The last 2 hours have been nice. I thought after such an awful post I should let you know the day is ending nicely. After fighting with Sophie, and getting yelled at by her, I decided she needed a nap.

She slept for over 2 hours.

Christopher was ignoring me all afternoon and spent a majority of it in timeout b/c he thought he was either too smart or too old to listen to me. Even William, who had come over to play with him, had enough and ran home crying. (I'm so embarrassed!!)

He played alone with the water hose and was happy after having that time.

I got all the bushes trimmed during the craziness and replanted my flowers into a pot that didn't have a huge crack in it and felt much better after doing all of that. Well, better in the sense that it was done. It was hot and humid and I thought I was going to either pass out or puke when I was done. Don't you hate that feeling?

I had 2 chocolate popsicles and got a shower.

Christopher and I cuddled on the couch and watched the rest of Bedtime Stories and had popcorn and cheez-its. Sophie woke up right before Brandon came home. He had just as bad a day as we did and he did absolutely nothing to deserve it. Why do people in the working world feel the need to dump everything onto someone who should not be doing their work? (Yes, I'm even talking about nurses and PAs that don't do their work and dump it on a doctor!! Where's the respect? Don't get me started b/c I can write a whole other post on that topic!)

He came home early and cuddled with us.

The three kiddos just left with the dog to go down to the water to play for a little while. The sun is shining, everyone and everything outside is clean and my house is quiet. Dinner is in the oven and so I think I might just start my new James Bond movie, that I haven't seen yet, while folding all the t-shirts that have been lying on the chair for 2 days. Life is good. : )

Bet you didn't think I'd say that did ya?

I'm not sure who is frustrating who more this week, me or the kids. Yesterday the kids had mothers' day out and we got home at 2:30. It was pouring outside so we were confined to the indoors. I put a movie on and it seemed to work for a while, but I was trying to finish something I'd started before I picked them up and Sophie just had to sit in my lap. She always has to sit in my lap. And I'm just short enough and she's just tall enough that I can't see anything I'm doing when she's in my lap. So I get annoyed. Why can't she snuggle up next to me? I would LOVE that! But nooooooo, she has to be right on top of me so all I can do is just be a chair. Have I ever mentioned that I have a very difficult time sitting down and not doing something else at the same time? It is extremely difficult for me.

So our afternoon just seemed to go downhill very quickly. The kids started picking at each other (while still picking at me) and before we knew it everyone in our house was either crying or yelling and I had a headache. Have your children ever made your ears ring? Mine do. Motrin wasn't helping either. I finally got a call from Brandon and could barely hear him, asked him when he'd be home and I got in the shower and stood there until it sounded like he was here. He wasn't. They were getting out the Wii Fit board b/c they wanted to play Wii.

They fought some more.

I yelled some more.

Nobody was winning.

We had dinner and then it was time to put them to bed. Actually Sophie only continued to get louder (I know, it's actually possible) and so I told her she was done for the day and Brandon took over with more love than I could have found at the time. (I adore my husband!)

I went to bed and said a prayer for a friend who is having with twins today and also for myself. I prayed that we'd both have a good day today b/c I knew we would both need it. Even if it was for different reasons. Her's was joyful and mine was out of desperation. (Can't wait to see photos Anna!!!)

Today, I was determined to have a better day, but was also a little realistic. We went to Kohl's b/c we had $20 credit to spend by tomorrow and Sophie needed new pj's. The kids were awful. I think at least twice I couldn't find Christopher and he wouldn't answer when I yelled for him. Yes, yelled. Loud. The first time was as soon as we walked in the store. If I didn't have the credit and she didn't need pj's I would have just left. We were only in there maybe 30 minutes and I hated it. I was the mom who was afraid she would end up on the news for jerking her child around and threatening to wear them out if they didn't behave.

Next we had to go to Sam's. I gave them a good talking to before going inside. They agreed to the terms. They run away or misbehave and they will be forced to sit in the cart. They were good for 5 minutes then sent to the cart. They were actually pretty good until Sophie decided to try to pull everything down that she could reach, I'd told her numerous times to stop and finally had to pop her on the arm. She was so mad at me that she screamed at the top of her lungs in anger. It was not in pain, but sheer passionate anger. We checked out and went home.

No Chick-fil-a for anyone today.

I'd left my coupon at home anyway.

I wish that I could freeze my margarita bucket I just bought and have some for lunch. But I'm not that mom. Even if sometimes I wish I was. (Really, my freezer is too full, but I would wait until Brandon was home to crack it open.) Instead, I was the mom that everyone stared at and I hated it. I can't stand to be that mom. I'd rather not be a mom then have to be that mom. Can I say that? It doesn't help that I feel dizzy today. Like I could just bump into the wall walking down the hall dizzy. Can barely see straight, want to knock myself out and lie down in bed until the earth stops moving kind of dizzy. Started yesterday and worse today. Soooooooooo not fun!!!

My kids have been fighting and picking at each other since we got home. I have things to do outside this afternoon so hopefully we can give each other a little space while I do them. Maybe trimming the bushes while dizzy isn't the best idea. I think that will have to wait until another day.

Has anyone ever heard of Alice.com b/c I'm wondering about it? I just found it online and I have absolutely no idea how I found it. I'm really tired. They do your shopping for you and ship it for free. Plus find coupons for you. Plus remind you when you need to buy something again. Plus, plus, plus. Have your toiletries, dog food, vitamins, diapers, wipes, soap (for every room of the house--laundry, bath, kitchen) coffee, etc. sent to you at the cheapest price and free shipping? Oh, and you sign up for free too? Hmmm.... not sure what to think. Sounds too good to be true. But it's talked about on Forbes, Good Housekeeping, CNN, Rachael Ray, Redbook, ABC News, The NY Times, CNBC and the list goes on and on. If you've heard of it, good or bad, or use it, please let us know. I'm very interested!

I've seen a few blogs write things about "keeping it real," but I thought I'd SHOW you keeping it real. And I'm not afraid either. I had planned all week to really clean the house on Thursday b/c my sis-in-law and nephews are coming to stay the weekend with us and we are super excited! (I haven't reminded Christopher b/c I knew he wouldn't go to school today if he knew.)

About mid-morning yesterday Brandon called to see if it would be ok if the intern he was working with could bring his family over for dinner. I told him no problem b/c the house was going to be clean by then anyway. I took some before pics, just so you could see what I was up against. Now, remember the dog had 2 separate explosions in the same area (and of course I'd already vacuumed before he did that), so I didn't get started until about 10:00 on anything. Brace yourselves b/c it gets pretty bad:

But after all the cleaning was done, the chaos began around 4:45. (Our company was coming at 6:30.) I was just about to get up to start fixing the quiche we were having for dinner and still trying to decide whether to make the crust from scratch, when the doorbell rings and it's housing maintenance finally showing up to fix the eyes on my stove. They haven't been lighting themselves for months now, but they finally quit "clicking" and I was afraid the gas would be on and I wouldn't know it.

The sweet man comes in, somehow gets the stove out into the kitchen. Rips the top off and starts looking for the problem. He finds out that he doesn't have the part he needs (of course!) and has to go back to get it. Now, remember I'm making quiche and it needs to bake for an hour. Meaning, it needs to get in the oven umm.... NOW! I no longer have a working oven. I grab the bacon, throw it in a pan and run to Tiffany's to bake it, run back home to get the rest of the ingredients (thankful for the back up frozen crust I'd bought) and run back over to her house to throw it all together. I call Brandon and tell him what's going on and he comes home right away. I come back home to put together the spinach dip and send it back over with Brandon to throw in the oven while the two guys come back, find out the new parts still don't help, tell me I'm getting a new oven and ask if they can take the old one away now. Heck yes you can!!! : ) They laugh b/c the women always get excited to hear this. The men don't care. They haul it off and I rush around to start mopping and get the outdoor utility brush to clean the nastiness from underneath. We get it all done and here's what I'm left with when our company arrives:

They feel bad. I told them I don't care, so they shouldn't either. We still have food to eat and we are going to enjoy it. Now, I thought the guys weren't going to come back until tomorrow b/c they knew we were going to have company, but they came back with this little beauty and hooked it up in no time. I love living on base! I may not have a dream house (or a pretty house for that much--it's pretty ugly on the outside), but I love knowing that if anything goes wrong I will be taken care of.

We had a great dinner and lots of fun and we are ready to have our company this weekend. Plus it feels great to finally have those counters cleaned off.... well, at least 90% of them!

Let me just start by saying that I wanted to put a different word in there other than "crap", but I know some of my readers (mainly my mom and her friends) would be very offended by that. Now to the story:

Last night Brandon and I got the kids to bed and I was exhausted and couldn't wait to go to bed myself. Brick had been outside all day long b/c the kids and I went to Destin to hang with the cousins who are in town and then I had a meeting at church, so he was outside a REALLY long time! He was very excited to see all of us when we got home and we were happy to see him. He came running into our room and smelled like he'd been rolling in crap. It was awful! I got up and checked the floor and didn't see anything, so I followed him down the hall, where I sent him right after he came in stinking. Brandon yelled, "Stop!!!! Don't move!!!" I froze and looked down to see that Brick had shot crap, yes, S.H.O.T it, across the floor. He had just come in from Brandon letting him out to go to the bathroom. We were both gagging from the smell. We got everything cleaned up and my cleaner rinsed out and we went to bed. Brick slept outside for the first time ever that night

This morning Christopher came in and woke me up saying, "Mom, you gotta come see this." Thinking how in the world could he already have something for me to see I crawled out of bed to see. This time I shouted, "Stop!!!! Don't move!!!!!" and Sophie started crying. I wanted to too. Brick had done it again. This time it wasn't as bad, but it was still there. I ran out of floor cleaner and had to call Tiffany and used the rest of hers too. Christopher informs me while I'm cleaning, "It looks like chocolate!" He's laughing. I'm thinking of who would want to adopt our dog.

He will be spending the entire day outside. He needs a bath. I do too.

I was listening to Rick and Bubba (on computer b/c we don't get them on the radio here) and I heard that the two guys got their hug from Taylor Swift yesterday. If you didn't know about this, here's the little I do know.

Two guys (apparently go to AU) started a plan to try to get a hug from Taylor Swift. T-shirts have been made. Videos pleading for a hug have been made. They've been on radio talking about it. They have been working hard. And it all paid off.

Yesterday, Auburn had a huge karaoke party and the two guys were up front leading everyone in, nothing other than a Taylor Swift song. Towards the end of the song, the video cut out and up popped Taylor Swift on the screen. Everyone went nuts. She told the guys how much she appreciated them and she wished she could be there. She really wished she could be there. Then she said she had an idea and she got up and walked away. Next thing you know, Aubie comes walking out. People are going crazy. Then two big guys walk out with Miss Taylor Swift right behind them. You can only imagine how insane it was in that room at the time.

The guys got their hugs. They also got a kiss on the cheek. And front row seats to a concert. Everyone else got a free mini concert b/c she brought her band. How awesome would it have been to be there??? I've never wished I was back in school again (purely for class and study reasons), but today I would have LOVED to be back at good 'ol AU again!!! War Eagle!!!!

Here's the link to the video if you want to watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnBtN4cdanY

The first thing I wanted to try to make with all my strawberries was this homemade fruit roll up recipe I found on Darby's blog. Her stuff always look so amazing and I have to admit, a little (ok a lot) out of my league, but I really wanted to make these. I loved the ones you could buy at the store as a kid and could eat a whole box in no time flat. I knew that it wasn't good for me, but oh so delicious!

She suggests making them at night since she puts them in the oven for 8-10 hours and that was my original plan, but around noon today I found myself with time to spare and thought I'd go ahead and get started. I am SO glad that I did! I already had the berries cut up and ready to go so I started blending them with the rest of the ingredients and put them in the pot to start cooking. The recipe says to bring to a boil, then let it simmer and stir frequently for 30-45 minutes, then continue doing this until it's the right consistency. Me, being the person I am, thought it might take me an hour to do this. I was WAY off! At 5:30 I was finally able to spread it on the cookie sheet and stick it in the oven. That's right, five hours later it was ready. Now I just have to set my alarm to wake up at 2:30 a.m. to turn the oven off. But I'd much rather do that then have to stay up until 2 stirring the pot. Wouldn't you?

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with our supplies we have to work with (and the fact she's much better at these things than I am, ok, much more experienced--I'm not stupid), but I'm really hoping that this isn't a flop. I just wanted to post this in case any of you have made this before, or want to try it yourself and let you know it could possibly take longer than you plan. Please let me know how your experiences with making homemade yummy treats like this has gone in the past. I'm very curious to hear about them!