Our little Mickey Mouse

Months and months ago we saw a little black mouse run out from behind our couch. We tried and tried to find him and catch him, but never did see him again. We set out traps at night for about a week all over the place and never caught him. We even used peanut butter because we heard that they like it and the strong smell attracts the mouse to the trap. Well months went by and again I saw our little mouse friend poking his head out from under the dishwasher. I felt like he was actually looking at me and teasing me. He was so darn cute that we borrowed a live trap from the inlaws so that we wouldn't have to kill the little guy. Plus we could leave the live trap out because it wasn't a hazard for the kiddos. Well once again months and months have passed and still no mouse in the trap and no mouse sightings...UNTIL today! This little guy must be so smart to stay out of the traps. I don't know where he is living because I haven't found any mouse droppings. Brian wanted me to stand by the entertainment system because he was behind there. When he ran out and ran right past me, Brian got mad that I didn't "block him with my foot or step on him." HELLO, it's the teeniest little mouse, I don't think I could match his lightning fast speed and agility *LOL* So I'm just at a loss of how to get rid of this darn mouse without calling in a professional. I hate coming downstairs in the middle of the night and wondering if my mouse friend is going to run right out in front of my feet. I'm sure he has plenty to munch on since our floor seems to accumulate crumbs so much. But I keep a tidy house and feel like this mouse is a black mark on my housecleaning abilities! OK...did I really just type out that much about a mouse. I'm almost feeling a bond with the little guy at this point.

Winding down...

Relaxing...can you ever do this once you give birth to a child?? I feel like by the time I get the last child off to sleep I'm pooped. So tonight I decided that I couldn't waste this precious time just going to sleep. I feel like the only time I have to myself is right now. My husband seems to think that I should wake up before the kids so that I can start the day out with some time to myself...but when I'm up multiple times in the middle of the night and all the kids seem to be up before 7am...I just don't think that I could do it.

So I decided that each night this is going to be my time to wind down. It's usually time when I can hang out with my hubby, but he goes to bed so darn early and I'm tired of laying in bed awake. A big huge BUT...

How do you relax and wind down when you're at home. I came downstairs to find 3 out of 5 loads of laundry that have yet to be folded, toys scattered about the family room and dinner dishes in the sink. I can't relax knowing that all of those chores hang over my head and yet I don't have the energy to do them all right now.

I have a ton of stuff that I would love to do. But it seems that my list of things I enjoy and want to do gets longer as my list of endless house duties and child care get done. So I guess I will just write down what I would like to be doing and then go clean up the house *LOL*

1. Stamp ;o)
2. Read (a magazine, my friend's blogs, one of my parenting books...anything that's not a list of things to do or a grocery list)
3. Paint my toe nails
4. Sit down and watch anything other then a kids show on TV

Blog crazy

No blogs forever and then three in one day :o) Can you tell I'm avoiding housework...and I uploaded pics to the computer *LOL* No matter how much I watch them sleep, it brings me so much peace when I look back and see them out in their carseats.

Kendra Street

I don't know why, but I thought this was pretty cool ;o) When we went to visit Daddy at work the other day, his job was off of this street! The kids had a great time playing in the dirt and watching Daddy move dirt with the loader. Brooklyn just snoozed in the car next to me!

Will I ever blog again

Everyday I think of a ton of stuff I want to blog about and then I never seem to get the time to actually get on the computer for more then 2 minutes at a time. But with one napping I can get on and actually update this a bit.

Brooklyn is just growing like a weed! I can't believe that she's 4 months old already. It's bittersweet because I know it's our last baby so each new phase is a bit sad too. She's rolling all over the place, smiling and babbling at anyone who will look at her. Right now she's sitting next to me on her playmat just squealing...I LOVE IT!

I just registered Melanie to start preschool in the fall and I can't believe that she's already old enough to start school. She's such a little girl now, it just amazes me how much she picks up on and learns each day.

Brandon is talking more and more each day. He seems to come up with 2-3 new words each day. I think he's known them all along and is just telling them to us slowly :o) My favorite is when he comes up to me and asks for "jewsh". Pretty soon I think he'll be talking as much as Melanie.

That's a small update...more to come!

Ducks

We were out walking around yesterday and saw three ducks, two males and a female. It seemed so odd because we live in a townhouse complex with no lakes or ponds. We watched them waddle around for a bit and saw a couple people feeding them bread too. Then one of my neighbors (who has been here over 15 years) said that these same ducks come back every year and live at the pool for the winter. I'm actually going to take the kids out again today just to find them and maybe feed them ourselves. Funny the things that excite you when you have kiddos :o)

Mondays

My least favorite day of the week. I woke up knowing I had a TON of work to do around the house. I have about 5-6 loads of laundry that seemed to accumulate over the weekend. My floors are really needing some attention which means I need to sweep, mop and vacuum like a mad woman. All of this wouldn't be so bad, but I have to try to squeeze it all in between refereeing wrestling and boxing matches between Melanie and Brandon. It's about 9:30am and Melanie has already been in time-out twice for hitting Brandon...ARG! But atleast I've sorted and started the laundry and Brooklyn is down for her morning nap. I think that when she wakes up we'll walk over to blockbuster to return some videos and stop for some much needed caffeine at Starbucks on the way home :o)

Slings

After way too much fighting one night I decided that I was going to get the kids their own slings. The last two nights in a row they've both wanted to carry their stuffed animals around in the sling I have for Brooklyn. It's so cute...until they start wrestling and fighting over it. So I started looking around for doll slings. Some were so cute, but they were $20 and that was too much since I was going to buy two. Plus some of the fabric choices were'nt that cute on the cheapy ones. So I decided to try and make one. We went to the fabric store and got flame material for Brando and pink fuzzy flannel for Melanie. They were both so excited to get home and make them. Of course I couldn't find good rings, but ended up with some silver ones that opened. They worked since dolls don't weigh much. The slings are'nt super fancy, but I like them. It ended up costing $7 each to make them, so I was proud of myself :o) Here's Brandon slingin' Melanie's kitty...no pic of Melanie because she does'nt want to wear hers now...ARG...glad I didn't pay a lot for them.

Random blogging

Well I think the sickies finally left our house...dare I even say that. Brandon had a short bout with the flu while he was still sick with a cold, but it only lasted one night...thank God! Brian has been off work all week since we got some rain, so it's been a nice change around here. We went to Disneyland with his mom and got Melanie a pass since she's 3 now. We weren't planning on renewing our passes, but now I think we will. We have reward dollars on our disney credit card that give us disney bucks, so we use those to get our passes. Otherwise I don't think we would go...it's almost $50 just for one to get in...YIKES! It should be fun going this year though. Brian goes back on monday, so I'm trying to enjoy the weekend and prepare myself. Having three young kiddos is so draining!! We went out to dinner last night and had Brian's parents watch the kids for a few hours. It was a nice break because they fell asleep on the way home and we had a nice evening without fighting, screaming, whining and the usual bedtime responsibilities! We have so many gift cards for restaurants, movies, movie rentals, shopping, etc...so it was nice to actually use one of them.

We don't have any plans this weekend, aside from trying to get to church. I think it's been a month since we last went. It's so hard because Brandon won't stay in children's church and he won't sit still in big church. I feel like it's important for our family to make church a priority weekly as the kids are growing up, but I hate sitting in the nursery with him and now the baby too. I like that Brian can sit in church, but I miss being in there. I'm not really going to a Bible study right now either, so I really feel the need for the fellowship and teaching more so then in the past. Maybe Brian and I will start trading and hopefully Brandon will eventually start enjoying church. Melanie LOVES it so atleast we have one easy child on sunday mornings. WOW I didn't intend on blabbing on and on for so long, I guess I had more to blog about then I thought ;o)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

We're having family over tonight for a little poker. Brian's all excited to play tournament style...I think I'm more excited to just relax once the kids are in bed, play cards and snack for hours on end *LOL* For some reason playing cards= eating for me! Hopefully all the kiddos will sleep all night since we'll be up so late and they'll get up so early. Hope everyone has an AWESOME New Years!

More kids = more sickies

Well Brandon was sick from Halloween through Thanksgiving and then the day after Christmas his nose was looking green again. Then I started getting sick the next day and last night Melanie and Brooklyn both woke up multiple times with a stuffy nose. I was hoping to ring in the new year healthy, but it's looking like we're all going to be sick. Hopefully Brian won't get it, but I'm sure he will too...it seems to just get passed around the family. By the time the last one is better the first one has something else to pass around...ARG! I'm thankful it's not the stomach flu though...I'll take colds anyday over that!

Random pics

We took the kids up to this park by our house where they have a train. At Christmas they decorate the train and park with lights and call it the Christmas train. It stops about half way and drops you off at Santa's workshop where you can take pics with Santa. Then when you arrive back at the station it's snowing (which is pretty exciting for us southern californians). Well, Brian's boss' brother (you follow that) owns and runs the train so we got free tickets and got to go through a special entrance which took us right to the front of the line...it was awesome because the tickes are usually $6 per person and the line was probably over an hour long. Anyways, here are a few pics that we got.

My sister ROCKS!

Yesterday she stopped by to pick up some maternity clothes and she brought me a smoothy. then she asked me if she could take the kids for a walk so that I could have a bit of a break. So I got to take a much needed shower without worrying the whole time about the wild ones killing each other! Then she called me last night and said that she made a bunch of mac'n'cheese (homemade...yummy!) and wanted to bring one over for us for dinner tonight. She is such a stud, I hope that I can be just as helpful when her little one arrives.

My week of organizing

Brooklyn's been sleeping in almost everymorning this week so I have had time to organize some things that have been on my to do list FOREVER. Yesterday I went through all my pre-pregnancy clothes as well as my current clothes and weeded out a ton of stuff (now I won't feel as bad buying some new clothes *LOL*). I found a bunch of maternity clothes that I had borrowed from a friend as well as a bunch of my maternity clothes that I gave to my sister.

The day before I realized that I wasn't going to have anymore laundry baskets if I didn't empty out the three in the kid's room that were filled with clean clothes. so I had them play upstairs and I put away all their clean clothes and took out all the clothes that don't fit them anymore. I forget about some of the cute outfits they have because they sit in the laundry basket for so long.

Today I need to hit up the goodwill to drop off all of the goodies that I'm getting rid of. I think I'll go through the kids sock drawers first...they seem to be filled with random socks that don't match or don't fit. I bought some new socks for them yesterday, so I should get rid of the ones that they don't wear anymore.

I think that's all I have on my list of things to do for the day...fun and exciting ;o) I'm hoping that today will be better then yesterday with the wild ones fighting...so far it hasn't been too bad, but it's only 8am!

As hard as it can be

I really do love staying at home with the kids. Brian went back to work this morning and I was a bit bummed. But I love that it's 8am and we're all still relaxin in our jammies. I don't really know of too many jobs where you can stay in your pajamas, eat a bowl of cheesy eggs and watch your kids play together. I'm sure I'll be ready to get out of the house once the fighting and whining start though...heehee! I guess I'll enjoy it while it lasts :o)

Feeling like a domestic goddess

I decided that I better not sit on my butt this morning since Brooklyn was napping and the other kiddos were so content watching Dora. So I mopped the kitchen floor...and I don't know about you, but when I mop it with my nifty swiffer it just doesn't so it sometimes. I can usually get in about 5-6 mops with the swiffer before I have to get the old bucket and sponge and really clean the floor. So I got down on all fours and scrubbed that floor. It feels so good to have a clean floor. Of course when I'm down there I notice that the kids booster seats are filthy. So I took them apart and cleaned them too. I also folded all the laundry, loaded up the dishwasher and started it...WOOHOO!

Well, like I said I was feeling like a domestic goddess, until I realized that my cabinets are filthy, the washer and dryer really need a good wipe down and the carpet really needs to be vacuumed. So I thought I would pour myself a cup of coffee and sit in front of the computer instead. I guess I'll go pick up the kids toys so that I can actually see the carpet before I vacuum it ;o) Only my friends in blogland will even know that I cleaned so much since nobody else will really notice or give me an atta girl *LOL*

This mommy stuff sure is messy

Today we went to the park (which seems to be like a laxative for my kids) and Melanie had an accident as soon as we got there. I should have taken her to the bathroom before letting her play, but she said she didn't have to go so I slacked! Of course I only had an extra pair of Brandon's sweatpants, but they worked for the moment. Then on our way out to the car I realized that Brandon had a poopy diaper. after changing him I still smelled something poopy and realized it was Melanie. When I asked her if she pooped she said, "yes mommy, but it's down there!" Since she only had on sweatpants with no panties the poop had gone right down her leg...GROSS! So after cleaning up two poopy kiddos we headed home for bathes! After Brandon woke up from his nap he walked up to me pointing at his leg and it had poop on it. Not sure if I need new diapers or what but I sure am tired of cleaning up poop! I hope that we can get through the rest of the day without anymore poop laying around ;o)

Things to do

Melanie took a late nap yesterday (5-8pm) so while she was asleep I got so much cleaning done! I swept and mopped the downstairs tile and even vacuumed! Then I got all the laundry done and folded and the dishes loaded into the dishwasher. It was so nice to wake up this morning and not have those chores hanging over my head. So today I need to:

Put breakfast dishes in the washer
Put clean clothes away
Run to Staples for a few calendars for Brian
Hit costco for a TON of grocery shopping

Well I guess I should get the kiddos dressed before we can do anything! Brandon is sitting here next to me with his hand up my shirt pinching my stomach...what you'll endure for some computer time *LOL*

!@*$ computers

We have a laptop and computer that are both fairly new...and yet there always seems to be problems with things...ARG! I spent hours making this cool DVD slideshow for Brian for Christmas and spent even more hours trying to burn it. I finally gave up and ordered a DVD through shutterfly. Now I'm just trying to burn some photos from the computer onto a CD and I got one disc burned and I can't get the rest to burn onto another CD. I know it works, but it's being so tempramental for some reason. Sometimes I really HATE computers!!!

Christmas craziness

It seems so hard to find any time for the computer these days...which is such a bummer because it is so relaxing for me. But all three kids are actually napping (I think God knew that this Momma really needed that) so I actually have a minute to unwind! I can't believe it's almost Christmas already. It's so magical because Melanie and Brandon are so excited this year. I'm trying to remember to keep Christ at the center of things, but Melanie is definitely most excited for Santa and getting presents. It seems that there is always one more thing to do these days, and I can't ever really finish my to do list. But I keep telling myself that I'll have many years ahead where my house will stay clean and the laundry will be less then it is now...and that helps me not to go nuts with the chaos :o) I need to wrap a few more things and get some gifts together, so I'm outta here.