February 28....Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my mother's birthday!  I think she and my dad had big plans that may or may not have involved driving to the casino....but unfortunately, neither one of them were feeling very terrific.  On top of that unfortunately, I also had a house full of daycare kids today.  Three kids, all three and under.  Yikes.  Talk about a not calm day....
Actually, our day was pretty fun.  I've said it before and I will say again- I love my daycare kids!  Things are certainly wild and crazy and entertaining while they are here and I love all the snuggles and the little munchkins walking around all day and saying, "I love you, Stephanie!"  It's the best.  Because they really mean it.  And when kids love you, they hold nothing back.  They love with every fiber of their being, and it's such a precious gift to be a recipient of that.  Here are some funny quotes from my three year olds today:
"I am NOT happy with you."  (after I threatened a time-out for toy throwing)
"Your gluteus maximus is huge!"  (I'm not even sure she knows what that means-but I wouldn't have been offended anyhow!)
"My mom lets me do whatever I want."  (after asking to eat candy for breakfast.  I know for a fact this isn't true...)
"Stephanie, you are just amazing!" (after I found a Veggie Tales for everyone to watch on Netflix)

My kids normally deal with daycare kids just fine.  Jeff had a snow day today because we had this nasty, wintry mix for a few hours.  So he got to be here for the first time during all the madness.  I think he might be a little shell-shocked.  My kids were very unusually jealous today and crabby.  We had kind of an off weekend though, so I mostly attribute their behavior to that.  Cebelle was very cranky with nearly everyone today and Hayden was having one of those days where he complains about everything.  Those are becoming more frequent lately...I'm starting to think that he is just developing a bad habit.
School today was kind of rough.  In addition to all their crabby crankiness, they both had to make up for missing Friday.  I let them have that day off because there was a snow day on Friday as well and their friends were here to play!  They had a bit of a rough time because they had quite a bit to do.  But, to their credit, they finished everything that they needed to.  I'm very proud of them for getting it done on such a crazy and wild day!
I am in the middle of making some dinner.  A chicken and rice dish since a few people in the house are having some tummy troubles.  I also made some cupcakes and I am getting ready to make some homemade buttercream to frost them with.  Mom has been wanting cupcakes for a few weeks, and I know she isn't a fan of the store-bought kind so I got stuff to make her some homemade ones!  I'm hoping she feels well enough to enjoy them!
All the toys are picked up and Jeff was able to finish off our laundry and do some cleaning and get the tags for the van!  So, despite the nasty weather this morning, I am thankful for another day to get caught up!  I am looking forward to sitting down and enjoying a birthday dinner with my mom, even though it's nothing terribly fancy.  I am so thankful for her and all that she does for me and Jeff and the kids and I'm so thankful to God for blessing her with another year to be in our lives.  Have a great evening!  Don't forget to let your mom know how much you love her and appreciate her...even if it's not her birthday!

Another weekend...

We were planning on having a nice, relaxing weekend.  The plan was to get a few things accomplished (car inspected, prescriptions picked up, house cleaned) and to have some fun by having a dinner and game night with Roni and Jim and then enjoying church on Sunday.  And just as everything else in life.....NOTHING went as planned.  We got up Saturday morning (early, of course..because on the one day we CAN sleep in,  the kids always get up before 8.  when I have to get up at 6-they sleep 'til 9) and lounged around.  Read some books, drank some coffee.  All in all, a really nice morning.  Jeff took off to Middlebury to get the van inspected and to get a haircut.  I expected him to be gone for a couple of hours at least.  So when he showed back up a little less than an hour later, I knew that something was up.  Turns out, our van couldn't pass inspection because it needed new tires.  We were both kind of frustrated and upset....all our extra money has been going to paying off debt and we haven't really been building up any substantial savings.  Our broken plumbing/furnace wiped out the savings that we did have several months ago.  So there was a lot of scrambling trying to figure out how to pay for the nearly $1000 cost.  As always, God provides for us.  Sears was having a discount, they had the tires in stock, and we were able to put the cost on our Sears card with deferred interest (which we will be able to completely pay for before the interest kicks in)  So, after all of that was figured out, we headed out to Roni and Jims for dinner and planned to head to Sears after church on Sunday to get everything taken care of.  We had a terrific time at my sister's house...she made us a delicious seafood dinner and appetizers and fed us dessert!  We played Cranium and had so much fun!  

We went to church this morning and as always, enjoyed the service.  I love our church family and friends and it's such a wonderful place to be.  Right after that, we headed to Rutland.  We ate lunch at Taco Bell and then headed to the mall.  We dropped the van off and turns out, there were even more discounts than they offered us on the phone yesterday, so we were completely thrilled.  Mom and dad had decided to go to Rutland and we met them in the mall as well.  Mom and the kids played in the arcade and Jeff got his hair cut.  We got a few things that we needed from Kmart and then we stopped off at the grocery store and the pharmacy on the way home.  So now we are home and I am getting ready to fix some dinner, but my house is still a mess and the laundry has just been started! 

So, the only relaxing that I got done was early yesterday morning...I am hoping that after we eat dinner I can get everyone involved in cleaning up really quickly.  That way, I can get in a couple more hours of relaxing after I put the kids to bed.  

We have already made plans to NOT go anywhere next weekend except for church.  Since our weekends rarely turn out as planned, I'm not getting my hopes up!  Regardless of what happens, I always love spending time with Jeff and the kids, even if we are running around the mall and everything is crazy.  We always have fun together and I am very thankful for that.  I hope you have fun with your family this week!

February 25

Ahhhh...another Friday, another snow day, another middle eastern country in turmoil, another Charlie Sheen debacle.  *sigh*  What is the world coming to?
In all seriousness, I think that the things going on in the middle east are something to be concerned about.  Not because I believe that the end of days is drawing near or anything like that....but because whenever something like that is happening, innocent people get caught in the middle of the turmoil and as human beings, we should all be concerned about that.  Just like Egypt, just like Somalia, just like the public workers in Wisconsin.  Things are happening in these peoples lives that they have no control over and they may very likely suffer for it.  Ignoring it because it doesn't touch our lives right now is foolish.  As for Charlie Sheen, well, he is on my list...(no, not that kind of list, people!).  This is my list of:
CELEBRITIES WHO NEED TO LEARN TO KEEP THEIR MOUTHS SHUT BECAUSE WHEN THEY OPEN THEM STUPID IS THE ONLY THING THAT COMES OUT
1. Kanye West
2. Lindsay Lohan (disclaimer***this name includes anyone in the Lohan family)
3. Miley Cyrus
4. Jon & Kate Gosselin (disclaimer***these are not really celebrities!)
5. Michelle Bachman (yeah, I know...not really a celebrity, either.  But she certainly makes a public spectacle of herself often enough)
6. Camille Grammar
7. Charlie Sheen (the newest addition.....)
In all fairness, these are only the latest people on my list.  Which means that they are the ones annoying me lately.  This list is subject to change at any point during the day.  Especially if I have occasion to see clips from Fox News.
Jeff had a snow day this morning, so we got a call at 5:15.  I had daycare kids coming at 6:30 and I ended up not being able to go back to sleep.  The kids only stayed for half a day because the weather was getting bad, but Hayden and Cebelle had a blast playing with them.  I gave Hayden and Cebelle the day off school as well since their friends were here to play, with the understanding that we will make the day up next week.  We will probably spread it out over a couple of days so it's not so overwhelming.
I got so much accomplished in my cross stitch today.  I almost completely finished one whole section.  My shoulders and back are killing me now....but it looks awesome!
Hayden and Cebelle have been playing their video games since their friends left.  They are only allowed screen time on the weekends.  They have a total of  6 hours that can be used on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  We have beads in jars and they have to 'pay' me for every 15 minutes of screen time.  It's an attempt to teach them time management as well.  Apparently, we are going to need to think of a different tactic because they have used up 4 hours this evening.  But, it has only been a few weeks, so maybe they will figure it out.  Jeff has spent the majority of the day playing with his iPhone.  It's a good thing nobody limits his game time.....
Barnes & Noble gave two free NOOKbooks this Friday.  I love getting stuff for free!  I started reading "Gossip Girl" today.  I have never watched the series, but I'm almost finished with the first book and I am really enjoying it.  I always planned on watching the series when I get a chance.  Maybe over the summer sometime....
It is still snowing outside and we have a good amount.  If I had to guess I would say that there is probably half a  foot or so out there and as far as I know we are under a warning until midnight tonight.  I don't mind it....Roger will plow us out in the morning and we will play and shovel the sidewalks.  It's good exercise and always a lot of fun.
We just finished our dinner and are getting ready to settle in for the evening.  I'm looking forward to getting a decent nights rest tonight (fingers crossed...I did drink a lot of caffeine today!) and hopefully sleeping past 6 in the morning.  I hope all of you have peaceful dreams and a wonderful weekend!

February 24

I woke up with a sinus headache again this morning.  I was contemplating sleeping in when Jeff got up and got in the shower at 6:45.  But, much to my surprise, Cebelle came and crawled in bed with me at 6:55 wide awake and ready to go.  Since she normally sleeps until 9, you can imagine my concern.  I was worried she wasn't feeling well, but she was just well rested and ready to wake up.  She has been going strong all day long.  Hayden woke up at about 7:30, apparently on the wrong side of the bed.  He has been a bit of a cranky pants today.  He has complained non-stop.  About everything.  I'm actually getting pretty sick of it.  I could understand complaining when he doesn't get his way-but complaining even WHEN he gets his way?!!  Ridiculous.
Regardless of his crabbiness, he finished his schoolwork AND the homework that is due tomorrow because he wanted to watch Prehistoric Planet.  It is one of his favorite all time shows.  He has a DVD of all the episodes that originally aired on the Discovery Channel.  He can pretty much recite the narration line by line.  It's pretty impressive considering that it's over two hours long and he doesn't get to watch it very often-maybe once every three months or so.
The kids have been playing "Eye of the Tiger" pretty much non-stop on the stereo system all day.  They know every word and they have made up dances.  It's pretty entertaining.  That doesn't mean that I'm not going to take the iPods and delete that stupid song off as soon as they go to bed tonight because if I have to hear it one more time I'm going to gouge out my ear drums with my knitting needles.  But it has been pretty funny to watch them.
In other disgusting news, I went to check Cebelle's bed today because she got up so early, I was worried that maybe she was hiding toys or there was a mite infestation (old house-we have dealt with that before) or that her heater was just being too loud.  What I found was that one edge of her beautiful white bookshelf headboard was the home of (please jump to the next paragraph if you get easily grossed out) a crusty, dried up collection of boogers.  I still get dry heaves when I think about it.   When I called her to question her about it, she yelled at ME and said it was because I didn't put tissues in her bedroom.  I pointed out that there were tissues and toilet paper down the hall in my bedroom and bathroom and that she could have gotten up and used them.  Then she said, "But I get in trouble when I'm running around after bedtime!"  Touche'.  And as mom, dad, Andi, and Jeff said, "At least she wasn't eating them."  Ick. So.  Gross.  I think this is going to be an awesome story for future prospective boyfriends, however.  Between that and all the naked baby-butt pictures I have of her, it's possible that I can blackmail her into not dating until she is 21.
I actually had lots of reading time today since we got out of bed so early.  I finished a book by Juliet Marillier today and then had enough time to read "Witch & Wizard" by James Patterson.  I was interested enough that I will probably read the rest of the series.  Especially considering that I read this one in just over an hour.  Have I mentioned how much I adore my NOOKcolor?
I also worked on my cross-stitch project while the kids watched their shows and played their music.  I am going to work some more on a baby blanket this evening.  I'm in the process of making some spaghetti for dinner.  I took some sinus medicine and am not feeling particularly munchy.  The kids wanted spaghetti, so that is what I'm fixing.  They are both pretty tired this evening because of the early rising, so there is a lot of bossiness and grumpiness in the still going on "Eye of the Tiger" choreography session.  I'm thinking that it might be a good night for early bedtime.
On that note, I need to go drop the pasta and get out the salad!  I hope you all have a peaceful evening!

February 23

Today has been an okay day.  The kids did a great job with their school work, as usual.  Cebelle is eating up a storm and she has been since yesterday.  She is also having some joint pain and she is sleepy and grumpy.  All those symptoms = growing.  At least I hope so.  Cebelle has had some problems with growth.  She dropped down to the fifth percentile after her first year.  Then when she was two and having horrible asthma problems, she plummetted down to the third percentile.  We have had numerous tests and visits to many specialists but everything always checks out just fine.  She doesn't eat nearly enough most days because she is extremely picky.  So, she has some trouble growing.  She still sees an endocrinologist every six months because they want to make sure all is well.  After everything they have put her through (blood tests, examinations, etc.) they have come to the conclusion that she is a mostly healthy child who does not consume enough calories.  In kids, calories=growth.  Let's face the facts, she is never going to be six feet tall.  Truthfully, with ALL the short women that are in Jeff's family and in my family, she will be lucky to top out at five feet when she is fully grown.  So anytime I suspect she is growing, I am thrilled.  We have been through discussions of putting her on appetite stimulants, using human growth hormone, and on a roller coaster ride of health concerns.   But at the end of the day, she is healthy and growing and has no issues that would say to us that anything is seriously wrong with her.  Her asthma symptoms are improving,  we have been able to lessen her medication and hope to wean her off of it soon.  I'm sure any parent out there knows the drama that I go through.  We all just want our kids to be happy and healthy and anytime there is something wrong with them it's very stressful.  And Jeff and I are generally very cautious about medicating our kids.  I don't hesitate to do it at all if I think they need it.  But giving her appetite stimulants to help her gain a few pounds when she is already a very healthy child? I question that and the reasoning behind it.  If she eats as much as she wants and is full, why would we start messing with her body's natural signals?  I mean, I have struggled with weight my entire life.  As I was growing up, I didn't know how to be healthy.  It wasn't something that people were really aware of at that time.  And now that I'm an adult and very overweight, I face tons of social stigma.  People look at me and automatically assume things like: I must be lazy.  I must eat junk food all the time.  I must not exercise.  I must not care about my appearance.  None of which are true.  I would like to be lazy and eat junk food all the time.  That would be nice.   The truth of the matter is:  my body doesn't work right.  Even if I drop my calorie count to 1200 calories a day and exercise an hour a day, it is still a struggle to lose weight.  My doctor and I have explored so many options, including gastric bypass.  I think it's a last resource option.  So you can see why I'm hesitant to mess with Cebelle's body telling her that she should stop eating.  I would never wish the issues that I have on anyone, especially my children.
On a brighter note, I was able to borrow two books that I had requested from the library and download them to my NOOKcolor today.  I got an email when they were available, which is just unbelievably awesome.  Anyone who knows me well knows that there isn't very much I love in life more than books and reading and the pursuit of knowledge.  So I'm sure those people can imagine my girly screech at 6am when those emails came through.  Unfortunately, I had other responsibilities to attend to before I could sit down and get lost in some books.  But I honestly relish every second of it.
Cebelle and I started dinner as Jeff should be home soon.  We decided on lemon-rosemary chicken breasts, garlic mashed potatoes, peas, and salad.  The chicken cooking right now smells absolutely amazing.  We've been eating a little bit later of an evening because Jeff doesn't get home until 6:30 or after.  One of the benefits of homeschooling is that I can adjust my kids schedule so they get to spend lots of time with their daddy!  If we were a traditional two working parent family with kids in public school, I don't think we would ever get to spend time together.  I thank God everyday for being able to be here with my kids and for them being able to spend so much time with their daddy.  I don't know how all my friends do what they do.  I have so much respect for the parents that work all day and then come home and squeeze in family time and kids activities and time with their spouses.  Honestly, I could do it if I had to.  But I would probably be an emotional wreck constantly.
There are a ton of other things on my mind, especially dealing with the state of our world and the state of affairs in our country and even our hometown.  But that would be a discussion that would take all night...and I have dinner almost ready and a husband due home any moment.  So we will save those adventures for another day!

February 22

So, today was a pretty great day!  Hayden got almost 100% on his spelling trial test.  He left the 'r' out of approximate so I gave him the chance to spell it orally and he got it correct.  Therefore, he does not have to take the test again tomorrow.  He also took a math quiz and got 100% on that.  He did extremely well today and was very excited and proud of himself.  Cebelle did wonderful, as always!  She is starting to read nearly everything!  She is doing really terrific!  I woke up this morning with a ridiculous headache.  Actually, I went to bed with it last night.  I figured I was just really tired and I would feel better once I rested so I didn't bother taking anything.  However, the stupid headache kept waking me up because it hurt so bad and at that point, it hurt too bad to get up and take medicine.  Then Cebelle had a bad dream and came and got in bed with us and I really didn't sleep well at all.  So I got up this morning and took medicine.  When I get headaches like this, they almost always turn into migraines.  And I have taken different migraine medications (including injections) and not really had any of them be successful.  I try as much as possible not to take very much medicine because I want it to work for my body when I really need it to.  But this is the combination of medications that will get rid of this kind of headache within an hour or so and not let it become a migraine:  400mg of ibuprofen, a decongesting nasal spray (like Afrin), 500mg of Tylenol, a saline nasal spray, and a dose of Sudafed.  I don't take them all together.  I take the ibuprofen and sudafed first with a dose of saline nasal spray and then about an hour later I take the rest.  About twenty minutes after that, I am headache free.  I have tried tons of other things and this is the only combination that works.  Any less of these medications, or skip out on one of them, and I'm still getting the migraine.  Thankfully, this doesn't happen very often.  My kids knew that I had a headache this morning, so they offered to rub my neck while we were all sitting on the couch this afternoon.  They are so sweet and thoughtful.  Cebelle offered to rub my head for me, but mostly she just ripped hair out of my head.  But  her heart was definitely in the right place.  Even if she did make my scalp bleed.
I worked on a baby blanket today and the cross-stitch that I've been working on for a while.  It's a slow process, but I really enjoy it.  I also read some of a book that I borrowed from the library on my NOOKcolor.  I am loving being able to get library books online and delivered right to my device.  It means I don't have to comb through shelves...or comb my hair for that matter....
The kids are winding down while Jeff sits in here and plays on his iPhone.  I swear the money that was spent on his iPhone and my NOOKcolor was the best money we ever spent.  We are like kids with the bestest toys ever!  We have tons of stuff to read and do (I have started storing knitting patterns on my NOOKcolor so I don't have to print them out) AND as a bonus, playing with either device will calm our children and make them forget whatever they were throwing a tantrum about.  Miracles......that's what they are.  Except now, both of the kids want iPhones and NOOKcolors of their own.  Thankfully, their birthdays aren't until September and October so we won't have to deal with any of that until the end of the year!  That was my adventurous day!  I'm going to end it by curling up on the couch with my hubby and watching some TV.  I will probably knit a little more of the baby blanket before I head to bed.  I hope you all have sweet dreams and a wonderfully adventurous day tomorrow!

Let's play catch-up

Okay.  So according to some recent research, I have not blogged since the 16th.  Now I could pull out a myriad of excuses for this....(there wasn't much happening, I didn't feel well, I was spending time with Jeff on his vacation, blah, blah, blah)  But honestly, I just didn't feel like it.  It's not that there wasn't very much happening-we actually had a very dramatic week last week.  I just didn't want to share it.  And that got me thinking about this:  Why do we want everyone to think that our lives are perfect?
I look around and I see lots of people that make me think, "Wow! They have really got it together!  Awesome kids, great jobs, and nothing ever goes wrong for them!"  It seems so unfair to the rest of us when life can go through periods where it's a daily struggle to get out of your bed and do what needs to be done.  But I think that the truth is that we all project perfectness....."Oh, I'm great!" (even though there are bills to pay and a roof that is falling down and kids that are sick and medical problems and arguments with family members)  But the question is why do we do it?  As for myself I don't really have any answers.  I can tell you that I personally don't like to be pitied.  So even if my world is crashing down around me, I am very likely to unload on anyone.  Also, I'm not really a fan of people who unload their entire life story on you when something is going wrong in their lives.  I don't like the responsibility of feeling like they want me to somehow fix it, so I guess I hold back because I don't want to put people in that position.
But...I'm not perfect.  My life is not perfect.  I love my life, though.  I often think that if everything were perfect, how would I have the experiences that cause me to think about my life and ways to be better and do better.  I sincerely hope that there isn't anyone out there who thinks that my family is perfect.  My kids are awesome and I love them, but they sometimes throw huge tantrums in public...or say bad words...or sass me.  I am FAR from perfect as a parent.  I shout at my kids when I am losing it and I have certainly done things and said things that I regret.  But I try everyday.  I don't take my responsibilities as a parent or a wife lightly.  Jeff and I  have been together now for nineteen years.  Married for nearly fourteen of those.  Our relationship is not perfect.  It's easy and comfortable because we know each other so well.  I still love him more everyday, which sometimes is kind of a marvel to me.  But we disagree on things and sometimes we get snappy with each other.  We are human.  We aren't meant to be perfect.  We all know we aren't, and yet we want everyone else to think that we are.  Its a very intersting concept to me, and a question that can't be fully answered.
So-now that I've gone off on a tangent....let's get back to basics.  This is what happened in my average family this week:
Ummmm....honestly, nothing really happened on the 17th or 18th.  We hung out at home, did school work, watched some TV.  Jeff scraped some ice off the roof the couple of days it warmed up.  On Saturday the 19th we went grocery shopping with the kids and stocked up on some stuff.  It was a LOT of stuff-we ended up with two carts full of groceries.  We hadn't been grocery shopping in a while and we had a lot to stock up on.  But we are super good shoppers.  All the stuff we bought barely cost over $200.  AND it was a ton of fresh produce and staples.  And other than milk and fresh salad stuff and fruit, we probably won't have to make a return trip to the store for almost a month. We are awesome.  The most excitement we had this weekend was when Cebelle woke up Sunday morning and had lost her tooth!  She was SO excited! It's the first tooth that she lost and she was adorable.

She woke up yesterday morning, early, and she had gotten $1 from the tooth fairy.  She was so thrilled that she danced around with it most of the day.  Now she can't wait to loose more teeth and get more money.  All Hayden has left to lose are molars.  He has a theory that they will be worth $5 each because they are much bigger than regular teeth.  I guess we will have to wait and see what the tooth fairy thinks about that.

I had a couple of daycare kids yesterday.  They had kind of a rough day.  They are just little tykes and are used to staying home with daddy.  But now that daddy has a full time job, they have had to make a lot of adjustments.  It's really difficult, but they and their parents are handling it beautifully.  They are a ton of fun and I adore having them here, even though I am completely exhausted when they leave!

So that's really all that's been happening around here.  Not terribly exciting or perfect.  Just normal adventures in an average family!

February 16

So, I'm feeling much better today.  Much more calm and relaxed.  Daycare kids got here at 6:30 this morning.  I was able to start and finish a book that I borrowed from the library on my NOOKcolor  (I honestly cannot explain to you HOW excited I am about this newfound option)  It was called "Stange Angels" by Lili St. Crow.  It was a really good story.  Meant primarily for young adult readers, but as I have said before.....I enjoy reading those type of books because the writers have to be better to hold the readers attention!  I finished it and started another book called "Wildwood Dancing" by Juliet Marillier.  I'm on the fourth chapter and I'm really enjoying it as well.
We had a mostly laid back day today.  Hayden and Cebelle did their school work (and after a long talk with Hayden this morning...)  They both did a remarkable job.  I have decided that it's my goal to get Hayden to do his absolute best everyday.  The approach I am taking to this is not discipline of any kind or loss of privileges if his work isn't perfect.  The approach is about me reminding him how special he is and how right now he has the potential to be anything and everything he wants to be.  But if he starts thinking and acting like a loser (slacking off, not caring about his work, not being proud of how smart he is, complaining that he has to learn) that he will probably end up that way.  The flip side is if he starts thinking like the winner he is (doing his best everyday, being excited to learn new things, thinking that he is awesome for being so smart, taking pride in how well he can do work that is way above most kids his age) then he will always be a winner.  Clearly, my other tactics weren't working very well, so I thought it was a good idea to switch it up.  I started pressing those ideas on Cebelle today, too!  I want my kids to believe in their potential and to know how terrific they are.  This world knocks us down often enough-they don't need me to join in and beat them down.  It's my job to build them up.  So that's what I'm going to do.
Right now Hayden and Cebelle are watching Veggie Tales.  I love these shows.  First of all, they are completely hysterical.    Secondly, they are really terrific at explaining how important it is to be a good person so that kids get the message.  And third, the musical numbers are really great!
I am sitting here at the computer with the dogs underfoot and texting three people at the same time.  What can I say, I'm a multitasker.....
I will put the kids to bed when their movie is over and watch a couple of episodes of "The Secret Life of the American Teenager"  It's my newest guilty pleasure.  Jeff is at opening night of his show.  Mom and Dad should be home just about anytime now.  When Jeff gets home we plan to eat some cheesy breadsticks and watch "Glee".  Since I have been up since 5:40 am, I have consumed a Diet Mtn. Dew in order to prepare me for these extremely late evening plans.  Otherwise I will be dozing on the couch in about an hour.  
Today is our cousin Molly's birthday.  She turns 1 today!  She is such a beautiful little girl.  Since she and her family live in Missouri, we don't get to see them as often as we like!  But we are wishing her a very happy birthday and many more to come!  And we are so looking forward to spending some time with them in June!
Well, I think I'm going to go snuggle on the couch with my little monkeys.  The day is coming too soon when they will wipe away my kisses and be embarrassed by my hugs.  But right now they are my little snuggle bugs and they are freshly showered.  So I'm sneaking those kisses and hugs while I can.

February 15

Today was and continues to be.....insanely ridiculous.  I honestly don't even have words to describe the craziness that is my life today.  It may seem calm on the outside, but honestly, I'm about to rip someone a new one.  Or several someones.  Or maybe whoever just happens to be unlucky enough to get in my way.   Yeah....it's been one of THOSE days.  

It started out with me waking up with an earache and a dentist appointment this morning.  Jeff decided to stay and do school work with the kids which was fine, except that he started freaking out when he realized that Hayden was into diagramming sentences.  I mean, there's a teacher's manual that tells you even exactly what to say but he went on a whole rant about how he never teaches from books and how he didn't understand...so there was that.  And I wasn't too keen about a trip to the dentist.  No matter how you slice it, going somewhere to get needles and drills in your mouth is really never awesome....so there was that.  I get to the dentist and have the lesser of my two cavities worked on only to find out that it was worse than excpected,so there was no time to do the second and I had to make an appointment at a later date.  And the whole right side of my face (including nostril) is completely numb and I know that once the feeling comes back, its going to be sore.....so there was that.  Then I get home on this freezing, sunny day to find Jeff and Hayden at odds.  Because apparently while I was gone, Hayden forgot everything that he knows.  So when Jeff did his pronoun review, he got all of them wrong.  Twice.  And tried to blame it on me because he didn't learn it.  He did the same thing with math this morning....so there's that.  Now my mom assures me that this is a normal boy thing.  I am not so sure.  Hayden has these phases where he just becomes a total and complete slacker and then decides, "Hey!  I bet if I pretend to forget how to do everything, my mom will just stop teaching me school!" Except, he seems to forget that every time he does this that the result is in fact, MORE school.  I don't know what the deal was today.  He is totally miffed about having school this week when everyone is on vacation, but if we took this week off, we wouldn't be finished with school when it was time for us to leave on vacation.  So I'm sure that is part of it.  But his scheming has turned what should be about 3 hours of school into over 8 hours a day for the last two days.  No matter how hard I try explaining to him that he is making more work for  himself, he just doesn't seem to get it.  All his nefarious plans to shorten his schoolwork constantly, always result in lengthening his schoolwork.  And honestly, I don't care if he wants to spend 12 hours a day doing schoolwork as long as it's completed correctly and he's learning.  But he is the one complaining about so much work.  Go figure.....so there was that.

Cebelle tried to be a perfect little angel for her daddy.  She is, after all, daddy's little girl.  She was running around and singing all the songs from "Aladdin" at the top of her lungs.  But after daddy left this evening......she turned into a total monster.  She and Hayden were playing really nicely together before dinner.  Despite the fact that there was whining and complaining when things didn't go her way.  I made black bean soup and cornbread for dinner.  Black beans are Cebelle's favorite.  And she loves cornbread smothered in butter.  But when she came to the table the first thing sassy  pants said to me was, "This is not what I wanted for dinner."  And I told her that it didn't matter.  I didn't ask her opinion, but if she was hungry, that's what there was and since she loved black beans I didn't think that she should have any trouble eating it.  And then she says, "Well, I hate black beans now.".....so there was that.  She is such a liar, first of all.  She is such a diva that she wants her way all of the time and she will do anything it takes to get her way.  So I said, "You have to eat at least half of that soup, or I'm taking your Valentine's Candy away."  There was whining, screaming, pouting, slamming of utensils.....but she finally ate her soup.  

By this point it was nearly bedtime so I sent the kids to the living room to pick up their toys.  I cleared the table and came in two minutes later to find a knock down, drag out fight.  Cebelle threw a toy at Hayden, Hayden slammed Cebelle's face into the floor, Cebelle punched Hayden, they both started throwing things.....so there was that.  By this point you can imagine, my patience was wearing thin.  I hauled both of their butts upstairs and put them in bed a full 30 minutes early.  AFTER a lecture about how they were both better than that and I expected better from them and that today's happenings were utterly ridiculous.  And furthermore, if today's happenings pushed into tomorrow, there would be serious consequences for the both of them.  They believed me.....so at least there was that......

And now, I am sitting and enjoying the peaceful calm where nobody is screaming and fighting hoping that it stays that way.  I am blessed with extremely wonderful, kind, bright, and loving children who like all of us have a really crappy day every once in a while.  And I think that because they know I will love them no matter what, sometimes they can let their very worst come out and it's okay.  I don't judge them for it. I have days like that too.  And I pray that they don't judge me for that.  Sometimes its just unfortunate when all our crappy days collide.  But I'm getting ready to curl up on the couch and know that tomorrow will be better.......so there's that.

February 14

Happy Valentines Day,  everyone!  We have had a pretty laid back day here at the Hull household.  We slept until a little past 8 this morning, which was really nice.  We brought the kids downstairs and gave them their Valentines.  Jeff and I got them cards and some candy.  Ninny and Papa bought them some new hooded sweatshirts and some more candy.  We did school, though Hayden had quite a bit of difficulty today.  He usually does on Mondays.  He is not a big fan of getting back into school and he was supposed to have this week off, but we are two weeks behind our schedule.  I didn't feel like doing school at all the week that my Aunt Skeeter passed away.  I was in so much turmoil and suffering from so much heartbreak that I just couldn't focus on teaching.  Then a few weeks ago Hayden and I both had strep throat which put the both of us out of commission for another week.  So instead of having a break, this week we are trying to get back on track.  We are still going to be finishing a week later than we planned, but that's no big deal. I won't get rid of any more breaks or anything like that.
Jeff has a show going up at the Paramount Theatre this week in the Brick Box.  It's a small venue that seats about 50 people.  He is directing a one act.  They are doing a series of them by Alan Ball ( the guy responsible for "Six Feet Under", "True Blood" & "American Beauty")  So even though he is here every day, he has to be gone in the afternoon and evening.  Mom and Dad left earlier to get their car serviced in Burlington and decided to go out to dinner, so it was just me and the kids this evening.  Our fancy Valentine's dinner was leftovers.  They had macaroni and cheese and I had some potatoes and some kielbasa.  Barnes and Noble also offered a free NOOKbook today even though it's not Friday.  "Pride and Prejudice: The Wonton Edition".  I guess they took the original and added in steamy love scenes...I suppose that it's appropriate for Valentine's Day.  And I'm just curious enough about it to probably read it at some point.  And it was free.  I rarely turn down anything that's free.....
So now, Hayden is finishing up his homework.  And Cebelle is playing with the dogs.  She keeps running through here and giving me kisses and telling me that she loves me so much.  I suspect that's because I gave her chocolate this morning and then let her eat candy most of the day.  I know that it's awful and I really don't do that kind of thing very often.  But most of the fun of being a kid is those days when you get away with things that are definitely not allowed in a normal day.
I put five seasons of "Secret Life of the American Teenager" in my Netflix instant queue.  Unfortunately, "Dawson's Creek" is only available on disc.... I figured Jeff isn't going to want to watch too much of that show, so I'm probably safe in enjoying it while he's off doing what he needs to do.
First I need to get around and get my kids ready for bed.  Which I suspect is going to be extremely difficult considering all the candy that I let the both of them consume today.  I  have a dentist trip tomorrow to get a couple of cavities fixed.  Luckily for me, my dentist is big on early detection, so we caught these tiny little blips before they even gave me any discomfort.  But they are on opposite sides of my mouth-so I am betting that my entire face will be numb when I return home tomorrow.  I'm sure that my children will find that hysterical.  But for tonight, I'm going to tuck my babies in and tell them on this day of love (just like I do every other day) how much I love them and how special they are and how blessed I feel to be their mom.  Then I'm going to curl up on the couch and wait for my Valentine to come home.  And I'm sure on this day of love (just like every other day) he will be glad to be home and talk with me and we will feel blessed to have found each other and to be spending our life together.  I hope that you are all snuggling up with your loved ones and counting your blessings, too!

Weekend!

We have had a really nice weekend.  Yesterday we didn't have to go anywhere so we spent most of the day just laying around and reading books and spending time together.  I'm proud to say that the television didn't even get turned on until last night after the kids were in bed.  It might surprise people to know that we really don't watch very much television.  Most days, unless I have daycare kids that really want to watch cartoons (and those are carefully picked and chosen), our television doesn't come on until after the kids go to bed. And then Jeff and I either watch a movie with mom and dad, or we catch up on a couple of shows on our dvr.   Last night we watched Inception.  I really liked it, though I was a little bit disappointed.  There was so much hype about this movie and its twists and turns and how people couldn't figure out what was going on that I guess I expected too much.  However, I did really enjoy it and it's nice to see a movie with orginality because that is so rare these days.  Everyone is taking old ideas and trying to make them new again, and I imagine that I am not the only one that finds this annoying.  Doesn't anyone have original ideas anymore?
Anyway, I got some new books for my NOOKcolor and I read one last night/today.  "Dead in the Family" is the latest installment of the Charlaine Harris written Sookie Stackhouse series.  I love this series.  Its original and funny and full of thought provoking ideas.  I have only seen the first season of "True Blood" and would like to watch the rest because I really love the characters.  Maybe I will get to that this summer.  The next book that I will be starting on my NOOKcolor is "Awakened"  which is the 8th book in the House of Night Series by P.C. and Kristen Cast.  I love reading series of books because I really like seeing characters develop.  I love vampire stories, too.  Ever since Ann Rice and her vampires and witches, I love reading about the supernatural.  I think if you are going to read and suspend disbelief and immerse yourself in a different world for a while, why not make it one where just about anything is possible and the characters are larger than life.  I also loved the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.  My sisters got me reading those.  Actually, there isn't very much that I won't read.  I love stories of just about any kind.  I just love reading.  I always have.  I still own books that I read and treasured as a child.  Most of them are worn from so much reading.  My copy of "Charlotte's Web" is barely held together and if you opened it, I think that most of the pages would fall out.  I hope my children will treasure their books as much as I have every one of mine.
We were eating dinner last night and the kids were talking about stuff that they learned, especially about monuments around the world.  We were quizzing them about famous landmarks and monuments and Jeff asked them what was in China.  Cebelle shouted very enthusiastically, "Food!"  I guess that since we are fans of Chinese food and she hasn't gotten to that part of the world in her history yet, that was the first thing that came to her mind.  It was pretty hysterical.  We finally got them to say the Great Wall of China after referencing Mulan.....
The kids are mostly just running around and enjoying being kids.  Jeff is out of school this week for break, so we are all happy about that.  It's unfortunate that he has to be gone every night this week because his show at the Paramount goes up on Wednesday.  But we are all happy to have him here during the day.
I finished knitting the two wristers that I was working on and I had enough yarn left over that I decided to make a matching cowl to go with them.  So that's what I'm working on now.  It's about a third of the way finished.  I'm sure I will be able to complete it in the next couple of days since we don't have much going on.  I've been looking at some new patterns and I ordered a couple of new books.  I always love to learn new techniques in knit and crochet.  And truthfully, I use patterns mostly like a recipe...as a kind of guideline.  I take something that I like and usually make something different out of it.  I just like to be inspired by other peoples' creativity.
I'm getting ready to put some dinner on the table.  Kielbasa and macaroni and cheese for dinner tonight.  It's pretty much the kids favorite.  I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes last night for my dad.  He's a big fan.  Then the kids are off to bed and I think that Jeff and I are going to watch "Going the Distance" with mom and dad.  It's the last Netflix movie we have here and since Jeff will be gone every evening this week, we need to watch it tonight.  I was watching an episode of Fringe a few nights ago and Joshua Jackson had this line that reminded me so much of his Dawson's Creek days that I was thinking maybe I should get all the seasons of that on our instant queue and watch it while he's away all week.  Should be good for some laughs at the very least!  Anyway-I will let you know how it goes!  Have a wonderfully adventurous week!

February 11

Yeah, so it turns out, I AM allergic to the white faced hornet after all.  You may be asking yourself, "How could she possibly know that?"  Well, to answer your inquiring minds...its because when I woke up this morning EVERY single place that I had been poked/injected (except for the control) were big, red, itchy bumps.  If you haven't been keeping track...that means the row on my forearm, the two rows on my right upper arm, and the one row on my left arm.  That's a total of 18 swollen, red, itchy bumps.  Nice.  I looked like I was attacked by a very large and very precise mosquito.  So I have now signed all of my paperwork that says I know I could die from treatment and put it in the mail.  I am also contemplating moving to Antarctica because I'm relatively sure there are no stinging insects there.  But I'm not sure I would get cell service there....so I'm still just thinking about it.
School went relatively well today.  Cebelle got a perfect on her phonics assessment.  Hayden needs a bit more practice with this weeks spelling list.  I'm trying to get him to break the larger words into sections to help him remember.  It seems to be working pretty well for him.
I have cornered Ruby about a half a dozen times today.  She keeps trying to get into the trash. I don't know what's up with her naughty self today.  She is feeling very defiant.  I'm assumming that it's because I was gone most of the day yesterday.  Like my biological children, my furry children get pretty angry with me when I am not here to meet their every need every moment of the day.  Ruby will usually find mom if I am busy and she needs love and affection (which honestly, for her, is quite often) but I suspect that since mom was really busy with Hayden and Cebelle yesterday that Ruby didn't get a lot of attention.  Today is payback for that.  She's such a stinker.  You might be wondering "why do you let her get away with that?" Well-for heaven's sake...look at these faces:

Now be honest...you would probably let them be stinkers too if they were sweet and lovable and made those faces at you all the time.  

We went to Rutland when Jeff got out of school and picked up a few things that we needed.  After nearly 3 years of waiting.....Jeff is finally the proud owner of and iPhone.   He is so unbelievably excited.  We ate at Taco Bell and had a great time with the kids.  I got some new rubber stamps for my paper crafting at Michaels.  I paid 47 cents a piece for them and they are going to look terrific with my embossing tools!  Nothing like a great crafting deal!  Mom and dad and Jeff and I are getting ready to sit down and watch Predators.  I took two benadryl because my arms are still all polka-dotted and itchy.  I'm betting that I turn into a total drool monkey about fifteen minutes in.  I'm trying to counteract the effects with caffeine....but not much luck.  I hope you all have a fun and adventurous weekend!

February 10

So, as many of you know, this was the day of my much anticipated allergist appointment.  I have had several incidents where I have been stung by wasps and yellow jackets in the past few years.  I now carry an epipen because two of those episodes have landed me in the hospital with anaphylaxis.  (Throat closed up...completely unable to breathe)  The ones that haven't landed me in the hospital were deemed 'severe localized reactions' which meant that when I got stung on my wrist, from the tips of my fingers to nearly my shoulder was red, swollen, and covered in hives.  Even with benadryl and steroid cream on a 24 hour basis for two weeks, it took it almost that long to shrink down to just my forearm.  It's not a pleasant thing to have happen.  Even taking benadryl every 6 hours I was itching like crazy.  And that was just the last episode.  I've had several of those kinds of reactions.  So anyway-my doctor decided that I needed to see an allergist and do something called immunotherapy.  So I went to the allergist.  They started out with tiny scratches on my forearm to do a skin test of the five different stinging insects that cause anaphylaxis.  Literally miscroscopic amounts of venom that had been diluted for testing.  After 10 minutes I had some tiny red bumps, but no large reaction.  Then they did a line down my upper arm with syringes.  A small amount (1mcg) of each of the five (plus two control) were injected in my arm.  After ten minutes, still no visible reaction.  So the moved next to that and did a little bit more (2 mcg) of each one.  When they came back to check 10 minutes later, both lines of tests on my left arms had blown up to huge red dots with hives.  Except for the bee, wasp, and white-faced hornet.  So then they moved to my left upper arm and did a little bit more (3mcg) of those three venoms and a negative control (for those of you who are counting, I now have been poked by needles/syringes a total of 25 times).  Ten minutes later, all those were positive except for the white faced hornet. So the allergist said that my best course of treatment is venom immunothereapy.  Which means that venom of the four stinging insects that I am allergic to (honeybee, yellow jacket, yellow hornet, and wasp) will be injected into me once a week for several months and then once a month for several years.  It will help my body deal with the reaction and though I may continue to have localized reactions, my chances of dying from a sting will lessen considerably.  Now, in theory, this sounds completely awesome to me.  I would love to spend time in my garden or outdoors in the spring/summer/fall without having to worry about getting stung and dying.  My poor kids have seen me have this reaction twice and they are terrified.  They are terrified of all stinging insects and the fact that I have had to train them with an epipen in case I am incapacitated breaks my heart.  So I'm going to do it....even though its a huge commitment of time (I have to be monitored in the doctors office for a minimum of 30 minutes following every injection) and it's really scary (I have to sign waivers saying that I know that death is a possibility because they are injecting substances that I am allergic to).  I also am pretty sure that because I am allergic to four venomous insects, that I have to have 4 shots a week.  I don't know as of right now if they can mix them.  And even though I cam home last night and took a benadryl (hence the no blogging...I was a total drool monkey) -I have rows of red itchy bumps on my arms and a couple of them are turning into those localized reactions.  Just from the tiny, diluted amount that I was given.

So-that's life!  We deal with the cards we are given.  It might suck, but the alternative sucks worse.  

On the bright side, Jeff drove me to the doctor and we actually got some time to talk to each other.  With kids and work, sometimes it's hard to connect...so even if he's driving me to a needle sticking appointment and home with itchiness and hives, we got to talk and eat lunch together and just enjoy each other.  So-remember to find the small moments in an otherwise mostly crappy day and be thankful for them.  Because they are the things that matter the most!

February 9

Today was a total roller coaster ride.  I got up at 5:40 to welcome a daycare kid at 6:30.  I love that girl, I always have a terrific time with her.  Today was no exception.  Every 20 minutes she was running to me and saying, "I love you, Stephi!"  Such an adorable little sweetheart.  I snuggled with her and watched cartoons until Hayden got up at 8:30.  I knew immediately upon his entering the room that he did not feel well.  Now, I don't know about everyone else's kids and how they work-but when Hayden isn't feeling well he doesn't hunker down or want to be calm and quiet.  He is wildly, insane, bouncing off the walls crazy.  He won't sit still, he runs all over the place, he shouts and makes weird noises, and he jumps and flings.  Constantly.  I don't know why this happens when he is not feeling great, but he has done it since he was a baby.  I suspect that he knows that if he sits still for a few minutes, he is likely to rest and fall asleep, thereby missing some life changing event that may or may not happen at our house.  Just for clarification, some life changing events rarely happen at our house.  Oprah does not live here, after all.  However, when he is seriously ill, like when we had strep, he sits still.  That's when I know to be concerned.
So today, he was just dealing with some congestion and a bit of a head cold.  Hence the wild craziness.  Cebelle woke up with the same bit of congestion and her reaction was to be snippy, hateful, and rude to anyone who happened to be near her or who had the gall to speak to her.  She has alternated between biting my head off and smothering me with snuggles and hugs.  Needless to say, these things made school very difficult for us this morning.  There was a lot of whining and tears and frustration.  And we won't even talk about what the kids did.....
Other than that, our day was pretty normal.  Once school was finished and daycare kids sent home, I took Hayden and Cebelle upstairs for their showers.  During the winter, they only shower every couple of days because they deal with horribly dry skin like I do.  They always whine and moan and complain....nobody ever wants to take a shower.  Then once they get in there, I can't get them out.  The spend 30 or more minutes just hanging out in there.
We came down and had some dinner.  During some conversation, Hayden turned around and said, "What the HELL was that?"  Now, to be fair, he has been warned about this before.  I'm not sure where he picked it up.  I generally only curse when I am very angry and that doesn't happen very often.  It has previously been explained to him that even if he hears an adult saying those kinds of words, that they are in no way acceptable for children to say.  I told him that adults are responsible for their own actions, but that kids didn't have all the knowledge to make those kinds of decisions and take on that kind of responsibility.  As he is a pretty intellectual soul, I figured this would be enough.  Apparently, I was completely incorrect.  As this is the fifth or sixth time he has been caught saying it, he has now been threatened with getting his mouth washed out with soap.  I could tell that when he was saying it, he was waiting to see how we would react.  Unfortunately, I laughed.  Don't judge.  I tried really hard not to.  It didn't help that mom and dad started laughing and then were trying to disguise it as coughs.  We will see how seriously he takes the threat.  I hate the thought of washing his mouth out with soap.  I have never done anything like that before and I'm not even sure why that was the punishment that came out of my mouth.  But if I have learned one thing from my kids its this:  NEVER EVER make a threat that you won't follow through.  Because the second you do, they will start stomping all over you.  So if it comes down to it, I will be washing his mouth out with soap.  And I imagine that it will be much more painful and traumatic for me than it is for him.
I'm getting ready to put the kiddos in bed now.  Jeff has another late rehearsal night, so they haven't seen him since Monday evening.   Thankfully, the show that he is doing for ART, the actors reparatory theatre goes up next week so he will be back to being home after 6 every night soon.  In the meantime, I'm going to get a lot of reading and crafting done, because I will be without him nearly every night next week!  (at least until 10 or so...)
I hope that your day was terrific....thanks for joining my adventure!

February 8

So I woke up in the middle of the night last night with some awful acid reflux.  Straight out of deep sleep into full on panic mode.  I felt it come up into my esophagus.  Disgusting, I know.  It burned my throat so bad and I couldn't make it stop.  Meanwhile, I'm freaking out because I have never had anything like this happen before.  I drank a ton of water and took pepto and tums and propped myself up with pillows and finally went back to sleep.  It was possibly one of the weirdest things I have ever had happen in my life.  I suspect it was due to the fact that I ate poorly yesterday and took ibuprofen, tylenol, and aleve for my headache (not all at the same time....I'm not completely irresponsible!)  So-needless to say-thanks to my adventure at 3am I slept later than I normally do.  I woke up at about 8:30 and showered.  I came downstairs to find that mom had made pancakes and Hayden was already eating.  He is such a sweet boy and when he woke up and I was still asleep, he wanted to make a special day for me.  So he helped mom take out the recycling, empty the dishwasher, and make breakfast all before I woke up and showered.  What a terrific kid. He also got 100% on his spelling trial test which means that he didn't have homework tonight and he doesn't have to take his test tomorrow.  He is super excited.
Cebelle got up and ate breakfast with me.  She is having a bit of a blonde day today.  She goes through these phases periodically.  Today she walked up to me with her earphones on, ipod in hand, and very upset.  She said, "Mom!  I can't hear my ipod and I don't even have it paused!"  And she was near tears.  I looked at her, picked up the end of the earphones, and plugged them into the ipod.  And then I said, "That usually helps."  She giggled and then walked away.  It was so funny.  She did things like that all day.  It certainly makes for an interesting day because she is very prone to drama.  And for her-everything is dramatic.
The weatherman predicted another 4-6 inches of snow for us last night into today.  It started snowing late last night and it wasn't too terrible.  But by 1pm-we had about 6 inches and the snow was still coming down at our house.  The kids went out and helped shovel and played in it for a while.  It was supposed to stop by 11am.  It finally quit here about 6pm.  We ended up with probably a total of 12.

Its just so pretty.  I think we are due for more at the end of the week.  At this point, when I step into the parts that aren't shoveled, the snow comes up over my hips.  Almost to my waist.  I'm not looking forward to mud season.

I've been working on several projects lately and I thought I would post some pictures of them.

This is a group of handbags I have been working on.  They are not quite finished.  The black and beige one need sewn together and then all three will need linings and snaps.

This is a counted cross stitch.  The completed pattern is about 16 x 18 inches.  It is for Christmas.  I'm hoping to have it finished by then.  The part that is completed took me about 14 hours of work so far.  

These I am SUPER excited about because these are for me!  They are cabled wristers.  They are like really long gloves without fingers.  They are made of a gorgeous variegated yarn that is silk/wool/bamboo.  Its super soft and I adore the colors.

I'm heading to put the kids to bed.  Jeff is in rehearsal until 9 tonight so I'm going to settle down and finish my wristers.  I told the kids that they could do a calm quiet activity until I was ready to take them upstairs.

This is what they are doing right now.  My sweet little angels.  I am so happy that they love each other and like to spend time together.  Sweet dreams!

February 7

Well, I didn't do this post at the end of the day like I usually do.  There is a good reason for that.  I was completely, totally, utterly exhausted.  My day began at 5:40am.  I got up and made a pot of coffee and started welcoming my daycare kids.  This day was a little bigger than normal.  I usually only have two kids on this day, but because I have an appointment with an allergist this week, I had to shift a couple of days.  So I had three children aged 3 and under all day and another 8 year old who I got off the bus after school.  The small kids all arrived between 6:30 and 7:30.  And unfortunately for me, I had awoke with a killer sinus headache.  The real kicker is that since I have an allergist appointment this week, I cannot take any antihistamines.  So-I have a sinus headache that tylenol and ibuprofen won't touch, my two kids who need to do school, and three kids under the age of 4 who need diaper changes, feeding, bottles, and help in social skills because at that age it's still appropriate in their mind to beat the crap out of someone and then take whatever they want.  By 8am-I was thinking that I must have been out of my mind for agreeing to this.  By 9am I was seriously re-thinking my ideal of 4-6 kids.  And by 10am I was ready to tie my tubes single handedly with a butter knife.  Lets backtrack now....the kids were really awesome.  The goings on were normal for three year olds and one year olds.  I really enjoyed having them here and I adore them all.  But, I was running around like crazy.  I couldn't go to the bathroom because every time I would step three feet away, someone would push someone else and take their toys, or the baby would be trying to jump down the two stairs of our sunken living room.  (Which incidentally, I saved him from about a dozen times.  And then his sister head butted him by accident.  So I ended up sending him home injured anyhow.)  All I had to eat was three bites of waffle off of Cebelle's plate that she didn't finish and three cups of coffee that I had poured for myself had gone cold before I drank them.  Add all of that up with my awesome headache, and it's fair to say that I contemplated hiding in a corner and crying at least once.  But amazingly, I got through the day without raising my voice to anyone, without my head exploding, and with my reproductive organs still completely intact.  God does perform miracles after all.....
And I must reiterate that I LOVE those kids.  They are sweet and precious and wonderful gifts.  And I managed through all of it to keep everyone fed and clean and even managed to finish school work with both of my kids.  So by the end of the day, even with my massive headache still intact, I was starting to think of myself as supermom/super daycare provider.  Which isn't really true, either.  Heck, I'm just lucky I made it through the day.  But its days like this that I actually love the most....as crazy as that sounds.  Because even though I was feeling pretty sorry for myself and my massive headache and all I had to get done...there were these small moments where kids wanted to sit in my lap and snuggle me, or someone just came up and kissed me, or brought me a book to read them a story, or needed me to hug them because they were sad....these moments that make me remember what life is all about and that help me to remember that these moments need to be cherished because they are fleeting.  And if you are so focused on trivial things (like a headache...) you just might miss those small moments and all the joy and happiness and love that they can bring to your life.  Look for your moments....and enjoy your adventure along the way!

Weekend!

Here's how my weekend went....
On Saturday, we got up and cleaned some house.  I read some and then baked some lasagna.  My mom made brownies and cherry cobbler.  It started snowing here at about 2:45.  Big, fat, beautiful flakes that looked so awesome!  I tried to upload a video, but it didn't work.  Maybe I will figure it out at some point.  Anyway, my sister, Roni, her husband, Jim, and their friend, Alicia came over to spend the evening with us.  We ate, played a game, and had a really nice visit.  Hayden and Cebelle sat at the table with us and told jokes.  We laughed so hard that my sides hurt.  Not really because the jokes were so funny, but because the kids were.  Life gets busy for all of us, and we don't get to see them very often, so it's really nice when we get to spend time with them!  As we were all sitting here, there was lightning and thunder from the snow storm.  Really beautiful, but kind of scary!  It only snowed part of the night, but we ended up with over 6 inches of new snow at our house.  There was some sleet mixed in, so it was all kind of slushy.  This is what it looked like this morning:

This morning we got up early to go to church.  I got up, showered, put on make-up, fixed my hair, fixed everyone breakfast......I knew at this point that our driveway wasn't plowed, but I figured that we wouldn't have any problems getting out.  The road was completely clear.  So we piled in the car and took off up the driveway.  And then we got stuck.  Back and forth and in and out and shoveling and digging......20 minutes later we were late for church and STILL stuck in our driveway.  We got out and changed into our snow clothes and implemented our new Sunday plan-shovel and play. 

I was really bummed about not making it to church, but we had a really good time.  The snow is now up to my hips.  I was tossing snow balls to the dogs this afternoon while standing in it.  I heard the kids and went to turn around, but my legs were stuck so I fell straight on my back.  Suffice to say, Jeff had a really good laugh out of it because he was standing beside me.  

We don't really watch football....but we are watching the Superbowl to see the half time show and all the commercials.  I used to follow football pretty closely, but quit after the kids were born.  I just never really got back into it, though it's one of the few sports I enjoy watching.  I guess it's leftover from being in the marching band and being on the stands and field every Friday night.  Those are some pretty awesome memories for me.  

I would say this weekend also chalks up some pretty terrific memories for me, too!  Once again, it wasn't really what I had planned....but that doesn't make it any less wonderful or any less adventurous!

February 4

I had a great Friday!  I had a daycare kid who I always have tons of fun with today.  The kids got up and ate good breakfasts and did their school work with no complaints.  I was able to read some books and knit some.  Jeff got to come home right after school.  And then we listened to a bunch of 80's and 90's music.  So much fun.  It's funny how so many of those songs bring back so many memories of friends and good times.
It's also really funny how much both of our kids love that music!  They were both sitting in here shouting, "put that on my ipod!" while we were listening to stuff.  It's really hysterical.  Hayden was doing his math today and listening to his ipod.  All of a sudden, he is singing "U Can't Touch This" word for word.  I was snickering and giggling.  Then he started dancing in his seat and I literally almost fell out of my chair.  I love that my kids love music.  It has always been such a huge part of my life and I hope it will be in theirs too.  I'd say they are already off to a pretty good start.
I spent a lot of today reading on my NOOKcolor.  I adore it.  I don't think that anything will ever replace a real book in my hand.  I know its weird, but I love books.  We have hundreds of them.  Our kids have hundreds more.  I love the way they look, they way they feel, the way they smell.  I think books are really special.  I LOVE my NOOKcolor because I can keep thousands of books in it if I want.  (Right now there are 60 books-most were free- and I think I have about the same amount of knitting/crochet patterns on it)  I read really quickly.  I can read a 300 page book in a little over an hour on most days.  Sometimes it will take me closer to two, but rarely.  I'm not trying to brag....I'm just trying to explain why a NOOKcolor is a really good solution for me.  I have plenty of things to read and lots of choices.  I even have a copy of the Bible in mine.  The ESV or English Standard Version.  I think that my NOOKcolor is awesome, even though I don't think I will ever be able to completely replace books.
The kids are in bed and I'm getting ready to settle down for the evening.  I wish all of you many terrific weekend adventures!

February 3

Today was a pretty normal Thursday for us!  Schoolwork was first on our priority list as always.  Our Thursday school load is pretty light except for every 6th Thursday when we have Chemistry labs.  I got some reading done.  I am re-reading the entire In Death series by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts).  There are 32 books in the series and I own the first 27.  I intended to purchase the last 5 sometime in the next few weeks so I decided to read them all again up to that point.  I love this series because its mystery, sci-fi, and a little bit of romance....mostly I love Nora Roberts as a writer because she writes very compelling character driven stories.  I won't deny...some of her romance novels are a bit schmaltzy, but the characters are amazing.  I am also reading a few books on my NOOKcolor.
I also worked a bit on a baby blanket today.  I have several pieces of it finished and I really think its going to be beautiful.  I'm getting ready to start some wristers and a hat for myself made from this gorgeous silk/bamboo/wool mix yarn.  I hardly ever make stuff for myself.
The kids spent their day listening to their ipods mostly.  I'm glad that I don't have to hear Alvin and the Chipmunks fifty times a day with the CD player.  I do have to constantly remind them to turn them down, but they are pretty good about not listening too loudly.  They are cracking me up with their eclectic taste in music.  Hayden has been grooving to "Another One Bites the Dust", "Mission Impossible Theme", "Eye of the Tiger", and "Imma Be".  He sings the lyrics out loud to most of them.  It's completely hysterical.  He has now decided that someone needs to put "Toxic" on his ipod.  I told him that I firmly believe that ipods should be Britney Spears free zones, but he said, "But I really like that song!"  So I will probably cave and let him have it.  Heck, I like the song too.  But it gets stuck in my head.  Right now, I'm humming the chorus.  Crap.  There goes my night.
Cebelle is still grooving on Taylor Swift.  She also loves Lady Gaga.  She doesn't really like any "boy" songs.  I suspect this is because they are out of her extreme high soprano that only dogs can hear range.  I love it when she sings out loud with her earphones on too.  I asked her earlier what she was listening to and she said, "Mom!  I'm shuffling songs and I don't know all my letter sounds yet!  How am I supposed to know what song this is?"  Fair enough.  She has a point.  She's also a diva, so I keep the arguing with her to a minimum.  You can't argue with divas.  Even if you win, you lose.
The kids also spent some time outside this morning shoveling the walkway.  We got another four inches or so after we shoveled yesterday.  It was really too cold to spend too long outside.
All in all, we had a pretty terrific day.  I'm getting ready to go wash my face and tuck the kids in.  Jeff and I will probably watch a couple of shows before we head off to bed.
Thanks for sharing the adventure with me!

February 2

Snow Day!  Today was an awesome day!  We slept a little past 8 and the kids came and got in bed with Jeff and I.  I love starting the day with lots of snuggles and hugs and kisses from my kids.  They are sweet and giggly and precious when they first wake up.  We ate some biscuits and gravy for breakfast and then did our school work.  I don't know how others who homeschool do it, but we normally have school on snow days.  It just helps us stick to our schedule.  And since we have scheduled breaks, it's easier to not miss a day that you have to make up later!  After our school work was done, we bundled up and went outside where we played and shoveled.  We had about a foot when we shoveled and it's still coming down right now....but here are some pictures of our fun:

This is our house viewed from the driveway.

That's the kids playing in front of the shoveled up snow and sledding down it since we don't really have much of a hill at our house.   (In case you are wondering, Hayden is 4'2".  And yes, that snow is over his head.  Most of it is hip/thigh high depending on how tall you are.  It's a pretty normal VT winter.)

That's Jeff shoveling and him and mom chatting while mom rests on the snow bank.  She actually got stuck and I had to pull her out.  I told her if she fell down I was taking a picture and posting it before she got up!
Then we came in and I baked some cinnamon rolls and made hot cocoa.  We cleaned up and thanks to Netflix, watched Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.  It was really pretty cute.  It had some really funny jokes and play on words.  The kids cracked up.
I made some homemade chili for dinner and got the kids put down for bed.  Now mom and dad and Jeff and I are getting ready to watch Grown-Ups.  All in all, a pretty great snow day!  It's still snowing outside, but the road looks pretty clear.  I don't know if they will cancel school tomorrow.  It might be delayed.  I don't know how bad it is in the rest of our area.  It was a really fun day.  I always love the times we get to spend together as a family, laughing and playing.  It makes for some awesome memories and some really big adventures!

February 1

Wow.  What a day.  My horoscope said that I would experience family issues today.  That was the understatement of the century.  Don't get your hopes up, my friends.  I'm not dishing dirt on myself or the people that I love the most in this world.  I will say this about today:  When you love as deeply as we do in our family, it's easy to get your heart broken and your feelings bruised.  Little things become big for no reason at all except that someone was hurt by someone else's carelessness or thoughtlessness.  But the flip side of that is that small things can also bring great joy.  And little acts of kindness become big because of someone's willing heart and acceptance.  The best part about today, even though it was tumultuous, is that when you love deeply, you also forgive completely.  We are all human.  And we all make mistakes.  I own up to my part of that in this instance and in every other.  I am far from perfect.  But that's the way that God made me, so in some ways, that makes me perfect.
I have been working on a couple of baby blankets and a cross-stitch project.  But I had a headache again today.  (Thank you, storm front, for the 3 feet of snow we are going to get PLUS the sinus headache)  So I didn't really work on anything and couldn't get motivated to start anything new.
The kids are doing awesome in school.  Cebelle flew through her work this morning with flying colors.  Hayden missed several on his spelling trial test, but he is learning that it is a consequence of not studying.  He keeps thinking he can figure out a shortcut where he doesn't actually have to study the words.  I'm letting him experiment with it to prove my point.  My luck, he will prove me completely wrong tomorrow and ace the test and it will all blow up in my face.
I'm hoping to sleep in tomorrow because Jeff doesn't have to go to school, but I'm also betting that the kids will wake up at 7:30 because I don't have to get up early.  That's what usually happens.
I'm looking forward to a big snow.  We have plenty of food and lots to do and I think that snow is so beautiful.  I will post some pictures tomorrow!  Since everyone else is getting lots of snow too, I'm expecting to see lots more pictures!  I hope you all have a safe and adventurous snowy day!