Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Day 7: Link Post

Since it was hubby's birthday yesterday, we had TWO family parties and I got a little behind in the Problogger Challenge!  So, here is my attempt to catch up from Sunday AND Monday, Days 7 and 8!

Day 7's task was to write a link post.  It entails linking some posts that you like from other bloggers!   By the way, I would LOVE to be linked in case you're wondering!  Hint!  Hint!


1)  As I commented on this blogger's post, my husband and I used to love Beavis and Butthead!  Yes, I know it's juvenile, but at the time, we were both working a lot, I was going to graduate school and applying to doctoral programs.  I thought I was stressed then...totally a different kind of stress than I have now!  The stress I had then was somewhat under my control, now it's under the children's!

So, the totally primal, pre-adolescent humor fit right in to release the stress!  I particularly loved when MTV showed a video and they'd comment on it!  Hysterical!  OK, I'll stop dating myself.






Housewife Blogger

http://housewifeblogger.blogspot.com/2010/07/beavis-and-butthead.html


2) I thought this post was very clever!  She does it every Monday!  This lady also visits me regularly which I REALLY appreciate!

 http://thegapgirl.blogspot.com/2010/07/not-me-again.html

3) I linked to this blog because she visits me regularly (thank you!) AND I think she has the most beautiful backyard!

http://www.therefluffednest.com/2010/06/04/finally-the-new-patio-cushions/

Friday, July 23, 2010

Bee Funny Friday!



I am late tuning into this but wanted to join you!  To see what was funny this week, you can link below to my mini-newsletter "The Wednesday News, July 21, 2010". 

http://somanykidssomuchfun.blogspot.com/2010/07/wednesday-news-july-21-2010.html

I can't think of anything funny that happened to me today.  It was kind of a stressful day!  The fact that I almost got creamed at the same intersection where I almost got creamed a few weeks ago didn't help either!  I'll "bee" back next Friday though!  Thank you for hosting this!  I look forward to reading other posts from today!

Five Question Friday



1. What were your school colors?

My high school colors were (get ready to gag) GOLD and FOREST GREEN!  Hideous then, hideous now!  At least my college colors were much better RED and WHITE.



2. What's the best compliment you ever received?

I can think of a few really amazing compliments paid to me by two different friends, once about 6 years ago and one just a few weeks ago.  However, if I had to pick one, I'd say whenever my kids say, "Mom, you're the best!"  I'm not talking about when I let them do something they REALLY want to do.  That counts too, but the semantics behind that are a little different.

I'm talking about when I'm tucking them in at night.  I've only heard it a handful of times, but it means so much because it comes straight from the heart.

I would say, "I love you." and they say, "I love you too, Mom.  You're the BEST!"  To this, I reply, "I am the best because I have the BEST kids!"

The few and far between times just make it all worthwhile.  It's because my goal everyday is to be the best mom I can be.  Even though some days I KNOW I did the right thing even though my kids may not agree with me (like when I tell them they have to go to bed early because their behavior indicates they are TOO TIRED to be around people), it's great when my kids think I'm accomplishing the goal as well!

3. Do you buy cheap or expensive toilet paper?

I buy the expensive kind, but I get it on sale.  I've tried the cheap stuff, but with my family of 6, we go through it so quickly that the cheap stuff just disappears too fast!

4. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or have you had one for someone else?

Technically, yes.  However, I wasn't surprised.  My sister, my mom and some friends had put together a surprise baby shower for our firstborn.  Unfortunately, my husband had left an email open to one of these friends saying how he was going to get me to her house TOMORROW!  I SWEAR I didn't peek.  I LOVE surprises and I'm NOT a snooper just because it's downright disrespectful.

I never told him this.  I pretended to be surprised in the name of love.  Unless he sees this, I STILL won't tell him.  If he does, so be it.  It's been over 10 years and we can laugh about it now!

My sister-in-law and I DID succeed in surprising my sister (same one who planned my shower; my ONLY sister and ONLY sibling!) about 4 years earlier for her bridal shower though!  Now, THAT was a surprised look!  I have the photo someplace still...


5. What is one material possession that you "can't live without"?

My cell phone, TV and computer would be hard to adjust to not having, but as far as not being able to LIVE without?  I'd say my air conditioner.  Granted I live in the Northeast and it's not likely to be DANGEROUS for us not to have our A/Cs, but this summer has been continuously hot and humid.  We usually get lucky and when it's truly unbearable, it only lasts for a few days.  This has been a several WEEKS!

My whole family feels nauseous if we get too hot, even if we hydrate a lot.  I don't only feel gross, but I can't get ANYTHING done when it's so hot that I can't even turn my head without breaking into a sweat!


Thursday, July 22, 2010

Happy Bloggoversary to Me!

Today's my one-year bloggoversary!  Help me celebrate by leaving a comment!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Wednesday News, July 21, 2010

Before I begin, I want to give a shout-out to the SITS Girls who are hosting the "31 Day Pro Blogger Challenge" in their BlogFrog Community!  We're on Day 3 and each day, they give us bloggers a task to do to improve our blogs.  Today, I'm working on promoting my blog with social networking.  So far, you can see my tweets, click on my "follow me" button for Twitter, follow on my Networked Blogs button and "like" me to connect with on Facebook!  I'm looking forward to learning SO much more!  Tune in daily for my improvements!


Mom

We ended the week of bliss camp last Friday.  The kids had a terrific time.  Dave and I got a lot done.  We even moved the "new" furniture up to our bedroom.  This was used furniture we purchased years ago but never had a chance to move upstairs.

So, the garage got seriously purged, the garden got done (I'm still on cloud 9 about that) and the bedroom got organized.  These tasks were HUGE and looming before last week.  Now, it's up to me to keep purging all of the boxed up stuff.  At least we were able to pack up stuff and put aside in order to make paths in these areas!

I was kind of back to the day-to-day Mommy stuff on the weekend (which was a downer after a week of accomplishing SO much backlog).  We had Harry and Malcolm's birthday party FINALLY on Sunday.  Since there hasn't been much to do as far as kids' activities this week, I've been doing the lazy thing again.  I definitely need to have a place to go and a time to go to it to get me moving.  The trick is, HOW do I get MOVING when I don't have to GO anywhere?  Any suggestions?

However, I have been working a lot on my blog which makes me happy!  Any feedback at all is welcomed in that department as well!  Leave a comment and a link and I'll visit you too!  I want to make my blog the best that it can be for myself as well as my readers!  I really have to enlist my husband's help in getting my old computer back so I can post photos.  My computer's illness has come at a bad time...during the Blogger Challenge and all, but hang in there!  Thanks for your patience!


Andersen

Andy didn't have a lot going on this past weekend or this week.  He continued to swim in our new pool and join a neighbor in his inground, fully-grown pool.  Both Monday and today, there have been some nasty storm warnings in the Northeast.  If there's any kind of warning, my kids will NOT go outside.  On Monday, there were funnel clouds spotted about 40 minutes from here so all of the kids were convinced we were all going to die.

They've been keeping busy today making an emergency-preparedness kit for the impending thunderstorms predicted for later today.  On Monday evening, I have NEVER seen such hysteria!  I was getting angry at them even though they were crying because they were scared.  They would not LISTEN to anything I said to reassure them.  See, my daughter can't turn off The Weather Channel or STOP commenting on wind speeds or cloud formations.

My husband finally took them downstairs to watch a movie on Lilly's portable DVD player.  I was told to stand "on watch" watching The Weather Channel upstairs.  Even though we did not have a tornado warning in our county, NO ONE would believe me.  AGH!  We ended up with just some rain, but since tornadoes are rare for us, it was a bit nervewracking, even for me.

So, today they're sure we're going to have a repeat of Monday.  Um, who's going to tell Andy we're leaving for OUTDOOR baseball in a 1/2 hour!?


Lillian

Lilly got a chance to spend some time with a friend who moved away to a neighboring town.  Even though they haven't gone to school together since 2nd grade (Lilly will be entering 5th grade this fall), they see each other several times a year.

The friend had her annual, birthday sleepover on Saturday night.  She had a great time.  What I like about sleepovers is that Lilly ALWAYS falls asleep early the following night.  It's great because she can catch up on the sleep she missed giggling and gossiping with her friends!

She misses camp, but is already counting down the days until she can go next summer!


Malcolm

Malcolm and Harry were given a choice mid-week last week.  We had had terrible luck finding friends who were available for their scheduled birthday party this past Sunday.  The party had already been postponed several times for the same reason..

We told them that they could postpone once again OR just go ahead and do the party with whomever can come.  They were tired of waiting so we went ahead and did the party.  Lilly and Andy also invited some of their friends along.  We had so much fun even though it was small.  It was at Chuck E. Cheese's, which was where they both wanted to go, and they got some terrific goodies to take home.  They both felt really special for the day and are still enjoying their party favors!


Harrison

Harry, like often occurs, had a very similar week and weekend to Malcolm.  He loved camp and enjoyed his birthday party completely.  He has also had fun swimming in our pool.  He was no exception to the "twyster hysteria" (hey, I just coined that term!).


Dad

After a working vacation last week, Dad is back to work at his job.  We both were sad to see it end even though it was a lot of work last week.  We loved our lunch dates everyday and just the sense of accomplishment that we both felt!

I am so proud of all of the work he did and it makes me smile when he's happy with all we've accomplished!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Day 2 "A List Post" #31DBBB

Good day, all!  The intention of this post is to provoke thought and have some fun!

These are a "few of my favorite things".  Not only is it fun to share, it helps keep with the focus of the power of positive thinking because it gets everyone else to think about things they like too!

Here goes:


1. My favorite ice cream flavor is Mint Chocolate Chip.




2. My favorite sport to watch is baseball









3. My favorite movie is Arthur.



4. My favorite thing to do with my family is play board games.




5. My favorite thing to do when I have some time to myself is read.

6.  My favorite TV show is:

 


7. My favorite child is (just kidding!!!!).




8. My favorite way to exercise is running.



9. My favorite food is fresh, hot pizza from a pizzeria (yup, just like a kid!). 


10. My favorite activity is laughing with my friends and family.

11.  Bonus!  My favorite drink is coffee!



Monday, July 19, 2010

Welcome New Followers and Visitors!

A year ago (almost!), I started my blog to write down the endless amounts of everyday adventures my family had.  Today, it's become so much more!  I've met many terrific people and love the fact that so many of you are following me both on my blog website, Twitter and on BlogFrog!  THANK  YOU!

I would love to visit you too, so don't be shy about including your blog URL when you visit or become a follower.

31DBBB Day 1 "The Elevator Pitch"

I'm so excited to have this opportunity!  It will be one year ago this week that I started my blog.  I have always had a love of writing, even when I was in elementary school.

However, I had all of these stories of my family and my life just spilling out of my head and falling onto the floor.  I decided that I MUST chronicle them!  BMB (Before My Blog), I would share our family adventures with my friends and they would say, "You should write a book!"

Now, I also thought that I should finally have some kind of family history written down somewhere since all of our photos are all in film-developing envelopes from the "long ago" days of the film camera or on my (other) computer.  One of my posts from last week explains how my main computer is on the fritz.  I miss my picture files!  They'll be back soon though!

New Tagline: Playing Together, Staying Sane and Finding the Silver Lining.

Short Elevator Pitch: The chronicles of our family life and the ability to live in the moment and HAVE FUN!

Long Elevator Pitch: There are just too many humorous stories around here being a stay-at-home mom of 4 kids 4 years apart (including a pair of identical twins) and a traveling husband.  I just had to share!

While most of my goal is to write down the stories for others' enjoyment, it is a type of tapestry of our day-to-day life that we will look back on and remember as a family one day.  I chose both my title and my tagline, however, to really keep the focus on the positive.  I want people to read my posts and think, "I don't know how I would've gotten through that!" or "If she can keep smiling after that, so can I!"

I am a strong believer in positive thinking.  I evolved a great deal in this area after having my kids so close together.  It's really easy to just throw your hands up and close out the outside world, wallow in your misery, be NEGATIVE and let the wonderful, short time go by when your kids are home with you.

LIFE IS TOO SHORT!  Get out there and make memories!  I want to inspire you to do that and some days, when I need inspiration myself, I read one of my posts and realize that I got through that day, no matter how tough it was!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

The Wednesday News, July 14, 2010

Hi Everyone!  I am here finally!   Sorry it's Saturday morning, but I have been flinging like a mad woman!  The good news is, since I had a few more days, I'd have more to tell you.  Next week, I'll be back on my Wednesday-producing schedule.

Just a reminder, my kids have been in camp all week and my husband took the week off.  We HAD to declutter this house.  We almost didn't get our week because we thought Harry and Malcolm had chicken pox last Sunday!  They woke up with pink pimples all over their trunk and a few spots on their arms, legs and face.

I checked their vaccination records.  They were all caught up.  They even had a booster varicella (chicken pox) shot last year.  The nurse said that since the pimples were not fluid-filled (ewww) that it was not "the pox".  However, if they started running a fever or it got worse to bring them in.  It got better and off they went to camp as the nurse said it was safe!  No more "spotty" issues the rest of the week!

As for the flinging, I'm still keeping way too much stuff, but at least it's a start.  Now, I must say, I regret that I cannot post any pictures this week.  BUMMER!  My computer is on the fritz.  The one I'm using right now is an old one my husband had for work.  It's not straightforward how to back up the photos I took so I want to wait until hubby fixes my current one.  Then, I'll show you LOTS of pictures!



Dad

My husband is my hero!  OK, just being able to fix my computer is heroic in and of itself, but he also worked tirelessly in our hot and humid garage and our hot and humid yard to pull out all kinds of junk.  We've been setting records in the Northeast for "hot and humid" by the way.  The best is he put in my, ...drumroll please....GARDEN!  That's right!  The garden I've never had is IN!

The plants are in AND there's mulch around them.  It looks GREAT!  Unfortunately, some bugs have enjoyed munching on some of them and one looks really peaked, but I'm working on finding out how to handle that.  Now, if we could just get a new garden hose instead of the one with the flat top (someone, probably me, ran over it with the car.  No, it MUST have been one of the kids...).  Then, we can put a NOZZLE on it so I don't get SOAKED every time I "water my garden".  Oh my goodness!  I'm watering my GARDEN though!


Mom

So, the kids were at camp all week.  I think the first day they were gone, I was mostly just amazed at how QUIET the house was and how I could do a job from beginning to end with NO interruptions!  We did have a lot of backlog from the weekend to catch up on (finish all of the kitchen cleanup, the ever-present laundry, daily cleaning, etc.) so I first went to work on that.  It was frustrating because it took so long and I wasn't digging into any of the decluttering projects I was hoping to accomplish, but it had to be done first.

Our babysitter was looking to do some extra hours this week.  Although there weren't any kids around, she was willing to come anyway and help me tackle the house!  She had been away for two weeks, so it was really bad around here.  She is yet another hero in my life.  Not only does she support me by helping me care for my children and is kind and nurturing to them BUT she's a whiz at getting chores done efficiently too (and is WILLING to do them!).

So, on Tuesday she came by, off she went on the day-to-day cleanup and I started a sorting project!!  It was so rewarding and fun (I must say!)!  I was on such a roll that I didn't want to go out for lunch with my husband.  Well, of course I wanted to, but you know what I mean.  I was knee-deep and ACCOMPLISHING something!  I can't remember being alone long enough to do that in, well, FOREVER!

Alas, off we went for lunch.  My husband and I have been having lunch dates everyday this week.  Maybe not the healthiest food, but it was great to spend the time together!

Mid-week, I had produced twice the number of trash bags we usually put out for the truck that day AND I got out ALL of the recycling that I had missed the last time the truck came by.  I had mentioned that I have been struggling with fatigue again this summer.  This week, I was able to overcome it though and use the precious time we had to do, do and DO!


Lillian

I believe I had mentioned before that Lilly LOVES, LOVES, LOVES this camp.  She and Andy went here for the first time last summer and this year, we sent Harry and Malcolm with them.  We wish we had the money to send the kids for a second week.  Dave and I joined the group for their weekly sing-along and campfire on Thursday night.  Parents/families are invited to this once-a-week event where they do an evening weenie roast and toast marshmallows with the kids.  To me, this is what summer's all about.

Lilly made new friends (she ALWAYS makes friends no matter where she goes), learned all kinds of new arts and crafts (her thing) and tried a bunch of new activities.  Plus, my kids LOVE to swim and there was plenty of that too.

She was begging for us to send her back.  I wish we could especially since Lilly is not an easy one to please sometimes when it comes to "fun".  She'll seem to be having the time of her life, but then, on the way home from wherever we were, she says, "I was kind of bored, actually." or "That sandwich made my stomach hurt."  Not here, though.  NEVER!


Andy

Andy also loves this camp.  He especially likes the store they have on campus.  Because we only send our kids for one week, we can afford to give them a little bit of spending money.  The store has souvenirs, candy and ice cream.  Again, what's summer without some delicious treats?  I'm OK with it.

He was not in such a good mood yesterday when we picked him up.  I figured that he was sad that it was his last day of camp.  Nope.  He said we embarrassed him at the sing-along the night before.  See, I'm a highly-participatory mom.  My own term that I coined.  If they say to "sing-along", I'm gonna "sing-along", clap-along and whatever-along.

The counselors were leading the songs and they did a fantastic job.  During one song, they had said that the kids could "shout-out" and have their non-camper siblings come up and join them for the song.  Harry yelled out, "Mommy" and then he yelled out "Daddy".  So, off we went up there to join them.  Being highly-participatory, I was clapping and gesturing right along with them, as was my husband.

When we sat down, we realized that they had said the kids could shout out to "siblings" and not parents.  However, none of the other kids yelled for their mom or dad, so tell me WHAT were we supposed to do?

Andy said, "Mom, they made fun of me ALL DAY because you went up there and SANG last night!"  Then Harry and Malcolm piped up, "Yeah, Mom, you embarrassed us TOO!".   I was too tired to remind them that, "Gee, your DAD was ALSO up there!  By the way, you YELLED for us to come up!"

Oh well.  It won't be the last time we embarrass them!  Is there an age limit my kids get to when I should no longer be a participatory mom?  It's got me thinking since I thought I had until they were teens....by then I'll have more devious ways of embarrassing them, but only when they DESERVE it....bwah-ha-ha-ha!


 Harrison

Harry and Malcolm often have trouble following directions when they are together.  Something about the twin thing.  My pediatrician said it brilliantly (as she always does) at their physical.  She said if they're not behaving then separate them, which we do.

She told me to weigh the pros and cons of the extra work it would take me to drive them to two separate teeball practices/games, two separate karate classes, etc.  She said that this kind of behavior is totally normal for six-year-old boys, just that when they're brothers from the same family and the same age, they tend to stick out as "a problem".  The best part was when she said, "If you separate them, then there will be two six-year-old boys from TWO different families acting the EXACT same way, but it won't look like it's just 'those two' again!"  Brilliant!!!  Loved it.

I had told the camp staff about how they often do get carried away and they're so bonded as identical twins/brothers.  I explained that if they were to be in the same group, that separating them within that group was a good option, especially if they were having trouble listening to instructions.

I didn't have ONE report of noncompliance or bad behavior!  Good job, boys!  It definitely helps to have a LOT of structure and there was certainly enough activities there to provide a good outlet for their ENDLESS amounts of energy!



Malcolm

Malcolm had a great time too.  He made some amazing crafts!  It was an "outer space" theme this week at camp.  I can't wait to post the picture of Malcolm and Harry's "space alien antennas" that they made!  The children get a fair amount of choices as to what they can do with their blocks of time.  He chose a lot of arts and crafts and came home with some really creative things!

Overall, all of the boys got a little sunburned.  I think the staff forgot to remind them to "reapply" it to their faces.  Their cheeks were definitely sun-kissed, but nothing serious.




So, now it's back to the old grind of "What are we going to do today, Mom?".  That's OK, that's what summer's all about.

(Afterthought: What do people think of my new "colored banners" for our names for The Wednesday News?  I think I'll stick with that.  Opinions PLEASE!  Thanks for reading!)

Friday, July 16, 2010

Be Back Soon!

Hi Everyone!

I've been flinging so much, I haven't written The Wednesday News yet.  It's coming!!  I promised I'd post a "weird" item I decluttered.  So far, the weirdest is a wooden post on a base.  My mom had given us an Easter Bunny for the holiday.  He/she was mounted on said post.  The post no longer held up said bunny.  I think my boys decided it was some kind of rocket ship.  It was weird though!

Mostly, I've just been having moments of "Wow!  THAT'S where this went." or "HOW did THIS end up in my bedroom?!?" (say, for a bike helmet).

Welcome, new followers!  Be back REALLY soon.  Last day of camp for the kiddos.  :(.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Let the Flinging Begin!

OK, so we got all 4 kids to camp on time, but we did miss the bus that brings them from our town to the town with the daycamp.  We saw the bus pull away as we pulled in.  Better luck tomorrow.

That's all right.  Even though it would have saved us 40 minutes of driving, there is still a lot of day left to get medieval on this MESSY HOUSE!  I'll post later to let you know what the weirdest thing I flung out today was.

Happy Monday!  (It really is possible!)

Saturday, July 10, 2010

I broke 1000!

1000 reads since I installed my counter of folks visiting my blog!  THANK YOU, everyone!!!  Yay!

Friday, July 9, 2010

Five Question Friday

From http://www.mylittlelife.blogspot.com/

1. What is one food you could eat everyday?

I agree with Hannah, it's pasta.  My mom used to make this YUMMY dish with butter, garlic and some parsley.  It was to die for!  I still can't reproduce it to taste exactly the way she made it taste.  I know it's simple, but wow is it good!

I must admit, I also love Kraft Macaroni and Cheese!  I make my own, homemade version of mac and cheese too.  When I'm out I often order chicken parmagiana, mostly for the pasta that comes with it!  I also can appreciate more "gourmet" dishes like one I make with chicken, artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes.  I could eat it everyday in one form or another!

2. Are you working in the career you thought you would be when you were 18?

When I was 18, I was doing a double-major in pre-med and music.  My parents always encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to do in life.  God bless them.  I always wanted to be a mother, but I also wanted to be a medical doctor.

Then, I really became interested in playing music in high school.  I played clarinet for 9 years.  So, I figured I could handle being all 3 (mother, musician AND medical doctor).  There were many reasons that I didn't get good enough grades in college to get into med school and I realized I couldn't be a very dedicated musician unless I practiced...way more than I wanted to!

So, I set my sights on becoming a therapist.  I got my psychology undergraduate degree and completed my Masters in Marriage and Family Counseling.  My career right now is being the best mother I can be and staying home full-time with my kids.


3. What is something that you wish you would have done when you were younger and you didn't?

I can't think of a single regret in my life.  I feel very blessed that I can say that.  I suppose if I had applied myself more in high school, I wouldn't have had such a hard time in college since my study habits would have been sharper.  I tried to get involved in too many extracurricular things.  However, it's a hard choice to make because you want to have a good background for your college applications, too.  Very tough!


4. What color are your kitchen walls?

They are 1/2 off-white and 1/2 red (if you don't look too closely at the splatters I'm constantly wiping off).  I love country design.


5. Do you remember what your very first favorite song was?

I actually do!  It was The Night that the Lights went out in Georgia  Yes, the one that is sung by Vicki Lawrence of Carol Burnett and Friends and Mama's Family fame (and yes, it's about a murder).  What can I say?  I liked the tune and I was only 5 years old!  I vividly remember drawing a picture with my crayons of my older sister's radio from whence it came!

The Wednesday News, July 7, 2010

Tootsie Pop


Do you remember this commercial from the 70s?  It's actually still being run on either Nickelodeon or Disney Channel, but not in its entirety.  I guess 30 seconds is too long for modern-day greed advertising.


Mom

Anyway, I'm going to begin with me today.  My kids have been enjoying Tootsie Pops as treats this week.  After they went to bed, I thought, "Why not.  I'll have one, or two or thhhhhrree."  I can't remember which one did it, but one of them broke TWO OF MY TEETH!  I guess at my age, I shouldn't be biting such things, although Mr. Turtle was probably older than me, but that's beside the point (don't turtles live for like 200 years?).  I couldn't believe it!  I even took many more licks than thhhhhrree, so I didn't even think it could do any damage.

Luckily there was no pain, but my dentist had to do two new fillings.  I swear I've never had my teeth drilled so much in my entire life (and I've had a lot of cavities in my day as well as 2 root canals in the same tooth and several crowns...so I know what I'm talking about!).  Are you familiar with the drill bit the dentist uses that makes your whole skull vibrate?  I swear I was going to pick up a TV show to view on my glasses I was vibrating so much (in SPITE of the digital age!).  Then, there was the numbness.

Now, I was hungry on my way over to the dentist.  He fit me in at dinnertime so my husband would be home from work to watch the kids.  I thought it would be gross to eat on the way when my dentist was going to examine my teeth so I didn't.  Then, my mouth stayed numb for HOURS afterward so I coudn't eat without biting my tongue by accident!  I tried to eat a sandwich anyway and chew very carefully on my left side.  After all, I didn't want any more medical treatment today!

In other news, my Blogoversary is fast approaching!  13 more days!  I can't believe it's been almost a year already!  I would like to thank all of my friends and family who follow as well as all of the new people I've met in the blogosphere!  I am thoroughly enjoying sharing our life with you!  More comments would be nice though (hint, hint)!  If you have a blog, please let me know and I'll follow you!  I love reading blogs just as much as writing mine!

It was great to have Dave home for an extra day on Monday for the Independence Day holiday.  I got a LOT of rest and we had a blast going to see fireworks.  To me, July 4th is NOT complete without fireworks!

Probably the best part of my week though was meeting a friend for dinner who I haven't seen in 26 years!  She lives in a neighboring state (about 1 1/2 hours away from me), but was passing through close to my area.  It was terrific (and weird!) to see her after all of these years!  High school graduation, college, grad school, marriage, kids...all happened in that time period where we had lost contact for awhile!  She found me on Facebook.  We swore to each other that we were NOT going to let another 26 years go by again!

Here's another shameless hint, just because my blog posts import on Facebook (eventually), doesn't mean my Facebook friends can't follow my blog here too!  :)


Harrison

Harry and Malcolm got a big kiddie pool for their birthday!  Thanks, Grandma!!!  It's 3 feet tall and 10 feet across, so it's suitable for the older kids too!  We've had a heatwave in the Northeast this week.  The kind where you know your air conditioner's on, but you're still sweating.  It hasn't rained at all either, so every afternoon, we were out splashing!  A couple of our neighbor's kids also fit in it.

Harry loves playing with the neighbors and the older kids' friends.  They dote all over him (piggyback rides, underdogs on the swings) so who could blame him for enjoying it?

Harry and Malcolm had their 6-year-old physical on Wednesday.  They are exactly the same height and Harry weighs a whopping 1/2 pound more than Malcolm.  I'll have to check the sheet to see if they had the same exact blood pressure!  They did a few physicals ago.  Our pediatrician said that even though she has many patients who are identical twins, these guys take the cake for "identicalness" in terms of being so close in height and weight.

They're both healthy and growing great!  Yay!


Lillian

Lilly had the opportunity to spend over 24 hours with a school friend this week.  A playdate turned into a sleepover which turned into swimming at the friend's grandparents' private beach.  I missed her!  That night, Andy had baseball practice right near the same friend's house so she and Lilly played together for at least another hour!

I love to watch my kids bonding with their friends.  It's also good for Lilly to get out from under all of the "maleness" around here!  She's been enjoying the new pool too.  So far, she hasn't been missing going to the lake even though it's much deeper, of course, than the kiddie pool and she can really practice her swimming there.


Dad

Dave has next week off!  All four kids have full-day camp for five days!!!  That's right, he arranged his week off at the same time.  We won't be doing a family vacation again this year due to the budget, but that's OK!  We have so much fun doing local things and day trips, we don't miss it!

So, we're going to tear this house apart and GET ORGANIZED!!  It will be so much easier without the kids here for many reasons, but most of all, we can stay focused and keep a good schedule for the work.

Dave spent the majority of the July 4th weekend installing the pool.  It is a permanent (summer-only) pool with a filter so it's a little involved.  We also found out that our state requires a fence to be built around pools that "deep".  Even though the law may be overkill, we thought it was best to build one since there are so many wee children in our neighborhood.

So, in 95+ degree heat, Dave was out in the sun with a rented post-hole digger and tools putting up the fence with a gate and a good lock.  I helped a little with the labor but mostly brought out drinks and kept the air conditioners cranked so he could come in and take breaks.  The fence looks terrific!  THANK YOU DADDY!!! 

The yard was not as "level" as it looked at first, so the pool is lopsided.  That is this weekend's job!  When it looks like it should, I'll show you a picture!


Malcolm

Mal is loving the pool just like everyone else.  He also did great at his physical even though I couldn't convince him that he was not going to get a shot this year.  He enjoyed the tooth fairy money he received.  Since last I wrote, Malcolm lost a second tooth during an excursion to the grocery store!  Of course, the floor was a beige color, but we did find it!  We're very fortunate though.  Our tooth fairy comes regardless of whether or not you actually have the physical tooth "evidence".

Both he and Harry are excited for camp next week!  I think they'll do fine with the full-day schedule.  You cannot tire my kids out!!


Andy

Andy had his first baseball practice on Wednesday evening.  The summer league is different from the regular season.  There is more of an age range and they focus mostly on skill-building.  He was happy to see some familiar faces on the team.  He did find it unbearably hot though, even at 6pm, it was still in the 80s!  Ditto on the pool enjoyment for Andy!


Thursday, July 8, 2010

Delay of The Wednesday News

Hi everyone! Thank you for being patient with me. I am sure that I will have this week's The Wednesday News posted by the end of today. The summer activities are leaving me scrambling to come up with new, regular, post-writing time.

Also, welcome to my new followers! My heart flutters when I see my number going up!!!

Back really soon!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Update

Hi,

So, whatever I did to configure this week's The Wednesday News somehow messed up the titles for each member of my family. I have tried to fix it, but because of all of the errors, the "doctored up" one will not post.

I will keep trying, but hopefully, you will be able to read who's who for this week! Thanks for bearing with me!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

"Code" Red

I had a little trouble posting the videos on this week's The Wednesday News. I hence did something to the HTML code and messed up the format. Please bear with me while I fix it and the duplicate name labels.

The Wednesday News June 30, 2010

Success! I was finally able to post the videos from yesterday's trip to the lake!
"Mom, watch me do the Statue of Liberty!" A true Malcolm original. You can see the older two in the background and then Harry pops up just below the surface.
Hi everyone! I can't believe it's the last day of June! My kids got out of school really late this year, June 22 to be exact, so the end of this month FLEW by! As you can see, we're having fun so far! Harry
Harry joined his twin brother, older brother and dad on a Cub Scout camping trip this weekend. All of the kids enjoyed a hike, swimming, catching and releasing frogs and camping out in a tent. Also, don't forget a good, old-fashioned hot dog and marshmallow roast with campfire games and spooky stories! My DH was in charge of that and I heard he did a great job. Everyone came back exhausted, but they had a great time.
Andy
Same Cub Scout trip, same Bat Channel. He's also been enjoying the lake. I took the boys to see Toy Story 3 in 3-D. In my humble opinion, 3-D is a rip-off. You pay an extra 5 dollars to get the glasses and yes, maybe Buzz Lightyear's laser beam pops out a bit, but that's about it. The kids loved it though.
Lilly
While we were off enjoying Toy Story 3, I had dropped Lilly off with her Girl Scout troop for their last outing of the year.
(***We interrupt this blog post for some Breaking News....Malcolm has just lost his first tooth! As my identical twins' teeth came in at the same time, so goes the losing of their teeth, same tooth, 14 days after Harry...back to our regularly scheduled part of the post***)
Lilly went rock climbing at an indoor gym. She loved it! We had a very nice time together this weekend, just the two of us. We drove down to see Grandma on Saturday. We went out for lunch and went shopping (just like a trio of girls!). Then it was off to the beach to collect seashells and swim.
On our way home, we picked up one of Lilly's best friends for a sleepover. I figured I could handle two ten-year-olds without my husband, but these girls are really something else when they're together. Sure, they fell asleep right away, but then they were up at 3am to make homemade ice cream (since we were out of it) and then up again at 6am to take showers. Well, at least Lilly got a shower in and didn't have to do it that night.I tried to take the girls back to the rock climbing gym, but I messed up on the paperwork that Lilly's friend's mom had to sign (i.e. sign her life away in case there's an injury or death...you know, no big deal...). So, I paid $14 for Lilly to climb for a 1/2 hour and then took the girls to see Shrek. Again in 3-D, again a rip-off. Hey, I got to see two movies in three days though! Malcolm As you saw in the video, Malcolm has made up his own game where he falls into the water. First, I thought he was trying to be "The Little Teapot" with the spout, but then he explained he was a statue, more specifically, the Statue of Liberty. The kids so love to swim. What a great way to use their energy in the summer! Notice I say "use" their energy. NOTHING but NOTHING tires them out! Mom I've been having a blast going to the beach and to the movies! I feel like I have adjusted to having the kids home and I'm now ready to really lay down some rules. I just bought a chart for the kids to earn "points" and track their progress.They also have ways to "earn" extra points by choosing "above and beyond" tasks. Andy, for instance, put ALL of our groceries on the conveyor belt for me on Monday. Lilly helped me put it ALL away when we got home. Although they were not told to do these things (am I lucky or WHAT?!?), I told them that they'd be rewarded for doing extra things.With their points, the kids can "cash" them in for a small amount of money, but they also have to use their points to watch TV, play DS or go on the computer. This part is still a work in progress. I'm trying not to make it too complicated for myself or them.
Dad He did a great job with all the boys on the trip this weekend! I was very proud of him and grateful as it gave me a big break from having all four at home. I heard the campfire activities and ghost stories were a success. He worked very hard on those. Back to work on Monday. I am so lucky that he works so hard so I can make all of these memories with our kids in the meantime.We also had our 14th anniversary as I previously posted. We're going to plan a date night to celebrate. Weeknights are tough, but at least we acknowledged the date! Here are some recent fun times! Father's Day, Birthday (that's Malcolm) and once again, the lake (pretty sure that's Harry on the right, but even a mother has trouble in photos sometimes!)