For the love of money

While perusing the local Marshall's Rowan fell in love w/ his first Piggy Bank. I personally think it's odd to buy something to put money in. I mean if you're actually trying to save money & start collecting change it's weird to already be in the hole because you had to have a ceramic pig/baseball. But try telling that to a toddler. So when we get home with Piggy Bank Rowan is all about finding "monies" to shove in the appointed slots. Couches, my purse, under the sink? Nowhere is safe. Seeing the desperation I let him know Daddy's closet has lots of change on the floor. **backstory** When I married Greg & moved in we discovered a box in a closet from college. Apparently he "forgot" he had a BOX w/ $700.00 worth of change. I know. I know. Greg is a change magnet. Seriously. So upon entering his closet I hear "Monies, monies everywhere" in the most excited voice. Rowan's chubby little hand can't keep up as it will only...grab..a...few..coins..at...a..time. Frantically grabbing every nickel he asks for help. (You must know that Greg has change in his pocket, it falls on the floor & he doesn't pick it up. It's an odd game we play. He also leaves real money in his pocket & I find rolled up bills in the dryer ALL the time. I do get paid to do the laundry..ha ha!!) So I decide to help all the while realizing the cool stuff I can get w/ this Pandora's Box of change. I'm so not above dumping change in that green thing @ Walmart. I know it's our money to begin w/ but it's "free money". Leftover money. Now a couple times a week you will see a blur of legs & the rattle of metal against ceramic pottery as Rowan plunders his untapped resource. Happy kid check. Full Piggy check. Clean floor check. Win win.

Friday fillins

1. Oh, I am so thirsty!

2. My waist changes, big and little.

3. During sleep, I wake up.

4. Grey's Anatomy; are you kidding me???

5. Right now I'd like to be not coughing.

6. A straw is my favorite gadget.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching a movie w/ hubby, tomorrow my plans include something outside and Sunday, I want to go to Church!!

What's new & what's that smell?

This week my kids decided to finally share w/ each other. They decided to share their colds, bronchitis (RSV) & other funkiness. Gotta start somewhere though, right? Reid & Reagan went back to school today & so Rowan is back to being the Lone Toddler. He's handling it well. I think he finally understands brothers gone= get any toy for extended amount of time. Took him long enough. I have it now but I'm fine because as we all know as an adult I can take Dayquil. This stuff is AWESOME!! Even though I'm sick the laundry's getting done, toys are being sterlized, etc. I'm such a weakling Benadryl knocks me out like GHB. So it's no wonder this stuff has me climbing the walls. Kinda nice though so whatever. At least I'm not sitting on the couch w/ a fever, cough & death wishes anymore. After all this is done I may even have enough time/energy to tackle that smell in the car. You "real" moms know what I'm talking about. At 1st you ignore it. It may just be from outside (yeah, ok). Then you try to think back..what did I let them eat in the car last? Next is the ignore phase. During this phase I llike to use Lysol, Neutra-air & an assortment of other cover-ups. Then as we all know comes the last phase. Your kids notice & the sun has baked the smell into your seats. Hazmat called & said they're not coming this time. So, it's up to us to dig under coats & toys to find it. However, I'm high not stupid so Greg can handle it when he gets home.

My Kryptonite

We're home from the hospital. Reagan was treated w/ a super-duper cocktail of steroids, albuterol, rocephin, fluids & oxygen. He's feeling better & now Rowan is sick. The only reason I feel ok about it is that I now know exactly what to do for him. I'm ok w/ all illness except when breathing issues are involved. Blame my traumatic youth in which my younger brother was life-flighted 2 times in front of me & was always having these horrible breathing issues. Eventually he got a pacemaker & all was well. But the lingering helplessness has affected me apparently because that's a soft spot for me. I'm impervious to vomit, fever, the runs..whatever. But respiratory distress of any kind is my Kryptonite (spell check for all you sci-fi fans?). It makes me nervous & very unsure of what to do next. Reagan turned a very funky purple-gray color. It wasn't blue so I thought ok..we're not that bad off. Not true. Purple-gray is bad. I guess I wanted the movie style "he's blue" type scenario. His lips & eyes were purple around the edges & he looked very pathetic. I figured instead of the very dramatic ambulance call I had time to get him there myself. I threw him in the car & drove to the ER. Greg was already home because I'd called him. He was taken back right away because by the time we got there he was vomiting & had worse color. After they checked his pulse & Oxygen (one too high, one too low) he was taken back right away & all was good. Usually I cannot be shaken w/ my kids. With Reid I learned early they look to me for assurance. I remember when Reid was at Shriner's & they had to scrub him every day..I was a rock. After everything was over I'd go in the hall & cry w/ all the other parents but during that I was in the moment for him. Encouraging, strong..you get the point. But this time I felt very...out of control & nervous. Especially when his Oxygen kept going below 90. The magic # is 92 they said. When it went all the way down to 88 I felt so helpless. I found out my kids can burn their hand practically off, cut their eye open & have surgery in front of me, & whatever else. But having a breathing issue is out of the question. I hope they listen.

Friday Fillins

1. Enough with the Mrs. Oprah Winfrey. Someone has a big head these days..

2. Cheese causes me to be conflicted.

3. I've been craving an Icee..wierd I know.

4. Chelsea Handler makes me laugh...even though it's so wrong!!.

5. I wish I could go to the outlets next week.

6. Physical Fitness has been on my mind lately.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a nice run, tomorrow my plans include baseball tryouts and Sunday, I want to chilax!!!

I should obviously be writing about Reagan being sick. He (we) were up all night using the nebulizer. His fever has been up to 103.4 & he's miserable. He has the flu & the Croup. We all know about the sick kid stories..nothing new. On the way to the Pediatrician's office this a.m. they were late opening so we went to Target. Before you berate my parenting skills let me preface by saying it was early, nothing else was open & Reagan was riding in the cart. Anyway, I made my way around to the Children's section & the Universe decided to pay me back for it's unfairness. The back story is I buy nothing unless it's on sale. Like %75 of sale. It's in my DNA. So, the rack said %50 & I wasn't gonna look EXCEPT that I saw the orange tag & the entire section said $1.24!!! What?? Holy crap. All their kid t-shirts, sweat shirts w/ hoods, w/out hoods, long sleeve shirts, jackets, pants. were on CLEARANCE!! Nothing was over $2.48. I filled the basket w/ all my new found treasures. Even in my clearance haze I remembered to buy a few bigger sizes for next year. (I'm no rookie) I then thought enough to go to every dept. & check it out. Men's was the same scenario. So Reid got ALOT of shirts & those cool sweat-shorts that are super comfy. They were $2.78. CRAZY. I got 7 huge bags full of clothes for under $50.00!! Reagan was very happy too because there was a nice, comfy robe for under $3.00 that he got to wear right away. Thanks universe. I feel better & the robe was a nice touch..

Dinner Dilemna

Lately dinner with Rowan has been a struggle to say the least. He's always "full of eating." Tonight while everyone was enjoying my broccoli-rice casserole he was protesting. About 10 minutes into dinner Reid hands me my cell phone & walks away. A second later it rings & he asks to talk to Rowan. Rowan gets on the phone & his eyes lit up. Reid is acting like his most beloved character..Thomas the Train. First I'm shocked because that's a pretty great idea. Second, I'm impressed because this may work. Third, when one sibling goes out of their way to help another is a parents greatest accomplishment. Only Rowan's not buying it. He's telling "Thomas" he's full of eating" & he can just buy more trains. The 3 yr. old naivety has worn off. He starts pumping "Thomas" for info & sadly Sir Topham Hat needs him for something. Reid came back in the kitchen so pleased with himself I hated to see his plan not work. Promises of ice cream seem to fall on deaf ears so we had to resort to the last tactic we have. He can't get up until he eats 3 bites. Hey, it works on Super Nanny. 10 minutes later he's had his 3 bites & all is well in the Howard home. But I must say that was the most entertaining dinner we've had lately.

Our weekend

We had friends over, football games, 1st black eyes, Monkey Munch, baseball registration, homemade hamburgers. Just great, stay @ home fun. We usually try to "find" something to do. We barely left the house & had so much fun. Busy, but fun. It was awesome to not have to pack everyone up & go somewhere. You get the point. I'm soaking it up since baseball starts soon & we'll never be home. So hopefully I'll have a more interesting post tom.

Cookie

Reid & Reagan went back to school this week. You can't hear it but in my head the Hallelujah Chorus is playing. Rowan, however, is not happy. His playmates are gone. The house is a little more quiet but bubbers ( that's what we call Rowan) is so lost during the day. So we went to eat lunch w/ them @ school. Before I even saw Reid's class Rowan was already running down the hall & was wrapped around Reid's leg. Reid scooped him up & they were both so happy. I admit I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt. We ate lunch w/ Reid. He even shared his ice cream w/ Rowan. That's a big deal in brother-land. We saw Reagan for a while & then it was time to go. On the way out Rowan got bummed again & asked if we could all come home together? I promised we'd see them soon & he asked if we could wait. Now keep in mind these are all the same kids that were willing to duke it out over the last bit of Honey Nut Cheerios this morning. My Mom radar is going off a little bit. Finally I gotta try.

"Bubbers do you miss Reid & Reagan?"
"Yea-I miss Reid."
"Just Reid, not Reagan."
"Uh-huh."
"Why?"
"Reid gets me cookies."

Apparently last week while I was busy doing whatever, Reid was the chocolate-chip supplier.
After school I got the whole story. Whenever I would tell Reid to watch Rowan while I took a shower he had to stop playing his video game. One day he asks Rowan if he'd sit still on his bed while he played a game...for a cookie. Of course he did. Reid said after that Rowan would just walk up to him & say "cookie." Reid said it was so cute he would get him one. The cookies are on the top shelf of the pantry now.

Witching hour

So, in my family the "witching" hour is right before my husband gets home. It's past snack, before dinner, boredom has set in & I have no energy left. What is it about 4:30-5:00 that makes me wish tranqualizer guns were legal? I wish I had it in me to be June Cleaver. I would have dinner ready, kids clean & a cute outfit w/ matching apron on to greet my spouse upon arrival. Sadly, it's more than the opposite. It's like the evil twin of opposite. Kids are crazy, I'm checking the clock every minute & Greg is always stuck in traffic. My kids are allergic to the couch @ this hour because watching a show is not possible. Suddenly they have standards. The same kids that beg me to watch a moronic, talking sponge now have opinions on different shows. Amazing. After the 38th "No more snacks, get off your brother, get outta the kitchen, quit jumping on the couch, off the couch, etc" Gregs home & I breath in a sigh of relief. He's like my WWF tag team partner. Just when I'm about to get smacked across the face w/ a chair he tags in. Now I can go to the bathroom, put laundry up w/ my ipod on so I can block out the "noise" & various other things I can never get done for some reason. If I'm lucky we'll need something from the store.

Getting to know...me

My name is Terra Howard. Wife to Greg. Mother to Reid, Reagan & Rowan. We also have a dog named Merphy. She is a girl but that doesn't count because she can't eat chocolate w/ me & doesn't have to shave. I love to write. But I write like I talk so if you're the draft checking type you will find your quota of typos here...have fun!! Everyday I find myslef in situations that are...unique. Boys are beautiful creatures. But they are no doubt born little men. Stinky feet, farts, food intake are just everyday topics for me. I endure because that's what a Mom does..right? I gave up having nice furniture & delicate little things 3 years ago. It's no match for indoor baseball, running, throwing & not catching. Maybe one day. (insert sigh here) Whoever I can rope into reading this will learn about Reid. He's my 9 yr old son w/ Asperger's. My hero. My 1st son that I've learned so much from. Reagan, my 5 yr old that is the daredevil, rockstar w/ the biggest heart. He's my easy one. Rowan is my 3 yr old. Who knows what he will be. 3 yr olds change like the weather in Houston, every 5 seconds. But I anticipate he's unique. He's everything his brothers are not & more. I honestly haven't figured him out..but I can't wait to learn. Greg is the poor guy caught up in the middle of all this madness. I love him for everything is & more for what he's not. He's smart, funny & dorky. I love it!!! He saves me & the children everyday. Literally. I hope to keep up w/ this blog for the memories & for the personal gain.