More Hadlish, well kind of

A looking out the window: Mom, the coast is clear, no cars coming.

A being upset with me: Mom, you're full of baloney

and just so you know M isn't being short-changed (from the post below) I made her a doll holder on Christmas. It's ugly as sin and completely rough and not what I had envisioned, but it works and she loves it. Maybe someday I'll make a better one, or I suppose I could buy a shoe holder and cut the bottoms out. hehehe

It's done & on the bed...

I can't believe I actually finished a quilt. The quilting is far from pretty, but it's done and I think it'll do well, I hope. I did notice a couple spots that will need to be fixed because the top stitching didn't hold. Ugh. Now I just have to finish M's. That one is going to be the real challenge.

New Hadlish phrases:

heart beep: what your heart does. "Mom, listen to my heart beep"

tart: foam missiles from an airplane kit. "Mom! I found the tarts!"

I thought I had more, but in true fashion I've forgotten what else I was going to put in here. Oh well.

On a good note, the toys have been kept picked up and we're going on day 3 of a clean house! Woo!! Heck, A even used the hamper in the proper fashion yesterday. Normally he tries to hide behind or between the bags. Yay! My kids are getting it! Woo!!

Merry Christmas

Here are some photos to see how our morning went... enjoy & have a glorious day!

Trying this video thing

Hoping this will work, but who knows. If it does... I love this, M cracks me up.

M's singing

Happy Birthday 5-5-5 Man!

Today when A announced it was his birthday, his bus driver asked him how old he was. He replied, "I'm the 5-5-5 man!" What a cheeser!

He's having a really good day too. Haven't had one whine from him at all today! Wow, maybe this will be a new side of him. Will have to see how he does when M gets home. That's usually when things start to get all whiney.

His last day of school was today. He came home with a nice crown and a present from one of the boys in class, a playset of a Rice Krispies breakfast. Did he want to pretend to eat breakfast? No, he wanted to feed his baby.

And speaking of babies, he's gotten so cute. When he sees things he likes that are too young for him he says that his baby would like that and he's going to buy it for his baby. Right now I'm content for his baby to be the baby doll we got a few years back. By the way, this baby's name is Batman. I did get a picture of him feeding Batman, I'll have to post it later.

Right now I'm going to take my amazing little-big kid and go make Rice Krispie treats.

Think they watch too much Iron Chef?

A: Mom we're "shoe-chefs" making gingerbread men.

Yes, my kids think they're sous chefs.

"Mommy, can I waste my time?"

Yep, my son wants to waste his time. He's also started in with the "I'm bored"s but it's really funny because it comes out "I'm born."

Today's conversation after a quick visit with Santa:

M: Where's Santa's sleigh?
Me: On the roof maybe.
M: Oh, I don't see it on the roof. Where are the reindeer?
Me: Maybe they went to a barn to rest up for their trip on Christmas.
A: No, they're at the North Pole.
M: I think Santa walked here.
A: At the North Pole
M: He didn't fly. Flying then falling, he would have gotten hurt, so I think he walked here.
A: The reindeer are at the North Pole. I'm hungry, can I have a doughnut?

Nothing's worse than being sick on vacation

Yesterday I sneezed. Sneezed so hard my toes came flying out my nose, not to mention the whole inner layer of my throat. Today, my toes are back in place, but my throat is still missing :( Needless to say, I have a scratchy phroat.

Scratchy phroat? Is that something like a ferret with big ol' claws? Either way I wish it wasn't residing here this vacation day.

One of the best ideas ever

what took us so long to figure this one out? Toufayan makes a U-shaped hotdog roll. Um, hello!! They're great & work well. The only issue we had with them is that our hu-giantious bratwursts didn't fit real well in them. We found them at this awesome store Sprouts. They have wonderful deals on meats, and they're better than the cuts we get at the regular grocery store. Last week's deal was chicken tenders for $1.97/lb. Woo!! They usually have a great deal like that which offsets the cost of the rest of the products, which isn't too bad. I mean, when you can buy a week and a half worth of meats (and a few other things) for $38, you've got a pretty good deal. They make their own sausages & brats, have some great produce and even carry gluten-free items. I think the best part about it is that if you go on Wednesday's the ads overlap so you get twice the good deals.

Speaking of Cousins...

Once again all of their likenesses are upon our Christmas tree. The kiddos decorated and there were the pictures from last year so there they are again (plus the one of all N's boys this year).

Boy I'm writeative today!

On the topic of cousins...

I wish we all lived closer so we could throw the whole gaggle of goobers together more often. Can you imagine all 10 together? Yes dad, you have 10 grandchildren!

My two goobs are so funny when it comes to cousins. A insists that Cousin R is "his" cousin, while Cousin T is M's. For some reason those are the only two names they remember. They're always talking about Cousin T and Cousin R. Now just to get them to remember Cousins M, I, E, S, C and Cousin YTBN (Yet To Be Named - when the time is right that is.)

Need to have a big ol' picnic somewhere with all the picnic-type goodies.

I've figured it out!

I know why I'm so antsy... I want to create. I want to sew, I want to quilt, I want to make a big mess and have something ultimately wonderful and meaningful to show for it.

I think that's what I'll do. I'll quit my job and become a Creator. No, I do not mean having more kids... that's a "big mess with something ultimately wonderful and meaningful I wish not to do again. I'm going to start my own little creative studio where I'll make things that I feel like making and maybe schlep them off to a farmer's market or craft show or somesuch thing... EGAD!!! I'm turning into my father! (love ya dad!!!!) I'll sew, quilt, bake, cook, etc and just have fun while making a few bucks on the side.

Of course I'll have to make time to do the "other geeky stuff" I like doing as well. You know... online RPG's, watching shows on Sci-fi and all those other fun channels too. I think I'd also have to make time to get my bum back on the erg (ergonomic rowing machine) and get in shape too.

Hey, maybe I can do a test run while on VACATION!! hehe.

Stir crazy

Getting anxious for vacation. No, I'm not going anywhere. Vacation in this family means you just don't go to work for an extended period of time.

3 weeks... ahhh... well, to be completely accurate. 26 consecutive days of no work. Ahhhhhh, I'm ready! Now I just have to get through the next 8+ days without completely losing it. I just want to be home with my family, enjoying the holiday season, enjoying their company, enjoying life together.

Now I know that it's not going to be perfect, some days are going to be stressed, rushed, whatever. And I know that my mind is painting a wonderful picture of my vacation that will most likely be way way way off from reality, but dangit... I don't care. I'm just ready for a good long time at home.

today's phrase:

Mommy you have to speak daddy's mind.

OMG I laughed so hard. He meant that I had to CHANGE daddy's mind. Still makes me giggle.

Then M and I had this conversation:
M: Cranberry, look mom, it's a compound word cran berry.
Me: no honey, cranberry is one word. Cran isn't a word on its own.
M: But berry?
Me: Cranberries are a type of berry like strawberry, blueberry, boysenberry...
M: And girlsenberry?

Love my kids!

A day late, but... happy thanksgiving

It was a pretty good day. We brined our turkey (OMG!!! Delicious & juicy!), made crescent rolls from scratch as well as a chocolate-vanilla mousse. M made the sides, corn & potatoes (not much more to do than open, stir & pop in the microwave). A helped to swirl the mousse.

The only thing that was bad about the day was that A was being a little crazy and tossed his stuffed lobster toy on top of his 6' stand-up halogen light. Yep, by the time I got there Lobster was smoking, almost to the point of flame. Poor kiddo was absolutely distraught. Somewhere I have to find a new lobster either for birthday or Christmas.

Ended the day watching White Christmas with the kiddos & then some history shows (Terry Jones' Barbarians - or something like that) with C. The first was really good & the second really irritated me - can you imagine what the world would have been like if the Romans hadn't screwed it up? Ok, that's a post for another time. Right now it's time to go to the park!

Do grumpy toads live in toilets?

Can I buy a singing dog?
Grampa's going to take me turkey hunting.
Tie me kangaroo down sport...
Can I read your book mommy? I'm a good reader.
Do kids and germs hand in hand?
Singing dogs sing at night.

Yes, these are parts of A's topics of conversation this morning... What an imagination!

so here it is...

the fish top... now just for the borders & backing. yay!

Gone fishin'

I'll actually get to go to my work Christmas party this year. While this normally isn't a big deal and I don't get too worked up over it, they've moved it forward so more people can participate and not have to come in during their vacations. So, in order to save a bit of money in participating this year I've decided to make a lap quilt out of the fabric scraps I've accumulated over the years. This is what I've come up with:

I'm hoping that it'll not be too frou-frou and that there will actually be some interest in it. I figured I'd tie it instead of quilt so that the green yarn adds a bit more to the fish/underwater theme. I'm also hoping to find some pre-quilted material that's inexpensive to use for the back. That'll help to thicken it up without me having to buy another whole thing of batting. Now to just get it done!

saving face

Faces are finally on M's doll quilt. Some have freckles, some don't. Eyes range in color from black and brown to blue and green. One step closer...

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

No, no snow.

*sigh*

I miss winter. I miss hot chocolate on cold days. I miss watching the snow fall. I miss coming in from the cold and having your body tingle as you get all warmed back up.

~but~

I don't miss driving on snow/ice. I don't miss my nose freezing shut. I don't miss...

Who am I kidding? I still miss it all. Well, except maybe the driving thing.

*sigh*

Getting to know me...

I was tagged from Jules to do this... and what the heck... seems like fun

1. Explain what ended your last relationship? Erm... me being thousands of miles away.

2. When was the last time you shaved? This morning before church

3. What were you doing this morning at 8 a.m.? See above question LOL

4. What were you doing 15 minutes ago? Reading Jules' blog.

5. Are you any good at math? Yep. I love algebra... been awhile since I've used it much, but I remember being the weird one who really enjoyed math in school.

6. Your prom night? Not bad. My boyfriend at the time was stationed in Hawaii so I went with friends.

7. Do you have any famous ancestors? William the conquerer? Not sure if that was proven 100% yet. Someone or other from the Mayflower. Governor of Nebraska awhile back...

8. Have you had to take a loan out for school? Oh heaven's yes... paid off though

9. Do you know the words to the song on your myspace profile? I don't have one, so no.

10. Last thing received in the mail? paperwork from the Social Security Administration

11. How many different beverages have you had today? water, black cherry vanilla coke, rootbeer. Yikes! Need to drink more water!

12. Do you ever leave messages on peoples answering machines? Yeah, but sometimes I don't.

13. Who did you lose your CONCERT virginity to? Erm? I couldn't tell you... I don't really know...

14. Do you draw your name in the sand when you go to the beach? Yep.

15. What was the most painful dental procedure you have had? Root canal last spring.

16. What is out your back door? The world.

17. Any plans for Friday night? just gaming... yeah, I'm a gamer geek :)

18. Do you like what the ocean does to your hair? Yep... but haven't been there for years and years.

19. Have you ever received one of those big tins of 3 different popcorns? Nope, but I like the cheesy flavor.

20. Have you ever been to a planetarium? Yep, in or around Chapel Hill, NC.

21. Do you re-use towels after you shower? Yep.

22. Some things you are excited about? My kiddos, quilting, my Tivo & actually being able to watch shows! I'm currently into Top Chef while I await The Dresden Files on SciFi

23. What is your favorite flavor of JELLO? Red.

24. Describe your keychain(s)? My house keys have a "P" with Pooh bear sitting on the side. My sister bought it for me years ago when she lived in FL.

25. This question is MIA.

26. Where do you keep your change? Change? Oh! That's the stuff my kids run off with.

27. What kind of winter coat do you own? Well... I have a black one, a leather one and my swim parka. But I never wear them.

28. What was the weather like on your graduation day? Probably nice. I didn't participate in my college graduation due to moving across the state to start my first "real" job.

29. Do you sleep with the door to your room open or closed? Open mostly.

30. Did U read this far? I hope you did! Now you are tagged! Steal this from me.

wow... he's old

talking with the kiddos about Veteran's Day. The following conversation took place...

M: A long time ago daddy was a veteran.

Me: No, daddy's a veteran now, he was a soldier a long time ago. Back in the first war in Iraq.

M: You mean World War I?

Me (laughing): no honey, Desert Storm.

I'm happy she's learning about all of this. I even heard her last night thanking her daddy for saving the country.

So, here's to all soldiers - past and present - thank you for saving our country.

Quilt update #2

Here's the dinosaur quilt... the top is finished (why oh why can't I seem to finish the borders of the doll quilt?). Now it's time to put the thing together. I'm afraid, very afraid. Honestly, I think I'm having an anxiety attack over it.

Did my duty today

I voted!

It'll be interesting to see how things turn out tonight.

Not real thrilled with the polling place, as I think things could have been set up a bit better. Yay for the coloring table for the kiddos though.

We have a writer in our midst

M has completed her second book. The first was about snow and how much she loves it. This one is about hearts and how pretty they are.

I do have the originals bound and have also scanned in the pages to make copies. If I had a decent color printer (or at least cartridges for mine) I'd print off a bunch and send them out. But for the moment I just have black & white laser copies.

They may not be much, but they are wonderful and so very creative. But for your perusal here are scanned copies of her book...

He really is hollow!

A: Mommy, I ate too much food and candy.

Me: yeah, are you full?

A: yeah

less than a minute later

A: Mommy, I want a piece of lipsquish (licorice)

Me: I thought you were full?

A: I have one more spot left (pointing at his tummy)

Talk about goofiness

M looks like she just got kicked in the heiney...
... and A looks like he's the one who did it!

Well, we all need at least one goofy school picture don't we?

The best laid plans...

M's big/old enough to get breakfast ready for herself and A. Usually the kiddos will wake up and swear they're starving to death. I often hear whining early in the morning how they're wasting away to nothingness.

So a grand plan was hatched!

We'll let the kids stay up a little later (8:00) and tell them they can't get us up until at least 6:30. We talked about what constitutes an emergency and were all set to have this wonderful experience.

Yeah, right.

I'm still being woken up at O'dark:30. punkinhead jr. doesn't understand the concept of sleeping past 4:30/5.

hahaha

For a word I never cared for

mama sure has become an endearing word to hear. That's what M calls me and I love it. I didn't care much for it growing up & never thought that it would hold so much meaning for me. I didn't ask for the name, it's just what it's become. You'd think that mama and papa would go together, or mommy and daddy, but we're mama and daddy. Hey, I'll take it.

Just wanted to share that little insight this morning.

I'm a mean mom

C and I have decided that we aren't going trick-or-treating this year. Really. Yes, part of me feels like I'm withholding a part of my kids' childhoods that they'll never reclaim, but the other part of me really feels that there's just not much to it anymore. Besides, I don't need the candy, and neither do C or the kids.

I think we're still going to "celebrate" Halloween by renting some movies, playing some games and just hanging out. A asked if we'd buy him a "punk-o-lantern" this weekend anyway. So we'll carve some pumpkins and maybe roast some pumpkin seeds. I just don't feel like spending money on costumes that won't get worn more than a couple times or like dragging the kiddos to the mall to essentially stand in a line for 3 hours.

Can you believe

we're still sick? I'm getting so tired of this. I'm going to scream if I don't get a good night's sleep soon. Yes, I have slept, just on the couch with one sick kid or another for the past 5 days (with one of those being the night I was really sick but not on the couch... really that makes sense in my mind).

And I still have this post-nasal drip crud making my throat all raw and sore.

I hate being sick.

Happy Birthday Butterball

wow... been a long time since I've called her that. I can't believe how much she's grown. I can't believe she's 7. I wish I had more to say, but really she kind of has me speechless these days. I'm just so proud of how well she's doing & how great a person she is.

Love you punkinhead sr.

I can honestly say

these past 12 hours have been among the top 5 12 hour periods for the worst in my life. Knowing how the kids must have felt makes me all the more glad they are better. I was the last to get hit with this & most likely the worst, though I really can't tell. Excuse the crudeness, but when you get sick that hard to where your sides cramp up and that you can say "Look, toenails" you know it's bad. I did have a not so great moment when I told C that if anyone were to get sick like this again it could be him. Yeah, not so graceful, but I certainly don't ever want to go through this again and he does keep telling the kids when they're sick that he wishes it was him instead :)

I think the best thing about this is that my workplace had to learn how to deal without me. Yep, I wouldn't have been productive anyway as I was praising the porcelan god the whole time (well every 10-20 minutes). With only a little work on my part they actually pulled together and got the paper out, as well as a special section. This is a biggie... I didn't go to work when normally it would have been a day I would never have skipped. I'm kinda proud of myself for that. Warped I know. But really, how productive would I have been?

M was great, she came home from school/hab and came in to tell me she was very sorry and very sad that I was sick. What a caring sweet soul she has. I felt bad when I asked her to leave so she wouldn't get sick again. Poor kiddo, I just know she would have stayed in there with me and tried to take care of me if I would have let her.

OK, time to finish my water and go lay back down. Hope things are much much better in other places.

sick, sick, sick

first it was A last week, then it was M on tuesday, last night it was A and now it's C. I'm so tired from staying up all night with the sickies. Luckily this crud hasn't hit me yet, though I have a feeling I'll be layed low this weekend. I'm hoping that they go away soon, I need to sleep!

In other news, we had M's parent/teacher conference yesterday. She is doing magnificent. Her teacher mentioned how intelligent she is. Usually either math or reading excels at this point, M is excelling in BOTH!! She's a joy to have in class and is really excited to learn. Always right there participating and eager to please.

I'm so proud.

2/15

I finished 2 of the dinosaurs for A's quilt yesterday. I have a feeling it will go much much much faster than M's did. Had I somehow managed to cut the right number of 1" squares back when I was doing all the cutting I probably would have gotten 7 of them done. That's almost half! I also promised C that I wouldn't do another marathon quilting session like I did last weekend. I'm limiting myself to a bobbin of thread per session. This way I can still get a lot done, but it doesn't consume my whole weekend.

A saw the first one completed and instantly tried to spirit it away and claim that it was already his "blanket". I have a feeling he's going to like this as much as M likes hers. And believe it or not I'm having (quite possible) delusions that I might actually be done with them before the holidays. Wouldn't that be a shock and a half?

In other news, M got a new pair of boots on Friday. She's *still* wearing them. Will only take them off to sleep. She loves loves loves her boots.

It's fun to watch

two kids, each with their own brand new box of crayons.

"Look mama! I have three blues!" (or 4... I can't remember, and it's been just a few minutes ago... how sad is that?)

"Mommy! Can you find my violet too?"

"Mama! I have Indigo! Look Daddy! I have indigo!"

"Oh! I have two yellows. One for the sun and the other for my homework."

What silly kiddos!

I'm reminded of The Bobs

http://www.bobs.com/Lyrics.cgi?Helmet

M was helping me with the dishes today while my bread dough was resting. Suddenly I hear,"Mama! Look at me!"

She's got the mixing bowl of my kitchenaid on her head, and well, it does kind of look like a helmet.

23 dolls later...

Let me just say, I hate the socks on this quilt. I'm so very happy they're done and I don't ever have to do them again. I still have the rest of the bordering as well as the doll faces, hair and other random embellishments to do and then it'll be finished. Can you believe this thing is over 6' long? Not exactly a small project to start with eh?

Next up: A's dinosaur quilt. It should be much much easier as dinosaurs don't wear socks!

I'm hoping to get them both done by Christmas.

This morning's conversation

m: What's this cereal called?

Me: Shredded Wheat

M: Shrimp?

Me: Shredded...

M: OH! Shredded Meat

Me: Wheat

M: Oh, Shredded Wheat

Can you imagine? Waking up to a bowl of shredded meat? While I know we're a family of carnivores, that still doesn't sound too appetizing!

Spelling

I've been so impressed with M so far this year. Every Friday she has a spelling test with a bonus word. So far her bonus words have been August, September, Wednesday, Thursday and surprise. She's known all of them. I was really surprised this morning as I hadn't expected her to spell surprise correctly on the first try.

She's also reading through the Frog and Toad Treasury, which has all 3 Frog and Toad books inside. Ok, that 3 (and this one) drives me crazy as the font I'm looking at lowers the baseline. Yeah, I'm weird like that. Ok tangent finished. M's doing really well with her reading too. We just have to work some more on her math. Time to spend more time with the flash cards.

I have noticed something interesting when we're working on math. M touches her fingers to her lips to count. That is interesting to me because one of her stims is to rub things on her right cheek. I wonder if there's any connection. I also haven't seen any other children do that, but again, all of them could and I wouldn't know.

So as not to leave A out, he enjoys his "homework" too. He has an activity book that he calls his homework book. He and I sometimes work on those pages while M is working on her pages.

Now if we didn't have to do this at 6:30 am :)

New word: Baconist

Yes, I am a baconist.

C, A and I went to the store this week while M was in school. They were having a sale on bacon. We stood for a good 15 minutes opening up the little flaps in back looking for good bacon. I swear we we stood there looking like bacon snobs. At least we can laugh about it.

Also, A wanted to play on my computer the other day. When I told him no he threw his little 4-year old fit. After a few minutes I went to talk to him & asked why he couldn't use his computer. His reply: "It's not fast enough."

Oh my goodness! I had to laugh as the kids' computer is plenty fast to play on Noggin (www.noggin.com) or Starfall (www.starfall.com).

Wanna buy a cookie?

Yes, it's that time again. Time to schlep the school fund raiser around the workplace and annoy everyone with the phrase "Do you want to buy some cookie dough?"

Blech.

I'm all for raising money for schools, but why do I feel like I have to do all the work? I hated doing fund raisers when I was a kid, and now we're told not to send our children door to door (totally agree there) but hey, you can sell at your work place. Gee, thanks. Blech.

All I can say is that thank goodness it's something that most people might enjoy. It's not wrapping paper or other assorted junk.

So, wanna buy some cookie dough? It's a 3 lb tub. Stays good in your freezer for up to 6 months. Just scoop & bake...

It's taken over 30 years

I've become a tea drinker. How'd that happen?

A few months ago I wasn't feeling well at work & my boss gave me some tea to help make me feel better. A month or so after that another co-worker shared some tea with me. Then about 2 weeks ago C bought some mint green tea and some spearmint tea & we've been drinking that in the mornings. Good stuff. Funny thing is that we make it in our coffee maker (thanks N!). The kids like that we put "honey topping" in our tea.

They also like honey topping on their cereal, ranch topping on their salad, and gravy topping on their potatoes. I love that they call sauces, gravys, honey or anything drippy a topping. It just makes my day.

Interesting little survey

Has a silly name, but gives much to think about. http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html

While C & I have similar views, our results were different. At least it sparked some good conversation about our beliefs and how we see & experience the world around us. Anyway, here were my results:

1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (92%)
3. Reform Judaism (87%)
4. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (85%)
5. Bahá'í Faith (84%)

They don't surprise me too much.

So tired...

I'm just beat down. Again. Seems like this is a pattern in my life.

I've been working late these past couple of weeks and it's been quite the drain. Not to mention I'm also getting up early with the kids to finish homework & get them ready for school. Oh yeah, and my boss wants me to come in early today to work on and finish a project that was tripled in size and thrown at me yesterday. Not happy, but what can you do? I hate the feeling of having to choose between my family/sanity and work.

I'd love to tell them to kiss off, but honestly I don't want things to get any worse there than they already are. That's it. That's been the problem. I've been trying to just make things easier for the department and all that does is make things harder on me.

Sorry this is such a downer today, but as the title says... I'm just so tired.

Mmmmmmm, yummy

A couple of conversations with M yesterday:
______________

Me: What did you have for lunch today sweetie?

M: Bread, hotdog

Me: Oh you had bageldog for lunch?

M: Yeah! And I had some peas.

Me: Oh, were they good?

M: Yeah, but they weren't good for my tongue.

______________

M: A long time ago Mrs. H went to the aquarium. It was way far away because she took a plane. Can we take a plane to the aquarium?

Me: Oh sweetie, Mommy doesn't have the money to go to the aquarium on a plane.

M: You can use my money mommy, I have lots of coins.

Me: Oh thank you honey!

M: How much does it cost mama?

Me: hundreds and hundreds of dollars hon.

M: Ohhhhhhhhhhh
___________________

First week of school almost over

It's been a rush. I was able to snap a few pictures on the first day before all the chaos began:

Doesn't he look so handsome? Poor kid doesn't take good pictures sometimes. His little eyes get so squinty. That's ok though, he sure is cute enough in person to make up for it :)
Here's little miss "I have to pose so I look good" M.
And here are the two of them being their crazy selves.

As some of you have heard M had an adventure this week, Monday there wasn't anyone to get her on the bus to therapy after school & she walked home. This wouldn't seem too bad, BUT... she's 6, is autistic, and the school never called us to tell us they couldn't find her. Yeah... that made for a happy mama. Thank goodness C was outside and got her through the gate. After a good talking-to the school is now set straight in their ways on how my child needs to be handled. Other than that M's had a pretty good week.

A seemed to have a good week at school too. He's got the same teacher as last year, but is going in the afternoons this year. But, while he's been good for school, he's been a little tough to work with at home. Need to stock up on cheese for as much whine as he's putting out! Funny, kind of crude, story from him. We were at the store and he saw corn in the freezer:

A: Look mom! Corn on the (another name for rooster)!

Me: No sweetie, Cob - b - b... it's corn on the cob

A: No mom, corn on the (rooster)

*sigh*

Work has been really stressful as well. I've been pretty much by myself trying to get ready for the university students to return. And of course I was told that the process needs to run smoother in the future. When I pointed out that it would run smoother if I had a full staff I was told that *I* should have let my boss know that I needed a full staff. Yep, my fault she approved vacation time. Nice.

My last chiro appt. is today. Late June/Early July I had a rib head pop out of place giving me problems with my shoulder, neck, elbow & fingers. Three weeks ago I finally went to the chiro & he popped it right back in. Boy did it hurt, but it has been nice not to be in pain while trying to go to sleep. Today's my last appt & it should be good to go.

Sleep over invitation and other fun stuff

Found this from M, written on the magnetic doodle pad:

come.up.To
mibed.Plees
It.Is.a.slee!
prdee.

"Come up to my bed please, it is a sleep party." Awwww (she sleeps on the top bunk)

_______________________

M brought home a new game "Don't Eat Pete." It's a great game & the kids just LOVE it. http://www.zakadoo.com/games/donteatpete.html

_______________________

Tonight while I was getting dinner ready I hear, "MOMMY! THERE'S A BUG IN MY ROOM!" As I reach for the rubber gloves, bug spray and disinfectant C decides to take care of it. He asks how big it is & from M's answer we both think it's a roach. *shudder* *spray spray wipe spray wipe* *shudder*

Turns out we had a itty bitty gecko come visit us. C caught it in a cup & we transferred it outside. Kids wanted to keep it, but we don't have the capabilities to raise a gecko... what would you feed them anyway? Bugs? *shudder* *spray spray wipe spray wipe* *shudder*

meet the family...

Here are the littles with their big brother, who they had a blast with.

Wish we could have spent a bit more time together, but the cousins all seemed to enjoy one another. M was totally enamored with E... kept asking all about the baby.

I M E M A R

Another one of those days

It's been a rough day today. According to a little short film that we've been watching alot of lately, I "have a pink kink in my think." Basically that just means I need to get my head in the right spot and look at the good things in life instead of the crud.

Boy has today been cruddy. I'm nto getting any of my work stuff accomplished due to having to finish up stuff that should have already been done. I really want to be home now. I really don't like bing a working mother, but unfortunately I'm stuck with it for the time being. Yep, it's a crying day. If I had a place where I could just sit & cry I'd go do it.

Part of this stems from knowing that starting the middle of next month I won't get to see M much more than on the weekends. She'll go off to school in the morning & will get back after I leave for work, then I don't get home until she's asleep.

So all in all I'm having a hard time unkinking my think.

4th of July

happy anni ver sary
happy anni ver sary
happy anni ver sary
haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaapy anni ver sary

we went mini-golfing today, just like we did 9 years ago. Only this time I lost. that's ok though, C & M were a team, A & I were a team and G was the 3rd. Wasn't too hot, but we also brought along our portable misting thing.

Not sure if we're going to fireworks tonight or not.

New nicknames

M is now Kitten. I started to say kiddo last night & it came out kitten, so Kitten she is. I was talking with A about a special name for him & apparently the only acceptable special name is Beet Root. ROFL!!

We're in the midsts of getting ready for G to come visit. We had a slightly major fiasco with plane tickets, but it's all good now thanks to my new favorite words "I'd like to speak with your supervisor please." We had to cancel one leg of the trip due to some extenuating circumstances & they accidentally cancelled the WRONG leg. I spent something like 7 HOURS on the phone with the ticketing agency as well as the airline getting things all fixed.

But hey, instead of losing all the money we spent, we did get a refund. $19.70. Yay (insert sarcasm here).

But it's all taken care of now & everything's groovy. Now I just have to straighten up the kitchen & the kid's closets. Joy :)

Vacation starts next week! As well as a return to my exercise regime, which I've ashamedly been skipping lately.

Big interview day

I'll be interviewing today for a position in a city about 120 miles from here. It would be a huge jump in pay, almost 2x my current salary. Part of me is really excited, the other part is totally scared of possible change, the uncertainty of it all.

In other news, A has decided that he's scared to sleep in his bedroom. He says he has bad, scary dreams and only sleeping with mom makes them better. So, last night I willingly gave up my pillow so he'd have something from me to help him sleep better. It worked, he went right to sleep and slept all night.

Update: I'll just say that it didn't feel right & I'm not going to give up something stable with good benefits for something that might not last more than a few months with little to no benefits.

There's this cartoon

Fairly odd parents: http://www.fairlyoddparents.tv/

There's an episode where the town's basketball team might be sent to Alaska where the owner would be forced to sell Blubber Nuggets.

Last night after baths, A was running around laughing & yelling "touch my blubber nuggets!"

Thank all that is good that he was talking about his wrinkly fingers!! hehe

Two weeks into summer and we're all still alive

M is enjoying summer camp, they're doing lots of different activites like soccer, hockey, drawing, face painting & I think they went to, or showed, a movie last week. They'll start going to the pool this week.

C & A went to see Cars on Friday. They said it was pretty good & C actually thought it was a pretty cute movie. I'm sure we'll end up going to see it as a family at some point.

Work is work. And that's all I have to say about that.

Ooh! here's an interesting recipe you have to try!

****************

ZIPLOC OMELET

(This works great !!! Good for when all your family is together. The best part is that no one has to wait for their special omelet !!!)

Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them.

Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.

Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake.

Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.

Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.

Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.

******************

We did ours in pint-sized bags & it worked just fine. The kiddos loved squishing up their bags too.

School's out!!

Summer vacation has begun. Surprisingly it's going rather well, at least there hasn't been any bloodshed as of yet. There's a week before M starts summer camp and I'm sure that by the end of next week C will be completely nuts. But then again, that's why I'm taking the bus to work, so C can have the car to get out of the house with the wildcarpetmonkies.

We're starting to get ready for G to come stay with us this summer. M & A are so excited. A keeps saying that this or that or this other thing are for G.

"Look at this book trail mom, it's for G"

Poor kid is going to get here & be swamped by his younger sibs.

Attack of the sickies

kids have been sick this week. I think C is sick today as he still isn't up. He told me an hour or so ago that he wasn't feeling well. *sigh*

we were suppose to go see "Over the Hedge" last night at the drive in, but A got sick so we stayed home. I think we might have been ok, but it was better that we were home.

Funny conversation from the other night:

C: Is the water boiling?

Me: Yeah, just

A: a minute. Get it? a minute. hehe Get it mom, a minute.

Me: you're a silly kid

A: yeah!

I often forget how great my kids are

Really they are so wonderful, so loving, just all-around good kids. In my eyes they are so very beautiful and wonderous to be around.

M is growing up to be a lovely young lady. She's come so very very far from where we started our journey a few short years ago.She has changed so much and I realize that I'm now greatly anticipating the things I was mourning when she was younger. The funny thing is that I was really worried that she'd never get to go to a prom or other formal occasion & now I look forward to those days of her hopefully letting me help pick out a dress or heck, even letting me help to make one.

And A is such a loving little boy. I'm sure it drives C mad when all he wants is mom, but I'm sure there will be things they will do together that will be special for just the two of them. He's such a crack up and just loves to compete with M on just ab out everything. Not to mention that he's sharing so nicely these days. Sure he has days where he doesn't want to share at all, but there are times when he willingly will share with M if she doesn't have what he does.

Just thought I'd come out and share what wonderful little people they're turning into.

My kids are weird

ok, so my so is weird.

He told me the other day that his bum is his best friend. What the heck?!?

Getting ready for summer. Well, in my world summer is already here since it's hotter than a woman with a hot flash here & probably just as irritable.

M is going to a camp this summer in the afternoons, I'm sure she'll have fun. A is staying home with dad. Work hours for me still stink ,but hey, they pay the bills.

That's about it at this point. Not much going on really.

I think I've figured out what's going on with me

I've been in "crisis-mode" for awhile now. Everything is a crisis. For pete's sake, having to decide whether to drink bottled water or filtered is the end of life in the universe as we know it. Yeah... I'm completely losing it.

Really going to try to take things down a notch or two just to get back to a place where it doesn't feel as if the whole world is awaiting my next decision - which causes me undue stress and thus entering crisis-mode.

Kids have been doing well. I keep meaning to relay stories about them, but once again I'm apparently trying to do too much and I'm not doing a very good job at it.

Yes, I should be asleep. But I'm not. Couldn't sleep so I applied for another job. We'll see... I'm not counting on anything at this point. Heck, I'll just be happy if I can get through the next two weeks without a major meltdown.

Home of the sickies

A woke us up this morning due to crying in the hallway that he had to go potty (switch in the bathroom stopped working & he's scared to do his business in the dark by himself). Poor kiddo didn't make it. :( He's feeling better though & is currently laying on the floor behind me with his blankie, Bob the Builder pillow & the heating pad.

Car is in the shop for 30,000 mile checkup. Got a free car rental out of it & M was telling everyone this morning that we bought a new car. Then again, she was also concerned and asked if we were going to get our SUV back. What a sweetie.

Been busy here lately

Work has been hectic, my hours have been all over the place, not to mention that I had to work 6 days this week if I want next week to start out well.

Have been rowing mostly every morning. I take a day off every so often to rest up. I'm up to around 3,700 meters in 20 minutes. This week I start the progression toward 25 minutes. M completed her 5,000M challenge today. She'll get a certificate in the mail. It'll be good for her.

There's a possibility we might be getting another family member soon. C's son, G, might come to live with us. It'll be an adjustment and we're weighing the pros & cons. Mostly the whole decision will be his. If he wants to come then we'll gladly make it happen.

So that's what's been going on lately. Lots of work, lots of rowing, lots of legal-speak.

Time to go finish making bread.

Shopping list of a kindergartner

orange
sdaac
meet
cheesdos
sdrozs
joosboxz
cand
chrips
prats


translated:
oranges
steak
meat
cheetos
straws
juiceboxes
candy
chips - now that I think about it, this could be shrimp
pretzels

I'm constantly amazed at how well she's doing & to see how she hears sounds.

Decided to show you what we've been working towards

This is for me:



this is M's:



And A's:

Morning activities

got up this morning & M wanted to read a book. So we sat on the couch and read "I Spy a Funny Frog." She's doing really well. Then I decided it was time for my morning row. Get out of my jams, put on a piece of essential clothing, my socks & shoes. M looks at me and says:

"Mom, you going somewhere without your clothes?"

hehe

Spring Break

It was interesting to say the least. M started to plan her wedding to JB. On the way home from the zoo. They're 6. I'm not ready for this. Though I do have to say in her defense that I wanted to marry Mr. R. when I was 5, so I guess I can't say much.

I know there were some quotes that I wanted to remember, but it seems I've forgotten.

Oh well

Mmmmmm, yummy

Sunday night at work my tooth started hurting. Hurt so bad I was crying on the way home. I cried at home, and cried while falling asleep.

Monday morning I braved a visit to the dentist. 30 minutes later I'm starting root canal therapy. Joy. They scheduled the 2nd half today, but then rescheduled for tomorrow. Joy Joy.

I can eat soft foods. Last night I had a big heaping bowl of macaroni and dentist. Yes, I said dentist. My mouth tastes like a dentist's office smells.

Yummy.

Smart Aleck

The kids and I were having one of our 5/7-cram-everyone-on-the-loveseat snuggles this morning. Here was our conversation:

M: Big fat nose (while touching her nose)

Me: Who's got a big fat nose?

Me: M, who's got a big fat nose?

A(who's been laying very quietly with his eyes closed) You! (points at me)

What a little smartypants

Life is a zoo

No, really. We went to the zoo today. Well M & I did. A has been running a fever and has a cough & C hurt his foot. So yeah a zoo.

What started out as a lovely group of 4 kids and 2 moms quickly became 8 kids and 2 moms. 7 kindergartners & a preschooler. Oy! I'm beat. Overall the classes did very well, only losing one person. Nope, not a kid, a mom. We had a good time though. M got to see Mr. Nilson (the same kind of monkey that is in the Pippy movies) and asked if we could go to the pet store to get one. I also got to see how she interacts with her peers, not something I see regularly. She did very well, a bit bossy, but not too bad.

I was actually more surprised that A didn't have a hard time staying home as he was looking forward to going as well. Poor kiddo. Glad he didn't though, I think he would have had a hard time trying to keep up.

Ok, so apparently I can't even do a simple task

So I never got around to posting about the junk drawer thing. Oh well.

Had a good talking to with the kids the other night about actions & consequences. I think we're slowly getting through to them.

I returned home from work to a strangely quiet household. I get "the look" from C, you know the one... "The kids are in trouble." Sheesh

Me: Ok what'd they do?
C: They plugged up the sink and it overflowed onto the floor. So they're in trouble.
Me: Ok kids. Bed! Now! No movie tonight because you made a horrible mess (Not to mention past bed time anyway).

Kids run into room crying and I hear the following:
M: Bud-bud, Mommy and Daddy don't love us any more! boo hoo hoo. bud-bud we can't live in this house anymore. boo hoo hoo boo hoo..

Me: *sigh* walk into room. "Just because mommy and daddy are upset doesn't mean we don't love you. We still love you but you made a mistake and you have consequences for those mistakes."
M: What are consequences?

Isn't she just dramatic? "We can't live here anymore" sheesh :) think I should film her & send in my vote for best actress?

Here's a task...

Yes, I borrowed this from another blog...

Go to your kitchen junk drawer (or to whereever your junk is kept), pull out the first 5 things you find & post what they are. I'll do this when I get home & update this entry.

Here's the hard part. If you haven't used the item in the last 6 months... throw it out!

Parenting

As this has been a topic brought up recently, I thought I'd throw my $.02 into the pot.

It's hard. No doubt about it. It's filled with second-guessing yourself, wondering if you did or are doing the right thing. Not to mention it can also be filled with people looking in from the outside telling you what you're doing wrong or that there's no reason your child should be doing x or y because a, b or c applies. You look back on your life and compare your childhood to the one you're giving your child(ren) and hope the one you provide is comparable or better. You read about vaccines, toilet-training, breast-feeding v. bottle-feeding, early readers, late readers, allergies, accidents, accomplishments, chore charts, behavior charts, reward systems, teaching good manners and compare your children to those. You know that each child is different and you shouldn't compare but you do. You tear your hair out telling your children for the bizillion-twenty-first time to please not stand on the back of the couch because they'll fall and hurt themselves. You lose your patience when they don't behave as you know they are capable. Sometimes you even find yourself yelling because speaking in a rational tone has gotten you nowhere.

Parenting is what works for you. I can't say what will work for you, most days I can't say what works for me. But I do know that my children make me proud and that they do TRY to do what is expected of them and behave in an acceptable manner. They say please and thank you. They're polite to store workers (A even said "excuse me sir" when we passed in front of someone at the store). My hope is when we come to roadblocks that we can sit down and talk about different strategies that will help out in the situation. Now, knowing my kids this may not work. That's one thing I've learned from having a special needs child, give them the block, show them how it's done, and gradually help them obtain their goal.

I know I'm not a perfect parent. I don't even claim I'm a good parent (wife/daughter/sister/person) most days. But I do know that I'm trying my best and hopefully my kids won't be too scarred from it.

I do have to watch M closely now as she asked a checkout clerk at the store if his face had gotten stung (acne). Thank goodness he didn't hear her. Yes, we've hit the "embarrassing things your children say to strangers" phase of parenting. Anyone else want to share?

This time of year really stresses me out

No, it's not taxes. I get this really weird satisfaction of getting them done (finished & e-filed Feb. 1), I think I'm a bit touched in the head.

It's the job stress that gets me. I have around 60 deadlines between tonight and the end of the first week of may. Might be more that I'm forgetting or some that jump out of the shadows at me like a cat on too much catnip hitting a wet floor.

I've talked about it before. I've thought about it. I've weighed the consequences, figured the risks, and calculated the cost.

When the timing is right, I'm quitting my job. I'll be going back to school to get a master's degree in Architecture. Should have done that to begin with. I'm so much better with the technical side of the design world than the artistic side. What the heck was I thinking?? But it's not too late is it?

Now wait... why not now? Well, because I really don't want to spend 3 years of my life trying to cram work and school (especially after hearing the obnoxious hours the program takes) into my day. Not to mention that I just can't imagine literally not seeing my kids or husband for that length of time. Oh yeah, this is also after M told me she misses me this morning. *Sigh* I already miss out on so much.

Anyway, there it is. That's the plan. Big step in front of me.

things that make your heart smile

Monday night I came home from work and noticed that there were little paper hearts on the floor. Didn't think anything of it, just that M had made some and must have been decorating. Tuesday morning I wake up and the first thing I hear from M is that I have a surprise.

M: Mama, you have a heart trail. Here's your heart pocket. (Shows me a heart-shaped paper pocket I didn't see by the door)

Me: Oh sweetie, thank you! (I start to pick up the hearts as both M & A show me where they are.)

M: I made you a charm bracelet mama.

The hearts were in a trail from the front door to her cubbies in her bedroom. On top of the cubbies was one of her charm bracelets completely filled with charms. I almost cried.

I would never have imagined after how tough her first few years were that she would be such a wonderful and loving little girl. She really makes my heart smile when the rest of the world is stressing me out.

Well here are some closeups of the chuckleheads. The littlest one is a real handful as he won't stay still for a second, it's always move, move, move. Not to mention as soon as he sees your finger move to take the picture he's bolting over to look at it in the view screen. Remember the days when you actually had to wait until the roll was finished and then wait again for the processing to be complete? I think I'd actually still be taking pictures that way if I didn't have a tendency to hold onto the film rolls for years. Not to mention that it's easier & faster to get pictures to people.

Getting ready for the day this morning. And of course we're going to be late... Oh well, nothing new really.

As much as we'd like to move north

the School District is *really* making it hard to want to leave.

I had M's IEP meeting today & it was GREAT!

I hear horror stories about parents who have to fight for every little service for their child(ren) and here I am getting everything I want for M and more laid out in front of me. They have alternative testing plans, speech therapy plans, instructional aide plans all ready to be put into place if/when she needs them. I wouldn't have thought to ask for 85% of this. Not to mention that I forgot about the meeting until I was half way to her habilitation this morning. Thank goodness I got dressed & didn't go in my jams which I normally do on Fridays.

So YAY for MPS!! Woo!!!

added some links

over there to the right, I added a couple links to some good stuff. (thanks Steve)

Conversation with A the other day at the gas station as I was getting back into the car:
A: Mommy you're back.

M: Yes, mommy's back.

A: That's strange.

Yep, confused me too. But this is also the kid who'll stand in the middle of the livingroom in just his unders complaining that he can't go to bed because he's cold.

Also, found a good quote: "Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived." -Kierkegaard

On another note...

The highland games are coming back to town. Woo! This is always a fun thing for us. We go and enjoy the bagpipes, the dancing, the singing, even the historical recreations of sword fights. Looking forward to going again. Some year we'll have the funds to deck the kiddos out in their own kilts & such.

http://www.arizonascots.com/games.html

Who the heck are these kids?

I mean, just look at them! Who would have thunk that these three chuckle-heads would grow up to be productive members of society? Well two of them are... not so sure about the one on the right... she looks kind of shifty to me...

And in other news... In the words of Bill Engvall, "Who told my son there was a weiner thief?" We are in the days of one-handed living, as the other hand is making sure someone doesn't snatch it right off.

Conclusions

One of the big conclusions I've come to realize is that the kiddos mean more to me than I'll ever be able to communicate. Every night I sit at this desk and I miss them to pieces. All I want to do is go home and snuggle and just be with them, if that makes sense.

Today M told me she wanted "upstairs and downstairs" beds again. She even said she'd sleep on top so she can "fly with the fairies." Sometimes I just can't get enough of her sweetness. But then again I could definately life without the comments like "Mama, you have sugar in your hair." (I'll let you figure out what that meant!)

A, on the other hand, is my cuddling partner. He & I snuggle up on the couch, and let me tell you, it's the best. Although when mom falls asleep, dad gets a bit annoyed when A gets up and tries to help make chili-mac in the kitchen.

Falling behind

Getting back into the swing of things really stinks sometimes. Not onlly do you have to get use to the routine all over again, people from all sides throw wrenches at you so you have to change said schedule and it all gets messed up. Not to mention that those darn wrenches hurt!!

So you'll have to forgive my random postings until things settle down a bit.

And by the way...

M: Did you know that Valentine's Day is soon?
_____

A: I'm not silly boy, I'm just A-----.

This is what we were doing on the holiday

snuggling on the couch with a heating pad trying to get over being sick. Think we're finally on the tail end of it though.

Now it's time to go back to said couch and heating pad and try to sleep. No, C isn't in trouble, just really stuffed up & snoring :)

Fuzzy Pickles

no, this isn't about family photos.

Conversation a couple minutes ago...

M: mama you like pickles?

Me: no honey, not those kind

M: daddy, you like pickles?

Me: no honey, daddy doesn't like pickles.

A: Gramma Grampa like pickles?

Me: I don't know honey, but we aren't sending pickles to gramma and grampa

1+4+15,000=24

One mistake
plus
four people who didn't catch it
plus
fifteen thousand copies of said mistake
equals
twenty four hours of work to correct the situation.

Let me just say that me & my trusty Sharpie did alot of pounding pavement today. Bleh.

Tired. Getting sick again. Bleh. Ouch

Pippi Belongstockings

She's coming to our house tomorrow.

We ordered the 4dvd collection for M. She's seen the New Adventures... one, but we got the originals. Not sure how it's going to go over, but hopefully she'll like them.

Back to work

Boy it's been a week. The time when I go back to work during the days really messes up the schedule here. This week has been especially messed up because the kids didn't have school the first couple of days. That meant taking M to therapy, running to work, leaving work to pick her up at noon, going back to work, etc. Unfortunately this week will be about the same because of parent-teacher conferences. I don't know how the heck we're going to manage all this next year when she's in school all day and has her therapies after school.

Haven't heard any phrases worth mentioning the past few days.

Utter heartbreak

Last week we were talking about having a family day. Spending the whole day as a family, playing games, going to lunch, etc.

M was so excited, she started making plans for her family party, wanting to make lemonade, practicing with her "band", finding the perfect dress, all the big party stuff. Thursday I began to suspect she had made this into way more than it was. I talked to her and tried to explain that it was just going to be she, A, mommy & daddy. That didn't work.

Friday morning comes and oh boy, she just cried and cried and cried that her whole family wasn't here. She wanted so bad to see all her family and serve them lemonade and play music for them. She wanted her two pair of gramas and grampas, her 10 cousins, all her aunts and uncles.

Maybe someday.