Blog Hop Tuesday

This is where I'm chillin' today! Come join in the fun!

Mowing Monday

Finally! I can sit down and spend some time blogging.

Yay!

Because I wasn't able to get to the yard work on Saturday, I spent all of this morning out in 100 degree temperatures, mowing, weed eating and edging the stupid grass. I have half a mind to let it die just so I don't have to do this all summer. But I won't. I like having a nice garden and I really like telling anyone who'll listen that it looks good because of my blood, sweat and tears. And I do mean that literally. Last summer, I almost lost my index finger to the electric shrub clippers. Apparently you shouldn't try to hold them by the blade-especially when they're turned on! I've never seen so much blood, it was all over the drive way, a path leading right into the house, through the living room and into the kitchen. My three year old (at the time), kept saying "shhh, shhh" placing her little finger over her lips. As if silence would make the blood stop gushing through all of the paper towels wrapped around my finger.

Anyway, it was a typical, hellish time out there today. Untangling the orange extension cords that were just plopped down in the garage. I, of course, was the last one to use them. I spent that half hour basically swearing at myself under my breath. What was I thinking, I mean, come on! Why ever would I leave those cords in such a ridiculous state. By the time I finished getting them sorted, I had sweat dripping from every pore of my body. I could feel my long sleeved shirt and long pants clinging to my skin and I'm here to tell you, it was not a pleasant feeling. My floppy hat was drenched, stuck to my forehead and my sunglasses were threatening to slip off my nose. EW, disgusting!

My two youngest, the 2 y/o and 4 y/o, interrupted me so many times that I eventually turned the sprinkler on for them just so I could get started on the edging. But then there was that nagging fear at the back of my mind about getting myself electrocuted. I seem to remember hearing somewhere that water and electricity don't mix so well. I exercised a good amount of caution, keeping the cords away from the water. After about three minutes of edging, my four y/o was at my side again, tattling on her little brother for picking up the sprinkler, turning the water up, turning the water down, complaining how she was cold (this is where I stared at her in disbelief), insisting she and her little brother needed a drink, a popsicle, a Gogurt, Rice Krispy treats and watermelon.

These little interruptions add up and this is why it always takes me about 4 hours to finish the yard work instead of two. I definitely have a disadvantage as a mom. If my husband were to mow, it would take a fraction of the time-the kids never ever bug him. This is when I started feeling sorry for myself. (The pity party happens every time I go out to mow, like clockwork!) I'm a wimpy sort of thing.

By the time I had everything tidied up and looking nice, I was completely exhausted. It was all I could do to put everything away. But I pressed on, determined to get it all done so I wouldn't have to go back out there in the blazing sun. I practically had to lean my weight on the lawn mower to keep myself upright as I returned it to the garage. Light headed, with floaters in my eyes, I returned the weed eater and edger to their hooks. And the orange extension cords? Well, they're in a pile, ready to be untangled again next week.

I'm a Winner!

Katrina, my sweet new friend over at  The Gentle Flower, has very kindly honored me with this award:

If you haven't had the opportunity to meet Katrina yet, you should stop on by, she has a lot of hip, cool stuff going on! 



                                                           So here's how it works:
  

1. Thank the person who gave you the award by linking back to them in your post.

2. Tell us 7 things about yourself.
3. Award 15 recently discovered bloggers.
4. Contact those bloggers and let them in on the exciting news!

7 Facts About Me 

1. I would love to visit Rome. Sigh...

2. When I was a kid, I was introduced to the process of childbirth. Disgusted and scared, I decided there was no way I would, ever, EVER have children of my own. I, my friends, was going to adopt. So here I am years later with four children, each of which I painfully delivered into this world. So much for that idea! 

3. Alcohol is a seasonal thing for me. From December 1st - December 31st,  I must have Baileys Irish Cream each evening-one glass of it on the rocks-without fail. Else my poor hubby is sent to the liquor store to round up a bottle. But come January 1st, I forget it exists, the Baileys can rot away for all I care. And then cold beer on summer nights-just one bottle, what do you think I am? A lush? :)


4. I absolutely adore the smell of fresh cut grass. 


5. I'm an in the closet gamer. About fifteen years ago my hubby introduced me to the world of computer games. At first I made fun of him, but then he played so much that it became a case of 'if you can't beat em, join em'. You name it, I've played it. My most recent stint was Lord of The Rings (LOTRO). On there I had some serious butt kickin' toons and was an Officer in many a Guild. A headset wearing, raider. Yes, I am that cool! (and you probably have absolutely no clue what I'm talking about. Move on, there's nothing to see here!) :P


6. I have a gazillion holiday traditions and you best follow them without argument-- or else!


7. It is my dream to pack up my family and move to Hawaii where we'll buy a cottage high on a cliff, and live mostly off what we plant in our own little garden. Anything can grow there in Hawaii, after all....even my stories.

So here comes the hard part! This was a tough decision. There are so many wonderful blogs to choose from, this about killed me. The ones I finally selected are those that have pictures that pop off the page and/or writing that blows my mind and gets me thinking. Some are edgy, others beautiful, but they all speak from the heart.  Please swing by and tell them congratulations!

15 Bloggers I'd Like to Award the Versatile Blogger Award to (in no particular order):

Poems, Stories and Humanness
Life - A Memoir of Existence
Kangaroos of The Scrubby Brush
Our Busy Beach Life
Caffienated OC Mommy
Granola Catholic
Diaper Style Memoirs
Sweet T Makes Three
Lala Musings
Really, What Were We Thinking?
Apron Senorita
Farm Fresh Decor
The Olive Tree
Be Our Best
Cute-Ecakes.Com

Blog Hop Thursday!

It is Thursday, right? Okay, just double checked my calender. Weird! I'm having one of those days where it feels like the weekend is already here! Anyway, this is where you'll find me today. If you would like to link up too, just click the blog hop button at the top of the page. Also, if you host a blog hop and don't see your button there and would like to, just leave a comment--I'm always on the lookout for hops. What a great way to make new friends, and better yet, it makes my reader all that more diverse! Have a great day!

Sacrifice Realized

Don't you just hate it when people tell you they're going to do something and then fail to follow up with the end results? I wouldn't do you that way now would I?

Okay, maybe I did.

For quite some time I've been intending to report on the fallout that came from a crazy decision I made back in April.  A decision that involved banning my kids from all forms of media during the school week. (Click here if you would like to see what led up to this insane idea of mine!)

To be honest, I figured it wouldn't be easy. My kids didn't like the new restrictions, so there would be resistance. I expected to hear a lot of "I'm bored." I expected that I'd have to supply some alternatives. Like smokers trying to quit the habit. Giving them chewing gum and things to do to fill in the time they'd normally spend on cigarette breaks. Kids smoking, what a terrible image that brings to mind.  Hmmm...well anyway, you get the idea.

But what I wasn't prepared for was this: they kept showing up by my computer desk, wanting to...TALK TO ME!...(gasp!!!)

What the?!?

Okay, so at first this totally unnerved me. What were they doing there? I mean really? Usually I had to chase them down for a conversation and this so called conversation at best consisted of one or two word answers. They were always too busy for me.

Well guess what? They weren't busy now. After my initial shock wore off, I realized that they suddenly had all kinds of time on their hands and they wanted to spend some of it with Mama. Whoot! It was great. I turned away from my computer and listened intently, answered their questions-yes, they actually asked me questions, they wanted my take on things. It was both bizarre and wonderful.

But then after a few days, the novelty wore off. I hate to say this but things took a serious turn for the worse. The fighting between siblings reached epoch proportions. The house, oh my goodness, the house. It changed from slightly messy to an official disaster area. Obama came and pronounced it so. (hehe)

And it seemed no matter what activities I lined up, my sweet children were far more interested in remaining on their current path of seek and destroy-whether it be the house or each other, they were determined to get the job done.

Even my thoughts were violated. You might be able to relate to this. You're deep in thought. Maybe while you're changing out laundry, maybe cleaning the toilet, or even sitting at your desk writing a post. You're really getting into it. For myself, it's story ideas. So I've built layer on layer, mentally growing this great story in my head. And then I hear "Mommy, such and such hit me," or "Mom can we look up Black Ops on your computer." (yea right, like that's gonna happen)

My idea flops, splatting back into the grey mass from which it came. Please, please, get out of my head!

Without media to entertain them, I was constantly interrupted and my workload increased ten fold.

A few weeks ago I was considering military school. Do they accept 2 year olds into the program?
Then we'd be talking. Ship all four of them off and give Mommy a reprieve from all this craziness.

Okay, so this was pure fantasy, in reality I would miss them terribly if they weren't here with me.

But the status quo simply wasn't hacking it. Since shipping them off wasn't a viable solution, and I wasn't about to back down on the new media rules, I decided I needed to form new habits as well.  I guess my children weren't the only ones making sacrifices. I began working on story ideas at night after they were all in bed, and tried to make myself more available to them throughout the day.

With work, things have slowly settled down since then, and they have more or less fallen into the swing of things. They're more apt to use their imagination through play, they're reading more, and also helping around the house.

But now summer is here, throwing a wrench in it all!  And of course, my eldest was under the assumption that since school was out for the summer, the media rule was rendered null and void. Not!

I'm determined to avoid a repeat of last time, to stay ahead of my brood. I've gone over the new summer rules, giving a little more ground than I'd like. From 12pm -2pm they may watch TV or play video games. I figure this is a time of the day when it's pretty hot outside anyway, so this will help keep them out of the sun. They also get one movie at bedtime. This way I can easily keep them on the same school routine without any arguing. Like I said, it's more than I like, which is a bummer. But I suppose it's better than them being glued to the TV all day.  :P

So...what are you all doing this summer? Any ideas for keeping the kids busy?

*If you're arriving from a blog hop please leave a comment so I can pay you a visit! Blog hop links are located under the blog hop tab at the top of the page.*