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This is a little late, but who cares, right? We had a great - and VERY busy - Easter. We had RD's family over Sunday morning for brunch, and everything turned out wonderful. The preparations were a bit chaotic to say the least because RD had to work late the night before, but I somehow managed to get everything done.Saturday night, I was pretty miserable. I had a buttload of cleaning to do, a casserole to make (Sausage and Egg Casserole...had to sit overnight....YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was downright amazing. Let me know if you want the recipe!), and eggs to color. All this had to be done while I limped around with fat-old-man's disease. Gout. I had gout on my left big toe. It's still sore, but has healed up quite a bit. The pain was excruciating. By the time I got everything finished, it was past midnight. I was beginning to question why I get so excited at hosting parties, but in the end, it's all worth it. I got up at 7:00 a.m. and ran to Walgreen's to pick up a bag of shredded cheddar cheese. I ALWAYS, ALWAYS forget SOMETHING. Thank heavens for Walgreen's being open on holidays! Whew! I got home, took a shower, then ran downstairs and popped the casserole in the oven. Then 8:30-ish, I got RD and the kids up and dressed. I dressed the kids, RD dressed himself. ;) Then while RD made the kids breakfast, I made company potatoes and monkey bread (Whoa! Another YUMMY YUMMY recipe! I could've eaten the whole thing!). Everyone got there around 10 a.m. and we chowed down right away. Everything was wonderful. I got a Honeybaked Ham, Petit-Fours from Susie G's Bakery, RD's sister brought fruit salad and his mom brought croissants. We were stuffed silly.Then it was time for the egg hunt. It was so much fun. The kids had a great time. We really didn't think the kids would get the whole egg-hunting thing, but they picked up on it immediately. They would get so excited with each egg. They'd gently put it in their basket and run off for the next one. So sweet.So even thought it was a lot of work, I'm glad we did it. It's always a plus having it at your own house, because as soon as naptime hits, we just take them upstairs. There's not the usual rushing home to beat clock.I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter...or weekend if you don't celebrate Easter. Off to break up a fight! These toddlers can be vicious!
What is it about being ''the mommy'' that always has us in a hurry? It seems everything I do is rushed. Gone are the days when I can do whatever the hell I want at my leisure.
I rush through grocery shopping so that I can make it home and get all the groceries put away before the kids get up from their naps. I do this when RD is home, so you think I could take my time, but I can always count on two to three calls at a minimum while I'm out, "Are you almost done? The kids will be up soon." The same goes for any other errands to Target or wherever.
Let's not even get started on trips out with the kids. Just getting out the door is a big production. There's diaper checks, loading of the diaper bag, socks, shoes, sippies, snacks, and depending on the weather, jackets. During this entire process there is usually one, if not two, of them forcing me to play a game of hide and seek. As soon as we get in the van, the requests for Elmo start. I usually *treat* them with a video on the way home if they've been good, but that doesn't stop them from chanting for it the second they get in the van. Then the ERRAND. Running errands with the kids...HELL. What happened to my well-behaved children? They used to be so great when we went out. I would see moms with screaming kids and think how lucky I was to have these awesome kids that never fussed...HA! Those days are long gone.
Even cleaning is rushed. If the kids are up, I'm rushing so that I can get back to them, or at least sneak peeks at them to make sure they're not starting fires. If they're sleeping, I'm rushing through so that I can get to the "me time." Thoughts of, "I WANT TO SIT DOWN. I WANT TO SIT DOWN. I WANT TO SIT DOWN." are rushing through my head, urging me to get through the task at hand as fast as humanly possible.
Want to hear something really awful? I tell RD if he has any hopes of getting some action, he better move fast, because any hesitation on his part and he can forget it - I'm out. Give me too much time in bed to unwind, and it's snooze-time for me, baby.
And things are just getting started. I can't even imagine what it will be like with three kids in school...all the sports, projects......and so on...and so on.
*Deep breath*
Hey...isn't Mother's Day coming up? Hmmm....a day to put my feet up! Oh wait...no. That's not right. We get to get together with the family and wait on "OUR" mothers. Aw geez.
Okay, I'll stop bitching now.
I have been trying UNSUCCESSFULLY to post for days now. I've been searching the "help" articles with no luck whatsoever. Why? Because they don't have any articles titled, "Click here if you are a dumbass and are entering an invalid username and password." I thought I was having technical difficulties, but no, I was just totally clueless to my own stupidity. Anyway...here's the post I was trying to enter.Hope everyone had a great weekend!
We've had quite the day so far. Our plan was to go to Grant's Farm to let the kids pet the animals, but once there we discovered they don't start their season until TOMORROW. ugh. Oh well. We got back on the road and headed for the zoo.Due to our re-routing and already-late start, we didn't have much time, so we headed right to the Children's area of the zoo and let the kids pet the animals. THEY LOVED IT!!!!! SJ went from goat to goat, making sure he pet each one; AR went from goat to goat shouting, "GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAT-ah!"; and SA jumped up and down squealing with delight, and even took time to kiss one surprised goat right on his rump! I got a lot of fun pictures. It was a great time. I love that the kids are getting older and we're getting to go out and do a lot more activities. They're finally able to participate, as opposed to sitting in their strollers watching from a distance.Maybe we'll try to hit Grant's Farm next week. SA's got a lot of kisses left!
I know I've been a bad blogger lately. We've just been so busy - and I imagine it's going to stay busy for awhile. I don't even know where to start.Things are going well. I'm...dare I say...happy right now. The weather has been wonderful, so we've been spending a lot of time outside with the kids. I've made such wonderful friends in the neighborhood, so I'm keeping busy. It seems someone's always here or I'm there. Though the kids are included, having a social life in any way outside of the kids had been missing for awhile. On the downside, now RD's feeling left out. He likes my new friends...but has yet to meet the husband's. He's going through a bit of what I was going through before - yearning for a life outside of (work and) the kids. I keep urging him to call some of his friends to get together, but guys are just wired different than we are. It seems he'd rather just sit around and mope, waiting for the phone to ring. Men. On a not-so-happy note, the kids Ped and Parents as Teacher lady have both recommended the kids make an appointment with a speech therapist. Not totally unexpected - speech delays are fairly common in multiples. Now we're going through the endless paperwork, trying to figure out what all is covered by our insurance and figuring out how far we want to go. They're only mildly behind. They're not at the point of being eligible for any of the state-funded programs. They know an endless number of words, but almost all are not understandable to anyone but me, and they're not putting words together to make sentences. They make some progress almost every day, so who knows, maybe by the time we get all the logistics worked out they'll be talking.As many of my blogs end...I smell poop, so I'm off to change a diaper. Hope all is well and I'll try not to be such a stranger!
That's what I told RD when I called him this afternoon.For the past several days I thought I was pregnant. REALLY thought I was pregnant. I told RD, "This would be horrible." I had been urging him for months to consider taking on the responsibility of putting an end to the growth of our family - you guessed it - SNIP SNIP.So why was I so sad when I started my period this afternoon? Not the relief I was looking for, but truly sad. Oh RD...we need to talk.
I'm always falling in love with different products...AND FOOD...so I thought I'd share! It's been awhile.
Weight Watcher's Snack Cakes - These are so good AND if you're counting, they're only 1 POINT each! My favorite is the Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. DELICIOUS!! They come six in a box and I usually end up eating a box at a time...so even though they're only 1 point each, it's usually a 6-point snack for me. eek!
Healthy Choice Zesty Gumbo and Fiesta Chicken Soups - Again with the WW points, they're great tasting soups and they're each only 2 points a can!
South Beach Diet Peanut Butter Cereal Bar - No, I'm not on the South Beach Diet, but I have tried several of their food products, and I've liked all of them so far. My favorite is the Peanut Butter Cereal Bar (WW = 3 pts.). It comes in chocolate as well - also yummy!
Elizabeth Arden's Prevage - Very pricey ($150 for 1.7 oz. bottle), but well worth it if you can afford it. I started taking care of my skin way too late in life, but better late than never. I've been using this product a little over three weeks and have already noticed considerable changes in my skin. I started using it after I saw my MIL's results. We had her over for dinner awhile back and I noticed how great her skin looked. She honestly looked ten years younger. I asked her if she'd been doing anything different and she mentioned this product. I'm so glad because I love it!
Method Products - I couldn't find a link to any of their products. I think they're a Target-brand, but I'm not sure. That's the only place I remember seeing their products. Two of my faves are their leather-cleaning wipes and their stainless steel wipes. Whether it's cleaning everyday messes off the couch or getting little finger prints off the fridge, their wipes work wonders. And it's so easy! I also like their marble-cleaner for the shower. It's the only all-natural cleaner I could find that I knew for certain wouldn't harm our marble. I just bought a lavender plug-in air freshener for our masterbath and am loving it so far.
Half.com - I read one or two books a week and it sure can get expensive. One of my friends directed me to this website. It's affiliated with Ebay, but it's not run as an auction. You can buy USEDUSED books for as low as 25 cents or books like new for just a few dollars. I've bought many books from them and have had all positive experiences. Family Fun Magazine - I just recently subscribed to this magazine. I've kind of grown tired of Parents magazine, only because about only a third applies to me right now. Most of it is baby stuff, then the rest older kid stuff. What I do like in Parents is the craft and game ideas. That's what this Family Fun Magazine is all about. Front to back it's all fun craft, game, and recipe ideas for all ages. I would say I have about 80% of each issue dog-eared so far. Great mag for parents!
That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I'll think of many other things while lying in bed tonight. If I do, I'll post them tomorrow.
Have a great night! Remember...chant with me now...SNOW SNOW GO AWAY! (okay...the snow is gone, but it's still damn cold)
It's the first day of Spring and wouldn't you know this morning we were greeted with three inches of SNOW. blech.ugh.glach. I'm itching for Spring like you wouldn't believe. Now I know I shouldn't complain. We had quite an easy winter. A few snows - just enough to get my snow-fix. Only one snowfall did I have to shovel the driveway...and I probably could've gotten away with not doing it at all. I was just that bored. Hard to imagine, isn't it? There were many days this winter that we took the kids for a walk, ate out on the deck, played outside. Maybe that's why I'm yearning so bad for the Spring. So many little teasers. Last week we had the kids out in the yard playing on the new swingset. I made excuses to run to Lowe's just so I could check out all the new plants and flowers they're setting out. RD and I have been circling the yard, exchanging ideas for what we'll plant where. It hit me - that rush of excitement I get every year at this time. I was cleaning out drawers and closets. Doing something with all the crap (mostly pitching) I had stashed away when we moved in, not knowing what else to do with it. I started cleaning out the basement, making way for the play-area we're going to set up for the kids so they can run in and out during nice days. I painted the laundry room a nice sunshine-color and RD put up cabinets - making it feel like an actual room now. And while doing all this, I had the windows open, breathing in the fresh air, listening to all the kids in the neighborhood playing outside. I'm ready. Loving the projects. Taking in the energy a new season brings.Then snow. NO!NO!NO! Snow, snow go away! How quickly I fall back into my winter slump. I tell ya I'm getting cabin fever being cooped up in here like this. I want to feel the warm sun on my skin (gooped up with sunscreen of course because I'm a walking Melanoma waiting to happen). I want to run with the kids. I want to go to the park. Have a picnic. I'd like to come on here and talk about how wonderful everything is instead of bitching. Oh wait. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. sigh. Patience never was my strongsuit. Spring will come. Until then, I think I'll kick back with some hot chocolate and sit by the fire. Might as well make the best of it.
Going to parties just isn't the same when you have three two-year olds in tow. It's so much work we sometimes find ourselves asking each other why we bother going out in the first place.We went to a birthday party Saturday (first of two that day - joyjoy) and of course the kids wanted to play outside with all the other kids. The other kids ranged in age from three to ten. Our little toddlers thought they could do everything the big kids did - this kept RD and I on our toes intercepting one fiasco to the next.As we're taking turns minding the madness, sweat beading up on our brows, it's hard not to wish we were back in the comforts of home. It's always easier on the hometurf, right? But that's what you do. Stay in the game I guess. Reach out to all friends for that small chance of adult interaction. Throwing out reminders that we're still among the living. Don't forget us, we hint! Yes, our kids can be terrors, but we're still fun!Of course other parents are more than eager to point out that three is harder. "Just wait," they say, "You think it's bad now, wait until they're three and talking back." "Bring it on," I say. It's not the attitude that challenges me when out at parties, it's the constant supervision that a two-year old requires. Correction - the constant supervision that THREE two-year olds require - three two-year olds going in three different directions. I know the supervision never really STOPS, but you can let a three year old play in the backyard and watch from the deck. You have to physically be IN the yard when the two-year old is out playing. You have to be ready, always ready, always ready. I just want to relax. I can't wait until I can let them out to play and be able to turn my back for even a minute. Sigh. I can't wait to go to a party and actually eat an entire plate of food while the food's still warm. Okay, that might be years off maybe, but it's got to get a wee-bit easier, right?But there will always be challenges. Once you get over one hurdle, there's a new one to face. Ah...the joys of parenting.
If you like my body and you think I'm sexy, c'mon baby let me know. dadadadadadada. If you really need me just reach out and touch me...Okay, I'll stop now.What am I singing about now? Spanx. Yes, Spanx. What is Spanx? Glad you asked! I could get into all the details on how it's made, what it's made out of, who made it, but let me just sum it up for you real easy - it's something that makes you look SUPER SKINNY! Lovin' it! At my girls' trip to the lake last October (or was it November?) my cousins were going on and on about this new girdle that doesn't feel like a girdle and works wonders and hides your love handles and conceals your cellulite and pantyline and makes you look all svelte and beautiful and...and I forgot all about it once I got home. Then watching The Ellen Show, she was raving about it all week. Glad to have the reminder, I went right to the computer before the invention called Spanx once again escaped me. I bought the "Higher Power" panties - one in nude and one in black. My package arrived today and I rushed to the bathroom to try one on. Lookin' goooood, girlfriend! So if I'm looking extra svelte, sshhhhhhhhhhh, it's our little secret! ;)
You've heard this all before. I might as well go back to an earlier post and copy and paste to save me some time.Life.... Life.... Life is just crazy. The house is a mess, there's laundry in piles in nearly every room, the kids are out of control, there is cat puke stains EVERYWHERE, we're almost out of diapers but the thought of dragging these three crazy toddlers to the store right now is enough to make me break out into a sweat. SERENITY NOW!!I'm stressed. I'm tired. So why does everybody keep commenting on how amazingly calm and relaxed I always am? Things aren't always as they appear, dear friends. It's either put on a brave face and bottle things up or risk acting out on these emotions raging inside and face the possibility of being locked up in a very small cell. "Your house is always spotless," they say. It's spotless because I'm constantly cleaning during every spare moment because when things spin out of control like they do today, my efforts to catch up might just be the straw that breaks me - so I do little bits each day. I have not the time nor energy to spend a day or more catching up on what I've put off in the days preceding. Some days I feel like Superwoman - thinking I am truly awesome to accomplish what I do each day. Then other days I think I'm not only fooling everyone else, but I'm fooling myself. It's so hard to keep up. So hard to stay focused - focused on what really matters. I'm just so drained...and I CAN'T GET LAURIE BERKNER'S SONGS OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!!! I just can't stop singing these damn songs. I'm a Googlehead. Shake your Noodlehead. I'm a Googa-Googa-Googa-Googa-Googlehead, too.Yes, folks, I think I might have officially lost it. Deep breath. I may have temporarily gone a wee-bit insane, but I promise I'll be back on track tomorrow. Okay, maybe not tomorrow, but surely it'll happen soon, right? I can't stay like this forever. Can I?I'm not perfect. No, I'm not. I'm not perfect, and you know, I like it that way.
Due to my total procrastination in getting my butt to the pharmacy, I have been off my happy pills for over a week now - and boy does it show. Poor kids. I even scare myself. eek! Let's move Go to Walgreen's to the top of the list tomorrow. Wait...I don't have a list. First up, make a list.------------------------------I have been one gassy broad lately. I don't know what my deal is. And it's not just little let-em-slip farts, these are the stankiest things I've ever smelled. Even I think they stink, and that's saying something. I've almost driven poor RD out of the house. Anyone ever try that Beano stuff? Does it work? Maybe I should try Maalox or something. I better try something before I'm living in this big ole' house alone. -------------------------------I'm pleased so far with the tattoo-removal process. You don't get immediate results with each treatment; the tattoo fades progressively during the weeks following the treatment. Black is supposed to be the easiest color to get rid of - most of the black outlining has disappeared. Unfortunately the colors most difficult to treat are green, yellow, pink, and purple. Wouldn't you know Betty Boop is wearing a purple nightie and holding a rose with a looong green stem, and the daisies are purple with yellow centers. Of course. You know I think the hardest part of the whole healing process is what the adhesives from the Band-Aids are doing to my skin. YAACK! My tattoos don't look irritated at all, but the skin surrounding the tattoos are red, swollen and starting to blister. Ah...the price one pays for the comfort of sleeveless shirts.-------------------------------Our yard is becoming a more kid-friendly zone. Our fence was installed today and their new swing set is being installed the week after next. We were planning on waiting awhile to get the swing set, but Rainbow was having a big sale last month, so we thought we better jump on the pre-season sales while they lasted. I was thinking we better wait awhile before we let the kids go at it - thinking they're too young yet - but I've been told time and time again that I'd be surprised at how fast they figure it out. Big Sigh...let it out... I keep seeing visions of trips to the ER...let's hope it's just my overactive imagination and not a taste of tomorrow's reality. Fun times. Fun times.---------------------------There are four homes for sale in our subdivision. Our subdivision is just a bit over a year old! I guess it's fairly common. I know the one on our street has been relocated to Florida, and the others are the build-to-sell houses. People that build then sit a year and sell to make a buck. I don't see how they do it. I HATE, HATE, HATE moving - to do it as a job. Ugh. That takes some drive. The good thing is that these houses are asking $100,000+ over the original sales price. We're not planning on moving for quite some time, but it's good to see the property value rising. Well let's hope anyway. I guess I should wait and see if these houses actually go for these high dollars.-------------------The diet's going well for me. I've hit a plateau at 7 pounds, which doesn't sound like much, but I'm definitely seeing results. Even though I haven't lost a whole lot, I've gone done two sizes and people are finally starting to notice. Woo hoo! Maybe I'm gaining muscle from working out...maybe my weight's just shifting...I don't know. Either way I'm hanging in there. Our anniversary is this month and we're going away for a night. I've been talking pretty big about our night, so I better keep working out if I want to have the guts to stand behind all this big talk. teehee
YOWZA!!!!!! I'm not one to dish out unsolicited advice, but lend me your ear if you will. If you wish to get a tattoo, you better be damn sure it's something you're going to be happy with for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Let me repeat...THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!! When people questioned me at eighteen years of age on whether or not I would like Betty Boop when I'm say...oh, I don't know 32, my answer was, "Of course!! I looove Betty Boop!!" Well, I'm now 32 and could give a rat's ass about Betty Boop. I could also give a rat's ass about the ugly purple daisies on my right ankle. That's why I had my first round of laser-tattoo removal. Everybody say it with me now, "PAAAAAAIIIIN." The woman said it would hurt worse coming off than it would going on. She said it would be intense. The woman did not lie.This was excruciating pain. My only saving grace was that it goes super fast. She lasered both tattoos in under 10 minutes, probably 5 really. The kicker is that it will take up to ten treatments or more to totally get rid of them AND I need to wait six to eight weeks between each treatment. I need six to eight weeks to get the courage to go through this torture again. But it will be worth it. I haven't worn sleeveless shirts for years because I hate this Betty Boop tattoo so much.The cashier at the grocery store, noticing all my x-tra large bandages said, "Someone get hurt?" Always one to share my every personal detail to anyone who will listen, explained what I was having done. She seemed genuinely surprised that I would do such a thing. Why...she has Eyor (sp?) on her back and she's quite sure she'll never tire of him. I smiled at her innocent 18-year old face and said, "I'm sure you'll love Eyor forever."*Little Disclaimer for all tattoo-bearing folk: I have nothing against tattoos. In fact I have one on my foot that I am keeping that I still really like. So spare me the slams. ;)
Okay. I've gotten excited over some pretty silly things, but yesterday my complete giddiness was probably a bit over-the-top. I was standing at the t.v., remote control in hand, waiting to see what Oprah was about. If it didn't catch my fancy, the kids win, they get to watch Elmo. Mommy won.What was Oprah about? Faces behind the famous names. Who's face was I so excited about seeing? Kevin Clash. Yep. The voice of Elmo. How pathetic that a grown woman would get so excited over seeing this guy. Just as Kevin predicted in his interview, I expected to see a little, wirey, white man with glasses. It was a tall, 45-year old black man - with a deep voice no less.So silly as it sounds, it made my day to find that he was a nice guy. Heaven forbid mom doesn't like the face behind Elmo. That would just be awful.Speaking of Elmo...who do you like better - Mr. Noodle or Mr. Noodle's brother? For me...Mr. Noodle's brother hands down. Yes, I'm bored today.
It's been a stressful few weeks to say the least, but things are starting to settle down. We got a call a few weeks ago that Grandpa was going downhill fast, and he passed on the 19th. We've been busy with the funeral, family gatherings - and on a more positive note - the kids' birthday party. My little two-year old Princess (TWO?! Where has the time gone?) is wanting up from her not-long-enough nap, so I've got to tend to her now, but I promise to be back SOON.Thanks for checking in on me!
GRRRRRRR...so frustrating.I'm starting my sixth week of Weight Watchers and I've lost only 5 pounds. I'm not so much bummed about it being only 5 pounds, but I'm bummed that I didn't lose ANYTHING this past week. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I have a weird pattern going on...First Week - I lost nothing, Second Week - I lost 2 pounds, Third Week - Nothing, Fourth Week - 3 pounds, Fifth Week - NOTHING. I sure hope this means I'm in for a loss of two or more next week (I weigh myself every Wednesday). I'm not going to let it get me down. I know. I know...be patient. My clothes are getting looser. My jeans are falling down. I'm still mushy, but I am smaller. It's just that I feel like I've lost more, ya know? Oh well. As long as I can see and feel (if that makes sense) progress, I guess that's all that matters.*If you're wondering what the heck my title has to do with my post...it's a line from the Cher song in the Weight Watcher's commercial - which by the way, my kids love. I'm not sure if it's the big ladies or Cher, but that commercial stops my kids in their tracks every time.
Nothing too exciting this weekend. RD and I planned on having a few friends over, but everyone we called already had plans, so it was just the two of us. I didn't really care because I'm not a football fan, so SuperBowl parties are usually just a bad excuse for me to eat a bunch of fattening foods, so no loss here. While RD watched the game I went upstairs and did my Billy Blanks Boot Camp video. Don't laugh! It is a good workout, and like the box promises, I got results in seven days. Can't beat that! Friday night was fun. I went out to dinner with some of my new friends from the neighborhood. We were at the restaurant close to four hours gabbing away. The waitstaff was circling our table, wanting to close down our section. We didn't care. It was a great time and I'm really happy that I've made some great friends.I was supposed to take the kids over to K's (neighbor) today, but SA woke up with a fever and he's all congested, so no playday today.Speaking of the kids, I've got a rumble to break up.I hope everyone has a great week!
SJ was flipping through my Us Weekly that was sitting on the floor. He came to a picture of Jessica Simpson and said excitedly, "Mommy!" Then he carried the magazine over to my mom, pointed to the scantily-clad Jessica and said with great happiness, "Mommy!"Thanks, kid! Hey, I'll take what I can get!
I've given in to Teletubbies - and quite frankly, I just might leave the dang t.v. on all day. I just don't feel like asserting myself today. You know those days you would wake up and just not want to go into work? Even though you feel totally fine, you want to find a reason to call in sick? Well today is one of those days. I'm not crabby, feel fine, just a bit tired and not wanting to do anything.
I folded two baskets of laundry that had been sitting in the laundry room for three days, and that took every bit of energy I had in me. They would have continued to sit there had RD not asked me if I knew if they were clean or dirty. He knew they were clean. That was his attempt-to-be-subtle way of telling me it's time to do something with the damn clothes already.
Yawwwwwwn. Can't wait 'til naptime. Mom needs a snoooooze.
