Birthday Party and Game Night

Yesterday M had her birthday party. We had around 15 little girls hanging out here. I had this idea that they would make a classroom set of valentines. I spent forever cutting the paper as some boy (that would be T) disassembled my paper cutter and lost part of it. I borrowed a bunch of stamps from a super crafty neighbor. I had this idea. The girls would layer a plain color with a cute stamp on top of the super cute patterned paper. Then they would color in the stamp and make it all cute. Hmmm.... these girls liked to just stamp away on the cute paper. It made them not so cute and I commented to one of the little girl's mom who was waiting. She laughed and told me that her daughter had told M how cute they were. I guess it doesn't matter if they were my idea of cute if the kids that age think they are cute. The party wasn't long enough though and we sent kids home with ice cream in a cup. My cupcake creation wasn't stellar but it wasn't horrible and the kids all seemed happy as can be.

We had some big break downs from the two that are most inclined to have them. One hung out with DH upstairs and the other saved hers for later. At one point I called a babysitter to see if they could be watched. She said she could and then called back and said she couldn't because she forgot she had a big assignment due on Monday. I don't know if was a good thing or a bad thing.

Then, last night we went over to some friends' house and played Carcasonne. They had invited another couple and their kids over as well. The three men all work at the same job and have gone wakeboarding together. I was thrilled that the 'new to me couple' was plenty friendly and easy to get along with. Sadly, they are ditching our state and moving to AZ. We still had plenty of fun though and stayed until about 1 in the morning (or maybe that was when we got home... I don't do well with remembering things that late). So anyone who knows us well would know that we must have been having fun because we are strict 10pm bedtime people.

Sunday was Sunday. (Profound I know!) My choir did well enough singing. Our bishop did a fifth Sunday lesson on hope. It was a good lesson for me as I have been feeling a little on the hopeless side (hence less blogging). It just seems like every day gets stuffed with the same stuff. How many times can I write those things before it feels like I am caught in time? Anyway, I left church with a bit more hope, at least hope for the eternities and the possibilities then. But the best part was after church when I had a packed house for choir practice. Okay, it was at church... but I had a ton of people there. This choir job isn't my cup of tea quite frankly. I don't sing. Well, I sing, but not well. I have never been in a choir and can't keep to the alto part (my range) for any song without somehow switching to soprano. Even worse is the fact that I HAVE to depend on other people for this church job. It's not like I can just go and sing some solo with my icky crackly voice. So I often feel apprehensive that we will have enough people there to sing. Once, last year, we had a practice before singing at church and I had one soprano and that was my own daughter who has a little girl voice. Luckily, when it came time for the real thing many people showed up that had come to a practice or two. Still, it totally stresses me out to have to depend on people. You can imagine how relieved I was when we had something like 25 people at practice on Sunday.

One other interesting thing I found out at church is that there are more people doing 'my' diet than I thought. Everywhere you look there is someone doing it. One lady with whom I talked was worried about the luau they are planning. "What if nobody can eat?" I told her not to worry. Plenty of people at a luau will be eating :)

Cheese

Of course there are plenty of days to talk about. I had a highlight to mention last Friday. I helped T clean his room until late. It was splendid to have the time with him. Crazy? I know. But it was great to have it be just the two of us.

D had the super rocky of all rocky weekends and a very very rough beginning to his week at school. His teacher sounded weary in the email for the first time this year. The good news is that today he went to school angry, handled it appropriately and had a good day. HUGE VICTORY! There were some big high fives after school.

C peed her pants at the grocery store today. Luckily, M told her she could borrow a shirt today and I let her wear that shirt under her coat. I mean, heck, they are only 7 years apart. I was glad she she needed it to cover her behind.

S had a friend over today and managed to survive without too many issues.

And T, he finally is ready to race 50s his coach said. WTG little guy!

More on M's birthday and other things later.

As for me, I am looking at trying to make macadamia nut cheese this week. It's a bit bizarre but I think I want to give it a try. If it's decent, DH will be thrilled.

The Snake

Today really wasn't too bad. I took the younger three with my to the psych for a follow up appointment. I didn't let myself get intimidated and told her how I had adapted her advice. She seemed happy enough and I was glad. She did use manic depressive to describe S. I'm still hoping that isn't the case and that she is just still learning to regulate things. That's what the psych said last time. So I am hoping she meant manic depressive tendencies or something like that. D showed some of his frustration when talking with her. She said she has an idea about him but wouldn't divulge that until I can get his angel school teacher to fill out forms again now that she knows him better.

On the way to the psych we passed a man out in a Statue of Liberty costume trying to get people's attention. Don't they know that most people just do not have their tax information yet. Anyway, D asked me about him and I told him that he was trying to get people to come and have their taxes done there. So then D wanted to know about taxes and I told him (okay, this isn't really the whole picture but the kid doesn't need to know all of the details) that we pay money so we can have roads, policemen, judges, etc. and sometimes other things we don't all thing are important. I said at the end of the year we get back the money the government took that it isn't legally allowed to keep. D said, "So you mean they are stealing." He was quick, that boy!

I dropped D off at school and brought S home with me. There just wasn't enough of preschool to make it worth going back to pick her up. The girls were thrilled because I took my coupons downstairs and cut them while I let them play. S was especially thrilled and did very well for quite some time. (Oh and I got all of the way caught up on my dang coupons. I'm so pleased with myself.)

Then the fun started. S went upstairs to use the restroom and found that not only one bathroom toilet was clogged but the second was as well. (The only thing left in the basement to finish is a bathroom and it hasn't been high on the priority list.) I looked and lo and behold... ewwwww! I rushed her to the neighbors' house and then came back to work. I just couldn't unclog them and after having them overflow I was so grossed out. The other kids came home from school and started arguing and I had had it. I finally told them to do their homework and quit talking. No, you can't have another snack. No I won't be able to have you cling to my leg right now. No, I don't care that so and so is by you. I'm gagging away kids. Can't you see.

It didn't work and just grossed me out more. So I left. I drove the carpool to ballet and made everyone get out and use the restroom. Then we came home and I borrowed a snake from a neighbor. It's a pretty cool contraption. It took a few tries but the thing did the trick for the most part. (I don't know what is going on in my bathroom because it's still not quite right.) I only ended up making eggs and bacon for dinner as I just was out of time with all this toilet stuff.

Then it was see ya later kiddos I am going to book club time. We read These Is My Words. I hadn't finished but cheated and looked at the end. It's actually a really great book and the grammar didn't bother me like it used to. (Hmmm... that shouldn't surprise anyone who reads this as my grammar stinks now. I will not edit!) It was fun to get out of the house. I started the book and read the first 250 pages or so in the night and thought I could for sure finish today. But then I had my snaking to do.

And lastly, I went to the grocery store in the freezing wind to try to score some decent deals. They were out of what I went for so my friend and I politely asked about it and they were just unloading some from the dock. 15 bottles later I was so happy. I also really wanted some Cheetos but had to settle for a deal on All. I ended up with a not so healthy looking basket.... 15 bottles of All, 4 bags of tortilla chips, one pack of tortillas, at least 15 lbs of bacon,6 boxes of Keebler saltines, a bunch of spinach, and 4 lbs of sausage for 50 something buckaroos. I felt a little guilty to be buying pretty much and entire pig there but it does make for nice weekends in our casa and DH loves that stuff (okay, I love bacon too and had to sit and smell my hands again after I cooked tonight). Does it help that on Tuesday I only bought produce. And even better, my friend also tried to give me some ideas for M's birthday.

So that was the day. It really wasn't so bad. After last week even having to tango with the snake wasn't so horrible.

Now dealing with the big bad tax snake though, that is horrible.

Movin' on Up

I think S switched. I hate to be too dang hopeful but she made it most of the day with just normal kiddo problems. She seemed so happy (okay, over the top happy but that's how she is... nothing is in between). She kept giving me huge squeezes today and would exclaim, "I am sooooo haaaaappy!" (Not with a stuttering effect, more of a drawn out one!) I hope she keeps it up. It's is MUCH more fun being around her when she if feeling good.

D, on the other hand, is still in a bit of a rut. He got into a fight at school today. He struggled when he got home and then I think I may have hit something when I talked to him. I told him how sometimes my job isn't what I want it to be. Once in a while I really just want to take the easy way out but that Heavenly Father gave me this important job and he expects me to do a good job. I told him helping raise the kids in our family is my most important job and that all the screaming in the world can't keep me from it. It seemed to connect somewhere with him. He may lose the connection the second he gets angry but for a small second we connected and I felt his pain.

M was funny. She and DH were talking about her upcoming date. DH was eating an orange. She stopped him and told him that he seemed more interested in the orange than the conversation. He told her she was like me. We all laughed.

T and I didn't get to hang out too much today as he spent a chunk of his time cleaning his room. I don't think he really got anywhere with it. He is so easily distracted. Hmmm... wonder where he gets that?

And C, she was a little spitfire. Boy oh boy do toddlers have wild emotions. This morning she played at her best friend's house though and had so much fun.

DH came home so I could drive the dance carpool. I told M that maybe if she didn't get her room clean I would come and take her ballet class. (It was supposed to mortify her.) The girls in the car tried to turn it into me taking a ballet class with them and ice cream after if she didn't clean her room. I think I'll pass.

Once again, the reminder was to not give out a threat you aren't willing to follow through on. I failed for a second but luckily lots of laughter from them saved my keester.

Back to School :)

It's not really changing yet. I'm a little hopeless at the moment but luckily, from my history, I know that will change. I'll scrounge up a little hope and that will feed a little more.

It went like this for the kiddos.

M- She lost a tooth at school and thought it was so fun to surprise her dad. She also informed us that the tooth fairy forgot about her last time. Earlier today I said to C that she had "scared the dickens out of me" and M said, "You mean like Charles Dickens." What a goof!

T- He spent a good chunk of his time fighting practicing his instrument. He would manage a bit and then get distracted.

D- He started out the day hard and it just got harder. He came home and announced that he "had a good day at school" and then realized I had an email from his teacher. (Even if I didn't have the email I would have had an idea it wasn't the best because he offered up that without being asked.) He finally stopped screaming about 9:30 and went to sleep. Nothing is fair and everything is someone else's fault.

S- She started out her day a little rough but seemed to turn it around and for that I am grateful. Maybe it's the beginning of better times. She was a little trooper going from place to place with me today.

C- She was a turkey. She gave my dentist a cute little smile today and he offered to let them pick out of the treasure chest. She had six things when I came out. Nice try kiddo but no go. She changed her clothes midday and went from a cute little outfit to a red skort that is for Sophia NEXT year and an old size 6x sweater of M's. They were too big but I just wasn't in the mood for a fight. I took her to the grocery store like that.

Yesterday I realized that I hadn't picked up the sheet from violin last week that had their group times on it. It was such a crazy day. But I thought I remembered 3:30 as being D's time. So right after school we packed up the kids to go to a neighboring town for lessons. The bummer thing was that his lesson wasn't until 4:30. Their teacher quickly told me T's was at 5 and M's at 5:30. That was a tiny problem because I had to pick up the dance carpool back in my town around 5 (I thought I would have time after the first boys' lessons). So we went to the store with all cinco of them and it wasn't too bad. They were of course forewarned that they were to beg for nothing because I was buying fruit and veggies and that was it. They longingly looked at the candy near the checkout but managed not to beg for things. It's always nice when you can escape without that. The rule in our house is that you never get something with begging anyway but they seem to forget that.

We dropped of D and T (trusting T to sit through D's lesson because I could not be in two towns at once) and zoomed back to my town to throw in some wash, grab D's dance clothes, and pick up the carpool. It totally worked. We got back to D after his lesson was over and cruised on over to dance and then zoomed back to violin to start picking up the older two. (These two activities are in different towns as well). The only bad news was that M actually was supposed to be in a lesson at 4:30, when D was in one and she had to play with younger groups. I don't mind though because yesterday when she went to video her 'audition' for graduation from her current violin book they told me she was the strongest of the day so far. Good job little Miss Boccherini.

As I was coming home I saw a package on a friend's doorstep. I didn't want it sitting there unnoticed so I opened her garage to put it in there. The bad news was that her cat (once a stray) thought it was a great time to snuggle up in a warmer garage. What do you do with a cat that doesn't want to leave a warm garage for a cold porch? You let it stay in the garage, shut the door, and set the timer at home to remind you to go and check on it. Later that night after the first three were in bed (okay, two in bed, one screaming his lungs out) I went down to see what I could do. I had to chase the poor little thing out. I would have just picked it up but am allergic to those furry things and am just not in the mood to have hives or swollen eyes. Dang little cat! But I can't blame him. It's cold outside.

Speaking of cold. Weather.com gave several hours of 100% chance of snow when I looked last night. I don't think we even had a single flake. They are losing my trust and I used to be so devoted to them.

And to think I thought this would be a short entry. Even boring and mundane events take up a bunch of space. Imagine what would happen if my life were interesting!

Where do rabbits live?

That question put today into a tailspin. I don't need to go into it because I will surely remember just from writing that.

Today in Relief Society the lesson mentioned how it is through our trials we learn patience, endurance, and charity. I'm so not an expert in any of these. And to think I keep wondering why things are still so rough. The person who gave the lesson did such a great job and got me thinking about my life and what it's purpose is.

I'm so glad the kids are all in bed. It took a while for things to quiet down tonight. What a blessing a quiet house can be after a rough day.

And now I rest. Whew! I will check on T to make sure he is breathing well and then rest and hope things are a little better tomorrow. I'm not counting on it, but it sure would be nice.

Funny M the IMer

M wanted to use the computer so much today. There was a stipulation of course. DH needed to be on his computer too so she could IM him. DH told her that they might as well just talk like regular people. That didn't satisfy her. She didn't really want to talk. She just wanted to be a little techie.

Finally when she got a chance to use the computer she started asking for a cocoa milk shake. She typed a few things and then went to make it and T hijacked her spot. What is it with IM and these kids.

The rest of the day passed easily for me. I ended up running errands with T. I think he only came because he hoped for a cookie at the grocery store or at Target. He ended up with one at both places. But he somewhat deserved it for going to Target, the health food store, Costco, the grocery store and the dollar store. What in the heck would I be buying at the dollar store? That would be starch. We go through the stuff like crazy because DH likes crisp shirts. It's 1.89 at the grocery store and just a buck there. What a big fat waste of money!

M had a good day. D had a good day for the most part. T had a pretty good day but didn't get breakfast until almost noon as he just would NOT finish his chores. C was too dang cute but did end up in her room once for spitting when she wasn't getting her way. When I opened the door she was in her Sunday dress. I guess she wasn't too bored in there.

And then there is S. She woke up happy. She seemed fine. And then she didn't get her way and everything went downhill. Let's hope this stubbornness is good for something some day. She just couldn't stay out of time out. Then there was the time I went back to let her out and she was behind the door (whatever, I don't care where she is in her room when she is in it.) I said to her something to the effect like, "Okay, you can come out now." And she got mad and pushed the door shut and said, "No!" So I said, "Fine you can stay in a bit longer." Then of course she regretted what she said. But she does this nonstop. If you give her to the count of five to do something she always glares at you until you are on the last number and then decides to move with the speed of a tortoise when she KNOWS that it just won't cut it. It's the control freak in her. Anyway... after she took a clippity clop (Sunday shoe with a fancy heal... otherwise often known as mary janes) and started banging her wall I was done. I went in and took the thing away and told her it was too bad she wouldn't be able to have those fancy shoes anymore. If she is going to put more dents in her already dented wall then she can wear tennis shoes to church. Okay, most likely it'll be rubber soled slightly less fancy mary janes. But I am tempted to let her wear tennis shoes tomorrow.

And then I left to go shopping and left her for DH. She didn't change all day. She's in a rut. At bedtime I finally talked to her about it and she gave me the, "I just caaaaaannnn't tell the truth. I just caaaaaaannnn't stop being mean." Then she asked me to take the picture of Jesus out of her room. Me: "That's a bummer because I can't trust you with nice things. I can't let you have things in your room because you use them to hurt the walls. That's not very fun." S: "Maybe I should just tell the truth and stop doing naughty things." Me: "Yep, if you want." Then I pushed on her back (like deep tissue massage) and she told me she loved me. I wished her a good night and told her I hoped tomorrow would be better. I felt guilty all day that I couldn't make it better. I would love for her to be happy but she just can't seem to be. When the switch happens it will be very apparent. But I can't force it. Who would have ever thought that a cute little curly haired kid could be so troubled.

We were invited to play games again tonight. I was a little bummed that we couldn't go because we really enjoy it. But S was a little to out of it today. Hopefully she'll snap out of it so we can all have fun.

A day of relief

Yesterday was a FABULOUS day (it took me three times to get that spelled correctly).

My kids don't get to watch much television. There just isn't time for it and well, we have super basic cable so they don't get to watch the stuff on Disney or Nick anyway. I figured if I got a babysitter and gave them full permission to veg out in front of the television they might just be good.

I had a babysitter come over before 8 so I could go shop super Target toy day. There was really heavy fog on the way and it slowed me down just a bit but I managed to get there in time. There was one bit of bad news. Usually most of the Targets markdown their toys on the same day. This wasn't the case this year and my Target did it a day earlier (and I missed it). That meant that there were a bunch of people that went to my Target the previous day that showed up to the other Target. Grrrrr... but I can't blame some of them. Maybe they were hoping to get some special item. It's not those people that bug me. It's the ebayers. They try to snag all of the big ticket items and hoard them all. Unless you are going to run and humiliate yourself there is no chance of getting Legos or Playmobile in my state.

My friend Amy was there with her cutie pie little girl and we set off. I didn't get any of the things that were high on my list. But it was fun and I did get some good things to use as my filler gifts for the kids. It wasn't the same as getting that perfect gift for chump change but it was still really fun. Amy scored on birthday gifts for people and her sister came and found some things she could use as well.

I drove home and found everyone was well and happy. I cleaned house until.... this deserves a drum roll.... I got out of the house again. The same sitter came. Two friends and I went to Jason's Deli for lunch. They even served my side of apples on a cute little bed of lettuce instead of in a cup. How dang nice is that! (My chicken wasn't so cute and still had it's home in a cup.) We had fun chit chatting and well, I have to admit I almost coveted my friend's baked potato. I'm a potato type of girl and I would almost kill for one right now. And hers was about the size of a football (or so it seemed). I couldn't complain though because heck, my apples were on lettuce and well, I was glad because I ate that too :)

Then we went to a total chick flick movie. I'm not usually a movie person. I abhor going into the movies when it is light outside and coming out when it is dark. That pretty much takes out all evening movies for over half of the year. But these friends know I am funny about that and so we either go when it's light and will stay that way or when it is dark. Quite frankly, we could have just sat in a warm car and I would have been thrilled. I got to talk to two adults with no kiddo interruptions.

We stopped at Old Navy on the way back home and they price adjusted my receipt almost 90 buckaroos. Now I can put all of the things I bought on Thursday away for next year. I am going to have to hide T's though as he will start trying to sneak his new clothes and they are just so darn big. I look at them and wonder how he can wear a 10/12 when school starts as it looks like a small man's size. But well, when you are tall and have a super tall husband you tend to have a distorted view of height.

Then it was home. It was the best 36 bucks I have ever paid to have the kids babysat. They were still watching television (are you sensing a theme for the day here) and that was okay with me as no one was hurting another. (It's hard to believe the older ones would watch PBS all day but they will.)

I started making some chicken for dinner when DH called. He was on his way home from the sand dunes and asked if we wanted to go play games. He got home and I dumped my chicken into the crock pot and we got everyone in jammies to head out. The kids were thrilled because instead of healthy chicken, they got chicken somethingrathers from Burger King. We picked up M from her pointe class and went over to play games. The kids were happy campers once again. Not only did they get to watch TWO more movies, but they also got popcorn. What a day! (They usually never get extra food after dinner unless it's desserts on Sunday.) T played the Wii for a while but then the tv drew him in to.

And we had fun playing Carcasonne again. It was enough fun that we even stayed up past our bedtime for an extra round. :) The kids were all asleep quickly on the way home and we put them straight to bed.

What a fun day. For most people that wouldn't seem like anything super extraordinary but for me it was a huge break from regular life. I feel more ready to day to handle whatever may come my way. And maybe the kids need a big break like that too. So far we haven't had any huge tantrums today.

Actually we'll see if the tantrums are going to start. S is in an area where she can't be without supervision.

And now 3 minutes later they have started. She's doesn't throw much of a fit as long as she is getting her way. But she didn't want to come upstairs and play and just started ignoring me. Hmm... that's too bad for her. I thought she might want to have a better day.

But I don't feel like it's going to kill me to deal with her. Some days are like that. After a break I am ready for it.

That was the best 36 dollars!

Maybe it is a habit and parent teacher conferences

Last night before going to bed I added in a little prayer that if needed I would know to check on T. The air quality here has been worse than horrible to and it finally seemed to be catching up to his lungs. In the night I woke up once and didn't feel the urgency to rush downstairs. Then I woke up again and thought I had better.

I went down to his room and found him wrapped up in his blanket like it was a mummy sleeping bag on the hard floor of his room. He has two bunks in his room and this kid choses to sleep on the floor most of the time. Add to that the fact that his room is a wreck. I think the poor kid got his organizational skills from me. Someday I am certain he'll be cursing me.

Anyway, I unrolled him so I could watch his neck as he breathed and he seemed to be breathing just fine. (Maybe there is something to sleeping on an uncomfortable hard floor.) But I couldn't just go back upstairs. He was so quiet and still and that is a rarity for this kid. He rarely holds still. And it gave me a chance to reflect on the day.

Today was parent teacher conference. I went to D's first. I was told like always that he works very hard at school and hates to get things wrong. This is right up his alley. He also had an assignment from his centers that was a very detailed skeleton picture (the outline was a body and the bones were all inside). I guess he's really into skeletons. The subject was to write about your favorite sport. That's kind of how D is. If he gets a bee in his bonnet about something he just seems to have to do it his way. When I got home he asked if I had seen his skeleton. It didn't seem to matter that he hadn't done what the assignment was. I didn't harp on him and told him it was a really nice picture and story, but I wondered when it was going to start talking about his favorite sport. He was thrilled with what I told him about my meeting with his teacher and I wasn't going to rain on his parade.

Then I went to T's. T's report cards are almost always the same academically as well. Everything is top notched except handwriting usually and the obeys the rules/stays on task. Once again. Same ol' same ol'... His afternoon teacher teacher said that I had once said, "You'll know when T is bored." The time has come. I guess T is a bit of a class clown and loves to have every one's attention. The problem is (other than the obvious fact that it's rude to act out) his work isn't always done. She mentioned that she asked him why he was acting out and he told her he was bored. She questioned it a bit as he wasn't always finished. I told her that, although I am not condoning his actions, it is possible to be bored and not have one's work done just because it's too easy and well, he pretty much knew all of what he has done in math before school even started. I said to not worry, I think she is doing a good job but it's hard to not be bored when you either have known a skill for a year already or you understand it in a minute instead of a week. However, we all have to learn to stay on task for something that isn't always super engaging. It happens in every one's job and is pretty much a life skill. They agreed and are planning on getting some math games from the older grades so he can move ahead and have some fun. Then one of his sweet teachers gets a little teary (like eyes going wet and red) and tells me that she wants us to know that they really love T. She reiterated to me how he is so kind to everyone, especially a little girl who is picked on by just about everyone. She said she can't believe how mean kids can be in second grade and that T just isn't mean. It makes me a little teary as I type because that's my boy. He's lucky he has that quality as it makes me forgive his shenanigans in class a bit.

M's parent teacher conference went as expected. Her teacher said she was fabulous. I worried about one test item in math on a standardized test. I have to admit, if it isn't a 100 percent for her I make this little mental note that we need to work on things. Her teacher said not to stress about it as they haven't actually learned the material yet this year. Her goal for the quarter was to turn in her reading calendar for the semester on time. She couldn't come up with anything else. Maybe the goal should be trying to figure out a really good goal. Then her teacher makes me laugh by telling me M told her she did have a secret surprise goal for her teacher. It turns out she is making her a book.

(Blogging interrupted for a little middle of the night snuggling with C.)

S struggled all day today. She can't get out of her funk. I had to pick her up from preschool early so I could make it back to the school on time. She wasn't happy because she was going to miss snack time at school and flipped from her preschool personality to her for mom one. Her favorite preschool teacher saw it and her eyes got huge. People just don't believe that she has it in her. Then S went outside and threw her backpack on the ground and started a little fit. It's bummer she didn't want to take care of her backpack. I'll have to take care of it for a few days. I just wish I could say what triggered the last week because just maybe we could undo things. I'm hoping in the future that maybe writing down the boring details of life here might help me to figure out the puzzle of her mind.

And C today... she was a three year old. I went to Old Navy because rumor has it that today starts an extra 50% off their clearance. Old Navy price adjusts. So I went in and bought my 30 items today in hopes of taking my receipt back. I had S in my cart because she was being snippy with me and C was kind of wandering around. She got a little to wild playing with my friend's little girl and the two started zooming. Immediately my friend goes after them. C had grabbed a bunch of women's underwear and was leaving a trail on the ground as she ran. Needless to say, my friend grabbed her by a ponytail and made her put them back.

(C just took one last kiss and went back to bed.)

So I am thinking that just maybe it wasn't T's breathing that made me want to get up. I hadn't done my habit. I needed a little time for reflection and I just hadn't gotten around to it yesterday. I'll admit, I spent more time than needed just watching T breath. He's so dang sweet when he is still and even the disaster that he calls his room couldn't distract me from remembering his teachers teary eyes as she talked about him today. I really always thought we would get a few tears out of his teachers. I just always thought it would be for a different reason.

Even though so many days feel like failures I think we must be doing something right. I'm glad I could watch T sleep and remember that.

A quick one

Let's see. It was a normal day today so I won't go into behavior problems. I was a little on the discouraged side for a chunk of the day. Then came preschool :)

I took M to buy some new pointe shoes. She loves them and I am glad she is happy. Here's to hoping her feet love them tomorrow when she tries them out. They were a chunk of change though. Her feet had better love them.

I got to drive to dance tonight. DH was kind enough to come home and watch the kiddos. It was a nice break to drive the carpool.

And that was the day. Well, actually that and about a 1/3 of a head of cabbage with sambal oelek (or whatever it is called) and Braggs amino acids. YUM! Oh and my English toffee stevia came today. It's dreamy stuff. It makes me want to go out and buy every single other flavor.

And that's the day.

Checkin' it off my list.

Whew!

The birthday is over and with it went some of the tantrums. Actually, they started back up but I think it's easier to handle them when you don't have some preconceived notion that things might be different as the entire world comes together to celebrate your birth. (See, the whole thing is far fetched.)

I signed the three oldest up for 4H today. Once a week they will go for 90 minutes after school. The boys will play sports and M will be in a card making class. (I got there late.) Even better, they give them their after school snack. And all of this from now until late April for five buckaroos a kid.

I also called and scheduled an appointment with the kids' therapist as well as a psych appointment. I can't get in until mid February with their therapist. Luckily, it will take less than two weeks to meet with the psych. I'm hoping it goes better than last time with her.

And that was the day. C and I went to Target to grab some 75% off clothes for next year. She was thrilled but then came home to tear the tags off of both hers and S's. Sorry kiddo, you can't have it all. The boys section didn't have near the markdowns and well, you don't buy things for a year in advance unless it's a splendid deal. I checked out the toys. My Our Generation kitchens were all gone. It was the one thing I really really wanted. Bummer. I haven't figured out how to do the Target toy shopping this week anyway though as I have both little girlies and also have to get the others out the door. I may have to skip my favorite day of the year this time around.

Oh I tried running like a barefoot person today. I was up until the wee hours of the morning looking at Barefoot Bob's website. I'm wondering if he is the guy that barely beat DH in his first marathon. It seems like it is him but maybe barefoot runners all start to look the same. Back to trying to run like a barefoot person.... It's totally different. Your legs feel so much lighter but there isn't any break on the exertion. I only went a few house lengths (X6 times) and well, I did have my shoes on as it is dang cold out there. But what a difference. At then end I switched my form and went back to doing it the other way and my feet just felt like bricks attached to the end of my legs. Anyway, I am going to tinker with it a bit more when my knee isn't hurting. I had better lose enough weight on this diet because you can't be some chunky monkey barefoot runner. It's just not the right visual. I don't think I could do the real barefoot thing. This skis on the end of my legs are just too dang long but I might be able to do the Vibram Five Finger thing one day.

Up for tomorrow is grocery shopping (woo hoo!) I won't be doing all of it because frankly, I am so behind on my coupons that I need about 5 hours just to catch up. But I will be doing the fresh produce type of stuff. Wednesday is by far the best day to do that and so I try to make it out. It seems that the cold weather has affected prices on many things already so I want to get what I can now.

Okay, really I'll confess. My diet gives me two apples a day and doesn't really specify the size. Really I just want to go from store to store until I have the biggest apples I can find.

And dang it, I really would like a good line finish this post off since the thing was so dang boring. (And it has big time competition from fellow boring posts on this blog.) I just can't come up with anything. And I am tired dang it.

Good night man on the computer screen with the crazy two toned mustache. It's the best I can do.

A Little Perspective

It's my birthday today. I'm old but luckily, only a day older than I was yesterday and that's not too bad.

Birthdays have been a bit of a curse for me. I can't quite figure it out but you wake up on a birthday and the day falls apart. S just couldn't come to grips with being civilized around others today. It sounds like exaggerating to say that she was pretty much defiant in everything she did but it's true. I wasn't in the holding mood and she just kept getting put in time out. I could let her continue to ruin things or put people in danger. I'd give her a chance to come out and she would last a few minutes and she would be right at it again. I finally decided to take a shower and told her to play as much as she wanted in her room, locked the door, and had C stay with me. I needed to keep C safe and I really didn't want to be the grimy mom on my birthday. It was the only option I had as my good friend wasn't home and I couldn't send S down there.

I had her come out and told her to come in my bathroom so I could do her hair so she could go to school. She went berserk and started running all over saying no I couldn't comb her hair. I let the natural consequence flow (and I am dang proud of this one) and told her that was fine she could go to school without her hair done. And then she started freaking out again. We are talking HUGE freaking out. It was the type that when my friend called I couldn't really hear a single thing she was saying.

But today was a day for preschool. I was going out to lunch and I wasn't staying home. She screamed all the way there and kicked the seat. We got there and she went in sobbing because her hair wasn't done. I felt find about it. It's not the end of the world if you go to preschool uncoiffed (I don't know if that is a word and I am not about to look it up.)

I went to lunch and then my friend dyed my hair. I had to get the gray covered up today as I start my diet tomorrow and I lose my conditioner. I didn't want to dye it on a day when I couldn't condition it.

I took the two oldest to violin lessons and dropped them off so I could go and pick S up at preschool. I thought maybe things were going to be better. She seemed to be back in her eyes (too hard to explain but I'll know what it is when I reread this next birthday). We went back to violin and I bundled her up and told both her and D they could play in the violin teacher's backyard while M and T finished their lessons.

It didn't take long before she was in covered in snow. D had gotten her with a snowball (which was a no no as I told them to just leave each other alone). I told her to come in and she could sit with me since it appeared that things weren't going well out there. Then she went ballistic. She started getting destructive and I had to just take her out and hold her. She didn't have her shoes on anymore because she was trying to kick me with her boots and finally I told her if she kicked again I was setting her down. So I did and told her to come after me so she could get in the car and warm up her feet. Once again a no go. 1 minute with feet on the cold ground (it wasn't that cold today) wasn't going to kill her. But why on earth didn't she want to just do what I told her when it made sense to go get in the car. Instead she commanded that I pick her up. I tried that before and she threw a fit so I wasn't going to do it again. She was however, going to interrupt the violin teacher's next lesson so I finally grabbed her by the armpits and encouraged her to walk to the car. I just helped her along.

Then she screamed all the way home. A friend called me (I don't usually get that many calls but with the birthday and all...) and I could tell who it was by the number but I couldn't hear a single thing because S's screams were so loud and high pitched. I wasn't able to get her into her carseat and so I put her in C's. (C stayed at my friend's house after she did my hair). She said she wanted to break the DVD player and kept kicking it. She was decking both M and D as each had a lucky spot next to her. I told them to stay as far away as possible but they just couldn't keep far enough away and I couldn't hold her feet and her hands and drive home at the same time. I finally told her that if she kicked the dvd player again or hit one of them she was going home, getting a glass of milk, and going to bed. I knew she had a soft pretzel with nacho sauce as a snack at preschool at 3:00pm and I knew she wouldn't starve.

But I hoped she would just be good.

So much for hoping. She did it for a few minutes and then she either gave up or decided she didn't care because she kicked the dvd player a bunch and really whopped D. Luckily that last thing was right as we were pulling into our driveway and D could get away.

I kept her in while I took T to swim team and as I was coming home I passed a friend who had been so nice to drop a treat off on my door while I was gone. She just wanted to pass along birthday wishes verbally so I stopped. Her eyes got huge and S kicked me from behind. She offered to come over once the kids were in bed so DH and I could go out. It was so kind of her.

But I didn't take her up on it. I think tonight sleep will be more useful and well, I just don't have it in me to clean my house enough to have a friend come over and watch my kids. That's too much stress today.

Instead S got her milk and got put to bed early. DH picked T up from swim team and brought me home some lovely roses. C got angry when I called them flowers. "They're not flowers. They're ROSES!" We mixed up the order and had presents first, then cake and then some roast that I had tossed in the crock pot. DH did an awesome job and found me the thinnest cake with the largest amount of frosting. I'm really all about the frosting on a cake. (I actually think he was a little bit appalled when we cut it and saw how much frosting was really on it.)

And luckily for me I get to eat what I want and have it be totally legal for the rest of today. Heck, it's even encouraged. But I don't really like eating like that and two days of it is enough. I'll be happy with my plain ol' chicken and and apples.

So I took that P.J.'S lesson to heart and looked up the last two birthdays. Today's was definitely better than the one two years ago. Maybe this keeping a record thing has merit. I wasn't thinking today would look good but it did look better than that day for sure.

We are making progress I guess. I am grateful to have a record to be able to recognize that. Without the record I would be wallowing in self pity and because of that record I can see that times are a bit better.

But next year I think I'll just skip the birthday talk until the day is over and see if it helps. Maybe if S doesn't know it's my birthday she'll ditch the fits.

For the sake of P.J.'S

Today at church a friend gave a great lesson at church and encouraged us to do our P.J.'S each day to get closer to our Heavenly Father. It made me feel great that I have been doing a bit better with this blog as it counts as the J for journaling. The prayer and scripture study will help too I am sure :)

S cracked me up earlier today. After church she brought me a picture that had "Jesus want me to" at the top and then she drew a picture of a circle inside a circle. Of course as the mom I was given the chance to figure that one out. I never would have guessed it though. I was supposed to guess "give a person a donut." I had to share her picture with a few people because it was worth such a laugh.

D gave a talk today at church. He sat down at the kitchen table this morning and wrote a short but pretty nice talk. It was about how his Heavenly Father loves him and other children. I asked him to leave out the last line though. He said something like, "But if you are really bad you won't go to heaven." I asked him about that and he said if you burn down a house you aren't going to heaven. I said that might not really be the case so how about he sticks to the loving part. He was planning on leaving those 3-11 year olds with a zinger at the end of that talk. He still ended with a hard day. I'm hoping it'll break soon. My plan is to call the psych tomorrow and get an appointment.

And with that I go to bed. There was more today including M trying to plan her birthday party for 19 people. I told her to work on her list and she asked if that meant she had to eliminate some. Nice verb kid!

I have done my P.J.'S for today. It's a good way to finish out my 36th year of life. Maybe I am finally starting to get it.

For the sake of the habit

I'll post for the sake of doing it and because I was a slacker and didn't yesterday.

Yesterday was super busy. I wasn't home most of the day. I had a little window of time but ended up filling it with pointe shoe ribbon sewing. (And then M said the shoes killed her too much and wouldn't wear them.)

Some friends taught us to play Carcasonne. We had fun while the kids had fun. What more could we ask for. Oh and the game is more fun than the real place. I almost took a tumble down some stairs at the real Carcasonne. As we were leaving Scott tried to play a trick on me. I shouldn't say tried because he actually did trick me. DH figured I would fall for it. I am so dang gullible.

This morning we had a baptism. I cried. I don't quite know why. It wasn't my kid or anything. In fact, it was a very 'busy' baptism because of all the little kids there. Then we went over and hung out with family. It was going well until D fell apart. I had to take him in a room where he screamed how everyone would at least hear how mean I was. It's oh so nice to have that public display of love. We thought he might break down today though as we broke his habit last night. But in reality, it was worth it to have a night playing games with friends. We just can't always be home every night for the rest of our lives. We'll have to settle on over 90 percent of the time.

And lastly, I got a babysitter for tonight. DH and I went out to a Japanese place. We were seated at a table (that's not the right word) or station with 4 high schoolers. We felt old. But the food was great and tasted fresh. I told DH he should take S on her date there. I think she would love it. (Although she really likes to go on her dates to the restaurant where only one person works and you order your food on a phone from your table... strange but true.)

And lastly, as I was waiting for my other computer to start up I thought about how it's pretty dang funny that our wallpaper has a guy with no shirt on and a two tone mustache. I kind of like having him in the picture for some odd reason. He's right between image something rather and a webscr icon.

And lastly, I left my camera at my in-laws' house. That means no more pics on my blog until I head up there. I was pretty bummed about that because I got a few nice ones yesterday.

And now good night. I feel like I should have my own rendition of 'Goodnight Moon'. But somehow I just don't think, "Goodnight shirtless stranger with a weird mustache." is a appropriate. (Nor is "Goodnight other people drinking beer.")

A Hit

The gift was a hit and a surprise :)

M was a little grouchy tonight. I kind of just left her alone and she finally admitted that she had left her new 'pet' at a friend's house. Off we went to fetch the super absorbent polymer. She was worried that the water wouldn't get changed and it would 'die'. She was thrilled to be reunited with her magic ball. She said that she thinks it's a he.

Oh and her friend is waiting for her to have babies.

I think she will be sadly disappointed.

Tamales anyone

I just bought two chicken tamales from a lady outside the craft store. Isn't it funny how I could trust some lady with the food we eat but I get antsy waiting for my kids to get home from school.

I found DH's present. He'll never come here so I can spill the beans a few minutes early. I bought him a pair of Vibram Five Fingers. He's mentioned that he was trying to run lifting his legs more and supposedly when you run barefoot it forces you to run more on the balls of your feet. I hope he likes them. And well, if not, then he can take them back and put the money on a new pair of running shoes. He's really hard to buy for because he likes really nice things but he also knows that most things really aren't needed. That need vs. want thing bites us in the behind all the time.

What else? I bribed the kids. I rented Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs from the Redbox. I told them that if they got the house picked up before DH got home then they could watch it. I figure this way they won't mess things back up :) Speaking of the Redbox, what did I do without that and how are traditional movie rental stores surviving. I rent movies much more frequently now that I can just drive up outside a Mickey D's and turn it in.

S was thrilled to help out. She must be feeling genuine today. She wanted to sweep the kitchen to which I said yes. And then she offered to clean the floors. I pretty much just said sure knowing that they would need to be redone. In the end it didn't matter because 3 of her friends showed up and the cleaning came to a halt. It's okay. She put in a good effort. I love it when she is like that. It'll be a nice change for DH to come home to that too.

C was a bit of a stinker today. She wanted a treat in the health food store. I told her she could either quit throwing a fit and help me with a cake at home or just not help. I think the worker felt bad and found some little fruity samples. I promise you the kid doesn't look starved. I did make it out of there with some vanilla soy powder (DH likes it made into hot cocoa), some shredded unsweetened coconut, and some coconut flour. I need to get cracking on whatever coconut flour cake I am going to make for the birthday celebration tonight. Luckily you never overeat on coconut flour items because they are super duper high in fiber. I love the stuff. It has to be my favorite find of last year.

And with that I part. My house is quiet and for I don't think anything bad is going on. My steaks are ready to be grilled. D is ready to leave for dance. Somebody pinch me :)

Wit's End

I typed that today after finding out that school didn't go so well for a grumpy boy. I keep thinking I am at my wit's end.

But what's up with that? I never really get to the end. I think I should just give up on that phrase because it's never going to happen. It's kind of one big lie when spoken.

S had a pretty good day today. This morning her best friend showed up at our door. I didn't mind if she came to play and S was thrilled. Her friend T came in and told me she was here for breakfast. I told her the kitchen was closed until lunch time. The poor kid! (I say that with a touch a sarcasm. I'm not always so great at getting that across.) During the fall she would come over and beg for my apples because they were so good. Hmmm.... mine came from the grocery store and hers were delicious ones off a tree in the backyard. I love that little kid though. I think I have said this before but she's holds a special little spot in my heart. She and Joshua had due dates that were a few weeks apart. She managed to come 5 weeks early and I had enough time to really love on her before having Joshua. Because I already loved her I could sit and hold her when my heart was so heavy. Any other baby wouldn't do it because the love had to be there before he came. I spent a lot of time holding her when she was a wee little one. So I'll admit, most of the time I want to act like a grandma rather than a mom and just give her what she wants. I think she knows it too.

We had a neighbor kid over after school. She walked in with T and I told them to both go down and read. It cracks me up that she will do that at our house.

M had dance. T had swim team. C told me that pork makes her feel sick while at the store, but then gobbled up her dinner. (She wanted a cookie there.) D had a hard day. I thought he was going to snap out of it today. I was ready for it. But, he wasn't and it doesn't matter what I am ready for if it's not his time.

And that was the day. Tomorrow is DH's birthday and I have yet to figure something out. I'll have a couple of hours tomorrow. I wish my birthday came first. Then we could just ditch both of them. But, like I always tell the kids, wishing doesn't really always matter. S realized it was his birthday and was bummed that she if off sugar for a few more days. She said something like, "Well, at least we'll have a yummy dinner for dad's birthday." I thought, "Dang it. I forgot I needed to come up with a yummy dinner."

Maybe I'll ground us all from sugar for my birthday so I don't have to make myself a cake ;)

Growing Up

Today C was throwing a big fat fit. She had taken toilet paper in the bathroom, gotten it wet, and then put it all over the walls. You can imagine how incredibly thrilled I was. I told her she had to clean it up before dinner and that just didn't go over well with her. She told me she hated jobs. Then she sobbed big crocodile tears. She continued with tears that looked real and asked to be held. I picked her up and she said, "People don't think I'm cute anymore."

Of course they think you are cute.

Just not when there is disgusting toilet paper on the walls in the bathroom.

(On a side note, she had me cracking up earlier today when, just as I was gathering up everyone to go pick up S from preschool she came out wearing a shirt and a rubber glove on one foot. She thinks it makes her a duck. But other than that she was naked. What a funny little thing.)

How's this for habit development?

Hmm... let's see. I wasn't mom of the year today. T's foot was feeling a bit better AND I drove them to school. How's that for sweet?

We got off to a rough start today. I can't remember what started things (oh actually that would be waking up but anyway) but D was struggling again. Now this is the thing. We expect this when there is change. It would almost freak me out a bit if the transition back to structured life went easily because he would be harder to predict. He was having a hard time staying out of people's business so as I was putting C's shoes on I asked him to go out front. (We were about a minute away from leaving.) Oh no, there was defiance and then he said he wouldn't go to school. Well little guy, that isn't going to work today because lucky ol' mom gets to go and spend 2 1/2 glorious hours in the dentist's chair while he rips a crown of and gets things ready for a new one. But I was also low on time because like every other day, things were stacked closely and I needed to drop them off, head for respite so C and S could be watched and then immediately go for my spa treatment at the dentist's. My reply (which wasn't a great one) was that he pretty much only had two choices because I couldn't wait around. He could go to school and hopefully have a fun day there or I could take him to the police station because he's legally required to go to school. Outside he went willfully. Then I found out he was climbing the stone on our house. It's a big no no and he knows that. It's destructive. I quickly explained that I wouldn't be able to let him go to a particular friends house for two days because I need to be able to trust that he won't climb on their rocky exterior. (Theirs is already breaking from climbing kids.) He proceeded to just kick the back of my seat in the car as hard as he could on the way to school.

The short story is that he is grounded from friends for a few days while he works on proving to not be destructive. School wasn't super fabulous for him either but he did make great strides with owning up to some behaviors there. It sounds crazy but that was my super proud moment. It's so dang hard for him to admit any little thing he has done wrong and so for him to admit a bigger thing is HUGE. His teacher is so wonderful with him.

A friend reminded me though that it always gets worse before it gets better. So there is the good news. It's getting worse and worse and if tonight is any indicator of the future, I think we may be on the getting better phase of this round. People just don't understand him and I can't say that I always do. But he CRAVES structure. Life has to be so predictable for him to feel comfy cozy. If we let him get away with things once in a while or stretch the rules it almost seems too much for him to bare. You can see why the holidays just aren't so great for him. I'm glad we'll be able to hopefully give him more of what he needs now that we are back to 'normal' life.

When I left the dentist's office today the receptionist asked me if my mouth was too sore. She knows life has been crazy for the last couple of years (not how crazy it really is... just crazy 5 kids with a couple that are adjusting kind of crazy). I told her it was fabulous. I got to watch an entire movie only being interrupted to open my mouth more or turn my head (and I barely heard that through the headphones). I managed to make it all the way through Sense and Sensibility. It's pretty dang relaxing to have your mouth drilled on if you can watch that movie. I noticed this time that House is in it. It took me a few minutes to realize where I had seen him.

M and I had a little time to practice her violin tonight. She was trying to keep up with a 6 year old on youtube. There are some awesome little players out there. Her teacher wants me to send her to Suzuki institute next year. It's just so dang spendy for a kid who will have barely reached double digits in age. (The teacher also always wants T to go but I am not sending him yet.) One week of institute is close to the cost of an entire years worth of lessons. I don't think we can send her unless she shows that she is really dedicated. She needs to know that it is a sacrifice for the whole family if she goes, both in time and money. My thought is that if she can get into the concertos in book 4 then just maybe I'll try to scrounge up the funds to send her and if not the camp can wait. But I did have fun watching her play. She told me she wants to take her instrument to music to play Devil's Dream of all things (fiddling tune). I asked her if she didn't want to play a new gavotte or something instead. (It's that bit of pride that I carry that I need to ditch.) She's not interested in showing off. She just likes Devil's Dream. And I just love that about her. This kid doesn't have to be better than other to feel happy. I'm a lucky mom.

What else? The rest of the day consisted of everyday things. Boring boring! Every time my mom calls she asks what I am doing and it's always one of two things. It's either the laundry or the dishes and that pretty much sums up a chunk of the rest of the day.

And look at this. My boring day is written down. That makes me feel like I have accomplished something. Oh and I should do the periodic reminder that I don't edit these, nor do I go back and check the grammar. I'd never blog if I worried about that.

Just to keep up

It's not that I have much to write. It's more like I need to write to make it more of a habit and this little blog will have to suffer through whatever comes off these fingers.

The kids went back to school today and I was crowned mother of the year once again.

There's more to the story of course. It started yesterday when D was having a rough day. Maybe it was anticipating going back to school. Maybe it was too much sugar. And maybe, just maybe it was simply time for a breakdown.

My morning started with T coming in sobbing because D had hit him in the face right where his face had that not so friendly meeting with the street. I cuddled T a bit (mainly because my bed was warm and I didn't want to get out). I figured that T had done something to encourage
D's behavior. T's a tease (what a sentence that is) and he most likely needs to learn to cut it out so that D will stop punching him, choking him, jumping on his back.... you get the picture.

So I'm not doing any massive blaming although I know that as much as T needs to not tease, D needs to not try to hurt people as much as he can.

And so the day went. We went to church. The kids all wanted to sit on my lap. I only have one dang it so the rotation started. I made sure I had D on there for a while. I wanted him to feel safe and hopefully help him to get over his grouchies.

That didn't work so well. The day ended with him threatening to hit DH with the broom.

So maybe we have a vision problem. DH is 6'6" and D isn't even 4' tall. Someone that small might pick a fight with T but he doesn't pick a fight with someone two and half full feet taller than himself. Then he zoomed into the bathroom and grabbed my Tarte makeup that I adore. It's thrashed because C got into it a long time ago but I still love it enough to use it almost everyday. He ran out the door and tossed it into the garbage. Like I said, he can't think when he rages.

And after about an hour we had a breakthrough. DH saw that he had his CTR ring on and mentioned something about it. D mumbled what it was and then some of the anger started to disappear. He managed to break away after only about an hour. That's really pretty good. D has a really sweet side to him. He can be so kind and helpful when he wants to be. I know he feels bad after having a horrible rage because he tries to make up for it by going overboard with kindness. I wish he could be reasoned with more once he starts cycling. But he really can't and I need to remind myself that there is no reason in that behavior and that we need to try to stop it before he lets it get out of control.

We may be the only family in our area that ends up with a year supply of CTR rings as part of our year supply.

So during all of this T rolled his ankle and started limping around. We iced it and it seemed like he was still pretty mobile.

This morning he appeared to be limping when I was around but once again was moving quite well when I wasn't 'looking'. So I sent them off to school. Then I find out from a friend that he was really in pain and limping. I let the kid WALK to school with a bad foot when it was about 20 degrees outside.

After telling the story and laying my guilt out on the line for a friend I was told that not only was I mother of the year but enough of one that I deserved a great sash. What comic relief. I may just have to make a sash and wear it on days when I feel like that. It could be my guilt sash.

I picked him up after school and he was still limping but not horribly. It made me feel better and the kids were happy to have a ride home. He even said that swim team was his favorite part of the day. The foot can't be hurting too much if swimming was the best party.

Well, either that or it was hurting so much all day that swimming laps was the best thing he could come up with.

I hope it wasn't the latter.

New Years

I'm going to try to be just a bit better at recording what is going on in our casa this year. The new year gives me permission to just start again and to not feel guilty about slacking off last year.

Today went like this.

I woke up to D practicing his instrument. I used my vidalia onion chopper to cube leftover ham for ham and eggs. I went downstairs and saw that the kids who were home yesterday weren't playing downstairs. They must have just been going from toy to toy tossing them on their sides. Those kiddos got to clean it up before breakfast. That being said, breakfast was pleasant.

I went to a great sale at Dillards. I mourned the fact that they didn't have a single Ralph Lauren shirt in the dress shirt section for DH. It's not that we care about the brand so much. DH is just really hard to match up with dress shirts and Ralph Lauren, my good buddy, made a single style that worked for him with his monkey arms. I have always waited for a good sale there and then would stock up on them because they are pricey. Well, so long my good shirts, you no longer have a home at my Dillards. I did manage to come home with a number of things though.

DH and I finished season 3 of Little Mosque. This morning when I told DH we were going to have to watch a bit C said, "Yeah.... Little Mosque!" She may be the only kid in our state saying that this year.

I made dinner and ewwww, I guess one of my stray hairs fell into it. That kind of killed DH's appetite for this first dinner of the year.

I went to the store to buy some neosporin like stuff. T and the other older two were sledding outside today and he wasn't careful enough. Needless to say, his face shows of a battle he lost with the street. He walked around for many (and I mean many) hours with a wet washcloth on his face.

Hopefully we will catch up on some sleep tonight. Last night I took C into the ER because she was belly breathing. We watched the celebration in NYC on the television there. We lucked out though and her SO2 rates came up while we were there. They were in the 80s when we arrived then hung out at 92 and then came up a bit. She came home with her own puffer and a sucker. She called us both 'scrumpies' while we were there. "We're scrumpy girls mom."

I'll be her scrumpy momma any day.