Stepmom To-Be!!

It is official! Phil and I are engaged! I'm going to be a step mother of five boys!

These are my soon-to-be stepsons... (Phil is on the far left.)

The oldest boy loves Minecraft. In fact, I'm sure he dreams about Minecraft (but don't all kids his age do that?). The two middle boys, one wants all the money in the world (he better become a doctor or a lawyer!) and the other always wants to go to the gift shop no matter where we go. If Toys R Us had a gift shop, we'd be there. The twins are the twins. I enjoy them the most because they are so young and innocent. If one of them is complaining about a brother, you know the brother is doing them wrong.   :-)  It's also fun to match their clothes.

They are all very sweet, always smiling, and really just want you to be happy also. Some of them snuggle. Some of them eat everything. Oh wait... they all eat everything! They are all very active and like to have fun. 

I figure, the best way to make all of this work, is to just have fun and enjoy it. Roll with the ups and downs, and make it through our weekends/vacations alive.  :-)  lol... 

I'm excited for our new journey together!

One of my best friends found this for me. I LOVE IT!  :-) 

Pizza Night

Low Carb Pizza vs. Little Caesars Pizza 

How-to get to "race weight" with five boys. Make your own low carb pizza and stay away from Little Caesars. 

Oh, be right back... Off to Toy's R Us for Super Hero costume day tomorrow at school.   :-) 

1st Grade Homework

I did my run this evening and then I got to do 1st grade homework! It was so much fun!  Wait... Why does 1st grade have homework??

Pee Everywhere!

I went to the bathroom and just about sat down... 

When...

Pee

Everywhere

And as I write this blog, one of the twins asks, "Jennifer, why are you posting a picture of the toilet?" 

I said, "Because it has pee on it all over. You kids do that."

He said, "That's disgusting." 

Yes... Yes, it is. 

Mornings with Five Boys

Everybody has their own morning routine. Some hit the snooze several times, some go to the gym and then get ready, some wake up and just get ready and go.... I'm a gym rat... We are there when the doors open at Gold's Gym at 4:30am.

So how does your schedule change with five boys?... Not bad... but, you really have to be on your game to get them up, fed, and out the door.

I'm getting used to it. At the beginning of this year, I started taking selfies at work (in the morning, upon arrival). I know we're only 21-days into the New Year... But, I noticed that my HAIR was significantly WORSE on mornings we had the boys.

Ok, maybe not that bad... 

Something had to be done. We have the boys on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Which means, cutting time at the gym on those days. I focus on getting myself ready for work first. When I am dressed and ready, that's when it's time to wake up the twins. 

They are 7-years old, they pop out of bed. (I know that won't always be the case, let me enjoy it now.)  And honestly, they're fun to get ready for the day. I try to find something matching or at least close to matching. Why not? They're twins!  :-)  Then we get cereal and they are ready.

The two middle boys get up and get dressed... I grab a pop-tart for one boy and Phil makes eggs for the other... 

The OLDEST son... He goes to school later, doesn't eat breakfast, so he gets to sleep in later. (Like I said, I know the twins won't always be morning people.)

So, I would say I'm adjusting to the new routine. I think my hair looks great today and I feel ready (not rushed) for the day!

What is in my shoe??

During the cold winter months, I have learned to leave my work shoes at work and wear my UGGs to and from work each day.

This morning, I went to put on my UGGs and my left foot hit something inside of the boot. Of course, this catches me off-guard "what on earth is in my shoe???"

A little hesitant to see what was inside my shoe, I still tipped it over expecting anything to jump out and scare the crap out of me.

This is what I find...

A Walkie Talkie... 

I'm not sure how the little walkie talkie got in there. I know I did NOT put it in there on Friday after work... But, I'm guessing it belongs to a little boy though...  :-)  

Pouting like a Pro

OMG. The world is going to end. I'm starving and they have no money.

UGH! FOOD! I want FOOD!

Ok, ok... we had money, but I didn't want to spend any right then, right there.

The world is ending!!

So, I did what every pushover would have done. Ran out to the already packed car in -6 degrees to dig out the snacks.   :-)

Stuffed Animals Travel Also

Yes, we packed about one stuffed animal per kid to take with us (and then bought three more at "Creation Station"). So this is the stuffed animal crew before going out to the pool today:

Sleeping while we are swimming.

This is the stuffed animal crew after Housekeeping:

How cute of them to put them back on the bed!

Wisconsin Dells

After 15-years of living in Illinois, this is my first time to Wisconsin Dells indoor waterparks... I seriously don't know how I haven't been here before. This is so awesome! 

The boys were so excited last night, they couldn't stop talking or asking questions. I don't know how they slept, or if they slept. 

This morning, they were up at 6:45am designing our hotel suite on Minecraft (more Minecraft):

Our hotel suite on Minecraft... 

Our actual hotel room. 

They so did good! Matches almost perfect! 

READY TO GO!

CHIT

Phil took one of the boys to basketball this evening, so I was at home with four of the boys. After I finished my run and cleaned up a bit, the lasagna was just about ready to be taken out of the oven. So I got the garlic bread ready and then started cutting the lasagna. As I was cutting the lasagna, two of the boys came running into the kitchen.

"Jennifer! The Ice Age movie just said the 'c-h' word!"

Hmm... The 'C-H' word... the 'c-h' word...

"What is the c-h word?" I asked...

And he said, "I can't say it!"

"Oh! Do you mean 'shit'?"  Yes, I cussed in front of three of the boys now.  (sorry Phil)

"Yes! The movie just said that word!"

"OH ok... It's spelled with an 'S-H' .... "  Yes, I then taught them how to spell shit. (sorry again)

Apparently, the boys think that the movie kind of mouthed the word or said it slightly for the parents who watch the movies.

CHIT.

Ye Mother's Beware...

Phil and I were cleaning the twins room this evening. Ok, let me be more specific... We were going through their clothes and putting the smaller ones in a bag to take to Goodwill.

We were just about finished when I saw something behind the boys' dresser. Looking a little closer, I pulled them out.

Undies. ... Dirty undies.

So mothers... check behind those dressers. Never know what you'll find.

Actually, this is nothing compared to their past.  

Brody

This evening, I was hanging out with the twins (Matt and Chris) and the middle boy (Jake).*

Jake was laying on the ground playing games on my iPad when all of a sudden Chris sat on his back.

"UH!" Jake yelled... and then Chris started bouncing on his back.

Jake yelled, "Stop humping me!"

   <Phil walks into the room>

And Chris says, "That's not humping... THIS is humping!"

Phil and I could not believe our eyes and ears...  Yes, Chris was humping his brother...

And Jake said, "He learned how to hump from Brody."

Brody is the dog that lives at their moms house.


*Names changed for story.

Go Fish!

Check out these cards. I got them in Texas for the boys. I think they liked them... but they are hard to play "Go Fish" with because they are so big!   :-)

So cool!!  :-) 

They are Blunt!

After my long travel day yesterday, I finally hauled my suitcase out of my car this evening. As I carried it through the house and into the bedroom, the boys were asking what I was doing and saying "that looks heavy." Yes, it was very heavy.

I walked into the bedroom with the suitcase and one of the twins was right behind me. I finally stopped and said, "I'll set this here, this suitcase is heavy."  And I set it on the ground by my dresser.

Just as soon as the suitcase hit the ground, the twin said, "Well, you're heavy too."

Hey... That's not nice.

Happy New Year!

Yesterday was a lot smoother version of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles for me. More like Automobile, Plane, Automobile. It was a very long travel day. I was hoping to sleep on the plane, but I'm not a huge fan of flying and the turbulence was too much for me to sleep at all. So imagine my (very exhausted) happiness when I pulled into the garage and saw this sign, made by the boys:

Printed out by Phil and colored by the boys.

I walked into a completely dark house to find my stocking and a Christmas gift from Phil's sister and her family on the kitchen table. Then I walked down the dark hallway and I couldn't find anybody. Finally, I walked by the living room and they all jumped out yelling, "SURPRISE!!!" 

Then they showed me what they made on Minecraft (more Minecraft)  :-) 

Made by the older boys. 

It was a very sweet surprise and welcome home after a very long day of traveling. Huge thank you to Phil and his boys. 

We didn't make it to midnight last night; but we did have a terrific dinner, sparkling apple cider for the boys (wine for Phil and me), and Real Steel movie to ring in 2016.  Happy New Year everybody!