My Latest Campaign.

Chew on this:

As we started to leave the dentists office earlier this week, Dr. Fox (the most fabulous dentist in the world) caught up to us and asked me a question.


"Do your boys like sour flavored candy or gummies?"


Thinking she was promoting a new 'sour flavored' toothpaste or mouthwash and wanting desperately for her to think I'm a fabulous mom and my glorious children have perfectly- beautiful teeth, my answer was immediate.

"Oh yes! I proudly exclaimed. They love sour things." Held at her side, I could see a shiny and brightly-colored pamphlet that was about to jump from her hand to mine.


"Well. She said. Her tone no longer bubbly. You need to read this. It's a new study on the effects of consuming fruity or sour candies. It's quite disturbing. I think you may want to change a few of their eating habits."


"OK." I said. My pride had ditched me. I placed the pamphlet in my purse and headed for the car. Head hung low....real low.


Dr. Fox was right, the results of the study and the picture included on the pamphlet were rather disturbing. So disturbing, in fact, that my house has now been cleared of all things sour and most things gummy.


I feel compelled to share this with the world. Who knows, I may go on tour. For now, take a look for yourself. Keep in mind that the higher the pH level, the better. Water is neutral and has a pH level of 7.0. Battery Acid has a pH of 1.0.

The picture above is of an 11 year-old whose teeth began to erode due to sucking and chewing sour candy on a regular basis.

Gatorade made it on the list too...

I also learned that if you held in your hand, the amount of acid in any of these candies, it would burn through your skin.....

...and that if and when you do eat foods such as these, you should NOT brush your teeth for an hour after eating. The acid left behind acts as sand paper and mixed with a toothbrush, will scrub the enamel right off your pearly whites.

What would you do without me?

Please join me in my campaign. "SOUR THINGS SUCK!"

Stay tuned, t-Shirts will be available soon.

By Definition.

According to Websters Dictionary-

Main Entry: projectile vom·it·ing
Pronunciation: \-ˈvä-mə-tiŋ\
Function: noun
Date: 1862
-vomiting that is sudden and so vigorous that the vomitus is forcefully projected to a distance.

But I think they missed a few key points. Such as:

-may happen at an inopportune time. Like five minutes before your child needs to be in his kindergarten classroom.
-may seep deeply into the cracks and crevices of your hardwood floors. This will most definitely cause odor for months to come
-may quite possibly splash up the sides of your baseboards and/or sofa.
-you may leave to get more paper towels and return to find your dog picking out the chunks of hot dog and eating them.
-may happen when you are wearing the only pair of clean jeans you own. You may (inevitably) kneel in vomit.
-may cause surrounding children to marvel....then dry heave shortly thereafter. This will cause the mother to panic and yell.
-may happen the very day your husband left for Pittsburgh on business.

And last, but not least -

-If you are Amy Olivas, all possibilities listed above WILL happen.

Today I....

...Woke with a snuggly boy at my side. A snuggly, WET boy at my side.

Because I love washing sheets 3 times per week.

...Searched high and low for stickers for my children. Because Mommy's stickers (A.K.A. postage stamps) are quite expensive.

...Allowed this child to color on his face. Because he was quiet, the marker was washable, and the time he took allowed me to fix a meal.

...Caught these guys red-handed. Reading. Together.

...Found 2 stowaways in the crib.

...Contemplated, but find myself still wondering why kitchen tables are more comfy than couches or chairs.

...Did my best to talk my husband out of an upcoming business trip to Pittsburgh. Because we need him more than U.S. Airways does.

...Ate my LAST Dove Dark Chocolate With Almonds. Because I needed it and it gets me through the day. Wishing I had a Dove delivery fairy that would come to the house once a week. Really, is that too much too ask?

Today some tasks were a success, while others were instant failure. The entire day, however, was spent with a smile on my face. Perm-a-grin, if you will....

...Because I know a happy secret.

Highlights...

This week had many highlights. Here are just a few ~

First (and my personal favorite) is the completion of a Lego project that took several days to accomplish. I could have finished in half the time, but gluing each and every little piece takes a while. Here it is - Vader's Ride

(I'm sure it has some super-geeky technical name....feel free to inform me, Dec & Ryan)

Wes has a mind of his own and marches to his own beat. Two things he prefers are:

Watching movies from within a Pampers box....

and painting in the nude. We all have our vices, don't we?

Happy Friday Night Party Night!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Dec!

Happy Birthday to the best (and our most favorite) uncle in the

WHOLE

WIDE

WORLD!

Against our better judgement (and having nothing to do with the fact that you dressed as 'Edward' for Halloween and wore skinny jeans), we want to be just like you!

It's a battle our Mommy works especially hard to fight.

We love you lots and hope you have a wonderful day.

Love,

Evan, Luke, Jack, Logan & Wes

Late...But MOST Important.

My favorite thing about Valentine's Day is that it's the birthday of my miracle baby boy -

Mr. cord around the neck 4 times/first 3 days of life spent in ICU turned 9 yesterday.

We had a fun-filled weekend with a lot of celebration.

Evan is an amazing kid. Polite, kind, caring, sensitive, loving, compassionate, empathetic, giving....the list is continuous.

Having a 9 year old is like having a personal assistant. Not that I abuse his self-sufficiency, or his willingness to help....because I don't.

Most days I don't.

But do I? Because today, when I asked him to help me get coats and shoes gathered, he obliged, but quickly turned to me and said,

"You're lucky, mom, 'cuz I'm kinda like your butler. You always ask me to do all these things for you and I have to do them."

Guilt, shame, regret.......wonder. My instant feelings.

He doesn't know it, but I'm giving him another gift. I'm going to lighten his load a little. Just because he can doesn't mean he should have to.

Happy Birthday, my miracle boy. You're right....

I am lucky.

I LOVE when my husband sends me an email that reads:

"lightening"? check that spelling babydoll. think it's lightning.
…who's got your back?

Thanks, hon.

More about LOVE...

I LOVE that Luke noticed the puppy's nose was dry and ran faster than lightning to get a cup of water for her. He sat by the puppy's side and held the cup for several minutes while she drank, until he was satisfied.

"If a dog has a dry nose, Mom, it means they're thirsty."

"Maybe you'll be a vet when you grow up." I responded. "You're so good with animals, Lukey."

"No thanks, Mom. When I get big I just want to put a jet pack on my back and fly around everywhere."

This I LOVE.

I also LOVE...

I'll do almost anything to see my kids smile. Even if that 'anything' happens to be buying a pack of 74 balloons at Target. 74 dangerous, eerie, squeaky, annoying, choking/strangulation hazardous balloons. Few people know of my concealed dread when it comes to balloons. They terrify me. I don't like the way they feel, smell, sound, etc., etc. It's a very serious phobia. One that is extremely difficult to have with 5 small children. Balloons are everywhere. It seems that every place I go, someone is approaching my children with a free balloon. I have mastered the art of making eye contact with the advancing balloon giver as he or she becomes within seconds of reaching my children. I don't need words. My face tells all. Hand a balloon to any one of my children and you will suffer the consequences. I really don't like being snarky and rude, but I have limits and must live within them.

I HATE balloons.

(And I rarely use the H word.)

But....

Balloons make my kids laugh. They make them smile. They make them run around and jump in the air. They make them joyously romp with one another. That, I LOVE.

Balloons also make my boys play with my hair. OK, so having your head buffed with a balloon doesn't exactly fall into the same category as having your hair played with, but beggars can't be choosers. It still feels good....kinda.
LOVE = BALLOONS

Threatening, menacing, agitating, disturbing and troublesome balloons.

P.S.

I LOVE 'working' from home.

Where else could you stand on a chair and announce that it's time for sugar cookies with pink frosting, valentine sprinkles and chocolate chips and have little people run to your feet with LOVE in their eyes? Then you sit around and eat cookies and laugh with each other.

(Please note - mine must only have 5 chocolate chips...strategically placed, of course.)

I ate two.

What I LOVE.....

As a prelude to Valentine's Day, I'm going to copy several others in the blogging world and devote the next few days to expressing what I LOVE.

Today's choice was easy.

My boys received an easel from Papa and Dee for Christmas this year. It is constantly in use by one brother or another. Lately, it's most frequently visited by a budding artist by the name of Logan. He can draw a few numbers & letters and also likes to draw balloons with very long strings.
Last week he discovered how to create faces - large circle for a head, and two circles for eyes. Nose and mouth are always optional. He usually places them in some sort of upside-down fashion, which I LOVE even more.
His faces have begun to wander from the easel. I have found several on the hardwood floors and many more are gracing our walls with their LOVELINESS.......


TODAY'S LOVE = LOGAN'S FACES

(even if it's permanent marker)

Part Two....Finally.

My brain is fried. Mommy Mush. Part Two of this post was supposed to have been written ages ago. As I stand here today (typing the post that seemed SO funny at the time), it's beginning to pale in comparison to all other events that have recently occurred at our home.


Like having a child cry so hard and hold his breath so long, he passes out.


Or having the same child get a black eye two days later.


And many, many more things that make your heart jump or your eyes tear.


But I promised. So here it is. (funny or not) PART TWO -



As a reward for good behavior, I came home after running errands with one of the all new Toy Story LEGO sets.


Let the record show that I ROCK when it comes to building Lego's. I never used to (As I'm sure Declan will chime in and attest to), but I've come a long way over the last 9 years.


You know those t-shirts urban mom's wear that say things like "Gold digger - and proud of it" "Looking forward to the next mom's night out" and a bunch of other sometimes funny, but mostly trashy sayings? I had a dream that I had one that said, "Bad-Ass Lego Builder"
Anyway.........


I sat with the boys for at least 2 or more hours building their new Lego set. I was enthralled and in the zone. The boys got tired and went upstairs to get jammied. Derek came back 10 minutes later and begged me to stop for the night. I ignored his request and continued to create. And then it happened. I got down to the last 10 pieces and realized one was missing. A tiny little headlight for "RC" (Buzz & Woody's sporty little race car). I searched the table, trash and carpet. Poor RC would have to get through the night with one headlight. Even more troublesome, was the fact that anxiety-ridden me would probably lose sleep over it. Stupid, but true.


I straightened up my mess and went upstairs to kiss my boys. I made my rounds in usual order, ending with Logan. He needs a little extra time when it comes to tucking in. First you have to rub his back, then his tummy, then his leg, then the other leg.....get the picture? As I kissed his forehead, he asked, "Can you pwease get dis out uf my nose?" "Do you have a boogie?" I asked.
"No." he answered. "I haf a wego."


I knew exactly what he meant. I whisked him into my arms and carried him to our bathroom counter where the light from our emergency flashlight confirmed my fears. There it was. RC's headlight was lodged deep inside Bogie's nose. Knowing he isn't great at blowing, and worried about him sniffing it even deeper, I threw on my jeans and we headed to the local urgent care facility. Our home away from home.


(Our experience there would require an entire post of it's own. A receptionist with no people skills, a DR. who has no empathy for children...or for all humankind for that matter.)


After a long wait, and a long lecture from the DR. regarding the fact that my 2 year old cannot yet blow his nose, we were on our way home. Wego-free.


As I tucked Logan back into bed, his brothers had one burning question - "Mom, did you bring the missing Lego back home? "

"No." I answered. "It looked kind of slimy."

I heard them all breathe a sigh of relief. Boogers and Lego's just don't mix.




Many thanks to Dec and Melody. Without you, this story may never have been told..:)