PSF- And In This Corner...

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

we have the schmultz family:
We are not the type of family that has ever been afraid to spontaneously break into song. It is actually a common occurrence. Someone is always singing in this house.
I grew up watching musicals with my folks, the three of us singing along with the TV at the top of our lungs. All my friends used to tease me and say that I probably should have been born in the 50's when that sort of thing was actually considered cool. And Todd? Well he is just a complete goofball that has always loved making up silly songs to make people laugh. Yep. We are nerds. And we're fine with it.
It appears the boys have inherited the drama gene. They love to sing along and act out scenes from their favorite movies. Here they are joining hands with all the Whos in Whoville a couple of weeks ago. Todd and I are delighted with their love of music and their love of goofiness. I just hope that if they meet up with some good-natured ribbing from their friends down the road they will still keep that I-can-break-into-song-at-any-moment kind of personality.

Christmas Warped

Yes, yes. I know I don't do memes. But I was forced! I was muscled into it! She made me do it! And trust me, you do not want to mess with her. She is one tough cookie. Why do you think she calls herself Imbeingheldhostage? She is referring to ME! Okay, fine, maybe she is talking about being held hostage by her five children, but you get the idea. Plus, she lives In The Gutter! Don't mess with J!

So here ya go, J, you asked for it. This one is for you.

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree? I don't know how lazy "Santa" is at your house but the "Santa" here wraps the gifts AND sets them under the tree. Oh yeah. You heard dat right!

Colored lights or white lights on the tree? WHAT???? Who even says something like that? That's not very politically correct.

When do you put your decorations up? When the last group of geese take vee-shaped flight to the sky. When I can see my breath in the car on the way to school in the morning. When I begin wearing socks to bed. Or, the first weekend in December. Which ever comes first.

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Are you saying that you eat food OTHER than dessert for holiday dinner? That's weird.

Favorite Holiday memory as a child: It was Christmas Eve, and I was about 5 or 6 years old. My mom and dad were just finishing up reading Twas The Night Before Christmas to get me to sleep when all of a sudden I heard sleigh bells. I jumped up from my bed and ran to my bedroom window. When I looked outside I saw a big, golden sleigh filled with presents and 8 reindeer too! Just then I heard a thump downstairs and though my parents told me to slow down I sprinted down the stairs where I saw SANTA putting presents beneath our tree! He quickly turned to see me, smiled, and motioned for me to come to him. I cautiously walked over, my legs shaking with excitement. He told me that little girls are supposed to be in bed by now so that he could do his job. I apologized immediately, and he chuckled his bowl full of jelly laugh. He reached into his enormous sack and pulled out the most beautiful dolly I'd ever seen. I thanked Santa a thousand times and he sent me back to bed. I hugged that dolly tight all night long, and I still have her to this day.
Oh wait. Nope. That doesn't sound right. Yep. Oh yeah. Mm-hmm. That was a dream. Never happened. But it would have been pretty cool, right?

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? You mean about him being Satan? I think I heard that from a lady handing out fliers in front of a strip club one night.

Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Only if I can stay awake longer than everyone else.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree? With my toes. I told you I have very long toes. It's impressive, really. And the lovely scent of the Frasier Fir covers up the toe-jam stentch quite nicely.

Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it. Until I start to dread it.

Can you ice skate? They don't call me Brilliant Blades for nothing!

Do you remember your favorite gift? Nope.

What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Eating as much food as I can without throwing up.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? The biggest one.

What is your favorite tradition? Winning the food eating contest.

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving? Giving. The business.

What is your favorite Christmas Song? The Christmas Song

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? It depends. Does my breath stink?

Ever recycled a Christmas present? Aren't we all supposed to be going green?

I Wish Every Day Were A Snow Day!

Days like these don't come along often. Snow days that cancel school, cancel work, and yet are warm enough to enjoy being outside, with all three boys healthy, are rare. And yesterday we took full advantage. Todd and I took the boys sledding at The Bowl for the first time ever. I was so impressed with how brave my normally cautious boys were jumping on their inner tubes and going down the hill by themselves right away. We had so much fun. We kept sledding and playing for two whole hours. It was a blast and I felt like a kid again. Todd and the boys practically had to drag me kicking and screaming to the car. I just didn't want to leave. We even made it onto the evening news! Check it out! That is Tommy and I going down the hill together. Then Todd in camouflage pushing the boys down. Me being interviewed for a second, and then Tommy eating snow at the end. Haha!

However, I did end up over-doing it. When I got home I got a migraine. Luckily it wasn't too bad and I was able to get rid of most of it while the boys were down for their naps. I was feeling well enough when they awoke that we rounded out our day with hot chocolate and baking cookies. Some of my fondest memories as a kid are the cold Wisconsin winter days when my friends and I would walk down to The Bowl, go sledding all day, and come home and warm up to hot chocolate. Thinking back on those times makes me realize how magical childhood can be. Every experience is new and full of anticipation. And I hope that someday the boys will look back on this day, and their childhood, with warm memories of there own.

What are some of your fondest childhood memories?

Oh The Pressure!

We got dumped on last night. Six inches of snow was deposited in our city and it is still snowing. Another six to eight inches is expected today and a few more inches tomorrow. School has been cancelled and Todd just left for work to tie up some loose ends and call all the other employees to tell them to stay home. When he is done there he is going to run out and buy some sleds so that we can hit The Bowl and take the boys sledding for the first time. I feel like a kid this morning, excited about the snow and anxious for daddy to get home with the sleds.

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I'm not sure how long the boys will last outside in the cold and snow but we'll stay as long as we can. Then it is all hot chocolate, Christmas movies, and coloring in our Christmas coloring books for the rest of the day. I may even get around to finally sending out our Christmas cards while the boys color.

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I am making it increasingly difficult to send out Christmas cards each year. The pressure is intense.

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The last few years I have been incredibly fortunate to be able to get a "money" shot. Beautiful smiles, cute poses, everyone looking at the camera. It just doesn't happen often. And every time we visit family they have our Christmas card prominently displayed and they gush when they tell us that our Christmas cards are always their favorite of the year. Pressure!!!!!

Christmas 2005

Christmas 2006

Christmas 2007

How can I compete with that? It is just too hard.

We tried the poses on the stairs. I didn't like it.We tried the couch. But that didn't work either.We tried posing on the floor again,and again. But none of them were working for me. They all just felt too posed. Finally, Ben fell to an exhausted and frustrated heap on top of his brothers (notice they tried to hold their smiles!).When he looked up, I got my shot. This is my money shot. It may not be the cutest photo, or the best posed. They may not be smiling their prettiest smiles or even looking that happy, but it sure does make me laugh. This looks like my boys. They are buds. And this is them.

Christmas 2008

Now if I can only find the motivation to send them.

The Reveal

Even though we had agreed last month that we were going to start trying for number four Todd was still surprised when he walked in the house on Thursday night and saw this:

I had made Ben a tee shirt to match his brothers and all three boys were sitting on the couch in their tee shirts when Todd came home. I have revealed each pregnancy (except for the first) to Todd this way. Joey wore the tee shirt to announce the second pregnancy, Joey AND Tommy wore the tee shirts to announce the third, and now all three wore it for this pregnancy. Not very original but Todd always gets a kick out of it.

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The problem was that even though I found out I was pregnant Thursday morning I had to make a new tee shirt for Ben and wait for it to dry (ALL DAY) before I could tell Todd. It was hard to keep quiet.

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We still haven't told the boys. They just thought they were trying on the tee shirts to see if they still fit (Joey's is SO small now). I think we will wait until we are closer to three months before we tell them.

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We are due around August 15th. So far I'm feeling okay. I have waves of nausea and by 8 o'clock every night I am completely exhausted. It feels like someone filled my entire body with wet sand and I can barely lift my limbs or haul myself off the couch to get up to bed. But other than that, I'm doing pretty well.

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I'm trying to take it easy because I always get migraines in the first trimester. No running for me for a little while. Once I get to the three month marker I can pick it up again. For now I'll just do some yoga and hope that is enough to keep me from gaining 20 pounds in the first month. I am craving Baby Ruth candy bars so bad it is crazy. If this baby is a girl I may have to name her Ruth.

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I honestly could not wait to tell you all, which is funny because most of our family members don't even know yet. Your comments were so sweet and sincere, and I am so appreciative of your support. I especially liked how careful you all were not to put any pressure on the boy/girl issue. So very sweet of you. How well you know me. Thank you.

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But, I will say, don't keep your fingers crossed. My grandmother had five boys and Todd's grandmother had four boys. We may just be taking after the grandmas. ;)

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Alright, it is time for me to get going. My stomach is lurching, Ben is pulling all of the ornaments off the tree again, and I have to make the trek to the grocery store this morning before the next predicted snow storm starts in. What is that saying about no rest for the weary?

(Please ignore the stars. Blogger's spacing isn't working again.)

PSF- I Like Even Numbers

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Sometimes words simply aren't needed, so just imagine me nodding my head and smiling.

Meet Your New Mom

I am not going to be that mom anymore. I am not going to be that nagging, bossy mom that makes my boys feel as though they are walking on eggshells. After last week's episode that ended in the boys telling me that they only want their daddy and not me, I have seen the error of my ways. I deserved those words from them and I'm so glad that I really heard what they were saying, because it opened my eyes.

Living with me was not fun. I made things difficult. I stressed the stupid little things too much and completely forgot to stop and notice the important things. I made life so much more stressful than it had to be.

I nagged about everything. They didn't put their toys away properly. They didn't eat their food fast enough. They ate their food too fast. They were too loud and they gave me a headache. They talked too quietly and I couldn't hear what they were saying. Nag, nag, nag.

I think I was confusing nagging for discipline.

It is hard to be the disciplinarian in the family. It is such a responsibility. Sometimes I feel that I have to be on the boys at all times in order for them to grow up to be respectful, hard working, thoughtful boys. But really, I just need to let them be.

If I want them to be respectful, I need to be respectful. And not just to others, but to them as well. They deserve my respect as much as I deserve theirs. If I want them to be compassionate people than I need to be a compassionate mother. One that calms their anxiety instead of adding to it. If I want my boys to be able to handle their anger in a healthy way, then I'd better start showing them the proper way to do so. If I want my boys to be loving, then I need to be an example of love in every circumstance.

This past week has been a complete turn around. The boys have behaved as they always have. Sometimes sassy, sometimes great. But I have been a different mom. I have been able to maintain calm. I spoke with kindness. I bit my tongue and said nothing when I wanted to correct things I knew didn't need correcting.

This is the mom I want to be. And I hope that if I practice this type of mothering enough it will become second nature. Because this is who I am. I am this mom. I am fun. I am loving. The boys just didn't get to see enough of it before. But that is gonna change. I know it won't always be easy. I know there will be times that I will fail and revert back to my old ways. But I am determined to do my best.

I'm letting go so I can be a better mom.

When we went to pick Joey up at school yesterday the snow was just too pretty to pass up. Tommy asked if we could get out and play on the playground while we waited for Joey. Though it is not normally like me to let the boys frolic in the snow without snowpants and gear (oh the mess!) I figured this was a good opportunity for me to practice letting go. I let Tommy and Ben out of the car and we went climbing all over the snow piles the snow plow trucks had created. When Joey came out of school he joined in. We played and slid and stomped through the snow, and when I told the boys it was time to go they happily obliged and climbed into the minivan.

We got home and the boys didn't want to go in the house yet. I told them they could play in the backyard for a while until they got hungry. One thing led to another and soon we were all building a snowman together. Tommy and Ben were rolling around in the snow sans snowpants, and Joey was wearing his two sizes too small snowpants that he put on at school, but I couldn't have cared less. We were having a blast.

By the time we were finishing up my jeans were soaked through and Tommy and Ben were wet little popsicles. Todd came home for lunch just in time to capture the moment for us.

We finished up our snowman and scurried inside to defrost. The wet clothes were thrown in the dryer, and new warm, fuzzy clothes were put on in their place. The boys ate quickly and drifted right off to sleep, exhausted from the fresh, cold air.

And I sit here thankful that I was given yet another opportunity to start again. Another chance to let go and just enjoy being a mom. Another moment to seize and not care about the mess or the clean up. Another shot at showing my boys how to be spontaneous and how to have fun. How to live. And how to love.

It was another great day.