My 900th Blog Post!

I started this blog back in July of 2007 and I can't believe that here I am, six years later, still plugging away. Now granted back then I was posting much more often but back then I had two fewer kiddos and much more free time. Since starting this blog we have...

• given Bubba and Pooks two more siblings and have now completed our family. Hence where the blog address comes from...I never changed it after having Peanut because I knew it was highly likely that we weren't done having kids. After Sissy, we are done (necessary surgeries have been preformed to assure that!) but now if I move to a new web address I'll lose all my comments and I don't want that either so here we are, at Bubba and Pooks. Forever! 
• moved from small town Kansas, to bigger town Kansas, back to smaller town Kansas, to San Antonio, Texas and now we reside in Northern Italy. Five towns (2 states and 2 countries) in six years!
• re-homed one dog (our beloved chihuahua, Tito) due to Bubba's allergies and asthma (Tito had a genetic shedding disorder) and recently added a more asthma friendly, Maltese/Min Pin named Lucca to the clan. This is probably for the better as Tito was pretty skiddish around a lot of people and well, our family is a lot of people.
• successfully potty trained four kids. We have moved four kids up into twin beds. We no longer deal with night feedings, diapers leaking, breast-feeding, moving the crib mattress down or baby wearing. We don't have to carry car-seats into restaurants and we have no one rear-facing anymore. We go to the store without bringing along an ''Arf'' or a puppy or a blanket. The kids are growing up! 
• been celebrated nine wedding anniversaries. When I started this blog, we were practically newlyweds!
• finally became a full-fledged card carrying member of the Swaggerwagon club. In May 2010, we succumbed to the minivan. I wasn't sure it would ever happen but I can honestly say that the sliding doors are super convenient and the "stow and go" is genius. My only regret is not getting the model with the installed DVD player.

It's amazing how much can change in six years. It really is. With 900 posts I've learned a thing or two (I think) and I'm making a couple changes.

I am going to start using the kids' real names. When it was just Bubba and Pooks, it was easy to keep straight and it was cutesy...but now I have four kids. Four kids whose names I constantly mix up or smoosh together. Add in the four blog nicknames and it's four too many. I am no longer a new mom, new to mommy blogging or scared about people knowing their names. Granted I'm not sharing our last name, social security numbers or street address...but they will be Ryan (Bubba), Logan (Pooks), Connor (Peanut), and Maggie (who I will still call Sissy 90% of the time because that's her real life nickname too). For most of my readers this changes nothing as you knew the kids' names anyway.

I am also going to try very hard to play catch-up on the trips I haven't gotten around to sharing yet. I know Nanaw is waiting for the final installments of ''Nanaw and Papa visit Italy''...which has almost a year now (crazy!).

It seems really, really cheesy when people say ''They won't be little forever'' or ''Time flies, pretty soon they'll be graduating'' and you think ''Right! I'm going crazy waiting for BEDTIME" but it's true. It really is. A lot can change in just a few years and in just 900 blog posts...

Bubba and Pooks, Summer of 2007:

Ryan and Logan, Spring Break 2013:

And now I feel old!

This past week in pictures...

Peanut learned to write his name, all by himself...

While simultaneously recovering from a horrible case of Hand, foot and mouth...
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I have found a homemade deep dish pizza recipe that we absolutely love! To the point that I make it at least once a week.

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We spent the weekend with friends; at birthday parties and having barbecues!
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After almost 2 years I have finally figured out a few more ways to style "girl" hair

And Sissy has proved that she is anything but girly.
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Bubba has been reading and loves first grade!
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Pooks is having a blast in Kindergarten!

And after 8.5 years of marriage, B and I finally had photos of just us taken.

Sick kids = tired mom

When one has four kids, you think "Man! That's a lot of laundry/food/cleaning/expenses!" but you never really think about viruses. Ugh! This week, they are passing them back and forth faster than I can keep track. Last week Pooks had a rash that they thought was Strep, the culture came back negative though so it was deemed ''viral''. Let it run it's course and on Monday, Peanut woke up and didn't want to do anything. He fell asleep on the couch numerous times, didn't want to eat or drink and when he finally did drink, he puked...everywhere! After that he seemed fine and scarfed down everything. Wednesday night Sissy spiked a fever of 101.9. Thursday morning she woke up dry...which never happens. That means she hadn't peed since 6pm the night before. By 10am she still hadn't peed (despite having nursed twice, drank a cup of water and a sippy cup of diluted cranberry juice) and her fever was up to 103.6. I got her into the doctor and she had a bulging eardrum and possibly a UTI but they didn't feel the need to cath her to test since either way, she needed antibiotics. She was put on antibiotics and tylenol/motrin. She finally did pee on the way home, so I was feeling much better!

So Friday starts out pretty good; she has a low fever but is back to her usual self. Napping more but she is also cutting a tooth so I figured that was par for the course. By Friday afternoon, Pooks has a horrible cough. Not just any cough but a barking cough. So I am 99% confident that he has croup so after consulting Dr.Google I see that other than Tyleonl/Vicks the only other thing I can really do is cool steam and maybe an inhaler. Both of which we have. I think we have finally kicked this crap. Until Saturday morning when as I'm getting Peanut dressed I notice that he has these bumps all over his feet and toes...even on the bottoms of his feet.

"Look at all my bug bites Mom''

Ummm...."I don't think those are bug bites hon. Let me see your hands"

Yep, blistery bumps on hands and feet.

"Peanut, let me see in your mouth''.

Yep, whitish blisters in his mouth.

So I call the doctor because while I know he has ''Hand, Foot, Mouth'' I don't know how to treat it and I thought as long as I'm at the clinic I can get them to check Pooks cough out.

Dr. Mommy was right; HFM for Peanut, and while five year olds can't officially have ''Croup'' he said to treat Pooks like I was. Maybe give him a spoonful of honey to help the coughing fits in addition to the vicks and inhaler as needed.

So now it's Sunday, we've got one kid with Hand, Foot, Mouth which is highly contagious and likely to spread. One kid with something viral causing a ''croup like'' cough, one kid one antibiotics for an ear infection who is also cutting a molar and a (so far!) perfectly healthy six year old. All of this means a very, very tired mom. A mom who also has a toothache and is sorta, kinda terrified because on Tuesday I get to go to the Italian dentist to get it looked out. Since my Italian doesn't go much farther than words necessary for greetings and ordering Gelato/Pizza, this could get interesting.

I love having four kids. I really, truly do. I know some people think we're nuts, especially with how close in age our crew is but I wouldn't change it for the world. Honestly, if I *had* to make one change, it would be that we had Sissy sooner so that her and Peanut were closer in age. Yeah, you heard me....22 months isn't as easy at 13 months or 18 months. But no one thinks about how hand me downs aren't the only thing they are passing around! Please for the sake of B and I's sanity, let the kids kick this junk...today!

a cheap thrill

In Italy it seems that those 50 cent ride on toys are the latest rage. Every grocery store and mall has several and they range from odd (an elephant steering a boat) to modern, Tow Mater or Scooby Doo for example. The kids LOVE them and for 50 cents, we usually oblige. Well today we finally went up to the second story of a mall and it was, and I quote bubba ''the funnest place on earth''. Move over Disneyland, my kids were impressed by mechanical trains, baby go-carts that are 50 cents for three minute rides and giant toy monster trucks.

And every single ride pictured was really just .50 euro (roughly $.75USD).You win this one Italy, well played!

"It's not bad, just different!''

My friend Amy (whom I met here in the hotel, doing laundry...she has four kids too!) was telling me how she catches herself saying this when referring to being here, in Italy.

"It's not bad, just different'' and I think that's the best way of describing it. I haven't been here for very long and in all honesty, I haven't seen very much in the grand scheme of things but so far we are enjoying ourselves. A lot of what we do on a day to day basis is similar to life in the States. We're on the military base so we go to the PX, the commissary, eat a mediocre lunch at Burger King...pretty much the same thing you can do on any military base. But off post, things are different. Not bad, just different.

When we first arrived here and ventured out, I was kinda shocked at how old and (for lack of better word) trashy parts of our new country looked. Dilapidated houses, dogs and cats roaming freely, abandoned buildings, laundry lines everywhere, billboards/advertisments in random places...but then it kinda hit me. It's not trashy....it's old. Italy is waaaaaaay older than the United States. Vicenza (the biggest city near us) was settled in the third and second centuries BC. In 49 BC Vicenza received Roman citzenship. We're talking about a place, a city that is over 2000 years older than the States. The area is very rich in history and these "dilapidated/abandoned'' houses are here because here, they don't always upgrade. They're passed down from generation to generation. Many of them look abandoned but in actuality, people live there just fine.

I was trying to explain this to Bubba, who on Saturday asked how old these buildings were downtown, near the Piazza dei Signori...

  

There was a plaque explaining that the Church (on the right side) was constructed in 1560-1565... So I explained to him that it was almost 500 years ago. I told him how when these buildings were constructed, America wasn't even the United States yet! He asked if these buildings were older than the Alamo and I told him, "yes! Much, much older...by over 200 years!" He was floored! We explained to them how the bricks and stone that made up the road were just as old. As were most of the bridges and lots of the buildings. It was really hard for him to grasp how Italy could be so much older. 

And it isn't just the buildings and construction. Everything is kinda stuck in the past (except fashion... definitely not in the past!) Italy isn't a country obsessed with having the latest and greatest in everything. Even technology is waaaaay behind the states. The Italians all use phones that I swear, T-Mobile was giving out as free phones five years ago! I'm talking phones that have one screen that is just the green backlight with the grey numerals/letters. It's not a bad thing, it's just different. The cars are all very small and I'd say about 1/2 are at least over 20 years old. Not restored as antiques, but just that old. They still work so why buy a new one? An attitude that could definitely be a lesson to many Americans!

Here are some other differences we've noticed or gotten used to:

-Grocery stores don't take debit cards or credit cards...everyone pays in cash. Everytime we plan on hopping on a bus and going somewhere you'll always hear Ron or I ask each other ''Did you take out Euro yet?". Gone are the days of just grabbing the debit card and heading out!

-Public toilets here have two buttons for flushing. One button is for number #1 and another for number #2, it's to conserve water. The boys have learned that they need to push the bigger button so they don't waste water.

-Trash is divided into 5 categories: glass, plastic/aluminum, paper, dry waste and then organic. In some parts, recycling is mandatory and punishable with a fine or jail time if you're caught not separating!

-When you go into a small grocery store, you DO NOT handle the produce. You tell the owner what you would like and how much. He will put on a pair of disposable gloves, then get the produce for you.

-Having four kiddos is rare here. Even more so than in the States. Italy is small, for the most part. Smaller houses, smaller cars, smaller families. While yes, there are the stereotypical ''big'' Italian families...it's usually made up of extended family members. I have quickly learned that anything that sounds like "Mama mia! Sono tutti e quattro i vostri bambini?" is responded with "Si, sono madre a quattro". Yes, I am the mother to all four. I get asked this on the bus, sightseeing downtown, in restaurants and usually the next question (though I'm not sure what they are saying, I can tell by the word 'femme') is something along the lines of 3 boys and just one girl.

-Not a lot of Italians know English. Luckily when shopping, several store owners know just enough. Gelato stands know enough to help you order (at least the time we did it!). Restaurants are hit or miss but usually pointing and displaying fingers of 'how many' works just fine. Most of the Italian food words, are the same words. Spaghetti, pizza, calzone, cappuccino. Ragu means a sauce with meat. Prosciutto is ham. Formaggio is cheese then obviously parmesan, mozzarella, ricotta....are all the same. When ordering water make sure to say naturale, otherwise you will get carbonated and while some people like it, I think it's gross!

Oh and word to the wise if you have kids, get ready to push their bedtime back. Italians eat late...like restaurants don't usually open until almost 7pm and service is slow. Not bad, just different. Italians take their time eating. You're not rushed to give up your table. They won't even bring you your check until you ask for it.

While eating late was fine for us over winter break, now we're back to cooking as much as we can during the week and then going out on the weekends. I just can't keep my littles up that late regularly.

-Drivers here are nuts. I'm used to the "Motorcycles are everywhere...LOOK twice'' mentality of the states. In Italy it seems to be the "oh look a motorcycle in my lane...i'll just stay here, drive 2 inches from their handlebars and then HONK because they are in my way''. It seems like the lines painted on the roads in Italy are merely suggestions. I've seen people make a one lane into two. They do not stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk unless there is a light telling them to. They will come within inches of pedestrians as well, so word to the wise...do not walk in the streets and when you have to, walk as close to the curb or the parked cars as possible.

I know that there are more differences that we encounter each day and I'll continue to share those as we go. Until then, I leave you with this sign to ponder...

Yes this on post, but being a joint post (meaning the Italians are sharing it with the United States...both Americans and Italians work here) we see quite a few new signs!

The kiddos!

I've been blogging tons about Italy; the food, the house, Venice but everything has been from my point of view. I thought I would mention how the kids are doing.

Bubba started school this week. I have to say that when I went and enrolled him, I was very impressed. We met the registrar, filled out paperwork then met with a counselor. She talked to Bubba about what he liked best about school, had him color a picture, write his name, etc then (working with current class sizes) placed him in the class that she thought would be the best fit. Bubba loves to color, write, read and draw...he impressed the counselor immensely with his ability to write, that he can identity and write all 26 letter of the alphabet, upper and lowercase and that he can count to 100 and write up into the 30's. Shortly after assigning him a teacher, we got a tour of the school. It's new and just really nice. Good layout, great policies regarding attendance and security (his last school was nuts!) and most importantly, Bubba was impressed. Their room has it's own bathroom and a door to the playground...that's a big deal when you're five!

So after getting up earlier than he's had to in weeks (school starts at 8:10 here, in Texas it STARTED at 7:20!) he was off. Thursday afternoon I met one very excited kindergartener at the bus. He loved it! First, he got to ride the bus (it picks him up and drops him off at the hotel for now) and he loved that. Then he got to go to his classroom. He got to play outside even though it was cold (in Texas they had indoor recess anytime it was cooler than 45degrees) and he couldn't believe it. From the bus, the school, his teacher, the meals in the cafeteria...he loved all of it. I feel much more confident in this district than I did our last (we were considering pulling him out and homeschooling) and now Pooks is beyond excited to go next year. I'm hoping he gets Mrs. M as well. She sent home so much info to keep me informed and at ease. Plus she wants to have a meeting to introduce me to herself and her classroom. She even wrote a note that said ''Love, love, love your son! He is a very capable child!". His last teacher was nice but this one is above and beyond...and it's only the second day!

waiting for the bus!

And the younger kids? They're doing great too. This week we've had more issues with tantrums and whining but I think it's a combination of the hotel losing it's appeal and they are waking when Bubba wakes...which is too early for them. The two boys *want* to nap (seriously, Peanut asked to go lay down) so I let them for about and hour-hour and a half and guess what? Bed time was hell. Horrible. They didn't go to bed until almost 10pm which fed into a vicious cycle when they woke at 7am again this morning. I cannot wait to get to our house, get settled and for bubba to be able to get up and get ready without disturbing them. 

Prior to the last few days, things were even better. They love all the new foods. Gnocchi with cheese sauce and pizza are their favorites though they have tried almost everything that we've offered. They love bread with olive oil drizzled on it, inhaled the fresh Parmesan-Reggiano  that I grated on their pasta (and it was sharp...I was taken back on how different it tastes to what we're used to) and know that when we go to restaurants there are no kids meals, no to-go cups. It's water in a glass and they have to be very careful. 

They love being able to see the mountains and whenever it's really clear out, they ask to go upstairs and ''take some pictures''. Me with my phone, them with their toy phones. They are amazed at how some days you can see the mountains, some days you cannot! 

So far, no one has complained. They occasionally say they miss Nanaw/Papa, their friend Alivia...but overall they've adapted. They are very, very excited about our new house! Bubba especially is insanely excited about having a house with a fireplace!

Today was the kind of day where...

I wanted to drop my kids off at a drop in day care and pick them up, oh...next week. Maybe??

The rational side of me says ''Shannon, you've been traveling a lot. Things are changing, they're young, each going through new challenges and phases...you're going to have bad days''.

And the other side says: "Geez woman, your kids are nuts''.

I mean seriously. Today they were the whiniest, greediest, over the top complainers and we did FUN stuff today. You would have thought that I had locked them in their rooms, gave them only the crusts off of bread and then left them in the dark. (Don't worry, that may be on the agenda for tomorrow). Ahem.

But no, we went to SEA WORLD today. Granted it's not the "funnest place on earth" but it's Sea World. They got up, played, ate breakfast, got dressed, played and then hurriedly cleaned up. We loaded up the van, stopped and grabbed lunch. They complained about lunch and that we didn't let them play in the play place. I felt like screaming ''WE ARE GOING TO SEA WORLD. DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH COOLER THAT IS THAN CHICK-FIL-A???" Then I made them drink Gatorade instead of Root Beer. How the humanity? How could I possibly force them to drink something that wasn't full of carbonation and sugar!?

We finally get to Sea World, get through the gate and pick up the double stroller I had rented ahead of time. Pooks immediately starts saying he's too tired to walk. "Really, cause we can go back to the van?" and suddenly he's fine.

 We walk TEN feet and the ''I'm starving. I'm so hungry my tummy hurts. Can we get popcorn?" starts. Seriously!? I tell them that at the Sea Lion show I will get them popcorn if they stop asking for it. So I ride the Shamu express with Bubba while Ron takes the 3 littles on the carousel.

 By now we gotta hurry toward the Sea Lion show. Oh look the Count and no line? Totally need a picture...

would have been perfect if she hadn't blinked!

All of us wanted to see the sea lion show because it's the only show we had never caught...well, we saw the Christmas version and they loved that, so we were hoping they'd like the regular Clyde and Seymour show too. Which they did, once they finally had popcorn.

Sissy however, loved it without the popcorn. I think she stood on mine or B's lap the entire show.

After the Sea Lions we headed toward Shamu's show. While we have seen Shamu twice, I really wanted to see the new show ''One Ocean''. Yeah, that didn't happen. The boys didn't want Shamu, they wanted cotton candy. And Elmo. They wanted Churros and the playground.

Dude, I can buy you a freaking churro at Costco and we have a playground less than a block from our house. Sea World = Shamu.

Nevertheless on my way back from the bathrooms, I get them their damn cotton candy. And less than five minutes into One Ocean....''I don't like Shamu. I want Elmo.""Can we go play now?""I'm too tired.""I need Pepsi". "Can we just leave?"

So glad you asked because yes, yes we are. Sorry I'm the mom and we never get to actually do anything that I *want* to do. But I will not sit here and let you ruin the show for the people around us by your whining. So I grudgingly remind myself that they are just little kids. The newness has worn off and that I won't be seeing Shamu. I look at the map and the Elmo show starts in 10 minutes, so we head over there.

Sissy is immediately in LOVE with this. She's out of the stroller. She can walk around. She can dance!? Actually, Bubba, Peanut and Sissy were all in love with the Sesame Street show. Pooks however? Not so much. "Dey just fweak me out and I don't want to see Elmo!" Well, too bad kid. Too bad. I wanted to see Shamu but that didn't happen. Now you have to see Elmo (which keep in mind he was ASKING for 5 minutes earlier).

"But they just freak me out". 

And yes. My four and a half year old sat in that stroller for the entire 15 minutes show. Peanut was mesmerized but didn't want to get too close. Sissy and Bubba? Couldn't get enough.

Bubba, after he high-fived Elmo"

After the show the characters come out for pictures, high fives, hugs...that sort of thing. Sissy was over the moon excited for Abby Caddaby. When we went up near the stage during the song, she was grinning and trying to get her hair. When we went to her to get pictures she just had this permanent little smirk and couldn't stop staring at her. She just loved it and it was by far, the best part of the day.

After that, it all went down hill again. Pooks started saying he was hungry. Again. Conveniently just as we passed a dippin' dot stand. So not happening today. He was still riding in the stroller at this point. Bubba would not hold my hand so he kept getting 10 feet behind us (and we were sloooooow, peanut was walking!) then would come running up with tears in his eyes saying we were leaving him behind. At this point it looked like it was going to ran, B and I's patience were beyond thin and we called the whole thing done. Got to sea world a little after 12:30, gone by 4:00. I am so glad we have season passes and didn't forfeit the cost of a ticket for that little 3 hour jaunt!

Exhausted!

We've been on vacation for 11 days now and I already feel like I need a vacation when we get home. We've done birthday parties, family portraits, visited grandparents, gone to the park, eaten just about everywhere I think I might miss at some point in the next 3 years, had issues with the flippin' swaggerwagon that resulted in unplanned spending (both of time and money) and on top of that, apparently going from 80+ degree weather to Kansas' range of 52-80degrees means we are all, or have all been sick.

Whew.

Sorry if that was a huge run on sentence. In my mind, everything is running together.

Don't get me wrong, most of it has been a LOT of fun. But the kids' sleep habits? Not so much. We're split into 2 rooms here at my parents house. "My" room is for B and I with a pack n play for Sissy. The other bedroom has 2 beds, one for Bubba and Pooks and one for Peanut. It sounds ideal.

However, Peanut won't actually sleep in said bed. Every night one of the adults has had to rock him or snuggle with him until he falls asleep. Then once asleep, he usually wakes by 1:00am SCREAMING for B or I. Then he ends up one of two places: on the couch with B or in my bed with me. Where he ends up depends on if I'm already up with Sissy. Who is teething, going through a growth spurt and out of her element and is waking anywhere from once a night to NINE times. And she doesn't just wake up, no no....that would be too simple. She wakes wanting to nurse. Which I don't plan on stopping anytime soon, but man oh man is tiring.

Last night I was up with Sissy til one am, then up with Peanut trying to settle him with Sissy woke back up. I had her to my right, latched on and nursing with Peanut on my left, curled up against me while I combed my hands through his hair. I finally got them both to sleep, shut my eyes when Pooks came into the room and woke me up to tell me that there was a fly in his room and that he needed water. Got him settled down, laid back down and it was 3am. Finally fell asleep when next thing I know, Nanaw is waking me saying that Bubba is really coughing and needs cough medicine. So I handle that, then go back to bed. Up with Sissy at 5am who of course, wants to nurse again. She and Peanut wake up for good at 8am when I promptly hand them off to B (who was forced to sleep on the couch due to lack of bed space for him). I then slept til 9:30 when I got up for good.

Less than five hours of sleep and it wasn't even uninterrupted. Ugh.

I love my kids. I knew what I was getting into when we decided to have each of our little ones. I do not regret my decision. Most days, it's great. We have fun, they get along fairly well with each other most of the time and I am grateful. But that witching hour before bedtime hits with the tiredness and whining, then a rough night like the one last night and I'm beat. My back is sore, my sinuses are killing me and yet I can't take anything. I am constantly starving (due to the huge increase of sissy nursing) and because my older two no longer nap and my younger two are unpredictable in theirs, I am up all day.

I keep reminding myself that this too shall pass. That soon enough my kids will all be big and I'll be begging, pleading and yanking them out of bed. I know that one day I will look back and miss them being little.This I know for a fact.

Yes, I have a five year old, a four year old, a soon to be three year old and a 1 year old. And of course, I will have days (in this case, a week) where I am utterly exhausted. I expect that. Hell, in the last six years I've only spent 11 months of it {split into 5 months and then 5.5 months} NOT pregnant and NOT breastfeeding. The last six years of my life can be summed up by this:

July 2005-March 2006: Pregnant with Bubba
April 2006-Sept 2006: Breastfeeding and then, pregnant again.
Sept 2006-May 2007: Pregnant with Pooks
May 2007-Nov 2007: Breastfeeding
Dec 2007-Mid March 2008: FREEDOM!!
April 2008-Nov 2008: Pregnant with Peanut
Nov 2008-Aug 2009: Breastfeeding
Sept 2009-Jan 2010: FREEDOM!!
Feb 2010-Oct 2010: Pregnant with Sweetcheeks
Oct 2010-today....Still going strong breastfeeding

Yeah, the exhaustion should certainly be expected huh?

bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s, bananas

This morning we went grocery shopping, like usual. We did go with our friends (who happen to be our neighbors) so Peanut and Livi rode in one cart, Pooks and Sissy in the other. They had a blast in those rocket ship carts but even funnier was the way Sissy would smile and make this panting noise while driving. I had to get a picture! She was hysterical. So like any parent of 2011, I take the pic and upload it to Facebook. It isn't until I start reading the comments that it hits me. What I failed to notice prior to this pic is the INSANE amount of bananas that HEB has. This wasn't a special occasion or anything, just the amount they always have. I never noticed just how many their are. And they do market them differently. It's organic bananas, plantains, regular bananas and the ''ready in 2-3 days'' bananas. Crazy right? (Maybe not as crazy as sissy looks though!)

A dinner date...

has a whole different meaning when you go with the kiddos instead of the hubs. B is working late every.single.night until the end of the fiscal year so some nights, it's just easier to grab something than it is to try to cook with four helpers. So earlier this week we made an impulse stop for dinner at Firehouse Subs. It was a first for us. While I love sub sandwiches, I despise Subway and Quiznos. There isn't a Mr. Goodcent's in these parts so I've just made do without.

Firehouse, while not as good as Goodcents, fills that void.
The subs were pretty good. There was meat and not just 5lbs of lettuce. The bread was fresh. While the sandwiches didn't totally overwhelm me, the atmosphere was perfect. The inside was total Firehouse motif. The kids were each given a free hat and received Oreos after finishing their meal. I think they each had a favorite part:

 Bubba and pooks both loved the free hat(s).

 

 Peanut was all about the GIANT pickle spears...he ate two!

 And what was Sissy's favorite part? I mean really what does a sandwich shop have to offer a one year old? How about an Oreo....

Well if that isn't a look of approval, I'm not sure what is!

 Overall, two thumbs up! I felt like we spent more money than we would have at Mr.Goodcents and received less food but if I didn't hold Goodcents on such a pedestal, I'm sure I would have LOVED Firehouse. So if you have one near you, you should check it out. Guarantee the kids will love it!

hair today, gone tomorrow

Today, I took the boys to get haircuts. Since moving to TX oh, 9 months ago, they had their hair cut once at Great Clips (EPIC fail...it was horrible), once while back ''home'' in April, and once by me using the clippers at home. Honestly, their hair wasn't that long but Bubba starts school Monday and their hair was a little uneven in areas. So I decided I was gonna find a nice little local salon that we would just fall in love with and not have to worry anymore. So after driving up and down nearby streets and running into nearby salons, I decided that wasn't the best bet. First off, we live like 5 steps from a military base so everything is barber shops and military cuts..not what I really wanted. Farther down the road there were some salons but they wanted $15-$25 for a kids haircut. (And they couldn't narrow down the price until they saw the client, despite having told them he was a 5yr old boy who sits perfectly still) Seriously? Do I look like I'm paying $75 for three BOYS to get a trim? Um that would be a "hell no!". So we ended up in a outdoor shopping area that was home to Cool Cuts 4 Kids ($17.95 and up), Sharkeys Kids Cuts ($17.95 and they watch a movie during their haircut) and Supercuts. Supercuts had no wait, and they're having a sale/promotion that ALL haircuts are just $8. Ding, ding, ding....we have a winner!

There were two stylists, each started at the same time so Bubba and Pooks went first while Peanut sat in an empty chair and I held Sissy. Both boys' hair looks nice...a bit shorter that I intended on top, but it's even and both boys still have their sideburns (seriously great clips shaved them off!). They were finished and Peanut was up. For (what I think is the first time) Peanut sat in the chair all by himself. He did wonderful! No squirming, laughing...nothing. He sat so still and I swear his cut took half the time as the older boys. So we were in and out in under 1/2 an hour and it was $24 for THREE kid's haircuts. I highly recommend Supercuts to my other local mommies that may be reading this...they weren't overly friendly but they were quick and patient. We went at 11:15am and each stylist was finishing up with someone, with the waiting area empty. They don't have suckers though, so luckily I had thought to bring my own just in case. Overall, 2 thumbs up!

Happy all around

Today, was a wacky day. We got up, did the whole breakfast/play/get dressed thing while I was on the phone trying to straighten out Bubba's immunization records so that he can actually go to Kindergarten (on Monday...eek!). Got that figured out but now we needed to go up to the school in addition to grocery shopping and shoe shopping (for me for once). Shoe shopping lead up to the north part of town, which lead us to two different stores. Well by now it's 11:30 and they want to eat but I don't want to go all the way back home and I did not want fast food.

Cue Krispy Kreme........

The boys LOVE donuts. Well Krispy Kreme just happens to be a hop skip away from Kohls. So we went there for "lunch". It was lunchtime however I knew they weren't that hungry but needed a break before we went to the grocery store. They had a blast.

We got there in time to see the employee making chocolate cake donuts and donut holes. The boys' excitement was overflowing when watching those donut holes almost run off the conveyer belt. They were shrieking watching the donuts and this got other people smiling while watching the boys' reaction.

 

They each picked out a pink donut with sprinkles and happily wore the paper hat. Well, everyone but Sissy...she wanted to throw the donut (she had parts of a cake cruller) and eat the hat. Silly girl!

"I don't want to wear the hat Mommy..."

While scarfing down our doughnuts we talked about how the man was making them and what they thought the doughnuts were cooked in. Pooks said "SUGAR!!!" but I explained how they are fried in oil...and we talked about healthy foods vs "sometimes" foods. I love being able to incorporate little education tidbits into our day.

All in all, a nice morning. After our 'lunch' we went grocery shopping, then returned home for naps. Now they're snacking on cheese and green apples...you know a healthy food to balance out the ''sometimes'' food :)

Why my kids ran outside in their pajamas/underwear...

It was raining of course! This past weekend it was 97 degrees...then a freak rainstorm rolled in. The wind picked up, the sky darkened, the temp dropped to 86 degrees and it rained. Really rained. For about...10 minutes. But the kids {who prior to moving to TX, did NOT like rain/getting wet} went running outside to see/touch/feel all those glorious drops!

 

It really is the little things in life : )

"but this one is just right..."

When Nanaw and Papa visited in March for Bubbas birthday, they surprised him with a desk. It's literally old school..my great grandpa gave it to me when I was little. Its so old that it's metal with a wood/ laminate top, a metal frame and actually has a lift top. It's adorable and he loves it. He uses it for puzzles, to draw/color and enjoys having his own spot. But, as it happens when you have more than one child, the other boys were jealous/upset. So I've kept an eye out for one and as luck would have it, Sunday night I found an ad on my buddy Craig's list, where a former home-schooling mom was selling not one, but 2 old wooden desks. Yeah I immediately emailed her....I wanted those desks. Well she contacted me and said they were ours for just $15/each....score! So after work yesterday, B went and picked them up!


Is that not the cutest thing you have seen?

Seriously?! Look at their little faces:

Now granted, they're not done yet...I am planning on refinishing them back to how they looked originally (Bubbas is in original condition). I'll have to sand off the green and pink spray paint, then Pooks will probably be re-painted to the gunmetal silver (depending on condition, since his is metal) and if the original wood on Peanuts is nice, we'll stain it. If it's not, we'll paint it again (but it won't be pink with hearts).

I think this is the push we needed to get refocused on home-schooling. When we moved to this house, we lost our "classroom" basement and we didn't have an area to kinda settle down and focus in. Well, now we do. Granted it's in our dining room but eh, we'll take it! As of now we will still be enrolling Bubba into Kindergarten this fall but I will teach Pooks and Peanut at home for preschool (unless Pooks somehow wrangles a spot in Pre-K...he desperately wants to go to the big school with Bubba we just don't know if he'll qualify). The boys are excited to go get Alphabet posters and workbooks, so off we go!

Ka-Chow!

Cars 2 hit theaters today. Our boys have been anxiously waiting for this moment {going on 2 years I think!} and like a smart Mommy, I went and bought advance tickets yesterday so that we wouldn't have to wait in line today. The show started at 11:15 but we were ready for it by oh, 8am. They were a bit excited:

So we managed to keep them corralled at home until 10:30am when we finally left for theater. We skipped the looonng line of people waiting to buy tickets and went and found seats. Even at 10:50am, it was already filling up! B kept an eye on the kids (and our up front, all togeher, row of seats) while I went and got snacks. I'm proud to say that because of different coupons and promotions, our family of six was able to see the movie for $2.50. Add in the large popcorn and medium drink (that I also had a coupon for) and our total for 4 tickets on Premiere Day + snacks was $9.25! Woohoo!

The boys had their popcorn in special Cars2 cups...they ate a cupful each before the movie had started!

I have to say that it was a really cute movie. I think that the storyline was a bit harder for them to follow {lets just say it involved oil companies vs eco friendly ''alltinol''} but they were so intrigued by the racing, spies, and funny parts that they didn't seem to care. All four kids sat through the entire movie without needing a potty break or throwing a fit. Granted Sissy did fall asleep 5 minutes into the movie and wake up 5 minutes before it ended but it worked out perfect.

In the Theater's lobby afterward

After the movie we ate a late lunch at Red Robin. After Red Robin the boys wanted to go see it again. Needless to say, that didn't happen. But we went home and took a nice long nap and now at 9pm, they are all back in bed asleep. All in all, a great day!