Thursday, March 31, 2011

T-Ball





Jack passin the time

runnin away! Papa and Jack (Nanny was there too!)
I love this pic of bro and sis watching Mikie practice

Sprinkler Effect

Even with waking up ornery today, the Lord provided for me in a big way! The kids were with Nanny and Papa today so I got to fly some things solo. I got to enjoy a nice lunch with my wonderful friend Phyllis. We always share many laughs and walk down memory lane. Great times! Then I got to see Lindsey and her little dude Greyson. It was great to catch up and visit over hot chocolate. After that I came on home to work on some bizz stuff, watched GH, ate some leftovers and headed out to see Mikie's first t-ball practice of the season. He's SO FUNNY. He surely showed his compassionate side tonight going over to see if he could help another boy who was crying. Running to pick-up baseballs so the coach wouldn't have to. He's a good boy :) I had a riot running around the playground chasing Jack after being asked 14 times to play tag :) He's quick! Certainly has me beat. My moves to slither from getting tagged aren't as sharp as they once were. I ain't as good as I once was... I truly enjoyed his laughter as I ran after him! Just giddy, I loved it! Miss Molly had to pee (of course, one of my biggest fears being porta pottys). So we ventured on over only to find the JON was locked. "Oh darn!" I thought in my own mind laughing at my own joke, til I realized that didn't change the fact that she had to go. So I had the brilliant idea to hang on to her while she leaned back in a sitting position. I forgot to figure in the "sprinkler effect" us ladies have and got some pee on my Uggs as well as her undies and pants that were at her knees. Good thing I had a change of clothes in the truck parked not too far away!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Meet ZOE


Zoe was a big hit for the kids :) Even with Papa putting her in Jack's face!


wondering what she'll pull next!
i'm lovin' my new colorful earrings
Em and Mousie

Molly loves Emily, even with some shyness, she wants to hang with Em. It's SO cute!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Some digital scrapbook pages to share


look how young Jack is!
i love this new kit i got, cute papers or what!?

Jack's Album

Just this past week, Erk had 170 of my digital scrapbook pages printed for me, all for Jack's album. It sure is fun to look back on him and how much he's grown! WOW! Pages from 2007 - current, it was fun piecing them all together in the order they need to go in for his album. I can't wait to do the same for Mike and Mousie once I get organized. Good thing I know someone who prints pages, otherwise this would be quite costly! :) Church was nice this morning, followed by Little Caesars pizza (I ate too much). The kids are doing quiet time right now, although it's more like LOUD time, but that's ok. They are playing together and no one is yelling or mad. Bean is zonked on the couch and Erk is dinkin' around. In a bit, we'll go over so Jack and Mikie can meet Nan and Pa's pup, Zoe, before they head back home tomorrow. Have a wonderful evening!

Saturday, March 26, 2011


you can see how much HELP my helpers were :) hehehee - I finally had to cut Molly off from decorating the cupcakes cause the sprinkles were highly concentrated on her creations!


Whewee! The kids each have a bouncie ball and they are all bouncing them right at this moment! Erk is about to take the boys out for a haircut. A bit later it's school carnival time! I'll be one of the 2 ladies running the cake walk from 11a - 1p. The kids and I spent some time at school yesterday afternoon helping to set up. They had fun running the halls while us moms taped down the cake walk/pop toss lines and set out prizes. It sure is fun to be a part of the carnival this year behind the scenes. And the mom at school who set this whole thing up!? HUGE kudos Celene!
CUPCAKE FUNNY: I stood there looking over the cupcakes yesterday afternoon with a reoccurring thought running thru my mind... how am I going to transport all of these things!? Brilliant, I went out in the garage and grabbed a big board. Loaded up 9 containers of cupcakes in the kitchen and headed out. Well, the heading out didn't go so smooth. You see, with an old house you don't have very wide doorways. And when the board is full of cupcakes, you can't tilt it. So my first obstacle was getting from the kitchen to the den. The board was the exact width of the doorway, so I had to move my hands just so to support the board as well as balance the goodies on top. Once thru that doorway, I looked ahead to my next. The front door? I'm not sure. NOPE. So I had to take 9 pans out to the porch and set them outside, bring the board out and replace them all on top. It fit nicely into the truck and made for a good ride over to school, but then we barely fit into the school doors! Whew! I was sweatin' it. At least now this morning with batch #2, aka the other 1/2 of the cupcakes, I won't load them up until they are all on the porch!
disaster transport? :) I remember Erk and Jack went on that ride 400 times when we took the boys to Cedar Point a few summers back!

Hey, the baker gets to enjoy too, right!?
At Mikie's program, Granny, Nanny and Papa with the kids
Look at this dude! Isn't he hilarious!?

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Old Ladies and YES

This morning was a little bit different than the usual Thursday morning. Mikie had a follow-up ear check from his month ago eardrum rupture, so even though I made his lunch & made sure he had his backpack packed, Mike didn't have the rush this morning cause his appointment was at 9:30a.

Jack did his thing, got himself all situated and ready for school. When we realized his boots were left at school I told him I'd just take him this morning. So that gave him some extra time. I'm realizing that those few extra minutes can be deceiving :) As the time frame was closing in, we felt the rush. I asked Jack if his snowpants were in his backpack and he said they were. I was trying to get Mike to get his socks on and coat so he'd be all ready (it's "pajama day" at school so Mike was in his flame pj bottoms and a t-shirt).

Jack headed out the front door and Molly went out on the porch to grab her coat. As I'm doing a final inventory I see Jack's snowpants on the chair. I yell to him to come back in. I threw some 'tude his way for not being honest, for just answering me with what he thought I wanted to hear, not really hearing the question. He looked shocked, completely unintentional, he thought they were packed in there, assuming I had done it. So he quickly packed up his snowpants and gave me a long face and headed out again. As Molly was coming back inside the door, it shut on her legs and she toppled over. There she lay. Jack standing right there by the door just watching her. So I got after him again for not helping her. "No matter what the situation, you always help someone up!" So he did.

I was ready at that point (it should be noted that running late can be a quick ticket to TICKED OFF ERNIE) to kick some rear end. But I reigned myself back in and took a deep breath, knowing I'd say something I shouldn't and probably pound my "point" into the ground. So I encouraged the kids to get in the truck, looked at Bean with a "can you believe it?" face and we headed out.

Since a few minutes had passed, I had the opportunity to use a different voice. A much more encouraging tone and not angry, to explain where I was coming from. So while staring at Mike in the rear view, I told the kids this...

"To all 3 of you, when you see someone who has fallen, help them up. If you saw an old woman laying on the sidewalk cause she just slipped on the ice, you wouldn't leave her there cause it wasn't your fault. You'd help, right? This is the same case, be it you shut the door on Molly or not, you help her up. Always. And... make this your mission, when you say yes, make sure you know what you're saying it for. Don't just say yes, but when you say it, you mean it." As we made the turn into town, I followed it all up by saying this,

"Always help the old lady and let your yes mean YES!" I went from looking at Mike in the rear view to Jack and saw him smile.

After we dropped Jack at school, we headed to the dollar store to get some cupcake holders. The school carnival is Saturday and we've got a lot of cupcakes to make and transport for the cakewalk. When we pulled in, we saw that they didn't open for another 15 minutes. Mike didn't wanna wait, he would rather sit at the doctor's office. I made an executive and we sat there in the warm truck and waited. We saw an old woman walk up to the door at 8:59a and start knocking repeatedly on the glass door. We sat there watching her in shock... how RUDE! So we gave it a few minutes and saw the old woman finally let in at 9am (I'm sure she felt it was the longest minute of her life). No cupcake holders, but we did get some decorations for the cupcakes, ohh and each of the kids a ball.

On over to the doctor's office where Mike and Molly wanted to bring their new balls in. I figured why not, and gave Mike the warning "but you can't get too carried away." Bounce, bounce, bounce, under the lady reading the magazine in peace's chair his ball went. Then he wanted to play catch, etc. Molly just sat there holding hers, fearing it would roll away. We got called on back and Mikie's ear check showed that he still has 2 infected ears, so a double ear infection for him! The doc asked Mike what the deal was with the ball :) I had him check Molly's ears too and she has a bad one and fluid in the other. What the BEAK!?! So he wrote up 2 scripts and as we were leaving I mentioned Mike's Spring Concert to the doc. I told him, while looking over and grinning at Mikie, that "Mike was the only one out of 50 or 60 kids who wore sunglasses." Mikie quickly corrected me by saying, "No, there are 14 kids in the DK class, 21 in my class and 19 in the A class, so that's a total of... 54. There were 54 kids, Mom." I looked over at the doc and he looked at me, almost shocked. As a proud momma, I quickly said, "both boys are really good at math!" He smiled and shook his head.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Mikie




CLICK on this one to make it bigger, you have to check out Mike's tongue out and see his music teacher in the lower left corner cracking up at him!
Ok ladies and gents... I have some pictures on my camera that I haven't uploaded yet. These were sent to me by a mom in Mikie's class, the title of the email "Mike cracks me up." Yes he does. He is SO RARE!
He was the only one who wore sunglasses out of all of the 3 classes combined in the Spring Concert last night, afterall he had to be a cool zebra playing whatever that is he's playing. He is so full of joy and doesn't give a crap what anyone else thinks. I love it! :)

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Burrito

Jack drew this at inside recess today :) It's the solar system (along with him and a boy in his class getting too close to the sun).

Had a funny incident today. Well, a short series of them. Molly and I laid down for a short nap. Wrapped ourselves up into a "burrito" with the blanket and conked until my phone rang. I wasn't in my right mind so I answered and quickly tried to hang up. Then the alarm went off on my phone and I startled awake and sat up. I wrapped sleeping Molly back up (more like a taco this time) and went to wait by the storm door to watch for the bus.

As 3:50p approached I headed outside in my short sleeved shirt. Wouldn't you know I saw the bus thru the trees and realized she wasn't slowing down. Sure enough, the bus BLEW by at 60 mph. I waved my cold arms in the wind but she never saw me. Argh. Again? Really?

So I looked down and saw Bean's ball sitting there and kicked it in frustration. Wouldn't you know it went straight towards the road and she darted after it and I screamed her name at the top of my lungs to stop just inches from a truck going 60 mph. WHEW. So Bean and I headed on the porch to wait for the boy's bus to come back. This time while we waited I put my coat on :)

They eventually meandered back and had to get off the bus on the "wrong" side of the road. I get so nervous when they do, cause cars don't always stop. But all was well and soon we are headed to Mikie's spring program at school. Well that's the plan. With the freezing rain, it may not be on?! I hope to have some cute pictures to share tomorrow!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Broken

Hola! I'm feeling irritated that Molly just broke my bracelet I made at church with the mom's group. And Mikie has been crazy all afternoon, bonking heads and running and jumping. I wish it wasn't colder outside again, they need some fresh air! I could crack out the snow gear again ;) Heck, Jack doesn't care, he got off the bus in his short sleeved shirt. I just need to send 'em all out!

Today has been a download new music for my iPod/not do much else day. Well I did a buncha stuff for our bizz this morning, so that's gotta count for something!? I hope you've had a good one!

Ohh, and you should have driven by on Saturday morning... you woulda seen me in my bathrobe hanging out the upstairs front window with Erk coming at me with a boxspring up a ladder! My heart was pounding, I thought for sure he was going to lose his balance and fall. It was high up! It took about 2 1/2 minutes to get the window out to prep for the boxspring (gotta love an old house where it won't fit up the staircase) and it took 2 HOURS to put the window back in! At times Erk was hanging out the window while I held the window up over his head. It was stressin' me out and I totally lost my patience! Every small argument amongst the kids was exaggerated and I was getting so frustrated! Erk just maintained his cool... WHEW! We finally got the window back in place and wa-la, Molly has the real boxspring under her mattress instead of the not-quite-long-enough-thin-mattress we snagged from the trailer that imitated a boxspring for months!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Punky Mikie

if you ever wonder where Jack could possibly be, look no further :) this is definitely this boy's passion!

There are pretzel sticks scattered all around my feet. Yep, they broke out the snacks. Molly never finishes her bowl of cereal in the morning cause it "gets soggy" and then she is starving around 9:30a, do you have this too?

I just grocery shopped online, that was convenient! Mike isn't feeling the greatest so he stayed home today. It seems someone is sick all the freakin time here! SHEESH! Last night when the kids got home from Nanny and Papa's, it was clear Mike didn't feel good. He almost puked over at their house. This morning he has a sore throat (which we can tell by his talking) and he's just lookin' punky. Somehow he still manages to pick on his little sis and get her riled up! I've had to talk to him more than once about that today. Asking him to tone it down!! Sheesh!

So with the meal planning, grocery list making, counting boxes of cake mixes and frosting cans that are now a knocked down tower all over the table (for upcoming cakes for the school carnival), recipe books strewn all over, Mikie's school folder open and books flung all around and the sounds of "Franklin" on tv in the other room... sitting here is where you'll find me!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Hi Smiley Guy!



Mousie and I had the pleasure of visiting with Auntie Jill and baby Aiden yesterday afternoon! It was awesome :) Aiden is so precious, sucha happy boy! It was great to see you Auntie Jill and catch up. Wish we didn't live so far apart!

Today I got to help in Jack's class with "Just Right Books" with the kids. It's so fun getting to know these kids. They each have their own personality and it comes out in their reading. I was realizing that these years in the classroom are gonna go fast. The older they get, the less Mom's they need. So I'm glad I can do it. Jack didn't want me to embarrass him when I went to leave and I even commented to him "I can tell you're really gonna miss me" but I know he likes me being there too. He just gets too cool for a few minutes ;)And now? I've sent Mike and Molly outside a few times. They need to play and get that fresh air but seem to need me to tell them how! WEIRDOS!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Eery

Last night at bedtime brought a surprise... Jack standing in our doorway holding his left ear. "What's going on buddy?" turned into him climbing into bed in the middle of Erk and I and taking some nasty flavored medicine. An ear ache. As if this poor kid needs anything else wrong with him after 4 weeks of fighting off crap.

So this morning when it was 7:20am and I still hadn't heard a thing from the usual early riser, I figured he was staying home from school today. Again. He has missed so much school in recent weeks, I feel they know the second they see my number on the phone at school that Jack is out sick today. Sure enough, he came lugging down the steps with his pillow and a few of his stuffed animals in tow and laid on the couch. After calling school to say he'd be out, I called the doc. For me as well. I've been putting it off for a week now, but this cough is still lingering so bad I knew it was time for me to get checked too.

Come 10:05am, we were headed out the door. Jack has an ear infection. And I was prescribed some meds to help with my lingering-ness. Off to lunch we went (Taco Bell, it's been a long time!) and I knew that Jack was alright for school. So we stopped home a minute, grabbed his coat (yes, he thinks it's summer all year) and off to school we headed. He paused a little at the thought of it, but I saw that smile as we walked down the hall at school. That glad-to-be-there-silly-grin he had on his face :) So we got him settled in and went to drop off the prescriptions.

Once we got home, I asked Mike and Mouse to take some quiet time. I have the washer and dryer running, was pulling dirty sheets off beds, doing the usual duties when I see Mike climbed into our bed. And Molly is laying on the couch. Huh? What is this noise right now? Silence!? It's eery (good word for today) and sweet at the same time...

Sunday, March 13, 2011

i don't want it BEAN!

"here Mom"
"did you see the ball? well, here, you want it?"

"there you go, want it?"

i swear she smiles! what a NUT!
Just having a relaxing Sunday afternoon. I took a short snooze with Molly up in her bed (first time ever) and it's not quite as comfy as ours, but it felt good to take a nap. I feel like there is still some serious sleep needed to come back from this week plus flu bug that's had me down. It's craziness! The cough gives me a headache, my head is still fuzzy and food still doesn't sound so good. Although Erk has a roast in the oven that is smellin' mighty fine! It's been over a week since anything smelled so good :)

Friday, March 11, 2011

90 Percent

Hello and howdy doody. I've been on hiatus but back now. I'm getting there health wise, still not over this flu bug but I'd say I'm at 90%. That surely knocked me down and out!!

Right now Bean is hogging the couch, Jack and Erk are playing Madden football, Mikie is having fun with magnets and Molly is obsessed with the little "owies" she got on her knees earlier while she was outside. The big dillema being we only had one bandade left. But she chose the worst of the two (neither was really anything) and we stuck it on there.

Looking forward to the weekend!

Monday, March 7, 2011

Yuck

Sights and sounds are distorted. I'm warm one minute and have the chills the next. My body just can't lay down anymore cause every muscle is sore. I can get up and around for a minute or two but then need to sit down. I have had a pounding headache. I've even used ice on my right eye cause that seemed to help.

I have the flu.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

3 Questions for Bean

Maybe I am bais (is that how you spell that?) but this dog CRACKS ME UP!

LONG time out

Auntie Meg and Uncle Tony will be seeing this soon, but this here is Mike's thank you for last weekend, CUTE handwriting and artwork, isn't it?

And here is the CURRENT SCENE here at home:
Jack woke up feeling like poop. So he's on the couch doing what sick kids do...

I got up from my seat and Bean thought that was her que...

Molly hasn't been listening so well today. So this was her second time out. Too bad she fell asleep! HA! This is one of the longest time outs she's ever had!



Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Ballerina School :)



I'm sitting here watching an old episode of Friends. What a funny show - timeless :)

Just relaxing at home - kiddos are at Nanny and Papa's house for the afternoon and the peace and quiet is wonderful. I got this snuggy-wannabe thing that looks really dumb but I love it. Here I sit all wrapped up in it, not wanting to move an inch.

I wanted to show you some recent scrapbook pages - these are from a website called Just So Scrappy - love their goodies!