Hello Again! How've you been?

I will update this blog. I will update this blog.

Gosh, do I really have time to update this blog?

I would say that life is busy, but I really hate that phrase. It drags along the enormous, overbearing baggage of "I'm a frazzled mom who just can't keep the days straight let alone finish the dishes or remember calendar commitments." Nope, life is not busy...it's just life.

Since my last post, we have changed jobs, changed residency, and changed hearts. We are learning to accept a new kind of normal with smiles on our faces. Not those forced smiles, but genuine REAL cheesy smiles, because life is too short to be anything but happy.

Our kiddos are growing. Mr. M ---who's too smart for his own good--- informed us the other day that in 11 years he'd be 21 and then he'd be allowed to sit in the sports bar area of a restaurant and watch TV while eating his chicken strips and fries. Let's hope that's all he's doing in there. Sweet C is taking on the role of middle child with more gusto than I care for him to have, but I'm hoping that determination will pay off in adult life...if he survives that long. And, Lil' G isn't quite so little any more. That kid is just nuts. We really should begin marketing his comedy tour. We'd probably find ourselves with a nice nest egg from the profits of his antics and heart-melting grin.

Hmmmm, lets see if I have a picture to brighten your day!

Lizzards and Showers...this should be interesting!

“Look Mom! Can we keep him...PLEASE!?!?”

This is probably the phrase I dread most in life and I heard it again the other day.

All I wanted to do was check on the weather. Some rain had come through and the air outside was surprisingly cool. Not even a minute into my peaceful breaths of rain-scented, cool air without the slightest feeling of humidity (a rarity for July in Georgia), I heard it. “Quick,” I thought. “Just get the boy inside the house before he can say it again or show his brothers.” Nope, I was too late. Before the thought could race through my mind, I was surrounded by pleas and bargaining offers to keep the lizard – A LIZARD!! – for a pet. I can barely handle dogs and cats let alone other typical *pets* … reptiles, insects, etc are out of the question.

And it never fails – I only hear this phrase when my husband (or any other man for that matter) is completely out of sight and in no way able to help me. The last time this happened I threw (yes, threw) a mason jar across the patio where it proceeded to bounce three times before finally shattering all over the place all because the tail touched my hand. My stomach turned as I faced that same situation again.

Of course I could always say no, but it's just a lizard right? And my 3 boys need to be boys and do things like catching lizards. Only, they aren't the ones that end up doing the catching!!

After agreeing to capturing the lizard for the boys and listening to my animal friendly middle child give us a lesson on only keeping the lizard over night because “Lizards should be free and live in the wild with their other lizard friends”, I proceed to catch what appears to be a half-paralyzed, twitchy Blue Skink that is just OH SO GROSS. I had to explain to the boys that their new little friend didn't look so good and might be sick. Slimy, as he was named didn't even make it through the night. I was totally creeped out and exposed to having a lizard in the house just for him to die. I'd say it was a waste of my adrenaline and at least 2 good squeals—All in the name of raising boys, right. *sigh

In other news … some of you moms will get this … others [God bless you] will not...

I was able to take an unexpected shower today! YAY ME!! There are just some days when you know before the day begins, that you probably won't get a shower that day and if you do manage to sneak one in, it probably wont be until late in the evening. Today was one of those days where I didn't expect it, but managed to work it in with minimal brotherly love (um...fighting) while I did it. THAT MY FRIEND IS A GOOD DAY.

Recycle Update...

Can you check something off your BUCKET LIST if it's something that is on-going?




As part of our household's be more earth-friendly campaign, we started recycling and have been going strong for a couple of months now. The kids are getting in the habit of throwing things in the correct bins and they get so excited each time we make a run to the recycling center to drop off everything. We've found that the center does take all sorts of plastics...but, they only take aluminum cans (like for sodas). Now, I have to figure out what to do with all the veggie, sauce, and soup cans.

Here are before and after pictures of our bins. We used a tree to decorate the paper bin. Any suggestions for decorating the bin designated for plastics?

So...what's next? In regards to healthy, earth-friendly living, we have been attempting to eat more naturally. I should note that this goal is easier in some areas than in others. For instance, buying only fresh fruit is a lot easier (and cheaper for the most part) than buying all the canned and individually packaged fruits. I've found that Morgan is IN LOVE with blue berries, but no one else really likes them. The boys seem to be on board and don't even miss the other stuff. That's about as far as I've gotten. If you have any suggestions on how you incorporate natural living into your daily routine, I'd appreciate the help.