Criminals Everywhere Beware

A new type of Police vehicle will soon be on the roads. Making its debut on the floor of the Tokyo Motor Show…this vehicle will be sure to strike terror into the hearts of criminals…THE METER MAID 3000!!!

Well, at least they will fall down laughing, and be easier to catch? It does travel at a whopping 35 miles per hour. Whoa!

Or perhaps they will be overwhelmed by it’s cuteness? I sure am. Come on…it IS pretty adorable. I just wanna take the cute widdle thing and put it in my pocket. Who’s the cutest widdle cop car…dat’s wight…you are!

*all these extra posts are to entertain you Em, it’s my way of “helping”.

Emily

My sister Emily is in the hospital stirring up drama…just like in this picture. Just like a little sister to interrupt my moment as a STAR!

(yeah…that’s the only pic I could dig up of the two of us at a moment’s notice…sorry Em, at least it’s equally embarrassing for me.)

So, I’d just like to say…GET BETTER ALREADY! Platelets shmatelets.

Anyway…I have enough to worry about right now, so shape up, and get better.

Saying our prayers. Love you!

Ohh…update

My sink is no longer clogged, in case anyone was worried that we’ve had to resort to paper plates and cups.

It was three days of a clogged sink, missed phone calls from the plumber, and paying more money than I wanted to. But, now my dishes are all clean, and my kitchen is cleaned, and I’m in a much better frame of mind. AND…my house doesn’t stink anymore. Well, it doesn’t stink like nasty backed up sink anymore…lets just leave it at that.

My kids are still sick, and now Matt and I are too. I think he’s sicker than me. Thank goodness it’s Saturday…now if I can just think of a way to keep Matt down. He was talking about cutting down the rest of the trees in the backyard before I put my foot down and said, “NO! You insane man, you’re sick and you are staying down! What are you trying to do kill yourself!!”

Okay, I didn’t say that. I said…”Oh, honey, you’re too sick, you need to rest.” But, I was mentally screaming the former. He’s doing the laundry instead. *rolls eyes*

Moroni is miserable about having to stay inside all day, and coming up with all kinds of mischief. I need to figure out a way to get them out of the house, but yet not expose them to other people or have them run themselves into the ground. A drive to see the horses it is!

We’re “playing”

5:00 am.

Nearly everyone is sick. (I’m still holding on…but barely) The boys were up being crazy, as usual. Judy had a fever in the night, so was in bed with me. Matt was on the couch with a grumpy baby, playing Lego Star Wars…of course.

 Judy kept trying to tickle me and play with me. She was really wanting to go in with the boys, and finally at 5:30, I let her go. Just so I could rest a little longer. This is what I heard…in the happiest voice…

Adam – “HI JUDY! Come on, we’re playing! Moroni just hit me again!”

Okaaaaay. Well…they sound happy…I guess I’ll just let it go.

New Page…

There’s a new page, which will be temporarily replacing the Fat Report.

Just posted a couple of recipes we use to save money…check it out!

H1N1 & Legos Star Wars

After our trip to the Urgent Care on Sunday we thought we were on the mend. Until Gideon started coughing…runny nose…fever. Since we haven’t been anywhere (der, the kids are sick)…we can only assume that he picked it up at the Urgent Care on Sunday.

Last night was horrible.

Now, if Matt gets three hours straight of sleep, he can function amazingly well. I don’t function well unless I’ve had 5+ hours of sleep. Soooo since ONE of us needed to be functional, I took the baby for most of the night. At 3 am. I finally told Matt I needed a break, and he got mad at me for not waking him earlier. But, see…I was thinking ahead. There was no way I would’ve gotten 5 hours, and this way…one of us is doing well.

I took Gideon to the Children’s Clinic today, because of his flu symptoms. Mostly I was worried about his oxygen saturation. Since he was on Oxygen for his first month of life…I just want to play it safe with him. His sats were low, fluxuating between 88% and 95%. We’re going to keep taking him in to check them.

They did a flu test, and an RSV test. Both came back negative. But, apparently the flu has had a lot of false negatives, and the doctor feels pretty confident that he has the flu.  Joy.

So…what do you do in the evening when you have to hold a baby the entire time?

Lego Star Wars of course…

I’ve never been one for video games (other than my bizarre adoration for Bejewelled) but Lego Star Wars is pretty cool. Plus, you can have a baby sleep on you AND play at the same time. Can’t do that with a computer. I’m not very good. Okay, I’m pretty horrible. But, Matt is very patient with me, and I think he gets a lot of entertainment from just how bad I am.

 

Greetings gentle readers.

Sorry about that piece of crazy yesterday. My drain is still clogged, and my kids are still sick, but I had 7 hours of sleep, and I am feeling MUCH better today. Yesterday isn’t quite funny yet…but the edge is off the trauma.

I’m not sayin’ that I’ll be centering myself, or tuning into my chakra, or finding my chi, anytime soon…but today is most definitely a better day.

Matt and I sat and watched The Proposal together after the kids finally settled down, and it was just the medicine I needed. Well, and the giant mug of hot chocolate that went with it. I think movies are  my version of meditation. I mean, isn’t the plan to clear your mind, and relax? Well, movies do that for me. And Bejewelled. I’m a huge fan of Bejewelled meditation.

I may even tidy up, or do some laundry. Oh yeah…really, I’m THAT together today.

Whining.

A friend asked me how I was doing this morning. I paused. I wasn’t sure how to answer.

My morning had been horrible. Almost absurdly lousy.

I think I have a tendency to want people to think I have things completely together, all the time. So, I hesitated to fully disclose how truly awful my morning, and subsequent day, was. Usually I will relate things later in a sarcastic, mildly witty, and hopefully humorous, manner. But, at that point…and really, even still at this point,…it’s just not funny.

Three kids are sick enough for antibiotics. We have borderline pneumonia, 2 ear infections, and tonsilitis going on right now. Gideon was up most of the night, and Moroni woke up at FOUR in the morning, and then woke up his siblings.

Now, Moroni didn’t wake up his siblings by virtue of simply being awake and making normal morning noises. OH NO…he actually got into Adams bed and physically bounced him, and yelled at him, until he was awake. I tried to get in there and stop it, but it was too late, and Adam was crying. Tell me you wouldn’t see red, as a parent. Poor Adam is miserably sick, and they went to bed an hour late because of stupid Daylight Savings, and now he is being woken up by his brother WAY before the crack of dawn.

I was so mad, I just got up and let Adam come in and watch a television show while I did some dishes. I figured I would get a head start on the day, since I was destined to be exhausted anyway. As luck would have it…I had forgotten to put the leftovers of dinner away. I was depressed, but resigned, as I sent it down the disposal…clogging the drain. Two containers of Drano, and a broken pipe snake later…it’s still clogged. Yes…even now…my kitchen sink is yet clogged, and my load of dishes is still sitting dirty in the dishwasher.

Matt left late for work because of the drain issue. I took the kids to McDonald’s for breakfast, and checked out some movies to keep the kids occupied. Didn’t work. Since they are on antibiotics they are feeling well enough to pester eachother, and sick enough to cry over every little thing.

I’ve had virtually no sleep, and at least three times today I caught myself just crying…for no other reason than exhaustion.

Don’t worry. My children have been fed and bathed today. They have been on a drive to see the horses. They have eaten at McDonald’s twice, and thought that was just fabulous. (although there was quite a bit of complaint when I wouldn’t get them a happy meal with a toy…I hate those things) They have played and watched new shows. I thought about it…their day was SO much better than mine. Now THAT is funny…but not fair.

My house is a disaster, my dishes are yet to be run, my baby is screaming because he just wants to be held, and some other kid is saying something that I am trying to ignore. Thank goodness Matt just walked in the door…now I can go and cry.

Halloween

Okay, once again we still haven’t figured out how to take a holiday. Our morning was stuffed with a trip to Lowes to get more stuff for the windows. Because the house is so old, the molding around the windows needed to be replaced. So, our morning was spent pricing out stuff, and trying to entertain painfully bored kids. Direct Moroni quote, “Mom, I’m ALL THE WAY bored”.

I love Lowes! So, I decided to tell them why I loved Lowes so much…it’s all about looking at stuff and using your imagination to figure out how people use it. Then I took them down aisle after aisle explaining what stuff was. It was really a blast! I finally figured out how to keep them from driving me crazy in Lowes…talk them quiet.

We also picked out the doors we want to get, to replace our leaky ones. So sometime in the next couple of months, that’s going in the budget! YAY!

After Lowes we went out to lunch, then headed back home so the kids could rest for an hour before the church “Trunk or Treat”. I told Matt that I only had one Halloween activity in me this year. So, we scrapped all the town activities, and just went to the one at church. Two hours long, home before 6…winner!

Here we have some adorable pictures of the kids….

Okay, it’s not technically a Halloween pic. When Matt was doing the windows yesterday I gave the kids a bath to keep them busy, and out of Matt’s hair. Well…it was 45 degrees outside, and we had huge holes in the house where there were yet to be windows. So, I blew their hair dry. This is the result. The smile…that’s just all Adam.

Okay…I totally suck as a parent, I have NO pictures of Adam in his costume. Granted, he declined to wear it almost the whole day. But, I should’ve at least taken one picture while he was in it. So…here’s another hair pic!

And here we have Adam and Daddy…who somehow ended up wearing the Superman cape AND the Optimus Prime mask. Adorable.

Gideon started the night out smiling, but soon got sad and tired. Luckily he fit into the outfit I bought, but only just. It was a tight squeeze. After a fun filled party…

…our little pup was plumb tuckered out…awwww

Here we have our sweet little witch Judy. Getting a picture without her making a weird face is a chore you wouldn’t believe. Here’s a more typical pose of Judy…

Mommy’s adorable little diva.

Here we have Judy actually wearing Adam’s Superman cape as well as her own costume…she said she was a “Super Witch”…oh man…kids are awesome!

And here we have the three oldest kids savoring their suckers. I made sure to open those as soon as they got them, because then they would get their fill, and we could throw them away before we even left the Trunk or Treat. That, AND they look pretty adorable gobbling them up.

 

 

 

Wonderful Day…loooong post, lots of pics.

Okay, today was an AWESOME day! First of all…two new cousins!! That has to come first on the list of awesome.

Second…Halloween party in Moroni’s Kindergarten class! Soooo cute! Moroni wanted to dress up as Optimus Prime and let me tell you, I was NOT thrilled about having to buy a costume for him. (I am not crafty, so it was my only choice) He loved it. There were 2 other boys in his class that were dressed as transformers, so it was really fun for him. And here he is…all decked out for his party on this fine Friday, October 30th 2009.

Optimus Prime?

Ohhh, it’s Moroni!

What a great lookin’ kid. Seriously…adorable. JUDY! GET YOUR THUMB OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!

I made these for Moroni’s party…getting in touch with my inner Martha Stewart…or some other crafty non-excon? They are supposed to be little monsters…the kids loved them. I used to paint, and draw, in my previous life, and I’ve been feeling like I need an outlet for my creativity. I am sloooooowly starting to get into decorating.  I’m not super great at it, but I’m trying to take baby steps. I know that I have YEARS of class parties, and bake sales in my future, so I’m trying to embrace it.

Moroni and his teacher…who has a secure place in heaven in my humble opinion!!

Third…TWO NEW WINDOWS! Matt pulled out our two kitchen windows and installed new ones! I am over the moon thrilled about it! Seriously…WOW! The old windows were so old and nasty that you could feel a breeze coming through them, and it took two people to close them for the winter…Matt would have to stand outside and push, and I would have to secure the latch from the inside. I mean…we’re talking SERIOUSLY hideous windows.

Horrible old windows…this is one of the “before” pics. You can see the condensation on the INSIDE of the windows!! The INSIDE!

Another picture of these nasty windows! Rusty! Gross! That might even be MOLD, we don’t know!

Here is Matt tearing out those old windows…the kids loved watching from the inside.

And…here’s Adam and Judy watching Daddy remove the old trim from the outside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8GWfOGAtHI

Some of the wood was so old, since these are original windows from the 1940’s, that it just broke apart while trying to remove the old windows. I took three kids and went to the hardware store to get new wood to install the windows…SEE, I helped!

Matt, removing the old windows. My hero.

Out with the old…a special shout-out to our neighbor James who stepped in at the last minute to be our extra set of hands. Oh, and just soze you know…that green color is coming to the end of its lifetime. Spring is for housepainting!

And in with the NEW!

Isn’t it beautiful?!?

Why yes, I did take a picture of myself with the new window…I was just that excited about the whole deal. I mean, did you SEE those old ones? Of COURSE I’m a little over the top about this!

I knew it would be a big change, but WOWEE!! I put my hand right up next to the new window, no cold, no breeze…it’s amazing we put up with those old ones for so long! Oh…and it’s so much quieter now…I didn’t realize that it would also reduce the noise from outside, but it DOES! YAY

And finally, a little tribute to Gideon.  He’s growing up too fast!

Gideon LOVES the exersaucer.

Here we have Gideon’s first new trick: sitting up and playing with toys.

Gideon’s second new trick: he drinks from a BOTTLE!

I know all you avid breastfeeders out there think that this is a BAD thing, but personally, I think it’s fabulous!

Now say it with me… AWWWWWW!!