Ben is stuck in my head

It rains here. A lot. Although I don't know if it's technically true, the rainiest months seem to be December through February.

Y'know the old addage April showers bring May flowers?

I know that and you know that, but I don't think I've ever taught my boys that! I'm sure they can get along fine in life without ever having heard that and some other sayings... but still, wouldn't it be odd to go through life without those useful and witty little proverbs stuck in your head?

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
The early bird gets the worm.
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Idle hands are the devil's workshop.
Fish and visitors stink after three days.

Do you have any favorites to add? Do you actually use these little sayings in the course of your day at all?

This reminds me that I need to check out a copy of Poor Richard's Almanack from the library. I can't imagine being Ben Franklin and having all those ideas and words swirling around in my head all the time. I think I'd go bonkers! (And yes, I do realize that not all of those saying up there are from my buddy Ben.) ;-)

Speaking of Ben Franklin, here are some fun books that we've been reading lately:

I scream, you scream, we all scream for...

TWO ice cream cakes!!! Yupperino, I did get me some delicioso ice cream cakes for my birthday. A decadent chocolate one from my friend Suzanne and a yummo cookies and cream one from David and my boys. Mmmmm....

And if that weren't enough, I got to go on another date with the hubs tonight! We actually doubled with another couple that we're really good friends with. So the kids had fun with a babysitter and we got to go play unlimited bowling, lazertag, pool and arcade games. Yeeeeehaw!

I think we might even be inspired to do date night once a month. As in a date that does not include *gasp* Sam's Club! It's hard to believe. I know.

So do y'all do date nights? If so, where do you go and how often?

And in other news, HOTM is having another giveaway-- this time it's Preschool Activities in a Bag. They are also still accepting nominations for their BIG Mother's Day giveaway!

So don't delay, submit today! You may just win if you'd but play. These bad sad rhymes just should not stay... not in this post, there is no way! Please make it stop, it's really horrid. If you're still reading, you must be bore-d.

Okay, I'm really stopping now... it's hard, but I am... You can thank me later.

Or not.

The day before

Did you know that today was the last day of our spring soccer season?! Well, it was and it! is! over! Yeeeeehawwww! I now have 3 weeknights and every Saturday back to myself... er, to family time together to bond and learn and all that family goodness stuff. :-)

And as if that weren't enough, tomorrow is my birthday!

I finally bit the bullet and conceded that my husband cannot read my mind. Oh no he can't.

So this year I clipped a coupon (because I'm frugal like that) and told him flat out:

I would like a birthday cake for my birthday this year. With candles to blow out. And not the cheesy number 33, but 33 blazing candles that will melt that ColdStone ice cream cake that I so desire. [because I'm not that frugal!]

I now sit here at the computer resisting the urge to look in the freezer where I just know that the cookies and cream ice cream cake will be waiting for me tomorrow. Because he really does like to please me but for some reason he can't read my mind and then forces me to tell him exactly what my expectations are.

Marriage tip for all the newlyweds out there: Your husband cannot read your mind. He doesn't love you any less just because he forces you to be clear and vocal about your expectations!

Off soapbox.

I can almost taste that cake now... I wonder if I can have it for breakfast. Mmmm... that would be a great way to start the day.

Look! It's baby Marsha when I was 3 months old!

I think I've come full circle now. Chubby cheeks and chin? Check!

bam! slice! into the pot!

I have always loved to cook. I did not inherit this passion for cooking from my mom. She was the baby of the family and has always hated cooking (although she can clean like nobody's business)!

While my mom can cook quite well, she just doesn't enjoy it.

My mom's mom, however, was an excellent cook! One of my favorites dishes that she cooked was crab soup. I have such fond memories of her chopping the crabs in half with a butcher knife. Every once in a while, one would escape and scurry across the kitchen floor. It didn't take long for her to jump up and catch it again-- then bam! slice! into the pot! She was like superwoman to me as I watched in awe while the crabs would pinch and scratch at her hands. She never flinched. She showed no fear. *sigh* I miss her.

Another great cook in the familia is my grandma on my dad's side-- lovingly referred to as G-ma. G-ma was always kind enough to let me help her in the kitchen... mixing, frying, grating, stirring... I wish I had a picture of us in the kitchen together, but I'll spare y'all the circa 1990 photo that's floating around my computer somewhere.

Did you learn to love or hate cooking?

My sibs

I have 3 sisters and 1 brother. Growing up, we were the "unusually large" family that people stared at.

It is kinda funny that now, in my church and amongst my friends, I "only" have three children. And even if I had five kids, we wouldn't exactly be turning heads or anything-- although if I had 5 BOYS, we might! But alas, I only have 3... sniff, sniff...

(I find it odd that just because I have three boys, people assume I am disappointed and that I should keep trying for that elusive girl. Ummm... yeah... no thank you, I am not anti-girl or anything, but there is room enough for only one QUEEN in this family, and that's ME! hehehe But that's a rant for another day...)

From left to right, Bobo (Debbie), Lele (Leah), Stephen (nickname varies according to mood-- hehe, j/k!), Marsha (no fun nickname, although I was called Nerd and Dragonlady a few times), and Coco (Christine). This was taken at my mom's 60th b-day party... hence the Korean dresses. It's not what you would normally find me wearing to Target or Kroger or something. And is it just me or do I look prego in that dress?! Agh!

Loving me more than hating coffee

For as long as I can remember, I have always loved coffee. When I was little, my Korean grandmother would always let me have some of her coffee-- dark coffee with lots of sugar. Mmmm...

I still have a great love for coffee. Sure it gives you bad breath and stains your teeth, but it. is. so. worth. it.

My dear husband who hates the mere smell of coffee has always indulged me in this area. When we first met, he gave me a coffeemaker and a very special mug for Christmas. This was back in the old days, so specialized mugs with pictures on them were VERY hard to find! He looked for weeks for this thoughtful gift for me.

And look... it said "Marsha Drews" on it! I loved it! Perfect gift when you're engaged, right?





Over the years, he has continued to indulge me in my passion for coffee. He even let me have this very special coffee nook in my kitchen.

So baby, I am sending you a kiss (after brushing my teeth, of course)! Thanks for loving me more than you hate coffee!

The verdict is in...

I am GUILTY!

I have been found guilty of expecting too much and being unrealistic. Expecting...

Too much from my curriculum-- it's supposed to make our lessons easy! and quick! and perfect!

Too much from my morning cup of coffee-- it's supposed to give me the energy of a 5 year old boy that's hyped up on sugar... and give me the endurance of a marathon runner.

Too much from my husband-- he's supposed to read my mind and never have a bad day.

Too much from myself-- I'm supposed to always have it together, never lose my temper, wake up at the crack of dawn and have white-glove-clean baseboards (HA!).

To make things even worse, ...

*****

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TIMBERRRR!!!

My husband is a handsome man, a manly man, a handyman and now a lumberjack. His shorts, however, are just one thing: distracting (and I'm being kind by limiting it to that one word).

So try to look at the giganto tree crashing down to the earth and not at his bright red shorts running across the yard.

Pretty cool, eh? I'm glad no one lost a limb or head over that.

I hope his future wife will thank me some day

The other day, 3yo Dozer and 8yo Dash ran up to me and gave me a big hug.

I looked down at them and said, "I love my little squirt. I love my big squirt. And medium squirt (aka 6yo Tank) is still taking a nap."

Dash gives me another big hug and says "And you're a long and skinny squirt!"

And because I want him to elaborate and to make sure this would be a compliment instead of some sick form of potty humor, I ask him "What do you mean?"
He says, "Because you're long and skinny, mommy!"

Oh, I just love that boy! He has a great attention to detail. :-)

The next day, even though he woke up waaay too early, Dash brightened my day when he was doing his language arts worksheet.

He had to go around the house and find examples of the antonyms on the page. For example, "Ugly & Pretty." For ugly, he put his little brother Dozer. Okay, so that wasn't very nice. But for pretty, he put "Mommy". So I guess I'll let that first part slide this time.

Yup, I'm educatin' him real good like for his future wife. Not only can he dish out breakfast in the morning but he is really good about dishing out compliments as well!

When being a mom isn't enough

Some interesting food for thought by Amy Hollingsworth. Click HERE.

Not too ugly chickens

April showers...

In Time of Silver Rain

In time of silver rain
the earth
puts forth new life again,
green grasses grow
and flowers lift their heads,
and over all the plain
the wonder spreads
of life, of life, of life!

-Langston Hughes

*All of these photos were taken at Great Grandma's house. :-)

It was warm here

It's been in the 80s here all week. This is how the boys cooled down after soccer this past Saturday.

It's a chilly 54 degrees with rain right now... but tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and 78. Not quite sprinkler weather anymore, but it'll definitely do!

Great Grandma's are like that

The boys and I stopped by to see David's grandmother on our way home from visiting my folks last week. She lives in a very small house in a very small town. But her heart is quite big.

She also makes the best angel food cake EVER, has a green thumb, is a sewing genious, plays t-ball with the boys, has a super fun tire swing in the backyard, has vintage toys that have survived generations of boys, and is SPUNKY. Oh yes she is!

Okay, I know the boys look orange here, but they are not sunburned! It's just a horrid picture with the background being SO BRIGHT and the boys being so dark. I tweaked and then I got tired and now they're orange. I've decided to give up now and just let y'all use your imaginations to make them look more normal. And while y'all are at it, just pretend that they act normal too, okay? ;-)

Having Dessert First

I don't know about you, but I am a Type-A kind of girl. And no, it doesn't mean that I am an A+ excellent home educator and on the mommy-honor-roll with my kids proudly proclaiming it with a bumper sticker on their bikes!

Reality would more likely show me to be an overbearing, over-scheduled, checklist loving, rule following drill sergeant! At least that's how I'm naturally bent. Or was today anyway. When the troops... er, my children don't keep to my schedule, follow all my rules to a T, and allow me to merrily mark off all the items on my checklist, let's just say it gets pretty ugly around here.

To READ THE REST of the story, please follow me to HOTM...

My niece and nephew

Why is it that people say niece and nephew but not nephew and niece? I guess it flows easier with niece first for some reason. But I digress.


I just wanted to share a picture of my nephew and my niece with y'all. Nephew first because he's older and I'm just used to putting the oldest child's name first when I'm writing. You can blame my older sister for that.


Anyhoo! These pics were taken by my sister on Easter Sunday. I've been playing around with my new Photoshop Elements and tweaked them ever so slightly.


This is Benjamin. We call him BenBen (we as in the boys and I). He is a month younger than Dozer and love sticks. He is a true BOY.

My sister and I grew extra-super-dee-duper close when we were prego at the same time. It was so nice to have someone to talk to twenty million times a day about big bellies, feeling tired, FOOD, puking and all the other fun prego stuff. My other non-mommy (so far) sisters would've disowned me before the end of my first trimester-- or at least blocked my calls!

Back to BenBen now... BenBen speaks very clearly and has beautiful hair. He and Dozer are great buddies. I really wish we were neighbors. (HINT HINT)

This is Emily. Em is almost 2 years old. So far, she is the only niece in the familia. She is woefully outnumbered by my three boys plus her brother. I think she likes it that way though.

Needless to say, with all her aunt's and their penchant for retail therapy (I've got three sisters and a brother) she is always fashionably and beautifully dressed. I don't know what it is about that funny face she's making, but I just LOVE it!