Thursday, April 28, 2011

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




Monday, April 25, 2011

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

Friday, April 22, 2011

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.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

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

Monday, April 18, 2011

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