My Lawn Mower. (And Other Outside Issues)

This is my backyard. It's little, and cute, and a pain in the butt to mow. I thought it'd be awesome to own a house, and get to decorate my lawn however I want. But... I suck at landscaping apparently. It would be so much easier to have one of those fancy lawn trucks come with their fancy commercial lawn mower and take care of my yard for me. However, I am not made of money. So, I need to get my butt in great, and read up on how to keep my grass green and my plants alive. 

Pinterest gives me all this beautiful inspiration to fill my head with

I love all of the beautiful flowers, and I spend a dumb amount of money on them every year, and every year, they die. I try to read up about what kind of sunlight they need, and the type of soil they thrive in, but eventually, I just want them in the ground to show off all their color. So I plant them. Ad they die. Every. Year.

This year, I've got a plan. I am going to take pictures of my planter areas and spend one day watching the sun pattern,  and take  that to my local nursery, and ask what stays alive!  Also, I'm going to buy a real lawn mower. I currently own a old school push one.you know, 1950's dad out in his khakis and polo mowing... That's me, minus the man part, and the clothes. I mow nude. I kid, I kid, I mow in shorts, because it takes me hours to mow my tiny square of grass. I've even had a neighbor offer to help.  But I did it. Once. And I'm done with it,unless its for decor purposes. 

I just want a simple, pull to start and tah dah lawn mower. Then I can have a pretty lawn. Then I'll advance to a whole yard of prettiness once I get plants that stay alive. 

Bring it on Spring, I'm going to own my yard this year!

This is a sponsored post, but all of the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Kiddo Down!

Last night we had attempted family movie night. We rented Ice Age Continental Drift. All got pjs on, and turned the lights down, snuggled on the couch. For about 15 minutes it was a picture of perfection. And quiet! Then Bo decided he had enough with Ice Age and went and played on the computer. (Which was quite amazing actually, but that's another story) Then... The deep, phlegm cough cuddled up with Brax. :( He drank his warm juice, and tried his best to stifle his coughing fits. 

We finished up the movie, and Brax and I went into the bathroom for a steam sesh. He thought he was so cool because I brought in the Sunday comics, and let him read them while sitting on the back of the toilet. It worked while we were in there. As we came out, so did the cough. Some Zarbees night time cough knocked little dude right out, and he got to get a good, cough less, night sleep. 

This morning the fits are back. We steamed again, and we've still got the cough. 

I'm slightly paranoid because I just read that there are 4 cases of whooping cough in our little town. Luckily none of them are Brax's age,but still. So far today, warm juice, Vicks on the kiddos chest and feet, and cough meds are keeping life calm. But as the day progresses, I've got eagle eye on the kid. 

It's sad when the monsters get sick. Brax told me that he was sad because he would never be able to go to school again. And he was seriously concerned.  I reassured him that school will still be there in a couple days (and the rest of his life) and that he wasn't going to miss much. Thank goodness for the dollar store workbooks. I've got those babies stocked up for years! So he feels like he gets special school on sick days. Plus I get to watch him do his work, and it's fun for me too. 

Do you guys have any go to recipes for getting the kids back to health in no time?  Or do you have special things the kids get to do when they are sick? 

 

Living With Boys (and having Rotorooter on speed dial)

It's no secret that there is a difference between having boy children versus girl children. This past weekend we were at a birthday party for a friend, and there was an old friend of mine from high school with her kiddos. An almost 4 year old girl, and an almost 2 year old boy. This sweet little girl, was shy, and quiet, and wasn't running around chasing the dogs, or shiesting peoples phones . Which brings me to my point, boys are crazy! Or maybe it's just mine, but I have bred crazy little men.
My kids love to play in the bathroom. Home of epic bathtubs with Lush bath soaps, and awesome water color changers. Where my kids really love to play, is the toilet. Gross, right? This awesome hole with a lid is the home to many car races, superhero hot tubs, and most importantly, lots and lots of toilet paper.

Looks normal right?? Its the toliet of doom!!

 

More often than not, I can fish out whatever toy was having a "spa day" with some simple kitchen utensils, but when it comes to the 2 brand new rolls of toilet paper, including the cardboard, that were maliciously unrolled, and left to sit in the toilet... I need help. I tried to flush it... Oops. Then I had water all over my bathroom floor. Because I was afraid of what may lie beneath the toilet paper, (maybe the kids thought it was an awesome time to actually poop IN the potty) I called Rotorooter. Apparently they have no shame and will tackle that poo head on. So basically if I would have owned a plunger and 5 gallon bucket I could have cleared this awesome poopless blockage, but instead, I paid for it. The guy was super nice, and I just kept apologizing. It must be a relief though to not actually have a "shitty" emergency, and just have a clueless mom.
My kids still use the toilet as a play place. It's true, I can't get them out of there. It flushes, its mesmerizing, I get it. However, someone needs to invent a toy stopper. You know, something that the pooh will still go through, but has magical powers to stop foreign objects from making it through. (Ill let you know when I'll be on Shark Tank)
Until then, I'm stuck with kitchen tongs, a spatula, and Mr. Rotorooter wondering why my kids are playing in the toilet.










This is a sponsored post, but all the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'm a "Gleek"

Ok. I admit it, I'm in love with Glee. I makes me happy, and it puts into my head that I sound good in the shower. I'm sitting here tonight, going through the first season on Netflix. I love seeing the kids grow, and their relationships change. It's so heart warming, and I think about high school. Hubs is having his 10 year this year. Crazy! Which means we have known each other for 12 years now. Wow. Time flies....
Anyways, back to music, which is where the whole post steamed from. I am interning to these songs, and it makes me wonder, why is music a memory. What I mean by that is, how can one song, remind you of a time, a day, a person, or a situation. There R some songs that weren't even out during high school, that take me right back to that memory. Does this happen to you guys?
I am an over emotional person. I cry when people win big money on game shows, because I get so incredibly happy for that stranger. But music (totally distracting myself) really gets me. Being so emo, I cry a lot over music. Even happy tears! (I'm a hot mess people.)
I love the way that music can put into words things I didn't know how. I love all types of music, but country is usually my go to. And old school rap. (Love me some ja rule) so many songs open the memory flood gates, and tonight on Glee, they were rocking out to Journey. It reminds me of an old friend of mine, and I can't help but giggle.

Do you guys have an songs that just take you back?

Mommy Brain

Apparently this forgetfulness lasts long after pregnancy. Or maybe never goes away. (Ill let you guys know if I ever find that memory I used to have.) This morning I was feeding B breakfast and getting him dressed for school. Normal. Three day a week routine. As we drive along, and get almost to school, I remember that today is in fact pajama day, and school starts an hour later. Oh yeah, and I need fully precook end sausage. Ummmm, really?
So turn around, undress him, put his Niners PJs on, finish getting myself presentable, then head to the grocery store. B is horribly picky. So we have this whole conversation about how he doesn't want to bring sausage because he doesn't even like sausage. Guess what buddy, mommy needed to contribute, and that's where she wrote her name. Don't eat the ssauage. Problem solved. I proceeded to buy myself an Odwalla juice, and B lectures me about how that's not enough for the whole class. Apparently the sausage convo 2 minutes ago was lost on him.
We finally get to school, and I don't even get an " I love you" from the little man. Thank you. I just ran around crazed, and no goodbye. Ahhhhh!
Are there any cures for this mommy brain stuff, obviously other than sleep, because I am trying to be realistic here folks. ;)

Please indulge in your mommy brain stories here, so perhaps we can all have some chuckles!