6th birthday

Saturday brought with it Olivia's sixth birthday. Six, if that is believable. It seriously makes me feel extremely old. Although I will say for being six she is extremely smart. In the past few weeks she has been collecting all the spare change and money around the house. We assumed she was hording it to buy toys at Wal-mart but when asked about why she was doing it. She replied that she was saving it to put in the can at school for the people who got washed away by the big wave. I was so proud. Proud that we had raised a daughter who was looking out for and thinking of other people besides herself. It was an enlighting moment.
Later on yesterday Olivia and hailey were argueing about what they wanted to be when they grow up. Hailey told me she wanted to be a princess. Olivia told her that she couldn't be. I said she could be if she married a prince. It was then that I was informed that Princess already have their true loves.. so hailey couldn't possibly be one. Hailey was satisfied with that at which time she said she wants to be Patrick, from Spongebob Squarepants. Olivia said she would like to be a Bratz... I told her she already is.. She didn't think this was funny, at all.
The big party is this weekend so we are already in overload mode trying to get all the arrangements taken care of.

One of THOSE days.. again

I should have known it was going to be one of those days when Riley came padding over to my room at 5 am and ask me to turn on cartoons. I of course didn't which sent him into a hysterical fit. When he calmed down I explained that it was still dark ourside and there were no cartoons on yet. He seemed satisfied and laid down. I am not sure exactly why he gets up at the crack of dawn each morning. he doesn't go to bed early. We were having a horrible time getting him to go to bed at all, but do to a tv addicted co-worker and the show Supernanny we have a new bed time ritual that seems to work out just fine for everyone. So who would have ever guessed that a cheesy realty show could actually have advice that works.
I got into the shower after the 5 am wake up call only to be joined seconds later by two sleepy girls. (and BOY do I love having company in the shower that early.) By the time I got dressed and ready for work the girls were still in the shower, riley was running around without a diaper and the dogs were desperately paceing to go out. It was 7 am and I wanted to leave in exactly 30 minutes. By the time I got everything done, riley dressed, hailey dressed, the dogs out, cereal poured Olivia was still standing in a towel in the living room. I immediately went into mom 'drill sargent' mode and go her hiney moving. Needless to say we didn't get out of the house until almost 10 of 8 and I, of course, was late again for work. I am beginning to think that the girls have made it their lives mission to make me late for work everyday possible. I guess the good news about that is that they are succeeding.

Smoke.. .and then flames

The weekend started well, as well as can be expected considering the impending blizzard. Everyone was at the grocery store on Friday night buying bread and milk, which I don't get at all. Saturday the snow did come.. although not near as much as they expected. The kids and I did was we all like to do, nothing. We stayed in the house and watche Shrek 2.. then we watched Shrek 2 again. So then we watched Shrek 2 again.. I figured when I started to recite the lines it was time to turn it off. By Sunday morning I was dying for D to get home so that I could have a conversation with someone who wanted to talk about something other then Barbies and Polly Pockets. He, of course was tired, grouchy and hungary and just wanted to shovel and go to sleep. Well, I decided to make something fast and easy for lunch and leave well enough alone. I threw two frozen pizzas in the oven and went about my business.. About five minutes later I noticed the house was starting to fill up with smoke. I immediately ran to the oven and opened the door. Thick black smoke came pouring out. Through that smoke I could see flames.. not big ones but big enough to send Olivia running out to D yelling "the house is on fire and its the stove.. the stove". After much cleaning up and ventilating of the house, we came to discover that some wonderful, sweet angel like child had put dog food in the bottom of the oven. Being that the oven is gas it had gotten onto the pilot light and caught on fire. Wonderful huh? And no the dogs dont like their food heated up.

Tired and then some

Last night was one of those nights.. again. All was well when I got home. We immediately left the house to go and have dinner at a new restaurant down the road, Damon's. It was actually pretty good. The kids were well behaved and well fed. I was truly beginning to believe that all would work out well when we took our three heathens into Home Depot later. Of course I was wrong, as usual. The whole trip turned bad when D had to stop at the Nextel store. I decided that I would just stay in the car with the kids and entertain them with a Disney CD or two. We listened to a few songs, sang along played a few games. Thirty minutes later they were antsy and tired.. riley bit Hailey, Olivia was screaming, Hailey was crying and kicking the back of my seat. She then hit her brother with an umbrella which I promptly took and kept up front. That gave her more of a reason to kick and scream. Her screaming, of course, gave the other two ideal opportunity to scream themselves. It was a nightmare. A woman pulled into the parking space beside us and literally gave me that look that said ' I pity you'. It was horrible. So 45 minutes later D came out new phone and all. I gave him that death look to which he immediately apologized. Well, the time stuck in car seats in the car was quickly made up for in Home Depot. They were so bad. Running around, climbing the ladders. We quickly got our stuff and left. Home wasn't much different, because of their behavior at the store they were not allowed to watch TV before bed. Needless to say, this didn't go over well at all. Two hours, some time outs and a bunch of idle threats later they eventually passed out from shear exhaustion from screaming and crying. Riley, of course was still awake from all the confusion and didn't go to sleep till close to midnight. So, on that note today has been long and tiring. Getting lunch was a nightmare, no one in this town knows how to drive, and with a full stomach I am completely ready for a nice nap.

Sick as a dog, literally

the last few days at my house have literally been hell. Hailey was sick most of the weekend and into Monday. She spent most of Tuesday at the babysitters throwing up all over her living room which prompted me to take her to the doctors. The doctor of course gave her the once over and diagonsed her with this horrible stomach flu that has been going around. So, already being dead on my feet from long nights taking turns with D staying up while she was sick, I was pooped. Riley as well has been up long nights lately, ever since he feel between his bed and the wall and had to be rescued by his dad who had to pull the bed out to get him un-stuck. He hasn't exactly been sleeping like a log since then. So late Tuesday night I got up not feeling to great and just thought it was becasue I was tired from all the long nights.. WRONG! I, of course ended up with this horrible flu like death crap that is going around. I felt horrible, seriously like I was dying. It was miserable and I would not wish it on my worst enemy. Thankfully D took the kids to the sitters yesterday so I had a chance to spend the majority of the day sleeping or throwing up..
Needless to say all is better today. Hailey is feeling much better as is myself and the others. I only hope and pray that we haven't spread it all over the house and that all of us end up with it again.

Weekend Warriors

Well, the weekend went really fast but I got a ton of stuff done. And, it finally snowed. This yoga class thing has been giving me a ton of energy. The kids enjoy the fact that I have more energy too. We pretty much layed low most of the weekend, got a ton of stuff done around the house and played with the kids. Watched football, of course, but don't even get me started on how absolutely frustrating that was. At one point on Sunday I took the dog for a walk. As we were walking by the park, he saw a squirrel which usually, if I am paying attention, isn't a bad thing, but i wasn't and he caught me off balance. He pulled with all his might, I feel down, letting go of the leash. I called for him immediately and he did stop, surprising as that was. So here I am sitting on the ground and Bandit is licking my face. So immediately I say 'go lassie, go tell daddy that i feel down the well' he just looked at me like i was retarded and continued to lick my face. So much for him helping me. The other person running by though probably got a huge kick out of me sitting on the ground in the freezing cold talking to my dog.
As I write this i am thinking to myself, this is the second time in this blog I have written about me falling down. Either I need to stop being such a clutz or at least stop telling people about it.
Olivia signed up for soccer yesterday, she is really excited about it. Me too, its fun to watch your children do things like that. hailey is a little frustrated that she is too little to do anything. So I have to find something for her to join now. I should put her in boxing she is such a fighter. For being so petite and tiny and weighing only 30 lbs she sure can take down Olivia. And trust me they fight continuously. Drives me nuts!

Birthday party planner

I have spent the majority of my day on the phone trying to find a decently affordable place to have Olivias birthday party. She wants to invite her whole class, which is fine, except I don't really want to have to find a way to entertain 15 children in my house for two hours. Especially since most of the kids dont know her and I don't know any of them. I suppose this would be an exceptional way to meet the parents of the kids she will going to school with, but family alone fills a room and with 15 kids it could make for an interesting party. Needless to say kids birthday parties are not cheap, at all. Seriously most local places want at least 8 - 10 dollars per child. With 15 kids that a lot of money for a few hours of fun. So being the procrastinator that I am it is now getting down to the wire and have no where to go, which means I suppose I should start looking up some really great kids party games.

What is with the weather?

Well, the weather pretty much stinks here.. Everything is wet and damp and cold. The fog in some areas is so thick you can't even see your hand in front of your face. Honestly it looks like something out of a bad horror movie. Although I love horror movies, i don't exactly like being part of one. Otherwise things are pretty much normal. The kids and I were watching the Nanny 911 show on ABC last night. I seriously need to call that woman. My kids would be the perfect candidates for her help. D's friend always says that coming to our house is like perfect birth control. And I always tell anyone that wants kids to come spend about an hour with ours. Now don't get me wrong I love my kids but they can be serious little devils. out of control little devils most of the time. Last night when I came home from work it was like stepping into a war zone, literally. Olivia was standing on the coffee table with her microphone signing at the top of her lungs to the tv which had to seriously be turned up to number 80.. (i have to clarify that I could actually hear the house before I even stepped inside) Hailey was running around dancing.. and riley was running after her screaming which in turn got the dogs all wound up. D was in the kitchen making dinner and had his radio on full blast so that he could hear it over the tv. Seriously, I bet the neighbors love us.. So although I am for the most part anti-realty shows.. Nanny 911 might be getting an application from me.

Rainy day

The day is dragging like crazy.. I assume it has something to do with this crazy rain we are getting. Every area around us is getting snow, but we.. we are getting rain. The snow would be so nice right now. Even the kids are restless when it is raining. Nothing to do is what they whine about.. I always say its winter you wouldn't be going outside to play anyway.
Life is finally getting back into our normal routine and boy does it feel nice to finally be able to juggle home and work a little better. No more 45 minute communtes to and from work and I love it. The only thing that I might miss about it is the alone time it gave me in the car. So instead I joined yoga. Today was my first class and I am amazed at how great and energized I feel afterwards. I think that this is going to be a great thing for me to do for myself twice a week. D, of course laughs when I tell him about yoga. And always wants me to show him some of the poses that we are learning. No way I shout.. but tell him he is more and welcome to come to the class and have a bunch of woman show him how its done. Yeah right he says.. must be a macho man thing.

Birthday Girl!

Yesterday was haileys birthday. Acutally the first birthday party in her four years of existance that she has had by herself since we usually combine hers with Olivias. She was very excited as soon as she got up in the morning singing Happy Birthday to me almost immediately. At about 10 am or so i was upstairs putting clothes away when she came stumbling up the stairs carrying a bag. She then bust into my bedroom exclaiming "look what I got for my birthday!" She, of course had found her unwrapped present in the hall closet hidden behind and underneath a mountain of coats and shoes. Olivia immediately demanded the present back from her and told her that we needed to wrap it for the party. I, on the other hand let her open it and she was very happy about that. Olivia, wasn't. She spent the majority of "haileys" day moping around that Hailey got stuff she didnt. I felt bad, but i know her tune will change when it is her b-day party. Hailey was also excited at her choice of b-day party themes, Strawberry Shortcake of course! The party hats were so cute! Little strawberry shortcake hats made of cardboard. She, with her red hair, looked adorable. The cake was also strawberry shortcake. Everyone came to the party and we got through it with minimal confusion and no diasters, except the hot water heater incident, which is always a good thing. So now, we start to plan for the next party.
At one point during the party D decided it would be nice to get his dad and his brother in law to help him light the pilot light on the hot water heater. Being that D and Karl are both paid firemen you would think that they would be able to handle fire without any 'incidents' which of course isnt the case, or there would be no story. So they didn't have anything long enough to stick into the hole to light the pilot light. so some genius decided that they should use paper. Well, after about three pieces of burnt up paper, a whole lot of smoke and smelly crap floating through the air they had the pilot light lit. Obviously now there is a smelly mess in the basement. At Olivias party I will make sure she tells her dad to stay away from things that involve fire.

Basement steps

I thought I should post the below picture so that everyone who reads this and doesn't know my dog, Tiller, will know exactly why the following story is so hilarious. Basically last night we took Tiller out to the back yard of the new house. We always take him out the front door and around to the rear, knowing that he won't go down the basement stairs. The stairs to the basement are open and he is scared of them. So while I had him out back Olivia opened the basement door so I just took him into the basement thinking that while he won't go down them because they are open, he couldn't possibly be scared of going up them, right? Wrong.. so we couldn't get him to go up the stairs. Finally I told everyone to go upstairs thinking that if we were all up there he surely would eventually get up enough courage to come up, right? wrong.. again. He wouldn't.. Refused basically and stood at the bottom of the steps and whined the entire time we were eating dinner. So basically we have a 200 pound dog, as big as a small horse who is scared of everything that moves as well as things that don't move like steps. He is quite possibly a bigger baby then the baby.

Our big baby 

Rough Day

My day only turned to worse yesterday when I got off work. I ran to the store to buy blinds, so that people will stop looking in my house when they drive by, only to be met with a ton of traffic. Literally it took me 30 minutes to go 6 miles. So when I arrived at the store I was already in a lousy mood. I picked out what I needed and proceeded to the checkout. The only checkout line that didn't have fifteen people in it was the self checkout. I'm a smart girl, I assumed I could figure it out. Wrong... the machine kept telling me to put my stuff in the bag .. then blinking. I kept yelling at it that I had already put the stuff in the bag but obviously it wasn't listening. So eventually an employee had to come over and help me. I felt seriously retarded. So after she made me feel like a stupid ass in front of everyone within ear shot, I took my purchases and went home. When I got home I parked the car in front of the house and got my bags out of the back. Half way across the street, in the rain, the bag with the blinds in broke all over the road. I gathered them up as quickly as I could and hurried off the road, but a car ran over one of the brackets I bought squishing it flat. Great.. I went in the house just in time to see the dry waller burn up his shop vac all over my living room, which immediately was covered in a thin layer of white dust. Of course there is also two huge piles of white dust from the sanding, which he was unable to clean up. those piles are now tracked via dog throughout the entire house but of course that wasn't before Riley dumped an entire box of clean and neatly folded clothes on to the floor into the piles of drywall dust.
After attmepting to clean up the mess and changing my clothes I took the little dog out to pee. it was cold, raining and wet and as soon as my bare feet hit the wood floor I feel right on my butt. The dog thought I was playing and proceeded to jump 0n me and lick me. The kids, of course, all stood in the door way and laughed. Wounded pride, sore and wet butt I hobbled back in side and vowed to go to bed. Which I did. The good news is, I got my blinds up.

Everything back to 'normal'?

It seems that my life might finally be getting back to some sense of normal. Although I am not sure that normal is a word I would use. The kids and dogs and everyone else inbetween seem to be adjusting to the new house and new town. I am enjoying the fact that I have taken olivia to school everyday this week and will probably do so everyday that their babysitter doesn't have them. I think that everything is going to work out great for us here. Obviously things are completely crazy and disorganized. The house is barely in order and we still don't have any of the couches or our bed... but we are managing. Tonight my main goal is to buy curtains for the living room. Althought that doesn't sound like much of a goal, trust me it is. For the last week we have been living in our house with no curtains. Literally you can drive by my house and wave at me eating dinner clear in the dining room. Last night I put my foot down and decided that the neighbors would no longer see me eating dinner... I was taking a trip for curtains, maybe blinds but definitely something to cover the windows. Haileys eye is looking a tab better. although it still looks like she was in a bar fight. Riley, also is adjusting well and breaking in the new house quite nicely. Today he proceeded to throw an entire chicken burrito on the dining room floor, as he was standing on top of the table screaming. It was a sight to behold, him clad only in pajama bottoms standing in the middle of the dining room table, throwing burritos while screaming. It was like a little people cult ritual or something. So hopefully the next couple days will prove to be more organized then the last view. That we will see....

We are finally moved!

Well, we are finally moved. Not completely, but somewhat. The house is completely disorganized and in most rooms you are lucky if you can even walk. But we are staying at the new house and I already love the conveince. We have been settling in okay. Everyone seems to be adjusting well. Riley is sleeping quite nicely in his "big boy" bed. We thought we would have a major problem. We have taken to calling Hailey "Shiner". On Friday she was running towards the steps. Instead of stepping up she fell and ran her head into the step. She hit so hard she bounced completely backwards onto her back. She immediately got a big fat goose egg, which also immediately got black and blue. It was crazy. I was freaking out..Donnie of course was calm, as always. So we took her to the hospital. It seems that we bare children with hard heads because the doctors were amazed that she didn't cut it or get a concussion. So other then a huge "shiner" she is fine.
Olivia started her new school yesterday and loved every minute of it. She was happy that the kids were so nice but told me that she liked going all day better. I told her that in another couple years she would be complaining that she hates school and doesn't want to go all day. She stated that she would never hate school. Ok.. sure.
She also proceeded to tell her new teacher, Mrs. Reese, that she had on the same pants that she wore the day before because we couldn't find any clean pants for her to wear. Great huh?
So onward and upward and hopefully eventually I can get our lives to some assemblance of order.