Minus two for July

  So, my parents came from NY to take my two oldest children to stay with them for a month. They left yesterday morning and I won't see them again until August. This is my husband's dream come true. While it sounds like a nice vacation to only have my youngest boys I am actually quite sad. Besides the fact that I still have 3 kids to babysitevery day and no real "break" anyway I miss my daughter so much. Now, obviously I miss my oldest boy but as he has reached "teenagerhood" I actually need a vacation from him. Although, I'm sure I'll miss him after a while, it is a bit of relief. Not having someone to cop an attitude at me, talk back at me, roll his eyes and correct me because he so obviously knows way more at his age than I'll ever know. I used to be the "cool mom"... but I digress.
  My daughter however, is only 11 and not quite at that level yet. She is extremely intelligent and very mature for her age but not yet clouded with the hormonal storm of puberty. Plus, as my only girl we have a bond that none of my boys will ever really have with me. It's a girl thing. She is my most helpful and responsible child and basically my best friend. My husband and I work opposite hours to keep our kids out of daycare and the rest of my family is hundreds of miles away, so she is really the closest person to any adult family member I have to talk to. And every week we watch America's got Talent together and she shakes her head at me in embarrassment when I cry. Lol. I had to pull myself together when talking to my husband on the phone yesterday after explaining that I already missed her. I nearly lost it, but I pulled myself together by reminding myself that it had only been a few hours since she left and if I couldn't make it through a few hours I'd surely be committed in a week or two.
  The house seems so empty and I haven't yet mastered how to scale down from cooking for a small army. The small toilet paper roll has lasted so long, and there hasn't been a shouting match between brother and sister in over 24 hours. I have taken over walking the dog and feeding my daughter's kitten and the dishes aren't overflowing in the sink like they would be by this time. Toys are still strewn about the house but no one is here to help me pick up. I should be grateful, I'm sure the kids are having a great time and boy, am I going to save a lot of money on food this month. Still, it's just a strange feeling not to have all my children here with me. I guess I'm just going to have suck it up for the next five weeks and remember how much I am missing them next time they drive me nuts.

My kids, nicknames and a bit about them

  The qualification for having a mom blog is first and foremost, being a mom. So, of course I couldn't have a mom blog without my kids. They are ultimately my main source of joy and also my main source of torment, especially now that my oldest is a teenager and my second is headed that way. So, in order to include them in my blog, I suppose I should give them some handy nicknames. Well, I have no idea what names to use because a lot of the good ones are taken. I pretty much already have nicknames for the two little boys but my older two are much harder.
  My daughter, my only daughter well, she could certainly be Judy Moody if that wasn't already a popular book and upcoming movie or Debbie Drama most days lately. But beyond all that preteen hormonal drama she is really my biggest helper and she is more responsible than even my oldest. She is always there to lend a hand with the little ones or help clean up, and she always wants to be close to me and imitates a lot of what I do. I think her blog nickname will be "Mini-Mom". My oldest son is at that age where he thinks he knows more than me. He has it all figured out, as most teenagers do. But, I will say that at least he has goals. He wants to join the Marines when he is older and he wants to be a psychiatrist. He loves all things military related as well as magic (he does some amazing things with a deck of cards) and he plays the drums and guitar very well. I am thinking of donning him with the nickname "Soldier boy".
  My three year old has earned the name "The destroyer" since he was old enough to move around on his own. If it can be taken apart, spilled, ripped, dumped, broken, shredded, or crushed, he will or has done it. He just enjoys it. Maybe he will be a mechanical engineer one day. He is also very cunning and shy as well as verbally expressive. The things he says have us rolling and we can never stay mad at him long. My little guy, our very last (unless God has other plans) has always been "Baby Dude" due to the way my Destroyer pronounced his name from the day he was born. It was so cute that it stuck and he's just Baby Dude to us. He has quite the personality, this little guy, he loves to make us laugh and he is always trying to get a chuckle, whether with faces, dances or sounds. He loves attention and he definitely has his ways of getting it.
 So, that's some quick info on the ones that call me Mom. They drive me crazy, but I wouldn't trade them for anything!

(Hardly) Super Mom

I am a working mom of four children (five if you count my husband). Their ages are 13, 11, 3 and 1 year old. We all live in an apartment with two cats, a chihuahua and a aquatic turtle named Sushi. I currently work nights and babysit an additional 3 children by day. In my spare time (haha, yeah, spare time) I like to write poetry and read. I am trying to see if there's any way to throw a blog into the mix. Wish me luck.