why is it

that on the days when all you needed was a kind word you couldn't buy one if you had a million dollars?

what color do you get

when you mix red and white?

Pinkeye.

yup, I do believe I have it. If this is in fact the eye of pink then I feel very empathetic when children get this. My eyeball feels like it has been punched. Not my eyeball, but my eye socket. Hands down this absolutely sucks.

Let's hope the otc stuff works and I do not have to go to the dr for it. I would like to be in the like 90% of cases that is viral and does go away with no meds.

Over not under

whelmed that is. Everything is moving so fast. I know Christmas will be here tomorrow. I'm not ready. This week we had 3 projects, 1 musical and one choir recital to do. Both of the little ones are now in chaos mode. Meaning they really can move from one room to another so quickly and pull everything out in that room in 3 minutes while I'm taking 20 min to pick up the room they just destroyed.

A gate...oh what a novel suggestion. We have them. However, my little monkey boy can scale them with no effort at all. Regardless of the brand or the direction of the bars. So it only really serves a purpose to slow them down slightly. Or slow him down and make her so mad that she just stands there and screams this hideous sound that makes paint peel.

I really can't say I have felt this overwhelmed in a long time in my personal world. Too much is happening, too fast and it isn't like I'm bringing more "to do" into our world. I haven't signed up for anything, no committees, no extra stuff that would be 'fun', nothing.

I'm not dealing well with it all. It's like I can deal with work stuff with no problem cause I can compartmentalize that and it stays there. But the house and family just sort of spills into everything and everywhere. I don't remember the first three being this busy at this age. Maybe I was just younger and had more energy to keep up and do it all and not be overwhelmed.

This is a phase, it too shall pass. Right?

Knocked up ....hell no, not me.

I think our dog is in the womanly way. I say I think because I had NO idea she was in heat. And every time she has been in heat, I’ve known. We came home from the big College Station show and she bounded around the back yard to greet us (we had our neighbor let her in and out the day we were gone) and so did a little Schnauzer with his balls just a bouncing. No I’m not joking. I’m not sure how in the hell he jumped high enough to get his business in our dog…and as comical as it seems, I am not really looking forward to seeing what a Golden Retriever/Schnauzer mix is like. I do realize that dogs can look like a mix or either their mother or the father. So I am really hoping that there are no “mixed” looking puppies. Yes, think about that mix. Stunning I’m sure. So add me to the list of LOSERS who are not doing as Bob Barker said for many years and did not Spay their animal (listen my grocery bill is crazy and that’s with coupons and cheap meals and “spaying” hasn’t been in the budget and she's an INSIDE dog) and will be trying very hard to place puppies (please god only have 2). I’m so pissed about it that I want to scream but can’t. I mean really…they were only acting like dogs right? However, I won’t ever know how “butch” got into my back yard. I do know that Butch has owners that I know where they live as I had to call the Vet to give them his rabies tag so I could call them and tell them that Butch was in my back yard screwing my dog and could they come take him home.

My friend Amy says we can call them Golden Re-schnauzers. I think that's better than Schnau-trievers. I bet they will be horrifically ugly and I should call them Golden Nauzers as that is probably the feeling one will have when seeing them. But you never know...some of the most unattractive couples make really cute kids.

And on one final note. My 2.5 year old son has a new phrase. He says this phrase when mommy is mad, or raises her voice, or when something goes amiss. It took me about 4 times before I realized what he was saying. I don’t know where he got it. I don’t say the word out loud. Mike doesn’t say the word out loud and no one we know says the word. His favorite phrase. That he even said at TARGET when a lady dropped her purse is “OH MY CRAP” now it comes out all sing songy and nice and since he can’t really say his “r” very well it sounds like “OH MY CAP” but you still know what it is.

Yes. I’m very proud. *roll*

Not Thankful

for Delilah.

Or whatever it is that she did to make some guy write a song about her that I have to hear every 5 min in the car - for the past 4 months no less. I'm sure you are a nice person, but I really dislike the song about you that the whiney boyfriend guy of yours sings.

No thank you.

In His image

I just read the short blurb about Kanye West's mother passing away due to complications from cosmetic surgery.

No one stated what surgical procedure or a reason for her having it, yet I can only assume that perhaps it was because she wanted to have something 'fixed'.

I've always had this very 'gray' view on cosmetic surgery. If God made us in His image and wanted all of us to be individuals, then why is the skyrocketing practice of plastic surgery flourishing? I know the general answers of society, media, men, the urge to look younger. It still doesn't stop me from being alarmed or taken aback at what people will do to their bodies to live up to some standard that people seem to think is one they should strive to meet.

I do think that some plastic surgery is amazing. It can give a breast cancer patient back her femininity, it can give a child with a cleft palate or other birth defects a chance to lead a life that isn't only easier emotionally but one that is easier in actual practice. Drinking, eating, walking, talking.

I just think that the 'balance' is off. The brains that He gave us to develop great things are also being used for such profit and manipulation on how we should look.

Is it really worth dying to just look younger or thinner or have a bigger breast size?

Don't feel like you have to meet someone's superficial standard of beauty especially when you've been given all the gifts you need to fulfill your purpose. Be beautiful in who you are.

Be true to you - set your own standard.

clothing optional

isn't that what casual friday is about? :)

I've yet to put on anything proper, but the two small people don't mind at all. I have done laundry, and put together various lists for work and such. I have a list a mile long and I am trying very very hard to not let it overwhelm me.

the last few days have been a bit off kilter and i was really very stressed earlier, however I think I'm back anchored to my rock and all is good again. I really do hate the hormonal flux that happens each month.

apparently new thomas the tank engine underwear and elmo/zoe panties are actually to be pooped in. I missed that memo.

I actually thought about taking the small ones to the library today. They have story time for the over 2 year olds on Friday mornings. However, what do you do when one of your children will sit very nicely and the other would probably climb the shelves. I saved my sanity and stayed here. Which sort of was a bummer as I'm trying to be out more and make more female friends. Don't get me wrong. I love what I do and all of the people in my world. However, female friends are few and I would love to have 1 or 2 that we could perhaps get the small ones together to play. I'm thinking the library is not where I will find these friends. (I feel like I'm a narrator for wild kingdom or some such and need to speak in a hushed voice so as not to startle these potential mommy friends that I'm imaginarily stalking) Neither is the PTA.

March onward.

No Gripe Day and stuff

It has been a while since I've updated myself (since I'm pretty sure that myself is all that reads my posts - well other than my sweet husband).

Life has been beyond busy around here.

Halloween was fun. I was very stressed about it as it fell in the middle of the week where on one side of the date we had employees moving to our wonderful town and helping get them situated and on the other side of the date we had the babies baptism.

The little goblins looked precious this year and deserved bags and bags of candy (that their mom promptly confiscates and puts up high and gives them one or two at a time when they are exceptionally good) but this year, candy supplies were slim and that is okay cause they had fun.

House got scrubbed big time the next day and I was somewhat ready for the family to come on Saturday for the Baptism. It was beautiful. I had rehearsed with the M and A what we were doing and that when they put the water on your head we do not scream. (they scream and have a blast in the shower or sprinkler and I didn't want a repeat of it as I am sure Father Tony would have been mortified). It really did turn out wonderful and all the kids were exceptionally well behaved and polite.

This week I did something that I haven't really done much but it worked out so well I might just keep it up. Monday was an exceptionally stressful day. Complete with me having some stomach issues in which my smallest children took advantage of the situation and promptly climbed up and retrieved a bag of NMN's (m&m's) and ate them while I was held hostage by a certain room in the house. Stressed doesn't even really describe it. It was just one of those days. To the point where I burst into tears around 2pm when I realized it was in fact 2pm and there was so much left to do.

So when the big 3 got home from school I explained to them how wonderful we have it. We are blessed with warm clothing and food and shelter and all sorts of luxuries and that afternoon was going to be "NO GRIPE DAY" and I explained that I was so stressed and had such a really rough day that if I asked them to please do something that I would really appreciate them to just be grateful and joyful in what they did and not gripe. You know what. It worked pretty well. No sighs, no stomps and I didn't hear any "OH MOM"'s. I'm sure it helped that #3 had a really bad day too and she was staying off the radar as she knew she was in a bit of trouble. The boys, who sigh better than any soap opera actress actually helped out and were very nice and pleasant to be around.

I'm not going to fool myself to the fact that they are just the angels we want them to be all the time, but at least I know when I need them to step up to the plate that they can. I think I'm going to challenge them to do it more often too.

Dear World

Today I have:
- Set up payroll and all things required to setting up an employee. Since I am
not a payroll person this is new and uncharted waters. I have had a full blown
anxiety attack and a panic attack in the 4 hours it has taken me to get it fully
set up. I owe my wonderful friend Deb many gifts for answering my ???s
- done one load of laundry. I intended to do 5
- made it through 3 very loud tantrums, 4 medium tantrums, and 2 small ones from a
little boy who is tired and cranky and is trying very hard to tell me what one
word means but no matter what we do I can't understand. He is frustrated and so
is the whole house
- Loaded the dishwasher and yet managed to pick up the house and it looks like
I've done nothing
- Managed to go the entire day feeling like a spinning wheel
- Realized that I am completely not in charge of anything today. Thank you for
reminding me. *sarcasm*

little reminders

I ripped this from my friend Autumn's blog. Take 10 min and watch this video.

It isn't full of tears and sappiness, but rather the light a fire under your ass and make you want to do things the way you should have been doing them all along.

Today

I have jeans, a long sleeved tee and of course flip flops on. I may have to take it off by afternoon but it is a very nice brisk 58 degrees out and I am pumped.

We had a fabulous weekend with all the kiddos, got quite a bit accomplished and it was an all around wonderful weekend.

Canagoat

There is a fine line between loving a two year old and the two year old making you insane. In one big bundle they are charming, adorable, cute, maddening, loud, messy, precious, stubborn, and still have just enough baby in them that they are cuddly. In that same bundle of development they have this language that is my favorite of all phases.

I'm not one to talk baby talk much. Rather I love when they learn words and put their own twist on them. These are my favorite times. As bad as my memory is some days, I think I need to keep a list. Surly I will forget these things. Some you never forget. I will forever remember that Sydney called Chic Fil A - Chick a fay. Or that Christopher's favorite sandwich of all time was a "Peanut Sanich". Jordan loved to "fwy" (he had 5 broken bones by the time he was 4 to prove this love of flying off things). But as much as you remember certain words there are 10 that you forget. I'm pretty sure that my house will always call Canalope "canagoat" and that Eww Yuck Yuck will never change from "Eww Luck Luck" but there will be ones that were fleeting. They only used them for a little bit. Until the connection on how to properly say the word was made.

Those are the words that make me a little sad that they can't stay little for longer.

It's like our good friend Walt said, "It's in those moments that you wish God would whisper in your ear 'this is the last time they will say it that way' so that you can remember it forever".

from a cancer patient

however, I think it could probably sum up most of the trivial issues we let get us down in every day life.

"the worst hair day imaginable was better than having none at all"

breathe breathe breathe

i'm way over the top excited at the moment. i just scored us tix to see dane cook in houston. oh holy hooch i am pumped.

Fasten Your Seatbelts

It has been so busy around here lately that time is literally flying by. Coupled with the fact that I just realized we have now hit what is the busiest, fastest and my favorite part of the year. I love Halloween and all the fall decorations. The smell of the air changes. I think it smells like Friday nights when you were in high school and were going to the football game. I love the leaves turning and all of the things that seem to happen when the season changes. Even if only by a few degrees. I also LOVE Thanksgiving. That and Christmas are my absolute favorites. I have been blessed with a family that loves holiday's and traditions and has a blast doing it so it makes it all the more special.

In the past week or so we've moved into new offices, one child got glasses, we are changing some of the rooms in our house and my never ending painting projects are ongoing. We also had big birthdays - I cannot believe they are 11 now and we've had lots and lots of company. All of this together has just made for a really fast few weeks.

I finally replaced our dig camera that broke so I'm sure i'll put some stuff up sooner or later. I really jumped off the deep end. Usually I research like crazy and then buy. So when I went to go get the camera (an updated version of what I had) the salesperson shows me one that came out that day. If it had been anything other than a Canon I would've immediately dismissed it. BUT, it was an ultra zoom and compact. Something that never happens. It was also cheaper. So I got my optical ultra zoom in a nice little body that will work fabulously for right now. I do love my bigger bodied camera and all of it's features so I am sure I will get one in the future, but for now I am really pleased.

The absolutely most exciting thing for the 2 year olds at the moment is the pumpkin patch. They beg to go each time we pass by. Since it is 3 blocks from our house, there is much begging going on. Mick Mick had a BLAST putting them in the wheelbarrow. I tried to upload a photo but it's being funky at the moment so it's gonna have to wait.

Oh and one final giggle. Over the weekend the big kids put that spray color in their hair. Of course being the girl that she is, Syd chooses Pink. It has almost all washed out except for a light pink hue that clings to the most golden parts of her hair. I really had no worry about this at all as it is temporary, until this morning when it dawned on me that it was picture day. She's wearing a bright pink dress and matching head band. This could be the picture day to beat all others for many years to come. hee hee.

Am I the only one who

sees the City Electric department outside of my house and has the following thought process..."Did I pay that bill? Yeah, I did...cause I paid the cell phone right after...okay...hmm, do I know where my confirmation number is? What if they lost it...maybe I should pull up my bank account so I can take my laptop out and show them that indeed the amount went through....oh i hope they aren't going to accidentally can the electricity this afternoon...."

Surely I am not the only one....right?

YES YES YES YES

she summed it up fabulously
For Moms :)

140/200

that's not my bp but it's how if feels right now. I hate days where my temper is pushed to where it actually raises its voice.

Really not winning MOTY

Today I sucked as a mom. It's only 10:45 in the morning but the verdict was in by 7am. The entire ball team was awakened by the eldest member accidentally slamming the bathroom door at 5:30 am. It wasn't joyous squeals of good morning...it was "who the eff woke me up and i'm not happy" screams of ticked off 2 year olds.

At breakfast the eldest reminds me that I did not check all of his homework. On one hand this makes me smile as it shows that he understands that having it checked so that you turn it in and make the best grade possible is a good thing. On the other I want to thump him (i didn't) that he waited until 6:30 am to tell me this.

I forgot to send notes to school about them not riding the bus today. The office ladies are going to love me calling again to ask them to send a note down to the classrooms. (hey they wrote the rules on this one, I didn't so I'm just abiding by what they ask a parent to do even though they act like it burdens their oh so busy day to no end)

We've gone pee pee e potty more times than one should ever have to go.

Somedays one is def. the bug more than the windshield. Go team bug.

Flying at the speed of life

You know how sometimes life gets really busy and you're running in 4 different directions and all you can really do is hold on and live it? And that sums it up my friends. Somedays you can't blog about it, you just have to live it. Cause what is a life if it's only lived for blogging….. and that is as deep as I can be at 7 something in the morning. A morning in which the day that I have to be up early and have to be out and about my youngest son decides this is the morning he will sleep in. The child is up and generally pissed because he is thirsty somewhere around the 4am time-frame most mornings. He will happily snuggle in bed with us and go back to sleep (while subconsciously kicking his father in the back trying to boot him out of bed – stewie much?) but the fact that I had to function at 4am does not generally make for a restful night. Sometimes he's up as much as a newborn it seems. Whoever the hell said they are sleeping by 2 ish is full of it because we are up with someone almost every night. I do know this is part of parenting but it's the exhausting part.

Random things: Neutrogena has a new face cream that covers all of it. I suck very badly at actually using some sort of skin regime but I think I could handle this one. Face it, by the time everyone is down, and I have had a chance to fall on the bed and cuddle with my wonderful man…the last thing I think of is getting up to put some sort of really hard to read made up word like "duo luminocity" on my cheeks, while putting "exfoli-define-reduci-moisturizer" on my eyes and some "gobble-be-gone" crap on my neck. I am sure that when I hit 40 I will look like I am 60 and will need to be on the TLC show "10 Years Younger" I will regret this. However, it does not stop the fact that I forget. So the ad campaign won and you oh fabulous Neutrogena all in one eyes, neck, face night repair stuff that I cannot remember the name of will be purchased after I have been to Walgreens 10 more times and forgotten it 10 more times. Then perhaps I can wake up looking like Mary Louise Parker.

Speaking of Mary Louise….3 maybe 4 shows that are now in my totally addicted to tv shows that one must watch. We (meaning our little town) finally stepped into the 21^st century and bought into that whole cable de-regulation bill that was passed oh, 25 years ago. Time Warner moved in and you would have thought that it was like God himself sprinkled some happy dust in the air because I was positively giddy (on a Monday at that) when I got the letter that we now had…..wait for it…..A CHOICE. So I promptly signed up as they were still running the lines. Not only did I get a killer pkg, but one that beat the pants off of what I was paying. I mean really. How can you not love 5 services for the price I was paying for 2 to one company and 1 to another (i-net, tv, phone) They sold me on it when I realized I could set the cable boxes to not come on until a certain time; meaning I don't care that you did your homework at school it doesn't work until after dinner and your room is clean so you might as well play outside to kill the time…..(high five, knuckles, score one for the parent team, screw democracy in this house). Not to mention that it has DVR. Now, to actually get this with the old provider we had to pay about 35 more a month…and they were so horrible all the way around it was going to be a cold day in..yeah…before I gave them one more penny than I had to. So because this was item number 4 they threw in (for the exact same price I was paying – did I mention that 10 times already) I said what the heck I'll try it. It is fabulous. And this brings us to my original point…(see up there, right hand column…yeah, falling through a tree)

I am loving Weeds and the show Californication. You have to watch it. Very adult but deep. Makes you think. Along with my other favorite Entourage I can happily snuggle up with the husband and use the "on demand" feature to watch whatever I want when I want. Oh that right there is a wonderful wonderful thing. I do realize tv rots your brain, and I also know that we're really strict on moderation for the older kids. The younger set has totally od'ed on Thomas the Tank Engine on demand. And I am okay with that….as the morals are much easier to talk about than they are on Hannah Montana per say. I also think for my ringing endorsement Time Warner should just make me pay half the bill next month.

Wonder boy has just now come out of hibernation and is demanding something to drink. Since he is still in his crib I do believe the power known as pick me up lady must go rescue him. Until next time………

No accounting for taste

So in perusing Craigs List for various office items I've come to the realization that there really is no accounting for taste. Some points.

Even if your king size bedroom set is from Ethan Allen, if it was purchased in the 70's then it looks like the 70's. No name brand is going to change that.

Probably best to not buy a whole new set of furniture before you walk down the aisle. I've been amazed at the postings for "didn't make it to the alter but we bought all new furniture and need to sell it"

If it looks like something in a 1980's bachelor pad then putting the words "contemporary" in front of it don't change the aesthetics. Same with the words "retro".

If you think that it is in such bad shape it needs to be titled a "restoration project" it is probably best to list it in the free section of stuff and put it by the curb. Who is going to pay good $$ to buy something and then pay more money to re-do it.

Are there really that many people out there that need to unload 200 gal. aquariums? Cause in SA there are a ton.

Same with coffee tables. I'm thinking I don't want one as everyone is selling them.

I'm no decorator by any means, but the amount of rust orange, pea green and country blue sofas out there is amazing.

Okay, that's all for now.

Pee Pee E Potty

That is the absolutely precious way my 2 year old prince says that he needs to go. Yes, ladies and gents, we are now in the throws of potty training. Nothing, I mean absolutely nothing says (yells) success than when daddy is on the phone with an artist and the 2 year old princess runs in yelling "Daaaaaddddyyyyy I went in the pooootttttyyyyy" as loud as she can. As cute as it is, it's turned lots of things into the tail spin that it does. Checking every 10 minutes to ask if they have to go, the novelty of going even when you don't have too, the fun of the sink and washing hands 20 times per day. But in the end, it is so worth it. I'm quite certain that I have contributed enough to the earth in the way of disposable diapers being disposed. My bank account will be pretty happy too.

Beethovan and Bach

Have absolutely nothing on the new cello and violin players in my house. I'm not sure what's worse…the fact that it's going to be really noise around here for the next year or that they are so excited that they can annoy their sister in a whole new way. They already asked if they could get a pick up installed on it so they could plug into an amp. Rock n Roll can wait a few years…I'm trying to cultivate some class at the moment. ;)

S.P.O.T.L.E.S.S.

That is the state of my house right now. I kid you not. Everything is in its place and everything sparkles. And I mean sparkles…. I swear those professional people have special cleaning dust or something because no matter how much I scrub my sink it does not sparkle like when they did it today. It was fabulous. The bestest gift thus far. I mean it was just….wow. They organized, and cleaned and cleaned out things and re-organized, from top to bottom. It was almost magical.

Here is the crazy thing. We finished work, walked into the fabulously clean house, I made dinner, we all ate and while I cleaned up the dishes the kids all got bathed/showered. By 7:15 everything was clean again. Including all 5 little people. We actually had time to hang out in the living room and just hang. Oh and I also helped the boys make "Vote 4" posters as each of them is running for Student Council in 5^th grade. It was such good family time. I didn't have to spend the evening trying to pick everything up, and clean and the 48 little things that somehow end up being 2 hours worth of stuff in the evening. It was just soooo soooo nice.

It's like they gave us a fresh start today and all I have to do is maintain the fresh start for 2 weeks and then they show up again. I think I can do that.

Stuff

I've consumed my weight in guacamole just now while working. Hitting the gym again starting tomorrow – YAY. I'm actually excited about this. I used to be very allergic to avocados and could only have it with other main dishes. Then I had the small ones and for some reason that allergy went away….i'm making up for lost time. I used to have asthma too until I got pregnant with the first set of twins and that went away too. You think if I have another set of twins I might end up with perfect vision? I'm just saying…..

It's been raining all morning. I love this except it makes me want to crawl back into the covers and take a nap. Oh and no mowing today I don't guess - ha

I noticed 4 coffee cups on my husband's desk…do you think he's trying to 'suck' at taking them to the sink – hee hee

Tonight I'm on a roll

it may not be a good one, but I've had something sitting on my chest for many a year now. At one point I really considered writing an etiquette book. No not one of those that tells you what fork to use - one that points out the very apparent lacking of common sense that prevails in daily life all around us. I generally say nothing when I notice these 'crimes' happening. I just file them away so I can vent about them later in the day when my husband has been beaten down by work for many hours and doesn't want to talk so it gives me a good feeling he's listening. (it works for us - go with it)

Well, said book never happened. But I've got lots to unload. I think I shall unload one or three tonight. I am also sure that these have been discussed at length by the copy machine in various offices and are not original, but it's my rant and I don't care.

I shall title this irritant "The bathroom stall is not for making friends"

I'm not the type of chic that feels the need to go to the restroom in a pack every time. Sometimes, yes. Most times no. I really don't like going in any public restroom. The lack of privacy sends my bladder shivering in a corner - (I don't even have to touch on the other as that is not going to happen. If I was on survivor they would have to cart my ass out of there for compacted intestines or some such because unless I am at home, that is not going to happen unless it's a big emergency) So since it is not a 'private' place WHY IN THE WORLD DO YOU FEEL COMPELLED TO TALK TO COMPLETE STRANGERS STALL TO STALL?

Why? I don't know you. I don't need to chit chat with you. I don't need to know anything about you at all while you are going to the bathroom. I am having enough trouble. In the time you plopped down and decided to discuss things, I had to decide if it was a hover only restroom or if it happened to have those handy seat covers. If not, did I have enough tp to line the seat myself. So now you are talking to me like you know me about world events while I'm trying to hover on thighs that are begging me to hurry because I did too many dead leg lifts at the gym yesterday. Not only that, I am still holding my purse on my shoulder and it's doing that slipping thing, I'm clutching tp and trying to make sure that no scarf, belt, shirt tie, or any other thing falls into the depths below and make the entire process as quick as possible.

I don't talk. Unless you are a really good friend of mine, that I know very well, I am not going to respond. And even if you are a really good friend of mine I'll respond while we're not in the stall. Read the above...I don't have room with all my hovercraftiness going on. Now this is what gets me. Why if I have just nicely smiled when we come out of the stall in that awkward "oh we came out at the same time" moment, do you try to continue the conversation at the sink, talking to me in the mirror. I still don't know you. I'm sure you are a lovely person, but what I just did took a lot of effort. I need to regroup.

Am I the only one that notices this. It never happens in a small two stall restroom either. Generally it's like the restrooms at Macy's....you know, where there are 40 of them and I am in stall number 7 while the other person is in stall number 20.

I also wonder why in the heck people feel the need to chat on their phones while going? That is weird. It echos in there...people KNOW what you are doing....you can't take 2 seconds to say "lemme call you back" as you are walking to the door of the restroom or rather you can't wait the 3 seconds it will take for you to finish things up and then call them back. Why answer when you are in the stall? What does one say to the question "hey, what are you doing?" It is always at that moment that I really wish my bladder or colon were not shy and I could throw some good loud bowl ringers in there on command.

I'm sure this is quite dumb to most. But it boggles my mind. What is so absolutely important in your life that you must give up every private moment because you have to be on the phone? There are exceptions I am sure....but based on the amount of times I witness this happening you people must be having a lot of emergencies that require you to talk on the phone when you are going to the bathroom.

If every bathroom was built like the bathroom at Buc-ees on i-10 this problem would almost be wiped out in one fell swoop. They are the best bathrooms ever.

“It’s my birthday…..things are finally going my way”

I've had that BRhyder song stuck in my head all day long.

So far it has been wonderful. I got an awesome awesome gift! My sweet wonderful husband got me a cleaning service....i know right….not for one time, but they come every other week and we can bump them up to more time if we want. I do an okay job, but with working and 48 kids I get really overwhelmed at the amount of little things that always have to be done (you know, like dusting and baseboards and the little tiny places that crap gathers)… oh this was just the best gift as now it will be clean clean clean. Everyone can expect invites the day the cleaners are here lol.

Notre Dame is on today….dare I say it….football in this house starts today and I am super excited. I love football. (btw, I have my fantasy football team all set and it looks like a good team so I am pumped) and plans to watch it are in full effect.

Tonight Mike gets home for a day before he turns around tomorrow again to hit the road. I'm very happy to get some time with him tonight.

I've got some wonderful, beautiful friends who have wished me a happy day. I have a great family and support system and I cannot think of a better way to start off the *new* year.

"sun is shining again….."

update**

"it's good to feel the heat on my skin"

You should all be really happy that I don't remember any more of the words to that song.

HAPPY LABOR DAY - and as most people have no idea what this holiday is about they just consider it happy day off from work and last good weekend on the lake. Unless you live here and it has rained on any big weekend. However, you won't hear me complaining. I just giggle inside because I don't have to mow the yard for one more day. Not that Mike wants me to mow the yard. Contrary to that he wishes I would leave the weed eater alone. Once we got into a big argument because he said I "sucked" at it. Well how am I going to learn to get good at it if I don't practice I reasoned. So now I only do it when he's gone on long runs and my neighbors start giving that frowny look at me when they drive by because I'm letting the small ones play in the water hose or some such instead of mowing the yard. (not that I care what they think but I'd rather stay on the DL for crappy yards they must point out when they gather at the mailboxes - I would rather them talk about how I let my child wear a band t-shirt and some wild shorts to school - derelict)

Anyway, I've been told to not look at the bank account as purchases are being made and we will have cake and ice cream tomorrow night (when all kids and Mike are in attendance).

So I am off to paint nails and toes with my 9 year old. The small ones are napping and we must make the most of this time. :)

Plan no more

I really should learn that I was meant to plan something and then get excited bout it. Ever. That if I do plan something I should leave many hours of wiggle room for everything to go wrong. It's not bad when things go wrong per say. I just happens. 99% of the time I roll with it and it isn't a big deal. Usually that is because 99% of the time it doesn't really matter. The 1% of the time that I get really excited about something and I plan it, is when it stings too much when it falls through.

I really do dislike this trait about myself. I should be of the age where I don't get excited until its actually happening.

I have just found this nifty thing in my Word 2007 (and for those of you that are still using 2003, let me tell you…2007 is just awesome…after 4 mo of it I find new stuff each day that I love in it) where I have button called publish. If I hit it, it updates my blog. I don't have to log into anything or go online. It also auto corrects the fact that I love to type in all lowercase and generally I type how I speak. So for anyone that it bugged, it now fixes it. It must know I don't have time for capital letters.

how loud does a school hallway echo?

today was the first day of school. every year on this day i walk the kids into school and into their respective classrooms. yes we've met the teacher and we know where we are going, but on the very first day being walked in is a must. bus can start tomorrow, but today we need mom to walk us in.

normally this is no problem and i didn't think it would be today. we were up and dressed and out the door with minimal issue (this really means I had to find two shoes I just set out last night and mick mick kept undressing himself so we were running 10 min behind - but i had prepared for 30 min behind so we were all good in the end)

those of you that know anything about the first day know that every parent it seems walks their kid in. you also know that the school will never, in 1 million years have enough parking. they don't want you hanging out there all day, they are trying to corrupt your children don't you know, why should you witness it.... i kid, but really, there aren't that many parking spots.

so there are cars parked on the street for 2 blocks every direction. i park as close as possible, haul out the little ones, everyone straps on $200 dollars worth of school supplies, backpacks, tubs, wet wipes and a gallon jug of purell and we head in to begin this wonderful year. we navigate down the hall and drop sydney off. at this very second the lightbulb goes on in both 2 year olds heads. they have the look of "wait, she gets to go in that cool looking room with all the awesome stuff in it and i have to stand in the hallway and then walk away from it". mick mick seemed to instantly decide the best course of action on this one. he promptly sits down, cries as hard as he can and screams as ear piercing and shrill like as one can. 5 teachers poke their heads out, and 4 others actually walk out. i scoop up captain screamer pants and off we scream to the 5th grade hall. drop both boys off at their classrooms and off we go still screaming out of the building. now, up until this point ashleigh just has a look of dismay on her face. she's still going along with this walking out of the really cool building but i can tell we have 20 second left until melt down. we're 60 seconds from the car....

now, i think i could have made it had she not seen the playground. she did, and it was all over. she was not about to walk away from a place that had 3 slides that were bright and shiny and new to her. so she jumped up and down about 4 times in that little hop toddlers do during a tantrum, sat down on the sidewalk in front of the school and promptly screamed and cried.

keep in mind that i still have captain screamer pants tucked under my arm kicking and flailing in his glorious moment. i scoop this one up, who promptly does the "go stiff and stay straight as a board so on a good day you can slide right back out of moms arms" move. 30 seconds to the car, 30 seconds to the car is my mantra in my head right now. we make it to the car, a bribe of holding the chapstick for miss screamer pants and the promise of taking a stick with him in the car to mr. screamer pants allows safe placement in the car seats. any of you know that this is very much worth any bribe because trying to buckle a stiff screaming child in is quite possibly on the list of top 200 most difficult things to accomplish while frazzled.

and at 2:30 we get to do this all over again......thank goodness for the car line though. we only have to drive around the circle, collect the big three and no removal from car seats necessary.

mike gets to do 1st day of school next year. all by himself. *snickers*


*** oh hell, i just realized that i forgot to give them money for their drinks at lunch and i forgot to pack a snack. good thing i'm not in the pto or they would boot me and my torn jean wearing self out***

do you hear what i hear

silence.....golden silence. it is 9pm on a Sunday night and i can assure you that this will be the only night that it is totally silent in my house at this time. why you ask? because tomorrow is the first day of school, and all clothing is neatly set out and backpacks are full of the endless amount of items that one must bring these days. babies are asleep and i don't even have one tv on. i know. crazy.

in an effort to continue my productivity today i organized and cleaned out the kids closets. they weren't here for the afternoon so i promptly took the time to pull out any faded, too small, ripped or stained clothing and put it in dark bags so that i didn't have to hear "but that's my favorite...." 54 times when i know good and well that the item would fit either 2 year old it's so old. yay me. i even had time to unload and re-load the dishwasher, pick up the dining room where everything seems to get left and refold all the blankets mick mick pulled out of the blanket trunk in the living room. 5 minutes after the big 3 got here, it looked like i hadn't done a thing.

i'm trying something new this year. for some reason there is a huge fight every night on who takes the first shower. i do not understand this, because if you were a child and you actually thought about the fact that you are in a family with 5 children and 2 adults and all 5 children took showers in the evening, then you would quickly deduce that the first shower gets an entire showers worth of hot water. however, this never ever ever happens and we fight about it. constantly. so this year, initials are going on the calendar and if yours is up first there is no fighting or sighing or rolling eyes or TRADING either. it is the law.

i am a bit sad that for the next 9 months my alarm clock is set to go off every week day at a much earlier hour than i would like. i am spoiled. i suppose the amazing thing that i love love love about having your own company with an office off of your house is that you can sleep till the little ones want to get up and then roll on into the office in whatever you want. usually that is in the 7 o'clock hour. however this summer we had them sleeping until 8ish and that was the coolest thing ever. since school begins at 7:30 my alarm is set a few hours early. i will try really hard not to be cranky in the morning when it goes off. blah.

mike gets home tomorrow night. i cannot wait. i've missed him so much this cd release. he's in for a few nights and then gone for another week....and then my friends....normalcy returns....(okay well as normal as this life we have can get)

the ice maker on the freezer is out. i forgot to get ice when i ran to the grocery store this evening to get any remaining "lunch making" items we needed. i also forgot miracle whip. i didn't tell jordan this. hope he likes ranch dressing on his ham sandwich. i know you're thinking "why didn't she make a list?", i did, mick mick was playing with it while we were in the aisle debating blue vs black binders and i thought i had everything after the 10 min long debate that exhausted me to the point of finding the nearest check out lane and getting out of there quickly.

tomorrow's menu request for 1st day o school breakfast is blueberry muffins. before you people think i am so awesome of getting up and making these from scratch you should probably do a shot of tequila or two and realize that i am taking the processed crap from martha white and dumping it into a bowl and mixing with water. i overachieved today cleaning out closets....making blueberry muffins from scratch would be way too martha stewart of me. and she gives me hives.

Music to check out: Radney Foster - This World We Live In - I'm obsessed with the song Kindness of Strangers right now. the lyrics are just so wow.

on another note

am i the only one who sometimes misses the original iron chef. i do like everything with americanized ingredients, but i miss the translator man who would say "qui- san" 50 times per episode. the passion in which he said this has not been matched by alton brown.

yay for productivity

i have come to the realization that as of right now, what you see is what you get. in terms of how this blog thingy works. in other words, i totally suck at making this look nice. i am sure as the weeks and months go on in this journey the light bulb on making it look good will come on or i will stumble upon the instructions that seem to be hiding on how to make this look nice. i know jack squat about html. just enough to get me in trouble by deleting really important parts of code. so all this being said. get used to it.....it's the best i got right now.

today was pretty productive. i added more to the puzzle that is the floor. really it's not a puzzle, but rather my ass being lazy on finishing the dang thing because 459 other things are consuming the top of my priority list. hallway is almost done being re-floored. if the kids think i'm crazy now, wait till the hear me standing on the ladder yelling 'victory is mine' when i finish it. i also got quite a bit of laundry done - this is no small feat so do not scoff. there are many of us in this household and lots and lots of laundry is generated. you know, i do think that the purple jump suit people that offed themselves waiting for the mother ship were onto something. they didn't have to sort anything. all the same color. the little ones would love this. however the middle one would protest much i do believe as it had no glitter or sparkles and not one ounce of "cute" in a purple sweat suit. heeey, do you think if i did this they would put me on "what not to wear" cause that would be fun to go grown up shopping. more on this later as i need to work on perfecting my "surprised" face when they show up to tell me that making my kids wear all the same color of stuff is a wee bit eccentric.

i get to cross off of my list "go to mens warehouse". not that i ever wanted to go there much, but our friend kevin was in need of some female style guidance (purple jump suit - seriously) on some dress clothing and knew i wouldn't let him walk out of there in anything resembling an outfit that is going to have him on the pages of glamour with his eyes blacked out. i had pre-warned him that we had a 30 minute window before the little ones revolted sitting in their stroller in a store with nothing to interest them and that it wasn't really a store where one could bring goldfish to tide them over. it was pretty painless. i trained him well on what colors to say and what to tell the salesman before we went in. however, i did almost fall over into the shoe trees when the sales man put a "sport coat" on him that made him instantly look like a 79 year old man. it was all i could do to not giggle. i just wish it had the suede ovals on the elbows....

mick mick's favorite new phrase is 'alll aboooard'. he's obsessed with trains right now. i love love love this phase in little boys. so we went around yelling his phrase all day. it makes him giggle and i love his giggle

we also ate popcicles outside this evening. it wasn't 100 degrees out so it was perfect. see - that is productivity.

school starts monday. i'm ready and yet not. i really really hope that this year is better for jord than it was last year. i feel like last year i was frustrated all year and he was only frustrated when it came time to be accountable for his grades. i'm trying new tactics and new approaches and hopefully it works. he's such a smart kid, it's infuriating when he doesn't even care to try.

so here's to new beginnings....new week, new school year, new blog, and me going to new york to get new clothes (kidding on that one)

is it insane

that i am this happy. of course there is always room to grow, learn, teach, become better each day. but i have the most fabulous not to mention hot husband. children that are healthy and happy and make me laugh really hard each day. family that loves me and keeps me going. work that is always exciting and really hard. friends that are some of the best people to walk this earth. and inspiration in the little things.

thank you Lord for everything I am blessed with. i am one blessed woman.

starting off

I think that this could be good.
Stay tuned as I figure this thing out.