I Got CHILLS, they're multiplyin'!!

Tonight was the kids' sock hop at school. Here is why it is great:

I am home with babies, blogging about the good time they are probably having

My husband volunteered to take them

my kids are brave enough to dress up for the occasion!

Here are two of Elijah while Mike was helping him to roll his pants just perfectly for the night. Look at that sweet tatt.


Here are the rest.

Good Morning Sunshine

6am
I wake up, eyes squinting, fighting to stay closed.
I faintly hear Squirrel sized feet stomping up the stairs- all 14 stairs.
Stomp, Stomp across the loft.
My eyes are open, I breathe deeply preparing myself to hear a very angry Squirrel.
At the top of her voice, in my very quiet, dark bedroom, CRYING CRYING ANGRY CRYING,

"MOOOMMY! I ASKED LAYLA, LAYLA WOULDN'T, I WANTED TO CHANGE MY SHIRT BECAUSE I WANTED TO WEAR A NEW SHIRT, AND LAYLA WOULDN'T WAIT FOR MEEEEE!"
I roll my eyes because I am a human, and very quietly say,
"honey, Layla Grace has a lot of things to get done in the morning.
She doesn't have time to wait for you to change your shirt. Go downstairs and eat breakfast."

I close my eyes and wonder how on earth my husband is still sleeping. I think of kicking him, but don't.

CRYING CRYING SCREAMING. Foot stomping. Elijah yelling, but I can't make out the words.
The angry squirrel is suddenly back in my room. YELLING "MOMMY!! Eli just hit Layla in the BACK!!"
I slide out of bed, roll my eyes at my husband because I am human, and walk downstairs with my eyes closed, hair probably everywhere.

"What is going on down here?" In a fake calm voice.

I am looking sternly with my one opened eye.
Sam, screaming for new cereal and more milk.
Addison yelling that Eli is naughty.
Layla screaming because she was, in fact, hit in the back by my son.
Elijah admitting whole heartedly that he hit Layla.
Isabelle yelling at the dog. "MOBY, DON'T THROW UP ON THE CARPET!MOBY YOU BETTER NOT THROW UP ON THE CARPET" She yells this repeatedly as the dog makes with the heaving.

I can hear all of it. I can see all of it. I start to cry a little, but end up laughing a little.

Still wondering how my husband is still sleeping.
Let the dog out.
Remind Sam there is no more milk.
Console him by offering him sugar to pour on his cereal because I am a mother.
Remind my son, Elijah, that he is not in charge of Layla and threaten him.
Remind Addison that she is not allowed to tell lies that convince her brother to hit her sister. Send Addison to her room.
Make coffee.
Realize I am out of creamer. Think a naughty word.
Good morning. Time to start the day.

Pearl the Squirrel

Miss Addison, I have a feeling, will always have me laughing, even when I am old.

Major Sigh

At first glance, this boy seems sweet as candy. I have Photo Shopped out his budding horns. Last night, upon hearing our session of Wii Sports was coming to an end, this little rotten egg proceeded to firmly grasp the remote control and hurl it, Olympic javelin style, just right of center into my 42" Vizio LCD television screen.

In case you are wondering, yes, he does have quite an arm, yes, I did spank him, yes, my husband was extensively angry, yes, everyone in the house froze for at least a minute, and no, I cannot afford to replace it. The only reason I could afford a TV like that in the first place was because of my stellar puzzle solving skills on The Wheel. Annoying.

Dinner, Friends, Family, and Music

Aren't these all of the things Paul from the Bible says we are supposed to be a part of in our daily lives? Yah, well, I don't think he said RockBand in the scriptures, but he would have if he had the option.

My New Friend Natalie rocking out to Beastie Boys' Sabatoge. No, I am not kidding. She seriously rocked, and a little bit became a hero.

And this is her incredibly cute little bean. Couldn't you just crack open that baby's little peanut head and eat her? No? oh, well, I just mean she is cute.


Tristan, my song singing nephew!

Layla Grace on drums. WOOOOHOOOO!

CUTIE!



Who wants to come to dinner?

Shooting BBall

We signed the girl(number 1) up for basketball for the first time ever. In fact, this is her stab at a sport for the first time ever if you don't count ice skating, which you shouldn't. This, I think is a great sport for our family, and I will tell you why. One kid gets lessons while the other four crazies run amok with permission! Like a glove, I tell ya! Here are the hi-lights.


This one is my favorite, not because she made the shot, but because she's trying. I don't know if it is all first borns (I am sooo not one) or just my Isabelle, but she is hesitant in anything she isn't positive she will master at first touch. I love her still, but man that gets frustrating. It's God's way of teaching me to have mercy for those I don't understand, and frankly, there are a lot of you.


This is her fighting her smile as all the boys on her team clapped for her and her attempts at making free throw shots. Really? Free throws on a regulation hoop for 4th and 5th graders? Why not just pound them as they come in the door? It is what I do to my dinner guests; it sets the bar of expectations low.


She confessed after practice she didn't know there would be so much to learn, but she still loves it.


Then of course you have these clowns in the background:






Seriously, John and Kate Plus 8 ain't got nuthin' on us. We need our own camera crew.

Life on Purpose: I meant to do that

Because I am a dedicated writer (ha) I have upheld a second blog for some time now. I thought I would give you guys all a chance to have a looky-lou. It began as a bible study through a blog forum and has taken on a few changes.
With my life's goal to live with God's purpose, this new blog site gives me a chance to try out some new ideas. My devotion this afternoon had a great quote:

Peace comes when we fix our minds on God and on his stability in our chaotic days.

That is excellent. Especially because too many days I feel anxiety lingering on my doorstep, and my mothering guilt instinct wants to dominate my sleep.
Please check it out and leave me a comment saying happy things. Happy things are my favorites to read, but I will acknowledge the other ones as well.
For all of you local Reno-onions, this will be the location of my small group starting in the spring. I don't have the date yet.

Somebody Needs to Do Something

I stumbled across this article while toying with the idea of serving God. I think I am going to go through with it, but just in case I chicken out, I thought I should share the article so you can be motivated as well.

UPDATE: For some very odd reason, this article is no where to be found. I can get to the webpage, but then nothing. How bizarre. Sorry for the tease.

Mike

Why I like Mike #19. He bought me a present :) And not just any present, but a Canon Rebel Xs . I am utterly in love. Now, I just need to learn how to use it. Here are some samples:









Happy 2009.

Extra Week

Because Christmas was on a Thursday, and I guess just the timing of everything, I feel like I have been given an extra week to end the year. It has given me time to reflect and fall in love a little deeper with my husband and my children. It has helped me to appreciate my extended family more (and just a little, appreciate that they live far away.) It has given me time to reflect on what God has called me to this past year. And, it has given me lots of time to play with my new Christmas toys :D
I hope you all feel this same sense of extra time. Real life goes on: people need to eat, nap, errands need to be run because no matter how many times I stop at Target OR the grocery store I can't seem to remember to buy my children toothpaste. BUT, if you have any free minutes. Read your bible, hug your kids, or read your bible to your kids while hugging them. Take pictures, eat treats, snuggle up to a movie or a good book: these are a few of my favorite things.

Why I Like Mike #18

There really are too many reasons, but TODAY I like Mike because he said my Christmas present should be delivered soon. WHAT?! "You aren't going shopping on Christmas Eve this year? But, what who is my brother going to shop with?" hmm. For years I have tried to explain to him how incredibly easy I am to please. He has just been very 'man' about focusing on the now and not so much a planner. I am so excited to get a present for Christmas. I mean, I usually get presents, I just usually pick them out with him by my side. In his defense, this is also happiness for me as my love language is quality time.

Speaking of presents, some of my favorite gifts we are giving this year are:

The game of Candyland
The game of Hungry Hungry Hippo
a very cute little pull along doggy for Sam
an unbelievable coloring book I got at Old Navy (random, I know)
and a video game in which you shoot cows with plungers. giggle.

The Princess is Four Today

Miss Addison is four today. Four years ago I gave birth to that ginormous Christmas turkey in the middle of a snow storm just like the one we are having today. I woke up to my water breaking at 1:22 am, called my mother (whose flight landed at 1:23 am) and told her to hurry, called the midwife, and woke The Man. Twenty minutes after the midwife arrived, Addison Noelle Brewer was born at 8 pounds 12 ounces, in my bedroom. Fantastic. The instant she was born, my beloved mother whipped up the greatest breakfast, which I ate, in bed. THEN, I went to sleep, snuggled right next to my new little bean and my hubby. What an excellent way to be brought into the world. I am so glad to have you Miss Addie.

I love your scowl
I love your dirty looks to all the dumb people around you
I love your love of all things princess
I love your four year old wit
I love your huge eyeballs
I love how you cover your mouth with your hand when you giggle
I love that you respond to Pearl and Squirrel Girl
I love your exasperation with your siblings
I love you Missy

Today I...

*Woke up at 6:30- on a Saturday! Really!? blech
*went back to sleep until 7





*was greeted in bed by Miss Addison who will be 4 in two days
*did a double take on my new tattoo to ensure I didn't have buyers remorse (I don't!)
*ate Cheerios for breakfast
*watched the rest of a cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie and loved it
*got five kids plus a sleepover friend dressed warmly for ice skating
*took five kids plus a sleepover friend to ice skating lessons downtown
*rewarded all the cold noses with Starbucks chocolate, hot, one soy
*they all changed their minds at the last minute and ended up getting chocolate milk, cold, one soy
*dropped off sleepover friend
*played in the snow with the kids until the man got home from work/study session for school
*played Pick The Chore Out of The Cup game to make cleaning more fun
*warmed our buns in front of the fire place
*drove around town for 2 hours until I found proper school shoes for my son, solid black
*snuggled with my husband with no interruptions
*came home to him painting my kitchen (I think he read my previous post :))
*worked on a puzzle with Layla Grace
*Played Apples to Apples Jr. with my babysitter, Izzy, Layla, and Addie while the boys played Yahtzee next to us
*read chapter 3 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone aloud to my kids before bed
*wrapped presents and got things ready for Addison's birthday party tomorrow night
*watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, again
*was happy for all of it.

All I Want For Christmas

Here is my Christmas list. Feel free to pass it on although it is mostly for my husband:

A major award like a leg lamp
That my husband would finish painting my house (inside)
A new to-go coffee mug
New at home coffee mugs
cream colored scarf
wireless flash drive for my camera (automatically uploads pictures to my computer when I bring my camera home)
iPod plugger inner for my car
new tattoo (although I already have this coming from my friends the tattooers)
my husband to get textability as I have decided I like that form of flirting :)
gift cards for any of the following: Barnes and Noble, Old Navy, Express, Target.
A new wedding ring, or at least mine fixed as it has been broken for years.
And, 12 dates with my husband; one for every month of the coming year

O Christmas Tree

It really is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Things I am looking forward to:

Decorating the tree with the kids
Cutting down ANOTHER tree in the mountains very near my house
Watching 25 days of Christmas movies
hot chocolate
stockings hung by the fireplace..for real this year
decorating the indoors
quilting
my family visiting
my friends visiting
baking
cooking snuggly dinners
eating said snuggly dinners by my fireplace
evergreen center pieces
working on my new year's list of goals
ashamedly discovering which goals I have not even gotten to yet
exercising with my husband
Santa parties
Christmas cards
writing our family Christmas letter
finding the perfect Christmas photo
Late night snuggles with The Man
attempting to beat him at who can do the most sit ups (I never win this game)
getting a new gold tooth-awesome- aarrr- piratey
winter jammies
Addison turning 4!!
and my kids saying, 'I can't WAIT until Christmas!' at least a million times between the five of them.

Yikes

Remember when I should be cleaning, cooking, prepping, and all the other necessary things you do before Thanksgiving?

SOOO much to do and not nearly enough time. So, I decided to blog.

Tonight is the big family talent show. My kids were totally excited to find out Sam and Addison have their own talent to perform. We will be video taping, so if anything amazing happens, I will be try to post it.

Also, I am totally ditching school tonight. I have only missed one other night of school. When Mike and I flew off to LA to be on The Wheel, I was a ditcher. What can I say? I am a loner, a rebel. There are things about me you wouldn't understand, things you couldn't understand, things you SHOULDN'T understand.

The Brewers Got Talent

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Come Monday

This post could have been about the Jimmy Buffet song, but it isn't. I DO love that song so, but instead it is about the craziness happening in my house right now on a Monday affternoon.

Right now, my husband is complaining of a belly ache

Right now, my littlest son is incredibly sticky because my husband has no boundaries when it comes to sweets and children, therefore, I came home to kids eating suckers carrying around their trick-or-treats bags minutes before the dinner hour

Right now, Isabelle is moping not just because I won't tell her what is for dinner, but because she is ten and this is what ten year olds do

Right now, I am not telling Izzy what is for dinner because she cannot talk to me with a normal tone of voice, so I am refusing her information until she can figure it out

Right now, Layla is upstairs wiping down her entire bathroom because shortly after I told her no to her sugar request, she began crying hysterically but claims it has nothing to do with the sugar and more to do with some problem that is 'too hard to explain'

Right now, my son Eli is on the verge of tears because none of his friends in the neighborhood are home

Right now, I am plotting in my mind a punishment for Eli and Layla that includes them writing the top ten things worth crying over where I am sure I should find sugar requests and friends not home to play with nowhere on the list

Right now, I am hoping to make it through dinner without yelling.

I have no time

And I will tell you why:

Began exercise regimen that I intend on sticking with (it's easier now that I get to watch my husband lift weights from across the room. oh my)

Applying for my substitute teaching license

Eighteen classes left until I graduate

Currently working on 100 hours of classroom observations

Leading the Toddler Room at church

Just agreed to take on a branch of the homeless ministry at church

The class I am in requires four chapters of reading and a paper to prove it each week. ew. I am not mentioning our real homework.

Trying to stick to my new routine. I am a little behind. Well, I am almost all the way behind. Love me through it.

Though I am not really homeschooling her, I have to prep and administer an hour of supplements for Layla Grace four days a week.

I have five kids and a husband I actually like.

Seriously Disorganized

I feel like I have had such organization for the last 5 years. Homeschooling has taken up a huge section of my day and now that my kids are in school, I feel lost. (Right now I also feel chilly) but I need to implement some structure to my days. Last year at this time, I would have a month's worth of menus planned, my homeschool lessons planned and prepped for a year's worth of learning, and so much more. Sigh. You know what the problem is? I have a clean house. DANG YOU PEOPLE!! Why do you have to put so much emphasis on cleaning? I need to go back to making lists.