Facebook is killing my blog

The good news is I haven't been sick or maimed...the bad news is I seem to spend all spare moments perusing Facebook. So if you've been reading my blog come on over to FB because chances are.....that's where I am.

Did I blog about our vacation.....Nope.
Did I blog about what the kids have been doing....Nope.
Did I blog about Easter......Nope

I did however score over 50,000 on Bejeweled Blitz so that's something right?

Here's a little story about Mia that everyone likes to retell. It went down about a month ago.

Mia ALWAYS wants to wear shorts, t-shirts and flip flops. Everyday. I had her convinced it was winter in Michigan and since there was snow on the ground it was too cold for summer clothes.
When we came back from Florida though she seemed to think differently even though it was still freezing here.
It was a Wednesday(I remember it well) she woke up, got dressed, brushed her hair and brushed her teeth all by herself. I even called Mike at lunch and told him how impressed I was with Mia that she just got up and did it. There was no fighting about wearing pants and I didn't have to tell her to do any of it.

I take her to school everyday and pick her up. She is dropped off in the back of the school at the kindergarten playground and when I pick her up (I'm usually early) Mason and I sit in the front "lobby" and the kids will walk past us to the playground for a "recess" until the bell rings.

So that Wednesday Mason and I are standing there when her class parades by. There goes Mia wearing shorts, tank top and flip flops. I know she knew exactly why my mouth was hanging open since she had this smirk/smile on her face and gave us a big wave. I was standing at the door to the playground looking out the window and say to myself, "I can't believe this" when the mother next to me says, "I know I helped her change." Say what?! "Well, Mia said there was something wrong with her pants and that you said it was OK for her to wear the shorts since she brought them." Mia comes up to us now.
Me: So Mia you lied to Mrs. Cooper because you KNOW you're not supposed to wear shorts to school.
Mia looks at the floor.
Me: Okay, you're not answering me so that means Yes you lied. You know what happens when you lie. You'll be getting soap in the mouth when we go home. Now go change into your pants, you have church class now.

When she's home later that night I put soap in her mouth (I use the bar soap so I can really grind it in her teeth) and she's screaming.....I get so incensed I grab a garbage bag and go into her bedroom. I throw all her shorts, t-shirts, tank tops etc. into the bag, "Now they're gone!".

The next day as we're going to school I look in her backpack and sure enough there is a pair of shorts packed in there.

Friday....I go pick her up from school and there goes the summer parade again. Are you kidding me? So I go out to the playground and drag her back to her classroom to change her clothes. The teacher says, "Oh, are you taking her home early?"
Me: No, if she gets dressed back into her pants she may go outside and finish recess. We've had a problem the last couple of days with her changing her clothes at school.
Teacher: Oh, I was wondering why she showed up today in shorts.
Me: What?! You mean she showed up that way?
Teacher: Yes, she arrived at class dressed in those clothes.
So that means after I dropped her off at the Playground fully dressed she went inside the school and changed her clothes before going to her classroom. You're probably saying to yourself, "but wait I thought you took all her summer clothes." Yes, I did. She was climbing up into the high parts of her closet and getting the stuff I bought (on sale) for her to grow into. So the clothes didn't even really fit.
I was saying to a friend, "I can't believe she thought she was going to get away with it." My friend said, "well, she would have if she would have been smart enough to change back before you picked her up. At 15 she will be." Wonderful!

The next week (Wednesday) again I'm taking her to school and we're in the car.
Me: Oh, I think you forgot to put your homework in your backpack.
Mia: It's in there.
Me: I don't remember you putting it in there. Hand me your backpack so I can check.
Mia: No, I want it back here.
Me: (Not getting what's going on right away) Mia, just hand me your backpack so I can check real quick.
Mia: No, I REALLY want it in the back with me.
Me: (now I get it) Give me your backpack now!
Sure enough there was a pair of shorts jammed in the bottom. I never imagined my Kindergartner would be sneaking clothes to school. Lord pray for me because those teen years are going to be a nightmare.

Back it up

Just some quick pics from the kid's Birthdays since I was bad about blogging then.

On Birthdays, the birthday person is given the option of going to eat at (restaurant of their choice) or having me cook their favorite meal. Since Mason's birthday is Christmas Eve there are no restaurants open in our area (not even McDonald's) so he's stuck with my cooking. He did pick out an Ice Cream Cake though and I have to admit it was quite good.

Mia liked it so much she wanted the same Ice Cream Cake for her birthday. She chose this year to have me make Mike's mom's chicken & dumplings. It's more like a Hungarian chicken paprikash & dumplings and I do make the dumplings from scratch. It's a lot of work. I was a little concerned that her friend, Lainee, wouldn't like it (I don't think she did) but she politely ate a little and refused the offer to have something else. Also, tradition for birthdays is that the birthday person gets to eat off the "celebrate family plate". Entertainment for the night was Madagascar 2. As soon as the movie was over the girls headed up the stairs saying it was time for bed and that they were going to brush their teeth. Say what? it was 9pm and I usually have to fight with Mia & Mason EVERY night to get them to go to sleep. Maybe Lainee should sleepover every night. Since they were getting ready for bed I decided to run out and fill my prescription (steroid for pneumonia). When I came home Mason and Mike were in our bed watching Nemo. I checked on the girls, lights were out in the bedroom and Mia says, "why do we have to go to bed and Mason gets to watch Nemo?" I said, "you're the one who wanted to go to bed. You guys can watch Nemo if you want." So both girls jumped out of bed, ran into our bedroom and jumped in bed with the boys. So now Mike and all the kids are in our bed watching a movie and there was no room for me. I think Mike was feeling a little awkward to say the least.

The following pics were me trying to get a good picture for the Christmas cards.

This was the pic for the Christmas cards.

I know I'm losing ya'

I know my little blog fans are dwindling away.... I swear though I'm not just a hypochondriac....I really have been sick. I'm aware of how often I get migraines but other than than I consider myself to be pretty healthy. Weird stuff going on in the last month or so.
About a month ago I was having my "normal" migraine and had to throw up (again normal), well I just kept throwing up for the next 17 hours. I've had stomach flu and food poisoning before but nothing like that, I was beginning to think I had appendicitis. I could have made a whole blog about that but then the next week I get sick and that episode is just a distant blur. It started with a sore throat for a few days then what I think was the flu. I literally did not get out of bed at all that next weekend. Then most of it went away and I was left with a sinus infection and horrendous coughing fits. Resigned to the fact that it had been over 2 weeks and I wasn't going to get better without medication...I finally went to the doctor. He told me I had a sinus infection at the very least and most likely pneumonia. Great! I am on the upswing but I am still not feeling 100%. I also feel like I've been out of touch for the past month or so. Sure I've been physically going through the motions of every day life: driving the kids to school and classes, cooking, laundry and on the computer checking e-mail. I have found that being sick was a cure for my Insomnia. I've been to bed and actually sleeping every night hence another reason why I'm behind on most other things.

Mia's birthday was last Friday and she had her first sleep over. I will post some pictures soon and get back to my regular "blogging format". It just doesn't feel the same posting without pictures. Anyway, I had to share this conversation during the car ride home from Mia's school last Thursday.
Mia: Nicholas wasn't in school today. (Nicholas is who Mia says is her boyfriend and she has consistently stuck by this for months now)
Me: Oh, is he sick? That'll be too bad if he's gone tomorrow too and miss your cupcakes.
Mia: I really hope he's at school tomorrow because he's the one I want to invite over for the sleepover.

Mind you I had told Mia "maybe" she could have a friend for a sleepover for her birthday. Since I had been sick I hadn't any plans for a sleepover, party....anything.

Me: Ummmm, well boys can't come over for sleepovers. (EVER!) Only girls.
Mia: What???! Why?
Me: Because that's the way it works. Only girls can come over for sleepovers.
Mia: Well, can he come to the party? (Party???!!!)

Now we're pulling into the driveway and the conversation is dropped. When Mike comes home I fill him in on our conversation and how I feel like we've really dropped the ball. I told him, "she's expecting something and she's going to be pretty disappointed there's no party. We need to invite someone over for a sleepover."

Now I'm racking my brain because it's Thursday night and I don't really know the girls in her class that well (she changes who she likes best at school daily except for Nicholas of course) and my friends from Moms and Tots that have daughters her age have told me in prior conversations that their daughters aren't' ready for sleepovers yet. Thank goodness for Lainee. Rachelle (Lainee's mom) is a friend of mine from our Moms and Tots group and Lainee goes to Mia's school (just a year older). Thinking Lainee being a year older is probably ready for sleepovers I log onto Facebook to see if Rachelle's on. Yeah! she is! We chat and a sleepover is set. Mia is very excited and I haven't totally failed on the birthday celebration.
Mia does question Mike over dinner though:
Mia: Dad, how come boys can't come over for sleepovers?
Mike: Because those are the rules. Boys stay with boys and Girls stay with girls.

So clear right? Where's the parenting manual for questions like these?

911

Since I have blogged so infrequently lately I was wondering what I should blog about. Should I blog about coming up with a plan for Mia's birthday? Should I blog about Mason's birthday or Christmas? (since I've yet to do that) Should I blog about me and Rachelle almost getting our a** kicked last night? (not really)
Then I was provided with new material.
The neighbor had come over this morning to get Mike because he couldn't start his car. I hear Mike saying something to Mia before he goes out the door to help, "....that's not good is it? I need to go help him."
Minutes later I'm in the garage foraging the freezer out there for some breakfast food and come in to see Mia on the phone saying, "386 Winterpine Way". She does know how to answer the phone so I say, "Mia, who are you talking to?"
Mia: 911
So I grab the phone and see 911 dialed on the display........I hold up the phone, "Hello".
Good God there is a voice on the other line. "Hello, this is 911."
Me: OMG, I'm so sorry....
911: She said someone was stuck in his truck and couldn't get out...
Me: Yes, my husband went to help the neighbor start his car.....I'm so sorry.....I think she was just practicing...
911: How old is she?
Me: 5, I'm so sorry but we're fine here.
911: OK. Have a good day.

Now I'm trying to explain what constitutes a call to 911 to Mia. Death, Fire, someone really hurt, etc. She got a look on her face like she was going to cry because she thought I was really mad. I told her it's great that she knows how to dial 911, knows her address and I'm really proud that she did it right but we can get in trouble if we call and it's not an emergency....

I'm awake now. All this entertainment before 8am.

Kid Quotes

Mason got this for his birthday:

Harvard Victory II 15-in-1 Multigame Table

As we were opening the box and the kids were seeing what it was...

Mia: DAD! Are you sure you can afford that?!

Mike: I think so

Mia: Wow! You must be rich!

It's a good thing they have a Mom that can find a deal.

Playing the dice game at Christmas.

Mia: SOCIAL!!

Mia: ....and I'm back in the game...

Mason after listening to the kid that was in front of them in line to see Santa tell Santa he leaves out milk and cookies.

Mason: What! He leaves out milk? We leave out beer, right mom!

You better believe it.

Mia bought gifts for from her school which she wrapped herself (decorated self-seal bags) and put under the tree. She got mad at Mike and I for something we wouldn't let her have or do (who can keep track) and she grabbed for us from under the tree and stomped up to her room.

Mia: ...and you just lost your presents.

Of course, I can't remember the really good stuff now that I'm finally posting. You know the stuff that happens and you think, "I gotta right that down so I always remember that." Too late.

Brain Test

My mom sent me this Brain Test a while back. I tried it twice and scored a 24. I'll take that.

More Catch up

So the weekend after Thanksgiving was my SIL's annual wine fest. All my SIL's have great friends (not sure how we, ahem Mike ahem, ended up being so anti-social) and there's always a lot of fun and drinking. We dropped off our kids to my parents house in Jackson to spend the night and turned back north to Lansing. On the way, we were able to stop at ToysRUs in Jackson to look around without kids. The Lego Troll Warship which was to be $79 was our target. I had a 20% off coupon for one item and that was going to be it. Little did I know they were having a weekend Lego sale that day: buy one, get one 50% off. No trollship to be had though. So we looked at all the Legos for what seemed forever! I saw a pirate ship that I thought he would love but seriously $100 for Legos?? I told Mike he needs to get out of Automotive and get into toys.
If I remember right, this is what we ended up getting them: One was around $50 which I used the 20% off coupon on plus I get the other set ($40) for 50% off. So really just over $60 for the two sets. I'm hoping they're OK with what they get. This is what we got for both of them:
A pirate fort with boat and croc
Girlie type legos with horses and a cat.

I get small stuff during the year if I see something they may like but it's had when they're at an age to make lists.

Mason asked Santa for : #1 Batmobile, first thing out of his mouth everytime. A few other times he'll throw in some things that I have NO IDEA what they are but then find out later that they are really expensive items.
Mia wants: Easy Bake Oven, a Wii, A puppy purse toy that I just figured out what it was.

Here's how I think the Christmas Day will play out. They'll like what they've opened but still be disappointed as the aunts that are bringing the toys that they really like won't be seen until Friday after Christmas. So there will be a few days of the questions...." why didn't Santa bring this?'After they see all they've go they'll be ecstatic. Joy and Peace that's what we really want out of this right.

Enough of the toy talk though I digress. I hit the ground running at Col's party. So at the wine party I started out with a nice not to dry wine called Menage a Trois. I had a glass of it and it went down really easy. I REALLY liked it so I had another.....after I killed the bottle (by myself) I realized there were other bottles so I had another glass. Then that wine was gone so I tried something else and didn't like it as much so I started drinking some water. I did graze a little but I realize now when you fill up your plate with a shrimp, a meatball and some crackers. Even 2 and half plates really isn't enough soak;) I got the headache but didn't get sick. Around midnight or so I felt the need to lie down for just a little bit with the intention of getting back up. Eventually Mike just told me to get my pajamas on and get in bed. So yeah we ditched the late crew, I couldn't believe the "late" guests didn't leave until 3am. Luckily Colleen didn't put away EVERYTHING and I could help with the clean-up in the morning. I was feeling super guilty that I went to bed and wasn't able to stay up and help her put things away. It was nice however to not throw up for a change. Of course, like Atlanta, I didn't take any pictures. I'm letting down those fellow Japanese I know.

FYI: A lady in one of my groups went to Birch Run last week and told me they just opened up an Under Armor outlet there. She said there were some really good deals. Too bad it's so far away and not within an hour's drive. Now I have to figure out a way to get me and Mike time alone at Birch Run. We could get a hotel but everyone will want to shop....who will watch the children?
Things to ponder.

Anyway have to sign off. not because I'm tired and re-capped it all but because my brain is just not right. I took an Ambien to get me to sleep and it's starting to kick in. As Mike will tell you, it's like I'm dizzy and drunk. I know I should re-read what I posted so far but screw it...I'm finally getting tired.

Love to the lurkers. (those of you that come to read about my lame-o life but never write comments). I'm thinking of running a contest soon to see if I can get those others of you (that are not my mother) to post. Back me up here. I love my mother but I do have friends right? Right ladies?! Oh for Gosh Sakes Christie go to bed already;)

and I'm off. literally and figuratively.

Thanksgiving Part 2

At this rate I'll blog Christmas next Christmas.

Oh Yes, Thanksgiving was an awesome feast. I probably went through the ads 4 times for Black Friday...made a list and at the end of it didn't get up early (wasn't anything I wanted THAT much) and didn't get anything on my list. My SIL's however had no list and ended up finding things that they wanted. How is that fair?

Friday night they invited their friends over and we drank and rolled dice. We play this game at most of Mike's family gatherings and instead of chips we use dollars. So it's a $3 buy-in to play. What's a little gambling among family. We played 7 games and Mia rolled my dice...
and was the big winner winning 4 out of the seven. She had never seen that much money before and was giggling with her hands over her mouth and eyes bulging. She leans over and tells me she wants the "webkinz backpack". I have no idea what this was but she talked about it non-stop from that point on.
I figured it out after we got home, this is what Mia was talking about:
http://www.jackpopz.com/jackpopzshop.html
Our store only had the Livvie bag in multi-color and the Jackpack in Green. She was set on the Jackpack so I let her get it. I figured she won the big money rollin the dice she should at least get something for it. Mike and I went down early for the night (yes, I hurled yet again) and I think the other adults went out for 2 more beer runs. Mike and I just can't hang anymore.
Saturday afternoon we headed home. Mason stayed up until about midnight and said, "are we sleeping in the car again for real?". Yup, 13 hours later we made it home. The kids do not like sleeping in the car....they can't get comfortable. Soon after we made it home a big snow storm hit so luckily we didn't have to drive through it. That pretty much sums up our Turkey festivities....

Making it back to reality

It's been a whirlwind last month and I still don't feel like I've caught up to present day/present time. So last you heard from me I was sick, suffering from migraines and getting ready for a craft show. Craft show was OK. I did alright considering it wasn't really busy. After the show that Saturday I got to come home and watch the rest of the Michigan/OSU game. Mike being the OSU fan that he is wouldn't turn it off....I really didn't watch it but would get the updates when I walked through the room. Thanks for that (too bad you can't write sarcasm so everybody gets it).

Then I cleaned the house and packed in anticipation for our Thanksgiving trip to Atlanta. We left Tuesday and drove straight through arriving at precisely 3am Wednesday morning. We tried to get some sleep but once the kids cracked one of their eyelids open and glimpsed COUSINS we really couldn't sleep. Alice (Mike's sister, 5th out of 6 kids) had a sitter lined up so we went to the bar that night to hear a Bon Jovi cover band. We went with Mike's two sisters, Alice and Sarah (5 and 6, Mike is 4), their husbands and some of their friends. A good time was had by all. True to form with any night of drinking since I've birthed children....I threw up. Alice said she saw something on Oprah about how Asians process alcohol differently...like we're allergic to it? That would explain a lot. I woke up drinking water, downing Advil and stuffing myself with bread rolls. I think I finally soaked up all the alcohol in my system by around 10pm. Thursday was pretty much an all out eat-a-thon. Thanksgiving dinner was great. Alice made this sausage stuffing that was killer (a Paula Deen recipe of course). It was great at dinner, for breakfast and while drinking again Friday night.

T-Day summary to be continued in next post.

Repeat to self: I am not sick

While I usually am on the computer late because I am in insomniac I have actually been getting some sleep the last couple of weeks. First I had migraines and now I am sick. The whole family went to bed at 9pm yesterday. I can't think of the last time I was asleep at 9pm. Must have been the last time I was sick.
I am also in panic mode. I thought I had plenty of time to make my crafts for a craft fair I'm doing the 22nd. While it was weeks away, now it is only a week away and this sick thing is not helping. Also not helping is that some supplies I ordered (a month or so ago) may not get here in time. Great! That other part about being sick that stinks (other than just being sick) is that the kids seem to be fine. So I can't be sick in bed, I have to get up and play cook, chauffeur and well be a Mom.

To recap Tuesday-Wednesday.
Tuesday schedule looks roughly like this:
9:30-11 Preschool/Elementary Commission meeting at the church. It was my turn to do prayer and bring snack.
11-12 back home and get the kids lunch
12 back in the car to drop Mason off at his school around 12:15
Still in the car since Mia gets dropped off around 12:35. We get to her school a little early so I read books to her until she goes to school.
Run errands while the kids are at school.
Leave at 3 to go pick up Mason, then go get Mia, home a little after 4pm.
Let the kids play and work on sewing stuff for around an hour then start dinner.
Dinner. Then go to the PTA meeting at 6:30.
Since I wasn't sure if Mike was going to be home in time to watch the kids, I talked up the PTA meeting (they do have babysitters) so when the time came the kids wanted to go with me.

On the way to the PTA meeting it starts hailing. As we run into the building, Mason stops and starts crying. I see that he has been hit with a piece of hail in his eye and his eye is all read...he's crying. As soon as we walk into the where the babysitters are though he perks up and is fine.
About a half hour into the meeting 2 girls come into the meeting and say, "Um, a little girl fell down, hit her head and is crying." They don't know the little girls name. I say, "is she wearing a jean skirt and a brown shirt?" Yes. So I get up and walk down the hall with the girls. On the way, one of the girls said, "it's kind of bad her head is bleeding." I said, "her head is bleeding?" Then we're there. I walk in Mia is sitting down, crying, and covered in blood. She was running and caught the corner of a table on her way down. The cut is in her eyebrow so the blood is running down her face. She also had a bloody nose and she kept trying to put her hand to hold her head so there was blood everywhere. The blood had slowed down so I loaded the kids in the car and went home. Called Mike on the way to have him come get her out of the car. We get her in and clean her up. We think it is fine although the cut is in an awkward place and just bandage her up. She is acting fine so there's no worry of concussion at this point. The next day, on the 3rd band-aid I decide the cut just isn't going to stay closed so after my 9:30-11 meeting for Moms & Tots at the church, I head to Walgreens and buy some butterfly bandages. I clean her up and take the kids to school. After I drop Mia off, I call the nurse and the Doctor's office. Closed for lunch. I call again at 1pm. Voice mail. They finally return my call at 2:30 and tell me she'll probably need the glue or steri-strips but that they can't do that in the office and I need to go to Prime Care (AKA ER services). So I go pick up the kids. I make the decision that they're going to miss their religion classes and take Mia to Prime Care. The Doc says, "I wish you would have brought her in here last night." End result. They couldn't do the glue or the strips because of her eyebrow hair. They had to numb her, "play" around in there to make it a fresh wound and then give her 2 stitches. She screamed bloody murder the whole time and I had to hold her down. Whew!
Thursday was pretty normal and we were back at the church for Mia's choir practice. Man I'm at the church too much.

That's my not so quick sum-up of the past couple of days. TGIF!

Excuses Excuses

At least I have some valid excuses for being behind in all things Internet......migraines. I've been having some horrible migraines lately and passing out in bed rather than be on the computer. While Excedrin Migraine usually works just as well as my prescription stuff (so I didn't refill the prescription) it's loaded with caffeine and I don't take it past 2-3ish so I'm not up all night.

The weather here in MI has been unbelievable....70's in November? That's all supposed to end this week but it was great while it lasted.

Sarah Palin SNL Rap

I just thought this was hilarious.

Getting things done

I spent the whole day today finally getting some stuff done in the house. I finally figured out a way to utilize some "dead" space in our house and turn it into some much needed storage. That allowed me to get rid of a box of books that has been sitting in my bedroom since we moved into the house. Next up finish painting (it's been at least a year now) and more organizing.

Yesterday, I went with the "girls" on a shopping trip to the Outlet mall in Howell. Seven of us "moms" met up at 8:30 and drove 2 hours to the mall. We then shopped pretty much all day and then had dinner at P.F. Chang's. I arrived back home around 9pm so it was an all day event. It was a nice outing and a much needed get-away sans children. Of course, as usual I came home with an a**load of clothes for my kids and 3 things for myself. In my defense though Children's Place had clearance racks of $4.99 and under stuff ....then add in my 15%off coupon. What's truly sad is that my 3 items of clothing still cost more than 2 bags full of children's clothes.

Sam in the wheelchair

Yesterday in the car while I was driving the kids to school, Mia started telling me how everyone in her class but her was teasing a boy in a wheelchair. She kept telling me how she was the only one who was nice to him and the other kids were mean to him. It was breaking my heart. I asked Mia if he was new to her school since I don't recall seeing a boy in a wheelchair at her school.
Mia: No.
Me: Is this something that just happened or has he always in a wheelchair?
Mia: He's always been in a wheelchair, his name is Sam.
Me: How do they tease him? What do they say?
Mia: They make fun of him because he can't run.
Me: Well, it's nice that you're his friend it must really hurt his feelings that the others are mean to him.
Mia: Yeah, I'm the only one that gets to push him too. Not fast though. The other kids tried to push him fast and made him fall out of his chair but I don't go fast...unless he wants me to for fun.
When we have gym with Mr D. in the gym he has to stay with Mrs. Thornhill because he can't run.
When we dropped Mason off at school we included Ms Elizabeth (Mason's teacher) in our conversation.
Miss E: That's not good that the other kids are not nice to him. Maybe you need to tell your teacher.
Mia: I told Mrs. Thornhill but she didn't believe me.
Miss E.: Sometimes you need to tell adults more than one time....
Mia: I did that already but she didn't believe me.

Miss Elizabeth and I both talked some more with Mia about how to be nice to Sam and to tell an adult that the other kids aren't being nice. It just really bugged me all day especially as I visualized some poor boy falling out of a wheelchair so I asked Mrs. Thornhill about it when I picked Mia up from school.
Mrs. Thornhill: We have a Sam but he's fine. He's not in a wheelchair. I'd just say Mia has a very creative imagination.

Creative or Scary? Should I be worried that she fantasized Sam was in a wheelchair?

Today when I picked her up she was telling me about Josh (a boy in her class) kissing her in the coatroom. Vhat? Not only do I have to worry about boys and girls starting to like each other but now I don't know when a story is totally made up. I suspect it is.....but is it?

Say "Chuck E. Cheese"

We had a little Birthday party for Mason at Chuck E. Cheese Saturday. I figured the kid NEVER gets a birthday party since his birthday is Dec 24th so I wanted to do something for him. Since he is obsessed with skulls and skeletons I figured doing it around Halloween was easy to find things for a skeleton theme. Since I didn't have it at home a theme was really just the cupcakes and goody bags. Mason saw these cupcakes on a flyer so I tried to recreate them for him. I think they turned out pretty decent. He was happy with them.

I wasn't up to having a big party at the house (like we've done for Mia's parties) so I just invited the kids from our "kid's swap" so just two other families. Although we've never been to Chuck E. Cheese before I've heard other kids talk about so I thought it would be a good place to try. It was not crowded and the kids had a great time running around. I was thankful that my friends stayed and that there wasn't very many kids because I can't imagine trying to keep an eye on a LOT of kids running around. The kids want to check out everything so if they're not in the tunnels they are looking at different things in different places. At any rate, Mason was very excited and very happy with his party.

Madonna Wanna-be

Mason had school pictures at preschool today and Miss Patti the photographer always does a terrific job so I brought Mia too. She nicely agreed to take a joint picture even though Mia doesn't attend school there anymore and I had just enough time before I took Mia to Kindergarten. We also had our Moms & Tots Halloween party this morning so it was a mad rush getting them out of their costumes and into decent clothes to take a picture. Mia wanted to wear a dress (jumper) so she could wear her new dress shoes....so far so good. Mia wasn't sitting so nice in the car with her dress so I had a discussion with her about how tights are kind of like underwear and it's not nice to show everyone our underwear. Fast forward now to me picking her up at school. Mason and I are standing in the hall as her class marches by us out to the playground for one last recess. There goes Mia walking past us in her shirt and tights! She sees me and happily waves.

I say, "what happened to your dress?".

Mia: "we're late for recess" and continues out the door.

I'm standing there with my mouth hanging open while some of the other Moms I know that are standing by me have a good laugh.

Mrs. Thornhill tells me how she just took her dress off and she tried to get her to put it back on but was unsuccessful. They pretended the tights were leggings so nobody said anything. Then she proceeded to tell Mrs. Thornhill how I said it was OK to just wear tights.... Guess who is getting soap in her mouth tonight for lying. Just to be clear, she's not getting soap in her mouth because I'm some sort of fashion nazi, it's for the lying. Man, I think I need to have a little evening drink tonight. Maybe I need to go buy a bottle of wine......

This is the best picture I could get of the tots and my kids this morning. You'll notice the most cooperative models are the "under one" year olds on the floor. They were laughing up a storm. Probably at the Moms attempting to get one picture of all children looking in one direction....Silly Mommies.

The Pumpkin Patch

Today we had lots of plans but since Mason had an ear infection we cancelled on my parents. Mike went to the OSU game but I didn't want to travel anywhere with Mason since he had been so whiny, crying and grumpy. Of course, he woke up that way this morning and was that way until about 10:30am then he seemed better. I decided to run to the store....and when the kids were OK..... took them to lunch at McD's......and when they were still OK took them to the Post family farm. My plan was to go out there get some pumpkins, donuts and cider maybe do the hayride and come home. Well, since I had never been there before I didn't realize how much they had to do for the kids. We paid an admission (Mia had a free admission coupon from her school) and the kids got to do whatever they wanted over and over. We got there around 1pm and didn't leave until 10 min. to closing. I can't believe we were there for so long and Mason was just fine. Figures. I feel bad that we didn't go to my Mom's now but at least we did get to enjoy the nice weather. Especially, since we won't have a lot of nice weather for too much longer.

Tomorrow Mia is to sing in the Children's choir at church for the first time. I'm hoping she behaves as she won't be sitting by us and out of my control. I'd like to get a picture of her sitting in the choir but don't think that would go over during mass if I went down and starting snapping pictures.

Buckeyes for luck

We saw a Buckeye tree near one of the parks last weekend and according to Mike Buckeyes are good luck. I had an empty apothecary jar in the kitchen that's supposed to be for decoration and Mia and I decided to fill it with Buckeyes. So Monday when she had no school (but Mason did) we went and collected all the Buckeyes. I figured we could use all the good luck we can get.

I'll do it tomorrow

That's what I've been saying for over a week now for blogging. I'll post tomorrow. I guess I'm in one of my famine periods. I put a lot of stuff of since school started thinking "once I get into the routine schedule" I'll have time to make my mind up about things. I feel like I've been running with my head cut-off since school started. I've been at the church 3 times this week not including mass and this was our off-week for Moms & Tots. Tomorrow is a "no school" day and I was wondering what I was going to do with the kids since Friday is usually my cleaning day. We have a busy weekend planned and as soon as we came home from the church today Mason laid down on the couch, grabbed his ear and started screaming. He held onto his ear for a good hour before the drugs I gave him finally kicked in and he passed out. Looks like I'll be taking him to the doctor tomorrow. I guess it will give me the opportunity to have a little "chat" with Dr. Rutkoski about some other issues;) My "girls" know what those other issues are, I'll vent that one out in another post.

In other news, I have started the "bottlecap" craft craze and think I'll mostly use the ones I make for bows. Here are some necklaces and a bow I made. WO is West Ottawa our school district for those wondering.

The necklaces I used scrapbooking bottlecaps that already had the image on them but know I do my own and I can use any image I want. Anyway, hope to catch up on some blogging although I guess that will depend on the sick kid.

Bits of Brilliance

I am always shocked when the kids throw something out that they obviously learned at school. A couple of years ago, Mia saw a bee in the yard and said something of it doing good work. At the age of 3 she mentioned how the bee was pollinating the flowers. I almost fell over as the word "pollinating" came out of her mouth. This spring and summer she would explain "migration" to us.

The latest started with Mike's mom. She had given the kids a couple of little tootsie roll suckers. When Mason saw them he kept saying, "Why did Grandma give us those suckers?" I'd say because she loves you.

Mason: But they're sweet.

Me: Yes, they're a treat. That's why Grandma gave them to you, she thought you'd like a treat.

Mason: WHY???? (more of a yell now) Doesn't she know they're sweet?

This goes back and forth for awhile until the subject is dropped.

Monday after lunch I told the kids they could have their suckers in the car on the way to school. Mia opened hers up immediately and started eating it. Mason passes his back up to me and tells me to keep it up front. When I pick him up from school and start down the road he says his tummy is growling.

Me: Well, you can have your sucker if you're hungry. I still have it up here.

Mason: WHAT! I can't have that. That's sweet!

Me: That's OK (then I'm cut off)

Mason: It's at the top of the food pyramid! It's purple and it's sweet and Ms. Heather says you can't eat it all the time.

Me: That's right. You can't eat it all the the time but it's all right once in a while.

Mason: No!



Sheesh! You would have thought I was trying to poison the kid. Of course, I haven't seen the new food pyramid to know if he got it right but I was floored that the words "food pyramid" came out in conversation.