Halloween Preview

Sunday the kids went to a Halloween party where John's mom works. They had such a great time!

Here's Tinkerbell. The blond haired blue eyed fairy. Tink is my favorite "Princess" and it suits Maddie VERY well. Tink doesn't put up with anyone's monkey business. She gets jealous and has to suffer the consequences. Best of all, when she gets captured by Hook, she doesn't need any knight in shining armour to rescue her. She gets her own self out of the glass jar AND saves the day by saving Peter Pan's life and warning him of impending doom.

She's a strong willed little spitfire, and yes, I'm still referring to the cartoon character....(barely)

Ah, there he is, Tinkerbell's best friend, in the book and in real life. He really thought he was a pirate especially with that sword. He thought he could fight Jack, and instigated aplenty. Aaargh! Jack was fierce and in character from the second he put the costume on, to the second he took it off.

This one may be our Christmas card, unless I can get one of them all by the tree that looks as good.
Just thought this one was cute. She hates the damn crown, but oh well. She's wearing it. All night tomorrow. ALL NIGHT!!

Carving Time!!

Last Friday, amid pizza/movie night (a Friday tradition until the kids are old enough to all do board games, when it will turn into Friday night game/pizza/movie night), we carved pumpkins. My parental units went to Wisconsin on their annual meandering no agenda trip and got a truck load of pumpkins for the kids to pick out to carve. Jack of course, chose the huge pumpkin that you're not supposed to carve and was bound and determined to carve this 8 kajillion pound monster.

He did it semi-nude. Check out those spidey undies. It doesn't get more manly than carving in your manly underwear!!
Maddie enjoyed the carving too. Or maybe she just enjoyed having her photo taken. That's a John face if ever I saw one! Nate wanted to carve all on his own. He needed just a bit of help.
Check out the pumpkin size ratio to Jack. The thing was ginormous.

This is the guts from inside the big pumpkin. As John said, apparently photsynthesis means nothing when you're a huge pumpkin. The seeds had already started sprouting. It was kind of a fun experiment comparing this to the mini-guts that came out of Nate and Maddie's pie sized pumpkins.

The sprouting seeds in the 'gut bowl'.
Nate looks thrilled, doesn't he? We are constantly wondering why he's our "dirty kid". And yes, I could have photoshopped the plumbers crack out, but why? What a memory! It's a family affair!

Ta Ta's? Or Ta BLAHS???

I'm sooo sick of the girls. You all know what I mean. In anycase, I'm trying to find a cute dress for a wedding in a couple weeks, and it's not working. I can fit into a size 8 dress until I try to ZIP the freaking thing. Then I look like a sausage in some black satin. It's not pretty. A size 10 is too big thru the waist. But at least the twins aren't squooshed. I don't feel like spending 80 bucks on a dress and then having to have it tailored. I'm lazy and cheap that way.

My solution is I found a size 8 dress online that I LOVE (tried it on in the store and it was $30 more expensive), so I bought it anyway. So what if I have a lot of cleavage. Once you've breastfed 3 kids for 4 years straight you just lose interest in the ta-ta's. Ahhhh....how birthing and feeding children has once again screwed with the system.....

More Surgery

Princess here is scheduled for a Front Frenulectomy in November. According to the ENT it is a "2 second procedure" where they will lazer/cauterize her front frenulum, or the thick piece of skin holding her upper lip to her gum.

Hers is so huge, it literally is between her front teeth and is making a huge gap. Later on, it will cause orthodontia issues, and possibly speech problems so since we've already met our insurance deductible for the year, we may as well do it.

The procedure sounds simple. A little gas, a little cauterizing lazer, and we go home. I'm actually okay with this, and very comfortable. In another "it's a small world" moment, her ENT doing the surgery happens to be the husband of the Doc who did her eye surgery in July.

She is in good hands.

OMAHA!

We are back from our 5 day journey into America's heartland. It was a 9 hour drive, give or take a few minutes, and it was all wonderful! I've been getting a lot of flak about taking 3 kids on a 9 hour car ride by myself, but it was really no biggie. In fact, I actually really enjoyed it, because for 9 hours, I didn't have to do ANYTHING but sit on my butt and drive. The kids watched dvd's in the back, and slept and ate twizzlers and juice boxes. I listened to book on tape. There is nothing that clears your mind more than a drive thru the country.

Omaha is a pretty cool city too. It's very spread out and open, and clean. Someday, maybe I'll go back! (If we didn't scare our hosts too badly, since my freakshow kids were up every day at around 5/5:15.) We had a pretty wild girls night out when we got there...We spent a couple hours in the Urgent Care Center, thanks to Nate popping a fever and an ear infection. 2 doses of antibiotic though, and he was golden!


Thursday we visited the zoo. http://www.omahazoo.com/

It is a fabulous zoo, and almost worth the 9 hour drive in and of itself. We spent a couple of hours there and didn't even see 1/3 of it. Since it was raining we hung out inside.
Here's Jack, Nate, and Olivia in the Namibian desert. You can literally touch the plants and things (if you are inclined and crazy) and the animals are very close up to you. I just found it funny to take pics of the kids in hats and coats in the desert....

This is Nate and I in the aquarium. I think he had just fallen and hit his head. Surprise. The structure behind us is an O! It is the art symbol thingy of Omaha, much like the Chicago cows were a few years ago. The aquarium at the zoo was one of those HUGE tanks where you walk in and watch the sharks and other marine life swim on either side of you, and even over your head. I don't know why I didn't take more photos. Probably due to keeping track of all 3 kids!

Friday, Olivia had a field trip, so we accompanied her to Vala's Pumpkin Patch. http://www.valaspumpkinpatch.com/index.html

This pumpkin patch was amazing. Julianne informed me that they are only open in October and take in a cool $24 milion. That is the enormity of this thing. Oh, and admission into the place pretty much includes everything (except the train ride and pumpkins).

Here are Nate and Gwyn on these really cool 'bouncy pillows'. They had a blast!

Here are all the kids minus Nate and Gwyn posing with everyone's favorite guy.

She's so sweet and cute and had a great time.
Friday night, some of Julianne's Friends came over and we did art projects, and ate from a delicious little novelty, the Chocolate Fountain. I have decided I need one of these of my very own, maybe for Christmas. I've seen them at weddings for a few years now, and that kinda grosses me out, especially when you see 'double dippers'. However, 4 women in a kitchen gabbing while dipping is a great bonding experience. You should try it sometime!

On Saturday we saw Go Diego Go! Live. I didn't take any photos, again, dealing with Crabby Jack and making sure the other 2 didn't walk and wander away from our little clan. I thought Maddie was going to be a handful, but she couldn't get enough of the live show. Jack got really into it and interacted when he was told to, and Nate sat with his thumb in his mouth the entire time, just staring. I think he was trying to figure out the stage, and if it was really some gigantic tv. In any case, my children LOVED live theater, and I can't wait to take them to do and see more.

It was a really awesome trip. I felt like a bad guest, since Juli wouldn't really let me help clean or cook. I still helped unload the dishwasher once or twice, but compared to everything else, that was nothing. I'm pretty sure we left the basement a mess, and I left behind my hair conditioner and body soap (Julz, it never touched my actual body, just the washrag, so use it if you can). But, what we took away with us was soooo priceless.

Oh yah, Julz, I think I "stole" one of our art projects. Somehow I have 2 pumpkin thingies. I should send it to you....

See ya later Illin NOiSE!

We (the kids and I) are heading on a road trip, so I won't be blogging for a while. We're heading to Omaha to visit a friend. It's about a 7 hour drive plus rest stops, but I've bought the NASA "Crazy Lady" issue diaper so I can drink 18 cups of coffee and not have to stop to pee. Isn't space age engineering awesome!

My grandmother called me today to warn me about perverts at rest stops. And to tell me I shouldn't let Jack go in a strange bathroom alone. I continue to amaze myself that my children are as healthy, strong, and happy as they are with me as a mother since I apparently haven't got the common sense of a toad. I'm pretty sure we'll make it alright and just fine, and all in one piece. I've got books on tape for me, a bag of twizzlers, and a protable dvd player for the kids. What more is there?

I'll have a lot to blog on later, but for now, I'm just gonna go pack. I haven't quite done that yet!

Charrie Bown

Charlie Brown is a tradition in this house. He is a tradition at my parent's house. He is a tradition at Gramma Betty's house. It is a tradition for Gramma to call Dad to let him know Charlie Brown is on t.v., and then for dad to call me to let me know Charlie Brown is on t.v. It doesn't matter that we own the dvd's. It's tradition.

All she needs is a bowl of candy, and her hefty 18 lb. hiney would look just like Snoopy, don't you agree?

Funny

This is Maddie at the Pumpkin Patch at the animal farm part. She didn't really like the animals getting too close. How can we tell?

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

Last Wednesday was a bit windy, so the boys "flyied" kites.

Nate is an old pro. He kept it up the longest!
Check out his expert technique! Don't John and Jack look cute together? Jack's turn! He didn't fare as well as the Tater.

Maddie could have cared less. John calls this outfit of hers her little Jack Lalane get up. Apparently Jack Lalane wears poofy sleeves when he body builds. He must be interesting.

An End in Sight

This has been the sickest I have been in years. The only way to explain the feeling is that it's like being 8 weeks pregnant with constant nausea, throbbing headache, etc, but not being able to say, "It's okay, in a few weeks I'll have a baby." This feeling went more along the lines of "Please god let me just die in PEACE!"

Here's the breakdown. Wednesday, I met a really good friend of mine at the pumpkin patch. We meet every year. At home that night, my knees were KILLING me. I attributed it to being outside in the chilly weather all day.
Then it moved into my hip joints. And then, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true, I could feel every joint in my sacrum area, up thru my spinal column. I was in real pain people! The only person who believed me was Jen, because she works with kids who have REAL joint problems due to autoimmune disorders. Thank goodness I'm not in that league.

Thursday I was a zombie. I got Jack to school (small victory) and I really don't remember the rest of that fever fun day. Other than I drove to a birthday party to pick Jack up.

Friday, oh Friday, the fun Stomach virus kicked in. Keep in mind, that due to nausea I hadn't eaten since lunch on Wednesday, and had been dry heaving ever since. Now, Montezuma's Revenge took hold. On what I'm not sure, since all I had was water and Gatorade. I think I slept almost the entire day. Went to bed before the kids did, around 6, and woke up around 7:30 the next morning.

Saturday, things still aren't great, but they are improving. I'm functioning enough at leas t to go to Jack's open house at school. Ironically enough, he could have cared less that I was there. Super Oma had come up special to meet his teachers and what not. Mother's guilt couldn't have kept me chained up at home, but he didn't even notice I was there. Figures.

Today, Sunday, things are on the up and up. I finally ate some bread and plain spaghetti, looks like it's staying where it's supposed to. It may be fun to step on a scale tomorrow and see that I probably lost NO POUNDS, but I'm sure since John had the same thing and he's a MAN he lost like 15. They do it so easily. Stinking men!

He did good though, and took care of the kids. It's almost a blessing that this hit us around the same time, as he was home all week working on his computer in the basement. Tomorrow it's back to the old grind though, and I'm a bit nervous, but we're still going to lay low around here.

It kills me that there has been a whole lot of electronic babysitting going on, but what can you do? Sometimes you just need to sleep! Wow, it's 8:30 already? Time for my nap.

(oh lordy, I'm starting to sound like my dad--whose bedtime is somewhere around 7 every day....)

Answers

Sorry, I've been down for the count lately...

The Wizard of Oz is my all time, ultimate favorite movie, but I DO happen to own the complete box set of James Bond.

Competitively speaking, I have been in Swimming, Gymnastics, and Cross country. The CC stint was brief, and during Junior High, but it still counts.

And I have NEVER attended a New Kids on the Block concert. I was like, 10 when they were popular and going would have required one of my parents to go too. THAT wasn't ever going to happen, so I was left in NKOTB darkness.

Sigh...

Down with it

Yup, I caught Jack's flu. This is miserable. John had it all week (hasn't been to work all week) and now, it's my turn.

YUCK!!!

Cubs suck. What a disappointment. And to think, I was almost paying attention.


On to football (of which, I am surprisingly enough ranked as of this moment number 5 out of 16 in my fantasy league. Oh yea. I'm in someones' fantasy at least)!

Interesting? Hmmmm....

Last week, maybe the week before John and I got into a bit of a discussion. Somehow or other, it came up that I wasn't "mmm interesting". I have "interesting stories", I do "interesting things", but as a person, I am just not interesting.

Now, before I get "hate comments", I'd like to just defend him a little bit. This is John we're talking about, who very honestly said our versions of what consititutes interesting vary significantly. When I asked him who was interesting, I started listing coworkers, friends, neighbors, etc. None of these people are interesting. He came up with the following:

Yes, FREAKING jACQUES COUSTEAU AND BABE WINKELMAN!!! They have done interesting things and led interesting lives, so he finds them interesting.

How can I compete.

And for the record, I'm not mad. His logic is not only funny, it's amusing and slightly retarded. I do a lot of smiing and nodding.

Thanks MOM!

These are my parents, photograped with a new camera feature. Really. She loves dresses and pearls.

Okay, for real, I don't think I've EVER seen my dad in a tie. On father's days we didn't give him crap like that. He always got some new screwdrivers and other useless tools.

Anyway, who do you call when your kid is puking and you HAVE to run to school and pick up cookies? And who will clean the vomit off your couch and throw said puker into the tub? Good old JUNE! (Okay and Mom too).

Nobody else would do that except your own mother. Nobody else bails you out in a pinch, and nobody else watches the kids just because YOU NEED A DAMN BREAK ALREADY. Nobody else just picks the kids up and a little too forcefully suggests you and your hubby go out to dinner already and eat a damn hot meal without cleaning up the floor afterwards. We have made some damn good friends who have bailed us out time and again, but nothing beats my p's.

Wally and June are just kick-ass.

Knee Deep in a Puddle o' Puke

Poor Jack. Really. Yesterday, I think I was honored with the "Worst Mom Ever" award. He woke up saying he didn't feel good, his belly hurt. That happens a lot when he's been congested, so I figure he either needs to get the phlegm out, or poop. Well, he did both. He pooped. Then puked, and I thought "Great. It's out of his system. Off to school you go". He throws up sometimes when he's really snotty so I didn't think anything of it. And by golly! It's school picture day!!

He came home and wouldn't eat lunch. In fact, he vountarily went upstairs to nap. Now I'm thinking, Uh oh. This is probably not good. And it wasn't.

About 15 minutes into community naptime, he came into my room (I wasn't napping, just organizing) and told me he pooped his pants. At first I was miffed. What do you mean you pooped your pants? You haven't done that in like 2 and 1/2 years! Upon further inspection, I realized he had diarrhea and got him on the pot just in time.

He's been throwing up ever since. Can't keep anything down, poor kid. He's already had 2 baths today and has spent the day in front of the t.v. I hate it, since it's like 90 damn degrees out and we're sequestered in for the long haul.

Thank God Cheryl brought me a cafe mocha. What do you do without friends like that?

One of Each

Just because they're cute.....

You'll Love these Answers

How funny is it, that of the concerts listed, (Huey Lewis, Wiggles, Kenny Rogers, U2 and the Dead) that the only one of those I have NOT attended was the WIGGLES!!! Ha! Kenny Rogers was my very first concert when I was in 2nd grade. I saw Huey in 5th grade with my mom, a friend, and her mom, U2 was most recent (I think I was pregnant with Jack?) and the Dead? Yah, they roll their own. BUT! I was with my friend whose cousin worked for the Dead Ticketing office in Frisco and we had 10th ROW at the last EVER concert!! 10th Row at soldier Field, and I could see the sweat trickling down Jerry's beard! Hell, I could see his funky cut off finger! And no, I wasn't totally wasted either. Way too much fun watching the sideshow of the freakshow Dead heads trying to sell me a $1 Grilled Cheese and smelling every body odor imaginable, along with seeing all kinds of weird body hair (Braided pit hair on chicks? Gross, but I saw it man, I did!)

I've seen lots of concerts, but I'm not going to tell which ones. That's a fun question to answer!

As far as excersise goes, I love swimming, but Yoga is my true love! Always. I just feel like a better person when I'm done with it.

And, lastly, My Hubby calls me Fudd. It's a long story, but I'll always be his little Elmer. Hunting Rabbits, no less.

Enjoy the next round!

Yes, I DO have a Sports Related injury!

After my 5k race on Sunday for Pediatric Cancer foundation, I was completely unable to walk, and my heel was slightly swollen. I've been limping since June, and I made an emergency appt. yesterday with a podiatrist. That's the beauty of a PPO, you decide you need a Doc, and whammo! You just get to go, no foolin' with the general practitioner who would have probably either said, "your fine, take some advil", OR "Go see a Podiatrist". All I did was cut out the middle man.

In any case, I have a case of "plantar fascitis". A riveting explanation can be found here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/plantar-fasciitis/DS00508/DSECTION=1

According to my doc, it can take up to 8 or 10 MONTHS to heal. For the next 2 weeks I cannot be without shoes, and anytime I sit for more than 5 minutes I have to do the alphabet exercises. That is, I write the ABC's with my foot. I asked the Doc if I should do upper or lower case. She kinda chuckled and said it didn't matter, so I didn't continue with my other 2 questions: Zaner Blozer (ball and stick) or D'Nealean? Cursive ABC's, or just Print?

I am also in a sort of foot wrap splint thingy, and am not allowed to run again until I get new shoes.

I keep telling John this is very clearly a sports related injury. Then he claims running isn't really a sport, so me, his completely unathletic wife cannot possibly have a sports related injury.

Fine, then, it's a kids related injury. I can't take care of 'em. Get the nanny to run them to school, music class, Karate, the grocery store, Dr. appts., dentist appts., etc, etc, etc. Because this injury can also be caused by being on my feet too much.

Funny sidebar here: Nurse asked about what percentage of my day I am on my feet. That is a LOADED question. I'm on my feet all damn day lady, I've got 3 kids!

Oh, but I got to sit for 5 minutes and write my blog...now off to do my foot writing!