It's Official...

Today I put my oldest child on the bus for the last day of 2nd grade! What? How in the world did THAT happen? I am quite certain that she just finished Kindergarten! Right? Man where does the time go. Add in the fact that my nephew is now officially a Senior, my niece and nephew turn 1 next week, and I am about to cry real tears. Holy cow, I don't know where the time goes! One day your 21 living life and having a ball. Next thing you know you are 2-days from being 37, your kids and loved ones are growing at warp speed. STOP THE WORLD I WANT TO GET OFF!!!!

We are on the final countdown for vacation. We will leave next week after the twin's first birthday party. We are planning to drive all night and straight through and hope to get into Myrtle Beach, with some sanity left, around dinner time. Oh I am ready for some sand, sun and no agenda! We can't wait!

That being said, I better get back to my agenda and get some things done around here!

That Kind of Monday

A couple of Monday's ago, I had one of "those" kind of Mondays. You know the kind, they don't start off great and go down hill from there. Well I woke up with the mother of all headaches. So I was kind of dragging anyway. Got Kori off to school. Went through some other mundane tasks in an attempt to call the day semi-productive. Jason was working 3pm-11pm so he was home with us a bulk part of the day. Around noon he started wrestling around with the girls. No biggie, happens all the time. They love it, he loves it, I warn someone will get hurt. I can't help it, it's the mother in me. Well my predictions came true. As Jason was rolling over and taking Kamryn with him she started screaming, "Ow, ow, my arm, my arm!!" It was clear it was hurting and she wasn't moving it. It didn't appear to be broken. This has happened before and after a bit it works itself out and all is well. Not the case here. After an hour she was still not moving it and favoring it. She ate her lunch with one hand and didn't move the injured arm at all. Well my wonderful husband starts getting ready for work. Apparently he had court and would be leaving sooner than I expected, I'm usually the last one to know. I was less than thrilled that he caused this injury, but yet I was now left to "clean up the mess". Grrrrrr....

Long story shorter I ended up making an appointment for Kam when after a couple hours things hadn't improved. After getting Kori off we raced to the pediatrician. Nursemaid elbow was the diagnosis and after some twisting and turning and LOTS of shrieking and screaming from Kamryn, things were re-set and all was well. She left with a mini-pinwheel, a princess crown, and everyone got coupons for a free ice cream cone from McDonald's. Awesome! As it was it was dinner time and I had planned on McD's for dinner. We'd kill two birds with one stone. Off we went!

Well things were going well until Alexis went to get down from her seat for some reason. He foot was tangled in the seat back and she started to fall. In an attempt to save her and the tray of food she was taking with her, I reached out quickly. Grabbed and saved the food, and rammed my elbow into the back of her little head. The cry indicated something was wrong. I apparently bumped her head into the metal chair back and cut her head just above her eyelid. Oh darn!!! So off to urgent care we went.

Two-three stitches would have worked, but in an attempt to keep it as trauma free as possible we opted for the Dermabond glue/steri-strip route. It's healing nicely and she doesn't seem too scarred from it all. I however, feel horrible still to this day.

So there it is, my not so great Monday!

So...

My sister has mentioned to me several times over the past few weeks they she's sick of logging in and seeing my last post from AGES ago. So here I am! My computer has been in the shop...again but I'm here. I made this long post the other night from my Blackberry to appease my sister and get her off my back (kidding...kind of) and the Blackberry apparently enjoyed it so much, it ate it. At the risk of wearing out my thumbs trying to do it again, I waved the white flag of surrender.

So since I can use a full-size keyboard, voila, here I am!

Jason is back today from a week-long trip to Alabama for training for work. The girls and I took him to the airport last Sunday. His flight left KC at about 10:15 and by 11:30 I know that I had been asked at least 100 times if it was time for daddy to come home. Hmmm, how to rectify this situation? I finally went to the calendar, showed the girls what day we were on, marked a big ol' heart of Friday, the day he would be coming home, in an attempt for them to actually visualize the days that needed to pass, and me not have to answer that question a million times a day. It helped, a little. Oh well, they were missing him, I understand.

Of course Sunday night everyone was sick. Fever for Kamryn. Kori had been home Friday with a sore throat/cough/sinus pressure etc. that lasted all weekend so she was home sick Monday as well. Alexis and Morgan had coughs/congestion. Of course! Tuesday I took both Morgan and Kamryn to the doctor. Morgan had been up at 1am complaining of ear pain. Kamryn informed me that morning at breakfast that if Morgan was going to the doctor, she was going too, because her ear hurt too. Awesome! Off we go. Ear infections for both. Pink medicine for both. Life is good!

With the magic of technology Jason was able to send a video every night at bedtime, telling them good night, blowing kisses etc. They LOVED it! Every night they couldn't wait to watch it. It was so cute seeing them waving when he waved, and blowing kisses back.

I was actually relatively unstressed about this trip and took it in stride. Unfortunately I think that means I am getting used to doing everything myself and am adjusting to it all. That might not be such a great thing.

We kept a great schedule, everyone got to bed by 9pm every night and I was able to have some "me time" and recollect any sanity that had become dislodged in its attempt to flee.

Alexis had the most trouble with it all. Everyday she would express, several times a day, how much she missed and loved daddy. It was very sweet. Morgan seemed annoyed by the whole thing. Every morning she would go up to our bedroom, discover that daddy was once again, not sleeping in our bed, and in her most grumpiest voice declare, "Ughhhhh daddy isn't here YET???? He is gone every single day!" And off she'd grump back downstairs. HYSTERICAL!

Thursday night as I was silently celebrating the week and surviving it all, in my own head while finishing up the kitchen/after dinner mess I heard Alexis crying. In she came and informed me Morgan pushed her. Not unusual for some sort of violence to take place unfortunately. So I turn around casually only to discover that Alexis is bleeding a bit from her nose. So I clean that up, summon Morgan, and plop her in the floor in the kitchen where I can properly supervise her while I finish up my work. Kamryn decides this is a great time to come and pester/heckle Morgan. That won her a similar spot on the floor, just across the kitchen from Morgan. She then proceeds to start with the sassy mouth. Ooooooh, this girl can be sassy. She is perfecting the art of eye rolling which is not going over well with me I must say. I advise her it would be in her best interest to cease the sassy talk and aforementioned eye rolling. So she told me, "You are being ridiculous and you need to get over it". I warned her again of her mouth and then she informed me she was going to "find somewhere else to live". I offered to help her pack. So the sassy/temper won out, she declared me "mean" and got a trip to bed without a snack or bedtime story. Now you'd think that Morgan would learn from her behavior. Not so! She informed me, as I'd taken 3 steps back into the kitchen from putting Kamryn to bed not 10-seconds earlier, "Kam's wight, you are being weally, weally mean" (yes I meant it to be spelled that way). Guess what she got? Yep, to bed sans snack and story just like her sister.

Oh kids, they are so sweet aren't they? I am blessed to have them and never have to remind myself of that once I see their sleeping sweet faces every night.

I was rewarded after a long week of daddy being away, with him having to go to work a mere 3 1/2 hours after his plane landed. I am thrilled he has a job, in these economic times, don't get me wrong, but it's a little easy to lose patience with it sometimes. Oh well, I'm just used to it.

So that's it for us. I will have to post soon about my "Monday" that was everything a Monday could hope to be. It was AWFUL! I will save that for another day and another post. For now, I am tired.

Becky, I hope you are happy now! A new post and already a promise of another one! Mwah!

Hey Lookie Here...

It's me! I'm here! I didn't disappear! Life has been a bit crazy, but nothing out of the norm for us here.

There has been some illness, some nice weather, a freak snow storm, the melting of said snow the next day. It's been interesting. We are definitely ready for Spring around here!!!

I have decided that as a mother I am taking my house back. My children decided that they were in charge. Listening was a thing of the past! Doing your own thing seemed to be the newest trend. My days were spent saying the same things over and over and over, and quite frankly it was getting exhausting!

So we initiated the rule that I will tell you once, warn you once and then there will be consequences for your action, or in some cases, inaction.

For example, the girls LOVE to drag out the big tub of dress up clothes. Unfortunately it was a fight, which usually resulted in a melt-down when it came time to pick them back up. I warned them that times were changing. Warned them of the new rules and gave them ample time to adjust. That resulted in me confiscated the tub of clothes. They are put up in the sub-basement. Along with a tub of Polly Pockets, a bucket of bristle blocks, a Barbie RV and a bunch of accompaniying pieces.

We have been taking my mom once a week for the last several weeks, to the doctor for injections in her knees. We've been having lunch out afterwards and the girls know there is no dessert if you don't eat your meal, not all of it, but a good portion. If you don't have room for the main course, there's certainly no room for dessert. We had lunch at Culver's this past week. I reminded them several times that if they didn't eat lunch they wouldn't have custard for dessert. Morgan and Kamryn caught on. Unfortunately for Alexis she didn't get the memo. So while the other two enjoyed their cups of custard inside with my mom, Alexis and I went to the van so she wouldn't disturb the other patrons with her grumbling. I am thinking, or hoping at least, that they are catching on.

Other than that we enjoyed Spring Break here at home. Nothing special. Kori was glad to have a few days off and enjoyed staying up a bit later than usual and sleeping in some too. I enjoyed being able to sleep in some too.

Still working out. With the exception of the last couple of days due to knee pain. I am having MRI's tomorrow on my knees to figure out if I have a torn meniscus in one or both knees. If not (which I am hoping that is the case!) I will have cortisone injections to "clear up the crackles" in my knees.

Yesterday the trio and I watched my niece and nephew. Triplets and twins! Wow! The girls are very good sitters. I didn't have to do much. I did forget how much work little ones are. I am glad that stage is over for me. My heart no longer aches for more kids. I hit that mark several months after the girls were born. Who can blame me right? :-)

We are headed to Iowa next week for Easter. We will spend Good Friday with Jason's Grandpa Leroy, who is turning 96. He hasn't seen the girls in a while and we're excited to get them up to visit with him. He sure enjoys seeing them! After that we'll head to Jason's dad and step-moms for a couple of days. Should be a good time! Looking forward to getting out of the city for a couple days.

So that's it for us, I will try, key word, try, to be more dilligent in my postings. Again.

Darn It!

I specifically remember in my last post, aeons ago, that I was going to do better about keeping up with my blog. Rats! So here I am again...behind again. Sorry about it, again. It's a viscious cycle!

I have been working out still. I am at 18-pounds lost now. I wish it were coming off faster, but I am toning things up and can tell in how my clothes are fitting. I hate the two weeks that Jason is on the 3-11pm shift. I sometimes can't get to the gym before he has to leave for work, which leaves me on the treadmill here at home. It is sooooo boring! So I suffer through, but I don't enjoy it as much as going to the gym.

I am ready for Spring! I need to see green, now gray and brown anymore. It is so annoying! There is still some snow on the ground here from the last burst over a week ago. That netted us about 7-8 inches. YUCK!!! Even Kori grumbled about it. You know it's been a long winter when the kids are complaining about more snow. It's supposed to be in the 50's for the next few days so hopefully it will melt. Next up I'd like to order some Spring green please. Grass, plants, leaves, anything green, I am down with it!

The girls are doing great! Daddy pulled the 2nd of Kori's top teeth the other day. She is now missing the top two teeth and looks completely adorable! I love to hear her talk, it is soooooo cute! She is doing AWESOME in school! I am so proud of her every day!

The trio are wonderful as well! I am getting ready to check into pre-school screening for them so try and get them into the pre-school program at Kori's school. Yikes! It would only be for about 3-hours a day, but the thought of it just scares me to death! I'm pretty sure they were just born! Weren't they??? Wasn't this just a couple of days ago???



Now it's pre-school talk, and before long Kindegarten. **Sigh** I remember the days so vividly when I thought I wouldn't survive the first six months, yet here we are, almost 4-years old! Unbelievable!

We have booked our vacation home for the 2010 Rusley Family Vacation. This years excursion will take us to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We are looking forward to some sun, fun, swimming, beaches, golfing (Jason), seafood (Jason) and much, much more! Another long car ride in our future, but everyone is up for it! Heck it's a couple hours shorter than last years Disney World trip. Just over three months to go, I can't wait!!!

So that's about it for me. I won't waste your time with promises to do better,I just will really try my hardest.

I leave you with the cutest kids in the land:

Greetings!

My sister and I were having a conversation the other night about someone we know that has a blog. She mentioned that this person had been lax about keeping it up to date. I mentioned that I wasn't doing so good either. The look my sister gave me let me know that she was well aware of that fact, so here I am.

There just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done! At the 1st of the new year I decided that I was tired of being overweight and out of shape. I started running on our treadmill here at the house. Well I was doing a run/walk combo program. Along with some ab work on my stability ball. Then I had a talk with our Chief of Police while visiting with my friend Liz at her work one day and was granted priveledges to work out at the exercise facility at our Police Academy, which conveniently enough is less than a minute from my house. So I've been going there pretty much every day, give or take a few days when we were sick with the stomach flu. It's been good for me to try and get myself back in some sort of shape. To give myself an hour or so of "me time" doing something just for me. I have a love/hate relationship with the elliptical machine. I hate the first five minutes or so when my legs are burning, as well as my lungs, but then the other 20 I am great and get in the zone. I have been bumping up the intensity with pushing myself harder or adding more time to the workout. I do some weight work too. So far I've lost 15-pounds. I have LOTS more to go but am please so far. I'd love to see quick results but we all know that isn't how it works. So I am trying to be patient and not get frustrated.

All is well with the kiddos too. The trio currently all have colds but nothing serious. Kori is still doing GREAT at school. We are in the middle of a big penguin project. I'll have to post pictures when we're done. It's making me tap into my inner "not so crafy side" and try and be a little more artsy and crafty. They are all still trying to drive me crazy, but I have managed to elude their efforts thus far.

So there you have it, a not so exciting update from me,and yet another promise to try and be better with my blogging.

Ugh! Ick! Gross! Blach! Ewwww!

The stomach flu has hit our house! Boo!! Last week a few of Kori's school mates were home with a stomach bug. The little girl on the bus in the seat behind Kori barfed on her seat mate. Great! That always starts the panic to rise inside me. I have emetophobia and I fear vomit. Mine. Theirs. Yours. It doesn't matter. I am non-discriminatory. It causes me great anxiety. I hate it, but it is what it is. My theory is nothing should come flying out your nose/mouth if it was once inside your stomach. Okay, enough with that.

Friday Kori woke up with some tummy issues of the bathroom nature. She burped and gagged a bit so I decided to just keep her home. It was a half-day. She hasn't missed any school yet this year, no big deal. She kept a very low profile in bed all day watching TV. She was better Saturday and we had a belated bowling party for her 8th birthday. It went great! Lots of fun! One of the little girls there, one of Kori's schoolmates, was just getting over the stomach flu. She was out of school Thursday and Friday but was better Saturday. Jason ran into their mom Sunday morning at the convenience store down the road. Apparently the older sister, who was also at the bowling party, was now sick. As well as the neighbors husband. I figured it was bound to hit. It seemed to be running ramapant.

So low and behold Sunday night about 12:30 a.m., Alexis decided to kick things off. Lots of barfing. Bathroom issues. Etc. About 4:00 p.m. Monday afternoon she perked up, ate a pop tart and was find. Cool. That wasn't too bad.

Fast forward to this morning at 3:20 a.m. I am awakened by Morgan who is claiming her "tummy is hurting". I get her settled back in her bed. Sit by it for a while until she falls back to sleep, and as an afterthought before leaving, I throw a couple old towels on the floor next to her bed. Oh you know what they say about a mother's intuition. It was dead on. I no sooner got back in bed and covered up when I heard the tell-tale coughing/crying. So here we go, round #2.

About 6:00 a.m. here comes Kamryn. I'd heard her whining and kind of moaning around 5:00 a.m., but she's a sleep talker so I didn't worry to much. Well she decided Morgan shouldn't barf alone so she joined in too. So there my husband and I sat ready to do battle. Which we did until around noon when the barfing subsided. There are still bathroom issues, but they are up and around, have proclaimed their tummies feel better and are watching Cinderella as we speak. They ate a light lunch and some dinner and so far so good. I am hoping for a barf-free remainder of the week. Hey, I'm going to aim higher, how about the rest of the year! No need to limit myself. I am hoping Jason and I are spared. I have washed my hands so much they are cracked open and bleeding. I wiped light switches, toilets, counters etc. with a water/bleach solution this evening. I've sprayed Lysol religiously. I am hoping this is the end of it and it goes away and stays away.

So that's the end of this really disgusting post. It is definitely not one of the finer points of this little thing called parenthood. But it is what it is.

Man am I tired. I think the washing machine is about to go on strike too.