Blue Apron

Phil and I received our first Blue Apron food box this evening. Blue Apron is a food service that sends you healthy/fresh meals for two for three different dinners and instructions how to prepare it. They even send you the required seasonings!

Phil got home before I did, so he made dinner for the boys and then opened the Blue Apron box to start checking it out.  When I got home, we selected which meal to cook for the evening.

The boys had finished dinner and were ready to go outside to play... So we sent them outside. Every now and then, a boy would come in and chat... then go back outside.

I put in the noodles and Phil was working on the cod when one of the twins walked in. He asked us, "What are you guys doing?"

I said, "Oh, we're cooking our dinner now."

The twin said, "You're cooking, Jennifer?"

"Yes! I am cooking. Doesn't it look like it??"

And he said, "No. It just looks like you're standing there."

Well yeah, I was just standing there! I was watching the noodles! 

... which is kind of like watching grass grow...

One Month as a Stepmom

One month ago, Phil and I got married on Grandview Drive.  So one month ago, I became a Stepmom of five awesome boys.  :-)  Where has this month gone??  My goodness!

Not much has really changed... but, here are my observations:

1. The boys think that I have more "authority" as a stepmom... but they still really don't listen.
2. I've started leaving the toilet seat up... because let's face it, I HATE sitting in pee. (We do keep teaching them about this though.)
3. We all LOVE ice cream. OMG. There goes my race season because I eat way too much ice cream.
4. Every time I give them the choice to clean or go outside... they always go outside.
hmm...
5. Icees, Slushees, Ice Cream, Shakes, etc... Make very good bribes.
6. They like to talk. A LOT. "Jennifer... Jennifer... Jennifer..."
7. They like to ask a lot of questions. "Why...? Why...? Why...?"
8. They play a TON of Minecraft. Now that we're having nice weather, I've been starting to kick them outside more though.
9. We are all really looking forward to our summer vacation! Phil and I booked a trip this summer to Myrtle Beach with the boys.
10.  People really just think I'm crazy for jumping into this.  But, as a three time Ironman and 100-mile trail runner... Wasn't I already a little crazy??   :-)

Just like anything else, we have our ups and downs, but the ups are awesome, the downs are temporary, and the boys are a lot of fun. I've been enjoying their inventions with Legos (as much as I hate stepping on those!), looking at their creations on Minecraft, and watching them play their sports (no matter how boring it really truly is).  :-)

Baseball season is just getting started, so maybe I'll have some "baseball and... burps?...bloopers?" stories soon...

Throwback Story

At the end of last summer, Phil and I went on a date. With the twins.

It was towards the end of football season, The Bigs had a late football practice, so they stayed the night at their moms house.

Phil and I took the twins to Bass Pro Shops for some bowling, food, and fun. Then Phil dropped me off at my house before going back to his house for the night.

As Phil dropped me off, he gave me a hug and kiss goodnight and I went inside.

When Phil got in the car (where the twins were), the twins let him have it!

Chris* said, "Dad... you kissed Jennifer like 10-TIMES! Are you going to marry her 10-TIMES???"

And that's when it started... the idea of marriage was put into our heads...

The first time we heard wedding bells...   :-) 

* Name changed for story.

Only Three

On Friday, Phil and I received a text from the boys' Aunt about taking one of them to Northern Illinois for some football fun on Saturday. We asked if she could take two and she accepted!  (Thank you!!)

That's when I said it, "We only have three boys on Saturday."

And then I said it to one of my friends also, "We only have three boys on Saturday, so we're going to the Peoria Chiefs baseball game."

Definitely enjoyed the day!

Amazing how having five kids makes three seem so easy.

Two Balls

For dinner tonight, we had chicken, corn, and Kings Hawaiian sweet bread rolls. I told the boys that they could have two bread rolls each. I didn't know it would lead to this...

"I have two balls!" the middle boy exclaimed.

WHAT???

After I almost choked on my food, we all looked at him and he had smushed his two bread rolls into two small balls.

So you don't lose the correct image in your
head for King's Hawaiian Bread Rolls.

It's Been a While!

Hey y'all!

I can't believe it's been over a week since my last blog. But, we haven't had the boys during that time. We had some scheduling issues and had to trade Monday for Thursday. So this week we have them Wednesday through Sunday.

Last night was the first of our evenings/weekend with the boys ... and I did what every stepmother should do... GO GET HER HAIR DONE.   :-)

"Honey, homework is on the table. I'm going to get my hair done. See you in a bit. Love you, bye."

And I was out the door!  :-)

Ok... Maybe that's not what I'm supposed to do. But, I felt like it was a nice way for Phil to hang with the boys alone. Plus, my hair really did need some serious highlights!

Should be a fun weekend... At least we will have great weather!

Doesn't this weekend look glorious???

More soon! Thanks for reading!

Smurfs Championship Games

I got to read my first book before bedtime tonight!

That was super fun!

The book of choice was The Smurfs Championship Games.

Weakling Smurf won the games!

It was actually an appropriate book for my first book to read at bedtime.

Apparently, "Hefty working out every morning before the sun came up" reminded the boys of their Dad.

And Weakling Smurf winning the marathon reminded them of me. "You do marathons!" ... Yes. But. I don't win them.   :-)   lol... 

Very fun book to read to the boys about exercising and winning without cheating. 

Hot Dog Buns

This evening Phil grilled burgers and hot dogs for dinner. Lots of them, of course.  :-)

So when we came into the house to eat, we all told Phil what we wanted and he dished everything out.

Hot dog, hot dog... hamburger and a hot dog... double burger... etc... etc...

One of the twins finished his hot dog and asked for another.

Well, I looked at his plate and joked with Phil saying, "Why don't you just get him a hot dog to go with the bun left on his plate?"

This is what he had on his plate.

And it was funny and we all laughed.

Well then. 

I finished my hot dogs... 

And then, I looked at my plate...

And wouldn't you know...

My plate. OMG.EXACTLY.THE.SAME.

And I started laughing so hard!  :-)   Wow... Need I say more?

Minecraft Castle

How are you spending your Wednesday evening?   I am watching four boys play Minecraft. They're all building me something:

Top Left:   My castle, minus the castle so far. A little Village, I guess.  :-)

Bottom Left:    I'm not very sure, but it looks like a trail of blood...?

Bottom Right:   Getting me purple armor. 

Top Right:   Nukes.    Umm...    Thank you...  ?   :-)  lol... 

CLEAN! YAY!

I'll admit it... There are times when I like to clean and there's times that I could be a complete bum.

This weekend was a time that I like to clean... So here is the boys' room BEFORE:

The middle brothers room

And here is their room AFTER:

Hey! I found the floor... 

And do you guys remember the toothbrushes from before??? Here's the new setup (I can't believe it took me almost a MONTH to get them new toothbrushes):

Yep, even mine is in there. Pink one, far left.  :-) 

I can do this stepmom stuff... Maybe I should spread it out though instead of all in one weekend.  :-) 

Pick Your Battles

Last weekend while we had the boys, I had to "pick a battle" ... well, the battle was actually between two boys... So it wasn't even my battle to begin with.

You know, there's times when you could just see a fight coming on. With five boys always together, getting annoyed with each other, ... you can just feel it coming on.

"Jennifer, remember the black and red bouncy ball from the bowling alley arcade? It's mine and it's in your purse." said one of the middle boys.

"NO IT'S NOT! It's mine!" Shouted one of the twins.

So, what did I do?

I looked in my purse and I found 5 bouncy balls.

I pulled out 4.   :-)  hehee...

Then said, "Sorry guys, you must have left the black and red one at the bowling alley on the table."

Saw it in my purse today and threw it away.  :-)  
There's no need to fight over this!