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.