Is it Friday yet

Man.  I just don't know what to say.  This really hasn't been a very good week, lol.  Dh and I woke up around 5:30 this morning because a.)Our bathroom window was open b.)we could hear our dog barking and howling really well, and it was echoing through our bathroom, lol.  The dogs had gotten out this morning.  Ugh.  Dh was his usual wonderful self and went down to put the fur babies back in their yard.  Well, by the time I got down this morning, they were back on our side of the yard and tearing the place up.  I put them back, no big deal.  Then, the oldest dog made a tiny hole and got over again.  I went out to hose the mud off of her and put her back.  I told my two year old "Do NOT open the door, Aidan.  Mommy will be right back."  So I am standing there hosing the dog off, and guess what.  He opened the door.  And called the puppy in.  So she goes in before I could catch her and walks entirely around the kitchen island, leaving that entire floor a mess.  They she goes into the dining room and shakes herself all over my Grandma's dining room table.  I was screaming "NOOOOOOO!" the entire time.  Not, "No," as in "Don't do that," but "NO!" as in "Oh, NO!  I don't believe this is happening!"  Anywhos, the dog shook, then walked around the table and rolled around before I could get her out.  I was sooo angry.  I had to go outside.  I was muttering to myself and talking to the bushes.  I didn't realize Jacob had come out and was standing behind me :X  Jacob told the story to his friend when we got to the school.  There were some "colorful" parts to the story.  Oops.  Why can you hear kids coming from six miles away under ordinary circumstances, but when you really need them to be loud, they are quiet as a mouse? 

So, moving on, Karma is still biting me in the butt.  The good thing is that when I was walking in the school to drop off Jacob the bus driver stopped the bus next to me and asked me "Don't you live at abc xyz?"  I said I did.  She goes "Would you like me to pick him up and drop him off every day?  It sure looks like you could use a hand."  The mood I was in, I said "HECK YEAH!" LOL  So much for the walk to lose weight.  I think my sanity is more important.  I went into the school and went through the proper procedure to make him a bus rider instead of a walker.  When I came out, Aidan unbuckled himself and jumps out of the stroller and took off.  That sure made me glad I had just arranged for Jacob to ride the bus.  I just have to make sure Alexia's bus can bring her home, now, too.  She was just riding to school because I had to drop Jacob off when I picked her up.  So I guess today hasn't been all bad.  I need to go try to fix my dining room, though.  Any advice for getting dried mud out of carpet?  Maybe now that it is dry, it will flake and vacuum up?  I tried to clean it wet and it made a bigger mess.

Karma

I haven't been a very nice person lately.  I have been glancing at my own mortality, and caring too much about what people say.  So guess what.  Karma bit me in the butt today.  And Karma had a meal, I tell ya.  That's a lot of butt!

Our garage door had stopped going up a week or so ago.  We keep chains on the all of the back doors.  So that leaves the front door to come in and out of.  Today we left to get Jacob, and when we got home, the front door wouldn't open.  The latch on the door was toast.  So I spent 15 minutes trying to break into my own house.  It was raining cats and dogs, so I looked like a drowned rat.  I had to break down and call my loving Tigger to come rescue me.  ::sigh::  But yeah, I had to spend over an hour outside with four restless kids.  Well, we had our vehicle at least.  I let my oldest run and play and splash in the rain.  He had fun.  I splashed with him for a little while. 

A few other things went wrong to lead me to believe that Karma was biting back, lol.  I definitely didn't have the midas touch today.  I had the Destructor Touch  instead. 

Bad day

Today is just a bad day.  It's Monday, so that alone should explain it.  "It's just another Manic Monday, wish it were Sunday!" ::sings way off key:: Although Sunday wasn't a very good day, either.  I'll just shove the memory of that day into the dark recesses of my mind and let the voices back there mull it over amongst themselves. 

Today is finding me with three extra wild kids and a really bad attitude (myself.)   This morning was Alexia's first day of Preschool at her new school.  She seems to have enjoyed herself.  While she was at school, the boys and I took Robby to the doctor for his shots.  That was pretty traumatic to begin with, then the older two boys went beserk.  They conitnued to be beserk while I picked up Alexia and waited for Jacob's teacher to come get him for Kindergarten.  The kids were running up and down the school hallways screaming.  Yikes.  I'm looking pretty haggard today.  Take my word for it, I don't want to scare anyone with pictures. 

Upon arriving home from switching the kids out at school, I discover a letter in my mailbox about the 8 inch high weed we have out front.  Yes, I said WEED.  Not weeds, weed.  The other weeds are under eight inches.  ::grins::  The string on our weed whacker is out, we have been working on getting another one.  Well, the city decided to give us 5 days to chop down our weed or they would fine us or hold a hearing.  Very irritating.  I mean, we pay the mortgage here, we mow our grass, we keep the place up.  But someone wants to fine us for having a weed or three. 

I feel like the Bad News Mom.  Grumpy and rumbly and trying very hard to keep my calm and not to be extra grouchy with the kids.  The ones that aren't currently in school are resting on my bed with some soothing music.  Hopefully picking up Jacob will be smoother.  I had let Aidan go without the stroller this morning.  He was duely informed that he would here on out have to ride in the stroller.  He knows he made that choice by running down the hallways.

So, anyways, I have been mulling over canceling AOL, but I really enjoy writing in my journal.  It helps keep me sane.  Otherwise, I am not really here that much.  AOL used to be a good place for me, but honestly, it really isn't anymore.  I just kind of stare at the screen and think "Now what?"  This journal, though, is worth dropping in every so often.  It's good to write words and send them into oblivion.  It's not good for me to hold onto words.  I have just the kids to talk with, and frankly, as long as I am playing with them and caring for them, they don't care about anything else.  :-)

Just something I thought was sweet

The Concert

 

 

 

When the house lights dimmed and the concert

was about to begin, the mother returned to her seat and discovered that the child was missing
Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights

 

focused on the impressive Steinway on stage.

In horror, the mother saw her little
boy sitting at the keyboard, innocently picking out

"Twinkle,Twinkle Little Star."

At that moment, the great piano master made his entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and

whispered in the boy's ear,

"Don't quit.""Keep playing." 

Then, leaning over, Paderewski reached

down with his left hand and began filling

in a bass part. Soon his right arm reached

around to the other side of the child,

and he added a running obbligato. 

Together, the old master and the young novice

transformed what could have been a frightening situation into a wonderfully creative experience. 

The audience was  so mesmerized that they couldn't recall what else the great master played.

Only the classic,

" Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Perhaps that's the way it is with God.

What we can accomplish on
our own is hardly noteworthy.

We try our best, but the results aren't always

graceful flowing music.  However, with the

hand of the Master, our life's 

work can truly be beautiful. 

The next ti me you set out to accomplish great feats, listen carefully.  You may hear the voice of the 

      Master, whispering in your ear, 
"Don't quit." "Keep playing." 

May you feel His arms around you and

know that His hands are there, helping you

turn your feeble attempts into true masterpieces.

Remember, God doesn't  seem to

call the equipped, rather, He equips  the 'called.'
Life is more accurately measured by the lives you touch than by the things you acquire. So touch someone by passing this little message along.

May God bless you and be with you always!

and

remember   ,

"Don't quit." 

"Keep playing."

 

Quiet Saturday

We lounged.  We managed to get motivated enough to take the kids to a local place to play and burn off some energy for a while.  Then we came home and lounged some more.  The four kids are jusst falling asleep and dh is out at the movies.  Mommy is going to turn on some light listening music and clean.  I'm actually looking forward to it.  Call me crazy.

I'm a little nervous about Alexia starting Preschool on Monday.  After all that fighting, now I am nervous.  Last year when she went in a different county, her teachers came to our home and I was able to ask questions.  Alexia was able to meet her teachers.  However, with the late decision, this year Alexia is going in blind.  She hasn't met her teachers and neither have I.  :-\  I'm not exactly thrilled about it.  I am told by some of the Kindergarten Mommies that the Preschool Teacher here is wonderful.  That does reassure me a little bit.  I'm trying very hard not to let Alexia know I am nervous.  She doesn't seem to be at all.  In fact, when I put her to bed tonight, she asked me if she got to go to school in the morning, lol.  Oh, and btw, after keeping me up until after 2 A.M. Thursday night, she hasn't said her ear hurt since then.  Weird, huh?  She is also tucked snug into her bed with Pooh.  Aidan pulled him out of the drawer under his bed a couple days ago.  Poor Pooh.

Letter from the Teacher

Jacob's Teacher sent home a newsletter this week.  I do have a better feeling knowing a little more about what is happening in the classroom.  I did find the letter amusing, however.  The first paragraph ended with this sentence:

"If this week is any indication of the year to come, I could have asked for a better group! :)"

That is word for word.  I spent some time chuckling.  Typos are so much fun.  Been there done that!  Or, maybe it was a freudian slip?  ;-)                           

A converstation with Jacob

We were talking about his fire drill that day.  Somehow we got on the topic of his friend he made....

Jacob:  No, Mommy, she's my girlfriend!

Mommy:  Ohhhh...is she cute?

Jacob:  NO, Mommy, she's Beautiful!

Rounds...

Round one

Mommy won...Alexia starts school on Monday.  :-)  Complete with apology letter for the Administration starting her late.  And an apology for only having four days notice, but I was prepared for short notice, so no big deal.

Round two

Mommy and Daddy won.  Family Fun night was a success.  The three boys went to bed happy, content, and tired.

Round Three

Alexia is winning.  She decided to tell me at 8 P.M. that her ear hurts.  She does not deal with ear pain well.  The very beginnings of an ear infection and she is almost impossible to console.  I might be sitting up with her all night until she cries herself into exhaustion and passes out.

Straight face...

I'm trying so hard to keep a straight face right now.  My kids are supposed to be in bed, but my two year old keeps coming in here being silly.  His current thing is putting on one of my big 'ol gloves and coming in here waving with it.  He looks like  a Doodlebop, lol.  It's hard to ignore him when he is being so darn cute...

Quiet

Pretty quiet day.  Not the best Mommy day.  Not one I am proud of.  I tried to do well, but then the mean, tired, cranky part of me took over.  So we baked cookies, played outdoors, played a game or two, and generally just did nothing.  I am actually wishing I could work some, at home preferably, but out of home if needed.  I want to make a difference in the family.

Jury is still out on Jacob's Teacher.  I am still not impressed.  His name tag is still marked with a bus number.  The little note I taped to it this morning is still there.  He did, however, come down with the walkers today.  I receive conflicting notes that the teacher sends to all the parents.  Seems she doesn't know which way is up.  I am reserving any judgement until things get settled in.  Hopefully I am just being a neurotic Mommy of her first child in school, lol. 

Mommy lost all the Rounds today.

Yup yup.  This day hasn't been bad, but it hasn't been good.  A pretty typical day, I would say, really.  I got up and took a shower, so the day started out well, lol.  However, when I got downstairs, I noticed Jacob's name tag in the furthest, darkest corner of the kitchen so I moved it so we wouldn't forget it.  I had no sooner turned around when I heard Jacob screaming that the cat was eating his string (ribbon on his name tag.)  Ugh.  I had forgotten Christmas Ribbon was a kitty favorite.  So yeah, the cat had eaten half of it.  I had to replace it with yarn.  The kitty wanted that, too, so I gave each of the kids a piece of yarn to keep Kitty busy while I redid the name tag.  I expect to "step on" the remains of the ribbon in the next 24 hours, if you know what I mean.

The kids and I eventually trudged off to school.  On our way there, we passed at least three families waiting for the bus for Kindergarten.  I had been told that the kids in our area were to be taken to school.  I had already realized that I had been duped...they probably just didn't want to change the bus lists even though I had called in time.  Anyway, we drop Jacob off and all was well and good.  Off to the grocery we went.  I had Aidan in the cart, Robby strapped to me, and Alexia was walking holding onto the cart.  On our way out, Alexia started to step out into the road right before me and I called her back.  She never left the sidewalk.  I heard a fast moving car approaching.  You can't see there, there is a huge concrete post in the way.  So I leaned forward just a bit and saw a car moving at least 30 mph.  So Alexia and I moved all the way back and waited.  The car screeched no her brakes and just sat there.  So I looked and the car was stopped so Alexia and I crossed the road.  I kind of shook my head because the lady had been speeding, and about to run a stop-sign @@.  Anywhos, the lady calls out of her open window something about my "dam@ daughter."  Oh, no, she didn't use that word in the same sentence referring to my daughter! 

I immediately got down onto my knees and threw up my arms to the sky and yelled politely "God, please forgive this woman her bitter attitude.  I am sure she is just having a bad day, but still loves all of your creatures.  I beg your forgiveness on her behalf."  Then I got up and walked on like nothing happened, with a string of curses at my back.

 

 

 

 

 

JUST KIDDING!!!  Did I have you going?

 

I simply ignored the woman and kept walking.  Alexia never even stepped foot into the road.  I am sure the woman's guilt is what got her upset.  Guilt for speeding through a stop-sign.  Or about to.  I am sure the "could have happened" will haunt her enough.  (Note Sarcasm)  She seemed nice enough, other than calling my daughter something offensive. 

On to picking up Jacob.  I waited to see his little shining face come down the steps once all the "Walkers" were released.  He never came :-(  I moved to the front and asked the ladies in charge where my little boy was.  They got on the walkie talkie and found out he was on the bus.  What?  Ok, some background.  When I enrolled Jacob, I was under the impression that kids here walked to school.  (I was wrong, lol.)  So I enrolled him as a Walker.  I would pick him up daily.  Then, on back to school night, the teacher asked me "Will he walk to school every day or take the bus?"  I said Walk to school, and she wrote it down.  Then on the first day of school, the teacher asked me again.  Directly.  I told her he was a Walker every day.  I also turned in TWO forms that day that stated I would be picking him up.  I was never told any bus number and was never told Jacob was on a route.  I turned in yet another card today that said I would be picking him up, plus listed people to pick him up if I couldn't.  When I got to school today, his name was on the "Permanent Walker" list.  WHY was Jacob on a bus???  The teacher walked him around and there on his name tag, bigger than anything, was a bus number. In permanent ink.  Yesterday it had said "WALKER."  She said she wasn't sure how it happened.  This Mommy is not impressed.  My little boy was crying because he said he had tried to tell them his Mommy was picking him up but they didn't listen.  :-(   All worked out well enough, but I hope he doesn't get scared like that again.  Up until today he bugged me to let him ride the bus.  Now he changed his tune. 

I think this entry is more than long enough :-) 

New Beginnings

Today we embarked on an entire new adventure of parenting and growing up.  Kindergarten.  Jacob was very excited, all day long.  He was practically crawling out of his own skin waiting for it to be time to go.  He went to Preschool last year, but Kindergarten is very different.  The Preschoolers were sheltered and not really a part of the school day.  Kwim?  Today was also Jacob's Teacher's first day of teaching.  She looked a little overwhelmed at all the crying Mommies crowding in her classroom.  I was one of them.  :-( 

I took a lot of pictures, but only shared a few here.  He is so grown up looking, isn't he?  There is one picture in particular that made me laugh through my tears.  He and the little girl next to him started making faces at all the other frightened looking Kindergartners to try to get them to laugh.  I saw the Teacher look at them with a stricken look.  Yeah, my kid is "one of those" kids that I swore I never wanted to have in my class when I started teaching, LoL.  No, I don't teach, but I did go to school to be a teacher for four years.  Didn't really work out.  I don't have near enough patience.  What a funny thing for someone wtih four children under five to say, eh? 

Jacob didn't really have that much to say when I picked him up.  He said his Teacher "Is OK, except that bump on her forehead.  But it's OK, because it doesn't glow green.  They only do that on T.V."   I didn't really follow that quite well...in fact, I had no clue what he was talking about.  I didn't notice bumps, glowing green or otherwise.  All in all we both survived the day, with more than a few tears.

 

 

"Pooh" is missing :-(

Two Christmas's ago, MIL gave Alexia a teddy bear.  Until that point, Alexia had not shown any attachment to any particular stuffed animal.  Well, since the day she was given this teddy bear she has loved it.  Back then, she called ALL bears "Pooh."  Care Bears, panda bears, teddy bears, all bears.  I think she thought that was what they were called, lol.  Anyway, she always called this teddy bear "Pooh," so basically that is its name now. 

I put her to bed tonight and she was standing in her room crying buckets because she couldn't find Pooh :-(  I searched the entire upstairs and could not find him.  I am positive we will find him tucked in a cabinet or something tomorrow, but for tonight we had to find a surrogate.  Jacob was so sweet, he kept brining in various bears to test out with Alexia.  She rejected them all with many boohoos.  Finally, I found a black stuffed dog that she named Charlie.  He was under the bathroom sink.  Don't ask, I don't :-)  She said he would be OK, but "Please help me find Pooh when the sun comes up, Mama?" with huge tears in her big blue eyes. 

Talk about tears in my heart.  Pooh, come out of hiding, fella. 

Reality...

is biting me in the rear end.  My baby is starting Kindergarten Monday.  Preschool was easy.  It wasn't like "real" school.  Tonight, he and I set off for back to school night.  Well, Robby came, too, but he just slept in his front carrier :-)  Jacob is so grown up :-(  I am really not sure what to think of all this.  His teacher seems ok.  She is freshly graduated from College just this past may.  We will see how this goes.  When Jacob introduced himself to her, he told her he had three names.  When she asked which name he wanted to be called, he picked his middle name.  She wrote that down.  Hmm.  Up until last week he couldn't even remember his middle name.  Let's see how long the teacher lets him go by that when he repeatedly doesn't answer to it...

Today was generally a busy day.   I think the kids won all the rounds.  I am beat.  I went to get a copy at the library.  The copier was on when I walked up, so I put my dime in and pressed "Copy."  Nothing happened.  The power was off.  I tried again.  The copier came back on, then turned off.   I couldn't figure it out.  I took my paper out and moved forward.  The gal behind me thought I was finished, but I was just looking for the power button.  I found it...underneath Aidan's fingers.  That explained that.

I baked ten dozen cookies for the school, and managed to get a shower.  Not sure why, I was a blucky mess walking Jacob to back to school night.  I am glad we walked.  I would have had to park the next street over anyway, lol.  There was a very large turn out.  It was a pretty good "Back to School" fair as far as they go.  Games for the kids to play and such.  Poor Jacob wanted a drink, and he only had .75 cents.  They were charging a dollar for a regular can of soda.  And they weren't offereing juice or water.  Kind of weird.  The lady told him she was running a .25 cent off special just for him.   I thought that was nice.

Anywhos, I am babbling because I can't sleep.  My baby is going to Kindergarten .  I was so looking forward to it, now I am getting pretty sad...

 

Congratulations, Alan!

Just thought I would congratulate you on commissioning your first Officer :-)

Everyone give my hubby a pat on the back.  This probably makes me happier than it does him.  :-)

The Grocery after 10 P.M....

is always an interesting experience.  They were having a sale on 12 packs of Pepsi products, so I thought I would pick some up while I was there.  Alan had requested Diet Dr. Pepper or Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper.  Well, the place was cleaned out.  Mostly Tropicana Soda left (yuck!  I didn't even know they made that.)  There was one Diet Caffine Free Mountain Dew so I nabbed that and there was one Diet Dr. Pepper left.  A man came from the other end of the isle and reached for it at the same time.  You could hear the stand-off whistle in the background, and I could have sworn I saw a tumble weed blow by as we stared each other down.  In the end, I backed off and graciously let him have it.  He was bigger than I was ::grins::  Dh wants to know why I didn't play the woman card and take it. 

Moving onto the check out line, the family before me was holding up the line in many ways.  When they finally paid and were walking away, I called out loudly and clearly "Are these your drinks?"  (Much to the line's disdain.)  I used the term "Drinks" lightly, because they had drank them while shopping.  There were also some empty snack bags there.  I had watched her flash them in the cashier's direction (when he wasn't looking) then hide them behind the register thingy so he couldn't see them.  If you want to eat and drink the stuff while you shop, fine.  But, please!  Pay for it!  Sorry, that is a major pet peeve of mine. 

I have never said where I live (by design ::big grins::), but here is a hint.  I live in a place where it is perfectly acceptable to walk through the grocery store with no shirt and no shoes.  During the day the store looks like a normal enough store, but once the sun goes down, it can be quite entertaining to go shopping.  I don't think I have ever been there at night without some little thing happening that made me chuckle.

Doh...

Do ya know, that durn piece of cardboard is still in my oven?  Remind me to take it out.  I'm waiting for the oven to cool...

Monday's Rounds

I think we will call it a draw today.  The kids were wired this morning.  Literally bouncing off walls.  Aidan has a bruise on his forehead to prove it.  It didn't help that when I got up with Squeaky at 4:30 a.m., Jacob woke up 5 minutes later.  He then went into Alexia's room before I could stop him and woke her up to play with him @@.  This will teach me to brag.  Yup, I think no more bragging for Shel. 

By noon I had had enough.  We had eaten breakfast, played outside, cleaned up the kitchen a tiny bit, and had done laundry together.  We read some out of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."  It was time to get out of the house to do my weekly errands.  I had been saving them, but the kids were tired and going haywire.  We loaded up and hit the road...then I hit the snooze button and they all instantly fell asleep.  ::big grins::

An hour and a half later, I talked with Alan and he wanted me to take something to him at work.  By the time I got there and back into town, it was almost four, and we still hadn't run our errand.  We did that (school supplies and new shoes for school,) then went home.  It was 5 P.M. by then, so we played some board games and War.  The kids had been super good, so I thought I would reward them.  Then it was more outside time, then dinner, then movie time.  They just now went to bed, and I am beat! 

I think we all won today...it was a pretty good day.  Now I must go clean my kitchen.  Somehow one of the cardboard tags for Alexia's new shoes had made it into the oven, and I didn't realize it until I smelled it burning along with my garlic bread...

Saturday's Rounds

Mommy takes them all and wins the day!  Well, Daddy won a round, too.  ;-)

Very relaxing Saturday.  I took the youngest three to go get the things we really needed.  Aidan threw a huge tantrum for 15 minutes, then promptly fell asleep.  Soon after that, Alexia and Robby both did, too.  I had an entire hour to kind of sit and relax waiting for them to wake up so we could shop.  It was nice. 

While we were out, Alan took Jacob out to lunch and window shopping.  Judging by the excited greeting I received from Jacob, he had a good time.  Thank you, Daddy.  I'm sure it did Jake much good. 

The kids got up at 5:30 am (maybe sooner for Jacob, 5:30 is when I noticed!), so they all konked out without me even putting them to bed.  That was nice, also.  Wasn't I bragging yesterday that they have been sleeping late? Ha!  That'll teach me. 

Hopefully tomorrow will be just as relaxing.

Squeakers Unite!

Calling all Squeakers!  It's time to make a stand!  Unite with me to make sure our list of demands is met!

Our list of demands is simple.  Do our bidding or we will do more drooling, more spitting, and more doodling in our diapers!  We will make sure we squeak while you are cooking, showering, and sleeping!  You have one week to meet our demands!

1.)  Away with older siblings!  They take up too much of our time with Mommy, and we have to sit in our diapers ten seconds longer than we want to.

2.)  More snuggles!  Daddies  get in the way.  Always wanting to snuggle when we are eating!  Humbug!

3.)  No more driving in the car.  That is defiantely out!  If you must drive, you must pull over at our first squeak to tend to our needs.

4.)  And finally, we demand less Frills!  What is with this Pooh stuff behind the Squeaker above?  He wants Race cars!  Girls in Bikinis!  Heck, I think he would even settle with an outer space theme.

Our list is simple.  Remember...one week!  Your time starts now.

Meet Squeaky

Squeaky, Squeaker, Sir Squeaks a lot.  That is Robby.  He is such a sweetie.  He mostly just squeaks.  Rarely does he full out cry.  Mostly that happens when I am in the middle of dinner and he really, really wants picked up.  And now!  Squeaking is what he does best, though.  Even for his night feeding, he will just chew on his fist and squeak until I wake up.  It's a very quiet sound, but he still lets us know what he wants.  We are truely blessed to have our little surprise Squeaky in our lives.

P.S.  The last picture is Alexia "playing" with Robby.  She loves to sit next to Robby and talk and sing to him.  Robby loves it to, :-)

Mood swings and Guardian Angels

I woke up this morning at 8 am, and the three kids were not awake yet.  Oh joy!  This has been happening a lot lately, and dh and I are thrilled.  For a while there, the little dears were getting up at 6.  Sometimes even 5:30.  So not my style!  Anywhos, I nursed the baby until he had his belly full.  By then, the kids were up and playing.  I told them I was hopping in the shower for a quick rinse.  I was out in 6 minutes flat.  Just in time to see my two year old using nail scissors to give my daughter a trim.  Thankfully, he had only gotten a snip or two off.  It's not noticable.  WHEW!  Last year about this time my oldest gave Alexia a trim...that was VERY noticable.  He had cut both sides to chin level.  The back was in the middle of her back :-(  We donated it to kids with cancer.  Not Locks of Love, but the other organization.  I can't remember the name of it!  No need to donate her hair this time. 

By the time I had gotten dressed and gotten the baby dressed, my five year old was in the thick of his morning mood swings.  One minute all happy and listening, the next throwing a complete tantrum.  That, of course, got my blood pressure up and got my "Mean Mommy" hat placed squarely on my head.  Against my better judgement, I trooped them all out to the vehicle to go to the school for a Kindergarten Meet and Greet.  He had missed the last one due to his morning mood swings.  I really wanted him to go this time, though.  I also had some paperwork to drop off at the office.  So I grabbed my thick three ring binder that I keep my life in.  Literally.  Birth Certificates, school communication, IEP's, etc.  Very important things that would be a pain to replace.  Plus, I really don't want my kids' Birth Certificates floating around in strange hands. 

I get out to the vehicle, and Jacob runs off and Aidan follows - went right into the street.  So I placed the binder on the roof of my vehicle.   You see this coming, don't you?  I finally got all of the children into the vehicle and raced off to the school.  I had wanted to walk, but my smooth morning had turned into complete chaos and we were already late.  So I drove the entire six tenths of a mile to the school like a complete lunatic.  We arrive and do our thing.  I found out a little more of what to expect. 

After the little meet and greet, I went and loaded up kids in the stroller and was going to walk to the office to turn in the paperwork.  I reached for the folder.  Yup, the not so wise Mommy had forgotten she put it on the roof of the vehicle and driven off.  So, now I was in panic mode.  Those birth certificates!  Mostly that was what I was upset about.  I loaded the kids back up and raced home, searching along the road with my eyes.  No binder.  I drove back to the school.  It wasn't anywhere.  Someone had to have picked it up.  It could have been anywhere.  I mean, sixth tenths of a mile isn't far, but where would someone take something like that, kwim?  It is just a folder full of papers and lists, etc.  I went back to the playground and gave the lady in charge my phone number.  They said they would look for it.  I drove back to the house to look around my front door and mailbox just in case a neighbor saw me do it and had placed it there for me.  No binder.

Back to the school we went.  I still had the physcial and stuff with me that I hadn't placed in the folder yet.  We walked into the office and Jacob shouts out..."Mommy, Mommy! Your book!"  Yup, it was right there, on the front desk.  Complete with leaves and tire tracks.  But the papers were there.  The birth Certificates were there.  My entire body slumped in relief and I said "Oh, thank you my Guardian Angels!"  What are the chances of someone knowing where to take it?  I was soooo relieved.  That book could have fallen off at any point on the trip to the school.  I am guessing it had to be close to the school because of the tire tracks, though.  Not many cars travel down by my house.  Someone was defiantely looking out for me.  I cried in relief.  It may seem like such a little thing, but it was a huge load on my mind when it was missing.  I truely believe in Guardian Angels.  I kept them busy today.  Jacob fell off the playground equipment, and he was fine.  Fell right on his head.  He is always falling and landing on his head.  His Guardian Angels work overtime.  Anywhos, I am rambling.  Thank you sooo much to the person who turned my binder into the school.  You saved the day.

My mood was yet to improve more, however.  I walked over to the canopy to see who Jacob's teacher was.  The letter I received said he was in the AM session.  So I looked at the three AM classes and his name wasn't there.  I was about to trudge back to the office when I decided I better check the PM lists.  Yup, there he was!  I am SO thrilled about this one.  Now I don't have to rush the kids to get ready in the mornings.  I also don't have to interrupt nap time for the younger ones.  I truely get quite time to myself in the afternoons.  :-)  High five!  Now, if my daughter gets into Preschool, I only hope she gets afternoons.  LoL.  Just my luck to have them split up.  That's ok, though.  It would still be easiest to have Jacob in afternoons.  Afternoons are so difficult trying to keep him from waking up the babies so he can play with them. 

So, currently our Guardian Angels are resting, and my mood is high.  I am sure in twenty minutes my mood will swing when Jacob's does.

 

Mama's on a Mission

Long story short, Alexia had to re-test before they would let her into Preschool this year.  We moved, and I was hoping they would just do her as a transfer, but they said "No, we need to rescreen her."  So I went and had her screened over two weeks ago.  Maybe three weeks.  Anywhos, I received a call yesterday saying she wasn't eligible according to her scores.  Dang standardized tests.  Mama is going down to the school district today to hand over progress reports and Alexia's old IEP.  I'm also going to let her TALK to them.  Since Alexia has been out of speech for the summer, I can't even understand her anymore.  She's four years old.  I would love for her to be able to be understood by Kindergarten.  So, Mama is on a mission.  Wish me luck.

My Princess is Four

Sweet Four year old

Profile:

-Loves dress up

-Truely believes she is a Princess.  Of course, she really is! 

-Loves to be "Little Mommy"

-Still hasn't quite figured out that blank sheets of paper or coloring books is the best place to write her novels.  Her favorite places to write are on mail waiting to be sent, and the walls. 

-Gets on amazingly well with so many boy figures in the house. 

-Has Mommy in a mad rush to try to learn about make-up, hair and clothes.  Depends on Mommy to teach her things.  Mommy needs to be taught first!

I still can't believe she is four.  She actually turned four a couple weeks of go, but we were finally able to go and celebrate the wonderful occassion with Grandma, Aunt Sue, and Uncle Harry.   As you can probably tell, Alexia had a fun time and really enjoyed her Princess Hat that was on her cake. 

Speaking of my Aunt.  She is such a wonderful lady.  I would have to say that between her and my Mother-in-law, I am usually overwhelmed with their kindness and unselfish nature.  Both of them seem to understand things that I can't really tell them.  I hope both of them know how much I appreciate them.  I am pretty lousy at expressing gratitude, and I really need to try.

Anywhos, we arrived at the little party half an hour late.  Robby demanded his lunch, then insisited on brousing over lunch and enjoying being close to mommy.  ;-)  We pulled up to see my beloved Grandma sitting in her wheel chair looking completely exhausted.  My Unlce looked a little bored and my Aunt looked relieved to see us, lol.  (I did call and tell them we had to stop and would be a little late).  My Aunt had gone through all the trouble of decorating and making sure each of the kids had little chairs to sit in.  The pink Princess Chair was their gift to Alexia.  It comes complete with a cup holder, which she can't wait to try out.  We had our little picnic and visited a bit, then split up our separate ways.  My awesome husband waited almost an hour in the car while I visited with Grandma indoors and fed Robby.  Thank you, my sweet Tigger. 

Happy Birthday, Alexia.  Mommy loves you.

 

Fun in the Sun

Today was a fun day at a picnic.  It was great to get out and have adult conversations.  Mostly about kids.  I guess I don't know what else to talk about, lol.

I am horrible with people.  Quite frankly, I stink at small talk, etc.  Most people misread me.  They think I am complaining or whining, when I am trying to make a joke.  You can see the problem.  I guess that is what happens when you spend almost six years holed up in your house with kids.  Oh well.  Maybe one day I will carry a converstation without discussing bowel movements and night feedings.

I'm still around

Yeah, I have been pretty quiet lately.  I wrote an entry out this morning, but before I could save it, Franken the Mighty Kitty ran under my desk all in a huff.  While doing so, he managed to sit his wide self right on my power button to the surge protector.  Naturally I had to get up then and coudn't restart the computer until later.  I have no clue what I wrote before.  One of those days.

I'm not quite sure what it is that I have been feeling lately.  It's not resentment.  I certainly don't resent anyone for being able to be home with my children.  I would be crazy to resent anyone for that.  I am truely lucky to have such a great husband who understands that working would just be too much right now.  Too much money for daycare during the day, and too much on me physcially to work all night and care for kids all day.  I would do it if I had to, but I am thankful my husband doesn't ask me to.  It sure would make things easier, though, and sometimes I feel kind of useless. 

So still I search to figure out what makes me so angry and down sometimes.  Each of my children is a blessing.  I am very lucky to have them.  Just as I type this, my sweet little girl was hugging me telling me she loves me.  Yes, I am a very lucky woman.  Great husband, great kids.  So what is it that makes me so down?

Sure, my kids have their issues.  I know, though, that it could be so much more difficult than it is.  Part of the problem, I am sure, is their role model.  I sometimes yell too much.  Sometimes I just close myself in my room to calm down.  You hear everywhere of all the things that parents do to screw up their kids.  I am so afraid to be one of those parents.  Maybe I just put too much pressure on myself.  I'm not really sure.  At any rate, I sure hope I can shake this shell of whatever-it- is off soon.  In the meantime, thanks to a wonderful husband that may not understand, but he's there and supportive.  How can he understand what I don't even understand myself.