Not your typical Christmas Party....

For the first time we had a hockey Christmas party. It was great fun.
The big attraction....Dad vs players dodgeball!
The game quickly turned into siblings & dads vs players dodgeball.
Dads were encouraged to come to the party for their chance to "pound" their sons!
Both sides took their jobs very serious.
This mom attempted to play 2 times. Both times I was out with the first ball I threw. Those boys sure can catch a ball even if all they ever do is practice hitting a puck and not catching it.

Its been eventful...

December is always a busy month. It never seems to matter if all the holiday shopping is done before Dec. 1 or not. There is school, family, recitals, parties, tournaments, and more. In the midst of it all sometimes there is the stomach virus. This year we were blessed with all the above and a surprise visit from my sister and her daughters! Until a couple of days ago, we thought the virus had left our home for the remainder of the year. But alas, the last 2 of us were not to be left out. I have been a little discombobulated by it all. So I have spent the night looking back through the pictures in hopes of being able to remember a bit of what became a blur between laundry, trashcans and disinfectant.
Our surprise visit with the Aunt Shell and cousins was great fun. They were willing to join us at the kids' Christmas/piano recital. The cousins (not girls) even discovered an interest in hockey when they hit the road yet again to go with us to Oklahoma for a couple of games. Hockey Player instantly had his own cheering squad to cheer him and the team on! Aunt Shell got a sneek peak into this mom's transformation into Hockey Mom. When dad can't travel, he gives certain instructions to the mom... "get on him and "tell" him to skate hard and play strong". I pace and fret, and then I holler and cheer, then back to pacing and fretting. But admist all the hustle and bustle cousins found down time to snuggle and watch cartoons, play star wars,

some of my favorite pictures....

My guys!

My guys....

They are noisy and smelly.

They are noisy.

They are active and crazy.

They give the best hugs.

They are nice to their sisters, most of the time..

They create a ball of arms and legs frequently my floor when the wrestle.

They bring a tremendous amount of humor and laughter to my home.

And they are noisy.

Then there are moments like these,

when they recharge their batteries after a long day of hockey tournaments..

Super Hockey player

Back Flip Daddy's Buddy
Snuggly Flutter Nutter

The last few days...

Stomache viruses are horrible. Horrible!
The last few days my 3 youngest have been utterly miserable. As the kids get older, I find it easier to cope with their being sick. But when they are wee little. My heart breaks. They don't understand what their body is doing. The first stomache virus is the worst. They don't know to run for the bathroom or trashcan. They often panick and cry. Sweet Flutter Nutter just got real quiet. He would whimper and cry for "Mommy". My heart just melted and cracked. He turned horrible shades of white. His lips would turn bluish gray moments before his body rebelled.
Very upsetting to watch.
So around midnight he wakes from his late night "nap". He comes and finds me and asks, "Are my lips normal?" "Are my lips normal?"
He must of heard me talking with dad. He became very concerned about his lips.
"Are they normal? Can I play DS now?" A huge thing cause he doesn't want to ruin his DS by getting sick on it.

Little Princess moments!

Little Princess came to me ever so sweetly.
"Mom, I am having a little bit of a blonde moment. How do you spell Dad?? Is it D-A-D? "
Mom: "Um. yeah."
She went back to Christmas wrapping.
I lost it and called dad....
Big-O-Daddy-O, "No way! She didn't."
"Um, yeah. She did!"
I can't believe she even knows what a "blonde moment" is?

and then there are the conversations had with Mom!

I just posted about the pretty quick witted conversation of son #2 with Dad.
I on the other hand get an entirely different realm of conversations.
Last night I heard, "MOOOOOoooooooooooooooMMMMMMMMM!"
It was Flutter Nutter.
In the bathroom.
"YES?"
FN: "I ate chicken nuggets and hotdogs and this is what came out."
Mom: "oh"
What could I say. I shooed him out of the bathroom, turned on the fan and sent him to get his jammers on. Too bad, BigODaddyO wasn't home for that one. Maybe he could have come out with some magical parenting wisdom.
Guess that will be one lesson we don't need to cover in Human Anatomy and Biology.

Parenting according to BigODaddyO

This morning's conversation between DaddyO and Daddy's Buddy.
DB: Whatever I do in the morning I dream about at night.
DO: Well, then do good things in the morning so you'll have good dreams at night!
DB: hmmm,
Something to think on.
So proud of DaddyO to be so quick on his feet. DaddyO told me, "I am taking every opportunity I get!"

Mother ? Daughter ? Awana Fun!

Tonight was our last night of Awana for the year.
The leaders were really brave and ventured on in to the church.
Store Night + Red and Green night and all the Christmas Spirit could only mean one thing.... Worn out leaders. SO worn out they all came down with the pre-season sickness. MEASLES.
I had no idea it was so contagious. A leader need only to walk into a room where there was children and they immediately became ill. Fortunately, we were told we would quickly feel better once we went home. What caused this church wide outbreak among the adults. Verses! Not viruses! Verses! For every verse a clubber said to a leader, they would break out in a new spot.
Fun Mom said 16 verses and this is what happened to her leader!



I walked into a room to only say hi to Little Princess and I immediately had two spots appear on my nose!

Then I was asked, if I was really Little Princess' mom. I said yes. Then this sweet little girl asked Little Princess if I was really her mom. Fortunately, for me, Little Princess claimed me as her mom! So nice to know that she still thinks it is okay for me to be her Mom! This sweet little girl shook her head, and said, "You don't look anything alike?"
"We don't?" Couldn't she tell we share the same antlers?

All I could do is shrug and say, "I know." "They all look like their Daddy."
That is okay, at least there is no question on paternity! And we don't even have to be sheep in Ireland to figure that one out! LOL

It is the end of the night and what does a leader do when she has a half bag of candy left. She zeroes in on the last littlest kid left in the church. Smiles sweetly and says, "This is for you! Be sure to give it to Daddy when he gets home."
Daddy doesn't get home till after bedtime! Then this darling leader, smiles sweetly at mom and says, "Oops, I am on the naughty list!

Hockey and Holidays....

December 5th, we had "Friendship games" scheduled.
Papa just laughs at the name...
"Friendship, BAH! Its a game. A game is a game."
"Time to knock them on their rears!"
Can you tell Papa is a coach?
I got some great shots of the team.
But some even better pictures of Big-O-Daddy-O and why he couldn't wait for Christmas.
Why St. Nicholas Day became his favorite day of the season, hockey season that is.

Big O Daddy O's Very Early Christmas Present

So Big-O-Daddy-O Loves the Lord with all his heart.
He also loves his family.

But there is something else that he loves that sometimes seems

to be on the same playing level as the family.

Flutter Nutter summed it up well in Omaha when we were at dinner.

(Normally we pack coolers of food when we travel.

But this year, I don't seem to be quite together a

nd opted for Apple Bee's gift cards from Dillons.

If you buy $100 in gcards you get $10 off

plus double the fuel points...

I am thinking we have a lot of hockey traveling this year, why not?)

So we were at Apple Bee's waiting for our table when...

Flutter Nutter makes an astonishing discovery.

"Daddy's favorite show is on the tvs."

I ask him what is Daddy's favorite show.

"Football, baseball, golf, hockey, basketball."

He's right, Daddy's favorite shows are on tv.
But if Daddy loves sports and it sometimes seems to be as much as he loves his family.

This could possibly be, because he is passionate about watching his children play sports.

He is the kind of parent that loses his voice as a result of cheering.
His voice carries enough that he sometimes get "the look" from Hockey Player.
You know the one,

not quite eye rolling but says yep, that is my dad (with a big sigh) and yes I hear you.
Now how about you come out here and try to do a bit of ice skating.

So what could Big-O-Daddy-O want more than anything for Christmas and want it so much
that he manages to scheme up the opportunity to get his present early?
So much scheming he encourages Daddy's Buddy to write a letter to Santa.

But not just any letterwill do, it must be one that will prompt Santa to deliver the presents
on St. Nicholas' Day. For those, who might not know, St. Nicholas' Day is
December 6th. Exactly one week before the big tournament trip out of town.

He wants Peace and Quiet during hockey tournaments and trips.

He wants to watch the games without referee-ing his 2 future hockey players.
He doesn't want to have to put these two in the penalty box for misconduct and roughing.

He wants Thumb-Exercisers.

This is what he got~

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

and you might ask... Did it work?

Well I think we were only interrupted about 6 times.

3 bathroom trips and 3 requests to go back to the hotel,

But only because the ice rink was really, really cold.

Colder than we normally have to suffer through.
They had ceiling fans going above our heads!

Sometimes I wonder if we are related...

I have the nickname as Beach Momma,
We lived on the Gulf Coast for 3 1/2 months one winter. I loved it! I definitely dream of being a snowbird and flying south for the winter. So, how I happened to have a son that loves hockey, ice hockey no less, I don't have a clue. The greatest part is Hockey Player has passed his passion and love for the sport onto his 2 little brothers. Next year, Daddy's Buddy will be a hockey player and Flutter Nutter has asked me for ice skating lessons.
God just has a wonderful sense of humor.
We spent last weekend out of town for a tournament. I must say, I struggle to watch practices but I completely love watching the games. It was an eye opener for me this past weekend. I have heard about how fast Hockey Player can skate, but I got to see it for myself. He could get from one end to the other faster than I could have imagined and he did really well of staying ahead of the other team.
I, also, learned something about being a mom last weekend and I ate some humble pie. For as long as I have been able to watch the Olympics, I have really struggled with why some moms just can't watch their kiddos compete. I mean come-on, that is their kid out there. How could they not watch?!? I didn't even try to keep count on how many times I buried my head in Big-O-Daddy's-O shoulder and said, "Can I go back to the hotel? I can't watch." Then I would watch some more and repeat the process. Their first game, I did just fine. Their second game, my stomache got all twisted and flip-floppy. There would be mistakes and goofs. I knew they could play better, but for some reason they were off on their game. My heart just hurt for them. Playing with all your might and ability and losing, it happens. Not playing to your ability and losing concentration and focus and losing the game, that is really disappointing. Their last game, I just fell apart and kept asking to go to the hotel. It was a good game. A really good game and then somebody would blink and the other team would score and tie the game back up. I just wanted for them to win this game. But they kept this momma on the edge of her seat more than she could bear. They won, and it was a sweet victory. Now, I understand why there are moms out there, that just can't and don't watch their favorite player play. The heart just can't take the ups and downs and knuckle biting that happens some times.

The storms of life....

It is easy to liken a tornado to one's home when the children walk through and leave a trail. Or the whole neighborhood ends up in the bedroom and every box, tote and drawer have to be dumped and investigated.
Hurricanes are what happens when a toddler/preschooler discovers how to turn the shower on and move the shower curtain around to maximize the experience of water in every which way.
I have discovered which natural disaster to compare my winters to...avalanches. How appropiate! There is the influx of STUFF! during the holidays. The weather is not suitable for garage sales, so the back corner of the basement begins to fill faster than rabbits or mice have babies. There's the extra shopping and doing and activities. I find myself wishing Passover, also included the pass-over of flu season and was celebrated during the winter. The laundry... it quadruples, due to all the extra layers needed to stay warm. Then there is the cabin fever. You encourage the natives to be quiet because with the mounds of laundry and garage sale stuff for spring, the slightest shockwave from rowdy children could cause a mountain to begin to topple. And then, it happens, your ever so comfortable home is full. Full of love, full of people and the cabin fever begins to affect dad. The roar of a dad is more than any home can take and the avalanche begins with the simple statement...."I've scheduled an appointment with a realtor to go look at a house." The mom, can't help, but duck and take cover cause here comes the avalanche..... He should have known better!

It's good to be not the favorite!

Everyone has favorites. Favorite foods, favorite colors, favorite clothes, favorite people.

We all do. It is just a matter of life. But what happens when you find out you are not anyone's favorite.

I am not the favorite in my family. Should my children be forced to choose, which I would never put them on the spot to do so, not me, they would choose Big-O-Daddy-O. They would. He is their favorite. The older and much wiser ones, well they are quick to say, "I love you both very much." But deep down, I know. Before I go any further I want you to know, I know they love me. I know they need me. I am their mom, so somewhere deep inside them they can't help but want me around. They like clean laundry. They like food in the house. But their favorite, I am not. I admit every once in a while it bothers me. I mean, hey, doesn't everyone want a chance at being the favorite? The top of the list. The first pick.

But this week, I got a peek at the other side of being the favorite.

We had to take two cars to Flutter Nutter's Party.

I drove the big white tank. Dad drove his car with Fun Mom and Hockey Player in it.

While I drove, I had to very timely hit the brakes, as a strong suggestion to Daddy's Buddy in the back to quit wailing and hollering. Wailing and hollering? Why you ask? Because he was stuck in the tank with me. He only wanted to ride with Big-O-Daddy-O. "Tough kid, you got me, and if you aren't careful, you are going to walk," I thought. We arrived to pick up friends and there was a very quick seat swap before mom could say, "I love you."

Party is over, gotta take the friends home. Flutter Nutter is in pieces now. He wants to ride with Daddy. We do not move his carseat. We are tired of carseat installations around here, so the tank is his vehicle. Mom and Dad swap vehicles. Drop the friends off at home, we go to McDonald's. Every 4 yr. old's dream birthday dinner ;) Loading up to go home after we eat, everyone runs to get in the tank. "I want to ride with Big-O-Daddy-O," is being shouted by all of them.

Hmmm, Mom got a very nice and quiet ride home. She even got home first and had some quiet in the house before they all came tumbling in. Not so bad, not being the favorite. :)

What's in a Name?

Shakespeare asked this same question in Romeo and Juliet.
So I ask, what is in a name? Why call it an I-Touch?

Fun Mom used her left over Ireland money to buy one for herself.

She loves it. It does all sorts of clever little things for her.

She almost doesn't need her laptop anymore.

But it can't keep her out of trouble.

Matter of fact it is more helpful to the mom in that area!

Tonight.... (by the way, it is 11:30ish P.M.)

I tiptoe downstairs to get something off the printer.
"Mom"

"Did you know cousin Mae broke her arm?"

"Yes, and get off your I-Touch! and go to sleep."

I-Touch, should have called it U-touch.

As in U-Touch and it is mine.

So,do know, the little trouble maker now has to be checked in upstairs at bedtime.
Fun Mom can thank a very timely magazine blurb I read the other night.
Encouraging parents to make sure teens charge their gizmos in a room other than the bedroom.
Especially, cell phones, because teens are texting all the time.

MP3s and all these special light up gizmos are so problematic.

They just shouldn't light up at night.

More Laundry Fun and a New First!

So I have shared the fun I have in doing my family's laundry here.
I really don't mind doing laundry. It is one of the few household chores that I find very satisfying to do. It was my favorite chore for a short time while Hockey Player was 4 and 5. Clean laundry meant the world to the boy. Every time I did laundry, I received a very enthusiastic and sincere, "Thank you mommy for doing my laundry!" Just melts my heart.
Chances are I will never hear, "Thank you mommy for cleaning the bathroom!" or "Thank you mom for sweeping the floor, dusting the house and changing the light bulbs!" Nope, but laundry... it is the the one thing that thrills everyone in the house when it is done. There is nothing more disappointing than to go to the closet and your favorite "--" is not there.

But my latest suprise was courtesy of Flutter Nutter.
In an effort to bring a little more peace in the "boys' room," the one shared by Daddy's Buddy and Flutter Nutter, we purchase green totes and clear totes. Green for Flutter Nutter (his favorite color) and clear for Daddy's Buddy. They now had individuals totest for their own personal stuff. Now when we introduced the totes and the opportunity for them to "protect" their personal possessions in their own boxes we were pleasantly suprised by their willingness to clean and sort thier toys.
Cleaning their rooms is no longer a battle. They don't want the other one to get their stuff. Who knew that thought pattern could work to a mother's advantage. They even pick up their clothes off the floor.
This last little bit is a my lead in....
So off to sorting the laundry, I am pondering out loud how 2 little boys can generate so much laundry. The pile was huge...their hamper was overflowing after 2 days. I get towards the bottom and what do I find but a clean shirt STILL ON THE HANGER! On the hanger no less! Did it ever make it to the closet? Who knows? But score one for me, because at least I knew it was clean without asking. It could be put in the clean basket to be put away. :)

The many smiles of Mr. Smiley

Before Flutter Nutter was named Flutter Nutter he was known as Mr. Smiley.
He has many smiles, most of which I think are quite infectious. He is a ham, and many think he is adorable. This he knows and works it as much as he can. He is a character. In my efforts to capture just a simple, happy smile I ended up with a slide show that pretty much captures Flutter Nutter as himself.

In all this cuteness, he also has the preciousness that comes with his age. When shopping for birthday supplies he was asked how old he was going to be. His answer, "I'm gonna be Superman!" Totally, not getting the birthday concept. We have been training and quizzing him so he can answer this question now. What does a number have to do with birthdays? Birthdays are all about the cake, fun, friends and party!!

The 30 day countdown!

Someone is always having a birthday. It's true, every day it seems is someone's birthday.
As soon as you know it is someone's birthday, there must be an appropriate amount of excitement and jubiliant birthday wishes given to the birthday person. And then it is mandatory to ponder and dream what it must be like to have a birthday of your own. Because after all, it is always someone else's birthday and "never my birthday." Who was it that thought each person should have only one birthday? And that a birthday should only come once a year? Crazy!

The talk continues and it never stops. Even if the child just had a birthday it is now 363 days, 5 hours and 6 minutes away. They want to talk with you about their cake, what they want to do, possible gifts and who they want to invite!

For the really little ones they want you to know at any given moment how much longer till their next birthday. For a mom like me, it means my children are completely disappointed! I think I need to be that Mom of 18 and counting....cause I am just not super Mom and the Wizard of Oz. I have trouble remembering my children's names much less how old they are! I am a complete disappointment in the motherhood memory contest, because when it comes to remembering the birthday cake they talked to me about July 26th, 2004 and the birthday cake their best friend had when they were 6 on their birthday on Sept. 30, 1998, I completely frustrate them with my blank look and soft admission of, "I don't remember."

So my children would not spend the year disappointed and disillusioned by their memory challenged mother I invoked the 30 day rule! Each child can only discuss their birthday with me during the 30 days before their birthday. During this time, I faithfully take notes. I create a document on the computer. I try really hard to disguise the fact I lost a few memory cells with each pregnancy.

So with the pending arrival of birthday #40 since I became a mother, I grabbed my paper and pen and asked Flutter Nutter what he wanted for his 4th birthday.

Super Man Legos
Batman Legos
Indiana Jones ....(never quite understood...he was talking to fast for his momma)
1,no 2, no 4 parachutes (so he could jump out of an airplane)
Nintendo DS

and then we always discuss the cake,
Flutter Nutter was very descriptive, he knew what he wanted...
The cake had to be green and white striped... so with some food coloring and careful cutting of cakes we ended up with:

(of course when you are 3 turning 4 it is mandatory to reach out and pull pieces of cake off... Taste testing is critical at this age.)
to get a better perspective of the shade of green he chose (after two bottles of green food dye):
Inside look:

But they not only choose the cake, but the decorations...
After some intense shopping at the "Cake Store" and not being able to decide, I suggested we go buy a toy at the store to put on top. For the money he wanted to spend on cake decorations I thought an actual toy that could be played with would be the best option, so we ended up with a lego theme. I suprised the boys with my lego building skill and constructed Flutter Nutter's construction vehicle and placed it on top!
(I do get some of the final say about the icing decorating... )


Their smiles are worth everything!
Deep breathe, I now have 35 more days till I have to begin exercising my memory skills! Just long enough to get through the Christmas season!!

Flutter Nutter's Exciting Find!

So today, Flutter Nutter goes shopping with Mom to find the perfect cake decoration for his birthday cake!

Which will be a whole other post.

Shopping was going so well, we stopped into the Dollar Tree to find treasures for his gift bags.

What does Flutter Nutter find??

Blue Candy Canes! His first thought....
Big Brother, aka "Daddy's Buddy"

Daddy's Buddy does not get red dye.
It affects him emotionally, tremendously affects him.

Christmas was a little disappointing last year, I couldn't find any non-red dye candy canes.

I couldn't find the white ones we had bought him the year before.

But today....

Flutter Nutter is big brother's hero.

Best part is we can have candy canes in the house this year.

I was not going to buy candy canes again this year if we would leave out Daddy's Buddy!

No worries there.

This smile was perfect and a thrill for the whole family.

Merry Christmas to Daddy's Buddy!

One of my favorite things...

As strange as it may sound, one of my things is to grade English papers.

English papers allow the student a lot of room for creativity and expressing themselves. Today's paper is actually Fun Mom's test.
assignment: Think of a name for a female lion. (answer must be written in first-person, possessive case)
Her answer: "I would name my lioness Heather."
So my question, does she think of me as a lioness?
Does she, finally, believe me when I say, "...or I will eat you!"
Is she scared of me and what might happen if she is caught doing what she should not?
Something to think on.... As for her test grade, I won't share. But that may be a future post should she read this one and have some other remarks to make! ;)

Bedtime is at 7 tonight!

It was the safest and best thing to do tonight. They were hyper and nuts!
I let Hockey Player and Little Princess stay up till 8. But only cause they figured out really quick I was done. So with the two littlest in bed, where hopefully no harm can come to them, and the middle two wisely choosing their rooms. I decided I needed a little therapy. The best part is it might work as a really good deterant for the remainder of the holiday season. What crazy pictures can I post of them for my own personal humor and recovery!
Enjoy~
(NOTE: you might want to click pause on my music player down below)

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Egyptians.....

Who says school has to be stuffy old books and frowny faces.
King Tutahkhamen
Queen Hatshepsut
Howard Carter
Nefertiti
Amenhotep IV
Cartouche
Temple of Tuthmosis III
Steve Martin
Hmmm, what do these all have in common. In an attempt to make Fun Mom smile I found this video, recommended in our book, Mystery of History, Volume 1
Special NOTE: You might want to pause my music down below before playing video :)

I love my husband...

enough to try and not annoy him on his one night off. I try really hard....
I sweetly ask him with a lot of bouncy excitement to go to Bed Bath and Beyond with me

& the kids.
He can go home afterwards while I finished up my errands.
I want to show him a bedspread I have had my eye on.
Before I left the driveway I remembered I didn't have my Old Navy coupon.
I went right to the spot in the house AND it wasn't there!
I figured the fatest way to find it was to go to back to the site and re-print it.
It is, afterall, a 30% coupon off your entire purchase.
So I go to the site and click print...
The printer jams!
Hockey Player is sent in to ask me if there is anything he can help me find.
LOL ~ Dad's way of trying to get me to hurry up.
I tell Hockey Player to tell dad, "I will be there in a minute and don't tell Dad what I am doing, I will explain later.
I remove the paper and re-print, yet again.
The printer jams AGAIN!

This so can't be happening!

Hubby will never consent to shop with me & kids again on his night off ever again.

This time I accidently bump the power cord and it unplugs and falls down back behind everything. I have to play twister to get the cord back to the printer. Turn it back on and viola...

Getting ready to click print yet again and here comes Big-O-Daddy-O.

I smile and quickly tell him, I couldn't find it, I thought it would be faster to reprint, the printer jammed, so I fixed it, printed again, and jammed again, and the cord was bumped and fell down and now the printer is doing its crazy little dance it does when this happens and I am trying to hurry for the sake of the family and....
Guess that coupon isn't as critical as I want it to be.

So trying yet again to not test his patience, and I really want that coupon,
I check yet again the original spot where it was suppose to be....
It's there!
Hmmm, so glad my husband loves and chooses to not strangle his coupon clipping wife!
We finally get to BB&B to find out, they are completely sold out of the bedset, I so adore.
Boys and hubby go home, mission canceled!
And I went to Old Navy and used my coupon!