Where Was I?

Friday

• I splurged and bought myself a radio alarm clock which docks my ipod. I think that for the first time since I got the darn thing, I may actually start using it!


• Of course, the music on it has been there for over two years now. And I keep having to forward through inappropriate music since I'm at work--and most of the songs on the "Natural Born Killers" and "South Park" soundtracks just MIGHT be frowned upon here.

Saturday

• I walked around with my son delivering donation bags for Cub Scouts.



• Did some of the housework.



• Took son to a birthday party in the same neighborhood where we'd delivered bags that morning.



• So frustrated with my horrible housekeeping, decided to buy new curtains and blinds for bathrooms and bedrooms--GROSS!



• John and I took all three kids to the mall--and remembered why we haven't bought new curtains YET. The hide-and-seek possibilities of the draperies department prevents our ever getting to actually LOOK. (John and I made a "date" to look them over during one of our lunch hours this week.)



• Except for the ice cream, trip to the mall was a complete waste of time!

Sunday

• MORE housework. My kids think they are Cinderella, and I'm the wicked step-mom. I completely get where they are coming from. But I can't figure out how to share the work load equally so that it actually GETS DONE, and it's not ALL done by ME.
  


• Twilight's funeral. :-( He is buried in one of our landscaped areas, underneath a beautiful tree. And we put down my garden bunny--received last Mother's Day--as his marker.



• Distribution of bags with the GS troop in a different neighborhood. (Why is it that no troops ever do OUR neighborhood?)



• Meeting with other GS leaders to plan next overnight event. Which I found out Friday is scheduled at the same time as Mary and Keith's next Suzuki concert.



• Get home to panic of WHAT'S FOR DINNER? I never made it to the grocery store. Scrape together a casserole with chicken, cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, broccoli, rice, and stuffing on top. Delicious. Keith and I were the only ones who ate it. And he refused to eat the broccoli and rice portion of it. (Oh well, more leftovers for me!)


• Decide to let Keith start using the shower downstairs. The upstairs bathroom just doesn't have enough towel racks for all five of us, and I'm tired of picking up towels off the floor. He's excited to have a shower "all his own." After the shower, I walk downstairs to find all of his clothes on the floor--and his towel. There is no laundry basket. He can't reach the towel rack.


• One of the times I had to get up to check on Izzy last night, I actually stumbled back to bed, and fell on my husband. I didn't know he was there. (VERY groggy.) I think the possibility of our having any more children just got "fixed."

This morning

• I couldn't get out of bed. (Two kids moaning/whining all night will do that to you.)


• After repeated requests to Izzy to get her socks/shoes/coat on, ended up marching her out to the car without the coat on. She wasn't happy. Neither was I!

R.I.P. Twilight

Poor Mary's little bunny Twilight passed on yesterday. We can't really say what the cause of death was, but it was quite a shock to Mary to find him when she went downstairs to play with him and brush his coat.

It was a very, very sad and weepy household last night. Keith was also upset about the loss of his bunny's brother (and feeling, for perhaps the first time, his OWN immortality). Izzy--well, she doesn't have the emotional capacity or attention span to handle something like this yet. She was upset at first--and then she kept going around matter-of-factly bellowing out around the house in her BIG voice, "Twilight DIED!" which would upset her big sister even more.

I made the grand gesture to our sad daughter and let her sleep in our bed with us last night.

Now that the shock has worn off, Mary's doing a little better. She drew a picture for him and pinned it on his empty cage. She wore a dress today in honor of him. And she is requesting that we bury him underneath the tree in the front yard (we are still pondering if that is the best location).

The good news is that Mary was already asking about a new pet last night. A mouse? A hamster? But NOT another bunny. We told her we would take some time to heal from this wound--and take care of Twilight's brother Brownie--before we moved on to a new pet.

John and I have been going back and forth over getting a dog for the last few months, anyway. And looking into non-allergenic breeds so that I don't have to have shots. Perhaps this summer we'll finally take the plunge--and find a replacement for our dear Mary's Twilight.

(Bunny NOT named after Vampire books--which Mary has never even HEARD of.)

Whew!

Well, I survived my weekend of single parenthood AND numerous activities--including a GS overnight on Saturday night. I would just like to take a moment here to thank my neighbors--who are the BEST. PEOPLE. EVER.--for watching Keith and Izzy while I went and played GS leader to 13 girls in Niagara, NY.

CRAZY! I TELL YOU!!

It was a fun time. So much fun that Mary was CRYING Sunday night because she wanted to go back to the Aquarium (and because she was very, very tired, poor girl). Indeed, it took until Tuesday night for either one of us to start feeling perky again--and that's with actually getting decent sleep Saturday night.

This weekend won't be much better--well, except for having the extra pair of my husband's hands around. Saturday is a Cub Scout event, continuing swim lessons for all three, and a birthday party (wondering if we'll be able to fit it all in?). Sunday is another GS event AND a GS leader's meeting to PLAN yet ANOTHER outing. It NEVER ENDS, I tell ya!

And now that nice weather is peeking through (Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh), I'm hoping to get the girls on their NEW BIKES on Sunday. If it doesn't rain. If I'm not dog-tired after all the activities and up to my eyeballs in laundry--like every OTHER Sunday. Ah well--we'll TRY, anyway!

And...just a quick note that I won! I won AGAIN! Mommy Daisy is my hero, and I've been peeking in my mailbox ever-so-patiently every day.... Maybe TODAY?!

St. Baldrick's Foundation

A co-worker is helping organize a fundraiser for St. Baldrick's. No, she's not shaving her head (her daughter said, "Mom, you NEED your hair!")! But she wanted to help out, so she's organizing the event and collecting donations for OTHERS who ARE shaving their heads.

Julie lost a special godson to cancer on November 1 (just weeks after his fourth birthday), so she's pretty passionate about this cause.

Here at work, we were able to get permission to wear jeans on St. Patrick's Day if we donated $5. What a great idea!

I thought I'd throw this out there for her.... If anyone has a few extra bucks lying around (Go take your coins in to that machine at the grocery store! Turn in your pop bottles and send us the receipts!) and want to donate, lemme know. OK?

Here're some links:

Julie's St. Baldrick's event.

Brandon's webpage

Thank you! :-)

The CRAZINESS

John went out of town for his semi-annual fantasy sports guys' weekend. Once again, leaving me HOME ALONE with three kids and the realization that no, I would NOT like to be a single parent, thank-you-very-much!

There is a LOT of stuff going on this weekend (let's just say it was a POOR weekend for him to go away), and I'm going completely NUTS trying to keep track of 1) where my kids are 2) who's watching them when and WHERE and 3) what event we have to go to and 4) at what TIME does it start?

My co-workers keep giving me funny looks as I keep talking to myself to try to KEEP TRACK OF IT ALL.

Seriously, this is NUTS, y'all!

I am also FINALLY at a point where I'm HAPPY we decided to have only three children. 'Cause having to keep track of JUST ONE MORE kid on days like these would surely cause my brain to EXPLODE.

And...on a happy note, Mommy Daisy just posted the chance to win yet another Shaun the Sheep DVD! And you all know ME--I'm just a sucker for DVDs with claymation characters with overbites! So! Pick me again--PLEASE! :-)

I won! I won!

I'm feeling the love from Mommy Daisy! And she hinted at another SHAUN THE SHEEP giveaway coming soon!!! OH MY!!

Smart Kids! SPOILED, too!

Today we had parent-teacher conferences for Mary and Keith--which means that we got their report cards last week. Yeah. Those two are SMART. And Mary is getting better (and not so frustrated) at math (she only missed two questions on the state-required tests). And Keith has suddenly turned mature "overnight" and started actually checking his work (we'll see if this sticks--and if he continues to improve on his organizational skills). Good report cards.

I've now lost count on how many days Izzy has stayed dry--and in her underwear, too! She finally seems to have kicked this!

So...since John is going to be out of town this weekend (Fantasy Baseball Draft--that time of year AGAIN?) and since Izzy was doing so well, we went ahead and took her to Build A Bear last Sunday. And since the other two's report cards were so good, and since they were begging and pleading with those sorrowful eyes, we got them each another one, too. (IF I ever promise a BAB trip again--only the promised one gets to go!)

But we drew the line at buying the critters clothes. I mean, seriously--those toys are EXPENSIVE! Especially that @#$% black lab Izzy picked out! Take your critter and BE HAPPY, you three!! (They were.)


Um, anyway, we had an enjoyable trip to the mall and wished every Sunday could be so pleasant....

Wallace and Grommett giveaway!

My buddy MommyDaisy is having another wonderful giveaway! This time it's for Wallace and Grommett movies! I'm all a-dither!

Hesitantly Triumphant

Izzy has passed her previous record from last summer of 3 dry nights in a row! (Hmmm...apparently I was too busy to post about our attempt last summer. Let's just say that after three nights dry and then several days of lots and lots of washing of sheets/comforters I finally mailed it in and put her back in her pull-ups at night.)

Izzy has now been dry 11 nights out of the last 13. ELEVEN!! I got brave and started putting her in underwear instead of her pull-ups the other night. First night was "oops" #2 (we're giving her a mulligan), but last night she made it through the night with the real undies!

DON'T ASK ME how this has come about. We haven't done anything really different that's we've done for the last two years. We've just been talking to her until we're blue in the face about it. We've "casually" tried getting her to go to the bathroom if she wakes up in the middle of the night (last night was the first night she didn't turn over and roll herself up into an even tighter, little sleepball)--we never forced her. We've been insistent on her using the bathroom before she lays down--even if she just went a half an hour ago. We did promise a bribe of a trip to Build A Bear if she stayed dry for 30 nights. (I know! It's a long time! But we ARE setting up mini-goals: candy every three days; a little stuffed animal at the week's point; she'll get something else small if she makes it to this weekend.... The Build A Bear is the ULTIMATE, YOU NAILED IT Reward. Keith is keeping a tally. I think Izzy is more excited about the tally marks growing than the BAB at the end of it.)

When we saw the pediatrician, she suggested that we not give Izzy any liquids after 6:00. Well, considering that now we don't even eat dinner most nights until almost 6:30, that's not too feasible for us. But she doesn't get anything after dinner. However if she wants a quick drink before bed (or an hour after she's gone to bed), we don't say NO. I mean, it's dry in our house, so isn't it kind of cruel to deny a kid a drink of water? So, we just make sure it's not a LOT--just a couple of drinks.

Other than that--this is all just TIMING. It seems that THIS is the time her body decided to finally cooperate. WHY it took so much longer than with the other two, I don't know. What is finally triggering her, I don't know. Whether or not this will become permanent or an occasional night-time accident for a while longer or a false hope than regression back to pull-ups, I DON'T KNOW.

All I know is, I'm happy that I may be DONE buying pull-ups, hurriedly washing sheets in the middle of the night, and worrying about whether or not she'll still be peeing the bed when she gets to college.

We'll see....

Hunger Strike--and Birthday Boy!

This week Izzy, my darling, daughter, dear, has decided to put on a hunger strike. John, D (day care provider), and I are all comparing notes on the fact that for three days straight she basically ate NOTHING but a bowl of pineapple, a bowl of cereal, a bite of pizza, and a chicken nugget. This is NOT like her. Even on days that she turns her nose up at whatever culinary delight I'm attempting to feed her for dinner, she will usually scarf down her breakfast, snacks, and lunch. But three days of just a few bites of something--and not even drinking her milk? SO not like her.

She's also been complaining of a tummy ache--which would make sense since it's basically EMPTY. But last night there was a bit of a bathroom incident...and then she seemed to perk up a little (A LITTLE? She was actually doing CHEERS in the middle of the living room: "Yay for Dad!!" *jump* *bounce* So then John tried to teach her the cheerleader head bob--she hasn't quite got it yet.). Um, anyway, maybe she was just kinda bound up inside and now that there is ROOM, she'll start eating again. She polished off her cereal this morning (I ended up giving her a bowl and a HALF when she said she was still hungy), and I have high hopes for tonight, since it's FRIDAY night--which means pizza night. She did turn up her nose at pizza earlier in the week, but I'm still hopeful....

OH YES! And, as the baby pictures posted last week will attest, Keith had a birthday last week. John and I both took the day off work and spent the day with JUST him (kids were on winter break last week). We took him to Toys R Us, where he spent the money Grandpa W sent him (*cough* and THEN some), then we went to Adventure Landing where we played a bunch of games to get cheesy prizes (Oh boy! A flying saucer that WHISTLES!), and then Keith wanted to go to IHOP. We saw the line--and said ixnay on the Ihopway--and headed to Perkins instead. A couple of Perky Bear pancakes later, Keith (who'd been kinda whiny all day--I'm assuming due to lack of sleep as he went to bed late [bad mom] the night before and kept waking up) said, "Can we go home now?" Hmmm...I probably could have gotten away with just missing a HALF day of work. Ah well, I'm sure that underneath all the whining he was happy to have one-one time with his folks.

So...then we picked up the girls and had our pizza and let Keith pick the movie (Ice Age--after which Izzy kept crawling around hissing and pretending to be Diego!!! For a WEEK!). Cake and MORE! PRESENTS! and it was time for bed.

I can't thank you folks enough for helping spoil our kids. We ALL appreciate it!

Facebook SUCKS

1) Just found out that a very special friend of mine from high school passed away just over a year ago.

2) Another friend's husband just walked out on her and their three young children.

3) My creepy ex-boyfriend from high school just "friended" me. (I do believe I'm going to ignore him.) *shudder* WHY are my other "friends" "friending" him? (And isn't it amazing how quickly one can go from "loving" someone to getting the "heebee-geebees" from them? Even 20 YEARS later?)

Seven Years Ago

2/20/02--what a great combo of numbers!

Living Vicariously

My father got to go to Hawaii last week--and then another friend is there this week. My father even got to go visit my BFF from high school who now lives there. Why is everyone ELSE living my life but ME?

Anyway, here's the pic my father sent me of my ol' buddy Michelle and her family. Can't you just tell that the they are just STRAINING from the pressure of having to live in Hawaii??? Gosh! I hope they get help soon!




Facebook is somewhat addicting. I cannot believe some of the old acquaintances I've found--or who have found me. But what about those few folks I've tried to friend who haven't responded?? Either they can't recognize me due to my married name (um, which is only HALF-WAY different from my maiden name), or I really annoyed these people more in high school than I thought. Ah well. Sorry, folks! I promise I'm not nearly as weird as I used to be! SO! Now I will go and focus on those friends who DO still want to admit they know me!

On Health

Last week I had a cold. Late Thursday night I suddenly got very dizzy and "faint-ish." I just felt so strange...and I ended up not sleeping at all that night. Friday I still felt weird and spent my lunch hour curled up in a spare office trying to get my head to clear. A co-worker said, "You probably have a sinus infection." Ah, yes! That's probably it! I started feeling better by late Friday afternoon. But today I have another one of those teeth-hurting headaches. Probably weather-induced. (Rainy, gloomy 50 degree weather.)

I got home from work Thursday to a very disoriented-looking Mary. She was rubbing and blinking her eyes and complaining that she just couldn't get them to FOCUS on her homework. Within minutes, she started complaining about a headache. I sent her to bed to lie down. Mother's different stages of panic: a) brain tumor?, b) aneurysm? c) MIGRAINE?? When I went to check on her later, she was complaining of a stomach ache, too. She finally went to sleep and slept for two hours straight. She woke up much more alert and happy and obviously in no pain.

[John: Do you have a history of migraines in YOUR family?
Me: No, do you?
John: Not that I know of!
(Family: if you do suffer from migraines, and we're completely oblivious to
it, please let us know!)]

Fortunately Mary already had a physical scheduled with the doctor on Friday. (Doc: Is there a family history? John: ???) So Mary was told to start keeping a headache journal to see if we can find triggers. The doctor ALSO noticed that Mary's vision is a bit off: like 20/40. The doc wants us to take her to an eye doctor (new benefits! 4/1!). It's not necessarily bad enough to warrant glasses, but she may need them if these headaches are actually due to poor vision....

SO! That was our drama for the last week! And I see from miscellaneous FB posts and blogs that a LOT of folks have been fighting one nasty bug or another lately. Gah! I hate winter! And I HATE it when my babies are sick!

More Pics

These are the pics that were supposed to go out in the now non-existent x-mas cards. And then I realized I didn't have enough to go around. *sigh*

The Pics

Mother Son Challenge


Father Daughter Dance

Technical Difficulties

Sorry to those of you who have me on your reader.... I have to completely re-do a couple of posts.

Working....

"Congratulations"

...said John, "You're one of the only people actually HIRED this month."

Yes, that's right folks. After almost exactly 120 days, the company finally offered me a permanent position--starting officially on Monday. Whew! Although, I was really to the point of "Hey, keep me as a temp--whatever! As long as I'm getting a paycheck!" Anyway, I'll now have the "luxury" of TWO weeks vacation. Ooooohhh....Wow! And I can actually get PAID if I call in sick now.

I wonder if I'm the only person in the COUNTRY who got HIRED this month?? "Yes, that's right, folks, the employment rate is UP! It went up by ONE JOB! Things are looking UP!"

What's Going On?

I feel bad. This darn job of mine is really cramping my blogging style. I just don't have the time to read or write anymore. Clearly, I should bring this up to my boss, no?

Last Friday night Keith and I went to the school for a Mother Son Challenge sponsored by the PTA. We got there early, and there was already a line of mothers/sons waiting outside the gym. After a while of standing in the hallway, one of the PTA members came down the hall and ushered some of us willing moms into the cafeteria where the photographer was set up. So, Keith and I got in another long-ish line for that (and this is when I noticed the pizza stains on his face--AND on his shirt). Keith was instantly approached by a gaggle of young boys and they all wandered around the cafeteria making very, very strange noises and just being all goofy. Meanwhile, all the mothers are trying their best to herd their over-excited boys back into at least the general vicinity of the line. I just started cracking up. I mean--it was hopeless, OK? All these goofy boys and one really long line? Just let it go, Moms. Let it go!

Well, Keith and I finally got our picture taken (and it turned out quite nice, too), and then we mosied back into the gym. The line was EVEN. WORSE.

And what were we in line FOR? Glad you asked! The PTA had rented three inflatable games for the moms and sons. Inflatable twister. Inflatable bungee (something or another). Inflatable Joust (yes!). Well, Keith and I got in the very first line--which was the bungee thing. And we waited in line for an HOUR. All three lines had the same look--Moms waiting patiently while the sons RAN AROUND and maybe stopped to watch/cheer the Joust (it was great--when a kid defeated a mom, the boys would cheer--and vice versa!). Anyway, after the HOUR wait, Keith and I finally got to do the bungee thing. We strapped on a vest that had a bungee cord attached to the wall of the inflatable. The inflatable was divided into two lanes. Each person is handed a velcroed bean bag. On the signal, they RUN down the lane and try to adhere their bean bag on the velcroed strip in the middle of the lanes). Object: stretch yourself/bean bag the farthest down the lane (and not get YOINKED back by the bungee cord).

It looked fun. But they only allowed two runs (imagine the wait time if they'd allowed MORE?). Poor Keith tripped on our first run. But he took it like a good sport and laughed. The second run I watched him closely, and he "managed" to beat me by a hair.


I was all for getting in the huge line for the Joust next. But Keith wanted a sundae. "Listen, kid. The line is soooo long for joust that if we stop for the sundae, we are NOT going to have time for the joust. Are you SURE you want a sundae?" He was adamant. So, after a quick trip to the little boys room, we ate our sundae. Twenty minutes now until the Challenge ends. Sorry, kid. Not enough time to get in another line--so we grabbed our photo and pulled on all our coats/hats/mittens, and called it a night.

@#$%. I really wanted to try that joust! Typical Man! Stomach first!

Yeah. I could tell Keith was kind of bored most of the night. Waiting in line for an HOUR for something that is NOT a roller coaster just doesn't seem worth the effort. Ah well. We got a pretty decent picture, anyway.




This Friday is the Daddy/Daughter dance. Mary is excited that I'm letting her wear her "very best" dress--the one I bought for the family holiday pictures that never got taken (ahem!). Well, at least she and John will get a nice picture together in the new dress!

Monday night I made use of my old contacts at my old job and set up a Cub Scout visit to the phone company. It only took about 40 minutes--and it was great. The boys were completely fascinated (not to mention the dads). I got to see one of my old bosses (gee--one of the few not laid off lately), and we got to catch up. It was so perfect, I'm thinking of setting it up for my GS troop, too!




Every day Mary and her class is subjected to a math facts quiz. They take the quiz every day until they pass it. Up to now it's been addition, subtraction, and the multiplication tables (x2, x3, x4, and so on to x9). Every week we've had to deal with Mary being upset/frustrated if she didn't pass the quiz on the first try. Well, this week was the first week that there was a "combined" multiplication quiz. It had random multiplication problems on it. She was the only kid in her class to not only finish it in the time allowed, but also PASS it! John said that he even had another mother stop and say something to him about it when he was up at the school for Keith's cello lesson the other day. !! Good job, Mare! You're the envy of your whole class!

Getting It Together

Now that I've been back to work for a while (and the pukes are gone), John and I have been trying to get a little bit of order in our lives.

John is spending his weekends replacing some of the insulation in the attic, putting down plywood, and going through the junk in the basement in the hopes of putting some of the crap downstairs UPSTAIRS. So what if it just looks like our basement crap has been SHIFTED to different spots of the basement? It's shifted with PURPOSE, OK?

In doing MY part of this task, I've been helping him go through the crap and decide what to keep and what to give away/throw out. I'm just not the clutter hog that I used to be, and I really don't have a problem getting rid of most of it. OUT! OUT, I SAY!

I've also decided that it's time to step up the children's chores a bit. First, I need to be a bit more firm in the chores getting done WEEKLY. This is hard when on any given week/weekend we could have any given list of activities going on--sometimes *I* don't have time to get chores done, how can I keep on the kids? So, I don't bark at them to clean when *I'm* not cleaning. (One thing that HAS to get done: the bunny cages have to get cleaned. Many empty threats of getting rid of the bunnies are happening lately.... I wish they weren't so darn stinky!)

Anyway, last weekend I decided to teach both Keith and Mary how to do the dishes. Not just unloading the dishwasher (which both of them have been doing for ages), but ALSO loading them, and washing the stuff that can't go/won't fit in the dishwasher, and cleaning off the tables and counter tops, etc. Guess who's the biggest help here? Keith! He absolutely LOVES to help me do the dishes! He just can't wait until it's his turn. But Mary. Oh, MARY. When it's her turn I'm guaranteed to get a temper tantrum with red face, tears, and lots of "mumble wumble" under her breath. Oh, the poor, little Cinderella! This confirms the fact that I should have shown her how to do the dishes ages ago.... Man, I'm mean!

I'm forcing us all to make a habit of this. Eat dinner, wash dishes, then PACK LUNCHES (if time!), then get ready for bed. NOW the kids have ALL THIS EXTRA TIME in the morning to just GOOF OFF instead of having John get onto them about packing their lunches....

It's been...wonderful. Really, really wonderful. A clean kitchen every night. And the kids are ready more quickly in the morning. And...well, we may actually get to put the Christmas decorations away in the attic by spring (*cough*).

Wish me luck in keeping this habit going. Next step: more forceful insistence on the weekly chores. Again: baby steps.

Another birthday? So soon?

We still haven't managed to get all the X-mas toys put away, and already people are asking me about what to get Keith for his birthday. Yikes, man--I don't know!

So I updated his wishlist----------------------------->

In a nutshell: Didj games, digital camera, Electronic (or even NON-electronic) Battleship.... I think we're all set with clothes for a while, but if you see something you just love, his sizes are 6 slim pants, and 6 shirts.

BTW: most of our X-mas thank you cards are done. I wanted to send pics with them, but then I realized that we didn't really have ENOUGH pictures to go around. Those school packages are SUCH a rip-off! So...maybe I'll get off my duff and just send the cards out without the pics--and see about FINALLY getting in to get our family pic taken--with extra singles of Mary and Keith.

(Don't hold your breath.)

The Puke Channel: All puking, all the time

One would think that if one child gets the barfing flu on Wednesday night, and then the next child gets it on Friday night, and then FIVE DAYS PASS, that the rest of one's family would be SAFE, right?

One would be WRONG.

Mary came down with the barfing flu on Wednesday night--five days, and I-thought-we-were-in-the-clear, after her brother. SO WRONG.

So, Mary missed school on Thursday. And since she missed school on Thursday, she ALSO missed her Beginning Orchestra concert Thursday night. No luck 'round here, I tell ya!

Ah well, Keith got to make his cello debut at the concert on Thursday night, anyway. It appeared to Mom as if his timing was just a bit off with his "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," but he's still learning, and I'm not too fussed with that (he always sounds good at home). He did look just too darn grown up and cute in his white shirt, black pants, and black shoes.

We've gotten Keith and Mary to practice the "Twinkle" variations together--and nothing makes my heart swell more than to see my little "virtuosos" playing TOGETHER--and quite well, too.

In other "nerd" news, Keith has joined the chess club at school. Now John and Keith play chess together on the weekends, and Keith tells us that he's "kicking butt" against his opponents at school. He's been trying to teach Izzy how to play. We explained that Izzy's probably too young, so maybe he should try teaching Mary? No, he doesn't want to teach Mary, "because she might beat me!" Ha! Better get used to getting beaten, bud--not every player you are going to play against will be as inexperienced as the other first graders you are playing against now. (stinker)

Pukefest Ver 3.0: Who's got the debugger for this?

Keith was the next to fall victim to the barfing flu. Out of the blue on Friday night he started whining and complaining his stomach hurt. Well then, guess what, kid--you are NOT getting up in your loft tonight! I set him up in his sleeping bag on the floor--with the ever-trusty Hello Kitty Barf Can by his side.

The first explosion was around 10:00 or so. Man, he near 'bout filled the Barf Can! Then...all got quiet. John and I were beginning to think he escaped with a mild bout. Ha, ha! Fooled you! The Puke Monster struck again around 2:00 in the morning!

That sealed Keith's fate on whether or not he could attend his Cub Scout Pinewood Derby and first day of swim lessons on Saturday. Seriously, this kid just never seems to get a break when it comes to these things! John, feeling that they just worked TOO DAR HARD on that car to skip it, went to the Derby without him. Another boy ran the car--and Keith's car won 3 of the 4 heats--and by a sizable margin, too! John says one of the wheels "stuck" on the first try, leading to the initial loss. After that, the car worked PERFECTLY and left the competition in the dust! The other fathers were a bit envious and looked over the car with a tinge of green. John freely gave out advice--he found it on the internet, after all (and it was all completely LEGAL, too). Heh.

We almost sent Keith to his swim lesson--he was definitely feeling better by the afternoon--but we didn't want to run the risk of spreading the Puke Bug on to others. (And wouldn't ya know it? Two of the kids in his swim class are in Scouts! Good call!)



See--there's John! But no Keith.... :-(



The winner--and DEN CHAMPION! (That cool looking orangey-black car on the far left).

PUKEFEST 2.0

Oh no! Not again!

Oh yes! Another bout of the stomach flu has hit the day care. I knew we were in trouble when Izzy didn't fall asleep last night, but lay there moaning and groaning. Crap. Around 11:00, I grabbed a trashcan and crawled in bed with Izzy to help direct the flow. And at around the midnight, the puking began.

We were basically up all night--the puking/dry heaves didn't stop until around 7:00 this morning. John's schedule dictated that it was MY turn to stay home with the sickling. I didn't actually mind as I didn't get ANY sleep last night and was really in no mood to work anyway.

Izzy is now on the mends. She's starting to perk up and actually managed to eat a handful of crackers. Meanwhile, Mom is hoping HER upset stomach is due to drinking a cup of coffee, and NOT due to germ-transference through the night.

Bleh.

The Trials and Tribulations of Mary's Teeth

Mary had to go to the dentist yesterday to get more fillings. Most of you know how I HATE to have baby teeth filled! But the dentist keeps pushing the NEED for it. And I didn't want Mary to have to go through another baby root canal, so I finally set up an appointment. "Conveniently" Mary also developed a sore on her gums this last week. I feared an infection leading to another root canal, so I was glad we already had this appointment set up so that I didn't have to go through the "should I call or shouldn't I call" fret.

Now, she had five more cavities (that's in addition to the three(?) we've already had filled in the last year?). The dentist was originally going to take care of it in two appointments, but he asked John (and Mary) if he could just go ahead and do them all at once. Mary was game. Alrighty.

(I still do NOT get why Mary's teeth have completely fallen apart this last year or so. Of the three, she's probably the best at brushing--and REMEMBERING to brush her teeth. And except for the candy-stealing incidents, she doesn't get a lot of sugary crap. What the freak?!)

So, Mary was a brave, little soldier and had five fillings (I was not there, and I don't know how many were on baby teeth vs. adult ones). Then the dental assistant came out and told John the verdict of the sore--it's an infection; they want to pull the tooth.

(I REFUSE to get myself all riled up over this. La, la, la, la, la, la....)

So, Mary was a brave, little soldier for just a while longer, and came out with five fillings and minus one tooth. John said she was basically fine until they went to the store to buy some pudding/applesauce/soup for her to eat for the next 24 hours. THAT'S when the tears started.

When I got home, she was just blubbering. Oh, the poor thing. How tramatic for her. I can only hope that this will help encourage her to brush more accurately and FLOSS! FOR CRIPES SAKE! FLOSS!!!!

Delurking Day! And a Funny Story about my Goofy Kid

One night a while back, not long after I went to bed, Mary wakes up in one of her normal nightmare/terror ways, crying out, "No! No! No! No!" (Keith's pranks and tortures apparently follow her in her sleep.) I went in to check on her, and she's starting to climb down the ladder to her bunk. "Hey, kid, are you OK?" She nods yes, and crawls back up in her bed.

Minutes later, I'm snuggled in my bed, and I hear her getting into her dresser drawers. ???? Being VERY snug and lazy, I call for her, "Mary? What are you doing?"

Mary comes into my bedroom--completely dressed. "Um...Mary, why are you dressed?" "It's morning!" "Um...honey...? It's midnight!"

Now HERE's the funny part.... Apparently while she was rooting around for clothes in the dark, she noticed I had set out clothes for the morning on her chair, so she grabbed them and put them on.

...They were IZZY'S clothes!!!!

Do you know how hard it is to keep from cracking up so as not to hurt the dainty feelings of your 9-year old--who is already grumpy and groggy since it's the midnight hour--and she's wearing clothes FIVE TIMES TOO SMALL FOR HER?

OMG!! Sleeves up to her forearms! Jeans the size of capris! And she couldn't even fasten them! She got them over her skinny butt, but she couldn't fasten them!

(I was able to get her to laugh a little more the next day. WHY did you think it was time to get up when it was pitch black? "Well, it's always pitch black when I get up!" Hmmm....true, but when it's time to get up, Mom ALWAYS turns on the light for you!)

Is it too cruel to say that I wish I'd taken a picture?

Another Baby!

What happens when I don't get online for a few weeks--a baby gets born!

Welcome, Emilia! Born 12-26-08. Hope we get to meet you before you grow out of that wonderful baby-head-smelling state!

OMFG

...And then it posted it TWICE. Seriously, WTH!?

Thank you, Oh, Internet Goddess (aka Devan)

The long lost Holiday post:

Our kids are spoiled.

And so am I.

X-mas was a ball, of course. I had started coming down with another cold, but everyone else was healthy. I spent the whole day on X-mas Eve FINALLY getting all my baking done for the neighbors. Goodies were dropped off by 5:00. After the kids went to bed, I wrapped the rest of the presents while John and I watched Dr. Who.

At 6:15 Keith was up. I nudged John, thinking the FUN was about to start. Nope. Keith went to the bathroom and then immediately went back to bed. Ha! Around 7:30, I hear the pitter-patter of feet again--and excited whispers. Oh yes! NOW it's time! John and I got up and joined the kids as they gazed upon ALL. THOSE. PRESENTS! (Actually, John and I were very grateful that the haul didn't seem to be as big as last year....) Despite my protests to just "WAIT!" I heard them tearing into the wrapping paper as I was running down to get the camera. John took over the camera--and the new memory card he had bought the night before didn't work! So he made the kids stop (they probably had about two torn into a piece) while he figured it out. To stall time, I made the kids get up and eat their breakfast, "But I'm not hungry!" Finally, we got some sort of camera action going on, so the tearing commenced.

After the carnage, John says, "Hey, let's go to the movies." Um...OK (thinking...but what about dinner?) Ah! Let's go OUT to dinner!

So we went out and saw Desperaux and then drove around to find an open Chinese place (thinking..."Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra, Ra Ra Ra Ra"). Just as we are walking into a Chinese place, we notice people walking into the Japanese place next door (which did NOT have their sign lit). Quick! We walk in--yeah,they don't open for five minutes. No problem! We'll wait!

So we sat at the hibachichi, and the kids got entertained, and the steak was absolutely PERFECT, and the waitress was amazed our kids would actually eat a) sushi and b) the onion soup. Yeah--we're raising them right!

On the way home we stopped at a gas station to buy outrageously priced batteries, so the kids could play with their new toys.

New favorites:
The Didjs and the Leapster 2 (thanks again, Aunt Lynnie!)
All! Those! Beads!
The ball thing for Keith....
New bikes for the girls!
Lots and LOTS of art supplies
Wii Fit (now I need to force myself to actually USE it)

...and we also plan on getting the kids swim lessons with leftover funds.

Much, much fun.

For New Year's we invited the neighbors over. We adults ended up just having a few beers and chatting while the kids all watched movies downstairs. All the kids (well, except the baby) made it past midnight this year. Anyway, we adults were having so much fun just yakking, that we never even managed to get out the Wii. I know! Good times....

Curse You, Blogger!

My Holiday post--which was started over a week ago and then finished by me today--which means that YES, it WAS in my drafts folder--is now GONE. COMPETELY GONE.

So imagine what you will about our holiday. I just don't have the time or desire to type it all up again right now.

I SURVIVED: Slumber Party '08

So last Friday's snowstorm caused me to postpone Mary's birthday slumber party to Saturday. Bonus! One of the girls who couldn't make it on Friday could actually come on Saturday (crap!)! Bonus! More time to prepare and cut out tissue paper flowers!

(A side note here: when postponing the party, one girl [Mary's BFF, in the sense that she plays with this girl more than any other] originally couldn't come on Saturday as her grandparents were coming to town, and they were going to go skiing. No problem! We'll set them up for a playdate some other time--no big deal. Well, the mother was pretty frantic about R missing this party.... I ended up with another call from her on Friday: "My husband had an idea! Why doesn't Mary come over HERE tonight and stay the night here?!" Um...I canceled the party because I was being considerate and did NOT want anyone driving out on these roads!? And now you're offering for me to drive MY kid to YOUR house????? Um...No, no, thank you. We're going to relax and put in a movie instead. WTH? Hours afterward I was STILL laughing about that. People just don't THINK! Anyway, the grandparents couldn't make it to go skiing [due to the weather--imagine that!], so R got to come.)

So, on Saturday the party started just before 6:00. One of the girls apparently does not do well sleeping over, so we had her come a little early for a playdate instead. She and Mary hung out for a bit and then played with the Wii.

At 6:50, Mary's BFF shows up ("She was so excited to come that we came a little early--but this is the earliest I would let her!") Then the pile of other parents/girls descends upon us. Six girls in all. John took off with Keith to have some manly time together, and I started a craft with the girls in the dining room.

I turned on the X-mas music, and we made a garland of tissue paper flowers (they turned out pretty cute). And then we decorated our own cupcakes and ate them (and somehow forgot to sing Happy Birthday?). And then we opened presents (And EVERYONE brought a gift despite my plea NOT to--people honestly can't HELP themselves!). And guess what? The Dance Dance Revolution I had bought for Mary from Amazon--which somehow got delayed in delivery, so I wasn't expecting it until 12/24--actually DID get here in time for her party (must've come on Friday--John found it under about six inches of snow when he shoveled the sidewalk Saturday). So after the shrieks and oohs and ahhs, we set it up, and the girls all got to dance. Of course, the one girl--whom I will henceforth call the "Evil K"--kept taking off in the other room to do a Mad Libs game with another girl--and then they would come back to read it to the other girls. I tried not to mind, as they were all having fun (and "Evil K's" stories were mostly being ignored by the girls wanting to enjoy the party), but it was annoying to see the girls break off into groups like that. I prevented it as best as I could.

Around this time, the girl who "couldn't handle sleepovers" decides she really wants to stay the night and calls her Mom. Mom brings over clothes (forgets her jammies). I kept wondering how this was all going to turn out....

All the girls get their pajamas on and someone decides they should have a pajama fashion show. Alright--I'm game. The girls raid through their goodie baskets. Next thing I know, I've got a parade of girls in jammies walking down my living room "runway" with stickers and body glitter all over their faces. Ha!

Around 10:00 or so, I pop a ton of popcorn and settle the girls in the den to watch a movie. I stop the movie at about the half-way point to try to get them to settle down in their sleeping bags. I was on the couch--laughing at their feeble attempts to get me to go to another room. Mary finally says to the one girl, "Mom's not stupid, ya know!" Ha!

Mary and her BFF calm down right away. But the OTHER four girls--well, they decided to make this a NOT-slumber party. Now, I don't mind a roomful of goofy girls. I AM a GS leader, and despite my age, I DO remember what sleep-overs are like. So, I gave them plenty of time to goof-off and talk and laugh (begging them to please try and keep it down a bit as Keith and Izzy were in bed by this point). I did get a bit angry when one decided she needed to go to the bathroom, and three others piled in with her--and then two of them spilled over to running around in the basement. Um...NO!

We all lay down again, and "Evil K" just will NOT stop talking--LOUDLY. Mary actually got on to her, "PLEASE stop! I want to SLEEP" Another girl actually got TICKED OFF at yelled at her a couple of times (while alternately giggling at the girl's antics). I finally laid down the law and gave "Evil K" and her co-hort M (the one who doesn't do well at sleepovers?) 20 minutes to calm down (SEE how reasonable I am?) before I start calling parents. I watched "Evil K" still talking and giggling and taking articles of clothing and "throwing" them on the other girls...but at least she was being pretty quiet.....

Everything started to get quiet, and I actually dozed off. Next thing I know, it's about 1:30 in the morning, and John is coming downstairs and getting onto "Evil K." "Where is the Rubik's cube? The one I just saw you pick up when you were wandering upstairs? Where is it? OK. Now you all need to settle down and stop wandering the house, or I WILL call parents." Apparently she had taken a few trips to wander upstairs while I was dozing and was messing with stuff on the party table. John, being the night owl he is, was sitting in the living room and of course, saw the whole thing. I told him later I was sure she wasn't stealing it--she was just playing with it because she was bored and didn't want to go to sleep.

Finally "Evil K" gave it up and ALL the girls went to sleep.

I wake up in a still-dark den and chattering girls. "What time is it?" I stumbled upstairs--it was 6:40. Yeah--you all can still sleep a bit longer. ...I gave up the attempt around 7:00.

We ate breakfast, got dressed, packed up the bags (er, mostly--got quite a bit of a "lost and found" here now), watched the rest of our movie, and then got out the Wii and DDR again. Then all the parents pretty much showed up at once, and my house was quiet again.

The whole time I was corralling this party, I could only think, "Boy, I wish I had one of my co-leaders here!" And, "Wow. These girls who generally seem to be pretty quiet are quite LOUD when they all get together."

Despite the antics of "Evil K," we all did have fun. Mary said it was the BEST. SLEEPOVER. EVER. Hope you enjoyed it, kid. I'm NOT having that many of your friends over again anytime soon.

*Note to self: Please remember the NOISE level of six girls when planning a party next year! And DON'T invite "Evil K!"

NINE years ago today.

Happy Birthday, Mare Bear!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it BLAH

We've got tons of snow out there--and probably even more coming in the next hour or two. And so I was forced to postpone Mary's birthday slumber party tonight. That is going to be one VERY disappointed girl when she finally gets home (bus is running 30-45 minutes late do to the LOVELY weather). So far it looks as if two or even three of the girls can make it tomorrow night instead. I hope we can do that. Postponing it until after the holidays makes it more likely that it won't happen at all! Shhh!

We had a carry-in at work today. It got moved up from 3:00 to 12:00--and then they told us we could all go home. It took me about 35 minutes to go my normal 20 minute route home. The side roads were the worst. And that's when I decided that even if it DID stop snowing by 7:00 tonight, chances are the roads still won't all be plowed nicely--and who really wants to drag their kid out in that to drop them off at somebody else's house? Stay home! Pop some popcorn and watch a movie! (And now I have more time to cut out all those freakin' tissue paper flowers).

I've got about two more weeks until it's decided whether or not I'm loved enough to keep me at my job. It got kind of scary there as I wasn't very busy for a while, but it was noticed, and the last week has more than made up for it. I just hope it was enough--and that I proved myself enough--for them to decide that they can't do without me. Love me! Pick me! Choose me!

And last, a somewhat sad announcement: I don't think the X-mas cards are going to make it out this year. We never managed to get a family picture done. And then all these preparations for this birthday party have kind of scared the thought of X-mas cards right out of my head. So, IF they do go out, boy, are they ever going to be late! Sorry folks! It's not you--it's me, I swear! Still love you and miss you and Happy Holidays and blah, blah, blah. Mwah!

Then there is always THIS classic

From 1995 (but the mullet is GONE!).

17 years and 3 kids later

Hey, it's the best I could do....

(Edited to add: Where'd all those other kids in the picture come from? Don't remember ever having THOSE? Heh.)

17 Years

John and I met 17 years ago today.

Wuv. Twue Wuv.

Dude, that was a looooong time ago.

(And now is when I wish my scanner were working so that I could post a picture of John and me with our early 90s hair-dos [heh--he had a MULLET when I met him]. *sigh* You'll just have to IMAGINE our young adult geekiness.)

Recuperating

Izzy spent most of her day yesterday sitting in her slightly pukey pjs (she'd drooled on the clean ones I'd thrown on her after her 3 AM bath) and watching TV. By dinnertime last night, she was starting to perk up. She ate an apple and half a pbj sandwich. I gave her another bath (her hair smelled like the Lysol that I had um, liberally applied to every surface of her room). By bedtime, she was her usual perky self (great timing, kid!).

Izzy is SUCH a better sick person than say, HER SISTER. Mary sits and whines and mopes and complains ALL DAY. It's just DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA all day long with her! Izzy is quiet and may get upset for a minute after she pukes, but then she will sit there and chatter with you a minute after she's done. Oh yes. Staying home with a sick Izzy is much, much more pleasant than a sick Mary.

So far NO ONE ELSE IN THE FAMILY has started puking. Could this really stop at ONE hit?

The daycare was not so fortunate. The provider, her son, her boyfriend, and (at last count) 6 of the 8 kids she watches have all been hit.

I did well yesterday, but today I think my previous restless night finally caught up with me. I can barely keep my eyes open at work and have been reduced to eating chocolate in the attempt to stay awake.

What? Doesn't chocolate work the same as coffee? ;-)

The Culprit

"I'm too cute to get the barfing flu!"

Well, It's 3:00 in the morning...

...and Izzy is PUKING all over her bed.

@#$%!

So much for escaping the Great Stomach Bug Epidemic of 2008!

By 7:15-ish she seemed to finally run out of puke. I called the day care provider and said, "I've got a puker!" Guess what? D had been up all night puking too. LOVELY.

John had a 9:00 meeting, so he ran into work, and I stayed home and put the older two (We'll call them Carriers #2 and #3 now--since *I* am surely Carrier #1) on the bus. Izzy and I sat and watched PBS Kids, made a quick trip to drop Mary's forgotten violin at the school (whoops!), John came home, and I made it back into work by 10:30.

And my boss is actually going to let me "make up the time."

um....Wow?!

Cold Lethargy

This weekend was sort of a lazy one--and COLD! I mean, I had LOTS to do (especially since I'd been sick for so long and all the housework was way, way behind), but I basically didn't do (most of) it.

Friday night I went out to eat with L. I chose Mexican as my kids won't eat it, so I hardly ever get it. Margarita on the rocks! Yum! Then we went to the mall, looked around and bought a few gifts (well, SHE did), and then sat at That-incredibly-expensive-coffee-shop until the mall closed at 10:00. We never did make it back to the one store we were actually heading to.... But I'm not much of a shopper, anyway--it was the company that I was enjoying.

Saturday I wasted the whole morning reading and doing basically nothing. Well, that's not exactly true. I did get some of the housework HALF-WAY done--in preparation for the X-mas tree we were planning on buying. John actually got out and put up X-mas lights--our very first year doing it (I think the fact that EVERY neighbor had their lights up last weekend kinda shamed him into it). We finally all climbed in the van and headed to a Big Home Store to buy some more decorations for the outside of the house. By the time we got out to our little Boy Scout X-mas tree lot, they had closed up for the day (WHY close down a x-mas tree lot at 6:00 on a Saturday????). So, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed home.

Sunday morning it was freaking FREEZING outside. I started the laundry (and that was basically it for the domestics of the day). Then we rushed to our BS lot, grabbed a tree, perched it in its stand at home, then rushed Keith off to a Pokemon birthday party (Drat! Here I was hoping he'd never NOTICE Pokemon! Now he's been TAINTED!). Mary and I finally lucked out and found our last three GS cookie customers AT HOME. Then we picked up Keith, dropped him off at home, and we went out to Wally-World where she picked out gifts for Keith and Izzy (and I was once again disappointed in my local Wally-World's selection of toddler clothes). THEN we went to the store--where I ONCE AGAIN forgot my list and just winged it. Yeah, I'll be running back to the store probably TONIGHT.

Another weekend went by where I never got around to scheduling the family portrait (hmmm...may not be happening this year). And the bathroom didn't get cleaned. And none of the dusting got done. And the kids never cleaned their rooms any of the 10 times I asked, and I didn't bother trying to ask the 11th. The den/playroom still has tons of toys scattered everywhere and badly needs to be vacuumed. And we ended up not having time to actually put the ornaments on our tree. And I was too tired last night to bake the six dozen cookies that I'm supposed to have for my cookie exchange tomorrow (guess what I'll be doing tonight?).

What did get done: five (or was it six?) loads of laundry, living room vacuumed, kitchen mopped. SOME junk sorted out of the basement.

Well...I guess I wasn't as unproductive as I thought.

Lucky Me!

I just won another contest! So now the question: do I use the money to help with the x-mas gifts (oh! so many! yet to buy!), or do I be all selfish and spend it on MYSELF?

Thank you, Swistle! I love you!

Another DVD give-a-way!

For all you Jim Henson fans! I don't remember this movie...but I LOVE me some Muppets, so I wanna see it!

Mommy Daisy Give-A-Way

Still here

Just been sick with a nasty cold. I'm starting to pep up a little now (but that sinus headache keeps coming back!) A lot of people at work are sick: colds, flu, bronchitis. Germ warfare!

I need to get all the holiday scheduling in order. I think there is just about something going on every weekend this month. I talked Mary out of a big birthday party (which she's been promised BY HER FATHER for the last year) and instead we're going to have "just a few friends" for a sleep-over. I got her by telling her that we could make some of the fairy crafts from a book she checked out from the library. But now I gotta make good on my promise and get to the craft store to buy stuff to make some fairy invitations. I dunno--maybe paying a few hundred dollars at Barfy Cheese WOULD be easier! So, watch me get all crafty now! Woo hoo!

Friday night I'm going out with my friend L for my birthday. I think my birthday needs to be moved. She and I never manage to get out for it in a timely manner, so it's always cold and snowy when we do. Ah well. Looking forward to spending some time with her--WITHOUT kids.

I guess I gotta start my holiday baking early this year. I have to go to a cookie exchange party next week--and bring SIX DOZEN cookies. I'm actually kinda tired of making cookies, kthanx?! Can't decide if I'm going to make another batch of chocolate chip, or if I wanna work on my upper-body strength and make a batch of monster cookies. Wonder if Swistle's peppermint brownies would work? Or are brownies too much of a cop-out for a cookie exchange? (Granted, these have a LOT MORE WORK to them than my usual brownies: out of a box.)

Speaking of baked goods, I regret to say that I did manage to gain 2 pounds last week. See? Good thing I didn't buy any new pants when I discovered most of my old ones were falling off me. Maybe after Christmas, I'll be able to comfortably fit into ALL my old clothes and not have to spend a dime!

And a final self-esteem high: This morning a co-worker says to me, "What's the deal with your hair? Just let it go this morning?" I said yes. *ahem*

A Very Thankful Post

We enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner with our neighbors. The food was good, the company was excellent, the little kids were kind of, um, un-SHARE-ful, but yes, it was a lot of fun. And I even got to bring home leftover dark meat--aparently I'm the only one in a room of 20 people who will eat it.

Black Friday the kids and I spent the WHOLE day watching Mork and Mindy or Avatar. John commented later, "Are you going to watch TV all day? Wait, come to think of it, it's been really, really quiet around here." Yes. Watching TV all day means that the 2nd and 3rd Units are too zoned in to it to fight with each other like they normally do--ALL DAY.

I also turned on the crockpot, and we had a most delicious Black Friday meal of Keith's favorite food: roast and mashed potatoes (actually, he won't eat THOSE, but John, Mary, and I love 'em!) and green beans.

Finally, the TV was turned off, the Rock Band came on, and we rocked into the night. Keith is finally getting that bass line down to complete our set of four (Izzy currently prefers to play back-up singer to Mommy with her unplugged mic).

After the kids went to bed, John went all medieval with his Oblivion game, and I went downstairs and watched more Mork and Mindy. It was not the first time I realized that the show was much, much funnier in its first couple of years.

I went to bed really, really late (stayed up for the wedding, honeymoon, and birth of Mearth) and not 10 minutes after I lay down, Keith cried out and then got out of bed and started wandering the halls. I got up to check on him: he had FINALLY lost his first tooth. He's been working on it for AGES. And having learned to LET IT GO after all the issues with the FIRST KID, I was very good and kept my hands OUT OF HIS MOUTH. Well, the sucker had gotten so loose, that it fell out WHILE HE WAS SLEEPING. See, there is a REASON we mothers get so panicky about things like that! No, he didn't swallow it, but STILL.... John and I told the very, very alert Keith that it was probably "too late" for the tooth fairy to make an appearance (it was 3:30 in the morning!); maybe she'll stop by tonight....

Revisions

After brief analysis, I have decided to make a few modifications to Mary's wishlist.

While watching her scamper throughout the house yesterday, I noticed that her pants are starting to creep up her ankles: so! size 8 slim pants/jeans, please!

Also, Mary went through her list item by item with me and begged me to put a Didj on HER list, too. This will probably prevent some future fights amongst herself and her next-in-line sibling, so I agreed.

Another note: Mary would like a new bike, too. Getting a bike for x-mas kinda sucks, as it's the middle of winter, and one can't get out to ride it for MONTHS after being presented with it, but what can ya do? No particular style--just NOT Hannah Montana or Barbie or Bratz or ANY kind of character bike like that. Just any ol' plain pink or purple girly kind of bike will do.

End of revisions. For now. Thank you. ;-)

Pulling my hair out

1. It's like a ghost town at work. People are on vacation or "working from home," and I'm all alone up front here. Heck, the door was still locked when I got in this morning, so I had to wait for one of the VPs to show up and let me in one of the side doors here. The good news: if the phones stay quiet, we may be shutting down around 2:30 or 3:00. Thank goodness, because I have lots of stuff to do/bake to get ready for Turkey Day at the neighbors' tomorrow, and I was NOT looking forward to being up all night with it.

2. I STILL have a major sinus headache. But either the humidifier is actually doing its job, or the double-dose of medicine is working, um slightly, to keep the headache down to a dull throb.

3. Izzy's evil switch is still ON for the mornings. It's to the point where I'm "helping" her get dressed again. I can't stand for her to just sit there and CRY ALL MORNING and then I have to be all mean and rush her out the door. So, I've been waking her up a few minutes earlier, and then I "coach" and try to "console" her through it. Mornings are a little better. A LITTLE. Seriously. What happened to that really happy easy-going baby we used to have once upon a time?

4. Izzy did manage to wake up dry today. First time in well over a week--which was the first time in I don't know how long. After having two kids who night-trained so quickly, I'm completely at a loss about what to do for THIS kid. I keep having to remind myself this she IS only four, she's a very, very deep sleeper (who hates waking up for ANYTHING), and that in all likelihood, she'll just GROW OUT OF IT. *sigh* I'd just like that to be sooner rather than later.

5. Keith reminded me today that I promised him a toy if he were to stop chewing his nails (Really? I did? Oh yeah! I guess I remember that!). He announced that he was NOT going to chew his nails today and then I'd have to give him a toy TONIGHT. Not so fast, buster. That's not the way it works! If you want a reward, it'll take at least a week. I have to be able to TRIM your nails (something I haven't had to do for him--or Mary--in YEARS) in order for you to get your prize. No way he's going to make it....

6. Than Mary asks, "Does that go for me, too?" Yeah. She won't make it, either. Actually, that's not fair. She DID manage to not chew her nails for a week once. The prize was getting her nails painted. Not five hours after her beautiful nails were beautifully painted, she chewed her nails AND the polish off. *sigh*

Not interested

I decided NOT to go for the other position here. The pay is technically LESS than what I'm currently making, the hours would completely mess with my life, and (I didn't mention this previously) it's Customer Service. Not that there's anything wrong with that! It's just not my thing! Especially when it suddenly changed from "suggestive selling at the close of calls" to actual "I guess we'll be needing more cold calling sales than originally anticipated." Not-so-great pay, horrible hours, AND sales? That's NOT a promotion. Count me out.

I'll stay in my current job which I actually kinda like. Maybe something else will open up for me down the road.



Maybe if they'd offered me more money....

With a (Painful) Smile on My Face

Another exhausting weekend attempting to clear out the week's accumulated clutter and laundry and delivering cookies and then having folks over for a sorta-kinda b-day party for Izzy (which got broken up a tad early do to the 3-yo coming down with a fever) and then quite POSSIBLY catching a cold. My TEETH hurt, my eyes feel as if someone is crushing them. Perhaps it's time I stopped putting it off and actually got the humidifier out for our bedroom.

Despite the sinus issues I do feel lucky. Because as of Friday, there were 90 kids out of school due to the stomach bug. And we had not ONE puking incident all weekend. I know! And me with the two world's worst nail-biting and hand-washing children this side of the Mississippi!

Another good thing: I got out the new toy my mother sent me for my birthday, and actually peeled/cored/sliced a bag of apples to make a homemade apple pie. And then served it warm and a-la-mode. DE-licious. Interesting that Mary was more impressed with the apple peeler/corer/slicer (and the sour "noodles" of peelings it made) than the actual pie. Ah well. More for me and Keith.

I went to my boyfriend Danny's last night (Wegmans, that is) and bought $140 in groceries for this coming week--and I'm not even fixing the turkey dinner this year! But I am making a cheese ball, a pumpkin pie, and chocolate chip cookies (again! you'd think the neighbors would be sick of them by now!). I have decided that the Q's Black Friday feast will be a roast in the crock pot. Easy! and Yummy! and EVERYONE will actually EAT it! Anyway, I'm impressed that with forgetting my list and all there were only TWO THINGS I forgot to get. *sigh* Back to Danny's tonight!

And a note to our mystery GS customer: I have no idea if it was Mary or me who accidentally handed you a box of Thin Mints instead of the Tag-a-longs you ordered. And since I have no idea WHICH house you actually lived in (or whether it was Saturday or Sunday--or even last weekend WHEN we screwed up), I now will have to go back to Cookie Dad and make an exchange so that TWO customers aren't screwed up. GAH! I hate cookie time! And it was cold and snowy and Mary kept complaining her feet were cold (mine too!). I told her, "See why sometimes it's nice to NOT make your goal and sell so many cookies?" Yeah, I'm a TRUE leader, can't you tell? (Only three more absentee customers to track down!)

I won! I won!

That Shaun the Sheep DVD is MINE! I can't believe it! It's the first time I've won ANYTHING from any of these bloggy contests! Woo hoo!

Thanks again, Mommy Daisy! Can't wait to watch it with the kids--maybe. ;-)

A Very Happy Birthday Girl

When I picked up Izzy from daycare yesterday, she didn't want to leave. She was in the middle of putting together an alphabet puzzle and could NOT be distracted from it--not even with the promise of BIRTHDAY CAKE! and PRESENTS! WAITING FOR YOU AT HOME! So, I helped her with the puzzle (the Q was missing! what a conspiracy!), we picked up some toys, and then we started heading out the door. But not before she told the provider, two other kids, and the kids' mom alllllll about her birthday and her presents and how she's FOUR today! (OK, THAT's more like it!)

I decided to NOT have an evening of fighting over dinner and how much everyone was eating, so we had a couple of Red Barons for dinner. And since we're having pizza, well, cripes, we HAVE to watch a movie! So we let Izzy unwrap her first present: Wall-E. The LOOK on her face! The supreme JOY! ...So we started watching our movie (watching the shorts first, of course).

When Izzy was done with her pizza, she announced it was time to OPEN PRESENTS! The rest of us gulped our helpings down, we turned off the movie (it would have gone too late to let the kids watch the whole thing, anyway), and presented the Princess with her horde.

The clothes were obviously very quickly pushed aside (although there was a definite pause and "ooooh!" when she saw the light-up Dora shirts). If I have to pick out a favorite from the rest, it definite would have to be the moon rover that goes with the space ship she got last year. "I've got the green guy now!" (She's very, very thrilled to have all these astronauts around now.) But the space puzzle, the Dora water-coloring book, and the Wall-E "noisy" book are all a very, very close second.

On to CAKE! And another gasp of surprise at the appearance of Wall-E on it. It may have been a Wall-E overload here, folks!

Thanks again, family, for all the wonderful presents. I know we don't express our appreciation enough--but it's so there!

Four years ago today...

Tis the Season

Dear Family,

By request, I'm putting up the wish lists for the other kids. I'm still tweeking these. Once again, these are just general ideas, please don't feel the kids absolutely HAVE to have what's on there, and you do NOT have to buy from Amazon.com if you don't want to.

----------------------------------------------->

Mary: She's still into horses and art. Any art supplies (especially good paper, paints). Mary is actually starting to DRESS her Barbie dolls, now, so we're looking into new clothes for them. She still loves Polly Pockets and Littlest Pets (but, once again, do NOT buy playsets--they just collect dust). She's also becoming a jewelry-making fanatic, so any of those kits would be most welcome. She's currently wearing sizes 7 slim pants, 7/8 shirts (or you can buy bigger for her to "grow into"). She's really pining for a Dance, Dance Revolution for the Wii. Oh, and Animal Crossing for Wii. And probably ANY of the Petz games (particularly the horse one) for Wii.

Keith: Still heavily into astronomy. Any space books or space toys will be greatly appreciated. Keith wants a DS, but we think for his age, we would like to get him a Didj instead. And games to go with it, of course. Keith is wearing 6 slim pants, 6 shirts. We ALWAYS need new jeans as he is ALWAYS putting holes in yet another pair.

Izzy: Any kind of stuffed critter is her best friend. (But ALL THOSE ANIMALS in my house!) Izzy also loves the movie Wall-E (just bought it for her for her b-day. shhh! don't tell!), so if you want to check out the FTW Disney store, JJ will hook you up with the latest toys (heh). We'd like to get her a Leapster 2 and games. She's wearing 4T pants, 4/5 shirts. I guess I'll know after we open presents tomorrow how many more new clothes she needs!

Other ideas:
Swim lessons for all three!
Dance lessons for Izzy!
A stay-at-home job for ME! (heh)

Please keep me in the loop about what you're getting the kids to help prevent duplicates.

Once again, thanks to all of you. Love you!

Wanna Free DVD?

Mommy Daisy is just GIVING AWAY three copies of Shaun the Sheep. But if you win, it's under the full understanding that you can only keep it IF I DON'T WIN ONE. Otherwise, you have to send it to me. ;-)

A Pretty Good Birthday

Yes, yesterday I hit the 3-6. Ugh. But it was a pretty good day all-in-all.

Somehow or another I managed to sleep in(!). My MOTHER woke me up at 8:45 to call and wish me happy birthday. I then spent the rest of the morning on the phone. After mom, my friend L. called, THEN my father. I was feeling the love yesterday!

(Then Mary and I delivered cookies in the rain. That was NOT pretty good, so I'm not going to focus on that, mkay?)

We all went out to my favorite Japanese restaurant and pigged out on udon and sushi. Then we went to the mall (to FINALLY pick up Izzy's pictures, which have been ready since 10/30!), and we got a couple of cookies at Mrs. Fields (we were all too full for a cake).

Keith made me a card. Izzy kept jumping around asking me about my party. Mary wondered where my presents were. Guess what kids, when you're an adult, you typically do NOT get (nor WANT) parties. Birthdays just aren't so exciting!

HOWEVER, I did get two gifts. Mom sent me an apple peeler/corer/slicer so that I could attempt my hand at making apple pies. John got me a RING.

I know! Can you believe it! I'm SO freaking spoiled!

You see, when I lost my wedding rings a couple of weeks ago, thinking they were long gone, I actually started looking for replacements. I found a couple I liked, but it wasn't until I went into this jewelry store that was going out of business that I found one I absolutely FELL IN LOVE with. White gold, just under half carat solitaire, marquis cut. Beautiful--and super, super cheap! ...Well, then I found my rings. Case closed. Ah! But then John told me that if I really, really wanted it I could get it for my birthday. Well, I mulled it over and then decided to treat myself. I don't buy myself nice things very often--and I've never had a new ring. And I'm NOT complaining about that--I've been using my mother's rings for the last ten years, and I don't mind, because I LOVE them (or else I wouldn't have WORN them for ten years!). ...But it sure is nice having something that beautiful that is my own.

Gah! I've turned all vain and girly all of a sudden! Who knew!?

Anyway, it's now four days until little Izzy turns FOUR. She's super excited about it. I think I'm going to invite little M. from across the street to come and share some cake and ice cream with Izzy. Presents are already trickling in. And I'm picking up ours on Tuesday. She can't wait! :)

Intrigue

I've been asked by the company to interview for a different position. It's not necessarily something I would APPLY for if it showed up on a job database, but I'm intrigued. 4 out of the last 5 people in my position got promoted to this position for which I'm interviewing.

I'm pretty happy with my position right now, but I do NOT want to stay in it forever. I like most of the work I'm doing right now (ah! but it's not the dream job, either!), but I worry about changing to something I may not necessarily like. I also worry about snubbing my nose at a possible promotion and then maybe hurting my chances for other promotions (Remember, one of the reasons I was hired was because I had the desire to move up in the company).

I'm going in with a "Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained" attitude. It can't hurt to find out what all this position entails. It also helps that I am familiar with the boss, as I knew him from my former company. And from the attitudes I'm "sensing" from certain folks, I do have a bit of a hopeful feeling that I won't be snubbed if I turn it down--they want me to be in a position where I'm comfortable and a good fit. So...we'll see.

Word Up

1. I got on Facebook yesterday. Big Mistake! (Huge!) While reuniting with several old high school/college/etc. buddies AND in the middle of a huge copying request (368 copies of a 16-page document! And it's still not done!), I got distracted and missed an important work-related email. Woops. I shall exert self-discipline!

2. A co-worker, upon finding out that I have three children, exclaimed, "REALLY? You just don't seem like you would have three kids!" My first response was I was flattered--she doesn't realize how old I am! Then: WAIT! WHY wouldn't I have kids! What are you SAYING!?

3. After a brief spike yesterday afternoon, Keith is now officially fever-free and back in school.

4. 8 days until Izzy turns FOUR! (Wait! That means 3 days until I turn 36! *groan*)

5. When I walked in the door last night, I noticed it was kinda quiet. I was just about to ask John, "Hey, where's Mary?" when I remembered that I WAS SUPPOSED TO PICK HER UP FROM A PLAYDATE after I got off work. Woops! (I blame Facebook! Ha!)

6. Didn't get around to mentioning the neighbors' get-together from Sunday. Loud, but fun! More neighbors there than I was expecting! John and I can only remember half the names (old age SUCKS). The six kids promptly made a huge mess (um, and I spilled a little bit of cider, also). (We three Moms agreed to volunteer one of our more kid-friendly, kid-proofed houses for the next event!) And then the five other kids probably got exposed to Keith's soon-to-be-sick germ spores. Ah well. Cookies were a hit there (AND at work where I promptly deposited all the extras).

Implosion

OK. Who hit Izzy's evil switch back on? She had been doing so well! But last night, there was some sort of glitch, and the evil is BACK.

It started with her peeing her pants at daycare. I didn't get to really talk to D. about it (she was on the phone), but from what I've gathered by talking to Izzy, she "really needed to go," but she "could not get up from her nap" (yes, the end of that sentence is "in time"). Okey dokey, then. And since I had SO MUCH confidence in her record of NON-accidents, I had never brought over a change of clothes for her for "just in case." Um...yeah, so I did that this morning!

Well, she was fine and chipper (albeit DAMP) when I picked her up. After that, I had to run over to my co-leader's house to pick up our 109 boxes of cookies. Izzy came with me (willingly!). I gave her the pair of gloves I had just bought her that day to play with, and she seemed just FINE.

THEN...she took a mitten off, and she COULDN'T GET IT BACK ON! Oh! The tears! The screams (while I'm trying to talk to Cookie Dad and load up mini-van)! The DRAMA!

I fixed her glove.

More crying from the mini-van...?

This time: she had pulled up her sleeve while trying to fix her glove. THE HORROR!

Well, that was pretty much that for the rest of the evening.

She cried all the way home. She cried when I asked her to go upstairs and change out of her still-wet clothes and into a pull-up and her jammies. She stood looking RIGHT AT THEM and actually REACHING for them and told John, "I don't know where they are!"

I tried to be NICE without giving in. SUCH a hard balance! I finally asked Mary to be a good, big sister and help out. Izzy cried and screamed at Mary and wouldn't let her help.

OK. At this point, she can just STAY in her wet clothes--what's a couple more hours, anyway?

Izzy did calm down after awhile and eat her dinner. And then demanded candy. When I said, "Just a minute," the screaming ensued.

She finally got her pajamas on after dinner.

Then we were all sitting on the couch watching TV--me cuddling sick Keith (ya think maybe she was jealous that SOME OTHER STRANGE KID was getting attention instead of her?). She curled up in a blanket at my feet and started sucking her fingers. "Are you ready to go to bed." "Uh-huh."

And THAT was our evening....

...Then once again this morning she took so long to get her clothes on that I was almost late for work. I hate waking her up earlier because it's just obvious that she REALLY needs every minute of sleep she can squeeze out of a night, but I can't see any other way to make our mornings go smoother.

This parenting thing is REALLY exhausting!

Poor Little Guy

Keith slept for 2 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon, got up and said he was hungry, but he ended up not eating his dinner. This morning he was alert and no longer had rosy cheeks (or ears!), actually ate his breakfast, and seemed to be much, much better. Luckily, the kids didn't have school today anyway, so he's got a whole day to recoup at home with just Dad--Izzy is at the day care and Mary has an all-day play date. Let's hope this is the end of it. And that NO ONE ELSE in the house gets it. And especially NOT on their birthday! I MEAN it! GRRR!!!

The First Victim

John just got a call to come and get Keith from school. He's running a fever of 101. It's nice to have a kid who goes to the nurse when he's ACTUALLY sick (oh! and even THIS, and don't forget the never-ending apparent-UTI issues). (Although, I did just find THIS post. FORGOT about that! Although--he wasn't in school yet way back then, so does that really count?). NOT nice for John to have to leave work when he's really, really busy to rush to get Keith because the nurse couldn't get ahold of ME.

(Yeah, I accidentally left my cell phone at home today. In my defense, I DID ask the school secretary to update my work information just last week [yeah, yeah, a BIT late], but apparently it did NOT happen. I can't quite blame HER as I told her verbally on the phone instead of sending it in writing like I should have!)

Additional: John just called to tell me that the minute they got home, Keith took off his coat/shoes, went up to bed, and was asleep within FIVE minutes. And then got mad when John had to wake him up to take his temperature (down to 100!) and give him medicine. That poor little guy is REALLY sick. :(

And the Winner IS....

#1, Ya-ya's Mom!

Can you believe it?! Woo hoo!


Thanks to all of you for entering!

Now I gotta go finish up my shopping! Just gotta fit it in with picking up and sorting GS cookies, BAKING chocolate chip cookies for my neighbors' get-together, going to said get-together, raking up MORE of those blessed leaves, and perhaps cleaning my house? (Naaaah, a clean house is so OVER-RATED!)

New pic of the Units

Yeah, yeah, there's a big, bold photographer graphic in the middle of it. Ah well. It's still kinda cute.

This was taken at the Family Not-So-Spectacularly-Fun Day.

Forgot to mention in that post: When John joined us at the garden center, Izzy looked up, started jumping around, and exclaimed, "Hey, you look just like my Dad!"

Really?! How astute!

FOUND!

After a lot of back-tracking in my head (I just KNOW I put that ring back on after making those pizzas!), and a very sudden epiphany of just "one more place" I may not have checked, I actually FOUND my wedding ring.

It was in the bathroom. In the bottom of the wicker basket where I keep Izzy's pull-ups. WHY I suddenly remembered that I had filled the basket over the weekend, so maybe I should check UNDERNEATH the diapers, I have no idea? WHY I would put the ring there when it's not three feet from it's assigned (when it's not on my finger) resting place, I have NO idea?

Whew! OK, I'm ready for the next crisis.

Hope

"It's like New Year's Eve!" John says to me as we watched the charged crowds in Grant Park and Times Square late last night.

Indeed. :)