Tomorrow, Tomorrow your only a day away!

Tomorrow Is departure day! We will be off for a week of fun in the sun and relaxation. I am almost more excited about getting to see Matt, Kathy, the boys, and the girl. I haven't seen Annabeth in so long I probably won't recognize her.

Today I am anxious about getting everything packed and making sure the kids are as prepared as they can be. One of my biggest worries is that Ian decided this week that he was not wearing diapers anymore. He has been in underwear for two days and is doing surprisingly well, but I worry what he will do for my Mom and Maw-maw while I'm gone. I am trying to convince myself that if we have to start all over from the beginning that it's no big deal but I haven't succeeded yet.

Katie keeps saying she doesn't want me to go which makes me feel guilty. We really haven't left them to much in the past and never for this long.

BUT, it will all be fine. We WILL get everything packed, and the kids WILL be fine. Hope you all have a wonderful Easter and a great spring break.

As my Mom is fond of saying "I have more things to do than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest" (sorry if I offended any one legged people or butt kickers) So I better get to it.

CSI Mommy!

Last night before the girls went to bed Andy wanted them to clean their room. Which turned into about an hours worth of lecturing and crying and well you know how it goes. They have a beautifully remodeled room, done by Missy in all her geniuses, so they should be motivated to keep it clean. Andy and I were kind of tag teaming them on the way they have been so slack with their room maintenance in the past few weeks. (In their defense they do have soccer and awana which doesn't leave much free time) We were all four worked up, them making excuses and us laying down the law, which I must admit as a parent when you get on a roll can be quite fun. At such times some of the things you say may surprise you, well last night I came out with something that was truly inspired. Emma was complaining about the fact that Katie had pushed everything under her bed (which I knew to be true because I picked up laundry earlier that day). Katie instantly starting denying it which is her knee-jerk reaction to everything. Since I knew that it was a lie I immediately jumped in with, "Katie, I know you pushed the things under her bed because under your bead is totaly clean (which if you know Katie is a miracle) She would not push things under her own bed and Mommy and Daddy watch CSI and I read mysteries so I know that you are the only person in our family to have a motive. Ian and Nathan didn't come in here and push thing out from under your bed to under Emma's. I know you are guilty!" Melodramatic? yes but it did get my point across. Andy thought it was hilarious. Katie just said "sorry". Sometimes parenting is fun. And today we get to enjoy the fact that their room is spotless.

Countdown to relaxation!

In 17 days Andy and I will leave for a Cruise! I can't wait. I know that when it is time to go I will hate leaving my babies but right now it seems like a WONDERFUL idea. Everything is going fine but its kind of like seeing those people in the log rolling competitions where they try to run on the log as it spins in the water and not fall off. It looks like any second they are going to bust, yet somehow they keep running. That is what my family life is like right now. It's sometimes fun yet always terrifying. I just hope if I fall off my log I will be able to get back on and not drown.

It is amazing how time can go so slow and fast at the same time. Some of the days seem like years and the years seem like days. April 3rd is mine and Andy's 10th anniversary. (Hence the Cruise, thank you babe) I try to remember that I must enjoy my life right now and not always look to what is coming up next.

Now I must go see what my darling boys have gotten into in the time I have been on the computer. I promise to enjoy it. OH my I hear Ian saying "Mommy is comming" this is going to be fun.

"Facing" reality.

Well I have joined the modern age. In my attempt to keep in touch with all my friends near and far (and at the request of my Brother) I joined Facebook. So far so good. I like it a lot, although I don't have the foggiest idea how to do half of the things on it. I did take a quiz and apparently the 80's movie that defines me is the Princess Bride which was awesome since I could quote it. Anyway if you are on facebook and you want to be my friend I would love it. Hope everyone is well.

Christmas, Jane Austen, and roadkill.

Ah I've got you interested haven't I. One of my favorite radio talk show dose this thing on Monday where people call in and describe there weekend in four words or less. These four are my Christmas break in four words or less. (It's all connected trust me.)

Christmas was great this year, exausting but great. We had a wonderful visit from my grandparents the weekend before that kind of kicked off the festivities and we were going strong right through New Years. The kids all got their hearts desires (some hearts were harder to please than others). We did the ultimate Christmas this year and got them a Cat. His name is Landon he is eight months old and came from the Humane Society. The kids LOVED getting this gift it's funny to ask the little boys about it if you ask Ian what Santa Clause brought him he says "Pet Cat" as if that's Landon's title or something. If you ask Nathan he says (and all this in one breath mind you) "We got a cat because he was poor lost on the road and Santa wanted to give him to a special family to give him lots of love and take care of him." The girls are just ecstatic their only disappointment is that he won't let them dress him in doll cloths, push him around in a stroller or carry him everywhere. Nathan and Ian love to "play" with him which consist of the boys ferreting out Landon's latest hiding place and chasing him around the house. I think Landon appreciates the whole predator and prey roll playing it makes him feel like he is in the wild. You may be thinking that Landon is a strange name for a cat but it's the name he came with and it has a story behind it. (I love names with a story behind them) He was found abandoned in the Ingle's parking lot and the person who found him thought he was a girl so they named it Laura (Laura Ingles) when they found out it was a boy they changed his name to Landon (Michael Landon) We didn't tell the kids that they could change it because I didn't want to end up with a cat named Senor Fluffington or something (no disrespect to the Fluffingtons out there).

Least you think the roadkill is about Landon specifically I will skip to that one. I think of myself as a compassionate person but the sight of roadkill never moved me beyond thinking it was gross. Since we got Landon to see a cat dead on the road almost brings me to tears. I think of how cute it probably was alive and whoever will be missing it and it makes me sad. I guess I'm a sucker for our newest family member.

Lastly, Jane Austen. My dear mother gave my the most wonderful Christmas gift. She got me a box set of the BBC Jane Austen movies I have them all from Pride and Prejudice to Northanger Abby. Then she realized that the Pride and Prejudice I wanted was the one with Colin Firth in it (I know he was a dandy on Mama Mia but he really is the best Mr. Darcy ever) and it wasn't the one in the set she got me SO she got me that one too. I have been Jane Austing it up since Christmas I have even started to THINK in a British accent. I think Andy hopes this will soon pass. I know that even if it dose it will come back.

Hope you all had good Christmas' as well and all of you who send your kids to school got them back there and survived their first week.

Favorite Things

OK I figured if Julie Andrews and Oprah can do it then so can I. Here is a list of my favorite new discoveries this year.
1. Mr. Clean multi purpose cleaner with fabreze scent. You not only clean your kitchen you make it smell great too.
2. Mr. Clean magic erasers with fabreze scent. Same reason.
3. Magic eraser MOP yes you can now mop your floor with the power of the Magic eraser. It is the only thing that makes my scratched up stained linoleum look half way decent.
No more magic eraser products I promise.
4. Floss sticks. It's like floss on one end and a tooth pick on the other. SO cool. I use to floss like once a month (don't judge me when was the last time you flossed?) Now with my flossers I floss like every day. I keep a bag in my car and if I get something stuck in my teeth I just whip one out and go to. If you see me on the road doing strange things with my mouth just know that I'm flossing.
5. Dawn Hand Renewal. It's dish washing liquid that promises to help your hands look better in like five uses. IT DOSE. I have seen this promise on other dish soap but this really works. You know what it is like to wash your hands a thousand times a day. My hands end up looking and feeling like sand paper. But no more I just wash with Hand Renewal its cheaper than Bath and Body works and smells good.
6. Last but not least. Aveno 24 hour hand lotion. Dawn and Aveno work hand and hand (pun intended). I wash with Dawn and use the Aveno it works great. It says it last 24 hours even through hand washing and it dose. I put it on in the morning and before bed and I haven't had any problems with dry hands this season.

I know you are all extremely busy getting ready for Christmas but I hope this was as good a break for you to read as it was for me to write. Take time to enjoy the season and remember the true reason for it. God bless you my blog buddies.
Now your turn. Let me know your favorite products I may run out and pick some up.

Thanksgiving

Hello all! We Gardner's are all alive and well. We have had some trouble with strep throat but everybody has finished their antibiotics and is doing well. I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving. We did, we spent time with family and friends enjoying each others company and being thankful. Katie had to do a writing assignment around thanksgiving and it was so cute I thought I would share it with you all.
The prompt was to write about your best thanksgiving meal and she did. Bear in mind that she means the whole thing as a complement.

"Did you ever feel like you were going to explode on thanksgiving? Let me tell you about my best Thanksgiving meal

Initially my family goes to my NeNe and Dada's house with Uncle Mike and Uncle Greg, and sometimes Uncle Greg's girlfriend. My NeNe makes the best turkey. After that we sit down. I eat salty mashed potatos, greasy turkey, and yummy peas. It was so good I had two more helpings, but I had more room for the best part, the Strawberry Cheesecake. Finally when I ate as much as my little tummy could hold I felt sick inside. I sat down and watched t.v. I can't wait until next Thanksgiving."

The funny thing about it is that Mom didn't serve peas or strawberry cheesecake. If I didn't know how much she really dose love Mom's cooking I would think she was being sarcastic.

I hope you got as much of a kick out of that as I did. Have a good week and don't get overwhelmed with Christmas preparations.