Something about the way he sits or something. You should see my poor kitchen chairs(I'm down to 3, he breaks them). I really should reread Living Simply with Children, by Marie Sherlock for some inspiration. I think I would be fine about everything if I could just get that dresser and glider. My husband is going to talk to his parents about borrowing one of their older glider chairs for until tax returns come so we can wait on that purchase. I would love to get started buying some cloth diapers. Not sure if I like how this blog is coming out. Sounds materialistic. So I'm just going to end it this way. Stuff is just that, stuff. It really will work out. The Lord will provide. I'll turn my worries over to him. That felt good to get out.

After the holidays are over I'm hopeing to be able to save some money up to buy a few things for our little homeschool. A math program and a reading program.

UPDATE... 11/27/08
we got the dresser! Walmart had a great deal and we ate a lot of sandwiches for a wk to save on food. Thanksgiving worked out, plenty of food. New issues that we are working through, our washer is broke. It agitates but doesn't spin. Hope we can work this out. Worried about getting the midwife paid in 2 wks. We still have a lot to pay. But hey an update to an update. DH just said we have a credit card coming in the mail this wk. Don't know what the limit will be till it comes. We will be using that to pay midwife bill. Hope it's enough to pay the bill. Stinky thing is I am the one who has to pay the monthly payments till we get some of the other credit cards paid down. When I say I have to pay it means it comes out of my weekly household budget, not the house bills budget. POOH! We are not fans of credit cards but we did it to get the birth that is so very important to me. We would normally go without before using one. Hope the insurance reinverses quickly after the birth and hope that tax returns will get them paid off. We got an old glider from my inlaws to borrow till we can get a new one. It squeaks but it will work for now. New maybe problem. Molly(our dog) had 2 potty accidents in her crate today. This is VERY unusual for her so we will be calling the vet in the am. And a final bit of news... Monday I will be 34wks. With my first 2 children I delivered at 38 wks, so if we go with that only 4wks left come Monday! WOW! I'm excited.

too many blogs

Seriously I have too many blogs. And too many online networking things. It all started with Myspace, then myhomeschoolplace.com, then cafemom, then facebook, twitter, and blogspot too. We won't even talk about my yahoo groups. I should really condense them all at least too a point. Like I could get rid of myhomeschool place and do that on blog spot. You know how on online forums they have a PIOG-Posted in Other groups, I have one of my own PIOB Posted in other blogs. I tend to just copy and paste most of my blogs around. There are certain things for certain places though. Like on cafemom I vent about whatever I want because I have no family on there that I could offend or worry. Myspace is where I tend to upload the most pictures. It's easy there, plus I like that I can put them in albums. I really don't have time for all this though. With homeschooling, being a mom, keeping house, and soon a new baby it's all just too much. I need to declutter online the same way I'm doing in my home. It's hard me though, not sure why. Oh and on top of those blogs I also keep 3 handwritten journals. One for each one of my children. I even want to add more of those to my life. A faith/prayers journal would be neat, personal history book, and maybe even just a plain old personal handwritten journal. Why? I Must be crazy. I just needed to get that all out... Seems like kind of a pointless blog moment.

Kids....little turds

Okay do all kid's cut hair around kindergarten age? I want to know! I myself did. What spurred this wondering. My 6yr old, Chance told me yesterday he really wants to cut hair when he's older. One of his very many future aspirations. So he was cutting a craft feather. Fine, that's okay. I did however explain to him he should never cut anyones real hair, or a stuffed animals hair, or even a pets hair. So today we were sitting on the couch cutting out #2's to put on his number 2 poster. I'm sitting right beside him. I turn my head for a sec, look back and he's holding a piece of his hair that he cut. Are you kidding me??? I was sitting right beside him. I tried to be so serious and explain to him why we don't cut hair, all the while I'm just trying to keep a straight face. Because I'm thinking yep this is kindergarten and I did it too at his age, but I did worse damage. Ahh kids.
Oh and another gem from Chance. That kid makes me laugh. He came to me telling me his little brother hurt his "foot fingers". He has insisted that is the correct terminology for toes for as long as I can remember, no matter how many times I tell them they are toes. Kids!
And a little thing about my almost 3yr old, Braxton. My Chance comes running to me telling me his brother is spraying chemicals at him in the bathroom. All I can say is thank goodness I clean with vinegar. I ended up getting sprayed too. Little turd! That's what I get for talking on the phone.

Things Going on in my house

Things going on in my house. Well I got my birthing ball(ie exercise ball), in fact as I type I'm sitting on it. Not sure what it's doing for me but hey I got it.
I went through the boys dressers and took out all the clothes that didn't fit. Chance is pretty set. But I still want to get him some more cotton exercise pants. I think they will make good PJ's as well as what to where for PE class. I really need to dig in my 3T box to see what other clothes will fit Braxton right now. He's got plenty of shirts for everyday. Would love to pick up some cotton play pants from Kohls. It's been a lot easier to get them dressed everyday now that I can put things away and find things easier. And then I want to find them each cute shirts to wear when they go to see Santa. Maybe green flannel shirts. I just love when they match.
Decided to add some art to our world. The local library has art pieces you can check out for up to six weeks. Chance picked out a very bright mostly orange print for our living room. He says it makes him want to paint. Personally it makes me want to poke my eyes out, LOL JK. I also picked up some $2 picture frames to put some 8 x 10 photos on the walls. They are not my favorite look but hey they could have worked until I could afford nicer frames. It was a bust though because it turns out they don't have hanger things on their backs. Need to return them and find another cheep option. My walls are so bear, they need paint and more but I don't think I could handle the fumes pregnant. I'm trying to give them more life with no money. LOL, we'll see how I do!
I'm really excitted about a homeschool seminar that is going to be near me on Nov. 1st. The speaker is a big fan of Charlotte Mason method. Keith was supposed to work that day but he worked it out so he can go. We both really need some inspiration and direction for homeschool family. Now the hitch is finding someone to watch Braxton and our dog. I'm really hoping my mom can do it for us. It's going to be a long day, seminar runs from 9 to 5 and there is travel time involved. Chance will be in Ohio with his grandparents visiting his cousins.
I got my hypnobabies home course in the mail. I'm supper excited about it. The trick will be trying to find the 30 minutes everyday to practice it. I need a guaranteed uninterrupted 30min everyday for it. Preferably when I won't fall asleep listening to it. It's hypnosis so you can imagine it's real easy to fall asleep! This will be tricky as a sleepy pregnant SAHM!

Homeschool Apple Orchard Field Trip

Tuesday after our homeschool PE class at the local collage we went to an Apple Orchard. I hadn't planned to go until another mom made a point to invite us individually. I thought that was so nice that I couldn't resist. We had originally planned a trip to the Children's Museum that day. Anyway off we went. We meet all at one of the mom's houses and followed to the Orchard. Turns out the owner of the orchard is a homeschool family. Grandpa seems to run it, a family kind of thing. We had a pretty good turn out. 6 moms, 15 children. Mostly boys in the group. My boys had a blast although they were not used to how rough other boys can be. Lots of wrestling which we normally do not allow at our house. For the most part they had fun and a few tears when the others got rough. Still it was all done good naturally so I allowed it. We had a hay ride around the orchard and stopped to do picking. The boys loved that they could eat as many apples as they wanted. Both boys took advantage of that! Braxton looked so cute picking and eating it right away. He looked up and asked if it was okay every time. Cute. We picked Regent apples for the most part. They are really good!!! And some apples called Macfree. Those were really good too. We brought home a bunch of apples and the boys think it's so cool that they got to pick them. So it's an apple fiesta at our house. The boys are really getting their fill. I'm glad we went, such a special day of picking and playing. My only regret is I forgot my camera! POOH!

preparing for baby#3 and wishlist

So here I am.... So much going on. Life feels like it's speeding past me but at the same time standing still. Can't believe I'm already 26wks along in the pregnancy of my third child. Is this really real? I know we planned this baby but sometimes I'm still in shook that we are actually having another baby. We are letting this baby be a surprise. But since we already have 2 boys I'm just planning for another boy. Still I should really get one or two girl newborn sleepers for just in case. Along with 2 caps. One pink, and one blue. The reason for a girl outfit would be for baby's picture of course! We are planning a homebirth, but I still want to try to take that newborn picture like they do when you are at the hospital. To put up on the wall andpass out to family. Keith, my husband will have to go to the photo place to print up all the sizes. I should probably think about how many and what sizes I want in advance. Goodness knows I won't be able to think when the baby is actually here and husbands can't figure something out like that on their own. Or maybe he could but the control freak in me wouldn't allow it! So a homebirth, I'm trying to get in the right mind set so I can face labor without fear of pain. I ordered hypnobabies to help with that. Can't wait till it comes in the mail!! I need to go buy a birthing ball so I can start doing some of the tricks to insure baby will be in the optimal position for birth and to help loosen my pelvis. I could really use a few long sleeve maternity tops. My old one are too big or something.
Then there's the things I would like to buy for the baby. I would like to get something like a hotsling(http://www.hotslings.com/) they actually sell them at the Target near me. I also want a Moby wrap(http://www.mobywrap.com/). And then when the baby is a couple months old I have heard the Ergo baby carrier(http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/) is really great. Umm is that too many baby carriers, LOL! Oh course we will probably need a new dresser for baby. I would love another one just like we have for our 2nd son. Will have to then get it at Shopko. We'll need to buy baby socks(cat sole most of the olds ones, she loves baby socks). And then maybe onesies but we'll see about that when I start pulling things out. Of course to do that I'll need to do some major decluttering in my the kids room. Anyone want to help me? It's really crazy in there. I need to save up some money for cloth diapers and settle on a few to try. I have to stay away from wool, lanolin and polyester(including in the thread) due to allergic reactions that runs in my family. That may get tricky. Here's to hoping people give us cash as a present when baby comes so I can up my diaper stash. This child will be my first to cloth diaper. I think it would be neat to try. I'll get some disposable newborn diapers though because I don't want to be going up and down the steps to wash them in the early days, have to give my body a little time to recover! I want bed rails for the bed, added safety(we co-sleep). I need a new glider rocker. DH buys me one for each baby because he always buys me crappy ones that break before the next baby comes along. Third baby means third chair. Personally I really think he is the reason they break. He is just plain hard on furniture. I need some new nursing bras and breast pads.
I'm nervous about money so I need to try to budget better. It always works out, I just need to believe. It's tricky with money right now because I would love to buy some things for the school room(we homeschool). What I wouldn't do for bookshelves! I need organization and I just don't have it in there. Then there is new clothes needed. Kids keep growing!!! Luckily my mom helped by buying a bunch of clothes for my oldest and a few new shirts for my soon to be middle child. And then there is the dog. She could use a couple things, plus her nails clipped(they are way too long).
I want to write more about what's up with my older 2 boys but I have to run. I'll try to get to journaling about them soon!