5 months old, and only 5 days late!

Last Thursday marked the 5th month my sweetness has been with us on this earth. What a ride! Matt and I were realizing just two days ago how much he's changed! He only fusses when he's tired, hungry (which I usually catch before he fusses) or if he wants a snuggle. And he's so big! I weighed him this morning on my scale and he's roughly 17 lbs. 2 oz.!

He eats cereal everyday now, and has even had bananas. We've successfully switched from the Parent's Choice Gentle formula to just regular formula, thereby saving us $20 a month! His tummy's showing tolerance levels of all sorts now, so we're going to try some veges this week! :)

He scoots to where he wants to go on his back and spins in circles, rolls over from front to back and is soooo close to rolling the other way. He didn't spend much time on his tummy when he was younger, due to mostly constant swaddling (due to mostly constant fussing), but he's doing so much better at it and even reaches for toys now. It's so fun to see him progress! It's even more fun to be able to put him down and have him be happy instead of not be happy! Yay! That, in itself, is progress enough for me! :) He's getting to the stage of figuring out "hey, if I do this, this happens". So fun!

Here he is:



These are my favorite pics to take, when the subject doesn't know they're being photographed:



I love, love, love these next two (some that were put in Daddy's picture collage):

He WAS sleeping, but the flash woke him up (Isn't he so snuggly and precious?):

Speaking of binkies, this is his only one, his favorite one. He won't even take a soothie for more than a few seconds. See the lip on the back of it? That's the part I hold in my teeth... I've circled the part you're really supposed to notice, although you may have to click on the pic to get a close-up:

I've actually bit through the silicone. That's how stressful things had been. Not so much, anymore, but I thought that was funny.

Last days of summer vacay and Q-ball is back!

*sigh*

Today was the last day of summer vacation for my kids. Yes, we start late here, and we get out late, too. Lame, I know.

What better way to end the summer than by having a lightsaber duel on the tramp?



I love how I caught Natalie mid-air! :)


And, it was high time this boy got a hair cut. We've been waiting till the last days before school, so it got super shaggy:



I'm a get-it-done-first-thing-in-the-morning kind of person, if you couldn't tell by his sleepy eyes. :)



That's my relic of a stove in the background, but my new one is in... to be posted about LATER. (The suspense is killing you, I just know it...)

Presenting: Q-ball!!



(That's what his daddy calls him to encourage the haircutting process - Andur has NEVER liked haircuts, used to SCREAM and needed to be bodily held down for it to happen.)



Much better!


That's a LOT of hair:



Tonight was Back-To-School Night. We met the kids' teachers and, so far, I'm way impressed. Natalie's even said "I've heard about you!" Her reputation proceeds her, I only hope it's a good one! :)

If you're reading this, you're not dead.

"So, take each day that you’re not dead to live life to the fullest. Enjoy that day you’re not dead. Don’t waste one precious moment of it."

- Dr. Laura

Buncha Stink-Pots

So, after our Family Council this evening, I told the kids we could play TWO games of Uno.

Game one went by pretty quickly.

Game two is lasting a really long time for some reason. Then I glance over at my daughter's cards. She has had cards to lay down the whole time, she just isn't. I call her on this. Her reasoning?

"I don't want to win because then it would be bedtime."

Then Andur chimes in, "Me either."

So, it's up to me to win.

They're laying Wild Draw 4's on me, and Draw Two's, and they're skipping me and reversing so I can't go.... on purpose!!

Finally, an hour after bedtime, the game ends. I won.

And I thought Matt was brutal. Must be hereditary.

Stink-pots.

This is how we roll...

Lately, I've taken an interest in my health and have been doing things to try to lose weight. Something we've been talking about getting for a loooooonnng time is a bike for Matt and I. We've even bought some twice now but returned them because we felt guilty about spending so much money. Well, we've decided it was a good investment after all, and bought some yesterday. They were on sale, too! Plus, I won a gift certificate in a drawing at our neighborhood picnic to add to the cost reduction... now that's just awesome! They're nothing huge, just a very basic bike to get us around the flatness that is, well, the city where we live. (no details) (tmi) (lol)

***Added later: It has occurred to me that I've mentioned the city I live in before here. So, identity stealers, now you know. lol I dare you.





My most favorite part about this venture is this:





I've been wanting one of these since Andur was a baby!! And I LOVE IT!!!


So does Quin:




We gave it a test ride after church today around our neighborhood and he was just chillin'. He's an outside baby all the way, so he really enjoyed it!





Now I have a way to de-stress and get exercise and take the baby with me! Yay!

Long Week Ahead...

My sweet Matt is gone.

He left today for training in Casper, thank goodness it's only for a week.

It's the first week of school, though, so that should be interesting. And I start babysitting this week... fun, fun!

We made a care package for Matt while he's gone, something to open every day for five days. He was going to have to stay in a hotel while he's there, but thankfully he has a very generous cousin who's letting him stay with them so he won't be too bored. (Thanks, Kyle!)

The first night, or tonight's gift, rather, is a self-addressed, stamped envelope with a blank sheet of paper in it so Daddy can write us a letter. The kids don't know I did this, so it'll be a nice surprise for them.

The second night's gift is a letter to him from each of the kids (Quin included...lol).

The third night, he gets a collage picture of all of us making goofy faces and signing "I love you" in three different pictures, it's pretty cool.

The fourth night, he gets two funny books Andur and Natalie made for him. I made up a story, left some blanks and did an ad-lib sort of thing. The kids had to come up with adjectives, nouns, yucky foods, silly names, etc. before they even knew what the story was about, then they drew the pictures for each page. They turned out pretty funny, I was actually laughing out loud!

And for the fifth night, we made some hand and foot paintings and turned them into flowers and animals. I got the idea for that here. Thanks, Val! They turned out cute!

We'll miss him, that's for sure. But what an adventure to do this alone for a whole week! lol

And Saturday, I get my new stove..... but that's a post of a different color..... :)

Counting my blessings...

...and right now, the count is up to 3 1/2.

Well, more than that, but for the purpose of this post, we'll go with that number.

That's the number of kids I have. Well, technically 4 is the appropriate number, but, I haven't gotten to officially meet child #3 on this earth. (I miscarried November 2007.)

My long-time friend and his wife have been trying their whole marriage to get pregnant, as far as I know, and haven't been able to conceive. Well, now they're pregnant due to IVF and I couldn't be happier for them!

This brings me to my thoughts at hand:

We have never had a problem conceiving, even when ON birth control. Every time we've tried to have a baby (and twice when we weren't trying) we've been blessed with a miracle. I wish I could take back every complaint I've ever made about my kids.

On my friend's Facebook page, he wrote that he had just enjoyed a night feeding the ducks with his wife. My automatic response was to say something along the lines of "Enjoy it while it lasts, buddy. I'd trade you in a heart beat."

But I stopped myself. What a negative point of view! Instead, upon adjusting my attitude, I said "Pretty soon little hands will be asking for more bread because they ate the piece you just gave them."

I am so lucky to have so many little hands to hold, to wash, to give bread to. I might not get my nights out with my husband as often as I'd like but I really wouldn't want to trade places with my friend. I love my sweet kids and all their craziness. I know he'll love his, too. They'll be awesome parents!

Congratulations, Seth and Linda!

All he wants for Christmas is...

...his two front teeth!





He finally lost his second front tooth yesterday. I say finally because the dang thing was hanging by a thread and he was able to (and constantly did) twist the thing completely around. Bleh!







Aaaaaaaand of course since the camera was out (a rarety around here), we just had to take some
pictures of their inner demon child:






I seriously think this is the scariest picture of my daughter, ever:





Enjoy your nightmares.


Just think, I have to live with her.

My friend took this picture of us

Before the burn:

You can see Quin's all greased up... but not I, said the FRY. (you know that was funny, admit it.) lol ;)

Last Memory of the Day

I'm always telling my husband to be nice to our kids at bedtime because it's the last memory they'll have of him when they fall asleep.

Well, when he's not here due to his night schedule, I tend to forget my own admonitions.

Tonight was not unlike those nights. My kids were all tucked in with my last warning of "Do NOT get up for any reason. Stay IN YOUR ROOM."

Not 10 minutes after they go to bed is Andur's door opening (they're together in his room tonight because they're having a "sleepover".)

My immediate response is something to the effect of "What are you doing?" or "What did I tell you?", you know, something like that.

He wanted his telescope. Natalie wanted to see Venus. Apparently this is possible from my son's bedroom window.

I respond with "No, go back to bed and don't get back up."

He pleads with me, I say "no" and make threats and what-not until he gives in and goes back to bed.

A few minutes after this, my inner voice of guilt (I hear this voice a LOT these days) kicks in. What's the big deal, really? Would it really hurt to postpone their sleep a couple of minutes?

I decide to grab the telescope myself and go in and we all look at what actually wasn't Venus, but was cool nonetheless.

I post this because I read something on another blog I read... read it here. It's worth it, trust me. I'm just glad I changed my mind before I read this, that makes me feel a little better. :)

An email from me sista I had to share...

Urine Test

Like a lot of folks in this state, I have a job. I work, they pay me. I pay my taxes and the government distributes my taxes as it sees fit. In order to get that paycheck, I am required to pass a random urine test to show I am clear of drugs, with which I have no problem. What I do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who don't have to pass a urine test. So here is my question.
Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them?
Please understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone sitting on their rump -- doing drugs, while I work. . . . Can you imagine how much money the state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public assistance check?
I guess we could title that program, 'Urine or You're Out'..

You'd have to have seen the movie "Chicken Little" to think this was as funny as I did...

I was tossing my daughter's ring to her down the stairs and she grabbed her hands together too soon, thereby missing it...

As I'm walking away, I hear her say this to herself almost immediately:

"Ooh, bad throw."

I don't know why, but I thought that was funny. Guess you'd have to know my quick-witted, movie-quoting daughter. :)

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

1. Like I said the other day, I love that you've been puked on, poohed on, peed on and snotted on by all of our kids and you're still here... that's a real man.

2. I love that you work so hard for our family and support me in staying home to raise our kids... thank you.

3. I love that I have horrid breath and look like death in the morning but you still tell me how beautiful I am... you must be blind, but I love you anyway. ;)

4. I love how our kids light up when you come home from work... you're the best daddy ever.

5. I love it how, when you come home to a baby crying and me slamming things around, you take the baby and leave me safely alone... you're a brave and very smart man.

6. I love how you humor me when I'm hot/cold and adjust the window/fan/covers accordingly to suit my comforts... I can't sleep without you in the bed regardless.

7. I love how, even when you've been working till midnight, you still let me talk your ear off when you get home... even when you aren't really listening... lol

8. I love how you always share your candy/drink/ice cream with me, even when I tell you I didn't want any... and how you sometimes get extra in your bowl expecting as much... you're such a nice boy.

9. I love how I need more than nine lines to tell you how much I love you... I love that we've made it through nine "lines" together and I look forward to many more "lines" to come.

You're my best friend. I love you, Matt!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Windmills!

My kids made these today...



Natalie's is on the left, Andur's on the right.


Then we went to a park with some friends and the windmills have been forgotten about already. ;) But they sure were fun to make! :)

3rd Post of the day: No Wonder!

Tonight, I was doing a battery change-up in one of Natalie's stuffed animals that glows, when she says, "The batteries sure run out fast in that, like a week after we change them."

I'm thinking this could be why:



She has him hanging upside-down from the top bunk of her bed, his feet tucked under a wood slat. And she's sleeping. While he's on. Yep. That could be why. (It was supposed to be dark, but of course I couldn't get a good picture without the flash and the flash made it look like this, but at least you could see her this way.)

Walmart Madness, Part 2

In case you missed it, this was Part 1.

So, this was the grocery trip plan:

Quin wakes up from his usual hour long nap, I feed him, we all go, Matt included.

This is what really happened:

Quin takes an unusually long (almost 3 hour) nap, I feed him, we don't all go. I go later. By myself. With all three kids. Did I mention I was by myself??

Best. Trip. Ever.

Seriously.

It lasted almost two hours but we made it through in one piece. No produce-peeling, no Andur-weighing, no cashier-boy bragging about his love child.... just grocery-getting and scavenger hunt-completing.

Well, almost. Neither of them found a "U" or "X" or "Z" thing.

So, the wall of shame has been wiped clean.




There's always next time...............................

Uh... is it die? Or fly?

Remember that lame movie, Space Jam?

Remember the even more lame theme song that went right along with it?

This is Natalie's version:

"I can't believe I could die!"

I don't think she's even seen the movie. This is just what she thinks is being sung.

Yeah, her version's better. ;)

Signs you're getting old:

1. You go to the park for your KIDS (dude, I got kids?).

2. You cross the monkey bars for the first time in almost two decades.

3. You're old enough to not only use the word "decade" when speaking about the past, but use it in plural form. Yikes.

4. While crossing said monkey bars, you think to yourself (as you find yourself using muscles you haven't used in decades), "Maybe I should've stretched, first."

5. You quickly realize upon completion of crossing the monkey bars why you haven't crossed them in decades and the bittersweet pain of blisters all school year long comes rushing back to you.

6. Your thoughts while swinging are not of "Weeeeeeee!!!", but of "Geeze I hope I don't fall off this thing and break my neck," and "I don't remember the swings ever making me queezy before...".

7. You also realize while swinging the awesome power of gravity and how much more of you it has to pull towards the earth.

8. You've almost forgotten how much fun it is to "play".

9. You realize that playgrounds aren't just for kids.

10. And two hours later your hands are still stinging...

...but it was worth it!

:)

"I will be good at Walmart. I will be good at Walmart. I will be good at Walmart...." Part 1

In the past, trips to Walmart have been "adventurous", to say the very least...

Here's proof:

They've had to write "I will be good at Walmart." 15 times, then 20 times. They've written "Walmart is not a playground." 25 times. If they act up today, it'll be 30 times.

I've tried things like giving them a notebook and pencil to make a list of things they would buy if they could, given them each a list of items we need to help me gather, played search games (find something yellow, find something that starts with..., stuff like that). They just don't have the capacity for being still or quiet or obedient when it comes to places like Walmart. Maybe we're there too long. Maybe Walmart puts something in the air that makes kids so crazy their parents end up buying them junk just to shut them up. Maybe they're just horribly rotten kids.... who knows?

Today, we're going to try a scavenger hunt.

If they can find everything on their list without being yelled at once, they get a candy bar at the end. If they fail, they'll both have hand cramps by the end of the day.

To be continued...........

Spitting Image?

Grandma K gave Andur some new shirts when we were there visiting and he just had to wear this one today:



This is what the back says:



Surely, he can't possibly be referring to sweet, innocent little Natalie:



Or can he be?




You be the judge... ;)

All Good Things!

First good thing:

A happy baby.

I think it's so funny that he has this fun toy hanging in his face and after only a few minutes of loving it, he'd rather snuggle a blankie while sucking on his bink. Love it!

Second good thing and totally awesomest part of my day:

Matt got his promotion and raise!!! We've been waiting for it since February and it finally came! I SO LOVE the blessings of tithing!!! Love them!!!! We so needed this! I love it love it love it!!!

He's a mechanic for CAT and received his "B" today... he's been a "C" for two years. Yay!!! He deserves it, too. He's seen so many people come and go because other mining jobs around the county are quite competitive when it comes to hours and benefits. This has put him at #3 on the totem pole, if you will. He has shown loyalty and responsibility and maturity and has learned and progressed so much, I am so proud of him!! Go Matt! (And in case I forget to tell you, your parents said congratulations, too!)

That's a spicy french toast!

So this morning - two days before grocery day - I find I only have 1 cup of milk, 6 eggs, and 2 loaves of bread to make breakfast with. Well, I have cereal, too, but again only 1 cup of milk. I decided to double my french toast recipe allowing for two days worth of french toast. Well, almost. Anyway, that's what I made. As I was about to add my cinnamon, I decided to smell it first. Good thing I did.

It was cumin.

I'd have wasted all my breakfast fixin's, save for the bread, and would've probably shot myself on the spot. This would be due, not only to the wastage of good french toast glop, but because it was 9:30am. We usually have breakfast before 8am, so my kids were famished and getting more annoyingly pestering by the minute.

So, breakfast was saved by my love of smells. Ha!

Attacking the frog!

While some delight in their super-advanced, college-bound, non-crying, miracle babies (ha - yeah, right), I take great delight in the little things:

I love watching him figure things out! We found this Baby Einstein bouncy thingy at a garage sale for $20! Brand new they're $84.99. I got a toy like this today (one they can hit and it spins) to suction to his high chair tray - I can't wait to try it out! (Thanks for the idea, Ryan! I got mine at Kmart.)

Bummed, Blessed, and Honored

Bummed because money's tight due to Matt losing his overtime... I have to start babysitting again. I wanted this time for just Quin. Stupid money.

Blessed because the two cutie girls I used to babysit are still available for the watching - which means only one or two days a week which will bring in just what we need. :)

And totally off the subject, but something I've been thinking about a lot lately:

I feel so honored to be Quin's mother. I know that sounds corny, but really, H.F. trusted me to be the one to handle his, um, shall we say - sensitivities? I haven't exactly been whine-free during all this (looking back, I do think I had a touch of post-partum-ness), but off the record (or blog, rather), I think I've adjusted rather well. Of course, I couldn't have done it without the help of my H.F., which, at times, came through the support of all my bloggy friends (thanks guys!). You have to admit, though, I've been better lately. I'm used to his nightly wakings, I know why he cries (usually), his naps are under control(ish) and I've learned that he just needs extra patience and TLC. And the whining has pretty much ceased. Well, on my end. lol He could've gone to anyone, but I was meant to be his mommy, I'm the one who has what it takes to raise him, I'm the one who has what he needs... and I needed him. :) I've learned a LOT about myself - and not all good things, mind you. But he's made our lives exciting again. Not that having two too-smart-for-our-own-good kids wasn't an adventure... it still is. The stinks.

Life is good. My dad always said if you're comfortable, you're not learning. We've been learning a LOT lately. ;)

Another one for today!!

I should add three more posts and go for a new record.... LOL!

I couldn't wait till tomorrow to post this, anyway, I was so excited!

I noticed tonight when we were eating dinner that Quin was extra fidgety... so I thought I'd try cereal again since it's been a few days.

Well........

He loved it!!!! I made over a tablespoon of rice, I think, and he ate the whole thing and wanted more! So I made another tablespoonish amount and he ate half of that. I figured he was done when he started pushing the bites out of his mouth. (He'd let me put more in, but wouldn't keep it in - silly head!) You can't really tell in this picture but there's hardly ANY cereal on the outside of him, he wasn't about to waste a drop!




This picture reminds me of a baby picture of me I remember seeing...

I got him jammied up and ready for his bottle but halfway through it, he conked out on me. SO, next time I'll have to time my feeding better. I fully expect him to wake up for the rest, but I'm hoping he doesn't. We'll see. :)

Oh, and he's almost sitting up! Well, he sits by himself for longer than a few seconds now, so that's a start, right? :)

***Edited later: He DID wake up for the rest, but went right back to sleep. Silly boy.

What do you get when you add a dash of extra crankiness, a smidge of super clinginess, a runny nose and a whole lotta slobber?

New teethies!!

At least that's my best guess at what Quin's problem is these days. Plus, he has two very definite tooth forms under his bottom gums. Nothing's poking through, yet, so I can't be sure. Andur had his first tooth by the end of his fourth month, and the second one followed quickly thereafter. I never knew when that boy got teeth, he was so cool about it. I found the first one when he bit me one day. (May 1st, 2002, just FYI) Natalie made me painfully aware of every single tooth she got. I'm afraid Quin's going to be the same way. Nice.

Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know why I'm extra not sleeping well and why I think Quin's extra crying. Other than that, life is grand. :)

Thoughts about the movie I watched today...

Over the past few years, I've been grossly fascinated with the Holocaust... probably because I never paid much attention in History or Social Studies when I was in school. In particular, I find the memoirs of survivors most intriguing. I've read several, and even though the theme and experiences are similar between them all, I can never quite grasp the horrific events that took place, or that one person could have such a commanding influence over so many people. I can't believe that so many could allow themselves to be brainwashed into thinking that what they were doing was actually a good thing. How so many could actually get to the point of not even flinching when it came to killing someone is beyond me.

One of the survivors recollected that the SS would throw babies high up and just shoot them midair.

Another recalled learning of his grandparents' fate: they were brought to the edge of a mass grave and shot with one bullet, as were many, but the one bullet was not always enough to kill the person so it was said that the ground above the grave moved for two days.

Once, a baby not older than two months actually survived the gas chamber and a soldier didn't hesitate to kill it on the spot.

People were so hungry, they would eat dead dogs or sick horses. There was no grass to be found in the concentration camps because it was all eaten. The prisoners were given watery "soup" once a day and a piece of sawdust-filled bread (for a filler) once a day.

I just can't wrap my mind around it.

What I hadn't considered is how many Germans hated Hitler.

We watched the movie Valkyrie, today. Tom Cruise* did an awesome job portraying his character. (Usually in movies, I see Tom Cruise. Today I saw Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.) If you haven't seen the movie and you are interested in the Holocaust, I highly recommend seeing it. It's about a group of men, both political and military, who attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Obviously, they were unsuccessful, but it was very cool to see that there were actually so many who were "on his side" (Hitler's), but weren't. There were actually 15 known assassination attempts on Hitler's life, something I did not know. This movie's based on actual events, and nine months after the men involved were executed, Berlin was surrounded and Hitler committed suicide.

I think it would be most interesting to meet someone who actually survived all of that. My Gramps fought in WWII and I interviewed him about it once for school but don't remember where he was or what he did or what he said. I wish I had been more aware of my potential interest in this subject so I could've learned more from him. (He died almost eight years ago.)

It kills me that there are those who don't believe this happened. It kills me that humans are actually capable of something so evil. Goes to show you how powerful Satan is.


*Tom Cruise is not one of my favorite actors, although I must say, he was pretty nice to look at in this movie. I think it was his hair. Also, does that guy ever age??

Bouncy, bouncy baby!

Quin loves his bouncy seat! (And his bink and blankies, if you couldn't tell...)

I love how he gets that little let going! So funny and cute!

(I also love Billie Holiday, which is what is playing in the background...)

Oh, ye fair ones...

We went swimming with a good friend the other day and forgot the sunscreen... yowza! Well, my friend put some on their arms and front (thanks Kimberly!) but the backs were forgotten. I didn't think much of it because they've been out in the sun in this same swimming attire and hadn't had a problem yet. I was so very wrong. LOL


Andur's back:



Natalie's back:


I have to say that Natalie's suit is a one piece, but it doesn't look like it from the back. It was a last minute vacation swim suit and I don't recall many modest options... just FYI.

And my shoulder:


I think I got the worst of it. I've had worse, though. One time in Washington we were geniuses and didn't use sunscreen at A BEACH and I ended up with second degree burns on my back - i.e. little tiny blisters everywhere. I remember dreaming my back was fire... yeah, it hurt. Andur got two big quarter-size blisters on his shoulders. We've been religious sunscreen users ever since. Except for two days ago, darn it.

Quin thankfully didn't get any burns, but I of course slathered him right up. He had a cutie sun hat on, too. He LOVED the water! He's a splasher! :) I wasn't planning on getting him in the water so we didn't have a swim diaper - LOL - yeah, his diaper was super sog! But he loved it! :)

Aspiring to Greatness

A few of my friends these days are doing things... like starting a preschool, running a home business using their talents, going back to school... stuff like that. I'm not jealous of my friends. I'm inspired, actually. It triggers an itch I've had for years to do something great, too. Something creative, that would use my talents. Something I know I am or can be good at.

But what?

I have a zillion things I've always wanted to do... but sticking to just one is something I find difficult. And once I choose, sticking with it, period, gets tricky. (I can't just do one thing... I have to try everything! Plus, I think I have adult A.D.D. - LOL - so my attention meanders elsewhere...)

One thing I've really always wanted to do is write a book. I know what I want to write about, what I'd title it, and even have notes written down here and there.... but doing it is a bit daunting... Why? Because I have commitment issues? Because I might fail? Because I might actually succeed? Because people might not like it? Because it means leaving my comfort zone? Why?? Dumb reasons, all of them, I know.

I don't want to look back on my life with regret that I didn't at least try. I want to be proud of something I've done, however small it may be.

Taking that first step is the hard part. I'm good at taking first steps, though. It's all the following steps I have a hard time with. Not because they're hard, but because maybe I lack the confidence to proceed.

I refuse to say "Oh, well. It's not for me." I will do this. The thing is, I imagine myself doing these things in my head, making it seem like I'm really doing them, but then I open my eyes and I'm still where I am.

It's time to take that second step...

Losing my mind

Lately, when I've done laundry, I've had the habit of forgetting to close the washer lid making it so the cycle continues, but nothing gets washed, so I've had to run it twice.

Well, Sunday afternoon I realized I started a load Saturday - remembered to shut the lid this time - only this time I forgot to move them over to the dryer when they were done washing.

Forgetting yet again to re-wash them on Sunday, Monday morning I go to run the now probably moldy load of laundry again only to find that I did put them in the dryer.

I just don't remember doing it.

*sigh*

This is so awesome!

What's worse than cleaning up puke in the middle of the night?

When it's in your bedroom. My bedroom, to be specific.

What's almost as bad as that? Finding the spot you missed with your bare feet.

So these are the questions I found myself asking last night:

• Why, oh, why, when my kids feel they're going to up-chuck, do they have to come tell me first??
• Why do my kids always have to throw-up in the middle of the night?? WHY??
• Why have we not invested in a Rug Doctor yet?????? WHY???????
• Where's the stinkin' baking soda???

At least it wasn't Natalie's regular Papa John's garlic sauce vomit - oh, no, this was much better. Last night I had the pleasure of picking partially digested lettuce chunks from Andur's taco salad out of my carpet. In my bedroom. In the middle of the night. After several bowls of soapy water, two wash cloths, half a roll of paper towels, lots of Febreeze and some dryers sheets to top it off, the smell was finally bearable. (We don't have baking soda because I had used it all on Natalie's two previous puke incidents, both involving Papa John's garlic sauce... you know, just in case you were wondering. I thought I blogged about it, but can't find it anywhere.) Then he threw up in his bed. Nice. And I had just changed his bedsheets on Saturday. Ugh.

At least this time I had Matt's help. Andur was quarantined to his room all morning but hasn't thrown up for a couple hours, so I finally let him come out. But, I've sprayed my Lysol everywhere and we're all on strict hand-washing orders today. We can't afford for Matt to get sick and I really don't want to do this with Quin. Pray for us, yah? ;)

The good news: Quin slept mostly through the night two nights in a row! I let him cry it out last night - that was hard. It wasn't hard to hear him cry, I was just sad that he was sad that I wasn't there. But then he fell asleep. I only had to go in there a couple of times. I tried it for his nap today, but no go. He's been sleeping for almost two hours, though, so yay!

Note to self: buy two small trash cans for kids' rooms and more baking soda.

First Bloody Nose and Fair Follies

I always thought the word "follies" was old-school.... lol!

First, the bloody nose. Natalie had a first, today. She was jumping on the trampoline with her brother and her daddy (ring around the rosies with high jumps or something equally dangerous like that) (I don't care what they do, as long as I don't have to watch!) when her nose made a rather abrupt collision with Andur's forehead. Matt had blood all over his arm, she managed two tiny drops on her shirt. My little drama queen was so sure her nose would bleed forever and was asking questions like "is all my blood going to drain out?". I had to reassure her of this normalcy of childhood with bloody stories of my own poor nose's adventures. Then it stopped. And now she's fine. :)

And now, for the Fair Follies portion of my post:

So, last year at the fair, we attended a performance of some guys who do a really good Beach Boys tribute... well, guess who they pulled up to sing to? Me. He was getting all close and personal and dancing with me and way in the back of the audience was my Bishop. I was so embarrassed! On the following Sunday, he very jokingly asked if there was anything I needed to discuss with him. Nice.

Today was our day to attend the fair again, and we went to a magic show performed by twins. They were pretty funny and very entertaining. Guess who they chose to be their first "helper"? Yep. Me. Dude, I didn't even raise my hand! Of all the hands that went up, they chose me! Again! So, I'm up there, and they're making comments of an embarrassing sort and low and behold, some of our friends were in the audience! I thought they were going to skip the show... nope. One of them said if it weren't for my hair, I'd have been all red. My face matched my red shirt, he said. Nice. LOL

I think next year, I'm sitting WAAAAAAAAAYYYY in the back.