Christmas!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We've had so much fun that I haven't had time to sit down and write about our wonderful holiday. I feel like we didn't do quite as much pre-Christmas fun as usual this year - throw in the mid-month trip to Jamaica and then the fact that 3 girls were in school until the 22nd the month flew by. Anyways we really kicked off Christmas celebration the Wed before Christmas when we had Dad and Nat over for dinner. We had a nice dinner (thanks Nat!) and then the kids opened their gifts. They were the first gifts the kids had gotten this year and wow..were they surprised, excited and spoiled! The next day we did our annual gingerbread houses. And let me add that every year I think this is a great idea but it never quite happens as great as I think/remember. Oh well...it's tradition. That night we met up with our good friends the Dickey's to go to the Lights on the Neuse. This is the 3rd year in a row we've gone with them to see a lights spectacular and so now it's become tradition. The kids loved it despite the frigid temperatures! Friday, Christmas Eve, Paul was off of work for the first time in perhaps our entire marriage! It was so nice to have him around. We have a tradition that the kids open 1 gift on Christmas Eve - always new pajamas and the kids were excited to open their gifts right after breakfast this year! The older girls are on to the tradition now and aren't surprised by the jammies but it's still fun. We delivered a gift to Paul's dad and enjoyed our only peppermint chocolate chip milkshake from Chickfila this holiday season! I cooked all day and we went to church for the Christmas Eve service in the late afternoon. That evening we welcomed Paul's family - his mom, her husband and his sister and friend over for dinner and gifts. Nana completely spoiled the children! The gift pile was neverending! The kids were beyond excited about all their fun new things. They made their Santa cookie plate and sprinkled reindeer food outside and finally went to bed with great anticipation!

Christmas morning the kids woke up about 7am which was later than I expected. We snuggled in the bed for about 45 minutes when they just couldn't take it anymore. We crept downstairs and indeed Santa had come! The kids were so excited! Santa was VERY good to us this year - including bringing me a new laptop!! We opened our stockings and played with our Santa gifts then Daddy made a big breakfast for us. After breakfast we opened the rest of our gifts! My family started arriving around 12:30...my aunt and 2 cousins came from Winston Salem and my mom and her husband came up from the beach. We enjoyed time together and a nice dinner and of course more gifts! More spoiling! The kids were super excited about everything they got! We'd been watching the weather all day in anticipation of the snow storm and with the impending winter weather my aunt decided to head home in the early evening. Smart move since we got about 6 or 7 inches of snow that night! My poor mom lost power at the hotel they were staying at (luckily it was right down the street) so they came to our house on Sunday and stayed until Monday afternoon when they headed back to the beach with Lily!

It's been a nice, relaxing week this week - cleaning and reorganizing, sleeping in....nice vacation so far!! Lily's having a GREAT time at Camp Gagi - I'm afraid she's not going to want to come home!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!!

One of Those Days

Ever have one of those days where you think I should just go to bed before anything else happens? Yesterday was one of those days for me. I dropped all the girls off at their schools and set upon a mission to get teacher gifts. It was a must do since it was Julia's last day of preschool and I needed to give the gifts when I picked her up. I headed straight to Carolina Pottery but when I pulled in the parking lot it was clear that they didn't open until 10. I mean seriously, it's 5 days before Christmas - who doesn't open before 10?? Well..Carolina Pottery..that's who. Ugh. Plan B...I headed to the mall grabbed a quick gift then went back to Carolina Pottery thinking surely I can find something for the teachers there. After searching for 45 and listening to Jacob loudly declare his impatience with shopping with me I found something. I ran home to wrap it and while there broke one gift. Annoying. But I had an extra so I made it to preschool and handed out the gifts.

I get home and commence bread baking. I wanted to make several batches of pumpkin bread for teachers, etc at the girls school. I also wanted to watch Survivor while I baked but discovered it wasn't on demand yet and I forgot to DVR it. So I pull it up on CBS.com and then decide to move the laptop to another spot so I could watch it and bake. This it where it all went bad. It's like on TV when something happens in slow motion and you want it to stop but it's too late and you can't. As I go to move the laptop (and cord since it only works when it's plugged in) it somehow slips out of my hand and crashes to the floor. And then I cried. Well first I picked it up thinking surely it's fine. Then I realized it wasn't. And I really cried. The screen is all jacked up - shaking and there is a nice starburst crack at the top. It's still somewhat usable but very hard to see. So sad.

I don't think Santa is up for buying me a new laptop so I'm going to have share my husbands when he's in town and the kids desktop. Bummer. I'm going to have to book some more Disney trips so I can buy myself a new one...anyone? Anyone?

Wedding Pictures

As promised here is a slideshow of wedding pics!

Wedding!

Paul and I were forced to escape the bitter cold last week and fly to Jamaica for my little brothers wedding. Such a rough life, right? Thursday morning we got up at 0'dark early and headed for the airport. Unfortunately for the body scan watchers I got selected for a body scan. Of course. (For the record, it wasn't that bad). We were delighted that the flight turned out to be on time and we headed for Miami. We had a nice 4 hour layover in Miami and after what felt like 6 hours we finally boarded our flight bound for Montego Bay! Once we landed in oh-so-warm Jamaica we were herded like cattle through immigration and luckily our 2 bags and my dad's 9 bags (yes, that's right 9...it's cheaper to bring stuff rather than ship stuff to Jamaica) all made it with no problems and no questions! My brother had arranged our airport transfers so we found our bus, popped open a Red Stripe (one of 3000 that were consumed by the guests of the wedding over the 4 days. Again..not kidding) and headed to our final destination: Negril.

The wedding was at a boutique hotel called The Rockhouse. A GORGEOUS location right on the cliffs of Negril. The hotel is small so all the guests couldn't stay at this one place. My mom was at a place called Tensing Pen and Paul & I stayed with my Dad, my aunt and a few of their friends at a villa right down the road. The villa was perfect. The scenery was stunning and we had a cook to prepare us meals. Can you say spoiled? It took longer than expected for us to arrive at the villa and shortly after we got there it was time to go to the Rockhouse for welcome cocktails. The welcome reception was being held poolside and there was some unbelievable wind that night so we didn't stay too long at the welcome. We were all exhausted after a super long travel day as well. We said some hellos and they left to go back to the villa for dinner!

Woke up Friday morning to a gorgeous day. I was so thankful to be able to sleep in! I rolled out of bed and onto the pool deck where I stayed for a while. I read, played scrabble and just generally laid by the pool until it was time for the wedding rehearsal. Paul, who can't sit still, explored around a little and jumped off a 24 ft bridge at my mom's hotel. My dad and I headed out for the rehearsal and after that I helped Natalie (my dad's wife) prepare for the big rehearsal dinner they were hosting later that evening. We finished that up and went up to dress up for the big night. We started the evening with a cocktail reception and then dinner, then dancing. The whole evening was really fun. A bunch of my brothers friends toasted (roasted?) him and then we all spent a lot of time on the dance floor. A super fun night!!

Saturday was wedding day! Again, the day was gorgeous - bright, sunny skies! Paul and I spent the morning exploring the little town where we were. We bought a few things for the kids at the roadside stands, got offered to buy some "Bob Marley" and had a BBQ lunch at our villa. Before we knew it was time to get ready for the ceremony. The ceremony was held on the restaurant deck of the hotel. It was a gorgeous setting. I promise to post some pictures. I was a reader in the wedding so I got to sit up front and see all the action up close! The wedding was supposed to start at 4:30 but apparently a little glitch in the make up area postponed it for a bit. We were starting to get a little nervous that Ginnie was going to jump on one of the party boats docked near us and get forget this whole deal but thankfully she didn't. She was a gorgeous, gorgeous (I realize I've typed that word a million times but really...she was) bride. She looked absolutely stunning. The ceremony was really sweet and the pastor who was a friend of Brad's did a great job. After the ceremony we enjoyed cocktails (hmm..I've typed that word a lot too) and then headed over to the pool for pictures. The pictures are sure to be beautiful with the sun setting behind them! The reception spot was decorated beautifully. They had a reggae band and DJ. There was a buffet dinner and the food was great. The evening was really a ton of fun!

We headed back home a little too early on Sunday morning but as it turns out we were glad to have left early since many of our friends ended up with flight delays! Our kiddos missed us but were well taken care of by my sister in law and mother and father in law. It was a wonderful weekend away...just what we needed in the middle of December. Coming back to this cold was not so fun though..not at all! Pictures coming soon!!

When I Grow Up

I love 3 year old conversations. You just never know what they are going to say or where they are going to lead. I had this conversation with my 3 year old and her bff, Preston on the way home from school today:

Julia: When I grow up I'm going to be a teacher

Preston: Well...I'm going to me a dragon

Julia: Well then I'll be Jessie (as in cowgirl Jessie from Toy Story) and then when I'm a mom I'm going to go on a date.

Cracked me up....

Overheard

We (finally thanks to my wonderful husband) got a Fisher Price Little People Nativity Set this year. I've been wanting one for years but unfortunately I never remember I want one until the holidays roll around and they are in short supply. Paul happened to be in a Target (gasp! I know!) one day well before Thanksgiving and saw one. He remembered how much I wanted one so he brought it home. I waited until we decorated for Christmas before setting it out and needless to say it's been a big hit this year especially with Julia.

Julia plays with them a lot and has incorporated the other Little People farm animals into the scene. It's quite a little scene she's got going on. The other night Paul comes upstairs laughing. He says I just heard Julia say this while playing with the Nativity:

"Hey Baby Jesus, What's up? You doin OK in that barn?"

Made me smile.

Let It Snow!

Saturday we went to Rocky Mount to visit with my dad's wife's family (got that?). Every year her parents graciously invite us to their family Christmas celebration and it's always a good time so we go. My dad's wife's sister has 3 boys, 2 of which are around my kids ages so there is always a ton of fun to be had. We'd just seen them at Thanksgiving so the kids were even more acquainted and ready for action. There were also a couple other little girls there so there was no shortage of playmates. Emma had a dance performance that morning so my dad and Natalie took Lily and Julia up early and we met them there after the dance. Mrs. Crocker had rented a Mickey Mouse bounce house so the kids were in heaven. The only problem is that it was slightly chilly Saturday which caused more issues for the adults than the kids.

The forecast called for snow but 1..it's NC and 2. it's early Dec so I assumed the chance of seeing snow was pretty slim. I was wrong. About 3pm it started snowing, getting heavier and heavier! It was so beautiful! The perfect snow too - the kind that looks beautiful on the trees but doesn't mess up the roads or sidewalks at all. Mrs. Crocker built a fire outside and we roasted marshmallows and ate smores while the snow was falling. Gorgeous setting and so much fun! The kids loved, loved seeing the snow! It's really starting to feel like Christmas!

Breakfast with Santa

We were so excited to find out our preschool was doing a breakfast with Santa! I decided to take the big girls too so they wouldn't miss out on any of the fun. Luckily Paul was in town so he was able to go with us. We get to the school and after a few minutes we get in line to eat. While we were in line Santa walked in! Lily, not so quietly, announces.."that's not the real Santa". Oh. My. Goodness. I was just praying none of the preschoolers or their moms around us heard her. We have had conversations about how sometimes Santa sends helpers out since Santa can't possibly be everywhere. She goes on to say that's not the real Santa...the real Santa is much, much taller. Turns out she thinks the "real" Santa is one of our neighbors who has been a Santa at our neighborhood party for the past couple of years!

We ate and a few minutes later it was our turn to see the Big Guy. We were a bit rushed to get them to school on time but everyone was very accommodating. Unfortunately Jacob had NO interest in sitting on Santa's lap - none. But Julia braved her fear of Santa and did it. I was so proud! Hopefully this was enough Santa spotting for the season!

O Christmas Tree

I've been a horrible blogger lately! Just no time to sit down and blog. Which is a shame because I'll never remember stuff a few years from now! Anyway..last I checked in we had just gotten our tree from the beautiful tree farm. We got it in the house and up and Paul and I worked on the lights. Gracious...putting up Christmas lights is a true exercise in patience! Turns out 3 of our strands either didn't work at all or had only half the strand working. Needless to say the decorating of our tree was halted as a light run to Walmart had to be made before continuing the decorating. We also got stopped by this text from our neighbor: "hey want to come play the Michael Jackson experience with us?" Um? YES! So we went over and danced a little MJ. The best part of the game? It comes with a sequined white glove. So. Much. Fun.

We got down to serious decorating business Sunday night. Everyone was just so very helpful. And I might add that I'm very thankful that most of our ornaments are non-breakable. So the tree is up and decorated and oh so pretty to look at. Now if only I'd had the energy to decorate the outside before the temperatures plunged!

Red Barn Tree Farm

Since we were in the mountains my dad's wife thought it would be fun to take all the kids to a Christmas tree farm to get their tree. Since we were going and had a van I suggested to Paul that we get ours too. His initial response was no - he wasn't sure about driving all the way home with a tree strapped to the top of the car. While we love a fresh tree the actual getting of the tree and getting it home can be sort of, challenging? The ride up to the farm was beautiful. It's been awhile since I've been to the mountains and I forgotten how stunning it can be.

I'd also forgotten how cold it can be on the side of the mountain. We got out of the car...holy wind! It was chilly! Unfortunately I wasn't very prepared and only had hoodies for the kids - oops! It was really neat to see the trees up on the mountainside. Once we saw the beautiful, fresh trees we started to change our mind about getting one there. And when they explained to us how well they can tie the trees on the car we were convinced. We went on a hayride (the wagon was designed as a sleigh) up to the top of the tree farm. We couldn't get over how beautiful the trees were - so full and big! We finally decided on our tree and I took the kids down to the Red Barn to get some hot chocolate and cookies while Paul waited for them to cut down our tree.

Sure enough they expertly tied the tree on the top of the car. It didn't budge on the entire ride home! Impressive! We got the tree in the house and wow - it's gorgeous - full and so fragrant! Hands down the best tree we've ever had. I hope this is a new holiday tradition!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of thanks, food and fun...we sure did! Our festivities started Wednesday afternoon when my mom, aunt and 2 cousins came in from Winston Salem. My brother and his girlfriend flew in from NYC. We enjoyed a pre-turkey day dinner of Chinese food. It was so nice to visit with everyone and my 15 year old cousin channeled her inner 8 year old and kept the girls entertained playing Barbies. So cute!

Thursday morning we met up with my brother and headed up to Asheville to spend the rest of the day with my dad and his wife and her family. There were 6 kids, ages 7 - 2 and 10 adults. It was a full house and very fun. The kids had a great time entertaining each other and playing Just Dance. My dad's wife is an excellent cook so our meal was oh so yummy!

It was so nice to spend time with my brother and my future sister in law (2 weeks until the wedding!) and our family. And since I didn't have to cook it was pretty relaxing!

Two for Tuesday

1. I turned 37 last Friday. I can't believe I'm closer to 40 than 30, that I will have been out of high school for 20 years come the Spring. I vividly remember my parents turning 40..how can that almost be me?? I went to Walmart on Sunday and bought a bottle of wine. The cashier asked for my ID and when she checked my age she said "for real? I thought you were much younger" I think she's my new favorite person. But I think it's true what they say - 40 is the new 30 so really? I am just 27.

2. I'm unnaturally excited about Prince William getting married. A Royal Wedding Ya'll!! I remember as a kid (about my oldest daughter's age) getting up really, really early in the morning to watch Princess Diana and Prince Charles get married. I remember my best friend, Wendy Mitchell was at my house watching it with me. We played wedding forever after that. It also made me think that all weddings, including my own, needed to be that grand and beautiful. I look forward to watching this one with my girls. I know it's sort of shallow but I don't care..I love a wedding.

Thankful Thursday

I'm feeling pretty thankful this beautiful Thursday afternoon. First, I'm thankful that's it's Veteran's Day and that we have a school holiday. I'm thankful I didn't have to get up early this morning and get 4 kids ready to drive to school. I'm thankful I didn't have to pack school lunches today. I'm thankful that it's 1:34pm and I'm still in jammies (I really am headed up to shower soon). I'm thankful that the sun is shining, that the sky is beautifully blue, that the temperatures are warm and that the leaves are beautiful. I'm thankful that we have playdate this afternoon with a dear friend we haven't seen in a while. I'm thankful that I get to go out tonight and play Bunco. I'm thankful that when I found Jacob naked in bed this morning with his diaper beside him that the diaper was only wet. I'm thankful Paul's on his way home from yet another trip but that means he's employed and that's good. Of course I'm super thankful for my kiddos, my family and our health. And finally, I'm very thankful for our Veteran's..the reason we have this wonderful mid-week holiday. We take far too much for granted the sacrifices our servicemen and women make for our country. Without them we wouldn't have the tremendous freedom that we do today. It doesn't seem like enough but many thanks...many thanks.

Family TV?

I'm becoming increasing irritated about this topic as my children get older but honestly what has happened to all the good family TV shows? Cosby Show anyone? Family Ties? Silver Spoons? Full House? And...where are appropriate shows for kids ages 5 - 12? It seems there are tons of shows for the preschool set but let's face it once a child enters Kindergarten they quickly realize Dora is so not cool anymore. It seems the shows even on kids networks feature sassy teenagers (iCarly I'm looking at you) and/or slutty teenagers (umm..Miley Cyrus I'm staring at disbelief at you). It seems there are VERY few shows that are actually appropriate for kids (in my opinion). "Good Luck Charlie" on Disney is about one of the few that seems to have parents that actually seem to like each other and a show that teaches family values. I realize all these other do have good messages but some of the characters just act so sassy, snarky and disrespectful. And in my opinion are just not good role models. Believe me, my 6 and 7 year olds have enough sass in them and don't need to see it modeled on teenagers they look up to.

Don't get me wrong I get that I have the power to turn off the TV I'm just wondering what happened to the good ole family sitcoms that used to come on when I was a kid. And I'm wondering if our parents thought they were inappropriate for us?

And another thing that really bothers me (and I realize I sound like such a prude) but what happened to 8pm being a family hour on TV. Now shows like "The Bachelor" and "Greys Anatomy" come on at 8pm. My kids are generally in bed at that hour but occasionally they are up later - I would hate for them to turn on ABC and see a guy in a hot tub with 8 girls in skimpy bikinis making out with several of them. What happened to those type of shows not being on until later in the evening? And when did I get so old that these thoughts run through my head......

Election Day!

It's Election Day ya'll! While I'm completely over the political commericals (though honestly with DVR I hardly watch any so it seems it hasn't been as bad this year), mailings and signs cluttering up every street corner in town I generally like election days. I find politics wildly fascinating and I will be watching a "more conservative" news station this evening while waiting for election results to come in. I *might* even DVR 16 & Pregnant so I can focus on the election results. Crazy...I know.

I do have an Election Day peeve. Our school, as I'm sure are many across the country, is a polling place. I believe if schools are going to be polling places then there should be no school on Election Days. I don't like the idea of random people being in my kids school. The school has done a good job of keeping the voting area as separate as possible from where children are but still what if some crazy person figured out how to get to the children. I realize this is an irrational fear but it still concerns me. Also? Our school parking lot is way too small to accommodate all the voter cars. This morning was a complete zoo in the parking lot.

I hope you exercised your right to vote. This election is really important. Do your homework and GO VOTE!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween weekend. We started our festivities on Saturday morning carving pumpkins with our next door neighbors. Saturday afternoon some good friends came over and we took all the kids to the our town's Spooky Trail.

Sunday we had church and Julia must have asked 4 times before we even left for church whether trick or treating was before church or after church. And of course when we got home the kids asked about every hour when could they get their costumes on? when was it time to go the parade? when can we go trick or treating? While slightly annoying their enthusiasm and excitement was cute.

We had a little neighborhood parade to kick off the evening festivities. It's neat to see how much our neighborhood has grown since we first moved over 3 years ago. All the kids used to fit in one picture! After the parade we came back to our house with two of our neighbors for a pre tick or treat party and dinner. Nana and cousin Ron also joined in the festivities. The goal was to get some food in the kids before the sugar took over. Finally about 6pm the group set off. Jacob, while not too happy about his costume, was excited to get to go this year and he rode along in the wagon. Apparently that slowed the rest of the kids down though! Jacob was so happy to have a bag of candy that was his....he just kept wanting to eat it and eat it and eat it.

A fun, fun holiday...now to figure out what to do with the million pounds of candy that it feels like we have!

Random List Thursday - Halloween Edition

1. It's October 28th. My air conditioner is on. This is wrong, just plain wrong. I do not live in south Florida. Or Hawaii. Or anywhere tropical.

2. We're 3 days from Halloween...what are the odds my children will wear the costumes that we painfully picked out a month ago? I'm betting at least 1 of mine changes their mind.

3. What is with the confusion on when to Trick or Treat? I've seen more people asking this year when is Trick or Treating? Is this because Halloween falls on a Sunday or a school night? Trick or Treating should be on Halloween. The end.

4. And while we're at it - the general rule should be if your porch light is on then you are participating in Trick or Treating. If the light is off you are not. It's that easy: Lights on = candy, Lights off = leave me alone.

5. And still more - if you are going to go Trick or Treating (teenagers I'm talking to you) then at least put on some sort of costume. I mean honestly if you think you are too old to dress up then you can go buy your own candy. Here's a tip: it's 50% off on 11/1. And don't get me started on grown ups trick or treating for themselves. And yes, we had that last year. I'm not kidding.

6. My preschooler had her "Let's Pretend" Party today and all the kids came in costume. Cuteness abounded. There were 3 Jessie's (including mine) and 2 Buzz Lightyears. Clearly Toy Story rocks.

Fall Fun

We took our annual trip to Hillridge Farms yesterday afternoon. It was the older girls last day of track out (thank goodness!) and Paul took a half day off. With the gorgeous fall weather it seemed like the perfect way to spend an afternoon. The kids were super excited to go...once we pulled into the parking lot they remembered all the fun stuff there was to do. And, for the first time in like 7 1/2 years we didn't take a stroller. That's right...no stroller!

Hillridge is full of wonderful things to do: bounce houses, mazes, corn playhouse, giant slide, hay jump, hay tunnel, playground, sand box and animals to see. The kids especially loved the giant slide. Jacob kept saying "more side, more side." Thankfully it wasn't crazy busy so we did it a few times. New this year was a bunny house which the kids enjoyed. The highlight of the trip is always the hayride to the pumpkin patch and picking out our pumpkins. Once we got there Lily said: "I am looking for one that is orange and perfectly round." Everyone found their pumpkins and managed to pose for a few pictures in the patch (though Jacob was remarkably uncooperative).

Here are a few pics from our fun day:

I Knew It Would Happen....

Sooner or later. I was hoping for the later but ugh..it happened today. Jacob climbed out of his crib. He's the first of my 4 kids to climb out of his crib. Well, technically my youngest daughter did but that's because she was in a room with her 2 older sisters and they taught her how. But she was 2 1/2 and probably ready for a bed. Jacob? Not so much ready for bed. And me? Definitely, positively not ready for him to be a bed.

Here's how it all went down: It's 7:26am and I am laying in bed snuggling with my 6 year old when I hear a thud. Being the best mom in the world I totally ignore it. I figure the 3 year old is jumping down from the bunk bed ladder. But then I hear the cries and my ears perk up a little. Then I notice Jacob is standing in the hallway rubbing his head and crying for daddy. And even though I hadn't had my morning coffee I deduced that thud was him getting out of the crib.

I am hoping he'll remember that he hurt his head and won't try it again. If he does we are so looking for a crib tent until the denial passes that I no longer have a baby and have toddler who probably needs a bed.

Exciting News!!

I'm finally ready to share some very exciting news with you all. I am now working with TMC Travel - The Mouse Connection as a Disney travel planning specialist! A job yall! Working from home! Planning Disney trips! Doesn't that sound so exciting? Well...if you like planning vacations and you love Disney. Which I do!

It all came about when a long time friend from high school and I were corresponding about our Disney Cruise. She had started this business in the Spring and I thought it sounded so cool. I told her if she was ready to expand her business to the Triangle to let me know. To my surprise she said sure! We talked, emailed and met and it sounded like a good fit. Over the last few weeks I've completed the Disney College of Knowledge training program for travel agents and researched a ton of information and now I'm ready to really get started booking vacations!

You can to here to check our agency's website. We are a NO fee agency which means that Disney pays our commissions and we do all the planning for you. Plus we offer free gifts and tips for anyone who purchases a 4 Night package! So..if you or anyone you know is planning a trip to Disney let me know and I can help them plan a most magical trip!!

BFF Time

My BFF, Erin, came for a weekend visit. Oh so fun! It had been several months since we've seen her and since she works in retail this was her last long weekend for a while. She drove down Friday evening and we had a blast all weekend. Emma went to Camp Gagi for the weekend so the family dynamics were a little off. We comment frequently over the course of the weekend how much "easier" and "quieter" it was with only 3 kids around! Saturday we hit the fair. Erin loves fair food as much as Paul and I so we drug her all around finding all our favorites: Al's French Fries, funnel cake, corn dogs, roasted corn on the cob and of course deep fried cookie dough (omg..sooo yummy). After walking around the fair for 6 hours in the afternoon we were beat Saturday night. Thankfully Erin & I can have fun just flipping through the TV and reading magazines! Sunday we were pretty busy with the kids but managed to have fun all the same. Lily was thrilled that she and Auntie got to go to their special place (aka Barnes & Noble). We grilled out last night and chilled.

It was great to see her. We appreciate so much the effort she makes to come see us..its' always a great time for everyone!

Toothless Wednesday

Emma lost her 2nd top tooth this morning. The cuteness is more than I can stand. Selfishly I hope the big teeth take a long time to come in so she can toothless for a while longer!

Tuesday Tidbits

1. My older kids are tracked out right now. We're in the middle of week 2. So far so good but I think they are bored. Secretly that's my plan...if they are bored then they are ready to go back to school when break is over. If I let them have too much fun they will never want to return.

2. I cleaned out my fridge today. Apparently I have a problem with buying bbq sauce and then using about 3/4 of the bottle. No lie I think I threw out about 4 bottles.

3. We've done some rearranging around here in the past week. I've been wanting to get all the toys off the main floor for a while (we used the bedroom/office downstairs for a small playroom) and for some reason I was feeling motivated last week to go ahead and make the move. Plus I had the older girls around and I figured they could help. So we moved all the toys upstairs (except for a small basket of Jacob toys) and moved the computers downstairs to the office. It's so nice not to have toys everywhere downstairs! And the girls are in heaven that we have 2 computers set up for their use. Win!

4. I'm really tired of Fall being such a whimp. I mean honestly, 90 degrees on 10/12? Summer & Winter are such bullies - can't they let Fall have their 13 weeks??

5. I'm so excited that my BFF is coming for a visit this weekend!

6. I am working on something very exciting to be announced very soon! Because, you know, I don't have enough to do!

Mouse in the House

Backstory: We noticed last Spring some signs that we may have a mouse in the house. We bought some traps and sure enough we caught one. Thankfully the hubs was home and was able to dispose of it without my knowledge. We kept traps around and I think we caught one more over the summer. And even though we've seen no signs of the little creatures Paul kept some traps around just in case. The temperatures around here have recently taken a turn for the cold so apparently all the vermin are trying to get indoors to keep from getting cold.

So, this afternoon I turn to get something out of the pantry and I notice it out of the corner of my eye, under the kitchen counter (I am still shuddering, by the way). A mouse trap. That's odd, I think, how did the trap get from the way back corner of the pantry, under the door and now to the corner of the kitchen? Then it hits me. OMG THERE IS A MOUSE IN THE TRAP ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR. And then it hits me again...AND IT'S NOT DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At this point my heart starts beating about a million miles a minute and I start shaking a little bit. What do I do? I contemplate grabbing all the children and heading for the door only to come back in 36 hours when my husband gets home. But I decide against it. I then call my super brave neighbor, hoping her husband is home for help. She wasn't at home but did give me some advice. At this point my 6 year old comes downstairs and is fascinated by it. Until she sees the mouse move and then she screams like, well, a little girl and runs back upstairs. She goes and gets the 3 year old and they both come down to stare at the mouse and to ask me what I'm going to do about it. At this point I try another neighbor who works from home but he's not home either. Crap. I am going to have to deal with this myself. So, I put on my brave face and go search for a big box. I figure I can corner the mouse with the box and sweep it into the box. I find a big diaper box, the only time I've been thrilled Jacob is still in diapers. I try to do this with my eyes closed but it was a little tricky and after a few false starts I finally did it. Got that nasty thing into the box and ran it out to the outside trash.

I'm completely traumatized and still shuddering. I realized that yes, I am such a girl and that I am very thankful that I have a husband who normally takes care of such matters. Also? I will have nightmares for weeks.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Welcome October! September - you passed in a blink - I sure hope October lasts a little longer. I love, love this time of year. Cooler weather! Pretty leaves! Jeans! Fall Festivals! Hillridge Farms! Corn Maze! Sweaters! Halloween! Candy! Deep Fried Food! The Fair! To me this is the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

It's also time to go through the kids clothes and switch out tank tops for sweaters. That's really not so fun. When I mentioned this to Emma this morning she got the saddest look on her face and said "but I'm not ready to say goodbye to summer." Bless her heart - not me..I'm thrilled to say goodbye to summer. I'm done with being hot and the pool and sweating just walking out the door. So, Fall please be good to us and stay a while, 'kay and please don't let that bully Winter come too early.

Happy Birthday Little Man!

My little man turns 2 today. I can hardly believe it's been 2 years since his birth. In some ways I'm so sad that my baby is turning 2 but in other ways I'm super excited that my baby is turning 2. We've spent our time in the "baby trenches" and we're happy to be climbing out!

This little boy has brought so much joy to our lives (And a few moments of heart failure but I think that's just typical, especially with little boys). He's all boy - into climbing, throwing, rocks, balls and aggravating his sisters. He's super attached to his daddy though he certainly knows how to melt momma's heart. He's cuddly and snuggly and has a smile that will just break your heart and make you want to do whatever he's asking. He's fun and full of life. And I couldn't love him more.

Happy Birthday Jacob!!

A WONDERful Vacation

(Disclaimer: I'd first like to apologize for the anticipated length of this blogpost. Mostly it's for me so that when I try to scrapbook this event in "several" months I will be able remember what happened)

We've been anticipating this vacation for a long time now. We've had some short trips to the beach but no big vacation since March 2009 when we went to Disney. I was ready for a vacation to say the least. We left last Saturday morning on the first leg of the trip. On the itinerary a stop in Jacksonville, FL to stay with Paul's cousin on the way to our destination: Port Canaveral and the Disney Wonder. The trip down was uneventful though we realized that 6 hours is about as long as my kids last in the car before it all starts going downhill. Have I mentioned that none of the sleep on car trips? Fun. We had a great time with Paul's cousin and got up super early Sunday morning to head to Port Canaveral (The couple weeks before the cruise I obsessively read message boards about cruising and had read it was good to get to the terminal early).

Embarkation Day: We arrived at Port Canaveral about 9:45 Sunday morning. We got a great parking spot right across the street from the terminal which was great since we had 4 kids, 3 suitcases, 2 tote bags and 1 stroller to get from the car over to the terminal. Turns out as soon as you cross the street you give your bags to the porter - easy peasy! We got in line and waited for just a few minutes to actually get into the terminal. Once we got in we walked right up to the check in counter and got our keys and boarding card (Group 2! Woot!). We then got in line to get the kids registered for the Oceaneer Club (Disney's on board kids club). Once we got all the details completed we waited in the waiting area watching Disney movies. Not too much after that Mickey Mouse came out! Then Minnie! Excitement! Pictures! Autographs! Shortly after noon they started boarding and since we were in group 2 we got to get on the ship really early. Once you walk on the ship they have staff waiting to announce your family and greet you...so cute! We went straight to eat since we were starving. Of course the buffet was full of great food and while we were eating Goofy and Pluto came around! After lunch we explored the ship while we waited for our rooms to be ready (big family = 2 rooms..unfortunately not adjoining). Once the rooms were done we ditched our day bags and headed for the Mickey pool! Our luggage arrived in our rooms pretty quickly and before we knew it it was time for the muster drill. After that we went straight to the Sail Away Party. And we were off!! Dinner was next and we got to meet our awesome servers: Ralph & Ronald (oh how I miss them...they spoiled us!). After dinner the girls went to the Oceaneer Club and Jacob to the nursery so Paul and I could explore the ship and check out the Bingo. Unfortunately Jacob wasn't a huge fan of the nursery so he only lasted about an hour. We got the girls and headed for the Golden Mickey's. We had been noticing that the boat was rocking a bit and the Captain spoke for a minute before the show - explaining that the hurricane was heading north but creating some swells. Little did we know it would turn out to be one of the worst nights in recent memory on the ship! The show was great but poor Emma started not feeling well and bless her heart, she got sea sick as we left the show. She certainly wasn't the only one - saw lots of "green" people walking around and Paul and I both felt really queasy. We took some dramamine and went straight to bed!

Day 2, Nassau: We arrived in Nassau early Monday morning. Thankfully everyone woke up feeling well and since we were docked all day there was no worries about getting sick! It was beautiful weather and after breakfast we headed off the ship to check out Nassau. We hadn't planned any excursions but enjoyed walking around for a little bit checking out the town and doing a little window shopping. It was hot and the kids got tired of walking so we headed back to the ship for lunch. After lunch the girls all went to the kids club and Paul, Jacob and I explored the ship some. I met up with Lily and Julia for a scrapbooking party in the afternoon and Paul took Jacob to the nursery so he could go to a premiere. We all met up for dinner and after dinner we got to see Toy Story the Musical. The kids loved it, especially Jacob being the huge "Buzz Buzz" fan that he is! After the show the girls got to meet Princess Tiana! Julia was thrilled! When we got to the room we discovered the room host put princess sheets on the girls bunk beds! They loved it!

Day 3, Castaway Cay: We left Nassau long after we had gone to sleep and arrived at Castaway Cay as we were getting up so no sickness! Castaway Cay is Disney's own island and it is fabulous! The weather could not have been more perfect! We got off the ship and walked down to the tram. We took the tram over to the family beach and we grabbed a stroller (awesome strollers -made to go in the sand. And free!). We got a great spot on the beach (there are chairs for everyone!) and the kids ran to the water. We played in the water for a bit and Emma decided to go the kids area to play with some of the her new friends. We finally found our way over there and checked her in. On the way back Lily, Julia and I explored the island a bit and ran into Minnie Mouse! Of course Lily wanted to shop and of course Disney has shopping on the island. They also have a couple restaurants, bars, bike rentals, sports courts and a splash park. We played a while and got Emma for lunch (a yummy bbq). After lunch Paul and the girls played on the water playgrounds while I took Jacob for a walk/nap. The girls had been dying to get their hair braided and of course they had that on the island so we got that done. A little more ocean time and sadly it was time to head back to the ship where it was Pirate night. We loved, loved Castaway Cay - it was beautiful, super clean and so much to do. Since it was pirate night there were a ton of character meet and greets on the ship. We saw Pirate Mickey and Minnie, Pirate Stitch and Captain Jack Sparrow! Our dinner was great and for the evening entertainment we say Toy Story 3 in 3-D. I was excited since I am apparently the last person on the planet who hasn't seen the movie! After the movie it was time for the Pirates in the Carribbean party! So. Much. Fun. And...Mickey saves the day. And..Fireworks! Over the ocean! Impressive! Sadly the kids were just too tired to do the late buffet. Jacob actually fell asleep on Paul's shoulder during the party.

Day 4: Day at Sea: Thankfully the day at sea was really beautiful and calm! We had a yummy breakfast on the deck and did some shopping on the boat. The girls and I attended a Princess gathering where we saw Snow White, Tiana, Cinderella and Belle. We played family bingo and then it was time for lunch. After lunch the girls and I met Captain Hook then hit the pool while Jacob and Paul went to a movie. After the pool the kids went to kids club so I could shower and get the room packed up. Late that afternoon the kids club put on a production of "Friendship Rocks" All the kids learned some songs then Mickey and Minnie joined them on stage to sing/dance for all the parents. All 3 of my girls participated and it could not have been cuter! Dinner that night was great though a little sad that it was the last one. The show that night, Dreams was fabulous! The girls absolutely loved it! After the show the characters come out one last time in an informal meet and greet called Till We Meet Again. It was super cute and at the end we were all sprinkled with "pixie dust" (or Mickey confetti). The girls thought it was awesome.

Day 5: Debarkation: Debarkation day begins very early. Very. Like was had to be at breakfast at 6:45. Yikes! It was good but we were all so sad to have to leave the boat. We got to see our servers one last time and some of the friends we made. Then it was time to go. Thankfully getting off the ship was quick and painless. We made it through customs and out to the car very quickly and we were off to the last leg of our trip. Destination: Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort.

Hilton Head: We didn't want to drive the whole way back in one day so we decided to go to Disney's Hilton Head Resort for 2 nights before heading home. We decided to stop in Savannah on the way to HHI and we lucked into some lunch reservations at Paula Deen's Lady and Sons restaurant! We walked around Savannah for a little bit and then enjoyed a super delicious lunch before going to HHI. We arrived late afternoon in HH. The resort is very nice there! We had a very spacious 2 bedroom (of course it felt huge after being on the cruise) with a washer and dryer. I promptly started the cruise laundry and the kids enjoyed having some space to run around! We went to the pool that evening and to the community center for Goofy Bingo. Friday morning we went to the beach for a while, out to a late lunch and enjoyed a campfire at the resort. It was a great way to end such a great vacation. We headed home Saturday morning.

It was an absolutely wonderful vacation. I can't say enough good things about a Disney cruise. It wasn't perfect..we had a few housekeeping issues but the Guest Services staff went over the top to make it right for us (all my kids got a stuffed Minnie and Mickey!). The service was fantastic (please someone come turn down my bed and leave a chocolate mint on the pillow?), the entertainment was spectacular and the food was fabulous. There was definitely something for everyone and we all had a great time! We can't wait to go back!

Tooth Update

Because I'm sure you're all dying to know...Emma finally lost her top tooth the night before we left for vacation. Thankfully the tooth fairy paid her a visit here at home and didn't have to search the Atlantic Ocean for us.

I can't stand the cuteness of her with missing teeth. The other top one is pretty loose now and I suspect it will be out in the very near future.

Wonder if she'll still be toothless come the holidays...if not she better get used to hearing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth"

Nanny McPhee

After months of complaining that she "is the only girl in 2nd grade who hasn't lost my top teeth" my 7 1/2 year old is about to lose one of her top teeth. Surely she is not the "only girl" in 2nd grade who has not lost her top teeth but it does seem like many of her friends have lost those teeth. She's been hoping and hoping that they would get wiggly and finally a couple weeks ago one started to move. Just a tad. She'd check it every day. Over the weekend it got super wiggly and we sure it would come out on Saturday evening. Then Sunday. Then Monday. Then Tuesday. And yet, here we are on Wednesday and the tooth is hanging on my a thread. She keeps walking around sticking the gross, dangly tooth out saying "I'm Nanny McPhee, I'm Nanny McPhee." Real attractive. I'm thinking she wants the tooth to come out at school because, you know, that is a super big deal. I'm hoping it comes out soon...the Nanny McPhee look is just not that great for a 7 year old.

First Day of Preschool

Julia finally got to go to preschool today! Ever since the big girls started school she's asked almost daily "won't you please, please let me go to school today." As if I'm the one not letting her go. Anyways the preschool year is finally upon us and she was thrilled to start today! She goes 3 days a week and has the same 3 year old teachers that Lily did. It's great that she has some familiarity with them. She knows a few kids in her class which is nice too. She seemed to have a great first day though she didn't really have much to say about it. She did tell me that in music they got to roll a ball and say her name and favorite color. She told them it was purple. Awesome.

Birthday Invitation

Lily told me that her new bff at school, Cierra, invited her to her birthday party. She said it was at Chuck E. Cheese's. I asked Lily for the invitation and she gave me a handwritten note, clearly written by the 6 year old) with the following information

Dear Lily (heart over the i):

Can you come to my birthday party.

Love, Cierra

Chukey Jesus

where a kid can be a kid

April 30

I told her let's wait for the formal invitation from her mother before we RSVP.

Beach Blast

We decided to head to the beach for the last time this summer since we had a long weekend. Paul took the day off on Friday and we picked up the big girls a little early from school and headed down to Mom's. Gagi took Julia down to the beach a day early so the girls were super excited to get there too! We arrived around dinner time and just hung out at moms on Friday. Of course the girls wanted to stay with her - which was wonderfully fine by Paul and I. We got them settled and took Jacob with us over to the condo. I got to sleep in every day we were there (thank Paul!)..bliss! Saturday we went to the beach for a few hours and Paul took the girls to the pool while Jacob napped. Saturday evening we headed over to Broadway at the Beach to meet up with our friends the Ratners who live in Tennessee. It was so fun to meet up with them..they are such good people and so fun to be with. Between their 3 kids and our 4 we were quite a group but found a good place to eat at Senor Frogs - loud and good cocktails - what more could you ask for!

Sunday we went to the beach again - the kids just love, love the ocean! In the afternoon we just chilled and Paul and I got a date night in the evening. Mom graciously offered to keep all 4 kids so we could really have a night off! Bliss!! Paul and I went to a movie, dinner and drove around the Myrtle Beach strip. Really fun.

All in all a super relaxing, fun weekend! A great way to end a great summer!!

Mullet Goes Bye-Bye

You might know that I have bald babies. They aren't really known for getting hair until well into their 2nd year of life. All of them have been that way. I think the oldest had her first haircut at 22 months, Lily at 3 years old and Julia has yet to have a real haircut. Jacob has been no different he was bald for the longest time..only really getting hair the last 6 months or so. It's growing sort of funny though - it was getting pretty long in the back and still short on the top. A mullet was totally forming before our eyes. I've been thinking for a couple weeks that he really needed a trim. So today I asked Paul if he wanted to go with me to take him to Snip-Its this afternoon. Paul scoffed at the idea saying he didn't need a haircut. I said really? Have you seen it? So he said he'd cut it. I didn't think he was really serious. But lo and behold when I got home from picking up the girls he had trimmed Jacob's hair. He did a pretty decent job of ittoo. I guess all those years of using the clippers on his own hair helped. I think this will be dads last attempt at hair styling until Jacob's ready to have his hair buzzed though!

Monday. Again.

A list to start the week:

1. How come Mondays come so quickly yet Friday's so slowly?

2. How come I always find the slowest possible checklane at Walmart? Always. Yesterday I got behind a lady who actually wrote a check. Seriously checks ought to be banned unless you are writing one because your purse got stolen (as what happened to me several years ago which was, the last time I wrote a check at a store). And if you are writing a check you should have to go to a designated check writing lane. It can be full of old ladies (no offense but honestly aren't they the ones writing checks?). They can talk about how technology is ruining our lives while they wait in line to write their checks.

3. And speaking of checks why oh why do people wait until all their groceries are bagged and put in the cart to even start writing a check? I mean isn't that Check Writing Etiquette 101? If you are going to write a check then at least get it all prepared so that all you have to do is fill in the amount. While the check is clearing you can write the total in your register. That is all about that. I think.

4. I made Pioneer's Woman's Version of the Lofthouse Cookie today (click here for the deliciousness). I am beginning to suspect that the lack of willpower I have for baking is causing me not to lose weight. Hmmm....

5. PRESCHOOL STARTS NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!! Honestly it feels like eons since we've been there. I think Julia might explode with excitement about it too. She can't stand that her sisters have been going to school for a month already.

6. Fall activities are starting which means the schedule is getting busy. I can't decide if that's good or bad.

7. August..I am not sorry you are on your way out. You have been hot, long, humid and did I mention hot. I am ready for our friend September to come and bring with her my vacation, cooler temperatures, preschool starting and fun fall activities.

8. My baby will be 2 in a few weeks. 2!! I can not believe it. Though I'm a tiny bit sad not have another baby in the house I'm way more excited about an end to diapers and sippy cups.

Hope your Monday is a good one!

New Math

Have you ever seen that episode of "The Cosby Show" (yes I realize I am totally dating myself) where Cliff is all upset about "new math"? And he can't understand what was wrong with "old math"? So turns out now that I'm a parent and have a kid learning "new math" I can totally relate. I have several questions/comments about this situation:

1. Who invented new math?
2. More importantly WHY did they change the way we add. I mean honestly does it really matter if we add ones or tens first as long as we get the right answer. One of the best things about math is that is there is one right answer - who cares how you get to it.
3. Why is there no parent class on understanding new math?
4. Why is math already hard for me - my kid is only in 2nd grade?? I'm not that dumb that I can't get the answer I just don't always understand how they phrase the questions.
5. Apparently my husband has no trouble following new math.
6. My 7 year old asked me tonight "did you miss the math portion of college and just leave early since you don't get it." Sigh. She already thinks I'm not as smart as dad. Great. (By the way I was totally like that as a kid too and turns out my mom is pretty smart so there. Maybe when she's "20something" she'll figure out that I'm not that dumb. Only 15 more years)
7. And to that point - I'm sorry Mom that I thought you were too dumb to help me with math - I get it now. Really.
8. I may not get new math but I can totally rock some trivia so bring that on.

Scrapcation

For the first time in over 4 years I went away this past weekend by myself. Well not technically all alone but without my kids. Or husband. It was nice.

Once a month I scrapbook with 3 other friends. We've been going for almost a year and decided that we all needed a weekend to scrapbook. We were originally going to go out of town but in the end decided to stay local and just stay at one of the gals homes in Raleigh. We scrapbooked at Archivers (a local scrapbook store) all day Friday and Saturday and stayed the nights at Viv's. It was wonderful to sleep in both days and not be woken up by little face staring at me! I stayed up late and slept in both days. We had so much fun just talking and laughing with each other. I got a ton of scrapping done - finished my 2009 family album - too. Mostly it was just nice to be away from reality for a couple of days. I really needed the break - mentally that is.

Paul and the kids had a great time. He's such a great dad. The cleanliness of the house and children when I returned home far exceeded my expectations! A win for everyone!

Skate Diva

Today I got to take Emma roller skating for the first time. Let me just say it was so. much. fun! I hadn't been skating in years but skating is really like riding a bike. You don't really forget how to do it! And, as it turns out..skating rinks haven't really changed much in the last 20++ years. Still even have the circular carpet covered benches where you put your skates on.

I used to be quite a skater back in my day. That's right. Every Saturday we'd head over the "The Rink" (Raleigh folks - 'member that place?) with my gal pals. I had some fancy white skates pimped out with blue wheels, blue sparkly laces and a blue pom pom on the end. Of which I saved my allowance to buy at the Skate Shop conveniently located inside the Rink.

The DJ booth is still located "upstairs" above the skate floor and apparently you can still request songs. Though today's songs include a lot of Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus not Michael Jackson or Duran Duran (such a shame). There was the Hokey Pokey but no speed skating. And no couples skate?? Maybe they reserve that for Friday and Saturday nights?

Being at the skating rink brought back a ton of fun memories and the actual skating was tons of fun. Thankfully I did not bust my booty but I came pretty close! Thought I didn't try to backwards skate or the "crossover" going around corners. Falling is a lot scarier at my age! Emma did great considering she's never been on skates. She's already asked to go back, buy her own skates and have her next birthday party there. I'd call that a success!

FW: Random Thoughts

Disclaimer: I'm totally blog-lifting these thoughts. They are not my own (though some could be). A friend sent me this link and it made me laugh. A lot. So I wanted to share. I hope you get a good chuckle too (Link to the post is at the bottom). Again...these are sadly not my thoughts.


•I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.
•Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
•I don’t understand the purpose of the line, “I don’t need to drink to have fun.” Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they’ve invented the lighter?
•That’s enough, Nickelback.
•I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
•The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase “Regards” again.
•Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn’t work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ’s. We just figured it out. Today’s kids are soft.
•There is a great need for sarcasm font.
•Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.
•The other night I hit a new low at an open bar. I had already hopped on highway blackout when, inevitably I had to find a bathroom. Eventually I decided it was probably on the other side of the bar so I tried to walk over there, but ran into a guy coming the other way. We played that, Both go left, Both go right game to no avail, so I finally put out my hand to guide myself past and that’s is when I realized, yup, that’s a mirror I just tried to walk through. And the guy on the other side is me. Even cats can recognize their own image.
•How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
•I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
•The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
•A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
•More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.
•Was learning cursive really necessary?
•Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.
•I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
•Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
•My brother’s Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, “Cuz we beat you, and you hate us.” Classy, bro.
•Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.
•How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?
•I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a d*ck from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
•Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using ‘as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss’s last name to an attorney and said “Yes that’s G as in…(10 second lapse)..ummm….Goonies”
•What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
•While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it…thanks Mario Kart.
•MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
•Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died…
•I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
•I would like to officially coin the phrase ‘catching the swine flu’ to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: “Dave caught the swine flu last night.”
•I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.
•Bad decisions make good stories.
•Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do!
•Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
•If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
•Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn’t be a problem….
•You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
•Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.
•There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
•I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
•I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’
•I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
•When I meet a new girl, I’m terrified of mentioning something she hasn’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
•I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
•Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles…
•Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
•It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
•I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
•I think that if, years down the road when I’m trying to have a kid, I find out that I’m sterile, most of my disappointment will stem from the fact that I was not aware of my condition in college.
•Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn’t know what do to with it.
•I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
•I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.


http://kbrownlee.wordpress.com/2009/08/20/fwd-random-thoughts-of-the-day/

Tuesday Tidbits

I realized I hadn't blogged in a week so I thought I should say something. Clearly nothing too interesting has been going on in our lives or I would have been blogging. I supposed that's actually good.

1. School is going well for the big girls. My 2nd grader told me on Friday: "Um Mom, can you please get me to school earlier next week. I need to to spend more time at school." I'd like to think this a reflection of my awesome parenting skills where she has been taught to crave learning however, it's more likely that she wants time with her friends.

2. The little kids and I are having fun with a quieter house. I'd say it was quiet without Loudmouth Lily around (not being meant - just factual - she's a loud talker) but Jacob is loud too. And now that he's trying to talk he tends to repeat words over and over and louder and louder. For example: "Iwant juice, Juice, JUice, JUIce, JUICe, JUICEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE." Fun.

3. Is anyone ready for fall like me? I'm so done with pool. I'm done with it being 100 degrees for days on end. Done. I'm ready to play outside for longer than 2 minutes without breaking a sweat. It's been one HOT summer.

4. I actually took my kids to the park this morning - I feel bad that the little kids just basically get drug around to the gym or errands. Everyone once in a while I try to fun things for them. They had a good time and spent about 15 minutes chasing a butterfly. The giggles, laughs and shrieks they made chasing this poor butterfly were the cutest sounds I've heard in eons. Good times my friends, good times.

First Day of School!

The older girls started school today. Lily starts 1st grade and Emma 2nd grade. It's hard to believe another school year is upon us. They were mostly excited though Lily remarked as we pulled into the parking lot "not sure I'm ready for this." I think she's gotten a little too comfortable being out of school! It was a little sad walking Emma down to the 2nd grade hallway - it's at the end of our school building - it seems the past 2 years we've watched the "big" kids walk to that hallway and now she's one of them. It just goes so fast. Here are a few pictures from this morning. I asked the kids if I could take some pictures at school and Emma & Lily shouted "no" at the same time. Emma went on to say "no flash photography at school."

Twas the Night Before School Starts

Tomorrow is the first day of school. Seems like there were days this summer this day couldn't arrive fast enough yet it also feels like wow..already? I think I mostly can't believe I have a 2nd grader and a 1st grader. How'd that happen?

In honor of school starting I thought I'd post something I wrote two (gasp!) years ago when Emma started Kindergarten.

Twas the night before Kindergarten and all through the house
EVERY creature is stirring, except for my spouse
The Hannah Montana backpack is packed by the door
Hopefully getting ready tomorrow won't be a chore
The lunch box is packed and waiting in the fridge
With hopes Emma will at least eat a smidge
The snack bag was packed with tender loving care
In hopes that low energy it will repair
The clothes were hand picked and laid out tonight
Crossing my fingers tomorrow they will still be alright
Emma is excited not nervous at all
Mommy on the other hand is trying not to bawl
It seems just yesterday my baby was born
Those early days you really do mourn
Now she's five and independent as can be
And though I'm happy for her it's still a little sad for me
Tomorrow I'll be smiling and happy as we bid her adieu
But tonight I'm feeling just a little bit blue

Saturday's Random Thoughts

1. It's sort of a rainy day. Gray. Overcast. Off and on showers. I love it. We get very few of these days in the summer and it's nice every once and a while. There's no pressure to drag all 4 kids to the pool. We can just be lazy. And that's really nice after spending so many hours driving over the past week.

2. My 85 year old great aunt told me yesterday she watched The Real Housewives of New Jersey and Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard. She went on to tell me how much she didn't care for Danielle of RHONJ and how she can't believe that Bruce Jenner got all mixed up with the Kardashians. I told her I couldn't believe how much plastic surgery Bruce Jenner has had. I also told her if she told me she was watching The Jersey Shore I was staging an intervention.

3. We drove over 19 hours in the past 6 days. Everyone is sick of the car. Especially the toddler.

4. School starts Monday! This longest summer ever is finally coming to an end. Don't get me wrong - it's been fun but the kids are starting to get bored. I don't know how all of you on a traditional calendar who still have at least 3 weeks to go do it every year. I much prefer the shorter breaks throughout the year! Emma is dying to see her friends again. Not sure I'm quite ready for the lunches and carpool line but no going back now!

5. Have I mentioned how obsessed I am with all TV shows involving Jersey in the title? Jerseylicious is my new favorite summer guilty pleasure. I can not take my eyes off this train wreck. And of course Jersey Shore is back and I probably just lost brain cells typing that sentence. My bff introduced me to Jersey Couture which is a good one and not really all that trashy. Now off to watch me something Jersey...

Jokes for Sale?

Today at Target:

Lily (6): Mom, will you please buy me something from the dollar section?
Me: Are you going to give me a dollar when we get home?
Lily: No
Me: Well then no - you have to pay me back if you want something
Lily: Well how about I pay with you a joke?

Ten minutes later at the Dr. Office:
Lily: Mom will you text Auntie and see if she'll buy me the Toy Story and Princess silly bands? Tell her I'll pay her with a joke.

Apparently Lily has jokes for sale - all it will cost you is something from the dollar spot at Target or some silly bands.

Fun on the Farm

We were home for less than 24 hours and I packed up the kids and hit the road again. This time our destination was my aunt's house in Ashland, VA. She lives in a gorgeous house on a farm out in the country. There's land, cows and a general peacefulness there. I love it! We love, love visiting them and so even though it was another car ride it was totally worth it. We arrived just before dinner and the kids were excited to be able to get out and run around. Jacob was in heaven. He loved being able to see the cows that roam the fields behind the house. There's also train tracks across the street so between the cows and trains he couldn't decide what was more fun! He would climb up on the fence and point to the cows and then whenever he heard a cow moo he would yell "moo" right back. So. Darn. Cute!

Tuesday we headed to Maymont which is a fabulous park in Richmond. We saw tons of animals...bears, fox, horses, sheep, birds. The kids loved it though Lily got a little tired of the walk. We enjoyed a picnic there too. After Jacob napped we headed to a family member's pool and had some fun swimming.

This morning Jacob, Lily and I headed back home while Julia & Emma stayed at the farm for a couple days. I know they are having a great time!! And when they get back it's almost time for school to start!!

Road Trip!

Since the girls are STILL out of school (seriously..Longest. Summer. Ever.) we decided to tag along with Paul on a work trip last week. He had to go to Indy which is oh so conveniently 3 hours from my bff, Erin. So I convinced him to drive, yes drive with me and the 4 kids to Columbus and then he could rent a car and go to Indy for work.

We left on Tuesday morning and arrived at Nana Cheryl's in the late afternoon. Unfortunately since it was a last minute trip Erin had to work quite a bit. Thankfully her parents were more than willing to help keep us company. The drive really wasn't that bad - the kids were real troopers! We had a great meal with Curtie & Cheryl then we got to see Erin's store before heading to her house.

Wednesday Erin had off so we had a fun day just sort of running around town. We took the kids to an indoor play area at the mall since it was practically as hot in Ohio as it was here!

Thursday Erin had to work so the kids and I set off on our own adventure. We went for a walk in the morning then in the afternoon we found a fun Spraypark to cool us off! That evening there was a free concert at a park near her house. We had a great time. The kids loved, loved the music!

Friday Curtie & Nana Cheryl came over to keep us company. We found another Spray Park to go to and the kids loved it. They also loved that Curtie treated us to McDonalds! Friday afternoon Paul got home safe and sound from Indy. Erin and I actually left him home with the kids and went to her book club. It was so nice to meet some of her friends! I had a great time chatting with the ladies - so nice!!

Saturday we went to get Graeter's Ice Cream since you can't leave Ohio without having Graeters! Erin & I also took the girls to see Beezus & Ramona which was oh so cute! We grilled out that evening and let the kids run around in the sprinkler.

Overall it was a great trip! I'm so glad that it worked out for us to go! Erin is just the best hostess - hopefully her house has recovered!

Five for Friday

Did you know:
1. It's as HOT in Columbus, OH as it is in NC? Isn't it supposed to cooler "up north"

2. I will fondly remember this summer as "The Summer Vacation That Will Not End". 10 days until school starts....10 days...

3. I'm more excited about seeing Beezus and Ramona than my kids. I loved those books as a kid and can't wait to see the movie version.

4. I wonder if there are book clubs that actually spend a lot of time talking about the book they read? I went with my bff to her book club and guess what? They are just like mine.

5. Not just in the movies but in real life sometimes The. Hottest. Guy. In. High. School. ends up 20 years later being a pizza delivery guy. Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that but it's sort of surprising to answer the door for pizza and see The. Hottest. Guy. In. High. School standing there with a beer gut and a pizza. Just ask my bff.

Together Again

My family is finally reunited after a week of being scattered around the country. Last week my two littlest ones were at Camp Gagi for 3 days while I was home with the older gals. My husband meanwhile was in Pennslyvania for work for 3 days. Friday I swapped kids with my mom and the eldest 2 went to Camp Gagi and the little ones came home with me. Paul got home late Friday night. And today my mom brought the girls home. So..it's been over a week since we were all together - probably one of the longest stretches we've had not being together.

The girls had a fabulous time at Camp Gagi. They came home with treasures galore! I am thinking we might have a few days of detox on our hands before their behavior resumes to a normal tolerable level.

I am glad to have our family together again..I always feel a little unsettled when we aren't together. Though I'm sure by tomorrow afternoon I'll be wondering when the next session of Camp Gagi resumes. Or we'll be posting the countdown to the first day of school.

Camp Gagi

So I left my littlest ones at Camp Gagi's for 3 days and brought my oldest 2 home for Open House at school. I had a ton of PTA stuff to do this week and with Paul traveling it seemed like a good idea to have mom keep the little ones so I didn't have to worry about finding a babysitter. I was a little worried about leaving them - not that I didn't think mom could handle it I just know it can be tough having a toddler not in their own environment. I was especially worried about how Jacob would sleep since our first 2 days at the beach last week did not go well. At all. But, mom seems to be doing great. The kids seem to be having a great time...so much fun that my 3 year old is claiming she's living with Gagi "forever."

I've had a great time with the older 2 girls. It's been a bit strange and I feel like part of me is missing but overall it's been really fun. I'll admit it's been nice having a few days not to worry about someone climbing something they shouldn't or walking out the door when they shouldn't or throwing food on the floor. I haven't really had to cook and we've gotten to do some things we don't normally get to do like go bowling. The girls have been real troopers. I've dragged them to school the past 2 days while I've had to do work and they haven't complained too much.

Tomorrow we do the switcheroo and I'm getting my babies and my big kids will go to "Camp Gagi" for a few days. I'm pretty sure my mom will need a vacation once camp is over!

Star Spangled Weekend

We packed up the car and headed out last Thursday for our annual 4th of July trip to the beach. It ended up taking an extra hour and a half to get there due to a punctured tire but we finally made it. And I'm thankful that happened while Paul was with me and I wasn't by myself! We met my mom for dinner as soon as we got there and we learned that hard way that eating all you can eat crab leg is much more fun without a squirmy toddler who had just ridden in the car for 5+ hours. Thankfully the crab legs were totally worth it.

Friday we got groceries and went to the beach while we waited for our good friends, the Dickey's to arrive. They came with us last year for the 4th and I'm hoping we didn't scare them away this year and we can make this an annual thing. Our kids (there were 7 of them in total) had such a good time playing together. And there was far less tattling than last year. Yay! We mostly hung out at the beach but took the kids to the pool and arcade as well.

Sunday night the kids were super excited to see fireworks. They talked about it all day. We ordered pizza for dinner (it's just simply not that easy to take 7 kids out for dinner during a holiday weekend) and hung out at the condo until time to go. Paul & I decided not to take Jacob out since the fireworks didn't start until 10pm. We load up the 6 other kids and head out to find some fireworks. We decide to just go up to the beach for sure we'd be able to see some fireworks. We find good parking and the girls are practically running to get to the beach. However, when we step off the walkway and into the sand the giggling stops and the panic set in. You see it was like "Fireworkpalooza" out on the beach. There were fireworks going off everywhere. Everywhere. It did sort of sound like a battlefield. Or at least what I would think a battlefield would sound like. The girls - all 6 of them - bust out in tears and screams. Seriously. After a few minutes Lainee, the youngest of them all, Lily and Addie settle down. Emma and Julia, however, remain in tears with Emma screaming "I don't like this. We're going to die. I want to go home." It was pitiful really. So finally after about 15 minutes I took 4 of them home. Lily and Lainee stayed to actually see some fireworks. The beach spot would have been great. Everywhere you looked up and down the beach fireworks were going off. Beautiful!

The Dickey's headed home Monday and we decided to stay out of the sun since a few of us were a little toasty after Sunday's day at the beach. We had a relaxing, fun family day with just the 6 of us. Today we headed home with half our crew. The littlest ones are staying at "Camp Gagi's" for 3 days! I can't believe I actually left them. But, I have a million PTA things to do this week and my mom graciously agreed to keep them so I didn't have to worry about childcare. She's a saint! I'm just crossing my fingers and praying that Jacob sleeps OK so that "Camp Gagi" will remain open!

Here are a few pics from the weekend. Sadly I didn't take my camera out much. Boo hoo.

Six Candles on the Cake!

Our precious Lily Grace turns 6 today! It's hard to believe that she's already six. I feel like her life in particular...maybe it's because she's the middle girl...goes by at lightening speed. It seems like just yesterday she turned 1 and now...6. Wow.

She's had a fun day...donuts for breakfast followed by gifts, things for her American Girl dolls and a playdate with a special friend. She's off to a sushi lunch with her Aunt Mimi and we'll celebrate tonight with more a dinner out with friends and family. Hopefully she's having a great day!

Lily is truly a gift from God. I couldn't be prouder to call her my daughter. Her smile melts my heart every single day. And that wild, curly hair...I can't get enough of it! I am truly blessed!! Hugs and kisses to you baby girl...I couldn't love you more!