Life of A Frazzled Mom

Fall

2009-09-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

Wow fall has been so busy! I love going back to school- I know that nursing is what I want to do, my pharmacology class is going great. I have an A in the class. It is hard but I love it! My 2nd class starts next week. I have to meet sometime in the next week to discuss getting into the program in the near future. Here lies the problem. I already have a BS in biology and chemistry so I am almost finished with
the nursing degree so they have to decide what to do with me.
I am spendning the weekend on the couch. I spent the past 24 hours in the hospital, I had chest pains and I kept passing out. It comes down to I have low sodium levels. The doctors says I may just have to live with it-Nice! But for now I have to eat a bag of chips when I wake up, it is so wierd. So I am so exhausted right now though so I am off to rest.

Houston

2009-08-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

Houston was our 3 year old cat who last night decided that he would hang himself. We don't know what he did or how, but we walked into our son Zachary's room to put him to bed and Houston must of jumped from the window sill and got caught on a lanyard that was hanging on the wall right by the window. My heart hurts so bad for this cat. He was a great cat. My son is a mess. He feels one of the other two siblings did it, but no one did. It was purely accidental. I now understand how it feels to lose a pet- I have never lost one of my own, and it feels like losing a child. I am lost without his meowing and following me around to feed him. What I will miss the most is him waking me up to feed him at 5 am.

We had a burial service this morning for Houston and buried him underneath the birch tree in our backyard. Poor Houston- you will be missed!

Out of Alignment

2009-08-04T18:29:00.001-07:00

Well I have been going to for PT for about 3 weeks now for my migraines and it has been working so-so. My back and shoulders have been killing me. Now they are telling me I am out of alignment! What the heck! I am falling apart! Do I have any stress in my life? Well no----Let me think? Hmmmmm, No, I don't think so, I only watch about 15 or so kids a day, their parents are late maybe 20 or 30 minutes a day, my own kids are in about every sport imaginable, and I enrolled back in college after 10 years of having graduated. Oh and did I say my husband is now trying to relocate us to Germany for 5 years. No I am not stressed. This is my normal daily life, I am just trying to cope, and maybe this is why I just need a readjustment every few days to come back and be a good mom and wife and smile and say it is okay and go on with all the craziness! I do love it though for when it is calm it is boring!

Being A Student

2009-08-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

Wow- call it a midlife crisis, I don't know but I have signed up to take college classes after having a degree for 10 years. It is not that I am dissatisfied being a daycare provider-it is not that I did not envision this as my profession when I graduated with a BS in premed 10 years ago. 3 children later, I am happy to stay at home with all of them but as Jacob is nearing school, I am itching to do something for myself. I used to work when Brianna was little, I am a published scientist, but I haven't worked in 6 years. So I am going back to school and taking nursing classes. So wish me luck. Most of my classes will be online. I am taking an online Accelerated Nursing Program. I think the only think I have to do is take the clinicals. Right now I am trying to take the 3 or 4 things I have to do before getting into the program. But I am doing this and working with 24 kids a day- now this is stressful!!!!

So Excited For Vacation

2009-07-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

I am so excited for vacation. We are going to Nags Head, NC on Saturday after our swim meet we are meeting my sister and her two children and my husband and I are bringing our 3 children and my daughter's friend. If anyone can give me any advice on activities and trips in that area I really need all the help I can get.. Thank you in advance.

Summer!

2009-06-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

The first two days of summer vacation have been crazy! As you know I run a daycare- I am crazy! Well I try to do a summer field trip program so the kids can have fun. Well most of the kids complain, and I ignore them and I get more annoyingly hyper to get them excited to go to the next place or activity to have fun. Try entertaining 15-19 kids! Exhausting!!!!!!

Thursday we spend 6 hours at the pool! They had a great time. I really didn't think we were there that long. When we got back I couldn't stop throwing up. Trying to excuse myself to barf in the toilet without letting them know, and then coming back out to play bandage tag is exhilarating. I then realized I had heat exhaustion.

Friday we went to this place that has about 6 moon bounces. They aren't your typical bounce around moon bounces. They are about 15 feet tall and then you slide down, and then they all have a theme. The kids favorite is the dragon and the tornado. We then went to the pool for a few hours.

Is summer over yet?

Back to graduation?

Look at my gorgeous Brianna who received the Presidential Award for having an average of 3.5 or above for the past two years!

Graduations

2009-06-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

Graduations- The first is kindergarten and then 5th grade. Those who know me, know that I am very emotional. So two big ceremonies in one day is going to be an overload for me! Better get the tissues ready! Both of my kids are growing up, I am not ready for this even though they are. So think of me today as I cry throughout the day!

First Race

2009-06-06T18:30:00.001-07:00

Zachary swam his first 25 meter freestyle race today. He did great- on top of having a chest cold that came out of nowhere it was only 65 degrees! He had a great smile on his face like he always does and went out there and swam like a trooper. He did great I was so proud of him.

Summer In our Home

2009-05-27T11:31:00.001-07:00

So Summer has official started in our house. Both kids Brianna and Zachary are on the swim team which of course was cancelled yesterday! Yeah! Because of rain. They could not swim in rain that was coming down an inch an hour and it was only 50 degrees, so it was nice not to have to run around and do anything.
So tonight officially starts swim team practice. So from 5:30-8:00 pm I get to sit and watch them swim and it is still raining but at least it is a little bit warmer!

Having Courage

2009-05-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today I taught Sunday School and the lesson was on courage. Something that we seem to forget as we get older is that we need to lean on God not only in bad times, but also in the good times. I teach 3rd grade boys and girls and I thought I would expand the lesson and ask them what they do during their times of struggle-what they do. Their answers are so awesome- they get it! They know that their God is there for them that they should not fear, that He will get them throught their obstacle. I also told them that everyday they should read their Bibles so they don't have to find those daily little obstacles that we run into that God will help them even when we get older and forget that God is there for us to help deliver us to safety. What a great message that God is there to deliver us to safety I have never thought of this in an everyday sense, just an emergency need. I need to realize that I need to stop stressing about those little things that God has those covered too!

Zachary Being A Klutz

2009-05-13T10:24:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been a whirlwind. Whether he is trying to hurt himself, or he is really just become a klutz it really needs to stop. Brianna already being grace is ENOUGH! Friday he came down the slide on his knuckles, and then he shut the basement door completely on his hand. It swelled up twice the size. We also found out that even though it swelled up he seems to have this natural ability to heal and not bruise- which is scary for a parent! On Tuesday, he decided to take his scooter without a helmet and ride down a huge hill and fall the whole way down it and brush burn from his neck down to his hips including his elbows. I could hear him scream a few blocks away. He couldn't breathe, and so we took him to the doctor who seems to think that his lungs had partially collapsed but that he was okay, so we got an x-ray and came home. The whole next day he was so high on adernaline and drove me crazy flipping off the monkey bars, and running around. He finally collapsed. The whole time gasping for breath! Please God watch out for him- my wallet and my sanity cannot take it this summer!

Not Me Monday!

2009-05-04T11:56:00.001-07:00

I am so glad to finally be able to write about all my silly mistakes so people think that I am not so accident prone!

I did not fall into the dog crate while I was trying not to answer the telephone- which happen not to be a telemarketer! It is still purple and green! Beautiful for this rainy weather, and yes I am still hobbling!

I did not let my 11 year daughter stay home for 2 days in celebration of getting aunt flo! Yes she is only 11! This did not make me very depressed! She is not growing up! Her fellow classmates do not think she has the swine flu!

The rain is not coming down for the past 4 days, and is predicted all week- I am pretending that I am in Hawaii right now!

2009-05-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

My filaw has Non Hodgkins lymphoma so according to the doctors this is the best kind of cancer to have. This is kind of ironic to me- but I guess if you are going to have cancer to be given the diagnosis of having the best kind of cancer is better than the worst. He seems to be doing very well, he is recovering and is very antsy.

The weather has been very rainy here- horrible for my allergies! I have horrible spring allergies and they make me miserable! Rain, rain go away! I love 80 degree sunny weather please!

2009-04-30T10:54:00.000-07:00

My father in law came home from the hospital and we are awaiting the results of his test. They have taken a good deal of his ribs and the spot was malignant. This was a huge shock to the whole family because he is usually so healthy. So we need lots of prayers for healing. The do not know what kind of cancer it is, so they sent it to pathology. Right now he is healing and trying to rest. For him that is hard, trying to rest.... This is a whole new word for him.

On to my daughter I need to guidance and words on how to teach her the facts of life, I was not taught this. I want to teach her not tell her because I said so. I was never told anything so I don't want to give her this advice. I want to be able to say this is what God's Word says we are to do and this is what we are to follow as a woman- any advice?

My Baby Is Growing Up!

2009-04-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

My little girl is growing up! Well is she is not that little she is 11 almost 12 years old- and I had to pick her up at school today and this is the day that I have been dreading for the past year! Most moms' of girls know what day I am talking about- the dreaded first period! I am dreading my little girl growing up! Where did it go?
When I called my husband to tell him that I think she had the flu- his response was, maybe she has the swine flu you need to keep her away from everyone else, the sad thing is two of our daycare kids have been to Mexico!
Welcome to being a woman Brianna!

In the midst of grief

2009-04-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

In the midst of all this grief I have been feeling about my father in laws upcoming surgery I looked outside and what did I see, the most beautiful rainbow! God does show us that He is in charge! That He does promise, and that He does heal, comfort, and strengthen us. With that my heavy eyelids will have a restful sleep tonight knowing that my Lord will Protect my family!

Prayers for My father in law

2009-04-21T05:01:00.000-07:00

We just found out that my father in law has a to go in for a biopsy on friday to remove a spot on his rib. I am not sure how serious this is. To me this sounds serious and painful. We need prayers for the doctors for good judgment calls and peace for my father in law who never complains. Thanks!

Prayers for Stellan

2009-04-21T04:56:00.000-07:00

I hope you are wearing your orange! Right now baby Stellan is in surgery right now and is in need for us to support of us wearing orange and for our prayers!

New Moon

2009-04-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

I normally do not like to advertise but I do like to promote for my children. I received an ad for a magazine called New Moon. It is for girls 8-14 years old. And it is to promote self awareness. What parent would not want a child to do this! You can find it at newmoon.org.

Madeline Sphor

2009-04-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

This little precious girl has gone to be with the Lord. I don't know what else to say, words cannot even express the grief that has overcome me the past few days that I have and I have never even met her. Being a mom I can't even imagine losing one of my 3 children at any moment, and I almost lost all 3 because of horrible pregnancies. Her parents grief right now is beyond words, I hope people out there reading these blogs are lifting them up in prayers right now keeping them together to get throught these days. Can anyone help me how to put a link for March of Dimes for Maddie on my website. Thanks

Jacob As A Model

2009-03-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

Jacob being the 3rd child has only had 1 or 2 pictures taken by himself in his whole 3 years of life. Poor child. I know I am a bad mom, but as you can she as evidence on here and on my facebook account, I do take alot of pictures of him I just don't do professional pictures of him by himself. I know I am not the only mother out there who has done this. I always said I would never do this either, but look I did. But enough of my blabbering, we went to picture people and they took 17 portraits and they were beautiful, they ended up making him a model for them! That is quite funny I thought. The poor boy runs around half the time naked, and they want his pictures. I will post some of the pictures later it is on the other computer.

Brianna got into the Math and Science Program that she applied to at the middle school for next year! Yeah we are so proud of her!

2009-03-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

My baby is turning 3 on Tuesday! He has finally turned terrible! He is all BOY! All boy! He loves guns, Star wars, planes, cowboys, trains, jumping off of things, driving me crazy, and of course hitting others! The joy of every mother! Happy birthday to my baby!

Migraine Medicine is Not Working

2009-02-22T16:19:00.000-08:00

My medicine is not working- I actually am having more migraines than I did before! I am very cranky, which is hard to imagine! I know! But I feel this sucks to have to learn to live day by day like this. Help to anyone who has dealt with migraines, I am willing to try anything.

Learning To Cope

2009-02-20T18:23:00.000-08:00

Well I have been learning to cope- pretty vague isn't it! I have had migraines for years, some days good ones other days I can't get out of bed. On my dad's side of the family all the women have this wonderful trait that we all seem to have inherited! Awesome, thanks for those genes!! Well when I had my partial hysterectomy last year they told me they couldn't promise me that the migraines would go away- they could only hope! But for one glorious almost year I have been migraine free!!!'

Exactly 2 weeks ago I have been plagued with horrific migraines-the kind that took me to the emergency room, I refused to go but after waking my husband up in the middle of the night screaming in pain I drove myself to the ER and they gracious waited on me. Graciously they did because I didn't have the flu like the 200 other people there. They were so excited to see me they bumped me ahead of everyone and I walked right in. It could of been the screaming pain I was in and me holding my head, but it did the trick. I am now on 5 pills a day to help cope with preventing the migraines. So far I have been 15 hours without any pain!!!! Yeah! I have to see a neurologist in a month to just make sure this is what is wrong, but I don't care right now just make me pain free. The relief of no migraine is wonderful. For those of you who have never had the opportunity to have one please count your blessings, because there was days I wanted to slam my head into a wall just to stop the slamming pain that was coming down on it.
I have a wonderful husband who took the day off and took over in my daycare for me, so I could rest. He only told the parents I had to go to the hospital and they did not know what was wrong or when I would be back. Nice- nothing like scaring them to death!

Beautiful Spring Weather in February

2009-02-11T16:26:00.000-08:00

The weather has been beautiful! 70 degree weather for the past week and all snow(the only snow fall we had this year) is gone! I hate winter- I know this is hard to accept since I grew up in PA and it is fridgid all winter! But I do not miss it, I like one snowfall a year so the kids can play in it and it can then go away.
Jacob will be 3 in one month-boy do I miss having a baby now. No I cannot have anymore, after 3 horrendous pregnancies-I cannot have anymore due to a partial hysterectomy. I have been trying to lose the last 5 pounds of surgery/3 kids. It is hard, according to Wii I am great-according to my mirror my tummy is scary. I could also use a boob job after nursing 3 children! That is on my wish list.
I do not know why I am rambling on, it must be the break from Dora The Explorer that my 2 year old is watching. Thank you Dora.

Lost Without Camera

2009-01-30T20:18:00.000-08:00

I haven't had the urge to post much lately, I am reading others blogs though. My camera broke a few weeks ago, and I can't bring myself to purchase another pricey one. I really do miss having my camera, I must learn to take pictures with my cell phone and learn how to upload them.
On that note, I am so excited for the Superbowl Game! Go Steelers!

Slightly Off-Balanced

2009-01-20T14:24:00.000-08:00

Well I finally got Wii fit. I was so excited-there are a few things I think that it needs to improve, like be a little longer on the training. But overall I am sore! Granted I do run about 3 miles once a week, but according to Wii fit trainer, I am slightly using more balance on my left side. Would this be due to less weight from having my gallbladder and uterus removed? Wishful thinking! The good thing is that I have a great BMI-but why do I still have a baby belly? I am looking to strengthen my ab muscles, and wonder if anyone has used Wii or the Biggest Loser training on Wii?

Back To School

2009-01-04T16:18:00.000-08:00

Well Welcome 2009! I am so excited for the kids to go back to school tomorrow-you know this when they do not agree on anything and you have to leave the room so you do not hurt them! They are old enough know that I let them argue it out and hopefully resolve it themselves. It does get pretty heated in here who is going to play Littlest Pet Shoppes on the Wii-yes Zach does have some gender issues! Just kidding! He does still fight over Brianna's things. I find it quite amusing.

Today in church the pastor was talking about would we be in a different place spiritually if we did not heed God's calling? This is something I struggle with- I feel overwhelmed with doing daycare, I feel overqualified with my degrees, and not appreciated! Sometimes I do feel tested, knowing that I was able to stay home and make a good income raising my children. I do not have to do this the rest of my life I am qualified and did work before all my children! But sometimes I feel pressured that I should be doing something else. When I did work away from home when Brianna was little I felt pressure that I should be home with her. I should be proud that I have a very successful business, that I love these children sometime more than my own children! Just kidding. I think that I feel these pressures when I need to reflect more on my spiritual part of my life. I need to be thankful of what I have today and not dwell on what I can or what others are doing. I need to focus more on that God has always been there and has given Steve and I many riches and blessings.

2009

2009-01-02T04:20:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Well 2009 rang in with a cold! We all have it and it is really kicking my butt.
My friend Jodi is probably going to be induced today! She is going to be delivering early so if anyone would like to keep her and her family in their prayers today please do so. Little Aidan hang in there a little longer!
We had a party on New Year's Eve with all of our neighbors. We had 15 adults and around 20 kids! It was great fun-the kids all bang pots and spoons and blew horns at midnight(reminiscing about my prior redneck new year's growing up!)

Happy 11th Birthday Brianna

2008-12-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my only girl! I always wanted a little girl, one to dress they are so cute. God has given me a beautiful, artistic, fun, loving, and generous daughter. At 9 months walking and talking she has always just wanted to excel and please others. Now at 11 she is beautiful and very strong. She knows that she is a child of God and tries to please others. What parent would not be proud of that. She does have her eye rolling moments! As you grow older I am excited for all the opportunities and adventures that come your way. Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

Spa Birthday Party

2008-12-20T13:49:00.000-08:00

Well tonight Brianna has decided to have a spa slumber party. We are going to do face masks, nails, hair, makeup, and toes! How fun! It also adds to the fun that I am tired from shopping all day for these supplies and now I have to fill bags with lipstick, polish, body spray and loads of candy! It should be great fun. I will post pictures tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday!

2008-12-17T17:23:00.001-08:00

Not Me Monday!

2008-12-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

I am not totally peed off by my daycare parents who think I should be open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
I am not excited for my daughter's 11th birthday next week, and I do no think that I am getting old.
35 is not old!
It is not 62 degrees today, and Santa is not going to bring snow.
I do not just want to curl up in a ball and fall asleep for a few hours while everyone else is taking a long nap.
I did not finish shopping and decided I needed to buy presents for myself that I would like.

We did volunteer as we do each month at SERVE which is a local homeless shelter. It broke my heart to see all the children and families with no where to go and no money to buy Christmas presents. I am glad that my children are able to take part in serving dinner monthly so they can see how hard other people have it. My daughter is so good with the little kids there , she takes them off the parents hands for the 2 hours that we are there and runs around with them and makes them laugh and have a good time. Thank you God for our faith,homes, families, and jobs(even though we complain) that we have shelter andsupplies that we need to survive.

2008-12-14T17:01:00.000-08:00

I haven't written in awhile, I am trying to train a two year old to think before he reacts. I keep forgetting this is probably the hardest age-they appear older but cannot handle their emotions yet. I am trying to undue bad habits probably brought on by me.
Christmas is close- I love holidays. Brianna's 11th birthday is next week. I feel so old. We are having a spa slumber party, it should be fun!
Well I am off to wrap more gifts. Why can't gifts come prewrapped!

Today Will Be a Better Day

2008-12-06T06:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the day from hell! My wonderful sweet 2 year turned into a monster! We take the daycare to this place called Jumpworks on Fridays. It normally is his favorite place. All I did was give him a drink of water and another child. Then he threw his water at me and started screaming. This continued for 20 minutes and then he started beating me. Nothing I did would calm him down, finally I told my assistant to take him and I needed a breath of fresh air outside. We get all of them in the van and I turn around and he says, "Mom, I love you can I have a drink."
I just started crying, I have never felt like such a bad mother yesterday to make my child completely breakdown over nothing and not be able to control himself. Today I slept in and let my husband deal with the 3 kids, dog, and cat. I have another sinus infection!

Additional Family Member

2008-12-05T03:24:00.003-08:00

We decided to add an additional family member to our household last night. He is a good dog, I thought Steve would never cave in but he grew up with German ShortHaired Pointers and was excited. His name is Admiral, and he had a great first night! Now I couldn't get the other 3 to go to bed last night, they were having so much fun chasing him around.

Trusting In the Lord

2008-12-04T03:23:00.000-08:00

Okay I stayed up part of the night stressing about what to do with these children hitting. I've researched every article possible, and now I feel like an inadequate provider. I feel I have been responding incorrectly to this problem and now it is worse. Well this morning I felt I needed to turn this over to the Lord. I looked up this bible verse and it is exactly what I need to have more patience and to lead the children.
— John 14:1 —
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me."

Today is going to be a great day. I feel I am more prepared and God is going to give me the patience to help guide these children to a more positive response.

Hitting!

2008-12-03T17:12:00.001-08:00

I was wondering if anyone has any advice about children hitting each other. I have various children including my own little one who is hitting. I am so tired by 12 pm, one day it is good the next it is horrible. Help!

Not Me Monday

2008-12-01T17:41:00.001-08:00

I did not almost forget to write this.
I did not go shopping at midnight-I did not stand in 1 hour long lines just to get 50% off.
I did not laugh at parents who could not control their children.
I did not accidentally slip to the cashier that children should be awake all night and it was a great idea!
I did not only have 1 hour of sleep on Friday.
I did not drink a mimosa at 7:30 am on Thanksgiving Day just to not celebrate the holiday. I did not accidentally make green bean casserole wrong(how could anyone make green bean casserole wrong?)

2008-12-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

I am trying to recuperate from trying to shop at midnight- did I not stay up all night in college and go to class the next day? I am officially old, I was ready to pass out at 4 am. Trying to get into the parking lot and find a space was an hour and a half ordeal! That sucked! I know I shouldn't of asked God for help but after all that time I asked him to find me a parking spot in the next 5 minutes or I was going to drive the 45 minutes home. Right away I found a spot. Thank you God! Now I stood in line for over 1 hour in Old Navy. The line was out the door and you shopped as the line moved around. Quite fun. But I did find $9 jeans, everything was 50% off. So it was well worth the wait. What I did find funny at 4 am was that parents had the little children out shopping that early or late. My children cannot handle more than 1 hour of shopping why the heck would I put them in that situation? I thought it was funny as the parents yelled at their screaming child. It probably was more sane to spend $20 more on a pair of jeans that go through that-No way would I do that. Off to my bed at 5 am to have 1 hour of sleep before Jacob woke up! I am too old for this!

Midnight Shopping

2008-11-27T19:08:00.000-08:00

Am I crazy? I am going in a little over an hour midnight shopping on Thanksgiving night. I am not sure if I can stay up all night, I think I might be too old for this!

Slumber Party with Kindergarteners

2008-11-25T10:09:00.001-08:00

So this was the scene at 8:30 pm with 5 kindergarteners. Not bad that they fell asleep at 9 pm! Girls are so different I would have had to entertain them all night and they still would not have been tired. We made about 100 pokemon trainer cards and hid them and the boy had to be trainers and find the cards. They were so loud and excited that this entertained them for about an 1 hour. Needless to say, I went to bed at 9 pm too. All the screaming and running around made me tired. They all made it through the night and even woke up at 6:30 am. Now you know why I went to bed at 9pm!

Happy Birthday Zachary!

2008-11-21T18:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to my 6 year old Zachary! He is the most gentle, caring, smiling child that God could have thought of giving me. At 23 weeks I went into labor with him that ended up on bedrest on the high risk floor of INOVA Fairfax. Which by the way is the best hospital! He was born 5 weeks early with lung problems-but he is the healthiest, happiest boy I have ever seen. He loves God-everyone, and is just so innocent that you just want to squeeze him. He had a rough day, at school he ran into the pole on the playground, and then at the daycare one of the girls was doing a cartwheel and hit him in the nose to give him his first nosebleed. But that did not keep him from smiling! Happy Birthday Big Boy!
I got to experience chaos with 28 kindergartens today. They were having a thanksgiving feast and the kids were dressed as pilgrims and indians. They were so hyper and had so much fun. They even got to dress up and parade around the school.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-19T10:54:00.001-08:00

Not Me! Monday

2008-11-17T10:05:00.000-08:00

I have something funny not to tell this Monday. We went to a marriage retreat this past weekend which was wonderful. The speaker told us a story how she added fun into her marriage by putting on only a raincoat and ringing the door for her husband to find her there. I will leave the rest to your imagination. Well I thought this would be a grand idea. That evening when we got home and all children were in bed I decided to try this. Well I could not get my husband away from the door. So I sent him into the kitchen to do dishes and I hurried up and got dedressed(is this even a word!) Slipped outside and rang the doorbell. Well it is 10 pm at this point so I thought I would turn the outside light on. Steve thought I would answer the door when it rang, and so I kept ringing. He looked out and all he saw was the raincoat. He did not answer the door because no salesman should be at the door at 10 pm. So I start banging on the door. My neighbors all started looking out and coming on their porches, I think I forgot the part where I was calling out to him to open up. I was so embarrassed by this point, and Steve couldn't stop laughing at the sight of me. My neighbors probably thought I was crazy! So much for the romance!

I did not try to romance my husband by wearing a raincoat.
My son is not at 2 not taking naps anymore-for my sanity.
I did not tell a white lie to the AC/heating people that I was home when they rang the doorbell this morning. After the told me they wouldn't come back if I was not home. Thank goodness they came back.
I cannot think of anything to top the first thing that I did not do, and will probably never do again!

To Be A Kid Again

2008-11-16T16:02:00.000-08:00

God has blessed me with 2 beautiful boys who are very energetic. They have been fighting a lot lately! So it was nice to see them playing in the dining room-who ever invented a dining room with carpet? Does it look like we ever eat in there?
This is what I looked over to seeing my two boys finally playing together. No fighting, no yelling, no crying- Just playing. How exciting is this! How innocent and imaginative to build a clubhouse out of my clean comforter!

Magic Kingdom

2008-11-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

I have never been to Disney before this and I did not know what to expect. On the monorail ride to the park Zachary started crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said that he never thought he would be here and it was so beautiful. How is that for a 5 year old? Then I started crying which in turn caused my husband to laugh. It is overwhelming to see the beauty of the magical kingdom, I guess I am just a kid at heart.
My 3 kids had so much fun- not to say we are haunted by the It's a Small World music for the rest of our lives! Jacob turned out to be a thrill seeker.. He was kind of upset that he couldn't ride some roller coasters. Because there were no lines we got to ride all the rides and then some. This was Jacob at the end of the night, he just wanted to ride the train, and fell asleep doing so.

1st Night at Disney

2008-11-14T11:31:00.000-08:00

Well the plane ride was awesome! My older two kids had already flown before and loved it, so we were not concerned about them. We were just not sure how Jacob would take it. As you can see he was really excited! As soon as the plane took off he fell asleep for the 2 and 1/2 hour flight.

We decided since we got in midday to just go eat dinner at Rainforest Cafe and go to Downtown Disney. I have never been to Disney before so I thought it would just be a bunch of shops and restaurants. Well was I wrong it was an amusement park in itself. We could have spent another day there. We decided to celebrate Zachary's 6th birthday which is next week and get him a volcano cake. As you can see he looked like he was going to crap himself.

We spent a good 4 hours walking around, watching shows, and eating, then brought the kids back to bed around 11 pm to start the day at Magic Kindgom. We are going to a marriage retreat in a few hours. I am still tired but it is getting easier everyday.

BASIN

2008-11-13T17:14:00.000-08:00

BASIN I just finished a bath from my favorite Downtown Disney store. Last year Steve brought me home softball sized bath balls. They made my bathtub turn funny colors, but they smell great, destressed me, and let me have a lot of alone time. I made sure that I went there the first night and made my purchases. I was so excited to see that you can order online.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-11-12T14:34:00.000-08:00

I am so exhausted from Disney, we had a great time and I have over 500 pictures to somehow download. I have no energy though. The weather was 80 degrees and the kids were so well behaved, and they enjoyed the whole trip from the airplane to the rides. I will post later.

Not Me! Monday

2008-11-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

This is late! Not because I forgot it was Monday because I had 17 children in my house due to an inservice day.
I did not leave all 17 kids for 1 hour instead of the 15 minute conference that I did have with Zachary's teacher. I did not go and have a coke by myself in the car just to get some peace and quiet.
I did not put 8 McCain signs in my yard to make my assistant who is not a McCain supporter upset!
I did not let my children eat tons of candy and then hide it for myself!
I did not tell my kids that Halloween was only an hour to avoid running around the neighborhood for 3 hours. Jacob wanted to just go to the grocery store and buy the candy. He does not sound just like me!
I did not make a pumpkin pie and eat the whole thing plus the Cool Whip myself. I do not like pumpkin pie!
I do not still have this dreaded cold!
I do not long for the weekend, and we are not going to Disney on Friday!

Halloween Bingo

2008-10-30T17:18:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from Halloween Bingo last Friday, it takes me forever to get to use the computer with 3 children who love to play Webkinz!
My 2 cute spidermen in my life. Very active, handsome boys who from 20 weeks on decided they would surprise me and try to be born early. Thank you God for the strength and patience to hold onto these boys for months they were definitely worth it.
Now comes the Countess who is almost 11 but is ever the reason I have a few gray hairs. She is so like me-the poor man who falls in love with her not until she is 32!

Not Me! Monday

2008-10-27T10:51:00.000-07:00

Today is definitely not Monday, it is not raining and cold outside.
I did not let my daycare go outside and run around just to tire them out. I did not let my 2 year old pick out a few candy at the grocery store so he would sit nicely in the cart. Just a side note a tired mom with 3 kids told her daughter that she wished she sat as good as Jacob, little did she know he had a hidden stash of candy!
I did not let Zach my 5 year old cry to his principle that he did not win at Halloween Bingo so I did not have to hear him whine anymore. His principle felt sorry for him and gave him a prize!
I did not help my daughter rewrite for the 10th time her paper just to get it out the door.
I did not let my husband give me tylenol pm at 9 am yesterday morning and preceeded to sleep till 12 pm! Oh it was nice.
I do not let Jacob run around like this at all times and hours! He is cute though.

As I was writing this Jacob did not write with green marker on my carpet!

2008-10-25T05:47:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

As promised weeks ago here is some of my pictures of my cute daycare and myself of course. I tried not to send too many photos. I have a few hundred!

Having a Go Back to Bed day

2008-10-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days where no matter what you do it doesn't go right? That is my day. I seem to take on everyone else's problems and then they blow up in my face. My daughter who is in 5th grade has been having issues with "her job" as a bus patrol. The issue isn't the kids on the bus it is the bus driver and the other patrols. The other patrols think she is bossy, so she says quiet and then she isn't doing her job they say. It just goes around and around. I just start tearing up everyday she comes off that bus in tears because the bus driver screams at her letting her know how horrible she did that day at the job. I know I have always been an emotional mess, but seriously who doesn't tear up when their child who heart is broken over and over again by this job! This morning she decided she wanted to quit. I am a firm believer that you do not quit what you are doing. I feel you should stick it out and not run away. After meeting with the Vice Principal and counselors they decided that she was going to be a school patrol and help the little ones get onto the bus. She was so happy today when she came off the bus. It was so good and nonemotional, she was smiling and laughing. So why am I so drained? I need to learn to let my kids grow up, know that I have taught them with an understanding of God and that I need to let God provide the safety for them? Sounds easy? My prayers each night are that God watches over my children, the people they come in contact with, and the situations that they encounter, that my children remember to ask God for help when I am not around. Boy do I feel better getting this out. I am going to go take a long hot bath now and go to bed.

Not Me! Monday

2008-10-20T10:03:00.000-07:00

Today is Not Me! Monday, and I do not know how McMama has time in her last week of pregnancy to remember us-thank you!

I did not eat half a box of strawberry rolls as I think about the exercise class that I do not want to go to tonight.

I did not spend half of my free time today fighting with my insurance company over paying a $28.00 bill.
No one wants to pay it!

I did not play on a teeter totter with my assistant when we took the daycare to the pumpkin patch!

I am taking care of them, they do not look unhappy playing in the sand.
I did not almost fly in the air from being not too big to play on it!

This is not going to become a habit that I am riding childrens' toys.

I did not let Jacob run around in his underwear with his hat and mittens on, because he would not put on his coat!

Field Day

2008-10-13T14:39:00.000-07:00

Please pray for McMama http://www.mycharmingkids.net/2008/10/not-me-monday.html who had been admitted to the hospital for tests. Pray that God helps keeps Stellan in there for a few more weeks, that she has peace with what the doctors decide.
So this Not me Monday is for McMama- She is not in the hospital right now with health concerns.

We went to field day for both Zach and Bri-
it was great fun. She ended up not giving the boy a note due to everyone making fun of her. It seems she had told a friend who really is not a friend. It is quite obvious as a parent who is growing up as a Christian and who is not. But it is not my plan to step in and intervene. God is going to show her many people who may or may not hurt her. It is my job as a parent to teach her the morals and self esteem that I want her to grow up with. Boy this is harder the older the children get.

First we had lunch with Zachary, Jacob seems to fit in very well, he doesn't realize that he is not 3 yet.

Jacob received his own desk in 5th grade. The kids gave him homework and they gave him markers to do his homework. He sat for 1/2 hour with the kids, they thought he was funny. I was so proud of how well behaved he was.

I enjoyed being off today so much! Being a daycare provider for millions of kids(only 24 of them!) I feel so overwhelmed sometimes. It was such a beautiful stressfree day.

Not Me! Monday

2008-10-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

It is almost midnight and I had to do this, especially since I now think I have brain damage!

I did not just bend over and slam my head off my bedside table in order to pick up the remote. My husband laughed and said I had a purple golf sized welt on my forehead.

I did not come downstairs to prove to him that he cannot make fun of my frankenstein head!

This is not me riding on a quarter machine horse. Lovely photo not taken by my husband.

I did not let my 2 year old run around outside in his underwear all day today. It was a beautiful day.

I did not sit up for the last half hour to download a picture of me riding a childs horse only for it not to upload to this page!

I did not help my almost 11 year old write a love letter check box this week.
Boy do I need help!

Add On

2008-10-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

I know what I wanted to post! Bri came home from school on Friday saying she likes a boy! It is quite harmless, but she wants to send him a note asking if he would be her boyfriend. Well all the daycare girls helped her with the note and then I got to look at it. It says _____ will you be my boyfriend. And there were 3 boxes Yes, Maybe, and No. I made her take the No box off, telling her not to give him that option. So we will see what happens on Monday. I think that this is funny. I remember my first boyfriend in 5th grade and this is how I wrote the note. Needless to say I went to a Catholic school and the relationship lasted 2 weeks.

Beautiful Weather

2008-10-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

We have been very blessed with beautiful weather the past few weeks. Zach had a ball game and it was perfect for watching the kids run around not knowing what they are doing. With a 2 year old I feel we don't really watch the game. Jacob is hungry and now that he is potty trained! Yeah! He always seems to have to go potty. He looks really cute in underwear, his pants do not want to stay up. At least we do not live in Florida, I believe I read somewhere it is illegal to have your jeans sag!
I got to take a 2 hour nap today! It was glorious, but I feel I wasted a beautiful day. We have another ball game tomorrow and I have a billion pumpkin patch pictures to post which I promise I will do later.

Our next journey

2008-10-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

Friends of ours are moving on with their lives which is very exciting. We also are trying to decide whether we are to move on. We have lived in VA for 8 years now and my ex military brat husband is getting antsy. He works for an ARMY contractor who has the option to move with the defense part of the military to San Antonio. I am excited, but am leaving it in God's hands. He was put on the list, and is now awaiting an offer. We will take the offer if it is an increase. We will move only if the buy our house back, without us losing anything on it in this wonderful market. If anyone knows anything about northern VA the houses are way too expensive. So we are leaving this in God's hands, he knows where we are to go next and what we are to do.
The only good thing is if we do move I can be a stay at home mom without the daycare that I do love, but stresses me out. This sounds so good!

Volunteering

2008-10-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

I got to volunteer in my daughter's 5th grade class today. I can honestly say I am excited to work with preschoolers most of the day. I think that the older that they get, a majority of the children are very high strung and talk way too much. Believe me I love to talk, and when I complain someone is talking too much-it is too much!
I was putting papers in a folder for the teacher, and she was in the hallway(this is probably why they were talking) but a small table was arguing about everything. This went on for the whole hour I was there. I was so excited to come home to my little ones who when I tell them to stop they do. Needless to say though, my daughter was very good! Yeah! She is babysitting for a few hours this evening by herself. She is so excited to have money for Disney. We have 1 month to go, I have never been there. If anyone has any suggestions or comments I would love to have them.

Retreat Weekend

2008-09-30T15:43:00.000-07:00

You think that I was gone for a month, I am so tired. I had a great weekend, acutally a little more than 24 hours. It was good to get a breather from my family, it makes you miss them more. I went to a video retreat that my church was hosting. Beth Moore taught us how to Love Well. There were four people we discussed on this retreat- 1. Joy 2. Foe 3. Testy 4. Far

The whole purpose of this retreat was to identify these four people in our lives and how to love them better. My children are definitely the joy in my life. They do have their testy moments but overall they are so excited to do anything and everything.

It was great to spend time with the ladies of my church and to go shopping, act giddy, and eat lots of great food! Coming home I am so exhausted and trying to catch up it tiring too.

Cute Boots

2008-09-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

One of the daycare kids wore these boots today and Jacob was fascinated with them. He looks so cute in them. Oh, and we are now fully potty trained! I cannot find pants to fit his small waist and little bootie, so they keep falling off, quite funny. He does have the cute round toddler bottom.

That is my preschoolers in the background, they are having snack before their parents pick them up and the schoolagers get home. It is so quiet before the older ones arrive, once they do it is so loud! I love having kids around though, as you can see when we bought this new home we picked one that had a huge basement that we converted into a home daycare.

Yes he does have his pajama top on, both of my boys went through/are going through this phase where they would were pjs all day if they could.

Tomorrow morning I am off for over 24 hours of Beth Moore video retreat with the women's group from my church. Not only do I need a mental break, but I need a spiritual refresher. I love doing childcare, but it does wear me out. Please keep all of us ladies in your prayers as we go to this retreat that we have open minds and learn what Beth Moore has in store for us.

Fall TV Junkie

2008-09-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

I am a fall tv premiere junkie! I grew up in a family who watched tv 24/7. How could anyone not want to watch the premiere of Grey's Anatomy? It is a commercial that is why I am on the computer so I do not fall asleep. McDreamy vs. McSteamy? What is your vote? My is probably McDreamy-before I was married it would have been McSteamy, but I need the stability now that I am getting older! Just kidding to my McDreamy who went upstairs claiming he could not watch this show!

It has been pouring down rain since this afternoon, making me very sleepy. I love not having to shave my legs though-this is a godsend so I can sleep in a few more minutes! Those kids do not need to have to touch my legs!

Well back to drooling-don't they realize it is late to have a 2 hr special, boy am I getting old that I cannot stay up until 11 pm.

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

Zach is starting to like to take pictures WARNING: These pictures were taken by a 5 year old and are really wierd!

Jacob enjoying the last few days of summer!

Broken Finger

2008-09-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

Bri broke her pinkie finger today during pe- you know this is really a deja vu for me. Last year she broke her elbow and the school nurse said that she was fine, maybe just a little drama. When I came to get her because they couldn't calm her down her elbow ended up being in a cast for 7 weeks! Well today I asked the nurse if this was a case for me to take her to the doctor's-no she said. Then she said Wait she broke her arm last year-of course I had to remind her that she was the one who told me not to worry or hurry that she was fine. So she changed her answer to well do what you think is right. I told her to put ice on it and we would see how it was at the end of the day. Well she came off the bus and her whole hand is swollen-how okay is that? I think a call to the nurse tomorrow is the right thing to do? Me with only a biology degree can tell that is not normal. So we went to the doctor and we are off to xrays to either tape it or splint it. She cannot bend it though. Poor girl.

Not Me Monday

2008-09-22T17:53:00.000-07:00

Okay so I am new to this so bear with me.
I did not let my kids eat popcorn for dinner, because I was carpooling the older kids to swim team.

I di d not came home late from swim team so my husband would have to clean up the kitchen-which in fact none of the kids ate any dinner that I made.

I did not let her assistant call off today because last night was her 21st birthday, even though I had 15 kids here today. Boy right now I wish this was true as the phone rang this morning.

I did not let all the kids run around and scream because I was too tired to care to try and stop them.

I did not the other day fight with her 10 year old to start doing things for herself, but ended up making her lunch, snack, and put out tomorrow's clothes.

I am not playing on the computer instead of climbing into bed.

Thanks McMama sometimes I think we just need to get it all out before we explode!

Zach and his women saga

2008-09-18T03:43:00.000-07:00

Well my son definitely enjoys school, he has a great teacher, is very well behaved, has a good time, and NOW HAS 2 GIRLFRIENDS! Two neighborhood kindergarten girls are fighting over him. How funny. When I asked him he gets all red and says, "Mom, I am not marrying them they are just my girlfriends!" My son the player in kindergarten! He is a great cuddler though, I should have known when his Sunday school teacher told me that he would make a great husband when he was 2!

Cutest Little Bum

2008-09-17T11:00:00.001-07:00

My baby has been in underwear now for 4 days and hasn't had an accident, all night even! Now as I say this he will have a huge one. Look at his bum, he is so cute. Yes I said bum, my mum is from Scotland! This makes me sad though, see I cannot have anymore children. Why would I want anymore, after seeing about 25 a day? I love that innocent part of their lives, and you cannot get it back. So you might be seeing bum pictures for awhile. Go Jacob!

Zach's first tball game

2008-09-14T18:33:00.002-07:00

Zach had his first tball game yesterday, he did a great job, it was about 90 degrees and very humid. He hit the ball and made it to first base all 3 times. I know I was exhausted by the end of 2 hours. I had some tummy problems, having a drink or two at Bunco at my house the night before probably did not help! Here he is catching his first ball at first base.

Zach has a girlfriend

2008-09-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

Zachary has a girlfriend! I am not ready for this, I think that she likes him more because she keeps grabbing his hand and putting her arm around him. Don't take my baby!

Books In Every Room

2008-09-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

Books In Every Room This is a great website for those obsessed like I am about books. My children also have this obsession. I have recently become obsessed with finding that perfect book for the preschooler, one with great pictures but also will hold their attention. This website has a section called Now I Know My ABCs that is great to look at. Last year I started having them tell me the story-I never knew that they would be able to be so excited about telling the story. This is something that I continue to do and I realize that they begin to read earlier and it lets them be comfortable talking.
I am obsessed with reading, I love to read fiction books, mainly mysteries. I don't know why I am obsessed with reading murder stories- I am sure subconsciously I am venting the noise and chaos that goes on in our day. Brianna is reading at a 9th grade level at the end of 4th grade, she reads 5 books at a time. I am wondering if she gets confused and combines all the plots of those 5 books together.
I am always looking for suggestions on books to read I have no time to research or peruse through a book store, so I mainly get my books by requesting them at the library and picking them up. Lazy I know, but it saves time.

2008-09-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

This whole school thing has me exhausted, I have already been to school and am done with it. So why am I the one who has to fill out papers(or as my 10 year old calls it my homework!), make lunches, get clothes ready, make sure everyone is awake, and the most important is the purple button. I have forgotten the purple button for 2 days now. This button tells who you are, your teacher, and the bus number. All kindergarten kids must wear it for two weeks. Yesterday I sent my husband, and today I went to deliver the button. What a dork we are-the teacher looked at me like I was crazy today when I told her I found his button and had to bring it to him. The poor boy already knows his bus number by heart! My daughter has also nicknamed me the 500 year old band geek! I was only in band 1 year so why do I get called this? I guess it could be worse. So I am off to bed I am exhausted, day 2 of preschool today and I had 10 children who were 3-4 years old. I am physically and mentally ready for summer and all the loud preteens again!

First Day of School

2008-09-02T10:15:00.000-07:00

Zach went to Kindergarten today! I cried the whole way to the bus stop and the whole way home. He was so excited to go-he did not look nervous at all. My friend who works at the school

called at lunch and told me that he had a great day. How heartbreaking to watch the bus pull away and their little faces are against the window and they are waving at you. It has been so quiet here today. I love just having the preschool here. We had 8 kids from 9-12pm. Now I do not know what to do with myself until 3:30pm. Does anyone else have a problem with their kids getting older? I would love to hang onto them and hold them forever. His bookbag looks so heavy.

Now enough of the crying! Brianna started 5th grade today and she also was excited, her best friend has been in the same class now for 3 years. I think that I am going to go and treat myself to a turtle mocha at the store! I think I could like having this quiet time, Jacob is sleeping and my assistant is downstairs with the two little ones who stay all day.

Tooth Lost

2008-08-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

Last night at dinner I looked over at Zach and noticed that his corn on the cob was bright red. So of course I asked him and he showed me that his tooth was hanging out of his mouth. We pulled it and of course I am sad that this is my middle child growing up and I don't want to let them grow up. He lost the upper tooth about a year ago, riding on his bike. He fell off and landed on his face and this was the result of that. He was so excited to see the tooth fairy left him $2.00.

2008-08-30T06:22:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else love being woken up by 4 children running around trying to find a hairbrush? Not only did they interrupt my dream of being chased by a handsome Italian man who owned a winery in Italy, but my 2 year old jumped on my head with a full diaper on, thus ruining my chance of ever being married to this rich man! It was nice of them to let me sleep in until 9 am though so I really cannot complain. It is finally nice outside and warm so I am off to enjoy the day.

Shopping For School

2008-08-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

Now I know that one child can get expensive especially when she only wants Abercrombie, Hollister, and Justice clothes(I do not remember getting the choice when I was younger where I was allowed to shop), but we went to buy shoes for all 3 kids tonight. It was very expensive, Brianna is almost in a size 6 in women! I take an 8 and she is only going to be 11! Zach also in into designer clothes he likes Polo shirts, thank goodness for Marshalls and TJ Maxx. They are pretty cheap there. Bri had her best silly friend sleep over for the million time this summer. She has gone to my daycare for 3 years and calls me mom. The wierd thing is her and Jacob look alike so everyone thinks that she is mine. Well Bri and her BFF thought it would be cute to try on shirts and then make me buy for both of them. Like I am rich! So I made her pay me for her BFF shirt. Fair?

Kindergarten Orientation

2008-08-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

I am probably the only parent ever to breakdown and cry at the Kindergarten orientation. As soon as they took the kids out of the auditorium I broke down crying. He looked so scared, with his arms folded in front of him like he was ready to receive Holy Communion! It does not help that Steve decided to remind me that Zach was premature and was in the NICU and now look where he is getting ready to go to Kindergarten. As you can see he is quite excited, and knew most of the kids already. This is his friend Christopher. Thank goodness they are not in class together. They would be in so much trouble.

2008-08-28T16:06:00.000-07:00

I have been horrible about writing lately-I just keep reading everyone else's blogs and feel I have nothing in comparison to write about. I am exhausted, having 18 kids all summer has completely wiped me out. Tomorrow is the last day until the summer! I run a full summer camp where we do daily field trips-exhausting! I never thought I would love to do something like this, I just wish I was 10 years younger. Tomorrow is Zachary's orientation and I am having mixed emotions-I am excited for him but I am sad that he is getting older.
I took Bri to her meet and drop off supplies today-and experienced the hormones and she and her friends eyed all the boys, I am not ready for this! Where did my babies go?

Our 10 year anniversary

2008-08-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

Well I finally surprised Steve for the first time ever! He thought that we were going to the opera. We ended up going to the Washington National Harbor. We spent the night in the most beautiful and expensive room. I had chocolate covered strawberries and champagne waiting for us. It actually was forgotten but they brought it right up. And then we had dinner at Sauceity. The harbor was beautiful and it was a nice night so we got to walk around and look out the bay at the boats and the view.

10 Year Anniversary

2008-08-21T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today is our 10 year anniversary! I married the most wonderful husband, father and friend! Looking back over these ten year I never would have thought that I would love him as much or maybe even more today!

Here are two of my favorite pictures from our wedding. Boy do we look young!

I am already weepy

2008-08-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten starts on Sept 2. So officially I should not be weepy-but I am. Zachary has never really left my side since he was born. He was born 5 weeks early and is definately a clinger! He has the most loving personality I ever met in a child, he will most definately make a great husband one day.

The kids got the letter that has made me weepy- the one who tells you who their teachers are. Well he got the teacher who is not very warm, she is a great teacher though I have been told.

Her assistant is supposed to be very warm. But as you can see not only did he have a mowhawk- but he is very innocent! No he does not suck on a bottle, we were at a farm and he was feeding baby goats.

When Brianna went to Kindergarten I was a mess, I was hysterical. She told me to go home that I was embarrassing her. Nice to see that I turned into my parents!

So I need encouragement and guidance on how to let go, and let him go. He will return that afternoon ready for next summer to come!

What Fun

2008-08-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

Last night driving home we rode past a place called The Flying Circus and they were having biplane rides and balloon rides. Well needless to say I rode in a hot air balloon, it was so much fun!

Beach Pictures Part 3

2008-08-16T18:30:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Bethany Beach Part 2

2008-08-16T10:21:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

2008-08-16T10:03:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Beach

2008-08-15T05:53:00.000-07:00

Well we are at the beach! I love the beach, would love to live on the beach. My children all love swimming in the ocean-which scares me to death, the waves crashing over them as they go further out. As Zach said to me yesterday "Mom, just jump into the waves," easy for him, I was holding him as he squeezed my neck very hard.
Well the welcome is over, within the first hour they fought all day-boy what I would not do for the silence!
I will post lots of pictures on Sunday when we get back. We took family portraits last night so we get to look at those today.
I am off to the beach!

Day 3 of Being a Mom of 1

2008-08-11T04:20:00.000-07:00

I am so ready to go to the beach this week. Jacob has not been sleeping so well, I think that he really is bored. Believe me he has made out with the other two not here this weekend. Everything he ever wanted his father (the one who thinks that we should not spoil our children!) has bought him.
Yesterday we went to the Prince William County Fair and Jacob rode the first rides of his life, and he loved all of them. We also came home with 6 goldfish. Not that we needed anymore. We have 3 of the biggest goldfish that we secretly have been wishing would pass for 4 years now.
I am off to start my day with the daycare, hopefully with kids around I can get a break from being hung on!

What to Do?!!

2008-08-08T19:57:00.001-07:00

Normally when we have 3 children here I am exhausted and already sleeping. It is now 11 pm and I am pumped up ready to go. We let Jacob stay up with us he really is lonely! He watched both of his parents get sloppy on wine and I beat his dad really bad at Wii! We played Bowling and I royally wiped his behind!
I don't know what we did with only 1 child. We took a 2 mile walk. I am finally noticing my 2 year post preggo belly disappearing. And know I am really bored, it is different with 1 child you really have to entertain them. With 3 it is easy, I am always there but they entertain each other. I don't think that I have had to think about this in a long time.

Anyways, next week is Steve's and my 10 year anniversary, and Nate and Alesia's 9th! Is is really that long ago- boy are we old!!
Well I am going to be romantic and surprise Steve, I am not going to stay what I am going to do until next weekend incase he is looking at my blog. So be prepared it is fun. I have lots of people in on this so it will work out. It is taking some planning. I think the wine really has gone to my head it is not next week, but the 21st!

I cannot wait to go to the beach on Thursday-we did not go because we are going to Disney in November, and i would rather spend lots of money there but I couldn't not go to the beach. I have never been to disney so I am excited.
Well I am off to spend time with Steve! Hopefully to sleep in tomorrow.

2 out of 3 children gone!

2008-08-08T11:04:00.000-07:00

I am not sure what to do with myself. Brianna and Zach are gone to the beach! It is so quiet here- I really do not know what to do. We are meeting up with them on Thursday morning, but for right now I like it.

Good News

2008-07-30T16:33:00.001-07:00

Well I had my testing and they determined the lump is a cyst. They also found a 6.5 cm fibroid tissue band, and they were not sure what it was. Has anyone ever heard of this? So I hope they just sit and watch this. I am tired and relieved. I came home and puked from worrying so much!

Today is the big day

2008-07-30T03:32:00.000-07:00

Today is the big M day. Am I nervous? I think that I just want to know, to just get it over with. I am not a very patient person, and it bothers me when I cannot have control. Even with all the surgeries that I have had I think that this is probably the most serious thing that has happened to me health wise. I don't even know if that is a word. I am just tired of not feeling well. I keep saying that I am going to change my way of eating-it works for maybe one meal! So off this afternoon to smash what little post nursing boobs I have- hopefully that means little smooshing.

Lump

2008-07-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

I need some prayers on Wednesday, I have found a lump on my chest. I found it 2 years ago, and my ob blamed it on nursing. Well it never went away and now I am going to get my first mammogram-I am not excited at all.
I feel that this year has been a whirlwind, one thing after another. I know I will be fine. Fibroid cysts run in my family - I keep telling myself. When I called with the referral I wasn't scared until they told me I had to come in right away and not the typical few week wait.
I am not writing this for sympathy I am writing this to see if anyone has gone through the partial hysterectomy and/or lump episodes.

Bri is recovering, She still is throwing up but it has gotten better since the doctor told her that she would have to be hospitalized- it was either that or the Coke he told her she could drink.

Brianna's Throat

2008-07-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

Bri came out of surgery and is recovering! Besides it being really quiet! I really feel bad for her, she did not come out of anestheia very well and was crying, they mistook this for pain and drugged her up. I decided to use this for photo op time!

She is in a lot of pain today, but the doctor said her tonsils were gross and very infected. She just needs to drink lots and sleep!

Bri's surgery

2008-07-23T03:53:00.000-07:00

While everyone is going through their day please keep Brianna in your prayers, she is having tonsil and adenoid surgery today. I know that it is not an invasive surgery, but last week she got another tonsil infection so she is going into surgery with infected tonsils. Pray that her infection does not go elsewhere when they take the tonsils out.
Last night I found her coming out of Zach's room crying. Normally all they do is fight, so this is abnormal. I asked her what was wrong, and her response was she wanted to spend time with her brother in case she died during surgery! Now I know that she is very smart-so I explained to her why someone would die and that she is healthy.
We had a great week so far-our air conditioner broke again, it has only been fixed for 3 weeks! A wire had melted, thank goodness our house did not burn down. The great thing was they fixed it for free. And our washing machine broke! So needless to say it has been a stressful week- the funny thing is all I could do was laugh, it was not even worth getting upset about. Either I am losing it or finally relaxing!

My Calling

2008-07-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago in bible study the women were talking about their gifts. I got all nervous because I do not know what my gift is. I do not know if you call being a daycare provider a gift-or just crazy! Over the past few months I have had this idea that has been nagging me and now it has surfaced. I am organizing a youth club for the kids at our church. Our church has youth groups for junior high and high school, but not for 3-5 graders. I feel this group needs attention! So I guess my gift has surfaced! If anyone has any ideas what or how to have fun with children this age lay it all on me. Our youth group will be called Club 345 and it will meet once a month. I am excited!

Rainy Day Activities

2008-07-08T03:47:00.000-07:00

I need some help! I need activities to occupy very busy daycare children when it rains and or during quiet time. I seem to have a very active group of boys and girls that during these times they like to wrestle and be very loud and need something other than tv to occupy their time! Help!

A Day to Laugh At

2008-07-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

I had the day from heck(as Bri would say)! Jacob got viral pinkeye. I did not know that you could get different versions of it and is very, very , cranky.
And my air conditioner blew! Thank goodness it was just the air compressor, only $230! It could be worse.
Off to swim team!Yeah

What I forgot to mention is that it is so hard to keep a 2 year old from not touching all the other kids! He has yellow booger like mucus running off his eyes and everyone is trying to get away from him.. Fun

Swimming Trials

2008-06-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

Tonight for the 1st time Bri is watching the Olympic Swimming Trials. She is so excited. How is she getting to watch them? Well finally it is raining here so practice was cancelled.

She also starts next week babysitting. It really is a mothers helper thing, but she gets $5.00 an hour. Not bad for 10 1/2! She is in demand already, I am excited maybe I do not have to pay allowance anymore for looking pretty!
Does anyone have any comments or suggestions on sibling rivalry. My 10 and 5 year olds fight constantly. I know that it is due to me having about 20 kids here a day, but it does get annoying and frustrating to see that my kids act out only when daycare is here. Help!