Closet Blog Readers

Yeah... you know who you are. The ones who love to dive into a blog, but never ever leave a comment.

I've been meaning to do this for a long time, but didn't up til now (obviously). But I looked at the "tick counter" on our blog today and it read a much larger number that I thought it would. So - I want to know who's all looking at our blog. Would you do me a favor and leave a comment here if you are checking into the "What the Heck" blog. Not that you have to continue commenting or that I don't want you looking at it (because I love it that people are reading it), but I just want to know who's all peeking into our lives.

If you've never left a comment before, it's not tough...
-just click on the Comment link at the end of this post.
-Type your message (or even just your name) into the text box on the right hand side,
-Type the word that you see in the box below it,
-Next, either type in your google user name/password, or just click on the circle next to Name/URL, and type in your name.
-Then click on Publish Your Comment.

Thanks for doing this for me!

An Early Mom's Day Laugh

This came from a friend of mine via email and I just couldn't help but put it on the blog as a tribute to Moms everywhere. We try to teach them well, but sometimes the answers just don't quite come out right.

To all you moms reading this... you are wonderful, strong and amazing people... and don't ever forget it!!

--- WHY GOD MADE MOMS ---

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?
1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goofball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Random things...

I have a bunch of little things to tell you so this is going to be a random post....

28 Down...
So I have 28 Ethan collages completed (one for every month of 2005 & 2006 plus a couple extra for special occasions - baptism, trips, birthday, etc). Now only 2 more years to go for both the boys! YIKES. But I really do love them and think I'll be happy when I get caught up. However, so far I've just been going to the pictures that I already have backed up on CD and named accordingly. Once I get into later 2008 I am going to have to go through and name, back-up, and then make the collages. Yes... the easy months are done - the harder ones are yet to come. UGH.




My 1st portrait...
This morning Ethan, without me knowing, decided to draw a picture for me. At first he didn't have a name on it so I asked who it was. He immediately said, "Oh, I forgot something," and then started writing my name on the top. Once done, he said, "Look, Mom, it's you!" Thanks Ethan - I love it. Especially the spiky hair!

Ham Hand....
We had ham the other night for dinner and Ethan found this "Ham Hand" amongst the pieces of ham that he had on his plate. (I specifically cut it off the ham bone like that -- aren't I talented? Ha...I couldn't even dream of cutting something so cute.)

Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck....
The boys are into playing Duck, Duck Goose lately. This was the longest period of "Duck, duck, duck..." I have ever seen with only 3 players.

Nesting...

You know, it's never a good thing when you husband comes home and says, "You've been busy... are you nesting or what?" What do you mean... just because I got more than one thing accomplished in a day - does that mean I'm nesting? Well, sometimes it probably would seem like that when the house work takes a back seat to playing outside and doing anything but the housework that needs to be done. But, hey, at least he noticed this time, right!?!

There is a God

It's 7:30am and my youngest child is still asleep in his bed!

Things I Truly Dislike Doing

Today was one of those days when I wished with all my might that someone would grant me a wish. My wish - that someone would do the things around the house that I despise doing! What are those things, you ask? I'll tell you.

1. Cleaning toilets (2 boys that use the toilets - enough said).
2. Grocery shopping.
3. Scrubbing tubs.
4. Making 3 meals a day, every day, (and having them be meals that the kids will eat).
5. Wiping up bathroom floors.

That's my list for today. Tomorrow it could be 5 different things. But, you know, I really don't think it will be because these are things that I dread doing each and every day/week. And since
a)we don't have a $$ tree in our backyard and...
b)I'm not going to win the lottery (because I don't buy tickets) and...
c)I don't think I'm going to find the Genie in the Bottle....

I guess I'll just have to continue doing them.

Our Outside Projects

The weather has been so nice here for the last week (60's & 70's & sunny!). And the nice weather (and a slower work schedule) brings time for outside projects to begin. Rick and I each had our own projects this past week.

Rick - a retaining wall in our back yard to keep the mulch from sliding onto the concrete slab. Angie - planting tulips and hyacinths in an area that has had NOTHING for the past 3 years.

And the progress reports...

Rick's Project
We have a slope in our back yard where the mulch never stays on it. Doesn't help that Kelty (our 50+ pound pooch) goes up and down this slope to get to where she does her outside business. So, the mulch slides off the weed barrier, covers up the plants that are downhill from it, and eventually ends up on the concrete slab at the bottom off the hill! UGH. So, we decided last year that we would build a retaining wall this spring in order to alleviate some of the mess on the concrete and keep the mulch looking nicer. Simple as that. Just a small wall with a few bricks. Should be a quick project (or so we thought).

We found out that putting up a simple retaining wall and filling in the back of it is not quite that simple. There are things such as drainage fabric, aggregate/drainage rock, etc that also need to be put in place to make it the correct way. Why must things be so much more involved than originally thought?? This past weekend, Rick got the retaining wall rocks that were needed and has them set up as they need to be. Now all the extra "behind the wall" stuff that needs to be done before he can fill in with dirt and additional mulch. (work in progress pictures below.... finished project pictures coming at a later date)

Having so much fun....

The remainder of the blocks that need to be stacked

Getting the work done, but not using the greatest "lifting form" here. Luckily no back issues the next day.

Angie's Project
I LOVE tulips! Many women love getting roses for special days... not me. I like them, but don't enjoy the smell of them (it actually gives me a headache if I am around it for a long time. I figured that out in college when my roommates had these boyfriends that would buy them roses all the time. They would set them on the kitchen table so everyone could enjoy them, but I would get headaches whenever I tried sitting at the kitchen table to study. Ok - I digressed, but that's one reason I love tulips so much more than roses.)

Well, I have wanted to plant tulips for as long as Rick and I have been married, but have never done it. It comes to fall time when you're supposed to plant the bulbs and I've run out of energy for doing outside work. So, fall comes and goes and once again I will not have tulips in the spring. UNTIL this year! I found tulips at Lowe's that were already established and just had to be planted AND they were 50% off because it's the end of the season. Of course, I couldn't pass up 50% off and stocked up on them and a few hyacinths. The planting started on Monday morning, and my project is complete as of this evening! And I must say, I am going to love the added color and freshness in this particular area of our back yard that was drab and rather boring before! Check it out...

The before...

on the left side is the boring, drab, nothing in the bark area under the deck

The After Photos....

Just some fun close ups of the flowers....

What's next on the project list, you ask? There are way too many to list, but here's just a few to let you know what we are going to be up to...

~Finish the retaining wall~

~Build a bigger sandbox for the boys~

~Replenish the mulch in the front yard flower beds~

~Paint the woodwork around the doors outside(it is in dire need of repainting!!)~

And the list goes on and on....

Faces of Ethan

Ethan is our actor... he has so many different faces throughout the day I can't even describe them all! Here is just a snippet of the MANY faces of Ethan.

Just Being Trev

Trevor has been a little ticket lately, especially when it comes to being in front of the camera. We finally figured out that saying "cheese" for him does not work to get a picture so we've resorted to "Belly". Gives a great "smile like" face at the end of the word. But today, he informed me that we were going to start saying "Snowman". Not sure why - maybe he's missing the white, fluffy stuff during this warm, summer like week.

Here are just a few of the "Trev being Trev" pictures from the last couple weeks.

Saying "Bellyyyyy" and resisting the urge to pull up his shirt to show me his belly.

Hooray - I found my Easter basket!!

Peek a boo, Mom... I see you.

"Hiding" in the laundry basket. He's a great hider, isn't he?

Blowing on the great music maker. High pitched whistles are always a wonderful noise in my book.

Hanging out on the balance beam at his "Jump Class". It will be a sad day when we can't go to them anymore...Thanks Up-to-3, we've really enjoyed this class!

Making Mom Proud

Recently, we've talked to Ethan about helping out on specific things around the house. He has always (ok - maybe not always, but if we ask) helped out with picking up toys or the books in his room, etc. However, we've listed a few things he could do that would really help out Mom on a daily basis - making his bed, putting the dirty clothes in the hamper rather than strewed everywhere on the bedroom floor, putting the books back in his bookcase. Those are his "bedroom items" and are the ones that have hit home the most this week.

Much to my surprise this morning, Ethan stopped eating his breakfast and ran to his room. I asked him what he was doing and he replied, "I'm going to make my bed for you, Mom, and then I'm going to come back and finish my breakfast." Normally, we don't get up from the table until we are finished eating, but who am I to stop a good thing in progress! Upon finishing his room, Ethan stood at the end of the hall with a HUGE smile and said, "Come look, Mom. I'm done!"

Not knowing what I was going to find, I walked down the hall with the attitude that ANY bit of improvement was going to be praised. Much to my surprise, his room was clean. The bed was "made" (not quite to my standards, but it was good for a 4 year old), the books were put in the bookcase, and most of the clothes was put in the hamper! WOW... I was so excited and let him know it! You did a great job Ethan, and I could tell you were so proud of the job you did. Keep it up -- it makes me very proud as well!

Bedtime Story

One day a couple weeks ago as Rick and I were turning in for the night, Rick got into bed and said, "What in the heck?" He was feeling a few "less than pleasant" things underneath him. As he looked, he realized it was a crumb from a Goldfish. ummmm... I wonder how that got there.

As it so happened, I allowed the kids to eat their Goldfish snack on our bed as I was folding clothes earlier in the day. Now, I was planning on changing sheets which is why the bed wasn't made AND why I let them eat snacks on our bed. Otherwise, that is typically a no-no. However, since I am telling this story, I obviously didn't get to changing the sheets. As Rick continued to swipe away the crumbs, his only comment (while giggling a little) was, "Nothing like sleeping on a gravel road!"

Sorry, Rick. Next time I'll make sure to change the sheets after snacks - or at least wipe the crumbs out for you.

A Welcomed Change

I am the type of person that almost always has something making noise in the house. Whether it's the television, the radio, etc, I always have a noise maker on (even if it's just my kids screaming and laughing). But this morning, I am enjoying something different. Quiet. The TV is off. The radio is off. Trevor -- well, he's still here, but when it's just him and me at home he can go for quite some time looking at books or doing quiet activities. I am walking through the house hearing my footsteps, hearing the rain fall against the roof, hearing the hum of the refrigerator. Such a great and welcomed change for the day! Tranquility.

Yuck - Girl Germs

As we were picking up toys this morning, Ethan informed me that doesn't like girls anymore. Just boys. Much to my dismay I asked, "Does that mean you don't like me?" He responded by explaining to me, "I just don't like kid girls, but I like you, Grandma Cathy and Grandma Carol, my aunts, and all other older girls. It's just the kids girls that I don't like."

Whew... that's a relief!

But I do have to admit that I'm a bit confused being that yesterday he played with his friends Chloe and Lily (who are both girls) and was visibly sad when I came to pick him up and he had to leave. Guess it must be a thing of today...tomorrow we'll be back to liking both boys AND girls!

Where Did You Go?

Where did my long haired, messy headed kids go??

The Before....

And After...

And I just love how completely opposite their eye color is in the "After" photo and the one below.

Loss of the Fun Things

Today was a "lesson learning" day for both the boys. More so Ethan since he actually knew what was going on, but it was a tough one nonetheless. The day started off well with me getting a work out in early in the morning and after that we decided to play a little bit before heading to the grocery store. When we ventured to one of the grocery stores the day started to unravel.

Once at the grocery store Ethan decided that it was once again going to be "his day" while shopping. No tantrums this time; however, he ran the cart into an end cap display because he was screwing around (thankfully it didn't knock stuff over, but it gave Trevor a pretty good whiplash), he picked up a large number of different fruits trying to put them in the cart, he asked for a certain package of cookies and I said "No, not today" not once, not twice, not three times, but FOUR. And by the 4th time it was in that whiny "Mom, I waaaant some cookies" voice and then pouted and walked about 20 paces behind me. That was it!

I took the few things that I already had in the cart and put them back, and we walked out of the store and went home. Got home, ate lunch and it was supposed to be nap time. Trevor went down, but I got a phone call from our neighbor, Julie, to ask if I could pick Chole up from preschool because she had to run do something for her dear husband. That meant Ethan escaped taking a nap. That was ok - the plan was after Trevor was done napping we were going to GO BACK to the store, try again, and if behaviors were better, we would be able to have outside time in the beautiful, sunny weather.

But then, while Trevor was still sleeping I got another phone call from Michelle asking if I could watch her little girl because she had to take her son to the doctor unexpectedly at 2pm. So, that meant no going to the grocery store in the afternoon. It was so nice outside that I just couldn't keep them all inside. And I couldn't be in two places at once - outside with the younger two and inside with Ethan, so I let them all go out. But not without consequence... instead of the outside playtime being taken away, the basketball and hoop were not to be played with. Just one privilege loss substituted for a different one. Whew... what a crazy day... and it's not even done yet.

As the kids were playing outside, Ethan made another grave mistake at the Heck house... opening the gate from the backyard and going to the front yard without telling me he was going. Oh, my little man, it's just not a good day for you! So, that meant the 20 minutes of cartoon he normally gets as part of a bedtime routine was GONE. Another privilege flying out the door for the day.

Around 4pm Michelle came and got her little one (thankfully, her son is going to be just fine) and then I had to figure out how to work around this little behavior incident we had earlier in the day. The plan ended up being that we were going to eat dinner (Ethan, Trevor and I since Rick had a work dinner to go to) and then we were heading back to the grocery store. Hopefully with better behavior than the last time. And I am very happy to report that it was MUCH MUCH better. Not perfect, but it was acceptable!

It was a rough day for Ethan and he learned that Mom can take away things, just like his pre-school teachers can and he hates that! He understands that it's not fun to have the "good things" taken away and tries to work really hard at being good to keep them.

Well that's our day in a nutshell... til our next grocery store visit...

Fun with Friends

The weather around here this time of year is absolutely beautiful!  Not too hot, but still sunny and warm enough to play outside.  Ethan and Trevor were having some fun with their friends, the Allen kids, today and had a blast just being outside and running free!  These were the best days as a child weren't they... Not a care in the world, all you had to do was play with friends and stay out of trouble.  Just play.  Have fun. 

It was wonderful to see them all laughing and giggling today!  Thanks for playing Lily and Brigham.

Technology Catch Up

If you know Rick and I, you know that having the latest and greatest product/technology out there is not all that important to us. Over the last 6 months or so we've been toying around with the idea of getting a new printer for our computer. Going back to that first sentence, we had a very old printer... you know, the kind that has only 3 buttons (on/off, paper feed, and replace ink) and sounds like you can hear every little movement it makes.

This past weekend STAPLES started running a sale that if you bring in your old printer you get $50 off a new one. Again, we hemmed and hawed and then I decided to go down and print off one of my collages on photo paper to see if our old printer would do the trick. (Originally I was going to print all those collages at SAM's, but the quality of a JPEG compared to the original Power Point was terrible. So I have to print them all at home.) Upon putting paper in and clicking on print, the paper started going through and then one of the "levers" inside got stuck in the up position, putting a slice in the paper. UGH. Fluke? Let's try again. Ran through all the same steps. Result #2.... slice in paper AGAIN. Well, guess that answers my question -- Yes, we need a new printer.

So, we've upgraded into the 2000's with a new printer and I love it!! (Here's a picture of the "tank".) I've printed off the collages that I have completed (and this amounts to a very small portion of what the final number will be. Why do I wait for YEARS before starting projects like this??) The quality is far superior to anything we could have dreamed of with our "back in the day" printer. Oh, and the best thing. I sit on the couch with my computer, finish a collage on the laptop and then hit print and the printer (that is located downstairs) will start working away. YEP - it's wireless. What a great invention!

Happier Now

It always amazes me how much happier I am when I walk into the house to a clean mud/laundry room rather than the disaster that it was earlier today. The washer and dryer tops are free of stuff, the shoes are put in the cubbies, the jackets are hung in the closet rather than on the door knobs, the counter top is free of all things and the little pebbles that were all over the floor are vacuumed up. Now if only the rest of my house could be as spotless as the mud room is at this moment!
(Notice, I said, "at this moment" because I'm sure by the weekend it will not be the way it is now...ugh)

A Girl's Day

Oh what a day it has been (and it's not even over yet)! I've had some Christmas money burning a hole in my pocket the past few months and today was the day that I blew it all away. I decided last night that I was going to go shopping a bit after dropping Ethan off at school today. I was in desperate need of some new summer tops and pants since most of mine were well past their expiration date and had been worn for way too long.

So, off Trevor and I went and that "a bit" ended up being the ENTIRE morning. Trevor was such a trooper and that made it much easier to keep trying stuff on and putting it in the cart. And I was proud of myself at the end of the day -- I only spent a little bit from our account, but most came right from the Christmas money (Thanks, Granny! I hope you were watching me have fun in the stores.)

Here are a couple pictures of what is now going to be hanging in my closet. There are a couple pair of pants, a pair of shorts, 4 dresses, and 14 tops (3 of which are sweaters - you can't pass up the end of winter clearance buys). Oh, how excited I am to wear the fun, colorful stuff I bought! Now we just need to have spring stick around for more than one day.

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Now, not only did I go shopping today, but I had things delivered to our house! Our Blog Book that I was waiting so patiently for arrived today... and I LOVE IT!! I can't wait to start on the book with our 2008 entries. At the ripe ol' age of 32 I am already forgetting things that the kids and Rick and I do so this will be a great great way to recap each year and to have everything documented in a fun format! Thank you Blurb for supporting Blogspot once again...

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Today was not just a good day for me, but also a good day for the other girl in the house, Kelty! Much like my need for new clothes, Kelty was in desperate need of a new bed to sleep on. This bed is normally in the living room for her and it was getting so bad that the other night she dragged it through the dining room, down the stairs and to the basement. She wanted it out!!

Today was the day she got that new bed... and was laying in it only 5 minutes after I put it in the living room.

Out with the oldIn with the new...