We are going to be late.

Merry Christmas from the Mayer's

I haven't blogged this week. Nothing too unusual. I am not the most consistent blogger lately. However, this past week there has been a lot on my mind. I just don't know how to say it. All of us know what happened last Friday. There are no words that I can say. I don't know what to say. I can only offer my prayers. A week later I am still filled with a profound sadness. I still cry when I watch the news coverage or see an online post about one of the victims. I can only imagine what those families, all of those families , are going through. I cannot imagine the pain they are in. As a parent I cannot fathom a day without those wacky kids here with me. I have hugged my babies extra tight this week and been sure to tell them how much I love them, as I am sure everyone around the world has done this week. I have limited what Diva has seen or heard about the tragedy. She saw the news coverage on Monday morning. She had a few questions and I answered them honestly. After our ...

Ahhh...the beautiful sounds of children. And he really toned it down for this. He cranked it up to deafening levels when I wasn't filming. His sticker is stuck on the table and he can't pull it off. It's a window cling sticker. You would think he was having his limbs torn off at the moment. I'm just letting this happen.

I grew up in Small Town USA. I spent the majority of my life planning how I was going to get out of Small Town USA. I couldn't wait to leave. I had a wonderful childhood. I have wonderful memories of growing up. I just wanted to see the world. And Target. Target is a nice draw. As I age and my children get older I realize the charm of aforementioned small town. Mr. Mayer grew up in a slightly larger small town (compared to where I came from it was a big city). We both agree there is some benefit and charm to a small town. I have no intention of moving back, but visiting is nice! It makes me sad when I think that my kids will miss out on some of the things that I took for granted all those years ago. I don't get back to visit very often. The older the kids get the less we get to make it back. We were able to go back this weekend. It was so fun. I always get a little nostalgic when I get to town. My brother (bet you didn't know I had an older brother) was able to come to town...

You would think I would be referring to myself or Mr. Mayer. But, no. I'm talking about the precocious little girl that lives in this house. "I cleaned my room damn good." Wait. What? That was the sentence Diva told me a few weeks ago when I asked her if she had cleaned her room. I was in shock. Mr. Mayer was stifling a laugh. Diva was dead serious. A few days after that she came downstairs and told me to "Tell those damn boys to leave my damn toys alone." Apparently her brother's were messing with her Barbies. We have also had the occasional "damn it" when she drops something or spills something. It was super embarrassing when we were at Target and she dropped a toy in the toy department and said "damn it." Thankfully there was no one around to hear her. Diva's um...creative (?) vocabulary started as soon as she started speaking. She has always used big words, whether she knew what they meant or not. Mr. Mayer and I are totally ...

Let me preface this post by saying that I am currently dying from the plague suffering diseased contracted  have a cold and drinking a hot toddy with whiskey in it. Who knows what I'll say. But seriously....let's talk. The Dudes need to be potty trained. I wasn't planning to do it until high school. I was secretly hoping they would just do it themselves. That I would wake up one morning and it would be done. That's not happening. Ugh....great. But, it's going to have to be done. They keep coming and telling me when they need a new diaper and whether they went pee or poop. They are even telling their teachers at Mother's Day Out. In all seriousness I think I have PTSD from potty training Diva. That was a horrible experience. Completely my fault. I tried to force her a week after she turned 2 to using a potty. She wasn't ready and 3 years later she was still peeing in her pants. At least she got the pooping thing quickly. My mother had convinced me that a...

Happy Wednesday! I'm just going to give you a minute to take this in... She thought she was hot stuff this morning. She even insisted that I take a picture and send to her Aunt Betsy this morning. She was sure Aunt Betsy would LOVE her outfit. Shirt: Wal Mart Shorts: Target Tights: Target (a gift from Aunt Betsy. I think she is rethinking that gift now). She left the house wearing purple and grey Nikes and a bright pink jacket with lime green lining. She was quiet a vision. I can only imagine what her teacher thinks of all these crazy outfits.

Whew! Nov. 4th isn't to late to talk about Halloween, is it? Whatever. The title of my blog is not an accident. Last week was rough y'all. No joke. But, my little trick or treaters were adorable and I have to share. See? Adorable. Diva was obviously Belle. Her most favorite of all princesses. She started talking about being Belle last year on Halloween.  The Dudes aren't really old enough to have an opinion about what their costume was. I had a hard time finding a costume that I felt they could wear to Mother's Day Out and  for Halloween. I chose doctor's. I found some tiny little scrubs and some tiny little lab coats. I then took the tiny little scrubs and tiny little lab coats and had McDreamy and McSteamy embroidered on them. Cheese ball I know. But, I did it. And it was cute. We almost missed Halloween. I was so sad that my little people might miss out on trick or treating. We have had a long run of really good health. That was until last week. It started...

Wow!! I temporarily lost my mind Saturday night and cut all the "binkies." Yup. Cut the tips off of all of them. I had enough. I was tired of hunting for them. I was tired of fighting the Dudes for them. And mostly, I was tired of the temper tantrums when I wouldn't let Owen have one. Saturday night as I was trying to get him in the bathtub he threw an epic tantrum because he wanted a "binky." The rule has been for over a year they only get pacifiers at nap time or bedtime. Over the course of the last two weeks Owen had started going into his room and getting a pacifier and laying on his bed so he could have one. He had also been trying to sneak them out their room. One time he even hid it down his shirt when I tried to take it away. Carter isn't as attached to the pacifiers as Owen has always been. He likes to have one, but there are plenty of times he has gone to sleep without it in his mouth. When I came to my senses Saturday I started to feel bad. I h...

Another year has past. I shared last year about my brother in law Walter Joe . It's been 4 years now. The old saying "Time heals all wounds" is somewhat true. It doesn't hurt as bad. I still miss him. I still look for him. I still stop in my tracks when I see a man on a motorcycle with his pony tail whipping in the wind. It's the "could have beens" that hurt the most now. What could have been? What would have happened? What would things be like now? Olivia still asks questions and we still talk about him and look at pictures. The Dudes are getting older. The older they get the more I realize they are so much like him. They have his kind and fearless spirit. Carter has a mischievous twinkle in his eye and I can see his Uncle when he smiles at me with that ornery grin. When they are older we will talk about him and look at pictures with them. We all still miss him terribly. But, life goes on. We keep his memory alive and the world keeps turning. I'm st...

Every once and a while the Dudes surprise me and do something so sweet I just have to stop for a minute. It happened this morning.  The Dudes were awake, but as is normal they were happy so I left them in their room for a little bit while I drank some coffee and ate some breakfast. I was almost done when I heard a horrible terrifying scream come from their room. I knew it was Owen. I looked on the camera and saw his arm was in the top drawer of the changing table. We keep their pacifiers in the top drawer. Nothing else is in the thing, just pacifiers. The Dudes like to put their "binkies" up and get them out a million times at bedtime and nap times. He has gotten his arm shut in the drawer before but this time it looked different. I ran into the room. He was on his tip toes at a weird angle. I free his arm from the drawer and he is hysterical. I look at the arm and move it around. I was picturing my trip to the ER. His arm seems fine. We rock a minute in the rocking chair....

I always start to feel a little crafty when the seasons change. I also always seem to forget that I am not a crafty person. I'm much better at spending money. I really want to be a crafty person. I have mentioned before here and here that my crafts usually look like something that a Kindergartner did. Thanks to Pinterest  I think that I can be crafty. Not only do I think I can be crafty they give me directions how to do things and shopping lists. My brain goes crazy. So, I did what I always do. I browsed Pinterest and pinned a million different things and then went to Hobby Lobby to make my pins become realities. Oy Vey! I had found a pumpkin decoration for my front porch that I thought I had to have. I bought my supplies and began creating. I thought the process was pretty easy. Though my spray painting skills are probably on par with the 2 year olds. And, I initially severely misjudged how much spray paint I was going to need. I had to go back that night and buy more spray p...

So. Olivia has always LOVED art. Anything involved with coloring, painting, writing, drawing, etc. She loves it. She was a daycare kid and did art projects daily. The Dudes are not daycare kids (seriously~who can afford daycare for 3 kids?!) and I have had some feelings of guilt because they do not do art everyday. Truth is the mess stresses me out. They used to eat the crayons. It was just a disaster. I am trying to put my issues aside and let them make messes. My friend Megan is wonderful about letting her kids make messes and be creative. I'm a work in progress. So when Olivia asked earlier this week if she could paint instead of my normal automatic "No" or "Wait until your brother's are sleeping" I said Yes . I surprised Olivia. I surprised myself. The Dudes had been given some toddler paint daubers as a gift a while back. I was to nervous to let them try. So I covered the table, busted out the paints and some coloring books and let the kids go. The ki...

I don't blog about food very often. I find that a little strange since I like to eat so much. I also really like to bake and cook. I like the idea of creating things. It's a niche that I've found that I like and I am pretty good at, usually. I really like finding new recipes and "experimenting" on my family and willing friends. Lately I've been looking for new recipes and ideas for breakfast. I am not much on making breakfast. I was raised on cereal. Olivia is perfectly happy with a yogurt in the morning. Mr. Mayer doesn't usually eat breakfast. The Dudes are getting older and eating more and more (I honestly don't know how I'm going to feed them in a few years). They wake up starving. They really like muffins and frozen waffles. That stuff is kind of expensive. My kids can kill a box of chocolate chip muffins in one morning. Why couldn't I just make my own muffins? It's bound to be cheaper. The day I came to this realization is the same da...

Mr. Mayer writes a blog. Sometimes. He blogged tonight. It's pretty funny, as usual. I think the runner's out there will enjoy it. www.geekonlife.com

Happy Wednesday people!! Hope this finds you all well and I hope what you are about to see makes you smile as much as it did me. This girl child of mine is something else. She is definitely an individual. I hope that never changes. It's Wednesday and I remembered to take a picture! T-shirt w/attached vest~ Target Black tie sweater~ Target White denim shorts~ Target (I'm starting to notice a theme) Neon Yellow tights~ Aunt Betsy (I think she bought them at Target, but nonetheless she is to blame for those tights) Pink Boots~ Um....Marshall's maybe? I don't remember She has a personality to go with the outfit. Maybe she will be a fashion designer someday.

Are you guys ready for another installment? It is United Way week at Diva's school. They get to do silly things to raise money for United Way. Today is Wacky Socks and Hair day. Unless you are my child. Then, it's just another Wednesday for her. Needless to say. Today was not a stretch for her. Shirt: Pretty sure that is an Old Navy shirt Shorts: Cut off jeggings. They had a hole in the knee so I cut them for her to have some ratty shorts to wear around the house. Instead she wears them ALL. THE. TIME. It drives me crazy. She knows I hate them. Hello Kitty shoes: Target Socks: Mismatched from I have no idea. I have a bonus picture today. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you may have seen my post asking you to visualize the outfit.  Forgot the pic so just visualize this~ Blue jeggings, denim shorts, black sparkly top, red sparkly boots, and she made her own side pony. It was beyond fabulous....I was able to get a picture of it after school.  She thought she ...

Yup. True story. That's how my afternoon went. I'm sure I have the Bubonic Plague or Rabies or something else horrific. I watch the Discovery Channel. The Today Show did a show last week saying that diseases from the past are on the uptick. I don't like mice, rats, or any other small furry creature that is mouse looking. They creep me out. They are on my short list with snakes and roaches. I get a little panicky just thinking about them. You can imagine how calm cool and collected I was this afternoon. Mr. Mayer wasn't taking me seriously. Now, since then, I have sat in this house completely paranoid that there are mice inside somewhere. I feel my heart rate increasing as I type this. In addition to the Mouse Incident there was ANOTHER EFFING POOPCAPADE!!!!! Grrrrr....I have expressed my disdain for poo and anything poo related. However, I keep getting stuck cleaning the stuff up. I was super distracted by the impeding mouse invasion. The Dudes had been pullin...

So, as I mentioned on Wednesday ~Mr. Mayer is gone for 11 days. It's the longest either one of us have been gone. Ever. I was a little nervous. However, Wednesday was an unbelievably good day. All 3 kids were in good moods. Things went smoothly. I found a little bitty park near Diva's dance class that the Dudes and I could play at while she was in class. It all went well. Then yesterday happened. Those good moods? Replaced by 3 crying, screaming, falling in the floor blobs. I mean. What the heck?! Can we go back to Wednesday? The Dudes and I did manage to go and get donuts yesterday morning before they went to their school. They thought that was a very big deal. We don't do things like that very often. On top of the terrible no good moods Diva had gymnastics and an open house at school. I tried to get out of the open house. She was having none of it. She was pumped to show me her classes and teachers. Ugh. Do I have to?! Then it started raining. We need the rain, but...

I knew it was coming. I've known for a while that it was going to happen. I just chose not to think about it because every time I did think about it I would get anxious about it. Well. Today is the day. It happened. Mr. Mayer left. For 11 days. Yikes!!! A long weekend, no problem. But a week and a half? Yikes!!! It will be just me and kids. Just typing it makes me panic a little. And, if I'm being honest. I'm not sure why I'm so anxious about this. It will be the same stuff I do everyday. I mean. I'm a stay at home Mom. I'm with these people every day! I think what makes me anxious is the idea that I know he will not be here to back me up. Usually around 5pm things start to go down hill around here. I'm tired. The kids are tired. There is crying. There is screaming. There is all around mayhem. It's nice to have another adult around to talk to and to take a screaming kid. As I was dropping him off at the airport this morning he said "Please don...

Ever have one of those weeks where you aren't sure if you are coming or going? Yeah. I have. I think I've hit my wall tonight. My eyelids are being held up by toothpicks at the moment. Life has been nonstop for over a week now. I'm hoping tomorrow can return to a little normal. Diva started back to dance this week, in addition to her weekly gymnastics. The Dudes are officially 2!! More on that later because I like to drag things out a while :/ I babysat my sweet little 7 month old niece on Wednesday and decided I had 0% desire to have another baby. But, I did remember how easy one baby can be. Wow! The Dudes have been r-o-t-t-e-n this week. OMG! Make the screaming stop!!! Someone. Help. Please! I'm begging. The screaming. The crying. The CLIMBING ON EVERY FREAKIN' THING THEY SEE.  Whether we are in public or not. Super embarrassing. I'm trying really hard not to go completely crazy mom on the Dudes, especially when we are out in public. This is getting harder by...

My sweet little Owen has turned into a big ol' meanie. I know. Look at that sweet little face. He couldn't possibly be mean. I was in denial. But, over the past couple of weeks it's becoming a problem. At first I thought he was just having a bad day. It started with pushing and taking toys. This week a friend came over with her little girl who is 19 months. Little Addie would be playing with a toy and Owen would come up and take the toy then hit her with it. It wasn't a one time thing. He did it repeatedly. When he wasn't hitting her he was pushing her, pulling her hair or throwing things at her. Where is this coming from? Today their little friends Alec and Aiden came over to play. Owen was up to his old tricks. He was hitting, pushing, pulling, taking toys, throwing toys. Not only to Alec and Aiden, but to his brother. I'm distressed. I  know some of it is age. But, I don't want to just allow him to be mean. I have tried to do time outs. I'm not su...

I don't know when it happened or how. If someone could tell me when this sweet little Angel Baby~ got big enough to go to Kindergarten?! I mean. I blinked and away she went. She was so excited. We spent a week picking out what she would wear and that morning she put on her stand by OSU t-shirt and cut off leggings. She loves that look. I do not. Whatever. And the backpack. Can we just talk about how big that backpack looks. My baby girl should not be old enough for this stuff. I picked her up that afternoon and she was a bubbling ball of energy. Anything I asked her about school was "Awesome." Her teacher was awesome. Her friends were awesome. Her lunch was awesome. You get the idea. It's all awesome. And, not to be left out, the Dudes had a first day this week as well. They started Mother's Day Out two days a week. They were so excited to wear their little backpacks they threw a fit when I had to take them off. We arrived at their classroom and they ran...

The Dudes are playing outside this morning. I am in and out getting some stuff done around here (folding laundry and doing dishes) . I have the backdoor open. The Dudes are happily playing. I look out and see this. I mean. Really?!

Ugh...remember a week or so ago I posted about my little escape artist ? Then we immediately left for vacation and Carter immediately started climbing out of his pack & play. That was completely awesome (dripping with sarcasm). We came home on Saturday night. Sunday afternoon Mr. Mayer took the sides off of the Dudes cribs and turned them into toddler beds. My babies aren't babies anymore. That hurts a little. I took most everything out of their rooms. Child locks were put on the changing table/dresser. I bought them new sheets since most of their old ones had holes and the elastic was shot. I got them little blankets for their beds and little pillows. I was not ready for this new stage. Bedtime came. I had convinced myself that it was going to be hours and hours of torture and that they would never sleep. Mr. Mayer and I put them in bed and tell them "night night." Then we turned out the light and walked out. Carter immediately started wailing a shrill paint pe...

We are home!! Vacations are great~until you have a 12 hour car ride home. We left Angel Fire at 7:30 this morning and pulled into our driveway at 8:45 tonight. We were all a little crabby and crazy by the time we got home. I have to give a shout out to my awesome kids (remind me that they are awesome when they are horrible blobs tomorrow) .  They handled the trip like champs. Hardly any crying. There were even a few naps today. Very successful. So~I'm beat....I'll share more about our great vacay later. For now~goodnight. We met my Grandpa, Uncle, Cousin and her little girl for lunch in Amarillo.   He fought a good fight but ended up passing out mid sentence. He didn't even try to fight it. He didn't even make it out of New Mexico before he was out.

Shit.Shit.Shit.Shit.Shit.Shit.Shit.Shit...... It happened. I mentioned a few weeks ago here that the Dudes were nano seconds away from climbing out of their cribs. Then tonight happened. Grrr.... It has been a crazy busy day. I am exhausted. Olivia had her last swim lesson tonight. Mr. Mayer comes home late on Thursdays. Last week KiKi came over and watched the Dudes while I took Olivia to swim. Tonight Nana Karen and Papa Brad came over and hung out with the Dudes while Olivia and I went to swim. When we got home Mr. Mayer was home. He, Nana Karen, Papa Brad and I were all sitting in the living room with Olivia. The Dudes were in bed. We could hear Carter crying and the boys jabbering with each other off and on. Then we hear the drawer to the changing table shut. Wait.What?! Say again! Yeah. The drawer   to   the   changing   table.  Mmmmhmmmm. You read that right. I immediately knew what the sound was. I gave Mr. Mayer a look of terror just as it was regi...

Items as is.... One precocious girl child, 2007 model Adept at drama, back talking, screaming, stomping, slamming doors, crying at will, lying and a little heavy on mileage in the not listening department. She is somewhat of a hoarder and can destroy a room in seconds. Very skilled at hugs, kisses and playing with her brothers. Oh! And she can crack an egg. As an added bonus with the purchase of girl child you can have: Two boy children, 2010 models. Adept at mimicking anyone and everyone, crying, kicking, screaming and tackling. Oh. And climbing. Oh my gosh the climbing. On everything. Nothing is safe and anything can be used as a step stool. Still in diapers and both eat more than the 5 year old girl child. Very skilled at hugs, kisses, running and jumping. Both are learning some words and will repeat whatever is said to them. They both require snuggles, naps and laps to sit in as part of their daily maintenance. *No silly's I'm not really going to sell my ...

It's been a while since I did a WSWW! The Diva is getting a little better about matching her outfits these days. She still has her own unique flair to clothing. She picked out a pair of red sparkly "Jessie" boots when we were in Las Vegas. They are from Jessie on Toy Story. The boots go with everything. You might think I'm exaggerating, but no. She tried to wear them with her swim suit last night. Um. No. That didn't happen. Anyway....here is another installment of WSWW~enjoy. OSU t-shirt: Gift from Aunt Betsy Gray Jeggings: Gap Kids Red Boots: Disney Store Necklace: Hand me down from BreAnne Sunglasses: My old ones from Target Attitude: Outer Space

Is really hard. It has been a bigger challenge than I expected. Making excuses has been much easier. However, I reached a point in my life where I am tired of excuses and I don't really like what I see in the mirror. There's this thing I've seen on the Internet a lot. It says "I wish I was as thin as I was when I thought I was fat." That. Is. So. True. I have a love/hate relationship with my weight. I think most females do. I am not a small person. I never have been. Even when I weighed nothing I was not a small person. I have no ambition to be a waif. I want to be healthy. I want to be strong. I want to be a good example for my children. Growing up my family called me lovely names like "Bertha Big Butt" and "Thunder Thighs." Over the years the blatant nicknames went away and the more subtle comments about my weight took over. Either way they still hurt. I am making a conscious effort to not say negative things about my body in front of Olivi...

This is how the Mayer's have fun on a Tuesday night....don't be jealous. 

See those sweet innocent faces? Cute huh? Yeah, those sweet little boy's are going to be big trouble pretty soon. The Dudes will be 2 on Sept. 2. They are growing up by leaps and bounds. They are saying little sentences and understanding everything. They like to help me around the house and doing dishes and vacuuming have become very exciting events around here. I like all these new changes and these big boys that have suddenly occupied my house. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel that was pretty dark for a while. I was sure I was going to have helpless little babies forever. It took the Dudes a VERY LONG time to sleep all night. Mr. Mayer and I were delirious for a VERY LONG time before we started getting more than 2 or 3 hours at a time. Then miraculously overnight they stopped waking up at 11, 2 and 4am to party. We started sleeping and the whole world started looking a little better. Even now though they may sleep all night, going to sleep is a different issue. I...