Chores, Chores, and More Chores

Mrs. Nurse Boy here.

Oh, how I hate chores. They seem to pile up even more during the summer when we are all home racing in and out of the house.

This summer I have been trying to train the kids to help out A LOT more around here. Do you realize how much work this is? The perfectionist in me can hardly stand it!!! I should redo most of what they do, but I simply cannot do that. (Except when they are in bed and snoring.) So, for all of my visitors this summer, I am sorry about the state of my home. Hopefully, they will be trained soon and I will have energy to do other things in my life.

And, I want to know where MY allowance is?!?! What special thing do I get to save up for this summer?

My Side

OK, I really do feel for Nurse Boyette at meal time. She is outnumbered by people who just want. They want a different meal. They want a bite of yours even though they are rejecting the same thing on their plate. They want another drink. They want another napkin because they dropped theirs. They want another napkin because they used theirs to sop up some spilled milk. They want another napkin because they just want two. They want more milk to spill again. They want seconds just as you have sat down for firsts. They want to say grace unless you ask them to say it. Some of them want to tune everything out and eat. Some of them want to talk the whole time, and are appalled when you talk with your mouth full. Women always say they are better at multitasking, but don't appreciate good multitasking when they see it.


All ground up in your mouth.


That's all I have to say about that.

Don't Ya Just LOVE Mealtime?!

Mrs. Nurse Boy here.

I have been trying to train my children during mealtime. Ya know: use your manners, take X number of bites of everything on your plate, don't grip about the meal, help clear the table, etc. As you may have guessed, it has been a struggle. I really am embarrassed about how they act at the table. And I cringe every time they eat at a friend's house. (Let me just apologize to any of you who are reading this and have entertained my children. Any of them. I am soooo sorry.)

So, last night we were eating dinner together. All was going well. Maybe that was because the kids actually liked the meal for once. Until Dimples started telling a story WITH HIS MOUTH FULL OF FOOD. I look at Nurse Boy, as if to say, "you take this one." Nurse Boy immediately corrects Dimples and tells him not to talk with his mouth full of food. Dimples and I start cracking up. You guessed it! Nurse Boy's mouth was FULL OF FOOD!

Honestly, I don't even know why I try.

Nurse Boy is a Liar!

You guessed it. Mrs. Nurse Boy here.

Ignore the last post... well, at least the statement that it will be the last post. We will keep posting. Well, I will. I am guessing I won't be seeing too much of Nurse Boy for the next 3 years. Well, with the whole working full time to support the family all while going to school. We know this decision will ultimately be rewarding, but it will be very challenging while we are striving for the goal.

(And we won't even talk about the financial aspect of going to school with 3 children. Sometimes that just seems so scary. But, I digress.)

It WILL be worth it! I really do look forward to supporting Nurse Boy as he follows his dream and his calling. I pray for God's grace and provisions through it all.

Ladies and Gentelman, I Have an Announcement

I just got accepted in the the University of Kansas Adult Nurse Practitioner program. It will take me 3 years to earn my masters degree and work full time while doing it. My next post will be in August of 2011. My kids will be 11, 8, and 5. My wife will still be 26. Hillary Clinton still won't be president. See you then.

Gussie and Dink

Today I went to the funeral of one of the most inspirational women I have known. Her name was Gussie. She and her husband were such a loving couple. When the little lady and I first started going to our church, we noticed Gussie. She and her husband seemed giddy to be around each other every time we saw them. We asked them their secret one night when we invited them to speak to our small group. There was no secret, they just chose to show the love they had for each other. I am so glad that she is able to show her love for the Lord in heaven now. I am heart broken for Gerald.

I spent some time with a widow yesterday who had a similar story as Gussie, only it was the husband that died. Her name is Florence. She still misses her husband every waking hour. I am so blessed to be around these people, and to have known Gussie and Dink.
I hope that when I die everyone will know how much I love Jesus, and how much I love my wife. I hope that someone can be inspired by my relationship with both of them, the same way I am inspired by these people. I am not excited about getting older, but I am excited to have the time to show my wife the love she deserves daily. To shower her so she can't help but to have it overflow on the people she is around. That is what we all experienced, and I can't wait for my turn to be on the giving end.

I love you little lady! I always will.

Where You At Nurse Boy?

I'm not sure why I blog. I think that when I am going through stress in my life I should be working it out through my blog, but that is not the way that I work. My good friend Chaos Jamie works that way, but I can't. I always feel like maybe I am letting my 2 readers down when I don't blog for a month...or two, but my wife and mom always seem to understand. I have lately been looking at changing jobs, and applying to go back to school at the same time. I am changing jobs partly because of my desire to go back to school, which is funny, because that is why I changed jobs in the first place. So funny my wife forgot to laugh. Anyway, I resigned from St. Mary's today, and accepted the Unit Educator position back at KU. I am waiting for either an acceptance or a denial letter from the KU school of nursing for the Nurse Practitioner program also. I was a little stressed through the application process for both school and the new job, which is a lot like the old job, only different. I am on an emotional roller coaster also. I am letting one place down, while being the hero at the other. I am praying to get accepted in school and reforming my identity in my head as an NP, but at the same time will be a little relieved if I am denied. The money part is unnerving. But the reward seems to be worth the risk.
I HATE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL!
I HATE CHANGING JOBS!
I LOVE THAT I HAVE A PHANTOM BLOGGER IN MRS. NURSE BOY!

Kids Say the Funniest Things! 2

Real nurse boy here. Bruiser has taken to seeing the world in extremes. Everything is either good or bad. Which means that if something that is good takes a slightly bad turn, it is suddenly bad. For example: Bruiser is swimming at his Uncle Kelly's pool, (it is in his apartment complex, don't think he is rich. Also that is his real name, feel free to cyber stalk is harry back end) and takes in a little water. O.K. maybe a half a gallon of water every 30 seconds or so. Anyway, he is having all sorts of fun, but when he does his hack, and pukes the pool water back in the pool, he then stated "I hate this pool!".

He says this oh, maybe 25 times.

To his Uncle Kelly.

He is not the most grateful child. He has been saying that about a lot of things lately. So I can assume you can figure out why I have not blogged in a while.

I hate this Blog!

Kids Say the Funniest Things!

Mrs. Nurse Boy again. (Maybe I should rename this blog. Nurse Boy seems to have sooooo much to say that he is simply unable to blog! Don't fear, he has A LOT going on right now. I think he is waiting until he future is more clear before he shares it with the internet.)


We took a dear friend to dinner tonight. She is simply the sweetest person and always makes a big fuss over our kids, which earns her even more brownie points. She mentioned how I should be writing down all of the funny things the kids say.

I don't really need to do that, do I? I am young and spend ALL of my time with them. How could I possibly forget the things they say? Some of the things they say even makes my face turn three shades of red, sometimes in front of my pastor or my doctor. I can only hope I will forget!

Well, it turns out that I have already forgotten many things. Tonight our dear friend reminded me of something Dimples and a friend of his said back in kindergarten. And, since I was hoping to do some light random blogging about the crazy things my kids do and say, I will share it with you.

I was driving my son's friend home from school when I overheard a conversation in the back of the van. Let me start by saying that the older kids at church were studying the Ten Commandments.



Friend: I know some of the Ten Commandments, do you?

Dimples: Yeah, let me think......... Oh, I know one!.......... You should never use the Lord's name in German.

Friend: Yeah, I already knew that one!



You just gotta love that!

It's Time for a Garage Sale!

Mrs. Nurse Boy here again.

I have a confession to make. I hate clutter. It sucks the life right out of me. Since we have three kids, it is impossible not to have clutter. Right now, it feels like I am swimming in clutter. I have two garage sales a year. Otherwise, we would be the next family featured on Clean House. I simply love that show!!! Those people are miracle workers sent here by the good Lord from above. They come into someone's home that resembles a dumpster (no exaggeration) and make it into a five star hotel. Amazing! It is so therapeutic watching that show. And, I must admit that Niecey CRACKS ME UP! What Nurse Boy doesn't realize is just how therapeutic it is for me to have these garage sales. I feel like I am taking back my house and adding to the household income at the same time. If you ask me, it is pure genius!

Nurse Boy HATES garage sales. I do love him dearly, but he complains the ENTIRE time we are preparing for the sale. The ENTIRE TIME! On the day of the sale he just can't believe the junk people buy. Let me just say, I am not a proud woman. I price my stuff to sell. You will never catch me telling someone how much I spent on an item and why I am unwilling to go down on the price. Did you say you were interested? Then it is SOLD! And, never will it enter my home again! Let us all rejoice!!! Man, I love garage sales!!

On the day of the sale, Nurse Boy will start counting the money every hour. As each hour goes by, he thinks I am more and more of a genius. By the end of the day, he is singing my praises. This happens twice a year, EVERY YEAR! You would think he could remember the whole extra money part from one sale to the next. Like I said, I do love him dearly.

So, we are preparing for tomorrow's sale at this very moment. I usually go through the kid's toys when they are sleeping or at a friend's house. I sneak in and clear out. This time I came up with what I thought was a much better plan. I would ask the boys to go through their toys and get rid of the items they no longer play with. I gave each of them a brown paper bag. I told them that if they could donate items they no longer use, I would reward them with some money to buy one new toy. Genius, right? Wrong!

Last night I went through their generous offerings. I found broken toys, trash, and pieces to toys we previously sold at the last garage sale. Wow, they are just so giving! On a positive note, they did clear the toy boxes of some unwanted trash.

So, here's to a great sale, making some money, and reclaiming my home!

What Gives, Nurse Boy?

So, I'll start by saying this is Mrs. Nurse Boy. Sorry to say, I am not nearly as funny, but my kids are! I noticed that Nurse Boy hasn't posted in OVER A MONTH!!! That must be sad for the two of you who read this. O.K., that might be an exaggeration. I think there is just one lonely reader out there. ( Hi, Dad!) And, since Nurse Boy hasn't blogged in over a month, I am guessing I am writing a letter to myself.

I thought I might start sharing this blog with my husband. I hope to share some of the crazy things my kids do and say. I might have my hands full and life sure can be frustrating, but my kids make me laugh everyday and keep me VERY humble! Kind of like my husband. ;0)

Yesterday, I had several errands I needed to run. Very BORING errands, if you are under the age of 10. At our third stop, I told the kids they could pick where we would eat lunch if they remained on their very best behavior. I don't even know why I set myself up. They seemed to be testing the boundaries the entire time while I kept the carrot dangling in front of them as we walked through the aisles of the store. Dimples was great, Sweet Pea was awful, and Bruiser was somewhere in the middle.

Before we hit the check out, I reminded them that they still needed to keep it together. (Laughable.) So, Dimples helped unload the cart and put the sacks back in the cart. Bruiser kept asking if we were finished and where we were going to eat. Will it be McDonald's? Could he get a toy? Did I know just HOW hungry he was? And, the precious little girl with the big blue eyes kept taking her shoes off and throwing them on the floor.

Just as I placed the last bag in the cart and picked up Sweet Pea's shoes for the tenth time, I began thinking about just how difficult it seems to be to get anything done with all these kids. Right at that moment, the lady standing in the check out behind us looked at me and smiled. She told me that my children were precious and beautiful. She said I was a very lucky woman. And, she had just witnessed their behavior! I was humbled. She is right. I made them spend all morning doing things they had NO interest in doing. They weren't THAT bad. They were bored children trying to hold it together (with the exception of Sweet Pea, who is two. Enough said?).

What she doesn't know is I am BLESSED. Luck has nothing to do with it. Nurse Boy and I make mistakes on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. But, God is so faithful. I felt God smiling down on me at that moment.

And, because my kids are human, I won't even discuss just how "precious" they were at the fast food play land.

They do like to keep me humble.

I am so glad!