A Tribute to stay-at-home moms

It was one of those days that made me remember that working outside the home is often easier than inside...

It all started with Nathan waking up screaming with diarrhea at 4:30 am and then again at 8am and of course it was everywhere ... then Sammy had it too... fun! More of Nathan's teeth are finally coming in and he was super fussy all day ... didn't want me to put him down, or walk away from him, or do anything that was for anyone but him ... he didn't want to take his naps and he didn't sleep as long when he finally did ... Sammy didn't want to sleep either and stayed up talking for over two hours till I finally gave up & then of course he was overtired and fussy ... Sammy kept dumping out toy boxes full of cars, then blocks, then Legos (luckily the trains were in another room) ... I was tired (I went to sleep too late last night) and of course it's that time of the month so I am overly sensitive, tired, and grouchy, and well, by 5 pm I was all done. I kept thinking and wondering how all of you do it? How do you do this 24-7? I just needed to get out of the house (with or without the kids--just get out!) or have a minute without someone screaming or crying or dumping toys or pulling at my legs! I never get to see Thad anymore because he's been working so late and I just wanted some time when I was awake to see him and I wanted the kids to be able to see him too...so we were supposed to meet up with Thad for dinner before he went back to work but Nathan was finally sleeping and ugh we missed that too! It goes without saying that I wasn't able to get any of the housework or chores or errands that I needed to do done!

I'm glad that this day's over and I know that it could have been worse ... I hope that one day I learn the secrets to being a happy stay at home mom --and how to keep them happy, learning, playing, growing and busy without the TV on ... and how to not get stressed out and feel like a failure anytime that don't take a nap, or anytime that they are screaming or whining or hitting or kicking and I don't feel motherly or just want to cry! If I figure all that out then maybe I won't be so scared to have more kids since I feel like I'm barely managing the two that I have.

Potty Training Funnies :)

We're trying the potty training thing and even went out and bought Thomas undies and so far we're working pretty well...slowly but well (I am reading Toilet Training in Less Than a Day but it's 200 pages and taking me more than one day to read it--LOL)

Here are two funny statements from Sammy tonight...

1. He was in the bath and I decided to use the restroom and Sammy said, "Mommy, you're twinkling" and then proceeded to sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. I guess his vocabulary isn't as extense as I thought it was ;)

2. I guess that he's in a "what's that?" stage where he points to anything outside, and inside, in books, and he's been really into body parts lately. As he was laying on the ground and reading a story he got excited and said, "look, the fan has a pee pee like me!" (It was the light bulb hanging down...sigh!)

Fun in the sun!

Yesterday and today I met up with some girls from church and their kids! Grace spearheaded it and we had a lot of fun! Yesterday we went to Heritage Park to see the Andersons who were visiting, and today to Mayfair Park to play in the little kids pool! Here is a picture or two of the fun... the rest are on Smugmug!

We spent a lot of time on the island and then on the playground, but then Sammy found a sprinkler, and then a big puddle! Enough said!Here are some of our friends-- Becky and kids, and Grace and kids!The big kids were playing by the bridge and sitting by the rocks!

Nathan was there too--he wanted to steal Luke's stroller!

And here's a picture from Mayfair Park too!

Salsa-licious!

Just gloating a little! Between my mom and I and all of our lovely tomato plants we have had so many that we've been able to make fresh salsa! Here is a yummy recipe thanks to Freddy, the head cook at one of the restaurants my brother used to manage! My mom made some changes and we love it!

Sally's Salsa
Ingredients
8 tomatoes
2 jalapenos (add more if you want it hotter-this is mild to medium)
1 1/2 tsp. salt (I like kosher salt-sometimes I add another 1/2 tsp of salt)
1 tsp. cumin (use less if you want it less spicy)
1/3 bunch of fresh, chopped cilantro (if you don't have fresh use about 1 Tbsp of dry-add more or less if you don't like or really like the taste!)
1 - 2 tsp chopped garlic (I just used a spoonful of the stuff out of the jar - add more or less to your taste)
3/4 medium yellow or brown onion (chopped)
*We doubled it and used a big pot, but otherwise you could do this in a 3 qt saucepan!

Directions
1. Cut up the tomatoes into 1/2 inch chunks (reserve 1/2 for later, 1/2 of them go into the pot)
2. Carefully cut two jalapenos open and deseed them and then finely chop (if your hands are sensitive to these make a salt/water solution to rinse your fingers in and rinse often!)
3. Boil 1/2 of the cut tomatoes and both of the diced jalapenos.
4. While they're starting to heat add the salt, cumin, garlic, and cilantro. Then boil about 5 minutes.
5. If it's not broken down you can let this cool and then blend this in your blender a little to chop it up a little more.
6. While it's cooling chop/dice your onions. Then add your onions and the other 1/2 of the tomatoes and stir. Let sit for 15 minutes or so to let the flavors meld. If it's not as hot as you want it then you can add more cumin or salt or whatever at this point!
7. Get your favorite chips and enjoy warm or cold!

Sammy The Photographer

The other day when Sam got fussy in the car I handed back my camera to him to keep him busy. Here are some of his pictures that I thought were fun. He's getting better every day!

One of his many self portraits!

What I look like to him...there were a few of these!
I also heard him say, "Nay-ten, I take your picture! Say cheese!"He was the most excited about this picture (and one other of the other pair of RR Xings on another street)! He told me, "I take picture of ding dings!" I was amazed because I was moving when he took both pictures...he knew when they were coming up!
And our final destination...home! :)

Wordle -- My blog, but prettier! :)

Thanks Lisa and Ezra for another fun link...here is what wordle.net made from the words from my blog...I thought that it was kind of fun! Click on the picture to enlarge it!

Hooray for Lizzie!

We had a mini celebration for Lizzie who finally pooped in the big girl potty this past week! We got to join in on the festivities--Cathy made a cake and some mini cakes and the kids decorated them, ate a bunch of frosting, and had a lot of fun! Here are some pictures (with more at Smugmug) because I thought that they were too fun! :) I even took a short video (15 secs). :)
I just realized that Nathan isn't in these pictures either...he was asleep! Poor Nathan!

Here is Liz blowing out her candle for pooping in the potty!Sammy mostly ate frosting..I think that he frosted the same cupcake about 10 times until he ran out of frosting on his plate...then he resorted to eating the cupcakes! Jared was the sprinkle king! He was proud of his work!

Even little Lucas who didn't get in on the decorating but his smile will melt your heart! :)