Busy Mama

I've been a crazy busy mama and have neglected my blog again but I've noticed a bit of a trend here... when my husband, who works a crummy, bleh schedule, works the night shift... I disappear!

My days look something like this:

6:30AM Wake up and get the 5 kids dressed, find the missing shoe and rush out the door for school.

8:00AM Back home for cereal and Dora and Diego with the 3 little ones.

8:30AM More cereal. Seriously. These kids could eat their weight in cereal.

9:00AM Find the kids trying to pour more cereal into cups so they can carry it to the living room (that or feeding the rest of the box to the dog!)

9:30AM Start watching the clock, begging it to move faster and trying desperately to justify laying them down for a nap early.

10:00AM Daily chores: laundry, dishes, floors, hotspots... etc.

10:15AM Take the toilet paper (or marker, or cup of dirt from outside, or bag of popsicles from the freezer) away from the kids, clean up the giant mess.
 
10:30AM Take the toilet paper (or marker, or cup of dirt from outside, or bag of popsicles from the freezer) away from the kids, clean up the giant mess and rip out wads of my hair in frustration.  

11:30AM Lunch time! Almost there!!
 Noon I made it!  I survived the morning and can now lay the kids down for nap guilt free!  

12:30PM The kids are down and it's time for some me time!  Grab a coke and veg out on Pinterest!! 

12:34PM Kids are screaming... must intervene before they wake up daddy.

12:40PM Back to Pinterest.

12:46PM Kids are screaming again...

12:55PM Back to Pinterest.

12:59PM You guessed it... more screaming.
NOTE: This could make for a really long boring blog post if I keep this up so in the interest of time I'll stop now.  But know that this continues until about 2:45PM

3:00PM Time to pick up the kids and wait in the 30minute pickup line.  Do not consider getting out of your car to pick up your kids quicker.  They will hold your children hostage and make you go to the end of the line for being so stupid.

3:30PM Finally back home where the big kids wake up daddy and the little kids within 10 minutes despite the 5 minute lecture and 3 reminders to be quiet.

4:00PM Dad takes the kids outside for baseball practice and I stay inside cooking up dinner.

5:00PM A frantic rush to get dinner on the table and Dad out the door!

5:30PM Clean up dinner and send the kids outside to run and scream and throw dirt.

6:00PM After breaking up several fights and banishing a couple  whiney kids from the kitchen I declare "movie night" and we all veg out in front of the TV together.

7:30PM Time to get ready for bed!  Sometimes I'm a good mom and we do baths and brush teeth... and sometimes I throw their PJs in the room and say prayers while I'm shutting the door.

Repeat the naptime situation here until about 9PM

It's all so very exhausting. 

But when he goes back to days, I wake up super early with him and send him off to work. The mornings are quiet and peaceful before the kids wake up and I have time to sit down in front of the computer or sewing machine.  

I really enjoy these mornings and unrushed dinners and having someone to crash with at the end of the day.  

So here's to a month of the day shift!  

Hopefully I can get back to my blog. I really do love it here.

I'd like you to meet: Mike... Mi Esposo

2 years ago- Our most recent picture together

 
I was 15 years old, a sophomore in high school, the day I first noticed him.

I was walking through the open walkway at old Mesquite High School, weaving in and out of people, late to my next class.  I looked up and saw him just as he walked past me.  It felt like someone had sucked the air right out of my chest.

I turned around to get another glimpse and nearly stopped walking this was a HUGE no-no at MHS that would have most definitely resulted in me being run over or at the very least screamed at by a passersby... imagine stopping your car in the middle of a freeway!

The place where it all went down

I went on to class but couldn't stop thinking about Mystery Guy.

By the end of the week I had seen him at least a dozen times and even managed to make eye contact with him a time or two but I still knew nothing about him. 


I told all my friends about Mystery Guy and started to take note of when and where I was passing him in the hallways. Sounds a bit stalker-ish huh?  I still remember the end of 1st, 2nd, & 5th period making sure my hair and make-up looked perfect and nearly hyperventilating as I left the classroom.

After a couple weeks of this he seemed to notice me too.  We would make eye contact and smile a bit.  We seemed to be flirting yet we had still never spoken a word to each other. 

One day, I walked into my 3rd period science class and found half of my classmates looking through their yearbooks.  I grabbed one and frantically started flipping through.  I had to know his name.

I started calculating in my head... I didn't think he was quite a senior but I knew he was older than me... so I started looking through the juniors first.  I scanned the pictures quickly, determined to find him before the teacher demanded I put the yearbook away.  

And there he was...

Michael Cantu

His named seemed familiar to me but I couldn't figure out how or why.  I was just so excited to know his name.  I instantly started gushing to my friends and classmates about Michael Cantu.

In my history class later that same day I talked about him to a couple of guys. 

"Oh yeah... I know Mike"

I think I nearly passed out.

That poor guy, Daniel was his name, didn't know what he was getting into.  I interrogated him for a week... I needed to know everything he could tell me about Michael Cantu.

I learned that he played baseball, he was a really good guy, he had a couple of brothers and that he really liked another girl.  I tried until I was blue in the face to get more out of him about this crush of his. What did she look like? Was she pretty?  What was her name?  All he would tell me was that her name was Brenda.  

At some point Daniel must have become sick of me and agreed to help me meet Mr. Michael Cantu.  The next day he told me he would introduce us after class.  I followed him down the stairs of C-Hall, fighting off the urge to run the other way.

And there stood Michael Cantu, waiting at the bottom of the stairs.  Daniel introduced us and left quickly and we stood there staring at each other in the most awkward, painful silence ever experienced by two people.  We both tried desperately to spark a conversation with each other but we just couldn't seem to get anything going.  It was every teenager's worst nightmare.  Finally Michael Cantu said he had to go to class... 

"nice to meet you"... 

"yeah... you too" I said

"what was your name again?"

"Breeana" I answered as I turned around

"oh... I thought it was Brenda... bye" he said laughing

I, still, to this day, can't hear the name "Brenda" without grinning ear to ear.  

It turns out we had a class together at the very beginning of the year but I was moved out of it.  Mike had been eying me since the first day of school but had my name mixed up. 

Eventually Michael and I started dating and before long I was "Mike's girl". 

My Senior Prom

Nine years ago today, I became "Mike's wife".

He was 20 & I was 19 & waiting just didn't make any sense to us.

He is a beautiful man with the most amazing soul.  He makes me laugh like no one else can and still makes my toes curl up like a love struck 15 year old.  

Notice the lack of pictures?  Last month my darling husband threw most of them and my WEDDING DRESS away by accident... he was forced to retrieve the dress from the dump but the pictures were never found... yeah he's still sort of in trouble for it and I make sure to bring it up whenever possible... secrets to a healthy marriage huh?

It's so hard to blog when...

...the last place you want to be is in the house!

The last couple of weeks have just been gorgeous outside.  It has been a perfect 70-80 degrees.  We've pulled out the shorts and tank tops and have had at least 3 picnic dinners at the park.

One day we took the kids to the park with their bikes and watched them go round and round and round on the little track.  

Another day we went to a fun little park with big rocks to climb, a little stream to race floating bark and a pond to throw big sticks in.  

We discovered a mountain bike trail and we tested our Mountain Buggy on the big hills and rocky roads.  It rolls right on over every obstacle like a dream.  I'm more in love with this stroller than ever before.  Easily the best $200 on Craigslist I've ever spent!

What else have I been up to?

I discovered an organization called Parental Care Ministries that takes care of orphans in Uganda.  It's an African lead organization but a family right here in Tyler, TX has gotten involved and helping to promote them.  They have 500+ children under their care and so far have sponsor families for a little over half of them.  I'm brainstorming how I can use my little blog to help them out some more.  Wanna get involved?

I'm also commiting to a major destash of fabrics.  Seriously... my fabric stash is out of control.  How do you keep your stash in line?  Maybe you don't?  Wanna join me in a destash challenge?

 

We just signed the kids up for baseball... I can't wait to see them in their little uniforms.  But man it's a chore shuttling 5 kids around to all those games and practices. Not to mention sitting in the stands with 3 little ones who just want another snow cone.   I'm tired just thinking about it!

Oh and I've had a revelation when it comes to my Victorian Bustle Coat pattern.  Instead of offering my pattern... since it could be YEARS before I have time to figure out how to get it online... I can just show you how to alter a commercial pattern to include the bustle!  Duh!  Why didn't I think of that sooner?  What do you think?  Will that work for you?

So don't write me off as another abandoned blog just yet!  I'm still here!  Just enjoying the beautiful weather and if I know anything about this crazy Texas weather it's that soon it'll be cold and yucky soon... just when I least expect it!

The Anything Card

My husband and I don't typically celebrate Valentine's Day.

The agreement is we try to show each other how much we appreciate each other throughout the year instead of getting wrapped up in a commercial holiday.

I'm the first to admit that this is code for: "my husband is really crappy when it comes to Valentine's day so I'm angry at Halmark for starting another fight!"

So last year I gave him a wallet and included The Anything Card tucked inside.

What is The Anything Card you ask?

The Anything Card is a simple gift that entitles the holder to... well... anything. The catch of course is that this card doesn't expire and is fully transferable. In fact when you redeem your card you forfeit it and put yourself in at the mercy of the new holder.

My husband and I had so much fun with this card throughout the year. At first we were friendly and fair even apologetic when we were trading the card for an extra hour of sleep or a night off from baby duty. But towards the end of the year we were stealing it out of each others wallets.

Eventually we forgot about it and lost it so I'm excited about making us another card. Now we can get back to flirting and fighting over it again.

So print one off and  tuck it into your guys gift or if your like me and didn't get him anything... print it off and tuck it in his wallet and act like it's been there all along!

 

Happy Valentines Day!

Gravity

Do you ever have one of those extra weepy, extra hormonal kind of days?   Those days that your emotions are so shot that you start questioning your sanity or perhaps run out and buy an ept?

Yep. Today was one of those days for me.

I think I woke up having a bit of a pity party for myself.  Pouting and whining about all the crap I want but can't seem to touch.  Meanwhile, everything I begged and pleaded with God for in my prayers is running around naked and enjoying life on the couch.

It's crazy scary how much you can miss out on while feeling sorry for yourself.  Somewhere in the middle of my day this song started playing and put some things back into perspective for me.

twice as much ain't twice as good

And can't sustain like a one half could

It's wanting more

That's gonna send me to my knees

And so, like magic I snapped out of it.  The world was right again. 

I was able to enjoy my little naked kids hanging out on the couch.  I watched the entire Spy Kids part 2 movie without rolling my eyes. 

I made my deep fried chimichangas without beating myself over the lack of a nutritious meal .  And ate said chimichangas with 5 crazy kids... 2 screaming, 2 whining and the other talking about boogers without wishing I was someone else. 

We ate apple pie on the living room floor and I didn't have a spaz attack when Livi dropped her plate and then stepped on her syrupy apples, squishing them into the rug. 

After my dinner/movie date with the kids we got our PJs on and drove to daddy's work... we decided the apple pie was just too good for him to miss out on. 

And I carried each and every one of my 5 sleeping babies from the car to their bed and thanked them for an amazing day.

Why would anyone waste any of their precious time wanting more than this?

Just keep me where the light is.

Hello hello!

Welcome to ExtraOrdinary Bree!  This is a blog about me and my amazing family filled with crazy boys, a fickle newborn and a handsome man that makes me laugh about everything that can and does go wrong in life.

I hope to use this blog to journal the hilarious and sweet and profound things my kids say and of course to vent when my mom infuriates me... and she will... fairly often.

I'm also hoping this blog will help me organize and better take advantage of my crafty whims and dreams.  I've already posted a few of the tutorials I've seen and bookmarked but not yet attempted.  I know I'll be adding to this list soon as well as starting another list of tutorials I've tried (and the outcome... some good and some.. well... not so good)  I may even try writing a tutorial of my own!

These first couple of weeks I plan to introduce the myself and my family since I'm sure I'll be talking a lot about them.  So if you've  stumbled across my page somehow... how'd you find me?  Have any advice for a rookie blogger?  Leave me a comment, encouragement or advice or just say hello!