Whirlwind Day

It's been a whirlwind day.

I was supposed to get my yearly physical this morning, but that changed when I got a call for work last night.

So, I took the girls to daycare and IC to school before heading to the High school for the day.

Then, it was picking the kids up at 3 at school, picking up E bunny at daycare and heading to York for makeup times at gymnastics since the kids will be busy Thursday and unable to go at their normal time.

Gymnastics night is always chaotic with changing clothes, keeping E from trouble, having IC do homework, run to Walmart for something to do during classes, etc.

We went to McDonald's for supper and then it was home-to crazy times of getting kids showered and into bed.

Now, I get to shower. Finally, a break.

On A Roll

I am so on a roll for scrapping some layouts-I'm thrilled! I know that this coming month of December will be absolutely crazy, according to what's on the schedule so far, so I am taking advantage of having a little time to work on scrapping, especially since I'm still scrapping from 2007!

And yes, my housework is behind, I need to work on a couple of Christmas costumes for the program at church and there are many events coming up, but they'll wait one more day-or so!

Just so you don't think I am slacking too much, I am working on laundry today, and I should be able to work on the costumes tonight-there really isn't too much to do for them. Actually, I had planned to clean the kitchen this afternoon, but E had a short nap (a good thing for tonight-she might go to bed at a good time, I hope!) and I was first trying to see what I could get for Miss A for her birthday. Since it's in January, I have to get her gift now, because there just isn't much on the shelves afterwards (learned that the first year!) She's a toughie this year,so I'm stumped right now.

Anyway, it only took me a couple of days to get this layout done, back when IC was 3 and wanted to teach 1 yo Miss A how to climb the stairs. I literally have to remind him that he used to like his sister!

Toe Fettish

Hee Hee-this was IC's fettish when he was 3. He could absolutely not stand lint in between his toes. He even went as far as to clean out Miss A's toes one day. It may have been 4 years ago, but I definately remember him doing this one day after the kids had been outside.

And yes, I did this LO this past week. Isn't that awesome? It doesn't take much to thrill me.

Saturday's Crazies

While I like to be at home, a change of pace from the craziness, the kids have been officially driving me nuts the past couple of days. They've been stir-crazy and it hasn't helped that IC lost his TV priviledge for the past 2 days, either.

We've even been outside-the weather has been so much warmer the past couple of days, unlike the beginning of the week, where it was freezing all day. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I'm still not-I find myself freezing a lot in the house, even when the house isn't that bad. I just haven't gotten warm yet, unusual for this hot-blooded girl!

So, today, there was a lot of naughtiness and getting in trouble-outside being the only time they actually behaved.

I did get the gift calenders and Christmas cards done and ordered, so I am ahead of the game there. I haven't figured out our family pictures yet, I'm thinking wait until after the Christmas rush.

Now, it's time to work on the accounting stuff that I'm behind on. I've worked on it steadily the last couple of days, but I'm still a few months left to go. I know, I should do it every month, then I wouldn't have to scurry through this right before tax planning.

Ah well.

Tree Decorating

This morning, I worked on the computer for a couple of hours before it was time to get the decorations up for decorating the Christmas tree. I'm sure it was the quickest I'd ever put the thing up. Last year, mom gave us her pre-lit tree, and it was so awesome to put up 3 pieces, fluff the branches, plug it in and whala! Tree up-awesome. Getting it decorated wasn't quite as easy, as the kids had to be reminded to not dig in the ornament box, help the girls hang stuff, rearrange some things to reduce the lopsided effect, etc.

I put up the kids' stockings and my snowmen collection and that was about it this year. It's just so much work to put it all away by yourself on New Year's Day.

The kids had fun and then proceeded to be bored the rest of the day. During E's nap, I got out a few things and let the older 2 do a little "shopping" from my gift stash. The kids did a name exchange among each other, plus we've already exchanged names for the J Christmas, in which we got 2 of our own kids (which is fine-I have plenty of stuff on hand for gifts). Miss A got IC and E's names and IC has Miss A and one of the nephews for Christmas. I will pick out a couple of things for E's names, as she has Miss A and IC's names, during her nap time next week, while Miss A is in school. (It will be much easier that way).

We got outside eventually this afternoon-a mild 46 degrees compared to the last several cold days. IC got to go with Daddy for a little while-a sure cure for his severe case of boredom today. I'm not sure what I'll do with him tomorrow if he was bored already today.

Should be interesting tomorrow, if I don't pull all my hair out first!

Thanksgiving Day

Well, we started this morning with a fever. E bunny woke with IC's respiratory crud yesterday and Miss A and I woke with a lesser version of it, also. While Miss A and I escaped a fever, E was not so lucky. I did get her temp to come down by dinnertime, but she didn't have much of an appetite today.

After dinner at my in-laws, the boys basically decided to play Monopoly-yuck, I don't like that game. Auntie E played a game with Miss A and E bunny for a short while and I looked through the in-law's store ads from their paper and did some Christmas gift thinking. Basically, I did very little.

After supper at home, the kids got Daddy to play Barbie with them for a little, until they got naughty-now I wish it was bedtime, but there's still an hour to go!

E is acting better tonight, but it will be up and down for a couple of days.

Yesterday, by the way, was good at the elementary school. I enjoyed working with the Kindergarteners.

Tomorrow we are home-and I will be shoving the kids out of door sometime during the day since they seem to have so much pent-up energy to spend today!

2 New Layouts

It's very satisfying to get 2 layouts done, I just wish that I was farther along in my kids' books. This is from 2007 and the last page didn't run off quite right, but you get the gist of it all.

The Start of Christmas . . . . . . .

It's beginning to sound like Christmas . . . well, kind of.

The girls requested Jingle Bells on their music CD player tonight. So, I had to search in the store room for the CDs.

I also have drug out the tree lights so that I could see if they still worked. Only 1/2 of some of the strands work. While JJ would want me to go through each one to replace lights to see if they can be fixed, I don't want to. The last time I did that, it was a waste of time, as I never did figure out why the strand only 1/2 lit.

I'm thinking new strands. I think several of the strands I have were mom's previously and I believe most have lived for quite a long time.

I sorted through my gift stash and won't have to purchase hardly anything for the kids-maybe 1 gift a piece. I even have something for JJ that I forgot I had, so that will work out well, also.

He actually asked me today what I wanted for Christmas and I told him 2 things that aren't cheap. He never gets me anything for my birthday, he can spend a little on me for Christmas, in my opinion.

This evening, before showers and supper, the kids were outside for a little bit. It was cold today, but the girls and I took the gourds and pumpkins that were still on the porch and put them on the burn pile in the garden. It's a couple of days early, but I think we are all ready for Christmas to be here. The kids are excited about putting the tree up (hence why I checked the lights today!) the day after Thanksgiving.

We have to have something to do on Friday since there's no school, and it's our tradition. It will be fun and rather interesting will E bunny helping this year.

Change of Plans and Other Musings

Well, my plans got waylaid this morning. IC woke this morning with his respiratory stuff, but a bit of a temp, too. 100 degrees is the cutoff for school, but since this was at 7 am, there's a chance it will be higher later on. So, rather than taking him to school, only to turn around and go back and end up with dirty looks from people for sending a sick child to school, we're staying home today.

He's sick, but not terribly, so hopefully, he'll not have a temp tomorrow and can go back without a problem. We'll have to miss scouts tonight, hopefully, it won't be anything too big to deal with.

JJ's going to the neighbor's machinery sale for part of the day, but has promised to be in by 6 pm so that I can take Miss A to dance without having to drag a sick IC and a bored E bunny.

So, my grocery shopping will have to wait one more day, and my ideas for Creations crafts, taking care of the kids' packs at church and deciding about S.S. chairs with the church secretary.

We have the short kid chairs in our Sunday School and the other class that has them also is the preschoolers. Well, the preschool teacher keeps coming in and taking our chairs. She has a large class, but has the general attitude that what she wants, she can have, so she's taken several of our chairs, making us have to borrow adult folding chairs, which don't fit well under a short kids' table, so now I get to order us some new ones, if they aren't too expensive. But it will wait another day.

Yesterday, at S.S. went fine for teaching, other than there wasn't anyone to watch E bunny in the nursery, so I had to deal with her while I tried to teach. The S.S. Superintendent saw that it was rather difficult and said he hoped to get more people lined up so I could teach in peace. Apparently, the older kids don't want to do it-they get paid pretty good for an hour's work, so I don't know why they don't want to do it (they have a different S.S. schedule than the rest of the kids).

I did get 2 layouts done yesterday also, although I cheated and used two previously made layouts from previous scrapping classes, filling them in with pictures. So really, I didn't go all out-but I still got something accomplished!

So, anyway, my plans to go through the Christmas present stash today is also put on hold, since IC is home. Hopefully, I can get to it tomorrow (before Black Friday) so I know what for sure I'd like to get.

Now, to come up with plan B: there's ALWAYS laundry, I should probably do some cleaning (didn't get it done last week), and maybe I'll sneak another layout in-or at least get on started.

I will have to pick Miss A up from school today, I don't want to send her alone on the big yellow bus and I'd better see about getting E bunny up out of bed and moving.

Time to get to work!

Respite Needed Today

Hopefully, today can be a day of rest and respite. IC woke with the respiratory crud this morning-you can hear him barking a mile away.

JJ said he would be back from chores to stay with IC while I drag the girls to S.S., church and my after-church meeting.

I am planning to do some scrapping this afternoon to try and relax some, though I've thought about working on the calenders for Christmas, too.

Either way, I have to do something enjoyable this afternoon, as my attitude is severly in the tank, which is not a good way to start the day, much less teach S.S.

I have decided not to teach next year, though I definately will not be attending the young people's S.S. class ever again. Ugh. Talk about some major snooty attitudes in there. I'm not great or popular, but wow, even JJ didn't get a hello when he walked into that room the other day.

I like to do the background stuff, rather than the teaching, I'm much better at that. Well, it's off to S.S., and I need to see where JJ is so we can leave.

Cold Icky Day

It was a bitter windy cold day here on the plains as I took my mom and my three hooligans to York for some needed shopping. We hit the Western store, the Goodwill (everyday jeans for both of us) and of course, Wal-mart.

I was able to get both the girls and mine hair cuts and mom was able to get Christmas gifts for the kids, which made her happy.

I mostly got things we were low on and stuff, but it was a good trip. Except for Miss A, who was pretty naughty today.

Mom asked if IC went through this and I do remember him being a real pill right around her age. I think I remember it because I was thinking he should be better acting since he was now old enough to know better, but that he was almost worse than Miss A, who was 2 at the time.

So, Miss A is now in the naughty stage when in public-it's just wonderful (insert sarcastic tone here).

After we got home, I let the kids watch Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving special that JJ taped by accident on Thursday (we missed it otherwise) while I put the supplies away and ran a couple loads of laundry. Miss A did something to her coat, and I prefer to not try to figure out what's on it-just know it's groady-looking.

Tonight, the game is on TV, so I need to get cleaned up, my duties caught up and supper done so we can watch a little TV while we play a game or 2 tonight, probably Yahtzee, as IC really likes that game.

I'm perfectly happy to be inside, it's supposed to possibly get drizzly tonight, which means ice in the morning, which means driving carefully to church, since I have to teach tomorrow. Yuck. I wouldn't mind calling in sick, but I won't-I'll need that excuse at a later date, since the kids haven't come down with anything for awhile. Our time is coming.

Christmas Gift Thoughts

I have officially started the "Christmas search". This is when I hit the internet, looking for gifts )and their prices) for the kids.

IC is really easy this year-he wants an Nintendo DS. Although JJ isn't thrilled, if IC gets one, then he can give E bunny his leapster and the girls won't have to fight over them anymore. And, I have found some educational games for the thing, which is good. This gives me a better reason to give JJ for giving one to IC. I gave ideas to relatives for board games, legos and so on. He's old enough to know exactly what he likes.

Miss A, on the other hand, is in that stage where she likes stuff, but it's a little of this and that. She loves most anything with little pieces, still. And any girlie stuff that's pink. The main problem is that we have a LOT of girlie pink stuff with little pieces. I have a lot of Barbie stuff on hand from previous years, because she's got a little Barbie house, so she'll probably get some of that stuff this year, much to JJ's chagrin.

E bunny is in the stage of too big for baby stuff, a little young for big girl stuff, but she plays with Miss A's stuff anyway. When she plays with Miss A's little pieces, she likes to "hide" them sometimes (mostly to annoy Miss A, I think). I am still a little nervous with her having little pieces, but the past few times she's done ok with them. She's almost 3, going on 10 anyway, so she might also get some of that Barbie stuff. She loves playing babies and kitchen, much more than Miss A does. Of course, JJ thinks the girls have too many dolls-there's 7 or so between them. I had another mom ask me one time if that was all they had! She will be a little harder for me to find gifts for, I think.

For most of my other relatives (and the teachers), I have plans, except the dads (and that's because JJ lost my saw blades I was going to paint). Oh, right, they're not lost, just misplaced!

My first plan now is to check my stash and see what I need to buy, except that will have to wait until nap time Monday, since Miss A doesn't have school today. I know I've already got a few things for Christmas for each of the kids. I actually have a book for JJ, and will be adding a couple of things to that. The hard part will be figuring out what the kids can give him. I'll probably have to ask him what tools he needs, as that or fishing stuff is what the kids like to give him.

My next plan is to hit the internet the day after Thanksgiving for black Friday sales. That is one day I refuse to go shopping in Lincoln or anywhere. Ugh-the crowds are too awful!

So, I feel better that I have a plan-now we'll see what changes before Christmas day!

Growing Up and That Nagging Guilt

As I am getting ready for another busy evening with picking the kids up from school, driving to York for a back appointment, then running around town while first Miss A and then IC have gymnastics, I realize I STILL haven't scrapbooked this week.

Or for the past 2 months.

At all.

I don't like that.

At all.

My schedule just seems to be so busy, and I only have one in school, so far! Most likely, next year and each subsequent year after that, may get worse.

I honestly think I'm too busy sometimes, yet I am not near as busy as others I've seen.

At this time, I can not imagine working 5 days a week, plus taxi-driving kids to various activities. I'm too much of a homebody for that.

Although, there are days when I REALLY want to get out of the house and away, I still enjoy being at home a lot of the time.

Now, that's not to say, that I want to either drop all of my kids' activities or pull them out to homeschool them.

I actually look forward to the kids being in school.

This is actually sort of opposite of how I used to feel, pre-baby and pre-marriage.

I embraced the decision we made when IC was born at being at home with my kids.

I just wish I was better at it.

Being an only child, I find it hard sometimes to play with my kids. I played by myself my whole life, having very few friends to play with. Now, I find it hard sometimes to play with my children.

I guess I thought I'd love every minute of it.

I have changed my thinking from that pre-baby era quite a lot in the past 7 years on quite a lot subjects, actually.

I guess that's all part of growing up.

Just sometimes, those lofty dreams you thought you have come true and don't, can make a pretty big guilt trip on your conscience.

But, I am learning daily to take it one day at a time, admit my mistakes to my kids, and am trying to slow down a little bit.

Oh, and probably just have to actual write down on the schedule to scrapbook. I need to make some time for me without the chores and duties of the day.

AND not feel guilty about it.

In Technology's Face!

Ok, it's extreme, but I had a rough Monday with the internet not working on my laptop and THEN my facebook account being de-activated.

So, I reset my settings on my laptop and now the internet works - awesome, as even JJ couldn't figure out what to do. He used to be the computer geek of the family, but he's losing his touch and is getting out of practice, I guess.

Yesterday, I couldn't figure out what to do about my facebook account, as I was accused of impersonating myself. Yeah, figure that one out. When I got a denial emailed this morning, I was ticked and sent an email to some friends about it.

One said I'd been hacked. Lovely. Just what I need. Another said I was still on facebook and wrote on my wall, which sent me a link, which I clicked on and got in right away. So, I quickly changed my password, and am now back in business, at least for awhile.

Ugh. Technology is good, sometimes, and other times, I could leave it at the side of the road!

So, yesterday, after we had an early dinner for Miss A, IC decided he was healthy enough to eat candy, to which I said, you are going to school. So, I took him back at noon and dropped Miss A off, and E and I went home and well, wasted the afternoon away.

It was wonderful. I got to sit and read my novel the whole afternoon while E took a nap. IC didn't have any more homework than usual. In fact, I asked his teacher if in the future when he's sick a whole day if I need to pick up homework and she said I probably wouldn't need to worry much. That day, he got 3 reading papers made up in 10 minutes!

You do realize that boy is going to be smarter than me someday, right?

I spoke to the speech therapist yesterday also and it seems Miss A will be re-evaluated after Thanksgiving and it looks as if she will be "testing out" of therapy and will be considered a peer in January! The only downside is that I will have to take her to school 4 days a week, but it's ok, I am glad she has improved so much. At least, we don't live far from town, so it's not a big deal, anyway.

In addition, I was asked to sub next Wednesday for a para in the Kindergarten class for 4 hours. The secretary thought that this will be a good way to get started and get to know what to do in the elementary school. I am excited! So far, I've only worked in the high school, so this will be a good change of pace. The kids get out that day at 1:10 anyway for vacation, so Miss A won't have class at all. Mom thinks she can babysit that morning so that the girls don't have to go to daycare again this month, as they've already been there twice.

They like daycare, but my pocketbook doesn't!

IC and I delivered a lot of his popcorn on Monday while Miss A was in dance, so now, I am hoping to get the rest done by Saturday, if we can just get some people to be at home!

Today is Creations after school and tomorrow is gymnastics. Friday is free, yea! And Saturday is taking my mom to York so she can get some winter stuff for Dad, and of course, we will HAVE to go to Walmart!

Now, I need to be thinking about Christmas presents-ugh. I have a few things pre-bought for the kids, so I'll need to sort and see what to give where and what I'll need to add.

The hardest will be my dad and FIL, as what I had planned originally is not going to happen. JJ's got some old circular saw blades and I needed them steel wooled, which he could do a lot easier on the grinder than by hand. Well, he made the mistake of taking them out to the shop and now they are misplaced in the abyss. I was not happy, as it seems anything I need done either gets misplaced or forgotten. I also have a shelf that's not done and a drawer that needs fixed.

I suppose with even the yucky wet weather today, he still won't get anything done for me. I guess I need to figure out how to run the grinder and how to put together a wooden shelf!

The only way to get things done is to do it yourself, right? You'd think I'd have learned that after nearly 10 years!

Game On

Apparently, I was not meant to have a day off today.

Since I worked yesterday, I thought maybe today I would get to have a more relaxing day to recouperate from multiple birthday parties and stresses.

But I guess not.

My laptop has been very nasty lately, not allowing me to get on the internet, which makes putting pictures on the blog much more involved since I had to get the pictures ready, put them on my USB port, go over to the main computer and do it from there. Extra steps=extra time wasted on that.

Plus, when I wanted to look something up on Internet, I couldn't use my laptop and when JJ is on the other computer, well, you get it, I'm sure.

To top it off this morning, I can't get onto Facebook because my account's been deactivated. Something about using a fake name. Uh, this happens to be my name and I've been using it for quite awhile now. UGH.

Thirdly, IC decided he didn't feel good this am.

Of course not. He's not sick enough to be sick sick, but not well enough to go to school, supposedly. Last time I sent him to school in this condition, it turned out he really was sick and I had to go get him from school.

So, I let him stay home. I declared war both on the computer and facebook and reset my computer and sent in my info to facebook.

IC's doing very well, the computer is back to working and I haven't heard from facebook yet.

Ugh, is it time for bed yet, because apparently, I need to return to mine. Things were just fine before I got up this morning!

IC Party #2

So, today was IC's family party. He recieved mostly legos, which he was thrilled with. He then spent most of the rest of the afternoon putting various things together.

It was our normal thing of presents, cake and ice cream and visiting. The girls were all obnoxious (my niece included) and LOUD. Ugh. I still have a headache!

The last ones to leave were my parents and this was quite the scene for me. Before they left, IC convinced my mom to play bowling on the Wii. My mom, the electronic illiterate, tried her hand at the Wii. I don't think they'd played a full game, but it was definately interesting for a little while!

After everyone was gone and JJ and I had finished chores, it was inside for the night. We played a couple hands of Yahtzee, IC's new game (he loves math and numbers) before breaking out the Bolt movie to finish off the evening.

I unexpectantly got a call to work for a gal at the high school tomorrow, so I will be doing that instead of my always piled up laundry. I really didn't have a plan to do much else, anyway, as I am worn out from the past week's work and this big weekend.

So, I'll wait until Tuesday to maybe work on a layout or 2-I am determined to scrapbook this week. A well-deserved break, I think, before it's time to do some heavy-duty Christmas thinking. We exchanged names for the kids tonight and we got 2 of our own-this is fine with me, at least I know what they like!

IC's First Boy/Girl Friend Birthday Party

Homemade Bowling.

Pinata Fun!

Gift Time.

Barn Time.

Swing Time.

Waiting For Parents Time.

It was a wild, but pretty good party today. It took me all morning after I'd dropped the kids off at my MIL's to get things straightened and the party all set up, but I was done about 45 minutes before it started.

All but one of IC's invitees showed, so it was a full house. And they were wild. Wow. In between activities, the kids would wrestle-even the girls got involved!

We started with bowling, using a couple of our soft balls and empty water bottles, and then moved onto a short race of balancing/bouncing a balloon on a lightsaber from one end of the room to the other.

Next, it was pop a balloon and find a picture of a star wars person, whom then they went and searched for upstairs, as I'd set out various figures in places to find. After they brought me their figure, then I gave them their treat bags for the pinata (the pull string kind).

Then, IC opened his gifts-he recieved several small (generic) lego sets, a Webkinz moose, a Kung Zhu pet, a dragon puppet thing, and a gift certificate for a free admission to the movie theater.

Then, it was on to eating soda pop floats, and various crackers and popcorn.

We ended up eating a 1/2 hour earlier than I'd hoped, but they ended up being outside afterward, visiting the barn twice, playing on the swing set, shooting the basketball, plus the actual outside game we'd planned which was the bean bag game. There was also a on-the-spot game JJ came up with of balancing the bean bag on their head and having a race.

At least, the sun was out part of the time. It was chilly, but not unbearable and muddy, but solid in most places. It was doable.

I think the kids had fun, but now, JJ and I are in crash mode. Glad that's done. Tomorrow's family party will be a piece of cake!

I'd Panic if I wasn't too tired to think about it . . . . .

It's the day before the big weekend, ugh. I spent all day doing laundry, all morning cleaning the house and all afternoon finishing IC's birthday cake and yes, I didn't put a lot of effort into it, but he was ok with it.

I've been working on this cake for 2 days, as yesterday, the first cake I made flopped right in the middle of the cake. Why one section stuck to the pan while the rest of it came out just fine, I'll never know, as it was all prepped the same. So, yesterday, I made one layer and this afternoon, baked the other layer and got it all frosted by the time IC came home from school. The red icing looks more pink and the black icing more purple, but it's done and I hope it holds up through Sunday, as I used canned icing instead of the normal buttercream icing (IC's request).

IC's cupcakes held out fine at school today, and he got a pencil and piece of gum from his teacher.

Now, while inside things did pretty well, today's outside was miserable-cold, dreary and sprinkley all day. Yuck-you'd think it was fall or something! And yes, IC's party guaranteed it was going to be yucky this weekend.

The rain is supposed to quit by tomorrow, but it's supposed to be cold. We'll have to do all but one of the games inside and the outside game will have to be in the garage (which I swept out tonight). It'll work. Nine 1st graders. Sigh. Wish me luck (and strength!)

Happy 7th Birthday Bud!

IC received a Star Wars ship this morning before school-specifically Anakin's Jedi fighter, along with Anakin and R2D2.

A pretty good start to his day, I think.

First Scout Awards

IC received his very first scout pin and 2 scout buckles at last night's scout pack meeting. These he earned at the campout a few weeks back. Pretty cool.

3 Days to Go

It's only 3 days until the big party day.

And yes, I'm tired.

Yesterday, I got the whole house dusted.

And yes, it already is dusty. I can dust and in 10 minutes, there's more there.

Which is why I refuse to dust weekly.

I really didn't get much accomplished today, just a couple of little things.

Oh, and more laundry.

I swear, the dirty clothes multiply at night when we are all in bed.

But anyway, tomorrow is a big day-baking cupcakes for IC's class on Friday and some of the regular cleaning, and working on getting the party games kinda ready.

It looks as if it might be cold Saturday.

Of course, it was a BEAUTIFUL 70 degrees LAST Saturday, we couldn't possibly hope for that THIS weekend.

I know, it's November, but still, it'd have been a lot easier to have the party mostly outside.

It will all work out-I keep telling myself minute by minute.

And I'm thinking this will be a once-in-a-lifetime event for IC!

Starting the countdown to the Big Weekend

It's going to be a tough week this week. Not only do we seem to have EVERYTHING going on this week- 2 scout meetings, dance, gymnastics, I also have a TON of things on my list to get done.

Oh, and by the way, IC's birthday parties are this week!

Hence, the reason for the seemingly thousands of things on my list to do this week.

We'll just have to take it one day at a time.

First up: Miss A got to have a playdate with the pastor's youngest daughter. After 2 hours, she was brought home and the first thing I heard was: when can I have another playdate? Unfortunately, E did not sleep the whole time she was gone, thus, my plans got waylaid and not done.

Saturday, the kids went to mom's and I was able to put 2 coats on the bean bag boards and sew the bean bags together, ready for filling with corn. I also filled the pinata-it's rather heavy when it's full of stuff!

Yesterday, I was able to finish painting the bean bag boards for the party and even made a place to hang them up on the wall (by myself, mind you!) with hooks that JJ's had in his stash for years with plans to hang things on the garage wall someday.

Since there were several hooks, I took it upon myself to hang IC's scooter, the baseball tee and the girls' push lawn mower, freeing up limited space in the garage. There's still hooks left, so one of these days I might put a few more into use!

I also filled the bean bags with corn. Corn for me is free and plentiful, and actually, the directions on the internet I found was for corn hole, an actual game that tailgaters play with corn filled bean bags.

Today: It took all afternoon and part of tonight, but I FINALLY got the bean bags sewed-two layers-a liner bag and the outside bag and I did 12 of them.

Yes, my back hurts from bending over the sewing machine.

I also think I've got the games planned for the party, I just need to check through the schedule again and get it in my mind.

This evening, in between sewing gigs, I took Miss A to dance, took IC to scouts, then went back and picked up Miss A and back to scouts.

And yes, I had to drag E along. She did well.

Miss A got her dance costume tonight. It's cuter than the picture, because the instructor had to change it when she ordered, as the other one she wanted wasn't going to arrive in time. This was fine by me. The other outfit was pink w/huge white polka dots and in my opinion, UGLY. Yuck.

This one is much cuter, a black bodice with white polka dots and a red sash. It's pretty cute. It reminds me of Minnie Mouse in red, but it's a lot better than the other one.

So, now it's time for bed and tomorrow will be full of things to do.

A Good Day

I didn't get anything fun done today, BUT -

I got the bean bags for IC's game sewed and ready to fill.

I got 3 loads of laundry done.

I bought an anniversary gift for JJ.

I got 2 coats of paint on the bean bag boards.

I helped IC get his scout scrapbook pages done.

I had 3/4 of a day away from the kids.

I'd say, it was a pretty good day.

Oh, and the Huskers won in overtime. Whoot!

Daily Conversing

Miss A: "Mom, when I turn 7, I want a pinesta."

Me: "We'll worry ab0ut that when it's time."

IC: "It's called a PINATA!"

Such is the exciting conversations I have daily.

Tomorrow's Goal: Fun

I'm beginning to wonder about me.

Normally, I'm all hustle and bustle, trying to get tons of things done in a small amount of time.

Not this week.

After being gone Monday nite, working Tues and Wed, and being gone all afternoon yesterday, I have the ambition of a gnat this morning.

I ran a couple of errands this morning before the girls and I came home and I let them watch cartoons on TV.

I should have been working, but all I've managed so far is to run a couple of photos off for IC's scrapbook (and still have several to go) and sit at the computer and delete 3 days worth of emails that were clogging up things.

In a short amount of time, I will have to start dinner and then the morning is gone.

And I've got nothing to show for it.

Miss A did get a call for a playdate this afternoon while E takes a nap, so hopefully, I can get something done.

Underline and emphasize that hopefully word, would you? Because right now, I'd rather curl up with a good book on the couch and waste the day away.

I found out last night my art class for tomorrow was cancelled. That bummed me. Big time.

The kids are still going to mom's, but I really wanted to do art because if I'm not away from the house doing it, I'll probably end up working on other stuff instead of art stuff or scrapping stuff. I always feel too guilty about the ton of work to do, but maybe I'll just close my eyes to it tomorrow and work on something fun.

That's the goal, at least.

Christmas Dresses and Photo Shoots

I'm a little behind today - 2 days of work kinda messed up my home schedule, so basically the main thing I worked on today was laundry.

I picked the kids up from school and went to the health fair at the fairgrounds this afternoon and IC won a soccer ball in a drawing-I thought that was pretty cool!

After that, we headed to gymnastics and my ritual of running to Wal-mart while the kids were in class. I did find the girls a simple dress that I think I will use as their Christmas dresses. They were much cheaper at $12 a piece rather than the $18 a piece the actual "Christmas" dresses are. I kinda don't like those "Christmas" dresses, as they are always kinda frilly and short sleeved.

Hello? It's winter time here on the plains and colder than a bear at Christmas. Short sleeves just drive me crazy on those velour dresses!

So, I decided to get regular dresses the girls could easily wear all winter with LONG sleeves and they are red with silver hearts and little scarves to go around their neck. They're actually kinda cute, I think. And the girls liked them-so we're doing good.

I'd like to have a nice family picture this year around Christmas, as it's JJ and my 10th anniversary, but I'm not sure when we'll do it. We might have to wait until after Christmas, just so we don't have to wait in the photo place for 2 hours! Ugh, you'd think photo places would either employ more people during the holidays or not overbook the schedule.

As for IC, I just might be cheap and let him just wear the same shirt I got him last year for Christmas-unless it doesn't fit. The way that boy grows-yikes, he'll be taller than me before 4th grade!

Tomorrow, it's home time-finishing laundry and getting pictures ran off for IC's scout scrapbook, that's due to be started by Monday's meeting. Plus, there's get things figured out for IC's kid party next Saturday and finish sewing the bean bags for one of the games. I think I'll skip cleaning the house until next week and my art class got cancelled for Sat, but the kids still want to go to Grandmas, so I just might have let them go and have a day to myself.

What an awesome way to end the week!

Work Day #2

It's been another whirlwind of a day as I find time to sit at 8:30 at night.

First, dropping the girls off at daycare and IC at school, and then spending the day at work was busy enough. It was another good day at work-I like it. There's parts that are kinda boring, but that has been the case in every job that I've ever had, so that's normal. And the kids that I work with, have really accepted me, that's what actually surprises me. So, after work, quick picked up E from daycare at 3 pm before meeting Miss A at school. Then, I helped at the school with Creations, in which we didn't leave until after 5 today.

By the time I got home, got the kids cleaned up, the car stuff unloaded and partially put away, myself cleaned up and supper made, it was nearly time for choir practice.

So, here I am, after that, which ran late and then I was brainstorming w/another person on our Christmas program delimma before I finally got to go home.

Of course, there's work to do, but it may just have to wait until tomorrow, which is, in itself, ANOTHER busy day.

Work, Day 1

I have to admit, I won't be winning best mother of the year award anytime soon. Tonight's supper? Cereal. Seriously. I was stumped, tired of kids complaining about the food and tired of the limited choices. So, we had cereal and popcorn for dessert. Yep, it was pathetic, I know. I'm very tired tonight.

Work at the high school was good. I had a couple bouts of uncertainty, but bumbled through them. I am so grateful that the kids I work with are helpful and behave fairly well, or I'd never make it through the day.

I got a review in basic chemistry in one class, basic English in another, and was actually told how appreciative people were that I was there.

That was really nice. Really.

After work, I ran a couple of errands, since mom was watching the kids, including voting, since I pretty much forgot about that until we happen to drive by the fairgrounds this afternoon and saw the cars all parked out there.

Then, it was home to relieve mom, do chores, and sand the bean bag boards for IC's party. JJ took a little time to cut out the holes, so now all I have to do is paint them.

The water well guy came today and took care of the water line for the livestock tank, so now it's all ready for JJ to get the cement forms up, have the truck come out with cement to pour and after that, he'll be able to move the used (new to us) tank in.

At least, it looks to get done before it's winter and the cows come back home!

Of course, JJ had a church meeting tonight, so I am putting kids to bed myself. After that, it's get things ready for tomorrow's work day, empty the dishwasher and put away mountains of laundry (at least it's clean!).

Since the girls have to go to daycare tomorrow, I have to get their things ready tonight, as there won't be much time to get things around in the morning.

I am glad I don't have a full-time job out of the home at this time. It's a lot of work to get things done in the evenings after a full day of work and you are tired. Of course, it would also help if E would go to bed at a decent time and both of the girls would stay in their beds all night.

Lately, they've been taking turns coming downstairs in the wee morning hours to attempt to sleep in our bed. Ugh. One night, BOTH of them tried to do that at different hours!

Now, it's bedtime and the work starts again!

Direct quote between E bunny and Daddy

"Daddy, can sit on my lap?"

"No, but you can sit on mine"

(This is a common comment about 10 times a day!)

Busy, As Always

It may turn out to be one of "those" weeks. While I already have 2 baskets of laundry to fold from the other day, I added 3 more today! With IC's party only 2 weeks away, I have GOT to get the thing planned out so I know what I am doing, finish making the corn bean bags and get IC to work on his scout homework.

To add to the fun, I finally get to work-2 days in a row this week!

There's also some art stuff to get ready for Saturday, I never did get the floors in the kitchen mopped yet from last week (it's kinda eww in spots) and various things have malfunctioned - the vacuum is plugged AGAIN and the tub drain is vveerryy ssllooww AGAIN.

Sigh.

Time for bedtime stories, mountains of laundry (at least it's clean!) and getting JJ to look at my laptop to see why it's giving me grief also this week.

Chore Time Layout

I have been staring at this layout for quite some time now. I am trying to finish the journaling on it, but I never seem to take a few minutes to find the date of the picture or figure out what to write. I started it, but it's not done yet. The rest of it is done, though. This is another of those "lost" layouts. And the rest of the pile still stares at me daily. It will get done! Eventually.