Day 7... End of Week One

 

Day 7:  I can’t even talk about today;  I don't want to step on any toes!

…..The only thing I will say is that my heart is really hurting and the only remedy, I can think of, isn’t available!!!  :O(

Day 6...

Day 6:  I am so exhausted; I feel like I have the weight of my world on my shoulders and it’s really weighing me down!!!  I’m really looking forward to my 3ish hour break tonight, thanks to Erin from MOPS who has graciously volunteered to give me Thursday nights off!

         …Last night was a really late night!  My attempt at using a baby gate to keep Maggie in her room worked in a way, but in the end only really frustrated her and she was too upset to go to sleep.  Especially after I went into her room, about 11:45, and decided to put her back in her bed since she was lying on the floor without any blankets.  Putting her back in her bed was a mistake!  It woke her up and she wouldn’t go back to sleep, she just cried and cried at her door.  It was after midnight when I decided that I really needed to get some sleep so I’d just have her sleep with me in my bed.  She almost immediately went right to sleep snuggled up next to me on Jacob’s side of the bed.  This won’t be a regular thing though,  I have to figure out if I want to bring her crib back in or if moving her to a twin bed, with more space to move around, won’t be more productive?!

         I don’t get the best of rest sleeping with Maggie in my bed.  She tends to be a bed hog and I usually find myself on the very edge of the bed despite her small size.  I don’t like to have someone touching me when I sleep so I tend to move away from them and that is what has me ending up on the edge of the bed.

         For some reason, though I’d finally gone to sleep around 1am, I woke up right around 5:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep; this could be another reason I’m so exhausted today…  I lay in bed, but decided to get up at 6 since I couldn’t get back to sleep, then got ready for the day.

         The older 3 were up about 6:30.  Anna was really tired though; she’d stayed up till 10 doing something, I can’t quite remember what, so she didn’t get enough sleep.  The boys were up, but messing around in their room.  I had to remind them several times that they were supposed to be getting their clothes on for the day.

         Nothing too eventful went on this morning with the kids OR the dog; no mishaps, no big fights, or actions that demanded consequences.  Once Anna and David left for school I was able to make breakfast for Maggie and myself and sit and relax for a few minutes after going and going and going this morning trying to get some chores done.

         After eating I decided that I wanted to go to the ARC Thrift Store, turn in some donations, then check out the selections in the store.  Before we got out of the van I strapped Maggie into her new child safety harness that my friend Cindy got me.  We didn’t really use it much, but when we did it was extremely helpful and I actually saved Maggie twice from face planting in the road because I was able to pull her up in time!  :O)  (Thanks Cindy!!!)

I didn’t find much at the ARC, just 3 small items.  Then I took the kids over to The Dollar Tree, where we got a bunch of goodies and necessities.  Man can you save a bundle there, if you stop yourself from buying any extras that is…  ;O)  lol

         Back home, with the van unloaded, I tried to talk on the phone and get the kids some lunch, but Maggie was really being a challenge; she wouldn’t stop shrieking so I had to cut the conversation short.  Though I was able to schedule a babysitter for my Dental Apt. next Thursday morning and a play date afterwards!

         Once I was off the phone I was able to sit Maggie down with a yogurt, which I let her feed herself.  She made a bit of a mess, but was happier than she’s been previously so I decided to just deal with the mess afterward and enjoy the piece while I had it!  When she finished I tried to get her to eat her hot dog, but she just started freaking out again; so instead of fighting with her, I just put her down for nap.  She only fought that for a minute before she went right to sleep; I guess she was tired?!

         Right now (12:06 pm) I’m updating my Blog and getting ready to try and figure out what I want do in my time off this afternoon… 

John is playing with Lady; they are constant companions when the older kids are at school.

         I’m not sure what else will go on today???  I want to get a bit more cleaning done before Erin arrives this afternoon…  I’ll update more later this evening.

9:36 pm  ~I’m having trouble typing because I’m just so darn exhausted.  Running on only 4 1/2 hours of sleep will do that to ya, along with all the other daily stuff as well…  Wow I can’t even really think straight!!!

         I made dinner for my kids and Erin and her son, Ethan.  I had forgotten to tell Anna and David that they would have a sitter when they got home from school, so I had to call the school and leave a message so they wouldn’t freak out with a stranger in the home.  I also wrote them a note of what I expected while I was gone!

         Erin arrived right at 3:30, I relayed the dinner instructions, where stuff was, what wasn’t allowed with the dog and a few other sitting instructions then I took off.

         I went to the Cinema Grill to watch “Rango”.  WOW, is that a GREAT show!!!  It has an excellent moral that I really needed reminding of, lots of action, adventure, lots of laughs, and man was it punny!!!  LOL  I really enjoyed it!!!  While I was there I also enjoyed my favorite meal:  kids cheeseburger w/ fries and an extra basket of fries (I brought most of those home and the kids gobbled them up when they discovered that’s what was in the box).  I also got a soda and a brownie sundae (no nuts) a little later; none of that made it home!  :O)

         After the movie I only had about 45 minutes till I needed to be back home and I really wanted to find this CD that I discovered today, so I made a quick trip into The Dollar Tree to check on a few items, then headed off to Walmart.

         The closest Walmart was under construction and everything was very randomly arranged.  I finally found the electronics section in the very back corner on the opposite side of the store from the entrance.  However, I didn’t find the CD so I left.

         I kept wracking my brain to think of somewhere else that might have the CD, but I couldn’t think of anywhere until I pulled around the corner from Walmart and remember there was Sams Club just down the street and Best Buy a little farther down than that.  I stopped at Sams first, but they had a very limited selection.  Then at Best Buy I found what I was looking for.  It was priced a bit higher than I expected, but I really wanted to get the CD today, so went ahead and purchased it.

         Back home I thanked Erin and greeted my kids.  Once Erin left I rushed them upstairs to get ready for bed.  We started our reading time a little later than usual because the Skype connection was having a bit of trouble connecting on Jacob’s end, but he was finally able to read for 15 minutes.  I sent the kids up to bed right after and got off the computer so I could get the kids in bed and do a few things so that I could Skype Jacob and it just be the two of us for a few minutes before he headed off to bed.

         I had the kids put away a bit of laundry and the boys clean their room again (not sure why they can’t ever put things where they know they belong, especially when I have to tell them every night to do the SAME THING!!!)!!! 

         David and Anna helped me move the extra twin mattress we have up to Maggie’s room.  I decided that I wanted to try the twin bed to give her a bit more room to move around on.  She’s such a little rolly-polly at night, I think the toddler bed (especially that smaller mattress) without rails to keep her in (like the crib) just wasn’t working because she is just too active in her sleep!  We’ll see how the twin mattress works tonight?!?!  Right now I don’t hear her, but I’m gonna check on her before I head to bed when I’m done here…

         Once her bed was together and the toddler bed removed I put Maggie in bed.  She didn’t want to stay and I spend about 45 minutes going up and down the stairs putting her back in bed.  I hope this works; I really need some sleep!!!

         Nothing bad really happened today, just a few kids tantrums and Maggie’s usual mischief and fits, which are quite frustrating, but over all it has been my best day so far I think!  Now I just need to go to bed and I think things will be even better!  :O)  ZZZzzzzz……….. 

Days 4 and 5...

Day 4:  So I woke this morning just after 6 am because my phone was ringing.  Jacob was calling to talk a bit before he had to head in for school.  We reconciled after last nights events and I apologized for my childish response to what went on…

After our talk I decided to freshen up by taking a shower; though before I did I decided to weigh-in on our scale, only to step on it wrong and wrench my already bad ankle pretty good.  :O(

After I showered and dressed for the day, the 3 older kids were up and Lady came into my room (she had been sleeping in the boys room).  I quickly went with her out in the back yard so she could go potty.  Almost immediately she relieved herself.  I walked around a bit and shortly after she went and did #2, YAY!!!  So hopefully we won’t have any incidents in the house if we keep a VERY close eye on her today!!!

Nothing else has really gone wrong this morning…  Wait, I spoke too soon…  It’s just a mole hill though…  John just informed me Maggie is getting into mischief in Jacob’s office.  I asked David to go down and turn on the door alarm so she won’t go in, she’s afraid of the alarm; it’s a good deterrent!

The kids have all been breakfasted or are still eating in John’s case.  The older two are ready for School.  Anna is outside drawing on the sidewalk with chalk. Now that Maggie has been redirected, David is reading to her down in he playroom.  There’s about 23 minutes until Anna and David need to leave for School. 

My only goal for the day is to go to the Post Office and mail off a package for my sister (it’s some eBay items she sold to a person in Brazil). I’ve never mailed an international package before so it will be an interesting experience!

So I can’t remember everything that I got accomplished yesterday, but here are a few things that I did get to: 

~I went through all the bins in the laundry/storage room because I’m trying to put together a bin of ‘worthy’ stuff to take to Kid to Kid to trade in for store credit.

~Cleaned off the last counter in the kitchen and most of the stuff off of the round table, though it has been cluttered up again already. S:OS

~I boxed up all the extra stuff (I’m not taking to KtK) in the Dining room to clean the room up a bit...Doing so I realized that there isn’t nearly as much stuff as it looked like and there definitely isn’t enough stuff to have a garage sale by myself, so I’m just going to have to donate the stuff I don’t take to Kid to Kid, minus the furniture…

         .....The only real problems that I’ve had with anyone at all today are with Maggie.  She is constantly getting into anything and everything she’s not supposed to (the dog water and food, the bookshelf next to my chair, playing with the remote controls for all the different equipment hooked up to the TV and for the TV itself, this is only to name a few things).  If I don’t watch her CONSTANTLY and even if I do she sometimes still gets into things, even if I’m right there…  SMH  …I’m not sure what’s going on with her?!  She’s been getting plenty of attention.  However, it seems she wants every single second of my attention, which isn’t leaving me with any time to do anything else that needs to be done around here, which is a lot with the new dog that has become un-potty trained being in a new environment, Anna and David needing help with homework when they get home from School and other various thing the older 3 need help with all through the evening.  Then there’s dinner, dishes, laundry, other household chores, ect, ect…. 

         This evening we got to Skype Jacob for our nightly reading before the kids went to bed.  The boys kept bouncing around like crazy and one time John bounced so hard he flew off the big purple marshmallow pillow we have and landed hard against the exercise bike.  I was like, “Whoa…are you okay?”   He seemed fine, then started to get all shy and cry like he does when he gets hurt (he never wants any attention when other people realize he’s been hurt and he gets very defensive).  Anyway, he wouldn’t let me anywhere near him, so I left him alone and he went and hid behind the chair next to the couch by the large dragon figurine that I got for my Anniversary last year.  Well, John started to freak out behind the chair, apparently frustrated by something, all of a sudden I see Anna’s jacket flying out from behind the chair and see my dragon go flying with it and hear a crack as it lands on the chair.  I rush over and grab the dragon, at first I don’t see anything then I notice there’s a 2” narrow chunk missing all the way through one of the dragons wings.  SMH …I was so angry, I yelled “Times up!” speaking about the reading time.  I took the dragon over towards the garbage and tried to see if I could retrieve the missing wing pieces, but they had fallen down inside (the inside is hallow), so it’s not repairable.  In frustration I slammed the dragon down on the counter (not as hard as you would think) and two of the dragons feet crack off and went flying across the counter.  RME&SMH   We called it a night and I sent the kids to bed.  Jacob was still on Skype, but we didn’t know what to talk about since I was so frustrated for SO many reasons!   

         I’m HORRIBLY bummed that my super awesome dragon (present) was ruined!!!  I might try and find another one because I really, REALLY liked that dragon (not only was it super cool looking, it was a present from my Honey)!!!!!

         The older 3 kids went to bed no problem, but I really had a tough time getting Maggie stay in bed.  She had fallen asleep earlier when we had run an errand to grab some baby gates from a lady who had posted them on Craigslist.  She took about an hour nap, so when it was time for bed she didn’t want to go and I spent over an hour running up and down the stairs, spanking her butt every other time or so, and putting her back in bed.  I think it was around 9:30 when she finally stayed put; she originally went to bed at 8.

         I stayed up and watched “Cranford”; it's a two disc series that I’ve rented from Netflix.  I started to get really tired after the second episode, about 10:30 so I shut it off and went to bed.

          

         Day 5:  So today I had quite a bit planned to do!  First thing, after the usual stuff (getting kids ready for school and everything that goes with it), I needed to go and fuel my van and get out some cash so that I could head to Boulder to check out a desk/hutch combo that I possibly wanted to get for Anna.  I originally wanted to leave at 8:35, HOWEVER at 8:30 David comes up from the playroom, looking all wary and concerned he says, “Mom I just noticed this just now, I’m not sure when she did it, but the dog pooped in the playroom.”

         “WHAT?!?!” I shriek.  There were a LOT of choice words and dialogue that went on after that, but I wont’ repeat it.  Anyway, I cleaned up the mess and wasn’t ready to leave till 8:50.  The kids hadn’t left for school yet and I had had a really hard time getting them to listen and help me out so we could leave, so they were punished and I told them they'd have to run, they had 5 minutes to get to School or they'd be late.

         John, Maggie and I took off after Anna and David left for School.  I stopped to  get some cash (for the desk) and fuel since I was below half a tank; Boulder is almost an hour drive away.  Anyway, we were on the road at 9:01 am.

         We arrived at our destination in West Boulder a few minutes before 10, the time that’s I’d arranged to meet the people at their place.  When we parked I called my friend Cindy to let her know so she could take off for our lunch destination; she had a farther drive than I so she needed a head start. 

          The place we arrived at appeared to be an apartment complex with multiple places claiming the same address.  However I had never received a house number from the lady, but I did get a phone number, so I gave her a call.  They said they were just around the corner, they’d gone to get coffee, and a few minutes later they pulled up.  Maggie at fallen asleep on the way there so I left her in the van.  John had to go to the bathroom, so I asked if he could use their restroom.  When he was done we went out to check out the desk.  It looked exactly like the pictures only for real, now that we were seeing them in person.  I checked out all the pieces making sure it wasn’t going to fall apart and was sturdy.  Everything seemed in working order, it just needs a few screws to put a drawer face back on and a couple drawer pulls, so $50 wasn’t bad at all for such a nice desk with only a few minor scratches and a couple of hardware pieces that needed replaced!

         I decided I wanted the desk and we started to load the pieces into the van.  I’d removed Anna’s seat and put David’s side down, but as we tried to get the pieces in it proved to be a bit more difficult than we expected.  We had to do some creative type puzzle solving with the pieces and in the end I had to put John’s seat down as well and move him to the front seat in order to make all the pieces fit.

         After we got the desk/hutch loaded I paid the lady, thanked them and the kids and I headed off to meet my friend Cindy at The Huckleberry in Louisville.  It was only 20 minutes from where we were.

         The kids and I arrived in Louisville at about 10:45 am.  I couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere near the restaurant, so we had to drive around a bit.  After driving up and down the streets a couple times I finally found a spot just east of the restaurant, about a block away.  When we parked I let Maggie out of her seat since she’d been confined for about an hour and 45 minutes.  We still had about half an hour till Cindy would get there (she had a 45 minute drive) so with the kids loose in the van I tried to make a phone call to kill some time, but couldn’t get through.

         Time passed and about 15 minutes and two diaper changes later we headed into The Huckleberry.  After a quick bathroom break, we came back to the front and were seated almost immediately.  We got a table back in a smaller side room with only a few tables.  I ordered some tea for myself and water for the kids.  Cindy arrived about 10 minutes later and I order an appetizer, Fried Green Tomatoes, and John’s lunch, a Mickey Mouse Pancake with whipped crème.  It took us awhile, but Cindy and I finally decided what we wanted to eat.  She ordered the Country Breakfast and I decided to try something outside of the box (for me) and got Eggs Benedict.  I’ve always wanted to try it, or so I thought, but never had the guts to actually order it, so I decided since that since this was a new experience I’d go ahead and try something new (something that I hesitate to do because I’m usually horribly disappointed).  Anyway, John’s pancake and the Fried Green Tomatoes came out a bit later.  John started work right away on his.  I grabbed a FGT, dipped it in the sauce and took a bite…YUM!  It didn’t taste like I’d always imagined, but it was REALLY good!  I ate 2 1/2 and gave the first half to Maggie who started munching away.  

Cindy and I chatted a bit while we waited for our meal to arrive.  I relayed some of the past few days events.  Maggie became very fussy, no matter what tried or gave her she just wouldn’t calm down and became very screechy.  I finally gave her my calculator and she was okay with that, mostly. 

Our food arrived and it looked quite good.  I decided to just dive right into my Eggs Benedict and despite my hesitation (in the past) it was VERY good, even better when combined with a bit of their seasoned potatoes!  My only complaint, however, would be that I didn’t like the slimy feel of the egg (over easy) on my tongue; it gave me the willies, other than that I would definitely order it again (Cindy said to order the egg fried next time)!!! 

John made short work of his pancake.  I didn’t even realize he had finished it off until he brought it to my attention.  He REALLY liked it!  I told him I’d order him a milkshake because he had been so good.  He chose a chocolate one and I told the waiter, whom I thought had heard me…  After we finished our meals I decided to get dessert.  I ordered a slice of peach huckleberry pie and a white lemon curd cake 'to go'.  My pie was delivered and I tried it.  It was a bit more tart than I was lead to believe, but I think that was because they had kept it in the fridge (I prefer my pie room temperature).  I shared the pie with John and Maggie ate my whipped crème.  John’s shake never came unfortunately; I made sure that we weren’t charged for it on the check, so I let him finish off my pie.   We did get the lemon cake though and John wasn’t to carry it to the van so I let him.

Cindy drove over and parked behind me just before we left to head back to Aurora.  She had picked up some things for me at the BX while she was shopping the previous day.  She found me a child harness for Maggie (because of the previous days fiasco with her at TRU), a dog bed for Lady (so she’d have a place of her own to crash), and some of my favorite cheese I use in about everything I cook and was almost completely out of (it’s way cheaper at the Commissary than anywhere else).  After I loaded the stuff we took off and I lead the way back towards our homes.       

***In our discussions over our meal Cindy and I decided that we needed to go back there at least once a month.  The food was all so good and the décor was really nice to look at.  We wanted to sample some more teas too, but didn’t want to have to worry about the kids, so we’ll have to wait till our hubbies our back from TDY. 

Back home, I unloaded Maggie and the stuff Cindy gave me.  I put the dog bed on the ground and let Lady in.  I tried to show her the bed, but she wasn’t interested at all.  She was more excited that we were home!  As I showed Lady the bed, Maggie kept cuddling the pillow, I couldn’t get the dog to stay on it.  I thought that was funny that Maggie liked the pillow more than the dog, so I called Cindy to let her know.

While I talked with Cindy she reminded me that I needed to do some laundry (something she was talking about that she needed to do).  So I went downstairs and ended up doing 3 loads.  In between loads I kept having to get after Maggie.  She’s been such a huge mischief-maker since Jacob left for St. Louis, even more than usual.  Even if I keep a constant eye on her, I’m constantly reprimanding her and pulling her out of trouble and cleaning her up! 

When the kids got home I had Anna and David help me unload the desk/hutch from the van.  I ended up hurting my wrist trying to get the hutch out; it’s still a bit tender.  After we got it in the house we went over to The Book Outlet to try and find a dog-training book so that we can properly start working with Lady.  I also found a book on lots of different tricks to teach a dog and a book specifically on Chow Chows, which the breed that I’m thinking of getting for myself sometime in the future, or at least a mix of.       

When we got back home Anna made dinner for herself and the kids.  She made Parmesan pesto penne and peas.  They all really liked it!  I didn’t eat because I had had such a large lunch and was still very full, plus I don’t like Pesto, yuck!

After dinner, I decided that I really, really wanted to get my hair cut.  I couln't wait another day, it's been driving me CRAZY, so I had the kids load up in the van and we headed off to our usual hair salon.  I left the kids in the van under Anna’s supervision and instructions her to come and get me if need be and headed in.   

There was a lady in front of me when I got inside so I wasn’t sure if I was going to have to wait or not, but I was able to get right in.  The lady, Morgan, did a great job on my hair; she did exactly what I wanted and I was so excited that I had gotten my hair done that I gave her a $5 tip!

When I was finished and paid I went out to the van and told the kids we were heading over to Walmart.  I told them if they were good and didn’t get in trouble, even once, that I would let them have their chocolate Easter Bunnies (that they haven’t received yet for various different reasons, they didn’t get them tonight either).  I had brought a list and was able to get most of what was on it, plus a few Easter items that they had on 50% off.  We got the Easter version of a Sing-a-ma-jig for $5 and a couple other things.  I also go everything to make crepes again except for strawberries.  I did check for them, but almost every case was moldy, yuck, so I decided I’d wait and look elsewhere.

On our way home I was about to turn to go out of the Walmart parking lot, when I saw a lady holding a sign next to her car that read: “Out of Gas”.  I almost turned to leave, but felt compelled to stop and give them some money, so I pulled around and parked, grabbed some cash and headed over to her.  I handed her the cash and apologized for not having a gas can with me, but she and the guy with her were extremely thankful for the money anyway.  I got back in the van and we headed home.

I called Jacob on the way since it was 10 till 7.  We usually start our night reading at 7, but I didn’t think we would make it home by then so I wanted to let him know we’d be a little late.

When we got home I had the kids help me unload the van, then had them run upstairs to get their pajamas on.  I put all the stuff in the sacks away and then Skyped Jake a bit before the kids were ready.  Once they were seated, and paying attention for the most part, he started the story.

While Jacob read I had a lot of trouble getting Maggie to not feed the dog her food, which she was doing unintentionally, only because the dog was so close.  I finally had to put the dog outside because I couldn't keep the two separated.  I had various different incidents with Maggie while Jacob read, she just didn’t want to sit still.

At about 7:30 I told the kids to brush their teeth (if they hadn't already) and head to bed.  I hung up with Jacob to get the kids ready for bed.  I ended up making the boys pick up all their stuff in their room and hang their clothes; their room was a mess!  They have to keep their room picked up every night, which isn't a new rule, but has to absolutely be followed through on now because Lady sleeps in their room.  At least until Anna can get her room cleaned up, but we need a new dresser for her before that will be possible…

By the time the boys were in bed it was 8:15.  I let Maggie stay up until 8:30 then because I’ve had such a hard time with her staying in bed for the last week plus, I decided to gate her in her room so she can’t leave.  She really didn’t like it at first and kept opening the door, turning on the light and crying.  I thought it was working because instead of the hour and a half that I’m usually chasing her up and down the stairs to get her in bed, this time she was quite within half an hour and her light was off.  Unfortunately, about an hour later she started crying again, it woke Anna who thought she would let Maggie sleep in her room to get her to stop crying.  However, shortly after Maggie left Anna’s room crying and for some reason she was only wearing her diaper.  I had to go and put Maggie back in her pj’s, change her diaper and put her back in her bed.  She didn’t want to go; she cried for a while, then was quite for a while, then cried for a while again.  She’s quite now; it’s 10:21, hopefully she’ll stay asleep!!!

Nightmare on Paris Place...

 

And various other locations...

Saturday my life started to go to Hell!  It's been one continuous nightmare after another!!!!!  I've shed many a tear and lost my temper way too many times!!!!!  Unfortunately IT never seems to end!!!  :O(

Day 1:  It all started when Jacob left for St. Louis about 10:30 am Saturday morning! Unfortunately since the last two days have been a whirlwind of non-stop activity and constant trials and tribulations I have apparently blocked the events of Saturday from my memory, so I can’t tell you what happened at this time…  Wait…  I remembered something…  I spent a lot of time in the evening trying to put the kids Easter outfits together so we wouldn’t have to search for something, last minute, in the morning.  I ended up arguing and fighting with the boys a lot because they didn’t want to wear something super fancy.  In the end I won out, but was worn out emotionally from the fight!  :O(

So I will move onto Sunday…

Day 2:  Sunday morning I awoke relatively early to get ready for Easter Sunday.  Maggie had spent several hours sleeping in the bed with me (she joined me around 4:30 I believe) and had managed to push me to the edge of Jacob’s side of the bed.  When I got up she was laying horizontal on the bed with her feet on my side and her head on the edge of my side of the bed.  I left her sleeping and went to take a shower, but she woke up and ended up showering with me.  When we finished, I helped to get the boys ready for the day.  I had to focus individually on each child until they were completely dressed then move onto the next child because if my attention strayed even a little bit, that child would freak out.  So anyway,  I got the boys dressed and Anna got Maggie into her tights.  Anna had gotten herself ready, but didn’t know where Maggie’s dress was so I had to go downstairs and get it from the laundry room. 

When Maggie was all dressed and ready for the day, except for her shoes, I finally had the time to get myself ready for the day.  I couldn’t figure out anything to wear that looked really nice and didn’t make me feel totally fat, so I opted for something slightly nice, but more for comfort., About 15 minutes before we needed to leave for Church and I was dressed and ready, I headed downstairs.  As I reached the bottom of the stairs, John comes running out of the kitchen yelling, “Mom, Maggie’s playing in the dog water!” Then Maggie comes running out from the kitchen as if on cue and she’s drenched in the dogs water and the feet of her tights are brown.  SO I had to go and find her a completely new outfit.  What I found wasn’t anywhere near as cute at the outfit she was originally wearing, but I didn’t have anything else for her to wear and we were running out of time to get to Church.

         Well I took the kids to Church to honor God and for no other reason.  I didn’t really even want to be there and as I stood in the sanctuary I felt like crying off an on because of the mornings events. I didn’t sing much and just ended up listening.  I didn’t learn anything, though I did end up putting in a prayer request.

         After Service Anna went and got John for me ( I had written her a note and given her my security card so I wouldn’t have to get him AND Maggie from their classes);  I also gave her my keys and asked her to take him out the van.  I went to get Maggie, David was with me, and as I stood waiting for the workers to bring her to me a lady I know from MOPS, named Erin, came up and said “Happy Easter!”. 

I was like, “Sure.” rather sourly.  I may have even rolled my eyes.  S:OS

About that time they brought Maggie over.  Erin said, “What a pretty dress.” 

I was like, “She was wearing a much prettier one this morning.” Then proceeded to tell her about my morning.  Then we headed out to the van.

From Church we headed to Toys R Us.  Since we had gotten out 15 minutes early from Church and I didn’t have to meet my friend Cindy at the Chinese Buffet till 11, I figured we had time.  I went there because I knew they had these train track pieces that John needed to be able to connect the train sets that he had gotten for his Birthday together and I wasn’t sure when we’d be down there again…  Anyway, when we got there I discovered that all their Easter stuff was 75% off.  I ended up getting each of the kids a basket filled with goodies for $3.25 (4) to $5 (1) and several Easter themed board books for Maggie at 50% off. 

After looking through the Easter stuff for a while I headed over to the train area and picked up two track sets for John.  The boys played with the train set that was out and I decided to look around a bit since the Sunday paper that I had gotten didn’t have any ads in it for some reason (not sure why?).  Anyway, I had a really hard time keeping the kids with me while I was going through the isles.  The boys kept taking off, I was really frustrated so I quit looking and we checked out.

We made it to the LD Buffet at about 11.  I had Anna run in to see if they were open, which I was pretty sure they were.  She came back out go get us, so I texted Cindy to let her know she could head over. I brought all the kids into the restaurant and sat the boys and Maggie at the front on the bench to wait for Anna and I to get the food (we got it “to go”).  I told David to keep an eye on Maggie and for John to just sit there and wait.  After I’d dished up my favorite sushi, I looked over to find all the kids (minus Anna) doing ring around the support pole at the front and making a scene so I had to go and reprimand them.  Once they were seated again I finished getting our food, paid, then we headed home.

When we got home I tried to take some pictures of the kids all dressed up in their Easter garb, HOWEVER they weren’t cooperating.  I finally gave up.  Cindy joined us a few minutes later.  When she arrived we sat down to eat.  When the kids were done, I told them to go downstairs and watch a show so Cindy and I could watch a show of our own, but they kept hanging around making too much noise and Cindy and I had too much to talk about.  We couldn’t really pay attention to the movie (and it was one of those movies you really want to pay attention to or you end up missing things), so we finally gave up trying to watch.  I let Cindy take the movie home so she would be able to watch the movie without all the distractions.  Since watching the show wasn’t working out I suggested that we go and check out a different Toys R Us to see what selection of Easter stuff they had left. 

When we arrived at TRU they were pretty much cleaned out of most of the good Easter stuff.  :O(  I did find some different Easter themed books though and two really cute, super soft, fleece bunnies that I got for .75¢ each.  I also found the Limited Edition Tangled storey book that I had wanted to get, quite awhile back, and a Hello Kitty ABC board book which I got for FREE because of their Sunday BOGO sale going on with their books.  So that was cool!

We looked around awhile longer.  The kids were really having a hard time staying with me and I had to keep going to get them.  We finally decided it was time to leave and headed towards the check out. 

While I was checking out I asked Anna to keep an eye on Maggie for me.  She was too distracted with whatever she was doing and not paying any attention to Maggie so I asked her again.  When I finished checking out I stood with Cindy waiting for her to finish her transaction.  Then all of a sudden I hear the boys screaming something about Maggie and I turn to see John running out the Exit doors, so I take off running too!  I get outside and there is Maggie across the street and David has just gotten a hold of her.  Needless to say I was startling shocked and super angry!  I rushed across the street, grabbed Maggie from David and stormed to the van, buckled Maggie into her car seat and immediately called Jacob.  We discussed the kids lack of cooperation, and inability to mind.  I said I needed to pick up a collar and leash for Maggie so I don’t have to chase after her all the time, since she won’t say put.  About this time Cindy comes out and I tell her what happened; she’s shocked!  I tell her I need to get a collar and leash for Maggie and she reminds me about the safety harnesses that TRU and other stores carry.  So I asked if she’d watch the kids while I ran in to find one.  She said yes and says she’ll talk to the kids for me while I’m gone. 

I found what I was looking for, but didn’t like the color, so I didn’t get it.  I decided that I would just strap Maggie in when she’s in a cart and just not go anywhere else that doesn’t have a cart until I can go and find one of those safety harnesses.  My plan is to go to Kid to Kid when we get paid Thursday because I’ve seen them there before and they were way cheaper than buying a new one.  I hope I can find what I’m looking for!!!

I can’t remember what I did in the evening.  The kids didn’t get their Easter baskets or chocolate bunnies because they had been so disobedient (that was what I told them when they asked about them). I’m sure I cleaned up dog pee at least once or twice down in the playroom.  I’m REALLY TICKED that the person who sold us the dog said she was potty trained because she obviously isn’t and that was a major factor in our getting her!  :O( 
 I guess I’ll move on because I can’t remember anything else that happened…

Day 3:  Monday (4-25-11) morning, Anna came into my room about 6:30, she wanted to know what to do with her hair because yesterday evening I had wound her damp hair up into sections and secured them with bobby pins so that in the morning when she woke up her hair would be curly.  I told her to let the dog out and would help her with her hair when I got up.  I continued to lie in bed for a little while after she left, Maggie asleep at my side.  She had spent half the night sleeping in bed with me (she didn’t hog the whole bed this time).  When I got up a few minutes later I got dressed. 

         What happened after this and up until the events of the morning, I’m not quite clear on anymore.  However, I think in there somewhere I decided to move Maggie’s furniture around so that she’ll be more secure in her toddler bed, instead of switching her over to a twin mattress like I debated… 

Anyway, so I was distracted with something or other and came downstairs, John comes rushing over… “Mom, Maggie has poop!” 

“What?!” I say in shock and confusion.  Then turn to find Maggie holding two dog turds.  I start yelling frantically and Maggie sets the poop down on the table.  I pick her up and rush her over to the sink and immediately wash and rinse her hands and wipe her face, which has suspicious indications that she may have been trying to eat the poop, YUCK!!! 

With her all cleaned up I grab a paper towel and throw the poop away, then using some sanitizer wipes I wash down the table and douse it with sanitizer pray.  After it was cleaned I question John about where Maggie found the poop.  He’s pretty certain that it was on the floor in the TV room.  Though I’m not quite positive of John’s certainty, I start searching around to make sure there aren’t anymore unfortunate incidents on the floor.  Initially I don’t see anything, though I spot the dog looking rather guilty over next to one of the bookshelves in the front room and I tell the kids to take her outside and move on.  Since I didn’t find anything, I sanitize spray the whole TV room, then wash the carpet, and sanitize spray the whole floor again, this time leaving it to dry.  I had Anna grab the box fans from downstairs and set them up so the floor would dry quicker.

Once the floor was clean and the steam vac was cleaned and put away (in the garage), I decided to go check around and make sure I didn’t miss anything.  Guess what?!  I DID!!!  I found several logs of poop on the floor in the fireplace room (not sure how I missed them).  So I pick ‘em up and sanitize spray the floor.  Then I had to retrieve the steam vac, refill it, and as I go to plug it in behind an end table in the front room, guess what else I found?!?!?!  A huge puddle of dog pee (that’s why the dog looked so guilty)!  I started breathing deeply so I wouldn’t lose it, but couldn’t handle it anymore, so I started to cry as I worked to clean up the mess.  I ended up washing the whole carpet in the fireplace room and front room and drenched everything in sanitizer spray!        

Just before Anna and David left for School I went to put the dogs blanket outside, since I had no intension of letting her back in, however she managed to rush past me into the house.  I yell at the kids to grab her and put her back outside.  Well Anna grabbed her by the collar and started dragging her back outside (because she didn’t want to go), AND the dog left a trail of pee all along the floor behind her.  SO I had to wash the carpet AGAIN!!!  :O(

I had to rush Anna and David out the door, then finish cleaning up.  Though on one of my many passes past the bathroom I heard a bunch of splashing coming from inside.  I opened the door to find Maggie holding the toilet brush and she’s sloshed toilet water all over the floor completely soaking it.  I had to sop up all the water and sanitize the toilet, the whole floor, and while I was at it I wiped down the counter and mirror.  After cleaning the bathroom I took Maggie upstairs, stripped her, gave her a bath, then dried her and put her in clean clothes.

So after all this was over it was just after the older two left for School.  After going, going, going since about 6:30 am, and it now being almost 10 am, I was finally able to sit down and relax for a moment.  I put on a movie for John and Maggie.  I surfed the net while holding Maggie. 

I was checking out potty training advice, when my sister called to tell me about an item, which I had been searching for, was in stock at a local store.  Her call reminded me of something that I had meant to do that morning, but got side tracked and completely forgot about…  And what I had forgotten was that I wanted to go to Target to check out the after Easter sale.  While I was there I also tried to find a child safety harness (which I didn’t find) and a baby gate, which I did get (I purchased it as a potty training tool).  I also got some bread (which we were completely out of) and a few Easter items at 50% off.

Back home around 11, Maggie was super cranky so I decided to put her down for a nap.  Then I nuked some left over Chinese for John and my lunch and sat down to finally relax.  I was able to do some furniture research on-line (Anna really needs a dresser and some bookshelves to get her room in order) and check a few other things out.

Then about 2 pm, since I hadn’t heard Maggie yet, I thought I should go and check on her.  I found her still asleep, on her bed, so I decided to go outside and do some yard work.  I went out back and pulled all the dandelions (or so I thought, I found one later, it must have been hiding), raked up most of the loose stuff on the yard, then mowed the lawn.  When I was finished I came in to find Maggie in my chair, fortunately she hadn’t gotten into anything.

Later in the afternoon after the kids were home from school I had to clean up another pee spot from the dog.  Jacob and I talked about potty training techniques so that the dog wouldn’t have the chance to pee in the house.  We decided that when the dog is in the house we will keep her on her leash and when she is outside (in the back yard), she can be off her leash.  We’ll after the kids had had her on he leash for awhile, and she had been outside not too long ago, I didn’t think it necessary to keep the dog on her leash anymore since she was with at least one of us the whole time.  Unfortunately not too long after her release AND right in front of David’s nose (which was in a book), she peed on the floor, though he said it was there when he went in the fireplace room to start reading.  SMH  :O(

I made dinner for us all about 4:30.  My original plan was to start dinner at 4:15, however my timing was thrown off because I had to clean up the dog mess. 

The rest of this evening I spent a lot of time keeping Maggie out of trouble. 

Around 6 pm (I didn’t even realize it was that late until my sister called and as I was walking around happened to glace at the clock on the microwave), I had Anna take the dog for a walk.

Just before 7 pm I had the kids get their pajamas on and brush their teeth.  We were waiting for our reading time with Jacob, via Skype, which we had previously scheduled as our nightly, family get together time before the kids went to bed each night.  However, I couldn’t get a hold of Jacob so I had the kids do some reading on their own. I spent the time cleaning the kitchen and doing some reorganizing, and then put the kids to bed at 8.  I continued to clean the kitchen.  I got 3 of the four counters cleaned off, the medicine cabinet decluttered, reorganized, and all the outdated meds tossed.  AND I’ve spent the last hour and fifteen minutes trying to keep Maggie in bed; she didn’t want to stay put till I scared her this last time (it’s now 9:29 pm).

I’m not sure why my kids have such a hard time listening to me OR minding… Or why EVERYTHING has escalated as horribly as it has since Jacob has been gone???  It just seems like one bad thing after another happens and I’m constantly, CONSTANTLY, RUNNING AROUND TRYING TO CLEAN IT ALL UP!!!

AAARRRRRGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!  :O(

Life Sucks, and then...You Die

Okay, I realize that this title is a bit dramatic, but I'm working on 4ish hours of sleep and I'm so tired I don't really care right now...I probably got your attention though, right?  

I might change the title later...

I can't believe that it is February already!  Where did the month of January go???  

Last month was my Birthday, I'm 32 now (I had to calculate it out since I don't really think about it all that often).  Should have been really exciting though I didn't really get to hardly do anything that I wanted and my Birthday dinner turned out to an interesting though disappointing flop, expensive too!  I did get to go and watch "The Green Hornet", which was pretty good.  Saturday I got to go to the Colorado Mills Mall and got some crystal sphere's and prism crystals and a few other odds and ends, but other than that, that was pretty much it.  Rather boring if you ask me...

Jacob found out that he gets to go to do the Schooling in St. Louis that he's been talking about for years!  He'll leave Easter weekend, drive over, and start school on the 25th of April.  He'll be able to come back home every other weekend or so depending on his school work load, so far we've only planned on him coming back Memorial weekend, since he'd get 3 days because of the Holiday.  However he's going to miss Anna and John's birthdays and our 12th Anniversary!  SMH  I'm really glad he's finally able to go to his classes, but sad also because he'll be missing 3 important dates of our year!  We had already planned to celebrate our Anniversary late anyway, so I guess it's not that big of a deal, but even though I say that I know it really is!  I wish the dates had been later in the summer, that way we all could have gone with him the whole time instead of me being stuck at home without him for 2ish months by myself with all 4 kids!  We are planning on joining him in St. Louis after the kids get out of school.  Our original plan was to drive down our Anniversary weekend together (taking the kids out of school 1 1/2 days early), but apparently that wasn't both our ideas.  I found out that Jacob plans to drive to St. Louis and fly back every other weekend leaving his car there and if he plans to come Memorial weekend, then he can't come back the following weekend (our Anniversary weekend), since he came the weekend before...SO...  I guess we haven't got it all figured out yet...  Jacob had it in his mind that I would drive down with the kids, by myself and meet him in St. Louis.  I'm not sure that I'm up for a 14+ hr drive across several states w/ 4 kids all by myself though???  We'll see, we might have to wait for another week or two till Jacob can come back, but by then his schooling will almost be done, so I might have to make the sacrifice to be able to be with him!!!

Don't really have many plans for February.  Started back on the Weight Watchers program Sunday (January 30th) since I'm sick of being fat, though feeling hungry all the time is almost, if not as bad, as feeling fat all the time!!!  :O(  ...It's been rough!  I only get 24 pts, which isn't all that much food and I have been pretty hungry this whole week, but I guess that's what happens when you go back to almost all your old ways and aren't used to smaller portions of food anymore.  My body is sort of still in tune to smaller portions, but my eyes aren't and that's what gets me every time!  I quit drinking soda a couple weeks ago, actually back at the beginning of January, and the weight started flying off;  but then I drank a couple cans over my Birthday weekend and promptly gained it all back in 2 wks; SO FRUSTRATING!!!  I got so frustrated, that's why I decided to start back on the Weight Watchers program since I did have success with it when I did stick to it last year, but quite frankly I'm pretty miserable on it right now and this is only day 4...  I am going to stick with it thought, just so that my body can get used to the smaller portion sizes again!  I was also thinking of starting to watch for products w/ high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners and stay clear; I'll probably have to start shopping the more Farmer's Market type stores in order to get more organic foods (of all kinds).  I don't usually use honey or maple syrup as sweeteners (a recommendation from a friend who's been giving me her diet advice), but I can pick up different flavors of honey at those stores too and local Farmers Markets will carry fresh honey supplies during the summer.  I'm not sure where to get the REAL maple syrup, though I have a friend who practically drinks the stuff, so I could probably ask her.

I joined Weight Watchers Jan 25th last year and I lost about 40lbs, 20lbs strictly on the program, then another 20 sort of, but not really using the program anymore.  I'm back down to below pre-preg weight w/ Maggie, but I still have another 45 to go to get to my goal weight and the last 4 or 5 months or more I've been fluctuating 5 to 6 pounds back and forth depending on my diet and sometimes my exercise.  (I can seem to lose or gain weight regardless of whether I exercise.)  Every weekend I pretty much have a break down when I weigh in and Sundays usually suck because I want to look pretty for Church, but can't stand the way I look, so I inevitably end up dressing in a t-shirt and jeans just to be comfortable.  I've especially been depressed the last couple weeks since I've gained back all the weight I lost at the beginning of January when I first cut soda!!!  I hate, hate, hate being fat and I really want to get back down to almost where I was before I had kids (it's been almost 12 years since I was a size 8, right now I'm at a 14).  I really struggle with food though!!!

I'm going to work on it though.  My original goal was to lose 30lbs by April, but I had to push it back a month to May since I lost then gained it all back in January.  I was really optomistic about reaching this goal at the beginning of the month (lost over 6lbs in 2 weeks), but since gaining all the weight back I've become a bit grim again...  I hope to reach it, I'm going to work to reach it, but...  I guess I dont' know what else to say...  Here's hoping and praying I can lose 30lbs in the next 3 months!!!

Foot Troubles

My planter facia (inner foot on the left) has been bothering me for quite some time (end of Feb this year I injured it, then re-injured it 2 more times w/in 2 weeks time).  I saw my PCP two weeks after I initially injured it and she said it was probably just a bad sprain.  Told me to wrap it, elevate, ice/heat and take ibprophen for the inflammation, she even ordered an x-ray, which turned up nothing.

Now over 8 months later (after enduring ankle pain every since) I finally went into an actual ankle doctor because my foot had started going numb and tingly where I'd injured it (I figured that wasn't a good sign).  After x-rays and an examination, the doctor gave me an air cast to wear, told me to take ibprophen and come back in two weeks for a follow up.  However, since I started wearing the air cast other things have started hurting me:  my whole ankle, knee, hip, and back.  So Tuesday this week I quit wearing the air cast cause I just couldn't take the pain anymore and scheduled an earlier appointment for yesterday.  After I quit wearing the cast everything started feeling better, unfortunately my back is taking longer to mend and my foot though not numb and tingly anymore is hurting just as much as ever.

Well, yesterday at the doctor he rechecked my foot, even took more x-rays.  He is baffled as to what's going on with me and the only thing he can figure is that I've possibly torn a tendon, so he ordered me an MRI, which I'm getting today at 3:45.  He'll call me with the results when he gets them, probably next week, until then I have no instructions as for what to do with my foot/ankle.  Hopefully we can get this figured out cause the pain is REALLY bothersome!!!  :O(

Maggie's Potato Fetish

October 30th, 2010

Apparently 

Maggie has the same affinity for potatoes that I do, 

though I don't care for them in the raw...

 

She's constantly getting potatoes out of the pantry 

and chewing on them.  

I guess they make great teethers, 

I can't imagine that they taste very good?!  :O)

Maggie & John

October 25th, 2010
Maggie & John cuddled up together in a chair (something they do often). Though now they are posing for the camera.  :O)

My Boys

October 11th, 2010
...I can't remember why I initially took these photos, but I thought these pictures were cute.  I guess the boys were just being silly and adorable...  Don't tell them I said the last part!  :O)

HALLOWEEN 2010

Whoo...  Last night was a long night! 

Well, I'll tell you what the kids decided to be...  Anna chose to be an Alchemist, glowing potion and all.  David was a vampire.  John a werewolf for the first half and Flash for the second half (since his werewolf mask wasn't very comfortable, it was too hot and made it hard to breath).  Maggie was a little ladybug (different costume than last year). 

We had originally planned to take the kids out at 5pm so they wouldn't be out so late since they have school the next day.  I called my friend Athena shortly before we headed out the door since they were going to be joining us, but they weren't ready and said they would join us later, so we headed out by ourselves.  It all worked out though because as we started down our street we noticed that hardly anybody had their lights on, so we went back home.  We ended up changing Maggie into some different pants and shoes since the pants that came w/ her costume are like 12 mo. too big and her shoes kept slipping off.  We put a pair of red fleece, ruffle butt pants on her and some brown soft soled shoes that don't come off very easily.  The kids took their outer layer off and we just hung out till shortly before 6pm, when everyone got all suited up again.  Athena called as we were about to head out the door and said they'd head towards us and we'd meet along the way.  Though by the time we got out the door and headed down and around our culdesac they were already at our house (they must have booked it from their place cause they are about a 10 min walk from our place).  We did one house in our culdesac together then headed out towards the left half of the neighborhood.  The kids didn't really stay together.  Athena had her kids (4), her sisters daughter, and another boy from Church w/ them, plus her husband, her sister and her sisters boyfriend, so a really big party.  Since John was having trouble w/ his werewolf mask we were a lot slower than everyone else, they waited for us for about 6 houses or so, but then Athena's party left us in the dust and we never saw them again.  Oh well, I think that worked out better cause our party was just too big w/ everyone.  We walked around the left side of the neighborhood from 6 till almost 8 hitting every house with a light.  The first house in the next culdesac we came to, the kids were given a bag of goodies and Maggie came away with a huge plush kitty cat (Athena's daughter and her sisters daughter got plush ponies and goody bags).  The second house they went to, the kids ea. got a giant size candy bar (you can see those at the bottom of the picture w/ their candy hoard).  After that I'm not sure what all they got from where, but they got a bunch more goody bags, a few more full size candy bars, and lots and lots of snack size candies! 

After we finished off the left side of the neighborhood we came back home, dropped off our goodies, and John changed into a Flash costume.  I went through the candy and toys that we had gotten and pulled out everything that we don't like or didn't want the kids to keep and put it in the plush spider bowl (you can see it at the back of the table), those candies and toys Jacob handed back out while Anna, David, John and I went back out again and went another culdesac and a huge round-a-bout section of our neighborhood.  The kids were just too worn out by the time we finished the round-a-bout, so instead of heading down to see the scary house that our neighborhood usually has down past the pool, we just hit one last culdesac on the way home and that was it.  The kids were pooped when we got home a little before 8:30.  We had them get their pj's on and get in bed.  Anna and David needed to leave for school at 7:45 this morning so they were all in bed by 9.

Maggie the little ladybug.

John the Werewolf

David the Vampire & Anna the Alchemist

John's 2nd Costume of the night...  FLASH

The kids haul...

I'm hoping everyone had fun despite my cranky, irritated, Drill Sergent attitude!  I mean we do trick-or-treating for the kids, right?  But somehow it becomes this whole competition thing with me...  I wanted to make it around the whole neighborhood, but we only made it about half way.  I'm not sure why I get so worked up about these type of things, I'm not even interested in the candy (not into sweets right now for some reason)!  I guess it's just my competitive side coming out and unfortunately it gets the better of me.  I'm going to have to try and curb it in the future cause it turns me into real Bitch!  SORRY EVERYONE!!!  :O( 

Anyway, Anna got up with her alarm at 6 this morning (11/1).  I didn't get up w/ mine, which went off at 6 too.  I didn't get up till a little after 6:30.  David got up about 7 and I didn't think he'd be ready to go to school this morning with Anna, but he got dressed and breakfasted, we even washed his hair (it was sticking straight up from the goop we used to slick his hair back last night).  John didn't get up till about 7:20 and Maggie wasn't up till after 8, though she was up 3 or 4 times last night.  I've cleaned up a bit this morning and bagged all the candy that was on the table, Maggie kept trying to pull everything off the table.  I wanted to go after Halloween shopping this morning, but I'm not sure what everyone will be interested in, so I'm going to take the whole family after the kids get out of school. There are at least two different Halloween stores that we should go to for specific items that we were interested in there before.  I don't know though, I might just head out here in a few minutes, just so we don't miss out on a couple of the things that we really wanted, everything should be 50% off at least! 

E-mail Update 2 Oct 14th - Oct 31st

Hello Again,

Time is sure getting away from me, the last time I wrote was on the 14th (Oct).

Well, I wanted to write another letter to update everyone as to what we've been up to and our change of plans for Winter Break 2010.  Let's see...  School has been going good for the kids.  They were actually off this week for Fall Break and will go back tomorrow.  Hopefully the little rest that we made them do in their rooms this afternoon will be enough to help them get up early in the morning, Mondays they have to be to school at 7:45 because of Choir and Intermurals.

The 19th I hosted another Ladies Tea at my house, though this one was catered by my friend Carley.  It was a nice change and fun to get to try out a bunch of new foods.  We are thinking of having our Tea in January catered for my friend Athena and my Birthdays.  We'll see?  Right now I'm not really into sweets, prefer to stick to meat and carbs...

Wednesday the 20th I went to MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), which was actually a bit different than usual.  We got to drop our kids off and go to breakfast w/ the other ladies at our table instead of staying in for the speaker and brunch like we usually do.  I'll have MOPS again this coming Wednesday too, this one will be a regular event.  Anna had Yearbook Club after school.  Jacob and I had Bible Study in the evening.  The kids really enjoy going to their group when we go to Bible Study, they say they want it to last longer!  :O)

Thursday (21st) Jacob and I went to the Dentist for a regular check up after Jacob got off of work.  We scheduled it so that Jacob would leave first in his car, then I'd head there with the kids in the van, Jacob would get out and take the kids home in the van, then I'd go home in Jacob's car when I was done.  Next time though we are scheduled for different days so we don't have to worry about taking the kids at all.  There isn't anything for them to do there so it's very boring!

On Friday (22nd) I finally went to go and see an ankle/foot doctor.  My foot started getting a tingly/numb feeling where I'd injured it back in February (and has been hurting ever since) so I figured it was time to go in and get it checked out.  The doctor took x-rays and didn't find anything broken, but he thinks I may have torn some ligaments in my planter facia so he put me in an air cast for 2 weeks and told me to take anti-inflammatories 3 times a day.  I'll go back in this coming Friday and we'll reevaluate, though since he said it should feel better in a day or two and it doesn't feel better (the tingly/numbness has gone away), but different parts of my ankle/foot now hurt, along with my knee I'm thinking of calling in tomorrow morning and seeing if I can get in earlier cause this really sucks!  He said if it didn't get better that they'd probably do an MRI to get a better look at my foot/ankle.  Well see?

Nothing really interesting going on over the weekend or Monday.  Tuesday, the 26th, I scheduled a different doctors appointment for myself in the morning and asked Jacob to get off for that appointment and the rest of the day so that I could take the older 3 to a movie at the Cinema Grill.  He was able to get it off and was home about 9:30 am, he watched the kids for me for the appointment and then Maggie in the afternoon for the Movie.  The kids and I went and watched "Nanny McPhee Returns".  It was an okay show.

Thursday (28th) we went to the store and bought 3 pumpkins.  The kids picked out a pattern that they liked or created their own.  Jacob and I cleaned out the pumpkins, traced the designs and cut them out.  David and John picked faces and Anna did a bat from a pattern though she altered the design a bit.  The boys' pumpkins have held up till today (31st), but Anna's lost too much moisture over the last couple days, due the amount of pumpkin that was cut away to make her design that it crumpled up and we had to toss it.  We are currently using her plastic trick-or-treat pumpkin that we picked up yesterday as her lit outdoor lantern.  It works pretty well actually!  She'll use something else for trick-or-treating tonight.

Friday evening I went to a movie w/ my friend Cindy.  We went and watched "You Again".  It was another, 'just okay' movie.  We are trying to get a bunch of outings in before her baby comes at the end of November or beginning of December.  We talked for about an hour at our cars after the movie.  We decided that we should do at least one more Girls Day Out as well w/ our friend Carley before Cindy's baby come.  We're trying to figure out the day and time right now, just waiting to hear back from my friend Carley.

Today (31st) we let the kids dress up in costumes to go to Church.  Anna wore a medieval dress, David was a police officer, John a pirate, and Maggie wore a medieval dress too.  After Church we rushed over to Toys R Us and picked up several items that went on super sale today that were on our list of things that we want to get for each other.  Unfortunately this Toys R Us didn't have everything that we wanted so we rushed over to the TRS closer to us and found what we wanted, minus one sing-a-ma-jig doll (the yellow one is apparently very allusive).  After TRS we went over to Texas Road House for lunch.  Since the kids were wearing costumes we got two free kids meals w/ an adult entree purchase, so that was cool!  Afterward we came back home and put all the kids down for a nap, this was just after 1pm.  We got them up just before 3, though they weren't sleeping anyway, it's now almost 4.  We plan to head out w/ some friends to do trick-or-treating about 5, so I need to get off and start getting the kids stuff together so we can head out on time...

E-mail Update Aug-Oct 14th

Since it's been so long since I've posted an update (I usually post all my updates on Facebook, so check it regularly) I thought I'd copy two of my last e-mails on here and then add extras here and there of particular special events.  I need to get on more regularly and post things!!!  Some of this may be a repeat, sorry, but it would just take too much time to go back and rewrite this whole thing...  (My next post will be of the most recent letter.)

Just checked to see when I wrote last and phew, it's been awhile.  Where to start?!?!  Well, I guess I'll do a quick update from the end of August through September, then do a bit more detail in October.  Anna and David started school on the 23rd of August.  Anna started 5th grade and David 1st.  Anna started an accelerated Math program (she's very good at math like her Dad), choir 3 mornings a week, and joined the Year Book Club, which she does 1 or 2 Wednesdays a month after school.  She and David are both doing well in school and progressing proficiently!  They both seem to enjoy school, though David doesn't talk about school much, he's more interested in playing when he gets home, but he is learning, which is good!  :O)

The 25th of August I hosted a tea w/ a couple of my girlfriends here at my house.  They suggested that we do the Tea at least once a month so we've been doing it on the 3rd Tuesday of each month.  Our next Tea though will be completely catered by my friend Carley's husband (he's the head chef at a catering company and volunteered to do this for us).  We are all excited about that to take place next Tuesday!

In this time frame we've had our sewer line replaced w/ a lifetime warranty system (that cost us a pretty penny and added another credit card to our collection ((all credit card debt that we have is from things breaking and having to be fixed)).  We also had to get a new dishwasher cause ours (which we bought 2 years ago) was recalled, so that added to the credit card debt as well, since they are only giving us back $250 towards the purchase of a new machine and the new machine cost over $700.  SMH (shake my head)

Maggie turned 1 on the 9th of September and had her Well Doctors visit on the 10th.  She got 4 shots, poor girl, but she weighed in at 17 lbs 15 oz (50th %) and was in the 75th percentile for her height (I can't remember the exact measurement), so she's tall and skinny.  She's walking and talking more every day (though she doesn't actually say any words other than several forms of "dada").  She loves to climb and dance and still takes 2 naps a day, which really seems to need.  Maggie has 3 teeth now.  The 3rd has just recently popped through on the top, it's not out all the way just yet, but at least she's not cutting it anymore!

Jacob and I started a Bible Study at our new Church on the 8th of September.  It's a Pathways class called "Expending".  Basically we're be taught "Being" in Christ and not "Doing", ultimately cultivating a better relationship with God and working on our Spiritual Transformation!  I look forward to going every week, not only because I'm learning lots, but because the Pastor teaches the class and he's so on fire for God, it's very inspiring!  :O)

The 18th of September, Jacob, the kids, and I went to the Denver Collesium Gem Show.  That was lots of fun, we were there from 10am till a little after 4.  We also checked out another show near by at the Denver Events Center.  In the back of the center they also had a Children's Sale, which we attended (though it was really disappointing).

This month is going by fast!!!  On the 2nd Anna got a hair cut.  It's now about shoulder length.  She was having trouble keeping it brushed (her hair rats up really easily), so we decided to cut it shorter so it wouldn't be so much of a hassle to take care of.  Jacob and I attempted to cut my hair ourselves, but I've discovered that it's uneven so I need to go in and have my stylist fix it.  To bad it's so hard to cut your own hair!  :O(  Yesterday actually (13th) I cut Maggie's hair.  I was just going to shorten her bangs, which were hanging in her eyes, but I ended up cutting the sides too.  That was a mistake!!!  SMH  I should have just left it alone, she looks too grown up now.  There are pictures on Facebook if you want to check out her and Anna's new do's.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I joined MOPS back in September.  I'd been wanting to join for years, but never did and finally talked myself into it this year.  It's been lots of fun and I even was able to invite a lady from our neighborhood, whom I'd met on occasion.  Not only has she joined MOPS, but she is also attending Grace Chapel as well!  PRAISE GOD!!!  :O)

Yesterday, I had my second treatment for my legs.  For those of you who don't know, I suffer from varicose veins and had surgery at the end of June to get the major ones removed.  Well, it's been 3 months and they only gave me 6 months to get the next treatment(s) done so I thought I better get on the ball.  This time they only did solution injections, so I only have to wear support stockings for 5 days and it isn't as bad as surgery to remove veins.  Though wearing stockings on both legs feels really weird and my legs are pretty achy from all the injections!!!  I have to go back in a month to get them checked back out and possibly have another treatment?!

I haven't mentioned anything about John...  Well, he enjoys going to all the different classes that he gets to attend when we go to Church, Bible Study, or MOPS.  I think he'll really enjoy school next Fall.  He's a big help around the house, my most helpful volunteer (he wants to help out so he can be involved) and he is a BIG help!  He's very smart too, seems to understand life situations/activites better than you'd think a 4 year old would understand.  He likes to read and watch movies.  He likes to play with his siblings though they don't get along as well as they should (David has a tendency to be a pest, which makes playing not as fun for anyone, we're working on it though.  He does know how to play well with everyone, it's just choosing to do so that's the issue.).  John loves to play with Maggie, but he has a tendency to play beyond her capabilities, which we're working on as well.  They both enjoy each others company!!!