Major change in life-plans

There was a very serious conversation going on at our house last night. Emotions are always high when discussing life and career changes and last night was no exception.
Adam: "Well, Luke, I'm going to work at Disneyland and be Mickey Mouse so I can shake every one's hands."
Luke: "I'm going to work at SeaWorld. I want to be a shark and swim in that big tank where people walk under it."
Adam: "No. I think you should work at Disneyland and work in the Lightning McQueen store where you can get lots of toys."

What could be better news than that? I'm going to the bank today to cash out their college funds!

Photo tag

I was tagged by my good friend Kim Little to do a fun little post. Its a photo questionnaire. I may have just had a little too much fun....

#1 Self Portrait
Please excuse the rags I'm wearing! How embarrassing to be caught on such a bad hair day!




















#2 What My Kids Are Doing Today

After the little angels finished up the laundry, they shared some quality time together pouring over the pages of Harry Potter.

#3 My Fridge
By the looks of my fridge, I'd say my personal chef will have a delicious, healthy meal on the table tonight.

#4 My Kitchen Sink
I guess my secret is out that I grow my own herbs for the chef to use.
















#5 My Favorite Shoes
I love them because they go with everything from the pool to the neighborhood barbecue.

















#6 My Favorite Room in the House
Just so cozy.



#7 Dream Vacation
Honestly, with all this fabulousness in my life, who needs a vacation? My life is an everyday vacation!

#8 Bathroom
I really should have tidied up a bit before taking pictures. Pay no mind to the 'clutter'. I always feel it is important to have fresh flowers on the vanity just to start the day off right.

















#9 The Room I Spend the Most Time In
The kitchen really is the heart of our home. Whether we're sitting down to our chef-prepared meal or helping the kids whip up a tasty after-school snack, we just love being together in our humble kitchen.

Hefty dose of reality

#1 Self Portrait
I think my forehead is getting bigger as the years go by.


#2 What the Kids Are Doing
This morning, they were making blueberry muffins for breakfast. You can be sure they won't be doing any laundry, cleaning or anything productive. Mostly they just make really good messes.



#3 The Fridge
I'd like to blame the mess in the fridge on the kids, but I guess it's my own. Looks like dino chicken nuggets and mac & cheese for dinner again! Wahoo!


#4 The Kitchen Sink
In my defense, this is the post-muffin making sink. Usually it's pretty clean.

#5 Favorite Shoes


Just chalk it up there with things I swore I'd never buy before I actually had kids. As a mom, do you find yourself eating your words faster than you can speak them?




#6 Favorite Room in the House

It's too small to have a formal living room, so I turned it into my library. I'm not sure what I like more about it, being surrounded by my books or the lack of anything Lightning McQueen or High School Musical.


#7 Dream Vacation
I don't think you need an actual picture to imagine a beach somewhere with Eric and I drinking big, fat Diet Cokes and working on a nice sunburn.



#8 Bathroom
Eric has never liked our guest bathroom. But I do. I wasn't even shopping for a shower curtain when I found that one and LOVED it. I could not care less that nobody else likes it because I DO!

#9 The Room I Spend the Most Time In

Cleaning this kitchen is much like scrubbing the deck of a sinking ship. Why bother? But I guess I'm the captain going down with this ship because I seem to spend countless hours vacuuming, scrubbing, organizing, reorganizing, loading and unloading dishes. That's why you see the computer, water bottle and headphones on the table. This is my 'office'. Pretty fancy huh?

I guess all my secrets are out. No chef and lots of tacky character clothes. This was a fun post. Thanks so much Kim! I'm tagging everyone who would like to play along.

The Hills and black nail polish

If my nails are painted black, you know I've been watching The Hills! I didn't realize I was so see-through till my friend, Kayley, pointed it out today. Even though it's totally contrived and scripted, The Hills remains my favorite reality tv indulgence! I was so excited for the premiere last night. Every Monday night I get my M&M's, Diet Coke and black nail polish and I'm all set for my Hills watching. What can I say, I'm a glutton for crappy tv.

Sleepwalker

At about 2:00 am this morning I heard Cameron in the bathroom. She doesn't usually get up in the night so I decided to investigate. I found her sitting on the edge of the bathtub with undies around her ankles and her nightgown up around her waist. I asked her what she was doing and she just stared right through me. She was dead asleep with her eyes wide open and peeing in the bathtub!
There is truly no rest for the potty training weary.

Oh crap

Crap. Literally. I've had it up to my eyeballs with with wet and otherwise messy pants. I've been working on this potty training business with the boys for 16 months. Don't believe me? Do the math - since May 2007. I might as well count it as 32 months of potty training because there are two of them!
These darn boys will do fine and not have an accident for a couple of months then out of the blue, completely regress. It goes back and forth between who is able and who....isn't. Lately, it's Adam who is peeing his pants five or six times a day. I figure why put on dry clothes when they're just going to be wet again in five minutes? But then who wants to be around the wet, smelly kid? (Not to mention that having your kid wear soiled clothes is probably a form of child abuse.) Anyway, I've been very lazy for the last month or so with the whole process. In my defense, I needed to lower my blood pressure for a while to avoid potty-accident-cardiac-arrest.
Starting yesterday, I've stepped it up a notch. The new rule is that if you 'go' anywhere other than a toilet, you get a cold shower. Freezing cold. The coldest water my house has to offer. I thought it would just take a time or two and problem solved. I'm not sure if the joke is on me or them.....you could safely (and correctly) assume that I have the cleanest kids on the block now. Adam got two cold showers yesterday and four today. Luke got three showers today. My own hands are raw and smell like Lever 2000.
I normally don't solicit parenting advice (because I like to think I know what's best for my kids better than anyone else does), but I am BEGGING for any morsel of potty training wisdom! Please help me! What do I do now? Am I scarring my kids for life? Am I not being harsh enough? And how in the crap (pun intended) do I know the difference?

Carlos Junior

Cameron: "Hey mom, can we go to Carlos Junior for lunch today?"

Has she been watching Telemundo??? I'm pretty sure it's Carl's Junior, not Carlos.

happy working song

Come my little friends
As we all sing a happy little working song
Merry little voices clear and strong
Come and roll your sleeves up
So that we can pitch in
Cleaning crud up in the kitchen
As we sing along
And you’ll trill a cheery tune in the tub
As we scrub a stubborn mildew stain
Lug a hairball from the shower drain
To the gay refrain of a happy working song
We’ll keep singing without fail
Otherwise we’d spoil it
Hosing down the garbage pail
And scrubbing up the toilet
How we all enjoy letting loose with a little La-da-da-dum-dum
While we’re emptying the vacu-um
It’s such fun to hum
A happy working song
You could do a lot when you got
Such a happy little tune to hum
While you’re sponging up the soapy scum
We adore each filthy chore
That we determine
So friends even though you’re vermin
We’re a happy working song
Singing as we fetch the detergent box
Or the smelly shirts and the stinky socks
Sing along If you cannot sing then hum along
As we’re finishing our happy working song!
Ah...wasn’t this fun?

I know you're all wondering if I live my life in a movie. Or many movies to be exact. This is the best song from Enchanted and the great thing is that this song has gotten my kids to excited to 'scrub a stubborn mildew stain'. Yesterday my dad took my boys shopping for a belated birthday present and they both choose a double pack of sponges. Yup, cleaning sponges.
I guess I shouldn't have been too shocked when I walked around the corner and found the boys and a couple of friends on their hands and knees with soap and water scrubbing the wood floors in the hallway. But alas, my boys still shock the heck out of me.
Then today I was headed out to Target to pick up a few things and Luke requested that I bring him a treat. The treat he wanted was a broom. It's amazing to me that two boys so obsessed with cleaning supplies can be such a mess.