What is in Nail Polish?

What is in nail polish is exactly what I thought when I heard my son say, "Mommy.....Silly is painting herself all over her hands!" What is he talking about? She is suppose to be taking a nap. Oh foolish parent that I am trusting a three year old to be sleeping soundly in her room. I painted her piggy toes and nails before church this morning and I'm pretty sure I put that nail polish away. She can climb you know. At some point after we put her down for a nap she snuck downstairs and found the polish and took it back to her room without anyone hearing or seeing her.
Much to my horror this is what I found....Really little man, really? I mean look at her. You can't smell that? I asked him. No! Even though her big brother is right next door to her apparently he his oblivious to paint fumes.

She painted her little toy family van too. There was nail polish all over her floor. What is in nail polish was a concern because she has a tendency to put her fingers in her mouth. I tried soap and water at first. It didn't work at all so it was time to ask Dr. Google! That's right, when in doubt and you need an answer quickly just search for it. We have a very small supply of nail polish remover, not enough to deal with this mess. The suggestion was hair spray which we have a pretty descent supply but would it work?

The remaining nail polish remover that we had was tried first but we had a long way to go to get it removed. Hairspray it is and so we began the scrubbing process.

It seems to be rolling off but not without effort. It was better than the nail polish remover though but it was sticky!

One hand down and one to go!

Hairspray! Who knew? Apparently some awesome person that shared it on Google. Thank you.

Both hands are free and clear from paint. But what about her face?

Oh sure she's all smiles but the scrubbing hasn't begun yet. I'm crossing my fingers.

I couldn't spray it all over her face so I opted for a wash towel and then tried to wipe her face in the opposite direction of how she applied the paint.

It was really sticky and unpleasant but it was working. Poor thing. Hopefully she will not paint herself any more.

Finally, there is that precious little face! Now what do I do for the hair? I think I'm just going to let her be cool and  have pink highlights while we wait for it to wash out. I'm not sure what is in nail polish but I think for her I might just stick with Piggy Pain for little people. At least I know it's non-toxic so if she does decide to give herself a paint job she won't get sick! In case it crossed your mind as to why in the world would you grab a camera? It keeps me from losing it! She's just a child and capturing it helps me find the humor in the situation. Besides I can't be the only victim of the Nail Polish Debacle!

How To Keep Those Little People Occupied

Are you at home with the kids while they are out of school for the Christmas holiday? Need some tips to keep those brains and little hands occupied? Here are a few to choose from that we have been trying here in our home.

Give them some rakes! They can do a little yard work if it's nice outside.

Dress them up and take your chances on getting one good shot for a Christmas card!

Have them help wrap presents! One can cut, one can tape while the other tags and bows!

Break out the game boards and puzzles.

A laundry basket and a flash light allows them to pretend they are camping in a tent!

They can capture each other in the dog crate. Make sure it's a big one.

Have a guest over and make sure they don't let them leave without a fight!

Play peek a boo with the dog.

Let them dress up the dog up like a reindeer.

Try the bucket style laundry baskets so they can pretend to be turtles.

Creative little bunch! And to think there are only 13 days left of Christmas vacation. Who knows what they will come up with next. Stay tuned...

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Making The Cover!

Every now and then our church will give the kids a project to work on and then they will incorporate their artwork into the bulletin for that Sunday. My son had to dig for his but he finally found it. He was so proud! I think he did a great job! What cracked me up was the "Nuts Rule!" shouted by the squirrel. I love the detail. It made me giggle so I thought I would share.

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Lessons Learned About Protesting

It took me about two years before I started blogging about my religion. It took me four years to blog about my politics. What is that old saying...don't talk about money, politics or religion? Normally I stay very neutral and in fact I am a peace maker, mediator and often counselor. Getting to know William and Jim through our church NOT as the "two gay men" but as "Fleven Seven" a FAMILY of two fathers with five children has been eye opening. They are loving to their friends and children and both incredibly intelligent. We have great discussions about parenting in faith during Sunday school class. 

I have seen protests before and watched on the sidelines as folks ask for changes in the cause that they are fighting for. Nothing has moved me enough to get involved until now. When William did ask for support via Facebook, the people that came and supported him were there as his extended family and friends.We were there as parents too. And this is how the protest went down!

1.) A super cool person takes on the task of organizing the time and place. Then create an event and post it on Facebook and invite your friends.

2.) You need something that will stand out and get you noticed. Flowers! Yea, flowers that's it. Then you need someone to get flowers and a business that will give you that many flowers. Then you need another super cool person to be in charge of them and pass them out when it's time. That super cool person gets creative and prints the family photo and ties them to each flower.
- What did we miss? We should have printed a url that had the story and a url to sign the petition on the back of the picture. We had lots of people stop and ask what it was about. We could have asked them to take a flower and it would have had the information to look up and spread the word to friends.

3.) You need some really cool poster board signs! What do you put on the sign? It has to catch people's attention. Oh I know! How about "Republicans Love All Families!" Well that worked because you had some very snippy Republicans asking about that sign. ROFL!

4.) You need your friends to email local news stations. Those who can't be there physically to protest can turn to the virtual community and share the story using social media.

5.) You have to have that person that is willing to challenge your thoughts creatively. Personally I love the shirt. When I read it I thought, Joseph and God! That was it. There is power in numbers. There was extra security in the courtroom. Full dressed SWAT team just to be sure all these flower folks didn't get out of hand.

6.) And then your efforts could result in this -




My understanding is that the ex-wife did not ask for all of this but rather Judge Prine took it upon himself to make the rules. What's the next step? Appeal. Here is the kicker!!!! As much as I want to think, you know this really is crazy because you can't leave them with a man or a woman not related by blood or adoption, what a parenting nightmare! It's not - as I sit here not wanting to focus on the "gay" part, it's true, like the giant elephant standing in the room. Maybe the judge put the women part in after the fact because he thought they would leave the children with a bunch of gay women? I mean really doesn't this hit at the heart of William's judgement? Judge Prine is putting his own values in this ruling. That really makes me sad. Am I for gay marriage? Do I believe in it?

Here is what I do know - they are loving men, with loving hearts and they are good fathers to all of their children. That is what I have seen with my own eyes. That is what I know in my heart. It would be nice if any of the jurors would speak up in this case. I wonder if they even know what has happened.

And to top it all off there was this man (a bum?) who was asking all of us for money. I didn't give him any because I just spent $7 in parking! We gave him a flower and he took it and put it in his hat. I watched him from the corner of my eye and there he was counting his change. He had one dollar, a few pennies, one nickel and one dime. He was talking to himself and he collected his things and moved on. As I was leaving to my car I saw him with a coke and some chicken. In my head I had this conversation....
Give him some money.
No, I only have $40 in my purse. I'm suppose to buy clothes with that.
You have enough. He bought food and who are you to judge what he does with the money?
Are you really going to give this guy $20?
Yes!
Why?
I don't know but it's in my heart to do it so I have to go with that.
He sits on the bus bench with his coke and chicken and he reaches out his hand as I say good afternoon. I place the money folded in his hand. He looks at me and says something unaudible. I just say have a good day, take care of yourself and walk away.
I'm including this story because I don't know what happened. Maybe I just needed some good to come out of that moment. We couldn't make the judge change his mind which is a helpless feeling I might add. The only good I could control came out of that very moment with this man sitting on the bench. Amen.


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An Election Strategy for Houston, Texas Judge Charley E. Prine Jr.?

Update on the William Flowers custody case - Is the unprecedented ruling in a child custody case by Judge Charley E. Prine Jr. possibly a political strategy? It could be because this judge has made it big! Google his name you will find his ruling in this case for the first 34 pages! Companies pay serious money for that kind of internet ranking.

Geoff Berg who heads Partisan Gridlock on Chron.com was the first person to break the news about Prine's ruling. To read the full article click here. The condensed version, Judge takes away William's access to make decisions regarding his children's medical care or extra school activities and here is the clincher...wait for it....wait for it...."..prohibits him from leaving any of his three children alone with any male to whom the kids are not related by “blood or adoption.” Why would the judge decide that this is in the best interest of the children? It's speculated that the judge in this case is "homophobic." At least that's what all those other news, magazine and blog articles say. William is a gay married man and Texas doesn't recognize gay marriages. He can't leave the kids at home alone with their step-father any more. Were the kids being abused? Not that there is any proof of. William was hoping for more visitation rights with his children. No one expected the WWF SMACK DOWN that was to come.

What do I have to do with any of this? Am I some sort of liberal Texan trying to change people's minds about gay marriages? NO! I'm a Republican, a parent, a Methodist, a married heterosexual (sometimes referred to as hispanic) female. I attend church service every Sunday and then a Sunday school parenting class with guess who? Yes, William Flowers and his husband Jim. I know all of their children (commonly referred to as the Fleven Seven). My husband and I both helped transport their children to camps and vacation bible school during the trial.

After watching the trial, the outcome and media coverage I wanted to put a different twist on this story. Many "bloggers" just cut and pasted Berg's article and hit publish. That's not what we real bloggers do! Most of us that care are ethical. Many of the stories don't even bother to interview or try to get comments from the judge. There are some that try to talk to the lawyers but really they have no clout to make changes. Nope, it's we the people and campaign contributors to Judge Pride.

There was an update to the decision! Ready? Update: on August 19, 2011, Judge Prine modified this injunction so that William is enjoined from leaving his children with any person not related to the children by blood or adoption.

That means not even I can help William in a pinch. He can't leave his children with me the straight, married, church going republican parent! I'm not related to the children by blood or adoption. William needs to appeal this ruling that goes into effect this very Friday September 9, 2011. The cost of the transcript is expensive and he is turning to the community for assistance. If you would like to contribute to Flowers’s legal fund, make your checks out to Flowers’s attorney, Stephanie Proffitt. Mail to: Stephanie Proffitt, 917 Franklin, Suite 100, Houston, TX 77002.

Would you like to come and support William? Bring your sign or your flash mob this Friday to 1115 Congress Ave 7th floor 9 am. 


Some of the comments about this case - 
Move out of Texas! - No you silly people this is where his children are! That would lead to having even less access to his children. 


I love the great state of Texas and we are NOT all homophobic Republicans. We live in a great state with supportive people. William and Jim are very good fathers and the people that know them don't have any problems leaving their kids in their care. Come on Prine! Make another update to this case that makes more sense. Don't you remember what it was like to have kids in the house? It takes a village!

Late Breaking News! - 

Special thanks to Ed's Flower Cottage for donating these 50 carnations for the protest that is being organized. The judge will sign the order September 9th.There are a few people who are planning on protesting this order at the courthouse at 8:30 a.m. The address is 1115 Congress, Houston 77002. Local media will be there to cover this grassroots movement. If it moves you please feel free to grab a flower and join in this effort.

Results of the protest here.

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#Parenting - What's That Sound?

 That is the sound of thousands of parents cheering on the 1st Day of School! Whoo Hoo!!!! My two boys are both in the same school. Little Miss Silly right there had her back pack on but she's not old enough to attend yet. Soon little one...soon.

First we dropped off our little guy. He's turning a whole five years old tomorrow! His sister sat down next to him and started breaking into the school supplies that were marked for someone else. She didn't understand why she couldn't stay there.

Next we dropped our oldest off to his class. Again his sister didn't understand why she couldn't stay with him either. We left with a very upset three year old. Like most parents out there I was worried about how their first day would go. Yes, I'm cheering because I'm down to one child but at the same time 2pm arrives quickly! You just never know what's going to happen or if they will like their classmates and teachers.

Of course I was worried for nothing. They both had a great day! The oldest was holding little brother's hand on the way home. He wasn't happy about me taking a photo of it either. lol - Oh well. I'm a Mom and it's part of the code! Must take photos at every cute opportunity. :)



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Mother & Son Bonding - Game Room Style

Today my son and I went to Main Event. Think of it as a huge play ground filled with fun stuff for kids and adults. They have pool, laser tag, bowling, putt-putt and tons of games! First he owned me on the hockey table. I really tried too but he won 7 to 5.

He would like to be a pilot and an army tank driver in the military when he grows up so he tried this flight simulator game. It didn't work out so well because he kept crashing the plane while trying to do all these fancy flight tricks.

Next we hit this game where we were on some covert mission together. Talk about stress reduction! I had so much fun playing. Games have come a long way since the days of Pac-Man, Donky Kong...etc.

Of course we kept swiping the card to continue playing the game. I had to stop because of time constraints but he was still going strong for a few more minutes! We were a great team. In fact I may have gotten a little too carried away! Look at those points...until next time.

If you have the opportunity to take your kid one on one to a game room go for it!

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Saving The Day

In my world full of little people voices, constant scheduling and cleaning up messes things can get out of order rather quickly! Our community offered to take a group of kids to the water park today and of course my son wanted me to sign him up. He was really upset that he had not gotten to go to one water park this summer. I did call and they told me that they were full! No spots were available and he was out of luck.

This week I sent him to Grandma's house to stay. Funny thing happened this morning, I received a telephone call from one of the counselors asking where my son was because they would be leaving for the water park in just a few minutes. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!????????? You mean to tell me that I already signed him up? I didn't type in my trusty Google calendar? I being the "Super Mutha" that I am completely dropped the ball? YES, YES and YES!

Option 1: Blow it off! Who cares, they already left without him. That money is down the drain. He's been a stinker any way and does he really need to go to the water park?

Option 2: Go get him, drive him there to meet up with the group, it's already paid for! You dropped the ball on this one Mom! You told him it was full and he already had a spot! Maybe he would be a lot nicer if he went to the water park.

Mother's guilt gave way to option 2. I broke records packing his bag and lunch, dropping off the other two at day camp, picking him up from Grandma's and racing to Galveston to drop him off. The counselors and I kept in contact through text messages. They were very cool about it! I got lost on the way back but still made it in time to hit my Crossfit work out. Whoot!

Maybe I should just have him keep his own calendar so he can write his own stuff down. At this point his 10 year old memory is much better than my declining adult memory.

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Tag You're It! - A New Twist

During our Mom's Group play date at church the children on their own discovered a whole new way to play tag. One of the moms had brought this mesh laundry basket to bring her kid's balls in. My little Silly decided it would be best served storing her inside! She took off running around the gym and much to our surprise it quickly became a game of tag!

They would catch her and the next kid would put it on and take off running and the big chase would begin. I swear they must have spent a good half our doing this. We just watched amazed that this was such a big hit! The next time you have a group of kiddos be sure to bring the mesh laundry basket! It's going to provide some serious fun.



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Take a Lap! - My Latest Parenting Tip

You may find this a bit bonkers but it's working over here in my world. Summer has been fun but it's come with a price! My ears have been aching with the sounds of shrills and whining! My head has been pounding from the constant she scratched, hit, pushed (insert verb here!) me. But wait there is more...he's copying me, he's annoying me etc., you get the idea! Any parent with multiple children would by this point.

Rather than the standardized forms of punishments which all end in me raising my voice and pulling my hair out I have gone the fitness route! That's right - "Take a lap I say." Run out your issue. It's possible you would see something like this if you were driving in my neighborhood.

She hit him and he had tattle told one too many times. If your going to tattle tale then someone should be in danger or you should be bleeding! This works really well because it's a circle and I can either make them run the circle or tell them to run to the white truck and back. If they walk they get to do it again! At first they thought it was kind of fun. They're not really thinking that any more.

This is one of those famous car rides! You know the one where they are constantly fighting in the back seat but there is nothing you can do because you're driving? I was on the way to some place and she kept hitting her brother. I asked her, "Do you wanna take a lap?" She said, "Yes!" So I pulled the car over into a parking lot and told her to run to a trash can and back! My boys were extra good from then on because they knew I had no problem pulling the car over.

Seems a little crazy don't you think? Well, there is still an entire month to go and yes clearly I'm a little crazy. As a matter of fact while I was writing this parenting tip to share with all of you it happened. My two boys came to me, one tattling on the other so I sent them both outside to "Take a lap!" around the circle. Here they are in their jammies running! My next door neighbor was backing out of her drive way being cautious not to hit them. I know she was wondering what the heck they were doing! Mind you the eldest is running with a television remote in his hands. Geez... I'm sticking to it! They are a lot nicer to each other afterward.


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Just Say NO! - To The 5 Second Rule

It began like this...So I'm parked on 146 in 5 o'clock traffic. Silly is passed out in the back and my gas light comes on. I figure I'll wake her up when we get to the pool. She starts coughing and then it leads to puking all over the back seat! Awesome. I turned the car around and headed home to clean her up. I'm thinking I just avoided a near death experience or something. The universe did not want us over at the pool today to swim with Karen.


I get her home, get her clothes in the wash and get her bathed. We eat a little sandwich for dinner and get ready to get settled in for the night. All of a sudden she decides she's going to go swim in the backyard. My phone rings. 


Is this .....Kramer's mother?
Yes...this is so and so from Twilight Camp, it seems your son has eaten a peanut M&M and his lips are swollen, do you want us to give him the Epi-Pen?
WHAT!??? Where is my husband?
Mam, we are trying to find him right now. Do you want us to give him the shot? 
OMG!!! 


All I hear is conversations regarding preparations of this shot and then I hear, "ok little buddy hang on!" And then I hear my little baby boy screaming, there is nothing I can do. My husband is there but there is nothing I can do. Immediately I tell her I'm on my way! 


I get my Silly and go to the end of the street for gas. I asked my husband to send me a picture (thank goodness for phones with cameras). He sent me this...

And so it begins.....what hospital do we meet at and what do we do with the other children. Immediately phone calls and texts are sent. We meet up with family to exchange kids while I wait for the ambulance. Finally it arrives and I go in the ER with my son. His lips are huge but he's dazzling the nurses and EMT folks with his address, phone number and mad counting skills. 
I told him, "You know not to eat the M&M's from the yellow package!" He said, "I know, it wasn't in the package! I ate it off the ground!" And everyone in that room cracked up laughing, and they told me "Come on Mom you can't be mad at him for that." Really? How can we expect our 4 year old to resist a bright blue M&M off the ground? *Sigh*


Many hours later we transferred cars and kids again and they released our little guy to go home! He insisted on keeping these sticker monitor tags.

These become very unpleasant when you take them off. We got phone calls from the Twilight camp folks. They will be sending a note home asking parents not to send their kids with peanut snacks. :( 

Sorry! The 5 second rule does NOT apply. He had to learn that lesson the hard way today. Thank you friends for your prayers and support.



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Summer Time Blues?

What is wrong with me? Summer time is quickly approaching and I'm not excited at all. In fact I've got the blues. I'm not looking forward to what is coming my way. I know that if I put it out there that it is likely to happen but then again I'm also a recognizer of pattern recognition. There are three kids coming my way and I'm not looking forward to the refereeing. I do that a lot already but now we can multiply it. Today the 2 year old wasn't cooperating at all. She didn't want to get dressed, she didn't want to go any where or do anything. She was tired and cranky. It's physically and emotionally draining.

I feel like I'm just now in a place where I put myself back on my own to do list! I have to work around 4 different people's schedules to get it done. Yes, working out has become vital to my sanity. When I miss a work out or have a "rest day" I eat poorly and I get really anxious and stressed because there is no relief. It's about 1.5 hours out of my 24 hour day and that 1 hour is spent driving. I just created a new schedule for myself and I am already have to change it. I realize that I have to compromise but it doesn't make it any easier. I have to refocus on what I can do instead of what I can't do, right? Am I alone here? Any other SAHM's got the summer time blues?




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HERRICANE SILLY - Chemist or Chef?

 My husband was cleaning off his desk which inspired me to do the same. The children were all hanging out watching a movie. Then I heard it, the sound of our bedroom door shutting. I knew it couldn't be good and it had to be that girl up to no good, again! Sure enough, I opened the door and this is what I found. Our bedroom floor covered in sugar.

This evening someone left the pepper out on the counter. As I was in the laundry room this is what she did with the pepper. When I came in the kitchen she was hiding under the kitchen table. Good lord this girl moves fast! And there goes all our pepper, literally down the drain. Do they make a chemistry set for preschoolers? They should!

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HERRICANE SILLY aka The Stealth Bomb! & The Pumpkin Pie

"Soapy, soapy, soapy!" she said. I turned around after responding to an email thinking she had gotten into the hand soap. No she had not gotten into the hand soap. There were big piles of this all over the floor. I opened up the fridge to find....

that she had gotten into the entire pumpkin pie! It had been in the freezer and my son had the oven on last night so I asked him to bake it. The pie went into the fridge to chill and look what she did to it! But wait, that's not all.....

she colored the television! But wait, that's not all....

she fed or colored or whatever this is to her Minnie Mouse! But wait folks, that's not all....

she spread it all over both sides of the couch. But wait there's more... I don't have any more photos but it was all over the floor and in the carpet. She did this in a matter of minutes. Never once did I hear her open or close the refrigerator. Clearly she was running back and forth having a great time. Lucky for me I was able to clean all of this up! It's taken about an hour but it's done. Now back to our regularly scheduled program. 


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