Journaling

A long time ago, my mom would write a weekly letter and send it out to all our family. I love hearing from my family and friends, and I eventually started on this practice as well. I realized I could kill 2 birds with one stone here and that became my journal. Every week I would sit down and write a letter and email it out to my family and friends. I then printed a hard copy as well, since over the years we have moved from floppy disks to hard disks to CDs to thumb drives to store stuff, and I never could access the letters after I saved them!

A few years ago, I discovered Blurb.com. I may have mentioned before how much I absolutely LOVE them? Well, I do! And they have a nifty B&W text only option for peanuts. I decided to try it out, and I put all of my letters from 2007 into this little paperback book. Fabulous! I loved it! And now I had a lovely bound book journal. I felt so virtuous and obedient for keeping a journal. And I have done the same for the last years. Love it!

My sister Deborah, who is wonderful, let me know that she had saved all my previous emails. We won't go into how odd that may be, because I was delighted. I had all those letters in a binder somewhere (which I currently cannot locate), but to have them in a convenient hand sized book..... ahhhh, the thought made me giddy! Deborah was beyond marvelous and she individually opened and copied and pasted 52 letters into one long document for me for my 2002 letters. Then she decided that was a lot of work. (Which it was!) This past week, she thoughtfully got me all of 2003. Such fun! Sort-of. That was a tough year. I'm not sure I like reading about it. I feel like I was such a pansie.

I am still in the process of reading and fitting it into a book, since the cut and paste sometimes does odd things, and the last 3 letters come up missing on a few pages. It is so exciting though and I am so grateful for a loving and thoughtful sister who is willing to do so much work for me! Thanks Deborah!

And for your entertainment, I will post a portion of the letter written February 9, 2003 (When Joshua was 18 months old and I was ginormously pregnant with Marian.)

"Wednesday the bad stuff started. The day began innocently enough. We went to the Museum and Joshua had a wonderful time running around giggling like a loon while I followed faithfully. At story time I got him to sit through the songs and finger-plays, and I was excited when he was still sitting quietly on my lap when the story part began. Halfway through the story, what does he do? He opened his mouth and vomited. Once, twice, and then a final third time. I just sat in shock. There were at least 10 moms and a lot of kids, and I was mortified. They were all very nice though. One lady helped me get Joshua to the bathroom and stripped down. It was so awful! Poor Joshy. We slunk home after that. I know it happens to everyone, but I was sure that everyone thought I was an awful mom for bringing my sick kid out. But he had seemed fine! And he didn’t have a fever. However, he proceeded to throw up absolutely everything he ate that day. That was truly horrible. Fortunately, he magically was in the kitchen at the time of most of his barfs, but he did get the carpet too. Sigh. I guess psychologists call it “desensitizing”. I wouldn’t say I’m desensitized, but I managed to survive cleaning up much puke! Joshua was his usual perky, happy self between throwing up, so I wasn’t too worried till he started with diarrhea, too."

Marian in Motion

How to be a celebrity.

I have been working on a project involving Callie's class. I absolutely HAD to finish it by this weekend. I needed to get pictures of Callie and her class for this project. I finally got my act together and got rid of the extra kids so I could go to the school and hang out with her class.

Callie was delighted to see me, and I caused some major pandemonium. None of the kids wanted to walk in their line. They wanted to come say hello and talk to me. I was hugged, touched and petted by quite a few different children. If you ever feel worthless, just go to your kid's kindergarten class. You will be an instant celebrity! Everyone will want to be your friend!

I had no problems getting pictures of the kids. The problem was stopping taking pictures. There were a lot of hams in that class. I went to recess with them and it was a lot of fun. As soon as I pulled the camera out, they were all posing for me and shouting to take their picture. They were very cute and I had a good time.

Callie did not have as good a time. Someone hurt her feelings and she was sad the whole time I was there. So no good shots of her, but lots of pix of the rest of her class! I still went home thinking I was pretty special!

I did complete my project, and 2 minutes after I was all done and it was a done deal, one of the moms emailed me a couple pictures I totally could have used. Sigh.

Good times!

We went to Roy Rogers. I really really did not want to take the kids to a place you have to sit down to eat. But Dan likes to take them to Roy Rogers because there is a gumball machine and if you get a certain color, you get a free ice cream cone. So the girls LOVE to go there. Up till this day, I had never been inside, and to be honest, I'd be happy if I didn't do that again. I was already grumpy and tired when we got there. Then watching my children run amok and act like they had never heard of parental supervision was just not much fun. I pretended I didn't know them. But this moment was so cute. Callie got her ice cream and Rylee wanted a lick. Callie was so sweet to share and I laughed to see her licking along with Rylee. I love my thoughtful kid!

On Saturday, Joshua and Dan and Marian went to help out at a volunteer farm. I think they had a good time. I know service usually ends up being a lot more fun than it sounds, and this was a 4 hour block to remove rocks from the fields and do a little planting. Dan said it was good, but the kids were ready for snacks after an hour and a half. Since I didn't hear any complaints, it must have been fun for them. I know Callie and Delaney were outraged that they didn't get to go too! I drove down to meet them when they were done.

And then we went to Luray Caverns! WAY COOL! The kids loved the audio tour, and enjoyed checking out all the amazing things to see. And it was amazing!

This little puddle reflected the roof back and it was breathtaking. It is amazing what nature can create. Check out Callie and her headphones. She listened and loved the whole audio tour.

I thought this rock formation looked like a dinosaur, so I had to take a picture of Marian next to it. She thought her friend Adrian would like it.

Here's Joshua in front of some cool stuff. The whole cave was just jaw-dropping.

Rylee is being coy for me. Her hair is now barely long enough to put 2 pigtails in and she is so adorable! But not happy to get a picture taken. This is her trying to run away.

Delaney did her own hair today! Then she had Nutella on toast that she made herself. She wanted a picture taken, and this was her pose. She's a terrific girl!

Delaney's preschool had their end of the year program. Delaney was funny. She saw me and was waving and she looked attentive, but only sang half the words. The program was great; it was short and sweet!

After the preschool program, they had a picnic on the playground. I couldn't believe Delaney ate everything I bought for her AND Rylee. And when she got home, she had a slice of leftover pizza. I guess she was a hungry girl.

They passed out popsicles to all the kids and Rylee was not going to stop eating hers to play. She had a tight fist on hers as she wandered around the playground.

We did not stay long. It was reaching 90 degrees and the humidity was awful. Just standing in the shade made me sweat. I guess the kids were affected by it as well, since they up and left when I said it was time to go.

Day of rest for who?!

This morning I got to sleep in. I had a turkey I needed to cook and today was the day! So I got it all ready for the oven and then moved on to getting 4 little girls ready for church. (Joshy is self sufficient and combs his own hair.) As for the girls, I supervised 4 dresses on, shoes located, and all 4 heads of hair looking nice. Since I have been feeling inadequate lately, I needed to do extra fancy hair to up my self esteem. So that took a little longer than I intended. Partly because Delaney wouldn’t sit still and partly because Rylee was very unhappy about getting 2 cute ponytails out in.

Once the kids were all ready, I realized I had 15 minutes to put on make up and get out the door. Then I remembered I still had to put the turkey IN the oven and I hadn’t eaten anything yet. 11am church stinks. I opened the oven and grouched because I had forgotten to pull the top rack out of the oven. I pulled it out of the hot-hot-hot oven and put it on top of the sink to cool down. Then I popped some toast in the toaster and hustled upstairs to put on makeup.

Darnit, I had forgotten to make a sandwich for Rylee for nursery! I asked Joshua if he would do it and he headed off to help. Just as I was pulling out my mascara, Joshua walked in and informed me that I should have told him the rack in the sink was hot.

Yikes! He dissolved into tears when I asked to see his hand. Yep, burned and starting to blister. I felt horrible. I poured lavender on it and sent him to get an ice pack while I finished up. Then I couldn’t find my shoes. I had to hug and soothe Joshua a bit more and put more lavender on his blistering hand. Then I remembered I still hadn’t had anything to eat and it was now 10:45 and we had to be at church in 15 minutes! Why was it ME who was making us late to church today?!!

I got my cold toast out and slathered peanut butter on it. Dan had made Rylee’s sandwich, thank goodness. Toast in hand, I piled the kids in the car and with much screaming and complaining, we were off. We were even on time, and things looked brighter. Then, halfway through Sacrament meeting, Rylee peed through her diaper onto my lap.

Delaney and Me

I do not like needles. I do not like hurting. I don't like pain at all. I refused to get an epidural for 3 births because I couldn't stand the thought of a needle in my back. I really really don't like getting poked. So it may come as a surprise that I was willing to get allergy tested this week. If you had seen me last month, it wouldn't be much of a surprise. I have been beyond miserable with allergies this year. I don't want more drugs. Not only do they not fix the problem, they give me more problems. And I can't live with such misery for 2 months every year.

So I went to the allergist and begged them to help me. I got poked 42 times in the pursuit of answers. I felt like a pincushion, although by the time I was getting really uncomfortable, she was all done.

This was my left arm. Yep, I reacted to almost everything.

This is the right arm. It is still red, itchy and slightly swollen today. Very allergic to a few things. So now I know I am highly allergic to all trees, most animals and some other things. I guess it would have been better if we moved to CA where nature is dead and barren. As for me, the next step looks like it will be allergy shots. And you know what? I am just desperate enough to suck it up and do it!

This cracks me up. Delaney likes to twist her hair around her finger when she sucks her thumb. This can lead to all kinds of icky things depending on what she's eaten, how well she's cleaned her face and all that. She also likes to tickle her nose with the end of her hair which makes a whole host of other problems when she has a cold. But I digress. The other night she fell asleep and her thumb popped out but her finger was stuck in her hair and it made me laugh.

It has rained all week long. ALL week long. Ug. It put a damper on some of my plans but Delaney didn't mind the rain at all. She loves puddles and had a lot of fun in this one, right outside the kitchen. She was so pleased with herself after jumping up and down in it. She was also wet and dirty. But look at that face!

Incoherent ramblings of a tired mind

Some of you may be like me and never had head lice as a kid. Some of you may be like me and never seen lice before. I have now become the louse expert. Let's just say "ICK!"

This, my friends, is a louse. It is a full grown louse. (Yeah, it made me throw up a little in my mouth too.) This is how I discovered my kid had lice. Thank you cousin Catherine for assisting me in solving the mystery of the creepy bug in Delaney's hair. If you are wondering, the school is NOT required to inform parents that there is a case or two or three of lice in your child's classroom. In case you want to know, vodka really does kill lice and nits, when combined with Thyme, Tee Tree and Rosemary essential oils. It may even kill the nasty critters on its own, since it just about suffocates the poor kid with alcohol fumes. Then wash all the bedding and throw all the pillows/stuffed animals in the dryer on hot-hot-hot for 30 minutes. This is what I have learned over the past 2 weeks! We are currently lice-free, in case you are worried.

This was the girls in the doctor's office last week. We saw the not-helpful nurse who said Callie did not have a UTI. Callie is still peeing every 5 minutes, so I'm not sure what I'm suppose to do about it now, since the nurse said there was nothing they could do and it would get better by itself. How long does one wait for it to improve? I know she went to the bathroom a minimum of 5 times during the 3 hour block of church today. Poor kid.

This is the lovely house we will be vacating next month. If you know anyone who is coming to the DC area and wants a fabulous neighborhood and a dumpy house, let us know! I hope a nice family with lots of kids moves in. We have such a great neighbor and they would love a 6 year old boy. Plus, it is an excellent location, has such a good school, and is affordable for this neighborhood. So I want it to go to someone like us!

I was shocked I didn't take pictures of Dan's parents while they were here. Next time I am going to make sure I get shots of them with the kids. They are wonderful in-laws and we don't see them enough. This is one of the 2 pictures I took of them.

Yep, the only shot of them with the kids. And it was at the last minute. Again, wonderful in-laws! And I am so lucky to have them.

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo this past week and I'm sorry. I'll try to have something better this upcoming week. Rylee is growing and looking different every day, so I need to get out the camera and show you.

Dandelion wishes

As we were walking to get the kids from school, Delaney was thrilled to find a dandelion. She stopped to pluck it and blew the fuzz away, as I kept walking with the stroller. Then she whispered her wish: I wish that Rylee and Mimi and Callie will be in or family forever... And Daddy and Joshy too.

Saturday is a Special Day!

This has been a crazy week. I'll sum it up in 2 words for you: lice, UTI (That may really be 3 words, but I'm calling it one!). I'm just going to leave it at that and move on to the fabulous day we had today! Today, Marian got baptized. She was adorable. She's been talking about it for weeks, and today was the day. What was really sweet was when she said how excited she was to be baptized, and then she said she would get baptized, even if Adrian wasn't getting baptized too.

We sort-of coordinated for the 2 of them to get to share their special day. Once we learned that Adrian was 8 and was waiting till he felt ready, we also waited till Dan was back from Europe and Dan's parents could fly out to be here for it. It worked out nicely and was a great day for them.

They were very excited to be getting baptized together.

The program was just the way I like it- short, sweet and meaningful. Then we headed home to change.

Delaney discovered an umbrella and did not want to com in. She wanted to play outside with her umbrella!

Rylee also decided she did not want to come inside. She wanted to drive!

We did manage to get everyone changed and then we headed off to Adrian's house for a BBQ.

Adrian has a great backyard and the kids spent all afternoon running around it. The play structure was a big hit and Rylee was thrilled to swing to her heart's content. Unfortunately, she had a major face-plant that resulted in a bloody mouth, and later she fell off the swing. Aside from that, she was in heaven!

Callie was a hoot. Wait, she's always a lot of fun!

Lunch was tasty, and Marian talked about my "world famous Potato Salad". I felt so important! I did not know it was "world famous"!

Despite Dan's dire warnings about the dangers of trampolines, the kids had a lot of fun on it.

Callie ran all over all afternoon. She should be asleep right now, but the kid is still going and going and going!

Oooh! A very rare Joshua sighting on camera! I let him bring his DS and he played half the time with it and half the time outside. It made us both happy.

The neighbor brought over a cup of ladybugs and let the children release them. They were fascinated.

The ladybugs were a very big hit.

As were the swings. Did I mention how much Rylee loves to swing?!

So, to sum up, it was a good day. Unfortunately, it is now over, and I took a long nap and woke up grumpy. Rylee took a late-late nap and will be up forever tonight. Delaney is so tired she can't stand herself, and everyone is going to bed late. Yay for happy endings!

Butterflies

I made the mistake of putting a playhut tent outside on the back porch. In my defense, it was a little on the odd smelling side, so I wanted to to air out. That happened several weeks ago and the playhut is still there. Now I can't bring it in the house because it is covered in pollen. I will have to clean it off first, so it may stay out there till we move! The kids have had more fun playing with it outside than they ever did inside. Most recently, they turned it upside down and dubbed it a butterfly house.

Several hapless moths ended up as guests in the "butterfly house" and they either escaped or died in there. The butterfly house is not very hospitable. The backyard was fairly nice for butterflies until Dan braved the jungle there and mowed it. Well, he mowed half of it before the mower ran out of gas. This made the back yard look funny, but apparently made bug-hunting more successful. The girls discovered a butterfly that could not fly. They had a very god time with it and were so cute.