Roof: Day 2

They are still up there hammering away. Guess it is going to take longer than two days afterall. Snotty neighbour asked if they were going to go until 9pm again tonight. Since it is 8:50pm I would say apparently so.

I am FLYING. Ok, not exactly doing everything she say when she says it but I am inspired to clean up and out my house. It felt so good to purge all that shit into the dumpster last night. Although I did notice that the TV stand is OUT of the dumpster today. Not sure if it because it took up so much room or if one of the roof guys is going to take it home. We'll see if it gone when they leave today.

Ash is organizing a night out with all of the kindergarten moms (P.M. class only). I think she is miffed at me because I nixted her decision of Thai food. There is virtually no way to avoid peanuts in a Thai restaurant.

::short break::

Me, asking Stephen for the umpteenth time...

Me: What day are you going to come watch the kids swim?
Stephen: What time and day do they swim?
Me: (eyeroll) Monday and Wednesdays at 9 and at 1.
Stephen: Mondays are no good for me.
Me: They only have three lessons left.
Stephen: I can make it to one lesson - which one do you want me to come to?
Me: Pick one of your children.

Ok, that was pretty bitchy of me but for f*** sakes, I have been asking him since the first week of March to come out to one of their lessons. What does it take? I think I will start whistling "Cat's in the Cradle".

Can you tell I have PMS?

Frigging Flylady

Ok, the stupid witch told me to go shine my sink but first fill it up with water and bleach. Guess who has *7* bleach blobs on their shirt from splatter? Bugger! Bugger! Bugger! There is a reason why I do not use bleach in my laundry (I have ruined more things than you can imagine). Now "flying" I have managed to ruin a perfectly good shirt.

The roofing guys started on the roof today. Bang Boom Crash Bang Bang all day long. I have a headache.

Nosey Neighbour told me that when they did their roof, she filled the dumpster in her driveway with a bunch of old crap they had lying around in the garage. I told Stephen this (he was planning a trip to the dump next weekend) and he asked the roofing guys if it were ok for us to put some stuff in it. They said sure. So, we got rid of an old crib (Terry was not able to sell it at 2001 garage sale so it has sat in our garage ever since), a bunch of old broken pieces of wood from the fence, a broken desk chair, five old window blinds, an area rug, a tv stand, an "expired" carseat and some other stuff I cannot recall. Feels great to get rid of it all! I posted 300 pounds tossed at Flylady.net but I am sure it was more than that.

Baby Steps

First baby steps...I rejoined Flylady. I have gotten to the point where I would no longer consider her emails harrassment (although it would help if she did not send me emails at 8:30 telling me to go to bed!). Anyway, part of my back to my old self baby steps that I am taking.

And we have more baby steps. Cars took his first steps. He'll be running in no time.

He's home! He's home! And he even went to the airport early to see about getting on an earlier flight and arrived home three hours early! Whoo-hoo!

Five years and two days since I moved to Washington State.
Five years and one day since I realized that $230k did not go far in Washington State.
Five years to the day that we found "the" house and put in an offer.
Four years and fifty weeks since our offer was accepted.
Four years and forty-six weeks since we moved into "the" house.

Five years but it seems like yesterday. It was so hot that day and it was the end of the day. We were so done looking at houses but our agent insisted that we look at one more. It was not close to where we were looking but we agreed because it was close to Erik and Terry - the only people we knew in the state of Washington. A looooong trek during rush our and we arrived. We walked into the house and I loved it. We walked into the kitchen and I knew this was the house that we were going to live in. We had a few bumps in the house-buying process (the sellers were high maintenance!) but in the end, we had a very lovely house that became a home.

Funny thing is that after five years of living here I am just now considering Washington State home.

Rest assured that the exercise thing was a passing fancy. Whew! Back to slugville for me.

Ash's turn to watch the kids this afternoon. I had made up my mind to come back home, alone, and have a long bath. Of course all that changed when I saw the state of my bathroom so I spent the time cleaning the bathroom, including mopping the walls above the shower (high ceilings suck sometimes). I nearly fell off the step-stool and I smell of bleach but my bathroom is sparkling.

Dex is over his hissy fit from last night. He will be making a formal apology to Nanny when she returns tomorrow (if she returns - yes, it was THAT bad). I am still horrified at his behaviour. I won't go into all the details but it started when he kicked her as she told him to go to his room to get his pajamas on. It ended very badly too according to them both. *sigh* It is so out of character for him...

Today was Dex's last day of school and the last time we shall step foot into that preschool. After forking over $25 for teachers' gifts, I was in no mood to write the teachers little thank you notes so I didn't. One of the teachers I really, really loved too - she was Jax's preschool teacher too - but the other two I was indifferent towards. All of the Stepford Wives brought in gifts for all three teachers, even though they had already contributed $25 (or more) towards gifts. Laurie also felt the same way I did and she did give them additional cards or gifts (I believe we were the only two who didn't).

It is chilly in here. I think I need to turn the heat back on. The weather sucks - low 60's and overcast/rainy/windy. That Gladys Kravitz perch is beckoning but I cannot go out there until it warms up!

Much better day today (for me). Dex had a hard day but he can write about it in his blog.

Stephen met the other Stephen SameLastName and his wife Chacke (accent agu needed over the e) for dinner tonight in Minneapolis. He said it was so nice to see them. Friday night he sees our old gang. I am jealous!

I actually EXERCISED today. I mean it was real exercise. I did the WW exercise dvd that I got the first week of January before I quit going. It felt good to do it and who knows, perhaps I will do it again tomorrow.

Dex's tooth is popping through more. Cute little snaggle-tooth!

Gladys Kravitz Watch
New neighbour's children scream as much as mine do. teeheehee

Ok I am an emotional wreck. Broke down in the pediatrician office today. Told her about the ppd and she asked me why I wasn't on any meds. I explained to her that as long as I was nursing Cars I would not take anything that might affect him - passing any chemical to him in my breast milk. Much of that stems from my guilt of Jax's peanut allergy and the fact that he most likely became allergic due to the vast quantities of peanut butter I consumed while pregnant and nursing. Then through my sobs I had to convince her that I really was ok and that I was so much better than I was months ago.

On a better note, Cars' ear infection has cleared up completely. Dex has a sinus infection and the beginnings of an ear infection so he gets a round of Augmentin since the Amoxicillian did not clear it up last time. Today was his 4 year check-up. He weighs 39 pounds and is 42.25 inches tall which puts him in the 75th percentile for height.

Yesterday I went shopping at Old Navy (took a slight detour home from the psychologist's office). I bought Jax a Hooded Sweatshirt. When I gave it to him he was so delighted and he immediately put it on then ran for his ball cap, put that on too and said "Look at me! I'm a teenager!" He wore it all the rest of the evening. He thinks he looks ultra-cool. I think he looks like a hoodlum - a cute one. I also bought all three boys matching Flag t's in olive.

Dex's upper incisor finally popped through. See? He was teething!

Gladys Kravitz Watch
Too much rain lately for me to be up on the perch.

Can't sleep. Well, I did sleep - from 8:30pm until 1am because I had a horrible migraine. The worst in years. Then Cars awoke so I fed him, put him back to bed and I've been awake ever since. I've done the crossword from yesterday's paper, read some of the forums, paged through a magazine and ate some (you guessed it) Chips Ahoy! cookies. Hmmm...now what?

Stephen leaves in 3.5 hours for Mpls.

There was a nice article about my SIL and her business in the Vancouver Sun today (yesterday). Stupid site - you need to be a paid subscriber to access the article. Anyway, she is hoping it drums up some business for her company.

Took Dex to a b-day party on Sunday. Man, I thought I was an anal and controlling mom. Jen tried to control the 4 year olds way more than I did at Dex's party. At least I know I am not the only no-fun-mom around.

Stephen took Dex and Jax to see Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban on Sunday. I am a little jealous because I wanted to go see it. I could have arranged for a babysitter for Cars but really I want to go see it without any distractions (read: KIDS). Nanny is coming on Wednesday evening so perhaps I will go then.

As much as I would tell anyone who would listen that I DO NOT IRON. I do. In fact I think I use the iron virtually everyday to press my t-shirts or get the wrinkles out of my jeans that got all crispy and hard air-drying in the laundry "room". I even press the boys' clothes from time-to-time. Anyway, now that the dirty little secret it out, I can admit that I burnt myself on the iron today. I have a lovely check-mark shaped burn on my forearm from reaching around the iron and not quite clearing it. Did it ever hurt! Needed to nurse it with Chips Ahoy!

And speaking of Chips Ahoy!, I need to go back to bed before the package summons me back to the pantry.

Ok, so there is a little news.

1) I am back to Chocolate Macaroon after 7 horrible weeks of Chocolate Mousse (which really is "fucking scarlet" as Dmouse may concur).

2) I have eaten more Chips Ahoy! in the past couple of days than one would think is humanly possible.

3) I have gained five pounds. (see #2 for reason)

4) I am in desperate need of a good night's sleep.

I guess #4 isn't really news since I write about it all the time.

Nothing to see here. Move along, folks.

There is some buzzing behind the blinds on the window next to me. I am afraid to look for fear it might be a bee or wasp rather than a fly.

Today Dex and I rode the school bus with Jax. It was fun to see all the kids get on at their stops. Dex had the biggest grin on his face. He loved it! However, he did not love the walk home. "Why can't the bus drive us home?" and whimper, whimper, whimper all the way home. Oh well, I enjoyed the mile walk. Nosey Neighbour watched Cars who slept the whole time.

Nanny showed up unexpectedly this morning. She had told me that she wasn't available today but lo and behold she showed up a few minutes after 8. I had her stay and I went to lie back down since it was a relatively sleepless night last night. Cars was up most of the night and Dex was up several times too. I must go to bed by 9 tonight.

The boy who ran over the baby wrote a letter of apology to the baby's mom. It read "I am sorry I ran over your kid". I thought it was cute but the mom didn't really. Oh well. The baby is doing well, no concussion, he had a small blood clot in his nose that kept bleeding but he is fine now.

I am feeling a little sorry for myself lately. And I do not even want to snap out of it. I want to wallow in my self-pity. Thank goodness for Chips Ahoy! Nothing like throwing oneself a pity party stocked up with a few bags of Chips Ahoy!

Oooh, the buzzing just got more angry-sounding. I guess I will have to take a look afterall...

Walked to pick Jax up from school today. Dex did well considering I took the single stroller and he had to walk both ways. Usually I take the double jogger (best garage sale purchase EVER!) and I push him there and he walks home. Anyway, it was HOT today and I got all sweaty and stinky. Then not long after we got home (we were gone nearly 2 hours!) it was time to take Dex to t-ball practice. What a day!

It was also emotionally exhausting because I saw a baby get run over by a bicycle. Well, he is actually a toddler but anyone under 3 is a baby to me. The bike knocked him down then the tire ran right over his head. I could not believe it. Poor baby had a bloody nose, a big scrap on his forehead and several on his arms and legs. And the sickening thump as his head his the ground keeps echoing in my mind.

I was the first one to him and I picked him up but looking back I guess I should have left him in case he had some serious injuries. Well honestly, I don't think I could have just left him. Anyway, I picked him up and ran him over to his mom. Then I turned to the kid on the bike (who should not have been riding his bike on the school yard, nevermind that it was crowded and he was whipping) to chew him out then I saw that he was scared as hell. I felt so horrible that my first thought was yell at him. I asked him if he were ok, assured him that the baby would be fine, then suggested that he might want to walk his bike out of the school yard.

I called the mom this evening and the baby is fine. I guess the principal is going to contact the bike rider's parents (one of the other kids knew who he was). I hope he doesn't get in too much trouble. He is guilty of using bad judgment, riding in the school yard, but he is probably only 8 or 9 and he did try to avoid the baby who ran in front of him.

I keep getting choked up thinking about the whole thing though. The baby, the kid, the mom. I cried afterwards and am tearing up now. What an emotional wreck...

Stephen took the air conditioner out of the box today (we've had it since my b-day two months ago) and he hopes to have it set up this weekend. Even today the house warmed up to 79 and it was probably about that outside. Hotter weather tomorrow.

Allergies. Shit. I forgot how bad they can be. I never had any allergies until I moved here. Then every year at the end of May or beginning of June it starts. Constant dripping nose, sore throat and sneezing and sneezing and sneezing. And since I am nursing I am not sure if I can take anything. Aaa-chooo!

At 4:53am this morning I realized that Cars was NOT going back to sleep. He had been awake about 10 minutes. Today is going to be a very long day.

Oh, time to take Dex to school. Just three more classes. Actually, the last day is "come meet your child and his/her class for popsicles at 10am!" So basically they watch them for an hour and pawn them off on us. I am so glad that we are leaving this school!

Welcome back, Mr. Sun!

Gorgeous day today. Sunny, a few fluffly clouds in the sky and a slight breeze. Love it! Migraine is gone. Got some sleep last night. Chips Ahoy! are on sale. All is right with the world.

Dex got to swim this morning during Jax's lesson so we do not have to go back this afternoon. Three more weeks of lessons then that's it for the summer. We'll start back up again in the fall or maybe wait until next spring.

Dex has a friend over - C. They play really well together (so far) and I hope it keeps up. I've got another 2.25 hours to go until I drop C off with his mom at the school grounds.

Stephen is going to Minnesota next week. I am already panicking about the loooooong days. How do Katie and Heidi do it with such grace? I have Nanny coming one evening then all day on the Friday. That will help. At least the kids will still be in school! I would definitely go crazier if he were going away two weeks later.

Dex is so excited because on Friday I have arranged with Chris the Bus Driver for he and I to ride the bus to school. Nosey Neighbour is going to babysit Cars while Dex and I ride the bus then walk home. I don't think Dex is going to be thrilled about the walk home. He has already asked if we can get the bus to drive us back home too.

Ooops - emergency - ball under the deck!

Dex is officially 4 now. As of yesterday. We had birthday donuts rather than a birthday cake because that is what he wanted.

Now that Dex is 4, he told me he didn't need pull-ups anymore. Sure enough he woke up dry today. We've tried this before and he can usually go 2 nights dry then wet the next night and back to pull-ups for a couple of weeks. We'll see what happens tonight.

Oh, and now that Dex is 4, he says he is a big kid and needs to take a shower. Tonight was the first shower he took without screaming about the water getting in his eyes.

The sun shone most of today but it was still cool. I am looking forward to warm weather again. Oh, listen...there goes the ice cream minivan. Some guy drives around with his minivan full of coolers hocking ice cream and playing "TURKEY IN THE STRAW" really loud.

So I caved and donated my $25 towards the preschool teachers gifts. :(

Jax fell off the swings twice today. The first time I could not stop laughing. He was saying "Look, no hands!" and then did a face plant as he swung backwards. The second time he fell off because he leaned too far forward when going forward. That one wasn't nearly as funny because he did clunk his head then the swing came back and hit him in the noggin. Ok, so it was a little funny. The kind of thing one would see on "America's Funniest Home Videos".

I have a migraine so it is early to bed for me tonight.

Lifted from katiefleck:

I'm an apparently intelligent, liberal, not-too-generous, not-too-selfish, relatively well adjusted human being!
What are you?
Brought to you by Rum and Monkey

Which makes me 80% compatible with katiefleck@hotmail.com. (teeheehee)

I forgot to write about a hilarious moment at Dex's party yesterday. It was time to open the gifts and Dex ripped the card off one gift and then Gav and Jax start fighting over the card because they both wanted to read it. Cameron (age 4) reached over and grabbed it from them. He opened it up and then yelled "WAIT! I CAN'T READ!". I keep cracking up thinking about it.

Stephen took Dex to see "Shrek 2" today. Jax refuses to go to the movies (was scared by the LOUD sounds when he was 3 and he will not go back) so I took him shopping with me today. We drove way south, down near the airport so I could hit Toys'R'Us and Babies'R'Us. I bought Dex a guitar(the middle one).

After that we went into Babies'R'Us and I bought a new stroller. Cars is a wiggly-worm and can contort his body and squeeze out of the 3-point harness on our stroller. He is a regular Harry Houdini. I bought an umbrella-type stroller with a 5-point harness. It folds up much more compactly (is that a word? looks weird) than our old one so it fits better in the back of the van too. Boy, if we could afford it I would love to buy a bigger van (how sick is that??).

Gladys Kravitz Watch
The old next-door neighbour came by to "teach" the new next-door neighbours about their new house. He was there for two hours, showing him how the hot tub worked and about each and every plant that was in the garden and how to care for them. The new next-door neighbour looked quite bored by the end. Incidentally, I did not observe this from the Gladys Kravitz Perch but from the street as I watched my kids ride back and forth a zillion times.

Birthday Boy!



He doesn't look happy, does he? Must be the shitty cake his mom made for him. Seriously, he was not happy to have his picture taken. He just didn't want any pictures taken of him. But I *had* to anyway.

The party went pretty well. The kids loved digging up the dinosaur skeleton in the makeshift sandbox which we were able to keep outside on the deck because the rain held off. The yard was pretty muddy though but all the parents said it was ok for their kids to play out there after the festivities and for the dinosaur egg hunt. They all went home with muddy shoes.

I made the lamest cake for Dex's party. It is just a sheet cake, frosted with white out-of-the-can icing. Then an outline in purple icing of a dinosaur and a #4 candle stuck in it. I am pathetic and he always gets the short end of the stick. Poor boy. We'll see what he says about it in the morning.

We are having record rainfall this week. Figures. So no playing outside tomorrow for Dex's party and I guess I am setting up a pool full of sand IN the house somewhere...ugh.

The new next-door neighbours moved in today...in the pissing rain. I felt bad for them. I went over and introduced myself to them. They have two girls - almost 4 and 2. Too bad no 6 and 4 year old boys. Anyway, they seem nice enough.

Mom told me that when Fiona was born, Chuck Chuck the big dumb F*ck (who is married to my dad's sister) asked her when she was going to have a grandson. Mom said "What are you talking about? I have four grandsons" and he said she had no "real" grandsons because none of my brothers have boys. Then he asked Mom what was wrong with her sons. What an asshole. At least my brothers were able to propagate, you childless cretin.

Geez, I wish I hadn't thought about Chuck TBDF because he always pisses me off. I don't know how my mom has continued to be civil to him after all the years of insensitive, lewd and vulgar things he has said. My dad loathed him and he was not allowed in the house once my dad got sick.

This month will be five years since my dad passed away. I still miss him. Not that I think I ever will not but it is still so painful at times. All the things I wish I could talk to him about. Have him meet my kids. I cannot even talk to my mom about him without getting choked up. I think I have some guilt issues too - because I could not be there when he was sick. Ok, tears...

Ok, back now...

I was not able to talk to mom today about Mickey. I hope he is ok. And I hope that Sean's prognosis is better than they expect. Man, life sucks sometimes.

Jen called today, I sent two little cute sleepers for the twins and she recieved them today. She told me that she will be having a c-section for sure because she has Placenta Previa and also Vasa Previa so there is no way that she can go into labour. One of the babies also has policystic kidney disease and kidney reflux (amazing that they can detect this on the ultrasounds). The doctor says that mostlikely the one kidney with the cysts is not functioning but the baby's overall health should be fine. Jen and Greg have also hired a doula to help them out for the first month. I am sure my MIL will have a lot to say about it once she finds out.

Allergist said it is probably just Jax's grass allergy acting up because we are having a bad grass season and he is highly allergic. So now we get to give him Zyrtec everyday for the next two months and see what happens after that. Today there were no hives thanks to Zyrtec.

Getting ready for Dex's dino party. I hope that it does not rain. Anyway, we are going to fill the pool with sand and rocks and the dino skeleton and let the kids dig up the bones and then reconstruct the skeleton. I also painted a dino on a box and cut out the mouth so we'll have feed the dino game. The kids will also decorate their goodie bag. Then they will go and find the papier-mache dino eggs. Then cake. I hope that fills 2 hours.

A friend called me today. She decided she had enough of working in an industry that she hated (IT) and she quit her job. She is now working with a "life coach" to try to figure out what she wants to do with her life. Good thing she had such a well-paying job for so many years to be able to afford to quit. Her dh finally got hired on fulltime with that shoe company so they have good benefits. She has also not been able to get pregnant so I think that probably had a lot to do with her decision to quit.

Mom told me today that Mickey and his best friend went camping this weekend and his friend, Sean, dove into the lake and broke his neck. He is completely paralyzed and Mickey is blaming himself because at the time it happened, he had gone back to the campsite. Judi swears that she "knew" something bad was going to happen and she tried to talk him out of going. Poor Sean and his family. I cannot imagine the pain his mother must be going through. And poor Mickey. He doesn't want to go back to school. Sean was his champion. Sean looked after him at school. Was really his only friend there and I think Mickey will be so lonely when he returns to school (he didn't go back this week). I hope he goes home each weekend for the rest of the school year to stay with Judi.

My eyes! My eyes! I found the blog of a whack and I just cannot seem to tear myself away from it. It is stunning to read. Amazing what people can make themselves believe.

Ok want a great laugh? Seems Jax breaks out in HIVES everytime he plays on the climber. Can you imagine if he were allergic to the wood it is made of? I have a call into the allergists office to see if we can test him for it. Sonuvabitch.

Ok, yet another entry today.

Cute Roof Guy came over today so we could sign the contract for the new roof. We start to chit-chat as he hands me back the signed contact so I mention that XYZ Roofing had a much higher quote. Cute Roof Guy stated that after you add all of the extras to XYZ Roofing's quote that his company includes in their quote, then XYZ Roofing often is pricier. I told him that XYZ Roofing's base price was even higher. An "OH SHIT" look comes across Cute Roof Guy's face. He had based my quote not on actual measurements of my house but on the measurements of our neighbour's house - a house that is the same as ours. Cute Roof Guy never measured my roof.

Cute Roof Guy laughed a nervous laugh and said that he hoped he hadn't made a mistake. I told him I had a signed contract so too bad if they had. We chuckled a bit and then he left. Five minutes later there is a knock at the door. Cute Roof Guy is back with his buddy. "Oh, I am just going to measure the roof because my boss is checking our work", Cute Roof Guy says. Right. Cute Roof Guy is clearly worried that he made a huge mistake. They went up on the roof and measured and left. I guess I will find out later if there was indeed a mistake or not.

Ok, rant time. Y'know what chaps my ass? End of year gifts for teachers. Preschool teachers in particular.

From a mom of a kid in Dex's preschool:

Hi Everyone.

A few of you have asked about end of the year teacher gifts. Here is what I would suggest:

$25/family- This comes out to less $10 per teacher which I think seems like a pretty reasonable amount.

That would give us $120/teacher for a gift from all of the kids. We could do a wonderful gift certificate for each of them. (ie. Nearby Mall)

The other option would be to pick a theme like "You Are My Sunshine" and fill 3 large baskets full of summer stuff from the kids to present to them

Please give me your feedback asap... I would be happy to go and get the certificates.

Then came an UPDATE:

OK-- I have already heard from many of you and so here is where we are:

1. SPA CERTIFICATES- So far, everyone that has responded has voted for the spa option. I have surveyed some "spa-expert" friends and the Redmond Pro Club appears to have an AMAZING SPA. N, K and T could schedule their services a the same time and then meet at the Spa Cafe for lunch. Services also entitle them to use the sauna, steam room,etc... Those I spoke to that have been there describe it as "heavenly"/
(OK LOVE THIS NEXT PART)
2. MONEY- A couple of you have asked if you can contribute more than $25 to make these gifts extra nice. Of course you can. Let's just say this- The suggested donation is $25/child. You can give more or less. It is completely up to you. Just place your check in an envelop and either give it to me in the hallway or leave it for me in the office. I will not be sharing how much anyone gave. I will simply take the total, divide it into thirds and purchse the certificates. Fair enough?

Some want to contribute MORE?? These Stepford wives have more money than brains. Or perhaps the gas fumes they are inhaling as they gas up their SUV's every other day have affected their thinking.

Ok...I am tired and I am going to bed early tonight. Really, I will.

The kids on the Gladys Kravitz Perch

Mom left this morning. Her train for Vancouver leaves at 7:45am so Stephen drove her into Seattle to catch it. She then will stay with JP and fly home tomorrow. We had a good visit overall. She still drives me nuts and always will I suppose. At least we really didn't have any big arguments.

At the psychologist yesterday I asked her to check to see how many visits I have left. Thirteen. I think I will start going every other week so I can stretch them out through the end of the year. I don't know what I will do if we run out and I am still crazy. She charges $120/session after my insurance benefits run out. Eeep!

The climber/swingset is finally complete. Stephen came home from work early yesterday to finish leveling the ground under the monkey bars/swingset support and then staked the whole thing into the ground. Jax promptly fell off the trapeze and bloodied his lip.

I spent a small fortune at
Michael's yesterday. They had two huge bins of ribbon on clearance for $1/spool. I love pretty ribbon. I guess you could say I collect it because I have spools and spools that I always say I will use it for a certain project or to embellish a pretty package/present but I just squirrel them away and look at them from time to time, thinking "This is too pretty to use on a package" or "I could glue this onto the edge of the lamp shade". But I never do either of those things. So now I have dozens of spools of pretty ribbon.

Well all of the kids are now up so I should get on with my day. Time to open the blinds and let the sunshine in!

Gladys Kravitz Watch
The Gladys Perch is great! Once winter arrives I will be able to see further up the street behind us.

Ok, I swore to myself I would go to bed before 10:30 so I need to keep this short.

Gladys Kravitz Watch:
The tower of the new climber is so high that we can see over the fences of three neighbours down. And way across the street. It is a perfect perch for a Gladys Kravitz.

Cold miserable day. Two t-ball games to attend in the rain. These kids are so young, I don't know why they didn't call the games. Anyway, I have been cold and wet all day and I want nothing better than to crawl into bed. So why I haven't I? Because I am refuse to go to bed within an hour of my children. Makes my day seem that it was all about them. Just need a little ME time.

After the second t-ball game, I went to Jax's school for my hour of volunteering at the Jamboree. Luckily they were able to move most of the booths indoors due to the bad weather. The weird thing about the school though is that indoors is still outside. You go through the main doors into a "garden area". All of the corridors are open to the sky but have overhangs along the edges so kids do not get wet walking around the school. Anyway, so although I stayed dry attaching prizes in the fishing booth, I was freezing! Stephen then dropped Jax and Dex off at the end of my shift and I let them try all the games. They had a blast!

The climber is about 1/4 built...well maybe more. The hard part is done. Stephen had to dig up the yard a bit to make it level. We are planning to switch the slide to the back so we have a couple of make-shift changes to make but it will still work out. (Do I sound confident??).

My mom is homesick I think. She's been away since the 7th and I think she is ready to go home. It has been a nice visit and I will miss her when she goes. Two more days. The biggest problems we have had is that she wants to do things for me and here I look at her limping around (she pulled a muscle or something at Curves at before she came on her trip and she is having problems walking a lot) and think no way is my mom going to scrub my floors or push the stroller, etc. Anyway, maybe I should just let her do everything since not letting her do these things is a reminder to her that she is getting older.

Jax has a birthday party to go to tomorrow. First bowling, then lunch at a restaurant then cake at the birthday boys' house. I have to try to find the birthday present I bought months ago on clearance.

Cars spit out another dose of antibiotics. One last night and one tonight. I think I need to try giving it to him a little sooner than bedtime.

And speaking of bedtime...now it is mine.

Thursday night Stephen and I went out on a DATE! Well, it wasn't an exciting date but we did get to go to dinner without kids. Then we went birthday present shopping for Dex. We hit several toys stores as well as Target and Fred Meyer.

I finished papier-mache-ing the dino eggs. I hope to have them painted by the end of the weekend. The dino moulds are completed although I did break the skull mould so I had to buy a whole new set to replace it. Bummer and ca-ching. This birthday party is getting more expensive by the minute! The stuff from Oriental Trading Co. arrived today. I think I need to hit the lame dollar store with the stinky man owner to get some bigger dinos.

Jax went to the Zoo today on a field trip. It was cold and wet! Blech! I am so glad that we didn't go along. Fortunately, it didn't rain much, only misted. Anyway, he was so excited to see all the "new animals that I had never seen before". The moose and grizzly bears! I feel bad because we always skip that part of the zoo because I think those animals are not as exciting as the exotic animals from Africa and Asia. lol

Stephen started on the climber today. I helped a little but he was flipping out about the instructions that I just let him rant and stayed away. Dr. Human Factors thinks that all instructions should be perfectly clear. I told him it was, just look at the diagrams. I will brag here a little but I have amazing spatial abilities and easily visualize things in three dimensions (I am a Tetris GodDess). He does not have the same impressive skill (brag brag brag) so he could not "see" one part of it and honestly he spent 40 minutes trying to figure it out. Oh well, we'll just take a little longer than others to put it together. I am surprised that we did not fight about it though - we do not play together well.

Ok, so Cars has a "raging ear infection" according to the doctor. "Full of pus" she also said. Poor thing! So now he is on amoxicillan and should be feeling better by his second dose tomorrow morning.

Jax has a huge project for school. My mom is floored that a kindergartener has homework, let alone a project. Anyway, he has to study an animal and the project has to include the animal's name, info about its habitat and what it eats and needs to live. He has decided to study crocodiles and wants to create a diorama in a box since some keener kid has already done his and that is what he did. So far Jax has borrowed a book from the library and made a paper croc, rock, grass and some black/white crane-type bird that crocs seem to like (pictured in the book). We are using a big Costco-sized pampers box cut in 1/2...I guess he needs to paint the outside too.

My mom is driving me a little crazy already. She keeps wanting to do things for me like clean or tidy, etc but she tends to start things and then leaves them creating more work for me! She insisted on washing my kitchen cupboards because I mentioned I needed to scrub them but she only wiped them, didn't scrub them so I had to go back and do it again anyway.

She did stay up all night with Cars though and I actually got more than 4 hours of consecutive sleep!

Pressure is on Stephen to get the climber built by the time Dex's b-day party rolls around. Of course it is going to rain this weekend so I figure he will take a day off next week to work on it.

Stephen is also going to Minneapolis a conference in June. I am jealous. I'd love to go. I want to see DeniSe and meet Adrienne and see Katie's baby, Zane and see Beth. Maybe even see if I can meet Joe and Gary for lunch. I'd even call my very right-wing friend, Tace. Oh, plus meet Olu's wife, Ifiok and meet baby Babatunde! I miss Minneapolis. It is lovely in June. I'd love to see the locks on the Mississippi again and see the changes around our old condo. I do miss it there. *sigh*

Gladys Kravitz Watch
Our lawn is back to being the worst on the street again.

Mom's birthday was yesterday. I took her to DC's Grill (sans Stephen and children lol) for the free steak & lobster dinner. It is a huge, yummy, $50 dinner for free! I had the garlic prawns. Yummy.

Cars was up most of the night and mom stayed up with him which was wonderful! He has a fever and was screaming from about 8pm until midnight last night when he passed out from sheer exhaustion. He seems much better this morning, still warm but no screaming. I think I will call the doctor's office again and take both him and Dex in today. Dex has another sinus infection, I believe. Actually, I do not think the last one cleared up completely then he got another cold and lo and behold, more green snot.

I have been using this mould to create a Plaster of Paris dinosaur skeleton for Dex's birthday party. Ash lent me the mould. It is so cool! Anyway, our plan is to bury the skeleton in sand in the baby pool and let the kids excavate it and find one piece each. I am also making papier mache dinosaur eggs. I have seven almost done. I'll stuff them with a couple of plastic dinos and a pkg of dinosaur fruit snacks. This will be the "loot bag". I am having fun planning this party!

The little girl two doors down comes over everyday and rings the door bell about twelve times. She loves Jax and always wants to play with him. It would be cute if 1) Cars were not sleeping during the times when she rings the bell and he is usually woken up by it and 2) if should would leave when I say "Jax is at school" and not ask "Why?" over and over again. Last week Nosey Neighbour and her daughter were over and M came calling and I told her that Jax already had a friend over so sorry he could not play with her. She would not leave and when she finally did she apparently went home and told her mom that she hated Nosey Neighbour's daughter! Oh my!

Gladys Kravitz Watch
Sheila across the street is spending too damn much time on her lawn and making us look bad!

Stayed up too late again last night and now look at me. It is six thirty-eight in the morning and I am up with Cars. I shouldn't complain though because Stephen usually does get up with him in the mornings on the weekend but I figured I could let him sleep in today for once.

The line-up for gas at Costco yesterday stretched out onto the road so I did not get gas. I checked out the prices of gas at the gas stations on the way home and the gas ranged from $2.25 to $2.36 so I am guessing that Costco's price would have been $2.15 or perhaps even a little less. I'll head to the $2.31 place later this morning (not sure if it is worth the drive to save $0.06/gallon).

Jean-Paul IM'd me yesterday and said that they should be arriving this afternoon about 1pm. I figure that really means 2 or 3, since they are stopping at an outlet mall and the casino on the way down. My mom will be freaking out that they are late so maybe she will nag them enough to even get here by then.

I am glad that it worked out that Jean-Paul and Marilyn can drive mom down because that way they can bring down groceries for us. We are out of Smarties, Hickory Sticks, and he is also bring down Canadian Cheez Whiz too. I read on the net somewhere that Canadians eat more Cheez Whiz per capita than any other nation. I don't know if that is something to be proud of or horrified about!

Oh my - I got distracted (not hard to do these days).

It is impossible for me to go to bed before 11:30pm. Even if I am so tired that my body aches and my eyes are scratchy and lids are heavy, I cannot force myself up the stairs to go to bed. I decided earlier in the week that I would go to bed early on Friday night because we have a long day today. Stephen was smart enough to go to bed at 10pm. I said "Be right up" and proceeded to stay up another 90 minutes longer. And of course I was awakened at 6:04 by Cars. *yawn*

Dex has t-ball this morning and it is "Picture Day" which means we spend a ludicrous amount of money for a team photo. Oh well, the joys of team activities.

After "Picture Day" and t-ball, we head to the credit union to sign for our loan, then back up the Plateau for Jax's t-ball game and a birthday party for Dex to attend. Jax is invited too but he will have to arrive late. It is at the Y Pool (right where Dex is playing ball this morning). I am doing a quick calculation and it seems we are going to drive about 40 miles today. And ten of those miles will be doubled because we will have to split up and take two cars. Ah, the things you think about when regular unleaded gas is $2.29/gallon.

Everyone was complaining about gas the other day. Ash got all defensive when I said that Dodge Durangos were about the worse SUV's for fuel efficiency for their class (guess what she drives?). It is funny because she is so frugal yet has no qualms about driving around and that big old Dodge truck which sucks fuels like it is air.

Of course, I'm not much better with my minivan.

Gladys Kravitz Watch
Mr. Ford Mustang told me last night that he loves his car and had waited twenty years to get it. He has washed it everyday since he got it. I wonder what he will do when the water restrictions kick in.

Perfect day today! Sunny and 72. Ah, if only everyday could be like this.

Cars is so funny. His personality it really starting to develop. He loves to laugh and smile and his belly laughs make my heart sing. He was pushing himself along the floor today with his face on the carpet, laughing the whole time. I was so worried that he might get a carpet burn!

Dex is back into destructo mode. He was like that as a toddler, breaking everything apart, wrecking Jax's train tracks, etc. He is doing it because he likes to knock things down, not to be naughty. So very unlike Jax who is Mr. Neat-and-Orderly. Anyway, today I let Dex use my scrapbooking hammer and punch to punch holes in paper. He loved doing it. I think I am going to try to find the toy hammers and maybe some toy screws and let him hammer them into stryofoam. Less noisy than the wooden toys.

Jax is going through a growth spurt right now. Most of his pants are getting too tight in the belly and none are too long like they were just weeks ago. He can read now - mostly just sight words but he is really good at sounding words out.

Ok, just got back from dinner break and play outside. Jax tackled the girl down the street while they were playing football and she fell off the grass onto the sidewalk and skinned her elbow. OUCH. I feel so bad for her! She really, really loves Jax and wants to play with him all the time.

Gladys Kravitz Watch
Why do people who are trying to sell crap door-to-door think it is ok to come after 8pm? Then they ring the bell and wake up or at the very least disturb the kids! Grrr!

Throat is feeling better but still scratchy. I hate feeling like this. Not sick enough to stay in bed but enough to feel miserable.

Cars is back to his normal happy, smily self although he does have what appears to be a sinus infection. I will give it until middle of next week to clear up before I take him to the doctor. He is such a happy boy and he is vocalizing like crazy. Dex never did that and I don't recall Jax doing it either. Dex had a speech delay and did not speak really (except for a few words here and there) until he was 35 months old so it is so cool to hear Cars blabbling away. He can say Ma-ma and usually does it when crying. He can say ba-ba too and I have noticed he does it when he is hungry. Not that he even knows what a ba-ba is so it is weird that he says it then.

Jax went back to Ash's house today for lunch. I trust that everything will be ok.

I need to go to Costco tomorrow for a bunch of stuff but it does not open until 11 am and Nanny is only here tomorrow until noon. I wonder how Cars and Dex will fair if I take them in the afternoon... I need Tide, Cascade, Pampers, chicken breasts, red peppers, salad, mac & cheese, soap, go-gurt and a whole lot of other things that are just way cheaper there. Let's not forget the gas (as long as dolt me does not put in premium gas again). Anyway, perhaps if I give Dex a pretzel and Cars some cheerios then we can get all the things I need.

Gladys Kravitz Watch
Nothing really to report other than that my lawn is not the worst one on the street anymore.

Very sore throat today. I guess this is what Cars has/had. No wonder he has been crying and grumbling so much.

Blah. Nothing new. Another sleepless night last night. Cars' fever finally broke today so hopefully he will sleep tonight. Last night he awoke every 30 minutes then was wide awake crying and fussing from 1:45 until 3am. Well, he was up later but I finally woke Stephen up and said he needed to take over. Cars is also teething so we have that going on too. :(

I started working on stuff for Dex's birthday party. We have decided on a dinosaur theme. He wanted a "spookyhauntedmansion" (yelled quickly with a whine) theme but Stephen convinced him that was not the way to go. Anyway, my plan is to make papier mache dino eggs. Let's see if they work out.

Dex was invited to a playdate at Ramsay's house yesterday. Everyone in their family has a name that starts with an R - Ro, Ra, Re, Ra, Ru. It makes me laugh. Rachel is very nice and one of the few non-Stepford wives at the preschool. Their house is large and beautiful but the backyard is tiny. There are a couple of small playgrounds in their subdivision but a backyard to let the kids run while you make dinner is key!

Stephen golfed this afternoon, did not do well and is in such a pissy mood. I have to laugh because I used to get like that too when I used to play. Nosey Neighbour keeps asking me to go golfing with her but I am not in any rush to get the clubs back out because that pissy feeling will be back after the first hit, I'm sure! lol

My mom arrives in 4 days. The house is a wreck! Oh well, she can help me get it whipped back into shape.

Gladys Kravitz Watch
The guy two doors down bought a new car - a Ford Mustang. His wife says it is something he wanted since he was 14 years old so she agreed to finally let him get it. He so totally does not look like the Mustang type.

I am so tired but I do not want to go to bed. Wanna know why? Because Cars is up there with Stephen and I am all Cars'ed out today. He has a rotten cold and has been crying almost non-stop since 5am. He was up much of last night too and I did not sleep much after 3:30am. He needed to be held all day long and I held him but I have had enough for now. His snot is all over my body. I can smell his slobber on me still. Poor boy that his mommy wants nothing to do with him. :( What a mean mom.

Oh cripes, he is screaming now. I guess I should go and calm him since Stephen cannot.

I don't think I like this new format of blogger...

Dex got to swim again at the same time as Jax today. Three times in a row now and that has been a big help to me so I haven't had to make 2 trips there on swim days. Jax is doing so well at swimming. I will sign them up for one more session then that is it until next year.

Cars wants to stand all of the time these days. He has tried "walking" towards us but really what he is doing is facing us and throwing his body forward. Not much leg movement going on except with the push wagon.

Got approved for a home equity loan for the roof. We decided not to deplete our entire savings for it. We'll pay it off sooner than the length of the loan but it is nice to know the payments will be low on the months that we need them to be. Now if I could only get some damn roofers out to give me bids. I have one and it is good. I would go with it but I cannot just go on one bid alone.

Well, I should STEP.AWAY.FROM.THE.COMPUTER because I have lots to do.

A few more minutes until I find out who wins Survivor 8. I hope it isn't Rob.

Mother's day today. It was nice. I got a CD - Carly Simon "Reflections" - a book "Naked Prey" as well as a kit to make cement garden stone of the boys' handprints. Stephen also took the boys out for a couple of hours and I was able to paint two pictures for Cars' room and finish a painting I started back in January.

Stephen also made me a souvlaki dinner which was yummy but missing tzatziki sauce which I didn't want because I am off dairy. I did sneak a little bit of feta in the greek salad though because it just wouldn't be greek salad without it. :)

I also spent some time today going through my clutter. That show last night has been freaking me out. I think I need to talk to my psych about it tomorrow.

Ok, Amba won and Rawb asked her to marry him. Oh jeez!

Stephen picked up the Costco swingset (better Katie? ;) and now we are trying to figure out how we can slightly change the plans so the slide will come down on the other side (or the back if you will). Hopefully Stephen can get it up next weekend (with help).

Things I learned today:

1. If they call for rain and it looks like rain, best to take a rain coat
2. Never go to Costco at 3 PM unless you like crowds
3. Do not park in the outer lot of Costco if you are without a rain coat on a day they call for rain

We spent the afternoon looking at "play systems" and decided that even though it will take up our whole backyard, we are going to buy the one from Costco. We stopped in to take another look at it before we buy it. It comes in 4 10' boxes plus the slide. Stephen is going to ask the kid across the street to drive him to Costco tomorrow morning and he will fill his truck with gas as payment. Then the cursing and swearing will start as Stephen tries to figure out how to build it.

I haven't been on the computer as much as usual. The forums are starting to bug me. Same whiners over and over again. The two I have gone to the longest are the two that bore me the most right now.

OMG, MSNBC has a show on about Hoarders and it scares me because I have hoarding tendencies. I am sweating while I watch this show. It frightens me. Here are general manifestations of hoarding:


Compulsive acquisition - hoarders acquire extras of things, just in case, more than they'll ever use.

Disorganization - hoarders find organization difficult, so things end up in haphazard piles.

Difficulty discarding** - they really can't throw anything away without severe anxiety.

** Luckily I can discard things like pop cans, food wrappers, etc but I hoard boxes, paper, shopping bags

I guess I come by it honestly. My dad was a hoarder, as much as my mom would let him be.

Ok, I need to go watch the rest of this show. I am scared. Stephen says I am nuts (how right he is).

Ok, I think we are back to the normal ho-hum days...

Took Cars to the doctor on Wednesday for his 9 month appt. He is 18 pounds and 29" which puts him in the 10th percentile for weight and 75th for height. Funny, he doesn't look long and lean.

Jax had school in the morning today which always throws a wrench into the day's schedule. At least Nanny was back so I didn't have to tote a car-load of children to the school for drop off and pick up.

Bought Ramona's b-day present. She is really into rubberstamping/card making so I bought her some rubberstamps that are sayings like best friend, you are wonderful, gag-gag-gag. Actually, they are really nice and remind me of her. I also bought her some stamp pads. I think she will like it.

Leah Ann's b-day is coming up too and I need to make her a bracelet. She sent me these earrings for my birthday that are HUGE. A friend of hers makes her own glass beads and the beads on the earrings are about 1/2 inch in diameter. HUGE. Anyway, I cannot wear them. I will make her a nice bracelet with tiny little beads. lol

Dex chewed his lip bloody and raw on Tuesday night after the window display incident. It is all infected. I had the doctor take a look and she said we needed to make sure we stopped him when we see him chewing it. It looks gross and disgusting. He just asked me for some medicine for it (I put some Carmex on it) then he asked for a bandaid for his lip so he cannot chew it. Poor thing.

Stephen is finally coming home at a normal time tonight. He has been in Seattle most of the week at a conference and hasn't gotten home until after 10 each night and off to work about 6am. The kids haven't seen him and I am so damn tired. I am not sure how
Heidi and Katie do it. I am in awe of them.

Ok, time to get off my duff and do some housework.

Not so ho-hum today.

This is my day to bitch. Besides the post at HER TIME about Jax and the peanut butter incident, I had another lovely thing happen today. It is funny now but I was horrified and embarrassed when it happened...

After I picked Jax up from school, I went looking for a new stroller and after striking out at Toys'R'Us (they only had two umbrella strollers), I decided to stop at a hoity-toity baby store because I knew they would have a good supply of strollers to look at. I have my eye on one stroller that I found on sale online but I wanted to look at it in person first.

So my three boys and I go trotting into this highfalutin store (do you see where this is going?). I ask them to walk directly to the stroller section. I see the stroller I am interested in (I need to know how small if folds up) so I am trying to figure it out. Next thing I know Jax and Dex are sitting in car seats (Britax no less) pretending they are babies. Ugh. So I tell them to get out and to be still and that I would just be a moment.

I turned my back and was still trying struggling with this stroller when I hear a man shout "GET OUT OF THE WINDOW!". I whip around to see that Dex has climbed into the toy display in the window. I was soooo embarrassed so I apologized to the man (store owner I assume) and hissed to Dex "Get down now!" He was clearly upset at me hissing at him and at the man yelling at him so he just stood there and started to cry.

The window display was made of brightly painted wooden step stools and other primary-coloured toys so I can see why he was attracted to it. So there he stood, crying and crying. At this point the man (who is a large man) starts pushing all the strollers out of the way to get over towards Dex and that scared Dex so he yells MOMMY and JUMPS out of the display, knocking down all of the step stools and toys into the plate glass window. Thankfully nothing broke. I said sorry again and then said to the boys "We are leaving now". The man is mad as hell and is huffing and puffing and trying to get into this window display to pick the stuff up. Then the woman who works there (I guess his wife) comes over and says "WHAT HAPPENED? IS ANYBODY HURT?" I turned to her and said "My children are ok. Thank you so very much for asking". (dripping sarcasm and pointedly looking at fat yelling man). I then herded my kids out, all the while Dex is wailing. Good God! He cried all the way home "I never want to go back to that store!" Poor thing.

What a long drive home only to arrive and hear that ominous message about Jax and pb at school. Oh me oh my what a day.

Again a ho-hum day. The bonus of the day was when we showed up for swim lessons at 9am and someone had called in sick so Dex was able to swim at the same time as Jax and I did not have to go back again at 1pm. Whoo-hoo!

This week is TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK. Not like it could be just a day, right? Well at Dex's school, tomorrow the kids (read PARENTS) are to bring in a flower for each teacher (he has three). The kids were also supposed to make these sheets up about what they like best aobut each teacher. I asked Dex and he just answered "I dunno" so I made some shit up. Then he scribbled on the sheets.

At Jax's school they were to take in flowers today (I didn't have any so I didn't send any), Wednesday it is "Give your teacher a pencil day" and Friday is "Pick a gift" day and you are to send in a gift from the teacher's list of what they like. Jax's teacher likes candles and lattes. *sigh* Can this get any more commercial? I resent this whole thing.

Sunday Sunday

Not much going on today. It is much cooler than it was yesterday but still no rain. Stephen went around knocking all the wasp and hornet nests down with his hockey stick today. The man is very lucky he did not get stung. Dex has recovered from his sting on Friday from a yellow jacket.

I got together three bags of clothes and a couple of blankets to donate to Goodwill. I also went through Jax and Dex drawers and put away the winter clothes. Jax is in desperate need of some t-shirts and Dex needs some shorts. I have no idea why I don't have any size 4T shorts from when Jax was his age. Cars needs jammies his size. I found two pair but that won't do for the summer. All of the other 12 months ones I have are winter jammies.

Gladys Kravitz Watch:
The neighbors on the other side of the FOR SALE house said they met the people who are buying the house. A man and woman from Portland with two girls - almost 4 and 18 months. Guess those couples from India could not get financing.

Busy day today. 10am t-ball game at the Y for Dex. Gulp down a quick lunch at McD's before Jax's t-ball game at noon at a nearby school. Then home to get the house back into shape. We did a major weeding of the toy bins. And we put one of the toy bin holders in the boys' room. They are so excited to have toys in their room. I just hope they keep the room clean! The family room looks so much bigger too. And out into the garbage went most of the McD toys and other toys went into a donation and/or garage sale bag. I feel like going through the whole house now and pitching all the sh*t that we have accumulated.

I did not hear from Shelly at all while she was here so I guess we will not get a chance to meet. I think she is going home tomorrow but maybe it is Monday. Hmmm...maybe she will call tomorrow.

Nosey Neighbour's new roof was started this morning. The guys working on it worked 11 hours on it. They have tomorrow off but will be back on Monday.

I took the little red walking wagon that looks something like this(but not nearly as fancy) for Cars today and he laughed hysterically while "walking" back and forth in front of the house for almost 20 minutes. He loved it soooo much! Both Jax and Dex learned to walk with it too.

Jax loves to ride his bike really, really fast then slam on his brakes. He wore the tire out and ran over a small spiky thing then got a flat. I sent Stephen to the bike shop at 6:20pm on the off chance that they were open. Apparently they were not but they had forgotten to lock the door and when he walked in the employees were all startled. They did let him get what he needed (a new tire and tube) and even gave him the 20% off for their 10th Anniversary sale that ended today. lol

Gladys Kravitz Watch:
House next door had three offers within the first couple of hours. Two of the offers are from families here on H1B Visas so they are trying to get financing. I think both families are from India. I wonder if they work at the Evil Empire too. Looks like we will have new neighbours within a month or so. Hope they are nice. Hope they don't mind three really loud boys next door.

Not much sleep again last night. Cars keeps waking up around 4am and being WIDE awake. UGH. He finally fell back to sleep at 5:30 just as I had to get up. We had to be at the BCIS (formerly known as INS) this morning for fingerprinting. We dropped Jax and Dex off at Ash's and off we went. My God traffic is horrible that time of the morning. Anyway, the fingerprinting did not take too long. It is all done digitally and is very cool. Let's hope it was for our green cards.

I fell off the roof this morning. Total weirdness since I did just 16 days ago. Of course I am freaking out and wondering if I have something wrong with the plumbing. I'll see how things go these next couple of days before I worry and call the doctor. (Also explains the sugar cravings).

Gladys Kravitz Watch:
Neighbour's house is finally up for sale (went up this morning). I am speechless at the price they have listed it as. Speechless. I know they have upgraded several things but c'mon! There is a family looking at the house right now. I wonder how long it will take to sell.

I am watching a friend's dd today. This poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow describes her perfectly:

There was a little girl
Who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead;
And when she was good
She was very, very good,
But when she was bad she...

Her nose got out of joint when I asked her to say "please" when she demanded a snack. So I put the snack away and told her she'd had to wait until I offered her a snack a little later (same as I would do with my own children). She kept pouting "BUT I'M HUNGRY NOW!". Too bad. So sad. And I know she is going to say she is hungry again as soon as Friend shows up with the boys (she is picking them up today). I don't feed my kids that often!

I fed Cars almost a whole banana today at lunch! It was overripe so I cut it into cubes and he gobbled it up. I hope he doesn't become constipated. Prunes for dinner! Anyway, I don't think I am feeding him enough or he is going through a growth spurt. I need to figure out what to give him that will keep his belly full longer. Time to introduce meats I guess. He will be nine months next week so I guess it should be fine

CHOKING ALERT: Cars just picked a velcro dot off a baby book that holds the book closed and he was chewing on it. I think I had better step away from the computer and pay more attention to him. Just call me whack mom.

Back to spring-like weather today. It was so beautiful that I packed Dex and Cars in the double jogger and walked to pick Jax up from school today. So lovely!

Friggin forums have been down all day and barely working before that. It is driving me NUTS. Aaargh. How will I know what is going on? lol I hope they are up later today.

My skin is sooooo bad right now. Probably because I am not eating properly. I am wondering if ProActiv Solution would work for me and if it would be worth investing in. Ugh, I am 39 yet I have the zits of a 15 year old!

Stephen is golfing in the golf league tonight. This evening is going to be soooo long. I am so tired because Cars was up from 3-4am and probably later but I was so mad I just dumped him in his crib and climbed back in my bed so Stephen had to get up with him then and they spent the rest of the night in the bed in Cars' room. I guess they slept...

Gladys Kravitz Watch:
Nosey neighbour up the street signed the papers to have her roof done. She contacted about a dozen different companies and seriously compared four of them. She got on the internet and looked up bonds and liens against the companies and the number of complaints filed with the State Attn'y General's office and the BBB. She decided on the company that called me the other day. At least I know they are a good company. She also has me seriously considering putting up new cedar shakes vs composition because the composition would require plywood and the cost of lumber has skyrocketed. Her quote was about 25% less for cedar shakes whereas in the past shakes were always about 50% more.

Ok, back from picking Jax up. The rain held off but it turned cold and windy! Far cry from the mid-80's yesterday.

While driving to school I was listening to Writer's Almanac on NPR and this is a poem that Garrison Keillor recited:

"Calling him back from layoff," by Bob Hicock, from Insomnia Diary. © University of Pittsburgh Press. Reprinted with permission.

Calling him back from layoff

I called a man today. After he said
hello and I said hello came a pause
during which it would have been

confusing to say hello again so I said
how are you doing and guess what, he said
fine and wondered aloud how I was

and it turns out I'm OK. He
was on the couch watching cars
painted with ads for Budweiser follow cars

painted with ads for Tide around an oval
that's a metaphor for life because
most of us run out of gas and settle

for getting drunk in the stands
and shouting at someone in a t-shirt
we want kraut on our dog. I said

he could have his job back and during
the pause that followed his whiskers
scrubbed the mouthpiece clean

and his breath passed in and out
in the tidal fashion popular
with mammals until he broke through

with the words how soon thank you
ohmyGod which crossed his lips and drove
through the wires on the backs of ions

as one long word as one hard prayer
of relief meant to be heard
by the sky. When he began to cry I tried

with the shape of my silence to say
I understood but each confession
of fear and poverty was more awkward

than what you learn in the shower.
After he hung up I went outside and sat
with one hand in the bower of the other

and thought if I turn my head to the left
it changes the song of the oriole
and if I give a job to one stomach other

forks are naked and if tonight a steak
sizzles in his kitchen do the seven
other people staring at their phones

hear?

Stephen wants to buy the climber from Costco. I stopped by costco yesterday and they are out of stock right now but their online store has them (at an ONLINE price that is 40% higher!). Anyway, I guess we are going to be digging out our savings to buy one. It will dominate our backyard but that's ok. Less to mow... lol

One of the roofing companies from which we received a bid last year called and said they noticed we did not get a new roof. I asked for a new quote from them. He told me that the prices for plywood have skyrocketed (yes I know...*sigh*). I also emailed another local company to ask for a quote and will get a quote from the place Ash is going to get to do her roof. Their quote was several thousand dollars less than ours but their house has a lot less roof area than ours.

So now I wonder if we should forgo the climber for the roof.

What I need to do really is stop spending money. I stopped by costco to pick up a couple of things (and to take a look at the climber) and left $167 poorer. Everything was $20-$30! Diapers - $30. Vanilla Extract - $20. Ink cartridges for the printer - $30. etc.

Oh the wind just picked up. It is going to storm, I think! THe sky is black now too. Just in time to pick Jax up from school.

Ok, it is hot today. Enough of this 85 degree weather. I think perfect weather would be 75 and sunny.

It was too damn hot to sit under the bubble at Dex's swim lesson today. Jax's lesson moved to 9am so it was bearable then. I am also very grateful that I do not have to take Jax to tball practice today. That's Stephen's job today (since I go to see my psych).

Jax has informed me that he is going to be a country singer when he becomes "a man". Ugh. I'd rather he be a rap star!

Cars did not sleep well last night so I didn't either. He was wide awake at 6am and I was still tired so I let him crawl around on the floor. He pulled all of the books off my shelf and ripped the covers off my magazines. Then Stephen got out of the shower and said he would take him downstairs until I get out of the shower. Hello! I wasn't even going to get out of bed yet never mind have a shower so I barked at both of them and I was in a completely crabby mood for the next hour.

Shoot, Cars pooped again and we need to get ready to pick Jax up from school. His timing is impeccable.

Gorgeous day again today. I think we are going to have a wonderful summer!

Stephen's b-day today. I got him some herbs for the garden and the kids wanted to buy him some coffee and some "music" so we picked up a Jessica Simpson cd. lol He is ga-ga over her and I like to remind him that she is young enough to be his daughter which then grosses him out.

I am going to make him a Lazy Daisy cake shortly. He is having his favourite pizza for dinner (it has chicken on it- gross!).

Yesterday I took Jax to a b-day party at a roller-skating rink. He had a good time but did get a blister on his foot from his new blades. He got the blades at Christmas but had not used them at all. I think he fell about 100 times but he just popped back up and kept on going. He is a very determined child.

Dex had his first t-ball game yesterday. I missed it because we were at the birthday party but Stephen said he did well and Dex said he had a great time.

Cars started saying Ma-ma and Ba-ba the other day. Not that either means anything, especially since he does not do bottles. And he says ma-ma for anything. But he is definitely making those speech sounds and it is exciting to hear.

Gladys Kravitz Watch:
Next door neighbours are almost ready to put the house on the market. They spent most of yesterday digging up the plants they want to take with them (a lilac bush and some hydrangeas). I noticed they also took down all of the shelves they had built in the garage. It seemed like an awful lot of time/energy to do it!

Ok, so I have a choppy new haircut to go with my cherry red hair. I made an appt at the nearest salon for a haircut (it had been *12* weeks since my last cut and it looked it). Anyway, the stylist used a razor on my hair and it looked great at first but as the day has gone on it looks like I got in a fight with a pair of scissors and lost. I'll see how it looks tomorrow after I wash it again. *sigh* She also made several comments about coming in to see her again for "colour correction". LOL

I made my very first pot roast tonight and it was good. I was quiet impressed with myself. And I even was organized enough to have it ready to simmer while I took the kids to Dex's tball practice. We didn't get home until almost 6:30 (rant rant) and I was worried that it might not have enough liquid left but it did. And everyone ate it without complaints so that was a real plus.

Nosey neighbour finagled an invitation to come here for lunch tomorrow with her dd who is in Jax's class. I just know she is going to want a tour of the house which is in a terrible state. Her house looks like it is up for sale - not a thread out of place and absolutely NO clutter. Anyway, we'll see what I can get accomplished before they arrive in the morning. Nanny is on vacation so no help there!

Nosey Room Mom, L for Jax's class shouted out in the playground afterschool today "I hear that Jax and Gav are no longer allowed to sit beside each other on the bus". Ash's face got all red with anger and she said dismissively, "They are just trying out something new with Bus Driver Chris". I just walked away because at that very moment I noticed that Dex was GONE. He had followed Cameron and Laurie out of the school yard. YIKES. Anyway, I am not surprised that L knew but Ash was livid that she did and blabbed it out infront of others.

Anyway, I should get to bed so I can get up early and CLEAN CLEAN AND DECLUTTER before the REAL Gladys Kravitz shows up. Oh why oh why could I not keep up with FlyLady?

I am so tired. I stayed up way too late last night (1 AM) then Cars had a restless night ergo I did too. I am dragging right now and considering going to bed. Stephen just got home from golfing (golf league started today - every Wed thru mid-Sept) though and I haven't really had a moment to talk to him (he's taking the kids to bed right now).

Today was the last day of the swim session. Jax did great and Dex did really well too. Way better than when they started a few short weeks ago. I will sign them up for one more session with the swim nazi but I think we will not do any during the summer. I can get Dex back in September which Jax is at school then start them back up again next spring after school.

I hot-glued the trim to our lampshades in the bedroom and they look nice. I think it is time to paint the room finally. I might just go with the Charlestown buff (Benjamin Moore HC9) that we have in the hallway down here. It is a nice rich butterscotch tone.

Ok, I can barely keep my eyes open. Off to bed.

Gladys Kravitz Watch:
Next door neighbours moved out Monday. Today they were back getting more stuff out of their garage. I am dying to find out how much they are putting their house up for sale. I'll keep you posted!

Ok my post from last night disappeared somewhere...

It was nothing really. Just posting about how proud I am of Jax who is now riding his bike without training wheels. He is such a big boy now. ~sniff~

Did a little retail therapy this evening. Just bought some scrapbooking stuff (cardstock) and seom toiletry items. Oh and some beaded trim that I am thinking about hot-gluing to the lampshades in the bedroom. I spent almost an hour in Joann's just wandering around. I wish I had gone south rather than north so I could have gone to Pacific Fabrics instead. They have a much larger selection of fabrics, especially decorator fabrics.

Cars has been nursing like crazy lately. I think he is teething and is using me as a pacifier. The bonus for me is that I have lost 4 pounds over the past few days. :)

Jax got in trouble on the bus again today. He and Gav were horsing around again. This pisses me off because I do not want them to sit near each other on the bus. I have told Jax that. I have told the bus driver that. Anyway, I will not allow Jax to take the bus tomorrow or Thursday and I am not going to let him go to lunch at Gav's anymore on T/TH. He will just have to suck it up and come with me while I pick Dex up from school and forget taking the bus. He can eat his lunch in the parking lot at the preschool. Ash says she is not going to take Gav off the bus for a day or more as punishment because that is punishment for her - having to drive him herself. *sigh*

OK, I made it through today! Whew! The party went really well. Jax just beamed the whole time - he loves playing with other kids and running around. The weather was great, considering they were calling for rain, so most of the party was outside. The treasure hunt walk was a big hit for the kids. Mostly though, they enjoyed popping balloons with their pirate swords. I think those kids popped over 100 balloons!

One of the moms did not leave for almost an hour after the "end" of the party. I was freaking out because I needed to get dinner made and delivered to Laurie since I had scheduled meals for the week and dummy me chose Saturday. Anyway, I got dinner made and delivered on time.

And I am oh so tired. I think I must now go to bed.

Getting stuff ready for Jax's b-day party tomorrow. Pirates. Dread Pirates. I was hoping the weather would have stayed warm and sunny but looks like cool and rainy.

Nanny came today. I took Cars with me when I went out because he needed to be fed an hour after I left and I didn't want to come back to do it. I guess Jax and Dex had a "better" time when she wasn't preoccupied with Cars the whole time. She even folded some laundry and emptied the dishwasher! :)

I don't have much else to blog about. I'm stressing about the party and I guess that's why. Will blog more after the event.

(posted last year on SAHP Forum:

April 14, 1998

I had been awake all night. Was I in labour? I must be. I was so uncomfortable. I let Stephen sleep thinking "he will need to be well rested for this". Like I wouldn't...I was just counting the hours until 8am when I was to go into the hospital for induction. It was now 6 days past my due date and I had been on full bed rest for a week and a half due to high blood pressure. The previous day, my midwife told me she would induce me today and then she stripped my membranes - ouch! She sent me home and arranged for the induction the next morning.

I woke Stephen up at 6am and told him we needed to go to the hospital. We took our time getting ready and arrived at 7am. I could barely walk at this time and the contractions were so strong. My back was killing me. I had stopped timing them because they were too fast and too strong. We arrived at the check-in desk at the hospital where a snippy receptionist told me I wasn’t scheduled to be there for another hour and there were no rooms for me. I explained that I was in labour and got an "oh sure – first time mom" look from her. I sat in a chair and waited an hour before a room was available. Finally we were taken to a room and I changed into a gown. Twenty minutes later my midwife came in to check me. "Wow - 8 centimetres!" She exclaimed. "Wait, that cannot be right." she checked again. No, I was just 5cm. I was panicking. Was it too late for some drugs? Luckily it wasn't and after a little monitoring I was given intrathecal morphine, which immediately took the edge off the contractions but when it comes time to push, it certainly did nothing for pain then (why didn't they tell me that before hand?).

At 10:20am I was checked again and I was at 10cm! I could not believe this was happening so fast. This is not what the pregnancy books said. I pushed for a while and there was little progress. The midwife explained that the baby was posterior presentation. This of course explained the excruciating back pain. I pushed using a birthing bar, a birthing seat, in a crouched position, on my back, leaning against the back of the bed. Nothing. After an hour a doctor was called in because my baby's heart rate kept dropping and was starting not to recover quickly after each contraction. The doctor told the midwife to let me push for another hour. I went through the different positions again. I distinctly remember thinking, "Why do women have more than one baby?!"

The next hour or so passed and the doctor was summoned again. The baby's heart rate was starting to fall and so he said I would need a c-section. I didn't care. I just needed the baby out before anything happened to him/her. They started to prep me for surgery. I was exhausted and kept pushing though because it was the only thing that gave me relief during the contractions. I remember kicking the nurse who inserted the catheter! Ow! That catheter hurt way more than the contractions!!

I was whisked off to the operating room and Stephen was brought in after he had changed into scrubs. Everything happened so fast. I said to Stephen "I feel some tugging" and he stood up and peeked over the drape. He sat down fast. He told me later that there were two doctors with their hands inside of me. A few moments later the doctor announced, "It's a boy!" I was stunned. "Are you sure?" I asked. Everyone laughed. What's his name the nurse asked me "Jackson" I replied. "My son's name is Jackson".

Happy birthday to my lovely little boy who is growing up way too fast. ~sob~

(edited to change all of the " and ' from the funky characters...)

Dex finally is fever-free but he is still feeling out of sorts. Very whiny and clingy. Poor thing.

The swim nazi called this morning and said since so many people are away for spring break this week then Dex could join the 11am class for this week so I would not have to make two trips to the pool. Whoo-hoo! It worked out really well for us today. She said she is trying to shift some people around so Dex can be in the 9:30 class for next session (Jax will be at 9). That would be great. After that, I don't know if I will keep them or sign them up for classes at the Y. I will probably put them back in again in Sept.

It is quite a bit cooler today than yesterday. It has been overcast most of the day. It is about 60 here right now but the sun is shining so it is very pleasant. I have a terrible migraine today so we are not out enjoying the sunshine.

Off to see the psychologist shortly. Wonder when I will be done being crazy.

Cripes it is hot:

4/11/04
3:22:17 PM CURRENT MIN/MAX RATE
Temperature (ºF) 87.0 43.7 / 91.1 0.2
Humidity (%) 15.4 11.6 / 82.8 1.2

Do you see that temperature? Currently 87, was 91. It is freaking hot! We are not supposed to get this weather ever, nevermind in April! There is enough of a breeze that the downstairs is cool enough but upstairs is hot. Of course our air conditioner is not set up. Grrrr!

Kids had a fun egg hunt this morning. We took a nice family Easter photo this morning. I also took some with my SLR camera so I'll have to wait until I develop the photos to see how they turned out.

Dex is still pretty sick. This morning at 5:15am his temperature was 102F (he let me take his temperature finally). That is really, really high for him since his "normal" temperature is around 96.7F. We've run out of Motrin and he will not eat the Tylenol chew tablets so Stephen has just run out to Safeway to buy more Motrin.

Oh Jax is in need of some mommy time.

Looks like Dex has what Gav had last week. He keeps spiking a fever (not sure what his temp is because he will not let me take his temp but he is burning!) but no other symptoms (i.e. vomitting, diarrhea). He is just miserable when his temperature gets up there and it takes a good hour or so after Motrin before he starts feeling better.

During one of his feel good hours, we took the kids to swimming at the Y. Well, Stephen went in with them while I held Cars. Only Jax and Dex are members but parents can swim free for kids under 5. I may sign Cars up in the fall so we all can go swimming during the winter. And perhaps Cars and I may take a mommy and me learn to swim class.

Anyway, the kids were able to show off their new swimming skills to Stephen. It was HOT here today so swimming was good. Then Stephen took Jax to his tball game because Dex's fever came back and he slept for an hour.

Tomorrow is Easter. I did not finish reading "The Purpose Driven Life" during this Lenten period. I am struggling so much with my faith these days. I think I may take a "Returning Catholics" class at the church. Stephen is not interested at all in returning. He has so many issues with the church and refuses to give them another cent of his money. So of course I am struggling with the fact that his money is our money is my money. (see the conflict?)

Friday again.

Friday Five
1. What do you do for a living? I am a stay-at-home mother

2. What do you like most about your job? Being with my children all day, every day

3. What do you like least about your job? see #2

4. When you have a bad day at work it's usually because we have too many errands to run.

5. What other career(s) are you interested in? I would love to be an artist of some sort

Jax's class had a field trip to the local fire station. I had Nanny come a little later today to watch Dex and Cars so I could go on the trip. It was a gorgeous day and the 1 mile walk each way was delightful. It was interesting to learn things about our Fire & Rescue service (like there are NO paramedics stationed within 10 miles of us - just EMT's who cannot administer drugs - except epi-pens - or do any other invasive procedures). The kids all had a great time and they looked so cute wearing the free plastic fire fighter hats given to them.

Tonight was MOVIE NIGHT. The kids really, really, really wanted to see George of the Jungle. What a horrible movie! And then they made a sequel! Thank goodness it was a NetFlix movie. I would hate to think we paid $5 for this crap. Stephen and I are perhaps going to watch
Cast Awaytonight or maybe wait until tomorrow.

I spoke to MIL today and she again said she would not believe that Greg and Jen's babies were both girls until she sees them. I gently told her that ultrasound technology is very accurate usually and I am sure they are girls. Besides, Jen is having another ultrasound next week so I am sure they will confirm everything then.

I made some Jell-O Pudding Eggs today for a nice chocolate treat for Jax since he cannot eat most store-bought chocolate. They taste really good but they look like crap! I also placed them on a wire rack to cool and they are stuck to the rack so they will mostly chocolate lumps of stuff rather than eggs.

Gladys Kravitz Watch:
The Watch goes the other way today. Kim stopped by to talk to me and commented that we must be outgrowing our house by now. (We aren't but a basement would be really nice). She then said that the neighbour across the street and three up from us is selling her house by the end of the year and we should consider buying it. Ok, first that house has about another 1000 sq feet more than this one, plus is also has a "view", backs onto a green belt and has a "daylight basement". All of this adds up to a house that is worth at least $150,000 more than ours. Right, like we'll just hop right over and buy it.

Stephen is working late and I should be making the kids some dinner but I don't feel much like it. The house is a wreck. The kitchen should be condemned and I am three loads behind in folding laundry. Again, I have whacked too many things off my list. Time to get BACK ON TRACK.

I was speaking to one of the other kindergartener moms today. Her eldest daughter has a peanut allergy and she had an anaphylactic reaction to one of the free cookies that they give away to al the kids at Safeway. Well that is one more treat that Jax can no longer have. Bugger.

The swim nazi wants to move Jax into a 9am class on MW. I cannot decide which is better. Being rushed to get out the door in the morning for that class or being rushed when we get home at 11:18 to make, and eat lunch and catch the bus at 11:42. Hmmm...what to do what to do...

I suppose I should go make dinner.

Another day another dollar...except that I do not work and so I guess I didn't make a dollar.

We hand delivered most of Jax's b-day invitations today. I ended up making them afterall. Frugal. :) I need to mail one of them and I am not sure how we will deliver the other two without the non-invited kids perhaps finding out about it (these two kids are not listed in the PTSA directory so no home address). We'll figure it out somehow.

Cars has started that oh-so-fun game of throwing things on the floor over and over again. He thinks it is funny and he laughs but if you do not pick it up and give it back to him, he screams. Yikes! He also loves, loves, loves climbing the stairs. He will look at you then take off like a shot and race for the stairs. He pauses long enough to make sure someone is watching him then up-up-up he goes laughing all the way. Dex used to do the same thing although I don't think he started doing it until he was 9 months old. I need a new type of gate because the pressure mounted one is a PITA to get on/off when Jax and Dex want to go upstairs. Or maybe I can just spend a couple of days teaching Cars how to come downstairs backwards so I don't have to worry about him crawling/falling back down them head first. (Bad mom, eh?)

I spoke to Jen (SIL) for almost an hour today. She is 22 weeks along. Doctor told her that by 30 weeks she might expect to be on bedrest and he hopes to keep the twins in until 36 weeks. I hope so too. She will have another ultrasound shortly to have another look at the cyst on Twin B's kidney. Her doc said that often these cysts are nothing and are actually something that is "passed" on from the parents. Jen's kidneys are clear so she wants Greg to have his checked out. She mentioned to MIL that perhaps Greg "passed on" the cyst and MIL got her back up and said that Greg has never had any problems with his kidneys. LOL Typical MIL reaction (any MIL, not just ours). MIL also said "I won't believe it until I see it". She also said that to me when I asked her how exciting to be having twin girls in the family. Poor Jen!

Speaking of babies, the more I look at Princess Fiona (as I have started calling her since Katie mentioned "Shrek" in my blahg comments - lol) the more I think that maybe she looks a little tiny bit perhaps like my kids (above the nose only). The nose/mouth is definitely all Andrea.

Shit. The 11 o'clock news just started and the lead story is that today, a dozen US Marines have been killed and dozens are injured. I feel sick for those people's families. I feel sick for the Iraqis who are living this hell.

We received notification for more fingerprinting with the INS. Shit, they aren't called that anymore. They are USCIS or something like that. Anyway, the lawyers say that it could be that they (USCIS) are "close to beginning the adjudication of your application for adjustment of status."

Main Entry: ad·ju·di·ca·tion
Pronunciation: &-"jü-di-'kA-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: French or Late Latin; French, from Late Latin adjudicatio, from Latin adjudicare
1 : the act or process of adjudicating

Main Entry: ad·ju·di·cate
Pronunciation: &-'jü-di-"kAt
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): -cat·ed; -cat·ing
transitive senses : to settle judicially

Does this mean we will finally get our green cards?? Or will the process be another year or so? So far we are nearly 5 years into the process. And people wonder why "aliens" can be in the States for years and years and never become citizens. It takes so long! Once we have our green cards we have another 5 years before we can apply for citizenship which could take 2 years or more! I'll be so old by the time we are citizens.

Laurie had her baby today - a boy named Colton. I cannot wait to see him. She should be home tomorrow. We'll have to check with her to set up a schedule for meals for her.

TMI ALERT Andrea had to go to the hospital today because she passed part of the placenta that was left in her. :(

I asked the swim nazi today if I could move Dex into the 10am class and she said "He's not good enough". LOL It is true I guess but I am getting tired of going there two times in one day. I will sign the kids up for swimming for the next session (which runs thru the end of May) then no more unless they are back-to-back sessions. Guess I should work on Dex and his swimming ability.

Fiona Elizabeth! What a pretty name. She weighs 7 pounds, 11 oz. My brother called me this morning and he sounds so happy and proud. I am so happy for the Wally!

IT'S A GIRL!

Born 04-04-04 at 00:04! Too cool! (Eastern time)

No name yet.

BABY UPDATE: Wally called me at 9:35 and said they just arrived at the hospital. The midwife said the baby's head was "right there" and would go quickly. Two hours later still no update!!!

Last night was the Beach Bash at the preschool. It was packed. I should say that when I say preschool it is also now a Christian elementary school going to grade 2 this year and up to grade 4 next. That's why there were so many people there. Jax and Dex had a great time running around doing the limbo. Jax went up alone to get his ice cream. He asked if it were peanut-free. I am so proud of him!

Andrea has still NOT had her baby (well at least the last I heard). Poor girl. She has been in labour since Thursday!

I haven't anything special planned for the boys for Easter. I haven't even done much with Jax's birthday party either. I think I am whacking too many things off the list. We spent three hours at the park yesterday and I think I probably should have been home doing laundry or other housework or party planning. The day was gorgeous though and Jax and Dex rolled down the paths on their skateboards.

The moment my back is turned, Cars runs off and tries to climb the stairs. He can actually climb all the way up them but he does still lose his balance, often when looking back to see if he is being chased. What a monkey!

Oh! Forgot to mention that I spoke to Wally a few hours ago and he thinks Andrea is finally in labour! I could be an auntie by morning! Whoo-hoo!!

I am so mad! The new Chapera tribe on Survivor are so friggin stupid! Not one of them deserves to win!

*breathing deeply*

Anyway, Jax's allergy testing went well. We just tested him for six things. He is still allergic to eggs (rats!) and he is allergic to birch trees. Perhaps next year the egg allergy will be gone...

I polished off the birthday cake tonight. I really need to get back on WW. I can feel my gut expanding.

No school again for Jax tomorrow (he was off on Wed too) so we are going to meet Tami and her kids at McD's for lunch. Then I might head to the mall and buy a couple of t-shirts for me.

Gladys Kravitz Watch:
The H's dog is the one shitting on our lawn. I saw their son picking up some poop today from it. That royally pisses me off. Let it poop on their own lawn! Grrrrr! I have little kids who play there!

I am a dolt. Apparently the problem I have been having with my left contact lens is that I have been inserting it backwards each and every time I put them in. No wonder my eyesight wasn't great with them in and the left one kept bugging me. doh! So the eye doctor gave me another set to try for another two weeks before I order them.

My birthday was good. I received several new PEZ for my collection Sesame Street (missing Elmo tho) and the Army Emergency Hero. DeniSe sent me a giant musical Kermit THE Frog dispenser. Life is good. lol

Jax has school in the morning today which screws up my Thursday schedule. In fact I should be getting ready rather than blogging...