Party Planning

Ok so we we have mostly everything ready for the party. Still cant seem to find rope lights, but someone told me to check Lowes. Maybe I will go out there today. I dont know. Well, have things to do...

Spring fever!!

Ok heres the kid updates! Alora wants to do cheerleading. While I am not particularly thrilled about this, it will give a structured activity and it is a healthy exercise. She is 7 now and doing great in school. She has gotten A's all year. She loves reading and writing, but has some trouble with math. Wonder if that is genetic...I had loads of trouble with math. She is growing into a beautiful young lady. She still loves to snuggle and read books and sing together. I would miss that so much if she didn't. We are working on morals...lol. On the moral scale she is caught between doing the right thing to stay out of trouble and doing the right thing because of empathy. Sadly, that is further than many adults in this world. Her whole grade has won a rollerskating party in May. This could be a kodak moment as I try to teach her to skate.
And then theres Jakob. My dear sweet...too smart for his own good 4 year old. We are amdist potty training at the moment. Things are improving, he will go on the potty...but only if he is naked from the waist down. When he has underwear on he wont tell me he has to go...and just pees himself. This has become very frustrating. I have to put him in a pull up to go anywhere...and I dont think that is good for potty training. It is rather hard to be confined to the house 24/7 though. He counts well, knows his alphabet and is very imaginative. He has loads of energy and we can not wait for warm weather to burn some of that off. He loves being the big brother when Alora is at school and is getting very good at completing his chore list everyday. His favorite job is sponging the table after meals.
Mary and Lily have started intermediate unit preschool and are getting their speech therapy there. They are both talking in sentences, though pronunciation is a bit off. Mary is slowly gaing better comprehension skills. She will do simple tasks, instead of repeating what you say. Lily is a stubborn little girl...much like mommy. She is the more dominate twin, more aggressive and very tomboyish. She is a lover not a fighter though and most of her tantrums are just a cry for attention. She talks to me about everything, and both of the girls are obsessed with clocks at the moment. They point them out wherever we go. I am currently working on learning the different senses right now. They both tell me "look a bell" when they hear the church bells. I am trying to give them the words for the different senses. As in, "listen, I hear the bell". They both sit on the potty for me and are very surprised when they actually pee. They are learning the words for potty training and hopefully when Jakob is trained, I can start more diligently with the girls.
Last but not least is Zach. Oh, he is mommy's boy. Though is warming up to more playtime with Kevin. He even fell asleep on his lap last night. Zach has a outgoing personality, including quite the temper. He needs help refocusing alot. He does everything with zeal. From jumping out of bed in the morning to lining up all the condiments on the table. He is talking alot. Saying please and thank you too. He also seems to want to be a nudist lately...I can barely keep clothes, or a diaper on him lately. Thank goodness it is getting warmer...lol.
I am just as nutty as I have always been. trying to balance my attention between all the kids and the housework, and of course my husband. I pout now and then that it leaves little time for me, but when I do go do something for me, or with a friend, I always feel like I have somehow abandoned my family. Some days I would be happy to have someone keep me company while I clean...lol.
I have also been job hunting, but these days they are few and far between. Have one or to possible things right now....but nothing definite. I have been making clip in hair extensions and thinking about selling them. Not really great at the whole marketing thing though.
Kevin is doing well...working alot. I think he stresses too much about work sometimes....but then again everyone does. We have each other to lean on on those days. Thank God for that. I want to try to keep up with this a little more, my blog, though not too many friends read it. Oh well.

Blah blah blah...

Just feel like a little mindless babble right now. Haven't been keeping up with the blog lately. Big news is for about the past 3-4 weeks we have been tearing the kitchen apart. So, YAY, I am getting a new kitchen...but boo...not how we planned. Had some electrical issues and kind of HAD to gut the kitchen. But it is going pretty well. Had some relatives and friends help. Right now there is alot of spackling and sanding to do and a little more drywall. We are not doing the floor yet...or the big window.
Mary has to go to the dr again...she swallowed a nickel..or nickel shaped object. If it is not out by tomorrow then it has to be removed. Hmm...save that for the scrap book...lol.
Well, I do not have a whole lot more I am willing to post...so off I go. Maybe I will update again...sooner this time.

What is wrong witht he world

So i sat down and read an article a friend of mine emailed me. It was about what a stay at home mother should be paid. Came out to 138 thoudand a year or so. Cute article, nice to know What I do could be put into dollars. I thought the article was amusing. No harsh feelings, but then, I decided to read the comments on the article. What I had though was just an amusing article turned into a nasty war in the comment sections. People just being mean. Granted, there are times when I feel over worked and underpaid, but I am not going to demand the world fall at my feet and worship me. Just like I respect a working mother, I expect to be respected too. Something alot of people commented on was that sahm need to sleep so they dont really work 24/7. I would like to defend that notion. I may sleep at night, sometimes 1 or 2 hours...sometimes 5, but I am always "on-call". And does interupted sleep count as a perk to motherhood. Seriously, I can not remember the last time I got more than 3 hours of CONSECUTIVE sleep. Ah, well...guess I am done venting. Off to earn my 6 figures now.

More pics of Damien

New Grand BABY!

Kevin(the stepson, not the hubby) and his GF Jen came over yesterday with Damien. We gave them Marys crib and we gave them the changing table we got them. I also got a couple pics of Damien. They said they didn't mind if I posted them...so heres the new grandbaby!

Fall cleaning?

The kids and i have spent the last 3 days cleaning and de-cluttering. Who knew we had so much...um...for lack of a better word...crap! I reorganized and rearranged the kitchen....and threw out so much junk. The kids have been trying to help too. Alora is my cleaning buddy, though. As long as we are cleaning and picking up together she is a 46" cleaning machine. I have been really working on Jakob and his cleaning skills. He now has some. He will help pick up toys when told and even put his toys in the toybox in his room. When he gets more consistent with that, I am going to try the same matter of fact, this is how it is approach to potty training. I have been getting Lily to sit on the potty and pee sometimes. Mary will sit on the potty for a minute, but then has one of her panic attacks. OMGoodness something new...make it stop kind of thing.
I want to get the house uber clean...well how about clean and uber organized. The hard part is getting everyone to cooperate and keep it that way...ugh.
I am trying to plan Thanksgiving dinner...er..um..lunch. I need to call Kevin's oldest son to make sure him and his gf and the NEW BABY are still coming. Oh new grandbaby....he is soooo cute. Beautiful blues eyes. His name is Damien(sp) and he was 5lbs 5oz and 17 inches I believe. Oh I miss having little babies around. I think Nicole and her BF might be stopping by later in the day, not necessarily for dinner. She said she usually cooks. Me, I cook for an army. Wait, I have my own little platoon...lol. The menu this year will be home made cranberry sauce,(Alora loves it) a turkey, a ham, lima beans, sweet potatoe casserole, mashed potatoes and potatoe filling. I think that is all...oh pie for desert. I make alot of it up the day before and then just bake it on thanksgiving.
Christmas is going to be interesting. Not as many gifts this year...budget is kind of tight right now. The kids dont really need more toys anyway. Plus we have alot of family to shop for. If we had enough kids that came over for the holidays Id just do a pollyanna, but most of the kids are mine...lol.
I work tonight, not looking forward to it, I am already tired. Maybe Kevin will be home a little early and I can catch a nap. We will see.
Well, the kids are all awake and looking forward to some Mommy time, so off I go.

Cooties

I believe it is official. I have cooties...lots of them in fact. So many so that I do not have any friends...lol. Just so you know kids give you these cooties. The more kids you have, the more cooties you get. Now there is a way to avoid these cooties even when you have kids. If you have a mom, sister, grandma, or some other relative to watch your children whenever you want. This allows you to maintain a social life. Cooties HATE social lives, so upon leaving the house they jump off you...waiting for your return. Also, having company can keep cooties at bay temporarily. When you have people over the cooties get scared, not knowing if theses newcomers have children or not. If you do not do theses things or have a babysitter at a moments notice then these cooties will attack you and no one will talk to you. Even though cooties hate company, many of theses non cottie people do not know this and fear infestation. Eventually the only time you leave the house will be for groceries or possibly work. These cooties eventually lead you to a recluse type lifestyle. You keep the curtains drawn all day, peering out occasionally to see if your neighbors are spying on you. You stop using the phone...you have cooties, who do you really need to talk to anyway? Then there is christmas shopping. You order everything online. If you cant get it online or pick it up at the local walmart, while you are grocery shopping, then you dont buy it. You begin wondering if you can order groceries on line...hmm...think walmart would deliver? Oh no the holidays are coming... cooties hate that. It means relatives visiting. The cooties convince you not to invite anyone...whew...wouldn't want to deal with that anyway. All those fake smiles and pleasentries. The only sure way to get rid of cooties is for your friends, if you still have any. to have kids and then you can share cooties. Or else wait for your kids to grow up. By then you just might end up being the crazy cat lady. Too bad i am not too fond of cats. Maybe i could be the crazy gerbil lady...or hamsters...tropical fish maybe?