what a week

Pin It So Monday wasn't so bad after all. We had a nice time celebrating grandma L's birthday. I'm not sure if I was being oversensitive or if Step-MIL had gotten over whatever is was that made her upset, but all went smoothly.

Tuesday we decided to start spring cleaning. We flung everything out of our room that didn't belong (it regularly becomes a catch all for everything), and packed up stuff we didn't/couldn't use anymore. The room looked great...for a day. Now it's messed up again, and worse, the hallway is clogged up with a basket of laundry and a bunch of kids stuff that still needs to make its way upstairs. :(

Tuesday we were gonna get back at it, but we were so tired from Monday it was slow going for the morning, and in the afternoon, the sink decided to rebel and refused to drain. We have a garburator, so I thought maybe it just didn't empty properly. I made the mistake of turning it on, and water came out the other side of the sink like an erupting volcano, hurling carrot shreds and egg shell bits all over the place. *gross!* Underneath it starting leaking everywhere! With a sink out of commission, the kitchen went to pot pretty quickly. Hubby (I really ought to get a nickname for him) tried to fix it that night but was getting pretty sore from doing his genie impression of fitting himself in a teeny tiny space. We decided to go to bed. On my way up, I looked around at the disaster that was my house and prayed nothing would happen that we would need any kind of outside emergency help. The kitchen: gross; living room: full of clean, unfolded laundry everywhere; hallway: full of dirty clothes, clean clothes, books, and baskets that belonged in the kids' rooms; the kids rooms: well, almost clean, since we cleaned it earlier to fit the stuff sitting in the hallway; bathroom: full of toothpaste residue, spots on the mirror, and I'm sure if I looked, an unflushed toilet. *shudder* I'm sure in that state, we would surely be reported to the authorities!

Wednesday was a bit better. Hubby, like the superhero he is (ah-ha, maybe superman will be his new moniker...), fixed the sink and all it's leaky bits. I got to go do a little shopping in the afternoon and had oodles of fun with Kristi (thanks babe!), before heading out for a church meeting in the evening.

Thursday started out more promising, except that Sprout woke up complaining of a sore stomach and proceeded to lay in our bed and occasionally make use of her trusty side kick, barf bucket. At least I got some laundry folded and superman (will see if this sticks) got a haircut. In the afternoon, he went to pick up our new bike. On the way home he stopped in The Exchange where there is a hobby shop with an army surplus in it. He came out to find the van had died. He'd left the flashers on and the battery finally gave up the ghost. We knew it had been coming for a while, but I leave the car stuff to him. I did suggest that on his week off (this past week) that it should get taken care of; I guess this was just karma kicking him in the butt.

So, anyway he phoned me from the hobby shop to somehow get him home. I couldn't go anywhere cuz he had all the car seats and Sprout was still looking like death warmed over, so I didn't want to pawn her off on anyone in case she was contagious. (She wasn't. I'm not really sure what her problem was but it was pretty short lived.) Of course, I have a CAA , but he doesn't, and I have to be with the vehicle in order to use it. I called, hoping that if I gave them the sob story of having to stay at home with a pukey kid as the reason that I wasn't with him that they would give me a break, but no go. I asked how much it would cost to add him to the membership. The guy said, "not much; your card expires in June, so we just pro-rate it." Great! I thought. He said it would cost ten bucks, but then because I need to make a call the same day, they'd have to charge me a thirty dollar fee! What?! Talk about kicking you when you're down. Sheesh. Like they don't charge enough for the membership in the first place. I told him I'd have to call him back. I thought it was ridiculous to have to fork out another 40 bucks for something I've already paid for and think should cover both of us. I tried to think of a way to get myself to the van, but that didn't pan out. I decided to phone the branch of CAA and add him on. Ten bucks later and he was a member; though his coverage didn't take effect til midnight. I was tired of dealing with it, so I phoned him at the hobby shop and had him take care of the mess he stepped into. At least the guy in the hobby shop didn't mind; he had someone to talk to. Less than an hour after phoning them, he was home, without paying the extra fee. They install batteries too, we found out, so we had them come and do it that night. What a relief, because in the morning Superman had to pick up my dad from the airport and I had a dentist appointment.

I have to admit, our house was not in much better shape when my dad got here Friday morning, and I was pretty embarrassed, but whaddya do? I had to go to the dentist. When I got back, we needed to go pick up a coat for my stepmom at The Leather Ranch. Apparently, my dad asked for a better deal on the coat; they said no, but they would take $200 off of another coat for him. Dad said he'd get one for me, since he already had a closet full of coats he didn't use. I protested a bit, but knew it was useless, and, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, we toddled off to the store. I'm now the proud owner of a nice leather jacket (thanks dad!). I also found some boots, that really aren't in my budget, but I've been looking for some for so long, and they were the right price, I just couldn't pass it up. I have to admit, leather feels nice. I feel completely different in it; richer somehow. I could get used to it.

Today was a busy one too. Parents' day at dance class meant we were there from 10:15 to noon watching the girls dance. It was nice to see what they're learning and what they need to practice at home. From there we went to church for a baptism that started at one. Superman had some stuff to do to get ready for it, so I dropped him off and then ran to the store to pick up some lunch for us all. We didn't leave there til after three. I was complaining to my friend Jess that I still had to do some shopping because I no longer have any spring clothes that fit and I need some tops desperately (I came away empty handed on Wednesday). She told me to drop the girls off at her house so that Superman and I could shop for a bit. It was so sweet! Thanks so much Jess! I did get something, so I'm happy. We didn't get home til twenty to six, and were all exhausted.

Bean decided when we got home that she would play with a new timer I got. She completely busted it so that it didn't work at all. She wrecked the clip on the back that I use to stick it on me too. Superman tried to fix it, but she lost the pin when it snapped and she couldn't find it. I was so ticked off at her because I'd already told her to leave it alone more than once. Anyway, she ended up in her room til she could find the stinkin' pin. She came out a couple of times to tell me she couldn't find it, but I sent her right back up. Now, this is what impressed me: she has a My Little Pony, that has a magnet on one of the hooves. She decided to use it to find the pin. It worked! I thought that was pretty good for her to think of. Nice problem solving skills on her part.

And speaking of skills, the beast has really blossomed completely out of his newborn state in the last couple of weeks. He is getting very good at using his fingers; his fine motor skills are really coming along. He's grabbing stuff all the time. He's talking and giggling more than ever, and this week he started giving me kisses when I ask. He takes his hands, puts them on my cheeks, pulls me close, and then gives me a big, wet, open mouthed kiss, but I love it! He's really doing it on purpose and understands what I'm saying. He's also starting to wave, but also starting to make strange. There is one lady at church who wanted to hold him, but every time she tried he made the cutest upset face and screamed. He's also starting to do the worm (although, shouldn't it really be called the caterpillar?), so I think he may figure out the crawling thing before too long, and he's getting better at rolling over both ways now. He's growing up so fast!

Well, I guess this post is probably a mile long by now, I'd better sign off and go to bed. Hope everyone has had a good March. Happy Spring break!!

The Beast's first Easter.....

Pin It
...and I forgot to take any pictures. OOPS!
I even charged up the batteries.

Poor third child. I think hubby working nights completely threw the whole thing off. I almost forgot Easter was Sunday on Saturday night until I checked facebook and my friend Tanya wrote that she was getting ready for the Easter bunny to come. Duh! Blonde moment for sure. So I quickly emptied out the baskets that my mom got the kids and restuffed them with a few things we'd picked up earlier in the week. It was so anti-climactic. The girls woke up to see the baskets on the table but at first didn't realize that they were filled with different things than they had brought home from "gammy's" house. We also missed great grandma L's 90th birthday come-and-go-tea on Saturday at her retirement home. I'm such a putz. I didn't really want to go try and keep the kids in check without hubby, but figured we should go anyway, but I guess the day just kind of got away from me and by afternoon I had forgotten about it. We'll be seeing her today and so I thought I'd go pick a present up for her but when I talked to my step-MIL I was told that she really only wanted our company and I definitely got the hint. I'm feeling a bit chilled from the frost I got over the phone. Not looking forward to the day I have to say, though I suppose the cold shoulder is warranted. The wicked take the truth to be hard? Yup, they do! Can I be perfectly honest here though and say that though she seems nice, I have no idea what to say to her and wonder a bit why my husband doesn't make more of an effort to see her? After all, she's not my grandma; why is it my responsibility? Here's where I'm thinking if I'm going to make my blog public, that I ought to censor myself a little more and come off as more....perfect. But I'm not, and I don't see any point in hiding that fact. Nothing frosts me more than women pretending to have it all together for those around them when they are feeling overwhelmed with life, you know? I think it makes the rest of the other poor women feel like they have to pretend. Let's all just be real, shall we. Maybe if we could share our struggles, less anti-depressants would be in order. I will sacrifice perfection! I'm letting the world know right now, that I'm a wreck! :)  /getting off soapbox, now.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a good Easter. I think I may have to restage the scene and get some pictures.

Sunday, busy Sunday

Pin It So my dear, sweet hubby let me sleep in this morning, and remarkably, so did the Beast. He woke up at 4 something a.m. and cried for a bit but eventually fell back asleep. I'm not sure what the deal is with this, but he's been waking up between 4 and 5am for the past week or so. But, he fell back asleep, and instead of waking up at his usual time of between 7 or 8, he slept until 11:30! Bliss, I tell ya. It was short lived though when I had to race out of bed, feed the baby, get ready for church and stick a turkey in the oven. Hubby mostly got the kids ready, so that was nice. In fact, he put the turkey in the oven as well. Too bad I can't remember how to work the delay on the oven! Neither did he. We stared it down for a while, hoping it would give in and do what we wanted, but it wouldn't cooperate. In my house, I shouldn't be surprised. Eventually we thought we had it figured out, but when we came home we discovered a mostly raw turkey waiting for us.

On the way to church today Sprout shared with us the fact that she was a girl, and that meant that when she grew up she would be a mom, and she could do grown up dances. I'm not really sure what she meant by it, but thought it was pretty funny that for her, being a mom means being able to do different dances than they do in her dance class.

So it's been a long day, as all Sundays usually are. And the Beast is once again in the midst of his witching hour. I think hubby's getting ready to toss him out the window, so I'd better go rescue them from each other.

what a day

Pin It Oh my gosh. My ears are ringing from the Beast screaming in them all night. I'm not sure what his problem is, but he has NOT been a happy camper all day. The kids are just getting rid of colds too, so perhaps that's part of the issue. All I know is he didn't nap much today and so he is very overtired and cranky. Bean stayed home from school today (again) because of her cold. She's pretty much on the mend though and I'm kicking her out of the house tomorrow so it's probably best if she hops on the bus and ends up at school before she starts running with the local gang. That girl has been trying my patience today. She is getting super lippy and trying to rule the roost. I have to lay down the law hard now. She's not liking it too much, but she's usually such a good kid that I sometimes let the small stuff slide. Big mistake apparently. You know something's wrong with the house dynamic when Sprout's the good one. :D

So I just started this blog but have no idea how long it will last. I had one over at livejournal for a while, but I only wrote in it three times or something since December '06. Yes, '06; it's not a typo. Last I wrote over there, we still hadn't gone on vacation last summer or found our hip new van yet. As you can tell journal writing and the like aren't really a strong suit. I guess I figure my life is pretty boring, but I'm going to try to keep it up for posterity or something. If anyone knows how I can sweeten this look up a bit, I'm more than willing to listen. I'm not really keen on the templates they've given and would like to spruce it up a bit, but honestly don't have the time or the patience to sniff around for how to do it. I tried a bit today but Spencer wasn't so accommodating.

I started the day with such high hopes of accomplishment. What a bust. All I did was get the dishwasher emptied, a couple of dishes washed and supper made. Hopefully more will get done tomorrow.

It looked like such a nice day today too, and because of being sick and grumpy we never made it outside. Ah well, if I had a perfect day then what would be left to hope for tomorrow, right?