Take What Your Can Get

My Tastefully Simple party wasn't a raging success. Between TWO big Louisiana football games, my neighbor being out of town, and an art festival downtown ... it was a busy weekend for people. Who wants to come eat delicious food at my house when there are all these exciting things going on? Four people DID so up, for which I am grateful. It was very nice to get to know these people better, and my husband and I certainly won't complain about all the delicious leftovers!

I'll host another one in December, me thinks, and check the date against big football games :) I was hoping for a better turnout, but it certainly could have been worse!

I had a fun flower arrangement at the party, which I then toted to church on Sunday. I should take a pictures. It's flowers in a pumpkin with some apples on sticks.

While Sunday started on a high note, after a gallon of tea being spilled and cleaned up AND a gallon of water being spilled and almost cleaned up AND a glass scattering and getting cleaned up with the rest of the water ... I was quite thankful that the day was done. That sucked. I should be happy that tea and water are not sticky and it was small glass and not a big glass. See? It can always be worse.

Bean, of course, is at school. I received his outstanding progress report on Friday, where he got "mastered" on everything and where he needed an 8+ in initial sound, he got a 26 and where he needed an 8+ in letter naming, he got a 41. He's a genius after all.

Moose also went to school today. Let me tell you, four hours is not long enough. I ran to Kohls to exchange a pair of Bean's too-short pants and gather some shirts for our family pictures (for the three boys, of course, Mama got nothing), then came home and did dishes and watched The View, then met two buddies for writing, then it was time to pick him up. I need five hours. OR I could get a job and just send him full-time, but then I wouldn't have time for things like shopping, The View, and writing. Oh, the dilemma.

I had this very vivid dream last night that we had another baby and it was delivered on the early side by c-section, and I was mortified. I did not want drugs, let alone a c-section, and I did not get to see the baby after it was born, but I had been all blacked out the entire time and had no idea how the delivery came to that point. The baby was healthy (and a boy) but much tinier than my other guys. I also had wicked PPD (which I did not have with either boy). I woke up exhausted. It's cool to have such vivid dreams sometimes, but it sure doesn't make for a restful night's sleep.

I am reading Confessions of a Shopaholic, and I'm really enjoying it. I thought it would be very light and chick-lit and almost embarrassing to read, but it's not. Sure, she loves nice things, but she's certainly dealing with the consequences of her actions (in this in this first book). It has a nice vocabulary going on (or, at least, anything taking place in Britain always sounds a bit smarter). I think I'll give the whole series a go. So nice not to be bogged down by textbooks.

Another round of speech, karate (where Bean just tested for his High White Belt - he's no longer the "new" kid), writing group, etc. I have no clue how parents balance several kids in several activities. They each have one lousy thing outside of "school," and I feel like we're jammed-packed.

We might go the art festival for an early supper and then check out some bunk beds a family is selling in the neighborhood across the street (nice quality, mattresses included). There is also a good-sized home in the most perfect location for us that just went on the market. It is very hard to resist. Right size, nice lot size (.3 acres), private backyard (for chickens!), even closer to the school, end of cul-de-sac, in our price range ...

In Lighter News

We've decided to have the carpet cleaners also clean the couches - maybe they can do something about the ink marks and liven up the couches overall. I have a lot of confidence in their abilities, so that should work out. (Right, because having confidence it someone's service always means they deliver to expectations?)

If all else fails, however, I have these guys picked out:

With a matching loveseat (in the green) and ottoman (matching the chair). Aren't they wonderful? The fabric is called Performance and is supposed to be kid-proof - no spills or stains, easy wipe downs. Something tells me it must feel like a plastic bag.

Please note that the green is called ALPINE and not DRAB (like my current couches). HUGE DIFFERENCE. MONUMENTAL, some might say.

Also, Mrs. House of Toys, please note the PATTERN on the chair. Yes, a pattern chosen by yours truly. Of course, these items are really never going to come into my house ... so it's safe to pretend that I might buy a patterned piece one day. (I've gotten grief over my solid curtains, solid pillows, and solid couches and chairs from Mrs. House of Toys from time to time.) Also, please note, that I know my mother hates the chair.

Also, why does a loveseat cost as much as a couch? And I don't want the matching pillows. Can I get money off for skipping the pillows?

I've decided that I'm a fan of two-cushioned couches. For me, they just look more tidy or something.

Dead Birds & More

So, I often complain that my husband works too much ... but there seems to be a distinct difference between him working too much and him being gone completely.

I mowed the day he left, because he didn't. I didn't edge, and it looks quite terrible ... but I haven't had anyone knocking on my door asking to mow it (I had two knocks previously). Regardless, I still have a case of ghetto grass.

There is also a dead bird on the sidewalk.

There was also a dead bird in the play room thanks to Spike (the pug from House of Boys that I'm watching for the weekend) . I picked that one up.

The one on the sidewalk is still there (it's been two days).

I found a roach. A big, ugly roach. The first time I've ever found one in this house. (And before you think I'm the worst housekeeper in the world ... roaches are VERY common in Texas. Like so common that coming across one from time to time is completely normal.)

The front porch light burnt out last night as I turned it on. So, I got to go out in the dark and fix it.

All of these, I suppose, are easy enough to handle ... I just prefer not to.

I also ran out of bread. My milk went sour. I haven't cooked a proper dinner since Wednesday (and I usually cook most every night).

Did I mention that Moose is teething like a crazy person? He actually screams! I've even resorted to Hyland Teething Tablets AND Tylenol together. I even let him feed himself cottage cheese, because he was so antsy about it. I much prefer mess to noise. Let me tell you, cottage cheese is messy. I hoped the dogs would lick it up, but it turns out that neither heelers nor pugs are a big fan of cottage cheese.

I am in big trouble when the time comes for Husband to deploy (which, thankfully, won't happen for a few more years).

In relief news, however, I bought this:Happy early birthday to me.

New, Delicious Baby Stuff

We now have a new stroller! I'm going to try and assemble it right after this post. It looks like this:
There is a full seat in the front and a "jump-in" bench on the back. This way, Bean can catch a ride if we have a long walk or are out somewhere. It's a little bit longer than my old stroller (which only seated one kiddo), but it's not any wider, and when it's folded up it's actually less bulky. I've heard mixed reviews on the Sit 'n Stand stroller, but I've tested several and am happy with this one. It was in-stock as our local Toys R Us and with the coupon in Sunday's paper, we got a good price on it .

I also ordered up a 12-pack of cloth diapers. Look at these cuties:I picked two of every blue, green, and yellow. I already have one of the softer blue (called Twilight, of all things!) and the softer green (called Grasshopper). Husband says he will change the pees, but all the poops are on me. Whatever, I'm fine with it.

I bought them from CottonBabies.com - free shipping, no tax, and with a 5-percent off coupon code. ALSO, the 12-pack offered a free set of baby legs. I ordered the ones called "Hopscotch Jack" for obvious reasons:A baby in argyle ... how cute is that? MY baby is argyle ... seriously, we should end our quest for cutest thing ever right now. We've found it!

For those you unfamiliar with BabyLegs (or leggies, as I think they're generally called), they fit a baby like this:

I guess it's so babies can hang out around the house. I think leggies are like PJ pants or something. Maybe people just like to show off their cloth diapers? Not sure. But they're cute. I'm not really well-versed in the area of cloth diapers, so hopefully Courtney will comment to clear some things up.

Now that I have spent all my husband's money (he usually says it's "our money," but with mentions of cloth diapers and stroller expenses it sometimes becomes his money), I am off to assemble the stroller and then test it out with a walk to Bean's school.

But This Makes Me Laugh

Seriously ...

Who would want to own all five seasons of Martin?

I didn't even know Martin went into five seasons.

I do remember REALLY liking the font they used in the credits and making several journal entries where I wrote with little characters under my vowels. Cool, huh?

If you must own them, then click right here. Only $49.99!

Books & Cloth Diapers

I finally wrapped up When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. Twas good. Exactly what you expect - witty and well-written. I love how he can write so personally without you once thinking, "Good Lord! I didn't need to know that!" Never TMI with Mr. Sedaris (unlike one Augusten Burroughs ... Running with Scissors, while I loved it, was entirely TMI). I particularly loved the essay where he's sitting in a class (he's learning Japanese) and is overwhelmed by how quickly he reverts to brown-nosing ... even at 40+ years of age. He often reminds us that, no matter how much we distance ourselves from "then," we're never too far from ourselves.

I also finished Twilight very quickly. I loved it. I mean, the writing is close to terrible (it's young adult fiction, after all, and not snobbish literary fiction), but the story is SO good. Half of it is so familiar, teenage angst and love and whatnot. The other half is so unfamiliar - vampires! It's great. I have the other three books on order. And I can't wait to eat them up. It's not quite as good as Harry Potter (which, while young adult fiction, is well written), but still has that addictive "what happens next" quality. If you're on the fence about whether or not to jump on the Twilight bandwagon, I strongly encourage you to read it.

I'm now reading The Birth Order Book: Why You Are the Way You Are. It's fascinating! Much of the information is already obvious - the oldest are successful, the middle are independent, and the babies are babies. But I'm very interested in how other factors, like the sex of the children and distance between them, play into their lives. Bean and Moose have the "ideal" distance (according to Dr. Kevin Leman), at three years. Both being male, though, it's probable that they will be a bit competitive and will fall into their roles of oldest and youngest. Should a 3.0 come along, Moose will become the peacemaker and likely overlooked - more so if 3.0 is a girl. I'm an obvious first born, but I do have quite a few only-child qualities as well, which makes sense since I'm nearly seven years older than my brother. My husband is in the same boat (being the oldest and eight years older than his sister), which might explain why we butt heads so much - people who marry outside their birth order often have "easier" marriages. Who knew?

I also bought TWO cloth diapers. Yup, two. The diapers will allegedly fit my kid up to 35 pounds. True or not, we will see.