So today was the first day of our vacation. It has been interesting, I have to say.
-First, we went to bed at 1:00 this morning and slept until 9:30, which was so nice! My daughter woke up a little earlier and I just sent her down to see my dad :)
-Around 11:30 we were hungry for lunch and after looking in the freezer we realized my parents have no “real” food…which is nothing new. By “real” food I mean a complete meal – they have cheese and yogurt and vegetables and fruit, but that’s about it.
-Hubby got really frustrated (which of course started an argument) because of this. I got frustrated because they’ve been like this for the whole 10 ½ years he’s known me.
-So we went into town (where the University is) and ate lunch and got some alumni items and some great scrapbooking things (I got tons of OU paper to use when I scrap the pages of my kids at the games).
-We came home and all took 2 hour naps!!!
-Now it’s about 5:30 and we’re trying to figure out what to do for dinner. Thankfully hubby is out in the woods and didn’t hear my dad’s suggestion of corn pancakes. He just doesn’t get it…we’re used to “meat and potatoes” or at least “dinner” at dinner time, not breakfast!
-We’re having a pretty good time…if nothing else we’ve been able to catch up on our sleep :)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
We’re off!
Yesterday was my last day of work until next Tuesday…Yipppeeee!!
Where are we going you ask? Down to visit my parents (it’s only 1 ½ hours away). Yeah, no real vacation…but at least it’s time off! It’s sad how much I’ve been looking forward to this, and we’re not even going anywhere special! But I’ve only taken 6 days off this whole year, so it’s time to relax and enjoy some time with hubby and the kids!
I might post while I’m down there, because, as I’ve stated, we have nothing planned, so I’m sure I’ll get bored at times. But if I don’t, I’ll be back next Tuesday with a slew of pictures and stories I’m sure!!!
Where are we going you ask? Down to visit my parents (it’s only 1 ½ hours away). Yeah, no real vacation…but at least it’s time off! It’s sad how much I’ve been looking forward to this, and we’re not even going anywhere special! But I’ve only taken 6 days off this whole year, so it’s time to relax and enjoy some time with hubby and the kids!
I might post while I’m down there, because, as I’ve stated, we have nothing planned, so I’m sure I’ll get bored at times. But if I don’t, I’ll be back next Tuesday with a slew of pictures and stories I’m sure!!!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
GYMNASTICS!!!!
My daughter had her first gymnastics class…for the third time. I had her do a trial class at a gym when she was just two. I didn’t like the gym very much (as a former competitive gymnast I’m pretty picky), so we didn’t go back. When we moved to the new house I put her in the rec classes last winter, and those were not so good (the teacher didn’t know how to work with toddlers). So I signed her up for a local gym that I used to compete against when I was in gymnastics and my sister actually went here when she was in high school.
She was such a cutie and they did so much in those 40 minutes last night! She listened to the teacher very well and was able to do almost everything (she’s still scared of the monkey bars). I was so very proud of her!
Here are pictures of her old gymnastics (the rec classes from last winter):
Look at that belly!!!
She was such a cutie and they did so much in those 40 minutes last night! She listened to the teacher very well and was able to do almost everything (she’s still scared of the monkey bars). I was so very proud of her!
Here are pictures of her old gymnastics (the rec classes from last winter):
And here she is last night!!
Look at that belly!!!Monday, August 27, 2007
Fun Monday - Blogging
lisaschaos is hosting this week's Fun Monday and this was her assignment:
"I’d like to know more about you, what makes you tick. I’d like to know how you started blogging. Did you keep a diary under lock and key safely hidden as a child? Do you still? Do you share the same things on your blog that you would have, or do, in your diary? Why did you start blogging and why do you continue? May as well throw in any roadblocks you have run into while blogging. If you still have your old diaries we’d love to see them."
I had a diary when I was little. I got it for my 8th birthday and I still have tons of empty pages in it. I was very bad at keeping up with it…but it was fun to go back and look at my first entry (where I said “I hade so much fun on my birthday” and then see some of my high school entries where I talk about dating and boys….and boys.
I started blogging because I thought it would be a nice and easy way to keep track of all the cool things my kids are into and doing. I work in front of a computer every day and I’m absolutely horrible about writing anything down in those little calendar-things and baby books we all have for our kids. Almost every weekday I post about what my kids are up to or issues involving my kids. Occasionally I like to talk about other things, but the majority of the posts have to deal with my kids. I want to either get my posts into a book or at least print them out and give them to my kids when they’re older…I want them to see how much I loved them and how much I have loved being a mom!
I never expected to get an audience, but the group of commenters I have are amazing! They offer great advice or just some nice and encouraging words when I need them. I try not to put on a front…I would hope that if anyone were to ever meet me in real life they would see no difference the real me and the me in my writing.
No go check out all the other participants at lisaschaos!!!!
"I’d like to know more about you, what makes you tick. I’d like to know how you started blogging. Did you keep a diary under lock and key safely hidden as a child? Do you still? Do you share the same things on your blog that you would have, or do, in your diary? Why did you start blogging and why do you continue? May as well throw in any roadblocks you have run into while blogging. If you still have your old diaries we’d love to see them."
I had a diary when I was little. I got it for my 8th birthday and I still have tons of empty pages in it. I was very bad at keeping up with it…but it was fun to go back and look at my first entry (where I said “I hade so much fun on my birthday” and then see some of my high school entries where I talk about dating and boys….and boys.
I started blogging because I thought it would be a nice and easy way to keep track of all the cool things my kids are into and doing. I work in front of a computer every day and I’m absolutely horrible about writing anything down in those little calendar-things and baby books we all have for our kids. Almost every weekday I post about what my kids are up to or issues involving my kids. Occasionally I like to talk about other things, but the majority of the posts have to deal with my kids. I want to either get my posts into a book or at least print them out and give them to my kids when they’re older…I want them to see how much I loved them and how much I have loved being a mom!
I never expected to get an audience, but the group of commenters I have are amazing! They offer great advice or just some nice and encouraging words when I need them. I try not to put on a front…I would hope that if anyone were to ever meet me in real life they would see no difference the real me and the me in my writing.
No go check out all the other participants at lisaschaos!!!!
Friday, August 24, 2007
I Swear My Daughter Has Multiple Personalities!!!
Seriously, I’ve decided my daughter has multiple personalities (OK, not really because doesn’t every preschooler act one way one minute and then another way the next minute? Please, tell me they do and my daughter really isn’t crazy). One minute she’ll be the sweetest little thing, and then the next she’s a whiny little baby.
Here’s a perfect example: There’s a lady that my parents work with (who also happens to live next door to them) that has a daughter my daughter’s age and they love to play together every time we visit grandma and grandpa. She brings her daughter up to our city frequently, and the last time she did she took my daughter to the zoo and to McDonald’s. The lady told my dad that when they were driving back, out of the blue my daughter told the lady “thank you so much for taking me to the zoo and McDonald’s…I had so much fun!” I was so proud of her!
Then last night it was time to go inside and I told her she had to help the other little girl clean up their toys they had outside and bring in the stuff she had taken outside. She gets all whiny and says “I don’t want to help clean up…I’m not going to.” Excuse me??? (Which is exactly what I said to her). She seemed like such a brat last night.
I know, I know…they act like this, she’s testing me, she’s finding herself. But it’s so difficult! I hope this phase is over quickly and I can have my sweet little girl back all the time (please, don’t depress me by saying she’ll be like this until she’s an adult…I already know the 100% sweetness is gone :( ).
Here’s a perfect example: There’s a lady that my parents work with (who also happens to live next door to them) that has a daughter my daughter’s age and they love to play together every time we visit grandma and grandpa. She brings her daughter up to our city frequently, and the last time she did she took my daughter to the zoo and to McDonald’s. The lady told my dad that when they were driving back, out of the blue my daughter told the lady “thank you so much for taking me to the zoo and McDonald’s…I had so much fun!” I was so proud of her!
Then last night it was time to go inside and I told her she had to help the other little girl clean up their toys they had outside and bring in the stuff she had taken outside. She gets all whiny and says “I don’t want to help clean up…I’m not going to.” Excuse me??? (Which is exactly what I said to her). She seemed like such a brat last night.
I know, I know…they act like this, she’s testing me, she’s finding herself. But it’s so difficult! I hope this phase is over quickly and I can have my sweet little girl back all the time (please, don’t depress me by saying she’ll be like this until she’s an adult…I already know the 100% sweetness is gone :( ).
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Thank You!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that had such nice comments and e-mails for me about the last couple of days! You have no idea how much each one helped me!
I got through it, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. My aunt gave a fantastic eulogy that went through his whole life history and taught me a lot of stuff I didn’t know. She even made copies of it for each and every one of the grand children and great-grandchildren (there are 17 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren).
We had a nice reception afterwards and then the New York People left and my family came over to my house while the kids napped. My sister then went back to Michigan and then the rest of my family and I went and met my uncle and his family for dinner. After that we went over to his house for a while. I had an uncle in from Florida and a cousin in from Kansas that I don’t get to see often, so it was nice visiting with them.
Today it’s back to work…my daughter had been sleeping with my parents every night since Sunday, so last night was her first night back in her bed by herself. She had me up every 2 hours crying because she was scared. Finally at 5:00 this morning I just yelled up to her to be quiet and go back to bed. I was so mad! So needless to say I’m very tired today.
Now I’m off to catch up on everyone’s blogs to see what I missed!!
I got through it, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. My aunt gave a fantastic eulogy that went through his whole life history and taught me a lot of stuff I didn’t know. She even made copies of it for each and every one of the grand children and great-grandchildren (there are 17 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren).
We had a nice reception afterwards and then the New York People left and my family came over to my house while the kids napped. My sister then went back to Michigan and then the rest of my family and I went and met my uncle and his family for dinner. After that we went over to his house for a while. I had an uncle in from Florida and a cousin in from Kansas that I don’t get to see often, so it was nice visiting with them.
Today it’s back to work…my daughter had been sleeping with my parents every night since Sunday, so last night was her first night back in her bed by herself. She had me up every 2 hours crying because she was scared. Finally at 5:00 this morning I just yelled up to her to be quiet and go back to bed. I was so mad! So needless to say I’m very tired today.
Now I’m off to catch up on everyone’s blogs to see what I missed!!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Getting Through the Next Couple of Days....
Tonight is the wake and tomorrow is the funeral for my grandfather. I hate going to funerals (really, who likes them?), and thankfully I’ve only been to a handful so far. I’ve been trying to think about why I hate them so much…I mean I’ve come to peace with my grandfather’s passing (which of course doesn’t mean I’m still not very sad), so why am I dreading it?
It hit me while I was driving back to work yesterday…I hate funerals because everyone is so sad. Seriously. I’m a very happy person most of the time…when I was little my dad would call me “smiley” because I smiled all the time. I don’t deal well with sad situations. I understand that we all have bad times, but I have a hard time being around people that are sad or miserable all the time (which makes being around my severely depressed mother very difficult when she’s not taking her medicine). And of course you won’t find any happy people at a funeral (if you do, the dead person must have had some serious enemies).
It’s also hard for me to see people that are usually happy so sad. It’s also very hard for me to see people who have been so strong in my life sad and crying (my dad, my uncle and my aunt). I understand they have emotions…it’s just hard to see my dad, whom I’ve only seen cry a handful of times, crying. That might sound messed up but it’s how I feel.
I will get through the next couple of days…we are having a picnic tonight with all the family, and then tomorrow after the funeral there will be a reception. It will be very nice to gather with everyone and remember Beepa.
Thank you for all the well wishes I have received…it’s been so nice to write my feelings here and get the support you all have given me!
It hit me while I was driving back to work yesterday…I hate funerals because everyone is so sad. Seriously. I’m a very happy person most of the time…when I was little my dad would call me “smiley” because I smiled all the time. I don’t deal well with sad situations. I understand that we all have bad times, but I have a hard time being around people that are sad or miserable all the time (which makes being around my severely depressed mother very difficult when she’s not taking her medicine). And of course you won’t find any happy people at a funeral (if you do, the dead person must have had some serious enemies).
It’s also hard for me to see people that are usually happy so sad. It’s also very hard for me to see people who have been so strong in my life sad and crying (my dad, my uncle and my aunt). I understand they have emotions…it’s just hard to see my dad, whom I’ve only seen cry a handful of times, crying. That might sound messed up but it’s how I feel.
I will get through the next couple of days…we are having a picnic tonight with all the family, and then tomorrow after the funeral there will be a reception. It will be very nice to gather with everyone and remember Beepa.
Thank you for all the well wishes I have received…it’s been so nice to write my feelings here and get the support you all have given me!
Monday, August 20, 2007
What a Good Weekend!
This weekend was so nice! My mom took my kids to Michigan to visit my sister for her birthday on Thursday, and they didn’t get back until yesterday! Hubby and I didn’t know what to do with ourselves!
Friday night we went out with some friends to dinner and a comedy club. The comedian was really funny and we had a great time. We came home and watched a movie (Click…I thought it was so boring and dragged on). Then Saturday we did some organizing around the house, went to breakfast and got a bike rack for our SUV so that we can take our bikes places. Then we went on a 9 mile bike ride. It was so much fun to be able to go as fast as we wanted and go anywhere we wanted! When we go on rides with my daughter I have to be so careful because she swerves and doesn’t go as fast as we can…so the adult bike ride was very enjoyable!
Then we went to Whole Foods and hubby got some catfish and I got a steak and we made a very nice dinner and ate it outside. Then we had a fire with our neighbors and sat outside for a while.
Sunday we went to church and then came home and watched a movie (2 movies in one weekend is a record for us since we’ve had kids!). We just relaxed until the kiddos got home. Then my aunt and 3 of her kids (she has 9) came in from New York for the funeral and they all came over for dinner. It was so nice to just hang out with them…we hardly ever get to see them. The rest of their family is coming in on a busy on Tuesday (I’m not kidding…they came in a bus to my wedding!).
I actually felt like I had gotten enough sleep this weekend, and hubby and I kind of ran out of things to talk about! But it was wonderful and much needed. The funniest thing happened because of our break…I remember what it was like before I had kids and how my parents and sisters feel regarding the kids…I actually wanted to give them a bath, and brush their teeth, and read them multiple books. It’s funny how those things become “chores” when you do it every night, but when you get a break, you long to do them again!
I missed the kids a ton and am so glad that they are back!
Friday night we went out with some friends to dinner and a comedy club. The comedian was really funny and we had a great time. We came home and watched a movie (Click…I thought it was so boring and dragged on). Then Saturday we did some organizing around the house, went to breakfast and got a bike rack for our SUV so that we can take our bikes places. Then we went on a 9 mile bike ride. It was so much fun to be able to go as fast as we wanted and go anywhere we wanted! When we go on rides with my daughter I have to be so careful because she swerves and doesn’t go as fast as we can…so the adult bike ride was very enjoyable!
Then we went to Whole Foods and hubby got some catfish and I got a steak and we made a very nice dinner and ate it outside. Then we had a fire with our neighbors and sat outside for a while.
Sunday we went to church and then came home and watched a movie (2 movies in one weekend is a record for us since we’ve had kids!). We just relaxed until the kiddos got home. Then my aunt and 3 of her kids (she has 9) came in from New York for the funeral and they all came over for dinner. It was so nice to just hang out with them…we hardly ever get to see them. The rest of their family is coming in on a busy on Tuesday (I’m not kidding…they came in a bus to my wedding!).
I actually felt like I had gotten enough sleep this weekend, and hubby and I kind of ran out of things to talk about! But it was wonderful and much needed. The funniest thing happened because of our break…I remember what it was like before I had kids and how my parents and sisters feel regarding the kids…I actually wanted to give them a bath, and brush their teeth, and read them multiple books. It’s funny how those things become “chores” when you do it every night, but when you get a break, you long to do them again!
I missed the kids a ton and am so glad that they are back!
Friday, August 17, 2007
A Sad Day...
My grandfather passed away yesterday.
I’m such a mixed bag of emotions right now….
I was never super close to any of my grandparents. We lived far away from all of them at some points, and then even when we lived close to one of the sets, we still didn’t see them a whole lot. I lost my mom’s mom and dad in middle school and college. I was the closest to my mom’s mom, but she passed away when I was in 8th grade.
When hubby and I moved to Columbus, we were physically closer to my other set of grandparents – my dad’s parents. This is the city where my dad grew up, so we were also closer to my dad’s brother and his family (hubby actually works with him now). The problem with these grandparents was that my mom despised them. I guess they were pretty horrible to her and overall, my grandmother was a very bitter person. I always heard about how bad they were. But my dad loved them…and they were nice to us, especially my grandpa (who we called Beepa which to this day no one in the family knows why).
I remember visiting them in the summer and them taking us to the zoo, and to the pool. Beepa took us to the bookstore and bought us books (something my dad does often with my kids). There was a huge tree by their house that we loved to go down and climb. Their house smelled funny. Beepa was diabetic, so the only treats in their house were sugar-free. They loved to shop. But only clearance items…they would go to the huge Lazarus downtown (which is now Macy’s) and shop the top floor where all the clearance items were. They go really good deals and their whole apartment was always filled with stuff. We would always joke about getting “Beepa presents.” I got a lot of dishes and knife sets from him…they were great bargain hunters!
They moved into an assisted living community about 6 years ago. It’s one of those that starts you off in your own apartment and you’re completely on your own if you want to be, but you don’t have to mow or shovel sidewalks or anything like that. The winter after my daughter was born my grandmother passed away. It really wasn’t that hard for me because she was such a bitter person and not fun to be around at all.
Over the past 4 years Beepa has been at our house most Sundays…my dad comes up and visits him and then brings him over so he gets company and so my dad can see his grandkids. I have pictures of him holding both of my kids after they were just born.
He went into the hospital about a month ago and was recently moved into the hospital at his nursing home. We all knew this was coming, yet it’s still hard. I think the hardest thing will be seeing my dad and his brothers and sister over the next week…losing a parent is difficult, even when you know they won’t be here much longer.
The worst part about this whole thing is thinking about the future when my parents pass away, and thinking about how I will deal with it, and also, how my kids will deal with it since they are so close to my parents. Death is hard and scary. Even though I know that everyone in my family will be reunited in Heaven one day, I’m still dreading dealing with it because unfortunately, while still on earth, there are tears and sadness over loved ones lost.
I’m such a mixed bag of emotions right now….
I was never super close to any of my grandparents. We lived far away from all of them at some points, and then even when we lived close to one of the sets, we still didn’t see them a whole lot. I lost my mom’s mom and dad in middle school and college. I was the closest to my mom’s mom, but she passed away when I was in 8th grade.
When hubby and I moved to Columbus, we were physically closer to my other set of grandparents – my dad’s parents. This is the city where my dad grew up, so we were also closer to my dad’s brother and his family (hubby actually works with him now). The problem with these grandparents was that my mom despised them. I guess they were pretty horrible to her and overall, my grandmother was a very bitter person. I always heard about how bad they were. But my dad loved them…and they were nice to us, especially my grandpa (who we called Beepa which to this day no one in the family knows why).
I remember visiting them in the summer and them taking us to the zoo, and to the pool. Beepa took us to the bookstore and bought us books (something my dad does often with my kids). There was a huge tree by their house that we loved to go down and climb. Their house smelled funny. Beepa was diabetic, so the only treats in their house were sugar-free. They loved to shop. But only clearance items…they would go to the huge Lazarus downtown (which is now Macy’s) and shop the top floor where all the clearance items were. They go really good deals and their whole apartment was always filled with stuff. We would always joke about getting “Beepa presents.” I got a lot of dishes and knife sets from him…they were great bargain hunters!
They moved into an assisted living community about 6 years ago. It’s one of those that starts you off in your own apartment and you’re completely on your own if you want to be, but you don’t have to mow or shovel sidewalks or anything like that. The winter after my daughter was born my grandmother passed away. It really wasn’t that hard for me because she was such a bitter person and not fun to be around at all.
Over the past 4 years Beepa has been at our house most Sundays…my dad comes up and visits him and then brings him over so he gets company and so my dad can see his grandkids. I have pictures of him holding both of my kids after they were just born.
He went into the hospital about a month ago and was recently moved into the hospital at his nursing home. We all knew this was coming, yet it’s still hard. I think the hardest thing will be seeing my dad and his brothers and sister over the next week…losing a parent is difficult, even when you know they won’t be here much longer.
The worst part about this whole thing is thinking about the future when my parents pass away, and thinking about how I will deal with it, and also, how my kids will deal with it since they are so close to my parents. Death is hard and scary. Even though I know that everyone in my family will be reunited in Heaven one day, I’m still dreading dealing with it because unfortunately, while still on earth, there are tears and sadness over loved ones lost.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Our Weekend at Cedar Point
As soon as we dropped off the extra kids we had on Saturday, we headed up to Sandusky for a super fun amusement park called Cedar Point. We were staying at the Hotel Breakers which was really fun…it’s right on the beach and has 3 pools as well as a couple of restaurants and walls filled with pictures of the park in the early 1900’s.
When we got up there my parents took the kids to dinner so that hubby and I could go to dinner for our anniversary. We went to this really nice restaurant that had great food and a wonderful view of the marina.
The next morning we got up early and headed into the park. My parents were fantastic and took the kids to kiddie land so that hubby and I could ride the big rides. My sisters and their boyfriends arrived shortly after we got there and we headed off to ride these rides:
Maverick
Millennium Force (our absolute favorite)
Mantis
Skyhawk
Raptor
Power Tower
We had so much fun! The last time I was at Cedar Point was 5 years ago when I didn’t know I was pregnant with my daughter. Thankfully riding the roller coasters that early didn’t hurt her :) We had so much fun!
After those rides we went back to the hotel to swim for a minute because it was so hot! That was the nice thing about having our hotel right in the park! After we were cooled off we went to dinner and then my sisters and their boyfriends went off to ride more rides and hubby and I went with my parents and the kids to ride more rides with them. My daughter loved the Jr. Gemini…she even went on it by herself! We ended up riding right up until the park closed at 10:00. Then we headed back to the hotel and packed up and left. We got home around 1:30 Monday morning. My daughter and I started watching High School Musical on the way home and even though she fell asleep I kept watching it…it was really cute! I can’t wait to see the second one that comes out on Friday!
I realized when we were up there that there is so much to do up there! I never remembered that (we went there all the time when we were kids). I could easily make that a vacation one year…especially since there’s a beach there!
Here are some pictures:
My son couldn't handle it anymore...napping on the hotel floor
"I want to ride this ride next..."
When we got up there my parents took the kids to dinner so that hubby and I could go to dinner for our anniversary. We went to this really nice restaurant that had great food and a wonderful view of the marina.
The next morning we got up early and headed into the park. My parents were fantastic and took the kids to kiddie land so that hubby and I could ride the big rides. My sisters and their boyfriends arrived shortly after we got there and we headed off to ride these rides:
Maverick
Millennium Force (our absolute favorite)
Mantis
Skyhawk
Raptor
Power Tower
We had so much fun! The last time I was at Cedar Point was 5 years ago when I didn’t know I was pregnant with my daughter. Thankfully riding the roller coasters that early didn’t hurt her :) We had so much fun!
After those rides we went back to the hotel to swim for a minute because it was so hot! That was the nice thing about having our hotel right in the park! After we were cooled off we went to dinner and then my sisters and their boyfriends went off to ride more rides and hubby and I went with my parents and the kids to ride more rides with them. My daughter loved the Jr. Gemini…she even went on it by herself! We ended up riding right up until the park closed at 10:00. Then we headed back to the hotel and packed up and left. We got home around 1:30 Monday morning. My daughter and I started watching High School Musical on the way home and even though she fell asleep I kept watching it…it was really cute! I can’t wait to see the second one that comes out on Friday!
I realized when we were up there that there is so much to do up there! I never remembered that (we went there all the time when we were kids). I could easily make that a vacation one year…especially since there’s a beach there!
Here are some pictures:
Waiting for the train:
On the train:
Hubby and my son in line for the bumper cars - he loved them!!!
My son couldn't handle it anymore...napping on the hotel floor
"I want to ride this ride next..."
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Memories....
Sunday was our 7th wedding anniversary.
Hubby and I met in high school. My junior year I was kind of friends with a girl that hung out in hubby’s group, so in the fall, I tagged along with them to a football game. I remember him driving his parents van on the school drive with someone hanging out the door. Anyway…I remember that they were fun, but not a group that I would hang out with a lot.
Then I realized that hubby was in my math class. Hubby is a math genius. We were in honors math with a horrible teacher and I hated it. He sat on the other side of the room and always seemed to have a huge crowd of people around him. I remember hanging out with his group some other time (spring maybe?) and he told me how much he hated our math class and how hard it was. It made me feel so much better because I kept thinking I was an idiot because I wasn’t getting it.
I started dating a guy in the middle of my junior year and halfway through my senior year. I thought we would be together for a very long time (we went to visit colleges together and everything) but unfortunately a little freshman with big boobs came along and screwed that up. It actually wasn’t bad…I stayed friends with him and shared a locker with him all year. So it was February of my senior year and I’m dating a bunch of guys that aren’t really anything special. I was always used to having a boyfriend. Not dating, an actual boyfriend. So I started looking around school and I thought “hey, hubby’s (obviously not then :) ) really cute. So I put the word out that I thought he was cute and my friends did their thing. Remember that girl I was sort of friends with that hung out with him? She went up to him and said “I know someone that likes you” (gotta love that high school wimpiness and cheesiness of not being able to talk to a guy myself). His response? “No, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.” He later told me that there was another girl that hung out with him that had told him she liked him and he had no interest in her, so he thought this friend was going to say it was her. Luckily my friend got through to him and all of a sudden he kept coming up to my locker and closing it when I was trying to get my books out. He was such a cute flirt! The best thing was that he would leave flowers in my locker and my ex-boyfriend would see them when he came to get his stuff :)
On our first date we had to go to the OU basketball game to look for some of his friends to get his wallet that he had left at basketball practice. We then went to Dairy Queen. When he took me home he walked me to the door. As he was talking to me, I looked in the driveway and said to him “ummm, your truck is rolling backwards down the driveway.” He had forgotten to do whatever needed to be done with a stick shift (put the clutch in?) that would prevent this. He was so embarrassed and I never let him live it down.
On March 3, 1997 he asked me to “go out with him” and we’ve been together ever since. He would come over to my house every day and play on my computer (and I don’t mean games…he would be getting into the actual computer and fixing it and figuring out how it worked and that sort of thing). I used to get so mad about his obsession with computers, and thought about breaking up with him over it many times. But now I realize how much he was learning about them, and now he’s an absolute genius when it comes to computers so I’m thankful for his passion and his ability solve any computer problem that comes along.
We always knew we’d get married…on the back of his senior picture that he gave to me he talked about the different types of houses we were going to have (he wanted one in the country and I wanted a beach house…oh those innocent high school days). We went to prom together and had a blast…despite the fact that our mothers showed up to take our pictures (thankfully since it was our senior year I did not care at all what anyone thought of me anymore).
We went to the same college and I think that was the toughest part of our relationship. By the time we got to sophomore year, our classes were getting tougher and he would spend 60 hours a week in the computer lab. We spent so much energy trying to see each other daily that it was exhausting trying to work around our schedules. We finally realized that in order to see each other, we really would have to live together, and since we didn’t want to do that before we were married, hubby proposed to me on the beach during vacation with his family the summer before our junior year. We were married 1 year later and had a cute little apartment our senior year. There were many nights that hubby didn’t come home (Valentine’s night being one of them) because he was working on programs in the lab, but we got through it!
I already had a job lined up for the following September, so in April of our senior we traveled up to the city I would be working in and looked for a house. Some crazy mortgage company actually approved us for a loan based on an offer letter for just me to start 4 months later! So in May of 2001 we purchased our first house. Hubby eventually found a job in October (talk about God being there to help us make the mortgage payments until then!) and our wonderful and happy life began.
We’ve been through serious ups and downs, issues with both of our families, friends coming and going, job changes, moves, and two wonderful kids. I can’t even begin to imagine how I would do anything if I didn’t have him right by my side. We share the same passions and dreams for life and our values and morals are identical. We know that we will be together forever and that makes all the difference in the world when going through rough patches.
Thank you for being there for me and standing beside me all the time. You are my encourager, my strength, the best father in the world, and most importantly, my absolute best friend. As you often say, you know me better than anyone else. I love you so much!
I mean come on, what other guy would willingly look forward to having 5 kids for a week???
Hubby and I met in high school. My junior year I was kind of friends with a girl that hung out in hubby’s group, so in the fall, I tagged along with them to a football game. I remember him driving his parents van on the school drive with someone hanging out the door. Anyway…I remember that they were fun, but not a group that I would hang out with a lot.
Then I realized that hubby was in my math class. Hubby is a math genius. We were in honors math with a horrible teacher and I hated it. He sat on the other side of the room and always seemed to have a huge crowd of people around him. I remember hanging out with his group some other time (spring maybe?) and he told me how much he hated our math class and how hard it was. It made me feel so much better because I kept thinking I was an idiot because I wasn’t getting it.
I started dating a guy in the middle of my junior year and halfway through my senior year. I thought we would be together for a very long time (we went to visit colleges together and everything) but unfortunately a little freshman with big boobs came along and screwed that up. It actually wasn’t bad…I stayed friends with him and shared a locker with him all year. So it was February of my senior year and I’m dating a bunch of guys that aren’t really anything special. I was always used to having a boyfriend. Not dating, an actual boyfriend. So I started looking around school and I thought “hey, hubby’s (obviously not then :) ) really cute. So I put the word out that I thought he was cute and my friends did their thing. Remember that girl I was sort of friends with that hung out with him? She went up to him and said “I know someone that likes you” (gotta love that high school wimpiness and cheesiness of not being able to talk to a guy myself). His response? “No, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.” He later told me that there was another girl that hung out with him that had told him she liked him and he had no interest in her, so he thought this friend was going to say it was her. Luckily my friend got through to him and all of a sudden he kept coming up to my locker and closing it when I was trying to get my books out. He was such a cute flirt! The best thing was that he would leave flowers in my locker and my ex-boyfriend would see them when he came to get his stuff :)
On our first date we had to go to the OU basketball game to look for some of his friends to get his wallet that he had left at basketball practice. We then went to Dairy Queen. When he took me home he walked me to the door. As he was talking to me, I looked in the driveway and said to him “ummm, your truck is rolling backwards down the driveway.” He had forgotten to do whatever needed to be done with a stick shift (put the clutch in?) that would prevent this. He was so embarrassed and I never let him live it down.
On March 3, 1997 he asked me to “go out with him” and we’ve been together ever since. He would come over to my house every day and play on my computer (and I don’t mean games…he would be getting into the actual computer and fixing it and figuring out how it worked and that sort of thing). I used to get so mad about his obsession with computers, and thought about breaking up with him over it many times. But now I realize how much he was learning about them, and now he’s an absolute genius when it comes to computers so I’m thankful for his passion and his ability solve any computer problem that comes along.
We always knew we’d get married…on the back of his senior picture that he gave to me he talked about the different types of houses we were going to have (he wanted one in the country and I wanted a beach house…oh those innocent high school days). We went to prom together and had a blast…despite the fact that our mothers showed up to take our pictures (thankfully since it was our senior year I did not care at all what anyone thought of me anymore).
We went to the same college and I think that was the toughest part of our relationship. By the time we got to sophomore year, our classes were getting tougher and he would spend 60 hours a week in the computer lab. We spent so much energy trying to see each other daily that it was exhausting trying to work around our schedules. We finally realized that in order to see each other, we really would have to live together, and since we didn’t want to do that before we were married, hubby proposed to me on the beach during vacation with his family the summer before our junior year. We were married 1 year later and had a cute little apartment our senior year. There were many nights that hubby didn’t come home (Valentine’s night being one of them) because he was working on programs in the lab, but we got through it!
I already had a job lined up for the following September, so in April of our senior we traveled up to the city I would be working in and looked for a house. Some crazy mortgage company actually approved us for a loan based on an offer letter for just me to start 4 months later! So in May of 2001 we purchased our first house. Hubby eventually found a job in October (talk about God being there to help us make the mortgage payments until then!) and our wonderful and happy life began.
We’ve been through serious ups and downs, issues with both of our families, friends coming and going, job changes, moves, and two wonderful kids. I can’t even begin to imagine how I would do anything if I didn’t have him right by my side. We share the same passions and dreams for life and our values and morals are identical. We know that we will be together forever and that makes all the difference in the world when going through rough patches.
Thank you for being there for me and standing beside me all the time. You are my encourager, my strength, the best father in the world, and most importantly, my absolute best friend. As you often say, you know me better than anyone else. I love you so much!
I mean come on, what other guy would willingly look forward to having 5 kids for a week???
Monday, August 13, 2007
Fun Monday - Favorite Treat
Beckie at Give it a Try is hosting this week’s Fun Monday, and here is her assignment:
I want to know what your favorite treat is. Is it sweet or sour? Is it plain or salty? Is it candy or chocolate? Is it homemade or store bought? For instance, if your favorite is chocolate, tell us what kind specifically - sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes not so much. I have heard a lot of talk about Junior Mints, but is it your favorite or just a tasty treat? It can be anything, popcorn, peanuts, ice cream or chips, maybe you have more than one favorite - that is ok, just show us your favorite(s) and tell us why you like it so much. C’mon, what gets you all juiced up?
Hmmm, my favorite treat…that’s hard for me to say because I LOVE treats! My favorite would definitely be in the sweet category…but trying to pick my favorite is just mean!
I think it really depends on where I’m at and what type of mood I’m in. For instance, yesterday I was at this gigantic amusement park (Cedar Point) and I really love these when I’m at places like that:
AND
I want to know what your favorite treat is. Is it sweet or sour? Is it plain or salty? Is it candy or chocolate? Is it homemade or store bought? For instance, if your favorite is chocolate, tell us what kind specifically - sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes not so much. I have heard a lot of talk about Junior Mints, but is it your favorite or just a tasty treat? It can be anything, popcorn, peanuts, ice cream or chips, maybe you have more than one favorite - that is ok, just show us your favorite(s) and tell us why you like it so much. C’mon, what gets you all juiced up?
Hmmm, my favorite treat…that’s hard for me to say because I LOVE treats! My favorite would definitely be in the sweet category…but trying to pick my favorite is just mean!
I think it really depends on where I’m at and what type of mood I’m in. For instance, yesterday I was at this gigantic amusement park (Cedar Point) and I really love these when I’m at places like that:
AND
When I’m at home and having people over, my absolute favorite treat is cut-up fruit (especially pineapple) with this:
Lately though (especially after this last week with temporarily having 5 kids) my treat of choice has been this:
**Sorry for not having any real pictures…did I mention I had 5 kids this past week and was up in Sandusky this past weekend?
Lately though (especially after this last week with temporarily having 5 kids) my treat of choice has been this:
**Sorry for not having any real pictures…did I mention I had 5 kids this past week and was up in Sandusky this past weekend?
Friday, August 10, 2007
Day 5 of Having 5 Kids....
Yesterday was good…for me. Our interim nanny had an interview for a “real” job (one in which she would use the degree she went to college for) yesterday so hubby took off the afternoon and stayed home with all 5 kids. When I got home he asked me if I had a gun that he could use to shoot himself.
The thing that drove him over the edge was the screaming newborn. Finally, hubby took the vacuum cleaner up in our room and put it next to the pack ‘n play and let it run for 2 hours while the baby slept. It was the only thing that kept him asleep. Once he was down, it got a lot easier!
It was storming last night (which is hopefully supposed to get rid of all this humidity, thank goodness!) so again we couldn’t go outside. We decided to put on a movie and made popcorn. After that we put them to bed since they didn’t have much of a nap due to hubby coming home.
We actually had all kids in bed by 9:15. 9:15!!!! Do you understand that we have never done that before? But with everything going on this week, hubby and I have no guilt putting even our kids to bed that early. So hubby and I made some margaritas and sat down and watched CSI and Without a Trace. I haven’t watched those shows in years, and before we had kids we would watch that kind of stuff together All.the.time. So it was a really nice treat for us!
Then I gave hubby the guilt trip about how I have been up with the newborn every night so far and it was his turn. So sure enough he got up with him and I actually got a decent night’s sleep (I’m still freaking exhausted though!).
So one more day of work, one more evening, one more night with “little butt” (my nickname for the newborn) and ½ day tomorrow and we’re done. I’m still glad we did it for them…we made it through just fine and from what I’ve heard from them they are having a fantastic time in CA.
Oh, and after we drop them off at their house we are headed straight for Cedar Point!!! We are staying at their hotel, so we’re walking distance to the park and we get to get in 1 hour before the public. I can’t wait!!!!
The thing that drove him over the edge was the screaming newborn. Finally, hubby took the vacuum cleaner up in our room and put it next to the pack ‘n play and let it run for 2 hours while the baby slept. It was the only thing that kept him asleep. Once he was down, it got a lot easier!
It was storming last night (which is hopefully supposed to get rid of all this humidity, thank goodness!) so again we couldn’t go outside. We decided to put on a movie and made popcorn. After that we put them to bed since they didn’t have much of a nap due to hubby coming home.
We actually had all kids in bed by 9:15. 9:15!!!! Do you understand that we have never done that before? But with everything going on this week, hubby and I have no guilt putting even our kids to bed that early. So hubby and I made some margaritas and sat down and watched CSI and Without a Trace. I haven’t watched those shows in years, and before we had kids we would watch that kind of stuff together All.the.time. So it was a really nice treat for us!
Then I gave hubby the guilt trip about how I have been up with the newborn every night so far and it was his turn. So sure enough he got up with him and I actually got a decent night’s sleep (I’m still freaking exhausted though!).
So one more day of work, one more evening, one more night with “little butt” (my nickname for the newborn) and ½ day tomorrow and we’re done. I’m still glad we did it for them…we made it through just fine and from what I’ve heard from them they are having a fantastic time in CA.
Oh, and after we drop them off at their house we are headed straight for Cedar Point!!! We are staying at their hotel, so we’re walking distance to the park and we get to get in 1 hour before the public. I can’t wait!!!!
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Day 4 of Having 5 Kids....
It finally hit me last night why I’m finding watching these kids getting harder and harder and why I’m getting more and more frustrated. These kids seem to be so developmentally far behind my kids that I get frustrated with them. I’m not saying that to make my kids sound like they are so “ahead,” I just think there might be a different type of parenting style going on with the parents of these kids versus the style we are using with my kids.
Take last night at dinner for example. I gave the kids applesauce after they were done with their fish and I look over and the 3 ½ year-old is trying to eat it with his fingers. I tell him to use his spoon and he picks it up and proceeds to dump a whole bunch of apple sauce in his lap as he’s trying to use it. Then I look over 2 minutes later and he’s back to using his fingers. What??? He’s 3 ½!!!! My 2 year-old is using his spoon and eating his applesauce better! Seriously though, my son didn’t spill hardly at all – not near as much as the 3 ½ year-old did.
Then the 16 month-old saw that everyone was getting applesauce but him (I was holding the screaming newborn at this point and new that I would have to feed him applesauce if he was going to have it, so I was waiting for the newborn to calm down). He did still have food on his plate that he had been happily eating until this point. But what does he do? He starts crying. Now, I don’t know about all of your kids, but when my kids were that age and couldn’t talk, they would point to what they wanted and go “eeehhhhh,” which of course was annoying, but at least they were telling me what they wanted. This kid cried when he wanted applesauce (yep, stopped as soon as I started feeding it to him), he cries when you pick him up, he cries when you change his diaper. It’s almost like he has no personality.
When it comes to brushing teeth my son is a pro…all we need to get him to do is learn to spit and he’ll be set. I’ve been brushing his teeth since he was around 9 months-old, so he has it down. The 16 month-old? Every time we try to put a toothbrush in his mouth he just bites it. After a couple minutes of this I get so frustrated I give up. No matter how much hubby and I try to coax him and teach him, he keeps biting it!
The talking thing is really hard for me to get used to. I used to think that our daughter was just really smart because she talked so early…everyone told us to watch out because boys talk so much later. Well, now I’m starting to think that hubby and I are doing something right because our son talks way above the “norm” for his age as well. The kids we’re watching? Not so much. My son talks at the same level, if not better, than the 3 ½ year-old. It’s hard, because the 3 ½ year-old will come in and I’ll have to have him repeat a lot of stuff because I just can’t understand him. And then of course you have the crying 16 month-old…again, our kids were talking by that age. So if my son wanted more of something he would have said “more” when he was that age.
I really thought this week would be fairly easy because of how close in age everyone is. However, I had no idea that even though they are the same physical ages, their abilities are so very different.
If nothing else, this week has made me so proud of my daughter, my son, and of hubby and myself. My kids are fantastic! My 4 year-old daughter took a shower entirely by herself last night…I didn’t do any more than open the conditioner bottle for her! My son constantly talks my ear off, which I really enjoy! I really think that hubby and I are good at this parenting thing…our kids are happy, we’re happy, and life is good!
Take last night at dinner for example. I gave the kids applesauce after they were done with their fish and I look over and the 3 ½ year-old is trying to eat it with his fingers. I tell him to use his spoon and he picks it up and proceeds to dump a whole bunch of apple sauce in his lap as he’s trying to use it. Then I look over 2 minutes later and he’s back to using his fingers. What??? He’s 3 ½!!!! My 2 year-old is using his spoon and eating his applesauce better! Seriously though, my son didn’t spill hardly at all – not near as much as the 3 ½ year-old did.
Then the 16 month-old saw that everyone was getting applesauce but him (I was holding the screaming newborn at this point and new that I would have to feed him applesauce if he was going to have it, so I was waiting for the newborn to calm down). He did still have food on his plate that he had been happily eating until this point. But what does he do? He starts crying. Now, I don’t know about all of your kids, but when my kids were that age and couldn’t talk, they would point to what they wanted and go “eeehhhhh,” which of course was annoying, but at least they were telling me what they wanted. This kid cried when he wanted applesauce (yep, stopped as soon as I started feeding it to him), he cries when you pick him up, he cries when you change his diaper. It’s almost like he has no personality.
When it comes to brushing teeth my son is a pro…all we need to get him to do is learn to spit and he’ll be set. I’ve been brushing his teeth since he was around 9 months-old, so he has it down. The 16 month-old? Every time we try to put a toothbrush in his mouth he just bites it. After a couple minutes of this I get so frustrated I give up. No matter how much hubby and I try to coax him and teach him, he keeps biting it!
The talking thing is really hard for me to get used to. I used to think that our daughter was just really smart because she talked so early…everyone told us to watch out because boys talk so much later. Well, now I’m starting to think that hubby and I are doing something right because our son talks way above the “norm” for his age as well. The kids we’re watching? Not so much. My son talks at the same level, if not better, than the 3 ½ year-old. It’s hard, because the 3 ½ year-old will come in and I’ll have to have him repeat a lot of stuff because I just can’t understand him. And then of course you have the crying 16 month-old…again, our kids were talking by that age. So if my son wanted more of something he would have said “more” when he was that age.
I really thought this week would be fairly easy because of how close in age everyone is. However, I had no idea that even though they are the same physical ages, their abilities are so very different.
If nothing else, this week has made me so proud of my daughter, my son, and of hubby and myself. My kids are fantastic! My 4 year-old daughter took a shower entirely by herself last night…I didn’t do any more than open the conditioner bottle for her! My son constantly talks my ear off, which I really enjoy! I really think that hubby and I are good at this parenting thing…our kids are happy, we’re happy, and life is good!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Day 3 of Having 5 Kids.....
Last night I thought it would be fun if the older kids helped me make pizza for dinner. So I brought out some pizza dough that I had made last winter and we got to work. It actually went pretty well! The only problem was that the kids hated having their hands messy!
Here are some pictures (sorry the one is blurry…I had to quickly take the pictures).
Here are some pictures (sorry the one is blurry…I had to quickly take the pictures).
Since it was so hot outside and I didn’t feel like doing another round of baths, we kept the kids inside all night and it was pretty calm and relaxing. I got to bed around 10:45 which was very nice and the baby slept pretty well. Only 3 ½ more days to go!!!
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Day 2 of Having 5 Kids....
And I’m so freaking tired! I really don’t know how much sleep I got last night, but I know it wasn’t very much (or should I say, it was very broken up).
I got home yesterday and made dinner, which thankfully, was already marinating in the refrigerator. I didn’t get to eat a good dinner because the baby was crying the whole time. I had fed him and changed him…he just wanted held. After dinner we took the kids outside to have popsicles – but it was like 500 degrees out there and the humidity was absurd! However, we had popsicles and we got the hose out and tried to have a good time. Notice I said “tried” because little baby is screaming his head off and the other baby (16 month old) hates grass. He doesn’t want to sit on the blanket, swing or play in the sandbox. And if he comes in contact with grass he cries. So I take both he and the littlest one in to give them baths while hubby stayed outside with the older ones who were playing wonderfully in the sandbox.
As I was starting to give the 16 month-old a bath, I found something that soothed the newborn: the water running in the tub! So I let it run the whole time and I was able to give the 16 month-old a bath and get him dressed and into the crib. After that I gave the newborn a bath…he was awesome! He just looked at me the whole time even though his little lips were quivering because he was cold. Once he was dressed I put him in his bed (on his back) and let him cry for a little bit and he fell asleep.
By now the older ones were coming in so I took my daughter into our bathroom and she took a shower while the other two boys got a bath by hubby. The two boys go to bed and my daughter comes down with us and hangs out on the couch…it was very easy to tell she was seriously missing the “mommy daddy time” that was being eaten up by the extra guests.
Finally by 10:30 I can’t keep my eyes open anymore and we head to bed. The oldest boy and my daughter are still awake, which I hate because I have a hard time going to sleep until everyone is asleep, but last night was a different story! I was out fast.
But not for long. Newborn baby woke up at 11:00 and so I went downstairs and made him a bottle and fed him. Apparently I fell asleep because at 2:00 I woke up and tried to put him in his crib, only to have him wake up 5 minutes later wanting more food. Fell asleep again and laid him back in his bed at 6:30. By the time I was out of the shower he was screaming again. With this sleep thing I have learned/remembered 2 things:
-I totally realize why they recommend you take a 12 week maternity leave. Getting up with him and going back to work is killing me!
-I remember now why I used to dread the night time when my son was a newborn. I feel that way now…just the thought of trying to go to sleep because I’m so tired, but knowing I will wake up a ton of times is horrible!
We are still having a ton of fun…those are just the tiring points :) We feel confident that we can have a lot of kids…this is hard because they aren’t our kids and we wouldn’t have our kids so close together. We can see that if it was our son and a newborn we’d be fine. But throwing the 16 month-old into the mix is hard.
I hope you are all having a great week and getting a ton more sleep than I am!!!
I got home yesterday and made dinner, which thankfully, was already marinating in the refrigerator. I didn’t get to eat a good dinner because the baby was crying the whole time. I had fed him and changed him…he just wanted held. After dinner we took the kids outside to have popsicles – but it was like 500 degrees out there and the humidity was absurd! However, we had popsicles and we got the hose out and tried to have a good time. Notice I said “tried” because little baby is screaming his head off and the other baby (16 month old) hates grass. He doesn’t want to sit on the blanket, swing or play in the sandbox. And if he comes in contact with grass he cries. So I take both he and the littlest one in to give them baths while hubby stayed outside with the older ones who were playing wonderfully in the sandbox.
As I was starting to give the 16 month-old a bath, I found something that soothed the newborn: the water running in the tub! So I let it run the whole time and I was able to give the 16 month-old a bath and get him dressed and into the crib. After that I gave the newborn a bath…he was awesome! He just looked at me the whole time even though his little lips were quivering because he was cold. Once he was dressed I put him in his bed (on his back) and let him cry for a little bit and he fell asleep.
By now the older ones were coming in so I took my daughter into our bathroom and she took a shower while the other two boys got a bath by hubby. The two boys go to bed and my daughter comes down with us and hangs out on the couch…it was very easy to tell she was seriously missing the “mommy daddy time” that was being eaten up by the extra guests.
Finally by 10:30 I can’t keep my eyes open anymore and we head to bed. The oldest boy and my daughter are still awake, which I hate because I have a hard time going to sleep until everyone is asleep, but last night was a different story! I was out fast.
But not for long. Newborn baby woke up at 11:00 and so I went downstairs and made him a bottle and fed him. Apparently I fell asleep because at 2:00 I woke up and tried to put him in his crib, only to have him wake up 5 minutes later wanting more food. Fell asleep again and laid him back in his bed at 6:30. By the time I was out of the shower he was screaming again. With this sleep thing I have learned/remembered 2 things:
-I totally realize why they recommend you take a 12 week maternity leave. Getting up with him and going back to work is killing me!
-I remember now why I used to dread the night time when my son was a newborn. I feel that way now…just the thought of trying to go to sleep because I’m so tired, but knowing I will wake up a ton of times is horrible!
We are still having a ton of fun…those are just the tiring points :) We feel confident that we can have a lot of kids…this is hard because they aren’t our kids and we wouldn’t have our kids so close together. We can see that if it was our son and a newborn we’d be fine. But throwing the 16 month-old into the mix is hard.
I hope you are all having a great week and getting a ton more sleep than I am!!!
Monday, August 06, 2007
FUN MONDAY - APRON REVIEW
OK, so today’s Fun Monday topic is brought to you by ChrisB and the assignment was to talk about your favorite apron. I almost have to ask “what is an apron?” See, I don’t think I’ve ever worn an apron in my life. I probably should as I have a bunch of shirts with grease spots on them from cooking (actually, I think the one I have on right now has a grease spot…Darn it!).
I think the idea is a great one, but I just think I look kind of dorky in it, so I’ve never worn one. My daughter, on the other hand, loves to wear one :)
I think the idea is a great one, but I just think I look kind of dorky in it, so I’ve never worn one. My daughter, on the other hand, loves to wear one :)
Day 1 of Having 5 Kids:
Wow…so far it’s easier than I thought it would be :) Our sitter dropped them off around 6:45 and by the time she left and came back to get a back she had forgotten, she didn’t leave until 10:00. The kids seemed to feel right at home instantly. Bed time was difficult because of my kids (go figure!). My son is sleeping on a mattress on the floor since the younger one has his crib. You would have thought he would love that, but he cried for a long time last night. Then my daughter decided she didn’t want to sleep with anyone so she went into the guest room by herself. But all in all they were all asleep before my kids would have normally been asleep on a Sunday night!
Here are some of the things that I have learned while having the kids so far:
-Filling 4 sippy cups with different drinks in each cup takes a while! So when you think you’re going to quickly get them a drink, you’re not going to be quick!
-It’s really hard to cook dinner with a 16 month-old walking around because you have to keep an eye on him and on dinner so it doesn’t burn. Needless to say we had some burnt grilled cheese last night!
-My views on breastfeeding have been reconfirmed! For totally selfish reasons, I will nurse any future babies I may have as I found out through experience last night the getting up and making a bottle and feeding it to him in the middle of the night sucks! I understand people come up with systems and hubbies help out, but as I was reminded last night…my hubby doesn’t hear a single sound that baby makes! For me, it was a lot easier to bring the baby over and feed it and kind of fall back to sleep and then put baby back to sleep than it was to make the bottle and feed him. But of course, that’s just my personal opinions.
-I don’t mean to offend anyone out there, but I’m shocked that there are actually people out there that still put their infants to sleep on their stomachs and with loose blankets on them. I’m super-duper obsessed and worried about SIDS. I was so worried with my kids and am again worried with this baby as I have him during the peak time SIDS occurs. His mom went up last night to put him to bed before she left and laid him on his stomach and put a blanket over him and casually said he hates sleeping on his back. Then she let him cry for ½ hour until he went to sleep. Now, I know my son was a pistol, and there were times that for naps I would lay him on his stomach on the couch by me, but I sat there and continuously watched him. I have no idea what I would do if I lost a child to SIDS, let alone if I had to call a mom in California to tell her that her child had died. So, I decided that I would sacrifice my sleep to make sure he’s on his back! Luckily, after his 1:45 AM feeding I laid him on his back and he went right to sleep! I hope the rest of this week goes that well!
-We set up “nanny cams” at the house and right now I’m so spoiled because I’m watching my kids play! Seriously, I need to get back to work but I’m so addicted!
I think that’s it for now…I will continue to update you as the week goes on! Here’s a picture I took last night of the “band” my daughter organized. They all had to have guitars and they all had to have sunglasses! 
Here are some of the things that I have learned while having the kids so far:
-Filling 4 sippy cups with different drinks in each cup takes a while! So when you think you’re going to quickly get them a drink, you’re not going to be quick!
-It’s really hard to cook dinner with a 16 month-old walking around because you have to keep an eye on him and on dinner so it doesn’t burn. Needless to say we had some burnt grilled cheese last night!
-My views on breastfeeding have been reconfirmed! For totally selfish reasons, I will nurse any future babies I may have as I found out through experience last night the getting up and making a bottle and feeding it to him in the middle of the night sucks! I understand people come up with systems and hubbies help out, but as I was reminded last night…my hubby doesn’t hear a single sound that baby makes! For me, it was a lot easier to bring the baby over and feed it and kind of fall back to sleep and then put baby back to sleep than it was to make the bottle and feed him. But of course, that’s just my personal opinions.
-I don’t mean to offend anyone out there, but I’m shocked that there are actually people out there that still put their infants to sleep on their stomachs and with loose blankets on them. I’m super-duper obsessed and worried about SIDS. I was so worried with my kids and am again worried with this baby as I have him during the peak time SIDS occurs. His mom went up last night to put him to bed before she left and laid him on his stomach and put a blanket over him and casually said he hates sleeping on his back. Then she let him cry for ½ hour until he went to sleep. Now, I know my son was a pistol, and there were times that for naps I would lay him on his stomach on the couch by me, but I sat there and continuously watched him. I have no idea what I would do if I lost a child to SIDS, let alone if I had to call a mom in California to tell her that her child had died. So, I decided that I would sacrifice my sleep to make sure he’s on his back! Luckily, after his 1:45 AM feeding I laid him on his back and he went right to sleep! I hope the rest of this week goes that well!
-We set up “nanny cams” at the house and right now I’m so spoiled because I’m watching my kids play! Seriously, I need to get back to work but I’m so addicted!
I think that’s it for now…I will continue to update you as the week goes on! Here’s a picture I took last night of the “band” my daughter organized. They all had to have guitars and they all had to have sunglasses!
Friday, August 03, 2007
Next Week and DRAMA!
So we’re watching extra kids next week and of course there has to be drama surrounding this, doesn’t there? The nanny that’s coming to the house to watch the kids next week while we’re at work? DRAMA!
Supposedly (this just seems weird to me) someone scheduled her for an interview for a “real” job (what her degree is im) without checking with her first. So some lady is flying in to interview people on Thursday and she is signed up for it. She feels really bad and said she would tell them “no” if we can’t find anyone to watch the kids. Hello? This interview is for a “real” job…the one you went to college to get? What you want to do everyday? How on earth could I tell her she couldn’t go?
The other drama is that she thought the hours were from 7:30 – 4:30, when in fact they are from 7:00 – 5:00. So she has to leave early that day too because she has something that starts at 5:00. I know I’m painting her out to be a flake, but she really is sweet and nice…she just doesn’t understand that we work ½ hour away, so coming home during lunch while she interviews just isn’t an option.
I’ve also had a hard time dealing with wondering what I will get in return for doing this favor for our sitter…I hate that I keep thinking about it. My gut reaction to the situation was to help her out. But now I keep thinking “will she give me a discount for a couple weeks?” I’ve tried to talk to hubby about this and he’s helping me…I need to stop thinking about what people will give me for helping them, because that really and truly is not why I help people, but inevitably my brain starts thinking about it. She has made multiple comments about how she owes us and that if we ever need to go away without the kids she would be happy to keep them for us. Which is really sweet, but the problem is that if we ever went anywhere without our kids (which hardly ever happens) my parents would KILL me if anyone else got to watch them. They want those kids all the time, so I would probably never take her up on her offer.
So last night hubby and I thought of a solution and hopefully she goes for it. We decided to take a vacation with his parents in September, so I e-mailed our current sitter and asked her if as a trade-off, when we’re not there in September for that week, could we not pay (our agreement right now is we pay unless she takes days off for vacation or sick days)? I look at is like it’s not money actually coming out of her pocket, just less money coming in and she’s “on vacation” that week without my kids there. I haven’t heard back from her yet since I just sent it. I think it’s fair…what do you guys think?
Supposedly (this just seems weird to me) someone scheduled her for an interview for a “real” job (what her degree is im) without checking with her first. So some lady is flying in to interview people on Thursday and she is signed up for it. She feels really bad and said she would tell them “no” if we can’t find anyone to watch the kids. Hello? This interview is for a “real” job…the one you went to college to get? What you want to do everyday? How on earth could I tell her she couldn’t go?
The other drama is that she thought the hours were from 7:30 – 4:30, when in fact they are from 7:00 – 5:00. So she has to leave early that day too because she has something that starts at 5:00. I know I’m painting her out to be a flake, but she really is sweet and nice…she just doesn’t understand that we work ½ hour away, so coming home during lunch while she interviews just isn’t an option.
I’ve also had a hard time dealing with wondering what I will get in return for doing this favor for our sitter…I hate that I keep thinking about it. My gut reaction to the situation was to help her out. But now I keep thinking “will she give me a discount for a couple weeks?” I’ve tried to talk to hubby about this and he’s helping me…I need to stop thinking about what people will give me for helping them, because that really and truly is not why I help people, but inevitably my brain starts thinking about it. She has made multiple comments about how she owes us and that if we ever need to go away without the kids she would be happy to keep them for us. Which is really sweet, but the problem is that if we ever went anywhere without our kids (which hardly ever happens) my parents would KILL me if anyone else got to watch them. They want those kids all the time, so I would probably never take her up on her offer.
So last night hubby and I thought of a solution and hopefully she goes for it. We decided to take a vacation with his parents in September, so I e-mailed our current sitter and asked her if as a trade-off, when we’re not there in September for that week, could we not pay (our agreement right now is we pay unless she takes days off for vacation or sick days)? I look at is like it’s not money actually coming out of her pocket, just less money coming in and she’s “on vacation” that week without my kids there. I haven’t heard back from her yet since I just sent it. I think it’s fair…what do you guys think?
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Today We Are a Family of 4, Sunday We Will Be a Family of 7
I’m crazy, I know, but we will be having 3 additional kids staying with us all of next week. Our new babysitter has the chance to accompany her husband on a business trip to California and all she has to pay for is her food and her plane ticket. All of the sitters that she looked at wanted to charge her $1,000 to watch her kids for the week. Being a stay at home mom and a one income family, that was way too much.
So I got this crazy idea that if she found someone to come and watch the kids at my house, we would keep her three boys over night for them. Did I mention the ages of her three boys? No, oh, silly me. They are 3 ½, 16 months and 8 weeks. Yep, I go back to nighttime feedings next week.
We are actually very excited! We were going through the house last night trying to figure out where each kid would sleep and how we would accommodate three kids that need to be in cribs (I believe my son, the oldest of them at just over 2, will graduate to the toddler bed for the week). My daughter is excited because she gets to have a sleepover! Let me declare that this is the only sleepover she will have with a boy she is not related to :)
We did realize, however, how unprepared we are for the little ones. First off, I have no food in my house. It’s amazing how I can whip up dinners and such out of nothing for my family, but with 2 more kids that eat real food and a nanny coming next week, I have to really stock up! It’s also a hard adjustment for us to have “normal” kids in the house. By this I mean that the only safety measure we really took with our kids are outlet protectors. We didn’t need gates because we could close off the stairs down to the basement and our kids knew they were not allowed to climb up the stairs. However, in this house we will not be able to close off the stairs down to the playroom, so we’ll have to have a gate. We also have lots of little toys around because I had awesome kids that never put things in their mouths, so my daughter has the little Barbie shoes and that sort of stuff. I know I have exceptional kids, so now I have to baby-proof my house for kids that are actually normal kids and that probably climb, and try the stairs, and put things in their mouths.
So they will get dropped off on Sunday. And yes, I’m a nervous wreck. But I’m also really looking forward to having more kids around. Hubby and I want to have more kids, so next week we’ll get a taste of just how crazy it can be!
So I got this crazy idea that if she found someone to come and watch the kids at my house, we would keep her three boys over night for them. Did I mention the ages of her three boys? No, oh, silly me. They are 3 ½, 16 months and 8 weeks. Yep, I go back to nighttime feedings next week.
We are actually very excited! We were going through the house last night trying to figure out where each kid would sleep and how we would accommodate three kids that need to be in cribs (I believe my son, the oldest of them at just over 2, will graduate to the toddler bed for the week). My daughter is excited because she gets to have a sleepover! Let me declare that this is the only sleepover she will have with a boy she is not related to :)
We did realize, however, how unprepared we are for the little ones. First off, I have no food in my house. It’s amazing how I can whip up dinners and such out of nothing for my family, but with 2 more kids that eat real food and a nanny coming next week, I have to really stock up! It’s also a hard adjustment for us to have “normal” kids in the house. By this I mean that the only safety measure we really took with our kids are outlet protectors. We didn’t need gates because we could close off the stairs down to the basement and our kids knew they were not allowed to climb up the stairs. However, in this house we will not be able to close off the stairs down to the playroom, so we’ll have to have a gate. We also have lots of little toys around because I had awesome kids that never put things in their mouths, so my daughter has the little Barbie shoes and that sort of stuff. I know I have exceptional kids, so now I have to baby-proof my house for kids that are actually normal kids and that probably climb, and try the stairs, and put things in their mouths.
So they will get dropped off on Sunday. And yes, I’m a nervous wreck. But I’m also really looking forward to having more kids around. Hubby and I want to have more kids, so next week we’ll get a taste of just how crazy it can be!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
My Birthday....
Well yesterday was wonderful! I had an awesome lunch with my friend, had great cake at work, and then had a wonderful dinner!
When I got home I informed hubby that I wanted everyone to go to dinner. I said that I liked big birthdays, and that our anniversary is in a couple weeks and we would be going alone then. So when my sister got there I told her that we had changed our minds and that she and her boyfriend would be coming with us to dinner!
Hubby had me open my presents before we left. I opened the one from my son and it was a flashy-light thingy for the back of the pull-behind thing for the bike that we put the kids in. I was like "OK, ummmm, thanks." Then I opened my daughter's present and it was a speedometer for a bike...something hubby wanted! I was a little confused until I opened hubby's present.......a brand new bike! I've been using the same one I bought at K-Mart when we were in college. It was $100 and that was BIG spending for me back then. I've never complained about it, it works fine and we go on bike rides all the time. But hubby had taken the kids to an actual bike shop and picked out a fantastic bike for me!
After presents we went to dinner at Las Margaritas and I ordered a huge Margarita right away! We had a great waiter! When it was time for dessert all I wanted was so fried ice cream. He came back and said they were out of ice cream, but I could have flan or a shot of Tequila. I told him not to worry about it, I would get something somewhere else. Then all of a sudden I hear these loud drums and singing and they put this huge sombrero on me and start singing to me! Then right in front of my they put a double shot of tequila! And this whole time hubby whips out a little video camera that my dad has and told me that my dad had wanted him to take pictures for him of my dinner. So he's getting all of this on video. Since I had already had a gigantic margarita and I despise taking shots, I did a mini-shot so I wouldn't insult them and handed the rest over to my sister's boyfriend. Then hubby hands me the video camera and says "here, this is from your dad." So now I have a little video camera that I can always keep in my purse to get those "unforgettable" moments when I don't carry around our larger one.
So it was a great night! I decided to give my old bike the little girl that moved with us from our old house and she was soooo happy! She had even made me a birthday card!
I'm lucky because my birthday gets to be continued out for about 2 weeks! We'll celebrate and get more presents over the next two weeks as I see hubby's family and my other sisters!
Here are pictures of my presents:
When I got home I informed hubby that I wanted everyone to go to dinner. I said that I liked big birthdays, and that our anniversary is in a couple weeks and we would be going alone then. So when my sister got there I told her that we had changed our minds and that she and her boyfriend would be coming with us to dinner!
Hubby had me open my presents before we left. I opened the one from my son and it was a flashy-light thingy for the back of the pull-behind thing for the bike that we put the kids in. I was like "OK, ummmm, thanks." Then I opened my daughter's present and it was a speedometer for a bike...something hubby wanted! I was a little confused until I opened hubby's present.......a brand new bike! I've been using the same one I bought at K-Mart when we were in college. It was $100 and that was BIG spending for me back then. I've never complained about it, it works fine and we go on bike rides all the time. But hubby had taken the kids to an actual bike shop and picked out a fantastic bike for me!
After presents we went to dinner at Las Margaritas and I ordered a huge Margarita right away! We had a great waiter! When it was time for dessert all I wanted was so fried ice cream. He came back and said they were out of ice cream, but I could have flan or a shot of Tequila. I told him not to worry about it, I would get something somewhere else. Then all of a sudden I hear these loud drums and singing and they put this huge sombrero on me and start singing to me! Then right in front of my they put a double shot of tequila! And this whole time hubby whips out a little video camera that my dad has and told me that my dad had wanted him to take pictures for him of my dinner. So he's getting all of this on video. Since I had already had a gigantic margarita and I despise taking shots, I did a mini-shot so I wouldn't insult them and handed the rest over to my sister's boyfriend. Then hubby hands me the video camera and says "here, this is from your dad." So now I have a little video camera that I can always keep in my purse to get those "unforgettable" moments when I don't carry around our larger one.
So it was a great night! I decided to give my old bike the little girl that moved with us from our old house and she was soooo happy! She had even made me a birthday card!
I'm lucky because my birthday gets to be continued out for about 2 weeks! We'll celebrate and get more presents over the next two weeks as I see hubby's family and my other sisters!
Here are pictures of my presents:
Here I am opening my speedometer (can you tell I'm a little confused?):
My friend gave me the cool cookbook and the dish, which matches perfectly to a different one that I have and keep on my counter all the time. The camera my dad gave me is in front, and my sister gave me chocolates (she said she'll give me the rest of my present with my other sister).
And my new bike!!!!!
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