Where Have I Gone Wrong

My sweet sweet Colton

My middle child

with the terrible terrible three's

I know it's hard to imagine

the child

with this face

walking around without a halo

but it happens

And it's my fault

It's always the mom's fault right

I see my attitude in him

When you tell him no

for the 42nd time in a row

to stop________

(fill in the blank)

he will scream  

and stomp

and hit

it's pretty

REAL PRETTY

I'm frustrated

he's frustrated

I yell

he yells

I don't know what to do with him

I get the attitude

I totally get it

Connor is older

He gets everything new

has friends and cooler toys

Christian is the baby

He gets lots of attention

and holding and rocking

Colton gets the hand-me-downs

and the "in a minute"s

I would be mad too

So yesterday I gave him his own room

Connor and Colton have bunk beds

sharing a room obviously

Christian has his own room

We have a 4th bedroom

but it is on a the bottom level 

of our 3 level house

(all the other bedrooms are on 3)

so someone has to share

for the next few years

anyway...

I did some serious furniture moving

I moved the crib to Connor's room

and Colton's bed to his 

VERY OWN ROOM

I haven't moved the clothes yet

figured I would test this for a few weeks first

Last night he slept well

He seems pretty excited about his space

I'm thinking this might just be a good idea

Then this afternoon

I told him to go upstairs and change his clothes

(because he peed)

and he locked me out of the house

We had just been coming in from the garage

so I had my keys

then he's upstairs slamming doors

My "way" is not working anymore

I don't know what else to do

He OBVIOUSLY needs attention

do I put him in more school

do I put Christian in MDO 

so I can have more time with Colton

more 1 on 1 dates

but how to fit that in

I am at a loss

All I know 

what I am doing now

is NOT working

HOPPY EASTER

I heart Easter

I really do

For the meaning of the occasion

HE IS RISEN

and the bunny helps too

I heart bunnies too

It's probably a good thing I have boys

Remember how important the Easter dress was

Do people still do that?

I went through such a long

"non church" phase

when I was single 

now I'm too fat to dress up 

but one day soon

I learned after about 2 years 

that I would not spend that much money on my boys

for 1 outfit

now they do polos and khaki shorts

(pants this year)

or "tacky" shorts 

as Connor said

On Saturday we baked our Easter cake

Colton helped me make it

And Christian helped me clean up

He got the better job

Then we dyed our eggs

Then "someone" smashed half of them

because he thought they were "ba"

translated ball

Here is our Easter peeps cake

idea courtesy of my fave cous Cindy

we only had about 4 peeps worth 

before the dog ate it

That's right folks

right up on the kitchen table and ate the whole freaking thing

I think his stomach still hurts

there's one way to stick to your diet

Then we had our neighborhood EE hunt

complete with a weird tutu wearing girl bunny

Christian couldn't get away fast enough

Easter Morning

next year we will hunt for the hidden real eggs

before

the baskets

 An attempt at a photo before church

no such luck

We had a very rainy Easter Sunday

which was great

we skipped our neighbors EE hunt

and finger painted instead

 (notice connor's 7 year old looking haircut above)

Then with our cabin fever

we went out for mexican for dinner

In other news:

I redboxed a movie this weekend

The Fighter

I know I am very behind on my movies

it was great

worth the buck

KARMA

Do you believe?
Do you think good things happen to you because you are a good person?
Or is it all part of God's plan for our life
or did we make a choice that was not part of God's plan
and then things happened because of that?
or maybe you didn't pray enough?

Obviously it's not all about karma. Otherwise nice people would never get sick or loose a job or suffer the loss of a loved one. And I am not talking all "negative nelly" here. I am in a good place right now. But here is what got me thinking....

Our TX neighbors started building a house a couple of months ago. They put their current house on the market last week and it sold , in days. Now let me start by saying how great these people are. They are one of the kindest and sweetest families I have ever met. We were so lucky to have them as neighbors when we did. Now our house was/is on the other side of the street and it backs up to a fairly busy road. So it makes me wonder about our house. We can't change the location, but what else was/is it? The price? The staging? The old kitchen? The market? Our house was on the market for 6 months until we finally decided to lease it out. Now we are in negotiations with the renters for another year. We have about 10 days for a final decision-are they going to lease again or do we go back on the market.

So I go back to my karma and prayer thoughts.
Maybe I have not prayed hard enough or long enough or loud enough. Maybe it's me not being as nice as I should be. All those bad "people watching" moments I've had. Are they coming back to bite me in the rear? How could paying 2 mortgages in a poor economy be a part of God's ultimate plan for my family?

Good things happen to bad people. And bad things happen to good people. But WHY?

I am having way too many deep thoughts on my Friday evening. This is what happens when you haven't slept in a couple of days and your kids are wearing you out. See there is bad karma. What kind of mom talks about her kids that way? That's a whole other post for another Friday night.

Run for Your Life

IT'S THE

SANTA MONSTER

Don't worry mommy

It's just me

THANK GOODNESS

I was scared

were you?

This is just how the 

Lenzer  boys entertain themselves

 He can now climb onto the counter

via the step stool

and says

"hea,hea"

which translates into

"hands"

 don't knock my shell sink

the 80's rocked

and don't knock my mothering either

I was sitting there

obviously

since I was snapping pictures

and the hot water on this sink doesn't work

so he was safe

mostly

And the big boys were playing

AIRPLANE

Colton was pilot this go round

We ventured out to the mall this week 

we almost missed our annual 

Easter Bunny photo

Good thing I remembered

I used to go to the mall

ALOT

when we lived in TX

we would play

stroll around

have lunch

ride the carousel

always with friends

seemed like a good meeting place

especially in the heat of the summer

HERE

not so much

the mall selection is terrible

so I was dreading this trip

and once there

I quickly remembered why

I planned to be there right at 10

when the stores opened 

and the EB arrived

take a quick photo

make 1 return to Macy's 

and if the boys were good

a 5 minute stop at the LEGO store

(I needed to pick up a Lego for their baskets too)

We arrived at 10

only to discover

the lazy EB doesn't start work until 11

no worries

errands first

Christian needed shoes 

and

I had used the last of my powder that morning

Stride Rite is right next door to Bare Essentials

score!

Down to Macy's for my return

and 

score! again

the Lego store is right by Macy's

While leaving the Lego store at 10:55

Colton announces he has to pee

We run to the bathroom

which is

score! again

right by the EB

we all pee

and then I notice Colton's pants are wet

He obviously peed 

ALOT

 and not all of it made it to the potty

Back down to GAP

for a pair of shorts

Change Colton in the middle of the mall

tell him not to pull of the tag

because of course I will return them next week

DON"T JUDGE

like we need another pair of navy shorts

We take our picture

(more on that in a moment)

and now I will have to feed the boys in the car

because we have to get Connor to school

I look down

Colton has peed in the freaking blue shorts

I WAS GOING TO RETURN

breathe Jann

just breathe

I hate the effing mall

but we did manage this cute photo

when we walked up to the entrance of the EB area

Christian started waving to the furry guy

wave, wave, wave

When we walk over

scream

SCREAM

SCREAM

I try to get Christian to sit next to Connor

not having it

then I distract him

and sneak him by Colton

the lady snaps the pictures

he quickly notices his proximity to the bunny

and the screaming commences

as soon as I pick him up

wave, wave, wave 

I love that kid

And he very much loves me

right now anyway

The boys have easter egg hunts at both of their schools tomorrow

We are doing a hunt at our neighbors house Sunday afternoon

and a big neighborhood one as well

I am cooking the usual ham

and deviled eggs with all of our dyed eggs

We made rice krispy treat "birds nests"

with jelly bean "eggs"

for Connor's class

We are going to make either a cake or cupcakes

tomorrow with marshmallow chicks on top

I love EASTER

The boys have been hiding eggs all week

they need to practice

WHAT ARE YOUR EASTER PLANS"

off the subject-

I have total old lady hands

They have always looked old

wrinkly and such

plus I have short nail beds 

and fat knuckles

My mom has beautiful hands

she did not share the gene with me

she did however share her thunder thighs

thanks mom! 

(xoxo)

maybe some hand cream

anyone use a good one?

It's very obvious Christian likes water

I think all kids do at that age

I always wanted a water table

It's one of those expensive toys

I wish I had bought with #1kids

then I could have totally gotten my monies worth

We made our own white trash version

And in he goes

and

yes

that's the old baby bathtub

I think Connor is confused

or possessive

ninja turtle costume

batman cape

spiderman mask

train conductor neckerchief

knight shield

he's got it all on!

toodles

Jann

I have a 5 year old

It doesn't seem possible

but some how it happened

I know I am way too young 

to be the mommy to a 5 year old

but I am

What can I say

I started early

We were in DisneyLand

for Connor's big day

We chose not to emphasize that

I didn't want every kid thinking 

a huge vacation is their gift

But he did find that pretty special

but he refused to wear his birthday button at DL

Back home the gifts from family rolled in almost daily

And of course

in true Connor style

they had to be opened immediately

While he found this gift fun

from Aunt Sissy

he wished it had been

"lego-y"

no worries sissy

he still loved it

We had a family birthday breakfast

pancakes of course

with candles and singing

so he could open our gift

The LEGO police station

783 pieces

took about 8 hours total

but this 5 year old

completed the work

ALL 

BY

HIMSELF

pretty impressive

can't you tell from his stressed out face?

I had big plans 

for the big party

It didn't quite work out the way I  envisioned 

but it was good

The invitation was my favorite part

This is the back

does it look like a LEGO brick?

And the front

Connor's LEGO men

he made them all

We had 3 games planned

1-building LEGO towers

2-guess how many LEGOS in the bucket

3-LEGO hunt

So it didn't really work out as planned

The boys ran and played

Everyone was really up for the LEGO hunt though

so....

1 out of 3

not too bad

pizza was a hit

no shocker there

cupcakes

that didn't turn out like the LEGO bricks they were suppose to be

but Con loved them anyway

(I never claimed to be Betty Crocker)

and presents

I went back and forth on having the party

in OK or TX

I was very fearful we would not have enough

OK peeps

but we pushed forward 

trying to still settle in to this new state and all

and I am soooooo glad we did

The turn out was terrific

I felt really at home

I finally felt like maybe we might make here

It was great

watching Connor smile made it all worth while

Mother nature was very kind to us that evening

Not too hot

and we haven't had rain in weeks

We had neighbors

and classmates

and swim lesson friends

siblings too

And 1 very important best buddy

straight up from Plano

BEN

who got to spend the night

the perfect ending to the perfect 5th birthday party

We are so grateful for our friends

the old ones 

and

the new ones

who helped Connor celebrate his BIG day

And he is already planning his next one

well the gift list anyway

the theme will change

6,478 times between now and then

Colton is thoroughly confused about his birthday now

Poor middle child has never had a party

and his day is 2 days after Christmas

thinking of having a special party for him in October

how will that confuse him?

and I will try will all my might

not to have a birthday party 2 weeks after the actual day again

Connor thought it was his day the entire time

every day he wanted to pick his breakfast

or where we got to go

or wanted to go buy a special toy

I got over that real quick

And a very important announcement

there is only 1 soccer game left

thank goodness

we gave it 2 tries

we are done with soccer

for Con anyway

and yes

now that he is 5

his name is

CON

not 

connor

he even wrote a note to his teacher

he wanted to make sure she understood the new rules