persistance

ben and i went to target again today. (yes supertarget is our favorite place to go)

well ... ben went looking for the dog food. i am not joking. as soon as we got in the store he told me he needed to find the dog food.

apparently he feels that if he keeps reminding me that eventually i'll get tired of saying no.

i'm so torn on this. i don't want a dog. i don't want to clean up after it. i don't want to go outside picking up poop. i don't want to have to get up at night to let it out. i just finally got alex to sleep somewhat decent hours!!!

however, i want ben to have a dog. i want to see how he showers it with unconditional love. i want to see his face light up when he sees that this little creature is his ... FOR REAL! i want to hear the name that he comes up with for his VERY OWN dog! (as obnoxious as i'm sure it will be) i want to see them both grow to be the best of friends.

*sigh*

i wonder if there is a dog out there that doesn't shed, poop, or bark.

p.s. don't anybody suggest a cat.

in the meantime i have decided that sending them outside to play with ellie, the golden retriever from next door will have to do.

p.s. for those who care -- i have changed my options so you don't need to be registered to leave comments. i didn't know i had it set that way :) ha ha :)

ben's other passion

so apparently when i typed the last post i forgot about the other love of ben's life. dogs. actually, any animal. but mostly dogs. ben REALLY wants a puppy. all summer long he would stop and pick up dandelions. he would blow them and make his wish out loud "i wish i had a dog."

we have yet to give in :)

yesterday, he and i went to target together. near the baby aisle there was a sale display for dog food. so ben says "MOM ... (yes this is in caps because he is not quiet) ... WE NEED TO GET FOOD FOR MY DOG!"

I ignored him.

"MOM ... MY DOG NEEDS FOOD!!"

ya ... ok ben ...

by now he is holding a bag of dog food.

"MOM ... WE NEED TO BUY THIS!!!"

"ben, we don't have a dog."

"but MOM I WANT A DOG"

"ok ben ... but we don't have one right now"

"BUT MOM...MY DOG THAT I'M GOING TO GET IS GOING TO NEED FOOD"

"ok ben .. then when we get a dog we'll get food."

"BUT MOM THEY WILL BE OUT OF IT"

"no ben ... i don't think they will ... come on ... let's go get a starbucks."

"okay."

thankfully ben likes starbucks. thankfully there were not too many people that walked by giggling at us. at some point i know we are going to have to give in. maybe it will be once i win that same lottery that is going to give me a house to hold all of my baby clothes. then the dog can have it's own wing.

ben's passion

the last few times i've gone to take pictures off of the camera i've found a few random ones that don't seem familiar. it isn't like me to set up ninja turtles, pirates, and army men in fun scenarios and snap some quick shots.

the pictures are always random. there are always a few of toys. and a few of drew making strange faces in strange positions. and rarely any of ben.

WHICH led me to the culprit. ben is our little photographer. any camera that he finds becomes an instant interest. his subject always changes. and he always gives quite an interesting point of view. he even throws in the occasional finger on the side of the screen as his little artistic 3 yr old touch.

at first i figured i would delete each of these pictures from our stash. but i've decided to keep them because at this rate i'm thinking maybe someday he'll turn this little passion into something real and then they'll be worth something.

marriage plans

ben: i want to marry katie.

drew: ben, you don't want to marry her.

ben: yes i do.

drew: but ben you have to really really really really really really love someone to marry them.

ben: well i do like her.

drew: but when you are older you will have a lot of friends to choose from.

ben: but i like katie.

drew: well fine then. do what you want. but you are going to be missing out.

ben: well ... fine. maybe i'll marry someone else after katie.

our new diet plan

so ... as mentioned in a previous post ... stacey and i are looking into joining the Y.
3 pregnancies in 2 years has done a number on our bodies.
we think that the Y by itself would not do the job. so i'm happy to tell you we think we have the other perfect solution.

i am hesitant to share ... this could be the next nutri system ... but ... i'm sure you're all wondering.
so i'll tell.

for the past week or so we have been devouring oreos. we're talking mass quantities of sandwich cookies in very short amounts of time. we're talking a pack of oreos in our house never lasts longer than oh ... 24 hours. and all oreos are consumed with the youngest 3 members of our household sleeping :) shhhhh!!!

i don't have any set results yet. however ... so far we've found it to be the most enjoyable diet ever. we're hoping that the weight will soon start to fall off.
we'll let ya know when it happens!

until then ... grab a pack and join us. you'll be glad you did!

sweet (and rather salty) kisses

well.. our house has been blessed with yet another cold bug. it seems like this winter one of us has had it at any given time. right now i am the only healthy one (and i'm guessing that won't last long).
i've decided that having sick kids is rather bitter sweet. when they are sick there are 3 things they love to do.

they love to snuggle.
they love hugs.
they love kisses.

now, normally all 3 of those things are things that i love. crazy and busy boys don't stop often for snuggles and kisses. so when they do stop i take all i can get. they remind me why i do what i do and i can't get enough of them. however ... boogers and barky coughs make those kisses and snuggles suddenly lose a lot of their appeal :)
i want so bad to give them out freely .. but all i can think of is that it will only be days before all of these germs turn on me and then we're all gonna be in rough shape!
i suppose that's part of being a mom though:)
so for now i'll continue to accept their sweet (and salty) kisses. i think sometimes my snuggles offer something medicine can't.
by next week ... my guess is that i'll either be home sick ... or if everyone else is still sick ... i may be on vacation.

Irresistable

Drew: "You are my best friend."

Ben: "You are my best friend."

Drew: "You are my friend."

Ben: "You are my friend."

Drew: "You can't resist me. "

money can buy happiness

anyone who says money doesn't buy happiness has not met alex. alex is our little puzzle. he has been the most challenging of our 3 babies. we're STILL working on figuring him out. if we would've been our first i would've questioned if i really understood this whole parenting thing. since he was really little he has not liked sleep and has seemed almost uncomfortable with just existing. well ... we have slowly put the pieces together to make a happier alex. after MANY doctor visits and sleepless nights we think we are finally getting it. he is on prevacid which helps his tummy. he is on singulair which helps with his cough and his wheeziness. and finally ... after much suggestion ... we have been taking him to the chiropractor. all of these pieces together have helped him (and us) actually sleep. they have also made him happier and more content when he is awake.

HOWEVER ... our copays alone are as follows ... prevacid is $60 a month. singulair is $30 a month. the chiropractor is giving us a deal and charging $15 a time. but, we have been going about 2 times a week. and if we remove or reduce any of the 3 he is back to his old self.

SO ... although it does not come cheap. we're finding that money can actually buy happiness and it is entirely worth it to us!

simple, happy kids

what is it about peanut butter & jelly that kids love SO much? i enjoy it every now and then. but, my kids would eat it for every meal, every day if given the choice. it is even an option for hot lunch everyday at school. for the first few weeks i'd ask drew what he chose to have and pb&j was his answer! so much for trying new things! i thought at some point they'd get sick of it. but they haven't yet.

SO ... i won't complain because it does make my life easy. lunch is very predictable and runs to target are very specific.

and i can truly say i know what makes my kids happy. as long as we have JIF creamy peanut butter, Smuckers squeezable grape jelly, and wonder bread in our cupboards - my kids will be happy.

our busy summer

aren't they cute?! the first is a picture from the summer and the 2nd is one we just took!

all 4 of these little guys live within 4 houses of ours!! it was a busy summer here (or should i say a busy winter ;)... te he he ) they are seated in chronological order with dylan on the far left being the oldest. he was born on father's day. oliver and blake are in the middle and then alex is on the right. he was the last on july 5th. SO...all within 3 weeks! it was fun to get them together today to see how they have changed in 6 months! (i guess almost 7). it's sad how little we see our neighbors now that it is cold out and everyone stays inside so much! i'm excited for when it warms up and we can get these little guys out to play with each other! they are going to have so much fun!

and until then ... what would we do without blogs, right?! :) ha ha:)

drew inspires us

today i went to help with drew's kindergarten book club again. (it is a very cute book by the way. if you're looking for a fun kid's book check out "the great fuzz frenzy".)

we asked the boys and girls if they had ever come upon something that they were unsure of that scared them. since drew has an answer for everything he instantly raised his hand.

his response was "well there's something ... and the first time i saw it ... it really scared me ... it was my mom and dad's underwear."

well.. stacey and i aren't sure if he meant our underwear or what we look like in our underwear. so as of today we are joining the Y.

and .. for those of you scared about what your cute kids will tell their teachers at school when they start next year -- see the post below regarding the 50/50 rule.

american idol

so ... i'm curious ... where do they find these people??
my inital guesses are wisconsin, iowa, and illinois! HA!

we all sat and watched idol tonight. the boys get a kick out of it so we turned tonight's first episode into an "american idol party" :) WOO HOO!!! it wasn't actually very exciting though. can you believe only 17 people from the 10,000 that showed up for the minneapolis auditions actually made it through?! YIKES!

maybe next year i'll have to come up with a juggling, singing and kazoo act that will show how good us minnesotans really are! if anyone would like to provide back-up let me know.

the adventures of flip

well... our time with flip has come to an end. ben had a fun weekend with him. he brought him EVERYWHERE we went. flip went to church. flip went for pizza. flip went to super target (many times). flip played in the snow.
unfortunately flip has to go to someone else's house tomorrow :(
so ... while he and ben sleep soundly up in ben's bed i thought i'd share some of our adventures

| View Show | Create Your Own

sweet things

at our church for the past few weeks the topic has been work. last week bob talked about finding your "sweet spot" ... or your true passion. he talked about how a lot of people don't find what they are really passionate about until they are 1/2 way through their life. this got me thinking. what am i passionate about?! of course i know the easy answer is my kids. they are my everything -- although some days running away to mexico seems like a really good option. i am more than blessed to be able to be a full time mommy to them. but, if given the option to do anything i wanted as a job where they wouldn't be affected ... what would i choose? i decided that candy is my passion. HA HA. i decided i would love to go to candy shows where they show all of the newest kinds of candy and i could come home with big bags of samples. i decided it would be so fun to tell people i eat candy for a living. i decided that i would be the coolest mom on the block. all of the kids would want to come to my house to help me dig through my newest box from a vender. i decided it would just be a whole lot of fun to decide which candy gets placed in which stores and what will be the big trends.

i decided i love candy and i believe i have discovered my true calling in life. and i'm not even 30. (YET!)

the fun i have

each year at the end of the year/beginning of the new year i ask my kids (well the ones that can respond) some simple questions. questions about their favorite things ... questions about stacey and i ... just questions about life that will change from year to year. i chose today to do this.

apparently i lead a much more interesting and fun life than i am aware of. one of the questions was "what do i do while you are at school?" ben said that i play xbox and drew said that i shop. don't they make my life sound so fun! i do shop a bit ;) drew is on to something there. and yes, i do play a little xbox with drew every now and then to sneak in some quality time drew style. but ... i was a bit surprised that those were the first things that came to mind. that makes me wonder what they tell their teachers and other people we do all day :) ha ha!

thankfully drew's principal and i came to an agreement earlier this week that i will only believe 50% of what drew tells me goes on at school if she'll only believe 50% of what drew tells her happens at home.

anyone else willing to take this deal and make it their own has my permission.

different but the same

now that alex is 6 months i thought it would be fun to put all 3 boys side by side at 6 months.

how crazy it is to look at different pictures and see how many similarities there really are!!

everything that is going on in my life today seems so trivial. so all i'm going to say is please keep baby noah's family (www.noahsteven.blogspot.com) in your thoughts and prayers. adrienne's strength is amazing. i hope and pray that if i am ever placed in a situation like that -- that i will be able to sit back in peace and know that my God is in control. that family's testimony is absolutely amazing.

hug your kiddos extra tight tonight.

so... our crazy household has expanded. for the next 5 days we are also in charge of flip.
flip is the frog mascot from ben's preschool class. he gets to live with us until next tuesday. at that point ben will take flip and flip's journal back to preschool to show all of the other children what they have been doing.
flip and ben have already developed quite the relationship.
flip is too shy to talk to any of us.
so, flip whispers things in ben's ear.
i thought i would share a few of those things --
he likes chocolate milk.
he likes oranges.
he likes noodles with pepperoni.
he's excited to be at our house.
we are feeding him bugs from the mr. mouth game and imaginary water. i tried to give him real water but was quickly corrected -- flip only drinks imaginary water. DOH!
ben is taking his job very seriously.
lucky flip.
now i just have to figure out what one does to entertain a stuffed frog that will be interesting when it comes time for flip to decorate his journal.

the world according to my kids

If it is on, I must turn it off.

If it is off, I must turn it on.

If it is folded, I must unfold it.

If it is a liquid, it must be shaken, then spilled.

If it is a solid, it must be crumbled, chewed or smeared.

If it is high, it must be reached.

If it is shelved, it must be unshelved.

If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed.

If it has leaves, they must be picked.

If it is plugged, it must be unplugged.

If it is not trash, it must be thrown away.

If it is in the trash, it must be removed, inspected and thrown on the floor.

If it is closed, it must be opened.

If it does not open, it must be screamed at.

If it is a pencil, it must write on the refrigerator, monitor or table.

If it is full, it will be more interesting emptied.

If it is empty, it will be more interesting full.

If it is a pile of dirt, it must be laid upon.

If it is paper, it must be torn.

If it has buttons, they must be pressed.

If the volume is low, it must go high.

If it is toilet paper, it must be unrolled on the floor.

If it is a toothbrush, it it is for cleaning everything but my mouth.

If it has a faucet, it must be turned on at full force.

If it is dry, it must be made wet with spit, milk or toilet water.

If you say do it ... I'll try not to.

If you say don't ... I'm gonna try it anyway :)

Thankfully we're getting past this with the oldest 2. However, I know my time is coming with Alex. If his toddler times are anything like his newborn times -- I have my helmet on.

p.s. I said I'd give a shout out to my favorite 6th grade girls tonight -- HI ABBY, ABBY, CASEY, KATIE, and TARA!! :)

who's really listening??

for those of you who wonder who is really listening to those infomercials that are on tv all of the time. i know. it's drew.

drew's prayer --

"dear jesus. thank you for a wonderful day. and thank you for the food that helps you lose weight. amen."

yes!!! someone is listening and he lives at my house!!

**anyone looking for more information please contact drew@barnettweb.com

**DISCLAIMER -- no i'm not trying to encourage anyone at this house to lose weight!!

chubby thighs and tummy rolls

ALEX IS 6 MONTHS OLD!!!

can you believe it?! as you can see, he is growing SO much everyday! he's beginning to develop his own personality and is becoming a lot of fun. he is also a happier baby now which we are SO thankful for. we're not sure if it's the fact that he can sit up or the fact that we've been taking him to a chiropractor (thank you for all of the suggestions). whatever the cause, he is happier.

he is also growing physically. everyday he seems to gain a new roll somewhere on his body. he has obviously outgrown all of his 0-3 month stuff and i've now begun to put away some 3-6 month stuff as well. as of this weekend i have completely filled one entire bin with clothes that do not fit anymore.

SO ... now i am left with the emotional dilemma of what to do with these clothes. alex has done a great job of communicating to us that we should stop at 3 :) so i know i don't want to have a 4th simply for the clothes to get used. yet, it's still so hard for me to look at them and think of giving them away. of course i'm more than ready to gain the extra space in the house. but ... can't i give away something else instead?! each sleeper ... each onesie ... each itty bitty pair of jeans seems to hold some memory. to give them away is like giving away a piece of that memory.

SO...i've gone over some different scenarios to help make this easier:

1. have someone i know take them. that way i can see the clothes and just smile because i will be reminded of one sweet day when it was MY chubby baby wearing them.

2. we can just win the lottery and build a separate house simply to hold all of my memories :)

3. squeeze alex's chubby thighs and blow on his tummy and know that although we're already well on our way to filling up bin#2, the clothes are just clothes. i still have the memories:)
and thankfully i've got a gazillion pictures and video to help when my mind fails :)

in the mean time ... i have made a chocolate cake to celebrate alex's 6 month birthday. of course he can't eat it. so his chubby thighs and tummy rolls can't be affected. but ... mine on the other hand. it looks like we may be selling more than just baby clothes when it comes time for the spring garage sale :)

my lucky charm

today we went to the timberwolves game with drew and ben.

it did a great job of holding drew's interest.

by the end he was cheering for them and really wanting them to win what was turning out to be quite a close game.

he began dancing and ended up being placed on the jumbo-tron (2 times actually).

the t-wolves went on to win the game in OT.

drew says the reason they won is because of his incredible dancing skills. they put him up on the screen because the team thought he was a good dancer and it was helping them win.

SO ... for all of you out there that play sports. if you are interested in renting out my lucky charm i believe our rates are quite reasonable :)

and here's my best attempt and getting a quick shot of drew on the screen

...in the beginning...

well ... i've decided to enter the world of blog.

drew and ben (and soon alex) provide us with hours of entertainment and i feel it only fair to share that entertainment and craziness with you!

SO ... to start things off ...

the hot topics at our house for the past few weeks have been heaven and hell. drew asks question after question. PLUS ... he's got an overwhelming concern for ben. he wants to make sure that ben is going to heaven with him.

SO ... that led to the following conversation

drew: hey ben do you want to ask jesus into your heart?
ben: yes
drew: ok repeat after me...dear
ben: dear
drew: jesus
ben: jesus
drew: please
ben: please
(at this point you can tell ben is starting to get annoyed that drew is making it SO simple)
drew: take
ben: take
drew: a
ben: way :)
drew: my
ben: my
drew: sins
ben: sin
drew: sssssssssssssssssssss
ben: sins
... and so the conversation continued. they got to the very end and a very serious drew says "ok ben. good job. now ... you might still go to hell"
te he he.
i don't know if he wasn't confident in his abilities or if he just wasn't sure himself.
either way it warms my heart to see how much love he has for ben and how much ben looks up to him. it reminds me that it isn't in the words we say or how we say them .. it's what's in your heart :)

we're on a fun journey guys ... i hope that through this blog you can see some of the craziness that we call daily life at the barnett house and that we can provide you with a smile every now and then :) i'll leave you with a few pictures :)