Tuna Fish and Nap Time?

First, I had a request from my dear friend across the street that I need to remind all of you that my youngest that had the incident with the motorcycle a couple days ago, is in fact, only 4 so please think of that when reading.  Yes, a 4 year old that rides motorcycles, who would have thought?   Uh, anyone that has motorcycle lovin' boys!

Now on to the post of the latest antics.  Last night after returning from church I was so tired that I really didn't want to take two hours making dinner so I thought making tuna sandwiches would be perfect.  My kids have always loved my tuna sandwiches with nobody having an issue with it.  I even have a friend that says her son reminisces about the one time he had them here.  I personally think that is hilarious!  It has been a while since I have made them but I figured everyone still would love them like always. Well, I made up the sandwiches and placed them on the counter for everyone to come and eat.  This time there was one little picky eater that was starving and had been bugging me since we had arrived home, that refused to eat.  He sat there and moped.  Not only did he mope but he continued to have a "little" temper tantrum at the table.  This is not like him at all to actually have a temper tantrum.  He is picky but not to the extent of a temper tantrum.  I finally told him he could leave about 10 minutes after everyone else was gone.  His fit was because all of the sudden he doesn't like tuna and how dare I make egg sandwiches with tuna in it!  After all of that, he had the gall to come up to me a little bit later and say that he was hungry!  Really?!  You gotta laugh sometimes don't you?  (at least in your mind!)  *Just a side note:  I do not starve my kids we have an open kitchen rule in our home.  If you are hungry you can get something to eat yourself.  There is always fruit and veggies or anything else they can make themselves.  I just refuse to be tied to the kitchen ALL day/night long.*

This morning was a productive morning.  I was able to get some fun $1 Store shopping done!  Yay!  Actually, this is a weekly occurrence for me around this time of year.  I gave the girls in the Young Women's a challenge to watch General Conference and gave them a packet pertaining to conference to finish.  I know that they more than likely will only do 1 or 2 things but I prepared for a good result.  I picked up a few cute things like cute erasers that are the size of my hand shaped like cupcakes, little plush smiley faces in a few different colors, some Spiral Fat Books and a few other little odds and ends.  My biggest idea is to print out this cute little Personal Monthly/Weekly Calendar for the girls.  (I have no affiliation with her but I have just been a fan forever!)   I plan on purchasing it for myself anyhow so I thought it would be fun to print it out for the girls.  I will have to let you know if I ever finish it.  Ha ha!

Since I was able to get to the $1 Store, The Bead Source, and to Trader Joe's all by 12:00 I figured I better pick up my 4 year old before nap time so I wouldn't have to juggle with the craziness later.  Boy he was happy!  He doesn't "love" staying for nap time but will endure it for me when needed, (sometimes).  When I got to his preschool, he was standing by the door and saw me through the little glass window.  I could hear him say "See I told you she would be coming for me!"  Another one of those moments that you turn your head to the side and chuckle!  I feel so loved sometimes!  After we get into the car and all the way home, he was in his car seat singing "I didn't take a nap today!"  Thank goodness it is only a 7 minute drive home! 

So Mr. Four Year Old is happy and complacent at the moment.  He is sitting on the flour with his dinosaurs (that I got from the $1 Store!) and excited about the new Angry Bird toothbrush I got him too!

I almost forgot to post the tuna salad sandwich recipe that a friend of mine keeps asking for.  It really is simple.  Please keep in mind this is for 9 people (4 of which are teenage boys)!

2 large cans of white tuna (in water), drained
18 boiled eggs
1/2 cup mayo
6-8 stalks celery, chopped finely
1 medium onion, chopped finely
a few squirts of liquid mustard + about 1-2 tsp dry mustard
a dash of vinegar to give a little tang!

Serve it on whatever type of bread you have around.  I even make wraps with tortillas sometimes.

Yesterday was such a wonderfully calm and peaceful day.  My husband decided a couple days ago that he would take a few of the boys motorcycle riding.  So very early Saturday morning, they started packing up to leave.  They finally left around 10:00am. That is what happens when you don't prepare before hand.  Oh, well.  They were finally gone!  Yay!  My youngest had gone with Dad too, so I got to have a peaceful day.  I finished a blog assignment for History class and then did some research on some emergency preparedness information that I wanted to get for Family Home Evening on Monday.  Of course, during that time I also had to go on Pinterest and waste the remainder of my day.  That is right!  I took the day to myself.  The boys that were home are pretty self sufficient.  I don't know the last time that I have been able to just do what I wanted without little ones screaming at me and stopping me every 5 minutes.  It was pure bliss.

My husband and the boys returned home this morning.  My husband is so tired because the blow-up mattresses they took didn't stay blown up for long.  He can not handle sleeping on the ground so he didn't get much sleep last night.  He was walking around church feeling like a zombie today.  As soon as he saw me he had to tell me the most important story of the trip as quickly as possible.

So, my youngest son is a motorcycle maniac.  He loves motorcycles.  Every night when my husband gets home the first words out of my sons mouth is "I want to go on the motorcycle!"  Unfortunately, lately because it gets darker now the answer is no.  So he was in heaven getting to spend all day on his motorcycle yesterday.  As they were packing up the motorcycles into the trailer last night, my youngest was riding his motorcycle around.  My oldest was trying to teach him to change gears so he was in first gear riding in circles.  He kept on asking Dad if he could ride his motorcycle into the trailer to put it away.  The answer was obviously no because it is dangerous to do that.  My third son was in the trailer putting things away when all of the sudden they all hear the roaring sound of the little motorcycle going full gear up the ramp.  Luckily, they all thought very fast.  My husband starts running, my third son turned around just as the motorcycle was about to hit him, and the little motorcycle hit the back tire of another motorcycle, bounced upward to the point of the wheels being on the ceiling , my youngest was on the ground with a big thump on the bum!  My husband came so quickly that he was not down there more than a second.  My third son was left standing there holding a motorcycle upside down.  I am so grateful that nobody was terribly hurt.  My youngest just keeps saying his bum hurts but I think it is more like he remembers and won't forget.   So can you just imagine what my brain was doing as I am being told this?  I think it was screaming but I am not quite sure.  I am just so grateful no one was hurt.  What a typical maneuver on his part.  Once again, he didn't want to listen and knew what he wanted to do and did it.  Oh, am I glad they are all home safe and sound.

Yes, I have an interesting life

I am starting this blog to try to keep up with what is going on with my life.  But more importantly it is for a dear friend that says that I need to share with everyone about my silly life.  She just cracks up with what I deal with every day.  She says that I should be an reality show.  NO WAY!   I know you are probably wondering what would be so funny about my life.  Well, to say it bluntly, I have 7 boys.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I have 7 boys.  They are the meaning to my life.  I am a stay-at-home-mom so my boys are the nucleus of my life.  I am sure that most moms feel this way too.

I am loving being a mom.  I always dreamed of having my own kids when I was growing up.  I actually had dreams of marrying a surfer (which I did), having a bunch of kids, and living in a mansion.  Two out of three is good.  Well, the last one didn't come true but I definitely live in a large house but I am not sure if that is a blessing or not.  I have an awesome husband that I love dearly.  He definitely loves living in Southern California.  I have tried to convince him to move away from the crazy life of California but he was born here and will never leave.  He loves the fact that we only live an hour from the beach and 1 1/2 hours from the desert for motorcycle riding.  He is in heaven in Southern California.  I on the other hand think of it the quite opposite.  Do you know how hot it gets here?  Well, sometimes it feels like we are in a burning fiery place (if you get my drift?).  I also have a few other reasons to believe it is HE*double hockey sticks* but I will definitely not get political here.

Now on to my boys.  As I mentioned before, they are the center of my life.  Most of the things I do are for or because of them.  I do have a few things I do for myself but ultimately it is for them.  My oldest is 18 getting ready to go on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I try to ask him daily if he is still planning on going.  I just don't want to look like an idiot talking about something that he really doesn't plan on doing.  As of right now, he is planning on putting his papers in next month.  What an exciting adventure that will be.  He is a very well rounded kid.  He works in construction, goes to college (which we forced him to do), and plays Rugby.  Luckily, off season Rugby is finished finally but he still makes sure he gets with his friends and plays here and there. 

My second son is 16 and the complete opposite.  He is doesn't like sports, he doesn't like school, he doesn't like work in any shape or form.  He is a good kid though.  Everyone calls him "The Quiet One".  Yes, seriously that is his nickname from "outsiders".  Ha ha!  He just recently got his driver's license (which I think is a miracle that he got!).  He loves to play video games and to learn to play instruments.  He started with the piano (which I used to force my kids to do), then went to the guitar, back to the piano, and now he is trying to learn the drums, I believe.  I think he could be one of those that would be capable to play all instruments.  He just looks it up on YouTube and teaches himself that way.  He used to take guitar lessons now he just teaches himself.  He is in Gigmasters at the local music store and has been working hard for their performance next week (on my birthday).  He also is an incredible artist.  He has been an artist since he was a baby.  He loves to draw and he can draw really good anime or anything else he wants to.  

My third son is 15 and is a jock.  Yup!  That is his life, at least right now.  All he can think about is sports and weightlifting.  Augh!  He can be relentless!  He plays on the JV Football team at school.  He loves it.  He better because he has practice 6 days a week.  I think his most favorite part of football is weightlifting though.  He is so excited because he lifts more than most of the whole team and even more than most of Varsity.  He is so dedicated to weightlifting that he has gotten his younger brother and a friend to lift with him almost every night.  I always hear that the young men in our ward want to be like him.  Of course, I just laugh when people say that.

My fourth son is 13.  He thinks he is going to be an animator/special effects creator, film director, and famous YouTuber.  Yes, that is his ambition in life.  When he gets together with his friends that is all they can talk about.  When I pick him up for school he gets in the car and starts telling me what I need to buy for him.  Sometimes it could be 5 minutes before he starts up but it never fails to happen.  Of  course, most the time I just look at him and laugh because there is no way I am buying him all the things he wants or "needs" for his current endeavor.  I do morally support him though.  I listen and give him suggestions that he never listens to because I am supposedly very clueless.  He just cracks me up!  He is the one that works out with my 15 year old.  No, he doesn't need muscles and I personally think he is too young but he is 13 and just getting to be interested in girls so muscles is important to him at the moment. 

My fifth son is 10.  He says he is a miniature of my 16 year old.  He loves to play video games and watch YouTube videos about his favorite video games.  He also loves to run track with his friends but that is the extent of his athletic desires.  I personally think he could do a lot of different athletics but he has no interest of actually doing something outside the house.  When I think about it he really is similar to my 16 year old.  He is quiet (except when fighting with his siblings), he is amazingly artistic, he loves his video games and playing them with his friends (especially if he could have a computer that works for more than 5 seconds). 

My sixth son is 7 going on 20.  He is so talkative, bright, curious, non-stop-brain-working child.  His favorite thing to do in life is watch TV but even then he can not just sit there most of the time.  He is always jumping around the room and really getting into whatever he is watching at the time.  He is not one of those that can just watch a show, he has to get involved in whatever is going on in the show and he gets excited at what is happening in the show.  I will walk into the room and he will be jumping up and down and pretending to fight the bad guys like the hero in the show he is watching.  It just is so funny.  He is also my child that is definitely the most popular amongst all ages.  He really is so loveable.  Since he was born he has been one of those children that does not understand that not everyone wants to be his friend.  It doesn't matter where we are at, he has to meet someone new.  He never fails to "have a new friend".  We will go to the store and he will exit with a new friend.  He just is that way.  He wants to love everyone, even if not everyone will love him back.  He has a "friend" that he has grown up with.  This particular boy can not stand him because he is the total opposite personality but my son always says he is his best friend.  Because of his unique personality, his siblings all seem to pick on him even more than normal so that is a challenge in his life, the constant battle with his 6 brothers, but yet he still loves them all despite that fact. 

My seventh son is 4.  Yup, 4!  Augh!  Big sigh!  Finally, no more diapers!  You know there is that saying of "terrible twos", well most people don't realize there is the "thorasic threes"(my made up word meaning way worse then terrible)  and "ferocious fours".  Yes, well we are there.  The Ferocious Fours are an interesting part of my life right now.  Temper tantrums were never a big deal at 2 but when you get to 4 they are a different type of animal.  It doesn't matter the kid, 4 is always the age I cringe about.  I always hope and pray that my child will skip this horrible attitude stage in their life.  Well, being my last one, he has taken it upon himself to be more of a handful than my others at this age.  I might be exaggerating a little on this because most of my other boys were terrors at this age too.  But I digress, he is a sweet heart too.  It is this major swing from one extreme to the other that takes a toll on me.  He seriously can be the sweetest little boy and give me hugs and kisses and want me to sleep next to him ALL NIGHT long to being  a scary little monster that just came out of his hibernation chamber hungry for attention. He is in preschool this year which is wonderful for him and for me. 

Yes, that is a lot to deal with.  I might be tired all the time.  I might get no sleep and not even give myself time to take a shower in the morning (happens more than I truly want to admit), but I really do love my boys and the time I spend with them.  This is my Cloud Nine!