Counting time...

Has anyone noticed when we get older we refer to our ages differently?

While we're in utero, our mothers referred to our age in weeks.

While we are babies, our mothers referred to our age in months.

While we are younger we refer to our age in years.

When we get older we just round to the decades, "I'm in my sixties now."

November is NaBloPoMo

Fussy has decided to start a blogging revolution if you will. A post a day... for an entire month. What an accomplishment.

I ran to sign up. Just the kick in the butt I needed right? DOH! Then I remembered that I would be gone for a week to no internet-connection-land.

So - I will do my best to rise to the challenge.

But I like wookies. Wookies are bad ass. Not quite Yoda Bad Ass but Bad Ass nonetheless.

Halloween TV

The planets have aligned (sick baby that demanded cuddling, migraine headache and lack of sleep all around) so that I have had to employ the great electronic babysitter to watch Anna yesterday. The almighty TV. Anna perched on the bottom of my new recliner to watch hours and hours of TV yesterday. Ok - I know... bad mommy. Whatever. I tried to read her books, but she doesn't have much patience for that.

I have a lot to say about the parenting on kids shows, it's just kind of hard to tell you after I just admitted that I let my 2 year old watch approximately 3 times the recommended amount of tv (and we all parent by strictly adhering to what the experts say, right???). That's not even really true, because there are actual people, with degrees mind you, that have said zero screen time for kids 2 and under. Yeah - I don't think so. Anna loves her some Dora, HI-5 and Little Einsteins.

I know I'm expected to suspend belief in watching children's programming - but some things just bug me!

So - who the hell lets their 6 year olds out till midnight on Halloween? Dora's parent's - that's who. SERIOUSLY. Mami and Papi Explorer - CPS is coming for you. A monkey is not an appropriate babysitter either, they eat poop. And she didn't even go home at midnight. That little delinquent was just getting the monster party started at midnight.

I can NOT be the only adult watching Handy Manny and not laughing their ass off, right? I know Wilmer Valderrama is involved with the show (well, he IS Handy Manny)-so I don't think I'm just reading too much into it - but there are some interesting word choices. I mean come on - this grown man is just wondering around town with a bunch of "tools" all day. He's constantly using his little tape measurer, "Stretch" to talk about 6 inch peices of wood.

Speaking of children's programming - we are Steve people. On Blue's Clues we have noticed that people are either Joe people or Steve people. I think it has a lot to do with when Blue's Clues was introduced into your house. Anna shocked us all the other day when she incorrectly called Steve, "Joe". Uh uh , she didn't!!!! I made sure to clear that up for her lickety split. We watched 2 episodes in a row with Steve just to make sure she got the point.

Ok - one last note - in the Halloween Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode, Mickey and gang needed to get to Pete's party by the full moon, they start out with a crescent moon. I'd like to know who gets dressed up for Halloween and spends almost a lunar month traveling to a party.

Happy Halloweiner!

My mom used to send out these cards for holidays, birthday's etc... that weren't funny - but PUNNY. Like "If you are happy and you know it" on the outside and then on the inside of the card "clamp your hams" (and a picture of a ham with a clamp on it.

Punny, right?

Well - the classic was the Halloween card with the Daschund dressed as a vampire on the front with the punch line... "Happy Hallo-weiner." For the better part of 10 years this card has been exchanged (new one each year- we're not organized enough to recycle the old one again and again) each Halloween.

So - to all of you today.... Happy Hallo-weiner

It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown....

Anna has finally mastered her first putdown. She has been calling Julia a "blockhead" all day. I have tried not to laugh as I explain to her that mean words aren't nice and we don't use them... but it's pretty funny.

Imagine this little girl yelling at her bossy older sister, "No, Julia, I don't want to. You blockhead!"

Lucy would be proud. I'm glad we won't be watching this movie again until next year.

Pumpkins

Here are my 3 lil pumpkins.

We had a beautiful day here, windy, but beautiful.

The girls had a blast picking out their pumpkins, and we had a blast watching them.

Oh NO!

It's so dark here! I couldn't believe it when the sun was behind the houses by 4:30pm. It was completely dark and we could put out our Luminarias by 5pm. It's Luminaria night for Julia's school - they sell Luminarias as a fundraiser to the community and then have a night where they urge everyone to put them out.

It was way too windy (as in 30 mph winds) to put them outside. We tried on the porch and tried on the ground, but the wind just picked them up and threw them around. These are heavy duty Luminarias too - with the base filled with water.

So - the Luminaria's are in the windows in the house. I bought a bunch of those battery operated tea lights on clearance at Target this week - so I don't even have to worry about fire.

Kelly at Missing JT Snow has us asking our kids some questions...

Here are Julia's answers.

1. When is Halloween? On Tuesday

2. What do we do on Halloween? We go trick or treating

3. Why do we celebrate Halloween? Cause it's about Halloween and that all I have to say

4. What happens on Halloween? Every ghost, monster and pumpkin comes out and you can pick pumpkins.

5. Why do we wear costumes? Cause we just do

6. What do you get on Halloween? Candy!!

Could NOT be cuter

Right???? Sorry - it's a pic of a pic. She's cute though - precious even. Her very first school picture!

Xmas

Christmas came early to the Dough house this year... I finally got my recliner (after 5 years of wanting one), and Dan finally got an ipod. So far - so good - although Dan's ipod is pissing us off. It won't play anything that had album art... annoying.

So - in the spirit of music being re-introduced to our home, I bring you a list (long and drawn out) of music that moves me... think of this as the giant mix (you know I'm famous for my mixes, kids - back in the hey day it was a true sign of my genuine affection for ya if you got one of my mixes...).

In NO particular order....

- All I know - Jimmy Webb
- Bamboleo - Gipsy Kings
- Pearl Jam's Ten Album (Black is one of my favorite all time), Rearview Mirror, Daughter and Yellow Ledbetter are other major faves
- Best of You - Foo Fighters
- Elvii (my love name for Elvis) - just about it all - but "Are You Lonesome Tonight" is super special
- Colorblind and Anna Begins (where we named Anna from) from Counting Crows
- Daniel, Tiny Dancer and Blessed from Elton John
- Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
- Brown Eyed Girl - Jimmy Buffett version
- If I Had a $1,000,000 - Barenaked Ladies
- Into the Mystic - Van Morrisson
- The Prayer - Josh Groban (for you - V)
- High - James Blunt
- Rockafeller Skank - Fat Boy Slim
- Do You Love Me? - Fiddler on the Roof
- Joey - Concrete Blonde
- Melt With You - Modern English
- Home - Michael Buble'
- 59th Street Bridge Song, The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel
- Mr. Brightside - Killers
- Breath (2am) - Anna Nalick
- Pride - U2 (My U2 list is 20 songs long - but I LOVE Pride. I'm mostly a War, Joshua Tree, Unforgettable Fire kind of girl - but I do love me some Achtung Baby - reminds me of High School. I was at the concert where they played live with Garth on the MtV Music Awards - remember???)
- Little Fall of Rain - Les Mis
- Freshman - Verve Pipe
- Lose Yourself - Eminem
- Daisy A Day - Jud Strunk
- My Funny Valentine - Frankie Baby (although I could listen to Mr. Sinatra sing anything)
- Meet Virginia - Train
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow - IZ
- Galileo - Indigo Girls (although I love just about all of it)
- Typical Situation, Dancing Nancies, Tripping Billies, Crash - Dave Matthews Band
- Kickstart my Heart, Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away), Without You - Motley Crue
- This Years Love - David Gray
- Take My Breath Away - Berlin (Dan and I's song - our first dance)
- Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen
- Born in the USA - The Boss (Here is another that I enjoy many, many songs from)
- Bittersweet Symphony - Verve
- Wish You Were Here, Final Cut, Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd (or anything really... anything at all)
- I Touch Myself - Divinyls
- Sooner or Later - Michael Tolcher
- She Will be Loved, Sunday Morning - Maroon 5
- Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
- Breathe me - Sia
- forever, Morning Yearning - Ben Harper
- Yes I Am and I Will Never Be the Same - Melissa Etheridge (another one that I love just about everything)
- Mr. Tanner - Harry Chapin
- Laid - James
- Birdhouse in Your Soul - They Might Be Giants
- Iris - Goo Goo Dolls
- Motorcycle Drive By - Third Eye Blind
- The Dance - Garth Brooks
- Everybody Love Somebody - Dean Martin
- Somebody to Shove - Soul Asylum
- All Apologies - Nirvana
- Sugarhigh - Coyote Shivers
- High and Dry - Radiohead
- Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
- These are Days - 10,000 Maniacs (I can sing along with Natalie like no ones business)
- Hypnotize - Notorious BIG
- True Colors - Cyndi Lauper
- Just Like Heaven, Pictures of You- The Cure (oh my, did I love me some Cure back in the day...)
- Waiting in Vain, 3 Little Birds, Is this Love, Could you Be Loved - Bob Marley
- Chantilly Lace - Big Bopper
- Bust a Move - Young MC
- Don't You Forget About Me - Simple Minds
- When You Say Nothing At All - Allison Krauss
- Bubble Toes - Jack Johnson
- Goodnight Saigon- Billy Joel (but I also love Lullabye, Piano Man, She's Got a Way... oh ok - just about all of them)
- The Dance - Garth Brooks
- Sunrise - Norah Jones
- Every Breath You Take, Roxanne - The Police
- Fields of Gold - Sting (Little known fact that I was semi-seriously proposed to with this song)
- Circle of Friends - Edie Brickell
- Radio Song, The One I Love - REM
- November Rain, Sweet Child o' Mine, Paradise City - Guns n Roses
- OK - I'm strong enough to admit I was a NKOTB fan - I'm of that generation... Please Don't Go Girl...
- In Your Eyes, Red Rain, Solsbury Hill, Don't Give Up - Peter Gabriel
- Grow Old Along With Me - Mary Chapin Carpenter
- Wooden Ships - CSNY
- Landslide, Rhiannon, Silver Springs, Beautiful Child - Fleetwood Mac (I can sing the hell out of Stevie - we have a very similiar range)
- Mr. Wendel - Arrested Development
- Forever and Ever Amen - Randy Travis
- What's Up - 4 Non Blondes (I can also sing the hell out of this one...)
- Send Me on My Way - Rusted Root
- Run Around, Hook, But Anyway - Blues Travelers (oh my - what an amazing show live)
- Been Caught Stealing - Jane's Addiction
- OH - and I'm a Beatles Girl (Blackbird, Julia (yep - how we named the big Doughkid), Norwegian Wood and In My Life are faves) but I like the Stones as well - Paint it Black is one of my favorite all time songs.

I can NOT tell you how many times I have edited this to add things... I know I can only sum up so much of the music that makes me who I am - and it does make me who I am. Most of these songs are older because I guess I've just shut music out of a lot of my life. I want to change that...

Overheard at our dinner table last night...

Anna, jabbing me with her fork, "Fork you, mommy"

Yes, comic genius, if only she had a clue what was so funny.

Limbaugh can bite me...

Today is just one of those days... I'm in a mood and on a roll. I'm tired of so many things I am seeing around me - and today I've been vocal about it.

You have probably heard about Rush Limbaugh and his comments about Michael J. Fox. If not - then read about it here, and here...

Where do I begin? This pisses me off on so many different levels. Both of my grandparents had Parkinson's and died from complications of the disease. It is a terrible, horrible thing to watch your loved ones go through, and a difficult and horrifically embarrassing for the person going through it. You have good days and bad. You have good hours and bad, geez, you even have good minutes and bad minutes. You have to be some kind of a low human to call someone out on their disability.

Is he acting? Is he exaggerating? Who knows? It's always a possibility. What I can tell you is that Michael J. Fox is an amazing man who suffers from a terrible disease. He is using his celebrity to draw attention to a disease that can use the research dollars. He isn't just another celebrity frontman. He lives with this disease every single day. He knows what lies ahead for him in terms of the progression of the disease. It is hard to communicate, it can be embarrassing. Yet he's willing to go out there and stomp for what he believes in. Between Fox and Limbaugh - only one of them hasn't been publicly outed for being a hypocritical liar.

This brings me to my next rant: stem cell research. I understand this is a sticky, even deeply personal subject. The moral lines get fuzzy here. There are ways to use stem cells that do not involve disposed fetuses or embryo's (even though there is some debate on whether stem cells from bone marrow are as pliable). There is real potential in stem cell use in the treatment of so many diseases and in so many reparative ways. Decisions like this - especially the task of legislating them - are difficult. I believe that stem cell's are a necessary tool in fighting catastrophic diseases and injuries. I believe we need to find a way to clear a path for research.

My last rant: Celebrity campaigner's. Why are we so angry at celebrities campaigning and voicing their political/social views? I've mentioned this before - I'm sure, but I don't understand why so many have such contempt for other Americans vocalizing their opinions. Have we not been responsible for giving them such importance? I don't believe they are any more valuable than any other human - but really - the pedestal that they are on is one we put them on. I think our democracy is greater when those willing, are able to raise our voices, whatever our beliefs.

So - to wrap up... if you want to do something good and support Michael J. Fox and his efforts - don't spend as much time as I did on giving Limbaugh a voice and go to these sites and give of your time, thoughts or money...

American Parkinson's Disease Association

National Parkinson's Foundation

Michael J Fox Foundation

Formula 101

Emma feels the same way I do about formula - ummm - ICK! We fought tooth and nail to get an ounce down. She loved the bottle - but only to chew on the nipple (a la' mommy - but the bottle didn't scream back), once the formula would come out - she was repulsed. She smacked the bottle away and screamed in our faces. It was all so ladylike. Julia did pretty much the same thing with her meatloaf tonight (although I will add that Julia eventually ate every bite, and said she liked it when she was done).

I've heard soy is much worse than regular formula, and yeah, it is stinky. This has nothing to do with what you did/do feed your kiddos - if you dig the smell then great - but for me - it's naseuating. I have a super smeller - and many things don't sit well with me. Most perfumes or things with perfumes in them give me one hell of a headache.

Back to the formula - we'll keep trying because my boobs LOVE that stuff. They are just thrilled at the possible chance of skipping 1-2 feedings a day.

I think we're going to try the formula in a weaker formulation for a couple days - and give it to her in a sippy cup instead of the bottle. She does pretty well with water in the sippy cup.

We have spent the money....

On our first can of formula. Geez - I wish I had saved some of the the coupons I was sent back at the beginning. $13 for a small, starter can.

We'll try feeding her one bottle tomorrow after Dan gets home. We're going to start with trying one feeding a day. If that goes well, then Dan will pick up one weekend night so I can sleep 5-6 hours straight.

My sisters have arrived!

Gertie (named after my Grandma - who would be thrilled to

have a dog named after her... seriously)

Moose (da biggin - I mean really - LOOK at those paws)

My parents picked up my new sisters - Moose and Gertie last week. They are English Mastiffs. Moose looks like she's gonna be a big one (think 200lbs big). Aren't they just CUTE!

These are my parents 4th and 5th Mastiffs - but their first fawn Mastiffs. Jake, Mo and Sweetie Pie were all Brindles.

Wear Purple For Peace Day

Kirsten ... and Kelly had me looking up whether or not significant dates were on Bizarre American holidays...

My birthday is Wear Purple For Peace Day.

Dan: Holy Experiment Day
Julia: Card Playing Day and National Chocolate Day
Anna: Buy-A-Musical-Instrument Day
Em: Alfred Hitchcock Day
My Anniversary: All Or Nothing Day

Julia's birthday (National Chocolate Day) explains a lot to me. During each of my pregnancies I experienced a change of some sort. With Julia I went from not enjoying chocolate to really liking it (I also can only wear 14K gold jewelry). I can't for the life of me remember what it was with Anna - but I know it was something big! My change with Emma is that I now like baked/cooked apples.

Em update

Em had her appoitnment with the Pediatric GE today. It went well. She was 18lb2oz on their scale - so she's gained almost a pound this month. Geez.

The don't want to run tests on her (yeah!!!!!) because she's responding so well to the Prevacid. We are going to keep her on the Prevacid until she turns a year and then we'll switch her to an H2 Inhibitor (Zantac or the like) for a week and then give it a couple weeks and see how she is.

So - that's good. They agreed that as she hits more milestones we'll have setbacks (now that she's on her belly and crawling it put more pressure on her stomach so she's spitting up more), and the introduction of some foods might bother her. We'll know more about these things after we wean her.

Oh yeah - they also said that supplementing with a formula would be fine at this point. If after 2-3 weeks we notice any decrease in her comfort then we should go back to 100% breast milk. Mommy will be doing a happy dance if we can get her to take a bottle or two each day of formula!

los colores

What a purdy day it is here. The sun is shining and the leaves have turned from their bright, primary hues to the rusty colored autumnal hues normally associated with Fall.

There is this area of road (where we see deer every night too!) where the trees from both sides of the street meet in an embrace over the road. It creates this corridor of trees which reminds me of the drive to the Bat Cave. (You mean you've never been?) This morning it was breathtaking to drive through. The sun was shining through the leaves to allow some light, but also illuminatiing the leaves. It was amazing.

Good Morning Starshine...

This morning involved getting all 5 of us Dough people up and dressed and out the door by 8am. For most of the world this is probably a normal, even mundane thing. For us... an exercise in precise planning and execution.

So this is how it all played out - I refused (and adamantly so I might add) to get my butt out of bed by 745am. This would be because I was able to go to sleep for the first time at 740am. Not kidding. Dan was up and showered and mostly dressed. This is a big thing for Dan to be the first one ready.

Julia was next up and headed downstairs and proceeded to dress herself out the 4t box of clothes that was accidentally brought into the house when we unloaded the moving van this weekend. Nevermind that she was a 4T approximately 3 years ago.

I get out of bed and hand the baby to Dan. I grab the closest clothes to me (last ones in the hamper) and struggle to gain the coordination it takes to get dressed while standing. At this time, now that I'm vertical, I realize that the entire left side of my head is on fire. Oh goodie. This means that the combination of zero sleep and sinus pressure is resulting in a migraine. Lovely.

Dan takes Emma Leigh and Anna and carries them downstairs. Anna goes back to sleep on my comfy new recliner and Em happily bounces in her new favorite thing on Earth - the Jumperoo.

I redress Julia in clothes that fit her, decide that Em and Anna's pjs are good enough for the commute from house to car and back again.

Make sure Julia has a portable breakfast, a snack and lunch money. We all load into the car and drive Dan to work. No traffic and we made good time.

Now - even though I have to pass Julia's school to get back to the house, she really wants to ride the bus. (I'm definitely not unhappy about this since riding the bus means I do not have to unload all three kids and drag them to the front door for drop off and then load the two car seat challenged kids back in.) Looking at the time I realize we will be cutting it awfully close. As we turn the corner to the main road outside our neighborhood - OH NO! The bus. I notice she has her turn signal on, so I too turn left. Then I stalk (in reverse) her to her next stop and beg her to take my kid. Of course she does... and the remaining three of us head back home.

It's time for breakfast for the little two, change diapers, get dressed and then head right back out as Em has her appoitnment with the specialist this morning. That pretty much means my nap is screwed, I mean, the girls naps.

Dinner...

I've been in love with Woman's Day 1-2-3 ingredient dinners/desserts. (from Rozanne Gold's Cookbooks) I like the idea of not having every recipe involve 7-14 ingredients. Simple, mostly fast, healthy and delicious are just the thing for us during the week.

Last night we had Salmon with Asparagus and Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Everyone (including the girls) cleaned their plates. It was fast (from beginning to table in about 20 minutes) and easy! I've never used boxed potatoes before and we thought they were pretty good. A good way to have potatoes during the week. This is a good basic recipe and I can see a bunch of ways that you could take it and make it your own. Use an unflavored boxed potato and you could add real minced garlic, or dill, or tarragon.

Misc - a- laneous

We closed on our house and the money is in the bank so to speak. Whew.

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We have to unload the moving van today by 5pm - because Danny boy was incorrect when he thought we had it until Tuesday.

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I finally have a pair of jeans. 2 in fact. Just in time for the coooooold weather that has arrived.

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We are estatic that Veggie Tales and 3-2-1 Penguins/Larryboy is on NBC on Saturday mornings. Two thumbs up for Qubo!

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I'm also aware that I'm a dork, and fairly fashion backwards - but I bought a ruana (not this one - but similar in design) - and I love it. It's chocolate brown and toasty warm, but adjustable enough to cool off when I'm just a little TOO toasty warm. I also got it for a steal of a deal!

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Dan bought me an Apple/peeler/corer/slicer and boy oh boy is it fun, and super easy to use. He said he wants to encourage me to keep making Apple Pie and other baked appley goodness. I love it.

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Beautiful Fall day here - blue sky - crisp air.

Oh yeah - more potty talk with the Doughkids

I'm on the phone with Dan giving him directions on where the other primary school is - since he's on his way to pick up our $50 worth of Luminaria's (yeah - something like this... but not exactly - these have a base ... and yes - they were a school fundraiser thing. They saw a sucker coming!).

So... Anna comes out from the bathroom where she had followed Julia about 10 seconds before. "Mommy? Daddy has a penis"

Me - "umm, yes he does"

Anna - "Daddy has a penis"

me - "yes he does"

Anna - "I have a Julia"

OH my - she's funny.

Also on a funny vein here... We bought the How the Grinch Stole Christmas and a Grinch doll and a Max doll at Kohl's last night. Anna spent most of the night being scared of the "Grunch" and the rest of the night in love with him. This morning Julia took the Grinch to school (smuggled him in her backpack as she knows she's not allowed to take toys to school) and Anna spent about 2 hours this morning asing me for the "Grunch."

:)

I VANT TO SUCK YOUR BLOOD....

I was just nursing Em and shortly after she latched on I rubbed her nose to get a little bit of sweet potato off. Well, it caused her to latch off. OH MY!

She smiled at me and her mouth was full of BLOOD and then as her smile widened, the blood started pouring down her cheek (she was on her side...). It was my boob (ya'll know I don't do the "breast" word) bleeding (it wasn't as much blood as it sounds since I believe it was just heavily concentrated in the milk so it looked like more)!

Funny thing is - I actually grabbed the camera to take a picture but I forgot the battery is charging.

Now, I'm not new to the breastfeeding thing, (I've nursed for 44 months out of the past 5 years) so although it sounds disgusting it's what is best for my breast and doesn't hurt her - so I latched her back on... blood and all. She nursed contently and fell asleep with a big old smile on her face. BIG old smile.

Here's the thing - with Em's new sleeping issues, I'm pretty sure she's been bitten, and yes, by a vampire. She doesn't do much sleeping at night - (not a whole lot during the day either so maybe I'm off here, or perhaps she was bitten by a hybrid vampire...) .

I'm gonna hold a mirror up to her quick and see if her reflection still there. Yep. We're good.

Funny kids

My friend Suzanne was talking about kids telling jokes on her blog today - and it reminded me of Julia (who is Nathaniel's age) and her joke telling past...

She LOVES jokes, especially knock knock jokes.

Julia's first joke that she told was : Where do cows go on dates? To the Moooovies. It was SO funny - I think she was about 3 at the time.

Her other big show stopper at the time: Why was piglet looking in the toilet? He was looking for Pooh!

Damn she was funny.

Yesterday I had something fall down the front of my shirt and I said out loud to myself, "Man, what's in my bra?" and Julia said "Hey mom, how about booby traps, get it? BOOBY traps"

Damn she is funny.

He did it...

Dan amazes me. He managed to finish packing, loaded 95% of our things by himself (thanks to Brian and Zach for helping out with loading that stuff it was a huge help)... and then drove almost 2800 miles (in 3 1/2 days) to bring our stuff here.

But why I really, really love him...

Oh yes, Hartley's chips and Tastykake KandyKakes and Butterscotch Krimpets!!

Meme crazy...

GRAINS OF GRATITUDE

Thanks to Christine at Brady's Bunch.......who tagged Dori at Ups and Downs... and she tagged me... SO

1. My family is healthy and we are all doing well.

2. That soon (as in this week!!) 95% of my Earthly belongings will finally be in the state of Maine.

3. I am so grateful I am married to someone who loves me. I am not cut out to be a single mom - and hell no to dating.

4. I live somewhere I have always dreamed I'd live.

5. My days are full of giggling and hugs and smiles. Drool and poop and snotty noses - too! But back to the hugs and kisses and giggles.


5 Thing Meme.....

Yes - Dori again. Tagging me with a meme... settle in and get to know me..

1. Five minutes to yourself. How would you spend them? Sleeping.

2. Five dollars to spend right now. How or where would you spend it? Right now Tim Hortons Iced Coffee

3. Five items in your house you could part with right now. Well - since we rent a furnished house - just about everything. But the things in my OTHER house I could part with - amazingly - even after we are spending a bazillion dollars to get it here - most of it. I've learned in the past 4 months that most of my former NEEDS were just WANTS. I don't NEED much.

4. Five items in your house you absolutely, positively could never part with. My family and photos are about it... but the things I really really, really don't want to: my cropped jeans that are oooooh so comfy, my laptop, my DVR.

5. Five words you love. Mommy, I love you. Good night!

A weird about me meme....

Dori tagged me again... so here are some weird things about me:

1. I have a hard time eating in front of people. Not in like restaurants, unless the people are with us. It took me about 10 years of family dinners with Dan's family to actually in front of them.

2. I suffer from anxiety issues - Lately about a lot of things...

3. I get sick to my stomach when I hear sirens.

4. I have a super bladder. I am great on long car trips!

5. I'm scared of the dark, the boogeyman and things that go bump in the night.

Enough weirdness from me...

I tag.................................. anyone who wants to share!

SOoooooo good.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we love making our own pizza. I used to make my own dough, but with this store bought brand we get all the fun of pulling our own without having to make it!

I think I may have perfected our harvest pizza.... it was sooo good.

I used the whole wheat pizza dough (so much better than the white), and then a small amount of Prego Garden Combination Sauce... sauteed zuchinni, yellow squash, sweetpotatoes, red onion (I've also used sweet yellow or shallot for this) and then today -added a small amount of apple (all cubed pretty small so they soften up quickly). I sprinkled a little nutmeg (small amount since a little goes along way here).

Added the veggies - topped with mozzerella and parm cheese...

It was SOOOO good

I see Ashleigh and Pam and....

Do you remember the show Romper Room from when you were a kid? No - you might be too old or too young...

I used to sit and watch the show just waiting for the end when Miss Molly/MaryAnn/Sally would use her magic mirror to see her viewers each day. I anxiously waited for her to say "I see Heather out there" I really believed that she had the ability to look out of the tv and see me sitting there.

What would they see if they could see into your living room???

DORI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm seriously contemplating hurting another human. Someone that I like even. What did friend Dori do to me?????? Get me hooked on a riddle game that is keeping me up at night. Seriously - in my sleep I was dreaming about solving these riddles....

Not that there was much sleeping - since Julia was up until midnight and then Emma was up every hour until 6am when I just decided to get up.

So - with Julia in school today and Anna resting on the couch watching movies in between coughs - and Em happily swinging away alternating with napping... I'm back to the damn riddles.

So -to play WeffRiddles.... click here - but I warn you. You just might not be able to stop.

I'm off to play batch 2!

The Nanny

Today I took all three girls (Julia was home sick from school - well - she had a fever early this morning) into the hospital to have Emma's outpatient testing done on her hips.

I had two separate people ask me if I was the girls nanny!!

The first lady was a patient waiting in the outer room. She laughed and said I had my hands full with 3 - and then asked if they were mine. I said yes, and she said she thought I was the Nanny, because I couldn't be young enough to have 3 kids. I told her that I was more than old enough - but Thanks!!!

Then back in the radiology waiting room, the girls were sitting across the room from me, reading Highlights magazine. One of the staff poked her head into the room, "Oh, I was just checking to see if these little ones had someone with them. They are sitting so nicely" I told her yep, they were with me. "You must be the Nanny" she said. Ummmm no? "oh wow, I definitely didn't think you could be their mom, being so young"

WHA?

I'm 31. I was 25 when I got pregnant with Julia. Hardly a spring chicken.

But hell - if on a morning after I had ZERO sleep I still look too young to have a 5 year old.... GO ME!

Update:

Chocolate Whoopie Pie: consumed

Chunk of Nipple: Fell off and nipple is still sore - bleeding... heading to store to buy massive quantities of Soothies.

Pictures: Found....................... REALLY!!! yea!!!

OHHHHHHHHHH NO!

Seriously - how bad is your day when you wake up - all giddy about the prospects of having some delicious apple pie that you made the night before... to find it is ALL (as in completely, as in - NO MORE) GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I recovered from this disapointment when I found the other half of the pumpkin whoopie pie from this weekend. It's no apple pie - but still delicious yumminess.

Then - also my in-laws left today to go back to Michigan. So the house is mine again. I can strip off every piece of my clothing and run around all willy nilly. Well. Maybe not. But only because there are only sheers on the windows and the doors have windows that have no curtains so everyone would get a view of this non-hot bod. I want to make friends sometime in this lifetime so I will go ahead and keep the clothes on.

THEN - I go to latch Emma on to nurse and it's excrutiatingly painful. As in - "make you vomit from the pain" kind of pain. I pull her off the boob and see - much to my terror that a large portion of my nipple is just hanging there. Yes.

Nipple chunk hanging.

Never good.

As in - never, ever, ever good to see part of your nipple hanging. Like, from your body. As in - almost not attached.

So - it's bleeding and unhappy and I can see that mastitis and death of my breast is only days away. oh. and the pain. The freaking unrelenting pain.

It's as if I've never nursed before.

These things are all bad - but nothing is as bad as the devastation I experienced next. My computer ... broke. Yes, bad things, but my pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew it. I just knew it. Because on my list of things to buy at the store today are CDs so that I can save my pictures. Really. Not kidding.

Conversation I had with my computer (oh - and I took all the expletives out because, really, I just can't type "pig fucker" over and over) just a short hour ago.

ME- "good morning computer"

Computer- "who the heck are you?"

Me - "I'm me!!! Remember me? The one who loves you with the force of a thousand tornados? Come on... you know me!!"

Computer- "I have never seen you. Ever. In my entire life. Back the hell off"

Me- "Oh come on. I'm 350 lbs - I'm hard to miss. So stop messing around and show me my pictures, my hundreds and hundreds of pictures of my beautiful girls. Like NOW"

Computer - "Pictures? What is this of which you speak? oh and also - who the hell are you? "

Me - "are you kidding me????? What do you mean you don't know who I am and where my pictures are. GIVE ME MY PICTURES."

Computer- "no"

Me- "PLEASE'

Computer- "no"

Me - "PLEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASE"

Computer - "No - I am tired of you. Be gone"

Me "no. I love you. Please."

Computer- "Here - here is a profile that has nothing you ever saved on it - and use it. BUt everytime you turn me off - it will all go away again. Because I don't know you and you can't be trusted"

Me "sob, I want my pictures"

Peepin leaves....

I seriously can not get enough of this Fall thing. I love the colors the smells... I just love it!

We went up to the lake this weekend and it was gorgeous. We have a wonderful time. It was COLD at night but the day was just beautiful. Dan's parents are here from Michigan and we had a nice relaxing day just walking around and visiting.

Update on my Mom:

I don't have a lot of info, but here's what I know.

They put the stent in the carotid artery - and it wasn't ideal for the coiling. I'm not sure why - since Dad wasn't exactly clear on the details, but they didn't do the coil.

So - they are going to let the stent scar into the vessel and then attempt the coil in 2-3 weeks. She hadn't gotten out from under the anesthesia yet so we don't know how she is. I'm assuming since I haven't had another call from my father that he is doing fine.

I know my mom will be very disappointed. If they can't do the coil she will need to do the craniotomy. I'm so glad she's ok.

Thank you so much for your prayers and positive thoughts - we'll need them again in a couple of weeks.

UPDATE: I talked with my mom and she's doing great. Disappointed and a little sore, but ok. My Dad didn't exactly pass along the correct info - apparently she is going in 2-3 weeks for her follow up with the doctor but will attempt the coil again in 6-8 weeks. I know it's going to be a long timeframe for her, but if anyone can get through it - it's her.

THANKS!

WOW

Sometimes you have this little moment where the world reaches out and lets you know that the world is bigger than just you. That we affect each other.

So many of you kindly prayed, commented to and thought nice thoughts for my mom after I requested prayers for her and her upcoming surgery... I have been worried about her since she's one of those people (sooooo unlike me) who puts on a brave face and smiles to the world even when she's miserable. I know she's scared of her surgery tomorrow and in a way that only comes from having been there before and at the same time not knowing exactly what she'll face.

I used to email my mom links to a funny blog. Now my mom LOVES the blog Dad Gone Mad. I mean in a way that's obsessive. She reads his blog before mine each day (well - of course - so do hundreds of people - but she's my MOM!!! I should be first. I mean there could be pictures of her grandspawn for goodness sakes!!) and it's a frequent topic of emails and conversations. "Did you read DGM today?" When they went up to the lake for a month and she was without internet - she would drive up to get a cell signal and ask me about his posts. Seriously.

So - in an effort to lift her spirits and make her smile - I emailed Danny and asked him to email my mom. The whole time I was writing this email to him I thought to myself,

"I hope he'll email her" "I'm sure he has people bugging him all the time for these things" "I wonder if he even reads his blog email" "I hope he doesn't laugh at this" "He'll be too busy to do this" ... (Now - I know he's a great guy - anyone who reads his blog knows that. His Project Lovebomb is just one example of how cool he, his hot wife and his wondersis are. BUT - he's famous. Ok - so he's not on the cover of People magazine yet - but just about everyone I know reads him... so my worry and concern about his response had more to do with my self esteem than who he is.)

Within an hour he had responded to her and made her whole day, probably her week, or month. He was funny and compassionate. Ok - he was hilarious! She copied me on her response to him and when we talked on the phone she was almost school girl giddy with delight. My 50+ ish year old mom was estatic. It was wonderful. If ever there was a time she needed it - it was then. Hot Wife even commented on my blog about it. I was a little shocked. I was surprised he'd mention it to someone else.

We've been talking about it ever since. My mom just thinks the world of them. So, me, I love them forever. Take care of a girls mom and you know - you're in for life. They sounded genuinely caring (of course they were - they ARE caring - but once again - that self esteem thing) but I thought that was the end of that. Good deed done... life goes on.

Today DGM posted something that first caught me by surprise, he suffers from depression . Not that it's all that surprising since just about 1/2 the country suffers from some sort of depression (including myself) and the other half probably does but hides it/ignores it, but that he personally does. It always shocks me when someone seemingly well adjusted has clinical depression. It just goes to show that creativity breeds madness. so I was reading along - impressed with his succint way of describing the stigma attached to depression.

Then he posted this: (SORRY DANNY FOR STEALING THIS!!)

"And then there’s this:
Monday morning, a Dad Gone Mad reader wrote to me and told me that her mother is having brain surgery tomorrow. She said her mom is a huge fan of this site and that if I could send her a quick “good luck” e-mail, it would help a lot during some very frightening days. I obliged, of course, telling her to ask for a bag of frozen peas to put on her scar when she gets to the recovery room.

I don’t know that I can even begin to articulate what a request like that means to me or what it does to my soul. How can I wallow? Woe is NOT me. As the old book title says, “Your Blues Ain’t like Mine.”"


WOW WOW WOW. When I asked him for the favor, I thought he'd send off an email and that would be that. It wouldn't mean a whole lot to him - other than a couple of minutes of time composing and responding. But - look. Look at how we all touch each other (and ya'll I'm not talking about a willy nilly world wide orgy). I think often we don't realize how much power we have to affect each other. It never dawned on me that asking him to do such a wonderful thing for my mom would somehow be a wonderful thing for him. Our actions mean something. No matter how small or large, we do have the ability to make things better or worse for others. He made a woman facing something very scary, very happy. I'm also glad that knowing he has the power to do that made him happy.

Thanks Danny (and Hot Wife). Thank you SO much.

Come and Get it...

Ok - you asked and here they are... more pictures of the girlies...


Oh - and I've had a couple emails asking me how I can call my 7 month old a beyotch - well - the truth is - she is. But I was referring to myself in that situation!

Field Trip

One of the issues with having multiple kids and not a babysitter in sight - is that I am not exactly the kind of Kindergarten mom I thought I'd be.

I was sure I'd be the one at all the field trips as a chaperone, volunteering my time in the class, and just a general pain in the ba-took-us. Not happening, I don't even know if she really goes to school! She gets on the bus in the morning and comes home in the afternoon.

Weird. I never thought my kid would ride the bus, but necessity is everything. Without a second car it's just too much of a pain to drop Dan off and and pick him up everyday - not to mention he needs the car during the day.

Today Julia has her first field trip ever - and it took every ounce of my strength to put that field trip volunteer form back in her bag blank.

I know without a doubt that my lack of involvement doesn't affect Julia, and only 3 mom's out of a class of 18 are going - so 15 other kids don't have their moms along either. It's hard to fight that tiny little bit of guilt from creeping in. I know we make it to what we can, and when it's important I hope that we'll be able to make it work.

Julia invited me to her Special Person's lunch on Thursday. Each child can invite one person to have lunch with them, and she chose me. :) I admit I was a little, tiny bit nervous she'd ask Dan. I would have been fine if she did - but I'm glad I get to go. Dan is going to come home for lunch and hang out with Anna and Em while I go.

Oh - and you know I'll be waiting anxiously at the bus stop to see her pumpkin!

UPDATE: She had a great time and came back with a cute little pumpkin. She had an apple off the tree (washed of course) for her snack and saw how they make popcorn from corn.

Moody Beeyotch

Man - it's amazing how moods rub off on other people. There is no better example of this than with my kids. If Emma is cranky and crying - the entire house is on edge. We snip and snark at each other and generally make things miserable. If she's happy - it's infectious and the whole house sings with her gigles and squeals.

Same goes for all of us. Unfortunately one bad mood cancels out everyone's happy happy. The good news is - a mood never lasts for long at our house. Naps, bathtime, meals, snacks, tv, walks, songs, potty breaks, more food, crafts ---- all go a long way to changing attitudes here.

Preserving Leaves....

So - I'm madly in love with these leaves. I really don't remember leaves being these brilliant shades before. Julia and I have a tree that we've been watching the leaves progressively change on. Today as we walked to the bus she said "oh boy, I can't wait to see how our tree has changed."

Our tree.

That made my heart do a little skip.

So - tonight we're going to be preserving leaves. Remember doing this as a kid?? I do.

There are a lot of ways to do this... I decided the one that didn't involve setting things on fire in my microwave would be a good idea. We're going to do the wax paper method - but for the majority of my leaves we're going to use glycerin so that I can make a wreath. We'll also make placemats using contact paper to seal the leaves.

Here's what I found on preserving :

Place the colored leaves between two layers of wax paper. Cover with an old towel. Press the fabric with a warm iron, sealing the wax paper together with the leaf in between. Cut your leaves out, leaving small edge of wax paper around the leaf edge.

Choose fresh leaves with the brightest colors, not ones that are already drying out. Cover them with one sheet of paper towel. Run the oven for 30 to 180 seconds. The time varies on how dry the leaves were to start out with. Be careful; you could start a fire in your microwave if they cook too long so pay attention. (this is where they lost me - I know that it is almost certain I will set my leaves on fire!!) Leaves that are curling have not been dried enough. Leaves that burn, were in too long. Let the leaves dry for a couple of days, then seal the leaves.

Another way to preserve leaves is to submerge them in a glycerin and water solution. Use a mixture of one part glycerin to two parts water. Place mixture in a flat pan, and totally submerge the leaves in a single layer in the liquid. You need to keep them submerged so you will want to weigh them down. In two to six days, you should have soft, preserved leaves. Remove them from the pan and wipe off all the liquid with a soft cloth, and they should last for a long time this way.

Hate it...

I hate waking these two sleeping angels up to go out into the cold to get Julia from the bus.

It's not even COLD cold yet.

Prayers...

Ok - I haven't said much about this - because quite frankly it's not my situation to share. I believe in the power of prayer and positive thinking - so I think the time has come...

A little background: My mom's family has quite a history of cerebral aneurysms (a weakening of a blood vessel in the brain that causes a little balloon to form). They suspect my grandmother died from one rupturing when she had a stroke at the age of 40. She had 5 children and my mother and two of her brothers have all had them. My Uncle D had one rupture and it almost killed him, my Uncle B had one leak and raise all kinds of hell. Then my mom went and had an angiogram and they found she had one. She chose to have elective brain surgery to clip the aneurysm. A couple of months after that she had grand mal seizures that they believe was caused by the scar tissue. That was all about 16-18 years ago. Then 8 years ago my mother had an aneurysm rupture that almost killed her. She had a second brain surgery to repair the area, and after a long month of inpatient rehab and then months of outpatient, she recovered.

Well - after their accident last August (which I still believe was probably caused by some sort of aneurysm related incident) my mom had many tests done - and it was discovered she had another aneurysm. This time she was referred to a neuro-radiologist and they will be doing an endovascular coiling procedure (microvascular coiling thrombosis) instead of the clipping. If you really want to know what that means - click here. If not - just know that it is not a craniotomy and is much less invasive, but still considered brain surgery and is serious business.

So - they are doing that this Thursday. If you could keep my mom in your prayers or positive thoughts - or whatever it is that you do to send good vibes her way that would be great. She reads this blog so if you could comment to her too - that would be wonderful, but just thinking about her is enough. She is an amazing woman who has been through so much. I'm not ready to lose her.

Neither are they...

Reading..

In our house we have 3 kids who love books. Even Emma LOVES to be read to - and just this morning Julia was able to calm her down while I was making breakfast by reading her favorite book ... Peek a Who.

I don't read picture books to Julia anymore, I make her read them to me. I still feel it's important for her to be read too though - so we jumped into the world of chapter books. We have started with the Junie B. series of books and just love them. Junie B is SOOO me as a kid - and a lot like Julia as well. She's spunky and sassy but isn't TOO rude (like Eloise). I like that it helps Julia begin to use her imagination while reading - everything isn't captured in photos or drawings on the page. Julia likes it because we read it after Anna goes to bed and she gets 15 minutes of quiet, cuddle time with mom. Last night I actually had to read ahead after she went to bed to find out what happened next. Yeah - I'm not kidding. We have a bunch more of the Junie books to read and then we're on to Magic Tree House series.

I can't wait.

The house, the house, the house is falling down!

The house across the street is being torn down and a new place is going up in it's place. Julia and Anna are so excited that it's finally time for it to come down after hearing about it for weeks.

Julia made me promise to take pictures for her so she can see it when she gets home. I'm going to do better and take some video too.

Dan's hoping the use explosives and implode it - but a big old backhoe just showed up - so I suspect it's going to be torn down old fashioned crush it down style!

I just hope it's done in time for Em's nap. Wishful thinking...

UPDATE: Ok - we went from this....






To This....



It was soooo cool. Anna and Em enjoyed the show. It was everything a good demo should be - loud, destructive and full of surprises. I even have video to show Julia.

They have about 1/2 of it hauled off already. The air is full of the smell of cedar.

Who know you could get rid of a house so easily.