Signing Off!!!

Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy New Year! I hope everyone has safe, wonderful holidays! My blog will be back bright and early on Tuesday, January 5th. I'm sure you'll ALL be waiting with baited breath until then! Be safe.

Lara

First Glimpse of Twilight Saga's Eclipse!

Ahhh, that hair...(no, not Bella's!) Can't wait until June!

Photo courtesy of Popsugar

OKAY.

PLEASE tell me that some of you have (with the best of intentions) baked and cooked and made plates of cookies at Christmas time, only to get around to delivering about HALF of them. (Devon, you don't count, because I know this has never happened to you!)

I stink. I still have ten plates of cookies to deliver to church friends, and have I delivered them??? NO!!! I ran around so much yesterday, and today it's snowing and I Just. Can't. Get. My. Lazy. Butt. In. The. Car.

Yeah, I stink times two. I should just throw up my hands and toss myself into the nearest empty grave plot.

I AM FINISHED!!!!!

WOOOWEEEEE!!

It's the best feeling in the world, being finished with Christmas present shopping. Thing Four (who is my little buddy/trooper) and I dropped the kids off at school at 8am, and after trips to Subway (for giftcards), Target, Kohl's, Walmart, Home Depot, the grocery store and the dry cleaners, we are finally home (he just went down for a nap) and we're finally DONE!!!

*Lara collapses*

Now we just need to clean our whole house and pack for our vacation. Boo.

Oh, and how did I/will I achieve all this???

Pepsi Max. Yeah, you really think *I* have natural energy???

;-)

PRICELESS.

If you are a LOTR fan, you MUST watch this! How could I have missed it???

I Bought Alcohol. (*Giggle/Snort*)

Okay, so I folded and went and bought a TEENY (with a stress on teeny) bottle of Brandy at the liquor place next to my usual grocery store. Don't laugh, it's the first time I have been inside a liquor store in my life. MY ENTIRE LIFE. She had the perfect little size (just a bit bigger than airplane-service size) and I hid it in my handbag. I will use it in the cookies and all will be well.

Just got back from Round One of Sibling Shopping. Since I was shopping for my two-year old (who wanted to buy just about everything) I pretty much picked out the presents for his siblings. And we found this FABULOUS "Space Ship" tent for his room, to play in. I had to get it. Now that he has his own room, it's a little bare, since his brother took all the furniture out when he moved. After the Holidays are over, I will pay some attention to making his room "cute." No time now.

This weekend should be good. We're making cookies and delivering them to friends, and the kids are doing The Nativity at a nursing home with other kids in our church, and other than getting hair cuts, we will be able to relax and get packed for Christmas vacation. The kids don't have school on Wednesday, so we're going to have pancakes in the morning and stay in our jammies and watch Christmas movies all day. :-) On the menu is our favorites: SCROOGE (the 1972 Albert Finney version) POLAR EXPRESS, A CHRISTMAS STORY, THE SANTA CLAUSE, and yes, I'm forcing them all to watch IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Because Christmas isn't complete without at least one viewing of that great film.

I'm bummed because our DVR decided to eat last week's episode of BONES. The one where Zooey Deschanel guest stars. DARN IT!!! We were having our snow storm, and the Directv went out. I am seriously sad. I guess we'll have to watch it online. It's not the same, though.

Time to get my little cherub down for a nap. Have a happy safe weekend, everyone!

Mission Impossible. Seriously???

I have this recipe I've loved for decades (loved them when I was a kid!) and I broke it out the other day. We call them "Brandy Balls," but they are also known as "Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes," etc. Those yummy cookies with nuts that are heavily coated in powdered sugar. YUM.

Anyway, I was looking at the recipe, and it calls for 2 tablespoons of Brandy Extract. (Hence the name "Brandy Balls," heh heh.) I looked in my extract tub, and no bottles of Brandy flavor. Pretty much everything else, but not Brandy.

So, my next trip to the store, I looked for Brandy extract. They didn't have any. Not that they were sold out, but they didn't even CARRY it. I thought it was strange, and the next time I went to a store (this one being a "boutique-y" store) I figured they would have it.

Nope.

Perplexed, I went to another store, the same one I get my essential oils. They have extracts, but no BRANDY.

Cut to yesterday, when I really wanted to make these cookies, I started calling stores. I called Sendiks. Nada. Albertsons. Nope. Fresh Market. No. World Market. Nope. Penzey's Spices. No luck. WTHeck???

The crazy part is, these stores weren't sold out of Brandy extract, they simply DON'T STOCK IT! Isn't that crazy? Is my recipe outdated? I finally found Brandy extract online, but I don't have time to wait for it to get to my house, because I am going out of town.

My mother, bless her, suggested I go and buy a "leeeeeeeetle" bottle of REAL Brandy, but I'm nervous about that idea. Yeah, I'd probably run into my bishop or something. A Mormon in a Liquor Store. Yeah. HA HA.

Anyway, I just may fold and go for that tiny bottle of brandy, just for the sake of the cookies. I really want to bake them for my cookie plates!!

Making Hay While The Sun Shines...

You think I would realize, by now, that me running around flailing my arms and yelling, is NOT constructive. Well, I know it. I know that raising my voice to make a point is not necessary, but it SEEMS to be the only thing that gets results. So, I yell.

But not this morning. I didn't yell. I calmly reasoned. I was cheerful. I set the timer. (You have eight minutes to eat your oatmeal, etc.)

It sort of worked. Go figure. We'll see how long THAT lasts.

I can't believe next week is Christmas! I'm already getting the Sads in a big way, because I only have eight more days to enjoy my festive house. Then I'll be off to visit family, and when I get back, Christmas and New Year's will be over, and I will have to take down all my beautiful green and red and everything will be clean and plain and...cold. At least, compared to how it was before. *sigh* The window is closing, people! Enjoy it while you can! I do keep white lights in my ficus trees after Christmas, so it's "somewhat" cheerful at night, but the long winter months can be tough. Unless we have sun. Sunny and cold I can handle. Gloomy and overcast and cold can be brutal.

Well, now, I'm depressed. I need to stop that. The Christmas presents are bought and shipped to where we're staying, now I just need to take the kids shopping. They have so much fun picking out presents for each other. I tell them what the $$ limit is, and let them "have at it" at fun places like Target or Walmart. This way, the whole "gift-giving" thing will have more meaning for them. It's a win-win.

So, other than the "Sibling Shop" we're done and ready to go. We have to be, in order to save money on airfare (we have SIX plane tickets now!) we fly in on Christmas Eve day. So, no time to run out and purchase anything last minute. It all has to be DONE.

You think I can pull it off?

;-)

If You Would Indulge Me In A Little Rant...

I'm a little annoyed this morning. One of my children (who shall remain anonymous), I swear, this child needs me VELCROED to his side every morning or he'd wander off and play with his legos instead of getting dressed, brushing his teeth, packing his lunch, etc. etc..

Sure, I've complained about this on the blog before. And sure, some of you commented that I need to "let him" go to school half-ready, unprepared, so he'd learn, etc. But the truth is, he wouldn't care. This kid is the most CAREFREE kid ever. It's just not in his nature to be motivated to do anything, unless *I* threaten him with a swat on the butt (he's ten!) or priveleges taken away.

Every morning is like this. Every morning I have to yell at him to stop daydreaming/playing/piddlyfarting and GET GOING. If I wasn't on his rear end about the "timeline" for getting ready in the morning, he'd take 40 minutes to eat a bowl of oatmeal. This morning I forgot he was in the shower (I got distracted and forgot to set the timer) and he just stood in there for 25 minutes and when I realized he needed to be told to get out, he said he hadn't even washed his hair yet. And I specifically tell my kids to wash their hair FIRST THING, when they get in, and do everything else afterwards. And yes, I remind him every time, just before he gets in the shower. I was ready to tear my eyeballs out!!!

It really makes me agitated in the morning. And I feel like I'm singling him out because his other siblings are pretty responsible and self-motivated. So he probably feels picked on.

FRUSTRATION. I've tried everything. The kid has been grounded, yelled at, swatted on the rear-end, had privileges revoked, and he is usually "okay" for a day or two and then it's back to his old routine of DAYDREAMING/PIDDLYFARTING/PLAYING in the morning. It's enough to make me want to shoot to the moon. I know its the ADHD he has, but GOOD GRIEF!!!!

Sorry, I just have to rant this morning. Usually I can handle it. Not so, today. Grrrrrrrr...

Busy.

Mondays are always crazy for me. But look at the post below for a laugh!
Must dash.

HA!

No offense to Mrs. Meyer, but this pretty much sums up my feelings about Twilight:

I'm Not a Fabulous Mom Today.

That's how I'm feeling, lately. I went to the kid's Christmas concert last night, and forgot my camera. And one of my sons had a duet, and another had a major part as Santa's announcer! And I didn't get to record any of it!!! All I have are the memories in my heart, blah blah blah blah.

Bad Mom.

This morning, I realized, with a pang of horror, that one of my son's pills had run out and for some reason, refilling the prescription had slipped my mind. He NEEDS these pills for school, or he can't focus, and acts like a Monkey on Speed, Caffeine (name your stimulant), etc.. SO, I called the school and said he was going to be "late" and we ran to the Dr, got the prescription refill, ran to Walgreens and got it filled, shopped at Walmart for nothing we needed while we waited for the pills to get filled, and I had him chug his pill in the car with water as I drove him to school, an hour and a half late.

Bad Mom.

And I realized halfway through this major jaunt that I had neglected to feed my two-year old (and myself) breakfast. All I had in the car was a box of Hostess 100-calorie chocolate muffin packs and half a can of Sour Cream and Onion Pringles. Guess what we had for breakfast?

HORRIBLE Mom.

I should just be shot. Maybe I should top off the day and let my toddler sit in front of movies all day long while I sleep. Or give him an aspartame-laden Diet Coke to top off those chocolate muffins and chips.

ARGHHH!!!

Scuse' me while I run off to make him a bowl of healthy oatmeal and proceed to read him 5847365 educational books...

Um...BRRRRRRRRR.....

Now we have a lovely wind chill advisory. Our DirecTV won't work (because it's frozen) so I had to go online to make sure school wasn't cancelled again--it's not and I was frankly surprised because kids could get frostbite standing at the bus stop this morning! Then again, it's not exactly 30 below like they were predicting, but I bet it FEELS like it.

The snow blew all over my lovely snowblowing job. I have to chip it out again today, so the UPS/Fedex/USPS people don't break their legs coming to my front door. And my arms are killing me, I can hardly move them. Courtesy of struggling with a snowblower for two hours yesterday. :-)

Yeah, I guess I'm complaining a lot this morning. I WILL say that the season finale of "GLEE" had me in tears last night. It was highly...awesome. Although a bit creepy at the end. I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't seen...so...if you don't want to be spoiled...DON'T READ ANY FURTHER!!!

Okay...giving you another chance...DON'T READ!!! SCROLL PAST THE SMALL PRINT!


Okay. So, SERIOUSLY, I got the tingles when Will kissed Emma at the end, but HELLO, he's still married, and he'd only left his wife THE DAY BEFORE. This was not cool in my book. I know, I know, I sound highly moralistic and square, but I guess with the seeiming disregard of the importance of marriage vows lately (I'm thinking of a recent newsworthy married athlete whose mistress count is now up to freaking THIRTEEN...) I am super sensitive to that stuff. I thought it was a bit creepy and soap-opera-ish. Then again, who am I kidding? GLEE, with all it's brilliance, is usually a bit creepy and soap-opera-ish.


YOU CAN START READING AGAIN!!!

I can't believe it's Thursday already. The school concert that got cancelled on Tuesday night is on for tonight. UGH. Luckily for me, it's only for the 3-5 graders, so Thing One can stay home with the baby and stay warm, while we brave the cold and lack of parking spaces.

Fingers crossed my nose doesn't freeze!

Snow Day.

Our first snow dump fall of the season...and I'm already OVER it. We got about a foot of snow where we live, it's so pretty...but SOOOOO heavy!!! It's the heaviest snow I've ever seen! I had to snowblow the driveway twice, and finally take a shovel to the "Great Wall" the snowplowers put at the foot of our driveway. The snowblower wasn't even a match for it, and I had to chip at it (back-breaking work!) until I finally got it out of the way.

And of course, an hour later, it was SNOWING again, and I'll probably have to do the whole thing over in a few hours because Hubby won't be able to get up the driveway. Why I loved this driveway when we bought the house is beyond me. It's long, and slopes up to the house, and it's very nice looking, but in WINTER, it becomes...my...nemesis. The Driveway That Never Ends. Especially when you're trudging behind a snowplow on it. UGH.

Anyway, the kids are home from school, everything is cancelled, and we have a snow fort and assorted snowman attempts in our back yard.

At least we're warm and cozy inside--that's a lot to be thankful for!

Oy. Snow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother, Chris!!!

I guess it was inevitable...the big first "snow storm" for Wisconsin. We're supposed to get a big ol' fashioned dumping today--starting around noon and lasting all night. 9-12 inches.

And of COURSE the school Christmas concert is tonight. My guess is they'll cancel. And we'll have a snow day tomorrow. At least that's the "chatter" lately. I called the school just to check, and they "haven't made that decision, yet," because in the past we've had severe storm warnings and....phhhhttt. Nothing. Maybe one or two inches. I guess we'll see what happens. It's no fun driving in thick snow, only to have to unload four kids (dressed to the nines, no less) and a stroller and get everyone into the school from two blocks away because there's no parking. In fact, last year, Hubby arrived late to the concert, couldn't find a parking spot within a half mile (or so he said, I suspect he was exaggerating a tad) and he finally gave up and went home. The concert was half over, anyway, and already standing-room only.

In other news, we have had a couple of milestones this week--Thing Four is finally starting to sleep in a "big boy bed" tonight. I'm a little sad at this, because I enjoy my sleep. So, when he wakes up at 5am and is able to actually get out of bed and come down and wake us up, it will kinda suck. I'm going to childproof his room so that he can get down and play with his toys, which he will most likely do.

Also, he's started talking about "going potty on the big-boy potty." I got him one of those conversion-potty seats, it's soft and has a football theme (we call it the "Football Potty") and he's ready to try it. I'm a little "not ready" because I was hoping to potty train him AFTER Christmas vacation (six hours total on planes there and back, yuck!) so I may try to hold him off. We may "sporadically" use the potty until then. If he's ready, he'll learn quickly. I'm crossing my fingers!

Time to run around a bit--the storm is supposed to hit around noon today. I need to get extra gas for the snowblowers--and dig out my gloves and scarves and hats--snowblowing is messy business!

My Toddler is a Potty Mouth, Part II

Okay, I was SOOO sick all weekend! It was pretty ugly. But the antibiotics are finally, FINALLY kicking in! Whew. It was hairy there, for a while...

We finally figured out why Thing Four, who is two, shouted "Put me DOWN, you Moron!" to his dad during Thing One's birthday party. To refresh your memories, Hubby was hoisting him in the air "chair style" when he shouted the offensive phrase.

Cut to Friday, when Thing Four and I were taking in our 9372645th viewing of TOY STORY 2, and there is a scene where the toys are sneaking through a ventilation system. At one point, Buzz Lightyear picked up Potato Head and PH yelled "Put me down, you Moron!" in his Don Rickles voice.

I was like A HA!!! So, that's where he picked it up! We were honestly perplexed for so long. We also figured out an inadvertent viewing of "Spongebob Squarepants" was responsible for "Hey Mommy, I farted in your face!" And we are still wondering where he learned the word "Dammit!" We really have zero idea about that one...

*Lara whistles and looks to the side innocently*

ANYHOWDON'TLOOKATME, we figured it was important to "watch our language" around Thing Four. We don't say "shut up" or stuff like that. (He told people to "shut up" for WEEKS afterwards!) He seems to pick up on the naughtier words, and repeat them at the most inopportune moments. Like, in CHURCH.

Right now he's wheedled his head through my arms as I'm typing, asking for a "snack." Duty calls.

Kids are Snoops.

Thing One is the WORST snoop. She freely admits to searching the house for Christmas gifts. Thing Two is pretty much oblivious, but Thing THREE--well, he could give Thing One a run for her money in the "Snoop" department. This kid knows no boundaries. He will go into any room, and look through stuff. He's always asking me if he can have stuff he's "found."

And I'll retort, "Yeah sure, you mean you were snooping and 'FOUND' that in my desk drawer! No way!!!" etc. etc.

*sigh.* I'm sure it's payback time. When I was a kid, I was a snoop. I would go up to the attic and snoop through all the stuff up there. I'd go through my mom's craft stuff. I was a SNOOP too.

(You can stop grinning, Mom!)

ANYWAY, this year, I have them all thwarted. I've ordered everything ONLINE, and I'm shipping it to the house we're staying at for Christmas. HA! Take that, snoopy kids! Except Hubby's present. Like an idiot, I had it shipped here, thinking I could stick it in a suitcase or something. Um, it's HUGE. There's no way. So, I guess I have to spend more money and ship it again. Because Hubby is a "bit" of a snoop. He likes to know what his presents are, too.

I can't win.

It's the Most Wonderful Time...

I have to say, truly, that this time of year--the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas-- is my favorite time of year, EVER. Hands down. Wow, what an awkward sentence. But you get my meaning. I LOVE this time of year! The Christmas stuff, the lights, the music, the FOOD, everything about this time is just...nostalgic and fun.

This year my church ward is doing something different--instead of having a potluck and gorging ourselves and having a "visit from Santa" where the kids ask for what they want, each family is bringing an entire Christmas dinner to be donated to a needy family, and "Santa" is arriving so we can give him all the food and send him on his way. I seriously think it is so cool. My church rocks. I just hope I'm not still sick on Saturday, or I won't be able to go! I feel awful! Bleah.

I need to go and buy myself some medicine.

I've Died and Gone to Heaven.

Why? Because I love Cherry Cobbler. But I hate the calories involved. But I like Yoplait. Especially their "thick and creamy" series. I discovered this tasty treat in the store, and since I like to sprinkle a little wheat germ on my yogurt--it really completes the effect. This 100-calorie yogurt (with a little wheat germ--this is key) tastes pretty much like this:
I kid you not. You need to try it for yourself. Mmmmm.

And that's all I'm blogging about today because I'm still sick. Boo.

Feeling Reflective.

Happy December First!

Every December, I sit back for a minute (58...59...60...okay minute's up!) and assess what I was able to accomplish during the year, and what I WASN'T able to accomplish.

Hmmm. I'm feeling a little like I'm coming up short. I really don't like that feeling. But what can I say? 2009 still feels like the year that got away. It went by way too fast. Soon, I will look like THIS while I make my new year's resolutions:Yeah, I know. But it's how I feel. Life is passing me by, and I'm not accomplishing what I'd like to accomplish. I've written a list of "Twenty Things To Do Before I Die." Guess how many things I've crossed off? Two. Yeah. Two. That's it.

Then again, I am lucky to be a stay-home mom, and life is generally drama-free--for now. Life will just have to continue "getting away" from me for a while.

The Inevitable.

I started getting a scratchy throat right after church yesterday. Yeah. Uh Oh. THEN my nose stuffed up.

I tossed and turned all night, couldn't sleep. Now I'm a zombie, with a sore throat and stuffy nose.

I THINK it's just a cold. I can handle that. But I'm curled up on the sofa, feeling like a big loooong nap is in order. (When the baby goes down for his nap, of course.)

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday and weekend. I'll blog again when I'm feeling better.

WHEW!

My team seriously cut it a leeeeeetle too close for me tonight. But a win is a win! GO COUGS!

I'm Thankful For...

Get your No Doz out, because this is quite a list: (In NO particular order)

--Healthy, beautiful children
--A Fantastic Husband
(I know, I could stop here, but...)

--The men and women who serve our country and keep our freedom (and us!) safe
--Friendship--I have some GREAT friends! (You know who you are!)
--Being an American
--My Faith
--Miracles (because they DO happen, people, with more regularity than you think!)
--Books
--Computers
--My church calling
--A roof over our heads, clothes to wear and food to eat
--Classical music
--My health, and a healthy family
--A fairly drama-free existence (except when I go to visit the in-laws but that's only a few times a year!) ;-)
--Chocolate
--Kinkos
--Hobby Lobby
--Nice people
--Hugs and Kisses
--Cars
--People in my kids' lives who influence them for good
--My Parents and siblings
--Pretty much everything

Yeah, okay, I copped out at the end. But I'm feeling particularly thankful this year. Hopefully all of you are too, while you enjoy great food with loved ones! Happy Thanksgiving!

I Love Technology.

I seriously do. Technology rocks. We have come a long way. But I also believe my kids are SPOILED ROTTEN because of Technology.

For example: My daughter, Thing One, has an ipod Nano. She can watch movies and videos on it. She can RECORD VIDEO with it. She can get on the computer and with the push of a button, download any song she wants (until her giftcard runs out bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!) and listen to it and it's perfectly clear. Which I kinda resent. Why?

Cut to when *I* was twelve years old. Okay, seriously, no laughter, please--I had this stuffed dog, with a radio in it. (I had no other radio.) Yep. A dog, with two knobs on its underside--one for tuning and one for volume.

On weekends, I would tune in to Dick Clark's top 100 countdown, and I would sit, for HOURS in my room with the door closed, waiting for the songs I wanted with this stupid stuffed dog radio sitting next to a circa late 1970's cassete tape player on my desk. The tape player buttons were set to record, so as soon as Dick stopped yapping over the beginning of the song I wanted, I could hit the button and I would get my song recorded on tape, barring any outside noise. Noise as in, perhaps, me SNEEZING, or my stupid brother knocking on the door and yelling loudly: "LARA --MOM WANTS YOU!" (I was sad beyond sad when my taped version of Thompson Twins' "Lay Your Hands On me" had my brother's voice at the end saying "LAAAAARRAAAAA!" really loudly and the song abruptly cut out, because at that point I had to stop recording.) Boo.

Gone are the days of sitting at my desk waiting FOREVER and praying for quiet during the recording of my favorite songs. Nowadays, I just load up the ole' ipod. But I remember how it was when I was a kid. It kinda sucked.

This is why I love technology. For instance, my favorite "happy" ipod song right now is Owl City's "Fireflies." I bring my ipod in the car and hook it into the car stereo and voila--I get to hear it whenever I want! Take that, Dick Clark. ;-) I don't need you, any more!

*sigh* I love Technology!!! I can only wonder though, how my GRANDkids will be getting their music. They'll probably get it downloaded in their HEADS, and all they'll need to do is "think" of the song and immediately get it streaming into their brain, or something.

Okay, that sounds kind of scary. But I still love technology!

Are Men Disruptive??

I don't mean that in a bad way. Let me explain. As most of you know, I stay home and take care of our four children, ages 12, 10, 8 and 2. (Yeah, I still chuckle over the gap ;-) I am usually a very busy person. BUT I do have some sort of a "system/schedule" down, that works for me. I know what I have to do during the day, and for the most part, I get it knocked out.

Except when Hubby is home sick. Seriously, I don't get a THING done! Case in point, Hubby (who is back to work today but was sick since Thursday last week) stayed home yesterday. I had lots to do. Errands to the Dry Cleaners, Grocery Store, Car dealership oil change, music store to have a broken trumpet valve fixed, post office. I had to finish my thank-yous and get them in the mail, tidy the house from the weekend, and frankly, I WOULD have gotten it all done...but HUBBY was home. He wanted me to help him pick out Christmas gifts for all his work people. (yes, it's getting to be that time!) He wanted to get caught up on our DVR shows (we're about two weeks behind.) He wanted to plan our post-Thanksgiving Shopping Strategy, Etc. Etc. Etc.

What did I get done yesterday? NOTHING. Well, okay, I went and had the oil changed, but only because I forced Hubby to take a nap before lunch, because I'm 600 miles over my maintenance schedule.

THAT'S IT. I didn't even have time to get on the computer until evening. Granted, it was nice to hang out with Hubby, but I felt bad/off kilter at the same time because I'm used to doing certain things on Mondays, and I DIDN'T. That's why I think Men are disruptive. Don't get me wrong, I actually enjoyed our time together yesterday, because it was a rare thing, but I felt anxious because I have so much to DO, and it never seems to get DONE, when Hubby is home from work. Does that make any sense?

I've noticed this same phenomenon during weekends. Does anything *I* need to do, get done? Nope.

Now that things are back to normal, and we're all healthy (thank heaven thank heaven thank heaven knockonwookknockonwoodknockonwood)--I'd better get GOING!!!

Finally...

...we're running out of family members for the H1N1 to attack! Hubby is now down for the count. The kids are all better, but he's in bed.

I, miraculously, have not gotten sick. Hey, I'll take it. I've been able to take care of everyone else.

Heh. Watch me get it.

Conflicted About New Moon.

Warning: If you don't want to be spoiled on the New Moon plot, STOP READING NOW!!

Okay. I saw New Moon tonight with Thing One. I enjoyed it WAY more than the original movie. It was still a tad melodramatic, but hey, it's the Twilight franchise, that's what you sign up for!

Here's where I'm conflicted. After reading the books, I am absolutely TEAM EDWARD. Seriously. Let's not be liars here, and say we wouldn't be swayed by a gorgeous, perfect, sweet-smelling vampire, who pledges undying love to us. *sigh*

Frankly, I detested Jacob Black in the books. He's annoying, hard-headed, weasely, immature, and stubbornly stuck on Bella to the point of OKAY ENOUGH ALREADY. Seriously, I don't like him at all.

But the MOVIE Jacob, is, for want of another word, Perfect. He's sensitive, kind, brave, loyal, funny, he and Bella had chemistry in SPADES and can I just pay homage to the abs?? (I had to keep reminding myself that I was drooling over a seventeen-year old.) I felt myself get emotionally involved at one point. I kept wanting to shout at the screen ARE YOU ON DRUGS, BELLA?? HE'S WARM AND GORGEOUS AND HE LOVES YOU, YOU DIM-WITTED #&**!#$%^&*!! Of course I know who she chooses but I found myself actually rooting for Jacob. It was heartbreaking when Bella rejected him!

See? Conflicted.

So, although I confess to being solidly "Team Edward" from the books, I have to say I am a sound Team Jacob fan from the movie. Or, maybe I'm just TEAM LAUTNER. The kid can act. The kid is adorable. I mean, who else feels the same way I do?
I can't wait until Eclipse! (Okay, someone kick me, I sound like my giddy 12-year old daughter!!!)

Star Trek and New Moon!

I've heard nothing but good things about New Moon, as in, it's LIGHT YEARS better than Twilight. Which is good, because Twilight was embarrassingly cheesy and lame.

If I wasn't taking care of a very sick, very clingy two-year old, I might have gone last night. I actually had the chance to go with some friends, but the tickets were completely gone. At least Thing One and I have tickets for tomorrow--reserved seating! Woo! I've heard the second movie is much better, bigger, and the actors seem to have "gotten it" this time around. Hooray!

I have half a Christmas tree up. Pathetic, I know. And fake pine needles everywhere. I will at least finish the tree today. And tonight should be fun. We're ordering pizza and watching Star Trek (I love love love LOVE it!). J.J. Abrams is awesome. He made a movie that I finally feel the same way I feel about movies like...Indiana Jones and Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean. Nostalgic, engaging and just all around FUN! And I have to say I LOVE Chris Pine as Kirk. I fell for him when I watched "Princess Diaries 2" with Thing One. He's a cutie. And don't even get me started on how perfect Zachary Quinto is as Spock. And Karl Urban absolutely NAILS "Bones." Okay, as do Scotty and Uhura and Sulu and CHEKOV!!! Ha! They're all perfect!!!

Can't tell I love this movie, can you? *wink* I'm not a "Trekkie," but I grew up watching the show with my parents and I LOVED the movies. So I guess I'm "Trekkie Light." As in I "got" all the little nostalgic stuff and terminology in the movie.

*SIGH*

I'll let you know what I think of New Moon on Monday. Tonight, it's all about a date with the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

I'm Being Calm.

Not sure what else I can be at this point. I'm on my fourth child with H1N1, and he's developed this barking cough that is NOT what the other kids have, so off to the doctor this morning we go.

I was up all night with him, because he would cry pitifully if I left him (he's two) and he begged me to sleep with him. Which I told him I'd do, because there's a queen bed in his room. Well, the little cherub kicked me and barked/coughed in my ear the ENTIRE night, and I had to get up every few hours to check his temp and give him medicine anyway, so NO SLEEP for me.

Thing Two, happily, is over the Swine Flu. His fever broke and he'll be back to school tomorrow. He's going to help me with the baby because I need a serious nap. He's ten, and he actually plays quite well with Thing Four, so that's good. The rate we're going, Thing Four should be better by Sunday or Monday, which means we'll be GERM FREE for Thanksgiving! We really want to invite a family over because it's just "us," but we suspect people might be afraid of germs or something. ;-)

Had a heart-attack moment yesterday, because our claim for Thing Three's 8-day icu stay came back denied. As in ZERO payment, ineligible for benefits, period. I called this morning and inquired (very politely) what happened, and apparently the biller at the hospital put my Husband down as the patient, and not Thing Three. Of course it was denied. So I called the hospital this morning and of course they apologized profusely and they're fixing it and resubmitting with the RIGHT name on the paperwork...

Yeah, we have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Thank heaven we have great insurance, and thank heaven all my kids have survived this nasty H1N1.

We are in need of some serious holiday cheer--but I've been too tired to get the Christmas decorations up. Yes, there are people in my neighborhood working diligently on getting the lights up, and I know it's not even Thanksgiving, but I need some CHEER, dang it! I'm sure everyone I know thinks our house should just be raised and burned out and rebuilt or something--I mean, it would have been different if my kids all got the H1N1 at once, but nooooo...it has to be dragged out for FIVE STINKING WEEKS! (Okay, shut up Lara, you're thankful, you're grateful, shut up shut up SHUT UP!!!!) At this point I have the tree stand up, and that's it. Yep, that's really it.

Thing One and I have tickets to see New Moon this Saturday. I am excited, but I just hope I can keep my eyes open. I'll need one of those mack-truck sized cokes...

GUESS WHAT...

Thing Four suddenly has a cough and a fever. Just started an hour ago.
Can I just jump off the roof, now???

I AM OVER THE #!%*&#**!! SWINE FLU!!!!!!

GLEE!!!

And no, I'm not talking about the show, although I do love it. I am talking about the sheer glee I am feeling, over the fact that November is already half over and we haven't had any SNOW!! (Quick, where's some wood? ;-)

Hooray! Sure, it gets frosty in the mornings, but it's been in the 50's and 60's. Definitely NOT snow cold. Loving it!!

Of course now that I've blogged about it, you know what's bound to happen...

Had a good weekend. Well, as good as we can with a sick kiddo. Thing Two stayed in his room, but he's got the old NES system hooked up to a tv in his room and he's been playing Castlevania, Dracula's Curse and Simon's Quest. Not to mention the fact I have the original Super Marios Bros/Duck Hunt and SMB 2 & 3 and my personal fave: Paperboy. *sigh* I love my NES!

ANYWAY, I have two new favorite things. The first thing? My Braun Thermoscan Ear Thermometer:

I LOVE this thing! No more washing thermometers, no more sticking them in the mouth, armpit, rear end, you name it. I just turn it on, pop on a plastic ear guard, stick it gently in the ear and voila! I have a super accurate temp in SECONDS!! This pic shows celsius, but I have mine set to farenheit. It is SUPER easy and wonderful. Well worth the money.

My next favorite thing? I got an authentic Molcajete from Williams Sonoma. And I made the BEST fresh guacamole in it on Sunday: Here's a crappy picture I took with my cell phone. The lighting is terrible, but you get the general idea. I picked my molcajete up at the mall (didn't want to wait for one to ship in the mail) and it's a monster. It probably weighs about 13 pounds! But it's carved from volcanic rock, and it's authentic, so of course it's weighty. And it took FOREVER to season (grinding with rice) but was worth it. The Guac was delish. Yummmmm!!!

Today is surprisingly quiet. I have two kiddos at home, and basically I only have one dry-cleaner run and a grocery store trip. And basketball practice. Luckily my sickie is old enough to stay home by himself. :-)

I probably should get my driveway stakes up. Because it's going to snow. Because I blogged about how grateful I am it hasn't.

You know how it works.

Ah, Life's Little Ironies...

After the Hospital Experience, they highly recommended that we find some H1N1 vaccine for Thing Two and Thing Four, because they hadn't gotten sick.

Yesterday the kids weren't in school. I had a follow-up appointment for Thing Three, just to get an x-ray of his lungs and make sure he was pneumonia-free. All the kids wanted to tag along, except Thing Two, who said he had a headache. But he didn't want to be alone, either, so he came with us.

We all trooped into the doctor's office, and after a harrowing fifteen minutes where I had to chase my two-year old all over the foyer while we waited for Thing Three to get his x-ray, they had the results. Clear and healthy. Hooray! The Dr. reassured me the radiologist even got out his magnifying glass, and looked for any pneumonia, and didn't find any. :-)

Then, they happened to mention that they had TWO doses of the H1N1 nasal mist. I was surprised and relieved. "Let's give it to the kids now!" While they were having me fill out consent forms, Thing Two, who is ten, started complaining that he felt dizzy and his throat hurt.

Uh, say what?

The nurse came back in, and gave my two-year old the vaccine. Just before she was to give it to Thing Two, I asked her to take his temp.

101.5.

Needless to say, she didn't give it to him. The Dr. came back in, checked him out, and asked his symptoms. Fever, sore throat, cough. (In my defense I hadn't noticed the cough because I am so used to hearing one these days.)

Swine Flu Strikes Again. I was seriously like, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

So, Thing Two is now quarantined to his room, and I am keeping him comfortable. THANK HEAVEN he can breathe just fine, so this looks like we're in for five days of fever, and hopefully that's it. And I can handle that. Truly, it will be nothing.

I can't help but wonder at the Irony of the whole situation, however. JUST as he was about to get the vaccine...

Good Luck Day

I don't care what anyone says, Friday the 13th has always been a lucky day for me! :-)

My kids are going to hate me. I've already forewarned them, but I suspect they may only half-believe me. I told them, since there's no school today (conferences), BEFORE they go on the computer, video games, or play outside, they get to clean their rooms and clean the basement.

No fun stuff. Work first. Thing One's room is already clean, so she didn't complain much. Thing Two, however, had an out-and-out mutiny and told me he was going to stay in his room all day and not clean it. To which I replied, "Fine, I will just set the timer for 20 minutes and if there's no progress I'm going to SWAT YOUR BEHIND. And I will continue to swat it every 20 minutes until the room is clean!"

He simply looked at me. I think he realizes I'm serious about the cleaning thing. I have to clean my own room, as well. It's amazing how clothes seem to "be fruitful and multiply" in my closet.

Thing One begged me to watch Twilight for the umpteenth time with her last night. (My third time, HER umpteenth). I have to say, it really is a BAD movie. The lighting is bad, the music is corny, the CHEESEY LINES these poor actors had to utter borderline on the ridiculous--and I still detest how Edward meets Bella and after a few tense words and a mulch-dump field trip they are proclaiming their love for each other. WAY TOO FAST!! The book at least drew it out a little.

Looking forward to New Moon. (We have tickets for the 21st!) I really liked The Golden Compass so I think this director will have made a more emotional movie. Twilight reminds me of "Star Wars" where the pretty actors had more wooden, corny lines than the droids.

I'm sure all the Twihards will be sending me hate mail, but there it is. I have a feeling there will be a marked difference between the two movies. I'm just sayin...

I got all the conferences knocked out yesterday. Kids are doing great, and I think we need to get out and enjoy the sunshine today. Oh, and my two year old has started being SUPER polite, lately. "Thank You, Mommy." "You're Welcome." "Please?" "Sorry, Mommy." And my personal favorite: "Bwess you, Mommy!"

Crazy Thursday. *Grin*

Yes, it's 8:45 and what have I already done today?

--Woke up (A feat in itself since Thing One ran downstairs at 2am because she'd had a nightmare--I had to go re-tuck her in and soothe her--shoot me now)
--Drove the kids to school
--lugged out the stroller and took the baby into school with said kids, to buy books for the school Book Fair
--Bought Books
--Back to the car and to the gas station because my car told me I only had 55 miles to go until I was empty. (oops!)
--Got Gas
--Mailed a package
--Ran to the Cleaners
--Dropped off a prescription refill
--Went to the bank
--Grabbed a bowl of Mini-Wheats and sat down at this computer.

WHEW!!

I still have to mow the lawn (ONE last time!), run to the store, and go to parent/teacher conferences. Oh, and a basketball game, ACROSS town, later.

I'm loving it! Normal is good!

Wednesday Out of Nowhere...

Happy Veteran's Day!

*Sigh* What a crazy two weeks!

Thing Three went back to school yesterday (we kept him home on Monday because he was still a little weak) and it was like a Rock Star returning to the school. Seriously. I hadn't realized how much his hospitalization had affected the school! All the students outside came running, yelling "(Thing Three) is back! He's back!" and they literally rushed him. We had about 100 students crowded around us in no time, asking if they could carry his bag, welcoming him, etc. All the ladies in the office cheered when I brought him in. I didn't realize how popular he was! (Thing Three has always been our "charmer" and he unabashedly gives out compliments like the BEST brown noser in the world, but I suspect he's sincere.) So, it was a bit of a shock. But it was nice to see his big grin and the sparkle in his eyes back. He can't do Phy Ed or recess until he's cleared by his doctor at the end of the week, but he's glad to be back with his friends and back to school.

And I'm glad of it, too. It almost seems surreal, all we went through those eight days. I think I got lucky--I was almost too exhausted during the ordeal to be hysterically upset, and now that it's over and he's out of the woods, I'm just grateful. Sooooooo grateful!!

Call me crazy, but I am doing something a little early this year--since we're going out of town for Christmas, I'm going to put up all my Christmas decorations next week! Next week will be Throw Every Christmas Decoration Possible Up Week. I am going to get all my trees up, my garlands, my STUFF, and play Christmas music. You watch. I am going to have the most cheerful house ever!

I am so in the Christmas spirit, now! Although a friend of mine and I agreed we need to move Christmas to January 25th, because it's always so DEPRESSING after Christmas when you take all the decor down and everything is plain and empty and you still have THREE FERSHLUGGING MONTHS OF WINTER to get through.

Anyone vote for Christmas January 25th? It would be evenly spaced between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day. I think it sounds fabulous.

Who's with me???

;-)

And Now...Back to Normal...

...pretty much.

Thing Three came home from the hospital on Saturday. It was good to have him home! He's still a little weak (we're keeping him home from school just today) but he sat in a wagon while we took a family walk (it was beautiful weather this weekend, in the 70's!) and he sat in the grass and watched us while we raked leaves and bagged them. He wanted to join in, but he still gets short-winded just walking up the stairs, so I told him to hang in there a few more days, and he'll be back to normal.

Which is what we'd like to get. We are doing something today we haven't done in a while--we're going SHOPPING! :-) Hubby is staying home one more day to hang out with us and Thing Three, and MIL and I will be at Target, Boston Store...and...the hospital...because guess who, like an idiot, left her only phone charger plugged into the hospital room? *wink* Yeah. That would be me. (I could have sworn I'd gotten EVERYTHING!) I guess just not that one thing. So, we have to go back. But we had such a good experience (despite the bad circumstances) because the nurses were the most caring, awesome bunch ever.

Thing Three can't do phy ed or any recess until he's cleared by the Dr. We'll meet with her in about a week for a follow up. So, things should start getting back to normal! Which means back to crazy, but we have a sports break coming up soon. Thing One only has two more weeks of basketball, then we are on a break until January. Then we have Basketball for Thing Two, Volleyball for Thing One, and Indoor Soccer for Thing Three. I will be living in my car.

Yep, normalcy. Happy Monday everyone!

Best Day Ever.

That's what tomorrow will be!! We are spending our LAST night in the picu, and Thing Three will be going HOME!!! WOOO!!

They took him off his breathing machine this morning, and he's been on oxygen, walking around the halls, but he's improved so much they took him off oxygen and he's good to go tomorrow! They want us to see a specialist for a follow up. But that's fine. He seems to have improved 100% in just one day. The H1N1 lasted about five days, the pneumonia part just got better today, so seven days. SEVEN DAYS in the icu! Craziness!

The best part is, (and yes, I'm being sarcastic here)-- his two other brothers could STILL get H1N1, because we don't have the vaccine! They don't have it at the hospital, at the local clinics, nowhere! Talk about LAMENESS.

I've washed everything on sanitary, wiped/sprayed down all the surfaces in the house, and hopefully all the H1N1 germs are gone. One can only hope. All I know, is I'm grateful to have my little Thing Three back home where he belongs. A lot of people out there haven't been so lucky. They have children who have died from H1N1 and respiratory complications.

We have SO much to be thankful for! (We may not feel that way when we get the hospital bill, heh heh, but there are worse things!)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

The Chest Tube Is Out!

We are very excited about this. Having a tube leading into my son's lungs wasn't exactly an idea I was in love with. But it was necessary, and since he stopped draining they took it out this morning. Wooee!!

And I have to share a PRICELESS card my son was given by a classmate. His whole class made cards for him, and one girl wrote this: (Original spelling intact):

Dear (Thing Three),
I want to tell you a story about me going to the hostptel.
I was about one or two years old. I had a Seasher.
A seasher is when your eyes role back into your head.
That's when I went to the hostptial.
Get Well!!

The things kids say. PRICELESS. It was hands down my favorite card.

His color is much better, he's joking with (and charming) his nurses, and I just ordered him waffles. Hopefully in a few days he'll be asking for waffles at HOME.

:-)

Update on Thing Three.

JUBILATION!!! Yesterday started out badly for us, Thing Three had gone off the bi-pap machine because he had an air leak in his lung, and with the pressure from the breathing machine, air was starting to fill the cavities in his body. So, they'd taken him off the machine and put him on oxygen, but he started complaining of pain and not being able to breathe. They decided he wasn't ready to breathe on his own, yet, so he had to go back on the bi-pap machine. Much to our chagrin, of course, because he already resembles the Stay Puft Marshmallow Boy. Seriously. He has so much air in him, he looks like the Michelin Man.

BUT, his ct results came back promising--the "mass" they'd seen on his lungs turned out to be an accumulation of fluid in the collapsed portion, and it's slowly draining out. So, no growth, or anything scarier than what we already knew. We are SO relieved!

Last night was probably the best night for him, he got about 3 hours of sleep (coughing up gunk keeps him awake) and we only had one episode of The Freak Outs at 2am. Although I was sort of not happy because he finally fell peacefully asleep at 4am and not five minutes later they wanted to come take labs (blood) and x-rays. Poor little guy.

So, relief and joy. He still has a ways to go, but at least we don't have to deal with eventual surgery on top of everything else. Hooray!!

Thanks again for everyone's support and love, and prayers. It means the world to us.

We Have a Lot to be Thankful For.

I have to say, these last few days are days I hope to never repeat. I took Thing Three to the Dr. on Thursday, because he had a fever and a cough, and she told us to call if he got worse. Well, he got WAY worse. His fever spiked and he couldn't breathe well, and it hurt. Turns out he had a partially collapsed lung, and pneumonia, and H1N1.

We went in an ambulance to Children's Hospital, where he's been in the pediatric ICU since Friday. He's in isolation, and everyone has to suit up like astronauts just to come in and take his vitals. Poor kid. He had tubes coming out of everywhere (and going "in" everywhere) and two IVs and a feeding tube and he had to be hooked up to a bi-pap machine. Then they inserted a tube and drained a liter and a half of fluid from his lung. THEN it turns out he has an air leak in his weak lung and with the pressure from the breathing machine the air was escaping into his body and he puffed up like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Boy. Only with a fever of 104.

Four days later, he's a little better, although he's suffering from what the nurses call "ICU Psychosis" at night (which resembles good old-fashioned Night Terrors) and he is coughing up FECES (I swear, that's what the crud looks like). And he is having a ct tomorrow because they found something "suspicious" on his lung, that apparently doesn't belong.

In short, we're ready for him to be all better and come home, and it looks like we've got a long road ahead of us. But he's getting better each day, and that is something to celebrate.

I appreciate the outpouring of love and well wishes you all have sent, in emails and phone calls. I know we have a lot of people pulling for Thing Three and we have faith he will recover from this and be back to his active, happy and slightly annoying eight-year old self once more.

We love you, Thing Three!!

Another One Bites the Dust...

We were at the dr. yesterday afternoon. Guess who has Swine Flu now?

Thing Three. Only he had a chest cold first...so I'm nervous. Last night he woke up with night terrors (he only does this when he has a fever) screaming that he was floating, and he was going to die.

Not a fun time for me. And Hubby leaves for NYC on Sunday. I just wish all the kids would get it at once, instead of this "dragging it out/one-kid-at-a-time crap.

Keep us in your thoughts!

Eh.

Eh.

'nuff said.

My Toddler, the Potty Mouth...

Okay, well, he's not exactly cussing or anything, but the things that come out of my two-year old's mouth could only have been picked up from his siblings. I mean, the kid is a sponge. He absorbs everything, and retains it for later. For very opportune moments. Like, for instance, while Thing One was unwrapping her birthday presents monday night, Hubby was distracting Thing Four by tossing him in the air, and holding him up high in his hands.

Thing Four, like all my other children, has an irrational fear of heights. It's from Hubby's side of the family. So, imagine our shock when suddenly, my dear sweet angel baby shouted at the top of his lungs to his father:

"PUT ME DOWN, YOU MORON!!!"

We all gasped. It seemed unnatural, for such words to be coming from our little Thing Four. Then, of course, we all started laughing our heads off, which caused Thing Four to start repeating himself gleefully: "Put me down, you MORON! Put me down, you MORON!"

Great.

Cut to last night, where Thing Four was acting a little crazy and dancing to Halloween music, and he kept "falling down" at the end. (Such a ham.) At one point, Hubby stuck his toe out and nudged Thing Four in the rear end. Scandalized, he clutched his backside, and yelled out with a large delighted grin:

"DAD! YOU KICKED ME IN THE BUTT!"

What has happened to my little angel, who only says sweet baby things? He's become a human digital recorder, who spits out what he's recorded without warning. Literally. As I was trying to scrape up the last of his oatmeal to feed to him (he can't get the last part himself) he put both hands up to me and yelled:

"DOCTOR OCTAGONAPUS, BAAAAAAAUUUGGGHHHHH!"

No more Lazer Collection for his older brothers. Click here if you dare. (Pretty harmless, actually, but you'll know what I'm talking about. My older kids love this stuff.)

So, we had a "little discussion" with the older kids about how we need to curb what we say around our little sponge. No more letting him watch "older cartoons" or peeking over shoulders while we're on the computer.

Because I don't need my little cherub yelling "HOLY CRAP IT'S BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!" again in the church nursery. I think I might die from embarrassment.

HOORAY!!!

Thing One's fever broke yesterday afternoon! No more Swine Flu!!! She still has a cough, and I'm keeping her home one more day (she has to be fever free for 24 hours) but she at least got to come downstairs and open her birthday presents and have cake and icecream.

I totally faked her out--her biggest present turned out to be a diaper box. Inside was an oatmeal box. Inside that was a ziploc bag box. And inside THAT box was an Advil box. And what was inside the Advil box? A new ipod Nano. A purple one. I think if her throat wasn't sore she would have shattered our eardrums with squealing.

The new nanos are cool--they record video! We gave her an iTunes giftcard, too. That was spent within ten minutes. She knew exactly which songs she wanted. And whoever Justin Beiber is, she LURVES him.

I just can't believe I have a TWELVE-year old! Waaahhhh!

This morning was strange--I didn't trust my boys to take the bus with their blow-up Ghostbusters proton packs (today is costume day at school) so I drove them. And it was the craziest thing--our house is at the top of the subdivision, and as we drove downwards, a thicker-than-thick fog bank had settled in the low areas, and I probably had 15 feed of visibility. It was freaky. And it felt like I was suffocating while I drove. I didn't see other cars' headlights until they were right in front of me. I have never seen it thicker in my life! Freaky.

Today is Tuesday! I feel like I can breathe, now, since Thing One is out of the Swine Flu Woods. And her siblings are still symptom-free! Is that luck, or what? Divine Intervention, if you ask me. But of course I'm stripping her bed and washing everything I can wash, and vacuuming her floor and spraying everything and wiping down every surface with Clorox wipes. Don't want to take any chances!!

Today is a good day!

Quarantine.

I've got Thing One (a.k.a the Swine Flu Queen) quarantined upstairs. She has a pretty sweet setup. She's got a sofa with a flatscreen TV/DVD with Directv, a DS, an ipod, and her own bathroom. So, all the germs stay in one spot, and no one is allowed upstairs. She's got it made.

Except for having the Swine Flu, of course. I'm piggybacking Tylenol and Motrin every four hours for the fever, and she is doing ok..except her throat really hurts and she's coughing a lot. I'm trying to keep her as comfortable as possible. She's been in her room since Friday morning, and she's going a little stir crazy, but at least she has plenty to keep her occupied.

The best part is (I need to find some wood to knock on) the boys haven't gotten it yet. Thing Three felt warm yesterday and complained of a headache, but other than that we haven't had any high fevers. Maybe because I quarantined her early we isolated the germs? That's what I'm hoping. Plus we are all using hand sanitizer, washing our hands, NOT touching our faces (why is it whenever I'm upstairs dealing with her I suddenly get an itchy nose or eye? WHY IS THAT???) and I'm wiping down everything daily with Clorox wipes or spraying with Lysol.

Fingers crossed. Although it has put a crimp in today, because it's her twelfth BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday Thing One! I'm sorry you have to have your breakfast upstairs away from us this morning, and your cake too. I'm sorry we're going to have to bring your presents to you and let you open them in your room. I'm sorry you can't go to school and I can't bring cupcakes to your class and embarrass you when they sing you "Happy Birthday" in the cafeteria at lunch.

I'm so, so sorry, sweetie. Get better fast!

And the Winner Is...SWINE FLU!!!

Yes, Swine Flu has invaded our house. Thing One is in quarantine, but of course yesterday when she came home with symptoms she was all over the stinkin' house. Off I go to disinfect...well...EVERYTHING.

BLECH. Poor Thing One. She'll have Swine Flu for her birthday. :-(

The Yucks.

You know, sometimes I think public school is a bad idea. We are so HEALTHY during the summer, and then the kids go back to school, and the illnesses begin. We're all getting over bad colds right now, and NOW Thing One has come down with a high fever/sore throat/cough. And Thing Four has a low-grade fever and what I like to call the Grumps.

Apparently several kids out of each of my kids' classes are out sick. Swine flu? No idea. I just know I have a long weekend (possibly week) ahead of me...taking care of sickies, making them comfortable, comforting them during the night, giving them medicine, changing their sheets, wiping everything down and spraying it. I just hope I stay healthy so I can do all of it. There's nothing worse than being sick yourself and having to take care of the sick.

I can't believe it's Friday already! Wow. This week was like the blink of an eye. We were supposed to go out and celebrate Thing One's birthday dinner tonight, but that obviously won't be happening. We'll have to order in.

Cross your fingers for us!

The Alarm Didn't Go Off!!!!

I'm sure everyone has had this happen to them. We usually don't. Hardly ever. So, imagine our dismay this morning, when we snapped awake (more like heard Thing Four upstairs shouting to be let out of his crib!) and realized the alarm hadn't gone off and it was 7:30. TWO HOURS later than we normally wake up! (Well, Hubby wakes up that early, I wake up at six).

Yikes.

The kids' bus comes at 7:35, so missed that. We had a mad scramble to get the kids fed, dressed, hair done, packed up and into the car. We almost made it. It was 8:05 when I dropped them off. I'm sure the ladies in the school office had a good laugh when my kids all trooped in.

*sigh* This morning started out...a little crazy.

I'm going to the dr. today. I suspect a sinus infection. My left eye/surrounding area feels like it's going to explode with pain, and don't even get me started on leaning forward. Antibiotics here I come...

Hubby is getting sick too. Even with all his hand sanitizing/wiping down/spraying/ingesting copious amounts of Zycam and Airborne, he's got the scratchy throat and stuffy nose, now.
To that I say HELLO, you've been sharing a bed with a sickie! (me). It's bound to happen. He's actually glad it's happening now, and not when he goes to New York in ten days. He should be over it by then.

I'm not running around much today. I'm going to do some research (I'm NaNoing this year) and stay in. It's pouring outside anyway. It was 70 degrees yesterday. I'm going to have to mow the *&!#%()**!! lawn again before Winter sets in. BLECH.

No Mallet-On-The-Head for Me...

FINALLY feeling better this morning. I did a 45-min weight workout yesterday, and cloaked my head in a bowl full of steaming eucalyptus water (thanks, Dev!) and I felt MUCH better. Although I'm usually tempted to reach for the super-dooper drano-strength Afrin Nasal spray--with menthol. It's like the Lexus of Nasal Sprays. Yes, I know prolonged use is bad for you. I only use it when I feel claustrophobic. I swear it got me through my sister's wedding weekend. I LOVE it.

Thing One had a basketball game last night, and it was a slaughter. As in HER TEAM was slaughtered. The opposing team's girls were HUGE. It was ridiculous. Thing One, who is 5'3, was matched up with a girl who was 5'11 and probably weighed 180. I am NOT kidding. She was Huge Girl. I have to hand it to Thing One--she tried to guard Huge Girl, but it was like watching a fly bounce off The Titanic. And there were two more Super Amazonian Girl players on the opposing team who kept stealing the ball and scoring, and the score ended up 26-7. OUCH.

But at least they were trying. Our school is a small school, and half the girls on the team haven't played before, and the ones who can play are pretty short. Except Thing One. (I was pretty happy when she won the tip-off, at least!)

Thing Two, who is NOT athletic, has decided to go for 5th grade boys basketball this year. (*cough cough* I sort of bribed him *cough cough* with a video game *cough*) But it will be a good experience for him. And the bribe WON'T be awarded until after the season is over. Who knows, maybe he'll actually like it?

I made it through Craziness Day, and today is Run-Around Day. I have stuff to mail, birthday presents to buy (Thing One turns TWELVE on monday!) and lots of little errands that are annoying and eat up gasoline.

At least I refrained from using the mallet!

Cement and Red Berries.

Why cement? Because that's what my head is made of today! It still amazes me the amount of snot/congestion our sinuses manufacture during a head cold. And how the simple act of blowing one's nose can bring on severe sinus pain. Not cool.

Red Berries, because I've discovered them. Special K with Red Berries. I've never tried it before, and I decided "what the heck" and bought some, and now it's my favorite cereal. (Well, actually, a good bowl of oatmeal with raisins is my favorite, but it's my favorite cold cereal.)

Today is CRAZINESS day. I have to clean the bathrooms, do a weight work out, THEN go to a RS presidency meeting at someone's house in scary Waukesha (I get lost there all the time--even with a nav system, I know don't laugh!) and then I get to pick the kids up from school, and run them home, only to run one to soccer and one to a basketball game. I only get to stay for half the game because then I get to run pick up Thing Three from soccer and go BACK to the bball game to finish it out, and then as soon as it's over we have to runlikeheck to Cub scouts at the church 35 miles away. And I have to fit dinner in there...somewhere. Oh, and I get to do all this with a toddler. In a stroller.

Yep. CRAZINESS day. I am not looking forward to it. I need to take some cold medicine.

Or I could take a big mallet and gong myself in the head and wake up tomorrow, after it's all over.

:-D

Barely There.

Heh heh. I remember in the 90's that was the color of nylons I once wore. Hanes "Barely There." I remember people wore nylons with sandals, too. The horror!

BUT, I only wore white shoes with black tights--ONE time. I swear.

ANYWAY, I'm sick. Barely here. My whole family has been battling the fever/sore throat/cough/chills thing, and finally, Saturday, during an all-day church thing, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Suddenly my throat hurt, felt scratchy, my nose plugged up, etc.

I skipped church yesterday, stayed in bed. I don't have chills today, so I just need to muscle through the cement head part. I'm taking my vitamins and my C and getting lots of rest. But we made a great Sunday dinner of pot roast, rhodes rolls and mashed potatoes last night, and I COULDN'T TASTE ANY OF IT! :-( Major Sadness.

Oh well. I rarely get sick. And when I do, I whine. So, forgive me.

I made a great discovery on Saturday. I was getting ready for a presentation on 72-hour kits (mine definitely rocks, I have to say) and I was going through our "go bag" and realized it hadn't been updated since 2005. And inside a packet I had three cd's, with our computer from 2005 backed up on them. That computer has long since gone the way of the dodo, and I popped the cd's into the computer to have a look at them. And I was SOOOOO glad I did! All the pictures and videos I'd thought we'd lost were on the CDs! Basically all the pictures of our Germantown house and all the kids from 2002-2005. I was so excited! And it was a bit like looking into a time capsule--the kids loved laughing at their pictures and hairstyles and how chubby they used to all be as babies. It was a fun even, to look through all those pics!

*sigh* Time sure does fly. And now, before I get all syrupy and sentimental, I'd better bundle myself and Thing Four up, we have some errands to run!

Adios!

A Public Service Announcement

Today's Announcement Topic, Fiber One Bars:

To say they're fabulous is an understatement. I especially love Oats & Chocolate. It's a little piece of Heaven in a granola bar. A fiber rich granola bar. Which brings me to my other new favorite fiber product: Fiber One Yogurt by Yoplait:

Yummy. Seriously. Here's where my public service announcement comes in. I unwittingly the other day decided it would be fun to have, for my afternoon snack, a Fiber One granola bar, AND (drumroll please) A Fiber One Yogurt.

TOGETHER. At the same time.

I have not yet recovered.

So, please, for the love of heaven, DO NOT EVER eat these two things together. Unless you like liquefied insides.

Consider yourself warned.

Okay, Here's Another One:

Photoshop Disasters. HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

Brrrrr. It's a crock-pot chili day, for sure! Besides, I am going to be gone most of the day, and Thing One has another basketball game almost right after school, so dinner in a crock pot seems ideal. And the fact that it's BUTT cold outside! Chili is comfort food in my opinon. :-)

Although thankfully, it hasn't snowed. It rained most of the night. We got lucky. In fact, I'm surprised it isn't snow. Suprised and thankful. I finally hung up all the kids bikes and scooters on the garage wall yesterday, they're done for the season. And the jogging stroller, and pretty much anything I could hang up, I did. Even the fertilizer spreaders. Hubby and his brother went nuts buying wall strips and assorted hooks and gadgets a few years back, why not make use of them? Because a three-car garage is never truly a THREE car garage. More like a two car garage plus your junk. You know?

I mowed the lawn for the last time on Tuesday, down to a three. Time to move the mowers to the back of the garage and the snow blowers to the front. Eeek!

I really have nothing more to blog about. Hmmm. Haven't run into that problem in a while. Guess that's it for me! Have a good Thursday.

Can I Veto Winter?

Can I get a petition together and get signatures on it? I would like to rally to put Winter off, for at least two more months. My heat was running all night long (only because I don't want kid-scicles when they sleep) and that means it was BUTT cold last night. It was in the twenties, I just found out.

That's just not right, for this early! If we're supposed to have this "mild" winter like everyone is predicting, why is it getting such an early start? Unfair!

I sound like my nearly twelve-year old. But I'm honestly perturbed. At the weather. Yeah, I know.

I think I'm just grouchy this morning. Thing One decided to sleep with the baby (there's a queen bed in his room) and she must have snored or something, because he was bouncy and awake and ready to play at 4am. I wanted to die. Because I went to bed at midnight.

Thing One's basketball game was yesterday. They got spanked. It was the whole same thing as last year--one star player on the opposing team never sat out, and got the ball every time and sank basket after basket. Granted, Thing One's team held their own, but they lost by ten points. Thing One played well, she scored and had lots of key passes. I am proud of her. Every year she improves. But it always stinks to lose your first game of the season. Plus there was a lot of traveling and errors--it happens with sixth grade basketball!

I am NOT looking forward to the soccer game this saturday. I will be the shapeless lump on the field (because I will be wearing 8435 layers of clothing) with the thermos of hot cocoa, an electric blanket, hot bricks at my feet and pocket warmers. And a hot water bottle. The wind that comes off those soccer fields is RIDICULOUS. It should be a blast. (Yes, sarcastic pun intended!)

Help me.

Creeping Chaos.

Mom's operation went smooth as glass. She's recovering well. Thanks for all the well wishes!

And I finally figured out why I'm grouchy. Irritable, even. Because living in a house full of kids is always...messy.

You know those paper towel commercial slogans: "Life's Messy. Clean it up." Well, it's the "Clean it up" part that really really REALLY gets on my nerves.

I seem to be cleaning up... a lot. Even with the kids helping. The house never stays perfectly clean. Chaos always seems to be around the edges, and if I don't keep up with everything, it creeps up, inch by inch, until it's HERE TO STAY and everything is a mess and I want to blow my face off. (That's Hubby's and my new favorite expression: "I want to blow my face off.")

I will be fighting this battle for the next 17-ish years. It's enough to make even the stoutest heart shrink, let me tell you. Why? Constantly keeping chaos at bay doesn't sound like much fun.

I stayed up until Midnight last night. I am so dumb. Shouldn't have done that, and now I'm going to be tired all day. Poor Hubby had a long day (he worked out at 5am) and didn't get into LAX until around midnight. Well, midnight OUR time. It was only 10pm on the west coast.

Poor Hubby. I can take a nap. He can't.

Thing One has her first basketball game of the season today, the 6th-grade team was so big, they split it into two teams, so the girls would get more playing time. Pretty smart, in my opinion. Although I'm not looking forward to dragging my very active two-year old to the game. I'll have to keep him in a stroller, and he's NOT very happy when I do that. Snacks and toys. Those are going to be the bribery items of the day. ;-)

Cross your fingers for me! But I guess it's okay if he screams, no one will hear him above the crowd. :-)

Rise and Shout...

...the Cougars are out!

I promised Hubby I'd wake up with him at 5am this morning to work out (he leaves for L.A. today and can't work out much when he's there) and I think I could do the early morning workout thing...occasionally. :-)

There are couples who swear they won't workout together because they like to have a little "mystery" in the relationship. I know for sure Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale do this. But I figure, hey, we're in this for the long haul, we've been together 15 years, is he really going to "leave me" because he's seen me red-faced and sweaty, laboring over an elliptical machine?

I think not.

Plus, it gives us more "together time" sans kids. It's a win-win, in my book.

Okay, it's cold. We had our first official freeze yesterday morning, and all my beautiful hydrangeas have turned brown and ugly. The black-eyed susans died last week, and now, everything else has started going brown and mucky. We'll have to whack everything down this week, and get the driveway stakes up, and get ready for Winter.

I have to say, though, Wisconsin trees in Fall are breathtaking. Absolutely gorgeous.

I'm listening to "I Gotta Feeling" from Black-eyed Peas on my ipod right now. And so far, it seems to be true!

Happy Monday all! And cross your fingers for my mom! She goes into surgery today!

Awkward Family Photos Dot Com

I have discovered a new site--and I have spent the last five minutes HOWLING.

This one and This one are my favorites so far.


Try it for yourself. :-)

The "S" Word.

SNOW.

Yep, that's a bad word around here. Only because I'm not ready for it. And we had crappy sporadic weather this summer.

And we're getting the dreaded S-word on Monday. Snow Flurries. Yeah, I know, I should be grateful they're only flurries, but SNOW in any form is not welcome. Not in early October.

'Nuff said.

I don't remember falling asleep last night. Hubby and I watched two shows, had popcorn and Coke zeros, and around 10:45, I could barely keep my eyes open. I went up to bed, he puttered on the computer for a few minutes. He says when he came up, he said something to me, and I didn't answer. I was GONE.

I think it's because I've started regular workouts this week. As opposed to sporadic workouts. I do 30 min of cardio six days a week (off on Sunday) and weight training 3 times a week. We don't have our personal trainer any more, but I have all the workouts she emailed me over the years, so I'm doing it right. I'm going to implement Yoga next week, in the mornings. I always feel great when I do yoga, and I miss it when I don't.

Why the big rush to get in shape? Because this is the time of year I could potentially pack on the pounds. Halloween alone could sabotage any diet. And I already have some weight to lose, so I don't need any more.

*sigh* That's what I get for having four babies and not exercising regularly. Well, in a few years I'll be in my forties and the weight will be harder to get off. So, I'm doing something about it now. What's funny is, I feel fine. I have energy, I am extremely busy and I run around without any problems. (Then I look in the mirror and see my full moon face and think "yikes!")
I was relatively thin all my life (until I had the aforementioned babies) and since I'm not genetically blessed with a naturally fast metabolism (like two of my longtime friends I'm supremely jealous of--you know who you are!) I have to WORK at it.

So, work I will. Because I don't want to eat the Holidays. :-)

ANYWAYIGOTONATANGENT, I am not looking forward to snow. I guess I'd better put in the driveway stakes, just in case. And move the snowblowers to the front of the garage, instead of the lawn mower. Freaky. Time to batten down the hatches and get ready for winter! Just like all the little squirrels I've seen lately.

Although I wish they'd stop digging and hiding acorns in my lawn...

Hubby came home safe and sound yesterday, and on Monday he leaves for L.A., again. Toy Fair. I had a lady at Cub scouts the other night ask me how I juggled things with a husband who traveled so much, and I joked, "well, when he's here it's still like he's not here, because he's working so much. The only difference is we can kiss each other goodnight."

:-) Poor Hubby. But we do get QT at night. Once the kids are in bed at 8:30, we can cuddle on the sofa and watch the DVR. That's our "together" time.

I have my class this morning (hooray!) and Thing Four has decided he likes going into the nursery. (I suspect it has something to do with the large plastic airplane-riders they brought out last week!) So, all is good.

My mom goes in for surgery on Monday, and I'm nervous and excited for her. Her health hasn't been the best, and this surgery will literally give her a new lease on life (pardon the cliche). I can't wait to see her improve and get healthy!

Time to shower and run run run! It's a half day today at school and I have a lot to pack in before they get home!

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

Seriously, it's crazy! A miracle! Unheard of!!!

I went to bed at 10:30 last night. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I actually did NOT drink any diet coke, and watch movies or play on the computer until the wee hours of the morning, which is my modus operandi whenever Hubby is away on a business trip.

(Whew, run-on sentence!) Anyway, I simply got the kids in bed, finished folding all my sweaters into my closet shelves, and trooped downstairs to watch two episodes of GG, and when I was finished, I looked at the clock, and it was 10:30. And I was tired. Probably because I'd only gotten five hours of sleep the previous night. So, I took the plunge and went to bed.

It was AWESOME! I feel so much better! I feel "awake" for once! Although I was ripped rudely out of my sleep at 6:23 this morning (only 8 minutes before we all get up) because Thing Four had gotten his chubby leg stuck between the crib bars and was crying for me to come save him.

WHEW.

Okay, here's something gross. I went in the back basement storage yesterday to formulate a game plan for the Fall decorations, and I noticed my old yoga mat was sitting on the floor. (It must have fallen out of the tub I'd set it in. So I picked it up, and it unrolled and...

Ramen fell out of it. A lot of it. Yes, ramen. Like, those noodles that come in packages and are so tasty but give you, like, your next 50 years worth of sodium and fat. Yeah, Ramen.

I immediately realized something wasn't right. How did the ramen get there? Then I finally realized and dropped the mat with a squeal of disgust. Mice had been living in it!!!

This happened two years ago. When the weather got cold, the mice found a way in. Well, apparently they have again. With goosebumps, I walked over to the shelves where we have lots of food stored. Mostly cans, but I have one shelf with packages of ramen on it. To my horror, I found that THREE whole packages had been nibbled into and eaten COMPLETELY. As in, all gone. I immediately got on gloves, scooped the rest of the packages off the shelf and into a garbage bag, and ran to the store to buy D-con. I set out big trays of poison, and this morning, all of them have pellets missing.

*shiver.*

I will NOT have mice in my house. I'm going to zap them all. I am normally a creature-loving person, but once you come into my home and bring disease and danger, I am TAKING YOU OUT.

Time for breakfast!

It's Fall and I'm Freaking Out.

What is UP with me??? I am on this super-de-junking-organize-everything/toss-it-because-it's-just-stuff kick. Especially this week.

I think it started when Hubby left for L.A. yesterday, and I had some time to myself last night. After a few episodes of Gossip Girl (working my way through the second season) and an abundance of Cherry Coke Zeros, I figured it was high time I de-junked my bathroom cupboards and cabinets. And I needed to do it RIGHT THEN, because today is Garbage Day.

I think I threw away enough expired lotions/shampoos/creams/medicine/assorted GUNK to start my own spa. SERIOUSLY. Stuff I have been holding on to for years. (See my previous post where I lament my Pack-rat-itis.)

After that, it was midnight, and I HAD to rotate the clothes in my closet. Yes, I have to rotate them. Out with the spring/summer clothes, in with the long-sleeved shirts, jeans and sweaters. Oh, and I had to pull out all my boots. Long boots, short boots, mid boots, cowboy boots, you name it, I probably have them. And there's the tall spiky-heel boots I never wear because of an unfortunate incident with some soft grass on a soccer field I won't get into.

ANYHOWIWASHIGHLYCAFFIENATED, I collapsed into bed at 1am, with lists and lists of stuff I need to organize. Today? The upstairs closets. I have nine tubs of Fall decorations I need to break out this week, and it would be chaos if everything wasn't in its place. I need to GET GOING!!!

This house sucks. Well, in the sense that it has GREAT storage and I have filled it up! I need to THROW IT OUT. My garbage men are going to hate me these next few Mondays...

:-) Happy Monday, all!

I WOULD KILL FOR THIS I Think I’m In Love…

'Nuff said.

Packrat-itis.

Okay. Holy Moses, enough is enough!!!

I remember helping my parents move a few years back, and I was astounded at the amount of...stuff they had accumulated. Well, junk, too. Let's say my parents are the "sentimental" type.

The less-kind term: PACKRATS.

And I, of course, have learned their ways. I have tubs of stuff that I should just toss, but it all has memories attached. I know, I've lamented this on the blog many times before, but now, my KIDS are becoming the same way!

I went through their rooms yesterday, because inevitably, not all their clothes make it into the hampers, and I was, yes, ASTOUNDED at all the stuff they had accumulated!!! (Does that sentence sound familiar?) I think Thing Two has every art project he ever did from grades 2-5 stuffed into his desk and closet. Thing One has scrapbooking stuff EVERYWHERE. Bits of this and that. It's CRAZY!!! Enough to make me want to tear my hair out and sit in a corner with my arms around my knees and start rocking.

MY CHILDREN ARE PACKRATS.

I wonder if there's a "Packrats Anonymous" for those unfortunate souls who can't throw anything away?

"Hello, my name is Lara, and it's been twenty three years since I've thrown away a birthday card..."

Class Was Good.

Had my class this morning. No incidents, Thing Four was fine in the nursery, and I actually LEARNED something. It was great!

Now I get to go clean toilets and wash 12 loads of laundry. Back to reality.

Hmmph.

"You Are SO Grounded."

When I first became a parent, I SWORE up and down there were things I would not do. I wasn't going to spank my children, or ground them. I was not going to raise my voice, either. I was going to be one of those moms, who, when I WHISPERED, they would know I meant business and act accordingly. I would NEVER let them play video games, either, or fall asleep in the clothes they wore all day. Or eat junk food. The list goes on and on.

And one by one, all those things I said I'd never do, I have found myself doing--sometimes with a vehemence that surprises me. I yell. I swat butts. I ground. I stick soap on tongues. I re-heat processed food for dinner. I stand over them to make sure the project gets done correctly. They are addicted to the wii and their DSs. I've let the baby watch tv in the morning while I blog. We've had (gasp) a handful of doritos and a granola bar for lunch, washed down with kool-aid.

I am a horrible mother! A total "failure" according to my pre-kid resolutions. And yes, I ground them. Or I threaten it. In fact, it is my favorite saying these days. You are so grounded.

And I kind of relish the fact that I have absolute power, as far as the grounding is concerned. They are grounded from video games. Grounded from playing outside. Grounded from the cell phone. Grounded to their rooms. WHATEVER I decide. I am all-powerful, and I wield it like a mighty sword over their heads...if they're reeaaallllly bad.

It's pretty cool, being a mom sometimes. I have the POWER.

Thing Two, whose grades are not the best (he's one of those "brilliant" kids who is LAZIER THAN SNOT) has had video games, TV, computer, action figures, cell phone, and bike riding taken away. At this point, he's had everything taken away for the next two weeks until his grades improve. Because taking away ONE thing doesn't seem to make a difference.

Here's where I get nervous. What ELSE do I take away? Food? Um, no. I think we will go with the earlier bedtime as a last resort, because he HATES bedtime. And he hates it when I hawk over him, re-directing him when he gets off task. Well, he's going to have to get used to it. He will NOT have a "D" in his easiest subject, just becasue he doesn't want to turn his work in!!!

One day, the Absolute Power will be gone. My kids will roll their eyes at me and rebel. Mutiny. So, I need to tread lightly. Because I don't want them to realize that I am just a mom flailing her arms hopelessly, praying something works.

But for now, they are SO grounded!!!

Cookie Hell

Yeah, that was me, last night. I made 20 dozen cookies. TWENTY DOZEN. Snicker doodles, and chocolate chip.

Hubby helped. But it was still a chore. Lucky for me, I can convect bake in my oven, so I had three sheets of 15 cookies baking at once. Tricky, but it made the time go a lot faster.

All in the name of fundraising! Oh well, it's for a good cause.

My daughter has a long shelf on the wall above her bed, with two pictures above it. The shelf decided to "fall off" the wall last night (more like THIS MORNING at 2am) and clip her head. Poor thing. Scared her to death, scared ME to death (I don't think I've jumped out of bed that quickly since my nephew fell out of the crib upstairs with the loudest thunk ever) and thankfully she was OK. And yes, the nephew was fine, but I made it to him before his mom, who was sleeping in the same room, did. I am FAST. ;-)

So, I've been up since the Kamikaze Shelf Incident. I couldn't go back to sleep, because I was sick to my stomach. And I was thinking about my research. (Visit my blog at The Potted Pen if you're interested why!)
That's what I get for testing the cookie dough. (I'm pleading the fifth on the amount of "testing" involved.) Let's just say I became the object of my own scorn, because I am always telling my kids not to eat very much dough, because of the raw eggs.

Blech. 'Nuff said.

I think I need to park Thing Four in front of a Disney movie and lie on the sofa with him while he watches. (Oh, who said that!)

My Brain Has Turned To Dust.

Well, Fall is officially here. It was in the low 50's this morning, and the kids finally wore jeans to school. And I drove them. Because Thing One is still battling a cold and it was raining. AND she starts baskbetball practice tonight. I'm just glad she opted out of soccer. Otherwise, she'd be a burned-out mess. Only one sport during school, that's the rule. So, she chose basketball. And I'm fine with that.

Because the games are INSIDE!!! Heh heh.

This weekend we helped the kids study for their Social Studies and Spanish quizzes. Thank heaven Hubby lived in Argentina for two years so he can speak the language. He was laughing when I was trying to pronounce the words for my daughter with the flashcards. So, I tossed them at him and said it was HIS turn. :-) I took French in high school, thank you very much.

Reviewing all these things with my kids has made me realize: I have forgotten EVERYTHING. Seriously. I would never think of these things again, if it wasn't for them. Like, when would I need to know what an Archipelago is? Or the chemical components of bleach?

SCARY. It's like my brain has gone to dust, dormant and forgetful. Like it's all locked away in there ("it" being all the stuff I learned in school and college) and I don't have the key anymore.

THIS is why I plan to take classes and enrich my life, once all my kids leave home. But that's not for a long time. So, I need to use my brain in other ways. Right now, all I need to do is remember my Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe because Hubby has volunteered me to bake 4 dozen of them for his work.

But I'll probably cheat and use my recipe book. ;-)

Happy Schmappy.

Someone once told me that the best way to be happy, is to ACT happy. Even if you feel like stabbing your own eyes out. Even if your life sucks. If you put on a smile, and act happy, it will make the sads go away, and eventually, you will be happy.

Yeah, all I get when I do that is the urge to laugh maniacally...is that normal?

So, my daughter has a blog. No, I will not be providing a link to it. She's twelve, and she's been bugging me to get one since about the age of ten. I decided to let her finally have it, and she's having fun with it, but I have a few conditions.

1) She uses a fake name
2) She uses fake names for everyone she talks about
3) She never discloses her age
4) She lets me read it
5) She doesn't tell ANYONE about it, other than close family

So far, it's worked. She loves it, and she has fun making up ridiculous names for girls she doesn't like, and boys she does like, and all that stuff that seems important to a twelve-year old. And she's off my back.

Does it make me a bad parent? I was hesitant at first, but I think my rules (as long as they are obeyed, and she's a good girl) have made it do-able. Her friends at school have blogs and websites and Facebook, and some of them make videos of themselves and post them on YouTube. (The horror!) I told her if any of her friends ever put video of HER on YouTube, you can bet I will be on the phone and I will be doing the She-bear thing. She's smart, she stays away from that kind of stuff.

But it scares me, how some parents trust their kids, or blatantly have no idea what they are doing on their computers in their rooms. I won't let any of my kids have a personal computer in their room. The "kids" computer is in a central location in the family room downstairs, with the screen facing out so everyone can see what's going on.

I've heard too many horror stories from Thing One about what her friends do on their computers. It scares me. I know I've said this before, but when *I* was twelve, I was still climbing trees and riding my bike and not caring that I wore the same pair of shoes every day. My life was relatively untouched by technology (except the TV) and it was SO much calmer and simpler. I have a twelve-year old who is addicted to her cell phone, computer, ipod, you name it.

And I'm ranting. I'd better step down and try to enjoy the day! Pasting a grin on my face, now!

Have a good weekend, all.