Laundry and Children

There is Nothing to Eat

It is not unusual for me to go a week between grocery trips.  However, that is usually when I am not thinking about going to the grocery store.  This week is different.  This week I have made a conscientious decision not to go to the grocery store until at least Saturday.  The last time I went was exactly one week ago and it was mostly to shop for my hubby's birthday party.  So, in my mind, going another week without buying "family food" was akin to Mission Impossible.

I would like to say that I am totally motivated by altruistic reasons.  I would like to say that it is because I recently learned that everyday American family throws away 122 pounds of food a month.  I want to wrap myself up in a blanket of self-righteous do-goodery, but that wouldn't be exactly true.

Nope.  The truth is that we need to make a little extra wiggle room in our budget.  I went a bit overboard with Baconpalooza (aka my husband's birthday party) and I am now forced to make it up in other areas.  I am not "too big to fail," so I have to bail out my own leaking boat.  I know, I am so old school.  Bail myself out!  Do people even do that anymore?  But I digress.

So this week, we are eating only what is in our house already.  At first I was concerned as to how I would feed a family of 6 without the opportunity to run out to the grocery store at a moment's notice.  Surely we would starve, and I was eyeing which one of the children that we would consume first in our own personal Donner Pass.  However, as we close in on the end of the week, I am happy to report that none of the children have been consumed, not even the dog.  In fact, we've eaten pretty well.

The meals are starting to get a little more creative (Teddy had dry Rice Crispy cereal this morning and Rachel had two graham crackers), but we are using things that might normally just get thrown away.  When I look in my pantry and fridge, I see how much food we really have and it is quite a bit.

Still, we have run out of milk and eggs, which has not gone without complaint.  And I firmly believe that a lack of peanut butter and jelly could cause a mutiny.  Nonetheless, we trudge onward towards Saturday.  So even though this started out as purely a budgetary exercise, it has opened my eyes to how much food is actually in the house when I find myself saying, "There is nothing to eat in this house."

"And I tell you what, now that I'm grown and have kids of my own, I understand why my mother didn't want to take three youngins in the grocery store.  I would rather take a beating with a brick stick than take kids in the grocery store.  Cause as soon as those doors slide open, those kids start begging like homeless people at Christmas time." - Jeff Foxworthy

Happy Mother's Day

It has been a big weekend around here.  My husband turned forty and it is Mother's Day.  There has been a lot to celebrate.

In preparation for my husband's birthday party, I printed out tons of pictures of him from babyhood to fatherhood.  It was fun to see how much our son Jack looks almost like a clone of young Marty.  Then to see him as the too serious adolescent and the coming of age young man.  It was all there.  His whole life captured on film.

Then I looked at them through a mother's eyes.  Specifically, Marty's mother's eyes.  I am quite sure that in the picture of her and little, tiny baby Marty, she could not imagine going to his 40th birthday party.  It was all so far away.  Yet, there she was yesterday and she said, "I can't believe that he is 40.  I mean he was just born last week."

All this weekend as I reflected on my husband's birthday and on being a mother, I was constantly reminded that someday, these days will only remain in pictures and memories.  The children will be grown, celebrating mother's day and birthdays with their families.

So, while it is hard and tiring and sometimes extremely frustrating, I am trying to cherish more of it, even the parts that drive me crazy, because someday I will be at my child's 40th birthday party thinking, "How did this happen?  They were just born last week."

Cause All Moms Can Use a Good Cry Once In a While

Make sure to turn on the music to really get the tears flowing (click the speaker icon in the upper left corner).  If you want to see the pictures straight through click on "View All Images."

It's Family Portrait Time Again

Well, it's been a year since we added the new baby to our brood so we figured that perhaps we should get a new family portrait featuring every member of the family.  Also, it might be nice to get some baby pictures of Teddy before he leaves for college.

Family portraits are a lot of work.  A LOT.  First you have to get outfits for everyone.  Outfits that can not be worn any where before the picture is taken lest they get soiled.  You see everyone's outfit has to stay pristine because they all go together.  As my sister once said, we need to look like we go together, but not like we are in a band.

Second, everyone must be bathed, scrubbed and buffed the morning of the picture.  This process usually means that I spend 2 hours getting the kids ready and then have 20 minutes to shower, pick out an outfit that fits, looks nice and goes with the group, and do my hair and make-up.

Finally, there is the actual picture taking.  It is hard work to look calm and pleasant as the shutter fires when just seconds before you were chasing a toddler and begging a baby not to cry.  These are the moments when a parent will promise a kid anything just to get a good picture.  "Jack if you sit here and smile for just one more minute Mommy will buy you a race car that can travel to the moon."

But in the end, it is all worth it because you end up with something like this...

Baseball & Icecream

What could be more American than baseball followed up by ice cream.

Boys Grow Up, Dogs Grow Old

Last night our dog died.

Milhous, you were a good dog.  I remember the fist time I met you.  It was night and I could only make out your profile in the lit doorway.  You were a ball of energy with a curly tail.  I am pretty sure that you jumped on me, because you did that to just about everyone back then.

You were with Marty before me.  I often told people that the dog came with the marriage.  However, on nights when I was home alone, I felt a little more comfortable knowing there was a big dog in the house.  Even though, if an intruder ever did get in the house, all you would is lick his face and try to play with him.

Whenever people asked us what kind of dog you were, we just replied. "The brown kind."  You were a pound puppy through and through and we will miss you.

We Live Here, So We Never Visit

My feet are killing me.  My car is still over flowing with stuff.  My camera is full of pictures (even though it is the old crappy one because my new camera is broken).  It has been a good day.

We started off with a tip of the hat and a Top of the Morning to Ya at the Manassas St. Patrick's Parade.  The Irish eyes were smiling as we lived like we were on the shores of Erin all decked out in our cherriest green.  The sun was shining and (as Rachel put it) we didn't have to dress like tacos (wrap ourselves in blankets).

Then it was off to our nation's capital for the annual Kite Festival.  Unfortunately, we missed the Kite Festival, but we did our own family walk about stopping at the Smithsonian garden, the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, and the White House.  Interspersed there were hot dogs, baby food and ice cream.  Also, there was a very poorly thought out game of Hide & Go Seek on The Mall.  Hello kids, it is a big flat open space.  Where are you going to hide?  Either behing Mommy (great I am big enough for small children to hid behind) or just run away as far as you can get until a big kid is sent after you to drag you back to the stroller (you can guess who tried this strategy).

It was a great day!  Enjoy some photos (even though they are from the crappy camera, oh how I lust after a better camera, but that is a post for another time).

www.flickr.com

This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called St Pats 2008. Make your own badge here.

Get Out Your Winter Wiggles

This is how we get out our winter wiggles when it is too cold to go outside.  I put on some music and the children get their funky groove on.

We Are Going To Be On Ellen

The Ellen Show just called us to tell us that they will be using a picture we sent in tomorrow (Wednesday) on the show.  So check us if you get a chance.

Family Portaits

Family portraits are life perfected.  Everyone is happy, well dressed and facing the same direction.  But the truth of the matter is that it probably took a dozen shots to get the one and only "good" one.  Nonetheless, after going through all the shots from our recent family portrait session, the "bad" ones are probably some of my favorites, because you can see the true personalities of the people in the photos: two year olds are squirmy, big kids get board, struggling parents trying to just get the two afore mentioned groups to look at the camera just once so Grandma can get a good family picture tend to have glazed over eyes and the well rested couple without children are guaranteed a great shot.  These are the truths of life.

So, with that in mind, here is the truth behind the pictures of our recent family photo session.  Enjoy and look for the "good" picture in a Christmas card.