LOOONG Trip

Driving to Arkansas felt like it took FOREVER! It took me 19 hours to get there but that's because I stopped to sleep for three hours and then the van broke down in BFE Alabama. A pulley for the serpentine belt came off. I think that's what it's called. Anyway, that pulley come off making the belt off as well. I have no clue where I am, right, cause the fog is like driving into a constant wall six feet in front of the van so I can't even see mile markers. I call 911 because, again, no clue where I am, and they transfer me to another operator because I am apparently on the county line. I get hung up on after I tell them I'm not from there and my car is broke down so I don't know who I need to contact. I think maybe it's just a disconnection on my end. I call back and they transfer me again and they hang up...again. So the I wrack up some data and look online to find a wrecker service, who THANKFULLY, comes and picks me, my mom and son up and takes us to a mechanic who fixes the van. By the time I got to Arkansas it was 5:30 pm their time and I left Florida at 10 the night before because it was only supposed to be a 13 hour trip. I was tired, cranky, my feet were swollen, and my butt was numb. I hate making the trip and I'll be doing it again at the end of the year to pick my mom up and bring her BACK.

Not all is horrible though. Wesley came home yesterday and told me he won the bid for a salvage position at the warehouse he works at. It's a night position but that's really no big deal. Until he started working at the warehouse almost a year ago, he worked nights for four years. Although, I have gotten used to him being home in the afternoons and at night. At least he's happy. It's a step up on the ladder for him. No more janitor job for him. No sir. I kept telling him to put in bids on jobs and be patient and he'd get a better position. That most people have to start at the bottom and for him the bottom was sanitation. He cleans up after the selectors who drop stuff all over the floors. Well, only for the next two weeks, until they get him replaced on sanitation. Then off to salvage he goes and I don't want to hear him complain for another year about his position so I hope he's happy. Or at least happier. Let's wait and see huh.

Happy Valentine's Day

Just a quick note to say Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful day with the person or persons that they love. My day was eventful to say the least. Wesley called me to tell me that he was sorry but he wouldn't be able to go get me anything because he was going to have to work until 7 tonight and then come home, scarf a bite, take a scrub, and hit the hay. He has to get up at 4:30 in the morning to be at work by 6.  Anyway, he told me to go to the store and pick myself up some pretty flowers and chocolates. Yep. I picked out my own gifts. I waited until I picked Hayden up from school rather than make another trip. I got some beautiful mixed flowers and some chocolates (yum!) and got him season 2 of Sons of Anarchy. I also got him a nice card and some chocolates as well. He should feel loved.

I made this woman laugh at me at Walmart. It wasn't exactly intentional. Hayden had wondered ahead of me a little way. I mean, no one was going to grab him without me seeing exactly who did it. He wasn't THAT far away. Anyway, I called at him to slow down a little or somebody would either nab him or run him over but if someone chose to nab him I might just look the other way. I WAS KIDDING PEOPLE! And this lady starts like laughing. Not a little chuckle, but I mean she literally laughed out loud. I couldn't help but smile, but it wasn't like I was really serious anyhow so I guess it was kinda funny.

So, just to repeat myself. Have a Happy Valentine's Night people!

Pick It Up....Please

So I went and picked Hayden up from his grandma's today. She surprised me and bought him new shoes. He didn't really need the new shoes, but she insisted that the shoes he had were too big. Okay. Who am I to argue over free, right?
Anyway, I told him before we got home that his room had, had, had to be cleaned today. No more fighting with me about it. I'm done asking. I'm done telling and it not getting done. I think I've already mentioned in an earlier post that you can't see their bedroom floor and it's seriously a walking hazard. It took the boys three hours to get their room clean. It should have taken no more than an hour tops. They kept stopping and playing or Conner would carry something out in the living room to play with or they would want a drink and then they wanted a snack. I didn't think they were ever going to get it done, but in the end, it got cleaned. I can see their floor. It's a nice orange-y, light brownish colored tile. I am very proud of them for finally getting that done.

I actually got to sleep until 8:30 this morning. That was a little nice. Tomorrow morning I'll be up at 6:30 again though. Hayden has school. It might not bother me getting up that early if I didn't stay up so late at night. Unfortunately, I'm a night owl. I try to get my butt in bed by midnight so I don't drag the next day. If it were up to me, I'd stay up until like 2 or 3 and then sleep until like 9 or 10 the next morning. Can't do that anymore though. Kids get up early whether they have school or not. Well, at least mine do. I've heard of people that say their kids sleep until like 9 in the morning. I'd like to know how they do it. Conner usually gets up between 6 and 6:30 every morning and always has. Hayden's always gotten up by 7. Maybe one day I'll get to sleep in late again. Who knows. Maybe it'll be next weekend.

Bored

Today was one of those days. Hayden's at his grandma's so Conner mostly behaved. It's been relatively quiet. It's one of those days that I crave. A day where the kids are good and not much happens. The only downside; it seems to have drug out SO long that bedtime is never going to come. I mean, you want the quiet, you need the quiet, but when you get the quiet it's like time stands still and then you're just bored.
I have to go pick Hayden up from his grandma's tomorrow around noon, so I should definitely have something to talk, rant, rave, vent about tomorrow night.
This coming week should also be interesting. I am taking Hayden back to his grandma's on Thursday right after school, coming home, taking a nap, cooking dinner, and then hitting the road for Arkansas. Yep, I said it. Arkansas. Conner and I are going to take my mom on a thousand mile road trip to drop her off at my grandmother's house, where she will stay for about 6 or 8 months, and then turn around two days later and drive another thousand miles home. My husband is looking forward to the peace and quiet. No kids yelling and no wife nagging. He can sit and play his games until his little heart is content and not have to worry about me bitching at him to turn the stupid thing off every once in a while.
While I will miss my mom, I will also be slightly giddy. No mom living with us for a while. She's a snow bird (someone who comes to Florida just in the winter to escape the cold from up north) so it'll be a little lonely and a little freeing. I won't feel self conscious kissing my husband in the living room.
Anyway, while I'm gone I won't be able to post anything, but I will feel you in on my trip when I get back on the 21st.

Strange Strange Child

Okay. You want ice.
Conner has apparently decided that he now wants ice in his chocolate milk. Or in his words "Shockit Mick." He just asked for a sippy of milk and on the way to getting the milk he started screaming for ice. I thought he wanted milk. Now he wants ice. Nope. He wants the ice IN his milk. Of course, now we have drops of milk everywhere because he's shaking his sippy to make the ice rattle.
Also, changing his stinky diaper tickles. He started laughing and saying tickles while I was wiping his but. I had no idea that wiping a poopy butt was so funny. Wish I saw the amusement in it. I think the only time I thought wiping a butt was funny was when Hayden was about a week old and pooped in my hand while I was changing him. Yes, as a new parent it was hilarious. Now, it would probably be more of an EWW! moment, but that could also be their ages. Having a 2 year old or 4 year old poop in your hand would be kinda disgusting. Now, Hayden is finally house broken...um...potty trained. Conner will only go sit on the potty AFTER he goes in his diaper so not quite there yet but almost. Ohhh. When will I be diaper free?
Now I'm just waiting to see what other weirdness Conner can pull off today. I mean, he apparently hid Hayden's shoes so it was a frantic search before school this morning. Um, I still haven't found them. Hayden had to wear his old boots to school this morning. They have probably been lost in the deep abyss that is their bedroom. I'm not even sure if the floor was tile or carpet anymore. I mean, I only get to see it for about ten minutes once a week when I make them actually clean their room. I also know for a fact that I saw Hayden put his shoes by the entry bench after school yesterday, which is exactly where they belong. Maybe at least one will turn up.

Phew!

Okay. Totally emotionally and mentally exhausted. I don't know what was up with the boys this afternoon. When Hayden got home from school the smart mouth started. I'm trying to be calm and just warn him with a stated "Hey" and "No talking back" in the hopes that we will have a good afternoon and evening. That didn't work so he started crying because he thought his daddy was gonna spank him. Of course, Wesley can just look at him crooked and he starts bawling. He doesn't just bawl a little loudly. I'm talking all out screaming at the top of his lungs, makes the neighbors think we're killing him, waking the dead kind of wailing. Then Conner woke up from his nap. No clue what was going on there but he woke up crying and continued to cry for like another two hours. We tried everything. We changed his diaper, gave him a snack, a sippy of milk, toys, I even held him. Nothing was working. We never did find out what was going on. Finally, he stopped crying and him and Hayden started playing like the best of friends.
Luck be with me though. My mother-in-law wants to keep Hayden over the weekend. It's a slight reprieve after the whole week. She loves keeping him on the weekends because she says she has this perfect angel who speaks politely and obeys all of her rules. Wish he would do that at home. EXCEPT last weekend she wouldn't keep him as usual. I didn't argue when she said she didn't want him. I just said okay. I don't expect anyone to take care of my kids but me so I won't push them onto anyone. She just started keeping him on weekends when school started at the end of August. Something about my husbands grandparents kept him on weekends to give her a break so she wants to do the same for us. Commendable I say. Now if only she would take Conner some weekends, too. Anyway, when I asked if there was a reason she didn't want him last weekend, she said it was because he was lippy all weekend. "Lippy?" I asked. "What do you mean he was lippy." So she tells me that he talked back and was smart mouthed all weekend. Apparently he smarted off to her a couple of times over the weekend. All I did was look her in the eye and say, "He's getting used to being here with you. Now he's starting to show you his true colors." I mean. She sees the way he acts around me, but I don't think it really crossed her mind how stressful it is for me because she doesn't actually have to experience it on her own and for her self. Anyway, Hayden will be gone this weekend, which means that Conner will be this super sweet angel who still takes two hour naps every day. Peace for the weekend...yes!
By the way, Hayden's lip is no longer swollen, just really bruised where his lip got busted yesterday.

That's Gotta Hurt!

We did good today. The boys mostly minded. They got a little wound up around four or so but it calmed rather quickly. About the time that the stove tried to electrocute me. Yep. It did. I was lucky. To get the large front burner to work, you have to jiggle it a little or it won't heat up. Tonight, when I went to jiggle it, it went BZZT! and shot sparks clear into the living room. When my husband got over his shock of me almost becoming dinner, he went to the garage to flip the switch in the breaker box. When he flipped the stove back on, it did it again only this time with some added smoke and smell and trying to melt the skillet to the burner. It was very exciting in a way. Now my entire stove doesn't work. Thankfully, the repairman is coming tomorrow to try and resurrect the darn thing. It's crazy because the stove is only 7 years old. You wouldn't think it would crap out. I am also very gentle with the stove seeing as how I can't afford to replace it.
So the only casualties of the day are my stove and Hayden's lip. I told them not to be jumping off the furniture. Hayden jumped and Conner followed right behind. Before Hayden could stand all the way up Conner snapped up and smacked Hayden in the mouth with the back of his head. I had blood gushing and two kids screaming. I yelled over the noise for my dear hubby to get a paper towel for Hayden's mouth and he just looked at me blankly. I never said men were geniuses  but you would think that with him saying, "You told 'em not to be doin' it" that he could get up and get a paper towel when I asked. Right? Right. Anywho, Conner is screaming so I'm trying to look at his head while holding Hayden in place because I can already see the blood pouring something fierce while Wesley FINALLY gets up to get a paper towel for Hayden's mouth. Conner appears to be perfectly fine other than the headache I'm sure was forming so I jump up and tell Hayden to get to the bathroom and spit in the sink. He runs and I toss the paper towel in the garbage and go to the bathroom to help him clean up. I walk in the door and all I can say is, "I said IN the sink not ON the sink!" Instead of bending down to spit he just spit so blood was everywhere. Anyway, after the bleeding finally stopped I had to clean the bathroom sink and counter, and while I'm doing that he starts to cry again. So, more than a little exasperated, I ask him what he's crying about now. This is what he tells me, I quote, "I can feel the mountain on my lip!!!" Yes. There is a HUGE knot on his top lip, right in the center. I mean this thing looks nasty. I'm going to post a picture of this thing.
Two busted lips in two days. Now all we need is a black eye and a bloody nose and we're all set for the week with injuries.I just wonder if they're ever going to listen to me or if they're going to continue to mutilate each other until there's nothing left or they turn 18 and 20 and I can kick them out so I at least don't have to witness it. I mean, I know they were actually trying to play with each other today, but wrestling and jumping off furniture is just not the way to do it.