The pee chronicles...

So we have had many adventures potty training our little man. Potty training Carolina, while not easy, was pretty straight forward. Sit on the pot, pee or poop, wipe, wash hands and flush. Easy right??? Well not so with George, because of a little thing called "standing up to pee"! Who came up with this nonsense? At first we of course told him to sit to pee, it was easier and he really wasn't interested in standing up. Things have gone on like this for some time now. And I will be the first to admit that I'm the one usually asking "George don't you want to stand up to be like a big boy?" But what the heck was I thinking? It goes EVERYWHERE and by everywhere I mean, on the back of the toilet, on him, on me, on his feet, on the floor, on the seat and then just the very last little bit makes it into the toilet!!!! Its pure craziness people, oh and its also one of the grossest things ever. I thought after the whole spit up thing was over I wouldn't have kids spraying bodily fluids at me anymore! Boy was I wrong. Plus its not like its something that I can just tell Ben he's in charge of. No the boy demands to go pee, even if his dad is at work!!! We have tried different things to get the aim a bit better, but so far nothing kicks in until he's half way done already! So I'm off to mop the floor, again and hope for a better shot next time. 

I will keep you up to date on the progress of our little man and his peeing habits. I know your on the edge of your seat... lol

Is there a future in this.?.?

So photography is starting to take over my life... I'm am so absorbed in it, reading everything I can get my hands on, walking around with my camera everywhere I go and taking so many pics of the kids they actually whine when they see the camera come out! I dont know what this all means yet, but I do know that my life has changed since getting a DSLR and photoshop. I spend almost as much time editing pics as I do taking pics. I think I see a difference (for the better) in my photos now and it just keeps spurring me on. I am sticking to the fact that I am very happy with the camera and lens I have now, but I've heard that upgrading can become quite an obsession in this field. I am planning on working towards the goal of actually being paid to take pictures. But for now, I am willing to take anyone's photos anytime FOR FREE, just to get the practice. I cant promise you any great ones, but I might get a few pretty good ones out of it. Here is a couple I have taken and edited or some that Ben has taken and I have edited. Let me know what you think!

Not me Monday, the Tuesday edition!

Okay, so I did not get so behind this weekend that I didn't find time to write my Not Me Monday!!! That would just be so lame of me! I am not so addicted to writing this really awesome post that I am so going to do it anyways and post it on Tuesday. I in no way wondered if anyone would notice that I hadn't posted it yesterday. How vain would that be??? Okay, so here it goes and don't forget to head over to MckMama's blog mycharmingkids.net to read all the rest of the worlds (seriously people I'm pretty sure the whole world reads her blog!!!) Not Me Monday post! 

So the most impressive moment this past week was when I didn't even consider pulling a pair of (not that dirty) undies out of the clothes hamper for my son George when he ran out. That would never happen for two reasons A) my kids clothes never get so behind in the laundry cycle that I run out of stuff B) I would never ever think about putting (not that dirty) clothes on them. Who would do that??? Not ME!!! I am not thinking, as we speak, if the kids would mind pb&j for dinner tonight. No, I don't make that kinda junk for my kids. Oh but I did sneak some wheat germ in George's oatmeal the other day... hehehe I love it when I get away with stuff like that. My five year old did not use a permanent marker to "be creative" in her bedroom this weekend, meaning that I did not have to spend part of my Sunday scrubbing black sharpie out of my 10,000 dollar carpet! I so did not just tell the world how much I over paid for our carpet. I did not answer a question asked by my oldest this week without even realizing what the question was. Seriously people, an answer did not just jump from my lips before the question had made it to my brain. I am not that checked out around my kids sometimes! I am always present and attentive to what they are saying each moment of the day, I do not want to miss a single moment in their precious little lives...

Even as I am typing this I am not sitting on the couch in the family room with my headphones on so I cant hear three little voices trying to stay awake in their rooms. Its not like I cant get anything done if I don't have the headphones on... I am not so ADD that I just wander from room to room until I look up and its 3:30pm and time for my wild ones to get up whether I like it or not.

Last but not least I am not ending this post because I forgot to write down all the funny things that happened over the past week. I am not that much of a space cadet and I do not forget things ten minutes after they happen! 

Wait what was I writing about...

What is a MILITARY wife????

Update: I wanted everyone to know that I did not write this. It was sent to me on facebook and I wanted to share it with everyone that always asks how we (military wives) do it. This is pretty close to the truth... I'm so glad that so many of y'all have enjoyed reading it and learning more about us (military wives) or just sending me an Amen from my fellow military wives. Y'all are all awesome and I love hearing from you! 

What is a MILITARY Wife?They may look different and each is wonderfully unique, but this is what they have in common.Lots of moving---Moving.Moving.Moving far from home.Moving two cars, three kids and one dog----all riding with HER of course.Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house.Moving curtains that won't fit.Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.Moving away from friends, moving toward new friends.Moving her most important luggage; her trunkful of memories.Often waiting-Waiting, waiting, waiting for housing; waiting for orders; waiting for deployment; waiting for reunion; waiting for phones calls; Waiting for the new curtains to arrive; waiting for him to come home for dinner----AGAIN!They call her 'military dependent', but she knows better.She can balance a checkbook.Handle the yard work.Fix a noisy toilet.She can put together a WOODEN swing set.She is intimately familiar with drywall, anchors, and toggle bolts.She can file the taxes, sell a house, buy a car, or set up a move, -- all with ONE Power of Attorney.She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.Reinvents her career with every PCS; locates a house in the desert, the arctic, or the deep south and learns to call them all 'home'.She MAKES them all home.She is fiercely IN-dependent.Military Wives are somewhat hasty.They leap into decorating, leadership, volunteering, career alternatives, churches and friendships.They don't have 15 years to get to know people.Their roots are short but flexible.They plant annuals for themselves and Perennials for those who come after them.Military Wives quickly learn to value each other.They connect over coffee, rely on the spouse-network and accept offers of friendship and favors and record addresses in pencil.Military Wives have a common bond.The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands, his commitment is unique. He doesn't have a job, he has a 'mission' he can't just decide to quit. He's on-call for his country 24/7 but for you, he's the most unreliable guy in town!His language is foreign:TDY,PCS,MOS,FOB,ACU And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.She is the long-distance link to keep them informed the glue that holds them together.A Military Wife has her moments----She wants to wring his neck, dye his uniform pink, and refuse to move to Siberia...But she pulls herself together.Give her a few days, a travel brochure, a long hot bath, a pledge to the flag, and a wedding picture.And she goes.She packs.She moves. She follows. Why? What for? How come?You may think it is because she has lost her mind. But actually it is because she has lost her heart.It was stolen from her by a man...Who puts duty first.Who longs to deploy.Who salutes the flag.And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military husband,She will remain his Military wife.

A new awesome button!

Update: I totally figured it out! OMG... Okay so the lettering on the actual button are kinda small and I will work on that tomorrow, perhaps even putting in one of his other awesome photos. Tonight I really just wanted to see if I could do it. Okay, so your welcome Chad and everyone else get over to his website and check him out!

I am attempting to create a button for my friend Chad's website. I have been at it for a couple hours now... So its not going well. Well thats not really true, I am about 91% of the way there. Just cant get it to link back to his website... Help, anyone???

Whats that big yellow thing???

George:" Mom why is it so bright out today? Did God forget to make it rain here?"

So on Saturday Ben took the kids to the park and then on Sunday while Dad was out fishing I took the kids to the park. If there is one thing we have learned living up here for the past 4 years its, when the sun is out you find somewhere to go and something to do. I have been looking for just about anything photography related to read in the past couple of weeks and I even chatted it up with this really cool and talented photographer at the playground. Chad DeRosa is a professional photographer that specializes in motocross photography. He has been doing it for a living for about a year now and has an amazing way with pictures. So not only have I been trying to learn as much about my new camera as I can and tips and tricks for taking and editting pictures, but I also grew up riding dirt bikes and going to motocross races with friends, so talking to him and his girlfriend was right up my alley this weekend. Looking at Chad's photos just reminds me how anything can look beautiful if taken at the perfect moment. I took a bunch of pictures of the kids and guess what so did Ben and after some deleting, transfering, and photoshopping, here they are. I dont know if I'll put all of them all on here, but I will be putting all of them on FB, so make sure you check us out there. By the way, Chad's is a professional but I have a pretty big camera and his made my look like a kids toy! I wonder how long it will be before I need an upgrade??? lol Check out his website when you get a chance its www.derosaphotography.com

Why yes that is George peeing in the woods and no he was not with me when he did it.

Not Me Monday!

So here I am again, another week, another Not Me Monday. Head over to MckMama's blog to see what (litteraly) the rest of the world had to say today! (Seriously people everyone post Not Me Mondays, I keep waiting to see one from Michelle Obama!)

What can I say its not like I make list of of all the things that I want to remember to mention in this thing. I so dont have time to just sit around thinking of all the things that I didn't do, but should have done this past week. I most certainly did not go to bed around 1 (or 2) am both Friday and Saturday nights only to pop right back up again at 7:30am the next morning feeling refreshed and well rested. I thendidn't have to listen to my husband declare that I function better on 4 hours of sleep then I do 9 hours of sleep. I also did not then consider seeing what would happen if I tried that little stunt all week, no y'all that would be just plain crazy... I at no point this week put my three beautiful children to bed 15 minutes early and I defiantlydidnt do it twice, which would have meant that everyone was in bed by 6:45pm (when it doesnt get dark till around 9pm). Nope I, being the super awesome cant get enough of my kids mom that I am, spend at least a hour every night reading to them and holding them and just over all basking in the joy of being their mom. I mean its not like I ever start thinking around 3:30 (right about the time they would be getting up from naptime) "okay Mandi only 2.5 hours to go... only 1.5 hours to go. Okay you can do this, just make it through dinner and it will be time for the little monsters angels to work as hard as they can to get out of walk happily to their bedrooms and yell for everything from potty to water and fall asleep straight away." Nope, no way I would never think anything as logical ridiculous as that. I did not take my three beautiful children to the park this weekend at naptime (because that would be silly) only to spend 30 minutes there and decide that I really should have ate before we left the house and then make them leave. I did not have to listen to my 5 yr old complain about how much she really really really wanted some of that (random person at the park's) watermelon and then tell her I was going to stop on the way home to get some for us. I also then of course did not totally (within 5 minutes) forget about said watermelon and drive straight home. Even more so I did not pretend to forget about said watermelon just so I wouldnt have to take all three of my monsters wonderfully behaved children into a grocery store when they all should have been at home napping. Oh and if I were going for bragging this week I wouldn't tell y'all about the fact that while at the park I did not have a 20 minute conversation with another couple about photography, while completely turning my back on the playground and forgetting to watch my children. Nope, no way!... I watch them like a hawk at all times! Because its just nothing like me, I did not snap at Ben today just because he asked me when we were going to put the house on the market. Then I didnt come home and start organizing, but then get totally (in true Mandi ADD fashion) sidetracked and end up making an even bigger mess by exchanging my winter clothes for my summer clothes. If that had happened I might have even gotten sidetracked enough to refold all of my clothes and then run out of time before the kids got up. So then leaving them all sitting in neat little piles all over our bed. Those clothes will not just go from those piles (if they were there I mean) on the bed to piles on the floor, blanket chest and papison chair. No way, if there were clothes on my bed (which there never are because I never ever let folded clothes just sit) myself or Ben would put them away as soon as we saw them. I mean who really sees laundry folded in a basket and then pretends like they didn't see it first. What kind of person would actually take something they want to wear out of the laundry basket in the familyroom without putting the rest of the stuff away? Thats just lazy y'all... And finally tonight. I did not take a job at the baby boutique I told y'all about last week. I will not be working there two days a week, simply because I am tired of looking at this house. I did not call my husband at work with a list (in hand) of all the "good" reasons I should take this job. I never take on more things then I can possibly handle only to end up letting ALL of the balls drop in the end. Nope I know my limits and I never cross them...