Five is Enough

As I mentioned before, I spent last week at my sister's house.

Believe it or not, I didn't take a whole lot of pictures.

We did have a ton of fun, though!

Here are the cast of characters...

Nephew #1 - Dylan

Nephew #2 - Andrew

My crazy Jacob

Nephew #3 Jon Jon (a.k.a. Jonathan) ~ yeah, he picked out that outfit by himself.

Merry Christmas.

Michael, my oldest

Five boys between the two of us. We celebrated a birthday at Peter Piper Pizza. And hooray for inspiration that comes through toys purchased by tickets (NOT). Michael spent his gigantic wad of tickets on two main items. You'll be seeing those pics in a minute.

Got to spend time with a few friends. Went for girls night at the movies and left the kiddos behind with a sitter (a cousin). Also got to see my friend Kane and meet his wife and son. She even made us dinner and brought it to Terri's house one night. Sweet!

Terri's husband likes to fish, so we worked that in one evening at their neighborhood pond. For the record, that giant perch you will see (get out your magnifying glass) was caught by yours truly. Credit was given to Jacob who wandered off to play and left me holding the fishing rod.

I did mountains and mountains of laundry at Terri's house. Partly because she was already so far behind, and partly because there was a return of toileting problems from my little troublemaker. Arg. Even found a spider in one of her laundry piles. Ick.

So here you go, pictures with mini captions... all told in rhyme.
Yee haw!

Catchin' Fish

Make a Wish?

Somethin' is Stuck

Duck on Duck

Laundry's Dirty

All over 30
Look I WONThis one's done.
Mr. Money
Chantelle's Honey

(cutie!!)
Something Sweet...
Smell my feet!

And in case you weren't aware, Michael has made us a demonstration video for the whoopee cushion. It's... well... oh, never mind!

I forget not to turn the camera when making videos.

Hope your neck survives the view.

Full of Somethin'

That little Jacob.

Hmmmmm.

You can see what happens to all of the gloves at the Doc's office.

But that was there, and home is a whole new playground.

When you hear a strange noise at my house you should always check it out -- immediately. In fact, once you've heard the noise it is probably too late. After finding my most mischievous child upstairs holding a giant tub lid, I knew exactly what had happened. Jacob was climbing back UP the curved staircase with a big smile across his face. Preston was sitting on the Candy Land game board ready for his turn.

Stair surfing.

Nothing good can come of stair surfing.

After giving them a stern lecture and demanding they put the lid and game board away, Preston and Jacob just stared at me. Jacob actually looked at me and said, "It's harmless."
Oh boy.

I looked at Jacob and incredulously told him that it was NOT harmless. I explained that he was going to hurt the tub lid or himself... or both.

This would be the time when Jacob looked at me and asked, "What does harmless mean?"

It was that same day that my neighbor Diane had him playing at her house. She got a little concerned when she couldn't find Jacob or her daughter, Gracie. Maybe even a little more concerned when she found them on the other side of the locked bathroom door.

(Yes, I cringed at this part of the story too)

She knocked on the door and asked Gracie to open it.

Gracie told her mom that she was busy.

Diane knocks again and says to open the door. At this time, Jacob informs her that "She SAID she is BUSY."

I'm so glad that Diane has a great sense of humor!

When she finally got the kids to open the door she couldn't believe what she found.

Jacob and Gracie were baptizing her dolls in the sink.

They were having a religious experience.

Isn't that sweet? In a we-made-a-huge-mess-in-your-bathroom kind of way?

But that was not my favorite story of the day. It was a banner day for Jacob and his antics!

While cleaning up the bathroom, Jacob took the time to get a little chatty. It was during this conversational moment that Jacob chose to reveal a deep dark secret.

Jacob: My mom is really, really smart.

Diane: She is?

(How dare she question that?)

Jacob: She ALWAYS knows what I'm up to.

This is the moment I've always dreamed of. My child thinks I'm smart... and he believes me when I say that I have eyes in the back of my head. He believes that I can see what he is doing at all times.

I hope I can keep that bluff going for a few more years. I'm gonna need all the help with this one that I can get!

Weather the Weather

Whether you like it or not.

Spring has come.

Spring has gone.

Spring will return?

This is Snicker. He feels the same way about this weather as I do.

Here is what NE Oklahoma is looking like on Saturday, March 28th. After a full day of cold rain (yesterday), it is now snowing.

The beginning (8am)...

Noon...

What you can't tell is that there are giant snowballs falling out of the sky, sideways.

Might have to bring this one up again later. For now, check out the snow next to my budding azaleas.
Doodle finally got Snicker out there to play.This one is unaffected by the cold and wet snow.Wait a minute... is something wrong with this picture?

Oh yeah! The perfect day for a swim. For IDIOTS.

To Doc and the boys this is the perfect time to head for the hot tub. It's a known fact that I will not even consider joining them.

And in case you are wondering what hot tubbing in the snow looks like with these loons, here is your video.

You ask me - they are born missing some brain cells in the common sense area. If the first video didn't prove it then this one will.

This is what my boys could do on Letterman's Stupid Human Tricks. Or maybe this is just the precursor to someday joining the Polar Bear Club. I don't know why we don't use the same name for both?

Initially...

You Are Shrewd and Talented

When You Are Comfortable: You are ambitious, and hard-working. Adversity allows you to shine. You resourceful and able to make due. People see you as honest to the point of bluntness. But they always know that you'll be fair. You have the good intentions. When You Are At Your Best: You are quite quirky, and you enjoy doing things your own way. You are optimistic, and you've always got a good idea brewing. People find you to be positive and uplifting. You make people feel good about themselves. When You Are in a Social Setting: You are a glamorous, social person. You love being the center of attention and an object of adoration. People see you as charming and charismatic. You are naturally dazzling. You are ambitious, and find it easy to get ahead in life.

What Do Your Initials Say About You?

I could be wrong, but the one I absolutely can't agree with in any way shape or form is that I love being the center of attention. That's my worst nightmare! I wouldn't mind being an object of adoration, though. ;-)

Who edits these things? I'm glad to know I have THE good intentions.

Be sure to find out what your initials say about you. As always, it will be accurate as these are heavily researched and scientifically based. Let me know what yours say!

According to the Plan

There is a reason my blog is always posted by 7 a.m. In case you haven't noticed, I am the ultimate Type A. I plan. Everything.
When my life is as hectic as it is at this moment, I plan even more.

This being said, things did not go as planned this evening.

It all started very typical. Made dinner. Check. Did dishes. Check. Went to WalMart (huh?). Oh - there's a storm on the way. Check. Put kids to bed. Check. Watched TV with Doc. Check.

Now the plan... the plan was to work on my blog while watching TV with the Doc. My laptop was slow and then *POOF* there was no internet connection. Not part of my plan.
If you really wanna know I think it was the dogs' fault. Why do they have to nose at my laptop when I sit on the couch?

Finally, Doc fixes the laptop but I was a tad frust-er-ated by this point.

Tried to blog from bed while watching TV but this was not meant to be either.
You see, as Doc sits down on his side of the bed... my side fell to the floor.
I have been telling Doc that the bed is breaking (don't get any wild and crazy ideas here) for a week now and he keeps telling me he can fix it.

I wasn't real happy. After all, I don't really think it is fair. Sure I've put on a few extra pounds in the last few months or maybe even weeks. But my side breaks? REALLY?
I'm feeling pretty good about myself right about now. I'm going to have to jump on board with Melinda's blogger butt challenge now. Dang.

Doc will fix my bed tomorrow. Thank goodness it is going to rain him out of golf. As for tonight my side is supported by the stack of books I have just finished reading. I have also been given specific instructions that I can't lean against the headboard to read. In the meantime my madness will fester because I just don't understand why something has to completely break before we fix it! My whole evening routine is ruined!
It's that Type A thing again - when my plans don't go the way I want them to.
But you see, I can be flexible. I can change my blog subject to ranting. Isn't that classy?

So here you go. I'm sure your day is now complete.
Someday I will post pictures from the visit with my sister, but apparently today will not be that day.

Culture Shock

This should be on The Soup. Do I need to email Joel McHale?!

Doc and I were watching TV before bed last night when Doc found this. For the record, I was watching Sleeping with the Enemy before Doc snuck in and changed the channel.

This is the pride of Oklahoma. These people live near me. I'm sure most of you have heard of Noodling before, but if you haven't... it is for insane people. And just to give you a mental picture - no one I know does it. I've only ever met one person who did and they were from an extremely small town.

They get in the water with rope and find places where catfish hang out. Then they grab them with their hands! On the show, they were saying how fun it is when the fish "get" you. They also said how exciting it is when you grope around looking for a fish not knowing what you will actually find.

As for me, I won't be sticking my arms in creepy places in muddy lakes. No surprises there.

The sound goes away for a while but it comes back - keep watching so you can see the gigantic catfish.

For those of you who just can't get enough, this video is from a lake nearby.

March Showers

As usual, we got excited about the weather for absolutely no reason at all. NONE! Doc and I were prepared for sirens in the middle of the night announcing the arrival of tornadoes. The storms were slower moving than previously thought. That was good.

The storms also missed us by going South a bit. We got the rain at bus stop time - the kind that comes in sideways and no rain coat can protect you from.

Other than rain and a lot of wind, we got nothin'. Just a rainstorm? In the Spring? Weird. But I'm not complaining about that!

What I will complain about is this.

March showers mean...

Doggie Showers.

This is Dood's second shower of the day and it was 10:15 in the morning.

You try bathing a 75 pound puppy and let me know how you do.

It's not pretty.

A Ladies Man

Here is the Doc at bible study. What did he learn?
FYI - he did this to himself.
Seeing this is like falling for the game "52 Card Pick-Up" -- it's only gonna happen once in my lifetime.
So glad I had my camera...

The Story of Michael, Part 19

If you aren't familiar with Michael's story, you can catch up here.
This is our journey with Asperger's Syndrome.

Third grade - one of my favorite years!

The biggest reason is because this is the year Michael "outed" himself. Yeah, you heard me. Michael told his whole class that he had autism. Just blurted it out.

It was a shock and a relief to me. I had spent the past year trying to explain autism to him and also how it affects him. We read some books and he asked some questions, but overall he just didn't seem that interested.

One day in class he decided to talk about an event we had attended that was specifically for children with autism. He had so much fun playing buddy baseball with the high school team! He told the class about playing baseball with some high schoolers and then said, "I got to go to it because I have autism."

His teacher answered (vaguely) some of their questions about what autism was but she wasn't sure how much to share with them.

Of course, I got a call when school let out.

For me this was liberating! I had debated about explaining to his peers about Michael and Aspergers. He had not made any friends in class. His differences were standing out more and more as he grew older. Sometimes knowledge and labels actually bring about compassion. But I worried about being the one to let the cat out of the bag. What if someday he resented me for telling them? Some people have Aspergers and don't want the whole world to know.

I was supposed to come to the class and read that week already so I changed the book from Scrambled States of America (I highly recommend this one!) to To Be Me (a book where Aspergers is explained by a kid to his classmates). I still can't believe I made it through that afternoon without crying! They listened intently to the book then asked some (mostly) very good questions. They were fascinated with the fact that Michael was so little when he started reading! I know this made Michael feel proud.

Michael grinned through the whole thing! We had decided to let him stay while I talked with the class. I had already told him that his friends needed a little more explanation of what autism means.

Michael's opinion was that everyone needed to know and understand. I think this is true especially for his generation. With so many on the spectrum, their school and eventually their workplaces will mean encounters with many individuals on the spectrum. This is part of why mainstreaming is so important! Not only are we teaching the "Michael's" to function appropriately in a room surrounded by their peers, we are teaching their peers how to appropriately interact with their peers who have a disability.

And wouldn't you know... the kids in the class watched out for Michael. When he got upset, they helped console him. They offered reminders for him when he was distracted. They showed him compassion.

Knowledge is power.

I can't tell you where this information will take them all when they get to middle school. In a perfect world it would stay like this. But we will deal with that when we get there.

They Said It

Jacob has been up to his usual antics lately but I only have a few tidbits I wrote down and saved. My little 5 year old has been overly emotional these last few months (I think it's a 5 thing) and extra attached to me. He also is a little commander.
When I leave the house these days, he has started telling me, "Have a nice trip. Be careful."

Weird, and sweet.

But this one sent me over the edge. THE NERVE of this kid.I was busy working on something and heard some clapping. Clap, clap (pause)... clap, clap...Then the mini commander steps in to the kitchen and tells me, "I clapped. That means come."

These are the things that are funny when someone else's kid does them.

Michael seems to be taking his cue and started backseat driving. All the way home from Texas, Michael checked the speed limits and would check the MY speed. No, no, no. This is the one I'm supposed to be able to get away with!

While Jacob tends to be easily swayed to Team Mom or Team Dad, I have always counted on Michael to stay firmly planted on Team Mom. If we have separate cars, he roots for mine to arrive first. If Doc plays a prank on me, I can count on Michael to either warn me or plot revenge.

But recently, Michael took a little less sympathy on me. After dealing with a lot of harassment from the Doc, he finally said "enough."

But at least I was warned when he told the Doc, "I'm gonna set a trap in your bed."

I was about to plea my case with him when he turned my way and said, "Mom, it will get you too. I'm sorry. It's the only way."

He's right. Sometimes that is the only way.

Let's Do Lunch

I'm fairly certain that word has spread around town to avoid joining my family for any meal.

Whatsoever.

If not, then I'm about to do the job myself.

Last Sunday after church my family of 4 went to eat hamburgers.

Behind us in the line was one of Doc's golfing buddies whose wife was out of town. Dr. R. is the dentist who hired the Doc fresh out of dental school to work for him.

Side note: When Dr. R becomes a grandpa, he will truly be the best in the world. He really loves kids!

Unfortunately for Dr. R, his timing was poor. He was seen by us and invited to join our table. I felt sorry for him as I was thinking that my wiggly kids would be a tad annoying for him.

I thought when Jacob spilled his drink that the worst was over.

It wasn't.

In the middle of dinner, this one...

THIS one walked over to Dr. R and put a handful of ice down his shirt.

I'm not kidding.

Doc and I were horrified.

We thought this was the worst thing that could happen.

It wasn't.

Dr. R takes the whole thing in stride and stands up and growls at Jacob.

He's posing over Michael to growl at Jacob.

Picture the Incredible Hulk here and you've got it.

Jacob giggles. Michael laughs.

Then this one...

THIS one punches the Incredible Hulk (a.k.a. Dr R) in the chest.

Yeah, that was the worst.

I think that is more than 8

I really need to start recording Jimmy Kimmel's show. Every time I see a clip from it I laugh out loud.

Enjoy today's fun tidbit about the OctoMom.


I'm headed home today from Crazyville. Not sure if we brought the crazy or just arrived at it.
Hope you all have had a great week!

Really? I mean... REALLY?

Want to know what CloFu is?
It's PETA's newest great idea.

Tofu made with George Clooney's perspiration.
YUMMY.

The idea behind it for them was that it would be a big seller. They even thought that - perhaps - people who were unwilling to try tofu before would be willing to try CloFu just because they are fans.

PETA is even more out of touch than I thought!
Want to read the article? Click here.

But this guy's idea is ingenious. I'd love to know if you try it.
I just wish I knew someone around here who might find this information useful...
Yeah - I am not gonna really go there.

So enjoy this video with the biggest idiot in the world.

Funny - Funny Videos

What Baloney Needs

The tagging game... I hadn't actually seen this before but maybe you have?
I was tagged by Annie who apparently needs a spanking!

My instructions were to type my name and the word “needs” in the Google search and then list the first ten responses that make sense.

1. Baloney needs... to clearly communicate goals and objectives. (that's important)
2. Baloney needs... to be contacted if you have an audition song (there you go, Annie!)
3. Baloney needs... to decide whose job it is to support the family. (Go right ahead Doc)
4. Baloney needs... more electricity (electricity is a must but I have plenty thanks)
5. Baloney needs... to wear the pants (hmmmm... I like skirts and dresses too)
6. Baloney needs... u to give me all ur bebo love (what does that even mean?)
7. Baloney needs... to die (restraining order for that person)
8. Baloney needs... the money (what money? Is someone handing out money?)
9. Baloney needs... to comment my new picture (?)
10. Baloney needs... a friend who cares (who doesn't?)

I used my actual name, but when I googled "Baloney Needs" I got one good one:
Baloney needs a new sauce.

And since my blog was on that list (Flat Baloney actually) I decided to go with my real name.

I liked Annie's list better.

So there you have it. The things Google thinks I need.

My turn to tag: Melinda, Yogi, IA Pilot Wife, Impulsive Addict, This Momma's Musings, Out on a Lam, MommaAmma, P31 Wife

If I didn't list you, please don't be offended. I'd love to see your lists so tag yourself and put your blog addy in the comments.

Can't Touch This

I have to say that I'm thrilled to have a neighbor to carpool with for Jacob's preschool. Since they are only in school for half a day, it makes a big difference taking turns with drop off.


That being said... sometimes taking them to school is my favorite time of the day. These boys make me smile. While we sit in the car line behind the school, I let them undo their seat belts and let loose a little. So don't judge me when you see the video. My car is in park!


On this particular day, Jacob and Preston were enjoying a bonus feature of the Shark Tales DVD - the dance feature.

What Up and Stuff

I've been running my tail off keeping up with normal life (whatever that means) and begging/coordinating donations for CPO's silent auction. Feel free to visit their website and check out the Fundraising Banquet information.

I've read a lot of books lately but not commented on them.

The Taking (Dean Koontz) - was looking for something different and I found it! Interesting, if you like weird. Couldn't remember if I've mentioned it before.

A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Husseini) - LOVED it. An eye opener in my opinion.

Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella) - Read #1 and #3 in the series. I like them! They are brainless kind of fun with a character I can't identify with, but hey - a fun, quick read.

Scarpetta (Patricia Cornwell) - As long as Kay Scarpetta the medical examiner is around, I will read them. What can I say? At this point I'm just hooked.

Currently reading a Lisa Scottoline book. If you like John Grisham she's kind of like him, but her lead character is always a female lawyer. I love her books.

For some reason I feel like I'm drowning lately. If I've been missing from your blog comments lately, I apologize. I'm missing you guys! Hopefully things will simmer down soon. It's going to have to or I might have to be committed to the asylum.

In the meantime I have silent auction items to gather up and a Kappa Alum newsletter to create.

Oh. And I'm headed to Texas today to see my sis.

There will be 5 little boys under one roof aged 10, 5, 5, 4, and 2.

It's gonna get ugly.

I will be happy to show you the battle scars when all is said and done.

The Thaw

I'm so tired of being cold. I hate being cold!We had a teaser week of warm weather before this little cold snap hit.

This was my place on Thursday.

I think it's starting to warm up again but I'm on the verge.

It's not sounding so bad.

Somebody STOP me!!

I'm tempted for two reasons, really.

The snuggie would make me warm. I like that.

But even better is how much the Doc would hate it.

And one more thing to point out is that they are unisex, you know...

Yeah, that will never happen.

Diorama Drama

It is done.And it was exhausting!! Let me promise that getting Michael to complete a 2 page (typed) paper on a red fox was hard enough. The diorama was a nightmare as well.

I've mentioned that crafts aren't my thing... right?

My child is one of those "do the minimum requirement types" and resisted every step of the way. He was done with his report at 5 sentences.

This child puts every one of my rusty teaching skills to test.

I'm pretty sure that a colonoscopy would have been a more pleasant experience (not that I'd know).
But it is done. And it is good.

God bless the person (I'm sure it was a MOM) who invented the diorama kit.

I. Love. You... Whoever-You-Are.