Just a portion of my crazy week....

I must say that I am always happy when Friday rolls around. This year I'm even more excited because my wonderful husband is off on Fridays. That makes me super happy! It's been a busy week. Last week I had the wonderful privilege of doing this:

What exactly is this? Well this is about 1/4 of my son's toy cars. I got to wash them! Why? Well, apparently, he needed to pee-pee and the bathroom, that's exactly 7 steps down the hall, was just too far away. So he decided to pee on his cars and the car holder. Yup. That smelled lovely. So, after a long soak in a bleach, soap, and hot water sink, they are now back to being carpet mines.{carpet mines: small weapons, aka toys, that are placed on the carpet where hard working responsible adults step on them, barefooted, quickly losing their religion and the feeling in their foot. May also cause one to hop on uninjured foot, causing one to not pay attention and step on another carpet mine. Note: This will bring tears to your eyes while children look at you as though you have lost your mind.}

One of our dear little pets, Corndog, brought home a nice little treat yesterday. Only, it was an entire fried chicken breast. I feel the need to mention, our Corndog is a weeny dog. He is small. The chicken breast he brought home, and into my house by the way, was two times bigger than his head! We were just minding our own business, doing school work, and we hear him crying outside. I told Sweet Pea to let him in. Upon entering I see this monstrous something in his mouth. I'm thinking, what in the world is that? Sweet Pea was laughing so hard, she couldn't form a sentence. All I got was.... Corndog...something....I....don't know...So, I run and chase after him and alas find out it is a fried chicken breast. I start telling him to let go. He doesn't listen. He's worse than the kids. I try to pull it out of his jaws, I only remove half of the chicken. I have to pop him on his little nose 2 or 3 times to get him to drop the rest. He follows me to the trash can and starts crying. I mean, he is moaning. He is a sad puppy. He finds Sweetie Pie and jumps up on her knees and starts crying. Like he's tattling on me. He was mad the rest of the day. He didn't even curl up by my legs after the kids went to sleep. I have no idea where he got it. I'm sure there is a doberman somewhere with a chicken wing saying, "What the what?" 

This past week my entire hall was filled with baby dolls. From one end to the other. Sweetie Pie decided she would line them up and take a tally. She even had a notebook and pencil. She was calling roll and taking names! Her brother was "helping" her. By helping I mean he was made to help. She put him to work lining up baby dolls. I wish I had a picture, I didn't think of it until after the fact. 

My son has started calling the potty the "Oval Office". I completely blame this on that Clorox commercial with all the different names for a toilet. I also blame this on my husband.  He finds it hilarious. Why is toilet humor so funny to males?  He says, "I'm going to have some fun in the Oval Office!" "I'm going to poop in the Oval Office!" SIGH. That child is only 4. Dear Lord, please help me. He is not even a teenager yet. P.S. Why are boys so gross?

So, as you can see it's been busy. This is only a portion of my week. It snowed yesterday! I have pictures I'll post later. It was a fun day. We only get one snow day a year. We had to go out in it! 

I hope ya'll have a good weekend! I hope I have a weekend that doesn't include oval offices or chicken breast. 

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A recap of the new year...thus, far....

It has been a glorious new year! I know, it's only day 4 of 365 days but, it's still good! I've been out of the Facebook loop for about 5 days. I must say it feels nice, to not be at the computer every few hours just scrolling up and down. I feel much more relaxed. I still occasionally fight an urge to go "check Facebook, real fast"(like, that's ever possible!) but I have been strong and I have stayed away. I find I spend more time with the kids when I am away from FB. Which, is slightly awkward to admit. I should always make time to build the Joker's layer with my boy and congratulate my girls on what amazingly stable Lincoln log buildings they have made. And yet, in the past, it would be, "I will in a minute" or "In just a little while". How disrespectful I have been. I'm glad I decided to take a break. I realized just how much it had control over the little things. The little things that will not always be around.


I finally finished the The Inheritance Cycle. It's a really great set of books(4) that has everything fantasy you could want: dwarfs , all kinds of strange creatures,  elves, and the best part of all dragons. I never thought I would love this genre of books but alas, it's one of my favorites. Thanks to my husband! It really left me wanting more. If you ever have the chance to read it, you should totally pick it up! Now, I'm just trying to figure out what to read next. I always have that problem!

We woke up to 27 degree weather this morning. That's cold. This would normally not really be that big of a deal but today it is. I parked in the front of the house. Instead of the garage. I promised I would take the kids to Wal-mart(which by the way, I am certain is one of the entrances into Hades) to spend their gift card they got for Christmas. I'm waiting until after lunch so that  no one is Hangry (angry because they are hungry). Pray for me.

I am ready for Spring. We've been getting planting magazines in the mail almost every day since Christmas. We've made a list of everything we want to plant. It makes me so excited! The kids are by far warm weather kids. They love to be on their bikes, running around outside, playing sports, and chasing the dogs everywhere. I like winter a lot. But, I am also looking forward to warmer weather. :)



My brother, sister in love, and Micah and I decided to get my parents a picture of all their grand babies for Christmas. We decided to do one really big picture and then an album of all the other pictures. This was 100% easier said than done. We had two cameras, about 30-40 minutes and four grand kids. We needed just one picture where everyone was looking at the camera and smiling. And that my friends was exactly what we got. One picture out of all the pictures we took. My sister in love captured the one picture with her extremely nice, extremely fast camera. I think the more kids we add to the family, we're going to need an even faster camera. Here are some of the "outtakes" from my camera! Enjoy!

Only the boys are looking at the camera.

Ok, no one is looking at the camera, they're throwing leaves. 

Yeah, the falling leaves were much more entertaining than two mommy's taking pictures.

I love the looks on all of their faces in this one! They all crack me up! 

I think they are getting slightly disgusted. 

The boys have the exact same look as each other. So do the girls! lol! 

Did I mention, we had to keep this a surprise from my parents for a month. We had to be all Mission: Impossible with it. They were surprised and happy. I hope to get more Christmas pictures loaded from my camera to the computer then to the blog, soon. I hope. I must leave now, my son just said, "I'm going to go kick some honey buns " Well, that wasn't as nice as telling his sisters he loved them because they "had big hearts and are nice!" like he did the other night. At least they haven't offered to "Let's make over brother! That's a great idea!"  Happy first week of 2013!



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The New Year!

It has been a long 2 weeks. In both good and not so good ways. The bad first. The kids have been sick with, as the doctor said, something "viral". Fevers of 104, snot, coughing, more snot. For something that was viral it certainly feels flu like. The kids were just lethargic and doing all they could to try and play. This is completely out of character for all of my kids. We had to miss all of our family get together's. We were all sad about it. We were able to go to my parents house(just around the corner) on Christmas night. The good news is, we were all in the house together. Yes, we were all getting a tad stuffed up. But, there was a lot of snuggling going on with the kids. Lots of time playing and be thankful for what was in front of us. We were really able to soak up the finally days of Christmas 2012. We watched Christmas movies, ate popcorn, and laughed. Even though they felt awful, they still gave us plenty of laughs. Unfortunately, they have passed their cold on to the parents. This is not nice. I think we need to re-think the whole "sharing" thing for New Years.  Which brings me to the coming New Year.

I love the beginning of a new year. A new year, a new start. A time of refreshing and starting over. Every year, I feel as if there is a "theme" to the coming year.(Is this weird, or do other people do this? Maybe?) Sometimes it's peace, joy, change. This year I really feel there are two themes The first is simplicity. Going back to the basics. The time before so much Internet, so much TV. Just being in the moment with the people you love. My husband and I recently went out to eat. As we sat and watched everyone around us, we noticed an almost unnatural attachment people had to their phones. It was as if their smart phone was permanently attached to their hands. The kids got the board game Operation for Christmas. The game even has a "Texting Thumb". Then we realized that only a few months ago that was us. We had a smart phone and an I-pod touch. We were constantly looking down and never looking up. We answered each other in mumbles and "uh-huhs". There but not present. This really confirmed Simplicity for me. We no longer have smart phones, only the basic *gasp* cell phone and dare I say it...land line. We have no laptop or i-Pad. We have a plain desktop and a Kindle reader. Then I realized how, even though I don't have a device at hands length anymore, I still spend more time than I should on-line. I am on Facebook or Pinterest a lot. There are games to play and people to "observe" on Facebook. I never have enough time to get the things done, I need to get done. Hmmm...wonder why? I am taking a break for a while from the Facebook world starting the New Year. A new year, a new start. I have 4 very special people in my life that need my attention more than the dramatic people on Facebook that I may see once a year. Maybe. (Some I haven't seen in years.) My family are the ones that need my observation. Our kids are the ones who need our attention. I don't want my kids to be unable to be sociable in any situation. Walking around with technology in their hands and sending messages, will cause them to not know how to interact in "real" life. So, all that to say, it's time for me to step back and be in the moment. Be on social networks three times less than I was. And I'm ok with that.

The second "theme" for this year is Trust. It's something everyone has issues with in one form or another. This is really spiritual thing for me. I want to get closer to my Savior. I love the song that says, I am a friend of God, he calls me friend. Then I thought about it. He knows everything about me, as a best friend should. Yet, what do I really know about him? Do I know all there is to know about him. Yes, I am aware that it will take a life time to know our Lord. Probably, eternity. But, I want to not only try but succeed in knowing all I can about him. When you have a close friend, you have to be able to put all of your trust in them. I feel there is going to be a lot of growing and stretching this year. It's the growing and stretching that makes us who we are. I'm going to trust that God is going to take care of us every day. That he will be our provider and friend. That if we put our trust in him and him alone, he will not let us down. So, I'm going to trust in him and let him be my everything. 

There are exciting things going on with the Fowler's. I'm excited! As always, I'll keep you posted! Hopefully, I will have Christmas pics up soon. Perhaps, by Easter? ;) Now, I have to go be in that moment I was speaking of. My son is trying to stick a Handy Manny sticker on the dog while telling his sister the dog doesn't like her. And that the dog said it not him.



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Happiness is...

What is happiness? A few definitions of happiness is :: a state of well-being and contentment : Joy and

a pleasurable or satisfying experience

There are many things that make me happy. There are also some things that make me unhappy. I'll give you a few examples. (NOTE: This isn't all that make me a happy just a few things!)

HAPPY                                                                   

1. A clean house
2. Clean laundry 
3. DVR
4. Sparkling grape juice
5. Shoes that I bought on sale @ Kohl's (A pair of Dana Buchman dress shoes for $20 originally    $69.99..OH YEAH!)
6. Naps
7. Children who behave
8. My husband being off work for a week! 
9. Christmas
10. Healthy family      
11. Books
12. The bible(I love how I learn something new every time I read it!)

Some things that make me not so happy:

1. A bed room that has been destroyed exactly 2.4 minutes after I walk out of a clean room. How do they do that? Really? It's one of life's mysteries. 
2. Laundry....let's just not go there.
3. Cleaning up rice from a homemade rice sock(you know the kind you warm up in the microwave to put on sore muscles?) My Sweetie Pie and the Boy, decided one would bite a hole in said sock and they would collectively spread contents around Sweetie's Pie room. I should have known something was going on when I heard no arguing for 5 minutes! Did I mention, the parents of above mentioned children found it at bedtime, when trying to tuck said children into bed. 
4. Cinnamon that has been spilled in the kitchen floor and rolled around in by a 4 year old little boy. {Thank God, he didn't get sick from inhaling it!} I was on the computer for 3 minutes and he attacks. 
5. I don't like that the awesome deal I got on my shoes is still not here yet! *said, weepy* They should be here by December 24. At least that's what the tracking info said. I'm trying so hard to be patient I really am. ;)
6. Not being able to take naps. Sometimes you just need a nap. 
7. Children who fight and argue and tattle every 2 minutes. Literally. (It could be worse, I do realize that. But I could so go without it for say 20 minutes.)
8. Tissue fights. I don't like tissue fights. My son likes tissue fights. In which he takes as many tissues out at a time he can without getting caught. This is why I hide my good Puffs tissues. 

 Well, at least the good outweighs the bad. I really am blessed. If we make it to Christmas without 2.3 million time outs and my sanity left in tack at least 10%, we'll be doing well. Here's to hope! Without it, I would join the natives and roll in some cinnamon and have tissue fights while dancing in dry rice. Don't be jealous!                                                    




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Let's Play Catch Up, Shall We?

It has been busy, as usual. Sometimes, after a very long day, all I want to do is sit down and make some room on my DVR.  And I'm talking no kids interrupting or whining or crying or putting their sister in a choke hold. Do you know what I'm talking about? I know you do! So lets play catch up. I have a few minutes while the kids are watching Good Luck Charlie. Thank you Lord for Disney. I'm not ashamed to admit I let the kids watch TV. Especially when I need a minute to catch up on the ole blog. Or Pinterest.

• Sweetie Pie turned 5. My boy turned 4. Oh my gosh! When did that happen? Since turning 4, my boy has decided he should grow a beard. A big beard. Like his Paw-paw. Then he said he needs to shave it like Daddy. Yeah, could you not go and be that old yet? Please, and Thank You! Sweetie Pie has just piled on the sassy since turning 5. Seeing as she is no longer 4, like her brother. They've also been trying to drive me crazy by trying their best to make the other get in trouble. It's never ending. Not that I really want it any other way. 
• The husband and I are now the leaders of the Preschool class at church. Yay! That's right ages 3,4 and 5 are now being lead my the Fowler's! It's fun. They never run out of amazing hilarious things to say. Much like our own home. I found myself in a deep discussion with a 3 year old about how Jesus was much better than Santa. He didn't give up and I did, when I realized I was actually arguing with a three year old. Great things are happening! That you can be sure! :)
• We made a 4 and 1/2 hour trip to see family for Thanksgiving. It was a nice drive until my boy decided to bounce of the car walls. It was fun. Really, it was. Ok, it was slight torture. None of the cousins went to sleep until around 12:30 or 1:00 in the morning. The good news is, the boy only made an appearance in his underwear once. That was the afternoon before we left. It meant we stayed too long, he became too comfortable. I made a permanent note to self on that one. Son becomes comfortable= Pants come off. 
• We are having a family gathering at our house again this year for Christmas! Lets pray we don't have a repeat of last year. Griswold, Fowler...it's all the same really!  haha! That was a nervous laugh by the way. 
• We have a bad case of musical beds going on. The boy was in all 4 beds in the course of an hour every night this week. I was finally to the point of, just lay down and go to sleep. I don't care if it's on the roof. Especially when Parenthood is on. I love this show. It's a night time soap opera. It's awesome. Next week looks like a tear jerker. Is anyone else {slightly}addicted to this show?
• Speaking of shows, we got a DVR. Have I mentioned that before? I don't remember. It's awesome. No commercials. Pause button when you have to go potty.(I just said potty. Hi, I'm Jessica. I'm a mom. In case the potty comment didn't give that away...) Or if one son is pulling hair, literally, out of his sister's head. Yeah, a parent had to invent DVR. 
• We have our tree up! Yay for Christmas time! We celebrate all month long. It's one of my favorite holidays! The girls are going to be in a Christmas play at church. It's going to be so awesome! I'm excited for them! 
• Next week we're going to see the Nutcracker Ballet! I am so excited! Probably even more than my girls are! Eeck! 
• I totally won the entire Friends series on Blu-ray a few weeks ago. It came yesterday. I can't wait to be able to sit for a few minutes so I can start watching it from the beginning!  
• I think that pretty much sums it up. Let's see all of that on top of cleaning, cooking, schooling, saying no 5.2 billion times a day, church. Yeah, I think that may be it. Of course, I'll update if there is more. Until then, I'll try to survive the night. Thank God, the kids don't know where the duck tape is. One day, they may just try to duck tape me to a chair. Not that I would complain...that bad! Happy Thursday...hang on, tomorrow is Friday...you're almost there! :) 

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Fun times at the Fowler house.....

I'm ready for the weekend. How about you? You probably are right?! Well, I like to have all of my "stuff" done before the weekend starts. But here I am, writing on the blog. Not mopping the floor, or cleaning the bathrooms. Did I mention, I have a sink of dirty dishes because I didn't do them last night? Well, I do. I had a headache and laying on the couch topped my list of things to do last night. Not the dishes. Maybe it's the rain that is suppose to be coming in, but I am having serious headache issues. They are a pain in the...head. So, while the kids are watching Lion King 1 1/2 and eating a "picnic" lunch in the living room floor, I am bringing to you, The many antics of the Fowler children. Who knew three small children could cause so much...um...humor? Yeah, we'll go with humor.

1. When looking at clearance section at Target. There are little girl training bras. My Sweet Pea(one day she may die from finding this out, but until then, it's hilarious. And that's my job, right?) said, "Um I don't think that's going to fit you. It will be too small." Yeah...that's not for me, it might be for you one day. "OH, then I want this." As she points to a size A cup. Her father had a palpitation and  has yet to recover. I may think this is hilarious and I may be laughing at this very moment. 
2. Sweet Pea loves to read. She can read almost anything. She reads everything. Everything. This is good until a Viagra or Cialis commercial comes on. Not good.. Ever. This just added to her father's palpitation. In fact he has gone straight into heart attack form.  We have to tell her, "Don't read that, close your eyes!" Or the commercial that says, "If you have a mesh bladder sling..." Not fun for a 6 1/2 year old to read.  On a side note: Why must they put those kind of commercials on at 5 o'clock in the afternoon? Can they not wait until after 8pm...just curious! Her sister gets tired of her reading everything. She rolls her eyes and says, "Do you have to read everything?" 
3. Speaking of my Sweetie Pie. She has got to be the pickiest eater in the entire world. Some days, I find myself praying that Peanut Butter would have the same nutritional value as broccoli and squash. That is all she eats. She will eat fries. But this week she refused to eat fries because they were, "Too squishy." I told her no, they aren't. Now eat them. A few minutes later, she says, "look I ate them." She had spread the fries in a circle around her plate leaving only the middle of her plate empty. AHEM. I said, "No you didn't. You just moved them around your plate." Her response, "Oh, man! I hoped you wouldn't figure it out." 
4. She also has issues sleeping. As in she doesn't want to sleep by herself at all. Ever. We let her sleep on a pallet in our bedroom floor, if she comes in late at night. Well, it was 11:30pm and she had yet to fall asleep. So, I said, "Fine, just lay down on a pallet and go to sleep in here." I didn't realize our little weeny dog Corndog followed her in. All of a sudden I hear her laughing hysterically. The dog was snuggled up next to her back licking her. What's wrong with that you ask? Nothing is wrong with that at all....at 1 in the afternoon. Not at midnight. I should be asleep. Not up and angry. The dog was kicked out. I am not sad about it. 
5. My sweet boy. Sigh. At the moment he is telling his sister the steps. AKA the rules. Step 1. Don't step on the pillows. Step 2. Don't touch the TV. Step 3. Don't get on the couch. He must think the living room is his. And only his.
6.  He seems to think that everyone needs to be reminded to keep their manners. He tells me, "My girls don't know to eat with their mouth closed." Um...pretty sure you're the one that doesn't know how. 
7. He just said, "Rule 7, no touching my radio.....Hey Mommy, can you help me find my radio?
8. He has also decided to give me daily science lessons. Yeah. That is about as much fun as it sounds. Lesson #1: When we eat and drink it goes in our tummy and we poop or pee it out. Lesson #2:  "Hey Mommy, when you sit on a toilet you gotta read a book." good to know
9. When saying the pledge of allegiance, he finds it hilarious to say it in the highest voice possible. This only makes his sisters laugh and his mommy mess up the pledge from laughing. 
10. He likes to proudly announce, "I'm going to poop in the potty." He then returns and tells me, "See, it only takes a few minutes." I was just schooled in Science Lesson #3. 
11. He will also say, "The Bible. Chapter 1. Eat pizza pizza. Chapter 3. Eat Peanuts."
12. While I was cleaning his room, he grabs the bible and said, "Let me look in the bible. Yup, it says you have to clean my room. That's what it says."

At least he knows to look for answers in the bible. And he likes science. Sam does too, as long she doesn't have to eat anything that consist of healthy. Ha! I have floors to mop and bras to hide. And on that note, I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I think I know why I have a headache. I just told my son to get off his sister's head. Yup, that's where the headache comes from... 

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Dave Ramsey, a budget, and stretching....

And I'm not talking about stretching before a run! I'm talking about stretching my faith and trust in Jesus. Stretching and Growing. Setting Budgets and staying in those budgets. My husband and I are going through Financial Peace University at our church. It's the Dave Ramsey program. It is going to be good and sometimes border-line good, I think. In the end, our plan is to be debt free. Owing no man, anything. I know that we can get through this because, "But He said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:27 We were already {kinda} on a budget. At least, I thought we were until we filled out his Quick Start Budget. Then I realized, we were on exactly no budget. At all. We set aside $100 a week for groceries. Honestly, I was completely nervous about this. I had been getting groceries for $120-150 a week. I use to be able to get them for $75 a week and that was with diapers. So what was I doing to make my groceries jump from $45-$75 a week. I knew I could make this budget work, I just had to reset some things. Those things were:

1. Coupons. I had stopped using coupons. I didn't think it made that big of a difference. I was wrong. I was...lazy. While I am not "extreme" by any stretch of the imagination, I do think that $1.00 off here and there do add up. Pairing coupons with "Buy one, get one free" sales = many products, little prices.
2. Menu.  I create a menu for the week. I usually do four-five meals and two-three nights of leftovers. I spread the leftover nights out, that way there is plenty to choose from but we aren't having leftovers three nights in a row. I usually cook on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I use Wednesday and Sunday for leftovers.  I add what breakfast items, lunch items, and snack items we will need for the week. I only put what we need, not necessarily what we want on the list. This way we don't waste any food and therefore waste money.
3. List. I put exactly what is needed for each days' meals. I try to factor in healthy snacks. Unless, it is just a drop dead, awesome,  once in a blue moon deal, I leave it on the shelf.  Not on the list, not in the buggy.(Unless, I actually need it and forgot to put it on my list. Not that it has ever happened before....)

So, with my not so new budget ideas in hand, I head to the grocery store. I have my menu planned out: 

• Baked ziti and homemade french bread 
• Katsudan(Japanese pork dish) for our date night{We are having date night at home while the kids go to my parents house. We are both able to get in the kitchen and cook and spend time together without, "Can we watch a cartoon, what are you cooking, it smells funny! I don't want to eat it, She's looking at me. Mommmmmyyyyy....." We are getting a dollar rental from Redbox. So by having date night at home, we are saving money!  Dave Ramsey, would be proud! :)}
• Black bean burgers
• Smoked Sausage Bisque

My list is ready to go! I'm not too confident that I'm ready but with my trusty side kick Micah beside me, I know that we'll make it work! I went to Aldi and Publix.  In Aldi, I spent a grand total of: $40.71! I left with a buggy full of groceries. If you have an Aldi close by and you have never tried it, I say go for it! Especially if you aren't "brand specific". If you're buying Wal-mart/Target brands anyway, buy Aldi. Your grocery bill will be cut in half. Now that I have shared my love for Aldi with you, we're moving on!  In Publix, I spent a total of: $34.52! And I only used  five coupons, two of them they doubled. So you know I didn't spend 40hours of my week working on coupons.  My grand total for groceries this week was: $ 75.53! Not only did I get all my groceries for a week, but I came in under budget! My list included pork chops, smoked sausage, cheese( 8 cups of shredded and 16ounces of fresh mozzarella!), Shout, carpet powder, toilet paper, paper towels, fruit, veggies, milk, cheese, bread, chips, lunch meat....just to name a few things. So, I hope I have given you some hope, in the fact that if you try really hard and make some changes, you can make a budget and stick to it. Maybe this stretching and growing thing won't be so bad!  Then again, we are only on week one out of nine in our class...... I'll let you know how next week goes! Many blessings on that budget! :)

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