My poor neglected children....and finally an outing.

My husband and I have both been sick this past week and the kids I think, have gotten the crappy end of the deal. The older boys are at their Dad's till the end of summer so it's just us 4 for now so in a way it's a blessing because I am not sure how I could handle all 4 while sick. Anyway..... all you parents and caregivers know how hard it is to take care of little ones when you feel like crap. It has been a challenge for me since both Brad and I were sick and I guess in times like this, you have to decide who is sicker ( in this case was Brad, he had a horrible weekend almost emergency room worthy) So game on for me. I get a whole new appreciation for single parents and add to boot if they are sick and do not get any help. It's so hard. I commend all of you and pray for peace and relief for those hard times.   Anyway, I am hoping we are on the mend. Whatever this nasty "thing" is, its holding on for a long time. I cannot remember ever being sick in the summer. I thought all illnesses took the summer off? lol. I know that's not true, but I've never been nailed in the summer. ( I think I just jinxed myself and will be plagued for the next 12 summers from now)  So anyway, while we were sick it was literally us throwing a piece of toast to the kids for breakfast , microwaving a hot dog and throwing some grapes on the plate and calling it lunch and for dinner re-heating anything we could find to at least not let them starve and then putting in DVD's and letting them watch cartoons non stop to keep them entertained. I felt horrible, but had no energy. 
Anyway, I told myself that as soon as I was up to it, come hell or high water, I am taking them out on a "field trip" and so this am we did just that.   We took a trip down to Iowa City and played in the fountain at the Ped Mall, a trip to the Library then some lunch at the Bread Garden then played on the play equipment before venturing back home with tired crabby kids. They had a great day. My house would qualify for the "Hoarders" show.....and you could climb to the moon on top of the laundry that is piling around here....but it was worth it.  Sam even told me thank you as I was helping him into is booster seat in the van to go home :)

Sam at the Library's book house

Water fountain-lots of fun

gotcha!

not sure about this...oh well...here I go!

Lunch at the Bread Garden

kid's yummy lunch

Mommy's yummy lunch



There's a "dummies" book for everything

I ordered this book off Amazon this am. I have been trying to tinker around and learn how to post all the stuff I want on my blog and really want to make it pop but was having no luck ( and the time to dig around and learn it myself) I am impatient and I want instant gratification and want it now!  How I am going to read this is another story.  So I got to thinking...I bet they have a dummies book for everything so I just randomly typed some topics and most of them have a dummie book. I even stumbled upon on that said " How to feed your goat" for Dummies" ha!  Go ahead... Type in how to make your children mind you...for Dummies and see what pops up. I think there's actually a book for that but was titled differently. Whatever you need to learn.....theres a Dummies book for that. You know you are gonna go type in a topic and try and find it now if you are reading this blog. So anyway, I hope to really get into this blogging thing. I at least have been trying to make sure I post something every day or every few days even if is just a few pictures or to bitch about my hectic life as a Mom (j/k)

So this am I took the little ones to The Children's Museum and met a friend there with her kids and we played a while then ate lunch and then we went to Tar-Jay ( Target) and picked up a few things....hair color, swim diapers, cotton balls, and a Barbie for Abby to be exact.......ok and a Snickers bar for me. I am weak.

So now we are watching......yep...Toy Story. We are trying to crank through my Netflix Video queue before they start charging me a separate fee for DVD delivery and instant streaming ( thanks a lot- we will be dropping the dvd service) This is a whole new blog topic though. Isn't that a bunch of crap-ola?

Stay cool Midwesterners...or I guess all of USA for that matter. I saw the map on the weather last night and it looks like the whole US had a heat blanket over it.

Till Tomorrow

Laura

http://mommymishmash.com/

http://mommymishmash.com/

Heat wave

It's hotter than blue blazes outside today and the next few days bear no end in site. I even received a recorded message on the phone ( cannot remember who it was from, or who organized the call) but the recorded lady on the other end stated the heat index was currently 111 degrees and to stay indoors if all possible and to check on the elderly and drink plenty of water and offered a phone number to call if we are needing shelter and a place to go for relief. This must be serious....as my husband is coming home to work on our patio in the back yard. ( thunking my forehead)   and I don't know about you, but it's days like today that bring me the lazies... I am not joking, the babies and I have been lazin' around all day. I did take them out in the back yard to swim this am..but then we came in and have been watching tv and just chillin all day....( I did have a little carpet picnic with them then demanded we at least watch one "learning" show ( I pulled up a video from Netflix instant streaming and it was a National Geographic program about night creatures, then a Dolphin one. Its SOMETHING...right? Anyway, I had planned a possible outing to the Children's Museum.... or maybe do some crafts and I even offered to build the kids a fort but they picked and poked and we just plain crabby and so here we are....watching Toy Story 3 for the 897th time today. Please tell me you all have day's like that? I sit and stew and feel guilty and promise myself I will double up on "structure and stimulation" tomorrow.  But I will confess.... it is hard for me to be THAT Mom that takes their kids to the library, checks out books, reads at least 20 min a day, organizes outings and crafts and makes sure they are stimulated all the time.  I have good intentions....but it's hard to follow through.  Abby and Sam are 2 and 4 and I swear they are in the beginning stages of getting Mom's ADD, it's so hard to keep them focused..... I wonder if it's because they are 2 and 4? hmmmmm.    So anyway, If  you have some tips or even simple ideas for crafts and anything fun and cheesey to do, I would love to hear about it. And if you have "slothed" around all day a time or two I would like to hear that too. I'll feel better.  Now if you will excuse me, I need to boil water for my kids's boxed mac and cheese.

Baby it's hot outside....

This morning I hosted a play date.  We all put the suits on our kids and they splashed in the pool and did a couple runs down the water slide and then we munched on my friend Robyn's yummy homemade bran muffins ( no they were not dry, they were awesome, I know, I was worried also) and had some fresh fruit and cold drinks ( was 9:30 too early for cocktails? j/k...... ok but it DID cross my mind. ) Anyway,  it was nice to have some adult conversation ( between getting food for the kids, slathering on sunscreen,  putting them in and out of the pool, reminding them that we share toys and not push and shove ( Abby was the main culprit here)  My friend Lisa also came with her darling little daughter ( Lisa used to cut my hair at a salon in Iowa City but recently left to stay home with her daughter and is pregnant with her 2nd child)  Robyn brought her 2 sweet little guys also.  Robyn and Lisa are actually sisters. I had sort of known Robyn from MOPS a few years ago and when I was going to Lisa to get my hair cut found out what a small world it really was when I learned they were sisters. I want to post a pic of these two ladies, but I promised I wouldn't post pics without them liking how they looked before posting ( I am the same way)  these two gals are young and gorgeous. I am the grandma of the group..well actually I think I am a few years away from being their Mom ha ha- but they are fun.  Anyway...... I wish I had a huge back yard to host ALL my friends together at the same time for play dates. I have to split it up and have a few Moms at a time or I feel so crammed. I love to host...I just wish I had more room. 

So anyway, here's a darling photo of Abby and her new friend Lyla and one of Robyn's boy Ezra.... ( I hope I got the names right and the spelling if you see this Robyn) many a time I put the wring name with the wrong kid..... I am horrible at remembering names of the kids...why is that? Do you have that prob too? My friend Tara has 4 kids and I have known her like 3 years and I STILL call them the wrong name. 

Hope you all are having a great day and staying cool.

Summer is halfway over....:(

I have been horrible about blogging. Here I go and "start a blog" and I have only a few posts.  I do not have much time to blog right now either ( I am going to have to get up at the buttcrack of dawn if I want to get any blogging done) But I thought I would check in, and share a couple recent photos that I took of the kids doing some fun activites.

Hope you are staying cool. We are having a heat wave in Iowa.

-Laura -