From The Couch Detective Herself...

Do you ever watch tv and get so enthralled in the action that you seriously think you could go into that line of work and totally kick ass? This happens to me often.
My mind gets wrapped around the idea and before I know it I am the leading expert in whatever so called field of the week intrigues me.

I admit (not easily) that I have been a wee bit addicted to tv as of late. Mostly because the twins have been extremely fussy with teething and having shots on top just makes for one happy ball of screaming babies. Soothing comes in the form of rocking in our fabulously comfy rocker recliner and the droning sounds of the tv.

Which shows I bet your wondering.. well first let me give you some background. I spent my college years (all three of them) working up lab reports towards a biology degree. One kid was doable and thought I could make it; with two, well I decided that my path into Pathology would not afford me as much time with my family as I would like. School went on Hiatus and well, is still there lurking somewhere in the shadows of my future.
I thought then that I would get into the forensic sciences and be a crime scene investigator. (do you see where I am going with this?) Although I admit that there was always a huge part of me that thought it would be so fun to go to culinary school and be a chef! (however with much thought put into it I decided that it might take the fun out of cooking my nightly meals for my family if I have to cook all day long for other people.)

So.. to my shows. If it has a CSI in the title I am watching it. Law and Order- I'm totally down. Numbers, good crime solving using math. Dr. G medical examiner, oh yeah! When I just happen to catch it on I'll watch it but its not set up in DVR to record. Deadliest catch- you know I'm on board with those fellas! Nanny 911- hello! its so good to watch other peoples kids be holy terrors and then look at your own and think... not bad at all.
Now mind you this is just my DAY time tv when I have to sit in the hot seat with the twins. I'm not huge on tv.. believe it or not.. I would much rather be outside in the garden, or working on something crafty but seeing as I am locked into the chair for at least an hour at a time with these boys I might as well watch something that peaks my interest.

So now where was I? (How easily I forget) Oh yes, the couch detective. I think it would be safe to say that I could be put onto any of the csi team's payrolls- I solve the crimes, oh yeah baby. How sweet would it be to drive fast with lights flashing; roll up to a crime scene, with authority flash a badge and be in charge of the investigation. For me, most likely not in this lifetime, but then I got to thinking how different really is a detective from being a Mom. The similarities will amaze you!
In my deductions I found that:

~We both have taken an oath to be faithful, trustworthy and ethical while upholding the law. (to name a few)
~We both patrol our jurisdiction. (ours maybe just a little smaller)
~We fight to keep the peace (kids are always fighting!)
~ We review the evidence of the crime scenes (rooms uncleaned, broken lamps/chairs/whatever), interview the witnesses and book the guilty parties (or ground them.)
~We head up covert sting operations (use fast talk, go through backpacks, follow to make sure they are doing what they are told)
~We love our coffee and donuts (cheap shot yeah, yeah I know)
~We work all hours of the night and can be called to the scene at any time.
~We have a network of connections (eyes and ears everywhere not to mention our tattle-tail informants)
~We both get paid crap (haha and some of us not at all! *wink)
~We divulge details on a need to know basis
~We are trained in self defense (after all how else do you get out of a pinch, hair pull, child clutching onto your leg for dear life)
~We can jump into the minds of criminal (planning out how kids might escape from play yards, where the best hiding place might be)

Not bad eh? Bet you never thought you would be qualified enough to join the force! Well, but then again, you are already on the Force, The Mom Squad! We maybe only Moms, but it seems to me a Mom has a lot in common with a Detective. (I'm sure we could think of any job and find at least a couple similar qualities that are shared.<--Thats how much we rock!)
So what if I'm only the couch detective and I'm not out there in the trenches of our dirty cities fighting crime. Knowing that I have the skills is good enough for me!

Wordless Wednesday

Smoking Crack.
(When I was inpatient, there were tons of sculptures around the hospital. This was one of the many..the cig was put there by someone other than the artist! *wink)
(but not by me!)

1 Shot..2 Shots..3 Shots... More?!

The twins had their 6 mos check up today. (funny how they are almost 8 mos now- but hey I can't help it that the doctor is so busy I have to wait longer to get in!) The boys are doing fabulous! Getting so big! The staff in the office are so surprised at how the boys have really beefed up! *wink
Moose is now 15.14lbs (almost 16 yay!)
Bus is now 15.3lbs
and both boys measure in at 26 inches long!
I spoke with the doc to get her take on when to start rice cereal and all that jazz seeing as the boys just barely starting taking 6 oz bottles. (and even then don't always finish them)
As far as she was concerned they could start at anytime now that they have hit that 6 mos mark. (and are almost 6 mos adjusted age.) I have the cereal in my cupboard I'm just hesitant at the idea of starting something new right now. (shots remember!)
So yes they each got three... count them 3! shots. OY VA!
Fever and crankiness ensues!
I think I should take up stock in tylenol.. what do you think?!
They were both sleepy by the time the nurse came in for the shots. I'm such a terrible Mom, I wanted to cry they were both asleep and were awoken by the stinging of needles in their thighs!

Kata has had ear infections since birth. We never know what brings them on just that he gets them. good times. So this morning he complained his ear was bugging him. (he has been complaining on and off for a week- but it was just an annoyance he said not really painful- and he kept changing which ear was hurting. I thought maybe it was attention driven because after he and I hung out for a bit and snuggled he was fine.) Needless to say while we had the twins in for their appointment I just asked if the Doc could take two quick secs and check out his ears. One was Iffy the other fine. So he is either in the beginning stages of infection or the tail end. All I know is we get the scripts filled and he's taking the meds. Murphy's Law right- two uncomfortable twins with shots and a wee lad with ear infection. Now if Chugo comes home from school with something I think I will scream! (did I happen to mention he has been coughing lately! Please oh please lets not all get sick this spring!)

Weekend ReCap

Well, the weekend came and went. (I guess thats how it has always worked but lately it just seems to do it a lot faster. hrmph) Quick recap:

Friday: We had Chugo's sleepover birthday party. I don't know what I was thinking having 4 10 yr old boys sleep over- obviously I wasn't expecting an uneventful time, but I suppose it could have been a lot worse. Poor Kata wanted to be involved in everything. He had a t-ball game but as soon as it was over he was ready to party- unfortunately for him he was stuck in the bedroom watching movies with me and the twins. (The stinker stayed up until 11pm and every five minutes kept telling me he would rather be hanging with the guys. Poor Mommy, I'm no fun! And as every Mommy does- I gave in. He went running out of the room yelling "I'm coming guys, let me just get my sleeping bag!" as if the party was all about him. too sweet.) So my thought on it all- Not again.. ever! (until next year comes around and I somehow get birthday amnesia and ok it.) Btw: since when did everyone's kids get so picky? I've always taught my kids You get what you get and you don't pitch a fit- I guess other people must have short order cooks in their kitchen so each kid can have their food just how they want it. Not in my house.

Saturday: What did we do Saturday? Went shopping as a family. Good times. It still boggles my mind at how many times we get stopped when we go out with the twins. Comments on the stroller and how small the boys are. I guess this is what the Stars must feel like when they have to put on a fake smile and a show for the Paps (paparazzi for short-Duh!). Funny how people still ask me if the boys are twins- how could they not be? Unless I decided to steal my neighbors baby who just happens to look exactly like my son- or lets see- no they are just brothers who are 9 mos apart and are the exact same size?! I think not. Its comical when they say oh they are identical are they twins? Hmmm.... I would love to have a bell with me I could ring and be like "Ding Ding you win the Captain Obvious Award of the day! Hooray!)
All in all I got some cute Capri pants and Bermuda shorts out of the trip- too bad it has been crappy weather ever since and I haven't been able to wear them! (just my luck)

Sunday: We went to church. (gasp! and the walls didn't come crumbling down either!) Drove up to the next town and got some Starbucks as a nice little Mommy/Daddy pick me up and all kids were calm and quiet in the car! Loved it! Then we just hung around the house and spent the day watching movies. Ya ya boring I know but you have to have a day of R&R right? (Although from taking Sunday off it means I will now have to do the laundry during the week!)

Monday: Yay Holiday! Oh wait- I am a stay at home Mom- I don't celebrate holidays- it just means I have the kids home and have to come up with things for them to do! Chugo had a Cub Scouts event and luckily it didn't rain on us while we were there. They had a Memorial service at the Veterans Memorial here in town. It was neat. The National Guard was there and shot off a couple rounds and even let the scouts hold the guns and try on the Kevlar vests. They had a fly over but it was too cloudy so all you could hear was the jet engines whizzing overhead. Moments like those remind you how lucky we are to live where we do and have the ability to do all we are allowed to do. (hopefully you followed me through that little bit there.)

So there you have it. The weekend Recap. Hope you all had a good one as well!

Hula Hoopin Hip Hop Queen! (say that 5 times fast!)

So I caught up. (If you notice from the posts below! Phishew I hate getting behind! Wink)

I have one word to say to you... (okay well maybe it is two)

Wii FIT!

I am in love! I think I pretty much threw out my hip and I hurt in places I didn't even know it was possible to hurt but it is soooo worth it! I Think I love my wii fit too much if that is possible! I am the queen of the hula challenge! (Who knew hula hooping could be considered a work out- well it is!!) The boys and I are all fighting over whose turn it is to play!

I have to say in the beginning I was skeptical. It asks you your age, height and even weighs you! (I always wondered what a talking scale would be like and now I know!) It didn't come right out and tell me I was fat but my BMI is well above average and the system "chubbed" up my Mii character- needless to say I put a lock code on my Mii fit gal so no one else can be peepin' at my stats! Other than the rocky weigh-in start up, the Hub and I battled it out to see who could get the better downhill ski jump score and much to his dismay I rocked the top score pretty hard! (that was until he somehow pulled a Hail Mary (I call it cheating) and beat my score by like 2 points) This new electronic device will bring much pleasure to our home. (and hopefully some weight loss too!)

I took a day off today and spent it watching movies that we have had and I've not watched yet. (Lots from when I was inpatient and just wasn't in the mood to watch then.) So I watched The Invasion and The Reaping. Both on the thriller side, but was able to pause the thrills to change laundry or make bottles. The twins pretty much slept on me through each movie which was nice to have a little snuggle time. Unfortunately I will now have to bust buns to get the rest of the house tidied up. No worries though- Apparently I am in Fit Mode so I can do anything!
*clears throat as if to cut through the sarcasm.




[On a weigh in note -1lb in the past three wks- but hey I'm maintaining and thats good- lets see if the new wii fit helps with the exercise portion.)

Wordless Wednesday

(If you look hard enough you can see the Baby in the Tree)

Happy Birthday Chugo!

10 years old and so full of life! You came into this world (already playing video games!) by force! I was a week overdue and the weather was starting to get hot. The doctor had scared you into induction the week before but you weren't budging, you were happy where you were!
We went into the hospital at 6:30 in the morning scared out of our minds but amazingly excited that we knew today would be the day we finally got to meet you! The doc was running late and we started the induction at 7:30 and at 7:11pm that night there you were- The sweetest little boy I had ever seen, all 6lbs 10oz of you! You were such a good baby that the nurses were coming in all night asking if they could hold you! They couldn't believe how quiet and good you were!

You started me out on this journey through motherhood and I thank you for that!
Chugo- My genius! My go getter! I know you will go so far in life because you are made up of all things good! You're genuine and although you are only 10 you've proven that chivalry is not dead!

I love watching you grow and come into your own. You have headed up our Boy clan and are going to be a great role model for the little ones! Never change for others and always be true to yourself! I love you very much! Happy Birthday Big Boy- You're a Pre-Teen now!

You know your house is...

So I sat in my recliner this morning looking around the house, just soaking it all in and boy..it needs to be cleaned!
I'm not a messy person and my family doesn't intend to be messy, it just happens. I call it the little tornadoes in my life. As soon as one room is clean and I move onto the next I could bet you money (and WIN!) that as soon as I enter back into the clean room it will look as if I hadn't cleaned it. Its a good thing I love my sons or we could run into a real problem! *wink

So I thought of this... You know your house is...
and this is what I came up with so far:

*You know your house is messy when you just move stuff out of your way with your foot to make a path through.

*Your know your kitchen is messy when you walk barefoot and crumbs cling to the bottom of your feet.

*You know your house is hot when the dog is barking to get outside instead of in.

*You know your bathroom needs cleaning when your sons have written their names in the soap scum on the tub walls.

*You know your house is messy when you smell *something* and have to sniff it out like a bloodhound.

*You know your lawn needs mowing when your dog runs out to go pee and she disappears when she hits the lawn.

*You know your garage needs cleaning when you clean the house and just decide if you can't find a home for something it will just go into the garage for now. (until you can find a home for it later when you should really just throw it out! but you're sentimental and you just don't know how to decide whats important and whats not!)

*You know you have no time to yourself when you have 5 books started, all with bookmarks in them and you can't for the life of you remember starting any of them!

*You know you need to go grocery shopping when you open the freezer and all you find is otter pops. (Who wants liquid sugar for dinner? Anyone? Anyone?!)

I'm sure that you all could come up with some even better ones! I'd love to hear them (hint hint)..But as I stated earlier I HAVE to get this house in order before summer or when I take on my job as the kids' social director I won't know where to direct them to to get them out of my hair! *smiles
(and summer is only 19 school days away! YEEPS!)

Wordless Wednesday

Sick & Tired (..in no particular order)

Well, We tried. we were amazingly careful with the boys making sure we didn't venture out in public. Keeping the visiting traffic down in our home and thought we were safe seeing as RSV was over. We were luckier than some (sorry Debra).
We were invited to our friends daughters 1st birthday party on friday. (It was in chinatown, downtown portland at a restaurant.) Long story short by the time we got home Moose was coughing. I thought maybe it was just the odd smells from the restaurant but then the fever hit. 102. UGH
It sucks to have sick babies when all you can do is rub backs and bellies and say "its OK mommy's here!" I know colds don't come on *that* fast and I'm sure its probably some germ that Chugo or Kata brought home from school; it just goes to show that no matter how anal I was about the hand washing and sanitizing- those damn germs still got in! I called the docs office to get an appointment seeing as it was their first major cold and I wanted to make sure it wasn't anything major- the nurse has me rattle off the symptoms (you know the drill) and then says sounds viral to me, not much we can do so just watch it. <--Glad I pay so much for my healthcare. *sigh* Luckily the boys are now significantly better! Still have the crazy runny noses and both seem a bit "off" and not themselves but are slowly getting better. The moaning has stopped and I think they only got up a couple times last night. (which was better than me being up ALL night!) Needless to say my Mother's Day was spent mothering! ~Now granted I did get to take a couple hours nap (which was Heaven!!) as I told the Hub that I was so physically exhausted that I couldn't be held accountable for my actions. Chugo and Kata made me a mothers day banner which was sweet and I got flowers. Chugo even wrapped up kata in a box and had me open it so Kata could pop out and say HAPPY MOMS DAY! It was sweet! My present will come in the next 14 days or so.. Its Wii-tastic! It is the Wii Fit and I'm so excited for it! I can't wait to try Wii Yoga and see how I fair at the push-ups game! The boys are excited for the soccer portion of it and there is so much more!
For those of you who do have a Wii now I think you should totally check out Boom Blox!
It is a puzzle game (sorta has jenga-like qualities) .. but its something the whole family can get into! And the characters are just so darn cute!

Anyways- thats my "catch-up" Post.
As thrilling as it is (LOL) I'm both feeling the sickness coming on and am still tired. So hopefully I will get some good rest tonight and get better soon! Nothing worse than being a sick mom taking care of sick babies! (Good times!)
HAPPY BELATED MOM'S DAY to all you wonderfully fantastic- perfect in everyway Mom's out there! (And yes.. I'm talking about you! Duh.. so pat yourself on the back because any Mom who has time to sit here and read this post is a Mom after my own Heart!)

Wordless Wednesday

Rage against the Weed...

Now your probably thinking isn't it suppose to be Rage against the Machine? (Ok well maybe your not thinking that- But I know the HUB is!)
The sun is out. Its about time! So how does one garden with twins? (That answer I am still working on.) I admit its been a bit of a challenge-Luckily I have two older sons that adore me (HAHA.. On occassion) and help me out! Chugo is a huge help and is really actually in tune with the twins. I overheard him telling Kata that Bus only likes the toys he can get into his mouth and he was upset because Kata had given him a toy to play with and not to suck on.
So, I'm getting away from my point here-Back to it-
Gardening. *Sigh* I love to garden. I can't say I'm amazing at it but I try. When I went inpatient last year in August- Nothing got done. (To the hubs defense he was a wee bit busy with work- running a household- and worrying about and visiting me)
Then when I got home it was rush rush to the hospital everyday for the twins and pulling weeds and cutting back was far from my agenda.
This brings me to present- Can you say Holy Dandelion Amazon Batman!? I have never seen so many HUGE weeds before. I am a fan of nature- but weeds, as of late, seem to be my arch nemesis! It has taken me three days now to get just one of my flower beds weeded. (Now granted I can only do like 30-1hour and a time if I am lucky.)
I've also taken to bribery! At this point, with all my sons and the money I've been forking over you might as well call me the Godmother. (har har get it) I think I have my own little mafia goin on here. (Even the laundry money to prove it!) <---Boy aren't I Mrs. Witty today!

Weeds. The will not defeat me. If I try to get some more done each night then perhaps this weekend I can go and get my flowers and bushes and roses! YAY! Then my front yard won't look like the jungles of lawndom. (For I know the gal who used to live in my house is just driving by daily in tears looking at her once gorgeous yard that is now a graveyard of shrubbery.)
What doesn't defeat us only makes us stronger eh?!

Tagged and this is how it goes...

So I've been tagged by Bonnie. Wow, talk about a walk down the memory tagging lane! Lets see if I can think that far back!

4 things I was doing 10 years ago (1998):
~I gave birth to my first son (thats huge!)
~We moved out of my parents house into our own place.
~Bought our very first new car (well new to us)
~Worked as an optician in an Eye Clinic

4 things I was doing 5 years ago (2003):
~Went to work as an Underwriter for a Mortgage company
~I now had two sons (oldest now 5; gave birth to the 2nd in 2001 which made him 2)
~Bought our very first home!
~Took lessons in Tongil Moo Do (its a form of Karate)

4 things I did yesterday:
(wow a glimpse into the life of Me is quite boring actually!)
~Folded Laundry
~Took a nap with the twins (as they were fussy ALL day)
~Watched the Golden Compass (while eating cold spaghetti with Italian sausage Mmm.. hey someone had to deal with the Cranky Bots while everyone else ate)
~Watched the Hub school our friends at some online Mario Kart (would have joined in but again.. I had the twins- Yay me! Needless to say I went to bed EARLY last night and by early I mean I fell asleep with my clothes on trying to get Oli to go back to sleep.)

4 shows I love to watch:
(In no particular order except for how they popped into my head)
~The Reaper
~Medium
~CSI (any of the series it doesn't matter I'm just hooked on crime solving! *wink)
~Dr. Who (you have got to love the BBC!!)

4 things that make me really happy:
~Good children (polite, well behaved, good listeners that is!)
~A clean house! (Nothing better than to sit back and relax knowing its all been done and you can sigh relief of a job well done.)
~Sales in the scrapbook dept at JoAnn Fabric! (The only place I could spend tons money!)
~A Good HOT soak in a tub with a Lush Bath Bomb and a good book! (not to mention the doors locked with music silently playing to drown out the sound of rug rats screaming and yelling and knocking on the door constantly!)

That was surprisingly more complicated than I thought it was going to be. Looking back on parts of my life- I really didn't do anything all that worth while.
*Note to self- Be more interesting in the next four years!

So now I get to tag people! Mwahaha!! I tag you: Arizona, Jenny, Lyndsey and Tracy
I can't wait to read what your past reveals! *wink



+1 (Not that bad seeing as I switched to phase 2 and was able to eat more carbs and sweets. I'm ok with it. I'll try to get more physical time in and maybe get that lb off for next week!)