bumps, scrapes and Autumn wearing Noah's clothes

We like to put A in N's old clothes for bed (look at the knot on her forehead)

"Hey baby sister, that book is upside down..."(and the scrape on his elbow)

"nite nite!!"


I am just in love with my little kids. They are so cute and funny (and highly capable of driving me to the edge of sanity in a matter of seconds). I want to post some pics to catch up from the last bit of time. Now, let's see if the computer will cooperate...not so much, I will ramble intermittdly until then.

Running:
I have recently taken up an old hobby of mine, that I stopped when I had Noah. There is a very long and challenging hill on campus that is good to run. When I get the nerve up to brave the wildlife, I do that 3-5 times per run. Today I ran 2 miles at the Y. That was 28 times around the track. I can tell I'm getting back in the groove because I made it without stopping and still had some gas left. If only I could be more consistent with it...

Bubbles-a favorite for everyone:
I love love love that he can blow bubbles. It may seem silly, but when he was struggling to crawl, walk, stand, etc., it just makes me appreciate these moments even moreso!!


right after this pic, Autumn picked up the bottle and dumped the contents on her head


We do not always dress our little girl in her brother's outfits:
Hey Erika, It fits!!


"Do I realllllly have to wear the headband?"


another outfit from the food room (score!!). We also just found two big packs of size 3 diapers in there. God provides, indeed:)


"What planet are you from?!"
Being a houseparent is a world all it's own. Especially in the summer. We are in charge of the kids for 16 hours a day till they go back to school. It's like having your own kids. Except they are not your own kids. They have to be documented and paperworked and there are stipulations to what you can and can't do, say, etc. I no longer get phone calls from anyone besides my parents. I think the last of my friends have written me off as beyond rude for never returning calls.

Hey look, it's the next Danika Patrick...

There are some great perks to houseparenting. Our kids have automatic big brothers, we live rent free, complimentary gym membership, trips to cool local places free of charge, "work" by loving on kids who were not getting their needs met elsewhere (which can be really hard when they don't know how to recieve your love). Overall, it is a great job. Sometimes, I get really frusterated, but for the most part, it is a fantastic setup for a family with little ones of their own.

We live where we work so there is rarely a real "break." The last time we were off, we went to a hotel for three nights. That was fabulous!!! Our own little world where we did not have to "sneak" in the door and ignore the sounds of behavior problems during our down time. My mom is coming down in August so we will get another "hotel vacation." Then I'm hoping to steal away for a long weekend at the Gulf in September. Care to join us???

Pics on a Sunday morning:



I'd love to post many more pictures, but it's taking awhile to upload them. Hope you enjoyed the ones that made it!!!

What a steal!!!

I love a good bargain. Garage sales, craig's list, clearance racks...count me in! While my wardrobe has always boasted some nice second hand deals, there is nothing like an Alabama thrift store.

So far I have been to two down here. Every time I go I've had some major thrifting cheer! Here are some pics of recent purchases. If you're like me, you will high five your neighbor when you see these deals.

From the Vapor:
Lincoln Logs, and a stack of board games (around 1.50 each)


cutest little dress and shoes (1.00 each)


dvds for a buck a piece:



From the Alabaster Thrift (deemed by locals "the Alabaster Boutique"):

what a sweet outfit (2.25)




I've also found multiple pairs of cheap earrings that get tons of compliments whenever I wear them. Just some rubbing alcohol on the hooks and I felt safe and stylin!


If you're ever down this-a-way, briing your piggy banks and let's go shopping!!!

boys vs. girls (and the new place)

Being the mom of a boy and also the mom of a girl, I can attest that the two are very different. The workers at the YMCA childcare center will agree wholeheartedly that my little munchkins are nothing alike...

Noah will sometimes be so well behaved that I have to blink and make sure it is really him sharing and playing nice with his peers. Usually by the time I open my eyes from the blink, he has sucker puched or tackled some kid while yelling at him to shut up. Then when I ask him why he did that he will say "you don't do that, you don't say that, that's not nice." hmmmm

Autumn on the other hand will play quietly by herself for the entire two and a half hour time limit and the staff seem reluctant to let her go home with me.

Now that we have transitioned from a girls home into a boys home, I have noticed additional differences. The girls we had were minimally dramatic, but had many more needs than our laid back, fun loving boys. I have heard that the big boys are still known to sucker punch in the blink of an eye, but so far the only bully living in our house is my three year old.

PS POTTY TRAINING FUN-
(Heard from the porcelin throne: "Look mommy, it looks like a rocket ship!!!" -sigh-what a creative little guy)

warm rain=another alabama treat!

"clifford"

the (looooong) way to civilization.........

our wrap around driveway/yard/woods

the other way down to the wilderness


I love it here. we have found the right church and all 3 of our boys r believers. it's a very amazing season for healing, growth and God's power!!

"I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest." -John 4:38

the walmart dog pee

The title is supposed to be an adverb/verb combo (as in describing the action of taking a pee), not a noun (as in not the pee itself).

And it wasn't really a dog. It was Autumn. But the trickle on the floor could have fooled humane society workers. And yes, it was in Walmart.

Some helpful pre-story info: C and I moved to a new home and don't have youth living there yet. We still have to work so we split up and he helps on the boys campus, and I, on the girls. Autumn had joined me at work for the evening and the girls were sick, so she was confined to her stroller for five hours (to avoid the germs everywhere).

As a recent power walking fanatic, she loudly protested this arrangement for a good 45 minutes. To silence her, I gave her bottle after bottle of milk, water, juice, you name it. She peed so much I ran out of diapers, and back up clothes, and had to resort to Noah's pullup and a super dirty sweater. Then I got off work and decided to blow some time waiting for C and N to return from my aunt's house in B-ham. (Our new house is in the middle of an isolated wooded clearing at the end of some very dark and winding roads, so we were going to caravan.

So back to walmart. I was playing the part of hillbilly mommy with baby girl in said outfit (no pants, dirty sweater, oversized pull up), leaning on the cart handle, on the phone, walking slowly, laughing loudly,,, when I noticed a strange look on her face, and a wet trickle on my leg. I looked down and there was pee waterfalling out of her pullup onto the floor-EEK! I looked behind me and there was about a twelve foot trail of drips of pee that looked like a dog had run up the main aisle, midstream-AHHH! I had responsibly left the diaper bag in the van and was convieniently in the MAIN AISLE where they sell bananas and gum and pool noodles and nothing remotely close to a kleenex or paper towel.

Thankfully it was 10:45 at night (add that to the hillbilly mom description-kids out in the store after a decent bedtime)so no one was there but me and my little puppy.

And the trail of pee. I froze and did not know what to do. I couldn't leave the pee, for fear that someone would slip and fall, try to sue, and I would be incriminated by the review of security tapes. I seriously considered that someone should be notified, but did not use that good judgement bc I figured it would air dry soon, right?? I could have used her sweater, but then my kid would have been naked plus leaky pullup. Aye, what an embarassing mess.

I settled for mopping with my new basketball shorts;unpurchased, tag still on. I figured "hey, I tried, I gotta get this kid home and in bed(right??)" and beelined for the nearest checkout lane.

UNFORTUNATELY, the mesh short material more like smeared the pee from a stream into a shallow version of the mississippi river. Fortunately, the lady in the checkout line was so distracted w/ "oh what a cute little girl" that I don't think she noticed the wetness on the shorts as she rang them up. Also on the unfortunate end of the spectrum: The maintenance guys happened to be pushing their mop bucket toward the entrance at the exact moment of my escape. I swear that guy gave me a questioning look.

I can hear my friends who do not have kids thinking any number of amusing thoughts and questions. Like "how nasty that she wiped the pee and then gave the unsuspecting lady the shorts without a second thought!" Shameless. I guess when you have little kids, you just can't and don't care about much more than survival. Right?........um, Rigggghhhht???!!!

pictures!!! (???)

Horray for pictures! It finally worked. Some were mass emailed, but I still want them on the blog for easy access and storage purposes. My virtual photo album, ya know?

Don't let that smile fool you...

Gotta love the hat

"Sweet ma"

my two munchkins

Grandma

plus kids

equals grandma plus kids

look closely for the chaos (haha)

anyone who knows my sis will know that she is prob saying something hysterically "Karla" (look at her face and the stock still expressions of those around her)what a beautiful bride:)

Happy Mother's Day

I don't think I have appreciated Mother's Day this much...ever before.

Could be that having two busy babies of my own plue eight teenagers has made me feel more like a washed up mommy each passing moment. Like really, actually dressing up, doing my hair and nails for the first time in MONTHS made me feel like a hottie out of severe hibernation-thanks for getting married Kar!!!

Maybe it was the three seperate weekend deliveries of flowers, cards, beautiful sparkly bracelet, haircut and manicure certificates, perfect movie choice by my husband ("mother and child") and double shots in the bootycheeks that came my way yesterday.

Ahhh, I do not lie about the last one. I have been with this annoying cold for about three months. Hack hack hack hack, complain about the "air quality in our 'valley town' and apartment" hack hack hack off and on since January, typically all night long and frequently accompanied by throwing up-hey, I thought it was asthma back from the dead.

Carlton and I finally dragged my (our) exhausted butt(s) into the doctor's office yesterday and they found some OLD bronchitis and a butt muscle on each side. My shots arrived just as I was laughing hysterically at him for having to get a double dose of his own.

So we feel like new people (less 200.00 worth of co-pays and meds-Autumn had a double ear infection so bad that she burst her ear drum=ear discharge+screaming GALORE). But we feel like normal humans again. There you have it folks, those bootyshots work wonders- I'll tell you we almost have no desire to finish the ten extra days of antibiotics they put us on. But we will oblige. Oh and check this out...NOAH was healthy the whole trip to and from michigan!!! I guess his immune system is supreme now-must be all those prayers he's getting. It is awesome:)

The Wedding:

My sister's wedding was BEAUTIFUL! She was so happy and everything was good...the food, the decor, the guest list...A. Jennifer, U. Ralph, my parents, cousins, K8T, both great grammas, uncles and aunts, seeing everyone and showing off the kiddos was great!

I do wish I'd gotten to talk to my cousin Erin more. She is really funny and I enjoy her company (the five minutes we get to talk every two years). I guess parents of three year old boys should consider co-existing the same as socializing when they are busy chasing after the wee ones.

The Move:

So we returned from our trip on Wednesday nite. Thurs. AM, the movers arrived to pack us up and ship us out. We moved into a boys home that is LITERALLY in the middle of nowhere. It is so peaceful there, I wonder how I will ever enjoy returning to civilization, even for groceries.

Our new place has much more space in the apartment and we have a designated kid's play room with a little table and chairs in it. I couldn't be more excited about this. Seeing other people's play rooms has always created a longing in my heart (I'm not dramatizing) and now we have one...Woo-Hoo!


Houseguests:

The house is entirely surrounded by woods. Not a house or other human in sight. Our nearest living neighbors are horses and critters that stay hidden (thank goodness) in the deep dark forest.

There was a lizard though. He stopped and stared at me through the open door as I shouted at him that he "may not come in my house." I was too petrified to close the door, and finally he got bored and scurried around the corner. For a gal from Michigan, a wild lizard was quite the sight!

An Intent to Blog:

This is twice in about a month so I hope to continue. There should be less on my plate with 6 boys than there was with 8 girls (less is a relative term that means I will probably have enough time to pee two or three times a day instead of one or zero). Love to my blogging pals-please continue to blog, so I can pretend I have a social life of any sort!!!

IDK WHY MY BLOG REFUSES TO UPLOAD PICS. IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM, EMAIL ME kellybrzak@hotmail.com AND I'LL SEND THEM IF YOU DIDN'T GET THEM ALREADY. TATA!