Boys and Farts

It occurred to me recently that I have boys. And boys think the word "fart" is hysterical. I know, I'm not quick... I've heard stories and watched sitcoms that portrayed pre-pubescent boys in such a way that assumes this level of immaturity to be the "norm", however, not MY boys. They were above all that nonsense. They read books, watch the History Channel and love science. Until I over heard the following...

Ethan: "Jingle farts, jingle farts, jingle fart the way"
TJ: (Laughing hysterically) "Oh what fun it is to fart in a one-horse open fa-art!"

At this point, Ethan is laughing so hard, he can't finish his next line. They're both crying and gasping for breath.

Bridget says (in her best teenager voice), "That's not even funny, why are you laughing?"
Danielle follows with "Yeah, why are you even laughing."
TJ says, "Farts!, He said jingle farts... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

*Sigh* Boys...

Why you should NEVER do a WebMd search

Thought you all might find this interesting. Broghan had her 1 year visit at the pediatrician's yesterday, which included receiving 4 shots. (Poor baby!) She was already a bit out of whack in regards to her sleep, so yesterday was a bit of a nightmare. She slept great last night, but woke feeling a little warm. She didn't eat a stellar breakfast, so I took her temp. The rectal reading was 99.9 degrees. Thankfully we are blessed with a child that has only been sick once in her short year of life, so I couldn't remember if 99.9 rectally was considered a fever or not. Enter WebMd. When I searched, here is what came up...

First it gave a paragraph or two on what a fever actually is. Good information if you are clueless and have been living your life in a cave. The next paragraph detailed the difference between Fahrenheit and Celsius. More good info. Here's where it gets interesting...

The third paragraph details common causes of fever. First bullet point was infection. Ok. Second was medicines. Some (like antibiotics and antihistamines) can actually cause the body temperature to rise to fight off what is ailing the patient. Hm, didn't make that connection before, but ok! THIRD POSSIBLE CAUSE OF A FEVER --- heart attack or stroke. Wow! What a jump!!! FOURTH POSSIBLE CAUSE OF A FEVER --- leukemia, Hodgkin's lymphoma, liver and lung cancer. Jeez!

Better stay away from that site, or I'll really turn into a hypocondriac... wonder what those signs and symptoms are? :)

Running/Weight Loss

As the one year anniversary of my daughter's birth quickly approaches, I have come to the conclusion that the excuse for my excessive weight, "I just had a baby", is no longer a viable one. She "mostly" sleeps through the night and even when she doesn't, I am blessed with a wonderful husband who takes his fair share of turns in the wee hours of the night, therefore "sleep deprivation" is no longer viable either. I want my size 4 body back because quite frankly, I am too cheap to go buy new clothes when I have a closet full of perfectly good ones awaiting my return.

June 1 saw the beginning of my journey to rectify my fatness. With roughly 50 pounds to lose, I set out to walk or weight train daily. Walking quickly advanced to jogging (trotting really) and I was beginning to feel good! My weight training is rather stale, but the good news is that I am capable of lifting what I was prior to becoming pregnant. My strength is there, and my reps are within 5 or so from my pre-pregnancy range (indicating that my endurance isn't far behind). All of that beautiful muscle is covered in layers of FAT. Knowing this has encouraged me to minimize the weight training for now, and really focus on melting away the 50 pounds of lard that remains from pregnancy. (Trainer's note... Weight training is ESSENTIAL to effective weight loss... muscle burns fat!!!) As much as I know this, I have put more focus on runs than weights. Daily training is really more like 5 or 6 days a week, but I was making that time a priority. Then along came a nasty sinus infection that promptly halted all attempts at being fit. Walking up a flight of stairs was causing me to become light headed and winded!

So I made a trip to the doctor's office for some antibiotics... hooray for modern medicine! While there, the nurse took my blood pressure... 117/63 and heart rate 64bpm. She asked me 3 times if I was "sure" that I was not taking any type of high blood pressure medication, because surely someone as fat as I could not possess such great blood pressure... ;) Ok, so she didn't say fat, but it was definitely implied!! On my way to recovery...

Today, being Monday was the perfect day to "start again" after a 5 day sabbatical. Good news is what I had built has not been lost. I was able to jog 4.5 miles in 58 minutes while pushing approximately 45# of baby/stroller. Not too bad. I can't wait to see how I do tomorrow sans baby/stroller. Should be able to get in at least another .5...

Next blog... running with a jogging stroller... the obstacles, challenges and just plain lunacy of the whole idea!

Hypocricy

I was just reading some quotes from the Gosselin's and the McCaughey's. They both chose not to selectively abort any of the babies they were carrying saying that it was "in God's hands". While I completely agree with them on that point, isn't it a bit hypocritical coming from the mouths of people who spent presumably tens of thousands of dollars to conceive, when an inability to do so naturally should imply God's Will as well?

I just want to vent... an old blog that my dad loved, so I'm reposting...

To set the scene...

TJ left for an Asian Pacific tour (Jakarta, Bangkok, Mumbai) on the 31st of August... he returns on Tuesday morning (the 11th), only to leave again on the 12th, for Colorado Springs, returning on the 16th, leaving again on the 22nd for Singapore and Manila, returning on the 28th. October hasn't been officially booked, but it will be similar... destination Europe.

Lately, my schedule has been just as crazy with work... clients are coming out of the woodwork. I drop kids off in the morning and don't typically get back home until I pick them up. I just can't say no, I love what I do and I love imparting the knowledge I have acquired over the last few years to help those who want to make a difference in their lives.

Bridget and Danielle have Dance on Monday's
All four have "Cup Stack" club on Monday's
Bridget has Volleyball practice on Tuesday's right after school (I am the coach)
Danielle has soccer practice on Tuesday evenings
Ethan has soccer practice on Wednesday's
Bridget has choir on Thursday's
TJ has volleyball practice on Friday's (I am the coach)
Bridget and Danielle are both in Girl Scouts (one meeting/month each, one field trip/month each)
TJ and Ethan are both in Boy Scouts (each have two meetings/month and one Den Meeting/month)
Throw in a PTA meeting, coaches meeting, random meeting about the TWB program I help chair, and almost weekly ortho appointments for one kid or another
Let's not forget helping with homework or studying for a test.
Weekends are full with games, hair appointments, Church etc...

Now, in case you forgot, scroll back and reread the part about TJ's travel.... go ahead, I'll wait...............................................................................................................................................

Now, let me say this.........

I LOVE MY LIFE!!!! I love my children, as exhausting as life can be at times, I do my best to enjoy every minute I have with them. Life is short, and before long, they will be moving on with their lives. I want to take advantage of the time I have with them. I love being "on the go" and seeing the smiles on their faces when they look from their respective playing field and see us cheering them on. I love the hugs I get in the afternoon when I happen to pop into school for whatever reason and they see me walking through the hallway. I love our family time. "Funday Friday" is what all 6 of us look forward to every week. (It's also a good bargaining chip!). I love the thank yous I get for the "great dinner mom", and the high fives we exchange for the good grades on a spelling test or math quiz. I love the time we spend vegging on the couch as a family once all of the chaos has come to an end for the day. I love tucking them into bed and kissing them goodnight. I love it when someone wants to crawl into bed with me when they've had a bad dream or are afraid of the thunder. I love it when they wake with bad breath and bed head and the first thing they do is give me a hug and a kiss and say good morning. I love it when I drop the kids off at school and they all tell me they love me... even in front of their friends. I love it that my youngest always adds, "Have a safe trip home!" I LOVE IT ALL, and I'm sure I'll have to remind myself of these moments when they all become teenagers at roughly the same time!

I love my husband. More and more each day. Some suggest that the secret to our happiness is the fact that he travels!! Maybe, but absence only makes the heart grow fonder. I admire his ambition and drive. I love that he'd prefer taking a red-eye so he can make the morning soccer game, over spending one more night away from us. I love that he calls daily and sends e-mails to each of the kids classrooms to tell them about the country he is in... the weather, food, people... and responds to them and the questions they have for him. I love that his drive and ambition stems from his desire to provide for us. I love that I'm going to Europe with him in October! I love that he supports me in following my dreams. I love that he becomes "Mr. Mom" when he's home, so I can get a reprieve. I love that he buys me flowers for no reason at all.

Now, the actual vent....

Will someone please bitch slap the lady who falls to pieces, crabbing and complaining because her husband is gone ONE NIGHT A MONTH for work, and she (a SAHM - stay at home mom) just can't handle dealing with the two kids and their activities for that ONE NIGHT. If I can do this without the "woe is me" attitude, then she certainly can. Let her have my shoes for a couple days, then maybe I'll show a little sympathy... but for now, I don't want to hear anymore whining!

Getting older

In the last 24 hours, check that, 12 hours, I've come to the realization that I am, in fact, getting older. I'll tell you how I came to this conclusion.

Over the weekend, TJ and I made plans to attend the "Ancient Order of Hibernians St. Patrick's Day Parade". For those of you from St. Louis, you will know this as the "Dogtown Parade". For those of you not from St. Louis, this is the only parade that is actually on St. Patrick's Day. This is the parade that (in true Irish form) is full of drunks pulling wagons and riding their bikes all along the parade route. This parade is NOT to be confused with the St. Louis Downtown Parade, which costs tens of thousands of dollars to put on and is full of elabourate floats, old convertibles, Irish dancers, and media coverage. The annual budget for Dogtown is a couple of hundred bucks for beer at the planning meetings! :)

So, as I said, TJ and I made plans to go. Nieces were taking off work today AND tomorrow so they could go and enjoy themselves. In-laws were going to take kids out of school to go. We invited a neighbor to go with us. We were going. We called a friend who lives just off the parade route. They have always offered their house as a "home base"... ie, real toilets. He said his driveway was spoken for, but we could park in front of his house on the street. Sweet. Guaranteed parking. The Catch? They close the street off at 9 am. No big deal, we'll drop the kids off at school at 8, be there before 9. Easy! Then TJ informed me that the parade doesn't start until 11:30. Ouch. That's roughly 3 hours of standing around doing not much of anything watching a bunch of drunks having "fun". You see, this, my friends, is where I start to feel old. Read on...

Not 5 years ago, I would have been just fine with this plan. Drop the kids off, get to the parade, and start drinking a few beers, find someone who can bring them home, enjoy the parade and get home while the babysitter is going over homework with the kids. Fast forward to today, and I'm thinking... I could be in and out of Sam's and have everything put away before the parade starts. The laundry that was finished last night needs to be folded and put away. TJ leaves town tomorrow and has content to learn. Drink beer? HA! TJ is training for a sprint triathalon, so he has quit drinking all together. We have a cub scout meeting and acting troupe right after school today... we have to make dinner before getting a kid off to basketball practice and another off to the batting cages. Hell, we have to pick the kids up at 3!

So instead, today, I'll be grocery shopping, TJ will be studying, dinner will consist of a Korean beef dish, and I'll wake up tomorrow morning sans hangover. Good Lord, I'm old.

On parenting...

To preface, my dearest husband was hoping to make this topic his first post, but frankly, I got tired of waiting!

Parenting is one of those topics for which we all wish there was an instruction manual to follow. "Parenting for Dummies" would sell like hotcakes! But the truth is, there are a bazillion books out there that claim to have the answers. For every author, there is a "new" idea, "new" approach, "new" solution to all of our parenting woes. I'm no expert. Being a mother to five children gives me some experience, but I'm far from having all the knowledge. Every day is a learning experience. Just when I think I have a scenario figured out with one of my children, another child has the same situation, but the solution isn't the same as it was for the first. Each parenting moment is as unique as that child.

Below you will see an excerpt from a passage my husband recently shared with me that I believe to be the best information I have heard to date... and I majored in child psychology! After the excerpt, I will share with you the source, and I encourage you to track down a copy and read for yourselves, as it offers much more advice than I could ever share here! Enjoy!

"It is easier to become angry than to restrain oneself, and to threaten a child than to persuade him. Yes, indeed, it is more fitting to be persistent in punishing our own impatience and pride than to correct the child. We must be firm but kind, and be patient with them.

... See that no one finds you motivated by impetuosity or willfulness. It is difficult to keep calm when administering punishment, but this must be done if we are to keep ourselves from showing off our authority or spilling out our anger.

... Let us place ourselves in the service of our children. Let us be ashamed to assume an attitude of superiority. Let us not rule over them except for the purpose of serving them better.

... They are our children, and so in correcting their mistakes we must lay aside all anger and restrain it so firmly that it is extinguished entirely.

... There must be no hostility in our minds, no contempt in our eyes, no insult on our lips. We must use mercy for the present and have hope for the future, as is fitting for true fathers who are eager for real correction and improvement.

... In serious matters it is better to beg God humbly than to send forth a flood of words that will only offend the listeners and have no effect on those who are guilty."

~St. John Bosco... Liturgy of the Hours Volume III pp 1338-1339

Brotherly Love

I thought I'd share this story with you. The kids are home again today because of the recent snow storm. There's just enough on the ground for snowball fights and sledding! From the warmth of my kitchen where I was quietly enjoying a hot cup of coffee, I hear a distinct cry. Without even looking up, I know it's Ethan. I know he is not really hurt. I know he was (in his mind) wronged by his older brother. From the window, I motion for him to come to the garage door. I'm not venturing out into the cold based on the information my motherly instincts have already provided. Ethan enters, his face bright red and covered in remnants of snow. Tears are falling. I ask him what happened. Through his sobs he tells me that his big brother TJ tackled him and pushed his face into the snow. Knowing my children as I do, I asked Ethan what he did to provoke his brother. He responded that he "accidentally threw snowballs in TJ's face." "Accidentally", I asked. "How many times did you accidentally throw a snowball in TJ's face?" I asked with a chuckle. "Only three times!" he replied sincerely. With that, I dried his face, gave him a dry hat and sent him back outside. Brotherly Love!

Starting a blog

I've decided that I don't have enough to do with my free time (hahaha) so I'm starting a blog. Please bookmark this page or become a follower of the blog. I'm sure you're all anxiously awaiting my first real post... coming soon!