the bad mom strikes again...

Harmony and I did not have a very good start to our day. She tried to convince me that she was still sick and needed to stay home. Seriously, she was the least sick of all of them. I had woken up late, because thanks to my little carrier monkeys, I am now sick. So we were rushing around and I told her to go put on her glasses. 20 minutes later..."go get your glasses on". 10 min. later..." Harmony we have 15 min. until it is time to go. Please go get your glasses."

H:" Well, I found 2 pairs of glasses but neither of them are mine."

M:" then go get yours"

H: looking down..." I don't know where they are."

Mommy very angrily goes up and helps her look. Can't find them anywhere. It is after 8 and my lecture on responsibility is getting me know where. I swear the girl couldn't care less. Get her to school and...no backpack.

" You are killing me Harmony. Why didn't you get your backpack?"

H:" You didn't tell me too."

M: " Do you need your back pack everyday?"

H:" yes"

M:" Well so then what would make today any different?"

Get her in to school and ask her teacher if she could sit closer. Yes no problem. Here is the thing, I asked Harmony when she knew her glasses were missing. She said yesterday. So as calm as a I could I said, "so yesterday, when we were home all day, and could have looked for them, you didn't tell me?"

H" I didn't want to tell you because I thought you would be mad."

M " well I am mad now so it backfired didn't it?"

I get back in the car and I am still upset. I call Ben to tell him that I am going to put his daughter up for adoption. I am trying to figure out what to feed the missionaries for dinner tonight, get the house cleaned, grocery shop, deal with sick kids and...I started crying. Poor guy didn't even see it coming. He offered to take the missionaries out to dinner and I don't think I said yes fast enough! A burden was lifted. Went home and found Harmony's glasses...in a bin with Barbie stuff. I debated on wether or not to bring them to school b/c I thought maybe if she went without them she would realize she needed to take better care of her things. In the end though...I brought them. And when I went to pick her up, she said, " guess what Mom? I went to school without my glasses, and now I am coming home with them."

M " Yeah Harm, how do you think that happened?"

H" I don't know...magic?"

M " You are so not my favorite kid today..."

So that is it. My way long drawn out story. It did feel good to get it out though. BTW-she was a perfect angel all afternoon. Give and take I guess!

little sickies

I am so tired of sick kids. Seriously. Could they just start to feel better?!I had some major de-cluttering plans for this week and it is not happening. I have been taking care of someone since Saturday night. Ethan started off the morning with no fever, just a cough. So against my better judgement, I let him go to school. When he got home, he got a blanket and pillow and layed in front of the tv and didn't move until an hour ago when I told him it was time to start getting ready for bed. Now he is really warm...again. Connor is getting worse and has the whole green snot thing going. He has been carrying a box of tissue around.

I had finished reading to them and Ethan asked if he could just sleep in my bed. I asked why and he just didn't want to move. I gave him some medicine and told him if he were alseep in 15 min. he could stay, otherwise he had to go get in his bed. Well then Connor starts crying because, " you never let me sleep in your bed" Maybe that is because he has his own...So I gave in. Told him he had 15 minutes. And there they are. Sound asleep. It is a sweet sight. Poor Ben is going to be the one that puts Ethan on his bunk bed!

just say no

Why is it that I can't say no to people? Need a doormat? Here just use me! OK so it is not actually that bad BUT...Harmony's girl scout leader called me yesterday, and the "cookie-picker-upper" lady, is sick and can't pick up the 50 cases of cookies that are needed. So since I drive a van, could I go pick them up. So I told her sure. Let me see if I can find someone to watch the kids for an hour so that I can fit all 50 boxes in said van. My friend says no problem. I tell the leader no problem. Last night, Ethan's fever was down and I thought no problem. This morning....Connor is terrible. He has a nasty cough and runny nose. Can hardly breathe. Ethan is still warm with a fever AND started throwing up. Ivan and Harm are ok but now I have a sore throat, runny nose etc. But do I tell the GS leader that I can't do it? Nope. I tell her I will take care of it for her. I am going to tell my friend she is relieved of babysitting b/c her kids will get sick if they spend any amount of time with mine. So I am going to make as many trips as needed to get the cookies to her. It is my fault. I should have just said no. Live and learn...I am going to go lay down until I have to leave. I did tell her that I would not be doing it until Ivan took a nap. So at least that is something. Then I will be going to the store to re-stock on chicken noodle soup. I hate being sick. And I hate it when the kids are sick!

mother hen

Ben once told me that he could tell how mad I was at him, by how hard I cleaned. I have used cleaning as a way to work off agression before...and if the fact that I have mopped the kitchen and the dining room is any indication...well I am mad. Luckily for Ben, is not at him! It is at a 2nd grader. And no, not my 2nd grader. I am trying to get some things done when I get a call from the school nurse. Honestly, I wasn't that surprised. I mean, when you have more than one person in a house, it doesn't take long for the others to get sick. But she said, " well I am calling you for 2 reasons. Harmony, threw up some of her lunch.The other reason is because Harmony was CHOKED by one of her class mates." Excuse me, what? Did I just hear that correctly?! I went to pick her up and she told me that they had been in centers, and this girl had been hogging all the blocks. So Harmony and her friend Tayquan, were telling her she needed to give some to everybody. When she reached over and started choking Harmony. Then when Harmony went to tell, she started choking Tayquan. Her teacher sent her to the nurse. There were no finger prints on her or anything. Well...when I went in to get her, I told the nurse how concerned I was and she said, " I would be too, why don't you go and talk to her teacher and find out exactly what happened." Because all she knew was what Harm had told her. So I talked to her teacher and they brought the girl out. She said she was just "playing". Ms. Rushing, told her to go back in the classroom after apologizing. Ms Rushing was upset, and told her that it wouldn't happen again and that she would take care of the punishment. We were walking to the car, and I was telling her that, Tia, that was the girl, thought that was an ok thing to do because she was upset. And Harmony told me, which I wished she would have told Ms. Rushing but I will tell her, "Tia told us that if we ever did it again, she would choke us until we stopped breathing." Ugh. Sick to my stomach. I don't even know what to do or say. It is so upsetting. I am the mother hen and I wasn't there to protect her from that. I don't know what else to say. I just had to get it out. So upset. Harmony was shaken up. I hate this....

sick boys :(

Ugh, 3 boys at home today. Ivan is fine but Connor and Ethan...not so much. Connor just has a runny nose and normal "cold" problems. I went out for a walk this morning, and when I got back, Ethan was laying on the living room floor and looking horrible. He had been sick all weekend but he had a high fever and his little eyes were red and bloodshot. He has even dry-heaved a couple of times. So we brought Harmony to school and then headed to Target for medicine, Gatorade, saltines and a Scooby Doo movie with 13 episodes. Should keep them entertained all day. However I forgot some things and so I am going to have Ben pick them up, even though he is going to be working late tonight. Ugh. I think I am in for a long day! Oh well. Such is life. :)

Nauticus

Harmony has had such a busy week and for the most part, her behavior has been good. She gets tired and that is when she gets cranky. Yesterday I was able to go on a field trip with her to go to Nauticus. It is a marine science museum. Although it does have a Naval History Museum in it. They had a spot where you could reach in and touch sharks ( yes SHARKS) but Harm was not about to do that. I couldn't even get her to reach in and touch a star fish! After they finished walking around, her class went into a little classroom and did some science experiments and talked about weather. Harmony impressed me by knowing all of the answers! The lady from Nauticus kept telling Harmony that she had to talk louder, since she knew all the answers but...Then we headed to the gift shop. We left and went to Hardees for lunch( which I still refer to as Carls Jr) and then picked up the boys. We had fun. I am so glad that I have people who are willing to watch kids for me so that I can go and do things with the other kids. I like to spend one on one time, it just isn't easy! Anyway...I am off to bed soon. Stayed up late last night scrappin' and it is starting to hit me!

attitude

Thursday night Harmony performed in a concert at school, in honor of Black History Month. Her class did a little song and dance to "Hit the Road Jack". One of the Mom's came up to her later and told her, "You were the star of the show because you had showed some real attitude."

Harmony with an attitude? Wonder where she got that....

my sweetest heart

I don't know if the kid practices things that he knows will make me gush, or if it is just a natural thing, but Ethan is literally soooo sweet. I mentioned a time that when questioned, what was his favorite thing about his family he said, " my Mom", awwww, but tonight he just had me. Made me melt.

We were discussing his birthday party and he decided he pretty much wanted to do the same thing as Connor. So I asked him who he would like to invite, and the first person was me. :)

Then later, he said, " Mommy I want you to ask me what my favorite is."
Me-" Your favorite what?"
E- " anything. Just ask me a question and it can't be what my favorite tv show is."
M-" ok, where is your favorite place to eat?" ( Totally expecting McD's, or Chuck E Cheese) when he says,
" My favorite place to eat dinner is at our house with you"

Yum! That kid is just delicious! He totally has me eating out of his hand!

needin' my trunk back...

OK people. Help me unload my trunk!! If you ordered cookies from Harmony, they are here!! If you are local, I can bring them to you, or you can pick them up at church on Sunday. If you don't remember how much you owe, you can email or call me and I will let you know. If you are not local, I will be sending them out on Saturday because that way I do not have to take Ivan to the post office. Of all the errands that I hate doing with Ivan, it would be mailing anything bigger than a letter. :) So those will go out on Sat. If you want to write a check, you can make it out to me. Or you can pay cash.

Tons on the agenda today...a million emails to answer, loads of clothes to fold, (and wash and dry) rooms to clean. This place looks like a tornado went through it. At least that is the story I am going with! I am going to send an email out for those who don't have my cell. OK that is all! :)

never ending...

Last year, the kid's birthdays seemed to last forever. The party. The family birthday dinner on your actual birthday. Taking a treat to class. Celebrating there. However this year, it was done within 2 days. Nice. Connor's teacher told me, that they get kind of tired of cupcakes being brought in because basically the kids lick the frosting off and don't eat the rest. So we decided to bring in something different and Connor picked doughnuts. His friends gathered around him and sang Happy Birthday to him. The celebration is done and he is officially 5. Or as Ethan said last year, " officially a handful!"

more birthday stuff

Even though yesterday was Ben's birthday, it was actually the perfect time to have Connor's party since there was no school. This year, we said no way to Chuck E Cheese, and instead had it at Friendly's. I am not sure if that is just local or what but....the kids had such a great time running around. Connor was spoiled rotten and enjoyed getting a ton of presents and playing with his friends!

You can see from the pictures how much "partying" Harmony did. She got some books and sat at one of the tables and read. :) What are you gonna do?

Thanks to all who came, all who sent gifts to Connor. We are going to be getting his thank you's out asap!

5 years ago...

I am a scrapbooker. I take photos of every activity my kids are involved in. I have albums and albums filled with our lives. Everything from holidays, to field trips, deployments, graduations, to birthdays and everything in between. All of the stories are important. But one has remained unwritten. Why? Because I can't find the words. I have never been able to sit down and write Connor's birth story. And it makes me feel sad and it makes me feel guilty, but how do I tell him? How do I tell him that with every other one of his siblings, I smiled and cried tears of joy., when I found out. And with him I sobbed. I didn't want him. Not then. I had just had a baby. I didn't want another one. I was going to wait 2 years. I remember the day vividly...( I will try to keep the first part a G rating)

Ben and I had been worried that I might be pregnant. I was "late". I didn't want to even think that after one time, of not using protection that I could be pregnant. Well one day I put Harmony and Ethan down for naps, and went to the store. I asked Ben if he wanted anything or needed anything and he said, " yes I want you to get a pregnancy test." Now, you have to understand something here. Ben thinks that pregnancy tests are a waste of money because " eventually you are going to find out the answer". So I headed to the store and it was the last thing I put in the cart. And as I was standing in the aisle, it hit me. And I knew. I came home and took the test and left it on the counter. Knowing full well what the answer was. Ethan had woken up, I went in, got him out and held him and cried. Ben came in with the test and I started bawling. Cradling Ethan and crying. Ben tried to put his arm around me and I told him how much I hated him and not to touch me. I was scared, angry, nervous. Every emotion wrapped into one.

For the 8 months that I was pregnant, I wasn't excited. It wasn't like the other 2 times, where I had planned and plotted and shopped and got ready. When we found out it was another boy, I didn't even have a name picked out.

Feb. 19th, 2002 I woke up early. Ben and I were going to be going home that weekend and celebrating his birthday there. So I hadn't planned anything for him, but decided to go get some doughnuts. I came home and ate one and I just remember feeling really full. All day long I was tired. I tried to eat, but just wasn't hungry. I remember making Ben put Harm's shoes on because I couldn't reach over. That night, we were watching 24. I was so uncomfortable as I laid on the couch. Finally at a quarter to 10 I went up to go to bed. As I tried to sleep I realized, every 15 minutes my stomach would harden. No pain. Just harden. I called Ben upstairs, and he watched the clock. They were now about 10 minutes apart. I told him there was no way that I could be in labor, it was a month early. He went to get the number for the nurse, and I went in to go to the bathroom. Blood. The nurse told him to get me to the hospital ASAP. My nieghbor took the monitor and listened for Harmony and Ethan. We drove as fast as we could. When we got there, the dr. said, " the reason you are bleeding is because you are dialated to a 7". Labor was fast and furious and I was scared. This was too early. Finally, she said, " you can either breathe through the next few contractions or you can push and he will be here." I opted to push. The whole process took 45 minutes. When he was born his cord was wrapped around his neck and he wasn't breathing on his own. They gave him to me for a split second and rushed him off to the NICU. I told Ben to go with him as the nurses were cleaning me up. The night seemed to last forever. I couldn't sleep. I was worried about Connor, worried that Harm and Ethan would wake up and I wouldn't be there, worried about Ben. I called my Mom and she said she would be there in the morning. 5 am came and Ben headed home to be with Harmony and Ethan until our Moms came. A nurse poked her head in and asked if I would like to see Connor. Here was my little man, hooked up to so many tubes, in a little incubator. Guilt washed over me for all the bad feelings I had had. I prayed just please let him be ok. I picked him up and fed him and snuggled his little body. The nurses told me how sweet he had been all night. When I finally put him down, I went to my room and crashed.

He stayed in the hospital for a little less than a week. When he came home he was jaundiced but when we took him in again, he was fine.

I honestly think that the Lord knew I needed some help, because he blessed me with the sweetest & easiest baby. Connor was so easy to love and take care of.

So...how do I tell him? How do I tell him that he changed my life. That he wasn't wanted, but that I couldn't have lived with out him. He is so sweet, caring, fun, loving, funny, smart. Our lives just wouldn't be the same. Happy Birthday Connor, I am so glad that you are here.

3:23 am

Yes that is the time that I am blogging. Basically because I have spent the past few days getting a lot of sleep. By around noon on Wed. I started to feel just fine. Or maybe I had so much to do that I told myself I felt fine. Anyway, Thursday afternoon, I started to not feel well again. Friday morning woke up throwing up. I walked back to our bed and Ben came and cuddled with me. I fell back to sleep and slept pretty well. I tried to help Ben get the kids ready for school but it is hard when you can' t stand upright. My friend was able to drop off and pick Connor up from pre-school. Ben took care of Harmony and Ethan. Ben had concerns about me trying to take care of Ivan. He forgot his keys at home ( he had taken my van) and so decided to just come home so he could take care of me! Awwww so sweet. He did such a great job being Mr. Mom. He got Ivan dressed and took him to the store to get a birthday present, saltines, diapers, goody bag fillers and posterboard. He put Ivan down for a nap, and I slept too, and he went to a Dad's day lunch at the school with the big kids. He took care of Connor once he got home and than went to pick the kids up from school. He folded laundry, made dinner and just did everything he could to make sure I was taken care of. He is so sweet and thoughtful. Since I have basically slept for the past few days, I am awake and raring to go. I am feeling fine this morning and would love to have a huge breakfast but don't think that is such a good idea. I am just so grateful to have such a great husband. Sweet and thoughtful. He is my every day Valentine, not just on the 14th of Feb.He did tell me last night, " I hope you are feeling better tomorrow because I am not cut out for this stuff on a daily basis." :)

Holy picture flood, Batman!

OK a lot of updating. But it seems like that is just the way it happens sometimes! A few posts ago I was talking about Ethan and his " I don't want to wear handsome boy shoes to church" attitude. Well here is my lil' handsome dude!

H is for honor roll

Ben and I have decided that we will go broke if we ever decide to reward Harmony for good grades. Or if we buy her balloons and things for every honor roll program because she gets it every time! We are proud but still...we would go broke!

So what is the verdict? Do you think Harm was glad that her Dad could make it? Yeah I thought so!

Post office field trip

Connor went on a field trip yesterday, to check out the post office. And to send a very special "something" in the mail. The man who normally does it wasn't there, and so one of the other workers did it. Apparently, it has been a lot more exciting in other years! :) I thought it was pretty cool though! Can we say stacks of junk mail?! Anyway, Connor's favorite part, which I am sure everyone else's was, was to sit on the mail truck and get to honk the horn. It was so cold and rainy outside but I think it was worth the wait for him! Then we went back inside and each child got a bag with exactly .37 in it. Poor Ms. Skees had to count out all of the bags. For like 20 kids! But they all got to hand the worker their money and she gave them super hero stamps. Then he got to put the mail in the slot. Fun times!

EXCITING NEWS

...and no I am not pregnant! That was Susan's first guess. Ben called me this morning to check on how I was feeling and than said, "I have good news and I have bad news. Which do you want first?" I chose the bad. In which he responded, " Harmony is not going to be able to have her baptism at home.(We had thought about doing it in Oregon/WA)" I asked where she would be having it and he said...drumroll please...GUAM! We got our orders finally! Just when I thought I would be living in Norfolk for the rest of my life, we got our orders and we will be out of here! We are not sure of a time table or anything like that so that is still to come. I thought Ben said he had to be in Guam in June,but he said no he would be done here in June. We are feeling kind of, ok, extremely overwhelmed by all that we have to do but we are EXCITED! As I was getting gas in the freezing wind today I thought, "next Feb. I will be living on a tropical island"....awww can't wait!!

The Valentines Day curse

Last year, I dreaded the coming of V-day. Because my Valentine was a million miles away. I didn't want to spend my fav. day without the one person that I wanted to kiss on. So,in an attempt to avoid a pity party, I decided to see if some other "Navy widows" wanted to all go out to dinner. Heck, just because our husbands were gone, didn't mean that we had to be all by ourselves right? So since it fell on a Tuesday last year, I suggested a place where kids eat free on Tuesdays nights. Had a few people willing to join. Valentines Day morning I woke up feeling a little "not quite right". By the afternoon, I was on my couch with 3 shirts, sweats and a blanket. My neighbor Angie, who I always refer to as "my neighbor Angie" which I should stop doing because she was much more than that, ended up taking the kids for a little while so I could lay on the couch. That night I started throwing up. It was terrible. After that I was sick for a good couple of days.

Fast forward to yesterday...it was a busy one. I hardly sat down. Then I was heading home to eat some lunch and felt well a little iffy. But I just thought it was because I was hungry after running around. By 4:00 all I wanted to do was lay down. I did manage to get dinner made,but after 5:30 I didn't move from the couch. I did take a long hot bath but still not feeling well. Slept very poorly all night, and than spent the morning throwing up. Ben took care of the big kids, getting them where they needed to be. And me? I am feeling much better. Stomach is a little sore, but I think our going out to dinner tonight will probably be canceled. :( The curse strikes again!

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!!

pause button

Lately,it feels like my life is on fast forward. So many things to do and not enough time or energy to get them all done. I spent this morning trying to reclaim my house from the weekend. And I am not done. I have more to do. And miles to go before I sleep. Sometimes I wish I could just hit a pause button on my life, and say " I'll turn it back on, just let me catch my breath!" "Let me catch up on the laundry and the dishes and than I will push play again". However, this has never happened. Feb. is/has been insane. Busy almost every single day. Sometimes more than one thing. It is tiring. I'm tired. So I am taking just a teeny break before I have to finish laundry, make dinner, help kids with homework, unload the dishwasher etc. etc.

Ben has been talking about getting a table saw forever. And on Sat. the stars aligned and he went to Lowes and got one. However, with the lack of a garage, he has not been able to use it yet. Plus the weather has been pretty crappy! He has been so busy with work that I really missed him. I am glad it is winding down! He turns 29 next week! He's getting old! :)

Harmony had a great time at her Girl Scout Thinking Day on Saturday. She said she played games, made crafts, and had lunch. She is happy because she gets a patch just for coming! Tomorrow is her honor roll ceremony. I am sooo glad Ben will be able to come. He is usually deployed, so it will be nice for him to see her. She has to do a famous American project and has chosen Jackie Robinson. She informed me, that she wanted Ben to be the one to help her. I agreed to that very quickly!

When it comes to the boy's church clothes in the summer, I am pretty relaxed. It is hot here and the a/c in our building is hardly ever working. So it is usually polo's, khaki shorts and sandals. Ethan grew out of his sandals and his church shoes. But I have put off, and put it off buying him new church shoes. Ugh, I hated him going in his tennis shoes. I finally told him that we wer going to go and get him some new ones.He didn't want to because " I don't want to wear handsome boy clothes". I made him though and guess who was the first child dressed on Sunday? When he came home, he took his shoes off and put them back in the box. Guess it wasn't so bad being handsome!

Connor is getting very excited for his birthday party. It is a Cars party. Susan, had some leftover invitations from TJ's party, and so she sent them too me. Well there weren't enough so I had to go and get some more. I go to Target and they only come in pkgs of invites & thank you cards. Well I don't need the thank you cards because Susan sent me some. Ugh. So now I have to go and search tonight for just invites. Otherwise it is going to cost me $8 just to get invitations. I felt like Steve Martin in the Father of the Bride with the hot dogs and the buns!

Speaking of Cars, Ivan has learned a new word. McQueen. If you haven't seen Cars lately ( or don't have little kids around) the main car in the movie is called Lightning McQueen. He will now point at the dvd player in the car and say "mooie, McQueen". Yeah, totally cute.

I am still trying to keep up. I got a book like 2 weeks ago, still trying to get it read. I hate that! Anyway, I have to help kids with homework and writing Valentines. They want hot dogs and chips for dinner and I am all over that!

the smarty pants gene

I am not sure where it comes from, but I am so proud of my kids. I really am. They are not perfect. They drive me nuts a lot of the time. BUT, they are smart and they work hard. I went to a parent/teacher conference for Connor this morning. Yes, they have them for preschool. At first I really didn't think that was necessary, but than I figure, I am paying them almost $200 a month to teach my child, I want to know how he is doing. So I walk in, and Ms. Skees says to me, " I have nothing but good things to say about Connor. He is such a pleasure to have in class." Academically he is above where he needs to be, and his teachers feel he will have no problems in kindergarten. She said, he plays nicely with all the kids, he is polite, doesn't cause probelms and is just a well behaved little boy. Ms. Skees told me that I was doing a great job with him and to just keep it up. It is so nice to hear that sometimes! So I am way proud of him.

Harmony, recieved another straight A report card. So Tuesday we will be at another honor roll ceremony. I was teasing her, because when she brings home her work packets, I always look through them. BUT she always has 100% on everything. So I was teasing her that I wasn't even going to bother looking through it anymore. Yesterday, she was walking out of school to the car, and she had tons of stuff in her hands. She was the #1 reader in all of 2nd grade for AR. AR is a program where kids read books, take a test on it, and then earn points. She had the highest of anyone in her grade. So she had all sorts of prizes. I told her that I am so proud of her and all her hard work has paid off. She was like "what hard work? This stuff is easy." She's humble too.

I haven't had a conference with Ethan's teacher lately, but she did tell me something a while back. There is a boy in his class, who just hasn't learned all the letters. And it bugs Ethan. He is constantly telling Ms. McKnight that this kid bothers him because all he does is "scribble scrabble". So she made Ethan an "assistant teacher" and he helps this boy out with learning his letters. Too cute. He also scored really high on all of his testing. He hasn't really started reading yet but I need to work with him.

Ivan...well obviously he isn't in school. Ms. Skees said that it was too bad we were moving because she would have loved to have Ivan in class. I was like well that might be taking things a little too far! That kid is a wild one.

Anyway, now that I am done bragging, hopefully the spell will not be broken. Because that is what happens when you brag, something not very good happens, and you learn the " I shouldn't have bragged lesson". Oh well.

Ramblings are done. :)

Every week, Harmonys teacher sends home a packet of work that the kids did during the week. So I was cleaning out her backpack and found a piece of paper with a sentance on it. Not sure what the assignment was but it said...
" The best thing about girl scouts is that brothers are not allowed!"

'nough said!

so stinkin' cold

I went out this morning, to warm the car up. I grabbed some things to pack Ivan's bag for the Y and...his baby wipes were frozen. Completely frozen. The kids thought it was funny. I told them that it wouldn't be funny to them, if I was going to use those on THEIR bums. However, they have thawed out now. So Ivan is lucky. We cranked our electric blanket last night. Tonight we are supposed to get 1-2 in. of snow. I would love, love, love a snow day. I was very productive yesterday and would love another chance to not have to go out in the cold, dragging 4 kids with me. Productivity is good. Dragging 4 kids around in 26 degree weather is bad!

birthday pics

Happy Birthday to Ivan!! It is crazy to think how fast these two years went. Flew by really. We celebrated very quietly yesterday. While Ivan was taking a nap, Ben sneaked off to get his gifts. I frosted some cupcakes. He was opening his presents and Ben came in and cut off one of his curls.! :( I started crying. I know, I am lame. Ben thought I was crying because of the hair, but that wasn't why. It was because it hit me that this is our last baby. We have made the decision (99%) that we are done. And so having this little party, with his 1st haircut. It just hit me. No more babies. He is moving onto toddlerhood. Sigh. Of course, there are more things to look forward too. It just hit me. So anyway, here are a few pictures. Enjoy!

the mullet

Ugh. With Ivan's 2nd birthday came...the first hair cut. Ivan has pretty short hair on top,and what I hoped would turn into curls in the back, was getting really long. So I agreed that he could get his hair cut today. But now I am regretting it! He looks so big! :( So these are the before, during and after. I will post more b-day pics later tonight!

Thank you Grandma!!

The boys got their gift cards yesterday. Connor is very excited! Ivan was happy too. He held onto it all afternoon. Obviously he doesn't know what it is though! Ben wasn't home yet, but he thanks you also! Cute story...I had bought Harmony a Valentine t-shirt at Target, and than Ben, Connor and Ivan all recieved gift cards. However, Ethan didn't get anything. Connor told him, " don't worry Ethan. You can have Ivan's card!"

13 days to go....

Today is the 1st day of Feb., which means, 13 more days until my favorite holiday. Yes, unlike most people in this world, Valentines Day is my favorite holiday instead of Christmas. Shocking. Actually Christmas would rank 3rd. I love Christmas and what that holiday represents. But sometimes I just get caught up in the "wrong part", the gifts and stockings etc. My 2nd fav. holiday is Thanksgiving. Explanation time: Valentines Day is my favorite. I just love the whole idea of a day devoted to your loved ones. In this world, , we need a time to be all mushy, and lovey and ooey gooey. I know I am a romantic. And I know that plays in too it. But what other time can I kiss and love on my kids all day and I can say, " sorry guys, it's Valentines Day this is what you are supposed to do". And get away with it. But not only the kids, but with Ben. The love of my life. The divorce rate in this country is so high,and people don't seem to care about the sanctity of their marriage. It makes me ill. I know that the majority of the time, I take my wonderful marriage for granted, so why not have a whole day to let him know how much I love him?! So there it is. I love Valentines and will be counting down. I am going to go to Target and see if I can find some cute little Valentine decoration for the house.