Little Lies

Don’t EVER lie to me.
I’m serious.
All of us have our pet peeves but lies are something I won’t tolerate.
You can hurt my feelings, forget a lunch date, or change plans at the last minute and I’ll forgive you but I have a long memory and a deep distrust when it comes to someone who has lied. That’s a biggie in my book. Now before you think I’m a little too “holier than thou”, hear me out.
I’m not talking about those little lies everyone tells. Those polite words that make things nicer or make someone feel better. I’ll admit to telling a few of those myself.
My kids know that lying is the big no-no. They know if I ask “What did you do?“ they know they better fess up because the punishment they’ll get for whatever they’ve done is FAR preferable to the trouble they’ll be in if they lie and I find out about it.
Of course, you don‘t have to tell everything. Every parent knows there are some things that we’d prefer our kids not ever know about us. Mistakes we’ve made, things we’ve tried. I could fill a book with things I’ve done over the years to keep my secrets without telling out and out lies to my kids. But that’s because I’m imagining the looks in their eyes if they ever caught Mom in a lie. The disappointment of finding hypocrisy in the one place they thought they could always trust. I’m not saying they think I’m perfect, they know me far too well, but they know I tell them the truth. Honesty is my policy. Not much sugar coating around here.
It is very important to me that my kids know they can always trust me. As their parent, I hope they will always come to me for guidance and advice. I won’t always know all the answers, and I try to be honest about that as well. One lesson that I want them to learn and to carry throughout their lives:
Trust is hard won, terribly easy to break, and once broken, is never quite what it was. I can’t stress that enough!!!!!
So why am I blogging about honesty and trust…..I’m not entirely sure.
Call it, therapeutic blogging. Sometimes I need to be completely raw and honest with my frustrations, my fears and my questions. And sometimes just reading what others are dealing with and how they feel can be strangely empowering.

It's the Great Pumpkin tradition

Sunday was our annual pumpkin carving party.
The kids were so excited and wild all afternoon waiting for people to get here.
We had a good turn out. Our friends and neighbors were here.
Ethan didn't stop running around all day.
This year we added a Halloween pinata to our festivities.
The kids lined up and were so excited!!!
That poor little ghost pinata didn't stand a chance when the kids started in.
Shortly after, it was in two big pieces. the kids looked like chickens pecking all over the ground for candy.
How FUN!
After all was said and done, it was a great success.
I wanted to take so many more pictures, but instead just enjoyed the beautiful weather with our friends.
We had a really good time.

A big thanks to everyone who came and helped us continue our tradition.
We enjoyed every minute of it.
Happy fall y'all.

Home Sweet Home

I came across some old photos of our last house. I can still remember buying it just to totally remodel it. Unfortunately I have no before pics, just the after ones. It was everything Mike and I wanted.....

This was my home, and I loved it.

It’s where all the people I love are.

I loved my red door, that many friends have entered, I love my flowers, and I even love that old graveled driveway that held the smell of rain.

This was the first house Mike and I remodeled together.

This was the house my kids couldn’t wait to “explore” when we finally got to move in.

This is the home where we laughed, talked, and played.

This is the house that has seen more tears than any other and the one where hearts have been mended.

This is where I feel at peace. When I see my old house I don’t just see a house, I see my home. I see my family… I see the man that I love and our three amazing children. We live in Texas now and we are loving it but, every now and then, I wish I was back home.

Fall Days

October brings shorter days and a chill to the air along with many fun family moments.
I look forward to every year with great anticipation:
1) pumpkins! Yes, pumpkins are everywhere. Every year I gear up for the one day I get to practice my hand at a fleeting but wonderful art form – Halloween pumpkin carving! It will be a blast!
2) Hot apple cider has become my drink of choice this Fall.
3)Cold weather. Our move to Texas made me realize how nice it is to actually have the changing seasons. All the leaves on the trees are changing color and falling off and I love to turn the fireplace on.
4) watching Fall family movies together and watching scary movies with Mike, when the kids get to bed.

When the leaves are golden rolling down my street, it marks my favorite time of year.
Fall is the time when one sheds tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is chicken soup for the battered spirit.
When the air is cool, we spend time with family and friends, and every moment when my little family is gathered indoors to play board games and watch old movies.
A few of those days and all is well in the land of Tubiolo.
I feel like the future is wide open and filled with sun-dappled possibilities.
HAPPY FALL EVERYONE :)

Letter To the Bugs

Dear Nasty Flu Bugs:
I ask that you LEAVE now! Leave our home!
We have had ENOUGH! We got our flu shots and you have still been inhabiting my home for almost 2 weeks now! And you got to me and my son!

I understand that this is what you do and all that but can you go do it somewhere else?
I am tired of feeling like crap. I am tired of not being able to talk or breathe properly. I am tired of blowing my nose.

Seriously, enough is enough!
Also could you maybe depart from the rest of my kids too? Please.
My kids aren't as strong as me and I think between all of us, we have already gone through dozens of airborne, antibacterial soap, and hand sanitizer – all of which you seem resistant too. And you have ruined Ethan's chance at perfect attendance!!!

Its too much for us, we are a busy family and need all our energy.
So please – let us part TODAY!!!!!!!!!
Thank you

Swine Whine

My mom seemed to rarely get sick, and if she did, we never knew it, she never let it get her down.

I remember being sick as a child. My mom would make me chicken noodle soup, give me medicine, tuck me in bed, take my temperature, feel my forehead, and let me rest with peace and quiet.

Well….I'm not a kid anymore!!!

Last week, my allergies started to act up…or so I thought.

I was coughing and had a runny nose. I went to the CVS minute clinic, to make sure that it wasn't the flu: my test came back negative. As the days went on, it got worse.

I was achey and felt like my head and ears were stuffed with cotton. I felt TERRIBLE!

To top it all off, I woke up yesterday with NO voice!!! I had to yell just to get a whisper out. Me not being able to talk is NOT a good thing. After much teasing from the kids and hubby quoting the Godfather, I decided to not let it ruin my day. By the way, I can still text Nikki if I need to talk.

However, lunches still had to be made, kids still had to be dressed, we had football games to get to and the house still needed to be cleaned. I was not going to let this bug get me down....I am MOM!!!

I began to lose my energy, the piles of tissues were growing, and I just didn't feel like myself. Just then, Ethan started running a fever, coughing, vomitting...you get the picture.

So, there we were, me and Ethan, in bed...sick!

I won't go into details about the discharges, aches, and other syptoms we experienced.

Long story short...Me and Ethan caught the swine!!!! Yes, we got the swine flu and it is kicking my butt. It is horrible!!!!

I thought mother's weren't supposed to get sick. What is going on????

Dear Balloon Boy Parents......

I watched yesterday, completely engrossed in the live coverage on CNN. I watched the story unfold of your son, who was thought to be trapped in your home made aircraft; drifting through the Colorado sky. I watched in worry as the balloon floated away and I couldn't help but imagine the worst.

I was truly worried.

I gave you the benefit of the doubt, never did I think that someone could speculated such fraud. But I think it's pretty clear now that that is exactly what it was.You faked the potentially tragic death of your own son for publicity. You called the police and the news, pulling resources away from those who might have needed them.

IF this was a hoax ( see, i'm still trying to give you the benefit of a doubt):

You're not a hero.

You're just a piece of tabloid history.

Your children will have to live with the legacy of this and it will follow them for the rest of their lives.

and......you should be ashamed of yourselves!!!

NOT an Easy Bake Oven

I knew this day would come. After years of making the kids stay out of the kitchen while I am cooking and making them stay at least 200 feet from ANY flames, here I am teaching my kids to cook.

YIKES!

My kids love helping out in the kitchen: pouring and mixing ingredients. But, once the oven or stove goes on, the kitchen is off limits.

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day who informed me that her 11-year-old makes herself scrambled eggs in the morning and makes cakes, start to finish all the time. Well, Sydney is ten and a half. And I remember cooking all by myself when I was twelve. I realized that I needed to start sometime and now is as good time as any.

After much thought, I decided that teaching my kids how to use the oven first would be much easier than going right for the stove, and cookie baking season is coming up so, I went for oven lessons!!! I cheated, I had them bake their own pot pies. I needed to start out as basic as I could for my own sanity.

I didn't realize how many buttons are on my oven and the preheating process, which takes 6 minutes.... took ALL of that to explain why we preheat. What an ordeal!!!

So once we get passed that, the kids put their pot pies in the oven and set the timer according to the package.

30 minutes later, when the timer goes off, they all run for the oven. This could be a problem!

Finally, pot pies ready.

I was happy to see that they each were very careful and remembered their oven mits!

The kids were so proud and no one got burned!!!


At first I felt like I cheated them out of a REAL cooking lesson, but pot pies are not always easy to make.

Just click here to read my crazy pot pie story!!!

It's worth a good laugh!

90 Minute Clinic

Let me start off by saying that I am not feeling good today so, please forgive me for being harsh. I have been fighting some bug for a while now and I simply refuse to be sick. I eat healthy, exercise (kind of), take my vitamins, and wash my hands so much to the point that I have severely dry skin. So I can't get sick, right?
Anyway, when I am feeling sick, even the littlest things bother me. I don't run to the doctor at the slightest cough or headache so, just the simple fact that I found myself signing in at the CVS minute clinic, was a bother.
minute clinic.....yeah right! I was there for an hour and a half!
I sat beside a mother whose kids (middle school aged) were obviously home schooled and she was doing an assignment with them. There she was reading a story in baby talk. Aghhh, I hate that!!!! Hello. Lady. Your kids are NOT babies!!! My head started pounding. I tried to ignore her but, it was VERY hard.
I sat there tortured for half an hour, when another mother came in. She had four children. Four very misbehaved children. Don't get me wrong, my kids are not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But my kids also do not take items off the shelves and throw them at each other, make me chase them through CVS, and try to run out the door into the parking lot. And NEVER would I reward that behavior, like she did, with CANDY. This mother let them each pick out candy (if they promised to behave). While she was at the register, at the other end of the store, I could hear them....whining, demanding and, screaming. But they all come back with a candy in each hand, which they were getting all over the floor. Come on, Seriously???? (my headache is worsening)
I thought real hard about leaving, there is no reason for me to sit here, tortured. I kept asking myself, what the heck I was doing there and how could I possibly be surrounded by all this chaos!
Just when I thought is was bad, my nose starts running and my head still pounding, I got up from my seat to get a tissue, when one of the little brats took my chair. The only chair left. Oh no, you didn't. I gave the mother the ugliest look I could and I think she could see the bitter sick
%@*! inside of me and asked her kid to give me my seat back. I know that sounds mean of me but, like I said, mean mommy appears when I am sick.
Now, I am only two people away from my turn, when another mother comes in with three kids. Three screaming kids! She told them they were there for a flu shot and the kids were scared and crying. Then she proceeds to tell them that if they don't stop crying, they were going to get 2 shots!!! Why do people do that?
Baby talk mom left, and I was staring to miss her, she wasn't so bad after all.
As if the waiting area wasn't bad enough.....
since I work in a hospital, we have to assume that I have been exposed to the flu. So I get tested. OMG, the swab for the test is long and skinny and I knew they had to swab the inside of my nose but I didn't know they swab all the way up. It felt like they were swabbing my eye through my nostril. Now I really start coughing, eyes are watery, and my nose starts flowing like a river. The test would take ten minutes, and I asked the nurses to please not send me back into the crazy waiting room. She laughed, agreed and let me stay in there with her. After ten minutes....good news, my flu test was NEGATIVE!
All that torture for nothing!

We Got Boo'ed

A Halloween tradition is spreading rapidly throughout the culture. Called "Getting Booed," it involves a family making a Halloween gift basket and leaving it anonymously on a neighbor's door step with a sign "You Got Booed." The receiving family's job, then, is to make up another gift basket and play the trick on another family in the neighborhood who doesn't have a 'got booed' sign on their door.

Last night we had a mysterious knock on the door. When the kids opened the front door, they found a bag of sweet treats along with a paper ghost and poem instructing them to do the same to two other neighbors.
My kids love this part of our Halloween tradition.

But there's been a little debate about whether or not this booing business is plain fun or plain inconsiderate. Is it spreading the Halloween spirit or just a glorified chain letter?

The truth is that it's both.

I still dig it, but I don't want other parents with children on the receiving end of a "You've been boo'ed" ghost to feel pressured to participate. It's hard enough to get Halloween costumes together and prepare for school parties. This I know. But since we ‘got booed’, it’s on!

Here is a BOO basket I found, made by Jennifer at The Buck Stamps Here

that I want to make.

Because I said So

I never thought I would use those words when disciplining my kids.
My parents used that a lot and I never understood why they wouldn't just explain why I wasn't supposed to do something.
Luckily for me, most days I don't have to argue with my children when it's time to clean up or go to bed. I think they are used to the rules by now.
I don't try to run a tight ship, just a tidy one. It's not that hard to put your dirty laundry in the hamper or put your dirty dishes in the sink, is it? And if they forget every once in a while, that's okay too.
But today, my son surprised me when he asked me why he had to take a shower, especially beacause there is no school tomorrow and I had already decided tomorrow I was washing all bed sheets. So, why couldn't he just go to bed, muddy clothes and all. What???
I know little boys like to get dirty, pick their nose, and play with bugs but when did sleeping in jeans and going two days without a shower become okay? Part of me wanted to let him sleep in his filth to see how he liked it but, I just couldn't.
Was he kidding? Did he really want to go to bed with mud on his jeans, face, and in between his toes? Not to mention....the stinch of a little boy who had a very active play day.
My only answer was...because I said so!
Just then, I remember what it was like hearing those very words from my parents and for a moment, I wondered if I should have taken a mimute to explain to him the reasons for proper hygiene. Then I thought, if he doesn't understand why wearing muddy stinky clothes to bed is not okay, then I have no better explanation.
He was actually okay with it, he just said "okay mom", and got in the shower.

I Made a Diaper Cake

I spent days surfing the net trying to find decent free information on how to make a diaper cake. There is so much stuff out there that is just plain gibberish that left me with no clue how to actually make a diaper cake. Diapers are really expensive so, I wanted to make sure that I didn't ruin ANY of them. A good looking diaper cake costs a lot of money and was wondering why I decided to make one by myself.

After much research (online) I was still stumped but, I was determined! I really wanted to make one for a good friend of mine for her baby shower. So I just let my creative juices flow and here is what I came up with:

So, Here is a simple way to make a Diaper Cake

Diaper Cake Ingredients:

Baby bottle or empty cardboard towel roll

8 feet of 1” wide ribbon

8 feet of 1/2" accent ribbon

2 thin wooden dowelsRubber bands

Safety pins

Glue gun

50-90 newborn diapers (depends on the size and the number of tiers you desire)

Decorative baby items (bibs, socks, toys)

Cake Topper

Assembly:

When rolling your diapers, have them opened lengthwise with tabs tucked in Secure your diapers with a rubber band so they stick together

Bottom layer: use larger size diapers. Wrap one layer of rolled diapers securely around the baby bottle or towel roll. Continue to wrap diapers around in rows, until your desired bottom layer is the size you want it.

Middle Layer: will start off the same wrapping around the top of the baby bottle or towel roll. continue until you reach the size you want (about two rows smaller than the bottom layer.

Top Layer: Your top layer will be rows of rolled diapers smaller than your middle layer. I used two thin wooden dowels that went through all layers and served to just hold the top layer in place.

Use a safety pin to hold ribbon around your diaper layers. Your 1" ribbon should cover and hide the rubber bands around your layers. Do this to all layers. Use an accent ribbon 1/2", hot glued over the first one, as a decorative touch. This also helps hide the rubber bands even more.

Assemble your tiers on top of eachother

Tuck your baby items in the ribbons, or flowers as decorations

Top your cake off with something fitting the theme of your party. Whether it be a small stuffed toy, a baby bottle or slippers

This project took me less than an hour and I had a lot of fun making it.

Most people see diaper cake making as a difficult task, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I found it very fast, easy, and fun. And the best part...no wasted diapers!!

And the winner is......

I'd like to accept this award of 'The Worst Mom in the World' on behalf of all worst mom's everywhere.
I couldn't have done this without the help of my children who nominated me for this award.
I am daily reminded of them whenever I catch sight of those single white hairs, stretch-marked hips, and newly-discovered wrinkles.
Giving up my career, shoe-fetish, and nights of sleep to nurture them will forever be a testament to my dedication to make it as The Worst Mom ever.
I couldn't accomplish this without my being so completely selfish that I buy them a new toy or new clothes for absolutely no reason.
Oh, I can't forget to thank my husband either for his genetic contribution to our offspring and whose DNA runs rampantly through them.
I'd like to thank my parents for wishing upon me that my children will be just like ME.
Thanks, your dream has apparently come through.
Thank you Dr. Phil for showing me in all your infinite wisdom my failure as a mother and may you have continued success at the expense of all the other failing parents in the world.
Lastly, I'd like to thank my single, childless friends whose lives I live through vicariously every time they post a status update on Facebook. Without them, my dreams would be full of time-outs, potty words, and slamming doors instead of their wonderful exploits of freedom.
Thank You!

Land of Crazy

I don’t know if I’m cut out to be a mom of teenagers.
People often tell me that I am a great mother. And I have to look around to see who in the heck they are talking about because it can't be me.
I'm the one who let’s things build up until I find myself over reacting and crying in the shower because it’s just too overwhelming.
I keep telling myself, that one day I will be able to laugh about motherhood over dinner. I will reminisce about how difficult kids can be and giggle as my adult children tell me about how they are struggling to raise their own young children......because that’s what they get.
But sometimes, I feel like I’m stuck in a place called tween/teenager where I don’t know the customs, fashions or, the language. I used to be a teenager. I even spoke the language once. But now? Now I’ve forgotten the basics and it’s just nonsense to me. And it’s so frustrating listening to this crazy language that I don’t understand.
But here I am. Another day. Another battle. The kids still need to be reminded to do their homework and brush their teeth. And I still have to hear “it’s not fair” or "I don't want to", on a regular basis.
But today I’m going to ignore the eye rolls and the heavy sighs and just make dinner, help with homework, and give hugs and kisses before passing out in my own bed.
Because that’s what mothers do and I know one day I'm going to miss having chaos in the house.