As you can imagine, there’s a lot of interesting events, conversations and happenings in life with 6 boys. All of us have things we swear we’d never say to our children…and most of us have caught ourselves saying them anyway.  But recently I have discovered that there are quite a few things I have said in my term as a parent that I never in my wildest dreams could’ve imagined I would need to say.

So here’s just one of those things…..

“Don’t pee on your Brother!!!”

Have a great day

The conversations with the Twinks never cease to amaze me.

Waking up yesterday to Bugs insisting that everyone “Rise and Shine” as he turns on every light was mildly amusing.

Followed on his heels by Monkey announcing, “I don’t get an awwowance, and I don’t have a job!” *big Monkey sigh*

To which I replied, “well you are only 3 so it’s ok that you don’t have a job or get an allowance.”

Monkey: “Well, yeah, I’m 3-2 years old and don’t have a job or get an awwowance!” (he always says he’s 3-2 years old instead of 3 lol).

Well there’s no arguing with that I guess.

I have recently realized (though I have no idea why it took me so long) that my Twinkies talk non stop.  They are just little chatterboxes.

I could almost write a Dr. Seuss type book with their antics…something along the lines of “here, there and everywhere” would be involved because it doesn’t matter where we are going (or not going as the case may be) or what we are doing (again..or not doing) they will always have something to say about it.

I’m not sure exactly when they decided they know more than any of the rest of their family members…all of whom are older than them, but they are positive that they do.  Preschoolers that are unequivocally smarter than the rest of the world are a force to be reckoned with…or feared…or both.

This is the position I find myself in daily.  What crazy scheme will they try today?  Will they have a story to tell or someone to tell off?  Can I possibly keep up?

I have never questioned God’s sense of humor in blessing us with these two adorable little creatures, but that doesn’t mean that I always get it.  None of my other children were capable of getting ahead of me more quickly than these two.

And when there are two of them ahead of you, you are in trouble.

But I digress…

I talk a lot about their funny little sayings and their conversations.  Honestly though that is just a small portion of the interesting life with my twins.  There’s always the climbing of walls, seeing how quickly we can take something apart (or away from a brother) and the ever present search for anything artsy we aren’t supposed to touch without mom being right there to supervise.

These items include, but are not limited to: scissors, tape, crayons, markers, pencils, erasers, etc.

We recently had what I currently refer to as “the incident” with scissors.  Yes, the timeless tradition of cutting one’s hair was exacted by our loveable Bugs a little over a week ago.  Unlike most other children who participate in this ritual of preschoolerdom, my son decided to cut a perfect line, at scalp level, straight up the middle of his head instead of across the front.

He ended up with some sort of odd looking reverse mohawk…nothing short of hideous.  It took me far too long though to work up the nerve to whack it all off.  But I did and he is now a tough little soldier…still with a little baldish streak up the middle of his head lol.

Now the only thing left to do is take a picture and scrapbook it for posterity.  Because there is no way I’m letting him forget it when his son decides to do the same thing!  This is one of the beautiful things in parenting…I think I need to remember it more often!

Froggy Frugal Tip: Spread out your family’s clothing, shoes and household expenses.

It’s funny how you sometimes don’t realize that you have a great tip because it happens to be every day life for you…well, this is one of those times.  This time we’re looking at ways to budget in and spread out shopping for these expenses to help you save money and even time!  Keeping in mind of course that every once in a while there will be a sudden need (for instance if your sons decide to use your measuring cups in the sandbox then throw them in the creek when they are done with them – no, I’m so not speaking from experience *sigh*).

For those of you who want to move to the meat and potatoes of this tip and avoid all the fluffy stories and ramblings of Me, here they are:

• If you don’t already have it factored in, set an amount for clothing into your budget on a regular basis.
• Keep a running list of the items needed around the house.  Particularly kids clothes and shoes and kitchen tools (these seem to be the main things that need to be purchased most frequently).
• Check regularly for these items.  Either plan a trip to your favorite store (online or in your town) or peek at that list before you make a trip to a store like Costco or Fred Meyer and spend a few moments going through the clearance sections of that store.  I like the latter option only because it isn’t out of the way and doesn’t require any extra trips or time out of my schedule.
• Stick to the basics – what do your children really need?  Make a list of the basics that they need to have on hand and stick to that list.  It may seem simplistic, but for those of us who cannot afford (or for heavens’ sake, even have the room) for each of our children to have 5 pairs of shoes and 6 pairs of designer jeans, this is definitely the most frugal and sensible way to go.

A couple years ago I began purchasing clothing and shoes year round.  Now, for some families this is not a problem and they do this type of thing simply to keep their 2.2 children in the latest fashions, that is NOT what I’m talking about.  No, I’m talking about the fact that even though money is tight, we cannot completely rely on birthday and Christmas gifts to get them through the year (or a month for that matter), especially the children that are growing fast, or who happen to have a need.

For example:  a need when the child that has one pair of tennis shoes and decided to wear them outside to play one day and “happened” to stumble down to the creek…thus making said pair of shoes completely worthless as something that can be worn to go anywhere (well, they could wear them out, but everyone they pass would pass out from the stench).

Another example: our oldest son has been grown 8 1/2 inches in the last 2 years (5 inches from August ‘07-Sept ‘08 alone and he does most of his growing in Feb./March & July/August ).   Yup, AAAAAAH!  Trying to keep up with that human weed has been nearly impossible.  Add to that the fact that he is now a teenager and starting to have some definite ideas about what he’s comfortable in and what he likes to wear (style-wise).  So, if I were to try and purchase him an entire wardrobe, I’d be spending hundreds of dollars every 3 months…on only ONE of my SIX sons!

Every family is so different…in size and financial status…so it is impossible to give one set solution that will work for all of you.  I’m not saying that there aren’t a couple times per year that I do a little more focused clothes purchasing, but for the most part it will be completely spread out.

We do have a fair amount of hand-me-downs to go around, but depending on how many boys they have gone through (some of the clothes start as far up as my 18 year old brother and just work their way through the group) and how rough one particular boy may be on their clothes, there will always be someone that needs something.

Back to school is a great opportunity to get some basics and we have a pretty set list of things that we purchase for the boys at that time … but ONLY if they need it!  Otherwise, I’ll spread out the purchasing based on how often my hubby gets paid.

I shop at Fred Meyer almost once per week.  They always have some clearance on hand (actually, I think there is ONE week per year that they do not), sometimes their clearance is as much as 60% off.  I know that there are other stores that run great deals, like Kohls, but personally I have ONLY found good deals on clothing for my husband and oldest son.  I do not pay more than $20 to $25 on a pair of Sketchers (not that I buy name brands often, but it’s a good example of the savings when these shoes usually cost about $50)…but typically I don’t spend more than $10 to $15 on a pair of shoes period!  Know your store, they will almost always have the clearance clothing and shoes in the same areas of each department, so don’t even bother going to the other parts, just the clearance.  You can go through these sections every time you are at the store and pick up only the things your family needs and would love.

This is just one recommendation though.  Many people live very close to some great secondhand stores.  I do not, but my sister can almost always find brand new or like new clothes for her children at these stores!

I have been looking back at some of the old-old A Frog In My Soup posts because I have been considering re-sharing some of them with you…there are some really cute, funny and thoughtful ones that I think are worth looking at again.  Anyway, it’s been almost therapeutic for me to look at all of them, nostalgic even .

I definitely found some very fun old posts that I’m sure to share with all of you soon, but what caught my eye in particular today is one post written on Monday June 4th, 2007…here it is, then I’ll tell you why it is so significant:

Well, here we are another Monday has come and is almost gone! I am wishing for time to slow down! Does it? No! There are days that I simply have far more to get done than there are hours in the day. I know I’m not the only one though and I’m looking forward to summer – not that I get more time, just that I seem to give myself more allowances, go figure.

I have some super fun ideas planned for all the boys and hope that it will be a fun and productive summer for us all! Of course with the ages of the little people we have around here I am a little limited unless I come up with an amazing and yet un-thought-of bright idea.

I always have the boys do some workbooks through the summer, and this summer I am planning to mainly have them do scrapbooks – with lots of journaling. This is a great way for them to capture the memories of what they are doing from their point of view. I hope to take photos of various things that they do throughout the summer for them to use in their books and then they can write about the photo and event. Some of the entries into their books will include their own drawings of the events too. This should be fun for them (and me) to do and I am looking forward to the end result. I think they will be surprised and thrilled when school starts again next fall and they have a super fun book to show for it!

We will be investigating nature, hopefully go to the Zoo one month and maybe the Aquarium another month. I don’t have it all figured out yet obviously, but I’m getting a good idea. They don’t get out of school for a few weeks yet, so I still have time to finalize my ideas.

We have a couple of birthdays thrown in too, so I have to plan a family party for two and a friend party for one. Should be interesting since most of my creativity seems to still not have returned after the twins’ birth.

Now, I will once again reiterate that this was written almost exactly TWO YEARS AGO. The scary thing is…this post could have been written by me still today as I think of the summer before me. In fact, many of these same thoughts have been running amuck in my mind and was sure to become a future blog post.

Granted, the boys are all each two years older too, but the age difference from 13 down to 3 can still be very daunting when planning…the twins think there are no boundaries in life and make any outing a challenge.

Either way though, it was a little bit shocking for me (obviously) when I realized that in the last two years, though it seems like so many things have changed…some things really haven’t changed at all.  Apparently this is one of them!

Ok, and I’ll admit, re-reading the scrapbooking-the-summer idea, has me really thinking again!!!  Not a bad idea!  On the other hand, the statement that my “creativity seems to still not have returned after the twins’ birth”…yeah, that seems to still be the case *sigh*.

Do you have things or events in your life that seem to stay consistent even though you’re sure time will change them???

As the mom of boys I hear a lot of interesting conversations…sometimes between the boys and sometimes just one little boy playing imaginary play by himself.  Today it was the latter!

As I type this I’m pulling out a toy car and stamp from behind my back and it is barely past 7am.  The boys are all done eating, one is asking me where his shoes are (Salesman), one boy (Tater) is being the most annoying dog you can possibly imagine, and the Twinadoes have just declared that the bathroom is their secret office (yes, be very afraid).

But it’s the one that was just sitting next to me (Lion) that made me laugh.  As he held the stamp pad to his left ear (apparently it’s his secret agent ear piece) I heard, “Yes, you need to bring the jet pack.”  To which I responded, “but I don’t have a jet pack.”  He laughed at me and said “Not you silly!”

Well…I’m just so glad we cleared that up, because you know, it just isn’t on my mommies-list-of-items-they-must-carry-with-them-at-all-times agenda.

Now I must run and shoo a bunch of boys out of the bathroom before they throw something down the toilet and plug it up…again!

That’s right…nap time is becoming a BIG problem! The twins are currently going through a “difficult” napping phase – ie. they DON’T want to nap! I on the other hand survive on that one hour of relative peace each day, so naps are simply not optional!

They are only three and almost all of my children have napped until age 5…a little longer than some children I know, but very nice just the same.  The problem is that these particular two have never been great nappers, and they are not old enough to understand “rest” time which is the only other option.

So, let the creativity begin!  I have already separated them so they nap in completely different rooms.  The 5 year old occasionally seems to think it’s his mission to keep things in a general state of confusion by popping his head into a room where one of the little ones is napping.

The crazy part is that sometimes it’s like a conspiracy.  One will nap quite nicely while the other plays, romps and carries on in his designated nap-room.  When they hold these secret conspiratorial meetings is beyond me, but they do it…I’m SURE they do, it’s just too well coordinated to be otherwise.

So, I’ll continue being consistent with the naptime routine until they decide this phase isn’t worth it and they really do need a nap (which they do or they are absolute basket cases by dinnertime).  Have you ever had a difficult napper?

This Giveaway has ended!  The winner is #7 Autumn H.!  Congratulations Autumn and thanks to all of you for participating!

Finding the right Breast Pump to suit your needs as a breastfeeding mom can be a big challenge!  I didn’t use one at all with some of my boys, but when I had mastitis with our second son, when my third son had difficulty nursing and with my preemie twins it was an absolutely necessary piece of equipment.

There are many reasons why moms use breast pumps…for some it is a huge part of parenting their infant as they go back to work…for others it may be for as simple a reason as needing to ward off or get rid of mastitis or making sure you have enough milk left behind for a night out with your husband.

Thanks to Mom Central, my sister is currently using the Evenflo Comfort Select Performance™ Dual Auto-Cycling Breast Pump…I know that’s quite a long product title, but it’s an amazing little gadget for breastfeeding moms.

Before I passed it on to her though, I had to take a peek at it for myself and I was truly impressed that it looks almost exactly like the super expensive hospital quality breast pumps I used with the twins, but is available for about one quarter the price of the other brands.

Here’s my sister’s list of reasons she recommends this breast pump:

• Very comfortable and easy to hold
• Better than any other battery powered pump she’s seen
• Loves that it has the option of using the battery or plug, convenient for home or travel
• Easy to put together and use
• Cool bag to store it all in…really!
• Choice of using it as a single or double breast pump (each unit has it’s own individual motor for maximum efficiency and control)
• Suction control is VERY effective – offering a wide variety of levels to choose from for maximum comfort
• Pumps just as well as the priciest brands
• Puts her mind at ease because the bottles are BPA free and almost phthalate free… since it is best to feed baby out of the same container that you pumped into, this is truly a feature to look for.
• The Breast Pads did NOT leak through when other brands have!  My sister feels completely at ease about any leakage problems when wearing these in public after having a bad experience with one of the other brands.

I have the honor of being able to offer one lucky commenter the opportunity to win the Evenflo Comfort Select Performance Dual Auto-Cycling Breast Pump for themselves or someone they know who is (or is soon to be) breastfeeding! To enter, simply visit Evenflo’s breastfeeding page and take a look at the variety of products or check out one of the linked resources.  When you’re done be sure to come back here and tell me one (or more) of the following:

• Your favorite breastfeeding moment
• Why you’d love to win this breast pump or who you’d like to win it for.

Remember there are always many more ways to get extra entries…and I highly recommend taking advantage of these options based on the number of winners who’s extra entry was their winning entry (hint: the easiest extras are tweeing via twitter, blogging about it or submitting it to stumble or mommy blips!).

This giveaway will be available through May 13th, is open to US addresses only (sorry) and is void where prohibited! (more…)

Being home all day as a family yesterday was fun…a little strange since it was a weekday, but fun.

Yesterday evening, the Twinkies were climbing all over my hubby (our resident romperoom) and I heard Monkey suddenly declare: “Daddy, you’re the Man!”  LOL!  I was actually shocked…I mean where on earth had they heard that?  Hubby was laughing and thoroughly enjoying the moment of course, as I stared on in disbelief.

Yes, my Hubby truly is “The Man”, an amazing and wonderful one at that and I love him dearly, but to hear the little ones declare it out of the blue was quite the experience.

Oh, on a very different note… I wanted to mention that Hubby discovered the existence of Flip Video Camcorders this last week while we were in Cozumel…this discovery was apparently rather profound for him.  After the mom bloggy media blitz they did during the holidays, I kind of forgot about them and never mentioned them to him.

Some of the group members on the Cozumel trip had them though and were using them quite a bit and he decided they were quite the item.  Being the lover of technology that he is, he has decided that this is THE next gadget to have!  I on the other hand have known about them for quite some time and have been fine with my existence without one…

What do you think?  Do you have a Flip for your family?  What would be the benefits to having one for our family?

A couple of our boys are very creative and imaginative which tends to lead them down the path to some incredible dreams.  Some are wonderful, magical and amazing to them, others are scary and overwhelming.

End of last week our resident Salesman began this conversation:

Salesman: You know, it really stinks that you can’t smell in a dream.

Me: Really?

Salesman: Yeah, I mean what if you’re dreaming about cookies or doughnuts?  It isn’t the same if you can’t SMELL them!

Me: Hmmm…

At this point Tater picked up the conversation and … well … they ran away with the different scenarios LOL.  As I went howling to find hubby and express the importance of figuring out a way to include smell into the boys’ dream environment (HA).

This week is going to be a little crazy!  I will be posting about some great green products/companies this week, but I also have some interesting surprises for all of you as the week continues.  Be sure to stay tuned!!