For the BIRDS!!!

That's how I was summing up my week. I typed a long entry about it, and the computer ate it TWICE! I can't catch a break!

I will post more tomorrow. If I don't get away from the computer right now, it might not make it.

CALGON TAKE ME AWAY!!!!

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Bath Time

It's no secret at our house that bath time is the greatest time ever. For the littles at least. It's an exhausting process, but they love it, so I guess that's good.

Last night the girls had finished dinner and I ran their water. I decided to give the trio a bath together and then do Kori afterwards. I got them all down from their high chairs and said "come on, let's go take a bath". That was met with a chorus of "oooh bath" as they toddled down the hall. I took a 5-second detour to grab their jammies and continued on. Kamryn and Alexis made a pit-stop in Kori's doorway to chat for a minute. Morgan proceeded directly to the tub. I found her in the tub, fully clothed exclaiming "I bath". **Sigh**

Have I mentioned every day at my house is a NEW adventure?

The Dog

I failed to mention yesterday that just as the party was getting started there was a visitor at the door. Kori promptly stated "an old man is here for my party and he brought me some balloons". Well it was a delivery man (I corrected Kori not to call people old men/women whatever!) and he was indeed bringing her some balloons and a stuffed animal courtesy of Gramma Cheryl and Grampa Phil from Iowa. Well my sister answered the door and was handling it when my dog, Cujo, barged out. His name is really Cuervo, but you'll understand in another word or two. Well C barged out and nipped the guy on his side. He yelled at the dog and the dog was rounded back up inside and stuffed in the garage. The guy said he was okay and would check when he returned to the store. If there were any wounds/pain/problems etc. he would get a hold of us. GREAT!

Well today I tried calling to check on him. I got a phone service who takes the orders and routes them to the necessary store. Apparently there's no way to call that store direct. She took my name and number and was going to give them a message to call me. Never heard from them. So I'm assuming that either he's fine and there are no problems. Or he's mounting his lawsuit and will sue me for Cujo's attack. He's only like that with strangers that come to our door. It's gotten worse over the last several years. The older he gets, the more territorial. Just what I needed!

Six Years Ago...

On this exact day I was about to become a mother for the first time! The Saturday before I had Kori I went with my family to Weston, Missouri to visit the little shops and have lunch in an attempt to walk this child out! Didn't happen! I was HUGE! I remember standing in the various shops and the owners/employees asking me when I was due. My standard response was "four days ago". That statement was followed up with the look of "oh please don't have that kid in my shop". No such luck! I remember making chili that night and I had some contractions. I thought for sure that was it, she was coming! Nope. The next day was Sunday and I felt GREAT!!!!!!!!!!! I cleaned the house, washed bedding/curtains, you name it, I cleaned/scrubbed/washed it all. Jason and I went to dinner at Stone Canyon Pizza. How was I to know that my last meal would be a salad, garlic bread and spaghetti and meatballs.

At 4:50 a.m. I awoke with the urge to go pee. Not a stretch. Six days overdue and I was huge and peeing every 20-30 minutes most of the time. Well I finished got up and felt leaky. I figured she had moved and I wasn't done yet. Well I "peed" some more. Got up again, same thing. This repeated a couple more times and I was getting quite annoyed as I was anxious to get back to bed. Well I wiped again (sorry this is probably way to much info!) and saw a little tinge of pink on the paper. It hit me like a ton of bricks...OH CRAP I THINK MY WATER IS LEAKING/BREAKING!!!! The night before I had discharge which I now know was my mucous plug coming out.

I am now in a total panic. NOW she's coming? Oh crap! I'm not ready yet. Give me a couple more days, weeks, months! Anything just not now! I go and wake Jason. "Uh honey, I think my water is leaking or breaking." His reply...this is CLASSIC Jason. "Well wake me up again when your sure". I in no uncertain terms assured him I was sure and I better start seeing some eyelids making the motions to look like they were opening. I called my dad and told him to wake my mom so she could get unstiff and ready to head to the hospital. I called my doctor and left a message with the answering service. I tested positive for STREP B and it was reiterated to me a million times to make sure I notified them ASAP when I was going into labor.

I remember the contractions starting to get pretty regular about 5:30 or so. Jason and I sat on the couch in the living room waiting for the doctor to call back. The contractions were about 10 minutes apart. About 6am they were about 6 minutes apart and we decided to start getting ready to head for the hospital. Oh man, I was nervous, excited, anxious, petrified, nauseous (from the nerves), scared, you name it I was one ball of emotions. Jason had that goofy nervous look on his face he gets sometimes.

Off we went to the hospital! We were checked in and I got a wheelchair ride up to the Maternity floor, even though I assured her I could walk. No such luck. I was checked by the nurse just before 7am and lo and behold my water broke as she checked me. Her words were (I'll never forget them) "Well you aren't going anywhere now, your water just broke. Your going to have a baby sometime today!" Huh? Was she talking to me? I looked around, nope no one else in here in labor. Just Jason and I. I was quite sure he wasn't having a baby so she must have been talking to me. Oh yikes! A baby? Today? Me? A MOTHER? What have I done?

I was only dilated to a 1 so there would be lots of waiting! I got some pitosin to "help things along". It sure did! The contractions were kicking my butt by now! Around noon or so I was a dilated to a 5 and I asked for my epidural. Well apparently the doctor doing them was swamped! There were 10 or 12 deliveries that day, not counting Kori's. He finally made it in when I was dilated to a 7 or so. They gave me some IV pain meds earlier to "take the edge off". Didn't do a thing for the contractions, just made my head fuzzy. I passed on anymore of those.

At about 3pm they started herding everyone out so that we could prepare to start pushing. My doctor came in and checked me and I was a 9! Woo hoo! Finally! He said he was going back to the office. Huh? The nurse said "but she's a 9". He instructed her to page him when I was getting ready to start pushing. It was weird, but whatever, I had other things to worry about.

Shortly after I was a 10 and the paging of the doctor began...to no avail. I remember Jason and my mom anxiously watching the door waiting for the doctor to come through it. Didn't happen. Finally the nurse goes and assembles some other nurses and she said we were ready. I started pushing about 3:45. I pushed and pushed and pushed. As Kori's head was finally coming out they told me to stop pushing. They were waiting to see if the doctor was going to show up. It was finally decided I couldn't/wouldn't wait any longer. She was coming out, whether they liked it or not. At 5:00 p.m. on the nose, Miss Kori Paige Rusley was born into this world, making it, in my opinion, a much greater place! She weighed 8lbs. 10 oz. and was 22 inches long! She had BIG blue eyes and pretty downy reddish hair. Oh she was so alert and beautiful!!!!!!! She had a large bruise on her head from being held up before coming out, but other than that she was perfect!!!! I didn't get to hold her for a few minutes because the nurses wanted to check her out and make sure all was well. Lo and behold the doctor comes in now. He was hateful and rude to the nurses. He finished up and told me he'd check on me tomorrow. Whatever, I had better things to do anyway!

I FINALLY got my beautiful, perfect, wonderful daughter and Jason and I had a few minutes to enjoy her, alone, before sharing her with the rest of the family! She came from ME? So perfect and beautiful? It couldn't be, but it was!!!! I cried...a lot! My mom kept asking if I was hurting but I kept reassuring her that I was just overwhelmed with happiness and love! It had been over two long years and I was finally a MOTHER!!!!! The world was perfect! Well except for the fact that "down there" hurt like heck, but other than that, no complaints!

Kori greeted my nephew Cody first. She promptly stuck her tongue out at him. It was too cute! Everyone held and cuddled her and finally after what seemed like ages I got her back.

It's hard to believe that almost six years to the day have passed. It was cold on the day she was born, but sunny. It will be cold and sunny tomorrow. I will take cupcakes and little bottles of water in to school tomorrow as my "baby" celebrates her 6th birthday. Oh how did it happen? The time went by so fast!

Today I watched her skate around Winwood skating rink with her friends from school. She went to her first school classmate birthday party. She looked so big, and mature, and grown. Oh it was so bittersweet. I've been in a funk this month anyway, this didn't help a bit. We had pizza tonight, just like we did six years ago before she was born. Now I have three other beauties to share her with. Life is good, but bittersweet. Where does the time go? How is it even possible that six years has passed!

She is a loving, giving, sweet, feisty, beautiful, comical, sensitive, sassy, shy (at times) ball of red-headed energy. And she's mine! All mine! Well I share her with people that love her a lot, not as much as I do, but a lot nonetheless. **Sigh** I can remember the events of the days leading up to her birth like they were yesterday. I remember where I went, what I cooked, what I ate, what I wore, but yet six years have passed. **SIGH** **SIGH** **SIGH**

P-A-R-T-Y!

Today was Kori's 6th birthday party. Wait, did I just type that right? Six? Already? Oh man! Hard to believe that six years ago on this day I was two days away from being a mother for the first time! Now here I am a mommy to four of the most beautiful girls ever! The theme of this years party was Hannah Montana. I made up a bunch of foods that I thought would be eaten at a slumber party. We had little smokies and meatballs in bar-b-que sauce, little smokies wrapped in puff pastry and baked, pizza rolls, crackers/cheese/sausage and veggies and dip. You know, foods that will clog your arteries. It was nice. Jason's mom wasn't able to make the drive due to the weather. As usual it snowed today. We got about 2 inches I'd guess. Not too much. Jason's mom lives two hours away in good weather and they are still trying to recover from an ice storm from earlier in the week. She sent her regards and will bring her gift next week on her way to Iowa for Christmas.

So it was my parents, my sister, brother-in-law Jason, my brother, sister-in-law Cathy, nephew Cody, Cody's friend Sidney, Kori's god-mother Liz, our friend Chloe and two of her kids Gianna and Vincent. It was a nice time or so I thought...

Let me preface all of this with the fact that I love my mother very much. That being said she can be incredibly irritating some days. She was in one of her "moods" today and I could tell when I talked to her this morning. She was just grumbly. That doesn't usually bode well for get-togethers. Today was the kind of day where EVERYTHING got on her nerves. It is so exhausting when she's like this. I feel like I should hang a sign on the door for everyone to see to prepare them before they come in. Something like: WARNING MOUNT ST. BARBARA IS ON THE VERGE OF ERUPTION - PROCEED WITH CAUTION! **Sigh** She is a great mother and nanie. She can be very kind, giving, caring and such. But she can also be completely exhausting, frustrating, irritating and embarrassing at other times. I feel bad even writing this. I think I am safe because she doesn't have a computer and can't read this. (Those of you that do and tell her -- I'll hurt you! :-) ) I'd never want to hurt my moms feelings because she'd never see that she can be so negative. She reminds me more and more of my grandmother everyday and that is sad and scary all at the same time.

My friend Chloe brought her youngest son who is 7 and her daughter who is 4. They were too "wild" for my mom's taste. Everyone was too "loud". My sister was too "quiet", what could have been the matter with her my mom asked. I wanted to scream "you were irritating the crap out of her with your constant grumbling" but I held my tongue. At these times I really have to keep in mind all of the good things she does, but it's hard sometimes and that makes me sad.

I called her later to make sure that they got home okay. (My mom is driving since my dad's neuropathy is so bad and she hasn't driven in snow in YEARS!) I wanted to rip my own ear off as soon as I asked if they'd gotten home okay. Instead of a simple "yes" she had to launch into her tirade on how bad the party was. I believe the word she used was disaster. That was hurtful to me because I worked so hard to put together a nice party. I did all of it by myself because Jason had to work. Well he did pick up the cake for me on the way home from work this morning but that was it. I did all the cleaning, prep work, cooking, decorating etc. I tried to make sure that every need possible was taken care of. I even called my brother and sister to make sure if they got there before my parents that they leave a path in the driveway for my mom to be able to get close and allow my dad to get in easier. I came home from picking up balloons and shoveled my entire driveway and sidewalks so they were clear. Well, as clear as they could be since it was still snowing some. Not a kind word about any of that. Just that my party was a disaster. Bummer! She even told me the cake was dry. Now I didn't make it but it came from our favorite bakery. I didn't think it was dry at all, it was tasty as usual. She told me my dad didn't get enough to eat. Well jeez-o-Pete! He's 64 years old he can go to the kitchen and get more food, or even tell me what else he wanted, I would have gotten him more. I was seeing a guest out when my mom said "your dad needs out to get to the bathroom" in a very hateful tone. We have a super small entryway and were blocking the exit out of the living room. Now my dad was sitting in the chair with his back to me, how in the hell was I supposed to know he needed/wanted out. He has a mouth he can use it to let me know. I wanted to scream at that point, but managed to hold my tongue. She is unable to relax, EVER! There must always be drama, urgency, angst, you name it. If the kids are out playing it's either too hot/cold/windy/sunny/rainy/snowy you name it. They are going to get hurt/sunburned/windburned/frostbitten/mosquito bites/bee stings/grass stains you name it. I hope you get the idea. She doesn't understand that kids are going to be kids. Everything will result in a trip to the ER and 28-stitches if you ask her. **Sigh** I do love my mother. She has been a wonderful mother to us all. Doing it alone as a single mom for several years before remarrying when I was five, but man, the last several years it gets more and more rough at times. That makes me sad!

So I am a bit bummed about her review of the party. I am hoping that was not every ones perception of it. I always try to do really great birthday parties. Kori had fun, so I guess that's most important. She got lots of GREAT gifts and got to spend the day with people she loves so much. I was sad that my other brother, sister-in-law and their two girls didn't come. If you've read my blog before you'll see a little about that. My brother has once again created some irritation that has caused him to excuse himself from the family. This is a common occurrence for him and it's so frustrating. Hard to explain to Kori why they weren't here today. She asked me twice. Broke my heart when she said "don't you like them anymore?" **Sigh** It's so much more than that, but hard to make it understandable to an almost six year old, when I don't even understand myself.

Well I better retire. Busy day tomorrow! Kori and I have to pick-up her High School Musical cupcakes from Sam's tomorrow. They are going to school on her birthday on Monday. She has her first school classmate birthday party at a local skating rink. Should be interesting. She's never been rollerskating before and she's graceless, like her momma. I know she'll have fun anyway!

Winter and Germs...

I hate them both! I'm sick of ice and yucky cloudy weather. It does nothing for my mood, which isn't great since I seem to have a cold again. Did I mention that I never totally got rid of the last cold I had. I'm blaming Jason for this one. He had it earlier in the week and decided he must share. Thanks honey! So I'm a stuffy, runny, snotty, coughy, sneezy, congesty MESS! Good news, I look as bad as I feel.

Kori's Santa Supper was Monday night. Pancakes and sausage for dinner. I didn't eat but everyone else did. The girls loved the pancakes. Kori sang some Christmas carols with other members of the Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade classes. It was cute and she did well. We got home just as the freezing rain started.

I am thankful we didn't lose power. I am also thankful I don't have to go out in it for work anymore. I am thankful that Jason was off too so he didn't have to go out in it either. Kori was thankful for two days off from school.

She had her well-child checkup yesterday. She is doing GREAT! Dr. Storm proclaimed her to be the "greatest kid ever!" Kori was thrilled to hear it. She was not however thrilled to hear that she needed the 2nd Hep A vaccine after I reassured her there would be no shots. Rats! I hate feeling like a liar. She quickly forgave me though. Whew!

Today I felt so miserable she had pity on me and piled in bed with me when the trio went down for a nap and we watched the Spongebob Squarepants Movie. She loves it! I can't say that I saw ALL of it, but I was thankful that she was cooperative and feeling bad that I felt so poorly. She's a great kid! Hard to believe that six years ago I was one day over my due date, miserable and convinced I would be pregnant forever! Now I'm preparing for a Hannah Montana party this weekend and in total denial my baby will be six!!!!!

The trio and Kori are all snotty and coughy too. Guess the germs love it here. There's more snow coming this weekend according to the weather people...sigh. Is it May yet???

Well I'm going to go and shower and watch a movie with my dear husband. He's back to work tomorrow night. Man I'm SICK of nights!

Let it snow...

And it did. Not much thank goodness. I'm not a fan of winter weather much anymore, especially if I have to drive in it. Kori's Santa Supper was canceled tonight due to the weather. Rescheduled now for Monday. School managed to last all day which I was surprised about. Sometimes it seems they start letting out early if there are 12 flakes of snow falling. Not the case today. I took the trio with me to pick up Kori because Jason had a meeting at work. Not an important one, kind of a voluntary one. I was hoping with the weather he wouldn't go, that was not the case.

Oh well, the girls loved riding in the snow. I got a lot of oohs and aaahs while we were going. I didn't have trouble getting around. I found out that people would either drive one of too ways....waaaaaay to slow or waaaaaaaay to fast for the conditions. I chose to drive in a happy medium manner and got there and home just fine.

After shoveling the driveway while Kori fed the girls animal crackers, I then started some dinner while chasing children out of things. Todays no-no du jour was the dog water. I don't know why it fascinates them so. I called Jason and had him go to J.C. Penney's to pick up our pictures. No use in me going back out and then having to rush around like a mad woman to get everyone bathed when he was already out. I don't know that he was thrilled about it, but that was not a big concern of mine. He got home just as I started to feed the girls so it didn't delay him too much. After dinner we let the girls have suckers, as we have done on a few other occasions. They love them! Alexis decided to use the sticky drool as a hair styling product. YIKES! They all went directly into the bath after that. It was that option or try and use them as fly paper to attract non-existant flies since it's so cold. We opted for the bath option.

My husband put a few dishes in the dishwasher and then plopped on the couch leaving the rest of the mess for me. Gee thanks honey! I truly appreciate it! NOT! I swear sometimes I'd like to package him up and send him away!!!! Thankfully for him, I don't have these thoughts too often. We just had a talk the other night that if I am doing child related duties he can clean up what remains of the dinner mess. That apparently went in one ear and flying right out the other. Men! It's been one of those weeks and he's not helping. I hate to complain because he's a great guy and usually does okay, but when he's off, well he's off.

He has off-duty again tomorrow before going in to work...grrrrrrrr! So it will be me and the gang again tomorrow. Don't get me wrong I can handle it. It's just nice having an extra set of body parts (i.e. eyes, ears, legs, hands, arms etc.) around every now and then. Except for Tuesday evening it's been all mommy and I'm pooped. Oh well, what's a mommy to do huh? I am going to try and get to the grocery store tomorrow during nap time to stock up since they are calling for sleet/freezing rain Saturday and Sunday. They are saying it could be pretty substantial so I think I better stock up. I hate ice! I don't love the snow, but I hate the ice! Hopefully it won't be bad enough that we lose power. Our power lines are buried so I hope that helps. In 2002 when Kori was about a month old we had a huge ice storm and had no power for 7-days and it was awful! We bunked at my sisters who was living in my grandmas old house next to my folks at the time. She was in Las Vegas for a few days so it worked out. At least we had heat...that's an important detail when you have a newborn huh? So anyway, that's the plan. Hopefully they will totally miss this weather forecast like they so often do. If not it could be a long weekend!

Well enough whining and grumbling, I guess I'll go snort some more Afrin so I can breathe. It's been over a month and my head/nose is still congested...it's getting old! I'm going to try and be asleep before 2:30 a.m. Oh a girl can dream...

Hannah Montana Concert

It was great! No really, it wasn't bad. I think I've finally recovered all my hearing that I lost that night though. My brother-in-law parked us in the VIP section which was awesome! Safe and close to the building! We only had a very short distance to go which was super since it was cold out.

We got the standard t-shirt, program, blinky light thingy and then got some hot dogs and a soda before heading to our seats. They were pretty good, especially since they were the last section sold. No complaints from Kori I think she's too young to appreciate being right up close. She has now professed her love for the opening act the Jonas Brothers. They put on a good show and she enjoyed it a lot! She was in awe once Miss Montana came out. There was lots of dancing and flashy costume changes. Kori was a fan of the pink go-go dress and white go-go boots with a sparkly pink bejeweled heel. Also the black bustier style stop with purple ballet tu-tu type skirt that she wore with sparkly black tennis shoes. Kori appreciates good shoes...she got that from her Aunt Margaret. :-)

I must admit when the show started I found myself a little teary. It was all a little surreal to be there. As someone who never even thought she'd be blessed with kids, to be sitting there with my almost 6-year old first born, stunningly beautiful (still can't believe she's mine!!!) daughter, it was just amazing. I wiped my eyes and shoved the emotions away. I wanted to be cool and not embarrass my daughter.

There were lots of happy, screaming kids there. It was loud, did I mention that? I chuckled about the little girl two chairs over from me who kept her fingers in her ears the ENTIRE concert. Her dad kept trying to coax them out but she wasn't having it.

So here's our rundown:

Tickets: $112.00
T-shirt/program/blinky light thing: $65.00
Concession stand robbery: $28.00

Evening with my daughter after suffering through years of infertility, worry and wonder if I'd ever be a mommy: ABSOLUTELY WITHOUT A DOUBT, PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, Stop, Quit, Don't, Leave It Alone...

Those are a few of the things I say approximately 7, 234, 124 times a day, these past couple of days. (Insert HUGE sigh here!) All three girls are walking and they go three different directions at once. I can't imagine I don't look like Heidi Klum (supermodel) with all the moving around I do everyday. Not to mention the meals I either forget to eat, or don't have time to eat. Yesterday Jason worked off-duty from 8:15-5:00. He got home around 5:20 or so. By 5:30 I think he was ready to flee to a quiet and peaceful hiding place. Kori was antagonizing the girls, who were unhappy about it, while trying to get into everything. We decided on take-out from a local Mexican restaurant. We decided we would all ride along and Jason would wait in the car while I got our food. Well before leaving he went to let the dog in and I was getting my shoes on and supervising Kori getting hers on (it takes a lot of prodding to get her to do something in less than an hour these days). Well the girls went down and managed to have a grand ol' time in the toilet. They all needed dry socks and Alexis had to have a dry shirt. She was soaked! YUCK! Thankfully I had just cleaned that toilet, but still....ewwwwwww! I think I spend 1/2 of my day trying to redirect their attention away from things they shouldn't be into. I don't' like putting everything up to minimize the temptation, but geesh. Today they kept taking a picture of Kori off the wall and walking around hugging and kissing it saying "awwwwwwww, sistoo (their version of sister). Yet it was cute the first dozen or so times but I worried about them dropping it and breaking the class and getting hurt. Trust me what one doesn't think of, one of the other two surely will.

I was talking about it to my mom tonight on the phone after the three little octopuses (sp?) and their bossy big sister had been tucked into bed finally. She agreed that it's exhausting for her to be here for only a couple of hours and she can't imagine how I must feel at the end of some days. I told her tonight I wanted to fill my jacuzzi tub with vodka and take a nice "bath" in it. Totally kidding of course!

It didn't help that Jason returned to work tonight which meant he slept in until noon today. Then went to the gym and got home just in time to shower before I left to get Kori. Then we saw each other for about 3-minutes before he headed off to off-duty before his regular night shift. I hate the nights he has off-duty before work. It makes my day three times as long! I need to hire an insane pair of extra arms/legs to help me corral the hooligans on those nights. Once again...just kidding! No matter what has happened, or how completely insane my day has been, I am always very blessed and thankful for my wonderful family. Even if I go to bed chanting "tomorrow will be better" over and over and over!

Dear Santa

Author unknown, but I LOVE IT!

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog. If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always, MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.

World's Greatest Uncle!

Uncle Billy scored Kori two tickets for the sold out Hannah Montana concert tomorrow night at the Sprint Center. I had been sorely disappointed since October that I wasn't able to get her tickets and lo and behold I now have two. I can't believe it! I cannot wait to see her face! The tickets were delivered this afternoon and Kori propelled herself into Uncle Billy to deliver a huge hug, several times actually. She is so excited! Uncle Billy scored major cool points for this one! Hooray! Hooray!

Don't know how I'll feel being in there with 4,000 screaming kids, but hey, I'll sacrifice for my kiddo. That's what moms do right?

She's Two? Already?

Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday I was at the hospital (ALL DAY!!!!) waiting for my sister to give birth to my niece Mallory. I can remember sitting in the chair waiting, and waiting and waiting. Wondering if she was really coming. Okay, all kidding aside. I remember the day like it was yesterday seriously! I remember what I was wearing, how the weather was, it's odd. But yet two years have passed! How can that be? I had only known for two days that I was having triplets. I was still super nervous about that but in disbelief that my little, baby sister was actually having a child. Ack! Kidding again! About the ACK! part anyway.

Now today I was at her 2nd birthday party. A much smaller shindig than last year. In an attempt to scale down the madness Becky only invited family. It was nice and Mallory got lots of great loot and had a great time. But two years already???? Sigh...

The girls had fun as well. They enjoyed bouncing from person to person. I'm convinced Alexis would go to Jack The Ripper if the opportunity presented itself. She would go from my mom, to my brother-in-law's mom, to his brother, it was too funny. She'd just walk up to them and hold her arms up as if to say "Hey moron, pick me up". It was too cute. They are getting too big too. I just want to stop time for a little while. It goes too fast!

My brother and sister-in-law decided not to show up. Sigh. Apparently my brother has made mention that it somewhat bothers him that my parents don't spend as much time with his two girls as they do with "the other grand kids". Now I translated that to mean my kids because my parents do see them the most. I need their help on occasion. I try to do as much of it as I can, but sometimes it's just not possible. I have apologized to my sister and told her if it bothers her to please tell me and not be upset about it without me knowing. I have tended to my girls alone since they were five weeks old. I dealt with horrible reflux with Kamryn. Bad sleeping habits with Morgan and Kamryn for a long time. Illness, the aftermath of shots, general disorder and discord at bedtime occasionally, you name it. I had five people last year pooping and puking (sorry TMI) with the stomach flu and I did it A LONE! And I try really hard not to complain. I battle some anxiety/panic issues every now and then, but I just keep going. I have too, there are no other options. There have been times that my parents have sat with the girls so that I could take one or another to the doctor, or sat with all three so that I can be involved in Kori's school activities. I guess that makes my parents and I bad people. I get so frustrated!!! I hate that they are doing this to my parents. My mom and dad love ALL THEIR GRANDCHILDREN EQUALLY!!!!! I hate that they are once again with holding their grand kids from them again. They are horrible to get in contact with. They live about 45-minutes away. They don't have an answering machine and are rarely home on the weekends. How is anyone supposed to go and spend time with them? I tried to make fried chicken for them but their schedule and an illness with one of their girls kept putting it off. I just don't get it. I hate that I have taken time away from the other grand kids for needing some help now and then. I have even been taking them out alone some. I've done a well-child check-up alone, the check-up included shots too. I did flu-shots alone. I've taken them to Walmart with the help of Kori once. I took them to Toys-R-Us alone on Monday because I don't like to inconvenience anyone. Friends are few and far between since the girls arrival. I have a few that I know I can depend on no matter what. Some I thought were "true friends" aren't. I have a very small family that is local. Jason's family is all out of town. I don't know what they expect of me. I'm trying to be diplomatic about the whole thing. I'm trying to decide if it will be best to try and call them to discuss it, write a letter or email so nothing gets heated or misunderstood, or just give up and say piss on them! Forgive my boldness. It's just so frustrating. This isn't the first time they've checked themselves out of the family. Sigh...

I must admit I've been in a funk since we put up our Christmas tree last Monday. The girls are doing great with it. I've won that battle and I am so proud. No gate up to protect the tree and the girls rarely ever give it a 2nd glance. On occasion they will stand and look at the ornaments, but generally leave them alone! Chalk one up to team mom!!! Wahoo! Anyway back to my thoughts. I have been, well I guess blah is a good description for it. I feel so bummed and blue. My sister Margaret LOVED Christmas and anything associated with it. This was her time of year. For some reason this year it's really hitting me hard. I cry at the drop of a hat. Sometimes for a reason, sometimes not. I know she wouldn't want me to be like this but I can't shake it. We were close. I'm close with both of my sisters. We have a weird bond. Becky and I talk EVERY DAY. (It drives our hubby's nuts :-) ) I used to talk to Margaret at least once everyday, plus we worked together. Not saying that I always get along with them. That would be unrealistic. Of course we have our disagreements, but we always manage to move on. It's been four years this past August that Maggie left us. Why does it still hurt as much today as it did that dreaded hot and humid August Monday. Why do I still long for her to call and interrupt dinner like she did everyday. I wish she could "know" my girls. She loved Kori so much! I know that she would love the trio and Mallory just as much. She would enjoy seeing Cody grow into a handsome young man. Will it ever get easier or less raw? I think that's what is causing my mood. I really need to try and shake it. I hate being glum. This is depressing to read I'm sure, let's move on.

On a funny note my husband about gave me a stroke the other night. I called him before bed like I do every night. (Still sick of the night shift by the way!!!) We chatted for a couple of seconds before he says "Honey I did a bad thing". Now all kinds of horrible things popped into my mind. Was he involved in another shooting? A wreck? A police chase? Is he hurt? In trouble? Oh what could it be! I had a horrible feeling in my stomach. So I hesitantly ask what it was. He then tells me....."I forgot to put on deodorant tonight". Huh? Deodorant? That's IT? That was your "bad" thing. I guess anyone who came in contact with his arm pits wouldn't have been too happy about it, but seriously. It's in the low 30's...is it really a bit deal? Now if it were the middle of the summer I'd understand. I also pointed out he could run into a store that's open 24-hours, buy another stick and keep it at work for the times he has another Alzheimer's moment. Men...(shaking head now). All kidding aside I'm glad he was well and uninjured. Took me a bit to get my stomach to calm down.

I'll leave with this conversation I had with Kori the other day.

Kori: Mom I ate most of my lunch.
Me: Oh that's GREAT! (This is a problem for us...she eats like a bird at school)

Kori: Yeah, I figured I better or you were going to bust me in my head.
Me: Huh? Where'd you hear that?

Kori: I'm not sure, but I think you might have said it before.
Me: Was I kidding? That doesn't sound like something I would say.

Kori: I don't know, but I thought about it today as I ate my lunch.

It's the little things huh?

Chocolate, ice cream and/or vodka

All of those sound good to me about now. It was one of those days! After getting Kori to school and dressing, changing and feeding the trio, I was ready to face the day. Well not really, but I didn't have a choice. Jason had work tonight so he was sleeping in like he always does on the morning that he heads back to work.

I took the girls to the family room to distract them from the tree. It's too tempting! In a matter of minutes it looked like Toys-R-Us erupted in there. Alexis has been quite clingy lately. Could be the sniffles she still has (I still have my crud too...3 weeks now...), teeth that are coming in, or just the fact that she's spoiled. (Yes it is possible to spoil triplets. I've done a wonderful job at it...sigh). She spent the better part of the morning on my lap or trying to get in my lap. I drew the line when I was going to the bathroom (#1 only...not that you were wondering but I felt I should clarify anyway) and she wanted up. Thanks but no thanks.

Jason rolled down about Noon. Oh man I remember when I used to sleep until noon. He promptly got dressed and headed out to run errands. I changed, fed, cleaned up and put the trio down for their naps before eating some lunch myself. Seems I forgot to eat anything for breakfast. That's a common occurrence around here.

I did some laundry etc. and piddled while the girls napped. Jason popped back home about 3:00 with new cell phones. This thing has a camera, plays music/videos, launches rockets, receives alien transmissions. It's mind boggling. My requirements were that it have a bigger display than my old phone (it was TINY and hard to see) and a louder ringer. I could never hear mine ring. I got that and so much more. I really should read the manual so I know what all it does. I never do and I know I should.

I dashed out to get Kori from school and got home just in time to get a kiss from my dear husband as he headed off to off-duty before going in for his regular shift. (Sigh.........). Made dinner, changed sheets on all the girls beds. Did more laundry. Refolded some clothes from a basket that I had in the hall that Morgan decided to unfold and drag down the hall way...three times. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson after the 1st or 2nd time huh? I am not a quick one. Vacuumed the kitchen floor since the trio had a blast playing in the dog food today. Not to mention the fact there were hot dog pieces, Cheerio's, Cheez-It's and other crumbs all over it. I did this while Kamryn followed me around with her hands on the cannister part of the vacuum. She loves the vibration from it. So I drug it and her all around the kitchen floor while trying to vacuum it. Supervised Kori's bath, cleaned up the dinner mess, did more laundry. Then it was time to clean up the trio and get them in jammies. Pick up the million and one toys all over the family room. Thankfully the living room only had a couple out.

I got the trio down about 8:40. Kamryn promptly fell asleep like she does 99.9% of the time. Alexis and Morgan did some crib diving, blankie swaping, binkie snatching, wall kicking, pants removing, feet through the crib bars maneuvering etc. before finally falling asleep about 9:40. Sigh...

Kori had her stories and was sound asleep by 9:05. Finally QUIET! I had to carry out the trash and then sat down to catch the last couple minutes of Dancing With The Stars. I like the show but the two-hour finale is about an hour and a half long in my eyes. I was glad that Helio and Julianne won.

I talked to my mom for a bit and told her it was "one of those days" and I needed chocolate, ice cream or vodka. I then decided maybe a chocolate vodka ice cream combo might be worth looking into. Totally kidding. I love my kids but days like today when it's all me with no one to run interference, they are exhausting! I am thankful to see bedtime come on these types of days. I chased kids out of laundry, DVD's, Playstation games, dog food, the Christmas tree, my food cabinet, dresser drawers, the toilet, bath tub (while Kori was in it), Kori's room (that is a big no-no), among other places I'm sure I've forgotten to mention. I seriously need to put tracking devices on them to help me keep them close by. I have learned that QUIET = TROUBLE with these three. If they are too quiet they are getting something they shouldn't.

Today is a day that I say "Tomorrow will be better" when I go to sleep. The girls are good but a handful sometimes. Having them wrap their little arms around my neck, leg or whatever and give me big ol' slobbery kisses, nothing beats that! I am blessed and thankful, but tired and mindful that bedtime was created for mommy's to regain their sanity. And maybe have a bowl of chocolate vodka crunch ice cream. :-)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

You give me many headaches. Kori had been begging, Jason and I had been procrastinating, but it's up. We've had one casualty in the way of a green ball. It was dropped on the tile by Alexis today and went to "Christmas ball heaven" with many of his friends. Not bad. It's been 24-hours and only one casualty. It's been redecorated a few times but I'm hoping that it will soon lose interest. It will right? Sure. Right? Oh heck, who am I kidding. I can go and buy a super yard (think baby gate constructed mini-cage/farm fence etc.) to go around it, but I'd just like them to learn to look and not touch. Is that too much to ask? It's not right? Right. Oh heck, who am I kidding. Nothing says warm and cozy holidays like a farm pen around your tree in your living room huh?

It's a better option than what my mom had. She suggested we skip a tree this year. Oh yeah, sure mom. That will go over GREAT with Kori. She'd be ready to box up the girls and ship them out somewhere. I like to think that she's adjusted well to having three sisters all at once, I think that might be enough to push her over the edge. I don't care if I say "No, no (insert applicable babies name here) don't touch the tree. It's pretty, just for looking not touching" a million times a day, there's no way I wasn't having one.

Jason thought he'd try starting a new tradition this year. He suggested we put it up on Christmas Eve. Sounded good to me. We were vetoed by the Christmas judge (AKA Kori) who insisted it need to go up pronto.

So it's there, able to relax for now. Only about 9-more hours before I unleash the tree attacking toddlers.

Computer problems...

We had a virus or worm or something. I'm not technologically up on things, but I know that it's fixed and all is well.

Thanksgiving was nice. Busy and a lot of work, but I think everyone had a good time. No one good food poisoning either, so another bonus huh?

Saturday we had family pictures taken. We called in reinforcements in the way of Becky and my nephew Cody to help out. It's ALOT of work getting everyone herded up and smiling and sitting and staying. I was a sweating mess by the time we got done. I think they turned out pretty good. I deplore having my pictures taken so any picture with me in it was horrible, but there were some good ones of the girls and a couple great ones of Jason and the girls. We also visited Santa. The girls did great, no tears or crying, which is always a bonus. Alexis and Morgan didn't want to stand still, Kamryn was squirming and the end result was priceless! Alexis looks like she's been drinking, she has a classic look on her face. Morgan and Alexis are being held by the arms by Santa to keep them from fleeing. Kori is on one knee and Kamryn on the other. Kamryn is looking at Santa and Santa is looking at Kamryn. That's the picture we chose because I don't think we were going to get much better and I really didn't have high expectations anyway.

Saturday night we had chili-dogs and Rotel and had my sister, brother-in-law and niece over to watch the MU/KU game. It was a good time. Jason worked off duty for a few hours so he missed the first half. Becky and Cody and I cheered on our beloved Jayhawks, but it was not meant to be they lost by 8-points. So sad! Oh well, they've had an AWESOME year so we're happy about that I suppose.

I have more to post but I'm breaking them up other wise it will be a LONG drawn out post and you might lose interest.

Brrrrr....

It was 75 yesterday before a cold front moved in. Now it's in the 30's (maybe 20's by now) and it's FREEZING! It snowed a little today too. Sure makes it easier to get in the holiday spirit I suppose.

Today was spent getting ready for tomorrow. The baked beans are all mixed up and ready to bake tomorrow, as well as the sweet potatoes. I made an apple pie for Jason and my mom made two pumpkin pies. We got the cranberry sauce and olives in bowls, covered and in the refrigerator. I made strawberry pretzel salad. I also made chili for dinner tonight. It was a perfect night for it. So the basics are done. I've freshened bathrooms, vacuumed etc. so the house is in order. I'm tired. I feel super drained because my darn cold is back with a vengeance. I got new cold medicine today at Target because I'm at my wits end. I was up until after 3am last night coughing and unable to breathe. It was so frustrating. Thankfully my wonderful children slept in until 10:15 this morning! It felt like heaven I tell ya!

Yesterday was Grandparents Day at Kori's school. My mom and dad went up to attend. It was a little chaotic and unorganized, but Kori didn't notice and was THRILLED to have Nanie and Pop-A there.

In the afternoon I took up pumpkin pies and helped serve at their Thanksgiving Feast. It was so adorable! Kori's class dressed in Indian costumes and Ms. Weber;s (she's another Kindergarten teacher) class dressed as pilgrims. The kids sang a few songs and such and it was really cute! The kids were served turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce as well as dried cranberries, corn, green beans, a roll and pumpkin pie with Cool Whip. The deal was they had to at least try everything. Some kids ate everything on their plate, some just picked at certain things. It was really fun to be involved. I think Ms. Phillips was ready for the day to be over. It was very busy and had to be frazzling! I told her she should go out for a margarita after work. I brought Kori home with me a bit early, but I didn't want to have to turn around and drive back to get her 10-15 minutes after I got home. She has enjoyed day #1 of her Thanksgiving break.

Yesterday I got a new vacuum cleaner as well. Not exciting for some, but very exciting for me! I'm a freak like that I guess. I got a Bissell Healthy Home vacuum. Supposedly it traps more allergens and such and puts out freshened/cleaned air. I like it so far. It's bag less which is great! My Eureka was good and lasted about 6-years so I can't complain. I do like a good vacuum, especially with 4 kiddos, one messy hubby, a dog who sheds and a cat. It's a good thing!

Well I think I've had enough for one day, I'm off to retire for the night. Tomorrow will be busy, fun but busy. I have so many things to be thankful for!

Tis the season...

I am so sick of coughing (others and my own), snot/boogers (again, others and my own) and just general cruddiness. I wish it would get REALLY cold for about a week and kill all the germs for a bit so maybe we could give the Kleenex/cold medicine business a bit of a break.

Jason's sister and kiddos arrived late Friday night for a short visit. She was aching to see the girls and drove in from Cincinnate for a short visit. It was great! She is very helpful and fun to have around. The kids were great with the girls and my girls loved the extra attention! Korbyn is 15 and is maturing and just really turning into a nice young man. Domenic is now 10. He was a different kid from when we last saw him. It's amazing what a year or two will do to kids and how it changes them. Siena is 7 now and her and Kori get along well! It was a nice visit! Domenic ended up sick and at urgent care on Sunday morning. He had an ear/sinus infection and got a few different scrips to help him get better. He threw up just before they were leaving but it must have been just from feeling cruddy and all the drainage and such. I talked to Janean this evening and they had arrived home safely and were glad to be home. They drove 1/2 way last night and stopped to sleep a bit before continuing on this morning. I really appreciate her driving all this way and back in such a short time to see the girls. It was a wonderful gesture!

Got all my Thanksgiving dinner shopping done today. Man it can get expensive! It will be fun but I know I will be glad to have it over too. The food is always great and the time with family is fun too, but it's nice to not have it hanging over my head too.

Tomorrow is Grandparents Day at Kori's school tomorrow. She is very excited! In the afternoon I am taking some pumpkin pies up and helping with their Thanksgiving feast. That should be fun! Ms. Phillips and Ms. Weber (another Kindergarten teacher) are supplying the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and stufing. Other kids were asked to bring in specific items. Ours was pumpkin pie. Kori is always glad to have me at school helping out. Hopefully the girls will nap well while I am gone since Jason will be sleeping too. Have I mentioned how sick of nights I am recently? Oh probably so, better let that one go for now.

Today I brought up some different toys for the girls. I figure they probably get tired of playing with the same stuff so I thought I'd mix it up a bit. They were safely gated in the living room and I went to throw on some clothes. Came back less than five minutes later and what did I find? EVERY diaper in the large diaper basket strewn about the room. Every toy dumped from the laundry basket that previously contained them and the three of them sitting in the basket watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney. It couldn't have been comfy by looking at them all crammed in there, but hey, they spent 8-months crammed in my belly so this was probably nothing for them huh? It was funny to watch them! The peace and serenity lasted only a few seconds before one snatched something from the other and all heck broke loose again. It looked like Toys-R-Us threw up all over my living room. Thankfully at the end of everynight everything is returned to it's rightful place and my inner peace returns with the chaos being picked up and the chaos creators all tucked snugly in their beds. Life is good though!

Kamryn continues to perfect her walking skills. I am so very proud of her and relieved as well!!!! She isn't fast or graceful by any means, but she does a super job! She is so proud of herself too! I will take her to her P.T. appointment on 11/30 and see what they have to say. I don't know if they will still want her to have the braces to strengthen her ankles/heels or not. At any rate, I am pleased with our progress in this area.

Today it was in the 70's. More of the same tomorrow before it starts to cool off in the afternoon/evening. Then only in the 30's for both Wednesday and Thursday and only the 40's for the rest of the week. No wonder we all have colds. Make up your mind Mother Nature! Pick a season and stick with it for a while!

The Nighshift

My husbands that is. I HATE it and I have hit the wall with it. It's been over 2 1/2 years now and I am really quite over it. I'm tired of the craziness we call "preparing for bedtime" being my responsibility alone every night. It is definitely a two person job. It's just insane! After dinner he helps with as much cleanup as he can before hitting the shower and getting ready to leave for work. I'm tired of sleeping alone every night. I'm tired of not being able to do "normal" things in the evenings or on weekends because he has to leave for work. I'm tired of when I'm sick no being able to take things like NyQuil so I sleep good because I have to be able to function if one of the girls need me. I could sure use some sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy-head, fever so I can rest medicine right about now. His transfer to the day shift has been in since February, but there aren't any openings in sight. Oh the joy of being a Sergeant. If he were merely an officer he would have been there long ago. **Sigh** **Sigh** **Sigh** Okay whining over.

I was in bed at 12:20 last night, not quite midnight, but very close! I managed to get all my housework done today. My inner peace has been restored. My laundry is done except for the towels currently drying in my dryer. Tomorrow I will tackle ironing. Oh joy! The things I do for fun and excitement. I hand mopped my kitchen, 3 bathroom and entry floors today. Man are my knees tired! I think I'm getting too old for that. My knees aren't what they once were. Heck none of me is, who am I kidding.

Roasted a chicken for dinner. Oh man it tasted good! The girls were all good today. Kori had a great day at school. Well except for the girl in her class that hit her in the face. She was upset that Kori didn't look at something fast enough so she hit her. Kori said Ms. Phillips called the girls father over it. I'll ask more about it when I'm up there on Thursday. Kori said she wasn't hurt which was all that mattered I suppose. Man kids can be mean! Kori forgave her and has moved on from it all. That's my girl!

Well I guess I better go check my towels. I also have 200 box tops from various products to trim and sort by the correct denominations...fun fun fun!

Sick and Tired

Of feeling sick and tired. I feel worse tonight that I have in a week. I am feverish, yet chilling, achy and just feeling like crud! If I'm not better by Wednesday I guess I'll mosey to the doctor. I just need to feel better. Too much stuff not getting done. I did manage to clean the walls and ceilings in the living room and master bedroom tonight with my dust mop. My husband thinks I am insane. He assured me that he's quite certain no one owns dust mops anymore, let alone uses them to dust their walls. Oh well, if I'm the only one, so be it. I can't stand to see little dusty things on my walls. Drives me nuts. I am mustering enough energy to go and finish dusting our bedroom and clean our bathroom. Since he'll be sleeping in there tomorrow I can't do it then. Might as well do it now and get it done. Just wish I weren't so sluggish.

The trio, Jason and I headed to Wal-Mart today to stock up on necessities. Always fun doing that. Who can't get excited when buying toilet paper, cleaning supplies and the like. Oh boy! The girls were on their best behavior which is always a plus! Today's "Comment of the Day" was "Uh oh, triple trouble!" So unoriginal but it's rude to say so, so I just didn't. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've heard "Oh you've got your hands full". I'd be a millionaire I'm sure. Oh well, I know that people are just trying to be kind, but I feel like saying "We've heard that line a million times if you don't have anything more original to say please refrain from saying anything at all". Man that would make me look like a Super-B, so I better not.

I have been tapped to bring in pumpkin pie next week for a "Thanksgiving Sampling" that Ms. Phillips and another K-teacher, Ms. Weber will be putting on for the kids. I also was asked to go and help during the sampling. I couldn't say no. I have that affliction, it's just so hard, no matter how crappy I feel or how busy I am. I also didn't say no to the PTA lady who called and asked if I'd be willing to trim Box Tops for the current campaign for those they have going on. Jason thinks I am insane. Sometimes I agree with him.

Worried about my dad and the procedures he is having done this week. Tomorrow he will be getting the nerves in his hip/leg lasered in an attempt to stop the pain he is in. He has another procedure on Thursday. Sure hope it goes smoothly and he gets relief. He's been miserable for a couple of weeks now. Aging parents is hard to handle sometimes.

Okay, I've mustered as much energy as I can for the cleaning efforts. If I don't do them now I won't ever get it done tonight. I will be in bed by midnight, I will be in bed by midnight, I will be in bed by midnight...

Issues

Well, that's what my sister says I have, issues. Hmmm...it only took her this long to figure that out? She took Kori today for a little Aunt/Niece fun. When she brought her back this afternoon I had returned from the store and was attempting to put away my purchases. Now with a family of six, that accounts for a lot of groceries. Every cabinet is jam packed. I'm afraid to open them too quickly. I once received a "corn-cussion" (insert groan here) when a can of whole kernel corn fell and hit me on my head. I learned my lesson and now open with caution. She said my cabinets look like those of a food pantry. Probably so, but at least there is food to eat.

Aunt Becky also scored MAJOR bonus cool points this weekend because she was able to locate a Hannah Montana shirt for Kori. She not only located it, she purchased it for her. It is all laid out for Kori to wear to school tomorrow. She is so excited! It's the little things when your 5 huh?

That being said I HATE going to the grocery store. I'm tired of trying to find things to cook that please everyone. We seem to have eaten everything recently. It's so frustrating. Jason and I joke that we are going to invent a food pill. Might not be such a bad idea. Pop a pill, chase it with water, it expands in your stomach, voila, fried chicken dinner without the mess, fuss or cleanup. Now, how does one invent something like that.

My darling husband took an extra night off tonight. We are now going to go and watch "Knocked Up". Hope it's good. I fell asleep about 10-minutes into to Evan Almighty on Friday night. I just couldn't make myself stay awake.

Tomorrow for fun we're going go to....drum roll please..........Wal-Mart! We're almost out of the necessities, you know paper towels, toilet paper, laundry soap. Ahhhhh, all the fun things!

A slideshow!

Please scroll down to the bottom to look at my new slide show! It's up until the first year with all four of my girls! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Well much to his dismay he has turned 37. He is NONE too happy about it and spent the better part of 20-minutes last night trying to convince me that 37 is still "mid 30's". I informed him that it's "late 30's" but he didn't want to hear that. He then remembered that he was a mere 25 when we began dating. I hated to point out that I was 23. Yikes, we're getting old. Oh well, I've always said your only as old as you feel. I might need to rethink that because in my case I feel 80 on some days.

The girls and I took Jason out for dinner last night. He enjoyed a prime rib dinner at Texas Roadhouse. He enjoyed "dessert" even more. The 10 or so, very young, very buxom servers line dancing a few feet over from our table. He proclaimed it to be the best restaurant in town at that point. It was good and we enjoyed our dinner. I think he enjoyed the entertainment more than I did. The girls were enthralled too, but for totally different reasons.

We were lame in our gift to him however. We gave him money because he wants to get a new cell phone so I figured that could go into the cell phone fund. He just doesn't give me good ideas on what to get him anymore. It's always something lame like a new softball bat. Oh yeah, like I can just run and pick one of those up. Geesh!

The girl sitting next to Kori that puked at lunch the other day apparently just got choked while coughing. Whew, no tummy virus germs spread for right now. I went to Kori's school on Friday for the awards program for the Math-a-thon they did in October. It was nice and fun to be involved. Kori's name was drawn for a plug n' play video game system. I was so excited for her! I always feel coated with germs when I come home from there. Especially after being in the gym with 700 students, plus faculty. Yikes, I wanted to gargle Purell when I came home. Instead I washed my hands, changed out of my day-glo orange (think hunting orange) "Gethcha Head In The Game - Math-a-thon 2007" t-shirt and off we went. Kori was thrilled to have me at school and proclaimed me to be the "best mommy EVER". Cool!

Kamryn had her appointment Friday with the Physical Therapy Department at Children's Mercy. She has some weak ankles that turn in and don't always give her good support so she will continue with therapy every other week and will be fitted for some braces that will help stabilize her ankles. No big deal thank goodness. I'm glad I went with my "mommy instinct" instead of just thinking it would happen "in her own time". I knew it was a bit more than that. That being said being at Chidren's Mercy Hospital puts your life in a whole different perspective. There were kids with cancer, Cerebal Palsy, broken limbs, paralyzed limbs, and who knows what else and that was on the way in. On the way out we were greeted as we were getting on the elevator by a beautiful little girl who had no arms below the elbows and no legs below the knees. It was a not so gentle reminder that my problems are so very small, while my blessings too big to be measured.

Still feeling cruddy. Now it seems to be a respiratory type thing. Lots of coughing and congestion. I have alternated between feeling okay today to just being completely exhausted and sleepy. It's weird. I finally mustered up some energy for laundry and such. Plus I gave all four girlies a bath. That definitely takes energy.

Wishing my dad would get some relief from the pain he is in. Always hard to see your parents, or anyone you love for that matter, walking with the help of a walker. He will have two procedures next week to hopefully alleviate the pain. He's been housebound all week and him and my mom are about to crawl the walls. They came up for a bit today to see the girls. We were going over there but my mom said he wanted to get out for some fresh air. The girls were super happy to see them, as usual. My dad looked so tired, man getting old is for the birds.

So I am off to fold another load of clothes, shower and say my prayers before falling asleep. I must remember to thank God for my wonderful husband, albeit another year older, but still 25 in my eyes. My beautiful children, I am the luckiest mom in the world! My terrific family, well most of them. (Insert winking eye here). And the few friends who have stuck by me during some crazy things in my life. I am grateful and blessed!!!

Seriously?

Okay let me start this off to say that I am feeling crappy today. This sinus junk has got me and I feel like, uh, well, poo, that's a great word to use. So I get Kori to school this morning. Cancel our Parents As Teachers session we were supposed to have and get home to get the trio some breakfast. I am putting some ribs into the refrigerator that I had out to thaw. Well in all my clumsy glory I bump a pitcher of the girls juice and over it goes, all down the back of my refrigerator. Now mind you, this is the refrigerator that I just painstakingly cleaned on Saturday. It seriously looks like a brand new refrigerator. I took out every shelf, drawer, cubby, you name it. If it wasn't screwed in or otherwise permanently attached it came out. This was no easy task and took me well over an hour. So now I have to take out said drawers again, wipe them all down. Then collect the reservoir of juice that has collected in the little recess in the bottom of my refrigerator and wipe it all up. When it happened I thought to myself, what is that spilling noise? That thought was quickly replaced by OH #$%(#%*$)#$*$ !!#$%^(&)%*%$$^)^*#!!!!!!!!! I muttered this quietly as I didn't want the parrots, uh, I mean the girls, who were so quietly playing in the living room nearby to pick up no anything that might have abruptly flowed from my mouth. Man how frustrating. It couldn't have been the almost empty pitcher of tea huh? Oh no, it has to be the 1/2 full pitcher of sticky juice. Great!

Oh well, it's all cleaned up again and looking spiffy. The girls have been fed, cleaned up, played with, changed, fed, cleaned up, changed and are now down for a nap. I am immersing myself in dirty laundry. Man the things I get to do for fun! How ever do I manage to contain myself.

Oh well, I guess I better go have some lunch and tackle some more laundry, uh, I mean fun!

WHAT?

So today I am going through Kori's folder after school. There is an orange piece of construction paper in there with eight numbers on it. I asked Kori what it was. She says, very nonchalantly I might add, "Oh that's Javen's phone number. He wanted me to have it". Now if I could have instantly recorded the expression on Jason's face, I would have. It was PRICELESS! Javen is an adorable little boy who the whole class developed a soft spot for as he broke his foot/leg just before school started and spent the first 2 months of school in a wheel chair. I've seen him, he is very cute and so tiny. Kori's at least 2 feet taller than him. Anyway, Jason informs her that there is one too many numbers in the phone number anyway. I inform her that we're way too young for boys phone numbers, besides, we don't call boys. (Man do I EVER sound like my parents (shudder)). It was so funny to see Jason react. While I don't long for the teenage years, it could be interesting.

This is all following up her tale she told us a week or so ago. It went a little something like this. "Mom, do you know that we don't kiss boys at school." (Me) "Uh, yes, I know that, why?" (Kori) "Well Heaven kissed Javen twice today...ON THE LIPS!!!". (Well her name is Heaven after all...sounds like a rocker type rebellious chick to me huh? ) Oh man, they start so young nowadays. I informed Kori that it would be of her best interests to keep her lips to herself for MANY years to come. I further instructed her that if she didn't it would bring about a storm (called Hurricane Daddy) that I don't think we are near ready to weather yet. She informed me "Duh, mom. Boys are yucky!". Whew (sigh of relief!)

The trio are doing their best work to try and master the Itsy Bitsy Spider. It is so fun to teach them new things and see them put them to use. While most days are manic and go by in a blur, these things are what makes it so rich for me!

JEALOUSY is running rampant in our household as of late. Today Alexis crawled upon my lap for a little cuddle time while we watched some Disney Channel. Well after a few minutes Kamryn thought she should join in. Well she was just about to climb up when Alexis firmly placed her palm on Kamryn's forhead, applied a little gentle pressure and firmly stated "Nooooooooooooo!". Kamryn was crushed. I did let her up and gently assured Alexis there was plenty of room for her sisters. Morgan thought she better try it out so up she came. Not sure what the cat was thinking when he joined in. After a few minutes of having his fur stroked...the wrong way, he promptly abandoned his post. Smart move kitty! After numerous elbows, knees, hands, feet etc. I was ready to call it quits myself. It can be exhausting!

The girls do play great together most of the time. Kamryn has taken a liking to our Laugh and Learn Piggybank. Well the other girls like it too and take exception to Kamryn wanting to monopolize it all the time. Today it was an all out tug of war between Kamryn and Alexis. Well Kamryn fell over in the process which resulted in a few tears and lots of dramatic wailing. Alexis seized the moment and took off running across the living room with her evil laugh going. (It really is evil and VERY funny!) Kamryn was looking all over for the piggybank. On the floor, under the stool (it would NEVER fit there, but hey, give her some credit I suppose!) After being unable to locate it, she threw her hands in the air and gave a very sorrowful "Oh no!" It was too cute. And since she was playing with it first, prior to the tug o' war, I promptly retrieved it and returned it to her. Much to Alexis' dismay. Well dismay that lasted only seconds before busying herself with another toy.

Well I am coming down with a cold or some sinus junk. Always fun with kiddos on hand. No sick days here. I have zero energy and feel very blach, but hey, the world keeps on a turning so I must keep one foot in front of the other, or at least that's what I keep on telling myself.

I'm coming cold medicine and warm bed...

Stop!

First things first, I about wrecked my van on Halloween when flipping through the radio channels I stumbled on one that was playing CHRISTMAS MUSIC! Are you kidding me? I thought it was a fluke, but nope, it's a constant thing now through Christmas. It's crazy! I like Christmas, the music and all things associated with it. But two months of the music is too much for even me. I mean, there are only so many songs and they are just sung by different people over and over and over...it's crazy! That being said, things are too busy around here lately! Life is too crazy sometimes! Let me try and recap it all to catch it all up.

Last Monday I had to take Kori's snack in as it was her designated snack day for school. What does my sweet child want? Cheez-Its? Nope. Crackers and cheese cubes? "We did that LAST time mommy". Little Debbie snack cakes? Uh no. Fruit kabobs! Yep you read that right. So I had to do them that morning and take them to school so they didn't get all brown and yucky. I did pineapple, strawberries, kiwi, grapes and cheese cubes. I stuck an extra grape on the end so no one would be stabbed with the skewers. Hey, they're Kindergartners, you never know. I also took two containers of Hy-Vee's fruit dip (it is sooooo yummy if you've never tried it). It went over well and seemed to be a hit. There were a few extra so they shared with the other Kindergarten teachers too. Kori was so cute when she got in the car that afternoon. She said "the fruit was a hit mom, thanks!" Ahhhh...words to a mothers ears huh?

Wednesday I had to go and help with her class party at 2:30. There were three other moms as well. I was in charge of drinks and took Sprite at the request of the mom who was captain of the party. I helped with the craft to make sure there wasn't any excessive glue use. I also helped during the bingo game to make sure everyone was getting the right pictures marked off. It was a lot of fun and Kori was super happy to have me there. I fixed all the kids little treat sacks to take as well. I tried to not put in a bunch of candy. I put in some Cheetos, fruit snacks, a Halloween pencil, one piece of chocolate, a roll of Smarties and a Tootsie Pop that I turned into little ghosts with a Kleenex, some yarn and the help of a Sharpie marker to make a little ghostly face. I feel so sorry for some of the kiddos in their class. They look like their hair could use a nice shampooing, not to mention a session with the brush. Their clothes are in need of some Pre-treating before laundering and a definite date with the iron. One of the little girls came and told me "hi Kori's mommy". Then she came up later and asked me if she could give me a hug. How can you say no to that???? I gave her a nice big hug. It just makes me so sad sometimes.

Thursday was the Mystery Sound Game. They had to take an item in that made noise (Kori took a stuffed rabbit that makes a boingy sound) in a brown paper bag and the other kids had to try and guess what it was. Of course there were LOTS of kids that didn't participate. The same ones that usually don't participate. It just frustrates me that parents don't try harder. Like Jason said when we were leaving conferences last week. "If doesn't matter what kind of life you had or how you grew up, being a parent is your way to do it right and make a difference for your kids". Oh so true!

Friday was hat day to celebrate the letter H. Kori wore her Super Girl pink baseball hat. She looked so cute bouncing into school that morning.

We survived trick or treating. We went out with my sister, brother-in-law, Jason (complete with creepy make up on his face--he's such a kid at heart!), my niece Mallory AKA the Wicked Witch, the trio or as we called them all night, the lion, scare crow and tin girl. Kori made an adorable Dorothy, complete with red sparkly shoes. My brother-in-laws mom went with us too as she was dying to see the girls. We were the hit of the neighborhood. We had people stopping us on the sidewalk to take pictures, people stopping their cars as they were driving by, people coming out of their houses. It was adorable and the girls all had a blast. Kamryn managed to eat her way through the wrapper of a Kit Kat and was thoroughly enjoying the chocolate. Gotta come up with something creative for next year. Mallory caught on quick with how it all worked. She mastered "trick or treat" quickly as well as her thank you before leaving. It was so cute! While it's not my favorite holiday, I do enjoy seeing it through the eyes of my own kids, as well as those of Mallory's.

Today Kori and I went on a "date". We went to see The Bee Movie. It was really cute and we enjoyed it so much! It was nice to do something fun, just the two of us.

I ordered Steeler's gear tonight in preparation for our family photos later this month. It should be fun! At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Kamryn has her appointment on Friday with the Physical Therapy department at Children's Mercy on Friday. Praying it's nothing at all, or something very simple.

I am going to try and be better about staying on top of things this week. We'll cross our fingers and see how it goes. I am posting some pics from Oz, enjoy!

Whew!

Oh man what a week!!!! It's been busy, busy, busy, as you can tell by my lack of posting on here. Jason had off-duty Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, today and tomorrow as well. Mind you today and tomorrow he works off-duty before work and then heads off to work. Makes for busy days for me, that is for sure.

We had Parent/Teacher conferences on Thursday. Kori is doing great! Ms. Phillips said she is a pleasure to have in class and "always wants to do the right thing". That made me so proud! She is performing at an above average level, which is good too! It was surreal for Jason and I to be going to conferences...we still feel so young and un-important. I took Kori to school on Thursday then went in for their book fair. Then it was a half day so I had to go back at 12:30 to pick her up. Then back up for conferences at 2:40, it was crazy! In between the book fair and her early release I ran to Walmart while Jason had the trio. We were getting low on the necessities so I thought I'd better go while I had the chance.

Today was another early release day. I took Kori for her flu shot at 2:45. Only a few tears. She really works herself up and then realizes it doesn't even really hurt. Maybe she'll remember that next year.

My parents came yesterday and today to keep the trio so I didn't have to drag them out. I appreciated it and I'm sure the trio did as well.

Kamryn has an appointment with the Physical Therapy department on November 9th. She still isn't walking and seems to have issues with her right foot. It turns strange and such so we'll see what they say. She is a mega tippy toe walker as well, no matter what we do. I've been concerned about this for so long but the doctor always had a "she has good muscle tone in her legs lets give her more time" type of approach, but I'm ready to see if something else is going on with her. I certainly hope it's something simple.

Kori went home with my parents this afternoon. She was ready to spend some time with Nanie and Pop-A. She loves the one-on-one attention. I have a flu shot tomorrow morning...yippee! Oh well, they don't bother me in the least. I had to cancel Jason's since he doesn't get off work until 7, his appointment wasn't until 8:45, but he wouldn't have gotten home until probably close to 9:30 and since he has to get up at 3:00 for off-duty I just figured we could do it another day.

Well the girls are all doing so much fun stuff lately. Alexis is becoming quite the "dancer"! She does some backwards walking jig thing. It's a total riot! She cracks herself up! Morgan is trying to say Mickey Mouse...the Mickey is a bit unclear but Mouse sounds pretty good. She joined Kamryn today in the ability to say "Spongebob" too, only for her it is "Bob-Bob". It's very sweet! She also says "EWWWWWWW" very emphatically when something is stinky or yucky to her. Kamryn loves to smell her own feet and then say "yuck" or "caca". It is a kill! Instead of inhaling though she blows on her foot. It's too cute!

Well I should shower and enjoy some of the quiet alone time, it's a rare thing!

Congrats to my friend Liz and her hubby Steve on their new home purchase! Hope the moving was smooth and your getting settled in! Can't wait to see it!!!

I Survived

Tonight I kept some friends of ours' kids. They have a 9-year old boy, a 7-year old boy an almost 4-year old girl, add in my four and I had a house full! I think Jason was super excited to leave the house at 7:15 to go to work. I kept them from 6-10pm. The girls LOVED having the extra attention. Kori was excited to have people to play with. The boys were fascinated with the girls so I really didn't have to do to much. Just make sure there wasn't a lot of rough housing, but all-in-all, not too bad! It's nice to have someone to do this with. We've decided we're going to keep it up. Every few months we'll keep each others kids so we can have date nights with our hubby's. Her husband is an officer to. I actually went out with him a couple of times which is kind of funny. He's a super guy, we just always were friends. She's a sweet heart and has been an awesome friend to me. She used to watch Kori on Monday's when I worked. I wanted Kori to have interaction with other kids and she wanted a part-time gig so it worked out great. Kori had a blast going there as well, so even better. She's been great about coming over and helping me with the girls a couple of times a month. She's brought us meals both when the girls were born and also when I had my gallbladder removed. She took Kori swimming several times last summer when the girls were first born. It was great for Kori because she got away from the routine for a bit and got to be a kid for a few hours. She's been a very loyal friend to me and we're blessed to have her in our lives. She loves my girls like her own and isn't "afraid" of the fact there are three of them. Gotta love that!

It was a nice day here today. It was in the upper 70's and a bit breezy but so nice! Kori and I ran a couple of errands and then we came home and enjoyed the outside for a while. It's supposed to be super crappy next week so I thought we better take advantage of it. The trio got a ride in the choo-choo wagon, which always makes them happy! Morgan and Alexis were walking all over the place outside. I wish Kamryn would join in. I'm just so worried about her lack of walking. I know I probably should, but I am. I am having her pediatrician refer us to a physical therapist to make sure there's not something else going on. She's getting better about standing and such and will take a few steps but it just seems like her feet don't always want to do what their supposed to. I just worry about them so much! I always have, I'm a nervous ninny on some things. Overall though they are wonderful! Kamryn may lack in the mobility department but the girl can talk a blue streak!

I took Kori to the library again today. It's the 2nd time this month. Her school encourages each student to read 32 books a year. The Kindergartners are also encouraged to read at least 15-books a month. Last month we didn't get our sheet about it until the 15th of September. We did our 15-books though. We got it on time this month and thus far we've read 42 books! I read to her but Kori is starting to be able to read some of the more simple sentences which is awesome! She is picking out more and more words and I'm just amazed! We usually check out 25 books at a time or so. Today I think we got 28! She loves to read! We do it every night, it's our ritual and has been for a long time! I am a bookworm myself and if I had more time would always have my nose stuffed in a book.

That being said, there are posters in the hall with all the students names on the, broken down by grades/teachers. For every 10 or so books you read you get a sticker. There are some that have LOTS of stickers, then others with none. It is so sad! I just hate that parents slack in, well parenting. It just hurts me to hear some of the things Kori comes home and says about her class mates. For example, they bring snacks everyday. Each student is assigned a day and you get a calendar at the beginning of the month telling you which day is your designated day. There have been the same kids on their day for the last 2 1/2 months that "forgot" to bring snacks on their day. There are always "extra" snacks around for those occasions, but it's just sad to me. They can also order books from Scholastic Books every month or two. Last month one of the little girls in the class cried because some of the other kids were getting books and she didn't get to order any. It breaks my heart! This is the same girl who didn't participate in the two weeks of "Color Week" or silly sock day. She said her dad always says no, it's just so depressing sometimes. Yesterday the boy assigned to bring snacks (the one who at the rock earlier in the week) "forgot" and it was even the day before his birthday. No special birthday snacks or nothing...I just wanted to cry. Being a grown-up sometimes is for the birds. I wish I had the means to help everyone, I just hate seeing kids suffer. Whether it be on basic things like this, or the fact that their parents won't read to them, even one book a night. It only takes 10-15 minutes, if that, depending on the book.

Well I've had a busy day, I think I'll retire for the night. The cooler/rainy weather is coming...I think Fall is here!

Happiness Is...

On busy and overwhelming days like today I like to reflect on the things that make me happy in my life. There are LOTS!!!!!

Happiness is seeing three little ones blow kisses to their big sister as she gets out of the van at school.

Happiness is hearing the laughter of your children! It is the cure all for everything!!!!

Happiness is the pride in knowing you fed your kiddos LOTS of veggies for dinner and they didn't even mind!

Happiness is dancing in the living room with your four beautiful daughters. Daughters you were certain you were NEVER going to have!

Happiness is being smothered by kisses by your four beautiful daughters! Nothing is better!

Happiness is wrestling and giggling in the living room floor!

Happiness is horsey rides through the living room.

Happiness is an AWESOME first report card! GREAT JOB KORI!!!!!!!!!!!

Happiness is the smell of freshly bathed kiddos.

Happiness is knowing that you survived an awfully hectic today and everyone went to bed happy.

Happiness is snuggling up with Kori at bedtime and reading three books!

Happiness is bursting with pride as Kori reads you sentences from her bi-weekly Kindergarten newsletter. I got teary I tell you! I think she thought I was nuts, but man was I ever proud of her!!!!

Happiness is checking on the trio and Kamryn sitting up from sleeping holding her arms up. Picking her up and having her snuggle on your shoulder for some extra sleepy loving! Oh man, my heart could burst!!!

Happiness is being a mom, when you never in a million years would have imagined that life would have turned out like this.

Happiness is the quiet of the house when everyone is asleep. Ahhhhhh!!!!

Whew...

Well it's 2:05. I've managed to get everyone up and dressed, feed the crew, drop Kori off at school. Come back by the house load up the choo-choo wagon for the trio and off we went for flu shots. Kamryn remembered the nurse from shots last month and started to cry as soon as she saw her. The tears dried up after only a couple of minutes though. Well, except for Morgan who never cries. That girl has a super high pain tolerance. We came home and had playtime then lunch then all down for naps. Then it was on to laundry...still wondering how it ALL ends up here??? I made chicken salad for Jason and tuna salad for myself for lunch tomorrow. I also packed my hubby a lunch. Man am I a nice wife! Hope he appreciates me. (Wink!). Cleaned up that mess. Cleaned out the refrigerator. Ugh, more dishes then! On to dinner! I am now the proud owner of a big boiling pot of homemade vegetable soup! Yummy!!! Full of carrots, potatoes, Lima beans, soup shell pastas, green beans with a yummy tomato base! Oooooh I can't wait! Double yummy! Jason isn't a fan so it's a perfect meal for tonight since he'll be working off-duty before work. Got all that mess cleaned up and here I am. I am waiting for another load to be done drying. The girls will be up soon and then the madness resumes. Get everyone changed. Load up some drinks and snacks, get everyone loaded in the car to pick-up Kori from school. It's bath night too! It's a long day today. I should sleep well tonight.

I'm feeling a little blah today too. Not sure why. Just blah. Not crabby or sickly. Not really sad or depressed, just blah. Can't describe it any other way. The busy-ness of life can be just that, busy!

Well I better go fold the next load of clothes and drop more in. It's a vicious circle. Still wanting to get "Naked Week" going so we can go laundry free for a few days. Anyone else on board?