Tuesday, April 29, 2008

friends in town and adventures in sunburn

well, as stated before, the Canadians are coming and are now, in fact, here. and burned. bad. perhaps arriving at the beach at 11AM wasn't a good thing, but it was a beautiful day and we had fun. my friend who drinks rum is medicated due to the sunburn. but, she's a trooper and will not let that stop her...the woman has a vacation trip binder and she WILL do everything that is planned!
in addition to the Canadians, my Minnesota friends are here, too. they are not as burned and have no trip binder. and, today is my friend's birthday! let's all join in now...
"happy birthday to youuuuuu
happy birthday to youuuuuuuu
happy birthday dear S****
happy birthday to youuuuuuuuu"

must go get a cake.

Monday, April 21, 2008

the Canadians are coming! the Canadians are coming!

this time tomorrow, they will be in flight to Florida!

I will be making this as a "welcome to Florida, say hello to your sweat glands and goodbye to snow" drink.... I got this from my guilty pleasure show Real Housewives of NYC on Bravo.


The Skinny Girls Margarita

What you'll need:
2 oz of clear Tequila (100% agave, Patron Silver)
(count 1, 2 while you pour, no need for measuring)
A splash of fresh lime juice
A splash of Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec
Combine all ingredients over a glass of ice

Garnish with a lime wedge and salt (or sugar) if you'd like.

it's hard to be a 1 yr old's Momma

today, the following things have happened with my baby boy.
* he tried to hang himself from the window blinds by taking the cords OUT OF THE SAFETY HOOK. so much for that home safety thingy.
* he somehow learned to do a 180 in his highchair, while buckled in. and then he stood up, facing backwards.
* he was knocked over by the dog. 3 times.
* he ate dirt
* he got into the trash, again.
* he slipped in the bathtub while standing.
* he pooped 5 times.
* he bit my toe. again.

he is now safely tucked into his bed, fast asleep. here's hoping he stays that way until about 6:30ish AM.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

well, they broke wooden boards successfully!


The 3 New Toughest Kids on the Block
so, they did it. I only had 1 beer prior to leaving for karate(don't worry, the man drove). I wasn't going to drink anything, but at the last moment I had a moment of panic and chugged a beer. I do not think I have drank a beer that quickly since college.
Jack did great! he thought it was pretty cool to break a wooden board. he did it 3 times, once with his hand and twice by kicking it. his friend that went with us did awesome! he does not take karate, and he just broke the boards like it was nothing. Erin had to do all 3 of hers with her foot, but man was she proud of herself afterwards!!!!
I was holding Luke throughout the whole ordeal, and that kind of hid my cringing and such. afterwards, we took them all to a burger place and let them play in the kid germzone tunnels.

Jack getting ready for the first break...look at Erin's face as she is watching!


post breaking board happiness

Erin...getting ready to break a board!


he is still never going to learn those scary knife things. no way. no how. Momma can only consume so much alcohol prior to family events before people start to "talk".

Monday, April 14, 2008

I may need some of those "happy" drugs

my friend has been very sick. she has been given a lot of very nice sounding "happy pills". I wonder if Holly could send me a pill or 2 by Friday?
what happens Friday? ohhhh, you are gonna love this.
Friday night, my son will learn how to break a board at karate. and the teachers were so nice, they invited my 4 year old daughter to come and learn it, too. the man is all excited to see it. he wants to try, too. I was sort of in an "ER emergency orthopedic surgery required with casts and pins and nerve damage and oh yeah the Mom need stitches in her head from where she fainted and fell" premonition daze.
I'm really not a good karate Momma.
I watch and wince and cover my eyes or pretend to be reading something very important but I am really watching, on the edge of my seat, ready to jump over the half wall to pick him up, do CPR, carry him to the hospital, whatever is necessary. and he has no clue how nervous this karate business makes me. I smile and put on a brave face for my 8 year old, and even give him a thumbs up every now and then, cheering him on. but in my mind, I really would not mind if he wanted to join the chess club.
so, back to Friday. when in life does one need to know how to break a wooden board with your hand? are there no saws available? what if you get a splinter? what if the board does not break and you end up with a broken hand instead?
yes, we'll have the camera to document this. Momma may need a strong drink by the time it is all over.
the thought of my son...hitting a wooden board with his hand...shudder.
and my little girl, with pink nail polish, hitting a board?...picture me keeling over right about then.
thank God they did not extend the special class invitation to the baby.

You may all rest easy tonight

because, "pink mee mee" has been found. she was involved in what my daughter was sure was some kind of evil plot against 4 yr old girls and went missing for 48 hours. the man attempted a search and rescue procedure, no dice. I got my 8 yr old in on the search, he could care less. I looked in all laundry baskets, washer and dryer, asked daughter to go look under her pillows and blankets and in the toys. no pink mee mee.
guess what I found when cleaning up toys tonight? inside the toy box labeled "Erin"...pink mee mee. laying right on top. practically waving at me. daughter was thrilled beyond belief and declared me "the most greatest Momma in all the land".
I called the man, told him the news. I asked him why he had not looked in the toys(like I asked you to). his response, "I did".
this leads me to yet another encounter with that mysterious male disorder I have named, surface scan vision. ssv is what men do. they open the refridgerator and yell out, "do we have ketchup?". the ketchup will always be in the door of the fridge. it has been kept there for 14+ years. it fits well in the door. if we have ketchup(which we always do...my children put ketchup on anything that will sit still), it is indeed in the fridge, in the door, where it always is. but he can stand there and not see it. so then I have to sigh and walk in there and point to it and say, "do you mean THIS ketchup?". it really gets tiresome after 100 times or so. but I am sure he most definitely DID look in the toys for pink mee mee and somehow did not see it and therefore it is in no way his fault his dughter wept herself to sleep last night and then climbed into bed with us at about 4AM because "she was worried pink mee mee was lonely".
oh, and just for those who do not know...a pink mee mee is a blanket that my daughter has loved on for almost 5 years now. it is a Carter's baby blanket that has a pink flower print side and a solid pink side. the name came from when she decided it was easier to say things were "me me" instead of "mine". and now, it is officially Pink Mee Mee. and it is resting comfortably in daughter's arms as we speak...umm, type, fast asleep.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

I need a vacation

I love my family. I love my family. I love my family.


but sometimes, they drive me effing nuts. I wish it would not be frowned upon for Moms of the world to just go hire a fill-in Mom for a week or so and disappear. no phones. no TV. just lots of sunshine, big soft beds all to myself, alcoholic fruity drinks, and no children or men who want things from me allowed.
really, I would be just fine if I were allowed more than 3 hours of sleep per sleep period. the brain does not like it. I even somehow managed to incorporate a crying child into my dream and therefore did not get up right away to go see what was wrong. seriousley, I was dreaming that I was shopping for a new mattress(????don't ask who shops in dreams...I know someone who does)and a baby was crying in the background and I was thinking to myself, "self, don't listen to that baby. his Mother will take care of him. you are choosing a new mattress. this is really important. can't that Mom take care of that baby? he is probably hungry. sounds like a hungry cry. yep, sounds exactly like Luke when he is hungry. DAMN!!!!! it IS Luke!!!!!!!"
and I woke up, and had to make sure by sitting up in bed and looking at the baby monitor lights going up and down to tell myself what a horrible Momma I am for letting my baby cry throughout a dream.
I got up and took care of him...he was fine and did not seem too miffed at waiting an extra minute or 2 for his bottle. when I went back to bed, the man decided 3:32 was an awesome time to try to cuddle. not happening, man. this woman needs sleep. he moved back over when my elbow gently hit him in the stomach.
you know what? all is quiet. I must go to sleep now, I cannot pass up a chance of sleep. sure, laundry and dishes need to be done, but hey, unless I can get the man to sleepwalk and dream of being a servant boy for a night, they'll be there tomorrow.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Power Failures with Children

in case you have not experienced this, let me just tell you what last night was like.

we had a big storm here yesterday. lots of thunder and lightening and wind. never lost power during the storm. we did loose the sattelite, but we always loose that when it's really cloudy. no big deal, kids watched a movie.
so, storm finished at about 9 or so. all kids were safely tucked into bed, asleep. Momma sits down to watch the 11 PM news, just to sort of get a feel for what is happening in the world outside of my house. *BAM* power flickers off and on about 5 times. just enough to trigger the alarm system to make it's really loud BEEEEEEEEP to let you know that the power is out. the answering machine also decides that power failure is the time to speak REALLY loudly saying, "POWER OFF".
needless to say, 2 of the 3 children woke up, crying. because it's dark. and Momma is walking around trying to find an effing flashlight and bumping into everything. I find some candles. in fact, scented candles. my friend sells Partylite(hi E!) and I had some wonderful scented votives that fit the bill last night. I got to the baby and picked him up, he quieted right down. I got the my daughter who was halfway on the ladder/ halfway in bed and crying. I brought a candle, she climbed down and came with us into the master bedroom. the 8 year old was apparently not bothered by the whole ordeal and told me that I was being too loud and he was trying to sleep. so sorry, son...I am sporting bruises on my shins from trying to race to your bedroom to make sure you're OK....but please go back to sleep. we all know how needed sleep is. 8 hours of sleep would feel like nirvana to me at thsi point.
sorry, I digressed.
so, get baby a bottle, get daughter all tucked into my bed. I decide that I should just stay up at this point because the man will be home in an hour or so, and the garage door opener will not work for him, so he'll have to come in through the front door. does he have a key? I doubt it. he's that kind of guy.
baby falls asleep. 4 year old decides it's time to party with Momma. she is telling me stories and singing songs and just being, you know, 4.
I hear the man drive up. I get up and go to the door, and realize at the door that I am wearing a tank top and undies. I really hope at this point that it is the man and not anyone else! lol yep, it's him and he does has a key. he never ceases to amaze me.
so, we all get comfy and go to sleep. I am awakened at 3ish by the answering machine telling me "POWER ON" and the alarm system doing it's BEEEEEP. no one else besides me and the dog awoke. I got up and turned off the lights that had turned on and put the baby back in his crib. 4 year old and the man are fast asleep.
baby woke up at 6.
3 hours of uninterrupted sleep in NOT enough.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Spring Break used to be fun

I remember when I spent Spring Break as a senior in high school at the beach in a 2 bedroom condo with 12 girls. THAT was a great time.
Spring Break with an 8 year old, a 4 year old and a 1 year old who has not slept through the night all week is NOT fun. don't get me wrong, I love being with my kids. I had all of these ideas of how this SB was going to be.

this is how I had thought it would be...
we would all sleep in until at least 7AM. I did not want to purposely jinx it by dreaming of sleeping until 8AM, so I was perfectly OK with 7AM. that is at least 1 extra hour for me.
we would all spend a lot of time at the park, do story hour at the library, go to the bike trail and ride with little one on the baby seat for the 1st time.
get little one's 1 year pictures done. if you looked at my wall, you would assume I have a 3 month old baby boy.
8 year old son would read everyday and be able to rack up some serious Accelerated Reader points for school and impress his teacher.
4 year old daughter would master all of her letter sounds and begin reading at a 1st grade level. (OK,that was pushing it, I realize that)
baby would sleep for at least 8 hours each night, and take a nice afternoon nap as well.
Momma would get a pedicure.

here's how it all went down.....
these children have been awake at 5AM on some days. wth????? I have to drag them out of bed at 7 on a school day, yet on vacation they expect full service breakfasts and free refills on milk at 5AM???? oh, I think NOT!!!!!!
we have not made it to the bikes. at all. 1st of all, the baby helmet seems to have disappeared. I KNOW we have one. however, it is not with the other helmets, like I know I saw it a few weeks ago and thought to myself, "self, there is the baby helmet. baby will love to go on bike rides! how about you plan that for SB and then we can do it nightly?" 2nd of all, it has been hot as H*ll all of a sudden, and raining every afternoon. plus, I have been exhausted and not exactly feeling up to wrangling a rollerblading child, a training wheeled child and a baby behind my butt on the trails. oh, and story hour? it was cancelled this week...due to SB. are they out of their minds? did they not think that us Moms would need 1 hour of someone else reading and entertaining our children????
no portrait as of yet has been done of the now 1 year old. he is currently sporting a straight line bruise on his forehead from his sister opening the door too quickly and banging his head on it. who wants a portrait of their child looking like they beat him with a stick? not me.
OK, some good news! 8 year old has read everyday(albeit under the threat of no GameCube ever again)and has gotten 2 points so far. so when he returns to school he will get another little dogtag thingy since he has passed the 20 points mark! yah!!!!!!! threats work with him.
4 year old daughter is more interested in math. OK, I can do math. only problem is, all math has to have a Barbie involved in it somehow/someway. me, being the tricky Momma that I am, convinced daughter that 1 particular Barbie was the math teacher to all of the other Barbies and Kens and Kellys and whoever else is in there. it worked for about an hour.
the sleeping baby....he has not slept through the night in over a week. why, you ask? heck if I know. he's eating anything that he can get his little hands on, he's drinking 3 bottles per day and multiple sippy cups of water. he has played with his brother and sister and been practicing walking by holding onto all furniture daily. he likes to trick me, this one. he goes for a while and sleeps really well. just as my body gets comfortable knowing it will have a good 8 hours to sleep, he wakes up screaming at 2 or 3AM. now usually, he will drink a bottle and get a dipe change and go right back to sleep. this week, being SB, he has stayed awake for at least an hour each night. and napping? maybe an hour. this is more due to his brother and sister deciding to declare war and the 4 year old ending up in hysterical, loud screams, thus waking up the baby. and me. I have been trying to catch a nap for 4 days now. haven't caught it yet.
as for the pedicure. I believe Sunday may be my best bet for this. I can leave the house and sneak away and let the children drive the man insane for a while. ahhhhh

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

My baby is 1 year old today

my favorite picture of Luke at just a few hours old

1 day old with his big brother and sister

2 months old

4 months old with Eeyore

6 months old at Halloween

8 months old

10 months old

1 year old and already in the treehouse!


where has 1 year gone? my sweet, happy little boy who always can bring a smile to everyone's face....I am so grateful you are with us and you are healthy and strong now. those 2 weeks in NICU were the scariest of my life, and I so wanted to just pick you up and take you home with me. you will be walking anyday now, and saying more words, and yes, I'm sure, doing more flushing of the toilet, lol.
Momma loves you!