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.

Trying Not to Turn This Into a Sewing Blog....

Friday night was pretty uneventful for us, we stayed home all night. I ended up staying up until 1am working on Delilah's Valentine's dress however. Which really kicked my butt when I had to be up and out of the house Sat. morning in time to pick my mom up at 9am. We went shopping for the whole day.

I had things to return and pictures to pick up at Walmart. She had a fax to send at her school. Then I had to pick up a few things at Target and she had to exchange a sweater at Kohl's. Then we spent a bit of time in Hobby Lobby. They had Simplicity patterns on sale for 99cents each and even though I had gone the day before and bought my limit of 10, I still had more I wanted. I ended up buying 6 more. Then I had to get the trim for Sophia's Valentine's shirt, the bias tape to finish Delilah's dress, and the elastic for Sophia's shirt. I looked at fabric, but the kids were way too wild to stay long. My mom had given them candy before we left town, never a good move. We ate lunch at Panera Bread, our favorite, and then headed out to pick up our family pictures from Sears. After that we dropped my mom's jewelry off to be inspected at Zale's while we waited the kids used their Border's gift cards they received from Kyla. After we picked up the jewelry we headed home.

I wasn't at my parents house for more than 15mins before I left with Jason and Rosy. They were going to look at vans. We left all the kids with my parents and headed out. Not long after we left Sophia and Aidan were picked up by Patience. It was their turn to spend the night, Lilly and her friend had spent one night the week before. Patience took them and Meme to Chuck E Cheese, they had a blast. But they stayed up until after 11pm, which I don't really mind, because I wasn't in charge. I just made them nap the next day.

Jason, Rosy, and I looked at a van, then they took me to Hancock Fabric to get more patterns. They had Butterick on sale for $1.99 and I had picked out Lilly and Aidan's Valentine's shirts online in their patterns. I also got a large cardboard cutting board, so I can stop putting pin marks in my table top. Then we drove around looking for more vans, but the one place they saw one they liked was closed by the time we arrived. We then attempted to eat out at a sit down place, no such luck at 6:30 on a Sat. We ended up eating at KFC, it was alright but gave me a tummy ache.

Sat. night I stayed up way too late again finishing Delilah's dress. It wasn't that hard, the only thing is it's a bit too long. I need to hem it more.

Sunday I had to pick Sophia and Aidan up by 10am, at 9:30 my aunt called to make sure I was coming. :P They must have driven her nuts. Then we went to my mom's to pick Lilly up and hang out for a little while. We came home, Sophia, Aidan, and Delilah napped, Lilly and I cleaned and then I napped for a couple hours. Last night I stayed up again way too late cutting out Lilly, Aidan, and Sophia's shirts. That took forever even though there aren't that many pieces per shirt.

Today I napped for a couple hours then went to Walmart to get the elastic I needed for Lilly's shirt. Then we stopped by Rosy and Jason's to see the progress on their kitchen and to have cookies, yum. Went to pick up the girls from school and then went to the grocery store. I am exhausted and my children are driving me crazy. Pretty normal day. :P

The Day I Took a THREE HOUR NAP!!!

You didn't read the title wrong, I actually was allowed a three hour nap today. It was wonderful, I feel refreshed. I have been staying up late every night and of course I have to get up at 7 every morning so there is no sleeping in. I was chatting with Kale online today and could barely keep my eyes open. I decided I'd take my shower then lay down while Delilah napped. I can't believe she slept that long and that Sophia didn't try and wake us up. I put the gate up at the top of the stairs and let her roam between her room and the older girls room. When I came out I asked "Are you playing?" and she told me "No, playing is boring. You slept to long!"

After my extremely long nap we went to the grocery store and BK for lunch (late lunch at 2:30). We ate our lunch while we waited for the girls at the school. I usually get to the school at 2:45 so I am first in the pick up line. But they don't get out until 3:15. I also used the time to clean out the van, it was full of trash. A shopping bag full of trash to be exact. Mostly papers from my mail. I open it in the pick up line at the school. I rarely get anything important so most of it's trash/recycling.

I spent all day yesterday working on Aidan's dress which has now become a shirt. I tried to put the ruffle on the bottom of the shirt but after it was on it looked weird. So I spent and hour or two taking it off stitch by stitch. I thought it was going to be too big on her, but it fits pretty well. Looks pretty good also. My mom is going to help me put the ruffle on it this weekend, we will see if I like it better with out it.

I plan on going shopping this weekend for more supplies. Hobby Lobby and Hancock Fabric are both having pattern sales. I will stock up on the brands that are on sale. I wrote down the numbers of 7 I liked in Simplicity and 9 in Butterick. I am not sure I will get them all this weekend, but for 99cents and 1.99 each you can't go too wrong.

Here's Aidan's shirt. I didn't let her wear it today in case I want to add the ruffle.

Even though she looks angry she really wasn't. She is just weird right now about smiling.

Off and Running

Now that I completed my first project I went out and found some more fabric I liked. I bought fabric to make Lilly, Aidan, and Sophia Valentine's Day shirts and Delilah a dress. I found a cute white with tiny red hearts fabric, for Delilah I am doing a tiered dress with the white w/red hearts fabric and a red w/white hearts fabric. I think it will turn out cute. The best part? No buttons or zippers on her dress. :P

I am exhausted, I haven't caught up from Sunday night. I planned to go to bed early last night, but at 7 my parents showed up. I was caught way off guard and my kitchen (where my mother always goes first) was a complete disaster from dinner. I normally clean the kitchen before bed and it was really dirty last night since I sewed instead of cleaned Sunday night. They came over and informed my that Jason and Rosy told them to bring my van to pick them up at the airport. Of course, as usual with my family, not everyone (me) was privied to this information. My van was a wreck, but whatever, beggars can't be choosers.

The best part of them borrowing my van? My dad gassed it up for me when they got back in town. :) He even filled it all the way up when I had less than 3/4 of a tank. The worst part? I had to stay up until they came back with the van. Which was 10:45pm. I was extremely tired. I really should have napped while they were gone, but stupidly I watched tv and surfed the web for Easter dress patterns and fabrics. -BTW, off subject, but I think I am going to go with Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit toile for their dresses. They have it in four different colors! But it's kind of pricey, like $7-10 a yard. We will see, I have months to think about it and look around.

Sophia, Delilah, and I went to Walmart today to pick up scrapbooks I had made at the photo center. While there I also picked up $45 worth of fabric, supplies, and patterns. But that's enough to make all four Valentine's Day shirts/dress and two yards each of two fabrics I just fell in love with. I can make at least two more things with those, maybe 3 or four depending on what I make. After Walmart we went to see Rosy and Alan. The kids played and had fun while Rosy and I caught up. We hadn't talked much these past few weeks. It was a nice visit.

Now I am waiting for my dryer to finish, then I will put my washed fabric in to dry. I plan on cutting out Aidan's dress tonight and starting to sew it tomorrow, depending of course, on how well Delilah and Sophia are behaving.

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.

Sickness is Running Rampent

Delilah was up all night. When we left our house yesterday at 4:30pm to go to Famous Dave's for Kale's belated birthday dinner she was fine. By the time she entered the restaurant she was screaming in pain and burning up. I held her for awhile, then my mom walked her around until she feel asleep. We had given her Tylenol before we left the house but the fever burned on even so. She slept on my mother and I all though dinner (thankfully) so dinner was bearable. We left as soon as we paid as she had woken up and was screaming and still burning up. Rich (a family friend and doctor) suggested we get Ibuprofen instead and give that to her. We picked some up and gave it to her right away, by the time we were home the fever was gone and she was happy. We put her to bed at 9pm and by 11pm when we crawled into bed she was up screaming her head off. She was up crying or watching tv with Kale all night long. I think she finally slept from 2am to 7am.

Luckily yesterday at lunch time Sophia cried and cried her ear hurt. So I made appointments for both her and Delilah to be seen today, just in case. I knew they wouldn't be working in the next couple of days so it was just smart to be safe. Sure enough they both have double ear infections, lucky lucky us. Poor girls are miserable. I spent the day shopping with my mom and Meme, so Kale had to deal with them all day alone. Which I don't feel any guilt about at all, as I had to deal with the 3 days of sleepless nights, diarrhea, and vomiting all alone a few months ago. By the time I got home Delilah was exhausted you could see the bags under her eyes. Hopefully she will sleep tonight, tomorrow is a busy busy day. I just hope the meds have kicked in by tomorrow, enough to keep her mellow and get her feeling a little better. Poor baby. :(

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. :)

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!

More Christmas Ideas: I start early I know...

I ordered blocks for every one's rooms from another seller on Etsy. These are what she came up with for the kids:

I picked these out for Lilly out of some she already had displayed. They match her new bedding set perfectly.

For Sophia I asked if she could find penguins and as you can see she delivered just that.

Alan's were another set I picked from ones she had displayed. My brother played soccer since he was 4 all the way up through college and still plays occasionally now.

And for Delilah...

She is still working on horses for Aidan, but says she will be done soon. I am happy for the way they all turned out so far and her prices are very reasonable.

Delilah had Sophia's sickness this weekend, lucky me. She didn't have it nearly as long though. I think because she doesn't equate eating with pooping yet. We had a pretty quiet weekend. Did a little shopping with my mom & the teens and had dinner at my parents house. Jason even stayed since Rosy and Alan are out of town for her cousin's wedding. The older three girls spent the night with my parents and Delilah even let me sleep in until 9am this morning!

Hope everyone else had a great weekend.

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...

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!

I Hope She Starts Sleeping Soon!

Delilah is teething again, which means sleep is not continuous for me through the night. That coupled with me watching the Olympics all night long, makes for a tired mommy. Before I was going to bed around 10:30pm so I wasn't so tired, but the past few nights I have been up past midnight. Someday she will sleep through the night.......I hope.

I booked Sophia's Build A Bear party this morning. I plan on having 7 children there (with Lilly, Aidan, and Sophia included) so it should be a fun, albeit pricey party. But I won't have to buy party favors, plan games, or clean up, to me that is worth the $150+ it will cost. K fixed her birthday dress for me, thankfully. I have seen it in pictures on Abby and it looks 100% better. I just received the bows I ordered for her and Delilah to match their dresses, they are so very cute.

Other than Sophia's party we will do small (HA! Like having all of us together is small.) family party with cake, ice cream, and presents on their actual birthdays. Judy is coming out again to celebrate their birthdays with us. We are also going camping Labor Day weekend. I haven't been since Aidan was a baby. I rented a cabin for Judy, the girls, and I, I am hoping Judy will help foot that bill since I only did it for her. I just realized we leave in two weeks for that trip! I am so not mentally prepared for it yet. Then the weekend after that is my cousins wedding, which I am only invited to the reception. I am glad Judy will be here to watch the girls, the reception starts at 7pm, too late for them. The circus is coming to town that week too, but I am not sure I will have the money for that too, even though I love going.

The first week of school has gone pretty smoothly. Even though this morning I shut my alarm off and woke up with only 20mins to get out the door. Aidan and I went rounds on the second most complained about article of clothing she has, pants. They were "too tight" which her pants always are when she is grumpy. I told her I didn't have time for her games this morning and she quit complaining. No problems with Aidan at school as of yet. I was a little worried, but as usual I worried for no reason.

We will do a little shopping this weekend, we have coupons :P But not too much because I need to save my money for the trip. Hopefully everyone else has a good weekend.

Shoe Problems

Aidan has many issues with shoes. You can have her try them on at the store, buy them, take them home, and the very next day she will say they don't fit. This happens all too often in our household. I know 95% of the time the damn shoes fit her, she just doesn't want to wear them. Other times we fight about what shoes match better, if I disagree with her she then goes into her "they don't fit" routine. She started to say something about her brand new shoes we bought specifically for the first day of school. But I cut her off before she could start. I told her she couldn't say a word about them being too small, we had just bought them last week and she tried them on. Then Lilly piped up "mine were a little tight too, but I walked around a little and they are better now." That seemed to appease Aidan and I didn't hear anymore about them.

THIS morning I brought out a brand new pair of Skechers we had bought this summer. She insisted they were too tight, even though I could feel her toes and they weren't at the end of the shoe. I let it go, told her to wear her new tennis shoes we just bought, and said "If you say they don't fit I will scream." She had a hard time getting them on, not because they are too small, but because they are lace-less and the bungees hold the tongue down are very tight right now. My mom says I deserve her being like this. Something about me as a child never wanting to wear anything new. She would have to hold me down to dress me for a week before I would accept that the coat was no longer new. Also something about me ripping my shoes and socks off if my sock was not on properly. Sorry, but to this day I can't stand my socks to be on wrong. So apparently I deserve this child. She really should have been nicer and not cursed me.

This summer I made Aidan try on every pair of sandals in Kohl's in her size. Then I made her promise she would wear them. This was after two failed attempts to purchase her sandals she would wear. She is the one that gives me the most troubles about clothing and shoes. I think Lilly will let me pick her clothes well into middle school, Aidan will probably want more input in a year or so. She certainly is a "spirited" child, ie pain in the butt! :P But I love her anyways, funny how that works.

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!

Wild Hair Up My Behind

Delilah decided we needed to be up at 6am AGAIN this morning. I finally relented at 6:30am after unsuccessfully trying to get her to play quietly in her crib with a million toys. At that point I looked around my room and decided to rearrange it. Well, it started with me thinking "Kale's dresser will fit in our closet if I move things around. That will free up floor space and it's not like he's here to use it." So I moved it, it fit like a glove. Then I had to vacuum under that thing, it was filthy under there. Then I thought maybe Delilah would sleep better if the crib weren't under the air conditioning vent. To do that I had to take apart my bed (queen size), move my dresser into the hallway, move my night stand into the hallway, and then move the crib, after I vacuumed of course. Then I moved my dresser back in and put my bed together. Basically my room is now arranged in a mirror image of the way it used to be, just on the opposite wall. Now my room is nice and clean. I was surprised there wasn't much junk under my bed, of course I cleaned under there just after Delilah was born.

I do this sort of thing often, not as often as I used to but now I have heavier, nicer furniture that is hard to move by myself. Kale never knew what he would come home to after work. I did hurt my back on my curtain tie back, it's metal and I fell back into it when I was trying to get my mattress back on the bed.

Now I am relaxing. I just gave Delilah and Sophia baths and put Delilah down for her nap. Soon I am going to take a shower. My mom emailed me this morning to see if I wanted to go with her to Hobby Lobby after she gets off work. Of course I will go, anything to get out of this house for a little while. I really need to work on my growing pile of laundry or maybe I just need to invite Rosy over ;) My aunt Patience wants to take the 3 big girls swimming today, but it looks like rain so I am not sure it will happen. I will have their stuff ready just in case though. I always love the chance to be rid of some of my children :P

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?

Long Day....

My day started at 8:30am, not too shabby. BUT it started with a foul smell AGAIN! At least this time it stayed inside her clothes and I didn't have to strip the crib again. I lazed around for an hour then realized I only had a half an our to be ready to go to the doctor and to be ready for being out of the house all day long. A shower was out, normally I shower every morning, especially if I am going out, but today it was not an option. I did have to shower Sophia though, she went potty by herself with her nightgown on and dipped it in the potty.

Aidan arrived home last night at 10pm, so she was here to slow me down. That child, good lord she is slow. I put my clothes on, brushed my teeth, fixed my hair, and packed the diaper bag before she got her shorts on. It takes a lot of "Come on Aidan, Let's go Aidan" to keep her moving. I was so not in the mood, I would find out later in the day why.

Delilah had a 10:40am doctor's appointment but we had to be there by 10:20am, I was there at 10:10am. I am pretty much always a little early, otherwise I feel like I am late. She is now 21.5 lbs fully clothed and 28inches long. Our doctor looked at her and said pretty much what I thought, wait and see since it seems to be getting better. She went from 5 poopy diapers on Sat. to 2 yesterday and so far today. She's not dehydrated, she's eating normally, behaving normally, and drinking plenty. So she told me to bring her back if it's still going on, Monday. Then they will do a "stool study" which sounds utterly disgusting and I am glad it's not my job to look through her poop.

After the doctor we had to swing by the house since I forgot to grab the juice boxes for our play date lunch. Then we ran over to my mom's where I made sandwiches and picked her up. Then we headed to her school to meet up with Bo and her kids Carly and Carson. They are very shy and she wants to socialize them more. Bo is the behavior specialist that works at my mom's school. She is the one who helped us potty train Sophia in ONE FREAKING DAY (at 2yrs 2mths nonetheless)! We thought Carly and Sophia would play more than they did, but Carly gravitated more towards Aidan, she is a little older than Sophia. But Carson is Sophia's age and they hit it off. As we walked into the building from the playground they held hands. I have pictures I will share next Wednesday.

After our playdate we headed to shop. Sears is having a huge sale on clearance items, an extra 40% off. I found quite a few things for Delilah and a jacket for Sophia, plus a pair of sneakers for Lilly. $19.99 for skechers is a big deal for me, they are never that cheap. I just hope they fit her, she may need a 13.5 and these are a 13. I am crossing my fingers. Unfortunately they didn't have any in Aidan's size for $19.99. While in Sears I realized I started my period, which makes me oh so pleased since its almost a week early. Plus Sophia had a little troubles with poop in her panties, she farted and left a mess (that's as politely as I can think to put it). I had to buy a pack of panties for her, they were $5.50 and HUGE even though they said 2T/3T. Besides the shoes they were the most expensive thing in my cart, that didn't please me. It didn't bother me she had an accident, but that I had to pay that much for crappy panties (no pun intended) kind of irked me.

After Sears we went to Target to get a gift for my cousin's bride's shower. I decided on a gift card since there was not much in the store in my price range. It's pretty amazing they are getting married, no one ever thought he would ever get married. Of course we thought that of my brother too. I guess people change and I am happy for them. The dumbass teenaged boy who was my cashier thought it appropriate to put my gift card and greeting card in with the four bottles of hair detangler I had also purchased. This stuff has been known to leak. I didn't say anything to him, although maybe I should have brought it up to him gently. Instead I moved the cards to my purse and went on my merry way.

We headed back to my mom's after that, she is alone right now as my dad is still in Chicago. We had burgers with her then came home. But not before Delilah filled her pants getting it up to her neck and on my mom's carpet somehow. Very gross.

Aidan and Sophia went to bed at 7am and now I am just waiting until 9pm to put Delilah down. Mom starts working tomorrow, so my morning will be spent at home. At 4:30pm we pick Lilly up and then there is a little more than a week left before SCHOOL STARTS!!!