$453.78...

...is how much the kids and I cashed in this weekend at Coinstar! Of course Coinstar charges a nice 8.9% fee, so we got a little less, but it was well worth not having to roll all of those coins! I got sick of looking at the three large "coin" containers in the kitchen corner so I thought it be fun for the kids to cash in the coins and get a toy (I hesitate to call them actual coin containers because they were 2 vases and 1 large powder protein container - about the size of a large pickle jar). Little did I know we had so much change! I also was not aware of how noisy this machine would be. Along with the typical noise in the customer service area in Wal-Mart , the loudness of the kids fighting over each having a turn to drop in the coins and the yelling about the coins dropping on the floor, we were very loud and the entertainment for quite a few people in the store yesterday! Regardless, the kids were very excited about getting new toys (as if they don't have enough). The boys each got a new Wii game and Maya got a new "Darbie" toy. She calls Barbie, Darbie and I can't get her to keep it straight... might be that she doesn't have many "Darbies." I think those coins have been collecting for about 4 years, so maybe in another 4 years we can do the same thing! :-)

this might be payback...

I was a daredevil as a little kid. I had little to no fear and would try almost anything once. For example, I can remember jumping off a friends' rooftop into her pool in highschool. But I refuse to list anymore examples because my parents read this blog and they don't need to know all the times I could have ended up in the emergency room! :-) And I don't need to give my kids any ideas for the day they start reading the blog!

The other day, Camden and Maya wanted to get on the water slide in the backyard while I was making dinner. I opened all the blinds so that I could continue to cook and still watch them. (Braeden wanted to stay inside so he could have the Wii all to himself - must be tough always having to share!) At one point, I look outside to see Maya pushing her "bigwheel" (similar to the one below)

UP the slide so that she can ride down the slide on it! I immediately go outside and call her to the porch to tell her and Camden they can not do that. Of course they both ask me why and I tell them they could really hurt themselves. Camden then tells me that he didn't hurt himself when he went down and it was fun!!! Maya backs up the sentiment saying "it was a lot of fun mommy and we didn't hurt ourselves!!!" .....greeeeaat! I look away for a few minutes and this is what they're doing..... I took the tricycles away and told them not to put anything else on the slide without asking me!

This weekend I was cleaning out the hall closet and I pulled out the kids sleep mats they used at Mother's day out and the kids wanted to lay on them to watch tv. Before I know it I hear a bunch of thuds and giggling - I knew they were up to something. I go around the corner to see this....

Camden and Maya using the mats to slide down the stairs!! It was pretty funny so I snapped a couple pics and took the following video with my phone. Not the best quality video because it's from my phone but it's still pretty funny!

Guess this is payback for being such a daredevil as a child. My mom used to always tell me I would end up having 5 fearless boys as payback...

Did you get your "can" with this book?

Camden has been bribed to practice his reading this summer. I told him I would pay him for every book he read, but I wouldn't agree to a set price per book because I knew he would be tricky about it and choose a ton of smaller books. (he's a sneaky little kid!) He is keeping a running list of the books he's read because I told him that at the end of the summer I would pay him and he could spend the money on whatever he wanted - within reason of course. He has done a great job because he REALLY wants a new Wii game.

The other day he was reading a book and decided to turn it over to see the price of the book. So he's looking at something similar to this...Camden - Mommy, this book cost "seven, nine, nine." Oh hey! Did you get your can with this book?

Me - Can? What are you talking about?

Camden - It says right here that the can is "eleven, nine, nine." So did you get a can with the book?

Me - OHHH.... No sweetie. The book didn't come with a can. The book has that on there because there is a different price for a different country. CAN is an abbreviation for Canada. Like US is abbreviation for the United States.

Camden - Ohhh. I get it. So you paid "seven, nine, nine" for this book, but if we lived in Canada we would pay "eleven, nine, nine" for the book.

Me - Yep. That's right.

Infomercial Overload!

I’m sure my kids are similar to most kids when it comes to wanting every toy and game they see on TV. My kiddos are constantly yelling out while watching TV “Mommy, look at this! I want that!” I typically glance at the TV and tell them “Yeah that would be cool to get, we’ll see” and go on about my business. Our television has been known to be on a cartoon channel fairly often because it’s difficult for me to actually watch/hear any adult show with all three kids running around. So, I usually leave it on cartoons while I do things around the house until they go to bed. Lately, Camden has been paying attention to a lot of commercials (in particular infomercials) and it’s amazing the things kids believe and think is cool!

Camden came into the living room last night to tell me about his latest discovery… the Space Bag! I was sitting, finally watching my own show, when he walks in to ask me “Do you know how you can save a lot of closet space?” I paused the TV, look at him with a confused look and said “No, I don’t. Why don’t you tell me.” He replied “With the Space Bag Mommy. Your clothes will all shrink into the bag and when you pull them out later, they’re as fresh as when you put them in the bag!” I asked him a few more questions and was just crying I was laughing so hard at how he was repeating the infomercial almost verbatim!


This past weekend while we were in Target, we passed one of the end caps and Camden yells out “Mommy! You HAVE to get that! You can wear the blanket without removing your arms because it has sleeves! It’s so cool! And you can even wear it to my baseball games next year!” I look over to see the Snuggie and I start cracking up. Of course I told him that I appreciate the thought but I think I’ll pass on buying a backwards robe… and then I had to explain that to him.


A few weeks back all of the kids were amazed by the ShamWow when it came on TV. I got bombarded with just how much liquid it could pick up and we really needed that in our house because they all have spilled drinks. I told them not to spill drinks and we wouldn’t need it! Of course, smarty pants Camden reminded me that they are just kids and they just can’t help it sometimes and that they don’t spill things on purpose!



Kids are funny with the things they pick up on and pay attention to. I just didn’t realize I would have to say no to toys, candy AND “fancy” infomercial items at this point in their lives. I had never paid attention to just how many informercials they play on the kids channels - but there are quite a few. Just one more thing for the "mean mommy" to say no to!

Must. Zip. Purse.

I have got to learn to zip my purse shut when I'm with the kids. I got to work today, stopped at the door to look through my purse for my key card to get in the office and pulled out a piece of popcorn! After lunch I found a peanut. I'm not sure if this trumps the time I found rice in there? The winner has to be the time I looked in there and found a chicken nugget!! I'll learn one of these days...

My 3 favorite guys!

I took my 3 favorite guys to the Astros game this weekend - my dad, Camden and Braeden. (Maya headed to the movies and shopping with my mom - which she loved!) The boys seemed to enjoy the game for the most part... when Braeden wasn't crawling all over me or flirting with the chatty Cathy's we had sitting behind us. (I had to hear all about their horrible boss and how much they hated their jobs. I felt bad for the one guy that got tricked into going to the game with his wife for the gab fest! I think he ordered quite a few beers to make up for it!) My dad seemed to have a good time as well. I'm so glad that the kids are so close and love my parents so much!

My 3 favorite guys in the whole world! Notice my dad won't even look at the camera - must be a guy thing!? And as usual, the boys have to have each other in some sort of choke hold!

Camden decided to eat cotton candy and popcorn at the same time! Although, I think salty and sweet is yummy too - not sure about that combo though.

I'm sure Braeden's thinking... "wonder what will happen if I throw something or spit out there - mommy's behind me, she won't see it"

Once again with the hitting!

gotta love long weekends...

We took full advantage of the 3 day weekend over the 4th of July. Friday morning, me, the kids, and my sister headed to Galveston for some fun on the beach. Friday evening we met my parents at the movies to watch Ice Age 3 and the kids loved it! Kids movies can be funny, kids yell at the screen and laugh out loud the entire time.

Burying their feet. It didn't take long for the sand to start flying!

Saturday, we headed to our church for some fun activities before the fireworks show across the street.

Right after this pic, we all ended up falling on the ground because the boys can't seem to do much these days without trying to wrestle with each other.

Maya and Braeden really wanted to ride this camel - which meant I had to as well! :-/ I tried to talk them into riding the mini horses, but nope, the camel it was. The things we do for our kids!
The "train" ride... pulled by a tractor!
Isn't she sweet
They had a classic car show and Braeden really loved all of the cars. Every car he saw "WOW! Mommy, look at that car! It's awesome, I love it!"
They slid down and jumped in the bouncies.
They ate ice cream. Although, I think more of it ended up on their shirts and the ground than in their mouths!
Of course we ended the night watching fireworks! Had to post this picture because Braeden is actually looking at the camera and smiling! :-)