Random Thoughts for Friday

Summer Vayk 

Summer vacation is fast approaching and there's nothing more I look forward to than spending more time with my boys.  I get so excited that they get so excited about beach time, movie time, swimming time.... sleeeeeeeeping in time.... hehe

Favorite yearly destination?

Puerto Penasco!  a.k.a. Rocky Point, Mexico

We've been going for over 20 years and never have had a problem!  I have endless sunset photos on the beach.  Every one of them is just as beautiful as the last because the sky always looks different.  The clouds "change" the picture... pure bliss...  The food is delicioso and you can rent a condo for pretty cheap!  Best times to go is anytime before end of June and anytime after mid September.

This year my hubs made it possible for us to go to Florida! Last time we went, we spent most of our time in Orlando at Universal Studios so I didn't get many shots of the beach.  But this summer I WILL!

Keeping Organized!

We all know that when your kids are home during vacation, it is nearly impossible to keep the house clean if even for  6 hours!  My boys leave their gadgets, and shoes, and books, and games pretty much all over the house.

Summer vacation will be here in just over 4 weeks so now is the time to get their "Check List" in order.  I'll need to add some stuff to it as they are now a year older and maybe take some of the other one off, ya know... the more obvious ones like brushing their pearly whites!  I call it a check list instead of a chore list because I want them to understand that I'm trying to teach them about daily routines.  These are things that just need to be done on a daily basis.  Chores sound more like a job.  They understand that they won't get paid for everything.  Some things are just expected.  The check list helps me as well as I don't have to continuously remind them what needs to be done.  Instead, all I have to do is say "Check List!!" LOL :)

Here is an example of Ethan's list.

They get printed out once a week and are put on the fridge.

Perfect place where they will see it first thing in the morning! :)

Family Time

Family time has always been important to me.  Yes, by having me be a SAHM we sacrifice not having more money and all kinds of goodies but some things (errr... people better said) are more important to me than all the other material things.  I know eventually the boys will grow up and be on their own and  right now, I want to cherish every second with them.

Funny thing, as I'm writing this, I'm realizing that right now I would be in a theatre, on a "day date" with my hubs.... then happy hour afterwards.  But when I realized that the movie we were going to see is a movie that Austin wanted to watch as well, I couldn't bare the thought of not taking him with us.  Is that bad??? I skipped out on a day date so we can wait for our kids to get out of school! LOL!  Dale and I get a lot of alone time all day long and I miss my boys terribly when they're not home.  I look forward to our time spent together as a family.  We always eat together, we talk to each other, we are huge cuddlers, and just recently, I even gave in to playing Super Mario Bros with Ethan on the WiiU.  Needless to say, my thumbs are sore!

There's an interesting Ted Talk that we saw not too long ago.  If you have about 20 minutes to spare. I recommend you watch this :)

Bruce Feiler: Agile programming -- for your family

Silly update...

I still have my dishes.

Yup.

I posted on my last Random thoughts post that Dale said they were outdated.  So... I agreed to sell them at our garage sale a few weeks ago.

Yeah.

They didn't sell.  Guess they are pretty bad.  But.  Even then.  I'm gonna keep them.  They serve their purpose :)

Wishing you all a happy weekend.  Make the best of it and always...  Keep your loved ones close and always... express your appreciation and your love to them.  Sometimes, people just need to hear it! xoxo

Boys Will Be Boys...

Ya know those nasty, sorta kinda slimy, sticky hands that kids usually get from birthday parties or places like Amazing Jakes and Peter Piper Pizza... Well Ethan was so lucky (not) to get one.  He soon figured out how hilarious it was to fling it up high and make it hit the ceiling.  The tip of the hand would stick.. then slowly fall back down.  But... a few times later, he wasn't so lucky.

That thing stayed up there for 3 days until I finally asked Dale to figure out how to get it down.  We don't have an "A ladder" and our other ladder is the kind that leans, and well, it wasn't close enough for us to reach over.

Dale has these, somewhat, flexible poles with hooks on the end that he uses for fishing wire through the walls when he's making a cable drop...  geesh... I don't even know if I worded that right.

It took them 30 minutes!!! to get that slimy thing down! Both Austin and Dale took turns but as soon as they'd hook it, it would spring back up and stick to the ceiling again!

If you click the image you can view it larger.

boys will be boys...  :)

So I figured, having boys, I would never have to worry about them taking never-ending showers.  I have nieces and they take foooooor-eva!! 

Well, turns out, my boys take just as long.

ME:  "What the heck are you doing in there?  I can wash my hair, condition, soap up my whole body, and my body is waaaaaay bigger than yours  - and - I shave and I do it all in 8 mins!!!"

Well, I found out why... they've been letting the bathroom get extra steam so they can take turns writing messages to each other... on the mirror...

Apparently, they like chips, salsa and peanuts!  This also explains why the mirror is always such a mess!

boys will be boys...  :)

............. speaking of messes........

Just as any mother knows... you can tell your kids countless times to pick their clothes off the floor.  Hang your towel.  Put your shoes away!

I have to exclude Ethan out of this next comment because, except for the occasional times that he forgets to hang his towel back up... he's usually good about putting his clothes in the hamper.

On the other hand. Austin and Dale's man chips are so strong that they refuse to put things away!

Yup, Dale's towel after his shower.  Should I at least be grateful that it actually made it "by" the hamper?

I really don't know how much easier I can make it? I figured it'd be easy enough having a hamper dedicated to just towels, another for just jeans, another for all colors and another for all whites and then of course Dale has a hamper for all his "do-not-dry" clothes.

HIS side of the closet.....

men will be boys...   >:-[

and MY side... thank ya very much.... 

I hate hoarding clothes.  I donate a bunch every year.  All those empty hangers on the right are how many clothes I donated last month....... and.. ahem.....  I look very forward to filling them back up with new items!

girls will be girls!!! LOL :)

Happy 11th Ethan!

Today is my Ethan's 11th birthday! 

Here's Ethan, 9 days old.  He had a lotta crazy

hair like his daddy... still kinda does actually!

Here he's 5 months old...

Since the womb, this kid was non-stop

moving constantly.  He was a busy

little boy!

 

Ethan always looked up to his brother and still does!

He learns so much from Austin. They are still best buds <3

Here Ethan is almost 12 months old!

I was so glad he loved Sesame Street as much as I

did when I was a child... But I was heart-broken

when he was 5yrs old and decided he was too

old for Elmo.

Here is my birthday boy, Ethan!

I took this picture of him this morning before school,

he was practicing piano... :)

He has grown to be such a loving, compassionate, brainiac, humorous kiddo!  He's the best at morning hugs... He cracks me up with his "sexy dance"... He impresses me beyond belief with his computer skills (he's creating a game right now with html code)  He's amazes me as he's picking back up so quickly on the piano... He never fails to tell me he loves me... and he melts my heart every time he says that I'm the best mom ever...  I hug and kiss him and try to memorize every tender moment because he'll be as big as Austin in a blink of an eye! I am so truly blessed to have him as my youngest son... 

I really don't know what I've done to deserve such great kids...

Happy Birthday Ethan... I love you bunches xoxo

Things That Make Me Go, Hmmmm....

So I've got everything out that I need to make my son's their tuna salad sandwiches and as I reach out to grab the electric can opener, I quickly remember that the main opener part has been missing since we last washed it... a.week.ago!!!

We've been thinking that it might turn up when we least expect it but after searching for it thoroughly in the kitchen on 3 separate days... I GIVE UP.  Time to buy a new one.  Needless to say... no tuna salad for lunch today.

Our strainer went missing as well.  Is there a black hole in my kitchen or do I have little people living under my stairs?  Did they grow little feet and arms and run off with the dish and spoon?

Okay so boys are off to school, I put a load of whites in the dryer and go on my morning walk... get home and start sorting through the clothes... and my next question is:

where do socks disappear to?

photo courtesy of: starathena

Seriously! They are notorious for losing their mate!

Okay that's it for today.  I'm off to buy a can opener with an alarm on it.  Hope you're having a Happy Humpy Wednesday! :)

Peachy Fashion

Happy April Fool's Day!

I hope you had a great day and didn't get fooled too bad! :)

So, I've been on a hunt for a maxi skirt for 30 million years!  Seriously! I see a zillion women wearing them but I can never find one when I go shopping.  Finally a couple of weeks ago, while shopping for my son, Ahem... I spotted this striped maxi and had to have it.  I am a serious Cheap-O when it comes to clothes.  I tend to only keep my clothes for one season and I don't want to be dishing out a ton of money for something I'll only be wearing for 6 months.  

Oh I guess I better clarify... I live in Arizona.  We pretty much only have Winter and Summer.  We don't have Fall, or Spring, and we don't change time zones!

So t'anyway, let me jus' say this was a major splurge for me.  I was so in love with the fit and the fact that it was black and white striped... that uh... yeah I kinda didn't care how much it was.  It's not this exact same one but kinda close :)

I am so... let me think, "obsessed" would be putting it mildly but you get it, right.  I love, Love, LOVE stripes right now and this peachy color has been one of my favs for a couple of years now.

Okay so I broke it in for Good Friday last week.  And I must say, all the compliments I got just totally made.my.day!  

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! HUGS :)

Peach meets B&W Stripes by aznat73 featuring a striped skirt