Thursday Thoughts

This week has been whirling by rather quickly. Buddy is feeling much better after his bout with strep throat last weekend. And by nothing short of a miracle, no one else in our house caught the step bug. 

And trust me, that is a miracle because these kids share sippy cups & toothbrushes like nobody's business. What is it about someone else's toothbrush or drink cup being way better than your own, anyway? 

Either way, I am very grateful all of the kiddos are feeling fine and up to their usual mischief. Here are several thoughts dancing around in my busy head this week. :)

1. Do you want to know how a busy mom of 4 small kids gets dinner prepped, cooked, and on the table every night amidst the crying, whining, "when's dinner gonna be ready?" questions, arguing, fighting, and boo-boos? 

Just sit a couple of kids on the counter and throw them a tortilla. It buys you at least ten minutes of peace! :) 

 

2. I wonder how it is that husbands can sleep through crying, teething babies all night? I mean, how is it even humanly possible to tune out the fussiness when it is merely 2 feet away from your ears? That is some amazing talent, I tell ya! This is what my honey was doing last night at 1am, 2am, 4am, and 5am when our little teether was wide awake & voicing his discomfort. 

My sleeping beauty! He is just going to LOVE me for posting this one!

 

And this is what I am drinking a lot of this morning. Pure survival mode here, folks. That was a rough, sleepless night last night! Hopefully my little teething man will feel better soon.

The drink of champions....and of moms who didn't sleep at all last night!

3. Am I the only one who hates temporary tattoos? I seriously can't stand them. My kids love them! Of course they do. We are currently on day 5 of these ninja turtle tattoos and every time I glance down at the kids throughout the day I think it's dirt or food smeared on their arms, only to remember, oh wait, it's just those stupid tattoos they refuse to let me wash off! 

He's pretty proud of that turtle

This was Boo's first tattoo! She was amazed she had a permanent sticker on her arm.

Yep, day 5 of the tattoos and still going strong. Her Minnie Mouse t-shirt is still going strong, too. I think I need to buy 6 more of these so she can just have one clean for every day of the week.  

4. Hey, if you're feeling down and out about your life, just remember that it could be worse. You could be Paula Deen. :-/

 

Bless.Her.Heart!

 

(You could also be named North West....equally as devastating! What the heck, Kimye?) 

 

 

5. There's a debate in our home as to whether or not it's normal to mix grits with your scrambled eggs. 

I absolutely love eating my grits & eggs mixed together like this. Mr. Fix-it cringes every time I do. Now to be fair, he doesn't like grits at all (he's not normal) so mixing them with eggs just thoroughly grosses him out. But this is how I grew up eating my grits and I think they are delicious! Surely I'm not the only one??

 

(I also put salt on my watermelon which also creeps him out. And to think he was actually raised in the south....)

 

6. Should I be offended when I run into old friends at the grocery store and they comment on "how adorable" all of my kids are only to follow it to with a, "and they all look just like your husband!" I can't tell you how many times this exact scenario has taken place. 

Hmmm. Well thank goodness for Mr. Fix-it or my kids would be U-G-L-Y, I guess! Haha! 

I think they're all pretty cute myself!

Happy Thursday! I cannot believe we're on our last week of JUNE already!

Thursday Thoughts

1. So it's been a rather rainy summer so far. When there is a lot of rain, there tends to be a lot of mud in our backyard. My kids are attracted to mud. It's almost like some sort of magnetic force. In fact, even when it hasn't rained, Buddy likes to make his own mud by pouring Tupperware containers filled with water into the dirt. Wala - homemade mud! His sisters probably wouldn't come up with such a messy project on their own; however, they certainly like to tag along and enjoy his ingenious ideas. So while I was making dinner one evening I sent the kids out back for a little playtime

This is what I discovered a mere 5 minutes later. Yes, these kids could break world records in the time it takes them to go from clean & bathed to dirty & disgusting!

Boo was the worst of them all. I think her older siblings helped "paint" her with the mud. And she ate some, too. A little soil minerals never hurt anybody, right? :)



2. I just want to confess that I am the worst reverse driver ever! I have never been good at backing up. Never. My step-father tried to teach me. My Papa offered his advice & instruction. My husband has also been trying to work on this weakness of mine for years. But it just remains a fact - I suck at backing up. It's so bad that I swear the new neighbors across the street watch from their windows with popcorn every time they see my garage door open.

I can just hear it now, "Oh look, it's that crazy lady with all those kids trying to back her van out of the garage again. Yep, there goes another bush!"

Mr. Fix-it thought that the back-up camera on my van would do the trick. He was at least hoping to save the puppies and the mailboxes of the neighborhood, I am sure. And for the most part, the back-up camera does the trick.

But not the other day.

I was in a rush to get out the door since Mr. Fix-it was giving me an evening free of kids! I opened the garage door as normal, put the van into reverse, checked the back-up camera to make sure all was clear (it was!), and proceeded to back out of the garage.

Crunch!!

For some reason, the garage door had stopped half way up and while my back-up camera was showing a clear picture of no obstructions, the garage door was clearly still in the way. OOPS!

Good news is, the van was fine! Bad news, the garage door needed some work.

Mr. Fix-it to the rescue! :) He was super excited to stay up well past his bedtime that night fixing the door for me.

Lesson learned: don't trust those back-up cameras!!

3. I was eating my morning bowl of oatmeal this morning and nearly choked on this:

Buddy confessed that he had hidden some of his change in the container of old-fashioned rolled oats.

Never a dull moment in this house!

He's learning how to take a "selfie." :)

Happy Thursday!!

Thursday Thoughts

Here are some of the thoughts swirling through this busy Mama brain today.

1. I wonder if drug companies started making kid medicine a lot tastier than it was decades ago? Because I vividly remember my mother having to hide chewable Tylenol in a happy meal hamburger when I was sick because I'd pitch such a fit over taking it. These days, my kids fight over who gets the liquid pain reliever like it's candy. They will cry if they aren't sick and can't take the medicine their sibling is getting. How unfair of Mommy to not give medicine when you don't need it! HA! I honestly have to hide this stuff from my kids.

2. You want to know why I named my blog "Crayons & Cookie Crumbs?" Because I discover a new drawing on my wall almost once a week like this: 

It doesn't matter that I've hid the crayons from them a thousand times already. In locked cabinets. On top of the refrigerator. I swear these kids have a crayon dealer who smuggles in crayons for them when I'm sleeping. Mr. Fix-it keeps a jar of paint handy so he can slap another coat over their latest artwork. Hey, maybe I'm raising little Picassos!

Also, the cookie crumbs reference comes from this:

This mess is just from one child. After one meal. I don't even put the broom away anymore. What's the use? I practically just walk around with it all day long anyway.

3. Am I the only one NOT obsessed with this Chevron craze going on right now? I see this stuff all over Facebook, blogs, clothing stores, and on Pinterest.  

It's a bunch of zig zag lines, people. This is not a novel idea. I use to doodle the same pattern on the back of my notebooks in elementary school. Why must we put this all over our clothes, rugs, phone covers, bags, walls, etc? Enough already! Stop the Chevron madness, please!! 

4. I know I mentioned before that we call our third born daughter "Boo" because she looks like the little girl from Monsters Inc. (which by the way, my family is super excited about the sequel coming out later this month!) So I thought this was cute. 

My Boo! Haha, cracks me up!

5. And finally, I know I complain sometimes about Mr. Fix-it's terrible work hours but I should mention that I am truly grateful for his employment. You see, this time last year, we were at a place where we didn't know exactly how we were going to pay the bills or if he'd find steady employment. We learned a whole lot about the Lord's provision through some very uncertain financial times. And truthfully, things aren't exactly care-free or secure now either. Our security rests in this promise from our Lord: 

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

(Matthew 6:26 NIV) 

This was the verse The Lord used to guide us in our decision for me to quit teaching two years ago & become a stay-at-home mommy to our kids even though we knew things would be tight. This was also the verse The Lord used when Mr. Fix-it was without a job this time last year. This is the verse The Lord continues to press on my heart even now when things seem unsure or impossible. 

We have a few sweet friends who are walking the road of uncertainty right now with unemployment. We've been there. I know it's so scary. But He does provide. And He will provide! 

So yes, we miss having Mr. Fix-it home most weekends. We miss having him at the dinner table most nights. His work is definitely demanding. But he loves what he does and this is what we prayed so hard for! So we are grateful!

Besides, now all of you can benefit from the lack of adult conversation I have now by reading all of my gibberish on this blog. HA! 

Have a terrific Thursday!