I used to have it all together.......

and then I met Isaac.

This evening my eyes were opened.

While sitting in the bleachers watching my hubby play basketball.

I was a good mom. 

My kids were disciplined every time, consistently.

They had snacks.  

They were clean.

Their shoes were NOT scuffed and most certainly did not have chicken poo on them.

And while that was a great time in my life, I also remember that I was always stressed.

I HAD to have things perfect.

My children HAD to act a certain way.

They HAD to say "yes ma'am" promptly.

And while, I know that they have some issues...(God bless him)

they are mine.

I love them. 

I love Isaac's orneriness.

I love that Titus is clingy.

(Perhaps a bit too much.)

I love that Ben cries sometimes because he gets hurt ~ he's only 8.  He can't be perfect just yet.

I love that Chloe couldn't get dressed by herself to save her life.

(Seriously, she couldn't.)

She has no socks that match.

None.

Zip.

Nada.

I love my imperfect life.

I love that I am able to sit in a dirty house and watch cartoons without trying to be so stinkin' perfect all the time.

I am me.

My kids are who they are.

And I wub them!

I don't have it all together anymore.

Not even close.

And that's okay.

Reblogging ~ thanks Marisa!!!

My friend Marisa just blogged about this great website:

The Krazy Coupon Lady!

And so, since I have nothing exciting going on in my life aside from feeding the various animals that were purchased to help our children gain some character....

I thought I would steal her idea (thanks Marisa!)

Anyway, I went to that sight today and they do have great coupons..

But if you type in 

Restaurants.com in the search engine on her page,

you can get some really cheap gift certificates for various restaurants in your area.

Now the kicker is:

put in the code

COOK

and you will get 25 dollar gift certificates for 2 dollars!

Oh yeah, you heard me!

2 STINKING DOLLARS!

Our family will be going to Mapleside Farms and Restaurant 

while only paying 4 dollars for 2 25 dollar certificates.  

It's gonna be a good day.

My husband should really thank me more!

Saving him all that money!

Man, I am a good wife.

                                                                                

Library....

We try to go to the library once a week with the kids and let them pick out books.

I have been looking for a way to show books on our blog that the kids especially liked.  

I finally found it!  YAY! 

On the left side, you will find my Shelfari!

I will update it as often as I can. 

The  "I Love You, Stinky Face" book was Ben's favorite book as a lil' tot.  

They also have "I Miss You Stinky Face" and maybe a couple more.

Really cute books.

You will fall in love with Stinky Face!  

The Dinosaur books are Isaacs.  We have bought a couple of those.

"How does a Dinosaur clean up his room?"

"How does a dinosaur say I love you?'

They are so cute.

The Ramona books, I read as a child, and I have them on hold at the library for Chloe.

I hope she enjoys them as much as I did.  I love me some Ramona!  

Ty loves anything to do with Puppies.  

So, the "Pokie Little Puppy" is just an obvious choice.

And I have been reading Tracie Peterson lately.

She's a good clean Christian author.

Anyway, hope this gives some ideas.  I am always looking for tried and true books.  

Nothing worse than going to the library and getting a book that you think will be just great and 

IT ISN'T.

Let me know if you have any ideas! 

Love to hear them!

How was your Sunday???????????????

                                                                                  

Titus' 2nd Birthday!!!!

I am a sap on my children's birthdays.  

I can't help it!

Here is Ty, still sleeping...with his "Happy" (puppy.)

That's what he calls it!  

Ain't he the best?

Breakfast! 

OH yeah!

Pancakes, of coarse!

Isaac got his cast off the day before....

His leg is skinny here, you can tell a bit.  

Though it didn't look as bad as I had thought it would....

Here they are loving eachother (take note, it doesn't happen every day!)

I might* have used my childs birthday as a way to get me some Starbucks.  

Am I a bad Mom?

I think not.

Chloe entered the drawing to win this house.  

I hope she does!

That would be so cool!

Isaac's last day in his wheel chair.

Man that thing was handy!

I made an Oreo cookie cake.

Acutally, I made him a real oreo cookie cake for his first birthday, this was more like dump cake, or something...made with pudding.  It was WICKED good.

I am glad it's gone. 

I can proceed with my diet.

Oh baby!  So good~

The absolute sweetest part of the night...

We don't really do gifts for the kids on their birthdays, just a celebration of them.

Chloe wanted to give Titus something special.

So, she kept bringing down her toys, etc.

"Mamma, would Ty like this?"

"What about this?"

And finally she made him this adorable card!

She wrote "Little you can be big."

HA!  Awww...but I don't want him to be too big.

Calender

I started a new thing this year.  

I wanted to make sure that each of my children knew that they are special to me and to this family.

Which is easy to overlook when you have a "big" family.

My in~laws had 11 kids, and my husband always says that he knew he was loved.

That's important to me.

So, I bought a new calendar in January.

I have a thing for calendars.

I decided that every month, the older 2 kids could pick a meal.

Their favorite meal.

And I HAVE to make it. 

HA.

And, they each have a Mommy loves you day.

They get to pick an activity that they get to do with Mommy.

Just me and that one child.

Only one stipulation:

it can't cost money.

Other than that, the choice is theirs.

Here you see the month of March.  With lots of little things to do.

I like that.

And here you can see their days.  

They have really liked this so far.  

Just thought I'd share my ideas.

OH, and we have an Ice Cream night!  

OH YEAH!