Why I Love My Life:)

Alright, so every day is not so easy, but this a.m. The Peanut and I played Santa. We went around the house, putting presents under trees, checked "sleeping kids" a.k.a. stuffed animals and he made a sleigh. It was fun to be a little kid again!!

I wouldn't miss this stuff for the world!!! Chaotic, hectic and mind boggling at times, I love my life!!!

No Offense, But.....

If I am going to look out my window in the Winter time, I would much rather see a breathtaking site with snow than the one I saw this morning:( I ask myself each and every day as I freeze my butt off, lose my mittens and waddle like a penguin why in the hell do I stay here??? What is the point of living in a frozen tundra???? I love snow, but with nothing to show for it but butt freezing temps and skin dryer than sandpaper...What's the point??? If I could get my family and friends to all move with me, we'd be OUTTA HERE!!!

Now, I love my state, but really, REALLY there is nothing here besides people that keeps me here. I am not a lover of hunting, fishing, skiing, (water or downhill....Although I will say I would LOVE to cross country ski), boating, canoeing, farming, etc. I am lover of beautiful mountains, water, (not just plain lakes since I live in the land of 10,000 lakes), adventure, and more mountains. Now I implore you, come with me....Let's leave this God forsaken cold crap. Onward!!!!! (off to put my slippers back on....My toes are freezing. grrrrr!!!)

Tree Time!!!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree......la lala la la la la....

Friday night was the annual Monahan Tree Decorating!1 (minus Dad who came and supervised and put a couple ornaments on). The boys LOVE this night!!! For me, it is an exercise of letting go....Letting go of the fact that there are 700 ornaments on the bottom of the tree, letting go of the fact that the "good" ornaments made their way to the back of the tree this year. Letting go of the fact that my beaded garland did not reach all the way and my ribbon garland is getting old and annoys me:) Yes, the tree decorating is therapy, as my little Elves think it is the BEST thing in this world. For the record, I only moved 5 ornaments that were on the same branch. It was left as is besides that;)

This was Benny's year to put on the Santa. A tradition that I had as a kid and plan to carry on with my dudes. He thought he was the you-know-what!! Look at that face!!!

It was a great night. No one cried or carried on about being poked by real needles and I was not left to finish the job. Good times!!!

It's about the little things.

So last week we FINALLY got around to getting new beds for Ry's new room. Now let me just say this is a long and complex process. Noah's room will become Ryan's room and Noah will be moving in with Ben....(Dear Lord in Heaven, help me get through this transition. Please give me strength to not strangle these two as the beat and tease each other and keep me up all night. Please keep my wine glass full. Amen.)

John was all proud of himself as he found some mattresses that came in a box??? Yes, they did and the are comfy!! Anyway, he brought them home and the boys had a party of sorts jumping on them in the formal, (or attempt to be), living room. It was all fun and games until they started to see who could do the best flips.....I put the smack down on that one:)

Noah is currently sleeping on the mattresses as Ryan will NOT sleep in a BABY room until it is painted and ready for HIM. Noah, on the other hand is LOVING his big boy bed and looks so little in it:( :( I have no more babies people......Let's take a moment of silence for this.......okay, that's done, carry on:)

Because some days you just need it:)

Some days, you just need this. My Benny did this for me at school. As I sit here in my too tight p.j. pants with a big hole in the side, blue socks and black slippers, yellow t-shirt and a nasty, sloppy pony tail, I need to see this:) Thank you, my Benny!! Mommy loves!!!

Moon Sand.....I hate you!!

Once upon a time, about 3 years ago, a handsome, young 6 year old came to me and begged for Moon Sand for Christmas. Those big, brown eyes......How could I not. The commercials all said, "easy to use. Easy to CLEAN UP." Yeah right!! Well, that handsome brown eyed boy played with it once or twice and I cursed it each and every time.

Fast forward to today. My handsome blue eyed child asks me, "Mom, that's Moon Sand up there!! (it's been hiding on top of the "beer fridge"). Can we PLEASE play with it????" Now let's not forget the difference between Mr. Brown eyes and Mr. Blue eyes and his accomplice. The difference, my friends is RULE FOLLOWING!!! But I had a brain fart and thought, it won't be that bad. One hour, and two baths later, it WAS that bad. Moon sand in ears, Moon Sand in hair, even Moon Sand in armpits. Two baths and a slow bath drain later, all was right once again, (oh besides Noah trying to dump the entire bathtub out onto the bathroom floor while I put clothes away). Sigh...Never dull here.

So the moral of my story....The creators of Moon Sand should be dealt with and should have to suffer major consequences for their actions. There should be a panel of Moms that OK all their creations. They should not lie:) THAT is my profound thought for today!!

p.s. Mr. Blue eyes looks like he has brown eyes in this photo. You know who I speak of:)

Halloween!!

A few days late, but hey!! We had a great time out and about with some good friends for Halloween. The boys got a great loot and the weather was not too cold. I am still enjoying the fruits of their labor:) :)

I voted!!

God Bless America!!!

Morning Time Harmony:)

Good Morning!! I found this picture surfing the web this a.m. and I felt a very close connection with it....It felt like home. As the boys get older, I feel like this is pretty much what life has become. I can see why many believe we come from monkeys....My children are first cousins of the animals!!!

Before I was a Mom, I thought my mornings would consists of me pleasantly waking up my kids, who in turn, would tell me how much they loved me with smiles. We'd eat a nice big breakfast, homemade by me, of course. We'd calmly and happily get ready for school. We'd get out into the van orderly and without incident. We'd drive to school and sing songs and be joyous. That was before I had kids:)

In real life it is nothing like this. It pretty much resembles a zoo. I am usually "strongly enforcing" the fact that you HAVE to get up. They in turn let me know that I am the Devil for making them get up. They eat cereal or pop tarts each day:), usually while playing the Wii. We quickly and chaotically get dressed. Teeth brushing becomes Wrestle Mania 27. We rush to get out to the van, running around the yard and then having me "strongly enforcing" the fact that if they don't get their butts in the van, I am leaving. (this makes no sense, but surprisingly works). And then they are gone. Yes, before I was a Mom I had a lot of lofty goals. Morning time harmony, was clearly not achieved. Time to move on to the next goal:) Happy Tuesday!!

DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love(Ft.PitBull)(With Me)

There is so much about this video that makes me happy!! No, I don't know this kid/man, but holy crap does it make me smile!! click on screen 2 times even if it says error. It should work. Enjoy!!

Corn Maze and Such

Yesterday we had a Family Day out of the house!! Those are hard to come by with our busy schedules and home body-ness, but we did it!! We ventured out to the Apple Jack Apple Orchard in Delano. It was a bit brisk for my liking, but what are you gonna do:)

We did the corn maze and let me just say that it freaked me out a bit. I have an issue, (well, one of many), about not being able to get myself out of something. It's a control thing. I admit it:) At first it was going to be Team Ry and Dad against Team Mom, Ben and Noah. After consideration, and knowing that my team was the chicken you-know-what team, I decided this was not a good idea and it just became Team Monahan:) Ry, who is 100% into his 3rd grade boy-tude, was upset when he'd lead us astray and had a few "tudey" moments. All in all though, after getting lost a few times, we made it out. Whewwww!!

We then did Apple Bombs, (no, it's not a shot), animals and bought a whole boatload of apple items. (I have already enjoyed half of the apple pie myself). It was a great day. No one got lost and no major argument occurred. That is a victory in my book;)

Coats:)

One thing I love about MN Winter.....Fun coats!!!!!! Oh and scarves. Seriously....If you are a Mom who drops and picks kids off all winter long, fun coats are key:) Look good on the outside and no one needs to know you still have your P.J.'s top on!!! (hey, I could work in advertising on that one). Now, it's the p.j. bottoms that are hard to hide:) Like the few times I have had the power doors on the mini van not shut at drop off time and had to get out, (in the parking lot....I am not that mom who holds up the whole line), and low and behold, I have on my P.J. pants!!! Awesomeness at it's best. At least I had a cute coat on on top;) So bring on Winter and fun coats!!!!

p.s. This particular coat is not mine....It's a cutie from my favorite store Anthropologie, (www.anthropologie.com). I love it so:)

Pumpkin Time!!!

Last night was pumpkin carving night. I gotta say, this night gets easier and easier as the boys get older. Benny still has issues with the texture of the guts, but then who doesn't:) Noah wanted to color his, not cut, which was just fine with me as it was starting to rot inside. Grossness!!! Wasn't too competitive yet, that will come I am sure!!!

Halloween really is the Devil:)

Feast your eyes!! I LOVE The Pioneer Woman(www.thepioneerwoman.com). Take away the fact that I am not a very versatile cook, I don't live on a ranch, I don't have red hair and I am not an author, we could be sisters:) If you haven't checked out her site yet, please do. Halloween candy and goodies are seriously going to send my "Start every Monday Diet" into a tailspin. These little goodies are called Oreo Pumpkin Cheesecakes. Really!!!???? 3 of my favorite things. Will be making them this weekend. Sad thing is, I will probably be the only one that will eat these bad boys. And again, I will state, the Devil is at work with these against my "Start Every Monday Diet". Oh well, Monday will be here soon:) Happy eating!!!

Summer/Fall Catch up #2

Some more picts from our crazy Summer and Fall!!

Yes, this is how i feel today:)

Today has been "one of those days". I feel my children have a secret hand shake that means, "today, lets all be little turds and drive Mom insane so she looks like this": Yep pretty much think that's the plan. I love my children and would not change being their mommy for a second, but I'm not gonna lie, there are days where i LITERALLY feel like my brain may explode and I could quite possibly drive around town looking like this lady. So when I see here with her fantastic earings, (which by the way with all my ribbon stash I could whip up in a jiffy!!!), and her whole vibe, i think, this could be me someday....... That scares the crap out of me:) :) :) Happy Hump Day!!!

Why I can't make mom friends

Some things just make a Girl HAPPY!!

Living in a house full of testosterone, my soul gets deprived of many things feminine. Like, let's talk shoes for instance.....I love shoes.....I really do. You'd never know it though because my shoes consist of shoes that are easy to slip on and off. The kind of shoes you can wear to the grocery store, preschool, volunteering, running errands. (you get the picture.....MOM SHOES). I dream of the day when I will one day wear girly shoes. Here are just a few of my favs!!!

Summer/ Fall Catch up Part 1 (just for you Grandparents)

Life at our house goes by fast. I have very good intentions of taking pictures, categorizing them, printing, sending and scrapbooking them. My intentions supersede my reality, lol. So blogging them will hopefully help me do all these things better, (yeah right:) ) Here is a quick summer/ fall catch up. And yes, it is pretty much Winter here tonight in good ole MN. But that is a whole other post that could become very angry:) . This is part 1...breaking it up so you are not bombarded with photos of my munchkins:)