A Whole New Adventure

Do you ever feel like you are on a balance beam? Or how about a roller coaster? That pretty much describes my life lately. Since my Dad passed away in October, I have been helping my Mom with financial things, health, gathering items for the lawyer and anything else needed.

It's a balancing act of being daughter to my Mom while being a "Mom" to my Mom. At the same time, being a Mom to my 3 boys and a wife to my hubby. I'll admit, there are many times that I haven't balanced at all.

I've been on a roller coaster watching my Mom's health improve, decline, improve, decline and improve again. I treasure the moments when her health is good and she's my Mom from when I was a kid. It helps me get through the days her health is bad and she's dependent on me and others to care for her.

In the midst of all that is happening with my Mom, I feel like I've let my boys down. Or maybe it's just Mommy guilt. My latest "failure" is that David has been texting on his cell when we thought it was blocked. He eventually got caught, and admitted that since I hadn't checked our cell plan lately, he thought he could get away with it. How do I get him to understand sin? How many times can I punish him when he does something that he knows is wrong? How do I get through to him? Honestly, he's a good kid overall. But my heart tells me to nip this now, so his future will be good.

I often wonder when life will return to normal. I think this is my new normal.

Hold Your Nose

As a mom of 3 boys, I have been told numerous times that they will be stinky. Honestly, they were never stinky boys. Up until David was in 5th grade, he didn't enjoy getting dirty or being in the mud. I never had to deal with smelly rooms, until now.

Oh.My.Word. The stench that is coming out of my 13 year old's room would make you cry! It only started recently, hmmm. The boy spent this afternoon pulling every piece of clothing he owned and washing it. He isn't done yet, more to be washed tomorrow after school. I also sent him into his room armed with a bottle of Febreze.

My advice to all of you with boys: stock up on Febreze! You'll thank me later.

Snow Day Fun

Ethan "sledding" down our driveway

Ethan & Noah ready to "sled"

We finally got some snow here. The boys have enjoyed Thursday & Friday off as snow days. I probably haven't enjoyed it as much as they have!

They received slope sliders for Christmas. Let's just say, those little sleds looked much bigger in the LLBean catalog! The boys still had fun, they even tied rope to one of the sleds to pull each other on. Ethan only fell off a few times!

I think the snow is going to be around for a few more days - off to enjoy it!

It's coming - got milk?

Taken at 9:30am

Snow is coming! Run to the stores and get your milk and bread before the predicted 3-5inches gets here. Oh, and school closed at 5:45am - just in case!

Countdown to the Festivities

Getting ready to celebrate New Year's Eve with friends, I heard "Ahhh, my arm"! I got to the injured child, Ethan, and heard "David put me in a Fireman's hold and my shoulder hurts". I sent David to his room with the instructions not to touch his brother again. Ethan's arm / shoulder were fine.

About 5 minutes later, I see that David has come downstairs without my permission. So I asked him why he came out of his room and why he did that to Ethan. His response: "Ethan's been kicking me and when I told him to stop, he said, You wanna go small boy." Hiding my laughter, I sent Ethan to his room, then busted out laughing.

Happy New Year to all and here's hoping my 7 year old doesn't try to take down his 13 year old brother!!