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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

I absolutely love February. It is the one month of the year we get very little rain and the weather is guaranteed to be hot and sunny. It's not the heat or sunshine that I love, it's the fact that there is so much do to in the community. Every Friday and Saturday night an outdoor movie is shown at a park or reserve. It is so much fun taking along blankets and snacks and laying down on the grass to watch a movie under the stars. On Thursday the 20th of February, Ashton and I have a date night to go see Mama Mia. We've watched it a million times at home, but as Ashton loves it so much that it will be a real treat for him to watch it under the night sky, late at night. Tony and Hayden can't stand to watch the movie...so they don't get to come!

Another thing I love about summer is that there's a 'toy mobile unit' in every neighbourhood. Each weekend (usually a Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon and evening) the toy mobil is at one of the local parks. It has 'heaps' of really fun toys for the kids of every age group that are spread out all across the park/grass. It's a great way for parents to relax and enjoy watching their kids play. It's quite a site to see what seems like hundreds of kids playing with hundreds of toys. The parents relax on the grass under the trees snacking and reading.

Hayden started school again yesterday. He has a really cool teacher, Mrs Davies who is South African. She loves insects and bugs and for the first day of class she bought a frog to school. Hayden thought that was the coolest thing and when he came home from school he talked about the frog all evening.

Tony loves listening to his ipod on the way to and from work as he travels on the bus and train. As he was recently downloading podcasts he discovered a great parent help site called http://www.themightymommy.com/. I know there are millions of these parent help sites out there, but I really enjoyed this one. They have topics that discuss how to deal with tantrums, boredom, biting, kids out of control, kids with fears, etc, etc. They also had a great article/talk/segment (I can't decide which word to use!) for parents on 'How to cope with a bad day' which I ended up finding really useful. Yesterday was definitely turning out to be a bad day; I was pretty grumpy and tired as all three boys ended up in our bed from 2am onwards. We have a California King, but I still ended up on the very edge of the bed and found it impossible to sleep with all three boys wanting to be close to me! So come yesterday afternoon, my patience was gone and my voice was HIGH since the boys kept jumping over the couches and Noah kept testing his lungs out to see how loud he could scream. The mighty mommy suggestion was to 'FAKE THE HAPPINESS'. Sounds a bit silly, but I gave it a go and it worked! I actually enjoyed myself as I faked the happiness by being silly and fun and pretending I was in a good state. It also suggested getting the play doh out for the kids and pounding on some of it as you play with them to release some of your emotion. It even suggested to give up on tidying up and go make a mess!! The remedy's might not work for everyone, but even if they work for a few, I guess they've achieved something. I really don't think I would go as far as to 'purposely' make a mess in my own house as the boys do a good enough job of that on their own! Besides, no one would come along and clean it up for me so I'd just be making more work for myself.

Tony is always concerned that I sometimes write really boring things on my blog and that no one wants to read about the mundane little tasks of life. I always respond with, "Well, it's not your blog, and you're not a stay-at-home MOTHER." A couple of my friends recently did some cute posts on 'It's my blog and I'll ramble if I want to' and 'Got a problem with it - then don't like, don't read.' I agree with both of them one hundred percent. I don't write this blog for anyone else other than myself (even though I do enjoy the responses). In actual fact, as a mother who's always got a million things to do....errands, phone calls, cooking, laundry, housework, church meetings, whatever, this is my way of sitting down to relax and taking a time out. Whenever I need a breather, I would much rather write a post about my life and family than sit down to watch a TV show! It's very satisfying and very relaxing! So if I start writing about how I've just done 10 loads of laundry and I've got a bee on my head...and you start to fall asleep....then I guess I've relaxed you too!

Below: Uncle Travis and the boys watch a movie together...STAR WARS for the 50th time.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: What a cute pic!

Very funny re 'boring blog' comment. I don't think they're boring at all - in fact I came and visited of my own volition and no invite! =)

o man, I know what you mean re grumpy days (tho these are much fewer thank goodness) - funny how your voice got HIGH! that parent site sounds good ..; February 17, 2009 at 1:02 PM

Funny Comments

Ashton walking into the supermarket quietly whispers to himself: "Please can I have macaroni and cheese, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Ashton: "I want to live with Jesus." Mummy: "Why?" Ashton: "Because he be nice to me and he gives me bread and water!"

Mummy, examining Ashton's legs, and thinking: My goodness, what hairy legs. Ashton, unimpressed with Mummy's examination, pulls away: "Don't touch them. I'm growing Daddy legs!"

Hayden gets upset at Ashton: "Right Ashton, that's it! I'm telling Jesus on you!"

Ashton with a cold: "I'm snotty as a piggy."

Hayden: "The sun is burning my eyeballs."

Hayden: "Mummy, how come your penis is missing?"

Hayden: "I get the bigger piece of cake because my skeleton is bigger."

Hayden (3yrs old) sees me get dressed in the morning and stares at my breasts with a confused look..."What thooooose be for???"

Hayden: "I don't want to finish my pizza, it's got blood all over it."

Hayden: "Ashton hit me in the heart."

Hayden learns the planets at Preschool: Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Penus!

Hayden (shopping with me and whining): "My brain hurts forever because you haven't buyed me anything."

QUOTES

Like the changing leaves of fall...My little boy is now a man.
--Author Unknown

Boys are God's way of telling you that your house is too neat!
--Author Unknown

There never has been, nor will there ever be, anything quite so special as the love between a mother and a son.
--Author Unknown

Boys are found everywhere - on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.
--Alan Marshall Beck

Something For A Giggle....

I Owe My Mother ....

My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

My mother taught me RELIGION. "You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

My mother taught me LOGIC. " Because I said so, that's why."

My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

My mother taught me FORESIGHT. "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

My mother taught me IRONY. "Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS. "Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. "Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

My mother taught me about STAMINA. "You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

My mother taught me about WEATHER. "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY. "If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. "Stop acting like your father!"

My mother taught me about ENVY. "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. "Just wait until we get home."

My mother taught me about RECEIVING. "You are going to get it when you get home!"

My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."

My mother taught me ESP. "Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

My mother taught me HUMOR. "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

My mother taught me GENETICS. "You're just like your father."

My mother taught me about my ROOTS. "Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

My mother taught me WISDOM. "When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

My mother taught me about JUSTICE. "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!