Y?

That's my Y- right there at the end of Happy.
Today was Allyson's thanksgiving play at school. It was just her class, and just us parents, and it was nice. She was the most beautiful pilgrim I've ever seen. That's my Y.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving- enjoy your family, food and friends. See you at the day after sales- Kohl's opens at 4am ladies.

As for our home

One of my favorite scripture of all time is Joshua 24:15. I know you've all heard it, at least part of it "As for me and my home, we will serve the Lord."

The 'favorite' part for me is what comes before that. I will never forget the first time I read the entire verse, it totally got me.

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the god your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the god of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Here is me paraphrasing (do not take this to heart- remember, I'm no biblical scholar) "Do what is right, and honor and love God. Don't be like those worthless morans before you who strayed from the path, choose God. But if all that isn't for you, then pick whatever you want to. But all in this home, we are going to serve the Lord".

Every day we have a choice. And some days it isn't easy. And somedays we fall. That's what makes us who we are, I suppose. Sinners. But then we have a choice of who we are going to serve. I choose God.

And then I will serve my children breakfast- because the banging of empty cups and silverware on the kitchen table will have grown overwhelming. And then the dog- because he will be in the hallway barking. And then my husband- because if I don't serve him he might whine. And I can't handle any more whining. See- it's not easy.

Happy Thanksgiving. So very much in our world to be thankful for.

Top 10 lessons learned over the weekend............

1. Allowing little girls to 'borrow' your camera during a make up session will prove to be nothing short of enjoyable.

2. A wedding is entertaining to small children, no matter what. 3. Sam has no idea how to eat bubble tape.

4. Two consecutive nights of dance floors, fancy cakes and banquet halls will wipe out little ones.
5. Being gone from your home overnight will allow small rodents to overtake your home.

6. Somehow, it is difficult to feel like you are instilling good morals into your children as you and your husband chase a small, terrified mouse around your kitchen while screaming "Kill it, Kill it!" An ice cream bucket it not an effective tool to use while trying to catch a mouse. Hence the reason there are no pictures of our newest family member- my hands were full with the broom, dustpan and ice cream bucket. Duh.

7. I need a pair of black boots in order to be cool. Surely boots will do the trick.

8. 40 is no longer old when your friends begin turning it. Somehow it becomes cool. 40 is the new 30, especially since I am rapidly approaching it. (We got to go to a good friends 40th birthday party over the weekend, super fun! And as an added bonus, no one broke any bones, like the last 40th birthday party we went to- miss rebecca.)

9. Going to the grocery on the Monday night before Thanksgiving is nothing short of a frustrating experience. Especially if you are shopping for traditional big dinner stuff, pecans, eggs, and apparently grapes.

10. Laundry does not stop simply because you command it to. So I must go begin washing.

Have a great day.

No laughing matter..............

Sam has developed quite a mouth, and quite a vocabulary of 'bad' words. So far- they are only bad in the sense that they are not words we use in our home. He hasn't picked up my 'bad' words yet- but true to the rest I'm sure he will. I will work on that- back to focus people.Sammy told emi he hated her. That's his 'power' word. He spits it out when he is mad. This is sammy in time out for using that word.

After time out, I helped him to understand that he was in time out for using that word. I hugged him (that's what super nanny says to do, after all) and then I reminded him to apologize to emi. He skipped into the living room and said "sorry emi", got closer "sorry emi", squatted down in her face and said "sorry stupid emi". Ughhhh.

Today- we didn't have enough chaos in our home so I let Ally invite a friend over. She's not a bad friend, not chaotic in or of herself. But when a friend is over, we have the typical fight for who will be included, who can play with ally and her friend, what room they use, and on and on and on.

All four headed into the dining room to play with blendy pens and listen to taylor swift way entirely too loud (I am on the verge of a nervous breakdown). After a few minutes, I hear allyson declare that Sam drew on himself and he is not allowed to play blendy pens anymore.

So he grabs his huge dumptruck and begins running all over the house squeeling with it. Into the dining room, out of the dining room, into the dining room, out of the dining room, round the table, round the table, round the table.

Here comes ally with sam, stands him outside of the dining room entry and says "That's it, you are not even allowed in the kitchen anymore."

To which Sam said, with his hand on his hip, and his other little bent finger pointing at her "I hate you stupid head". As a mother, I did what came natural. I laughed. I am still giggling. It was just so appropriate. And it was funny. I'm only human. And I have heard him mutter those words way too many times (unfortunately) to have been taken back by hearing them again.

Of course these are words we don't allow in our home. Blah, blah, blah. I didn't put him in time out this time. Although I should have (super nanny says to be consistent, you know). We'll continue to work on it- but for now those are his 'big guns'- stupid and hate.

Next time you feel like flying a curse word or two, try saying it "I hate you stupid head"- it actually feels pretty good. Maybe he's onto something?

Our new neighbors

There's a new family that has moved into our neighborhood. They've lived upstairs for years, but they finally decided to move down here where they are more accessible.
Dan helped them move, and Emily is helping them 'settle in'. Sam occassionally comes through as a tornado and blows them away. Then Emi patiently puts their house back together. Truth be told, he really want to play with her, and she won't let him (most of the time).

Allyson declared "you're not putting that in MY room". Needless to say, we had a brief discussion about whose room it is, etc. Uhggg. Emily has played with this dollhouse non-stop since it was moved into their room. I love it.

Stepping out- part 2:

Well, here is update to my luncheon.

Beautiful hotel, lots of really important whoevers there. It was the annual luncheon for Riley, so all the big team owners were there presenting awards and what have you. And Mario Andretti (or one of the andretti's). I was most impressed with my ability to sit for two hours, without having to run anyone (myself included) to the restroom.

I ate some kind of grass or plant leaves as a salad, with a beautiful pink/red salad dressing.

Lunch was chicken (hit that one on the head!) stuffed with nuts and pears and risotto. With a side of asparagus. Asparagus is beautiful, and offers a sense of class when served on a plate. But I am CONFIDENT you are not supposed to eat it. ick. Perhaps it would be better used as a centerpiece, with a ribbon tied around a nice thick grouping of it?

The whole time I was eating, I wanted to slap on a brittish accent and comment on the risotto (chef ramsey, kitchen nightmares???? anyone?????) But I didn't, because that would have been strange.

There was a big presentation, involving lots of Riley patients, and lots of Riley physicians. Many of whom I used to know and work closely with during the telethon at the hospital. But my focus was on that tiny plate above my entree. A beautiful slice of triple layered cheesecake. yum.

See- I am not corporate america material. Not anymore. Not that I ever was. But at least I used to be able to pretend I was more than I can today. What will I be when my children toss me to the curb? Time will tell.

And I got a parking ticket. I feel so like a grown up. An uncultured, out of style, grown up.

Next time- girls night at the mexican place. More my speed.

Stepping out

So, try not to be jealous, but today I am going to a luncheon. Yep, you heard it, a luncheon. Now to those who live in the corporate world, you just went 'yuck'. The thought of listening to some president of blabbity blab drone on and on about whatever and then struggling to eat a pre-plated display of rubbery chicken and some kind of potato, if that's what it is, sounds nothing short of miserable.

To me- it sounds nice. And I'm excited. I take my children with me to work on most every day, so even going to the office involves spilled drinks and poopy pants. So today, my mother in law is keeping my chitlins and I am going to an actual hotel, to an actual banquet room, in actual dress clothes, with my actual hair do (if I get off this stupid computer and go do it) for the annual riley luncheon. Hah! Just like a grown up. Heck, I might even take the diapers out of my purse before I go in.

So I am going out. Which means I shaved. And I broke out my perfumed lotion. It's one of those things I don't wear that often, because, well, I seldom get to go somewhere that 'warrants' my 'lotion'.

It seems I am in constant reminder of the real world and those working in it. Don't get me wrong, I like my world and I don't want to be anywhere else. But occassionally I can't help but notice women in perfectly pressed, designer clothes and matching jewelry- along with designer handbags and trendy shoes running errands on the lunches. And for a moment, just a brief moment, I think about what their life is like. Then 'splat', just like a blob of ketchup on my laminate floors- I splash back into reality and I know without a doubt I don't want to be anywhere else. Even when I worked, I didn't have trendy or designer anything. And for the few months I did work after ally was born, I watched the moms with their kids and I envied them. Their sweat shirts, pony tails and their opportunity to be with their children. And I certainly wouldn't pass the chance to be with these guys as they are growing up, and I feel blessed that I get to be home with them. It's happening so fast. Regardless, the point here is that as those women blast past you can catch of whiff of their perfume, and I always think I should do better at wearing perfume. But most days, I'm lucky to get to put on deodorant, if you know what I'm saying.

Back to the story. I'm lotioning this morning. And I pressed my pants, by the way. But the point is, I put my hand into my jar of thick creamy smell good wonderfulness and I felt 'something'. What the heck is that, I thought to myself.Ahhh, a barbie shoe, of course. This is my corporate america, and I love it.

I've fallen............and I can't get up:

Somehow, I managed to make it 9 years with a girl child and never drifted into 'this place'.

Oh- we've seen it. She even asked to go there for a while. It was my understanding that this was a place for older children. Much older children.

Over the weekend, Allyson Emily and I got a few hours for some girl shopping (aka Allyson had no pants and we had to go). Turns out, Once Upon a Child does not carry big kid sizes, so play A was out the window. To the mall we went.

As we walked in, I was overtaken by the racks and racks of trendy girl clothes. My chest began to tighten. The sparkles and glitter began to blind me. I clung to my purse, begging Emily to stay close and hold my hand. It was a lot. A lot to try and breathe in as Allyson began saying 'look at this, look at that, look at this'.

Now mind you, Allyson is going through a 'phase'. Please, let this be a 'phase'. She used to not own a single stitch of clothing without sparkles on it. And if something was not sparkly enough, then she had belts and barretts to add some bling. And skirts, oh we had skirts. In fact, it was all she wore for a period of 6 months or so. She loved the girly stuff.

Now- she claims to want to dress like a boy. Sweat pants and pacers t-shirts. I struggle to get her into something other than that even for church. I'm dying over here.

So I was surprised that she got so excited at the aspect of going here, to this very flashy glittery store full of girly girl everything. But she did. And at the general idea of finding her some pants, I agreed. And possibly she will remember her glitter days and want to go back. Cover me, we're going in.

So there we were. Flashing lights, perfumed air, hip hop music lightly playing in the background, racks upon racks of tons of girls clothes, and salespeople constantly asking "Finding everything okay". "Uh yeah, we're fine" I kept muttering.

Upon closer examination, I realized their clothes start at size 6 and end at 16- Holy Cow we almost missed our brief window! This really is a kids clothing store. Quickly I began to grab pants and shirts, before Allyson outgrows them.

Armed with 14 pairs of jeans and 6 shirts, into the dressing room she went. If you can call it that. More like a shower stall. With a curtain instead of a door. But a seat for Emily, perfect.

After like 8 pairs of jeans, none of which fit (too big, too loose, too tight, too long) I noticed a chart on the wall of the chamber, I mean dressing room. "If pants are too long, or you need more room in the hips, try this: If your normal size is a 16, multiply by 2, subtract 6, spin in a circle 3 times, jump up and down, add 7, remove .5 and voila!"

Huh?

Turns out, we needed to move to 1/2 sizes. So we went down 4 sizes and added a 1/2 and the pants began to fit. We were onto something.

In the end, we were able to purchase two pairs of jeans (only one of which will need hemmed), 2 shirts (one is actually okay for church), a tank top cami (because everything they make for young ladies is way too short and has a plunging neckline) and a webkinz dolphin for her friends birthday party. Success?

I'm not sure.

It was fun to shop with the girls, regardless. We don't get many girl times, and Sam puts a real kink into shopping. But having the stroller is a plus, so I guess in a weird way we kind of missed him. But not when we went to that cookie store, you know, the one with the sign that reads "If you suffer from a nut allergy, do not consume our products". We totally went there. Without peanut boy, the sky was the limit!

Afterwards, we went to Children's Place to get Emi something new. She didn't need anything, but after her 60+ minutes of patience in ally's store (I guess you can call it that), I figured she needed a bag of something for herself. They did have stuff that would fit her in glittery haven, but nothing seemed to be cheaper than $39.50- so I was not going there! Even if it was buy 2 get one free.

Here's the kicker. They were having this promotion at the Limited Too, so we left not only with our bag of clothes, but a handful of coupons. Really good coupons, each with their own corresponding date as to when they can be used. So of course we will have to go back. And no doubt they will have some other promotion, to make us have to return after that. See the cycle, we're stuck. Like being sucked into a tornado. We can't stop now.

Prepare yourselves, your young women will not forever be satisfied with your selections. They too will hear of this place, and they will want to go. Apparently there are others as well. Abersomething or other?

I like Babies R Us, and the Children's Place, Baby Gap, and the toddler section at Target. And I love garage sales. There are always tons of clothes at garage sales when kids are young. But once bigger, all bets are off. The options are narrowed and the scorecards are out. I wish you luck. And should you ever find me curled in a ball under a rounder rack in the 'teen' section sucking my thumb, feel free to join me.

Wheres the flood?

No, not a flood. Just a small man who is apparently outgrowing everything we have. Fortunately for us, we have had several boxes of hand me downs so once I get a minute to dig out some bigger stuff we'll be good to go.
So watch out Julie, another box of stuff is coming your way- starting with this pair of lightening mcqueen jammies!

A trip to the Theater (said with a brittish accent)

I don't know why brittish, but that is the accent the kids and I used all morning while playing around and getting ready to go. We are just stupid that way I guess. I had to do something to get the girls out of the beds to get dressed. The point is that we got to go and see a play yesterday morning and it was awesome! It was a children's production at Beef and Boards (I love the kids plays there!) and all three loved it!Things could have gone either way with Mr. Sam. He's unpredictable that way. But he was totally into it. But not into getting his picture with snow white, he was not impressed with her or the fact that he could get his photo snapped with her. You can't see it in the picture, but he's on the floor behind them, growling like a lion.And Emily, although she doesn't look it in this picture, was thrilled to get to see 'the real snow white'. And she and Sam now understand the difference between a play and a movie. Emily has been before, but she was just a baby. I used to take Allyson there a lot, but since Sam has entered the picture we have laid low. But sleeping beauty is coming in the spring and emily has her calendar marked. Looks like we'll be returning.
After the play, the characters were available for autographs. Sam was hung up on this guy, the woodsman (remember- the queen sends him into the forest with snow white to kill her????). He stood and kind of glared at him from across the room and kept asking if I saw the mean guy. But when it came time to get his autograph, Sam marched right up to him! Too funny.

Awesome day. We all missed Dan and wished he could have joined us, but selfishly I loved the time with the kids.

Afterwards, we went to chick-fil-a (the fancy chicken in a box place- as Ally used to call it) for lunch. The reason I mention this is only to report that Emily ate 15 chicken nuggets for lunch. 15. "Hello, we'll take a chicken sandwich meal, 2 4-piece nugget meals, and the party platter for my 4 year old". Can you believe that. The kid was also thrilled to get two rice crispy treats at the play (allyson's teeth were hurting). She's just packing it in right now, I guess.

A note from miss emily

This is mr. button and a crayon truck handmade by my father. Emily took this picture, in secret agent mode with my camera. If she knew how to download the pictures, and read, she would have put this picture on here for you. Instead, she plopped my camera in my lap and said she had some new pictures for 'the website'.

I have glued the wheels back on this truck, twice. Sam is a master wheel taker offer.

And I sewed mr. button's head back on just this evening. After finding all of his stuffing and cramming it back in.

This week has been nothing short of crazy, just nutso absolutely run your pants off crazy. That makes me sympathize and actually relate to mr. button and his head coming off situation.

I'm going to make a difference- you should contact your local officials too..........

Dear Senator,

I am a law abiding, tax paying (technically- even if I only work for 6 hours a week) citizen living in the gigantic metropolis of Greenfield. And I am concerned about some items that I am not seeing any initiative to rectify. Listen quickly, as I am being forced to type fast.

First, let me explain my concern with all the trees and their leaves. They are all over the place. Absolutely covering the grass. And yet no one has come to do a single thing about it. No one. It's embarrassing and I want to know when I can expect some assistance with this issue. Obviously they need to be either sacked up or mulched, whatever you deem appropriate. This is what our property taxes are for, right? Oh- and the gutters obviously need cleaned out so you can take care of that while you are here.

Second, I have just noticed the obscene amount of cobwebs and 'fur' in my bathroom on the light fixture and the vent. It is very apparent to me that it has not been cleaned in a very long time. Unacceptable. What are you plans to fix this issue?

Next. My vehicle has 170,000 miles on it and the check engine light is on. We were forced to take it to the Honda dealer to have it investigated, since you choose to ignore it. It is some sensor riggermaro thingy and they said we could drive it like that for a year or so, but then we would have to have it replaced. Please contact them and then let me know when you plan to take care of this.

Fourth- our cupboards are bare. We are down to our last pound of ground beef and one last package of chicken. Obviously, that will not last long around here. It is quite apparent to me that SOMEONE needs to go to the grocery and buy some food. But who is going to do that? We keep waiting and waiting and no one has even noticed. Not even a phone call to check on the current status of our pantry. Except Allyson, who keeps saying 'we are out of cereal mom'. Gosh, who does she think I am? I am doing my best to teach her to be independent and self sufficient, so I will help her draft a letter to you regarding this matter later today. In the mean time, who will be delivering some food to us? Oh- and bring some ketchup too, as we are almost out.

And one last final issue. We have been doing our part of placing our dirty clothes into the baskets when we take them off. That is not an easy task, it takes planning and coordination. We work very hard to see that it happens, some of us more than others. And then nothing. No one comes and does anything about it. Several folks in my house (all under the age of 10) have been all 'waa waa waa, I have no clean pants to wear, waa waa waa'. I hear their cries, I'm out of jeans myself. But what are ya gonna do? I just tell them to thank our government and wait some more. Still today, nothing.

I will be expecting you to rectify these situations immediately. Bring your rake and some detergent, you have your work cut out for you. I will be at the computer. There is a serious problem with our toilet and the flower beds, and I feel a letter to the President might be in order.

Sincerely,

Crazy Mom of three

Praising God for Puke

At 3:30 AM Sunday morning, Emily got up for a drink and then began vomiting. It was a complete surprise- she mentioned nothing of anything except being thirsty.

As a mother, it is my job to either a.) try to catch it in my hands (why on earth do we mothers feel compelled to do this?) or b.) get something to clean it up with. I picked b.

While leaping to the laundry room with soaked towels and pajamas- I managed to step on a high ho cherry oh. I believe the words I muttered were something other than "Oh look, another cherry to our game, goody".

After cleaning the floor and chair, changing emi's pjs and panties, starting the laundry, rinsing her hair and getting her back to bed, I was less than relaxed. So I curled up with my DVR and a few favorite shows I have not had the time to watch.

And as I sat there, I thought about what a sense of humor God has. I was being kind of bitter and lighthearted all at the same time. Then I realized, had we not screwed this all up in the beginning, we would still be frolicking in the Garden of Eden- and I bet no one would ever puke there. God didn't want this for us, and I had to just be greatful for the moments that were positive in the experience.

At 5am when I headed back to bed, Emily was up again. But thankfully that was the last time she got sick. After that, she was go go go.Needless to say, she and I stayed home from church. Which I do believe was the gift that God had intended for us that day.It's not very often that I get the chance to be one on one with the kids. And I can't remember the last time I made the time to sit and paint or color with the kids. I typically work on damage control while they do art projects.

This is Emilys first masterpiece- two people wrestling and trying to get over the line while stomping on the green grass. Of course.

There is always so much that needs done. Even while enjoying Miss Emi during this morning, I couldn't help shake the idea that there was lots of laundry that needed done, a dishwasher that needed unloaded, a toybox that apparently exploded in the living room and dust bunnies rolling across the plains. That's my problem, I need to let all that go and just enjoy.So I did , and it was wonderful. We painted together. Played a few games. And even did our nails. And it was awesome.
Thank you God, for giving us puke which in turn gave us time!

If you give a mom a muffin..................

I stole this off another blog- but any mother who had read the moose, pig and mouse books 1347 times will appreciate this story. And I'm sure it's okay that I took it illegally, she took it from someone else too. Stop it, and just read...........................

If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it. She'll pour herself some. Her four-year-old will spill the coffee. She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do laundry. When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan dinner. She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of Hamburger.) The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two-year-old. While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for coffee. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, if she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

A start to the holidays:

Well, the holidays are officially here. We've been invited to our first holiday openhouse, and it's actually today.

I have been so excited all week, my only bit of concern is what to wear. It's so early in the holiday season, it seems strange to bust out a holiday sweater. Up until yesterday I was still wearing shorts (in theory). Today is a bit colder though. Oh, the decisions.

The kids are equally excited, any time they get invited to a party it is a good day. We can hardly wait. The invitation was beautiful, just beautiful.

You probably got one too, it came in the paper on Thursday. The party is at Krogers, and today is their holiday openhouse, and yes- I am that sad. I'm actually excited, what a sorry little woman I am. Regardless, we're going, and maybe I'll win a spiral sliced ham. Then who will be the sorry one?

Better run- the openhouse starts at 10am and we want to get there early enough to get one of those cool car shopping carts! That way Emily and Sam can fight and bicker the ENTIRE time we are there, instead of only part of the time like when they are not crammed in a small plastic box together. Either way- Rebecca said they are sampling eclairs today and to me that makes it all worth it!

Ha!

Poo poo on you mr. weather man- looks like we get another gorgeous day here in central Indiana to laught and play and romp! Ha!

Or is that God giving me just one more chance to do something about all of these leaves without having to wear a snowsuit while raking them?

Well, I guess you know what my afternoon holds. Here's hoping the wind blew all your leaves away!

And the winner is...............

Tuesday, if you remember correctly, was a huge day. In addition to our nation voting to select our next group of leaders, our family voted on some very important topics as well.

Allyson was beside herself she was so excited.

At dinner, we all cast our ballots. Emily and Allyson both ended up voting a straight ticket- each for themselves.

Dan and I had to weigh the choices carefully. After all, a trip to Chuck E Cheese was at stake.

Sam, well he fell asleep in the living room. Out cold.

Allyson harassed me, oh- I mean asked me constantly for an hour if she could wake him to get his votes. Finally, I surrendered. Their conversation went something like this:

Ally- "Sammy, do you want chicken brocolli ziti or spaghetti and meatballs for dinner"
Sam- "Noffing"
Ally- "No Sammy, not now, on Sunday" she repeated choices
Sam- "Noffing, I not hungry"
Ally- "We're voting Sam and I need to know if you prefer cheesy noodles or spaghetti"
Sam- "Pizza. I want pizza"
Ally- "MOOOOOOOMMMMMM."
(Sam chose to obstain from casting his vote on that topic)
Ally- "Okay Sam- do you want Mexian or Chuck E Cheese"
Sam- "Mexican"
Allyson- "Mexican?"
Me- "Sam, you want Mexican over chuck e cheese??????"
Sam- "Oh- Chuck E Cheese, Chuck E Cheese. I win lots of tickets"
Me- (that's what I thought)
Ally- "Now Sam, do you want to see High School Musical or the Chiwawa movie?"
Sam- "Um, Diego!"
He should have run his own campaign.

And the winners are:
Dinner- Allyson's Chicken Brocolli Ziti
Lunch out- Emily's Chuck E Cheese
Movie- Allyson's Chiwawa movie
Family Game- Emily's music machine at Chuck E Cheese (tricky little girl, she was going to get to go there regardless!)
Where to sit in church- Allyson- in the balcony (pray that no one falls over)

Next year, I suggest we vote on who will rake up the leaves, clean out the flower beds, unload the dishwasher for the 3rd time today, staintreat the laundry, and vacume out the van (Ohhh, I hope it's me!) While I am here, I'm going to complain a bit. Turn away now if you can't handle that.

Yesterday was nothing short of crazy. I hope today is better. We ran non stop. Go Go Go. It just makes me feel nuts. We got up, got everyone dressed, me showered, laundry started, breakfast served, ally's lunch packed, her on the bus and the rest of us in the van! Whew.

Then we dropped Emily at preschool and Sam and I went to the airshow. Which went pretty well. He has his own desk and gets to watch cartoons and finish his breakfast while we're there. And he loves Miss Beth (the lady I work with) so it's not all bad- just crazy trying to work while answering 534 questions (what that mommy? is this red? you like oranges?- you know) and run to the restroom, pick up toys and change his diapers- all while trying to look like a professional office person (which I am soooo not).

11am- off to pick up Emily. Then to the trophy store. Then to Wendys for chicken nuggets (you can't be everything man). Back to preschool for parent teacher conference. Have I mentioned how I love preschool parent teacher conferences???? Well I do, especially now that Emily is adjusted and not taking toys and getting constant time outs. Back to focus- conference over, off to run errands.

I am trying to help coordinate a dinner for 100+ air show people on Monday. I am a moran. With a budget of, well nothing, we are trying to make a nice dinner. Ughh. So we had to go to hobby lobby and office max to obtain a few items. I ended up loosing my cool in hobby lobby, in front of a salesclerk. Emily and Sam were rolling around on the floor as I tried to select a matte color for an award. They had already been warned. I yelled. It was ugly.

Back at the ranch, we head out on the deck for lunch. Then we spend some time outside playing and soaking up this beautiful weather. And fighting. It ends with Sam and Emily in tears- they both want the same spot on the rocket swing, sam pulls emilys hair, UGLY STUFF! We calm the tears, swing for a few more minutes and head inside. I sit down for 30 minutes with the kids to watch cartoons. I have a horrible cold and I feel like crap. 4pm- time to start dinner.

Homemade lasagna (who do I think I am?) Still I go for it. At a little after 5 I get it in the oven, and realize it won't be ready in time for us to eat before everyone runs their separate directions. So I get to make another dinner, again. Fortunatly I had leftover sauce so I just boiled some pasta- spaghetti- whola! And I suppose it's nice to have dinner done for tonight already : )

Down set hike! Everyone out the door- Dan to church to finish a task there, us to allyson's girl scouts. Drop her off, head to drop off a pan of Lasagna to a friend (which I was glad to do, don't misunderstand, I just wish I had wings), run by church to borrow some glitter, swing through starbucks- because I still have miles to run, back to get ally.

Then we are off to the airshow to coat 20 pumpkins in glitter for centerpieces. Then it hits me. The school play is Thursday and I signed up to donate cookies. We turn around and head home. Hope I have something on hand I can make. Turns out I do- chocolate no bake cookies.

And while baking the cookies, here came Allyson with a 'look' on her face. "Mom, I just remembered I have to wear blue jeans in the play tomorrow, and I wore my last clean pair today". So I added another load of laundry to the day's list of to do items. No big deal.

Much to my delight, Dan made it home in time to help get the kids to bed and soon my world settled down and we went to sleep. What a day.

I know- everyone has days just like this. But I am a big whiny baby and I just don't do well with constant go go go. I need slow slow slow. I am glad that today's schedule holds much less.

But my oven is smoking. Apparently my lasagna boiled over. It's a self cleaning oven, but I am afraid of it. Next item on today's agenda? Me, the oven instruction manual, and a serious consult about who to use this option. Wish me luck!

BOO!

Well, there they are- my little goblins. It was a great Halloween. The kids enjoyed dressing up, we were blessed with a visit from Grandma (can you imagine- just 1 week after major surgery she's up and out and about????), we got to trick or treat with the Llamas', and the weather was beyond gorgeous. It was a wonderful night!