Dream analyzer?

All my dreams lately are in my childhood home but in every dream the house has been remodeled and is slightly different, better in fact than when we lived in it. I loved our renovated school house but the dreams are all anxious and bizarre. What do you think that means? It's messing with my head.

I like my other reoccurring dream where I'm in high school again and I can never figure out which locker is mine but no matter what combination I try it always opens any locker I try. It reminds me how I never ever would want to relive my high school life. Yay for being grown up.

Another reoccurring dream is where DH makes me go back to college in another state to finish my degree but at some point I figure out there's no way he can work and take care of the kids. Who is going to take care of the kids? And I don't want to go back to college right now.

rain, swimming, interviews, shopping and cute dresses

I love summer. How I love summer. My favorite part has to be WARMTH! I prefer being too warm to being even slightly cold. For over a week we've had warm weather. We did have Thunder and Lightning storms the last couple days which was amazing. We so rarely get lightning, it was exciting. But Cor went to go swimming with the Scouts yesterday and they were only in the pool a few seconds before they had to get out and take cover.

Summer also means Ballerina's birthday in a few weeks. Her birthday is actually on the official first day of summer and this year falls on Father's Day. We are having her first "friend" party on the Saturday before. I thought I was being smart and ordering her party supplies early. I ordered Em's too late and they weren't here for her party. They arrived almost a week ago, three weeks before her party. She was so mad that I wouldn't let her have the party that very day. So we printed a calendar with a few other important dates on it and every day we put a star on the calendar to mark the days passing. She is only slightly pacified by this activity.

Summer means cute dresses every where and I am caught up in the trend (not to be confused with a fad). I would even say Spring/Summer dresses are a Classic. I just ordered three fun dresses online and Anth help me find one at JCrew for under $20 which is my criteria. Anth and my Sister Staci got me into wearing skirts which is fun but I am so ultra picky about how things fit around my waist. I have found that I prefer a fun knee-length dress. All are sleeveless but I am prepared with several new layering tees.

Yay for end of the school year. DH finished his last Administrative this week and even got a call from the school district for an interview for a Vice-principal position. That is next Tuesday. I don't know how anxious he is about it but I can't wait. We've been so busy all week that we haven't had time to talk about it. He is glad to have the opportunity to interview. It makes all the work seem more worthwhile. I am so proud of him and excited to see where this will take him in his future job opportunities.

Baseball is almost over for Cor. It has been a lot of work just running one kid to all his practices and games. DH and I decided were just not as into that as other parents. Maybe later when all our kids are older it won't seem so exhausting to take all of them everywhere. On Wednesday I spent over four hours driving my kids to all their stuff then we ended up at the church for my meetings and DH met me there to pick up the kids. I was so frazzled by the end.

Summer will be a nice break from the endless scheduled events. Plus a vacation to beautiful South Pacific should be rejuvenating.

birthday festivities

I had a really good birthday. There was a few things that it was not but those I was able to get over.

My 8 year old son Cor had discovered yesterday morning that my birthday had arrived and he didn't have a present for me. Actually, all the kids came to this conclusion at once. Em was bothered by it for a while but eventually gave up because being five rendered her powerless to do anything about it. Cor tried to convince me at the grocery store to buy a gift card that he would give to me then he would pay me back when we got home. I told him I wouldn't do that. Later I got in the shower. About the middle of my shower I saw one of the kids run in and out of my bathroom. A few minutes later Cor came running through again. I looked out and Cor had place $1, a note and some rhododendron flowers on the toilet lid for me to find when I got out of the shower. I thought it was so sweet and that he wanted it to be a surprise and that he knew I would like the flowers.

Early in the morning my neighbor brought me a homemade cake with Sprinkles. Her husband has the same birthday as me so I thought that was really sweet.

My Dad called and sent me a text but both times I didn't have time to answer. He said he had arranged for the delivery of a gift from one of my siblings but has yet to appear. So I get to look forward to that on another day???

My SIL Brittany brought me Chicken Pot pie because I told her I wanted it for my birthday. I never make that because no one else in my family would eat it. I had some for lunch and it was fabulous. Oh and she got me a Hoops and Yoyo talking card and it's so CUTE. I heart Hoops and Yoyo.

My friend Becca brought me Pineapple cookies and they were so good. I ate most of them.

My brother Calvin, who works nights in a sleep lab, called me in the morning right when he got off work. He felt bad that I would minus a husband all day so later he brought me a chocolate cake and a talking The Office card and a gift card. And the cake had number candles on it--34!!!! I love number candles.

Oh, on Friday night I got to go out to dinner with some friends and my sister, Jenna. She brought me a gift card for Mary Kay and a talking birthday card. About a week ago I got a card from my oldest sister Staci for Victoria's secret. Yesterday I got a card from Scott's Aunt Jolae, she remembers everyone's birthday and she is my inspiration. I got a card from my in-laws with some cash. I put it in my can where I have been saving my sewing money.

I am very excited about all the money I get to spend on ME! La la la.

Past tense, last Sunday we had dinner with Deena's family and that was really fun and I considered it a pre-birthday dinner. Deena can cook and it was so nice to hang out with her great family and chat.

Saturday night after I got back from a dinner and church meeting with Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder Michael Ringwood I had another gift from Anth waiting for me. She gave me a knife which I love and have already used it. It makes sense if you know how much we talk about food. A lot.

My niece Madeline babysat for me while I was at the dinner and church meeting and she didn't let me pay her. Super sweet girl and a great babysitter.

I am also excited because one of my favorite cousin's wife had a baby girl this month and they named her with a K and she was born in April so she is awesome. Because you know K names rock!

I've hardly seen Designated Hitter for more than an hour this whole week. That's definitely a thumbs down but it's been that way for months and probably will be for a couple more months so I can't start getting bummed about it now. DH has been feeling super guilty about not being around this weekend but I keep telling him that he has misplaced guilt. We'll see if he ever figures out or is brave enough to ask me what is really bothering me.

Talking birthday cards, lots of dessert and a husband who may have misplaced guilt but he is totally devoted to the Lord, to me and our family. Overall it was a very good birthday.

A little update

I was talking to a friend at church about how her family had the flu. She was telling me how terrible it was. When church got done Cor came into my classroom and said he felt like throwing up. He threw up most of the evening. A few hours after church Mya started feeling bad and she threw up all night. Loud, horrible retching sounds. She took care of herself but none of us got any sleep. Ballerina started throwing up. So far that's 3 out of 6. Em has happily announced that she is not sick and she won't be getting sick. We'll see. Mya and Cor stayed home and rested today and were able to eat very little. Ballerina's first vomit was while she was attempting to give me a hug then she backed up so most of the puke landed on the couch next to me and on the back of my pant leg. I got that cleaned up and she has succesfully been able to puke in her bowl ever since. She can't decide if she wants to stay up or go to bed. So she is going to make it a long night. She has been following me around telling me she is sick. I'm so tired that I'm starting to lose my patience with her.

Pre-puking Ballerina was quite the silly girl this weekend. Before I got in the shower Sunday morning she said she wanted to get dressed. I told her I would get her dressed after my shower. During my shower she came in to ask if she could take her panties off. She had already taken her pajamas off. I told her to wait till I got out of the shower. She came back a couple minutes later with no panties and a dress she wanted to wear. I told her she needed a shirt to wear with it and panties. So she went back and pulled a sweater out of the closet. She ran around naked, doing naked tricks, while I got dressed. The rest of the kids think it's gross when she runs around naked but I think it's so cute.

DH took his Praxis test for his Administrative license. He was really frustrated because his study guide didn't prepare him for the test at all. He doesn't think he did very well but we won't know the results for four weeks.

Yucky Chuck E. and other people's kids

So last Saturday I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. Cory had earned it on his reading chart that DH made for reading at home. DH wanted to put it off, especially because he wasn't feeling well, but I want the kids to know we are reliable. If we say we are going to do something then we do it. I told DH to stay home and rest so he would be ready for our date that night that meant a lot to me. I hate places like McD's and Chuck E. Cheese because they make me feel dirty. I feel like I am being coated with germs, sweat, and pee the moment I walk in there. But the kids love it so I decided I could deal with it for a few hours. Saturday is the worst day to go but the only day we would be able to go. Cor and Mya got their tokens and I told them to stay together but they didn't have to stay with me. I kept Em and Ballerina with me. Ballerina kept wondering off. She is little and she would just start following who ever got in front of her. There weren't very many things they felt brave enough to do. We got our little prizes and were there for less than two hours.

The worst part was other people's kids. Little kids, younger than Em and Ballerina, were running around with no adult supervision. We had to wait our turn for every thing we wanted to do and half the time some kid would run up cut right in front of us. Or they would try to climb on a ride while one of the girls were on it. Sometimes I said something but most of the kids just ignored me. Later on Saturday I was at the grocery and some 8-10 year old kid came up and starting taking things out of my cart. I told him that was my stuff and he tossed it in the cart and ran off. Completely oblivious.

Today Ballerina has a runny nose and I am pretty sure I know where she got it from. But if I had to compliment Chuck E. Cheese it was nice that they had so many employees there and they kept people as organized as they could and kept the floors picked up.

Last night Ballerina came into our room. She can't breathe well so she couldn't sleep. We never let the kids sleep in our bed but I was so tired and I knew if I sent her back to bed I'd just be up with her again in a few minutes. So I let her have half the bed and I snuggled up on the other half with DH. She slept pretty good for several hours. About six in the morning she got up and went back to her own bed. I guess sleeping with Mom and Dad wasn't all she dreamed it would be. Maybe she'll realize her own bed is better. Doubtful but I can hope. Ballerina has been trying her whole 3 1/2 years to be able to sleep in our bed. She only sleeps through the night 2-3 nights a week. Now that she wears panties to bed we have to get up with her and take her to the bathroom. Good thing she is the baby.

DH went to the doctor yesterday because he had some really weird symptoms and Friday. And all weekend he was completely exhausted. He is a pretty healthy guy so it really worried him. The doctor thought it was a result of the all the stress he has been under. Sunday night I had talked to him about how stressful our life has been and the effect it's having on our relationship. We decided that we need to work on our communication since the stress is not going to end any time soon. Every night we've been sitting and talking. Sometimes it's hard to get DH to talk because he'd rather just listen. But he is trying. Last night I really confused him because I actually did want him to give me a solution to my problem. I am really stressed out. I feel like I am doing all I can but it's not nearly enough.

Yesterday, as we were crossing the street near the school one of the cars did not stop until the last possible second. The crossing guard was waving the flag at him. It was a bunch of teenagers and they were laughing. Where is a police man when you need one? So as we were crossing one of the other moms crossing yelled, "This is a School crossing you Jack-A**." She said that several times while she was surrounded by school children including mine. After that her boy was telling her something that happened at school and she asked him if he kicked their butt. This boy was a kindergartener. Luckily he said no in a confused sort of way. She used a few other offensive words in the 1 1/2 minutes we had to be near her. I didn't say anything because she was bigger than me, mean looking and also had another large, butch cut woman next to her and I am sure they would have been in no mood to take my constructive criticism. I understand that a lot of people using an excessive amount of foul language but to me it shows a severe lack of intelligence.

Today I was going to volunteer in each of the kids classrooms but I decided I better not take Ballerina anywhere. Now I have time to exercise and get ready for our Young Women activity tonight. Now I just got thinking about everything again and I am almost in tears. DH asked if he could help me with anything but I don't really need help I just need less to think about but that's just not going to happen. I know I need to be more patient with myself. If I don't learn how to deal with it I am going to have a breakdown soon. But I am probably just being dramatic.

This morning Em kept coming up to me and showing me her hand but she was holding it a different way each time. I kept asking her what I was supposed to be looking at but then she would say nothing and run off. She likes to be mysterious like that. Finally she came back to show me what she could do with her hand and she said, "K." She was doing sign language. It was on the back of her cereal box. She just showed me the sign for "E" for Em. Apparently I don't need to teach my kids anything and just buy more store brand cereal.

Cor just started piano lessons and he doesn't want Mya to help him. Mya has been taking lessons for over two years. Their teacher told them it would do them both good if he would let Mya help him when he practices. This morning Cor was working on a little song and Mya came up and starting helping him and after a little encouragement from me he watched her and listened. It really made me happy to see them learning together. I loooooove that my kids are playing the piano. Their teacher is amazing because she recognized immediately that Mya and Cor have completely different learning styles but both work well for learning to play the piano.

Here we are at Cor's baptism. Everything turned out so perfect that day. I even had to give a talk in Sacrament meeting. But I was so grateful that I had a perfect hair and skin day. That really only happens once every couple years. Cor had a good experience and everything went as planned. My parent's even came over from Utah for the weekend.

Here is DH and I at the Pacific City, Cape Kiwanda for his birthday weekend. We had such a good time and you can see what a beautiful day it was.

You can also see our new kitty, Checkers, getting comfy with her favorite person. I don't really care much for pets but DH has taken to the cat. The kids love her and she gets a lot of attention which she seems to enjoy. A better picture would have been of all the scratches Em and Val had all over their bodies the first couple weeks we had the kitty. Checkers is very very patient with them but they pick her up and carry her the wrong way all the time and eventually she gets scared and scratches them. She is getting used to them now and doesn't scratch them so much and we've only had her six weeks.

What I did today

Here's a list of the things I did today (Wednesday):

• Got up
• Dressed
• Woke up Mya and Cor
• Ate breakfast and checked email.
  
• Helped Ballerina and Em set up play-do
• Walked Mya and Cor to school, Em and Ballerina ride in the stroller.
• Dressed Em and Ballerina.
• Called a friend
  
• Paid bills
• Balanced check book and savings account.
• Checked rewards card and ordered some free gift cards.
  
• Labeled my tomato sauce that I canned yesterday.
• Switched the laundry and started a new load.
• Changed into stretchy pants and t-shirt (out of exercise clothes).
• Curled my hair and put on a little make-up.
• Made and ate lunch
• Cleaned up computer desktop
• Emailed my sister
• Switched laundry
• Empty, filled and started the dishwasher
• In the process of cleaning the kitchen-it is a huge mess from canning
• Talked to DH on the phone-very rare that I talk to him during the day while he is working but no emergency he just called to chat while he was Principal for the Day.
• Picked a bunch of tomatoes at varying degrees of readiness and put them on the counter to finish ripening.
  
• Emailed a friend.
• Printed October Calendar and taped it on the fridge.
  
• Talked to a friend on the phone.
• Got Em and Ballerina Otter pops.
• Walked to school to pick up Mya and Cor
• Drank a large glass of ice water
• Checked Mya and Cor's school papers.
• Signed up for kids Book It Program online
• Helped Ballerina get a snack.
• Emptied Dishwasher, refilled and turned it on.
• Switched the laundry
• Put the salsa and tomato sauce away.
• Handwashed the dishes that didn't fit in the dishwasher
• Tried to untangle Em's necklace.
• Took some drugs for my lingering headache.
  
• Got a text from my brother that his wife is in labor, will deliver soon, sent a text back. Baby #4 for them-2 boys and 2 girls.
  
• DH came home and brought us a bunch of pencils and pens that they can't use at school and post-its shaped like light bulbs. Woo Hoo!
• Switched the laundry
• Trimmed the ties on 2 baby quilts
• Talked to my brother K. on the phone
• Talked to DH outside for a while
• Ate Stew for Dinner. DH was the winner of the bay leaf. Who ever gets the bay leaf in their stew is the winner. They don't win anything they just get to feel victorious.
• Cleaned up dinner
  
• My brother J. called to announce they had the baby. It was a girl, 8 lbs. 3 oz., 18 1/2 inches long. He said she is short and fat. She has had her eyes open for the last 2 hours. He just sent me a pic on the phone with her eyes and mouth wide open. So cute! They live in Utah and he said that they had 5 other babies born in the hospital right about the same time so it is pretty hectic there.
  
• Going to show DH and the kids the picture
• Read through grocery store ads till Ballerina came and rearranged them for me.
• Started folding laundry
• Paid DH's tuition
• Checked emails
• Finished folding the laundry and put some of it away
• Read scriptures with the kids, prayed and tucked everyone in. Usually I read to Mya and Cor but lately I won't if their room isn't clean. I thought this would be good motivation but it has not worked. I guess money is the biggest motivator right now.
• Switched another load of laundry
  
• Finished putting folded laundry away
• Ate a cup of yogurt
• Read my newest cooking blog that I co-write with Anth (I have yet to contribute anything) and someday it will be the greatest cooking blog in the world.
  
• Tried to figure out where that beeping sound was coming from
• Going to watch Jericho, Season 1, Disc 5
• Goodnight
  

Wherein I get Stupider...

My kids loooove Scooby Doo and usually I don't watch it but I have heard it from the next room over and over again. DH and I were tired the other day so we sat down to watch it with the kids and I could feel myself getting stupider by the second. I had to walk away before all my brain function ceased completely. DH sat and watched for at least another 30 minutes. After seeing this picture of Scooby my toddler started singing the theme song. What have I done to my children.

Adventures of Rubber Chicken, Part 4

Cor's Joke
Question: Why Did Rubber chicken cross the road?
Answer: To get run over.
Rubber Chicken is getting a piggy back ride to go to bed. Rubber chicken likes to take naps on Daddy's side of the bed.

Quilt Block #9 and othe such fun...

I haven't been very good about posting my quilt blocks but here is the one I finished today. Last time Anth and I skipped our class and drove around town instead. I really like this one and it was pretty simple. This weekend is our last class (which means I didn't make any mistakes).I still need to finish block #10 before class on Friday. They will give us our last 3 blocks to finish and we will have 13 blocks total. We had the option to buy the finishing kit to make a Queen size quilt but we are both too cheap for that. I think I will just be making a throw and using 2 blocks to recover my couch cushions that are hideously ugly.

Royal Star

This weekend I made banana mini-muffins. Do you like how they are so golden that the flash reflects off them. They were super yummy and I think I ate most of them. This is my third variety of mini muffins since I bought my mini-muffin tin.

Em enjoying a mini-muffin.

This last week DH took a day off and we tried to sleep in as long as possibly. I thought it was strange that no one was coming in asking for breakfast. When I finally got up I discovered that Cor had layed out the bowls and spoons the same way I do every morning and had served everyone who wanted cereal. He even made sure he gave his Dad the biggest bowl and a big spoon just how he likes it. What a good kid. Now I never have to get up in the morning.
We had a great weekend. Sunday we played Badminton in the back yard and had Anth's family over for dinner. Saturday DH went golfing all morning and in the afternoon his sister watched the kids and we saw Indiana Jones. I loved it and thought it was classic Indi. Plus we got to hold hands and pretend like we were teenagers which we like to do.

Sunday we decided that Mya could go on a road trip with my parents in a couple weeks for my Mom's family reunion in Southern Utah. At first we were too scared to let our baby go but she is 9 years old and all her girl cousins her age will be going. It just makes me worry having her go so far for so many days. I know she will have a great time and it makes me happy that she'll get to have an experience like I had when I was her age.

Memorial Weekend

Friday

All day I didn't feel like doing much of anything so I didn't go garage saling which is our new Friday activity. We just stayed home and goofed around and cleaned a little. I painted the girls toe nails.

In the evening DH went to his softball game and afterwards we went out to look at laptops. After chasing the kids around the store for about a half hour DH showed me the two laptops he had narrowed it down to. I told him he should go ahead and get the more expensive one with all the extras he wanted. He doesn't really have many hobbies except playing on the computer and technology type stuff so I figured what the heck. He is in love with his new laptop. We'll call that blessing #1. And it came in handy this weekend which I will explain later. I told him as long as he loaded my Bejeweled game on it I would love it too. He will need the laptop when he starts his Administrative program this fall. Ballerina took many trips to the bathroom at the store which really tries my patience. I HATE public restrooms. No matter how clean or the false pleasant scent they sometimes add I know they are disgusting. This one was not even falsely scented or clean. Other than that the kids had fun checking out all the DVD's and watching the big screen TV's. The most exciting part was watching themselves in on the security camera TV next to the restrooms.

Saturday

In the morning we babysat our two nephews; one is about 7 months old and the other is almost 2 years old. They did alright at first while DH was watching them and I was weeding the vegetable garden to get it ready for planting. Then I watched them while DH took a turn hoeing the weeds on the other side of the fence from the garden. That's when things fell apart. Luckily the 2 year old pooped during DH's shift. But they both cried quite a bit during my shift. Baby was just hungry and tired. I fed him then he fell asleep. I didn't want to put him down so I just held him while he slept. 2 year old nephew threw a fit for almost 30 minutes for no reason what so ever other than I think he was just mad that his mom wasn't here. He eventually fell asleep. So about the time they both fell asleep Ballerina pooped in her panties. The diarrhea kind. So Mya had to run out and get DH to change her. He was irritated that it wasn't his shift. Too bad I was holding the baby. We'll call that blessing #2.

After that Anth called and said she was ready to go. Several days earlier we informed our husbands we were definitely going shopping on Saturday to check out clearance items at Target. One of our favorite past times. It was fun. I think we each only found one item but it was fun to just wander. We did take her one month old son, Ace. He slept most of the time. I realized later that I kept pushing the cart and later the stroller out of unconscious habit. Anth may have thought I was weird for randomly wandering off with her baby. But she is too nice to say anything. And she might be used to me pretty much monopolizing the baby whenever I am around him. I love new born babies! But after taking care of 2 nephews I couldn't be more happy I am done having my own babies. We"ll call that blessing #3.

We also wandered around Borders and got a deep condition on our hair at my sister Seldie's salon. By the time we got done my muscles were starting to tighten up really bad. I got home and played badminton with DH and Cor for a few minutes. We went to Panda Express for dinner, we'll call that blessing #4 because I love when I don't have to fix dinner. After that we went to Freddy's to get our veggie plants. We got tomatoes, jalapeños, zucchini, cucumbers, and red peppers. About mid way through we realized Ballerina had pooped, diarrhea kind, in her panties. I cleaned it up this time, what a GIGANTIC MESS, poop was everywhere. Right about the time we were ready to go my back and neck muscles were so tight I almost started crying and I was losing my sense of balance. I had already tried taking my strong pain meds and those had not worked. We got home and got the kids to bed. We watched Disc 4 or 5 of 24 while I used the heat pad and my back. DH then informed me that he felt a cold coming on. I didn't think I would be able to sleep but the heat pad must have worked a little because I did get to sleep eventually. We'll call that blessing #5. I work out everyday but it must have been the hoeing that did it this time. I normally get this type of headache and back ache about once a month but this one was the worst I've had in a while. It makes me feel like an old woman.

Sunday

I woke up feeling much better even though my back was still pretty sore. So it must have been the hoeing. Our Church services were so nice. I really enjoyed them. We had 2 musical numbers that were fabulous. The lesson in Relief Society from Sister M was inspiring and funny. I love her personality. She is an older lady with grandkids but she doesn't seem bitter about life. She seems like a young person with more perspective and in an older persons body. It sounds like she was a really fun mom when her kids were young. We'll call a perfect Sabbath service blessing #6.

I tried to take a nap after church for a few minutes but Ballerina kept waking me up every few minutes. My dedicated sick DH stayed and did all his church work till almost five. He came home and rested till 8:30 then went back to another church building to help someone else. We'll call faithful DH blessing #7. Oh ya DH had to clean up another diarrhea mess on Sunday morning that's blessing #8.

Ballerina did not feel well all day Sunday. When we got home from church she said, "Mommy I am sick, I need to watch a movie." She cried a lot that day.

Somewhere during Sunday night or early Monday morning. Ballerina started crying. I went in and put her in bed the right way and put her blankets back on. She always ends up sleeping upside down. Sunday morning she ended up in our bed for the last few hours of sleep and she kept moving till she got in a comfortable spot, upside down, with her feet in my face.

Back to early Monday morning, she cried again a few minutes later so I went to check on her. She started to throw up but she didn't have anything in her stomach so it was clear. We'll call that blessing #9. She went right back to sleep after that. About 15 minutes later Em came into our room and reached out for me and luckily I smelled it before I reached for her. We'll call that blessing #10. She had vomit all over her arms and clothes. I took her to the shower and got her cleaned up. She had to sit on the floor in the bathroom wrapped in a towel while I cleaned up the messes that she tracked down the hall on the way to our room. The bulk of the mess was on her bed. We'll call blessing #11 was that she didn't puke on the wall and down the side of the bed where it's impossible to get to. My kids always seem to do this. The smell was awful and I almost didn't make it through. Blessing #12 goes to DH who right before going to bed said he felt nauseous so he got out of helping clean up. It took me a long time to fall asleep again.

Monday

Monday morning I tried to sleep in and I was in bed until almost 10:30 but probably starting around 8:00 the kids got up and found some reason to come talk to me every five minutes. Eventually DH got sick of it and got up. If if I tell the kids I am busy or sleeping and their Dad is in charge they still come ask me for everything first. When I got in the shower this morning Ballerina came in and asked me to open a sucker and I know DH was somewhere in the house. Silly kids. Ballerina and Em already seemed much better by lunch time.

After my shower I took Mya and Cor to see Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian. We were so excited because we reread the book just a couple months ago so we would be ready for the movie. It was a great movie but so very different from the book. I, of course, like the book much better. There was a lot more fighting then in the book and didn't care for the kids to see so much violence even though it was minus the blood. I am very disappointed that it is so different from the book. I did not like the way it portrayed Peter as being so proud. I hope they make the next movie from the book Voyage of the Dawn Treader. That's the next one with Prince Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin Eustace. I am purposely trying to make my kids obsessed with Chronicles of Narnia. The way my husband has brainwashed them into loving Star Wars.

The movie theater was packed. With the dismal weather and so many good movies out right now it was the place to be. After the movie we went inside the mall to get lunch. In all we saw 4 families we knew while we were there including my Sister Seldie. We'll call going out to a movie blessing #13.

We got home and Ballerina and Em had fallen asleep on the floor but woke up soon after we arrived. Grumpy and crying. Eventually they calmed down and I took Cor and Mya outside to help me plant the vegetables. Growing our own garden is blessing #14.

For our FHE activity we did yoga and it was hilarious to watch the kids try to do all the stretches. Ballerina had spent most the day with a naked bum but we made sure she had panties on before we started yoga. Everyone is getting annoyed by her naked bum but it helps her to remember to go potty.

DH has this silly habit of getting sick during holidays. It's about the time he finally relaxes he gets sick. He gets better right about the time he goes back to work. Even if he doesn't get all better he goes to work anyway. Then he sleeps when he gets home. I told him tonight he just does it to avoid spending time with me. He said I figured him out. At least he had his laptop to keep him entertained, now he doesn't need me anymore. I am trying very hard not to lecture him about going to work when he is still sick. It's taking all my will power.

So the only ones who haven't gotten the pukey sickness is Mya and I. We'll call it blessing #15 if it just passes us by.

DH is sending me IM's from his laptop and he is sitting right next to me. He even turned on the webcam so I can see what he looks like.

Review on Arrested Development

DH and I have been watching Arrested Development, Season 1, and are now on disc 3. My brother Kirk convinced me it was so funny. It does have some swear words because I think it's from HBO. They give the idea that people are having sex but they don't ever show anything. Jason Bateman is the main character. He reminds me of my older Brother Brady so it makes it even funnier for me. It's perfect for those who love sarcastic humor and if you think your family is crazy then you will definitely enjoy it. DH loves it as much as I do.

We don't have regular TV, not even local channels so we just order what we want to watch from Blockbuster. It's not even that I hate TV it's just that I never turned the cable on when we moved into this house over 3 years ago and the longer we didn't have it the less we missed it. I used to think the people that were TV haters and didn't have TV in their house were a little over the top but I can see the advantages. I do feel like I have control over what my family is exposed to and my kids feel like it's a privilege to watch it. And it's sweet not to have to watch the commercials.

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DH offered me $10,000 to take the trash cans out to the curb last night. I told him that he couldn't offer me money that I already have. zing!

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I think maybe I shouldn't go out any more so that only I know what a bad mother I am. At playgroup my girls spend 3/4 of the time hanging on me and driving me crazy. So other Moms look at me strange when I take my girls and set them off to the side of me and ask them not to touch me anymore. Ballerina cried and threw fits like she has been a neglected child, like I hadn't spent the whole morning with her, talking, drawing, and sitting on the potty. So that by the time I got to play group I just really wanted her to play and stop wrapping her little body around me, kicking me, knocking me in the chin with her head and other such touching and mauling.

I do love hugging my girls and giving them love but this is something way beyond that. One woman suggested I hug her and tell her I love her then let her sit next to me. I said I have tried that but the mauling is something that isn't about showing affection. It's about venting their aggression on me. I am looking for a better way to deal with this syndrome. I keep taking them out in the hopes that they will get it out of their system and just play and have fun. I'll just have to endure the looks other better Moms give me.

There's Good News and Bad News

Good News

I had a fabulous Mother's Day. DH got me a new black dress from Down East Basics. I love it! Mya wrote me a sweet poem.

Mom
helpful, nice, lovely
Mother of Mya, Cor, Em, Ballerina.
Who loves her husband, kids and friends.
Who feels happy about having kids.
Who needs faith, me, and family.
Who gives kindness, hugs and love.
Who fears losing her kids.
Who'd like to see everyone together.
Who dreams of having a family forever.
Mother of Mya, Cor, Em and Ballerina.

That made me feel like the best Mom ever!

So Here is the Bad News

Ballerina is regressing in her potty training. It's been about three weeks and I think she's realized this is something we are doing permanently. This morning she started peeing in the kitchen then ran down the hall to me my bedroom to tell me she was peeing. She left a trail the whole way. When we first started potty training she might start peeing in her panties then she stop herself and go to the bathroom or come get me. So now she has to have a naked bum the whole time we are home. That is getting old. When we are out she is more aware and doesn't have so many accidents. Yesterday she got to the bathroom to go poop but the poop ended up on the floor and several other places.

Random Relay

Married Girl Friend: I can't talk to any guys without flirting so I just don't talk to them at all.

Me: laughing

Married Girl Friend: You'll need to make me a list of questions to ask so that I can talk to them.

Me: Wondering if many women have that problem.

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Ballerina comes home from an outing with Grandma with pooped filled panties and pants. I pull the panties off and throw them in the toilet. Ballerina is screaming because she wants to see what has happened to the poopy panties. Later I get the rubber gloves on and clean them out then put them in the wash. I know I could not handle cloth diapers. What a wimpy mother I am.

I told my sister Jenna about it and she said I should write an ode to poop.

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DH's grandma has passed away. Her funeral arrangements are the opposite schedule of every funeral I've been to. And I have been to a lot of funerals in the last few years. They are doing the viewing first (normal), then the interment (putting her in the ground), then the lunch, and finally the memorial service. She wanted it that way. She really wanted it to be a celebration of her life so maybe that's why she changed things up a bit. DH no longer has any living grandparents. I am sad for him even though he didn't have a super strong emotional bond with his grandparents. It's just brings us one step closer to being expected to be grown ups in our lives. How scary.

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I have been wearing a skirt every day this week just to feel pretty. And it worked. Even DH noticed. The first day he told me I looked cute. He knows I hate being called cute but I think he was sincere in his compliment. And it didn't make me want to puke coming from him.

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All these Mom's at play group looked at me weird when I told my girls "NO" today. I did say it firmly and with elevated volume. I wasn't yelling but I wanted them to know in no uncertain terms I meant no. Em and Ballerina had been clawing an whining at me for about 5 minutes. I had tried reasoning with them and that had no affect. I let them know their behavior was not alright with me. So finally I decided enough was enough. Em got the message but Ballerina kept on going, un-phased. Later one of the other mom's who had repeatedly asked her son to put his shoes back on said to him, "please, please, pretty please put your shoes back on." He completely ignored her the whole time. And I was just wondering who is the adult and who is the child. And this boy was definitely old enough to understand what was being asked and what he was doing by disobeying. I know I sound horribly mean, but I am a mean mom. I love my kids but I think they need to learn their limits. And maybe a little respect too. I don't expect as much response from Ballerina because she is 2 years old. But I expect a lot more from Em because she is 4 1/2. Em fights me because she wants to fight me but Ballerina fights me because she still believes the whole world revolves around her. I better stop now.

Updates on the latest at our house

My birthday...

I had a good birthday. A lot of friends and family called and wished me well. My cousin and BFF Stephanie came over to have lunch with me. We had a good visit as always. She is one of those friends where it doesn't matter how long we haven't seen each other that we always pick up where we left off and we can talk for hours. Plus we know all the solutions to the world's problem's.

DH was gone all day and so the kids ate popcorn for dinner. My parent's and my brother Kirk and his wife Brittany came by later and hung out for a while. I enjoyed that. Kirk is a funny guy. The more I get to know Brittany the more I like, not that I didn't like her in the first place. Whatever, I am not sure what I am saying. They are buying a house near by and I am excited for that.

Becca brought cupcakes so I did have cake and one candle for my birthday which makes it official. I am 33. Someone tell me what that means.

Saturday Deena watched our kids so we could go on a date. After dinner we walked around Target all by ourselves. I know that is pathetic. We didn't make real plans and there is very little to do around here. We ended up buying DH's fire pit for his back yard project. So I thought it was my birthday but apparently it was his. Oh well.

Most of all I am grateful for all my friends and family that remembered my birthday. My Sister Jenna got me a gift card for a Nail and Spa place here in town. I am trying to decide between a pedicure or a bikini wax. I have never had a bikini wax before and even though I know it will hurt it would be so nice to not have to worry about shaving during the swimming season. I have had my eyebrows waxed, it hurt a little but loved not having to pluck for a while.

No, I don't think I am brave enough to have a Brazilian wax!

Ballerina potty training...

Oh joyous day. My 4th and last child has begun potty training. We started on Thursday when DH took Mya, Cor, and Em to work for "Take your child to work" day. We spent all day watching movies and sitting on the little potty. She loves being naked but has aversion to peeing on herself so she figured out to go in the potty right away. Extra fluids made it so she had to go more often than usual. She still has not pooped in the potty but I have let her wear diapers to bed and whenever we go out. For some unknown reason she refuses to wear the pullups. When I put panties on her it gives her a false sense of security and she pee's or poops in them. DH didn't know better and put panties on her while I was gone and he had to clean up the poop. So for now she is naked from the waist down while we are home.

It makes me happy that she is doing so well and probably this week I will try to get her to the next step of panties and pooping in the potty. The main problem I have now is that she can pull the part out of the little potty that holds the pee then she runs around the house showing it to everyone and splashes pee all over the place. I am cleaning it up as best I can but I will need to clean the carpets this week.

TV shows...

We don't have cable or a dish so we watch our TV shows when they come out on DVD. We have blockbuster and that works out pretty well for us. I love not watching the commercials. And my kids have been unexposed to all the trash that is on TV. We are on the 4th season of 24. I really like it but when you watch them back to back it's a lot of violence to tolerate. DH is sure by the time we get to season 6 Jack will have killed 2/3rds of the population.

My brother Kirk also convinced us the Arrested Development is a funny show so we will try that next.

Movies...

Well just one movie. I watched The Painted Veil. I had put it on my queue a long time ago and kind of forgot what it was about. But I moved it up because it looked like a romance and I really wanted to watch something like that. I loved it. It was romantic and tragic. Total girl movie. If you are prone to cry then you will definitely need some tissues. The actors played their parts well and the story was classic.

I have Juno but haven't watched it yet. I am getting Lars and the Real Girl next. It looks interesting.

Books...

I just finished Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin. It's chick lit. I can only read so much of that because it seems to be consistent that the characters are self-centered and I can only take so much of that at time. All the characters except the main character lacked anything resembling morals. And in the end the main character got what she wanted to by breaking all the rules she had always lived by. She got her man but was disillusioned by what she had to give up. She seemed to justify that it was all worth it and that you have to give up certain things (including high morals) to be happy. (Worth it meaning having someone to sleep with was more important than being honest) I disagree with her philosophy but it gives me insight into how some people may feel. It's a book that once you start you simply have to finish just to know how it ends.

Cor's swollen nose...

I had to go pick up Cor from school because he fell on the balance beam during recess and smashed his nose. His nose has been bleeding all afternoon and it's still a bit swollen. He tried to convince me that he was ok enough to go out and play with the neighbor kids while there was still blood running down his nose. Kids are funny.

He also has this friend (Cn) at school and he used to call Cor on the phone all the time. Like 2-3 times a day. One day he said some insulting comments to Cor on the phone and I told Cor to hang up. I also told Cor to tell Cn that he can't call if he is going to be mean. They have had couple play dates before and they seem to get along but now this boy thinks it's funny to be mean and tease Cor. Cor is a sweet boy and he tries to be nice to everyone. Last week Cor told me he didn't want to be friends with Cn any more. I told him that was fine but to be nice to him anyway. Today when I went to pick up Cor his teacher told me that Cn was picking on Cor a lot this morning and she has made sure to keep Cn away from Cor. I told her about the phone calls. She said she would be willing to make a stop to that. Cor's teacher loves Cor's innocent sweetness and seems pretty protective of his feelings. I told her that I would talk to Cn's parents if he kept calling but he hasn't called for a while since I kept telling him he couldn't play with Cor anymore. I don't think Cn's parent's knew that he was making so many phone calls. I have a problem with that. I have also felt uncomfortable talking to Cn's parents because they are very serious towards me. Besides that it made me really upset this morning to find out Cn's been mean to Cor at school but comforted that his teacher is dealing with it right away. I think Cor can stand up for himself but he really makes an effort to be nice to everyone. I realize some boys think it's fun to say those kind of things to each other and maybe because Cor doesn't have brother's he is just not used to it but if the teacher thinks it's a problem then it's something more than boys being boys.

Journal Jar Question for Tuesday

Do you remember a special birthday party you've had, given, or attended?

Once I did a special Birthday party for DH, I think he turned 28 and he had graduated from the Master's program in Education. I had each of the attendants bring a one word description of Scott written on an apple. I assigned each person a letter of the alphabet. It was fun. He didn't really care about the party but it was fun to celebrate being done with school. Now he is going back to school in the fall for his Administrative license, he is going to be really busy and really stressed. Yay for school!

When I was 16 my parents and friends planned a surprise Birthday party for me. I started suspecting something was up when my family was frantically cleaning the house but didn't ask for my help. Then later all my friends came down the road in a big caravan towards my house honking their horns. We lived out in the country so you can see the roads for about a 1/2 mile in any direction. That's a great memory.

When I turned thirty my husband planned a surprise party and my sister and her family drove to Boise Idaho and back to bring my other sister over for a Sister's weekend. I was really surprised because they had told me they were going to the beach for the weekend. I was pregnant with Ballerina at the time so it meant a lot to me. We went to the beauty school and I got a face massage. I enjoyed that more than any body massage I've had.

This last February my sister and I bought my Older Sister Staci (from Boise) a ticket to come over for our second Sister's Weekend, which I have blogged about previously. We decided we need to do Sister's weekends every year.

2 Shiny Stars

Today I exercised for an hour so I get put 2 shiny stars on my calendar. I get one star for each 30 minutes I work out. I had done the Walk Away the Pounds in an exercise group so I ordered the 3 mile work out with Leslie Sansone. She is your typical happy skinny, exercise enthusist but she is not as annoying as some (Denise Austin). She has a lot of different videos and I think all of them are walking routines. I did the workout yesterday and I was sore this morning. I did it again today. It's only about 45 minutes so I did a 10 minute Ab workout afterward.

There's three things I like about this video:

1. The women have all different body types. There is one woman who has some ripped abs and I would love to look like that. Warning: the older man in the video is creepy, his shorts are too tight.
   
2. The routine repeats itself and you don't have to have any kind of coordination to follow it. I do enjoy a complicated routine now and then but most of the time I don't want to have to think too hard but I also want to work up a sweat. It works many of the muscles of the upper and lower body.
   
3. It is easily adjustable to whatever type of intensity you want to be at that day.

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Today when I we got back from dropping off Mya and Cor to school I opened the door to get Ballerina out and she said, "Well, what do we have here." And she said it in a very sinister two year old voice. I don't know where she heard that but it was funny.

Em and Ballerina are both in time out. When I am on the computer they like to either maul me or pick on each other until one of them hurts the other. They were doing both.
Ballerina said she is done crying now.

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DH wants to buy a scale. I am against it. I hate them. I try to only weigh myself three or four times a year to avoid ever getting paranoid over my weight. If it's here I will be tempted to weigh myself. I can't decide if I should keep protesting or just have him hide it from me.
Why do I hate scales? I had one of those jerk boyfriends in high school who told me one time that I looked liked I had put on few pounds. He was right I had maybe gone from 95 lbs. to 100 lbs. But I have been paranoid ever since.
Don't hate me for those numbers because I am barely 5 foot tall and a healthy weight for me is 102 lbs. I am not 102 lbs. right now but I don't worry about it because I rarely weigh myself. I exercise because it makes me happy and I do like having muscles versus flab.
There are muscles somewhere under my flabby 4 baby tummy but it would take a lot of work for them to make an appearance.
But today I am going to proud of my 2 shiny stars!

Spring Break '08

I love Spring Break. I like having a break from running the kids to school and we get to all be home together. At first we thought everyone was getting over their colds but Val and I still weren't feeling too good. Em got conjunctivitis but it cleared up quickly. My favorite part of Spring Break is DH being home. He helped me out a ton around the house. He did yard work. And he got a break from his hectic schedule. Since he was home I got to go out and do errands and do some playing with my friends without the kids. I am still fighting my cold and it remains mildly annoying.

Our first big event was Easter. We actually asked the Easter bunny to come Saturday morning so we would have time to hunt and enjoy our goodies. The rest of the day was lovely, the kids played outside all day. Cor played so long he got sun stroke and threw up in the middle of church the next day. The puke got all the way down the hall, all over himself, and all over DH. I AM SO GRATEFUL IT WASN'T ME. But DH will need some more time before he finds it amusing.

Ballerina finds her eggs.
Em gets a squishy frog that she loves. She played with it for 3 days straight. It looks like a real frog. She likes reptiles, amphibians, and dinosaurs.
Cory searching for eggs and putting them in his big mouth bunny. We make these bunnies every year out of milk jugs and cotton balls.
Cor collecting things to take home. Sunday night we decided we wanted to spend one day at the beach so we looked up the weather. The forecast said Monday would be the nicest day so we went. We went to a fab restaurant reccommended by Anth. The view was beautiful and the food was good. We tried a new beach because I wanted to try a new beach each time we go. DH really wanted to go back to Siletz Bay because we had so much fun there last time. After eating lunch we drove a little way then DH pulled into Gleneden Beach. It was really fun. Lots of climbing and sunshine. The wind was mild and the waves were huge. So very uncharacteristic of the Oregon Coast that I didn't even think to bring Sunblock. So we didn't stay on the beach as long as we would have liked. After that we went to the outlet mall and scored some great deals and got some cute things for the kids and myself. We didn't stay there too long because Ballerina was tired, throwing fits, and constantly running off.
Mya and the huge waves. She is the only one brave enough to put her feet in the water. We heard on the radio on the way home that it was going to snow at the coast that night. It was hard to believe since it was such a beautiful day. But by the weekend we heard they had 4 inches of snow.
One of Dad's 5 million trips climbing the rocks with the little girls.
Hailstorm in our back yard. This week was crazy weather. All in one day we would have snow, rain, wind, hail, and sunshine.
By the last day of the Spring Break it was sunny again. I really love my daffodils. They make me happy. The kids want to pick them all but I try to convince them they look beautiful right where they are. You can see the tulips are coming up next.

Pros and Cons

I came up with these while I was in the shower.

Cons of being sick:

• feeling achy all over
• looking like a total slob
  
• limited patience for my family
  
• someone else in the house is sick too
• people feel sorry for me, I really don't like that for some reason
  
• no kissing or lovin' my DH
• cabin fever
• feel like eating all the time
• it reminds me of the first trimester of pregnancy
• DH keeps looking at me like he is waiting for me to get better
• all the house cleaning and laundry is getting backed up
• no social life (like missing bunco)
• kids watch lots of tv and eat not so healthy food
  

Pros of being sick:

• laying around
• more time to read if I can sit up
• eating all the time and not worrying about if it's healthy
• feel no obligation to go anywhere
• DH cleans, makes dinner, or anything else I guilt him into
  
• DH has to take care of anything disgusting
• everyone's sooooo happy when I get better
• no bra or makeup or fixing my hair for 2 days
  

This makes four...

This is the 4th time this winter that I have been sick with a cold. Well my kids have all had a cough and runny nose this week. Cor was home for 2 days with pink eye and Ballerina started pink eye last Friday. Em and Mya have both did not want to be sick so they mentally willed themselves to get better. Em's motivation is that she does not like going to the doctor. So when she would cough she would tell me it was just a little one and that she was all better. Mya is so determined not to miss school and all her friends. Cor enjoyed his home time and entertained the girls the whole time. Ballerina has suffered and whined through the whole thing. I don't blame her, she gets colds so easily.

My cold feels the same as the sinus infection I had only 3 weeks ago. But that one I had a fever of nearly 105 degrees. This fever hasn't gotten over 100 degrees. So I think my body is fighting it. I have been pretty achy and it's upset my digestive system. It started coming on while I was at a piano concert with Mya Saturday night. We went to see James O'neil Miner. It was really fun but I was freezing the whole time. And my throat got sore. I was still freezing when we got home so I took my temperature. Sunday I spent most of the day on the couch. Ballerina sat with me for most of it. FOUR COLDS this winter. Yuck! I usually only get real sick once each winter and maybe once in Spring/Summer time.

Unfortunately, I had kissed my DH several times that day so it is very likely that he will get sick too. He says he is going to get sick during Spring Break so I won't make him do yard work.

I am having serious cabin fever and I may just spend the day writing emails to friends so I feel like I have a life. It's so sad. I had planned to have our big mouth bunny party today but that will not happen. Today is Cor's half birthday so we'll try to do something fun for that.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Yesterday Mya and Cory made their leprechaun traps and put them on the porch. They put their shiniest pennies inside to attract the leprechaun. The leprechaun did escape their traps but he left a variety of green candies for them. And he left green footprints all over the porch. One of these years we'll catch a leprechaun and he'll have to show where he has hid his pot of gold.