Month: August 2010

The boys sat in front of the tv for no less than 6 hours today because I declared it an official “media day”.

I’ve never really had to put a lot of controls on their tv and video game time.  During the school year, we are busy enough that it’s not really an issue.  And, since I’m married to a man who I think is pretty great and also loves to play video games, it’s not like I’m completely against them.  Sure, the kids play, but it’s never been obsessive. Well, suddenly this summer, they have both decided that the only thing they like to do at home is sit in front of the tv. Connor even shed real tears one day over the injustice of his December birthday and how he gets so many toys in December and now he doesn’t have anything he likes to play with and he has to wait all the way until Christmas to get new toys. I just don’t know where this kid gets his dramatic streak from (ha.)  Anyway, the drama and the tears and the fights all led to me putting my foot down: you must exercise your mind before you exercise your thumbs, and you only get 1 hour of video game time per day.  It’s worked pretty well (for the most part.)

But today…okay, really it was last week…I think we hit the summer wall.  We are hot, tired, bored, and ready to get back into our fall routine.  Last week was a tough week for all of us.  I woke up this morning with a little bit of dread in the pit of my stomach.  What on earth were we going to do all day?  I decided to declare it Play as Many Video Games as You Want Day.   There were a few ground rules.  The free for all was only good as long as the boys didn’t fight with each other and kept their hands and bodies in control.

Logan started playing video games and watching tv at 9:00.  He lasted until 3:00.  Honestly, I was shocked at how long he lasted!  Connor made it until 2:00 and then began writing a script for a play that we are going to perform sometime in the next 3 years.  He said it might take that long to finish it, plus Camryn and Logan have to be able to read and memorize lines.  He makes me laugh!  I’m just glad he was using his mind and practicing his writing!

The boys loved Media Day.  In fact, Connor thinks we need to have a media day once a week.  I told him we could do that for the rest of the summer, which means we’ll have one more next week.  I can certainly live with that.

I got so much accomplished while the boys vegged out!  I got completely caught up on laundry, had dinner ready to pop in the oven by 3:00, vacuumed the whole house, mopped the kitchen, and even watched a tv show and read a magazine.  It was almost like a mental health day for all of us.

At first, I totally felt guilty about our tv day.  Good moms don’t get sick of summer time.  Good moms don’t let their kids sit in front of the tv all day.  Good moms fill their days with quality play time.

I say every good mom needs a break.  And that’s exactly what today was, for all of us.

Logan and Camryn took their bath together last night and I got such a kick out of watching them play.

The scene: the tub

The cast of characters: Logan, Camryn, and two of Cami’s babies.

The plot: Soon after realizing that there was only one baby in the tub, Logan asked me to bring them another one.  They both needed a baby for whatever game was going to happen next.  Luckily, we have two tub babies so it’s not a problem.   As I handed Logan the second baby, I noticed that Camryn had her baby cradled gently in her arms with the washcloth covering her like a blanket.  She was gently rocking the baby, back and forth with a sweet and nurturing little smile on her face.  “She is such a girl” I thought to myself, delighted at the little bit of softness she brings to our family.  My thoughts were interrupted by a huge splash….

“KABOOM!!!!  WATCH MY BABY DO A FRONT FLIP!!  ALIEN BABY FACE!!!  AGHHHHH!!!!!”  shrieked Logan with gusto as his baby took a flying leap from the side of the tub.

I got such a kick out of this little scene!  Boys and girls are so different.  And anyone who doesn’t agree needs to come spend a few minutes at our house!  While Camryn is pretty rough and tumble and totally keeps up with the boys…case a point, she was found wrestling in the church lobby with four boys ages 5 and up this morning…she is still decidedly girly in the way she cares for her babies.  It’s instinctive to her.

I love the action and adventure the boys bring to our house and I love the sweetness and softness Camryn brings.

Is it just my imagination, or do mine and Staci’s shirts…

Look a little bit like this gem of a dress that I wore in 1994?

They say that all styles will eventually come back around.  Looks like that’s a fact!

I’m not known for being the most organized person ever.  This is actually that is changing a little as I get older and have more kids.  I’m realizing that organization is essential to my mental sanity!  In some areas I’ve gotten much more organized…like toys and kid’s clothes and even the mail and school stuff.  I do still make a lot of piles and have what my family lovingly refers to as “Megan Droppings” which actually sounds kind of gross when I type it out like that…no, I don’t go to the bathroom in the living room, but it is nearly impossible for me to take a trip to Arlington and not leave at least one thing at my mom’s house.  Sometimes I like to think that I’m organized in my own way, meaning I usually know where I put things, phone and shoes excluded.  I joke all the time that I married Derek for the simple fact that he keeps up with my phone and flip flops.  Somehow he always knows where I last had them.  It’s a talent, really.

When I was at Juli Beth’s house last weekend, I couldn’t help but notice how nice and neat she kept her pantry.  A neat pantry?  Is that even possible?!  Turns out her secret is…wait for it…actually eat the food as she buys it.   I don’t know about you, but I am bad about buying things, sticking them in the pantry, and then never eating them.  This also goes for my freezer, too.  My freezer (and it’s a big freezer) is full to the brim with food!  Yet week after week, I go to the store, buy more things.  So I’ve decided that my mission for August is going to be to eat the food in the pantry and freezer.  I’ve taken some notes about what’s in there and planned meals accordingly.  On Monday night I made breakfast burritos using bacon and hash brown potatoes I found in the freezer.  Last night, I made fettuccine from a box I found in the pantry and I served it with fajita steak, also found in the freezer.  When I planned that meal, I actually thought the leftover fajita meat was chicken and was going to make chicken fettuccine, but it was steak.  I can’t even identify the frozen leftovers!   Take my word for it, my freezer and pantry are completely out of control.

There is one other reason I’m inspired to get my pantry in order.

When we got back from Hawaii (after being gone for 10 days), I found something really weird in the pantry.  I had a package of English muffins and it the plastic had been chewed through and I could see part of a muffin had been eaten.  I sort of freaked out, but my ever calm husband talked me down.  He said there was no way we have a mouse because our cat would catch it.  He sure has high expectations for what might be the world’s fattest and laziest cat.  But I was able to just throw the muffins out and forget about it because I didn’t see anything else suspicious in the pantry.  It’s been one of those out of sight, out of mind things.  Honestly, if the thought of taking everything out of my pantry isn’t daunting enough, I’m terrified that I’ll find a creepy-crawly (or something worse.)  So I just pushed it out of my mind and blissfully went about my business.

Then this morning, after being on a bit of an English muffin hiatus, I decided that’s what I wanted for breakfast.  I remembered what had happened to our last package of muffins, so I cautiously pulled the bag from the pantry.  I slowly turned it in my hands and this is what I saw:

I do not want to deal with this.  But it is obvious there is something in there that has a penchant for high fiber english muffins.

This is really one of my worst nightmares.   Do you think it’s a mouse?  Should I just get some mouse traps and see if I catch anything?  Or maybe I should call our exterminator.  Now that it’s happened twice (and with the same food…I think that’s really weird), I just can’t ignore it anymore.

If only my pantry were as organized and fabulous as Juli Beth’s.  I’m sure she has never had a problem like this.

I will totally admit that I was waiting to see if Staci would blog about our girl’s weekend so I could steal some pictures. She is the only one who took any pictures with a real camera. Thank goodness for our iPhones!

So this was our 4th annual girl’s weekend, and it was as great as I expected it to be. There is just something about catching up with friends, completely uninterrupted by kids (and there are 16 between us and two more on the way: one in Suzanne’s belly and one on the way through Staci’s adoption!) Staci, Juli Beth, Suzanne, Shauna, Carrie, and I have all known each other since childhood, which means we know way too many embarrassing things about each other. It also means that we are super comfortable with each other and always pick up right where we left off.  Friends like that are such a blessing, and I am so thankful to have them in my life!

We all stayed at Juli Beth’s house this year (thanks to her hubby and kids for letting us have the house!). I can’t say that we did anything all that exciting…there was lots and lots of talking, laughing, and eating with a little bit of shopping and beautification thrown in there. (Juli Beth is a Mary Kay consultant and gave us all facials. Thanks, JB!) I can’t speak for everyone, but it was just the sort of weekend I needed to get through the home stretch of summer. I came home feeling refreshed, rested, and ready to have some fun with the kids these next 3 weeks.

Here we are kicking off the weekend at Cheesecake Factory.  Yum!  I love that restaurant.

And here we are at BJ’s.  We took pictures at just about every restaurant we went to because we are cool like that.

No shopping trip is complete without picking out a “special” outfit to try on.   This is what I tried on last year:

This year, Staci and I were thrilled when we found these in our sizes!   I know we look so pretty.  Right?  Right?!  And I know you are going to want to rush right out and buy this for yourself.  If only you could feel the orange fabric.  The itchiness and the crinkles and the glory of the ruffles can not be fully appreciated from this picture!

I love girl’s weekend with my whole heart.  But even more than the weekend, I love these girls.

{Insert cute picture of all of us here!}