It's a momentous day around here.

Anne Marie got braces!!!

Yes, she's only 8. But she also sucked her thumb from the time she was conceived, pretty much. So we're starting early.



Isn't she gorgeous? I love this girl.

Outside comfort zones

Last week was sooo glorious!
My kids took care of the house.
I got to sleep in.
My kids took care of the house.
My vacuum died. But when I went to Goodwill looking for a used one,  I found a Kirby that someone had given away!
I have always wanted a Kirby vacuum. It lifts my carpet, it sucks so much!
Did I also mention that my kids took care of the house? I was able to get so much done for my upcoming basement boutique. It was glorious!

My mom for a day experiment was mostly a success. I found that 8 is a little too young to handle everything. But Charlie and the older girls did beautifully and I've decided that come summertime, they will each get a day a week all summer. It's wonderful for me, and they will know how to run a house when they graduate from high school.

I haven't told them this yet. I'm sure it will be met with much excitement. Ha!

Also, we had a momentous occasion around here. Jeff and Charlie wrestled.

You are probably scratching your head as to why this is momentous if your husband always wrestles with your sons.

Jeff has never really liked to wrestle with the kids. A little when they are young, but he is really such a gentle person and he doesn't "get it". However, we have talked a lot about why it is good for boys to wrestle with their dads.
~It is a bonding experience.
~It teaches them appropriate and fun ways to let off a little steam
~It is a bonding experience.
~It is a natural inclination for most boys to want to jump on their dad. Reciprocating helps them feel "normal"
~It is a bonding experience.

So on Friday when Jeff got home, Charlie said, "Hey Dad, lets wrestle!"

Jeff hesitated. I made encouraged him to do it. And I wish you could have heard the giggles. From Jeff.

It was really wonderful. Jeff was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe sometimes. Which gives one more reason why dads should wrestle with their boys.
~It's really good for their hearts.












Do your husbands wrestle with the kids?

I must brag

Can I brag just a little? Show off my awesome older girls for just a moment?



Yes, those are two report cards. Both straight A's, both 4.0's. They are up on my messy, fingerprint smudged fridge for us all to admire and ooh and aah over.

I am so proud of them because 4.0's were not a normal occurrence for me personally. I did well in school, but never THAT well. Jeff did. So I attribute a lot of their brains to him. I'm just so gosh darned pleased.

Plus, with six kids, good grades certainly help in the getting scholarships department. So, thanks girls for being so smart!

Have you ever just had enough?

I usually don't complain about my kids on this blog. I love and adore them and I am for the most part completely happy with who they are.

But sometimes a mother has had enough and you get to hear about it today.

We are on midwinter break. I love mid winter break because we can sleep in, hang out, eat cookies, watch movies. But I didn't want to start the week with a messy house and have that get all out of control and crazy during the vacation and end up being left to clean it up by myself when they went back to school.

So Saturday was clean up day. Kate was gone for 10 hours babysitting so she lucked out.

Julia was pretty good about doing what I asked and threw no fits.

BUT. My middle two, lets just say there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Even though Friday was the start of vacation so I let them do this:



And this:

And this:




And this:





Believe me when I say that it took every ounce of self restraint and desire to be a fun mom to let them do this. I just let them have their fun, take all the couch cushions off and just go for it.

So when I kept getting sassed about "why do we have to clean up?" and "why do we ALWAYS have to clean?" and "that's not fair!!!" I decided that some de-spoiling and a preemptive strike were due.

So I announced to the older 4 that each of them would have a day during break where they would be responsible for EVERYTHING. Every meal, all the dishes, trying to get other people to clean up after themselves, baths for little kids and dog, laundry, bread making, sweeping and vacuuming. They all just stared at me, kind of scared.

I told them they needed to know what it felt like to have NO help, to have to do everything. The older girls are good about helping me, so this isn't really about them. But it's still good for them to know that no matter what else you WANT to do, there are still things you HAVE to do. And when other people sit on their hineys and do nothing, it takes that much longer to get things done.

Today is Julia's day. She has already made breakfast, she is cleaning the kitchen as I type this, and then she will make bread. I have heard several sighs as I gently remind her what she needs to do next. I'm sure that is nothing compared to what my boy will say. But I REFUSE to raise a son who doesn't know how to clean, cook or run a house. That is not fair to his future wife.

I am lucky to have a husband who does his best, what he lacks in experience he makes up for in his true desire to lighten my load. And many a nights he has cooked, done the dishes and then put the kids to bed so that I can get other things done, or just have a break. And Charlie will be this kind of husband if it kills me!

So there you go. I will take pictures this week cuz how could I not?

And even if they don't learn some big lesson like I'm hoping they will, at least I get the week off!

It's done

She is still cute. But I miss her sweet, lovely, long blonde hair. I would run my hands through it every night as we snuggled and I sang Flower gleam and glow to her.

But she is a dolly, and I love her, and it will grow again.

Here is Henry, looking like all men do while they're waiting on a woman.




And here she is, the 3 year old who now looks five. My baby doesn't look like a baby anymore. Waaah!



Oh the joys and sorrows of motherhood. She is sooo dang cute, though, isn't she? Love that girl, long, short, or completely bald. She will always be my baby!

In the depths of despair

Nora cut her hair. Again.

But this time there is no hiding it or just leaving it. It's irreparably short. In a very obvious place.



So tomorrow will be the reveal of her new short hair cut. Boo Hoo!

And when did this happen? While I was upstairs showering. Jeff was working from home, sitting at the kitchen table. And Nora was at the kitchen table with scissors from our Valentine making activity.

Jeff is a very hard worker. So focused in fact, that he didn't notice Nora cutting her own hair.

I'm honestly not mad at him. They've all cut their hair under my watch. But it's quite comical that he was sitting at the table with her. That's all.

I'm not letting this ruin my Valentine's Day, but it's a challenge to be sure. I love her bouncy long blonde hair.

But I suppose I will love her new short, bouncy blonde hair too. *sob*

Until tomorrow.

Weekend annihilation

This is pretty much what my whole house looks like right now.





It's not exact because the camera is in Jeff's glove box. So I pulled a photo from Halloween preparations. Otherwise I would honestly show you what my house looks like after the weekend.

It ain't pretty.

I don't know when I got into the habit of not doing dishes and tidying up on Sunday night, content to say, "I'll do it tomorrow."

But somehow, that has become the norm and because of that, I hate Mondays.

And I kind of hate Tuesdays as well, because I never get it all the way back to normal on Mondays. Looks like it's time to re-evaluate the way I do things.

Since I don't have pictures of my annihilated house, I will instead share two stories about names that made me laugh.

We were talking about the kids names and how we decided on them. We were talking about Henry and how we had also considered Harvey and Harry.

Anne Marie pipes up and says, "Weren't you thinking of naming Henry, Mildred?" She was dead serious.

We laughed and laughed. No, we never considered naming Henry, Mildred. I honestly have no idea why she thought that.

The second happened on Saturday. We've been getting a lot of phone calls for some name that doesn't live here. Jeff had enough of it and told one company to please stop calling because no one lived here by that name and they call all the time.

So the girl asks him for HIS name so that she can put that in the data base so they will stop calling.

Jeff told her he didn't want to give her his name, (cuz we all know they will then start asking for him), but she said that she had to have a name. So he says, ok, "My name is Daffy Duck. Can you put THAT in your data base?" She said she couldn't, so he said, ok, how about John? My name is John. "

It was hilarious. Jeff is so kind and good, that when he acts sassy at all, it's because he is really fed up. So we'll see now if we get any more calls. I kind of hope so, it would be fun to add Barb Wire, or I.P. Freely to their data base.

Ok, I am going to try and get this place in tip top shape cuz tomorrow is VALENTINE's DAY! Aren't you excited?

I am. Even though I'm not eating treats, it will be fun to make cookies with the kids, give them yummy goodness in the form of chocolate and shower them with all of my love.

Have a happy day!

*At the gym today, I saw an ad for Komo 4 news that gave a glimpse of a segment they are doing at 11 o'clock about the dangers of fireplaces and small children. We had our own horrific experience with that. I almost started crying while on the treadmill. So because it still worries me, I'm reposting about our experience. Maybe it will keep someone else from letting their little one wander too close.*

Parenthood:Not for the faint of heart. Originally posted May 11, 2009

Saturday began beautifully. Clear, blue skies. Warm breezes blowing. Children trampoline jumping and bike riding. Delicious food eaten outside.

If only it ended that way.

We were enjoying a delightful visit with Grandma and Grandpa, Jeff's parents. Relaxing inside after the previously mentioned delicious food. The children were scattered throughout the house and the neighborhood, reading, playing with friends.

Why is it that in stories, these peaceful moments are interrupted with blood curdling screams? Sadly, such is the case in this story as well.

We heard Nora, crying a cry that meant only one thing: terrible pain.

We rushed to the family room where she had been. Kate was already bringing her to us, panic on her face.

"She fell against the fireplace and it's on!"

I took Nora from her, immediately looking her over, trying to find the cause of the screaming while asking "Why was the fireplace on?" The gas fireplace, warming in wintertime. But with glass that heated to temperatures that could burn.

As Jeff and I looked her over, we could see a layer of skin gone from a patch on her forhead, the instant blistering on her cheek. The immediate devastation as we realized that our baby, our sweet, tiny little girl was burned.

How badly we didn't know, but immedately it was clear she needed medical help.

Thankfully, Don and Donna were there. Donna calmly told us to just go and they would take care of the kids.

Jeff and I rushed to the car trying to remember where the nearest emergency room was. Too far away we came to find out. But there was an urgent care nearby. With Nora on my lap, writhing in pain (oh how I wish that weren't true!) we made our way through stop lights and traffic, trying to remain calm, I was unable.

I cried with her, I stroked the unburned side of her face. Repeatedly saying "I love you, I love you, I'm so sorry!" Even now, I can't type it without tears. I tried to keep her from touching it, and all the while she screamed.

Jeff dropped us off at the entrance and I ran in with her. As soon as I said she was burned they had someone take us back immediately. Jeff filled out the paperwork and then joined us. His own soothing words to Nora, his own grief filled face. Nora still crying in agony.

They asked us what happened. We tried to explain. We still don't know how or why the fireplace was on.

They looked her over. Was there damage to her eye since her eyelid was burned as well? We were forced as her parents, to help hold her down, while her tender eyelid was held open so that they could put drops in that would help to see if her cornea had been damaged. Thankfully, it looked fine.

But you must know, the entire time, Nora looked at me, looked at me with pleading to make it stop. To please help her, to rid her of the tremendous pain she was feeling. And all I could do was tell her I was sorry, that I loved her, stroke her little legs, kiss her. I was screaming on the inside, trembling with the effort it took to not scream outwardly at them to make the pain stop. To help her. All the while, her eyes locked on mine, begging for relief.

Then we saw her hands. Her left hand, a match to the left side of her face. Red, raw, blistered, twisting in a way that seemed to be trying to throw off the pain somehow. Her right hand, fingers blistered, not as badly, but still unbearable to look at.

Then thankfully, mercifully, the motrin given, the ointments applied. The crying slowed to a whimper. The exhaustion from all the pain and crying took over, and she slumbered in her daddy's arms.

And as we sat there, I could feel it. I could feel the prayer that was said on her behalf. And I told Jeff "They're praying for her. The kids, your parents, I can feel the prayer that they said for her" And I cried anew. Feeling the love that was pouring over us, for us. A loving Heavenly Father answering the prayer of Nora's brothers and sisters, of her worried grandparents.

And she continued to sleep. Peaceful. Safe.

They discharged us, told us to bring her back the next day for a recheck of her burns.

Again I held her on my lap on the way home. Her hands wrapped in burn cream and gauze. Her face glistening with anti-biotic ointment. I kissed her head, stroked her skin, melded her to me. My own personal agony still fresh inside me as I held this precious girl. But mindful, thankful that it was not worse. That we were bringing her home instead of sitting by a hospital bed.

At home, more prayers said, hugs and loves, and Nora settling back in.

She has second degree burns on her hands and face. We'll be taking her to Harborviews burn unit just to make sure. She's so little. Overly cautious we will be.

And yes, the fireplace has been turned off with the key. No more flip of the switch will ignite it.

And yes, I feel guilty. Even if there is no blame assigned, as her mother my job is to protect her, to prevent injuries, to foresee potential hazards and remove them. Even when that is unreasonable, as a parent you can never help but feel this way.

Now, I will gather my children a little closer, hug them a little tighter, kiss them more frequently and express my love more often. That in itself has healing power, for all of us.

And not for the faint of heart.

A picture.

Of Nora.

Healing. New wrapping. Tylenol with codeine, heaven sent.

My heart breaks a little every time I look at her. I retreat mentally when I gaze at her wounds, so that I can hold it together and not cry imagining how it felt to have her tender baby skin pressed against searing glass.

Obviously, it's a work in progress. And perhaps, until she is completely healed, that feeling won't leave me. I couldn't suffer the pain for her, I couldn't take it away, no matter how I wanted to. So I allow myself to imagine it, to suffer mentally, to feel anguish for not being able to protect her adequately. Empathy. In this instance, it's my bizarre language of love.

But it is love. Love for her, love for my other children. Love for any child or parent who has suffered pain or grief. Perhaps I'm a bit melodramatic, but know that I am aware of how fortunate we are. That this is a minor bump on the road of life. She will heal, it will be fine.

In fact, she's in her high chair throwing cereal everywhere. It seems that she is ready for life to be normal. No more sadness mamma. Feed me, love me, hug me and kiss me.

I'm good to go.

Parenting 101-adapting as you go

This is very typical for our family: Charlie playing his ds, Julia reading a book, while life goes on around them.

It is also very typical to repeatedly go into Charlie's room and remind him to put the ds or book away because it is 10:30 at night. Julia I don't remind as much, as she is learning to manage her own time well.

Some nights I'm too tired and I just want to sleep instead of being a good mom and helping my almost 10 year old go to bed. And then we all pay for it in the morning when he has a really hard time waking up.

It's a work in progress, this mothering thing.

Other things I have worked out. Yesterday was beautiful here, so I took Henry and Nora to the park. The first park we tried was closed because the wind storm the night before had knocked down so many branches. The park with the bathroom, unfortunately. So we found another one. Without a bathroom.

5 minutes into being there, Nora comes dancing over to tell me she has to go potty. Leaving and finding a bathroom wasn't an option, because I wouldn't want to come back. And she couldn't pee behind a tree or on the car tire like I let Henry. (He loves having something to aim at, and then I don't feel quite as bad since most of the pee ends up on our own tire. Please tell me other moms let their boys do this?)

But luckily for all of us I am a huge diet soda addict and I just happened to have a large McDonald's cup in the car. So we climbed in the back of the van, she did her thing, and back to playing we went. After I disposed of said cup in the trash, of course.

It wasn't 5 minutes later that another little girl ran up to her mom and said she had to go potty. Nora, hearing this, perked right up and said, "My mommy let me go pee in a cup!!!"

The other mom didn't look around to see who this little girl's weird mother was, thankfully, but I laughed and laughed. It just seemed so fitting somehow that Nora would be so excited about peeing in a cup and wanted  the world to know. And I wouldn't tell her NOT to tell anyone. In fact, I highly recommend keeping a large soda cup in your vehicle for just such an emergency.

Just remember to throw it away;)

Singing about candy makes me smile

On Saturday Kate and Julia performed in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The musical  no doubt.

Julia was Ms. Teevee and Kate was a child/cook.

They were wonderful. Jeff and I were glowing, proud parents.

When Kate asked Nora what her favorite part was, she said, "you and Juey-la(Julia)"

Hey, that was my favorite part too!

We are goofy and dramatic in our family, so school plays just seem an extension of that. 

I was really proud of Kate, because after playing Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, she didn't get a part in the school play the next year when we moved to Maple Valley. It shook her confidence for a while. But she went for it again this year and had a great time. 

And Julia had a hilarious scene where she laments the fact that her son Mike is now only 6 inches tall. 

I have some fun picture of the girls and the cast mates after the show, but my regular lens that I normally use made everything show up fuzzy. So I had to switch back to my zoom lens. Melissa Dillon-any thoughts as to why? Or where I can get it repaired? Thanks.

So here is a slew of pictures for you. It was so fun. And if you happen to be in Maple Valley  this coming weekend, come check out their next two performances!

Oh, and I took a picture with the gates so that you could see Jeff's handiwork in action. And I did Julia's hair. 

Do we have a future as a family in the theatre? Perhaps.

Childhood 101: How to not get kicked out of mom and dad's bed

This is how Henry spent the night.

Sideways at the bottom of our bed.




He avoided notice long enough that he got to stay. Plus, at the bottom of the bed he doesn't make us all hot or  force either of us onto the tiniest of slivers of mattress.

I do think I accidentally kicked him in the middle of the night though. Sorry kiddo.
It's the risk you take.

Sweet reprise

I am a girl who likes sunshine, and money.

So is it so odd that the dropping of money in our account and a sunshiny day would have made me feel so alive, and in such a good mood yesterday?

I don't think so either. 

There was a spring in my step as I grocery shopped and soaked in the blue skies in our normally cloudy, grey part of the world.

And being in such a good mood, and being tax return season and all, we took the younger kids out to Red Robin. 

The big girls were at play practice, so I appeased them with their favorite French Dip from Arbys. It was still strange not having them there. But it was certainly not boring with the other 4.

I just think Anne Marie is beautiful. And separated from Charlie by dad, she was calm and lovely all evening.

Charlie gave new meaning to the word persistence. He must have asked, I kid you not, 25 times for 50 cents to play one of the games in the lobby. 

Henry decided that it was more fun to cover his face than to let me take his picture. And it's digital proof that he did in fact spend at least a portion of the evening sitting down. Most was spent running attempting to run around the restaurant and jumping up and down on the seat and talking to his friend who just happened to be sitting on the other side of the partition. 

And Nora. Sweet, lovely, addicted to the little sugar packets Nora. It's a full time job hiding, moving and saying no to the little container full of real and artificial sweeteners. 

It was a fun evening. Marred only by the fact that I could only eat half of my food. Why? Because my stomach started to flip flop and feel weird. So weird in fact that I didn't drink the free refill of diet Coke. That is how you know that I was indeed not feeling well. 

The feeling persisted all night in fact, it's own symphony of catastrophic music, swelling and rising with the rumblings of my stomach, climaxing around 3 am. It was not lovely. 

So now Charlie, Julia, Nora and I have filled our part of the "our family gets the stomach flu every year" bargain.

I can't wait for everyone else to cash  in on this awesome deal. 

My efforts to fall asleep amid tumultuous tummy tumblings were interrupted briefly by our car alarm going off at 11:30 pm.

A  month ago our little blueberry car was the victim of a hit and run in the school parking lot. Since then, you can't lock the car with the remote key-less entry or the car alarm will go off randomly and without any warning.

Seems I forgot that when I got home from picking the girls up last night. 

So, sorry to my neighbors. But no need to worry about car prowlers or burglars. It was just our little car, letting us know that it's there. And loud. 

Now it seems I have a date with my couch. I don't feel that awful, just tired from attempting to sleep all night, rather than actually sleeping. 

But it's blue skies again, after the morning rain has dissipated, I may not be able to stay on that couch for long.

Happy Day!

Weekend recap

Oh dear, the weekend is over. And I'm actually glad.

Usually I dread Monday, but the weekend was only so/so, sooo I am glad it's over.

Why?

1.I got reprimanded for the behavior of one of my children. That was fun.

2. I was asked to substitute teach for the 11 year old boys class at church. Luckily they combined those boys with another class and I was off the hook. But the anxiety leading up to it was enough for me to be glad Sunday was over. I've taught a lot, but never boys that age. I guess I won't know if it was going to be as awful as I feared. And nothing against boys that age. I have one who is almost 10, so I know. Maybe THAT is why I was nervous to teach it.

3. I had to field many, many questions about what there was to eat. And my answer? Bread. Luckily tomorrow is shopping day.

4. The sun never came out and it rained all weekend. Booo!

5. And then Charlie came in several times in the middle of the night to tell us how much his stomach hurt. I won't jinx my family by talking more about it, but being awakened in the middle of the night makes you feel like you didn't sleep enough. Oh wait, that's because I didn't sleep enough. But when do I ever?

So Charlie stayed home today. Except for when I had to drive Julia's lunch to school. But he got to stay in his pajamas at least.





And highlights of the weekend.

1. Jeff finished the gates for the Willy Wonka play that Kate and Julia are in. Pretty awesome I think!



2. And the Candy boat


3. I got my hair highlighted. I feel better. My hair was starting to look like a "brown football helmet". (Name that movie) No pictures cuz who really cares? Just me.

4. We watched Mr. Popper's Penguins with Jim Carrey. It was really funny. Completely clean and Jim Carrey was really entertaining. I highly recommend it.

Happy Monday folks.

Big kids are kids too.

The sun is shining today.

When it does that, I feel like a huge anvil sized weight has been lifted off of me.

It doesn't happen much around these parts, folks.

I like the sun. So much so that I tempted Jeff with an offer to be alpaca farmers somewhere warm and sunny.

Ok, not so much tempted as floated the idea. He pretty much loved the thought of herding alpacas and shaving them for their fuzzy coats.

Ok, that's not entirely true. Something about liking his current job? Whatever Mr. work-y mcworkerson.

The truth of the matter is, when you are upside in your house-as is most everyone I know, you're pretty much going no where any time soon. Not that we would anyway. I kind of like how my older girls love and adore me right now. It might not be so awesome if we move when Kate's in high school. Kids don't like that for some reason. So here we stay.

Speaking of my older girls. They really are my own personal rays of sunshine. They are at an age that is sooo fun. It's like having other grown ups around that you can be SUPER silly with, but who you still can boss without feeling bossy. I highly recommend it.

Last night for instance, the girls were up later than everyone else, per the usual evening routine, because they have homework. We talk, we help if needed, we all laugh and act weird. Especially Jeff.



They hide from me because I won't stop taking pictures. (Note the sliver of purple sweater hiding behind the fridge.)



And then I ignore their pleas and take their pictures anyway.



I like to think that they will be glad later on when they can look back with new perspective and see just how truly adorable and beautiful they are.

But for now, I will continue to be annoying. Just the kind of mom I always wanted to be:)

Love/dislike

I have a love/dislike relationship with bedtime. I love it because snuggling with my kids is pretty much one of the greatest joys in life.

Listening to their little voices make comments on the stories, picking a song to be sung, hearing "I love you Mommy", it all just makes me all warm in the heart and makes me hug ever so tightly their squishy little bodies.

I also dislike it, because more often than not, when I leave the room and say good night, Jeff or I must repeatedly take them BACK to bed.

Here is Nora, going to bed, having insisted on riding daddy's shoulders.




Doesn't she look so sweet, as if she will ACTUALLY stay in bed?



On this particular night, we ended up bringing her into bed with us so that her and Anne Marie would stop talking and fall asleep. It was an awesome night.

And I'm not sure my kids grow out of this phase until they are in middle school. And by then, they WISH they could go to bed, but they have so much homework to do they can't.

In other news from the world of love/dislike, at our school we have a solution room.

If you are naughty on the playground, you and whoever you are not getting along with must go to a room with a teacher and talk it out. Then you must write down what you did wrong, if you are in the wrong, and bring it home for your parent to sign.

Yesterday Anne Marie had to go to the solution room. It was a very unpleasant experience for her and I won't embarrass her by telling you what she did. And I acknowledge that she was completely in the wrong. BUT! I take issue with some of the way it was handled.
It seems that the solution room teacher told the girls that if they did such and such again, she would write down that they were all bullies. I don't like that. (Their school, like many, has a very strict no bullying policy.)

On second thought, I will tell you what she did, lest you think it's something really awful. One of her friends was mad at another friend, so she got Anne Marie and another girl to add Enemy to the end of the girls name and call her that. Gwenemy for instance. Not nice, but not the worst thing either. I'm more concerned that my daughter was a follower, actually. Anyway.....

When I signed her solution room paper I wrote of my my displeasure at the bully label threat on the back.

I said, "While I appreciate the purpose of the solution room, I am concerned that threatening the girls with the title of "Bully" is actually intimidation and a form of bullying itself. I would much rather they hear that they would be known as kind when/if they behave appropriately."

Look at me, being all assertive and stuff.

Seriously, give the kids something to live up to! I would much rather hear that I would be known as kind and good then be threatened to be labeled a bully. It puts the solution room teacher in a good position as a mentor, rather than just a punisher.

Maybe I'm wrong and kids need a good dose of angry-ness. Especially on their first trip there. But I don't think so.

Also, in love news, I decorated my mantel for Valentine's Day.



I found that lovely Monet giclee at Deseret Industries for 5 buckaroos. The rest of the stuff I had, and the banner I made out of some vintage fabric my great aunt gave me.

It could use more Valentine-y goodness, but I am low on mulah so it will do. You realize that the next round of chocolates and calories is almost upon us? What is a chocolate loving girl to do? Take deep breaths and repeat: "I like chocolate, but I LOVE fitting into my clothes." Try it, it sort of works! Ha ha ha

Have a wonderful day, full of love and likes. And hopefully no dislikes!

Oh my! Life was interesting last week. We lost power for a few days. But it was sooo fun! We spent so much time together as a family with Jeff home sick and the kids home from school. Today is rather depressing as everything turns back to normal.

And in case you're wondering, no I don't pay Jeff to say such nice things about me. And yes, I get a little embarrassed. I have a hard time with attention. But I do love him and I'm grateful that he loves me.

Though everyone is back at school today, there was still a two hour delay because of icy roads. So we are off to a late start and my day is basically cut in half. I don't mind. Sleeping in one more day was great!

But because my camera battery was dead, I took no pictures of our white out/power outage. So instead I'm sharing a picture of my nephews. It just made us laugh.



There is a 14 year gap between them. I think baby Sean is lucky to have a big brother (3 of them actually, and a sister) to look after him. And of course an aunt who is especially partial to him. (that's me!)

Anyhoo-I must get the last of my school kids on the bus. Toodles!
I apologize for being boring today. Sometime THAT is my reality.

Power Outage, School cancellations, and Other Chaos

Many of you may be wondering what has happened to Amy's Spoonful of Sugar over the last couple days. I miss her wit and wisdom; I miss her words of fantasy and fun; most of all I miss her dose of reality that sends me over that emotional precipice on a daily basis. I love her more than anything. Amy is a wonderful woman and a kindred spirit to so many of you, but also to me. We laugh together; we cry together; and we are growing old together.

She is amazingly talented, too. I love hearing her voice whether she's singing, speaking, or sharing a story with me or the kids. Her voice is like sweet nectar in my ear.

Anyway, we lost power at our house yesterday around 1pm and so I am in the coffee shop up the street so I could work. And Amy asked if I could update the blogosphere with her latest. So, with the power out, Amy's brother came over and helped us get the generator running, ( I didn't know you had to have a clean spark plug to have it work). We watched a movie by generator power, we told stories and had a mini talent show. School has been cancelled the whole time. I had kidney stones so I couldn't go to Atlanta, so was working from home the last few days, too.

Anyway, She'll be back as soon as possible. Maybe I'll set it up so she can email her blog post in.

Thanks,

Jeff

On a snow day do you play or clean?

I bought blackberries yesterday. Why would I do that? In the summertime they grow unabated over my back fence. I hate them, they come up through the grass and wreck stuff and are sooo hard to get rid of.

So why would I spend 2 dollars for a little plastic container filled with them? I don't know. I didn't realize it until this morning and I'm super annoyed at myself. So I fed them to Nora, who has no prejudices against blackberries.

In other news:



We are snowed in. But people are finding ways to get around...



So while other people have cool snowmobiles and lots of winter gear, we are watching tv. And what my kids don't know yet is that I am making them clean today. Because I hate fun. Yes. I'm perfectly evil. Bwahahahah!

No, they get to actually enjoy the snow as well, but not without a few chores thrown in. We need balance in our lives, right?

Luckily I made a run to the store last night when the roads were still passable and I stocked up on almond milk. Cuz, you never know when a craving will hit, am I right? What I really wanted to stock up on was Doritos and ice cream and cookies and pop. But since I have decided to leave that junk behind in my 37th year of life, it's a no go. So if anyone runs out of fun stuff and really wants some almond milk, I am your gal!!

Enjoy the day.

Birthday weekend.

Have you ever celebrated your birthday all weekend?

I have.

Have you ever eaten your weight in cookies and cake and hamburgers? I'm pretty sure I did this weekend!!!

Highlights of Saturday were Charlie trying to explain to me a toy he wanted that his friends all have.

Turns out he was talking about one of these:



But when I was a kid, we called them Water Weenies. Well. My kids laughed and laughed at that. No one calls them that now. Henry especially enjoyed saying, "water weenie! water weenie! water weenie!" And everyone school age was just embarrassed.

On Saturday night Jeff took me to dinner and a movie. The evening was fun and mostly uneventful except for the lady knocking on our car window.

20 minutes before pulling into Red Robin, I was telling Jeff about an article I read in the NY Times about crusty punks in Central Park. Apparently, most don't consider themselves homeless, just "travelers" who don't shower, ever. Hence the name crusty punks, they are the crustiest you see.

The article linked to a blog documenting through pictures and interviews, many of these folks. And from their own mouths, most were junkies of some type. They even talked about begging for money specifically for the purpose of being able to buy their next hit.

I shared this with him and then so wisely said,"That's why you should give them food, and not money".

Then as we pulled into Red Robin, a woman knocked on the window.
"I'm not crazy, or a druggie. As you can see I'm pregnant and my 12 year old and I just left an abusive situation and we haven't eaten all day.(She waved in some vague direction) If you could spare anything?"

Now upon first impression, the woman was obviously not crazy, but WAS most likely a druggie. But I decided that Heavenly Father has a funny sense of humour. Here I was, all knowing about what you should do when faced with someone begging 20 minutes before. Well, this lady wasn't someone on the sidewalk with a sign. She was asking specifically for our help. And I honestly didn't believe her or her story. But what if she wasn't lying? Then I would have turned someone away. And if she was lying, well, then that's on her.

I was very sheepish as we walked into Red Robin. Lesson learned. In general I should be quiet:)

On Sunday, my brother and his family came over and ate dinner and had cake. Jeff got some great pictures, but missed me blowing out the candles. So I recreated it for him.


There is a piece without frosting on it especially for me. Frosting is so over rated.

Monday, some friends took me to breakfast, and made me cry, and afterwards another friend and I went shopping. And then Monday evening, my older girls and I went shopping. So I was in food and shopping heaven pretty much all weekend. And I didn't clean or cook all weekend either. Which I am paying for today. But I will probably not clean today either, why? Well....

I was going to have this all blogged about this morning after Jeff left to go to Georgia for 5 days for a conference. Well, he is still home. 45 minutes before he was supposed to leave for the airport, he started feeling really sick. And then the nausea and stuff associated with nausea hit, and turns out he has a kidney stone, or stones. He is currently in a drug induced sleep upstairs.

I am sad for him because I have had kidney stones and they are the pits. In fact, my first blog post ever was  about it. And I'm sad for me because I was going to have the bed all to myself. Except for the little corner where Nora would end up. Because I brought her in with me:) I love snuggling that little girl.

And....my kids are out of school today because of snow. Yes, snow in the Seattle area shuts down schools and sends people running to the grocery store to stock up. My friends from RI will laugh at the pictures when they see how much snow cancels school!








We did have more after these pictures were taken, and the roads were pretty icy and snowy with little snow equipment available for clearing, but it's still funny when we've lived in places where we get real snow.

And let me tell you, folks around, here for the most part, LOVE IT. Especially the kids. It means no school and sledding. To me it just means cold and that I can't take my rear wheel drive vehicle out of the driveway.

Well, I probably should check on the hubby and give him some more meds. They make him pretty tired and loopy and possibly forgetful. This might be a good time to ask for those new boots that I want.....hm.