Free Moment with the Computer

I was reading a blog that belongs to a sweet friend, and I realized I haven't blogged in a long time.  Life gets busy.  People play on Twitter too much to blog.  People clean the kitchen too often to blog.  People sit on the couch without the computer in their lap too often to blog.  You know how it is. 

I looked back at a little entry I had in April.  April was a tough month, but April was necessary.  April was great, now that I'm here.  Basically, I listed 7 must haves in a future fellow.  Here is what I have now.

1. I want a name.   *Nothing is official yet, but there have been some hits.  Sweetie, Sweet Cakes, and Pickle have all been tested.

2. I want to be completely open.  *No secrets really.  Still not at the "fart confidence" stage.  (I thank a dear family member and her husband for that lovely phrase.)

3.  I want someone who's as excited about Jesus as I am. *He's got me beat. Pretty much, he's living this inspiring journey that I'm getting to be involved in.

4. I want artsy.  *He acts.  He plays music.  He even drew a lovely picture of me shooting a vacuum cleaner.

5.  I want Mike Rowe-ish.  *He has no issues with getting dirty. He may be borderline sloppy.  Alright, he's pretty sloppy, but it's a lovable sloppy.

6. I want a financially independent person.  *He's all for putting me in charge, and having an allowance.  

7. I want someone who really appreciates my awesomeness.  *Oh, he knows.

And, really the best news in all of this is...it's Chuck. :)  We make a great team!  

Should we be Chulie or Juck?

Time Flies

My children are growing too fast.  I think this is the first time I've really stopped to this about it.  I mean, I've enjoyed every little milestone in the past four years.  I wasn't the Mommy who wanted them to stay tiny babies forever. I didn't cry when they started walking.  I didn't feel sad when they were potty trained.  But, I was watching them play tonight, and I teared up.  They are just big!

Tonight they took all the couch cushions off and scattered them, along with pillows all over the living room floor.  They jumped and hollered and had a blast.  Maggie covered herself up on the couch once, and I heard Eli say, "I'll just step over this rock.  Hey...wait a minute...that's not a rock.  That's a kid."  As they were doing this, I was folding laundry.  I came back in the room, and it was perfect.  All the cushions were back, the area rug was in its place, the ottoman was centered on the rug, and the blankets they were playing with were folded neatly.  Maggie did it all by herself!  Then, she fell asleep. :)

And, Eli has been a talking machine tonight.  I've even asked for a kiss a few times, and he gave me one, but he never stopped chatting. :)  He took a bath, after Maggie fell asleep.  He lined up all his little bath toys, and they played. I got him out of the tub, and he asked me where the water goes when it leaves the bath tub. I helped him put on his jammies, and I brushed his teeth.  Now, he's in bed too.

They are too big. :(  I'm sad about it.  I guess this is the feeling that makes women want to have more babies.  Yikes!

But...now that I think about it, not too sad.  I mean, they get their own water and snacks.  They buckle themselves in the van.  They feed the dog for me everyday. I haven't changed a diaper in a year.  

I'm feeling better now. :)

Beef Festival

The kids and I went to the Beef Festival tonight in Harrodsburg.  I know, you're jealous of the fabulous life we live.  Sorry.  We are just better than you.

Really, it was a fine evening. We walked around in pleasant weather, ate Dipping Dots, and played free games.  The kids raced stick horses, walked through a hay maze, brought home tomato plants, and had their faces painted.  There was a wine and cheese event there that looked nice. But, I wasn't able to participate.  I guess it would've been weird to drink a bunch of different wine in a tent while my kids stood around in the gravel outside.

Now, they're in my bed, and they won't go to sleep.  Come on...fall asleep.  I've got to do better with this bedtime stuff.  I'm really slacking off on routine, and they are staying up later and later.  I'm also letting them sleep with me more often than not.  Not cool!  I'm worn out.  Being squished between two sweaty bed hogs doesn't really make for a good night's sleep.  I do love being able to hug them and kiss them while they're sleeping.  But, I miss spreading out all over the bed.  

I'm so tired! So, goodnight Blog.

Old fingers on an iPhone

I'm writing tonight from my iPhone. I've never dine it this way, so we will see if my old lady fingers can do this. I just really want to blog. :)

It's my birthday. I'm squished in my bed between two bed hogs, two pillow pets, a stuffed mouse, and a piglet. I don't think I'd choose to usher in my day in any other way. :). My kids have been so excited about my birthday this year. Maggie started working on my present days ago. She drew my several pictures and wrote "Happy Maggie Mommy Birthday Eli From" on a card. She made me help her wrap it in a gift bag and promise not to look until it was time. Before bed tonight, she decided it was time. Along with that, I found that she'd added a homemade necklace, a picture of me jumping rope beside a flower, and pictures of Eli and Grandma. The several pictures that she had originally drawn were justt loopy scribbles, but she told me one was a slide, and one was a knotted string. She said the others were just nothing. I said that they were "abstract.". I told her that's when you draw something that's beautiful, but just not a real picture of anything. So she sorted through her stack and told me that many of them were abstract.

Now, I know that my dear Eli loves me to, but he's a boy, and boys just don't get into all this like girls. But, I think he was a little jealous of the attention Maggie got for her work. As I was closing the windows around the house, I heard toys being dumped out of something. Eli came running to me with an old pink purse. He said "happy birthday. Here is your present.". I opened the purse, and inside was his firetruck. He told me I could have it and he could just play with his little one. Precious!

So, basically I'm just saying that I gave the most amazing kids on the planet. Maggie's arm is thrown across my neck as I type, and Eli's feet are kicking my kegs. Eh, who needs sleep?

If you didn't know...Mike Rowe was an opera singer

So, things have changed.  For the better? For the worse?  I don't know.  (Okay, I think I do know.) But, it's made me think about what I want.  I mean, dating again immediately is probably a horrible idea, but I think I should at least know what I want.

1. I want a name.  Sweetie, darlin', sweet pea, hey you....anything.  I like it.  I like how there's a name only one person calls me.

2. I want to be completely open.  I mean, it's hard to do, but totally worth it.

3.  I want someone who's as excited about Jesus as I am.  I think He's great, and I want someone else who does too.

4. I want artsy.  Theatre, music, visual art...whatever.  I like artsy.

5.  I want Mike Rowe-ish.  Artsy, but willing to get dirty and see what's wrong with my car.

6. I want a financially independent person.  He doesn't have to be rich, but he's gotta hold his own.

7. I want someone who really appreciates my awesomeness.  He has to think I'm tops.  Because, I am.

Can I afford to be picky?  Uh, yeah.  Maybe in the rules, I'm not supposed to be at this age, but I am.

And, I just realized this makes me sound crazy.  I guess I can own that. :)  I guess this is my first "Dana-esque" entry. Ha.

Maggie Wisdom

This afternoon, Maggie and Eli were going with me to the salon.  I was telling them all about it, in hopes that they would be super well behaved.  So, I told them that was going to get my hair colored.  Eli paid no attention to me, and just played with Mouse.  Maggie asked me what color my hair would be.  I told her it would still be brown, but darker.  She said, "Whatever color it is, I'll still love you."  Aww.  I guess love has been on her mind lately, because a couple of times last weekend, I was fussing at Eli, and she wanted to know if I still loved him even though he was being bad.  Of course I do! :)

Maggie also told me that a little girl in her class today said she wasn't Maggie's friend. Here's our conversation:
Me: "I'm sorry about that.  Are you friends now?"
Maggie: "No, but we had to go to the 'peace table.'"
Me: "And what happened?"
Maggie:  "Well, I just let her go on her way, and said we don't have to be friends if she doesn't want to." 
Seems like Maggie handled it well.  I wonder how many more "I'm not your friend" situations we'll have to deal with?  A million?  I guess it will die away by 25?

Also, this evening, we were watching  The Regular Show, at Eli's request, and Rigby the...whatever animal he is, was doing jumping jacks. Maggie said, "Umm, he has a wiener, and when he does jumping jacks without clothes on, everyone can see it."  Interesting.  Don't worry, Rigby has no genitalia. 

Now, Maggie is playing Paper Toss on my phone, Eli is eating crackers, and Gabby is eating the cracker crumbs.  It's gonna be a nice quiet night.  

Super Bowl Blog

I'm not really the "sports" type.  I know, you are shocked and amazed!  I've been to my fair share of football games.  I've tried to watch.  I've pretended to be interested.  But, more than the game, I enjoy the social aspect of it.  In high school, the games were an opportunity to run around with Shannon and act a fool.  And, I went to every one of the games, because "acting a fool" was my specialty.  (Still is.)  In my 20's, it was a chance to get out of the house and maybe run into someone from high school.  Oh, and the hot chocolate.  "One dolla'.  No holla."  Yes, please.  Now, I don't go.  I work for the same school system.  I wear a shirt that says I like the Rebels.  I work with a coach's son, a coach's wife, and the AD's wife.  But, I'm telling you, I don't care.  Sorry....but, back to the Super Bowl.  I like three things about it. 
1. Super Bowl parties.
2. Finger foods.
3. Commercials. 
I have been dieting since January 4, so I'm not enjoying #1 or #2.  Yes, I'm sitting on my couch, without food, blogging.  Just watched a good Doritos commercial though. I don't want to ruin the diet, because I've been doing good.  I've lost 10 pounds!  Yeah, I have!  And, I allow myself one day per week to cheat.  I did that Friday, so I'm controlling myself today.  As of right now, I have 143 calories left for the day.  A glass of wine is 127.  Hmmm...

So, Friday was the splurge day.  Chuck decided that we (the whole family!) would go to Longhorn's Steakhouse.  His mom got us a gift certificate for Christmas, and we wanted to spend it.  So, on Friday, I prepped the little ones.  I told them we were going to a restaurant, and they needed to be good.  I told them about the delicious macaroni and cheese, the french fries, and the chicken strips.  They said they'd be good.  We loaded ourselves in the van, picked up Zak at his new apartment, and headed to Lexington.  At Mount Hebron Road, we discovered that the gift certificates had been left behind.  Yeah.  So, we turned around to get them.  I was fine with that.  Maggie had been grumpy, and was asleep in the back.  I figured it would be good to add another 30 minutes to her nap.  So, we went back home, got the certificates, and decided to go to the Longhorn's in Frankfort instead.  We arrived in Frankfort just in time to wait for an hour.  (Just saw another GREAT Doritos commercial.)  The wait wasn't bad.  We drove to Walgreen's and back.  Then, we ate.  It was a little hectic.  I mean, with three-year-olds you only have a small window of "being good" time.  We drove for over an hour, and waited for a table for over an hour, so we were out of time.  They weren't terrible though.  They could've been much worse.   Maggie was a great kid.  She ate her sandwich, touched her vegetables, and laughed a lot.  Eli....well, Eli was a boy.  He chewed on a straw, destroyed the paper advertisement on the table, and dipped his french fries in his Sprite.  But, we made it.  And, the babies and I sat in the van when I was done so the others could finish in peace.  Good night.  We enjoyed ourselves. 


Now, I need to change gears.  I need an opinion.  Oh wise blog followers, all four of you.  I just found out today that Montessori will be charging more next year.  Basically, I'll be paying $50 more each month.  (And, so will their dad..)   That's $900 more for the year.  Should I do it?  I don't know.  I've loved our year at Montessori.  The teacher is awesome.  They've made great friends.  They know the continents!  Maggie wants to read and write all the time!  Eli is more independent.  But.....$50 more each month?  I guess I need to say that I have FREE daycare.  Mom is retired, and she loves to keep them.  She's a great grandma, and I know she'll expose them to awesome stuff too.  But, will they miss out on something very important if we don't go back?  Am I being selfish?  I would love to take that money and use it for other things.  I mean, I could put it in their savings accounts.  I could get my eyebrows waxed again. The kids could take dance or gymnastics.  We could get a new TV.  (I'm trying to balance the "me" and "kids" stuff. ha.)  Give me some advice.

And, one last thing....We watched "The Wizard of Oz" last night.  Great decision!  Maggie sat and watched the whole thing.  Eli hopped around on a hip hop ball and wrestled with Chuck, but I think he enjoyed it too.  The kids wanted to sleep with the light on afterwards.  They were afraid of the witch.  Maggie went to the bathroom, and made me check behind the shower curtain for a witch.  It was fine.  There wasn't one there.  Maggie told me today that she really liked the red shoes.  :)

I need to blog...I need to blog

I keep telling myself I need to write another blog entry.  But, I tell myself that when kids are running around me, or when I'm playing on my phone.  So, today, I've done it.  I'm on the actual computer, and my kids are at Grandma's house.

First, I just had the flu!  For real, it was unpleasant.  It was way better than having a stomach virus, for sure, but it put me out of commission for too long.  It's hard to be a sick Mommy.  You have no energy.  You are cranky.  And, you learn that you are the only person in the world who can wash dishes, or gather up dirty laundry, or wash towels, or throw half empty Coke (sorry....Sam's Choice Cola...we're saving money) cans in the garbage, or that you are the only person in the universe who cares about any of this.  But, I am almost better.  I still have a stuffy head.  And, I'm almost caught up on chores.  Don't get me wrong...Chuck was a wonderful nurse.  He fed me, medicated me, patted on me, waited on me, and he only complained a little.  I really appreciated it. And, thank goodness for Mom.  The kids stayed with her some, and that made it easier on everyone.  But, we're back to normal, and it's nice to feel like myself again.


Here's a picture of sweet little Eli doing magic for me while I was sick.  Ignore the messy bedroom. :)

And, while I'm here.....Here are some commercials I love right now.  I love that guy who's mayhem for Allstate, maybe?  In the newest one, he's snow on the roof.  He's been a Christmas tree on a car, and my favorite was when he was a teenage girl.  Funny!  And, the breakfast sandwich...can't remember.  Jimmy Dean?  I love their little costumes.  I love the sad little thunder who didn't eat.

Enough rambling. :)

Is Eli Still Naked?

I just checked on Eli.  He was playing quietly in his room....naked.  He's going to Grandma's later, and he told me he wanted to wear a different outfit.  Now, he's in here, wearing a robot t-shirt, a blue thermal shirt, a guitar t-shirt, and a dog sweater.  He also has is underwear on backwards, and wants me to help him put on a pair of black sweat pants.  He's a good looking kid!

On the way home from school today, we had our normal chat...Who was the line leader?  What songs did you sing?  What work did you do?...etc.  When I asked, "What did you have for snack?" Eli told me that he "frew" his snack away because it had wrinkles in it.  I asked a few more questions, and I think they had some sort of cracker for snack.  I still have no idea why he thought they were wrinkly?

Maggie and Eli were also invited to a classmate's birthday party.  Boy, are they excited!  You'd think it was their birthday.  We had to hang the invitations on the fridge, we have discussed whether their friend wants a truck or a robot, and we have practiced singing "Happy Birthday." 

I've gotta go.  Maggie and I are going to read "Snow White."  She just sang...."Three little birds was tapping on the door.  They were like, I don't wanna come in."  I'm pretty sure that's an original.  Ha.

Newthanksmas 2011!

This morning, Maggie and I got up around 9:00 and enjoyed breakfast. Then, I gave her a bath in the kitchen sink.  This is a new thing we've started to enjoy.  It's nice, because I don't have to bend over to wash them, it's quick because there's no room for toys, and so far the novelty of it has them pretty content.  Then Eli got up, and everything went crazy! See, my little boy usually sleeps in a pull up, because he's known to have accidents.  Last night, he wanted to wear underwear.  He hadn't had an accident in a while, and he already had on underwear (it was on with one leg hole around his waist and because of that sort of fitting like a thong, but he had put it on himself), so I gave in. I found out this morning, that it wasn't such a good idea.  So, I pulled the sheets off the bed and stripped him down to wash the only sheets he'll sleep on and the only jammies he's wanted to wear since Grandma got them for him on Christmas Eve.  Well, he didn't want to take the pajamas off, but it was a battle I wanted to win.  He laid on the couch, naked and whining, while I dressed Maggie. It was a breeze, because she was willing to wear what I picked out, she let me comb her hair, and she wanted to brush her teeth.  Nice.

I returned to the living room and found that Eli had peed on the couch!  Really?!!  The child was lying on the couch surrounded in pee saying, "I peed on the couch!" and smiling.  Nice way to begin the day.  Well, I fussed, and he cried while I made him help clean up.  I managed to wrangle him into the sink for a bath by convincing him that he could eat his waffle and watch Spongebob at the same time.  After he started eating, he was in a better mood.  I swear, both of my children turn into monsters when they are hungry or tired.  :) I got him out of the sink, and he decided that he didn't want to get dressed.  So, he sprawled out naked on his bedroom floor, while Maggie played in their room beside him, and I took a shower.

I got ready, and saw that Eli had dressed himself.  His jeans were unzipped, his underwear was sticking out, and he was wearing an old red tshirt.  But, man, he looked happy.  My sweetie had dressed himself and was proud.  :) 

We got in the van and went to Jerri's for Newthanksmas.  This is a celebration that we started last year in our family, when we weren't able to get together for Thanksgiving or Christmas until January.  We had a great time.  I mean, when we first arrived I thought I might just lock myself in the van and cry, but after the two leeches who came with me :) decided to play and not make me carry both of them, things were great.  Maggie stuck close for a while, but when Eli knew there were other kids there to play with, he took off.  We played.  We ate.  We opened gifts.  We talked.  It was a fun time. 

We got home, and I made Eli's bed.  My least favorite thing about bunk beds: changing the sheets!  It's insanely hard.  At least his is the bottom one.  I hate working on Maggie's.  It's quite a workout.  But, I made the bed.  The kids played in their room with Mr. and Mrs. Potatohead.  And, then we colored our new piggy banks from Aunt Patti.  That went fine, as long as we could keep the marker lids away from the dog.  Bless her heart.  She loves to eat the kids' toys.  It will be nice when she's over that. 

Now, we are in our jammies.  We are having a snack, and soon everyone will be asleep.  Saturdays with kids are busy!  (But, totally worth it!)

Okay, I typed that last bit before the bedtime screaming began.  Sometimes we go to bed peacefully.  Sometimes we are WORN out, so we sort of flip out before falling asleep.  I read stories, got drinks of water, and sang songs.  But, these babies are super grumpy.  :(

Why I'm Here

I'm here, because I have been inspired by a couple of ladies: Dana Woods and Erin Johnston.  Holla.

Dana, reading your blogs have made me think.  I've thought...I can't believe she's telling everyone that...I could never do that without being anonymous...I want to do that too!

Erin, reading your blog has made me think too.  When I read about Big Momma's daily life, I'm reminded why I've loved you my entire life.  You are too too silly!

So, thanks Dana and Erin.  I hope you like my blog too. :)

I guess now I need to say a little something today.  I'm sitting on the couch, dreading having to get up in the morning.  I like my job, and I don't mind going back, but I HATE getting up early.  Audrey said today that school would be better if it started at 10:00.  I agree.  10 to 5 would work out nicely for me.

I'm also thinking about everything that needs to be done around here...Laundry is in the washing machine.  The kitchen needs to be painted.  All of the Christmas boxes need to be organized and put away in the garage.  I'm sure I have things that need to be ironed.  The bathroom needs to be cleaned. The two stains in the dining room from dog puke need to be taken care of. But, dang it, there's blogs to post, Facebook to read, and those customers aren't going to feed themselves on "Tiny Xmas Chef."

But, now that I think about it, keeping up with this blog will be good for me, maybe even better than having an organized house.  :) 2011 is going to be a great year.  My kids will be 4!  I'm getting married!  I need to document all this awesome stuff in my life.  With that being said, please enjoy this little family video from Christmas. :)

Hello 2011

I'm ready.  2011 will be awesome!  2010 was pretty great, but I know it will get better.  My kids are amazing, and my family is great.  I'm engaged to an awesome man, and he has two awesome kids.

This is all for tonight, but I'm sure I'll have amazing insights in the future. :)