Drawing A Blank...

Status: Reeeallly tired. My five-month old has decided he doesn't like to sleep when he has a cold. He wants to wake up every hour or so and fuss and whine, and turn over onto his tummy, at which point he starts to panic and I have to run up two flights of stairs and rescue him...

The power went out last night during the rain storm. It's weird, because I do remember hearing a collective "beeping" noise throughout the house (the sound of all our electrical appliances, etc. losing power) but I thought I was dreaming. And of course the clocks reset themselves. And of course I haven't put a backup battery IN said clocks. And OF COURSE Hubby had really important meetings today and wanted to wake up at 5:30.

We ended up snapping awake at 6:20. Ooops. Hubby was a barely discernible flash of color as he hurriedly got ready for work. I wish I could get ready that fast.

Luckily we got to sleep at a decent time. We only watched two DVR'd shows last night--Shark and Chuck.
Okay, I am SO loving "Chuck." Zachary Levi is completely adorable and the characters are stereotypical sitcom characters, but they are FUNNY. Hubby says the show won't last. I beg to differ. At least I have hope!
I'm sure the "Chuck-tags-along-with-the-pros-and-saves-the-day-with-his-"flashes"-and-does-something-cute-when-it-all-gets-intense" storyline will get a bit tired, but I am enjoying it immensely.

So, about the blog title--I am drawing a COMPLETE blank on this one, and it's not like me:

We are big fans of the "Karate Kid" movies at our house, and yesterday at WalMart I saw this DVD with all three movies on it, Karate Kid I, II and III. The problem is, I KNOW I saw the third movie, but I can't remember it to save my life. Was it that forgettable? Does anyone remember the plot? Hubby was stumped too. We both agreed that we MUST have seen it, but why can't we both remember it? I know the Karate Kid IV was the one with Hilary Swank as the "girl" Kid, but why don't I remember Three?
So my kids want to have a Karate Kid-a Thon in the theater room, and I'll let them this weekend, but I might sit in on the third movie, because I can't remember anything about it. Not one thing. Weird. That is so not like me. I remember mostly every movie I've ever seen.

Am I getting senile already? :-(

BLEAH.

Status: Suprisingly perky--considering I stayed up until ONE a.m. making ten hand-stamped cards for tonight's card swap since I PROCRASTINATED in typical Lara fashion until yesterday after church. And yes, I've known about the card swap for three weeks. *sigh*

Weekends wear me out. We do too much, or something. Only two more weeks of Saturdays being completely taken up by Soccer, and then we're done until Spring. I'll actually be sad, because the games are a great social atmosphere for the parents, and can actually get intense sometimes. Except for Thing Three's games. His team is supposed to be Co-ed but ended up being all boys (no girls were interested) and his team has won every match by EIGHT goals on average. It's just a given that they'll win. Saturday Thing Three scored two of those goals himself. Soccer is definitely going to be his sport. Until he gets too tall to be fast. And he will. So we'll have to have a backup sport.

Thing Four still has the Leftover Head Cold Crud, and so I'm just trying to make him as comfortable as possible. He's a little trooper. And he is officially five months old now! Time is FLYING!!!!

I'm going to use ME time this morning to A) have a pot of Postum and B) flesh out the details of my synopsis. It's been drumming through my head all weekend and I haven't had a minute to get it down on paper. ANNOYING!!!

Well, Mondays are always crazy for me, so I'd better get a move on.

Postum Weather

Mmmm, I'm enjoying a big steaming pot of postum right now...it's FREEZING outside! High thirties or low forties it feels like. My kids had to break out the down coats this morning, and luckily I had saved all the hats and gloves in a plastic tub in the closet this Spring-- we just had to fish out the matching ones.

Is it me, or is this year FLYING by? I've already begun the Christmas presents list, and bought a few things. We are truly in the "holiday" season.

Finished "New Moon" (second Stephenie Meyer book) yesterday and I will finish up "Eclipse" sometime this morning, during ME time. I totally adore Edward Cullen. His complete and utter devotion to the heroine reminds me a lot of Jamie Fraser, from the Diana Gabaldon books. *SIGH*

Thing Four is happy screaming in his swing, I guess I'd better play with him while he's awake.

Have a good weekend, everyone...STAY WARM!!

Sucked into "TWILIGHT"...

So I started reading Stephenie Meyer's book "Twilight" last night while I was cooking Clam Chowder from scratch. Since I write YA, I've always been a YA fan. However, I can see this book appealing to a MUCH wider audience than Young Adults.
In short, I couldn't put it down. I was a big fan of Anne Rice when I was a teenager, and there were elements of this book that were very Anne Rice-like. But I am also always a sucker for a Vampire love story. Who isn't? :-)
I guess what appeals to me most is the author---like myself, is LDS and has three boys. And we're the same age. I'm not sure how she managed to churn out three bestsellers and not completely neglect her children (some people can multi-task I guess) but when I write, I get sucked into the story and neglect everything around me. Maybe she figured out how to do it. But now that I have FOUR kids, my writing time is only at night after they go to bed, or in the morning when Thing Four is napping. And even then, I don't accomplish a third of what I'd like to.
I'm just glad I came late to the game: apparently people have been waiting for the third book in the series to come out--I just went to Target and bought all three. And when I finally finished the book I looked at the clock and it was 12:30 am. I got completely sucked into it.

Thing One is home sick with me--she had a fever this morning. That could not bode well for her. She'll miss soccer practice tonight, and if she still has a fever tomorrow she won't be able to go to the sleepover/birthday party she's been looking forward to for several weeks. Poor Thing One.

Hello, Gorgeous...

When my mom was here in late July, I picked out some Winnie the Pooh fabric for Thing four's baby quilt. I left the rest up to her, and the quilt came in the mail yesterday. LOVE IT:It is really cute--and the way she put the Pooh panels in like they tell a story...

GO MOM!!! And I would also like to thank MY DAD for the awesome baby gift he sent. Thanks Dad!

I love the colors. It's one of the neatest baby quilts I've seen. Kinda gets me in the quilting mood. Especially since it is FREEZING this morning! My kids had to wear their coats for the first time. Brrrr! Time to get out the Postum. I'm excited, because I've been craving it. But I will NOT drink it in warm weather.

I was bad and stayed up until Midnight last night--got caught up "catching up" online with my Sis, and then I got the bug to detail the kitchen at 11pm (a' la Petunia Dursley). After I was done I figured I might as well blitz the first floor too, and then sort some laundry. But now that I stayed up late and got all that cleaning done, I don't have to do it today! I can go to B&N and get those Stephenie Meyer Vampire books my MIL told me about. Apparently they're really good. I'm always a sucker for well-done Vampire stories! :-)

I need to swing by Target too. I am looking for white Thermal Underwear for Thing Two's Link costume. Then I am finished. And it isn't the day before Halloween! I'm actually not procrastinating--STOP THE PRESSES!

Struggling with the flow of my WIP. It has both a boy and girl protag--twins who have been hidden since birth with separate Human families, and I am telling both their stories separately... until they come together. But I can't seem to decide whether to tell the boy's story first, or the girl's. UGH. I'm stuck.

Time to hop in the shower while Thing Four is still asleep!

I'm Tired.

I HAVE to stop staying up until 2am!!! Hubby is traveling, and I am experiencing the strange phenomenon where I can't sleep, but part of it is I won't sleep, because I can stay up doing whatever I want, and I won't have someone asking me if I'm "coming to bed?" every half hour.

Since Thing Four was born, I am NO GOOD past 10pm. It's like the Magic Time at which I turn into a pumpkin or something. I get heavy-lidded, foggy in the brain, and become something resembling the Walking Dead. Yep, 10pm. And I have been staying up waaayyyyy past that time the last two nights, which is really dumb because I have a little baby who wakes up like clockwork at 5:30 am to be fed and changed.

Last night I got stalled on my chapter I was working on, so I started playing on the kids' computer. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Oh my gosh it is SO fun! No wonder they love to play it! I especially love the Bean Bonus Room.

So I start playing it, and I get sucked in, and before I know it, it's 1:30 am. Just like that. And I have to run around turning off lights and setting the alarm. Checking on the kids to put back all the covers they've kicked off themselves. Getting a drink of water. Washing my face. Putting on PJ's. By the time I'd done all that it was TWO A.M.!!!

I need to stop, because I am trying not to pitch forward on the computer right now as I'm typing this, I'm that tired. I am going to force myself to get to bed by at least 11pm tonight, or I'm going to be in trouble.

Or I could be really bad and play more Harry Potter...

Yes, I'm Alive...

...but barely so. I've had the nastiest head cold, and it's been a week. Now I just have the "leftover crud" you get AFTER you've been sick. Fun fun fun. Thing Four is still sniffly, and he had a high fever scare which resulted in a trip to the doctor, but all is well now, and we're on the mend.
Had Grandpa and Grandma (in laws) for a visit until yesterday, and it was actually a nice visit. I used to dread their visits, because my house could never get clean enough, and I didn't feel super confident around them, for some odd reason. (They are pretty dynamic go-getter people in a lot of ways, and it was intimidating.) But not so much now.
I guess since I'm older, with more kids, and I know them better, I have a more level head about their visits. If my house isn't spotless, then Life goes on. As long as they have a clean guest room and clean towels, it's good. And being married to a Major Go Getter has made me more like that myself, so I'm not so worn out when we go here and there and everywhere during their visit.

I LIKE getting out of the house and I've been so lonely lately with just a non-talking baby at home, it was nice to have some people to talk to...and catch up on all the family gossip, which luckily we have in abundance. This family has DRAMA. Better than any soap opera storyline I could invent! :-)
Grandma ended up sewing the Tunic part for Thing Two's Link costume, and it turned out quite fabulous.And watching her do it (it took her about two hours and she was flying, she is a very good seamstress) I realized there was no way in hell I could have sewed it like that. Unless I took a class. I am a visual learner and learning from a book was fine for quilting, but sewing is a different monster.
So I made the hat and the boots, and I attempted to make Link's Rupee bag, but I failed miserably because the pleather wasn't cooperating. The hat I'm extremely proud of. MIL used most of the fabric for the tunic, and there were only scraps left, so I used my quilter's experience and Frankensteined all the leftover pieces together with the sewing machine to make one big useable piece of fabric, and it actually gave the finished hat a really cool appearance: GO LARA! (*Lara pats herself on the back*) Luckily it's a simple cone-shaped hat. I just measured his head and cut out the pattern by hand.
So he's going nutsos that his costume is nearly finished--I just need to put the buckles on the boots and make a sword holder (sheath) and I'm DONE.

Lots to do today--the house is a disaster since we were all hanging out in it yesterday eating wayyyy too much and listening to Conference--so I have to clean it and run to the cleaners and the store and THEN tonight we have Soccer Team Picture night at the indoor soccer complex--from about 4:30 to 8:30. All three Things have team and individual Pictures and then three games. Poor Thing Four. He's still not feeling the best. And Hubby is in L.A.


Back to normal I guess!

GO ME...

Status: Concerned--Thing Four is sick for the first time since he was born (I would consider that pretty lucky considering he turns five months next week!) He had a fever this morning and unlike my other three kids who greedily SUCKED their medicine down, he spit most of his out...

I have to give myself snaps here, because I am going way out on a limb and doing something completely out of my comfort zone. Let me just say that I don't sew. I HOT GLUE GUN. Thing One's Girl Scout patches are hot glue gunned to her sash. I can hot glue gun ANYTHING, and probably have. I never learned to sew (much to the chagrin of my mother, who is a very capable seamstress) and although I taught myself to quilt a couple of years ago, and I do own a nice sewing machine, I have never bought a pattern, cut it out, and made anything for ANYONE. I can do pillow covers and really easy stuff. But that's about it.

So, for Halloween, Thing One wanted to be Princess Leia. Went to Target and bought the costume. DONE. Thing Three wanted to be Boba Fett. Target. DONE. Thing Two? No. Thing Two wanted to be "Link" from "Legend of Zelda" (for you non-gamers that is a Nintendo game that given it's wild popularity among the Gaming Community you would think they would manufacture COSTUMES for the characters...)
But no, they don't make "Link" costumes any more. Here is what Link looks like:

Or at least when I watch the GAME that my sons play, he looks like this. They are currently playing "Windwaker." HOWEVER, Thing Two wants to look like Link from Twilight Princess. (or is it Ocarina of Time? I can't kee them straight!) He's a little different:

Thing Two wants his costume just like this one. And of course except for a few websites where people have made their own costumes for cosplay, I have nothing to go on. So, I bought some green material, brown pleather, and I've already made a sword and shield. (I'll post pics when I'm finished).

But the point is, I'm SEWING a Halloween Costume. After having kids for ten years, I am SEWING.

Are you proud of me?

Fog, Rain, Kill Me Now...

Status: Feeling much better today, except for the fact I want to rip my throat out and scratch the hell out of it and put it back in...I guess that means it's healing...

My friend Michelle Miles has an e-book coming out today! It's Book Two of Sky and Dane's adventure! You can order it by clicking HERE.It's a fun, adventure-filled sexy romp, so get it now!

On to the rain and fog. That means we can't MOW THE LAWN. Which means when we finally get to mow the lawn, it will be 26 large bags of grass again. ARGH!! I can't win.

I am having a rough time with Thing Two, our ADD child. He is so carefree, it's got to be illegal. Seriously, this child would forget to dress himself in the morning and go to school in his jammies if I didn't tell him to change. He would never brush his teeth, or bathe, or do ANYTHING if I didn't remind him.

I have a sign in his bathroom, above the toilet that says "LIFT UP THE SEAT WHEN YOU PEE! FLUSH THE TOILET! TURN OFF THE LIGHTS! TURN OFF THE WATER!" Little good it does. I have gone up to the bathroom many times and had the toilet unflushed, the water running and the lights on. He can't remember to put his clothes away. His shoes would be all over the house, if I didn't make him pick them up. If I didn't make him do homework he'd forget. I can NEVER give him two or three-point directions, because he can't remember the other two things. I never ask him to go downstairs and turn the TV off because he'll start watching it and forget I asked him to turn it off in the first place and that his dinner is getting cold. He forgets to eat, if I don't make it for him, and tell him to eat it.

My other two kids are highly conscientious, for the most part. His younger brother and older sister generally are mindful of their surroundings, and don't forget important things. But not Thing Two. He's a mess, and it's taking it's toll on me, frustrationwise. He just wants to play and not have any responsibilities. And frankly, I'm tired of telling him what to do every minute of the day. He has chores, and knows what's expected of him, but if I don't REMIND him he has chores, he'd forget to do them.

Just typing about all his forgetfulness is making me tired. What do I do? Keep on him???

First of October!!!

Status: Kinda getting in the "Halloween" spirit!

I'm sick. It was inevitable, with the weather changes. It started Saturday night, and I spent most of Sunday in bed. Hubby was my hero. He took care of the meals and the kids, while I slept this cold away, because I have to be 100% this week. Luckily it wasn't a SEVERE cold (you know the kind, where you have a fever/sore throat/body aches/want to die stuff going on) it was mostly just "itchy and sneezy and tired."

I am a firm believer that when you are sick, the BEST thing ever is just to stay in bed, if you can. Sleep and sleep, and let your body heal. It's always worked for me. I do feel a LOT better today. Or that could just be the Advil Cold & Sinus doing it's job...

It's Garbage day, and luckily we only have twelve bags of grass. But that's still a lot. I can't wait until it gets so cold we don't have to mow anymore. Then we won't have to worry about it. Grass is just...gross, after you bag it. It starts decomposing and attracting bugs and smelling and churning out gases (especially in a hot garage) and becomes downright nasty.

I have lots to do--the In Laws are coming for a visit Wednesday through Sunday.

I just wish I could stop sneezing!