Friday, August 29, 2008

A few things from my day

There's nothing quite like sitting with a trusted girlfriend and having a good cup of coffee. When your children and husband just don't understand you - you can usually count on your girlfriends to fill in the gap. Big props to my girl, Stacey!

A seven year old CAN experience identity theft. We received a call and letter from the school system letting us know that our daughter's identity has been compromised when a laptop was stolen from an employee's vehicle. Great, right? So they appease us with a free credit report and ten minutes of bullshit with an automated system only to find that we have to MAIL in a request to the credit agency, along with a copy of our drivers license, birth certificate, SS card, recent utility bill, a vial of blood and hair samples (just kidding on the last two, but come on!) Shoot! I think I'd rather chance that the thief is more of a Beavis than a hi-tech hacker than willfully put all that vital information in the mailbox and hope it gets to where I want it to go. I think we're actually just gonna wait a week or so and see where the superintendent decides to go with all this, and then make a decision whether or not to put a fraud alert on her SSN. God willing we'll be spared any further credit issues from this.

And one last thing...tequila doesn't agree with me. Yup...I think my post dinner Margaritaville visits are about to end. I nearly sharted in my skivvies today and THAT would be so heinous an experience and something that I'd never quite recover from. I'd certainly never be able to proudly explain that "pooping in your pants is for babies only" to Zachary.


Enjoy your weekend all!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Dear Lilly,

One year ago today I watched you take your first breathe of life. I still clearly remember how warm you were when they laid all 8.13 pounds of you on my chest. Your fat little fist was still clenched and caked with vernix, and I rubbed it off onto my own hand; our first exchange out in the real world. You took right to the breast and didn't let go for nine months. :)


You, being my third child, have gotten all the benefits of my motherly wisdom and patience gained through raising your brother and sister. I was hardly ever nervous with you and the only spell where you made me crazy was when you would SCREAM if I put you down or walked out of the room. Once you began crawling though the screaming haulted and we've not been able to stop you from going ever since. There's nothing quite like watching you walk around the corner, see me standing there and flash that beautiful smile at me. It makes my heart leap and want to squeeze you!


You've also surpassed your brother and sister's walking mark and can already walk waaaay better than they did by their first birthdays. You are babbling a lot and can say "uh-oh!" and point your chubby finger while saying "that!?" as if asking what is that? You're adorably smiley and you light your Dad up when you put your head on his chest. At this point you have eight teeth, two of which are coming in now and causing your grief. But overall, you've been a great teether. You're the picture of perfect health and are hitting all your milestone on time. What a true blessing that is!


Lilly, I'm a very proud momma and you make my heart sing most days. God definitely knew what he was doing when he snuggled you right down in my womb without my knowledge or planning. I trust that He has BIG plans for your life and that you'll be a beautiful addition to his kingdom, just as you've been a beautiful addition to our family.

Your Daddy and I love you VERY much and look forward to your next year of life!



Love,
Mommy

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

A rare moment here

Abby's at school, Lilly's napping and Zach (who woke up before the sun) is napping as well. I got to take a shower at home (as opposed to the gym) and am hoping to get make-up on, hair dried and the floors swept and mopped before either of the little ones wake up. If I want to accomplish that I will need to drink a cup of this Maxwell House percolating beside me and haul balls b/c Lilly usually wakes up around 1pm.

I know you've all been jonesing for a post from me lately and I gotta be honest...life has just hit the fan around here. I've had myself a mental snap the other night and am a force to be reckoned with around this house. I'm doing my best to pull it all back together and become the productive housewife I use to be. Thank God for school starting again b/c I really don't think I could have handled ONE more week of all three kids picking at one another. It has been a really full, fun and thoroughly exhausting Summer. I think I can safely say that the kids and I are all looking forward to a regular routine again.

I've got school pics to come!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

My dream

I had a dream last night that I was at a store searching for a daily planner/life organizer. My born organized mother-in-law (whom I really do love) was there with me and she was SOOOO excited to be helping me get organized.

I knew what I was looking for and had like three organizers in my hand, but when we opened them up they were chock full of papers, markers, poster boards, loose things that kept falling out of them and I'd be trying to cram it all back in. Then I suddenly remembered that I had one that was perrrrrfect for me, but it wasn't in my hands and I went looking for it. I ended up knocking over an end cap of stuff and mindlessly walking around the store looking at the prices and ALL the choices, and my MIL was following me around saying " *sigh* It's getting to be time to go. We NEED to find this one soon."
I woke up before I found that darned organizer!! I had to laugh at the whole dream though. Here I was trying to get organized and everything was falling around me.

Hmmmm....what do you think my sub-conscience is trying to tell me?

Friday, August 22, 2008

If my pocket were big enough

I'd put Michael Bublé in it!


Thursday, August 21, 2008

Where's Christy today?

She's at a Waffle breakfast with the kids, not killing her son.

She's also at home with the kids...also not killing her son.

She's at the pool...almost listening to the pool guy when he offers a length of metal chain to tie up her son, but still not harming her son.

And now she's at home again (45 minutes after getting to the pool)...not killing her son.

I know I shouldn't joke in the slightest about killing children - it's not at all funny - but I've got a serious hankering to set his toosh on fire. Today has NOT been a good day for him or me as a Mom.

Joy comes with the morning...

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Veggie Tuesday and other thoughts

Our veggies came yesterday! We got a sack full of great sized brown potatoes, a cantelope (sp?), a honeydew melon, several good red tomatoes, two small eggplants, a pint of orange cherry tomatoes and two small green peppers. Yesterday I made cucumber tomato salad from last weeks cukes and this weeks tomatoes. Pretty good, I guess...if you like mayo, garlic, pepper and the veggies. I ate a little bit and then sent it over to Christina's. My kids and hub would never eat it. Sorry all, I didn't get a pic this time around. I know, you're sooo disappointed!

So no word from the back neighbors yet about the dog. My gut says they probably won't respond and I hope this was enough attention that this woman will stop treating her dog like crap.

Mmmmm...I just made Special K Bars. Oooey gooey, chocolately, peanut buttery heaven. One cup of sugar mixed with one cup of Karo, boiled for one minute. Add one cup of peanut butter and six cups of Special K cereal. Spread in a 9x13 pan and pat down. Drop 3/4 cup of chocolate chip morsels on top and wait for them to melt. Spread chocolate around and enjoy! You can either wait for the chocolate to harden again or do as I do and dive right in.

Oh and one more thing for the day. What is up with people on Craiglist? You know, those people who respond to your posted item and act all like, "unh, me first! Can I come get it right away so no one else gets it?!" Then you set up a time and wait and wait and wait until it's obvious that you're the idiot and have been lied to.

Here's a good one, too. I was selling this big baby exersaucer, totally in great shape and all the stuff works. I post two pics of it and right away get a hit and she's wants to "come see it." Fine. That's probably just her way of saying I'm not going to commit to buying it until I see it person, and I totally understand that. Ya know, make sure there are no major stains or rips, etc. She comes on time, takes five seconds to look at it and gives me this line of bull about locking her purse in at the office, but wants to run home "just down the road" and grab the money. "Sure," I say, "we'll hold it for you." She never came back.

So here's the thing, Broad. Don't lie to me about coming back. I wear big girl panties and can handle the truth. Just say whatever it is that you have to say, "I changed my mind" or "it's not at all what I thought it was" or "that looks like junk" but don't lie to me, make me wait longer on your untruthful self and waste my time. It's SO annoying! Btw, no disrespect toward Craigslist here - the system rocks, I think.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Baker Animal Rescue?

Yesterday morning I was outback with the kids and saw an adjacent neighbor come out of her back door with something in her hand. She was holding it away from her body and at first glance it looked like a rug. It only took another quick few seconds before I realied it was not a rug - it was HER YORKIE and she was holding it by the collar or throat! Before I knew it I was yelling across two yards, "HEY! HEY! HEY! Don't you hold that dog that way!" As I'm yelling this she is walking to a 4x5 foot pin that she keeps the dog in day and night, and drops it in. She turns and looks right at me kinda like she wasn't sure if I was yelling at her or one of my own kids. Then she realizes I'm looking right at her and she slinks behind a tree that obstructs my view of her. And a few more seconds later she slowly walks back up onto her deck and into her house.

I was so mad I could have spit nails and found myself shaking from the exchange. This dog can't be more then ten pounds and not only that, like I said before they leave it caged up outside day and night, rain or shine, barkings it's little head off at times. No one comes out to talk to it or run it - that I've ever seen anyway. And true...this dog could be a mini Satan inside of the house. I've had Yorkies growing up and one of my own that I couldn't handle, so I know first hand that they can be serious handfuls. BUT there really isn't an excuse for keeping a dog you have no intention of being with and carrying it around by the throat.

So after talking with a neighbor two doors down, who lives behind this woman, and realizing that this is not at all an isolated incident I decided to write this lady a letter. I did my best not to excuse her behavior but stroke her enough that she might let us meet her and the dog, and possibly adopt it. I also gave her a website for a great Yorkie rescue in case she wanted to rid herself of this dog, but didn't want to give it to us. I really, really do not want another dog in this house, but I'd rather take the dog in here and know it's not being mistreated, possibly get it into another home than to leave it there with her. I plan to drop off the letter this morning on my way out to run errands, so stay tuned.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

A Busy Weekend

Friday was Magic Mountain Day. I've been telling Abby we could go ever since she got a coupon through the local library's reading program. Since this weekend is the last that we can actually whoop it up before school starts, I took her on Friday night while Scott had "Dad Duty."

I knew it would be kinda fun, but wasn't prepared for my inner Speed Racer to come out. She and I used these Buy 2, Get 2 free coupons we had in the Entertainment book and ended up riding the Go Karts the entire time. They had Rookie Karts that she could drive on her own, but we both felt better starting out with me driving a double kart. Once we both got our bearings she knew that she could do it on her own and we headed for the Rookie Lanes. How freakin' fun!! Nothing like strapping your little seven year old into a Go Kart with no helmet and sayin' "Have fun, honey, but Momma's gonna beat you!" It was on! We zoomed around the track at a mind boggling speed of 7 mph, zig-zagging in and out of other cars and overtaking each other. I must say... I'm impressed with her skillz!

I took a few pics, but it's tough to catch a shot while driving!

Pre-race Faces











Look at her go!










Bumperboats! Look at my sweet little girl, and then there was THIS boy. Little shit...he was SO adorable, but he took one look at me and aimed his water sprayer right at me. I snapped his pic real quick, lowered my camera, pointed my mommy finger at him and said, "DON'T. EVEN. THINK! ABOUT IT.












My sweet girl enjoying the ride. Say it with me..."Awwwwe."











OKAY! So we did that on Friday and then Saturday was even more busy. We had the annual Baker Reunion, which the whole family bemoans every year but only because it's always held on the hottest day of August and in the dustiest place on earth. It's always good company and great food, but last year all of us "younger" people vetoed the "older" (and, sadly, getting smaller by the year) group and said we wanted to change the meeting location. One of the charitable couples of said group offered up their place on the lake and all I can say is ... "THANK YOU, ROGER AND LISHA!" AC, clean bathroms, sweet pool, rides on a pontoon on the lake, rootbeer floats (yep, you boat riders missed out!), awesome food... as Tony the Tiger would say "it was GRRRRREAT."

So here are a few of MANY awesome pics that my brother in law, Matt, took. Are we not the cutest bunch!? You know what? I didn't see any pictures of Scott in the whole set of 95 pictures. Matt? Here are the kids and I anyway. Oh, and one of great grandpa that I am going to put in a frame and hang on the wall. He looks so fun!



























After all the Baker fun was a 15th Wedding Anniversary party held by our neighbors, John and Christina. It was done up Octoberfest style complete with authentic German food, music, German parents visiting from Germany, German speaking friends and good wine, beer and the like. It was a GREAT time! Scott had "dad duty" again so I got to thoroughly enjoy myself this weekend. I didn't get any pics of the event, but I really wish I had. It was a colorful group of people.

So - a great weekend so far. Today's gonna be a slower, stay at home kind of day.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Back to School Fever

*deep breath*

Ahhh...I LOVE this weather! I just LOVE having my windows open all day and night, feeling the cool breeze through the house and the sheer curtains gently blowing away from the wall. I have to have fresh air in my house, even in the Wintertime. It drives Scott bonkers that in the dead of Winter I'll have the little window above the kitchen sink open, even just crack. I NEED AIR, Dude! Not only do I like the way it feels in the house, I just hate when a house has a "smell." You know, when you walk in someone's house and they have a "smell." Sometimes it's animals, sometimes it's food, sometimes it's mildewy. I NEVER want people to come in and smell something in my house except fresh air or whichever candle I may be burning at a given time. That's another thing that drives my hubby nuts...burning candles in a house with kids around. Valid point, but I'm so scent driven that it makes my soul feel peaceful to have "Hot Apple Pie" or "Egg Nog" burning to fill the air.

I digress though.

My beginning point was that I love this weather. The crisp, cool air in the mornings awaken my internal clock to say, "Fall is approaching! Get ready - it's your season!" Dang, I love Autumn! The deep burgandy, golds and shades of green leaves painting across the landscape.

More gushing over Autumn to come, but for now the very best part of the air changing is that I can smell #2 pencil shavings. I can hear the rub of new sneakers on freshly waxed floors and the rustling of papers across desks. I feel the excitement of meeting new teachers and finding out who'll be sitting next to whom in class (is that grammatically correct?).

Ah yes, school IS in the air! Nine days and counting for our school system!! Abby is not all too excited just yet. She's not at all like I remember myself being as a child. I got excited over things and didn't seem to care how goofy I was being or looked. I remember the build of anticipation for the Teacher List to go up on the school doors, and pedaling my bike as fast as it would go, clear across town without taking a breath just to see who's class I was in and who all was in there with me. I keep trying to pump her up for the posting of the list, but she could care less.

So I push on...excited all on my own. I buy all the school clothes, new shoes, supplies and do ALL the anticipating by myself. I can't wait for her to meet new friends. I hope she likes her new teacher and has a WONDERFUL time in Second grade. I also can't wait to have some peace and quiet in the house, as Mr. Zachary goes to nursery school three afternoons a week! It's gonna be wonderful. Ahhhhh...

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Clooney for President

Abby lost another tooth yesterday. Actually, she didn't lose it, it was kicked from her mouth while in a tumble with Zach. Really! I had to go searching for the tooth amidst the toys and blanket crumpled on the floor. It was quite a bloody scene, but not a painful one. The tooth was ready to come out already, kinda loosely hanging there. Zachary just helped it out. :)

So she has her dollar in hand and has already unsuccessfully tried to spend it.

As were driving to Target to see what the "dollar aisle' has to offer she pulls out the dollar to admire it. She straightens it out on her lap, smoothing out the wrinkles and proudly announces, "I'll bet I know who this is on the dollar, Mom!" Oh really? Enlighten me, dear. "It's George Clooney!" she exclaims, quite sure she'd just taught me something I did not know.

I laughed so hard that my cheeks hurt. It's funny now, while she's just seven and not had much in the way of U.S. History. It won't be as funny when she's twenty, wearing frosty lipgloss, oversized sunglasses and carrying around a much too tiny dog in a way too large bag.

Mental note: less T.V and more reading for my children.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Reflections on Trusting

Okay, so I have trust issues. Sue me.

My father was not around while I was growing up (except a for a few years where I lived with him and my stepmother), my grandpas were absent, mean and/or drunk, I was molested at an early age and every single boyfriend I had cheated on me, no matter how good I treated them. So I don't have a real stellar history with men in my life. If it weren't for Scott coming into my life and showing me that I can trust him over a span of thirteen years, I probably would have sworn off of men entirely and become a celibate.

And even still I find myself feeling SO insecure. If I have the slightest inkling that my husband is looking sideways at a woman, the fur rises and out come the claws. Not necessarily at my hubby, but more at the object of his attention. I'll rip her to shreds and if she's not touchable, say a celebrity, then I'll rip myself to shreds for not being as hot as her. It's a sickness, I know!!! But how do I stop?

I know I'm not alone in this. I think it's particularly difficult for a woman in today's society to meet all the expectation in the fast paced, youthful Barbie doll world around her, and especially as a stay at home mom. I feel like I have to fight the stereotype of the bon-bon eating loafer, keep up with the Flylady and be a sex kitten in the bedroom. I need to have manicured hands, get the floors scrubbed, keep my boobs relatively high and butt dimple-free, stay within the recommended weight range, keep the underwear and socks plentiful in the drawers, discipline the children, teach them the ABC's, cut the coupons, be the spiritual leader, take the kids/dogs to their appointments and activities, balance the checkbook, stock the groceries AND look as good as he deserves and wants me to.

And trust me...I fall short in all of these areas at some point or another. To his credit, hubby never really complains either. He's gotten use to the fact that his socks will most likely be crumpled in the dryer, the kids will be driving us up the wall and dinner will not be the well balanced, prompt meal that he grew up having.

You know, after thirteen years of being with this man...I think his history should tell me enough about him, right? He's a trustworthy guy. He comes home promptly, doesn't have a Myspace page (that I know of *wink*), he's not out galavanting with the guys. He's a simple dude who loves his family and is here, involved as much as he can be. So why do I keep waiting for the shoe to drop? Is MY history so concrete and embedded into my psyche that I cannot even trust the most trustworthy guy I know?

Spiritually speaking, I know whom I CAN put all my trust in and have never been failed by Him. So when I get all in a tizzy about something benign I do always start with a prayer of begging for peace and saying aloud that I trust Him. Then I stew with a serious fire in my belly over the plot I've created in my head, only to be given the peace in the end and wishing I'd have handled it differently.

I'm a work in progress, getting better each day. Just a little insight into me.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

P.A.D.M

So you know how there is that group of moms called MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)? I was driving along today with half of my body in the back seat of my van and thought "they should have an association against women like me! I'm an accident waiting to happen!" The name would be PADM (People Against Distracted Mothers.)

I'd say 90% of the time, unless I have the troupe dumbed down with a DVD and headphones, I am either reaching back into the abyss of shoes, toys, cracker crumbs, discarded craft projects and wrappers for some jewel of a toy that one of the two munchkins dropped OR I'm refereeing a battle between two of them. On more than one occassion, I've contorted my body such that I have my entire left arm and shoulder stretched back between the driver's side doors and seats reaching for a blessed empty bottle Lilly threw, fully knowing it would only buy me two minutes of silence, maybe three. Thank God for peripheral vision!

Either way, it's totally dangerous! I often wonder what the people behind me must be saying. I'm sure 1-800-CALL-DUI is being discussed on some occassions, and over what? A half eaten donut that fell on the floorboard? Actually, I banned food consumption in the car after Abby found maggots crawling in a grocery bag she was using as a backseat trash can. *gag* That's a whole 'nother post in itself - the massive amounts of crap we accumulate in our van. I know we're not filthy people and yet every other day I'm faced with some pile of gunk that needs Cloroxed or scoured.

If you are another Mom, take heed from my post and let the donut/bottle/precious toy/etc. lie there until you can get to a red light or safe place to pull over. If you are an innocent driver who finds yourself behind, beside or in front of my bright blue Mazda MPV - drive faster and farther away. Because quite like all the other distracted mothers who'll contort herself to get that named thing in the backseat all the while keeping one pinkie on the wheel and a big toe on the pedal...I will too.

Be careful out there!

Monday, August 11, 2008

People Never Cease to Amaze Me

I read this same article in our Dispatch this Sunday and had my hand clasped over my mouth nearly the entire time. How in the world ANYONE, short of being mentally disabled, could treat a baby/child like this...I'll never understand it.

In my former life I wanted to be a Child Psychologist to help abused children and eventually looked deeper into social work here in Columbus. It only took one solid meeting with the agency before I knew it wasn't the line of work for me. It'd be like walking through the dog pound - I'd want to take them ALL home and probably would try for most.

Hold your stomach, maybe grab a tissue and have a sad, sad read. I feel like reading this story to Abby, as this little girl is approximately the same age. So when she tells me it's "not fair" that she has to eat all her dinner, clean up her mountains of Barbie stuff or take a shower...I'll remind her that there are REALLY starving children right in our own country who would LOVE to have such a caring mother.

I'll also stop rolling my eyes when she asks for that extra hug and kiss at bedtime.

The Girl in the Window


Lord, place your healing hand on Danielle as I type this. Wherever she is right now, I pray that you would work miracles in the name of Jesus on her. Make her walk and speak and feel loved by those caring people around her. Change the hearts of those involved, especially those people who did this to her. In Christ's name - Amen.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Would You Rather...?

Scott and I use to play the game "Would You Rather...?" in which you offer up two completely heinous option and the other person HAS to pick one. The options would usually start out as gross things and eventually turn into totally gross people you'd have to choose to have sex with. Nice, huh? Not the moral high road at all, but it usually ended with us cracking up in laughter and tears.

So this weekend I'm at Barnes and Noble with my mom and brother, letting her pick out a few books for her birthday gift. By the by, she and I have polar opposite book taste. How is it that a mother and daughter could be so different? As we're checking out I gazed through the rotating rack of fat little humor books and found Zobmondo!! The outrageous book of bizarre choices. Ding, ding, ding...we have a winner! I grabbed it and started reading out loud the crazy choices. I gotta tell you right now...the last question you want an answer to from your mother is: Would you rather be caught by your mother masturbating OR walk in on your mother masturbating? Because the only thing more wrong than thinking of your mother's monkey is thinking of your GRANDMA'S! SICK, right?

We stood there for another five minutes, each of us weighing whether or not we'd rather have a tiny butt on our forehead or two little feet dangling from our chin, having a hell of a time laughing over these questions AND our own choices. So I had to buy it!

Here are a few of my favs so far. Have fun and don't hold it against me!

Would you rather:
  1. Chew a piece of toenail off a dirty man's foot OR thoroughly lick his unshowered armpit?
  2. Shave your Mom's bikini line OR your Dad's butt?
  3. Be caught walking nude on a beach by a policeman OR have your horn get stuck while your car is behind a gang of Hell's Angel's?
  4. Have your breath smell like a fart OR your laugh sound like a fart?
  5. Immerse your naked body in a bathtub of cockroaches OR dive head first into a pool of chewing tobacco spit?

Friday, August 8, 2008

Training to be a Professional Eater

It's 7:00AM. Do you know where your kids are? I do. SLEEPING! Hell to the yea! *shaking ma groove thang with coffee in hand*

And not only that - they all slept all night. Woohoo!!

I have a few minutes here, so I must map out what all we should do today. Ugh...the massive amount of food in my belly won't let me move though. Can I just tell you how bad I ate yesterday? Ever had one of those days? Everything sounded good and I swear I ate almost EVERYTHING in my sight.

7am start: Three pieces of buttered toast WITH cinnamon sugar.

9am: One of those Hostess Apple Pies at the check out at Kroger. I swear they make me salivate just thinking of them.

10:00am: A Hershey bar. Don't ask me why. The kids were being quiet, I saw it in the freezer and thought why not? I'm sick, I tell ya!

11:30am: Chicken raviolis with the kids. Not just one or two. No, no...like two plates.

Oh, it gets better. Just wait for it.

3:00pm:
Abby was SO sweet to Zachary at the park and she just kept mentioning how great a big sister she was. I said "You are SO right, honey. And since you were so sweet to him, I'm gonna get you a Jr. Frosty at Wendy's." Then I ate half of Zach's. Hey! They are teeny, tiny and he doesn't like ice cream that much. Plus he wasn't looking.

4:30 or 5:00pm: For dinner we had homemade sloppy joes (full of chili sauce and brown sugar - I had two) and potatoes baked in butter. Nothing healthy for me today, thank you. I'm planning to build my butt to be bigger than the kitchen chair so I have that hangover look.

7:30pm: get a call from hubby asking about Jack's pizza. No, honey, we don't have those in the house, but I'd be GLAD to get some. Hey, why not go all out and get a loaded pizza from a REAL pizza shop? Yea!? Okay - you call it in and I'm on my way!

8:00pm: pick up said pizza and slam two pieces in the car, then eat my full share at home.

Okay...I've got to be done...right?

9:00pm finish: Milkshakes sound good! Let's share one so we don't feel the full guilt. Oh yea, baby...it tasted great.

*getting out my pencil* First on the list today GO TO THE GYM!!!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Calgon, Take Me Away!

Seriously!? How many times does one child have to be reprimanded, talked to, reminded, spanked, etc. for the same offense? I know I'm dealing with a three year old and they are by nature unreasonable, but throw in a bubble-headed seven year old as well and it's like trying to pull apart two cats that are fighting AND wearing Velcro suits.

Point in case, I'm trying to get everyone to clean up the toys/Play Doh, dress themselves (b/c my kids think underwear only IS dressed) and in the car to go to the park. I have to push, remind, push, remind and even put someone in the corner for pulling hair. What should take one or two askings and all of fifteen minutes (at a maximum) has turned into forty minutes of hassle and punishments, ending with us not going to the park at all. My guess is that Zach is overtired from several days with no nap and him waking up at 5:40 this morning scared of the lion in his room. We put him back in bed, but within twenty minutes he was right back in our room. So - hopefully he's upstairs catching a quick nap and then we can go to the park as originally planned.

I know this post is going back on my "no complaining about the kids" rule, but DANG! On the rough days, my kids make shock therapy and a sedative look like a day at the spa.

Update: I was searching for some Scriptures to help me feel better and stumbled upon God's Blog. Hey - did you know God's on the superhighway? Funny how the Scriptures are always there for me when I need them in a specific way! Check it out...

God's Blog

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Thanks be to God for the good days!

It took me a minute to remember what all happened yesterday. It's amazing what eight full hours of sleep will do to a woman! Yup - Lilly slept all night! I heard Zach cry too, but then Scott hopped up to soothe him and *sigh* I got to fall back asleep.

Besides being able to sleep a full night, yesterday was a great day for us here. I got a call from my friend Karynda and after twenty minutes of bantering back and forth about what we could possibly do in Columbus with six kids on a rainy day - we settled on Magic Mountain. We nearly turned tail and ran when we saw two bus loads of daycare kids shuffling single file into the play center, but we decided to brave it anyway. It turned out to be AWESOME for Zach. It was a completely secure room (save the emergency exit door that I knew he'd want to try) with netted tunnels, slides and hundreds of foam balls (would it be too much to hope that they are anti-bacterial somehow?) that they could throw or put up these vacuum tunnels. All the balls goes up the tunnels, into a central pit and at timed intervals all dropped on the kids. It was big fun! I hardly saw Zach stop moving the entire hour and a half we were there AND I actually got to talk in full sentences with Karynda - it was heaven.

From there we met Scott for a late lunch at a fairly quiet and nice restaurant. Zach was pretty darned good there too. My God - are we turning a corner? *holding my breath*

It was a great day and I honestly think we ARE turning a corner with Zach's maturity. I don't think he's slowing down much more, but he definitely understands a lot more and is showing that he CAN pay attention to rules. Phew! *putting down the ADHD pamphlet*

And, of course, yesterday was VEGGIE TUESDAY!!

We received nine ears of corn (no mega worms lately), four large brown potatoes, two tomatoes, a container of cherry tomatoes, half a cantelope (split with the neighbor), a cucumber, two squash, two zukes, more okra, a bell pepper and two jalepenos. NICE!! I'm thinking salsa may be in our future!

All in all - a great day!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Whatever!

This is the kids and my favorite song right now. Daddy gave us a mixed CD with this on it. It's so funny to watch Abby trying to keep up with the lyrics, skip a bunch and then punch it with "WHATEVA!" Even Zach headbangs to it in his Graco seat.

We've listened to this close to five hundred times and Abby and I both agreed that Zaffo did NOT look like THAT in our minds. And although the dude looks like a nerd - we think he rocks the song!

Enjoy

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Diaper Blunder

Last night I'm in the kitchen doing my normal thing, wiping down counters, dishes, etc. Meanwhile, Lilly's over in her high chair lookin' cute and grunting like a piglet trying to take care of some "business." I felt a little sorry for her, but knew she'd handle it and tried to get a few more things done before I had to go take care of poo duty. The thing was, she wasn't handling it. It was like five to eight minutes of grunting and her face was all red, so I took pity on her and got her out of the chair so she could go squat somewhere.

I grabbed her up, swatted all the Cheerios off her toosh and carried her into the living room. I somehow grabbed onto her butt/crotch area only to be met with smooshed crap. Guh-ross! Poo..was..on..my..hand! With her tucked under my left arm like a football, I ran over to the sink, washed it off and grabbed the diapering stuff. This poor girl had somehow wedgied the elastic leg of her diaper up into her crack and was trying to push a turd past the diaper. So it was half IN the diaper and half smooshed OUT of the diaper. Eew, right?

I decided to be the good mother and clean her up, but she's still grunting. Oh man, she's not done!? So I'm wiping poopy butt, all the while trying to maintain the poopy clothes inside the diapering perimeter AND keep it from smearing my hand again. Oh..my..goodness. Her toosh is actually smooching at me as I wipe it. Good heavens! Please don't spray poo on me, Lilly! I managed to get her in a clean diaper and sent her toddling off to a corner where I know she'd be glad to finish the load, and we'd begin this cycle again. Ain't motherhood grand!?

P.S. I can just imagine the ads that will pop up due to this post. Hopefully it'll be more for Cheerios and diapers than the other crap. *tongue in cheek*

Friday, August 1, 2008

The Grape

Zachary dropped one of his grapes today and Tyson, our younger poodle, made off with it. I didn't realize it was an issue until I rounded the corner and Tyson came shooting out from beside the couch to make sure no one touched his prize. I stood over him and the grape, and he quickly rolled over to show his submission. At nearly the same time Max, our older poodle, rounded the corner and it..was..on. I ran to get the camera so as to document the showdown.



It's my grape, Mom.

Oooh! A grape!

Nobody touch the grape and I'll let you live.


I said BACK OFF, Old Man!


"Abort mission, Max! Abort mission!"