In a land of testosterone

As millions of moms with boys will attest, raising a gaggle of young boys is a major undertaking. Whether you have 2, 3, 4, or more boys, you know this to be true. I, growing up as an only child, was surrounded by girly things and girly problems. From dolls to makeup, emotional tantrums and tears, calling friends just to talk to enjoying having clean hands, my life went on as any typical girl's would. Although, to my parents' detriment, I had a horrible sarcastic attitude with a fiercly strong will.

Now, happy with my attitude and strong will, I see this displayed in my youngest son with a vengence. Although at this point he does not think I am completely ridiculous, he does display a "my way or the high way" disposition. Thank goodness for Garnier, who has made the perfect match of hair coloring for my head.

Boys are unbelievable, even at 4 and 7. The beginning of my day often begins with walking into their rooms and exclaiming, "what is that smell?". We simply cannot have many nice things as boys are tactile and tend to seek and destroy. They fight like cats and dogs, wrestle each other to the ground, can break a brand new toy within 2 minutes, expend endless amounts of energy, ruin pair after pair of jeans to holes in the knees and grass stains, keep feathers and rocks in their pockets, but are blissfully black and white. Their emotions are held on their sleeves and have sensitive egos, but they are not grudge holders.

I remember myself as a growing girl, and for that I am thankful that my days consist of Transformers, Super Mario Brothers, Soccer, Kung Fu, and even the accidents from faulty aim.

Unexpected goodies

Jansen is growing like a weed and can't seem to stay the same size for very long. He began the winter with a yellow coat that his brother used last year, and it is already too small for him only a month and a half later. Of course, in south Texas, we rarely need more than a good hooded sweater for the "winter", and when looking in my childrens' closets...there they are. However, this winter for us has been unusually wet and cold. So Jansen and I went on a mission to buy two new coats, one for him and one for me, preferably some that do dual duty for rain as well as cold.

We tried the Ross, JCPenney, The Children's Place, Target, and finally Kohls. Nothing for me, but ding, ding, ding....a huge rack of 80% boys winter wear. We found warm sweaters for $5.40 and his new all weather jacket for $10. That's right, TEN DOLLARS! WHOOHOO. We practically ran to the cashier.

Then Tuesday, I took my mom to the dentist, and killed some time at one of the thrift stores in town. Guess what? Brand new Adidas soccer cleats for Caleb for $1.00. That's right, ONE DOLLAR! Today, after I had my hida scan at the hospital, I went to the Bargain Box, because I love that place and I still hadn't found myself a heavy, all-weather coat. Yep, I found one! So excited am I. What was my grand total after leaving the store with: A women's heavy, all-weather coat, a new prayer book for Caleb (he LOVES to read), winter pajamas for Jansen (pajama day is Friday at his school), and a sweater for Caleb??????? My total was $9.20! DOUBLE WOOHOOO!!!!

Realized that I work best off a list. I keep a magnetic notepad on the fridge and write down things that we need and people's birthdays and such throughout the year and try to stick to buying only those things, and then look until I find it. Christmas, birthdays, and showers sneak up on people, so we keep a section of the closet for gifts I find during the year. Even though Jansen's birthday is in May, I usually find something early on sale in January and keep it until May. Every year, I use everything in that closet and then start in January building it back up. It's January...beware, I am shopping for deals! There are lots of babies to buy for this year! :)