Friday, May 30, 2008

I'm a great aunt..like you all didn't know that already!

Yes, I am a great aunt, a fabulous one in fact, but now I am officially a GREAT aunt.. like an old lady kind of aunt.. My niece had a baby today.. a girl.. Everyone is doing well, and I'm hoping to get up to see her this weekend. I love babies..especially the ones that I don't have to bring home with me!!

My day so far..

It's not noon yet, and already I'm ready for this day to wind down.. Let's see, this morning, I brought my youngest son to school for speech. Upon arriving, there was an unusual amount of cars there and my usual spot right in front, typically reserved for the idiot with too many kids, was taken. Being the blond that I am, I decided to make my own parking space right in a double white line area.. which would have been just fine, except that I got a little too close to the curb and put a nice hole in my front tire. It hasn't popped yet, and luckily, I was able to get back home.. It's actually more of a tear than a hole, you can see the metal of the tire under the flap.. I'm sure it's perfectly safe to tool around in for a little bit.

I've killed 3 REALLY SCARY bugs already this morning, that my children could not coexist with. I've had my mind read a dozen times, and have been asked to read the little ones mind as well.. I rewashed some stinky laundry that I didn't get to quick enough and I have put a stop to more than one cat fight between the girls.. I still don't know better than to have 2 of EVERYTHING.. even if it's just my water bottles..

I met my oldest son's computer teacher. She stopped by while I was at the school to say hi to the girls, and asked if they had a brother or sister there. When I told her who their big brother was, she went on about what a great kid he was, and how he's such a good example to the other students about what being a good student is all about. She also said it was clear that we were doing a great job with him. I couldn't have said it better myself, thank you.. pat pat on my back! It was really nice to hear, and made me forget about my tire in the parking lot that I thought was most likely deflating while I waited for my youngest son.

And so now, I'm sitting at my desk, with both the girls on it right next to me.. one is trying to get into some Neil Diamond records and the other is rearranging the pencils in my cup.. in a few it's off to school for the little guy, one more week of driving his butt around..yee ha for that!! I'm glad it's Friday.. so so glad..

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Summer Work..

Summer is almost here, and my husband will be unemployed for 10 weeks- there are definite pros and con's about being a teacher.. He gets paid for the summer, but we chose to take it over the course of the school year, so that basically we can afford the luxurious things like wood for the stove, and electricity.
Some teachers choose to get a balloon check at the end of the school year, and live off of that for the summer. However, this is not a choice we can make. So, when the summer comes, and after I've been saying "What are you going to do for work this summer honey?" since January, it's determined that I'm the one that is going to work, at a wage that is about 1/2 of what he makes as a teacher (so it's shit)
For a few years, he did landscaping work on his own. He had a few jobs that could carry us through the summer, oh and let me clarify, it's not landscaping, it's more mason work, building walkways, patios, and stone walls (he's very good at it, so if any of my 3 readers need anything like this, let me know!)
Last summer, I worked. It wasn't bad at all. In fact, I quite enjoyed getting out of the house for a spell. And my husband fared quite well. This year is a bit different as I'm now watching my sister's 3 children 3 days a week. My good ole hubby has said he would stay with all 7 of them for 3 hours in the afternoon, so that I could go into work. Swell.
It would appear though, after all the thought put into this (mostly by my husband) that I am not going to be needed. At least in the capacity that I was hoping for. I was offered hours in another department, but that would require me working long hours, and my husband being with all the kids for the entire day, something I'm sure he couldn't handle.
We are now back to the drawing board.. and my husband just might have to get some real work anyway.. or we could just do what I suggested, which is to put summer on the credit card! I know, I know.. but I'm sick of trying to enjoy summer, stressed out because we're poor, or working.. ugh..

Now he's reading my mind...

This has become a new game for my youngest son.. reading my mind.. today he asked me if I wanted to know what I was thinking.. sure, because on most days I have no clue what I'm thinking.. so he told me that I was thinking about how much I loved him.. awh.. And then later, when I was thinking I would call child services and have him removed from my home before I killed him, he told me I was thinking that maybe tomorrow would be a better day.. pretty much!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

My Best Effort..

My niece, who I mentioned yesterday, is in the middle of potty training. It's not even 10 o'clock, and she's already had two accidents.. Sorry, but she's now in a diaper... I tried, really I did.. but it's been too crazy this morning to have to wipe pee up off my floor, and change her every 20 minutes.. Not to mention the fact that she's going to run out of clothes soon, and she's got a very important dinner this evening with her grandma and grandpa..
My husband is so excited about our new camper, that yesterday he suggested selling our house, renting a house during the winter and living in a camp ground during the summer... Then he thought maybe the kids would be embarrassed living in a pop up tent.. yea, that's the only problem with that scenario.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Potty training.. girly style

My sister is potty training my 3 year old niece. She came to my house today in a pair of underwear, a size 4, which she pointed out was too big since she's only 3.. She was pretty proud of herself though, not wearing a diaper.
She reminded me of my boys when I potty training them. She threw off all her clothes, and sat on the potty, many many times. She had 2 accidents, but peed more on the toilet than on my bench (yea, she curled up on it late this afternoon and just let it go..) She also pooped 3 times. One turd at a time. I know she's excited about using our bathroom, and she really feels like a big girl, especially with my own diaper wearing girls eagerly looking on.
My sister was worried that this would be too much for me to have to deal with, but it's not. If I can have one less child in my care wearing a diaper, then it's all good!

Monday, May 26, 2008

STAB

My husband was talking in code to me last night when we were outside about to go to sleep in the camper (our big night out camping in the backyard..)
I was in the camper with all the kids, and he was still enjoying the fire, when he came to the door and said "stab".. to which I said "what??" "stab, backwards" To which my very clever 8 year old says "BATS????" nice..

Friday, May 23, 2008

Wii Take This Very Seriously..

Here is just a taste of what it's like watching my youngest son play on the Wii.. His favorite game is boxing (yea, we were all shocked!) He gets WAY into it, and gets very annoyed if there's any talking, laughing or general living while he's trying to kick the ass of his opponent.. Anyway, here's a clip..

Thursday, May 22, 2008

At least he's not dropping them off in the morning!

Ok, my brother in law has got to know this is coming.. It's been a crazy week for everyone in his household, sick babies, construction and apparently a pissing contest with a co-worker. This was enough to throw him off his usual routine, which includes picking up his children at my house after work.

I got a call about 10 minutes after I expected him, saying he was half way home and he had forgotten to pick them up. I really thought he was kidding. But he was not. It's hard having kids. It's exhausting, and damn, it can turn your brain into mush! And luckily gives me some interesting blog material! Thanks :)
I was offered a treadmill by a co-worker of mine. She's moving, and no longer needs it. I think it's from the early 90's, it appears to be in good shape, but she was asking $100 for it. I didn't reply to her email as I was undecided, and really didn't want to spend that kind of money on something that old, especially after just buying the camper.


Apparently, holding out and not responding, has forced her to drop the price to NOTHING! So, it's mine.. My husband is hopefully going to pick it up this weekend for me.. I swear I'm going to use it, despite what my husband thinks..

Monday, May 19, 2008

Our Rebate Put to Good Use.. Thank You Mr. Bush!

We are the proud new owners of this bad boy! The guy that is selling it (at an incredible price) emailed me last night and said it was ours if we wanted it. He had an overwhelming amount of interest in it. People were offering him cash, as well as cleaning his home, and hosting web pages! I just happen to have been the first offer he got, and with that, he felt obligated to let us have the first look.
Anyway, he's delivering it to us later this week.. my boys are all ready for a campout this weekend!! yea, no more tents!!

Pukey Puke and Runny Runs..

So what an exciting weekend.. it started when I got home from work on Friday night with food for the entire family. My husband and I had our Las Olas (yum!!) and I had gotten the kids happy meals.

We all sat down, about to eat, I had taken one bite of my delicious salad, and my youngest son took his first bite of his mcligament, which was shortly followed by an "oh shit" kind of cry,and a look on his face that something was going on in his belly. Moments later, after I have dragged him to the bathroom, it all comes up. Out his mouth, out his nose (which he found particularly disturbing later) and the sound of the "warning fart" let everything go down below, all at once. It's been a while since I've seen that many bodily fluids coming out in unison. And my poor little 5 year old was in shock at the loss of control he had over his tired sick body.

All the while, my husband is trying to scarf down his food, as he was about to leave for his show that night. The girls are all too curious about all the sounds coming from the bathroom, and luckily, my oldest son who usually moderates these events with a "look mom, he's puking.. or Oh my god he just pooped his pants" was busy in the other room devouring his fast food.

My son decided he was done eating and that he just wanted his root beer.. reluctantly I agreed, and we all sat back down (after a serious scrub down) and finished our food. My husband left, which most nights I am totally fine with, but when one of the kids is puking and crapping himself at the same time, I just never know what the rest of the night will bring. Thanks to the sanitation gods, or the intestinal ferry, but it was a one time deal, and he was passed out in bed less than an hour later.

I wish I could say it stopped with my youngest, but it's hit the girls too. They have each had a day with diarrhea, and a one time puking episode. It's one of the strangest viruses I've seen, and one of the shortest. Thank god for that!

Friday, May 16, 2008

This and That..

My husband and his band have a show tonight in Portsmouth.. unfortunately, I can't go, but I got my night out last week, so I'm good for now..
I'm at work, and my mouth is watering. I'm stopping by a new Mexican restaurant in Exeter on my way home.. Las Olas.. It's the best Mexican food by far! Margarita's has nothing on this place! It's fresh, and really affordable.. And they have a great salad that goes with my south beach diet (I started that again) It's been almost 2 weeks, and I've lost 8.5 lbs. A total of 18.5 lbs since I started last fall! So yea for me, yea for the clothes that I haven't been able to fit into since before I had my twins, and yea for my husband for finally noticing!! ;)

What's in a name??

Well, if you had my name, you might also have an Adam's apple and a penis.. Which can be misleading, if you don't know that I am in fact a girl, and not what my name might suggest.
My husband and I have been searching for a pop up camper. We love to camp, but sleeping with 4 kids in a tent has lost it's appeal. We found a great camper in our price range on Craigslist. I emailed the guy about it, and got back an email addressed to me and about 20 others, as there are many people interested in it.
Yesterday, in an effort to kiss some ass and maybe put my name on the top of this guys list, I emailed him and basically begged for the camper, and even offered a little more than his asking price. I even added a couple of ";)" computer winks.. It didn't dawn on me til about 3 a.m. that he totally thinks I'm a dude. Of course he does, why the hell wouldn't he?? It can so easily escape me, the fact that my name is not really a girls name, but a man's. I am after all very used to it after 35 years of having it.
I just hope that this man is open minded, and didn't take my computer winking too seriously.. maybe he's gay. I can only hope!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

I've been busy the last couple of days making some baked goods for blogless's graduation party this coming Saturday (congrats btw, we are so proud of you!!)
Anyway, the bigger kids got into the mess with me this morning.. Notice the clothes are starting to come off.. We will not be totally naked today, especially after yesterdays crapfest on my back deck.. (see below). The kids were a big help though, these are going to be a labor of love!! But my dear friend blogless is well worth it!!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

As if taking care of 6 kids isn't enough.. ;)

I let the girls have some naked time today (my babies that is) and their 3 year old cousin had to join in, so we had bums running around everywhere.. I was just hoping they wouldn't pee, but I was happy that something else besides my cushy lap was inviting to them. In the meantime, I was changing my nephews diapers, when I realized my niece had let herself out onto my deck. She definitely knows better than to go outside by herself, but she's 3, and she saw her chance. I ran out and got her, and then commented to my mom who was visiting, that it smelled like shit. Hmm, I didn't give it another thought since we've been keeping our trash out on our deck and figured it must have been one of the gazillion diapers in the bags.

It wasn't until a few minutes later, that my niece confessed in a rather proud, and giggly fashion, to my mother that she had pooped on my deck. Nice. Of course I had to take a picture of it, and send it off to her mom at work right away.. So here it is.. Her lovely shit.. Thank you sweetie for the gift on my back door!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Wii Love our Mothers, don't wii??

The birthday party was a success. My husband grilled all the food, and burnt only half of it. It was a great day weather wise, and there were a TON of kids there! It was great. My boys got so many great gifts, and they have a new appreciation for gift cards. They did their little shopping spree yesterday and had so much fun just picking out whatever they wanted. Something they never get to do on our budget.

On Mothers Day, I got some great art work from the boys, and just what I told my husband that I wanted for my special day- which was nothing. He never lets me down, always gets me what I ask for! We did go out to breakfast at our favorite bake shop, and then went home and I got a 2 hour nap! That was a little slice of heaven, especially since we didn't get home til 1:30 a.m. from my husbands show. It was a great night out. I got to see some friends that I hadn't seen in a while, and of course see some other interesting shit as well. The funniest thing was this skank bag doing a pole dance, minus the pole right in front of the stage. A few drunk guys tried dancing with her, but she was having none of that. She was going solo.. It was a pretty small bar, and the dance floor was about the size of my kitchen table. She couldn't have any guys crowding in on her space, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to do her split. Yea, a split! To each his own I suppose..

Anyway, in other news.. we got a Wii yesterday! It was meant to be (and this is what my husband and I are telling ourselves to avoid the post purchase guilt always associated with an expensive, and frivolous purchase) After going to the 3rd store, having no luck, there was a lady returning her unopened Wii, apparently succumbing to her very own guilt. This of course was the only one in the store, hence the whole "meant to be thing". It's fun so far.. what little time I've been able to get on it.. My husband has it the most. I did get to play 30 minutes of tennis on it today, while the girls were napping. I actually broke out into a sweat.. so there's my excuse for playing it.. exercise!!

Friday, May 09, 2008

Mother's Day...

I picked my youngest son up from preschool today, and was told upon him getting into the loser cruiser, to close my eyes. Apparently he had a Mother's Day gift for me, one that he did not want me to see, until Sunday. I closed my eyes, and played along. When we got home, we were lucky to meet my husband pulling in at the same time. He grabbed one of the babies, and my youngest son scrambled for the door, holding his gift for me as secretly as he could.

He waited by the front door, and again I closed my eyes, so that I wouldn't see the surprise he had for me. My husband let him in, and he flew upstairs, and hid it under his bed.. just like his teacher had told him.

Thankfully it's only 2 days that I have to let the plant live under his bed.
Sure I saw it, as he came bouncing along to the van at pick up. But I won't ruin the surprise.. instead on Sunday morning, when he pulls the barely breathing plant from under his bed, I'm going to act like it's the best thing in the world.. just what I always wanted.. and in many ways, it is.. my boys love, his joy at making me happy, and giving me this great surpise.. what more could a mom want on Mother's Day?

My big weekend..

Tomorrow we're having a big birthday party for the boys.. I've been cleaning and cooking all day, in fact, I just finished the goody bags for all the kids. I'm looking forward to tomorrow.. we're having a TON of people over, and tomorrow night my husband's band has a show in Newburyport. I'm looking forward to that, it's been a while since I've seen them. The other guitar player, who I so lovingly refer to as "Douche" has put up a bunch of pics on their website. It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't feel it necessary to put some dialogue under about half of the pics. Makes him douchier than ever, in my opinion. And he's one of those a-holes who wears his baseball hat slightly to the side.. Next time I see him, I might just have to smack it back to the center..
Anyhoo, I'm just hoping I have a great weekend.. I could certainly use it!

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Stealing for a good cause..

I just got a call from a risk management group concerning my bank card. Apparently someone has gotten a hold of my credit card number, and donated to the red cross. That is exactly what I would do if I was going to be a criminal and steal peoples credit card numbers. I would be the Robin Hood of the electronic age.. giving to the needy. pulease.
They also used it to check my credit.. hmm.. I'm sure they were NOT impressed.
I'm not going to stop shopping on line, for me it's a necessity. They caught it quick, and what are the chances of it happening again? btw, that's a rhetorical question, so don't leave any statistics, or advice.. I don't want it. Living in blissful ignorance is my what I prefer! :)

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

My Jog..

I had a dream a few nights ago about jogging. I dreamed that I really loved it. It was like one of those dreams where you realize that you can fly, and in the back of your mind, in your subconscious you think "maybe I really can fly" Then you wake up, and duh, you're not a bird, and you are not going to fly, no matter how much speed you try to pick up.
But this dream about jogging made me think that I might start to do it. It made me think that despite the fact that I haven't jogged since I was in high school with ctale (which was always followed up by smoking a few butts on the way to Dairy Queen for a blizzard) that maybe I could do it.
Today, I jogged out to my car, twice.
Yea, I don't think I'm going to start jogging.

New neighbors..

It would appear that we have new neighbors across the street. I ran into someone at work who lives down the road and she knows the family, they were her neighbors until they moved.

The person I know at work lives in a very pricey, very large house. The people across the street are now renting a modest ranch, while they renovate their 3,500 square foot mansion.

My co-worker commented on how tough that must be for them going from such a large house to such a small one. That was when I asked her how many kids they had. Two. Yea, I'm not feeling too bad for them. Come live at my 1,400 square foot condex with 4 kids, and then we'll talk about a pity party for the new temporary neighbors. ugh..

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Ash-hole.. hehe..

"I'm a good guy storm trooper, and my name is Ash.."
is what he meant to say, but with my youngest son's speech issues, it sounded like this..
"I'm a good guy storm trooper, and my name is Ass.."
I couldn't agree more, at least this morning.. he's been a bit of an ass all week actually, I love him dearly this boy, but he just might be the death of me!

Girly Girls..

My mom got the girls some J-Lo type glasses.. they love them, well at least one of them does.. And check out that hair! Seriously, I can't do a thing with it, and I refuse to cut it.. after 2 boys and several haircuts, I want pony tails and french braids!


Monday, May 05, 2008

8 Years Ago Today...


It's hard to believe that 8 years ago today, my oldest son was born.. It feels like I blinked, and here I am.. with 3 more kids, who at this moment are making me wish I only had one.. ugh..

Last night we celebrated with dinner, cake and presents. My youngest son has his 5th birthday coming up next week, so he got his gifts last night as well.. all to avoid a meltdown.

Happy Birthday, I love you!!

Sunday, May 04, 2008

And the freak factor continues..

I had no idea this was true, but children of identical twins are genetically half siblings. So my niece and nephews are actually half sister and brother's to my own children. weird.

wtf..

Our house was woken up this morning, around 6 by the screams of my oldest son. I have never heard him like this before. In the 2.6 seconds that it took me to get to his room, I had every horrible scenario flashing through my head.. every ridiculous thought that could be compressed in those 2 seconds emerged as I ran for my screaming son. I thought that perhaps he had woken up in his own blood, with a limb somehow mysteriously missing.. or that he had suffered some sort of spinal cord injury and could not feel his legs. The screams were that wrenching.. so much so that his little brother was running from the room screaming himself because he too was so afraid of the screams coming from his older brother. This of course woke the girls up, who also started in on the screaming. It was a fine wake up call..
So, you must be wondering at this point what all the fuss is about! I didn't know whether to scream myself, or just burst out laughing.. There was (hold on, you're not going to believe this..) a MOTH in my sons room. A really. big. moth.
At that point the moth was just sitting on the wall, most likely frozen there by the screams.. After my heart stopped pounding out of my chest, I grabbed some toilet paper, and mercilessly flushed the moth out to sea. Poor little moth.
I then told my son to go back to sleep because 6 a.m. is too early to be up on a Sunday.. He said he would, right after he got some new pajama's.. Apparently the moth had scared the piss right out of him.. Poor little boy.

Saturday, May 03, 2008

Will someone please look at my box..

Last Monday we had to get another Comcast cable box. That was the 3rd one we have had to replace. We woke up this morning, to no cable. Having 4 children is difficult without cable. I'd like to say that I'm one of those parents who put a strict regulation on how much t.v. my kids watch, but I'm not.
I called Comcast right away, and spoke with a lovely woman. She was verifying all my information, asked me who she was talking to (since my name is not typically a females name) When I told her she had the right person, she asked me if I would give her permission to look in my box. Having no coffee yet, and little sleep, this made me giggle.. I had to cuff the phone. But she kept it professional, and quickly corrected herself and asked if she could look at my account.. rather than my box.. Anyway, I'll bottom line it.. we're watching all the Wiggle DVD's we have and someone is coming over tomorrow to look at my box. Yes, I will let them look at whatever they want, as long as they give me back our Nickelodeon and Noggin.

Friday, May 02, 2008

Recycled Art Work..

I came home from work last night to find my oldest son working on a recycled art project. This was something he did in school for Earth day, and he thought he would continue some more at home.. we have so much garbage that he is now calling art, and that I can no longer recycle or throw away.. Here's his latest work..

And here's a close up of the picture.. notice the pregnancy test in the middle? He apparently found my old test stored in the bathroom.. he has no idea what they are, or that I've peed on it.. but it certainly made his art work unique (to say the least)

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Handcuffed..

My family and I witnessed our 18 year old neighbor being cuffed and stuffed into the backseat of a police cruiser tonight at dinner.
I thought when my husband said "Oh my god, they're handcuffing her" that he was kidding. He can be a bit of a tool that one, but it wasn't until my son's friend said the same thing that I realized he wasn't kidding.
It was almost comical, all of us with our bowls of spaghetti watching from our big kitchen window. Nothing ever happens here in NH, at least not in my neighborhood. So when something does, we don't care who sees us, but we are going to be right there to watch. It's really pretty rude, but it's like a train wreck, ya know? You can't just turn away and pretend it isn't happening.
I don't know what she's been arrested for. I suspect we'll know soon enough, my mother in law is best friends with a secretary at the police station, so we'll get the scoop.
I haven't spoken with this girl much over the past couple of years. She did some babysitting for us a couple years ago, and she was very sweet. She seems to have changed a bit recently. Her hair is dyed black (not that I blame the goth look for someone straying into delinquency, most of my friends in high school had that same look, and they never sat in the back of a cop car) But some of the people I've seen her around are questionable, and we've overheard a lot of yelling, mostly from her to her mother or her little sister. It's pretty sad actually..
My son pointed out that I now know two people who have been arrested.. my neighbor, and my brother.. Like I was lucky to know such sorted people.

Pepto-Bismol is NOT a color!!

This is a house down the street from me. I don't think this picture does it justice, the actual color is much brighter, and much more disgusting. I know I'm not crazy about our peanut butter cornflake colored house, but this is beyond good taste. When they had the house painted close to a year ago, I thought the color was a tinted primer, for maybe a red house. But then the painters left, and now every time I drive by this house, I want to yell at them.

You who must agree with me.. what the hell were these people thinking??