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!

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.

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!

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..

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..

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..

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!

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!

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!!

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!

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!!

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!

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! :)

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..

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!

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!!

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.

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.

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)

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??

Kids and more kids..

It's vacation week at my house.. my husband and my oldest son are home all week. My oldest son asked me today if he could have a friend over.. why not? We already have 7 kids in the house including my sister's kids, so what's one more.
Well this only makes my 4 year old livid because he has been asking me for weeks to have a friend over, and I keep blowing him off. I told him he has to be 5 to have a friend over. If I wasn't so crazy busy with all the other children, it might be ok. And at 4, I'm not sure if the mom's at his school would just drop off the kid, or want to stay and have a "play date" and I'm just not up for that, with all that I have to do. My older son can just go outside, or in his room, it wouldn't be like I had another kid to watch..
So, I don't know what to do. The bugger did go outside and ask his dad though, after I had told him no. grr.. he's a sneaky one that boy! Oh, and my husband said "Sure!"

You might not want to go in there...

This is what I told my 4 year old the other day after leaving the bathroom. Of course no one listens to me, and he strolled right in.

"Mom?"

"What?"

"Did you spray the flowery air spray?"

"Yes I did.."

"Well, it didn't work!"

thanks.

Paint and her left kidney..

We brought our daughter for her ultrasound today. That went swimmingly. Thankfully it was a very brief form of torture, and soon enough the tech sent us to the waiting room, where my daughter dried up her tears.. for the next round, which was only meeting with the doctor. However, seeing this man sent her into another fit of "I can't believe you are doing this to me" kind of rage, even though the man didn't even come close to her.

Anyway, she's fine. The hydronephrosis in her left kidney looks the same, which is good. They want her back in 2 years for one last look. She'll be almost 4 by then, so hopefully she'll handle that a little better.

We had all the kids with us, who I must say were really well behaved. We stopped at Target and bought some new curtains and a slipcover for our couch. All of which I'm not sure if I like. We had lunch at Chili's (one of the boys fav's) And then came home. It poured, which made getting in and out of the car very wet.

I hung up the curtains, and took them down almost as quick. They're uglier than the blue we painted that room. I went back to the paint store and got a much happier shade of orange. As soon as I get home from work, I'll be painting away again.

My husband is off to Portsmouth to see the band Filmschool. Ctales fiancee is opening up for them, and he's really looking forward to it. I wish I could go, but getting out on a Tuesday night is impossible.

My mom is in Canada this week for vacation. She can really use the r&r, and she most certainly deserves it.

Well, I'm at work, and blogging isn't the most productive thing I could be doing.. so later!!!

Hey Sally!!

This is what I said to my husband before I snapped this photo Friday night.. It's a nick name that I have for him.. one he doesn't care for, but after 2 beers, this light weight should not be awake, never mind painting our living room.

But we did it. Friday night we painted 2 rooms, into the wee hours of the morning. I like the living room at night, not so much during the day.. The playroom needs new curtains and rugs, so I'm still not totally hating it. I was the one who got the final say in the colors, so if it's any one's fault that they are hideous, then it's mine.

Tomorrow we are heading to Manchester for our oldest twins follow up ultrasound. Her 12 month follow up for hydronephrosis (yea, she's 21 months old.. better late than never!) I am hoping to talk the husband into some shopping before hand.. it's vacation week and the only day that I won't have my sister's kids.. we should do something special! Anyway, I'm off to bed.. Good night!!

It's getting hot in heah..

Last night we went to the second grade musical at my son's school. All of the classes sang songs that related to Earth Day and how we can do our part to live on a greener planet.
Despite it being about a hundred degrees with both the girls planted on my lap, it was really funny. The funniest part was when one of the classes starting singing a song about Global Warming.. and the opening lyrics were "it's getting hot in here.." I seriously expected them to start ripping off their clothes and sing "let's take off all our clothes".. remember that song from a few years back?? I even shot a glance at my husband, who was probably thinking the same thing..
The night ended with the whole family getting ice cream at the shop at the end of our street.. A great way to commemorate Earth Day with 4 paper cups/ and 6 plastic spoons tossed in the trash.. we're just doing our part!

Spoils of the Tooth Fairy..

My son's tooth finally fell out. Yesterday morning at 4:30, I heard him calling for me. He looks so much different without that snaggle tooth hanging out between the 2 new ones. Handsome as ever of course!
He asked me what I thought the Tooth Fairy would bring him, I said it would probably be worth a 5 spot considering what his father and I had put him through. He seemed pleased with that.
Since the Tooth Fairy tends to spoil this boy, she decided to get him the newest webkin, the Chicken one. She got here last night at about 10, and soon after I went to bed, I heard my son calling for me. She had left a beautiful note, that Fairy has some really good handwriting! And the webkin next to him in his bed. He was elated!
Then this morning around 6, I could hear my youngest son crying from his bed. He couldn't believe that the Tooth Fairy didn't bring something for him. I guess he felt as though he was owed something for having to look at that tooth all these months. Yea, we all felt like that, but in a 4 year olds head, apparently it's worth getting a toy. The poor boy was totally snubbed. Which means his whining streak is going to continue into the weekend, or maybe until I break down and buy him a new one of his own. We'll see who has the greater will.

Carrots are good for you??

Has anyone seen Carrot Top lately? What the hell happened to that freak? Jesus! There is NOTHING funny about steroids, or a brow lift for that matter! I'm just sayin

Picking out colors..

It was another beautiful day here in NH. I can't complain.. but of course I will! My youngest son has decided not to talk, but rather whine. He hasn't stopped doing it in about 2 days. It's driving me insane.

But that's life with my little boy. In other unrelated news, we have decided to do some painting at home. It only took a minute for me to decide that my husband and I are clearly going to butt heads on picking out the perfect color. It's hard to argue with the artist, and even harder to argue with the bitch. I'll let you all decide who is who.

He went to the paint store today and got a couple of samples. One of the color's is a blue. The shiniest ugliest cobalt blue I've ever seen. The other (for our living room) is green. Hemlock green. Another ugly disgusting color.

I don't know why I let him go to the store without me.. I guess I forgot that he picked out the last major color decision we had, the color of the house, which is a very 70's yellow (I call it the peanut butter cornflake) It's terrible.

So we'll see what becomes of our living room and sun room. We may just end up with large squares of paint in different colors for a while. I don't see a compromise on the horizon, but as usual, I will be the one who gives in first and will let him pick.. I do wish sometimes that he would just give me control of the decorating.. he can totally work the grill, and I can pick out colors of the house.. what's the problem with that?

Earth Day...

It came a day early for my youngest son. His school met at a local park today to clean it up a bit, plant some flowers, play some kickball and take a hike.
I enjoyed it all very much, talked with some of the mom's I know, and then almost died trying to push my girls in their double stroller up the "hill". It's not so much a hill, as it is a small mountain.. well, no, I guess it's not a mountain at all, but this "hill" kicked my ass! I would have had no problem at all if I wasn't pushing 40+ pounds of babies, and their stroller, along with all of our shit. It was exhausting. There was a mom walking with me though, that helped me out and pulled it from the front at some steep parts. We made it up a slope, everyone stopped in this clearing.. I sat down, grabbed some water, and then they started hiking again? ugh.. "We're not there yet?" I am so out of shape! There was a grandfather there, a really nice guy, who actually offered to push the girls up for me, but I claimed it was good for me, to get some exercise. I didn't want some poor older guy doing my grunt work. Honestly, I probably should have stayed at the bottom of the hill with the pregnant lady, and the woman with the other set of twins.. But if I had done that, my son never would have gone with out me. And once we were there, we had fun.
I have an idea that I'm going to be feeling this "fun" in the morning..

Shoes..

This is just a very quick video (my camera ran out of memory) but this insanity went on for a good 10 minutes. I'm persisting through though, and one of these days, shoes won't make them loose their shit!

Good Neighbors..

The two neighborhood girls came over to play with my boys today. One we know very well, she's a regular at the house. The other one, not so well. We did go to high school with her dad, and he had the nickname "meanboy". So you can imagine.. I was upstairs this afternoon getting ready for work, when I hear her rhyming my youngest son's name with some not so nice words. A second later, I can hear my son crying, and heavy footsteps headed my way.
I asked her to stop calling him names, and then to please go outside because they were using my stairway as a tar mack.. I was just waiting for one of them to fall and start bleeding.. so please, take it outside.
A while later, the boys come in and ask if they can go on the neighbors trampoline, to which my husband and I answer in unison, NO! Those things are death made out of rubber, and no thank you, we don't have the co pay for the ER this week!
Moments later, my youngest son comes back inside and tells me that the unkind neighbor girl is being mean again, and calling him names, but he can't remember what. This is when we decide it's time for dinner, and to say goodbye.
My husband told me later, that when the neighbor child we "sort of" like saw the other one coming, she told the boys "you better run.. fast!"

Spring Has Sprung!!

At least it did today.. And I'm happy to report that my girls are now walking on the grass!!! Time to celebrate, and time to keep a good eye on them! Here's my lovely daughter enjoying the beautiful weather in our backyard...

Hi Mom..

I got a call at work from my mom tonight. She asked me what the name of my blog was. I wasn't aware that she knew I had a blog. But she does. So I gave her the name, and then quickly erased anything that might offend her.. hahaha just kidding.. so Hi Mom!!

Hanging With My Peeps!

Ctale, and Lnotes came to play today with their adorable girls.. I love having my girls over..We had Chinese (thank you ctale) and wine (thank you Lnotes).. and homemade mint Oreo ice cream (thank you me!) It was a great afternoon.. Lnotes left before I could snap a picture of her beautiful girl, but here is Miss S with my two..

Animals of the human variety..

Here is my my darling, charming niece.. My kids didn't get the whole eating right from the bowl thing, since they've never seen her dogs eat before..

Yea, we're all set with the pet free household.. Seriously though, this girl cracks me up!!

Justice for the Nerds!

Finally, the one person in the top ten of American Idol that should have been sent packing weeks ago, got the boot. I can't say that I'll miss Little Miss Country a.k.a. Kristy Lee Cook.. not since Beatles week where she totally hacked a classic.. Too bad this didn't happen last week, I still miss my Aussie hottie..

Why I bother talking is beyond me.. no one listens anyway!

The past 2 days, my niece has been begging me to get into her brother's pack and play. I haven't let her because quite frankly, she's too big for it. This is what I turned around to in a split second after getting one of her brothers out of their car seat..

He just should not answer the phone!

My son's teacher just called me. It's an early release day and my son was claiming that he was supposed to go over to a friends house, but there was no note from me to say that he could. There's no note because I hadn't heard anything about this. So she had no choice but to send him home. I know he's going to be furious when he gets here, and the thing is, it's not my fault. Not one bit. I checked our caller id and there was his friends number, they called last night while I was at work, and I guess the pinhead who took the call forgot to relay the message to his wife, who does everything around here. Ugh. I've put a call into my husband at school, and tried calling the friends mom, but she's not home yet. The problem is that I can't bring him over, I've got all the kids today and not enough buckles in my loser cruiser.
I'm hoping the mom offers to come get him, they live about 1/2 a mile away, and she's very nice.. otherwise, I'm going to have 2 really pissed people here. I love it when my husband and I mesh as a team! I hardly feel single at all during those times!

Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes..

I know this isn't gourmet fair, but can someone please explain why it should make my kids cry when it's served to them? The girls loved it, but that's because "they don't know any better". But the boys sat at the table last night and cried with every bite we forced them to have. Another wonderful family dinner, full of threats "If you don't eat that, then you're not getting dessert" which btw were m&m ice cream sandwiches. Or "If you don't stop crying and eat your dinner, then I'M going to eat all of the dessert!"
It always ends the same way, we bargain with them "eat 4 more bites and you can have dessert"
And we wonder why they act this way??

His time of the month..

Is it possible for a 7 year old boy to be experiencing PMS? Because all weekend, my son has been such a grump. He went to 2 birthday parties, got a brand new webkin, and some pokemon cards, yet all he's done is whine and complain about anything and everything. I tried getting him out of his funk by making plans for his own birthday party coming in about a month, but he wouldn't have it. It just depressed him to talk about his own birthday, when the party he went to yesterday had no goodie bags. Good lord. I hope he gets his period soon, or just gets over all the injustices he feels that has been bestowed upon him.

The Geeks are Pissed!!

And by that, I mean myself, and whoever else watches American Idol religiously (that would be my husband too) But come on people? Michael Johns?? The Aussie hottie with a decent enough voice to at least make it into the top 4 or 5.. but kicked off at 8? It's a travesty, and I might not watch ever again.. although you know I will.. I know I will, we all know I will. But now I won't get to look at that bubbly lipped, big bummed, cutie patoots anymore.. damn!! Paula and I cried in unison last night.. oh Michael..

Sicko...

My poor husband has been sick for over a week.. And I mean really sick, like he's had to blow his nose at least 4 times a day, and he coughs almost as much! And the pressure?? Can I just tell you how bad the pressure is? It's right behind his eyes.. it's just horrible. Oh, and the dry mouth, and having to breath through his mouth because his nose is stuffy. It's been torture for him. I don't know if he'll ever get better.. (now imagine me pulling out my hair, screaming, ok?)

Why are men such pathetic wimps? And I don't mean ALL men, more specifically, my husband. I'm about ready to smother him in his sleep, if I have to hear more about the "pressure" and the sinus infection he thinks he has (which btw, he doesn't) and if I see him lay down on the couch after I've had a gazillion kids in my care all day, because "work was rough, real rough" Because it's not usually a picnic at our place, but I've had to do it sicker than him, and come on buddy!!!!!! Give me a break!

Ok, I think I feel better.. Now let's all hope he feels better soon too.. poor bastard.

The Tooth that Won't Fall Out..

Last night we convinced my oldest son to let us try and pull out a tooth. This tooth has been hanging on for dear life for months. Seriously, the other tooth has grown in behind it, much like the last tooth he lost. It's now perpendicular to the new one, and it was just time.
My husband was the "puller" and I was the videographer. He wrapped the dental floss around it, and right after my son said he had butterflies in his belly, he yanked, hard. Unfortunately, that tooth decided that it wasn't going anywhere, and in a split second we knew we had jumped the gun. It was the look of horror on my husband's face that I knew it had gone sour. Instead of pulling out the tooth, he had lodged the dental floss in his gums. So after the bleeding subsided, and I got the poor boy to calm down, I was able to untie it from his tooth, and remove it from the gum. It was gross, and painful for the little guy. His motivation for allowing us to do that was so that he could get the money from the tooth fairy, add it to his chore money and get a webkin tomorrow. I told him that I would front him the money from the tooth fairy, and he could pay me back. I also told him that after that fiasco, I bet the tooth fairy would kick in a little extra, maybe for some pokemon cards.. Oh, and the video, that I would have posted, was momentarily deleted by my daughter who got hold of the camera while I was trying to dislodge the dental floss. Nice. It was a great night!

Happy Easter (3 weeks later..)

My youngest son and his cousin were playing in his room today. Forever. I was enjoying the break from them, and getting a good rest on the couch. When I came to and went upstairs to check on them, I was almost knocked over by the disgusting smell coming from the room. At first I thought my niece had taken a huge power dump, but as it turns out, they had found the Easter baskets, and 2 REAL eggs that I hadn't disposed of. It wasn't enough that they just found them, but they had cracked them open too. Of course, why wouldn't they? The kids weren't bothered by the smell at all, and when my girls woke up from their nap about 1/2 hour later, as I opened their door, I smelled it again. I haven't been able to find any more eggs, but I'm having an Easter Egg Recovery mission later... ugh

Redo..

My sister called me this morning, and was so pissed about how the pictures came out yesterday that she spoke to the manager at Sears and they are redoing them for free. Here's an example of the crap they did yesterday.. which I didn't think was so crappy until I got a better look at them.. and I think we should be holding our own twins.. right?? And maybe we shouldn't be sitting on the floor.. and maybe we shouldn't be looking so stupid..

Weekend wrap-up..

Sundays are usually a bit depressing to me.. for some reason I still get that "going back to school on Monday" feeling, even though I haven't been to school in almost 2 decades.. still, I'm not a big fan.
Yesterday we brought the kids to my brother in laws for a birthday party. The kids had a great time, my husband was ready to go when he got there.. he's sick, and the poor baby (and I mean that in every literal and sarcastic way possible) just should have stayed home. I offered him that before we left, but for some reason he wanted to make us all miserable, and not let us forget for one minute that he was sick! So, there!
Today I took the girls for pictures. And not just random 20 month old pictures, but TWIN pictures. Meaning, I was in it, my sister, and her boys. Sounds like the perfect photo op right?? yea, except that the shitty photographer at Sears, was all like "OK, now, I want you to intertwine your arms, and spread your legs.." Um, are we taking a family photo or are you trying to get some pictures for the Internet?? After a flat refusal on the intertwining of our arms, and sucking it in as best we could, we got some ok pictures.
Then I ventured on up to Maine to visit a friend that I hadn't seen in a while. I had called her spur of the moment on the way to our "photo shoot" and asked her if she was free. She was, so I told her that I'd call on my way up. You can imagine my surprise when I get there, see her car in the driveway, find all the doors locked, and no one answering the door or the phone. I don't know what happened. I called her husband at work who said she was probably napping.. but I should go to the neighbors and get the key. Yea, right. All this with two toddlers who are pissed as it is because I've woken them up to stand on some ladies porch banging on her door. She called me a couple of hours later, but I'm too pissed to talk to her right now. Her and I have a bit of a history.. she's been a shitty friend, and I keep expecting her not to be. It's sort of both our faults!
So, that wraps up our weekend.. I'm already looking forward to next weekend..hopefully my husband will be cured of his cold.. and start doing some shit around here.. ugh..

Brotherly Love..

The Nap Hangover..

We all know how this feels.. waking up too soon from a nap.. it sucks. These girls are feeling it here..

Bathing 4 kids..

Here's how I do it.. All at once! It works now.. but I do understand we're on a time frame.. Oh, and are you lovin the yellow tub?? yea baby!

Shoo Shoo Blues..and other news...

My girls have been wearing baby moccasins since they could walk. They're called shoo shoo's or robeez.. They're great, and they love them dearly.

The only problem is that they will not wear regular shoes. I can't put on a pair of boots, or sneakers or cute little dressy shoes. They freak out, screaming and crying.. it's such fun! I haven't been too concerned because we haven't spent too much time outside in the past 5 months due to the horrible New England winter we've been having.

However, it was nice out today. Nice enough to put on a sweatshirt, and head outside. I let the girls wear their shoo shoo's because of course I have no choice. The minute I put them down, and they feel the earth under their feet, there's more freaking out. I swear, I don't know what scaredy cat gene my kids inherited, or from who, but wtf? They refused to walk on the dead grass. They refused to move anywhere, instead they just stood there and screamed. God help me.

Our venture outside lasted 20 seconds.. They ended up playing on the deck instead, they were more familiar with how that felt under their feet.

In other news.. I have a meeting at the school tomorrow to update my youngest son's IEP. I got a copy of the draft today, and he's made great strides since last fall. I gotta say, I'm so proud of him. He works so hard at his speech and he's so proud of the accomplishments he makes. One of the babies has mastered saying her older brothers name, but not the youngest of the boys, which has slightly broken his heart. I tried explaining to him how hard it is for her to say the "L" in his name, and he totally understood that. Such a smartie!

Time for the Soaps!

I have 5 kids in my care, 3 and under, and they have all been asleep for over an hour! I just had to post that... This NEVER happens! Oh, and my youngest is at school.. yee friggin ha!

My April Fool..

The last two April fools days I have told my husband that I was pregnant. He bought it both times. I'm not even going to try that one this year.. if I remember correctly, sex is required for a pregnancy and unless I'm the second coming of Mary, I couldn't ever make him buy that one!

So, this year, I'm trying to decide how to pull one over on him this year. It's between telling him that I met someone while he was gone, or telling him that some skank has filed a paternity suit against him. I know they're both really harsh, but that's why I love them! I'm leaning more towards the paternity thing.. I'll post on that later!

His plane is delayed tonight, so I'm going to have another night with the remote... big deal. Ok, I'm off to put the girly girls to bed..

I guess I really don't do it all..

Having my husband absent from the daily running of our household the last 4 days, has given me a new appreciation for what I never realized he was even doing.

Like holding a crying baby, while I held the other.

Bringing in buttloads of wood and getting up at 2 a.m. to stoke the fire.

Doing homework with our oldest son (which turns out to be why I miss him the most..I'm REALLY bad at 2nd grade math.. I was actually shocked! I mean it's SECOND grade!)

Getting up at the crack of dawn with our oldest.

Brushing about a hundred teeth.

Making popcorn on Friday night.

Giving the boys their vitamins (which I just remembered I forgot to do!)

Getting the mail.

Taking out the trash.

Lots and lots of stuff. It's been busy, and I'm looking forward to him getting home tonight. I miss him.. Here's a video of the babies dancing to their Daddy's music.. they miss him so much, I never realized how devastated they would be.. It's not like I left.. haha. Hearing his music put them in a great mood though..

I Have 4 Kids, and NO Band Aids..

At least I didn't until this morning. It's not like I just ran out or anything, I haven't had any in months. We don't buy them because the kids are scared of them. Yup, we're raising some pretty brave individuals over here!
However, it is kind of a crucial thing to have in a household this big. Someone is bound to step on the General Grievous action figure from Star Wars and bust open the bottom of her toe. And it's bound to bleed a little, and maybe even get on the floor. A well organized mother would have band aid after band aid on hand for this minor emergency.
But we're talking about me, and the fact that I have all my kids even dressed this morning is a miracle.
I did get the band aids though, and my toe is feeling much better, so thank you!

When the Cat's Away.. the mouse has to do everything!

My husband is en route to New Mexico. He forgot his airborne, so I'm sure he's freaking out on the plane thinking about all those germs stewing in the cabin. Poor neurotic putz. And I mean that in the most loving way, I feel for him, and how worried he gets over things. But he's a big boy, he'll be fine.

He left for 4 nights, and packed everything he needed in a knapsack. Funny. On our over night trip a couple of weeks ago, I packed an entire suitcase! What if I didn't like the clothes I brought?? He's lucky not to be burdened with low self esteem!

I'm dreading our morning tomorrow. I hear we're getting snow, which could mean a delay or a cancellation. I would be fine with this. Mornings are insane, trying to get my oldest son on the bus, getting breakfast, starting the fire. It's much easier to do all this if we can all stay in our pajamas! Dressing 4 kids, and myself is not something I enjoy doing at 7 a.m.

Anyway, I'm planning on getting the kids to bed at a reasonable hour tonight, enjoying a nice glass of wine, finish up a sign that I'm making, and watch all the TLC and HGTV that I want! That is one lame ass plan, but I'm going to love every second of it!

100.3 WHEB | The Rock Station

100.3 WHEB The Rock Station
Here's my husband and his band.. He's the second one from the left (yes, Osama Bin Laden's double!) Check out the guy in the wife beater.. ugh, what a douche!

Rocking out at the BBQ

My husband is leaving next week for 5 days to New Mexico. His band thing.. it started out as this huge deal.. 50,000 seat venue, Hannah Montana (remember??) And now, it would appear that they are playing at a barbecue! Yep, a frickin barbecue. Ok, first of all, whatever. I only found out about this because I saw the itinerary, not because he told me. And second, um, we have barbeque's here! Do you need to go to New Mexico to play at one?
I guess they are all feeling pretty duped right now, and they still aren't totally sure what to expect. I guess this barbecue is a pretty BIG one (good lord) and I know my husband is really looking forward to being with his buddies for a few days.. Although, I'm predicting right now, he'll wish he was home by the 2nd day. He's not much of a traveler, and all 5 of them are sharing a hotel room! Cozy! He's also the only one of the band that is married.. so I'm sure the other guys are going to be on skank patrol.. it should be pretty interesting to say the least! And no, I'm not worried.. not one bit!

Mmm.. steak..

Getting my kids to eat is a total pain in the ass. Unless of course it's deep fried or covered in chocolate. My husband made dinner last night. Turkey burgers. His version of a healthy meal, which is ironic because he continues to bitch at me constantly over the pop tarts and chicken nuggets I feed our 4 year old, but sees nothing wrong with giving him the leftover ground up bits of a turkey.. anyway the 4 year old hates hamburgers, or turkey burgers or any kind of burger you might try to feed him. He does however love steak, and pork chops. When I saw my husband serving up the burgers (minus the buns because none of my kids are big fans of bread..) I asked him what he was going to give the youngest one. He shrugged, and I said f* it, give him a turkey burger, and we'll tell him it's steak.
My son took one look at the cut up "steak" on his plate, and asked if it was a hamburger, to which I said "No, it's steak" He took one bite, then two, and before I knew it, he had finished his entire burger before anyone else! Now I have to figure out how to make fruits and veggies look like steak..

My youngest son asked me the other morning while having a nice cuddle in bed, if he could have my bed when his father and I die. Sure. Why not.

Dressing Up is Fun to Do!!

A good friend of mine came to visit me the other day. It was nice to see him, it had been a while, since him and his wife live down in Mass. I had all the kids that day, and he had taken off the day from work because his job was stressing him out. I wasn't sure if hanging out with me and 6 kids under 4 was going to be less stressful, but he came to visit anyway.

He brought his camera, and got this great shot of my youngest son. I'm not sure where his desire to dress in women's clothing comes from... perhaps it feels good on his skin, although, he says he's dressing like a baby, and not a girl.. ok, they ARE baby clothes, but GIRL baby clothes.. Anyway, what a cutie! I love this outfit he's in here.. if you look closely, you'll see two bucks in the front pocket of the shirt!

Frickin Leprechauns!

My son built a leprechaun trap last year in first grade, and I almost blew it when I questioned their existence. I had no idea he really thought they existed. He was very upset, to say the least. This year, the second graders didn't do any traps, and I thought that we had escaped the farce. Until Monday night, when I discovered him in the kitchen making a trap. Good lord. It went fine, he made the trap, put some "gold" in it (a.k.a. pennies) and a cookie, in case the money wasn't enticing enough. So, imagine my surprise, at 5 the next morning, when I hear him crying, calling for me because he's afraid he may have caught one, and doesn't want to go downstairs and find one in his trap.

After telling him to go back to sleep, at least for another hour, I just brewed in my bed. Thinking that this is ridiculous! Seriously, I don't mind the whole Santa fabrication, or the tooth fairy.. but when leprechauns are waking me up in the wee hours, I start to get pissed.

Luckily, he didn't catch one.. Then last night, at bedtime, he asked me if I had thrown away the trap. I said that I would.. He was afraid that the leprechauns might come back and try to get his money, and the cookie (which had already been eaten by his little brother, who in my opinion is way scarier than a leprechaun) But I told him not to worry, that leprechauns only come out on St. Patty's day, and that they were now with their pot of gold at the end of some rainbow far away from here. I also added that they aren't scary, they are jolly old men who are just greedy, and want to be rich.. I thought this was enough.. but then 10 minutes later, I can hear him crying again, calling for me. He thinks that he spotted one. On his bureau. It was little and green, and it may have had claws. Well folks, that was enough for me. My mom thinks that I ruined something for him by telling him the truth, that imaginations are important for children.. Duh. I know that, but this is part of some adults imagination.. and when it starts making my 7 year old cry, then the jig is up! I'm not sure he totally believed me, when I told him that they aren't real. He seemed genuinely shaken up by thinking that he just saw one. But it did allow him to settle down, and get to sleep. He hasn't mentioned it at all today. I'm hoping he won't. I don't want him to start wondering about all the other "stories" we've fed him, like Santa and the Easter bunny, although he may be outed too as both my boys have expressed concern once again, about the life size rabbit roaming around our house.. it's never ending!

Good Morning NH is now River Life..

My brother in law has changed his domain name, It's now Riverlifeonline.com
Just in case anyone wondered where he went..

Blocked.

I did the worst thing a mom could do. I forgot to do something that I had promised my son. He cried, and cried, and my husband just sat there and gloated. He loves it when I look bad! It takes the heat off of him.
I had told my oldest son that I would print something at work for him, because our printer is dead (has been for many many months). Last night it totally escaped my mind, and when I walked in the door empty handed, his heart broke. Tonight he made me a note reminding me what he wanted printed, and put it in my purse.
Here's the kicker. The website, webkinz.com, is restricted here at work. It must be all those filthy animals that they don't want us viewing. I called home and I'm letting my husband break the bad news. Hopefully he'll be done crying when I get home.. jeez..

Air Time..

My husband woke me up last night at 11:30 so we could listen to his band on the radio. It was pretty cool.. A local radio station has been playing tracks from their demo this week on a show called "Local Licks"
The D.J. said he was going to play another track tonight, so if anyone is awake at 11:30, listen to 100.3 (wheb) maybe you'll hear them.. they're called Before the Crash.. And this makes him look cuter than any house cleaning or wood hauling ever could!! ;)

I told my husband he looked cute tonight. He commented that it was only because he was on his way to get wood for the stove, and had just swept the floor. Damn, I hate it when they're right!

FREE TO GOOD HOME..

4 really cute kids. The oldest boy practically takes care of himself, he loves to talk, mostly about webkinz or pokemon and has mastered the computer. The younger boy can be a bit of a whiner, but he's tough, and athletic. Going to make quite a manly man someday. The girls are adorable, love to pretend to cook, clean, fold laundry. They can also pull each other down to the ground by their hair, so they're tough. Only serious inquiries please, and please don't tell their dad as he is quite attached.

Another Birthday..

My older sister turned 40 today.. Jeez.. I told her she'll be 50 before she knows it, then she'll be dead..
I was the only one of us laughing.. Anyway, Happy Birthday..

Wood..

We got our third cord of wood delivered today. We were down to the last few pieces of the 2nd cord, so when the "wood guy" called me back today, I was thrilled.
He actually calls himself that. The Wood Guy.. that's not the name of his business, but just how he addresses himself. "Hi, this is the Wood Guy.." Ok.. He's a nice guy, although the last time we got wood from him (which was actually the first time) he showed up to our house totally hammered. In his defense, he wasn't driving.. he doesn't have a license, I guess most hardcore alcoholics don't!
Today however, when my husband went outside to meet him, I guess he was sober. Good for him! Although considering he only delivered the wood an hour ago, and he's already cashed the check, I'm betting he's not out buying groceries! Anyway, the wood was dumped in a much more convenient location for us this time as there wasn't 10 inches of snow on the ground. That might make it easier for my husband to stack it. He didn't stack the last cord, and it sat under a tarp in our driveway, and we hauled it inside piece by piece.. it was a pain in the ass!

River Life...

My brother in law has started a blog.. And my sister has finally updated hers..after a year.. But they now have a p.c. at home, so the kids are being neglected, and their blogs are getting a shine.. :)

Our Big Night Out..

Was fun.. and went by too quickly..
It started late, as my husband returned from work 2 hours later than he should have.. and since I had been packed and ready to go since noon, I was chomping at the bit to get out of the house when he got home. I gave him 5 minutes to get ready, he took 20 and we left..
We checked in, I gave him his gift (see below) he loved it, we got ready and met our friends for dinner.
All in all it was great, I wish we could have stayed for a week, but my mom was ready for a break, that was clear when she let our 7 year old call us at 8:15 the next morning.. yes, thank you.. Anyway, we're now back home, enjoying our kids, half of them are still sick.. I'm feeling better, getting over my cold, and thankfully the biggest baby in the house (yes, my husband) has not gotten it yet..

Happy Birthday..

For my husband's birthday, I took photo's of all of his art work, and had them put into a hardcover book. He loved it, and it actually choked him up a bit.. It was lovely.. The website is blurb.com and they do amazing work! Here are just a few samples of his incredible work..

Experienced Toy Finder..

This is something that I can now officially put on my resume. (If I had one..) My kids think that because I clean the house (sometimes) that I know where every single random stupid toy is. Our house was referred to recently as the black hole of toys.. my brother in law told this to his daughter one day when he was picking her up at my house and she couldn't find the toy she had brought with her. He said if she wanted to keep a toy, then she shouldn't bring it to my house. I couldn't agree more. Our house is cluttered with toys, although really, I have them all hidden very well. Our coffee table is a chest.. of toys. Under a bench in our playroom, are two large wicker baskets, full of toys. In the living room is a hutch, displayed nicely with nick knacks on top, where it's visible, and full of board games, and more toys underneath, where it's not. The kids rooms are stacked with toy boxes, and baskets.. all stuffed with TOYS. Our basement has more or less become the graveyard for toys.. most of them, they don't play with, or are missing parts, or have just been snuck down there by my husband in an attempt to live as a minimalist. He really thinks we can do that, with 4 kids.. sure.

So, today when my oldest son was feeling a bit blue about not being able to find something, he said to me "I've been looking for this toy forever, and I'm going to look for it some more" Giving me the old "Help me Mom" look.. to which I reply "Ok, well, good luck with that" Not appreciated one bit, especially when my husband starts laughing.. and then I start laughing.. The poor boy.. Of course I end up looking for it.. He told me that the last time he saw it, it was on his brothers bed. So, we tear apart the bed, and pull it out, and look behind it.. and finally I ask him "when exactly was the last time you saw it?" "A few days after Christmas.." WTF? Sure, I'm looking for a toy that he saw on his brothers bed 2 months ago?? good lord. We ended up finding it in the play room in one of the wicker baskets, thank god.. I then told them that I had officially resigned as the resident toy finder, and if they don't want to lose their toys, they should really take better care of them. There. I'm sure that'll work!

I'm getting it..

The fun cold that has been spreading around my house is hitting me! This is soooooooooo not fair! I never get sick (hardly ever anyway) and it would appear that this time I am.
I'm going to be hitting the drug store this afternoon for anti cold remedies.. Worse case is that I'm going to be sick on Friday, and fighting my cold from the comfort of the hotel room, with no kids to care for.. I guess it could be worse..

It's only Tuesday?????

I am literally counting down the days til Friday.. I can't wait to get out of here, and head over to the hotel. Turns out my husbands band isn't playing (I guess they over booked the entertainment and they got bumped) This suites me just fine as I was hoping to have some more time with just him.. oh, and we are having dinner with one of his band mates and his girlfriend, but I draw the line at going back to our room for a nightcap.
I am also so excited to give him his birthday gift, which I can't blog about yet, but it really is something he's going to love. I hope..
Well, my 4 year old is stretched out on the couch and just asked me to turn off all the lights, his head hurts.. The twin who has been sick is still in a funk, although she hasn't had a fever since yesterday.. She did get out of my bed around midnight, throw herself on the floor and have a full on temper tantrum, of some unknown origin.. maybe I was hogging the blanket. The other twin is still healthy, so am I.. I'm just begging the gods not to let her get sick, or me for that matter!

Mondays suck.

School vacation has come and gone.. it sucked. One of the twins was sick (and still is) with a fever all week. She's been glued to me for 6 straight days! It's been exhausting. Today my youngest came home from preschool with a fever, and I'm sure the other twin will be getting it any second now. It's just the kind of family we are.. we like to share!
Today I started getting back into my routine.. which I am totally sick of. I can't believe I have another 3-4 months of hauling my kid to school, and to his speech.. seriously, I don't know how I'm going to do it! It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to haul the babies with us, but since the law frowns on you leaving your children unattended at home, I really have no choice.
I decided to try and be productive while my son was at his speech appointment, so I drove to the next town over to get a copy of his birth certificate so that I can finally enroll him in kindergarten for next year. I got to the town hall, practically parked in a snow bank, got the babies out safely, despite being parked near a two lane road and having to maneuver through the snow. Got inside, and found out that they don't take debit cards (and of course I didn't have my check book with me). WTF? Who doesn't take debit cards?? Dunkin Donuts will, for my $2 coffee, and so will the drug store for my $3 prescription. But the town hall.... NOOOOO.. The town clerk told me that I could use the ATM across the street. Which would mean loading the babies back in the car, driving across the street, and then coming back and trying not to kill myself and the kids to get back inside. I guess I'll be registering him another day!
Other than that, I'm hanging on to Friday.. My husband and I are going away for the night, in honor of his birthday (and really, I just need a straight 8 hours!)

Duped...

Here's an update on the post I wrote and then later deleted about my husband and his band.. No, they are not going to be opening up for Hannah Montana.. god, that sounds sooo ridiculous! I guess the meathead/douchebag of the band was told this by one of the organizers as a total joke, and everyone fell for it.. They are still playing at a huge venue, with another band, but no one knows who.. no one was more disappointed than my son, who really thought my husband was the "coolest" to be sharing a stage with the teeny-bop queen!! Thankfully he's on vacation this week, and wasn't humiliated by sharing this with any of his classmates! jeez..

Parents Night Out..

My husband has a birthday next Friday.. and a show with his band as well. I just booked a room in Portsmouth, and we are spending the night there. I can't wait! I have a very special birthday gift for him, which is not in any way sexual (dirty birds..) but I can't wait to give it to him.. I can't blog about it yet in case he stumbles across this.. But yea, a night out.. no kids, no driving, and a king size bed with a beautiful view of downtown Portsmouth!!

Going outside is not always good for you..

It was in the 40's today, so this afternoon, I insisted that my boys get on their snow gear and go outside, and have some fun. My husband went out with them, and about 10 minutes later, I can hear my youngest son screaming. Great, I'm thinking his brother must have done some benign thing that has thrown him into a tantrum. That is until I see him at our slider with blood dripping down his arm.
He had been playing in the snow near a pile of crap that my husband has outside, and in the process he sliced his ring finger, right through his glove, on our old toilet. My husband had smashed it with a sledgehammer this fall, and put it in a box and just left it there. I'm not blaming him, I'm just saying.
So, after we mopped up the blood, and got his finger to stop bleeding, he asked for a cup of water. Warm water. Ok, he then placed his entire hand in the cup, to make it feel better. About 20 minutes later, when he finally decides to take his hand out of the cup, he freaks out because his hand is a big prune. I had to remind him what fingers and toes look like after being in water for a while (like how it looks after a bath)
Anyway, I guess we lucked out today because the cut wasn't bad enough for stitches.. While we were sitting on the kitchen floor with a paper towel trying to get it to stop bleeding, my son is wailing about not wanting to go to the doctor.. at that point I had no idea what the cut looked like because there was so much blood. I thought for a bit that we'd be taking him to the E.R. and there was no way they were going to be able to glue this one!
I worry about that boy.. He's always falling, or tripping, or cutting something open. He does know how to milk his injuries though.. when he asked for pretzels, I gave him some, and then for orange juice, and then goldfish, and when I told him he was going to have dinner soon, he freaked out and I just gave him some more goldfish.. My oldest son thought he would jump on that band wagon too, and started whining about how it wasn't fair that his brother was going to have goldfish for dinner, and I said that when he slices his finger open, he can have whatever he wants for his dinner.. After thinking about that for a minute he comes to me and says he doesn't think he'll ever slice open his finger, and for that reason it's not fair that he should have to eat dinner that isn't goldfish. ugh.. When I left for work, all four of them were sitting on the couch with their goldfish..

Bad Words..

My sister is a huge Howard Stern fan, and owner of a satelite radio. I'm guessing she won't be listening to it too much on the way to daycare since she heard her daughter chanting "Bababoui"

And just this morning at the gas station, while getting the pump she had been waiting for stolen by someone else, she heard herself echoed in her 3 year old when she yelled "Douchebag!"
Oh to be in the car for a minute without your kids.. at least there you can curse freely at those morons on the road.. but alas, there are few moments like those, so for you Christhadasister, watch your god damn mouth! jesus!

Would it just stop f*#@ing snowing already? jeez louise. Seriously, I was just starting to enjoy the look of the dead grass on my lawn, and now it's covered (again) by the white stuff. I'm just so tired of it. ugh...

3 Things Guaranteed to Ruin Your Day..

1.) Getting word that your house isn't going to sell because the buyers financing didn't get approved..therefore seeing the house of your dreams drift away..
2.) Visiting your mom in the hospital, who is there for a blood clot in her lung (she's going to be fine, but it's nerve wracking none the less)
3.) Attending a wake of a 20 year old boy who died far too young..

I haven't cried like I did yesterday since I gave birth to my twins and couldn't help it.. I'm better today, but man, yesterday was NOT fun.

Here We Go Again..

We made an offer on a house yesterday. Ours isn't on the market, nor did we think we wanted to sell, but a few weeks ago, our neighbor called and said if we decided to sell our house again, to let her know because she was interested. That didn't do much for me, as I'm not about to take my kids out of their school in the middle of the year. However, on my way to their school on Friday, I drove by the house of the woman I used to babysit for many years ago, and saw she was selling it. Later that day, when I thought of it again, I looked it up on line to see what she was asking for it. Surprisingly, it's in our price range. I couldn't believe it, and all of a sudden the wheels started to turn. I tried frantically to get in touch with her to see what was up, why she was selling so cheap and so on. But I had no luck, as our town seemed to be having some phone issues on Friday. Anyway, on Saturday I called the realtor and he showed it to us about an hour later. I already knew what to expect, part of the reason it was so cheap was because it needs some cosmetic work, new carpets and such. She's an avid animal owner, and the pets have almost ruined the house. But nothing we couldn't fix. We made an offer right there. The house has only been on the market for a week, and already had some offers coming in.
My whole thought process at this point is that once she comes across my offer, she'll take it because it's me. I've known her for years.. her daughter was in my wedding! But later that day I learned that the reason the price is so low, is because the bank is trying to do a quick sale, and she's trying to avoid foreclosure. This made me feel a bit shitty.. I mean, if I was being foreclosed, I'm not sure how psyched I'd be for someone I knew to buy it. It also means, that the bank is going to decide who gets it, not her.. although at this point, we're in the lead as far as offers (at least that's what her realtor is telling us..) Anyway, it's still up in the air.. I called my neighbor, but she's in Florida for a few days.. I did manage to get a hold of her cell phone, but I haven't heard back from her yet. If it's meant to be, then it'll work out..
The funniest part of this whole thing, was seeing my boys at the showing FREAKING out because there was a dog upstairs (just sitting on the bed, totally harmless little boston terrier) and the nicest, fattest cat that we discovered in the basement. All the while, as we're writing up the offer, my oldest son is whispering "Mom, I don't want to buy this house.. I don't want to live here.." Poor thing.. He's ok with it now, once he realized that the animals wouldn't come with the house, and that he'd probably be on the same school bus as he is now.
So, I'm not getting my hopes up.. although honestly, I've already moved myself right in.. but I'm just going to see what happens.. We are still happy here, and not yet desperate!

My nephew called me yesterday with some sad news. His best friend from middle school, a boy that lived at our house during these years, passed away while studying abroad in Austrailia. I can't quite describe the sadness I feel, or the even grasp the sadness his parents must be feeling right now.. all I can think about is that time.. the time he spent at our house, brightening our days with his warm smile, and his wonderful sense of humor. He was the kind of kid that you would want your kids hanging out with. He brought endless fun to our house, and although they lost touch through their high school years, he still remained someone that my entire family was fond of..
A tragedy like this, when someone so young dies so young, generates a gratefulness for what you have.. and what you don't ever want to lose. I haven't been able to stop thinking about his parents.. they were both teachers at my old high school, and very well liked. He was their baby, the youngest of 4.. and far too young to leave them behind.

You can't always get what you want..

A tough lesson for my baby girl to learn.. She found my camera, brought it to me, and then freaked out when I took it away.. poor baby!

Shoe tying..

He's 7, and it's finally time to get him to tie his shoes.. Is that really old not to know how to do that?? I don't know, but I guess Tuesday is gym day, and he has told us that he either wants velcro shoes, or to learn to tie them himself.. I guess the teacher and aids are getting tired of doing it for him.. He got a lesson from his dad tonight, and went to bed with a book on tying shoes..