I feel like a kid again who has won a trophy at the end of the soccer season.

Adrienne over at Four Bad Apples gave me this award:

Someone actually likes my blog!! I can't believe it.

When I found out that she had given me this award, I felt like Taylor Swift...but then that may be pushing things because I don't look like Taylor Swift, I don't sing like Taylor Swift, and I don't want some dude coming and taking away my thunder. (Did I just say dude...oh boy!)

And it's not like I can go around telling everyone that I won this award. Because half the people around me don't know what a BLOG is. When I tell them I am a blogger, they reach for a tissue and hand it to me.

But at any rate, I am so happy that my blog can bring a little sunshine into someone's life! I LOVE blogging about the crazy life I have chosen and I am the one who gets excited when I see your comments...because in some way you all can relate.

So, I guess I am supposed to tell about myself. I am a mother of 5 crazies, 4 boys and one girlie! I have been married to my husband, who happens to be deaf, for 11+ years. I have been blogging for about 2 years, but decided that I wanted to go public with my blog so that I could comment on others blogs. I get so excited when I find people who have similar struggles and challenges that I have. I also find myself ROLLING on the floor at some of the things that your kids do.

So here are some of my favorite blogs that I stalk.

The Meanest Mom 

(If you think I am funny, you have never read this blog. Hilarious!!)

Denton Sanatorium

I love big family blogs. And Jenny just has it all together. My hero!! Just look at her children all in white. We don't own white in my house...nope.

For Love or Funny

Lynn is awesome. She is hilarious, and also a very talented photographer. I find joy in her humor.

Love, Actually

I like this blog because who doesn't run out of ideas for dates and stuff. Really great idea for a blog, I think.

And there you have it.

Thanks, Adrienne, for making my week!! Seriously, for reading my blog!!

But today...

There are those days when the To-Do list seems to go on and on...
* Do the laundry
* 15 minutes in the garage aka black hole
* Fold the heap of laundry that keeps traveling from my bed to the basket, only to return to the bed the next morning and then the basket again.
* Dust...oh yeah, Dust
* My garden...of weeds....needs to be turned into a garden of plenty.
* Shower (Why isn't this at the top of the list? Note to self, fix the To-Do list.)
* Call a bunch of people to take care of a bunch of things that they will not be able to help me with, but I must call them to check them off the list.

You know those days.

But today, I sit. I sit and I rock my two little sick boys. They alternate who is fevering and who is drugged up and feeling well enough to play around a little.

So I sit, and rock and savour this time...because I know it won't always be this way.

My list can wait. My laundry may walk itself out the door, but good riddens. The black hole isn't getting any smaller and  the heap on my bed makes for some good exercise at night.

But for now I will rock my little men to their hearts' desires for it fills my heart to do it.

(Plus I get to watch that tv show that I swore I would stop watching but now I have the time to watch.)

So I Married a Deaf Man IV: The Ticket!@$*!!

My husband had never gotten a ticket. Not in his whole life. I am not saying that he has never been pulled over, because he has. Plenty of times. But he had never been issued a ticket...until he married me.

It isn't because of his great smile...though he does have a GREAT smile. It isn't because his eyes are to die for. No, no. It isn't because he is a flirt because he SO isn't. It is because he is deaf. Let me describe what normally happens.

"Vrooom Vrrrroooom."  Hubs just speeding along without a care in the world.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeohhhhhhh." (Lights flashing)

The cop walks up to the window and my husband rolls it down.

"May I see your liscence and registartion please?" he asks.

My husband points to his ears and shakes his head.

"You can't hear? ummmm okay...uhhhhh...ummmm....hold... hold on, HOLD ON!!"  He goes back to his car and returns with a pen and paper in hand.

The officer usually writes something like this, "Too fast. Slow down. Warning."

And that is it. Seriously. HIS WHOLE LIFE! Until he married me. Here is what happened.

Brian was driving along, we were chatting (via sign lanuguage...it freaks my dad out.) and suddenly the lights appear behind us. Great! I hate that feeling. So we pull over.

That cop appears at the window, asking for license and registration. My hubs points to his ears shaking his head, as usual.

"You can't hear? ummmm okay...uhhhhh...ummmm....Hey, do you talk?" he asks me.

Because I have been taught not to lie and to respect poilicemen who risk their lives everyday to keep the roads safe, I answer "Yes." Then proceed to interpret for him while he gives my husband an $80 ticket.

What the heck!! Does he know how much it would have cost him to HIRE an interpreter? We are talking over $100 because they would have to have special certification and get paid a 2 hour minimum and mileage and an extra after hours/less than 24 hour notice fee?!?!?!!!! He should have been writing me a check before he walked away.

So the next time we were pulled over, my sister, her daughter and my son were in the car with us. I turn to her and I say, "Pretend like you are deaf. Do not say one word. If he asks you something, just pretend you can't hear him."

It worked! NO ticket!! Just "Too fast. Slow down. Warning."

Thank you Officer!!

Good Question

5 question Friday. I will give it a try....

1. What words do you use on your blog/online that you don't use in real life?

Well, here's the thing. I am obsessed with my children. I could talk about them for hours on end. It has come to the point that people will avoid me altogether just so they don't have to hear about how my 5 year old has reverted to peeing the bed and when he wakes up, soaked in the middle of the night he screams at the top of his lungs "MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

My blog seems to help with my verbal erruptions. That way people who like my stories, will come and read and when they are sick of them, they can turn me off. I think my husband may be a little jealous of you all because of that feature...the turn off button. But then again, all he has to do is close his eyes...off.

2. Do you still write checks?

   My kids all have chore charts, behavior charts, homework charts. If they get them done, then I write a check. This is where I write the majority of my checks. There is also the form that I fill out when I go to the therapist.

   But when I pay for things I usually do the debit swipe...much much faster and easier to do when you've a baby on the hip, another pulling your "fat" pants down, the other is begging for gum, candy, and whatever other thing they have at the checkout to torture parents, while the other two are fighting over who gets to stand on the end of the cart. I just swipe...hoping that it will magically transport me to some beach somewhere...................... "Ma'am. Ma'am...your receipt." Drat!

3. Who was your favorite President and why?

  All joking aside, I think that the men who wrote our Constitution were inspired. It took them a lot of courage to do what they did. And because of what they did, America has become the great country that it is. And the more we chip away at the Constitution, the more we chip away it's greatness. ANY president who respects and understand and upholds the Constitution, in my eyes, is a great president.

4. Are you a yeller?

   I would never! I would never yell at my kids if after asking them 10 times to do their homwork I find them outsided jumping on the trampoline. Oh, no! I would definately not yell if my 5 year old was pummeling his younger brother for playing with his Star Wars storm trooper in the sandbox.  You wouldn't hear me yelling at my children if I walked into their room to see them writing on their walls with marker. And you wouldn't hear me yelling even louder when I realized that my 9 year old had joined in the fun!! Do I yell?? NEVER!!!!!!!!...oh, I mean, "Never, darling."

5. Have you ever dumpster dived?

   

    Wow! That sounds fun! Is it some kind of sport? Similar to swimming? Ha.

    You know, the only time I have even thought about it was when my daughter's homework got chunked for not being put away accidentally found its way to the trash. But when I looked and saw the pile of crap that was on top of the thing, I told my daughter that matching the picture of money to the right amount wasn't worth digging through dinner to salvage. Yes, in my home we teach the importance of education.

Now that didn't hurt at all. You should try it. It is just 5 questions.

GO HERE!!

Call CPS

 We have a dire situation in my house. My children are screaming abuse! Upon further investigation, I have found it to be true. Here is the incriminating evidence:

1- I was able to be home in the morning the other day and when Kyla found out I was going to be home she said, "Good! Will you make my lunch?" When asked who normally made her lunch, she responded "Daddy makes US make our OWN lunches!!" Oh the nerve! That was my first clue that something was up.

2- I also heard from several sources (under the age of 10) that the children in our home are not allowed to eat until they have all their clothes on. Can you imagine?!

3- You are gonna need to sit down for the next one. When they take a bath, he requires the older three children to wash themselves...EVEN their hair. ***GASP***

4- This one was the kicker for me...Before they go to bed they HAVE to go to the bathroom and get a drink of water. The horror...BEFORE they get into bed. He says it's so they will have no excuse to get out of bed but we know its because he just has a black heart.

The list goes on and on: putting away their shoes, cleaning up the dog poop in the yard, loading their dishes into the dishwasher, putting on their own seatbelts. Here is the worste one of ALL. They have to have their chores and homework done before they can play the Wii....and they can only play it one day a week.

That's it! I can't take anymore!! Will someone, ANYONE please call CPS before things get out of hand...before the children become responsible adults or something worse!

You can imagine the lasting effect behavior like this can have on children. Please, help these poor children!!

The Needed

Sometimes it is nice to be needed.

Sometimes not so much.

Monday was one of those times. I have been working some crazy hours where I work til midnight and then have to be back into work by 7am. Try 3 days of that in a row and it really starts getting to you.

It doesn't help that the hose in my kitchen sink faucet decided to break. So now, when you turn on the water, if the tear isn't facing the right direction, water will squirt everywhere. This isn't just annoying, but it apparently deters people, big and small, from rinsing and washing dishes.

Monday, I was exausted. Everyone needed me and I really didn't have anything left to give. Brian needed me to edit his paper that he was really stressed about. My kids needed a ride to piano lessons, Briggy was tired and needed a nap...well, first he had a poopy diaper and needed a change, then he needed a snack, then he needed to be held. Brody needed some attention because he was beginning to pick on Camden which made Camden need some protection and comfort. Everyone needed dinner. Homework needed to be done. The house needed at least 3 hours 15 minutes of attention.

I needed a break but really didn't see it happening. In the end, a good cry was all I got. Oh, yeah, and the guilt that follows. I got that too. Have mentioned that I hate guilt? No? Well I hate guilt.

So who helps the needed? When we, as mothers, are needed so much, who takes care of us? We are naturally givers. If you are a mom, you give. You give up you body, your sleep, your hair color, sometimes your personal hygene, your free time, your cleanliness. For what? So that the people in our lives know we love them and are happy. So, again, I ask, who takes care of the needed?

I know that God can take care of us spiritually,emotionally, physically...in ALL aspects of our lives. . But sometimes...sometimes, I want to be waited on. Sometimes I want someone else to make dinner and then clean it up after. I want to sleep until I am not tired and not feel bad about it. (Curse you, Guilt!!) Sometimes I want someone to read ME a book and rub MY back.

I love being a mother and a wife. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade it for anything. And I would give up ALL my sleep if it meant that my children would be happy and my husband satisfied with the life we have been given. I was just hoping that I wouldn't LITERALLY have to give it all up.

This is totally a downer post. Not meant to be, but isn't life like that sometimes? What do you do when one more need is just going to put you over the edge? I really would like to know.

So I Married a Deaf Man III: Drive Thru

"Hey, what's for dinner?" Hubs asks.

"I don't know, what are you cooking?"

"Sonic!" he replies.

"Great! I get to drive." I insist.

You may be thinking to yourselves that I am some overbearing control freak who has to be in control all the time. This is SO not the case. In fact, I would love it if someone would willing come and take away some of my control. Please!! In fact, I am getting out my white flag as we speak!

So, no, it isn't a control issue. The issue is...well...here...let me demonstrate what it looks like going to a drive through when my husband is the driver.

We pull up to the screen and Bry is just looking ahead, with the window up,  while the speaker is shouting, "Hello!! Is anyone there??? CAN I TAKE YOUR ORDER!!"

Finally, after what feels like hours, he rolls down the window. I am now leaning across the middle of the bucket seats, screaming, "YES, I WANT 5 YADA's , YADDA YADDA, and an extra large YADDA!" It is while I am ordering our yadda's that my husband thinks it is funny to tickle me, or give me a wet willy or some other annoyingly distracting antic.

"What was that, ma'am. I can barely hear you." What, is he deaf? No wait, that would be us...

So I repeat the order a few times until finally they get it.

When the order arrives, the car hop starts talking to my husband. When hubs doesn't say anything, and all they get is a cheesy look and a big smile, then they get annoyed.

Leaning across the seat again I explain, "He isn't rude. Really. He is just deaf and can't hear you."

"Oh, I am so sorry!" is what we usually get. And many times I can't tell if they are saying sorry that they didn't know, or sorry that he is unable to hear. Maybe they are saying sorry that I am hurdling the bucket seats. Haven't quite figured that one out yet. But, it is a little bit awkward to say the least. 

So THAT is why I prefer to drive when we go through a drive through. Less hassle, less explaining, and one less wet willy that I have to deal with.