Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes folks. It's my birthday today. I will not tell you how old I am. But I will tell you that I am the age my husband was when we met. Hmmm.

To celebrate my birthday I have decided I am going to do a post somewhat like my last post, giving you quick ideas that have come to mind throughout the day and week. But since it's my birthday, I don't have to do any special sorting or thought arranging whatsoever and can put them in whatever order, going forward and jumping back in thoughts whenever I want to.

Let's get started. My new hair-do. Remember Sally Field in "Steel Magnolias"? M'Lynn? Remember when Julia Roberts a.k.a. Shelby told Annelle to style her mom's hair into a brown football helmet? Well, after much consideration upon waking in the morning, my new do is just like M'Lynn's brown football helmet. Here's a picture of it fresh out of the shower for your viewing pleasure:

What led me to chop of my long locks you ask? Showering. Have you ever tried to shower with a baby in your arms? If you haven't, I highly recommend it if only for the exercise in problem solving. Your brain will thank me later.

Seriously though, I got sick of trying to find time to wash my hair. Washing your hair while holding onto a baby is quite the feat. I had to contort my body in all kinds of neat ways in order to shampoo, rinse, condition, and rinse without getting any in my baby's eyes or even on his skin for that matter (because I'm a little obsessive and ALL MY KIDS have funky dry skin and I am convinced that if a drop of my hair stuff were to touch him it would result in instant bad reaction).

And I was always wearing it up in a pony tail or bun, or something like that. Anyway, it was getting to be a nuisance. I love, love, love my long hair. Really I do. Every time we add a new member to our household I try and hold out as long as I can. Once I hit about 2 months I go crazy and decide to chop it off. My husband, bless his heart, always tells me how beautiful it is - even though I know he loves the long hair too. Thanks dear.

How come the second I sit down to write a post somebody needs me. That sucks.

My son spent the night at a friend's house last night. He called this morning to sing me "Happy Birthday". He sang me the "you live in a Zoo" version. Then he said, "You know you do live in a zoo Mom. You have 5 kids." That was cute and sweet. Thanks little Wobs.

My youngest son has spit-up on me twice since I started typing this. Yuck. Good thing I'm not planning on wearing these clothes later.

One of the homeschool groups my family belongs to has a monthly "Mother's Night Out" or MNO. This month it just happens to fall on today, my birthday. Yippi!! I found myself ignoring these opportunities to get out of the house last year. I thought it was silly and where were all these moms finding time to go out. I had better things to do. But this year, I decided to go to one. After the first one I was hooked and I absolutely decided that I was an idiot and a little pompous for judging the other mothers last year (sorry guys!).

They were onto something good. Getting out of the house once a month without your family (meaning without anyone who doesn't need you for a food source, nurslings are always welcome and mine definitely goes!) is a great way to take a break and recharge. It also gives you something fun to look forward to all month. And for my new venture into frugality, something to save for each month and feel good about rewarding myself with. This month is Japanese.

Frugally speaking, it was suggested to me by a friend of mine and fellow blogger that I add a new category to my blog entitled "Frugal Fridays" where I give you a breakdown of my savings for the week - good deals, good coupons, good garage sale buys, etc. I think she might be onto something.....

Anyone out there have a husband working nights? Anybody? I have a question just for you. Do you, or shall I say, does your husband try to keep on the "night" schedule on the days he has off, or does he stay up and get all screwed up on sleep just to spend time with the family? Which do you think is more beneficial/works better for your family and why? We are having a hard time adjusting to this whole Daddy works at night thing.

Thank you to the commenters from the last post. It is sooooo nice to get feedback and comments. And to know that someone is reading this. :)

I hope I didn't jump around too much for y'all (a little of my Texan beginnings coming out there).