time for a different perspective

There are moments in mothering/parenting when you just need something back, something that lets you know   that those bundles of joy you brought into the world aren't just big leeches. The first time most parents experience this is right before the first smile, not the gas smile, it happens just when you are so tired that you are about to collapse in a heap on the floor and never get up. It is so simple, a smile from your new baby, but somehow that gives you enough energy and momentum to make through the late nights and fussy days.

Here my 6-year-old is forever butting heads with me over everything. I have run out of charts, bribes, positive reinforcement, reasoning, asking him to set a good example, and just about any other decent parenting technique there is. I scream and yell a lot. Not pleasant for anyone involved and once you start it is pretty easy to keep yelling about all sorts of stuff, even stuff you don't normally scream about. Obviously this isn't working either.

My 3-year-old is actually pretty good, most of the time, 3-year-olds are like that. He does have moments when he gets mad at his brothers and he head butts them, bites them, sits on the 1-year-old's head, punches them, pushes them, kicks them, traps the 1-year-old in the bathroom, and just your garden variety methods of the middle child saying, " I will get mine." Also, he does not like being told to get off the iPad-not at all.

The 1-year-old makes my insides cringe when he says, 'uh-oh', and he says it about 100 times a day. This is because while in the car he threw his stuffed Tiny Dog onto the floor, he took off his shoe and can't get it back on, he dropped food on the floor, or just about anything in the whole world. When not saying uh-oh he is usually crying his head off (snotty, big huge tears, crying) all the live long day. He cries because someone closed a door, he cries because he wants to be held, he cries because he wants cheese(his word for all food), he cries because you gave him milk but he really wanted juice, and he cries because he wants a toy that his brother has and even when the brother swaps him he still cries.

It gets to the point when someone spills a glass of milk and instead of saying - get the towels and let's just clean it up, you say, " Again, really again, you spilled your drink again oh my goodness. Why are you always spilling everything? Why aren't you cleaning it up?

I decided it was time for mommy to 1. drink more alcohol during the day ;)  2. start relaxing because the kids can tell when I am tense and it makes them tense and then you have chaos, maybe we will have it anyway because I have three boys, but perhaps it will be fun chaos. 3. get out of our environment because a tiny townhouse with no yard is not fun for little boys or their mama.

I have also decided to post some pictures of moments or looks that have filled my heart so full of love I thought it might just explode. After all when you are looking for the bad you see the bad and when you are looking for the good it is everywhere.

j saw this pencil and said- hey luke let's get our picture taken. you stand on this side and I will stand  here

all 3 boys at the fountain in like 58 degree weather-- loving it

not afraid to get wet

this little boy LOVES his daddy. When he ran to Pete people all around us smiled

love this toothless grin so much

being silly in the car waiting for Pete

also being silly

spring fest

I have so many times wanted to write about many different things happening around here or random thoughts that have popped into my head. However, I wasn't able to gain access to the internet easily.

One thing being how Jack asked if Tigran was going to get married and we said no. He asked why this was and didn't Tigran want to have kids one day? I replied- well even if he wanted to have kids he couldn't, we had his balls cut off. Pete then glared at me and said- under his breath-- Do you really think when your son is trying to figure out the difference between dogs and humans is the best time to talking about removing testicles?

I have started wearing a lot of pink. I am not a pink wearing girl and my closet, since I can remember, has been filled with brown, green, and blue. Now if you look it is filled with purple and pink. I am not sure what has overcome me but I have also added fingernail polish and earrings to my wardrobe. Pete says I have taken my inspiration from the 6-year-old girls in Jack's class and have decided to own that I am a girl. Girl Power- tough but beautiful.

We have decided that Luke will be a movie star one day-- so watch out world. He is so funny and has great timing and commitment to a bit. He loves to sing and dance and has a Marlon Brando quality about him.

We have finally figured out a solution for computer problems so I hope to be able to use it more often now.

 We went to Spring Fest/Bug Bowl and had a blast. Love it always.


 Below are an assortment of pictures of Jack petting insects and various other animals. He was so brave and pet anything that he was able to pet.

Luke asked specifically for a grasshopper and was so pumped to get it.

Thomas loved the tractors and didn't want to leave them.

Jack knew right away he wanted a scorpion.

We ran into a few of the girl's from Jack's class. One of the places we ran into a girl was at the fountains. Luke and Thomas took off their shirts-this had been Jack's idea- but once he saw his classmate he refused to take off his shirt and was so uncomfortable. He did run into the fountain with his shirt on and eventually we convinced him to go to the other side of the fountain without his shirt.

a little bit of easter

It has been awhile since I have written anything and this hasn't been solely by choice, our computer -that we bought last year, has basically imploded. We get days here and there when we can use it, but mostly I am bound to the iPad, which really isn't the same at all.

Jack has lost both front and bottom teeth now so he has this awesome gap. I am not the only one loving it, after Mass one day his principal mentioned how much she loved it.

Then we had Easter. We drove to Kentucky the day before Easter to hang out with my family at the Louisville Science Center.

Then we went to Morehead to hang out with the Weigel Clan. I saw lots of pictures of kids sitting on the couch, standing outside in a row, and all looking spiffy.My kids did look spiffy but were not about to sit near each other on the couch with out wrestling, hitting, or crying so we took individual pictures and those still have a lot of personal flavor to them.

Next was Pete's birthday. His only request was that we not forget it. So he got the birthday banner, the DQ birthday cake, and some great presents.

Jack also had his first soccer game of the season. His team looks pretty good and brutal, it is almost all girls because U6 is co-ed, the girls on his team are tough. They are all in his class at school, which makes it really fun.

I have decided to incorporate fish/seafood into our lives more since the boys love it so much. I made shrimp yesterday, but since I do not like shrimp and don't like touching shrimp, I enlisted the help of Jack to shell them for me, which he did with pleasure. He shelled 1.5 lbs for me and even put them in the baking dish so I didn't have to touch them at all.