The Wednesday News June 9, 2010

Hump Day!  It's been a productive one.  A bunch of things I've been putting off got done.  I think I was finally successful at changing the title photo for the blog.  Whatever I tried, it would publish as miniscule and you couldn't see who was who.  It's already hard to tell Harry and Malcolm apart without further challenge.

The kids are signed up for a week of camp...get this...they're ALL GOING AT THE SAME TIME!!!!  I'm not sure how Harry and Malcolm will handle a full-day camp, but I figure it's good practice for them for 1st grade.  They only go to kindergarten for 2 1/2 hours right now.

My daughter, who is very skeptical about entertainment, activities and the level of fun that will or will not be provided, has not stopped talking about this camp since she went last summer!  It's very traditional (swimming, games, arts and crafts and even a campfire event during the week that involves roasting marshmallows!).  I wish I could go (well, as a date with hubby sans kids!).

Andersen is also going for the second year and is equally thrilled.  I think Andy's favorite part is having a little of his own spending money for junk food during the day.  They have a small store on the premises.  He eats plenty of healthy food so I'm not worried.  His favorites there are swimming, archery and other sports.

It is also very reasonably priced as camps go.  I wish we had the means to do more than one week as they absolutely love it there, but that's fine.  Dave has the week off and we're going to tear this house apart!  I can't wait to get all of the junk out with NO distractions!  OK, not the best summer vacation, but in a way it is because after the house is organized, we can ENJOY our home more and it will feel like we ARE on vacation!

The kids are also doing swimming lessons for a week and the older two are doing a "field trip" week each.  Lilly, being older, gets to go to far away and exotic destinations (such as Six Flags...hmmm....seems like I mention this place in several of my posts...what's up with that?  You KNOW how I feel about roller coasters.  If not, see my post from last summer entitled "Emotional Rollercoaster" www.somanykidssomuchfun.blogspot.com/2009/09/emotional-rollercoaster.html).  Andy still has to wait another year for that, but they go to the beach and other fun things during his week.

I am trying to see if Harry and Malcolm want to do a 1/2 day sports camp in addition to their one week, but they weren't that into it last year.  So, we'll see.  On to the news!

Harry

Harry got hit with the fever virus thing that was going around as did Andy at the end of last week.  So, we had a low-key weekend in terms of sports...two of the boys couldn't do any!  He is participating in a teeball game tonight, one of his last ones.  As everyone was feeling better on Sunday, we went out for lunch.  We had been under a tornado watch both Saturday and Sunday.  This is EXTREMELY rare for the Northeast.

There was a lot of damage nearby, but not right in our town.  The worst storm kicked up while we were at the restaurant.  Dave had 3 boys in the bathroom when the power went out!  Like the kids weren't scared enough already!  See, their sister is a weather fanatic and gives us the blow-by-blow (pun intended) of the storm (right down to wind speeds, directions and the fact that a rotation was unlikely because the storms were in a line and not clustered together).  I found out on the news later that she was absolutely right about this!  The meteorologist said that if the storms were NOT in a line, we would have been in deeper doo-doo in terms of severity of the storms.

The power was only out for a few seconds and there was emergency lighting in there, but still.  What timing!  Lunch was very yummy as always.

Harry didn't miss any school with his illness and is enjoying his last few days of kindergarten.

Malcolm

 Malcolm, the guy who had been over this fever thing for several days when his two brothers got hit, went to soccer solo and did great.  He also has limited time as a kindergartner left before he's a big first grader!  It's easy to get sucked into TV and video games when your brothers are sick and your sister's at a sleepover, but he has been enjoying books too.  One of his favorites is a book with photographs and facts about insects.  I am one of those people who like insects and reptiles so I am equally enthralled!  I missed a great photo-op of Malcolm and Andy exploring a bug crawling up the side of our house.  They looked like two kids from a Science Club brochure!  The moment just wasn't long enough for me to run and get the camera.  Most likely, a more interesting insect, or arachnid for that matter, came along and off they went.

Lillian

I gave Lilly a less traditional "girl" color this week.  I think purple and pink are still her favorite colors, but I'm not sure.  Lilly has been wearing boys' clothes all week.  In fact, she accused Andy of "stealing" the shorts she wanted to wear tomorrow!  Poor kid!  He has some EXACTLY like hers...and I think they're the same size too, but Lilly can tell the difference.

I find it kind of charming.  I, too, went through a "tomboy" stage.  Tonight, she told me she wanted to go outside and play in the rain, too.  It was a cold, steady, wear-your-heavy-coat kind of rain.  She didn't end up doing it.  (Update: All games involving a bat and a ball were rained out so no outdoor exercise was had as planned.)

She's very excited because she got her yearbook today.  I told her I never had one until I got to high school and she was very lucky.  It's wonderful to see how many of her friends' signatures she got.  What fun!  She also designed a color-coded system and drew squares around the heads of classmates and teachers.  Some of the colorful categories were teachers, friends and kids in her class.  A dilemma shortly came about when she was faced with a friend who was ALSO in her class!  This is the good stuff about school.

Andersen

Andy bounced back from the virus in time for school on Monday, but he had a lingering sore throat.  He did have a negative strep culture though and is finally almost done with that symptom.  Andy doesn't usually stop for ANYTHING, but he was telling me his throat hurt so much that he couldn't even swallow his favorite foods.

I was able to find enough photos for him to complete his school poster.  I'm going in next week to see his class's creations.  He's going to have the same two teachers next year and he's looking forward to it.  This is a new concept to the elementary school.  They call it "looping".  He really is loving baseball.  His last game is on Saturday.

Mom

Ooh!  I like that color!  I'm definitely girly and I grew out of that tomboy phase before I hit my teens.  What have I been up to?  I'm just trying to keep up with all of the year-end school events and set up the kids' summer activities as I mentioned above.  I have already told them that I am going to put a reward system into place for doing productive things like reading, working in their summer workbooks and keeping up with their chores.  The screentime around here has gotten out of whack with all of the fatigue I was dealing with until recently.  I've already started the weaning process.  I never thought I'd say that as I was always SO careful about limiting the amount of TV/video games my kids took part in, but hey, I will get back on track!

Dad

Dad's teenage car ended up stranding him on the side of the road this morning.  Thankfully, it was not raining yet.  One tow truck and an hour or two later, the mechanics explained that they had changed a consumable part with a defective one recently.  So, the repair is on them!  Hey, there's some great news and it's not the car's fault.  It's not just blaming someone else like a teenager may, it was actually not its fault!  It's been a struggle this week to get me my scheduled "breaks" (something we just started working on together), but I know he's trying and very aware of my need for them, which means the world to me.

Photo Hunt

I just found out that Andy needs family photos for THIS AFTERNOON!  He was absent on Friday so we didn't get the memo so to speak.  He mentioned something about it and I confirmed with his teacher.  Off to the film prints...make sure they are doubles....to find cute pix of my oldest man and the rest of us...!

M is for Motivation on Monday!

The weather is cool and sunny after a tumultuous, humid and stormy weekend.  It's like all of the storms we had Saturday and Sunday just blew out all of the cobwebs that were in my brain.  These cobwebs are ones of uncertainty (translated into walking in circles), anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, tired and out-of-control.

Monday usually stands for M(otivation)ON(empty) and other M's like "More sleep please", "My, What a Mess this place is" and "Moodiness" on the part of my children.

Not today!  I am embracing this Monday morning with a to-do list that I actually will do this morning!  I usually have a hard time getting out of my own way on Mondays because the weekends have been so crazy, but not today!

Everyone affected is feeling better from the fever-thing and capable of going to school.  Plus, all of the kids were in a great mood this morning too!  I think all of the rain and not being able to play outside (for fear of being struck by lightning or pounded by hailstones) had put a "damper" on their happiness over the weekend.  The kids were antsy and getting on each other's nerves.

Lilly also picked out some new summer clothes yesterday.  The girl who used to love to ride her bike in a fancy dress even though it was harder to pedal is now shopping in the Boys' Department.  I'm fine with it.  Whatever makes her happy.  I love that she wants to express herself in different ways.  As we walked to the Boys' Department we had to cross through the dreaded Girls' Department and she got worried for a second.

She ended up with soccer shorts with large, white sport stripes on the side and some graphic tees.  I checked them for appropriateness and they passed the test.  Although, this morning as she was putting one on, we both realized that embededed in the cool paisley pattern was a skull!  Still OK.  No blood, devices of torture or even so much as a snake.

I think this greatly contributed to her good mood this AM.  Even a girl who likes boys' clothes can get excited about new threads!  Harry is also typically very grumpy in the AM as many people are.  I was pleasantly surprised as he was smiling and cooperating BEAUTIFULLY.  He even let me wash his face without a fight (yes, he is more than capable of washing it by himself, but that's something we'll work on this summer...one battle at a time).

Ahh, I could get used to this.  Now, off to do some of my "to-dos".  Happy Monday!

Friday Night Fever(s)

Well, since Wednesday, two more of my kids got "hit" with whatever is going around our family.  I had to pick up Andy from school early yesterday.  He managed to push through his Field Day activities in the morning, but by the time he went to nurse in the afternoon, he had hit 101.2.  It seems to be a PM kind of thing because Harry (the morning kindergarten guy) hit the proverbial "101" this afternoon as well.

Sigh.

Lilly has left for a sleepover.  I figure, she's healthy, why should she be stuck at home with her brothers who keep getting thermometers stuck in their mouths?  Crossing my fingers that she stays healthy for it...  I have managed to escape with just a scratchy throat.  I'll take it!

My boys are glued to iCarly and are looking forward to the iPsycho movie premiere on Nickolodeon.  Nothing beats Movie Night, especially when the kids are too ill to do anything else!

The Wednesday News June 2, 2010

he I can't believe it's Wednesday again and a whole week since I've written!  Wow!  I honestly don't know where this week went, but let me start writing about it.  Maybe that'll jog my memory!

Family update: School is really winding down for the kids.  It's exciting that summer is almost here!  We had an idyllic Memorial Day weekend complete with cookouts, swimming, sunshine and patritoic activities.  I've always loved Memorial Day weekend.  It's magical.  Even though it is the same three-day weekend you get for other Monday holidays, it just seems to go on forever!

Harrison: The twins are enjoying their first Field Day at school.  Once a year in June, the school has activities in the "field".  Harry reported playing kickball, some kind of game where they took turns ringing out a sponge and that a classmate had to sit out.  Malcolm being in the afternoon class with the same teacher, will likely have similar stories of activities when he returns home.  Harry has managed to avoid the short-lived fever thing his twin brother just shook.

Malcolm: It's hard to talk about Harry and Malcolm's activities without overlap since they have the same teacher, karate instructors and baseball coaches!  However, we always strive for individuality.  Even though they have the same DNA and physical appearance, they still have the same rights as the rest of us to be individuals.


Let's see: Field Day, we've already hit on.  Poor thing had a fever of 102 on Sunday and Monday!  I naturally took him for a strep test yesterday, but it was negative.  No fever all day yesterday so he's back in the game (literally) today.  Usually when my kids get a high fever like that, they commit to being sick for a long stretch.  Glad this was different!

Just for grins, I'll stick the adults in the middle this week!  Dave seems to have had the same thing that Malcolm had.  He's had to call in sick which he never does.  He is able to keep up with his day-to-day via the internet and phone.  I'm happy he isn't getting more behind while he recovers.  That's enough to keep anyone from getting better!


He and Andy went to plant flags on the graves of veterans at a local cemetery on Saturday and then marched in our town's parade on Monday.  Both of these activities were with Andy's Cub Scout Pack.  What quality dad/son time!  We all enjoyed a wonderful cookout at a friend's house on Sunday.  The weather was beautful all weekend!

Dave mustered up the energy for our own cookout on Monday, but it was very lowkey as he and Malcolm were ill.  Many hot dogs were eaten by all AND he put the A/C units in the windows for us!

I loved spending time with my husband, my kids and some dear friends this weekend.  Hopefully, we'll be able to go down and visit some other family this weekend or next.  Andy has a flag reserved for Grandpa's grave when we go.  He's buried about 90 minutes from our house, near some of the rest of our family.  I thought it was great that Andy participated in those activities.  It helped our whole family remember what Memorial Day was all about.

As for me, I have already ditched my diet!  I am a very commitment-oriented person who gives 110% to everything, but I was just getting too hungry and dizzy.  I feel much better when I eat normal meals.  I still try to replace a meal with a protein shake when I am in the mood to "take lunch or leave it", but that's been rare.  I am trying to cut down on treats and continue my exercising.

I'm still pretty overwhelmed with the house, but I'm just trying to do a little dejunking everyday.  I feel so good when I do this!  The summer plans are also coming together slowly.  It looks like we can do a week or two of daycamp for the kids and our usual swimming lessons.  Summer is even harder for me because of the lack of structure, but at the same time, I cherish the time with my kids and we have a lot of fun!

Andy not only planted flags (36 to a bag), but being the machine he is, kept asking for more flags ("More Flags, More Fun...Six Flags"....actually 108....how much fun would THAT be?!).  He ended up planting 3 bags' worth.  He also made some new friends at the cookout on Sunday and got thorough enjoyment out of the slip-n-slide and water balloons that were provided.  He went swimming at a neighbor's pool on Monday and went with his class to see a play today.

Lilly has managed to enjoy herself too, although she's been suffering with migraines.  She is going to see the doctor next week.  We have been keeping a "headache journal" of how much sleep she's getting, if she's eating anything out of the ordinary and when she actually sees spots versus just has head pain.  She is enjoying a field trip today to a museum featuring Mexican art.  What a busy day for my brood!

One of her best friends' families was hosting the cookout so that's always super for the girls to get together.  She was also invited swimming at the same neighbor's pool which was a treat for her!

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The Wednesday News, May 26, 2010

Welcome to this week's The Wednesday News.  What's new?  In a word, LEGO!

Andy will be first this week.  He earned a Lego gift card from his aunt, uncle and cousin for his First Communion.  With the return of Daddy on Saturday, Sunday meant a road trip to the Lego store to redeem said card.  Since it's a 1/2 hour drive to a MALL, this journey is much easier with two parents.

Andy decided to get handfuls of different kinds of unique Lego parts.  For those not familiar, the Lego store has a "Pick-a-Brick" section.  They are individual "bricks" and other parts that are in separate "bulk" style bins.  Andy ended up with a random assortment of "gems" (aka small, yellow, clear bricks), clocks (which are totally cool) and steering wheels (you need those especially with all of the wheels that he earned on a different visit).

You fill up different size cups and pay by the size (like buying a fountain drink where you pay for small, medium and large).  Andy figured out that you could get more bang for the buck if you put SMALL items in a cup.  Smart kid!  His gems seem to be his favorite.  However, he keeps forgetting to put the cap on these special Lego cups so they keep ending up all over the floor.  He's also tried rolling them in a dish towel and taking them outside.  I TOLD him this was not a good idea.  Gems have been a source of great frustration, but hopefully the joy will return.  His poison ivy is better, but now Malcolm has it all over his back.  "I fell in a pile of leaves" is his explanation.  Dude, "leaves of three, let it BE!!"

Malcolm, while not involved with poisonous plants, has made some wonderful spaceships with Legos this week.  He used some a bunch of Andy's odds and ends too.

There's just something about reveling in your child's creativity.  The ship was amazing in and of itself, but what's even better is asking Malcolm to talk about the ship and listen to his imagination run wild.  He explained to me how all of the steering wheels were needed because each one puts a shield up.  Then, once they're up, the yellow buttons are for firing at enemy ships.  (We are a Star Wars family.)  He didn't have an explanation for the clocks, but I'll let you know if he thinks of one!

Here's another creation.  This one has only one steering wheel, but lots of racing stripes on the fuselage and more clocks....

Harry didn't do too much in terms of Lego this week.  He's been outside a great deal.  My kids don't get an allowance, but they do have the opportunity to earn prizes for providing the family with extra help and good behavior.  Last week while Dad was away was really tough on me, but the kids found many ways to rise to the occasion including going to bed on their own and the older kids helped with tasks and story reading relating to the younger ones.

Andy earned the ability to buy extra Lego in addition to the gift card.  This week Harry and Malcolm earned a bubble set that they agreed to share.  They've both been enjoying that.  It's also been very hot weather so the kids have been playing in the hose a lot too.  How fun is THAT?!?

Harry (and Andy) also performed at their school's annual Memorial Day program.  Students are encouraged to invite family members and friends who are veterans.  There are usually a handful.  Each veteran stands up on stage during the concert and their name and branch of service is announced.  Then, each grade (K-3) stands up one at a time and sings a song to honor our country and the veterans who represent what Memorial Day is all about.

I love that the school is instilling such a sense of pride and patriotism in our young students.  I am also glad they're learning how important the job of the military is.

Lilly had also earned a prize.  This time she picked a Lego set!  She is really not that into Lego, but this set tickled her.  It was a Spongebob Squarepants Krusty Krab restaurant set!

Look at the Lego hamburger (oops, "Krabby Patty") with lettuce, mustard and ketchup!  LOVE IT!

Lilly also made this birdhouse a couple of weeks ago by painting a plastic coffee container at Girl Scouts.  We hung it on the tree that day and she was getting discouraged.  She even had a theory that the birds didn't like the smell of coffee that was embedded in the plastic!  However,...

Someone has moved in!  So far it's just twigs, but that's a good sign!  Andy added that he saw a broken blue egg on the ground and that he can see another egg in here now, but I'm not sure if he "dreamed it"....yeah, dreamed it...we'll go with that explanation...

My DH is "back" from "the (former) USSR".  God is good.  It was wonderful for all of us to spend time together as a family this weekend.  We're looking forward to the long Memorial Day weekend too!  One of my favorite times of year!

As far as I'm concerned, things are going much better this week.  One of Lilly's major projects is now behind us and I feel like I have a better handle on where and when we're supposed to be as school winds down for the kids.  Now, my challenge is organizing all of this Lego!  I can almost HEAR at least two my readers' heads shaking at my decision to buy more, but I will NOT let the Lego conquer me!  Be proud (and maybe help me build an addition too)!  Some brilliant people online recommended Tupperware containers to organize them all.  I bought another 3-drawer sorter and plan to put these various Tupperwares into those for now.  I will let you know how it goes!

I am also trying to do daily exercise and lose some weight.  I HATE dieting.  When I'm on a diet, all I do is think about food.  However, I'm trying to replace at least lunch with a protein shake and cut down on treats and refined sugar.  It's even hotter in my house today than yesterday, so hopefully my "Theory of Perspiration" will help me achieve my goal too!  It's 85 degrees in here!  That's OK.  It's 95 outside!  Time to exercise!!

Sweatin' it Out

I just stepped off our portable stairmaster!  I am back on track, people.  This morning I bought my meal-replacement protein shakes, had one for lunch and was still hungry.  Instead of eating a "real" lunch in addition, I downed a glass of water and hit the 'master!

It's been very hot here the last few days.  Normally I HATE the heat unless I can go swimming or hibernate in air-conditioning.  Today, I made the heat work for me.  We don't have our window air-conditioners in yet, so it was perfect!  It's time for me to lose some weight again.  I NEVER buy pants in a larger size, so when they start getting tight, I take drastic measures (but still healthy ones...would NEVER trade that for anything) to "untighten them".

Today I thought, it's hot, I'm sweaty...could that help me lose weight?  I had a roommate when I was in graduate school who went to Guatemala in the summer.  She said she lost 20 pounds JUST from SWEATING!  Kinda gross, but hey, it just might work as I don't see any trips to Central America on the calendar.

I wish I had a treadmill because I'm trying to become a runner.  I can't run outside right now as I have at least one kindergartener home with me at all times and I sense that he'd beat me around the block or won't be able to keep up, neither of which is helpful to me.  This also means the gym is out as it's adults only.  However, the portable stairmaster can keep me climbing while I watch clips of TV shows or stream talk radio programs that I like.  Someday I'll download songs for my iPod too.  Where is that charger....?

I already feel great after 30 minutes and have more energy!  Excuse me, gotta take a shower.

Keeping up with May

So I've been in denial about all of the dates of things going on in May.  However, we've reached the last week of the month, so it's time to find all of the dates for field trips, end of year concerts, lost library books, registrations for summer activities, you name it.

I've found it all very overwhelming, but now it's time to get serious.  Gotta go mark my calendar.  See you!

The Wednesday News May 19, 2010

Hmm...can't italics the title or underline it...my former English teachers would be appalled!  It also drives me crazy since I am a stickler for punctuation and grammar (and very little else in the world).

Onward to this edition of The Wednesday News.  Ahh, THERE it is...proper title etiquette!

I'll start with my dear hubby this week, just for the sake of change.  He's in Moscow and currently 8 hours ahead of us right now.  Lilly almost stayed up late enough last night to call Daddy first thing in the morning over there!  However, there's first thing and then there's just WAY too early...

I haven't talked with him very much given the time difference and all of our comings and goings at home, but we've managed to catch up a little bit.  He said things were going really well business-wise so I'm very proud of him for that.  Can't wait to have him back on Saturday!

OK, time for my story.  In a word (or two) I'm burned out.  I must say my attitude has improved today and I am much more productive than I have been.  I guess sometimes it feels overwhelming that there is ALWAYS too much to do.  I know, I need to expect that with 4 kids and I wouldn't change it for the world, but I need a day off!

I have been going through the motions of getting kids to school, bathed, fed and their homework done, but I have put in very little effort more than the bare bones.  There have been too many hours of video games and TV, but I am encouraged by how much I got done today already.  Still holding onto the "one piece at a time" philosophy...just that some days, I really don't have my heart in it!  Holding out hope for today though, like I said.  :)

Andy is covered with poison ivy!  Monday night he showed me some spots on his wrist.  I denied them and told myself they were "bug bites" although I knew they weren't.  He didn't seem too bothered by them so he went to sleep.  Last night, he came down again after going to bed, complaining of itchiness.  I could no longer deny the spots and now there were spots on his arm, his ankles and behind his ears!  He had taken a long, soapy bath on Monday night so whatever poison ivy oil was gone.  The damage was done.  There was nothing we could do.  I told him not to scratch it and he fell asleep.  Good, because I was too tired to get the calamine lotion!  I would have of course, but he fell asleep so I was relieved.

Still scratching this AM, but off to school he went.  He told me he had gone into the woods and was "cutting down plants" with a stick in a sickle-like fashion.  Whoops!  those plants had their own defense!  This after he hurt his ankle coming out of the tree on Sunday.  It was nasty and bruised up right away so I thought it was sprained, but he was walking on it by Monday morning.

Sigh.

Lillian has missed two days of school since last week's The Wednesday News.  She had her first migraine on Thursday and another one on Monday.  It's been very hard for me to get her to do homework since the headache has been lingering since the first migraine on and off.  She's been a trooper though.  I don't know what's triggering them, but she does have terrible seasonal allergies.  I've been having her drink a lot of fluids too.

Malcolm is enjoying Andy's Nintendo DS more than he should, but I've had to fall back on it this week.  Guilty as charged.  Other than that, he's loving tee ball and soccer.  He's had a lot of outside time in the great weather we've been having too and having a great time playing with neighborhood kids.

Harry too is having more than his share of screen time.  He's also in a vicious cycle where he falls asleep in the afternoon, can't fall asleep at night, falls asleep in the afternoon....I'm hoping that gets back on track soon.  He, too, is enjoying tee ball, soccer and the neighbors!

One Piece at a Time

Yes, I am a HUGE Johnny Cash fan, but in this case, I'm not talking about taking one piece of a car home everyday from my job and building my own car for free.  Although, that isn't a bad idea, until you get caught, arrested, etc.

I am taking it "one piece at a time" in terms of getting through this week while Dave is away.  Those of you who read my blog and/or know me, know that I kind of flounder without structure, even if the structure is just "some downtime with the kids".  So far, so good.  He left last night for 7 days.  I took dinner, baths and bedtime each as their own chunk.  It went well!

So far, this morning, I've been to Andy's makeup baseball game and have come home.  My terrifiic weekend babysitter has made lunch for the kids (another piece of the day) and now I have to have my lunch (another piece).  I don't like to miss Mass, but it is an exercise in futility to take all 4 with me alone.  I watch Mass online when I can't go on Sundays.

I am going to take my wonderful kids to Dairy Queen this afternoon to make up for the fact that Daddy's gone on the weekend.  So, this will be one more piece of our Sunday.  Then, Lilly has some homework to finish and then we'll be back on the dinner/baths/bedtime track.

Tune in tomorrow for more pieces!

New Tradition!

Hi Everyone!  I have been thinking about doing this for awhile.  I find that I tend to talk about different members of my family depending upon what person is providing the most "newsworthy" events!  So, I am going to try something on for size.

It's called the Wednesday News.  I will take time to recap what's going on in each of our lives each Wednesday!  Here goes:

Why not start with Yours Truly: I have been especially enjoying my blog lately.  I've added some new features.  BTW, any readers who haven't signed up for BlogFrog, sign up!  It's free and we can follow each other's happenings.  Thank you to the readers who are following me and visiting on BlogFrog!

Not too much to report.  Still looking for that extra hour in the day (isn't everyone?), except for me, I want the extra hour during the SCHOOL day!  I love my kids but I really love having only one home at any given morment...and that's only during the day!

I'm still struggling to do basic chores.  I know, just do them!  I get too bored too fast.  However, I am still seeing the benefits of keeping up daily and being bored rather than having all of it escalate into total chaos.  I already have enough chaos in the house without the house adding its own.  Our goddaughter's Communion was Saturday, one week after Andy's.  We had to fight what seemed like the same downpour following us to get there, but it was wonderful.

Dave has come off of a family reunion of sorts.  He was away last weekend and I stayed back with the kids.  He is going on another business trip very soon, but in the meantime, he's fighting horrible seasonal allergies but still being a great dad.  He's been showing up at all of the baseball games (and there've been a lot of them) and pitching in around the house (more than his share lately, but I'm trying to take back more again).

Lilly is still making origami boxes.  They're amazing!  She even made some for her brothers to put their "presents" in for Mother's Day!  I'll add a photo as soon as I have one.  She is keeping up well with most of her homework.  Her advanced program still presents a challenge, but she does very good work.  She loves her friends and her family and she got the opportunity to see a bunch of people we hardly ever see at the two Communions!

Andy is doing a lot of baseball.  He typically has 3 games a week.  It goes pretty well for us since the rest of the kids can play at the playground while Andy's game is going on.  My kids are also old enough now that they can wait until after the game (typically, we're home by 7:30p) to eat dinner.  It's not ideal and after they leave the playground, they realize how hungry and tired they are and ROOOOOAR!  At least I don't have to bring dinner to the ballfield anymore and try to fight them off the swings to eat a bite here and a bite there...  He's loving the advanced math sheets his teacher gives him and completes Lilly's math when we're not looking.  He's in 2nd grade and she's in 4th.  She's not complaining but we are!

Harrison is doing T-ball.  He is on the same team as his twin brother Malcolm.  They tend to feed off each other and tune out the coaches, other children, their parents, the world...So, I have to lend a hand to their coaches so they can focus on, well, coaching!  Harry is my afternoon errand helper.  I am really trying to split it up so Malcolm goes with me sometimes, but Mal is home in the morning...and you know how I am in the morning.  I am pretty useless, but it has to get better.  I have to get things done around here!

Malcolm is also doing T-ball.  They both love it.  It's interesting how their pants don't get dirty until AFTER the game!  Malcolm and I have very quiet mornings together.  It's so nice to spend time with each one of the twins one-on-one.  He never gives me trouble when it's time to go pick up his brother from morning kindergarten.

That's it for this edition of Wednesday News.  News updated throughout the week!  Come back and visit soon!

Mother's Day 2010

 This one was unconventional, but still great!  Dave was away for the weekend for a family thing.  I hired a sitter to watch my remaining 3 kids while Andy and I took off together.  Andy had a playdate of sorts, but I dropped him off and waited....by myself, in the peaceful quiet of the beautiful Sunday morning.

Was this the best Mother's Day so far?  Absolutely!  To me it was perfect.  Recharge my batteries with no kids in the morning and then be all smiles, full of patience and energy by the afternoon to spend time with my kids!

It was my mom's birthday on Monday so she was going to come visit with my sister's family, but it didn't work out at the last minute.  That's OK though.  Two more playdates (one more for Lilly, one for Andy).  Twins were tired and calm.  Tacos for dinner and everyone in bed on time.  Perfect!

We are rescheduling the Mother's Day holiday for this coming Saturday to do our usual traditions like breakfast in bed.  Two Mother's Days!  Am I the luckiest mom in the whole world?  Yes!

Purely Anecdotal

Hi friends! Thought I'd share a couple of fun bits of our life with you today.

The first one is called, "Have a Coke and a Smile!"

Am I the only one who remembers when Coke had that as one of their many slogans over the years? I am? OK, then, just take my word for it. They did. There was a commercial with a little boy, Mean Joe Green (formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers)...anyway...watch the video (from www.youtube.com/ "Mean Joe Green Superbowl Ad, 1980"). 
Get a load of the GLASS bottle!

So, I finally made it to the grocery store Tuesday out of desperation. My trusty helper, Harry, was with me as it was the afternoon and the time I usually realize that if I don't go NOW I won't be able to go without taking everyone with me after school! Would that be so bad? Could I do that? Could I be lazy even longer and take everyone just this once? No, I had to go. We couldn't skip karate to go shopping, or else I would have hauled the gang with me. I was so tired and lazy!  I didn't want to do ANYTHING!  Like I said in a previous post, this Tuesday was worse than a Monday.

Got it done. We had run out of Coke. Now, my DH is a Coke drinker as he has no other options that he likes for caffeine. I know I need my coffee everyday, so I try to make sure we always have it in the house. So, we're going down the soda aisle and there's another mom with 2 kids shopping. She goes, "Kids, we have to get Coke for Daddy! Daddy's not happy without his Coke!" Being the friendly type that I am, I uninvitedly comment on her conversation with her children, "Our Dad isn't happy without his Coke either! That's why we never run out." I fibbed, but it was only a white lie to make conversation.  It made everyone smile.  Coke apparently can do that even if you're just BUYING it!


"Twin-iata" (pronounced like piniata but with a twin)
This would have been a great post for yesterday, Cinco de Mayo, but alas, I'm a day late.  So, Andy made his First Communion on Saturday.  Great job, buddy!! (an anecdote in and of itself, but I had already mentioned it in another post and I don't want to be redundant.)

We had a wonderful day with family and friends that of course, included a lot of outside play with the kids.  Harry has a tendency to climb up small trees and then freaks out when it's time to get down.  That day was no exception.

There he was hanging from the lowest branch a few feet off the ground.  I was inside preparing to serve the meal.  The husbands were all outside including mine, but he had his hands full doing something else.  Harry made his usual cry for "Heeeeeeelp!!" even though he could have come down on his own with no sweat.

Dave, DH, called to Malcolm, his twin brother, who was just inches away from him to give Harry a hand.  Not only does Malcolm NOT help him, he runs in the opposite direction and retrieves a wiffle bat.  Then, charges toward a still-dangling Harrry yelling, "PINIATA!!!"

The husbands are now laughing hysterically.  I never did find out who actually got him down, but isn't it interesting that instead of rescuing and/or coming the aid of his brother, he decides he's going to hit him like a piniata.  Wouldn't that have been a hoot if CANDY came out.  Boys.  What are they THINKING?!?!


In other news, Malcolm and Harry promoted from their very first belt in karate...only took them 10 months!  They have a lot of trouble behaving as a twosome in class so one, the other or both often had to sit out.  Hey, I'm still very proud of them. 


I'll leave you with some pictures that are worth a thousand words, but I'll write a few anyway.

Malcolm wears the pants in the family.

Lilly's Emergency Preparedness Kit in response to the Severe Thunderstorm Watch the other day.  If you recall, Lilly's my beyond-budding meteorologist.  I have since removed my asthma inhalers, Dave's iPod charger and a pitcher of water.  One of the boys took the flashlight (can't keep one...EVER!...they just disappear) and Lilly repossessed the portable DVD player.  Good to know her brother's shoes are still there as are 3 of our favorite DVDs!  Thanks Lil (oh, better put the player back in...and some batteries!).

Finally, Lilly and I got our nails done!  Mine are the orange ones attached to my bumpy hands...oh, and I'm the one with the wedding rings...

This Tuesday is Worse than a Monday

Think about it, you have an excuse to be unproductive on a Monday.  What's my excuse for today?  Well,
I'd better go do SOMETHING this afternoon.  See you soon!