My Little Makeup Boy

This morning while I was downstairs eating breakfast, I heard some noise in the bathroom upstairs.  I went up there to see what (most likely Brock) was into.  To my shock, he had pulled out my makeup bag and had went through every piece of makeup I had... there was powder, eyeshadow, blush and bronzer EVERYWHERE... including on him!!!

I wasn't very happy, but after I cleaned the bathroom up, I couldn't help but to laugh at him!!  He had put eyeshadow on his eyelids (or tried) and my mineral foundation was all over his hands and shirt.  He sparkled from head to hands so pretty ;-)   Brock looked up at me like he had done something good, so I made light of the situation and told him not to do that again... and I also put my makeup bag where he couldn't get it.

Doesn't he look pretty?!  lol

Weekend Blog Hop!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!!  Make sure to leave a comment, I always follow back :-)

A Toddler's Prayer...

Every night we pray together as a family up in the kid's room before they go to bed.  We say the Lord's Prayer and then we let each of the kids choose who they want to pray for that night.  Landon always says the same thing; Dad, Mom, Brock, Sky, all the Grandparents, Auntie Jilean, Uncle Sean and Victoria.

When it comes to my two year old, Brock, he usually just mumbles, Mom, Dad & Landon... until the other night!!

We went through our regular routine and it was Brock's turn.  I said, "Brock, who do you want to pray for tonight?"  Waiting for the regular list, I was completely shocked at what I heard...

"Money!"

I said, "Did you say money?"

"Yeah" he replied

Brady and I looked at each other and were giggling inside!!  So, I went on and asked he who else he wanted to pray for.

 He responded with, "Daddy's Money!"

Whaaaat??  We didn't want to tell him that we don't pray for money, as he is just a little toddler and probably was thinking about the money he had received from his Grandma that day... and we do make an emphases on them saving their money for college almost everyday.  Brady and I got a good laugh out of it because he sounded like a mini-Brady (my husband)!!!

I guess he is truly his Father's child... he loves MONEY and wanted to make sure God knew it ;-)

Wordless Wednesday: Outside Playtime

We had one nice day outside so far this week!  The boys played outside all morning and enjoyed the short- term warmth :-)

Brock LOVES to play basketball!!

Easter Weekend in Pics

Netflix Streaming is the DEVIL!!!!

Okay, maybe not the devil... but since my husband hooked it up to our TV, I am totally obsessed with watching movies every night!!

I don't have have to go anywhere to get/pay for a movie anymore, I don't have to worry about charges for being late, I don't have to wait for my movies to come in the mail... it is just there!!  Now, there are only a handful of movies to pick from, but it is always changing, so I am completely happy with that!!!

It is sooooo easy to pick a movie from my TV and then POOF... the movie comes on :-)  I can not wait until the kids go to bed at night so I can go downstairs and flip on the Netflix, find a good romance, and cuddle up with my (sleeping) husband and watch in silence.

I am embarrassed to admit it, but I do it EVERY night... Netflix streaming has been both the best and worst thing that has ever come into our house.  I am sure that there are much better things I could be doing with my time, besides watching movies all night... but who cares;-p  I have to sit and watch Dora & Diego all day with the kids and NEVER get a break, so I am going to rationalize this as something that I deserve!!

Two hours until my next movie ;-) lol

Easter Bunny!!

I decided to surprise the boys today and took them to see the Easter Bunny!!  They have a great set-up at the mall across town, so we went over there to meet Mr. Bunny :-)

I was worried about Brock crying/freaking out since we just went to Disney World and he did not want to have anything to do with the characters... he shocked me and sat right on his lap and even smiled!!  Landon did awesome as usual...  Here is the pic off of the website, so it is not all that great... but,  you get the idea :-D

I thought it was almost May!!??

Grrr... I am going to make this quick.  I woke up this morning to snow again and it is still coming down.  Will it ever been warm here again?  Will I ever be able to take the kids outside and put up the kid's swimming pool?  Will I ever be able to wear my shorts and sandals again?  I feel like I am in a winter nightmare and will never wake up!!

THIS IS DEPRESSING!!!  And I am sick of other Minnesotans saying, "We live in MN, get over it."  NO, I will not get over it... :-p

What I woke up to this morning

***UPDATE***  As the day went on, the snow all melted and it started to rain... and a beautiful rainbow appeared!!  Only in MN...

Time with Daddy

Even though I am home with the kids all day and I am able to play with them, witness their milestones and get to enjoy all their funny moments, my husband Brady is not.  The kids miss their Dad during the day and can not wait for him to get home.  He usually gets home around 6:30pm, so our day is very long without him.

Little boys need their dad, especially after spending the entire day with their girly-girl mom.  As soon as dinner is done, it is like a wave of testosterone takes over the house!!  The boys just gravitate to their Dad and it usually ends with both boys on top of him... two against one wrestling match :-)  Boys LOVE to wrestle and I am so happy that they have a Dad that will lay on the floor with them and let them burn off their little boy energy!

Last night, we went outside and Brady played football and running races with the boys.  After that, we came in and Landon wanted to take a family picture with his pretend camera, so I also took one with mine. We followed up the night with a cut throat game of Old Maid!!  It was so much fun... I LOVE kids games!

I love watching the boys with Brady.  They are so lucky to have such a great Dad that not only works hard to provide for them financially, but also comes home and takes the time to love them :-)

"Mommy, we have a Ghost!!"

The other night, my two year old, Brock was having the hardest time sleeping.  It was very unusual for him, as he has been a wonderful sleeper since 6 weeks old.  He kept waking up every 20 min screaming.  Since I am the WORST when it comes to CIO, I was up there comforting him every time, as he was very shaken.  I decided to set up the pac'n play in my bedroom to make it easier for the both of us.

Around 2 am, he woke up again in a full scream.  I got up and started to rock him in the rocking chair in my room, trying to calm him down again.  As I sat rocking him, I got this overwhelming feeling that I was being watched... I have heard people say that before, but I have never understood exactly what it felt like until that night.  My body went numb and I got goosebumps from my head to my toes, it was unlike anything I had experienced before.

At the same moment, our Weimaraner, Sky (who sleeps in our bed with us every night), lifted his head and started to make low, fierce growls!!  I can honestly say, he has NEVER growled or barked in our bed before... and what was he growling at??  It was just me, Brady & Brock in the room... what would upset him like that?  The neighborhood was completely quiet as usual and it was the middle of the night.  

I was a little freaked out by the whole thing, and being a big baby, I decided that the lamp was going to be put on for the rest of the night! lol  Everything was fine.  Brock went back to sleep and never woke up again, the dog finally calmed down and fell back to sleep and I quickly went back to a peaceful slumber.

The next morning, I kinda forgot about the whole ordel from the night before.  I stopped by my older son's room and noticed that the top comforter was pulled off of the bed from the bottom corner.  That was odd... I had tucked him in last night with it completely tight against the wall and he is a still sleeper.  Weird.  O'well, I went on my way downstairs to start breakfast.

Landon finally awoke and came downstairs casually and bellied up to the counter to eat.  As I was getting his food together, he saids, "mommy, we have a ghost."  

I froze and replied, "what, why do you say that?" 

He replied, "Well, there was a ghost who came in my room last night and pulled my blanket right off!!  I was really mad."

I asked, "Did you see the ghost?"

"Yeah, he was REALLY BIG!!"

I told him that he dreaming and he got really mad at me!!  He told me he was not making a lie and he saw it... I have to say, I don't think that he was lying.  There were three of us (maybe four counting Brock) who experienced something unsettling that night.  I am not sure what it was.  We have lived in our house for 6 years and I have never experienced anything like that before and haven't since that night.  

Landon was so sure of himself, that he even told my mom the same story.  My Mom rest assured him, that if it was a ghost, it was a nice one and was just playing a joke on him.  Landon was pleased with that idea and hasn't spoken of the incident from that day forward...

Seriously!!  There is never a dull moment at my house... never... even the stupid ghosts have to cause a ruckus here ;-p lol 

New Blog... Show me some LOVE ;-)

I started a new blog today called, The Mommy Restaurant Review!!

I love to eat out with my kiddos and I am always telling my friends and family about great and not so great places to bring the kids... now I can share my reviews & experiences with everyone!!  My new blog will hopefully help take the stress away from taking your kids to restaurants not knowing if it is kid friendly or not.

My reviews will mostly be in the Twin Cities, but we check out a lot of chain restaurants that are found all over the country.

So, show me some love and follow me :-) http://themommyrestaurantreview.blogspot.com/

Extreme Couponing on TLC

Picture from TLC.com

I just had to write about this new show on TLC called Extreme Couponing. I understand that there is a lot of people out there that LOVE to coupon and do it often... I am not one of them. I may use a coupon here and there if the coupon is for something that I already buy. We do not buy frivolous stuff just because we have a coupon for it and I do not believe anyone should.

I was completely sickened by the show. These people spend 40-60 hours preparing for a shopping trip. They buy 15, 20, 30 of the the same item, who needs so much of one item?? Their houses look like a grocery store... their basements are jammed packed with food & household cleaners. Their children's bedrooms, the bathrooms and even their own rooms are used as storage for all the stuff they buy.  If they are spending that much time preparing to go to the grocery store, they mid-as well get a job.  What kind of care can you be giving your children if you are spending 60 hours a week in front of the computer printing off coupons & dumpster diving for leftover coupons?  Probably no care at all...

These people are no better than hoarders and should be ashamed of themselves. There are so many starving people in their community that they could be giving the excess food to, but no. It looks like all that food will just sit in the basement until it expires... because let's be real, no one can possibly keep up with eating the amount that they already have and continue to buy every week.

As far as I can see, Extreme Couponing is an obsession and has more of a negative affect on families then positive. It is a waste of food. I think that these people get some sort of gratification from couponing and are not truly doing it to save money.

Now, before some get their undies in a bundle... I am not refering to people that coupon who actually buy stuff within reason and use the products weekly... just the sick, wasteful ones ;-)

Pictures from the Past Week :-)

Here are some of my favorite pictures from last week!!

Brotherly love :-)

Matching P.J's Again!!

Umm, Yeah... this is normal ;-)

Playing football outside with Daddy!!

lol... Landon & Brock invited their "girlfriends" to dinner!!

Sleeping Boy...

Last night, Landon fell asleep on the couch next to me and when I looked over at him, I couldn't take my eyes off his face. At that moment, he reminded me of one of my favorite pictures of him when he was just a couple months old sleeping. He looked so much like he did back then... it made me smile to think that he is still my little baby and always will be.

Finally!! Lunch at the Park :-)

After the longest winter that I can remember, Spring is FINALLY here!!! The boys and I have been heading to the park at least once a day, sometimes twice :-)

Today, I figured that 60 degrees was as close to a heat wave as we are going to get in the next month, so I decided to do a picnic lunch at the park. The boys had a lot of fun!!

What I love about having boys is that they never complain about it being cold... they just play hard and enjoy the weather for what it is!! I am way bigger of a baby when it comes to the cold then they are... I have to try really hard to keep up with them ;-) lol

Here are some pics & a video clip of the day!!

I'm not a Stereotypical SAHM...

There is definitely a generalization of what a SAHM is and does during the day & frankly I do not think that I fall in line with any of them!!

1. I am not frugal and hate cutting coupons

2. Disposable diapers please!!

3. I sign my oldest son up for as many activities as I can for interaction with other children... I can't provide everything he needs just being at home

4. I do not bake sweets often... if I do, I eat it :-(

5. I am anti-play groups

6. We rarely hang out at home for the whole day... we are always out and about!

7. I work out every other day at the gym. No excuse, SAHM's DO have the time to go

8. I don't sew (though, I would like to change that)

9. I NEVER watch TV during the day... the first show I get to watch is at 9pm.

10. You will never see me in sweats. I get up every morning and do my hair & make-up and put "normal" clothes on.

11. I take the kids out to lunch often. Mommy needs a break & it is good for kids to learn restaurant etiquette.

12. If my kids want to sleep until 10am, I let them... I do not force them to wake up at a certain time because I am "worried" that they won't take a nap time.

13. I haven't lost myself while being a SAHM. EVERYONE needs to be taken care of, not just the kids.

"Heaven is for Real"

I just got done reading the book, Heaven is for Real and I wanted to share what a wonderful book it is!!

It is based on a true story about a little boy who visited Heaven while having surgery. Over the next couple years, he told his parents stories of being in Heaven and meeting Jesus... he even was greeted by his sister (that he never even knew he had, his mother miscarried her in the first trimester).

For those who are skeptics, I say that it would be hard not to believe in Heaven after reading his story. I have to admit that I cried through most of it. I do not want to give away too much of the story, because you really have to read it to get the full picture.

Condimentaphobia

**Photo from: defindingfoodsafty.com

Condimentaphobia- Fear of condiments... ketchup, relish, mayonnaise, mustered, etc.

Though this is hard to write about (because it makes me sick) I wanted to share my strange fear... mayonnaise!!!! EEKKKK

When most people find out, they think that I am just kidding around about the fact that it scares me... but it is true, I have a real phobia of mayo.

- When I see it, my heart starts racing, my throat feels like it is closing, I go into a sweat

- I can not go down the aisle at the grocery store where it is (if I absolutely have to, I run passed it and don't look)

- It is NOT allowed in my house

- The site of it makes me gag

- I can not be anywhere near someone who is cooking with it or eating it

- At holidays & parties, I have to go around and ask everyone who brought food to make sure there isn't any mayo in it

- Gosh, just writing the word MAYO makes me ill!!!

My Mom says that I have had a phobia of mayo since I was around 3 years old. I would have a huge meltdown if it was on my food... usually involving screaming and crying. I think at first my parents thought I just didn't like the taste of it, but they then realized it was a little more then that.

This phobia has really inconvenienced my life (for my family too). My poor husband has had to endure many embarrassing moments at restaurants when they have brought my food out with mayo on it and I refuse to even take the plate. The waiters just think I am being a snob, but really inside I am in a full panic and want to cry.

Does anyone else have a strange phobia??

"Up North"

In many of my posts, I talk about going "up north." For those who are not from Minnesota, it may be hard to understand what I am referring to.

It is MN culture to go up to (Northern Minnesota) to a cabin/lake home for the holidays or during the summer. Pretty much everyone either owns a lake home or knows someone who does. It is a very common thing to see on a Friday afternoon in the summer, neighbors in their driveways packing up their cars for the weekend with their boat behind.

For those of us who live in the Twin Cities, heading up north is a must to get away from the busy life of the cities.

I have been lucky that my parent's have owned a cabin since I was just a baby and have been going up north my whole life. When I was younger, my mom, sister and I would be up there for two months straight in the summer. I have some of the best childhood memories of me running around all day in my swimsuit, catching bugs, fishing off the dock from morning until night, playing with my friends from up there and everything else that comes with being up at a lake home.

The boys and I are currently "Up North" at the lake home right now with my parents since Landon has off of school this week... we are having such a fun time. I am so happy my boys are able to experience this other life when we are here :-)

Landon & Sky enjoyed the fact that the snow is melting (very slowly)