TV Dinners...YUMMY!

Tonight, Sam had to be out of town, so the kids and I were on our own for supper. Normally, I would jump at the chance for take-out or pizza, but since Sept-Jan is a VERY expensive time of year for us with EVERYONE's birthdays and Christmas, we are really trying to stretch our dollars a little right now. I had just gotten groceries and just happened to grab some TV dinners that were on sale for really cheap. I NEVER buy them, but I thought they might be an easy lunch or something someday, so I let the kids each pick one and got one for myself, inwardly congratulating myself on being thrifty and economical.

Today was a busy day. I had a dr appt this morning where they test for gestational diabetes, so it was a long one. Usually I take the kids with me to the dr but since I would have to sit and wait for a while, our awesome babysitter Amanda was hanging out with them. I took advantage of my freedom and did some errands all by myself (YAY for that!!) so it was about 2:30 when I got home. Claire and Darren both took exceptionally short naps, and Ellie really needed one, but I wasn't going to make her take one when both of them were up! *SIGH* ANYHOO, long story short-no hubby, little to no naps, and Children's Meetings in Stout equaled needing something fast, easy and delicious for supper. AH HA-my TV dinners! I KNEW they would come in handy! So, I pop them in the oven, get everyone's clothes laid out, pull out my innner drill sargeant to get the troops to pick up our tornado house, and lo and behold, the timer beeps-Dinner is served!

Well, we got the fast and easy part at least. Oh man, was I reminded why I never buy them. Those things are DISGUSTING!!!! The mac and cheese was like rubber, the potatoes were...I don't know what they were, but they weren't potatoes, and the corn was so overgrown and overcooked, it was pretty much inedible. Claire Bear summed it up best: "Moma, dis yucky. No yike it." I completely agreed with her so we each found one thing in our meal that wasn't disgusting. I ate part of my chicken, Ellie ate her ckn nuggets, Darren ate his chicken and dessert, and Claire had an extremely overcooked, hard as a rock, brownie for supper (which she loved btw!). Way to go SuperMom! Thank goodness tonight was pizza night at Children's Meeting! :)

Moral of the Story:

Self, there is a reason those suckers are .50 and why you don't buy them. Please remember this the next time you are tempted.

Thank you kindly, Your Taste Buds

I think I need to go rock.....

Baby Questions and Library Books

Due to the influx of baby-related questions in our household, we made a little trip to the Cedar Falls library today while we were in town to get some groceries. We asked the smiley librarian where the books were about Mommy's with babies in their tummies and she showed us a whole section, much to our delight!

I have to tell you, this is about the most fun pregnancy that I've ever had. The kids have brought a whole new aspect to it and it's a BLAST! While pregnancy is never "ho-hum", after a while you can forget really how amazing it is. Since I've done this a time or 2 (or 3 or 4...) now, I am not so nervous about every little thing and overall, I feel great, which helps a LOT! The questions that the kids ask also remind me of the wonder of creating another little person in your body!! We're, thankfully, past the "How did that baby get in there Mom? Are you sure it wasn't thru your belly button? Did you eat him to get him in there???" phase. Our current "obsession" with 60 gazillion questions is with the umbilical cord. I'm honestly not sure why, and have stopped trying to figure it out. Darren is the main one who just can't seem to ask enough questions. I think he might be just trying to figure it out and asking the same questions over and over is his way of understanding. Although, in his mind, that hamburger and baked beans I ate for supper the other night went to his brother straight thru that "combilcal cord"as a hamburger and baked beans, so now he's a little confused about if Little Man has teeth to chew it, and why he can't eat a hot dog when he comes home from the hospital....*sigh*

SO, based on the above mentioned questions, we decided to check out some books from the library that would help little people understand a pretty confusing subject, without being too graphic of course. There were some GREAT ones, and it really made me smile, seeing them all lined up looking at their "baby books". The books do a really good job of explaining things in ways that kids understand (and make a question-tired Mom think 'WHY on EARTH did I not think of that????'). We even have one that has lots of pictures of umbilical cords! :) We had checked out one when I was pregnant with Claire for Ellie about Mommy being in the hospital and I honestly think she was very at ease there because we had read that book NUMEROUS times, so she wasn't scared to see me in a hospital bed, wasn't scared of all the machines, she knew what the special baby bed was for, knew why she needed to be quiet, and lots of other things that I wouldn't even have thought she might be worried about, but they turned out great.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE it that I can find information from people that are much smarter than me and my kids EAT it up! You would be amazed at how fast they got their jammies on tonight when I told them we would read "baby" books for bedtime stories! :) I love it that they can ask me questions in the privacy of our home where we can help them understand and they don't need to be ashamed. They don't ask too many embarrassing questions at this age, but it's nice to have to time to fully explain and know they understand rather than a quick answer and that's that.

It's funny the things they worry about too. Darren had been asking me a LOT lately if Dr. Rellihan is going to take the baby out when I go in a couple days for a check-up. I told him no, it's just a check up and it's still a while until the baby comes out. He just kept asking and asking so finally I asked him why he was so concerned. My sweet little boy finally told me "Mommy, I don't want your tummy to break"!!!! Awwww....he's such a sweetie! My belly isn't really that big I don't think, but it is DEFINITELY growning, so I guess in his mind, it was just going to break open one of these times, so the dr. better take that brother out!!!! I reassured him that wasn't going to happen, and I haven't heard about it since!

In other pregnancy news...there is no news! I am feeling great-tired and achy back, but that's pretty par for the course! I'm 28 weeks now, so it's coming up FAST! We did some rearranging in Darren's room to make room for a crib, but it's not done yet, so I'll post some pics when it's done. I think the nesting phase is kind of starting, so I'm ready to get some stuff in order so I have a little time to catch my breath before he actually gets here. I am pretty sure this house isn't meant for 6 people, so it's going to require some major organization, but we're starting and i think it will be ok once it's all done.

Guess that's the highlights for now. I am going to try and update my blog a little more often now that the craziness has calmed. Holidays and birthday parties are over, my classes are done, I'm finished filling in long-term at the bank, and life is slowly getting back to normal (soon to be un-normal in a few months-YAY!!). Thanks for reading and have a wonderful night!! :)

Love Glue~

Seriously folks, I promise I haven't forgotten about my blog-it's just been a little hectic with tons of sickness, schoolwork, kiddos, work, home, etc etc etc!!! Give me a few days to get caught up on my holiday baking and we'll be back in business! :)

Short Cute Kid story: Quote of the Day:
This afternoon while sitting together on the couch-totally out of the blue~
Ellie Girl: Mommy? Are we held together with glue?
Me: What??? (VERY confused)
Ellie Girl:You and me! Are we held together with love glue?? Does God make us stick together with Love Glue?
Now, where in the world does she get these things???? However, it made me smile and I thought that sounded pretty nice-held together with God's Love Glue! :)

What a Day!!!

So my wonderful hubby has been traveling the last couple of days for work, so me and the hooligans have been holding down the fort. It has been a rough couple of days, to say the least. I know this is one of those times that I am going to look back on and laugh, but currently, I am expecting to look in the mirror and see my hair COMPLETELY gray! Come along as I share the events of the last couple days in the Brandt household:
So my normally sweet, complient, easy-going son turned 3 last week, and I am pretty sure got replaced by aliens during the night with a monster. Seriously. This child has turned into a dramatic, mean, disrespectful terror! He walks up to his sisters, wacks them in the face, and walks away like that's a completely normal occurance. He has bitten Claire, something he has NEVER EVER done in his life, twice. Both times were in the bathtub (why?? who knows!!!) and both times have been close to drawing blood! I've been bitten a couple of times in the past and holy shamoly-those little teeth are SHARP! So there's that drama going on...
Meanwhile, little sister hooligan is again on a "discovery" rampage, with her brother as her very willing accomplice. Yesterday, I sent them outside so I could work on some homework for a few minutes. Ellie tells me they are playing in the water, to which I reply something to the effect of "tell them mommy says get out or they are in trouble" which usually works. Not so much this time. Eventually I go outside to see Claire and Darren standing in the MUD in the STREET (ok, the curb, but still a place they know they are not allowed). I discipline both of them, they cry pitifully, and I return inside thinking that all is well. NOOOOTTTTT!!! My eldest child again dutifully tells me that Darren and Claire are back in the water. I head back outside and this time Darren has gotten a bucket, is scooping up the mud/mucky water and DUMPING IT ALL OVER CLAIRE'S HEAD!!!!! One would think the child getting dumped on would cry or SOMETHING, but nope-she's happy as a lark!! ***HUGE sigh**** Ok, so silver lining is that I gave them a bath, which meant they didn't need one that night-trying to think positive here!
So, I finally get them in bed, heave a HUGE sigh of relief and head to bed myself with a HUGE headache. I never sleep too well when Sam is gone-I hear noises and just miss him there beside me I guess! :) Wake up this morning-STILL a huge pounding headache. Being preggo, I can't take my good migraine meds that I normally would, so I ask Ellie if she would mind keeping an eye on the kiddos so I can sleep a little more and hopefully that will help. They can each have fruit snacks to tide them until breakfast and they can watch cartoons or read books quietly. She agrees (she's AWESOME btw-don't know what I would do w/out her!!!) So, amazingly, it's quiet and I get up about an hour later. I walk into the kitchen and the headache is back in FULL FORCE! Claire is up on the counter (having seen big sister move the chair to climb up to get the fruit snacks) and pretty much emptied out the entire cupboard there. She also managed to open up the bottle of dish soap and is COVERED in it, along with the counter and all the spilled contents. LOVELY!!!! Do you know how hard it is to WIPE up dish soap??? I do, and it's IMPOSSIBLE!!! So, I stick Claire in the tub (AGAIN-she's REALLY clean these days), and she starts rubbing her eyes which of course, burns like the dickens, I'm sure! I finally get it rinsed out and then stand her up and turn on the shower so the suds will actually rinse off her instead of just bubbling. She is already upset about her eyes, and this is the icing on the cake. She is NOT a happy little girl. We finally get the soap all rinsed off and she looks like she was on drugs with her red eyes, so even though I am still a little disgusted, I just put a diaper on her and we snuggle for a while. Peace ensues until a little while later, Mommy is again distracted by one of the 6 million things I need to do that never seem to get done when Claire walks out of the bathroom BUCK NAKED with a wipe in her hand. She had pooped in her diaper, then proceeded to take it off, wipe her bum with some wipes (that she was still carrying around), and then sat on the potty seat, which was on the floor, not the potty at the time. By the time, I figured out what was going on, she knew I was mad and collapsed on the floor, poopy hiney and all! GGGGRRRRRR!!!! You guessed it, there was nastiness ALL over and I swear I was distracted for 5 seconds! How the heck are they so fast?!?!?! The silver lining to this story is that I am now seriously considering potty training her-or stapling her pants to her.
WHEW! That was theraputic just writing about these last couple of days. Rereading all this, it really is kind of funny. Some days I just don't know if I can do this, but somehow, it always works out, even if Mommy is gray by the time she's 30.
So my wonderful hubby is home (THANK GOODNESS), so I need to fill him in on my last few days and demand a 5 hour massage and a foot rub! :) I'm kidding-I know he works hard, and this is MY job, but I think we need to discuss a raise at least...

Racecar Kisses

Darren has always been kind of a Momma's boy, and he loves to give kisses to his Mommy! :) His mommy has absolutely no objection to these kisses, knowing that all too soon, he will be too embarrassed and that period of my sweet little man will be over. Lately, he has become more creative with his kisses. A few weeks ago, I was tucking him in and he commented that he wanted to give me a "fireworks kiss". I still to this day have no idea what a fireworks kiss is-just that he takes a deep breath before planting a kiss on my cheek! Tonight, however, was a new one. I had taken off his clothes to change him into his jammies and he jumped up and ran to the other side of his room, commenting that he wanted to give me a "RACECAR KISS MOMMY!!!". I, of course, was all for it. So, my beanpole son, wearing only his diaper, took a deep breath, revved his scrawny little arms like he was running for a few seconds, and took off across the room, and JUMPED for all he was worth into my arms with his little arms tight around my neck and the best little boy kiss you can imagine. He held on for a few seconds and then he looked at me with those beautiful blue eyes, almost as if he was asking "whatcha think Mommy?" I was hooked and I think I will remember that moment for the rest of my life. He kept looking at me until I just had to laugh and then I told him that I LOVED racecar kisses. That was all he needed and headed out of his room, on to bigger and better things. I read him and Ellie a book, and then told them to give Daddy a kiss good-night and head to their beds. I bet you can guess what kind of kiss Daddy got tonight too! By this point, there were apparently requirements that Daddy didn't know about, like you have to stand a very specific distance away and that you are supposed to catch the racecar kisser when he jumps at you. The distance problem was easily solvable, but when Daddy didn't catch him, the resulting crash had us all laughing hysterically. Attempt 2 was very succesful, as was 3 and 4, and then I had to shut it down as things were getting a little crazy. :)
As I tucked him into his little bed, I gave him a little zerbert on his cheek and thanked him for the racecar kisses. He smiled at me with his mouth AND his eyes and said "You're welcome Mommy". Melts my heart I tell ya! All too soon, he's going to be too tough to give his mom ANY kisses, let alone racecar ones! Don't grow up too fast little man and keep those racecar kisses comin'!

The Blue Chalk Story

9 years ago yesterday was one the happiest days of my life. I woke up with a smile on my face (which as those close to me know, RARELY happens! :)). I had a beautiful white dress waiting to be put on, and a VERY handsome man waiting to become my husband in just a few hours. At the time my parents were in the process of putting an addition on to their house. Progress came to a halt when Sam and I announced our engagement, as the money was now needed for the wedding!! It was all enclosed-just finish work on the inside not done. When we brought my dress home, my dad pounded a nail up on the wall and we hung my dress there so the train could fan out without getting wrinkled, etc. No one really went over there, so the dress wouldn't be in the way or get stepped on-it worked out great.
Fast forward to the time it was time to pack up the dress to take it to the wedding. Dad had gone ahead for some reason, and Mom and I weren't tall enough to reach the hanger to get the dress down. Instead of getting a chair or something, we just grabbed a piece of wood that was in a box where the construction "leftovers" were tossed to use to hook the hanger and bring it down-easy peasy, right?!?! Unbeknownst to us, that piece of scrap wood had BRIGHT blue marking chalk on the end of it, and you can imagine the rest. Yep, a bright blue streak right on bodice part of my very white wedding dress. It was right at the top in the very front-no way to miss that baby!!! I thought my mom was going to faint. I remember standing there in shock, and Jana (my maid of honor) putting her hands on my shoulders and physically turning me around and pushing me out of the room, saying "it's going to be fine, it's ok, it's all going to work out, don't worry". I took a few deep breaths and went back in to where my mom was still standing, probably in shock like I was. We tried to wipe it off, which just smeared it worse!! I'm actually quite impressed that we didn't freak out, or maybe my mom did and just didn't let me see it, but I remember that I really knew that it WAS going to be ok and that somehow my mom would get it out. Long story short, my mom called every wedding dress shop she could think of and no one had any suggestions on how to get blue chalk out of wedding dresses. I went ahead to get my hair done, etc and Mom worried about the dress. When she brought it to me later that day, you couldn't even hardly tell it was there. Someone from a dress shop in Waterloo had give her something like white-out for fabric and she just painted over the blue. No one noticed at the wedding (or at least they didn't tell me they did!) and it was a wonderful day. Today if you would look at my dress, you can still see that white spot with just a hint of blue showing thru. And you know what? I'm kind of glad it's there. Granted, if I had to do it again, I probably would have just gotten a chair or at least checked the end of the wood scrap, but it's an awesome story to tell my granddaughters on their wedding days! :) It's a reminder to me that even when life doesn't go the way I want it to, it all works out ok. My heart was so full of love that day that even if my entire dress was covered in blue chalk, I still would have been Mrs. Sam Brandt and that sounds pretty good to me.

9 years, 3 kids, one still VERY handsome husband-I'm lovin' my life!!

It Makes Me Happy

One day, I look outside and this is what I see.

I love how Ellie is so patiently helping him steer and

Darren is just soaking up what she is saying.

It just makes me happy :)