Gluten free playdough...fail!!

So for the sake of being the best Sunday school teacher ever I figured I would make some gluten free playdough. The idea being that then all the kids in the class, even the one with the gluten allergy could play. How hard could gluten free playdough be? I mean all it is is playdough made with rice flour right....apparently not. I failed at this and have a photo to prove it. I may just be telling gluten free kid that playdough is off limits :(

Real life morning

Right now I have one playing in the toilet wearing a diaper (seriously, in the toilet and I am blogging, sorry number 4) The three year old is skipping around in her bathing suit providing mail and happy birthday wishes to everyone. My second oldest is in her panties creating some sort of cutting masterpiece after finishing some really amazing window art. My oldest is stuck in front of the tv and has been for at least the last three hours. Being the amazing, Martha Stewart, super woman mother that I am, I am lying on the couch, completely ignoring the chaos and random yet never ceasing cries for mom to write a simple blog post. Great parenting at its best. Now I need to wipe a bum and calm some tears....life is fun :)

Thank-you Tammy for once again reassuring me that I am not the only total screw up when it comes to motherhood. Well actually total screwup is most certainly to harsh a statement at least for Tammy. She is a momma that does a whole lot right but still manages to do a couple wrong things here and there (I think she does them intentionally though just to cover up her perfection ;)
Tammy tried out an activity known as bubble boy that is taken from an amazing blog called Play at Home Mom. You should totally check it out because it is an amazing blog but be prepared to feel TOTALLY inadequate after reading about all the incredible things these mommas do with their kids and not nearly enough screw ups lol At any rate, Tammy managed to forget to clean up her "entertainment experience" and ended up killing a large portion of her backyard. I am sorry that her grass is dead but was so relieved to know that she manages to screw up something along her way.
Thanks so much for the share Tammy.

A good nights sleep

When I was younger (let's not talk numbers) I used to be able to pull all nighters and really rock the next day. For the past five years I have been pulling many all nighters, but rarely rocking the next day. As a matter of fact most days the thought that I focus on the most is "I can do this." It kinda plays over and over, alternating with "just keep swimming" (insert Ellen Degeneres)
My kids don't sleep that poorly but when you couple the fact that we had four babies in five years with potty training, bad dreams and general random interruptions you end up with very little time spent actually sleeping. I will optimistically throw out there the idea that perhaps within the not too distant future our youngest will finally sleep through the night. This could lend itself to unbridled possibilities of long, uninterrupted bouts of actually sleeping. Should this occur I hypothesize (is that even a word, blame lack of sleep) one of two things. Possibility number one - more rested
Mom will wake up with no puffy, black sagging bags. Her seemingly endless fountain of patience, love and understanding will be recharged completely. Birds, butterflies and all sorts of gay creatures will most certainly make random sporadic appearances throughout our day.
More likely possibility number two - Although there is no visual cues that mom is getting more sleep she does seem at least a little more patient then normal. Today instead of her normal agitated "growl" we got out the door with only a few dozen relatively patient requests for various objects or actions. I may even have the energy an enthusiasm to manage to partake in an after bedtime activity or outing. Should the uninterrupted sleep continue I may, sit down for this, may even start waking up early or skipping my afternoon nap to partake in some form of semi structured exercise. A stretch, maybe.....
The most interesting part of this whole cycle is that I vividly remember six years ago, sitting in my rocking chair wondering when I would get to sleep for more then two hours at a time. If I had been the crying type I am quite sure that I would have been crying at that very moment because really, all I wanted was sleep. It seems like this time has flown by. I cannot believe that perhaps I am on the verge of sleeping for more then six or eight or dare I say ten hours without an interruption. Now I guess I better start drinking less water before bed lol

Surprise my house is a mess

By now it should not shock anyone that my house is a mess. Amazingly though, today there is no mount wash more. I will consider that a small victory and bestow upon myself a gold star. There is a basket full of clean laundry and a dryer full but those clothes have at least been contained o the laundry room lol
Last week I used my gift of two hours of cleaning time and had my bathrooms cleaned. I obviously did not think that through thoroughly enough though because I should've had that wonderful lady clean things that I completely neglect like dust, baseboards and dirty walls. Since I manage to get to the bathrooms at least semi annually without too much gnashing of teeth and wailing this was really not the most productive use of her time. With that being said, if you walked into my house today you would probably not believe me when I told you those bathrooms were just cleaned again by me, on Thursday.
My kitchen counter and sink are a disaster, there are toys strewn about the house. A few of my very carefully placed pieces of artwork (insert sarcasm here) have decided that my hideous walls and poor decorating sense were just too much for them to bare and they have lept from their intricately placed tacks to their doom. This morning I chose to ignore the mess and instead enjoyed the once in a lifetime opportunity to watch my two oldest daughters ride their two wheeled bikes for the first time. So, despite the many mothering failures I had today I am focused on the amazing adventure that is life :)

Nailed it

Ok so Tammy sent me a super funny picture from pinterest with the caption "Nailed It" and tonight I am so posting my own.
After finishing up my daughters sixth birthday cake (turned out great) I had some left over cake and chocolate. So I think to myself, I am going to make some cake pops, how hard can it be. Two words, "Nailed It" lol

I'm normal....maybe...perhaps...

Okay so it has been one of those days. You perhaps know the kind, the ones where the alarm goes off or you hear the kids and think "I really don't want to get out of my bed." Not for lack of love or lack of appreciation but for sheer lack of internal motivation. There has been nothing super stressful or exciting for us lately, I think that I am just in one of those ruts where I focus on the fact that mount washmore never disappears, the dishes always seem to fill the sink and the kids toys and clothes seem to have found their way into every possible crack in the house. It seems futile to even start the cleaning because I know that even at the end of the marathon clean my house does not seem to come out as cute as all those pictures I see on pinterest. Truly said tho, I am not willing to put that much effort into my shell of a home.
 I think this is a normal funk. One most certainly could not tell by looking at pinterest or checking facebook updates. Those seem to make it look like almost every mom but me has some amazing craft project, baking project or educational lesson all lined up in their perfectly decorated house with sparkling floors and matching EVERYTHING! It is either this or the blog posts are busy focusing on breastfeeding vrs bottle feeding, to spank or not to spank and in general how bad of a parent I also am because I sometimes leave my children in the car to run into a store. I just want to know that I am normal. I also feel like it is my responsibility to be my children's activity planner, even though deep down I know this is not true. I have a fantastic mom but I do not recall many occasions where she was my "playmate" or my entertainer.
 I was talking with an elderly mother the other day who made my self esteem jump ten points. Her opening statement was "I feel bad for moms these days." Love at first words. She went on to tell me that she raised 12 kids on the farm. I was like "WOW!" You had it rough" Her response was how easy she had it. Back then no one expected her to work (aside from her full time job as mom.) There was no expectation to put your kids in any sort of activity outside of school. There was most certainly no need to play with your kids (the did that outside or with each other) and the academics were the job of the school. She did say that the chores took twice as long but you had time to do those things because you did not have twelve other things to get done.
 I know that we do not live in that era but if I could tell moms one thing it is that "You are GOOD enough" It does not matter if you breastfeed or bottle feed, spank or don't, are Martha Stewart or Betty Crocker. It doesn't matter if your kid is in no activities or ten or how clean your kids are or aren't. How clean your house is or isn't or how much laundry you secretly have piled beside your bed (more then you know.) None of us are perfect parents, I know fully that I am going to screw my children up in someway because I am learning this gig too. I could do everything "right" but my child may perceive me as "too nice" or "too strict."  At the end of the day (most days anyhow) my children know they are loved (even though I sometimes yell like a crazy lady.) The know that their mom is there for them to guide, guard and lead them. I think of all those blessed little kids who have no parents to love them. All those beautiful little hearts who have been shattered by parents who have abused, broken and used them. Those beloved little birds who are starving and cold and unloved by seemingly everyone. Then I look at my babies, fed and warm, blanketed in kisses and hugs and I know that they are lucky to have me, as imperfect as I am.

Cleaning in circles...

Ok so honestly I swear that I do clean my house! On most days I feel kinda like I am cleaning in the path of the worlds deadliest tornado though. Today I spent the whole day cleaning and by whole day I mean I even skipped my usual momma bear nap time. Perhaps that is why I am threatening to kill my young if they don't settle and go the f*** to sleep. Speaking of that, if you haven't done so yet you need to google "Go the f** to sleep" and read the edited adult version of this quaint bedtime story for children. Anyhow, back to cleaning (as a topic, not the actual task at hand.) Despite my day of cleaning my house still looks like a battle scene from Saving Private Ryan crossed with one of those treacherous mountain climbing films since mount wash more is looming ominously in the corner. I guess that one day not too terribly long from now I will actually have a dwelling that stays clean for more then ten minutes.

Where was I??

For those of you with only one, non mobile child you may look at this picture and shudder. The real life truth is that when your child one day starts to learn to walk they too will sport some rather interesting marks. Sure, I could insist that she wear a helmet with full face mask and elbow and knee pads and that would save these painful, eyesore reminders. What fun would that be. Oh and just so you know, this war wound has since healed and has been replaced by a much more central abrasion.

Jackie's pinterest bread

So although we know that all good moms surf pinterest in moderation. We have all found ourselves with at least a project or two that we are going to endeavor. This is Jackies attempts at a pinterest bread recipe. She joyfully reminds me to not put the bread in the oven during that chaotic time also know as bedtime. Perhaps she and the kids can feed the birds a little later lol

It Starts

So a few weeks back I was enjoying a rare night out with the mommies when we struck on a jewel of an idea. We are all inundated with the medias images of this peaceful, Martha Stewart household and felt that it would be really great to post some of those "moments" that us real life mommies deal with everyday.
I personally feel that this is a great idea because I most certainly have MANY zany moments when I need a reminder that I am not the only one dealing with the crazy life of raising kidlets. Don't get me wrong, I am extremely blessed and I like to blog about that elsewhere but here is a place to feel like you are not the only failure in the room :)
So without further ado...I shall try my best to add at least a few of my and other loving mommies "fails"