He's Gone, Again....

It's harder this time around. I am alone with the girls this time around. My entire family is out of town right now, parents in Chicago, brother in Mexico. It's just harder this time. Before I had Judy here to keep my mind busy and the first two months I went non-stop from activity to activity. It also doesn't help that it's winter right now and I haven't been going out as much before he arrived.

His visit was wonderful, but far too short and went by far too fast. We had barely a day to sit and do nothing. We had two family portrait sessions in two weeks. Three family dinners in two weeks. One dinner out alone,a dinner out with my family, and a dinner out with just his family. We also had Christmas Eve dinner at my parents house and Christmas dinner here at our house. Both dinners were delicious. The girls received way too many presents from everyone. We had Lilly's play to go to and Kale spent a day volunteering at the school. We had a morning of baking with the kids, Meme, and Judy. The women went out shopping the morning after Christmas. Kale took the girls to the movies twice they saw Bolt and The Tale of Despereaux. It was a busy busy two weeks but it was a happy two weeks.

Thankfully Delilah and Sophia are better. Delilah hated her meds and they had to be force fed to her or hidden in food. FUN! She has also not regained her appetite as of yet. Hopefully she will get it back soon.


I leave you with our second family photo shoot:

Kale, David, and Judy

In-Laws David and Judy

Delilah didn't want to hold still but sat still when we sat her on the sled.

Sophia and her silly smile.

Aidan's sillier smile.

Lilly

This isn't the best one of the four of them, but it's the funniest.

Four generations of Kale's family. His Dad David and his grandma Margaret aka Nanny.

12 Days and Counting.....

Very, very soon Kale will be back, the 16th to be exact. He gets in at 11pm that night and I am picking him up myself. Green has volunteered to come over and sit with the sleeping children. The girls don't know exactly when he is arriving, just that it's soon and before Christmas. Lilly will be very excited he will be able to attend her Christmas musical on the 17th.

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Black Friday

As is the tradition for the women in my family we went shopping on Black Friday. Green was kind enough to spend the night on my couch and "take care of" (be the adult in the house just in case) the older three girls. Rosy insisted I leave Delilah with Jason and Alan, I wasn't going to argue. I am just glad for my brother that she went straight back to sleep after I dropped her off at 4:40am. As always I have to be the first one up that morning because I am the driver and I have to pick everyone up. I picked Rosy up, dropped Delilah off, and picked Patience up. It's really not bad, I live 10mins from Rosy, Patience lives across the street from Rosy, and then it's 5mins to my mom's from there.

We went to Walmart first, arriving just before the doors opened. There was a line formed all the way around the outside of the store. We joined at the very end and it took us about 15mins to get inside. It was very cold that morning, only 20 degrees. Rosy was not ready for that, this was her first time getting up at the crack of dawn to join us. She went the years before, but after 8am usually. My mom bought her 50" Plasma TV my dad wanted, Rosy bought a trampoline, Meme picked up some gifts for the girls, Stella bought shampoo and nail polish remover (we teased her about this), Patience bought toys for her grandson Matthew, and I bought pj's and toys for the girls. My mom got right through the line and took the tv home while we shopped and stood in line. Patience and I didn't take too long in our line. We had a nice older lady in front of us and she was not letting a line jumper in our line. It was very funny to watch her tell him no he couldn't "squeeze in". Other than that we didn't see any arguments. After I got through the line I went to keep Rosy company, it took her awhile to get into line since they had to find a flatbed cart for her trampoline, that sucker was heavy. I couldn't even lift one end. It took us and hour to get through her line to pay. Then the worker loaded it in the van and we had to take it to her house or nothing else would fit.

We didn't get out of town (out of walmart) until 7:30am, then we headed to north KC. We spent another hour at Toys R Us. Then Kohl's, Target, lunch at Applebee's, and Old Navy. We were home about 3:30pm. I found Green as I left him, sleeping on my couch. The girls were dressed and had been fed, he woke up long enough to handle that much. It's a good thing Lilly is older and can take care of things. Delilah gave Jason a run for his money, she and Alan like to fight. There was an incident with Alan's poopy diaper and her grabbing it and flinging the poop everywhere. We laughed our butt's off at that one when he called to share. All and all it was a fun day, I wasn't sure I would be able to go this year and I am thankful my family stepped up to the plate to help out.

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The Days Ahead

We have a ton planned for when Kale is here. It's going to be a whirlwind visit, I think our heads will be spinning by then end of the trip.

17th: Trim the Tree, Family Picture (ENTIRE Family, all 14 of us), Lilly's Musical
18th: Delilah and I have doctors appointments at 1pm
19th: My parents are watching the girls and we are going out to dinner ALONE/Jason, Rosy, and Alan leave for Mexico and won't return until the 5th of Jan.
20th: Kale is taking the older three to see Bolt
21st: Kale's b-day dinner (his b-day was 11/22) at Famous Dave's with our extended family
22nd: Painting Sophia's room white again and switching her room and Delilah's
23rd: Kale's parents and Nanny arrive/We will go out alone again
24th: Christmas at my parents with everyone
25th: Christmas of course/plus Kale and his dad are taking the older three to Tale of Despereaux/Judy and I are making dinner/My mom and the teens are coming over for dinner
26th: Probably family pictures with Kale's family (since Judy all of the sudden after 5 years decided she wants to get it done professionally again, AFTER she has said numerous times that regular snapshots are good enough)/My parents and the teens leave for Chicago
27th: His family leaves
28th: Not sure yet
29th: He leaves at 6pm :(

The only positive thing about Jason, Rosy, and Alan being in Mexico for Christmas is that they are letting Kale's family stay at their house. That way we aren't cramped here and they don't have to spend money on a hotel. Otherwise it sucks, we will miss them like we do every year.

I may be hit and miss again during all of this. I have been very lazy, bored, and tired lately.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

My Weekend: A Pictorial (Part 3)

On Saturday Fort Leavenworth was having their biannual post wide yard sale. That is why my in-laws came out, to help me sell my crap. While the yard sale was going on Judy and I cleaned out the garage. I went from 18 small rubbermade containers to 8 and from 4 large rubbermade containers to 3. Their were many many trash bags of stuff (mainly clothing and paper) either taken to goodwill or recycled. While we were in the garage as the day warmed up it began to smell like dead creature. I thought for sure a mouse, squirrel, or other small animal had been locked in their and died. Judy went about looking for it when I opened the freezer up and found the smell. Now, I don't normally keep much in there, usually only frozen waffles, pizza, or ice. I had thought it was empty from last winter when my mom lost power at her house for days and brought all of her stuff to my freezer. I had assumed Green had taken everything out as per her request. I assumed wrong.

At some point this summer we must have lost power or someone left the door to the freezer open for awhile, something had to have happened. There were tubes of ground sausage that had gone bad, expanded, and then exploded all over my freezer. The smell was the nasty sausage that had dripped blood and oozed out all over the freezer. Thankfully Judy took on that task as I was still cleaning and going through everything in the garage. I am not sure I could have stood the smell enough to clean it out. She bleached the freezer after it had defrosted and then turned it back on with baking soda in it. It smells much much better, you can hardly tell the bloody massacre that it once had been.

At the yard sale I sold my couch, chair, and ottoman set for $100. The woman tried to barter with me at 8am, I told her no way it was too early for that. After it had been sold, as the day went on, I wished I had put at least $150 on it. Everyone was amazed I sold it for that price, it was only 2 yrs old and looked like it had no wear at all. I also sold the table set that went with it for $25 and wished I hadn't been so cheap. Oh well, it is all gone and not in my garage anymore. That's the most important thing, I can now park there this winter. I also sold a bunch of other things, I ended up making about $200 that day.




All of the baby stuff is going to Jason and Rosy's house. Once that is out I will be able to park in there again. Last winter I could park in there, but their were containers stacked on either side toward the end of the garage. Now there are only the three at the very end of the garage and then some more near the door to the house. I am very happy about what all we accomplished this past weekend. Even though we felt like we died every evening, I don't think we stayed up much past 10pm any night this weekend.

Blog Bum

I kind of forgot to post yesterday, doesn't happen too often during the week. I wasn't busy or doing anything special or spectacular, I was just being a blog bum. At least that what K called me when I told her I hadn't posted yet and wasn't motivated to do so.

I was kind of blah yesterday. In the morning the kids were fighting (nothing new), in the afternoon they were forced to either nap or play quietly in separate rooms. Everyone but Aidan was okay with this and after she threw a fit she no longer had a choice, nap it was. I had a peaceful hour and a half after that, it was nice. I had no TV on I just sat, browsing Etsy. When Delilah woke up I woke everyone else up, don't want them sleeping past 3pm, then they won't want to go to bed. I had them all shower, since we hadn't been out of our jammies yet, bad mommy, I know :P Shortly after that Jason, Rosy, and Alan showed up. Jason was watching the kids while we went to the store to get stuff for Alan's party tomorrow.

After they left I fed my kids since it was 6:30pm and they usually eat at 5pm. They played nicely after that so I allowed Aidan and Sophia to stay up until 8pm (7pm is usually their bedtime). Delilah took a nap from 7-8:15pm when I woke her up. She seems to sleep in later if I give her an evening nap and let her stay up until 9:30pm. Yesterday she slept until 7:45am and today she slept until 8am :) I spent the rest of the evening talking to Kale or K on the phone and Jason or Rosy online, while watching TV and browsing Etsy.

Today I am taking Lilly and Aidan to meet their teachers and drop their school crap off. Then Patience is hoping to come take them swimming, it hasn't worked out any other day i.e. rain, she got stuck at work, and she had to work at her second job. So hopefully nothing will happen today and they will be able to go. We purposely didn't tell the children in case something happened and she couldn't do it. They haven't known all along her plans, it will be a happy surprise if/when it happens.

Rosy's parents and brother get in today, they came for his first birthday. And the new exchange students come in today. Stella from Germany and Meme from Thailand, hopefully they will at least be HALF as fun as Lele and Nais. It should be interesting, their first weekend with us will be a busy one. Alan's first birthday party is tomorrow. And sometime this weekend I have to exchange Aidan's dress for a smaller size. Other than that I will be watching the hours tick away excitedly until Monday 8am, when they GO BACK TO SCHOOL!

This Weekend....

So...... I spent way too much money this weekend. But it mostly went to Lilly's birthday celebration, so I can hardly complain about it. I will start with Friday though and move along to know, lots happened this weekend. Friday I spent my morning shopping, I know SHOCKING! I had coupons and gift checks that needed to be used and had to find a pair of tennis shoes for Aidan before school starts. Did I mention it starts next week? :P

I headed out first to get my new contacts. I have this weird thing with my eyes where protein builds up on my lenses and I miss read the directions on my bottle of cleaning fluid. My eyes feel soooo much better now. While we were waiting in the optometrist's office an older lady was gushing over the girls. It's always nice to hear how cute they are, what beautiful names they have, and well behaved they are, even if they are bouncing around like kangaroos on crack.

After I paused long enough to put my new contacts in, we headed off to The Legends. It's an open air strip outlet mall. I went to Carter's first where I got Delilah's fall wardrobe (most of it) at a really decent price. If I paid sticker price I would have spent around $118, if I paid the sale price I would have paid $68, I paid $48. For that price I got two long sleeve 2 piece outfits, a short sleeved/long pant 1 piece outfit, a set of 5 onesies, a set of 3 onesie shirts, and a pack of 2 pants to go with the onesie shirts. Then we had lunch at Panera Bread, which was packed. Delilah begged and fussed for food the entire time. I kept giving it to her and she kept shoveling it in, boy is she a good eater. After lunch we went to the Stride Rite store where I found tennis shoes for Aidan for $19.99. Our last stop was Gymboree where I spent far too much money and didn't quite get as good a deal as in Carter's. But for Gymboree it was a good deal. I got 3 long sleeve shirts for $8.99 each, a short sleeved shirt for $8.99, and a sunflower outfit for Delilah that I paid probably $25-$30 for, I can't recall now exactly how much. It's cute though and makes a perfect fall outfit, maybe she'll wear it to the Applefest, if it's not too hot (which it will be).

After that store my patience (and pain killers) had worn thin. It was time to go. As I was walking to the car Rosy was calling to say she was meeting me there. I politely had to bow out, I had been there for a couple of hours already and was DONE. I had asked her to meet me there earlier but she couldn't. We went to my mom's to wait for her to get off work as she was riding with us to pick Lilly up and then we were all going to get my dad at the airport. When we got to the camp Lilly was wearing her PJ's, she said she ran out of clean clothes because it rained so much. I was not fond of her walking around in her PJ's and was even less fond of the idea when we found out my dad's plane was delayed. To kill time we went to the new JCPenney's and Target (where Patience now works). My mom tried to convince me people would just think she was wearing a short set, but I was still not thrilled with the whole thing. Then we were 5mins late getting my dad and he threw a small hissy. He's such a girl sometimes. :P

We went back to their house so they could feed us. Then we went home where the girls had showers and went to bed. Saturday morning came far to soon for me. Delilah decided to wake us up at 6:00am and we all know how much I love that. At least her pooping went back to normal but why does it always happen The.Day.After.The.Doctors.Appointment? So not cool. I had to be up anyways on Saturday, even though I didn't want to be. I started the morning by giving Delilah and Sophia a bath while I shaved my legs in the sink (TMI?). Then while they were all having breakfast I showered. I rushed them to get dressed, teeth brushed, and shoes on so we could be out the door by 8:30am. Just as I got off post I realized I forgot the gift cards to Chuck E Cheese, had to turn around and go back for them. Got to my mom's early enough to print coupons for CEC, then we headed out to pick up V (who lives around the corner from my parents, how cool is that?).

We arrived at the mall in time to potty before Club Libby Lu opened. We were the first appointment of the day and had undivided attention for quite awhile. The girls had a blast, as always. It was V's first time so she had so much fun. I didn't like the song they choose to dance to though and the girl didn't have it nearly loud enough. So we didn't get a repeat of Aidan's previous performance that my mom's camera killed. But after $150 they had fun and it was time to eat lunch. I had to stop for -er- "supplies" for my current predicament, since I am always forgetting such "supplies" at home. My mom said I must have a years supply as often as I forget and have to purchase more. But I bought the wrong ones, so that sucked. They work, but aren't my favorite.

CEC was next. That place gives me a headache. All the yelling you have to do for people to hear you. I am NOT a fan of having to yell for 2 hours straight. We allowed Lilly and V to go off on their own, as long as they stuck together, which they did. My brother, Rosy, and Alan stuck together. And Mariana a former exchange student (Rosy's friend) was visiting with them and she took Aidan around. I took Sophia around and my poor mom (she hurt her neck on Friday moving furniture at work) she stayed at the table with Delilah. Sophia had the most tickets (well except for Rosy) she had over 300. Rosy had over 600. We finally started to head home at 2pm. Stopping only for gas and frozen custard. I dropped V off, then my mom, and we headed home. It was early bedtime for the younger girls.

THIS morning I was awakened at 6:15am with a poopy diaper I didn't realize was poopy when I tried to change it in the crib. So my day started off with bathing Delilah, again. I was wide awake, as was she, after that. I came down stairs, feed her, and started laundry. At 8am when she was ready for her nap I went to put her in the crib and ants had infested it, in the 2hrs since I had woke up! I was not pleased. I laid her down in Sophia's room, in the pack n play, that's where Alan sleeps when he is over. Then I got to work, found out they were coming in my window (2nd story window nonetheless), I killed them all with Raid aerosol spray. It about killed my lungs, I was coughing so bad. Then I wiped down the walls with Lysol and cleaned her mattress with Lysol. By then I figured I might as well clean my sheets and such too, so I stripped my bed also. I haven't seen another ant in that room since, thankfully.

After that mess I was sweaty and hot, so I showered. Then I got everyone ready to go. We had lunch at my mom's before taking the kids to Jason & Rosy's. They stayed with Jason while mom, Rosy, and I went to my cousin's bride's shower. It was okay. Their house stunk like cat litter though and it took about an hour for my nose to become accustomed to the smell. We played a few games, in which I found out how very little I know about her. I didn't even know her age and they have been together for four years. Maybe I should get to know her, I never did before because I never thought they'd stay together. They had many problems the first couple of years. We left after the games were over and presents were opened, we didn't even eat cake. It didn't look very good, white cake with white frosting not my favorite.

Since we have been home I have done some housework and ordered some fun things from Etsy. DAMN K! For showing me that website. I have ordered Delilah a birthday dress and bib. I ordered a bow holder and a paci clip for Alan. Now I am just browsing, I cut myself off for a little while. :P

So that was my weekend......how was yours?

Depression has set in....

RePost- Sorry Marie

I need to snap out of it, I am not liking the way I am feeling this week. It doesn't help I have forgotten to take my anti-depressants more often than I have remembered to. Plus my children are done with summer and want to go back to school. If only they realized I wish for that more than they do. I have been having an extremely bad case of the bad mommies these past few days. I have lost my patience more often that not. I hate yelling at them, but when you ask and ask and ask again, yelling seems like the only viable option left. Fighting has been the biggest issue, mostly between the oldest two. My next biggest complaint is noise. They cannot play quietly EVER. While I don't expect them to be quiet 100% of the time, there are times when I need peace. I have taken to staying up way too late, which then makes me grumpier.

I told Kale I hate him yesterday. I don't mean it, but I am angry that I am alone and last night he went to dinner with a bunch of important people. It's not his fault, I know it, but I can't help feeling jipped. It's been hard these past three days to hold myself together and not break down. But last night I did, I cried like a baby. I hate crying, it leaves my nose stuffy and my eyes puffy. I also think of it as a weakness and I don't like feeling weak. My mom is out of town until Friday, so I can't talk to her or have her help. Plus she is dealing with a lot right now. Her school is moving to a new building and they expect her to move everything alone. I also don't like her seeing me like this, until recently she didn't know I was even taking anti-depressants. I hide a lot of my true feeling from my family and friends, usually Kale is the only one who knows what I am feeling. It sucks for him to have to deal with me alone, but I don't want our family and friends to think I am weak.

I really NEED to get over this by Saturday. It's Lilly's 9th Birthday and I need to be good mommy. We aren't doing her special day until August 2nd, but we will have the family party on her b-day, I ordered the cake today. I guess I am doing somethings right. I really begin to feel better when I get small things done, like the dishes or the laundry. One positive thing happened on Tuesday, Rosy came over to drop Alan off to me, I am watching him for a few hours all week. Well she came early and she was either bored or sick of my pile of clean laundry. She.Folded.It.ALL! Then last night when they came to get him (he stayed longer than they had said he would) they brought me a piece of Linda's Fudge Cake from Cheesecake Factory, I needed it. I also finished it, which doesn't help my fat butt any, considering it's 33 weight watcher points. Why can't I be one of those people that can't eat while they are depressed? Instead I am an "eats chocolate until she is sick" depressant.

I have tried to keep my depressed mood off my blog, but I can't right now. I will snap out of it this weekend, when my mom gets home, my van is done, and my kids are busy being with other people. Sunday Lilly heads to camp #2 for 6 nights and Aidan heads to Chicago with my parents for 3 nights. It will just be Sophia, Delilah, and I, it will be glorious. Then I will have one week before school starts and that week they are taking dance for 2hrs each afternoon Mon-Thurs. My mood is picking up a little already at the thought of school beginning. Things will get better, I know it.

It's sooo hot and humid here....

Summer has taken hold in KS. KS summers are very hot and humid. When you go outside you are immediately sticky and sweaty. Makes you feel pretty.

Last night we went to Atchison, KS for the Amelia Earhart Festival. She was born in Atchison and they hold tight to that claim to fame. They even have a bridge that has a spotlight shining to the heavens above to "light her way home". They also have an AWESOME fireworks show set to music. It's always better than Fort Leavenworth's 4th of July show. This time Aidan sat on my mom's lap for only the first song, then she moved down to her own chair. I am sure my mom was grateful, it was hot as hell. It was a wonderful show, a good time, but we didn't get home until midnight.

Lilly's home and had a wonderful time. She made lots of friends, including the snotty cabinmates. Her one cabinmate even asked for our phone number. Her nose and cheeks were a little sunburnt but other than that she was in one piece. She only mailed one letter, to her Grammie. All it said was "Dear Grammie and Pop, I like potatos! Love, Lilly". It's some weird thing she and her BFF say all the time. I was also glad to hear they fixed her mosquito netting the first day.

And now, since I am tired and can't think anymore, I will leave you two recent Aidan anecdotes.

We are in Kohls and Aidan starts saying very loudly:
Mommy you wear a size 1 EXTRA. Look this one is your size, it's a 1 EXTRA!
I had to politely explain why she shouldn't do that and how it embarrassed me.

Then last night my mom was pouring water from one bottle to another and spills on herself.
Mom: Damn, now I look like I wet my pants.
Aidan: Nonnie, did you forget to put on a PAD?
Luckily no one outside of a 3ft radius could hear her because of the fireworks.

Something Different

I decided to post something other than the remainder of my 4th of July pictures today. I mean my kids are cute, but even I get sick of looking at them all the time. :P

I was thinking about my previous "lives" today. I feel as if my life is lived in increments. First there was my childhood, then my teenage years, then the few years after high school, then the three years we lived in KY, then the three years of hell spent in MA, and then there is the present. Each time I think about these different periods of time I think of myself as a different person. Really each period I was a different person. I had a different life each place.

When Kale and I were living in KY just the three of us, I was happy. We didn't have much money and the only places we went for vacation were our parents houses, but we were happy. We had a couple that we hung out with regularly, they were our age, and she was pregnant when we met. After a few months though it all turned sour. We found out he was abusing her mentally and emotionally. He would not let her spend any money, not even on personal items like pads or razors, she had to use his used razors and his parents gave her gift cards to Walmart for other items. After I found out about this I encouraged her to leave him and she did. But she always came back. We got the chain of command involved, but his dad was a very influential retiree in their field of work and was able to get them moved to a new post. It was sad and I often think of her and how she is doing. I know he got out of the Army because he was being investigated for his spousal abuse and I know they are living back in Alabama. Other than that I don't know anything more. Other than that and a few other small newly wed issues our first four years of marriage flew by. We only needed each other to be happy. I wasn't homesick or lonely at all.

When we found out we were going to recruiting we were worried. We had heard horror stories, but were optimistic we could come though his tour unscathed. Boy were we wrong. It started with our duty station, Kale had an in who was going to get us into Orlando for assignment. Unfortunately he had a family emergency that forced him out of the office the day they made the assignments. The FL and KS areas were closed to us, Kale was neither African American or Hispanic, so to the northeast we were sent. At first I was not happy, but then I turned around and determined I would make the best of it. It was far away from everyone, but closer to my grandparents. Plus I had never seen Boston or NYC and I would be close enough to go to both. They told Kale that he would be able to do his job while grocery shopping with me or doing family things with us.

Yeah, they lied. They lied about everything. It pretty much sucked the entire first year. Our marriage nearly didn't survive. I almost didn't survive. Until I met K and started hanging out with her I really wasn't sure I was going to stay. She kind of saved my marriage/life. I was very down before we became friends. We started taking trips around MA and the area, going to zoos, the Yankee Candle Factory Outlet, NYC to Ikea, Ikea in CT, she introduced me to Ikea and I am disappointed now I am not near one. We did a lot of shopping, since the only positive factor about being on recruiting duty is the extra pay, it did not make up for all the bad factors however. Really the only thing that kept me semi sane other than K was shopping. It was hard adjusting when we moved back here.

Now that we are back in KS I am back to being a daughter on a daily basis. And a sister, aunt, sister-in-law, and friend I hadn't been these things in years. I love being here with my family, but part of me would like to go some where alone again as a family, like we were in KY. We need to start taking trips as a family again, without all the extra people in our lives. Don't get me wrong, I love being with our families, but it would be nice to be just us again.

I am not leaving the house for a week!

Well that's not exactly true. I have to go out on Wednesday to take Lilly to the endocrinologist and before I drop the van off to be fixed (finally) I need to get Kale's car detailed. I let my mom use it last week and I was appalled at the filthiness of it. I won't even describe it to you, it might make your stomach turn. I won't drive it in it's current state and since I A) Don't have the time, B) the energy, and C) I didn't make the mess to start with I won't be cleaning it myself. Other than those two things I am going to avoid leaving my house until Sunday when I take Lilly to camp.

I have many, many pictures to share of the last few days. In addition to K's visit (which was wonderful, but far too short) we also spent the weekend in Branson, MO. So I have pictures from the 4th of July and Branson to share. Then I should be done overloading you all with pictures for awhile. Tonight I am too tired to post about either, so I will leave you with this oldtime photo I had done in Branson of the girls. This was the best out of 10 tries, it was 8pm at night when we had it done last night. The girls had already been drug out shopping all morning, then to the Dixie Stampede for dinner, swimming, and had a shower so I think this was a successful picture.

Watkins Mill and House

Waiting for our tour to start

Sophia with Lucy the doll, the girls took turns keeping her for the tour guide

Uncle Jason was not as enthralled as some of us to be there

Sophia wanted to pet their chickens

The house, unfortunately we were in such a hurry during our tour of the mill I didn't get a picture of it

Side view of the house, it still doesn't have indoor plumbing or electricity and every Saturday the volunteers make and eat a meal using the outdoor kitchen without electricity

The ice house, it was interesting to find out how they stored ice without electricity

The staff grows their own garden and use the food to have their weekly feast

Grandpa chatting up one of the tour guides

Watkins Mill is located in Lawson, MO. It used to be a farm owned by the Watkins family, now it is a historical site and a state park. When I was a child my family camped at the state park and toured Watkins Mill and House. I knew my mil would love it and I was right. Now I have to take her and my fil back when Kale gets back from Cuba, so she can poke through as slowly as she desires. We did have to rush and we only saw 3/4 of the mill tour, but we had to be back for the Euro Cup soccer game. Germany was playing Spain after all and we have two Germans visiting.

Good Things and Not So Good Things

I have been kind of MIA the last few days, we've been very busy. I think I mentioned my grandfather, Nadja (former ExStudent), and her mom were here. It has been non-stop, go-go-go, busy-busy-busy for us.

Since I am strapped for time I am going to leave you with a few of the good things and a few of the not so good things.

Good:

I was able to refinance my van loan at a very low rate, saving us over $50.
Delilah is trying to pull up to everything and anything.
Delilah cut another tooth.
We went to a very cool and fun outdoor play on Friday night, Beauty and the Beast.
My MIL loved it.
We went to the only 19th Century woolen mill that still has all of it's original machinery.
My MIL loved it.
I finally got to see Jason and Rosy's new house, it's very nice.
We rode the Midland Railroad again this summer.
My grandpa and the girls love it every year.
Friday we went shopping without mil and younger three girls.
I have managed to get all but two items on Lilly's summer camp list, I will be getting those two things today.
I haven't had to cook a single meal since I got home.
I have gotten home every night just in time to put the girls to bed.

Not So Good:

Delilah is pulling up.
Delilah was cutting more teeth, thus very grumpy.
The play was cancelled due to lightening after the first half.
We were strapped for time at Watkins Mill and house, so we didn't get to see everything.
Judy complained about this.
It was hot for us adults on the train.
Judy complained.
Judy complains every night about what time we get home.

You know what though? I don't give a flying flip!

She goes home on Wednesday and Monday and Tuesday are filled with fun things to do.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Swimming at the State Park

Update: For anyone who subscribes, I apologize. I realized I published this the same day as Wordless Wednesday, after I had published WW. So I republished it for today.






So I did something I haven't done in years, since before my children were born, well at least I haven't done it unless I was pregnant. I went swimming, in a swimming suit. Courtesy of K who sent me her old suit. It took a lot for me to get over my weight issues enough to put the thing on and play with my girls, but I did it. I did it because my fil alone couldn't have watched the three bigger girls in the pool by himself. My mil went "swimming" but the water was too cold and she wouldn't go in any deeper than her ankles, wuss. The first day they had fun but since my girls don't swim and are scared of water for some unknown reason. I loved to swim, still do. I was a master at swimming as a child, my kids can't pass level one lessons. They have a fear of the water that is foreign to me.

The second day we went swimming we brought rings and a boat. They loved it, were so brave. By the end all three were jumping off the edge holding onto the rings. The same girls the day before were staying where they could touch and didn't dare let us take them in deeper. It was amazing and wonderful a perfect day. Until....

Judy and I were sitting on the stairs chatting as the girls were playing. She turns to me and after sizing me up says "When we get home I will have to sit on your feet and make you do sit ups. You need to firm up your tummy." I honestly didn't know what to do or say, I wanted to cry or yell. Instead I said "Wow, I guess I know I will never be wearing this suit out in public again." To which she replied "Oh, well your not the biggest girl here."

Later that night I relayed the story via messenger to Kale, I couldn't tell him when he called she was in the room. He was very upset with her. I nearly cried typing it to him. Then this morning I called my mom while Judy was in the store and told her. I burst into tears as I told her, she couldn't believe she would say that to me. Honestly, I know I am fat. Personally when I see myself naked I am disgusted. But those are my issues and I try not to bitch about it. Because honestly all I need is more will power. My problem is I am an emotional eater, I eat when I am sad or angry. So this month? I have eaten like a pig and not felt like doing much about it. I gained most of my weight when we lived in MA. I wish for the days before we moved there, when I thought I was fat. I so was not fat. Heavy, husky, fluffy but not fat. Now? I am fat. I avoid full length mirrors if possible. The worst part for me is my face is fat. I never had that until a few years back. I am going to try and work on my weight this year. But you never know.

In a nut shell, she ruined a perfectly happy day for me. Well, part of it. At least the pictures are going to bring back happy memories and in time I will forget what she said.

Hidden Hollow: We should have left it hidden

Sophia likes to be a big girl

Delilah spent 30 minutes in the baby swing

She loved every minute of it

Lilly and Grammie swung together

This was part of the "petting zoo" the kids we put in the rabbit hutch to pet the bunnies

Only one baby bunny would let them touch it

Sophia didn't want to get out, she was chasing all the rabbits

The lone bunny they could pet

Happy Girl

I was impressed Aidan would do this

Sophia had fun

Although the children had fun, we will not return to Hidden Hollow. Judy and I went exploring to find it, she had read about it before and seen commercials. We paid $20 essentially to play on a playground and pet some rabbits. Not worth the money. They do have a mini golf course and a swimming hole, but we didn't bring stuff to swim in and didn't have time for mini golf. The place was filthy and the people who ran the place were, to put it politely, colorful.

We head home tomorrow morning. I am scheduling a few posts ahead of time, but they will be mainly pictures. Hope everyone has a good week.

Feeling a bit better today

I have been able to talk to Kale everyday now. Mostly on Windows Live, the phone reception sucks and he is deaf so it's a lot of "WHAT?" and me yelling. And I am not a fan of everyone in the house knowing my business. The guys who live with him suggested we buy webcams and microphones and talk through Windows Live. So today I braved going back to Walmart with Judy to purchase said products. I found a middle of the line webcam that came with a headset to talk with and it works with Windows Live. I had to buy two, he said there aren't any to buy in Cuba which I am surprised. Our PX (like Walmart) has them so I figured the NX (Navy's version) would have them too. Especially since he said the NX has more than our PX, but oh well I bought them anyways. Now I just have to send it to him and wait for him to get it, about two weeks.

We spent 4hrs out and about today. We went looking for something to keep Delilah confined to a certain space. Judy's vacuum is broken and their dog loses a ton of fur daily. After she's been on the floor for awhile she is black from dog hair, YUCK! It grosses me out. We wanted to find a play yard you sit on the ground so we could lay a blanket down under it and she'd have room to crawl. They live in a small town and variety is not an option. Instead I found a relatively cheap walker to put her in. She gets upset with it though, she can only make it go backwards right now. We'll see how she does later. She has had to have a bath every night since we got here because of the damn dog fur. I almost bought a vacuum instead, but she says she is getting hers fixed and until then we can use Nanny's (Kale's grandma, she lives with them).

We took the girls to the library today. It was the smallest library I have ever seen. It was one room for all the books. Lilly found 8 that interested her for now and Aidan found 9. Sophia checked out 2, a board book and a Max and Ruby book for us to read to her. We don't let her have paper books alone anymore, she ripped two of them to pieces during her nap. They were ours, but still. After lunch Judy and I went to town and were there for FOUR hours. This is our trek:

1) Walmart 1hr 30mins: We bought many things.
2) Dollar Tree 10mins: Judy ran in.
3) Lowe's 20mins: They didn't have what she wanted, we knew it after 10mins but still looked around for 10 more.
4) Consignment Shop 20mins: Looking for baby playyard or walkers. They wanted $24.99 for the walker I bought brand new at Walmart for $33.99.
5) K-mart 20mins: To see if they have a cheaper walker. I did find swim diapers that were Delilah's size and only $2.99! I took the huggies ones back and got my $7.50 back, they weren't her size anyways they didn't have her size at Walmart.
6) Big Lots (same reason) 15mins: Old ladies were gushing over Delilah so it took longer than it should have.
7) Back to Walmart 15mins: To get the walker and my ice cream.
8) Carwash 15mins: To wash the bugs off my van.
9) HOME to make dinner, bathe children, and put them to bed.

It's a wonder why I am not that tired right now. I got some sleep last night, it was in 3-4hr periods but for most of the night. Teething babies are the pits. Hopefully she will sleep better tonight. Tomorrow we are going to the Flea market and for Father's Day we are taking my FIL to an Aquarium, because 85 degrees is "too hot for the zoo". Whatever! But it's not my day so I will keep my trap shut, except to bitch to you and my husband.

Have a good weekend!

He's there and getting settled in...

He finally called today at 5pm, it's a good thing I was busy all day or I would have worried more. He's living in a house with 5 other guys but 2 are moving out soon. He knows 2 of them and 2 of his neighbors. They already have cable/internet/phone so that is less we have to worry about. He bought at calling card for $20 and has 260 mins on it. I am sure he will call us everyday. The three older girls talked to him and his mother.

We spent the morning being lazy, Delilah woke me up at 6:30am I was not pleased. Tomorrow Judy is getting up with her so I can sleep. After breakfast I took Aidan to get her new glasses fitted. They fit much better than her old pair and are silver instead of blue. After that I passed out snoring on the couch until it was time to go to my mom's for lunch. After lunch we headed to the mall, stopping on the way to check out gun safes for father's day. Man are they expensive. We walked the mall for a couple of hours then had dinner at Mongolian BBQ, Lele's choice for her last dinner here. She leaves tomorrow afternoon. After dinner we went to Dairy Queen. Delilah is a piggy, she loves ice cream. Last week my parents took them there when we were at Worlds of Fun and my dad bought her and Alan their own ice cream cup. Delilah wanted to eat all of hers and yelled when it wasn't being shoveled in. Alan ate some but didn't care. My mom had to stop my dad from feeding it all to her, thankfully. She cried a lot tonight between bites. Hopefully she won't wake up with a tummy ache.

Tomorrow will be spent packing and going to the airport to say goodbye, again. I hate saying goodbye, these past few weeks have sucked.

The most boring last day...ever.

We did very little. Ran errands most of the day. We did drive out to KC to get Kale his last dessert before leaving. He wanted Cheesecake Factory, no complaints here. Mom came over and had dessert with us. Lele and Green came a little later and just left. We had fun just hanging out looking at old pictures. Before we went to KC Jason, Rosy, and Alan came over to say goodbye. We are taking him to the airport at 8am tomorrow morning. Hopefully Delilah will sleep tonight. She FINALLY started crawling forward today, she had been getting around by rolling and going backwards for a month. Plus she mastered getting from her tummy to a sitting position before she learned to crawl forward. Now she is trying to climb. It won't be long and she will be caught up to Alan.

Other than that it's been very boring today. I will be a mess tomorrow morning after he leaves. But then I will have to get over it and go to a rodeo. We are entering Aidan in the kids calf scramble, I have no idea what that is, but I am sure she will have fun doing it. Lilly's too old and Sophia's too young.

Maybe we will walk tomorrow, I found out after I ate half of my cake that it has 1360 calories and 51 grams of fat. SCARY! I won't be eating that very often. Thanks to everyone for their good thoughts and prayers. We will be fine (most days) and for the bad days I can vent here.

Have a good Friday!

I must be feeling better...

I think a lot of my mood the last few days was because of lack of sleep. I have been so busy the last month. I finally sat most of yesterday at home, even took a nap or two. So I believe lack of sleep and my allergies have really drug my mood down more than normal.

My week is shaping up like this Monday-Wednesday-Friday-AND-Sunday I will have been or will be at the airport. Monday I had to take Florence from Belgium to the airport, she and her host mom had a falling out last Friday night and she spent the weekend with us. My mom had to work, so I being a good daughter took her for my mom. Lele, Sophia, and Aidan went along for the ride. It rained terribly and luckily her flight went off on time.

Today we have to pick Judy up from the airport. Then we are going to Famous Dave's for Kale's going away family dinner. I really have no clue what we are doing Thursday besides spending time with Kale and packing his stuff up. Friday morning early we are back to the airport to drop him off. Friday night my mom talked me into going to a rodeo. We are going to the Flint Hills Rodeo, apparently it's the longest running professional rodeo in KS. It starts at 8pm, but it's a 2hr drive there, so we will be out late. Saturday we are having Lele's going away dinner at Mongolian BBQ (yuck), I am not sure how much Judy will complain about this. I am not sure she has ever been there or not. She is adamant that we have to be home for the Belmont Stakes Race, to see if Big Brown can take the Triple Crown. Whatever! I am not planning my life around a horse race, I will Tivo it for her or she can keep her butt home.

Sunday Lele leaves around 5pm. The rest of the night will undoubtedly be spent packing and panicking. Monday we drive to TN. Judy actually asked me if I thought we should drive for 8hrs then spend the night in a hotel. It's an TEN HOUR DRIVE! I said politely "Nope, I prefer to do all ten hours in one day." I am such a rebel. She is already driving me a little nuts and she's not even here yet. But we'll be okay. I just am not a big fan of BS and she is the queen of BS. Everything wrong with my husband can be traced back to her and how she raised him. Despite all of this I still love her and I know as far as MIL's go, I could have one that is SO MUCH WORSE! I have heard horror stories. I will try not to complain too much about her this next month, but please bear with me.

How do I know I am feeling better? I agreed to go on a two hour drive with four kids and my MIL to go to a rodeo. I must be out of my mind. :P

Worlds of FUN!

We.Had.A.BLAST!!!

I am tired and a little nauseated. We were there from 10:30am to 8:30pm, LONG day. My dad came at 2:30 to pick Lilly and Aidan up, they got to have a really good time without getting over tired. They did ride 2 rides they were unsure of, Lilly hated both of them and Aidan only liked 1. Lilly is very chicken, but I told her that if they were brave I would get them a surprise after they left. For three of the hours they were with us they did rides that all of us could ride, then for the last hour we took them to Camp Snoopy for the rides only they could go on. It was enough time for them to have fun, but not so much that they were bratty when they left.

After they left we hit all 5 of the roller coasters. I prefer spinning rides, but I did all of the roller coasters because Green was being a wuss and not riding any of the spinning rides. Not even the ones the girls rode with us. He promised to ride everything I did if I rode all the roller coasters, but he lied.

But now I am tired and sore and itchy (allergies). I am going to bed.

Some Random Words

Aidan graduates from Kindergarten today, my mom is coming with us so I am sure she will cry thus I will cry. I was informed that I was not to fix her hair up because of the caps, it won't stay if she has pony tails. So I put butterfly barrettes in her hair, but she cried so I had to take them out. They apparently "felt weird" in her hair. She was in a mood this morning. It started because she didn't like her sandals and wanted to wear her black dress shoes, but they didn't match her dress so I told her no. I let her have her way with barrettes, but I wouldn't budge on the shoes.

Judy (mil) arrives in less than one week, on the 4th. Then Kale leaves on the 6th, Lele leaves on the 8th, we go to TN on the 9th, and my parents head to France on the 10th. I am lucky that (so far) Green's internship is staying here and not moving to Des Moines, so he's going to spend the month living at our house taking care of the dog and cat. If he can't do it the dog will split his time between my mom's and my aunt's and the cat will remain her, but locked in our laundry room (it's huge) and my bro will come in to take care of her everyday. He works on Fort so that's not really a big deal for him. But ideally Green staying here is best.

On Sat. Kale, Jason, Green, Lele, Rosy, Lilly, Aidan, and I are going to Worlds of Fun (amusement park). My mom is watching Sophia, Delilah, and Alan even though she is worried about watching them. I told her I do it all the time and she will be fine, she says I am better at it then her and have had more practice. It's babies that scare her, I have no idea why. After work that day (about 2pm) my dad is picking Lilly and Aidan up at the park so the adults can have fun the rest of the evening. My kids are so short and so chicken that the 4hrs they will be at the park will be more than enough. I am going to try and get them on some rides that they may be scared of, I think if they ride them they will like it.

Our new sectional arrives tomorrow and I am very excited. We bought our current living room set only two years ago, but while I liked it and still do, it hasn't worn well. Plus we have just a couch and a chair, so only 4 people can sit with us. The sectional holds at least 7 very comfortably. It has a chaise on one end, I practically feel asleep in the showroom while I was trying it out. That may be where I sleep this next year :P

Tomorrow is the last day of school for the girls and it's only a half day. I am both happy and sad about the last day. While I am ready to not have to take anyone to and from school every day, I am remembering last year and how horribly Lilly and Aidan fought ALL SUMMER. This year they haven't been fighting as much, but Aidan and Sophia have really picked up where Lilly and Aidan left off. That's one thing that I can't stand, even though my parents say I deserve it. My bro and I fought constantly until after Lilly was born. We never believed them when they told us one day we'd be friends. Damn parental insight.

On another and completely different note, allergies suck. Mine have been extremely bad lately and I don't like it one bit. My eyes water all day and my nose alternates between stuffy and runny. KS is not a good place for allergy sufferers.

Reasons Being a Mother Grosses Me Out

Reason#1 Picking apple chunks out of a two year olds teeth (shudder)

Reason#2 Changing a fully potty trained childs poopy pull up (gag)

Reason#3 Any kind of blood in large amounts (Just thinking about when Aidan slipped on the tile
with wet feet while wrapped in a towel thus splitting her chin wide open sends shivers through my body)

Reason#4 When the two year old dips her hands in the toilet and licks them (EWWW)

Reason#5 When I discover my then 7 year old has a booger wall (My brother had a booger wall and pillow case he shoved up his nose and twister while he sucked his thumb) I have been able to convince her that tissues are much better and it's not very princess like to wipe them on the wall, THANKFULLY

Reason#6 When the 6 year old farts loudly at the dinner table (One of my biggest pet peeves, my husband and his parents do it all the time, disgusting)

Reason#7 Vomit any kind of vomit (GAG)

Reason#8 When visibly dirty hands that I know have been in noses, butt cracks, and mouths (and God only knows where else) want to hold my hand when I have nothing to wash them with (And of course I hold it, even though I can feel the nasty all over me)

Reason#9 Finding a sippy cup with curdled milk in it under a bed/couch/chair/carseat (GAG)

Reason#10 Babies wiping their sticky yucky snotty nose on my shoulder as I hold them

Reason #1 Why I wouldn't change any of it for all the money in the world: