Confessions of a Needy Blogger

I fear I have offended my bloggy peeps.

Please disregard my statement in my previous blog about posting via blogger...

You can do whatever you want...

I fear I have scared all of you off with my affirmation-neediness. I promise... I love your comments however I can get them... facebook is great!

I swear!

This being said, a few of you have told me you cannot comment on the blog itself... I am not a very blog savvy person, but here is my feeble attempt to give some instructions as to how to easily view/comment on the blog.

Option 1:
Subscribe via email:
1. Go to my blog http://curlycuesfamily.blogspot.com/
2. Enter  your email address and press "submit" in the "follow via email field" on the left side of the blog page.
Once again... me no savvy with all things techy, but I think you should get my posts via email when I publish them.

Option 2:
View via Google Reader (I think this is the best way if you have a Google account that you use regularly).
1. On the top of your GMail page you'll see several words... GMail, calendar, documents, photo, reader...
2. Click on Reader.
3. There may be a set up process for your reader account that occurs when you click this... I honestly don't remember what it was like when I set mine up, but if I can do it, it must not be too difficult.
4. Once you complete any initial set up, there is a button near the top left hand corner that says, "Add a subscription". Click this button.
5. Enter http://curlycuesfamily.blogspot.com/ in the field and click add.
6. You're all set. Now whenever you are checking your GMail, you can sneak over to the reader tab (same link you selected initially to set up your reader account) and check out Curly Cues or any other blogs you have added/follow.
Once you have an account with Google reader, it is really easy to comment on blogs... not that you have to comment on mine though... once again, I feel I have given you a glimpse into my extremely needy, approval-seeking, self-absorbed side!

Okay... not too much to share today... just a few pics from the weekend:
We went to a local park on the river today. The kids were not really dressed for the occasion, but fortunately I keep clothes in the swagger wagon in case they get dirty because they are the most dirt-lovin' creatures I know.

The river is cold, but the kids didn't mind... and certainly fulfilled their mission to get muddy.

Sassy is still lovin' her bunnies. She asked me to take this picture of her with a few she had tucked into her little box.

I guess she is making a "bunny face" too?
Not too sure.

Here's a picture of my little chunklette.

Did you know that she is 8 months old? As this blog also serves as my "scrapbook" of sorts I'll list out a few of her current talents:

• She has 2 teeth.
• She sits up and crawls... everywhere.
• She is trying to stand up while holding on the edge of things (and has succeeded a few times), but usually gets "stuck."
• She loves to get into the dog food.
• She does not love baby food as much as she loves dog food...but we are working on it.
• She has lots of hair still... and it is sweet and soft... and has a few random sprigs that resemble a comb over... but she's cute enough to rock the comb over.
• She used to sleep through the night, but lately she has been waking up at 4:30/5:00 (which explains the bags under my eyes!). She is still sleeping in a packnplay in our room (which is probably why we have not let her "cry it out" as we might be more inclined to do if she were in another room!).
• She naps twice a day but her naps are often in the car... ah, the life of a 3rd child who is carted around and has to sleep on the go.
• She smiles all the time and lights up when someone pays attention to her.
• She loves her brother and sister.
• She does not take a bottle, which is going to be a big problem in a few weeks when I have to go out of town for work. Not to mention the fact that although I love nursing...It would be nice if she wasn't solely reliant upon "the girls." *sigh*
• She's awesome.

I hope everyone has a great Monday!
Love,
Maranda (A.K.A. The Uber Needy Blogger)

'Fess up Friday

You can't leave them alone for 5 minutes...

Yes... I think he ate it.

It gives me the pee shivers.

I wish I had a picture of the tub after the bath.

Uber gross.

Uber.

.

.

.

.

.

I snapped this picture of Brent and two of his girls.

I love the look Chilli is giving Lola.

Bless. Lola needs a new home, a bath and haircut so badly.

.

.

.

.

.

My discipleship group has been reading Linda Dillow's book, What's it like to be Married to Me?: And other Dangerous Questions.

It is convicting my butt off.

I guess I have gotten so lost in Mommyland that don't even realize how out of whack my priorities have been. I have been treating my husband a lot more like a roommate and a co-worker than my beloved and friend.

"His mouth is full of sweetness and he is wholly desirable

This is my beloved and this is my friend"

Song of Solomon 5:16

Chapter two is titled, "What's it like to be my husband?" Now that is a dangerous question.

Have a good weekend my bloggy peeps...

If you feel compelled to comment, please do so on my blog directly if you can... although your posts on Facebook make me warm and fuzzy, seeing comments on my blog kinda makes me feel legit. ;)

Maranda

Whazuuuup.


I thought this was a funny video of Brent and Sassy at the park yesterday.

Brent litterally was sick to his stomach after giving the kids "rides" all afternoon.


I also wanted to share some pictures of Sassy at the minor league baseball game we took her to a few weeks ago.

Eating Dippin' Dots

Drinking some blue sludge

Seriously, that drink is the size of my child.

Eating Cotton Candy.

I promise there was an actual baseball game... it's just that the ball park food was really Sassy's favorite part.

I am a fan of the minor league baseball game. It was so much easier than going to the big field downtown, and honestly, this was just a lot more fun! They have a grassy section set up with bouncy houses for the kids, parking was easy and convenient, and after the game was over, we actually got to go down on the field and run the bases.

Good times!

P.S. As I type this, Brent is watching "Beavers, the Best Dam Movie Ever" on Netflix.
I am disturbed on some level.

Maranda

'Fess up Friday... belated edition... as usual

A few moments from the week... Check out Kira's blog for other confessions.

We went apple picking with some friends on Thursday.

It was super fun!

We kinda had the place to ourselves, which made it even more enjoyable.

Some of the "extras" were not open (ie. the apple cannon, the hay ride, etc.). Even though the petting zoo was also supposed to be closed during the week, the older gentleman who met us at the entrance told us we could go see the animals...as long as we didn't let the goats out.

Which makes sense.

So, to the petting zoo we went, and the animals seemed happy enough to see us.

 I like this picture of the goat eyeing the apple Brent is trying to hide from Mr. Jenkins.

There were also this huge, creepy albino turkey.

Creepy turkies aside, it was a really fun day.

Now to the 'Fess up component to the day:

Mr. Jenkins somehow got to the car without his shoes.

I fortunately found an extra pair in the car.

Unfortunately, they were his sisters.

Lookin' good Jenkie...
Lookin' good.

Did I mention that they were sparkly, glittery, bright pink Sassy shoes!?

*sigh*

I hope I have not scarred him for life.

.

.

.

.

.

The outfit of the week goes to...

Sassy...
Here she is in her Kanga costume with a pile of bunnies. I, unlike the Lumberjack's Wife to not have any real bunnies. Thank God. 

.

.

.

.

.

I do however have a huge mess to clean up.

I found this in our laundry room today.

Oh. My. Word.

At first I thought I was going to have to sell Mr. Jenkins on Ebay. However, I then realized that the blasted detergent had fallen off the shelf all by its dadgum self and the Jenkie boy was not responsible.

I have never seen anything like it.

It was as if the contents were pressurized. It somehow managed to get all over the walls.

When I saw it this morning, I took out my phone and took these two pictures.

Then I closed the laundry room door and walked away.

So, question for you...If laundry detergent falls in the laundry room and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

The answer is yes.

Well... technically someone was around to hear it.

When I told Brent about the fiasco he said, "Oh, that was the noise I heard at 2 am. I thought one of the kids fell out of their bed so I got up to check on them. They were in their beds so I waited at the top of the stairs to listen in case there was someone in our house."

I kinda wonder if he looked in the laundry room and had the same reaction I did... just closed the door and walked away.

I must publish this post and go and clean the disaster... but surely I can find something else to do so I can avoid the inevitable.

I just don't even know where to start. I mean, its gobs and gobs of concentrated soap that has run underneath my washing machine, and clothes baskets and into the nooks and crannies of the room.

If I sop it up with towels, then what do I do with those towels? If I put them in the wash I am afraid that the suds will overtake us!

*sigh*

I must go and face it.

You better pray for me.

You better.

Maranda

Bread... in a can.

So what if it is Monday.

Just consider me fashhionably late to the 'Fess up Friday post! :)

Check out Kira's blog to read things that others posted in a timely manner.

.

.

.

.

.

We went to the park this weekend. When we arrived, there was a little boy playing on the slide. Sassy was excited to see a new "friend." He was a darling little boy with sandy hair and glasses. He also had some sort of bandage covering his eye. Upon seeing this, Sassy yelled:

LOOK MOMMY! THAT BOY IS A PIRATE!

Awesome.

Could you say it a little louder please?

.

.

.

.

.

I saw something disturbing at the grocery today.

Things to note:
1. Bread... in a can.
2. It was in the canned bean section.
3. The brand name is B&M.
    That is unfortunate.
    Don't you think the owners could have agreed to let the guy with the last name starting with "M" be listed first?
4. Bread... in a can.
5. Raisin bread? Why raisin bread? Do they make other varieties? I hope not.
6. Bread.... in a can.

.

.

.

.

.

My daughter has reverted to being a tiny infant. You know she has a propensity for wearing clothing that is not her size.

But she has now started sitting in the feeding chair I have for Chilli. I keep trying to remind her that she is 4 years old now.

But alas, at the park, she climbed into 'licious' stroller to eat a snack.

Ridiculous.

I know I should regulate on this...

I guess I am picking my battles.

.

.

.

.

.

Mr. Jenkins wins outfit of the week.

You may not be able to tell, but the yellow shorts are actually OVER a pair of pjs that he was still wearing around lunch time.

The boots really pull the whole the whole outfit together, dontcha think?

Please pay no attention to the 4 year old on the couch who is sneakily sucking her thumb.
*sigh*

I know, I know... I may need to fight this battle. For the sake of her teeth and our savings account.

.

.

.

.

.

I leave you with this... this short video of Mr. Jenkins eating ice cream...

Jenkie-style.

Whiney Wednesday

So, I just ate beef jerky and some moose tracks ice cream for lunch.

And I wonder why I can't seem to lose this baby weight?!

*sigh*

I have been trying to clean the house all day. I honestly don't know why I try to do this while the kids are here as if they are ever not here...

What is it exactly about fresh linens on a bed that make a child want to pee in it?

Or what is it about swept and mopped floors that gives them a craving for graham crackers? And while were talking about graham crackers... I honestly don't know if my kids eat them because I swear I could reconstruct several crackers out of the crumbs they leave behind.

The house is desperate for a cleaning... I tried to get to some of the tougher stuff today... like I worked on the many, many stains on the couch... I removed the cushions and vacuumed in all the nooks and crannies. There was many a graham cracker crumb to be sucked.

I need to be mopping the floors while the kids are peeing in their beds resting, but I have hit a wall.

Oh, speaking of walls... I have discovered that Mr. Jenkins has been sticking his gummy vitamin to the wall in various locales in the house. He does this after he sucks on it a while and gets it nice and sticky. He then proceeds to place it on the walls to see if it will stay there all by itself. Today I caught him trying to get one to stick to his face.

What am I going to do with that boy?

In other news, it has been 4 days since I have been to Sonic. I told myself I could go if the house was clean.

I guess I'm never going to get to have a Sonic sweet tea again.

Maranda

'Fess up Friday

 

Linking up with Kira again this week. 

I had a rough Thursday.

I attempted to go to Target with the three gremlins (Kira... I have adopted this terminology for my kids...it suits them well). I clearly fed them after midnight because they were not so much Gizmo...

as they were...

Whatever that one's name is.

Anyway, things looked promising when we pulled in to a parking space right next to the cart return and there was one of those beastly carts 18 wheeler (well... maybe 8 wheeler) carts with the massive section for strapping in children.

But alas, it was missing many a buckle.

Buckles are essential to the containment of Mr. Jenkins.

I wrestled Mr. Jenkins from the unsatisfactory cart and proceeded to walk drag him into the store with Sassy trotting behind me and Chilli strapped to me in the Ergo.

Upon entering I had a word with Jenkins which momentarily helped him collect himself, but it was short-lived.

I got both he and Sassy into the new 18 wheeler cart and just as we rounded the $1 item section (you know... like 5 feet from the entrance), the man-child realized that he was strapped in and confined. At nearly that exact same moment, Sassy realized that there was in fact a broken buckle on this cart as well...which was highly disturbing (for some reason). Anywho, what resulted was a cacophony of wailing and screaming, complete with flailing from Mr. Jenkins that caused him to fall off of the little perch on the cart.

With the eyes of what felt like the world watching me, I turned the cart around, rolled it over to the cart return, collected Mr. Jenkins "bag o' flour" style under my arm and took Sassy by the hand. Jenkie was crying pretty loud, but it was Sassy's repeated scream of "I WANT TO STAAAAAAAY!" that was particularly attention drawing.

*sigh*

I love my kids, but that was really humiliating.

And exhausting... and it just made me feel like a failure. 

It is amazing how the behavior of my kids can determine my self-worth.

It is such a lie.

I know that it is the heart that truly matters...

But it is so hard to remember that... especially when you are crying in the Target parking lot with a car full of screaming kids!

Speaking of the heart... my heart was pretty yucky the rest of the day.

I was so frustrated with the kids... not only was there the Target experience, but there was pee on the floor I just mopped, marker ink on hands and clothes, dog food in the dog's water bowl, etc..., and although they had certainly been sinful, so had I.

I had to apologize to them later for being so angry and bitter.

Now that's humbling.

There were a lot of things I did poorly as a mom this week, but asking for forgiveness from my kids was not one of them.

I am grateful that I have children who do forgive me... but the forgiveness of my Savior is more humbling that I can express.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8

Maranda