5:40am the alarm begins to sing to me.....Yes, 5:40am! Now, I have gotten up at 5:40am for the past year and a half on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays to get the little girl I babysit in and tucked back into bed but not Monday and Thursday and on the days I do get Bella I was able to go right back to bed until 7:30am. I hate middle school! I am glad the kids are at school and out of the house for eight blissful hours but I despise the fact that I have to get up and get them out the door! The reason we have to get up so early? Well, their bus picks them up at 6:30am and school starts at 7:20am. I toyed with the idea of driving them to school in the mornings so I could have a few more minutes of sleep but in the end decided that I don't have to be pretty in the morning for them and the bus stop is good enough.
As it turns out when your children enter middle school, it is not cool for Mom to accompany them to the bus stop. I can sit on the porch but I am not allowed at the bus stop! I understand that it isn't cool and they have to keep up appearances but it was their first day of middle school and I was nervous for them. Apparently my feelings mean nothing to them! Once they were gone, I was doing the customary happy Mom dance and could care less what happened at middle school so long as they were there and not here claiming boredom. All in all it was a great day for all of us - I enjoyed the little ones' kinda noise and got a lot of stuff done. We continue the early morning wake-ups Thursday and Friday.....TGIF!!!!
As soon as the girls' got home from school on Friday we headed out for the weekend. We went to visit with our military family, The Brysons'. Our first stop was a high school football game - Franklin -vs- Carlisle. This is a big game not only because it's the first game of the year but it's a huge rivalry between the two schools. We went to the game because our friend, Ernie, who recently returned from a tour of duty in Iraq was tandem jumping that night right onto the football field before the game. The schools were doing a tribute to all veterans. Ernie jumped and landed safely. He said afterward that while it was a very cool experience he wasn't quiting his day job! After he landed a couple more soldiers followed suit and then the last jumper had a huge American flag attached to him. It was truly amazing to see the colors of our Nation come down from the sky like that.
After the game we headed back to Ernie's and Tanya's house. We sent the guys for pizza and had a great time visiting. I had to go to bed shortly after eating though because the exhaustion of early rising, the drive and excitement of the evening had me worn down. The next morning we got up and met some of Scott's family for lunch.
As I mentioned above, we met Scott's family for lunch on Saturday. In attendance were his Uncle Jerry, Aunt Cheryl, cousin Kristen and her husband Tom and of course our family. It was nice to visit with them and get caught up. Jerry and Kristen are both podiatrist and Kris came prepared to help me with my planter facsciatitis in the form of a big ole fat shot of Cortisone in the foot. Now I am not sure if it is appropriate to get a shot in the restroom of Max and Erma's but quite honestly I didn't care. My foot was starting to feel a lot better by yesterday evening, that is until I stepped on a thumb tack that penetrated the bottom of said foot while vacuuming!!!! I love kids....
After lunch, my shot and a trip to Nordstrom Rack (LOVE THAT PLACE!) we headed back to Carlisle for Ernie's homecoming party. It was a great time with good friends, good food, drinks (the grown up variety) and laughs. We stayed for about five or six hours and then headed back to their house to pass out. The next morning we got up and headed home to prepare for week two of early rising.
Monday I went out to our land to pick up some things needed for this weekends girls' trip to Virginia Beach! WOOT WOOT!! I also went to my brother's house to pick up the trailer we plan to use to transport all of our stuff to said beach. Michelle was there and gave me a great gift........wait for it.......wait for it.......Captain Morgan Lounge Pants! I love them and plan to wear them on our trip. Man does she know me or what? Anyway, came home and passed out - without the help of the Captain himself.
Today. Today was "Meet the Teacher" at Olivia's school. Natalie and I had decided to ride together to the blessed event but we had to take Marc and drop him off since he still isn't able to drive himself around from the quad accident. We got to the school only to discover a line the length of the school waiting for them to open the doors. We finally get in the school and each of us took our kids to their prospective classrooms. When Olivia and I got to her classroom we separated all of her supplies into the provided boxes and found her seat. Once all the parents were in the room Mrs. Krebs gave a quick little speech about her classroom and herself and then dismissed us to look around the room. We checked out all the different areas of the room, signed the necessary paperwork and were done. When we walked passed Ryan's classroom the door was shut and everyone in there was looking forward. Emma had Mrs Engle for kindergarten so I knew what was going on in there....we might as well do a tour of the building and find a seat to wait.
Eventually Natalie and Ryan were released with a boatload of paperwork...While we were waiting though I was quite entertained by a Mother who lost it and had to be taken to the Principal's office to calm down. This woman was so upset she was brought to tears over her child going to kindergarten! Get it together woman! She obviously is a first time parent because any seasoned Mother can appreciate the value of school, am I right? I mean who cares what they are learning as long as it is peaceful for a few hours everyday. May be I am just heartless!?! Probably so.
Well, that's it for now. I need to get dinner finished, get Olivia ready for her first day of school tomorrow and start gathering my stuff for my weekend getaway.
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Lots Of Catching Up To Do
Boy have I been busy lately. I can't even tell you half of what I have been doing because it's not even clear to me what happens to all my time. When you have a husband and kids, you just dont' have downtime. Scott has been on vacation for the last week and this has thrown a wrench in my usual routine. My last blog was after seeing Wicked about two weeks ago so I will try and get you up to speed about what's been going on since then.
Where we live there is a street fair every year the week before school starts, it's a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing for the kids and a curse for myself and anyone who wants the most direct route to the freeway! I know it's just a week but it seriously messes up how you get anywhere in our small town. They close down the main road through town for six grueling days. Yes, there are several other routes you can take to get around but they are all polluted with snotty teenagers who think walking down the middle of the road is their right and moving out of the way of an oncoming car is optional. Basically, it takes 30 minutes to go two miles during street fair week. I suppose that living in a small town allows for some leisurely behaviors but I am originally a city girl who lacks the patience for detours!
Thursday and Friday are "Kiddie Days" at the street fair. I took the girls (including the girl I babysit) to the fair on Thursday. The wwristbands for four hours of unlimited riding were $8.00 a piece which means right off the bat I spent $32.00 for my kids and Makayla had her own money. Emma, Abigail and Makayla were able to walk around on their own and ride whatever they wanted, just checking in with me once an hour. Olivia and Sarah were only able to ride a total of four rides at the street fair. Well not entirely true, Olivia is pretty tall for her age and is actually able to ride a few rides that Sarah couldn't. Since the big girls were off running around it was almost impossible for me to allow Olivia to ride any of the bigger rides since Sarah was dead set against watching Olivia do so. Olivia, Sarah and I only stayed at the street fair for a total of three hours. We left the big girls there to run around and ride the rides because after while the excitement of riding the same four kiddie rides wears off and it was extremely hot and humid. We went to Michelle's to talk and picked them up an hour later at the designated meeting spot. One thing I learned is that 11 year old do not understand the meaning of meeting at a designated time. Apparently meet me at the corner of Broadway and Creek at 5 o'clock translates into leave what you are doing at 5 o'clock and head to the designated meeting spot!
Friday was Kindergarten Screening. Why they scheduled our time for 8am, I am clueless!?! As you will soon find out, I am not a morning person nor is Olivia! Somehow we managed to be on time, a pure miracle. I must tell you that I dread things like this - sitting in a room with a bunch of other parents specifically ones who our first timers, it is torture on me. I can barely sustain my attention sitting there listening to the principal talk let alone listening to all the questions that I think are trivial - keywords "I think"! All I care about is what time the bus will be picking up and dropping off my child and what the 24 hour attendance line number is to call my child off in the event she becomes sick. Anyway, we got there and they took Olivia's picture and then took her to be screened and I was left there at a table to listen....*sigh*. Somehow I managed to discreetly update the calendar on my phone, cruise Facebook and check my emails while waiting and "listening" for the information I needed.
When we got home Natalie and I had a yard sale on the hottest flippin' day of the summer. We also had the yard sale on Saturday. It didn't have a great yield for me but Natalie did very well. In fact, everything I made at the yard sale was blown later Saturday evening at the street fair on the kids. Saturday after we had close our yard sale down it began to storm. It was raining cats and dogs which was a problem because Olivia and Abigail were to dance at the street fair that evening. Thankfully the rain stopped 30 minutes before the show began and the girls were able to dance. It started off well enough but when Abigail and her duet partner got out there something happened. Chloe skipped an entire section of the dance which left Abigail flustered and doubting herself. I have never Abigail completely stop dancing in the middle of a performance before. At the time I didn't know it was Chloe who had skipped a part of the dance which lead to the interruption so I was thinking that Abigail had just flubbed. Later I found out the whole story which explained it all but poor Abigail had been told by Chloe that it was her fault. Now Abigail is a very sensitive child and she is her own worst critic but she is a very good dancer who rarely messes up. When she was told it was her fault, she believed it and consequently allowed it to fester. When she got to her next dance she was so focused on not messing up that she did. The power of suggestion - WOW!
After the show was over we got the kids tickets and let them ride some rides before we went home. This time it was $40 for 40 tickets which doesn't go far with four kids. Of course, they were all hungry and thirsty and Sarah insisted on riding a pony at $5 to go around in a small circle five times. $80 later my yard sale money was gone!
Sunday morning bright and early Scott, Emma and Abigail left to go on a three day trip to Pennsylvania. They went with Scott's Dad, Uncle and a couple of his cousins on a hiking/canoeing trip. They had a great time. The little ones and I just ran around doing nothing imparticular. Tuesday evening I ended up meeting Scott and his Dad to pick up the girls at Polaris so they could get home sooner and get to bed because school started Wednesday morning.
I have to run now and get Olivia ready to go meet her kindergarten teacher this morning. I will finish the rest of this when I get back.....
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
Where we live there is a street fair every year the week before school starts, it's a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing for the kids and a curse for myself and anyone who wants the most direct route to the freeway! I know it's just a week but it seriously messes up how you get anywhere in our small town. They close down the main road through town for six grueling days. Yes, there are several other routes you can take to get around but they are all polluted with snotty teenagers who think walking down the middle of the road is their right and moving out of the way of an oncoming car is optional. Basically, it takes 30 minutes to go two miles during street fair week. I suppose that living in a small town allows for some leisurely behaviors but I am originally a city girl who lacks the patience for detours!
Thursday and Friday are "Kiddie Days" at the street fair. I took the girls (including the girl I babysit) to the fair on Thursday. The wwristbands for four hours of unlimited riding were $8.00 a piece which means right off the bat I spent $32.00 for my kids and Makayla had her own money. Emma, Abigail and Makayla were able to walk around on their own and ride whatever they wanted, just checking in with me once an hour. Olivia and Sarah were only able to ride a total of four rides at the street fair. Well not entirely true, Olivia is pretty tall for her age and is actually able to ride a few rides that Sarah couldn't. Since the big girls were off running around it was almost impossible for me to allow Olivia to ride any of the bigger rides since Sarah was dead set against watching Olivia do so. Olivia, Sarah and I only stayed at the street fair for a total of three hours. We left the big girls there to run around and ride the rides because after while the excitement of riding the same four kiddie rides wears off and it was extremely hot and humid. We went to Michelle's to talk and picked them up an hour later at the designated meeting spot. One thing I learned is that 11 year old do not understand the meaning of meeting at a designated time. Apparently meet me at the corner of Broadway and Creek at 5 o'clock translates into leave what you are doing at 5 o'clock and head to the designated meeting spot!
Friday was Kindergarten Screening. Why they scheduled our time for 8am, I am clueless!?! As you will soon find out, I am not a morning person nor is Olivia! Somehow we managed to be on time, a pure miracle. I must tell you that I dread things like this - sitting in a room with a bunch of other parents specifically ones who our first timers, it is torture on me. I can barely sustain my attention sitting there listening to the principal talk let alone listening to all the questions that I think are trivial - keywords "I think"! All I care about is what time the bus will be picking up and dropping off my child and what the 24 hour attendance line number is to call my child off in the event she becomes sick. Anyway, we got there and they took Olivia's picture and then took her to be screened and I was left there at a table to listen....*sigh*. Somehow I managed to discreetly update the calendar on my phone, cruise Facebook and check my emails while waiting and "listening" for the information I needed.
When we got home Natalie and I had a yard sale on the hottest flippin' day of the summer. We also had the yard sale on Saturday. It didn't have a great yield for me but Natalie did very well. In fact, everything I made at the yard sale was blown later Saturday evening at the street fair on the kids. Saturday after we had close our yard sale down it began to storm. It was raining cats and dogs which was a problem because Olivia and Abigail were to dance at the street fair that evening. Thankfully the rain stopped 30 minutes before the show began and the girls were able to dance. It started off well enough but when Abigail and her duet partner got out there something happened. Chloe skipped an entire section of the dance which left Abigail flustered and doubting herself. I have never Abigail completely stop dancing in the middle of a performance before. At the time I didn't know it was Chloe who had skipped a part of the dance which lead to the interruption so I was thinking that Abigail had just flubbed. Later I found out the whole story which explained it all but poor Abigail had been told by Chloe that it was her fault. Now Abigail is a very sensitive child and she is her own worst critic but she is a very good dancer who rarely messes up. When she was told it was her fault, she believed it and consequently allowed it to fester. When she got to her next dance she was so focused on not messing up that she did. The power of suggestion - WOW!
After the show was over we got the kids tickets and let them ride some rides before we went home. This time it was $40 for 40 tickets which doesn't go far with four kids. Of course, they were all hungry and thirsty and Sarah insisted on riding a pony at $5 to go around in a small circle five times. $80 later my yard sale money was gone!
Sunday morning bright and early Scott, Emma and Abigail left to go on a three day trip to Pennsylvania. They went with Scott's Dad, Uncle and a couple of his cousins on a hiking/canoeing trip. They had a great time. The little ones and I just ran around doing nothing imparticular. Tuesday evening I ended up meeting Scott and his Dad to pick up the girls at Polaris so they could get home sooner and get to bed because school started Wednesday morning.
I have to run now and get Olivia ready to go meet her kindergarten teacher this morning. I will finish the rest of this when I get back.....
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
Monday, August 23, 2010
Braindead and Wicked
I don't know where my head has been lately but apparently not in reality! I have been suffering from moments of random obsessive compulsive disorder and good ole fashioned forgetfulness.
The other day I went to the grocery store and saw Pledge orange wood oil/polish in a spray bottle and I had to have it. I promptly came home with my groceries and got to work. I scrubbed all my kitchen cabinets and my island and then began to polish them. Of course when I did the top cabinets some of it dripped onto the counter tops and I had to clean them as well. When I was finished I decided that it was stupid to go through all that work only to have a dirty kitchen floor. I actually got down on my hands and knees with a scrub brush and scrubbed under the cabinets, around the island and then mopped the dickens out of my floor. In high sight this was really dumb because I ultimately knew what would happen when I was done. Yes, those lovely children of mine would spill something on the floor and I am unhappy to report this is exactly what happened!
Yesterday I realized that we were going to see Wicked tonight and totally forgot to get a babysitter for the two little ones. My normal babysitter was going with us so obviously that would leave her out as an option. I asked her Mom to do it and she agreed - thank goodness! The thing is, I don't know how I could forget to get a babysitter for Olivia and Sarah. I have known the date since the end of June and have had the tickets for a few weeks now.
This afternoon at around 3:00pm, I thought that I should go figure out what I was going to wear to the show. As it turns out, I have nothing but stay-at-home Mom clothes! Great! I had to make a quick run to Kohls and see if I could find anything. Luckily I was able to find something - a blue/green paisley wrap around dress and (Shhhhhhhhh!!!!!) some clearance black sandals! By the time I made it back home it was 4:45pm and I had to leave by 5:30. I quickly washed my face, threw on some make-up and got dressed. Amazingly we were out the door at 5:25pm! A quick stop at the bank, pick up Rachel and we are on our way to pick up Jennifer downtown and head to dinner. As we are driving and I am trying to follow the directions Jennifer had given me to get to her office, the kids are in the back yapping away (2-11 year olds and 1-14 year old makes for a lot of chitter chatter people!). Now I should just say, for those of you who haven't experienced a car ride with me, I am a fast impatient driver. We are approaching the exit we need and Rachel says, "If I throw up in your car, it's your own fault!" I turn to look at her to ask her why and pass my exit! I didn't realize at first that I had missed it but I went about 5 miles out of my way and had to find an exit to turn around. Finally back on track to picking up Jennifer.
We picked up Jennifer and headed to Spaghetti Warehouse to eat before our show. Little did we know that it was National Spaghetti Day! Luckily, we had reservations so getting in was not a problem however, our server was very busy and we were a party of 18. It seemed to take forever to get our drinks and then our food. When she finally did bring the food we had to wolf it down in record time to be timely for Wicked. We got our bills and my aunt had given me a coupon to you. It turns out to be a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it took $5.00 off my bill and a curse because our server had to find a manager to modify the bill. It took forever....but finally she came back and we got to our destination just in time for the 5 minute till show time bell. Wicked was awesome! We loved everything about it and would see it again in a heartbeat.
We didn't get home till almost midnight and then we crashed!
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
The other day I went to the grocery store and saw Pledge orange wood oil/polish in a spray bottle and I had to have it. I promptly came home with my groceries and got to work. I scrubbed all my kitchen cabinets and my island and then began to polish them. Of course when I did the top cabinets some of it dripped onto the counter tops and I had to clean them as well. When I was finished I decided that it was stupid to go through all that work only to have a dirty kitchen floor. I actually got down on my hands and knees with a scrub brush and scrubbed under the cabinets, around the island and then mopped the dickens out of my floor. In high sight this was really dumb because I ultimately knew what would happen when I was done. Yes, those lovely children of mine would spill something on the floor and I am unhappy to report this is exactly what happened!
Yesterday I realized that we were going to see Wicked tonight and totally forgot to get a babysitter for the two little ones. My normal babysitter was going with us so obviously that would leave her out as an option. I asked her Mom to do it and she agreed - thank goodness! The thing is, I don't know how I could forget to get a babysitter for Olivia and Sarah. I have known the date since the end of June and have had the tickets for a few weeks now.
This afternoon at around 3:00pm, I thought that I should go figure out what I was going to wear to the show. As it turns out, I have nothing but stay-at-home Mom clothes! Great! I had to make a quick run to Kohls and see if I could find anything. Luckily I was able to find something - a blue/green paisley wrap around dress and (Shhhhhhhhh!!!!!) some clearance black sandals! By the time I made it back home it was 4:45pm and I had to leave by 5:30. I quickly washed my face, threw on some make-up and got dressed. Amazingly we were out the door at 5:25pm! A quick stop at the bank, pick up Rachel and we are on our way to pick up Jennifer downtown and head to dinner. As we are driving and I am trying to follow the directions Jennifer had given me to get to her office, the kids are in the back yapping away (2-11 year olds and 1-14 year old makes for a lot of chitter chatter people!). Now I should just say, for those of you who haven't experienced a car ride with me, I am a fast impatient driver. We are approaching the exit we need and Rachel says, "If I throw up in your car, it's your own fault!" I turn to look at her to ask her why and pass my exit! I didn't realize at first that I had missed it but I went about 5 miles out of my way and had to find an exit to turn around. Finally back on track to picking up Jennifer.
We picked up Jennifer and headed to Spaghetti Warehouse to eat before our show. Little did we know that it was National Spaghetti Day! Luckily, we had reservations so getting in was not a problem however, our server was very busy and we were a party of 18. It seemed to take forever to get our drinks and then our food. When she finally did bring the food we had to wolf it down in record time to be timely for Wicked. We got our bills and my aunt had given me a coupon to you. It turns out to be a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it took $5.00 off my bill and a curse because our server had to find a manager to modify the bill. It took forever....but finally she came back and we got to our destination just in time for the 5 minute till show time bell. Wicked was awesome! We loved everything about it and would see it again in a heartbeat.
We didn't get home till almost midnight and then we crashed!
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
All in all it has been a rather boring week. Monday Abigail had dance class for a couple of hours and Tuesday night Olivia had a 30 minute refresher class in preparation for a performance at the street fair this weekend. Today we pick up middle school schedules for Emma and Abigail and tonight we go to see Wicked!
The only really exciting thing that has occurred in my life is heel pain. Oh yes, I have plantar fascitis! I am no longer permitted to wear flip flops, sandals or go barefoot. This is a serious problem for me. I love to be barefoot when I am not wearing my flip flops. What's a girl to do?
As it turns out, both my brother and sister suffer from this same affliction which begs the question, "Is this really from my flip flop, barefoot obsession?". I hate to sound like a whiner but I really hate wearing tennis shoes all the time in the summer. It's hot and it goes without saying that airing out one's feet can't be a bad thing. Anyway, I am hoping that my heel pain is gone before I go to the beach in a couple of weeks because I just refuse to wear tennis shoes at the beach!
I am getting ready to have a yard sale this Friday and may be Saturday. I cleaned out my garage,set up a couple of tables and put out some of my things yesterday. I don't have a ton of stuff to sell but I hope I make a ton of money because I am broke!!! Broke I say! I will let you know how it goes.
I know I said I was going to try harder this week to stay on top of this but it's just been a boring week and there isn't much to say.....
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
The only really exciting thing that has occurred in my life is heel pain. Oh yes, I have plantar fascitis! I am no longer permitted to wear flip flops, sandals or go barefoot. This is a serious problem for me. I love to be barefoot when I am not wearing my flip flops. What's a girl to do?
As it turns out, both my brother and sister suffer from this same affliction which begs the question, "Is this really from my flip flop, barefoot obsession?". I hate to sound like a whiner but I really hate wearing tennis shoes all the time in the summer. It's hot and it goes without saying that airing out one's feet can't be a bad thing. Anyway, I am hoping that my heel pain is gone before I go to the beach in a couple of weeks because I just refuse to wear tennis shoes at the beach!
I am getting ready to have a yard sale this Friday and may be Saturday. I cleaned out my garage,set up a couple of tables and put out some of my things yesterday. I don't have a ton of stuff to sell but I hope I make a ton of money because I am broke!!! Broke I say! I will let you know how it goes.
I know I said I was going to try harder this week to stay on top of this but it's just been a boring week and there isn't much to say.....
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Scrabble Attack
Yesterday I finally got new back brakes and I am as happy as a Lark right now! It is so nice to be able to drive around with the air conditioning full blast when it's 90 degrees out with 90% humidity. Some of you may think I am a whiner in this regard but I don't even care. I am not even trying to act like I can handle the heat. The older I get, the less I can deal with heat and humidity. I can tell you one thing for sure, my hair hates humidity!
Scott took me to pick up the Pilot at the shop and it started down pouring. This totally figures because I was planning on going to Sam's Club as soon as I got my vehicle back. I headed from the shop to Sam's to get some stuff in preparation to the happiest day on earth - the kids going back to school!!! Went in and meandered around after I had all my stuff because it was raining cats and dogs but I finally was just bored and wanted to head on home. I checked out and I am still trying to figure out the guy in front of my in line. Here is a list of the contents in his cart; 2 cases Monster, 2 cases Red Bull, 12 gallons of milk and a case of water. What was this man doing with all that Monster and Red Bull???? 12 gallons of milk? I can't even imagine what he was going to be doing will all that caffeine. I can tell you one thing, had it not been raining I would have jumped him in the parking lot and made off with some of it for my upcoming girls trip!
I got home and made dinner and then headed to Target to try and find a gift for my niece's birthday. It's very difficult to buy for her despite the fact that she is only turning three and I have four girls worth of experience to draw upon. The thing is she has a lot because her Grammy bought her so much for her birthday. I understand that's a Grandma's prerogative but it sure leaves a whole lot of nothing for anyone else to buy. Abigail had decided to come with me to Target and the whole way there she was giving me a list of all things she needed. I have decided that she is a "needy" child! She needed a straight iron for her hair, her shampoo makes her hair tangley so of course she needs new shampoo, she's completely out of body wash and last but not least black nail polish to paint her nails black and yellow for school. Like I said, needy! The whole shopping excursion I was texting with my sister, Tammy, about how I don't like middle school and it hasn't even started yet. I also was wanting to play some Scrabble. I invited myself and my children to her house to play in fact! When we were finished at Target we went home and picked up the rest of the kids and headed to Lancaster.
My sister and I always have fun together but this night was special. My niece, Jessie, decided to bring a new friend of hers over. If she had any lick of sense when she found out my children and myself were coming she would have changed her plans. I am not insinuating that my sister and I are an embarrassment but it the shoe fits.......My nephew Blake says we shouldn't even be allowed together, whatever that means! Regardless, our plan was to play Scrabble and work on a vacation favor for ourselves and girlfriends. We accomplished both.
When I got there we immediately started working with our handkerchiefs and rhinestones. We were making some progress and then Jess and Steven showed up. We put our project away and busted out the Scrabble board. What we found out is that we are not as competitive at Scrabble as Steven is. He had apparently been studying two letter words before he came over. Seriously? I just want to throw something out here; Young men, it is not necessary to study two letter words to impress Mom's and Aunt's of your intelligence! We are recreational players and can barely make five letter words, no worries, we know you are smarter than us!!! It goes without saying, he kicked our asses at Scrabble. In fact he clobbered us. His final score 202, mine - 87, Tammy's - 93 and Jessie's - 112. Tammy and I clearly weren't competitive sports last night. Actually we spent the night laughing and acting crazy like we always do. All I know is Jessica must really love us because she continues to bring her friends around us or she just really needed to get her laundry done! My money is on the later. When they left I am sure that Steven breathed a sigh of relief to get away from us. We finished our project and I didn't get home till 3:30am but we are going to be sparkly on the beach!
It's now Sunday and I am getting ready to head to my niece Emily's birthday party....more later!
Sincerely,
The Queen on Insanity
Scott took me to pick up the Pilot at the shop and it started down pouring. This totally figures because I was planning on going to Sam's Club as soon as I got my vehicle back. I headed from the shop to Sam's to get some stuff in preparation to the happiest day on earth - the kids going back to school!!! Went in and meandered around after I had all my stuff because it was raining cats and dogs but I finally was just bored and wanted to head on home. I checked out and I am still trying to figure out the guy in front of my in line. Here is a list of the contents in his cart; 2 cases Monster, 2 cases Red Bull, 12 gallons of milk and a case of water. What was this man doing with all that Monster and Red Bull???? 12 gallons of milk? I can't even imagine what he was going to be doing will all that caffeine. I can tell you one thing, had it not been raining I would have jumped him in the parking lot and made off with some of it for my upcoming girls trip!
I got home and made dinner and then headed to Target to try and find a gift for my niece's birthday. It's very difficult to buy for her despite the fact that she is only turning three and I have four girls worth of experience to draw upon. The thing is she has a lot because her Grammy bought her so much for her birthday. I understand that's a Grandma's prerogative but it sure leaves a whole lot of nothing for anyone else to buy. Abigail had decided to come with me to Target and the whole way there she was giving me a list of all things she needed. I have decided that she is a "needy" child! She needed a straight iron for her hair, her shampoo makes her hair tangley so of course she needs new shampoo, she's completely out of body wash and last but not least black nail polish to paint her nails black and yellow for school. Like I said, needy! The whole shopping excursion I was texting with my sister, Tammy, about how I don't like middle school and it hasn't even started yet. I also was wanting to play some Scrabble. I invited myself and my children to her house to play in fact! When we were finished at Target we went home and picked up the rest of the kids and headed to Lancaster.
My sister and I always have fun together but this night was special. My niece, Jessie, decided to bring a new friend of hers over. If she had any lick of sense when she found out my children and myself were coming she would have changed her plans. I am not insinuating that my sister and I are an embarrassment but it the shoe fits.......My nephew Blake says we shouldn't even be allowed together, whatever that means! Regardless, our plan was to play Scrabble and work on a vacation favor for ourselves and girlfriends. We accomplished both.
When I got there we immediately started working with our handkerchiefs and rhinestones. We were making some progress and then Jess and Steven showed up. We put our project away and busted out the Scrabble board. What we found out is that we are not as competitive at Scrabble as Steven is. He had apparently been studying two letter words before he came over. Seriously? I just want to throw something out here; Young men, it is not necessary to study two letter words to impress Mom's and Aunt's of your intelligence! We are recreational players and can barely make five letter words, no worries, we know you are smarter than us!!! It goes without saying, he kicked our asses at Scrabble. In fact he clobbered us. His final score 202, mine - 87, Tammy's - 93 and Jessie's - 112. Tammy and I clearly weren't competitive sports last night. Actually we spent the night laughing and acting crazy like we always do. All I know is Jessica must really love us because she continues to bring her friends around us or she just really needed to get her laundry done! My money is on the later. When they left I am sure that Steven breathed a sigh of relief to get away from us. We finished our project and I didn't get home till 3:30am but we are going to be sparkly on the beach!
It's now Sunday and I am getting ready to head to my niece Emily's birthday party....more later!
Sincerely,
The Queen on Insanity
Saturday, August 14, 2010
A Black Cloud Cometh
PaRt TwO
When we got home from the hospital, I had to run to the 24 hour Kroger pharmacy about 15 minutes from us to get Abigail's prescription filled. I got into Kroger's dropped off her pain prescription and proceeded to wander aimlessly around the store. I found Captain Crunch on sale for $1.19 a box, 2 of those in my cart, I bought Abigail a wrap for her arm and a couple of other misc. items. Her 10 minute fill time was more like 20 minutes but why should this be any different than the previous experience of the day. I also just want to say that the old saying, "The freaks come out at night" is true and leave it at that.
I finally got home from the pharmacy and gave her some medicine and all I could think about at this point was sleep. Abigail had other things in mind - me not leaving her. It took me a good 45 minutes to convince her that her father could sleep on the couch and she could sleep with me. By this time is 3:30am and we went upstairs and then she started talking about how hungry she was. Seriously? You couldn't have mentioned this while we were still downstairs? I just want sleeeeeeep child! I really did say this to her and then rolled over and went to sleep. She apparently went downstairs an hour or so later to sleep on the couch. Monday she was in a lot of pain and just laid around on the couch all day. I can't say as I blame her because I know that the day after an accident/injury it is always worse.
Tuesday, she was feeling a little better and I had called for a follow-up appointment with her doctor. We would be seen the next morning. Natalie had called our mother-in-law to ask her to take her oldest for a few days while she was dealing with Marc. She stopped by here to check on Abigail and Emma wanted to go stay with her too. Fine by me! But by afternoon Olivia was acting a bit strange so I took her temperature. As it turns out she has a fever of 101.6 and said it hurt when she went potty. Great! It's 4:30pm and I called the Dr's office to see if they closed at 5pm or not. I was going to see if they could see her in the morning with Abigail but they were open till 6:30 and could see her at 5:30 that evening. I loaded her into the car and took her to the Dr.- Bladder infection it is. She got a prescription and we headed home.
Wednesday, up early and off to the doctor AGAIN! Abigail checked out fine but we got another lecture on how unsafe quads are. Really people? We know but you can't live your life worrying about all the what ifs or you couldn't enjoy life! Bottom line, Abigail is fine and gets the okay to go to Cedar Point this weekend with her friend.
Thursday I took Emma and Abigail for back to school haircuts. They both got highlights and Abigail decided to get some long bangs. They are becoming young ladies right before my eyes. Their father is not happy about this prospect and insists they revert back to 4 or 5 years old. I prefer not as I all ready a 3 and 5 year old who are giving me a run for my money!
Friday, was a great day! Scott and I traveled to Marysville, Ohio to welcome home the 585th MP Company back from Iraq. Now I have to complain just a smidgen here because I am not sure what the hello kitty the people who planned this thing were thinking. It is August in Ohio...it's 90 degrees outside , humid as I'll get out and they planned an outdoor Homecoming Ceremony!?!?!?! Are you kidding me? Sitting on metal bleachers with the sun blaring down on you is not ideal. I am just sayin' if I had been involved (and clearly I had no way to be involved since Scott retired from this unit awhile ago) it would have been indoors.
Scott and I left the house at 11:30 to arrive at least 30 minutes before the buses pulled in at 1pm. We got their at 12:40 and we barely made it in time to see the soldiers get off the buses. Since when does the military do anything early? EVER? But whatever...they are home and I am positive that no one minded except for may be people like us who are never on time for anything these days! The soldiers come off the buses and it was beyond emotional watching everyone reunite with their families. Babies meeting their Father's for the first time, children so excited to see their Mommy or Daddy, husbands and wives reunited and seeing our favorite soldier return home - truly priceless! However, some of the sights I saw can not go without being mentioned and since I don't want to bore you I will just give one honorable mention. There was woman who's apparel can be described as stripper quality! She was wearing a Lycra spandex number that was zebra print on the top, black on the bottom and this bottom barely covered her rump. Lest we not forget her shoes, she was wearing very high black pumps that were lined with rhinestones. Now I am not suggesting that this soldier paid a stripper or escort to be his "Homecoming Family" but I definitely think that it is a distinct possibility.
We are happy to have everyone from the 585th MP Company back safe and sound. This was bittersweet for Scott, really the entire deployment was for several reasons. Scott retired from this unit and he had several of his soldiers over there and Ernie, our good friend, was actually pulled from another unit to take Scott's place in the 585th. I can't imagine the burden this had on Scott knowing that he was helpless to help any of them if they needed it because you may get out of the military but the military spirit never leaves you.
It's now Saturday and I am patiently waiting for my Pilot's new back brakes to be installed so that I can enjoy traveling in air conditioning again....I am also caught up on my blog and hopefully will be better at keeping up now!
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
A Black Cloud Cometh
Yes, a black cloud rolled right in when I wasn't looking. It brought along with it a tornado that left me wanting to crawl under a rock and wave a white flag. I know you all are disappointed in my recent lapse in blogging but may be when you read what's been going, you will find it in your heart to forgive me.
I left off with the puking kids.....they finally all got over it and I thought things were going to turn around. I thought wrong! I can admit when I have been defeated. I guess where I will pick up is my vehicle. Recently I had the front brakes on my Pilot replaced and had my rotors turned - my Dad said I had to, so I did. I thought everything was fine until a couple days later when I started hearing this screeching noise. I may have mentioned in a previous blog that I didn't know until recently that squeaking after a brake change wasn't a regular occurrence. Well, I guess that still stands but it could start somewhere else; for instance, when your back brakes are bad. I took my car in for an oil change and mentioned the squeaky noise I heard and asked if they could check it out. Back brakes - in need of immediate repair. I made an appointment for the end of the week. Still driving around in the Pilot until Scott happened to take a look and tells me I am not to drive until I get them replaced. All right, that's fine I can drive the Accord. But wait, it's hot and humid here and the Accord's air conditioner is not working. Great! Minimal driving going on here.
The day before my appointment to get my brakes fixed my Dad calls me and tells me that one of the guys who works at the place where I take my car for service is willing to do my brakes for me on the down low. Awesome! He's giving me an awesome deal but here's the catch he can't fix them until this Saturday. I am thinking with this overly hot weather I should have just paid the discounted rate to have them fixed. On the bright side it's keeping me home more during the day.
Thursday evening, I took Emma and Abigail over to a friends to hang out for a bit and ended up staying for a bit too. While I was there my phone died, no biggie. When we left to come home I plugged in my phone to charge and got a notification that I had missed a call from Scott. No biggie, I'll call him when I get home. Oh wait, no need! I pull around the corner and see his cruiser in the driveway. What the hello kitty is he doing home so early? The girls' start saying "It looks like he was in a wreck Mom!" I started to panic but then realized that it wasn't a bent up fender, it was the liner from the back of the cruiser laying across the front bumper. As it turns out, Scott and Torros were on a search for some bad guys who had robbed a Church's Fried Chicken and Torros was sprayed by a skunk. Scott was dumping bottle after bottle of tomato juice on Torros and soaking his lead and vest too. Then I was assigned the job of "sniffer"....."Does this smell?"...."What about this?" ....Uggg! Scott showered and left to go back to work.
Friday was fairly uneventful other than going out with some friends for a bit - which was fun!
Saturday the same, just hung out around the house. But Sunday...that's a whole other ball of wax.
Sunday started out fine. Scott had taken the two older girls to go quad running along with his brother, Marc, and his son Ryan. I have no idea where exactly they go but it's somewhere about an hour from where we live. So it was just me and the two Little's for the day. I decided I needed retail therapy. I called Natalie and asked if she wanted to come along, she did and off we went. We went to lunch and shopping here and there. We bought shoes and purses, clothes...it was a great afternoon! We got home and I went over to hang out at her house for a bit. While I was there, Scott called her house and told us that there had been an accident. He was on his way to the hospital with Marc and Abigail. He didn't give a lot of detail but he said he thought Abigail's arm was broken and Marc had a broken collar bone and ribs. Let me just tell you, this was a very scary moment for me as a parent. I was worried sick that Abigail was going to hate me because she didnt' even want to go and I made her go anyway. What if they get to the hospital and it's worse than we all think? Anyway, he told us they were going to Licking Memorial Hospital and to meet them there. I called my friend Michelle and asked if she could keep the three little girls while we went and she agreed.
The hospital itself is actually a very nice hospital - aesthetically speaking. There is nothing else "nice" about the hospital that I can report. First of all, they have a screen that tells you how many people are waiting and your expected wait time, all lies! Secondly, you may get a room but you are going to wait a very long time to see anyone! Lastly, when you finally see someone, a nurse or a doctor it's completely a waste of time.
The screen said, 51 minutes from arrival you would be seen by a doctor. We waited and waited and waited for a good two hours. There was nothing to read in this waiting area. I happened to notice that there were two newspaper boxes in the entryway and went to check them out. The Columbus dispatch was $1.75 and The Advocate was $1.25. I decided on The Advocate because of the amount of quarters in my wallet. I put my money in and went to pull the door open.....nothing. I tried again....nothing.....one last time and nothing! I was down $1.25, sigh, and still nothing to read. Nothing to do but wait. Finally they called her name.
8:00pm, Triage: height, weight, blood pressure, temperature, quick medical history (and I am not sure what her being born six weeks early has to do with her current injury but ok), quick look at the wound and they sent us back out to the waiting room. I asked if we could go check on Marc and he told us where to find him. We went to room 24 and he wasn't there but instead some older lady. I went and asked again where he was...room 14. This time it was actually him. He was laying in the bed with a neck brace on and could barely talk. He had been back there for quite some time and hadn't been given any kind of medicine for pain. After a good while they came to take him for x-rays and a cat scan to determine the extent of his injuries. I asked them when exactly he would get something for pain. Their response, "We only do x-rays!" Oh okay, well again "Can you see about getting him some pain medication?". A few minutes later a nurse came in with some pain medication and they wheeled him away.
At this point another hospital employee came in and took Abigail for an x-ray of her arm. She was there and back in ten minutes. I asked her a few questions about the x-rays and she didn't really know the answers to any of them. Seriously, did they even take x-rays? We then sat and waited and waited and waited for Marc to get back. Finally they come get Abigail and myself to take us to her room. It is now 10:00pm, she has been offered no ice for her swelling arm or any sort of pain relief. After about 30 minutes I go to the nurses station and ask for ice. At 11:00pm Abigail is crying that she wants to go home...she is tired and in pain. I get into my purse and get her some ibuprofen. Around midnight the doctor finally comes in and "examines" her. Now I use the word "examine" very lightly because I am not sure I would even consider what he did an exam. Despite the fact that a portion of her helmet was broken he didn't check her for a concussion. He lightly tapped his fingers down her back, looked at her and said, "It's not broken" you are going to be sore, I'll write you a script for pain meds, and you can be on your way. Seriously? Okay note to self and to husband - do not EVER take one of my children anywhere other than Children's Hospital! My brother-in-law was there until almost 2am.
That's all I can handle blogging about today...more to come soon.
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
PaRt OnE
I left off with the puking kids.....they finally all got over it and I thought things were going to turn around. I thought wrong! I can admit when I have been defeated. I guess where I will pick up is my vehicle. Recently I had the front brakes on my Pilot replaced and had my rotors turned - my Dad said I had to, so I did. I thought everything was fine until a couple days later when I started hearing this screeching noise. I may have mentioned in a previous blog that I didn't know until recently that squeaking after a brake change wasn't a regular occurrence. Well, I guess that still stands but it could start somewhere else; for instance, when your back brakes are bad. I took my car in for an oil change and mentioned the squeaky noise I heard and asked if they could check it out. Back brakes - in need of immediate repair. I made an appointment for the end of the week. Still driving around in the Pilot until Scott happened to take a look and tells me I am not to drive until I get them replaced. All right, that's fine I can drive the Accord. But wait, it's hot and humid here and the Accord's air conditioner is not working. Great! Minimal driving going on here.
The day before my appointment to get my brakes fixed my Dad calls me and tells me that one of the guys who works at the place where I take my car for service is willing to do my brakes for me on the down low. Awesome! He's giving me an awesome deal but here's the catch he can't fix them until this Saturday. I am thinking with this overly hot weather I should have just paid the discounted rate to have them fixed. On the bright side it's keeping me home more during the day.
Thursday evening, I took Emma and Abigail over to a friends to hang out for a bit and ended up staying for a bit too. While I was there my phone died, no biggie. When we left to come home I plugged in my phone to charge and got a notification that I had missed a call from Scott. No biggie, I'll call him when I get home. Oh wait, no need! I pull around the corner and see his cruiser in the driveway. What the hello kitty is he doing home so early? The girls' start saying "It looks like he was in a wreck Mom!" I started to panic but then realized that it wasn't a bent up fender, it was the liner from the back of the cruiser laying across the front bumper. As it turns out, Scott and Torros were on a search for some bad guys who had robbed a Church's Fried Chicken and Torros was sprayed by a skunk. Scott was dumping bottle after bottle of tomato juice on Torros and soaking his lead and vest too. Then I was assigned the job of "sniffer"....."Does this smell?"...."What about this?" ....Uggg! Scott showered and left to go back to work.
Friday was fairly uneventful other than going out with some friends for a bit - which was fun!
Saturday the same, just hung out around the house. But Sunday...that's a whole other ball of wax.
Sunday started out fine. Scott had taken the two older girls to go quad running along with his brother, Marc, and his son Ryan. I have no idea where exactly they go but it's somewhere about an hour from where we live. So it was just me and the two Little's for the day. I decided I needed retail therapy. I called Natalie and asked if she wanted to come along, she did and off we went. We went to lunch and shopping here and there. We bought shoes and purses, clothes...it was a great afternoon! We got home and I went over to hang out at her house for a bit. While I was there, Scott called her house and told us that there had been an accident. He was on his way to the hospital with Marc and Abigail. He didn't give a lot of detail but he said he thought Abigail's arm was broken and Marc had a broken collar bone and ribs. Let me just tell you, this was a very scary moment for me as a parent. I was worried sick that Abigail was going to hate me because she didnt' even want to go and I made her go anyway. What if they get to the hospital and it's worse than we all think? Anyway, he told us they were going to Licking Memorial Hospital and to meet them there. I called my friend Michelle and asked if she could keep the three little girls while we went and she agreed.
The hospital itself is actually a very nice hospital - aesthetically speaking. There is nothing else "nice" about the hospital that I can report. First of all, they have a screen that tells you how many people are waiting and your expected wait time, all lies! Secondly, you may get a room but you are going to wait a very long time to see anyone! Lastly, when you finally see someone, a nurse or a doctor it's completely a waste of time.
The screen said, 51 minutes from arrival you would be seen by a doctor. We waited and waited and waited for a good two hours. There was nothing to read in this waiting area. I happened to notice that there were two newspaper boxes in the entryway and went to check them out. The Columbus dispatch was $1.75 and The Advocate was $1.25. I decided on The Advocate because of the amount of quarters in my wallet. I put my money in and went to pull the door open.....nothing. I tried again....nothing.....one last time and nothing! I was down $1.25, sigh, and still nothing to read. Nothing to do but wait. Finally they called her name.
8:00pm, Triage: height, weight, blood pressure, temperature, quick medical history (and I am not sure what her being born six weeks early has to do with her current injury but ok), quick look at the wound and they sent us back out to the waiting room. I asked if we could go check on Marc and he told us where to find him. We went to room 24 and he wasn't there but instead some older lady. I went and asked again where he was...room 14. This time it was actually him. He was laying in the bed with a neck brace on and could barely talk. He had been back there for quite some time and hadn't been given any kind of medicine for pain. After a good while they came to take him for x-rays and a cat scan to determine the extent of his injuries. I asked them when exactly he would get something for pain. Their response, "We only do x-rays!" Oh okay, well again "Can you see about getting him some pain medication?". A few minutes later a nurse came in with some pain medication and they wheeled him away.
At this point another hospital employee came in and took Abigail for an x-ray of her arm. She was there and back in ten minutes. I asked her a few questions about the x-rays and she didn't really know the answers to any of them. Seriously, did they even take x-rays? We then sat and waited and waited and waited for Marc to get back. Finally they come get Abigail and myself to take us to her room. It is now 10:00pm, she has been offered no ice for her swelling arm or any sort of pain relief. After about 30 minutes I go to the nurses station and ask for ice. At 11:00pm Abigail is crying that she wants to go home...she is tired and in pain. I get into my purse and get her some ibuprofen. Around midnight the doctor finally comes in and "examines" her. Now I use the word "examine" very lightly because I am not sure I would even consider what he did an exam. Despite the fact that a portion of her helmet was broken he didn't check her for a concussion. He lightly tapped his fingers down her back, looked at her and said, "It's not broken" you are going to be sore, I'll write you a script for pain meds, and you can be on your way. Seriously? Okay note to self and to husband - do not EVER take one of my children anywhere other than Children's Hospital! My brother-in-law was there until almost 2am.
That's all I can handle blogging about today...more to come soon.
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Summer Sickness
It started Saturday with Olivia and spread to Emma and then Abigail. Sarah has somehow managed to stay puke free.
Sunday we were suppose to go visit some friends out of town but due to Olivia's sudden onset of illness we thought it was better to stay home. By Monday everyone seemed fine so we decided to go for our missed visit. The kids swam, we ate dinner and decided to run to the outlet mall to try and find some tennis shoes for the twins. Emma who hates to shop all of the sudden started complaining of a stomach ache. I blew her off at first because while she has never faked illness to get out of shopping, I wouldn't put it past her. After a short while I decided to check her head, sure enough she was warm and looking a little pale. I had her sit down while we finished our other shopping. Olivia who needed absolutely nothing got two packs of her favorite underwear, two skirts and two shirts. The child is a little manipulator. I really have no idea how she ended up with the clothes. The underwear yes, clothes no!
In case you don't know, Olivia only wears dresses and skirts - without shorts underneath. She has only worn pants four to five times in the past two and a half years. If you want this child to wear pants, you have to start talking about the event two weeks in advance and prepare her for the big event of putting on pants. Then the day comes to wear the pants. Let's just say it isn't pretty. When we get back from whatever horror it was that required her to wear pants, she promptly comes in the house, strips off the forsaken clothes and puts on a dress. Not only does this child have a devout hatred for pants, she is extremely particular about the type of underwear she wears. The one and only kind she will wear are from The Children's Place. Dont' even try and sneak some cute Littlest Pet Shop or Princess underwear in there, it ain't going to happen! Period, end of story. She knows what she likes.
Back to the original premise of this blog; puking kids. Before we left the mall, I saw an act of kindness from Abigail towards Emma. She bought, with her own money, a bottle of Sprite for Emma. She claims that Aunt Tammy said if you drink some Sprite or 7up, you will puke and then you will feel better. Acts of kindness towards one's twin are few and far between here so I had to share that. Anyway, we left the mall and headed back to Raquel's house. The whole way back Emma was miserable. As soon as we got back she went and laid down with a blanket. Eventually it was time to go, we were in the kitchen saying our goodbyes when the inevitable happened - she threw up. Now, what transpired from here was hysterical.
Emma was sitting in a wooden kitchen chair, with her legs pulled up to her chest when she got sick. Perfect, she threw up all over herself and it was nowhere else. The problem is, how do you clean it up without it getting everywhere? Raquel and I are completely appalled, as neither of us deal with vomit well. Todd has a brilliant idea, he and Scott can carry her out to the driveway. So, they pick up the chair and carry Emma out to the yard. I stayed inside for a few minutes trying to get a grip, ok, I am fine....go outside. When I walk out of the garage I see Emma standing in the yard and Scott with a water hose pointed directly at her. Thank goodness it was dark out because anyone driving by would have thought she had just been the victim of a chemical spill! He was hosing her off and she was jumping around like he was using a flame thrower on her. After the chemical clean-up was over, she stripped in the yard and went directly to the shower. We left when she got out and there was no more vomiting from her.
Tuesday morning I got up and came downstairs and there was Abigail laying on the couch with a bowl. She had been up since 4am, apparently throwing up. Great! She was sick the entire day and finished off the day with a fever. She seems better today. I am hoping that is the end of it. I have wiped every surface I can with Lysol disinfecting wipes, sprayed with Lysol and washed my hands like I had obsessive compulsive disorder all day. I can not get sick, I will not get sick, I am not going to get sick!!!!!
Today is a new day, everyone seems better and let's just hope and pray it stays that way.
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
Sunday we were suppose to go visit some friends out of town but due to Olivia's sudden onset of illness we thought it was better to stay home. By Monday everyone seemed fine so we decided to go for our missed visit. The kids swam, we ate dinner and decided to run to the outlet mall to try and find some tennis shoes for the twins. Emma who hates to shop all of the sudden started complaining of a stomach ache. I blew her off at first because while she has never faked illness to get out of shopping, I wouldn't put it past her. After a short while I decided to check her head, sure enough she was warm and looking a little pale. I had her sit down while we finished our other shopping. Olivia who needed absolutely nothing got two packs of her favorite underwear, two skirts and two shirts. The child is a little manipulator. I really have no idea how she ended up with the clothes. The underwear yes, clothes no!
In case you don't know, Olivia only wears dresses and skirts - without shorts underneath. She has only worn pants four to five times in the past two and a half years. If you want this child to wear pants, you have to start talking about the event two weeks in advance and prepare her for the big event of putting on pants. Then the day comes to wear the pants. Let's just say it isn't pretty. When we get back from whatever horror it was that required her to wear pants, she promptly comes in the house, strips off the forsaken clothes and puts on a dress. Not only does this child have a devout hatred for pants, she is extremely particular about the type of underwear she wears. The one and only kind she will wear are from The Children's Place. Dont' even try and sneak some cute Littlest Pet Shop or Princess underwear in there, it ain't going to happen! Period, end of story. She knows what she likes.
Back to the original premise of this blog; puking kids. Before we left the mall, I saw an act of kindness from Abigail towards Emma. She bought, with her own money, a bottle of Sprite for Emma. She claims that Aunt Tammy said if you drink some Sprite or 7up, you will puke and then you will feel better. Acts of kindness towards one's twin are few and far between here so I had to share that. Anyway, we left the mall and headed back to Raquel's house. The whole way back Emma was miserable. As soon as we got back she went and laid down with a blanket. Eventually it was time to go, we were in the kitchen saying our goodbyes when the inevitable happened - she threw up. Now, what transpired from here was hysterical.
Emma was sitting in a wooden kitchen chair, with her legs pulled up to her chest when she got sick. Perfect, she threw up all over herself and it was nowhere else. The problem is, how do you clean it up without it getting everywhere? Raquel and I are completely appalled, as neither of us deal with vomit well. Todd has a brilliant idea, he and Scott can carry her out to the driveway. So, they pick up the chair and carry Emma out to the yard. I stayed inside for a few minutes trying to get a grip, ok, I am fine....go outside. When I walk out of the garage I see Emma standing in the yard and Scott with a water hose pointed directly at her. Thank goodness it was dark out because anyone driving by would have thought she had just been the victim of a chemical spill! He was hosing her off and she was jumping around like he was using a flame thrower on her. After the chemical clean-up was over, she stripped in the yard and went directly to the shower. We left when she got out and there was no more vomiting from her.
Tuesday morning I got up and came downstairs and there was Abigail laying on the couch with a bowl. She had been up since 4am, apparently throwing up. Great! She was sick the entire day and finished off the day with a fever. She seems better today. I am hoping that is the end of it. I have wiped every surface I can with Lysol disinfecting wipes, sprayed with Lysol and washed my hands like I had obsessive compulsive disorder all day. I can not get sick, I will not get sick, I am not going to get sick!!!!!
Today is a new day, everyone seems better and let's just hope and pray it stays that way.
Sincerely,
The Queen of Insanity
Sunday, August 1, 2010
That's What I Get
Friday night the usual gang and I went out to watch my cousin's band play at our local hang out. We had a great time! There is never a shortage of laughs and/or serious life discussions when we go out. The best part of the serious life discussions when you're drinking is that they don't stay serious long.
We were out till a little after 2am and I think I finally go to bed around 2:30ish, knowing full well I had to be up at 8am to drive almost 2 hours each way to pick up the girls from camp. I don't know why I thought these two activities would not have an effect on each other. I guess may be I thought I would drink, have fun, come home get six hours of sleep and wake up just fine to pick up the girls. I was apparently wrong.
I was awakened at 4am to Olivia throwing up on my bed! Let me just say this, I am not a fan of vomit in any way shape or form. You could say I am a sympathy puker. I am happy to report I didn't partake in the sympathy this time around. I, being a stellar Mother, picked up the phone and called Scott! It went something like this;
Him: Hello?
Me: Where the HELLO KITTY are you?
Him: Downstairs.
Me: Well get upstairs.....NOW!
Him: Why?
Me: Olivia is puking all over the bed...I need your help.
Him: Huh? I thought she was done....
ME: What? Just get up here....
Before I go any further, I would like to focus on the "I though she was done....." part of our conversation for a moment. Okay, this means that he knew she had been sick, cleaned it up and then let her come upstairs and lay down in our bed with me. A little head's up would have been nice.
He comes upstairs and I am stripping the bed and trying not to get sick myself. He begins to help me remake the bed. Apparently I had raccoon eyes all ready from make-up I didn't take off before I went to bed. He chooses now to ask me if I had gone out last night. Ummm, yes I told you like I don't know, fifty times I was going out to watch my cousin's band. Seriously, it hits me, he is deflecting the conversation so I don't question him about why he let Livie come upstairs. After all, I even texted him that Michelle and I were out and she and Rachel were going to be spending the night to make picking up the girls easier on us! I change the topic to why and he says, "She wanted her Mommy!". Oh so now he is trying to make me feel guilty for not wanting a puking child in my bed? Great! I am convinced Scott is passive aggressive. He gets a sleeping bag and lays her with a bowl right beside my side of the bed. Ummm....DUDE I HAVE TO BE UP IN FOUR HOURS!!! She threw up several more times, all right next to me and I called him each of those times to deal with it.
You may all think that this makes me a horrible Mother that I wasn't more sympathetic to my sick child but he is her Father! I can't tell you how many times I have dealt with their illnesses all by my lonesome. His turn! He should have worked overtime or something and it would have been my problem.
After severely interrupted sleep, I got up as did Michelle and we headed out to pick up all the girls from camp. We stopped once for a potty break. We arrived at camp at 11:15am, I tell you the time because the pick up time on the paper stated that you should pick up your child between 9:30am and noon. We were not late (A true Christmas Miracle) and yet our four kids were the only ones left there. The first words out of my precious daughter Emma's mouth, "YOU ARE LATE!" Stop the bus, the one time I am on time and you are ripping me a new one! My reply, "We had till noon, should we leave and come back?" Honestly, is it my fault other, apparently better suited parents, got up earlier than me? Abigail came up to me and said, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR?" and then started crying. Wait a minute, can anyone tell me why I thought I had to have kids? Anyone?
I asked her why she was crying, surely it wasn't my new blond hair color, and gave her a big hug. She said that she had a good week but that Hannah was mean to her all week. WOW, when was the last time you had a shower Abigail? Thursday. Hannah was mean to me all week and every time I tried to defend myself she was meaner. Oh geesh, you know the thing is these girls are buddies and I have no idea what really happened and honestly I don't care. We are going to make a stop at the outlet mall for Mama's new shoes and then home. Got everyone loaded and we had to hear about how Emma and Abigail are always the last kids to get picked up. I still failed to see the problem with it, I was there before the noon pick-up time. I asked both of my girls' if they missed me, they both said no. Did you miss us Mom? No, I knew you wouldn't miss me and I knew it would be wasted on my part to miss either of you. I had better start a therapy change jar for the girls...they are probably going to need it with a woman like me for a Mom.
We stopped at the outlet mall to get these shoes that I saw last weekend. They were haunting me and I had to have them. I dont' know why I left them behind the weekend before. The girls' went to Claire's while I got the shoes. Yeah, letting four girls into Claire's was just dumb parenting. They pretty much all wanted something but got none of it. Whining followed. I am just gonna throw this out, had they missed me they might have gotten something! Onward home.......
We got home, unloaded and I headed to the couch. Olivia was passed out on the one part of the couch that I can stretch out and sleep on so I had to lay in the corner of the sectional. Not at all comfy but it didn't stop me from a two hour siesta.
The girls unpacked, I started laundry and made a trip to Walmart for essentials and home to bed.....
Sincerely,
The Queen on Insanity
We were out till a little after 2am and I think I finally go to bed around 2:30ish, knowing full well I had to be up at 8am to drive almost 2 hours each way to pick up the girls from camp. I don't know why I thought these two activities would not have an effect on each other. I guess may be I thought I would drink, have fun, come home get six hours of sleep and wake up just fine to pick up the girls. I was apparently wrong.
I was awakened at 4am to Olivia throwing up on my bed! Let me just say this, I am not a fan of vomit in any way shape or form. You could say I am a sympathy puker. I am happy to report I didn't partake in the sympathy this time around. I, being a stellar Mother, picked up the phone and called Scott! It went something like this;
Him: Hello?
Me: Where the HELLO KITTY are you?
Him: Downstairs.
Me: Well get upstairs.....NOW!
Him: Why?
Me: Olivia is puking all over the bed...I need your help.
Him: Huh? I thought she was done....
ME: What? Just get up here....
Before I go any further, I would like to focus on the "I though she was done....." part of our conversation for a moment. Okay, this means that he knew she had been sick, cleaned it up and then let her come upstairs and lay down in our bed with me. A little head's up would have been nice.
He comes upstairs and I am stripping the bed and trying not to get sick myself. He begins to help me remake the bed. Apparently I had raccoon eyes all ready from make-up I didn't take off before I went to bed. He chooses now to ask me if I had gone out last night. Ummm, yes I told you like I don't know, fifty times I was going out to watch my cousin's band. Seriously, it hits me, he is deflecting the conversation so I don't question him about why he let Livie come upstairs. After all, I even texted him that Michelle and I were out and she and Rachel were going to be spending the night to make picking up the girls easier on us! I change the topic to why and he says, "She wanted her Mommy!". Oh so now he is trying to make me feel guilty for not wanting a puking child in my bed? Great! I am convinced Scott is passive aggressive. He gets a sleeping bag and lays her with a bowl right beside my side of the bed. Ummm....DUDE I HAVE TO BE UP IN FOUR HOURS!!! She threw up several more times, all right next to me and I called him each of those times to deal with it.
You may all think that this makes me a horrible Mother that I wasn't more sympathetic to my sick child but he is her Father! I can't tell you how many times I have dealt with their illnesses all by my lonesome. His turn! He should have worked overtime or something and it would have been my problem.
After severely interrupted sleep, I got up as did Michelle and we headed out to pick up all the girls from camp. We stopped once for a potty break. We arrived at camp at 11:15am, I tell you the time because the pick up time on the paper stated that you should pick up your child between 9:30am and noon. We were not late (A true Christmas Miracle) and yet our four kids were the only ones left there. The first words out of my precious daughter Emma's mouth, "YOU ARE LATE!" Stop the bus, the one time I am on time and you are ripping me a new one! My reply, "We had till noon, should we leave and come back?" Honestly, is it my fault other, apparently better suited parents, got up earlier than me? Abigail came up to me and said, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR?" and then started crying. Wait a minute, can anyone tell me why I thought I had to have kids? Anyone?
I asked her why she was crying, surely it wasn't my new blond hair color, and gave her a big hug. She said that she had a good week but that Hannah was mean to her all week. WOW, when was the last time you had a shower Abigail? Thursday. Hannah was mean to me all week and every time I tried to defend myself she was meaner. Oh geesh, you know the thing is these girls are buddies and I have no idea what really happened and honestly I don't care. We are going to make a stop at the outlet mall for Mama's new shoes and then home. Got everyone loaded and we had to hear about how Emma and Abigail are always the last kids to get picked up. I still failed to see the problem with it, I was there before the noon pick-up time. I asked both of my girls' if they missed me, they both said no. Did you miss us Mom? No, I knew you wouldn't miss me and I knew it would be wasted on my part to miss either of you. I had better start a therapy change jar for the girls...they are probably going to need it with a woman like me for a Mom.
We stopped at the outlet mall to get these shoes that I saw last weekend. They were haunting me and I had to have them. I dont' know why I left them behind the weekend before. The girls' went to Claire's while I got the shoes. Yeah, letting four girls into Claire's was just dumb parenting. They pretty much all wanted something but got none of it. Whining followed. I am just gonna throw this out, had they missed me they might have gotten something! Onward home.......
We got home, unloaded and I headed to the couch. Olivia was passed out on the one part of the couch that I can stretch out and sleep on so I had to lay in the corner of the sectional. Not at all comfy but it didn't stop me from a two hour siesta.
The girls unpacked, I started laundry and made a trip to Walmart for essentials and home to bed.....
Sincerely,
The Queen on Insanity
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