silly people~

It's a good thing I'm not one of those people that gets all goofy about their birthday. You know the type, when it's still a couple months out they start saying silly things like, "It's almost my birthday! It's almost my birthday!" Not that I would know anything about that, of course. I've just heard about people like that. And those people that think they should get a whole birthday week, or even a whole birthday month....not that I would know anything about that, either. Silly people.
So, it's a good thing I'm not like that, or I might do something ridiculously immature like tell you that today is my 29th birthday so that you'll know and can
bring me ice cream cake
tell me Happy Birthday. I mean, because you know, I'm way too cool and mature to do something like. I mean, I'm almost a real grown up. That happens when you turn 30, right? Ahem :o)

another not me monday~

If you've never checked out MckMama's My Charming Kids blog, you have to go over there. She is always good for a laugh and has a hilarious perspective on her life with her MSCs (many small children.) My Charming Kids is home to Not Me Monday.

So...apparently I must be the only one among all of you that is less than perfect, as none of you have ever written a Not Me Monday post! Come on people, I've thrown out all my laundry here several times, and although I know you love reading about all my mishaps, no one seems brave enough to spill the beans about what really goes on at their house. Not to uh, be bossy or induce guilt or anything :o)

This past week...

I did not forget about the cow we had butchered and buy a huge pile of ground beef to brown for my freezer. Not me, my going-on-seven-kids-in-ten-years brain never forgets important details like that.

And that was not me that got ridiculously offended at the Costco gas station attendant when he told Anna she needed to get back in the car due to their store safety policy. And you didn't see me mutter under my breath that at the other Costco she always helps me clean out the trash in the car and no one ever says anything. And I definitely didn't ignore him when he told me to have a nice day. I would never be so rude.. And I wasn't thinking something like, "Come on, it's not like I'm letting all my toddlers out of the car to run around."

It certainly wasn't me that forgot to put the chicken in the ahem...chicken alfredo and didn't even realize it until my sweet husband said, "Isn't there usually chicken in here?"

And if you see an adorable 5 year old girl wearing Converse in the near future (instead of her super cute brown Mary Janes) it is not Moriah. Because my sister did not take her to the skate park on their spend-the-night outing and she didn't come home saying she wants to be a skateboarder girl and needs some of those star shoes. Therefore, I haven't been hoping she'll forget about it and she hasn't asked me at least once every day if she can puhhhlease get some. My daughter is definitely not a skateboarder girl.

And it wasn't me that Ethan's teacher was talking to when she said, "Oh, are you his Mom?" Because it's not me that's had her sister take her kids to school every week since school started. Remember, I'm the involved parent. And since we're not talking about me, I definitely didn't have to call my sister to find out what time my kids need to be picked up.

On the other hand....

It most certainly WAS me that sent my kids to the homeschool enrichment group dressed in their pajamas on pajama day! Some of you may remember that I uh, have a history of sending my kids dressed up for various dress up days on the wrong day. Poor kids, they were nervous the entire way there that they would be the only ones in pajamas ;o)

What did you not do?

not me monday~

Confession time :o)

I don't know why, but I am loving the whole Not Me Monday thing. I actually have quite a bit less this week. I don't know if its because I have been busy taking care of a sick three year old, or if I've just been more responsible a better Mom or if my brain was possibly just working better, but regardless, the list is shorter.

So here goes...

No way did I discipline Anna for getting a little pre-teen "I'm way cooler than the rest of my family" attitude by telling her that for the rest of the week I would get to choose her clothes every day.

I did not forget to turn the crockpot on after putting all the food in.

I have not been keep a running of list of things to write for Not Me Monday. That would be embarassing.

I most certainly did not stay up until 1:45am listing things to sell on ebay. It was really good that I didn't do this, because the next morning, Haven woke up much earlier than usual and decided to pull one of his rare one nap only days.

And I am not currently ignoring the fact that Haven is running around with a bright red, super messy candy cane he found on the floor. Because, as you all know, I never let my kids have sugar. And food never gets dropped on my floor.

I did not decide spur of the moment that the nightstands from the boys' room should be moved to the girls' room. And in the process, I certainly surely didn not dump all their junk treasures all over the floor so I could move them quickly. And it's a really good thing I didn't run out of cleaning time and have to leave the boys' stuff all over the place until I could back to it on my next cleaning day, a full week later.

I did not make a gluten free coffee cake for Glen Sunday morning and then in the middle of our movie that night ask him to please get me a snack because you know, "I made you that coffee cake this morning." :o)

I have definitely not been letting Noah drink chocolate milk by the gallon so that I can hide his medicine in it since it's way easier to do that than hold him down and deal with him spitting it out and gagging so hard he throws up. And I've not let his eye stay stuck shut for four days now because he doesn't want anyone to touch it.

...and I'm surely not looking at having to drag all the kids out in the rain today to take Noah back to the doctor again since I'm pretty sure the antibiotic they gave me isn't working....*sigh*.

another not me monday & funny highlight of the week~

It was so guilt relieving fun participating in MckMama's Not Me Monday, that I did not spend the rest of the week thinking up things I could say this time around.

Here we go...

I did not beg ask my husband if we could please just go to Sonic after spending an hour in the kitchen, over "onioning" the fried rice, cooking new rice, and subsequently burning the sesame chicken and letting the stir fry veggies get horribly wilted.

He did not spend fifteen minutes cutting off all the burned pieces and somehow convincing the kids that it really was better that way.

He also did not eat the onion-y fried rice and wilted veggies just to make me feel better. And he did not manage to convince me that he actually liked it and really wanted me to save the leftovers for his lunch.

(Have I mentioned that he is not a super guy? *grin*)

This is not a picture of my kids super excited that I made fish for lunch. These are also not the same kids that groan when I make said fish for dinner. Because my kids are never inconsistent like that. (And this is not Moriah being grouchy because we're not also having macaroni. She is always flowers and sunshine. Always.)

I did not make fish for lunch two days in a row because I neglected to buy more turkey. It was also not because I thought fish sounded pretty yummy. Nor was it because I can't stand peanut butter and that was really the only alternative.

My baby did not learn to climb onto the chair and onto the table. Please, not yet.

I did not have a "slumber party" at my sister Dyana's house with her and my Dad. (Weird story. I know. She just had surgery and was bored.) We did not stay up late eating pizza, cinnamon rolls, and watching movies. I also did not have to get up at five the next morning to come home. I also did not wake Haven up early so he would be ready for a nap super early. Not me, I am way more responsible than that.

I have not spent the last six months trying to convince my three year old that big boys wear underwear, only to spend ten minutes trying to convince him that it's okay for big boys to wear pull ups at night.

I did not throw away a pair of poopy underwear because it was just too gross to deal with.

My husband did not tell me that he was not going camping because it was going to be too cold and rainy, only to come home right when I need to leave and announce that he's decided to go anyway and can I please help him get ready.

I did not get stuck in traffic for an hour and a half since I left late.

I was not late to Christmas Village. I am always on time. Even when I'm stuck in Friday rush hour traffic in the rain.

I did not leave to go do errands on Saturday morning only to come back home after only one stop because I was just too tired and didn't feel well. That means I did not spend an hour and a half in the car and only 20 minutes at the store.

And it's a good thing that didn't happen, or I would have had to get out again later, and that would have been such a waste of time. And I never waste time.

I did not try and take a bath three times this week only to end up with three kids in the tub with me every time.

I did not attempt it again the following night and lock everyone out. I never lock my kids out. That would be mean, and I'm never mean.

This about sums up my week. The thing I am most proud of is that I actually didn't mind helping Glen get ready. It was only a quick overnight trip, so it only required one bag and a little food. I was so glad he was starting a new tradition with the boys and was bummed when he thought it would be too cold. Other than a few snide comments, and he knows me well enough to know I was just picking at him, I actually handled it pretty well. Thankfully. I had been offering to make him a roast or chili all week to take, but since he waited til the last minute he had to make do with hotdogs and cereal. Poor kids. They were really disappointed to have to grill hot dogs over the fire :o)

Funny Highlight of the Week:

Some of you that actually know us know that my husband was/is in a band with some great Christian guys. They've been close since Jr High, and I am really thankful for their friendship and influence in Glen's life. Those of you that know these guys well know they are some of the most hilarious guys you will ever meet. Get them alone and you can hardly breathe you're laughing so hard. And when Glen starts laughing hard, he does this wheezing thing...well, you just can't describe it. Just watching them get started laughing is better than any joke you could ever tell.

(edited later: not sure why I included all the stuff about the guys, I was trying to make a point that watching Glen laugh is a memorable experience. For those of you that go to church with us, if something really funny ever happens up front and you hear something that sounds like a cross between a hysterical laugh, and a wheezing, dying animal....that's Glen. I'll be hiding under the seat or frantically shushing him.)

So...this was our conversation on the way home from church Saturday night:

Glen (on the phone with his brother, Ben) : blah, blah, blah...I don't know, you'd have to ask Shyla...blah, blah, blah....Okay, bye.

Me (after about thirty seconds, knowing that he's just dying for me to ask him what he was saying about me because I can't stand to *not know* what's going on) : What was that?

Glen (slyly): Oh, nothing. (Looks at me out of the corner of his eye.)

Me: Oh, okay. (Sit patiently for fifteen or twenty seconds.) Fine! Then I guess I won't bother to share this last pack of M&Ms that I brought to the car. (Whips out tiny pack of M&Ms and starts laughing mischievously.) Ha ha ha!

Glen: That pack? That EMPTY one in your hand??!!! I ALREADY ATE IT!!!

By this time, I've realized the little pack is, indeed, gone. Glen is laughing and wheezing so hard I'm afraid he's going to run off the road, I'm laughing at Glen laughing and just how funny it was. Our kids are wondering what in the world is going on. We laughed HARD for at least a minute. It was great. I haven't laughed that hard in awhile. This is probably one of those things that just can't be described, it had to be experienced, but it was hilarious. It was so funny, in fact, that it will probably be one of those things we remember forever.

So, what was your funny highlight of the week, or what did you not do? Leave it in the comments, or even better, blog about it, and leave me a comment so I can read it! Come on people, confession time, surely I'm not the only one this stuff happens to?

not me monday~

I stumbled upon another meme that looked like it would be fun to participate in (here is me grinning sheepishly.) Seeing as how blogging allows me to present my life exactly how I want you to see it, and not necessarily what it's really like around here, I've kind of been making an effort in every day life to let people know that my home and my mothering is not a model of perfection. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. So anyway, I thought it might be kind of fun to participate ;o) It's hosted by MckMama at My Charming Kids, who is kind of a kindred spirit as she just had her fourth baby in five years of marriage. Her newest baby, Stellan, was completely and miraculously healed of a serious heart condition. It's worth your time to go over there and browse around. She has a great personality, it's lots of fun to read her blog.

So...

This week it did not take us four nights to get through the new Indiana Jones movie because I kept falling asleep. Not me...

I did not keep falling asleep because I stayed out at my friend's house after book club until 1am knowing that I could nap the next day because my fabulous sister was taking and picking up my kids from school. I would never be so irresponsible.

I did not go to five stores after a homeschool moms group on Thursday night looking to replace a Signing Time video that occupies Haven for ridiculous amounts of time so I can get things done teaches Haven a valuable skill that he just happens to love. Oh no, not me.

I did not sneak in a massage and a manicure (and not tell anyone) on Wednesday when my aunt was keeping my kids so I could "run errands" and get pregnancy blood work done. I'm not sneaky like that.

I did not make my bed for the first time in a month because my family was coming over for birthdays. You guys know my house is spotlessly clean all the time. I'm Wonder Woman, remember?

I did not eat an entire bag of sour lifesaver gummies and then some peanut m & ms yesterday while planning the next six weeks of school. There were raw veggies in that bag. Promise.

I did not lie there pretending to be asleep when Haven woke up during the night this week. Moms never do things like that.

I didn't go all week without a shower because I was just too busy, and I did not wash my hair in the sink where it might clog up the disposal. Not me.

I didn't convince my husband to go out to dinner and dessert Friday night so I wouldn't have to cook so we could visit with my Dad who we hadn't seen in a few months.

I did not go to sleep without brushing my teeth twice this week because I was just so tired.

I did not skip the women's expo at church because I was afraid I would hurt my friends' feelings if I didn't buy their stuff. (Sorry guys, I kind of have issues with stuff like this. *sigh*)

I did not finish the chocolate birthday cake during breakfast last week when no one was looking. Not me, I wonder where it went?

I did not throw all the questionable sippy cups in the sink for Anna and Caleb to deal with when they clean up. Not me. I don't do things like that. That would be mean, and I'm never mean.

I do not give Haven a handful of mini m&ms after dinner most nights so that I can have a few more minutes before he gets down and starts running around everywhere.

I'm not sitting here eating peanut m&ms because I never put them away last night.

I'm not sitting here wasting time when I should be doing something productive. Oh no, my house is totally clean, dinner is in the crockpot, and my children are outside harvesting fresh vegetables from our fall garden. Really.

I didn't let the kids watch tv all week since I was exhausted from camping, the time change, and staying out too late two nights.

I didn't take the whole week off from school for "school planning week" and then wait until Sunday to do all of it. Not me. I am. on. top. of. things...don't ya know?

I am not still on my chips dipped in pickle juice kick. Not me.

I do not drink 3qts of tea a day.

I do not put so much lemon in my water that it's unsweetened lemonade and looks like dirty water.

I did not blow my nose on the bottom edge of my shirt during the night because I forgot to get out new kleenex. That would have been gross. I got up, retrieved a a new box, and did things properly. Promise.

I did not get into a borderline catty email fight with a woman who refuses to let me try her "miracle vitamins" unless I listen to her hour long mlm speech. Not me.

I did not sort, fold, and put all the girl clothes in drawers this week, a full five and a half months before the baby is due. That was not me. I'm not obsessive like that.

I did not pay my children a combined total of $20 yesterday to do all the deep cleaning jobs. Didn't you know my full name is Shyla June Cleaver?

I've not already had hot tea, lemon water, two pieces of toast, a bowl of chicken soup, and a ridiculous amount of m&ms already this morning. And I am not getting ready to eat a turkey sandwich with chips dipped in pickle juice. I don't get weird pregnancy cravings

.I am not sitting here ignoring the fact that my children have all disappeared and it's technically school time. Oh no, I never do things like that.

And I am not sitting here extraordinarily happy that my sister is not going to California so she can take my kids to and from school tomorrow. I'm really sad for her, even though she gets to fly for free and just went to France. Poor girl.

And as a result, I'm not going to have to convince their teachers that I, not my sister, is really my children's mother because since the whole bedrest thing happened she has taken and picked them up from school every week. Not me. I'm the involved parent.

What did you not do?