Car Shopping . . . but no car payments. . . .

I absolutely detest shopping for a car.  The last two vehicles we purchased were from a car rental company that sells their cars after they are no longer renting them.  Very pleased with our purchases from a quality and a cost standpoint.  You guys know how much I love Dave Ramsey and these vehicles fall into the DR category. 
Sprat is going to need a car this next year at school, Big T gets his car in August. Sprat's new school is a little further out of the city than that first school and the new school allows sophomores to have cars on campus. No, he does not get to pick out what he wants, he will take what we pick out and be happy.  We are now shopping reliable used cars and I have gone back to the rental place.  I have been hawking this website and the lot since it is close to us.  They used to carry a lot of the vehicle I am looking for for Sprat and now they do not have any from this manufacturer. I  am a little bummed and so I have ventured out to the local car lots.  Big mistake, car lots are awful, they want to sell you more car than you want or can afford.  In my case they are trying to sell me more than I want to afford.  I have a dollar amount I am going to spend and I am not going over that for any reason.  I am sticking to my DR plan.  I am not borrowing money to buy this car, we did not borrow to buy the other two and I am not going to for this one either.  Whewww!! It feels good too say that, I will not go into debt for this. 
I will share a little secret too, I am having a little mid - life crisis around this car shopping.  I have found a car that I want and again I have been hawking car websites and such looking for the best deal.  I have had to put that on the back burner till we can get Sprat something to drive but I am still shopping for me.  This will put my mid - life crisis on hold for just a bit because I will not go into debt for my mid-life crisis.  NO more debt for this family!!
Stay tuned for my car shopping adventure.

Where Do I Begin???. . . .

Just when you think you have it all together, your kids grow up and prove you know absolutely nothing.  Parenting teenage almost adult boys is not for the faint of heart.  When you think you know them, they show you that you do not know them at all.  Those sweet little angels that you loved and snuggled and loved watching sleep and loved how they smelled.  Ahhh the memories and tears I shed over those little boys and they have no clue how much a mother loves a child.
We spend 16 + years encouraging our kids to grow and be independent, giving them everything they need to do that and then when they go and do it you are no where near prepared.  I was told by my almost 20 year old child, that he was an adult and could do things on his own.  He thinks that because he came and went as he pleased while at college that he can do that in MY house.  Ha Ha Ha Ha !!! This is very hard for your children to understand, they want to flex their adult muscles and they want to be that independent adult so bad.  What these new adults do not realize is all of the responsibility that comes with being an adult.  They still want to sleep in till 1100 and have their food prepared for them.  They want to have their laundry done and car and gas provided to them at no charge of course.
We are always proud that our kids have grown up and excited when they start a new chapter in their lives but when it comes to that chapter where they are suppose to be on their own it is difficult to deal with especially when they still live at home.  They do not show that in those gushy commercials on TV about having children.  They do not show the angry teenager storm out of the house and say, "you don't trust me and you don't want me to grow up."   I bet if they did it would make parents think twice about teaching all this independence.  Nahh, I am just kidding, it would  not have changed anything for me.  I do love that my kids are independent, and that is what we want but they really should teach us parents how to cope with all this independence.  Boys are very different from girls too, I think girls will always need their moms but boys on the other hand they do not want to be seen as "needing" anyone.  ughh the trials of motherhood.
It has taken me a week to write this, every time I read it, I think it sound whiny and needy.  I just want to convey the pains of motherhood in raising teenage and soon to be adult boys. 

Such sweet little angels 

Big T doing what he loves most.  I love this picture, his grin. 

Sprat also doing what he loves most.  

My Boy is Home. . .

My Boston boy is home!!!  I am one happy mama.  We have so much to catch up on, the new school he will be attending next year, classes, new girlfriend (his word not mine), and all the great things he got to do while in Boston this past year.
He got home yesterday afternoon and he spent about an hour with us unloading ALL of this laundry and then he and Big T were off to see all of his buddies that were at home.  They went to the local watering hole to announce to all of his other friends that he had arrived home from school.  I spent hours on end worrying about how these two boys would get along once the hubbs and I were gone, it does my heart good to know that their relationship has grown this last year through snap chat, texting, and Instagram. I guess I am glad for social media.
The boy is now looking for a job.  This should be a fun adventure.  He does have experience in food service now thanks to his college experience.  Part of his responsibility with the lacrosse team was to work at various Boston College sporting events in the concession stands, all of the money went to the lacrosse program.   He did not earn any money but he earned job experience.
We went to breakfast this morning and were able to catch up  little bit and then the boys went for a movie with their dad for some male bonding.
The hubbs and I have worked in the garden and I have more oregano drying along with some Sage and Basil.  The herb garden is coming along and my garlic even looks good.

Oh My Poor Deprived Children. . . How Did They Survive Childhood. . .

My children think they are the most deprived things in the world.  I love it, I have made it my goal to deprive them of everything I can think of.  Heeheehee!!  Not really but, that is what they believe at their very core.  I will never forget when Sprat was in middle school and all of his friends had the latest iphones and poor little deprived Sprat did not have a phone at all.  I am polishing my mean mommy crown as I type this morning.  I know that some kids do need phones and I get that but, at this particular time I was not working and the boys were either at school or at home with me so there was no need for a cell phone for them.  That same year as I was buying school supplies preparing for the August back to school fun, I found this cute little eraser made to look like a smart phone.  You know where my devious mind is going don't you?  I decided to have a little fun with the boy.  I found a box and wrapped up the eraser phone and had it sitting at his place at the dinner table that night.  I think this was his eighth grade year maybe.  Needless to say he was not amused at my humor.   He did finally get a phone, he got a flip phone his freshman year of high school.  He was too embarrassed to carry it so I cut off the service and he did not have a phone again.  He did eventually get a phone his sophomore year because he had his license and I thought he needed a way to get in touch with us if something happened with the car.  He did not get an iphone either and I still have not heard the end of that.  I do not like i products and I will not buy them.   I still have not heard the end of that one especially since  Big T got a cell phone (not an iphone) in his seventh grade year.  He only got one because that was when I went back to work and he would be coming home by himself.  I needed to be able to get in touch with him if I got called in to work and his ride home changed.   Most recently we have had issues with the boys having a car.  Big T will start driving more regularly this Summer and Sprat is going to have to have a car to back to school in September.  Their big question is who gets what car?  Sprat thinks he is getting my car and Big T is getting his old car.  Which is partly correct but, we have not made the decision on that just yet.   While we were at mom's for Easter my brother in law had one of his cars, a cute little BMW, I am sure you can hear my wheels turning.   I asked if we could borrow it for a picture, Big T got in and I snapped a few pictures of him behind the wheel.  Yes, I sent one to Sprat at school via text, no caption just Big T behind the wheel of this sweet little BMW.  Again, I polish my mean mommy crown.  It did not take long to get that return text of "Who is that?"  I replied with, Big T is getting this and you get to take your little blackberry to MA since it has front wheel drive it will do better in the snow.  He replied with, "that does not seem to add up."  This went on for a few hours, he really thought Big T was getting a BMW and he was going to keep his car.  My kids are so gullible some times.  That Sprat even thought I would buy them anything that was better than what I was driving just makes me want to laugh and laugh.
He will never let me forget that Big T got a phone in seventh grade and he did not get one till he was a sophomore in high school.  I keep telling him it was a need based decision.  Loving your kids does not mean bending to their every whim.  Sometimes, it means saying no and meaning it. 
Stay tuned the Boy is on his way home for the Summer, the garden is growing, herbs are growing and I am about to get knee deep in making stuff with my herbs. 

Doctors and D Poles. . .

Update on my many doctors' appointments, this is part of my self care routine.  I have neglected myself for the last 14 years while keeping up with the kids and the house.  I got a good report on my pap and my routine physical, got a good report on my Cologuard test so no colonoscopy for this girl.  Yesterday I had a visit with a doctor about my migraines.  He is an OB/Gyn but has personal experience with women with what I call menstrual migraines, those migraine like headaches that happen after your cycle that migraine medicine does not seem to help.  Mine are bad and have been for some time but, these last few years they seem to have gotten worse.  I had a nice visit with this doctor and funny thing his wife has gone through this same thing and here I thought I was all alone.  It was nice to talk with someone that you knew understood what you were saying.  I came away from that visit feeling like I may be on a path to remedy.  We have a plan and a follow up in 3 months to see how it helps. 
Big T had his last lacrosse game he played well and I am happy and sad to see the season end.  They played a really good team last night and several of the kids Big T had played against and with when he played Summer league.  It was funny to see him talking with his friends on the other team. This teams coach had also coached him in Summer league so that was kinda funny too.  Big T has decided to play with Sprats' wooden D pole.  To play with a wooden D pole is a lot different than playing with the light weight aluminum, titanium, or scandium.  The wooden D pole is heavier and packs a punch when you hit someone with it.  Sprat abused the offense when he played with his D pole but Sprat was a little bigger than Big T is.  Sprat had no trouble wielding that D pole, he broke four poles last year over kids bodies.  It was fun watching Big T play with his brothers' pole last night.  He had several good hits and stopped several shots on goal. I was a little worried about how he would do with the heavier pole but he did great. I did not get to see him play on Tuesday night but he used it then too.   We did not get the W but it was great watching him play. 

A Good Bubble Bath can Sooth Everything. . .

A good visit with both families this past weekend and got to see some relatives that we had not seen in quite some time.  It was a good weekend with beautiful weather.  Our garden and the herb garden seem to be loving this change in the weather too, everything seems to be thriving.  I have dried some oregano and the oregano I transplanted to the new herb garden is very happy. 
I found a recipe on Pinterest for a Milk bath so, I thought I would give it a try.  I do love my detox baths so I thought this could be one to add to my list. This goes to my self care,  Here is the recipe: 

2 cups powdered milk (whole not low fat)
1/2 cup corn starch
1/2 cup baking soda
10 drops lavender ( or what ever essential oil you would like to use: peppermint, rosemary, rose, eucalyptus)

put your dry ingredients in a glass jar and shake to combine, add essential oil and shake again.  Let this set for 24 hours in a dark place and shake occasionally.  You can add Epsom salt to this also.  I added 1 cup of this mixture to my bath.
I may give this one as gifts this year it is so nice.  According to history Cleopatra also took milk baths and claimed it preserved her beauty and kept her youthful.  It took 7,000 donkeys to provide milk for her daily bath.  I did not have a donkey so powdered milk will have to do.  The hubbs did say my skin felt very soft after my bath.  So, I guess I will keep this recipe handy. 
When the boys were little as a little treat they use to take baths with Aveno oatmeal bath, this mixture reminded me of that.  It was very soothing and in our Jacuzzi tub it bubbled like crazy, I never get that much bubble using a commercial bubble bath with all the chemicals.  This was truly very enjoyable and soothing. I love that it was all natural with no chemicals and that I made it with my own two hands.  I will tell you, you may have to look hard for powdered whole milk.  I just recently found it on Amazon, I could not find it in our local stores they only had low fat.  You want whole full of fat milk for your bath, it is the milk fat that will make your skin feel soft and glow like Cleopatra.

Looking Forward to the Weekend. . .

It has been a busy week at work, I know, what else is new.  Everyone is on vacation at our office so I have worked a lot this week, I am not complaining, we can use the extra cash to go toward college.  I was asked yesterday if I wanted to go full time rather than part time.  I said no, I like my weeks where I may work a day or two and have several days off.  I do not mind the weeks that I do work more because like I said we can use the cash to go toward college.   Yes, Sprat does have a scholarship but that money does not pay for trips home or trips to see him.  It also does not pay to feed this growing boy while living the college life.  This next year he is going to have to have a car, so these extra hours at work will really come in handy.  He signed his scholarship acceptance letter this week so it is official, he will be back in Boston in the Fall.  I got to talk to Sprat yesterday, actually talk no just text back and fourth.  He said his new lacrosse coach called him and invited him to a tournament the two days before his orientation at the new college.  We will be planning a four or five day trip this summer for the orientation and the tournament.  Cannot wait to see my boy play college lacrosse, he had a short Fall season with his current school but we were not able to go and watch any games.  

One more night of work and off for a day or two to celebrate Easter with the family.   I have to say my drive in to work these last few days has been quite enjoyable, it seems everyone is on vacation this week.    Happy Easter to you all and stay tuned as we prepare for our road trip to Boston.