Hello again ...

Hello again ... sorry I can't be more creative than that. It has been a long time since the blogosphere has heard from me. Not sure that I have been missed, but I am sure that I have missed writing.

Life is never dull when there are two adults, two large dogs and four little monsters (aka children) running around. For me it is the norm. For others? They probably think I am crazy. So to see how the other half live, (the childless half), Aaron and I sent the kids away for the weekend so we could finish up a patio project we had stared earlier in the week. This weekend was also our anniversary so everything worked out nicely.

All of the little monsters were gone by 5:00 Friday evening. We worked on the patio until 7:30 and then went to dinner. Saturday, we worked on the patio until 9:30, and this evening we worked from 4:00 until 9:00. Here is where we are as of this evening. Not quite half way done, but so pleased with how it is turning out. Here's to finishing it this weekend.

In other happening, Tavia has finished up school for the year,

Audra has turned one

and Nelle can't wait to start kindergarten, or go to drama camp or go the beach and so on and so one.  

No, I didn't forget Malaki. he is happy as long and there is a little bit of dirt and a lot of fun or vice-versa.

I have always thought that the school year was very busy and look forward to summer for the break it brings ... apparently I have lost my mind. It is June 19th and almost everyday for the rest of the summer is planned. The kids are thrilled. Me? I am exhausted thinking about all of it.

Okay I thought there was a lot more to say, and there may have been if I had started writing this an hour earlier, but now I am tired and there is still work to be done.

In which undergarments are optional ...

I haven't written in a few days, but finally had enough of a laughable moment that I thought I would take the time to share with all four of my devoted followers.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was fairly busy around the house. I mean with work, babies, nieces, and schooling I had more than enough to do. Typically, on Wednesday evening, I give the kids a light dinner and then we head to the gym before church. They take a kids yoga class and I swim.

 Last night was no exception, except that I had to be at church at 6:40 to practice for a special to sing on Sunday morning. While I am swimming laps, I notice something floating in the pool next to me ... I had forgotten to remove my nursing pads before entering the pool. So we will call this FAIL #1. I quickly dispose of the overly saturated pads and keep on swimming. At this point I have a "Finding Nemo" moment. You know the part where Dory keeps repeating "just keep swimming, just keep swimming" My arms are exhausted from a weight lifting class on Tuesday. I finally finish my laps and head to get dressed.

It takes me just nano-seconds to discover that my bra has not made into my gym bag.This would be FAIL #2.  Going to church in  my bathing suit doesn't seem to be a good idea, so the only other option is to put my clothes on over top of my bathing suit and go buy a bra.

Let me take a small break at this point in the story to tell you that I am now the budget-Nazi in our house and a new bra was not in the budget.

So now I am dressed over top of my wet bathing suit. I quickly dry my hair and then realize that my nursing pads that were supposed to be re-used are in the trash can by the pool. I  decide to fill my husband in on all the drama and he replies, "I have plenty of nursing pad in my gym bag" WHAT?? That just seems wrong on so many levels. I almost asked him if he had an extra bra as well, but held my tongue and thanked him for the pads.

Now with only twenty minutes, I head for the truck to get to KMart, buy a bra, change my clothes and then be at practice by 6:40. Traffic in Fred at 6:20 PM is always awful, but it's raining as well, so that makes it even worse. Stalling the truck TWICE in the middle of Rt 3 only adds to the drama, but I finally make it in one piece to the KMart parking lot. I make a mad dash to the store (not sure why. I am already wet. The rain drops couldn't possibly have made that much difference). I find a corn-flower blue bra on sale for $7.99. I am pleased with that and head to the check out.

There is only one line open. The person in front of me has only three items, but had to have them rung up separately, they also had a rewards card, AND the register would not scan anything. The cashier (with three inch long nails) typed in each number. WOW it was painful. I spent a good 10 minutes in line. When it was my turn, my total was $4.41. WHAT? I had a $7.99 bra, a pack of gum, a king size Twix bar, and  container of Milk Duds (why do I go to the gym)? The silver lining in the day was that the bra was only $.99.

I get to church with 2 minutes to spare, run in, change, and then practice. The song sounds great. Yea, I know my part. That made me happy. I finishe up practice, then go outside to help Aaron get the kids out of the Suburban. I wait and wait some more. I finally call him, only to hear Audra raisin' the roof. She is mad ... I mean, like "woman you better feed me now mad"! There has been an accident and they are stuck. They show up about 10 minutes later. I grab the kids (Aaron had to head back to work), all of whom were crying except Tavia, and taek them to there respective classes. Malaki decides that he dosen't want to go to nursery, and attaches himself to my leg. The nursery worker, pries him off and I make my escape (Audra is still yelling). At least I thought I escaped. I am stopped and asked to do nursery. I want to cry ... REALLY??? All I want to do is sit, and listen to the message ...

I figure that since I have to nurse Audra anyway, nursery was meant to be. I head over there and finally get her fed and then proceed to play with all of the babies. What a soothing salve for my frayed nerves! I had the most wonderful time. The fellowship with the ladies, and all the baby smiles gave me just what the doctor ordered.

I have decided that God knows what he is doing, even when I don't think so. He knows that I can handle one more obstacle even when I think I am going to explode. And the comfort and rest he provides in never in the way I think it should be. I am glad that he is in control and not me. I left church smiling ... and still am.

Outside my window...the grass that needs cut, the tomato steaks that need to be taken out of the garden, and the beautiful trees changing color.I am thinking...I have so much to do and that I am letting it stress me a little, but I need to get a hold of myself and be thankful for how the Lord has truly blessed me.
From the learning rooms...Nelle is learning to write her name, only when she writes it, it looks like this : eelln. Tavia is learning division and multiplication (WOW I am so proud of how well she is doing with school) . Malaki is learning to go potty (I will do a "praise Jesus" dance when this is completed.) Audra has learned that she has a voice ... man I thought she was going to be a quiet one.I am thankful for...health and life eternal, loving children, a husband who is my best friend, girl-friends that I can talk to, an amazing boss
From the kitchen...zucchini is thawing in the sink. I need to make some kind of healthy muffins for my husband ... and what to make for dinner. Steakums, in the freezer, but they are terrible for you.
I am reading....just finished "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" by Kurt and Brenda Warner. I still haven't decided what I think of it.
I am hoping...that the laundry pile will magically fold itself.I am creating... personalized canvases for my kids for ChristmasI am hearing...the springs of the trampoline and the kids incessant chatter ... and the dogs playing

Around the house...is a pinata drying One of my favorite things...right now it is dark coffee and oat and honey granola bars for breakfast.A few plans for the rest of the week...get the laundry folded, and Tavia's birthday party on SaturdayA picture thought I'm sharing with you . . . . .

Dogs in diapers and "no more slushies in the car"

Yesterday started out fairly normal.

My nieces arrived at 5:10 AM like they normally do, only, the alarm had not been turned on, so I was a little disheveled when I answered the door. Good thing it was only my brother and that the girls were agreeable with gong back to sleep.

By 8:00 AM the house was in a full blown tilter-whirl. I was informed by the Littles (Malaki & Selah) and the Middles (Nelle & Sedona) that only cereal would do for breakfast. Much to their dismay, I only had Raisin Bran and no milk. They settled for Graham crackers and peanut butter. Around 8:15 I tried to sign into my computer and noticed it was acting flaky. I tried starting internet explorer and it refused. I decided to reboot it and then it showed some error on one of the disks and insisted that I allow it to check for inconsistencies. I did, and now it is totally non-functioning.

So by 8:30, I had fed the baby, fed the five others and been rendered unable to work. Talk about a fast morning.

My sister in law showed up around 10:00 to get her girls and shortly after that my mom showed up. My mom showing up was a big surprise. She should have been at work. There was some kind of mix-up and she took the day off. I think when I heard that, you could have knocked me over with a feather. My mom never takes time off. I was secretly ecstatic. It has been forever since we have been able to spend the day together.

As all of these people were coming and going in and out of the house, Tavia's dog, Belle, scooted out of the front door to go to the bathroom. This would be perfectly okay accept that she was wearing a pull up. No, I did not make a typo. She was wearing a pull up. She ran to the edge of the yard and started to use the bathroom ... well, she thought about it. Then she looked at her back end and realized that there was a problem. Tavia, at this point was flying across the yard as quickly as she could so that she could remove the pull-up and not have to give her dog a bath. Once the pull up was successfully removed, Belle went on about her business, but not without checking her rear-end several times first. Eventually we made it out of the house and on our way to town.

We did a little shopping and then headed to the Sonic drive thru for a drink. As soon as mom mentioned it, I got a little hesitant because the kids are not supposed to have any food or drinks in the car. They promised to be super careful, so I said that this one time we would make an exception. I had to make one last stop at Target, and we would be on our way home. As we were pulling out of the parking lot at Target, Malaki starts yelling that there is a hole in the bottom of his cup. Of course there was a hole in his cup. We are in the car that we are not supposed to eat or drink in and he is drinking a RED drink. My big old suburban came to a screeching halt in the middle of the main entrance and exit road of the Target. Tavia chucked the slushy promto, and then mom, Tavia and I came rolling out of the vehicle faster than you read that last sentence. With wet wipes in hand, we systematically cleaned the entire inside of the car.

So I said that the day started normal, but normal lasted for all of 10 minutes and then the madness ensued!

It's been a while, but I am still alive and breathing and loving life. I must inform you, I am typing this post on my new IPAD. It is the coolest invention yet and I think my kids enjoy it as much as I do. At any given point in the day, one of them asks "hey mom, where is your Big phone?" Eventually they will learn the right name for it, but at least it feels like money well spent. Everyone of us (with the exception of Audra) is getting use out of it. Nelle and Malaki are using it to learn letter sounds and formation, Tavia is using it for math combinations practice and Aaron and I are really enjoying an App called GoSkyWatch. You can point it at the sky, put this little box around and object (in the night sky) and it will tell you what it is. Very cool in my opinion. Okay enough about my new toy and on to other events of the past few weeks.

I am still going to the gym regularly and still really like it. I tried a new class this week called Bodyflow. It is a combination of Pilates, Yoga and Tia Chi. I. Loved. It! I wish it was something I could do three or four times a week, but I will have to settle for one a week. I did have to laugh, the one teacher is really into the meditation part of the class, and at the end she does what is called "guided" meditation. She talks in hushed tones and tells you to focus on the ball of inner light that flows thru your body. How can she say this stuff and keep a straight face? I used the "guided meditation" time to take a nap. So even though I never found that ball of unique light she kept talking about I certainly felt refreshed.

Tavia is already almost done with her first quarter. 3rd grade is a lot more study intensive than previous grades. She is still doing well, but it is definitely different for her and me.

September is a big birthday month for us. We celebrate four - two on each side. Tonight we did a combined party for Mom and Luke. We ended the evening outside chilling out around the fire pit and making smores. I used to never like those things and tonight I ate four. Yes, four.
Where oh where did my self-control go? It was a great time, but now the hubbo and I are snuggled up eating popcorn and watching football. Okay, he's watching football. I'm updating you people on my small corner of the world.

The mundane of Mondays

Okay I realize that I have been lacks posting recently. Can you loyal follows forgive a sister? I have been a little busy.

I have now been a loyal gym goer for two weeks and can I tell you a secret? I LOVE IT!! I am taking two different classes and they really are fun. Who'd have thunk ... exercise and fun all rolled into one activity. My kids seem to like the Kids Club well enough. My little one seems to be a bit concerned that I will forget her and only allows me to be absent from her sight-line for ~45 minutes each visit. After my alloted time is up one of the dear workers comes and gets me saying "she's not crying, she is just whimpering and looks sad" and then tells me that this has been going on since I dropped her off. Wow Audra, way to make Mom feel like pond scum for being the cause of your sadness and whimpering. I suppose one day I will long for my kids to feel that way in my absence, but in the midst of me burning 497 calories per hour, not so much. Alas I smile, because I know that I am loved.

I walked in an Alzheimer's Memorial walk this Saturday morning. Our group of ladies (plus Audra), walked three miles thru downtown Fredericksburg. It was a beautiful day, the fellowship was wonderful and the cause was more than worthy. Glad to say I was a part of it. After the walk, (meaning lots of calories burned) my darling husband had a Dunkin Donuts apple fritter waiting for me (meaning lots of calories taken in). I guess since I did the walk, inhaling the apple fritter at the end wasn't nearly as damaging to that Jillian Michaels figure I am after, than if I hadn't walked.

Sunday was busy as well. Since I am on the singing rotation at church, I had to be at church to go over my special. After leaving 15 minutes later than we were supposed to, discovering that my make-up was not in the car and my hair sporting the "wind-blown" look ... I realized that the Lord is in control, and it is okay to be put out of my eliminate. Lunch at Olive Garden was fantastic, bought a new headboard and foot board for super cheap, then ran home to turn around and go back to Stafford for Tavia's first day of drama rehearsal.

Tavia started 2:49 which is a drama program out of Mt Arrarat Baptist Church with Frick and Frack Music. I can not say enough about how wonderful this program is. Tavia absolutely loves the fellowship and the directors.

Home at 9:15 last night and exhausted.

I am so glad that today all I have to do is laundry.

Bring on the mundane.

Things that go bump in the night.

SLEEP! I love it, but can never seem to get enough of it. Four children, one husband, and two dogs have a way of making 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep non-existent.

Last night though, I went to bed with high hopes. Everyone had been sleeping soundly for several hours so I figured it would be smooth sailing. Wow, what was I thinking??

At 1:00 AM Audra woke up to eat ... no biggie this is a routine eating time recently.

At 4:30 AM Audra once again decided she needed a snack. I slowly slipped out of the bed, (a little less compliant this time) and headed for her crib. I had not taken two steps when my foot caught on something on the floor. It took a minute for me to realize that the dog was there, under my feet. At the same time she realized that she was under my feet. This sent me airborne thru the room where I face-planted into Aaron's closet doors. "from the bed room floor there arose such a clatter that Aaron sprang from the bed to see what was the matter" Only to find his wife laying on the floor in the fetal position in front of his closet and his infant daughter having quite the hoot-a-niny fit in her crib.

He tried to help me up, but I rejected his offer and had him get Audra out of the crib and I laid there for another minute or so trying to decide if I was really hurt, or if it had just been a brutal way to get fully awake. I slowly made my way up and made it back to my bed. I nursed the little princess again, put her to sleep and went to sleep again myself. Thinking that the bodily damage wasn't so bad, I tried to lay down. I quickly discovered that the left side of my body was not going to tolerate any pressure. So to the right side I rolled.

At 6:00 AM the dog was up and started pacing, by 7:00, I decided to get up to see how the closet door, floor, my head, and knees had faired in the episode. Closet door appears fine. The floor? unscathed. My head? Well I have a black eye ... my knees are bruised. I look like I went for a round in the wrestling right with my two year old. Motrin will be my friend for the coming days.

All I can think is that one day I will laugh about this event, and I can also say most assuredly that the dog will be sleeping in the kennel from now until kingdom come.