I cried with a stranger yesterday...

***I typed this out on Friday, and then really contemplated whether or not to post it, because I sound like a complete moron. I decided to go ahead and post it, because I'm not the only mom around who has had days/weeks like these, and it's comforting to know that most everyone has gone through something like this. I hope?!?!?***

Yep, sure did! Ever have one of those days, better yet, weeks? Let's go back to Tuesday...

I was planning on making hamburgers on the grill, and use the little stove top thing on the grill to make the corn on the cob. Perfect! I won't get the house all hot, seeing as it's been in the high 80's all week, and I didn't want to defeat the purpose of the a/c. Anyway, I go to put the corn on the side burner, only to find out that the gas is gone. Great! Now, I think in my head where the nearest propane exchange place is, and the only place I could come up with is Walgreens. O.K., not too far away ~ the kids are in their suits from the sprinkler, so I throw some shirts on them, and get them in the car. We get to Walgreens, and Brett tells me he has to go to the bathroom. Sure you do, son! It's always at the most inopportune times. I tell him to hold on just a minute while I pay for the gas, and then I was gonna let him go. Well, no sooner did I say that, he stood on the side of the cart, and the whole cart tips over onto him ~ with Owen in it! Both kids are screaming, and I'm about to loose it, because we all know what happened the last time Brett fell out of a cart! I pick up the cart, only to realize that Brett went to the bathroom in his pants. I figure out that each kid is fine, and we quickly head to the car.

Fast forward to today. I took Chloe to dance class, and realize that these two rambunctious, wild, hyper, crazy, energetic, loud little boys are not going to behave in the little waiting room. I put them in the car and go to pick up a couple things from the grocery store. Brett asked if he could use one of the little carts that he could push around. "Sure honey! I just need a couple of things ~ stay with Mommy!" I got Owen in the little truck cart, and we were on our way! Everyone happy! Let's go! For the most part, Brett was pretty good ~ minus the time he banged the cart, and all the Shrek band-aids went flying. Anyway, we get to the check-out, and Owen wants to walk. "I walk mom, I walk mom, I walk mom....." He ended up getting out of the cart, because I didn't buckle him in, (first mistake) and heads on over to Brett with the cool cart that he could push around and bang into everything while mom tries to unload her own cart. CRAZY!! I was sweating bullets. To make a long story sort of short, :) Brett and Owen start fighting for the stinkin' cart, and both of them are screaming/crying. I'm trying to stay calm in this situation, but their are tons of people staring at me like I'm a circus act! I put Owen in the cart, and I grab onto Brett's hand, as the bagger says "Are you sure you don't need help ~ looks like you've got your hands full." "No thanks! I'm just fine!" I head out the door while both of the boys are both crying at this point, and I'm about to start at any minute. I get out the door, and get down to Brett's level to start to talk to him, when I hear this women say, "It gets better. I remember when my boys would do the same thing. I had days like that." That was it, that was my absolute breaking point. I look at her ~ thankfully I had sunglasses on ~ and say "I feel like I could cry right now!" Yep, that's what I said, and that's what I did. I feel like a moron now that I'm typing this out and reliving it. She then says, "O honey, It gets better! Tomorrow's another day!" "I know," I say. And head to my car with my head down.

Thankfully, today is a new day, and we're doing just fine! Just a little meltdown at the grocery store! :)

I'm so far behind...

I am so far behind on my posts, it's crazy! I've got all these cute stories/pictures to share, and I just can't find the time lately to post them. I'm gonna try to do a quick little update of our summer so far.


Chloe had her dance recital, the last weekend in June! It was so fun to watch her! I'm so proud of her! She's really improved so much since last year, and she has so much fun doing it!


This is Chloe with her "Pretty Woman" costume! I just loved this one on her!




Here's her whole class.


Here's the whole class in their "My Girl" costumes! So cute!!




Unfortunately in the blogging world, I'd forgotten Chloe and Brett's birthdays. Thankfully, in the real world I did not! :) Here's a little recap of their special days.


Brett's favorite new present!


This one is a close second. These trucks were actually Ryan's when he was little!


And here's the cake that Grandma Betty made! Yummmmmmm!


A few weeks later, we had a Birthday party for Chloe and her friends! It was so much fun! At first I thought, what was I thinking have 12 5 year-old girls here, but with the help of Christina, Kim and Nicole, it went so smooth, and we had alot of fun!

We did manicures and pedicures! We mad body glitter, and lip gloss necklaces! It turned out pretty good!




Here's all the girls showing off their pretty nails!


And here's the cake I attempted to make. It took two tries, but I finally got it in the end, and it tasted pretty good too! ;)


And I can't forget about my little Owen! He has been such a joy this summer! He's talking like crazy, and just having a fun time with everything. I think if I could make him stay any age, it would be now. He's just so stinking cute!!



Daddy thinks it's funny to put Owen's pants on his head! Well, O.k., it is! :)


A couple of weekends ago, we were sitting on Ryan's parents pontoon boat. Just enjoying coffe in the morning, and having a nice time. Until Owen got his arm stuck in the little whole that a table can stand in. Yep, couldn't get it out whatsoever. I knew he was going to be just fine, but I'm claustrophobic, and I just couldn't stand to watch him stuck there not being able to get out. I was about to hyperventilate, so I just ran to get the camera so I didn't have to watch him suffer while Grandpa got the tools to take it apart.



In this picture you can see the little silver thing around his arm.


All in all, we've just had a really great summer so far. We've enjoyed alot of time at the lake, and the kids are just having a blast! My little Brett is becoming such a character, and I'm really starting to have a fun time with him. (Last year was a different story!:)He's breaking out of those "terrible twos," and Owen's taking up where he left off! :) Chloe's really becoming a little girl. She's just a genuine, caring girl!

That's it for now!

Just had to share this little story...

So today, I'm making sandwiches for lunch, while talking on the phone with my sister, Melanie I hear someone holler right outside my kitchen window. It turn around and look, and there's a man standing there. I scream, only to realize that he hollered "NIPSCO!" (our gas company) and he had a NIPSCO hat on. Just reading the meter...

Boys will be boys...

For those of you who have only boys, (Melanie and Candi), and know exactly what I'm talking about, and for those of you who will soon enough know what I'm talking about.(Jen):)

My little Brett and Owen are two little partners in crime. What Brett does, Owen is 1/2 step behind, if that sometimes. They are constantly getting into trouble together. At times, I think it's pretty cute and sweet that they are so close and have fun together, but other times, I just want to pull my hair out. Here are some examples...

I had my boys playing outside, and I was in my kitchen making dinner. I can see them through my kitchen window, so it's perfect. I saw them jumping around and playing together, so cute! Yeah, not so much. They were actually jumping in a mud puddle. What you can't see from this picture is that they both had shoes on when they started outside, and they came in with nothing but dirty socks. They both took their shoes off.




On this particular day, I asked Brett and Owen to sit on my bed so that I could blow dry my hair. Well, Owen listened really well, I guess that's because Brett was squeezing a whole tube of toothpaste on his head. At first I was ready to cry, and then I realized that I have to just get my camera and take pictures of it all...



I came downstairs one morning to find this on my kitchen counter...


I asked Brett, "what are you doing?" To which he replied, "Nusin."


A couple of days later, my sons thought that the grape tomatoes would make good balls to play with...


I just had to pull this one out of the archives. This is Brett after he got ahold of a black marker...


Oh, how precious they are when they sleep...

There is a new addition to our family!!!

No it's not a dog, and it certainly isn't another baby. Last week we welcomed a new boat to our family!!! We are so excited to be able to take it to the lake and let the kids go tubing and eventually teach them how to ski! :)

Ryan came home with it last Thursday, and we took it to Michigan on Saturday! We launched it for her first maiden voyage, and we had a blast!!! It's really going to make for a great summer!


We decided to suprise the kids. So, when Ryan came home, we told Chloe to go outside, and she was so excited, she ran right up to it!


Of course, she had to get right inside, and when I asked to take a picture this was her pose! :)


And here's Chloe with her cousins Tim and Josh ready to go tubing! On the back of the boat, Ryan put the words "Good Times!" For those of you who don't know Ryan too well, his saying is always "Good Times," or "Good Times with good people" so it was inevitable that the boat would be named "Good Times!" And that's what we intend to have ~ good times!! :)

Chloe was all set to go tubing, she had her wet suit on, (seeing that is was only about 60 degrees) and she got right in!


Brett on the other hand had shorts and a sweatshirt on. I had not anticipated that he would want to go, so I didn't even think to put his suit on. Nonetheless, he had to go, and he loved it!!! It was great!


Owen missed most of the fun ~ he was too tired to enjoy it all! :)


And here she is! :) We are just so thankful that we are able to provide this type of fun for our kids! It's memories that'll last a lifetime, and that's really important to us!!

There should be a law....

That one should only be at the ER with one of their children, say, once a year. Yeah, no, that wasn't the case with me. After having Owen at the ER last Tuesday, I had Brett in the ER on Monday. He fell out of the cart at Target. He was in the back of the basket, and he just flipped right out. At first I didn't think it was that big of a deal, and he just bumped his head. I tried to buy him an ICEE and he wouldn't drink that. We got into the car, and he just didn't seem right. I called Ryan, and told him that I was going to make my way to his work, so he could check him out. Well, while on my way to his work he started vomitting, and couldn't stay awake. I called the doctor and they told me to take him to the ER. After what seemed like the longest car ride, we finally got there, and I brought him in. I couldn't keep him awake, and he kept vomitting. It was pretty scary for awhile, but his CT Scan came back clear, but he wouldn't stop vomitting. They ended up keeping him overnight, and re-do the CT scan in the morning. He woke up wanting water, and to watch T.V. Thankfully the CARS movie was on (his favorite!) The CT was clear, and we were able to come home. Thank God that everything turned out O.K. This is definitely an eye-opener for me, because I ALWAYS put Brett in the back of the cart. Never again!!!

My son has been super glued...

Well, I never thought that I would have a trip to the E.R. with Owen, Brett maybe, definitely NOT Owen...not yet anyway. But, it happened. Yesterday morning about 8:23, Owen was running around the family room, and fell onto the wooden box/container that I hold all of the diapers and wipes in. I was on the phone with my sister, Melanie when it happened. We were talking away, when I heard him fall and then start to cry. I then say to Mel, "oh my, there's blood, I gotta go!" I immediately flip out (I'm not good in emergency situations.) I start crying, while trying to console Owen, clean up the blood, and answer all of the questions coming from Chloe. I call Ryan and tell him to come home, because I have to bring Owen to the ER. His truck was at the dealer, so I didn't have a car. It worked out good though, because I didn't have to bring the other two with me to the E.R. About 20 minutes after he fell, he vomited. Of course, I flipped out again. Calling my mom, and Ryan's mom to see if that's a sign of a concussion. Long story short, I took him, and they super glued his cut together. They weren't too concerned about him vomiting, and after a couple of hours, we were on our way home! Just another day in the our household...