Random thoughts

Ok, I do enjoy blogging and I need to make myself get back in the habit. So, that said, I am taking off the pressure and no longer requiring myself to play catch up. I really didn't want my twins to turn five and my baby to turn two, so if I don't blog about it, then it didn't happen, right?

I realized yesterday that my mom is a ventriloquist! I was in my living room, bending over to pick something up when she did it! From across the street, she threw her voice into my living room as she said one of her famous "Mom" lines: "Am I the ONLY one around here that can pick things up??" It was pretty amazing!

Totally random, so much so that I don't even know why I noticed it: Yesterday I was waiting for Tom to get home, standing on the back porch, grilling the burgers, and I looked off in the distance toward 10th St and saw the three cars that were on the street at that moment....a red pick up, followed by a white pick up, followed by a blue pick up... I guess it was Patriot's moment on 10th St.

Tomorrow I am headed to Harrison's classroom to make a Mother's Day craft with the kids. I found a cute suncatcher at familyfun.com so I splurged and bought the supplies for 20 kids to make them. I have all of the glass beads that I need, so I just really needed to buy the 20 gauge wire and little bags to send the sun catchers home in, with some tissue paper to hopefully keep them from getting crushed on the school bus. My plan: to go to Starbucks and buy Mrs. Estala some tea, then go to the classroom, give her the tea so she can sit back while I take over the class, and have each of the kids pick up a bead for her, telling her something nice when they give her their bead, then she can string it onto a suncatcher of her very own, with one bead from each kid.

Our big huge dog, Elbert, is a gomer. We joke and call him "Big Gay Elbert" (no offense!) because he just is! Well, he is a 2 year old lab/weimereiner mix the best we can figure out, so he is just goofy, adventurous and loyal. He loves to be outside when the kids are outside. The twins just let him in because he tries to get on the trampoline with them. I noticed as he came to say Hi to me that he evidently tried to catch a bee again because his lips are swollen. I can't seem to get a picture or I would share because it is about the funniest thing I have seen! I just gave him some benedryl.

Speaking of Elbert, he is big enough and tall enough that he can jump onto the counter top and help himself to just about anything up there. He has eaten many loaves of bread lately. Anyone have any tips on stopping it? I know the easy solution is to keep everythign put away, but in a family of six that just isn't 100% possible and it is MY house, not HIS!

Good Grief!

I got an email today, asking me when I would be posting new pictures on my blog, so I sighed and decided that I better get back into it! I better pop up a new 'tab' on my browser and put Facebook aside for a little bit!

I am shocked to see that it has been well over a month since I blogged anything. So, I will go back through my old pictures and update, over the next few days, what we have been doing in my lazy down time!

It has been a busy five or so weeks, we have had a major holiday (Easter!) and three birthdays, a birthday party for the three lucky kids, been babysitting my friend's two kids a few days a week, running and attempting to keep up with day to day life in a family of six! Believe it or not, I did actually find time to read a book, I have missed reading and decided to force myself to get back into it. So, I read 7th Heaven by James Patterson. I love that series! It came out a while ago and I rushed to Sam's to buy it, only to declare myself too busy or too tired to read it. I saw an ad on Facebook to download the 8th in the series, so I needed to hurry and read the 7th! Now I am left hanging, wanting a new book to fill the void, but ultimately *needing* to know what happens to the characters in the upcoming book! Hurry Mr Patterson!

Ok, starting tomorrow, I'll post a catch up post! Don't hold your breath though, you might fall over and crack your head on something ;)

The Weekend

I think today I am going to borrow my friend's "Mind Management Monday" theme to try to recall our weekend!

Friday night we always have pizza, sometimes we eat at home with a movie on a picnic blanket in the living room, sometimes we go out. This Friday we took the kidlets to Dion's. Dion's is always good and the kids have fun watching the pizza being made, and everyone gets what they want! The kids get their cheese pizza, Tom can have a yummy sandwich and I get my salad and a slice with turkey and green chili! Yum!

Saturday morning Harrison and I were up and out the door extra early. The Pinewood Derby district races started at 8am and Harrison thought we should have McDonald's for breakfast, clearly the breakfast of champions? So, we left at 7, ran to McD's and then backtracked to the Mid High for the races. We got there at 7:35 and just in time before the check in line got long! We waited about 15 minutes to get all checked in, then waited another hour and a half for everyone else to get checked in! Finally the racing started around 9:45! Harrison came in 5Th place for the Tigers, out of 15 racers, so not too shabby! He was disappointed to not get a trophy but we were still proud of him! Secretly I was glad that he didn't place in the top four or we would have had to wait around a lot longer for the next round of championship races for the passing out of the trophies, four hours was long enough!

Tom showed up at the races right before the racing started, so after we were done there, we took the kids out to lunch and then I parted company and headed out to do some grocery shopping. I stopped in at my friends children's resale store, My Cedar Chest, and helped her by watching the store for a half hour while she ran to pick up her son from karate. Then I hit Smith's, the bread store and Walmart for diaper wipes. Ran home, unloaded groceries, put them all away, and cooked dinner for the starving family. I made a baked parmesan fish, which actually turned out very well but I used a fish that I wasn't familiar with, next time I'll use a tilapia or something a bit milder than the "whiting" that I picked up on sale at the store.

Sunday morning I woke up around 7:30, layed in bed with Millie until about 8:30. I started my morning the usual way, with breakfast and coffee while checking my email and piddling around online, then I realized I forgot to set the clocks back so it was really almost 10am at that point, so we were not going to make it to church. Upon that realization, I kicked into high gear and started to get some stuff done around the house. I picked up the kids rooms, changed their sheets, vacuumed and then cleaned the carpets in the kids rooms (Millie poured milk in the twins room and then stripped and peed in Harrison's room ) Then picked up the living room, worked on laundry, cleaned the carpet in the living room since I had the cleaner out anyway, cleaned the playroom and computer/craft room, cleaned the carpets in those two rooms. By this time it was time to start working on dinner. Harrison picked our dinner for the night so we had a build your own nachos night and it turned out well! I melted some Velveeta in the fondue pot, cooked up some pinto beans, pulled out the salsa and chips, made up some taco meat and some salads and everyone got to dig in. It was fun and the kids got to have dinner just the way they like it!

As the evening came to a close, I discovered a new addictive game online so Harrison and I played that for a while before sending him off to bed and getting Millie down for the night. The game is Peggle at popcap.com. Very addictive and fun for the kids too!

So, there you have it! Monday morning is starting out to be a Monday. I was lazy and didn't do the dishes from dinner last night, so those are screaming at me, laundry was slow yesterday so I have a bunch of that to finish, the twins have preschool today and each need to bring a potato (already in my purse so I don't forget!) Harrison had a fundraiser due today (Art to Remember) and I forgot to get that all filled out and did that at the last minute this morning, I need to mail my mom's Direct TV dvr back as it is riding around in my car since her car was out of commission last week, Tom called and I have his debit card in my purse, so I need to run that to him while the twins are at school, which eats up my afternoon when I was going to run home and get dinner thrown together, Harrison has computer class after school so we wont get home until about 4:30. Busy day!

A few pictures:

The Tigers watching their races

Harrison and his fellow Tiger, Jotham, showing off their medals

Millie pondering the beverage machines at the mid high during the races

Harrison's car is in lane two....

Our Weekend

Nothing overly exciting happened this weekend. We had one major milestone, a day long of play, Millie's first movie on Sunday and first aid in the desert Sunday evening.

Let me start with the major milestone. Harrison, our oldest, is 7 1/2 years old. Perhaps we are a bit over protective, but he has not had an overnight at some one's house yet. He did sleep over at Nana's house once, and then last summer went to Virginia with Nana to visit Aunt Alix and Uncle Mark, but that was all family, so not the same! This Friday night he crossed the bridge! The year before I had Millie I was babysitting my friend's two kidlets when she returned to work. Her oldest is two months older than Harrison and they are pretty good buddies. Well, lately I have been watching her kids again on Saturdays and the boys started scheming. We decided to let them have an overnight, at their house, and she would just bring Harrison home when she dropped her two off the next morning. The report was good, everyone made it through the night and the boys were tired but not too bad the next day. Wow, I almost think it was harder on Mommy and Daddy than on Harrison!

Saturday I had my friend's kids all day. Her boy, as I just said, is the same age as Harrison and her little girl is 9 months younger than Nick and Abby. Abby loves having Alex over, gives her a girly playmate for the day! Nick gets a bit lost in the shuffle though. The big boys push him away and he really doesn't want to play with the girls, at least not when the big boys are around because they might make fun of him, any other time and he would be fine with the girls! Saturday night, after those two went home, we took the kids to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner, yum!

Sunday Tom needed some study time and some rest time since he has a cold. My mom and I took the kids with us to run some errands. I needed to head to Trader Joe's to get some coffee and then we stopped at Dion's for some lunch. We took in a movie at the dollar theater: Bolt, very cute! The pigeon's were the best! Millie did alright, I was a bit surprised actually at how well she did. Mom and I basically book ended the kids into the row of seats, with about 6 seats between us. Millie just went back and forth between her Nana and Mommy, snacking on cookies, drinking water, talking about the "Buppy!" on the big screen! On the drive home, Nick and Abby fought over who would get the DVD for Christmas, they mutually agreed that Nick would give one to Abby and Abby would give one to Nick. I guess we'll just have two copies of the same movie, as long as they both get what they want! :)

After returning home, I decided to get some fresh air and exercise and take Elbert for a romp in the desert behind our house. He is our only dog that I trust off leash and he loves to run around and sniff, comes racing back every time I call him back. So, Abby ended up tagging along. We followed a trail out to the dirt road behind our house and decided instead of following the dirt road or heading back, we would be adventurous and just make our way through the desert. Well, Elbert caught a scent and followed it right into a big cholla cactus! Those things drop clusters of thorns, long thorns, all around on the ground. Poor Elbert had thorns in all four paws, up his legs and on other parts of his body from brushing up against the cactus. Abby and I helped him get most out, as many as we could. She was quite a trooper actually, they HURT as I pulled them out, because being clusters of prickers, the puller gets pricked as well, but Abby didn't seem to mind that she was getting hurt, she just wanted to fix poor Elbert. He hobbled home with a few single prickers in the pads of his feet. He *hates* to have his feet touched, it is the only time he has a negative opinion about anything! I tried to get the rest out and to feel around for any stragglers. He is still pulling when I try to feel the last foot, but I think the others are cleaned out. Poor dog! Next time we'll follow the dirt road or just drive to the dog park!

Blue and Gold

Harrison's cub scout pack had their annual Blue and Gold banquet a week ago. It all went well, all the boys seemed to have fun and all received their patches and other awards. Harrison earned his Tiger badge which is a big deal when you are a Tiger scout. He also got a trophy for winning first place in his den at the Pinewood Derby!

Harrison and Millie watching the events

Tom pinning Harrison's Tiger patch on his shirt.

Harrison and Jotham showing off their trophies

Lent

I remember as a child, we used to "give up" something for lent. I never fully understood why adn we never really stuck with it consistantly. This year I am trying hard to help my kids understand the sacrifice and directing that time and energy otherwise spent on the activity to God. Last year the kids and I "gave up" fast food as it had become a real convenience. This year we are doing the same even though we only really eat out/fast food once a week if even that (not counting my drive thru to get a Coke to feed my habit) So, this year we are giving up fast food, even for my Cokes! The kids seem to have a grasp on the idea, just last night Nick asked if he and I could stop while we are out on our "date" and I reminded him why and what it meant. So, this morning we picked my mom up at work and he said "I know we can't go to McDonalds yet, because God loves us" Then Abby chimed in with her explanation.

I have also given up computer time during the day, from 9am to 7pm. Yes, I am blogging right now and it is 11:53am, but I can justify (can't any addict justify a relapse?) My main problem during the day with the computer is the five minutes here and there that turn into 30. The "oh, I'll check my email real quick" or "I just finished laundry so I'll check facebook for a minute" Now that my computer time is limited to just the evenings, in which I am sharing it with Tom and also wanting to see my couple tv shows, I haven't taken time to update my blog lately and it is a good method for keeping friends and family current on the happenings of our crazy family! Thus I am justifying my blogging!

Back in the Saddle

For the longest time, when I was working and for a bit after the twins were born, I would spend time digging through cook books, finding recipes and planning our dinner menu. I would generally do a two week period of time and then shop accordingly. I would make sure I had everything I needed for the menu and save a list for the second week of the perishables that wouldn't last long enough to buy ahead.

I don't know exactly when I got away from it but I have decided to start doing it again. Dinner was so much easier! I would post a calendar that had the dinners written on it as well as the pages/titles of the cookbooks I would be using. I would plan crock pot dinners if I was working, or make something in the morning if it would be a busy afternoon. It was actually easier when the twins were little because I knew what we were having and I could get most of the prep work done early, so when the dinner-hour-fuss-out would start, I would just pop a pan in the oven and it was taken care of!

We also always used to have a big family dinner on Sunday evenings. I would make something yummy and even though we generally eat dinner as a family almost every night of the week, there was something about the Sunday dinner that was just a bit more ceremonial and special. Sundays lately have been chaos: I take the kids to church and then generally out to lunch or to run errands, Tom stays home to study and sleep. By the time we get home, it is late afternoon, the kids want to play outside and I try to take Elbert to the dog park or just get a little bit of sanity time for myself before the weekend is over. Before I know it, 5pm is rolling around, nothing is thawed and there is no plan. This Sunday was my turning point. I made my choice to get back into the menu planning and Sunday dinners as I literally made PB&J, cut up carrots, sliced apples and grapes for dinner!

Yesterday was shopping day. I went to the Fruit Basket to get a bunch of fruits and veggies, as I do almost weekly anyway. Then on to the grocery store with my list in hand. I now have everything I need for dinners for the week! Last night we had a chili chicken casserole. Tonight it is Hobo burgers. Wednesday quiche, Thursday barbecue meatballs, Friday I am going to attempt to make pizza crust so the kids can make their own pizza's for our Friday pizza picnic. I have never had luck using yeast before so wish me luck!

Simply Cupid

So far I only have three kids in school and I am starting to realize the chaos that goes with that. Take Valentine's Day for example: Three kids in classes that require cards to exchange: 16 cards each for the twins and then 20 for Harrison = 52 cards. Harrison went to town with his, writing names and signing his. He did have trouble with a few because the lines are so incredibly short, it is hard to fit a name with ten letters written in 1st grade lettering! Nick and Abby are in the same class, so they each needed 16 cards. Thankfully their teacher just wanted their names on the cards, instead of putting the "To" spot filled in, so the kids can just pass them out. Abby happily signed away her name 16 times, Nick had a little trouble but did finally get his done. His cards were teeny and shiney, so it was hard to write with a pencil on them.

Then comes the party time. For most of the twins parties at school this year, I have cheated and wimped out, just sending what I needed to send while the other Mom's seem to put together the goody bags and make the amazing cupcakes and treats. So, this time I promised Nick and Abby that they could bring something fun. We bought heart cups at Walmart and filled them with candy, a pencil, a deflated balloon and I think something else. So then Harrison comes home and announces he wants the same, sorry but not this time!

I noticed the cards don't have envelopes anymore, just the little flaps to fold the edge under (which ripped on most cards that Abby tried to do herself) and they don't come with a "Teacher" card either!

Nick and Abby have their party today, Harrison has his tomorrow and then can we be done until the next school party?

Dog Park

Our crazy dog Elbert starts to get giddy after a week or so of no vigorous exercise. I like to try to take him to the dog park on Sunday afternoons but that doesn't happen as regularly as I would like. So, Thursday I actually completed everything on my 'to-do' list so we picked up Harrison at school, ran home, grabbed his bike, rc car and Elbert. The dog park at Rainbow Park has an open area beside it, which is all dirt and has a dirt pile. Harrison likes to ride his bike there and Nick was driving around the rc car while they all played on the dirt pile. Millie had to hang out in the stroller with me in the dog area, but she did alright, she enjoyed watching the dogs clobber her "Bobo" dog.

Harrison and his cool RC Car he got for Christmas

Elbert is normally pretty much a black dog, but at dog park he turns into a dusty dirty gray color

Another Cub Scout day

Harrison's Tiger den had one more "go see it" to complete before getting their Tiger patch at the Blue and Gold in two weeks. The 'go see it' has to teach the boys something about communication. I guess they looked into a tour of the Abq Journal, but the boys were too young, same with the tv stations etc. So, I called up some old contacts from my days as working Mom, and set up a tour of Starline Printing. The boys got an introduction to the printing process, got to see some of the many types of media that is printed at Starline and got some cool goodies to take home!

The tour begins....

Mr. Dan showing the boys a metal plate with the images burned on it, he explained that they do one plate per color and use oil and water to get the ink to print onto the paper. One boy asked "If you make the metal plates here, do you also make paper plates?" Wrong kind of plates kiddo!

On to the HUGE printer....

The boys standing by three stacked rolls of paper

Clearly no one was expecting a gaggle of 7 year old boys to parade through the building when they left for the weekend!

Thanks Mr. Dan for giving us your Saturday morning and thanks Mr. Lang for helping make this happen!

Who works hardest in our house?

Tom goes to work all day, five days a week, from 7-4. I take care of the kids all day with duties stretching into the evening and night and all weekend. Tom does some things around the house after work too. So, it is debatable about who works harder.

My personal vote for the hardest working family member is....drum roll.... our washer and dryer! They are loyal and always ready for action at the turn of a dial and push of a button, they never argue or whine or want to sleep in, some days they get a day off, but always have to pay for it later with extra work. Sometimes they work all day long with hardly a break between loads, working well into the evening, right up to the time the last load gets rotated and the house goes dark for bedtime, only to start up again bright and early before the first kiddo is off to school.

Elmer the Elephant

So, Harrison came home last week with the assignment that he had to make a book character out of recycling. We looked through books and came up with some ideas, then browsed our recycling collection and came up with Elmer the Elephant. We had one of the big pretzel jugs from Costco, milk gallons, some card board/paper board, soda cans, a 2 liter bottle and of course, the glue gun.

Elmer's tail, the ring from a bottle of spaghetti sauce

His body is the pretzel jug, his head is a 2 liter bottle, eyes are milk caps, trunk is the hanlde from a milk jug, ears are cut from a milk jug, legs are soda cans and his patchwork body is made from cut up boxes.

Look a'me!

I have said it once and I'll say it again, Millie is just too darn cute! I know Harrison was too darn cute, then the twins came along and they were too. However, with time, those little twinges you get when they do something adorable seem to fade a bit, the memories of every cute little giggle, saying or expression fade until we are only reminded on video or picture. So, I know my others were cute too, but now we are embracing the moments of Millie being and adorable toddler!

Her new thing is to do something daring or spectacular by her standards and then say "look a'me!" over and over again. Two nights ago at the dinner table, we had two chairs pushed side by side and she intentionally put one foot on one chair and one foot on the other (keep in mind there was no gap) but for her it was HUGE to be on two chairs at once and she just got the "I am hot stuff" look on her face and looked at Tom and said "Look a'me!" then looked at me and said "Look a'me!" over and over again! Forget the conversation we were having or the dinner in front of us, it just reminds us of how fleeting these moments are at this age, in a week it won't be "Look a'me" she'll be saying it right and it won't be as cute, or the little things like standing on two chairs at once just won't cut it for her anymore.

So, in the mean time, I will stop and melt as her little voice proudly demands attention and demands that we "look a'me!"

Playhouse Disney Live

One of the joys of parenthood is taking the kids to the stage productions of their favorite shows etc. I think we all pretend that it is silly but deep down, we all enjoy it to some level :) Last year we saw My Little Pony on stage as well as Nemo on ice. This past Sunday my mom and I took the kids to Playhouse Disney Live. It wasn't too bad, the kids all enjoyed it. I was dreading taking Millie because I really thought she was too young and would just be climbing all over, but she did super well and was fascinated with the big characters that she recognized from her favorite shows.

Nana, Harrison, Nicholas, Abigail and Millicent, waiting for the show to start

Millie with her Little Einstein's conductor stick. She only whacked the kids in front of us a few times :) "We are going on a trip in our favorite rocket ship...."

Handy Manny
I have kind of always wondered about Manny, but the dancing neon tools confirmed my suspicions

Dance Millie, Dance!

Our friends, Tigger and Pooh

The entire crew

Pinewood Derby

I have had some troubles lately with getting pictures to upload, so I am backed up on my "gotta blog" list!

Saturday was Harrison's first Pinewood Derby. He is a Tiger Scout this year, so we will have many more of these to come! He and Tom attended the car building day for the Pack and then between the three of us (Tom, Harrison and me) we got the car built and shiny just in time for the big race Saturday.

Harrison's Hot Rod!

Harrison took first place in the three races in his den. When they raced for the Pack Champion though he did not do as well, the years of experience from the other Cubs showed! He placed first in our books though, especially in sportsmanship! He will be in the district races in March.

Showing off his award

Aspirin in the best form of birth control

That is what we were told in our high school, or was it jr high, sex ed class. Now-a-days I guess they use more politically correct, try it on for size, methods.

The other day I was at Walmart with my mom, we were shopping, child free. I saw a young girl in the baby section, shopping for baby clothes with who I assume was her own mother. The young girl was holding a very teeny baby. Yes, my first thought was to pass judgement and the whole "Gosh, she is so young!" "Teenagers having babies, ugh" type attitude. Then the baby started to cry and she moved the baby into another position and I felt sorry for the baby for the inexperience and lack of compassion in the way she handled the baby, again, my thoughts went back to how incredibly young she is! Then I saw it, a plastic foot sticking out of the blanket. She isn't a mom, yet, but instead is doing the whole "try it on for size" method of what the system hopes to be birth control. However, as she and her "Mother" were in Walmart, clothes shopping for the new "Grandbaby" I would think that in this one case, it wasn't working too well.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was in the parking lot at JC Penney's looking for a spot so I could go find a purse that would be big enough for me to carry my new camera along with my other 'stuff' when I passed a very young couple, all of maybe 16 years old. She was standing in her "skinny" jeans and cleavage holding a baby with a bottle in it's mouth. "Daddy" was busy getting the baby car seat out of the back of the two door car. She was pissed and bugged with him, he was tired and bugged with the entire situation. As she carried the baby and he carried the car seat, it was obvious that it was not a real baby and chances are, this young couple would be handing the baby back to their instructor Monday morning and running as far away from each other as they can!

So, as I shopped, I was thinking of the young kids with their "try it on" dolls, them thinking of how cool it would be if they had babies and how easy it would be also. I was in the little boy section looking for some pants for Nick. All of their clearance items were dwindling, yet I was determined to come up with an even number of the BOGO clearance items. I heard this little boy yelling "Helen!" My immediate thought was that he had lost his grandma (Helen is my grandma's name and seems to be an 'old' name to me) but he kept it up. Then the lady next to me, who appeared to be alone, yelled back "Brady, keep track of your brother" Then I heard the boys run up the middle aisle, laughing and giggling. Then she said, again: "Brady and Kellen, be good please" and she kept looking. Then here they come again, running back down the same aisle, from the big boys section clear down to the baby section, yelling and laughing. Once again "Boys, be sweet" I have to confess, as they started weaving in and out of the clothes racks and one ran into me, I didn't apologize or step out of his way as he told me to "move it lady" as he tried to get away from his brother. His mom kindly apologized on behalf of her "sweet" and "good" precious boys. Every time the loud speaker came over, instructing shoppers to shop clearance or whatever, I was for sure someone was going to come on and say "Will the owner of the two brats running and yelling and knocking clothes off the racks in the kids departments, please control them or leave!" But, I could only hope, it never happened.

It all made me wonder, if the teenager "Moms" were given Kellen and Brady, perhaps they might consider not having kids so soon!

So, aspirin, as we were taught, is the best form of birth control, not a baby doll that cries, or brats running in the store. How, you ask, does aspirin serve as birth control? We all asked that in jr high or high school also, when Miss Wallenberg told us that. She was from Iowa, one of many kids, I am thinking it was literally like 10 kids. She stood in front of our class, in the small Lutheran High School (and jr high) that I attended, and told us exactly how aspirin is the best form of birth control: You put one between your knees and don't let it fall!

Flakey as a biscuit

I have a confession: I have been so flaky lately! In my "before motherhood" days I was NEVER flaky! I worked at the same job for 7 years and I was late for work one day and that was *only* because they called on my way to work and needed me to stop for something and I ran into someone at the store that I knew, through work so I had to be nice :) Of those 7 years, I called in sick one day, I missed one other day because I went to work sick and they sent me home (the other sick day followed this day)

So, I guess I was doing well so God decided to test me with one baby. I still held on and was pretty predictable and dependable, so he gave me two at once. It took me a while to recover from that, but I did, and was still pretty non-flaky, so along came the Grand Finale. I have to declare, I have surrendered and confessed, I cannot maintain a coherent thought any longer.

About two weeks ago I invited a friend to the mall while my kids were all in school, her baby is Millie's age so it would just be the two babies. Then I realized I had invited her on MLK Jr day, so all my kids were out, so I had every intention of sending her a text message to say whoops and reschedule, but I flaked and totally didn't send the message! I left her hanging the day we were supposed to go out. I NEVER do things like that!

So, fast forward to the present: This Saturday I was supposed to go with my friend to paint the inside of her Mom's house so they can put it on the market. Well, then I realized it was the same day as Pinewood Derby. That part is not my fault, the parent in charge of Scouting did not inform the non-scouting parent of the event by following proper procedure and putting it on the family calendar, so my painting went on the calendar first, however I cannot send him to the Derby with four kids, so, as usual, my plans are the ones being changed. No problem, my friend is a peach and said "great, what about Sunday?" Sunday works, no problem! So, this morning, Friday morning, my mom calls and has six tickets to the Playhouse Disney Live, one what day? Sunday. I did convince her to go with us and let Tom stay home and study for his class, but now I have to flake on my friend.

Twice in a week, not good for my track record! Do they sell some herb that is safe while nursing that will help my brain focus and go back to normal or do I just have to ride the Motherhood Train and hope it eventually comes back???

I got it!

Cricket, being a model for the camera: The full size original shows more vivid colors and definition in his coat. He was mad at me so ignore the bitter look on his face

I finally got my new camera, let the learning begin! I knew when I picked out this camera, or this level of camera, that I would have a lot to learn compared to a basic point and shoot like I previously owned.

I played with the camera a bit last night and got it basically put together (battery charged, lens cap on etc)

Here are a few of the pictures I took last night, please ignore the dirty faces!

I took this from across the room, the definition in the original picture is surprising! Makes me think I need to get my eyes checked and get new glasses!

Abigail: the original of this shows the static-y hair flying away as well as the highlights in her hair. I took this about 5 feet away from her.

Harrison, supposed to be showing me his missing front teeth. The original shows all of his peach fuzz on his face as well as the grooves on his new bottom teeth. This picture was taken standing across the room from him.

New Camera!

Finally! I am getting a new camera tomorrow. I have shopped around and I have decided it is too painful to shop in the brick and mortar stores and THEN come home and read the reviews and research the cameras online because there is always a lower price on the internet, but I don't want to wait that long to get a camera. Pinewood Derby is Saturday and I need a camera to capture it.

So, I have settled on the Nikon P80. There are many others with similar features, but I found this one at Kurt's Camera and the price is very similar to those online but it comes with a 3 year service plan and a case (You mean my purse isn't good enough?)

I am so happy! I have felt lost with out my camera! I keep catching myself reaching for it, only to realize that yet another adorable moment in life will just go undocumented! Not anymore!

Milk

I am not a fan of drinking milk, so I am not the best example for my monkeys. I don't like the taste of it unless it is super duper cold or is poured over cereal. I am not the one who drinks the left over milk from my bowl of cereal, that is why I have Rudy, he loves to drink the milk, that is his job!

My kids have all gone through the early stage where they can't seem to handle milk. Nick was so severe that he had to drink Nutramigen until he was 18 months and then soy milk until he was about 4 years old. Abby was on soy formula until a year and then drank soy milk with Nick more because she preferred it, I don't think it was much of a necessity for her like with Nick. Harrison couldn't really drink cows milk straight for a while, but he also nursed a long time so I never worried about it. Millie is the same as Harrison, she is still nursing but she does seem to have issues with her bottom when she drinks too much milk.

Now that everyone (except Millie) is on the same page and all drinking skim milk, I pour a glass of milk with dinner each night and expect them to drink it. Lately it has become the battle of the week. I don't mind putting a little Hershey's in the cup, but if we are out of chocolate, then the milk still needs to disappear. Perhaps that is part of my midwest upbringing, or the slogan "Milk, it does the body good" but I do feel strongly that milk is just something you drink every day while the bones are growing! I am sure my kids could drink more but with the battle of just one cup, I have to pick my battles.

Harrison will drink, easily, three glasses of milk at dinner and have milk at lunch at school, so I don't worry about him. If I give Nick milk, he'll drink it but not always be happy about it. Abby lately has become a different story! It is the battle of the week and good grief is she getting snitty about it! I was in the middle of it at dinner the other night and had picked it as my battle and I was going to stand by it when Daddy decided she didn't need the milk and told her it was alright, she could go with out drinking it.

At some point the battle goes way beyond the original battle. This battle between Abby and I was no longer about drinking milk, it had reached the point of 'you are being a brat about it, and you need to do what your Mom says" but still, Tom decided it was about milk and let her go.

A little background, Abby doesn't eat. She will sit at the table and take maybe two bites of food and that is that. So, I don't think it is asking too much for her to at least drink some milk to help give her body something to work with. About one week every couple months, she will eat everything we put in front of her, the other weeks, she takes about 10 bites a day, thus I feel it is important to make sure what is going in, it maximizing it's usefullness to a growing body! I have considered rolling her food in ground up miracle grow and crushed vitamins, that way her six bites are complete nutrition, but that probably would be a bit overkill!

So anyway, I didn't intend on bashing my husband or airing our disagreement, or even singing the praises of milk as it is probably my last choice of beverages personally! I guess I am just rambling, just one of the daily struggles we have around here. It is 9:40am and I am already starting to anticipate the battle that will happen in 8 hours when we sit down at the dinner table!

Just my luck

Last week the kids and I were out running around after we dropped Harrison at school and I realized that I have kind of missed the morning radio show that I used to listen to (Jackie Tony and Donnie on 100.3 The Peak) every day last year while driving Harrison to and from school (appx 2 hours round trip from home to school to home) I won a few things last year by calling in for some of their "Random Acts of Kindness" segments that they did every day.

So, as I listened a little bit this week, I decided to jump back in and try to bring back my luck and win something. They did most of the good things by email this time around, so I emailed to win a "Snuggie" blanket which made Tom and I laugh when we saw the commercial for it a few weeks ago, also for tickets to Playhouse Disney Live and also for the High School Musical on Ice (abby would enjoy the skating!) Wouldn't you know, I won! That is right, I am now the proud owner of my very own Snuggie! I'll be sure to post some pictures of us all huddled under it. I think I am more excited about the booklight that comes with it, now maybe I'll finally read the latest James Patterson, Womens Murder Club novel!

My mom and I joked that I never get a chance to sit down long enough to actually use the blanket, good point Mom!

Facebook

I have been on Facebook for a few months now, after much convincing from a few friends of mine from high school. I have enjoyed it, much more than myspace, and have been bugging Tom to give it a try.

Tom, being Tom, couldn't just take the leap and try it, knowing he could cancel and delete at any moment. He researched it online. "Well, www.blahblahblah.com says that Facebook is used for....."

So, tonight Tom went to Santa Fe to meet up with and old friend from the 'hood that he grew up in (If Omaha could be called a 'hood?) and Brent mentioned that he has joined Facebook and talked about all the people they mutually know who he has reconnected with etc. So, my husband just confessed to me that he too will finally give it a try.

Quotes heard around the house today

Nick to me: "My ear stinks"
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Millie to me: "Ya you" (Love you) followed by a blowing kiss as she runs down the hall to be naughty
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Abby to Nick: "Nick, your back is hairy like Daddy's!"
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Breakfast time: me and Nick, conversing: "Nick, what do you want for breakfast?" "Noodles"
Lunch time: me and Nick, conversing: "Nick, what should we have for lunch?" "Noodles"
Later in the afternoon: Abby: "Mommy, is tonight pizza picnic?" "Yes Abby, it is Friday, so pizza picnic night!" Nick: "Can we have noodles on our pizza?" Abby: "Nick, you love noodles way too much!" Nick: "I know Abby, some day I want to marry noodles"
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Upon the discovery of the fairy dust left behind by the tooth fairy: Abby: "Mommy, the toothfairy sure left a lot of fairy dust behind last night!" Nick: "Maybe Slipper (cat) almost caught her and she spilled her fairy dust bag"
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Nick walking into the living room after Millie changed the tv channel: "Mommy, there is a naughty daddy show on tv" Abby: "Nick, it isn't a naughty Daddy show, it is a naughty teenage show!" sidenote: the term 'naughty daddy show' is innocent and refers to the tornado/hurricane/tsunami/alien attack/end-of-the-world shows Daddy likes to watch, nothing kinky, naughty teenage show refers to the shows on Nick and Disney that we don't let the kids watch like Hannah Montana, Drake and Josh, Suite Life etc)
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Amputation

OK, not quite, but still. My camera has grown tired and decided to stop working. I would rather be with out my cell phone than my camera. I have four children, I use it every day, multiple times a day.

Needless to say, I am distraught.

New Year's Resolutions

Ok, I know, I am late on this. I haven't posted in a while so I have some catching up to do.

Typically everyone has the New Year's resolutions that are so predictable: lose weight, exercise more, etc. One year I vowed to keep up with our laundry, then I had #4, I think God was laughing at me at that point. So, this year mine are going to be simple, more focused on the little things in life.

1. I want to bake cookies more often. It is such a simple task, all the kids get involved and everyone loves the outcome. It makes the house smell good too! Right now I have dough chilling for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, YUM! I will make enough to send for snack in Harrison's class tomorrow.

2. I want to start practicing Dr Randy Carlson's "one thing" rule more often. When you start to get frustrated or short tempered with the kids, you pause and ask yourself "what is one thing I can do other than snapping at them" I try, really I do, but sometimes I do snap and then I always feel bad. I often don't hear myself until I hear Tom when he is in a mood or when I am out in public and I hear someone else talk to their kids and my first thought is "poor kids!" but then I stop and realize that I probably sound like that at times too. So, I want to pause more and think of 'one thing' I can do to diffuse the situation.

3. I want to learn how to sew. I have a sewing machine and I have never used it.

4. I want to pray more. Seems so basic as a Christian, yet most nights by the time my head hits the pillow it is the farthest thing in my mind. Instead I am running through the day, reviewing the moments I could have done better, should have done better and just wish I could re-do. I am going through the list of things to do the next day, list of things I didn't get done and have to finish the next day and list of things I want to take care of. Mornings are just crazy, by the time I hit the snooze one too many times. Perhaps I need to make that my priority, to get up one snooze cycle earlier and pray in the shower. I laughed when someone at MOPS said that a few years ago, now I see the logic!

5. I will write thank you notes this year! The last couple years I have really slacked in this department and I need to get back in the routine! 3/4 of the kids are old enough to participate in their thank you's to some extent, so I need to get them in the routine of writing them! Harrison can write his own and the twins can draw a picture and sign their names on the cards.

6. The glass is 1/2 full, right? I have found when I spend a lot of time with my mom, it quickly becomes 1/2 empty. I need to focus on the positive rather than slipping more into her mind set of focusing on the negative.

So, I am sure I could go on and on. Now that I have put these in writing, you can all feel free to send gifts to test out #5 (a digital camera would be nice) I would even #1 with the #5 and include you in the #4 in the morning, do #2 with the gift, thus capturing the action forever, and maybe I could use #3 to make the #5? Go ahead, send the camera and I'll see what I can do :)