ALOHA!!

Yeah. Aloha. It's raining here in beautiful. Hawaii. In fact, it's rained every day. Yep. Every damn day. We haven't seen the sun since we've been here.

Not sure how I feel about that. But hey, it could be worse. I could be in three feet of snow and six whopping degrees!

Here's a picture I got of a Manta Ray peeking at me:

Not to sound negative, but how much you wanna bet the sun will come out the day after we leave??

Aloha.

I DID IT!!!

I am packed. Finito! Now I get to run around doing last minute things, but when I'm done I can relax, because I'm PACKED. Hooray! Go me!! Granted, I have nine (yes, NINE) suitcases sitting in the living room, but you know, they're packed!!!!

Yipeeee!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and Happy New Year! Mele Kalikimaka!!

Lara

EEEEEEEK!!!!!

Status: Only two more days! I'm frantic!

I do NOT want a repeat of what happened the night before we left for Thanksgiving for ten days. Seriously. I put off packing until the day before, and Hubby and I were packing (and arguing) until 2am, we collapsed into bed at 3am, and woke up at 4am to get everyone else up to get on the plane. Can you say NO SLEEP, AGITATION and ZOMBIFIED? Things always get a little "tense" before we leave. I don't want that this time.

Hence, I am running around like a head with my chicken cut off today, so tomorrow can be...relaxed. At midnight tonight I intend for all the luggage to be PACKED, and ready to load into the car Thursday night. So far I have my suitcase for Hawaii packed, my suitcase for Idaho packed, and the baby's suitcase. Today I'm getting the rest of the kids packed, and Hubby can pack himself tonight. And we'll be DONE. Then we can spend a relaxing evening, hanging out, and get to bed at a decent time.

Ahhhh. That sounds lovely. But until then, there aren't enough hours in a day! Eeek!

Happy Post

Status: I have a teething seven-month old. I'll let you guess. ;-)

I am realizing that my posts are pretty negative as of late. You know, I don't want anyone to think that the life of a stay-home mom is dreary in any way. It actually can have its moments of joy and happiness and warm fuzzies. I guess during the Holidays those moments don't happen as often. And frankly, having four kids can get...well...a bit hairy.

Not to mention the fact that I am NOT the World's Best Morning Person and when do I blog? In the morning. Hmmmm. That explains a lot.

So Thing One didn't have Pinkeye. Thank the Stars. Seriously, I was getting ready for the equivalent of PINKEYE ARMAGEDDON in my house, because even when my kids are sick, they can't seem to stay away from each other, unless I threaten them with their lives and barricade them in their rooms.
Apparently she has a sinus infection and both ears are infected, and it was affecting her eyes. Which made more sense because her eyes were red, but not itchy. And I've had Pinkeye. It itches like a Mother. You want to literally rip out your eyeballs and run them across sandpaper, to stop the itching.

So, she's on the Cadillac of Antibiotics (again--haven't we done this recently?) and she's in school. And she's a cranky toerag, to boot.

So, I guess I started out with the intention of having this be a "happy" post. So I'll give it my best shot:

What do I love about the Holidays? I love how cozy and festive my house is, with all the lights and decorations up. I love Christmas music and candy canes and Pine trees and shiny wrapped presents. I love that 75% of my kids still believe in Santa Claus. And I love the whole "good will" feeling people have towards each other, unless they're at the Mall. Yes, avoid the Mall and anything that has a "super" preceeding it's name (Super WalMart, Super Target, etc) the two weeks before Christmas because, honey, your Christmas Cheer will go right down the toilet.

*ahem* But there are so many good things about the Holidays. I guess we need to focus on those, to keep us sane through the "hairier" times.

Well, off I go to do a zillion things!

I Hate My Life.

That's my ten-year old daughter's new favorite thing to say. Well, today, she probably really does. Since she has an ear infection, a sore throat, a stuffed up head and pinkeye in both eyes.

Yup, we're going to the dr. first thing this morning.

I don't hate my life, but I am very tired. Thing Four was up screaming at 3am with teething issues (don't worry, he has TWO coming in and we get to fly on a plane for four hours in a few days---eeek) and he screamed and screamed while I frantically searched for the Infant Tylenol.

Murphy's Law: The louder and shriller a baby screams in pain, the less chance you have of finding pain relieving medicine quickly.

I searched for about five agonizing minutes until I realized we hadn't unpacked it from the last trip and it was still in the travel diaper bag.
Of course after I finally found it and dosed him, he decided he was going to scream with hunger until I fed him. I don't think I've made a bottle faster in my life. I have it down to under a minute, I kid you not.

Poor Hubby. He had to hold him while I searched for medicine/made a bottle. He's just as zombified as I am. He said this week is going to be the Week From Hell at work because he is leaving for two weeks vacation. Lots of things he has to do before he goes. Thus the Hell. My week will be from Hell too because of all the packing and errands and STUFF I have to do before we go, and having sick kids and Pinkeye in my house only makes for more work.

I hate my life too! But only this week. Then it will all magically come together and we're going to ENJOY ourselves on our vacation, dammit! If I have to hog-tie everyone and paint a smile on their faces with a Sharpie Marker.

:-)

Stage Fright.

Status: Relatively calm, considering the list of crap I have to do before we go on vacation!

So I medicined up Thing One and she went last night. And she did AWESOME! You could tell she was a little stuffed up but that was it. She hit all her notes. I had the principal of the school lean in at one point and tell me that Thing One had the best voice and the most power in her voice in the entire program. Which of course made me very proud of her. :-)

I grew up in musical theater. I loved being in plays, and I do remember whenever I'd get sick, I always felt gosh awful but the SECOND I set a toe on stage, it was like I was perfectly healthy. I did my performance, and did it well, and then, after it was over, I fell apart and felt like crap again. This happened to me more than once. Mind over matter? Who knows. Perhaps that's what happened to Thing One last night. She overcame her Stage Fright. I never actually got stage fright (just normal jitters--you know, the kind that make your singing voice sound like a goat's at first) but when I got sick, and I performed, it was like magic, I felt great! I figured since it had happened to me, it would happen to her. I am glad I was right!

She actually feels a little better today (go figure) and I think nerves made her sick. But she does have a cold, so I'll give her some TLC.

Well, I've lost 14 pounds. I would like to lose about five more before Hawaii, so I'm going to overload on the cardio. I love how I feel much stronger. Yeah, go me!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Only TEN shopping days until Christmas!

The Humpty Dumpty Dance...and a Dilemma...

Status: Anxious. I have a dilemma!

So Thing Four loves, while lying on his back, to brace his feet against whatever hard surface he's laying on and lift his pelvis up and down. My other kids did it, and I called it "The Butt Scoots" because eventually they start scooting around when they do it. My personal trainer calls that particular move a "Pelvic bridge" and she makes me hold it for like, 83743 seconds. Really gets those glutes working.

But I digress. Thing four (who is officially seven months old!) and yes, GINORMOUS, this pic was taken a few days ago--let's just say he's 22 pounds and 30 inches long now. HUGE.

He loves to do this little "dance" a lot. Especially when I'm trying to diaper him, which isn't very funny. The WORST, of course, is when he has a poopie diaper and I open it up to wipe him off and he starts "doing the dance." Poop everywhere. And he thinks it's hilarious of course. My kids have dubbed it the "Humpty Dumpty Dance" which is probably not the best title but it's stuck and Thing Four is offically the Humpty Dumpty Dance King.

Nice, huh? Now, on to my dilemma:

Last year, Thing One was part of the chorus in the school 3rd and 4th grade Christmas play. On the day of the performance, she was running a high fever. So, I let her make the decision whether to go or not, and she felt so awful she decided not to go.
Cue to today, the night of the Christmas play, only Thing One is one of the MAIN CHARACTERS, and guess what? Stuffy nose, sore throat, high fever. And she has to dance and sing a solo in the play.

So, do I do the "Stage Mom" thing and knacker her up good with a heavy arsenal of medicine and get her through it, or do I have her stay home and let the understudy do it? She feels awful, and says she's got a horrible headache, going to "throw up" if she moves, the light hurts her eyes, and she is whining like a mule, basically. I told her to stop being such a drama queen, she just had stage fright, but then I felt her head. Burning up. And I am suspecting a migraine.

I think I have pretty much made up my mind to give her medicine and let her go. I mean, she's been working hard at rehearsals and she's been wanting to do this her whole life. (It's her first play!) AND Hubby actually is leaving work, like TEN hours early at 5pm and he's coming to the play. That doesn't happen often.

What should I do? Am I a bad mother if I let her go? (There's the whole spreading germs thing too--but aren't schools cesspools of germs anyway???)

UGH.

Back to Normal.

Status: Feeling hurried. I have exactly 18 minutes before Thing Four starts screaming for his breakfast...must....type....faster...

So the kids went back to school. I know. Thrillsville. They played in the snow yesterday, and got completely covered, and I had to throw the whole lot of snow pants, gloves, coats and hats in the dryer so they could wear them to school today. We got DUMPED on, about 8 inches here, and add that to the six inches we already had, and you can guess the amount of snow we have.

Poor Hubby, he came home steaming mad, and I asked him why, and he said "Don't you realize that I've been trying to drive up our driveway for the last 20 minutes????"

Um, no, sorry. I didn't get the Clairvoyant Gene. And maybe next time you won't shun four-wheel drive for a sedan. Yep, he's a Sedan Man. Not an SUV Man. Sedan is how he rolls. Yeah. Rolls downhill backwards apparently... *snort!*

Of course right after he got in, the snow plowers came and did the driveway. It was pretty bad. We didn't even get our mail.

Ooops! Thing Four is starting to say "Num Num!!!!" I'd better get up there.

Oh, and I'm doing Yoga today. My trainer said "Why wait until the New Year? Start it now!" So she's planned out a schedule for me, and today, I do 30 minutes of cardio, and Yoga.

Go me.

Ice Day.

Status: Feeling pretty dang awesome!

Granted, one of Hubby's New York Friends was over last night, and we talked until 1am, so I'm a little sleepy, but we got up this morning and while the kids were eating breakfast we realized that all the schools were closed.

We're under a major Ice storm warning. So Hubby waited a while to head off to work, and the kids and I have been playing. I am having fun with them home. We're all still in our jammies, and Thing One (she wants to be a chef, so I got her a little apron with her name on it) and I just finished making Oatmeal cookies, and we're all cozy in the house. Thing Four is entertaining us with his happy screams, and we're hanging out. Of course I have to run out and mail some things people won from me on Ebay, but the post office is literally a mile from my house, tops. So I'll just put the truck in 4-wheel drive and be fine.

I love cozy winter days home from school. Lots of hot cocoa and board games!

I just hope the power doesn't go out--that would sort of put a damper on things. But we have gas fireplaces, so at least we won't freeze!

GREEN IS NOT EASY.

Status: Tired, stressed, Holiday cheer-ish...

We are officially DONE with Christmas gifts. I do need to handmake cards for Hubby's work people, but that's about it. Now I have to send out a bunch of stuff and we're offically done. It's a great feeling.

Had a stressful weekend. Not as Craptastic as Friday (which was a really really really LAME day) but with the Christmas party and Church stuff and planning our "itinerary" for Hawaii there wasn't much time to breathe. My house looks like it was hit by a Level 4 Tornado inside. Mondays are always dumb that way. Cleaning up all the stuff I didn't do during the weekend. The kids are SO going to have chores upon chores when they get home from school. I bet they'll love that.

I'm attempting to be "Green" lately. I know, I'm a total bandwagonner, but I will say I've been recycling for YEARS. So I've been enviro-conscious for a while. Except for my truck. I have a big 'ole Ford Expedition, and it's a gas guzzler, and it's my only holdout. Besides, you can't fit a family of six in a Prius (two of them needing to be in car seats), you know? And since we're adding one more to our family in a year or two (and yes, we will be done after that) we will have seven. And frankly, I need a big car. But I will say the day they come out with a Hybrid Expedition or similar-sized car, I'll be on the list for one!

Anyway, my point to the green thing: I'm giving up one of my most convenient "vices:" DISPOSABLE TABLEWARE. I am the queen of disposable. I have put all my glasses and china in the UPPER cabinets, in the lower cabinets you will find plastic/paper cups, plates, bowls. In my silverware drawer I have tons of plastic disposable utensils. We go through about two packs a week.
NOT ANYMORE. I let us use up the disposable stuff, and we're using *GASP* real china bowls and real glass cups and etc. etc. etc. I will just wash a lot more dishes.

We're going to try it for a while. Plus, it will save $$. If the kids have a glass they use all day for water, instead of using up, say, 5-6 disposable cups a day, that all adds up after a while. So, we're going to TRY. I don't like having dishes in the sink. They're stinky and ugly and just YUCK. Dishes you throw away after eating are the BOMB. So this new order will be tricky. I've already fished a couple of stainless steel forks and spoons out of the garbage (and yelled at my kids at the top of my lungs) so it will take some time to remember we can't throw stuff away anymore.

How long do you think it will last? I don't dare say.

Eeek! Time to get the garbage set out! We woke up late this morning so the kids didn't have time to do it. And I didn't make them. That's what I get!

Crap.

WARNING: I'm having a "Crap" day.

You know, we all have those. I am in the middle of what could be the CRAPPIEST mood, in the CRAPPIEST weather, ever. My house is full of Crap. (Laundry piles everywhere, I'm sorting.) I just came home from Thing Three's First Grade Holiday Concert, and there were NO crapping parking spaces at that Crappy School. Even the tiny cookie I nibbled on afterwards tasted like Crap.

Thing Four is teething again, and he feels like Crap. I started writing last night, and stopped, because what I wrote was utter Crap. I have to get into my Crappy car (looks like it had a run-in with a Flocking machine again) and drive on the Crappy roads to get a present for a party because I'm a Crappy Procrastinator and I don't want to go. And my breakfast tasted like Crap, too, by the way.

So now, I feel like Crap. Oh, and Thing Four crapped all over the bed while I was changing him.

What a Craptastic Day.

Christmas On One Page.

Status: Anxious. Gearing up for the weekend! (School plays, birthday party, church Christmas party where I have to A) bring food and B) perform in the musical portion and C) while at the Christmas party, reassure Things Two and Three that no, "Santa Claus" doesn't really look EXACTLY like Brother So-and-So from the church ward with a fake beard...but they're not dumb. They KNOW. So I tell them that it's not really "Santa" but one of his helpers, since he can't be in millions of places at once. I guess it's up to them to extend their imaginations on that one...)

So, Thing Three's birthday "Legend of Zelda" cake was a hit. Here it is:I guess when Thing Three started screaming when I brought it out, it meant he really liked it. So, whether it was a weird idea or not, it worked for him, and that's what really matters. But it opened up a lot of new possibilities for me. Now I can do ANY cake I want to, as long as my kids don't mind cutouts on the cake. I just need Google Images, a printer, a laminator and a pair or scissors, and VOILA: The cake they want!

So, I decided to do something easy for the future--getting all the recipes for the Christmas confections we traditionally make, on ONE page for easy reference. Sure, I had to do nine-point font, but I got all six recipes on one page, and made it all cute. And I downloaded these cute Christmas fonts and gussied it up. So, I have the recipes for Christmas fudge, Hello Dollys, Candy-cane-shaped cookies, Brandy Balls, Sugar cookies and Gingerbread. All the good stuff. On the other side of the page I will have the candy that I make, too. I even have a great Christmas jello and egg nog recipe. (not together, they're separate recipes!) All on one page. Makes it easy--no hunting down recipes for me from now on! At least for the traditional stuff. I've started converting my messy recipe card box to laminated pages in a book anyway. It's a lot cleaner, and I don't have to worry about the cards not making it back to the box. (a common problem in our house!). They'll all be in one binder.

I am mad at Sprint. For some odd reason, their automated (and online) payment systems keep telling me my wonky Wisconsin address doesn't match my check card banking address. I have literally held the Sprint bill and the bank bill side-by-side, and they are an EXACT match, which really makes me stomping mad that I can't pay my bill online or over the phone. I have to physically DRIVE to a Sprint Store (none are close to my house) and pay the bill with a customer service person.

So, yesterday, I make the 20-minute drive to the nearest Sprint store and when I get there, they tell me they can't access my account because they're converting to the new system and no accounts are accessible. So, I have to come back another day to pay my bill.

AAARRRRRGGGGHHHH! I hate driving so far, in SNOW AND ICE up to my ears with a baby in the car and lugging him in to pay a stupid bill I should be able to PAY ONLINE!!!!!

Okay. I need to calm down and blog about something else. Better yet, got to have a cup of Swiss Miss fat-free cocoa. (The yummy kind that comes with marshmallows.) I need to have a cup of Happiness before I drive all the way out there again. This Momma ain't happy.

Happy Wednesday!!!

Today has started out great. It's Thing Three's Birthday, too. Happy Seventh Birthday, Thing Three!!!
Of course when I asked him what he wants for his birthday dinner, he wanted MACDONALD'S. Big surprise there. So that's what we'll get him. I'll have to pass, though. Hawaii is in three weeks!

Hubby leaves tomorrow for Minneapolis, but this morning he had a Dr's appointment, so we got to spend the first part of the day together, with just Thing Four. We had a good breakfast, worked out, and played with the baby. And by some sheer happenstance, his work server was down so he wasn't receiving calls or emails on his Blackberry every 30 seconds like he usually is.

It was calm and quiet bliss! :-)

But now he's gone and I have to run a million places. I bought Season One of "BONES" (it looks really good!) and I feel guilty so I'm taking it back. I guess I could rent it instead, because I have a card with tons of free rentals on it still. Gotta be frugal now!

And I'm baking a cake for tonight. Not buying one. Go me.

I had a small "emergency" with the cake, because Thing Three said he wanted a "Legend of Zelda" cake. This was YESTERDAY that he informed me. So I wracked my brain, searched the internet, and since "Link Cakes" aren't even orderable in twelve hours, I decided to improvise. I am making a plain yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and I printed out some Link figures and the Zelda logo, laminated them and cut them out. After I frost the cake, I'm just going to "set them on top" so it will be Zelda-themed. We'll just have to make sure to take the decorations off before we cut it.

So, am I being A) Desperate and weird or B) Crafty and Cool? You tell me.

I'm doing it anyway. I'll post pics later. Time to run some errands!

Done With Christmas Shopping.

Status: Just Here.

Well, I'm officially done with Christmas shopping. Not because I've finished, mind you, but I've been "cut off." It rarely happens, but every once in a while, Hubby decides to take a reallyclose look at the monthly Amex bill, and tells me I'm done buying stuff. So, I'm going to have to send out "cards" instead of gifts this year, and that really galls me. But that's what I get.

But hey! At least I don't have to worry about braving crowds anymore! And I've already bought the "big" presents for the kids. So we're done.

I found my Yoga stuff! I know, you're probably saying: "Wah?" I've been in this house for over a year now. But I unpacked a box of Christmas decorations that I didn't use last year, and the packers had shoved my Yoga blocks and strap and DVD inside. So I have them now! I am going to start Yoga as one of my New Year resolutions. Just to supplement my routine, a few times a week. Thing Four takes two-hour naps so I have plenty of opportunity.

Well, nothing new to report, and I have a list a mile long of phone calls to make and things to do. Better get on them!

UGH.

The Irony.

Status: Well rested. We got to bed at 9:30 last night. Thing Four didn't wake up to eat until 5:30 (he's teething and has been up all night the last three nights moaning and then he realizes he's hungry, and then...you can guess the rest.

Thank heaven for Tylenol. And Baby Orajel. And those teething toys you put in the fridge. I have a veritable arsenal for Teething Defense. Thing Four is getting his top teeth. He already has two cute little ones on the bottom, and now his top left one has poked through, and it will be any day the right one will follow.
I'm thankful he doesn't scream or cry, but he does moan. At night. That's about the time I start to curse the inventor of the Baby Monitor. But I figure: hey, I stay home, I can get a nap during the day if I need it. Life goes on.

Okay, here's the irony. While getting onto the freeway the other day, I got TOTALLY run off the road by this crazy minivan. The woman was NOT going to let me in. Since it was kind of THE LAW to let me in (not to mention common courtesy) and she was having none of it, well, I got a bit mad. Okay really REALLY mad. As I was honking and shouting...some not nice words, I happened to see the bumper sticker on the back of said minivan.

"I'M TRYING TO BE LIKE JESUS"

Yeah, you jackass, I never would have guessed!!! If you were REALLY trying to be like the Man Himself, you would have LET ME THE HELL ONTO THE FREEWAY!!!

I had to laugh a little, though. It was a tad ironic. Getting run off the freeway by a driver who is Trying To Be Like Jesus.

I guess you had to be there.

Although I need to lay off the road rage. Thing Four's first word is going to be a four-letter one, at the rate I'm going. :-(

So the weekend was Okay for the most part. We had a big snowstorm. At least Hubby and I weren't the only ones running to Home Depot for Winter fertilizer and Driveway Stakes (to mark for the snowplowers) before the snow hit. Of course there was a tense moment when Hubby, while attempting to pound the stakes into the ground, realized that the ground was frozen and the stakes were NOT going in. Needless to say he was very unhappy about it--our weeny hammer wouldn't even work, so I went and got one of my big 'ole arm weights out of the workout room and we used that. Just as we got most of them placed, the snowflakes started to fall. Our neighbor was running all over his lawn with a fertilizer spreader. We all had to laugh. He finally gave up, since he has an acre lot and the snow was really coming down. Oh well. We'll get our lawn in the Spring.

Today I only have a few things to do. It's the end of the week that will get a little crazy. Right now I'm going to wake Thing Four up and have some play time. I can run around later. It's eight degrees outside anyway. Ya think?