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!