Whew!

The holidays are over and I can catch my breath. I think. I hope.

Christmas was GREAT! The girls had a great time. They really got into it and it was cute to see. Kori had a blast and enjoyed sharing it with her sisters.

We spent Christmas Eve with my family at my mom and dad's. Great food and good times! It was awesome! I worry my mom's going to "retire" this tradition soon. I just love it!

Christmas day was spent here at home with just us. We spent the day in our jammies and had a great day! I made a ham and all the fixin's for dinner. It was so nice and relaxing!

Jason has been off for the last week and we've gotten so much done! Our sub-basement has been cleaned out and organized and it looks great! Our trash guys are going to hate us in the morning. There is a BUNCH of bags and boxes out there. Thank heavens for the 2 times a year it's unlimited trash! Woo hoo!

Sadly, Jason's grandpa Marvin passed away on Saturday. We will travel to Iowa on Friday for his funeral. Kori has opted to pass on the long drive and short trip so she'll be staying with my parents.

Well tomorrow is New Year's Eve. My nephew is here with us and Jason goes back to work tomorrow so we'll just hang out. I'll make us a yummy dinner and we'll ring in 2009 in pretty much the same lame fashion as years passed. I'm okay with that. I'm safe and sound with my family, well most of them, in my home so that's okay.

Happy 2009 to you all!!!!!

Holiday Greetings!

Man oh man, things have been busy around here!!! We had a great visit with Jason's dad and step-mom, and his sister and her family. Truly wish Janean and her family lived closer! We will be going out to visit them in Cincinnati this summer for vacation. (This is a warning to them that they better reinforce their home because Hurricane Rusley is coming!!!)

We did presents and I made tacos and chicken chimichangas on Sunday for dinner. We also had birthday cake and ice cream for Jason's dad and Kori. We went to Longview Lake to see the lights at Christmas in the Park. Another beautiful display. It was a LONG wait but the kids all enjoyed it.

Today I did some baking. I made chocolate chip cookies, Amish sugar cookies. pretzel/rolo/pecan candies, fudge, peanut butter cookies with Reece's peanut butter cups in the middle of them, pecan balls and white chocolate covered pretzels. I do a platter every year as a gift to my brother and his family, my sister and her family and my parents. Hope they like my baking, otherwise it's not such a great gift huh?

I do enjoy baking. The girls were cooperative and Jason was available to keep an extra eye on them so it went well.

Tomorrow we do Christmas with my family at my parent's. We'll have spaghetti (or Basta as we call it) and meatballs, Italian sausage, garlic bread etc. I am in charge of the salad so I have to cut that up tomorrow. It's alwasy good food and a good time so it will be fun. The kids will surely love it. While Christmas isn't my favorite holiday, I always found it more fun with my oldest sister around. Since her passing five years ago it has lost so much of it's luster. If not for my kids I would stay in bed and watch movies and maybe eat ice cream or something. This was her most absolute favorite holiday. She loved spending it with family. It just always feels like a huge part is missing, and rightly so.

Tomorrow night I should tackle some gift wrapping as I've done none of it. That's right, not a single thing. How pathetic am I???

We got sad news today that Jason's grandpa Marvin has been hospitalized after a fall and also has pneumonia in both lungs. His health and been in a steady decline for months and things aren't looking so great right now. We hope he improves and we can get back up there soon to see him. He gets sooooo much pleasure from visiting with my girls.

At any rate, I wish you all a wonderful holiday!!

Glutton For Punishment

I often times ask myself "what were you thinking???" It is usually after I've done something without thinking fully of the ramifications it will have. Several weeks ago I received a call on my cell while I was waiting for Kori to get out of school. It was from a parent of a student in the class. She was the coordinator for the "Winter Party" and was getting things set up. Great! Could I help? You betcha? A craft? A game? What do I say you ask? I reply, "Whatever you need me to do, tell me and I'll do it". Why I didn't pipe up and offer to do the game I don't know.

At any rate I began my quest for the perfect craft. I scoured Walmart, Michael's etc. All of the pre-cut kits in the craft foam were Christmas trees and Santa Claus. That violates the terms of the "Winter Party" guidelines. It has to be non-denominational for those that don't celebrate Christmas. Okay, no problem. Snowmen are easy. Uh, yeah, only there weren't any pre-cut snowman kits. So I poured over the web to see what I could find. I finally found a cute little snowman idea and figured I'd poke a hole in the top and thread a pipe cleaner through and it could hang up for an ornament, door hanger etc. No problem!

I buy the foam. I figure it would be easiest to to ahead and pre-cut the pieces so there wasn't a lot of scraps, mess etc. It was a project that ideally should take about 10-15 minutes of the class party time. Life has been a little crazy and I didn't get an early jump on getting the pieces cut out. I prayed for snow and lots of it to get the party canceled. By Thursday I figured that wasn't happening and I better get started. I get my little template and cut out 26 snowman head circles (25 for the students in the class and 1 for my display piece). Then I cut out 26 black top hats. Then 26 carrot noses. Then 26 hat bands. Then 26 hat buckles. By now I have a serious cramp in my cutting hand, not to mention a pile of static charged foam pieces that stick to everything!!!! I passed on the 52 holly leaves and 78 tiny holly berries that were to further adorn the hat. Those would have been brutal. I've now had to stop to fix dinner, clean up dinner, play with kids, finish homework, bathe kids, get kids in bed. Shower myself. **Sigh**

It's now 11:30 p.m., back to cutting. The 52 eyes I have to cut took forever! Ideally the mouth was to be comprised of 4 small (dime size) black foam circles. At this point it's after 1am, I am tired. I am dang near crippled from the 7 hours or so of cutting I've been doing and really to be honest, I'm over it. I have proclaimed loudly to myself that I hate snowmen! If I EVER see one again it will be too soon. These F-ing things are for the BIRDS!!!!! Once I pull myself together, I decide that these snowmen will have red pipe cleaner mouths. My husband told me the dot mouths looked better. After I not so politely told him that he could come home from work and cut them out his own d@mn self, he decided the pipe cleaners smiles didn't look so bad after all. What a good idea.

Did I mention I put glue dots on all the pieces so the kids didn't have to go all glue crazy like they did at the Fall party. 25 first graders with Elmers glue...wow! We're lucky we weren't all stuck there until the Winter Party. The glue dots worked great, but added to the teadiousness of the whole thing. Anyway, I packed everything up and crawled into bed at about 2:30 a.m.

The crafts were a hit. The party was done. Winter break has begun! It was a half day too so that was even better!

Jason's dad and step-mom are here from Iowa, as well as his sister and her family from Cincinnati. We'll celebrate Christmas and Kori and Phil's (Jason's dad) birthday tomorrow. It is FREEZING cold here so we'll be hanging out here. With wind chills -30 it's too cold to do much of anything else.

Guess I better wrap some presents this week too, since I've done NONE!

Seven Years Ago Today

On, Monday, December 17th, 2001, at 5:00 P.M., my sweet, precious, much anticipated, perfect, red headed little bundle (well not so little at 8 lbs., 10 oz., but you get the idea) was born. Seriously? SEVEN years???? Oh man where has the time gone. She is now more often sassy than sweet. She has three little sisters and one tired and haggard mom.

For her birthday she got a room redo. I will post pictures soon! It turned out really nice and she loves it very much. We also got her an outfit and little sisters got her some new Play-Doh. She got a new paint job, a new lamp shade, new comforter and sham, new rug, new sheets, new curtain, decals for the wall. It is now a sweet shade of periwinkle and very suited for her. I just can't get over her being 7!!!!

Today was a self-imposed snow day. The weather was awful this morning at 7am. We already had at least 2 inches, but for some reason her school district hadn't canceled. Jason worked a 15-hour shift instead of the normal 10-hours due to the day shift being short. We discussed it, and we decided it was a snow day for us. I would have had to drag the little girls out and I had a feeling that it would be a short day. I figured as soon as I got her there, in a few short hours I'd be turning around to go and get her again and that was the case. At 10am the phone rang and it was the pre-recorded message stating that the district was following it's early release schedule. Glad I went with my gut. No reason to risk it. I don't condone missing school for a few flakes but it was snowing a lot and had been for a while I didn't figure it would get any better.

Jason got home about 12:45 just as I had finished shoveling our driveway and walks. Our driveway is HUGE when it needs shoveled. My back is definitely feeling it. I am soooo over winter and it isn't even officially winter yet. Blach!

I had to venture to Sam's today to pick up cupcakes for Kori's class in the event there is school tomorrow. I made it there relatively easy. The littles were sleeping, as was Jason and Kori opted to hang out at home and veg with some TV and coloring instead of braving the roads with me. It wasn't too bad. Getting back was a bit trickier since the highway was a parking lot. I had to detour and take the long way home but did it relatively easily.

There is an ice storm on the way for Thursday. I am hoping school is canceled Friday since it is a half day and I'm in charge of the craft for the class winter party. Can you tell I'm dreading it???

At any rate, happy birthday Kori! Mommy and daddy love you so very, very much!

Viruses, Toddler Beds & Insanity

I apologize for my absence. It seems that we contracted a nasty computer virus. So last Friday the computer went off to the computer doctor who assured me it would be returned on Monday. Then Monday turned into Tuesday morning. Which then turned into Tuesday evening. Then Wednesday morning. Then anytime after 2pm on Wednesday. Imagine my surprise at 2:40 when I showed up to get it and no one was at the shop. He finally returned and it seemed the smartest choice was to send Jason in. I was a bit miffed at this point and didn't want to say anything snarky. Imagine my irritation when my husband emerged after a few minutes empty handed. Seems the computer guy inadvertently erased something and it was going to take another 30-minutes or so to reload. Well finally at 5:30 my computer was back home where it belongs. Do I ever miss it when I don't have it!!!

On to the toddler beds. Oy! Oy! Oy! It is a challenge, to say the least. Alexis and Morgan were in crib tents but after well over a year they were falling apart. Alexis' seams were ripped out at the zipper, Morgan had a big hole in the sides of hers (dang destructive kids!) and Kamryn was starting to climb out of her un-tented crib. I could either invest another $240.00 for 3 new crib tents or move to the toddler beds I already had. We opted for choice B. Now if I could only get it through their stubborn heads that the beds are for sleeping, not party time. I have found if I camp out in there with them for a few minutes it puts an end to the foolishness. I am hoping that this end soon and nap and bedtimes will return to normal. What is normal with two year old triplets anyway?

I am ready for December to be over! It's been crazy so far and it's just 1/2 way through. Tomorrow I am taking Kori and 4 school friends to Libby Lu for a makeover birthday party. I ordered decorated sugar cookies instead of cake/cupcakes and after the party we're going to Applebee's for lunch. My sister volunteered to help me chaperone. I am hoping it goes smoothly and the girls have fun.

Tomorrow evening I will begin priming Kori's red wall in her room. Sunday I am painting it a nice sunny yellow. She requested a room re-do for her birthday so we obliged her. I just finished painting the playroom a month or so ago and now I'm starting to repaint rooms I've already done. Oh joy!

This week is Kori's birthday, treats for class, birthday dinner and cake, her 7-year well child checkup, family in from out of town for the weekend. **Sigh**

Is December over yet???

Allow Me To Embarass Myself

I'm going to embarass myself here. I am doing it for you all. I know you will enjoy it, so I am taking one for the proverbial team if you will.

I take Kori to school in the mornings. Someday maybe she'll ride the bus, but for now I take her. It is not uncommon for me to do so in my pajamas. I don't wear skimpy nighties or anything like that. Mostly pajamas. You know cute pants with kitties or polar bears, stars or moons, things like that. (I know, I know, I'm lucky I have kids at all huh?) They have matching shirts that look like t-shirts. My favorite is the one that goes with the pants that have penguins and igloos on them and the shirt says "Your Igloo Or Mine". Where was I? Oh right, taking Kori to school. (Sometimes I suffer from a mild form of adult A.D.D. I believe). If the weather is nice I don't mind throwing on shorts or what have you to go. It's when the weather is cold that I hate taking off my warm thermal or flannel jammies. It just seems so unfair! Kori has made a few comments, mostly in the beginning of winter last year.

Add to this the fact that I almost always wear flip flops. Even in the winter. I keep the heat on my feet so it's all good. Well today I wore my gown. I don't often wear gowns but this one is particularly warm. It comes to my ankles and is super cozy and comfy. I threw on my gray sweat shirt jacket thing (Jason LOVES this jacket...NOT!) and my trusty flip flops and off I went. Well I tried. Kori gave me the up and down look a few times before saying, "Wow I am so glad you don't get out of the car in the mornings". Like I ever would. I'd die from embarssment for sure!

On the way to school I had her convinced that I was going to jump out and scream "Good by Kori, mommy loves you so much!" She was MORTIFIED! It was funny to see. As we pulled the line to drop her off at the door I said okay are you ready and I opened my door. Her face was classic. It was worth it! She told her father this evening, "You should have seen the get-up mom had on this morning when she took me to school, yikes!" Maybe that bus riding thing will be coming sooner rather than later!

Another embarssing moment, but just a glimpse of how my life can go. It was one of "those" days today. Just not good. But hey they happen huh? Well anyway I retreated to the bathroom today (don't worry I'm sparing any gory details). It was sooooo nice and quiet I thought about staying for an hour or two but knew I would surely be missed. Not 45-seconds after I got there, I hear clumping up the stairs to our bedroom/bathroom area. Kori you ask? Nope! The littles? Wrong again! My husband. Who decided at this very moment he had the most important thing in the world to try and tell me through the bathroom door (I turned on the little exhaust fan thing to drown out the kids screaming and fussing downstairs -- it was ruining my quiet time). So I turn off the fan to hear what just couldn't wait. Wanna know what it was? Sure you do! Someone at his work was selling Girl Scout Cookies and did I want any. Really? Really? THIS is what was so earth shattering that you had to pick THIS moment to come and share with me. We had been sitting in the same room for a couple hours without so much as a mention about it. I opened the door (flung it open would be more accurate if your splitting hairs) and told him I'd LOVE to give him my order for cookies...as soon as I was done! I know where my kids get it now. I know why my dad tried to intercept us before we could interrup my mom's "toilet quiet time" as kids. I totally getit now. I appreciate it now!

Tomorrow is a new day...tomorrow is a new day...

For Christmas I'd Like...

My children to be equipped with MUTE buttons. **Sigh** For so many years I longed to be called mother. These days I'd like to hire a hypnotist to deprogram them from saying mom, mommy, mother (thanks Kori), ma, madre, mami and any other derivitives I've failed to mention. Morgan likes to say it just to say it. Today while I was cooking dinner she kept coming in and saying "Mommy" and then she'd run off. She did this about 25-30 times. She was way more amused than I was.

Kori used my favorite version "muuu-ther" (said in a VERY exasperated manner)on several occasions today. I'm sure it was during the several times I was also "ruining her life". **Sigh**

Kamryn had a 30-minute scream fest (really it was SCREAMING) over things she didn't want to watch on TV. First it was the Tinkerbell movie that Disney was playing. So I flipped it to Dora the Explorer, that is a favorite. Uh nope, not today. Great, further channel surfing revealed Wow, Wow Wubzy! (not a favorite of mine) and apparently not a favorite of hers today either. Nothing I found would silence the screaming. I eventually put her in her crib and closed the door. My head couldn't take it. After returned from Crazy Land where she thankfully bought a round trip ticket she enjoyed her lunch and took a nap.

Alexis was good today. Until around 8:00 when she decided it would be fun to get really mad and scream (she has a set of lungs!) in the playroom. It just kept bouncing off those 4 walls. Poor Kori finally kicked her out. The thrill of it was lost as the shrill shrieking didn't bounce off the walls in the family room like they did in the play room.

Kori melted down about 8:30 when Morgan accidentally crumpled up a paper of hers. Apparently it was her pride and joy scrap of paper because she wailed and bellowed for so long I finally made her brush her teeth and go to bed.

I put the littles down around 9:00 and then waited for the jumping, singing, talking, dancing, giggling, shrieking, etc. to die down and for peace to envelope my home.

I celebrated with some ice cream. Super Cookie Dough Chunk or something with crushed Xanax and whipped cream as a topping (we were out of Chocolate Vodka Crunch dang it!). I'm kidding, about the Xanax that is, not about the ice cream. I did enjoy some ice cream. Alone. In the living room. Where it was Q-U-I-E-T!

The movie theaters are right...Silence is golden!

Thanksgiving, Pictures and Santa

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! My sister and her family did not fair as well. Mallory spiked a very high fever and after a trip to the ER in Iowa it was believed she had Sixth Disease so they came home without spending any time with the family they intended to. They had dinner, via Hyvee, in the car on the way back to KC. How sad is that? At any rate Mallory is feeling better and that's most important.

With help from my mom I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for 12 at my home. It was nice. The food was yummy! What more can you ask for!

Friday we went for pictures. Mostly for Kori's 7-year birthday pictures (seven already!) but I figured we'd throw the little girls in there too. They day was off to a great start. Morgan and Alexis were unusually quiet and clingy. I worried they were getting sick. I gave them juice for breakfast, just in case. Milk coming back up is never good. They perked up after some breakfast which was great! Got everyone dressed and such. They looked great, all 4 girls. Everyone cooperated with hair fixing, except Alexis. Nothing in the world was going to convince her to have ponytails in her hair like her sisters. I choose not to make an issue over something silly like that so she won that round. As we were getting ready to leave she threw up. It isn't your normal throw-up (probably TMI here I'm sorry). It was mucousy and just something she couldn't process so it came out. Nothing on the clothes which was good. We cleaned up and were on our way after she proclaimed, "I feel better!" My nephew was staying with us so we had an extra pair of hands, which is alwasy good. Jason grumbled as we were trying to find a place to park. He wondered why "anyone would take pictures on the day after Thanksgiving". I pointed out we've done it for the last 3 years. We finally made our way in and got taken right back. Jason had to run back home to get my who gets what picture list (I can't function without it). Kori did her pictures and did GREAT! No surprise there! Add in the little girls and there wasn't a smile in the house, except for Kori. We muddled through, picked the best shot of the 4 of them (NONE of them were great). Seriously not a smile from any of the little girls. At any rate the pictures were done thank goodness.

After pictures we headed off to the mall to see Santa. It's the same Santa Kori has seen every year. He's great! The girls walked right up there and plopped up there for the picture. Not huge smiles but no one was screaming or freaking out so that's good.

Today was my niece Mallory's 3rd birthday. Man that went by fast! We went to their house for pizza and cake and ice cream. Her party was supposed to be Saturday but with the illness it was canceled. My brother-in-law's grandmother is in the final stage of her battle with lung cancer so he was in Iowa visiting her for probably the last time. It's very sad as she is a super lady. That being said she has lived a very happy and wonderful life! Many prayers for the whole family. The "party" was nice, just my girls and I and my parents but we made the best of it. Mallory had a great time and that's all that matters! We wouldn't have missed it!

So now it's a new week. Back to school. Back to routines. Back to life. Ugh.

Here's our santa picture...enjoy!

More Volunteer Work

Tomorrow (well today since it's 1:45 a.m.)is Grandparent's Day at Kori's school. I will be working there in some capacity all day tomorrow. Jason is minding the herd, uh I mean keeping the girls. It should be fun. I am prepared. I am taking some kleenex and also some hand sanitizer. I'm winging it on the rest...wish me luck!

Color Funny

I was sitting at the kitchen table Saturday night making up one of my countless lists for this week so I can attempt to stay a wee bit sane with all I have to do. At any rate Kori came with her crayons and coloring book to join me. She was chatting and such and having a grand ol' time. She then proclaimed, "Mommy I think this is one of my favorite colors now". I asked her which one and she said "Muleberry". Huh? I had her spell it, well it turns out muleberry is actually mulberry. It made me giggle. Once I explained it to her she chuckled too. Hey she's only six. I told her she was in good company because her aunt LOVES the color M-A-G-N-E-T-A. You know the one, only for the rest of us it's M-A-G-E-N-T-A.

It's Baaaaaaaaack!

The fussing, the fighting, the bickering, the grumping, the sassing, the tattle tailing...CALGON TAKE ME AWAY!!!!!! And this was all after Kori joined the mix after school. The littles were pretty good today, but by evening, all four of them were beasts!

Tomorrow will be better, tomorrow will be better, tomorrow will be better! Where the heck is my ice cream??? (Kidding!)

Volunteering

Today I was a volunteer at Kori's school for their book-fair. I got there and there were a few of us working. After a few minutes the PTA stand-in President informed me that after 11am I would be flying solo. Huh? What? Oh man! All in all it worked out fine. I got to eat lunch with Kori so that was cool. It wasn't cool that they changed the menu at the last minute. It was supposed to be their Thanksgiving lunch but they decided they should move that to next Tuesday in honor of Grandparent's Day. Great! People will have turkey on Tuesday and then again Thursday, while I on the other hand was forced to choose between the hot dog or the shrimp poppers. Both great choices huh? I chose the hot dog and also got corn and fruit cocktail. At the time they were out of fries and I didn't have time to wait, and it didn't sound too appetizing either. A little butter and salt and pepper on the corn would have been nice, but maybe that's just me being spoiled and over critical. Elementary school kids probably don't notice and/or care.

During lunch Kori got to pick a classmate to eat with us. She picked a girl I will call "E". "E" has a slight speech impediment (not poking fun as I had a severe lisp until around the 2nd grade, not to mention both a brother and sister who suffered in the "Speaks Clearly" category -- sowwy Wabecka. :-) ) Any way she calls Kori "Tori". Kori told me a couple of the boys make fun of her so we discussed how everyones different and that's okay. "E" was eating and unbeknownst to her was completely GROSSING me out!!! She had enough ketchup on her hot dog to supply a small restaurant for a while. She proclaimed to me "I just looooooove ketchup!" Really? I hadn't noticed, it's dripping off your hot dog. Then there was the eating the corn (not on the cob) with her fingers. Swiping her finger through the ketchup lake and licking it off, amongst other things. I was doing okay with it, my palms were a bit sweaty, but I kept reminding myself "their only 6, their only 6, their only 6" over and over. Finally it was time to go. But not before I pointed out she had a big glob of ketchup on the front of her shirt toward the bottom and also on the sleeve. At this point she licked her sleeve, pulled her shirt up to her mouth and sucked off the glob of ketchup before proclaiming, "No problem, all taken care of!" At this point I think I threw up just a bit in my mouth before declaring "Time to go, I'll walk you guys back!" In my head I had to remind myself to quit thinking about the germs that were clinging on to the ketchup for dear life. My stomach was already churning...no need to make things worse.

After a stop in the bathroom where I thoroughly washed my hands and took a minute to catch my breath, I returned for the rest of my volunteering shift. I was greeted with a cute little guy with a book and the money to purchase it. I told him his total and then about passed out when he took the money from his baggie, wiped his nose with his hand (same hand holding the money) and then gave it to me. Oh goody! Where is my hand sanitizer!?!?!?!?! It reminded me of the days when I was a clerk at the police station and we would get bond money from people bailing out their family, friends etc. Sometimes the money came from purses and wallets, often it came from bras, pants, shoes etc. There were crinkled bills, ripped bills and my personal favorite, wet ones. Those trips to detention were followed up with LOTS of hand washing. I believe this is where my germ issues started to manifest.

Anyway time went by quickly and I managed to not screw anything up! Bonus! I chipped in extra change of my own here and there because I just hate to tell the kiddos they are short money, especially a little bit of change and can't get their book(s). So I went with about $4.00 and came home with about 30 cents. Oh well, it made someone smile I'm sure.

Jason kept the little girls and did a great job! Thanks daddy, you rock!

Next week...voluteering for Grand Parent's Day! Bring it, I'm ready!

POOPAPALOOZA!

Holy cow! I changed 8, that's right, 8 poopie diapers today! (Have I ever mentioned how glamorous my life is???) My hands are raw and cracked (well moreso than usual) from all the hand washing. Yuck X 3!

I was glad that all had handled their business before nap time. They typically use a nice poopie to stall the nap process. I thought we could get down to the business at hand a just go to sleep.

Nope they all had to do it again. And again, and again. Oh my stars, I've seen enough dirty diapers to last me for quite a while.

I get to work at Kori's school tomorrow at thier book fair. I have warned daddy since he'll be in charge. That could be interesting.

So this has shoved me further over to the "potty training darkside". We'll begin in earnest next month. They will be 2 1/2...no time like the present.

I Think...

I scared them! They have been acting SOOOOOOO much better! Saturday was just downright blissful! Kori played in the living room with her Barbies ALL day and was perfectly content. She didn't yell when any of the little girls walked withing 50-feet of her, which usually would set her off about them "messing up her stuff". It was great! It was cold and windy and yucky out so we stayed in (well I ventured to the store later in the evening but everyone else stayed in). I even managed to doze on the couch for 20 minutes or so (I had an AWFUL headache) while the girls were in their cribs for what should have been nap time. Alexis napped the other two, not so much. Oh well, at least they were in good moods at any rate.

Jason threw the littles in the tub Saturday evening when I went to the store. I soooo appreciated that! After the girls went to bed Kori proceeded to beat me 2-1 at the game TROUBLE. Dang! Oh well, it made her happy and we had fun, that's all that matters right? To heck with my wounded pride!

Today was another relaxing day. Our VCR in the playroom ate our Beauty and the Beast tape...that sucked! Jason played basketball this morning after work so he slept a bit later than usual. Kori did more Barbie playing etc. and I took the girls to the drive-thru for some McD's for lunch. It was easy and I didn't have to think of what to fix. Everyone deserves a break every now and then!

I spent the evening after the girls went to bed going through old pictures. They sure do bring back lots of good memories. I had a lot of uh, different looks. None of them particularly good, but oh well. So many of my sister Margaret. Made me miss her that much more! Life is so unfair sometimes.

At any rate, the house is quiet. Jason is working his last night and I am off for some more reading.

Another busy week this week! Calgon take me awaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Survivor

Nope, not the television show (although I do enjoy it when I get the chance to catch 5 uninterruped minutes of it), me. This week, that describes me. After surviving the past two days, I celebrated tonight by eating some Rocky Road ice cream straight up. Yep that's right. Right out of the container. Just me, my spoon and some Rocky Road love. (It's okay no germ contamination I'm the only one in the house who likes it)

My 2-year olds are refusing naps or falling asleep 20-minutes before nap time is over and the either way they are grumpy from around 6pm on. Do they give up at bedtime and just go to sleep? No way! That would be way too easy! We must stall, giggle, cry, scream, jump, dance, talk, you name it, they do it. **Sigh**

My 6-year old is sassy, surly, lazy, grumpy etc. etc. etc. Today I found the boots she wore to school yesterday shoved under her bed. Upon questioning her about how they got there and not in her closet where they happen to belong she replied: "Oh yeah, they must have fell under there." Uh excuse me? Are you trying to convince me that your boots "fell" under your bed??? I don't think so. You can package it however you want sister but I'm not buying it! Perhaps they were sucked under there by the Crap Monster that was inhabiting under there before I made her clean it out. Oh my goodness that room was a M-E-S-S! While she protested the cleaning and once again reorganization, afterward she proclaimed, "Your right mom, it does look much better this way then when it's all junked up!" She then thought I was nuts as I raced to the kitchen for a pen and paper to record this date in history where someone in this house proclaimed me to be right about something! I'm quite certain it won't happen again, so I thought I'd better record it so I'd never forget. Also I don't want her to be able to deny it in her teen years (if she lives that long -- totally kidding!) when she tells me everything I am wrong about.

My husband, oh lord don't get me started. Today was one of those days where I wanted to help him get his stuff ready and get him out the door as soon as possible. I thought about calling from my cell phone from outside and pretending to be a high ranking police official and act like there was an extreme emergency that he was being called in early for. **Sigh** He grumbled about EVERYTHING! The economy, politics, the weather, work, his boss, work, news anchors, work, taxes, work, you get the idea right?

By the time the house was quiet for the evening I wanted to stitch my bloody ears closed and retreat to a dark corner of the house. Instead here I am, to retell it all for you. Hey, no reason I should suffer alone right???

So I am hoping after the last couple of days that tomorrow will be better! It HAS to be better! It just has to! God are you listening...it must be better! There isn't enough Rocky Road ice cream (topped off with a touch of Cool Whip from a can) to make it better for too much longer.

Off to read some more of book #2 from the Twilight series...soooooo good!

Apologizing

For my absence. I was gently reminded that my blog was not so up-to-date. It has been a typical normal crazy week or so around here. By the time I am done for the evening it's late and I'm pooped. Not to mention those darn Twilight books are taking up some of my time. Reconnecting with old friends on Facebook. Chasing 4 kids. Keeping up laundry/housework/cooking. No wonder I lose track of weeks at a time.

Monday was Jason's 38th birthday! He requested manicotti for dinner, and I obliged. We had fruit pizza for dessert and kept things low key. Birthdays lose a little luster the older you get.

Tuesday my sister made me go to see the New Kids On The Block. That's right you heard me right. NKOTB! It was like going back in time. Lots of eye makeup, leg warmers, side pony tails, crimped hair. It was a bit surreal. I survived, it wasn't too awful and I will post pictures soon.

So once again, I will try and keep things rolling along and not stalled. Thanks Liz! :-)

Allow Me...

To entertain you. Let me tell you a couple of the reasons why on many days I feel more than a bit crazy:

My little's are on some sort of self-imposed nap strike. I did not okay this! I was not consulted about this. It is not okay with me in the very least! Nap time = mom gets a bit of sanity back. At any rate, whether they choose to sleep or not is up to them. They go in their cribs, where they remain until what should have been a good nap (no less than 1 1/2 hours) is up. At that time if they aren't asleep then they are released for their cells, uh I mean cribs. Of course that's what I meant. :-)

I have a very small laundry room. Far to small for six people. At any rate, I must make the best of my closet that holds my washer and dryer. There are some shelves and a rod that I hang up all my stuff on. On occasion I set a basket of folded clothes on Kori's vanity. That was the case one day last week. The basket was blocking the sink. I sent Kori to brush her teeth as it was bedtime. I noticed afterwards that the basket was still there. I asked her if she moved it and got a firm "Nope". Okay, how did you rinse etc I asked? I got, as a reply, in her best "duh mom" voice, "I squeezed my hand around and filled up my cup with water I spit it in the toilet". Okay, no problem I thought. I then had to go one step further. Did you rinse your brush and put it away? "Yep (same duh mom voice)I rinsed it in the toilet and it's on my shelf". WHAT????? I replied, "Oh Kori you didn't?" She assured me that she did. Thank goodness it wasn't her new toothbrush from the dentist she'd just got. No it was her nice battery operated Hello Kitty one. It promptly went into the trash, with some protesting from her. I promised we'd get a new one, but that one was now out of commission. YUCK! YUCK! YUCK! The germaphobe in me kicked into high gear. Sweaty palms, queasy stomach...blach!

Those are only a couple examples. I should keep a running total. It wouldn't be pretty, but you would all understand why I am so insane.

Mixed Emotions

While I am not glad that my candidate lost, I am glad that I don't have to see/hear anymore political ads. I don't have to hear anybody approving any messages. Well until the next election anyway.

Whether you are Democrat or Republican, you can't help but realize what a hisorical election this was.

I am a bit scared for our country, but will put my prayers in God's hands that he will lead our country out of this mess we are in.

I did watch some of Barack's speech last night. I found it sweet when he mentioned his love for his children and how they earned the new puppy that would be going along with them to the White House. That was sweet and cute.

I didn't need to see Oprah's big face so many times. That woman rubs me the wrong way as of late.

At any rate, it's over and I am glad.

I celebrated our defeat by cleaning the master bedroom and bathroom last night. Nothing says defeat like scrubbing away some soap scum and ridding the house of some dust bunnies.

I will post more later because I have pictures from Halloween, which was GREAT! And also pictures from our trip to the zoo on Saturday so please stay tuned.

Keeping It Short...

I am sorting through mounds and mounds of toys because we finally got the painting (by we I mean I) done in the kiddos new play room. Now I'm in charge of sorting and placing the toys in a neat and orderly fashion in the new room. Yay me!

However, I wanted to share something. As you all know my sister is expecting again. Well apparently my aunt total will go up from 11 to 13. My sister found out today that she is expecting TWINS!!!!

As a MOM I am getting a good chuckle out of it all. Seeing the shocked/dazed look on her face. Hearing the disbelief in her voice. Been there, done that, with one additional. All will be fine and in June we will welcome two new babies to the family!

That being said...so glad it is them and not Jason and I!

Extended Hours

If I could have more hours in my day I could get so much more done! Well Fall is definitely here. It feels a little winter-ish too. It's very chilly and rainy. It's quite cozy if I do say so myself.

Glad we got our pumpkin patching in last weekend. We ended up at one close to my nephew so I called and invited him to come along. He's a trooper and he came and we had fun. Kamryn started fevering afterwards while on the drive to a restaurant for dinner. After a couple of hours she snapped out of it and was totally fine from them on. Weird! At any rate, we got pumpkins and some apples and had a great time. It was a gorgeous day!

It's been one of "those weeks" around here this week. Jason went back to work Sunday night. Monday he had court then off-duty, then on to training. The girls and I decided to take advantage of the semi-pleasant weather before the cooler temps and rain moved in so we went to Cody's high school foot ball game. It was close to Kori's school so it was super convenient. It was a good time and they won 22-0! Then Tuesday we had parent/teacher conferences. I chuckled getting ready for it. It's always like I'm playing dress up and pretending to go. I sometimes fail to remember that I am somebodys MOTHER! Scary for me to, trust me. :-) I made a bit batch of chili and a home made Swedish apple pie (thanks Liz, Jason has dubbed it "the only apple pie I will ever eat for the rest of my life" -- guess that means he likes it)before we went. My parents came up to watch the little girls so both Jason and I could go so I figured some dinner for them would be a nice way to say thanks! Kori got a glowing report and is doing great! We are so proud of her. She also got a fantastic grade cards. Awesome!

Today Jason had off-duty before work, then work. Tomorrow is a half day for Kori and they girls all go for flu shots later in the afternoon. In the evening Jason has off-duty. Thankfully he's off and won't go into work tomorrow night. He has off-duty Friday during the day and then nothing for the rest of the weekend thank goodness. I need time to regroup. My girls have deciding that napping is not for them. Why you ask? That is the million dollar question. I still put them in there every day but it usually just turns into a fun-fest. Whatever, they stay in there for a while and "rest" while I regroup and prepare for the 2nd part of my day. I also made about 4 dozen chocolate chip cooks to take to school tomorrow for the staff/teacher appreciation luncheon that the PTA is putting on.

I am hoping that this weekend I can get the playroom painted. It's a mess now and I'm tired of the mess. I've been waiting for a day or two when Jason is available to handle the girls. It's a bit tough to paint with three 2-year olds running wild.

As I said Kori is doing great. The little girls are great too. Feisty and busy and silly but great. Morgan is currently cutting three new teeth on the bottom. I know she's 2 1/2 but she only has 9-teeth. She's so pokey in the teething department. Kamryn is still talking up a blue streak. She is so funny! Still dramatic at times but funny too. Alexis, still so small and mighty! I swear that kid will never grow! Both her and Morgan are doing their best to compete with Kamryn in the talking department. Some of the things they come up with totally crack me up! To hear them talking during nap or bedtime can be a complete riot!

Well that about sums things up around here. I need to be better on keeping my posts up to date. I know I forget some stuff I usually try and remember to post. The ol' memory ain't what she used to be!

And now a few pictures...

Huh?

Did the stars align perfectly last night or what???? The little girls awoke happy and ready to go this morning. Jason had off-duty so they had to tag along on the ride to take Kori to school.

After breakfast I started doing some housework. I've done a great job keeping things picked up and de-cluttered this week so it was pretty easy work. I thought I'd do a little here and there and then try and tackle more at nap time. I was able to get the main floor done before nap time, as well as do 3 loads of laundry.

The girls played together so nice, well except for Alexis hitting Kamryn in the face with a Barbie that resulted in a small scratch and some hurt feelings. That was quickly behind us and the free love and fun playing continued.

After lunch I put the girls down. After 3 minutes it was VERY quiet in there. Literally 3 minutes so I thought I should investigate. What did I find you ask??? THREE SLEEPING CHILDREN!!!! Huh? Seriously? NO WAY!! I called my loved ones and informed them I was running away from home because surely the apocolypse was coming and things after nap time would NOT be good. I thought I should get while the getting was good. I was kidding of course but an easy nap is a rarity. Heck some days a nap is a rarity. They slept until Jason woke them up...at 3:40!!! WHAT? We haven't slept that long in ages. I am hoping they aren't coming down with something that would stink!

So anyway the rest of the evening went well. We even added one to the brood as I kept my niece Mallory for a bit for my sister. No major melt downs etc., easy bed time. Hmmmmm, I'm suspicious.

So it was a GREAT day! I needed one of those, that is for sure. My house is spotless. My laundry is 3/4 done and I can enjoy the rest of my weekend. Life is good!

Pumpkin Cake

After the little girls went to bed, I decided Kori and I were gonna do a little project, just the two of us.

It turned out pretty good, considering this isn't "my thing".

Most important we did it together and we had fun. Oh yeah, it was yummy too!

Saturday at Sam's

On Saturday I went for my flu shot. Jason worked the night before and was sleeping so of course i had to take the girls with me. Thankfully the girls were cooperative and we were in and out in a flash.

On to Sam's Club. Not exactly how I wanted to spend the early afternoon part of my Saturday, but we were in desperate need of diapers so we really didn't have any choice in the matter. Kori assured me that she would be a help to me, and not antagonize or anger her sisters in any way. (She was true to her word by the way!)

We made it in without incident, which is always good. I chuckled as we passed the electronic section. There were several big screen TV's set up with various shows playing on them. In front of each of the ones set up in the middle (there were five or so) there was a man standing in front of it, eyes wide, mouth gaping, completely entranced. That made me giggle quietly on the inside. Men, they're all alike.

So we were making quick work of our list. Of course once we got our diapers and headed to the food area things slowed down a bit. The sample ladies were out in what seemed like every aisle. These ladies bring out the absolute WORST in everyone. People act like it's an all you can eat buffet instead of a way for you to sample things to see if you like them, and perhaps might even like to buy the sampled product. It's not an after breakfast or before lunch snack, it's certainly not lunch or dinner. No need to hoard around the poor ladies as they hand out their wares.

The germaphobe in me will not allow me to sample the wares. I don't like to think about who might have slobbered, snotted, touched, breathed on, etc. on the peddled items so I pass. Kori will occasionally see something she likes and she tries it.

We muddled through and were making our way towards the last part of the grocery section. The light at the end of the tunnel was getting brighter! Oh no! There's a nice lady giving out samples of pizza. I watched one guy (as I was bogged down in traffic) get a sample. We walked around the corner, comes back with one of his sons and says, "Look buddy pizza!", as he takes another piece. Around the corner he goes, returning with another kiddo of his (I assume, unless strangers were willing to loan out their kids so that this man could scam some free pizza samples). I chuckled as I watched. This time he says, "Oooooh look (insert kiddos name here) pizza! Do you want to try some?" So they both take some and off the go. Thankfully he was out of kids, and perhaps loaners so his pizza consumption was coming to an end. Too bad for him, good news for anyone else who might want some. I can't believe this grown man thought he was actually fooling anyone. Well, the sample peddler was rather advanced in age (mid 80's I believe) so maybe she didn't notice. But myself, as well as a few others who were bogged down in traffic with me, sure did.

Long story short, we finally made it out. No one cried, screamed, broke anything, needed diaper changes, created unwanted attention etc. so it was all good. We celebrated by getting gas for a mere $2.70 a gallon and taking the car through the car wash.

I am amazed sometimes by the amount of excitment my life is brimming with.

I HATE Mondays!

My sister passed away on a Monday. From that day on I have always despised Mondays. They were never my favorite day, but that only increased my dislike for it.

Seems bad news always rears it's ugly head on Monday's, today was no different.

As I checked my email this morning, I read the daily newsletter from work (well where I used to work and where Jason works now) at any rate, I was completely shocked to read that one of the officers, one of my all time favorites, is battling lung cancer that has spread to his brain. Oh man! My mouth fell open and the tears just started flowing. It just isn't fair. Life isn't fair, I know that, but man. I'm at a loss to sum up my feelings. So stunned, sad, bitter. I regress, life isn't fair.

After getting that news, I called my mom to check on her and my dad. My mom hasn't been feeling well the last couple of days and my dad was having a not so great day yesterday either so I thought I'd better check in. I no sooner got out "hello" to my mom when in between her tears, she relayed that her very best friend Dorothy had passed away.

My mom and Dorothy have been friends since the 3rd grade. They've stayed in touch over the years, even though Dorothy and her family relocated to Texas. They had many, many, many late night phone conversations, as that was when they preferred to chat. Late at night, when both their houses were quiet and the chances of getting interrupted were decreased.

Dorothy suffered a massive stroke a couple of weeks ago. Things were looking better until a few days ago. Apparently the blood thinner she was on was causing internal bleeding, once they stopped those to stop the bleeding, she had two more strokes and her organs began to shut down. Dorothy was grieving the loss of her husband two years ago and longed to go and be with him. For that, I am thankful she got her wish. I am sad my mom has lost such a good friend, and on a Monday no less.

Dang, I hate Mondays.

Butt Kicking!

Mine,by my kids yesterday. Man they were ROUGH on me! It was definitely one of "those" days. My friend Liz called and I can't imagine what she must have thought as Kamryn kept screaming "come back downstairs" over and over and over and over...you get the idea. She was put in her crib twice until she could calm down but it wasn't overly effective.

Not to mention I was TRYING to finish my housework. That wasn't going well either. On a good note, the girls took a nice nap with little or no protest.

After naps we had to go and get Kori from school. In the car they fought over listening to the Nursery Rhyme CD or the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus CD. Two were for one choice and one for the other. It was EXHAUSTING! They finally compromised and listened to a little of both. There were a couple minutes of peace and quiet then.

After getting home (I was seriously watching the clock, ready for daddy to get home from off-duty!) since I was cleaning the kitchen and can supervise the kiddos while they play on the deck, I sent them out there. Not 2 seconds after releasing the animals, they were fighting and pushing and pulling. Our poor neighbor guy was out on the patio drinking a cold one with a buddy, key word there being WAS. They stuck it out for a bit but then retreated to the calm and serenity of our neighbors childless home. I seriously couldn't blame them. Thankfully B is a nice neighbor and really likes the girls. He's just young and childless.

Everyone was extremely loud yesterday. Kori said everything LOUD as did the girls. There was singing, screaming, laughing, fighting, shrieking, you name it, it was all loud. By dinner I was about to curl up under the table in the fetal position, all while sucking my thumb. My husband told me "Wow, one of those days huh? I haven't even been home and hour and I already have a headache?" Amen brother, amen!!!!!

At any rate, the evening finally came to a close and I was so happy to see bedtime approaching.

My work was finally finished, the house looks and smells great and today is a new day!!!

Kori gets out of school early today and I think we're going to head out for a little winter clothes/coat shopping. Hopefully everyone will be on their best behavior, otherwise the fetal postion with thumb sucking won't be such a bad idea today either!!!!

Things To Make You Go Hmmmm...

Why is it my kiddos will jump, squeal, giggle, play, laugh, yell, etc. when put down for a nap, and then fall asleep 10-minutes before nap time is over?

Why are they grouchy with ME when this happens? It's not my fault, I put them down so that they could have had a two-hour nap, but the frolicking interrupted the sleeping. Yesterday I got to drag Alexis kicking and screaming to the car to go and pick up Kori from school as she was NOT happy that her 20-minute nap was over. Once again, NOT MY PROBLEM!

Why do my kids point out when they have poopied, etc. but then run from me when I go to change them???

Why must Morgan wake up at 2, 3, or 4 am (it's been varying over the last couple of weeks) and yell for no reason? Why must she wake up everyone else?

Why does Kori yell when she says anything, but when I say, it's time for a bath, pick up your toys, get ready for bed etc., I get "stop yelling at me", when I never even raised my voice???



Just a few things to ponder. Kids can be so puzzling at times.

On a good note we went to Olive Garden for dinner last night (thanks for the idea Jason I needed a break from cooking!). During the meal I noticed an older lady a couple of tables over who kept staring the whole meal. I figured maybe she wasn't a fan of kids and she was worried we would interrupt the calm and quiet meal she was trying to have. Well after she finished she came up to tell me that Jason and I had the most beautiful and well behaved family she'd seen in a LONG time. Man, that felt good! My girls do great in restaurants. We only had one "not so great" experience where two of the three wanted to be held the whole meal instead of sitting in their high chairs so that's not bad. It's nice that others notice and don't mind sharing. Sure beats the other comments we get, "Oh man, triple the trouble!", "You got your hands full", "TRIPLETS????", "Did you have them vaginally?" (yes someone has said that to me before!), "Did you breastfeed ALL of them?". So it was a nice break for someone to just be "normal".

I celebrated by ordering a piece of the pumpkin cheesecake, to go. Kori and I shared it later. Yummy!

I am here!!!

Please accept my apologies for my absence. Life as usual is crazy!!!! I was out of town this past weekend to Chicago! It was a great trip! I met up with a bunch of wonderful ladies and had an awesome time. Jason stayed home and manned the ship here, taking awesome care of the girls! It was nice to only be responsible for myself for a couple of days. I've never traveled without my hubby and only once away from Kori and that was in 2004 when Jason and I went to Vegas with my sister and brother-in-law. I've never been away from the little girls. It was hard at first to think about it. I had some severe mommy guilt, but I am so glad I did it. My sister traveled with me and she had fun as well.

The ladies I met with are people I have befriended on an on-line parenting forum. There were seven of us total. It was hard to believe we hadn't met in person previously because things seemed to "normal" and relaxed. Of the five other ladies that went, four of them have twins. It's always nice to meet up with other multiple mommas. We came from all over the U.S. and we had a blast! Thanks for a great time!

I will try and upload some pictures tomorrow.

Jason was a witness in the "Precious Doe" trial today. For those that don't know in April of 2001 the headless body of a 3-year old girl was found by my husband in the area where he worked at the time as a patrol officer. After about 4-years she was finally identified and her killers were located and charged. Seven years later her step-father is on trial for her murder. My husband has worked hard to supress those horrible memories from 7-years ago but they were all brought up to the surface again today. I am hopeful that the jury convicts this monster and some sort of justice, although it will never be enough, will be rendered for this beautiful little girl who touched my husbands life to much. After getting home this afternoon from the trial he hugged our girls extra tight. Hard to think that he sees the worst of the worst, is treated not so great by the community and even at times by his own department, and yet still does the job with as much heart and commitment as had 13-years ago. I am so proud of him, I hope that shows.

On a little happier note, my sister called to inform me last night that her and my brother-in-law will welcome a new addition to their family in June of 2009. My sister is pregnant with their 2nd child. So 12th time I will become an aunt. I'm starting to feel old! Here's to a boring and uneventful pregnancy Becky! May your morning sickness be sparse and your calories many! I will remind you when you complain how badly you wanted this, hey that's my job you know! Kori is hoping for a girl, my nephew is begging for another boy. I too hope it's a girl as Cody is doing a great job being the only boy cousin even if he says he hates it. :-)

Kori is doing great in school! She is having loads of fun playing with her new American Girl doll I got for her in Chicago. They are pricey but very cute. The littles are enjoying playing with their stuffed Mickey and Minnie Mouse dolls, they go everywhere with them. It's cute to watch them tote them around. They are snuffly and coughy, I don't know if it's allergies or if they caught Kori's junk from last week. Whatever it is I hope this is the worst of it and it goes away soon.

So in a nutshell, that's about it for me. I will try and resume a more frequent posting schedule. Thanks for your patience!

Homecoming

Not for me of course, I'm far too old for that, but for my nephew Cody. He's such a great kid! I'd do just about anything for him! At any rate, Aunt Becky and I took him shopping last week for some new duds to wear and delivered them washed and ironed today, along with a corsage for his date and money for dinner with the fellas. Why did WE do this, don't ask, it's a long and not so pleasant story. At any rate, Cody looked handsome, his date adorable, and the fellas looked good too. So without futher ado, it's Cody, his date, Sarah, Zach (in black -- ha ha that rhymed!) and Jeremy in the teal vest.

Twinkle twinkle...

My girls and my niece Mallory put on an impromptu performance of "Twinkle Twinkle" tonight, complete with whisk/beater microphones. It needs no more introduction, enjoy!

Because...

He's not afraid to be "uncool" and let his silly side show. He won't be the next Eminem, but I'll keep him anyway.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

In a day and age where marriages don't always make it, I am proud to say that Jason and I have survived ten years of wedded bliss! I love him more today even than I did ten years ago! It was much warmer 10 years ago than it is today. Today is the day I would have like, low humidity, low temps. Ten years ago it was hot, humid and windy!!! Oh well, it all turned out just the same at any rate.

My wonderful husband came home with beautiful flowers today. They are gorgeous! He also brought home some donuts which I greatly appreciated as it is Friday and we've had waffles, cereal, toast, etc. so donuts were a welcome change. Lastly he brought ketchup! Most important of all the things in our house. We go through it quickly! My dad used to joke that he was just going to put a straw in it when I was growing up. Now I have 4 other ketchup lovers as well so it goes fast!

So I leave you with a picture of my anniversary "gifts". Oh and a picture of Alexis who actually wanted me to take her picture. This was her idea of what I meant when I said, "Make a pretty face!"

Happy Anniversary Jason I love you so much!!!! Here's to forty or fifty more!!!

Flowers:


Breakfast!


Liquid gold, uh I mean ketchup:


Alexis and her "pretty" face:

Happy Birthday!

To my dad! He turned 65 today! I called this morning and sang him "Happy Birthday" he probably wanted to run screaming from the phone to have his ears bandaged, but he suffered through. The littles each wished him a Happy Birthday as well, that was probalby much more enjoyable than my singing.

Jason had off-duty tonight before heading into work so it was just the girls and I. We went for a walk, played outside, had some dinner, played some toys, you know the standard. Bedtime was extended playtime too. Lots of singing, jumping, giggling, wiggling and bouncing around. **Sigh** Oh well, at nap time today they acutally just laid down and went to sleep. I guess I can't expect the planets to align twice in the same day.

New TV tonight. I 1/2 watched Survivor, I did DVR it though and will catch it later this week. I watched ER, well all but 10 minutes or so, and man was it sad. I still like that show so much. So sad it's the last season. I don't get to watch much TV uninterrupted and there's no point in DVR'ing too much because I don't have time to watch it. Jason only grumbles about me taking up too much space on the DVR with shows "you never watch".

Tomorrow is our 10-year anniversary. Wow! Ten years! That just seems impossible to me!!! Ten years of crappy shifts, intense work situations, laughs, tears, fun, sorrow, struggles, four beautiful daughters! I never could have imagined life like this ten years ago, Jason probably couldn't either.

Of course my husband is working off-duty before going in to work. So he'll sleep all day before getting up and around for that. On my anniversary I will probably spend 20-minutes with him, if that. **Sigh**

That's it for me! I am so glad tomorrow is Friday!

The Results Are In...

I survived the colonoscopy and everything is fine. I was given a clean bill of colon health and was told to have another one in 15-years! Ya hoo! No problem there! Not like I was going to schedule another one anytime soon.

The prep meds weren't bad. Other people have relayed to me the horrible stuff they had to drink before hand. Mine wasn't bad. I took 4 Dulcolax pills at 4pm. Then at 6pm I drank a 64oz. bottle of lemon-lime Gatorade that I had to mix with a 238 gram bottle of Miralax powder. That is tasteless so it was like drinking the Gatorade. Not too bad, except 64 oz. is A LOT! I got it all down though. So that chapter of my life is now closed. Thank goodness for sedation too! I was THRILLED to be able to eat again too! 32 hours without eating is a LONG time!!!!

On a funny note yesterday at dinner time I drank some chicken broth. It was part of my "clear liquid diet" and I thought it might take the edge off of being hungry and watching my family enjoy the dinner that I so thoughtfully made for them, even though I couldn't eat. Well I didn't finish it all and I had to go hide because my not-so-nice husband was taunting me as he ate his dinner so I retreated to the computer for a bit of cyber distraction. Kori brought me my cup of broth and said, "Here mommy I thought you'd like to finish your cup of chicken breath". Man was that funny! I chuckled a second before telling her the correct term was broth. Mind you, this is the same girl who a couple of weeks ago was performing "magic" tricks and during the course of her performance shouted "ABRA-CADAVER!" A magical dead body...awesome!

Prayers

We've been doing great with the trio getting settled down at bedtime for a while now so that we can actually read a bedtime story and say our prayers. Kamryn is so serious about it and it is so sweet!! I shot this video tonight and had to share.

I Should Be...

Enjoying a nice quiet lunch. Unfortunately that isn't the case, and won't be until aruond 6 or 7 tomorrow night. I am scheduled for a colonoscopy tomorrow and I am now on a liquid diet. FUN! NOT! I got to eat breakfast this morning (never my favorite meal) so I choked down some cereal and toast. (I was to avoid gravy, meat and donuts per my instructions that came via mail -- I was thinking a nice gravy filled donut topped with chopped meat sounds yummy!) At any rate I can now drink pretty much anything I want as long as it is clear. I am encouraged to drink 8oz. at least, every hour. I can have broth and jello (no red or purple please) which sounds oh so tasty! I did make myself a big bowl of orange jello (it's my fave!) to have for my "dinner" later. Oh man it's going to be rough! I have to take 4 Dulcolax pills at 4pm and then at 6pm start drinking Gatorade (64 oz) that has been mixed with 238 grams of Miralax powder. OH MY STARS! This doesn't sound fun and lucky for you I will spare you the gory details. Just know I am hungry now, I will be hungry later and I can't wait to get this over with. Any spare prayers you have would be GREATLY appreciated!

Trips...

To Iowa, to Urgent Care. It's been a busy week! Last Friday we headed off to Iowa after picking Kori up from school a bit early. We were headed up to a luncheon in honor of Jason's Grandpa Marvin that would be held on Saturday afternoon. It was a quick trip, but fun. We stayed in a hotel with a pool so Kori was thrilled to get to swim. I was still feeling yucky but was just glad to have traveled uneventfully.

Jason Grandpa Marvin was sooooo happy to see the girls again. With the exception of pictures he hasn't seen the girls since December. He proudly proclaimed to me, "the girls aren't afraid of me!" They sure weren't! Alexis played a mean game of catch with him with a balloon. It was nice to see them interact with him.

Here are a couple of pictures:

Kamryn:


Alexis & Daddy:


Kamryn:


Morgan:



Catch With Grandpa:



On Wednesday Jason was outside with the girls as they enjoyed the beautiful weather while I was chained to the stove. Oh, wait, I mean I was cooking dinner. He came in and said, "Uh, we've got a little blood here mommy". I turned to see Morgan with some blood on her hand and Jason was carrying her. I above freaked out when Jason took his very blood covered hand down and turned her around. The back of her shirt was bloody too. She fell off the back of their little ride on car and hit her head on the sidewalk, resulting in a laceration, a couple of knots and a superficial scratch. I got it cleaned up so I could see exactly what was bleeding. I decided to err on the side of caution and take her to urgent care. After an exam it was determined that there was no fracture or concussion and the laceration would be cleaned. They flushed it with a saline solution and then decided no staples would be needed. If she had been a boy they would have put 2-3 staples in, but since she's not and she will likely never shave her head, a small scar won't be a problem.

She's doing fine now and suffered no after effects from it all.

I felt her pain tonight as she bumped the wall and a picture fell off a shelf above the chair I was sitting it, striking me in the head. So I have a cut on the top of my head. Man did it hurt!!!

I have my colnocopy on Wednesday. Really NOT looking forward to that, but it is necessary. I am hoping for nothing to be discovered and to put all of this illness behind me.

On a good note on Wednesday I was given a clean bill of health by my ENT. No more visits and digging in my nose. Hooray!

So that's about it for us. Thought I'd better get to blogging before everyone gave up on me. I shall be more diligent about it now!

Alive

I am alive. After a HORRIBLE battle with Clostridum Difficile Colitis, or C-Diff, I am back. I don't know that I have ever been so sick in all my life. It is a bacterial infection of your intestines/colon. It apparently was caused due to the antibiotics that I was on for my post-op bacterial infection in my sinuses after surgery. The antibiotic killed the "good bacteria" in my system, which allowed the colitis to run rampant.

I am not one to give up, but Monday I informed Jason all his meetings/off-duty/regular work would have to be cancelled. I was in bed all day Monday, 3/4 of Tuesday,a good chunk of Wednesday after I returned from the doctor. Thursday I was certain I was not going to make it, but by evening time I was doing better.

We made it to Iowa on Friday/Saturday to celebrate Jason's grandpa Marvin's 90th birthday. Thankfully the drive up and back (4-hours each way) was uneventful and for that I'm grateful.

So I am around and will return to my "normal" life.

I will be MIA

Pardon the interruption but I will be absent due to illness. I apparently decided I should catch some awful virus. So I'm fevering, freezing, aching, and other things. I can't remember feeling worse for some time!

Praying hard Jason and he girls are spared. I will return when I am feeling better.

C-R-A-Z-Y

Do you ever have one of those days when you ask God if he's with you or against you? Man I've had SEVERAL this week! The little girls have colds and are less than pleasant. They are stubborn too. There are times I know I must say the same thing a million times. You'd think by now we'd know we don't hit when we're frustrated, jump off the ottoman onto the chair, sit on the back of our booster chairs instead of the seat when eating, take off our clothes when we're supposed to be napping/playing, and a million other no-nos. Sigh. Two year olds are tough.

I'm tired of nights and Jason is tired of nights and tired of his boss. Complaining does no good so I will spare you.

My parents are still doing poorly. My mom will be seeing and Orthopedic doctor for consult on a possible knee and/or hip replacement. My dad is still feeling poorly but doesn't have pneumonia. He did have some strange blood work come back so I took him today to have that redone. Hoping the results are better next time. I took him to run a few errands too while we were out. They are hesitant to ask for help, which is frustrating, but I have to learn to just go there and muscle my way into them letting me help.

I changed the sheets on my mom's bed today which made her feel good. It's tough to see her sad and hurting so much that she's reduced to tears on several occasions. My mom has always been TOUGH, this is really keeping her spirits down. The two of them are just a mess. Damn being an adult to ailing parents is tough.

Hugs to my sister Becky too. I won't air her business here, but just want her to know I am thinking about her. Life can be difficult sometimes and definitely not always fair.

Better go rest my voice box, lots of no, quit, don't and stops to get rested up for to be ready for tomorrow.

Love them two year olds!

BUSY!

It's been a busy weekend for us!

Friday was spent doing housework. Nothing says TGIF like stripping beds, washing blankets, dusting, vacuuming, hand mopping floors! Jason kept the kiddos entertained when he got home from off-duty so that I could get done. I started at 10am and with having to stop and go pick-up Kori (it was an early release day) and fix lunch, put littles down for naps, etc. I finally got done...at 12:20 a.m. Man I was tired!

Saturday I ran a couple of errands and then we headed off to a pool party in honor of my nephew's 16th birthday. I volunteered to get his birthday cake because I saw the bakery I use has an AWESOME one that looks like a Missouri Drivier's License. It turned out awesome and my nephew and his friends thought it was cool. Kori enjoyed swimming. The little girls enjoyed watching. The pool is big and not really set-up for little ones so we just watched from afar. It has a bleacher-type area where you can watch so they hung out there. They enjoyed watching everyone go off the diving board and kept themselves full by eating pizza and other snacks.

We headed off after that to a T-Bones game. It's similar to minor league baseball and it was a lot of fun! It was Community Heroes night so they honored military, fire, police, EMT's/Paramedics etc. Very cool opening ceremonies as well! The little girls did quite well, surprisingly. We went with my sister and niece and several people from the unit where Jason worked before his promotion. It was nice to see them again. Good to be out doing something different as well. It was "dollar night" too, which was an added bonus! The girls enjoyed the $1.00 hot dogs, 4 of them to be exact. Daddy enjoyed the $1.00 small draft beers, I didn't keep track of those. Anyway it was fun! We got home late and after baths and snacks the little girls were finally sleeping at 12:30 a.m.

We decided to just let them sleep in today and if they slept late they could just skip their nap and go to bed early. Alexis woke up at around NOON and Kamryn and Morgan at about 12:15! Wow, they were tired! So no naps for them. They are a bit grumpy and whiny and they all have runny noses. There was LOTS of sneezing going on so I am thinking (hoping!) it's allergies!

Today my sister, Kori and I headed off to Santa-Cali-Gon days! It's a huge festival that honors the merging of the Santa Fe, California and Oregon trails. It's in it's 29th year and I don't think I've missed more than a couple. There are stages for musical/dance performances, ice cream eating contests, various venders hawking their wares from salsa, to beer coozies, thermal replacement windows, healing magnetic bracelets, various craft projects and food! Mostly the food comes on sticks, that seems to be a popular way to serve it. There are corn dogs, frozen chocolate covered bananas, corn on the cob, cheesecake, pickles, alligator (yes you read that right), pork chops, chicken and shrimp. There might have been more "stick foods" but that's about all I can recall right now. There are also hot dogs, turkey legs, bar-b-que sandwiches and more! The food is really good. Definitely not good for you but good!

It's an interesting mixture of people. There are LOTS of tattoos and mullets! It's fun to just sit back and people watch while you enjoy your "stick food". There are big tents full of lots of goodies and some not-so-goodies to browse through. It gets hot in there! People step on you and bump into you. There's LOTS of B.O. (body odor) which is never good! I mean seriously, if I can smell you from several yards away, you can't tell me YOU can't smell YOURSELF! YUCK! I always put the deodorant on extra thick when I head out there. Today someone even completed farted while they were up wind from us. It was gross and my sister and I were completely disgusted. Kori thankfully didn't catch any of it. I can only imagine what would have come out of her mouth. My sister got a BIG chuckle today when she professed, "Mommy, it's hotter than hell out here." OMG!!! I politely instructed her that was no way to talk, while agreeing with her that it was quite warm, all the while kicking my sister in an attempt to get her to stop laughing. Kids!

In case your wondering the littles stayed home with Daddy. Daddy despises what he calls, "Santa-Crap-i-gon" so he's never sad to miss out.

Jason's back to work tonight and everyone else is sleeping. I think I'll head there myself.

Teeth!

Well it didn't exactly go as planned, but Kori is now missing her two bottom teeth.

She came to me earlier in the week and proclaimed, "Mommy I am growing a new tooth!" Further inspection revealed a permanent tooth coming up behind her baby tooth. We worked hard on it, wiggling and wiggling over the next few days to no avail.

So I made an appointment for her for our dentist. She went today after school. After x-rays, which revealed the roots to the baby tooth were still completely in tact, it was decided to pull it. It was also determined that the tooth next to it would be suffering the same fate, so they pulled that one too.

She did FANTASTIC! No whining or drama! I was sooooo proud of her! She did awesome and the dentist told me to get her a milk shake on the way home. (I suspect this was so the cold of the ice cream could help with the bleeding etc. She enjoyed that although with her mouth numb she didn't feel that it was running down her face.

She's sleeping soundly and we get to play "tooth fairy" here in a bit.

My baby is growing up! Sniff, sniff! So I leave you with these pictures.

A 2008 Fairytale

Once upon a time in the land of reality lived a mother. She resided in a beautiful home with her husband, her four beautiful daughters, one wonderful dog and a terrific cat!

One day the mother awoke to her screeching alarm, much to her displeasure. Rather than spread her distate for mornings on the others in her castle, she decided to put on her big girl panties and deal with it, all with a smile on her face.

The mother promptly went to awaken the oldest of the daughters so that she could begin her day as well. The mother was met with "I'm tired, I don't want to get up, blah blah blah". There might have been more but at this point the mother turned off her ears and decided to not let the oldest daughters distate for mornings ruin her day.

The mother then went to awaken the remaining 3 daughters. She was met with a round of "Good morning mommy" from the little joys and it brought a smile to her face. That smile was promptly crushed when the little not so joys at this very moment decided to start bickering over who would be released from their sleeping vessel (aka - cribs) first.

After changing and diapering all the joys the mother checked on the oldest to discover she was still not dressed. After some minor fussing, the mother put her happy face back on forging ahead with the plans for a wonderful day.

After more grumbling and grumping the eldest daughter was taken to school. After dropping her off the mother decided some yummy, warm, frosted cinnamon bites from McDonald's were in order for the young ones. 1-because they are yummy, 2-she doesn't have to worry about what to fix for breakfast. While enroute to said McD's one of the "joys" (Alexis) decided she would throw the book that she brought along for the car ride into the back cargo area of the van and then proceed to yell about it being back there. Upon arriving at their destination the mother retrieved the book because if not she was going to go slightly insane. After returning home and getting breakfast out Alexis became enraged that Morgan moved her chair ever so slightly and began to act in an unbecoming manner so she was promptly removed from the table and placed in her crib so she could calm down.

Throughout the course of the morning the mother attempted to do some laundry, make some beds, empty the dishwasher etc. around her castle. This took a long time because the young girls of the castle were fighting, pushing, pulling, biting, crying, screaming, yelling and getting into things they know they shouldn't. It seemed not many of the chores were accomplished and looking around the beautiful castle, it looked more like a land mine had exploded in a toy store.

At 1:00 the mother decided that it was DEFINITELY time for lunch, which would be promptly followed by naps!

As the mother tucked the littles into bed she heard them yelling "stop looking at me", "be quiet", "nooooooooooooooooooo", "no looky at me", "sssscccccccccrrrrreeeeeaaaaaaaammmmmmm!"

It was at this time the mother decided it was time for her lunch. While she enjoyed her bowl of fat free sherbet she dreamed it was a big bowl of vanilla ice cream with brownie chunks, caramel topping, whipped cream and nuts. LOTS of nuts, because that described her current state of mind.

The dream was interrupted by a voice over the monitor...."Mommy, I poopied".

**SIGH**

THE END

A Video!

So I just figured out how to get videos to load from my camera here. I took this a while back but it's cute and I thought I would share it. I will try and get some more up of the other 2 soon. This is Kamryn demonstrating her verbal skills. (Don't mind the dirty face!)

As some of you know, five years ago today my sister Margaret (Maggie or Mags) passed away. Born with severe congential heart defects, the tiny little one that was never supposed to live past the age of five, survived and lived life to the fullest until the age of 34. While her physical being is gone, her spiritual being is alive, and as big and full of the robust zest for life that only she had. I feel her around me and I know that she watches over us. I grieve because although I know she is in a far better place, free of pain and suffering, my world is not and will never be the same.

As a remembrance to her, allow me to tell you a bit about her.

Things she loved:

God
Sunflowers
Butterflies
Family
Soap Operas
Reading
Spinach & Artichoke Dip
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Music, ALL kinds!
Baseball
Tim McGraw
Family Get-togethers
Animals
Her pets, especially Harvey
Stylish Clothes
Shopping!
Shoes
Dancing



Things she did not like:

Bugs
Worms
Pears
Family drama
Being Sick
Being Treated Differently Than Others
Cleaning
Cooking


Those are some things just off the top of my head. I guess to sum it up, she was an amazing person. The best sister a girl could ask for. She was an incredible daughter, aunt, sister, wife and friend.

I wish I could say after 5-years the pain has lessened some, but that is definitely not the case.

I am thankful for the 30 years she was in my life, yet selfish enough for so many, many more.

Dislike

I've decided I'm beginning to dislike my ENT Doctor. He is a nice guy, has a great bedside manner and all that other good stuff, he just causes me great pain and discomfort and I'm beginning to grow weary of it all.

As you can tell I went to the doctor today. He pops in, takes a look and tells me, "I know you don't like me digging around in your nose, but there are a few things I want to clean out and have a good look around with the scope. The good news is I will give you a shot of numbing spray and numb everything up to make it less painful." Well that wasn't great news, but he had me at "numbing spray". So he takes a small bottle with a nozzle attached and puts it in my nose. The next thing I know I have said numbing spray shooting into my nose at an incredible speed, think nasal power washer, it was so uncomfortable and completely NOT what I was expecting. I now had a slightly numb face, throat, tongue and tonsils due to the overspray, force, swallowing etc. The doctor advised me he was going to let me sit for a few minutes to "numb up" and he'd be back in to do the great clean out. Cool I'm thinking as I am wiping the tears from my eyes. I wasn't crying but the force etc. of all that had happened made my eyes teary. I am feeling very strange as my throat is numb and I feel like I can't swallow. I also have a feeling in my throat that is similar to when you inhale too much water when swimming. I am a bit in a panic as the doctor and nurse leave but I am trying to play it cool. No reason for them to think I am a loon and a wuss. I fix myself a tiny shot glass, uh I mean Dixie Cup of water and try and relax and wait for him to return.

So I wait, and wait and wait and finally he comes back in. (The whole time he's gone (about 20-25 minutes) I am worrying about the numbing spray wearing off because if that were to be the case there was no way he was doing that again. He finally comes in, straps on his little shiny disc thing he wears on his head and goes to work. I'll spare you the details, but he cleaned everything out and made me blow my nose good etc. etc. etc. He takes a peek in there with a really long thing he called a scope and turns off his light. He then asks me how I've been feeling? I inform him my breathing is better, not 100% by any means but better. All in all I'm happy so far I inform him. He tells me he agrees my breathing is better but still questions HOW I am feeling. Tired as usual doc, but I have 4 kids, insomnia, 1 dog, 1 cat, a busy husband, and parents who's health issues worry me sick every day. That's what I wanted to say, but I just assured him other than being tired I was doing okay. He then tells me that he's surprised as I have a "raging, post-operative bacterial infection." HUH? He then tells me that all the gunk that I've been getting out of my nose should have ended by now. He also says that my nose is full of puss and the tissue in there is red and inflamed and "angry". (I refrained from telling him that I was pretty angry at my nose right now as well.)

He now decides he must take a sample of the things growing in my nose and send it away to be cultured. Gets some more long things, digs around in my nose yet again (I can assure you the numbing spray was not working so great. It was NOT worth it as far as I was concerned which is good to know for the future.) After he makes me sneeze a few times and further continues to help deteriorate my eye make-up he does the other side. After over an hour I am ready to go home.

I leave with an antibiotic, two bottles of Nasonex to use twice a day, instructions to still steam and irrigate my nose (sounds like dry-cleaning or gardening terms) two times a day. He assures me he will call me mid-week to check up on me and to let me know for sure what the cultures revealed. He's pretty sure I'll have to go on something called an intra-nasal antibiotic but he's holding off as it's pretty expensive and makes the insurance companies fussy so he'll wait until he knows for sure what type of monster is using my nose as it's safehaven so he can specifically note it in the event that insurance makes a fuss.

I left there with my sack of meds, racoon eyes and a throbbing headache. Hey, aren't doctors supposed to make you feel better? So needless to say, I go back again in two weeks. OH JOY!