Mr. Clean

Nick's new favorite pastime is vacuuming.

Yes, it takes him 20 times longer than it would take me to do the same job.

It keeps him really busy though. He loves searching the house for crumbs (although they are never hard to find!!) He is very meticulous and does the best that he can. He enjoys it. And it keeps him occupied and out of trouble for about 20 minutes - which is amazing.

Of course, this is because vacuuming is his idea, not mine. As soon as I ask him to do it, he probably won't have any interest in it anymore. I suppose I will have to keep letting him think that it's what he wants to do!!

Under Quarantine

Yes, that's a lot of antibiotics.

The kids had been feeling crummy for the past couple of days. I got Ellie an appointment today and she tested positive for strep. The doctor was nice enough to check the rest of us. Kate, Lexie and Nick had it also - and Tori and I had the beginnings of it.

So, we headed on over to the pharmacy and left with a grocery bag full of meds :)

It looks like we'll be staying home for the next day or two...

It's Over

This week is finally over. It was exhausting.

I had one kid in day camp from 9 to 4. Then 3 of them had Vacation Bible School from 6-8:30 every night. We also had a doctor's appointment to go to and I took 2 of the kids to the movies.

I dropped them all off at respite care this afternoon and had lunch with a friend that is moving away. It was nice to get away for a bit. But now I'm back home and tired...

Next week, we have nothing planned, so hopefully I can get caught up on my sleep :)

Nick, the Graffiti Artist

Close-up of Graffiti
Apparently we have gotten to the stage where Nick feels the need to write on anything and everything.

We have a plethora of pens, pencils, markers, and crayons around the house. They are all fair game to him. He is doodling on everything, leaving his mark wherever he sees fit. He has drawn on the walls, floors, table, and even (gasp!) the ottoman that Andy so lovingly covered himself (and expensively I might add). We have scrubbed and scrubbed and used the white magic sponge thing and we still have pen marks on the ottoman (sorry honey!).

The girls have been warned to keep all writing utensils up high when not in use. I know that is not the solution though. He knows he isn't supposed to be writing on things. I know he knows. We will be butting heads soon if it doesn't cease.

Opposite of Yesterday

If yesterday was peaceful, today was hectic.

I dropped the kids off at respite care this morning so that I could enjoy some grown-up time and shop at a craft show with a friend.

I got a call from one of the childcare workers saying that Lexie had been crying non-stop since I left and she wasn't eating. So, our shopping was cut short and we skipped our lunch plans :(

I picked up all of the kids and took Ellie and Kate to a Girl Scout craft day. Then I took Ellie to a birthday party at the bowling alley.

I had been gone from the house for 10 hours by the time I got back. I am exhausted!
I am thankful though that I got some Christmas shopping done and that the kids are pretty tired too from getting up so early today. Hopefully we will all have a pleasant night of blissful sleep.......

Peaceful Day

Today, I decided to let my to-do list take a back seat.

We all slept in.
I took a long, hot shower.
I let the kids watch cartoons this morning and I read a book - for hours!
I took them to gymnastics, and I watched a movie on my ipod - how cool!
We ate pizza for dinner and I let the kids make their own trail mix.
They are watching a movie and I am doing a few little chores here and there, but for the most part I am just relaxing.

I needed today. I needed a break from life. I needed to not feel like I had to work on anything. Ok, so I still did the dishes and washed the diapers, but I don't mind that so much :)

It was nice to take a real break. Normally when we take a day off of school, I do it because I am so busy with something else that I have to finish. Today, it was all about doing nothing and it was perfect :)

Not in my job description

wood shavings

I am constantly forced to do things which are not in my job description. You know the one - mom, teacher, chauffer, dishwasher, cook, etc.? Carpenter is absolutely not on that list.

Yesterday, my children decided that they needed to jump off the castle in the playroom. They managed to break a board in half and what was left attached was sharp and full of splinters. Not too safe to play around.

So, I went into the garage and started looking around for what tools I needed. I erred on the side of caution and didn't use the sawzall - I didn't want to lose a limb! So, I got out the old-fashioned saw and evened up the board, then planed it until it was flush with the castle wall, and then I sanded it down so it is now safe and splinter-free.

I suppose I am capable of more than I think. I am sure that Andy would have done a nicer (and much quicker) job than I did, but I am glad that at least I was able to make it safe.

I miss having a husband around :(

I want to scream!!!

Talk about frustration. I think I had about all I could handle today.

Things were going quite well. We woke up and had pancakes and sausage for breakfast and then we went on our field trip to the museum. The kids were well behaved and I was really proud of them.

I dropped Kate off at art class and took a quick trip to the PX. Then, I dropped Ellie off at art and took Kate home for a bit.

Let me preface this with the fact that I have to be early to everything. I just do. It bugs me if I am late, so I usually plan to be extra early. That way if anything happens to make me late, I am still early. Weird, huh? It came in handy today though. (And thankfully I'm married to someone that is the same way. We would have some serious problems otherwise.....)

So, I left to pick Ellie up, giving myself 45 minutes for a 15 minute drive. The kids had a new movie and I let them put it in the car. When I got to the gate to get on post, I realized that I didn't have an ID card. I had left it on the counter at the PX.

So, the gate guard told me I would have to drive around to the main gate and go to the visitor's center to get a pass. Ok, I still had time - annoying, but no problem. That's what I thought until I got there and Nick was soaking wet through his pants and he had pulled his socks and boots off (it was negative 5 degrees out). So, I changed his diaper and put his shoes on (his pants were still wet mind you). Then I dragged them all into the visitor's center.

I had never been in there before and wasn't sure what to expect. However, I did not expect a line of 20 people in front of me and one man working at the desk - without any sense of urgency as the line was now all the way to the door.

Of course, not one of those 20 people (who were all waiting to get a pass to go to some sort of party) took pity on me and let me go ahead of them. Not that I asked, but everyone heard me let the man know that my 9 yr old was waiting for me to pick her up. I had no way of calling her teacher and I thought I was going to let out a huge scream of frustration right there in line. Especially since I was carrying my 40 lb, urine-soaked 2 yr old the entire time. By the time I got my pass and drove to her class, I was 30 minutes late picking her up. I felt awful - especially since they had no idea where I was. I'm just glad that I had left so early, or I would have been an hour late.

Then of course, I had to pile them all in and out of the car again to go in the PX and retrieve my ID card. At that point, I decided that we were going to eat fast food for dinner, because I was so irritated and tired that I didn't want to come home and cook - not even opening a can of chicken noodle soup. So, they are all upstairs watching a movie now and I am ready to curl into a ball and go to sleep.....

Sick Day

Today we had a sick day. Kate has a possible case of strep throat. Her culture came back negative, but the doctor was pretty sure that is what she has (maybe too early to detect). She also had 2 ear infections (but no pain in her ears, thankfully!) She is taking her medicine now and is already feeling much better.

We could have continued to do school today, but I decided to give them a nice day of rest (ok, me too!). They have been watching a couple of their favorite movies: National Treasure and National Treasure 2. We skipped our extracurricular activities today - and we will for the next couple of days. Although I would never wish for her to be sick, this has turned into a blessing in disguise and is going to give us some much-needed down time (with an excuse!)

Cleaning Day

I have already decided that tomorrow is going to be a cleaning day. Not fun, but needed.

I am missing:

1.the lens cap to my camera

2.the remote control (the button is broken off the TV, so this means that the TV has been on for over a week. Luckily, we have doors to shut it behind.)

3.the second cordless phone (and it is now dead) I have had to go up/down the steps to answer the phone instead of having one on each floor. Very frustrating.

I am hoping that if we clean we will actually find these things.... Maybe I should offer a prize to whoever finds them? Of course, they'd probably make more of a mess looking for them :)

Happy Halloween!

Productive Day

We didn't get much schoolwork done today. The kids got their "basics" done: math, grammar, spelling, handwriting. That was about it.

Since we got paid today, I decided that we needed to get the grocery shopping done. I never go on the weekends, it's just too crowded. We can catch up on history and science on Saturday instead.

So, we went to Sam's Club, the Commissary, and Walmart.

Then I got home and cooked:
chili,
a beef pot roast w/veggies,
beef stroganoff,
vegetable-beef stew,
taco meat,
spaghetti sauce,
and a pork roast for BBQ pulled pork sandwiches.

I'm not kidding! That was a lot of cooking. I'm still waiting for the roast and stew to cool down so that I can throw them in the freezer. I also made a salad to last the next couple of days. It was a lot of work, but now I have ready-made dinners in the freezer :) Hooray!!

Oh, and I actually remembered to label and date the ziplocs this time. I don't know how many times I have pulled some unidentifiable ziploc out thinking it was spaghetti sauce only to find it was soup of some sort. I am getting more organized. I even cleaned out the freezer and made it look pretty :)

And now I am absolutely exhausted and I am debating whether I should stay up and do all of the dishes or just leave them for morning. I almost NEVER leave dishes in the sink overnight - that's not what I want to start my day out with. I'm pretty tired though.....

Sniffles

I officially have the sniffles.

Of course, I had a zillion read-alouds planned today - history, geography, science, literature. Reading aloud with a stuffy/runny nose is not any fun. I only finished about half of what I wanted to accomplish today. So is life...

I would feel much better if I could take some NyQuil. I love that stuff - I don't know if it actually helps my nose or cough, but it knocks me out and then I don't care if I can breathe or not. :) It's been ages since I've been able to take it though. I have been constantly pregnant or nursing for the past 10 years!! Besides, if I were knocked out in the middle of the night and Andy wasn't here, who would get up and put the kids back to bed?? I suppose I will suffer through a sleepless night....

Funny tidbits from today....

1. We made it to PWOC this morning, but it was another mad dash to the door - man do I need to set that alarm! Anyway, Ellie again helped get Nick and Lexie ready and in the car so I could get myself and Tori ready in time. When we got back home, I realized that Nick was wearing Lexie's socks and his pants were on backwards!! Lexie's shoes were on the wrong feet also :) I wonder if anyone noticed, because no one said anything to me. :)

2. Kate apparently thought that boats had wheels on them under the water. She was absolutely incredulous that we rode the ferry all the way up here - without wheels!! How did it not sink???

3. Nick cried when we parked in the Chapel parking lot this morning. He very clearly said "I don't want to go to PWOC, I want to go to Walmart!" This is the same thing he said the last time we went to church :) I'm not quite sure why he likes Walmart so much...

4. Nick had nothing but a shirt and diaper on this afternoon, because I had just changed him. He brought a silk scarf up to me and said "I want to be a girl. Give me a dress." I sure hope his dad doesn't read this post....

5. I started reading Tirzah as a read-aloud for the the kids before bed tonight. As I began to read, Kate stopped me and asked "Mom, could you start at the beginning?". I told her that it was the beginning and she said "But it didn't start with Once Upon a Time!" :)

Do I even bother?

Do I even bother going to church?? Every time I go, it seems like something makes it not worth the time and effort.

This morning I really wanted to sleep in. Nick came into my bed at 3 a.m. and didn't want to go back to sleep. Instead he sat and played with his metal trains next to my head. This was of course after I stayed up until 1 a.m. getting things done around the house. I was not a happy camper when 8 rolled around....

I decided to get them all up and fed and dressed and to take them to church though. The older girls gladly went to their separate classes. They really enjoy going. Nick, on the other hand, screamed until he turned blue and threw himself on the floor when I took him to the nursery. I took pity on the poor nursery worker (who was in there alone with many other children) and I took him and Tori into the service. We ended up walking in late and he wouldn't sit still or be quiet. After about 5 minutes, a woman came in "looking for Lexie's mom". So, I toted Nick and Tori, the diaper bag, and our coats up through the aisle to the front where the door to the hall of classes is.

Lexie had thrown up - icky green stuff (probably Lucky Charms) all over the carpet. So, I got her cleaned up and went to get the older girls out of their classes and we headed home.

I feel like I wasted my morning. I happily would have slept in or at least stayed in my PJs all day.

It seems like someone is always sick, which unfortunately ruins our plans quite often. The same thing happened at PWOC on Thursday. We had to leave early because Nick was sick (with something different of course). I guess it's bound to happen. The more I take them out though, the more they end up catching something......

Sometimes I just want to barricade us in the house with a month's supply of food and not leave. I know I'm being unrealistic in my expectations, but I really would like things to go smoothly once in a while......

Relaxing Day

Ok, so maybe relaxing isn't the right word. There were no spas, manicures, hot tubs, or big fluffy pillows in my day.

I did however manage to spend an entire day in the house - without going anywhere! Yes, today I had no obligations and no classes to taxi the kids to. I puttered around the house, getting some schoolwork preparation done and some cleaning. It was relaxing in its own way.

The only time I left the house was to ice skate to my mailbox. I didn't actually put any skates on, but I could have!! It was pretty slippery. We woke up to even more snow this morning and I have been watching people's cars slip past my house all day. Some nice man came and threw some gravel on the road, so it's a bit better now :)

Now I just have to get them all into bed so that I can continue with some school-related stuff and watch a movie or two - alone - with some hot cocoa. Let's hope that they are sleepy....

The newest additions to my polish pottery collection

This was a birthday gift from my friend, Michelle. She took a trip to WA and found a Polish Pottery store in Pike Place Market!!

I bought the bowl and plate at the PX yesterday (it was cheap - only $13 for the bowl and $6 for the plate!!) Andy went back today and got me the teapot (without me asking).
He's such a good husband :)

Yes, I am probably addicted. I can't help myself. I just really love polish pottery.

You would think that we had been stationed in Germany. We haven't.

I have an entire cabinet full of the stuff. Some of it I use daily (like my fruit bowl, spoon rest, and a couple of the bowls).

The rest, I use whenever I entertain - okay, so not very often. It's very pretty in the cabinet though :)

As the kids get a bit older, I will start using it more and more. It looks so nice at the dinner table!!

Someday, I would actually like to have all of my dinner plates to be polish pottery. I want them all to be different patterns, because I think that would be much more interesting that way. I will then promptly throw out my Wal-mart dishes and never look back....

Busy Days

Busy days are ahead.

This week the girls got registered for AWANA. They started dance and gymnastics classes.

Next week we start Girl Scouts. The good thing is, I think I got them both into the same troop (a mixed Brownie-Junior troop!) This will make it so much easier for me.

Next week we are going to be starting schoolwork. I'm still not quite ready. I have copies to make, the office to clean, and a schedule to put together.

Thankfully, the kids are enthusiastic about starting again. They have already cracked open their math books and finished the first 4-9 lessons, because they just can't wait! I'm glad that they are ready to go. This has been a long summer off for us. I hope they haven't forgotten too much :)

We have a lot of things to do before the deployment. We have our checklist and are busy marking things off as we go. Andy has been working on fixing various things around the house. We have had a tune-up done on the truck, powers of attorneys made, etc. There are a lot of thigns to think about and prepare for.

I have a lot of things to get done through our FRG (Family Readiness Group). We have a fundraiser coming up in a couple of weeks. I have a newsletter to write. We are also trying to get ready for our first "packing party" in October so that we can mail out packages of essentials to the guys. We are also trying to procure enough Christmas stockings for each of the soldiers in our troop before we send the Christmas packages out in November. Anyone own a stocking factory??? :)

All of this AND trying to keep up with the housework and take care of the kids is getting hard.

Well, I had better go and get to work!!

Errands

Andy is home today and we've been busy running errands. He mowed the lawn, we got his truck registered in Alaska, we went to the farmer's market, I bought organizational stuff at Wal-mart, I turned in books for credit and bought new ones at the bookstore, and Andy is now busy grilling shrimp for the kids. They had better enjoy it while they can, because I won't be cooking any while he's gone!! Funny, I grew up on an island and yet I really don't like seafood. Does canned tuna fish count? I really just don't like the "fishy" taste and smell - no oysters, shrimp, crab, lobster, and I hate most types of fish also. YUCK!! I can eat a little fish when it is like a fish "steak". I don't like to be picking stuff off the bones. Wow, I got off on a tangent :)
Anyway, tonight I am going to work on organizing some of the kids' school stuff. We're also going to watch "Nim's Island" with the kids and I'm going to look around online for a new camera. Andy will be taking ours to Iraq and I'd like to replace it with something new and improved!! Any suggestions?

Gas Prices

I have to rant just a little....
We're sitting up here in Alaska on tons of OIL and we're still paying over $4.50 a gallon for gas!! It seems like everywhere else in the U.S. the prices have come down, but we haven't!
Ok, I feel better now that I got that out of my system :)