Long Long Day....

It's been long because it started early, 6:24am to be exact. That's when Delilah woke me up, she was soaking wet with pee. Wonderful way to wake up. Have I ever mentioned how much I ENJOY being woke before 7am? I have? Oh, ok I will stop mentioning it.

After her bath I woke everyone else and got us all ready. I offered to drive Rosy to Hobby Lobby and to get her there when the doors opened at 9am. It's about a 45min drive to the one we went to, so as soon as I dropped the girls off we left to pick her and Alan up. We arrived just as the doors opened. She wanted a $500 Christmas tree they had on sale for $60 and they only had one left. That's why we had to be there so early. It barely fit in the van and the guy "helping" us was trying to shut my trunk door before I moved the seat up enough for it to fit. I thought he was going to bust my window out or break the damn door. When I say barely fit, I mean BARELY!

After Hobby Lobby we went to Joann's, they have Simplicity patterns on sale for 99cents this week. Not that I really needed any more, but there were a couple I needed copies of, of course they were all out of the ones I wanted. I did find an apron pattern for the older girls, they were out of the apron pattern I liked for the little girls. I may go back on payday this week. We spent quite a bit of time in there, over an hour. I found some pretty spring fabric. Sophia picked out one for herself and I picked one for Delilah. I will take the older girls to pick something for themselves soon. All but one thing I bought was on sale for 50% off or for 99 cents. And I had a 50% off coupon for the one item not on sale. I made it out of there with 5-6yards of fabric, three spools of thread, a spool of ribbon, three patterns, a green bag and a penguin pen for Sophia all for a little under $25. I don't think I am doing too badly. If I bought two outfits and a shirt for the girls (which is what I will get out of the fabric) I would spend at least that or more.

My hobby is keeping me busy enough and keeps me shopping enough to keep me happy.

After we shopped Sophia, Delilah, and I napped before picking up the girls and taking them to girl scouts. I get my cookies from Aidan tonight, yum! I am hoping to finish Lilly's shirt tonight. I had trouble with it last night, I didn't read the directions closely. I was nearly done, so it p*ssed me off, but I knew I needed to get to bed. I hate to leave things unfinished, but I would have been too frustrated to finish it easily. I want to be successful so I don't get bored and quit.

Excitement

When I find something that excites me it tends to consume me. It gives me something to think about other than how sad I am Kale is gone. For awhile I was excited about him coming, I was excited about Christmas, this past summer I was excited about all my trips/plans. I always need something to occupy my thoughts. Right now it's the excitement over the prospect of buying our first home.

We already picked it out, hopefully it will still be there in six months. If it's not, I am sure we will find something equally as nice or I will have gotten over this all together and change my mind. Which will drive Kale crazy, because I do this a lot. But right now, I am super excited. I have already been mentally picking out colors for each room. I have begun picking out furniture for the rooms that will be left empty (eat-in kitchen and formal living room). Thinking about what I would do down the road like redoing the master bathroom and changing the flooring in the living room, dining room, and bedrooms. This will keep me going for a couple of months.

Hope everyone had a good time on New Year's Eve! I was on the phone with K until 1am. Woo Hoo! :P

I Want a House!

I don't know why but Kale decided to start looking at houses while he was here. We found this one online and we LOVE it. You can check it out for yourself here if you like. The kitchen is pretty much perfect, the rest just needs paint and maybe new flooring, except the master bath needs an overhaul someday. If it is still available in six months when Kale returns we will try and buy it. It's bigger than any military house we have lived in so far, by nearly 1000 sq ft. We expect/hope to be here for at least 5 more years if not longer. I would like to keep the girls in the same school as long as possible. But this is what I have to look forward to, something to keep me motivated.

Alone Tonight!

Kale and I are getting to go out to dinner alone tonight, thanks to my mom offering to watch all the girls for us. I think she may even keep all four over night for once. Not that I really care, usually once Delilah is in bed she is there for the night.

Kale had lunch with Aidan today and read her class a story or two. He even took Sophia with him, which was nice. I got to be alone for awhile as Delilah went down for a nap and is still down. She doesn't feel well and had her immunizations given to her yesterday. I was surprised they let her get them as she was coming down with a cold. I think she is moving on to ear infection now. FUN!

Kale and Sophia are going back to the school here in a little while for Lilly's holiday party. Then after school we are dropping the four of them at my mom's house for the rest of the evening. He finally decided he wants to eat at Olive Garden and have dessert at Cheesecake Factory. Fine by me.

Tomorrow the six of us are going to see Bolt and having lunch at Panera Bread, after the girls clean their rooms. And we have to put our tree up still. :S This is the first time since I have been an adult that my tree has not gone up the day after Thanksgiving. I just couldn't lift it by myself and we have been so busy the last two days.

We were lucky Kale was able to get on the very first flight out of Jacksonville on Wed. I was worried we were going to miss our family picture appointment. That was a whirlwind day. We picked Kale up, went to Walmart, came home, got ourselves and the younger two ready, went and surprised the girls at the school, came home, got them ready, met Jason & Rosy so they could follow us, got our pictures done, high tailed it to the school just in the nick of time for Lilly's play, watched the play, and came home where everyone (my parents and the teens also) had pizza for dinner. It was tiring, but a good day.

All of our days, I think, will be tiring but good. Kale just caught Sophia painting her finger and toe nails. One of my aunts bought Aidan make-up, AGAIN, this year. They never think of me when they buy such things. Last year Aidan painted the walls and her toys with the nail polish. It's not peel off nail polish either, GRRR!

Hope everyone has a fun weekend!

Snow Day...Not for My Girls!

There are only two school districts in the greater KC area that didn't cancel school today....Fort Leavenworth and Leavenworth. I briefly thought about not taking the girls to school regardless, but my mom quickly talked some sense into me. Instead we were barely on time. It's still snowing right now and we have about 5inches or so. At least their Girl Scout meetings are canceled tonight. My mom is in Lansing School District, so she had the whole day off. And apparently she rubbed Stella and Meme's noses in it this morning, Stella didn't appreciate it much (neither would I).

Sophia, Delilah, and I packed up to go make cookies with Rosy and Alan. Aidan had a cookie exchange at her GS meeting, which is now canceled but I can still use the cookies for Lilly's holiday party on Friday. I have to go out to pick up the girls in about an hour and I don't want to. :( It's too cold outside and I am warm and sleepy. Oh well, it's my last day of having to chauffeur for awhile.

Kale is still on the ground in Cuba, the plane to Jacksonville is late, due to get there in 30-60mins. They are normally supposed to leave around noon, of course today they are behind. I was not happy when he called to let me know. Hopefully he will still have enough time to make his flight in Jacksonville. Needless to say I now have a tension headache. I am also worried Green won't want to drive over here tonight, he doesn't do well in the snow. If he won't I am sure my brother will go get him and drop him off. Of course that means we have to take him home tonight. GRR! It's not going according to plan. I hate not having control of things and I have no control over any of this.

COLD!

It's gone from 5 degrees to 2 degrees in the last hour. It's cold. We don't normally get this kind of cold in KS, it's more like the cold we dealt with the three years we spent in MA. The windchill today is -14 degrees. Kale is going to freeze his a** off tomorrow night and probably every day he is here. Cuba is nice and toasty warm, but I don't feel a bit sorry for him having to come here to freezing temps.

I spoke with my mother about the situation with Lilly's teacher. My mom is a principal and has been for 12+ years so I often go to her for guidance. I like to run things by her first to make sure I am not worrying for nothing or going overboard. She thinks I am completely justified feeling the way I do. She mirrored my opinion that the teacher just doesn't want to do her JOB. So I took her advice and I asked for a meeting with the principal. Kale and I will be going together, when it comes to my kids I tend to get overly emotional and feel like I am being attacked, even if I really am not. So I need someone to be there to calm me. I wish my mom could go with me, but she hasn't the time and she likes to make me handle things myself. If it goes further though, I think she will step in and help out.

Aidan is getting sassier and sassier. I wanted to smack her yesterday. We had our Christmas with Jason, Rosy, and Alan since they are leaving next Friday. And Aidan had two gifts to open, one from them and one from my Aunt Mel. The only reason she had the second gift was because my uncle decided they needed to open more than one and brought the gifts from her over. After Aidan opened her two gifts, loving both of them, expressing thanks, all that good stuff, then came the water works and the "I don't have any more presents to open!" Then the screams "I WANT MORE PRESENTS TO OPEN!" I cut her off quickly, which is how you have to deal with Aidan so it doesn't escalate quickly. Usually when I am with my family my dad steps in and starts yelling and arguing with her, it just makes it worse. They usually end up in a screaming match, really they are like the same person. The louder someone yells at them, the louder they yell. It's lovely when they get into it with each other. I was able to get her to go to sit by herself and calm down rather quickly. I am not sure, but I think this behavior is going to take something drastic to get it to stop. Like taking away a present or something the next time she does it. Selfishness is not something I take very well, it drives me NUTS! And she is the only child that acts that way, the others are happy with what they get. Not her, she always wants MORE.

I guess if she does it again I will be taking her to donate a toy or two to Toy's for Tots, out of her own Christmas presents. She needs to learn selflessness. I am just not sure how to teach it, I will figure it out though, I know it.

Tomorrow! He will be here tomorrow night! :)

It's Snowing!

It's not the first time it's snowed this winter, but it's coming down a lot faster than last time. Maybe it will be enough to cancel today's Girl Scout Ceremonies, I don't feel like going and being social. And of course both girls have ceremonies the same day and time, so that is wonderful. My aunt is taking Lilly for me, so at least I don't have to feel the guilt of "No one is going to my ceremony!" Although Aidan maybe upset that I am going to hers instead of Patience, we will see. I also have to go get a dessert to bring with us. And I have to go to the post office to return the wool dress coat I bought and didn't notice the sizing was junior's sizing. Needless to say it did not fit. I ordered a new one in the appropriate size already.

Some pictures of recent acquisitions:

Kale's New "Top Coat" for Dressier Outings

My New Dress Coat

My Dress for Our Family Pictures

K made two of these dresses out of fabric I bought this past fall. One for Sophia and one for her "friend Abby".

Here's Abby modeling the dress. I would post one of Sophia modeling hers but it was just mailed out yesterday.

After Judy decided she wanted a family picture also, I decided for my side of the family's picture we would all wear brown and pink or black. I couldn't find anything I liked for Lilly so Keisha offered to make me one. I just had to pick a pattern and she found the fabric. She is my hero, she made the entire dress in less than 12hrs. Impressive to me as I have little to no sewing experience. I also don't have a picture of her modeling it as it was also mailed out yesterday.

I have also recently bought Aidan and Delilah wool dress coats, Sophia's my mom bought a couple of years ago at a yard sale for only $3. It's in perfect condition and only needed to be dry cleaned. I bought Lilly's last year in an after Christmas sale. I almost always buy coats a little big so they last longer than one season. We will be a well dressed family this winter. :)

Anemia?

I am not sure why, but I am tired all the time again. It may be low iron again, who knows. It must not be that bad yet as I am not craving ice like last time. I am just dragging a** all the time right now.

Delilah is very nearly always sleeping through the night now. Except for Saturday night, when she screamed, screeched, and in general threw a huge temper tantrum until 1am. Of course it was a night that I was so tired I had put myself into bed early to then be wrenched out of my bed to the sound of her screeching, just after I had fallen asleep of course. Last night she was kind, I drug myself to bed at 10pm, I only lasted that long because Kale called at 9:30pm when I was about to go to bed. I didn't hear a peep out of her all night, slept straight through the night. I hit my snooze twice before I finally heard her awake and decided if we were going to be out the door on time I needed to be up.

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It's only 8 days now until Kale arrives home. We haven't told the girls an exact date of his arrival and won't. He gets in so late on the 16th that there was no point in telling them he'd be home that night. He will surprise them by waking them up in the morning. I hope Delilah doesn't scream too much or I won't be able to sleep in. Hopefully he will have remembered what it takes to get the four of them ready and out the door in time for school. I am not sure he has ever even done it with all four of them. He will be fine I am sure, if not hopefully he's a quick study (he's not though).

I am almost fully done with my Christmas shopping. I need to get something more for my mother and something more for Meme. The girls have way too much, all except Delilah. I can't bring myself to buy her many toys, she doesn't play with any of the ones she already owns.

I will be checking in on everyone today. Sorry I have been neglectful recently.

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.

Things That Have Been Going On

First and foremost my grandfather has been in and out of the hospital for three weeks or more. This week they really thought he was going to pass. It's been hard to be in limbo. Technically he is not my grandpa, he is married to my mom's mom, but he has been married to her since before I was born. I credit my mother greatly for not clouding our love for him with her opinions of him. She did not like him and until recently didn't have a very good opinion of him. But she never let it show to me, I never even knew anything about her not liking him until I was an adult. So even though he is not my blood grandfather, I love him all the same. I am worried for him and really worried for my grandma, when he goes she will be very lonely and she can't drive so she will be stuck at home. She hates to ask for help, but will have to learn after he passes.

In other news Judy (mil) broke her foot this past weekend. Not bad enough to require a cast, but she has to keep it wrapped and wear a special shoe. The only reason this really affects me is because she will be coming out when my grandpa passes, to take care of the girls while we go to the funeral. While I hope he lives for years to come, I am realistic and I realize he really only has months to live (hopefully). When we thought he was going to pass on Monday she still planned on flying out she just asked if my parents would leave the teens with her to help. My mom didn't have a problem with that, it will just be a little crowded here at my house. No big deal though. The rest of us, probably including Green will drive out and go to the funeral whenever it happens.

Last night my uncle blew through town with his girlfriend Rhonda. We all went out to dinner together, even though I had already fed the girls when my dad called and told me to meet them at Applebee's in town. We had a nice visit with him. And Rhonda told me she has a cabin 30mins from Jacksonville. She said she will pick me up from the airport, let me stay the night, and then take me to the base the next day for my flight to Cuba. :) That will help out a lot, then we won't have to pay for a hotel for that night in Jacksonville or a shuttle to the base. I was a little worried about doing all of this on my own anyways, but now I won't have to.

Last night was a good night of sleep for me. Delilah slept from the time I went to bed until I got up at 7am this morning. It was a welcome change from her recent behavior, waking me every 1-3hrs all night long. I needed to have some continuous sleep.

Tomorrow Lilly and Aidan are having a "character parade" basically it's a Halloween parade, but they have to dress as actual literature book characters. Lilly is an Native American and is going as Sacajawea. Aidan of course is Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. They just have to carry a copy of the book their character is from during the parade. I plan on going to watch the parade tomorrow morning. Hopefully I get another good nights sleep. After the parade I have many things I need to get done before I have to pick them up at 1pm, I am not sure why they are getting out early Halloween I guess. I wish they weren't, tomorrow is pay day and I have a lot of things to do.

I will post pictures of the parade tomorrow. Have a good day!

Too Cold....

It's not usually this cold in KS this time of year, at least not as consistently cold as it has been. It's going to be a long, rough winter this year I am afraid. Which does not bode well for me, I hate being cooped up and lack of sunshine depresses me. That's one of the major reasons I hated living in MA.

Lilly and Aidan went camping this past weekend. Aidan and her troop got to sleep in the lodge, where it was warm. Lilly and her troop had to sleep outdoors, the first night it was in the 30's. The second night it was in the low 50's. They had a lot of fun.

My mom and I took Sophia and Delilah to Boo at the Zoo. Sophia didn't want to wear her costume and cried until we got inside the zoo. Delilah wouldn't leave her left bootie on and everyone kept stopping me to point out that she had "lost" it. Which is nice, but irritating if you know it's not lost. Finally I took it out of the diaper bag and hung it on the stroller handle, no one pointed it out anymore. We had a short, but nice visit to the zoo. She got just enough candy for a three year old and enjoyed looking at the animals.

Sophia also got to spend the night with my parents all alone. Even went out to dinner with them all by herself. I think she enjoyed that a lot.

I thought I would get some sleep, but I am not so lucky. Delilah is cutting her molars and has not been sleeping well. At least that's why I am hoping she isn't sleeping. Because that is temporary. I keep reminding myself that A) eventually she will start sleeping better or B) Kale will come home for good and he can get up with her. :P

Tomorrow Aidan has a costume tea party at her Daisy meeting. Then on Friday she and Lilly had a "character parade" at school. They get to dress up as long as they dress up as a character from a book, and it has to be a literature book not a comic book. Nothing gory, scary, or bloody. Lilly is going as Sacajawea and Aidan is Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz. They have to bring a copy of the book their character is from so I ordered the books earlier this month and we already received them.

I am also happy Halloween is on a Friday, my mom and the teens can take the girls out trick or treating. Kale has always taken them before, it's not my idea of fun. I go if I have to, but I prefer to hand out candy.

I Escaped!

We actually got to leave our house today! It wasn't so bad either. I thought Sophia was going to be horrible, but after a few scoldings she was good to go. We went to The Legends, an outdoor shopping outlet not to far from here. First order of business was to get Delilah a pair of shoes. She started walking last week and is pretty much walking everywhere now. I don't buy shoes for babies until they can walk, there really isn't a point for them before then. At least in my opinion. I bought her these:
They are Stride Rite and so very cute. And since I bought them at the outlet they didn't cost me an arm and a leg. While we were out we had lunch at Panera Bread and I threw some money at Carter's (damn their $10 off $50 coupons!). I also went to Target, got Alan's Christmas present, another present off Lilly's list, and a sleeping bag for Aidan. They are going camping with the girl scouts next weekend and Lilly has a sleeping bag, but Aidan didn't. I also got her a dunk bag for her mess kit. I still have to find her a mess kit. I don't have time to order her the girl scout one like Lilly has, so I have to make my own. I may call to see if any places are carrying the girl scout one in the area, it would be much easier and less expensive than doing it myself.

That's what we did today. Lilly and Aidan get to go to a magic show after school because Kale is deployed, so I don't have to pick them up until 4:30pm. I think we will walk since Sophia is feeling better now...

Really?!

I received this package today.
Looks pretty standard.
It's from UPS.

And this? Was all that was in it. It's a 1000 Minute Calling Card for Kale.
It? Cost me less than a dollar for shipping.
It? Is kind of freaking ridiculous.
It? Could have been sent in a standard envelope via USPS.
Oh well, not everything in our world makes sense.

Is it too much to ask?

I am looking for a nice hotel in Nashville, TN. All I want is a nice hotel with a big bathtub, it doesn't even have to be jacuzzi, although that would be a plus. I don't want to spend a fortune though.

I am just doing research for when Kale comes home for good. He will have most of June off and when we go visit his parents we plan on taking a night or two and going off to be alone. We want to either go to Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, or Memphis, that way we are close but far enough away. Since he has been gone we have realized how much we really need our time alone, without the kids.

I just wish all of the hotels would post pictures of their bathrooms. If I wanted a standard size tub I would stay home. I am sure eventually I will find what I am looking for, but it's been a little frustrating.

Not Much Going On....

I have stayed home pretty much all week and all last week. With the exception of last weekend when we went to the Renaissance Festival and the girls each had birthday parties. Other than that I have been hanging out at home.

This week we started what I hope will be our new routine. We walked to school to pick up the girls Monday and Wednesday, we will do it again today also. It's 3miles round trip, so that's a pretty good distance to walk. As long as it's nice I plan on doing this every Mon, Wed, and Fri. Sophia is such a good walker, she walked both times back and forth with little to no complaints. Aidan has always been my worst about walking and she burst into tears on Wed when she found out we were walking home. Of course then on the way home she asked if we could walk to school everyday, that child is full of contradictions.

Speaking of Aidan, she had her MAP testing done in school and I received the results last Friday. Basically it said she is High Average to High in all the reading components. Half of the math components she is Average to High Average, the other half however she needs to work on. Which included problem solving, so I have to work on that with her. Kale is hoping she doesn't have his math brain and that she gets mine instead. He hates math and isn't very good at it. I love math and have always excelled at math. Math to me is great, it's not subjective, there is always a right or wrong answer.

Delilah took her first steps last night! I am excited, soon I won't have to carry her chubby butt everywhere. She weighs almost as much as Sophia now. Granted Sophia is a skinny butt just like Lilly, but still they are two years apart. Alan has surpassed Sophia now, by 3 pounds. He is a big boy.

I don't have any major plans for the weekend. All I know is I get rid of my kids for a night (the older girls) when they spend the night at my parents. I will probably go home early and relax with just Delilah here.

Judy and Kale's dad David will be here next Thursday and are staying until the following Tuesday. They are coming out to help with the yard sale. Then they are going to Branson for their 40th anniversary, they have never been. They will have a good time there, as long as my fil isn't his normal stick in the mud self.

Well, I better get dressed and get to the post office. I have been telling Kale I would mail his package all week. :S

Have a good weekend!

Sigh....

I had a pretty good morning, okay I am lying it wasn't that good. I went to the commissary before naptime, I had to because Kale was calling me at noon and I needed food for lunch. If I waited until after naptime then I wouldn't have enough time before he called to get there and back. If I waited until after he called I would be too hungry.

The point is I had to go during the time Delilah normally naps, thus pushing her nap back an hour. Fun. She was grumpy and Sophia was being three. Smothering Delilah, getting in Delilah's face, and grumping when I scolded her or asked her to stop. By the time we checked out I was done. Alas, that was not the end of my fun filled day.

I had a good few hours while the girls napped, first Delilah then Sophia. Kale called we talked for awhile and soon after that he got online and we talked there too. In between talking to him I cleaned up the downstairs. Lilly's friend V was coming home with us before Girl Scouts and I am not one to leave my house untidy while there are visitors even if they are 9yr old girls.

Just before we were leaving for school my mom's ex-secretary called. Her daughter J goes to the same school as the girls and she was running behind, asked if I could pick her up and take her home with me. Fine, not a big deal as long as she was picked up before Girl Scouts. Normally it wouldn't be an issue on Girl Scout night but tonight was Aidan's investiture ceremony. Well, as you can guess by how rotten my day has gotten been so far, that she wasn't there to pick her up before the meeting. I waited even longer than I normally would wait to leave. That caused me to be late, which as I have said before, makes me panic. During the ceremony J was fine, Sophia and Delilah wouldn't sit still but were quiet. We left as soon as the ceremony was over and they grabbed a quick snack. At this point I realized I left my phone in the car and J's mom had been calling and calling, she was lost. I told her just to meet me at my house. J went home and we left to go to BK.

After all of that I didn't want the hassle of cooking. I order our food, pay, and leave. Get to Lilly's Girl Scout house and realize they only gave me half of my dinner. Great, just great. Delilah was crying at this point and Sophia is three and has no VOLUME CONTROL anymore. Everything she says is said in a very LOUD annoying WHINE. I run in and grab Lilly even though I am 15mins early. We go back to BK, as we pull in Lilly is insistent she has to pee right that second, I let her out to go in to pee. After that I go back through the drive thru to get my food, the guy insisted he tried to run out to give it to me, whatever. Then I go fill up the van since gas is probably go up before the weekend and then we head home.

I pull in and as we get out our very lovely pitbull loving neighbors are getting ready to walk their now ear cropped pitbull puppy. As Lilly and Sophia walk past him he goes to the end of his leash growling and gnashing his teeth. And she said he's "a good dog". Trash, that's all they are is trash. (Don't read into it as all pitbull owners are trash, these people however are trash).

And now I am dealing with the loud, whiny, screech of a certain three year old that is going to bed at 6pm tonight.

Hope your day was better.

Am I Selfish?

My mil had the idea that my fil should drive to Jacksonville in Dec to pick Kale up instead of him flying home from Jacksonville. BUT they would "have him stay a few days in TN with them" before they brought him home. Is it selfish of me to say WTF and HELL NO? I don't believe so. They are his parents, who see him once or twice a year anyhow. We are his family and we normally see him everyday of the year. Plus he wants them to come here for Christmas Eve and day, maybe a couple of extra days beyond that. But he only has 16 days home, This.Entire.Year! I really don't care if they come at all honestly. So yeah, you can guess how far that idea went before it was shot down. Even Kale doesn't want them here for more than 4 days while he is home. Something to do with me and no "contact" while we have guests, I have a weird thing about it. At the same time it irritates him to no end that his mom just keeps brushing the subject under the rug so to speak.

So that's me. One selfish brat. :P

So sorry :P

Judy got in Thursday afternoon and I haven't sat still for very long since. We changed our minds about camping (actually I did), I decided I didn't want to spend over $300 on a three day camping trip. It would make things tight for the rest of the two weeks and I don't feel like having to pinch pennies until payday. To appease the children we are going to the zoo tomorrow.

I am exhausted. Delilah has not slept much the last two nights. Last night she had a really bad tummy ache and passed gas most of the night. For about 45mins I had to lay with her and I didn't sleep at all while I was holding her. I am also pms'ing, so that doesn't help my mood. And with Judy here that never helps my mood much. I am one big mess right now. My allergies are out of control, I am tired, and bitchy so woo hoo I am a barrel of monkeys this weekend.

We spent all afternoon and evening yesterday looking for birthday presents. I was able to find Delilah and Sophia's from us, but Judy's present to Sophia we had no luck at all. I called different toy stores this morning and we found the very last one they had. Luckily they put it on hold so we could pick it up. We are done with our presents for them. Delilah's cake is ordered, but I still have to order Sophia's, I have a week before I have to order it though.

Lilly and Aidan decided to stay up until 10:30pm fooling around on Thursday night. And last night as punishment they were supposed to go to bed early. But Sophia and Aidan were with my mom while we went shopping and Lilly was with us. We didn't get them into bed until near 10pm again last night. Needless to say Lilly is a mess. She has been crying at the drop of a hat and it started as soon as she woke up. They are all going to bed at 7pm tonight, they certainly need it.

Since I am too tired to go on any longer, I will stop and hopefully will be back Monday. Have a good holiday weekend!

Just Another Monday

I shut my alarm off then woke up in a mild panic. Not so bad, we were still early getting to school. It was finally a chilly morning, which is really unusual in KS in Aug. I actually had to go back in the house to get the girls jackets. The only ones that weren't upstairs put away were the Royal's sweatshirts.

Friday was parent teacher conferences, early I know. They tell us that it's just in case we have questions. The only question I had was whether or not Aidan was behaving. Her teacher said she is doing great, different from Lilly but still doing very well. Lilly's teacher and I went over what she had to tell me and that was it, I was out of there in under 5 mins. I was in and out of the school in 15 mins. Conferences never last long for us anyways. The girls like school and are pretty good and we trust the teachers to do their job, we don't need a lot of explanation. I really only like to go to hear how great my kids are doing, everyone likes to hear they are doing a good job.

Today we went to have the oil changed in the van. While they were doing that, we walked to Target and then to Panera Bread for lunch. I did finally find what I am getting Delilah for her birthday, but unfortunately I cannot find a picture of it online. I didn't buy it today because Sophia was with me and was getting pissy about not getting anything. Normally I don't care if she does get mad, tough, but today I didn't know how long we would have to hang out so I just decided to wait to buy it. I still have no clue what to get Sophia. I guess I have another week before I have to panic about that. They both slept all the way home, but that was only 30mins. And then by the time we got home it was too late to lay them back down. So they are grumpy.

Friday night ( I am jumping back and forth I know) Rosy came and helped me clean while Jason took the three younger girls. Lilly stayed to help us. We cleaned for 2 1/2 hours and only got the livingroom, down stairs bathroom, and closet cleaned. I did shampoo the carpet though, so that took a lot of time. It looks really nice. I am doing the office today, since the cat was sick in there all day on Thursday. We spot cleaned but it needs to be deep cleaned. The same is true for the laundry room rug, but I will have to wait until she is better to do that one. Poor kitty, she is going to the vet soon. It's weird because she doesn't look or act sick, she is just vomiting a lot. She is not eating very well though but is still drinking and using the litter box fine. Hopefully it's just a virus or something and she will be better soon. I was worried she was dead today, I couldn't get her to come to me or even meow. I had my brother come look for her while I was gone, in case she was dead. He found her, but she wouldn't come out. I will try again after I pick the girls up from school.

Speaking of which, it's time to go. Maybe I will have something more interesting to say tomorrow. :P

Freaking Out, A Little.....

It's less than two weeks now until our camping trip and I am a little freaked out. I have to get everything ready and I am worried Delilah won't sleep while we are there. Plus it's been 6+ years since the last time I canoed the 7+ mile route and I am so much more out of shape now. It kicked my butt last time, I can only imagine how much I will ache this time. Hopefully my back will be better by then, I tweaked it this weekend and it was killing me yesterday. I am sure everything will be fine in the end, but it's my nature to worry until we get there.

This weekend seemed very long and the girls were not as well behaved as I would like. Friday I made the mistake of going to the commissary, on payday, right after school. The girls were at least good that time. But we went again with my mom on Sunday and they were Out.Of.Control! I was so not pleased and my mom wasn't real happy either. We took Meme with us and she doesn't know how to be firm with them yet. But she wanted to push the cart with Aidan and Sophia in it, so we let her. They walked all over her, doing things they KNOW is not acceptable. We had a talk with her, gently telling her she can and needs to tell them no. So that was a very stressful day. On top of them acting up, it was Sunday after payday and all the blue hairs (retirees) were in for their monthly shopping. They refuse to be polite, move when they are taking up the entire aisle, or even move when you say excuse me. Plus in general they are slow and they buy a lot of stuff. I try not to go to the commissary on payday weekend, it's too much for even me. We thought we were safe by getting there when it opened, before church let out, but no such luck.

Friday morning Kale's cousin had her twin boys. I was surprised that they only scheduled her c-section a week before her original due date. She has been wanting babies for years, she had many miscarriages. I am pretty sure they found out that if she took 1 baby aspirin everyday her pregnancy became viable. The boys, Kurt (Jr or the III) and Jonathan, were 7.5lbs each, a great size for a singleton birth, let alone a twin birth. They are fraternal, one has blonde hair, the other dark hair, and one nurses, the other won't. So I am happy for them, they have been waiting for years to have a baby.

Saturday mom, the girls, Stella, Meme, and I went shopping. Well, I mostly went to return somethings and to use my $10 off any $10 purchase at JCPenney's. I got a shirt for myself for $8.99, not too shabby. I was behaving myself since I need to conserve money right now. Especially since I just had a birth I need to buy a gift for and in a couple of weeks I have a wedding gift to buy. When it rains it pours! And right now my money is getting ready to pour out of my account. I still have no clue what I am going to get Delilah or Sophia for their birthday's. Delilah doesn't like toys, she prefers trash. I guess I can get her a big box of food, that would make her happy. :P Sophia would love lots of toys, unfortunately she already has lots of toys. So I have no clue, I am open for suggestions!

This is my usual dilemma, willing to give them the world, but realizing they already have it.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!