Am I Living A Sitcom??

It's no secrete that every single time I leave the house something always happens.....never does anything ever go smoothly or as planned. My friends make fun of me and say that I never leave the house, but they know that every time I do leave it.....some kind of "event" is gonna happen. Seriously, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried!LOL Friday didn't let me down in the eventful category.
Brian and I had a meeting with Katie's teacher Friday at 12:20. He was supposed to pick Brady up from school @ 12 and swing by and pick me. Bren stayed home from school because he threw up the night before. I was freaking out thinking he had gotten my bug, but I think he just ate too much. He only missed a half day though, since the kids were getting out early for the parent/teacher conference. Katie was to walk over to Gram's with my niece Morgan and Brian and I would pick her up after the meeting. Ok......let's see.....what goes wrong first??? Oh, Katie calls me from the church rectory, her and Morgan are fighting and Morgan wouldn't let her use the phone....so she puts SISTER JACKIE on the phone with me!! I was like....um please tell her to go to Grams NOW and I will be over to get her ASAP! Gram wasn't home so they were fighting and I'm sure I looked like Mother of the Year to Sister Jackie! At 12:00 Brian calls me and tells me he is so sorry but that he has had something come up and can't leave work!!! Brady gets out at 12???!!! I panic and rush out the door to go pick him up.....I am on E on gas......my car is putting out.....it goes dead at least 5 times on my way....... I had no choice but to stop and get gas before picking up Brady or I wouldn't have made it. Finally I rush in the preschool doors at 12:15......of course the other kids are already napping and he is sitting in the dark with his teacher........I apologized to Ms Michelle and tried to quickly explain my dilemma and how late I was running for Katie's appointment....she said it was fine and not to worry about it.....but she needed me to sigh something right quick.....just saying that I declined a parent/teacher meeting, they had to have it in the file......unless I wanted to have a teacher meeting......I said not unless you feel there is a need for one.....is Brady doing ok? She said oh yes, he is fine, no problems......oh wait....except for one little thing.....today Brady walked around doing this (as she made the sign of the "bird") to everyone.....I had to take him aside and explain to him that that wasn't nice....but that he didn't know what it meant! I was like......"WHAT??" "Please understand he has older brothers and they think it is funny to make him do stuff like that!!" How embarrassing is that????? I wanted to crawl up under a table!! Another Mother of the Year award! I have never even seen him do that before but I know one thing.....I know it came from the older kids and they are the ones that are gonna get it!

So after that nice little chat with Brady's teacher I finally make it to Katie's school. Her's actually wasn't so bad . Afterwards, we headed to Stanislaus to pick up Patrick and Cody who were getting out early too. Quite an eventful afternoon....I swear I am living a TV sitcom or something....really if I didn't think I'd get arrested, I'd do a reality TV show!LOL I have to be the only mom in the world that can be scolding her kids one moment and break out in song in the next.....when we all got home from out excursions yesterday, of course everybody was starving....I was making them hot dogs.....everyone screaming at each other and fighting......I told Katie to "hush girl" and then we all stop, look at each other and laugh and start singing that "shush girl, shut your lips, do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips!" Good lord, my kids are gonna need therapy one day!!LOL God love em........

Now, could you picture this sweet little face and those sweet little hands doing something as naughty as "flipping the bird???" Never!!;-)

Bren Bren won his basketball game last night......I'll post pics later today!!!

Christmas Card Stress

It's time to shoot our Christmas Card pictures again. Last year we did them in front of the Christmas Tree. I think I may do "beach shots" this years.
For the 2008 pictures, I really wanted to get the dogs in the picture, but we had such a hard time getting that "just right" shot. I ended up using one without them.

Looking back at the pictures now, I guess I could have used this one...but I didn't. I think it was because Patrick's head was cut off(?). You can imagine how many shots it took to even get this one...
It is nearly impossible to get 4 kids and 2 dogs to all simultaneously smile at the camera with all of their eyes open...

This one would have been cute, minus the fact that you could see all the way down Max's throat!

Here they are trying to get the dogs in the pic again...

Opps, now Brady isn't happy...

This one could've been cute if Patrick wasn't hidden behind Max...

Poor Max, he is really wanting outta there!

A little brotherly rough-housing...

I thought if I changed the background, maybe I could get a little more cooperation...

NOT!!!

You can tell that everybody is getting aggravated by this time...

So we ended up ditching the dogs and got a couple of really good shots...

Geesh...it tires me out just looking at these...

Wish me luck on this years pictures...I am gonna need it...

Raising Kids in the 21st Century

Raising kids is so different now-a-days! I mean, I can tell the way society, technology, everything has changed from the time I had my 1st kid all the way to my 4th. It's quite bizarre, actually. Brady really made me realize that today. And ya'll step back now, because this is deep... I was telling Brady he better behave and act like a good boy because Santa Claus wasn't going to bring him any toys if he wasn't. I told him that Santa was watching him and knew if he acted naughty...and Brady wanted to know "where are the camera's at???" I tried to explain to him that Santa didn't need hidden cameras, that he could see you without them, but how funny is that? 15 years ago, Patrick wouldn't have even thought of video cameras, email, facebook, the Internet... I guess this really is the 21st Century!! Our children are growing up expecting video cameras, cell phones with Internet access, youtube, all kind of cool stuff. But if you ever read the book "1984", Big Brother (not the TV show!LOL) really is watching you...it is just that the "government" is not the one watching...in reality, WE, have become our own Big Brother. (told you it was deep!!LOL)

Not that I am complaining, everybody knows how I love my technology! What would I do without my facebook fix!!?? It is just one of those things that make you go hummmm...

Peppermints or Cond*ms?

My Mother In Law always tries to get me to take the Flu Shot. Last year she took Brendan to get his and he was the only one that didn't get the flu. So this year when she asked me to go, I hesitantly agreed to meet her at the Health Department so we could all get them. Now you would think, that after giving birth to 4 children, I would be used to needles...but I am terrified of shots. It was really hard trying to hide my terror from the kids, but I think I succeeded.

Looking back, my kids didn't really act all that rotten...if it had been me as a kid, there would have been no way I would have sat there and gotten a shot like that. I remember when I was about 10 years old, and my mom let me and my cousin Chris walk up to Dr Bill's office for me to get a tetanus shot. They ended up having to call my mama to come and sit on me in order to give me the shot! Patrick went first, then my brave baby Brady volunteered to be next! Then I went...I didn't even squench! Brendan and Katie were last. They were all very brave and even as stressful as it is taking them all to the Dr, I was very proud of all of them for being so brave.

While we waited for our shots in the public health department, I tried to keep the kids from climbing the walls. Not an easy feat!
I guess they encourage birth control or something, because they had a hanging file holder on the wall labeled "c o n d o m s". In all the chaos, I made a mental note of it and prayed no kids asked me what they were. Well, one of the nurses walks right up to it and grabs a handful of them and walks out. Of course that peaked all the kids curiosity...Brendan (my ten yr old) somehow got it in his head that they were peppermints. Patrick (my 15 yr old who KNEW good and dang well what they were) tells Bren to go get some peppermint!! So Bren walks up there and tries to grab a big ole handful of them!! I almost had a heart attack right there!! Luckily I stopped him in time, did damage control and didn't have to give all my kids the "birds and the bees" talk in the middle of the health department!

"You're A Genius, Mom!"

Who knew? You never know what is gonna come out of the mouths of babes, but I thought this was so cute. Especially after writing about the teenage years and how they go from thinking you know everything to thinking you are the stupidest person in the universe. This is a perfect example...and it makes me thankful that I have a 4 year old too alongside my teenager, so at least I am still smart to someone! Last night after Brady took a bath I told him how important it was for him to stay clean since he was getting his school pictures taken today. He has gotten into a bad habit of drawing magic markers on everything...himself, his toys, the wall...whatever he can draw on...the world is his canvas. I stressed to him not to so he would be clean for his pictures...(he is quite vain so I knew that would make him at least stay clean for the pics) I guess he had colored one of his cars with washable markers that wouldn't dry on metal, so when he picked it up it got all over his hads. Green hands, oh my! He was very upset, not wanting green hands for the pics...we tried to wash them but it wouldn't come off...so I said "just sit here and let the soap "sit" a while, then scub some more"...Low and behold, the marker came off!! Clean hands! He ran up to me and said "you're a GENIUS MOM!!" :-) Soap and water, who knew?!LOL Mommies just know these things...

ALL CLEAN, MOM!!

Blackmail Pictures!

The other day after the Garage Sale, my neighbor Buzz was taking some pictures of Brady. Before he got the camera, Brady was sitting by a tree looking so sweet just gazing into space. It would have been a perfect picture! But when Buzz came out with the camera, in went Brady's finger into his nose. The more I told Brady not to do it, the farther it went up his nose. So when I was showing Brady the pictures I told him I was gonna put them on my facebook...well you'd a thought I'd told him I was gonna cut his hands off! He started crying and screaming "please don't put them on your facebook!" So of course I didn't put them on there, but he didn't say anything about me putting it on my blog!!LOL It has taken me forever to get this posted though, because I keep on having to minimize it whenever one of the kids walk in or they'd roll me under the bus, for sure!!

I was gonna be the nice mommy and respect his wishes, but after the way he acted Friday, I feel vindicated!! First of all, we went to pick Patrick up from school...for those of you that don't know, Patrick goes to an all-boy catholic school. It is ran pretty strict...So we are all waiting on Patrick and I really needed to use the restroom...after 4 kids my bladder is quite weak...so of course all the kids have to go in with me. Poor Patrick, I know we embarrassed him so much, he was like"did you have to bring the whole family in??" They are all running around acting crazy...Brady goes up to one of the coaches and punches him in the leg...I apologized and got on to Brady, then the principle comes in and starts asking Brady questions. The principle picks Brady up and lifts him to the ceiling(the man is very tall)...Brady's eyes get as big as quarters!! Once Brady gets put down he points to the principle and says"you going to jail!" I was like, "good Lord, lets just get outta here before he says something worse!"

And just because I am a glutton for punishment...we then go to the Driver's License Renewal office. We waited over 2 hours, the kids were getting very restless. Brady kept yelling and running around...then the lights start blinking on and off...the woman behind the counter screams"whose turning the lights on and off??!!!" I'll give you one guess of who it was? I wanted to climb under a rock!! But I guess we were good entertainment for all the folks waiting in line...everyone knew Brady's name when they were walking out!!!LOL

I actually think this picture is cute...I will put it in his yearbook when he is a senior!!LOL

E-mail blackmail

Today Brady was digging thru my dresser drawers, pulling out a bunch of pictures. He brought one to show me that was of me in a bikini...it was from about 7 years ago...after Katie but before Brady. I had lost weight back then and was rocking the skimpy swim suit. Then he brought me another one of me in a bikini from last summer...boy what a 4th kid will do to a woman's body! Of course, it could have been all the cheeseburgers, french fries, nachos...but I'm sticking to the 4th kid story! Anyway, I told Brady to give me those pictures so I could put them up. He asked me "why, mommy?" "why you not wanna show nobody?" I told him because I would be embarrassed and he said to me with a little devious smile"I'm gonna email them!" WTH? My four year old is gonna blackmail me? How would he even know to say that? Much less know how to email anything, let alone pictures? And no, I am not going to scan those pics to post...yes I will publically humiliate myself by posting my nasty garage all over the Internet but that is as far as I will go!LOL Needless to say, those pics are way up in my closet now!:-)

My Best Friends!

I had the best time this past Labor Day weekend. I got to see both of my very best friends! Brian went to the ballgame in Memphis, so I rode up to Jackson with him and visited with my best friend/twin cousin, Melissa and my best friend Stephanie.

Having your girlfriends is so important, especially for crazy maniac mommies who always need someone to vent too! I am so fortunate to be blessed with all of the friends who are in my life. But these two gals have been with me thru thick and thin so I am dedicating this post the them!!

I was so happy to see Melissa! I miss her so much and I hate living so far away from her. But no matter how far we live away from each other, we always know the other one will drop whatever they are doing to be there if the other needs them. My mom and her dad were twins so we always refer to each other as "twin cousins" and that pretty much sums it up because we are way more than just "cousins". I have lots and lots of stories from our youth, but I'd have to start another blog to write them on...they wouldn't be appropriate for my "mommy blog"!!LOL We always laugh when we are together and no matter what we are doing or where we are...we have fun everytime we are together.


My best friend Stephanie is my friend who I've always been pregnant with, except for Brendan (she sat that one out!:-) We met when I was pregnant with Patrick and she was pg with McKensie. They are now 15 years old! It is hard to believe it has been almost 16 years ago that we were young mommies-2-be, so naive to motherhood! We would lay up in the bed daily with her little dog, Fee, between us, imagining what it would be like to be a mother. Boy, that does seem like ages ago, me without kids?? I can't even imagine that now. I actually credit Stephanie for getting me pregnant with my 4th child, Brady. Credit is a nice way of putting it, I really refer to it as her cursing me or putting a hex on me!LOL It is just such a funny story, (and when I say funny, I mean strange, odd, weird haha). It's just that Stephanie has never been pregnant with out me. Patrick and McKensie were 4 days apart. McLain and Katie were a few months apart. So when Stephanie got pregnant with Wyatt, I laughed and joked and made fun of her getting pregnant again! We had both just lost all our weight from the kids so of course I dogged her out telling her she was gonna gain weight again! We went to a St Paddy's day parade and I called her and told her how much fun we were having and that I wished she was there!! I know I am a mean friend!! (she knows I love her) Brian made fun of Warren, laughing at him. I swear Stephanie must have gotten a voodoo doll and impregnated me because it wasn't a month later....I was PREGNANT! I guess the little fella was meant to be because I was planning to get my tubes tied in May and got pregnant in April. Of course now he is the apple of my eye, but it was quite surprising at first!

I really am fortunate to have these wonderful people in my live. I love them very much! They have both always been there for me, but they really pulled thru for me after Hurricane Katrina and I appreciate all that they did for me and my family so much! There was many a late night phone call during that time period and I thank them both from the bottom of my heart!

It Always Happens To Me...

No matter what I'm doing, no matter where I am...something dramatic always happens. I can't have a simple trip to the car line without somebody getting hurt, embarrassing me or worse...even yesterday for instance...Brady and I were waiting for Bren and Katie in the car pool line. We had gotten there early because it moves so slow...so we usually have to wait at least 40 minutes...so Brady decides he has to tee tee...now granted I had worked in the garage that morning and probably smelled like there is no tomorrow, no makeup, dirty tee-shirt and shorts...not to mention to big ol zit on my face...and Brady is in boxers and a wife-beater...and NO SHOES! I'm thinking WTH am I gonna do? I didn't want to walk into the school looking like crap, plus him going into a school bathroom bare-footed(ekk!) My MIL lives across the street (and ditch) from the school, but she wasn't home. I'm scheming in my head what to do...eyeing the water bottle in my cup holder...then smartly deciding against that one...(if you read the story about Brady and the doggy bowl you will understand! I wouldn't want to encourage him!LOL) So there we go trekking across the parking lot, with him on my back, across the road, ditch to Gram's house so Brady can tee tee behind her tree!(thank God he is a boy!) We then rush back to the car before the bell rang!:-) Lesson of the Day: Make sure you go potty before going to car line!

Funny Mommy Stories #3

I guess I have always been a blogger at heart. Whenever I had any funny stories, I would send them out in mass emails to my friends. Here is one that I sent...I also submitted a couple of them to the TV show IN THE MOTHERHOOD, before it was canceled.This one I sent out in 06. ***I don't know why I start out all my emails with ok!! I guess I think I am telling a joke or something!!LOL***

Katie, My 5 year old daughter was riding our neighbor's, Kaitlyn's bike while they were away on vacation. Katie ended up wrecking the bike and her foot somehow gets caught between the pedal and the bike. I tried and tried to get her foot out, all the while with her screaming. My other neighbor, who had just given birth the week before, brings out lotion to try to slide it out, to no avail. We ended up having to call the fire department, who comes barreling up with the siren fully blaring. Of course all the neighbors have to come out and check to see what the heck was going on. The firemen were trying to get her foot out, but it wouldn't budge. They wanted to cut the pedal. Katie is going berserk, screaming "no, you can't cut Kaitlyn's bike!!" So they tried some more, and finally bent the pedal far enough to slide her foot out. Foot was not hurt at all, and Kaitlyn's bike was fully in tact, thanks to Katie. Lesson learned on playing with other peoples toys!

Funny Mommy Stories #2

This one I sent out in April 08...

Ok, so I am sitting at the computer trying to type up a questionnaire for my high school get-together. I was really involved, not paying attention to Brady. When low and behold I hear water-WTH?? I look up and he is peeing in a cup!!! Before I can say a word he pours it in the dog bowl!!!! OH MY GOD!!!! How many times has he done that before and I didn't see it??? Where else has that little sh@# peed in or on??? Oh well, time to bleach down the house.Yes, this is my life. Do you feel my pain??
Have a GREAT DAY!!
Love
C

Now who would think that this little face would ever do anything wrong? So angelic!:-)

Funny Mommy Stories

This one was sent out in 2005 when Brady was a baby and Katie was 4...

Ok, so Katie my 4 yr old wanted to play with my hair. I let her, because it can be relaxing. Brady needs his diaper changed so I am leaning over him on the floor changing him all the while Katie is "supposed" to be combing my hair. The next thing I know I feel back in the back of my hair and the danged comb is all entwined in my hair. I run to my neighbors house, in my pj's (my dh not home yet) and I'm thinking they will say "no big deal," and we'd all get a big laugh. NOT SO!! It took them 45 mins to get it out!! My neighbor and her dh would take turns trying to get it out. They ended up having to cut the comb apart to get it out!!! Then another 20 mins to get the big ol knot out of my hair!!! What a night!!! Katie says "Mommy I didn't mean to do that, can I please brush your hair again tomorrow??" I don't think so!!LOL
So this is my life!:-)Christie

Hump Day

Happy Hump Day! Hope everybody is having a great week. I am ready for the weekend just so I won't have to go pick up kids from school! I know I should not complain and be happy that they are even in school again, but everyday spending 2 hours in the car with a bunch of screaming, fighting younguns is not my idea of fun! Brady cries the whole time we are waiting on Brendan and Katie in the carpool line...Then they all are crabby riding over to the Bay to pick Patrick up from Stanislaus. By the time I get home I am screaming CALGON TAKE ME AWAY!!! Oh, and by the way, I did scream that the other day and my kids had NO idea what I was talking about! They were asking "Who's Calgon"? What is this world coming to that my kids don't know what Calgon is??? That's almost as bad as them not knowing who MJ was until after he died! Hey, at least they KNOW who ELVIS is!