One of THOSE weeks

Ever have one of those weeks where you can't catch yourself coming OR going? Ever had one of those weeks where you had to look at the calendar not once, but FOUR times each day to make sure you weren't missing something? Ever have one of those weeks where you barely catch a shower most days - if at all - but you don't care?

Well, I just did. And to top it off my nasty throat swelly thing came back last night. It's like the cherry on top of the sundae, except my sundae was filled with multiple doctor's appointments, new glasses, lunch, birthdays, parties, loads of cupcakes (some burnt ones as well), and gymnastics. Thank goodness soccer is only on the weekends right now and Miss Lucy hasn't started her round of activities, otherwise I might have lost it. Two days this week I had FOUR things on the calendar. Two days there were three things, so you see how my week went. Even managed to volunteer at school one day and have lunch with a friend. Guess I could have dropped those things, but that was my "fun" for the week.

So at what point does it get better - or is it all downhill from here? We've already dealt with two birthday parties and a soccer game in one day, as well as a party and a game at the same time. I've done back to back to back activities, all the while keeping the boys fed and for the most part, occupied.

And geez, this week was no heavier or lighter than any other week. I guess that the schedule just got ahead of me this go round. When you are a little under the weather (we are fixing that in case you are wondering - throwing some really heavy stuff at it to get rid of it) life seems to run right past you. Since tomorrow is Saturday, and we have no soccer or anything on my plate (Tom's got stuff going on but I'm not involved in that at all) I'm taking a day off. Off from running around, off from Mom's Taxi, off from Mom's baking company, and off from kid wrangling duty (if I can con Tom into taking that over completely).

These boys can dance!

Now, I didn't say they danced well, but they sure do dance! Sam first, then Max:




And yes, that's Max doing the Macarena - he learned it in PE. There's your education dollars at work!

Definitely a cool video

This is just a cool, cool video:

One can never have TOO many cameras

It's mine...ALL mine.

Let's not ask Tom how many cameras is too many - he's not really on the same page as me on this one. One, maybe two cameras works for him. I guess he thinks that I collect cameras like some women collect shoes...or purses. I only have a few cameras. Really - a few. And now I have one more. This is my new "purse" camera. It lives right into my purse and takes a MUCH better picture than my first Canon Digital Point and Shoot that I paid a whopping $700 for way back when they first came out - and htis one was only $139 on sale! Anyway, it's mine and I'm all smiles.

A most successfuly party indeed!

The little boys turn six this week, and today was their Super Mario Party. Initially they wanted to have the party here at home, but sanity is my main priority these days, and that would have pushed me completely over the edge. So, we rented the gym and a party room at the local community center and had our party there. The kids had a blast. We played smash the balloons to get the coins, a small version of skee-ball, pin the fireball on Mario, and a slightly different version of musical chairs (run by Max - thanks dude!). And we did make all the kids wear mustaches! Amazingly not a single one objected! Then off to the party room for coloring pages and cake and ice cream. A success all the way around!

The mustached party group

Sam playing skee-ball

Smash the balloons and grab some coins!

Ian playing pin the fireball on Mario

Suzie and Tom wearing those darn mustaches

Happy 6th Birthday Boys!

I am serving store bought cupcakes.

Yes, There, I said it - store bought. There's only so much you can do to prepare for a party for a bunch of five and six year olds that you are hosting at a rec center. It's not the bouncie place or the pool or the gym. They don't have activities planned - it's a total DIY kind of thing. So the cupcakes? Well, they slipped and I'm fine with it. There's a relief in knowing that the party is at 2pm tomorrow and all i need to do is grab some ice cream cups and the cake from the store. And yeah, those cupcakes. That's mainly in case we have a few extra kids show up.

But while I sit here reveling in the fact that I'm ready to go tomorrow (all the games are even bagged separately). Tom is downstairs fighting with little parts and pieces of two bikes. Yes, we got bikes for the boys for their 6th birthday - seeing as how we used parts of their old bikes to fix a stroller back in November, it was about time. So I'm off to see if Tom needs any help getting those bikes together, but from all the banging and crashing it sounds like he's well on his way.

#2 Son is Down!

Did you know that we number our kids? Well, at least when we refer to them with each other we number them. Max is #1, Ian #2, and Sam #3. And the last two? Well, they are only those numbers because (as we tell them) they yanked out Ian first after they cut me open. Nice thing to say? Sure - boys dig that kind of stuff - just ask them how they were born.

Anyway, Ian stayed home sick today from school. He spent most of the day either asleep on Tom's side of the bed (as Tom says so that HE can get sick now) or playing with his DS or his sister. But he wasn't really really sick, just a little sick. He's the kind of sick that you-might-have-gone-to-school-if-it-wasn't-two-days-before-your-6th-birthday-party kind of sick. I want him to be 100% so he can enjoy his party - because missing his own birthday due to an illness just bites. So he spent the day hanging out with me, running interference for me with Lucy so I could get some extra laundry done, and sleeping. Oh the life of luxury. Hopefully tomorrow he'll be in better shape.

Still No Teeth

But we are hoping that they will make an appearance here soon. Between the drool and the lip this little one is ready for those teeth. Not sure she can suck that bottom lip in any more!

Should I Be Concerned?

The past few days there have been a lot - literally dozens - of unmarked police cars in our immediate neighborhood (if you can really call it that - but that's a different story). About a week ago I say a good 10 or so unmarked cars within eight blocks of my house and all within about 5 minutes. I wonder if someone important moved into the area and this is their protection, or if something big went down here and they are still around picking up the pieces. Not really sure what branch of government they are from - some have uniforms, some just have the cars with hidden lights, etc., but they are still driving around here and it makes me nervous. You'd think that with this many law officers I'd be more relaxed about it all, but seeing them all the time makes me wonder who my neighbors are.

Valentine's Day takes a different twist this year

I'm not a big Valentine's Day person - haven't actually written about it before, but I don't want to spend it by myself in an emergency room. Unfortunately that's just what I did this year. Remember those allergy tests, and that getting sick? Well, they all hit home and my throat decided that it was done with it all and swelled right up. I could breath just fine but I couldn't swallow, so I headed into the closest place that was open on a Saturday afternoon. Seems that the local stand alone ER was the place that fit the bill. And yes, I drove myself. Four kid and a bunch of life later I realized that I wasn't going to expire, but that I needed to have someone take a look and there was no need to drag the whole family down there. Tom stayed home with the kiddos and all was well with them, and they were none the wiser to what was going on.

And all was well with me in my stand alone ER (what a cool concept - no hospital but all the features of a regular ER!) - they even had bull riding on when I walked in the door. I was seen very quickly after I was triaged (only got to see two riders go - it was that quick) and then the trouble started. By this point I hadn't eaten anything in a good eight hours, and then it was only a really small something that I ate - pancakes. Apparently I hadn't been drinking enough so I was dehydrated. And let me tell you - when you are somewhat dehydrated and have also just had allergy testing done, your skin and blood vessels roll up the welcome mat and go on vacation. Something about not wanting to be pricked any more - can totally understand that one. But the result is a horrible, horrible image - me the human pin cushion:

What you can't see clearly is that I also have holes on the inside if each elbow joint. That's the first two that this nice young man did before fleeing and claiming that he'd never had this much trouble. (I was claiming that I hadn't either, which was true - not so sure about this side of the story!) The second nurse that came in tried her best to hit the big veins in my arms - and they not only didn't take, but once they removed the needle they left lovely BIG HUGE welts on my arm, and now big bruises. Then she tried the left hand and finally settled on the right hand - with a teeny tiny butterfly needle. So I was getting fluids, had some x-rays taken, and then a doctor peeked down my throat with a rather long stainless steel instrument to see whatever she could see. and all she saw was a very irritated throat. So, they loaded me up with a steroid, filled me full of fluids, and deemed me fit for duty. Took the steroid a few hours to work, but by the time I got home I was in much better shape. So I spent a good five hours at the stand alone ER on Valentine's Day, and I don't have allergies.

Crazy Hair Day 2009!

Seeing as how we've done this before, and even had some recent practice with Sam, we knew that we had to top off last year's crazy hair day with something fantastic. And these kids drove me right out of my comfort zone and into Clipper Mama land! They are terribly creative and thankfully I was able to ge them to crank around their ideas into something I could actually do:

What you can't see is that Ian also has stripes on the back of his head. He wanted dots, but I have no idea how to get those clippers into a circle. Both he and Max are shaved down where their spray is, and I think that both Sam and Max still have color on their scalp three days later! It just doesn't scrub off that easily...and honestly who knows how much scrubbing they really do. Anyway, we beat out our own expectations this year, so we are going to have to go over the top next year.

Allergy Free!

Believe it or not, I do not have allergies. Well, a little allergy to dust, but otherwise nothing. And after all this going on about my having to move again to get another pass at that " allergy honeymoon." Yeah, right, no allergies. At least that's what the test showed. Tom thinks otherwise, and honestly, I'm no doctor, but there's something floating around that really ticks my nose off. So, back to the drawing board. Was told it might be a "sensitivity." Really, now, a seasonal sensitivity? Come on folks, at some point you have to throw in the towel and admit that it's an allergy, or not. My body doesn't like pollen - never has. I spent most of September - March in Texas surrounded by allergy meds and tissues. So at some point something has to give, and it's not going to be me. So, doctor #2 sent me to allergy nurse #1 with all FORTY of her needles and pricky things and I came up negative. Not sure where to go now - no one seems to know exactly how to fix this. Supposedly it's my nose overreacting - but we've heard that before. For now I'll just hang tight until I can figure out next steps, but apparently I'm allergy free!

Superbowl Party!

So what do you do when the Superbowl is on? Why, you have a PARTY of course! We grabbed the best Halloween plates (yes, I said Halloween), and brought out the Taco Tuesday tacos (yes, I know that it was Sunday), and of course decorated football cookies with purple icing (in the kitchen it looked a little more brown). Add these all together and you have yourself a grand old Superbowl Party!!!!

*And what a game it was!

Teething Bites

In case you were wondering:

Teething really does bite.

Being sick just ain't fun.

I think the title says it all. I've come down with a old once again. At some point over the past five months my body decided that it was done with it's Virginia honeymoon and is now allowing each and every pollen it the state to enter my body and piss it off. Sorry about the language, but it's true. That's exactly how my body feels - pissed off. And to top it off, I've lost my voice just about every time I've had a cold over the past five months. If you count it up that's FIVE TIMES total. Yes, my kids LOVE that mom can't holler, and my lovely husband really appreciates the fact that his loud-talker wife has to tone down the volume. He mentioned that at least twice today...snot. Anyway, I'm sick.

In case you are wondering, last time I got sick I dragged into first doctor in search of a magic cure, and instead got sent to second doctor. Apparently you aren't supposed to lose your voice just because you catch a cold. Sheesh - who said that my body follows any directions in the first place???!!! Anyway, first doctor sent me off to second doctor, and second doctor is sending me for allergy testing. Yeah, second doctor is sending me to my doom. Last time I was tested I was middle school age (or around there - it's all fuzzy) and I hit the lottery of allergies. I popped positive to pretty much everything that was native to Texas, including beer and football. Seriously, I was a mess of allergies. They gave me shots, I got better, and I finally got some sense and had a come to Jesus talk with the non-cooperative body. Now you can kick these allergies, right? The body, well, I did mention that it was non-cooperative, it said no. The meds continued until I fled the state at 19 to brighter pastures. Sunnier beaches, actually. Then back and forth in and out of a few places and I find myself here in Virginia for 2.5 years. It will be three years next month and according to second doctor that's the length of the free pass we are given upon arrival in this new state. So, the game of allergy lottery begins again. Honestly though, once we get this under control my hubby will lose his sultry voiced wife and get back the loud-talker, and the kids will have no place to hide from mom, but my throat won't hurt and the cough will go away for good. Or at least I hope.

Dance Varmint!

Gotta love a cat who dances! Go Bunsen, Go Bunsen!

When my TV worlds collide

If you have been alive at all in the past 19 years you've at least heard of the show Law & Order. If you haven't seen a single episode then you may not get the funny in this at all, but Robot Chicken really hits the nail on the Law & Order head here:



This might just replace Weasel Stomping Day...well, nah. That one still wins, but Chicken Detectives sure is funny!

Minivans as far as the eye can see

Also known as the Kiss and Ride line at school