Baseball Pictures

We got the boys' baseball pictures back this week. They turned out really cute! I promised Mike that I would put them on the blog so here they are! As always, you can click on each picture to make it bigger.

Freaking Spam

I had to turn on the word verification on the comments since I was getting spam comments. Grrr. Why do people feel the need to ruin things for everyone else? Sorry if this causes problems for anyone.

My New 'Do

The kids were outside this morning when I heard Jonna calling me over. I walked into the backyard to see that she had cut a good deal of her hair off. Addie also had a good chunk of hair gone. I told her that I hated her because I had been thinking of doing the same thing and if I went and did it now, I'd look like I was copying her. She told me to go do it and stop in to see her at work tonight. So, I made the appointment and went to get my haircut.

The girl was very nice. She asked me what I wanted and I told her that I wanted the same style as her. She said, "well, that's easy enough." I think she was nervous about cutting as much off as she did because she kept asking me why I was wanting to cut so much off of my head. I told her that I had been thinking about it for a while and I was tired of just pulling it into a ponytail everyday. I think she did an awesome job! She cut off about 7 inches. Wow. For the first time ever, my bangs are the same length as the rest of my hair. I'm just loving it!

I went in to see Jonna at work and she didn't even recognize me! I'm loving my new 'do! Here's a picture!

Falling Down

It was insanely hot again today so when the kids asked if they could play in the sprinkler, I was happy to set it up for them. They were playing in it for a while when I decided to move it to another spot in the yard. (Mike, you're going to love this) I was walking backwards with it when I stumbled on Jacob's bike. I felt myself start to fall back but thought that I was going to be able to save myself. No such luck. I almost did a backwards somersault on the driveway. I landed (in a big puddle from the sprinkler) on my butt and the momentum kept me going...legs up in the air...shoulders on the ground. I picked my wet (I was soaked on the back of my shorts and all up the back of my shirt) self up and looked across the street to see the elderly gentleman hurrying across the street screaming "are you okay?" I was horrified. It was bad enough that I fell like that but even worse that I was seen falling like that. How embarrassing!

EEEEWWWW GROSS!!!!!

Okay...so Jacob comes in all freaked out yesterday saying that something was happening to his caterpillars. Mike told him they were maggots. I told him that it just looked like they were having babies. Two of the three caterpillars had eggs attached...one did not. The third had eggs hatch today. Out of curiosity, I decided to look it up on the internet. Thank God I did. Apparently, the caterpillar's biggest enemy, a small parasitic type of wasp likes to lay it's eggs on these caterpillars and they feed off of them until they hatch and then sting the caterpillars to death. I can't sit and watch that happen. Jacob would be crushed. We took them outside and scraped all of the eggs off of them and they immediately perked up. I'm hoping they recover. So, for the record, I was wrong and I admit it!

Oh, by the way, Tomato hornworms turn into Hummingbird Moths.

Ugh

I'm feeling so overwhelmed right now. I didn't want to bring dirty shoes onto my freshly scrubbed laundry room floor so I left them outside. When I went to take the dog out, I slipped on the shoes, twisted my ankle and fell on my ass. I now have a beautiful black and blue bruise on my butt and my left foot is killing me.

Hannah came to sleep with us last night (the boys were at a sleep over) and insisted on hugging and kissing me for about an hour. It was really cute but it kept me up. She then woke up around 7am and has been a royal crab ever since.

I had my board meeting here this morning and everything was good until the boys came home from their sleepover. The volume in this house became insane. Daniel and Jacob were screaming at each other and I had to send Daniel to his room. Hannah was screaming for a popsicle and finally had to go in time out for yelling at me.

After everyone left, Jacob, Daniel and Hannah all started getting into it with each other. Fighting and hitting. Ugh. Then I accidentially gave Hannah ketchup (she normally loves it) and she freaked out crying for 20 minutes. I'm not kidding. 20 minutes. Jacob's screaming that his neck hurts, Daniel's screaming that he's starving, Hannah's screaming to be screaming and the dog's begging to go outside. At this point, I would love to run far, far away.

A funny story from this morning, though...I fed the caterpillars before I went to bed last night but I guess they were out of food when Mike was leaving for work so he gave them random leaves. They weren't happy with that and hadn't been eating. I looked in there to take out the old leaves and give them new and I could only find two caterpillars (we had three). I thought that the third had to be in there somewhere so I didn't think much of it. I was doing dishes when I looked on the window sill and saw the third caterpillar crawling around. I scooped him up and put him back in the bug catcher. I thought it was funny.

Ugh...the kids are fighting again. I hope this day gets better.

I'M DONE!!!!!!

Rooms Completed: 13 of 13
Closets Completed: 5 of 5
Garbage Bags This Evening: 7 1/2
Total Garbage Bags: 41

Done. I'm done. Okay, so I have to finish cleaning the oven (the Easy Off is sitting in it as we speak) and I have to clean the fridge but the major cleaning/decluttering is done. Now I can focus on the little nitpicky things: washing walls, fixing broken things, replacing light bulbs, etc. Now, we just need to get the 41 bags of garbage that are sitting in the garage to the dump! Oh the house looks so good!

We've Identified The Caterpillars!

Okay...we've discovered what kind of caterpillars Bob and Bill (that's what Jacob has named them) are. They are Tomato Hornworms and are considered to be pests (I wonder why...they were really munching on those tomato plants). They're pretty cool to look at.

Tomato Plants and Caterpillars

Rooms Completed: 12 of 13
Closets Completed: 5 of 5
Garbage Bags Today: 4
Total Garbage Bags: 33 1/2

51 Days until GA Season 3

We were out watering the tomato plants when Jacob discovered two caterpillars on one of the plants. It took me a while to see them since they blended into the foliage so well. Jacob asked if we could keep them, and since I wanted them off of my tomato plants, I said yes. We cut off the small branch that they were on and placed them in the bug catcher. They are hungry little buggers. Amazingly, they are still alive today and munching their way through all of the leaves we can give them. I know nothing about caterpillars so I have no idea what kind they are. Jacob desperately wants them to spin cocoons and turn into butterflies. I have no idea if that will happen. It would be very cool if it did. With my luck, they're some weird poisonous caterpillar. That would suck.

Monster Spray Does It Again!

We were putting the kids to bed tonight (BTW, Jacob hit the ball both times he was up to bat tonight! Yeah, Jacob!) when Hannah started screaming about sleeping in her room (we were trying to enforce her being in her bed tonight). I mean screaming. It only got worse when I turned the light off. Then I figured out what she was screaming. She was yelling "monster." So, off I went to find a spray bottle for her. I walked into her room with the "Monster Spray" and she was thrilled. I sprayed her room and the boys came in asking for their rooms to be sprayed as well. After spraying all three rooms, I handed the bottle to Hannah and told her that she needed to spray any monster that came in and tell them that Mommy said to go away. She was giggling and clutching the Monster Spray when I walked out. Works like a charm every time! (Thanks for the idea years ago, Sue!)

How Is It...

Rooms Completed: 9 of 13
Closets Completed: 3 of 5
Garbage Bags Today: 3
Total Garbage Bags: 29 1/2


Okay, I've gotten 3 more rooms done. The kids have been great helping. They love to dust (I remember when I liked to dust) and are pretty good at it, too. So, how is it that the uncleaned rooms seem to just get dirtier? The family room and kitchen are disaster areas. One good thing about all of this is that when the girls come over for a board meeting on Friday, the house should be sparkling!

Hannah keeps asking when we're moving to "Ka Ciyee." It took me a while to get what she was trying to say. She's too cute.

Happy August!

Rooms Completed: 6 of 13
Closets Completed: 3 of 5
Garbage Bags Today: 0
Total Garbage Bags: 26 1/2

52 Days until Season 3 of GA

Anyone want a dog? How about some fish? We found out yesterday that they are only going to help pay to move two pets and fish are not included. :( That means that we will be taking Guillermo and Bumper to Kansas with us. I wonder if they would let us take fish on a plane. I can't imagine that anyone would complain of allergies! LOL! I'm not concerned that we wouldn't be able to find a home for the fish (I'm sure that someone would be happy to take them for us) but the dog is a huge problem. We've known that for a while. Ugh...we're going to have to figure something out very soon.

I went to the grocery store last night and picked up some Triscuit and Easy Cheese. One of my favorite snacks that I don't get very often. The kids ate all of the Easy cheese this morning! :( Granted, they ate it on the Triscuits but still! The way they were sucking them down was like I never feed them or anything. I even got the rye ones hoping that it would be too strong for them. It wasn't.

We're beginning to have huge sleep issues in this house. Hannah has been falling asleep in our bed (Mike's been moving her back to hers before he goes to bed) and then Daniel comes in. Last night, Daniel arrived in our bed at 2 am. Mike had already been taking over a good portion of the bed and my attempts to move him over were unsuccessful so when Daniel came in, there was no room for me. I know, I know, I should have just walked him back to bed. What do I do instead? I grab a pillow and head to the couch. So, not only am I sore from cleaning, I'm now sore from sleeping on the couch as well. Oh well.

Well, I need to get the dining room done before heading to Hannah's doctor appointment and then to baseball tonight. If we coninue at this pace, we'll have the house done by Sunday!

Now I'm Pooped

Rooms Completed 6 of 13
Closets Completed 3 of 5
Garbage Bags Today 11
Total Garbage Bags 26 1/2

I just got our room and closet done. I was going to take an easy day and do the dining room but I decided that I wanted to get the upstairs finished. I can't get the full effect until I get all 11 garbage bags out of the hallway and the clothes put away but it's vacuumed and dusted. Yeah! I can't wait for Mike to get home to see it!

Cleaning Spree

Rooms completed: 5 of 13
Closets completed: 2 of 5
Total garbage bags: 15 1/2

The kids were so good yesterday that we got so much more done than we thought we would. I had written out a plan where we clean one room a day to avoid burnout. We were already a day behind since we didn't do anything on Saturday (the first day of my plan). The plan for Sunday was that we would do Saturday's rooms and Sunday's as well and be done for the day. We were going to start with the upstairs bathrooms (they're small so we figured that we could do a two for one). It took longer than we thought. Mike thouroughly scrubbed down the shower and toilet and I scrubbed the floor. We were both pretty wiped out from those two rooms and really didn't think we would get much else done. We decided to have an early dinner of waffles, bacon and sausage and were revived. On to Hannah's room.

Jacob and I took the crib apart (that was sad...it's been up for 7 years) and began cleaning. Mike and I knocked that baby out in record time. We decided to nail out another room since we had the energy. We headed to Daniel's room. That one also went quicker than we anticipated.

At this point, we were low on garbage bags and paper towels so I headed to the store and Mike headed downstairs to play hearts. I came back to see Mike cleaning up (just a general clean not a moving clean) downstairs. I took the garbage bags and headed upstairs to handle Jacob's room. That room was a challenge because it seemed to be a dumping ground for old and broken toys.

We were feeling pretty good because we were now two days ahead. I was still in cleaning mode, so I decided to tackle the closets upstairs (mostly just full of boxes). The two closets were done in less than 15 minutes.

So, were're now 3 days ahead. I'm a little sore, but not as bad as I thought I would be. Okay...I'm off to tackle yet another room!

Gonna Need a New Name for the Blog

Okay...it's official. We're moving. Ugh. Not again. Okay, so this makes move number 6 in 8 years for me. (from my parents house to the apartment, then to the townhouse, then to Buffalo Grove, then to Iowa, then to Virginia and now to Kansas - and I'm not including the interim moves to the 2 apartments - one in Dubuque and one in Herndon) September 1st is the official list date for the house. I'm hoping that we can get it ready in time. Actually, I know that we will. With the buyout in place, we will definately be in Kansas by the end of the year, if not earlier. The good news is that we are moving into one of the best school districts in the country and the housing market is so much more affordable there than it is here. Mike also tells me that the beef is outstanding there. He says that it tastes so awesome. I'm such a carnivore so I'm really looking forward to that.

I've been making cleaning plans! It'll be a lot easier since Mike's in town this week. Every day, we're going to take one room and blast it out. Hopefully, with Mike here, we can get two done per day. I fixed the three toilets yesterday (well, one I had fixed earlier) and tried to show Jacob how to do it. On the downstairs toilet, I replaced 90% of the innards of the toilet. Got it done in less than 45 minutes and it no longer drips! Yeah me!

So, I'm now taking entries for the new name for the blog once we move. Three Guys, Two Girls and Too Many Animals...a peek into our lives on the East Coast, 'cause you know you're curious about life out here will not be fitting when we move out to Kansas. The best entry will be used for the blog when we move!

Jacob Has A Question For Dad

Okay Dad...Jacob just asked me a question about you. Here's the question:

"Why did PaPa get sent away from his family to a different school when he was a kid?"

He basically wants to know why you went to military school. I didn't know he knew that! LOL! Care to share your story? I think I know why...but I'm not 100%. Wasn't there something about you punching someone at church?

Gripe Session

Okay...bear with me. I'm going to bitch and whine for a few minutes and then I'll be done with it.

1. Although I put the kids in bed around 9pm, the boys have decided that it's still playtime. Daniel believes bedtime is a free-for-all. They're not actually falling asleep until around 11pm. Then, usually around 3am, Daniel joins me in bed (yes, I know I should walk him back to bed but I'm complaining here so deal with it - plus, since Mike's not here, I sleep better with another body in the bed - but that's beside the point). Last night, I had Hannah wake me up at 4am to tell me she was cold. Therefore, I had both Hannah and Daniel in bed with me. So that means that I'm only getting about 4 hours without kids. And that's between the hours of 11pm and 3am.

2. The stupid dog won't quit peeing and pooping on the floor and/or getting into the garbage. Because Daniel leaves the bedroom door open when he comes in at 3am, the dog just comes downstairs and pees on the floor and then goes and poops on Daniel's floor. Grrrrr.

3. No one freaking picks up after themselves. Enough said.

4. I can't do anything to please the kids (boy, I sound just like Mike here). Whatever I do, it's not enough. They want more. And they won't quit fighting with eachother. Only 34 days until school starts.

Okay. I'm done now. I feel better.

F***ing Bees (no Dad, they weren't actually doing it LOL!)

I HATE BEES! Seriously. I was outside this afternoon and a mother f***ing bee actually flew under my toe (I had freaking sandals on!) and stung my toe! The only consolation is that the bastard died in the process. DEATH TO BEES!!!!!!!!

Hannah's New Haircut

I had Hannah's haircut this afternoon. I was getting really tired of her not letting me brush it or put it up so off it came. Actually, I've been torn about cutting it. I love her in long hair but I think she looks adorable in short hair too. The general opinion of the neighborhood is that she looks best with this cut. I do think it's about 1/2 inch too short but I guess it'll grow back. What does everyone else think?

Can't Shake This Song

I can't seem to get the song How To Save A Life by the Fray out of my head. It's been stuck there for over a week. It took me almost an hour to get to sleep last night because it was running through my head over and over again. I love the song but it's starting to make me really mad. I'm hoping that by typing it out and openly admitting it's in there, it'll eventually leave (maybe get stuck in someone else's head instead). So, here's the song running through my head:

How To Save A Life by the Fray

Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
And you begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Let him know that you know best
'Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And I pray to God he hears you

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came

Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life

Happy Hump Day

57 Days until the premiere

Both of the boys had baseball last night (I love it when they have games on the same night...that means one less day during the week that I have to wrangle everyone out there). Daniel's team played the Shawnee Fire Dept team, which is coached by his coaches last year. Daniel was confused as to why he wasn't on their team this year. They remembered him (it's very hard to forget Daniel) and tied to help coach him when he was playing catcher. I don't kow if he's beginning to get it or what but he actually participated in the game. That's definately a first.

Jacob's team played Jonna and Alicia's team last night. Daniel and Hannah insisted on sitting with them (because Caroline had a toy Daniel thought was cool) so we sat in enemy territory. The cool part was that all of the parents on Jonna's team cheered for Jacob when he was up to bat. He didn't get a hit (again) but his swing is really improving. He fouled the ball once and didn't get another opportunity to bat because the game was called since there was lightning. Lots and lots of lightning. No thunder, no rain. It would be really nice if it rained.

Our neighbor, Jackie (actually, it's Nathan's dog), got a new puppy the other day. They win the award for both the smallest and largest dog on the block. Little yorkie puppy, Emily, at two pounds, joins Bruiser, a 130 pound Rotweiler mix. Little Emily slept on me yesterday while we were all out talking in the backyard. It was too cute.

Jacob's having a birthday sleepover on Friday night (what am I thinking?) and right now, we've only got Luke, Jake and Gavin coming. If that's all that shows up, I will not be upset. Six kids in the house is plenty for me. Ugh...what am I going to do with these kids?!?

Strange Evening

So, I was out walking the dog, when out of no where, two baby deer come running across the front lawn. I took the dog inside and ran to the back and they were standing in my neighbor's backyard. They saw me and took off. I walked back to the front of the house and my neighbor was just pulling in. Sue looked at me and asked if I saw the deer. I said that I did. She said that it was the most amazing thing she's ever seen. I told her that it was definately a cool thing and started to walk in the house.

Just then, my neighbor across the street (lawn mower lady) stops me. This is a lady who hasn't said a nice word to me in the two years we've lived here (for example "would you keep your kids away from my driveway?"). She tells me that she thinks that I should win some kind of mother award because the kids are always outside playing. She's impressed that I don't just sit them in front of the TV all day let them play video games. She doesn't know how I do it. She just thinks it's wonderful. I didn't know what to say. Very bizarre.

A Very Nice Gesture of Welcome

Most of you know that Mike's been working in Kansas for the past couple of months and it's just a matter of time until we all pick up and move out there. :( I was feeling really badly about the fact that he was out there and we were out here on his birthday. Luckily, several of Mike's team members decided to take him out.

If that wasn't nice enough, Mike tells me that they've also gotten him a goodie basket and that he's not sure if he'll be able to bring everything home in one trip. He wasn't kidding. These guys went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Tons of Kansas items (Sue, you would love the snowglobe), mugs (I love these and have already used them), dishtowels (already hanging in the kitchen), keychains, a hat, a farm playset, pencils, shot glasses (the kids had a ball drinking juice from these) and to top it all off, a copy of The Wizard of Oz on DVD. They all wrote notes of welcome on Kansas postcards. I'm sure I'm forgetting things but there was just so much! It was pretty overwhelming to think of the time they took to put this together for us.

I immediately confiscated the postcards and picture of the giftbasket for the scrapbook.

As Mike was packing for another week in Kansas, he asked if he could have the nail clippers that were given. I gave him the nail set. He looked at me and asked if I thought they would take them. I said that I thought he'd be fine. Well, apparently he wasn't because they were confiscated at the security gate. I guess they went through the rest of his bag as well. Lesson learned: don't take gifted nail clippers on an airplane!

Anyway, it was so nice of everyone to think of us and it makes me a little less leery about the big move.

111 Wussiest Songs

AOL put out a list of the 111 Wussiest Songs of All Time. I thought it was a hilarious concept. 111 was "Do I Make You Proud" by Taylor Hicks. It really is a pretty wussy song, even though I love Taylor. Here's the top ten.

10. "Fix You" by Coldplay (I love this song. I can't believe it's in the top 10)

9. "If" by Bread

8. "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?" by Culture Club (I always think of the movie "The Wedding Singer" when I hear this song)

7. "What's Left of Me" by Nick Lachey (this really is a wussy, wussy song)

6. "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg

5. "Every Rose Has It's Thorn" by Poison (love this song too!)

4. "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt (Even though I love this song, I would have to agree that most of James Blunt's songs are pretty wussy)

3. "Ben" by Michael Jackson

2. "Sometimes When We Touch" by Dan Hill

And the number one most wussy song of all time is...

"Shiny Happy People" by REM (need I say more?)

RIP Tony the Fish

I came downstairs to feed the fish today and discovered that Daniel's beloved fish, Tony, was floating upside down. This sick part is that our sucker fish was sucking on Tony's eye at the time. Daniel was so upset. We told him that we needed to flush Tony down the toilet and he wanted us to flush Sucker as well. He kept saying that Sucker killed Tony. Mike scooped Tony out of the tank and we all said our goodbyes. Daniel wanted to pour him into the toilet, so we let him. Poor baby. The sweet part is that Jacob kept offering to buy Daniel a new fish with his birthday money. Too sweet.

So, Rest in Peace, Tony. You were a good fish.

Jacob's Birthday

Today is Jacob's 7th birthday. I can't believe he's 7. It seems like just yesterday that he was born. Who gave him permission to get older? We got him a frog cupcake-cake, some Magnetix, playdoh and a pirate mega blocks set. We're going to take him to see Superman tonight. I think he's had a pretty good birthday.

Quarters for Dad

Hey Dad...I got two Colorado "P" quarters today. Do you want them? If you do, I'll hold onto them for you!

Finally Friday

(62 days until the premiere!)

It is finally Friday! Mike had to stay in Kansas later than usual and won't be home until late tonight, which makes me sad. At least he'll be home for Jacob's birthday, and Jacob's really happy about that. Unfortunately, I've done nothing to prepare for tomorrow. Okay, I ordered a frog cupcake-cake but other than that, I've got nothing. It's hard to prepare when it's just me. Oh well.

Hannah's been so cute this week sleeping in her little bed. The only bad part is that I have no idea when she's getting up in the morning. The boys would come in and wake us up but she doesn't. She just wanders downstairs and lays on the couch. Yesterday morning, I found her sleeping on the couch at 7:30am. Jacob said that when he got up this morning, she was sleeping on the couch. I wonder what time she's getting out of bed in the morning.

The boys have taken to sleeping together since we put up the daybed. Often, Daniel starts out in Jacob's old bed (no, Mike, I haven't taken it down yet...but I will!) and when I go in to check on them before I go to bed, they're in bed together. It is so freaking cute.

63 Days!!!!!

Okay, all...does anyone know what September 21st is? Michelle thought she could trip me up this morning at the meeting but she couldn't stump me! LOL! That's the day that Grey's Anatomy Season 3 premiers! I know, I'm a dork, but I can't help it! Just 63 more days! Let the countdown begin!!!!!!

Music Poll

Okay, the last post made me wonder what everyone's listening to. Here's what I'm into right now...

Keane
Snow Patrol
James Blunt
Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack (that's a given, right?)
American Idol Season 5 Encores (the kids constantly ask to listen to Taylor)
Anna Nalick
KT Tunstall

Anyone care to play?

Sing It, Sister!

We were driving to Staples to get the MOMS Club newsletter printed and were listening to a CD I made. At the time, James Blunt was singing "Goodbye My Lover" (one of my favorite songs at the moment). I'm a huge car singer, so I get a little peeved when the kids interrupt my singing. Jacob had stopped me to ask a question when I heard a little voice coming from the back of the van singing, "I soooo howooo baby, soooo howoo. I so I so I so howoo." (the words are, "I'm so hollow baby, so hollow. I'm so I'm so I'm so hollow") I was laughing so hard. A little later, Kelly Clarkson came on (don't ask me why I have Kelly on CD). Hannah starts clapping and dancing. Then comes the chorus starts and Hannah belts it out, "here am, once 'gain. 'Orn inno pizzas." ("Here I am, once again. I'm torn into pieces.") Too cute.

I Love Our New Doctor

So, Daniel had his kindergarten physical today. Everyone was so nice and helpful. The nurse showed us to the room and brought in a machine to check Daniel's eyes and hearing. He got confused as to the directions during the hearing test so they were not able to finish the test. They noticed that Daniel's far vision was good but we might want to take him to get his near vision checked. Daniel weighs 43 pounds and is 43 1/2 inches tall. The nurse looked at him and said, "you're a square!" Here's the funny part about that...he's in the 75% percentile for both height and weight! I was shocked!

The doctor came in and asked Daniel to spell his name (he did it just fine) and count to 10. Daniel looked at her like she had three heads. She says, "can you count my fingers?" He starts counting and doesn't stop until he gets to 21. Then he looks at her and says, "that's it. 21 is as far as I can count." She laughed. She asked if I had any of his shot records because that's all they really need. I said no. I then told her about the struggle I had yesterday. She told me that Dr. Butt is famous for not sending records and maybe I could call Daniel's preschool and see if I could get his shot records from his file there. Great idea! I'll be doing that this afternoon. She thanks me for coming in and says that the nurse will be in shortly with the shots.

20 seconds later, the nurse pops her head in with a Miss Spider book, Daniel's reward for his kindergarten checkup, and says that I need to initial some things and she and two other nurses will be back in a second. What? Two other nurses? So, three of them walk in and our nurse sits down next to Daniel on the table. She tells him to sit on her lap. Before I could really see what was going on, the other two nurses had stuck Daniel in each arm with shots and proclaimed him done. Daniel was more than angry. I was impressed at how quickly they got it done. One of the nurses said that it took a while to get the technique down but they find it incredibly effective.

We walk to the check out and the receptionist asked if Daniel had shots. I said that yes he did. She pulls out this pack of goodies and hands it to him. Just then, one of the nurses walks by and tells Daniel that he's a lucky boy to get all of that stuff...he literally turned his back on her. She looks at me, laughs and says, "he's still mad at me, huh?" I told her not to worry, that he tended to not hold grudges for long.

I'm so glad that we've switched pediatricians. This is more of what I was looking for!

Stupid Idiot Doctor

Okay...I've been waiting a while to be able to switch pediatricians. Our current one, Dr. Butt (that's what Jacob calls him) is a quack. (Sorry, Sara, I know he's your Dr too, but I really think he is a quack.) On a couple of occasions, he's flat out told me that he didn't know what was wrong with my kids, he's told me that Hannah's fat and needs to go on a diet, and he's told me that Hannah had scabies when she had poison ivy. Unfortunately, he was the only one who took our insurance. Thankfully, we switched insurance and I can now take the kids to a good pediatrician. Our new pediatrician told me that I need to have the kids records sent over to them and that I need to sign a record release at our current doctor's office.

So I go in today, with the kids, a little after one. There isn't anyone in the office...I'm wondering if they're still on lunch...I look and see the secretary. I tell her that I need to sign a record release form. She tells me that I need to go to the new doctor to do that. That's not what I was told, I tell her. This brings out Dr. Butt who's very agitated. "That form does more than release your children's records," he tells me in a very huffy and degrading voice. "It also says that they are taking over the responsibility for your children's health and well-being. Them telling you to come here to sign the form should tell you that they are shirking their responsibility in that area." Like he did this great job taking care of my kids. He then tells me that, "I could release the records to you, at fifty cents a page. We could charge you for having them sent directly to the new doctor as well, but we don't, as a courtesy." I looked at him, rolled my eyes and told the kids to head towards the door. Jacob asked me if we were done there, and I told him, "we are most certainly done with this quack," and opened the door. The lady who was coming in with her kid heard me say that and her eyes got really big. I pulled out my cell phone and called the new dr. I told them what happened and told her what Dr. Butt had said about them shirking their responsibility...she started laughing. She told me to come on in and I could sign the form at their office. So that's what we did. This guy's such an idiot and I can't wait to meet our new doctor tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to Mike! (oh, and Ev too!)

Today is my honey's birthday! It's sad that he's in Kansas and we're here on his birthday. I wanted to make a cake and do all of that but won't get the chance to.
:( Anyway,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKE! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

New Beds

Okay, so I'm a little slow. Yes, Jacob was still in a toddler bed and Hannah was still in a crib. So sue me. We fixed it today. Hannah finally got her toddler bed. I know that I said that we wouldn't be getting her a toddler bed but she really needed something. So, now she has a Winnie the Pooh bed with Winnie sheets. I don't know why we didn't think of doing this before but we set up my old daybed for Jacob today as well. He wasn't happy about getting a hand me down bed (he really wanted a bunk bed) at first but quickly warmed up to the idea. Now, he's thrilled. He keeps talking about how comfy his bed is. Here are pictures of the kids in their new beds...

Just About Had A Heart Attack

We come home from baseball tonight and about 5 minutes later, I get a knock on the door. It's James with a very concerned look on his face, wondering if Gavin's over. I said no. He started to walk away going "where's my boy?" I yelled, "is he missing?" He says "yes" and gets back into his car and drives off. I walked outside to see my neighbors, Jim and Michelle standing outside as well. As I started to walk over, I see Jonna's mom and what I thought was Jonna (it was Chelsea) standing outside. Jonna's mom asks me if I've talked to James and I say that I have. She says that he had gone up to Nathan's house and they said he had left 45 minutes ago. I ask what doors has she knocked on? She says just the neighbors with kids. I started knocking on every other door in the cul-du-sac. My knock at Wayne and Cheryl's brought out Joseph who began the search in the back field. I walked up to ask Jacob if he knew any hidouts in the neighborhood and as I walked back over to Jim and Michelle's Kelsey came over to offer me an umbrella (it was raining pretty hard at this point). Just then, we see James' van pull around the corner. He stops at the bottom of Jim's driveway to tell us that he found Gavin. We all walk down to the car to yell at him. Doesn't he know how much he scared us? Michelle told him that he almost had the police looking after him. James says, "I'm going to go home and have a heart attack, thank you for all of your help" and drives away. Jonna's mom is walking down the street and gives me a big hug and says, "what a wonderful street Jonna lives on. Thank you so much!" I have a feeling that we won't be seeing Gavin for a while.

BoBoBo BoBoBoBo

Dad, true to form, sent the kids home with a stack of DVD's of cartoons. Their favorite, by far, has been Bobobo Bobobobo. Just listening to this show is killing me. With characters like Gas Can (Jacob keeps reminding me that his name is really Gasser) and Jelly Jiggler (they really like this one) how can it not be insane? There's a whole episode on ramen and I made the mistake of making them ramen for lunch today. Jacob's been singing "every time you eat ramen, do six sit-ups" and then "every time you do sit ups, eat six cups of ramen." So strange.

Baseball Season Starts

Yesterday was the first day of the t-ball/baseball season. Daniel was in typical form, not really caring about what was going on. Mike and I decided that he really isn't ready for t-ball yet, maybe remedial blastball is in order! LOL! Jacob, on the other hand, is playing machine pitch this year. What a difference a year makes. This is really baseball. They get five "hitable" pitches and if they don't hit it, they're out. They can also get doubles and triples in machine pitch, and if the ball gets to the base before the runner does, they're out too. It certainly makes it more exciting. The parents really get into it...when someone gets a hit, everyone freaks out cheering. When a good play is made (a fielder catches a fly ball, etc) the parents freak out cheering. I'm happy that everyone, so far, is really supportive of the kids and we don't seem to have the parents who are belittling their kids. Jacob didn't get a single hit yesterday but everyone clapped and cheered for him anyway. He seemed like he had a good time and that's all that matters.

4th of July

Winchester does their fireworks on the 3rd and we weren't in much of a fireworks mood last night...except to set off some of our own. Fireworks are very legal here and there are fireworks stands all over the place. We picked up some sparklers and a few other fun things and set them off last night. Tonight, we watched our neighbors set off their own show. It was cool to be able to watch out from Jacob's window. These aren't your Illinois type fireworks...these are the real deal. Everyone was shooting them off from all over. The sky was pretty colorful and it was every bit as good, if not better, as watching from a park or something. I hope everyone had a nice 4th!

Hannah and her sparkler
Daniel and his sparkler
This is a very cool picture of Jacob and his sparkler
Some of the fireworks our neighbors lit off

I Think I Got It!

Photos From Peoria!
Here's Daniel and Hannah with their painted faces at the Olde English Faire!


Jacob rides a pony at the Faire.

Hannah and Mary Rose share a quiet moment together. Don't they look like they could be sisters?


This one of Emma, Mary Rose, Daniel and Hannah is from when we went to Forest Park Nature Center.
The kids were excited when a wild turkey came pretty close to them.
Walking the trail...Mary Rose kept yelling "vamanos!" to Deb and me because we were so far behind.

Dad shows Jacob how to cast a fishing pole.

They also really loved picking Dad's raspberries.

Mom helps Hannah pick out her veggies at the Mongolian Grill.

Mary Rose and Daniel take a drink from the sprinkler.

Does anyone know how to...

I had to dump one of my memory cards while I was in Buffalo Grove and got a CD made from Sam's. It works and all, but does anyone know how I can move those photos from that CD to my hard drive? It keeps wanting me to use the Sam's photo center, which is really annoying. That's also why I can't seem to get any pictures up from the Peoria trip. :(

Finally Home

After 2,068 miles put on the van, we are back home. We arrived around 3am this morning. Needless to say, we're all pretty tired. It was, however, a fun trip. It was nice to be able to spend the week with Marc and his kids too.

While we were in BG, we went to the Long Grove Strawberry Festival, which is always a fun time. We also went to Bobbi's birthday party. It was nice to have everyone there. We saw a lot of family that we haven't seen in a long time. On Sunday, we all went to Portillo's for dinner and asked someone to take this photo of all of us. For whatever reason, Daniel is missing in this picture. :( (you can click on any of the photos to make them bigger)
(l-r) Rachel, Bobbi, Me, Jacob, Marc, Megan, Hannah, Kristi, Ed, Katie, Maurice, David, Ev and Mike

We went to the Jelly Belly Factory up in Wisconsin and also up to Brookfield Zoo. The kids especially loved the Botanic Gardens. That was shocking to us. I loved this picture of the kids at the zoo (that's a seal behind them).

Here is a picture of all of the kids at the Jelly Belly Factory. For whatever reason, Jacob was not happy in this picture.

I broke Bobbi and Ed's washing machine while we were there. That necessitated everyone going to the laundromat. That was an adventure to be sure. Here is a picture of Megan and Kristi goofing around when they were supposed to be helping us do laundry!

We also got to see Ken and Donna and their kids, as well as Dave, Patty and their kids. They're all getting so big. We got them all lined up in age order for this photo.
(l-r) Eric, Jacob, Katherine, Daniel, Adam, David, and Hannah
We also managed a picture with all of us!

All in all, it was a great visit and it's weird to be home after being away for so long. This evening, we all sat in front of my neighbor's house and lit off fireworks drinking beer (yeah, beer and fireworks mix really well!) and talking. It's good to be home.

Vacation

Well, we're here in Buffalo Grove for the second leg of our 2 week tour of Illinois. I would have posted while we were in Peoria but Dad's got his computer on lockdown and I couldn't get onto Blogger. Oh well. Anyway...

We had a nice visit in Peoria. As always, it seemed too short. Dad took the kids fishing at Glen Oak Lagoon one day and Jacob was so upset that he didn't get a fish. He claims it was the bait. The fish seemed to love the bait. I don't know.

The Old English Faire was a lot of fun...well...not for Jacob but it was for everyone else. Hannah and Daniel had their faces painted and all enjoyed home made root beer. That was Jacob's favorite part.

Mom and Dad took us to Hi Ho Mongolian Grill for dinner. The kids loved it. Hannah didn't look up from her bowl for a good 10 minutes. Daniel, after eating all of his shrimp, would pick out veggies and scream "carrots?!? I love carrots!" and then eat them. He did that with pretty much every veggie in his bowl.

We also went to Forest Park Nature Center with Deb and the girls. As promised, we saw a deer and a wild turkey. It was pretty amazing. We packed a picnic lunch and after walking the trails for a little while, we ate. It was a fun day.

Deb and the girls also came over and played in the sprinkler. Elmo seemed to be a big hit with everyone. I think that was the day that I discovered that you can put chicken nuggets on a salad. Pretty tasty! :)

We also had some scary moments in Peoria...Jacob ended up in the ER at one point, complaining of a stomach ache. They gave him IV fluids, did blood work, urine tests and discovered there was nothing wrong with him. Hopefully, we won't have to ever deal with that again.

Then, I pulled Hannah's elbow out. We've had this happen with Jacob so I knew what it was when it happened to Hannah. I just didn't know if I could pop it back in. Mom called Deb and reassured me that everything would be okay and I took care of it. Dad desperately wanted me to take her to the ER but I was not going to make two ER runs in the same week. Luckily, it popped back in and all was good.

I'll post pictures after we get back in. I'll also update on the BG leg of the trip later.

Is It Really Wednesday Already?

So much to do...so little time. Still have to get the dog squared away and the newsletter to the printer and then to Aimee. At least it's done.

Jacob had his first baseball practice last night. He's definitely in a different league than last year. Machine pitch is very different than t-ball. He had a hard time hitting it...mostly because he would swing too late. He was a trooper, though. Did everything that was asked of him. I was really proud. Daniel and Hannah were running around like wild children (so what else is new) and within 10 minutes of us arriving, Hannah fell backwards on the bleachers (she didn't fall far since we were sitting on the very bottom) and while I was settling her down, Daniel fell and his knee landed on one of the metal corners, leaving a huge hole in his leg. Two kids crying. Luckily, another mom had some bandaids and antiseptic wipes for Daniel (and I had been thinking that I should take some with me but had decided against it). Hopefully, Daniel's practice tomorrow will be less eventful.

I need to get going on my day.

Tired

I managed three loads of laundry yesterday prior to running out of Tide. I really need to do towels and the sheets before we leave on Friday. I could probably stand to do another load of clothes before we go as well. Oh well. I still need to get the newsletter finished up and to Aimee. She'll have to wait until tomorrow for it. I did get the house cleaned (at least maintained), vacuumed and mopped. Hannah decided she had to walk through the front entry with her filthy feet right after I mopped it...leaving little black feet marks as she went. Ugh. It seems like nothing stays nice for very long. I am loving the smell in here, though. Love that Pine Sol smell.

I promised the kids a bath in the "big tub" (our jetted tub) this morning since they didn't get a bath last night. They were in for a while but when I discovered they were using the back of the tub as a slide, that was the end of that. They were not happy with me but I was equally unhappy since there was about 1/2 inch of water on the floor. And they wonder why we don't let them take a bath in there very often.

Monday

Here it is...another Monday. Blah. Too much to do today and here I am blogging instead of getting it done. Oh well.

I finally got all of the pictures I've taken since April uploaded to Snapfish. It's about time. Almost 400 pictures. Yeah, I know, I take too many pictures. I hate just having them on the computer because if the computer crashes, I'm screwed. I could back them up onto CD but those don't seem to last very long around here.

Mike has been a cleaning machine here on the weekends. So far, he's blasted the living room, laundry room (quite an undertaking...you'll kill yourself in there!), dining room, family room, front entry and garage. Countless trips to the dump and Salvation Army and the house is starting to look good again. I'm trying to maintain what he's done so far and I've been given the task of sorting out the kids' rooms. I just go in there and don't know where to start! I think it's all a secret plot to get me out to Kansas in the next few months. He denies it, though. He had me looking at houses online last night. Of course, that's the fun part. I'm just shocked at what you can get there. Unfortunately, all of the houses seem to look the same. And yes, Mom, they all have basements.

I also need to get working on the MOMS Club newsletter. I need to have that to Aimee by tomorrow afternoon. I guess I should get to work on that. Okay...I should go get to work. At least the house looks nice! For now. I need to do laundry!

First Day of Summer Break

Jacob is officially on summer vacation. I had promised them that we'd go down to the library this morning and I was true to my word. Both boys got their very own library cards and were so excited (Hannah's not old enough). The librarian told them that they could each check out up to 30 books and I think they were ready to take her up on that. I told them they could each get five books (Hannah insisted on just one). Jacob loaded up on nature books (insects, frogs, etc) and Daniel just got a variety. They also picked up an insect video and Hannah got a Dora video. They also got a Goof Troop video to watch during the sleepover.

Ahhh...the sleepover. What was I thinking? Getting five kids to bed was a nightmare. I'm tired. It'll be a while before I do this again.

Yard sale day 2 begins tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have better luck with it on a Friday. Everyone says that Fridays are better sale days than Saturdays. I guess we'll see. Little Jake had asked me if we were going to sell one of Jacob's bikes. I told him we were going to try. He asked me why and I said that the brakes were broken. He looks at me and asks, "so you're going to sell the bike to someone who doesn't like brakes?" Too cute.

I discovered that Daniel has Mike's musical ear. Daniel was clearly trying to sing "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon Jovi this afternoon. Over and over again, Daniel sings, "Shock in the heart and come and play." I was laughing so hard. He was trying to get Hannah to sing with him and was upset that she wouldn't.

Monday (I can't think of a better title)

Another Monday. Jacob's last Monday for this school year. His last day is this Wednesday and he's so excited. We're in negotiations for Luke and Jake to spend the night on Thursday. Just a little treat for all of them.

John and Donna have offered to let us have their wooden swingset that is currently in their backyard. They don't intend on taking it to their new house and want it removed so that their backyard looks larger. I asked Donna how much they want for it and she said nothing...we're doing them a favor. It's all a matter of figuring out how to move it from their backyard to ours. Wayne has said he can help us move it this weekend. He's so handy. We have awesome neighbors!

I finally finished Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. It only took me 8 months to do it. I'm happy that I read it but I can't say that I would tell others to read it. Angela's Ashes was such a phenomenal book and this one was so scattered. Random thoughts with no sense of cohesion other than all are stories from his teaching career. The next book on my list (I'm trying to get through all of the books I have but have never actually read) is Cavedweller by Dorothy Allison. I loved her book Bastard Out of Carolina. I read that when I was taking Women's Lit at Bradley. I hope this one's as good. Other books on my summer reading list (I need something to do while I watch the kids play outside) are The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I need to go through the box in the garage and figure out what other books are out there. I have We Were the Mulvaney's sitting on the bookshelf but it's a miserable book. Any ideas or suggestions for my summer reading list would be appreciated!

We're All Tired

*My neighbor, Donna, and I set up a playdate for her kids and my kids today. Daniel's been looking forward to this for a while now...Luke and Jake were his best friends until they moved a few weeks ago (they just moved across town). Donna and Jake came by a little early and we chatted while we waited for Luke's school bus to arrive (he still rides the same bus home). While we were chatting, the phone rang. It was the school telling me that Jacob was in the nurse's office with a stomach ache, can I come get him? Donna told me she'd watch Daniel and Hannah while I went up to the school. I'm not exactly sure what was wrong but he looked horrible when I picked him up. We get home, he mopes in the corner for a little bit and then acts like there's nothing wrong. My thought is, whatever, there's only a few more days of school anyway. The five kids played in the sprinkler for about 1 1/2 hours and then came in to play. They went back outside when the school bus arrived, dropping off the rest of the neighbor kids. They rode bikes for a while and came inside to relax a little. All five looked like they were going to fall asleep. Gavin comes in and desperately tries to get all of the kids to go out with him to play. They finally agree when Donna pulls up to pick up Luke and Jake.

All three of them ate most, if not all, of their dinner tonight and are now hanging out watching Doogal. I love summer...the kids play so hard and are exhausted by the end of the day!!!

*I finished reading The Davinci Code this morning. At first, I couldn't understand what all of the fuss was about. My "ah ha" moment came about half way through. I found it a really good work of fiction. Now I need to find something a little lighter to read.

Daniel's Graduation

The cake

Mike, Hannah and Jacob wait for the ceremony to start.

Daniel smiles for the camera as he gets ready to sing

Daniel goes up to get his diploma

Daniel and his teacher

Daniel graduated from preschool on Friday night. I was crying more than half of the time. They showed a slideshow of pictures throughout the year put to the song I Hope You Dance which had me in tears. Unfortunately, the sanctuary was a little dark and it was hard to get good photos, I hope you can see them.

I'm Loving It!!!

I desperately needed to go to the grocery store today. We were out of milk and I don't think that I could deal with anymore fast food. We drove up to our new Martin's to get some groceries. I decided that I would try to put the kids in the Treehouse. The Treehouse is a little child care area for customers while they're shopping. Kids have to be 3-9 years old. Perfect! So, after filling out the lengthy enrollment form, I was given my walkie talkie and ID bracelets and was told I had 90 minutes. I didn't even get goodbye's from the kids. They just took off to play. I tell you what...it was the best hour shopping with the kids ever. When I was done, Hannah was playing a game on the computer and Daniel was drawing a picture. It took 10 minutes to get them out of there. I can't remember the last time I left the grocery store with the kids while smiling. This is going to be a huge help while Mike is gone!

Missing: One Stuffed Cow

Jacob essentially cried himself to sleep last night because he lost his stuffed cow. The boy has a million stuffed critters in bed with him...so many that I don't know how he fits into it...but it was the cow he wanted. :( We looked and looked...no cow. Hopefully, it'll turn up today.

Yesterday was a busy day. I took Jacob to Sunday School and went to the grocery store for a side for the picnic. We had asked the father of a little girl in Jacob's class to watch Jacob for me because Hannah was going to Caroline's birthday party. It turned out that we didn't need him because there was just enough time between the two.

After the picnic, we headed to Scoops (a popular birthday place all of the sudden) for Caroline (a neighbor's little girl who will be 3). Luckily, Gavin and Addy were there as company for Jacob and Daniel. Actually, most of the kids there were Jacob's age...not surprising since most of the kids in the neighborhood are in the 6/7 age range. The kids begged and begged for me to play that crane game for them and on the first try, I got two animals in one shot. Then, I couldn't get anything. I told Jacob that we were going to go to Target so that I could pick up some cleaning supplies, so he could get a small stuffed animal there (the cow).

I then came home and cleaned. And cleaned. And had the kids clean. I have to say that the cleaning award went to Daniel yesterday...his room looked amazing when he was done! I made the discovery that Jacob hoards candy in his room. In every corner, high and low, there was a bag. Easter candy, Halloween candy, Christmas candy. Everywhere. My guess is that the intention was to hide it from Daniel and Hannah and then he forgot about it. It made me laugh.

I picked up a copy of The DaVinci Code and can't put it down. As a fiction, it's pretty good so far. I can tell that once I really get into it, it'll be hard to put down. I feel lame that I haven't read it before now.

Today, I'm killing time until I have to take Daniel to his gymnastics field trip. I really should go clean up the dog pee on the carpet...

And So It Begins...

Mike left this morning for Kansas. We now officially begin the year of 3 weeks there, one week here, home on the weekend. He had to leave early this morning because it was pretty much the only flight that he could get. I really haven't had time to be sad yet...too much to do today (yet I found the time to blog...imagine that!)

I bought a new CD yesterday (we all went out and got haircuts and went to Target) by a band called Snow Patrol. I love this CD. My favorite song on the CD is Chasing Cars and I think the words are pretty appropriate...

Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
We'll do it all
Everything
On our own
We don't need anything,
Or anyone

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me
And just forget the world

I don't quite know how to say
How I feel
Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me
And just forget the world
forget what you're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden
That's bursting into life

Let's waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads
I need your grace
To remind me
To find my own

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would yo lie with me
And just forget the world
Forget what you're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden
That's bursting into life

All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in you perfect eyes
They're all I can see
I don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never
Change for us at all

Just For Sue...

Okay, Sue. Here's what our backyard looks like. Now you know!

No Use Crying Over Spilt...Sand?

When we did the Family Day at the Park during Apple Blossom weekend, the kids got to make bottles of sand art. I thought it was odd that they were using glass bottles but whatever. The bottles got home safely and were sitting nicely on the window sill. For whatever reason, Daniel thought that it would be fun to bring everyone's bottles outside today to play with. I heard the crash but wasn't sure what it was. I saw Daniel standing in front of the front door, holding Jacob and Hannah's bottles and crying hysterically because his bottle broke (look down a few posts and you'll see a photo of Daniel and his beloved bottle of sand!). Of course, he's not wearing shoes or socks and there's broken glass everywhere. He bends down to try to put the pieces back together. I'm screaming for him to back away and I hear Hannah's little voice trying to comfort Daniel "it'll be 'kay Danyo" she kept saying over and over again. I just wanted to hug her! It was a pain to clean up but it did look kind of pretty spread out on the doorstep.

Cool Sites for GA Fans...

The only one that hasn't been updated today is the Writer's Blog...Joe the bartender's blog and Nurse Debbie's blog are a little insightful...mostly just funny.
Grey Matters (Writer's Blog)
Emerald City Bar (Joe's blog)
Debbie Does Seattle Grace (Nurse Debbie's blog)

A Very Grey's Couple of Days

Knowing me, you had to know that this was coming. The Grey's season finale was spread over two nights (and since the president decided to speak tonight, they ran about 40 minutes of last night's episode tonight) and tonight was the 2 hour finale. Please bear with me as there are no new episodes until September and you won't have to hear me rant about it again until then.

First...Mike's friend, Carmen Mormino, was on last night's episode. He had one line but it was so cool! Sue doesn't think that the X degrees of seperation works in this case but I do so, because I met Carmen at Mike's high school reunion a couple of years back, I'm a mere 2 degrees from Patrick Dempsey!!!!!! LOL! Okay, I may have lost it...

I'm posting specifics here, so if you haven't seen it and you want to, turn away from the computer now. MICHELLE - YOU HAVE TO POST ON THIS!!!!!!

Holy Crap! Izzy and Denny. What the heck was she thinking cutting that wire?!? Does she really want to be brought up on manslaughter charges? So, he gets the heart but come on...she's gone totally postal (sorry, Sue). Poor Denny...gets the heart and then has a stroke? I loved Denny...I'm sad to see him go. But Izzy quitting? She can't quit! No no no. Alex proved he really is a good guy tonight. H really stepped it up for Izzy. Good for him.

Burke gets shot?!? What the heck? Why was he coming in through the emergency entrance anyway? Shouldn't he have been coming in off the helipad? And what's up with Cristina? Knock it off and go take care of your man you freak! Okay...she does...but only after Denny kicks it!

I do have to say that I cried the hardest when Doc died. Mike's gotten used to finding the metaphors in this show and says to me, "does that mean that Meredith and Derek's relationship is over?" Silly me, I say, "yeah." Little did I know that at the prom (yes, I said prom...how funny was Bailey speaking "teenage girl?" The whole silver and black balloons make the dresses pop thing was hysterical!) Der would tackle Mer. I would have been happy with the little hand touch at McVet's office...it would have given me some hope about them for next season, but they gave us soooooo much more! Callie walking in on them...oh my. I have to give her a lot of credit for fixing Mer's dress, though. I'm beginning to like her now. And now, Mer has to pick between McDreamy and McVet? Of course, that's a hands down no brainer...PICK MCDREAMY!!!!! And Addison sooooo knows. So, how come Mer didn't pick Derek right away? A)It's the season finale...they had to have a cliffhanger B)Look at the day she just had...her best friend almost kills a patient, she gets called on to rat her out only to call the Chief out for breaking up her parents years ago, she's essentially put on probation and has to help coordinate the prom, her dog is put to sleep, George finally gives he a gut wrenching apology during their time out, her other best friend's boyfriend is shot and it's potentially career ending and, Denny ends up having a stroke and dies only an hour after Izzy told him that she'd marry him. C)Derek may be asking Mer to come with him but he's still married. Don't ya love TV?

I know there's a lot I'm forgetting, but those are my favorite moments...did I mention that Meredith and Derek hooked up!?! She's so going to choose him!

Daddy's Poem

Mike wanted me to post his poem too. Here's the poem that Mike got from Daniel's preschool this morning (this one made me cry too!)Again, not sure who to give the writing credits to...

Footprints

"Walk a little slower Daddy"
Said a child so small.
"I'm following in your footsteps,
And I don't want to fall."

Sometimes your steps are very fast,
Sometimes they're hard to see;
So walk a little slower Daddy,
For you are leading me.

Someday when I'm all grown up,
You're what I want to be;
Then I will have a little child
Who'll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right,
And know that I was true;
So walk a little slower Daddy,
For I must follow you.

Daniel's Parent's Luncheon

As a special treat for Mother's Day, Daniel's preschool hosted a luncheon for parents. They did a little program beforehand...two songs and then they did a song with bells. Daniel's group did Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the bells. It was way too cute. Daniel sung his heart out during the songs. It's so different than with Jacob. Jacob won't sing a thing. It's hard to believe that he only has 2 more weeks of preschool.

They also gave us a cute poem. I know I've seen it before but I have to post it here again. I don't exactly know who gets the credit for writing this. I was crying my eyes out when I read it at the luncheon.

When God Created Mothers

When the good Lord was creating mothers, he was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared and said, "you're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said, "have you read the spec on this order? She has to be completely washable, but not plastic...have 180 moveable parts - all replaceable...run on black coffee and leftovers...have a lap that disappars when she stands up...a kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair...and six pairs of hands."

The Angel shook her head slowly and said, "six paris of hands? No way."

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord. "It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel. The Lord nodded. "One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, 'what are you kids doing in there?' when she already knows. Another in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what she has to know. And of course, the ones in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say 'I understand and I love you," without so much as uttering a word."

"Lord," said the angel touching his sleeve gently, "go to bed. Tomorrow is another..."

"I can't," said the Lord. "I'm so close now. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick, can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger and can get a nine-year old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of the mother very slowly. "It's too soft," she sighed. "But tough!" said the Lord excitedly. "You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure."

"Can it think?"

"Not only think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator.

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. "There's a leak," she pronounced.

"It's not a leak," said the Lord. "It's a tear.

"What's it for?"

"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride."

"You are a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber. "I didn't put it there."

Family Fun Day at the Park (Apple Blossom Day 3)

Today is the last day of the Apple Blossom Festival. Finally. Not that it hasn't been fun but Mike and I are pooped. We wandered around the craft fair (I love craft fairs!)...Mike bought me a cute bracelet with each of the kids' names and birthstones on it for Mother's Day and I got a cute thing for the dining room. We ran into Beth (my CM upline) and her family, Wayne and Cheryl (neighbors) and Skylar's family (a little boy from Daniel's T-Ball team last year). Mike was good friends with Brian (Skylar's dad) and they were excited to catch up with each other. The kids loved this blow up thing that you run through and then go down the slide at the end...they must have done that about 5 times. They also got to ride a pony. Of course, there was more eating...more corn dogs, gyros, those yummy almonds, pizza, smoothies. We are more than tired.

Riding Ponies



Sand Art

Painting at the art station

Apple Blossom...Day 2

We went down to the walking mall for the midway games and to catch the beginning of the Grand Feature Parade. The kids really cleaned up with winning games. They enjoyed snow cones, ice cream, funnel cakes, corn dogs, and kettle corn. Jacob even lost a tooth! It was a lot of fun. Needless to say, we're pretty tired!

The kids and their winnings

George Hamilton was the Grand Marshall for the Grand Feature Parade

Daniel shows off his tatoo

Hannah and her ice cream

Jacob shows off where his tooth was

You May Have Noticed...

That I deleted my rant post. After mulling it over, I realized (actually, I knew it as I wrote it) that I was stooping to their level. It just felt good to write it and have it out there for people to see for a while and now I'm over it. (I did print it out and have a copy for myself, though!)

The Apple Blossom Festival Begins

The kids didn't have school today because of Apple Blossom...this whole town shuts down for it. The kids and I headed over to the school for the Antique Fire Truck Show. We ran into Jacob's friend, Nick and his mother, Cheryl, and sister and stopped to chat for a while. First question Cheryl asks me (insert a very strong Southern accent here), "how much are ya'll doin' for the Bloom?" I tell her that it's going to be a very blossom weekend and she seems satisfied. The kids and I head over to the mall for lunch and I was asked by the cashier at Quizno's, the lady at the Children's Place and the guy at the Daily Grind, "are you planning on enjoying a lot at Apple Blossom this weekend?" Driving to Martin's (yes, Sue, we wound up driving to the grocery store tonight...ended up with a nice salad, fruit salad, garlic bread and fettuccine alfredo) every single business with a sign had an Apple Blossom reference on it. "Enjoy the Bloom!" "Welcome to the 79th Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival!" "Happy Apple Blossom!" Car dealerships were all decked out with pink and green balloons on the cars. Customers at stores were dressed in pink and green...blossom necklaces, blossom shoes (heck, the Apple Blossom Store has Apple Blossom thongs). We all went out for a walk after dinner and once again ran into Nick's family. They were driving to the fireworks. Cheryl leans out of the window and asks (again, insert big Southern accent here), "are ya'll walkin' to the fireworks?" Mike and I laugh and wave. We come home and our neighbor, Jim, pulls into his garage with his son, Ryan. Ryan runs outside with a new toy screaming towards Jacob, "I got an M-16!" Jacob and Daniel are in awe of Ryan's new toy gun. Jim comes out and asks a familiar question, "are ya'll plannin' on enjoyin' the festival this weekend? You know, Ryan and Kelsey did the Bloomin' Mile today." Once again, I feel the need to give a play-by-play of our weekend so that we don't look bad in front of the locals. He gives an approving nod and feels the need to explain why his wife and daughter will not be able to do any festival activities on Saturday (Kelsey has a national cheer tournament in Baltimore). You'd better have a good excuse if you're not participating in something every day! It's so funny how big this thing is. It really is hard to not get caught up in it!

Anyway, here are some pictures from the fire show (you can click on the pictures to enlarge them). Their favorite was the blue firetruck. (Yes, Hannah's wearing pink snowboots)

The kids and the fire chief's car

I just liked this one

Hoodwinked!

If you haven't seen Hoodwinked, you have to buy or rent it! It's so funny. Definately one of the best cartoons (and I hate cartoons) out there. I love the goat who has had a spell put on him so he has to sing everything. So funny!

The Phone Works Again!!!!!

It's about time! When I called again today (they were actually going to come out today) to make sure they didn't come out but stopped the call forwarding, she says "I see the problem was corrected on April 30th. There was a cable problem in your neighborhood." I said, "I know...we've had service since then but you have to stop forwarding my calls." She then says, "okay, hold on...okay, it's been stopped. Is there anything else I can do for you?" I say, "really? You've stopped forwarding my calls?" She then says, "yes." FOUR DAYS OF ERROR MESSAGES AND SHE STOPS IT WITH A COUPLE OF KEYSTROKES!!!!!! Why didn't I get this lady days ago?

100th Post...And It's A Good Day (but I'm still tired)

Hard to believe, but this is my 100th post to my blog. Wow.

Today is my 1 year Creative Memories anniversary. Beth (my upline) is taking me out for ice cream after the kids go down tonight. She's too funny. I also get a 1 year charm for my Shooting Star pin. I'm finally adding charms!


I pick up Daniel from school and we're driving home. Phil Collins comes on the radio and Daniel starts screaming for me to turn it up. He cracks me up singing in the backseat "One more night...one more night!" The DJ comes on and says something like "and right now, here's Bon Jovi." Again, Daniel's all excited. "It's Bon Jovi! It's Bon Jovi!" He then proceeds to sing along to "Have a Nice Day." I love it.

So Tired

Hannah was pretty crabby all day yesterday but I just figured that she was because she hadn't taken a nap. About 1:30am, I hear wimpering and a little voice saying "mom." Not yelling...just very softly. It took me a little bit to figure out which room it was coming from. I discovered it was Hannah and figured she was having a bad dream since she still appeared to be asleep. I rub her back a little and she seems okay. Around 3am, she's very upset. I go in and decide to bring her back to bed with me. She suddenly thinks it's time to be up. She's tossing and turning, whining and asking to watch TV. At some point, I heard Mike say, "come on, Hannah, we need to sleep." When Mike got up to shower and go to work, Hannah again thought it was time to get up. I must have yelled at her because she began crying. I snuggled up with her and fell back to sleep. I got up again at 7:30 to get Jacob ready for school and she was sound asleep. She slept until I woke her up at 9am. Now I feel badly because I think she's sick. I'm so used to Daniel coming in bed with us in the middle of the night that it didn't even occur to me that she may not be feeling well. Her disposition is fairly normal but she's running a fever. Poor baby. I feel like a big mean mommy.